Waking to the sound of chriping birds and the sunlight piercing through his eyelids. X groggily rolled over on his side so he could open his eyes without overloading his optical sensors from the light. Slowly, he lifted his head up and rested his upper body on his arm as he peered into a dimly lit part of the room. He smiled softly when he reconized teh figure, sound asleep.

Her right leg propped up on a small pillow and her left arm gently resting on the top of her head.

Quietly sliding himself off the bed, X gingerely walked over to Shonen, knelt down and carefully shook her shoulder.

"Shonen?" he asked in a slight whisper.

Shonen released a small groan.

"..five more minutes..."

X chuckled softly, then sat down next to her and leaned his back against the wall.

Turning his attention to the bed he slept in, his thoughts returned to the night they escaped Hunter Tower. the night where everything went south.. sort to speak. Deeply, he breathed a sigh of relief that he was finally free from that four year living hell..but, what was the real cost of his freedom?...He had no idea on where he was... no idea on how long he was unconscious...if Signas had already sent a search party to find them.. and worse of all.. shonen was injured and he still felt like crap.

Closing his eyes, X felt himself drift back into unconsciousness then quickly snapped out of it when he felt Shonen elbow him in the ribs. Causing him to wince in pain.

Shonen mumbled an appology...

X turned his head.

"well.. since your awake now.. can i ask you a question?"

"...yep..." she replied without opening her eyes.

"...where the hell are we?"

Shonen opened her eyes and turned her head towards X.

"a place where we'll be safe for a while...a place where no one knows where we are or bother looking for us."

X quickly scanned the room...

"this doesn't look like the old lab... it looks more like someone's home...isn't there a danger that the occupents will return?" X questioned as he got to his feet and helped Shonen's to hers.

Shonen motioned for X to help her to the bed. then replied...

"this home does belong to someone... but he's been dead for centuries... and i doubt, that even if he was alive... he wouldn't mind us using it for a short period of time."

Guiding her to the bed as she hopped across the floor, X carefully sat her down, then sat next to her.

"dead for centuries?...this.. this can't be..." X began as he scanned the room once more.

"...Thomas Light manor?... is.. is that where we are?" X questioned.

Shonen nodded her head as she grabbed her ankle in pain.

X rolled his eyes over to her.

"lousy landing?" he spoke again

Shonen nodded once more as she began to rub the pain out of it.

"does it hurt that bad?"

She stopped briefly, then rolled her eyes over to her brother.

"...you're kidding me right? seriously?" she replied, the last part sounding sarcastic. "and wern't you nullified?"

"nullified, yes... unconscious.. no. I was very awareof what was going on.. i heard your voice...i tried to reply...my power grid was malfunctioning... there had to be a better way to escape than jumping out a window..."

"...well, it's not like i had any options... it was either take the blind jump out the window... or have you locked in stasis permently and i would have had my ass court marshalled." she began, as her eyes started to tear. she lowered her head and buried her head in her hands.

"I panicked.. being seperated from you.. for four years.. four, long painful years... i..i couldn't stand it anymore... i gave up everything.."

"Shonen.. it's okay" X began as he reached his arm around her, pulling her closer to him. "no matter what happens...we're together... that's all that matters...until this damn virus completely takes over my body..."

Shonen leaned her head against his chest. softly listening to his reactor core fluxuate... fighting to supply power to different parts of X's body...

"..my God... he is going to die... i can feel it.. i can hear it in his voice...he's gonna die... for his freedom... and it's all because of me..." Shonen thought to herself.

Quickly, she grabbed X and held him tight...

"i won't let that happen...i'm not gonna let you die...i promised dad a long time ago.. that nothing...NOTHING will ever harm you.. i will find a way to save you... i swear it on my life.. my existance.. i will save you..."

X held onto her tighter..."i have faith in you..." he replied, gently rocking her back and forth...

Shonen was about to reply, when in an instant, X felt his whole body tense up... quickly released Shonen and held his chest in pain...

"X! what's the matter?" she shouted with fear and panic in her voice.

X shook his head sharply as he gripped his chest harder.

"t..this...pain...it's too much...my...power core...it's pulsing out of rhythm...it feels... like it's about to explode..." he hissed through clenched teeth.

Quickly Shonen shot to her feet, ignoring the pain in her ankle just as X's body slid off the bed and landed on the floor with a dull thud.

dropping to the floor, she screamed out his name, joining him by his side and frantically shook his shoulders.

Using what little energy he managed to build up, X managed to open his eyes slightly and reached out to his sister.

"help me..." he whispered as his vision began to fail... falling into darkness