NOTE: I do NOT own the characters in this story nor do I own Chobits. Chobits © Clamp.

I decided to kick things up a notch, action wise that is. It was getting too dull. Real relationships have real obstacles. So I decided to add in a bit of action with a twist. Enjoy!

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Dita walked near the railing and peered down at the city. Good. It was empty now. She looked at the tall building across the street. The time read 3:01am. It was time to get ready. She turned around slowly on her feet and walked carefully to Zima. He slid on his visors and began to analyze the location data in front of him. Dita crossed her arms and waited impatiently for him to finish.

Zima looked though the data to see Dita, staring impatiently at him. He laughed at the site, so adorable. He sat up carefully and walked to her. Carefully, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into a hug. "You are so adorable when you are impatient!" He commented, and gave her a tight squeeze. Dita looked to the side and let out a embarrassed huff.

He let go of her carefully and wrapped a arm around her shoulder. They both took a quick glance at the clock, then looked down at the empty streets. Zima smirked and turned to Dita. "This would be the best time to investigate our leads." Dita turned to him and nodded. "Let's go."

Dita and Zima both jumped from the tall building and landed quietly onto the sidewalk. They both analyzed the scene. No one was around, all lights were turned off (only except was street lights and stop lights), everything was silent. They both began to run towards their destination.

"Zima, where to?" asked Dita, trying to stay as close as space would let her near his side. He turned to her and then back to the city in front of him. "We just got lead on where she was suppose to be discarded. It's near the end of this city. Near a tiny complex." Zima came to a complete stop in front of the stores and began to read the information that was being processed to him through his visors. He signaled to Dita to wait a minute. Dita let out a huff and put on a sulky face. Zima couldn't help but laugh. She was very impatient and very cute.

Dita began to look around, waiting for Zima to finish. She studied the colorful bright signs that shined above them. Tons of stuffed animals, dresses, gowns, suits, and outfits covered the front of the stores. How dependent humanity relied on these over priced items. It was foolish. Most of them were made out of the country and were not even top grade material. It was pathetic in her eyes.

But across the street, something caught her eye. It was a small, one story jewelry shop. It had a simple black sign with white words in cursive that spelt out "Downtown Jewelers". She titled her head to the side and began to walk across the street.

Zima carefully lifted down his visors to watch Dita walk across the street. He walked slowly and quietly after her, curious as to what she might have found that caught her eye. Dita walked up to the glass and peered in. The store was obviously closed, and only one dimmed light was shining down on the jewelry.

Most of the jewelry in the window claimed to be real and genuine diamonds and sapphires, but Dita could clearly see that they were all fake. They were decorated in cheap gold designs, and the chains were very simple and probably could not last a month under the pressure of the fake gems.

Only one piece of jewelry caught her eye. In the middle of the window was a simple necklace, but beautifully designed. It was a small tear drop shaped ruby, with pretty swirls and patterns made of gold and black gold on the sides, holding it down. The chain was pure gold with patches of black, slim yet sturdy. She looked at this necklace carefully. Why was this the only piece of 'real' jewelry inside of here? And it was even cheaper than the other ones. It puzzled her, why people would rather appreciate plastic than true art. Zima carefully walked up behind her and glared into the window.

"Something catch your eye, dear?" he asked curiously. He wrapped his arms around her waist and looked into the window. She looked up at him and pointed to the teardrop ruby necklace. "This is the only real piece of jewelry in here, yet no one has bought it. Humans are so unappreciative of what they have. They prefer plastic and scraps." She turned around to face Zima. "Are you done yet?" She asked curiously. Zima blinked a few times to escape his train of thought. He smiled and nodded. "Ah. Yes." He turned his gaze back to the window. He put his hand where the jewel was placed on the window. "You know, Dita love, this reminds me of you. You are so unique and adorable, loving and caring, and beautiful- out of all of the plastic and fakes that surround you. So irresistible." He returned his hand to place it on her cheek and pulled her face up to meet his. He smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

Dita could feel herself burn up, and her system freeze. It was a different feeling this time… different from the ones before. She could not pinpoint it. She turned to face him and wrapped her hands around his waist. She leaned her head on his chest and gave him a small squeeze. "No one will ever hurt Zima." she repeated. It was the only way she could say she cared. Could a persocom care, though?

Zima hugged her and let her go. Dita looked up at him, curious as to why he let go. It was very unlike him to let go first, he usually held on as long as he could. If he had the choice, he would rather stay on the roof and say weird things to her and hold her close to him.

Before she could say a single word to him, there was a loud noise from above. It sounded almost like thunder. Both of them looked up at the sky. It appeared clear, and they could see the stars clearly. Dita looked up to Zima and shook him on the shoulder. "What's going on?!" She yelled. He began to look around. He slid on his visors and took a long pause. Dita shook him a little more and he turned to her.

"We have company." he said. Dita looked around. She could not see anyone around for miles. Maybe he was acting up? The loud noise came again, and this time it was louder. She continued to look around, hoping to see what he was seeing. After a few minutes of looking around, she heard a large bang from behind. Before she could look, Zima grabbed her and jumped on top of the building. She looked over the edge to see what it was.

A persocom. A female persocom was standing in the road now. She had large black life-less eyes, long brown silky hair that fell around her body. She was wearing a pink dress, filled with ribbons and laces. She was wearing no shoes though, and a bar code was tattooed on her left ankle. She had long elf like ears, and a soft face that almost appeared as if it was made from porcelain. She was staring up at Zima, trying to read his eyes. Dita looked at Zima, with disapproval. "She look like a nuisance." She replied in a dull tone to Zima. Zima looked at her and analyzed her expression, then looked back at the persocom. "Yes. She is. She was probably sent here by someone." he replied.

Dita looked at the girl and scowled. What was she doing, eyeing up Zima? What connection did she have?

Dita finally fell impatient, and jumped from the building before Zima could catch her. She landed roughly on the pavement, making no effort to be graceful.

"What do you want?!" Shouted Dita. She felt the warmth stir inside of her, but this time it felt different. It was almost as if it was constricting her with force. It was a new feeling to her.

The persocom stood up slowly and glared at Dita. "Name?" She asked, harshly. Dita jumped back. How dare she acted this way towards her! Now she felt as if she was going to burst into flames.

"None of your BUSINESS!" Dita jumped at the girl and tried to get a hold of her neck. The girl was too quick, and slipped away. Dita stopped and looked around. Zima quickly jumped off the building and to her side. "Careful, love. This one isn't here to play." Dita looked up at him with a scowl. He sounded calm about this- TOO calm. It was unsettling to her.

Zima tried to grab her arm to comfort her, but she pushed him away. "Don't touch me! We have to stop her!" she shouted. She ran off after the persocom, in hopes that she would be able to destroy it. Zima blinked and stared after her. What was with her? She had one hell of a temper, alright. He got up and chased after her. He hoped that she wouldn't try anything without him there. It was making him curious. Even though the persocom did not state if she was a threat, Dita still attacked. It made him smile, that Dita was so protective of him. He must be the only one for her.

--

'You can't run from me!' Dita fidgeted where she laid. It was blurry, everything was black. She could feel her system overheating, the wires snapping at each other, and her mind shouting back. 'You must be destroyed.'

What happened? Everything was blurry…very blurry. 'We'll see who destroys who first!' Now it was coming back to her. Wasn't she chasing after someone…..that persocom. It was all coming back to her now. It all seemed clearer now. But it was still very dark….

Dita grabbed her by the arm and flinged her against the building. She slammed hard with force, so hard that the bricks began to crumble. The persocom laid still, but suddenly got up and charged back at her. She braced herself for impact, but instead, she was grabbed by the neck. Dita could not move, she could feel her limbs and wires go numb. She tried desperately to reach for her cable hidden deep within her ear port, but the persocom began to twist at her arms. She let out a scream. Although she could not feel the pain, the sight enough threw her off. The persocom threw her down into the gravel, and stood over her.

'Are you Zima?' she yelled. Dita blinked her eyes and tried to keep focus on the persocom. She began to shove her into the pavement even further with her foot. She tried to struggle, to be free- but it was useless. There was too much pressure. She felt like she was going to crash. She looked up, and with a hoarse voice, she attempted to reply.

'N-no…n-never t-telling….' She gasped out. The persocom let out a screeching sound that sounded as if a computer was on fire, drivers slowly burning….

She began to push her down even further into the pavement. It was hard to focus…everything seemed lost.

It all came back to her now. Everything was clear now. But…was she terminated? Was she dead? Was this it? Everything was so dark. She couldn't hear anything. There was nothing. Just memories.

All of a sudden, she felt something beneath her. As if it was holding her up, close to something. It was warm, not on fire, but warm. It was a…relief to her. It was lifting her up, it was something she never experienced.

Something was whispering in the distance. But what? There was nothing in this world. In this world of darkness, there was nothing there to greet her. So what was making the noise?

She tried to move, but she was numb. She would be stuck like this forever? It was impossible to believe. So…do persocoms really have souls?

She began to think. If she were a human being, she would cry. This was true torchor. She wanted to reach the voice, to find where it was coming from, to move.

It was speaking again, over and over. It was saying something to her. Only to her. There was no one else, so who else could it speak to? It was saying…something…her name? Yes. It was saying her name.

'Dita…Dear Dita…Please, Love…'

What was that voice? Where was it coming from? It was getting warmer now, and she was being pushed up even further. Was there ever a end? It was all so bizarre to her. What was going on?

'Oh Dita, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…'

She had enough by this point. Her patience was up. She had to try something. She desperately reached out into the darkness for something, anything. She felt a sort of relief. She could not feel the wires and joints twist and turn under pressure, like before when she was being pushed to the ground.

'Love, you must wake up now…'

She could see a light now. Yes, it was something other than the darkness. It was too bright, her eyes could not adjust. It was chasing away the darkness slowly beneath her feet. Damnit! It was about time! She began to reach out even further to the light. She could feel it disappear, all around her.

After many attempts, the darkness was gone. It was all light….

"Dita, dear, welcome back." She heard. It was the whispers again. The light began to disappear now, and now everything was becoming clearer. She could feel something against her cheek, and she felt as if she was tied down…

She blinked her eyes and began to look around. She was wrapped in something…it looked like Zima's long black coat-

ZIMA. Where was he?! She felt her joints spazz and her memory collapse as she began to think about him. She wanted to see where he was. Where was he before? Was he ok? Where was that persocom?

"Don't move, love. You'll only stress yourself even more."

She looked up, and she saw Zima's face. He looked sad, pained. Was he hurt? Did that persocom hurt him? He looked ill almost, as if his operating system was slowly dying. She felt stressed now, it was so…

"Zima…" She spoke. It was the only thing she could think about right now. Was he safe? She heard a sigh and he tightened his grip around her limp body.

She could remember it all so clearly. The pain, the twisting, circuits screaming and wires on fire. It was as if she was being burned from the inside out. She could not feel it on the outside, but on the inside, it was painful. It was different. It was confusing. Persocoms were not suppose to feel these things. It should've been painless. It should've been as if it was the wind blowing across her. Why did it hurt? And how could she tell that it hurt? Maybe it wasn't pain. She couldn't tell anymore, it was just confusing. She was now struggling with herself, wondering if she could feel these things or if she was programmed too.

She quickly remembered that there was someone else that was injured. She looked up at Zima and touched his cheek. "I can see where you hurt." She said slowly. She put her hand back down and wrapped her hands around his shoulders.

Zima stood up, still holding tightly onto Dita, and began to run towards the edge of the city, where the nearest government persocom facility was. He would be able to make it in ten minutes at most.

Dita stared up at him, confused on the current situation. "Where did the persocom go?"

Zima didn't want to tell her. He didn't want to say that he let the persocom get away with only a few scratches. Reason being was that if he did tell Dita that he cared more about her state than a strange persocom, she would possibly call herself a failure, and try to escape.

"She's done with." He said, in a cold hard tone. He couldn't tell her now. Maybe later. But now was not the best of times.

But before he could explain to her, or think of a good lie, the noise came back. The same loud noise, that sounded like thunder, but was coming from no where. The persocom.

Dita looked up at Zima with pure anger. "You LIED!" She shouted. She tried to break free, but Zima tightened his grip. "We aren't going to stop." he replied to her. Dita looked up in disgust. "She's going to KILL You if you try to outrun her! Let's stay and fi-" she was cut off shortly. Zima took a pair of dark black visors from his pocket and placed them over her eyes. She automatically fell into sleep mode. He thanked the government for lending such a pair of glasses to him. It had the ability to only silence Dita when she became too much to handle. Although it was adorable and he truly loved her for it, in times like these, it was necessary.

He quickly looked behind him, to see that the persocom was following behind by a few yards. He quickly picked up his pace. He needed to take care of Dita. Once he reached the premises of the Government building, they would be able to handle the persocom easily.

The noise continued, and she quickly sped up. His options were running low, he needed to outrun her somehow, and save Dita in the process. But how?

He quickly began to zig zag through the alleys of abandoned buildings, hoping that the persocom would become confused. He needed to make a decision.

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Here is a bit more suspense. Do remember that this is happening before you see them in the anime/manga. After this, there will be manga/anime references. Make sure you read the top of the chapters to see if that specific chapter has a Spoiler warning. If so, and you don't want to ruin the ending, then you should wait to read this then. Anyway, hope you are enjoying this!