Vent could just barely remember that last time he had gotten sick. He was about four at the time, and the virus he received was a widespread one- even Juno got it. In fact, all of the human staff at Giro Express got the virus. Vent remembered bunking in Juno's room while the two got better, they both had really high fevers, but Juno kept squirming away from him because she swore that his feet were colder than a dead man's body.
Despite Giro Express being cut more than half of staff from leave, Girouette still came every hour on the dot to check on them. Vent remembered that his fever started to break far before Juno's did, and he was able to get back to working not long after that. Juno had to still be in bed far after he was allowed to get up, and maybe from a forged memory Vent overheard Muguet tell Giro that Juno's condition was getting worse. That was when Giro came to see Juno every ten minutes; it had gotten so bad that his boss even refused deliveries. The word 'death' was never said around him, but its reminder lingered throughout the transport service like an airborne virus. Everything, it seemed, was wrong then.
It was that night Vent learned what the word 'worry' meant. Of course, that didn't mean he'd never heard the word before; the adults were always telling themselves to 'not worry' about things Vent himself didn't quite understand. He took the phrase to mean the same as 'break a leg' or 'good luck,' just little bits of encouragement adults gave each other because they needed it. Turned out, it had a much broader meaning than just encouragement.
Waiting six hours for Girouette to properly reboot made the boy worry. It made him worry that his boss wouldn't completely recuperate (he wasn't in the right mind beforehand, and Prairie didn't specifically say that it was part of the transference), and then he worried that when Giro did get better, he was going to punish Vent for what he had said. The boy flinched every time he remembered Giro's reaction to a moment of smart-assery that Vent was bound and determined that he could not control. The look on his boss's face could have stopped traffic in Cinq Ville from up in the sky, it would have made a ripe tomato look pale in comparison, it was nothing Vent had never seen before on his caretaker's face; what Vent didn't know was that Giro had only faced one of his demons that morning. The other was something that Girouette would never forgive himself for, ever.
"Are you alright?" Vent asked his boss after exactly six hours were over. Girouette sat up on the medical cot and gave his charge a warm smile.
"Yes, I think so. Thank you Vent."
"Hey… Giro…" Vent then started to say, sheepishly looking down at the floor, "About earlier..."
"Don't worry about it Vent." Girouette assured, even placing a calm hand on Vent's shoulder. "I… actually kinda deserved it."
"No you didn't Boss!" argued Vent, getting out of Giro's grip. "I stepped out of line and-"
"Vent, if anyone seriously needs to apologize today, it's me." Girouette asserted. His tone was growing darker. "I've lied too much to you in the past. I need to… I need to tell you something."
"W-what?"
Giro took a long exhale before starting to say something, but was cut off by emergency alarms.
"Mavericks detected in Area D!" an announcer proclaimed through the intercom system, "Mission objectives will be relayed on arrival. Move out and await further orders. I repeat! Mavericks detected in Area D! Mission objectives will by relayed on arrival. Move out and await further orders."
Girouette frowned. "Area D..." he thought to himself. "That's next to the Slither Inc office. Come on, Vent, we're going to see if the commander needs help."
Vent nodded and the two paced to the command room. Prairie had already been in ordering mode as she went from intercom to intercom telling other Guardians on how to proceed before turning to Giro and Vent. Her rather cheerful and cute personality from before was completely gone now- she was serious, dead serious, and it did not look good on her. Vent felt like he was looking at a completely different person now.
"The enemy is on the move." Prairie informed them, even her tone was different now. It surprised Vent, but Giro seemed rather unfazed.
"'Enemy?'" Giro repeated with a raise of his eyebrow. "They're not just random outbreaks?"
Prairie gave a stiff nod. "During the clean up of Areas A and B, the crew found a chip that we ended up running through our database. It gave us enough information to raise the Maverick outbreaks from implied, to programmed."
"There's a difference?" Vent wondered, looking up at Giro for confirmation.
"Implied Maverick outbreaks mean that one has gone Maverick due to a wiring or connection problem." Girouette informed Vent without looking at him. "Programmed Maverick outbreaks mean that someone else is behind them, and they have a good chance at being tracked."
"Which leads us to what they're after." Prairie continued.
Coming in at perfect time, an announcement came in through the command room's speakers, "Ground forces reporting! Maverick activity has picked up in Area D, we have begun to open fire on any Mavericks on sight. We have also confirmed the possible capture of a human girl- roughly fourteen years old, short brown hair, and green eyes."
Vent grew pale. "Crea..."
"Could you repeat the last line once more Maquereau." Prairie requested into a microphone- her tone dangerous and low.
"We have also confirmed the possible capture of a human girl- if eye witnesses are to believed, she is of roughly fourteen years of age, has short brown hair, and green eyes. She was accompanied by a red Reploid wolf-dog who was also abducted at the scene. We have not been told of any demands from the captors thus far. Would you like us to stand by for further relay?"
"Treble..." Vent trembled as he slowly started to back away. "No!"
Turning on his heel, Vent started to run out of the command room to the transerver.
"Vent!" Prairie snapped at him, "Where do you think you're going?!"
Vent turned around to face Giro and Prairie, feeling as if he were either going to pass out or throw up. "I can help them if I use the Biometal!" the boy declared. Every part of his body was shaking. He could barely see straight for all it was worth.
Girouette stepped forward. "Think Vent!" his mentor told him, it wasn't in a harsh tone but it seemed just as scared as Vent appeared to be. "That Biometal is exactly what they want! You'll play right into their hands if you go out there to save her!"
Vent looked down at the floor for a moment before looking back up at his caretaker. "Twice I thought I would never see her again, I'm not going to let that happen again." After this, Vent slowly backed to the door, then ran to the transerver room without looking behind him.
"Vent!" Prairie called out to him, although she knew it was too late. Giro's expression had become hard and unreadable.
"Why won't he ever listen?!" the Reploid demanded before running behind Vent to catch up to him.
. . .
Most of whatever possessed him back at Guardian HQ had worn off after Merging with Model X again. Merging with the Biometal was like receiving a well loved hug from your favorite relative. If he had been in a better mood, Vent would have felt lightheaded and empowered. For now though, he was just glad that his limbs weren't shaking as if he were cold.
"Hold on Vent!" Girouette called from behind him. Vent turned around and saw Giro once again Merged with Model Z. Suddenly, Vent felt guilty again.
"Boss, I..."
"I'm not going to try and stop you." Girouette told him sincerely. "But I'm not going to let you rescue her alone. I'll scout up ahead to make sure the path is as clear for you as I can make it. Are you sure that your head will be level by then?"
Vent nodded. Girouette didn't seem as sure, and he placed both his hands on Vent's shoulders for the two of them to look directly in the eye.
"Vent," his caretaker then told him, "There are times when you can not hesitate to pull the trigger. These guys will kill you if you give them the opportunity. Do you understand how critical it is that you keep a clear mind while doing this?"
Vent swallowed back dried saliva before giving Giro a confirming, near confident, nod. "I want to protect her." Vent said. "I want to protect everyone."
"Good." Giro agreed, allowing himself to sigh contently. Then, in a surprise to both of them, Vent pulled Giro in for a hug. If the boy had known what would happen to his caretaker in the next few minutes, he would have never let go.