A/N: Well, I have nothing to say other than thanks to all the readers and reviewers. I really appreciate the attention. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

08: We All Have Scars

A gloom settled in over the underground facility. Our heroes, both new and recently reawakened, felt a lack of moral. X had closed himself up in the library, reading up on subjects both important and not so much. Zero drowned himself in simulations to take out his frustrations in silence. Likewise, everyone else found ways to simply wait for Cero's next move. That is what caused the sense of gloom amongst them: it was now a waiting game. Ciel, Prairie, Marian, Seth, Alia, and even Exilion were searching vigurously for some sort of clue as to where Cero had disappeared to, as well as Vent.

"Got any two's?"

"Go fish,"

The betrayal of Vent hit some the hardest. The older Reploids didn't really know Vent that well, so the effects didn't run deep. Prairie obviously felt bad about the issue, she considered Vent a dear friend and cherished subordinate. The other members of the Guardians didn't take the news well either. A mixture of anger and sadness washed over them when they heard that Cero had taken control of Vent. Surprising to some, X had taken hard as well. No matter how you cut it, X is a tender-hearted Reploid at his center. He always cared for humans and any living thing for that matter, even to the point of being considered a whining child. He tried to avoid speaking with anyone on the matter by burying his nose in the books. Alia doubted he was even reading them after she saw a growing stack of books on the desk he was seated at.

"Any Aces?"

"I hate this game,"

Out of everyone around, Aile, Grey, and Ashe took it the hardest. Over their times together being Chosen Ones, they had grown into a tight foursome. Grey saw Vent as a good friend, but Ashe looked up to him a bit more since he helped her specifically. The two mercenaries looked up to Vent and Aile as a pair, perhaps even admired how well they got along. It was because of their bond that Aile took Vent's turn the hardest. As soon as she had returned from the abandoned laboratory, she went straight to the sleeping area and locked herself in a room.

"Got any tens?"

"Nope, go fish Grey,"

"Darn it all!"

Ashe had tried to talk to her and coax her out, but it didn't end very well. Heck, they were desperate enough to give Grey a try. It was an awkward conversation between the two with only five words exchanged. Ashe kind of felt sorry for Grey after seeing how bad he was in these types of situations. Their last resort was Model A. Surprisingly, the small device got a weak laugh out of Aile, but didn't convince her to come out.

"Do you have any threes?" Grey looked up to Ashe and saw her give him a cheeky grin.

"Go," She dramatically dragged it out, "fish." She laughed as Grey growled darkly, taking a card from the pile in-between them. Call them strange, but they had been positioned in front of Aile's door since Model A got her to laugh. They slept there, took turns going to the bathroom, and even ate in front of the door. It was definitely awkward, but it was their way of showing silent support for their friend.

Grey threw up his hands and folded. With a sour expression, he shuffled the deck and mumbled to himself about how stupid card-games were, "I'm so bored." He finally sighed and laid back. He stared at the ceiling with his expression still sour. His vision shifted to the side when he saw Ashe poke her head into his line of sight, now looming over him.

Her expression was filled with playful mockery as she grinned down at him, "Oh come on Grey, you're not seriously mad about a card game are you?" As the seconds ticked by, her grin slowly faded into a look of concern, "Grey?"

"It's not right," The silver-haired Reploid quietly stated, "how could Vent be controlled so easily? From what X and the others said, he wasn't even fighting it." His expression was now stoic, but his eyes told of his battle between feeling angry, or depressed.

Ashe looked down at him with a soft look, knowing what he meant. She sat down beside him and looked at the wall, "I know, but... there's no way Vent would willingly be controlled, we just have to have faith in him." The pair remained silent for a few minutes, reflecting and simply absorbing the weight of their situation.

"Hey, hey, hey," A familiar voice echoed from Model A when he levitated out of Ashe's pocket, "why the long faces? Sitting here moping around won't solve anything."

"What else can we do?" Came Grey's solemn reply.

Model remained silent in thought before floating back in forth as if pacing, "Well, we could try and get one step ahead of Cero." He turned to the two Chosen Ones. "Think about it, if every big-brained, egotistical bad guy had their hands in this plan, who haven't we investigated?"

Ashe and Grey locked eyes and thought about the question. Then, all of a sudden, a name appeared in their minds, "ALBERT!" They both yelled at once. Their gloom was replaced by determination as they shot up and ran to talk to Alia and the others.

"Hey," Model A shot after them in surprise, "wait for me guys!"

On the other side of the base, X was vigorously flipping through every book he could get his hands on. He managed to find a few research passages on the shield Cero had used and a few theories written by Seth's ancestor. Cero had utilized a new form of Particle Manipulation, the same system that kept the Z-Saber charged. The difference was that Cero has the system integrated in his body and can freely manipulate the flow of energy particles around him. Outdoors, he could draw energy particles from sunlight, and use energy particles given off by generators indoors. It was an ingenious system, no doubt produced by Wile.

"Working hard?" The door to the library suddenly opened to reveal Alia, two mugs of coffee in hand. She gently set the steaming mug down in front X, trying to avoid the towers of books around his workspace, "How's everything coming?"

X reached for the mug and took a few sips, keeping his eyes on the book the whole time, "It's going. I've barely made any headway in terms of finding information on Cero. All the researchers of the past merely knew he existed, nothing specific." He went to turn the page, but Alia's hand quickly stopped him, "What is it?" He still had yet to look at her.

The blonde held X's hand firmly and set her mug down to free her other hand, "X," She gently started, "X look at me." She carefully turned his head to face her and looked at him with a tender stare, "Stop doing this to yourself. You did this very thing before when you finished Neo Arcadia." She watched his expressionless face fall ever so slightly and his emerald eyes looked away from her in partial shame. "X, talk to me," She enveloped him in a snug hug, "what's wrong?" She waited for an answer but didn't get one, "Please, please tell me what's wrong."

Her gentle prodding finally got to X as his shoulders drooped and his eyes dropped to look at the floor, "I don't want to fail again." He led Alia into his lap and held her for some sort of security, "I failed the world when it needed me most Alia. I allowed my own weakness to lead me away from what I was truly made to do."

Alia simply listened to X as he spoke, frowning slightly at his tone. She remembered many nights when X would bury himself in work and wouldn't speak to her. The few times he did express himself, he always spoke in a tone that lacked self confidence. It had started out small, but grew as the years went by.

"I'm weak Alia." X heard her gasp quietly at the statement, "I am. I ran into the position of leading the world with so much enthusiasm, but as soon as Zero left, I fell apart. Without people around me, I can't stand. Zero was the true hero of this world, not me."

Alia's eyes shot open at those familiar words. Her grip on X increased greatly as she shakily spoke all of a sudden, "Don't," She barked, "don't leave again X." She felt herself lose her senses as she panicked. He had said those exact words before he used his body to strengthen the seal on Mother Elf. He had done it while she was away at a research facility, but she remembered the look he gave her before she left. It was a distant and sad look, filled with remorse and a tinge of exhaustion. She didn't know it at the time, but she was looking at an X she'd never seen before. She had been looking at an X that had given up, "Don't leave me alone again."

X was taken back by her sudden change in persona. Alia was hardly a sensitive woman, he often thought her a cold researcher when it came to his work. Seeing her suddenly cling to him like this was shocking, but he slowly began to piece it together. He felt even more terrible than before when he figured out what she was referring to, "Alia," He started to apologize but decided against it. The word 'sorry' wouldn't do it. Alia liked it better when X would tell her what was wrong, show he understood, "We all have scars and injuries we bare." He slowly spoke as he returned Alia's embrace, "I never did consider how hurt you were when I sealed myself, the wound I left in your heart. I promise Alia," X placed his chin on her head, "I will never abandon you like that. I promise."

The solemn scene did not go unnoticed by a certain person at the door to the library. She blinked in surprise and turned around to leave, "I'll come back later." Prairie sighed and took off her pink Guardian's hat. She ran a hand through her long blonde hair and looked down at the floor as she walked back to the central control room. "Oh," She gasped when she ran into a large mass and stumbled backwards. A strong hand steadied her and gave a gentlemanly apology.

"I'm sorry," It was a deep voice with a European accent, "I wasn't watching where I was going." The owner of the voice was Colonel himself. He slightly bowed his head and turned to continue down the hallway, but Prairie quickly took hold of his white coat.

"Wait," She paused at her own outburst and froze when Colonel's steady eyes met hers, "could we um," She suddenly felt small under his stoic stare, "could we talk?" She felt nervous when Colonel simply stared at her, "I-I know it's sudden and we don't know each other very well, but... I really need to talk to somebody. Ciel is busy watching over Zero as he fights in the simulators, Leviathan and Phantom are on a recon assignment, Fafnir is busy arm-wrestling Dragoon, and Harpuia is in the middle of a game of chess against Signas." Prairie finally took a breath, "Please?"

Colonel stared down at Prairie with a blank face. He saw her falter and release him, beginning to walk away from him. It was strange, but he soon found himself stopping her. "I wasn't sure if you wanted to talk here, or somewhere else." He apologized again and felt himself wish for Iris's presence. The small Cyber Elf flew off to find a place to rest, leaving him alone for a time.

Prairie's face gently lightened in appreciation, "Oh, I thought you didn't want to talk." She pointed to an empty room and led him inside, "We can talk in here."

Colonel uncomfortably entered the room and watched Prairie sit down on a crate. They were in a well lit storage closet, a prime location for misunderstandings to arise.

"So what do you think of the situation so far?" Prairie fiddled with her hat in her lap and stared down at it. She laughed a bit and continued to mess with the accessory absentmindedly, "I don't think I can take much more of all this. Things just seem to go from bad to worse." Her eyes stung as she waited for Clonel to say something. After a long stretch of silence, Prairie laughed at herself, "You probably think I'm an idiot for feeling like this. I mean, you experienced some of the worst times of in our history. The Maverick Wars were probably ten times worse than this."

Colonel, once again, strangely felt bad for not saying anything. "I apologize." For the third time, Colonel expressed his regrets, "I'm not... good at these types of things." He saw Prairie look up at him in confusion and looked away, hiding his eyes with the beak of his hat. It was really weird for him, but Colonel felt shame at what he was about to say, "I was built... for the sole purpose of fighting and leading. That is why my name is Colonel. Iris, my sister, is supposed to act as my sense of compassion and emotion."

"I see," Prairie looked down slightly and felt bad for putting him in this position, "if this is too awkward for you, you can leave." She offered him a way out, but he did not leave her alone, "Colonel?"

The renewed Repliforce officer steeled himself, "I may not know much about compassion, or how to comfort someone Miss Prairie," Colonel looked up at her with his usual stoic expression, "but I know that I cannot leave a friend alone when she needs help." He seemed to think for a few seconds before speaking again, "If you won't mind, you can simply talk while I listen."

The Guardian Commander didn't know what to say to Colonel after he had said that. Despite his confession of being nothing more than a fighting machine, he had offered he the exact comfort she was looking for. She felt her admiration for Colonel grow as he patiently waited for her to start venting, "Thank you Colonel, that would be perfect." Prairie felt her spirits lift slightly when she saw Colonel give her very tiny smile. "I don't really know where to start, or where to end for that matter." Prairie's expression dropped slowly as her thoughts returned to the Chosen Ones. "It's my fault those two are involved in the first place you know. I dragged them into our fight, all because Giro thought they could do it. Some leader I am huh?" She sniffed and wiped tear from her eyes, "Now look at them. Vent is God knows where, probably doing something that will haunt him for the rest of his life and Aile is an emotional wreck. It was hard enough to deal with them when Giro died, especially since I had my own heartache to get over." She buried her head in her hands as she finally lost her will to hold back her tears, "When I got a glimpse of her face when they got back from that lab, I saw all the sorrow she carries now."

Colonel folded his arms and leaned back on the wall behind him, "She was trying to hold it in, but even I could tell she was hurting."

"I recognized the look immediately. She's such a strong girl," Prairie laughed weakly and continued to wipe her eyes, "but this hurt her to the heart, I know it. She saw someone so close to her under the control of another serious psychopath."

Colonel found himself interested at this, "I'm judging this happened before."

Prairie nodded slowly, "Yes, that's how Giro died. He raised Vent and Aile when they lost their parents. To see her go through this again, and to know it's my fault, it's too much for me to take." Prairie continued to cry under the calm watch of Colonel. The pink clad Guardian let out her frustrations and pains while finding comfort in the presence of the old Reploid.

In the central control room, the mood was little better. Though no tears were being shed, the occupants of the room all felt the weight of gloom on their shoulders. Ciel sighed heavily and continued to type away on the computer, glancing at the large screen to her right. It was a display that was showing Zero as he ran through the simulators. She often had to tear her eyes away from the monitor to get some work done. She couldn't help it, Zero was already on his third run of the simulator's various stages. Though he showed little signs of fatigue, he was obviously troubled, "Oh Zero," Ciel sighed again, "why can't you talk out your troubles like normal people?"

"Cause then I'd call him a pansy!" Fafnir yelled as he continued to struggle against Dragoon's arm. They had been locked in a near even arm-wrestling match for the past hour with no winner in clear sight, "Che, if Zero went sentimental on us, I'd put a hole in him myself."

Ciel ignored Fafnir and continued to watch Zero rip trough packs of holographic enemies. "He hasn't changed a bit."

"Would you have it any other way?" Signas tore his concentration from the chess board. "Zero was always the type to carry his problems on his own shoulders. It's just his way. He'll talk when he feels he has no other choice. No sooner, no later." He moved a knight piece and looked to his opponent, "Your move Harpuia."

The room fell into silence as everyone focused on what they were doing once more. Nothing else was heard in the room other than Ciel's typing, the hum of the computers, and the occasional grunt as Fafnir and Dragoon continued to battle it out with sheer muscle. The silence, however, was shattered when Grey and Ashe rushed into the room and started for the Transerver, "Ciel," Ashe looked across the large room and towards the blonde, "can you set the Transerver for Albert's Lab, we think we might find something if we go."

"I'll handle it," Marian smoothly descended the stairs to the elevator and started for the computer next to Ciel, "I'll monitor your progress, just be careful." She stopped to look down at the person sleeping to her right. Her face arranged into one of disapproval and she coughed loudly, "AHEM, Mr. Seth, if you are quite done sleeping, your scheduled Board Meeting will be taking place in one hour." She produced a few index cards from the clipboard she always carried around. "I took the liberty of writing down everything you'll need, use the hour to go over your data and clean yourself up."

Seth rolled his eyes with a weak smirk, "Thank you Marian," He took the cards and started shuffling through them, "I don't know what I'd do without you." He spotted Ashe and Grey near the Transerver and gave them a confused look, "What are you two up to?"

Marian slightly glared at his flippant reaction to the Board Meeting, but answered all the same. "They plan on going to investigate Albert's Lab, I will be handling their communications until Miss Alia is available again."

The tired CEO looked at the eager Chosen and nodded, "Why not take Exillion along with you, never know what might happen." He looked around for the white Reploid and finally spotted him cleaning his beamsaber and buster, "Exillion, get your weapons together and go with them to the lab."

"Understood," Exillion quickly reassembled his gear and placed them in their proper holsters. In seconds, the trio was loaded onto the Transerver and awaited transport.

Marian quickly typed in the coordinates and warmed up the Transerver, "Get ready for transfer in three, two, one, transfer." She activated the Transerver and watched as the trio was teleported to the abandoned lab of the deceased Sage Trinity.

Seth quickly adjusted his tie and suit-coat while he rushed for the elevator to take him back up to the main building, "Well, I'm off. Notify me if anything happens."

"Where's the meeting going to take place?" Ciel continued to type, but couldn't stop her curiosity from getting the best of her.

Seth looked over his shoulder as the elevator doors prepared to close, "Same place all of Biotech's Board Meetings take place, the Sky Lagoon II."

A/N: Short and heavy again. The action will be back next chapter and with a bang at that, but I wanted to do a bit of character development this chapter. Megaman is a depressing game when you think about what the characters must feel during the games. Well at any rate, please drop a review and tell me if you like the Colonel Prairie stuff.