DISCLAIMER: I own nothing and no one from The Zeta Project. I am just a poor college student who also happens to be a rabid Zeta fan and this just happens to be a fanfiction that my mind came up with that I feel like sharing with other fans. I make absolutely NO money from this. It is merely for fun and hopefully the enjoyment of other fans. Please don't sue and fans please enjoy.

Chapter 10: For He has a Heart

"You warm enough?" Ro asked quietly, her voice cutting through the uncomfortable silence that had settled between Bennett and herself ever since Zee left. Truthfully the two had barely spoken a word to each other after Ro had told Bennett where Zee had gone. Ro had soon found it was a bit awkward being alone with the man who was in charge a tracking herself and her synthoid friend down and ultimately bringing Zee in for reprogramming… Scratch that, the blonde mentally corrected. It wasn't a bit awkward. It was really awkward. Oh Zee hurry up, Ro begged silently.

"Fine," Bennett answered curtly with a slight nod. He wasn't much more comfortable with his current situation then Ro was with her's but really there wasn't much either of them could do about it.

They sat there quietly together for a while longer. The heat in the cabin had quickly fallen and continued to do so in the Zee's absence. Because of this Ro had ended up sitting with Bennett huddled in blankets, her back resting against the mattress he lay on as close to the fire as she could get. The dog lay next to her along the mattress and he looked cold. He lay curled up beside her with his fluffy white tail covering his nose. Hopefully, Ro thought running a hand over the dog's soft white coat, the fire would keep most of the chill away. At least she couldn't see her breath on the air yet.

"That's real isn't it?" Bennett finally questioned nodding his head in the direction of the fire place, trying to break the unbearable silence that lay heavily in the cabin.

Ro turned to look over her shoulder. "What? You mean the fire? Of course it's real. Burning wood and everything. If you haven't noticed there's not really any electricity all out here in the middle of nowhere."

"You know that's illegal. The clean airs act clearly state in section 124–"

"Oh stuff the legal crap," Ro interrupted irritably. She blew on her hands trying to warm them a little before huddling deeper into the blankets. "Without it or Zee we'd both be freezing now and since we don't have Zee we need the fire. "Besides," the teenager added after a bit. "I'm already practically the most wanted criminal in the US of A, unjustly I might point out… Adding a little 'fire charge' won't do much to my already dubious record."

Bennett fell silent and turned his eyes away from her back towards the fire. He wasn't going to touch that topic. Not right now… He was too tired to think about anything that complex and confusing right now…

After a moment of silence Ro sighed. "Sorry," she mumbled surprising Bennett who could not think for the life of him what she should be sorry about.

"That was too harsh," the blonde continued. "I'm just a little tired and cranky right now."

The NSA agent studied Ro's stiff back and somehow he knew the teenagers eyes were unconsciously trained on the door, waiting. "Rowan there's no need to worry," said Bennett quietly after a second. "I'm sure Zeta will be fine."

"I'm not worried!" Ro burst out in outrage at his words. "Where do you get off– " She cut herself off suddenly with a sigh hugging herself a little tighter. The next time she spoke her voice was quieter but still a little stressed. "Okay fine I'm worried… but you would be too if your best friend in the world went off to… and…Uh!" Frustrated, the blonde buried her face in her arms. "Damn his stupid sense of morality."

The dog at Ro's feet looked at her picking up on her obvious distress and whined. He got up then and sat with his large white head on her shoulder in an effort to confront her.

"Sorry boy," Ro sighed resting her cheek against the dogs soft fur and gently petting his neck. "I'm fine." A small smile graced her lips as a thought popped into her head. "Jeez with the way I'm acting you'd think it was my time of the month or something." Then her voice grew serious again. "I just… I just hate feeling so helpless sometimes..."

Bennett studied the teenagers back thoughtfully. "You really do care about him, Zeta, don't you?"

"Well duh! Why else would I stay with the tin head for this long? If you haven't noticed yet, being with Zee is not exactly one of the most healthy pastimes. You see he has these annoying NSA agents always chasing him around and they can be quite a hazard."

Bennett graciously ignored the last part of what Rosalie had said and answered her question. "One hypothesis was you stay with Zeta because of his unlimited cred card." Bennett said matter-a-factly. He half expected Ro to get angry, anyone else would have, and was surprised when she just took the implied question seriously

She sighed petting the dogs head absentmindedly. "No that's just a perk… I will admit in the beginning, the very, very beginning, money had something to do with it, but not now… Not for a while now…"

"What changed?" The man asked quietly, genuinely curious.

"Bennett, Zee's no longer just what he was programmed to be. He's no longer just a killing machine taking orders. He has become so much more. Even an idiot could see that."

"Rowan, Zeta's a synthoid, a robot. They do what their programmed to do." Bennett said just a little forcefully. Almost as if he was trying to convince himself just as much as he was trying to convince the teenager.

"Then tell me," Ro answered with just a touch of irritation in her voice. "Why did he save you? No killing machine I know would have done that."

Dammit, Bennett cursed silently. He really didn't want to get into this subject, but he had started the conversation in the first place. He might as was continue. "I –I don't know… That's why the NSA needs Zeta to be brought in and–"

"Why must you know exactly what it was that changed Zee? Why can't you people just leave him alone?" Rowan cut him off in exasperation. She had heard this all before, way too many times, and she wasn't going to listen to the governmental spew again if she had any say in it.

Bennett didn't know what to say to that and, after a moment, it was clear the teenager wasn't done.

"He has a heart," the blonde continued resting her head on her arms again and the dog laid down beside her. "Zee has a heart. He may not have been originally built with one, but somewhere along the way he got one and from what I can tell it's bigger, kinder and more caring then mine or yours or anyone elses that I have ever met."

Bennett could practically hear the angry tears in her voice even though he couldn't see him. "Oh Rowan," Bennett sighed tiredly. "If only I didn't have to bring Zeta in, but it's my job. If it wasn't me it would be someone else."

"Well your job, as you so call it, is ruining someone's life," the teenager snapped back before she realized the whole of what Bennett had said. "Wait," the blonde blinked and looked sharply down at him. "What do you mean 'if only you didn't have to bring Zeta in?' I always thought you were the one who wanted Zee caught the most."

Bennett's eyes widened in surprise and he quickly looked away from the teenagers piercing blue gaze. He couldn't believe he had let that slip, that he had practically said his misgivings out loud!

"Things have… changed," he said carefully hoping to lead Ro away from the subject, but he doubt he would… The blonde was really a whole heck of a lot smarter then many people gave her credit for being. "I'm not really sure what I know about Zeta is… correct anymore."

The agents tone has suggested the end of the subject, but Ro wasn't going to pay attention to that. "What's that supposed to mean?" she press further wondering if maybe, just maybe Bennett had chased her and Zee for long enough that it had changed his opinion of 'the fugitives' just as Ro's opinion had changed about her pursuers.

"Just what I said." Bennett answered a bit huffily. He wasn't really a man who was used to being questioned. "Things just aren't as black and white as they once were, okay?!"

"Oh hell no." By this time Ro had turned fully towards the agent and was staring at him intently. "You're so not getting away with being cryptic with me today. I just helped save your life remember? You owe me."

For a long moment Bennett said not a word and since Ro refused to look away first the two were caught in a deadlock of sorts. (During which time the dog was looking confusedly back and forth between the two humans wondering what the heck was going on.) Finally Bennett blinked and averted his eyes. "I overheard Zeta's conversation with Selig at Knossos," he said softly.

"Oh…" Ro eyes widened in realization. "Oh!"

"Despite that it's still my job, my duty to bring Zeta in, got it?" Bennett almost snapped then he sighed and closed his eyes. "What Selig said, it's just not enough. Not enough to do… anything with."

"U-huh." Ro just stared at the agent before her. He had been there. Right there with them and they had never known. Should she tell Zee? But what would it do? As Bennett has said, it wasn't enough to clear Zee and the agent would be the one to know. It was kinda his area of expertise after all…

Ro sighed and laid back on the floor using the edge of the mattress as a pillow and stared up at the ceiling. The dog snuggled in closer to her and she started to pet him again. Amazing how comforting dogs can be without even really trying. "This is messed up isn't it?" She finally murmured not really to anyone in particular.

"Mmmm," the injured agent quietly agreed.

The two lay for a time, thinking their own thoughts.

"Bennett… you still awake?"

"Yah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You look tired."

Bennett raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't open his eyes. "Thanks… I think"

"Anyway," Ro quickly continued changing the subject. Sometime she really was too honest for her own good. She literally couldn't count the millions of times her mouth had go her in trouble. "Are you hungry? It's been a while since the last time you ate."

Bennett mentally groaned. "Not really. No."

"'Kay," Ro nodded more to herself then Bennett's words. She understood. With everything she wasn't really hungry either, but the agent was going to have to eat sooner or later if he wanted to get better. "When you are just ask… we have plenty of stuff around… whenever…"

Bennnett's eyes blinked open to look at the back of Ro's head and, after a moment a small smile suddenly graced the agent's features as he realized what the teenager was trying to do. She was trying to find something to do to take her mind off things. Not a bad idea really. Unfortunately in the middle of nowhere, there wasn't much to do. "Why don't you feed the dog?" he suggested offhandedly.

"Oh that's right!" Ro exclaimed sitting up abruptly, disturbing her new canine companion. "I haven't fed you yet, you poor baby. No telling when's the last time you ate. I'm going to scrounge up something for you, okay? Be back in a sec." And with that Ro disappeared into what Bennett suspected was the kitchen.

The dog watched her go from where he sat by the mattress before cocking his head questioningly to Bennett.

"Don't look at me," the agent said to those puppy eyes. "I don't understand her any better then you do."

The dog snuffed at that and laid down again.

Bennett quietly chuckled to himself a bit… When you got down to it, Rosalie was a pretty good kid. One thing was certain, she was definitely no longer the sarcastic little girl she had been the first time he had met her. Okay… still a bit sarcastic sometimes and just a tad rebellious but definitely not little anymore… In fact soon enough she would legally be an adult. The faint smile fell from Bennett's face at the thought. He had recently checked Rosalie Rowan's records. The date of her eighteenth birthday was coming up. Fast. In only a few months she would technically no longer be a minor and that could and quite probably would complicate things… Just what he needed: more complications.

Luckily before Bennett's thoughts could get too dark, Ro came rushing back with a bowl of food.

"You have dog food here?" Bennett asked, honestly curious. The dog head instantly rose at the sound of the two words 'dog' and 'food' and his ears perked up, almost as if he was saying 'Food?' His tongue dropped out of his open mouth as he began to pant. 'I like food.'

"Not exactly," the blonde answered struggling to set down the bowl, while the overenthusiastic horse of a dog did the happy-food dance around her.

"Boy, you must have been really hunger." Ro finally said as she watched the dog dig in with more then a little enthusiasm. She brushed his back affectionately with her hand before plopping back on the floor by Bennett and gathering the blankets around her once more.

"Might I ask what you gave him?" the NSA agent enquired as Ro settled in.

"Um… instant beef chili?" the teenager said in a tone that was almost apologetically. "It was the first thing I could find that looked sorta like dog food. He seems to like it though." She continued as she watched the dog practically licking the bowl clean.

"Dogs seem to like just about anything when it comes to food." Bennett answered with a trace of a smile in his voice as well as on his face.

Seeing that on the man's features, Ro still found it hard not to stare. She just didn't quite know what to make of this… softer version of Bennett she was slowly discovering, but if nothing else, she did know she liked him more now then she had before. Unfortunately that could also become a bit complicated… with their whole fugitive – agent relationship and all.

Ro sighed quietly, resting her cheek in her hand. Then the dog's nose was right there in front of her and she got a big slobbery lick.

"Ew chili-breath," she laughed wiping slobber of her face. The dog looked at her and cocked his head questioningly.

"What? Done already boy?" The blonde said ruffling his white fur and glancing over to the very empty bowl the dog had left behind. "You know we never did get around to naming you, did we? What do you think Bennett?" Ro smiled over her shoulder at the man. "What would be a good name for this fuzzball?"

"What? Oh I don't know," the agent answered. He shifted a bit uncomfortably. It still felt rather awkward for him to be having such a normal conversation with Rosalie. "What do you think?" he finally asked.

Ro seemed to think about that for a moment. "Well lets see… humm… Fluffy."

"What?!" Bennett was totally surprised by the choice. It seemed so uncreative for a teenager and especially one who always was demonstrating her creative ability by coming up with new and interesting ways to evade him and his team.

Ro would not be detoured though. "I think that is what we should call him: Fluffy"

"Why in the world would you choose a name like that?"

"Hey," the blonde said maybe just a bit defensively. "The name might not be original, but it's a classic… and you like it, don't you big guy?" she finished with her words directed at the newly dubbed Fluffy and he barked agreeably.

"Okay okay," Bennett smiled. "You guys have convinced me."

Fluffy panted through a big doggy grin, looking happily back and forth between the two human. His vary joyful presence lightening the atmosphere and soon enough everyone in the room had some sort of smile on their faces. Ro and Bennett found themselves grinning at each other, with maybe a bit more mutual respect and understanding of each other then they had had before, but the moment didn't have a chance to last. The next second the door banged open and two agents came in baring guns.

TBC…

Okay I'm getting pretty sleepy as I near the end of this so I'm going to try to keep this short and sweet. Hope you liked, please review and that's all folks. See ya later, I'm going to go crawl into bed now.

Peppymint: Hey darling. Good to hear from you. Truthfully I wasn't expecting to see you in this 'neck of the woods.' Simply put, I didn't know you were a Zee fan, but it's still really nice to see/hear from you again. I hope you are enjoying and I can't wait to hear from you again.

Iglika: Hey there. Thanks for the review. Your input is much appreciated as always. Hope you like this chapter :)

P.S. Chapter title: "For He has a Heart" inspired by the song title "For the Heart I Once Had" sung by Nightwish