AN: Sorry for the wait guys, and how short and choppy this chapter is, but there's a lot of simultaneous stuff going on.
Music listened to while writing: Skillet: Rebirthing, Skillet: Comatose, Within Temptation: All I Need, Bond: Explosive, Flyleaf, Jimmy Eat World: Just Tonight, Papa Roach: Scars.
Some other songs too, but that was the main stuff.
Most of those songs are deep and meaningful and have some kind of vague relevence to what I was writing...somehow.

Disclaimer: I don't own zoids.

Awaken

Chapter Ten

Deep

The room had a calm look to it, but there was some ghostly force there that twisted that innocence into something sinister. It was a horrible experience just looking into the room, and yet the medical team had to work in it, visited the private patient regularly. It was a job that all the medical staff, nurses and doctors, hated.

The body-as one of the doctors called it for he had lost hope- was always still and if it wasn't for the dull colour in his face he would seem dead to a normal person. Of course the beeping machines stopped them from checking his pulse every time they visited him, just to be sure.

There was so much controversy over 'the body'. He was a criminal, one of the worst Zi had ever seen, and if it wasn't for Hiltz and Prozen who had tried to either rule or destroy the planet (the version varied with each newspaper) he would have most likely been the worst. There was still some debate about it.

An unexpected sound came from the bed on which 'the body' was lying in. Everyone stopped their work to turn. One nurse glanced around at the faces of his workmates, wondering who had made the sound but there were all staring at the bed, so the nurse looked at the criminal.

Sure enough, Raven had moved.

"Does this mean he's awake?" One of the other nurses whispered her voice barely audible.

The only present doctor shook his head. "It means he's improving, but not necessarily awake, and if he did regain consciousness, it may have only been for a few moments, the damage wasn't light."

The male nurse frowned. "How could he slip back into consciousness for only a moment and then back into a coma."

The doctor shrugged. "There's a lot we don't know about the mind, but he's something to consider – not all damage shows in a brain scan. Make what you will of that."

Colonel Shubaltz will be happy. The nurse thought. He's been pestering us for information, and now we'll be able to tell him there's been a change. He smiled a little. It'd be good for Shubaltz to smile, he's always so serious.

The glowing yellow eyes bore into the Liger as the blades came forward. They were alight with power and in one blow could slice the enemy zoid in half. It was just a matter of making the two connect, and it was proving to be very difficult.

Whenever Van got near, the Geno moved, always changing the direction of the maneuver and always firing at the shielded Liger, finding gaps in the defense with patience, whether they were from behind the shield or firing at the same spot for long enough for a whole to appear.

The whole quickly shut, but the few bullets that got there still did damage.

Shadow moaned as they got from behind again. Normally he wouldn't have a problem with a Liger, but since he was injured he couldn't stand the pressure as much. He felt himself weakening at a much slower rate than he was used to, but still a lot faster than he liked.

Van's mouth was a slash, Shadow's moan wasn't at all a good sign. "Are you okay?" He asked as he turned the Liger around. "Can't you handle it?" He then added with a smirk, hoping that if he fired the organoid up he'd battle better.

Shut it human! Shadow snapped angrily though Van could only hear a deep growl. I could defeat you, you're Liger and you're pathetic partner all together! You were impressed with my power, even in my injured state, just admit it weakling!

Van smirked, noticing the tone. His plan had at least partly worked.

The Liger would have charged at the green Geno again, but Shadow stopped Van's hands from moving the controls. The organoid had other plans. He faced the Geno head on. Both zoids were still. He then lowered the shield for the Geno hadn't fired for a while. It usually stopped if the shield was doing its job.

"What're you doing?" Van cried, slamming his palms into the controls.

Shadow didn't answer, instead he just pulled the blades in and shot out from the cannon's below the Liger's chest, and when the Geno dodged that he fired with the lasers up top, aiming for where the Geno looked to land.

Shadow, having much target practice before, and a good reaction time, hit the Geno's chest. The green zoid quickly jumped again, hissing at came closer with each angled bound.

"Shadow!" Van said with panic, and still trying to move the controls.

Oh shut up. The organoid thought to himself and pulled the blades out sharply, lunging forward as the green Geno was mid-leap towards them. With dread he realized his miscalculation, and watched the Geno's tail come down, the only part of the zoid that was in front of the Liger.

Van, out of instinct and reflex slammed his fists into the laser's controls, only hitting the trigger and hoping desperately that it was already aimed properly. The pilot's eyes were closed and his mind had blanked in terror, his heart in his ears and fear stuck in his throat.

A metallic cry of pain made Van's eyes open, only to see his cockpit still darker than usual. There was a horrible crash and the cockpit shook violently, glass shattering around him as the Geno slammed down, letting out a cry of mixed pain and cruel satisfaction.

Shadow let out an involuntary weak mew as he left the Liger, slamming down in the sand near Zeke. The pain had been too much for the black organoid.

What happened? Van asked himself through the pain of glass cuts. I heard it get hurt…Or…was it the Liger? No, it couldn't have been, the Liger's voice is much lower…

He felt tears in his eyes; the pain was so intense it made his throat act on its own, the pain escaping out his mouth in sobs and weak cries. He had no memory of being in anything that physically agonizing before. I must be dying. He thought in fear. But…that can't be…no! No! I can't leave Fiona! Or Zeke, or Thomas, Irvine…Moonbay, Liger…All my friends, all of them….they need me…no…I can't go…not yet…

He heard Zeke growling beside him and faintly wondered how he got there. Wasn't he away? The pilot was lightheaded and vaguely felt Zeke nudge his cheek gently, he was unaware of the cords that wrapped around each of his limbs and dragged him inside a warm cocoon.

Van had been right, the Geno had been hit, but only on it's spiked tail which it used to slam down on the Liger's head again, trying to destroy the pilot and white organoid which it watched go inside. To its annoyance the pests got away, but it wasn't completely unhappy as it turned away from the cliff edge they escaped off.

Its yellow eyes lingered on the black figure on the ground. How that fly had caused it so much trouble. A tenor hiss emitted from its mouth and it slowly moved towards the insect, the long, armored legs supporting its weight easily. With each step it hastened, eager to kill the organoid pest.

The spiked tail flicked as far as it could, which really wasn't much, but enough to get the point across. It was one deadly machine.

A sound came from the cliff side, it was unfamiliar, but it knew what it was. Flying zoids were on their way, and though they'd be easy to destroy, that was no the object of the mission. Destroy the pilots. That was all it was supposed to do. The failure made it burn inside with wicked loathing. It wasn't supposed to reveal itself just yet so it had to keep itself hidden from the flying weaklings.

It hovered out of there, screaming in frustration as it did. The failure, the rules, the pest zoids, the pest organoids, they'd all be gone soon; it was just a matter of harnessing that rage for the right moment. A bloodthirsty rumble came from its core, spawned by the very idea of the violence to come.

Irvine stood beside Shubaltz as they carried his brother away in a morbidly convenient body bag. Irvine's head was hung and he was struggling to keep it all inside. The sobbing from such a strong man beside him wasn't helping at all, but he knew it'd be wrong to leave him now.

Irvine's mind was jumping around, thinking about Thomas, all those memories, how he'd never see him again, and then Karl, how hard it must be. Feeling the tears burn his eyes he tried to think about something else, but then his mind just jumped to how lucky he was, how close he was to ending up like Thomas, and his throat tightened so much that he had to gasp for air. Two simultaneous emotions choked him. Fear of death, and survivor's guilt.

He closed his eyes, trying to swallow the stubborn lump, but his saliva just got slowed, oozing down sluggishly. What of Van? He wondered. Is Van okay? What will he do when he finds out? He's so weak…He won't be able to take it. Another weight pressed down. And then there's Zeke, but worst will be Fiona… glancing beside him he reworded his thoughts. Worst that doesn't already know.

Irvine wondered about Shubaltz's family. He remembered hearing that Thomas had always been shadowed by Karl, but he wondered how they'd react. Would they be relieved to hear that it was the younger brother or would they break down like the colonel?

It's not my place. He reminded himself while pulling his arm away from a concerned medic. He wasn't in the mood. Neither was she.

"Give me you're arm." She said more sternly as she grabbed it again. "You can be sad while we treat you."

With his peripheral vision Irvine saw Karl's fist clench as he was taken away. He gave up resisting, which probably meant that he did need medical help.

There was some commotion nearby that Irvine couldn't focus on immediately. It sounded like something small landing nearby and there was a roar shortly after that make the ground shudder. Something serious must have happened. This was definitely a bad day.

He looked over sharply when he heard Van's name, and sure enough there he was, in all his bloody, cut-up and unconscious splendor with medics hurrying over to him and Zeke whining sulkily. The organoid followed him sadly as they walked passed Irvine and the brothers to the medics.

Zeke paused, sensing something was wrong and looked at the body bag curiously. He had never seen one of those in his life and moved closer to investigate. He slowed as he approached and leaned in close with his nose. Irvine became alarmed when he opened his mouth slightly as if he was going to try and open it.

"Zeke no!" He cried, scared of what Karl and the organoid would do.

"It's Thomas." Karl sobbed, wiping his eyes with the back of a hand and he swallowed hard. Panting as he breathed again he looked back at Zeke. His eyes were puffy and red. In reply the organoid lowered his body as whimpered sadly. He didn't know why Shubaltz was sad, but it upset him anyway.

He cocked his head, not knowing why Thomas was in a black bag. Surely it would be hard to breathe in such a thing. Zeke thought, blinking expectantly at Karl, kindly letting him know he was awaiting an answer.

"He's…" Karl sobbed harder, unable to finish his sentence though he tried.

"Thomas is gone Zeke." Irvine said quietly, the words hurt him too. There was a dense pain in his chest that appeared so suddenly it frightened the pilot. He blinked tears back again and grimaced at the way Zeke looked at him. It was clear the organoid still didn't understand. How could he? He had never heard the word 'gone' used in such a way.

"He's deceased." A redhead medic whispered to him, biting her lip as she looked at him. Zeke's face dropped and their was obvious disbelief showing on his facial features, he whined sadder than before and looked at the medic with crimson, sorrow-filled eyes.

Reese glared at her measly food. "I want tuna." She said flatly.

"We don't have any tuna." The guard answered in monotone. He was used to criminals complaining about their food.

"I'm not going to eat anything but Tuna."

He sighed. "That doesn't bother me as much as you may believe."

Reese glared at him. She had her ways of getting what she wanted and she was going to get what she wanted whether her methods were legal or not. It was just a matter of time. Her body, however, was more impatient than her mind.

"I want tuna." She said again.

"You're," He paused, only for a split second before continuing, "Going to have to wait a few minutes."

She smiled to herself as he left to get it. She had managed to get bugs inside the building easily. They just needed to stay hidden. Raven wasn't the only one able to learn from past errors and misjudgments.

Shadow stirred, one of legs twitched, kicking out at an invisible enemy. He opened his now dull eyes and listened as aerial zoids passed overhead. He had thought he heard a cry so loud that the ground beneath him and vibrated its anger. It was hard to tell now, whether that had been real or imagined though.

He very slowly pushed himself up and looked around. His limbs were shaking, and he felt so drained that he could have curled up and whimpered, but he didn't. He took an unbalanced step that almost ending with his face in the stiff sand. His movements were small and uncoordinated as he stumbled away from the cliff edge.

He desperately wanted Raven there with him; he needed to see his partner again. He would know what to do. Raven'd help him. He imagined Raven coming out of one of the rock shapes around him with arms open and smiling. He'd be happy that Shadow was there, but also very concerned for him and run over immediately.

Shadow collapsed as he imagined Raven kneeling beside him and stroking him while talking. Raven'd try anything to make it better. Shadow closed his eyes and relaxed, half asleep and believing Raven was actually there and helping him.

Everything will be alright. He thought happily. You're here.

FAN: Aww, poor Shads. I couldn't help it. By the way, he does actually believe Raven is there. I've done that before, not with Raven, or because of an injury...I was just really tired.

I never noticed how hard it was to get the right message across in my ANs without using 'lol'. Damn...