Authors Notes: It looks like Echo and Kate have grown on me...I know I said I wouldn't...but I have never done an OC and character pairing for some time. Please tell me what you think in the reviews :D

Bronze Colored Heart

Chapter 10

When it rains…

Echo looked at himself in the mirror. He looked brand new. All the rust was gone and it was replaced with a bronze frame. It took some work, and honestly to Borg it was his best work. Even Pixal said he was bright and shiny.

"Do you think Kate will like it." He looked at his brother who just softly smiled at his brother.

"Something tells me she loved you even when you were rusted." Zane said looking on out of the floor to ceiling window in Borgs office. Echo looked at his reflection again and then turned around to look at his brother.

"Loved? But brother we are only friends." He tried to mask his embarrassment.

"Oh is that what that was." Pixal said from a monitor to Echos left. "That's not what th…" The sirens started to go off. Zane turned to look around the city. A huge plume of fire and smoke enveloped the horizon. Echo gasped looking at the many ships that dotted the sky. He turned to look at his brother.

"Ships." He said and looked around at Borg who pushed a button on his desk.

"After our recent run ins with bad people I've put some defenses up for the people. It won't last forever Zane. You'll need to get back to the ninja."

"Echo stay here where it is safe." Zane pleaded with his brother. His brother however shook his head and held up a piece of paper with an address on it.

"I need to find Kate." Echo said

Kate looked out of her bedroom window and saw a large ship skirt through the buildings. She gasped closing the curtain and looked around her apartment. She needed a weapon. She ran into the kitchen picking up a few knives and looked around for the broom...once again MIA. She probably left it in the hallway again.

She jumped hearing the front entrance to the apartment building being broken down. She ran to the window hoping to get out the fire escape. Once the curtains were thrown back a huge cannon was shoved inside and a huge hole was blown outward. The huge blast caused her to fly back and crash through the closet and into her bathroom.

She coughed trying to fill her lungs back up with air. Her ears rang for the second time that day. She jumped looking out over the sink. There were two pirates in her apartment. She picked up the knife she had got from her kitchen drawer and pushed herself further back in the shower. She tried to quietly put herself into a crouch position. She wouldn't want to lay down while trying to defend herself.

"I swear I saw someone." The voice was thick and almost pushy as if he were trying to convince someone that she existed. They walked into the bathroom and looked around. One reached out and grabbed the curtain. When the shower curtain was pulled aside Kate pushed forward. The knife struck flesh and deep. The pirate made a god awful gurgling noise as he fell. The knife was deep in his chest. The second pirates grabbed Kate by the arm and back handed her into the sink. She back peddled and ended on on the floor next to the bed.

"You lousy wench!" He yelled. Kate got to her feet faster then she even thought she couldn't. She ran toward the door, it was all she could do now that her kitchen knife was embedded in someone's chest in her bathroom. She screamed feeling the man grab her shirt. It tore as he pulled her back. She hit the floor hard. Her ankle just wasn't allowing her to move fast at all. It stung like it was on fire.

The pirate hit the floor. Kate looked bewildered at him, honestly wondered if he had a heart attack for a second. Then she looked up to see Echo standing there.

"Echo?" She thought she was seeing things, or perhaps she was dead and was seeing him because she wanted to see him so much.

"Yes Kate its me." He said holding out his hand for her. She reached out and lightly took it and gasped seeing her shirt, and pants were covered in blood. Echo looked her over.

"Are you injured?" He asked his voice was showing signs of distress. He began to scan her.

"No no...I got knocked around a little but I…" Her face grew pale and she began to shake. Echo was by her side in a moment looking into her eyes.

"I...I killed him. This is his blood…" She slowly turned around to look at the man laying on the floor in her bathroom. Echo stopped her from looking and held her close.

"It wasn't your fault Kate. He attacked you, and you defended yourself." He said running his hand down her back.

"But...But I killed him."

Zane ran into the room having heard her scream earlier and looked inside seeing Kate and Echos arms.

"Come brother we need to get back. Their is a ship coming through here." Zane said. Echo picked Kate up and walked her toward the door. Zane was about to tell him that she could walk on her own, but then seen what had happened in the apartment and reached into the closet and grabbed another shirt before running back out with his brother.

"Where are we going?" Echo asked his brother. Zane looked both ways before running back down an alleyway.

"The hospital. Lloyd called and told us to meet up there."

"Has Jay woken?"

"No not just yet I'm afraid." Zane said looking at Echo.

"What then brother?" Echo said looking down at the woman in his arms and moved the hair out of her face. She looked completely exhausted now that her panic attack was over.

"I'm alright now." She whispered to him putting her head back on his chest. She was getting used to being like this.

"It would seem Lloyd wishes to head to the docks once we are back together. Try to get the pirates away from the city." One of the lasers shot a pirate ship that got to close. Pixal was using the remote relays to guide the defense systems. The ship blew up showering them with debris. Echo covered Kate with his frame while Zane did the same with his brother.

A loud explosion shook their frames. Out of the corner of Kates eyes she could see a large blue and golden tank.

"Are you three alright?!" It was Kais voice, but the body was different.

"Samurai X!" Zane said surprised. Echo gasped seeing the person on top of the tank.

"I'll escort you to the hospital. She can ride up here with me." Samurai X held out their hand to take Kates. Echo looked at them and shook his head.

"I am grateful for you saving us, but I'm afraid I don't know who you are and I do not trust you." He said running ahead. Zane looked surprised at this and wondered if what had just happened had spooked his brother far more than he had thought.

"Likes her does he?" The voice was still Kais. Zane sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Yes I think he does." Zane said following his brother. Every so often the tank would fire at the ships that got to close.

Echo could see the smile on Kates face. Her face was blushed, and she would occasionally take tiny looks at him. Now that his sensors were fixed he could see that she was blushing.

"Would you like me to put you down? You seem embarrassed by physical contact with me." He said. Kate seemed to grip tighter onto him for a moment and then let him go.

"I'm okay with it either way." She said and held on for a moment while he put her down. Yet when he did so she kept her arms where they were. Her eyes kept contact with his.

"Wow...your eyes are so much more brighter."

"Yes they fixed me good as new. Even the glass over my power source." He said not looking away from her. "I um…" He cleared his throat and kept walking. Kate kept walking alongside him only limping a little. Much to Kates fascination and thrill Echo put his hand in hers. He looked at her sideways and squeezed her hand. She blushed again and looked back forward.