~Chapter 12~
~Get to know one another...~
You know... I'm amazed with myself.
I expected to be angry, to where I wanted to yell my head off at him. Though, seeing that he ran away from... his home I suppose... It told me that, maybe he wasn't trying to hurt anyone...
Like he said, he couldn't take it... I guess he didn't want to hurt anyone, this might even include the people back home. Maybe, he didn't mean to hurt others, or that he wanted to hurt them... but, sadly, that didn't mean I forgave him like you'd think I would. I still thought, that he could have done something to prevent the tragedy... you know? I mean, he shot down two of my family members, and he probably killed a lot more of them, than just Fortune or Lolli.
I know, you might be thinking that it's annoying how I don't forgive him, but look at what X said, and how he allowed whoever he was with to hurt others. That, made me skeptical about forgiving him. I'll... give him props though, for seeming to have a good heart. I'll tell you what though, I can see myself giving him a bit more of a chance than what I'm thinking of giving him now. Though, just like X, I want to see if he'll live up to the expectation he made.
I wanted to talk to him... but something nagged at me, saying 'don't trust him' even though, my heart told that I should. That he shouldn't be something that I should fear. I was having this gigantic inner conflict. I couldn't figure out what to do, talk to him... or not. I sighed, it was too late now, he headed off on a mission with Zero.
I could tell that X was still a bit angered, but I think it was mainly because of Axl being there. I couldn't agree more to X's anger, Axl most likely was a trouble maker, more so that he should be. Of course, I didn't say anything like that. I have no room to talk, I didn't know much about him to say anything. I didn't know how long he was with them, how he was raised... a lot of things, I didn't understand about him. Therefore, I have no need to speak ill of him...
I nibbled my lip, I was prepared to start asking about the Facility... about my family, the Doctor. All of it. I was beginning to think, maybe Red Alert caused something, maybe the reason why those Droids became berserk was because of them in some way. I could be wrong... but maybe right. During the beginning stages of every Reploids life, their highly manipulative. Naïve. They don't understand just yet. Their like human children, they wont be able to tell what's right or wrong. This stage.. or I prefer to call it a problem, can be dangerous. After all, some Reploids are designed for battle.
I walked over to X nervously, he looked frustrated, but maybe a little with him would calm his nerves. Back home, I was considered a good friend to all. I was nervous to talk to him head on, on my own without him speaking first. I only was... because I didn't know if my kindly nature, would affect here to. Back home, it was so easy to talk to others, calm things down. Here, with those who are working, and risking their lives to help others, I don't think just talking would help.
"X...?" I said nervously, it got his attention, he lost his frustrated look. Maybe... to hide it from me. To keep himself from having a melt down of some sort... but I doubt he'd do so. I sat next to him. He smiled. "Yes?" He asked. I bit my lip. "Do you... know about the Facility...?" I asked, trying to sustain the sadness in my voice. It was actually harder to speak of the Facility so soon... you'd think after a Day, it'd stop... but I still felt the painful appearance of those Nightmares back home...
"About the Incident about two Days ago right?" He asked. I nodded, slowly and sadly. He sighed. "Sadly no." He responded, continuing to write on whatever he was writing, "You see, I retired a long time ago Ala." He stated. O-oh...
"I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused." I said, I really felt like I was troubling him in some way. My head sagged. I sighed, so really there was nothing I could do about the incident. I didn't know where anyone was, what I would do... how I would even live... I knew nothing about the outside. He patted my head. "It'll be alright little one. You haven't caused us any trouble. The only ones who have are members of Red Alert, but they'll be taken care of soon." He finished, with a smile of comfort.
My spirits lightened up slightly. I felt a little better. My impression of the outside world, slowly began to change. Maybe, outside the Facility walls, there were good people. At first, I always thought that there were bad people, everywhere. I mean, there were walls around the Facility to keep people out, so that's the impression anyone would get.
Alia was busy at the monitor, keeping a track on the two. Her job seemed pretty simple, Signas stood next to her, his arms folded behind his back, watching the monitor as Alia typed away on the holographic panels.
Yup... simply boring for the time being, I watched the clock on the wall as it ticked away. Waiting... I was going to do it. I was finally going to talk to him head on.
~-~
The door opened, as the two walked through. "Welcome back you two!" Alia exclaimed, a smile across her face. "You both did great! Now we've got one of the sectors calmed down." She stated. Zero crossed his arms, and walked over to accompany X. Axl... looked upset. Though, Red did say that he'd choose certain Mavericks for them to fight. Maybe he knew them in some way. "Y-yeah..." He muttered, I wanted to try and cheer him up... but again, something told me not to talk to him... I was doing it again. The thing I told myself not to do, was being done again. I wanted to say something, but I wasn't.
I was done. I was sick of listening to someone who wasn't even there anymore. The Doc wasn't around me anymore, he couldn't tell me what to do anymore. I was... free... I don't know how I didn't realize this till now. I was now able to do as I pleased, I was allowed to leave and come back as I pleased... The chains on my wrists... were gone. I didn't feel the need to stay anymore. I didn't understand how I could have missed that. The burden of being chained down was gone.
Axl's gaze met me, I guess he was staring at me for a while. Being he was giving me a strange look. "hm?" I mumbled. "What's that look for?" I asked nervously, "You're just... making really weird faces." He responded. I blushed, crossing my arms.
Wait... why was I turning red like that? I put a hand on my cheek, where as in the process of my attention being drawn away, he began to leave, leaving the room. The Door sliding to close with a small hiss. I only realized when I heard the Metal door connect with its doorway.
I began to follow after him without thinking. The door opened as quickly as I had gotten close to it. What was I even doing? My legs practically moved on their own. Hell, I didn't know where he went, but he couldn't have gotten far... I began to look around every hall, I was most likely going in circles half the time, being I had no clue as to where I was going. I spotted one last place I hadn't checked, I peeped through the door as it opened, the Balcony.
He was sitting up on its Railing. What was he crazy? He could fall off. I made my way over to him, my shoes clanging against the metal floor. "H-hey... you shouldn't sit up there." I stated. He looked at me, his gaze later looking back out into the distant city. "So?" he said... I tapped my finger on my arm as I held it tightly. "So nothing. You could get hurt if you fall off." I said worriedly.
He went silent for a moment, later opening his mouth to speak. I seriously think he just thought he was cool, more like a... cool wannabe. "I'll be fine." He muttered. See now, right about now I felt like just giving up on him. Back home, when people were like this I just removed myself from it. Sadly, some people had to learn the hard way.
"But what if you fall? You'll end up in the infirmary for sure." I responded. He looked at me, he looked... awful upset...
"Is... something wrong?" I asked. He remained silent, turning his gaze away from me again. I took that as yes... I will be honest and say that I felt slightly angry, and not with the fact that he's sitting up there either. I walked over to him, leaning on the balcony that was able to reach just under my arms, I felt like a little kid. "Hey..." I muttered, he ignored me. I sighed, I guess the only way to get his attention is if I climb up next to him.
I felt stupid. I was sitting here scolding him about how he shouldn't be up there, now I'm going to go up. I began to pull myself up, grunting as I pulled my legs over the railing. It was a lot thicker that I thought it was, it was made of cement and metal. I raised myself on my hands and knees before sitting next to him. "See what you made me do?" I asked, in a slightly cheerful voice. "You didn't have to climb up here you know." He responded, "I was getting down anyway." He formed a smile, getting down. That Jerk! He saw how much trouble I had getting up there, nonetheless will it be easier getting down.
"Oh... w-well help me down." I pouted. Axl grinned, sticking his tongue at me, closing one of his eyes. "You got up there, you get down." He said, teasing. I smiled, I had an idea.. "Well then, I guess the only way down would be to jump." I muttered.
"Jump?" He asked.
"Yes." I responded.
"It wont exactly be pleasant when you hit the ground." He stated.
I knew that. I pouted, getting up on my knees. "I'll do it." I said, I was nervous, and I really did think I would end up doing it... dealing with someone like him, might end up getting me killed. I saw him give me a look that called my bluff. I stood up. "You seriously think I wont do it don't you?" I asked, he shrugged. "Well I doubt you will, not with that beat up arm you've got." He said, pointing to my bandaged arm.
"I will do it." I said, backing up to the edge slightly, I looked back nervously. "Well... I doubt you will." Axl stated once more. I felt defeated and sagged my head and shoulders.. "Y-yeah... you're right... I wont." I said, the idea of jumping was supposed to work, but he responded completely different than I thought. "Maybe you should get down." He said. "How?!" I exclaimed.
He sighed, smiling. "Fine, I'll help. Just jump." He said. Okay, I'm going to admit... I'm short, small, a small fry, you get the idea. Basically the jump from this railing was actually pretty high for me... I never jumped from a railing before. "I'm a..." I muttered. "You're seriously scared to?" He tilted his head, grinning. "I'll catch you. You can trust me you know." He said. I was nervous as to whether I should or not.
"You'd better be telling the truth." I stated, I jumped... and he caught me... Of course, he was holding me from under my arms, but it still shocked me that he actually stayed true to his word. My face went hot, it embarrassed me knowing I was close to his face the way I was, the closest glance I had ever really gotten of him. He began to set me down until my feet were in contact with the floor.
"See? Told ya." He stated, smiling. It was weird how he was being so nice to me... I lowered my brows, in question, was he sure he wasn't being nice to make up for the damage he caused to my life? "What's that look for?" He asked, "Nothin'." I pouted. "Its just... why are you being so nice to me?" I asked, "You don't even know me..." I stated. He shrugged. "Well do I need to know you to be nice?" He asked. "W-well no..." I responded poorly.
"Than, I have a reason to be nice. I don't know you, so may as well start off with a clear ticket." He stated. That was true... he wasn't... too bad. I realized that I had to look up at him. I was only tall enough to reach the bottom of his chest plate. "You're pretty small you know." He said. Rude. "I'm not small! I'm just bite sized that's all..." I muttered, pouting. "Bite sized? I'd say crumb sized." He stated. To me... sort of made no sense, but I still understood what the bastard was saying.
"Oh, whatever!" I exclaimed. He snickered, he seemed to feel proud of himself for being able to pick with me this easily. It was then, that I realized that his whole demeanor changed... he wasn't looking upset anymore, his eyes actually didn't seem lonely anymore... maybe he just needed a friend? I guess he noticed that I went silent, and tilted his head. "Something wrong?" He asked, I should be asking you that... "N-no, I'm alright." I chuckled nervously. Him asking if I was okay, knocked me out of my gaze at his eyes.
I blushed slightly. We just continued talking from there. He mainly teased me about how I seemed like a chicken and how I was so small. He treated me like a child... but yet, I got used to it that quickly. It didn't bother me. Though now we have some nicknames in place... I call him Ginger, and he calls me Shorty... Heh. Seems like he got along quickly. The small amount of anger I felt towards him... vanished.
I guess we became... practically best friends... I felt proud of myself, I managed to make a best friend for the first time who was from the outside. The others may be were friends... or could be considered them. But, Axl... he's different, he's a friend, and that's for sure, because I can't ever see our friendship ending... He was kind to me, and we got along with one another simply and easily... it was like a click...
Though, I knew he was still upset about something, but I didn't want to ask... it'd kill the moment if I did... for the time being... I just want to talk some more, get to know him better than I know him now... even the bad things.