A/N: An actual early update? Holy crap! :o

~Chapter 14~

Completely silent, MegaMan and Bass simply stood still and glared at the large metal Navi in front of them as he moved forward, passing through the snickering members of his gang, all of them with clenched fists, weapons out, and murderous expressions, completely ready to attack any moment now, simply waiting for the order.

"I remember you, scum." Bass spat, as his expression turned angry.

Glaring at the gang leader in front of him, he grit his teeth behind his cloak.

Now was not the time for this nonsense.

"Bass.. We need to finish this as quickly as possible. You know why." MegaMan whispered to him, his green eyes never leaving their now new enemy.

The cloaked Navi went silent for a few moments, then smirked.

"'We'? Don't make me laugh, MegaMan. Watch as I take all of these fools down by myself." He said, as he raised both of his hands out of his cloak, clenching his fists, "This will all end very soon."

MegaMan sighed deeply.

"Jeez, will you stop showing off already? Neither of us are at our full strength right now." The blue Navi explained, "I won't be surprised if these guys waited for us to tire each other out first before they decided to show up."

Suddenly, the large metal Navi broke into a loud laugh.

"That's exactly right, you punks!" He called, crossing his thick arms, "Let's see you go against all of us when you can barely even fight anymore!"

Bass' expression turned into a vicious smile.

"The more you talk, the more you piss me off!" He yelled, charging forward at the gang leader's direction, only to be jumped by three different NetNavis instead all at the same time.

With a quick blast of dark energy, all three Navis screamed with terror as they went down in deletion, but only to be suddenly replaced by four more attackers.

"And there he goes-" Barely letting MegaMan finish his sentence, three Navis already fired several energy shots at him. He simply shrugged as his hand turned into a large blade, blocking their attack and sending one of his own at their direction, hitting them successfully.

Lei's grip on the rocks she was hiding behind tightened as she watched everything from below.

This wasn't a fight on equal terms between two enemies who respect each other anymore, this was just plain dirty. And she couldn't feel anymore helpless, just watching them like that from her safe hiding place.

Focusing her gaze on Bass, Lei noticed he was hitting enemy NetNavis non-stop; each time he finished with one group, the next one already charged at him, not leaving the cloaked Navi any time to rest, forcing him to use more powerful dark energy attacks which helped him eliminate a bigger amount of them. Unfortunately for him, the larger the attack was, the more energy he wasted, making him slightly more and more exhausted.

Yet he still kept fighting, never stopping for a single moment.

'Bass is actually giving his all in this..' MegaMan thought to himself as he took advantage of a spare second between hits to glance over at the cloaked Navi's direction, then shifted his gaze to Lei on the ground, who was watching the whole thing.

'Wow.' he thought to himself, smiling, then quickly hit another group of enemy Navis with his blade.

"What the hell..!" The large metal Navi called loudly, gritting his teeth, his eyes wide with horror as he watched Both Navis quickly take care of every single enemy sent in their way, until there were barely anymore left.

"How are you punks still this strong? What's going on?!" He yelled, his voice cracking.

Glaring at the last group of NetNavis in front of him, Bass simply smiled viciously, making them back away in fear.

"I think.. I'll go kill.. your damn leader now." He said between breaths, as he charged past them with high speed, causing some of them to plug out, flying fast at the large metal Navi's direction.

"S-stay away!" The gang leader cried in horror as he raised his buster in the cloaked Navis way and fired a powerful energy shot.

Bass dodged it quickly and easily, but suddenly stopped right in his place as his red eyes widened with realization. He turned around to where the energy shot was heading at, his expression turning grave.

"MOVE, LEI!" He yelled down at her direction, surprising everyone in the area.

Lei's blue eyes widened as she quickly flew to the side, away from the hit, but the range of the blast was too much, and she wasn't far enough to completely escape it.

The explosion was huge, its loud noise echoing through the entire area, as the whole air next to the ground completely filled with dust, making seeing through it almost impossible.

"Lei!" MegaMan yelled as he slashed the NetNavi he was fighting against.

Gritting his teeth, Bass turned completely around from the metal Navi and flew fast at the ground's direction, to where the attack had just hit.

"MegaMan!" He yelled at the blue Navi as he passed him, flying down.

"On it!" MegaMan answered him immediately as he quickly jumped to stand between him and the rest of the gang NetNavis still posing a threat.

Quickly landing on the ground, Bass made his way fast between the broken rubble and dusty air.

"Where are you..?!" He yelled, breathing hard.

Feeling a sudden surge of sharp and stinging pain go through her body, Lei winced as she looked down at the source of it, then slowly lifted herself up to sit against the rocky wall behind her.

"I'm.. here!" She answered him, coughing.

Moving a huge rock away from before him, Bass finally found the female Navi.

Breathing hard, he just stood there and stared at her for a moment, then stepped forward and knelt down beside her, his red eyes examining her whole figure, and his expression turning angry at the sight of her arm and leg, which were slightly dissolving.

Lei stared up at him for a few moments as his expression then turned into one which she had never seen him make before, and she found it incredibly hard to take her eyes off of his face, making her forget about her injury for a second.

She blinked at him.

"I'm okay.." She reassured him, smiling softly and trying her hardest to not let the stinging pain show on her face.

The cloaked Navi simply stared down at her for a few more moments.

"What the hell.. Are you smiling at.. Stupid..?" He asked between breaths, narrowing his red eyes at her.

The female Navi went silent.

Shifting her eyes to his body, Lei noticed Bass' left leg was damaged in several places and both of his arms were dissolving. He was seriously hurt himself.

Her brow furrowed.

"You're badly hurt, Bass.." She said, lifting her blue eyes back to his face, her expression turning worried.

The cloaked Navi kept silent for a while.

"This is nothing for me.." He said, still catching his breath, his red eyes fixed on her, "You need to get yourself.. Taken care of, idiot."

Lei said nothing for a few moments.

'If this small damage hurts me this much, then he must be suffering from serious pain..' She thought to herself, still staring up at him.

Neither of them spoke for the longest time.

Watching everything that was going on from above, MegaMan let out a loud sigh.

"Thank god.." He said as he could confirm that the female Navi was okay.

The gang leader narrowed his eyes at both Navis on the ground.

'That girl..' He thought to himself.

"Why are you guys after Bass?!" MegaMan asked, glaring at the large metal Navi in front of him, grabbing his attention.

He simply smirked in return, then plugged out, the remaining Navis quickly following him.

"Hey!" MegaMan yelled at them, but they were already gone.

Shifting his hand back, he lowered himself to the ground and stepped forward at both Navi's direction. He stopped as he noticed Lei's damaged arm and leg, his green eyes going wide.

"Lei, are you alright?!" He asked her, his expression worried.

The female Navi smiled at him.

"I'm fine!" She said, laughing at the situation.

Suddenly, a strange feeling took over her, it was as if her body had just become so extremely heavy, that even the thought of moving or even raising her arm seemed like an impossible task.

"I just need to.. rest for a while.." She stopped talking as her vision suddenly became blurry.

'What's happening..? I'm so.. Sleepy..' She thought to herself, as her eyes slowly fluttered shut.

Waking up, Lei's blue eyes narrowed as they met with the strong light coming from above her. Rising herself into a sitting position, she was surprised to see that her damaged arm and leg were now both completely fixed.

Chills ran down her spine as she remembered the stinging pain that she was feeling just a while ago, as she gently rubbed the places on her body that were now completely healed.

Then, she blinked.

'Bass..! did he get a treatment for his injuries too?' She thought to herself, her eyes going wide.

She raised her gaze to look at the room she was in. It was white and clean. She was sitting on a big bed and to her right was a small table with what she recognized as medical tools on it.

looking to her left, Her large blue eyes widened with surprise.

Next to her bed, on a single chair, was Dean sleeping soundly, his arms wrapped around himself.

Lei stared at her co-worker with confusion for a few minutes.

'What is Dean doing here..?' She thought to herself as she processed everything that has happened, making her swallow hard, 'Weren't we in the UnderNet just now..? How did I even get here..?' So many questions started popping up in her mind, that the only thing she could think of doing first was to wake him up.

Reaching out to her friend's arm, Lei gently shook it until he slowly opened his brown eyes.

"Dean... are you awake..?" She asked him softly, blinking at him.

The male Navi flinched as he realized he fell asleep, his brown eyes wide in surprise.

"Crap.. I nodded off, huh..?" He murmured to himself, rubbing his face, then raised his gaze to meet hers, "How are you doing?"

Lei smiled at him.

"I'm much better.. Perfect, actually." She said.

Then, her expression turned back into confusion.

"Um.. Dean?" She said, "Where am I?"

The male Navi stretched his arms.

"National Medical Center." He answered through a yawn, his expression suddenly turning serious, "They took care of your arm and leg."

Lei's blue eyes suddenly widened, and she kept silent for a few moments.

"You.. Saw?" She asked him.

Dean only stared at her for a few moments.

"They called me since I was the last person you talked to listed in your communication device. MegaMan told me everything, he was the one who carried you here." He said, crossing his arms at her.

He paused to watch her reaction for a bit, then he continued;

"Why didn't you tell me, Lei?" His voice was low, "Moreover.. You lied to me."

She bit her lip.

For him to find out this way was the last thing she could have ever wanted.

Shifting her blue eyes to her hands on her lap, Lei kept silent for a few more moments.

"I'm sorry." She almost whispered, her expression turning sad.

Neither of them said anything for the longest time.

Confused by the silence, Lei slowly lifted her eyes to her co-worker. He was staring at her with an expression she couldn't read.

"You don't trust me?" He suddenly asked her.

His words stung her even more than her injury.

"No.. Dean.. That's not it." She said, turning to sit in front of him on the edge of her bed, "I just.. Didn't want you to worry."

She didn't want to hurt him. This wasn't her intention or the reason she decided not to tell him..

The male Navi went silent.

'Why isn't he saying anything?' Lei thought to herself, clenching her fists even harder.

The atmosphere was getting heavy, and it was brutally quiet.

Shifting in his chair, Dean leaned forward at her direction, his elbows were now lying on top of each of his knees.

"Lei.. You could have died today. They explained that we're programmed differently than battle NetNavis, and that it takes us up about two times more energy to heal than them. That's why you were forced into sleep, even when your injuries weren't that grave." He said, his words echoing through the room, causing Lei's eyes to widen.

She just stared at him as he continued;

"Why on earth did you choose to complete this delivery?"

His question left her speechless for a few moments.

Even though she had already answered a similar one before when her boss asked her and still agreed with the reason, somehow inside she now felt that answer was only a part of something much bigger, a lot more complex.. a lot heavier. As if even trying to get it out of herself will send her back into forced sleep again.

But why?

Why couldn't she form it into simple words?

Suddenly, a memory of a blurry figure popped into her mind. Their voice was vague, unclear, and she couldn't understand what they were saying.

Her brow furrowed.

'What was that just now?' she thought to herself.

She then remembered Dean was still waiting for her answer.

"I.. Don't know." She said quietly, her expression turning into confusion. This was all she could manage at the moment.

Neither of them spoke for a while.

Looking at the confused look she had on her face, Dean got up to his feet, and let out a big sigh.

"I guess dropping this on you right after you woke up was too much, sorry." He said as he smiled softly at her, "We'll talk about this later. For now I'm just glad you're okay."

Lei's expression turned sad.

"Dean, I really didn't mean to hurt you." She said, staring up at him.

She desperately wanted him to understand at least that fact.

After a moment of silence which seemed like forever, the male Navi suddenly moved forward, wrapping both of his arms around her in a tight hug.

Lei's blue eyes widened as she felt him squeeze her small frame.

His hug lasted for a few seconds, then he let go, backing away to stand next to the bed as he simply stared down at her.

Neither of them said anything for the longest time.

Turning to the door, Dean began stepping forward, then suddenly stopped halfway as he turned around to the surprised girl sitting on the bed behind him.

"They said you should stay here for a bit longer, so if you need anything, call me." And with that, he left the room, leaving the speechless female Navi still frozen in shock at what had just happened.

'What was that..?' She thought to herself, as her mind tried to wrap around the events of the last few minutes.

Feeling like her head was in an overload of information, Lei crashed back onto the bed, her long brown hair flying everywhere and landing on her face, making it hard for her to breathe. She slowly moved it away, as her expression turned confused.

Then, she turned on her side.

'He's been acting so weird lately..' She thought to herself.

Lei blinked as she fixed her gaze on the chair her co-worker had just sat in. It looked like it has been sat on for a very long time.

Then, she got lost in thought.

A/N: Writing this one was a refreshing experience after having to elaborately describe non-stop fight scenes for the past two chapters.

Poor Lei got hit, but it was necessary! Believe me :)

Thank you guys so much for all of your reviews, Please continue to tell me what you think!