Hi everyone, thanks for the review. In response to some reviews (since I didn't post any notes last update, my bad), I've had a review I'd like to reply to, but my reply will also apply to everyone reading this fic, especially if a reader has raised this, if they are feeling and thinking that way, then maybe some of you are, too.

Heterochromatin makes a good point because I do refer to everything as cyborgs. From Raiden to Bladepuppy. That's seriously an honest-to-god mistake of mine, so oops. I'm not really sure why that happened since the earlier chapters I said UGs but the latest updates I had completely forgotten about that and just referred to everything as cyborgs.

But I also wanna say that cyborgs and UGs are all called 'cyborgs' as a loose term in this fic at some moments because from what you get from The Resistance, they have very little knowledge and fear everything that is technology-related (until now, apparently). They generalized every machine into one category – cyborgs. Hope that helps and again, sorry for the mistake - won't happen again! :)

Enjoy this update ~

SOMEONE LIKE YOU

Cain pulled off the world map from his wall and placed it flat over his desk surface; he used two of his dusty books to keep the map from curling back up. Raiden joined his side, arms crossed as he scanned the diagram.

"There." Cain pointed at a particular area of the map and tapped at it with his index finger. "We believe the cyborg capital is roughly here..."

"Nebraska?" Raiden questioned, eyebrow raised.

"Yes."

"So they're closer than we realize."

"Precisely." Cain glanced away from the map to Raiden before planting his big hairy palm on his shoulder; although a fraction of a second later and he retreated the hand away, "Son, you're the key to everything. I know now why Harrie was so determined to find you."

Maybe Harrie had given him too much credit. He felt sheepish all of a sudden and threw his gaze to the side.

"We tried to fight them, many years ago but we were outnumbered and heavily outmatched. We're now at a state where we are holed up here, and the cyborgs and UGs all reside in one area, just like us. The only problem is we don't really know how powerful they've become now. Therefore our plan," Cain said, "Is for you to infiltrate the cyborg capital, conduct some espionage...weaken their defenses, the usual. Once that's out of the way, they'll be wide open for an attack and that's when we come in."

"...You want me to stroll right in and sabotage? Is it really that easy?"

He shrugged. "They must've tried to recruit you at some point."

It was then he remembered Tetsuo had once asked him to join their side since he was 'one of them'. Of course he flat out refused. "What if they get suspicious?"

"Alright, then I shall come with you." Cain said, "Tell them you have captured me, the leader of the Resistance. That will earn their trust and they'll welcome you into their arms, recognizing you as one of their own."

"That's suicide, Cain."

"If it can stop them, then that's the risk I'm willing to take."

Raiden shook his head in disagreement. "No, I can't let that happen; you need to stay here." He said, "You're their leader, and that's why you need to stay. They need you. I'll work something out. I'll go – " He paused in his sentence, struggling slightly, "I'll go alone."

Cain's expression softened almost at once; in fact, Raiden didn't think such a scary-looking, intimidating man could be capable of making such an expression. Letting out a bemused chuckle, Cain suddenly slapped him heartily on the back, making a bolt pop out of one shoulder joint and clatter to the floor. "Waaahahaha!" He barked with gruff laughter, as Raiden went to pick up, holding it up between his clawed fingers, "I can tell why Harrie likes you so much!"

He stiffened and shifted his gaze to the floor next. "The plan." Raiden grunted, wanting to change the subject, "If this plan is to go underway, I need to know everything."

"Of course!" Cain exclaimed, "We'll need to gather the others though – Sasaki, Ivy, and the rest of my men. They need to be briefed on this too. Raiden, come to the main hall this evening. I'll be holding a meeting; I'll get Sasaki to escort you."

He nodded briefly and exited the office, leaving Cain to his own devices. So that was Cain's plan; to get Raiden to infiltrate the cyborg capital and sabotage their defenses. How exactly he would weaken their defenses, he wasn't too sure. Perhaps Cain would elaborate more this evening. He returned to Harrie's room only to see that there were already two people inside – Sasaki, with a rather large bucket of steaming hot water beside him, and also, a woman with her back to him.

"Oh, hey Tinman. How was the meeting with Cain?" said Sasaki, grinning at him. Despite his shabby appearance like the rest of the humans Raiden had come across, Sasaki had pearly white teeth.

"I've been invited to another meeting." Raiden replied.

"That's great!" The blond went up to him and grabbed his hand, shaking it. "I don't think I introduced myself earlier, but I'm Johnny Sasaki the Fifth."

"...The fifth?"

"Yeah. That's what my granddad told me. My father was also called Johnny too. Actually I could be the Fourth. I don't really know. Not that it matters anyway, right? People just call me 'Sasaki' to avoid confusion."

He had no clue what Sasaki was talking about but at least he was friendly, which was refreshing for a change. "I'm Raiden." He said.

Sasaki chuckled and ran a hand through his dirty blond locks. "Haha, we all know who you are. You're really popular at the moment."

The woman, who had been squatting down beside Harrie, finally stood up and turned round to face him. He froze once their eyes met. ...Rose?

"Raiden, it's good to finally meet you." She said, as though oblivious to his reaction. "I'm Ivy."

"...Ivy." He croaked out. Oh, right. He remembered Cain and Harrie mentioning the name on several occasions. Ivy was their doctor. Not Rose. She saved Harrie. Not Rose. "The doctor?" He uttered.

"Yes."

"She's mentioned you to me before. I heard you removed her chip."

Ivy nodded. "It was a close call."

"Thank you for saving her."

"...No need to thank me. This is the least I can do."

"How is she anyway?"

"She's fine. Aside from her memories and her current mental state, she's okay. I conducted a check up and she's stable. No wounds, no injuries, nothing internal. She's completely fine. I have you to thank for that. Thank you for taking such good care of her and bringing her to us safely."

Again, he felt sheepish. Had he really done such a great job of keeping Harrie safe? He did not feel like he had, considering how much peril she went through with him. He watched Ivy gather the rest of her belongings. The woman was dressed in a scruffy white tank top with a torn rim and like the rest of the Resistance, she wore dark khaki pants and combat boots and her hands were donned in fingerless gloves. She stood up, meeting his gaze again with those piercing brown eyes of hers. With a flick of her long dark hair as she slung her bag of tools over one shoulder, she said, "Well, that's my work here done. I should get going. Excuse me."

Whilst Sasaki waved her off, Raiden stepped to the side so she could exit the room and as she brushed past him, he couldn't help himself; he stared at her shamelessly as she left silently. He couldn't help but be reminded of Rose. She was too...too...he wasn't sure what it was, but there was something about her which reminded him of Rose, some way. It must be the long black hair. Maybe.

He snapped out of his staring stupor when he heard Sasaki shuffling; he glanced over only to see Sasaki who was now trying to get Harrie to stand, helping her up by holding her arm. "What are you doing?" He asked.

Sasaki blinked at the cyborg blankly. "I've prepared a nice, hot bath for her."

"WHAT?"

"What did you think I was doing?"

"Here?"

"Uh. Yeah...?"

Before he knew it, he had stormed up to Sasaki and grabbed Harrie's other arm whilst glowering at the blond; the girl was now squashed inbetween them, chewing on a few strands of her hair and throwing blank glances to the two men, "I'll do it." Raiden snapped, and Harrie swerved her vacant gaze to him.

Sasaki was protesting all at once, pulling Harrie closer to his direction. "No, I'm supposed to do it. I have orders - "

And Raiden tugged Harrie closer to his side. She let out a morbid wail, having been unwittingly caught in the middle, "You're a guy."

Sasaki pulled Harrie back to him, his eyes narrowing at the cyborg. "And you aren't? What's your point? Besides, it's not like I'm gonna do anything to her."

"Why isn't Ivy helping her?"

"Ivy's busy. She's got other patients to see."

"Then it should be another person doing this. A female – "

"Does it look like there are other females around right now? In fact, do you see anyone else around?"

With one final tug, Raiden pulled Harrie from Sasaki's grip and she was safe in his arms, "I don't trust you." He barked, with Harrie now chewing on one of his fingers, "And I'm looking after Harrie."

Sasaki let out a disgruntled noise from the back of his throat but otherwise did not protest. "Geez. Possessive, much? Fine. You bathe her then." He shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants and slinked out of the room.

Raiden nodded at himself at his personal victory but the moment was short-lived for he glanced down at Harrie and he noticed she was blinking up at him inquisitively and the gravity of what he had just accomplished finally dawned to him. Raiden threw a quick glimpse at the bucket of hot water in the corner. A set of clean clothes, a couple of towels, sponge, and what looked like a bar of soap was supplied, lying atop her bed in a neat pile. He deadpanned immediately.

...What have I just done?

Maybe he should've let Sasaki take care of Harrie's bath after all...?

His mind roared immediately: NO! No way. It was better that he was the one doing it, not Sasaki. Sasaki was nice, but he didn't trust him to carry out this task.

"R-right. Harrie, time for your...bath." He stumbled over his words and eventually grew quieter with the last. Raiden stormed out of the room and glanced around the corridor. Sasaki was right; there was no-one around. Guess it would just be himself and Harrie...

He closed the door, returned to Harrie and guided her to sit in the corner near the bucket of water. She reached for it but he stopped her from potentially burning herself by grabbing her hand and she looked at him again with those large round eyes of hers. He swallowed down the lump in his throat that had seemingly appeared from nowhere. Inwardly, he pondered how he would go about doing this. Should he even be doing this? Would Harrie be okay with him...bathing her? But she was incapable of caring for herself right now...

He came to the conclusion that it had to be done; now or never. He wasn't going to neglect her either, therefore he sat himself in front of her, reached out and his clawed hands landed on a section of her shirt and he stopped. He found himself uncomfortable as he attempted to lift the shirt up. What the hell is wrong with me, he thought angrily, looking away to avoid eye contact with her. He focused on staring at the wall beside them, as he eased Harrie's shirt higher and higher. Meanwhile, Harrie sat limply, staring at his hands but not saying anything. Inwardly he hoped she would retaliate in some way but now she seemed uninterested in remotely doing anything, and when the shirt would lift up no longer, he realized he had to get her to lift her arms and thus he turned to face her.

"...Harrie?" He breathed out; his voice was barely above a whisper.

She was unresponsive, chewing on her fist. He nervously and almost reluctantly, pulled her fist out of her mouth, lifted her right arm first slowly and inched the corresponding sleeve off her arm. Now it was the left arm's turn. Surprisingly enough, Harrie was obedient the entire time and allowed him to slip her arms out and he eased the shirt off her head, pulling it off. He stopped immediately in his actions; he didn't think it could happen or if it was even possible but his face grew hot all of a sudden. Very hot. He was unable to comprehend why he was even feeling this way or what would've incurred this reaction. He was a cyborg. Blushing wasn't supposed to be one of his functions. Plus, he'd seen Rose naked when they slept together. It wasn't like he hadn't seen a naked woman before. And he wasn't a teenager. He was a grown man. He'd bathed a naked human before. He'd bathed Little John when he was a baby. He'd changed his diaper before. And when he was feeding Harrie earlier, he likened it to feeding a baby.

So this would be the same, right? What would be the difference...?

He brushed all awkward thoughts to the side and concentrated on getting Harrie out of the remainder of the clothing they had provided her with and when he had stripped her of the last garment and she was nude before him, he put her clothes to the side where they would not get wet and they sat in silence, staring at each other. Raiden reached over, grabbed the sponge and dunked it into the hot water before lifting it back out, planting the heavy sponge over one pale shoulder; he watched the water leak out and over her skin before he began scrubbing. Once he'd soaked her to a certain extent, he returned the sponge to the bucket and squeezed it of excess water, then rubbed at the other shoulder. She watched his actions but said nothing, nor did she move. She sat very still the entire duration.

He worked silently, holding one of her hands and scrubbing at the length of her thin arm. She was very thin, to the point that it worried him. He did the same for her other arm before he grabbed her shoulders, turned her round to wash her back. Raiden continued his efforts wordlessly and when he had finished, he draped the towel around her body and patted her dry before helping her to stand in front of him. She wobbled slightly on her legs so he had her sit on the edge of the bed and grabbed the clean set of clothes they had given her before redressing her.

Once that task was finished, the door opened and there stood Cain. "You done?"

Raiden glanced over his shoulder as Harrie sucked on one of the sleeves of her new shirt. "Yeah."

Cain glanced at the girl on the bed from head to toe. "Good job." He commented, and Raiden felt his face grow hot again. "...It's okay, son. You don't need to say it, or acknowledge it, but I know you really care for her."

He said nothing.

"It's nuthin' to be ashamed of." Cain replied with a chuckle; he stepped further into the room and picked up the now-empty bucket and the damp sponge and towel, "I had a wife and kid. They were my pride and joy. It's good to have someone you cherish, Raiden. It makes you want to protect, to become stronger for them."

Raiden contemplated his words and lowered his gaze to the floor. "...I want to protect Harrie." He said, after a short while, "Even if it costs me my life. I want to become stronger for her."

Cain emitted a quiet sigh and patted Raiden on the back. "Yer a good kid." He muttered, "...And you're lucky to have found each other. You're lucky to have someone like her, and she's lucky to have someone like you."

Note:

This chapter was written for any Raiden x Harrie shippers out there because the fluff content in this chapter was...astronomical. Think it OOC of Raiden or whatever but I hope this actually shows more development in their relationship but also NOT to show that Raiden has completely gotten over Rose and his family etc. In terms of this bath scene, I wrote it with no intention to anything related to lime or lemon either. In fact, I would say it was the exact opposite. It was to show trust and pure, genuine affection for someone, where someone is completely vulnerable and the other person does not take advantage in any way. Otherwise, you are welcome to interpret it in anyway you wish :)