So fun fact this has been written and done since -checks calendar- september of last year. I don't know why I didn't post it sooner honestly. anyways here we go-

"Stay put- and don't you dare to move if I don't tell you so. Watch out for any danger and come to me if something happens, got it?"

"Yes sir!" With an exasperated sigh –he really hoped that at least this time the kid meant it-, Red turned towards the alley and left Axl standing there alone. He knew it wasn't the best idea to bring the kid along for this kind of stuff, especially when it had been barely weeks since they found and took him in, but he was supposed to teach him and help him adapt to Red Alert. It wasn't as if they could shelter him forever from what they did, no matter how young he was. The sooner they got him used to their activities, the easier it would be for him once he was ready to be on the field on his own.

If they were lucky this mission would be easy and quick enough to be over before the kid started complaining about being bored.

Speaking of which, it really didn't take more than a few minutes for Axl to get impatient, tapping his foot as his eyes darted around, looking for something, anything that could keep him entertained for as long as Red needed. He tried really hard this time, but there really wasn't a way to stop himself from the itch of doing something. At least he didn't go to Red and whine about it- that was only reserved for when they were in their hideout and not risking their neck. Sure, he was still a kid, but he wasn't stupid, he knew getting in the way for something as dumb as being bored would just get them both in trouble- or worse. Not like that thought helped much anyways.

Then, he heard the yells. Whatever was happening in there, it was getting heated up, and that was never good news for anyone involved.

At first, Axl hesitated, debating whether or not it was worth it to go against Red's orders and go in there. Red was strong, so he shouldn't really need his help, right? Maybe he'd be just getting in the way if he tried to play hero and go in.

His internal debate lasted a whole total of a few seconds- once that reploid's angry screams got louder and Red sounded like he was really struggling to keep him under control, Axl didn't want to wait any longer.

With little to no hesitation and a hand hovering over his gun, Axl slowly peeked into the alley, making sure to stay hidden so he could keep an eye on the events from a safer place. He had no intention to throw himself in if his help wasn't needed, besides Red was way older and more experienced than him, he should have the situation under control in no time, right?

That thought along with his self-preservation instincts went out of the window as soon as he saw the reploid lunging at Red. He might be an experienced fighter, but he wasn't the fastest one.

"No!" Axl didn't even think once before moving, pushing a shocked Red out of the way, gun in hand and shooting before even bothering to take aim. That was his first mistake.

In the heat of the moment, his usually steady aim was off, hitting the reploid's arm instead of a vital point. It was enough to make him flinch, but nowhere near enough to stop him.

The gun clattered as it hit the floor, sliding a few meters away, just enough to be out of reach, his helmet falling off in the struggle. The reploid had managed to tackle Axl to the floor, easily pinning the small kid down with a knee digging into his back and a hand keeping his arms restrained. It only took Axl a few seconds to realize what happened and start trashing and fighting back, using all his strength to try and break free; unfortunately, the weight alone of the big and bulky robot was enough to thwart all his attempts.

"L-let me go-!" It didn't take much longer for his fear to turn into panic, his mind not thinking clearly anymore, just screaming at him to get out of there fast-

"I wouldn't squirm so much if I were you, brat." The growl right next to his ear was enough to freeze him in place, not even daring to so much as glance at the ugly mug of the Maverick holding him down, not when his tone made it clear that he wasn't playing around. Was this it? Was this how he was going to die?

"R-Red…" He felt so pathetic, whimpering so weakly in a situation like that, he was supposed to be strong and prove himself, not cause even more trouble than he already did! The almost maniac cackling made him flinch, embracing himself for what he expected to come. Somewhat. He expected to have a gun pulled on him, to feel the cold of the barrel pressed against his head, maybe even to hear to the trigger being pulled right away before everything dissolved into static and then a silent black. He didn't expect to have a blade shoved right in his face, much less to feel it so bright and hot it threatened to melt his optics before it even touched him, and he could swear he felt his core go completely still for a moment as he forgot how to breathe.

Axl didn't even realize he was holding his breath until his systems almost begged him to cool down before his inner temperature reached critical levels, yet he still didn't dare to open his mouth, as if just breathing the wrong way would have plasma chopping his head off like the metal was melted butter. He quietly glanced at Red, trying to get his trembling body to calm down and not set off the maniac with a plasma knife, his wide and terrified eyes silently pleading his mentor to please do something to help him-

"Don't think I gotta explain ya what happens next if ya don't back off, right?" Red went still, fists clenched and seething with anger. And yet, no matter how much he wanted to crush and maim this reploid until there was nothing more than a pile of scrap metal left, he didn't dare to move.

"If you try and touch the kid-"

"I don't think you're in the position to make demands."

Even without looking at him, Axl could easily picture the crooked grin he sported as the blade inched dangerously closer to his face, and he was forced to screw his eyes shut before the light could effectively and permanently damage his optics.

Red shouted at the guy afterwards, his growing rage dripping into his voice like venom, but whatever he said was lost to him in the sheer and utter pain that followed. His eyes snapped open as the reploid almost split his face in half, every noise and yell drowned out by the agony of feeling the bridge of his nose quite literally burning. It was unbearable, his eyes misty with tears threatening to spill and the smell of burnt coolant and scorched rubber making him want to gag. He only decided to close his mouth once the smell and stray drops of coolant invaded it, and then he vaguely realized that he screamed once the blade hit him.

The pain had somewhat dulled enough to be able to look at his surroundings again, to try and focus on something, anything that wasn't that torment. Once his sight was focused again, the first thing he noticed was the blade still hovering close to him, the blackened coolant still clinging to it fizzling and burning into nothingness. That was enough to fill him with dread and blind panic. The only thing keeping him from screaming and begging not to hurt him again was the fear that the next hit might be worse if he tried.

He strained to ground himself and not worsen the situation, to focus on Red or his voice or whatever could stop him from thinking back on the recent torture and looking at that damned blade. None of that mattered when he felt the weapon slashing his face again and pure terror completely taking over him, shutting down any reasonable and logical thought.

The following minutes were nothing more than a blur in his mind. All he remembered was curling up on himself on the floor, not even realizing that the weight keeping him down was gone, too busy shaking and crying and panicking with his face held in his hands in an iron grip, weakly trying to get the bleeding and the pain to stop please it hurts, it hurts so much make it stop please just make it stop already-

He blacked out before the figure closing on him carefully picked him up.

"You awake? How are you feeling?" A grunt that vaguely sounded like a yes was his only reply. Good enough.

Squinting at the ceiling, Axl tuned out the ramblings of the reploid as he went over his scans, repairs and other stuff that didn't really matter. His arms ached, his back felt horribly sore, his face felt like it had been on fire and his optics were just screaming at him to close his eyes and never open them again. Overall, he felt like crap and only wanted to curl up under a blanket and sleep for a week. If that was how he felt, he didn't even want to think about how much of a mess his armor must be, that would be a pain to get fixed…

"Sorry buddy, we tried our best to fix you up but…" He trailed off, unsure of how to explain his point. That was enough to tune back in to the doctor's monologue, completely waking up Axl and shaking him from his grogginess, memories of the recent events coming back to him as his core went cold and his mind ran wild with the possibilities, each one worse than the previous ones.

"A-are you guys going to get rid of me or something?" There was always that doubt creeping into his mind, no matter how much time had passed since they brought him into Red Alert, the fear that one day they'd get tired of his childish antics and his annoying attitude and just get rid of him. Had he gone too far this time? He knew Red had told him to stay put and not get in the way, but he couldn't help it when his mentor was in danger, did that mean Red had enough of him already? Was that the last straw for him?

"Whoa kid, calm down, it's not that!" the medic inwardly sighed in relief when he finally managed to snap Axl out of his panic before it could get nasty. The last thing either of them needed was the kid having a full-blown panic attack right there and then. "No one's kicking you out kid, alright? How did you even come up with that… Just- take a deep breath before your systems shut down, ok?" Axl quietly obeyed, the many alerts that popped up slowly disappearing as he calmed down.

"Sorry."

"Don't sweat it, it's in my job's description. Feeling better now?" A nod. "Alright, as I was saying… we tried our best to fix you up- your systems look alright and there doesn't seem to be any lasting damage so far, so don't freak out over that, alright? We couldn't do anything for that scar though, didn't have enough materials to patch it up smoothly with how nasty the wound was." That caught Axl's attention. A scar?

Without another word, Axl pushed himself out of bed, waiting a second for the dizziness to pass just enough not to fall over at the first step he took. Ignoring the warnings to slow down and not trip, he headed to the nearest mirror of the med bay, his breath caught in his throat once he got a good look at his face. That… wasn't exactly pretty. Cautiously, he gently touched the fresh X-shaped scar, almost as if he struggled to believe that it was indeed his face.

"Not gonna sugarcoat it, the damage was pretty bad, your face was a mess of coolant and burnt tissue when they brought you in. You're really lucky it didn't get an eye or go deeper when it hit you. Wasn't a pretty sight, good thing you were already unconscious when we got to weld it all back together" He shuddered at the thought, pushing back fresh memories of the scorching heat of the blade so close to his face, the brightness blinding him and the horrible pain that- yeah, that was enough trauma for one day, thank you very much.

"Plasma-related wounds are always a pain to deal with, the burns are pretty hard to get rid of, but I think we can manage something if-"

"It's fine." Axl knew what he was getting at. Being completely synthetic, it was fairly easy for reploids to get rid of what would be a permanent scar for a human, even if some cases –like say, a plasma bade- were a bit more complicated than others.

"… You sure about that?"

"Yeah, don't worry, I'll be fine- 'sides, a reminder for the future won't hurt, right?" He quickly found out he didn't really mind carrying a battle scar, it just meant he was stronger than what tried to hurt him, it showed he survived, yadda yadda etcetera etcetera. It would take some time to get used to it, but he figured he could manage. With how reckless he tended to be, it really wouldn't hurt to keep a reminder that things could still turn out badly, no matter his skills or who had his back. Maybe he'll have learned his lesson by the next time.

A rough chuckle coming from the doorstep caught their attention, and Axl was torn between being happy and relieved at the sight and flinching at the earful he was very likely to get now- not like he didn't deserve it.

"You sure you're alright, kid? Sounds like you hit your head a bit too hard if you're being so serious and mature."

"Hey!" And in a display of his full maturity, Axl proceeded to pout and stick his tongue out at his mentor.

"Glad to see you're doing better now." He might be reading too much into it, but despite the casual tone, Axl could swear he could hear the fondness and relief in Red's voice. He didn't even try to hide the genuine smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Everything was back to normal…

"Axl, we need to talk."

Oh no.

"In my defense, you said to come to you if something happened." Well, he did say that. The kid got him there. Biting back a laugh –he was supposed to be all serious and professional right now, not start a snark contest-, Red motioned for him to sit down in front of him.

"Don't sass me, kid." The amused smirk was unavoidable, however. "Gonna be honest, I'm not gonna get mad at you- can't really do that when you did save my ass there." Those words lifted a huge burden from his shoulders, making him more at ease with the conversation. Red would forever deny that it was a relief not to see the kid so tense and scared thinking he got in trouble for doing what he thought was right.

"So you're not gonna ground me or anything, right?"

"I didn't say that." And there went his hopes and dreams of not being forced into house arrest for the rest of his life. "Can I be done speaking before you start moping around now?"

"Alright…"

"Great. Alright, first things first, don't be so bummed out because that guy got the best of you, you're built to be fast and keep your distance, it was inevitable as soon as he got a hold of you. 'Sides, he was more experienced than you, it was pretty one sided no matter what you tried." It didn't get rid of the frown on his face, but at least it looked like the kid wasn't being as hard on himself as a few moments ago.

"Now, while both of us did get out of there in one piece thanks to your little stunt, don't make it a habit, alright? And I mean it, next time it might go a lot worse, you won't always have someone near to get you out of trouble when everything goes to hell. You got lucky this time, so don't let it get to your head." Axl visibly winced at that, knowing very well that he did get out of that mess relatively ok compared to what could've happened.

"I get it, I get it… Sorry for that, I just- I couldn't not do something, I- I saw him jumping at you and he was so scary and I was moving before I even processed it-" He stopped before he could start rambling, softly sighing as he rubbed his face, suddenly aware of the rough patch of skin covering the bridge of his nose. That would take a long time to get used to. Red simply placed a hand on his head, gently ruffling the untamed locks of auburn hair into even more of a mess than they already were. Axl pretended to pout and shoot a pointed glare his way, looking too much like a puppy that just was denied his favorite treat for either of them to take it seriously.

"By the way, how did you even get him to back off?" He didn't exactly want to ask any more details about the thing that would be giving him enough nightmares for at least a month, but his morbid curiosity pushed him into asking anyways. That, and Red's smirk that said he thoroughly enjoyed whatever he did.

"Shoot him right in the face," with that, he put something in Axl's hand, the familiar weight of his beloved gun already helping him feel less vulnerable and more comfortable. "Asshole wanted me to back off and get on my knees so he could get away, didn't even realize your gun was right there at my feet until I blasted his ugly mug off. Was worth every single bullet." Well, that was certainly something. Axl almost wished he could've seen that for himself. Then he remembered he was trying not to go through an emergency shutdown from sheer panic and quietly decided not to think about it again.

"Speaking of which… what happened to… uh… yeah…?" He didn't really need to elaborate to let Red understand him. He didn't like the uncomfortable silence that followed or the quiet rage he had learned to find in Red's glares either.

"I didn't get to kill him, if that's what you're asking." That definitely wasn't what he wanted to hear. "Had to get you out of there before it got worse- I did get to beat the living shit out of him though, so he shouldn't be a problem again. Don't worry about it."

"I see…" It wasn't exactly the most reassuring answer, but he trusted Red more than anything or anyone else, so if he said it wouldn't be a problem it should be fine, right? "Guess we can't do anything about it anyways by now…" They fell into a somewhat tense silence after that, Axl too preoccupied with his own thoughts to come up with a follow up and Red quietly observing the kid, his eye falling on the new scar. He was far from happy to see such a grim reminder of his failure to keep his kid safe, but like hell he would say anything about it, who knows how the kid would take that, he didn't need to be reminded so soon of what happened. Besides, he had a reputation to uphold as the leader.

"Hey Red?" He snapped out of his thoughts at the question, eye once again sharp and focused on the kid, a raised eyebrow asking him to go on.

"… Thank you. For saving me and everything."

"Don't mention it. By the way…"

"What?"

"You're grounded for two weeks. Have fun cleaning up this mess."

"What?!"