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Chapter 13: Ache

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Jet touched down on the cliff face and ran towards R-02, who leaning over Lily. He shoved her aside and kneeled down beside Lily, grasping her by the shoulders. "Lily? Lily?!" he cried frantically. The rest of the team joined them on the cliff and rushed forward. Jet felt his heart ache as it beat erratically. Lily was cool to his touch. He felt the pooled blood on the ground seep into his knees. He turned to R-02 and grabbed her by the scarf. "Why did you do this?!" R-02 pushed him away. "It wasn't me, it was Artemis!" Joe gasped, "No way, why?" Jet looked back at Lily. She wasn't breathing. His hands flew up to this head. "Do something, R-02! Heal her!" R-02 bit her lip and looked at Lily's pale face.

"S-she's dead."

Jet felt his head spin. 'No, no, no. Not like this!' He grabbed R-02, his hand squeezing around her neck. "Then bring her back!" She shook her head, "It won't-" Jet shook her, "Try goddamnit, or I swear, I will rip off your head off here and now.

"You don't understand what is-."

"I don't care!" Jet shouted as tears streamed down his face. "Do something! Bring her back!" R-02 squeezed her eyes shut and nodded. Jet released his grip and moved away, giving R-02 room. He held Lily's hand as R-02 braced herself and then moved her hand over the wound. With a sharp intake of breath, she slowly pushed her fingers down into her chest. Jet groaned and forced himself to not look away. "I need to start her heart…" R-02 muttered. She gasped and moved her fingers further, touching Lily's still artificial heart. R-02 closed her eyes and focused. Her fingertips started to warm up. She placed her left hand over the side of the wound and again, felt her hand warm up. Jet looked on, seeing the sweat drops form on R-02's brow.

Th-thud th-thud.

R-02 pulled back as though she had been shocked. Lily's body jumped and her eyes shot open, her pupils slowly dilated until the irises were hardly visible. The skin around her eyes started to turn silver. Jet gasped, dropping her hand. Slowly, all her face and hands began to turn silver as the hole in her chest closed up. Lily blinked several times and slowly sat up. She looked straight ahead, her pupils still dilated, making her eyes pitch black. "Lily, thank goodness! You did it, R-02!" Jet exclaimed, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Lily stayed stiff and didn't respond. "Hey, Lily?" he asked again, softer this time. R-02 was on her hands and knees. She slowly raised her head to look at Lily. 'No…. it shouldn't have….' Jet let go of Lily and looked at R-02. "What's going on, why is she…. silver?" He looked back at Lily and waved a hand in front of her face. "Lily? Are you oka- whoa!" Jet was thrown back as Lily got to her feet with lightning speed. Joe and Albert stepped forward, flanking Dr. Gilmore. "Lily has now taken on the same form as the R cyborgs. The link has been bridged." He stated softly. Lily took a step forward and her leg wobbled. She blinked again and her pupils contracted, her eyes returning to their blue grey color. Her skin reverted back to normal as she fell forward on her knees. Jet ran to her, dropping down to grab her by the shoulders as she passed out. "Lily," he sighed sadly, pulling her close as her head lolled onto his chest.

Francoise's touched her temples. "The god cyborgs! They are coming this way!" Dr. Gilmore bent down beside Jet and Lily. "I need to get her back to the Dolphin, fast. Her system has overloaded. Jet, fly us back and then join the others." Jet nodded. He kneeled down, lowering himself further. "Hop on my back and hold on, tightly." Dr. Gilmore locked his arms around Jet's neck. He picked up Lily bridal style and stood slowly. Bending his knees, he took off for the Dolphin.

R-02 turned towards the group. "GB, you need to bring me to the energy room. I have to find Gaia and destroy the base. The rest of you, good luck." She grabbed GB without awaiting his response and took off towards the temple. Albert turned to the rest of the group. "Let's show these gods they are nothing more than cyborgs, we got this!"

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"Jet, you must hurry and get back to the team. I will take care of Lily from here." Dr. Gilmore's words snapped Jet back to reality. He glanced again at Lily, who looked like she was sleeping soundly, while the monitors connected to her wrists and chest beeped. She was out of her ruined uniform and in a white gown. "Right. Thank you, Doctor. We'll take care of this," he called out as he left the room. Jet pushed the image of Lily's vacant black eyes and expressionless, silver face from his mind as he climbed back up onto the deck of the Dolphin. 'I need to get my head in the game, this is going to be a huge fight!' he ignited his rockets and tore off through the sky as dawn broke.

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The battle was brutal. R-02 could sense everything that was happening above ground as she and GB made their way through the maze of the basement of the temple to the power room. Blasters ready, they burst the door open. "Gaia!" R-02 called out, seeing him standing in front of icy blue pods, holding the human bodies of the god cyborgs. He turned towards them and smirked. "Ahh, more flawed cyborgs." GB frowned and kept his gun pointed at the black bearded scientist. "Gaia, I will spare your life if you can restore my system," R-02 stately calmly. "What? What are you talking about, R-02?" GB demanded. R-02 raised her hand to him. "Wait, GB," she whispered. "Ahahahaa! That is not possible, R-02. Why would I undo the beginnings of my great work?" R-02 clenched her teeth and shot her blaster, hitting him in the knee. He shrieked as he fell to the floor. "Next time, it will be between the eyes, Gaia," R-02 answered coolly.

Gaia raised his head smirking as blood pooled around him. "Don't matter. Black Ghost will carry on my work. I am a god now, I have done it! All the cyborgs are just pawns to my legacy!" He threw his head back and laughed manically. R-02 fired her blaster, silencing his laughter. GB looked on in horror. She turned to him, looking up at the mechanism for the power room. "Looks like this thing is about to blow." GB looked up and nodded. "We gotta rally the troops and get outta here!"

(I am not writing the battle scene because I simply cannot do it justice! So, at this point, watch episode 25 of the 2001 series….. only difference is that I had R-02 kill Gaia instead of Apollo… oh, and stayed on the Dolphin with Lily.)

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Jet disappeared back down to the Dr. Gilmore's lab as the rest of the team watched the Island of Magma burn from the deck of the Dolphin. The god cyborgs decided to stay and be destroyed, despite Joe and Francoise's pleas. Tears poured down Francoise's face as she clutched the little, pink handkerchief she had used to tend to the child cyborg. Jet dashed through the corridors until he reached the lab. "Dr. Gilmore, how is she?"

"She is stable, for now. Are all the god cyborgs destroyed?"

Jet sighed with relief and walked over to Lily's beside. "Yes, they chose to stay on the island and burn with it." Doctor Gilmore nodded. "How sad, what a waste." Jet stroked Lily's hand. "Is she in a coma again, Doctor?" he asked softly. "No, my boy. Her system has already healed all injuries. I am assuming she is just overwhelmed from shock and should come around soon."

"Is she still…. A risk?" Jet asked quietly, turning towards Dr. Gilmore. He shook his head. "Her system has rebalanced. She is now running with the same energy force at the R Cyborgs. That is why she turned sliver earlier. Her self-heal will now be instantaneous." Jet looked back at Lily. "So, that is good news, right?" Dr. Gilmore continued putting his equipment and samples away. "Yes. R-02 modified her heart, the center of her power source, which in turn changed the rest of her system. An upgrade, if you will. Prior to this, her system was torn between the older 00 modification, and the influx of R technology from her battle with R-03 and bite from R-02. Her system seems to have been built with this upgrade in mind, which makes sense. 0014 was the code for the last 00 cyborg. Everything became R after her. In a way, her code would now be R-14. Or R-04. Anyways, Lily had told us about Black Ghost's plan for full rejuvenation and reanimate." Jet looked up at the doctor, confusion written across his face.

"Reanimate?"

Dr. Gilmore sat down on the opposite side of Lily's bed. "Jet, I know you have been through hell and back but I need you to listen very carefully." Jet nodded and stopped stroking Lily's hand, waiting for Dr. Gilmore to continue.

"Lily died, Jet. She was technically dead for at least 10 to 15 minutes." Jet swallowed hard. "But, R-02's powers worked, she is breathing now. She is alive again, right?"

Dr. Gilmore nodded, "Yes, she is. In a normal circumstance, people don't survive a trauma like this. However, R-02's power restarted her heart and altered her power. R-02 transformed her. I am still not sure how this works, or what method Black Ghost wanted to use. Possibly the intent of turning humans into cyborgs without the surgery you all went through. As we saw, Lily had died on that cliff. Her vitals are her heart, spinal, and of course, brain. Any destruction to these three areas shuts down her self-heal ability. The same goes for R-02." Jet turned back to look at Lily. "I am not sure I can process all you said to me, Doc. Main thing is, she is alive."

The rest of the team filtered into the lab, R-02 bringing up the rear. "How is Lily?" Joe asked. Jet turned to him and smiled. "Doctor Gilmore said she should wake up soon." GB sat down on the chair at the end of the bed. "Oh thank goodness! Looks like you saved the day for our team, R-02," he stated softly, turning to look at her. Jet turned around as well. "Yes, thank you R-02, I don't know what….. thank you." R-02 avoided their gaze and twisted her hands. The monitor beeped loudly, attracting their attention. "Ah, she is waking up," Doctor Gilmore stated. Lily slowly opened her eyes and blinked several times. The rest of the group moved closer to look at her. Jet reached forward and smoothed her hair gently. "Hey, you gave us quite a scare, how are you feeling?"

Lily blinked at him several times and moved her hand up to her chest over her heart. "It, it feels s-strange," her voice rasped and broke. She looked back up at Jet. Doctor Gilmore produced a small needle. "Lily, I need to take a sample from you again, now that you are awake." Lily did not respond or reply. "Lily?" Dr. Gilmore tried again. Jet glanced over at Dr. Gilmore and then back to Lily. "Um, Lily, did you not hear Dr. Gilmore? He needs to take a sample from you," Jet asked smiling warmly at her. "Guess she is still a bit out of it, Doctor."

"Who is Lily?" she asked softly.

Jet felt his gut clench. "What?" he choked out. Dr. Gilmore placed a hand on Lily's shoulder, causing her to look up at him. He saw no recognition in her eyes. "Do you know where you are?" he asked softly. Lily's gaze went from him to the faces looking at her and up to the white ceiling. She shook her head and looked at Dr. Gilmore again. "She's playing, Doc! C'mon, Lily, you are on the Dolphin. This is not the time to pull one of your pranks," Jet started to laugh nervously. Lily turned back to Jet. "D-Dolphin?" she asked hesitantly, her face blank. Jet felt tingles up the back of his head. "Lily, it's me, Jet. You know me," he pleaded softly. He saw the confusion on her face. She looked scared as she slowly shook her head. G Jr. put his hand on Jet's shoulder. "Give her a minute, Jet. Let Dr. Gilmore work," he said quietly. "We should all go and give them some space," he added, nodding towards the group.

Jet stood up shakily and turned towards the others and locked gazes with R-02. "R-02, back on the cliff….. when I told you to bring her back. You said I don't understand…. What did you mean?" R-02's closed her eyes as she whispered, "I didn't want to. I didn't want this to happen." Jet walked towards her and grabbed her by the scarf. "Jet!" Francoise called out as Albert stood forward, taking Jet's upper arm. "Jet, stay calm," he muttered.

R-02 refused to meet his harsh stare. "It's what happened to me. When they changed me fully, I lost…. I lost my memories too. That's why I went to Gaia. I wanted him to restore my memor-ies," she rasped, her voice cracking. Jet's eyes widened. It all made the sense, the reason she told them no personal details. Not even her real name.

"Why didn't you say this could happen?!" Jet bellowed his grip on her tightening. R-02 grabbed his arm and pulled it down, squeezing and making him flinch. She looked at him sternly through tear filled eyes. "What were the options? Leave her dead? Would you have left her dead instead of losing her memories?" R-02 raised her voice, challenging him. "Wh-what's going on? Who died?" Lily's voice squeaked as she sat up in the bed.

Hearing Lily's voice, Jet turned back towards her, letting go of R-02 fully. Lily looked like she about to cry out of fear and bewilderment. "Ssssh, it's okay. We'll explain. Everything is fine," Francoise spoke calmly as she took Jet's seat at the head of Lily's bed. She reached out, placing a hand on top of Lily's. "I am Francoise, a friend. This is Dr. Gilmore," she motioned towards the doctor, "and your name is Lily." Lily looked back at Dr. Gilmore who nodded. Then she looked back at Francoise. "Lily…." She repeated softly. Francoise smiled and nodded. Jet looked at the rest of his team, sadness and worry written across their faces. He bowed his head and turned on his heel and sprinted from the lab as the tears threatened to fall.

Joe stepped forward to follow him but Pyunma pulled him back. "Let him go, for the moment. This is too much for all of us to take in; we can't even comprehend what he is going through right now." Joe turned to look at Pyunma and nodded sadly. "Let's go back to the control room. We need to plan out our trip back to Japan." Dr. Gilmore looked over at Joe and Pyunma. "Yes, please start making arrangements to at least move away from here, for now. I am sure that explosion will attract attention. Then, once the area is clear, we will fly back to Japan." GB rose to feet, "C'mon Chang, let's head to the kitchen for now. Francoise and G Jr., I think it's best if you stay here with Lily," he stated softly, smiling at her warmly. "Don't worry Lily, you are in safe hands with these two," he added. Lily gave him a weak smile and nodded. Albert walked towards the doorway with GB and Chang. "I am gonna go and see how Jet is doing shortly," he whispered. He turned to R-02. "Can I speak with you, in private, R-02?" She looked at him, eyes still red and nodded, following him out of the room.

Francoise watched the team leave. G Jr. sat at the foot of the bed and Dr. Gilmore went back to his desk and started to jot down some notes. She turned back to Lily, her hand still on hers. Lily had her eyes on G Jr. "Oh, this is G Jr., Lily." He gave her a little smile and wave. He leaned forward in his seat and spoke calmly and softly. "Lily, what is last thing you remember?" Lily looked at him blankly. "Try closing your eyes and breathe deeply, filling up your stomach. Take your time, we are not in any rush. Let your mind calm," he instructed softly. Lily nodded and closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing.

"I remember lights. Bright lights over me. I was on some sort of metal table. There were men with masks and I couldn't see their eyes. Then, everything went dark…."

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Author's note:

Oh ohhh ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…. I am getting more feels…..

Excited to hear what you think! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx