A/N: Hey people, so sorry for the wait! I suffered Writer's block for about a month so it really threw me off my writing schedule. But not to worry I managed to get my groove back in place!

So enjoy chapter 8, and also Merry Almost Christmas! Hope you all have a happy new year to!


Chapter 8

Untrusting

Chiro had only been in the robot for less than thirty six hours and already things were not going well. Like for starters, he finally willed himself out of Gibson's lab to start socializing. But he once again chickened out when Nova shot him the most spiteful glare he'd ever seen from her.

But these moments didn't help the fact he had over-heard Mandarin telling Antauri to not trust him. He sighed in misery, Antauri was the one monkey he oh so badly wanted to go too. But finding out that he was actually more suspicious of him then the others just made him sarcastically clap his hands with joy.

Currently Chiro wore a small ankle monitor. So the team could keep track of his whereabouts. Also if he tried anything, then Mandarin would shock him into submission. Definitely not the best way to start, and to make matters worse he was still too weak. Every second he clung onto the only thing that was keeping him alive; the Phase of Morrow.

Right now Chiro slept outside the robot. Last night when the team went to bed, Chiro instinctively was following them till Mandarin got in the way. The dominating monkey was still weary of him and made him go back to med bay. But when he tried to insist he was okay, Mandarin kicked him out to sleep on the robot's shoulder. Much to Gibson's dissatisfaction.

Now he slept on the freezing metal, at least the orange monkey was kind enough to give the younger simian a damn pillow. Chiro shivered as he curled his tail around his legs. He got up when the sun had not even risen yet. He headed inside the robot's neck, using the power primate to open the hatch.

Oh something else he didn't show the monkeys. His skill in the power primate was of the level to match Mandarin head on. But he couldn't show that, it would raise too many questions.

Chiro limped into the halls, it was not much warmer in here then outside. But he made no complaints as he drug his feet. His eyes wincing every time his metal joints squeaked. He was so unused to this it was not funny.

Actually just yesterday he had attempted to start his plan by helping the member he knew would be easiest to convince; Otto. While everyone worked on their own thing, Otto was having difficulties repairing a broken cog in the air vent. But Gibson was too busy to assist since he was juggling unstable chemicals for an experiment.

So just like he did when he was leader, Chiro swallowed his shyness and approached. As a former human, Chiro had always used his feet to hold himself up while he used his hands to work the gears. But this time, he tried to use his tail. When Otto was, thankfully, willing to accept his offer to help- he blew it. By wrapping his tail around a bar, he didn't hold on for a mere five seconds before he plummeted. Leaving a nice deep face print in the robot's floor.

Chiro stopped midway into the halls. He sighed as he leaned against the wall. His wounds still pulsing from the disgusting medicine Gibson implanted in him. He sighed as he massaged his face. Big optics flickering in his unfeeling fingers as he tried to relax. He wallowed in the silence, the empty hall's darkness granting him some sense of comfort.

He looked up, reading the clock on the wall as it read '4 AM'. 'Wonderful, still too early to do anything…' he grumbled in frustration. His ankle monitor clanked around on his tiny ankles. His three toes twitched in every direction as he tried to wiggle them around.

Till the sound of a door opening broke his distracted mind. He squeaked in alarm when he saw Nova heading his way. He dove to the corner and ducked behind one of the big steam pipes knitted to the robot's walls. He peeked from the side, watching the powerful warrior close in.

Nova walked past his hiding spot. Her gaze was straight and hard, almost unreadable. Her pulled back lip giving a brief glimpse of her big white teeth made Chiro raise his eyebrow. Nova strolled further down the hallway till she vanished from around the corner.

Picking himself up, he brushed off and followed her. He rounded the corner and ran past the empty rooms that were once filled with Otto's electronics. He looked around and noticed some luxury items were missing from the robot.

Then he ran right smack into Nova. He fell on his tail as the gold monkey turned around to face him. Her red eyes gleamed with apparent anger.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked, rage evident.

He was used to her spouts of anger, but this dark look made him shrink back. "Hey uh, sorry about that." He tried to speak in a soothing voice with his hands up. "Look I was hoping to get to know you better."

Nova's anger dropped a little but still held that everyday scornful scowl. "Well if you must know, I like to be alone. Stay away from me and we'll do just fine."

Chiro raised his brow, this was not the Nova he remembered. "Dually noted, but why are you so angry? I recall you-" he stopped when Nova gave him a questioning look. "I mean you seemed stressed, is something wrong?"

Nova huffed and moved away. "I don't want to talk about it, you're not my friend so stop pretending to be one." She walked out, shutting the door in his face.

Chiro stood alone in the big empty room, his feet glued to the cool floor. His heart sank by the sight of his friend look at him in such an angry way. He dropped his gaze and turned away, his tail dragging behind him. He walked back down the hallway and found his way back outside. Never had he been on the end of the hate stick before. It hurt, it really did hurt. Especially when he did nothing to deserve it.

He laid himself back on the robot's shoulder. Sadness weighing him down as he ignored the cold biting his nose. He sighed, "This is indeed going to be harder than I thought." He rolled over, "I still don't get it. Why is everyone so different?"

~Morning: Kitchen~

Chiro, with a heavy heart, strolled through the robot's halls. He stayed low and out of the way, his heavy ankle monitor weighing his footsteps down. He didn't make a peep as he looked around each corner. Trying his best to avoid everyone. The ticks of Morrow were the only thing that kept him company this lonely morning.

Then some sounds from the kitchen alerted him. Smelling the air with his new acute nostrils, he caught the scent of breakfast. He followed his nose and pressed his back against the wall, scootching towards the open door. He hid on the side, avoiding the lights that fell from the open door. He saw six different simian shadows moving across the floor.

Getting brave, he poked his head around the corner. Curiously observing the scene before him. But what he saw came as a big surprise.

Instead of seeing smiling faces and conversation; dreary looks were worn on silent faces. Antauri was making breakfast, nothing unusual there, while everyone sat the table. Otto twiddled his thumbs as Sprx sat by Nova. Gibson had his eyes glued to a formula filled data pad, unaware of his surroundings. Mandarin also sat in silence, eyes shut, seeming to be deep in thought.

The sight of this deeply disturbed Chiro. What has happened to everyone before he came into power? He was tempted to walk in, but recalling earlier events with Nova made him back down. He stepped back and slipped into the shadows. Leaving the team to quietly enjoy their breakfast instead of each other.


A/N: Sorry this was short, I was not sure what to make of this chapter. But it's a good chapter to get the point across that the team does not trust Chiro and it'll be difficult to fix this. I also gave some insight on what things were like before Chiro came into power.

Even though Mandarin once had a good heart, I still don't think he was overly fond of 'fun' stuff. So I vision the team keeping to themselves most of the time.

Anyways hope you enjoy this chapter, Merry Christmas and have a great new year! Stay tuned for chapter 9!