Author's Note:

This is an AU where Spider is his own character and entity rather than being the Big Baddie in disguise. This fic is an attempt to fill in the holes in the plot created by such a change, as well as giving Spider his own characteristics and backstory.

As always, comments are very much appreciated!

X-X-X

After the defeat of Wild Jango, time seemed to be literally flying by for Spider.

Ever since the recapture of Central Tower, the meager number of Reploids who still sided with the Resistance had been scrambling to reorganize as they prepared for their continued struggle against the Rebellion. The death of Jango seemed to lift everyone's spirits- including Chief R, despite the loss of his second-in-command, Aile. That, including the recruitment of X, the widely renowned S-Classed Maverick Hunter, had also given a fresh potency of hope within the now-flimsy militia.

Everywhere he went, Spider could hear the excited chatter of all the recent events going on- and had even received several thank you's and questions for autographs after the harrowing tale of his and X's fight against the mad-cat Maverick. The bounty hunter had never realized that this was likely the amount of attention that X receives on a daily basis, and at first relished in the attention before he quickly realized that with fame, came no privacy; and it wasn't long before he quickly made his way back to the Command Center where X and Chief R were waiting.

Upon getting there, to the former bounty hunter's annoyance, Chief R had immediately started rambling about the current state of the Resistance and how they don't stand a chance without any proper support. This in turn led the leader of the fledgling party to conclude that both X and Spider were going to need to break into a POW camp and rescue a System Operator named Nana and any surviving members of the Resistance.

X was quick to agree with the chattering old badger and was about to head towards the Teleporter. However, Spider had grabbed him by the shoulder before he could get a second step and began to half-drag the Maverick Hunter out the door, despite his protests.

"Just quit your whining for a second and follow me." Spider told him as they made their way towards the Air Bus. "This is important." The Blue Bomber had wanted to keep protesting, but then quickly gave in as they approached the staffer so as to not create a scene.

Both Reploids said nothing as they rode the bus to South Square, and Spider led X into the Air City Shopping Arcade. They continued walking until they reached a bar stand where a female Reploid was busy washing dishes with her back facing towards them. The Bounty Hunter wasted no time as he sat down at one of the four empty bar stools, fished out some Zenny from his pocket, and slapped him on the counter.

"Hey, service!" He called out pointedly at her. The woman stopped and looked over her shoulder, her face scrunched up in annoyance by how Spider referred to her. However, this didn't bother him. "I need a tallboy of peach cider and malt oil." He looked over at X, who was still standing and looked genuinely confused. "What are you having?"

The Maverick Hunter finally spoke. "...Is this what you're postponing the mission for?"

Spider waved off the question. "The mission can wait. Everything's already been happening so fast, so it wouldn't hurt to take a quick breather. And besides…" By then, the bartender had already taken the money he'd slapped down and slid over the tall glass of the dark orange beverage he'd asked for. Spider grabbed it and took a large gulp before setting it back down. He let out a tasteful ahhh before he looked back at X and raised the glass up. "It's tradition!" He turned back to the counter. "Now sit down, unless you want to spend the whole time standing there. Makes no difference to me."

X was tempted to do exactly the latter, but a pang of curiosity took hold, and reluctantly, sat down next to him. Seeing this caused Spider to smile widely, patting his fellow Reploid hard on the back of his shoulder and said, "Atta boy! I knew you weren't a complete softie. Now then, what are you getting? This one's on me."

"I don't drink." X told him flatly.

Spider eyed him for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, guess I was wrong about the softie part of you. To each his own, I guess." He lifted his glass again. However, this time, instead of taking a single gulp, X watched him in surprise as the tophat-wearing bounty hunter chugged down the rest of his drink (which was still a lot ). Within a couple of seconds, the glass was empty and Spider let out another gasp of delight.

He didn't set his mug down, and for a moment, both men sat in silence as X watched Spider looking at his empty drink before he abruptly slammed it down on the counter.

"That blasted R!" He blurted out suddenly, his chipper demeanor taking a complete 180 and caused X's eyes to widen in surprise. Even the bartender who'd returned to her dishes flinched at the sudden outburst. "'Do this! Do that!' We get all the dirty work!" He closed his eyes, propping his elbow on the bar, placing his thumb and index finger on his head and shook it. "And for no pay, too."

The S-Classed Maverick Hunter had absolutely no idea where this had come from. Although he could likely sympathize with Spider, he didn't think that it was worth making that much of a fuss about. Though, X knew that telling him that wouldn't get them anywhere, and so he opted for a different approach of response.

"That's because R's a strategy Reploid." He told him, placing an arm over the counter, facing his new partner and adding, "And you're just designed for fighting."

Spider let out a reluctant sigh. "Yeah, I know." He opened his eyes and sat up straight in his stool. "It's just not easy taking orders when you've been your own boss for so long." He turned his head towards X. "I mean, yeah, I have employers, but the difference is that they give me a target and I get them. They don't worry over any details; the only do's and don'ts that they care about is if they want 'em dead or alive. Everything else is left to my own discretion."

"...Huh" X responded simply.

Spider frowned. "What, do you still think of me as a lowly, money-grubbing bounty hunter?"

The Blue Bomber paused. "Well, no, not really." He began to rep his finger over the countertop. "Truth be told, I'm not very used to working with those who seem to act so casually about this sort of job."

This response caused Spider to laugh. "You know something, X? You might be right." He reached into his pocket and pulled out some more Zenny. "But also, at the same time, I think that you're just way too serious all the time." He turned his attention back to the bartender. "Hey, Chica! " He slaps the coins on the bartop. "Need a refill, rápido, por favor."

Once again, the female Reploid turned around and swiped the money off the counter with a dignified, Hmph! And handed him another tallboy.

"By the way," X said, "You said that this was tradition?"

Spider didn't answer until after he took a large swig. "Yup." He paused. "It's… Something that Aile and I used to do every time before we took a job together." With his hand still gripping the glass, Spider began to rub his thumb against it thoughtfully. "When you're a bounty hunter, you never know when you've finally met your match. And so, it made sense for us to want to get what could be our final drink before we finally hit the recycling compactor. Just like how you Maverick Hunters hunt Mavericks, we usually go for the ones that have a price on their head. It may not be completely honest work, but it was work nonetheless."

"Was that why you wanted to come here?" X asked him curiously. "Is that why you wanted me to come along with you? To honor a tradition for Aile?"

He took another sip. "Sort of, yeah. But I'm just doing what I've always done all these years." He smiled wryly. "Also, it just sucks drinking alone."

"I see." X could see Spider's face become darker and more gloomy after Aile's name had been brought up in the conversation, so he pressed on, "Have you been thinking about him a lot recently? Aile, I mean."

The lone bounty hunter said nothing for a long moment, almost as though he never even heard the question in the first place. But eventually, X was finally given an answer when Spider said under his breath, "Yeah, pretty much."

This was not true. Well, at least half of it wasn't. Sure, Aile had been on his mind ever since he'd learned of his partner's death, but that wasn't the entire reason behind Spider's sudden sense of uncertainty. In fact, now he had an even bigger problem on his hands now that he'd essentially become hand-in-glove with the Resistance.

Redips.

Spider knew immediately that there was something suspicious and ominous going on with his former employer ever since the Colonel had hired him. But when he'd been offered a vast amount of wealth in exchange for whatever data he could gather on the Resistance and keep tabs on them, the bounty hunter had originally shrugged off his suspicions; as it was not his business to question or pry into what the Commander of the Maverick Hunters had planned. Besides, a job was a job.

Eventually, however, when the Rebellion had promised him what was essentially the same thing- only this time, it was to take down a single Reploid- Spider did not hesitate to go back on his previous employer. He was a bounty hunter, after all. To top it off, he was ecstatic on the chance to go up against one of the Fed's elite soldiers and prove that he was the superior fighter- and get paid for it.

But then, as fate would have it, the target that he was after just so happened to also be carrying what remained of his dead partner. Hearing of Aile's sacrifice so that X could live had caused Spider to realize that he no longer had the stomach for what he was doing. He had no idea that his old friend was so deeply involved with the conflict that was resulting in the deaths of countless Reploids, and Spider had refused to go through with this for the sake of money- resulting in him turning down a second job on the same day within an hour of each other.

This didn't mean however that Spider couldn't go through with his original task. Had it been anyone else but Aile, admittedly, he would not have hesitated to use someone's death as an excuse to get close to X and the Resistance. And he still could- if he was still the same lowly, money-grubbing bounty hunter that X had originally thought him to be.

But there was no way that Spider could ever do that with a clear conscience- no way in whatever Hell that may exist that he would be willing to stoop so low as to take advantage of a dead friend's legacy for a pile of cash.

And that's where the Redips problem came in.

He was certain that the Colonel was going to be demanding for a report and a massive cache of information on the Resistance once they somehow re-establish contact, and Spider had absolutely zero intention of doing so. Soon enough, the commander is going to realize that his mole had double-crossed him. That left one major question: Was Colonel Redips going to reveal Spider to X once the Maverick Hunter can finally get through to him?

Spider didn't think so. If Redips exposes him to X, he would also be exposing himself about whatever alternative intentions that the commander might have. But just to be safe, Spider had made a mental footnote to never be in the same room as X whenever he attempted to make contact with his superior in order to avoid any… awkward conversations. But what bothered the bounty hunter more than anything else at the moment is that, like Redips, he was going to have to keep his lips shut about the Colonel in turn. This wasn't because he didn't want to inform X about this involvement with Redips. In fact, he really, really wanted to. But doing so would be a huge mistake for one simple reason.

X, for the time being, needed allies. Or, more specifically, ones that he knows that he can trust with his life.

After the Blue Bomber had told him of Shadow's betrayal, another former Maverick Hunter, Spider had found it genuinely surprising that X was still willing to openly and willing place his trust in a total stranger who'd not-so-recently tried to kill him. He didn't know if that was a blessing or a curse, but Spider knew very well that even the most trustful people will have their limits. And while he did have the best intentions of warning him of Redips' potential ulterior motives, this will still heavily cripple X's ability to seek and gain new allies. Therefore, telling him would be (at least for now) completely off the table.

But he was going to have to confront this issue sooner or later. Because for the time being, the Rebellion Army had clearly shown themselves to be the biggest threat at the current moment. And if dealing with them would also mean potentially playing into Colonel Redips' hands, then so be it.

Eventually, Spider realized that X had been looking at his partner expectantly as though he were waiting for the drinking Reploid to continue.

Ah, what the hell. He thought to himself indulgently. If he was going to gain X's trust, he might as well share something about himself before they finally start their mission.

"Before Aile and I became bounty hunters, we used to work at one of those high-roller casinos where a lot of big-names would show up. Both from up top, and underground." He smirked to himself as he recalled those memories. "Initially we worked as security, but that wasn't the only thing we did." He paused to take a drink before continuing. "When we weren't watching the security footage or dealing with troublesome hooligans, we were also responsible for bringing in the debtors who couldn't pay up, and the welches who refused to. We were so good at it that we started taking odd jobs for other clients, until eventually at some point, we found ourselves taking gigs as full-time bounty hunters."

"Was there any particular reason why you chose a life as a bounty hunter?" X asked.

Spider shrugged. "It was fun. Aile and I loved the thrill of getting into a bit of danger. We shared a common interest, and we both wanted to get more out of it. At least, initially, we did."

"So what happened?"

There was a brief pause as Spider deliberated on answering the question. By then, the glass in his hand was almost empty and decided to finish it before speaking again. "At some point, we had a minor case of… collateral damage. One where an actual human being almost got hurt during the job." X's eyes widened, but the bounty hunter waved him off in a placating. "It was nothing serious. The stupid lady was putting herself in harms way over a Reploid that we were responsible for taking into custody. But apparently, it was enough to get Aile to start second-guessing the ethicality of our profession- which was pretty ironic given the types of dirty work we were tasked with before we began making a name for ourselves. We got into an incredibly heated argument to which I only remember lasting a good several hours. By the end, we both realized that we were at an impasse, and decided to go our separate ways." Spider shook his head solemnly. "He never even said goodbye, or anything. Just packed his stuff and walked out the door as though he were late for some important meeting. And here we are, too many years later to count, and this is the last time I've ever heard from him."

X was astounded. "I'm… sorry."

Spider looked over at him. "Sorry for what? Not like you had anything to do with it. We were adults when we made these decisions, and I sure as hell ain't gonna start regretting the ones that I'm making now." He pushed the glass away. "Anyways, we ought to get going soon. But before that…" Spider reached into his pocket and pulled out some more Zenny for the third, and final time. "Excuse me, Miss…" He placed the currency down gently in front of the bartender. "I appreciate your excellent service so far. I just need one more thing before I go. I'd like to get a shot of Hydraulic Scotch." He then said with a smirk, "And make it Neat , please."

The bartender, who'd seemed somewhat surprised and flattered by her patron's change in behavior, scooped up the change and immediately began working on his drink. And then, almost out of nowhere, X called out, "Make that two, please."

A grin broke out on the bounty hunter's face as he turned to his partner. "Well, well, looks like you're not a complete softie after all."

"I'm only doing this once," the Maverick Hunter informed him sternly. "And that's it."

"Eh, fair enough." Spider responded in satisfaction as he patted X on the shoulder. "Least I can say that I didn't do this alone." The bartender placed both shots onto the counter in front of the Reploids, who each picked up their respective glass and held them up together for a toast. "So, here's to a successful mission?"

"Is that what you guys usually say?" X had asked.

"Stop ruining the moment and just drink."

X shrugged. "Fine, fine." They tap glasses. "To a successful mission!"

Both Reploids simultaneously brought the drink to their lips. As soon as the liquids had poured into his mouth, X's face suddenly twisted and turned away, half-spit and half-coughing up the strong liquor that he'd just tried to swallow. Spider, on the other hand, had no problem with downing his drink as he placed the glass back down, looked over at the now-wheezing Blue Bomber, and laughed.