Author's Note: Apparently being suspended from school means being suspended from the computer... yet another excuse not finishing this earlier, albeit a true one. So I purchased my own (secondhand, mind you) and though it's not very good, at least I can write on it. On a brighter note, with exams finished this week I've got the whole summer ahead of me now, and if I'm not too busy doing web pages updates should pick up. Hats off to Dan for a wonderful conclusion to his long-running Guardian Blues fanfic, I look forward to seeing more of your work soon- and to Claire Hunter, the only author ever to name a Reboot character Ernest. With that said, on with the story... my author's notes are getting to be about as long as the chapters themselves, lol! I'll try and make this one a bit longer though...
Part III: The Last Night
Time: Past
(Late at night, after "Invasion")
Mouse leaned gently against the doorway to the Principle Office infirmary, listening to the soft, measured, regular breaths of the sprite inside. Surfr... strange, how he had come to her. The only reason he had helped the crew of the Saucy Mare at all had been because of AndrAIa- that, and needing a quick exit out of the system he had been imprisoned in. With the help of Bob he had even gotten past all her security measures to return to Mainframe... and there weren't many sprites in the Net or even the Web who could have done that. Mouse sighed, watching the Surfr's chest rise and fall slowly with the intake of each breath. Their relationship had been mainly that of friends so far, fellow daredevils really- she smiled, remembering the times they'd had.
But lately she couldn't deny a growing sense of intimacy- that perhaps, in being so drawn to adventure they'd become more drawn to each other. She hadn't even really thought about it until she saw him get hurt out there, that day. The thought that he might never share those adventures with her again, might have been deleted... it was almost too much to bear. Seeing him lying there in such pain, each breath an agony even in his sleep almost broke her heart... that, and the memories. All the times they'd been together, in rare moments of peace or in heavy combat- sometimes coming mere nanos from deletion, and she'd never told him how she really felt. She sighed softly as she pictured him as he had been- equally at ease flying alongside Ship in the depths of the Web as he was in casual conversation And he had been quite the ladies' man, she remembered with a smile. A sudden presence behind her caused her to whirl around cat-quick, hand on the hilt of her katana ready to strike. Phong blinked in surprise, rolling back a step. Mouse's tensed muscles relaxed at the sight of the old sprite, and her hand dropped to her side.
"Would you... like a cup of cocoa?" Phong asked hesitantly. Mouse laughed, some of the nervous tension over Ray and Dot and the others melting away. Phong looked at her quizzically, doubtless wondering just what in the Net was so funny- but she shook her head in response to his unspoken question. "Sorry, Sugah," she said, reaching for the mug Phong held in his outstretched hand, "I'm just worried about Ray." "Ah," Phong said, nodding sagely. "The Surfr will be fine- he just needs to rest. As do you, my child," he said, raising the mug to his mouth and taking a sip. "I know that, Sugah," she said, taking a sip of cocoa, "It's just-" "You love the Surfr very much, don't you?" Phong said, his startling blue eyes gazing into hers. Mouse hesitated, caught off-guard by the question. She thought about it for a nano. His flippant, devil-may-care attitude could be a bit of a turnoff for some people at first- like Matrix, she thought, stifling a very un-Mouse-like giggle. But all the times they'd been together, all the experiences they shared- she nodded slowly, taking another sip of her cocoa.
The elderly sprite's mouth curved into what could almost have been a smile as he turned. "I'll leave you two alone then, my child," he said. "It is far too late for an old sprite such as myself to be up and around anyway." With a last glance backward at the pair, Phong rolled off down the hallway. Mouse cradled the mug still-warm mug in her hands, the delicious scent wafting upward, considering the old sprite's words. It was then that she became aware of the room's other occupant. Across the room, back turned to her, Bob stood over Dot's bed. He could have been there for minutes or hours- Mouse blushed at what he might have overheard. I must be slipping, she thought. I should have noticed him standing there the moment he walked in. She walked softly, soundlessly to where Bob stood, watching as he lovingly traced a line from Dot's forehead down to her cheek.
"What a pair we make," she said, laughing softly. Bob turned in surprise, having been so absorbed that he hadn't even noticed Mouse walk up. Bob, Mouse thought to herself. He had been the only other guy she had ever really been interested in- she remembered their first encounter, with him fresh from the Academy, so full still of his boyish ideals... as Ray was, to some extent. She supposed that was another thing that attracted her in men. "What do you mean?" Bob asked, in response to her earlier question. "Just the two of us, standing here in the moonlight... like a pair of lost lovers or somethin." She glanced upward at Mainframe's peaceful night sky. It wasn't a real window, of course- such a weak point could not be allowed in the Principle Office's armored shell. But a vidwindow mounted in the roof did almost as well, she supposed- Bob certainly reminded her of his younger days in the soft light, the angle of which hid most of his web scars.
He looked so romantic standing there, looking off into the distance as if lost in thought- and his occasional glances back at her suggested he found her at least the same. Bob coughed self-consciously, embarassed that she'd caught him looking. Then for Mouse, the memories, the nervous tension, and her incredible longing for someone, almost anyone, to love and be loved by for once in her life- they all became too much. Abruptly, she grabbed Bob with both hands and, tilting his head back, kissed him long and hard- an unbridled passion that was unique to her in its intensity. "Mouse!" Bob gasped when she finally let him up for air. But she was already gone, as if, for once, almost embarrassed by what she'd just done. Bob stared after her, wondering what in the Net- "Sweet dreams, Sugah," Mouse's voice floated back to him as she headed for her own room. Turning slowly to do the same himself, he remembered a time not so long ago, really... he was just out of the Academy, and he'd caught her hacking into the system's computer banks. He'd turned her in at once, of course- what loyal Cadet wouldn't?
He'd even received a personal commendation from Turbo himself about it- but the papers for it were long ago burned and forgotten. He'd regretted afterward, in a way, turning Mouse in that night- she'd looked the same then when he'd stumbled on her as she had this night- intriguing, exotic. Beautiful. He couldn't deny that there was some attraction there, even as his conscience screamed denial, betrayal of Dot over the whole incident. And maybe it wasn't right- scratch that, he knew it wasn't right. But in the end, he thought, deleting the light as he tucked into his docking bay, Does it really even matter? A rare smile lighting Bob's web-scarred features, the Guardian drifted slowly off to sleep.
Meanwhile, forgotten in the days' intense battle and the fading light of the setting moon, in the vast crater left by the departing game of last cycle, the mysterious object the crane arm had been lifting began to glow- emitting soft, regular pulses in the darkness of the early morning. Soon, it knew, the time would be right- and then the real attack would begin...
A/N: OK, I did NOT expect the chapter to turn out that way. I'd planned to introduce the next "action" scene here, with a short interlude for some Bob/Dot romance... but things turned out a bit differently, and I suppose I'll save that for the next chapter. Look for another update tomorrow (that's right, lol!) and if anyone's bothered to read this far, please R&R! Comments, criticisms, and even rants from Bob/Mouse haters or supporters are welcome ;-)
