Ok, on the back of my first fic that got more than 2 reviews for a chapter, I wish to try a different tact. It shall be interesting. (And I AM a Bit fan, but I just can't write anything without…) A set of tildes will denote the flashbacks and their associated endings. A Big Thankyou to Davan for looking over it. I promise to get to Hide and Seek soon
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Hope
Revised
One Shot
Rating: PG
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The machinery beeped, slow and rhythmically. Their pistons wheezed and whined as they pushed their life giving cargo through the thin piping, as I sat patiently by the pristine white hospital bed. My blue overcoat lay rumpled on the floor where I had dejectedly tossed it days earlier I knew I looked like I had been sitting there for days, as long as he had been lying there. I grasped the occupants' hand, timidly as if it was going to shatter into a million fragments, at the slightest touch. It looked was as cold as ice and felt like porcelain. I tried to warm it with my own heat, but it was hopeless. I whispered, the words that felt like a ritual for me, they were the same words I am been using continuously since I had sat down next to the bed, days ago.
~~~~~
"Sure! I'll take you up on that offer!" I said a grin spreading across my features, "Now, it was 10 times the prize money, right?" I repeated, making sure my facts were indeed straight.
"Done. Be at the Valley of Heroes by 1000 hours, 3 days from now" Was the calm reply, before the opponent shut off the link, just as quickly as he had called. I walked through to the kitchen, my glee apparent.
"Team! We have a new opponent!" I said, still grinning from ear to ear.
"Dad! We were going to get to have the week off! And is that a new model?" Leena asked.
Embarrassed, I hid the model behind my back, trying to hide it from my daughter. "But there is 10 times the prize money…" I sheepishly added.
Brad returned my grin with one of his "Count me in!"
Bit chimed in, "What about the points? What multiplier is on them, huh?" he questioned.
"None," I quietly said, hoping that he couldn't hear me, "It's unofficial"
"WHAT!" Bit exclaimed.
"Not another one" Jamie and Leena whined as one.
"As long as I get paid," Brad finally replied, between sips of coffee. While everyone else shook their heads at him, as I continued to play with my model, blocking the rest of them out.
~~~~~
Tears began to stream down my face. It was entirely my fault…my stupidity had done this… I couldn't blame Bit, or even Jamie, as his strategy was almost perfect, as close to it as anyone could have gotten. No, this is my fault. Entirely. For being too cocky, too gun-ho, too proud…
~~~~~
Layon grinned at me, like the stubborn fool he is. We won't and can't lose, even if Leena did go about wasting ammo like she always did, or Bit happened to go off on one of his tangents… I managed to bring myself back to reality as he stated the final rules. "These are pretty simple, even for you Torros. You can use any amount of Zoid combat units on this field of play that you wish. However, there are to be no CAS changes?"
"Deal," I replied, cockily, shutting of the comm. Link "Jamie, you heard the man, prepare the Raynos for battle"
"Yes sir" He replied timidly. That is just like Jamie, but not the Wild Eagle. We'll win - I know it.
~~~~~
How wrong I had been. We had never stood a chance. My began to fall again, harsher this time, after being pent up for so long, wetting my daughter's hand as they traced down a set pattern along my cheeks. Please don't die Leena, not like your mother…
~~~~~
"Dad! We're severely outnumbered here!" Leena called, her frustration at the battle was evident in her voice.
"Yea Doc? Why did you agree to this battle again?" Bit demanded as he slashed away at another Rev Raptor. It was a futile gesture though, for even as he cut down one, 3 more rose forward and took its place.
"Looking bad isn't it… I thought we stood a chance, as Layon has never has beaten us before…" I said looking at the tactical screen, scratching my head. The Raynos was put out of commission well into the beginning of the battle, after uncontrollably colliding with the last Zabat.
The Shadow Fox, which was normally a very competent ground unit, was obliterated; its left as a gaping hole left after a Blade Liger's attack. It couldn't stand a chance, the numbers worked against the cloak and dagger style of combat that the Shadow Fox was so apt at. The system was in a full command system freeze, and the pilot… well Brads situation unknown, as he wasn't answering the Comm. System. Hopefully it was just out... Nothing bad had ever happened to the sly mercenary. Brad would be all right.
The computer-controlled units that Layon had employed had backed Leena and Bit onto a cliff face. Their ragged faces still held a determined expression, even against the hopeless odds that they were faced with. They were done for, and they both knew it. Yet neither was willing to go out without a fight. Their battle instincts, and own will for battle, demanded no less of the two of them.
"Dad! I'm out of ammo!" Leena exclaimed with a mixture of frustration and exasperation. It seemed as if they were going to be desperately finished now... Bit did something strange, however. He jumped the Liger 0 in front of the rushing horde, the Zoid roaring in an attempt to frighten them away, or something I couldn't decipher. I could no longer take it, snapping open the communication grid to the Whale King; I spoke the hardest words of my life.
"Layon, you win. You can have the Zoids; and we'll work for the Backdraft! Just call off the attack" I called anxiously, waiting for his reply. There was no chance they could win this, and he would not see any more harm done to his team.
"No, Toros, I will finally win this! This is no longer about the Zoids, or their pilots anymore, cant you see that? I only care about your humiliation! Just watch…" Layon's evil smirk grew as he pressed a button on the side panel.
"You can't!" I exclaimed, finally seeing what he was about to do… but it was to late.
~~~~~
But had. Had he not? He had had his rev raptors slice down the two Zoids. He then used those same blades, coated with oil and silicon to prise open the cockpits of the 'feeble' Zoids as Layon had ecstatically cackled in the background.
They had then skewered the pilots with the hooked blades. Leena was heavily cut around the abdomen, same as Bit as their blood stained their cockpits and the blades of the rev raptors. They were rushed to intensive care, where they had remained, for the last 3 days, unconscious and struggling to hold onto their lives.
They had lost a lot of blood, the doctors had told me, and they were still not certain of their survival. Jamie and Brad had also been hurt, but they had come out only on bed rest – Jamie had been in enough crashes that anymore, his body seemed to become numb to them. Brad had come out with some deep lacerations and a mild concussion, but nothing too serious. I heard a gasp that broke the silence of the room like a gunshot. It effectively roused me from my daydream. And then I saw them, the most precious thing in the world to me… A set of violet eyes gazing at me; a myriad of emotions running through them.
"Leena, honey, you're all right!" I exclaimed, a fresh set of tears once more running down my face. Leena responded with a small, weak smile. But it was a smile none the less. The doctors soon mobbed her, once they saw her conscious, and removed the respirator tube from her throat.
"Hi Dad" she croaked once they had finished gawking over her. The last doctor there was getting her vitals onto the chart. The relief that surged through me took my voice, and all I could do was sit there and cry, and watch her. I knew she knew how I felt though; those beautiful crimson eyes had soaked all my emotions from me.
"How's Bit?" She questioned; her thin voice strained by those couple of little words. I was puzzled by her question – why would she care so much for, as she had announced on many occasions, the cookie thief? Admittedly, I have been too wrapped up by staying here than to go and check on him, but that is understandable, right? I do like the boy, as much as Leon, he has spunk and a certain aura about him that just makes him so… adorable? No, that isn't the word. Likeable. Yes, that is it… likeable.
"Bit? Don't know, I only have been here with you…" Probably team spirit or something… The doctor then piped up.
"Oh, you mean that blonde man that was here with you…" He trailed off as he saw the puzzled expression on their faces.
"Yes. How is he?" I said, instinctively knowing my daughter's question. I wish she would stop worrying about him – he will be fine, he had taken worse beating from her... And she would need all her strength to recover. And I wouldn't be able to handle it if she got any worse…
"He hasn't been too stable… He had lost a lot of blood, and his internal injuries are not healing correctly…" A klaxon sounded both cutting the doctor off, and the crash car (A/N the thingie with the heart starter on it) was hurriedly wheeled to another room.
" I'll be right back!" He called, running into the nearby room. All I could hear then was the familiar language of doctors, (A/N I wish I could do a legal scene, I am a law student…. But maybe a med student year after next.) as they screamed back and forth at each other. After several minutes, they did the ominous 'time of death' call. It seemed forever, but eventually the doctor returned.
"Umm about your friend…" he started, which was rudely interrupted by a gasp. Leena looked as if she had seen a ghost. She then mumbled "Bit…" and fell asleep.
"What? What is wrong with Bit?" I said worry laced my voice. It felt as though…
"He just had a pulmonary failure. We were unable to revive him." He informed me softly, sadness, weather for our situation, or that he couldn't save him I didn't know.
"Bit…" I gasped…
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Ok, so it isn't my best, but almost one of my longest. I hope you all enjoyed it, and honestly, I am a Bit fanatic so it pains me to kill him… This is the logic – would Leena care if it were Harry instead? Anywho, Read and Review!
Maelgwyn (maelgwyn@zoidwars.zzn.com OR Robert@keato.zzn.com)