Nuts and Bolts Chapter Two

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Later that morning, Forte was up, moving around Rock's room and pacing violently, wondering what the hell to do now. He had seen Rush walking the hallways just a few minutes before, and a fight would attract attention that he didn't need. If he was going to find anything he had to be stealthy; he didn't want Rock deciding that he needed to be chased off, or worse yet for Blues to show up and join in if it happened.

"Forte?" Oh, crap. He turned around, seeing Rock blearily rubbing at his eyes, looking at him with a surprised expression. "You stayed." A wide smile spread across Rock's face. He wasn't alone. Someone had stayed, and while he had to often fight Forte, who cursed at him and teased him and said he wanted to kill him, he'd still spent the night with Rock. Happily, the boy walked over and pulled his newfound companion into a tight embrace.

"I hate you, Rock." Forte pried his enemy off, shoving the boy roughly away. "Go the hell away, I'm thinking." Damnit, he wished Rock would stop smiling. He looked content, almost pleased, and that was something Forte really hated. Rock was supposed to be hurt by what he was saying! Crushed, even, if the lonely state the boy was in meant anything! When had he gained this impervious attitude towards hate?

Rock sat down on the edge of his bed, watching Forte curiously. He wondered what Forte was doing. Why didn't he just climb out the window if he didn't want to be seen? He couldn't remember feeling this good in a long time, and he wished he wouldn't leave. "Roll probably has breakfast ready. I'll bring you some, if you'll stay here a little longer."

Forte growled lowly, slowly losing patience with the boy. FUCK. Now he was bribing him! He stayed pressed against the wall, out of sight if anyone wandered into the room. Thankfully, no one had decided to stroll in yet. "Quiet!" He hissed, running a hand through his hair. Rock was going to ruin this for him, he knew it. "If someone comes in...."

Rock's face fell, and he shuffled further back on his bed, nestling a pillow under his chin. "No one's going to come in. No one ever comes in. The only person who ever comes in my room is Blues, and he hasn't-"

"Yeah, yeah, been missing for four months, so I've heard." Forte was thankful for that a thousand times over. He could hear the general ruckus of the Light household, and knew he'd never be able to take anything while it was like this. Well, this was great. He was stuck in the bedroom his adversary, who refused to treat him as such, with no way of getting what he needed. He stared hard at Rock.... And slowly a rather devilish idea came about in his mind. "Rock." He murmured, sitting down next to him, and putting on his most sensitive, caring face. "You want to see me again, right? You know.. Hang out like tonight?"

Rock looked up at him quickly, eyes wide, and shot him a very happy look. "Uh-huh..." He nodded slowly, as though mesmerized by Forte's words. "I'd love that." He felt like hugging Forte again, and the only thing which kept him from doing so was the fear of Forte getting annoyed with him and leaving.

This was going to be like taking candy from a baby. "Well," He whispered smoothly, poking Rock's shoulder lightly. "I'll make you a small deal. I'm going back to that place again tonight, and I'd love to share my company with you, but I need you to do something for me, Rock." He forced himself to look distraught, and concerned. "See... I'm in a lot of trouble at home, right now." He half lied. Yes, he was in serious trouble back at the fortress, but since when was this new? "It would really help me if you could get something of Dr. Light's for me. Some information, or something. Anything would do."

At this, Rock stiffened, and he shook his head vigorously. "No, Forte, anything but that! Please..." He whispered hoarsely. "Dad would never forgive me if I helped you steal something like that!" He wrung his hands nervously.

"It wouldn't be stealing, I'd just borrow it, really. It's not like it's for Dr. Wily, anyway." Forte built on his web of lies quickly. "See.. We- The Robot Masters, that is, are tired of the way Wily uses and abuses us. He treats us horribly, and we just want the information to try and overthrow Wily." He leaned back, lying to Rock was easy. The kid believed any bullshit that rolled off his tongue, if the look in his eyes said anything. Fuck, was that admiration? Pfft, loser. "I promised them I'd have some information they could use to do just that awhile ago, but haven't been able to find anything. If you could do this for me... Wow, Rock, I'd be in your debt forever. We could finally free ourselves of that madman!"

Rock considered this, worrying incredibly. Dr. Light wasn't paying attention to him anyway...it would be so easy to just take something and...no! He couldn't do that! But looking at Forte's concerned, nearly desperate face, and the reason.....and he wouldn't be lonely.... Rock was sincerely considering it. And if Dr. Light wouldn't pay attention to him when he acted nice and kind, he'd be forced to recognize Rock's existence if that suddenly changed. Even the horrible thought of his father's anger was better than just this...pretending he didn't exist. "I..." He couldn't get his assent out. It just felt so wrong....

Forte watched Rock carefully, knowing the kid was on the very edge of agreeing. He sighed dramatically. "Well....if you don't want to help us that's understandable..." Rock's eyes widened incredibly, and he shook his head.

"No, I- I'll do it!" He blurted, hands clenching into fists. "I can do it." He said, trying to make himself believe it. Forte grinned, inwardly congratulating himself on a persuasion well done. "I.....think I know what I can get you, too." Uh oh. That wasn't going well. Shit, if Rock got some useless information for him, he was screwed. The kid wasn't going to betray his father as easily a second time.

"Well...Rock..." Forte smiled easily, slinging an arm over the boy's shoulder. "I think any information like...weapons, shielding, etceteras, that would work best. Something practical. New designs for robots, maybe?" Shit, if he could get that last one, Wily might shut up about his failures for a full week. Rock nodded slowly, taking in everything Forte said with wide, believing eyes.

"I... I know exactly what to get you..." He practically whispered, as though afraid of his own words. "You can rely on me, Forte. I won't let you down." He wasn't joking, either. What he was doing, however... The risk if he were caught. Rock wasn't stupid, he knew he was playing with fire, and he knew what could go wrong. Dr. Light could find out about what happened, and instead of giving him a little attention, he could simply cast him away. Or worse, Forte could betray him... Something was seriously wrong with his story, but he wanted to- no, needed to believe him.

Forte grabbed him around his shoulders, stared down at him with well hidden disdain, and hugged him lightly, rolling his eyes as Rock clung to him. "That'd be so great, Rock." Shit, the things he did for that useless old man. It was Wily's own fault he wasn't in control of the world. Typical human, full of error. "I have to go now, meet me at the bar tomorrow night if you can get the stuff."

He finally managed to pull himself away from Rock's vice-like grip, and backed away toward the window quickly. "Thank you." He FORCED out of his lips, wanting to kick himself in the ass. Fuck, he hated those words almost as much as he hated Rock, who looked ready for another affectionate barrage. Opening the window quickly, he hopped out it and stared at him from a safe distance of three or so feet.

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"Okay... I'll bring everything tonight. Promise." Rock stared at Forte through the open window, forcing a small smile. He wished Forte would stay longer, but he could tell the wily bot was on edge, wanting to get the hell out of there. Understandable, considering what would happen if Dr. Light or Roll wandered in. Even worse, if Blues finally decided to make a visit. He knew Blues would go straight for Forte's throat, before Rock could do or say anything to defend him. Blues was viscously protective of Rock if he felt his brother was threatened or in serious trouble, and he had a deep set hatred for Forte to begin with.

He opened his mouth to say goodbye to Forte, but his newfound friend was long gone, having slipped away at some point. "...... Bye." He huffed softly, then wandered back over to his bed and lay back. He had one shot to do this, and he had to do it right. He needed to make a copy of everything today, without being seen in order to hand it over to Forte. If he screwed up, and Dr. Light caught him, he knew he'd never get another chance. Heck, he didn't know what he'd do if that happened. His father would be furious with him, that much he was sure of.

Nervously, Rock headed out of his room, nearly running into Rush as the dog paced the hallways. "Sorry, boy!" He chirped, petting Rush on the head gently. With a small woof, the dog gave Rock's hand a sniff and growled, smelling something unpleasant. "It's okay, boy. Nothing's wrong." Rock murmured quietly, giving Rush another pat and walking down the hall to Dr. Light's lab. The door was open, his father scribbling something on a notepad.

".....Dr. Light?" He asked quietly, not really wanting to disturb his father if he was working on something important. "...did you get any sleep at all?" Rock started at the unmoving figure in the room, still except for that constant writing with that damned pen... There was no response. "....alright then. I'll...just go downstairs. Sorry for bothering you." He headed downstairs, Rush following him and whining. His father was busy, he had to remember that. There were more important things than being bothered by a little bioroid first thing in the morning. So why did it still hurt?

Rock miserably walked into the kitchen, gave a mildly cheerful 'good morning' to his sister, and grabbed a plateful of food and ate it. Later that day he'd go into the lab, when his father was so exhausted he couldn't stay awake any more. It wouldn't be long now; the doctor had already been up for three straight days.

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Forte stared at the gyrating body of the male stripper and found himself entirely unmoved by it. He was bored, and anxious for Rock to get the hell over there with the information. Had the kid been caught? Damnit!

Suddenly he heard a loud bang as the door hit the wall, opening full force. A few customers cursed and grumbled as a small figure ran past them, and suddenly Rock stood before him, left hand on the table, right on Forte's stool, bent forward and out of breath. Now, this looked really good. "Rock, what the hell are you-"

Rock let his body stumble forward a few paces, and threw his face into Forte's chest. "... I got it." He pulled a few sets of disks out, still breathing heavy, and shoved them in Forte's jacket pocket. "Here." Rock wanted to cry. He had almost made it out the door, when Rush had actually started to growl at him, his own master. The dog must have sensed something was up, and he had to take Rush on a wild goose chase before finally losing him. His own dog had tried to bite him, and he wondered desperately if he had done the right thing.

Forte stared at Rock's hand, which was slid deep into his pocket, and noticed the way the arm attached to it shook slightly. "Fuck, what happened?" He found himself asking, not that he really wanted to know, he couldn't risk Rock finding out what he was about to do. "Did you get caught taking it and have to run?" Rock's face sunk further into his chest, and he shook his head 'no' slightly.

Looking up at Forte with tears in his eyes, Rock slowly told him everything that had happened. How Rush had caught a known enemy's scent on his hand and growled, of Dr. Light's blatant ignoring of his creation, of Roll continuously telling him to 'cheer up!' and 'don't look so down!' yet never once asking why he was so upset. Then the way he had crept into Light's lab, and spent the rest of the afternoon making copies of everything. "Then Rush just.... Just.... He attacked me!" He whimpered, sobbing hard. "I'm a horrible person... Rush only attacks bad people..."

Forte felt like taking his shot glass, and ramming it through his eye socket. Anything to not have to listen to Rock carrying on anymore. "I'm sure you're not a bad person." He mumbled, returning his gaze to the strippers on stage. That was an understatement. Rock was possibly the most pure, innocent person he knew. Fucking obnoxious at that. "What you've done is really going to help us a lot." Forte couldn't help a snide grin with that comment. If only the smaller boy knew exactly who he'd be helping.

Rock shifted where he stood. "I don't know what I'm going to do now." He took his hand out of Forte's pocket and wrapped his arms around himself. "I can't go back. Rush would...and I don't want to have to fight him. Dr. Light might notice..." No, that wasn't true. Dr. Light didn't notice anything anymore. He was too busy working on that horrible project, not caring about Rock. Feeling tired and emotionally exhausted, Rock stared longingly at Forte, wishing for a hug, or a kind word, or something.

Forte pointedly did not look at Rock; he refused to look into those stupid puppy-eyes the small boy was giving him lest he die of sheer sappiness. But damnit, he was playing a part here, and the best thing to do in that situation was to continue, or Rock would get suspicious. If that happened, he didn't doubt that the kid would start a fight, right there and then. He would absolutely hate to learn he'd been mistaken. "There, there." Forte muttered insincerely, patting Rock on the head like he sometimes patted Gospel. "They just don't understand." Rock sniffled a little at that. And an instant later, Forte was being hugged almost tight enough to crush something. Shit, Rock was strong when he wasn't thinking about what he was doing. "Rock....I can barely breathe."

Blushing slightly, the small boy released his grip on Forte, instead settling for sitting next to him, one arm slung around Forte's waist. And he wasn't being pushed away! Rock beamed. He wouldn't think about what he'd done until he had to. Moments like this were too precious. He snuggled up to Forte, taking advantage of the contact for as long as he could.

Meanwhile, Forte was panicking. What the FUCK did Rock think he was doing? God, all those fucking knowing winks from the people around them...what the hell? If there was a robot master here, he was fucked and not in a good way. Rock was cuddling up to him sickeningly and showed no signs of letting go.

This had gone on long enough! "Rock!!" Forte hissed under his breath, glaring down at the boy. "Someone's going to see us!" Damn, damn DAMN! Could this night get any worse?!

"Yo. The guys down at the end of the bar bought these for you." A monotonous voice muttered, and drinks were set down before them. Rock looked up quickly the second he heard the voice, and Forte glanced up at their waiter. The two made eye contact, and stared at each other for several seconds. "Holy shit!" The waiter exclaimed, looking from Rock to Forte, and Forte felt himself slide slowly down into his chair. No.... Shit, no, why did it have to be him, of all people?! WHY?

"Blues!" Rock piped happily, staring up at his leather clad, shirtless brother, complete with bowtie. He threw his arms around him tightly, and buried his face in Blues' bare stomach, nuzzling it affectionately. Instantly the tears returned, relief that he had found his only sane family member.

Blues stared down at his brother, mouth hanging ajar. What in god's name was Rock doing in a place like this, filled with the worst scumbags imaginable? He glared down at Rock's company, then his eyes widened in recognition. It was Forte! His sweet, innocent, loving brother was sitting in the middle of a disgusting rathole with fucking FORTE?! "I'll fucking KILL you!" He growled at Rock's companion, and emptied the shotglass- all over Forte's face. He grabbed for the front of Forte's shirt while he tried wiping liquor out of his eyes distractedly, and punched him as hard as he could in the gut. He prepared himself to give the Wily bot the beating of his life, yet this proved more difficult than he originally thought with Rock clinging to his arm tightly.

Rock let go of his brother, watching with surprise as the only two semi- sane people he knew fought tooth and nail. He wanted to call out, to get them to stop fighting...but all that he managed to say was "Why are you here, Blues?" The fight diminished a little, Forte backing off and cackling at the shirtless Blues, getting an incoherent growl and a punch in the face.

"Alright you two, quit it. Now!" Blues froze in mid-punch. "Damnit, I won't stand for fights in my establishment!" Bellowed the large, overweight man looming behind Rock. "You're fired! And get the hell out, all three of you!"

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Rock sighed. He had kind of liked that place. The people had been friendly, Forte hung out there, and even Blues went there. And now he was out in the streets. There was a muffled curse from someone - either Forte or Blues, he couldn't tell - and another loud thud as someone was slammed against the wall again. He sighed again, heavily, and wondered why he had been kicked out if he wasn't fighting. It was cold out, darnit.

With another curse, Blues shoved Forte to the ground...and watched with surprise as a few disks slipped out of his enemy's pocket. "Well, what have we here?" He muttered, grabbing them and glaring at Forte. "Stolen information!"

"Hey!! Give that back!" Forte growled, trying to wrench them free from Blues' iron grip. "I haven't stolen shit!!" He protested, cursing Rock secretly for shoving them in such an easy to find place. He let out a choked grunt as he was lifted off his feet by Blues, and thrown against the wall-HARD. "Those are just games! I swear!!"

"I know damned well what this is!" Blues spat, holding the disks just out of Forte's grasp. "What were you doing there with my brother?!" When Forte refused to answer, Blues felt his anger grow. "I swear to god, if you've even thought of touching him, I'll mangle you so badly-" He stopped dead, feeling the heat of Rock's body against his back. Rock was pressed against him, shivering.

"I'm cold." Rock demanded, more than stated. "Can you give Forte the games I lent him back? It's freezing out here." He traced designs down Blues' back with an almost innocent air to him, then added as an afterthought. "Can I sleep over?" He stared up at Blues, who nodded slightly to Rock, heeding his commands and giving Forte the information back. Rock smiled slightly at his brother, feeling horrible for lying to him, but he'd known that would work, if he could just get his attention momentarily. Blues would never let Rock go hungry, thirsty, cold, or without anything he needed, and instantly he was tending to the boy.

"Aw, Rock, I'm sorry. Do you want my-" He blinked, then reddened as his hands touched his bare shoulders, he forgot he was wearing nothing but his work uniform. "Well, let's get you out of the cold. Do you want some hot chocolate?" He wrapped an arm around Rock, pulling him close, and began to make his way down the road.

Forte stared at Rock's back as he was led away from him, and realized that Rock could be rather conniving himself, when he wanted to be. He couldn't believe this had worked, and he'd done it almost unscathed. Rock signaled quickly to the corner he was walking past, then up to the sky- He wanted to meet there again tomorrow night? Like hell! Forte had what he wanted, there was no need to see Rock anymore. He nodded in acknowledgement, however.

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Forte grinned, walking calmly up to the door of Wily's lab. He hadn't checked to see what was on the disks, but he knew Rock would have gotten something useful; as stupid as the smaller boy was, he wasn't a complete idiot when it came to obeying orders. He strode proudly into the lab, dropping the disks idly on a table behind the working man. "Got information for you. Straight from Light's lab." He smirked. "Can't say that's not important."

Wily barely glanced over his shoulder at the disks. "I'll get to them in a few days. I'm busy."

"What the fuck?" Forte growled, clenching his fists. "I worked my ass off to get these damn things..." He trailed off, noting the warning look on Wily's face. "Fine. Do that, fucktard. I'm heading out." Grumbling to himself, Forte stormed out of the lab. One of these days he was going to kill that stupid human, or get someone else to if it turned out he simply couldn't override his programming. There was no point in trying to get his favor.

And he found himself standing at a damn street corner that night, staring at the sky and trying to find the will to move and meet Rock. There was someone who would listen to him, do whatever he said if he asked for it. Sure, one day he'd kill the kid, but for now he might as well take advantage of the trust he'd been given. Muttering curses quietly to himself, Forte shuffled down the dirty street.

When he finally made it to his meeting place, he was surprised to find Rock wasn't there. Forte looked around, to see if he had misunderstood the meeting place, then sighed. Nowhere. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he stalked off. Fuck. FUCK! He should have known better than to get his hopes up. Rock didn't need him anymore, he'd found Blues, and now he was probably at home in bed, happy as fucking clam. Good, he hadn't really wanted to see him anyway. Not really...

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End Chapter Two.

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