Nuts and Bolts
Chapter Four
Author's Notes: And now the angst begins. Yay! *happy*
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Slowly, Forte rolled over in his sleep, groaning softly. Something was buzzing in his ear, and he felt a slight pain in his wrist. "Uhn?" He grunted intelligently, and sat up slowly. His wrist was covered in blood, the bedside table rest in splinters, and his com unit lay on the ground, covered in wood chips and his blood. He must have broken the table trying to silence his communicator. "Ow..." He growled, reaching down and retrieving it with his good hand, and he turned it on, ignoring the insistent banging of the bedroom door. "What." He sighed, getting to his feet.
Fuck, it was Wily! "Get back here now, Forte, we need to discuss that information you stole for me." Forte stared at the communicator in his hand, eyes wide. What in God's name had Rock given him?
"Forte, are you in there??" It was Rock, and he sounded worried. Behind him, he heard Blues talking to Rock, asking him what was broken, then he too was beating on the door. "Are you okay?"
Forte sighed, tossing his communicator aside, and flopped back in bed. This was not going to be a good day. It didn't take a genius to work that out. He'd leave for the fortress in another 15 minutes. Fuck Wily. "Yeah, come in." Forte sighed, wiping the blood from his arm lazily, giving no thought to the white sheets he used to do so.
Rock walked in, glancing around nervously...and took one look at Forte's bleeding arm and yelped, dashing across the room. "You're hurt!" He whimpered, ignoring the smashed bedside table completely in his upset over the blood. "Oh, did you hurt yourself? Are you gonna be okay?" Rock stared into Forte's surprised face, ignoring the unintelligible syllables he was spouting. "Blues..."
Blues was already walking far more calmly around to the bedside table. Why the hell had Forte smashed it in his sleep? He shook his head, deciding it was best not to ask. "You might want to get that fixed, Forte..." He gestured to the blood still seeping from the damaged arm. "Rock, you can do basic repairs..." He watched his brother's eyes light up, following as Rock led Forte gingerly through the apartment to a table, grabbing some equipment and starting work immediately.
Forte remained dazed through the entire thing, from where he was dragged out of the room to where he was randomly repaired by Rock. "Forte....Forte?" Someone poked him, and startled, he realized it was Rock. His arm felt fine. "Is that okay? Does it hurt? Did I do well?" Rock looked at him anxiously as he flexed the limb. It felt perfectly fine. Forte nodded slowly. "Good!" Rock chirped, wrapping him in a hug. Forte just stared. Why the hell were they doing this? Weren't they angry about the damn table? As Rock snuggled closer to him, he guessed not. ....Well, that was....nice, he had to grudgingly admit. Better than how he had it at Wily's by a long shot. But he had to go back there right about then....
There was no way out of it, you always come when Wily calls. only a complete fool would ignore one of his commands. He had to go. Looking at Rock, however, he realized there was no way for him to tell the boy. What was he going to do? He continued to stare at his arm, feeling himself begin to grow frustrated, and angry. Why the hell did they have to be so nice anyway? How the hell was he going to betray them now?
He hugged Rock back hastily, then stood up suddenly. "Blues, can I talk to you alone for a minute?" He asked aloud, patting Rock softly and ignoring the looks the boy kept flashing him. "It works great, Rock." Forte murmured, the compliment rolling off his tongue oddly. When the kid still didn't take the hint, he led him to the door. "I just need to talk to him about something, you're not going to miss out on much of anything. Okay, that was a lie right there, but Forte desperately needed the privacy.
Hearing Forte shut the door behind Rock, Blues looked up at him, eyes knowing. "Well......" For the first time in a long while, Blues was tongue- tied, he couldn't think of something wise or even sarcastic to say. "Going back home, huh?" Forte nodded, and he stared up at the ceiling. "Try to come visit once in awhile."
Forte sat down next to Blues, staring out the window gloomily. "I need you to.... I mean..... You know I can't tell him, Blues...I don't want to deal with his whining." Forte grumbled miserably, staring out the window. "You tell him, right? Remind him that next time I see him on the battlefield...... we won't be friends.
Blues bit his tongue, holding back the urge to yell at Forte for not bothering to tell Rock himself, then decided that this would be best, in the end. He knew Rock wouldn't take the news well to begin with, and if Forte told him. "Alright, but you owe me for Kleenex." He sighed finally, rolling his eyes. "Forte......" He looked over at him, slipping his shades off, and stared silently, mouth partially open, as though to speak. Finally, he shut his mouth. "You'd better leave now, before Rock gets wind of this." He gestured to Forte's exit- a small window.
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Forte grumbled to himself as he strode through the halls of the lab. What the hell...stupid Wily. What the crap was on those damn things anyway? He stormed through the building, robot masters carefully avoiding him. Pissed- off Forte was not something to mess with. Ah well... Forte sighed. At least he could find Gospel here. Maybe he could send the dog back to Rock's place as an apology- why the fuck was he thinking this? ....but he'd keep it in mind.
Not much later, he burst into Wily's lab. "So, finally took a look at what I got you, huh?" Wily was sitting in his chair, staring at the screen, transfixed by data moving across it too fast for Forte to bother deciphering. "Hey! Old guy! You called me, I'm here, what the hell is it?" Silence. Christ, this was just his luck; Wily would stare at that stupid data for hours on end and make him wait and wait and...
"You did well."
Forte blinked. Wily couldn't have said.... "Wait, what?"
Wily turned around in his chair, the usual maniac gleam in his eyes more pronounced than Forte had ever seen it. "You did more than well. Only damn good thing you've ever done." Holy raging fuck, it was a compliment from Wily. All of his replies died unspoken. This had never happened before.... "In fact, Forte, take the week off. I'm going to need to be alone with this for a long while...maybe I can finally make up for making a failure like you." Gaping, Forte nodded vacantly, the words not quite registering in his mind until he walked out the door.
Oh FUCK. Rock had given him the plans for Dr. Light's new robot.
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Forte walked slowly toward Blues' apartment late that night, backpack slung over his shoulder and Gospel in tow. He still couldn't believe Rock had given him the plans for Light's robot. Now more then ever, he wished he had taken a look at those plans. At least that way he'd know precisely what they were up against. Shaking slightly, he knocked the door.
"Coming!!" A voice piped up, and Rock swung the door wide open. And stared silently. There was something in the way Forte looked that scared Rock worse than anything Forte had ever done to him before. "Forte... I thought you...... were....." His voice died away. Forte looked so wild, so...... God, was that fear in his eyes? He wondered vaguely what could make Forte afraid.
"Christ Rock!!" He grabbed his small companion by the shoulders, squeezing them until he practically crushed them and Rock was crying out softly in pain. "ROCK!" He forced the already crying book to look him in the eye. "What did you put on those disks, goddamnit!! What did you do? Rock, we're fucked! All of us!!" He shook him roughly, trying to force the boy to tell him something- anything, but the boy simply clamed up, sobbing harder.
New robot. He had been replaced, and when Wily replaced you he didn't keep you around. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He'd screwed up for the last time.and when he was out of the way, he knew who was going to die next.
"Rock, what's going on out there??" Blues asked, running out of his room quickly. "Forte? What in the hell are you-" He stopped dead, seeing the look in Forte's eyes, and grabbed the Wily bot instead, dragging him into the house, Gospel trotting after him faithfully.
Rock rubbed his eyes slowly, crying quietly. Forte had terrified him enough with the look in his eyes, but actually hurting him, and shaking him..... He didn't understand why Forte got so violent suddenly, and worse yet, he didn't understand why Forte was so angry with him. Hadn't the robot masters found that somewhat useful?
Forte pulled back a chair, sitting at the table, and signaled for both Rock and Blues to come sit with him. "We.... Need to talk."
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"....Wily has WHAT?" Blues was standing, Rock was crying on the table, his sobs of 'how could you' already died off and moved on to deeper, incoherent ones. "Holy Christ...." His thoughts raced. No point in yelling at Forte, he didn't know what the information had been. and if he had, he would have known just how fucked giving that to Wily would have made him as well as Dr. Light. "....Crap. What do we do now?" He shook his head, idly wrapping an arm around Rock only to have it shoved viciously away.
Forte squirmed in his seat, nervous and not liking it one bit. "I don't know, I don't know...." He ran a hand over Gospel's head as the dog whined. "As much as I hate to say it, we have to tell Light. Fuck....I know what crazy old man Wily will do, it's not pretty, and I doubt Light's designed any good weapons for the new guy. And he'll need them, damnit." He shuddered. "Fuck. Wily knows what he's doing, he'll make his 'bot go after the bioroids first, then Light, then the new guy, and finally everything else. And probably the first ones to die will be...." He glanced significantly at Rock. "And, uh, me of course."
"I can't believe you....oh, screw it. You're right. Crazy old bastard...." Blues growled, "Why the hell he wants to kill everyone is beyond me."
Rock sobbed again, then forced himself to calm down just enough to speak. "I-I hate this. I h-hate fighting." Blues rubbed a hand on his back, and Forte looked over the table at him with an emotion he would have called remorse on any other face but Forte's. Forte didn't feel bad about doing anything. He buried his face in his brother's shirt. "A-and Dr. Light isn't listening to a-anyone."
Forte sighed, flopping down on the other side of Rock. "I'll make him listen." A pause. "Rock...... I.... I'm sorry... I..." He reached out, to hug the boy gently.
"Don't touch me!!!!!" Rock shrieked, pushing him away and returning to his sobbing state. "H-how could you, Forte... How could you lie to me like that!! I betrayed my father for you!!!" He collapsed back into Blues' arms again, hiding his face from Forte. "I don't want your help! Just go away! GO AWAY!!! You've done enough!" He heard the chair drag on the floor suddenly, as Forte got to his feet.
Forte stared down at Rock, eyes wide. He had known Rock would be upset. He'd anticipated all of this- Yet he hadn't believed it would happen. Now he simply stood there, not know what to do. "I'm..... I won't beg you for forgiveness, Rock. You know that. It's.... not what I do." He sighed, leaning back against the wall.
There was no way he was going to keep bothering Rock on the subject, he didn't want Rock to accept his apology unless it was genuine. He'd rather the boy stay angry until then. Still... It hurt- a lot, and he didn't know why. He couldn't place the feeling he was now experience. Wringing his hands, he continued "I'm not just going to leave either. What happened was my fault. I'd take it back if could, but that's not possible, so let me help."
Rock said nothing, did nothing, so Blues spoke instead. "... Alright. We'll let you help- on one condition. You don't tell Dr. Light Rock's the one who gave you the information." He sighed, rubbing the back of Rock's head gently, frowning slightly. "I really wanted to trust you, Forte.... But that's not possible now. I'll be watching you."
Forte nodded, staring at the floor. He knew why, and understood their need for it. Oh christ, though... "Do you think I should check on Wily to see what exactly he's going to do, or would that be too suspicious?" His tone was dead serious. There was no reason for it, it was completely insane, but....he wanted their trust.
Blues sighed. "We'll...have to see. It's a good idea. We might have you do it, in the end..." He stared at the shuddering Rock. "And I think right about now we should get to Dr. Light. The sooner he knows, the better."
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Take notes. Check programming again. More notes, bugs here and there. What the hell was wrong with Dr. Light? It was like he didn't realize anyone else existed. Forte continued staring at the back of the Doctor's head. Wily would catch those bugs; the final check and Dr. Light would start working more on the body.
Rock walked into the room, accompanied by Blues. They'd trusted him enough alone with Light, which wasn't hard considering that they were just outside the door at all times. Rock was shudderingly nervous, even after Blues had talked with him.
He felt like every inch of his being had been ripped apart by Forte's words. He'd betrayed Rock again, and Rock had let it happen. Blues had tried for hours to soothe his brother, telling him it hadn't been his fault, reminding him that they needed him mentally stable right now. Blues had even stood up for Forte, something which surprised the boy greatly.
He knew Forte hadn't realized what he was doing at the time, but that didn't stop the heartache Rock now experienced. He had given Forte as much trust, love and devotion as he had a member of the family, and Forte had very swiftly stabbed him in the back at the first opportunity. He wanted desperately to forgive Forte, to wrap his arms around him and not let go, but he just couldn't. This was far too extreme a crime. He shot Blues a look which screamed 'I'm scared' and Blues drew him closer comfortingly.
Forte, meanwhile, deemed it time to make his presence known. "Light." He muttered, and poked the man in the back when he received no response.
"What do you want, Rock-" He gasped loudly, staring at the wily bot, and jumped to his feet. "You!! What are you doing back here? What have you done with my fam-" He broke off with a grunt as Forte pushed him back into his chair calmly.
"You're in a lot of trouble, Old Man." He paced in front of the chair listlessly. "A few days ago, I stole some information off you while you slept. Little did I realize I had taken some plans. I'm sure you know what plans I'm talking about. Wily has them now, and I'm as fucked as the lot of you are. I know Wily, he'll get rid of me the first chance he gets- He's tried it in the past." Forte helped himself to a spot on the desk, next to Dr. Light. "So, I'm making a proposition. You haven't made weapons- any protection for this robot yet, have you?" He asked, face grave. "Let me help.... Let's work together before it's too late, and get ourselves prepared for the inevitable."
Dr. Light stared at Forte in severe shock. How could he have known about X unless he really had stolen the plans? If that was true, then.... The thought was overwhelming, and Light gave a soft groan, letting his face drop in his hand. "If he does that..... He has no idea.." He stared at Forte rather calmly considering the situation. "This robot.. must incubate for several years before it is ready to face the real world. If Wily were to activate a copy of mine, it would go berserk. It would..... Oh, this is terrible!" He moaned. What could he do? "How do I know I can trust you?
Forte grimaced. "You...can't know. Hell, I don't know if I can trust me." He looked at Light. "But can you afford not to? I'm the only one here who can get into Wily's lab, maybe do something to stop him from being completely effective in building that beserker."
Blues nodded. "We don't really have much choice, dad." A sigh. "We have to do something. Anything. If the damn thing does go berserk, though, uh..." He shifted, starting to get a little nervous. "Just how bad would it be?"
Dr. Light didn't answer for a minute. He wasn't sure if it would be good to tell them this, but... "If it was based on this design, with weapons, and designed by Wily at that...." He tried to think of something suitable to compare it to. "We might as well be dead right now. Unless we do something, you're right." He sighed heavily, feeling older than ever. "I will have to design some weapons, you're right." But that was so much work....he glanced at Rock. "Rock...I can't do all of the building alone and do more designing." That was what he'd built Rock for, after all, wasn't it? To help him when he was working in the lab? Why hadn't he used him sooner?
Rock stared, wide-eyed. "Yes sir."
Rock was practically in shock. All these months of neglect, after everything he'd done to try and get the man's attention.. Dr. Light had come to him. For help too. He was still useful to him. He felt tears begin to well up in his eyes, and ran over to the door to the room he knew his new sibling was being built in. "I'll go work on him now, if you let me in." he whispered, as though scared Dr. Light might suddenly change his mind and tell him to leave. "I'll do my best... dad."
The old man hobbled over to him slowly, his back was getting bad, these days, and keyed in the passcode, opening the door for Rock. "Alright... everything's down there, in blueprint form. Just keep doing what it says." He patted Rock's head idly, looking back at Blues and Forte. "If you could help your brother..." He indirectly asked Blues, who gave a small nod, "Then perhaps our little friend here could help me out with the offensive gear. I never was good at that." This, of course, was an understatement, and he figured of the three of them, Forte would be the best to seek help from on this issue, with how militent his household was.
Forte simply stared at the old man, eyes wide. Light wanted help from him? He'd been built by Wily, and the man still didn't trust him that much. "Sure." He shrugged, not sure how to take the situation. How could Rock's family be so.... nice? He stole a glance at Rock, to see if there was anything close to forgiveness in his eyes, but the boy had already disappeared into the room with his brother, and the door slid shut.
Light sat back down at his desk, and pulled up a chair for Forte, to let him sit next to himself. "I'll have Roll make more coffee. It seems we're going to have some late nights ahead of us."
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Forte wondered how the hell Dr. Light did it. He found himself with a newfound respect for the doctor's tremendous amount of work...and a newfound appreciation for strong black coffee. Even then, caffienated and much better functioning than the old human, he found himself falling asleep at his work and waking up later in a bed. He wondered who was carrying him back every time that happened...probably Blues, since Rock was still mildly upset and Light was too busy. Crap, how did that old guy manage?
He was poring over the design for the buster for the millionth time when Dr. Light brought it up. "And how do you think Dr. Wily will have progressed now?"
Forte thought about that. Wily put just as much time and effort into his robotics...but at the same time, he was also working alone. He shrugged. "Probably fairly far behind our work...but you have to remember that he cares a lot less about the conscience than you, so the programming will be a lot less tight...and the weaponry was probably already designed, just waiting for the right robot. So maybe not that far at all. We'll be done way before him, though."
"...Blues was suggesting you go and check." Dr. Light looked up from the plans he was going over. "Do you think you would be allowed into the lab?" Forte shrugged. He could try.... "..Do you think you would be able to alter anything?" That was odd...he could have sworn Light was suggesting sabotage. Something Forte was infinitely willing to do.
Forte couldn't help a small grin. "It'd be my pleasure. I'll show that old bastard who's fucking useless." He ignored the look Light gave him at his tasteless choice of words, and got up, calling his armor on. "I might even take a look at the weaponry he's got, while I'm there. Can't hurt us any." With a small nod, he walked out of the lab, and made his way to the back door, intending to leave. He stopped suddenly, however.
Rock was leaned up against the back door, staring at him sadly. "Blues said you're leaving... Are you?" Forte nodded slightly, avoiding the boy's eye. Rock held his position, grabbing Forte's wrist and he reached for the door handle. "He says you're gonna go spy for us, and make sure Wily doesn't win. He says it's going to be dangerous."
Forte kept his gaze far from Rock, even when he heard soft sobs come from the boy. This was the last thing he needed right now. What was he supposed to say, why couldn't Rock just let him pass? He was well aware of how the boy now felt toward him, and he wanted nothing more than leave, to get away from the horrible guilt that smothered him whenever he looked into Rock's eyes.
Rock gripped Forte's wrist tighter, gazing at him pleadingly. "Please don't go.." he begged softly. "Don't go, it's too dangerous! I'm sorry! I... I shouldn't have treated you so badly when you told me everything. Please don't leave me! I don't want anything bad to hap-mmf!"
Forte was now holding Rock's hand softly, lips crushed against the smaller bot's, kissing him slowly. Finally, they broke apart, and Forte eased Rock to the side gently. "Apology accepted." He smiled a genuine smile at Rock, then opened the door and left, doing his best to ignore the longing looks Rock directed at his back. He would have loved for nothing more than to tell Rock that he would be back soon, that everything would be alright, but he just... Couldn't. Just in case.
Once he hit the road at the end of the Light's household, he took a deep breath, and grin. "That's twice more than you, Blues!!" He shouted, grinning to himself. He knew Blues, and was sure he had been spying on them. He continued, suddenly feeling light as air, more carefree then he had in awhile. "Catch up if you can!" He laughed loudly, stretching his arms and legs, and teleported, suddenly feeling invincible.
It was this mind-set that was bound to get him into trouble.
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End Chapter Four.
Ending Author's Notes: We think it's obvious where we're headed with this, so let us just say it's Shibby's fault. She loves the angst so very much and probably accidentally coerced Gimp666 to go along with it. Erm. ..We hope you'll enjoy how this progresses, though.
Review. We love the reviews.
Author's Notes: And now the angst begins. Yay! *happy*
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Slowly, Forte rolled over in his sleep, groaning softly. Something was buzzing in his ear, and he felt a slight pain in his wrist. "Uhn?" He grunted intelligently, and sat up slowly. His wrist was covered in blood, the bedside table rest in splinters, and his com unit lay on the ground, covered in wood chips and his blood. He must have broken the table trying to silence his communicator. "Ow..." He growled, reaching down and retrieving it with his good hand, and he turned it on, ignoring the insistent banging of the bedroom door. "What." He sighed, getting to his feet.
Fuck, it was Wily! "Get back here now, Forte, we need to discuss that information you stole for me." Forte stared at the communicator in his hand, eyes wide. What in God's name had Rock given him?
"Forte, are you in there??" It was Rock, and he sounded worried. Behind him, he heard Blues talking to Rock, asking him what was broken, then he too was beating on the door. "Are you okay?"
Forte sighed, tossing his communicator aside, and flopped back in bed. This was not going to be a good day. It didn't take a genius to work that out. He'd leave for the fortress in another 15 minutes. Fuck Wily. "Yeah, come in." Forte sighed, wiping the blood from his arm lazily, giving no thought to the white sheets he used to do so.
Rock walked in, glancing around nervously...and took one look at Forte's bleeding arm and yelped, dashing across the room. "You're hurt!" He whimpered, ignoring the smashed bedside table completely in his upset over the blood. "Oh, did you hurt yourself? Are you gonna be okay?" Rock stared into Forte's surprised face, ignoring the unintelligible syllables he was spouting. "Blues..."
Blues was already walking far more calmly around to the bedside table. Why the hell had Forte smashed it in his sleep? He shook his head, deciding it was best not to ask. "You might want to get that fixed, Forte..." He gestured to the blood still seeping from the damaged arm. "Rock, you can do basic repairs..." He watched his brother's eyes light up, following as Rock led Forte gingerly through the apartment to a table, grabbing some equipment and starting work immediately.
Forte remained dazed through the entire thing, from where he was dragged out of the room to where he was randomly repaired by Rock. "Forte....Forte?" Someone poked him, and startled, he realized it was Rock. His arm felt fine. "Is that okay? Does it hurt? Did I do well?" Rock looked at him anxiously as he flexed the limb. It felt perfectly fine. Forte nodded slowly. "Good!" Rock chirped, wrapping him in a hug. Forte just stared. Why the hell were they doing this? Weren't they angry about the damn table? As Rock snuggled closer to him, he guessed not. ....Well, that was....nice, he had to grudgingly admit. Better than how he had it at Wily's by a long shot. But he had to go back there right about then....
There was no way out of it, you always come when Wily calls. only a complete fool would ignore one of his commands. He had to go. Looking at Rock, however, he realized there was no way for him to tell the boy. What was he going to do? He continued to stare at his arm, feeling himself begin to grow frustrated, and angry. Why the hell did they have to be so nice anyway? How the hell was he going to betray them now?
He hugged Rock back hastily, then stood up suddenly. "Blues, can I talk to you alone for a minute?" He asked aloud, patting Rock softly and ignoring the looks the boy kept flashing him. "It works great, Rock." Forte murmured, the compliment rolling off his tongue oddly. When the kid still didn't take the hint, he led him to the door. "I just need to talk to him about something, you're not going to miss out on much of anything. Okay, that was a lie right there, but Forte desperately needed the privacy.
Hearing Forte shut the door behind Rock, Blues looked up at him, eyes knowing. "Well......" For the first time in a long while, Blues was tongue- tied, he couldn't think of something wise or even sarcastic to say. "Going back home, huh?" Forte nodded, and he stared up at the ceiling. "Try to come visit once in awhile."
Forte sat down next to Blues, staring out the window gloomily. "I need you to.... I mean..... You know I can't tell him, Blues...I don't want to deal with his whining." Forte grumbled miserably, staring out the window. "You tell him, right? Remind him that next time I see him on the battlefield...... we won't be friends.
Blues bit his tongue, holding back the urge to yell at Forte for not bothering to tell Rock himself, then decided that this would be best, in the end. He knew Rock wouldn't take the news well to begin with, and if Forte told him. "Alright, but you owe me for Kleenex." He sighed finally, rolling his eyes. "Forte......" He looked over at him, slipping his shades off, and stared silently, mouth partially open, as though to speak. Finally, he shut his mouth. "You'd better leave now, before Rock gets wind of this." He gestured to Forte's exit- a small window.
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Forte grumbled to himself as he strode through the halls of the lab. What the hell...stupid Wily. What the crap was on those damn things anyway? He stormed through the building, robot masters carefully avoiding him. Pissed- off Forte was not something to mess with. Ah well... Forte sighed. At least he could find Gospel here. Maybe he could send the dog back to Rock's place as an apology- why the fuck was he thinking this? ....but he'd keep it in mind.
Not much later, he burst into Wily's lab. "So, finally took a look at what I got you, huh?" Wily was sitting in his chair, staring at the screen, transfixed by data moving across it too fast for Forte to bother deciphering. "Hey! Old guy! You called me, I'm here, what the hell is it?" Silence. Christ, this was just his luck; Wily would stare at that stupid data for hours on end and make him wait and wait and...
"You did well."
Forte blinked. Wily couldn't have said.... "Wait, what?"
Wily turned around in his chair, the usual maniac gleam in his eyes more pronounced than Forte had ever seen it. "You did more than well. Only damn good thing you've ever done." Holy raging fuck, it was a compliment from Wily. All of his replies died unspoken. This had never happened before.... "In fact, Forte, take the week off. I'm going to need to be alone with this for a long while...maybe I can finally make up for making a failure like you." Gaping, Forte nodded vacantly, the words not quite registering in his mind until he walked out the door.
Oh FUCK. Rock had given him the plans for Dr. Light's new robot.
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Forte walked slowly toward Blues' apartment late that night, backpack slung over his shoulder and Gospel in tow. He still couldn't believe Rock had given him the plans for Light's robot. Now more then ever, he wished he had taken a look at those plans. At least that way he'd know precisely what they were up against. Shaking slightly, he knocked the door.
"Coming!!" A voice piped up, and Rock swung the door wide open. And stared silently. There was something in the way Forte looked that scared Rock worse than anything Forte had ever done to him before. "Forte... I thought you...... were....." His voice died away. Forte looked so wild, so...... God, was that fear in his eyes? He wondered vaguely what could make Forte afraid.
"Christ Rock!!" He grabbed his small companion by the shoulders, squeezing them until he practically crushed them and Rock was crying out softly in pain. "ROCK!" He forced the already crying book to look him in the eye. "What did you put on those disks, goddamnit!! What did you do? Rock, we're fucked! All of us!!" He shook him roughly, trying to force the boy to tell him something- anything, but the boy simply clamed up, sobbing harder.
New robot. He had been replaced, and when Wily replaced you he didn't keep you around. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He'd screwed up for the last time.and when he was out of the way, he knew who was going to die next.
"Rock, what's going on out there??" Blues asked, running out of his room quickly. "Forte? What in the hell are you-" He stopped dead, seeing the look in Forte's eyes, and grabbed the Wily bot instead, dragging him into the house, Gospel trotting after him faithfully.
Rock rubbed his eyes slowly, crying quietly. Forte had terrified him enough with the look in his eyes, but actually hurting him, and shaking him..... He didn't understand why Forte got so violent suddenly, and worse yet, he didn't understand why Forte was so angry with him. Hadn't the robot masters found that somewhat useful?
Forte pulled back a chair, sitting at the table, and signaled for both Rock and Blues to come sit with him. "We.... Need to talk."
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"....Wily has WHAT?" Blues was standing, Rock was crying on the table, his sobs of 'how could you' already died off and moved on to deeper, incoherent ones. "Holy Christ...." His thoughts raced. No point in yelling at Forte, he didn't know what the information had been. and if he had, he would have known just how fucked giving that to Wily would have made him as well as Dr. Light. "....Crap. What do we do now?" He shook his head, idly wrapping an arm around Rock only to have it shoved viciously away.
Forte squirmed in his seat, nervous and not liking it one bit. "I don't know, I don't know...." He ran a hand over Gospel's head as the dog whined. "As much as I hate to say it, we have to tell Light. Fuck....I know what crazy old man Wily will do, it's not pretty, and I doubt Light's designed any good weapons for the new guy. And he'll need them, damnit." He shuddered. "Fuck. Wily knows what he's doing, he'll make his 'bot go after the bioroids first, then Light, then the new guy, and finally everything else. And probably the first ones to die will be...." He glanced significantly at Rock. "And, uh, me of course."
"I can't believe you....oh, screw it. You're right. Crazy old bastard...." Blues growled, "Why the hell he wants to kill everyone is beyond me."
Rock sobbed again, then forced himself to calm down just enough to speak. "I-I hate this. I h-hate fighting." Blues rubbed a hand on his back, and Forte looked over the table at him with an emotion he would have called remorse on any other face but Forte's. Forte didn't feel bad about doing anything. He buried his face in his brother's shirt. "A-and Dr. Light isn't listening to a-anyone."
Forte sighed, flopping down on the other side of Rock. "I'll make him listen." A pause. "Rock...... I.... I'm sorry... I..." He reached out, to hug the boy gently.
"Don't touch me!!!!!" Rock shrieked, pushing him away and returning to his sobbing state. "H-how could you, Forte... How could you lie to me like that!! I betrayed my father for you!!!" He collapsed back into Blues' arms again, hiding his face from Forte. "I don't want your help! Just go away! GO AWAY!!! You've done enough!" He heard the chair drag on the floor suddenly, as Forte got to his feet.
Forte stared down at Rock, eyes wide. He had known Rock would be upset. He'd anticipated all of this- Yet he hadn't believed it would happen. Now he simply stood there, not know what to do. "I'm..... I won't beg you for forgiveness, Rock. You know that. It's.... not what I do." He sighed, leaning back against the wall.
There was no way he was going to keep bothering Rock on the subject, he didn't want Rock to accept his apology unless it was genuine. He'd rather the boy stay angry until then. Still... It hurt- a lot, and he didn't know why. He couldn't place the feeling he was now experience. Wringing his hands, he continued "I'm not just going to leave either. What happened was my fault. I'd take it back if could, but that's not possible, so let me help."
Rock said nothing, did nothing, so Blues spoke instead. "... Alright. We'll let you help- on one condition. You don't tell Dr. Light Rock's the one who gave you the information." He sighed, rubbing the back of Rock's head gently, frowning slightly. "I really wanted to trust you, Forte.... But that's not possible now. I'll be watching you."
Forte nodded, staring at the floor. He knew why, and understood their need for it. Oh christ, though... "Do you think I should check on Wily to see what exactly he's going to do, or would that be too suspicious?" His tone was dead serious. There was no reason for it, it was completely insane, but....he wanted their trust.
Blues sighed. "We'll...have to see. It's a good idea. We might have you do it, in the end..." He stared at the shuddering Rock. "And I think right about now we should get to Dr. Light. The sooner he knows, the better."
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Take notes. Check programming again. More notes, bugs here and there. What the hell was wrong with Dr. Light? It was like he didn't realize anyone else existed. Forte continued staring at the back of the Doctor's head. Wily would catch those bugs; the final check and Dr. Light would start working more on the body.
Rock walked into the room, accompanied by Blues. They'd trusted him enough alone with Light, which wasn't hard considering that they were just outside the door at all times. Rock was shudderingly nervous, even after Blues had talked with him.
He felt like every inch of his being had been ripped apart by Forte's words. He'd betrayed Rock again, and Rock had let it happen. Blues had tried for hours to soothe his brother, telling him it hadn't been his fault, reminding him that they needed him mentally stable right now. Blues had even stood up for Forte, something which surprised the boy greatly.
He knew Forte hadn't realized what he was doing at the time, but that didn't stop the heartache Rock now experienced. He had given Forte as much trust, love and devotion as he had a member of the family, and Forte had very swiftly stabbed him in the back at the first opportunity. He wanted desperately to forgive Forte, to wrap his arms around him and not let go, but he just couldn't. This was far too extreme a crime. He shot Blues a look which screamed 'I'm scared' and Blues drew him closer comfortingly.
Forte, meanwhile, deemed it time to make his presence known. "Light." He muttered, and poked the man in the back when he received no response.
"What do you want, Rock-" He gasped loudly, staring at the wily bot, and jumped to his feet. "You!! What are you doing back here? What have you done with my fam-" He broke off with a grunt as Forte pushed him back into his chair calmly.
"You're in a lot of trouble, Old Man." He paced in front of the chair listlessly. "A few days ago, I stole some information off you while you slept. Little did I realize I had taken some plans. I'm sure you know what plans I'm talking about. Wily has them now, and I'm as fucked as the lot of you are. I know Wily, he'll get rid of me the first chance he gets- He's tried it in the past." Forte helped himself to a spot on the desk, next to Dr. Light. "So, I'm making a proposition. You haven't made weapons- any protection for this robot yet, have you?" He asked, face grave. "Let me help.... Let's work together before it's too late, and get ourselves prepared for the inevitable."
Dr. Light stared at Forte in severe shock. How could he have known about X unless he really had stolen the plans? If that was true, then.... The thought was overwhelming, and Light gave a soft groan, letting his face drop in his hand. "If he does that..... He has no idea.." He stared at Forte rather calmly considering the situation. "This robot.. must incubate for several years before it is ready to face the real world. If Wily were to activate a copy of mine, it would go berserk. It would..... Oh, this is terrible!" He moaned. What could he do? "How do I know I can trust you?
Forte grimaced. "You...can't know. Hell, I don't know if I can trust me." He looked at Light. "But can you afford not to? I'm the only one here who can get into Wily's lab, maybe do something to stop him from being completely effective in building that beserker."
Blues nodded. "We don't really have much choice, dad." A sigh. "We have to do something. Anything. If the damn thing does go berserk, though, uh..." He shifted, starting to get a little nervous. "Just how bad would it be?"
Dr. Light didn't answer for a minute. He wasn't sure if it would be good to tell them this, but... "If it was based on this design, with weapons, and designed by Wily at that...." He tried to think of something suitable to compare it to. "We might as well be dead right now. Unless we do something, you're right." He sighed heavily, feeling older than ever. "I will have to design some weapons, you're right." But that was so much work....he glanced at Rock. "Rock...I can't do all of the building alone and do more designing." That was what he'd built Rock for, after all, wasn't it? To help him when he was working in the lab? Why hadn't he used him sooner?
Rock stared, wide-eyed. "Yes sir."
Rock was practically in shock. All these months of neglect, after everything he'd done to try and get the man's attention.. Dr. Light had come to him. For help too. He was still useful to him. He felt tears begin to well up in his eyes, and ran over to the door to the room he knew his new sibling was being built in. "I'll go work on him now, if you let me in." he whispered, as though scared Dr. Light might suddenly change his mind and tell him to leave. "I'll do my best... dad."
The old man hobbled over to him slowly, his back was getting bad, these days, and keyed in the passcode, opening the door for Rock. "Alright... everything's down there, in blueprint form. Just keep doing what it says." He patted Rock's head idly, looking back at Blues and Forte. "If you could help your brother..." He indirectly asked Blues, who gave a small nod, "Then perhaps our little friend here could help me out with the offensive gear. I never was good at that." This, of course, was an understatement, and he figured of the three of them, Forte would be the best to seek help from on this issue, with how militent his household was.
Forte simply stared at the old man, eyes wide. Light wanted help from him? He'd been built by Wily, and the man still didn't trust him that much. "Sure." He shrugged, not sure how to take the situation. How could Rock's family be so.... nice? He stole a glance at Rock, to see if there was anything close to forgiveness in his eyes, but the boy had already disappeared into the room with his brother, and the door slid shut.
Light sat back down at his desk, and pulled up a chair for Forte, to let him sit next to himself. "I'll have Roll make more coffee. It seems we're going to have some late nights ahead of us."
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Forte wondered how the hell Dr. Light did it. He found himself with a newfound respect for the doctor's tremendous amount of work...and a newfound appreciation for strong black coffee. Even then, caffienated and much better functioning than the old human, he found himself falling asleep at his work and waking up later in a bed. He wondered who was carrying him back every time that happened...probably Blues, since Rock was still mildly upset and Light was too busy. Crap, how did that old guy manage?
He was poring over the design for the buster for the millionth time when Dr. Light brought it up. "And how do you think Dr. Wily will have progressed now?"
Forte thought about that. Wily put just as much time and effort into his robotics...but at the same time, he was also working alone. He shrugged. "Probably fairly far behind our work...but you have to remember that he cares a lot less about the conscience than you, so the programming will be a lot less tight...and the weaponry was probably already designed, just waiting for the right robot. So maybe not that far at all. We'll be done way before him, though."
"...Blues was suggesting you go and check." Dr. Light looked up from the plans he was going over. "Do you think you would be allowed into the lab?" Forte shrugged. He could try.... "..Do you think you would be able to alter anything?" That was odd...he could have sworn Light was suggesting sabotage. Something Forte was infinitely willing to do.
Forte couldn't help a small grin. "It'd be my pleasure. I'll show that old bastard who's fucking useless." He ignored the look Light gave him at his tasteless choice of words, and got up, calling his armor on. "I might even take a look at the weaponry he's got, while I'm there. Can't hurt us any." With a small nod, he walked out of the lab, and made his way to the back door, intending to leave. He stopped suddenly, however.
Rock was leaned up against the back door, staring at him sadly. "Blues said you're leaving... Are you?" Forte nodded slightly, avoiding the boy's eye. Rock held his position, grabbing Forte's wrist and he reached for the door handle. "He says you're gonna go spy for us, and make sure Wily doesn't win. He says it's going to be dangerous."
Forte kept his gaze far from Rock, even when he heard soft sobs come from the boy. This was the last thing he needed right now. What was he supposed to say, why couldn't Rock just let him pass? He was well aware of how the boy now felt toward him, and he wanted nothing more than leave, to get away from the horrible guilt that smothered him whenever he looked into Rock's eyes.
Rock gripped Forte's wrist tighter, gazing at him pleadingly. "Please don't go.." he begged softly. "Don't go, it's too dangerous! I'm sorry! I... I shouldn't have treated you so badly when you told me everything. Please don't leave me! I don't want anything bad to hap-mmf!"
Forte was now holding Rock's hand softly, lips crushed against the smaller bot's, kissing him slowly. Finally, they broke apart, and Forte eased Rock to the side gently. "Apology accepted." He smiled a genuine smile at Rock, then opened the door and left, doing his best to ignore the longing looks Rock directed at his back. He would have loved for nothing more than to tell Rock that he would be back soon, that everything would be alright, but he just... Couldn't. Just in case.
Once he hit the road at the end of the Light's household, he took a deep breath, and grin. "That's twice more than you, Blues!!" He shouted, grinning to himself. He knew Blues, and was sure he had been spying on them. He continued, suddenly feeling light as air, more carefree then he had in awhile. "Catch up if you can!" He laughed loudly, stretching his arms and legs, and teleported, suddenly feeling invincible.
It was this mind-set that was bound to get him into trouble.
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End Chapter Four.
Ending Author's Notes: We think it's obvious where we're headed with this, so let us just say it's Shibby's fault. She loves the angst so very much and probably accidentally coerced Gimp666 to go along with it. Erm. ..We hope you'll enjoy how this progresses, though.
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