Nuts and Bolts Chapter Five

Author's Notes: Mostly filler, this chapter. LOTS of stuff starts happening soon, though. ^_^;;; We assure you. Review. We need them to replace the ones we lost.

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The base looked horrible compared to what Forte was now used to. He'd been gone for how long now? Months? And it had gotten blasted in several places, nobody willing to repair it from the fights between robot masters. And Wily would have been damned busy on the new robot...wonder what he'd named it? Forte shrugged, walking calmly through the hallways and seeing no sign of the usual robot wanderings. Where was everyone?

Ah. Yes, he'd forgotten that they sometimes did that. He stared into the giant room he'd just walked into, striding confidently through the mob, circled around a pair of robots fighting each other. Had he actually watched that, back before he worked for Light? Forte shook his head in disgust. He was going soft...but at least the people here still feared him. He glanced around, noting with a swell of pride that they still backed the hell away from him. Good. Some things never changed.

And then it was Wily's lab. Dark as hell. He stopped himself before he knocked the door - he had never knocked before, and Wily would start to wonder like the paranoid bastard he was - and barged in. "Yo! Old guy! What's going on in here?" He glanced around, preparing a good web of lies to spin. "I haven't gotten any orders from you in a hell of a while and I've got nothing to do but try and kill Rock." Well, that was true, if you replaced the word 'kill' with 'make friends with' or possibly 'kiss'. He wandered deeper into the lab, staring at the worse-than-usual disarray spread around, metal and wires and screens of programming.

"What do you want, failure?" Wily muttered, bent over a table with a set of blueprints in his hands. "I'm busy on my best creation yet. So much better than you. Rest assured you couldn't even scratch him if you fought."

Forte stared at the body on the table, and couldn't help the next words that popped out of his mouth. "What's with the hair?"

God, Wily's creation was so....! He lifted a strand, inspecting it curiously, then glanced over at some blueprints. Huh. Not compensating for anything, if the scale on that damn diagram was the actual one.... "Don't you think it makes him.. you did say him, yes?" A glare. "Ah. well, don't you think it makes him look just a little on the girly side?" He smirked, poking at this and that with mild curiosity. "Place looks real nice, Wily. Going for that Swiss cheese motif?" He could tell he was agitating the doctor, and knew damned well that if he kept doing it, Wily would leave, to get away from him momentarily. "And that wonderful stench. Is that you or them?"

Wily simply rolled his eyes, and wandered across the room, staring at information pouring in on a screen. "Get lost, you useless piece of trash, I've no use for you right now. Why don't you go do something helpful, like run yourself through a trash compactor." He slowed the line of code down, narrowing his eyes. Forte knew what he was staring at, Light had caught that bug weeks ago.

"Maybe I will, later..." He smirked, this was the chance he had been waiting for. Slowly, he reached into the robot's chest and began swapping chips, disarranging wires, and destroying small pieces Wily wouldn't notice for weeks in advance. "So..... What's his name?" He had to keep Wily talking, otherwise he might turn around and come back.

"Name?" Wily laughed in amusement. "You think I bothered naming him already? What does it matter? I'll probably throw one together at the last minute, like I did with you." He shot Forte a nasty grin- Then stopped cold. Forte had his hand deep into his robot's chest, and judging by the look on his face, he was up to no good. "What are you doing?!" He made a mad dash for Forte, who was staring wide eyed, and tried to corner him.

Forte slipped by him quickly, mashing keys randomly on the keyboard and messing with the new robot's coding, then ran like all hell out of the room. He made it three feet, before finding himself completely surrounded by Robot Masters. "Typical... Completely useless any time I could use their assistance, but the second they're after me, they're competent." He grinned, despite the fact that his body was rigid with fear. This was it for him.

There were far too many for him to deal with alone, he couldn't teleport within the fortress, and they were so tightly closed around him, he couldn't even begin to fight. This didn't bode well for him. Forte knew what the Robot Masters did to each other in their spare time, and he couldn't see them treating a traitor any better. He was never going to see Rock again. He found he couldn't stop grinning, however. He had done what he'd come for, and that had to count for something. He wished he could see the boy, to apologize for not making it back to him. "Well, let's get this over with..." He laughed.

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Rock paced the lab. Forte had been gone for over 12 hours, when the job should have taken him, an hour, two tops to complete. Something had gone wrong. Wringing his hands, he looked over at Blues for what had to be the 80th time that evening, ready for another reassuring smile from him, but this time he found none. His brother looked just as distraught.

Blues took it upon himself to state the obvious. "He's in trouble." A sigh. "And we will do something, Rock. Don't worry about that." The boy's expression had turned panicked for a second, but now with a mission he looked determined. "We'll let Dr. Light know, and then we can go. And don't look like that, we have to tell him...just in case we can't help with the work on X anymore."

Rock nodded, wringing his hands. "I'm just so worried...he might be dead, Blues!" He stared at his brother beseechingly, hoping against hope that Blues would tell him that everything would be alright. "What will we do then?"

Rubbing at his temples, Blues shrugged. "Nothing we can do but hope."

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It hurt like hell. Forte groaned. He rolled from his back to his side, staring hopelessly at the floor. He'd be killed soon, but right now...another kick to his ribs, someone else planting a foot in his back. The robot masters had a chance for revenge for all the times he'd beaten them, and they were taking complete advantage of that. Wily had watched for a while, then stormed off to work on that stupid blonde 'bot of his. At least he'd slowed him down...though Forte wished he could have done something more, like screw with the construction so that the bot was completely useless instead of just in need of repairs.

Another kick, this time to the face, and Forte gagged on some of his own blood.

Tilting his head upward, he coughed, spraying blood onto the floor, then shut his eyes, grunting as someone kicked him hard in the stomach. Forte gave a small shudder- It seemed like his torture was going to end. Someone grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled him to a sitting position. He squeezed his eyes shut, awaiting another blow to his head, then felt his face redden hearing a slight jingling sound. Shit, they were going to do that too? Whatever. He didn't care anymore. He hurt everywhere, ready to pass out. "I'm coming back, just to kill the lot of you.." He groaned, voice broken and raspy. The grip on his hair tightened, and he lay there, anticipating the worst.

There was a loud crack, and a sizzle, then his hair was released and a heavy form landed limply on top of him. "Forte!!!" A very familiar voice cried, and Forte knew exactly what happened. Rock had come for him. "You're hurt!!" Rock pulled the robot master aside, more shots firing off behind him- Blues must have tagged along-and lifted his head, resting it in his lap.

Forte turned his head slightly, burying his face into Rock's armored thigh, and coughed in response, blood leaking onto his leg. "What the h-hell are...." He shuddered, trailing off, then felt everything begin to fade. Fuck! Why had Rock come for him? What was he, crazy? He should have left Forte to his fate so they could finish up on that robot. "...sentimental bastard." A hand ran though his hair smoothly, and he realized he must have said that out loud. Forcing his eyes open, he stared up at his rescuers, eyes dull. "... I'm just going to sleep a little.... I'm.... I'm t- tired...." Everything went black.

Rock looked up at Blues helplessly, who simply shrugged, smirking. "Guess I have to carry him then." He scanned the room, surveying the damage they had caused, then sighed. "They'll be onto us now. I'm sure Wily knows we're here. We'd better leave, Rock. He began to count in his head. So far they had taken down 14 Robot masters since they'd arrived. That still left....

"There's still a lot of them left." Rock answered for him, then lifted Forte up slightly, resting him on Blues' back, sliding Blues' shield over his exposed back. He stole a glance out into the hall, to see if they could escape that way. The bodies of the robot masters they'd taken down were still laying there. "Let's go! They must not realize we're here yet!" Rock whispered.

Blues smirked, then walked over to him and rest a hand on Rock's helmeted head. "Ever the optimist, Rock." He stared down the hall. It sure seemed that way, but..... "Somehow I doubt Wily doesn't know we're here. He may be a little senile, but he's not stupid. There's too much tension down there, you can practically feel it. I think it's a trap." He looked around the room slowly. "There, that door." He opened it, glancing down a different hall, one they hadn't taken. "Let's take this way. He'll be expecting us to take the same way."

Rock followed him, smiling admiringly, and nodded. "Okay. I'd rather not fight anymore." Blues simply sighed deeply, knowing Rock wasn't going to get his wish.

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They dashed through the hallway, and it was eerily vacant of robots. This...did not bode well. Blues glanced over at Rock, shifting Forte around on his back. "Where the hell are they?" He muttered, watching Rock dash ahead of him. Damn, Forte was heavy. He grunted, running faster to catch up with his brother. Nothing, nobody....crap, this was bad. Strange how he panicked when there was no threat but was fine when something was happening...And this was proved when they turned a corner and literally ran into a large group of robot masters. So they'd been setting up a trap...

Rock grinned at the imposing figure he'd run into. "Uh. Sorry?" He scrambled up, firing a few shots as Blues dashed around him to back him up.

"Crap!" Blues yelped, glancing at another hallway as some more robot masters filed in. That made...seven against two, and he was carrying Forte. They weren't going to get out of this unscathed. "...I say we run like hell now."

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Forte moaned softly in pain, stirring at the sound of Rock's blaster. Turning his head, he stared at the robot masters coming from several directions. "Fuck... can I go back to sleep now?" He really didn't want to see that just as he woke up. "What are you guys doing? they're going to corner you. Turn left, go in that room." He struggled to stay conscious, wanting to continue giving them directions, but his lids felt so heavy.

Rock held off the robot masters as Blues ran into the room with Forte, then followed, bringing up the rear. Slamming the door behind him and sealing it shut, he looked around. "Wow, Forte...... What is this place?" It was a room of... Rooms. Or halls.. He wasn't sure. There seemed to be a door every two feet. Forte muttered a few more instructions, semi coherent, then passed out again. "Forte...?" He sighed, then walked up to the second door on the left, as much as he had understood. Opening the door, they walked into a small dark room.

Blues followed him, looking around slowly. "... What the- Why the hell would he drag us in here?" Locking the door behind him, he began to look around at the various monitors, and contraptions. "There must be something to help us out here." Flicking on the lights, it looked about the same as any other room in the fortress. "What's so special about this place?"

Rock stood in the center of the room, staring at the floor. There was a box painted around their feet. "Maybe....." Rock began to check stats on the room. "Maybe we can teleport in here or something... It's gotta be that, there's no way out of here!"

Blues shrugged. "It's worth a try..." There was a pounding of feet coming from the hallways behind them. "Crap, let's hurry." He shuffled over to his brother, tugging Forte along with him.

When the robot masters opened the door, there was nobody there.

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Rock panted heavily, slumping to the ground outside of Dr. Light's house. "I can't believe we made it..." His words trailed off, and he struggled up to grab Forte from Blues. "We have to help him! He's hurt!" Rock gave Forte a few experimental tugs, finding the bioroid heavier than he thought. Blues sighed, grabbing Forte and helping his brother carry his burden. "...thanks." Now they just had to repair him...which would take more time than Rock was willing to think about. But it would be worth it. Forte was his friend. He smiled at Blues, walking slowly over to the house with him.

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He wasn't dead.

...He wasn't dead? Forte's eyes shot open, and he blinked and yelled, surprised, at seeing Dr. Light hovering above him. "Shit, don't scare me like that." He mumbled, sitting up.

He rubbed his head, looking around the room slowly as Dr. Light chuckled softly. "How long've I been out?" He mumbled, as Light pushed him back down slowly. "Did you repair me..?"

"Now, hold still. You're not done yet, and you're going to damage yourself further." Dr. Light chided, setting back to work. "You've been out for two days. It wouldn't have taken this long to repair you, but there are several variations in your make up from Rock's."

Forte stared at him blankly. "Not done yet? But. I feel fine." He stole a glance down, and was surprised to see his insides, as he was still opened up. "I don't feel anything." He muttered, giving his frame a testing poke. Nothing, no feeling at all. He let Dr. Light shift his hand away gently, then sighed, staring up at him. "What's going on..?"

Dr. Light smiled faintly and continued his work. "I turned off your pain receptors. For some reason, Wily didn't design anything to shut down your pain reception, so I had to program something before I could do so." Seeing Forte's eyes widen, he quickly added, "I assure you, I didn't touch your programming other than that. I just didn't want you to boot up again half way through your repairs and wake up screaming in pain."

Forte stared at him quizzically. There was a way to turn off the pain? All this time Wily had repaired him as he held his breath and bit his lip, and there was a way to stop it? "What a bastard.." He growled lowly, staring up at the ceiling dully. "Wily told me there wasn't a way to turn that off, and that the pain was good for me." He shot him a weak grin and shrugged slightly.

He stared at Light, feeling there was something missing, something he should say, yet he wasn't sure what. Certainly not a 'thank you', it was the man's own choice, repairing him. "Sorry. For everything." He finally forced out of his mouth. Damn, he hated apologizing.

Dr. Light pat his shoulder- Even though he didn't feel it. "You should get some rest. We've got lots to do when you're up and going again." Forte nodded, and Light continued long after the boy passed out again.

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Rock caught himself staring at the clock more and more as the hours passed. He was doing his best with X, but the work was so time consuming, and he found everything to have meticulous detail. No wonder his father had been so busy. And Forte still wasn't repaired- Something that worried him

"What's taking them so long?" He asked Blues, setting his tools down and looking over at him timidly. Blues looked. Well, exhausted. Even his shades could no longer hide this fact- Blues had been up almost the entire time. He had been so busy putting everyone else to bed when they dozed off that he'd hardly slept himself. Rock knew better than to bring this up with him, however..

"I don't think we can keep up like this..." Rock muttered. Blues looked up. "I mean, look at us. We're exhausted. I don't see how dad does it because...well...we need a break." He sighed. "But how the heck are we supposed to ask for that? This is important!" Rock stared at the tools he'd set down. Blues especially needed to rest, and Rock was going to make sure he did in one way or another.

Silence. The door to the lab opened, and Dr. Light walked slowly inside. Rock perked up, smiled, and went right back to work. He wasn't going to disappoint his father if he could ever help it. But still... "How's Forte doing?" Blues asked, saving Rock from having to inquire. "He was pretty bad..."

"He'll be fine...he's just resting." Dr. Light yawned. "We're all tired. Don't look at me like that, Blues, you are too though you won't admit it." A sigh. "I think...you two should go get some rest. I can keep working." Rock opened his mouth, about to protest even though that was what he had been postulating earlier. "No, Rock. You especially. There's some extremely delicate work ahead of us...." He coughed. "Erm. And for some of it I.....don't suggest you ask too many questions." Blues raised an eyebrow. He could only guess what that meant and none of it was very good for poor, innocent Rock. "Anyway. Off you two go. I'll stay here and work."

"But you need sleep too!" Rock protested, but was quickly hustled off by Blues to his room. No point in trying to stop Light. He was a bit of a workaholic.

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Rock glanced up at Blues as they walked, smiling up at him innocently as if asking what Dr. Light was referring to. He could tell he wasn't going to get any answers out of his brother, however. Blues walked into Rock's bedroom, then pulled the covers back and helped his brother slide in, covering him with the blanket. Rock smiled, feeling the fringe brush against his cheek lightly. He felt the covers shift slightly as Blues crawled in next to him, then nuzzled him gently as Blues wrapped an arm around him. "Night, Blues..." He whispered, yawning softly.

"Go to sleep, Rock..." Blues murmured, feeling Rock squirm, trying to get comfortable. He sighed softly. Rock was restless, and couldn't fall asleep, despite how obviously exhausted he was. This could only mean one thing- Something was bothering him, it wasn't going to be something good, and Rock was going to cry. Damn the kid was sensitive.

Rock fought with the blankets to find somewhere warm, somewhere comfortable, somewhere his mind would finally rest. Slowly, he turned, facing Blues, and whispered softly. "Blues... Are you awake?" Blues gave a small grunt in reply, and Rock continued. "... We're going to die, aren't we?" His tone was flat, his face grave.

This shook Blues right out of the half sleep he had been in. "Uh.. what? He rubbed his face wearily. "Rock, we're not..." He trailed off, staring into those dead, serious eyes. There was no way he could lie to Rock with a face like that. "It's a possibility..." He sighed softly, rubbing Rock's back slowly. "It's always been a possibility." He felt Rock's body shake lightly, against him, and hugged him tight.

"I.... I don't want to die!!" Rock burst out with suddenly. "I like being alive! I like functioning! I don't want to lose that!" He began to cry softly, fearing for his life for the first time since he could remember. Everything until this point had been somewhat of a game. Wily sent Robot Masters- Rock defeated said Robot Masters. No one ever got hurt, not really, not irreparably. He felt Blues' hand grip his chin softly, forcing him to look up and he obliged, staring up at him with watery eyes.

Blues sighed softly, wiping the trails of tears away with his thumbs, and smiled sadly. "Rock.. If something happens, I promise I'll go before you, okay? I'd rather die keeping you alive." He kissed the trembling boy's forehead softly. "You just do your best to keep Dr. Light alive, okay?" Rock nodded slowly, tears flowing twice as fast, and he held him close. "Please don't cry... Rock... Just get some rest, okay? We all need it, and nothing's going to happen.." Already Rock's sobbing had begun to dissipate, and he clung to his brother's shirt, drifting off despite everything.

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Ending Author's Notes: Well. Yay for future happenings. Next chapter has amusement and some pretty morbid stuff. Yay for contrast as well!

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