Disclaimer:

I do not now nor have ever owned Rockman / Megaman X or any of its characters, including but not limited to X, Zero, Axl, Alia, Signas, and Lifesaver. Please don't sue, I'm broke and will just declare bankruptcy if you do.

Important:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I'm afraid this will have to suffice for my gift to all of you wonderful readers and reviewers. I hope you enjoy it.

This chapter is rated PG because I say so, and because Zero isn't really totally nude…

Umm… yeah.

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Reploid Anatomy 101 – Respiratory System

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And so, breathe…

…Just Breathe.

The respiratory system serves as a secondary coolant system. The primary coolant system, the circulatory system, works in conjunction with the reploid's lungs to maintain safe temperatures.

The respiratory system consists of synthetic lungs that act as bellows. The lungs pump air in and out of the reploid's body, through the mouth and nose. The lungs are located above and to either side of the main generator core. The close proximity allows the respiration process to diffuse the high temperatures generated by the core into the air the reploid exhales.

The circulatory system also serves to disperse and reduce the core temperature. The liquid coolant is pumped throughout the body and past the core. Heat is transferred to the coolant and then dispersed throughout the circulatory system. The arteries and veins travel to the extremities and beneath the outer layers of synthflesh on the body and heat is diffused through the synthflesh and skin. This process causes the reploid to give off body heat in a similar fashion to humans.

The cardio-pump is located in the ribcage, usually between the two synthetic lungs. Because of its location, coolant flows past the lungs as it travels in and out of the pump. Heat is also transferred from the coolant fluid and into the air entering and exiting the lungs. This causes a reploid's exhalations to be noticeably warmer than the surrounding air temperature.

Because a reploid does not require oxygen to survive, the way a human does, they do not have to breathe air to survive. While breathing helps to maintain safe core system temperatures, it is not necessary as long as the cardio-pump and circulatory system is operational. Because of this, reploids can operate in atmospheric conditions that would prove fatal to humans and other organic life forms. It is also possible for a reploid to breathe liquid as easily as gaseous atmospheres. For a reploid, breathing water serves the same coolant purposes as breathing air.

Plasma particle collectors are also located within the lungs. These serve to extract high-energy plasma from the air, which is stored in the fuel cells and used to power the fusion core.

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The warm liquid ran down from the crown of his head, over his bare shoulders and down his back. The water spilled over the waistband of his swim trunks and ran down his legs before joining the continuous whorl that centered on the steel drain set in the floor.

Zero leaned forward and braced his hands against the wall of the shower, his eyes closed as water ran in rivulets down his face. His armor, long since rinsed free of blood, sat outside the shower door on the tiled bathroom floor.

Zero tilted his head forward as water dripped from his bangs. Streams of water ran down the thick, sopping plaits of his hair that clung to his back and sides before dripping from the tips of his hair near his calves. Zero sighed and tilted his head to the side to make sure the warm jets of water rinsed the last of the bloody streaks from his hair.

He opened his eyes and watched as the water, tinged pink and streaked with darker red, swirled about his feet before vanishing down the drain. Zero closed his eyes and shivered as he clenched his hands into fists, still braced against the wall.

It had been so close today, far too close. Just a few inches further up on X's chest and his generator would have ruptured. An inch, maybe two, between life and death. A life that still hung in the balance.

Zero clenched his teeth and slammed his fist into the wall. Spider web cracks and fractures snaked out from the shallow crater his fist left in the tile shower wall. So many close calls, too many to bother counting anymore. But this one was different. This one was so… so… asinine. A shark. Of all things that had ever been considered to possibly be the end of X, it was a shark that had perhaps come the closest, next to Sigma himself. Granted, a maverick was behind it, but still. Mavericks don't generally use sharks, or any animals or other organic life forms, for that matter, in their attacks. This was something no one had ever expected.

Out of all three of them, Zero had always expected he would be the first to end up dead, not X or Axl. Zero was always the one who rushed headfirst into dangerous situations. Zero was the one most often in close combat. When your main weapon is a saber, close combat situations are the norm. Both X and Axl used distance weapons more often than not. They needed room to maneuver to be most effective in a fight. Zero was more used to hand to hand combat and close quarters. It was Zero's job to slip in close and take the enemy down with swift and overwhelming force.

When X fought, his actions were based on strategy, and required observation and analysis of the enemy's tactics and skills in order to best determine how to take the maverick down. Zero fought with strength and speed and more than just a little skill. That's why he had the reputation of a demonic berserker once he'd encountered the enemy. Axl's style was an interesting mix of their styles with a touch of his own. Axl had learned from X to analyze and out-think the enemy, but he also took risks if he felt he could pull it off. He wasn't a berserker, but he was very much the sneak. Axl used his Copy Shot ability, as well as a natural talent for misdirection to lure the enemy into situations where he could strike and use the maverick's own abilities or tactics against them.

Out of all three of them, Axl took the most dangerous risks, but he always had X and Zero ready to back him up or bail him out if he got in over his head. He was their protégé, after all… They looked out for him like a little brother. Though X sometimes seemed more a mother hen than a big brother. They had more experience, in life and war, than Axl did. And Zero had the most experience as a warrior.

X might be the oldest, but when it came to fighting, Zero was the most experienced. As such, he had taken X under his wing when X had first joined the Hunters. And they had both taken Axl into hand to make sure he would be the best he could be, so that he would be able to stay alive, so that he would be prepared for whatever may come. As such, Zero knew that both he and X felt responsible for Axl. But more than that, Zero felt responsible for X as well. X had been his first protégé, and despite X having become stronger than Zero could ever have imagined when they had first met, Zero still felt the need to look out for him, as a mentor, a friend, and as a brother.

And what kind of a mentor… a friend… a big brother… was he to have not been there when X and Axl had needed him? Instead, he'd been on the boat, flirting with girls he'd probably never see again, not that he'd mind that much. Not that far away, distance-wise, from X and Axl, but practically a life away. A life that was currently pouring down a shower drain… A life that lay unresponsive and fading on an operating table… A life that meant more to Zero than a million of those pretty women that he flirted with, but cared little for, besides the passing of time and enjoyment of the moment.

If he hadn't been concerned with keeping up his reputation, with enjoying his status of desirable male… with trying to forget… with trying to move on… He could have been there for X, for Axl. He should have been there.

How much damage would X have been spared if he had been there, right beside him? The shark might have gone for Zero instead. Zero was taller than X, the shark couldn't have bitten him as far up as it had X. Zero would have been in less danger if he had been the target, right?

Either way, one of them would have been right there to save the other, to save Axl. It hadn't been Axl's fault, he'd tried, but there had been two sharks right there. If Zero had been with them, if he had been there when they needed him, he could have taken out both of the sharks before the third showed up. The third shark was the smallest; it couldn't have kept any one of them away from saving the other two. He should have been there, to save them immediately, before serious damage could have been done… before one of them was dying…

If Zero had only been there, right there, beside them, would X still be in the OR, dying?

Would Zero be here, washing part of his best friend, his little brother, off of him?

Zero cursed under his breath. Inhaling deeply to center himself and get a hold on his emotions, he slowly straightened up. As he pulled his fist away from the wall he winced and glanced down at his knuckles. The synthflesh was bruised and cut in several places from the sharp edges of tile shards, which now fell from the crater in the wall where he'd punched it. It was nothing serious, but it stung as his blood oozed up from the slices and was washed away in the rush of water from the showerhead.

Zero sighed and closed his eyes, letting his hands drop to his sides. This was getting him nowhere. If he stayed in here much longer, he wouldn't be surprised if his skin wrinkled up like humans did when they stayed too long in water. There wasn't any more blood to wash off except his own, even if he could still swear he felt the phantom slickness sliding down his legs and belly and slipping between his fingers. Zero shivered and shook his head to clear away those thoughts. He then reached out and shut off the water before running his uninjured hand through his hair to wring out the water. He pushed open the door and stepped out past his piled armor. The chill of the tile bit into his feet, but he paid it no attention as he snagged a towel and proceeded to dry himself and his swim trunks off. It was time to face the world again.

Lacking anything else, and not wanting to sit around in the med ward in nothing but shorts, Zero pulled on his black and gray bodysuit. The rest of his armor was still dripping wet, so Zero left it to dry on the floor of the bathroom. Barefoot, damp hair pulled back in a loose ponytail, Zero headed out of the patient recovery room and returned to the main med ward.

Signas was waiting where Zero had left him. The only difference was that he had acquired a computer data pad from somewhere and was going over reports of some kind. Zero slid onto the bench beside him. Signas glanced up and nodded at Zero's arrival.

"Any word?"

"Nothing yet." Signas glanced over at Zero and found his eyes drawn to where a slender trickle of blood ran down Zero's fingers. "Thought you were going to wash it off?"

Zero glanced across at Signas and followed his gaze to his knuckles. "That's mine."

"…Should I call a repair crew down for the recovery room you used?"

"Not yet. My armor's still there. Take it out of my pay, would you."

"I believe we have a portion of the budget set aside for renovations to expand the recovery ward. One extra room won't be noticed."

Zero nodded his thanks as Signas gave him a slight smile. "Has Alia reported back in with news on the recovery team?"

"Not yet." Signas sighed. "I should go check up on her. But I don't want to intrude. Under normal circumstances, I'd send X to talk to her and make sure she was handling this well. Of course, that's not possible…"

Zero sighed. "I know. As soon as I know, one way or another, I'll take the news to her in person." Zero gritted his teeth. "She should have stayed, she didn't need to go back to work. I know she's worried."

"I know. Her shift was supposed to end early today, so she could pack to join you in Hawaii. Knowing her, she's going to keep working till she's exhausted."

"If she had stayed… At least she wouldn't have to worry alone." Zero sighed and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands.

Signas sighed. "She can be quite stubborn when she tries. Nearly as bad as you and X." Zero snorted. Signas sighed heavily. "I think she blames herself, in part."

Zero snapped his head up to stare at Signas in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

"The 3rd and 4th squads of the 17th were sent to Hawaii earlier today to take care of a minor maverick disturbance at a marine life center. Alia wasn't in the communications center to field the call. Tanya Readington handled the alert instead. No one alerted you three. You were on vacation. Hell, no one expected any of the bastards to escape, or head to Oahu, let alone attack swimmers with sharks, of all things. From what I gathered, Alia skipped out a little early to pack. She probably blames herself for that maverick getting away and attacking you three."

"That's absurd!"

"I know. Nothing she could have done would have changed what happened. Tanya is a very thorough and skilled technical spotter. There's nothing she didn't do that Alia would have. Besides, aside from Alia being spotter for the 17th, there's no reason the senior comm. dispatcher would have been consulted or needed for such a deployment. And if she had been there, she would have given the go-ahead for Tanya's decision anyway. She has no reason to blame herself."

"Damn straight! She wasn't even there. There was nothing she could have done… It's not her fault at all…" Zero scowled as he turned away from Signas to glare at the floor between his bare feet.

"Zero…" Signas spoke in a quiet, but commanding tone. "This is not your fault."

Zero stiffened slightly but didn't look up. "Never said it was…"

"You don't need to say it. I can see it, and hear it, just fine. This is not your fault, Zero. I don't blame you. Alia doesn't blame you. Axl doesn't blame you. X most definitely would never blame you. Do not blame yourself. No one else would even think of trying to place the blame on you."

Zero growled and straightened up, slamming his fist into the bench beside him. "Damnit, I should have been there!" he snarled. "I should have! I could have been! But I wasn't there…"

"Zero stop."

"If I had been closer, I could have stopped it. I could have! X wouldn't be in there right now." Zero gestured imperatively at the door to the OR across the room. "I-should-have-been-there," Zero growled from between clenched teeth.

"Zero, stop telling yourself that. You were there. You did save X. No one could ever expect you to have done anything more. There's nothing that indicates you could have changed things by being a few yards closer. From what I've read up on about shark attacks, most of the damage would have been done in seconds. You couldn't have changed that, even if you were right beside him."

"You don't know that." Zero ground out.

"And you don't know otherwise, either. You can't beat yourself up over could-have-beens or should-have-beens. If we did that, the world would be a much sorrier place. If we all dwelt on what might have been, nothing would ever be done to change the way things are now for the better. You and I can play the might-have-been game well into the next century and still not exhaust our topics. And we wouldn't have gotten anything done to make things any better. Once we start up, where will we stop? We could go on and on about what might have been to change what happened today. What if you had been there? What if that shark had attacked a human instead? What if that maverick had chosen an entirely different group to attack? What if the maverick had been stopped by the 17th before he could escape? All those could have happened to change what happened to X. But are we going to blame the 17th for not noticing that one maverick slipping away, instead of attacking like a good-little-maverick should, while they were busy stopping other mavericks and helping the wounded civilians? And why stop there? What if Sigma had never gone psychotic in the first place and infected hundreds of others with the virus? What if the maverick virus had never existed? Or how about this one, what if Thomas Light had never created X in the first place? That would have certainly prevented him from being attacked by a shark today. Should we blame Light then?"

"Of course not!"

"Glad to see you agree." A soft beeping began emanating from the data pad. Signas ignored it for the moment. "Zero, you're no more to blame than Light or the 17th are." The incessant beeping continued, Signas' eyebrow twitched in irritation. "The only blame lies firmly on the," Signas gave in and glanced down at the data pad in his hands and paused before cocking an eyebrow, "apparently headless shoulders of the maverick."

Zero glanced up and raised an eyebrow questioningly at Signas.

"Just got the recovery team's preliminary report in. All things considered, I'd expected there to be less to recover."

"I had other, more important concerns than reducing the bastard to shredded scrap," Zero grunted.

Signas nodded. "I agree. X's life is more important than beating a dead dolphin. Which is another reason no one could possibly blame you for this. If you had indulged, which you can't deny you have been known to do in the past, X might have bled to death before he got here. The fact that you helped stop further bleeding instead of focusing on your anger at the maverick is further proof that you did everything anyone could have to save X. No one could have done anything more, not even you Zero."

Zero slumped his shoulders and ground his fists into the surface of the bench. "I still feel I should have been able to save him…"

"You did save him Zero. X is not dead yet. Don't you give up on him."

Zero snapped his head up as though slapped. "I wasn't! I know that! X is way too tough to let it end like this!"

Signas nodded. "Good. Now cut that out before I call a med tech over here to bandage your hand."

Zero started and glanced down at his bleeding hand. Punching the bench repeatedly and grinding his knuckles into it hadn't helped any. The cuts had split wider and the bleeding had increased. Zero cursed and pulled his hand up to his lap and held it there determinedly with his other hand. He'd been so preoccupied he hadn't even noticed the pain.

"Need a medic?"

"No." Zero grunted. "It'll be fine by the end of the day."

Signas nodded. "Don't let any of the medics see that hand then, they don't need to be worrying over all three of you. Even if there is no such thing as bench poisoning."

Zero snorted. "What's the prelim report say?"

"Nothing you probably already don't know. Two shark bodies, one badly wounded shark, a boatful of panicked and frantic tourists, and one headless dolphin maverick body. I don't suppose you know where the head might have ended up?"

"Used the Z-buster."

"Point blank?" Zero grunted affirmative. "Well, won't have to worry about it missing then. Would have been nice to have access to his memory banks. But it's not a big loss." Signas' voice then took on a hard edge, "Besides, the bastard deserved it."

"Hn." Zero nodded.

"Aside from that," Signas sighed, "the sharks were from a breeding program. The recovery team captured that last one alive. Apparently it'll be moved back to the marine center. If it survives, I suppose it'll be the only thing that's ever survived trying to kill the three of you."

Zero snorted. "Great, an infamous shark celebrity. I can just see the news feed headlines now."

"Well, at least we know it won't be leading any maverick revolts."

"I dunno. Some mavericks are dumb enough to take orders from a shark, especially one that survived the Wrath of Zero. If it did, at least it would be the easiest Maverick Uprising we've ever had to deal with."

"There is that." Signas smiled slightly before glancing back at the data pad and sighing heavily. Zero raised an eyebrow at him. Signas shook his head. "I've got to go. I'm supposed to be in a teleconference with some of the Global U.N. council members in," he paused to check his internal chronometer and scowled, "fifteen minutes." Signas sighed and shook his head. "Sometimes, Zero… Sometimes I just want to chuck all this bureaucratic nonsense out the nearest window. They're just going to sit there and yak at me for the next few hours and shift blame for everything under the sun around onto each other to cover their own asses. Then we'll dance around the real issues for a few more hours before actually getting to the damn point of demanding this meeting."

"And you wonder why I don't want the job?"

Signas snorted. "I'm beginning to agree with you."

"Ah well," Zero shrugged, "what can you expect from such stuffed suits? Better go put on your waltzing shoes, my friend." Zero clapped his hand lightly on Signas' armored shoulder. At Signas' meaningful glance, Zero nodded. "Don't worry, I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything."

Signas nodded. "See you later, then." Zero waved as Signas headed out of the med ward before returning his gaze to the OR and his vigil.

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It was late. The sun had long since set outside Maverick Hunter Head Quarters and the waiting continued. Zero had a new companion-in-vigil though. Axl had been released from the OR sometime around 5pm local time.

The redhead sat beside Zero in the spot Signas had vacated hours earlier. Someone had given him a tank top to go with his swim shorts. His left upper arm and shoulder were heavily bandaged in white gauze. It would take a day or two for the new synthflesh grafts to bond completely with the rest of his synthflesh. The bandaging would keep the grafts in place so that they would heal seamlessly. Axl had ended up having almost his entire shoulder replaced, including his upper arm bone. The med techs could not fully repair the original metal bone because it was too badly warped. Axl was currently getting used to his new joints, even though he wasn't supposed to put much strain on his shoulder or arm until he'd had a day or two to heal and integrate the new systems.

Zero had sent messages to Signas and Alia informing them that Axl had been released and would make a full recovery. They still had not received word on X. Zero was waiting for news on X before he went to find Alia and bring her back here to see him.

Zero and Axl sat in companionable silence. Zero was leaning back against the wall and Axl was leaning forward to brace his chin in his right hand. They both had been asked, and then ordered, and then reprimanded, repeatedly, to either go lay down in a recovery room (for Axl) or to move their vigil to the designated waiting room. They had both refused. Axl and Zero had both come to silent agreement that they were not budging until they knew how X was.

The longer X spent in the OR, the more worried Zero became. Although the flurry of activity from earlier had died down somewhat, parts and equipment were still occasionally being brought into the OR. The fact that X was still in the OR, after all this time, meant that there were probably complications of some kind. Which was a bad sign.

Simple part replacement normally took far less time, even for multiple damaged parts. The med techs had once had to replace Zero's entire left leg. Even with all the spare parts having to be pulled out of storage and assembled into a matching leg, then surgically attached and synchronized with his systems, it had taken much less time than X had been in surgery today. Zero wasn't quite sure how long that was, exactly. He had stopped checking his internal chronometer sometime after 8pm. That had been a while ago. Zero didn't even want to consider just how long ago.

Zero glanced over at Axl. The kid was slumped forward, his eyes nearly shut. He looked just about ready to fall asleep right there. He was definitely showing his exhaustion. Having parts replaced always wore a guy out, and not just because that meant he had been injured. Any injury taxed a reploid's power reserves as energy was shunted to the auto-repair systems. But having parts replaced put an even bigger drain on the energy grid. Their systems had to synchronize the new parts with the rest of their body and gradually build the power levels in the new parts up to par with the rest of their grid. System diagnostics were run continuously during this period to make sure there were no malfunctions or system conflicts with the new parts. Energy reserves were always drained to accomplish this, which was why injured reploids needed a recovery period after surgery, same as humans, though shorter.

Zero sighed softly as Axl's eyes shut fully and his chin slipped slightly from his palm. He jerked slightly and forced his eyes back open, though they began drooping shut almost immediately again. Zero shook his head and leaned forward, gripping Axl's right shoulder. Axl started and straightened up to glance at him.

"Come on, kid. You're gonna end up face down on the floor if you keep that up. And the nurses will blame me, I'm sure." Zero tugged lightly on his shoulder and pulled Axl back to lean against his side. "Get some rest, huh? I'll wake you if there's anything new."

Axl pulled away slightly. "But I don't want to fall asleep. Not yet. Not till I know."

"Come on. You need it, Axl. You just had your shoulder and upper arm replaced. You're going to drop if you keep trying to force yourself awake. Rookies will be tripping over you in the hallway come morning."

Axl snorted. "Would not. You'd drag me by my feet back to my room before that could happen."

"Hmm. Good point. But still, get some rest. If you fall over, the nurses will be all over my hide for not making sure you were okay."

"I would think y-y-yoouu," a yawn cut his sentence off, "would appreciate that." Axl finished as he slumped sideways onto Zero's left shoulder.

Zero snorted as he leaned the both of them back against the wall. "And people say I have a gutter-brain. And trust me, that's not the kind of 'all over' that would be a pleasant experience."

"Mm… 'll take yer wor' fer it…" Axl muttered sleepily.

"You do that, kid." Zero sighed as he felt Axl relax into sleep. He leaned his head back and stared blankly up at the ceiling once more.

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Time passed intermittently. None of the med techs that were on duty this late bothered them as they continued to wait. Axl shifted a few times in his sleep, burying his face into Zero's shoulder, but he didn't start snoring. Zero really hoped he didn't drool.

The sound of an OR door hissing open caught Zero's attention. It took him a second to pull himself out of the zoning stupor he had been falling into. Zero tilted his head forward to locate the sound. Upon identifying its source, Zero started and jerked himself up straight. Axl mumbled something incoherent and shifted to press his nose against Zero's neck. Zero flinched in surprise at the rush of warm breath against his collarbone before shifting and shaking Axl slightly to wake him up.

"Hey, kid, wake up."

"Mrph… graargphf."

"Come on. Wake up, Axl. Something's going on." Zero shook him a little harder, careful not to jostle his left shoulder.

"Nrrng?" Axl blinked and lifted his head to peer blurrily at Zero.

"Come on, Axl, sit up. Med techs are leaving X's OR. We need to find out what's going on."

"Hng… Whazza?" Axl shifted upright with a slight push from Zero and blinked sleepily to glance across the room toward the OR in question.

The doors had hissed open a moment ago and exhausted looking medical technicians were filing out, pulling off their surgeons garb as they went. Once Zero was sure Axl was awake enough not to fall over without support, he stood up to corner the nearest one. He didn't have to.

Lifesaver came out of the OR behind a small cluster of medics and glanced around before catching Zero's eye and nodding with a slight, tired smile.

Relief flooded Zero and nearly made him go limp and drop to the floor if Axl hadn't stood up just then and gripped his shoulder, squeezing reassuringly. The two made their way across the ward to just outside the door where Lifesaver stood. Neither of them had to voice the question, Lifesaver could read it on their faces as they glanced between him and the OR door.

"He'll make it."

Zero nodded and Axl grinned brightly.

"Can we see him?" Axl asked eagerly.

"He needs rest more than anything right now. He's still out, you know. He won't be waking up for a while. Not until he comes out of power conservation shut-down."

"We'd still like to see him." Zero replied.

"Figured you would. He's being moved to an ICU recovery room right now."

"Intensive Care Unit? But you said…"

Lifesaver cut Axl's worried voice off. "He's still dangerously low on energy. We've repaired his generator leak, but his power grid is still in a state of low-level flux. He'll have to spend some time hooked up to the life support generators in the ICU to stabilize his power grid. But we expect a full recovery, given time, and rest. As X's chief physician, I'll tolerate none of your usual shenanigans in the recovery ward, understood?" Lifesaver glared pointedly at Zero. "X needs rest, not pizza and beer deliveries, not get-well-soon singing telegram girls, and not spontaneous parties attended by half the 0th and 17th units."

Zero frowned slightly. "You sure know how to take the fun out of being sick, Lifesaver."

Lifesaver snorted. "It's not meant to be fun. You can throw him all the parties you like, after he's been discharged."

Zero nodded. "We're not leaving till we see him for ourselves, though." Axl nodded firmly.

"Since I'm sure I can't dissuade either of you, no matter how much common sense I pile on your heads… Follow me."

Lifesaver led them on a shortcut to the ICU. Rather than going around and down the hall, he took them through one of the unused operating rooms and out through the doors in the back. They led directly into the ICU ward hallway, for quick access for patients and medics in case of emergency. He led them down the hall to room 126. Pushing the slightly ajar door open the rest of the way, Lifesaver ushered the two Hunters inside.

Zero and Axl moved to the bedside across from the medic who was setting up a reploid blood IV drip. She smiled reassuringly at them before slipping past Lifesaver and out the door.

"I'll give you two a couple of minutes. But then I want you both to head to bed. Especially you, Axl. You're supposed to be resting right now." Axl nodded absently, never taking his eyes off of X, as Lifesaver shook his head and headed out of the room.

X lay in the bed, swathed in gauze bandages to hold the skin grafts in place to prevent scarring. His upper arms, chest, and shoulders were wrapped and so was his entire waist. The sheets covered him to the upper chest, but the bulky outlines of thick bandaging were apparent at his waist and hips. His arms were above the sheets, and where they weren't bandaged, the generator cables sank through the synthflesh into his forearms to hook directly into his power grid, much like IV cables into human veins, but more numerous and all down his forearm. More of the life support cables snaked under the edges of the sheets, presumably to hook into his legs and torso. The reploid blood IV was hooked into his right elbow to replace what he had lost earlier in the day.

Axl reached out and lightly wrapped his hand around X's wrist, feeling the reassuring pulse of coolant and blood under his fingers. "He looks… worse… than I expected…"

"A damn sight better than last we saw him."

"True. But… I don't know… I expected him to look better. You know? …He always manages a smile, even when he's banged up five ways from Sunday. I always know he'll be okay, no matter how bad he looks, so long as he gives that smile… But, he's not now…"

"Yeah… I know what you mean. You've never really seen him right after he's been seriously messed up, have you. Not like this, anyhow… He hasn't been this badly hurt in years. Not since before we met you, really… But, just you wait; first thing he'll do when he wakes up and sees us is smile. Give him a few days and he'll be good as new." Zero grinned reassuringly at the younger reploid. Axl nodded and returned a slight smile.

The door opened behind them and they turned to see Lifesaver in the doorway. "I trust you've assured yourselves he's not going to vanish into thin air during the rest of the night?"

Zero grinned. "Yup. Come on kid. Let's get you into bed. Then I need to hunt down Alia and spread the good news."

Axl nodded and turned away from the bed before heading out past Lifesaver. Zero paused and leaned over X, reaching out to ruffle his hair slightly. "Don't make a liar out of me, little buddy." Zero murmured, "I expect to see you with that stupid grin on your face in a day or two, huh?" Zero then straightened up and headed out of the room, Lifesaver closing the door after him, leaving X alone to sleep, carefully monitored by the life-support sensors.

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The Maverick Hunter Medical Ward was quiet and nearly deserted this time of night. The main lighting was dimmed to save power and allow any patients to sleep undisturbed by bright lights. The largest pool of light was centered on the med ward's night station desk. There were only two on-duty med techs stationed at the night desk. They were responsible for monitoring the sensor readings of patients' vitals. A handful of medics were stationed in offices down the hall, on-call in case of emergencies.

It was a slow night now that the slew of surgical technicians had retired to their quarters for sleep. The only patient currently in the ICU was X, and his situation required rest rather than constant supervision. There were maybe a dozen other patients in the standard recovery wing for reasons ranging from a bout of the flu to recovering from a broken leg.

It was sometime during the indeterminable hours of the night, either far too early or far to late, that one of the night duty med techs headed down to the offices to pass the time over a cup of coffee with a friend. The remaining night desk medic was human, and being only human, slipped off to take a bathroom break for a few minutes, as humans are wont to do. Leaving no one at the desk to stop the solitary figure that peered cautiously around the edge of the window set into the door, before slipping into the deserted ward lobby from the hallway.

Which was a good thing, considering that Alia knew perfectly well that visiting hours were long since over, and if she were caught she'd be summarily marched right back out the doors. Not to mention, if that happened, then her nocturnal visitation would certainly be making the rumor mill rounds within the hour. Still… she wasn't about to let that deter her.

'And damnit, visiting X is perfectly well within my rights… as a friend, of course. After all, that's what friends do when you're sick and in the med ward.' Alia nodded to herself as she slipped past the night desk and into the hallway that joined the recovery wings to the treatment ward and the operating rooms. Although, Alia did have to concede to the fact that most friends didn't normally sneak into medical facilities after hours to visit someone who was, according to Zero, out like a light till at least late tomorrow morning. But at this point, she didn't really care what this might look like to a casual observer. She needed to know.

Zero had tracked her down some time ago and told her that X had come out of surgery just fine and was expected to make a full recovery. Alia hadn't wanted to admit to herself just how worried she had been, until it had suddenly dropped off her shoulders. After all, he was invincible, untouchable; he couldn't possibly be killed. He was X.

So long as she just kept telling herself that, it wouldn't hurt so much to watch him head out again and again to try to save the world from people who were bound and determined to shoot him or otherwise kill him. Maybe, if she told herself that enough times, she'd actually start to believe it. Having her already paper-thin illusions shattered had nearly broken something deep inside her. Oh she knew his invulnerability was an illusion. But sometimes, that was all she had. Sometimes, it was all that kept her from breaking down. It was hard enough worrying about him when he was on a mission, but to have the same fears come up during a vacation? For Light's sake, was there never a time he could be safe? Wasn't it enough that she worried she might never see him again every time he went out on a mission?

From the moment she had learned he had been badly injured, Alia had been driving herself to distraction. Anything to keep her mind off of what was happening in the medical ward. Zero had found her buried deep in a records room, filing and re-filing old communication reports. Granted, it had been make-work, but it had kept her hands, and most especially her mind, busy to the point where she could at least pretend to distance herself from the situation. Despite that, the worry had been eating at her all day. Especially the not knowing. She was convinced that this sort of worry was the source of the expression 'fear of the unknown.' Or at least a major contributor.

She had realized how futile that had been the minute Zero told her X was out of surgery. The relief had nearly floored her, literally. Zero might have been tired himself, but he was quick on his feet. He'd caught her almost before she'd started to fall. She'd waved it off as exhaustion, and Zero had proceeded to practically half-carry her back to her quarters and insisted she get some rest. She had protested, of course, but was secretly grateful. At the time, she'd been such a mess of emotions that she wasn't sure she could have found her quarters without a map and a homing beacon.

Before leaving for his own quarters, Zero had promised to drop by early to check on her and to help her get in to visit X. However, Alia soon found a new twist to her emotions had appeared. Despite the reassurance from Zero, and the logic that said he would never lie to her about this, she was having trouble believing X would truly be all right. Regardless of how much logic she chucked at her emotions, they refused to cooperate and let her get some rest. She had quickly come to the conclusion that the only thing that could allay her fears, unfounded though they were, would be to go see him herself.

Of course, Alia knew X would be oblivious to the world for a while, but she still needed to see him. This need went well beyond logic, which somewhat scared her. So she reassured herself that medical ward visitations, regardless of time of day, were something friends did for each other. And she and X were friends. Which led to the current situation.

She already knew which room in the ICU he had been assigned. It was only a moment before she stood outside the door to room 126. Alia inhaled deeply before releasing her breath in a sigh as she gathered her frayed emotions. She knew X was just beyond the door, but now that she was here, she was terrified of what she would see on the other side. She knew he'd been injured badly, but she had taken great pains to make sure she didn't know just how badly. She hadn't wanted to know, even if the not knowing made her want to scream. Knowing specifics made it more real somehow. Now that she was here, she almost couldn't bring herself to open the door. But she did.

Alia slipped inside the dimly lit room and, turning to face the door, silently shut it. Facing the door, she steeled herself for whatever she might see and slowly turned around.

For a long while, she just stood, and stared, soaking up the sight of him from the doorway. He was covered to his chest by the sheets while bandages wrapped his shoulders and arms. An IV and assorted life support generator cables were hooked into his arms and into the rest of his body under the sheet. Despite how uncomfortable or painful the sight of the bandages and cables might have been, Alia barely noticed them. What caught and held her attention was his face.

His eyes were closed and his tousled black hair hung forward over his eyes, a particularly long lock brushed against the bridge of his nose. He almost looked asleep, though she knew he was in energy conservation shutdown. He looked so young and terribly fragile at that moment. It was hard to believe he was a legend in his own right, let alone that it was a legend he usually lived up to.

Before Alia had consciously made a decision to move, she had crossed the gap between them and stood by his bedside. She watched him for a moment, sensing something was off, but not quite sure what. Frowning slightly, she reached out and gently brushed the hair out of his eyes. Her fingers lingered, brushing across his cheek and temple for just a moment. It was then that she realized what was off about this.

Alia had occasionally had the opportunity to see X while he was sleeping. Sometimes he'd simply work late and fall asleep at his desk and she'd have to wake him up and send him off to his rooms. Other times, during get-togethers of close friends that lasted late into the night, he'd be relaxed enough to just slip into sleep on a couch or in an armchair. It didn't happen often enough that the difference between real sleep and shutdown had been immediately apparent to her. But now that she'd gotten closer, it became obvious.

In normal sleep, even reploids dreamed. Just as with dreaming humans, their eyes would often move beneath closed lids. A sleeper would shift position at times and muscles would twitch and shift occasionally, even synthetic muscles were normally programmed for this. From when Alia had caught X asleep, she knew that he was no exception to these little quirks. However, right now, X was almost utterly still. Almost frighteningly so.

In emergency system shutdown, all non-essential systems were shut down and power was diverted to maintaining life support and repairs. Little things like reflexes and dreaming REM movements were non-essential. Without those tiny little things that served to visually show he was still alive, X, terrifyingly, looked almost dead.

Alia sank slowly to sit on the edge of the bed as she realized her hands were quaking slightly. She shook her head and clasped them tightly together in her lap to stop the shaking. She silently berated herself for being so foolish. 'Of course he's alive!' X's design had always been difficult to properly scan, especially for scanning systems not specifically programmed to be able to work their way past the built-in scanner defenses Light had given X. However, Alia's personal sensor system was familiar enough with X's systems to be able to detect that he was indeed still alive, and his generator was running properly despite fairly low energy levels.

Alia closed her eyes, shook her head and steadied herself with another deep breath. 'Stop letting your imagination run away with you, girl,' she silently reprimanded herself. She opened her eyes and regarded X's form once more. This time, she was drawn to the only movement in his otherwise still form. There was nothing that visually indicated life except the steady rise and fall of his chest.

He was breathing.

In…

Out…

Since his generator was now repaired, and working to restore power levels as well as integrate the new parts, higher core temperatures were being produced. This required both the primary and secondary coolant systems to remain fully operational. This information did register to her, and was reassuring in a logical sense. However, for some reason, the fact that this meant he continued to breathe was infinitely more reassuring.

Alia closed her eyes and sighed softly, bowing her head as relief flooded her. After a moment, she opened her eyes again and this time, her gaze was pulled from the clasped hands in her lap to X's hand, less than a foot from her hip.

His hand lay limply on top of the sheets. The power cables stopped several inches above his wrist, leaving his hand free to move once he woke up. Alia hesitantly reached out and gently touched the back of his hand with her fingertips. He was warm. Just as warm as he'd always been whenever they had happened to touch. She shifted her hand to curl around his wrist. Just below the synthetic skin, she could feel the reassuringly steady pulse of his veins. She released his wrist after a moment and lightly ran her fingertips down his palm and curled them around his own fingers, sliding her own between his.

Alia lifted her gaze to his face once more and smiled slightly. This was what she had wanted, what she had needed to know. Here was reassurance beyond any doubt.

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Alia sat on the edge of the bed; her fingers twined with his, and watched X steadily breathe. Time passed, but she didn't pay it much attention. She was focused so intently on the sleeper that she was startled when she realized it was nearly morning. Zero had said he would drop by her quarters early in the morning to check on her.

'Damn!' Alia cursed herself silently as she realized just how long she had sat here obliviously. She'd never hear the end of it, especially if Zero found out.

Reluctantly, Alia disentangled her hand from X's and slipped off the bedside. She paused at the door to look back at him and smiled softly. A moment later and there was nothing left to indicate she had ever been there.

Alia safely made it back to her quarters unnoticed by medical staff or random morning people. Tanya was still asleep and Alia made it into her own bedroom without incident. This time, however, she found herself all too ready for sleep.

Ironically, Zero didn't show up to keep his 'early visitation' promise until nearly noon. She relieved some of her annoyance at him by teasing him over his definition of 'early.' But Zero just smiled enigmatically as they reached the med ward and let her take her shots.

Lifesaver smiled when he saw them and sent them on in to see X, saying that Axl was already inside. When Zero pushed the door open and ushered Alia in, the first thing they saw was X, awake and slightly propped up by a pillow. Though he looked somewhat tired, his green eyes lit up when he saw them. Axl twisted around to face them and grinned. He had dragged a couple of chairs in and was perched in one of them beside the bed.

"Hey." X smiled.

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Alia had not even realized that she had been so completely preoccupied the night before while with X, that she had not even noticed when a silent observer had slipped in through the door, watched for a short time, smiled, and then left just as quietly as he had come.

When Zero had said 'early' he had meant early. But when he'd discovered Alia wasn't in her quarters, he had set out to find her. He had a promise to keep to her, after all. But while reviewing likely places she might be, a suspicion formed. Never one to leave suspicions uninvestigated, Zero 'dropped by' the med ward and found Alia right where he'd hoped.

After a moment, he'd decided that maybe he didn't need to keep the promise at such an early hour and slipped back out with a smile. More sleep beckoned him. Besides, they didn't need to be disturbed.

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The End

Owari

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Reviewer Reply section:

I'll usually only be replying to questions and clarifications from the last chapter or if someone new brings up something from a previous chapter that I feel needs a response. Sorry I can't reply to everyone but that would take up a lot of space and time.

Ryan:

Not really. I'm an English Creative Writing Major, but I took high school biology. Does that count?

ravenf6:

Well, I think the medics did an okay job, don't you? Maybe not as quick or spiffy as Dr. Light, but still.

JimVan:

Would it horribly disillusion you to know I have never been scuba diving? I went snorkeling in Hawaii, once. And I was sick as a dying dog when I did so. I had a 102 fever that came and went in waves and was developing minor bronchitis. Have you any idea how hard it is to breath through a snorkel when you have to stop and tread water every half hour or so to wheeze for breath? Thank heaven for swim fins, those so helped keep me afloat. But, by God, I was not leaving Hawaii without going snorkeling!!

It was a family trip, we spent a week on Oahu and I was the only one who went snorkeling. I was also the only one sick the entire trip. -- The reef snorkeling was a boat trip tour group thing too. That's where I got the idea for X, Zero, and Axl's boat tour to the reef. And there really was a barbeque lunch provided, and volleyball too (we stopped for lunch on a sandbar several miles out from shore where the water was only about 3 feet deep or less in most places on the sandbar and set up a volleyball net). I couldn't play because I had to get out of the water and catch my breath. I had a lot of fun though, even if I had to stay close to the boat in case my bronchitis decided to try to kill me. Just call me crazy… I know you already do behind my back… er screen…

Oh, just so you know, replacing his generator would kill poor X. His brain would get wiped. So if they can't fix the leak, then he's done for. Poor, poor X.

A chapter for the weapons replication systems? That would probably be more than one chapter. I've been almost afraid to touch that idea. So much potential to write myself into a corner, which would require a gigantic plot hole to escape from. Considering how many various attack systems that have been gained by X, Zero, and even Axl, and how a lot of them are very different from other weapons systems. For example, Yammark's dragonfly drones. I doubt X got control of them the same way he got Cyber Peacock's Aiming Laser.

Bobcat Moran:

Glad you like the 'kid' nickname. Zero's been calling him that since chapter 1. I decided Axl would get 'kid' and X would graduate to 'man' or 'buddy' unless he's being an obstinate nuisance, then he regresses to 'kid.'

Darn stupid uploading. It's perfectly italicized on my word document. grumble mumble

Nope, reploids don't give off 'food' signals. That's why most animals won't bother them. There's an uber-adorable page in one of the Rockman X manga (I saw a scanlation online, so I don't know which manga) where X shows up late to a meeting with Zero in some sort of wooded area. Zero's been impatiently waiting for him, and when X finally does show up, he brought friends. He arrives riding a deer (I think it was a stag) accompanied by all sorts of other woodland critters, and looking just so darned happy about it too. D I almost expected the critters and X to burst into Disney-esque song, but then the mavericks showed up. So no, X didn't go all Snow White on Zero.

In my story-verse, this is actually the first time, ever, that a reploid has been attacked by a shark. Poor X, he just has to be first in everything doesn't he. However, in real life, sharks have been known to attack and eat random stuff. I think that it's fairly common when a stomach autopsy is done on a very large shark (that's been caught usually because of being a suspected man-eater) to find weird stuff in its stomach like license plates and parts of car bumpers, or even old tires and tin cans. Sharks eat some weird stuff sometimes.

Actually, I figure plasma underwater would superheat the water it touches and pretty much vaporize and atomize it rapidly. This would make it bubble and hiss, leaving a trail of bubbles and superheated water in its wake when shot, or sliced through the water. Think, sort of like a torpedo trail, only more bubbles. I didn't put that in during Zero's fight… I should have though. And remember, Zero is using Dash thrusters throughout almost the entire fight, and Dolphos is a dolphin based aquatic reploid. So they're both swimming and moving really fast during that fight. So lots of bubbles in their wakes. Whee! We Bubbling! Er… Rockman.EXE Stream reference.

Um, does your mind wandering mean that the attack didn't keep your attention? Should it have been shorter? Less detailed? Any suggestions to make it better? I kind of rushed chapter 8 because I had a paper due the next day that I still had to write. So, I'm not as happy with how it turned out as I could have been.

Sonar controlled sharks. Let me try to clear that up a bit. It's not just a sonar burst Dolphos is using. Ordinary sonar, no matter how loud, couldn't push Zero, using Dash thrusters, back during his charge. Dolphos was using a sonic compression wave to form nearly solid pulses of water to push Zero back. At low power, he can use the sonar pulse as ordinary sonar, but at higher power he can use it as a weapon. Imagine what he must sound like out of water. P

Buried under the main sonic pulse are subsonic frequencies that Dolphos manipulates to send subliminal auditory commands to creatures with weak wills or primitive intelligence. He can also use this to temporarily throw off targeting and sensor readings in reploids and computer systems by mimicking readings and sending false signals. More intelligent creatures or things with stronger wills are much more difficult to control. Dolphos would have to maintain continuous subliminal messages to maintain control over something as intelligent as an actual bottle-nosed dolphin or chimpanzee for longer than a few moments. Only a very stupid, mentally damaged, or weak willed human could be affected for more than a few seconds of confusion.

A great white shark uses something like one-third to two-thirds of its brain for its sense of smell. This makes it fairly easy for Dolphos to give its relatively primitive intelligence commands that will last for a while, despite Dolphos being out of immediate control range. It was only when all the shark blood (reploid blood isn't technically real blood) in the water triggered the instinctual feeding frenzy in the two remaining sharks that Dolphos had to approach to intervene and stop them.

Sorry I didn't explain this better in the story.

Um… Is 'eep' good or bad?

Ah, yes. X-Waffles, best served with Scrambled-Axl, Toasted-Alia, and Zero-Juice, with a Signas-Muffin on the side. The breakfast of champions… Literally.

You're very welcome for the fanart. Was wondering if you'd even noticed it. It's on my deviantART account so if you want to provide a link to it from your profile, or whatever, you can, I don't mind. More publicity for me. (My deviantart stuff gets almost no love at all, poor pictures…). It would have been a lot better if I had an art pad for oekaki or even a scanner for sketches, but I don't, so I had to use my mouse.

Y2J Chris Jericho:

I believe your Dr. Evil pinky sensor might be correct. But not for this story. For Christmassy fluffy goodness check my profile for another story that'll be going up this month.

Notes:

So… um… yeah.

I know I said this was going to be a short chapter, but the characters decided to do something different. Zero decided he needed some shower angst, and Signas wanted to give a pep-talk, then Axl decided to be adorable sleepy little brother, and I had to throw in Lifesaver, it's his med ward after all. And then there's Alia. I hope I managed to portray her well. And poor X was just going to be a lump in the bed for the whole fic, but then he decided he wanted at least one line.

So what did you all think of my portrayal of Lifesaver, Signas and Alia? They haven't gotten much, if any, page time before this, so I would appreciate your opinions on how well I managed to write them.

Anyway, I'm going to be putting up a sketch of Axl from chapter 7 on my deviantART account. It'll be under the name Menolly5600. Take a look, if you like.

I still haven't gotten around to posting any of my X Christmas fic. I've been busy worrying about being called in for Jury Duty and couldn't concentrate on writing this past week. But now I'm done with JD (Done in only one day! Whoot!), and can now concentrate on my writing.

Keep an eye out for the next chapter. It will go up in just a few days probably and is very short. It's an Interlude chapter, hosted by none other than Dynamo himself. So keep an eye out for it.

Till next time!