Note: This fic is an entirely different take on the Rockman X universe than my other fics, but considering the way things end up in Rockman Zero, I think it's plausible. In my other fics, the Maverick Hunters answer to no one, but in Rockman Command Mission, X is referred to as a Federation Reploid. So in this fic, the Federation is like the UN… only a lot more powerful and repressive. Anyway, on with the show!

Tamaa walked slowly through the halls of the old bunker, smiling. Normally, cold grey concrete would not be something to inspire pleasure, but right now she was savoring the feeling of achievement that came from looking over what she had built.

She smiled slightly as she heard a group of girls. They were debating which it was better to be, human or Reploid. But they were focusing on the petty issues, so it was funny rather than serious.

"…And at least you guys don't have to shave your boobs!"

"You have hairy boobs?"

"Hell ya! It's not like, fur, but I get these looooong hairs…"

"Gross. Hahhaha! You should go to one of the religious rallies where they claim we're all soulless imitations, and say, 'I was made in God's image and I have hairy boobs!'"

Tamaa smiled again at the laughter, and continued on. She came out into a larger room that was being used as a practice salle, and carefully walked around the edges. She didn't want to interrupt any of the practice. One wall of the training room had been painted with an exceedingly complex, geometric mandala that had been meant to aid in concentration. The benefits were dubious, but the plexi-glass someone had put over it at least kept it from getting pounded into oblivion by stray throws.

She checked over the mess hall, and smiled as she saw the special of the day… salmon in honey sauce over barley, and strawberries for dessert. They had gotten a fishing license for their own use, and almost every hunting license imaginable. And sometimes, to save money, they ate things that most people would never have considered trying. Pigeon pie was really very delicious, and the town's rabbit population had gone down dramatically since they had learned how to set up snares. There were no rats, so they'd never had the pleasure of trying that. Tamaa figured it was just a matter of time.

She wasn't going to be enjoying food in the mess hall today, though. Reminded of her lunch date, she slipped out of the complex. Her hand picked bodyguards were already in position at the restaurant, waiting for her and Spider.

The restaurant was a dainty little teahouse. Her armor seemed dreadfully out of place among the frilly pink tablecloths, bamboo placemats and fine china. She didn't particularly care, though. Half the clientele was Reploids, although most didn't look half as dark and deadly as she did.

Her bodyguards had been picked to fit into the background. Two generic female Reploids, both with short blond hair and features so alike they could have been twins, inhabited a booth near the back. They seemed to be engrossed in their conversation and the sweet cakes they had ordered to go with their tea. There was also a male/female pair, apparently on their own date but actually watching for her.

Spider was waiting in a booth, idly flipping a card through his fingers. He looked up with a wry smile as she slipped into the seat across from him and the card vanished. Most likely up his sleeve. "You're late."

"Only by five minutes," she protested mildly. "And I'm a girl, I'm allowed." Spider laughed softly, and poured her a cup of tea. She smiled, added a couple sugar cubes and a slice of lemon, then sipped appreciatively. Then she carefully set the cup back down.

"So, Spider. What exactly do you want?" she asked. Spider reached out with a smile, covering her right hand with his left.

"Just you, Tamaa," he said, squeezing her hand. He seemed perfectly sincere, his blue eyes fixed on her face. She smiled sweetly, returning the squeeze, but…

"Forgive me if I don't quite believe that… Redips." Spider winced at her cool tone, and the mention of his alias, then smiled wryly again.

"Of course you would know about that," he said. "I'm sorry about that, Tamaa, but… it was necessary." She shrugged, making a noncommittal sound in the back of her throat, and tried a tiny cake from the platter Spider had obviously ordered before she arrived. It was honey wafers, bonded together with more honey and decorated with colored almond paste in the shape of a flower. Tooth rottingly sweet, but lovely with tea.

"It was entirely up to you, Spider. You never had any allegiance to me, but you know how I feel about… them. How can I trust you?" She wasn't willing to date someone she couldn't trust at least as much as the lowest member in her organization. Right now, Spider was beneath that point. Spider sighed, picking up his own teacup and taking a sip.

"Tamaa, I joined the Hunters as Redips because of the Rebellion. I had my reasons to stop them, which were mostly personal. For the long term, the Hunters aren't really my… cup of tea." Spider smiled, and tapped his teacup for emphasis. "I've already resigned. You can check the records, if you care to." He nodded towards her datapad. "I'm sure your digital monkey can find it." Tamaa sniggered to herself as the datapad vibrated. That mode was meant to let Blues quietly catch her attention, but right now he was using it to signal his annoyance. She decided to take Spider up on the offer, though, and unclipped the datapad.

"So, is he telling the truth?"

Yes, Blues said, extremely put out. But can you kill him anyway? Tamaa laughed softly, and shook her head.

"Sorry, no." She gently touched the screen with one finger. "Don't worry, Blues, you're still my sweet baboo." That settled him a little, and she set down the datapad on the table. Blues was a bit… odd, these days.

It wasn't his fault, though. Dr. Light had copied him into the computer as he was dying, and he hadn't gotten everything, resulting in a rather strange comedown of Blues' original personality. Some of the original data had been corrupted, as well, which had added chuckles to fun. In life, Blues had been something of a big brother to her. Now, he still thought of himself as her big brother but he had become extremely protective and a touch clingy. Despite the fact that he didn't want a Reploid body, he was very jealous of her boyfriends. She sometimes wondered what, exactly, Blues thought she was to him. But Blues had always been the strong, silent type, so it was probably better not to ask.

She returned her attention to Spider, who was watching her in amusement and trying a little piece of fudge. He set it down with a small curl of his lip.

"Chocolate does not go well with tea… so, Tamaa. Will you tell me what you've been up to? I really want to know. I want to be with you."

"And do you want to follow me?" She meant to be flip, but Spider seized her hand again, his gaze intent as he looked into her eyes.

"To the moon, and back, if I must," he said quietly, making her flush. "You're the most glorious woman I've ever met. 'She is beauty, and she walks in darkness.'" Tamaa didn't recognize the quote, but she was getting the general gist. Spider really was interested in her romantically.

But it was more than that, or less. Many of the men following her thought they were in love with her, although she tied herself to none of them. Some of the women thought they loved her, too, for that matter. The reason was simple… she oozed charisma. When she'd been a human woman, she'd thought of it as her stage presence, but now she realized it was a greater gift. Marcus had perhaps put it best. You're like a lightning bolt, Hope, energizing our lives. We may all die following you, but the glory of it!

Spider was attracted to her glamour like a moth to a flame. It remained to be seen if he would still be when she rubbed away the glitter and showed him the truth underneath. Perhaps he would become part of the flame… or perhaps it would burn his wings off. There was only one way to tell.

"Spider, if you follow me to the moon, you can't turn back," she warned. "The moon is a jealous mistress, and she doesn't release what she takes." Spider nodded, understanding what she was saying in a roundabout fashion. If she took him into his confidence, he would stay there, or die. There could be no middle ground.

In her organization, only the lower echelons could leave. Even then, they had to submit to brainwashing or mind-wipes to remove some select information, and give them the conviction that they really had been part of a religious commune. Those in her confidence could not leave. It had only come up once, with someone in her confidence, and then the situation had been personal. They had rectified it by helping the girl involved take care of her brother. Other than that, no one had wanted to go.

Spider wouldn't be content with the level of information those on the edges of her conspiracy had. She was certain of that. So he would follow her all the way or not at all.

"The moon can have me… if she finishes her tea." Tamaa blushed, then grinned at the sly amusement in his voice. She drank her cooling tea obediently. "And if she tries a white cake. They're delicious." Spider pushes the plate towards her, and she took one with a laugh.

Spider was clever, had flexible morals, and she liked him a lot. Maybe they would be compatible when the glamour wore off.

It seemed she would likely have a chance to find out.

Once their meal was done, she took Spider back to the complex. He lifted an eyebrow at her as the bodyguards joined them openly.

"You didn't trust me?" He sounded mostly amused by her paranoia. Tamaa shrugged.

"It could have been a Federation set-up." She pointed out reasonably. Gilgamesh had quietly relayed her a message, though Blues, that he and Marcus had checked the place and Spider for bugs and all the surrounding buildings for watchers. They had found nothing, so she had messaged her bodyguards to reveal themselves. "Be glad that I'm sure its not, now."

"Oh, I am." Spider looked around curiously at the fields of barley. The plants were just barely in bloom. "This is where you live? A… farm?" His tone was dubious in the extreme, and Tamaa grinned.

When they had decided to imitate a religious commune, they had decided the best way to do that was to imitate other such organizations as much as possible. A bit of research had led her to believe that the only way to do that was agriculture. Most sincere religious movements included a 'back to nature' component and good, healthy religious communes were almost always based on farming with all the members laboring for the common good. A commune not based on farming usually ran off the salaries of the members, which made the authorities more dubious than simple farming. They could sometimes get very nasty, where farming communes were usually fairly stable.

And farming helped them conserve money. They weren't making a profit, but they were very nearly self-sufficient. The barley was mostly grown for their own consumption. All through the year, barley was a staple of their diet. They also used it to feed the chickens, who were kept for eggs and slaughtered only when their egg production went down. A smaller field was planted with potatoes, and the vegetable garden was planted with everything from onions to snow peas. The work was constant, as they tended the fields and prepared the food for winter. Everyone pitched in, which only made them seem more authentic.

The one part of the operation that really did create a profit was the massive beehives on one side of the property. Tending to bees was a task Reploids were perfectly suited for, being immune to the venom. They still took care to protect the vulnerable parts of their body, mostly because picking stingers out of their skins was a terrible nuisance. Most of the honey they sold commercially. What was left they kept, or traded to the nearby Mennonites for strawberries from their pick and pay plantation.

"Oh, we're a bunch of back to nature religious types with a religion that emphasizes the perfect unity of the universe," she said glibly, and laughed at Spider's wide-eyed look. That was obviously the last thing he'd been expecting. She could almost hear his thoughts… A strong dose of Is she joking? Followed by What have I gotten myself into? She took Spider's arm with a smile. "Or at least, that's what everyone else thinks." The sudden relief on Spider's face was almost comical, as he realized it was a cover.

She led him into the old military complex, casually greeting people along the way. Spider was obviously intrigued by the number and variety of her human followers. Tamaa estimated that perhaps a quarter of her total adherents were humans, and they were evenly spread among the three layers. Spider had clearly expected that whatever was going on would involve only Reploids.

Then they ran into Gilgamesh. He was one of the strangest looking humanoid Reploids Tamaa had ever met. He was very tall and lanky, with widely spaced green eyes, a hooked nose and wild white hair and beard. He gave the impression of being permanently disheveled, and his deep booming voice helped his Old Testament prophet impression. The kind of prophet who spent years in the desert, surviving on cacti, and came back with wisdom… if you could understand it.

Right now, he was going to dispense with some of that wisdom.

"Greetings!" He grabbed Spider's hand and pumped it energetically, with a mad smile. "Been watching you all day! Nice teahouse, what? So, you're joining us then?"

"Well, actually, I need to know a little-" Spider didn't get very far before he was interrupted.

"Naturally, naturally! Here, read this!" A booklet was shoved into his hands, and Tamaa couldn't help but giggle. Gilgamesh wrote numerous pamphlets and booklets filled with his own personal take on their philosophy. His trying to shovel them onto the authorities, and anyone else who came too close, was the best cover she could ask for. "Tell you everything you need to know, everything! Cosmic unity and freedom to be free!" With those parting words, Gilgamesh bumbled off to go inflict pamphlets on someone else.

"What was that?" Spider said, slightly dazed. Tamaa shrugged.

"Gilgamesh. He's a dear, even if he's crazy. And he's a lot more competent than you might think." She smiled at him as he gave her a dubious look. "Really. He was serious about following you all day, and you didn't notice him, did you?" Spider was startled at that. "He does an incredibly good imitation of a random street person."

"Now, that, I can see." Spider smiled wryly, more at himself than her, and shook his head. "I'm getting snobbish. I should have noticed that."

Tamaa gave him a quick tour of the building, showing him the mess hall, the practice rooms and the private quarters. Spider was astonished by the size of it.

"How many of you are there?" He asked wonderingly, and Tamaa frowned, considering.

"About… a hundred and thirty? Somewhere near there. This place could hold as many as three hundred, though, especially since only a quarter of us are human." The old plumbing in the bunker worked, and Reploids put much less strain on it than humans, in a lot of ways. "We're always recruiting, but we have to be careful." She suddenly grinned, as they reached a vault door. There was no keypad, no codes, but sophisticated scanners flared to life beside the door. They were both being scanned, scans so detailed they would show every detail of their internal structure. Then the door swung open.

It was the treasure room. The scanners connected directly to Dr. Light, which wasn't much of a trial for him, since people rarely wanted to enter. Mostly it was just her, to deposit items and remove them for sale.

Spider gasped softly as the lights came on. The room was large, and only half full, but that half was more than enough to stop the heart. Bags of money. Silver platters and candlesticks from a daring robbery of a mansion owned by one of Zash's accusers. A Picasso painting, hung on the wall. Stacks of gold bullion from an armored car robbery. And a sturdy table with an upraised edge, and a center covered in black velvet, on which hundreds of jewels glittered like tiny stars. An immense diamond held pride of place; the size of two fists, clear as ice, and full of dazzling fire. Spider stepped up to the table, and reached out tentatively to touch it.

"My god. Is it really…?" The DeBeer robbery had been news all over the world. Tamaa nodded.

"The Star diamond. Yes, it really is." Spider stared at it for a long moment, and Tamaa was about to speak again, explain everything to him, when he turned and suddenly walked towards her. Before she could move back, his arms were around her and his lips were on hers in a fervent kiss. A very, very good kiss.

"You," he whispered in her ear a moment later. "Are the most amazing woman I've ever met." Tamaa almost laughed, but returned his passion as he kissed her again.

Only Spider could find International jewel theft an aphrodisiac.


A short time later.

"Mmm… Spider?"

"Mmm?"

"That was wonderful, and I want to do it again, but the floor is cold and I think there's a gold bar digging into my butt. Do you want to come to my room so I can tell you about future plans and maybe… other things?"

"If those other things involve your bed… I'd love it."

"You're insatiable. But I think there could be a bed in your future…"