"…And that's how we got here." X finished the story, taking a deep drag from his cigarette.

He and Zero had been at the museum, but had headed back as soon as Colonel had given them the news about the attack on Dynamo and their double's appearance. Now they were giving their doubles the lowdown on everything. X was looking like he wanted to disbelieve their story, but it was impossible. The Mavericks couldn't possibly have created copies of so many Hunters… or created the plans for the gate. Those were on a screen as they spoke.

"Uh, I see." X glanced at Zero and immediately gave up on him. He was looking at Iris longingly. She was sitting beside Colonel, and occasionally met Zero's gaze, giving him a friendly smile. That made Zero drop his eyes… until she looked away. X sighed to himself. Zero's conflicting emotions were making him act very strangely. "So… now that you're here, what do you plan to do?"

"Well, we have some options. We were thinking of joining the Hunters, though, if you'll have us." X shrugged, then grinned. "It'll be good to be fighting Sigma again."

"Good?" X was aghast that anyone could say that, let alone a double of himself. "You think fighting is GOOD?" His double gave him a sharp look, then blew out a smoke ring.

"Compared to dying by inches in peace? Oh yeah." He gazed away blankly, thinking about the past. "There's nothing worse than just being helpless. It's like acid on the soul, looking up into a horror and knowing there's nothing you can do about it, nothing at all… That must be how civilians feel in the wars. So helpless…" X blinked, then his tone turned brisk. "So don't bitch to me about Sigma. If it meant my world would live, I'd fight Sigma and let him beat the crap out of me on alternate Tuesdays."

The real X stared at his double. Everything about his double was strange… he smoked, he swore, and he didn't seem to care about fighting at all. X wasn't sure what to make of it. But…

"If you want to join the Hunters, I'm sure we can work something out." The Hunters could always use more people. "How do you want to do this?"

Later, on the beach…

Iris walked slowly down the beach, looking up at the stars.

The sight gave her immense pleasure. The stars were so much clearer on the beach of Hawaii than in Earthsaver I. She knew nothing about astronomy and could name none of them, but after all the years of staring into the void, just knowing they were there was a joy.

She turned slightly as she heard a footstep behind her, tensing. X had given them all a lecture about being more alert for Mavericks.

But this was no Maverick, and Iris smiled as she saw the long blond hair blowing in the breeze.

She'd never been at all interested in her world's Zero. She knew herself, and knew she had a very wide jealous streak. The way Zero could flirt with a dozen women and not mean anything by it had repulsed her. So did the way he slept with more than one at once. She had slept with plenty of men, mostly to feel alive and forget the death of the planet, but she made it a policy to only sleep with one person at a time. Iris did not do orgies.

She suspected this Zero was very different, though. He had loved her double, killed her, and been left emotionally scarred by the experience. It only seemed right to try to help him cope.

"Hello, Zero," she said with an open, welcoming smile. "Are you here to gaze at the stars too?" He glanced up at the stars for a moment, then looked back at her.

"No… I was looking for you." He stepped closer to her, and Iris had to resist the urge to step back. There was such a raw expression on his face… "Lily… Iris… do you know…" He reached out to touch her shoulder, and she gently took his hand.

"About what happened between you and my double? Yes," she said softly. "Colonel and I found out when we were looking up the history of Repliforce. You don't have to tell me." She was sure that was what he had been gearing up to do. Zero looked a little relieved, but only a little.

"Iris… will you forgive me?" He asked in a choked voice. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that she wasn't the one he should be begging forgiveness from. After a bout of misplaced compassion when she was young, Colonel had harshly instructed her on the rules of forgiveness. You could not forgive something for someone else without being utterly insulting to the injured party. It was up to that person to forgive, no one else.

But her double was dead and couldn't say the words. And Zero was looking at her like his heart was ready to break.

"I forgive you," she said, drawing him into an embrace. "You did what you had to do, Zero, and I forgive you for it." Zero clung to her for a long moment, a few hot tears sliding unnoticed into her hair.

Then the moment was broken by several female voices. They quickly let go, and turned to look at the group of cute young tourists walking down the beach.

"…And he got all upset I wouldn't do it, saying, "If you loved me you would" and stuff."

"Ahh! What did you say?"

"That I love my lipstick more."

"Oh, hey Zero!" One waved, and soon they all were. Zero looked slightly baffled, but waved back as the group continued on their way, chattering nonstop about boyfriends and lipstick.

"Do I know those girls?" Zero wondered aloud as they got out of earshot, and Iris snickered.

"Your double does," she said dryly. "Intimately."

"Yech." Zero suddenly turned to her, taking her hand with a dazzling smile. "Would you like to go down to the Cabana? I hear a great band is playing tonight." Iris considered that briefly, then smiled.

"I would love it." Zero was extremely handsome, and this new version seemed to be more… restrained than the one she was used to. It was worth getting to know him, at least. Whether it would work out in the end was anyone's guess, but she thought it had some potential.

They left the beach arm in arm, unaware of someone watching them…

The next morning…

"X, can I talk to you?" X sighed, tempted to say no. He'd just gotten started on some of the truly bizarre paperwork his double had dredged up that apparently would notify everyone in the world of their presence, nature, and would make them a satellite of the official Maverick Hunters. X was tempted to put their HQ in Hawaii, and wondered if he could get away with it. They'd have to do a lot of teleporting, but didn't they always?

"What is it, Axl?" He asked wearily, then frowned. Axl seemed genuinely distressed.

"It's Tabby, can you please talk to her? She wants to be a Maverick Hunter and Zero's egging her on." X scowled, making a mental note to smack Zero upside the head. The red hunter obviously wasn't thinking and neither was Axl, from the expression on his face. He just didn't want his girlfriend to get killed. X had no personal feelings on the subject, but he did have plans for Tabby that did not involve weapons of any kind.

"Where is she now?" He asked, standing up.

"Down in the café, drinking some coffee," Axl answered, looking relieved. He'd tried to oppose Tabby's desire in a gentle way, knowing that she'd ignore any arguments based on "but I love you and don't want you to die." It hadn't been easy to find anything beyond that, though. X wasn't emotionally involved, so hopefully he'd come up with something rational that Tabby would listen to.

X walked to the elevator, taking it down to the main floor. It was a short walk to the café after that. He could have found it blindfolded, the aroma of freshly made coffee was so strong.

It was easy to find Tabby. She was sulking and drinking an extra large frappuchino, with three different pastries on the table. Judging from the half eaten states of all three and the fact that Tabby rarely ate anything fattening, X guessed that Axl had left then behind to go look for him. Which meant he was going to be talking to her on the heels of a mini-lover's spat.

Wonderful.

"Tabby," X said, deciding to approach the problem directly. He sat down across from her, pushing away a plate. "Axl tells me you want to be a Hunter?" Tabby fixed him with a mulish expression, the implants in her eyes glittering like tiny jewels.

"Yes, I do," she said rebelliously. "And don't tell me I'm not good enough. Zero's been teaching me." X made a mental note to smack Zero HARD, then spoke calmly.

"That's not it, Tabby. I'm sure you would make an excellent Hunter," actually, he wasn't, but flattery could only help. "But we have plenty of excellent Hunters. I was hoping you would be our CFO." Tabby's eyes widened slightly.

"Chief Financial Officer? What do we need one of those for? We're joining this world's Hunters, aren't we?" she said, confused. X shrugged, resisting the urge to light a cigarette. The café was non-smoking.

"Yes, but we're not giving them all our assets. It's ours, not theirs." His voice turned slightly dry. "After all, their getting a free satellite HQ and over a hundred experienced Hunters. I don't think they need a billion dollars in gold, platinum, jewels and antiques as well."

"Oh… I see." Tabby frowned, obviously thinking about it. "The HQ will be expensive but it couldn't possibly go over twenty million, even in Hawaii… well, maybe it could with the land prices. But still… if we can get them to accept the eggs…" X nodded at that thought. Tabby had taken a chance and bought several Imperial Faberge eggs from the last Southeby's auction. Real ones, made out of gold and gems, presented to the Russian family. Russia had been one of the first countries to face the music when it came to the world's fate, and had quietly sold its national treasures to collectors before the value could go down. Of course, the problem with that in this world was that each egg was one of a kind and in Russian museums. Now that they were being legitimized, though, the eggs pedigrees might also be accepted. They did come with letters of authenticity from their world's Russian government. "Not to mention the artwork… So you want me to invest the money? Run our portfolio?" Tabby blew out a breath as X nodded. "X… I think you might be seriously overestimating me. I'm a rich kid. I inherited a lot of cash and some pretty good helpers. I mean, I'm not BAD, but I don't think I'm some kind of genius either."

"You're still better than the rest of us," X pointed out. "The financial world is a deep and dark mystery to me. After you, the best we have is Klondike." Tabby looked slightly disbelieving.

"Klondike? Isn't he the guy who got caught selling supplies to the black market once?"

"That's the one." X grimaced. "Tabby, I know you're not a genius, but you're forgetting something. All those able helpers you had before should be alive here. Or at least some of them. Maybe you can find them and get them to work for you again." Tabby blinked, then nodded slowly.

"Yeah, you're right." She suddenly grinned. It was like the sun coming out after a cloudy day. "Alright, X, I'll be your CFO!" She reached over to shake his hand and- "Oh, yuck. Tell Axl to get back down here and finish his stupid cheesecake." Tabby scowled, trying to wipe the chocolate that had accidentally smeared her sleeve. X laughed, standing up.

"Meet me this evening so we can discuss setting up the new HQ."