Odds and Ends Chapter Two
Author's Notes: ..........The beginning's good, but this story sucks. nods It's mostly porn, though we're editing that out here.
Then again, I'm Muselet, I bash all my stuff. Gimp would argue. Read this and review, we like reviews.
99% of grammatical errors are Gimp's. Just FYI.
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When Rock finally awoke the following morning, he was alone. "Dy... Dynamo? ... Mr. Dynamo?" Slowly, Rock searched Dynamo's quarters from top to bottom. He was gone. No note, nothing. Rock sank back down onto the bed, feeling panicked. Where could he have gone? What if he wasn't coming back? Slowly, he forced himself to stand up. He couldn't stay here all day waiting for him. He had to find X, he had so many questions which needed answering, and was sure X felt the same way.
He made his way to the door, shut it deftly behind him, then started down the hallway slowly, headed toward... Well, he wasn't sure, really. How big could this place be? He was sure he'd find X soon.
An hour and a half later, he found himself staring down the end of yet another long corridor. Okay, so the place was larger than he expected. And frighteningly similar to a maze. There was no way around it, he'd have to ask someone for help. He only hoped they'd know who he was talking about. Hearing a light clicking on the floor behind him, he turned quickly to see- WOW. Rock stared in awe at the woman approaching him. Round, firm breasts on a perfectly curved frame. Not a single hair out of place. He'd seen a lot of humans in his time, but even the models in the magazines couldn't compare to this one. Why were all the humans here so... perfect?
He ran up to her quickly, skidding to a stop in front of her, and gazed up at her, a hopeful look on his face. "I'm lost! I need to find my-... I need to find X!"
Alia stared down at the small boy. If X were human, she'd accuse him of being his son. The resemblance was remarkable. "X?"
"Well." Alia considered the question. "I'm not really sure where he is at the moment, but if you'd like you can hang around with me for a while. I have a meeting with him soon and I'm sure you can talk with him or arrange something there." She smiled. "I don't believe we've met.... I'm Alia. What's your name?"
Rock beamed up at her. "Rock. Pleased to meet you! And thank you for letting me stay with you until I can find X."
Alia grinned. What a polite boy this Rock was. He really did remind her of X; so cute and nice, only this was on a smaller scale. "So, Rock, what are you doing here?" She gestured for him to follow her through the halls, heels clicking on the tiled floor. "We don't exactly get many visitors, if you don't count all of Zero's fangirls." Rock winced slightly at Zero's name. "You know X, then?"
Rock nodded. He probably knew X better than X knew himself. He had helped build him, after all. "Yes. Very well. It's just that...." He bit his lip, wondering if he should tell her about his brother. He decided against it. While Alia seemed like a terribly nice person, he didn't really know if that was totally true and Dynamo had warned him against telling people he didn't know. "...I...don't really feel comfortable around Zero." He finished lamely. "He's just...he reminds me of someone who was....not a nice person."
Alia frowned, saddened slightly. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about it....Zero may kill mavericks, but he's really sweet. Saved X's life a ton of times. Got killed for him, even." She glanced down at Rock's surprised face. "You didn't know that?" She blinked. "I wouldn't worry about Zero. He really is terribly loyal to his friends, and I don't think X would befriend him in the first place if he was a bad person."
Rock felt slightly better about the situation now. "Excuse me, but where exactly are you going?"
Alia seemed surprised by his line of questioning, and he hoped he wasn't becoming suspicious. "To the conference hall. Room 4. For that meeting with X. Don't tell me you haven't memorized the building yet!" She noticed the blank stare on his face, and realized he must not be personnel. "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were a hunter!" She apologized, smiling faintly. "Is that what you wanted to talk with Commander X about?"
This seemed like a good cover, though it surprised him to discover his brother was a commander. "Umm.... Something like that." He smiled back politely, and looked around at their surroundings as they went. "You're really pretty." He added in, finally. You look like one of those models in a magazine!" He saw her smile widen slightly with the compliment, and he wondered if she was used to hearing such things. She was beautiful, though Dynamo was better looking, now that he thought about it. His hair was nicer, and he had a better smile. Nicer eyes. He blushed softly, realizing just how far his mind had wandered, and looked ahead quickly.
He now trailed behind Alia slightly, and studied her figure more closely. Everything was so tight, so.... perfect. He kept coming back to that word. It was rare to find a human so perfect, let alone an entire building full of them. Maybe... He cocked his head to the side. Only one way to find out. Intentions innocent, he reached out and gave her ass a small squeeze, feeling for anything out of place on a human. Circuit boards, wires, metal lining. Please, please let them be robots. He could hardly stand the thought of being the only robot besides X, and Zero, who Rock was beginning to wonder about. He smiled, feeling the strength of her cheek, and knew there was no way she could be human. She was a robot! They weren't alone after-
He ran into Alia's backside hard, as Alia stopped dead in her tracks, and turned around, face red. "What the FUCK?" She yelled, face flaming. She stared down at Rock, arms in the air and damned pissed. Then blinked. The boy looked honestly confused. "....why did you do that?!" Her voice rose sharply as she grew more and more flustered.
Rock shifted, wondering if he'd done something wrong. "I didn't know if you were a robot or not." He said lamely, staring up at Alia and hoping he hadn't offended her somehow. "It's just that..."
There was a long, long pause in which Alia stared at Rock, confused. He...really, honest-to-god had no clue what what he'd just done implied. She would bet that he didn't have a clue as to what he'd done wrong, by the pure, open expression of bewildered embarrassment. ".....well. For future reference, everyone here's a reploid. So...don't go around groping people, alright? You're damned lucky I'm not angry." She patted him on the head, sighing. "You really are an innocent little guy, aren't you?" A small grin. "At least you're cute."
Rock blinked and nodded. Reploids? What were those? He'd have to ask X when they got a chance to talk....along with many, many other things. "Alright...." He blinked, following Alia as she started walking down the hallway again, ordering her already perfect hair. ".....uh..." He looked down at the ground. "What's groping?" He stared up at her as she suddenly broke out into high, amused laughter. "...what?"
Alia snickered, wiping at the corners of her eyes. "Oh man, Rock..." She giggled. "You remind me so much of X...you should ask him that. He had the same question until Zero answered it for him..." More giggles. "Ah, the joys of corrupting the innocent." Rock stared some more, still confused and wondering what was so funny. He didn't like being left out of the joke. "Come on. We're here. X is in this room, and hopefully Signas won't mind a visitor to the meeting..."
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Meeting...so...boring. X wanted to let his head drop to the table and fall asleep. He was tired, Signas was babbling about some pointless point, and there were so many other productive things he could be doing....
"X?" X turned and blinked, suddenly being hugged tightly and eagerly by Rock.
Rock's face lit up with joy, and he ran into the room quickly. "X??" Spotting his brother's blue armor, he ran to him quickly, and threw his arms around him tightly, passing the only person standing in the room. Heads turned toward the standing figure, and the room was filled with whispers and murmurs, displeased at the distraction. Rock, however, could care less. He had found his brother, and was no longer lost.
"Rock? What are you doing in here? This is-" Oh, fuck! Everyone was looking at him, he could tell. He pulled Rock out of the room with him, staring nervously at Signas. Crap, he really didn't know how to explain this. He stood up quickly, clearing his throat. "Signas... sir... a word, if I may?" He forced out, trying to pry Rock's arms from around his waist. Finally, he gave up on that idea, and simply dragged Rock out into the hall, still latched onto his waist. As he followed Signas out the door, he noticed a far too amused look on Alia's face and knew instantly who had let Rock into the room.
Signas, however, was less than pleased with the fact that a complete stranger had somehow slipped past main security, and had infiltrated one of their conference rooms. "X, who is this.... this...." He gestured at Rock, to emphasize who he was talking about. This....was not going to go well. As X ran various excuses through his head quickly, Rock took liberty to answer for himself.
"I'm Rock!" He offered, cheerily, and smiled up at Signas. "You must be X's boss, right? You look real important, because of your uniform." Letting go of X's waist, he grabbed Signas' hand in his own small one, and shook it vigorously. "X has told me a lot about you, he says you're great! Can I please come to your meeting? I want to see you at work!" Releasing Signas' hand, he settled for staring at him admiringly.
X could not believe what Rock had just done. What was he thinking? He was about to give him a pinch to shut him up, when Signas surprised him, by finally speaking up. "I... suppose that'd be alright. As long as you don't interrupt." Then he did something that made X want to pinch himself, to check if it was real. Signas pat Rock's head, and returned to the room, anger completely drained from his face.
"Wha.... How did you do that?" X sputtered, once they were alone.
Rock smiled, grabbing his hand. "From watching dad. He used to say and do stuff like that when he wanted something from people, like grants, or donations, or forms signed. It always works. Come on!" Grabbing X's hand, he ran back into the meeting room quickly.
X kept staring across the table at Rock as the meeting slowly dragged on. It was the typical boring procedure stuff, but Rock managed to make his way smoothly through it without a hint of boredom. By the end of the meeting, Signas had taken a shine to the one person who was actually listening to him and had forgiven the interruption entirely. X had to marvel at that. Rock had mastered the art of kissing up to people, and from Dr. Light of all things. He wondered for the millionth time what kind of person his father had been.
By the time the meeting ended and they left, X was anxious to get some privacy for a nice, long talk with his brother. He twitched nervously, heading out the door with Rock as Signas waved them contentedly out of the room. Rock seemed to be just as nervous.
"So...." X said, walking slowly through the halls and wondering where they should go, what he should say. "Come on. I....would really like to talk with you." He said quietly, nervous and not knowing quite why he was.
"Same here. I...I'm so confused, here." Rock sighed. "Who was that Alia person, anyway?" He asked, aiming for some neutral ground to start the conversation off on as they walked.
X shifted uncomfortably. "She...is a friend of mine. She's nice, but she's a little weird sometimes...makes really perverted jokes a lot of the time, worse than Zer-" He stopped himself, remembering how Rock was so averse to Zero and making a mental note to ask why. "Anyway, she's a nice person, very trustworthy, so I think that she's a good person for you to talk with if you get confused and I'm not around." He stopped. "So she brought you to the meeting, I guess? What did you talk about?"
"Well, I was lost and she helped me. And then I checked to see if she was a robot 'cause she's really pretty, and then got confused about a word so...She said to ask you what groping was." Rock blinked as X turned very red. "What?"
"Why don't you ask Dynamo?" X offered quickly, not very eager to go into that with his baby... older... whatever, brother. Rock nodded slightly, and silence filled the hall again. X fidgeted slightly, staring down at Rock. "Hey... Rock... Do you know a lot about me?" X asked, finally. No more beating around the bush. Rock smiled and nodded vigorously.
"Of course! I helped build you! I know all about you." Rock piped up, proudly. "Dad was getting really old, and he couldn't move around like he used to, so I had to do a lot of the sensitive work." He rested his head on X's arm adoringly.
Excellent. "Rock... I know this seems like a silly question, but it's really important to me. Do you know why I was created?" His entire existance, he had never understood his purpose. Why he was there. Now was his chance to finally have that question answered. Glancing down at Rock, he was shocked to see tears in the younger robot's eyes, and a small smile on his lips.
Rock stared up at his brother, filled to the brim with admiration. "Because you're special, X. You're different than I am. You're different from all of us. You were dad's dream. You have something that none of us have- Complete free will. That's why you were created. To be free, and to enjoy your life."
"That's it? Why the armor, the weapons?"
Rock sighed, looking away. "Those were my idea. I thought you should have them. Just in case."
"In case of what?" X pushed on, noticing the now distant look in Rock's eyes.
"I'm hungry." Rock cut in with suddenly.
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X began to grow agitated. Rock was running him in circles, providing him with lots of information, and yet no information whatsoever. He watched the boy as he ate rather ravenously off X's plate. What had Rock been so scared of, all those years ago?
X sighed, patting Rock on the back as he nearly choked. Poor boy. He didn't want to rush him, demand all the answers, but he wanted to know. Rock was utterly terrified of something in the past, and it was affecting how he was answering things. He avoided the subject like it had never existed. Well then. There was always time to ask later....no point in forcing Rock to answer and then having him clam up and say nothing about anything.
"What do you think of Mr. Dynamo?" Rock asked him suddenly. X blinked.
"Well...he's....a mercenary, for one thing. I've had to fight him more than once, but he's not a bad guy when he's hired to be on your side. I just wish he wouldn't work for Sigma." A sigh. "He's never said why he does that, and-" X stopped, looking at the utterly bewildered look on Rock's face. "He hasn't been telling you much, has he?" X shook his head. "You know there are reploids, right? Well...they're based off of me. Everyone here is one and it's kind of creepy, when I bother to think about it.." He trailed off, taking a deep breath, and segued into a long explanation of Sigma and the mavericks.
Rock gazed up with utter devoted adoration at his brother. "Wow. You did all of that? Dad would have been so proud, if it wasn't for the fighting...he said he hoped you'd be a good person. And you are!"
X shifted in his seat, turning slightly red at the praise.. "...what was he like? Dr. Light, that is. I...never did get to talk to him."
Rock perked up immediately with this line of questioning. "Dad was the greatest scientest ever!" Rock started with, pushing the food aside and hopping up on the table. He sat where the food had been before, facing X and smiling brightly. "He was really smart, and he always knew what to do when something was wrong! And he was really nice, too! He never yelled at us or hit us, he treated Blues, Roll and I like we were human children, and he even took care of Forte both times he stayed with us! Forte wasn't so nice, but even he said that dad was an okay human."
Rock continued to sing his praise of the old man, in the way only a child could. Everything he had to say was positive, even when he described how pudgy the old man had been. It was refreshing, after the negative things he was used to hearing from others. Every ounce of Rock's being was vibrant. He was so innocent and full of life, that X couldn't resist its uplifting effect, and soon he was laughing and talking just as excitedly back, telling Rock about the many adventures he'd had since the day he had joined the hunters.
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Well, that had been fun. Zero wandered out of the training room, happily trotting through the halls. X would be out of his meeting by now, he noticed, checking his watch. Hmm....to visit him, or not to visit him....?
Suddenly his door flew open so suddenly X was sure it was going to come off it's track. "X? I'm heeere!" Dynamo announced eagerly. "Are you alone? I brought a nice big surprise for you!" Dynamo stuck his head in his room, grinning at him. Zero glared at Dynamo, unsure if his comment had been a joke or not. "Oh, Zero, hi!" He said airily, and Zero resisted the urge to punch him out. Damned annoying bastard.
"What do you want, Dynamo?" Zero sighed, deciding it best to simply ignore Dynamo's comment. "you usually don't visit like this unless you want something. "
"Uh... Actually, I was hoping Rock would be here.. He was asleep when I left, and when I got back he'd vanished." He glanced around the room nervously, and with good reason. X was going to kill him. "If he's not here, then he's probably lost somewhere."
Zero couldn't resist a bit of a grin at that, and proclaimed loudly, "You are so dead when X finds out!" Suddenly it clicked. If Rock was missing, he'd probably caught up with X after his meeting. X almost always went to see Zero after meetings, so it would explain both of their disappearances. May as well make this look good. "Buuut, I'm willing to help you find him."
Dynamo frowned at him, muttering something incoherent, and Zero smirked. Now, where would X be...? Zero shrugged and guessed randomly, starting to walk down the hallways and smiling. It would be good to see X again.....wait, no, he'd just seen X not that long ago, and given him the cold shoulder. Damn. He'd have to make up for that later. Dynamo followed him closely, and from the smirk on his face, Zero wasn't sure he wanted to know what that bastard was thinking. "So, care to explain your little comment earlier?" Zero cracked his knuckles, smirking a little. If that mercenary had been implying....
"What do you think, Zero?" Dynamo walked ahead of him, turning slightly and grinning. "If you're not going to have sex with X, why can't I? I mean....if you don't want him.... nothing says I can't give him some sweet, sweet loving." Dynamo grinned and made a pelvic thrust in the air. Zero glared at him, pissed off.
"Don't you dare touch him, Dynamo....he's way too innocent, and you'll just take advantage of him. I won't have that happen to him."
Dynamo rolled his eyes, walking quickly down the hallway, just out of Zero's reach. "You're just saying that because you want to be first to tap that fine virgin ass." He grinned, seeing Zero looking horribly embarrassed and extremely pissed off. Damn, he loved it when he was right. "Well, too bad. You're not making any moves...so I get to be his first. It'll be fun to feel him up and have him like it....beg for more...." He grinned even wider, seeing Zero wanting to strangle him, and ducked in a room to avoid him, grinning when he saw X and Rock there.
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In a few short hours, Rock had gone from loving his brother to idolizing and admiring him. The tension between them had all but completely vanished, the only wall between them that taboo topic of what Rock feared all those years ago. He had even stopped cringing whenever Zero's name was mentioned, something which relieved X. It had been hard not to talk about someone who was at least partially involved in every tale of his.
They had taken a break from exchanging tales, and were both sipping their drinks, when Dynamo sauntered in, an irate Zero bringing up the rear. "Don't you dare touch X there, Dynamo, or I swear I'm going to-" Zero broke off, surprised to find Rock still with X and, stranger still, that Rock had not run away screaming, like before. In fact, he seemed almost... pacified.
"Hey, X, Rock." Zero said, idly putting Dynamo in a headlock when the mercenary waved. "What have you two been up to?"
Rock looked up at Zero, still a bit nervous, but after hearing good things about Zero from X, Alia, and Dynamo, he couldn't stay afraid. Might as well give the man a chance...had he really changed? "Hello." He said quietly, noting how Zero raised one eyebrow curiously. "We were talking about Dr. Light, and X was telling me all about...everything that's happened. ...Oh yeah! Mr. Dynamo!" He perked up, remembering what X had said earlier. "Alia told me to ask X something, but he said to ask you. What's groping?"
Zero snorted, biting his lower lip to keep from laughing as X turned red. And Dynamo froze. "Uh...." He stared at Rock, resuming the struggle to get out of the headlock and hoping he could also find a way out of answering the question. ...Aw, screw it. "Alright, I'll give you an example!" He said cheerfully. "If, as I was telling Zero, I walked over to X and fondled his ass, that'd be a grope."
Zero cursed and gave Dynamo a rough shake. "Try it and die."
Choking slightly, Dynamo continued. "Or if I did this..." He grabbed Zero's crotch, causing a loud yelp and his release from the headlock. Giggling insanely, he dashed over to sit so that Rock was in between Zero and him. The stream of curses that poured out of Zero's mouth was halted as X stood up, grabbed a handful of long blonde hair, and dragged his friend over to sit down next to him, glaring all the while. "See, that's groping, though there usually isn't that much cursing involved." Dynamo finished, nodding sagely. Rock just blinked. He didn't know what half those curses had meant.
Zero calmed down, glaring daggers at Dynamo. "Shut up and die, Dy." With an obviously faked yawn, he stretched his arms to wrap one around X's shoulders. "Anyway..." He launched into a long, wandering tale about his day, filled with complaints punctuated by X's sarcastic commentary. Rock watched the two, noting how comfortable X was with this. And if his much- respected brother was okay with Zero, maybe there was nothing wrong with him...at least now. He scooted closer to Dynamo and leaned against him.
Dynamo let his eyes wander from X and Zero's antics, to the small body pressed against him. Rock was smiling up at him, almost shyly, hands buried in his hair, combing through it idly. It was peaceful, it was tranquil, it was way too quiet for Dynamo's liking. "You squirm too much in your sleep, you know." He complained, resting a hand on top of Rock's head. "Kept me up all night. And you mumble, too. Drives me crazy." He ruffled Rock's already mussed hair, to see if he could get him riled up like X. Unlike X, however, Dynamo seemed unable to irritated this smaller version of X, and he leaned his head toward Dynamo's head, giggling.
"Can I sleep with you again?" He asked suddenly, looking up at him hopefully. Yes, he finally felt comfortable around X, and knew he should stick close to his brother, but there was something about this man that he liked. He had never felt for anyone as he felt for Dynamo, now. He had rescued him from his dark prison, repaired him, and brought him to the remainder of his family.
"If you can stay still this time." Dynamo teased, releasing his grip on his head, leaving his hair a mess. "And save your talking for while you're awake." He leaned over, slowly, skillfully, prepared to give X's unguarded ass a good sized squeeze, when Rock opened his mouth again, catching him completely off guard.
"Where were you this morning, anyway?"
Well, damn. He had been hoping Rock wouldn't ask. In fact, he had been sure Rock wouldn't ask, far too wrapped up in his situation. Apparently he had been wrong. He had been with Sigma, naturally, as Sigma paid well.
"X says you're a mercenary. Were you off doing that?" Rock scooted closer, his cheek pressed against Dynamo's chest. "He also says sometimes you work for Sigma." His voice was matter of fact, not accusing, and somehow that made things much worse. Shit. Great, not only was Rock not totally wrapped up in the situation, he was just enough into it to have asked about Dynamo. And by the way he'd phrased the question, it was obvious he knew who Sigma was. There was no good way to answer this question.
"Uh, sometimes, yeah." He glanced over at X and Zero as the blonde made yet another unsubtle flirtation and X didn't notice it. "He pays really, really well...." He wasn't going to look at Rock if he could help it. One damn look into those wide, trusting eyes and he knew he wouldn't be able to weasel his way out of things. Cuteness was a damn good way to interrogate someone, he realized. "So, uh..."
"Oh." Rock said, disappointed. He wasn't stupid; he knew what that meant. "I see." Dynamo shifted around uncomfortably. "...I guess that's okay..." Guilt was gnawing slowly at the mercenary. "I wish you wouldn't fight with my brother."
Damnit. Christ, the way things were going he wouldn't be surprised if Rock was some horribly devious plot on the part of the Hunters to guilt him into not working for Sigma. It was almost working. "Hey, nobody said I had to fight X! I wouldn't want to hurt that pretty little ass, now would I?" X, who had overheard that last sentence, hit him over the head. "Ow."
"Dynamo, if you really want to give my brother sex ed, please either do it where I can't hear you or don't talk about me." X stated flatly. "It's bad enough that you make stupid jokes about 'X is for sex', but remember you're talking to a relative." Behind him, Zero rolled his eyes and leaned backwards. "I swear, you're all such perverts."
"Hey, it was a campaign to get you laid, so stop complaining!" Dynamo managed to get in before X's food slammed down on his to silence him. Honestly, X was so uptight. Dynamo had been doing a good thing, trying to comfort poor little Rock, and had been unjustly punished. Typical. He grinned sheepishly at dear Rock who had surely been distracted by X's outburst. Shit. He sure didn't look distracted. Damn, what a one track mind.
"If you don't have to fight X, what do you have to do?" Rock continued with, lamb-like eyes boring into Dynamo's skull. He looked away quickly, to think of a cover. Something, anything. There was the chance that if he stayed silent long enough, Rock would simply move on to other questions, being his bubbly self. Yep, that was what he was going to do. He was going to stare at X's cup as though it were the most interesting thing on the planet, and before long, Rock would move on, something else catching his- "What do you have to do, Dynamo?" Rock repeated. "You're not going to kill someone, are you?"
Dynamo had faced many a foe in his career. He had faced reploids who had destroyed thousands with their bare hands, he had gone up against some of the strongest people imaginable.. And not one of them was as god damned persistant as this cute little bastard. Keeping his eyes focused on the cup, he sighed airily. "Oh, you know, a little of this, a little of that." He knew the second it left his lips that that wouldn't be enough. He couldn't let Rock in on Sigma's business proposition. Not until he knew if he would take it.
Well, enough beating around the bush. He had only one option left- Lie through his teeth. "Oh, old Siggy wants yours truly to steal some high end weaponry for him from the military." No one would believe that. The mavericks had enough strong weapons to make almost any army shit itself simultaneously.
He bought it. "Well.. I guess that isn't too bad.. Won't he do something horrible with the weapons, though?"
Dynamo felt like beating his head against the table. As if it wasn't bad enough that he was still asking about things, Rock had freakin' accepted the lie like it was truth. So not only was he still asking about the job and making Dynamo feel bad, he now felt really, really bad for decieving the poor boy. "Uh...." Crap, he couldn't think of anything to say. Only a complete fucking idiot would accept his lying about a weapon's intent. It wasn't like Sigma would use them for the creation of happy fields of bunnies, and he knew Rock would keep asking until he got a response. "...maybe?"
Those large, wondering eyes suddenly grew teary. "But, but..." Rock was getting fairly upset. "Sigma kills people!" He clung to Dynamo, wishing that the man would at least look at him instead of X's cup. "I wish you wouldn't help him..." He said, sounding very much unhappy.
Dynamo's heart plummeted. Rock sounded so hurt by the idea that Dynamo was possibly a Bad Person that for a freakish instant he was worried Rock would start to cry, and then he'd have to never do that job lest Rock find out and be utterly devastated. The boy might be ruined anyway, and he couldn't figure out why it mattered to him if he was. "Oh, don't be like that." There was a quiet sniffle, almost not there. Dynamo cringed inwardly. He could deal with people trying to kill him, torture him, fight with him, anything but this vunerable person crying again. He'd already brought Rock into all of this and had to tell him his father was dead. But he'd also had to pass up a lot of money to keep the boy safe. He was at a moral crossroads.
".........Fine. You win." He let his head hit the table as he slumped forward. "I guess...I won't take this job." It was partly a lie. He was still considering it, but he'd have to make sure Rock never, ever heard about it. Or if he did hear about it, that he wouldn't know it was Dynamo who had done it. But there was so much risk and guilt involved...Dynamo forced himself to think about other things. Like how Dr. Light was obviously a mastermind of manipulation. He sighed, returning the gleeful hug Rock was giving him.
X and Zero stared in awe at Dynamo and his charge, who was squeezing the life out of him. Never, in the entire time they had known Dynamo, had they seen him turn down a job other than for a lack of sufficient funds. Yet, the words had just left his mouth, clear and concise. X smiled faintly, watching his brother all but molest Dynamo, who had already given up defending himself, and decided that Rock's arrival was beneficial to Dynamo, as well as himself.
He opened his mouth to mention this, but Rock had already pulled the tall mercenary to his feet, and was dragging him out of the cafeteria. "Bye, X!! I'll see you later! Dynamo said I can get ice cream!" With that, Rock pulled Dynamo into the hall, and let him lead the way back to their room.
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Ending Author's Notes: I just realized how long this collaboration fic is. How odd that I didn't notice before.
Review? We'll love you forever and give you porn. Like it or hate it, review and say why.
Author's Notes: ..........The beginning's good, but this story sucks. nods It's mostly porn, though we're editing that out here.
Then again, I'm Muselet, I bash all my stuff. Gimp would argue. Read this and review, we like reviews.
99% of grammatical errors are Gimp's. Just FYI.
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When Rock finally awoke the following morning, he was alone. "Dy... Dynamo? ... Mr. Dynamo?" Slowly, Rock searched Dynamo's quarters from top to bottom. He was gone. No note, nothing. Rock sank back down onto the bed, feeling panicked. Where could he have gone? What if he wasn't coming back? Slowly, he forced himself to stand up. He couldn't stay here all day waiting for him. He had to find X, he had so many questions which needed answering, and was sure X felt the same way.
He made his way to the door, shut it deftly behind him, then started down the hallway slowly, headed toward... Well, he wasn't sure, really. How big could this place be? He was sure he'd find X soon.
An hour and a half later, he found himself staring down the end of yet another long corridor. Okay, so the place was larger than he expected. And frighteningly similar to a maze. There was no way around it, he'd have to ask someone for help. He only hoped they'd know who he was talking about. Hearing a light clicking on the floor behind him, he turned quickly to see- WOW. Rock stared in awe at the woman approaching him. Round, firm breasts on a perfectly curved frame. Not a single hair out of place. He'd seen a lot of humans in his time, but even the models in the magazines couldn't compare to this one. Why were all the humans here so... perfect?
He ran up to her quickly, skidding to a stop in front of her, and gazed up at her, a hopeful look on his face. "I'm lost! I need to find my-... I need to find X!"
Alia stared down at the small boy. If X were human, she'd accuse him of being his son. The resemblance was remarkable. "X?"
"Well." Alia considered the question. "I'm not really sure where he is at the moment, but if you'd like you can hang around with me for a while. I have a meeting with him soon and I'm sure you can talk with him or arrange something there." She smiled. "I don't believe we've met.... I'm Alia. What's your name?"
Rock beamed up at her. "Rock. Pleased to meet you! And thank you for letting me stay with you until I can find X."
Alia grinned. What a polite boy this Rock was. He really did remind her of X; so cute and nice, only this was on a smaller scale. "So, Rock, what are you doing here?" She gestured for him to follow her through the halls, heels clicking on the tiled floor. "We don't exactly get many visitors, if you don't count all of Zero's fangirls." Rock winced slightly at Zero's name. "You know X, then?"
Rock nodded. He probably knew X better than X knew himself. He had helped build him, after all. "Yes. Very well. It's just that...." He bit his lip, wondering if he should tell her about his brother. He decided against it. While Alia seemed like a terribly nice person, he didn't really know if that was totally true and Dynamo had warned him against telling people he didn't know. "...I...don't really feel comfortable around Zero." He finished lamely. "He's just...he reminds me of someone who was....not a nice person."
Alia frowned, saddened slightly. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about it....Zero may kill mavericks, but he's really sweet. Saved X's life a ton of times. Got killed for him, even." She glanced down at Rock's surprised face. "You didn't know that?" She blinked. "I wouldn't worry about Zero. He really is terribly loyal to his friends, and I don't think X would befriend him in the first place if he was a bad person."
Rock felt slightly better about the situation now. "Excuse me, but where exactly are you going?"
Alia seemed surprised by his line of questioning, and he hoped he wasn't becoming suspicious. "To the conference hall. Room 4. For that meeting with X. Don't tell me you haven't memorized the building yet!" She noticed the blank stare on his face, and realized he must not be personnel. "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were a hunter!" She apologized, smiling faintly. "Is that what you wanted to talk with Commander X about?"
This seemed like a good cover, though it surprised him to discover his brother was a commander. "Umm.... Something like that." He smiled back politely, and looked around at their surroundings as they went. "You're really pretty." He added in, finally. You look like one of those models in a magazine!" He saw her smile widen slightly with the compliment, and he wondered if she was used to hearing such things. She was beautiful, though Dynamo was better looking, now that he thought about it. His hair was nicer, and he had a better smile. Nicer eyes. He blushed softly, realizing just how far his mind had wandered, and looked ahead quickly.
He now trailed behind Alia slightly, and studied her figure more closely. Everything was so tight, so.... perfect. He kept coming back to that word. It was rare to find a human so perfect, let alone an entire building full of them. Maybe... He cocked his head to the side. Only one way to find out. Intentions innocent, he reached out and gave her ass a small squeeze, feeling for anything out of place on a human. Circuit boards, wires, metal lining. Please, please let them be robots. He could hardly stand the thought of being the only robot besides X, and Zero, who Rock was beginning to wonder about. He smiled, feeling the strength of her cheek, and knew there was no way she could be human. She was a robot! They weren't alone after-
He ran into Alia's backside hard, as Alia stopped dead in her tracks, and turned around, face red. "What the FUCK?" She yelled, face flaming. She stared down at Rock, arms in the air and damned pissed. Then blinked. The boy looked honestly confused. "....why did you do that?!" Her voice rose sharply as she grew more and more flustered.
Rock shifted, wondering if he'd done something wrong. "I didn't know if you were a robot or not." He said lamely, staring up at Alia and hoping he hadn't offended her somehow. "It's just that..."
There was a long, long pause in which Alia stared at Rock, confused. He...really, honest-to-god had no clue what what he'd just done implied. She would bet that he didn't have a clue as to what he'd done wrong, by the pure, open expression of bewildered embarrassment. ".....well. For future reference, everyone here's a reploid. So...don't go around groping people, alright? You're damned lucky I'm not angry." She patted him on the head, sighing. "You really are an innocent little guy, aren't you?" A small grin. "At least you're cute."
Rock blinked and nodded. Reploids? What were those? He'd have to ask X when they got a chance to talk....along with many, many other things. "Alright...." He blinked, following Alia as she started walking down the hallway again, ordering her already perfect hair. ".....uh..." He looked down at the ground. "What's groping?" He stared up at her as she suddenly broke out into high, amused laughter. "...what?"
Alia snickered, wiping at the corners of her eyes. "Oh man, Rock..." She giggled. "You remind me so much of X...you should ask him that. He had the same question until Zero answered it for him..." More giggles. "Ah, the joys of corrupting the innocent." Rock stared some more, still confused and wondering what was so funny. He didn't like being left out of the joke. "Come on. We're here. X is in this room, and hopefully Signas won't mind a visitor to the meeting..."
------
Meeting...so...boring. X wanted to let his head drop to the table and fall asleep. He was tired, Signas was babbling about some pointless point, and there were so many other productive things he could be doing....
"X?" X turned and blinked, suddenly being hugged tightly and eagerly by Rock.
Rock's face lit up with joy, and he ran into the room quickly. "X??" Spotting his brother's blue armor, he ran to him quickly, and threw his arms around him tightly, passing the only person standing in the room. Heads turned toward the standing figure, and the room was filled with whispers and murmurs, displeased at the distraction. Rock, however, could care less. He had found his brother, and was no longer lost.
"Rock? What are you doing in here? This is-" Oh, fuck! Everyone was looking at him, he could tell. He pulled Rock out of the room with him, staring nervously at Signas. Crap, he really didn't know how to explain this. He stood up quickly, clearing his throat. "Signas... sir... a word, if I may?" He forced out, trying to pry Rock's arms from around his waist. Finally, he gave up on that idea, and simply dragged Rock out into the hall, still latched onto his waist. As he followed Signas out the door, he noticed a far too amused look on Alia's face and knew instantly who had let Rock into the room.
Signas, however, was less than pleased with the fact that a complete stranger had somehow slipped past main security, and had infiltrated one of their conference rooms. "X, who is this.... this...." He gestured at Rock, to emphasize who he was talking about. This....was not going to go well. As X ran various excuses through his head quickly, Rock took liberty to answer for himself.
"I'm Rock!" He offered, cheerily, and smiled up at Signas. "You must be X's boss, right? You look real important, because of your uniform." Letting go of X's waist, he grabbed Signas' hand in his own small one, and shook it vigorously. "X has told me a lot about you, he says you're great! Can I please come to your meeting? I want to see you at work!" Releasing Signas' hand, he settled for staring at him admiringly.
X could not believe what Rock had just done. What was he thinking? He was about to give him a pinch to shut him up, when Signas surprised him, by finally speaking up. "I... suppose that'd be alright. As long as you don't interrupt." Then he did something that made X want to pinch himself, to check if it was real. Signas pat Rock's head, and returned to the room, anger completely drained from his face.
"Wha.... How did you do that?" X sputtered, once they were alone.
Rock smiled, grabbing his hand. "From watching dad. He used to say and do stuff like that when he wanted something from people, like grants, or donations, or forms signed. It always works. Come on!" Grabbing X's hand, he ran back into the meeting room quickly.
X kept staring across the table at Rock as the meeting slowly dragged on. It was the typical boring procedure stuff, but Rock managed to make his way smoothly through it without a hint of boredom. By the end of the meeting, Signas had taken a shine to the one person who was actually listening to him and had forgiven the interruption entirely. X had to marvel at that. Rock had mastered the art of kissing up to people, and from Dr. Light of all things. He wondered for the millionth time what kind of person his father had been.
By the time the meeting ended and they left, X was anxious to get some privacy for a nice, long talk with his brother. He twitched nervously, heading out the door with Rock as Signas waved them contentedly out of the room. Rock seemed to be just as nervous.
"So...." X said, walking slowly through the halls and wondering where they should go, what he should say. "Come on. I....would really like to talk with you." He said quietly, nervous and not knowing quite why he was.
"Same here. I...I'm so confused, here." Rock sighed. "Who was that Alia person, anyway?" He asked, aiming for some neutral ground to start the conversation off on as they walked.
X shifted uncomfortably. "She...is a friend of mine. She's nice, but she's a little weird sometimes...makes really perverted jokes a lot of the time, worse than Zer-" He stopped himself, remembering how Rock was so averse to Zero and making a mental note to ask why. "Anyway, she's a nice person, very trustworthy, so I think that she's a good person for you to talk with if you get confused and I'm not around." He stopped. "So she brought you to the meeting, I guess? What did you talk about?"
"Well, I was lost and she helped me. And then I checked to see if she was a robot 'cause she's really pretty, and then got confused about a word so...She said to ask you what groping was." Rock blinked as X turned very red. "What?"
"Why don't you ask Dynamo?" X offered quickly, not very eager to go into that with his baby... older... whatever, brother. Rock nodded slightly, and silence filled the hall again. X fidgeted slightly, staring down at Rock. "Hey... Rock... Do you know a lot about me?" X asked, finally. No more beating around the bush. Rock smiled and nodded vigorously.
"Of course! I helped build you! I know all about you." Rock piped up, proudly. "Dad was getting really old, and he couldn't move around like he used to, so I had to do a lot of the sensitive work." He rested his head on X's arm adoringly.
Excellent. "Rock... I know this seems like a silly question, but it's really important to me. Do you know why I was created?" His entire existance, he had never understood his purpose. Why he was there. Now was his chance to finally have that question answered. Glancing down at Rock, he was shocked to see tears in the younger robot's eyes, and a small smile on his lips.
Rock stared up at his brother, filled to the brim with admiration. "Because you're special, X. You're different than I am. You're different from all of us. You were dad's dream. You have something that none of us have- Complete free will. That's why you were created. To be free, and to enjoy your life."
"That's it? Why the armor, the weapons?"
Rock sighed, looking away. "Those were my idea. I thought you should have them. Just in case."
"In case of what?" X pushed on, noticing the now distant look in Rock's eyes.
"I'm hungry." Rock cut in with suddenly.
--------
X began to grow agitated. Rock was running him in circles, providing him with lots of information, and yet no information whatsoever. He watched the boy as he ate rather ravenously off X's plate. What had Rock been so scared of, all those years ago?
X sighed, patting Rock on the back as he nearly choked. Poor boy. He didn't want to rush him, demand all the answers, but he wanted to know. Rock was utterly terrified of something in the past, and it was affecting how he was answering things. He avoided the subject like it had never existed. Well then. There was always time to ask later....no point in forcing Rock to answer and then having him clam up and say nothing about anything.
"What do you think of Mr. Dynamo?" Rock asked him suddenly. X blinked.
"Well...he's....a mercenary, for one thing. I've had to fight him more than once, but he's not a bad guy when he's hired to be on your side. I just wish he wouldn't work for Sigma." A sigh. "He's never said why he does that, and-" X stopped, looking at the utterly bewildered look on Rock's face. "He hasn't been telling you much, has he?" X shook his head. "You know there are reploids, right? Well...they're based off of me. Everyone here is one and it's kind of creepy, when I bother to think about it.." He trailed off, taking a deep breath, and segued into a long explanation of Sigma and the mavericks.
Rock gazed up with utter devoted adoration at his brother. "Wow. You did all of that? Dad would have been so proud, if it wasn't for the fighting...he said he hoped you'd be a good person. And you are!"
X shifted in his seat, turning slightly red at the praise.. "...what was he like? Dr. Light, that is. I...never did get to talk to him."
Rock perked up immediately with this line of questioning. "Dad was the greatest scientest ever!" Rock started with, pushing the food aside and hopping up on the table. He sat where the food had been before, facing X and smiling brightly. "He was really smart, and he always knew what to do when something was wrong! And he was really nice, too! He never yelled at us or hit us, he treated Blues, Roll and I like we were human children, and he even took care of Forte both times he stayed with us! Forte wasn't so nice, but even he said that dad was an okay human."
Rock continued to sing his praise of the old man, in the way only a child could. Everything he had to say was positive, even when he described how pudgy the old man had been. It was refreshing, after the negative things he was used to hearing from others. Every ounce of Rock's being was vibrant. He was so innocent and full of life, that X couldn't resist its uplifting effect, and soon he was laughing and talking just as excitedly back, telling Rock about the many adventures he'd had since the day he had joined the hunters.
-------
Well, that had been fun. Zero wandered out of the training room, happily trotting through the halls. X would be out of his meeting by now, he noticed, checking his watch. Hmm....to visit him, or not to visit him....?
Suddenly his door flew open so suddenly X was sure it was going to come off it's track. "X? I'm heeere!" Dynamo announced eagerly. "Are you alone? I brought a nice big surprise for you!" Dynamo stuck his head in his room, grinning at him. Zero glared at Dynamo, unsure if his comment had been a joke or not. "Oh, Zero, hi!" He said airily, and Zero resisted the urge to punch him out. Damned annoying bastard.
"What do you want, Dynamo?" Zero sighed, deciding it best to simply ignore Dynamo's comment. "you usually don't visit like this unless you want something. "
"Uh... Actually, I was hoping Rock would be here.. He was asleep when I left, and when I got back he'd vanished." He glanced around the room nervously, and with good reason. X was going to kill him. "If he's not here, then he's probably lost somewhere."
Zero couldn't resist a bit of a grin at that, and proclaimed loudly, "You are so dead when X finds out!" Suddenly it clicked. If Rock was missing, he'd probably caught up with X after his meeting. X almost always went to see Zero after meetings, so it would explain both of their disappearances. May as well make this look good. "Buuut, I'm willing to help you find him."
Dynamo frowned at him, muttering something incoherent, and Zero smirked. Now, where would X be...? Zero shrugged and guessed randomly, starting to walk down the hallways and smiling. It would be good to see X again.....wait, no, he'd just seen X not that long ago, and given him the cold shoulder. Damn. He'd have to make up for that later. Dynamo followed him closely, and from the smirk on his face, Zero wasn't sure he wanted to know what that bastard was thinking. "So, care to explain your little comment earlier?" Zero cracked his knuckles, smirking a little. If that mercenary had been implying....
"What do you think, Zero?" Dynamo walked ahead of him, turning slightly and grinning. "If you're not going to have sex with X, why can't I? I mean....if you don't want him.... nothing says I can't give him some sweet, sweet loving." Dynamo grinned and made a pelvic thrust in the air. Zero glared at him, pissed off.
"Don't you dare touch him, Dynamo....he's way too innocent, and you'll just take advantage of him. I won't have that happen to him."
Dynamo rolled his eyes, walking quickly down the hallway, just out of Zero's reach. "You're just saying that because you want to be first to tap that fine virgin ass." He grinned, seeing Zero looking horribly embarrassed and extremely pissed off. Damn, he loved it when he was right. "Well, too bad. You're not making any moves...so I get to be his first. It'll be fun to feel him up and have him like it....beg for more...." He grinned even wider, seeing Zero wanting to strangle him, and ducked in a room to avoid him, grinning when he saw X and Rock there.
-------
In a few short hours, Rock had gone from loving his brother to idolizing and admiring him. The tension between them had all but completely vanished, the only wall between them that taboo topic of what Rock feared all those years ago. He had even stopped cringing whenever Zero's name was mentioned, something which relieved X. It had been hard not to talk about someone who was at least partially involved in every tale of his.
They had taken a break from exchanging tales, and were both sipping their drinks, when Dynamo sauntered in, an irate Zero bringing up the rear. "Don't you dare touch X there, Dynamo, or I swear I'm going to-" Zero broke off, surprised to find Rock still with X and, stranger still, that Rock had not run away screaming, like before. In fact, he seemed almost... pacified.
"Hey, X, Rock." Zero said, idly putting Dynamo in a headlock when the mercenary waved. "What have you two been up to?"
Rock looked up at Zero, still a bit nervous, but after hearing good things about Zero from X, Alia, and Dynamo, he couldn't stay afraid. Might as well give the man a chance...had he really changed? "Hello." He said quietly, noting how Zero raised one eyebrow curiously. "We were talking about Dr. Light, and X was telling me all about...everything that's happened. ...Oh yeah! Mr. Dynamo!" He perked up, remembering what X had said earlier. "Alia told me to ask X something, but he said to ask you. What's groping?"
Zero snorted, biting his lower lip to keep from laughing as X turned red. And Dynamo froze. "Uh...." He stared at Rock, resuming the struggle to get out of the headlock and hoping he could also find a way out of answering the question. ...Aw, screw it. "Alright, I'll give you an example!" He said cheerfully. "If, as I was telling Zero, I walked over to X and fondled his ass, that'd be a grope."
Zero cursed and gave Dynamo a rough shake. "Try it and die."
Choking slightly, Dynamo continued. "Or if I did this..." He grabbed Zero's crotch, causing a loud yelp and his release from the headlock. Giggling insanely, he dashed over to sit so that Rock was in between Zero and him. The stream of curses that poured out of Zero's mouth was halted as X stood up, grabbed a handful of long blonde hair, and dragged his friend over to sit down next to him, glaring all the while. "See, that's groping, though there usually isn't that much cursing involved." Dynamo finished, nodding sagely. Rock just blinked. He didn't know what half those curses had meant.
Zero calmed down, glaring daggers at Dynamo. "Shut up and die, Dy." With an obviously faked yawn, he stretched his arms to wrap one around X's shoulders. "Anyway..." He launched into a long, wandering tale about his day, filled with complaints punctuated by X's sarcastic commentary. Rock watched the two, noting how comfortable X was with this. And if his much- respected brother was okay with Zero, maybe there was nothing wrong with him...at least now. He scooted closer to Dynamo and leaned against him.
Dynamo let his eyes wander from X and Zero's antics, to the small body pressed against him. Rock was smiling up at him, almost shyly, hands buried in his hair, combing through it idly. It was peaceful, it was tranquil, it was way too quiet for Dynamo's liking. "You squirm too much in your sleep, you know." He complained, resting a hand on top of Rock's head. "Kept me up all night. And you mumble, too. Drives me crazy." He ruffled Rock's already mussed hair, to see if he could get him riled up like X. Unlike X, however, Dynamo seemed unable to irritated this smaller version of X, and he leaned his head toward Dynamo's head, giggling.
"Can I sleep with you again?" He asked suddenly, looking up at him hopefully. Yes, he finally felt comfortable around X, and knew he should stick close to his brother, but there was something about this man that he liked. He had never felt for anyone as he felt for Dynamo, now. He had rescued him from his dark prison, repaired him, and brought him to the remainder of his family.
"If you can stay still this time." Dynamo teased, releasing his grip on his head, leaving his hair a mess. "And save your talking for while you're awake." He leaned over, slowly, skillfully, prepared to give X's unguarded ass a good sized squeeze, when Rock opened his mouth again, catching him completely off guard.
"Where were you this morning, anyway?"
Well, damn. He had been hoping Rock wouldn't ask. In fact, he had been sure Rock wouldn't ask, far too wrapped up in his situation. Apparently he had been wrong. He had been with Sigma, naturally, as Sigma paid well.
"X says you're a mercenary. Were you off doing that?" Rock scooted closer, his cheek pressed against Dynamo's chest. "He also says sometimes you work for Sigma." His voice was matter of fact, not accusing, and somehow that made things much worse. Shit. Great, not only was Rock not totally wrapped up in the situation, he was just enough into it to have asked about Dynamo. And by the way he'd phrased the question, it was obvious he knew who Sigma was. There was no good way to answer this question.
"Uh, sometimes, yeah." He glanced over at X and Zero as the blonde made yet another unsubtle flirtation and X didn't notice it. "He pays really, really well...." He wasn't going to look at Rock if he could help it. One damn look into those wide, trusting eyes and he knew he wouldn't be able to weasel his way out of things. Cuteness was a damn good way to interrogate someone, he realized. "So, uh..."
"Oh." Rock said, disappointed. He wasn't stupid; he knew what that meant. "I see." Dynamo shifted around uncomfortably. "...I guess that's okay..." Guilt was gnawing slowly at the mercenary. "I wish you wouldn't fight with my brother."
Damnit. Christ, the way things were going he wouldn't be surprised if Rock was some horribly devious plot on the part of the Hunters to guilt him into not working for Sigma. It was almost working. "Hey, nobody said I had to fight X! I wouldn't want to hurt that pretty little ass, now would I?" X, who had overheard that last sentence, hit him over the head. "Ow."
"Dynamo, if you really want to give my brother sex ed, please either do it where I can't hear you or don't talk about me." X stated flatly. "It's bad enough that you make stupid jokes about 'X is for sex', but remember you're talking to a relative." Behind him, Zero rolled his eyes and leaned backwards. "I swear, you're all such perverts."
"Hey, it was a campaign to get you laid, so stop complaining!" Dynamo managed to get in before X's food slammed down on his to silence him. Honestly, X was so uptight. Dynamo had been doing a good thing, trying to comfort poor little Rock, and had been unjustly punished. Typical. He grinned sheepishly at dear Rock who had surely been distracted by X's outburst. Shit. He sure didn't look distracted. Damn, what a one track mind.
"If you don't have to fight X, what do you have to do?" Rock continued with, lamb-like eyes boring into Dynamo's skull. He looked away quickly, to think of a cover. Something, anything. There was the chance that if he stayed silent long enough, Rock would simply move on to other questions, being his bubbly self. Yep, that was what he was going to do. He was going to stare at X's cup as though it were the most interesting thing on the planet, and before long, Rock would move on, something else catching his- "What do you have to do, Dynamo?" Rock repeated. "You're not going to kill someone, are you?"
Dynamo had faced many a foe in his career. He had faced reploids who had destroyed thousands with their bare hands, he had gone up against some of the strongest people imaginable.. And not one of them was as god damned persistant as this cute little bastard. Keeping his eyes focused on the cup, he sighed airily. "Oh, you know, a little of this, a little of that." He knew the second it left his lips that that wouldn't be enough. He couldn't let Rock in on Sigma's business proposition. Not until he knew if he would take it.
Well, enough beating around the bush. He had only one option left- Lie through his teeth. "Oh, old Siggy wants yours truly to steal some high end weaponry for him from the military." No one would believe that. The mavericks had enough strong weapons to make almost any army shit itself simultaneously.
He bought it. "Well.. I guess that isn't too bad.. Won't he do something horrible with the weapons, though?"
Dynamo felt like beating his head against the table. As if it wasn't bad enough that he was still asking about things, Rock had freakin' accepted the lie like it was truth. So not only was he still asking about the job and making Dynamo feel bad, he now felt really, really bad for decieving the poor boy. "Uh...." Crap, he couldn't think of anything to say. Only a complete fucking idiot would accept his lying about a weapon's intent. It wasn't like Sigma would use them for the creation of happy fields of bunnies, and he knew Rock would keep asking until he got a response. "...maybe?"
Those large, wondering eyes suddenly grew teary. "But, but..." Rock was getting fairly upset. "Sigma kills people!" He clung to Dynamo, wishing that the man would at least look at him instead of X's cup. "I wish you wouldn't help him..." He said, sounding very much unhappy.
Dynamo's heart plummeted. Rock sounded so hurt by the idea that Dynamo was possibly a Bad Person that for a freakish instant he was worried Rock would start to cry, and then he'd have to never do that job lest Rock find out and be utterly devastated. The boy might be ruined anyway, and he couldn't figure out why it mattered to him if he was. "Oh, don't be like that." There was a quiet sniffle, almost not there. Dynamo cringed inwardly. He could deal with people trying to kill him, torture him, fight with him, anything but this vunerable person crying again. He'd already brought Rock into all of this and had to tell him his father was dead. But he'd also had to pass up a lot of money to keep the boy safe. He was at a moral crossroads.
".........Fine. You win." He let his head hit the table as he slumped forward. "I guess...I won't take this job." It was partly a lie. He was still considering it, but he'd have to make sure Rock never, ever heard about it. Or if he did hear about it, that he wouldn't know it was Dynamo who had done it. But there was so much risk and guilt involved...Dynamo forced himself to think about other things. Like how Dr. Light was obviously a mastermind of manipulation. He sighed, returning the gleeful hug Rock was giving him.
X and Zero stared in awe at Dynamo and his charge, who was squeezing the life out of him. Never, in the entire time they had known Dynamo, had they seen him turn down a job other than for a lack of sufficient funds. Yet, the words had just left his mouth, clear and concise. X smiled faintly, watching his brother all but molest Dynamo, who had already given up defending himself, and decided that Rock's arrival was beneficial to Dynamo, as well as himself.
He opened his mouth to mention this, but Rock had already pulled the tall mercenary to his feet, and was dragging him out of the cafeteria. "Bye, X!! I'll see you later! Dynamo said I can get ice cream!" With that, Rock pulled Dynamo into the hall, and let him lead the way back to their room.
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Ending Author's Notes: I just realized how long this collaboration fic is. How odd that I didn't notice before.
Review? We'll love you forever and give you porn. Like it or hate it, review and say why.