Note: Lady Death is a character featured in my one-shot fics in the Lives of Average Reploids. She's a very expensive assassin. No one knows anything about her, not even if she's human or Reploid… only that she's refused contracts from Sigma on X and Zero. Why? That's a personal matter, and if you really want to know why, check out the one-shots.

"Hello Skipper," Tambertail said brightly, stepping back into her familiar office. Signas looked up from where he was sorting through her filing cabinet, trying to find some important piece of information. "Surviving without me, I see."

"Not very well," Signas said with a wry smile. "You wouldn't know where that file on Allisha is, would you?" Tambertail took over, and had the file in his hands in seconds. "Thank you. It's good to have you back… that girl from the temp agency was no good at all."

"Oh, it's not easy being a temp, Skipper." Tambertail was in a very good mood, and willing to be charitable. "Having to go to a new place every week, learn new rules, new filing systems… been there, done that, got the mental scars." Tambertail poured herself a cup of coffee, tried it, and choked. "Bleh! Did you make this, Skipper?"

"No, the girl did, before she left."

"Oh. I take back everything I said then. Clearly incompetent." Tambertail immediately began brewing a new pot. Signas watched her for a moment with a smile.

Everything about her indicated to him that she'd had a very good time, indeed. She was wearing a brand new red crushed velvet dress shirt, embroidered with Wild West patterns. She was also wearing a beautiful necklace of Mexican silver and turquoise, along with a matching bracelet. Signas frowned as she knelt down to get a new filter. Was that a bite mark under her left ear?

Signas decided he really didn't want to know, and retreated into his office. There were things he didn't care to know about Tambertail, and that went double for Zero. But as he got started on some paperwork, Signas smiled.

Life was always easier when Tambertail was around to organize things.

A week later…

"Hey, X? You in?" Zero frowned as he heard a garbled sound. "X?" He was at the door to X's quarters. This was X's day off, and no one had seen him at all, although he'd heard that there had been some yelling in X's quarters. It seemed worth investigating.

"Come in!" Zero blinked again as he recognized Alia's voice, then shrugged and opened the door.

"Alia," Zero said after a moment spent studying the scene inside. "What are you doing? That looks… really uncomfortable. For X, anyway." The Navigator was sitting on X's back, pinning him neatly to the sofa. Her elbow was firmly resting on the back of his neck, supporting her weight and forcing him even further into the cushions. Alia's hair was tousled, as if she had struggled a bit to get him there.

"Zero… help…" X's voice was muffled but really pathetic. Alia dug her elbow a bit more deeply into the back of his neck, then looked up at Zero with an expression of false serenity.

"X is learning that he can go without his game if he really, really tries." Alia said, her tone sweetly poisonous. Zero lifted his eyebrows, then grinned.

"You're making him go cold turkey? How cruel. What did he do to you?"

"Zero, if your girlfriend told you she's wearing crotchless panties and needs to be at work in an hour, what would you do?" Alia asked, and Zero hesitated, thrown by that question for a moment.

"Jump her, of course… X, you didn't keep playing that stupid game!" Zero stared at his friend in disbelief.

"Just… five minutes… for the level…" Alia's elbow dug in just a touch more. "Ow." Zero blinked, then laughed.

"Sorry X, you're getting a righteous squashing. Come meet Axl and me in the break room when she lets you up, okay?" Zero left the room, chuckling and ignoring a few more muffled pleas from behind him.

X was getting exactly what he deserved.

Tambertail walked slowly through the halls of the HQ, savoring the medley of smells that made up Hunter HQ.

The strongest smell, of course, was the various cleaners and other agents the domestic staff used to keep it clean. Tambertail ignored those smells with practiced ease. She didn't much like chemical scents, and any police tracker was trained to ignore them and concentrate on the important smells. Like blood, or rot.

She couldn't smell much human blood in Hunter HQ, although there were hints here and there. Reploid blood was another matter. Generations of rookies and Hunters had shed fluids in one way or another over the grounds, and the smell had been ground in too deeply to ever be removed except by tearing the building down. Another strong scent was the ozone-like smell of unwashed Reploid. Hard exercise made it more pronounced, and as a pair of rookies walked past her, Tambertail caught a strong dose of it from them. Along with perfume, from the female of the pair. Tambertail sniffed carefully, and identified it as Obsession by Chanel. Not a bad perfume at all, although not what she would have picked. Tambertail preferred her scents musky.

Tambertail suddenly picked up a very different, very appealing smell. She paused, closing her eyes to sample it more fully. If she had to guess, the kitchen was making chicken casserole. Or perhaps chicken fajitas. Whatever it was, it involved chicken and cheese and smelled perfectly delicious, even from halfway across the base.

But that was for later. Tambertail regretfully turned away from the tantalizing scent of good food, and picked up a different trail… a scent that mingled Reploid blood with motor oil, dirt and, oddly enough, bubblegum. It was a scent she associated with the Pit.

The Pit was the nickname given to the 16th Heavy Metal division. The 16th Heavy Artillery unit used all the heavy weapons, cannons, tanks and heavy aircraft the HQ had at its disposal. Because of that, their equipment was constantly in need of maintenance, and the 16th Heavy Metal division was their Siamese twin. Slightly split, but effectively the same unit, the technicians working in the Pit had a reputation for utter excellence… and a disregard for rules and regulations that occasionally made Lifesaver froth at the mouth. While their primary duty was to service the heavy equipment of the 16th, when things went to hell in a handbasket, they often handled Reploid casualties. But they didn't alter their techniques in the slightest for them, and more than one Reploid had discovered months later that some of their wiring had been patched with bubblegum. Which, Tambertail had been informed, worked really darn well since it hardened when current hit it and formed a perfect seal. It was also a lot faster and more efficient than the delicate work of welding. The Reploids she had heard of had only found out when they took combat damage a second time, and got patched up by Lifesaver. Lifesaver hated it, along with all the other dirty tricks the 16th engaged in pursuing their quest to get their charges up and functional in the shortest possible amount of time. Tambertail grinned to herself. She didn't like Lifesaver much, and suspected the part that really drove him to a frothing fury wasn't how lackadaisical they were… it was that they were so damn good despite it. If anything, the Pit's record for efficiency was better than Lifesaver's repair bay.

Tambertail wasn't just going to the Pit for fun, though. One of the things she occasionally did for Signas was check over her hovercycle. It wasn't stored with the other hovercycles, but had its own place in the Pit, with a few other custom jobs for the other enthusiasts in HQ. Comparing all these puppies to the regular hovercycles used for patrols was like comparing a custom built Corvette to a regular Porsche. Both excellent machines… but one was special where the other wasn't. Signas had owned his hovercycle for a long, long time, since the ancient days when he'd been only a Captain, not the commander of Hunter HQ. Tambertail only checked it for him when he was planning to go somewhere, but was so bogged down by paperwork that he didn't have time to give it a going over himself.

When she got there, she tilted her head back to regard the largest project in the room. A massive, Goliath style riding armor was getting a complete refit and retooling. There was scaffolding around the partly disassembled armor, and three workers were on it, hard at work. The Pit was a very, very large room with equally large doors to accommodate the weapons they worked with. Classic rock blared over the speakers, filling the room with sound.

Tambertail grinned and waved at a few of the techs, enjoying the heady scents of oil, hot metal and Reploid vital fluids. There was also a heavy smell of dirt and soap… one part of the room was partitioned off and featured industrial strength hoses and a drain. It was meant to clean off damaged ride armor and tanks, so they could be repaired without the dirt getting in the way. There was some laughter from that area, and Tambertail grinned again as she saw a pair of Reploids spraying each other. Members of the 15th, from their gear. No one particularly cared, as long as they didn't get in the way.

Tambertail smiled appreciatively when she reached Signas' hovercycle. It gleamed like a newly cut jewel, polished to a wonderful shine. A black and silver beauty of a bike, it was full of intricate custom work and obviously well taken care of. Tambertail knew that the techs all enjoyed looking after it, since Signas knew his bike inside out, and gave compliments when it was well cared for. There was a reason Signas was a fairly popular commander, and it wasn't his good looks.

Tambertail sniffed the bike over thoroughly, enjoying all the scents of a freshly polished bike. She wasn't quite as familiar with how the bike worked as Signas, but she knew hoverbikes fairly well, and everything looked as good as it smelled. Everything-

Tambertail suddenly reared back as she picked up a scent that was foreign yet familiar. Programming and training that had been ingrained so firmly it was nearly instinct took over, and she threw back her head, letting out a modulated howl. It cut through the music and sounds of the Pit like a blowtorch through butter, and everyone turned to stare at her. Except one of the Reploids from the 15th. A former police officer, he recognized that particular howl and what it signified. One quick sprint later, his hand slammed down on a panic button. Sirens immediately began to blare, and Tambertail snarled in satisfaction as the surprised techs began to evacuate. Instead of joining them, she loped over to the two members of the 15th.

They might need her expertise, no matter how dangerous it would be.

"Zero, what's going on?" A breathless X asked Zero. Hearing the alarms had convinced Alia to let him up. X had tried and failed to make sense of the communicator chatter… it seemed like no one knew exactly what was going on, except that it was happening in the Pit.

Suddenly, X's question became academic as Signas made a general broadcast, overriding all other channels.

All Hunters except tactical positions, evacuate the building. A bomb has been detected in the Pit. The 14th bomb disposal unit is taking care of the problem. Zero and X exchanged a wide-eyed look.

"A BOMB? Who could have planted that in HQ? …And why the Pit?" Blowing up the Pit would certainly hurt the Hunters, but it wasn't anywhere near the heart of HQ. Unless it was something truly stupendous, like a backpack nuke, it wasn't going to do critical damage.

"Unless it's not the only bomb," Zero said, and X winced. "C'mon X, let's get out of here. We're only in the way." Neither one of them knew anything about bomb disposal. This was a job for the professionals. X hesitated, looking back towards his rooms. "Don't tell me you're thinking of going back for that stupid game!" X flushed, and gave him a glare.

"I was thinking about Alia! She went back to Navigations." Although now that Zero mentioned it, he hoped his game wouldn't get blown up either. It was an antique and would be really hard to replace.

"Oh. Okay then." That response pleased Zero… at least X still had his priorities in order. Well, sort of. Once they were outside, at the pre-determined spot, Zero looked back at the HQ, waiting. There wasn't much else he and X could do.

"Hey, look… there's Tambertail!" X suddenly exclaimed, and Zero turned his head, spotting the vibrant blue dress shirt and lean, athletic figure of Signas' secretary. He waved to her, and she spotted them, trotting over. Zero tilted his head as he saw her expression… she was looking quite satisfied about something.

"Hey, Tambertail, do you know what's going on?" He asked, and she grinned, showing her canine teeth.

"You bet. I'm the one who spotted the bomb. Skipper owes me, big time." That surprised X, but not Zero. After his week with her at the resort, he knew about her history as a former scent tracker. Such trackers were trained to detect bombs. "So far, it's the only one they've found, and it would have blown him to kingdom come. It was on his hoverbike." That surprised both of them.

"No way! How could a Maverick have gotten into HQ?" There were plenty of security checks to prevent Maverick infiltrators. Tambertail's expression suddenly turned sour, as if she had sucked on a lemon. She turned a baleful gaze on the HQ, and Zero lifted an eyebrow. "Tambertail?" He rested a hand on the back of her neck, and began giving her a neck massage. Tambertail melted into that attention, her eyes half-closing in pleasure.

"Mrr… just thinking." Zero nibbled her earlobe, wordlessly asking her to continue. "Could've been a human. Be easier for one of them to get in."

"A human, helping the Mavericks?" X said, shocked by the very notion. "Why would anyone do such a thing?"

"Money, X." Zero could answer that one. "And Signas isn't, you know, US. But if it was a human, that might be a good thing. At least then, that'll be the only bomb." There was no way any sane human would blow up Hunter HQ entirely.

"Well that… stinks!" X fumed, and Tambertail cast a glance over at him. X was assuming this was the result of a Maverick plot, and Zero seemed to be as well. Which it could very well be… all the Hunters agreed that Signas was the best commander they had ever been given. But a few nastier suspicions had occurred to Tambertail… there was no point in discussing them with X and Zero, though. She'd have a talk with Signas later.

"What really stinks is how they kicked me out," Tambertail's lip curled. "When the real police trackers showed up. Pah." She knew it was justified… she was a civilian now… but it still pissed her off. She'd been transferred to secretarial jobs because of her attitude. Her competence at tracking had never been in question.

Several more hours passed, as they all chatted quietly. Some people left to go get food and drinks… and news crews showed up. Tambertail's part in the events quickly became known, and she was forced to snarl at a few reporters. Zero's threatening presence helped out with that. Then they all started as a violent detonation came… but from the practice ground. The bomb squad had taken the bike out there, away from all the sensitive equipment in the Pit, and because there was plenty of space there for a controlled detonation. Tambertail winced.

"God's own hell, I hope they saved the bike. Pity the Skipper if they didn't!" All the Hunters close enough to hear nodded solemnly. They all knew how much Signas loved his hoverbike. Alia's voice came over the communicators.

Everything is under control. All units can return to HQ. There was a vast feeling of relief, as all the Hunters returned to their posts and duties.

Although they were all left wondering who had done this, and how their defenses had been penetrated. There were many questions that would have to be answered…