Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this fic; DC and WB do.

New Thoughts

Ro looked over at the 'man' walking next to her, and wondered what was going through his mind at that moment. She also wondered whether she should call it his mind or his central processor. He was always so unreadable to her, even in his moments of complete and utter sadness or joy, she could never be sure if he was totally sincere. As she grew to know him, she eventually got to the point where she could tell when something was bothering him. Which wasn't the case right now. In fact, he seemed almost… content. And that was what seemed strange to Ro. She had never seen that kind of smile on Zee's face before. One that was completely and totally at home.

He seemed comfortable in his own skin, and Ro had never seen him like that. He was always so unsure of what he was, of what his purpose was. Ro guessed that whatever his creator had said to him had obviously affected him. He seemed to move with a purpose now, as though he knew what he was doing with his life. Or more importantly, why. A frown crossed his holographic features, and Ro looked in the direction of whatever had him so perplexed. She smiled.

"It's a Christmas tree, Zee. All that stuff in that computerised brain of yours, and they didn't tell you what a Christmas tree was?"

"I know what they are, Ro," he responded calmly, "but I've never seen one."

Ro looked at the tree, and had to admit that it was a pretty impressive offering. It stood at least twenty feet high, the lights and decorations causing the night air around it to glow. She looked over at her friend.

"So… have you got me a present yet?"

"A present?"

Ro rolled her eyes. "Yes, Zee, a present. During Christmas time, you give your friends presents."

Zee seemed to mull this over. "Hmm… perhaps Batman would like one."

Ro huffed slightly. "Batman? What about-" she stopped short as she saw the smile on Zee's face. She let out a quirky smile of her own. "Since when did you get a sense of humour?"

Zee just smiled and looked at her. "What would you like?"

Ro smirked and shook her head. "Oh, no. It's not going to be that easy. You're gonna have to put some real thought into it."

Zee frowned slightly, looking worried. "Why? Have you got my present yet?"

"That's not the issue here."

Zee smiled. "No, then?"

"Like I said, that's not the issue here. Anyway, it just so happens that I need to go shopping on an unrelated matter, so you can get me my present then. Okay?"

Zee nodded. "Okay."

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As Zeta sat down at the table, he silently thanked whoever had invented the ASA (Automated Shopping Attendant). It allowed for twenty four hour shopping, and Zeta had needed every minute of it. Although, Ro obviously needed more. She had told him to wait in the food court once he had bought her present, and that she would meet him there. He also had to keep the present hidden from her until Christmas day, which was the 25th of December. Zeta had been curious about the origin of Christmas, and was not particularly surprised that it was a religious day. Zeta had found that most human celebrations (aside from being mostly random) were influenced by religion.

Although, Christmas had become much less about the religious aspect over the years, and more about simply being with your family and friends, being thankful for what you have. Though Zeta thought that was what Thanksgiving was about, but that was to do with native Indians and pilgrims. Zeta shook his head. Humans were very confusing. He looked down at the bag that rested against his chair, and wondered if Ro would like it. When he had asked the human shop attendant (which he had found surprising, considering the hour) what he could get for Ro, he had merely smiled and pointed him in the direction of the jewellery.

He had shown him a small locket that opened to reveal a picture of whomever you wished to put in there. Zeta thought that he would be able to find an image of them together in his databanks and use that. On the side that wasn't for the picture was an inscription that read:

With you forever.

Zeta had initially thought it a good idea, but was now reconsidering having bought it. He looked up at the shop, and found that it had closed. It must be one of those old fashioned shops that refused to have ASA's. Zeta didn't wonder why. He was well aware of how much emotions could influence one's decisions. He looked at the bag again and would have sighed, if he were human.

With you forever.

Could he be with Ro forever? His logical mind knew that it was impossible; assuming that he wasn't destroyed by Bennett or someone else, he would outlive Ro by many decades. The thought of that disturbed him. That he would suddenly be alone. He wasn't sure where he would find the will to run anymore. To begin with, he had been influenced by needing to find out about who and what he was, but now that he had found that (more or less)… Ro was his reason to go on. He wondered what humans would call this kind of attachment.

Love? That seemed right, but Zeta knew that there were different types of love, and the love that he felt for Ro… it wasn't romantic. He knew it wasn't. It wasn't quite a brotherly love either, as he had seen what that was like by seeing how Ro interacted with her brother. So, if it wasn't romantic love, and it wasn't brotherly love… then what was it? The love of a parent? Zeta shook his head. That was ridiculous. Whatever it was, it was definitely love of some kind.

Someone sat at the table with him, and he looked over with a smile, expecting to see Ro. Instead, he saw the face of Agent Bennett, looking at him through his green tinted visor.

"Hello, Zeta," he said, though there was no maliciousness in his voice. Zeta got up and was about to try and find Ro, when Bennett waved him down. "Please. I'm not here to try and capture you."

Zeta paused, unsure of what to do. "But Ro-"

"Is fine, I'm sure. Now please," he said, gesturing to the chair next to him. Zeta, wary of a trap, sat slowly, being careful to watch every one of Bennett's movements. Once he was sat down, Bennett smiled slightly. "There, we're fine."

"What do you want?" Zeta asked calmly. Bennett paused before responding, as though thinking about what he was going to say.

Taking a deep breath, he began. "I want to know what's going on," he said, pointing to Zeta's head, "in there."

Zeta tilted his head slightly as he frowned. "What?"

"Something is wrong with you, Zeta. Something up there. And I want to know what it is."

Zeta stood. "I'm going to go and find Ro."

"Now, there's something I'd like to know about; Ro. Why are you with her, Zeta? Was it some kind of ploy? To get our sympathy by going on the run with a young girl? Or maybe you just want her as a hostage in case worse comes to worse?"

Zeta turned to face Bennett. "I would never hurt Ro."

Bennett leaned closer. "What is she to you, Zeta? A friend? A sister? A…" he seemed to struggle with the words, "… lover?"

"I care about her. That's all that matters," immediately throwing his previous concerns out of the window with one sentence. He was mildly surprised by how quickly he had dismissed them, but he realised that it really was that simple. He cared for Ro; and that truly was all that mattered. It didn't matter what kind of love it was.

Bennett leaned back in his chair. "But how can you? How can you care about her? How can you care about anyone? You're a machine: a collection of circuit boards and memory chips and processors. You can't care about anyone."

Zeta shook his head. "No. I can, and I do. I'm not just a machine; not anymore."

Bennett stood, leaning over the table to look Zeta straight in the eye. "Then what are you, Zeta? A robot? A human being?" He paused as Zeta didn't respond. "What do you think you are?"

Zeta didn't speak for the longest time, his expression unreadable as he pondered his response. What was he? As he had said, he wasn't a robot anymore; he knew he wasn't. Physically, he may still be made of metal and dense poly-alloys, but beneath that… he was something else. But was he a human being? No, he wasn't. Nor did he have any wish to be. He looked Bennett in the eye, stood perfectly straight as he did so.

"Alive."

Bennett didn't respond, except for his eyes; something happened to them. Zeta couldn't tell what it meant, but there was a perceptible change in his eyes. He leant back and sat back down in his chair, and Zeta reached over to pick up Ro's Christmas present.

"Merry Christmas, Agent Bennett," he said, and then turned and walked away.

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Bennett watched Zeta go, and, hours later, he was still sat in the food court, thinking about what Zeta had said. Bennett had actually been here doing some last minute Christmas shopping, and had merely seen Zeta walking around with Ro. He still didn't know what had made him go and talk to him, and not report him in. He hadn't even considered taking out his communicator. Maybe it was what he had overheard in that undersea base. Maybe it was something else that had been subconsciously creeping into his mind for a while now. Whatever it was, it made him go and talk to the synthoid, rather than attacking him or trying to apprehend him.

And now he was left wondering what the meaning of his mission was. Could he continue hunting Zeta after what he had heard? After what Zeta had said to him?

But what was most worrying to Bennett was the fact that he had believed Zeta. He had believed him when he had said he was alive. He shook his head.

Zeta was alive.

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"So, I hope you got me a good present, because I got you a real doozy," Ro boasted, smirking as she did so.

Zee smiled. "I think you'll like it. I put a lot of thought into it, just as you said."

Ro nodded. "All right then." She stopped for a moment and frowned. "Uh, Zee?"

"Yes Ro?"

"You didn't spend too much on me, did you?"

Zee smiled. "I don't think so."

Ro nodded unsurely. "Okay. Because I didn't have a lot to spare, so… just bear that in mind."

"I will."

She walked alongside him, all worries banished from her mind. She just hoped that Zee liked red turtle neck sweaters.

"So, what'd you get for Batman?"

"I thought I'd get him a Santa Claus hat. He seems to have a sense of humour."

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(A/N: I haven't seen Zeta project in about six months, so if anybody's hideously out of character, tell me so.

So, what'd you think? Hallelujah? Or Humbug? Review!)