Author's Note: Wow…major writer's block lately. This is insane! We're not even halfway through the story yet!

Disclaimer: Refer back to the prologue.

Warnings: The angst! The drama! Need a tissue?

Fic Note: I am writing as fast as I can, I promise. I just keep hitting roadblock after roadblock. My apologies to everyone!

RoseKitsune.Exe- You're alive and well! Wonderful! Thanks for your review! Perhaps this chapter will clear up some? Or maybe it'll confuse more…? Who knows! Enjoy! 'Till next installment…whenever that is…sweats I only type so fast, people!

Chiming.softly- Erm…don't let my writing be an indication. Sure you won't try. --winks, shifty eyes--

Reviews do help, however. Only reason I got the other ones done so fast is that this fic relies heavily on constructive reviews. By hearing your questions and what you say, I'm able to adjust the next chapter to better adapt what you'd like to see. So keep any suggestions/requests coming!

Loneliness

"What now? Our numbers are smaller than before!"

"Yeah! We should be trying to recruit new members or trying to get back our lost!"

A cracking sound echoed through the building, then the dull thud of a body hitting the floor. Fear was evoked in each member of the team. Farel looked around dangerously, "If anyone else wishes to bother our leader in his moment of rest, feel free to come up against me."

"…"

"Heh. I thought so."

"Lan…what'cha thinking about…?" Megaman inquired cautiously.

Lan was staring off into space. "Hm…?" he replied absently.

"Nevermind…"

The brunette looked down at his PET. "No, I'm sorry Megaman, what was it?"

"Just wondering what's on your mind, Lan."

His net-op chuckled. "What's on my mind? Gosh…there's a whole lot on my mind right now…like-like how we got this far down the road? And I'm…just really confused at the moment."

"I'd say we'll be fine, but I'm not even sure about that right now either," Megaman replied to this honestly, "I know one thing for certain, though."

"What's that?"

"Chaud's not going to fool around anymore. Next time we do something irrational like that, we're not going to get much mercy-I have a feeling."

Lan nodded, "Yeah…you're right. So what do we have to do?"

"Terminate activity for a while. We can't disband the Trojans, that'll just cause more trouble. We're going to have to 'relax' activity a while…until we figure something out."

"Hm…yeah. Hey, Megaman?"

"Hm?"

"Do you want to do this anymore?"

"…"

"Do you?"

"Do what, Lan?"

"Play 'leader' with these guys."

"No."

A half-smile. "Yeah, me neither. You know what's funny though?"

"Hm?"

"It used to be fun. It used to all make sense."

"Used to, Lan."

"Net Trojans seemed to have disappeared for the time being, sir."

Chaud merely tapped his desk with his index finger, staring dazedly off into space. "Sir…?" the officer repeated again, "Trojan activity has stopped…"

Chaud's voice was dangerously low, his eyes narrowed. "Good."

The officer flinched at the ice in Chaud's voice and left immediately without thinking about being dismissed. Chaud continued to tap on his desk.

Lan tossed and turned in his bed. He wasn't getting any sleep. He'd wake Megaman, but his navi was on sleep mode for the rest of the night. Lan didn't want to wake him unless in extreme cases. Placing Megaman in a soundproof case, Lan decided to go walking out of his room.

Walking down the hallways, he heard rustling movement echoing down the hall, and decided to follow the noise. Walking a while, to his left there was a balcony. A figure was visible, leaning on the wall. Lan walked up slowly behind the person, then stopped.

"What's wrong, squirt? Can't sleep?"

Lan almost died of a heart attack. Farel turned and caught Lan just before the boy could collapse from shock. Farel chuckled, helping Lan back up, "S'why you don't sneak up on people, squirt."

The younger boy took a moment to reorient himself. Farel smiled. "So, what's eating you?"

"Huh?" Lan gulped, "Nothing's on my mind…"

Farel threw back his head and laughed. "I've known you four years now, Lance…" he took out a cigarette swiftly from his vest pocket and raised an eyebrow at Lan, asking for silent permission. Lan only waved his hand in consent.

Putting the cigarette in his mouth, he lit it up and leaned back on the balcony. "So don't step around it-what's eating you?"

"…" Lan stared hard at the ground, then in one quick motion he snatched the cigarette from Farel's mouth and stuck it in his own, taking one long drag-then throwing it on the ground and coughing like crazy.

Farel's eyes widened in shock and he patted Lan on the back while putting out the cig. "You idiot! What'd you do that for? You know you can't smoke!"

Lan's coughs eventually subsided and he looked up at Farel with red eyes. "Yeah…now I know why Chaud always told me to avoid those 'cancer sticks.' How do you do it, anyway?"

"What, smoke? No big deal. I'm big enough and tough enough for it," Farel grinned, but then frowned a moment as he lit another one, "Say…did you say Chaud?"

Lan blinked. He chuckled nervously, "Eh…did I?"

Farel smoked the cigarette thoughtfully and tilted back his head, blowing rings of smoke into the sky as he seemed deep in thought. "Yeah…yeah, I think you did."

"…I see."

"Who is that, anyway? Isn't it that kid that led those SRT bastards? The one we met again that last mission, trying to choke you to death?"

"That…"

Farel looked at Lan seriously. "That was him, wasn't it? Why'd you mention his name? He advised you not to smoke cigarettes? You know him personally?"

Lan looked away. "Eh…no, not particularly."

Farel took another drag. "Really now? That's interesting. You mentioned his name so familiarly. You sure you're not hiding anything?"

The brunette clenched his fists and stared angrily into Farel's green eyes. "You'd do well not to ask me that, Farel," Lan turned to leave. A hand grabbed his shoulder, preventing him from doing so.

Hard, brown eyes stared coldly at slightly concerned green ones. "Hey…! Hey…don't get so angry, all right, squirt? Just tell me straight. You know you can trust me better than anyone else here. Me and your navi, right?"

Lan continued to just stare. Farel evenly matched his stare, waiting for Lan to provide an answer. "Well?"

"A friend."

Farel blinked. That was unexpected. His eyes narrowed slightly as he tried to make all the possible connections in his head. "What kind of friend?"

"Childhood friend. Satisfied?"

The older teen's jaw dropped slightly at the bluntness of the response. He could tell he was starting to annoy Lan, but he was curious now-this information had direct effect on the Trojans. "So what you're saying is…you were on his side when you joined us…?"

Lan bit the inside of his cheek, he wasn't liking where this was going. "And if I was…?"

He didn't know how, but Farel had backed him into the corner of the balcony. If he really wanted to, Farel could fling Lan off and make it look like an accident. "Then explain to me…why in the world you'd come over to the Net Trojans in the first place?"

Lan sighed. He had known this day would appear sooner or later. "You would like the truth?"

"Of course. You know me very well-though it seems I no longer know you half as well."

"Mm…when I joined…the Trojans had a special mission. They were capturing, and sometimes killing, scientists."

Farel raised an eyebrow, "Do tell me there's more than that."

"…My father worked at one of the labs captured. That should explain the rest."

The older teen ran a hand through his redish-orange hair. "So if I understand correctly what you're saying here…and we both are up to date with operations?"

Lan nodded slowly. "Then why in the world are you still in this group?" Farel managed, slightly exasperated.

Lan half-smiled, "That seems to be the funny thing. I'm here…because I'm just here."

Farel blinked. "That's it?"

"That's it."

"…Interesting."

Farel backed away off of Lan. "That's all right then," he turned the other way.

Lan looked at Farel questioningly. "Farel…?"

"Go to sleep, Lance."

"But…"

"No one has to know. Go to sleep."

"…Yeah, I guess I will. By the way, the name is Lan."

"…" Farel continued to smoke his cigarette.

Without once looking back, Lan walked back down the long hallway back to his room.

"Lance…or Lan…so then-who are you, anyway?"

TO BE CONTINUED…

That's it for this chapter! Review if you wish! But right now, I think I made my sickness worse, so I have to scoot. New update might not be for a while.

Urgh…my stomach feels so weird tho…remind me to avoid food for a million years, please! I can't thank enough the people who are constantly concerned. Nice to know there will be some kind of celebrating when I get better.

I hope in time for the holidays…I need to eat that good family food…!

If I don't see you guys again for a while, happy early Christmas and a happy early New Year as well! Gosh, is it really that time again already? This year sure flew by.

-SaiKenYuu