Someone was holding his face. Wait, no, that wasn't right, he was supposed to be dead. And he was missing… basically all his body mass. Except the head. But here he was with someone touching him.
Their hands were gentle, but the grip was weird, that much was apparent even to someone as groggy as he was. Almost like they were debating ripping his head off, and he didn't remember romancing anyone recently either. He opened his eyes to see who it was. A familiar, very horrified face looked back. And then Zero heard nothing but static feedback as his ears tried to recover from the assault they had just endured.
"Didn't know you had switched from guns to soundwaves," he said, his voice sounding distant and tinny.
His attacker, a pathetic heap on the floor, ignored him in favor of gasping and clutching his chest. He didn't respond, only panted. Maybe his voicebox shorted out.
"Are you going to leave me here because I scared you?" Zero asked dryly.
He was missing most of the synthmuscle on his neck, leaving only a dressing of bloodied synthskin. Zero thought the other unit might cry and he felt bad about it. But he really did need X to get him out of here.
"Why did you scream?"
Finally the other Reploid lifted his head, revealing impossibly wide green optics. And then X picked himself up off the floor and returned to the in capsule Zero was resting in. He picked him up carefully and turned him over, his expression skeptical. Zero felt a weird buzzing sensation in his head, like a lot of data was shuffling around. Something to sort out once he had some proper maintenance.
"Because you're a head."
I'm always ahead of you, Zero thought dryly, allowing himself some self-importance. Suddenly he was spinning through the air and then his cheek was stinging as it hit the floor. Warm, gloved hands picked him back up, X looked down at him, both guilty and concerned.
"Oh, you can hear me now." Casually, he said it, as if he wasn't just as shocked as X looked at having his thoughts read by someone else.
It wasn't uncommon among Reploids, that some would unconsciously seek out and directly exchange data, including thoughts and feelings. Bonds, links, whatever you wanted to call it. It was something humans didn't do. But Zero simply didn't form bonds, and neither, if he remembered right, did X. He was too busy following humans around like a puppy. Dying tended to be a bonding experience, but the link between him and X felt weak, a line of data and thought pulled taut like a guitar string ready to snap.
Or maybe that tension was the grip X had on his head, thumbs pressing into his cheeks. He had no helmet. Hopefully that was with the rest of his body because he would hate to have lost it.
"I can hear you," X breathed, the wind of it was hot across his face.
How overheated was the other Reploid? He looked fascinated. Honestly, Zero would be fascinated, or dismayed, if he wasn't a head. No one really new about interreploid relationships, given they'd only been around a little while. No one studied it. Reploids were too busy being created and dying.
"I certainly hope you can hear me, because you're my ticket out of here," he reminded, gently trying to push. "Violen is pretty dead and I would really like to leave."
"Right," X said, pushing to his feet. "Wait, were you watching?"
"No, but you were." And Zero had heard the unit whenever he disturbed Zero's rest.
Un-scrunched, Zero could see that X had a few noticeable wounds, and his armor was, frankly, in horrible shape. He could see the jumpsuit underneath in a few places, and it had more cracks than an old sidewalk. But nothing looked bloody.
He could sense X's thoughts and concentration switch to his teleporter, getting ready to return them to headquarters. Zero stared up at his face as… nothing happened. At all. X's face slowly screwed up in confusion and Zero felt his hopes plummet.
"Well?"
"I can't."
"You can't?"
"It's not working."
"It's probably a scrambler or something," he sighed. "Not sure how they got their hands on one that powerful, but whatever. Let's just get outside."
X nodded and gathered up Zero's hair, presumably so he wouldn't trip over it, and began to backtrack. It was fun seeing all the damage X and his battles had caused. Yeah, Zero used to have a buster, too, but X's being so destructive, well, he found it funny. X looked almost distraught walking through bits of charred metal and mechaniloid though, his fingers digging at Zero's temple. He wanted to remind him that he probably needed one hand free, just in case, but it was so quiet and dead inside.
X's fingers danced nervously across Zero's skin.
"Stop that. I swear to Asimov if you make me itch and I can't do anything about it."
The brunet jumped, startled. "Oh, I'm sorry, Zero, I just…"
"Just what?"
"I thought I heard something…"
"Well, I didn't. Let's get out of here so we can go back and I can get my body."
X hesitated only a moment before resuming their journey through the darkened halls. They could both still see, but the battle has clearly damaged the power supply here. Wherever here was. X's thoughts weren't cooperative on that front.
He must have been getting rusty because he was surprised when X was suddenly tumbling end over end off a ledge and heat traveled into his face from X's armor. It had to have been hot to warm the alloy. Many things happened at once then, Zero noticed them all, because what choice did he have other than to observe and criticize?
X untangled his left hand from Zero's hair, snagging some of it, "ow!" , and fired at the surviving mechaniloid. The mechaniloid exploded, X hit the ground with a very crunchy sound, yelped, and Zero flew out of his arms and collided with the unforgiving metal of the floor. Without his helmet, it met his face.
His tumble was arrested without much fanfare, the weight of his hair slowing him quickly, and obscuring his vision. He tried to blow it out of his mouth, catching a glimpse of something blue. More than that, in his head, a low dread plucking at his awareness, like the killer's theme in a kitschy horror movie.
"What?" Zero demanded, and no that was not concern in his voice, it was annoyance at having so much hair in his face.
For a moment, there was silence, but then the blurry silhouette crept closer to him and said: "We have a little problem."
Zero didn't dignify that with a response as X carefully grabbed him and lifted him up. As strands of hair fell away, he saw what the problem was. Those must have been some perfect stress fractures, or X had been damaged more badly than he'd thought if that mechaniloid had been able to damage X's armor to the point of return. All the heavy plating had been dismissed to keep as much of it in tact as possible, leaving X in only the pale blue bodysuit.
"Ah, well, it's in the lab now, Cain will fix it for you," he said soothingly.
X did not look soothed, but Zero didn't blame him. Now they both felt naked. He thought about picking at him, but X was raised with humans and he was weird… in general, but this was one of those things he was especially weird about.
"Let's get out of here before the cleanup crew comes and tries to arrest me," X sighed, tucking Zero under his arm and resuming their exodus.
"We could stay, it might be better than getting caught outside by Mavericks."
"I don't know, Zero. These bases have a tendency to-" there was a loud groan from somewhere inside, metal, not reploid. "Explode."
"Or collapse," he added helpfully. "Let's go outside."
"We'll… have to find a phone, I think."
Zero didn't speak again as X navigated his way outside, marveling at the wonderful carnage. He wished he could hold a saber and make some of his own. X disapproved of these thoughts and withdrew mentally, but neither of them spoke until X was out in the night air and then, as he tried to put distance between himself and any potential mechaniloids left over, Zero spoke.
"Now that we're not liable to be attacked at any moment, what is the d-"
"How in Asimov's name are you conscious?!" X demanded with a fierceness that would have made him jump if he'd had a body. Yes, something had clearly happened to make this X more confident. Or maybe X was only a little spitfire when he felt more like a human.
"The trauma of losing a limb is often enough to make a Reploid go into stasis and yet here you are with no body and you're both conscious and speaking rationally. What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Geez, you've been holding that in a while.
Still, Zero was not offended, but took a sick sort of pride in it.
"Beats me. I didn't wake up until you touched me, though. Now answer my question. How much time has gone by? My chronometer isn't working and I would like to know how long Sigma's had to wreak havoc."
X looked unsatisfied with that answer, as any good scientist would, but answered his question, nose tilting up slightly. "It's been close to a year since you died, Zero. You don't have to worry about Sigma. I've been trying to collect your parts in the meantime."
"Oh. I'm scattered then, not destroyed," he said faintly, trying to process what X had told him.
X, who had apparently killed Sigma, something he had hoped would happen, but had had his doubts, especially given how close the two had been once. The brunet gave him a stern glance as he padded out into the wilderness. It was a low, hilly mountain, with brown and grey lumps of human buildings in the distance. Maybe this place had been a mine. Maybe it was all new.
The decision to go into town was an obvious one, though neither wanted to go. X couldn't communicate internally, so they'd have to make a call. Like a human. Gross.
X was still giving him that weird look. Hopefully he hadn't caught that doubt at the idea of X killing Sigma.
"Thankfully, the lower half of your body didn't decide to start moving independently of the rest of you when I retrieved it."
"Ah." He was almost embarrassed to know that he'd been broken into pieces. "You're keeping it safe for me, I hope?"
"Cain is."
"Asimov, X, you left part of me with him?" Humans were weird and Cain especially liked to mess with things when he shouldn't.
"Yes, I did. I live with him, remember?"
Zero wanted to roll his eyes, but instead looked out over the valley, his cheeks going numb from where X was holding them. X was different, what else was different?
"You're not as nervous as you were back then."
"Being placed in command of your own unit will do that."
"You got promoted without me?"
"I don't need your permission, Zero," he said in a clipped tone.
Zero appreciated how easy it was to banter with him, like old times, and not like when he had become a rookie and was timid and unsure of himself. It didn't suit X to be skittish, especially not now that he was a proper officer.
"My apologies, Commander."
"Should you be antagonizing me while you're in this position?" The smaller (usually) unit asked, sharp green eyes so disapproving he seemed to be channeling Sigma. Pre-Virus Sigma.
"I live dangerously."
"Which is why you're a head," he said primly, picking his way down the mountain.
"I'm always ahead."
"That's the second time you've made that joke and it isn't getting any fun–"
X's arm jumped, and for a moment Zero was certain he was going to be thrown, but it was just X nearly tripping and killing them both. The brunet caught himself quickly, grasping at a prickly tree limb nearby.
"Sorry, this suit has me off balance."
Not surprising. The armor wasn't light, and usually the first half hour after a long mission were hell as your systems attempted to readjust to having lost all that weight.
"You'll get used to it."
The android's face suffused with pink as coolant rushed in. What this time? Then he felt the sharp, hot stings of embarrassment.
"Oh, it's because of that."
Another sharp look, but a reluctant one. "I don't have anything else to wear."
"You have a nanosuit. And light plating, I would imagine."
"But still."
"Your medic uniform is not much more than this."
"It's different!" He protested, though Zero was not sure how.
"There's a town around here somewhere that we're going to, go steal some clothes."
X hopped down a ledge before Zero could caution him, and before X could think too hard about it. The uneven sound of the impact, from X, told him that even X's shocks had not escaped unscathed.
"Ouch?"
"Just a little twinge. It's the left one."
"Left one what?"
"My knee."
"Fantastic, just get us down to a town before we both die, alright?"
"No one is dying," said X, with a firm sort of mental nudge that told him that he was actually just talking to Zero. "Again."
"You've gotten mean," Zero said in dismay.
Commander X deigned not to answer him. They really were close to a town, surprisingly so, though it wasn't one he recognized. From where he was tucked under X's arm, he could see several roofs, stores and a handful of small houses that had been out of style for the past few decades.
Apprehension bled through their link.
"What?"
"Nothing! It's just… this area is known for being anti-Reploid."
"And the Mavericks chose to set up camp here? Didn't know they had that kind of spite in them."
He raised an eyebrow, attempting some humor for the sake of his former once-student. X was unmoved, didn't even look at him.
"This base was already here. They just moved into it."
"Mavericks rarely do anything of great note."
"Your vocabulary is improving the longer you're around me," X sighed and wiped his face, as if he was a human.
Habit, or was something actually wrong?
"You good?"
"Tired."
"I can tell. Look, stop meandering around and go find a phone or a police station." A town with no love for Reploids probably wouldn't have Reploids, or Hunters.
"Maybe we should tell them the base could blow up?"
"No, that wasn't your job when you came here. That's always been the regular military job, or those saps in cleanup. So hurry up and stop worrying."
His steed let out a sigh, but Zero smugly sensed that he had won. X was a ridiculous android, but even he could see reason sometimes. X took a few more steps and was almost out of the tree line when he froze.
He was thinking big thoughts again. Zero couldn't interpret them, but he likened X to a skittish horse, gaze alert, muscles tense.
"What?" He asked finally, when the silence stretched.
X picked Zero up and held him in both hands, bringing him up so they were eye-level. Actually, he held Zero slightly higher, almost their normal.
"You're a head," the android said morosely.
"Always", Zero agreed, and would have nodded had he had neck and shoulders to nod with.
X frowned at him, disapproving, but didn't otherwise remark on his third attempt. "A decapitated head. In a human town."
"Oooooh, you're saying if they see you carrying me around they'll shoot you en masse like an outlaw in an old Western."
A little nod. Zero missed being able to nod; now he had to talk a lot more because he had no body for body language.
"If they hear you talking, then maybe it will be fine…"
X was full of doubt, and hope. Little idiot.
"In that case, my dear X, they will probably produce torches and pitchforks and chase us like witches. And by us, I mean you, because I'm not doing any running."
He wasn't afraid of any dumb little human.
"You can't. "
"I can't," he agreed sullenly. "So you'll have to be smart about this. Which starts with stealing some civilian clothes since they'll probably know you're a reploid if you walk in looking like that."
"I know. And then I suppose I'll have to find the police station, or a library. Somewhere with a phone."
"You're not going to leave me out here, are you?" He asked. "I'd be fine, but if someone comes back to retrieve me, I doubt they would let me bite them anywhere vital."
X looked at him the way Zero might a particularly stupid rookie. He'd taught him well. Zero didn't think he liked it very much. X's thoughts said too damn bad.
"I've done too much work to get your stupid parts back together for that. No, I'll figure something out."
Feeling marginally more safe knowing his defenseless buddy was not going to abandon him, he was content to let X lead them on toward the small town. It looked like it had seen better days, once. Seventy years ago.
The town was eerily quiet. Zero was beginning to think this was going to be easy, or they were about to stumble into some horrific scene, knowing their luck. X was getting dangerously close to what looked like a small church when Zero saw it. At last, maybe some deity somewhere was taking pity on them.
Well, Zero wasn't saying any prayers because he didn't need any deities. He tried his hardest to poke X with his jaw, to get his attention physically. He could think at him, or say something, but he was feeling pretty angry and stubborn about the no body thing.
"Hey? Genius. Instead of going to someone's house and asking for donations, why don't you just take something from the donations box?"
X followed his gaze to the tall green and white box with the lid set into the face of it. His expression fell into surprise and disapproval.
"Zero, that's for the poor!"
Oh, here we go. He rolled his eyes at the reaction.
"Well, what was your idea? And do not tell me you actually were going to go up to someone's door. I'll simply roll myself into the police station."
"No! I was going to see if anyone had clothes hanging out."
Atta boy. Zero was delighted, but he couldn't resist the opportunity.
"You were going to steal? Really? X, you certainly have changed."
X spluttered as he realized what he was technically planning."Wh-no, I, I mean I wasn't going to take anything that looked new–"
"Okay, the fact remains that those donations are no longer anyone's belongings. The people who put them there wanted them to go to people in need, and we're in need."
He tried to look up, but X was looking ahead and he could only see the soft, unflattering angle of rounded cheek and chin.
Baby face.
"Does that assuage your moral compass?"
X didn't move, or look at him, but he felt the tightening of his fingers. And then they were leaving the cover of the trees for the box. There was no one in the parking lot, but the church next door looked and sounded occupied.
"That's the biggest word I've heard you use," X muttered as they darted for cover behind the box.
He didn't say a word as X pushed back the heavy lid and dumped Zero inside. He did not scream. But the impact knocked the air out of his lungs in a squeaky sort of noise.
From outside, he heard X mutter: "You don't have lungs."
And then the lid opened again and X dropped into the dark, cramped space beside him, crouching off kilter like some sort of demented hen among the piles of clothing. It smelled vaguely of leather and grease, but surprisingly clean.
"Was that necessary? " He admonished once the noise of the lid closing had faded.
"No, it wasn't. But it felt good."
Zero stared at X, silently communicating his disapproval from atop a faded pink shirt with hamsters on it. X ignored him and rummaged around in the dark. He wished his little buddy luck because he had no hands and was not about to use his mouth for anything in here.
The glitter on the t-shirt was irritating on his cheek, but he continued to watch impassively as X sorted through clothes like a disgruntled retail worker.
"Oh, look, a backpack!" He chirped a moment later, pulling up a generic red and black backpack from the clothing void.
When Zero said nothing, X unzipped it and looked inside. He seemed pleased.
"It's big enough and it's clean inside. I don't think it got used much at all."
"Oh, goody. I get to go in a clean sack."
He rolled his eyes, because it was all he could do. X ignored him and laid the bag down beside him, threateningly, before continuing his search. Zero glared balefully into its pale, cheap depths.
"Oh, here are some shoes. Uh… not really my type, but they're almost my size and they still have the tags on them."
Zero squinted dubiously at a pair of brown boots, the shape nagging at him. Oh, cowboy boots. He grinned, even as X pulled them back to give them another considering look. There were no other shoes in here that Zero could see.
"I approve. It's so ridiculous, how can I not?"
"I'm not looking for your approval, I'm looking for things I can wear," X huffed, setting the shoes aside to keep looking.
"Perfect!" X said again, upon finding an orange hoodie.
"Hideous. I can tell you're not looking for my approval."
"It's loose and big, that's the important thing. I wonder if these jeans would be too long," he mused to himself, holding them up to his legs.
"Try them on?" Zero suggested dryly.
X clutched the jeans to him as if he had just been walked in on in the shower and they were the only thing standing between X's virtue and Zero. Well, too bad. Besides, X was a little too flat for his taste. And too little.
"With you here?"
"I've seen it all before. Geez, how did a wuss like you get into the military."
X's hands were on his hips for a brief moment, channeling so much "disapproving 50s sitcom housewife" into his little body that Zero was impressed. And then he reached over and turned Zero to face the wall.
"I forgot I could do that," he chirped, while Zero stared glumly at a rust stain.
He elected to say nothing in case X be reminded he was there and throw a shirt over him as well. So he laid there in silence, listening to the rustling, the grunts, and the fastening. Honestly, the not seeing was probably painting a more vivid image than what was actually going on.
At last he heard a long zipper being unzipped, and then the sound of something being thrown into a bag. Then X picked him up. The hoodie was horrible and way too big.
He grimaced and the happy look on X's face fell. "Is there nothing in here that's less offensive you could wear? "
He looked down at himself in confusion. "There's nothing on this one."
Poor, stupid innocent boy. "I mean that isn't 'frequently paired with camo' orange and a 3XL on an S."
"Oh… uh. Is it that bad?"
"Yes," Zero said vehemently.
X looked sly then. "...bad enough to delay me from getting you back to your body? "
"Hell no. Lead the way, traffic cone."
X stood and pried the lid open before tossing the backpack out onto the parking lot. Zero, thankfully, was treated with more dignity and was allowed to be escorted out personally after X made a few bunny hop attempts to escape. His height and injury to his legs made it difficult to catch the lip just right, but he managed.
They landed with a grunt right next to the backpack, which X opened up and carefully gathered Zero's hair to place him inside. Zero squinted at the inside, which was suspiciously blue and wrinkly.
"Is that your jumpsuit?"
"Yeah. I thought you might want a cushion so you're not rolling around everywhere," X said, looking down at him as he nestled him inside.
The fabric was softer on his cheek than the cheap material of the backpack. He felt almost grateful, until X started to zip the bag. His eyes must have widened, or their connection was still strong, because X paused.
"Zero… you know I can't walk around with the bag open. I'm sorry. It won't be long, I just have to find the police station. Or a grocery store. Something."
And then Zero was in weird, red gloominess.
You say it won't take long, but this place is so run down. Zero was jostled gently with each step X took. What if their phones don't work or something.
"I promise," X said quietly. "Besides, it really doesn't look that bad further in."
Maybe you can just ask a crackhead for his phone.
"Zero, that's not appropriate!" X hissed at him.
You've seen the crime maps too, he said with a scoff. And are you sure you can't contact anyone, or teleport?
"It's–" He faltered, and then: Yes. Maybe if we're here til tonight, my ARS will have my teleporter fixed, but it's busted right now.
There must be people nearby now given the pause and switch. Good, Zero wanted to get out of here. He fell into a sulky silence staring at the red pane of fabric above him. The only accompaniment they had was the gentle click of the zipper and X's footsteps.
Slowly, the sound of cars passing grew closer, so he assumed they'd found a main road to follow. Still, this was much more boring than watching X half fall down a mountain.
See any buildings that look like they have a phone from this century? Zero asked lazily after X had walked in awkward silence for a time.
No. It's Sunday and it's a small town.
Oh. Well that could be a problem. Ask someone where the police station is.
I haven't seen anyone I was to approach–wait, there's a sign for a grocery store.
The chain kind that's open most hours and holidays? Zero asked hopefully.
There was no verbal response but X was walking faster now. Sweet freedom was in his grasp. And sweet legs, too. And hands, hands would be really nice right now. They held sabers and food, and ruffled X's stupid fluffy hair until it stood upright in a dozen different directions.
It was a long walk, but from the sound, he surmised they were in a parking lot, and X had short legs. After what felt like forever, he heard the doors slide open and then the rattle of carts and beeping of machines. He would have shuddered if he could have. Horrible retail hell, full of angry, bitter people.
Suddenly Zero was flung into the wall of the backpack as something slammed into him, and X, with enough force to make him stumble.
"Hey!" He snapped out of reflex and then mentally swore a string of curses that he swore he heard reciprocated.
"Sorry!" X yipped and then Zero was bounced even more as X trotted away as quickly as he could without being suspicious.
It was just a lady, Zero, X explained, but he didn't sound angry.
They were too focused on the end of this little trip to care about that. They were almost home free. Almost. They just had to get a phone.
X came to a stop suddenly, his breathing slightly labored because the hoodie made him warm. Zero could feel the heat soaking in from his back. The sound here was less cavernous.
"Excuse me? Um, I lost my phone, could I borrow a store phone to call someone to pick me up?"
Sad, lost teen. He'd seen X play this role a few times, and he wished he could see his face while he did it.
"Oh, uh… is that allowed? Well, okay, here." This was it.
He felt X's arms move, and yes yes yes, buttons were being pressed. He heard a ring, someone answered the phone.
"Hi, could I arrange a pickup? I've gotten stranded–yes, Berry, it's me, I'm fine, and yes, you can–"
Zero heard heavy footsteps. His skin prickled, something felt wrong about this, his instincts were screaming danger. Couldn't be a Maverick because no one was shrieking like they had seen a Maverick.
X, there's someone big coming up behind you.
But he was too interested in talking to his Operator, not that Zero could really blame him. And then Zero was jostled, and there was a muffled thwump as someone presumably clapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey, kid, can I see your bag?"
X stopped talking, Berry stopped talking, the people around them stopped talking. He turned around slowly, tension leaking into his muscles.
"Excuse me? Why? I just walked in here and came straight to customer service."
They didn't have time to steal anything, so why was someone confronting them? X was even in uniform!
"We got a tip that there's something in your bag. If you've got an animal in there, they're not allowed."
"Oh, uh, I don't, but I can just go wait outside–"
X started walking, but stopped abruptly. Zero rolled into the side of the bag, and he really didn't appreciate it. Someone was grabbing him by the shoulder again.
"Give me the bag."
Oh sh–
"Surely you're kidding," X said, flat and nervous.
He was getting ready to bolt, Zero knew it. Don't, kid, they're just humans and Hunters will be here within minutes.
But then suddenly, there was light. Zero stared upward in shock at the pinched face of a skeptical middle aged woman. She saw him; she stared. Everyone was quiet again. Then, she screamed. X screamed and ran, and then the woman was squalling.
"A head! He has a head in there!"
Well, the officer reacted so quickly Zero had to imagine he'd been waiting for this day.
"Get on the ground!"
SHhhhhhhhiiiii–
They were running, and Zero could see it this time because there were lights passing by overhead, and then the sky. He almost asked X to hide in the store, but honestly, which was better? Risking civilians getting hit, or risking missing pickup?
Pickup.
"Not pickup!" X hissed.
"You could have just explained–"
"I would have if the manager hadn't seen you and screamed! Now it's too late, I've committed!"
X threw himself behind a gigantic black truck and then weaved between the vehicles. Zero didn't know where they were going but he could feel the angle of his crouch, and hear the shouting, but no one had fired a gun yet.
"Well, just hide somewhere. HQ knows where you called from."
"Where, Zero? I'm in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere!" X snapped back, but Zero could tell they had stopped and X was making himself as small as he could.
Bet he wished he didn't have a bright orange shirt now.
Thankfully, they didn't have to wait long. The shouting stopped, and X peeked, or straightened up and twisted, back the way they had come. The game was over before it could really get interesting.
"Oh, it's a Hunter. He's talking to security."
Zero could have cried in relief. No more backpack. What he wouldn't give to have his legs right now. He would have picked up X ages ago and run straight for the nearest proper civilization. But he supposed, all things considered, this wasn't so bad, given X was involved.
X gave it another minute before slowly approaching the store again.
"Hi, X!" Someone greeted, their voice so cheerful Zero knew they were grinning ear to ear. "I came to rescue you! And before you ask, yes, there's a team at the base, too."
Is that Weave? Zero hissed, remembering the irritating voice of one of his juniors.
Weave had joined not long before the Uprising had started. He was honestly surprised he was still alive, given how annoying he was, despite his agility.
"Thank you, Weave. Am I free to go?"
"Of course! You could have left at any time, you know?"
Zero's temples throbbed. He had a lot of pent up frustration and Weave was as good a target as he could have asked for.
"We would have left as soon as Violen was dead if we could have!" X said, at the same time Zero growled. "X can't teleport, or we wouldn't be here!"
A long, awkward silence. He heard a rustle and a click, and figured the human officer was still nearby and very upset about it.
Shoot me, I dare you, human.
That was definitely not what X wanted to happen.
"Commander? Did your bag just… Was that Commander Zero?"
"Weave, could you please just give me a lift, if I don't need to do anything here?"
A long pause, the human clearing their throat, and then Zero felt someone grasp X. Well, he felt him shift slightly to the left, and then his senses left him for a moment. There was a sudden flurry of movement and colors, glimpsed through the skylight in the backpack. X exchanged a few words with other Hunters, one higher pitched than the rest that he assumed belonged to a harried female Operator (given X's sorry tone). And then X apologetically extracted himself from the teleporter and took off at a speedwalk.
The female voice, Berry, followed for a moment.
"Are you sure you don't need to go to medbay first, Commander?"
"I promise! I'll take care of everything, I just need to do something else first."
Body body body body.
Nope. We don't need anything but my body.
Zero scowled at the sleeve of X's jumpsuit, until the world swung wildly. A hand reached in and fished him up, holding him under the chin but avoiding his throat. And then he was in the open again as X unceremoniously tossed the backpack into a trash chute.
"Thank you for taking me out before you did that," Zero said, eyeing it warily.
X looked at him like he was crazy and then tucked him to his chest and continued down the corridor. Zero knew where they were going now, even before X put his hand on the lockpad and the door slid open.
Cain was seated at his desk, staring at a computer screen with a look of intense concentration. When X stepped in, he looked up and his face brightened.
"Ah, there you are! I was just reading about you!"
X plopped down into the chair in front of Cain's desk and set X on top of his legs. The denim was not soft against his face, it was hard and rough. He stared up at X, taking in their situation.
"You know, this is not how I thought I would wind up between your th–"
He was picked up and turned so he was staring at Cain, and it was a pretty good deterrent to stop trying to mortify his fellow Hunter. In fact, the man's expression became so intense as he stared at X and Zero that he started to feel nervous.
The brunet's grip tightened just slightly on Zero's head. The human made a low, thoughtful noise. Cain continued to stare at them, his brows furrowed in disapproval. To Zero's surprise, he sensed a growing annoyance and embarrassment rather than shame.
And then Cain threw his head back and laughed at them. He even slapped his knee, which Zero felt was a little excessive.
X huffws in a rare display of temper with the man. The sound just made Cain wheeze concerningly.
"Is he gonna be okay?"
"Not in a minute, he won't!"
The man stopped for a moment, wiping tears from his eyes as he looked at Zero. He felt a growing sense of dread again, this time his own. Zero opened his mouth to ward off whatever the man was going to say, but was too late.
"Ah, there you are, my friend! Good to see you looking so well, have you lost weight?"
"...X, you were saying? You're the one with hands here."
The disgruntled Hunter huffed out a laugh and his shoulder slumped as he shook his head. Zero didn't see what was so funny. Or deserved, thank you very much.
