Disclaimer: I don't own Cyborg 009.

Disease

"I could think of better places to vacation . . ." 006 looked down at the partially destroyed town. "We're sure this was where 007 and Renegade were?"

"Yes, but, it looks like the town's been destroyed for weeks, and it only took us two days to get here!" 003 stared down at it, in shock.

"You guys might want to check this out. It's a recent newsfeed." 008 called them over to where he and Phantom were standing. The former Hades Cyborg, and 009 look alike, moved to allow 002 room. Unlike the others, he wore a black cape, hat and a gold mask that covered the top half of his face. His clothes underneath the cape were black as well.

"What's it say?"

"Well, the city had a sudden epidemic, and that prompted the government to bomb it to destroy the infection before it could spread. They did all this a day ago."

"Which means the city is still contaminated." The raspy and robotic voice of Phantom made 003 wince. There was only a hint of 009's voice in it, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't ignore it. "My defenses are adequate to keep from infection. I will be able to explore the ground."

"Me too." 004 gave a self depreciating smile. "I don't have much in the way of human tissue, any more . . ."

"Same here." 002's statement made heads turn. "I don't know if you all realized it, but the three of us out lasted all of you after 0011's poison. 009 and 004 overexerted themselves, and that's why they collapsed."

"Alright then." Phantom remained silent, studying 002. "Then we'll drop you here."

"I'll get them back up, easy." 002 nodded.

"Doesn't look like anything is still living." 004 whispered, not feeling like it was appropriated to talk out loud.

"Yeah . . ."

"No. Something is living." Phantom spoke up. "This way." He pointed down an alley.

"There's something I've been meaning to ask." 002 stopped 004 from following, forcing Phantom to look at them. "Why didn't you let the doctor fix your voice?"

"003 . . . she does not need the heartache of hearing his voice, and knowing it's not him." Phantom looked down. "None of you do."

"You . . . you're concerned about that?"

"Yes." Phantom absently touched the mask. "I have to be."

"Now that I think about it . . . you know an awful lot about all of us, things only 009 would know." The trio continued on.

"Because I have his memories- some of them, anyway, the project I was created for required the downloading of 009's memories into my head." Phantom ducked his head. "But I know I'm not the real 009. I may have his memories, but I can't . . . I can't use them to define me."

"It's not just his memories you have, but his feelings too." 004 figured out.

"Yes, the love he had for each of you . . . it's suffocating. Especially 003." Phantom put a hand to his heart. "But I can't ignore it . . . it hurts when I try."

"So, why try?"

"Because it hurts you when I don't." They had come to the one building still standing, a church.

"Let's go. We're still talking about this later." 002 added, looking at Phantom.

Entering, they found a few people . . . but they weren't moving.

"Is anyone here?"

"007!" The calls echoed back, and the trio looked at each other.

"Split up, if you find someone, call for backup." 004 got nods from both, and phantom slipped away. 002 hesitated then went to the left. 004 began walking to the altar, ignoring the people who had probably fled here to pray for survival, or a miracle, and had clearly not gotten it. He made his way around the altar, and to the room just behind it. He stopped moving as soon as his eyes found another bunch of bodies. "Did anyone survive this?" He backed out, and turned around.

He promptly came face to face with a robot.

Phantom slipped through what remained of the choir loft, ignoring the bodies that were on the ground. A brief flash of memory- a church with a kind man- made him stop moving. Renegade had explained that he only had parts of 009's memories, as well as parts of his own. He wasn't meant to experience 009's emotions as well, but Renegade had left before they had started to become an issue. 001 and Dreamer hadn't been much help, Dreamer was more of an illusionist and 001 couldn't maneuver through his crumbling mind. With an electronic sigh he began moving again. He'd refused Dr. Gilmore's offer to completely erase all the scars on his face because he didn't want to look anything like 009, he wanted to be his own person, not a copy. The pipes from the organ had been removed, clearing out a space for people to lay- or be laid once they died. Phantom pulled back, just in time to see 004 get attacked by a robot.

"Why did I choose the basement?" 002 grumbled, moving past what must have been classrooms for children. The lights had been left on in the basement, probably powered by a back-up generator, but were flickering in some places; more than a few were burned out or shattered. He covered his head as one bulb finally had enough and shattered. "Damnit!" A rustling noise made him freeze and pull out his gun. "Why did I choose to do this alone?" The rustling noise came from a classroom with a large teddy bear painted on the door, which looked slightly demented in the flickering light. "Who's in here?" He pushed the door open to find a fairly clean and empty room, some water damage from where a pipe must have burst, and toys in the corner- including a playhouse that was just big enough for a child. The rustling noise was coming from in the miniature house. "Hello? If you can understand me, I'm not here to hurt you, and I'd appreciate not being scared." Large dark eyes peeked out of the mini-house's window, dark hair almost obscuring them. 002 put the gun away and knocked on the door of the miniature house.

"Who dere?" The tiny voice made him smile.

"I'm cyborg 002, I'm here to escort you to safety."

"Cyberg?" 002 bit the inside of his lip to keep from laughing at the mis-pronunciation. "What Cyberg?"

"A cyborg is a human that has mechanical limbs and unique abilities. Some of us are good guys that protect people, there are a few bad cyborgs too, but us good guys can beat them before they can hurt anyone." 002 wondered for a moment if that explanation was too long winded for the child to understand.

"You help?"

"Yes, I'm here to help."

"Why not sooner?" 002 winced, that question in such a scared and confused tone had the same effect as a knife plunging into his chest.

"I'm sorry we couldn't get here sooner, two of our comrades were here, and we thought they would help, but we think bad people stopped them."

"Comrades Kidnapped?"

"Yes, they were." 002 glanced at the door that led to the hall. Had it been his imagination, or had he just heard gunshots? "Could you come out? It's hard to talk to a door." The door opened, and the child was revealed to be a little girl, probably four years old, with deep brown skin, wearing a green and white checked jumper and a white blouse. Her hair was tangled and probably matted, and her shoes were missing. "Thank you, miss. What's your name?"

"Mama called me her precious Jewel." The little girl's hand went to her mouth, like she was about to start sucking on her fingers. "Is 002 really your name?"

"No, It's my cyborg name so the bad guys and civilians don't find out my real one." The little girl's eyes widened. "Do you have shoes or a backpack? We really need to get you out of here." Now he knew he hadn't imagined the crash that had just happened. 'Jewel' nodded and went back into the little house, coming out with a dirty white backpack. "Got everything you need?" She nodded, putting it on her back. She still didn't have shoes. "I guess we'll have to find shoes for you later, c'mon." He picked her up. "Jewel, is anyone else down here?" She shook her head, her fingers in her mouth. "Okay, hold onto me." A loud explosion made that instruction superfluous as the little girl grabbed the front of his shirt and buried her face into chest. He quickly broke into a run.

Entering back into the main church, he held up one hand as both 004's gun hand and Phantom's gun were leveled at him.

"Who is that?" 004 frowned at him- probably annoyed because he hadn't come running to help them with the robot.

"Her name's Jewel, she's the only one down there." 002 shifted her a little. "Jewel, I want you to meet my friends, that's Cyborg 004." Large eyes blinked at the german, focusing on his gun hand for a moment. "And that's Phantom- don't let his voice frighten you, okay? He's a good guy." Jewel turned her attention to the masked Cyborg, who was putting his hat back on. He tipped it at her and gave a polite bow, making her giggle. "Could you tell us exactly what happened here?"

"The hotel caught on fire. Papa worked there as a jamiter, and he said the papers lied about why." Jewel was completely at ease in 002's arms, despite the remains of the robot and all the death that surrounded her. "He said there were two people that were spies in the building, and the big company wanted them caught. He said a 'schine set the hotel on fire. Then he died, and Momma took me to the church. She said she'd come back and I was to stay put, but there were loud noises and lots of people crying and she never came back."

"What big company?"

"The big company. The man next door to us worked for them, Papa didn't like it because some people never came back from the big company." Jewel paused. "You don't work for the big company, do you?"

"No, we work for ourselves." 004 smiled. Jewel accepted that, then seemed to notice the death in the church for the first time. She seemed to shrink into 002, trying to hide. "Let's go outside, we need to contact the others."

What Jewel didn't hear was the conversation that was going on between the three men.

:We can't leave her here, this entire town is dead!: 002 glared at 004. :She's the only survivor!:

:She could be infected or carrying the disease, 002, do you want to risk the others?: 004 absently held up his hand. :I don't want to leave her here either, 002, but how are we going to take care of her?:

:We should take care of her. She's the only life sign in this city, it wouldn't be right to leave her.: Phantom's 'voice' over the internal comm. was just as electronic as his spoken one. :We could quarantine her on the Dolphin.:

:But there's still the risk of infection.: 004 frowned. Logic suggested they leave the little girl in the town, but compassion was insistent that they took the sole survivor with them. :We'll ask the others their opinion, see if there's a way to take her with us without risking everyone else.:

In the end, they did take Jewel with them, all four sitting in 'quarantine' while Dr. Gilmore and 003 checked to make sure the little girl wasn't a carrier. 008 went to the closest town to get clothes for the little girl. They even checked and managed to clean her backpack and few belongings.

What they didn't think to check, though, was something that would come back to haunt the cyborgs.

So sorry it took so long to update! School and Life have been just plain awful and I've only recently been able to find my outline for this story.

That said, this will be shorter than Phantom.

ShivaVixen, signing off on 1/31/11.