Short chapter, but it's some nice side-action. Oh yes. Action. Hehehehe. You know, I always imagined Sara's voice being something very similar to the voice actors for Yuna from FFX or Shion from the Xenosaga ... saga. Very breathy voices that I could listen to all day. If you haven't played the Xenosaga series, I suggest you pick them up! They're simply put, epic! And Shion rules! But seriously, Xenosaga's story simply blew me away, and you'll see some elements of it in future chapters.

Disclaimer: Yet again, I don't own anything that you already recognize, but I sure as hell like to play with them.
Human

Sara could only smile widely at the handsome figure before her. "I'm so happy to see you again," she said softly, pressing one hand to her bosom. "I always knew you'd somehow survive."

Dante grinned. He began to follow the two to the cockpit. "At first I thought I had died, which wouldn't have been so bad," he commented, drawing Sara's confused frown. "What? I had saved your life, stopped the attack... death seemed very fair for me. But, waking up to the feelings and injections... Hmph, let me just say that then, I would have welcomed death."

Sara burst into tears and clutched onto his arm. "Oh Dante," she sobbed. "It was terrible just watching it, I can't imagine how it was for you!"

Dante placated her with a gentle touch to her cheek, and she withdrew with a blush. Dante, not noticing, continued his speech. "Several times my wish was granted, and I died at least 5 or 6 times," he announced. "But every time, that damn G-virus would reanimate me, taking me from the warm embrace of death back to the pains of life. There were times when I just wanted to give up but... Well I had to live, live to avenge my mother and all those lost to Gaia."

"I still can't believe it sometimes," Chris commented. "How could people do such things to their fellow man and woman?!"

"One of man's many sins," Dante answered as they neared the bridge. "Greed. There's a lot of money to be made with this sort of technology, if you could even call it that. I am but a mere prototype in Gaia M's eyes, something that would pave the way to an entire bio-organic army."

"Prototype?" Sara asked. He nodded.

"I'm a 100-series bio-mechanical combat weapon," Dante said quietly, looking down at the ground. "My... mother, she was a 99-series B.M.C.W."

Sara took his hand gently into hers. "I'm so sorry," she said lamely, knowing that anything she could say wasn't much.

Dante shook his head and withdrew his hand from hers. Already, she missed the warmth he gave her. "That is why I must stop Gaia," he explained, picking up the pace again. "They've already gotten enough data from my experiment to proceed with a new series, the final 101 B.M.C.W. and I can assure you, we don't want that to happen."

Chris paled. "Wielding such power..." he trailed off, his implications well known.

They entered the bridge where everyone welcomed Dante, if not a bit warily.

"Quite a fancy ship you have here," Dante told Fischer as they sailed through the clear blue skies. "This wasn't in the fleet when I was... well you know."

"It just finished prototype phase III last year," Fischer explained, eager to show off his new toy. "And the US Air Force commissioned a working version, this one, to get some simulated real-life battle testing. Of course, our mission should count as well, don'tcha think?"

Dante gave the older man his strange grin. "Of course," he responded.

-----

Sara entered her room in the living quarters and closed the door. With a sigh, she leaned against the wall and shook her head. Even though he was back, Dante complicated things. She just didn't know what to think or do about him.

She got off of the wall and headed to the small shower unit in the corner of the room. Stripping the clothes off her petite, lithe frame, she entered the circular shower room and locked the rotating door.

"Activate shower, 100 degrees," she ordered.

The six water lines began to softly rain shower down upon her from all around. It was pleasantly hot, and she got used to it quickly as she began to lather up. Her thoughts began to stray back to Dante. Strange, they always seemed to be on him lately.

Sara had dropped her studies in her second year of university after his kidnapping and supposed death. She had fought with her parents about it when she declared that she was going to join the army, and moved out of her home in order to gain independence. She spent a month studying and researching on the military and decided to apply as a field medic.

She had been originally ostracized for doing this, but she worked hard and finished basic and advanced training after a year and a half, which boggled her instructor's minds. She had been immediately recruited into the Special Forces for her skills and had been with Captain Topher and the guys for roughly another year. When news of Gaia's deceit broke out, she had been righteously excited about being one of the teams that would crack down on their research facilities. It was the last one that had made her life in the army worth it. Dante's father's lab.

She finished her shower some 15 minutes later and stepped out into the room with a fluffy towel wrapped around her. She absentmindedly began to search for her panties and a training bra.

"I thought that Special Forces were supposed to survey their surrounding areas before moving in," and amused voice broke out.

Sara screeched and her arms flew up to cover herself - bar the towel - as she glared furiously at Dante, who was standing at the door. "Dante!" she shouted. "What the hell are you doing in my room?"

He shrugged innocently. "It's been 2 years, I missed you," he said simply. She noticed that he was without his suit, and was looking very delic - nice in a pair of black jeans and a sleeveless turtleneck he got from God knows where.

At his words, Sara melted and gave him a warm smile. "Oh you!" she scolded good heartedly. "Always had a way with words, ever since high school you know."

Dante smirked and began to prowl around the small room, examining objects of interest. "The best way to keep bullies away was to confuse them," he remarked, picking up a holopicture of Sara's family. He scrutinized it for a moment before putting it back. "You seem to have been well prepared for a quick getaway," he pointed out.

Sara shrugged. "We always bring a pack full of personal effects whenever we have a new mission," she said. "Helps us settle in nicely."

She then eyed him warily. "Where did you get those clothes?" she asked suspiciously.

Dante rolled his eyes and held his hand out in front of him loosely. His eyes scrunched a little in thought and he flared his fingers out, emitting a bright orb of light. It crystallized into what appeared to be a large suitcase, which settled onto the floor. Finished, Dante kneeled and opened it, which revealed many articles of clothing and neccessities.

Sara "Ooohed!" appropriately. "A Pocket Dimension?" she asked excitedly. "Wow, I thought those were only in Beta testing!"

Dante shrugged. "Works for me," he said non-commitedly. "I have several for my things, such as my suit and weapons. This one stores clothes."

He waved his hand at the suitcase and it shattered into shards of white light before dissolving into thin air. "Speaking of clothes, where are yours?" he asked with a lecherous smirk. Sara huffed.

"I was getting to that but you barged in before I could!" she accused. She turned around to her dresser and started to open it.

A large pale hand pressed onto the dresser door and Sara squeaked uncharacteristically as Dante's lean figure loomed in front of her. "Now where's the fun in that?" he growled sensually as he somehow manouvered himself to press Sara against the wall.

"Dante..." Sara breathed as he pressed himself into her tightly, her trembling hands on his sculpted chest. "S-stop it."

His burning emerald eyes tore into hers as he stared at her with emotions that she had yet to see from the warrior. "You don't want me to," he whispered dangerously before lowering his head to hers.

-----

An hour later, Sara hobbled from her room, thoroughly exhausted. Well, he sure got confident, she groused as she winced as another flash of pain from between her legs caused her to hobble even more. She had been a virgin, and she and Dante had not been so gentle in their passionate lust. She wobbled into the dining area.

"Hey midget, what's - hey what's wrong with you?" Chris asked as he watched his medic limp around the room, getting her food.

He was highly amused as she blushed brightly, her pale face making her flushed cheeks more radiant. "Uh - umm nothing?" she half stated, half asked.

Just then Dante walked into the room and shot her a smirk before settling down to some milk. Chris' head swung from Dante's totally, extremely, ridiculously satisfied smirk to Sara's huge blush.

"No way!" he gasped. Sara turned even redder and refused to look at him while Dante refilled his glass, nonplussed. "You're fucking shitting me! No way!"

"No way what?" Jack asked as he waltzed in, grabbing a box of oatmeal.

Chris pointed at Sara and Dante. "No way!" he said agian, too much in shock to say anything else. "No way!"

"ALRIGHT WE GET IT!" Sara yelled, slamming her oatmeal bowl onto the table. "God, give it up!"

"What seems to be the problem?" Sam asked, frowning at the scene in front of him. The captain was currently teetering on his stool, pointing haphazardly at the medic and pseudo-human while Jack stood loosely off to the side, just as confused as he was.

"They -they -they," Chris babbled. He turned to Dante. "Can you even do it?" he asked incredulously.

"I'll have you know I'm well-equipped to 'do it' as you so brusquely put," Dante said haughtily. "My external composition is over 70 percent organic after all."

By now Jack and Sam had gotten it. "No way!" they both yelled.

Sara thunked her head onto the table. "Not again!" she moaned.

Just then, quiet music filled the room - One Winged Angel Remix to be exact - and everyone turned to Dante.

"Ah, I've got a call," he murmured before reaching into his jeans pocket. He pulled out a small rectangular object that was a sleek gunmetal in color and about 10cm long and 4cm wide. He squeezed it in his hands and it extended out sideways in two halves. A glass panel inside slid upwards and projected a small holoscreen. Dante put the device to his ear.

"Hello, I've been waiting for you to call," he said into what the others knew to be a holophone. "Where are you? ... Really? Head out to the city outskirts, we'll pick you up there. ... Yes, your friends are with me. ... See you soon."

He pulled the holophone from his ear and squeezed the sides again, causing the device to close up to its nondescript rectangular form. "Pilot, we'll need to make a stop," he announced to the befuddled group.

"What for?" Chris asked. "Who are we picking up?"

"That woman that accompanied you to the lab," Dante answered, finishing off his second glass of milk. "There are far darker things going on now, and having the ear of the press would do us great favor in this upcoming war."

Chris scratched the stubble on his chin. "War huh?" he said. "Well, if you say so Mr. Robot-Man, then I guess we'll go pick up Miss Funbags."

"Indeed." was Dante's dry response.

-----

"Nice ship you've got here," Allison commented as she boarded the Beramode Agito. "And if it isn't the superman himself!"

Dante raised an eyebrow at the woman. Allison Lorento was an attractive news reporter for California, with good reason. She had the typical blond hair - though hers was natural - that fell to her shoulders and was simply parted down the middle and thickly braided with three braids on each side of her head. She had wide ocean-blue eyes that were as pretty and sparkling as the water they represented, and a beautiful enough heart-shaped face with very pink bowtie lips. She possessed an athletic body that was around 5'7" and was very statuesque with most of her height coming from the long, silky legs beneath her well-toned torso. Apparently a decent portion of her weight came from her D-cup breasts as well.

Dante had contacted the woman shortly before his battle with the army. He needed someone who could expose the real goals of Gaia, and felt that her fiery attitude and unrelenting 'quest' for the truth (albiet, truth that brought in the motherload of money) would no doubt help him in his war against the people who made him what he was.

"Hello again Miss Lorento," Dante greeted politely. He inwardly smirked as his tone made the woman uneasy. It was so much fun to act like a robot. "Are you ready to find the truth?"

Shaking her head quickly, she beamed up at him and brandished her handheld holocam. It was a device the size of a PDA, but shaped like one of those old pistol-grip remote controls for toy cars. It had a directional pad and QWERTY keyboard on its small surface, along with other buttons. When activated, it would project a 10 inch holographic screen that displayed whatever it's microcamera was recording at the time. It also had internet access, and doubled as a web camera since the microcam could swivel around to face the user. It was an expensive piece of recording equipment, since it packed an organic cell processor and 10TB of hard drive space, but Allison could easily afford its $12,000 price tag with her salary.

"As ready as I'll ever be!" she said bravely, although she could tell that Dante saw right through her facade. Truthfully, she was terrified about what Gaia or the government would do to her once they found out. "You - you'll keep me safe right?" she asked shakily.

Dante raised his eyebrow. "To the best of my abilities, if need be," he said sagely.

Chris slung his arm around Allison's shoulders. "Don't you worry your pretty little head off!" he told her with a large smile. "Me an' the boys - pardon me - and the little missy will take good care of ya too! You got nothing to worry about!"

Allison rolled her eyes. "If that's the case, can you stop looking down my shirt then?" she asked him sarcastically. She was wearing a very low cut V neck dress shirt under her women's suit jacket, and it displayed a very generous view (pretty much half of each) of her breasts. Chris backed off, his hands up.

"Hey sorry, but you can't tell me that you pick that shirt not to draw attention to 'em?" he asked.

Allison's left eye twitched and suddenly the captain was left all alone with her.

-----

WHAM!

Sara smirked as she lolled about on her bed. "Well, I never thought I'd see the day when the captain finally got his uppance from one of the women he ogled," she said airily as she watched Dante do some maintenance on his sword-gun-thing.

It was currently in sword mode (that's what she called it at least) and the four foot blade of glowing light lit up the room nicely. The blade was about 6 inches wide from the pommel, and it widened out to about 8 inches from its arrow shaped tip. It was a dual-edged bastard sword, she could tell that much and it was as beautiful as it was deadly. Dante was adjusting its power output amongst other things.

He looked up at Sara and smirked. "Oh, they're not fighting," he said in a knowing voice.

Sara sat up. "What do you mean?" she asked curiously.

"The captain's heart rate has increased by 24 percent," Dante said in a freakishly robotic tone. "I also detect low levels of adrenaline and high levels of hormonal stress in his body. His breathing patterns are erratic, which could mean strenuous activity."

Sara gaped wide eyed at him. "You can actually detect people's life signs?" she asked in shock.

Dante nodded. "While most of my body is composed of organic material, many of my interior functions have been replaced with bio-mechanical organs or enhancements," he explained. "My brain is in fact completely bio-mechanical synthesis, incorporating devices to control my higher bodily functions, enhanced sense and my suit."

Sara frowned sadly. "Are - are you even human anymore?" she asked in a small voice. Her bed shifted as Dante's weight settled itself on it. He put his arm on her shoulder.

"I am, and at the same time, I'm not," he said wistfully. "What is to be human? I always thought that it meant having something akin to the human mind, not its body. After all, its our feelings, emotions and actions that make us human, are they not? That, is what seperates us from being animals, I think."

He nodded his head. "Yes. I am still human, and that small part of me is good enough for me."

Sara sniffled and wrapped her arms around Dante's body. "Me too," she whispered.