To be entirely honest, X isn't comfortable with the idea of letting children units fight. While the laws concerning the employment of human children – especially in military type fields – does not apply to reploids, people are bound to look unfavorably at the sight of such young looking units on the battlefield. X knows it's pointless to feel protective of the two siblings just because they happen to resemble young humans, but it's… hard.

(Sometimes it's a pain to be as human as he is.)

X is in charge of them on their first field run. It's an emergency response to an Irregular attack too close to downtown. X's company is called in on the worst day possible – with most members deployed out with other groups, the 17th goes in with the bare bones and the new recruits. X is just thankful that it's not a major attack, but rather one acted upon with great prejudice in response to how close it is to a more populous part of the city.

It gives him a bit of leeway to reorganize his unit without having to worry too much about casualties.

As such, X ends up in a good position to watch the child units in action. He's seen some of their training run through recordings, but it's not quite the same as direct observation. He notices first their disorganization – the two aren't used to working in large groups, that much X can tell. They're a little skittish, as though worried about the others around them. The blue one – Rock – in particular maneuvers around so that he's always the focus of the Irregular's attention. Rather than the more experienced members of the 17th Unit. Rather like what X does.

Roll, outfitted in red armor, attacks with moves straight out of a textbook. Less fluid and more… precise. She follows up Rock's attention grabbing maneuvers with her beam saber, their movements synchronized to the point of seeming mechanical. They're a good combo, X decides, but not much for team play. Perhaps he'll look into setting them up for individual missions.

One of the senior members of X's team lands the finishing blow on an exposed generator, and the Irregular slumps to the ground, offline.

X smiles grimly. "Good work, everyone. Remember to stay a distance away from the Irregular until clean up can come and – "

The Irregular's body shudders, and X can see the slight glow of the mechaniloid's power generator turning an alarming shade of red. Shit. X starts dashing towards the Irregular before he even finishes shouting his warning. "Everyone, get away – it's about to – "

"X!"

The Irregular's generator overloads and explodes in a destructive display of power.

X's vision fades white, then black in a cascading torrent of damage reports.

-ooo-

There's a request ping awaiting X when he wakes up. He answers it without thinking.

"You know, rushing headfirst into exploding objects is my shtick." Zero says immediately.

X blinks stupidly up at the ceiling of the repair bay before focusing his eyes on a relieved Zero standing at his bedside. "Axl is a terrible influence on you. What kind of slang is 'shtick'?" X comments, sitting up slowly. It always takes a moment for him to accumulate to repair parts. Or it did usually. X actually frowns in confusion when the inevitable requests for part reassignment don't come. Huh. Maybe he wasn't as badly injured as he thought he was?

"I learned that one on my own, thanks." Zero responds dryly. He readies a stabilizing hand, familiarly acquainted with the disorientation accompanying part replacements. "I can't believe how reckless you were, X. Running towards the exploding Irregular. Really."

"Don't you dare lecture me, you darned hypocrite." X huffs, in strangely good humor. "And don't worry. I'm fine. I'm guessing Lifesaver did a very good job, or I wasn't so badly hur – what's that look you're giving me, Zero?"

"I'm not making a face." Zero replies, straightening his expression. "I was just… surprised. You were in a bad way, X. We were really worried for a while there, you know." The reploid looks away, hands automatically coming around to grip X's shoulders.

X pats Zero's forearms reassuringly. "Sorry." He says, appropriately contrite for causing his friend so much distress. "I took the situation too lightly, considering it was a single mechaniloid. I'll let this be a lesson, yeah?"

Zero nods. "Make sure to burn it into your processor then." He then brightens, punching X's arm. "And be sure to thank Rock later too. The kid pulled off some miraculous field repairs on you to keep you alive. Apparently he used to work as some engineer's lab assistant."

X is distracted from complaining about Zero's jab, as the reploid probably meant it to be, the wily jerk. "Rock? Speaking of, how is the rest of my team? Are they – "

"They're fine," A Lifesaver cuts in, striding into the room. "It's good to see you finally awake, Commander X. How are you feeling?"

"I'm glad to hear that." X nods, greeting the medic. "And I'm good. Very well, actually." X adds.

Lifesaver hums. "I see." He hesitates.

"He ripped Rock a new one for trying to fix you," Zero interjects. "Something about proper procedure." The reploid slowly edges behind X as he says this, avoiding Lifesaver's gaze. X swallows a grin at his friend's expense.

"And I've recommended him to join the medical unit. Unauthorized as he is now, it'd be a waste of his talents." Lifesaver intones. "I've heard you are in charge of their assignment, Commander X. Please take my words into consideration for the twins' placement."

Popular everywhere, these children. X nods. "I'll think on it."

-ooo-

For a pair of children who had just about near stalked him a few days before, Rock and Roll are suspiciously absent when X reemerges from the medical wing. X has a few days off before he can return to work so he has no power to call on the two of them in any official manner, but he wants to at least express his gratitude to Rock and check in on their status. It must have been frightening to see someone get so grievously injured on their first field run.

"Rock and Roll?" Alia asks, blinking. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen either of them. They have the next few days off, same as you, X. I can check if they're still in the building, but I can't help you beyond that, I'm afraid."

"I see…." X frowns. "It's strange. I've seen them around so often that it's worrying now that I can't find them in my peripheral every few hours." Not the healthiest thing to get used to.

Alia laughs. "The two of them were practically starry eyed when they were told they were assigned to you." Her smile takes on the same edge Axl's does when exchanging gossip (the navigator claims she's not into such frivolities, but it's hard not to be interested when it's a part of her job description). "Axl's been regaling your heroics to them in great detail. I think he's flattered by their attention."

X sighs. Of course.

Alia pats his arm. "You're in luck. They're somewhere in the building. Try asking Axl. He might know where they are."

That's one good piece of news. "Alright. Thanks, Alia."

-ooo-

"You wanted to see us, C-commander X?" Rock asks, fidgeting nervously, X's formal title awkward on his tongue. Roll stands right behind her brother, watching X's actions with a careful eye, probably ready to take her brother and bolt if need be. X frowns. Just what had he done to scare them so terribly?

"I just wanted to check in with the two of you to see if you were both alright. I must have given you guys quite a scare, huh?" X grins wryly. He watches his tone, keeping it soft. Nonthreatening. That recommendation for Rock and Roll in the medical wing sounds better every minute. They're too… unsuited for scary things like battle. "And I wanted to thank you, Rock. I heard you helped in my repair."

Rock stares. "You're not… mad?"

X blinks. "Should I be? If you're worried about Lifesaver's reaction," he adds, the thought occurring to him, "Don't mind it. He gave me a commendation and a request that you be assigned under him instead." X grins. "You've made quite the impression."

"Oh," Rock says, the tension starting to dribble out of him. "Is… that all?"

Roll looks relieved too. What were they expecting?

"Just what kind of horror stories has Axl been telling the two of you?" X huffs, absently ruffling Rock's hair. "Ah, sorry." The kid was just at the right height for that kind of thing – and one of the few reploids who went around base not wearing full armor. A strange child. Roll too.

Except Rock actually leans in to X's hand for a moment there. He seems to realize it quickly, flushing and backpedaling a bit. "Ah, no that's fine!" The child smiles shyly, "Someone else I know does… did the same thing."

X winces at the tense change. A recent loss? "I… see. I hope I didn't bring up anything unwanted."

Rock shakes his head. "No, not at all. Anyways, thank you C-commander X – "

"Just X," X smiles. "We're both off duty, after all." He nods his head at Roll as well. "You too, Roll. Feel free to call me X."

The two trade looks before breaking out into ecstatic, identical grins. "Thank you, X!"

Ah, X reflects belatedly, hopefully he hasn't made their hero worship thing any worse.

-ooo-

After that, strange… happenings can be found all over HQ.

Little fixes on the janitorial 'bot that glitched out on the fifth floor that helped it move more smoothly, the one screen at the navigator's desk that just didn't work as nicely as the others suddenly had the brightest display, the electric oven in the commons is working like new. All little things that the mechanics had never gotten around to because they were low priority were being silently, neatly patched up and fixed.

And it isn't just the mechanical items. Many of the common living areas sparkle, with how clean they are. Not a speck of dust, not a track of mud to be found. The irremovable oil stain in the carpet in the dorm hallway is magically vanquished. Build up of years of grime is wiped clean off the training room floors, and the equipment is polished to a shine. The few laundry items put out for washing are laundered, folded, and holes carefully mended.

Most are baffled at what they find. Did they recently hire more housekeeping staff? Did tech get a pay raise?

Zero, slightly paranoid, gets a look at the security tapes and then refuses to tell anyone. He keeps smiling, though, so X assumes it's not anything worth worrying about, but the way his partner keeps grinning gets unsettling after a while.

"What is it?" X finally asks, whipping his head around to find Zero hurriedly shifting his gaze guiltily to avoid eye contact. "Zero, you keep smiling whenever you look at me or one of the newly repaired or cleaned items. Is there something I should be aware of?"

Zero laughs. Laughs. "No, just know that the incidences of these things go up whenever you have training days. Just so you know."

Training – ? X stares after the other reploid, bewildered. Is this an insinuation that this has something to do with X's unit? But most of the reploids in X's unit are. Well. X isn't even sure if anyone knows how to rewire a toaster, much less an electrical oven. And he's never seen anyone take the initiative to clean their practice equipment, much less the entire set of them.

Except. Rock was the one who did emergency repairs on X, wasn't he? Both he and Roll have been assigned all over the place recently, after they found out about Rock's knack for repairs. Since the sibling units asked to be assigned to their positions together, they've been scrambling a bit to find a non-combat duty for Roll. The reploid wasn't as attuned for repairs like Rock was, but she was fairly knowledgeable of human systems and health maintenance. Pretty good with navigation duties and network management as a whole too. There are a lot of places to put the two, but X wants them to try things out for themselves.

So despite being placed under X's command, the only time he ever really sees the two is during training.

Training….

X frowns. No way, right?

-ooo-

Somehow, someway or another, it becomes ritual to ruffle the tops of Rock and Roll's heads as praise.

X doesn't mean for it to happen, and feels slightly embarrassed about treating the two as actual children, but it's. Hard not to. Rock and Roll have the kind of feel to them, where it's harder to remember that their physical age isn't their actual age. Not that they're immature – far from it – but they have a naïveté to them. Or something.

Guilty shame flares up in X's gut when he feels relief over the fact that he can place the two on duties outside of battle. It feels too much like favoritism, even if the two have proven themselves to be more useful in other areas.

Pushing the thought from his mind, X places his palms over Rock and Roll's helmeted heads, and bites down on a grin at their excitable faces. The two are just so easy to please. X sighs. "Rock, Roll, I wanted to ask the two of you something." He says, kneeling down to their eye level.

The pair blink. "Okay." Rock replies. "What about?"

"Well, two things." X amends. "First, what do you think of the duties you two have been rotated through the past week? Did any stick out to the two of you in particular?" The easier talk first. He still doesn't know how to pose the second question.

Rock and Roll share a look. It's Roll who answers first. "I think I would like to work with the medical department. While I'm not as good as Rock in repairs, I'd…." The child looks away and shuffles her feet. "I'd like to learn." She finishes quietly. Roll's eyes flick to X and down again.

X watches the reaction carefully, thinking. As suspected, he really did give these two a scare that first mission. He pats Roll's head reassuringly. "I'll talk to Lifesaver about that. Training is not a problem to set up. I'm sure Medical will be happy for the help." X turns to Rock. "And you?"

"Can – may I work with Mr. Douglass and Pallette?" Rock blurts out. "I know it wasn't part of our rotation, but I think I'd… like to work with the Research and Development lab."

X frowns. "You do realize that like this, the two of you will be split up? The two do not have the same duties, though it may overlap in some cases. Are you two okay with that?"

The pair nod in unison. "Yes. And," Roll continues, "We thought that maybe, as long as we're in the same area, we'll be okay."

X looks down to see that their hand have linked up again. He nods, understanding this is an important step for their personal growth as well. "Alright. I'll talk to the department heads about your reassignments."

The two smile.

"And uh, as for my second question," X coughs, mind switching gears from their previously serious conversation, "I was wondering if uh," He looks away, his own words sounding ridiculous as they come out of his mouth, "If the two of you have had anything to do with the repairs and cleaning around the base…?"

Rock and Roll slowly turn to look towards each other. "Oh, you noticed…?" Rock laughs sheepishly. "Roll and I used to take care of our home like this too." The reploid continues, eyes far away. "So we kind of… got into our old habits, I guess. We're sorry if it's a bother." Rock adds, nervous. Roll bites her lip, nodding vigorously in agreement.

X feels like he's just heard something very sad. "Ah, no. Don't worry about it. I think everyone is actually very pleased. I was just worried you two were uh. Wearing yourselves out?" X pauses. "HQ is much larger than a single home. Don't go overboard. Also, maybe you two can check in with the housekeeping and maintenance staff? Just so we don't have people going to do a task you two have already done."

Rock and Roll's eyes look one step away from fully sparkling. "Yessir!" They salute cheerfully.

X takes a moment to step aside and hide his face. Cute things weren't good for his heart. Internal fluid pump.

X didn't get to interact with Rock and Roll directly last chapter, here we go. Not a lot of plot here, strangely. Next few chapters will start getting into... a start of something.

Since this story is supposed to be a set of vignettes, I considered cutting this chapter in half, but the flow was strange, so. Every time I write something it keeps getting longer...