Ars Moriendi

Chapter 4

Good News and Bad News

AN: Oh, look who updated?

Pairings: None.

Warnings: Axl seems to have a fixation with imagining X's injuries. Briefly.

0X0

Zero surprised himself by not demolishing the training sims. But he couldn't really count that for himself, given he didn't even make it there. But that had been his intent when he left—was banished from the waiting area. There were too many people around and too many questions. They kept staring at him with unsettling expressions. Most of the time, he glared back and sent them scurrying away, but—astonishingly—some of them didn't move. What were they thinking? Zero got the feeling they were upset with him—angry?—but there was no reason for him to stop and ask. And then there were the curious rookies. He might snap someone's neck if they started asking about X—

"How'd it go?" "Did you get him?" "What's going on, Commander?"

He had turned and left before even coming near the sims. His bedroom sounded more appealing right now. He'd shower first, though: His hands were still covered in dried acid and soot, and he wanted to wash them immediately. There was a thick layer of glove separating the filth from him but he still felt his skin crawling, as if it had dried there instead of on his armor.

Zero brushed off anyone attempting to interrogate him. He couldn't bring himself to feel bad about it; he wasn't their source for information. They should go elsewhere and leave him alone.

What was he going to do when people found out about X? About what had happened on that rooftop? Would he have to deal with unwanted pity, or anger? Would he be blamed by everyone or would they try to understand? What if they already knew? Maybe that's why some of them kept staring at him, accusing him silently.

The Hunter shook his head and entered his quarters. It was different than it used to be here. The small place Cain had built for himself had been enveloped by HQ, and it, in turn had expanded into something like a residential area. It was still quiet, and private, but he and X were now sharing the extended "house" with far more people, and more neighbors. No one really shared quarters, the Virus could spread too easily that way. X, being immune, was allowed to share, but he'd probably prefer being alone: They were all messy and X kept his quarters immaculately clean.

Axl wasn't here, thank Asimov. He was probably either looking for Zero or waiting in that hallway he'd been in, waiting endlessly for news on X. He felt bad, but…. No, he didn't. He needed some time to himself. He would feel bad if he busted someone's head—someone like Axl, maybe. He snorted and shook his head as he entered his room and began stripping off his armor. The yellowish carpet had once been cheery and bright, now it had faded into an off-white, full of oil and coolant stains. X kept insisting he get new carpet, or hardwood, and be less messy.

Zero looked at the grime in the deeper grooves in his armor, trying to fight off his uneasiness. What did he care if Axl was upset? The redhead was volatile even on a good day, and he rarely held grudges. Still, this was more severe than accidentally eating Axl's dinner: This was getting one of Axl's father figures killed through his own stupidity. He forwent polishing the smudges out of his armor in favor of a shower. A shower sounded far more satisfying.

Axl was going to be so mad at him.

A0X0A

Axl glared into his nachos. They were perfect and warm and cheesy and delicious—What was he doing? Nachos were for eating not for staring at!

"They're going to get cold, Axl, then you'll be even unhappier."

Axl glanced across the table at the navigator who had paused with a forkful of pasta halfway to her mouth. He poked at one of the chips as he responded, "I know, I just—why would he do that?!"

"I don't know, Axl. I thought we'd closed this subject? Stop thinking about it and finish your food."

Axl wasn't one to argue with a Navigator—off-duty that is—particularly with this Navigator. She'd give that blond doofus what-for later and he could be satisfied with just the idea of that….for now. Maybe he'd sneak in at night and tie his hair in bows—no, no, he'd tried that before: It'd resulted in a black eye and a lot of glaring, and X lecturing both of them for—

He kind of wouldn't mind a lecture right now, and he didn't think Zero would either

"Eh, fine," he grumbled, popping a nacho into his mouth. "You sure Lifesaver will call us as soon as they have news?" Not that he thought Lifesavers were a bad model line who would withhold information from anxious friends and family members. They weren't bad people, just hellspawn medics. Only X didn't seem to dislike them.

Alia looked up at him again, slightly annoyed now. "Yes, Axl. We'll know, and so will Zero. Now eat."

Axl pouted—not at her, though, he knew better. "Fine."

Alia finished before he did, but that didn't encourage him to eat more quickly. It's kind of hard to eat with an intimidating blonde Navigator staring at you, but he managed to eat all of it. There was a sour taste in his mouth by the time he was done, and he highly doubted the delicious, cheesy nachos were the cause. He had only just finished when he got a ping from a Lifesaver unit: Two days after being brought back and X could finally have visitors. At least Axl knew he wasn't dead now. And he also knew Zero hadn't been down pacing the halls and terrifying nurses. Why? Even the unit alerting him seemed baffled.

"Welp!" Axl chirped loudly as he hopped up from his seat, startling the Hunters at the nearest tables. "I'm gonna go home, check my PET and get some sleep." And possibly smack a blond.

Alia, having received the same alert, hastily piled the bowls onto a tray. "Wait. Axl you aren't going to confront Zero, are you? He needs some time to calm down."

The redhead deflated a little.

"Ah, I know," Axl scratched the back of his head. He was frustrated, but he'd acknowledged that Alia was right….he was still going to smack him. "I'm just going to—"

"Axl," she glared at him, warning clear in her eyes.

Geez, Zero was right, women were scary….. Not that he'd met many women. But Alia and Era, and occasionally Pallette, were terrifying them they were upset. And Layer when Zero was in trouble…. Axl shivered.

"Alia, come on, I'm just going to talk to him!" He protested, hands held out palm-first as if to ward her off. Not that that would do any good. "He's been acting weird these past two days—"

"You haven't even seen him!"

"Well, I've heard he was acting weird!"

Finally, the blond's rigid stance wilted. "If you upset him it's your head, Axl. I tried to stop you, but you're too stubborn to see reason! And reckless." Who in their right mind poked an injured bear? Axl, apparently.

"I know," was his thoroughly unrepentant response. X lamented it often enough that it was burned into his processor.

He just needed to talk to Zero. He just needed to know the truth; Zero was always so careful when X was around, and apparently the higher ups hadn't thought the mission had been difficult enough for backup, highly explosive Reploids or not. What had happened to X? What had gone so horribly wrong?

Why was he hearing things? In the cafeteria, in the machine bay, in the sims, in the halls, people constantly whispering about it. He wasn't sure if Alia had heard things or not, but her nervousness about him confronting Zero might be tied to that. Or to the fact that he wasn't the most tactful of people, but still, it wasn't like he was going to go see Zero just to rile him up. He was more mature than that.

Usually. Sometimes? It depended on certain factors, namely Zero's mood.

He turned and left before she could tackle him, or give him another tongue-lashing. Axl was aware of her stare boring into his back as he left the mess hall, imagining her terrifying expression spurred him on at a brisker pace. He wasn't sure which was scarier angry, Alia or Zero. No, no, he knew. Zero, definitely Zero. Zero killed people when he was angry, Alia just occasionally concussed them: And Axl always ran when they were angry, because when one of them was upset at HQ it was generally because of him.

X would just sigh disapprovingly and act aloof until they calmed down, but Axl knew he smiled at their shenanigans. He used to, at least, before acid blew up in his face. The gunner cringed at his own choice of words, but it was true. He'd never liked that gecko unit, ever. He'd been so glad when he'd been demoted to factory-duty. Now he had even more reason to dislike him. Because he blew up on X, poor guy. Everyone probably hated that stupid lizard now, because everyone loved X.

Asimov, he really hoped X was okay. This was his first time really having it sink in what had happened to the older Hunter. What if he…..died? X couldn't die! He was too old and stubborn to die! He and Zero both, they were practically immortal! At least, that's how the rumors went…. Not that Axl believed in rumors.

Not that that stopped him from teasing Zero with them. The occasional bruises were worth the delicious looks of outrage and shock when he heard him repeat them. "Guess what? Someone said they saw you and X coming out of a supply closet. It's about time." "Hey, I heard someone say you talk to your saber. I think it's time you got yourself a girlfriend, buddy." "Is it true that you're actually older than X?"

Axl nosed around the sims first, confirming with a rather shaken rookie that, yes, Zero had been there earlier this morning. Very briefly. Well, no one had died or been dismembered? The sim wasn't even out of commission! But if Zero wasn't here, then he should be in his room, right? That would be better, more private. Then again, there would be no one to hear him scream for help, so maybe it wasn't better. He thought about abandoning the visit altogether, but gathered up the will to complete his journey. He passed more than one unit—once he'd made his way into the residential area—that looked at him like he was crazy. He couldn't blame them.

Finally, Axl reached Zero's quarters, promptly announcing his presence by falling over the oil cans set next to the door. Damn Zero and his oil cans! Not that Axl didn't leave similar items littered around his quarters, and not that Zero didn't bump into his junk, too; he probably deserved it. Only X out of the three of them, seemed to actually use his supply closet.

There seemed to be more junk than usual flung about the small foyer—throughout the apartment, actually—there was even a shirt thrown over the pictures on the end table, and empty bowls from breakfast on the coffee table: And a disheveled blond glaring wordlessly at him from the couch. He wasn't even dressed yet, still wearing the loose pants and oversized tee that Axl knew was his sleepwear. Zero was not pleased to see him. Or at least, he thought he wasn't pleased to see him. A scowl was sort of his normal expression.

Axl flopped down on the couch under the glaring eye of the old man, and Axl swore he heard a growl when he propped his feet up on the coffee table. What? It wasn't like Zero didn't do it all the time, too! They didn't dare do that in X's quarters, though. X might have been the smallest of them, but he had the most formidable anger. It was a good thing X didn't anger easily; Zero seemed to frustrate him a lot, though.

"What do you think you're doing here?" Zero growled, moving around to face him. Sometimes he forgot how big Zero was until the guy wanted to crush him into a pulp.

"Aw, c'mon, big guy, I just wanted to see how you were doing!"

"Lies," Zero retorted, unfazed. "You're up to something; you want something."

"Your attention?"

"I'm not X, I won't tolerate your stupidity. I don't think it's cute."

It was burning on his tongue. He wanted to squirm, but no, no he couldn't bring up the rumor now. He should check on Zero first, make sure he was okay. "I am adorable, but of course you're not X, X is in the medical wing, badly injured. ….Possibly because you dropped him before you teleported. On purpose," he rushed out. So much for trying to ask him gently. Stupid mouth.

Zero looked furious, like he might scream. "What?!"

No, that was not a scream that was definitely a roar.

"Hey, hey!" Axl hopped up as Zero surged toward him like massive, blond tidal wave. "I'm not accusing you, I'm just repeating what I heard! I thought you might want to know!"

"Who?!" Zero didn't slow down, running Axl backward until he hit a wall. "Who's saying that?!"

"Everyone?" Axl squeaked out. "Well, not everyone, but a lot of people down at the Bay, and—"

Zero swore.

"Hey, hey, I thought X told you not to use that word."

"X isn't here."

"Good point."

Zero gave him a look, like he was the worst possible thing that could have crawled into his quarters. He almost said 'Don't shoot the messenger', but, honestly, he probably would have shot himself long ago, had he been Zero. It was a good thing he wasn't Zero. Then again, it was a bad thing he wasn't Zero, Zero was bigger, stronger, and probably going to kill him.

"Sorry?" He offered, grinning sheepishly.

"You come in here, accuse me—"

"I did not accuse you, I was repeating information! And I didn't mean to put it so bluntly, it just slipped out!"

"—which is probably the stupidest thing I've ever seen you do, and I've known you for a while."

"It kinda was, wasn't it?" X was right, he really didn't think before he spoke sometimes. Axl could imagine trying to explain it to X now: He'd just gotten nervous and blurted it out! He'd meant to be more tactful, he promised!

Axl missed X. Axl was pretty sure Zero missed X more. How were they going to survive X's recovery period? If he recovered. No, no, he'd recover; X was tough and old, even if he was small.

Zero grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and brought their faces near. "Axl, look me in the eye and tell me you had nothing to do with this rumor being started."

Axl was offended. He scowled back at Zero, "Of course not! I know I started a few of them, but not something like this! That's low…."

With a sigh, the blond released him. "Good. I'll learn more about this rumor later," he declared, turning to sit down on his worn burgundy couch.

More than one stain on it was from Axl's lack of coordination with glasses. He miraculously became more graceful in X's quarters; if he spilled any drink on X's velvety sky blue couch, X would flay him alive. Or give him that sad look that would make him prefer being skinned alive. X was a powerful unit and—

"Hey! You got the ping, too, right? Aren't you going to go down and check on X?" Axl demanded, flopping down over the back of the couch and squinting at him. The squishy furniture creaked unhappily under their combined weight.

Zero pointedly didn't look at him and switched on the TV. Rude. "Seriously though," Axl prodded him again, trying not to slide forward on the couch and faceplant on the floor. "I thought you'd be rushing to check on him today! The front desk says you haven't even been there today!"

The bigger Hunter elbowed him roughly in the gut. "He's fine. He doesn't need me to babysit him."

"Yeah, but what if he's in pain? He had a head wound, his processor's probably all scrambled…."

"He's fine."

"He might be scared."

"He's a big boy."

"He got knocked around in an explosion and acid exploded all over him! How can you not be worried?!"

"He. Is. Fine," Zero ground out, blue eyes flashing in a terrifying way. He immediately backed off, not wanting to risk losing a large chunk of his hair to a saber. Again.

Axl slunk off the couch, scowling. "Fine. Be that way. I'll go see X by myself then!"

And then Axl stomped out of Zero's quarters to do just that... But he chickened out after checking on the other unit's condition. The good news was X was alive. The bad news was that X was hurt pretty badly (and that Zero was being as moody as a pubescent girl). He didn't want to see X, pumped full of chemicals, possibly horribly disfigured and covered in burns and bandages. What if all of his skin was gone? Maybe he'd watched too many horror movies, but what if he didn't have a face anymore?! No, he couldn't go in there, not alone, and he couldn't find Alia. ….Maybe tomorrow Zero wouldn't be so moody.

AN: Argh, this would have been out a week earlier but I had a mild crisis in my college English class.

So…. This is pretty late. In fact, I think it's been since August since I updated anything? I'm working on that. Broken record, I know. This chapter has actually been mostly finished for months.

But I'm finally updating the plots of my fics and working on them, so we should be seeing more updates. Reviews are great motivators~