-41-

Douglas stretched on his seat and yawned, he had been working overtime giving maintenance and repairing X's Glide and Gaea armors, and he finally finished the task the night before. He was actually proud of himself, as he managed to complete the job without Alia's help. The mechanic grinned and reached for his cup of coffee and enjoyed the smell of the hot beverage. He had gone to grab something to drink to HQ's mess hall, something he usually did on quiet mornings such as that one.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Of course not, be my guest, Lifesaver," the mechanic invited. "You hardly ever come to the mess, it's weird seeing you here."

"Yes, well…. I simply have nothing better to do," the medic answered, setting his own cup on the table. "All members of the elite team are at 100% right now and nobody needs repairs, so I thought I'd get something to drink."

"Yeah… I heard Axl and Vile were hurt real badly," Douglas said, ignoring how oblivious Lifesaver was to the way his words could sound to someone who didn't know him better.

"They both almost died," Lifesaver provided. "Vile was difficult to repair because of how extensive the damage he suffered was, and Axl required a new Power Core; I'm glad Doctor Cossack was here at the time, because Axl's inner systems are not something I can fix myself."

"Well, it's a good thing Axl's fine now." Douglas said. "And Doctor Cossack's back in Russia, right?"

"Yes, he is. Axl and Pallette went with him, by the way."

"That explains why I haven't seen them since yesterday," the mechanic nodded. "Then again, I spent most of my time fixing X's armors, so I wouldn't know."

"He is always pleased with your work, so congratulations," the doctor said. "It must be difficult to fix those armors; I've seen them a few times, they are as complex as X is."

"Yeah, no kidding," Douglas sighed. "The Glide Armor was a real pain; the acid damage was quite extensive on that one."

"Have you seen Zero?" Lifesaver asked after a moment of silence. "We had to give him minor repairs but he left as soon as we finished them. I do need to ask him something."

"I saw him earlier this morning," the mechanic said. "He and Layer borrowed Ride Chasers, said they were going somewhere for a couple of days."

"Do you know where they went?"

"Sorry, they didn't say," Douglas answered and then finished his coffee. "Is Vile still here? Rumor has it Signas offered him a job."

"Unfortunately, Commander Signas did offer him and Scarlet a position as hunter and navigator in the elite team," Lifesaver lamented. "But Vile isn't here at the moment, as far as I know he went somewhere to get the rest of his gear. I'm not looking forward to having him here full time."

"I think they'll behave as long as X and Zero are around," Douglas said. "Besides, they did help defeat Lumine, didn't they? It can't be that bad."

"I suppose so," the doctor nodded and went silent, meditating about the current happenings in HQ, trying to be as optimistic as his friend.

"Say, Lifesaver…" Douglas called. "Is it safe to mix energen fluid and coffee? I've been wondering for a while and…"

"What?" The doctor frowned, alarmed at the idea. "No. And don't even think of it."

=0=

The Cossack mansion was the biggest and most luxurious place Axl had ever visited, and he was having trouble assimilating the fact that he could live here if he wanted, given his recently acquired status as the owner's oldest 'son'. Pallette, who walked besides him as they became familiar with the house, was having none of those problems. She in fact was still quite excited to spend a few days in the manor.

"You're too nervous, Axl, relax… he's not going to hurt you," Pallette encouraged, giving her boyfriend a quick hug once they reached the main hall. "You look like you're going to fall apart!"

"What if he doesn't like me?" the young hunter asked. "I mean, he's human!"

"Of course he'll like you," Nina Cossack said then, looking back from the door, where she was obviously waiting for someone. "Try to calm down, Viktor is already here."

The door opened then, and Viktor Cossack entered the house, followed by a boy of around ten who greatly resembled his father. The child carried a backpack, obviously just coming home from school, and stopped the moment his eyes landed on Axl.

"D-dad…" Mikhail Cossack stuttered, too excited of meeting one of the elite Hunters in person. "Is this the surprise you mentioned? I mean… he's Axl! He's an A rated Maverick Hunter, he was on the news the other day!"

"Yes, he is. Axl is going to be staying here for a few days," Viktor smiled, then placed his hand over his son's shoulder. "I created Axl a few years ago; do you know what that means?"

Mikhail looked from his father to Axl and then to his father again.

"Is… is he like… my brother?"

Viktor replied with a smile and a nod.

"Ah… hello?" Axl tried, crouching a little and offering his hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Wow… my brother is a Maverick Hunter!" the boy shouted and ran to Axl so he could shake his hand and bombard him with questions. "What's fighting Lumine like? Are you really friends with X and Zero? Have you been to space? Can I see your schematics? I'm building a robot, can you help me? Do you want to play some videogames? I have Monster Hunter Neo IX, do you like that one? Hey, let me show you my room so we can talk there!"

"Sure, we can go and do those things, but…" Axl, who was being dragged by the little boy towards the stairs, looked back at Viktor, Nina and Pallette. They were all smiling and apparently holding back a chuckle.

"Go with your brother," Viktor encouraged. "Have a good time, we'll see you later."

"Alright!" Axl beamed at the child. "Lead the way, Mikhail, let's see your room!"

=0=

Vile entered his chambers and spent a few moments looking around. He was back in his base, there to make sure everything was as he left it and selecting some gear he wanted to take back to the Hunter's base.

"Working as a Maverick Hunter again…" Vile muttered as he examined some ammunition. "Then again, it is clear those fools need me in their elite team… after all, Axl is just a stupid rookie, X is still a bleeding heart softie and Zero is an overconfident dimwit. They need a calculating and capable soldier on the field, and I'm the only one around who fits that description."

Convinced he was doing the Hunters a favor and knowing he was alone at the moment; Vile removed his helmet and walked to an old mirror so he could study his reflection, deciding again that he didn't particularly like his new face. Who gave Lifesaver permission to graft artificial skin over his head, anyway? That excuse he offered him about just having some lying around and that it would be a shame not to use it was stupid. Or at least that's what Vile believed.

"Damn it, I look odd," he growled. He never thought he would be this young. "I look only a few years older than X or Zero… what was Lifesaver thinking?"

"So here you are," Scarlet said, entering the room and going to stand next to him. "Nice eyes."

"My freaking irises are indigo," Vile said flatly. "I liked them better before."

"They were red orbs before, Vile," she rebuked. "They look better now."

"And I have stupid gray hair."

"It is dark gray, and it goes well with your skin tone."

"It's the same skin tone as X's," he observed with a frown. "I'll have to keep my helmet on."

"Oh, who cares? You're still you, only more handsome now," Scarlet told him, leaning on his side and pressing her body against his in a way that made it quite clear what she desired. She then brought her hand up to caress his chest. "We haven't linked in a long, long time, you know. And your new face is kinda making me want it."

"Two weeks is a long, long time?" Vile grinned, forgetting about his face as he moved his hands possessively to her hips. "What a naughty girl you are."

"And what are you going to do about it?" she taunted with a husky voice.

"Naughty girls need discipline," he breathed on her neck. "Lots of it."

"Here?"

"Of course here, we're ditching this place to stay at the Maverick Hunters HQ for a while," he said as he pulled her closer, "might as well give it a proper farewell…"

"I think I would like that," she smiled seductively. "I would like that a lot."

=0=

The abandoned ruins of the Repliforce Spaceport covered a considerable area, and after the end of the coup the High Command had considered using the construction as a new space research center, but the continuous construction of Space Colonies and bureaucratic entanglements assured that the old spaceport ended up deserted and slowly decaying. There were patrols assigned to watch over it to prevent theft and vandalism, but they were hardly necessary, because nobody truly ever came here.

Nobody, that is, but Zero.

Over the years, the crimson hunter became the only one who ever visited the spaceport, earning the friendship of the reploid soldiers in charge of guarding the place. It had been one of those guards who agreed to open the gates for Zero, granting him access to the neglected building.

"Is this a good idea?" Zero thought as he walked through the dark corridors, heading to the deepest parts of the Spaceport. "Layer is waiting for me in the next city; I should just go to her… I don't need to be here and remember, but… no, I really need to do this."

And perhaps, Zero decided, he also needed to remember. Perhaps he wanted to remember the disastrous events from the fourth Maverick uprising before doing what he came here for. Or maybe he was just a big idiot.

Plagued by these thoughts, the crimson hunter walked out of the main building and crossed through the launch pad until he reached a tall platform. He stopped in front of it, observed the rusty beams and bolts and decided the structure was by now so neglected it would be only a year or two before it finally collapsed; Zero, unaware that someone else had followed him into the spaceport and was silently watching him, started climbing the stairs.

"This is where the Colonel and I fought," he remembered once he arrived to the very top. "If only sigma hadn't manipulated Repliforce…"

He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. Thinking about his fight with the Colonel invariably brought back memories of Iris. Looking up at the cloudy sky, he could not help remembering the moment she fused with her brother's core and the tragic battle that followed.

The crimson hunter leaned on the rail and took in a deep breath, wondering again if having a normal life was something he deserved after what he did. The only positive of coming here that he could so far identify was that the crippling guilt he used to feel was mostly gone, now replaced with a deep sorrow.

"It changes little," he muttered, his eyes closed as he wondered if he could ever feel any sort of happiness. "Because my past remains the same, I'm still the one who…"

His words died the moment he felt someone embrace him from behind.

"You can't change the past," a woman told him. "But you can accept it and learn from it."

"It's not so easy," he lamented, keeping his eyes low, not turning to meet Layer. "What I did here…"

"The casualties during the Repliforce coup were not your fault," she assured him, hugging him tighter, stopping him from moving away from her. "Sigma is to blame, and you and X made him pay for it. The deaths caused by his treachery have been avenged."

"I know that," Zero said, letting Layer's embrace give him the warmth he needed to push the grief down. "But it doesn't make it any easier. Iris and Colonel didn't deserve what happened."

"Nobody did," she said. "Please, stop blaming yourself, Zero…"

"I don't, not anymore," he told her, turning and pulling her close. "Thanks to you, I don't. There is still the sadness, Layer, that hasn't gone away."

"It will in time," she promised. "I'll help you."

"Thank you," Zero made a pause, and then reached up to touch her chin so she would look up at him. "How did you find me?"

"I teleported where your signal was," she said. "You were late and I worried; I simply…"

"Tracked my signal and beamed here," he completed. "You're a navigator even on your day off, huh?"

"It's a habit," she answered, enjoying the feeling of his hand cradling her face. "Zero… why did you come here, if visiting this place is so painful for you… why?"

"I had to do something," Zero said and pointed at the launch pad and the rest of the spaceport around them.

"Can I ask what it was?"

"I came to say good bye to them," he told her. "Because I think… I think I can finally do that."

=0=

To anyone watching, Splash Woman was nothing more than a pretty young woman in a cute, if slightly out of fashion white sundress walking around downtown in the company of the renowned Maverick Hunter X and the senior Navigator Alia, thus giving bystanders the impression she was a big celebrity or the daughter of a powerful dignitary, perhaps a member of the High Command.

"I still have trouble believing you can do that," Alia observed. She walked to the right of Mega Man X, and was glancing at the Robot Master in awe. "I mean, that you have a land mode is already amazing enough, but… but you aren't wearing any armor, and with that dress you're wearing… you look almost fully human, how?"

"It's thanks to Doctor Light's transformation system," she said and then proceeded to explain further. "Not all Lightbots had it, only some of the ones closer to human form. It allows us to cloak our armor and turn some of it into functional clothes. Rock, Roll and Blues had it, and both Elec Man and Tornado Man got it after they requested it. This is actually the first time I've used it like this… I wasn't sure it would be possible for me."

"Incredible," X said, smiling as he wondered how this system worked. "Father was very clever."

"When did you get it?" the navigator asked, her curiosity not yet sated.

"When I was upgraded with my land mode," the mermaid answered. "Before Doctor Wily's tenth Robot Rebellion. Doctor Light wanted to see if it was possible to improve my mobility by giving me the capacity to walk on land, and figured I'd need to look more human."

"Can you do that, X?" Alia said, looking at the blue armored hunter with obvious interest.

"I don't think so," he answered with a sigh. "I can't even remove my helmet."

"What do you mean you can't remove it?" Splash Woman laughed. "I know for a fact you can."

"Really?" X blinked in surprise. "I can?"

"You've never tried?" the mermaid asked, hands on her hips as she leaned towards her younger brother. "Why haven't you?"

"I have tried," X said defensively, remembering he felt a bit jealous that Zero could take off his helmet while he couldn't. "I just can't, it's probably stuck or something."

"Oh, really?" the mermaid asked as she approached X with a mischievous smile.

"What are you going to do?" he asked, feeling a little nervous by the way his sister grinned at him.

"Nothing bad, just hold still for a bit…" Splash Woman smiled and then reached for his helmet, spending a couple of seconds feeling around the lower edges and then…

"Stuck, huh?" She chuckled as she removed his helmet and then showed it to him, pointing at two small buttons on the lower end of it. "You just had to press these, X."

"Well, I didn't know that… wait… am I… bald?" X asked, bringing his hands up to touch his head, hoping he wouldn't feel a smooth metal dome covering his electronic brain. "I… I have hair!"

"Of course you do, don't be silly," the mermaid said. "And he looks quite good without the helmet, wouldn't you agree Alia?"

"Huh?" Alia, who was busy staring at X, thinking how handsome he looked now with his unruly black hair finally free, had to blink a couple of times before answering the question. "Yes… he looks… he looks good. You look very good, X."

"Yeah, fetching, even," Splash Woman appraised as she returned the helmet. "We can try later to see if you can change your armor into clothes like I did."

"I don't think I can but ok," X agreed with a smile, his hand still over his hair. "Thank you… sister."

"Don't mention it, that's what older siblings are for," the mermaid said. "Now, weren't you two taking me to the City's Aquarium? I really want to see it!"

…

Later…

X, carrying two blue cans marked with an E, walked to where Splash Woman waited. They had finished visiting the Aquarium a while ago, and having nothing else to do, X decided to take his sister to see the old city square thinking that she may be interested in seeing it.

"Where is Alia?" Splash Woman asked as she accepted the Energen Can, making a pause so she could drink a sip from it, finding the taste was better than she expected. "Wasn't she with you?"

"Signas called her," X said. "There's some urgent paperwork she needs to complete today."

"I see," she sighed. "Oh well, I hope she finishes it soon."

"She will," X assured, "Alia's very fast when it comes to those things."

The siblings walked in silence for a while, Splash Woman following X's lead. She looked at X discreetly and wondered what Blues would say if he could see the youngest Lightbot. He would probably try to remain stoic and say something deep, she believed.

"Say, would you like me to find you a place to stay?" X asked when they arrived to the old city square. "I imagine you don't want to spend the night at HQ, I could rent you an apartment, or…"

"It won't be necessary," the Robot Master answered. "I'm leaving today."

"You're what?" the blue hunter gasped in surprise.

"Doctor Cossack offered me a job supervising the mechaniloids that monitor the city's canals, I accepted," she explained. "I'll be living in Saint Petersburg from now on. Nina Cossack said there was a room ready for me in their lab."

"…You don't have to! I can take care of you and…"

"X, I know you can take care of me, but I need a function of my own to feel productive," she refuted with a soft smile. "Unlike you reploids, we Robot Masters do need a purpose; it's a part of our programming. I can't just stay here and do nothing."

"I understand that but…" he made a pause, discovering he really didn't want his sister to leave. "I mean… how are we supposed to talk about the past?"

"You can visit me anytime you want," she reminded him. "And I can tell you about the past; it will be a very long talk, however. Perhaps it is best if we have that conversation once you and the other hunters finish cleaning up Lumine's disaster. Go see me when that's done, I'll answer all your questions then."

Finding that Splash Woman's reasoning made sense, X simply nodded and sighed loudly.

"Oh, don't be sad," the mermaid said walking up to him so she could give him a quick hug. "You can teleport to Saint Petersburg everyday if you want to, I'll always be happy to see you."

"You will?"

"Of course, we're siblings aren't we?" she reminded him poking at his chest with her right index finger for emphasis. "So cheer up, blue boy."

X couldn't hold back a good humored chuckle at the name she used, wondering if that's how she used to call the original Mega Man.

"I have to go now. You know… I'm really glad you're my brother, X," she said, her voice singing kindly. "Please visit soon, ok?"

With a wave of her hand, Splash Woman offered him a final smile and teleported away in a flash of white, leaving X standing there alone. Normally X would start feeling sad or melancholic, but this time he simply smiled, happier than he had been in months. He had a sister, he was not alone anymore, no longer the last Lightbot, and could there be anything better than that?

X didn't think so.

=0=

Notes:

A new arc starts in this chapter, this one is fairly short, so it should be completed quickly; I hope you enjoy it.