(A/N) Hey guys, NicKenny here, bringing you the latest installment in the lives of X-Ray and Vav, written by the ever-amazing StormBlue, featuring the heroes realising that their jobs as the city's heroes aren't as secure as they thought! Hope you've all had great Christmases, and just want to apologise for the delays that we'll are going through and will be going through for the next two weeks, until my exams finish. Hope you all have a great New Year's, and a great 2014.

As a quick reminder, those interested in applying for our Red vs Blue fic, Phase Two: Betrayal, should do so immediately, as apps close on January 1st. If you don't think you can get it done for that point, PM me and we'll try to organise an extension, or something to that effect. Application forms can be found on our forum, also titled The Freelancer Collaboration.

Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Two – Outsourcing

Dr Gavin Free / Vav

Written by StormBlue

"We fear violence less than our own feelings. Personal, private, solitary pain is more terrifying than what anyone else can inflict." – Jim Morrison

"You called us out here to show us… this?" Vav asked in obvious confusion and slight irritation. His patience was running thin and his temper quicker than usual to ignite, and he had been taking it out unfairly on those around him. He didn't feel like putting in the extra effort to try and be happy or even polite, and he'd felt this way since… well, since Mogar. Or rather, Michael.

Not knowing what had happened to his friend in the time he had been missing was torture. But would knowing make this any easier? While he had every confidence that Michael would succeed in his rehabilitation, he couldn't help but feel guilty. For what, though, Vav wasn't entirely sure, and neither was he sure of what he could have done differently. And not knowing how Michael felt about the whole ordeal didn't help him to feel any better.

Of course, Ryan dragging him out to a random building instead of allowing him to mope and feel guilty wasn't helping either.

Iron-Ryan turned his gaze to the Brit, and Vav was struck, yet again, by how emotionless and dead the cyborg appeared to be. "It's supposed to look inconspicuous."

The interior of the building didn't have much to see. While not in any particular disrepair other than odd cracks running down the walls, there wasn't much inside. And this was Ryan's place? X-Ray shifted next to Agents J-Roll and Burns, waiting for Ryan to explain why they were there.

Burns looked around, his left eyebrow raised skeptically. "So where is it?"

"Where is what?" X-Ray inquired as Ryan stepped up to a seemingly random location on one wall. A small piece of the plaster slid open and the cyborg entered a numbered code into the revealed keypad. A light shone green and another section split away, door-sized, this time.

A small empty space was revealed, not large enough to be a room, but neither was it any sort of closet. It took Vav a moment to realize it was an elevator. He raised an eyebrow. "Where does this go?"

"To my workspace," was Ryan's simple answer.

He gestured for them to step inside. A moment later, there were two FBI agents, two superheroes, and one cyborg all standing awkwardly as the metal box they stood in moved downward. Nobody spoke for the next few minutes, and Vav thought the only thing that would make the scene any more awkward would be some of that perky elevator music.

As the doors slid open and they stepped out, the sight that greeted them could very well be described as a workspace. All sorts of materials and machinery was stacked up or scattered, and while not particularly 'messy,' the space didn't appear to be very organized either. So this was where all Ryan's creations were built?

Something bumped Vav's leg and he looked down. There was a little robot - golems, as Iron-Ryan referred to them all - that was continuously ramming into his leg. Not with any particular force, but more as if it were simply attempting to go somewhere and couldn't process that there was something in its way. He bent down slightly to take a closer look.

It was different than the ones Ryan had used to help them stop Mogar, but not by a whole lot. Only coming up to about half-way between Vav's knee and his waist, the Golem was actually rather cute. Its body was segmented, not unlike that of a bug, but instead of looking like a creepy crawly that one wanted to get away from as quickly as possible, it more gave off the feeling of something Vav wouldn't mind passing on the street every day. Instead of a menacing scowl or emotionless mask, it bore a friendly smile on its metal face, which only added to the feeling of ease.

Vav shifted to the side in order to allow the Golem to pass, but it was quickly stopped by Ryan, who picked the thing up and deactivated it.

"Malfunctioning," the cyborg muttered. "They are intelligent enough to be able to see obstacles in their paths and move accordingly, but this one, apparently, needs some fine-tuning." He placed the Golem to the side to work on it later. More of the little robots scampered up to the group. "These ones I call the Snow Golems," Ryan said.

J-Roll squinted at them. "Why do they look like snowmen?"

Vav blinked, realizing that the description was very accurate. The segments of the body, with their light silvery sheen could very well resemble large snowballs stacked atop each other, with the face and its orange tint looking more like a happy jack-o-lantern than anything else. He understood J-Roll's confusion. It was a rather odd design choice.

"Their main function will be to patrol the city, keeping a watchful eye on the streets and civilians. They will be able to keep an eye on all the places security cameras cannot, reporting any crime they come across. In doing this, they will be exposed to people, and I thought the design would help in how they are received with the populace of the city," Iron-Ryan explained. "It certainly wouldn't accomplish anything to terrify the public."

Agent Burns tilted his head to the side, arms folded and a scrutinizing look on his face. "That sounds good and all, but shouldn't they look more intimidating so that criminals will feel less inclined to commit crime?"

Ryan turned to him. "That job would go to the others." He turned on his heel and walked further into his lab, not looking back but expecting the others to follow.

They fell into step behind him, looking around as they walked. Vav was surprised at the numbers of Golems that skittered about Ryan's workspace, and with a glance at X-Ray, he could see that his partner was as well.

"What exactly are all of these for?"

It was J-Roll who answered. "New security measures. With everything that's been going on, it was decided that it would be better to have ways to deal with threats earlier rather than later. Haywood had this idea, and the FBI have been funding his project."

The superheroes could have taken offense to that, as it could have been interpreted that J-Roll was saying they weren't doing a good enough job. However, Vav had seen the destruction that had been caused by Mogar before they were able to contain him, and he would have caused a lot more damage to the city and to the people had they been any later in arriving. With Iron-Ryan and the Enderwolf before him, the attacks of the Community have grown more and more dangerous. It was no wonder they had gone to extra measures. He shared a glance with X-Ray, and the look on his friends face was enough to tell him he felt the same.

A heavy thump sounded, and their attention was diverted to what was in front of them. When Vav had expected something similar to the Snow Golems, he was sorely mistaken here. Here, tucked away in the back of the lab and in fewer numbers, were more Golems, though these were several times larger than their kin, taller than Ryan by near a foot. The build was also different, being much bulkier and more heavy-set, though less manoeuvrable. The legs were not very long in comparison to their bodies, and in contrast their arms were rather large; not just thick, but long as well, reaching down past their knees.

Iron-Ryan stood in front of them. "These ones are the Iron Golems. Their main function will be in not just watching, but assisting the police force. They are meant to withstand much more than their cousins and do things that man cannot. They will be of use in various hazardous situations, such as breaking up riots, or combating the next superpowered threat that the Community sends after us."

"Cousins?" X-Ray muttered under his breath, bemused by Ryan's choice of words, but was ignored.

"And they're not dangerous to people?" J-Roll wanted to ensure.

"Their programming will force them to assist people no matter the damage to themselves. As with everything, accidents can happen," Ryan said this without his expression changing, "though you can be assured they are much safer than a street full of cars."

Despite his bad mood coming here, Vav had to admit he was impressed with the whole thing. Maybe some extra help wouldn't be a bad thing. He certainly knew they could all use a rest.

"I hope these things won't make us look obsolete," X-Ray said, watching the robots.

"What do you mean?" Vav asked, sending a curious glance at him.

Burns moved over to the two, having heard X-Ray's comment. "If these things work the way they're supposed to, they just might. That would be a rather embarrassing image for the two of you, being replaced by robots."

"Not to mention boring, if we had to go back to living normal lives." X-Ray grimaced, a thought coming to him. "I don't even have a job anymore."

Vav stared quizzically at the two of them. "I highly doubt anything of the sort would happen. It's not like we won't still be needed."

Not long afterwards, X-Ray and Vav stood side-by-side looking out into the streets of Achievement City. Ryan's devices had been put into duty, spreading out from the location of his lab, going to work on protecting the city. Wherever they went, people stopped to look at them, peering curiously at them. Others avoided the Golems, but that wouldn't last. Before long, the public would grow accustomed to their presence and pay no more heed to them than they did a street light.

"Do you think they'll help?" Vav asked without looking at his friend.

There was a moment of silence before X-Ray replied. "I think they will. I don't know how much, but if they can help us to know what's going on where, we might have a better clue as to where to find the Corpirate."

Vav nodded. It was a sensible observation. His own observation was less so. "To be honest, they kind of creep me out."

X-Ray just laughed, shaking his head in amusement at his friend's words. "Yeah, they creep me out too man. But hell, if they do their job, then they're cool with me. Let's get out of here."