A/N: Good News everyone! I'm finding more time to write! You know what that means? MORE UPDATES! ENJOY!

Chapter 13: New Operations

Nickoli woke up as his alarm clock blared in his ear, not giving him any other choice but to get out of bed. He stopped the blaring with one swift slam, breaking the clock into a smashed pile of plastic and metal. He ran his metal hand through his hair and sighed "I hate mornings. I doubt anyone else is up." Nickoli threw on a pair of grey sweatpants and headed into the kitchen when his nose was filled with the scent of fresh brewed coffee. Nickoli walked in to see Lilith and Lyn already awake, Lyn being the one who made the coffee.

"Morning there sleepy head." Lilith commented between sips of her coffee. "It's seven in the morning." Nickoli pointed out as Lyn handed him a cup of coffee. Nickoli took his mug with a raised eyebrow as he saw Lyn's morning attire, one of his shirts and he prayed underwear underneath. "Any reason you aren't wearing a shirt?" Lyn questioned.

"I just don't wear a shirt in the morning."

"Trying to impress me with those nice muscles you got there?"

Lilith laughed and replied "I wouldn't waste your time with Nickoli here. He's got a thing for Angel." Lyn nodded and replied "I know, I've seen what he'll do for her." Nickoli jumped in "Can you two please not talk about me like I'm not here." The two girls started to giggle to each other as Nickoli grabbed breakfast. "So you and Angel really aren't a thing?" Lyn questioned as Nickoli ate. "No, we aren't a 'thing'. We're just friends."

"Good to know. So what is the plan for today?"

Lilith spoke up and exclaimed "I actually have something for you two and your friends today." Lyn and Nickoli looked at her with raised eyebrows as she explained "I told their parents to have them meet at the HQ later today." Nickoli questioned "So what do you need us to do?"

"In a very basic sense? Infiltration. Maliwan is getting incredibly bold with its movements and I need to figure out some way to cut them off."

"So why us?"

"Two assassins, two tech heads, a soldier and a bruiser. Sounds like a team that's perfect for infiltration."

Nickoli looked at Lyn with a raised eyebrow and questioned "What do you think?" Lyn shrugged and replied "Gets me out of the house, so I'm good." Nickoli sighed and turned to Lilith, exclaiming "Looks like you have your tech heads." Lilith smiled and replied "Fantastic. Looks like we have to wait and see if the others are going to join us."

O00000O00000O

Angel crawled out of bed and laid on the floor for a moment, hair a tangled mess with her grey shirt and black shorts wrinkled. "I don't want to get up." Angel groaned as she finally got to her feet. She stumbled out to the smell of breakfast being cooked to her delight. She moved some of her hair out of her face to see Z-12 behind the stove, flipping pancakes into the air. Z-12 looked over his shoulder and laughed "Jeez, lookin' good this morning Sis."

Angel rolled her eyes took a seat at the table, nearly falling back asleep. "Come on Sis. No need to give me the… cold… shoulder." Z-12 joked as he slid her a plate of pancakes. Angel shot him a cold look and replied "It is too early for jokes this morning."

"It's never too early for jokes. So, what's today's plan?"

Angel shrugged and they both heard a door open, seeing Zer0 walk out of his room. "Morning kids." He yawned as he walked into the kitchen. He looked at the food already made and exclaimed "Hey Z-12, I didn't know you could cook." Z-12 turned in his seat and questioned "Can you cook?" Zer0 shrugged and replied "Rarely, but yes."

"Then I can cook."

"Smartass."

Angel ran her fingers through her tangled hair and questioned "Hey dad, are we still on for our weekly training session?" Z-12 looked to Angel with a confused look and questioned "Weekly training session?" Zer0 took a seat with a plate of pancakes and explained "Yeah, Angel and I train on her skills every week. Part of her assassin training."

"Can I join the two of you?"

"Of course you can, son."

"Thanks… dad."

Angel chuckled "Awesome. Can't wait for you to see my sword skills bro." Z-12 chuckled "Or lack thereof."

"Oh, you're going to get it."

O00000O00000O

Nickoli had gotten showered and dressed for work and wandered to Gaige's workshop. He walked up to the door and sighed since he was expecting Zver to jump at him, pin him to the ground and lick his face, but it wouldn't happen. Zver was gone, his best friend is gone and he wouldn't be coming back. He opened the door and took a few steps in when something tackled him to the ground and started licking his face. "What the hell!?" Nickoli barked as he tried to force the massive creature off of him. "Enough!"

The creature stopped licking his face, but remained on top of him and panted. Nickoli wiped his face up and looked up at the cyborg stalker on top of him that was the size of a badass stalker. There was a metal plate on the center of its chest and cybernetic eyes on the right side of its face in place of the normal ones. "Z-zver?!" Nickoli gasped as he gripped the cyber stalker's face. Zver howled into the air as Nickoli hugged him and cried "Zver! You're alive!"

Gaige exclaimed from the center of her workshop "Yep. When I got to him he was still alive, but barely. I was able to patch him up and give him a few upgrades while I was at it." Nickoli didn't really hear Gaige since he was crying "I'm so glad you're alive buddy." Zver nuzzled Nickoli's head and whimpered, like he was crying too. Nickoli finally composed himself and thanked "Thank you Gaige. I can never repay you for this." Gaige rolled her eyes and replied "Just finish organizing these robot parts and we'll start with that."

"I'll do it twice if you want me to! Come on Zver!"

Nickoli jumped into his work with renewed enthusiasm with his cybernetic best friend again."

O00000O00000O

After breakfast, all of the Zer0 family headed to the training area that had a newly repaired roof since the old one had a massive hole in it. Angel and Zer0 stepped into the center of the area as Z-12 took a seat on the side lines. Zer0 questioned "Ready?" Angel nodded and replied "Ready." The two bowed in show of respect and then their hands jumped to their blades.

Each drew their blade, Angel's white while her father's blue, and the two clashed. Swings were nearly a blur with each clash, both keeping up with each strike. Angel swung again and again, keeping her father on the defensive so he couldn't gain the upper hand. She swung with a side swing and Zer0 moved to defend, but she switched it up. She feinted and parried her father's block, leaving him wide open.

She brought her blade up to his throat and exclaimed "I win… again." Zer0 dropped his blade and sighed "I'm really starting to feel my age getting to me since I keep losing like this." Angel chuckled "Come on Dad, don't say that. I'm sure you were pretty badass back in the day." Zer0 smirked and pointed out "You make look like me, but you get that smartass attitude from your mother." Zer0 sheathed his blade and continued "I certainly was a badass back in the day… but that's the price of getting old. But he might."

Zer0 pointed to Z-12, who had a very confused look on his face. "What? Me?" Z-12 questioned. Zer0 motioned for him over and he did as he was motioned to. "What's up?" Z-12 questioned as he walked over. "Since you are a clone of me, I want to see if you have my skills." Zer0 answered.

"Okay."

"Let's see how you do against your sister."

"Alright then."

Z-12 took his father's spot and drew the two katanas off his back. Angel flipped some of her hair back and asked "Can you just use one to keep it fair? If I wanted to fight Uncle Wade, I would call and ask for a match." Z-12 put a blade away and questioned "Uncle Wade?"

"Yeah, Wade Wilson. He's… um… hey Dad, what's a nice way to describe Uncle Wade?"

"Bat shit insane." Zer0 commented as he took a seat. "There we go. You'll meet him in due time." Angel commented.

"Alright, that's enough chat. Let's see what the two of you can do."

Angel and Z-12 bowed to each other and Angel questioned as she drew her blade "Hey, bro. Want to make this interesting?" Z-12 replied "Sure, what did you have in mind?"

"If I win, you have to get a tattoo."

Z-12 thought about it for a moment and replied "Alright, but if I win…" He thought again for a moment, then a devilish smile spread across his lips. "If I win you have to ask Nickoli out on a date." Z-12 proclaimed like he was an evil genius. Angel felt her face light up as she questioned "What? Why?"

"Because I see the way you two look at each other."

"Shut up! Alright, let's go!"

The two charged each other and the blades clashed, bringing the two face to face. They jumped back and Angel went on the offensive, charging with just about everything she had. She slammed into Z-12's defensive stance, nearly breaking it but he remained strong. Z-12 took his opportunity and took a swing at Angel, but she was able to deflect the blow. Angel came back just as hard as she did before, clear that she didn't want to lose the bet.

Her attacks were ruthless, Z-12 barely being able to keep up with the blows. Once he was tired of the attacks, Z-12 decided that it was time for some offensive himself and began to push back against Angel's attacks. Angel was surprised by how fast Z-12 could switch from defensive to offensive, but it would make for a good fight. The two put everything they had into the fight between each other, almost like there was a sibling rivalry between the two that lasted their whole lives. The two charged again and clashed, holding each other in place.

Both pushed and push, but were unable to get each other to give until they both dropped. Sweat coated their brows and dripped as the two panted. "Looks like… we have… a draw." Z-12 panted. "Yeah… so what… about out… bet?" Angel panted. Z-12 took a moment to catch his breath and replied "I guess we both honor our agreements."

"So we just do our bet?"

"Yep. So where can I find a place to get a tattoo?"

Angel got up and assisted Z-12 to his feet. "There's a customization station nearby that you can use." Angel exclaimed. "Thanks, and for the record, you have to ask Nickoli out tonight." Z-12 updated.

"Ugh… why tonight?"

"Because I'm getting my tattoo now."

"O… kay."

Z-12 sighed "Good luck Sis." Angel replied "Good luck Bro." Z-12 headed out of the training area and went to the customization station. He found the new section labelled "Tattoos" and started looking through them to find one he liked. After searching for a bit he finally found one that fit him, a red 0 like his Dad's emblem.

He smiled as he applied the tattoo to the back of his left hand, happy with his choice. He turned and an arrow nearly took his nose off as it stuck into the station. Z-12 immediately drew his sword and looked around, unable to find the archer. He cautiously grabbed the note and read it. "Zer0.12, meet us at Hunter's Grotto. Come alone or we kill Angel." The note read.

O00000O00000O

Around 6 at night, everyone headed over to the Crimson Raider HQ to hear about this new plan Lilith had. They all met in the conference room and took their seats with Commander Lilith at the head of the table. "I'm not going to sugar coat this." Lilith stated. "We are at war with the Maliwan Corporation. Attacks against our outpost have been frequent, but our soldiers are holding strong." Lilith pulled up a map on the large screen that showed the different outposts and where they were being attacked from. "I know all of you are wondering why I have you here." Lilith continued. "In basics, we're desperate. All resources we have are going into defense of the outposts. The Black Knights are doing their best, but Maliwan is hitting them just as hard. You 6 were able to infiltrate the Maliwan Space Station and escape. I want all of you to do the same thing, but quieter."

All of them looked at each other, wondering if they were actually up for a mission like this. "Here is how I see your qualifications." Lilith continued. "Angel and Z-12, you two are assassin so you specialize in stealth. Lynn and Nickoli, you two are very tech savvy and can break through Maliwan's systems. Patrick and Justin, you two are the hitters and able to take anything on together. Each of you are suited to the tasks we need done. So now I'm asking you, will you take up this task?" Everyone looked at each other, Angel being the first proclaiming "I'm in." Z-12 added "If Angel is going, I'm in too." Nickoli joined "Well, you need someone to break the systems."

"I'll be there to ensure that Nickoli here doesn't do anything noticeable." Lynn chuckled. Patrick game a thumbs up while Justin exclaimed "It would be a good time to test some Spec Ops weapons and tech." Lilith nodded and proclaimed "Good. I already have your first assignment, Wurmwater." The screen changed to show the old Washburne Refinery. "Maliwan has set up operations in the Refinery." Lilith continued. "I want all of you to get in, get information why they're there and do what you can to disrupt the operations."

Everyone nodded and were given mission information packets that they were to read over. Everyone was dismissed and they all walked out of the HQ for their respective homes. "Hey Nickoli." Angel called. "What's up?" Nickoli questioned as he stopped walking.

"When we can… do you… um… want to go out to dinner some time? Just you and me?"

A wide smile grew on Nickoli's face as he replied "Sure! I mean, um, yeah… okay." Nickoli was obviously trying to tone done his excitement, but was horribly failing. "Yeah, I lost a bet with Z-12."

"Oh…"

"But, you know, I don't mind. You good for it?"

Nickoli's excited demeanor was as dead as a graveyard as he replied dully "Yeah, sure. I'm going to go read up on our mission." He walked away, leaving Angel alone in the street. "That could have gone so much better." Angel groaned as she took a seat. She looked up to see Z-12 heading over to the Fast-Travel station, prompting Angel to head over to him. Z-12 was at the station when Angel questioned "Hey bro. What are you up to?"

Z-12 turned and replied "Just going out for a bit. Look into something… so how did Nickoli react when you asked him out?" Z-12's smug smile vanished when she took a seat and looked really done. "I… I brought up that it was part of a bet." Angel sighed. "Ouch… that had to hurt." Z-12 exclaimed as he took a seat next to her.

"Was that wrong?"

"Very. No guy wants to hear that the girl he likes is asking him out because of a bet."

"Bro, I screwed up… again."

Z-12 raised an eyebrow and questioned "Again? What happened the first time?" Angel explained "A little bit after Nickoli and I met, he told me that he liked me but I didn't feel the same way… at the time."

"At the time?"

"Yeah, after the rescue and being there for me… I started to like him. Now I've screwed it up Z… what do I do now?"

Z-12 sighed as he scratched his chin. "Why did you tell him that it was because of a bet?" Angel groaned "I didn't want to keep secrets from him. Should I tell him how I really feel about him?"

"Definitely. So you go do that, while I go for my walk."

Z-12 got up and opened the Fast-Travel Station, making sure to hide where he was going. Just before Z-12 hit his destination, Angel jumped him and wrapped her arms around him, taking her with him to wherever he was going. The two dropped down into a small river, Angel seeing that they were on Aegrus, the continent no one really came to. "Why are we in Hunter's Grotto?" Angel questioned as she stood up. "Angel, you can't be here!" Z-12 snapped.

That threw up red flags with her, so she questioned "What's going on?" Z-12 ran his hands through his hair and nearly hissed "I was supposed to come alone!"

"Why?"

"Because… because…"

"Because?"

Z-12 sighed "Because I was told that you would be killed if I didn't." Angel snapped "WHAT!? AND THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT JUST SLIPPED YOUR MIND!?" At that moment, a group of tribal bandits jumped from the rocks above and surrounded them with weapons and shields brandished. Angel and Z-12 drew their blades and stood back to back. "When we get out of this we are having one hell of a family conversation." Angel practically hissed.

"Definitely." Z-12 sighed as the tribal bandits started to move up.

A/N: Heyo! Sorry for the long wait, but the new chapter is here! Special thanks to Dr. Archangel for working with me on this chapter. PM or review with any questions, comments, or concerns about the chapter. Until next time.

-Chief