Authors Notes: It actually feels good to have ffn to work properly the first time. Yay ffn...*Grumbles.*

Frozen Timepiece

Chapter 24

Time piece

Echo slowly opened his eyes when he felt his brothers body jolt. He sat up again looking down at his brother who was breathing fast, and tossing his head to and fro. No actual words came from his vocals, but his mumblings were fast and desperate. Echo ran his hand down his brothers helm. He could now see him in the light, and he was a lot worse for ware. Their were dents around his legs, and wrists all looking like it was caused from him pulling on restraints. There was a panel around his leg and stomach that looked like it had been bent back completely, then reclosed in a most horrid way. He shook his head not believing what this man had done to his brother, then realized that if his panels were opened so forcefully what did he do to his insides. He shuddered and closed his eyes for a moment hoping he wasn't to damaged.

He slowly reached over and gently pulled back the chest panel since it was the closest to him and opened it. A lot of his inner workings were bent, and not put back into place like they were supposed to be. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an omni tool and started to try and screw the devices in properly. Zane jumped and gasped pushing his brothers hand away and closed the panel and turned away. Echo looked a little put back by his own brothers actions. He slowly reached over and put the tool down in front of Zane so he could see it was the present he had given him for their first Christmas together.

"Its alright Zane. I was just trying to fix you." He told his brother. Zane slowly turned and looked at his brother for a moment before picking up the tool and handing it back to his brother. He reached up and touched his panel again. He looked at his brother for a moment unsure of things now. "Its okay brother. I love you. I wouldn't hurt you." He said and touched his hand.

"Can...Can I hold your hand while you work?" It was so strange to see Zane being the vulnerable one rather then it being Echo. But at least this way Echo knew how Zane felt. He chuckled to lighten the mood.

"My pinky. I'm going to need my whole hand to do this job." Which is pretty much what Zane says to him. Zane slowly reached over and took his pinky in his. His body began to shake uncontrollably as his brother lightly opened his chest plate. Echo leaned over and put his forehead to his brothers and whispered to him. Just little kind words that only he could hear. Zane slowly stopped shaking.

"She gave back the ring." Echo told his brother. He wasn't to sure if his brother heard because it was a little while before he answered back.

"I like her. She's your perfect match you know. That pink machine in Borgs office that you walk past every time you go to his R and D lab? Sometimes you'll stand on it, and it'll tell you who your destined to be with. She comes up every single time." Zane said and shuttered when a piece fit back in properly.

"I don't know what to do brother. She's probably angry with me right now, or crying because she didn't know what to do. She's become...complacent with me. I've noticed at digs. If she doesn't see me she'll freak out." He said and closed his chest plate and put his Omni tool back into his pocket.

"She'll be alright." Zane said and sighed looking back up at the ceiling. "She's yours remember? So much more then some ring could say." He closed his eyes for a moment ready to go back to sleep.

Just as soon as Zane began to doze off again the door slammed open and Sanza walked in and looked at the two nindroids. His hands behind his back. Echo clung to his brother protectively. His programming to protect was all he could think of. He had to protect his brother from this mad man. Four extremely large men walked into the room along with the woman with purple eyeshadow. Today it was yellow eyeshadow, and her hair was braided down her back.

"Alright boys lets split them up and put the bronze one on the table. Time to see what makes this nindroid tick." Sanza smiled down at them and left the room to get ready.

"No!" Zane stood up blocking the four men from getting to his brother. Activating his ice ability he froze the men to the floor. Zane grabbed Echos hand and they ran out the door. Zane however didn't go to far when his mind was once again hacked. Zane felt his engine hitch and he fell to his knees holding his chest. His fans, his ram, and his secondary processor were both stopped. He was taking gulps of air trying to keep cool.

Echo ran back to his brother putting his hand on his chest trying to find the problem. He opened his chest plate once more to see if he just didn't put something back the right way. It wasn't anything like that. Then he looked up to see the woman with the yellow eyeshadow. She had a small phone in one hand. Her finger on a button.

"Stop! Please stop you're killing him." Echo ran at the woman and tried to get the phone from her hand. She dodged out of the way and grabbed his helm and slammed it against her knee. Echos body fell to the floor, he saw stars for a moment. He crawled over to his brother who was breathing slow now. But when he touched his back it was incredibly hot.

"Come on Zane...breath." He said turning him on his back and looked back up at the woman. "Please…" He looked at the woman who pushed the button again causing Zanes body to go back to normal. His fan turned on full blast to cool Zanes body down. Echo picked his brother up and put him back into the room and lay him down on the mound of hay.

"I love you brother. Please, stay safe. Tell Kate I'm sorry, and my thoughts are always of her." Echo told his brother, he set the ring in Zanes hand to give to Kate.

Echo walked out of the room and willingly. The woman walked beside him with a smile on her face.

"You are a machine, how can you have such emotions as you have displayed?"

"I...don't know." He said and walked into the room and looked at the table. It must have been the same table where they had tore into his brother. He looked up to see the tank and looked at it curiously.

"This machine will house a child. Not just any child...but a child between yourself...and that woman." He said

"Kate?" Echo asked laying down on the table. The restraints were put on him and Sanza smiled down at him and shrugged.

"Well of course. You do love her don't you?" He said patting the nindroids shoulder and then backed up a bit. His smile grew more sinister looking. "She won't survive the process...but who cares. I want my soldier." He said holding up a power tool. Echo gasped and shook his head.

"No! No don't hurt Kate!" Echo started to thrash around trying to get loose. These restraints were reinforced and stronger than the ones that Zane wore previously.

"I am Darius Sanza...I do as I please." He said pulling Echos shirt and snapped the buttons right off.

"Kate gave me this shirt!" He yelled looking back down at his exposed chest. Sanza looked down at his chest and ran his fingers over the timepiece.

"PLease don't...thats my power source." Echo said looking at Sanza pleadingly.

"I see...it looks like those time brothers work."

"Yes Krux made it for father and…"

"Dr. Julien! You call him Dr. Julien. Do not call him like you are family. That is impossible." Sanza spat out trying to get it through to Echo who narrowed his optics at him.

"He was my father. You can't take that from me!" Sanza grabbed a wire at the base of Echos neck and slowly pulled it.

"Can't I?" He said and grabbed a lead pipe on the table and swung down as hard as he could hitting Echos hand. The scream that followed was hard and loud. His vocal cords failed for a few moments. Sanza dropped the pipe and opened Echos chest plate and looked inside.

"Sounds like your pain nodes are on. Unlike your brother whose are on. I broke the knob too so everything he feels is a little more then just a touch." He laughed taking a power tool and started to unscrew things like he had done previously to Zane. Every piece, every part was examined painfully. Also painfully put back and not always in the right place. He put it wherever he wanted. Echos screams and thrashings were heard all over the hidden compound. Zane sat in the corner covering his audios knowing perfectly well what they were doing to him.

After about two hours the door unlocked and they drug Echo into the room and threw him on the ground. Zane scrambled over to his brother and looked over him. His hand was in pieces and falling apart. His chest plate was bent , and probably would need a hot soak to bend back into place.

"Echo...where's the omni tool?" Zane asked putting his hand to Echos helm. The younger nindroids other hand shakily reached for his pocket and missed. He wasn't able to get to it. He touched his lips and then throat. Zane nodded his head seeing the damage to his vocal processor. He must have screamed too much and Sanza had damaged it so he couldn't hear it anymore. Zane reached into Echos pants pocket and grabbed the omni tool and began to put his throat back together. It sparked a few times causing Echo to gasp in pain Eventually it popped and his voice once again worked.

"Brother…" He swallowed hard trying to get the pain to go away because it still hurt to speak.

"I'm here Echo...shhhh." He rocked his pained brother back and forth.

"Kate...they're...they're going after Kate. They're going to use her DNA and my parts to create some super soldier in that tank. But they're going to use her body...Zane...they're going to kill Kate."