Check the end of this oneshot for some additional info. This is the first thing I've written in a while, and this oneshot is supposed to be a bit of a de-ruster in a sense. I hope you'll enjoy it
(Angst warning for the end btw)
The lower level of the lab was dim, lit only by the array of monitors displaying all sorts of things the Doctor kept tabs on. Roll didn't need to worry about those screens for the time being; just the one infront of her right now. Graphics and statistics regarding Bass' condition illuminated Roll's features as she studied them once again.
"The weekend's taking so long to get here..." She mutters to herself
Her thoughts drifted somewhere less than optimistic any time she was the only one left to handle repairs. Especially if it was for her brothers, though now that he'd been regularly banging himself up to thwart King and his army, she couldn't help but worry about Bass as well. The only other noise accompanying the low electronic buzz that stood out during silence was the sound of a keyboard clacking away beneath her fingers. It had developed into a routine since King first appeared all those days ago. Sneaking Bass into the elevator after he shows up at the lab's front door unnanounced. After the first time, she'd given him the means to call her beforehand, but he never did so...
Pirate Man's sea had left him with deep tears in his armor that gave way to a water damaged nightmare. Though as she scanned him now, his status after fighting both King and Dr. Wily, or so he said, it bewildered her. No matter how many times she glanced over his form or ran another set of diagnostics, he was in perfect condition. Nothing but exhaustion; an E-Can could probably revitalize him, she'll leave one for him once she was done with the report. To keep them secret from the Doctor, she'd kept his records in an encrypted folder only she could access. Light never seemed to find it so far anyway, perhaps it was overkill.
With one last key-tap, she had wrapped this one up. She hadn't noticed that Bass' eyes fell shut sometime during this examination until she stood from the computer. Curious, her boots would silently step one by one until she could stand beside the table he lay upon for one last good look. Just to be 100% sure nothing was wrong. No scuffs, no dents, in fact; his armor still had a particular luster to it. Her reflection stared right back once she took a particularly long look into the gem adorning his chest.
"If you're that scared, I'll stomp King without getting so much as a scratch on my armor. Would you quit crying after that?"
His words from hours ago, they replayed again and again in her thoughts as she set a Can down by his shoulder. Bass really did it, even though his voice was harsh when he spoke, he managed to make a promise and immediately fulfill it just for her...
There was a sudden thumping within her chest, only for a brief moment, but it was all she had to experience. The realization brought a hand to her mouth, and a dusting of red upon her cheeks that could not be hidden. Hurried steps carried her away from his side and up the stairs leading to the elevator, pulling herself behind one of the closing doors to evade his sight should he wake up too soon. Only once she felt the platform raising beneath her feet did she let out a bated breath.
The self-doubt instilled into her brother from his failure to assist Bass in the fight against King left him quite uneasy, so for tonight Rock's patrol extended into the latest hours. This left Roll as the only one home aside from the Doctor...and Bass. Exiting the elevator that took her back from the main lab, she stepped down the hall and turned on a single light. After visiting the kitchen, Roll seated herself on the common room sofa with a cup of tea that chilled her fingertips. Those thoughts from the lab still racked her mind.
Even though she sipped from such a cool drink, the warmth that washed over her cheeks wouldn't go away. Roll knew she wasn't like any of her brothers, not for her lack of combat prowess, but for her deeper emotional capability. It wasn't an aspect of herself she had always known about, only after collecting some loose papers from the floor of the lab one day did she find one about her own model plans. Dr. Light did not experiment this way while creating Rock as he needed him to be focused in order to best help around the lab, but as for Roll, this predisposition to emotion was meant to help create a robot with the best capability of supporting those the Doctor held dear.
It was a blessing and a curse, she knew why compassion came so easily how to best carry herself then, but the poor girl had no clue how to handle these sudden feelings that had just been realized. It was easy to love her family, even her friends such as Kalinka, but for an enemy? Bass was not only just the creation of another, but a creation of Dr. Wily! Dr. Light would never approve of this, so it would be best to quash these sudden feelings...but she couldn't do that. An exasperated sigh puffed from behind her lips as she set the cup down on the coffee table.
Just as she laid her temples into her palms, the elevator to the lab opened up. Rubbing at her face for a moment to do away with any sort of expression she may have worn right now, Roll turned to see if he was really there. With the fin of his helmet hanging from his fingers, Bass was already walking out of the hallway. This was the first time she had ever seen his hair; she never considered that his helm could be removed in the first place. It had such a dark, jet black color to it, accompanied with streaks of blonde strands throughout. Styled much like Rock's, but in such a way that the peaks tended to point up towards the back. Her eyes may have stayed put, but his boots only brought him closer to the door the longer she deliberated.
Roll thought he might stay for just a while at least, but as that time ran out she started to panic. Even if he may not understand her, she knew that staying put and bottling up these feelings would leave her suffering in secrecy for quite some time. Brow furrowing, she hastily rose to her feet.
"Wait, Bass!"
Her call had stopped him in his path, helmet held in between his palms.
"...what is it, Roll?"
Even if his eyes had settled on her, judging from how his palms still held onto his helmet, he wouldn't entertain her for long. Oh how she wished he'd stop being so...so...withdrawn! Hopping over the back of the sofa, Roll drew close to him until she was just behind his back
"How are you holding up...did you drink the Can?"
"Yeah...guess I forgot to thank you for that." Tucking that helm under an arm, he finally turned to face her. "I'm fine, but I should get going."
Try as she might to keep a straight face, these troublesome feelings would purse her lips into a frown, eyes dropping to the floor now that she was struggling to find the right words. Bass could tell something was up, yet he only leaned towards her as if to better examine her face. To this, she reeled back slightly, hands balling up over her chest.
"...what?" she asked, initiating a brief period of the two staring each other down.
"You don't look good. Maybe you should go grab a Can yourself." With that, he straightened his back, and brought the helmet back over his head with a sturdy click.
"I don't need that right now..."
Roll's hands would fold, hovering over her chest. Her body leaned towards him as she tried to stand taller.
"I need to know if you'll come back. Now that King's been taken care of."
His arms crossed, looking down at her with a slight furrow to his brow, like she somehow insulted him.
"I won't need to. Another threat so big won't show up that soon."
Her hand landed upon one of his forearms, gripping the cold surface gently.
"But, didn't Wily trick you? Where will you go back to now? I don't think Dr. Light would mind-"
Roll was cut off as she spoke, one of his arms unfolding to give a dismissive wave of his hand. Those eyes were quick to look towards the door, and he turned his back to her as the talk began getting on to his nerves.
"Look, don't sweat it. I handled two big bads in one day. I'll be just fine"
Just as his hand grabbed the knob and twisted, the girl had thrown her arms over his shoulders. He was the taller between the two, so her toes had just barely managed to stay grounded amidst this desperate embrace.
"I don't want this to be goodbye Bass! I realized something. It's not just the product of my programming..." Her fingertips tightly gripped at his pauldrons while she took a breath to steady her voice once more. "I can't help but worry over you. It took a while for you to stop coming back in such bad shape. All those injuries...I was so scared you'd take more than you could handle..."
Bass was silent. Though as Roll seemed to be talking from a place of genuine concern, he would crane his head back to let her know he was at least listening.
"I gave you that device so I could reach you, and I kept supporting you throughout King's assault because... because..!"
Her throat began to hitch, losing her voice slightly as she bit back a whimper. It was starting to set in, the crushing doubt that bid her to bite her tongue and silence herself. But she wouldn't, not right now, not for anything. Even if she had to face him with tears streaming down her cheeks, she'd talk. It would bring too much pain upon herself to just let this opportunity go.
"I care about you...I love you...Bass, please..."
Roll had been able to retain her voice just long enough to force those words that had been stuck in her throat to come out for him. No longer able to speak meaningfully, she shrank into his back. Her sobs would only be broken by the occasional plea begging him to reconsider and stay, how she can't stand the idea of letting him out of her sight again. His breath was let out in mild exasperation as his head swiveled forward for the last time. Up until a few days ago, Bass never thought about much more than his pride, strength, or his desire to defeat Mega Man. He wasn't able to understand how Roll was able to take his mind off his main purpose, it clouded his mind with deep bewilderment. The desire to keep her from fretting, show off for her, and this strange pang deep beneath his chest; none of it made sense, and it quickly began to anger him. His hand would grip one of hers. Even if his grip was ginger as to not hurt her, it was only to shed her hold on him one hand at a time.
"I have to go now."
After he'd spoken, Bass wrenched the door open quickly. His boots were soon off the flooring of the room and on to the grass outside. When Roll tried to keep up with him, he tucked his fingers underneath his lip and whistled out into the air. The noise was piercing, forcing her to block it out with her hands until she could see him pause. Near immediately, Treble had beamed to his side with a harsh growl. Despite her next attempt to give chase, the force of Bass' boosters caused Roll to lose her balance and trip past the doorway. Pulling herself back up to her knees, she could only watch as he leapt high into the air. At that point, she no longer cared about waking the Doctor up. If that ear-piercing whistle hadn't done so already, Roll would do it herself.
"Come back!!" She hopelessly yelled.
Her palms soon weren't enough to keep the tears welling up in her eyes at bay, so she let them drop to the ground after seeing Treble carry Bass far enough into the sky to become a speck she easily lost among the night's stars. It wouldn't be long before she fell once again, looking at the blades of grass between her fingers until the tears made them too blurry to count inidvidually. Just within her earshot, she heard a door within the house opening. Dr. Light couldn't see her like this, she won't allow it. Though even after scrambling to her feet and hurriedly shutting the door behind herself, the Doctor could still read her like a book in his half asleep state. So, shortly after her attempt to throw on a facade of placidity, she was clutching her father tightly, weeping as she recounted the events that had just transpired to him in an effort to try and understand where to go from here.
As the writer I'm obviously biased, but I like to think this turned out alright. It's been years after all, I went to make this after I found out my 1st ever work actually had some reviews and criticisms as recent as last year. Hopefully I can act upon those soon, I enjoy writing for this niche in the fandom. This piece is actually my attempt on a rewrite from a chapter in my first work, it turned out a bit angsty to incorporate into a longer story so it will remain that; a oneshot. I do wish to make a full retake on the events in MMB though, perhaps explore how their relationship could work up to a point like this. By the way, any time "can" is capitalized, it's referring to an E-Tank/E-Can if you didn't catch on. If you'd prefer "E-Tank/Can" though, feel free to leave that and any other comments or opinions you have on this piece.
