Happy Christmas everyone! Yes I know not everyone celebrates it, but I do, so there. Take your lovingly gifted present and enjoy it or else, lol. It's heartwarming story time! Except it's heartwarming in a kind of fucked-up way. Weil was not a nice person. He was rather a horrible human in fact, but he was still a human. It will be interesting for you guys to consider this ficlet in context of his hatred and villainy. Unforgivable people can still be very relatable. Reading comprehension time?

Also, uh, speaking of Weil… Uh. If Weil had accelerated healing, why didn't he have legs?

Offscreen Scene 01: Tall Tales

In which Aile hears a very biased viewpoint, and loves every minute of it.

"Daddy! Tell me a story."

Omega looked down at the small girl struggling to stay awake in his lap and tried not to groan. Aile was a sweet but stubborn child. Incredibly stubborn. Her dollish eyes were lidded, her body as limp as a cat's, and she was yawning fit to rip her face open. Yet the brunette stubbornly refused to rest. He'd been trying to put the young child to bed for over two hours. "I told you bedtime stories yesterday."

"That's fine! I'm not tired! So it's not a bedtime story if I don't fall asleep!"

Omega hated such ruthless logic. Whoever said children were innocent had clearly never met one, especially one like Aile. What a villain! "You need to sleep. Go to bed, Aile."

"No!"

Omega couldn't hold back his frustration any longer and growled. Such a cruel and evil menace! He was tempted to do the "falling asleep on Aile" trick again. Heavens knew why the only way to get her to stop moving and fall asleep was to sometimes literally force her to stop moving. He'd had to do it the day before yesterday. "Aile…!"

Aile gave him a big grin from where she'd commandeered his lap to play with some dinosaur figurines and stuffed animals. She wiggled about and looked at interesting things in a way Omega knew, from experience, portended that she was about to bolt from his lap to check them out. Again. That one damned box of chalk had already cost him a half-hour of lost bedtime today alone!

Omega threw in the towel. He did that a lot lately. "Alright, Aile. I will tell you a story."

"Yay!" Aile stopped squirming immediately, focusing all her attention on him. Omega wondered if he was really going to manage just one story tonight. Last week she'd had five in one sitting and still gotten up afterwards to run amok.

He was not qualified for childcare. "What sort of story would you like?"

"Tell me about Gramps again!"

Omega hummed. He was pleased that Aile wanted to hear about Weil again, but it confused him that she kept asking to hear the same old stories. Aile was not so disrespectful as to forget every detail, was she? Maybe children's brains were too small to remember things? "Very well. One story. Just one! Would you like a new one? Or is there one you'd like to hear again?" He hoped it wasn't a new one, as he'd fast run out of those. It would be much easier if she asked for yet another repeat.

"Tell me about how you spooked him!" She giggled.

Ah. Good. He'd told her this one thirteen times already, but it was better than trying to pull a new tale out of his ass. Omega was desperate for her to go to sleep, and would take any chance he could get to slow her down. Time to tell her a fourteenth time. "Very well. It all started in the middle of a long, dark night…"

Aile settled in gleefully as the story continued, Omega embellishing some bits and simplifying others for her entertainment, "Many years ago, there was once a secret meeting of scientists and rulers of the world, the government that would become Neo Arcadia. It was being held in a hidden place, and your ancestor, Weil, had not been invited. Weil was the greatest scientific mind of all time, so this was very short-sighted and rude of them. He tried to argue that he should come, but the government and other scientists would hear none of his complaints. Weil knew that they were jealous of his intellect, and foolish to spurn his ideas. So Weil hatched a plan to spy on them."

Aile giggled. She knew what was about to happen. Omega had no idea why she wanted to hear the story again if she clearly remembered it, but if Aile liked it and it made Aile fall asleep, he could ignore his confusion easily. Anything for a break from the brat. "Weil, being as clever as he was, wore a disguise to infiltrate the building where the meeting was held. He made small robots like mice to scurry in the walls, bats to hide in the corners, and snakes to slither through wires and under floors. He made them so they could listen to the meeting for him, and so they did. Because of this, Weil heard what they were planning."

Aile jumped the gun a little. Her offended gasps at the upcoming injustices did little to halt the story, "They had planned to betray him! Weil, who was the greatest human of all! He who should have ruled over all other humans! They feared his intellect, and were too petty to accept his rule. They did not like him, no, not at all. And so Weil hurried back to his labs so that he could plan, and protect himself from their cruel plots."

Omega looked down at Aile. Nope. Not asleep yet. To be fair, the next part of the story was her favourite, "But oh, Weil, he made a mistake! For I protected his labs as his stalwart friend. As you know, Weil knew I was a God. He was the only one who truly believed in me. He'd helped me better myself, improved my body, sharpened my mind. And so I guarded his labs in return for his generosity. But I did not know that he had disguised himself that night! All I saw was an unfamiliar intruder, sneaking into Weil's home!"

Aile giggled again, hugging him as she listened to the tale. Her most abused and adored plush was lightly clutched to her chest. Omega hated the thing, but couldn't deny that it had held up well to Aile's stern usage. He continued the story, though he wasn't going to tell her the details of what had actually occurred. There had been quite a bit more cussing and violence involved. "So I saw Weil in disguise, and wielded my blade against him. "Intruder!" I yelled, so thunderous that the walls quaked, and the ground shook! I was so furious! For Weil's lab should have been unknown to all but himself! And yet there stood a stranger, desecrating that space!"

He had definitely not told this story so fancifully the first half-dozen times. But the more he embellished it, the longer it took to say it, and the more likely Aile would fall asleep. So embellish it he did. "Weil's haste to return cost him. I struck out with my blade and my claws, intent on catching him by surprise. And I did! I had pinned him to the ground like a bug, furious at the folly of his intrusion, but then he spoke! "Omega! Omega, it is I! Recognize me, old friend!"

He had not called Omega his "old friend". He'd called him some rather choice words that Omega wasn't sure he wanted Aile to know at such a young age. Considering how free Omega could be with his cussing, that was saying something. "Of course, I did not believe him at first. I thought him a coward and a sneak, who was lying to save his skin! But then he removed his disguise, and oh! I knew what a fool I'd been!"

Weil had not walked away from that encounter unscathed. There was a reason he'd taken to levitating everywhere; It'd been quicker and easier than repairing his own legs, after all. In the end it had proven very fortuitous during the Elf Wars, and Weil hadn't really held it against him. Omega had only been doing what Weil had programmed him to do. It wasn't his fault that he did it so well. It was also the reason Omega had been installed with genetic sensors, as it would prevent such accidents from happening again. That little screw-up nearly cost Weil his life. Come to think of it, those sensors had saved Aile. Despite the horror of nearly killing his own friend, nowadays Omega couldn't help but be glad the whole mess had occurred. "And so Weil, back in his lab, was able to devise a way to oppose those who would undermine him. He planned a plan so great that all his enemies would be destroyed."

The whole event had pushed the Elf Wars into full swing, which had been a brutal conflict even by Omega's standard. Brutal, ruthless, and exhilarating. 90% of reploids and 60% of humans eradicated. He would never stop being proud of those numbers.

"The end."

Aile clapped her hands with joy. She always did enjoy her happy endings. "Grampa Weil was the best! I want another story Daddy! Another!"

Omega was instantly exhausted. "One story, Aile. That was what we agreed."

"That's what you said, Daddy, but I didn't agree to it! I want another story, Daddy! Another!"

Omega moaned in misery and frustration. "I've already told you a story tonight."

"I want another Gramps story! Now!" She commanded, hitting him in the chest. Her palm was tiny and the strike was weak, so it did no damage. It sure got the point across though. She writhed with an energy that Omega knew could turn into a tantrum in a heartbeat if she didn't get what she wanted.

Tonight, Omega would not be lucky enough to tell her only one story. The blonde was pretty sure she had agreed to a single tale. But it didn't matter in the end; If Aile changed her mind and demanded more stories, she'd get them one way or another. She was as determined as Weil was. It was easier for Omega to resign himself to her demands than try to argue with her, as she was utterly fearless of her caretaker and had boundless vitriol to throw at him if properly incensed. "...Very well."

"Another one! Yay! I want a new one this time!"

Uh oh. What new stories could Omega talk about? He didn't have many memories of Weil. Despite their bond, they hadn't actually spent all that much time together-wait. Hold on, there was one time. A few times, actually, that Weil had told him that no one was to ever know about, or that had occurred during the moments Weil preferred to keep a secret, no matter how plain and uninteresting they seemed to Omega. The devil reploid looked down at the girl in his lap. Weil's descendant was currently curling up in his arms contentedly. He didn't realize he was smiling until he felt the corners of his own lips tweak themselves.

Aile. Weil. Their names weren't all that different, actually.

…His old friend would have to forgive him.

"Well, all right. One more story. But just one! A new one. So you'd better be a good girl and go to sleep after, all right?

"Yes Daddy! I promise Daddy!"

A promise was about a fifty-fifty chance that she actually meant it. Not bad odds, all things told, so he'd go ahead and tell her. The story was a new one, so Omega wasn't going to embellish it as much. He was too tired to do so anyways; Childcare was rough. "Well, as you know, Weil was a very smart man and scientist. He created a great, white armour for me to use. Remember the pieces I've shown you? That was it, before Zero came along and ruined Weil's hard work." Aile was rapt with attention, and offense on Weil's behalf, as Omega continued, "Long ago, I was helping him make some repairs to that armour. We shared most of Weil's tools, but I was under strict orders not to touch certain ones. Some that were delicate, some that were complicated, and one in particular, a perfectly normal screwdriver." Omega blinked, "Oh, Aile, did I ever tell you that Weil had a favourite screwdriver?"

"No you didn't! What's a screwdriver? What does it do? What color was it? Was it pink? I hope it was pink!"

"A screwdriver is a simple tool. It helps tighten things, like screws. It was bright green, well, mostly. It had faded in the sun, and been stained by grease, so calling it green might have been a stretch. I think someone had given it to him? Or he'd won it as a part of some set of tools. I don't remember where exactly it came from. But it was very distinct, and I was not to touch it. And so I didn't," Omega explained. Aile seemed fascinated by the subject, so he continued the tale, "Well anyways, I was helping Weil repair the armour. And then, suddenly, I hear him cry, "Omega! Where is my screwdriver?!" And I looked over to see him covered in dirt. His hair was a mess, sticking upwards because some oil had gotten stuck to it, and he was searching around desperately for his favourite tool. I had no idea where it was! I told him as such! And he knew I wouldn't have touched it, so he knew I told the truth." Omega paused for a moment to catch his breath, "I had no idea where to look for it, yet I offered to help anyways."

Weil had certainly enjoyed some privileges back in the day. He had the most powerful being ever at his beck and call, willing and able to do whatever Weil asked of him. Even if that was, on occasion, simply holding a piece of machinery here, passing him a sandwich there, or helping him find a beloved tool. "Sadly, no matter how hard we looked and looked, we couldn't find it. It wasn't in his tool box, it wasn't on the work table, it wasn't even on the floor. It had simply disappeared." Maybe they could have looked around for it more, but the pair of them had been in a bit of a hurry. Weil had given up on it fairly quickly, and they'd moved on with more pressing issues. Like the arrival of an assault led by X and Zero. Omega still felt a little bad about that screwdriver. It was a small, silly, overused, and easily replaceable tool, but for whatever reason Weil had been very fond of it, and Omega had been unable to help him find it.

"So what happened?" Aile asked.

Omega frowned, "Nothing, I'm afraid. We didn't find the tool. It was lost forever. Not a very happy ending I guess, but that's the story."

Aile squinted up at him, clearly thinking hard. Then her eyes lit up and she smiled with accomplishment, "Oh! Daddy! Your big armour was soooooo huge! And it's got so many holes in it! Do you think it fell in there? Maybe it got stuck in there. Did you and Gramps look inside of it?"

Omega was taken aback. Come to think of it... "No. We were in a rush."

"It must be in there! Let's go look Daddy!" She shuffled around, ready to spring into action.

Omega held her down, "That is a very good idea, Aile. Let us go look… tomorrow." Omega was too tired to pay proper attention to Aile, which could be dangerous if they were going to be rooting around in the corpse of his old armour.

"But Daddy-!"

"Tomorrow will come faster if you go to sleep now," Omega calmy reminded her. "We search tomorrow. And not a day sooner," he said firmly. This time, he meant to hold his ground.

Aile seemed to realize this. She ran to her bed and threw herself under the covers with aplomb. "Goodnight Daddy! Go to bed! Hurry up, I wanna go find Grampa's favourite, uh, thingy!"

Omega couldn't help but chuckle. "Very well. Goodnight, Aile."

The next morning Aile slept in, having exhausted herself yet again by staying up late. Omega enjoyed some quiet time for himself. Such silence was a rare treat. But the moment Aile did wake up, she was out of bed faster than a frog hopping out of boiling water. She hunted Omega down and shook him, "Daddy! Daddy, we're gonna go look for Grandpa's scoo-diver!"

"Screwdriver."

"Whatever!"

Aile ran off. Omega followed.

The God of Destruction wasn't expecting to find anything that day. Aile was though. With childish confidence she looked high and low, her tiny fingers digging into all sorts of cracks and crevices with determination. Omega had to warn her against touching the torn, ragged, and sharp edges where the giant mech's armour had been blown apart. He carefully watched as she ran around the remnants of his old armed phenomenon form. Omega reminisced about it, and the Dark Elf used to power it, even as Aile practically stood on her head to see into dark crevices that she was sure held some sort of secret treasure. The Dark Elf had betrayed Omega. He didn't linger on such uncomfortable thoughts for long. Watching Aile go ballistic searching for an impossible object was much more entertaining, anyways. She babbled and talked and demanded Omega lift this piece of scrap or throw away that one, or help her get unstuck when she'd somehow gotten herself wedged in a gap between joints. He tried not to laugh his ass off when Aile complained bitterly that one of the mecha's faces didn't have proper nose-holes for her to explore, then tried to shove herself up one anyways.

Children were ridiculous. Especially Aile, convinced that she could solve a centuries old minor mystery. As if such a long-lost object could ever be located again. Oh well. As long as it kept her entertained, that was less energy Omega had to expend in keeping her distracted.

And then she found the screwdriver.

"Daddy! DADDY!" she screamed. Omega startled at the sheer volume and enthusiasm, "Daddy! I got it!" She presented it to him proudly, utter glee and accomplishment making her unable to sit still. "Daddy! See? Look at it! DADDY!"

It was indeed Weil's favourite screwdriver. The handle was melted to slag and the metal shaft was bent at nearly a ninety degree angle. It was utterly useless, a piece of junk now. But to Aile, and to Omega, it was something treasured.

"Well done, Aile! Well done!"

Her father's pride made Aile scrunch up her face in ecstasy. Nostalgia filled Omega's heart with fondness. If he ever needed a sign that Weil was watching over her in spirit, then this was it. No, wait, that wasn't right. Weil could not watch over her in spirit because Weil wasn't dead. He wasn't. He couldn't be. But even if Weil wasn't watching over her, this was still a sign. Omega had no doubt that his old friend would have approved of Aile. She was a handful, sure, but she was quick and clever and determined. Her unruliness was no doubt just a consequence of being a child. That would iron itself out with time, and then they'd be left with a quick-witted woman that Weil would be proud to call his granddaughter.

Omega had no need of a busted screwdriver. He let Aile have it, and she kept it with her for the rest of the day. She held it and played with it, and whispered secrets to it as if she was talking to Weil himself. At the end of the night she placed it reverently in her box of treasures, a glittery pink, fake pirate chest of cardboard and wood and plastic gemstones that she hid all her most precious items in. A lock of Omega's hair. Her brother's backpack, on occasion. A stray orange bead that glittered beautifully, and looked like it was a precious stone of some sort. And now, the warped green screwdriver. She would take it out some days to look at it. Sometimes she'd play with it, tapping or twirling it against broken objects or toys like she was using it to repair them. On one memorable occasion, Omega made her a tiny paper Harpuia at her request, (horribly caricatured for Omega was no artist,) and she proceeded to stab the mockup with the screwdriver viciously. Omega definitely lost it at that one.

Aile brought joy to his life that Omega could have never predicted. Even if, on occasion, she demanded far too many stories.