"Veee..." He murmured sadly. "Are you all right, Gilbert?" Gilbert shrugged, returning his gaze to the wall. There was a few more seconds of silence. "You know, the second day you were here...Kiku took you somewhere. What did he do?" Gilbert snorted slightly, but shrugged. Feliciano bit his lip, a habit he had picked up from Elizabeta, before standing fully. "I'm sorry, Gilbert."
"For what?" Gilbert asked, his voice slightly mechanical from a week of disuse. Feliciano jumped, his hands wringing nervously.
"Ve, for-for, um...we-well," The Italian mecha scrambled for his words. Gilbert watched him with a raised eyebrow before looking away with a sigh.
"So you won't tell me either." He murmured softly. "Why won't anyone mention it?"
"Won't it hurt you?" Feliciano finally latched onto something to say. "And, besides..."
"I want to know, though." Gilbert sighed again. "Roderich..."
Roderich had his hands on Elizabeta's desk firmly, violet eyes narrowed in anger. In the back of his mind, he noted how different he was each time he was behind the piece of wood. Currently, though, the rest of his mind was focused on one thing.
"I want him back, Elizabeta." He said, his voice as firm as the hands on her desk. "I don't want to be here every day anymore. I want Gilbert." Elizabeta sighed, rubbing her eyes, her elbows on the desk.
"I know, Roderich." She replied. "But I'm afraid that isn't possible. We cannot just- - -I mean, we could, but- - -"
"Then why don't you?" Roderich asked curiously. Elizabeta hesitated, then sighed and pressed the intercom on her desk.
"Boss to Yao."
"Yea, Boss?"
"Bring me Gilbert." There was silence on the other end.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." Elizabeta leaned back on her chair and sighed heavily. "Don't be too surprised, Roderich. We had to."
"Had to what?" Roderich asked. Elizabeta didn't answer; a few minutes later, Yao walked in, Gilbert's wrist in his hand.
"Gilbert, Boss." He bowed slightly and, with a small glance at Roderich, the Asian mecha left. There was silence in the office; Elizabeta had her hand rubbing at her eyes, Roderich looking curiously between Gilbert and Elizabeta.
Gilbert stood at her desk, his arms crossed over his chest and his crimson eyes glaring angrily at Elizabeta.
"What do you want?" Roderich jumped at the anger lacing Gilbert's voice and looked at the other curiously- - -he had never heard Gilbert sound like that before.
"This is Roderich Edelstein." Elizabeta said calmly, sitting up straighter in her desk and looking at Gilbert with a metallic glint in her eye- - -almost as if she were one of her beloved mechas.
"Is that supposed to mean something?" Gilbert snapped back, eyeing the man out of the corner of his eye.
He was slightly shorter than the silver-haired male, Gilbert noted, with deep brown hair and wide violet eyes. This...Roderich...wore black pants and a blue coat buttoned up to his chin. He was staring at Gilbert unabashedly, and despite the confusion that dominated his face, Gilbert could see small glimpses of other feelings- - -happiness...relief...love.
In the back of his mind, something jolted painfully.
Roderich, on the other hand, was having slight difficulty with what had just left the mecha's mouth.
"What did you do?" He hissed angrily, whirling to face Elizabeta. The Hungarian woman had begun rubbing her temples, and she did not stop when she answered Roderich's question.
"We did what we had to." She said with a deep sigh. "He was determined as all hell to get back to you, in any way. He was screaming for you, trying various methods of escape plans- - -he hit Yao and two of my other mechas in a furious attempt to leave. Twice- - -at least. It was upsetting, not only to the others, but to Kiku and myself as well. None of our mechas had ever malfunctioned like Gilbert had been malfunctioning- - -"
"I WAS NOT MALFUNCTIONING!" Gilbert roared suddenly, making both of them jump. His crimson eyes were burning in a pure, unadulterated anger that made Roderich's own eyes widen in shock and slight fear, though he ignored the other male in favor of having a stare down with his creator and 'mother figure'. "Don't you accuse me of that!"
"You had no reason to be behaving the way you were!" Elizabeta snapped back, standing and pushing her chair back with a loud screech against the floor below it. "You were acting in a way none of the others had been acting in before! Kiku and I could only assume you had somehow obtained a virus, and the only way to take care of it was to wipe your hard drive!"
"What does that mean?" Roderich cut in suddenly, something similar to dread filling his stomach. "Elizabeta?"
The woman looked down at her desk dejectedly.
"We cleaned his memory files." She said softly, a complete opposite tone in her voice as she addressed her childhood friend. "He has no memory of ever leaving HQ."
For a moment, there was a dead silence. Not even Gilbert moved, his arms crossed stubbornly as he glared at the wall. Elizabeta continued to stare down at her desk, not willing or able to look Roderich in the eye as he absorbed the information given to him.
Roderich felt his breath shorten, coming in slightly quicker gasps than he was used to at the news. If Gilbert couldn't remember...
"Why?" Roderich asked shakily, his fists clenching in uncharacteristic anger. "Why would you do that?" Elizabeta opened her mouth but Roderich cut across her. "After all that...and when I finally got used to him..." Gilbert was looking at him curiously now, his head turned to look at Roderich fully with a blank stare.
"Roderich, I'm sorry." Elizabeta murmured, standing up and reaching for the male's arm. "I'm so sorry; please understand- - -"
"What if one of your mechas starts acting like this again?" Roderich asked, violet eyes narrowed as he backed up just out of Elizabeta's reach. "Is that going to be your only solution?" Elizabeta's jaw dropped, but Roderich whirled around to leave; Gilbert stood in front of the door, arms spread out to keep him from leaving.
Crimson eyes locked with violet, and for a moment time seemed to stand still. There was Gilbert, a black t-shirt with a white gas mask on it and baggy black jean shorts, his silver hair falling slightly into his eyes as they stared determinedly into Roderich's. And there was Roderich, standing tall despite what he had just learned, his violet eyes dulling slightly a little more the longer he stared at the mechanical being he had once owned.
"Who are you?" Gilbert asked slowly, blinking slowly in confusion.
It was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back; the so-called final nail in the coffin.
Roderich closed his eyes and shook his head in response, moving up to Gilbert and pressing a final, chaste kiss to the mecha's mouth. Glancing once more at Elizabeta with a look that read 'this is not over', Roderich moved around Gilbert and left, the door closing behind him with an audible 'click'.
"That could have gone better." Elizabeta sighed softly, rubbing her temples. When her office remained silent, she looked up- - -and frowned, worry replacing her weariness. "Gilbert?"
The mecha stood by the door, his arms limp by his sides as his eyes stared ahead of him blankly. Every now and then, he would twitch, from his hand moving minutely to his entire head jerking to the side violently. His eyes, though staring blankly, had what looked to be data streaming across them, far too small and fast for Elizabeta to see, but at a size and speed Gilbert could understand. He didn't seem to be hearing Elizabeta's frantic calls, though his whole body would shudder when his name was called.
And when Elizabeta stood in front of him, her emerald eyes worried as she tried to get Gilbert's attention, his head twitched harshly- - -
Revealing a vibrant, mouth-shaped mark in the space between his neck and shoulder.
Elizabeta's eyes widened in shock, her efforts of gaining Gilbert's attention stopped as she stared at what could only be classified as a love bite.
The door opened behind Gilbert, and Matthew stuck his head in.
"Hi, Boss." He stammered. When Elizabeta motioned for him to come in, he entered hesitantly. "U-Uh...um..." His eyes narrowed slightly as he tried to remember his reason for being in the office, a pale hand reaching for Gilbert and settling directly over the mark almost unconsciously. "I-I-I was...I mean, you're needed...u-um, well, I think..."
"Describe them, Matthew." Elizabeta said breathlessly, Matthew giving her a grateful look. She didn't notice, her mind rushing to find a connection between the bite on Gilbert's neck and his almost malfunctioning behavior.
"W-Well..." Matthew thought hard. "Um, short, yea? W-With dark hair- - -uh, short- - -a-and he, uh, he works on us...?" Matthew trailed off, looking at Elizabeta unsurely even as she breathed a sigh of relief; Kiku, just the person she wanted to see.
"That's Kiku, Matthew." She said gently, with a slight tone that told of how many times she had reminded him and the others the names of the people they lived with. Matthew made a face of comprehension and nodded once, storing the information in his memory even as he knew he would forget it again. He glanced at Gilbert, realizing belatedly the space where he had placed his hand was marked strangely.
"Eh?" He pressed down on it curiously, feeling the indentations in Gilbert's neck. "What's this?" Moving to stand in front of Gilbert, Matthew moved his hand to peer curiously at the mark. "It looks like...teeth...right?" He asked, frowning slightly. "But, who would bite Gilbert, eh? Un-Unless- - -"
"Tell Kiku I'll be right there!" Elizabeta shouted suddenly, pushing Matthew out. "Ok, hon?"
"Yea, Boss," Matthew stammered, trying to look over his shoulder at Gilbert. "But what about Gilbert's shoulder?"
"Actually," Elizabeta said, flushing slightly. "Why don't you show me where he is?" As Matthew continued to stammer unsurely, Elizabeta shut the door to her office firmly, taking up Matthew's arm in her other hand and dragging him down the hallway.
Roderich sighed as he leaned against his front door, his glasses in his left hand as his right rubbed his temples. Closing his eyes against his dark, empty house, Roderich allowed the sudden, unfortunately familiar silence to admit to himself one of the things he had not wanted to say in front of Elizabeta.
He missed Gilbert.
The first couple of days without him had been odd for Roderich. He had gotten so used to Gilbert greeting him and seeing him off. Bringing him his lunches everyday. Sleeping with him (in an innocent sense, honestly). Just...being there with Roderich.
And even now, now that Roderich was more used to it, he still thought he'd open the door one day and Gilbert would greet him from in front of the television. Or he'd wake up and Gilbert would be sleeping in that strangely human way he had, arms buried under the pillow as his eyes darted around under closed eyelids.
It was nearly enough to drive him crazy.
Shaking his head, Roderich pushed himself off of his door and down the hall, passing by the kitchen and his room in favor of his piano room; seating himself on the bench, Roderich placed his fingers on the keys and, after a slight hesitation, drowned out the apartment with his morose emotions.
For now, he would sort out the numbness that settled in him shortly after leaving Elizabeta's office. The empty feeling of knowing that no matter how hard he tried, Gilbert would never be the same because he had been reset, for lack of a better word, and everything about Roderich had been wiped clean from the mecha. Though Roderich felt slightly relieved that the first week of him having Gilbert was gone (because, even then, he could admit to himself that he was being downright horrible to Gilbert), it upset him that the better week of the mecha being with him was gone (and had it really only been three weeks ago he had gotten Gilbert anyway?).
In the background, the phone rang; Roderich, still lost in his thoughts and music, didn't hear it.
He continued playing, the melancholy tune beginning to be replaced with something slightly more cheerful, more hopeful, more optimistic; after all, Roderich could be stubborn when he wanted to. And there was always a tomorrow to regain Gilbert. Roderich was sure that eventually, Elizabeta would have to see things his way and just allow Gilbert to come back with him, memories gone or not. He could always build better memories with Gilbert (and now he sounded like a sixteen year old girl, so he was going to shut his mind off and just focus on the piano).
After all, Gilbert would still be the same without his memories; Roderich was sure of it.
"I know what's wrong with Gilbert!" Matthew cried excitedly, throwing the door to the mecha room open and startling everyone in there. Arthur turned from where he had been arguing heatedly with the corner of the room, Yao tilting his head to the side in confusion as Feliciano jumped up and exclaimed something in Italian, clapping his hands happily. Lovino snorted but stood as well, and Heracles looked up sleepily from where he had been napping.
"What...?" He mumbled almost incoherently. Matthew ignored him in favor of addressing everyone, his knowledge of how to help Gilbert taking over his usually shy and almost invisible nature.
"It's because of Roderich!" Before Matthew could get anything else out, Lovino snorted again.
"We knew that already!" He yelled back. Matthew made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat, his tail drooping slightly and ears pressing against his head.
"Let's just listen to Matthew, aru." Yao said, placing a calming hand on Lovino's shoulder. "Continue, please." Matthew nodded firmly.
"I went to talk to Boss earlier, because I needed to bring her to someone, and she was with Gilbert." Matthew nodded at Arthur's raised eyebrow, excitement filling his small body. "I'm not too sure what they were talking about, but Gilbert seemed upset, so I put my hand on his shoulder, and-and-and!" Matthew shook his head slightly- - -it felt like something was messing with his vocals, reducing him to a stuttering mass of technology even as he tried to tell everyone what he found. "I f-f-fe-felt this m-m-ma-mar-mar-mark!"
Before he could say anything else, he dropped his ever-present polar bear; he was still talking, but speaking at a speed so fast they barely understood him. All the mechas froze, staring at Matthew in shock and surprise. Matthew let out a shuddering gasp, eyes and fingers twitching almost madly.
His eyes dimmed suddenly, and as he shut off he fell gracefully; Yao was the first to move, catching Matthew easily before the younger mecha hit the floor.
"What the fuck?" Lovino snarled, though there was a frightened undertone in his words. Feliciano seemed to snap out of his stunned stupor and began wailing loudly, clutching his brother in fear. Heracles' eyes were wide and alert, a first for the usually sleeping mecha, and Arthur had his arm out awkwardly, almost as if he was holding something to keep himself steady.
"Too much excitement for him, aru." Yao said softly as Matthew's eyes began to slowly light up again. "He had to restart himself." Matthew sat up slowly, blinking around slowly, his face emotionless. After a few seconds, his head twitched once and his entire body shuddered.
"Eh?" He said calmly, looking around. "What happened?"
"You had to restart." Yao said gently, Feliciano's sobs quieting down. "How are you feeling, aru?" Matthew groaned and rubbed his head.
"Roderich bit Gilbert." Matthew said, a more controlled excitement filling his eyes as he remembered what he had been trying to say. "He's got a bite mark right here," Matthew pointed, "and Elizabeta won't let me talk about it with her."
"That doesn't necessarily mean- - -" Yao was cut off by the door opening, Elizabeta looking tired.
"Feliciano and Heracles, come with me please." Slightly stunned, Feliciano cast a fearful glance at Lovino before obeying. Heracles stood slowly, his eyes reusing their half-closed position as he yawned heavily with the motion.
As they approached, Elizabeta checked their necks and shoulders before nodding once and leading them out of the room. Yao sighed. Matthew blinked twice. Lovino crossed his arms, grumbling under his breath.
"What on earth is going on?" Arthur growled out, hands in his hair.
Ah, who slightly panicked when Mattie shut off? XD haha sorry sorry. Anyway, thanks for waiting and reading! XD
