Chapter Twelve: Webbed Cracks
When Zero arrived back at HQ, X was waiting for him, leaning ever so casually against the wall opposite the teleport pad. Axl was with him too, sitting at X's feet and drawing imaginary figures in the ground with his index finger. When Zero came into view, X straightened and pushed off the wall as Axl shot up and ran right to the red-clad hunter.
"Hey, Dad!" Axl wrapped his arms around one of Zero's as X made his way a little more slowly to him. "We heard there was an accident! You okay?"
"Just fine, kiddo," Zero responded, patting Axl's head with his free hand. When X was in range, Zero took that free hand and offered it to X, who accepted it and entwined their fingers. "I take it Mommy X was worried?"
X gave Zero's hand a slightly painful squeeze, the smile he had thinning into an annoyed line. "Yes, I was. You couldn't bother to call when you realized you were going to be over an hour late? Seriously?"
"Sorry, kinda phased out while walking." The trio walked together, Axl still hanging off Zero's arm and the two elite hunters still holding hands. People continued to give them odd glances, but the little family deftly ignored them as they all marched to Zero's room.
When there, Zero paused outside. "You know," he said absent-mindedly, "if we're going to be all family-family together all the time, we might as well go out and buy a damn house."
"Ooo, we should, we should." Axl grinned at them. "With a big backyard!"
X rolled his eyes. "You find such a place in the city, Axl, and I'll buy it."
"Really? I'll find it!" With that, Axl took off down the hallway, half-running and half-skipping.
Zero gave X a smirk. "You know he'll find it."
"Probably, but it got him to go." X shoved Zero into the room. "You and I, sweetheart, have unfinished business."
"You off the clock?"
"Never, but I got time." X gently took hold of Zero's helmet, deactivating it and his armor and pulling it off as it slid open in the back. With a content smile, X proceeded to undo the blue ribbon and watched as the blond hair spilled out, glittering like faint sunlight in the dim room.
Zero pulled X close, kissing him deeply and sweeping him up into arms to carry him bridal-style into the bedroom area. There, Zero broke the kiss and playfully hummed a wedding theme as he laid X gently on the bed, taking care to also remove his helmet and deactivate his armor.
X nearly giggled at the tune. "What are you thinking about?"
Zero grinned, nuzzling X's neck as he joined his boyfriend on the bed. "How Cain more or less got me to pledge my eternal love for you. I should probably go get ring. Maybe he'll calm down."
"Oh no," X groaned.
"But that, like the house, will be discussed later." Zero nipped X's ear, then bit into his neck.
The jumpsuit X wore under his armor repelled Zero's teeth, but the pressure of the bite was a ghosting tease to X, who lightly gasped and grabbed Zero's shoulders. Using the suit's strength to his advantage, Zero ravaged X's neck and chest with bites and rough kisses, knowing the hint of contact was stoking a fiery frenzy in the Reploid under him.
Zero grasped X's hands and tucked them under the smaller Reploid. Holding X's wrists with one hand, Zero slowly unzipped the jumpsuit with his free hand, watching with smoldering eyes as X panted in anticipation, cheeks flushed and eyes half-lidded.
"You look so damn beautiful," Zero murmured, dropping a kiss on X's lips. X quivered under him, the light shaking form against his making Zero moan.
He stripped X of the jumpsuit and attacked his neck with kisses and bites, his lover making such gorgeous music with his moans and gasps that it made Zero heady. He released X's hands and instantly, those hands were fumbling with the zipper of his own jumpsuit, barely managing to unzip it halfway down his back as they messily kissed. Zero paused enough to get rid of the garment himself, and then settled back on top of X.
"Think Axl will walk in again?" X whispered as Zero nuzzled and kissed a path down his chest.
"Even if he does," Zero muttered against the smooth skin, "he'll just see how much his 'parents' love each other." His tongue flicked out, tracing random little patterns on X's waist. "I don't know if I should be creeped out or not by how perfect and beautiful your body is, X… considering an old man made you."
X groaned. "Don't kill the mood."
"My bad." Zero kissed X's thighs, then glanced up and winked.
Outside, Axl was about to knock when X's soft cry was heard. He froze, then dropped his hand and scurried away, covering his ears.
~*~
Zero stretched contently before rolling over to his side, haphazardly throwing an arm and leg over what laid next to him. However, when no warmth and an odd shape registered, he cracked an eye open to find that X was gone and he was now spooning a body pillow. The blond yawned before sitting up, the sheet covering him falling off to reveal that he was still naked. Zero looked down at himself with an expression that was a cross between confusion and smug before attempting to comb his hair with his hands. Instantly, his fingers snared and Zero winced. Now convinced he needed to get up, Zero rose out of bed and headed for his bathroom.
He showered and brushed his hair out, dressing into his jumpsuit that had somehow managed to get under his bed. He glanced at his nightstand, realizing at some point, someone had taken the liberty of installing his new holographic phone.
Figuring he had time, he gave Iris a call. Four rings later, she answered, and the phone flickered to life. Floating above the circular platform that was the phone was a mini-hologram of Iris sitting in a chair. Above that, a semi-transparent screen of options appeared.
Her eyes lit up when she saw him. "Oh, Zero! I got worried when you didn't call last night…"
"Sorry, Iris," Zero said as he went to lay down, facing the nightstand and the camera part of the phone. "How're you? Where's Colonel?"
"Oh, Brother's here. Brother!" Iris turned behind her, although Zero could see nothing beyond her. "Brother, its Zero, he got the phone! Come say hi!"
Colonel walked into the camera's view, his face scrunched up in slight confusion. He looked as if he had just woken up—indeed, Colonel didn't even have his hat on! Iris stood and grabbed hold of his arm.
"Wave to Zero, brother." Iris waved at her phone and Colonel, still seeming to be in a confused daze, awkwardly waved where she did.
Zero laughed and touched the 'capture image' button on the options screen, saving the picture. "Hey Colonel, rise and shine!"
That snapped Colonel out of it, and he huffed. "Hello, Zero. I'm going to make coffee." With that, the large Reploid left the camera's view, even as Iris giggled behind the hand she clamped over her mouth.
"I don't know why," Iris said after dropping her hand. "Brother and I never bothered with the upgrades for taste or food digestion, or even the human bodies under our armor… so how come he always makes coffee? It's a waste!"
"Maybe he takes some to work for others?" Zero suggested.
"No… he makes a pot, then a cup complete with cream and sugar, and holds it in his hands as he stares out the window in the living room!"
"Guess he likes the heat."
"Brother is just odd." Iris tapped her hat. "But I suppose even 'Perfect Fighter Reploid' Colonels have weird quirks!"
"I heard that," Colonel's voice rumbled from somewhere in the background. Iris dissolved into a fit of giggles.
Zero spoke with them for another hour or two, talking mostly about how he and X were doing, how HQ seemed to handle it, and how quiet the Mavericks have become. Iris chimed about her desk job, and how Colonel was always running around the office building or out into town for random errands. Colonel came into the conversation to amend Iris' observations, saying he was on call to deal with American Mavericks.
Zero glanced at the clock and grabbed his helmet. "It was great talking to you two," Zero said. "But I better go report in before they send someone down here and see if I combusted or something."
Iris giggled. "Okay Zero, take care, call again soon!" She and Colonel waved.
"Will do, have a good one." Zero pressed the hang up option, and the phone's hologram connection ended. He fiddled with it for a moment, and then set the phone to be on standby. In standby mode, the phone displayed the picture of Iris and Colonel Zero had taken earlier.
Zero smiled at it before tying his hair up and putting on his helmet, activating his armor. As he left his dormitory, Zero remembered last night, including the Maverick's words that had shaken him up.
"You brought the Maverick Virus on us!"
Zero shook his head to dispel the words, attempting to recall his and X's passionate night instead. But try as he might, the words echoed in his mind. As they did, his head started to throb with a dull pain, and Zero instantly activated the extra cooling fans. The pain ebbed away slowly, and Zero breathed a sigh of relief; at least, until the pain came back and stabbed through his brain repeatedly.
"Ah!" Zero winced, covering his forehead jewel with his now large, gloved hand. "Ow, shit…"
Zero stumbled down the hall toward the briefing room, holding his head with his hand and the other pressed against the wall to keep him up. Sweat started to form on his face, and his eyes were darkening. The fans kicked into overdrive, furiously trying to cool off the systems. Maybe it worked or maybe it didn't, but the pain still pierced Zero and made him want to scream.
Mentally cursing, Zero took a quick left turn down another hallway toward Lifesaver's medic bay. He managed to get there, grunting and biting his lips to stop from shouting, as he collapsed through the door.
He heard someone rush to him. "Zero!" Lifesaver's voice reached him, and it agitated his head. "Zero, what is wrong? Hey, help me!"
Zero felt the slim hands of nurse Reploids pull him up to his feet as they half-carried, half dragged him to a medical pod. He was squinting, clenching his teeth through the pain, as he lowered himself into the pod. Recognizing the issue, Lifesaver activated the pod, which went to work to gently find the ports in Zero's armor and connect to him. Gratefully, the pod forced him to shut down, and Zero closed his eyes as blessed blackness erased all feeling.
Lifesaver looked at Zero as the pod began its scans, and he ruefully shook his head. In all his years serving the Maverick Hunters, never once did he find the source of Zero's headaches. Even when Cain had explained to him about the inactive program, it meant that there should have been a pattern to when Zero had these pains, yet there was none. What in the world was going on in that head of his?
The doctor put a call in to X, leaving a message about Zero. X was currently on a mission—when he came back, he'd come rushing in. In the meantime, all Lifesaver could do was procedural checks and puzzle over the mystery that was Zero. He turned to his computer and began to look over the scan results, each one returning with the best results possible.
Hours later, Zero was reactivated, and as he opened his eyes, X stood over him with a downcast expression. The blond smiled weakly as his systems activated slowly, and he reached up to lightly touch X's face. The blue-armored Reploid grabbed his hand and his face turned into a grimace of regret.
"X?" Zero rasped.
"Zero…" X bit his lower lip, but knew he had to tell Zero now. "Repliforce… Repliforce has declared war on the Maverick Hunters. Magma Dragoon joined them… and made Sky Lagoon fall, destroying the city underneath." He lowered his head. "I had to… put him down."
Zero's eyes widened and the hand that X held went slack. When X looked at him, Zero appeared as if he were overloaded, his eyes dull and withdrawn. A small needle of pain shot through Zero's head, branching out like webbing, and he let out a ragged breath as the words finally registered in his brain.
Repliforce declared war on the Maverick Hunters.
<--- PREVIOUS CHAPTER NEXT CHAPTER --->
When Zero arrived back at HQ, X was waiting for him, leaning ever so casually against the wall opposite the teleport pad. Axl was with him too, sitting at X's feet and drawing imaginary figures in the ground with his index finger. When Zero came into view, X straightened and pushed off the wall as Axl shot up and ran right to the red-clad hunter.
"Hey, Dad!" Axl wrapped his arms around one of Zero's as X made his way a little more slowly to him. "We heard there was an accident! You okay?"
"Just fine, kiddo," Zero responded, patting Axl's head with his free hand. When X was in range, Zero took that free hand and offered it to X, who accepted it and entwined their fingers. "I take it Mommy X was worried?"
X gave Zero's hand a slightly painful squeeze, the smile he had thinning into an annoyed line. "Yes, I was. You couldn't bother to call when you realized you were going to be over an hour late? Seriously?"
"Sorry, kinda phased out while walking." The trio walked together, Axl still hanging off Zero's arm and the two elite hunters still holding hands. People continued to give them odd glances, but the little family deftly ignored them as they all marched to Zero's room.
When there, Zero paused outside. "You know," he said absent-mindedly, "if we're going to be all family-family together all the time, we might as well go out and buy a damn house."
"Ooo, we should, we should." Axl grinned at them. "With a big backyard!"
X rolled his eyes. "You find such a place in the city, Axl, and I'll buy it."
"Really? I'll find it!" With that, Axl took off down the hallway, half-running and half-skipping.
Zero gave X a smirk. "You know he'll find it."
"Probably, but it got him to go." X shoved Zero into the room. "You and I, sweetheart, have unfinished business."
"You off the clock?"
"Never, but I got time." X gently took hold of Zero's helmet, deactivating it and his armor and pulling it off as it slid open in the back. With a content smile, X proceeded to undo the blue ribbon and watched as the blond hair spilled out, glittering like faint sunlight in the dim room.
Zero pulled X close, kissing him deeply and sweeping him up into arms to carry him bridal-style into the bedroom area. There, Zero broke the kiss and playfully hummed a wedding theme as he laid X gently on the bed, taking care to also remove his helmet and deactivate his armor.
X nearly giggled at the tune. "What are you thinking about?"
Zero grinned, nuzzling X's neck as he joined his boyfriend on the bed. "How Cain more or less got me to pledge my eternal love for you. I should probably go get ring. Maybe he'll calm down."
"Oh no," X groaned.
"But that, like the house, will be discussed later." Zero nipped X's ear, then bit into his neck.
The jumpsuit X wore under his armor repelled Zero's teeth, but the pressure of the bite was a ghosting tease to X, who lightly gasped and grabbed Zero's shoulders. Using the suit's strength to his advantage, Zero ravaged X's neck and chest with bites and rough kisses, knowing the hint of contact was stoking a fiery frenzy in the Reploid under him.
Zero grasped X's hands and tucked them under the smaller Reploid. Holding X's wrists with one hand, Zero slowly unzipped the jumpsuit with his free hand, watching with smoldering eyes as X panted in anticipation, cheeks flushed and eyes half-lidded.
"You look so damn beautiful," Zero murmured, dropping a kiss on X's lips. X quivered under him, the light shaking form against his making Zero moan.
He stripped X of the jumpsuit and attacked his neck with kisses and bites, his lover making such gorgeous music with his moans and gasps that it made Zero heady. He released X's hands and instantly, those hands were fumbling with the zipper of his own jumpsuit, barely managing to unzip it halfway down his back as they messily kissed. Zero paused enough to get rid of the garment himself, and then settled back on top of X.
"Think Axl will walk in again?" X whispered as Zero nuzzled and kissed a path down his chest.
"Even if he does," Zero muttered against the smooth skin, "he'll just see how much his 'parents' love each other." His tongue flicked out, tracing random little patterns on X's waist. "I don't know if I should be creeped out or not by how perfect and beautiful your body is, X… considering an old man made you."
X groaned. "Don't kill the mood."
"My bad." Zero kissed X's thighs, then glanced up and winked.
Outside, Axl was about to knock when X's soft cry was heard. He froze, then dropped his hand and scurried away, covering his ears.
~*~
Zero stretched contently before rolling over to his side, haphazardly throwing an arm and leg over what laid next to him. However, when no warmth and an odd shape registered, he cracked an eye open to find that X was gone and he was now spooning a body pillow. The blond yawned before sitting up, the sheet covering him falling off to reveal that he was still naked. Zero looked down at himself with an expression that was a cross between confusion and smug before attempting to comb his hair with his hands. Instantly, his fingers snared and Zero winced. Now convinced he needed to get up, Zero rose out of bed and headed for his bathroom.
He showered and brushed his hair out, dressing into his jumpsuit that had somehow managed to get under his bed. He glanced at his nightstand, realizing at some point, someone had taken the liberty of installing his new holographic phone.
Figuring he had time, he gave Iris a call. Four rings later, she answered, and the phone flickered to life. Floating above the circular platform that was the phone was a mini-hologram of Iris sitting in a chair. Above that, a semi-transparent screen of options appeared.
Her eyes lit up when she saw him. "Oh, Zero! I got worried when you didn't call last night…"
"Sorry, Iris," Zero said as he went to lay down, facing the nightstand and the camera part of the phone. "How're you? Where's Colonel?"
"Oh, Brother's here. Brother!" Iris turned behind her, although Zero could see nothing beyond her. "Brother, its Zero, he got the phone! Come say hi!"
Colonel walked into the camera's view, his face scrunched up in slight confusion. He looked as if he had just woken up—indeed, Colonel didn't even have his hat on! Iris stood and grabbed hold of his arm.
"Wave to Zero, brother." Iris waved at her phone and Colonel, still seeming to be in a confused daze, awkwardly waved where she did.
Zero laughed and touched the 'capture image' button on the options screen, saving the picture. "Hey Colonel, rise and shine!"
That snapped Colonel out of it, and he huffed. "Hello, Zero. I'm going to make coffee." With that, the large Reploid left the camera's view, even as Iris giggled behind the hand she clamped over her mouth.
"I don't know why," Iris said after dropping her hand. "Brother and I never bothered with the upgrades for taste or food digestion, or even the human bodies under our armor… so how come he always makes coffee? It's a waste!"
"Maybe he takes some to work for others?" Zero suggested.
"No… he makes a pot, then a cup complete with cream and sugar, and holds it in his hands as he stares out the window in the living room!"
"Guess he likes the heat."
"Brother is just odd." Iris tapped her hat. "But I suppose even 'Perfect Fighter Reploid' Colonels have weird quirks!"
"I heard that," Colonel's voice rumbled from somewhere in the background. Iris dissolved into a fit of giggles.
Zero spoke with them for another hour or two, talking mostly about how he and X were doing, how HQ seemed to handle it, and how quiet the Mavericks have become. Iris chimed about her desk job, and how Colonel was always running around the office building or out into town for random errands. Colonel came into the conversation to amend Iris' observations, saying he was on call to deal with American Mavericks.
Zero glanced at the clock and grabbed his helmet. "It was great talking to you two," Zero said. "But I better go report in before they send someone down here and see if I combusted or something."
Iris giggled. "Okay Zero, take care, call again soon!" She and Colonel waved.
"Will do, have a good one." Zero pressed the hang up option, and the phone's hologram connection ended. He fiddled with it for a moment, and then set the phone to be on standby. In standby mode, the phone displayed the picture of Iris and Colonel Zero had taken earlier.
Zero smiled at it before tying his hair up and putting on his helmet, activating his armor. As he left his dormitory, Zero remembered last night, including the Maverick's words that had shaken him up.
"You brought the Maverick Virus on us!"
Zero shook his head to dispel the words, attempting to recall his and X's passionate night instead. But try as he might, the words echoed in his mind. As they did, his head started to throb with a dull pain, and Zero instantly activated the extra cooling fans. The pain ebbed away slowly, and Zero breathed a sigh of relief; at least, until the pain came back and stabbed through his brain repeatedly.
"Ah!" Zero winced, covering his forehead jewel with his now large, gloved hand. "Ow, shit…"
Zero stumbled down the hall toward the briefing room, holding his head with his hand and the other pressed against the wall to keep him up. Sweat started to form on his face, and his eyes were darkening. The fans kicked into overdrive, furiously trying to cool off the systems. Maybe it worked or maybe it didn't, but the pain still pierced Zero and made him want to scream.
Mentally cursing, Zero took a quick left turn down another hallway toward Lifesaver's medic bay. He managed to get there, grunting and biting his lips to stop from shouting, as he collapsed through the door.
He heard someone rush to him. "Zero!" Lifesaver's voice reached him, and it agitated his head. "Zero, what is wrong? Hey, help me!"
Zero felt the slim hands of nurse Reploids pull him up to his feet as they half-carried, half dragged him to a medical pod. He was squinting, clenching his teeth through the pain, as he lowered himself into the pod. Recognizing the issue, Lifesaver activated the pod, which went to work to gently find the ports in Zero's armor and connect to him. Gratefully, the pod forced him to shut down, and Zero closed his eyes as blessed blackness erased all feeling.
Lifesaver looked at Zero as the pod began its scans, and he ruefully shook his head. In all his years serving the Maverick Hunters, never once did he find the source of Zero's headaches. Even when Cain had explained to him about the inactive program, it meant that there should have been a pattern to when Zero had these pains, yet there was none. What in the world was going on in that head of his?
The doctor put a call in to X, leaving a message about Zero. X was currently on a mission—when he came back, he'd come rushing in. In the meantime, all Lifesaver could do was procedural checks and puzzle over the mystery that was Zero. He turned to his computer and began to look over the scan results, each one returning with the best results possible.
Hours later, Zero was reactivated, and as he opened his eyes, X stood over him with a downcast expression. The blond smiled weakly as his systems activated slowly, and he reached up to lightly touch X's face. The blue-armored Reploid grabbed his hand and his face turned into a grimace of regret.
"X?" Zero rasped.
"Zero…" X bit his lower lip, but knew he had to tell Zero now. "Repliforce… Repliforce has declared war on the Maverick Hunters. Magma Dragoon joined them… and made Sky Lagoon fall, destroying the city underneath." He lowered his head. "I had to… put him down."
Zero's eyes widened and the hand that X held went slack. When X looked at him, Zero appeared as if he were overloaded, his eyes dull and withdrawn. A small needle of pain shot through Zero's head, branching out like webbing, and he let out a ragged breath as the words finally registered in his brain.
Repliforce declared war on the Maverick Hunters.
<--- PREVIOUS CHAPTER NEXT CHAPTER --->