Chapter Text
A month had passed since the death of Sigma.
Axl, Zero, and X were in the break room. It was pajama day, something that Zero had implemented (at X’s request, obviously) to help the Hunters unwind. It was effective - or, it was for Axl, anyway. He was laying in the laps of his friends, with X being used as a leg rest. “Axl, move your legs.”
“But I’m comfy.”
“Axl.”
Axl rolled his eyes as he sat up in between the older Hunters. “Just because you’re sixteen now, that doesn’t mean you get to boss me around.” X’s birthday had passed in that month. They had a small gathering – X didn’t have many friends. None of them did, really. But they were working on it. X was doing his best to interact more with the other Hunters, and so was Zero. Although it was hard to actually get close with them, since they were technically their bosses. But that’s what Axl was for: he had a knack for breaking the ice.
He leaned onto Zero’s shoulder, who was more than willing to oblige the smaller reploid’s cozy mood. He wrapped an arm around him, prompting a satisfied sigh from Axl. “So, Zero? When’s your birthday?”
“It’s in August,” Zero replied. He had gradually returned to his usual stoic state - but he smiled more. He laughed more often. It also wasn’t a big deal to see him eating organic meals, or to see him relaxing or being affectionate with Iris.
“Oh, really? How old will you be?”
“Sixteen.”
“For real? I thought for sure you were older than X.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Wow.”
Axl subtly tried to put his legs back in X’s lap, only for the raven-haired reploid to huff and knock his legs off the couch. “Knock it off!” He tried to sound stern – but it was apparent that he was doing his best not to laugh.
“You heard him, Axl,” Zero started. “Leave him alone, or I won’t let you pick the movie we’re going to watch.”
Axl sat up straight. “I can pick? Is it my turn already?”
“It is. I–” A ringing sound cut Zero off. He had bought a cell phone a week or two ago. He only used it to keep in touch with a certain museum in Abel City. One that, allegedly, was using his brother Enker as an exhibit. He got up and walked out of the room. “Go ahead and pick something.” Zero stood outside of the door, and X and Axl exchanged a glance. It was decided: they were going to eavesdrop. Axl started to flip through movies in an attempt to seem inconspicuous in case Zero walked in, while X picked up a nearby book and started intently staring at the back of it, as if he were reading it. “Hello? Ah, yes. This is Zero… yes, that’s right… no, that’s fine… what? No, I’m not doing that… because he’s a person, not an object– no! Don’t do that… yes, I understand… fine… I’ll see you soon.”
Zero returned, and both Axl and X looked up at him. “So how did that go?” X asked.
“Not well.” Zero huffed as he sat back down.
“What happened?”
“They want me to pay to have him taken out of there. And I’d be fine with that, if he was an ordinary exhibit and not a person. And to make matters worse, they want to put him up for auction. So now I have to set up a meeting with them to convince them to not sell my brother.”
Zero wrung his hands as he spoke. Axl, picking up on the nervous habit, put one of his hands over Zero’s. “Dude, I’ve got the solution to all of your problems.” Zero tilted his head, and Axl took that as his cue to keep speaking. “Just steal him.”
“Steal… my own brother?”
“Well, yeah. The museum’s treating him like he’s an object, right? You’ve gotta beat them at their own game.”
Zero pursed his lips in thought, and X gasped. “Zero! Don’t tell me you’re considering that!”
“Well… it’s not the worst idea…”
“Zero!” X groaned. “You can’t do that. You’ll go to jail.” He turned to Axl now. “Axl, you’re a bad influence,” he said half-teasingly.
Axl put his hands up. “Hey! It was just a suggestion…”
A small giggle could be heard from Zero’s mouth. He sighed and leaned back on the couch. “I’m happy I’m friends with you two,” he murmured.
“Aw, Zero!” X reached for one of Zero’s hands. “I’m happy, too – and don’t you worry about Enker. We’ll figure out how to get him.”
“Yeah,” Axl agreed. “Even if we gotta break in and get him out.” X narrowed his eyes. “Or – or not. But still! We’ll do whatever we need to do.” He leaned on Zero again. “Okay?”
A soft hum could be heard from Zero’s mouth. “Thank you. Both of you.”
Axl returned to trying to pick a movie – only, he was actually paying attention this time. He tried to think of something everyone would like. He enjoyed slashers, X adored dramas, and Zero liked musicals. Surely there had to be something that fit all of their interests… ah! There was something. It wasn’t quite a slasher, but the summary promised a “quest for revenge,” and that sounded interesting enough. “How about this? The Lord of Lam-pe-du-sa. Lampedusa… Lamp-e-dusa… what is that? Italian?”
“It’s an island in Italy,” X explained.
“Oh, cool.”
“It’s a good musical,” Zero said.
“You’ve seen it?”
“It was my Uncle Sunstar’s favorite. He played the soundtrack a lot.” Zero smiled. He was always so at ease when he talked about his family. “I haven’t seen a production of it, though.”
“It’s a book, too,” X stated.
“What’s it about? It’s hard for me to understand a musical’s plot without actually seeing it first…”
“Hm… It’s about someone who gets falsely arrested for a crime that his friends framed him for. The guy who was leading his friends did it so that he would be able to marry the first guy’s wife.”
“Oh, gross.” Axl made a gagging sound. “What a jerk.”
“Yeah, he sucks.”
Axl went ahead and picked the movie – maybe the guy would get jumped at some point, or something. That would make having to sit through all the singing worth it. He curled up in between Zero and X as the latter dimmed the lights in the room.
Occasionally, it was hard for him to remember that he was experiencing something new whenever he hung out with Zero and X – movie nights at Red Alert typically resulted in an argument of some kind, or with whatever movie he chose being put on hold because Vanishing got too scared and started crying. Most hang out sessions in Red Alert involved him having to do something somebody else wanted. It was rare for him to be able to choose what the activity was, and if he did, it ended like his turn on movie night: something would come along and ruin it.
Come to think of it, Axl had been experiencing a lot of new things lately. He was able to have food whenever he wanted, and he didn’t have to worry about having to rely on the stash in his room. He still hadn’t told anyone about that. What if Zero and X thought he was weird for it? Not that they would, obviously – but it was apparent that X and Zero didn’t hide anything in their rooms. So he’d keep it a secret for now, just like how he kept it a secret that he hadn’t contacted Red Alert since he came to live with the Hunters, despite lying and saying that he’d sorted things out with them (he made it a point to keep his voice pitch normal). What he’d done, in reality, was break the communicator he’d gotten from Red Alert.
As far as he was aware, Red wasn’t going to take care of him. Things weren’t going to change over there. But the thought sometimes nagged at him: what if Red tried to find him? What if he was wrong? He wanted to talk to Zero and X about it, but… no. That would require admitting that he’d lied. And he knew X and Zero wouldn’t like knowing they had been deceived.
But at the same time, he knew they were hiding things, too, even if what they were hiding wasn’t tangible. For example, X felt guilty about what had happened to Chill Penguin (his body had been found with the head being absolutely ruined, the fragments of a memory chip in fine pieces on the floor), and about how he killed Boomer Kwuanger (he had nightmares about it, if the rare screams from his room at night were any consolation). His guilt was easily shown – it could be seen in the way he pulled at his fingers, even though it seemed that he had nothing to be worried about. It manifested in an exhausted countenance and a sometimes sluggish attitude. If reploids could get bags under their eyes, X would have them tenfold.
As for Zero, he was quietly frustrated with his life. He couldn’t locate his siblings or uncles, and the one brother he did find was deliberately being kept out of reach. The Hunters were scared of him the same way they had been scared of Sigma – Zero was sure that was the unfortunate side-effect of him becoming commander. He tried to alleviate it with attempts to get to know the other Hunters better, or implement new policies to help them unwind, but no such luck. And the ones who didn’t fear him questioned his judgement.
The first week after Sigma’s defeat, Colonel had turned up on the Hunter’s doorstep, trying to rejoin. Zero had let him in for Iris’ sake. He couldn’t have his old position back, obviously, and nobody would want him as their squad leader, but Zero still knew he could be useful. So he had put him in charge of finding new recruits to build the Hunters’ ranks back up. Every hire from him had been shunned, and there were whispers of some sort of conspiracy being afoot – but Zero and those close to him knew better.
All in all, things weren’t perfect, but Axl knew better than to complain. So what if he and his friends had a few secrets that they kept from each other? So what if Axl had told a white lie or two? Why stir the pot and risk ruining everything? They had a good thing going, and Axl wasn’t going to let it go to waste.
He let out a yawn, the dimmed lights were getting to him. He made himself comfortable in between his friends, and closed his eyes.
He had settled into his new family nicely.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Serges rummaged through the blueprints Violen had put on his desk, and put them down with a sigh.
None of them were good enough.
A knock came from the door of his workshop. “Come in.”
Agile entered, a coy look on his face. “You seem tired,” he commented before sitting down next to the old Doctor.
“What did you do?”
Agile blinked. “Whatever do you mean?”
“That smile you have. You’re up to no good.”
Agile snickered. “Oh, it’s nothing too bad. Never you mind.”
Serges rolled his eyes. “Do you have any news from Dr. Doppler about the copy?”
“Yes. The two of them will be here within the next two days.”
“...two of them?”
“Yes. The first is brash and too smart for her own good. The second is cold and has the same IQ as a toaster. Both Doppler and the girl insist that they are a ‘package deal,’ as it were.”
“...I see.”
Agile leaned over, and perused the blueprints. “How are we doing with these, hm?”
“Violen’s work is… well, it’s excellent, but we will need better. He needs better. They both do. My predecessor demands it.”
“Hmm…” Agile pulled one of the blueprints from the stack. “Did you see this one?”
“Let me have a look.” Agile handed the paper over, and Serges nodded as he gazed at it – it was perfect. “Marvelous. Tell Violen to start gathering the following materials right away. I need–”
“AGILE!” A deep voice bellowed from the hallway. “You ba—-rd!”
“Gotta go,”Agile said. He chuckled as he went. “Good luck with the work. And don’t worry – I’ll be back to hear what you need.”
Serges sighed again, and looked over the blueprint one last time before leaving to keep Agile and Violen from tearing themselves apart.
He sure hoped this plan would come together.
Don’t worry, an old, hoarse voice reassured him. It will.
I will make sure of it.