Active Time

"Zero!" X felt his face growing hot as his frustration levels steadily rose, "What's the matter with you today? Saying something like that... That was uncalled for!"

Zero kept his back turned to the other Hunter, radiating his own heat and irritation, arms crossed over his chest. "Just because you can't handle reality doesn't make it any less real. You care more about stupid political crap than about us Hunters."

X's green eyes narrowed. "Zero, that's enough!"

The former Maverick gave a bitter snort and brushed his hand dismissively through his bushy blond ponytail. "Sure. Whatever you say, X. Play nice with the meatsacks if you want, but I'm sick of kissing human ass and pretending everything's fine the way it is. This 'active time' shit is killing us, and your sucking up to the Federation isn't helping." He moved forward, swiping angrily at the wall with his hand, tearing down some 'motivational' Federation posters.

"What the... Zero!" X broke into a sprint, and grabbed at Zero's arm, his eyes flashing. "Get back here," X snapped. "You don't get to just walk away like that!"

Zero twisted, his arm raising to slap X's away with a hiss. "Hands off." There was a deadly intent in his blue gaze, and his mouth compressed into a thin, humorless line; sparks flew between their eyes.

"You JERK!" X punched Zero straight in the teeth, and the former Maverick staggered back, crashing against the wall with a gasp. His hand flew to his mouth. He felt the ball joint inside his jaw slide out of place, and he angrily pushed it back in with the heel of his hand, glaring at X hotly.

"Guess that's it for pacifism, huh? It's all love and flowers until you feel insulted?"

X was breathing hard, his chest rising and falling rapidly. "Shut up, Zero. Shut up. You have no idea what you're talking about!"

A feral growl was his answer, Zero's energy darkening as he shifted into a battle stance and set his legs apart. He brushed the side of his hand under his nose. "Make me, then. Make me understand. Because I think you're a fucking tool right now, and you're not proving me wrong so far."

Infuriated beyond words, X let out a roar and swung at Zero again; the red Hunter dodged just barely, twisting low and lashing out a leg at X's knee. X gave a cry and fell backward; Zero grabbed at his throat and pulled him up before he could fall, yanking him close until their noses nearly touched. "Do NOT fuck with me today, X. I'm not in the mood for your apologist shit."

Panting, one hand grasping Zero's wrist, X smashed his Buster arm into the side of Zero's helmet, hard enough to leave a hairline fracture above Zero's right eye.

A trickle of orange coolant ran down Zero's cheek, and he shoved X away with a gasp. Staggering backward, he cradled his face in one hand, holding up the other to try and ward off the other Hunter. "..."

X rushed at him and grabbed his hand, twisting it back behind Zero's back and locking an arm around his throat. Zero gasped again and started fighting, jerking and twisting, the fibers of his hair slashing across X's face.

"You're not yourself," X cried, "... stand down! Right now, Zero!"

"Let go..." Half-blinded, half-crazed, Zero continued to thrash against X, roaring with outrage.

Grunting, X locked down on Zero, twisting the arm around his struggling partner's shoulders until he got his hand on the back of Zero's neck. Zero guessed his intent and buckled hard forward to try and shake X off, but X was faster. He clung to Zero's back long enough to stab his thumb down into the 'sweet spot', and there was a sharp click as the concealed shutoff switch beneath Zero's skin connected with its terminal. Zero froze instantly. His eyes glazed over into blank blue glass, then his head bobbed forward, and his shoulders went limp. Deep in his chest, internal servos mechanisms ground to a sudden stop with a grim steel growl.

X shuddered against Zero's neck, breathing hard and struggling to collect himself. He was hurt and angry, but Zero was helpless now, and certainly in no condition to be reasoned with. He renewed his grip on the other Reploid, and after a moment of thought X activated his teleporter, taking them both elsewhere.

~ ~ ~

"...nghhh." What Ride Chaser had run him over? Light returned to Zero's eyes, but his head was throbbing as he reinitialized. What the...? Dark grey walls, small and featureless, dim light... his servos wrenched uncomfortably, and he sat up. His shoulders jerked as he tried to pull upright, and hard metal rattled against his sides. He glanced down, and saw huge manacles wrapped around his gauntlets.

He was in a cell. His core rushed up into his throat, and he wet his lips anxiously. Having sent his share of Mavericks to these places, he knew very well how secure they really were.

"You really outdid yourself this time." X's voice, tinny and strained, crackled from an overhead speaker. Zero wrenched at the chains once, found no give, and thumped the back of his head against the wall in frustration as his memory clusters helpfully reminded him of what had come before his sudden shutdown.

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit, SHIT. X..."

"No. I don't want to hear excuses, Zero. The things you said were absolutely uncalled for. Fighting me was even worse."

X's voice was frost on steel; Zero flinched to hear it. "I don't want you to hurt yourself, so you can stay there until I feel like you're calmed down and able to listen to reason."

The speaker went dead with a snap, and Zero froze, mouth dropping open. A moment of real terror seared across his chest. "Y... you're serious..."

The cold dull silence was more eloquent than any reply. Zero sank back against the wall, eyes squeezing shut, and the corner of his mouth twisted bitterly.

"Fuck."

~ ~ ~

No, I'm not really being fair, but the things he said to me weren't fair either, X told himself, staring at the black and white monitor, and his erstwhile partner tiny in the center of it, a ghost in grey and white sealed in the dark. The image was discomforting to X now that his outrage was beginning to subside, and he turned away from the console, brushing his hand over his face and giving a long sigh.

Well, now I've done it. I have to leave him in there for a little while, I guess...

A glance back at the console; Zero was curling in on himself, pulling up his legs close to his chest and pressing his forehead against his knees. X exhaled deeply, guilt stabbing through him.

I suppose this'll teach us both a lesson, then.

He shook his head, reaching to turn off the console, but paused his hand and pulled it back. Pulling a chair over, X sat down in it, and folded his hands together, eyes dark as he kept faithful watch over the prisoner for the rest of the night.

~ ~ ~

"Zero."

The blond jolted upright, lifting his head and gazing nervously into the dark; he hadn't heard the cell door open, but that was clearly no voice on an intercom- and X still sounded hurt. Zero could hear the low, tense breathing of the other Reploid across the room. He became aware that X was standing against the opposite wall, one foot flat against the wall and his arms crossed. His eyes, green and narrowed, were faintly backlit in the darkness.

Zero found he couldn't speak, so he just made a low nervous sound.

"You had plenty to say to me before," X prodded, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Are you quite finished?"

The blond managed to whisper, "Probably said enough already."

"Yeah, I think so." X uncurled and moved toward him; Zero met his gaze but only for a moment, as the blue Reploid's expression was stony and unwelcoming. "Did you mean it, Zero? Those things you said? Is that really how you feel?"

For the life of him, Zero couldn't find an answer. His mouth opened, then closed again, and then he sucked in air quickly and tried again. "... I was pissed off," he stammered, turning his head away. "I just..."

X lowered to a crouch in front of him, one knee on the floor, staring intensely and silently up into Zero's face.

Zero shivered. "My mouth just ... dammit, X!" Desperately, he looked for some sign of mercy in the other Reploid's face and found none. "I didn't mean to hurt you, I just... I'm..."

X's eyes were unyielding.

"... we're all under a lot of pressure and it just... blew up on me. You know how it gets, dammit. You know I can't think right sometimes when I get mad!... Fuck, say something, but don't just stare at me like that!"

Silence.

"X...!"

Finally the blue Reploid stirred, and he settled down into a proper kneeling position, resting his hands along his own knees. "Zero, you really hurt me sometimes. I need it to stop. You're always welcome to question anything about me - my motives, my methods, my beliefs - but not like that. If someone else had seen you acting like that, they might have gotten the wrong idea, and..." He rolled his head, glancing around the corners of the cell with his eyes to indicate their surroundings, then continued.

"You don't know everything we're up against, and I can't have you attacking me like that." He pinned Zero's eyes with his own. "I've tried my best to shield you from it. I care about us just as much as I care about what the humans want, and I care about you most of all. But what I can't do is make everyone happy all the time. If I can get the humans to relax a little, then they'll loosen our leashes, but that means I have to do what they say and try to be accommodating. I need you to do the same thing, Zero. They watch us, everything we do. Whether we like it or not, we're the examples everyone follows. Everything we say matters. Do you understand that? You've been thinking about things much too short-term."

There was no dissent possible; X's gaze was calm, but absolute, and iron lay under the even tone of his words; the strength X calmly radiated was enough to make Zero's head spin.

"... I'm sorry," he managed, feeling his face burn, barely breathing.

X relented at last, nodding. "I know." He let his fingertips brush Zero's flushed cheeks, and the crack that he'd put in the red terror's helmet. "But I needed to hear you say it. Zero, please don't ever put me in this situation again." His eyes glanced down the four-inch thick restraints that kept Zero's wrists bolted closely to the wall.

With X letting up, the air pressure eased, and Zero allowed himself a long sigh and a thin, nervous smile. "...So. Uhm, you didn't lose the keys to these things, right?"

X's eyebrows lifted. "Who says I'm letting you go?"

Zero gaped at him. "... Ha ha. Very funny. You can let me out of these now. Seriously."

"Well...I guess you're okay now..." X said, and rose up, fetching an electronic key from a storage panel in his wrist. He leaned over Zero, reaching down to take one of his arms and unlock the restraint... but paused, key dangling in air. "Wait. No." His eyes glimmered in the dark. "You've apologized and that's fine, that makes that all even, but you did attack me, too."

"wha... you started it! You punched me in the face!" Zero couldn't believe what he was hearing. He began to squirm against the wall.

"Which doesn't justify you punching me back."

"... You've gotta be kidding."

X tucked the key away, and Zero's hopes sank. "How do I know you won't do it again if I unlock those?" His face was casual, even light, but his eyes had turned dark once more.

And all at once the pressure was back on again; Zero felt X's gaze drilling a new hole in his heart, and he returned a blank, startled look to the blue Hunter. "... You're fucking with me, right?" the blond whimpered. "Right?"

"How do I know for sure, Zero?" X sternly took his partner's chin and lifted it, so that he could keep Zero's gaze on him. "Can you promise?"

Somehow their lips had suddenly become very much closer suddenly; Zero could feel X's even exhalations touching his mouth. An aura of surreality began to wash over the scene.

With some surprise Zero realized it was because X had been nearly bombarding him with subliminal demand-signals for the past several minutes. Zero flushed, suddenly understanding. Not only was he forgiven, he was being fucked with; he'd fallen a step behind, and X had snuck a hack into his system while his guard was down.

Zero raised his head, and sent back a ferocious signal of his own, a flux of resistance, grinning a bloody smile. "...You know I can't promise that."

X's narrowing eyes showed that he understood; now the game was really on. "Then I'll have to leave you here like this until you can," he murmured, bringing his lips to touch Zero's. "Alone... bound... in the dark. Is that what you want, Zero? You could be made to disappear here... forever."

The blond shuddered, tasting hints of fire in X's breath. Naked power hovered humid above his lips, a promise just out of reach... "N..no. You wouldn't. You're too soft to do that... I've always said so."

X pressed closer, green eyes proud and wicked. Desire pushed between them sharply- power flowing back and forth too rapidly to be understood, only felt- and he caught a signal and reverberated it back, amplified to a level powerful enough to make Zero shudder.

"You're dangerous... far too dangerous to be free." His nose brushed Zero's cheek; the blond mewled as if bitten and twisted his arms frantically against their chains. "You're barely removed from being a Maverick. I should keep you here for everyone's safety." A pause, a dark flash of green eyes, then deadly serious. "The humans would prefer it if you vanished."

Zero inhaled sharply, and X chose the moment to press his mouth tightly over Zero's, initiating the secret circuit. Zero shrieked beneath X's tongue, as if he'd been hit by a thunderbolt.

[Now you know,] X sighed over radio, [What kind of 'political crap' I have to deal with.]

"X... I didn't..."

"Don't speak," X whispered savagely, and Zero stilled, biting his lip and peering up meekly at the other Hunter. [Of course I won't ever let them do it. I'd die first. But I want you to remember this the next time you think that I side with the Federation too much.] He touched his tongue to Zero's lips, small sparks moving between their skins, and drew back. "Just cooperate."

Zero shivered, leaning against X and nodding. "I will."