Made For Each Other

Disclaimer: Capcom owns the characters of the Megaman X saga. I had nothing to do with their creation and am not making any money off of this fan fic. If, however, you would like to donate money to the “Keep The Playing Mantis From Being Broke” fund, I wouldn’t complain. At any rate, this is gonna be a X/Alia fic, because, really…those two would be so cute together. There’ll be hints of Zero/Layer and whoever I can think to pair off from any of the X games as well, but those pairings will be merely background. Anyway, since Pallette and Layer are in the fic, you can guess that it’s gonna take place after X8…after all, you can’t really have fluffy romance in the middle of a huge crisis even though there will be a couple of action scenes. Therefore, there will be possible spoilers for all the X games up to, and including, 8. Okay, uh…oh right. While it won’t be the main focus, there’ll be sex in here, so anyone who’s not up for hot, passionate, robot sex, get lost. If you’re up for it but are too young…get lost too.

Made For Each Other
By The Playing Mantis

“X, can you hear me?” called Alia into her mouthpiece. “This is Alia. Do you copy?”
“X here,” came X’s voice. “What’s the situation?”
Alia quickly reviewed the information in front of her. “There’s a large mechaniloid in the next room. It has gone maverick and needs to be put down. Try to hold it at bay while I try to find it’s weak point.”
“Roger,” said X. “Wish me luck!”
Alia blinked. It was the first time X had said anything like that on a mission. “Uh…good luck,” she whispered. She looked over at her friends, Layer and Pallette, who were busy helping other maverick hunters with their jobs. They didn’t seem to react to what she had said. She looked around the room, but no one seemed to be paying her any mind. She breathed a small sigh of relief until a large hand was placed on her shoulder. The only reason she didn’t let out a startled shriek was because she was too scared to say anything. “Yes sir?” she asked timidly when she found her voice.
“Why did you say ‘good luck’?” asked Signas quietly. “That’s not standard procedure.”
“X asked me to wish him luck,” said Alia, “I was only…”
“Making sure your hunter felt comfortable,” said Signas. Alia looked up at him and was surprised to see him smiling. “Do anything to ensure that your hunter returns. That is your primary objective as a navigator for us.”
Alia blushed and looked back at her console. “I’m sorry sir,” she said, “I know that, but I thought that you…”
“Would think that you were taking an unhealthy interest in your hunter,” finished Signas. “As long as you can do your job here, there’s no need to worry. However, as soon as I see any hint that you, or any of the other navigators here can no longer function in this job, you will no longer work here.”
“Yes sir,” said Alia quietly. She shivered under Signas’ stare, hoping for anything to take attention away from her. It happened when a teenage reploid with a cross shaped scar on his face and light brown hair walked into the room.
“Howzit goin’ ladies!” he said with a smile as he sauntered up to Layer and Pallette.
“Axl!” said Signas sternly, “Don’t bother them while they’re navigating!”
Axl rolled his eyes and walked over to Alia. “How’s X doing?” he asked.
“He’s trying to fend off a giant mechaniloid,” said Alia.
“Dammit!” said Axl, “I wish I could go out there! I would so kick it’s butt!”
“You’re not going anywhere Axl,” said Signas.
“I know, I know!” sighed Axl. “I’m not fully recovered from that last attack by Lumine…blah blah blah…”
“Axl, could you please go complain somewhere else?” asked Alia. “I need to figure out where this mechaniloid’s weak spot is.”
“It’s in the head,” said Axl without looking back at her.
“Huh?” asked Alia as every head in the room slowly turned to look at him. “How do you know that?”
“You’re joking, right?” asked Axl. “How many giant mechaniloids have we fought over the years? And how many have had weak points other than the head?”
Alia blinked as she went through her memory circuits and found him to be correct. Other than a select few, most of the giant mechaniloids did have weak points in the head. “Be that as it may,” she said quickly. “This could be different.”
“Whatever,” scoffed Axl.
“Don’t make light of her cautiousness,” said a gruff voice as a reploid with a long, blonde ponytail and red armor walked into the room. “She’s saved your ass more times than I can count.” He folded his arms and leaned against the wall. “Saved my ass a few times as well,” he added, almost as an afterthought.
“Welcome back, Zero,” said Layer quietly. Alia looked over at Layer and could have sworn she saw the, normally cool and collected, girl blush for a split second. She blinked and the blush was gone. She shook her head, thinking that she must have imagined it.
“Alia!” called X, “Have you found it’s weakness yet?”
“The scans are almost complete,” said Alia, trying to keep her voice level, knowing that she was currently under Signas’ scrutiny. “Try to hold out a little longer.”
“Can do!” replied X before crying out.
“X!” called Alia, “What happened?!”
“Nothing,” said X, “Just a close call.”
“Understood,” said Alia as she breathed an internal sigh of relief. “I’ll contact you as soon as the scan is complete. Alia out.” She slowly looked up and saw that all of the other hunters had returned from their missions. Most of the other navigators were chatting quietly, while the hunters were relaxing. The only ones who still seemed to be tense were Signas and Zero, both of whom were watching her carefully.
“You started that scan a while ago,” said a voice right beside her ear. “Is your console working properly?” Alia jumped and spun around, coming face to face with Pallette.
“Don’t do that!” said Alia.
“Sorry,” said Pallette as she scratched the back of her head and grinned sheepishly. “But you have to admit that it is going a bit slower than normal.”
Alia silently nodded as she looked at her console. Normally, by now, she would have had the mechaniloid’s weak point, it’s make and model number as well as what it had for breakfast that morning. “I don’t know what the problem is,” she said. She was about to ask Pallette’s opinion when the scan completed. Alia looked at the data and grimaced when she found that the weak point was the head after all. “X, can you hear me?” she called into her mouthpiece.
“X here,” said X, “I hope you have good news!”
“The weak point is in the head,” said Alia, completely ignoring Axl’s smirk of triumph. “Shoot it there!”
“Gotcha!” said X.
Alia typed furiously at her keyboard as she watched digits and letters fly by her screen. Some of the newer navigators stopped chatting and stared at Alia in awe, making her smile a little. Not many of the other navigators were as quick as she was, which was one of the few things she took pride in. “The mechaniloid is at 30%,” she said calmly. She looked up and noticed that Zero was not looking directly at her anymore and had narrowed his eyes. She was wondering what he was looking at when she heard X scream through her headset. She winced and called, “X! What happened?” She was looking at the screen, trying to get some sort of reading on how X was doing. She was watching the screen so closely that she didn’t even notice her keyboard start to spark dangerously.
“Get back!!!” roared Zero as he suddenly dashed across the room, towards Alia. “Move! Move!!!” He leaped over Alia’s console and tackled her to the floor just before it exploded, sending shards all over the room.
“X!!!” screamed Alia as she pushed Zero off and looked at her smoking console. She ripped her, now useless, headset off and tossed it away before standing up. “Layer!” she said, “Your console please!”
“But I…” started Layer, knowing full well that consoles only work with specific navigators.
“Now!” snapped Alia.
“Y-yes,” said Layer as she handed Alia her headset.
Alia quickly sat down at Layer’s station and typed furiously, disengaging all of Layer’s passwords and firewalls so that she could work at the station. Layer blinked as Alia easily made the console work for her and started trying to find X’s frequency. “X, this is Alia. Do you copy? Can you hear me, X?” All eyes were on her as she kept trying to get back in contact with X. No one said anything. Some held their breath. Axl paced back and forth behind Alia. Zero knelt where he had tackled her, clenching and unclenching his fist.
“…l…ear…X…ch…de…Al…ear you…X…mech…feat…” came a voice through the headset, garbled horribly with static. Alia, with trembling fingers, adjusted the frequency of the transmission slightly, and suddenly heard. “Alia, I hear you. This is X. The mechaniloid has been defeated.”
“Good work X,” said Alia with a smile. “Come back to base.” The entire room exploded with cheering as Alia silently collapsed in her chair, letting out a slow breath and closing her eyes. She opened her eyes when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at Zero who was grinning down at her. “Thanks for the rescue,” she said.
“I figured I owed you at least one ass saving,” said Zero with a chuckle before suddenly looking at her seriously. “You may want to dry those before the chief sees them.”
Alia was confused by Zero’s comment until she realized that she had tears in her eyes. “Oh god!” she said. “Thanks again!” She quickly excused herself and ran to the ladies room, fully aware that Signas’ eyes followed her the entire way out of the control room. She quickly turned on the closest faucet and started washing her face. She knew that the tears of relief wouldn’t stop, so she tried to hide them instead.
She was slowly drying her face when she heard the door open. “Are you going to be okay?” asked Pallette carefully.
“I’ll be fine,” said Alia. “I admit that I lost my cool for a minute, but everything is okay now.”
“Alia,” said Layer, “We know how you feel about…”
“Stop right there!” said Alia sharply. “I’m sorry about taking over your console like that, but it was only because I wanted to finish my job. The relationship between X and I is nothing more than the relationship between Hunter and Navigator.”
Alia pushed past the other two girls and walked out the door, walking right into the chest of Signas. She jumped back and stood at attention. “I’d like to see you in my office…now,” said Signas sternly.
“Yes sir…” said Alia as she looked back at Layer and Pallette in fear before following Signas. As they walked through the base a few of the other navigators gave her the thumbs up and congratulated her on her excellent work. She smiled weakly and thanked them politely, and blushed furiously when some of the rookie hunters asked if she could be their navigator as well.
Signas continued striding down the hall in silence, forcing Alia to run to catch up every time someone stopped her. When they reached his office Signas calmly sat down behind his desk and looked at Alia. “How long have you been working for the maverick hunters?” he asked suddenly.
Alia was confused by the question, but answered, “Uh…I was originally hired as a lab assistant to Dr. Cain during the Doppler incident. After Dr. Cain passed away (I’m just assuming he’s dead by now. We haven’t seen hide nor hair of him since the third game) I was reassigned as a substitute navigator for the Repliforce incident.”
“And you were promoted to head navigator during the Eurasia incident.”
“B-but that was only because…” started Alia, but Signas stopped her.
“It was only because most of our other navigators became mavericks due to the Sigma Virus. So, you’ve been working here longer than I have.”
“Y-yes sir,”
“How long have you known X and Zero?”
“I’d heard about them since I was created,” said Alia with a smile. “They were the top hunters while I was studying at Gate’s lab, and I saw them a few times while working for Dr. Cain. But I didn’t actually meet either of them until the Eurasia incident.”
“Did your first impressions meet with your original assumptions?”
“Sir?”
“Were they what you had imagined them to be?”
Alia bit her lip. “Well, Zero was just as cool as everyone always said, but X…he was different. I had always assumed that the top hunter would be more…gung-ho…than X tends to be. What I saw was a man who…did his job because it was the best thing he could think to do. But there was always a hint of anguish and pain in his eyes.” Alia looked down at the ground as she almost whispered, “Sometimes it hurts just looking at him…” She blushed as she realized what she’d said. “I’m sorry sir!”
“Don’t be,” said Signas, “I appreciate your honesty.” He silently looked at her before picking up a small pad and hitting a few buttons on it. “According to the preliminary report, your console malfunctioned due to the stress of being overused without regular tune-ups. How long has it been since you’ve had a day off?”
Alia blinked as she went through her memory circuits. “It’s been five years,” said Alia after a time.
“You’ve never requested vacation time?” asked Signas quietly.
“I’ve never had reason to request it,” said Alia simply.
“Well, you have reason now,” said Signas. “Until your console is operational, you are hearby on leave. Is that understood?”
“Yes sir,” said Alia half-heartedly. “Is that all?”
“No, it’s not,” said Signas. “You have proven yourself to be a top class navigator during many incidents. However, what you did today has proven your abilities more than anything we could have ever hoped for.”
“Sir?” asked Alia, completely confused.
“I’m saying, you did a good job,” said Signas with a smile. “Even after your console exploded, almost in your face, you quickly took charge of the situation and, surprisingly, took charge of someone else’s console. I can honestly say, I’ve never seen it done before, and didn’t think it could be done. The fact that all of those other navigators and hunters congratulated you while we were walking back here didn’t pass me by unnoticed. Just don’t let it go to your head.”
Alia smiled and bowed. “Thank you sir,” she said as she straightened up. She almost lost her smile when she saw that Signas’ eyes were narrowed again, as if he could see right through her and could tell exactly how miserable she would be on leave. She had to leave; had to get away from his penetrating gaze. She was about to excuse herself when Signas looked away from her and held his hand against his headset.
“Send him in,” he said calmly. Alia heard the door open behind her and glanced back before biting her lip again as a reploid with a piercing gaze and blue armor walked into the room. He smiled and nodded to Alia, who merely looked away and blushed. “Good work today X,” said Signas.
X smiled wanly as he said, “If you say so sir.”
“You don’t agree with my assessment?” asked Signas as he arched an eyebrow.
“Only because your assessment said that another meaningless battle was ‘good work’,” said X wearily.
Signas sighed. “I know how you feel X, but you have to understand that there are things in this world worth fighting for.” He stared at X for a few seconds before leaning back in his chair and saying, “I’ve given Alia a few days off until her console is repaired.”
X looked over at Alia and asked, “What happened to her console? Is this about why contact cut out for a few minutes?”
“You’ll have plenty of time to talk about that,” said Signas, “because you’re on leave too. Until Alia is able to work here again, I don’t want to see either of you anywhere near this base.”
“But sir…!” started Alia before clapping her hands over her mouth. Signas looked at Alia and nodded his head, giving her permission to speak freely. “Why is X on leave?” she asked quietly. “I’m sure he could find some other navigator to help him out. Pallette’s workload has gone down considerably since Axl was put on standby.”
“No,” said X, “It’s okay. I was thinking of asking for a few days off anyway. This battle is taking it’s toll on me, but I don’t want to try to retire again.”
Alia let out a small laugh. “You never were one for pushing papers,” she said.
“No, I guess not,” chuckled X. “Well, if you two will excuse me, Axl said something about plans for Zero and me after work. I don’t care if I’m on leave, sir. If anything happens that you need my help with, don’t hesitate to call me.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Signas. X saluted and walked out of the room. “Alia, again, good work today. Now go home and relax.” Alia saluted and left. As soon as the door closed behind her, she leaned against the wall and started shivering.
Later that evening, Alia slowly entered her small apartment and looked around despondently. The place was so clean that it looked like no one lived there. She had no books, no television and no radio. Alia lived for her work and her research, and in one fell swoop, Signas had taken both of those things away from her. “Now what do I do?” she mumbled as she sat down in front of her computer and mindlessly tapped away at the keyboard, effortlessly winning game after game of minesweeper. After about fifty victories she looked up at the little smiley face and blinked. She could have sworn it looked like X for a split-second. “If only it was his face…” she sighed as she flopped forward onto her desk. “I don’t like being away from him…but what am I supposed to do about it?” When they were both working at Hunter base, Alia hardly saw X, but they were always in contact. It just didn’t feel right to not be in contact with him while not in sleep mode. “Maybe I should just go into sleep mode until the console is fixed, then I won’t be so bored.” Deciding that to be the best course of action, she was getting ready to enter her sleep capsule when there was a knock on her front door.
Not knowing who would come calling, she slowly trudged over to the door and opened it. “You’ve got mail!” cried Pallette cheerfully as she waved a small envelope in Alia’s face.
“What?!” asked Alia as she stepped back when Pallette shoved her way into the apartment.
“You didn’t check your mailbox when you got home,” said Layer calmly. “May I come in, please?”
“Uh…yes, come in,” said Alia. Layer calmly sat at Alia’s desk while Pallette flopped down next to her sleep capsule. “What’s this about mail?” Pallette grinned as she flipped the envelope at Alia, who managed to catch it. She looked at the other two before opening it. “This has got to be a joke,” she said after reading the letter inside.
“Why?” asked Layer, “What is the problem?”
“It says that I’ve won two free tickets to a weekend getaway at some resort I’ve never heard of,” said Alia. “This is ridiculous! I never entered any contest!”
“Of course you didn’t,” said Pallette. “We did for you!”
Alia must have looked like she was about to scream because Layer threw up her hands and said, “We only did it because we knew you needed to take some time off. You have worked every single day since we were brought on board. It is not healthy.”
“Besides, there was no guarantee that you’d even win the tickets,” said Pallette. “All you gotta do is request some time off for some weekend and you’ll be good to go!”
“That shouldn’t be all that hard,” sighed Alia as she leaned against the wall. “I’ve been put on leave until my console is fixed.”
“Great!” said Pallette. “That means you can go this weekend! You’ll have a blast!”
“Wait,” said Alia, “There are two tickets here. Which of you do I take with me?”
“Us?” asked Pallette, “No, no, no, no, no!” She wagged her finger at Alia and grinned again.
“You should take someone else,” said Layer, “Besides, with you on leave, we are the senior navigators. It would not do to have more than one of us off at any given time.”
“But then…” started Alia.
“Don’t worry about it!” said Pallette. “I know this great place where you could find a nice guy to go with you!” Alia looked a little leery. “Trust me!” said Pallette as she grabbed Alia’s arm and dragged her out of the apartment.
“This is not going to end well,” said Layer as she picked up Alia’s keys and locked the door behind her.
Against her better judgment, Alia let Pallette drag her to a bar. “Sniper Joe’s?” she asked. “Strange name for a bar.”
“Named after one of the ancestors of the owner, Barkeep Joe,” said Pallette. (Yeah! I went there!) “Don’t ask him about them all or he’ll never shut up.”
“Hey! Alia! Layer, Pallette! What are you three doing here?” Alia’s head shot up when she heard X calling them.
“What is he…?!” she attempted to hiss at the other two girls, but they had drifted away as soon as X saw them. X walked up to Alia and smiled. She smiled back. They both looked down at their boots before both trying to say something.
“Wow! Awkward!” slurred an extremely drunk voice as a female reploid with pink hair and the number 77 painted on her chest threw her arms around X’s neck and kissed him on the cheek. “She’s really cute, you know that?”
“Anna…” sighed X, “Go back to the booth and make the others sober you up.”
“To hell with that!” yelled Anna as she thrust her fist into the air.
“X…” said Alia quietly, “Who is this?” Half of her wanted to help the girl to a chair, the other half wanted to rip her in two.
“This is Anna,” said X as he hefted Anna into his arms and motioned for Alia to follow him. “We met during the incident at Giga City. She was our navigator during the battle.” He stopped at a large table and Alia finally noticed Zero and Axl chatting with two other female reploids. One had long green hair and was dressed completely in pink, the other looked rather young. She was a cute blonde girl who looked like a nurse. Zero nodded at her and Axl waved cheerfully.
“And the blue boyscout returns,” said the one in pink. “And he brought a girl with him! I never thought you would be such a lady killer!”
“That’s not very nice Marino,” said the cute blonde. She stood up and politely bowed to Alia. “I’m so sorry for the rudeness of Marino. My name is Cinnamon; what’s yours?”
“Uh…I’m Alia,” said Alia, “I work with X, Zero and Axl as a navigator.”
Marino grinned slyly as she looked at X. “So this is the one you were talking about!” she said.
“What?” asked Alia.
“Marino!” shouted Cinnamon.
“Uh…I’ll be right back,” said X as he sat Anna down next to Marino and dashed away.
“Well, it’s been fun, but I’ve got something that I need to do today,” said Zero. “Take care of yourselves.”
“Where are you off to?” asked Marino. “Got a girlfriend to see?”
Zero looked at Marino with a glare that would have frozen mercury. “Say hi to Iris and Colonel for me, okay?” said Alia as she placed her hand on his shoulder. He looked back at her, closed his eyes and nodded before walking away. He was about to exit the building when Alia saw him stop. He turned and looked at someone before saying something that she couldn’t make out because of all the noise. Eventually he turned and motioned to whoever he was talking to before exiting the building. Alia smiled slightly when she saw Layer following him.
“I should probably be going too,” said Axl. “I’ve got a lot of ‘doing absolutely nothing’ to do tomorrow, so I want to get my beauty sleep.”
“But Pallette’s here,” said Alia, “Don’t you want to talk to her?”
“Pallette?” asked Axl, “What are you talking about? She’s way too smart for me. Besides, it looks to me like she’s found a guy already.” He pointed to a small corner of the bar and Alia gasped when she saw Pallette having a heated discussion with a chubby reploid with green armor and pink glasses.
“Douglas?” asked Alia. “I didn’t know he was back in town.”
“Yeah, whatever,” said Axl. “I’m taking off. See ya!” Axl gave one last fleeting glance at Cinnamon before sighing and dashing off, leaving Alia standing there, staring at three complete strangers.
“Sit down,” said Marino cheerfully, “We won’t bite! Unless you’re into that kind of thing.” Alia blushed and looked around for X as Marino started laughing. “I’m kidding! Calm down and join us. I’d actually like to get to know you.”
“As would I,” said Anna as she sat up, not a hint of drunkenness in her voice. “You were one of the only people that X mentioned from the mainland while he was helping us. That must make you special in his eyes. I’ve been curious about what type of woman he would show interest in.”
“Weren’t you just…?” asked Alia.
“Yes, and I think I was happier then,” said Anna as she glared at Marino who grinned and waved at her, holding a few Cure Capsules. “Please, sit and talk with us.”
“I suppose,” said Alia as she sat down next to Cinnamon who immediately hugged her arm. Alia looked down at Cinnamon in confusion before sighing and looking up again, slightly surprised to see that Marino looked upset. “Is something wrong?”
“She just doesn’t like it when Cinnamon is affectionate with others,” said Anna with a smile. “She’s got a few self-esteem issues.”
“Don’t be silly Marino!” said Cinnamon happily, “You know you’re the only one for me!” Marino blushed and looked away, but Alia could see a slight smile on her face.
“So, you three are from Giga City,” said Alia. “What are you doing here on the mainland?”
“Having a girls-only vacation,” said Anna with a self-deprecating smirk, “which is fine for those two, but my boyfriend is back keeping Giga City in one piece.”
“Oh, is he a hunter?” asked Alia.
“Anna here’s dating the hero of Giga City,” said Marino. “Our own Steel Massimo. After R was killed by Redips, we needed a new leader and Massimo was a hero of the people who stood up to Epsilon so he got the job, whether he wanted it or not.”
“He’s not the real Massimo,” said Anna quietly, “I don’t even know his real name, but I don’t care. One day, he’ll pass the armor on to the next generation and then he’ll finally tell me.”
“And you’re okay with that?” asked Alia.
“I’m with the man I love, what more is there?” asked Anna. Alia looked down at the table and nodded slightly. “I take it you haven’t yet told X how you feel about him?”
Alia’s head shot up as her face turned bright red and her mouth opened and closed a few times. “That’s the best reaction I’ve seen in a long time!” laughed Marino.
“Marino, stop being so mean,” said Cinnamon.
“Sorry, sorry,” said Marino. “Look, why don’t you try to find X for us?”
“Okay, but stop being so mean to big sister!” said Cinnamon as she got up and left.
“I don’t know what that girl sees in me,” sighed Marino.
“The sex is obviously good…” muttered Anna casually as she sipped her drink. Alia’s jaw hung open but Marino merely looked slightly embarrassed.
“Actually…we’ve never…made love…” she said.
“You’re kidding!” scoffed Anna. “Every morning for the past week I’ve woken up to see your sleep capsules with the connecting wire between them.” She rolled her eyes. “You should really get your own room if you’re going to do things like that…”
“We’re just cuddling!” said Marino defensively. “I…I don’t want to mar her innocence…any more than I already have…”
“So it’s not because she doesn’t want to…it’s because you’re still scared…” mused Anna. “You’re not a petty thief anymore. You’re one of the heroes of Giga City.”
“Professor Gaudile still won’t talk to me…” said Marino quietly. “He blames me for taking his precious Cinnamon away from him. For turning her into a…a…”
“Screw him!” said Alia suddenly making the other two girls look up at her. “I read the reports so I know that Gaudile is Cinnamon’s father, but he has no right to keep her from the one she loves.” She gripped Marino’s hands tightly as she said, “Don’t let what other people think get in the way. If you truly care about her and she wants to be with you body and soul, don’t hesitate.” Alia looked down at the table and bit her bottom lip as she let Marino’s hands go. “You’ll just end up unhappy otherwise…”
“Well, that advice sure came from personal experience,” said Marino as she and Anna moved to sit next to Alia. “But thanks, I really needed to hear that.”
“Now, let’s see what we can do for you,” said Anna as she put her arm around Alia’s shoulder and gave her a hug.
“I don’t know what to do…” said Alia. “Fraternization with coworkers is frowned upon…not that that seems to be stopping Layer at all…”
“Then why is it stopping you?” asked Marino. “Take your own advice girl!”
“Don’t be like that,” said Anna, “It’s easy to say, but nigh impossible to do.”
Alia was about to respond when Cinnamon suddenly appeared, dragging X behind her. “Found him!” she said cheerfully.
“Hey…uh, sorry…I got caught up in a conversation with the barkeep,” said X. “Apparently, he’s got a lot of relatives… Where are Axl and Zero?”
“Axl seemed to be slightly upset so he went home,” said Alia, “and Zero went to the Repliforce memorial to pray for Iris and Colonel.”
“I see…” said X, “I should go as well…I’m the one who killed Colonel… and he really shouldn’t be alone right now.”
“Leave him be,” said Alia, “Layer went with him, so he’ll be fine.”
“Layer, huh?’ mused X as he sat down at the table. He shook his head. “So, she finally took the first step. Good for her.”
“You knew about that?” asked Alia.
“I think the only one in the entire base who didn’t was Zero,” chuckled X. “Signas and I actually had a bet on how long it would take.”
“Wait…Signas is okay with this?!” asked Alia.
“Why wouldn’t he be?” asked X. “Those two are one of the best teams we’ve got, alongside you and me and Axl and Pallette.”
“But…fraternization…coworkers…unhealthy…” said Alia, trying to wrap her mind around this new information.
“Signas doesn’t really care as long as it won’t interfere with our work,” said X. “Why? Do you have your eye on someone at work?”
“Well…I just…it’s…” stumbled Alia until she felt someone nudging her in the ribs. She looked over at Marino who nodded her head. She looked at Anna, who merely smiled. “Um…X…I was wondering…Um…”
“Yes?” asked X.
“I…I…l…l-li…” Alia clenched her fists together and clamped her eyes shut, unable to finish what she started, until she remembered the tickets. “I…have two free passes to a resort,” she said slowly, her whole body trembling. “I’ve never heard of it…but someone entered me into a contest and I won them. Would you like to go with me? You know…since we both have some free time right now… I mean, if you don’t want to, that’s fine, I could find someone else…”
“Actually it sounds like a lot of fun!” said X. “I haven’t been on a real vacation in a long time. And it’ll give us a chance to actually get to know one another.”
“Yeah…” said Alia with a smile as she started laughing quietly. “Uh…excuse me…I’ll be right back…” As she got up she saw Marino give her the thumbs up behind her back before she dashed away to the bathroom before the adrenaline wore off and she started shivering.
Two days later Alia was fumbling around her apartment. All of her bags had been packed as soon as she had returned home from the bar, but she was so full of nervous energy that she had to either do something or just stand there trembling. She was cleaning up the kitchen for the fifth time that day when she heard the doorbell. She jumped and quickly put everything away before walking over to the door, willing herself to calm down, and opening the door. “Hi there!” said X before seeing the look on her face. “Uh…am I early or something?”
“No!” said Alia, “Definitely not…you’re right on time! Uh…I have to get my stuff…um…make yourself comfortable…”
“Isn’t that your stuff right there?” asked X as he pointed to the bags right next to the door. Alia blushed and looked away as she nodded. X laughed a little and said, “Well then, that was easy. I’ll get this into my car and we can head out.”
“O-okay…” said Alia quietly. As soon as X was out of sight Alia banged her head against the wall and said, “Stupid! Stupid!! Stupid!!!” Alia quickly grabbed the tickets and directions and ran down the stairs.
She got into the car and input the directions into the onboard navigation system. The car informed them that it would take 2 hours to reach their destination before taking off. X looked at Alia and frowned. “Uh…did you hit your head getting into the car? You’ve got this big red mark on your forehead…”
“Uh…no…I just…Um…” fumbled Alia until she just changed the subject. “So, nice weather huh?” She immediately regretted saying something so mundane and stupid.
“Actually yes, it’s a perfect day to go to a resort,” said X, completely oblivious to the mental anguish Alia was putting herself in. “So, what sorts of things do they have there?”
Alia brought a small pad out of her pocket and tapped a few buttons on it before information started appearing. “I checked the place out and downloaded it onto my journal,” she said. “Apparently, they have Swedish buffing…acid baths…a full VR recreation dome where you can play any type of sport you might be interested in, and a library full of books of all types. All of the rooms are in the shapes of small cottages that are placed along the beach, and each cottage has a voice verification lock, so no one will barge in on you or steal your stuff. I have to admit that I was leery about the whole thing at first, but just the idea of sitting on the beach and watching the sunset makes it all sound so heavenly.” She sighed happily before looking up at X and blushing at the look on his face. “What? Did I say something weird?” she asked.
“No,” said X, “I’ve just never seen you smile so serenely before. You should do it more often, it’s very cute.”
Alia blushed even harder. “Well, it’s not like there are many chances for me to smile like that at work…” she said.
“True enough,” said X, “but let’s not talk about work at all. This is a vacation, so let’s just have a good time.” Alia smiled and nodded, and the two continued to chat during the long trip.
When they finally got to the resort, the two got out of the car and looked around in awe. “May I take your bags?” asked a small mechaniloid as it wheeled up to them.
“Uh…sure,” said Alia as she got the bags out of the car and X told it to park itself. The three headed up to the front desk where another mechaniloid was stationed. “I received these free tickets for the weekend,” said Alia as she handed them to the receptionist. “I made the reservation under the name Alia.”
“Of course miss,” said the receptionist as it took the tickets and ran them through it’s processor. “Miss Alia and Mister X…scheduled to be here for the next three days…honeymoon suite.”
“Uh…what?” asked Alia as she looked over to make sure that X hadn’t heard that, but he was too busy looking around. “Did you just say Honeymoon?”
“Yes miss,” said the receptionist. “Please enjoy your stay.” The receptionist handed Alia a key which she was reluctant to take.
“Uh…could we get a different room…maybe?” asked Alia. The receptionist didn’t reply, it merely continued holding the key out. “Hello?”
“Is something wrong?” asked X.
“Well…” started Alia until a tall, slender female reploid with long blue hair walked up to them and took the key from the receptionist.
“Is something the matter, ma’am?” she asked politely. Alia looked at the newcomer and frowned. “I’m sorry,” said the reploid, “I’m the manager of this resort, and I was wondering why you weren’t taking your room key. Is something wrong?”
“Uh...” said Alia quietly, “There seems to be a small mistake. I just wanted a regular room…not the honeymoon suite.” She looked at X who, having heard the name of the room, started laughing. “We’re not married…or even dating…we’re just coworkers…could we have another room, please?”
“Don’t worry about it,” said the manager with a smile, “It’s not really all that different from the regular rooms. It’s just a little more secluded…and maybe a touch more romantic.”
“I…I’d really rather…” stammered Alia as she looked nervously at X.
The manager looked over at X as well before smiling again. “I’m terribly sorry, but all of our other rooms are booked already,” she said as she bowed. “You really should have read everything on those tickets before you registered.”
“I guess it’s okay…” said Alia quietly before clenching her hand into a tight fist. “But as soon as I get back there are two ‘friends’ who are going to pay for this!”
“So it was Layer and Pallette that set this up, huh?” asked X rhetorically.
“I’m so sorry X!” said Alia, “I really didn’t know!”
“Calm down, I’m not mad,” said X. “Let’s see this room of ours.”
The manager bowed again and led the way. The three left the main building and walked along the beach, passing beach house after beach house until they came to one that was surrounded by palm trees and had a koi pond. “This is your suite,” said the manager.
“It looks like a real lagoon,” said Alia in wonder.
“Well, it was artificially made, but all of the plants and animals are very real, I assure you,” said the manager as she unlocked the door and led the two inside. “As you can see, there are two sleep capsules as well as all the necessary facilities. Now, I must get back to work. I hope you enjoy your stay.” She bowed and left the building, leaving X to look around the room, but Alia chased after her.
“Wait!” she said, “How do I disconnect that wire between the capsules?”
“How?” blinked the manager, “It’s not all that different from how you would normally do it.”
“Um…” muttered Alia, “I’ve never…”
The manager smiled kindly. “Don’t worry about it then,” she said, “I’ll have a maintenance mechaniloid disconnect them for you today. Is that all right?”
“Thank you so much,” said Alia as she sighed with relief. “I’m so sorry for being such a bother.”
“Don’t worry about that,” said the manager, “We want our guests to be as comfortable as possible. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
Alia watched the manager walk away before slowly turning and entering the beach house. She found X sitting next to the sleep capsules, laughing. “I made a right spectacle out of myself, didn’t I?” she asked.
“Check out the bathroom,” said X with a smile. “But I’ve got to warn you…it’s really cute.”
Alia shuddered as she walked into the bathroom and squeaked when she saw exactly how much pink there was. Just about everything was covered in little pink and red hearts. Even the sink was in the shape of a heart. “This is disturbing…” she said, making X laugh even more.
“I think it’s amusing,” said X. “But at least it’s a room. Come on, let’s get unpacked and then check this place out.” Alia agreed and the two wandered around the resort. Under the bright sun, Alia started to feel her earlier tension start to disappear and removed her hair tie, letting her long, blonde hair fall down onto her shoulders. As she looked around, she couldn’t help noticing that quite a few of the women were looking at X, checking him out. She smiled again, knowing that he was here with her, even if he only thought of her as a friend. “I’m gonna go buy us some drinks,” said X suddenly. “Is there anything you’d like?”
“I’ll have a diet energy cola, thanks,” said Alia. She watched X as he walked over to one of the vending machines and sighed. His short, brown hair was rather unkempt, probably because he always kept it under that helmet of his so he wasn’t used to brushing it. “I’ll have to do something about that,” she said to herself with a giggle.
“Never thought I’d see him in a place like this,” said a familiar voice behind Alia.
She turned around and saw a reploid that she instantly recognized. He was still in his black armor, but had taken off his helmet and was lounging in a reclining beach chair. “Dynamo?!” she cried, “What are you doing here?!”
“Oh,” said Dynamo as he sipped his energy smoothie, almost poking his eye out with the little umbrella, “Do I know you miss?” He looked Alia over, “Naw…if I’d ever seen a girl as gorgeous as you, I’d definitely remember it.” He slowly got up and gently grabbed her hand before kissing it. “How about you and me going somewhere and you can give me a rub down?”
It took a few seconds before Alia’s shock wore off, but when it did, she was livid. “You evil, self-centered, stupid, egotistical moron!” she shouted.
“You forgot ‘good-looking’,” said Dynamo, not fazed in the least. He put his arm around her shoulder and said, “You know, I like a girl with spunk!”
“Dynamo!” called a female’s voice as a young reploid ran up to the two. She took one look at Alia and immediately sighed. “Who’s she?” she asked.
“I have no idea!” said Dynamo happily causing the female to just roll her eyes.
“Alia?” asked X as he walked up to the others, “What’s going…oh…it’s you.”
“Hey X, how’s it hangin’?” asked Dynamo glibly.
“Get your filthy hand off of me!” snapped Alia as she finally snapped out her stupor and shrugged him off. “Let’s go X, I don’t like it here right now.” X shrugged and looked at Dynamo before nodding to him and following Alia.
“What was all that about?” he asked after they had gotten a sufficient distance away.
“That…that…ooooooh!!!” growled Alia before explaining what happened. “He was one second away from getting slapped!”
“He’d probably catch your hand before it got anywhere near his precious face,” said X. “Don’t worry about him. He’s an incorrigible flirt and pompous jerk, but he’s harmless.”
“Harmless?!” scoffed Alia, “He’s tried to kill you on numerous occasions! He works for Sigma!”
X shook his head. “He’s a mercenary, selling his services to the highest bidder,” he said, “He only worked for Sigma that one time, and all he did was challenge me to a couple of duels. Believe it or not, he took me out for a drink after the funeral service for Zero we held after that incident.” He handed Alia her drink and said, “Come on, we’re here to have some fun and just relax. Let’s go do that.”
“Fine…” said Alia, “As long as I don’t see him again. Let’s go to the sports center. I’ll race you!” Alia took off quickly. X laughed and dashed away after her.
“Well, fancy meeting you two here,” said Dynamo as Alia and X entered the sports center. “We were just looking for another pair to play a nice game of doubles with us. Do you play?”
Alia looked like she was about to scream when X said, “Wait…who’s we?”
“Oh right!” said Dynamo as he slapped his hand to his forehead. “I didn’t get the chance to introduce you. Come on over honey!” The female reploid from before walked over and stood next to Dynamo. She smiled pleasantly at X and Alia before nudging Dynamo in the ribs. “Ah, yes,” he said. “This is Deborah. She’s my wife.”
X stared at Dynamo blankly while Alia’s jaw dropped. “Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!” said Alia. “You’re married…but you were hanging all over me earlier?!”
“I’m used to it by now,” said Deborah as she held out her hand. “He’s a flirt, but he never actually follows through with it. You can call me Deb, by the way.”
Alia introduced herself and shook Deb’s hand before the four started chatting and it wasn’t long before Alia and Deb became friends. The tennis game that they eventually played was a bit of a slaughter. Neither X nor Alia had ever played before and while Dynamo and Deb ‘took it easy’ on them, they still managed to win without much effort. “Looks like there’s actually something out there that I can beat you at!” said Dynamo cheerfully as he and X shook hands. X grinned and was about to answer when the building shook slightly. “Earthquake?” asked Dynamo cautiously.
“I don’t think so…” muttered X as a large crack formed in the ceiling above them. The ceiling burst into pieces as a huge maintenance mechaniloid slammed it’s fist into the roof of the sports center. “Alia!” shouted X, “Get Deb out of here!”
“I’m on it!” said Alia as she grabbed Deb’s hand and dragged her out of the building. “Never thought we’d bring our work on vacation…” she muttered. She looked at Deb and said, “I’m going back in to help as much as I can.”
“Don’t worry about them,” said Deb. “My husband is a strong fighter and your boyfriend is one of the few men he actually respects.”
“X…isn’t my boyfriend…” said Alia, “He’s just a coworker…”
“I doubt that,” said Deb with a smile. “I’ve seen the way you two look at each other. The fact that you’re willing to rush headlong into danger when you can’t actually help is proof of how you feel about him.”
Alia smiled a little before shaking her head. “But that’s where you’re wrong,” she said causing Deb to frown, “I can help… I’ll see you soon…” She ran back into the building, Deb screaming for her to come back. “Glad I had one of these things installed,” she muttered as she turned a knob just beneath her ear and a holo-visor slowly formed over her eyes. She gently tapped her wrist and looked down at the small keypad that was installed in her arm. “Time to find out if it actually works.”
“I can’t believe that we’re actually fighting together,” said Dynamo cheerfully as he dodged a wild blow. “You never know what’s going to happen next!”
“I know exactly what’s going to happen if we don’t find out how to beat this thing!” growled X. The mechaniloid was perfectly armored and most of their shots just bounced off of it.
“There’s an exhaust port on each shoulder!” shouted Alia as she stood in the doorway and typed furiously on her keypad. “They have to be taken out simultaneously, or the repair program will just fix one before the other can be destroyed!”
“Alia!” shouted X, “What are you doing here?!”
“Don’t worry about me!” shouted Alia. “Take that thing down!”
“But…!” started X.
“You heard the lady,” said Dynamo. “Let’s do this!” The two dove into action, attacking the rogue mechaniloid with everything they had, but, no matter what they did, they weren’t able to destroy both of the exhaust ports at the same time. As soon as one was down, the repair program fixed it in the blink of an eye. “This isn’t working…” muttered Dynamo.
“You noticed that too, huh?” asked X sarcastically. They both quickly jumped out of the way as the mechaniloid punched the ground where they had been standing, sending bits of concrete everywhere. X looked up in time to see a piece of the floor slam into the wall right above Alia, but she hadn’t noticed. “Alia!” cried X, “Move!!!” Alia looked up quickly and cried out just as the huge piece of concrete hit, sending up a huge dust cloud. “Alia!!!” screamed X.
“I’m okay…” came Alia’s voice from the dust cloud, amid lots of coughing. “Damn…I guess this thing really works…” Alia slowly emerged from the dust cloud, but one of her hands was gone. In it’s place was a blaster, not unlike X’s.
“Alia…” breathed X, “What…?”
“Well…I thought I should have one…just for self-defense or something…” said Alia as she blushed. “It should work just like yours does. Admittedly, I’ve never used it before, so I didn’t even know if it would work.”
“How’s your aim?” asked Dynamo.
“It’s not bad…” said Alia, “Why?”
“Good,” said Dynamo, “I’ll distract that thing. You two take out the ports.” Dynamo took off without waiting for their replies.
“Okay then,” sighed X. “Let’s do this.”
“Yes,” said Alia, her heart soaring, “Let’s take this thing down!” The two leapt into action. Alia wasn’t as quick or as accurate at X was but she managed to hold her own pretty well. The fact that the two had worked together for years allowed them to be able to easily figure out what the other was thinking and used it to their advantage as they attacked. It took them a few tries, but they were eventually able to blow away both of the exhaust ports at the same time, causing the mechaniloid to convulse dangerously. “Now!” shouted Alia. “It’s chest will open to vent, exposing it’s weak spot! We’ve got to destroy that!”
“Right!” said X. “Can you do a charge shot?” Alia’s eyes twinkled as she ran up next to X and held her blaster out with her other hand holding it, mimicking X’s pose. The two charged up their blasters to full power as X said, “On the count of three…one…two…THREE!!!” The two let their blasts loose into the belly of the beast, causing it to start flashing. Alia looked at the mechaniloid curiously before X grabbed her and jumped away right before the mechaniloid exploded in a flash of light so bright it blotted out everything except for it’s silhouette.
Alia slowly got up. Nothing appeared to be damaged. She looked over at X who was staring at her in disbelief and a little bit of anger. “What’s the matter?” she asked.
“What were you thinking coming back here?” asked X.
“I thought I could help you out…” said Alia.
“Which you did!” said Dynamo happily. “Hot and helpful! Nice little package you got there X. I’m a little jealous!”
“Stay out of this, Dynamo,” said X as he continued to stare at Alia. “You’re not a fighter! You’re a navigator! What was going through your head?!”
“Can we talk about this later?” asked Alia quietly. Her mood had just done a complete one-eighty as her heart, after soaring like an eagle, suddenly lost all of it’s feathers and landed painfully in the pit of her stomach.
The resort thanked the three for their help, and after giving Hunter HQ an official report, they were allowed to continue their vacation uninterrupted. “Well, it’s too bad about the sports center, but maybe we’ll see you guys around,” said Dynamo as he shook X’s hand before whispering in his ear, “Don’t be too hard on her. She was trying to help you out.”
“Don’t be so shy around him,” whispered Deb into Alia’s ear. “Make a move tonight. You won’t be disappointed.” She giggled mischievously as Alia blushed and looked away. “Take care of yourselves!” she said as the two headed off to their own room.
X and Alia traveled down the beach in silence. Everytime Alia looked over at X, he was staring straight ahead, and he still looked upset. They both entered their cottage before X turned to her and asked, “Why? Why did you come back? Why did you put yourself into danger? Why do you have a blaster?” Alia looked at the floor and mumbled something. “Come on Alia, answer me!” said X angrily before both of them shouted, “You could have been killed!” X stopped; a stunned look on his face as he saw tears sliding down Alia’s face.
“I know I’m not a fighter and I know that if I tried, I’d just get in the way,” said Alia. “But, I also know that if I hadn’t come back, you never would have been able to figure out how to destroy that rogue mechaniloid and you would have been seriously injured…or even killed. And I couldn’t let that happen, not when I had the ability to help you!”
“You shouldn’t have worried about me,” said X, more gently, “If we hadn’t been able to stop it, we would have retreated.”
“That’s a lie and you know it,” said Alia harshly. “And don’t tell me not to worry about you! Someone should! Why is it that you’re the one who’s always sent on the missions that everyone agrees would be suicide?! Why is it that no one but me seems to think that you’re just a destructible as everyone else?! Even Zero and Axl think that you’re nigh-invincible, but I know you’re not! I’m the one who has to listen to your screams and cries as the mavericks hurt you! I’m the one who listens to you begging them to stop fighting! I’m the one who hears you quietly sobbing after you’ve been forced to kill reploids who could have been your friends!”
“Alia…?” whispered X, not knowing what else to say.
“I worry about you every time you warp out to a new area,” said Alia, “Every time you take on a huge mechaniloid…every time run into a maverick…when ever I can’t reach you…whenever I close my eyes!!! I’ve tried to learn to live with it, but all I think of is you!”
“Alia!” said X more firmly, but Alia plowed on.
“I love you, X!” cried Alia. She stood there, panting and staring at X’s face, waiting for his reaction.
“Alia…I’m sorry…I…” stammered X.
“I see…” said Alia quietly as she turned away from him. “I knew you didn’t feel the same way…but I had to tell you…” She started to sob until she felt X’s arms wrap gently around her body and hug her tightly.
“I mean that I’m sorry that I’ve caused you so much pain over the years,” he said quietly. “I never wanted to hurt you…not you. I care about you far too much.” He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “The real reason I always accept the really tough missions is because I know that they’ll assign you as my spotter. Your voice gives me the strength to fight on, even against the most immeasurable odds, because I never want to hear you cry.”
“X…” sighed Alia as she turned around and faced him.
“You’ve given me strength in so many things before,” said X as he ran his fingers gently through her hair, “and now…you’ve finally given me the courage to tell you that I love you too.”
“Oh X…” moaned Alia happily as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and smiled. She closed her eyes as he leaned in and kissed her on the lips. “Tell me this isn’t just some elaborate holo-sim. Tell me I’m not in sleep mode. Please, tell me this is real.” She closed her eyes again before yelping as she felt X pinch her cheek. She frowned at X until he started laughing, making her smile. “That’s not what I meant,” she giggled.
“I didn’t know what I could have said that would have convinced you better,” laughed X as he gently kissed her cheek. “Better now?”
“Much,” sighed Alia. “How long have you…?”
“For some time now,” said X, “but, I was never able to bring myself to tell you. It didn’t even occur to me that you were scared of Signas until you brought it up at the bar.”
“I’m not scared of him,” said Alia, “but I was scared that I’d be fired and then I’d never see you again.” She looked down and blushed. “I really don’t have anything other than my work and my research. If Layer and Pallette didn’t drag me out of the lab every once in a while, I’d probably never leave Hunter HQ. I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I wasn’t working there anymore.”
“Trust me,” said X, “Signas is not about to fire you.” He looked around conspiratorially before leaning in and whispering, “Actually, just the other day he said that he wished he had about ten of you. After what happened during our last day, I’m sure that number has gone up. But don’t tell him I told you that.”
“So, you heard about what happened?” asked Alia.
“Are you kidding?!” scoffed X. “That was all that Axl could talk about. How you ‘Recovered bravely from a near-death experience to hack your way into Layer’s console and save my life.’ That’s how he put it at least. Zero’s description was a little more believable.”
“Hey!” said Alia as she punched his arm playfully. “I like Axl’s description.” She pulled away from him and spread her arms out as she said, “Recovered bravely from a near-death experience. I like that!” She dropped her arms as she said, “In all truth, if Zero hadn’t tackled me like he did, I would probably just have to have had a little body work done and might need to take a few days off to touch up my face.” She shuddered. “I hope they’d be able to find the same color paint. It would be really embarrassing to have one cheek being a different color from the rest of my face.”
X just chuckled and said, “Well, I guess we both owe Zero a big thank you. If he hadn’t gotten you away from the console, you probably wouldn’t have invited me here and we never would have realized that we had both been suffering in silence.” He kissed Alia again before hearing a gentle grumbling sound. He looked around before noticing Alia blushing. “Are you, by any chance, hungry?” he asked with as straight a face as he could manage.
“Just a little…” said Alia innocently. “We never got around to dinner after all of that exercise. Let me get changed…I’ll be out in a second.” With that, she grabbed her bag and dashed into the bathroom. A few minutes later, she emerged still wearing her normal red armor, but it had an attachment that made it look like a lovely evening dress. “I brought this…just in case I got up the courage to tell you…” she said quietly. “I’ve never worn it before. How do I look?”
“You look beautiful,” breathed X as he rifled through his bag and took out two attachments to his own armor. He clipped the blue bowtie to his neck and slipped a black vest on. He blushed at Alia’s appraising look. “It was in case there was a formal dinner or something…” he muttered. “I don’t really like dressing up very much…”
Alia smiled as she said, “Yes, I can see that. Come over here and let me see if I can do something about your hair.”
“Yes ma’am!” saluted X, making the two laugh. Ten minutes later (his hair was REALLY unkempt) the two were walking down the beach, hand in hand.
“It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?” asked Alia.
“Yeah…too bad we missed the sunset,” said X.
Alia sighed but smiled. “We’ve got two more days here,” she said, “We can watch it then.”
When they got to the dining hall the maitre de stopped them and said, “Mister X and Miss Alia? Come this way please.”
“What’s going on?” whispered Alia.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” replied X with a shrug. As the two passed all of the tables they noticed that the people they were passing were all watching them and whispering. X looked back at Alia with an embarrassed grin, which she returned. The maitre de lead them up to the front of the room where they saw Dynamo and Deb sitting at the head table and looking just as confused as they were. “They’re not planning on…” muttered X as they reached the other two and sat down with them.
“Probably…” said Dynamo with a grin.
X sighed and rolled his eyes. “I’d really just like to have one day where I’m just another reploid having a vacation,” he muttered, making Dynamo laugh.
“Is someone going to explain what’s going on here?” asked Alia.
“If this big lug won’t tell me, I don’t see why he’d tell you,” sighed Deb. “Every time I try to ask him he just laughs.”
“You’ll be getting your answer soon, I assure you,” said Dynamo happily.
“What’s that supposed to…” started Alia before X put his fingers to her lips.
“Shhh…” he whispered, “The manager of the resort is going to say something.”
Alia looked up at a podium that was right next to their table and saw the woman from earlier that day standing next to it and clearing her throat. “Ladies and gentlemen,” said the manager, “As most of you know, today our resort was attacked by a rogue mechaniloid that went maverick. It managed to destroy most of the sports center and would have undoubtedly succeeded in destroying the entire resort if not for the actions of these three brave reploids: Mister X, Mister Dynamo and Miss Alia!” The room was suddenly full of applause and cheering as the three waved at the crowd. Dynamo grinned and X scratched his head as Alia blushed.
“Is this really necessary?” whispered Alia.
“Not really,” whispered Dynamo, “But it makes them feel better if they come out into the open and cheer us on. It makes them feel like they’re helping us out by shouting encouragements.”
“Personally, I never got used to the adulation,” mumbled X.
“At least you’re not at the table just as a guest of one of you three,” said Deb with a smirk as she rested her head on her hands and yawned. “Damn, I’m hungry.”
“I wonder if we’re gonna get some sort of reward for this?” asked Dynamo quietly.
“You shouldn’t think about things like that,” hissed X.
“If I didn’t think about things like that, I’d never get paid,” chuckled Dynamo.
X and Alia exchanged glances. Alia snickered while X rolled his eyes. The manager waited for the applause to die down before continuing. “The brave actions of these three have saved not only our resort, but also saved your vacations, so it is with great honor that I give them free, life-time passes to this resort.”
Dynamo whistled as he looked at his wife, who smiled broadly. X was speechless while Alia spluttered, “Isn’t that a little too much?”
“I wouldn’t really worry about it,” said Dynamo, “I’m sure the cost of rebuilding the entire resort and refunding all of the money for the people whose vacations had been spoiled and repair bills makes this little sacrifice feel like peanuts in comparison.”
“Besides,” added Deb, “If you three have lifetime passes, you will most likely come here more often and maybe save their asses if it happens again.”
“Well, that may be how the board of directors feels,” said the manager as she walked up to them, “But I, myself, actually just wanted to give these to you.” She handed four passes to Dynamo before shaking his hand. “Each of you is now an official lifetime member of our resort. As long as you do nothing to tarnish our reputation you can stay here for free.” She bowed to X and Alia before saying, “Thank you very much for all you’ve done for us. A waiter will be here shortly to take your orders. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have many things that need taking care of.”
“Well, she was rather nice considering how rude we just were,” said Deb with a smile as she looked at Dynamo.
“You two are really a match made in heaven,” sighed Alia with a smile.
“They broke the mold when they made us,” said Dynamo.
“They really did,” said Deb. “We have pictures.” The rest of the evening went rather smoothly, with the only exception being the reploids coming up to thank them for saving their vacations. Dynamo somehow convinced X and Alia to get into a drinking game. Every time that someone came up to them, the person they thanked first drained their glass of wine. By the time that dinner was over, Alia was completely plastered and X was a little tipsy. Dynamo was barely drunk. “I think you may want to take her back to your room,” said Deb after Alia downed her latest glass of wine and started laughing hysterically.
“That might not be such a bad idea…” said X as he stumbled to his feet and tried to help Alia up, but she went limp in his arms. He sighed a little as he hoisted her into his arms and gently carried her out of the restaurant. “You’re going to feel really silly about this when you wake up tomorrow,” he said as he walked down the beach.
“I don’t exactly feel great about it right now,” moaned Alia. “Get me to my sleep capsule so I can dream about erasing my memory of the past hour or so…”
“Don’t worry, we’re almost there,” soothed X as he kissed her forehead. Alia snuggled into his chest and muttered something unintelligible. X grinned at the smile on her face as she sighed contentedly. When they got to their room, X gently put Alia down, whispering, “Come on, I need both of my hands here.” Alia muttered a little and merely leaned on X as they walked into the room and up to their sleeping capsules. “I’ll see you in the morning,” he whispered in her ear as he put her in her capsule and turned it on.
“Night…” muttered Alia as the capsule closed and she closed her eyes. When she opened them again she was lying on a large bed with a soft mattress and a heart shaped pillow. She didn’t feel drunk anymore either. “What the hell?” she asked before X suddenly appeared next to her. She looked over at him in shock as he slowly opened his eyes and looked around.
“What’s going on?” he asked. “I should be in sleep mode right now.”
“I’m…not sure…” said Alia quietly, a looming sense of foreboding making her stomach twist into knots. She looked down at her own hands and noticed that they didn’t look right. She slowly grabbed her wrist with trembling fingers and gently pulled, pulling her glove away to reveal pink flesh underneath. “No!” she cried, “No, no, no, no, no! I told them to remove that cable! They must have forgotten with all the excitement!”
“What are you talking about?” asked X.
“There’s a cable that is connecting our sleep capsules,” said Alia. “It’s used to allow reploids to…be intimate…with each other in a way that is impossible in their physical bodies. It connects their minds directly.” She looked at her hand and held it against her face. It felt warm. “Anything we feel in here is just sparks of electronic information being sent to our processors…but it’s still amazing actually feeling it.”
“So…we can take off our armor?” asked X quietly.
“Here, it’s not even armor,” said Alia, “It just clothing…like humans wear. Our skin is soft and warm. Nothing on our bodies is artificial. In here…we are human.” She took off her other glove and ran her fingers through her hair, sighing at the feeling. “I’ve often wondered what this would feel like.”
“But…” started X.
“But what?” asked Alia.
“Well…I mean…you’ve never…I mean, with Gate?” mumbled X. “You were close…weren’t you?”
“Gate?” asked Alia before laughing. “We were colleagues and rivals, but we were never together like that. He could never get over the fact that I would always follow the rules, and I couldn’t get past his need to break them all the time. I am thankful that my time with him allowed me to come out of my shell though, so I do owe him something.” She grinned when she heard X sigh with relief. “My dear X, were you jealous?! That’s so sweet!”
X blushed and turned away. “So, uh…how do we get back to normal here?” he asked.
Alia sighed and flopped back onto the bed. “We can’t,” she said, “We’re stuck here until our sleep capsules wake us up in the morning. I’m really sorry about this X. I would never just spring something like this on you. I would have asked before using this normally, especially if I had known that you didn’t even know about it.”
“Would you have asked?” asked X as he looked down at her. She blushed and shrugged. X slowly, hesitantly, removed one of his gloves and placed it against Alia’s cheek.
Alia closed her eyes and sighed as she felt his warmth against her skin. She slowly opened her eyes and looked into X’s, wondering if she would ever have had the guts to ask him to sleep with her, even taking how drunk she had been into consideration. “He’s so gorgeous,” she thought as she looked him over. “What does he see in a dumpy little bookworm like me? He’s been staring at me for a while now…I wonder what he’s thinking.”
“Alia?” asked X as he leaned in.
“Y-yes?” stammered Alia quietly, her breathing quickening as their noses almost touched.
“Would you mind it if I kissed you?” asked X.
Alia trembled as she said, “Yes…I-I mean no! I mean…g-go ahead…” She closed her eyes and jumped when she felt his lips barely brush against hers. They felt so warm. So soft. It was amazing. She’d never felt anything like them in her entire life. She found her arms slowly reaching up and wrapping around X’s head before pulling him in and kissing him harder. She could feel his breath against her upper lip as their lips mashed together, could feel his heat radiating from his body and could feel her own arousal starting. “Is this how humans feel?” she thought as X pulled away from her and smiled before kissing her again. “These feelings…these sensations…I never want to let them go.” Her breasts started to feel odd so she gently pushed X away and looked at them. The fabric covering them now stood out as there were points at the center of her breasts. She gently prodded the points and felt a jolt of pleasure shoot through her. “Oh God!!!” she moaned as she writhed on the bed.
“Are you okay?” asked X.
“Better than okay!” panted Alia. “This feels wonderful! You’ve got to try it!”
X looked slightly dubious but reached up and started to prod his own little points, but she could tell that it wasn’t what she was feeling. “I’m not getting it,” he said after trying a few times.
“Take off you shirt and try it,” said Alia quietly as she started to take her own top off.
X watched Alia taking her top off and blinked at the second layer of clothing that she was wearing. “What’s that?” he asked.
“I…don’t know,” said Alia. “Are you wearing one too?”
“I don’t think so,” said X as he fumbled with his shirt. He eventually managed to pull it off, even though he had a little trouble since it was a turtle neck, revealing his chest to Alia. She found herself smiling at it and didn’t know why exactly.
“Try playing with those things again,” she said. X shrugged and did as she suggested, but still didn’t seem to be feeling she was getting. “Here, let me,” she said as she gently rubbed his little points. She frowned when he still didn’t react. “What’s the matter?” she wondered. She looked down at her own chest and shrugged as she tried to get the thing on her chest off. “How do you work this thing?” she asked as she struggled with it.
“Hang on,” said X. “There’s a clasp on the back. I’ll get it.” Alia turned around and X fumbled with the clasp for a few seconds before unhooking the piece of clothing. Alia turned back to X before slipping it off, blushing as he watched her, even though she wasn’t sure why. She started to feel a little uncomfortable under X’s gaze and brought her arms up to cover her chest. “No,” said X gently, “Don’t do that.” Alia slowly dropped her arms as X reached out and placed his hands on her breasts. He started to gently squeeze them, making her moan happily.
“That feels wonderful,” moaned Alia. “Don’t stop.” X pulled his hands away from Alia’s breasts, making her moan in disappointment, before placing them on her shoulders and pushing her onto her back. He then climbed on top of her and started massaging her breasts again as he kissed her. Alia moaned into X’s mouth, her tongue raking across his lips. X jerked back before running his own tongue over his lips and smiling. He leaned in and kissed her again, this time letting his own tongue run along Alia’s lips, teeth and then eventually move into her mouth. Alia couldn’t believe how soft and moist X’s tongue felt as it ran all over the insides of her mouth, her own tongue doing the same to him. Her hips started moving of their own accord, humping up into X and running the cleft between her legs along his crotch. She could feel the cleft getting really wet and wondered if she was leaking, but then remembered that she had a human body.
“Something…strange is going on…the more you do that…” moaned X as he gritted his teeth.
“Do you want me to…?” started Alia before X cut her off.
“Don’t stop!” he said harshly. He must have seen Alia wince because he looked slightly ashamed of himself. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “It’s just that these sensations are so…so…”
“Pleasurable,” said Alia quietly. X nodded. “I’m feeling so wet down there…between my legs. Are you?”
“No,” said X, “It feels like something’s growing. It feels…odd…but really good too.”
“Let me see!” said Alia excitedly. X blushed a little as he fumbled with his pants. He dropped them slightly, and Alia was slightly disappointed to see that he was wearing something that covered up the obviously hard object between his legs. She slowly reached out a trembling hand and pulled the waistband of his underwear away. The large rod of flesh immediately sprang out of it’s confines and into the air. Alia let out a startled gasp and reared back, accidentally snapping the waistband back into X. “I’m sorry!” said Alia as X winced. “I was startled…and I…”
“I’m okay,” said X. “But, let’s make sure it doesn’t happen again.” So saying, he quickly removed his boots before taking his pants and underwear off, tossing the rest of his clothing onto the floor with his shirt. They both looked at X’s rod for a few second before X asked, “What, exactly, is that?”
“I don’t know…” said Alia, suddenly really wishing she had a port to download information from. “This is one of the few subjects in the world that I’ve never looked into. I never thought it would happen to me… I’m really sorry X.”
“Don’t be,” said X, “It’s a new experience for us both. Let’s see what we can figure out by ourselves…okay?”
Alia smiled as she licked her lips and said, “Well, let’s start by getting me out of the rest of these clothes.” She blushed as she slowly pulled off her boots before standing up and easing her pants off. She smiled at X as she slowly pulled her panties off and looked down at the small cleft between her legs. “Well…It’s definitely different from yours,” she said calmly.
“May I?” asked X indicating that he wanted to touch it.
“Go ahead,” said Alia as she watched his finger travel towards her. As soon as his finger touched her cleft, she squealed as a jolt of pure pleasure shot through her body.
“Wow!” said X, “I never expected that sort of MMMPH!!!” X was taken completely off-guard as Alia tackled him to the bed and started kissing him, making sure to keep his hand where it was. As soon as she was sure that he was still stroking her, she moved her hand over to his hard rod and started to gently rub and stroke it, making him moan. The two rolled around on the bed for a few minutes before X suddenly pulled away and said, “Hold it! The thing…it feels funny…”
“Is it hurting?” asked Alia.
“No…” admitted X.
“Then shut up and go with it,” moaned Alia as she continued to stroke him. X gritted his teeth as his hips started to pump along with Alia’s stroking until he let out a groan and white stuff started to shoot all over them, making Alia squeal. X flopped onto his back and panted as Alia blinked at the white goo on their chests. “What’s this stuff?” she asked curiously as she dabbed her finger into it and sniffed it. It had a vaguely chemical-like smell to it. She looked over at X, who had a rather dopey grin on his face, before looking at the stuff on her finger and tentatively licking it. She wasn’t really sure why she licked her finger, but it wasn’t long after that that she had licked X’s chest clean.
X looked up at her as she wrapped her lips around his limp rod and asked, “What are you doing?”
“That stuff was good,” said Alia, “I want to see if you can make some more.”
X looked curiously at Alia as she licked and slurped on his rod, feeling it start to swell again, before looking at his own hand. He had some of Alia’s fluid on his fingers and shrugged before licking them clean. He licked his lips a little before tapping Alia on the shoulder. When she looked up he said, “Here, let’s do it like this.” He slid underneath her so that she could still suck on him if she wanted to while he licked at the cleft between her legs.
Alia wanted to continue sucking on X…she really did, but as soon as X’s tongue touched her, it was like electricity was shooting through her entire body. “How…how does this feel so good!” she moaned as she writhed on top of X. “It’s just a small part of my body! How?!”
“Remember what you said to me earlier?” asked X.
“Shut up and go with it?” asked Alia.
“You got it,” said X as he stuck his tongue into the cleft, making her wail happily. Alia was slowly getting used to the pleasure coursing through her body and started sucking on X again, making him groan a little. “Hey…what’s this?” he asked as he gently pressed a little nub right above her opening. Alia’s eyes shot open and she arched her back as she screamed like a banshee. She felt like every circuit in her body fired off at once. Her entire body twitched spastically for a few seconds before she collapsed.
“Too much…” she moaned before fainting.
“…ia…Alia…are you okay?” she heard X saying as she opened her eyes.
“Better than okay,” she purred as she slowly sat up and smiled at X. “That was an amazing feeling!”
“I thought you were dying,” said X in mock anger. “Don’t do that to a guy!”
“Sorry,” said Alia with a sheepish grin. “But you didn’t exactly stay conscious after you went haywire either.” She laid back on the bed and sighed. “So…that was sex, huh? I think I may enjoy learning more about it.” She looked over at X and said, “And I’ll defiantly enjoy doing it some more…if you’re game.”
X just sighed and shook his head. “What makes you think that we’re done?” he asked with a grin.
Alia sat up. “Do you know something that I don’t?” she asked.
“Just that when humans have sex it’s not just for pleasure…it’s for procreation,” said X. “I don’t think we’ve done anything that could cause a new life to be created. Do you know anything about childbirth?”
“Only what little Lifesavor told me,” said Alia. “He said that the woman gives birth to a baby through her…um…vagina…I think he called it?”
“Finally, a name for this,” said X as he gently ran his fingers over the cleft between Alia’s legs.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” said Alia. “There’s no way a whole human…even a baby…could fit through there! I doubt even that thing between your legs could fit!” She looked down at the long, hard piece of flesh between X’s legs and shivered as she felt a thrill go through her body.
“Want to see if it can?” asked X with a smile.
“Desperately!” said Alia. She licked her lips as she laid down again and trembled as she watched X crawl on top of her. The two of them watched as X, clumsily tried to push his rod into her a few times, failing miserably, but getting his rod coated with the fluid that was still flowing from her. Her hips were twitching wildly and she bit her lip before finally shouting, “Let me! Please! I can’t take this!” She reached down and grabbed X’s rod, a little tighter than she meant to, and placed the tip against her vaginal opening. “Now just push…slowly…” she said quietly. She and X watched in awe as X slowly pushed his hips forward and the bulbous tip of X’s rod slowly parted Alia’s lips and pushed inside of her. Alia gasped and threw her head back, making X stop.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah…” panted Alia, “It’s just…wow…it feels so…large inside me… Don’t move yet. I’ve got to get used to this feeling.” Alia closed her eyes and sighed happily. She opened them again when she felt X’s lips pressing against hers. She smiled as she kissed him back and moaned when she felt her hips gently twitch and accept more of X inside of her. Her hips continued to twitch spastically for a few seconds before X got the hint and started to push into her again. Alia groaned as she felt her insides gradually stretching to allow the invader to move deeper inside of her.
“Are you okay?” asked X as he licked his lips.
“I’m fine…” panted Alia. “Keep going!” X continued to push forward until they felt their hips resting snuggly against each other.
“Can’t go any farther,” said X, sounding like he desperately wanted to move.
“Just wait a second…” hissed Alia, wanting him to move so badly, but needing to get used to him first. She slowly opened her eyes, that she hadn’t even noticed that she had closed, and looked at X before nodding.
X slowly pulled his hips back, closing his eyes and moaning as he did so, before slowly pushing back in, making Alia cry out. “Are you okay?’ asked X.
“I’m okay…” moaned Alia, “Oh god…I’m so okay! Please…keep doing that! It feels so good!” Alia found her hips moving in sync with the thrusting that X was doing, and realized that it was making him go further into her than he would have without her help. “Amazing!” screamed Alia, “So amazing! I never want to stop doing this! Ever!” Even as she said that, she felt a tense feeling, like a clutching in her stomach that was quickly growing to encompass her entire body. “Oh god!” she cried, “It’s happening again!”
“M-me too…” growled X through gritted teeth as his hips started thrusting at a rapid pace. Alia screamed again as the world in front of her turned pure white and the feeling inside of her exploded into a huge burst of pure pleasure that had her moving her hips uncontrollably. Her inner muscles started to squeeze down on the invader inside of her, and she heard X groan again before his hips shot forward and slammed into her one last time before she felt warm, sticky liquid flow into her. Her eyes shot open as she screamed again and arched her back. Each shot of the warm goo inside of her set off smaller explosions of pleasure until it finally slowed to a stop. Alia laid there, gasping for breath as she felt X’s hard rod slowly shrink and pull out of her. As soon as X’s rod was free of her body, he collapsed onto her, seemingly exhausted. She gently wrapped her arms around him, pulling his sweaty, sticky body into a loving embrace. “Please tell me that this wasn’t a one-time thing,” she heard him whisper.
“You don’t have to worry about that,” soothed Alia as she kissed his cheek, “We can do this until we leave the resort.”
“But…what about…after that…?” asked X.
She bit her lip. “How would you feel about me moving in with you?” she asked quietly. X slowly pushed himself up and looked into Alia’s eyes. He smiled and leaned in to kiss her, but before their lips met Alia heard a loud whirring noise and was suddenly back in her sleep capsule. She slowly got up and looked over at X’s sleep capsule, which hadn’t woken him up yet, and wondered how he must have felt when she just disappeared on him. She looked herself over as she climbed out of her capsule. She looked just like she had when X had put her in the night before. Her armor was still there, her hair was up again, and she felt fully refreshed and ready for a new day. “How odd…” she muttered before hearing X’s capsule opening.
He blinked before looking around. “Wow…that was…intense,” he said as he climbed out of his capsule. “What would you call that…Power Sleeping?” He grinned at Alia who blushed and smiled.
“Um…you never answered my question…” said Alia quietly.
“You’re not going to vanish on me again, are you?” asked X with a smile as he placed his hands on her shoulders.
“Promise…” said Alia as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Then let’s continue where we left off,” said X as he gently kissed her on the lips. “I would be honored if you could come and live with me.” He hugged her tightly as he said, “I love you so much. Please don’t ever leave me.”
“I’ll be here as long as you need me,” said Alia soothingly as she stroked his hair. “Just don’t go dying on me out in the field.”
“I don’t see how I could,” said X. “I’ve got the best damn navigator in the force working with me.” They embraced for a minute before X pulled away from her and removed his tie. “So,” he said as he slipped out of his jacket, “What are you up for today?”
“How about a Swedish buff?” said Alia, her eyes twinkling. “I’ve been told that you feel like you just had a complete tune-up after one.”
“Sounds good,” said X. The rest of their stay at the resort went by too quickly for them. They spent the days relaxing and playing with Dynamo and Deb and spent their last night making passionate love to one another…after a quick download session so they knew what they were doing. Sunday evening came all too soon for the four as X and Alia were packing to get ready to go back home.
“Keep in touch cutie,” said Deb to Alia as the two friends hugged.
“You bet,” said Alia. “I might even be inclined to stay in contact with your husband.”
“Ouch…” said Dynamo, “That was cold!” The four laughed and said their goodbyes as X and Alia got into X’s car and headed back to the city.
Alia had a new spring in her step when the two were allowed back to work and when asked why she merely said, “Oh…no real reason…” before giggling like a school girl.
She was heading to her station when Zero stopped her. “You know…you made me a little zenny,” he said.
“Why?” asked Alia.
“Signas and I had a little bet about when you two would finally get together,” said Zero with a smirk. Alia’s jaw dropped as Zero waved and dashed out of the room. As soon as he was gone Alia started laughing.
One Year Later…
“This place won’t be the same without you,” said Signas.
“I’ll make sure that the others do not slack off in your absence,” said Layer.
“I’ll miss you!” sobbed Pallette.
“Oh come off it!” said Alia with a smile, “X and I will only be gone a week. We’ll be back here as soon as the honeymoon is over. Heck, if you guys hadn’t insisted that we take the whole week off, we’d be back here tomorrow. We love this job far too much to abandon it for anything.” She pulled Layer over and whispered in her ear, “So, when exactly are we going to be hearing about you and Zero tying the knot?”
“Whu…well, I…uh…where are you two going for your honeymoon, anyway?” asked Layer as she turned beet red.
“Yeah, you never said where you were going,” said Pallette.
“Oh… nowhere special,” said Alia. “Just a small resort that we’ve both become very enamored with…”
The End

(Okay…so the original idea behind this story was that Alia would be easing X’s pain from being forced to kill reploids…but…well…that idea went right out the window. I’m very happy with how this story turned out, even though it went in a completely different direction. It took a lot of work to make sure that while it was told from third-person everything was still from Alia’s perspective (I can’t remember what that’s called for the life of me…it’s not third-person omniscient…it’s the other one) but I hope I managed it. And also, I hope that there are some out there who can deal with the fact that I wrote a Megaman X fic without making X gay. X and Zero are just best friends! There’s nothing more to it! *sigh* And now that I’ve got the yaoi fangirls after me, I think I’d better quit before I upset anyone else. Ta!)