Work Text:
Protoman always use to wonder what robots were like back then. Did they have emotions? What did they look like? What was their purpose in life? He thinks these things as he takes a walk near a forest, on a windy fall day. He's in his armor, but he doesn't care if anybody spots him and calls the police. He doesn't work for Wily anymore.
Protoman's eyes under his visor grow cold at the thought of the doctor. He had betrayed Protoman, only using him to get what he wanted. And so, in revenge, he wrecks half of the Wily Castle, and demolishes almost more than half of the robot masters working there. He felt no sympathy when he shot them down.
Speaking of robots, he thinks of his brother, Rock. He misses the guy. Sure, fighting with him gave Protoman a rush of adrenaline and excitement, but he can't help but recall all the times he wanted to join his brother and fight together, and maybe even talk to Dr.Light again, his fathe-
No. Protoman shakes his head rapidly, pausing to lean against a tree. Even if he quitted being evil, that didn't mean he wanted to join the Blue Bomber nerd on his quest for goodness. That would probably make him go back to Dr.Wily. He was just homesick, that's all. He would never admit this to anybody else in the world, but he misses having a family. Even if he was only gone for about a month. He misses making rude comments at his brothers, he misses blowing up things crudely, heck, he even misses most of the annoying robot masters, including Topman, even if he was probably the worst one there, besides Sheepman of course. But what he misses the most, was being along side Dr. Wily, being his best robot there. What he missed, was being evil.
~*~*~
"Rock, my boy! Good morning! How are you feeling?" Dr. Light asks his son as he sees him walk through the door, looking tired, hair disheavled. Rock shrugs. "Battling Dr. Wily is getting more annoying than usual, Doc, but I don't know how Dr. Wily doesn't see how every plan is getting quite old, that I can foil it every time. He just doesn't realize that, doesn't he?" Rock says, in a grumpy tone. Dr. Light freezes by the name of his co-worker, but soon sighs and puts an arm around Rock in a comforting embrace. "Who knows Mega, but one day, the day will be in peace, and maybe..." The doctor trails off, "maybe even Blues can join us as a family." He says.
They don't notice the shadow on the transparent roof, and they don't notice as the figure thunks off the roof and into the woods.
Blues had kept on wandering in the woods for awhile, and suddenly sees a clearing in the forest. Strange, he had never been in this part of the forest before. He keeps wandering until he sees a labratory in the middle of it. He ponders to himself why anybody would want to have a place in the middle of a forest, but he doesn't question it further, seeing as it doesn't concern him at all. But as he looks at the white labratory, he thinks he's seen this before, but he can't quite remember where...
'Light Labs. It's Light's labratory.' Protoman sucks in a breath. So this is where his fath- Where Doctor Light's house is located. He then realizes why Wily couldn't directly attack his house, because it was perfectly secure in the woods. They couldn't find it anywhere. Dr. Wily assumed it was in the city. Lies. He could tell Doctor Wily right now, and they could attack The Blue Bomber and his pesky sister and-
Wait. Proto remembers dully. He doesn't work for Wily anymore. Right.
As he slowly and cautiously walks up to Light Labs, he wonders if there's any security cameras, or lazers that could kill you in a second, or maybe something that guarded the place...
But as he stalks closer to the house, nothing snaps or blows up at him. He suddenly remembers that the Light family, besides being protectors of the Earth, are just normal people... Well, a normal scientist human, and then a bunch of robots, Protoman muses.
He looks up at the roof of light labs, and the transparent glass that guards it. If he got up there he could probably sneak a peek...
Protoman huffs. First attempt at, what was it called, Rock climbing? Not actually climbing a wall made out of rocks, but a wall of steel was close enough, right?
"I'm never trying that ever again." Protoman mumbles sourly. All just to look at inside of a house. But when he looks inside, he sucks in a breath again. He sees Megaman and Dr. Light, discussing about something that Protoman can't hear. Protoman feels like he shouldn't be here anymore, he feels like he should be at Skull Castle, having an arguement with Dr. Wily, and making rude comments at other robot masters. That's what he probably would have been doing at the moment. But no, he's currently looking at the two, and now Dr. Light is hugging Rock now, and Protoman feels like he's going to cry, because he doesn't know what to do with his life anymore. And with that, he jumps off and runs into the forest again.
~*~*~
"What was Blues, er, Protoman like before Dr. Wily turned him bad?" Megaman questions curiously. Dr. Light stares into space, as if imagining the red and grey robot now. "He was... Well, like you Rock." He smiles, remembering all the special times he had spent with his older son. Rock scrunches up his nose. "Like me? The day I'd see him acting like me is the day It's opposite day." He replies. Dr. Light slowly nods his head in agreement. "True... But old Blues... He acted like a real son... Until Albert came and corrupted him..." He says quietly. Megaman doesn't know what to say anymore, he's never seen his father depressed like this. He wonders where Protoman is now. It's been a whole month since Protoman had appeared anywhere, and Megaman isn't even relieved. He feels... Worried. Worried that something happened to him. Not that he would ever admit that out loud. Of course.
~*~*~
Protoman came back. He doesn't know why. He simply was wandering around the woods again and saw that same clearing. But he didn't go near it this time, because Megaman was playing outside with Roll and Rush in the leaves, wih Dr. Light watching them curiously, but with a smile on his face. Protoman felt cold, and lonely as they watched them play together, and roll around in the leaves. Protoman thinks he even heard Rockman make a bad pun about Roll rolling around in the leaves. Protoman felt his mouth twitching. He swiftly turned around to go back, but...
He steps on a branch now. Protoman curses under his breath. The forest is now silent. Great timing. Where was the birds or squirrels to bicker and chat around?
"What was that?" Roll asks curiously. Protoman tries to step once more. His eyes shut tightly as he hears the sickening crush of leaves. "I bet It's a ghost. Ooo, spooky!" Rock yells, trying to scare his sister. But he was also curious to know. No animal in the forest of New York weighed that much, so it would have been a person only... "Is anybody there?" Dr. Light calls.
That's when Protoman starts to run. Surely now the Light family knows it's a person. "Hey, wait up!" He can hear Rock's voice coming after him, the crunching sound of leaves. He really should have brought some energy tanks with him. He's lasted a whole month without them after all. Protoman is rushing through the forest, running out of ideas of where to go. He sprints to a stop, listening for his brother's voice. "Hey!" Rock yells, "don't be afraid! I'm not going to hurt you!"
Oh yes you will. Protoman knows he will.
After a few minutes of Protoman's panting, he can hear Megaman's voice coming closer. Crap, he was too loud. He sprints off again.
Only to get his scarf stuck on a tree branch. Protoman gasps for air as he tugs on the scarf. How he needed to breath when he was a robot, he doesn't know. But that wasn't the problem. He can hear Megaman's footsteps coming closer, and closer... He looks down at the scarf... The same scarf that Dr. Light had given him when he was just starting his life as a robot. With grand hesitation, Protoman rips the scarf off his neck, shutting his eyes closed, and runs off.
Megaman can no longer hear the crunching of leaves or a voice panting, but he finds a scarf, perfectly in good shape except for a rip at the bottom, attatched to a dead tree branch. It looked like somebody had struggled to get out of it's grip and just decided to leave it there. What a shame. Megaman walks over to the scarf, tugs it off the branch, and pulls it over to his face. He can't smell or feel the fabric, but considering how well it looks taken care of, it must have been very valueable to the person that owned it. It must've belonged to the person who ran away from Megaman. And with that, he walks off with the scarf back to Light Labs.
~*~*~
"Hey Megaman, did you- Oh hey, what's that?" Rolls questions as she sees Megaman with a yellow cloth in his hands. Dr. Light swiftly turns around and his eyes widen at the sight of it. 'That's Blues' scarf... What is Megaman doing with it?' Dr. Light ponders. "I was looking for the source of the noise, but I only stumbled upon this scarf dangling from a tree branch. Looks valueable, doesn't it?" Rockman asks. Dr. Light cautiously picks it up and puts it to his face. It's the same one. Same smell, same feel. The same one Dr. Light had bought for his son years ago. He doesn't say anything. So had Protoman been spying on them or something? For a whole month?
~*~*~
He was back. Again. He still doesn't know why he keeps coming back. He just does. It's dangerous though, and they probably already knowthat he spies on them... He kinda came back for a different reason though. He needs some energy tanks. After all, he can't go without energy for the rest of his life. He'd probably die in a few more weeks. The running from yesterday wasted over half of what energy Protoman had saved. But the task was simple, break in, steal some energy can, run away, all with out being noticed. Nobody said the task was easy and simple to do though. But what was a good sign was Roll and Rock were playing outside again. Although, no sign of Dr. Light. Which was strange. He would usually be watching his kids. But, Protoman decided he would sneak from the back. As he walks around, he notices there's a back door. And It's open. Had somebody unintentionally left the door open? Probably Rock, he does those silly little mistakes. As he walks inside, nasuea hits him straight in the face. He's stepped in Light Labs. Where he was first created and turned on. As he looks around, he realizes he's in the heart of the place, the labratory. Bingo. Just where he wanted to be. He searches around for E-tanks. He looks where Dr. Light had always told Protoman where they would be when he lived with him. He sees blue tin cans. He's surprised he didn't change the location. This was going to be easier than imagined. Except when he hears his name. B-blues? Is that you?" Protoman turns around swiftly, to see none other than Dr. Light, staring up at him in shock. Oh no.