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Zero allowed himself to sit on a pile of rubble, the smog was choking his systems and it made him feel sluggish, not to mention he couldn’t remember the last time he had had a proper recharge. But he knew X was faring far worse at the moment, which is why he insisted he rest for a bit in a quiet alcove behind him. There was no maverick signal nearby, but one of them had to stand guard to be sure.
The former partners had just reunited some hours ago. While they had both been overjoyed to see each other again, there was so much left to do, they would both have to process their feelings later. The Zero Nightmare was still running rampant, reploids needed to be rescued, and like always there were mavericks on the loose. Zero was unaffected by the virus, but it was doing constant damage to X’s systems every time he entered an infected area.
The Red Ripper let his mind wander for just a moment. The fate of the world, of humanity and reploids, once again lay with the surviving Maverick Hunters. It was a nightmarish repeat of just a few weeks ago, even though at this point Zero hardly remembered anything about the last crisis. Everything was still fresh in X’s mind, who hadn’t had the luxury of being unconscious through a great deal of the aftermath. Zero felt the bitter guilt hitting him in fresh waves the more he thought about everything. The Blue Bomber had been left to deal with all of this alone. Zero saw the effects the pressure had on his friend, the exhaustion evident down to the last circuit in his systems. But at least he was here now to take some of that responsibility off of him. He would be fine once he got some rest.
Zero was torn from his meditation by a small sound, so quiet his receptors barely picked it up. He realized it was whimpering, and it was coming from behind him. It had to be X. Zero rushed from his spot and down into the alcove. He was relieved to see the other reploid unharmed. He realized that it was probably just a nightmare. The idea didn’t surprise Zero in the least bit, considering the circumstances. X was leaned against the remains of a wall, whatever building it had been a part of was long gone. Zero shook his shoulder gently,
“Oi, X, you alright?” it comforted Zero just to be touching him, although he wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was the fact that X was alive too, his physical presence serving as better proof than anything else.
The reploid muttered something, still deep in recharging mode. His face was twisted in pain, his breathing heavy as his systems fought off the virus even while he slept. Zero shook him harder,
“Hey, wake up. You’re dreaming...X?”
Finally X’s eyes shot open, unfocused and unseeing. His hand slammed to the ground and started patting around as if he were looking for something. He scrambled to his knees and began furiously searching all around him,
“Where is it..? Where is it?!”
Zero also jumped back, startled by his sudden reaction, “X..?”
“No! I can’t lose it, the saber!!” X was now frantic. Zero became aware of the fact that his eyes were still unfocused, large and green and blank as they darted around looking for something that wasn’t there. He was breathing even heavier, as if he couldn’t get enough air.
“X!” Zero realized he had said that too loud, as it made the blue reploid nearly jump off the floor. He lowered his voice, “I have it...you gave it back to me, remember?”
X reacted the opposite of what he was expecting, he looked as if Zero had just struck him. In all the time he had known the Blue Bomber he had never seen X look so terrified. He scrambled backwards, his eyes never leaving Zero’s face.
“W-what do you want?! Give it back to me, I-I’ll do anything, just let me have that saber back, please!”
“What are you talking about?!” Zero didn’t dare get any closer for fear of scaring him more. X was like a cornered animal, his hands were thrown in front of him, he was trembling head to toe, and he looked ready to dash away if Zero made one misstep.
Then Zero heard the familiar sound of armor transforming, and he was suddenly looking down the barrel of X’s own buster. He was shaking so hard he could barely keep his arm up,
“Just leave me alone! I-I can’t take seeing you anymore.”
“X! Wait, stop!” Zero unthinkingly put his hands up, “It’s me! What are you doing?!”
“Why do you have to take his form?!” X cried out desperately, “D-don’t make me fight anymore! I don’t want to fight, please just go away!!” he broke down into dry, ragged sobs, “Don’t make me fight Zero again.”
Overriding his battle instincts to keep his eyes on the weapon, Zero made himself concentrate on X’s face. It was flushed like his entire body was overheating, and his eyes were still glazed over, as if he weren’t properly processing what was in front of him.
Zero realized X was hallucinating.
He’s mistaking me for the nightmare.
It did make sense, now that Zero considered it. That’s all X had seen of him until today.
“X, listen to me,” Zero forced his voice to remain even, “the virus is overwhelming your systems, we need to get you out of here. This isn’t real.”
X shook his head, the tears in his eyes finally spilling over. Zero had to resist every urge to just grab him and hold him close, but that probably wouldn’t end well for either of them. He backed away a little more, keeping his hands up. He just had to get him to lower his guard for a moment, the warbot was struggling to find a solution that wouldn’t include force.
“I’m not going to hurt you. Can...can you just listen to me?”
X didn’t lower his buster, but at this point he was shaking so badly he would probably miss even if he did take a shot. He was hesitating so Zero took the opportunity to speak again,
“Will you come with me? We need to get you away from the virus, X.”
“Give me his saber back first. I’ll do whatever you want.” X lowered his buster, a broken smile taking over his features, “I don’t care anymore. I’ll do what you want...just give it back to me...that’s all I have left of the real Zero.” he let out a painful mix of a sob and a laugh. Now he was wavering back and forth like he would collapse at any moment. Zero’s own hands began to shake, he couldn’t take seeing his friend like this,
“X…” he choked out.
Zero slowly reached to unsheath the saber, and let it fall to the ground in between them. For a few moments the other reploid didn’t seem to acknowledge anything, his eyes still staring at something that Zero couldn’t see. He finally seemed to notice the sword, he limply picked it up, staring at it emptily,
“The Nightmare listened to me…?”
Zero could see his optics flicker and static, a sign that his systems were dangerously close to shutting down. He forced himself to focus on the matter at hand, pushing his feelings to the side with well-practiced ease.
“I’ll do whatever you want, if you come with me?” he said gently.
X let his hand fall to the side, the broken smile still lingering on his face, “I know it’s not Zero...but I’ll come with you. I won’t fight anymore.”
Before X could do anything else Zero launched himself at the smaller reploid, gathering him in his arms and holding him tightly against his chest. He teleported the both of them as far as he could.
The warbot wasn’t quite sure where he had taken them, but he was relieved to find his scan come back with much weaker virus readings. Hopefully this was enough for some respite.
He looked down at X, unmoving in his arms and his eyes still open and clouded over. He had the Z saber clutched in his hand as if it were a part of him. Unwillingly he released his partner to get a better look at him. His breathing was still heavy, his entire body hot to the touch. He was afraid to speak or handle him any more than he already had, as if Mega Man X would shatter if he made the wrong move.
He waited a few tense minutes. Slowly X’s optics began to focus, and his breathing returned to normal, until he slumped forward into Zero with a shaky sigh.
“X…? Can you hear me?”
He jumped, Zero could hear his core whirring back at maximum efficiency, which was a good sign. But that didn’t tell him anything about his mental state. X gasped and scrambled out of his grasp, tearing away so hard he fell backwards, he still clung to the saber.
“Z-Zero? Wait...it really is you?” his free hand went to his head, “What just happened? I-I wasn’t…” he dropped the saber, clutching his helmet as if he were in pain and the same awful terrorized expression returned back to his face, “Am I seeing things?”
“X, listen to me. It’s me.” the calm in Zero’s voice betrayed how frantic he was feeling, but he forced it, for X’s sake, “Just listen to me, okay?”
He began shaking again, curling further into himself. Zero didn’t hesitate this time, he needed to get his partner’s attention on him. He reached out and took both of his hands,
“Hey, look at me,” he said it gently, but firmly. It was enough to get X to listen. He was relieved already to see that he looked like he was bouncing back from before, it gave him some much-needed confidence, “Good, just breathe with me, alright?”
X’s eyes came back into focus after a few breaths, never wavering from the warbot in front of him. They blurred with sudden tears as the realization took over, “Zero…”
Zero just nodded, his breath caught in his throat and his vents.
"Zero!!"
He fell back into Zero's arms, sobs wracking his body as he called the warbot's name over and over. The volume of it almost hurt his audio receptors, with X's cries unbearably loud against the silence of everything else. Zero held him as tightly as he could without making it painful, as if he squeezed hard enough it could get X to stop shaking.
But he continued to fall apart, and Zero realized that he couldn't stop this. He was hit with another pang of guilt, had his death hurt X this much? He thought it had been the stress of all the combat, the chaos going on around them. He hadn’t even considered what his absence had truly meant to his partner, he assumed X would get over it soon enough. He had dealt with this situation before already, why would his dying again (as absurd as that sounded) hurt the reploid so badly? But now he was seeing the consequences, and it almost physically pained him to see X so broken...over him.
“I’m sorry…” he finally managed, his words coming out as a strangled whisper, “I’m sorry X. I’m here. I’m here.”
He felt X nod into his chest, his arms wrapped around Zero’s torso, the warbot could feel his nails digging in at the armor, “I couldn’t believe i-it. I-I had dreamed of you so m-many t-times.”
Dreamed? The idea made Zero’s face flush, despite everything, but he quickly forgot it when he heard X’s breath hitch again,
“You’re here...y-you’re alive.” he seemed to be saying it more to himself. Zero wished he knew what to say, what to do, anything to bring X comfort. He was the last one to deserve all of this. He wished so badly he could just take it all away. He was Mega Man X, he was the hope of the world, but he was also Zero’s...he wasn’t sure at this point what exactly X was to him, and what he was to X. But right now he was simply Zero’s, and Zero was no longer his nightmare.
“I’m here.” he said again. He wanted to say more, he wanted to promise that he wouldn’t leave, that he could be by X’s side forever. But they both knew that that could never be a certainty, not for either of them. He could only affirm what he did know for sure, “I’m here, X. You’re going to be alright.”
X’s sobs began to fade into quiet tears, his grip on Zero never letting up. The only things he would say were his name or a small affirmation of “you’re here”. Zero didn’t try to rush him, he sat there holding his partner, willing to wait as long as X needed.
He suddenly felt an odd impulse, sitting there with X in his arms. Normally he would have questioned the feeling, but right now he was too tired, so he just indulged in it. He lightly kissed the top of X’s helmet. He tasted dust and oil on his lips, but he didn’t care. He doubted X was aware of it anyway.
Zero eventually felt X’s grip on him slacken, his breathing had evened out and he was no longer shaking. He looked down and saw X’s eyes were closed. He was sleeping, and this time he seemed to be in a truly peaceful sleep, no sign of nightmares or pain. Zero shifted them both into a more comfortable position, but he kept his hold on X. He would stay by him until he woke up. There was still so much to be done: endless fighting on the horizon, the overwhelming idea of repair and recovery, and undoubtedly more nightmares, but Zero would make sure he was there by X’s side through it all.