Chapter Text
It was hard to explain the things that separated humanity from Reploids. Aside from the obvious: man-made, synthetic skin, etc, Reploids were basically human. They could think, feel, react, and had the complex thinking and reasoning to determine right from wrong.
… Until they couldn’t. Something X understood well now, after several years of working his job, was how the Maverick Virus altered Reploid thinking. A previously righteous and hard-working Reploid would become erratic and lash out. Even the most altruistic of Reploids can be taken over.
Except for two people. The anomaly of X and Zero was heavily studied at the beginning of the Virus’ spread. Neither could be infected, though both were still affected. For X, his systems would fallback to his recovery protocol and limit his functions, but for Zero… It seemed to make him stronger. Only barely perceivable, the change in Zero’s strength was still able to be calculated. Nobody knew what this meant, or why Zero was affected this way.
When it was first discovered, there were talks of limiting Zero’s use in the field, but Zero being the only surviving S-Class Hunter, along with his unique status as being made specifically for combat, made this unreasonable. That isn’t to say he didn’t take precautions. Checks and stops in every way, shape, and form to try and limit the effect the Virus could have on him, frequent checkups and repairs. It took a toll on him, at least a little bit. X could see that from a mile away. Zero never talked about it, keeping most of their conversations focused on other things, but it always worried X a little bit.
“Hey, Zero.” He had managed to catch up with the red Reploid, immediately matching his pace. “It’s been a couple days- how’ve you been?”
Zero looked at X, a calm smile spreading across his features as he did. “Hey. It’s good to see you again, I was just in the medical wing.” He shrugged as if to shake off the topic.
X, however, wanted to push a little more. Just this once. “Oh… Uh, how is all that?” He wasn’t sure how to word his concerns, but he could at least try to allude to them.
“It was fine. Same as the usual.” His smile faded some as he spoke, eyes shifting away from X and back to the corridor.
“Oh, alright.” His worried smile was enough to get the point across.
Though they’d been friends and partners for years, that was all they were: friends. The words stung a bit in X’s head as his gaze matched Zero’s. Friends. Work partners. Colleagues. Though he’d always wanted to be… well. More. Since Sigma’s first rebellion, X had looked up to Zero. Through their entire careers working together, his strength never wavered in the face of chaos, destruction, death and hardships.
He caught himself staring at Zero when he felt Zero’s eyes staring back at him. “Something you wanna say?” Zero tilted his head slightly, a questioning half-smile and raised eyebrow meeting X’s quickly spreading blush.
“Oh- no! I was just thinking, sorry.” He looked down, chuckling nervously.
Zero huffed in response. “Well, I’m going to grab an e-tank from the cafeteria. Did you want to join me…?”
“Sure!” He responded a tad too quickly, which made Zero laugh himself. A deep, but warm laugh that never failed to make X just a little flustered. He’d only started getting back to his old self recently. Iris’ death shook everyone in Headquarters, but Zero especially.
It made sense. Iris was his girlfriend for years, and even if it sometimes hurt to see them together, X couldn’t argue that Iris was perfect for him. She could put up with his sometimes fiery personality and temper his anger. X had set aside his own feelings to support them, and seeing Zero after they left the Repliforce colony broke his heart.
Someone completely different was in Zero’s place for what felt like months. Cold, distant, and quiet. He spent a lot of time away from X, most likely in the medical wing- like always , he thought with a twinge of bitterness- but he didn’t blame him.
Still, seeing Zero slowly getting back to how he was made X a little hopeful. Of course, he wasn’t going to tell Zero about his own feelings. Not right now, not so soon after Iris. That’d be cruel. He’d wait until things were quiet again.
X was dragged out of his thoughts by the e-tank tossed to him. He scrambled to catch it, barely doing so. Zero laughed again as he sat down.
“Ok. I’ll bite, what’s got you so spacey today?” He leaned forward in his chair, resting his head in his hands.
“Spacey…?” He muttered in response, setting the can down. “I… Guess I have been a little bit, huh?” X chuckled.
“More than a little bit. Signas chew you out for not practicing or something?”
“No. I mean- yes, but that’s not it.” He bit back the words he wanted to say.
Are you ok?
Instead, he just shrugged. “I guess I’m just worried.”
“When aren’t you, X?” It was Zero’s turn to chuckle as he opened his e-tank. His words, though edged with sarcasm, were true.
“Hey! It’s not like I can help it. Especially after everything.” X sighed.
“What, Repliforce?” Zero raised an eyebrow, before jabbing the hand holding his can out some. “They were nothing- we dealt with them easily. And I made sure Sigma was gone
for good
this time. There haven’t been any large-scale Maverick attacks since, right?”
“Well… Yeah.”
“Then we’re fine! Hell, once the cure for the Virus is actually usable, we’ll probably become redundant.” He took another sip.
X fiddled with the pull tab on his tank. “I… I guess. What would you do then…? If the Maverick Hunters disband.”
Zero stopped. He looked at X, then seemingly past him. “I.”
He hesitated. Something he rarely did. X worried for a second that he’d struck a sore spot. “I don’t know, honestly. This is all so… Normal, right? It’d feel weird to get a normal job, or to just… exist, I guess.”
X didn’t like that answer. “We could always room together or something,” And he didn’t like
his
answer either, regretting it as soon as it came out of his mouth.
“Huh?” Zero looked back at X. “Together?”
“I- Well, I mean. If you don’t think you could exist just by yourself. I know… How it can be, being alone with your thoughts.”
Zero was quiet for a moment. “... I think I’d like that.” He said with a tone X rarely ever heard. Not one he could easily parse, either.
They finished their e-tanks in silence. But it felt more natural than anything, two people enjoying each other’s company.