Goldenmane (Shimmerwing) (![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} quill_of_life) wrote,@ 2005-12-31 13:55:00 |
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| Entry tags: | storm riders, x, zero |
Riders On The Storm
Another shonen-ai, borderline yaoi (actually, probably crossing the yaoi line even though I never got too graphic I think it's safe to say this fic doesn't qualify as shonen-ai anymore . . . ) fic I wrote set in the X universe dealing with my favourite pairing, X and Zero. This was was inspired (kinda) by The Doors Song "Riders on the Storm" and a rainy day way back when. This was was also posted to the rockman_yaoi community on LJ.
Disclaimer: I don't own them, just borrowing them for a bit of twisted fun >ahem<
This is what I get for a rainy day and being on vacation. Evil ideas. Yaoi ensues (or at least it should since that's where I think it's headed), so you're warned. Naturally from the series I know best . . . This is set after X1 with some hints of X2, X3, X5 and X6 and possibly the Zero series if you look closely enough (and beyond?)
Read and Enjoy!
By Goldenmane
(C) 5-3-2004 to 5-3-2004 All Rights Reserved
Revised 5-11-2004 - 5-17-2004
There's a killer on the road. His brain is squirmin' like a toad. Take a long holiday. Let your children play. If ya give this man a ride. Sweet memory will die. Killer on the road, yeah.
Girl ya gotta love your man. Girl ya gotta love your man. Take him by the hand. Make him understand. The world on you depends. Our life will never end. Gotta love your man, yeah.
Wow!
Riders on the storm. Riders on the storm. Into this house we're born. Into this world we're thrown. Like a dog without a bone.
An actor out alone. Riders on the storm.
Riders on the storm. Riders on the storm. Riders on the storm. Riders on the storm. Riders on the storm.
~ Riders on the Storm, by The Doors
X sighed as he sat astride the land chaser. His emerald gaze scanned the horizon, watching flickers and streaks of lightening in the distance. But that wasn't what had drawn the two-toned sapphire Hunter out there in the first place. It was the smoking ruins. No Irregular had survived, but neither had the city. All of the humans who had lived there plus most of the Reploids had perished, either directly or indirectly because of the fighting.
Closing his eyes, X could feel those lost spirits calling to him, trying to draw him down into their dark depths. He had been there during that battle, had witnessed some of the deaths.
It's not my time yet, he thought, Zero showed me that much.
His thoughts wandered back to Zero and the sacrifice he had made to try and save X. Vava had trapped Zero before attacking X, only X was no match for the augmented ride armour Vava had. Zero had broken free and overloaded his circuits, destroying the ride armour, but essentially killing himself in the process. X had defeated Vava, but by the time he had gotten to Zero it was too late. Zero was dying in his arms and there was nothing he could do about it.
When he had defeated Sigma and returned for Zero's remains, they were gone, only a few shards of his armour and a few internal parts was all that remained of his best friend. Even though the Hunters had Zero's parts and could rebuild him they lacked one key part to reviving the fallen Hunter, a part no one had yet to find, not even X himself no matter how hard he had tried.
He returned time and time again to these places of ruin, to remember, to feel the pain again . . . and to agonize over the choices that had been made in his life for him that he had little or no control over. He had retreated from the other Hunters, even though Doctor Kein had promoted him to the leader of the Irregular Hunters after Zero's death. He hadn't wanted the responsibility of leading , especially when he knew it would lead to this. Even though he had been built for war, his heart, if a robot could have a heart, was not into fighting. He had been more content being a scientist for Doctor Kein instead of fighting for the Hunters.
So why had he decided to fight?
Wasn't it something Zero had said once, what seemed so long ago, that had finally led X to his current path? 'There are those who seek and never find, just as there are those who never look and find all their answers. Life is never certain, we've seen that personally ourselves with these Irregular outbreaks. But what we can count on is that there are always going to be those we can count on, can depend on to be there for us when we need help, whether it's the Hunters protecting the humans, or friends looking out for each other. I know you don't want to fight, X, and I don't want you to have to, but there comes a time in all of our lives when we have to do that which we don't want to. Not because we have to . . . but because we know, deep down inside, it's the right thing to do.'
X sighed softly. Zero had been right. And the decision to fight had not been an easy one. But the humans and even the Reploids counted on him to help protect them, and now to lead them to everlasting peace. A peace he hoped and sometimes prayed he could deliver to them without too high a cost.
When the first few splatters of rain began to fall, X kicked the ride chaser into gear, turning around and heading back for Headquarters. Lightning streaked overhead and he leaned low, head tilted to keep the rain from his eyes. Not that his optics would suffer from it, but it was an all too human gesture he had seen done many a time and had picked up as a habit.
A bolt of lightning struck not too far ahead of him and he cursed. He could always try a teleport, but he didn't want to just abandon the ride chaser and there was no real shelter for him to duck under. He blinked after another bright flash, thinking he saw something in the road. He blinked again but it was gone. After another flash he saw it again and he swerved, slamming the breaks on. He raised his arm, forming his buster, trying to find the spectre in the near white out rain that poured down. Lightning flashed again, but whatever it was never appeared again.
Warily he reformed his hand and kicked the chaser into gear again, speeding back to base.
"You should be more careful in the rain," a voice crackled over his radio, "especially in this rugged area."</i>
X glanced down to the radar, finding it, curiously enough, clear of any signal. "Who's there?" he called back over the same frequency.
"Behind you," the voice said again, "I can see you barely in this rain."
"Why are you out here?" X asked.
"To find you."
Irregular, X mused, kicking the speed up as much as he could, pushing the ride chaser to dangerous limits.
"I'd slow down if I were you," the voice continued, "there are a lot of drop offs and pits that can catch the unwary off guard. And I don't think you want to end your existence in an accident you could avoid?"
X leaned closer, trying to eek out a bit more speed. Thunder crashed overhead and when he could see again he gasped. Now blocking his way was part of a charred tree. He slammed on the breaks, throwing the ride chaser into a sideward skid, knowing at that speed, he'd never be able to stop before he'd slam into the metallic remains of the tree.
"X!" the voice shouted.
The edge of the ride chaser caught on something and threw X to the side. He fought to get it upright as it slid him along the muddy ground, ever closer to the tree. He activated his teleport, but not in time. He cried out when he felt his back slam into the tree, the ride chaser still pushing him along, shifting the tree, seeming to try and crush him between them.
"Damnit, hang on!" he heard the voice shout.
He closed his eyes and quickly ran his diagnostics to see what was damaged, finding most of his systems sluggish, but functional. Nothing his auto repair systems couldn't handle given some time.
"Here, let me help," he heard a deep voice shout over the pounding rain, growing ever closer as was the sound of pounding feet, too loud to be human.
X jumped, looking up, seeing a hooded form suddenly hovering over him. Too large and angled to be a human, which meant a Reploid had found him. More likely, he mused, an Irregular.
"I'm not going to hurt you, X," the voice said, reaching for something behind it that it withdrew from under the cloak. A beam sabre.
X's eyes widened a bit when the beam came crashing down, closing them at the last second. He opened them only when he heard the sabre being deactivated, when he felt the ride chaser finally shift. He tried to rise, but his motor control thought otherwise. With a soft groan he laid back down, now completely at the mercy of this Reploid.
"No thanks necessary," the Reploid said, voice all too familiar still for X to want to believe it, "but I can offer you shelter. This way. Here, let me help you."
"Why are you helping me?" X asked, curious, even though he tried to activate his teleport unit, finding it unresponsive. Though something about this Reploid's voice bothered him. He didn't want to get his hopes up, having had so many false hopes crushed since Sigma's defeat. He let the stranger lift him up, cradle him against the soaked cloak, water still running in rivers down the coarse fabric, dripping off the hood to splatter against X's own battered armour.
"I'd do anything to help," the Reploid said, adding under its breath, "especially for a friend."
X cocked his head to the side but said nothing, feeling his cybernetic heart pounding in his audio receivers, a faint tingle running through him as he dared not voice his hidden wish. The Reploid carried him to another ride chaser and mounted, X cradled before him. He tried to look past the dark shadows of the hood to see who it was, but it was almost as if the light was sucked up by the very fabric itself, giving him no real clue as to who it was who had him.
The ride was in silence, X keeping his face turned toward the stranger to keep most of the rain from hitting him. He only opened his eyes, blinking back the water when he felt the ride chaser slow and stop, the Reploid dismounting and carrying him to a cavern and deep within. "Who are you?" X found himself asking.
The Reploid laid X down, propped against a rough, stone wall, X could tell from his infrared, before walking away, lighting torches with the sabre. X switched back to his normal vision when he was able to and he watched as the Reploid turned, pulling the hood back. X gasped, eyes wide and he found himself trying to rise to get to this Reploid.
"Don't you recognize your old friend?" the Reploid asked.
"Zero?" X almost breathed out, still in shock. But the Zero he knew didn't carry a beam sabre, nor did he have black armour.
"It's me, old friend," Zero said, removing the rest of the soaking cloak, tossing the sabre aside, "it's really me."
"You died," X said, his systems trying hard to process all of this, "you died in my arms. And the parts they have back at Headquarters . . . they can't revive you . . .so how . . . why . . . " X asked in confusion.
"I did, didn't I," Zero said more than asked softly, "it tore at me to see you suffer like that, knowing the damage was too great and that my internal repair systems couldn't handle it. I didn't want to leave you to fight Sigma alone . . . but I couldn't fight the pull, either." Zero only shrugged.
"But . . . why are you here? Why aren't you back at base? Why didn't someone notify me that they had revived you?" X blurted out in a rush of words, barely able to keep from tripping over them.
"The dead returning?" Zero asked with a short, sharp laugh, "isn't that a bit strange? Who has ever successfully revived a Reploid who had died? It's never been done so why do they think they can do it with me? Especially after all the complaining Doctor Kein did over my too complex systems. Sorta like you."
"But you're here, now, with me . . . " X was confused at this and it was plainly evident on his face.
"X," Zero said softly, "I don't fully understand this myself, but let's leave it at this. We have a second chance to clear our consciousness of anything we might have wanted to say. I don't know how long I can stay, but I'll stay as long as I can."
"Zero, don't go," X almost pleaded, "I need you." He struggled again to rise, his systems still too sluggish to want to co operate.
Zero nodded, walking over, and knelt. "I know," he said, resting a hand on X's shoulder guard, "but you know that you have to stay strong and lead the Hunters to a final victory over Sigma's remaining forces. I can't always be there to help you."
"Why not?" X asked, a slight plea to his voice.
Zero sighed. "Do you want to know the whole truth?"
X nodded.
"Because . . . I'm not real," Zero said, "now, don't get me wrong, I am the real Zero. No one else could come close to copying my soul, but this body isn't real. It isn't me."
"But, if it is you inside, then it makes you real," X countered, confused as to why Zero would say he had a soul when robots didn't possess anything remotely related to what a human would call a soul.
Zero chuckled. "Don't strain your circuits trying to figure it out. Now, was there anything you had wanted to tell me before I had died? I could see the pain in your eyes, how you hurt knowing I was going to die. But there was something else there, something I could tell was on your mind. Because I know there was something I never got the chance to tell you, that I want to do now, before it's too late to do it again."
X hesitated, not knowing how Zero would react to it. What he had wanted to say, had said with his heart when the last beat of Zero's core had pulsed under his hand before stilling completely, wouldn't come easily for him, not even now.
"Do you want me to go first?" Zero asked.
X nodded.
"Ok, but please, don't freak out when I tell you this but," Zero said then hesitated, reaching up to cup X's cheek, "I love you. Ever since I laid my eyes on you after I woke from being an Irregular, I've been in love with you."
X blushed deeply. "I . . .I've loved you too," he stammered out, "but . . . I didn't know . . . didn't
want to risk losing our friendship. I couldn't tell if you would return the feelings or not."
Zero chuckled. "I would have, but I wasn't sure either, that's why I said nothing. Not even when I knew I was going to die. I didn't want to leave you alone knowing you had lost someone who would have returned your feelings. Plus . . . I didn't want to risk losing your friendship in case I was wrong and you wouldn't return the feelings."
X's eyes widened some when Zero leaned close, but more so when he heard the faint whisper before Zero's lips claimed his.
"I want you, X, before it's too late."
Thunder crashed outside and X found himself drawn into Zero's embrace, the taller Hunter seeming to pull X deeper and deeper into the shadows of his armour. Yet he kissed back with all the pain, all the passion he felt for his fellow Hunter and friend.
Zero made a soft noise into the kiss, breaking it reluctantly. He ghosted his fingers along X's cheek. "Too many questions I can see behind your gaze. And I'll answer what I can later. Right now . . . I want to please you, to help make your soul feel at rest over my death."
"Please, Zero," X said softly, holding close to Zero as if he would fade away at any moment, "I want you too."
Zero smiled and nodded and X let him slowly remove his two-toned sapphire armour before X reached over to remove Zero's, fumbling every so often. This was not completely the armour he remembered, it was different in places, but still fitting for the once crimson Hunter.
In no set order or form was their armour discarded, leaving them simply in their body suits. X took the initiative, running his hands along the firmly sculpted body, caressing every inch of cloth bound skin, even ghosting over the obvious bulge at the juncture of Zero's legs, earning him a soft moan.
X moaned in return when he felt Zero's hands on him, returning the affection. When he felt Zero reach up to lower his zipper, he did the same, slipping the fabric from firm, yet slender shoulders, caressing the bare skin with his still gloved hands, trailing them down to a rock hard chest, teasing a hardening nub on the way down.
Zero arched into the touch, moaning softly.
X left off only long enough so Zero could remove his body suit before X did the same for Zero. X blushed deeply at the thought of how vulnerable he was now.
"You look so innocent like that," Zero said softly, holding X against him as he laid both of their body suits under X to protect him from the stone, "so child like, so naive . . . but that's what I love about you. You have the most positive outlook of any human or Reploid I knew. It was enough to keep me going when things looked bleak."
"Really?" X asked softly, head nestled against Zero's shoulder, one hand softly caressing the tanned artificial skin of his back.
"Really," Zero said before shifting X, laying him fully down, covering the smaller Hunter, to which X had no problems with.
"Let me help you," Zero said, his fingers ghosting down X's side, across his thigh and back up again, all the while kissing him deeply and passionately, "you're systems should be operating at nearly 95 % capacity now. And don't question how I did that, either. This isn't about miracles, you know," Zero said low, "but about affirming our love."
X could only nod and let Zero dominate him, touch him as the taller Hunter saw fit. Arching into each and every caress, crying out and tilting his head back when Zero bit down on a hard nub, lashing it with his tongue, bringing out emotions X never knew he could have. He wound his fingers into the pale blonde hair, such a contrast now to the normally golden locks Zero once sported, as he tried to hold Zero there, his moans turning more into mewls as his body shuddered once from the sensations.
"Not yet, X," Zero said softly, moving down, leaving a trail of fire wherever his lips and tongue had been.
And when X felt Zero's mouth engulf his hardness, he cried out, hips arching off of the ground, fingers tightening into pale hair, almost tugging. Each and every sound he made was a cry or a moan, his whole body shuddering in pleasure. "Zero," he managed to choke out, "so close."
But Zero said nothing, normally sapphire eyes had darkened, taken on an almost blood-red hue to them, biting down and sucking hard.
X screamed, or at least he thought he screamed as he felt his release hit, his body trembling even as it emptied itself of its contents. Slumping back down, breathing hard, he barely remembered to let go of Zero's hair.
"That's not all," Zero said, crawling back up, kissing X fiercely.
X mewled into the kiss, tasting himself, almost greedily licking at the remnants in Zero's mouth as he kissed him as deeply as he could, almost whimpering when Zero pulled away.
"I want to share myself with you," Zero said softly, "if you'll let me."
"Do it," X said, his voice a bare, soft breath, "I want you to."
Zero nodded, reaching down, sliding two fingers in, starting to stretch X.
X almost whimpered at the sensation, trying to drive Zero's fingers deeper and deeper into him, soft, pleased, if somewhat pained sounds escaping him. And when he felt a third finger enter him he moaned deeply, shifting.
"Patience," Zero said with a chuckle, "with patience, all things are possible. Just remember that."
X nodded, not sure what Zero meant. When he felt Zero remove his fingers he steeled himself, crying out, back arching when he felt Zero filling him, stretching him to the point he thought he would break. He felt his breath catch in his throat and a bit of panic set in when he found he couldn't draw the next breath.
"X," he heard Zero moan out, "come back to me, X."
Slowly X opened eyes he hadn't consciously realized he had closed, locking them onto Zero, drawing a deep breath finally and moaning when Zero began to move within him, deep, almost rough.
"I love you, X, I always will," Zero moaned out, nuzzling X's cheek.
X screamed when Zero hit something deep within that sent shards of pleasure and pain ripping through him. "I . . . I love . . . you too . . . always," X managed to choke out, his body trembling again, close to release once more. Never having thought that Zero could bring him again to release so quickly.
"Let it go, X," Zero said softly, "when I come back again we'll have more time together. More chances to share ourselves, to make our own future . . . "
X nodded, puzzled by what Zero meant, but he let his release go, screaming Zero's name as his body arched, shuddering, spasaming uncontrollably.
He heard Zero's low, guttural moan and felt his friend release deep within him, completing him. Zero nearly collapsed on top of him, breathing hard, placing soft, shaky kisses along X's face and neck.
"Zero," X said softly, a bit sleepily, his systems all of a sudden sluggish again.
"X," Zero said softly, "when you wake, I'll be gone. Don't question it. Just accept it. I said I wasn't real, and I'm not. Someone else has my parts. You need to recover them, to bring me back. But be warned. You might have to fight me. And if you do . . . don't hold back. Don't think of me as your lover and friend, because who you face won't be. It'll be someone else."
"Zero," X said again, eyes barely open, "I don't . . . want to fight you . . . ever . . . "
"Don't think, lover," Zero said softly, "just sleep and let time and the fates sort things out. Just believe that I know what I'm talking about . . . that I won't always be on the same side as you are . . ."
X could only nod, worry setting deep in his core that Zero would leave him completely, would never return, but it started to fade when sleep overcome him.
When X woke he was outside in the rain, surrounded by Hunters. He sat up, shaking the rain from his face and looked around. There was the tree, with his imprint in it if one looked closely enough and the ride chaser as he had crashed it, though in pieces, no doubt so the Hunters could get him free. That was until he saw it had been cut away, the marks reminiscent of a beam sabre . . . and none of the other Hunters had such a weapon on them . . .
"Commander, are you ok?" one of the Hunters asked.
X only nodded, looking around for Zero. Not spotting him he frowned.
"Is everything ok?" another asked, "when you didn't return or answer the calls, we were sent to your last location. We found you beside the wreckage. We assumed you had cut yourself free before passing out. We wanted to tell you that some Irregulars calling themselves the X-Hunters have stolen Zero's parts . . . "
X's eyes went wide. "I'm ok, don't worry. Let's get back to base," he said, not able to shake Zero's words from his core. He didn't understand it, but he trusted Zero not to lie to him, to lead him astray. "Does Doctor Kein know where their base is?"
"Sorry, Commander," a Hunter said, "but we have no idea exactly where, just a general location . . . plus eight new Irregulars have appeared . . . "
With a sigh that he would have to do more fighting he teleported, eyes widening for just a moment when he saw the ghostly form of Zero in the new black armour, sabre on his back, a warm, loving smile aimed at the smaller Hunter. X reached out, even as the energies claimed him, depositing him back at the base.
He never told anyone what had happened, keeping it to himself, keeping Zero's words and memories locked deep inside his core. And when he found himself once again against Sigma's forces and forced to fight Zero in the black armour, he didn't let it stop him. Not even when he found he was unable to fully destroy Zero, only to have the real Zero in his proper red armour come rushing in to save him.
It wouldn't be until later, however. After Zero had died again and was reborn during the incident with Gate that he found he could admit his true feelings, finding them returned tenfold for his wait. The words and touch of black Zero forever locked into his soul, even as his real Zero created many moments in their lives that they both would treasure and carry with them for as long as they functioned. And later, even after their souls ceased to be in the real world, existing then as mere ghosts of themselves, their love never once faded, remaining just as strong and solid.