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The ground was wet. The ceiling was a murky grey. Mildew crawled all across the walls, there was an eerie sound of pumping water behind him, the hallways echoed with shouts, the building felt like it was on an unstable tip after that explosion had-
“X.”
Damnit this wasn’t supposed to have happened, intel had said the mavericks were an uncoordinated group of malcontent reploids, not a goddamn maverick mafia gang with teleportation traps and an explosives specialist.
“X.”
Only upside was they’d managed to take him out, but at the cost of-
“X!”
He gasped, the pain from his severed legs rushing back with a vengeance.
“X, something’s wrong with me.”
“Nothing is wrong with you,” he panted, nestling his friend closer to his chest. “Nothing’s wrong, okay, Zero?”
“I can’t feel anything. X, I can’t feel my body.”
He cradled Zero’s head against his shoulder, curling himself tighter to the wall as footsteps echoed past them. “It’s okay, Zero, you’re gonna be okay.”
“What happened?”
He trembled as his friend’s ruined torso shifted uneasily in his arms. They’d taken the explosives expert down, but before he died he’d set off the biggest bomb he had. Zero had pushed X away, saving most of his body, but….
“X, tell me, what-“
“You took damage,” he replied. “Got hit badly by one of the explosive guy’s bombs.”
“….. How bad?”
“…. Everything below the chest. Both your arms. Most of your back.”
“… shit.”
X glanced out toward the hallway. They’d fallen down to the third floor after the explosion, and he’d immediately grabbed Zero’s body and dragged the both of them around the corner of a door, out of sight.
“…. A wire…? X, you’re…”
He winced. So Zero had noticed.
“You’re suppressing my nervous system.”
“Yes, I am,” X responded tersely, the wire-link between them rubbing uncomfortably against the side of his neck.
“…. You’re suppressing my emotional circuit, too.”
“If I didn’t, your systems would go into shock.”
The sound of footsteps resounded past.
“X, just leave me and run.”
“Not happening.”
They turned around. They got closer.
“X please, just-“
“Zero, I’m going to put you into sleep mode. I’m gonna shut you down, okay?”
“No.”
Zero squirmed in his grasp, the immense fear he felt getting harder for X to squish down.
“X no don’t shut me down just-“
Zero gasped, and X felt him begin to slacken against his chest.
“Ek….ksu……”
His friend’s head fully slumped against his shoulder, and X could hear his core faintly humming as it wound down into sleep mode.
The footsteps grew closer and closer. X placed Zero’s body on his lap, his hand converting into a buster. He pointed it at the door, his aim shaky and wobbly.
The footsteps stopped, then receded.
X slumped against the wall in relief. As long as they weren’t found, they’d be fine. The remaining members of the gang weren’t enough to overwhelm their combined units. They’d be found, and they’d be repaired, and they’d be okay.
All he had to do was wait.