Work Text:
Watchpoint Gibraltar was quiet.
For once.
No alarms.
No missions.
No emergency deployments.
Just the distant sound of waves crashing against the cliffside below.
Sunder sat alone in one of the archive rooms, scrolling through recovered intelligence files. Hundreds of names. Hundreds of dead leads.
Most meant nothing.
Some still haunted him.
The door slid open.
Protoboy stepped inside.
The tank hero folded his arms.
For a moment neither spoke.
Then Protoboy tossed a data tablet onto the table.
Sunder glanced at it.
A photograph.
A familiar one.
His expression changed immediately.
Protoboy noticed.
"I began to notice something in your files."
Sunder leaned back.
"What is it?"
Protoboy tapped the image.
The picture showed a man wearing experimental combat equipment while carrying stolen technology across a rooftop.
A wanted criminal in several countries.
A genius in others.
A ghost to almost everyone.
Protoboy looked directly at him.
"How do you know him?"
Silence.
For several seconds Sunder simply stared at the photograph.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
Almost nostalgic.
Almost sad.
Finally he spoke.
"A few years ago..."
He rubbed the side of his neck.
"...when I got this fresh new look."
A weak smirk.
It disappeared quickly.
"We were trying to steal files from a conspiracy network. Talon too."
Protoboy raised an eyebrow.
"You worked together?"
"Temporary alliance."
Sunder shrugged.
"Neither of us trusted each other."
He looked down at the image again.
"But he wasn't after money."
That made Protoboy pause.
"No?"
Sunder shook his head.
"He surrounded himself with scientists. Hackers. Engineers. Inventors."
The old memories flickered behind his eyes.
"He was searching for traces."
"Traces of what?"
Sunder stared at the photo.
For the first time his voice sounded unusually quiet.
"A robot."
Protoboy frowned.
"What robot?"
A long pause.
Then:
"A robot he used to love."
The room went silent.
Even Protoboy looked surprised.
Sunder's eyes lowered.
"You won't believe how much it broke him."
A small laugh escaped him.
Humorless.
Sad.
"I still remember the code he was looking for."
Protoboy leaned forward.
"What is it?"
Sunder answered immediately.
"XJ-9."
The designation hung in the air.
Protoboy repeated it slowly.
"XJ-9..."
The tank hero thought for a moment.
Then his eyes widened slightly.
And suddenly Sunder noticed.
Noticed the reaction.
Noticed the recognition.
His gaze sharpened.
"And that leaves me with a question."
Protoboy looked up.
Sunder folded his arms.
"How do YOU know about him?"
Protoboy exhaled.
Slowly.
Then sat down across from him.
"A few months ago."
His expression darkened.
"I encountered him stealing a highly secured item in Numbani."
Sunder immediately looked interested.
Protoboy continued.
"And of course..."
A slight grin.
"...I decided to do the country a favor and get it back."
"Sounds like you."
Protoboy ignored the comment.
"But I had to face him."
The grin vanished.
A long silence followed.
Then:
"After fighting robots like me."
"After fighting robots stronger than me."
"After fighting entire strike teams."
Protoboy slowly shook his head.
"Never."
His eyes narrowed at the memory.
"Never have I fought a human with incredible strength."
Sunder's eyebrows rose.
That was not something Protoboy said lightly.
"Did you still win?"
Protoboy laughed once.
Short.
Embarrassed.
"No."
The answer came immediately.
"I got far too overwhelmed to continue that fight anymore."
Sunder stared.
Then looked back toward the photograph.
The room became quiet again.
Finally he leaned back in his chair.
A small smile appeared.
"So..."
His eyes remained on the image.
"He's really something now."
Protoboy nodded.
"More than you know."
For several seconds neither spoke.
Then Sunder reached forward and turned the tablet screen off.
His expression became unreadable.
Thoughtful.
Calculating.
Like a man remembering old ghosts.
"I think..."
He stood up.
"...I want to schedule a meeting with him again."
Protoboy nodded.
Then Sunder added one final condition.
A very important one.
"Robotgirl must not know anything about this."
Protoboy immediately understood the seriousness in his voice.
"Got it."
The lights of Gibraltar reflected through the room's windows.
Neither hero noticed the file still open in the archives.
The photograph remained visible.