Everything was black, and every fiber of his body ached; especially his head thumped like it would burst in the next second. He strained all of his senses. Even so, he couldn't pinpoint where he was or what was happening around him. Were those sirens? Sobs? Was someone calling? Something brushed against his body. Was he moving?
Slowly but surely, desperation rose from deep within his heart. He wanted to see, wanted to hear, wanted to move, but his body didn't react to his will. There was somebody in danger. Something was happening, or he wouldn't be this hurt physically. M-21 gasped for air, desperately trying to wake up. There was something he had to do, but he couldn't remember. The terrible ache in his head was overpowering every other possible thought. He had to…

Before the terrifying feeling could change into a full-blown panic, M-21 felt something touch his shoulders and suddenly it was almost easy to focus. It only took a few seconds to calm down that much, to slightly turn his head to the side, and to open his eyes. He was greeted with the familiar sight of a hand as big as the paw of a bear.
But this couldn't be. He was dead. He saw him die.

"M-24?" A whisper said without even intending to.
"Hey, guys. He regained consciousness!" His friend shouted to someone M-21 couldn't see from his position lying on some kind of bed. To tell the truth, his head was aching too much to even bother with looking around. If there would be any kind of danger, he trusted M-24 to have his back. But wait a minute. His comrade died, didn't he?
"You're alive?"
"What else would I be? The question is what about you? Feeling all right?"
"Yeah, you gave us a freaking fright!"
"Thought you were gonna die."
"Not all at the same time. You're just confusing him."
M-21 stared at all the faces around him, now eager to move his head. Even so, it made him feel dizzy and left him feeling sick. He knew the voices speaking to him in such a fond manner. His comrades gathered at his side, every single one healthy and alive.
"What happened?" M-21 asked cautiously. He tried to sit up on his own but felt like he wouldn't make it. Before he could give up his intention, a few hands helped him, steadying him.
"You reacted badly to the drugs the scientist gave us."
"We thought we would have to dig a grave."
"Nah, I don't think they would haven given us a shovel."
"Don't joke about something like that!"
"I lost my appetite out of worry."
"As if you would ever loose your appetite!"

It was loud. The talking was a bit rough. Nonetheless, M-21 loved it. Were all the memories of the children, Rai, Frankenstein, Regis, Takeo, and Tao just an imagination, a dream? It had to be or else he wouldn't be sitting here in the circle of his comrades. He felt the steadying grip of M-24's hand on his shoulder, the slight nudge of M-77's or the glass of water in his hands he got from M-93. This felt more real than all his memories of being the last one of his friends. Perhaps he wanted it to be the truth, but it should be more believable than him being powerful enough to survive a fight against DA-5 or a Noble.
After a short while, he felt good enough to take a look at his surroundings. He stayed in the same room he had been in since he and his comrades left the tank. The neon light was as bright as he remembered, and everything felt real to the touch. He wondered what the scientists gave him to get such vivid dreams about Nobles and some children.

M-21 enjoyed the day. The pain in his head slowly but surely faded from agony to a slight disturbance. His comrades gathered around him almost protectively, and there were no visits from any kind of scientist or any other person. He passed the day just talking to his friends and savoring the feeling of not being alone. Although the memories of his comrades dying and leaving him behind seemed to be an illusion from some kind of experiment, he still feared it. Yes, he had been free from the Union to some extent, but the price had been too heavy.

The whole time, something bothered him though. M-21 couldn't say what this 'something' was, but he would think about it as soon as his head stopped throbbing completely. The feeling that something wasn't right only furthered by some small incidents, which were impossible to explain. There was the time he felt some intravenous drip being put into his arm; he was experienced enough by the experiments to recognizing that feeling. As he looked at his arm, there wasn't a needle, not even a hint of injured skin.

Other times, he heard people talking in familiar voices; even so, he didn't understand what they were saying or who the persons were. If not for his comrades staying calm, he would start to panic again but, like this, shoving all the unexplainable happenings on the drugs still remaining in his body was pretty easy. He didn't want to think about it. Not knowing was sometimes better. It kept you safe.
So M-21 decided to talk a bit with M-24 only to stop midsentence and look at his right hand. There it was again. It felt like someone touched his hand, even held it. No, it felt like someone was still holding it! That was creepy; not a word he would use often but it described the feeling exactly. The more the headache disappeared the more these sensations grew stronger.

"Everything all right?"
"Ye-es. I think."
M-24 gave him a pointed look and after a long sigh, M-21 told the truth. To his surprise, his comrade didn't look alarmed or puzzled but nodded knowingly.
"I think it's time."
"Time? For what?"
"For you to leave this realm."
Leave this place? M-21 snorted. This was a laboratory with high security measurements. There was no way to leave out of a clear blue sky and that was what M-21 wanted to say as he gestured to the room. Only, there was no laboratory any more. Without him knowing it, they changed locations, and M-21 could only stare at his new surroundings. It consisted of a flowering meadow under a warm sun, which was so different from the cold neon lights. He felt grass under his head and hands instead of the hard, cold steel bench of the laboratory. All of his comrades lingered here with him. Accent on 'all,' including the ones who died before he had been able to speak with them even once.

"Wha…"
"M-21, listen. You shouldn't linger here any longer. It was fine as long as you recovered from your head injury, but you should go back now. They are waiting for you."
"This is a dream, isn't it?" M-21 asked in a low voice. He didn't know how he felt. Relieved that he left the Union and had new friends, almost a family? Or totally devastated that he lost his comrades once again. His head understood that this was just an illusion, not real, adding together the inexplicable happenings like the voices and touches. His heart didn't follow that route, though. That much was clear to M-21 as he felt his eyes burn with unshed tears.

All M-24 did was smile a sad smile and pat him on his shoulders. As if the slight touch released his mind from a spell that held him off from remembering, everything came back in an instance. He was heading home with Shinwoo and Yuna because he met them on the way. Someone from the Union attacked him. Presumably, they belonged to one of the assassin squads. Whether Crombell or another scientist had ordered this, M-21 didn't know because the attackers remained silent. He only knew that they were strong. It was an impossible task to protect the children and to stop those Union guys from trading blows to his body. A punch to his head connected so powerfully that it would have killed him even a few weeks or months ago, and everything started to blur. As he lost consciousness, he saw one of his attackers move towards Shinwoo, who stood protectively in front of a crying Yuna. M-21 wanted to help, but his vision faded to black…

"I have to go… the children." He jumped up, now eager to leave. Considering he wasn't dead, someone came and rescued him, so there was a chance Shinwoo and Yuna were still all right. He had to make sure about this. M-24 nodded to his outburst and smiled again. This time with even more warmth. Walking away a few steps in a hurry, he didn't know where the exit was, but he was going to find it no matter what; M-21 stopped and turned back to his comrade hesitantly. M-24 was still smiling that warm almost loving smile at him.
"I'm missing you. All of you."
"We're missing you, too, but make sure that you live at least one hundred years before you join us here. We can wait a little longer."
Before he could answer, everything blurred around M-21, and he lost sight of his dearest friend.

Greeting him as he opened his eyes was the too well known ceiling of Frankenstein's laboratories. He felt comfortable and warm. He was resting in a fluffy bed, and there was no trace of pain in his body. A mental survey of his state caused him to forget all cautiousness as he sat up in one almost fluid movement. His action made the man at his bedside jump slightly. Takeo stood up from his stool in an instance, the gun magazine in his hand carelessly dropping to the ground.

Before he could say something, M-21 asked in a voice hoarse due to being unused for quite some time, "The children?"
There was a confused look on Takeo's face for a moment, but he almost immediately answered, "They are well. Seira and Regis came just in time to save you all… But you really gave us a fright. Your injuries healed, but you wouldn't wake up."
M-21 closed his eyes for a moment feeling immeasurably relieved, and the tension left his body. Shinwoo and Yuna were all right. It still surprised him how much those children meant to him, though.
"You're positive that you want to stand up?"
Takeo sounded a bit concerned as M-21 struggled to get his feet to the ground. He really had been lying around for quite a while, hadn't he? His body felt stiff. Even so, except for a slight head ache, he seemed to be all right.

"I'm fine. I think I stayed in bed long enough," M-21 said, preventing Takeo from further mouthing his worries with a glance. A tug on his arm reminded him that he still had an infusion needle in his arm. So the things he felt while unconscious happened in the real world? While he focused on detaching the band-aids and the needle, he added, "Sorry for worrying you."
"You should apologize to Regis. I think you really scared him. He would sit here making a worried face whenever he thought nobody would see it."
The opening of the elevator prevented M-21 from having to say something to that.

"You're awake! That's great," Tao cheered and without further ado he flopped down next to M-21, grinning across his whole face.
"Feeling strong enough for moving upstairs? If anybody asks, Takeo just fetched you from the hospital. You got into a little accident but nothing serious," Tao explained further, only waiting for a short, confused nod as reply before he jumped up from the bed again.
"Tao, let him rest for a bit. There's no need to rush and…"
"I think he should come to the living room. Shinwoo is arguing with the boss. Loudly."
"Why do something like that?" The question was out of M-21's mouth before he knew it. To his satisfaction his voice sounded almost normal now, lacking the hoarse undertone from a few minutes ago. Slowly, they made their way over to the elevator. Takeo and Tao on each side of M-21. Did they think that he needed someone to look after him?

"Ah, Regis spilled the beans. He didn't directly say that you're injured, but the children figured out that something had to be wrong."
"And this guy." Takeo pointed toward Tao, who scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "He had to come up with the subterfuge that you had a minor accident and were recovering in a hospital."
"Couldn't you have said that I was on vacation or something like that?" M-21 glared at the hacker. Of course the children would be worried. They worried because of every little, irrelevant thing. He leaned against the elevator wall to support his weight. Even so, he felt well. He noticed that he had laid around for quite some time. Gathering from the things Tao and Takeo said, it should be around two days or even more since he met his attackers from the Union. The attackers. That was another thing he had to ask as soon as he got the chance. As he got no answer from Tao, he looked up. Meeting their glances, M-21 snorted.

"Don't look at me with such eyes. I'm fine. Just answer my question."
"Why I told the kids? Perhaps I wanted to talk about it? You made us worry, too, you know." Tao turned and pushed the button for the ground floor with a bit more force than necessary. It seemed almost like even Tao had been a bit bothered.
"Did you have at least a good dream while we waited for you to be kind enough to wake up?"

Yes, Tao was truly bothered, and M-21 felt a prick of guilt. Even so, there was nothing he could have changed about it. Additionally, he couldn't help but to think about the strange dream he had while unconscious now that Tao had mentioned it. A smile crept across his face. Even so, it was a bit sad. That really had been a strange thing. He stared at the opposite wall of the elevator, trying to recall the exact contents of his dream. The memories about it started to get foggy already, but he would remember as much as he could. He really hoped that those guys were in a better place now. Although, it sounded corny.
As the elevator stopped, M-21 averted his attention from the dead back toward his new comrades. They had been waiting patiently for him to refocus, or in Tao's case, silently while shifting his weight in a twitchy manner.
"Let me go first to tell them that you'll come… And to stop Shinwoo from arguing any further with the boss." Tao hurried off in fast steps toward the living room. M-21 could hear the kids' agitated and Frankenstein's too calm and polite voices. Before slowly following Tao, M-21 exchanged a glance with Takeo and, somehow, both of them had to smile.

I'm really loving this story. If it's good or bad, is up to you. But it doesn't change the fact that I enjoyed myself while writing this ^^

To my surprise it came out in one fluid stream, not my normal "writing a sniplet here, writing a sniplet there" way of writing. That's why I have most parts of the fourth "Play"-story chapter finished, but still have to close some gaps in the second chapter. I should go back to that this evening. As in now...

Anyway, thanks for reading this story!