[ D i s c l a i m e r ] nope

[ A u t h o r' s N o t e ] I'm really sorry for the delay… I hope people are still reading this story. It would be really nice if everyone who read this would leave a comment, constrictive criticism, anything – especially if you would like to see this story continued. I would like to thank everyone who reviews, I'd like to list you all but there's so many. A special thanks to anna-angel2, your review is what really got me to write this chapter. I think it's really cool that you're reading and liking this story even though you hardly speak English. Thanks. And as always, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.

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The two thugs stood in silence, staring sullenly at the pile of collapsed metal at their feet. Plopping down, the stout one sighed in disgust, "Whadda we gonna do now, boss? You know what Black Ghost does to people who fail. If he finds out about this, we're dead," he said, bringing a finger across his throat in an overly dramatic gesture.

"Oh please," retorted the other, slapping his hand away from his throat, "We'll be lucky if that's all he does to us," he kicked a stray piece of metal in blind anger, letting his hands rest on his hips, bowing his head in frustration.

His tubby companion hobbled to his feet, holding his dirtied hat against his chest with his sooty hands, "Well, think a' somethin' boss, I ain't ready to go yet! I ain't ready to go!" he fell to his knees sobbing, tears cutting tracks into his dirt caked cheeks.

The taller one rolled his eyes in annoyance and waited for his stout companion to finish. When he kept blubbering and sniveling, his hands covering his face, he felt anger swell up in him and he slapped his hands away, yanking him up by the shirt, "Will you shut up!?" he snarled. The stout man looked at him with wide, glossy, eyes that held the expression of a rebuked child. He sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve. The tall man sneered in disgust and through the plump thug aside, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked away and a disgusting smirk spread over his wrinkled and dirt encrusted face.

"You just gave me an idea."

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She sat alone in the grass, her knees pulled up to her chest. Sighing, she suspected she had been sitting there for hours. Burying her head in her knees she wondered why she felt this way. Her chest was tight, her head hurt and she decided she would have felt better if she had been tied to the back of a car and dragged across the Sahara. She wondered if she had ever felt worse. For so long she had sat and thought about her life and where it was going. Who was she going to spend the rest of her days with? What was going to happen next? What did she have left? Did she have anything left? She contemplated just ending it all. Why did her life have to be artificially prolonged? Would her soul ever rest? Why was she asking all these questions?

And yet she knew the answer. With a few words he could change her entire mood, her entire day, her entire life. Everything about him was mesmerizing to her. His eyes, his voice, his personality, how he cared about her and would never let anything happen to her. She wondered if there was anyone else in this world that cared about her in the way that he did. For him to say that them together was ridiculous was like a stab in the heart, and she was feeling nothing short of just that.

She had been a fool for trying to kiss him; she reprimanded herself for the umpteenth time in the last hour. What had she been thinking? Ridiculous indeed. She was a cyborg. Built to be a ruthless killing machine. Her insides were made of metal and wires, not flesh and blood. But where did these feelings come from? The urge to care and love and be loved.

She was sick of crying, sick of being sad, sick of wanting to be loved in return. Bolting upright, she rubbed the tears from her eyes defiantly. She decided firmly that she would not let her emotions have any bearing. They were silly things, emotions, and as a killing mass of metal she was simply out of place having them whatsoever. And when she saw 009, she would smile, and wave and keep walking. Just keep walking. And forget.

Starting towards home, she could feel the newfound power she'd given herself coursing through her. She was strong and she could do this. She didn't need anybody, she didn't need emotions, she didn't need love. All she had to worry about was herself now. Just keep walking, she told herself. Just keep walking.

By the time she reached home all the windows were darkened. She hoped no one was still up, worried about her. If someone decided to ask her why she had been out at night crying, it would be hell to explain herself out of it. Sliding the door open, she peered in and assured herself no one at all was up, and if they were they weren't in the living room or the hall leading to her room so she had no reason to worry.

Tiptoeing to her room, she slid her coat off of her shoulders and tossed it on a nearby coat rack. Reaching her destination, she opened the door with a flourish and quickly shut herself inside the pitch-dark room. Despite the inadequate lighting the room, the events of the day still flashed back in her head. She saw the scene unfolding right before her very eyes, standing right in the place that it had happened.

She shut her eyes tight and fought off tears. Just keep walking, she told herself. Moving to her vanity to escape her thoughts, she quickly removed the headband from her hair and shook her hair out in cascades. Just when she thought she was all right and had calmed, she glanced slightly at her vanity mirror and saw the reflection of the door. She snapped her eyes shut and slammed her headband down on the vanity to fight off the intruding memories.

Her body trembled but she would not let a tear fall. Grasping the sides of the vanity with a death grip she felt her built up resolve start to falter. She couldn't let it happen. She couldn't break after an hour if she ever wanted to live her life this way. She had to be strong. And she had to do it without 009. A whimper escaped her lips.

Before she could figure what was happening she felt two strong arms come from behind to encircle her waist. A face buried in her hair, breath warm against her neck. She knew who it was.

"009," she breathed, attempting to sound stern and professional, but it came out more as soft, yearning whisper.

He buried his face deeper in her neck in acknowledgement, his warm, comforting arms tightening around her small waist. He took in the moment, trying to memorize what it felt like to hold her in his arms, learning all of her dips and curves. He felt so horrible for what he had said to her earlier and he wished he could take away all the pain he'd caused her with a single touch. But he knew it would never be that easy. He wished he could just hold her like this forever, ensuring no harm ever came to her, that she would always be safe within his embrace.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, his lips practically brushing against her neck as he spoke. It felt like heaven, what he was doing to her, but she couldn't give in. She tried as best she could to straighten her back. Just keep walking. Just keep walking. Just keep walking…

"Please, 003? Will you forgive me?" his voice was like velvet and she could feel the vibrations from it flow through her body. Waiting for an answer, his shallow breaths teased the sensitive skin at the base of her neck. No, she told herself, just keep walking. Just. Keep. Walking.

"Yes," she breathed, almost dreamily, "I suppose I have to forgive you, I still owed you one."

She felt him smile against her neck. And in a second, he was gone.

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As he watched the two silhouetted figures embrace, the tall man smirked and let out a nasty laugh. Stepping away from the window carefully, remembering the power of the 00 cyborgs, the lanky man shoved his hands in his pockets and sneered, "Exactly as I expected," he scoffed.

The stout man's eyes darted from the gangly man to the window and back again, "W-What boss?" when he was met with haughty silence, he scrambled to his feet, "What? What happened in there boss?" his curious eyes focused again on the window and he clumsily ambled over to it. He soon realized he was too short to see into it so he began to try hop up to get a view. He was met with so such luck. Becoming aggravated, he jumped a final time and tried to get a grasp on the windowpane to pull himself up.

In a half a second there was a sickening shattering sound. A gasp escaped the tall man. His stouter companion though, just stood there in a dumbfounded shock, the moonlight glancing off a thousand pieces of splintered glass, the sound of it bursting still ringing in his ears.

A distinctly female gasp was heard from inside the room jolting the two men from their comatose-like state of disbelief. The taller man hissed in displeasure, not willing to risk being heard talking and grabbed the portly man's arm roughly, dragging him to his feet and away from the house. Together they ran frantically through the forests surrounded the small house, not bothering to stop to see if they were being followed. Thinking of the acceleration powers of 009, the tall man pressed on faster, ignoring the small branches whipping against his flesh and the dead weight of his partner behind him.

After a few minutes, the trees and branches began to thin and the tall man grinned as he could see the outline of a car not so far on the horizon. A whimper of relief escaped his chubby companion.

When they finally reached the clearing, it took them mere seconds to scramble into the vehicle and speed off down the dirt road, dust clouds billowing behind them.

There was a stunned silence in the car as it flew down the road. The stout man's mouth still hung open and his companion could not even manage his usual grimace. Neither of them opened their mouths even slightly until they had been driving for a good hour, almost as if they were still scared that someone would hear them and hunt them down.

When they finally came to a stop, the tall man let his arms loll down limply to his sides, his eyes glazing over. After a few seconds he let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. Slowly he turned in his seat, coming to glare fiercely down at the small man next to him, his eyes flashing with anger, his fist rising on it's own accord.

"What in the world were you thinking?!" he roared, his fists raining down on the stout man, "You could have gotten us killed! You could have gotten us bloodied, massacred, tortured to death! Is that what you wanted? Is it, huh? You are without a doubt the most dim-witted, fat-faced, waste of skin that I ever met in my entire life! And another thing-!"

The chubby man was now sobbing uncontrollably. His face was red and tears rolled down his plump cheeks in waves, "I-I'm sorry, boss! This is all my fault! I-I'll make it up to you I swear! Please, please just forgive me please boss! Please!"

The other man just slumped down in his seat, his eyes gazing lifelessly forward at the dashboard, breathing shallowly, "It doesn't matter. They know, they must know. And they're going to hunt us down," his voice cracked, "We might as well have walked right up to Black Ghost himself and told him we failed our mission."

Looking up at him in surprise, the stout man grabbed his thin arm and forgot momentarily about the tears still burning tracks down his face, "No, boss, there's gotta be something we can do! Anything! There's gotta be… there's gotta be…" as no response came from the other man, his words broke down again into choked crying.

An evil smile spread across the man's thin, bony face as he shook off his partner's hand, "Well, maybe there is something…"

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She sat on her bed in a disturbed tranquility, her face hollow with eyes looking expressionlessly forward. Her arms were crossed tightly across her chest and she shuddered, but not from the cold. Slowly, she drew her knees to her chest and grasped them as if for life, her gaze not faltering. She looked so distressed, so withdrawn, having been through this so many times. Having relived the same story over and over again. Thinking for the millionth time it was safe to let her guard down. Regaining enough trust in life to live without worry. Again and again her hope was shattered, her trust was raped. But every single time it came back to her, and she welcomed it with open arms. Silently, he wished he could be as simple and trusting as her, living as calmly with the infinite hope of a child that has never seen hurt. To everyone else, she was hope. No one else knew what she was really going through that second. But he knew. He had seen it. He had seen her cry that night in the alley. He had seen her bright green eyes fade to a lackluster gray as her quietly built up reserve broke down. She had been through too much in her prolonged life and he wished to himself more than anything that he had the power to take her away from it all. He longed to hold her, to take her in his arms right then and there and comfort her and love her and tell her he would never let anything happen to her ever again, because he knew she would believe him. She had huge heart, the heart of a child, pure and innocent and beautiful, and he loved her for it.

Peering around at all the empty faces in the room that glowed pale like the faces in paintings in a dark hall, he held himself back from running across the room and sweeping her off her feet. He loved her, he knew, but he wasn't ready to tell even her, not to mention a house full of his companions. So instead he shook his hair into his eyes and stared dejectedly at the knots in the wood floor, hoping that not looking at her would help his resolve.

"…And did you see what happened 003?" a pajama clad Dr. Gilmore asked. It was in the wee hours of the morning but his mind and mouth were still sharp as a tack. 009 didn't blame him after everything they had all been through together.

003 still stared at the wall in front of her, eyes glassy, "No, Dr. Gilmore. All I heard was the glass breaking and that woke me," she closed her eyes and shook her head, "I didn't make it to the window fast enough to see who, or what did it."

Dr. Gilmore leaned back on his heals and scratched his chin in reflection. As a thought occurred to him, his eyebrows knit together and a look of concentration waved over his features as he weighed something carefully in his mind. He was about to speak again when he was interrupted. 002 burst away from the sea of blank faces and raised his fists in anger, "Enough talk!" he shouted, seemingly shattering the silence that had blanketed the room, "I think we all know who's behind this! Why are we just sitting here! They are getting away as we speak!"

Dr. Gilmore looked as though he was going to interrupt but let 002's anger burn itself out before responding, "So what you're saying is," he paused, his expression pained, "That you think Black Ghost did this?"

002 answered with silence. Lowering his fists, he stepped back as if to try and quell the ripples in the room's atmosphere that he had just created. He hung his head to the side.

Nodding, the doctor brought his hands together behind his back before straightening. His eyes scanned the room and for just a half a second the shine faded from his eyes and weariness and fatigue became apparent in them. Masking it quickly, he resumed his pacing, "That is a very serious accusation, 002."

004's eyes darted from a dejected looking 002 to Dr. Gilmore and back. The anger that had just recently faded out of 002 seemed to overtake him, "Honestly, doc, who else would have done it? We can't just sit around pretending like Black Ghost had absolutely nothing to do with this. People's lives are on the line here. Our lives are on the line here!"

009's eyes were still on the floor, his arms crossed casually against his chest. The conversation got more heated as simple logic and disbelief battled each other fiercely. Hearing a sound, 009's eyes shot up from the floor. It was a whimper, a tiny whimper. 003's face was buried in her hands and down her cheeks strode silent tears. Something inside 009 snapped in two. He couldn't bear to watch her like this, he wouldn't. Watching her cry like this was breaking his heart over and over again. An unknown feeling surfaced in his chest. A feeling of rage, an urge to kill, one unlike any he had ever felt before. It swelled within him and clouded his vision. He would face off against a thousand Black Ghosts with his arms tied behind his back to get her to just stop crying.

His thoughts became muddled. All he heard was anger; anger was all around him, in his ears, in the walls, and swelling up in his heart. He stepped forward, his fists clenched, speaking in an unfamiliar voice, as if he wasn't the person that was talking, the fury laced in his calm words scared even himself as he talked, "No, Black Ghost isn't behind this," he dived into the argument head first, and everyone around him looked at him in shock, a still tearful 003 peering up from her hands, "I know Black Ghost didn't do this. I know because I took care of him myself with my own two hands. And even if he weren't dead why would he risk contact with us just to break 003's window? It doesn't make any sense. It was probably just some petty thieves."

The occupants of the room found truth in his statements and lowered their eyes to the ground in shame as he continued, "Now look at us fighting! Look at us breaking down friendships that we've built up over so much time, and over what? Over this?" he knelt down and swept the splintered glass from the floor and into his palm, "Over some broken glass," he paused for effect and let the fragments slip from his fingers. The deafening ring of the glass hitting the floor tore into the complete silence of the room, "We're all on edge. We're all on edge because we think that Black Ghost really being gone is too good to be true. But no!" he felt the heat of angry tears burn at the sides of his eyes, "No way in hell am I going to let Black Ghost to any more damage to us than he already has! No more hurt, no more fights!" his eyes flashed over 003, "And not one more tear is going to be shed over Black Ghost as long as I am alive!"

People murmured in agreement and gradually wafted out of the room. Even 003 stopped crying and joined everyone in the living room. But all 009 heard was silence, silence and more silence. And he saw nothing, nothing but the white light of his rage burning in his eyes.

He didn't notice Dr. Gilmore approach him after everyone had vacated the room, "009," he started, his tone soft and understanding and upon hearing it 009 had no choice but to let go of his anger, "009 what you said makes a lot of sense and it might very well be the truth. But the point is, why did you say it? I know you want to protect her more than anything but ignoring something in hopes that it will just go away will only get you in a hole you won't be able to dig yourself out of. You can't hide anyone from the world and from hurt and pain and sadness. These things are horrible but they are part of life," he stopped a minute and rubbed his eyes, finally letting out the exhaustion that had been quietly showing itself, "Now, 009, this is the second time you have adamantly denied Black Ghost's involvement in recent goings-on. And I'm going to trust you, but I want you to deeply consider what you and I both know what will happen if you are wrong," he went to leave, but stopped at the doorway and turned back one last time to 009's still unmoving figure, "If you try to take away pain, you'll only end up with more of it. Goodnight 009," and with that, he was gone.

009 was now alone in the dark room, bathed in the shadows of the night. He curled and uncurled his fists in anger. Looking down at his fingers, his features softened and he tilted his head to the side, "I don't want you to cry anymore, 003."

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To Be Continued…