(Sorry this came out late. Even with an outline, it's still so hard to flesh out the scenes I've got in my head, but I feel safe to say that I'm satisfied with this chapter...!)

(It makes me so happy that people still love Mega Man X. It was my favorite game when I was a kid, so it's pretty old! To see so many messages from actual people [in 2014!] who like what I've got here... well, it's pretty incredible. Thank you for giving this story your attention, and for loving Axl. Yeah, that's right. You reading this automatically makes you an Axl lover.)

Axl leaned over Layer to stare at her monitors, being careful to not distract her as she investigated injuries and casualties, and couldn't help the frown that formed on his face. If there was one thing Axl hated in this world, it was the feeling of being entirely useless. Back when he first started working for the hunters, he worked so hard to prove to everyone that he was fully capable of the position. Whatever available mission came up, Axl was quick to pounce on it, never allowing himself to waste a second of his day on anything else. Admittedly, he made a lot of mistakes in the beginning, but he didn't dwell on it – he refused to give up all the hard work he had put in for the hunters. What nearly broke his spirits though, was X's continued doubtfulness of his motives... Geez! Thinking back on it now, it was a miracle that Axl finally convinced X to allow him to become a full-fledged Maverick Hunter.

Noticing a movement from the ends of his sight, Axl turned his head to spot Commander Signas walking off his podium and heading in his direction. Freed from his thoughts, Axl had completely forgotten the reason he was here at all, as he had become so engrossed in watching his fellow hunters on Layer's monitors. He quickly turned around and tried to look as professional as possible as he casually said, "What's up, Commander?"

Signas, ever holding himself in a dignified manner, with his arms folded back and his back straight, replied with, "You seem to be thinking about something."

The younger Reploid folded his arms dramatically and let out an exasperated sight. "I'm just so bummed out that I'm stuck here while X and Zero and the rest get all the fun!"

So he really wasn't thinking about his predicament, Signas thought. "Indeed? And here I thought you were fretting about yourself, rather than over your friends. Well, now that I've seen this mission as a success, we can finally be on our way." For a split second, Signas spotted that familiar fire sparking in Axl's eyes, the spirit of a hunter.

"Yeah, can't keep those scientist dudes waiting forever for little o' me, can we?" Axl smiled that cocky grin, looking innocently playful but far from it.

Satisfied with that response, Signas turned to leave. Before Axl could follow, a slight tap on his forearm cause him to stop. He turned to see the fringed face of Layer facing him. He could slightly see a green pupil poking in between purple strands of hair, looking worried. "Huh? What is it, Layer?"

"So the rumors are true?" she whispered harshly, and turned her head slightly hear and there, seemingly afraid someone would hear. "Is the facility really taking you away?"

The spiky-haired hunter gave her a genuine smile to dispel her fears. "Don't worry! I'm coming back! I just have to undergo some stupid scans and I'm home free, and then I'll finally be able to help you get set up for a date with Zero!"

The navigator furiously blushed at that last comment as she quickly held her cheeks in embarrassment. "H-how do you...!? Did Pallette...!? W-wait, Axl!"

But Axl just kept on smiling as he turned away and waved her goodbye. He didn't want her to worry about him, but he also didn't want her to see his anxiety. He acted the part, but Axl could never quite feel like a fearless hunter who seemed invincible. Catching up to the commander, Axl's thoughts fell onto Layer's words of "the rumors". He had only found out about the facilities today, so how did people already know about rumors? Maybe it started before he awoke. It was common knowledge by now that the new generation Reploids were being recalled, so perhaps Axl was unknowingly thrown into the mix of tales. Usually it was his job to spread rumors about others, like Zero, and told himself that when he came back, he was going to find out who was talking about him. Until then, he had to put his fears aside and accept the reality of today. Just think of it as a mission. See it through to the end.

^x^

Axl was glad that the commander opted not to partake in idle chatter as the two made their way to the docking wing, where the weekly freights were dropped off. Such goods ranged from E-crystal canisters for recharging, medical equipment, custodial stock, to military equipment, such as anti-terrorist weapons for the hunters and any other miscellaneous things the Hunter Base needed to continue running flawlessly. It was where Alia was currently preparing the DNA cores and copy chips for shipping. Due to her background, Alia was relieved of her navigator duties to insure that the new generation Reploids' parts were safely secured. With no one else available for the task, Alia took it upon herself to also pack the already packed parts into shipping crates, which was becoming quite tedious by the time she spotted the commander and the younger Reploid coming her way.

"Oh thank goodness, are you here to help out?" she called out breathlessly.

"Apologies, Alia, but I'm afraid I had no other to see to this task. All the workers are unloading freights elsewhere, so I'll need your help a little longer. Axl here can help you finish up, as I have to visit the detainment wing to ensure the inmates are transported without incident."

"Ha?" Axl replied. "I thought we were going now!"

"There are still preparations to be made. I'll come back in a little while, so assist Alia while I'm gone," and then the commander turned to leave the navigator and hunter alone together.

With Alia crouching over a crate, Axl folded his arms in disappointment. "Crap, I thought I could get this over with... the anticipation is killing me!"

"If you want to get over your nerves, then you could start putting stuff away," Alia offered, and continued her task.

Stuck for the moment, Axl complied, and began helping out. Despite the occasional "What are you doing?" and "Not like that!" the two were making a lot of progress. Axl couldn't shake out Layer's words out of his head though, and was startled out of his current task by the blonde's words.

"Do you feel better, Axl?"

What did he feel? Was he angry about the whole thing? Did the hunters not trust him? It was like Red Alert all over again. Did he accuse X and Zero, even Alia, of telling everybody about him? No, that didn't make sense, he quickly thought. He answered Alia carefully so as to not let out a burst of emotion. That just wasn't his style. "I had a chat with Layer, and she tells me there are rumors about me. It kind of left me a little miffed, but not so much, now." Was that a lie? Probably.

Alia raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Is it about the recall? Don't let it get to you, Axl. Signas told me beforehand, and I know you'll pass the scans. I have faith that my tests will hold true."

"No," Axl replied quickly. Too quickly. "It's not that... I feel like... argh!" He threw his hands in the air in defeat at the thought of becoming sappy in front of Alia, and sat himself atop a crate. "I feel like no one has any confidence in me."

"Why do you say that?" Alia said, as she stood from her crouch and walked up to Axl.

"I just don't like that people think I'm being taken away. That I could become Maverick after all this time. It kind of kills my confidence, you know?"

Alia frowned at the spiky-haired Reploid. "That's not what people think, Axl. You've got it all wrong. Everybody's been afraid that you might be taken away, not that you are. We've been worrying about whether or not the government might go after you, ever since the news announced the new generation Reploids were being recalled."

Dumbfounded, all Axl could do was stupidly look at Alia with his mouth agape. He suddenly felt ashamed that he ever doubted his comrades. Doubting X and Zero. "No way..." was all he could say.

"Nobody doubts you, Axl. We all believe you'll never go Maverick. Everybody entrusts their lives to you, and to X and Zero. So don't let it get to you, okay?" She reached out and patted Axl's shoulder, and gave him a smile.

Axl could feel the beginnings of a flush on his cheeks and quickly jumped onto his feet to vigorously rub at his eyes and face. Alia stepped back in surprise, and was surprised all the more when Axl gave her the biggest grin he could manage. "Gosh, Alia. I really needed that, thank you so much! Let's hurry up and finish this up before Commander Signas comes back and tears us a new one!" With a renewed bounce to his movements, Axl took off to continue packing things up, leaving Alia to once again wonder about Axl and his boisterous ways.

Axl could finally say that he wasn't worried anymore. With his friends' support, he knew that there was no way that he could fail the scans. After everything that he had done for the hunters, and for himself, there was just no way that it was all going to end here. There was still so much more to the world that Axl wanted to see. After joining the hunters, after traveling all over the world on missions, Axl decided that life, up to this point, was worth all the confusion and grief he had had to endure at the beginning of his life.

^x^

In the end, it was Alia who had to drive the truck holding all the packed parts, with a bewildered Axl sitting in the passenger seat. Apparently they were running late, so Commander Signas had no other choice but to ask Alia yet another favor. Not knowing what to do, Axl hitched a ride with the navigator-made-trucker, making sure to let Signas know that he was on his way. The commander would meet up with him as soon as they all arrived. With the GPS set up, the two of them sat in a comfortable silence, having the time pass along with the scenery. Axl idly stared out the window, paying little attention to the desolate landscapes passing him by. He thought about what had happened earlier today, around the time he had barely woke up with Alia to greet him.

Axl turned his head towards her. "Hey, Alia."

"Hm?" she replied, not looking in his direction, but turning her head slightly.

"About this morning. K'know how you said my systems had changed? Did you tell anyone about that?"

Alia quickly took a glance his way, with an eyebrow raising. "I had to go prepare the parts right after you left the medical wing, so I've been busy all day. Why do you ask?"

Axl nodded at her answer. "That's good. I need you to do me a favor. I need you to promise not to tell anyone. All right?"

"How come?"

"It's something that no one else needs to know about. It's my problem, not anyone else's." He leaned closer to Alia, causing her to stare back, which in turn caused her to lessen her step on the gas, making the car slow down. "C'mon Alia, just promise! No one can know, especially X and Zero!"

The blonde Reploid blinked, and quickly placed her attention back at driving the truck, and finally responded. "All right, I promise. I wasn't going to tell anyone anyway. It's called medical confidentiality."

"Cool," replied Axl, and slumped in his seat as he placed his arms behind his head. "So, are we there yet?"

Alia rolled her eyes at that typical question. "We should be arriving any minute, now. The place we're going to is a branch facility that only does routine maintenance on the new generation Reploids. It doesn't manufacture them, like the bigger facilities do. Since this meet up was scheduled quickly, this address is the closest place we can drop off the parts, and..." she trailed off with her words, and side-glanced the marksman Reploid.

"Yep. It's also the place where they'll test me, right? Well, I'm not worried about it. Not anymore!" As he spoke, he could make out a lone building sitting right in front of the road the truck drove on, with the barren landscape ever spreading in all directions. It was like any other building people would disregard when going about their days, but for Axl, all of his attention was on it. He stared at the top floors, wondering what kind of place a Reploid facility was like, which was ironic on his part. He wondered for a brief second if the researchers would actually have any information on him... after all, he was the first one. The prototype of the new generation Reploids.

"I'll bet that's it right there!"

(Oh my god. Finally.)

(I have a lot I want to say about this chapter, and last chapter. I just now realized that chapter 6 was like a "filler" chapter, heh heh heh... I wanted to split the scenes, but I really wanted to write out the whole mission, soooo... yeah. Axl's part had to be a new chapter. SPEAKING OF NEW CHAPTER, I wanted to dive into Axl's inner thoughts again, and show that he's not just some crazy kid Reploid who's careless and battle-hungry. I wanted to show that Axl can also feel weakness and hopelessness and I tried my best to flesh this part out. I also wanted Axl to at least talk to Layer a little bit. I gave Pallete and Alia their scenes, so Layer had to get one, too. I'm satisfied with what I've got now, which I don't say often enough when it comes to my writing, eh heh heh... I want to point out that I haven't forgotten about Lumine's "gift"... I'm actually going to refer to it every now and again.)

(STAY TUNED...!)