DISCLAIMER: I own nothing and no one from The Zeta Project. I am just a poor college student who also happens to be a rabid Zeta fan and this just happens to be a fanfiction that my mind came up with that I feel like sharing with other fans. I make absolutely NO money from this. It is merely for fun and hopefully the enjoyment of other fans. Please don't sue and fans please enjoy.

Chapter 4: Broken

"Rush?" Bennett blinked up to find West and his partner quietly waiting for direction. Bennett had honestly forgotten they were there for a second, so focused was he on the synthoid before him. And West... West was being so quiet it was practically a miracle.

"I have the most recent bomb training in the squad, sir. I should be able to figure out some way to release him," Rush said, explaining her interruption then waiting once more for further instructions.

"No." Zee was shaking his head.

But Bennett nodded to her. "Find the electric conduit first and cut it. I don't want anyone getting shocked on accident."

"Yes sir."

Zee shielded away from the female agent as he heard her near and crouched down beside him. "No. Rush please don't. You might get hurt."

"I'll wear rubber gloves," the woman reassured him, moving in to take a closer look at the restraints without touching the synthoid yet.

"It would just be easier to cut off my hands," Zee said, his head drooping despairingly.

Rush frowned slightly. She had never felt pity for a robot before, but there was always a first time for everything. "Don't talk like that," she said gently. "We'll get you out of here Zeta. It's our job. We're supposed to take you with us remember? As intact as possible."

"Just… Just be careful," the synthiod said in a small, pleading voice.

"I plan to be," the female agent gave a curt nod, leaning closer to inspect the restraints. She couldn't see any wiring, but then the mechanism could have just as easily been wired through the metal of the cuffs or even inside them... But then there would have to be some sort of energy source outside- unless the restraints had their own compact battery. If that was true all it would take was a pressure plate inside and- Rush sighed, brushing a lock of hair back off her forehead. This was going to be more complicated then she had thought, but then she was getting nowhere just sitting here. She reached out with a cautious hand, but Zee's voice suddenly startled her out of her thoughts.

"And don't burn yourself."

The woman blinked, troubled by the words. "What? " she said, her brow furrowing in confusion. "What do you mean 'don't burn yourself'?"

Zee lifted his head and seemed to look at her, even though she knew his optics were no longer functioning. "My wrists are still hot from the electricity," he said after a long moment, clarifying. "I don't want you to burn yourself."

"Oh…" She blinked and pulled away from the cuffs. She could feel the heat now that she wasn't so completely focused on the task at hand. She flushed lightly in embarrassment, but her dark skin hid the blush well and her stoic features disguised the emotions within her. She knew without the syntiods warning she would have definitely burned herself and felt the fool. Not to mention the heckling she would have gotten from her fellow agents for being so reckless. Rush felt a sudden and unexpected warmth towards the IU rise within her, but she quickly squashed it back down. Zeta was still a fugitive and dangerous, but that didn't stop her from murmuring, "thanks for the warning," under her breath, before getting up to gather the equipment she'd need to free the synthoid.

With the right tools and protective gloves, it only took Rush a few minutes to discover how to disarm the cuffs now that she knew what she was looking for, but getting to the power source was a bit trickier then she would have liked. A micro power-cell had been installed into each of the cuffs and had to be removed seperately. But first she had to get into the compartments that held them... without triggering the cuffs. And knowing Krick, there were probably booby traps somewhere in the workings. If she could just...

Bennett stood back, giving Rush space to work, but still lingering near so he could watch the proceedings, a scowl darkening his features. They had finally caught Zeta, but it was never supposed to be like this. The synthiod was so damage-

"Sir?"

"What?!" Bennett snapped, his thoughts scattered by Rush's voice as he turned sharply to face her.

She raised a questioning eyebrow. "Could you maybe pace over there?" she said, waving vaguely with a gloved hand to the far end of the container.

"I..." the man blinked, not realizing he had started prowling the width of the room like a caged animal. "Oh. Yes. I will... stop."

She nodded in acknowledgement, a knowing look in her eyes and turned back to Zeta. It was obvious to anyone who knew Bennett that he was upset. Zeta's condition had hit him hard. He tried to hide it and most people would have been fooled, but... but she didn't have time to focus on that now. She needed to concentrate. Just a little more and- with a click the magnetized compartment slid open and the little cylindrical battery popped out of the left cuff. An uncharacteristic grin spread over Rush's face in satisfaction. That wasn't so hard. And the second was even easier.

"There," Rush sat back on her haunches and carefully placed the micro batteries into an evidence bag, careful not to lose the grain-of-rice-sized power cells.

"Thank you," Zeta whispered, his body sagging in relief. His hands were still cuffed above his head, but he could no longer hear faint humming that had issued from them before, belaying their dangerous electric tendencies.

"That was pretty cool," West said, peering over his reluctant partners shoulder.

Still high on her success, Rush smiled over her shoulder at him before turning back to Zeta, leaving the startled West gawking at her back.

"Well we're not done yet," she said, picking up a laser cutter from the toolbox and deftly cutting through the chain that held the cuffs together and bolted to the wall.

Caught off-guard by his sudden release, Zeta collapsed forward and right into Rush.

The woman let out a startled squeak as the syntiod's weight crashed into her, bowling her to the ground. She slammed back painfully against the metal floor, the air rushing from her lungs as the wind was knocked out of her. Time seemed to slow, the seconds dragging as Rush desperately tried to suck air back down into her lungs, but they just wouldn't work. For a long horrible moment she thought she was going to faint, then, as suddenly as it had happened, her lungs unfroze. Rush greedily gasped down her first breath and cursed herself, knowing she should have realized the restraints had been the only thing keeping the IU upright. Getting her wind back, she struggled to lever the synthiod's considerable weight off her, but the heavy metal body wouldn't budge.

The next thing she knew, West, the grand idiot that he was, was yelling and waving a gun around. Luckily, Bennett was there a second later grabbing the weapon and wrenching it from the boy, before shoving it back into the young man's chest. "Put your damned gun away, West, before I take it from your permanently," Bennett growled, then turned to the tangle of robot and human arms and legs that was Rush and Zeta.

Zee was attempting to push himself off Rush by that time, apologizing the whole way, but he just didn't have the motor functions left to budge himself. His system gave a disgruntled whine when he tried to raise himself up on his arms then there was a pop from somewhere deep inside him and Rush saw a flash of naked electricity spark within his chest. The synthiod made a gasping sound, a shudder cascading through his metal frame before his arms gave out and he collapsed back to ground, but this time he somehow managed to land with his upper body beside the woman instead of on top of her.

Bennett was suddenly there, crouched beside them. "Are you hurt?" he asked Rush, as he grabbed the synthiod by the waist and dragged him the rest of the way off her.

She shook her head, pushing herself up onto her arms. "Just the wind knocked out of me," she panted.

The man nodded to her, turning his attention back to Zeta. The synthoid lay on his side, his arms crossed protectively over his broken chest plate and... He was… whimpering. That wasn't really the right word for the sounds that were coming from the synthoid, but Bennett didn't have anything better to call it. There was nothing natural about the sounds. It wasn't like a dog's whimpering. It was more… metallic. But it was still high pitched and sounded… pained. And Bennett was at a complete loss at what to do.

"I think something broke in him while he was trying to get off me. " Rush said as she slid into a crouch beside Bennett.

The man frowned and leaned over the synthoid. "Zeta? Hey Zeta? Are you still with us?"

"Ben-nett?" Zee said groggily, shifting as if trying look at them, but instead his body gave a shudder and he let out a low groan, drooping back to the floor.

Bennett's frown deepened, a spark of pity flaring up inside him. It didn't seem fair to have come all this way if the synthiod was just going to break down on them now.

"Benne..." Zee's weak voice cut out in a bout of static. There was a whirring sound from somewhere deep inside him then a clunk and his body went limp as the lights shining inside his casing flickered and slowly died away.

TBC…

Oh god! Where did the time go?! I had no idea I had left these sitting for so long. I mean I knew it had been awhile since I've updated, but yeesh! Anyway I hope you like this little update and, as always, I love reviews.

P.S. Chapter title: "Broken" from the title of Lifehouse song by same name.