This is an AU ending to ZX Advent, meaning that I'm blatantly ignoring the secret ending... which I won't spoil if you haven't seen it. Anyway, enjoy (?) this four Mega Men-centered oneshot. Feel free to cringe at the liberties I took with medical stuff.

As a side note, the title comes from the song Sound the Bugle by Bryan Adams.

Aeolus could hear Thetis and Atlas screaming somewhere next to him, and Siarnaq's garbled shouts of incomprehensible, incomprehensible, but he felt strangely detached from himself.

There was another presence in his head, one that Model Z had woken with that energy pulse, and that presence was rejecting Aeolus with everything it had in itself. It was like two parts of Aeolus were shoving away from each other, leaving him limp and quivering on the floor as he tried to hold the pieces together.

The presence wasn't even saying anything; its revulsion and ohgodrejection were powerful enough to speak volumes, and Aeolus felt something inside him break at the unreserved hatred lashing through his heart, his mind, his body.

Ouroboros was falling apart, the floor cracking beneath him, and yet… he still couldn't move. He caught glimpses of the other Mega Men, all in various states of immobilized terror, and he could only watch as Vent disappeared over one of the heaving chunks of Biometal.

"No… This wasn't supposed to happen," he heard Model Z mutter. "At this rate… Vent! Vent!"

Something exploded, and Aeolus knew only pain and darkness.

Brief flashes of wakefulness broke through the haze of unconsciousness. Thetis pulling him through the water, Thetis dragging him up onto a rocky beach. Siarnaq taking off that ever-present scarf at Atlas's command, Siarnaq's mouth twisted into a worried frown. Atlas's hands clamped on his leg, Atlas's voice more panicked than Aeolus had ever heard it as she swore she would never, ever lose another man like this.

He barely even had time to wonder why Atlas said something about using that scarf as a tourniquet before he blacked out again.

-x-

Atlas spluttered as she clawed her way to the surface of the water, the haphazard waves caused by Ouroboros's collapse splashing into her mouth. She fought to breathe, the desperate realization that she wasn't Megamerged anymore pounding in her head.

"Thetis! Siarnaq! Aeo—" She choked as seawater rushed down her throat.

"Atlas!" Thetis's voice met her ears, and she jerked around in the water until her eyes found her blue-haired companion. Thetis was gesturing at a beach not too far away. "This way!"

Atlas caught sight of Siarnaq treading water beside Thetis, but… "Where's Aeolus?" she shouted, fighting her way through the water towards her companions. She answered her own question when she caught a glimpse of a pale shape sinking into the water. Her eyes widened. "Shit!"

"I got him, I got him," Thetis rambled, diving under the water and grabbing Aeolus's limp form. Even when he wasn't Megamerged, Thetis was a spectacular swimmer; if anyone could manage another person's weight as well as their own, it was him.

When Thetis resurfaced, he had one arm wrapped around Aeolus and was struggling to keep the unconscious boy's head above the surface. As Atlas approached the pair, she noticed with alarm that there was blood in the water.

"UNIT AEOLUS HAS TAKEN DAMAGE," Siarnaq said as he swam towards the shore, constantly sending (worried?) glances back at Aeolus. Atlas ducked under one of Aeolus's arms and held it around her shoulder, trying to help Thetis pull the boy to shore.

Her feet brushed against solid ground, and she immediately started to stumble to shore, releasing Aeolus and letting Thetis do the rest of the work.

When Thetis dragged Aeolus onto the rocky beach, everyone froze.

Thetis staggered a few steps away, keeled over, and vomited. Siarnaq stopped and stared, his lips slightly parted and his eyes wide. Atlas fell to her knees beside Aeolus, frantically trying to remember what to do in a situation like this.

Aeolus's left leg was completely mangled. Fragments of bone glinted white in the torn remains of flesh and muscle, and most of the lower half was unrecognizable; only the upper thigh looked salvageable. The limb was bleeding at an alarming rate, and Atlas's hands automatically clamped over the femoral artery – this was too much like the war zone, too much like her brothers in arms—

"Siarnaq!" she barked. "Your scarf! I need a tourniquet, now!"

Siarnaq immediately untied his scarf, trembling minutely as he passed it to Atlas. She wrapped it around the part of Aeolus's leg that was still intact and cinched it as tightly as she could. "I won't lose another man like this," she hissed at Aeolus's limp face and half-lidded eyes. "You hear me? You are not dying here."

Aeolus's eyes fell shut again, and Atlas let out a violent swear.

"A…Atlas?" Thetis said timidly, looking like he was going to be sick again. "Is… is he okay?"

"Does it look like he's okay?" Atlas snarled, fixing a tearful glare on Thetis. When Thetis flinched, Atlas tried to pull herself together. No use in panicking. Panicking wasn't going to help Aeolus. "At this point, there's no use in trying to save the rest of his leg," she said, somewhat calmer.

"We're amputating?" Thetis squeaked.

"Yes, we're amputating," Atlas said sharply, pulling her pocketknife out of her boot. Always carry a knife, her unit would say. You never know when you might need a knife. "Do you see a safer alternative?" She immediately set to work on cutting off the lower part of Aeolus's leg, adjusting and readjusting the tourniquet at regular intervals.

Thetis averted his eyes, looking sick. Even Siarnaq seemed a little queasy, but Atlas was more than used to situations like this; she'd seen far worse than a simple amputation.

So why did it feel like her heart was breaking?

"Is there anything I can do?" Thetis asked, still not looking at Atlas and Aeolus.

"See if there's anyone living around here," Atlas said, fully removing the remains of Aeolus's leg from his thigh. She pressed her hands against the bleeding stump, uncaring of how much blood was getting on her. When Thetis hesitated, she frowned and narrowed her eyes at him. "Well? Go."

Thetis nodded and scurried off, clambering up the rock formations surrounding the beach and disappearing over the top. Legion might not have been happy with them, but right now, Aeolus's life was more important than staying hidden.

What happened to survival of the fittest? Only the strong deserving to live? a voice whispered in Atlas's head. She growled aloud, ignoring the glance Siarnaq gave her – how could she have been so stupid? War was a nightmare, and how could she be remembering this only now, with one of the only people alive for her to call a friend bleeding out in front of her?

Friend…

She'd lost so many friends in that stupid war.

She wasn't going to lose another in a conflict she had helped cause.

-x-

"Hey. Glad to see you two are alright." Vent, leaning against Building 4, waved to Ashe and Grey as they emerged from the med ward. "Aile and I had a tough time carrying you out of there." He smiled, mostly at Ashe.

"That's not what a boy should say to a girl, is it?" Ashe said teasingly, putting a hand on her hip. Aile rolled her eyes.

"What happened to Ouroboros? And Model W?" Grey asked, directing the question at Aile more than Vent.

"Ouroboros went down without a trace, and there's no sign of Model W anywhere. It just… sank into the ocean." Her relieved smile faltered a little, and Vent's easy grin fell into a slight frown.

"What? What is it?" Ashe asked, tilting her head.

"Yeah! Did something happen?" Model A chimed in, hovering near Grey's shoulder.

"Model Z and the other models went missing in the crash," Aile sighed.

"What? Model Z's missing?" Grey exclaimed.

"What about the other Mega Men?" Ashe demanded, alarmed. "Did they go down with Ouroboros?"

"As far as we know… yes," Vent said. He looked troubled, and Ashe remembered what he had said the first time she met him – I will become a Mega Man that can protect everyone. If the other Mega Men were dead, then Vent would put all the blame on his own shoulders.

"We were waiting for you two to wake up before we went looking for the Models," Aile added. "If you're feeling up to it…"

"Sure, we'll come with you!" Ashe said, grinning as she put Grey in a headlock. "Right, Grey?"

"R-right," Grey agreed, blushing slightly.

"We should look along the shore first," Aile said, absently passing Model X from hand to hand. "It's our best bet."

"Aile…" Model X said, sounding a bit exasperated.

"Oh… sorry." She released Model X and let him float up near her shoulder. A fidgety person by nature, she often found herself fiddling with her Biometals, much to their displeasure.

The trip to the shore didn't take long, and Ashe disengaged from Model A and took her shoes off when they reached the beach. The sand was soft and squished between her toes, and she laughed. "It's been forever since I've been to the beach!"

"We're not here for fun," Aile said warningly, but Vent followed Ashe's example, even going so far as to roll up his pants and wade into the surf.

"Come on, Aile! Loosen up!" he said with a grin.

Grey glanced at Ashe and Vent with a small frown. He looked up at Aile. "I'll help you look," he offered.

Aile smiled, pleasantly surprised. She would have expected Grey to want to go with Ashe… Her eyes drifted to Ashe and Vent, playfully splashing each other in the shallows, and her mouth formed a silent 'oh' of understanding. So that's how it was.

When Aile found Model Z, it was because she stepped on him.

"Hey, hey, watch it!" Model Z's voice, muffled by the sand and Aile's foot, made both Grey and Aile jump.

"Z?" Aile asked, crouching down to scoop him out of the sand. "Are you alright? Where are the others?"

"I'm all good," Model Z told her, shaking off a few grains of sand and floating out of Aile's grasp. "The others should be waking up soon."

"They're here?" Grey asked disbelievingly. They'd only been looking for a few minutes, and they'd found all the missing Biometals?

"Yeah, we're here," Model L grumbled. "It's so dusty! I need to go for a swim…"

"Technically, it's sand," Model F replied.

"Quit your prattling and help me," Model H snapped, trying valiantly to disentangle himself from a clump of seaweed. Grey took pity on him, picking him up and peeling the seaweed off.

"Where are our Chosen Ones?" Model P finally spoke up from behind Aile. Aile jumped and whipped around, wondering when P had gotten there.

"Why are you worried about them?" Model H scoffed. "I, for one, am glad to be rid of that self-righteous brat!"

"I dunno," Model L said. "Mine was kinda nice. Misguided, but nice."

"Oh… Atlas is gone?" Model F gave the impression of looking around, as if he'd be able to find her there on that very beach. "Huh. Well, at least the explosions were fun."

Model P stayed silent, but he seemed to be somewhat troubled.

"I agree with H," Aile said, crossing her arms. "I'm just glad they don't have their Models anymore. They pose less of a threat that way."

"But what if they're hurt?" Grey asked, fiddling with his fingers. "We don't know what happened to them after Ouroboros went down…"

"I think we should look for them," Ashe put in, sauntering up beside Grey. "Besides, wouldn't it be better for everyone if we knew where they were?" She grinned at Aile. "They'd 'pose less of a threat that way.'"

Vent leaned on Ashe's shoulder. "Come on, Aile," he coaxed with an impish smile.

Aile sighed. She'd end up giving in to Vent's irritating persistence sooner or later, so she might as well get it over with now.

-x-

There was a town right beside the beach, but it was abandoned, only a few houses still intact.

It was obviously the victim of a Maverick raid, and as Atlas hauled Aeolus's limp body to one of the undamaged houses, she couldn't be more grateful. From the state of the town, she could see that it had been deserted for more than a year; hopefully, no one would disturb them as they waited for Aeolus to heal enough to travel.

Travel. That was a kind word. What they were doing was running – running from Legion, running from what they'd done.

"We can't handle this ourselves," Thetis said nervously as Atlas carried Aeolus to one of the bedrooms. "We need help."

"RESPONSE: THE PROBABILITY OF RECEIVING ASSISTANCE FROM LEGION IS ROUGHLY FOUR PERCENT. SEEKING AID IS UNADVISABLE."

"He's right," Atlas said as she placed Aeolus on the bed. "Legion isn't going to forgive us for what we did. We have to handle this on our own." She stopped. "…What we did…"

What they did. What they did was slaughter hundreds of innocents to feed Model W. What they did was destroy homes and lives for the sake of some lunatic's insane designs.

What they did was unforgivable.

"What were we thinking?" Thetis asked, sounding like he was on the verge of tears.

"I don't know, Thetis," Atlas whispered. When Thetis saw tears trickling silently from her eyes, he couldn't hold back his own sobs.

Siarnaq looked away, but Thetis saw the pained lines of his face, saw how hard Siarnaq was fighting those emotions he claimed to lack.

With no one but an unconscious Aeolus as their witness, the three Mega Men let themselves cry in regret.

-x-

"First aid kit in the bathroom," Thetis said, a genuine if shaky smile on his face as he walked back into Aeolus's room. Atlas ripped it from his hands without so much as a thank you and immediately set to work on cleaning and stitching Aeolus's leg. With the very real threat of infection hanging over their heads, she couldn't afford to lose another second.

Aeolus whimpered and twitched a few times, but he didn't wake up, even when Atlas started to stitch up the wound. She tied off the stitches, rubbing some antibiotic cream over them, and reached for a roll of bandages.

"INQUIRY: WHAT IS THE CURRENT CONDITION OF UNIT AEOLUS?"

"Better, I think," Atlas said as she bandaged the stump. "The bleeding's stopped. What I want to know is why pretty-boy hasn't woken up yet."

"His forehead's really hot," Thetis said, alarmed. He pulled his hand back, looking worried. "Should I get a wet towel or something?"

"Was that what your mommy did for you when you had a fever?" Atlas mocked. When Thetis just looked at her, wide-eyed and hurt, she sighed. "It might help," she relented, because yeah, it probably would. She was tired, soaked, and worried, but taking that frustration out on Thetis and Siarnaq wasn't going to help.

Thetis ducked out of the room and returned a few seconds later with a wet towel. He brushed the hair out of Aeolus's face and put the cloth on the Wind Mega Man's forehead.

"…thanks," Aeolus mumbled, and Thetis leapt back in surprise.

"You're awake!" he exclaimed.

"No shit, Sherlock," Atlas said, rolling her eyes. "How you feeling, champ?"

"My leg…" Aeolus closed his eyes and tipped his head back, wordless agony etched onto his face.

"The left?" Thetis asked after a couple moments, and Atlas had to bite back a sarcastic reply. Aeolus just nodded.

"Everything hurts… what… what happened?" He moved as if to grab at his leg, but Atlas caught his wrists and pushed them back onto the bed. There was no telling what it would do to Aeolus to find out that he didn't have a leg anymore.

"Just a little accident when we fell from Ouroboros," Thetis told him cheerfully, clapping a hand over Siarnaq's mouth. Brutal honesty would get them nowhere with a distressed, feverish Aeolus. "You'll be fine."

"Kid's right. Do you need anything?" Atlas changed the subject.

"…water?" Aeolus's eyes, half-lidded and unfocused from the fever, slid over to meet Atlas's. She nodded and waved in Thetis and Siarnaq's general direction. At this point, she was just happy Aeolus was lucid – from what she'd seen of victims of injuries this severe, delusions and hysteria were practically commonplace.

Aeolus passed out shortly after finishing half a cup of water, and Atlas took the opportunity to hunt for dry clothes. Her search was short and sweet – comfortable clothes were easy to come by in a residential house like this, and there were more than enough to go around. She and her two conscious companions took turns in the shower, and she gave Aeolus the modesty of only having Thetis and Siarnaq bathe him (although she stayed outside the door and constantly reminded them not to get the bandages wet).

When Aeolus woke four hours later, he wasn't nearly as coherent as he had been the first time.

Atlas, having assigned Siarnaq to watch Aeolus through the night, had been sleeping fitfully on the couch when the screams woke her up.

Rolling off the couch and hitting the floor running, she slammed open the door to Aeolus's room, where Siarnaq was pinning a thrashing Aeolus to the bed.

"What's going on? What's happening?" Thetis demanded, voice high-pitched and panicky. "Is… Is Aeolus—"

"Of course he's not okay!" Atlas exploded just as Aeolus let out another scream. Aeolus's voice fell away into hoarse panting, and his struggles ceased; Siarnaq released him but didn't step back.

"Kill me," Aeolus begged, meeting Atlas's eyes but staring right through her.

Atlas felt her heart drop and her head swim – in her mind, her eyes, her heart, her memories, so many dead. So many that she couldn't save—

So many—

"Shut the fuck up!" she snarled, storming to Aeolus's bed and shoving Siarnaq aside. She slammed her hands down on the mattress, glaring straight into Aeolus's clouded, tear-filled eyes. "Don't you dare quit on me like this, you bastard!"

"I—I—" Aeolus squeezed his eyes shut and jerked his head to the side, every breath sounding like an effort. "Oh god…Make it stop… Make it stop!" He screamed again, and Thetis clapped his hands over his ears, starting to cry.

"Get a wet cloth and a glass of water," Atlas snapped at Thetis, if only to get the kid out of the damned room. His crying was only upsetting Aeolus more, not to mention it was driving Atlas crazy.

"I'm sorry—I'm sorry—" Aeolus openly sobbed, and Atlas had to wonder what kind of agony Aeolus was going through, what kind of delirium he was experiencing for him to completely lose himself like that.

"Calm down," she hissed. "You have nothing to be sorry for!"

"They're all dead!" Aeolus's eyes snapped wide open, and he jerked a hand up to grab Atlas's shoulder. "I killed them… all those people, all my fault, why did I—"

"Aeolus!" Atlas slapped the hysterical Mega Man across the face. It wasn't enough to hurt him, but it was enough to snap him out of it, at least a little.

"A-Atlas?" He fell back against the pillows, hand sliding from Atlas's shoulder to fall limply at his side. "Oh god… it hurts…" His teeth sank into his lower lip, tears slipping from his eyes.

"I know." Atlas accepted the wet cloth Thetis offered her and placed it on Aeolus's forehead. She hesitated, glancing at Siarnaq and Thetis, before she decided that if it helped Aeolus get through the night, she could afford to be a little sappy. "I know it hurts, but be strong, alright? Hold on for us. We're gonna get you through this."

"What happened… my leg…" Aeolus sporadically clenched and unclenched his fists, the sheets wrinkling in his grip. "It's… it's… what happened to my leg…"

"Drink this." Atlas angled his head up and shoved the glass of water in front of his face, not wanting to talk about Aeolus's missing leg. Bewildered, Aeolus sipped at the water, and Atlas visibly relaxed when he seemed to calm down.

Siarnaq surprised Atlas by slinking over and taking one of Aeolus's hands into both of his own. The assassin squeezed Aeolus's hand in a surprisingly tender gesture of comfort, and Aeolus sighed, his fever-flushed face slowly relaxing into sleep. Even as his eyes slid shut, he never stopped looking at Siarnaq.

Atlas took the opportunity to clean and redress Aeolus's wound, noticing with concern the swelling and the angry redness. Not once did Siarnaq move from Aeolus's side or release the sleeping boy's hand.

"Is there anything we can do for him?" Thetis asked quietly as Aeolus twitched and moaned in his sleep.

"No." Atlas stood up and stalked to the door, shoulders trembling. She punched the doorframe on her way out, hating the helplessness of watching Aeolus suffer like this and being able to do nothingto help him.

Thetis trailed uncertainly after her, but Siarnaq remained at Aeolus's side, sleepless and vigilant. He was still there, holding Aeolus's hand, when Atlas woke up the next morning.

-x-

"How long has it been since anyone's lived here?" Vent said, putting his hands on his hips as he surveyed the town.

"A few of these houses still look intact," Ashe marveled, taking a few steps forward.

"Why hasn't anyone moved back in?" Grey asked, stooping down to examine what looked like a pot shard.

"There was a Maverick raid a little over two years ago," Aile said, starting to approach the section of the town that was still mostly undamaged. "There were only a few survivors. I guess no one had the heart to come back."

"Oh…" Grey straightened up, looking a little sad. "And they left all their possessions here, too?"

"Most of the owners of those possessions are dead," Vent said simply. "And civilians don't like to risk returning to places Mavericks have raided in the past."

"Well, shit," Ashe said, twirling one of her guns around her finger. "Any chance our Mega Men are hiding out here?"

"If they made it to shore at all, there's a good chance they came here," Aile said, expression twisted with slight distaste. "I still think this is a waste of time," she added. "Do you really think they're going to come quietly?"

"They don't have their Biometals," Ashe replied somewhat testily. "Besides, what if they're hurt? We don't need a reason to help people."

Grey nodded, and Aile sighed as Ashe unknowingly echoed Model X's words from four years ago. "…Alright. Let's start searching the houses."

-x-

"Atlas! Atlas!"

Thetis skidded into Aeolus's room, where Atlas was just re-bandaging the stump of Aeolus's leg. The Flame Mega Man was about to snap at Thetis for shouting, but when she saw the genuine fear on the boy's face, she stopped herself.

"What is it?" she demanded, tying off Aeolus's bandages and standing up. Siarnaq calmed Aeolus's confusion and distress at the sudden panic in the room by running a hand through the Wind Mega Man's sweat-slicked hair.

"I… I saw ZX! Outside! With Ashe and Grey!" Thetis babbled, eyes wide and frightened. "They're looking for us, I know they are, I saw them going into houses…" He took a deep breath, visibly trying to calm himself down. "What… what do you want us to do?"

Atlas hesitated. In all likelihood, the Model A and Model ZX Mega Men were here on a mission from Legion, hunting down the rogue Mega Men that had terrorized the country. Influenced by Model W or no, they'd be arrested, maybe even executed as Mavericks.

"CURRENT SITUATION: NEAR INESCAPABLE. INPUT COURSE OF ACTION." Siarnaq's eyes (darker than Atlas remembered – since when were they a deep wine red instead of bright scarlet?) fixed on Atlas's.

If they ran, they might have a chance of getting away before they were found… but not if they had to carry Aeolus with them. Atlas glanced at Siarnaq and Thetis, at both their expectant gazes, and then looked down at Aeolus. To leave a friend, a brother, helpless and at the mercy of their enemies…

"We fight," she said simply.

"But—" Thetis started.

"No. What's the point in running?" Atlas shook her head. "We're staying here."

"R-right…" Thetis swallowed, steeling his resolve.

"COURSE OF ACTION ACCEPTED." Even though Atlas had heard Siarnaq talk, when she glanced over at where he had been moments prior, he was gone.

Atlas followed Thetis out of the room, giving Aeolus one last look before she quietly shut the door behind her.

She took a knife from the kitchen and stood beside the front door to wait.

-x-

Aile was the one unfortunate enough to walk into the house first.

She had very little warning before a screaming woman wearing nothing but a tank top and short-shorts pounced on her with a meat cleaver. Acting on instinct alone, she grabbed the woman's arm and jerked it forward, trying to throw the assailant off-balance. Not to be deterred, the woman – Atlas, the woman was Atlas – slid one of her bare feet in a wide arc on the floor to catch her balance and immediately launched another assault, her knife whistling precariously close to Aile's face.

"Get her off me!" Aile shouted at Vent. Her voice snapped the other ZX Mega Man out of his stupor, and he leapt at Atlas, hooking his arms under her armpits and wrenching her backwards.

"Cool it!" he exclaimed, gasping as Atlas's wild thrashing broke his hold on one of her arms.

"Stop it! We're here to help you!" Ashe charged into the house, Grey following close behind. Her guns were drawn, but she looked reluctant to use them.

"Bullshit!" Atlas snarled. "Thetis! Now!"

A lamp collided with the back of Ashe's head, and the girl staggered forward with a sharp gasp. "What the—"

Vent's momentary distraction at Ashe's yell was enough for Atlas to break free, taking a few rapid steps back and holding her knife up in a defensive position.

"Where are the other two?" Grey asked, helping Ashe catch her balance. "Are… are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Ashe pushed Grey's hands away. "We need to find the other two before—"

"I told you these four were a waste of time," Aile hissed, saber drawn.

"Get out!" Atlas shouted, face contorted into a feral expression of rage. "Get the fuck out of here!"

"Hold on—" Vent took a step forward, but a dark shape ambushing him from the ceiling ended his sentence with a cry of surprise.

Siarnaq, though unarmed, had a death grip around Vent's throat. But no matter how strong his willpower was, his measly Reploid body couldn't fight the strength of a Mega Man; when the hilt of Vent's saber hit his abdomen, he went down hard.

"Siarnaq!" Thetis cried when the Reploid's body collided with the wall. Siarnaq slid to the floor, one arm clutching his stomach, and for a moment, Vent looked completely shocked.

"Why you-!" Atlas made a run at Vent, but the butt of Aile's gun to the back of Atlas's head quickly brought the human down.

"Stop it!" Grey begged, grabbing Aile's arm. Aile shook Grey off, her eyes narrowed.

"Like it or not, these four fit the definition of a Maverick, and we have to treat them as such," she said, voice tight. "You and Ashe go look for the fourth one."

"No!" Thetis sprang at Ashe as the girl nodded and hurried towards one of the hallways, his lamp raised.

Grey didn't know what came over him. He saw Ashe in danger, saw Thetis about to hurt her, and he reacted.

Even Aile froze at the sound of two gunshots piercing the air.

Thetis dropped like a stone, screaming as he clamped both his arms over two bleeding holes in his abdomen. Atlas, previously sprawled on the floor in a daze, forced herself to her feet at Thetis's cry. She stumbled at Grey, knife raised, and Vent leapt to the younger Mega Man's defense. Aile barked a warning, pointing her buster at Atlas, while Grey just stared in shock at the writhing boy on the floor.

"Everybody, stop!" Ashe screamed. Everyone froze, turning to look at Ashe, who was staring into one of the rooms. "Guys…" she whispered.

Siarnaq lurched to his feet and staggered towards Ashe, the desperate need to protect Aeolus overriding the pain. He fell at Ashe's feet but latched onto her ankles, refusing to allow her to walk into that room.

"You will not touch him," he hissed.

"What? What is it?" Vent demanded from where he was pinning Atlas to the floor.

"Aeolus…" Ashe's guns clattered to the floor. "It's Aeolus."

-x-

Ashe and Grey accompanied Thetis and Aeolus to the med wing, but Vent and Aile came with Siarnaq and Atlas to meet the two remaining members of the Sage Trinity. Vent gave them a soft warning to be polite and make a good impression, for their own sakes.

Okay, so maybe spitting at the feet of the most powerful men in the nation wasn't the best way to get on their good sides, but hell if Atlas cared.

"Show some respect!"Aile hissed, giving Atlas's handcuffs a sharp tug.

"Shut up." Atlas narrowed her eyes at Mikhail and Thomas, all the hate in the world conveyed in a single expression and a chillingly calm voice. "These people sit back and do nothing as Mavericks tear apart their nation. They hide in their headquarters, let the real heroes suffer for them, and then take all the glory for themselves." She scoffed and turned her face away. "I have no respect for cowards."

Aile and Vent just gaped at her, completely speechless. To speak to the world's leaders like that…!

"Well, she's a feisty one," Mikhail laughed. "I think I like her."

"Master Mikhail!" Aile gasped.

Siarnaq remained silent, instead studying the other member of the Sage Trinity. Master Thomas… The look he was giving Atlas was impossible to analyze, and it was putting Siarnaq on edge.

"So these are two of the four rogue Mega Men that terrorized our country?" Thomas asked, finally tearing his gaze away from Atlas. "Where are the other two?"

"Both in the med wing," Vent answered promptly.

"One of them for multiple gunshot wounds, not life-threatening," Aile reported, seeming a little relieved despite herself when she added the second part. "The other one for, ah… an amputated leg and a fever of one-oh-six degrees."

Atlas jerked her head around to give Aile an alarmed look. One-hundred six? How bad was Aeolus's infection getting? If that had gone on for much longer with the inadequate supplies they'd had, Aeolus might have…

"What do you want us to do with them?" Aile asked, putting a hand on her hip.

"Get them rooms in the living quarters, but keep them under watch. We'll deal with their involvement with Albert later." Mikhail waved a hand dismissively, and Aile almost looked offended at how nonchalant he was being about the whole thing.

Atlas scowled at the old men as Vent led her from the room. Siarnaq's expression didn't change, but he was subtly watching Master Thomas, observing every movement, every flicker of expression.

There was something about that man…

-x-

When Aeolus woke up, it was in a hospital, of all things.

The past few days were a blur of pain and heat and delirious images of the people he had seen die flashing in front of his eyes, and even now, his mind felt clouded and sluggish. It took him a moment to register the implications of being in a hospital – it meant that Legion could find them, had probably found them already. He and the other three Mega Men… they could be executed as Mavericks for their involvement in the Game of Destiny.

He closed his eyes. The Game of Destiny… Ashe and Grey… Ouroboros.

"What's wrong with all of you? Are you stupid?" Ashe's eyes were desperate, pleading. "Albert was planning to become king all along! He's been using you from the start!"

"A mere trifling technicality… the winner out of all of us need only to defeat Albert to become king." Aeolus drew his sabers. "Those are the rules that Albert himself laid down."

"Oh… you idiots!" Ashe shouted.

Aeolus found himself agreeing with memory-Ashe. They were all idiots. He was an idiot. A fool who caused needless conflict and ended so many lives, and for what purpose?

To fulfill his own selfish ambitions. Supposedly, to fix the world by ridding it of the fools whose ignorance caused struggle and pain.

He had forgotten himself. He had forgotten the person who knew what it was to be alone and scared and the victim of a conflict he had no part in, and in doing so, he had hurled hundreds of people into the same situation he had been trapped in all those years ago.

How could he have been so stupid?

His intentions might have been good – intentions to right the wrongs of the world, intentions to end ignorance and conflict – but the road to hell was paved with good intentions. The things he said, the things he did…

Unforgivable.

Model W wasn't something to be honored or respected. It was the legacy of a madman, a tragic and bloody history of death and injustice manifested into a Biometal, and to be so arrogant as to believe he could bend its raw, uncontained power to his will was disgusting, ignorant, foolish.

No wonder Model H despised him.

Model H…

Would H be happy to see Aeolus suffer like this? Laugh at Aeolus's guilt and self-loathing? Mock him, tell him that this is what he deserved? From what Aeolus had felt of Model H – that revulsion, that rejection – more likely than not, H would do all of those things and more.

And Aeolus deserved every bit of Model H's contempt. He had more than earned it with his abhorrent actions and his complete disregard for the Biometal's will.

"Aeolus?"

Thetis's uncertain voice broke through his thoughts, and Aeolus cracked one eye open to look at the Ice Mega Man's blurred blue shape in the doorway.

Taking a few unsteady steps into the room, Thetis managed a shaky smile. "I… just wanted to check up on you."

Aeolus almost thought about replying, but he couldn't bring himself to care enough. He kept staring at Thetis. The boy had one arm wrapped around his abdomen as if in pain, but even that didn't pique Aeolus's curiosity.

"Um… they said your fever's gone down a lot," Thetis continued, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. "And that they might start working on a prosthetic leg for you soon." He was obviously trying to make Aeolus feel better, but even the reminder of his missing leg didn't garner a reaction.

Aeolus closed his eye again and turned his face away. He didn't feel like talking. A nurse, bringing Aeolus's dinner, came in and ushered Thetis out. She placed his dinner on the bedside table and left the room, leaving Aeolus alone with his thoughts.

The nurse that brought his dinner came in two hours later to find it lying untouched on the table. Her first thought was that Aeolus was sleeping, but the Wind Mega Man was awake, staring blankly at the ceiling as if lost in thought.

The woman paused at the door as she left. "You need to eat," she admonished before quietly shutting the door behind her.

Aeolus shook his head slowly. He was tired. Didn't feel like moving, didn't deserve the pleasure of eating. There wasn't anything left for him – he had gone against everything he'd ever held sacred, had hurt so many people with his own selfish arrogance, and it wasn't like anyone would miss him if he just… faded away. They might care, might acknowledge he was gone. They might even pity him a little, but there wasn't a soul that would honestly miss him, would feel like they'd lost something important.

He'd had thoughts like this before, but every other time, he'd go for a run or a fly to shake them off.

But Model H was gone, and so was his leg. He couldn't even go to the bathroom by himself anymore – he was helpless. Useless. A burdensome existence hanging on the consciences of everyone around him, and he had never wished death upon anyone so strongly as he now wished death upon himself.

In a fit of desperation, he pushed himself out of his bed and wobbled towards the window, leaning heavily on the bedside table. He could go for one last fly, couldn't he? One last fly, one last moment of freedom.

His hands slipped from the table and he lost his balance, toppling face-first onto the floor. He tried to get back up, but he could do little more than grip the table with both hands, too weak to pull himself back up. Eventually, he gave up, curling into a ball and doing something that he hadn't done since he was a child.

He cried.

It wasn't the quiet kind of crying, the kind with a few tears that went away in a matter of seconds. No, it was the desperate kind of crying, the hysterical kind of crying with the deep, gasping sobs and the uncontrollable tears – and once Aeolus started, he couldn't stop.

He cried for his arrogance, his stupidity, his helplessness. He cried for the people he killed and the lives he ruined. He cried out of shame and regret and humiliation.

He cried because he was broken, had been broken for so long that he didn't remember what it felt like to be whole.

The door opened and shut. Hands were gently skimming down his back, but he barely registered the sensations. Gentle arms, careful arms gathered him against a warm chest, and he felt himself being carried someplace soft.

He didn't care who it was. Like a child, he wrapped his arms around the person and sobbed into their chest, wanting, needing the primal comfort of another's touch after being denied it so long.

Siarnaq ran his fingers through Aeolus's hair, quietly soothing the boy to sleep.

-x-

Aile, despite herself, was getting a little concerned.

After spending a bit of time with Atlas and Thetis, she had to admit that they weren't bad kids, not really – just misguided, with skewed ideals and perceptions of the world that were made dangerous by having too much power thrust onto them too quickly. She had seen for herself what the mere influence of Model W could do to someone, and she was actually grateful that these children hadn't turned out worse.

Atlas, Thetis, and even Siarnaq seemed to be adjusting fine, and their Biometals were warming up to them again. Mikhail and Thomas were even considering pardoning the rogue Mega Men of their crimes, provided they worked for Legion and, by extension, under Legion's watch. But Aeolus…

Aeolus never left his hospital room. From what Aile had heard from the nurses, he almost never left his bed.

Model H, stubborn idiot that he was, still refused to even visit his Chosen One. Aile silently wondered if H would be acting a little differently if he only caught a glimpse ofthe state the boy was in.

When Aile looked into Aeolus's room, she didn't see a Mega Man, nor did she see a child. She saw a creature that was jaded and tired, a shadow of a person without the will to live – a broken, miserable thing that just didn't care anymore.

She thought once or twice about trying to talk to him, but she wasn't sure if the boy even knew her name. Still, despite her misgivings about the Mega Men in general, she couldn't just stand by and watch somebody waste away like that. She might not have been qualified to talk Aeolus out of his depression, but she knew someone who was – someone who had literally been in Aeolus's head for the better part of a year.

Plucking Model H out of the air, she stared straight into what she assumed were the Biometal's eyes. "Model H, you need to go talk to Aeolus."

"No." Model H's voice was a verbal cross of the arms. "He's a sanctimonious imbecile that used me to kill innocent people. I want nothing to do with him."

Aile narrowed her eyes at him. "Have you seen him lately? Have you even bothered to look? H, if anyone is being a sanctimonious imbecile right now, it's you."

She released the Biometal and stalked away in a huff. After a couple seconds, she snuck a glance over her shoulder to see if her little guilt-trip worked.

Sure enough, H hovered uncertainly in place for a few moments before he started to make his way towards the med wing. Aile allowed herself a victory pose – another triumph over the idiotic obstinacy of the men in her life! Now if only she could make that work on Vent…

-x-

Saying that Model H was taken aback when he saw Aeolus would be a hideous understatement.

The image of Aeolus that H had in his mind was of an arrogant, pitiless brat that thought he was always right and was ready to strike down anyone that disagreed with him. That image was completely shattered by the Aeolus he saw now; this Aeolus was burned out, prideless, penitent – and damaged in so many more ways than one.

Meeting Aeolus's eyes just made it worse. The complete and utter lack of anything in those eyes was enough to make anyone's stomach turn; those were the eyes of something dead, not a boy as young as Aeolus.

A boy. A child. Aeolus couldn't have been a day over fifteen. Mature for his age he might have been, but he was still inexperienced, still naïve – and, like any child, still prone to mistakes.

Aeolus wasn't the only one who had been stupid.

Model H drifted to Aeolus's bedside. The boy's face twisted into a vague sort of pain, and he looked away; H flitted from side to side, unsure of what to say. Aeolus obviously expected a reprimand of some sort, and H had to prove that that wasn't why he was there.

"Does it hurt?" he blurted out. "Your leg," he elaborated quickly. He silently cursed himself; it wasn't like him to be so impulsive.

"…not anymore," Aeolus replied, slowly and after a couple moments. He still refused to look at H.

Frustrated, H moved directly into Aeolus's line of sight. Difficult relationship with his Chosen One or no, he couldn't stand to see this proud soul, this reflection of Model H's past identity, reduced to this kind of listless self-pity.

"What happened to you? What happened to the Aeolus I knew?" H demanded. Aeolus's eyes widened slightly, and H swept on. "The Aeolus I knew was proud and confident!"

"I was arrogant," Aeolus hissed, expression sharpening. It was the strongest reaction he'd had toanything in the past few days. "And I was stupid."

"Arrogant, yes, but also honorable," H returned. "You believed in peace. You wanted to change the world!"

"And when I tried, people ended up dead!" Aeolus snarled.

"Model W twisted you!" H raised his voice over Aeolus's. "It took your fear and pain and used it against you! It made you think what you were doing was right!"

"I should have known better!"Aeolus's expression was a painful mix of rage and overwhelming guilt.

"You're only a child!" H exploded. Aeolus drew back, stunned, and H felt guilty for all of two seconds before he took advantage of Aeolus's shock and kept talking. "You're a child," he repeated. "You're inexperienced. You're idealistic. And you're easily misled. I know you consider yourself an adult," H put in hastily when it looked like Aeolus was about to protest. "But you're not. You were forced to grow up early because of the world you lived in, and it is not your fault that it made you bitter."

"That's no excuse," Aeolus whispered.

"It's not," H agreed. "Not entirely. But you can't blame yourself completely for what Model W corrupted you into believing was the right course of action."

"I…" Aeolus looked like he had no idea what to say, and H mentally sighed in relief. Good to know he had gotten through to the boy.

"We're both idiots," H said with a small laugh. He settled onto the pillow next to Aeolus's head, hesitating a moment before he asked, "How can you think no one would miss you if you were gone?" That was one feeling of Aeolus's that Model H had always been somewhat concerned about, even when he was trapped in Aeolus's mind with no will of his own.

Aeolus retreated – not physically, but H could tell that the boy was closing himself off mentally and emotionally. "I'm not a likable person," he said quietly. "I never liked other people, so they never liked me. I don't see how my life could matter to anyone."

"What about those three Mega Men?" H gave the impression of disbelievingly raising an eyebrow. "The ones that stitched up your leg and saved your life? The ones that weren't Megamerged but tried to fight off four Mega Men anyway, just to protect you?" H had heard the story from Model Z (whose colorful storytelling made it somewhat difficult for H to restrain his laughter as he recalled it now, even in a serious moment like this).

And the one who let you cry into his shirt like some toddler who had a nightmare, Aeolus added silently. H could tell from the look on Aeolus's face that he had, once again, gotten through to the Wind Mega Man.

It would take awhile for Aeolus to get better, physically and mentally. H had no illusions about that. But Aeolus had improved by leaps and bounds just over the course of these few minutes, and H knew that, given time, his Chosen One was going to be just fine.

"Hey." H shifted slightly on the pillow, drawing Aeolus's attention. "Once you get your prosthetic leg attached, how would you like to go flying? With the both of us, this time."

And for the first time in weeks, Aeolus smiled.