First Brave Police fic. Whelp.

Desire

He used to think that greed was a terrible emotion.

Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. Greed can be associated with numerous things: a lust for money, a desire for fame, or just greedy for someone's love and affection. This emotion was a catch twenty-two. It could be used for the most evilest of reasons or just satisfy the universal need to survive and live. But, still, McCrane wasn't particularly fond of the feeling of greed. Even though it made him more "human," he still didn't like that the root of that emotion would be used to quench such ugly desires. However, he wasn't a stickler about it like he used to be. Though there were nights where that greed kept him up—preventing him from a nice long recharge. And the base of him acting like this was one person:

Seia.

He had to admit it: he wanted her. He desired her. His innocent crush had blossomed into a full-on lusting for the military woman. Not only was she a knockout beauty, but she was outstandingly intelligent and quite the military enthusiast. She was pro at her job, and she did not flaunt it. She was humble—not some egotistical jackass that were normally in the military field. Who wouldn't want her? Well, there were the male-chauvinistic character types that were highly intimidated by such a skilled, brilliant woman in what was supposed to be a "man's only" career. Now that he thought about it, he had never really seen a man pursue her (and thank Heavens for that; McCrane wasn't sure if he could even handle that). Perhaps it was her job's demanding schedule that kept her from having a decent love life, or perhaps she wasn't into the dating scene as of now, or perhaps there were some men that wanted a passive housewife to court and date and not someone like her.

She was a catch, and McCrane wanted to snatch her up; claim her as his and his alone.

There he goes again—being selfish.

But, strangely enough, he welcomes it to a certain extent, of course. He felt mixed; the dreams of her that come to him late at night revved his engine and soothed his body, but when he wakes up, he felt dirty and wrong. He wondered if any of the others have noticed. Surely they have, or at least the ones that pay any attention have. Not much has been going on—things have been relatively silent. So quite that the Brave Police had brought in things to entertain themselves when they weren't on their rounds. Drill Boy has his game of . . . Angry Birds, was it? Ever since he found that game, he's been at the computer playing it for most of the day. Power Joe has a secret stash of pornographic magazines that he would occasionally share with GunMax when he wasn't on his bike, Deckerd would go with Yuuta to search for crime, Shadowmaru would either sit at the office or follow Deckerd's example. Duke would do either paperwork or call his dear Regina (Dumpson would do the same, but he would have flirty calls with Ayako). And for McCrane? He would sit at his desk and pretend to do paperwork as he daydreamed.

They were becoming a daily thing. Most were innocent: her sitting on his shoulder as they spoke softly to each other like gentle lovers would do. Or he would take her out to eat and she would sit outside so that they could be near each other. Or a trip to the beach where they both enjoyed the sea and the sand. However, there were the not so innocent ones—there were those laced and drenched in sexuality: the desire to watch her slowly remove her clothing and speak to him in a low lover's tone. He would touch her, and run his digits across her lithe body as his tongue caressed her. He gripped his desk, and frowned sternly.

"Are you alright?"

McCrane snapped his helm up, and noticed Duke staring at him with concern.

"Are you alright?" he asked again.

McCrane glanced around, noticing that he was gaining the attention of the others in the room. "Fine," he quickly answered, pulling his hand from the corner of his desk. "I'm just fine, Duke."

The Englishmech stared for a moment, not sure if he wanted to believe him or not. "Okay," he said reluctantly.

McCrane glanced over the others, and then glanced down to finish his paperwork. He shuffled through them, half-reading them. Shadowmaru, in the form of his wolf alternate mode, glanced up at the hydraulic crane. He stared unblinkingly at McCrane, and deeply read the other mech's body language. Something was bothering him.

"Are you sure?" the ninja robot called.

McCrane stared at his hands for a moment before he stood up from his chair. "Yes, I am fine," he said again, this time a little more firmly. "I'm leaving now."

Deckerd looked abashed. "But you haven't finished your paperwork," he called meekly.

McCrane either ignored or simply did not hear his friend as he left the Decker Room. Silence hung think in the room like pea soup in a porcelain bowl.

"What was that about?" Power Joe called, thumbing over his shoulder.

"Ah, who knows," GunMax called, gripping his can of gasoline and tipped it into his mouth. "He's been actin' weird all day."

Yuuta pursed his lips, and cocked his head to the side. "I wonder what's bothering him," he said softly.

"We should leave him alone."

The group turned to the Englander staring directly at them in return. "Perhaps we should allow him some time alone for himself," Duke stated. "Then, maybe, he will be able to calm the storm in his mind."

Yuuta, still worried about his dear friend, could only agree.

Splash!

Tossing rocks into the ocean was juvenile compared to some other thing that he could have been doing. Like, perhaps, talking to Seia.

Splash!

But it seemed to calm his nervous and racing AI unit. The thick blue waters rippled in circles and it slowly dissipated as the rock McCrane threw sunk to the bottom of the ocean. He grabbed another one between his thick digits, and threw it towards the ocean. He grunted, pressing his back against a wall behind him, tipping his palm downward, and dropped his rocks back onto the ground.

He felt ridiculous.

McCrane felt like a stupid little boy with a crush on the prettiest girl on the block. He wanted to say something—anything—but what could he say? He stood up, and his engine let out a deep sigh.

"Okay."

He turned to walk towards the military base where Seia was stationed at, and then paused in his place. His fingers drummed on his outer thigh, a low humming erupted from his throat and chest, and he twitched in place.

"No, I can't."

Now he was talking to himself?

He pressed his palm to his nose, and groaned. He was being so stupid. He couldn't just walk to the army base, and demand to see her. Then again, he could always try. Then what? Be told that she was busy and to leave? It was hopeless. He was hopeless. McCrane tapped his foot in the sand, and hummed loudly in anger.

"Now what?"

Isn't it obvious: why doesn't he just take a drive to calm down?

And he did.

Seia was happy to have a break from work.

She sat at an outside table, drinking a warm cup of coffee, which radiated with heat and warmed her palms. The woman sighed deeply, and took a slow, long drink from her beverage. It was wonderful not to work. Seia just sat there, reclining in the metal chair with her legs crossed and her free arm resting on her lap. Cars and people went by her, and she faintly listened to the sounds that engulfed her. Seia then stood up, taking her portable coffee mug with her, and just started to walk. Where? Nowhere, really. She just started to walk.

Seia drank idly from her warm cup of coffee, walking slowly down the street. She watched the people walk past her, and drank in the scenery. Her eyes strayed onto the street, and noticed someone that she hadn't seen in so long: McCrane. He was sitting off the street, and resting against a building wall; people would occasionally wave at him, and he would wave in return. She smiled, not even realizing that she was moving faster to catch his attention.

"McCrane!"

He turned, noticing her immediately, and smiled widely. "Seia-san," he called, moving in towards her. "It's been so long. How are you?"

"Fine," Seia said, reaching in, and placed a hand to his leg. "How are you?"

"Fine," he responded, still smiling. "It's good to . . . good to see you."

Seia let out a small chuckle, and smiled. "It's good to see you as well, McCrane," she stated.

He shuddered mildly at her touch, and leaned in closer to her. Her presence was intoxicating and so very alluring.

"What are you doing? Patrolling?"

His optics flickered, and he shook his head. "No," he answered. "I decided to take a . . . break; to get my mind off of things."

Heh, how ironic. He had left to forget and the thing he was trying to get his mind off of was right before him. Seia, on the other hand, gave a light chuckle.

"Me too," she said, taking her final drink before tossing her paper coffee cup into the nearest trash. "Had to get away."

"Yes . . ."

A pause.

"Would you like to go for a drive?"

"I would love that."

He might as well tell her. She was right there. Seia sat perfectly still on the grassy knoll, and stared out towards the sea. McCrane fiddled with his linked fingers as he, too, stared off into the distance. How was he going to tell her? "Oh, hey, Seia-san, I have desires that just won't go away, and they're about you, so you wanna go out?" Pfft. Like she would ever agree to that.

"McCrane?"

He turned to stare at her. "Yes, Seia-san?" the robot called.

She looked him up and down, and then softly frowned. "Something's bothering you," she said simply.

If McCrane could widen his optics, he would have. Though, he couldn't, so he made do with just staring at her. "W-whatever do you mean?" he sputtered out.

"Don't lie," Seia stated, waving a finger in the air. "Something's on your mind. What is it? You can tell me."

He could feel his processor racing from delirium. Should he tell her? He had to tell her. Yes. He had to. Just might as well; she was asking. McCrane glanced away from her, hands gripping each other tightly, and his engine was rumbling.

"Well, there is something on my mind."

"Okay."

"It's something I want . . ."

She stared at him for a moment, and then laughed softly. "There's nothing wrong with wanting something, McCrane," Seia said with a light chuckle. "I thought we went through this."

He stared hard at her, and he felt his body tremble with anxiety. "Even if that something is a someone," he muttered, his teeth nipping at the tip of his metal-formed tongue.

She looked up at him, her eyes wide, and her rose-red lips parted slightly. His gaze didn't tear from hers, and she quickly got the hint. Her cheeks flushed, and she felt like a teenager in high school that finally got her crush's attention. She reached up, tucking a stray lock of chocolate brown hair behind her ear.

"W-well, that—"

He reached down, his hand brushing against the side of her face in a gentle fashion. She shuttered at the touch, closing her eyes blissfully as her slender hand reached up to cup his jointed finger.

"You said it yourself that there's nothing wrong with wanting something," he said huskily.

She opened her eyes to stare up at him.

"The problem is that does the thing I want the most want me in return?"

She looked, now clutching his digit as it caressed her cheek. Seia smiled up at him, and chuckled mildly.

"Maybe she does."

That was all he needed.

His hand reached over, coming over to hover and his fingers came to rest on her shoulder. His other hand came across, cupping her body gently as he lowered her to the ground, and he shifted to loom over her. His fingers pressed against her shoulders, and his face hovered just above hers. They were so close that her breath fogged his chin and lips. He stared at her for a long moment before he leaned in to claim her small lips as his own.

Seia was right: being greedy was not always such a bad thing.