Maverick

Nothing Important

Zero's flat expression detailed everything.

"You're joking." Zero said, sounding as amused as he looked. Iris's expressionless face spoke for her.

"We have no idea how, but Sigma is back. Again."

Zero looked at Iris then at the computer that was showing a more detailed report.

"I can't believe that this is possible," Zero said, mostly to himself, "X and I destroyed every piece of DNA in that loon's body so no one could build him again. Who the hell would..."

Iris uncomfortably shifted her weight.

"Have you tried contacting X yet?" Iris asked softly. Zero looked at Iris.

"If I knew how to contact him, we likely wouldn't be having this discussion right now." he told her rather darkly.

Iris looked down, unsure of what else to do. She started to say something but the ground started to shake as the sound of a maniacal laugh echoed through the building. Thinking quickly, Zero took Iris by the wrist.

"We need to get out of here." he told her roughly. "And when I find X, he'd better be doing something important."

. . .

Her alarm clock had been ringing for a good ten minutes before Sephira actually bothered to look at it. When she did, she jumped out of her bed quicker than lightning.

"Shit! Dr Weil's going to kill me if I'm late!"

In a mad dash frenzy, Sephira looked around her small, mildly untidy home for various articles of clothing that were strewn here and there on the floor. When X stirred from the couch, he was greeted with a topless Sephira as she looked around on the floor for a shirt. Apparently, she was in such a rush that she had forgotten that she had invited him over, and she only realized he was there when she happened to look over at him. She let out a startled scream as she threw a random sock at him in self defense.

"Stop looking at me and find a shirt, I'm late!"

Without being told twice, X started to look for a shirt behind the couch and around the area without looking at Sephira's shirtless body again. Sephira rushed to another room allowing X to look around the living room better.

"You know," he shouted to her, "You have some audacity invited a stranger over without realizing you needed to go to work the next morning."

"You have some audacity to..." Sephira started to say as she walked back out with a shirt on only to find that X had already averted his gaze to her shoes, expecting her to be topless. She had to admit it- Sephira was impressed, and she recoiled a little with a smirk.

"Here, catch." Sephira said before tossing something X's way. "It's a spare key for you."

"You really trust me with this?" X asked her, feeling a various array of emotions that he couldn't quite pin down.

"Is your model number 53X?"

"No..."

"Then congratulations, you're now a Latch Key 'Ploid."

X only gave Sephira an even more confused look.

"Don't burn my parents' house down." Sephira told him before heading out the door. X felt more confused than ever.

After a few moments of being absolutely astonished, X washed up in the bathroom and walked around the little house a bit since he wasn't given a tour the night before. Finding a washer and dryer in the kitchen, X decided it would be a nice idea to clean up the house a little. It was the least he could do, really, since she let him spend the night. He never went into her bedroom though although the door was slightly cracked open from her morning frenzy- but X knew how rude that would have been for a guest to do so he went outside instead.

The fenced off backyard was were he found a garden patch. Curious, X checked the garage for gardening tools and started to work on the abandoned area of dirt. Gee, if Zero would see was X was doing now...

. . .

"You must have known I was coming Zero." Sigma smirked. "Now that I'm here, I think I want some cake."

"Oh look, you've finally gotten a sense of humor." Zero retorted as he drew his saber. Sigma growled.

"I didn't come to fight you. Where is X?"

"Like hell if I know, it's your fault he left!"

"My... fault...?" Sigma asked, almost sounding genuinely surprised. "Does X not have free will? Is he not the 'father' of us Reploids, known for said free will? How could X's free will be my own fault when he was the one that built me?"

Zero said nothing, but the fury on his face answered well enough.

"Now," Sigma said carelessly, "Get out of the way, or I'll make sure you die this time."

Without a second guess, Zero attacked.