Chapter Text
Nothing lasts forever.
Ashes swirled around X’s feet as he stared at the remains of a massive redwood tree. He ran a gloved hand over the scorched bark, and pieces fell away at his touch, staining his fingers black.
One of the oldest living forests on earth and all it took was one firefight to destroy the whole thing. He pressed his lips together in thought. Older than me, even.
His appearance, he knew, was ageless. He gave no outward indication of the generations he had witnessed or the trials he had endured. The reflection that stared back at him these days was the reflection of the wide-eyed rookie he had been, back when Sigma headed the Hunters and life seemed a lot simpler.
Artificial life forms were designed to last and outlast. Yet he had been unparalleled in that regard, always somehow spared the lethal shot that would retire him for good, as if some higher power insisted that he witness the events unfold that he had helped bring to pass.
Compared to the length of his vision, the world around him seemed to burn out and fade away so quickly.
He jolted suddenly as he was enveloped from behind, slender arms winding around his middle in a loose hug. Assassin, he thought dryly, even as warmth blossomed in his chest.
The maverick hunter Axl rested his chin on X’s shoulder and gave his cheek a nudge with his nose. “Everyone else has gone back to base already,” he said. “You okay?”
X smiled faintly. “I’ll live. Just … feeling a little discouraged, I guess.”
He felt Axl’s soft exhalation of surprise along his throat. “Really? But we’ve been after Omicron and his buddies for months now. Today’s gotta count for something.”
“Maybe, but it’s been a long time since I believed we were making real progress,” X said. “Every time we knock a maverick head off, it feels like two more pop up in its place.”
“But it’s not always gonna be this way, right?” Axl said. “We just have to hold ‘em off until Weil and those guys can figure out a way to stop the virus.”
X’s jaw tightened. “I’ve heard that line before,” he replied, darkly. “You wouldn’t believe how many bright people have claimed to have found the solution, only to be proven spectacularly wrong later.”
“But didn’t Weil say something the other day about a breakthrough?” Axl insisted. “Plus, I mean, none of those other scientists had a chance to study Zero’s body, did they?”
X kept silent, shutting his mind against the memory of his former partner before the despair could seep to the surface.
Axl seemed to sense this, and he pressed harder. “C’mon, X, do you honestly think that Zero would put himself out of action for so long unless he really thought something good would come out of it?”
X twisted around in Axl’s grip to face him properly. “I want to believe that, trust me,” he exclaimed. “Axl – peace is all I’ve ever wanted … but I need it to be genuine, to be forever. Otherwise, what’s the point? Going from one false hope to another – how is that any way to live?”
X’s chest rose and fell with his agitation. Axl just stared at him thoughtfully, his fingertips drawing random patterns over X’s spine. His face, eternally youthful, glowed in the reddened sunlight.
X felt his breathing shift gears, distracted as he was by the familiar signals Axl was emitting. “Don’t you think —”
Axl silenced him with a long, luscious kiss. The forest around them grew hushed except for the lonely sound of the breeze threading through blackened branches.
When they parted, gasping, Axl winked at him and murmured, “Let’s worry about it later, all right? I think we should get out of here …”
X chuckled, his face turning crimson, and held on to his partner as Axl activated his teleporter.