A/N: Don't forget to look to the description below for fic notes.


Living Shadows


"Wow, look at that rain..." CB said softly.  She let the curtain drop as she turned around, looking at the others in the livingroom behind her.  "Was it even supposed to rain today?"

"I don't think so," Roll replied.  She came up beside her and brushed aside the curtain, looking outside.  The little infant Deiji in her arms cringed back at a peal of thunder, and let out a wail.  Roll looked down and gently cradled him, rocking him back and forth.  "Shh, it's alright, it won't hurt you..."  Her eyes shifted to CB.  "Either way, it's raining now though..."

"Yeah, pouring cats and dogs at that," CB said with a soft sigh.  She looked back outside again, as one hand rested absently on the swell of her midsection.  She cringed reflexively at a close roar of thunder, then turned back and walked for the couch.

"Looks like it's gonna be going on for a few hours, at least."  Rock shifted in the armchair, leaning with his elbows on one arm, his legs thrown over the other.  He leaned back to glance at the window, and sighed softly.  "I guess that'd effectively kill any outside plans anyone had."

"Luckily, we rarely have any," CB said with a slight smirk.  She and Rock both looked over as Deiji let out a fresh cry, and both of them sat up slightly.

"I have it under control," Roll said with a soft smile.  She turned and started walking for the kitchen.  "I think he's just hungry, and a little scared from the storm..."

"Alright," CB said softly.  She glanced at the hallway at the sound of footsteps, then smiled when she saw who walked in.  "Hey love~"

"Hey there, basket belly~"  Crmsn giggled slightly and smiled, stopping beside the couch and bending over, giving her a soft kiss.  He smiled at her.  "How're you feeling?"

"I'm fine."  CB smiled slightly, her hands resting on her stomach.  After a moment she sighed, looking over towards the window.  "I'm worried, though.  My women's intuition says something's wrong."

Roll, passing by her to sit elsewhere on the couch, nodded slightly.  She carefully took a seat, being careful not to jostle the bottle she was holding in Deiji's mouth.  "I know what you mean.  It's all red alert in my head..."

"Maybe it's because the weatherman reported sunshine today," remarked a nearby voice.  Janken looked up from where he'd been sitting on the floor, a small group of the Mini-Robots around him.  His hand absently rested on Elec, who was sitting on his knee.  "Weathermen are always wrong anyway."

"I don't think that's it, though," CB said softly.  She and Roll shared a look, before nearly everyone in the group jumped at a sudden noise from the door, like a sandbag crashing against it.  Deiji pulled away from the bottle with a few droplets splashed, and let out another cry.

"What the hell was that??" Crmsn exclaimed.  He glanced at his wife, who reached up and patted his thigh slightly as he walked for the door.  He placed a hand on the knob, pausing for a moment before he opened it...and had to immediately jump back when something crashed inside with a wet splash, landing heavily on the floor.  Roll, and the others, gasped.

"Oh my god, it's a person!"

Crmsn knelt down, looking at the dark lump on the floor.  Indeed it was a person, tangled up in a long wet coat, the hood of the shirt underneath completely obscuring his head.  When he caught movement out of the corner of his eye, Crmsn glanced over at the couch, holding out a hand.

"No, stay put love.  Rock and I can handle this."  He knelt down and scooped up one side of him, as Rock moved over and took the other.  Together they lifted the stranger and took him across the room, where they situated him in the armchair Rock had previously been in.

"He's a mess," Roll softly commented.  She looked at the stranger softly, then glanced down with a soft, hushing sound to calm the crying Deiji.  CB watched them for a moment, then sat forward slightly and looked at the soaked figure.

"He's...so pale," she remarked, looking at what she could see of the man's face in the hood.  "I wonder if he's okay?"

"I wonder who he is," Rock said.  "He'd have to be very lost to crash against our door."

Crmsn sighed softly and nodded.  "Yeah.."  Leaning over slightly, he gently grabbed the collar of the trenchcoat the person was wearing.  "Let's get some of this off him..."  He started to move for the hood, but his hand stopped in midair when the stranger started to stir.

"Looks like he's waking up."  Janken cupped Elec in his hands and laid him on the floor, rising and walking over.  In the chair, the soaked man shifted slightly before he sat up a little and seemed to open his eyes, though they couldn't be seen due to the hood draped wetly over half his face.  Nevertheless, he glanced around slightly.

"...Wh-where am I?..."

CB shivered slightly, her body stiffening.  Glancing around with a blink, she looked at the mysterious person.  '...Was that...because of him?..'  She blinked twice, then slimmed her eyes slightly, as her hand subconsciously touched the tag under her shirt.

"You're a few miles west of the city," Crmsn stated.  "How did you get out here?..."

"Oh, I was heading for the forest to check something, when I guess the storm caught me off-guard..."  The guy chuckled a little and smiled in a slightly too nice way.  "I'm sorry to just...come in like this."

"Any refuge in a storm," Roll said softly.  "Are you hurt?"  The person glanced himself over, then shook his head.

"No, I don't think so."

CB flicked her eyes up, staring at Crmsn until he turned his head, and their eyes met.  They shared a similar look before they watched the stranger again.

"So what's your name?" Crmsn asked.  He leaned on the chair slightly, watching the man carefully when his head turned up towards him, with that smile again.

"Oh, my friends call me Metal..."  He chuckled a little.  "They've been doing it so long that it's just...stuck."

"Ah."

Metal placed his hands on the arms of the chair, pushing himself up to a half-standing position.  "Look, I don't want to...trouble you guys anymore.  I'll just go."  He started to stand, but gave a short little noise when he wavered on his feet and crashed back into the chair.  One blue-gloved hand went to his hood, keeping it down over his face, as he grunted.

"You're not going anywhere."  Roll looked at him, then glanced at Crmsn.  "Is it alright if he stays here until he's better?  The rain will only make it worse..."

"...Of course it is."  CB stood up carefully, walking towards Crmsn as she kept her eyes on Metal, dripping in the chair.  "I want to...keep an eye on him and make sure he's..alright."  She slid an arm around her husband's waist, looking at him.  "Right?"

"You always know best."  They kept their eyes locked for a moment, before he turned and looked at the chair.  "Rock will show you to the guest room, Metal."

"Good."  Metal smiled slightly, turning.  "Thank you."  He reached out for Rock's hand held to him, their palms meeting with a wet squelch.  Rock blinked, stiffening slightly when a shiver passed through him at the touch, though he shook it off and pulled him from the chair.  Roll took a step off as the two of them left the room.

"I'm going to see if I can get Deiji to sleep," she said softly.  She smiled at Crmsn before she headed down the hallway and disappeared upstairs.

Left behind, CB and Crmsn sighed slightly and looked at each other.

"So I take it you felt it too," Crmsn remarked in a low voice.  CB nodded, sighing softly.

"Dark Chip taint."

"So that's what that was," Crmsn said, placing his hand on his chin in thought as he stared off, downwards.  "I could feel darkness, but it had a...difference to it that I couldn't quite place..."  He glanced at his love.  "Now that you said it, I recognize it as a Dark Chip...  I remember it from....."  He trailed off slightly, looking off uncomfortably.

"When you fused with Bass a couple weeks ago."  CB gave him a soft look, then smiled slightly and grabbed his hand, squeezing it, getting one in return.  She sighed softly and glanced off, then blinked and turned her head.  "Speaking of..."

"Yes, I feel it too," replied a voice from an unseen figure in a corner of the livingroom.  "And I'm not sure I approve of...it...being in this house again."  Bass materialized from nothing, walking towards them, stopping behind them and staring past.

"Neither do I."  CB shook her head, giving Crmsn's hand another squeeze.  "But what I said was true.  I wanna keep my eye on him.  If he does have something to do with Dark Chips, I wanna know how we can get rid of it..."

"Just be careful."  Bass' eyes lowered to them, as Crmsn nodded and released his love's hand, to wrap his arm around her.

"Yeah, we have one baby to take care of, and another on the way.  We gotta tread real lightly here..."

"I know," CB sighed.  She turned her head and smiled lightly.  "I'll be careful."  She smiled after a soft kiss from Crmsn, and she took his hand and started off down the hall, her expression becoming more serious.  "C'mon, I think we should see if we can find out more about our...new friend..."  Nodding, Crmsn walked off after her, down the hallway.  Bass sighed softly and vanished for parts unknown, shaking his head to himself.

Over at the kitchen table, Azureal took a sip of his coffee, and turned another page in his newspaper.

---

Metal walked away from the window, the blinds dropping back into place to obscure the slightly overcast day outside.  Sighing lightly, he stopped and glanced down, softly resting his fingertips on a blue design on his chest, half-obscured by his trenchcoat.  He closed his eyes partway, thinking back over the past few days, spent around the various members of the house, absorbing information and habits, all for....

At the sound of nearing footsteps he snapped his head up, then hastily buttoned the coat closed and whipped up his hood just as the door opened.

"Hi," Roll greeted.  She opened the door and smiled at him, although something recoiled inside at the shadowed stare of the hooded man.  She walked inside by a few steps.  "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, much," Metal replied with a light smile, and a dip of his head.  "In fact, I think today is the day I should depart.  I've...imposed on all of you..too much already..."

"Are you sure you're healthy enough?"

"Yes, I'm sure."  Metal gave her a sacharine smile as he walked towards the door.  "It's my time to go."

Roll stepped to one side, taking a little larger of a step than she might've normally, watching him walk by.  Sighing softly, she leaned forward a little.  "CB and Crmsn are in the kitchen, if you want to say goodbye to them."

Metal stopped, staring ahead for a few moments before he turned to Roll and dipped his head slightly.  "Thank you."  With that, he walked on.

CB smiled lightly, watching the infant Deiji in her arms as she held the bottle steady for him.  Further in the kitchen, Crmsn was removing boxes of ice cream from the freezer; at the table, Rock was holding a book open on the table with one hand, his head down towards it although his eyes were watching Deiji.  All three of them looked up as Metal entered the room, and CB's eyes narrowed for a moment before they looked back down at the baby.

"I was just telling Roll that I've decided to leave."  He spread his hands slightly, and gave that same, dripping smile.  "I've come in here to bid you all a goodbye, and to...thank you for allowing me to recover here."

"No problem," CB said softly.  She glanced up and smiled.  "...Take care."

"You too," Metal returned.  He placed a hand on Rock's shoulder, looking down at him.  Looking up, Rock blinked, wondering if he was imagining the smirk on Metal's face.  "All of you."  Removing his hand, he walked out of sight of the kitchen and headed for the front door.  A step away however he paused and turned, looking over at the far corner of the livingroom.  Narrowing his eyes, he turned and walked out.

Crmsn sighed softly, shaking his head as he scooped ice cream into a bowl.  "Well, that's one weight off my shoulders..."

"He looked right at me."

All three again looked up, this time as Bass walked away from the corner, in full sight.

"What do you mean?" Rock asked, blinking.

"He stopped at the door, turned, and looked directly at me."  Bass folded his arms, his own eyes slimming slightly as he looked over the assembled.  "He knew I was there, and he stared directly into my eyes."

"Well with any luck," CB said softly, removing the empty bottle and standing up, both arms cradling Deiji, "we'll never have to see him again."

"Somehow I don't think that's true," Crmsn sighed, as he unloaded chocolate sauce onto his sundae.  CB sighed deeply, and walked away.

"Well, I'm going to go put Deiji down for a nap."

"Call us if you need us," Rock said, looking down at his book.  When the lines blurred together momentarily he blinked twice and shook his head.  Sighing softly, he shut the book and stood up.  "Suddenly I feel...very tired.  I'm going to go take a nap too.."  He scooped up the book and waved, heading off for his room.

Left behind in the kitchen, Crmsn and Bass passed a silent glance between themselves.  Putting away the icecream and picking up the bowl, Crmsn held it out towards Bass.

"Sundae?"

"....No thank you."

"Suit yourself."  Crmsn walked over to the table and sat down to eat; by the time he was down, the other figure had vanished again.

---

"Well, that was a valuable experience."  A single person stood atop a tall building that overlooked a city, and a somewhat wider building a few miles away.  He smirked, folding his arms as his deep violet trenchcoat rippled out behind him, caught in the wind.

"Once this..Regal character is done with them, I might just have to take my turn."  His eyes traveled up, looking at the business building in front of them.  "That is, if I don't take it into my hands first.  I do so hate waiting..."  Chuckling darkly he turned about, looking off towards the direction of CB and Crmsn's home, although the house itself couldn't be seen from where he was.  Folding his arms obscured the striking blue Hikari symbol emblazoned on his hoodie.

"Either way," Metal said with a dark chuckle, the dark blue hair spikes at the back of his neck springing in the wind as well, "I know Saito-kun and I can have a lot of fun~"  He smirked, before he threw back his head and let out an echoing, shadow-stirring laugh that was soon drowned out by a crash of thunder in the distance.

---

CB sighed softly, lightly leaning into Crmsn as she stared out the window.  "It's raining again..."

"I know, sucks doesn't it?" Crmsn grumped.  He and CB turned sharply when their names were called, and they saw Roll standing in the mouth of the hallway with a panicked expression.

"Guys, hurry!  Rock collapsed!!"  She turned and started running back down the hallway, followed after by Crmsn.  CB took a few steps then stopped and turned, staring out the window.  Her eyes narrowed before she ran off the way the others had gone.

~FIN~