#plotty stuff?

He did have a few regrets, but there wasn’t much that he could do about them right now. But at the very least, he had managed to keep his promise and put his own core – his own, rapidly fading core – to rest about the incident that had been bothering him since he had been five.

Vile was a jerk, there was no question about it. He’d gotten the jump on him, and he’d had to spend a few minutes listening to the Maverick – there was no other word for it, Vile wasn’t just insane, he was Maverick – gloat about defeating “Lieutenant Commander Zero Riley”.

But no, this hadn’t been about Zero at all; this was all about Xavier.

He’d gotten punched when he’d suggested it, but the fact he’d angered Vile made it worthwhile: Vile was jealous.

Jealous over Sigma’s obssession with Xavier – he had a hunch the ex-Hunter Commander knew exactly who Xav was somehow – and jealous that the little blue bioroid was a better fighter than him.

He hadn’t seen Vile’s expression when Xav had beaten him, but his shout had suggested that he’d been caught completely off-guard by the bioroid’s viciousness and raw strength.

Zero couldn’t even see the bioroid’s tear-stained face anymore, but he forced his mouth – was that coolant he tasted? – into a smile for the other’s reassurance, closing his eyes for what he was sure was the final time.