Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex Fan Fiction ❯ White Noise ❯ Chapter 1

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Lemon warning! If you are under 17 - come back when you are over 17! Batou/Motoko: erotica

I rarely write anything this explicit! This is for _my_ Batou... and all the other cyborg shippers out there! Enjoy! ~Una~

Anime/Manga: Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Cyberpunk / Drama / Hentai / Romance / Sci-fi | Type: One Shot | Uploaded On: 06.08.2006 | Pages: 16 | Words: 19.1K | Visits: 4.0K | Status: Completed

Disclaimer: This is my fic' based upon Ghost in the Shell, specifically the Stand Alone Complex versions. I don't own the GitS franchise, it is all based on the Manga by Masamune Shirow, and his subsequent collaborations for movies and tv series. I am just borrowing it for fun and entertainment. And in this case a bit of erotica.

White Noise

~you must remember this, a kiss is still a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh,
the world will always welcome lovers as time goes by~

She was watching Casablanca. It struck him as odd for some reason.

Batou steered his car through traffic, unthinking, mind numbed by worry and impotent anger. He stole a glance at the woman in the seat beside him, and punched the accelerator. The speedometer red lined, Batou drove on.

Motoko sat there huddled in a blanket, shivering from seizures triggered in her e-brain. Her eyes were closed tight. Her face held a frozen, pained expression.

She was watching Casablanca, on the big flat panel screen in her living room. She was wearing a light blue t-shirt and plaid boxer shorts. She had answered the door barefoot, a pair of fuzzy slippers abandoned beside the couch.

He held that image in his mind's eye. That was what Motoko had been doing when he had rung her doorbell at eleven-thirty that night. She had clearly been surprised to see him. He had not called her over the net to tell her he was on his way. They had begun to suspect their net had been hacked. He had taken no chances. And yet, here they were, racing across town at twelve-forty-five, and something was terribly wrong with the Major.

Batou suspected from the look on her face that the Major was fighting for control of her e-brain and her body. Though fighting what, or who, he couldn't say. He had all but forgotten the case they had been discussing in the blind panic that had followed her sudden collapse. He had risked using the net then, calling Ichikawa and the Chief. They in turn scrambled the rest of the team.

Pulling into the Section 9 parking area, he was met by Togusa and Saito, both of whom backed off as he came around to the passenger side of the car. He lifted Motoko out of the vehicle as if she was made of glass, ever so carefully. The other two men moved ahead of him, wordlessly opening doors and holding the elevator.

Batou spoke quietly to the Major the entire time. “It's going to be okay Major, we're at Section 9 now… Motoko, can you hear me?”

She hardly moved, tucking her head against his shoulder. She whimpered.

No one but the big man heard it, but that sound of fear and pain sent a chill down his titanium spine. The Major never made noises like that. `She's really in trouble,' he thought, `and I can't do a damn thing about it, I don't even know what's happened to her.' It occurred to him that this time he might actually lose her. Even given all the times he had felt the need to run to her rescue, just in case, this time was different. Without being able to pinpoint what made him think so, Batou knew that this could be the end.

The first thing Ichikawa asked him when he eased Motoko down onto the table in the med' ward was if he had attempted to dive into her e-brain.

“…No,” Batou pulled himself out of his private thoughts, “Should I?”

“No!” Ichikawa, Bouma and Togusa all shouted.

Batou raised an eyebrow, “You guys know something I don't?”

Bouma was hooking wires to the Major's e-brain ports on the back of her head. He didn't even look up. He didn't want to see the look on Batou's face when he told him, “We just isolated the virus they're using to hack the multinationals. We were thinking the worm that popped up in that Tachikoma is a variant. Now it looks like we've been probed, and they found a back door…”

“We have to isolate her.” Ichikawa said, “I'm going to force her into autistic mode and try to get her body in stasis. That should cut down on the risk of further damage…”

“Further damage?” Batou growled, never leaving her side.

Ichikawa sighed; he realized that he should have seen this coming. “Batou, we have no way of knowing what's going on inside her e-brain; no safe way anyhow. We need to shut her down as much as possible until we can purge the virus and bring the Major's e-brain back online. Hopefully we can get that rogue program out before it wipes out her Ghost.”

Batou resisted the urge to tear into his coworkers. Ichikawa was right, of course. That still didn't make this any easier. He looked down at Motoko there on the gurney, strapped in and wired up, looking fragile as he had ever seen her. The image of a rose bud in the snow suddenly flashed across his awareness from God knew where. He took her hand in his, realizing how delicate her fingers were compared to his own.

When Bouma had finished hooking up equipment, he left the room. Ichikawa patted Batou's shoulder and nodded toward the door.

When he released her hand, Motoko's fingers closed around his, refusing to let him go. He looked down at her, amazed.

“Isn't she supposed to be knocked out?” He asked.

Ichikawa nodded, “More than just knocked out, it's an induced coma.”

“Batou…?” Motoko whispered.

He heard his name as if from a great distance, and looked at her again, studying her expression. Batou leaned close to her and whispered, “Motoko, I'm here.”

Again she called him, but even more quietly, “Batou…”

“Yes, Major.” He told her, “I'm here. I need to talk to Ichikawa, and we're going to help you.”

Her fingers went limp, though he couldn't say if she had willingly released his hand or if the coma had finally cut her off from him. Batou felt as if a fist had tightened around his heart. Then the welcome familiarity of rage began to well up in his soul: someone had hurt the Major, and that someone would pay dearly for it.

By the time he had crossed the room to join Ichikawa in the doorway to the waiting room lounge; Batou was almost shaking with anger. It felt good, he could deal with anger. He knew how to use anger. Helplessness was an unfamiliar and terrifying land that he had no way to navigate. Batou had been a man of action all his life, whatever else he may be, that had never changed. But this situation had capitalized on the flaw in that mindset. With no target for his anger, he found it difficult not to snap at his friends. He felt himself on the brink of losing control. Panic fluttered at the edges of his consciousness. Maybe he could hack his own e-brain, but he didn't feel that motivated, panic seemed about right for the situation; panic and dread.

Ichikawa motioned to a chair, inviting him to sit. He did so grudgingly.

“Listen, Batou, I know you don't want to hear this…” Ichikawa stammered, he didn't really want to be the one to tell the big man the bad news.

“Just cut to the damn chase already!” Batou barked.

Ichikawa sighed, rubbing his bearded chin. At a glance from him the others cleared out of the room. “We don't know if we can pull her through this.” He said gravely, “If you have anything you need to tell her, you might not get another chance.”

Batou shot to his feet. “What the hell are you saying?”

“I'm saying she may not live through the night.” Ichikawa shouted back. “Alright. That's the bottom line. How the hell do you think I feel? I keep trying stuff and failing. Shit, the Tachikoma we had working on this thing got fried so bad we had to put it down for crying out loud.”

Batou slammed his fist into the wall, leaving a dent. He still said nothing, overloaded with grief and disbelief. All the adversaries they had fought together, and it was ending like this?

“Look, we'll keep trying.” Ichikawa told him, “But it doesn't look good.”

Batou slumped against the wall. “Who did this?”

“If I knew that, they'd be dead already.” Ichikawa told him flatly.

The big man nodded with a grunt. Yes, that was true, because Ichikawa would have told him, and he would have obliterated them. He still would, it was a question of what sort of revenge would it be after tonight: punishment or retribution? It didn't really matter. What mattered was whether or not the Major was right there beside him dishing it out, like she should be.

Ichikawa sat down, rubbing his eyes. He avoided looking directly at Batou when he told him, “If I was you, I would suck it up and finally tell her. You have nothing to lose.”

“Tell her what?”

Ichikawa looked up at him. “Don't give me that, not now. Even a blind man could see how you feel about her.”

Batou sat down again, hard. He felt as if the air had been knocked out of him. Nobody had ever confronted him with it like this before. He supposed they had never dared to risk pissing him off. At the moment they were past caring. The team had already been hard at work on the threat when the worm or Trojan horse, or whatever it was had found a back door into Motoko's e-brain; they were all already exhausted. Batou wondered if it was that blatantly obvious that he felt something for the Major. Truth was he did have feelings for her, but he had never had the guts to analyze them too closely. He was afraid of what he might find out about himself he supposed.

Ichikawa continued, “You might as well tell her how you feel, though I can't guarantee at this point that she'll hear you.”

Batou stared at Ichikawa for a few seconds. Then he asked, “What is it you think I need to tell the Major?”

The older man gave an exasperated sigh and heaved himself up out of his chair. “Batou, I dunno. It seems clear to me that you care about her. More than that, I think you're in love with her, and have been for a long time. You may have already missed any chance to do anything about it. Just don't make the mistake I did; don't let the woman you love die without telling her how you feel.”

With that, Ichikawa left the room to return to his lab and continue working on cracking and purging the worm that was trying to overwrite the Major's e-brain. He thought about the woman he had loved and lost, and hoped in some small way his advice to Batou would serve as penance for that mistake. He hoped his friend would take his advice and spare himself the constant hell of knowing that he had failed the one person dearest to him at the end. Ichikawa vowed to himself that he would fight to the bitter end to save the Major, for her sake, for Batou, for himself and in remembrance of his own lost love.

It was a very grim Ichikawa that Pazu passed in the hall. He found Batou staring numbly through the glass that separated the medical ward from the outer room. The big man's face was unreadable, though even working with him for years didn't make it easy to read a guy with cybernetic eyes. Batou turned those brushed metal implants on him and Pazu choked. For the first time since he had met Batou, he actually feared the man.

“You okay, boss?” Pazu asked, more timidly than he had intended.

“Huh, do I look okay?” Batou growled.

“Frankly, no,” The smaller man told him, “You look like crap.”

That at least got a chuckle out of him. Batou smiled thinly. “Well, what do you think I should look like, I feel like my guts have been kicked out.”

“In that case you look about right.” Pazu sat on the edge of a table, offered a cigarette, and put the pack away when Batou refused. “Hey, remember when I first came to Section 9?”

“Yeah, what of it?” Batou replied, not exactly in the mood to play twenty questions.

“When the Major recruited me I was kind of cocky, you know. I told her I never sleep with the same woman twice.”

“And…?” Batou wondered if this was going somewhere, and was afraid to guess where it might.

“Well, it's true, but not because I'm a huge player or anything…” Pazu confessed, “I just never wanted to fall in love and have to lose her. Truth is I think I'm a coward when it comes to that. I'm just not strong enough to share my life with somebody on that level. You know? Get used to them being there, and then have something happen?”

Batou sighed deeply. “Paz,' why are you telling me this?”

Pazu frowned, looking more like a weasel than usual. “I don't know, it's just… you don't strike me as a coward. I mean you are one of the gutsiest guys I know, so why?”

“Why what?” Batou restrained himself from shouting.

“Why didn't you ever say anything to her?” Pazu gestured toward where the Major lay in the room on the other side of the glass.

“Who says I didn't?” Batou countered.

Pazu had a chuckle at that. He stood up to leave. “I may not have the guts to fall in love, but I know it when I see it, pal. Besides, I figure if you had tried and she rebuffed you things would have gotten a whole lot more uncomfortable around here. My two cents worth is if you get the chance, go for it. She's one that's worth holding onto.” After a few minutes he said, “I've got to get back, you going to be alright?”

Batou simply nodded. Still leaning against the glass, staring at Motoko, he didn't feel like speaking any more. After Pazu left, he paced the room a few times, still trying to find an outlet for his anger.

Togusa hesitated to approach Batou when he was pacing like a caged animal, but really had little choice. Ichikawa had asked him to keep an eye on the big guy under the assumption that Batou was less likely to tear the lab apart if somebody was there with him. Togusa seriously doubted the veracity of that assumption, watching him pace and fume in the half-lit lounge.

“Uh, hey Batou…” Togusa began.

Batou stopped in mid stride, turning to scowl at Togusa, the dim lighting glinting off his metallic prosthetic eyes. “Don't.” he said.

“Don't what?” The ex-cop asked, coming a little closer.

“Don't fucking ask me if I'm okay.” Batou growled, sounding tired.

“Wouldn't dream of it.” Togusa assured him.

“Good.” Batou huffed, turning to look at Motoko again. Seeing no change, he resumed pacing. “Unless you're here to tell me good news, I suggest you leave.”

“Uh, sorry, no can do big guy.” Togusa grabbed a chair. Turned it around and sat straddling it, resting his arms across the back of it.

“I get it,” Batou sneered, “You're my baby sitter.”

Togusa didn't even try to hide it. “Yep, pretty much.”

Batou sighed, hung his head for a second, and then resumed pacing in front of the window.

“Look, until we get some kind of lead, I'm feeling kind of useless myself.” Togusa confessed. “Besides, Ichikawa thought maybe you needed some company right now.”

Batou's back was to him, so all Togusa saw was his massive silhouette, and his silver-blonde hair and pony tail. “Togusa…” Batou started, sighed then spoke again wearily, “I think I'd rather be alone right now.”

“I understand that,” the ex-cop replied, “but that may not be the best thing for you, you know?” He had learned back when he was a young policeman, keep a person in crisis talking - hostage taker or potential suicide alike - and things might just turn out okay…might.

“Thing is,” Batou said quietly, “I don't really care what the best thing is for me at the moment… I just,” He paused, sighed and leaned his forehead against the cool glass, “I just want her to be okay. I wish I could go back in time to right before this started…”

Difficult as it was to see Batou in this state; Togusa knew he had to keep him talking. “And do what?” he asked, “We still have no clue what we're up against.”

Batou turned to look at him finally, leaning back against the glass. “I don't know... Shit. I feel helpless. I am not used to that, usually I can do something, you know?”

The question was meant as rhetorical, but Togusa answered anyway. “Yeah, actually I do.”

Taken off guard, all Batou could say was “Huh?”

“In fact, it may surprise you to hear that I think I know exactly how you feel right about now.” Togusa got up from his seat, helped himself to a cup of coffee and continued, “I never told you about it because it was before I came to Section 9, besides I get enough razzing for being a `family man' around here. I didn't expect anyone to understand…”

His pause dragged out until Batou couldn't take the suspense anymore and asked, “What happened?”

Togusa took a deep breath, held it for a second, let it out and began to tell his tale. “You know how when I get panicky I say my family flashes before my eyes?”

Batou simply nodded.

Togusa continued, “It's because I nearly lost them once. When my wife was pregnant with our daughter, she had to be rushed to the hospital. Both she and the baby nearly died, and all I could do was watch. I almost lost the most precious people in my life, and there was not a damn thing I could do about it. I feel so guilty now, but at the time I remember thinking, `God, please take the baby if you have to kill somebody, just leave my wife'… I'd like to say I could not imagine my life without her, but the truth is that I could. I was miserable even thinking about it.”

Batou considered this in silence for a while. Then nodded, considering Togusa in a new light. “You're very fortunate that you never had to find out what that's really like.”

Togusa set his empty coffee cup on the table just within arm's reach. “Look,” he said, “I know you lost her once, but that time you knew she was out there somewhere. This time she can't just disappear into the net; something from the net did this to her…”

“Yeah, and this time I might lose her entirely. I know.” Batou pushed off from the glass window, and took a step toward the door into the clean room. “Togusa,” he said over his shoulder, “thanks.”

Togusa got up from his seat, watched Batou enter the room and approach Motoko's gurney as if he was walking on eggshells. “Good luck, big guy.” He said quietly, and left the lounge to return to Ichikawa's Diving Chamber to see if he could be of any use there.

Standing alone beside the hospital bed, Batou forced himself to take a good hard look at the Major. Was it his imagination that she looked paler than usual? She had never seemed fragile to him before. Small, maybe but not fragile, and in truth she was no smaller than Togusa or Saito or Pazu. She was way tougher physically than any of those guys, an armored cyborg, just like him.

Batou smiled, acknowledging to himself that the problem wasn't that Motoko was small. The issue he had always had with her being female was not due to her size or any actual weakness. The issue he had with it was that it made her a target, because other people perceived the female form as weaker. Many of their enemies had made that mistake to their peril. No, the issue was that he himself was rather over sized, somewhat larger than life in both his physical presence and his personality.

He had to chuckle, realizing that he was actually the more vulnerable of the two of them. Batou realized that he was probably more `fragile' than the Major if it came right down to the ability to sustain damage and keep going; he still had a lot of organic tissue, internal organs and bio-engineered muscle and skin. He had not really thought about it before, but he had no idea how much, or how little of the Major was biologically human. Part of her brain was, and maybe some of her central nervous system, but that was all that he knew of for certain. Even so, those portions of her were heavily augmented. He had heard Aramaki say once that Motoko was the single most fully integrated cyberized human being alive. No wonder she'd had cause to doubt her humanity. But that was in the past, he reminded himself, she had chosen to return to the human world. She had come back to him. At least that was how he hoped it was.

As he knew, Motoko could be quite a cool customer, even what you might call aloof. He had always meant to try to tell her how he felt, God knows he had. In feeble ways he occasionally hinted at asking her out, to see a movie or something. He could never come right out and say it though. Somehow he just could never bring himself to dare the wrath of the Major. Damn but she could be regal though, especially when she was moving in on a target in a righteous fury.

He shook his head sadly, thinking `I can't wait to see that again,' and realizing that he may never get that chance.

Batou took off his shearling jacket and draped it over her, rolling up the sleeves on his blue button-down shirt. She had ribbed him about that jacket when he first got it. He smiled, remembering how she had asked him if he was feeling alright, if his internal regulators were dropping his body temperature… or was that just a fashion statement. This from somebody wearing a strapless lilac bustier and matching thigh-highs with combat boots! He'd been on the defensive for a minute then he'd noticed the devilish gleam in her burgundy colored eyes. Were prosthetic, cybernetic eyes supposed to do that?!

“Motoko,” he sighed, sitting carefully on the edge of her bed, “where are you now?”

Caught up in his ever sinking emotions, Batou stroked her lavender hair. She shifted in her induced sleep, following his touch. That's when he noticed her single e-brain port not connected to Ichikawa's and Bouma's monitoring systems.

He glanced toward the outer room, seeing Togusa had gone and no one had come to take his place. Even the empty coffee cup registered no heat signature. Nobody had been in the other room for a while.

Batou leaned his face closer to Motoko's and whispered, “I'm coming, Major.”

He kissed her forehead, reached back under his pony tail and tugged a wire from the jack at the base of his skull, plugged it into Motoko's e-brain port, twitched once, and was silent.

Batou was disoriented for a minute. Feeling his consciousness being downloaded was never really pleasant, but this time was unusually frightening. He had no idea where he was going to find himself when the trip was over.

He felt as if his body was being stretched thin, then gradually beginning to feel solid again. Looking down toward where his feet would be, he saw that his body was fading in as the data transfer neared completion. But something weird was going on.

Batou had heard the Tachikomas prattling on about what they called resetting the world, and the stark white null-space where they communed with each other in v-r. He had never thought he would actually experience the think tanks' environment. Yet, when he finally materialized, Batou found himself standing in that white space. He was wearing armor, antique knight-in-shining type armor. There was not a Tachikoma to be found.

“This is definitely weird.” He mumbled to himself, inspecting one gauntleted hand. He flexed his fingers. “Nice though.”

The unmistakable sound of a fight echoed through the null-space as if it were a cavern. Batou couldn't see anything nearby, so he started walking toward the sound. He arrived sooner than he had expected, but time and distance didn't really seem to matter there. What he saw made him stop in his tracks and just watch.

There stood a massive beast, like a four-headed black dragon. It straddled the crushed form of a Tachikoma. Batou remembered Ichikawa saying that the `worm' had beaten one of them and began to understand what was going on. Fighting this dragon was a woman in armor. It had to be Motoko, but she looked like the ancient Goddess Athena, in a bronze Corinthian helmet and form-fitted breastplate, shin and armguards glinting like gold.

Two of the heads struck at her, one from each side. She punched out with her round shield at one, while she cleanly slashed the other's throat with her golden sword. She deftly leaped back as the dragon's blood rained down, staining the white floor crimson. Another head sprouted beside the wounded one. The beast now had five heads.

“Damn it!” She swore, backing up again.

The creature bellowed and screeched, stomping on the fallen Tachikoma. It seemed reluctant to leave its prize.

“Motoko!” Batou called.

She turned to look at him in disbelief. “Batou? How did you get here?”

One of the dragon's heads snaked at the Major. She dodged to the side then lunged at it. When it coiled back, she backed up, keeping an eye on the thing. When she stood by Batou's side she looked up at him.

“You're going to need a helmet if you intend to help me with that thing.” She observed, “And a sword.”

Batou looked over her shoulder at the beast. “How about a standard-issue bigger gun?”

Motoko shook her head, pointing to a speck in the distance. “There's a rack of arms over there, but nothing more recent than say 14th century. Believe me; I looked for something a little more ballistic.”

“So,” Batou looked down at himself, then at her, “What's with the armor anyway?”

The Major tilted her helmet back on her head, revealing her face. She looked bemused. “I have no idea. It suits you though.”

Batou chuckled. “Nice skirt.”

Motoko smoothed the leather flaps that protected her thighs. “Thanks, I'm thinking of having one made when we get back.”

“Yeah, about that…” Batou began.

“Not now,” she interrupted, “We have a fight to finish first. Got get yourself a weapon.”

Batou smiled, thinking `same old Major, good I thought she'd be out of it in here too.'

Again it took him a lot less time to reach his destination than Batou had thought it would. A large wooden rack of antique weapons from almost every culture and time stood out in the middle of the vast white expanse. He looked back toward where the Major was engaged in a stand-off with the monstrous `worm.' Turning back to the weapons, Batou got down to some serious shopping. After some consideration he chose to forego the use of a helmet. He chose a claymore sword and a halberd, both two-handed weapons.

Walking back to the Major took longer than the walk to the weapons rack. When he came up beside her he noticed the mischievous grin on her lips.

“What?” He asked.

“Typical.” Was all she said.

Batou cocked an eyebrow.

“You can't easily use both of those at the same time, you know?” Motoko observed.

Batou set the halberd on the ground, hefting the sword in one hand. “I know. I'm just too lazy to walk over there and get another one if this one breaks.” He told her with a wicked grin of his own.

Motoko considered this for a moment. “Huh. I just thought it was your routine over-kill.”

“Who says it isn't?” Batou countered.

“Shall we?” she invited him to join in the fray.

Batou's laugh came out more like a bark. “This could be fun, ladies first.”

“You sure?” She asked him, tilting her head to one side. “I mean I've been fighting this thing for hours, I thought you might like a shot at it.”

“Major,” he laughed, “Are you actually admitting that you're tired?”

Motoko lowered her helm, resuming her goddess of war mode. “No, I'm getting bored.”

Batou laughed so hard his sides ached. “You're fighting a dragon and you're getting bored?” he panted when he could finally breathe again.

Motoko nodded. “Every time I manage to kill part of it, it grows back.”

Batou stopped to think. “So, what's with the dead Tachikoma?”

“When I got pulled in here, it was already fighting that thing.” Motoko told him. “What the hell happened to me anyway?”

“We really don't know yet, Ichikawa and the guys are working on it. That Tachikoma got pretty badly fried. Ichikawa thinks it's a variant of the program being used to hack the multinationals, a worm or Trojan horse or some kind of hybrid virus.” He paused for a moment, looking at her, wondering how much to tell her.

The Major looked up at him. Most people avoided looking him in the optics; it disturbed them that he didn't really have readable eyes. The Major stared right at him.

“There's more, isn't there?” She surmised.

Batou glanced away. “Yeah,” he answered, “and it's not good.”

“So, let's hear it.” She ordered, though by her tone he suspected that she knew what was coming.

“Let's fight that thing first and see if we can get out of here, huh?” Batou asked.

“No.” Motoko declared flatly, “Batou I need to know.”

He considered that he probably owed her that much. Sighing deeply, he dredged up all his courage. “Alright, but first I need to tell you that they didn't send me in here. I jacked into your e-brain against Ichikawa's advice.”

Motoko blinked, startled.

“He says he may not be able to pull you out of this, that it may already have caused damage to your e-brain or your Ghost. I couldn't stand by and watch you die without trying something, anything.” A desperate tone crept into his voice, but Batou didn't really care anymore, the reality of the situation was getting to him. “Motoko, I can't let you go again, lose you again…I just… can't”

To his surprise she looked angry.

“You think I can't handle this thing?” She asked, an edge to her voice. “Is that why you came here? Is that why you always come to `rescue' me? You think I'm incompetent or incapable, or weak? Is that what you think?”

Batou stiffened. How could she have interpreted what he had said that way? What the hell was she thinking?

“Major!” He shouted, grabbing her by the shoulders. “That is not, I repeat NOT what I think.”

“Well, you…” she began.

“No.” He held up a hand, “just let me have my say, then you can blast me if you want.”

“Fine.” Motoko agreed.

Batou took a look at the dragon, it was apparently making a nest out of the flattened Tachikoma, either that or it was methodically tearing it apart looking for something. Either way, the beast looked as if it would be busy for a while.

He looked down at the Major. She had her arms folded across her chest and did not look happy.

“Look, Motoko,” he began slowly, “if you're thinking that I do these things because I think you're weak or incapable, you are wrong. That is the farthest thing from my mind.”

Batou paused, trying to figure out how to tell her the rest.

The Major actually started tapping her foot. “Go on.” She said.

He realized that he was burning up borrowed time, her temper could unleash at any second so he had better make this quick.

“The point is,” Batou swallowed hard, unable to get his mind around the idea of actually saying the words. “You know, everybody thinks I'm in love with you.”

“So I've heard.” Her voice was becoming nearly venomous.

“I think they're right.” There, he'd said it. Now he was holding his breath.

The look on Motoko's face was priceless. It was almost worth the internal drama Batou had just put himself through. She was stunned speechless.

“You, wha…?” she stammered. This can't be real, she thought. “Did you just…? What?”

Batou's laugh came out as kind of a snort. “Yes, I just did.”

“Huh?” The Major's powers of speech were scrambled; she was confused, afraid to believe what her ears were telling her brain.

“I confessed, finally.” Batou grinned.

“Yeah, sort of.” Motoko pointed out. “So, all this time, all those times you came running to my rescue. That wasn't because you thought I'd screw up and get killed?”

Batou shook his head, this was unbelievable. Could the Major really be this dense? Then he remembered, she had been cyberized at a very young age and had not grown up in the same way most people do. Physically she had not experienced the horrors of adolescence, in that aspect of her life being a cyborg had been more of a blessing than she knew. He wondered if she had ever experienced the angst of an unrequited crush.

“Get killed, maybe - screw up, no, definitely not.” Batou confessed, taking a step closer to her. “I have done some stupid shit, okay I admit that. But it was all because the thought of losing you was more than I could stand. I needed to make sure you were alright.”

“Well, I guess that armor really does suit you.” Motoko smiled slightly. “I probably owe you an apology.”

Batou looked down at her. She looked like she was going to cry. He risked putting a hand on her shoulder. “Don't worry about it. I should have had the guts to tell you a long time ago.”

Motoko stepped forward, leaning in to him. In the armor that was about all she could do. “I'm scared, Batou. This time I'm really scared. I've tried everything I could think of but I can't get back to the real world. Something is forcing me to stay here.”

He put his arms around her shoulders. “It's okay, reinforcements have arrived. Now let's go kill that thing. Then all we'll have to do is wait for Ichikawa to unlock the stasis program he put you in.”

“He did what?” Motoko pulled back.

“He locked you down until they could assess the threat.” Batou explained.

“I guess that makes sense, but the threat is in here with me!” She pointed out.

“Right, now that I know that, let's go kill it.” He reiterated.

The Major got that gleam in her eye. Batou almost quivered with anticipation; he was going to hunt a dragon with the Major! He couldn't help but think `this is going to be so cool!'

Neither of them said a word, they simply turned and stalked toward it. One of the heads noticed the movement and began to growl. The other three undamaged heads took up the chorus. Batou and Motoko glanced at one another, nodded, and ran at the creature from opposite sides.

The heads had trouble keeping track of them, they moved so fast. The Major struck first, finishing off the head that she had wounded earlier. As it fell, she danced away before the blood fell, the creature's long neck crashed down like a dead tree. On the far side of the dragon, she heard the whistle of the broadsword as Batou swung. Then she heard the wet `thwack' as it connected and two more heads fell.

“Show off!” She shouted.

“No worries, Major they're growing back!” Batou shouted back.

“We're going to have to take out the body!” She yelled over the din of the remaining heads yowling and snapping. “You gut it; I'll distract it… and no arguments: I'm faster and you have a longer blade!”

For once he was not about to gainsay her. She was right on both counts. “Ready?” He called.

The thing reared up high above them, trying to free itself enough for the severed heads to grow back before renewing the attack. It presented a perfect target.

“Now!” Motoko yelled, launching herself towards one of the remaining heads, and then hitting the ground running.

Batou didn't hesitate for a second, but dodged under the dragon's black belly, slicing upwards with the claymore as the beast lunged at Motoko. The force of the thing's body hitting the floor carried Batou to the ground, where he tucked and rolled, reaching toward the halberd. Motoko reached it first, and threw it to him.

The dragon was still alive, barely. The sword had pierced its rib cage and had lodged just shy of its heart. Only two heads remained, but new ones were forming on the trunks of the old.

Batou swung the halberd in an arc and lopped both snarling heads with one blow. The body, now blind, fell forward, driving the sword deeper, stopping its heart. When at last it fell, the dragon did not move again.

The hero looked around, but his lady was nowhere to be seen. Motoko appeared from behind the dragon, carrying something metallic from the Tachikoma. Batou grinned at her, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the fallen beast.

“What's going on?” He asked.

“Some knight in shining armor you are,” she commented, pulling her helmet off and moving even faster, “didn't you know that dragon's blood is supposed to be poisonous? We have to get away from that thing.”

What could he say but “Oh?” Then his feet and hands started to burn. They were covered in the dragon's blood.

Motoko looked at him wide-eyed. The parts of his armor that were blood spattered had started to smolder. “We need to get that stuff off of you, now!” she said, setting down the item form the wrecked Tachikoma well out of harm's way.

“No argument here!” Batou agreed, flinging the gauntlets and gloves away as they burned his hands.

Motoko's gloves were clean, but quickly became bloody as she hurried to unbuckle his unfamiliar armor. Fortunately, the dragon's blood ate through the leather strapping almost as fast as she could undo the buckles. He kicked his boots away when the blood ate through the laces. In no time flat, Batou stood there wearing just his Dockers.

“Huh,” Motoko quipped, “nice pants.”

Batou just shrugged. “You know, yours is melting too.”

“Um…” Motoko took a step back and hunched over, as if she was taking off a pull-over. She flexed her back, and the corroded straps all burst. With a clatter of bronze, the Major stood naked except for her vambraces and shin plates. After a moment these too fell away with a crash. “Problem solved.” She said calmly, giving Batou a quizzical look.

He just stood there, staring. “Can I watch you get undressed again some time?”

To his surprise he had actually said that out loud. To his even greater surprise, Motoko burst out laughing.

“You've seen me in next to nothing before.” She pointed out. “And you're always putting your jacket over me.”

“Yes.” He confessed, “I don't like the idea of just anybody ogling you.”

“I see,” Motoko said, stepping over the pile of slowly melting bronze. “So you're saying you would like to keep this all to yourself?” She posed, hands on her hips, in front of him.

Batou blushed. Up until that second, he had not realized that he could. “Are you teasing me?”

“In which sense of the word?” She asked, smiling provocatively.

“All of them.” He intoned.

“Yes, Batou, I am.” Motoko admitted.

“Why?” he asked, distrusting this new playfulness in her.

Motoko sighed, bent to retrieve the Tachikoma part and reached out to take his hand. She pulled him along with her, walking for some minutes before answering. “Batou, what are my chances of getting out of here?”

That took him by surprise. “I don't know.” He replied, “But I hope they improved when we took out that creature. Why do you ask?”

“That's why I was teasing you,” she explained. “Because I have been waiting, wondering what you felt for a long time. Now that I know, I don't want to lose the chance to have something with you. It may already be too late.”

She sounded so sad and lost. He put his arm around her as they walked.

“Ichikawa said the same thing.” He told her.

“When was this?” She asked.

“About an hour before I came to your so-called rescue, again.” He told her, smiling. “He also told me that I had better tell you how I felt before I lost you forever.”

“Ichikawa's a smart guy.” Motoko remarked.

“He told me he learned that the hard way.” Batou confided.

“I know. I've worked with him for longer than anybody. He must really like you to even tell you that much.” She told him.

“I don't think it was so much about me as it was about you.” He told her.

“Then he must think it would be good for us to get together. Ichikawa is pretty protective of me too, in an older brother sort of way.” Motoko pointed out.

“Major, I don't know if you've noticed, but the whole team looks out for each other that way.” Batou countered, “It's just the way I've been looking after you that differs from that.”

She stopped walking. The blanket Batou had wrapped her in when she suffered the initial attack lay half rumpled up on the floor. Motoko let go of his hand and sat down on the blanket, drawing her knees up to her chest.

“The truth is, Batou I had noticed. I'm just sorry I misread your intentions all this time.” Motoko's voice took on a tired quality. She wrapped her arms around her knees and hugged herself into a ball. “Now it may be too late.” She whispered.

Alarms started to go off in Batou's mind. He had never seen her like this before. He got down on the floor with her, holding her in his arms. “Motoko, I'm here. The team is working on helping you out of this. We just need to give them time.” He risked kissing the back of her neck lightly. “Just give them time.” He repeated.

Motoko leaned back against him, welcoming his nearness. “I feel as if I've been here for days. There's no way to tell how long, I guess my internal chronometer isn't working. I'm so tired.”

“Then sleep, Major.” He said gently, “I'll keep watch.”

“You always do.” She said sleepily, then just before she slid into unconsciousness she whispered, “Your pants are scratchy.”

Batou chuckled. “Whatever you say, Major.” He said softly and slipped them off, curling up with her in the middle of the vast white null-space, on top of an aqua blue blanket. True to his word, Batou stayed awake and watched over her as she dozed. He glanced a few times in the direction they had come from, but there was no further threat. Mostly he just watched her sleep. His devotion to her welled up in his soul, and he was content for a time to simply lie beside her.

They lay in each others' arms, naked, warmed by the touch of skin on skin, even in dreams, even as avatars, their cyber-bodies were perfectly engineered, suited to every whim of a normal adult libido. Still, as cyborgs they must choose to run the programs that served as endorphins, that triggered arousal, but these programs run below the surface awareness, just like the hormones and pheromones they are meant to replace. A touch, a word, a movement of the beloved is all it takes to set off a domino effect, a cascade of reaction within the e-brain and cyber-body. Whispering her name is enough.

“Motoko.” He called softly, breathing in her ear, spooned behind her he pulled her even nearer with one arm, cradling her head with the other. She tucked herself into his embrace, lacing her fingers in with his.

“I can't believe you came after me.” She whispered, “Batou, why?”

“I told you,” he whispered, his voice a little deeper than usual, “I can't go on without you again. I need you.” All the things he had tried to build up the nerve to say seemed pointless now, laying here like this with her in his arms. He had dreamed of a moment like this so many times. “Motoko.” He murmured, nibbling her ear. He heard her gasp as he cupped one perfect breast in his big hand and worried that he had gone too far.

Then she shifted, grinding her hips, her succulent butt into his groin. If there were any question of Batou's arousal, that action had erased the uncertainty.

It was his turn to gasp. He heard her chuckle, her voice deep and velvety with emotion, with desire! His heart raced, `she wants me,' he thought, almost disbelieving.

“Batou,” she said, smiling, writhing in his embrace until she faced him. “Why did it take you so long?”

He smiled at her, face to face. “You scare me, Major.”

Her laugh was like nothing he had ever heard, such a sound of pure joy. With a piercing jolt of sadness Batou realized that he had never heard it in real life, and that he might never live to.

“Motoko…” Too many things were still left unsaid; he couldn't let it go at this.

“Hush,” she admonished, touching her fingertips to his lips, “I know.” Her look held more depth than her words might have. She knew they might never wake up.

She shifted again, rolling him onto his back. She straddled his hips, barely touching his perfect bio-technically engineered manhood. Leaning forward, she brought herself nose to nose with him. “Guess you must be happy to see me?” she teased.

“Always.” He breathed his husky reply.

“Good.” Motoko kissed him lightly, “I'm very happy to see you too.” Her kisses became more insistent, she nipped at his lower lip, ran her tongue across his upper lip, and finally, when Batou took her head in one hand, opened her mouth and welcomed his tongue inside, sucking on it and caressing it with her own.

His left hand slid down to the small of her back, pulling her down on top of him, gently, slowly easing himself inside her. He held her there, both hands on the curves of her hips, feeling her every move. He was as amazed at his reactions as he was at the sheer perfection of Motoko's body. She was a perfect woman in every detail. He wondered if she had requested certain parts of her physical design, or if her engineers had merely been geniuses. It didn't matter, ultimately. His mind was becoming overloaded with the blissful sensation of her sex closing around his, over and over again. The warmth and wetness, just perfect, perfect ecstasy.

She pulled her mouth away and rose above him, leaning back, and arching backward driving him further inside. She moaned, rocking back and forth, riding him in a wave of pure joy.

Batou was glad of the fact that he could not close his eyes. The allocation of so much of his e-brain to the blissful sex act made his optics run only basic visuals, but that was plenty. He watched his beautiful Major, her head thrown back, eyes shut, her mouth forming a perfect `O', grinding to the rhythm of their passion, with her hands lightly palmed against his belly.

He had been waiting years for this, and was still too stunned to believe that she had too. But here they were. What did it matter to people like them, who spent nearly as much time in cyber space as in real time, what did it matter that this was essentially virtual. Batou had no doubt in his mind that making love with Motoko would be as incredible in the real world and he hoped they would get the chance to find out.

Motoko groaned, falling forward, shuddering in the first wave of her orgasm. Her eyes snapped open, looking startled. She was surprised to find Batou smiling at her. Then his hands slid around her rump. With one powerful move he was on top of her. His hair had come loose and fell in a pale curtain around both of their faces as he looked down at her, grinning. “I can take it from here, Major.”

Breathless, still shaking, Motoko nodded.

“I thought you'd never ask.” Batou said with a wicked grin.

“Batou…” she breathed.

“Hmm?” He asked.

“Shut… up…” Motoko ordered breathlessly.

“Yes, ma'am.” He chuckled, bending to nibble her neck. Her arms circled his neck, and then she ran one hand along his side, across his ribs to his hip, and slapped him on the butt.

“Oh, it's like that, huh?” he asked in her ear, pinning her to the floor, feeling her breasts crushed under his chest. He knew he couldn't really hurt her, nor would he want to, but the Major had just raised the stakes.

Motoko raised her head, eyes flashing, all defiance and fire. Batou answered the challenge by kissing her roughly, forcing her head back down. This time his tongue thrust into her mouth, his lips crushing hers in a frenzied passion. He had to have her, right now, had to finish this.

Motoko did not resist, in fact this was what she wanted too, desperately. Until they had started this little dance, she had had no idea just how deeply she desired him. But it seemed now as if she had always loved Batou, always wanted him, always yearned for his touch.

His hand caressed her breast and she heard herself moaning, her body arching to meet his hand. She heard him crying her name, howling as he thrust home. She felt him deep inside her, felt herself clenching around him even more violently than the first time. She thrashed beneath him, his big body overlaying hers. She wrapped her legs around his hips, ankles locked, pulling him in even deeper.

“Motoko!” he growled, falling forward, he caught himself with both hands, arms locked out almost in push-up position. He stared down at her, his vision reduced to merely human quality. He was spent, panting, trying desperately to catch his breath, worshipping her with every ounce of himself.

She lay there beneath him, glowing, with a little grin on her face, gazing up at him with shining eyes. She was happier than Batou had ever seen her, happier than she could ever remember being.

“My Batou.” She said quietly, in awe.

“My little Major.” He replied with an exhausted grin.

Batou fell to the side, Motoko rolling with him, holding him close. He shook a little, shocked and weakened by the after effects of their bliss. He held her close, stroking her hair, kissing the top of her head. “My God,” he whispered, “is it really like that?”

Motoko nested against him, feeling spent. “We should find out.” She suggested.

He chucked, “I can't tell you how grateful I am that you feel that way, Major.”

She laughed a husky, sleepy sound. “I hope we get the chance, Batou, I really do.”

He heard a note of fear in her voice, she hid it pretty well, but he knew her better than that. He held her tighter. “Me too, Motoko, me too.”

She kissed his neck, and tucked her head against his shoulder, just like she had when he had been carrying her. He kissed her forehead, as he had before he had jacked in to her e-brain. They curled together and drifted off to sleep.

Batou woke first, feeling himself getting heavier, uploading back into his physical body. His visuals were not working. He heard Ichikawa swearing somewhere off in the distance. Then he was in his body again, fully dressed and sitting on the edge of Motoko's hospital bed. His e-brain had been unplugged from hers.

“What the hell were you thinking?!” was the first thing Ichikawa said to him. “You could have been killed, Ghost hacked, or God knows what!”

“But I wasn't” Batou answered.

From the outer room, Batou could just catch snatches of conversation - `reckless' said Aramaki; `ballsy' said Pazu; `you owe me five bucks' said Saito.

“You could have been!” Ichikawa yelled.

“Yeah, but I wasn't.” He repeated, “What about her?”

“Interestingly enough, the worm seems to be gone.” Ichikawa said pointedly, folding his arms over his chest. “Don't suppose you know anything about that, Batou?”

“Yeah, it was a dragon.” Batou muttered. “So, is the Major going to be okay or what?”

From behind him, Bouma emerged around a piece of equipment. “Everything is green, she should be fine. She'll probably need some rest after all this though.”

Ichikawa gave him a nod and Bouma pushed a few buttons. The server they had hooked the Major up to powered down. Ichikawa and Bouma set about unhooking the wires and sensors from her.

Ichikawa flashed one last look at Batou that said `you are damn lucky' and left the room. Bouma followed a moment later, leaving Batou alone with Motoko. A few seconds later she began to stir.

“Hey there, sleeping beauty,” Batou greeted her, not entirely sure what to expect. “How do you feel?”

Motoko rubbed her eyes and sat up. “I feel like hell… is this what it's like to have a hang-over?”

“I don't know, maybe.” Batou smiled at her, and she smiled back weakly.

“Ow, my head hurts, and the lights are too bright.” Motoko swung her legs over the edge of the bed and grabbed hold of Batou's arm. “And I feel dizzy.”

“Yep, sounds pretty much like a hang-over to me.” He chucked softly. “You were pretty out of it.”

“Thanks to Ichikawa.” She muttered.

“No, actually it was thanks to whoever sicked that worm on you.” Batou corrected.

“I know. I just feel like crap.” Motoko said, leaning her head against his shoulder.

Batou wondered how much she remembered.

“Is it safe to use the net yet?” She asked.

“I wouldn't risk it. Besides, you have a v-r hang-over.”

“I do not have a v-r hang-over.” Motoko informed him, arching an eyebrow, “I don't recall doing any drinking in null-space, do you?”

“No. But, what do you want to use the net for?” Batou asked.

“For a private conversation with you,” she told him, sliding carefully off the gurney. “But I guess we can have that in your car on the way back to my house.”

Batou stared at her for a minute, trying to think of what to say. “Are you teasing me, Major?” He finally asked.

She grinned at him, and grimaced with pain from her headache. “I would be if I felt better.” She told him apologetically.

“Uh-huh.” Batou was at a loss for words.

Chief Aramaki labored under no such constraints however. Poking his head in the door he announced, “Major, go home and get some rest. Both of you come see me at noon tomorrow, and I don't want to see either of you before then unless another emergency pops up. We will be having a lunch meeting to discuss tracking down the perpetrators of this incident. Net silence is in order until that time. Do I make myself clear?”

Both Batou and the Major said “Yes, Chief.”

“Good. Batou, take the Major home.” Aramaki returned to the outer room, sending the rest of the team on their way. Togusa flashed a casual salute to his team leaders as he filed out. Pazu handed off a five dollar bill to Saito, and the team was gone, leaving Batou and Motoko alone.

Batou draped his jacket over the Major's shoulders and walked toward the door with a hand on the small of her back. He said “Chief's right, come on, Major, let's get you home.”

Motoko looked up at him and considered asking `and into bed' but decided not to push the issue. Now that she knew his reasons for being so watchful of her, she realized that big tough Batou was really rather sweet. She let him guide her to his car and drive her home.