Eclipse and I walk down the hallway in silence, each immersed in our own thoughts. I'm trying very hard not to look at him, telling myself that he'll let me know when he wants to talk. Even though it's only one in the afternoon, Rouge left just a minute ago for her home, in order to rest up before tomorrow. I intend to follow her example, but I don't want to leave Eclipse hanging on my advice--I want to take this opportunity to talk to him.

I frown, surreptitiously stealing a glance at my younger half-brother. His emotions escape me; I have no idea what he's thinking. I would say his brows look furrowed, but I think I may be imagining the sharper angle. And, I can't decide if the slight grimace on his face is out of worry or simply thought.

Tearing my gaze away, I shake my head, giving up the endeavor before I can misinterpret him too badly.

I'm not nearly as good at discerning people as he is. I should just wait for him to tell me how he's feeling. For a moment, I manage to quiet my mind, but the nagging instinct to help my half-brother doesn't fade. It knocks on my mental doors until, finally, the protective urge skirts my defenses and peeks its head into my mind. But... I still want to make sure he's alright. I look back, taking a preparatory breath.

"I'm going to go to bed soon. Do you want to talk?" I question him, deciding I might as well just ask. He gives me a startled look--did I manage to screw this up, despite my best efforts?--and nods hesitantly.

"Here?" He asks, and I consider for a moment.

"No," I decide, flicking an ear. "Teleport with me to my room, and we can talk there. I'm tired of all these conversations in hallways."

"Fair point," he jokes, grinning a bit. I smile back, remembering how, just a month before, seeing him happy about speaking with me was a distant dream.

This went better than expected.

I send him a quick thought with my room's location and image, pleased with how easy mental contact has become. We're still working on fighting in tandem, but everyday hivemind use has improved beyond what I even knew it could; Eclipse and I can share information nearly as quickly as I could simply think of it myself.

A moment later, we're standing in my room, and I click on my desk lamp to give us some light. I sit on the edge of the bed, gesturing for Eclipse to take the spot near the opposite end.

"Cozy," he observes as he joins me, looking around. "Far busier than my room. I just have a bed."

"Well, if you stay on as an agent after this is all over, you'll get your own quarters, too," I reply, cautiously observing him to see his response to the suggestion.

"Maybe," he shrugs, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "I need to do a good job on the mission first, though." I recognize the segue and nod, crossing my arms as I look up at the ceiling, trying to gather my thoughts.

"First things first: When in doubt, default to your orders. G.U.N.'s field leaders are competent, and it's by far the safer option for your situation. Trust that they know what they're doing and follow their commands to the best of your ability."

"That's a little ironic, coming from you," he comments, flashing a quick grin at me. I roll my eyes, switching my gaze to the wall.

"Second," I begin, a small warning to be serious in my tone. "If you don't understand something, make sure you ask them to clarify; an extra few seconds getting a clearer explanation can save lives."

"Who should I ask? You or Andrews?" The question surprises me slightly, but it's a good inquiry. There are some things that would be much faster for me to convey through the hivemind than to explain verbally.

"Probably Andrews, but you can check with me if he's unavailable," I decide, hoping that answer will suffice. It does, and Eclipse gives me an expectant look for the next piece of advice.

"Third, conserve your energy. Don't feel that you have to be flashy or that you have to, say, remove every part of a door when you bust it down. There will be situations where you need as much power as you can muster, and you want to be prepared for them."

"Well, I did figure that. Isn't this a bit of a stealth mission?" He asks, and, trying not be distracted by how he's fiddling with his tail absentmindedly, I blink.

"It depends on how quietly I can infiltrate," I muse, tearing my eyes away from his constantly-moving hands--he really is nervous. "Be prepared to be stealthy, at the very least. I may be ordered to attract as much attention as possible, to cover you. At this point, that's probably still being debated."

"By the Commander," Eclipse guesses, and I nod. "Is that man really human? I've never seen him rest."

"He is, even if he doesn't act like it. I showed up at his house before dawn a few months ago, and he was definitely sporting a bedhead," I tell him, chuckling at the memory. "He looks a lot different in an undershirt. I never realized he was that muscular still."

"Isn't he rather old?"

"For a human, yes. That's why I was surprised he was still that fit."

"Well, he needs to be, doesn't he? To be a good leader and all that, one has to be physically competent as well as mentally. That's 'Leadership 101,' isn't it? You have to be the most powerful of your kind, or you won't stay on top." I stare at him a moment, nearly commenting on that but not sure if I should. Eclipse notices my partially-open mouth, words on the tip of my tongue, and quickly changes the subject. "Well, regardless. Why were you there?" The question is entirely innocent, just a common thing to ask. But, I freeze, suddenly uncomfortable.

"Er... It's not important. It was just a misunderstanding," I say lamely, not thinking he'll buy it for a second. He doesn't.

"Not important?" He frowns, giving me a suspicious look. "It was important enough for you to wake your highest commanding officer at his private residence."

"I don't want to talk about it," I mutter, staring holes in the thin carpet.

"Then don't." Eclipse's mind prods a bit at mine, inviting a simple memory transfer. I resist his touch, raising some mental walls.

"I don't want to think about it, either," I say firmly, feeling my gut twist. The last thing I need is for bad blood to run between us again, especially over something that was my fault.

"Why not?" He asks a little indignantly, not understanding why I'm closing my mind. "Does it have something to do with me?"

"No, but I thought it did. I don't want to talk about it, alright?" I snap, feeling the embarrassment and failure rising like bile in my throat. Eclipse doesn't say anything for a minute, simply staring at me. His fiery golden eyes might as well be shining right through me, reading me like a book for what it feels like. But, I have no idea what he's interpreting or how far he's getting into my closed mind.

"It's probably not as bad as you're thinking," he says at last, shrugging in the lamp light. "You have a tendency to overreact to your mistakes."

"Do I now?" I grumble, trying very hard not to get angry with him. Talking about my failures never helps my mood, and I feel myself getting unreasonably annoyed.

"Shadow, just let me see. It can't possibly be worse than what I already know about you," Eclipse points out, using a surprisingly calm voice for the subject matter. I find myself swayed by his argument, despite my aggravation. He's right; if he doesn't hate me by now, there's not much I can do to make him dislike me any more. I've crossed most every line there is between us.

"...fine." I reluctantly open my mind, simply giving him the associated memories instead of explaining. He reviews them for a bit, and I wait for his reaction, feeling remarkable judged.

"Shadow..." He scrunches his face, an expression I'm used to seeing on people with visible noses. "You're the most dramatic person I know."

"What?" Of all the responses I was expecting, that was not one of them.

"Seriously? You forgot something, assumed I was behind it, and it became some huge shame for you? I would have assumed the same thing, if I were you. Even though you were wrong, better safe than sorry, right?"

"I should never have forgotten the signals," I reply, shifting uncomfortably.

"Oh, please," he waves my reply off, making a scoffing sound. "So you have some minor memory holdover from stress and the multiple times your past has been messed with. No surprises there. If you weren't distracted by my arrival, I would be more worried than I am that you forgot something like that, but I'm not. I'm sure your Commander wasn't as disappointed as you thought."

"You're not mad I assumed it was your fault?"

"Pfft. No. I blamed you for everything wrong with my life. This is nothing. If anything, all I'm surprised by is how much Rouge despised me."

"She definitely didn't like you too much," I agree, feeling my heart lighten at Eclipse's dismissal over something I hadn't even realized was still weighing on me.

"The feeling was mutual. She's alright, though. Not as good as Topaz and Ayers, of course. But, alright," Eclipse reflects, grinning. "She's a good friend to you, especially. I'm sure you were the only reason she even attempted to tolerate me."

"That would not surprise me. You're rather hard to handle," I say, and Eclipse snorts.

"Hmph. Maybe I should have gotten mad at you. All these insults, and I let you get off easily," he grumbles, shaking his head in mock dismay.

...or is it actual dismay?

"You don't mean that, do you?" I ask, apprehensive.

"No, Shadow," Eclipse replies, rolling his eyes and twisting his tail in the air to poke my forehead. I startle at the touch, somewhere between amazed, shocked, and relieved. "Now, if you could do me a favor and pick which emotion you want to have already, that'd be great."

"Is it that obvious?" My ears fold themselves down in embarrassment, and I find myself wishing that I was a little harder to interpret.

"If by 'obvious' you mean I couldn't miss it if I were a human at 50 meters, then yes. Just relax already, will you? I'm not going to just regress to hating you all of a sudden, alright? And, if for some reason I do, I'll make it clear, so stop fretting already. It makes me feel like you don't trust me." The last part is mumbled so softly that I almost don't hear it, and I look at him in surprise.

"I trust you. I just don't understand you. For all that you can understand me, you're an enigma in my eyes. I never know how you'll react to things."

"Not like an angry hothead with a convenient loss of memory concerning every reason I now have to not hate you, if that helps."

"Er, yeah," I say, unsure how exactly to respond to that but forgiving his frustration with me. I imagine I must be rather difficult to deal with sometimes, especially with our shared past.

"Glad we settled that. It's just a little tiresome, you know? I just got everyone to stop walking on eggshells around me; I don't need you to start up again."

"I'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better, I don't really understand anyone else, either. People have always mystified me."

"Mmh. Oh," he sighs, looking up exasperatedly, "it's probably just so apparent now because we're alone. You get a lot more blustery and jokey when you're talking to me around your comrades. Now, you're being reserved and quiet, so the hesitation is more noticeable."

"Really?" I think back on earlier, when I'd been chasing him around for calling me names and laughing at Rouge's couple insinuations--most of them, anyways. "Chaos, there is a difference. I never noticed that I did that."

"It's normal, though. Everyone acts differently around different people and in different situations. So, please don't start worrying about this, too. I don't need the responsibility of knocking more concern out of your mind."

"Thanks," I deadpan, but I feel a smile twitch the corners of my lips. Eclipse smirks in return, swiveling his legs onto to the bed so he can stretch out, yawning.

"Did you have any more advice before I go back to my room?" He inquires, peering one eye open at me in an imitation of tiredness.

"Actually, yes," I reply slowly, remembering the final thing I wanted to tell him. I don't want to say it, don't want to be the person to bring it up, but it needs to be said, and I won't shy away just because it makes me uncomfortable to think about. "Lastly..." I hesitate, not entirely sure how to put this. "I really don't like saying this, but it's something that even Tower doesn't necessarily want to tell you, so I ought to. If it comes down to it, and you have to save yourself or someone else, save yourself. It's not nice, but your life is worth more, logically speaking, than someone without your powers." I avoid Eclipse's eyes, staring determinedly at the wall, afraid to see his reaction.

"That...makes sense." Eclipse sounds just as uncomfortable as I do, but his gaze is steady when both his eyes open to meet mine, troubled though he looks. "I'll keep that in mind."

"I hope you won't need to."

"Well, so do I," he agrees, moving to sit up, as cross-legged as he can be without stabbing himself with his calf spikes. "But, to not acknowledge that reality would be to kid ourselves. I'm one of the most valuable people on this planet."

"Glad to know you're so humble," I note, but even the heavy subject matter isn't enough to drown the fact that he said ourselves. When did Eclipse become close enough to me that there's a 'we'? I don't know, but I'm eternally grateful that he found it in him to give me a second chance. In this past month alone, Eclipse has been an incredible asset, both physically and mentally, to our team, and, now that he's pointed it out, I'm realizing that I've been a lot more relaxed with everyone lately. Making jokes, allowing myself to show and even exaggerate emotion when only a year ago I would have hidden it.

Come to think of it, maybe it's not just that Eclipse can read me better than anyone else, save possibly Rouge. Maybe I'm also a different person around him, someone who's more open and forthright. I make a mental note to keep that in mind next time I spend time alone with people other than Rouge and Eclipse.

"Well, if that's all, I think I'm going to go back down and sleep," my half-brother states. I try not to be concerned that he seems to be running from the topic at hand, reminding myself that he's been aware of his position in the world since his early days. Still, it's hard not jumping in just to make sure he's not brooding--

Quit it, I tell myself, trying to refocus on our conversation but not entirely succeeding.

"Do you want to stay here?" I ask at last, compromising with my protective instinct.

"Er, no thank you. I don't know if we're that close," Eclipse answers, giving me a rather odd look.

"What?"

"Well, Shadow, it may have escaped your attention, but you only have one bed," he reminds, gesturing to it as he stands up. "I prefer to have a little more space."

"Of course. That's--I didn't think that offer through," I say lamely, scratching a hand through my quills.

"I noticed," he chortles, amused. "Goodnight, Shadow. Or, good afternoon. Whichever."

"Get some sleep," I apprise, putting on a stern face. "I'll see you at 11 tonight for training."

"See you."

He teleports out, and I release a long breath, wishing I'd done better conversing with him but happy with our talk nonetheless. I ruffle my quills, clicking off my light and removing my gloves and shoes so I can rest up before tonight. Then, I lie down, quieting my mind as it starts to give me playback of the short day.

'Tomorrow' is going to come fast. I want to be ready... I hover in a dream state before finally slipping off to sleep, my last thought before my mind drops the reins being a rather odd one.

...has Eclipse read Gulliver's Travels?

Author's Note: Here's this week's chapter! It's a bit uneventful as far as flashiness goes, but the steps in Shadow and Eclipse's relationship are important. And, there'll be plenty of awesomeness as the climax comes to a head in just a chapter or two, so don't worry about that. xD Last line is a throwback to last chapter, if you remember that. Don't forget to comment and tell me what you think! I love your feedback on this story!

Also, Eclipse's angry hothead comment was a quick jab at every story where the protagonists fight right before the climax. Just in case you caught that. xD