[Fanfic] AlternativeS

Chapter 5 cont.

"No, no," Nanoha corrected happily. "That's Aunt Fate."

"Fate?" Vivio blinked, pointing again. "Alicia."

Fate knelt down slowly, reaching out to Vivio to make the girl look at her. "Vivio?" Her voice was soft, almost shaking. "Where did you hear that name?"

"But... that's your name." Vivio looked confused.

"No, my name is Fate....Alicia... is my sister."

Nanoha gasped. "You have a sister!? Why didn't you say so?"

"She died," Fate whispered. "I... no its a long story. Vivio, where did you see Alicia?"

"With the bad man." The child shivered. "She hurt me."

"Vivio, this is really important," Fate's voice got a little firmer. "I need you to think hard, okay? Tell me, where did you see Alicia?"

Vivio leaned back against Nanoha, unsure of what she should say. "I... don't know... In a dark place...There were lots of red and blue lights..."

"Red and blue lights..." Fate repeated the words while standing.

"Fate-chan?" Hayate asked with concern. "What's going on?"

Fate shook her head. "The bad man has to be Jail. The red lights are probably relics..."

Nanoha looked up at her. "...And the blue?"

"...Life pods, the liquid glows an eery blueish green. The numbers were created that way."

"Numbers?" Yuuno asked.

"Combat cyborgs, like Subaru and ginga. They were created by the project Fate system, but a little bit differently depending on which one"

Hayate shook her head. "No, that was destroyed years ago and even if it wasn't, that system doesn't create cyborgs, it creates humans."

"Like me," Fate confirmed. "I am a clone of my sister Alicia. The TSAB may have forbidden the practice but it doesn't mean it isn't done..." She looked down at Vivio, unsure if she should continue or not. "There's another, a clone created by the DNA of the Sankt Kaiser."

Hayate looked at Vivio and then back to Fate. "We need to talk about this."

"Later," Fate whispered. "I need... some answers first." Turning, she walked to the door.

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha scolded her. "Don't leave us!"

"I'm sorry." Fate looked over her shoulder. "Hayate, I need to go off on my own. If Alicia is alive, I need to find her."

"Fate-chan, we don't even know if that's true." Hayate disagreed. "I can't allow you to-"

"Please." Fate said the word hard. "this is important to me."

"...Fine. You can go."

Nanoha gasped. "Hayate-chan!?"

The short woman watched Fate leave the room. "We don't have enough information to require her to be present. If she can get some more info to bring back to us, then her leaving now will benefit everyone."

"But-"

"Nanoha-chan," Hayate said the name a little sternly.

Vivio looked at everyone in the room in turn before slowly hugging onto Nanoha and resting her head on the woman's chest, not liking the tension in the room.

~**~

Fate leaned against the metal bar of the swing set support beam and looked out over the playground she was standing at. The sun was setting across the buildings lining the horizon, making the light fade at an ever increasing rate. 'Alicia...' The name brought back bittersweet memories. The small amount of time she had spent with her sister inside the book of darkness had left a lasting impact on her. 'If she's alive in this time... Does that mean that mother perfected the design, or that Jail completed it?' Shaking her head, Fate took to walking around the small play area. 'Vivio was scared of me because she mistook me for my sister... Does that mean that she's working with Jail?' Her red eyes looked up into the sky. 'So many questions...' As she lowered her eyes, she saw a lone boy standing on top of the stairway leading up into the park. Red hair fluttered in the wind as a breeze came by and a smirk graced his face when the blonde started walking towards him.

"You knew you were being tracked," Erio stated the obvious.

"Yes," Fate agreed simply while lifting her hand to release the small thumbtack type device that Lutecia had stuck on her. The tracker flew to Erio, who accepted it into his palm. "I need to talk to you."

"About?" Erio stood his ground, looking down at Fate at the base of the stairs.

"Alicia."

"Who's that?"

Fate frowned. "Don't pretend, Erio. You and I both know you know who she is."

Erio shrugged. "You're mistaken. Even if I did, what would be in it for me?"

"Have you given up on Project Fate already?"

The boy leapt down in front of Fate at once, glaring up at her. "What do you know about it?"

Fate stayed where she was without flinching. "I was born the same way."

"You lie."

"My DNA was taken from Alicia Testarossa, Precia's daughter."

Erio snorted at her. "That plan failed, the doctor told me about it."

"He lied. Alicia is still alive and I need to find her."

The two looked at each other a long moment before the boy spoke again, walking around Fate in a slow circle. "Tell me, Fate, How is it you know so much? I did some research after I saw you were with that mobile force unit, and your name was never mentioned. It was as if you just appeared."

Fate took a breath. "That doesn't matter."

"If you are who you claim to be, where did you escape from? What lab where you in, and why didn't I know about it?"

"I was born twenty years ago, or so. I was away from here while I grew up."

"You don't look that old."

"I age well." Fate met Erio's eyes when he stood in front of her again. "Please, Erio, tell me where Alicia is."

"I don't know who she is." Erio replied back again. "I do know, however, that the doctor would tell me if he had any information on my origins. That is part of our deal; I work for him, he provides information about me and helps me protect my summoners."

Fate sighed. "Erio, he is tricking you. He did the same thing in my timeline-"

"Oh hooooooo," Erio slid his hands back into his pockets. "Your timeline, huh? This suddenly got interesting."

"Erio!" Fate almost shouted. "Listen to me!"

"You're not my mother." He grinned.

"I'm your sister!" Fate reached out and gripped the boy's shoulders. "Trust me!"

Erio looked at the hands a moment before lifting his own to make them release him. "I was hoping for a more informative conversation. I'll be on my way now."

"Erio!"

"Next time we meet," The boy glanced over his shoulder. "We won't be talking." With that, his body blurred slightly as he ran away from her.

Fate looked at the spot where Erio once was and slowly sank down to her knees. 'Why is everything so suddenly complicated...? Hugging herself, she felt tears escape her eyes. 'Erio... Caro...Nanoha... Alicia...' Holding herself tighter, she forced herself not to cry. 'I just want to go home...'

~**~

Fate opened the door to Nanoha's room slowly. "I'm back," The soft spoken greeting was answered by Vivio, who suddenly ran across the room with Nanoha following.

"Welcome home!" Vivio shouted out, reaching for Fate's legs. The hug didn't go as planned and Vivio found herself falling forward, only to be swept up by Fate's arms. "Wah!"

"Don't run inside, Vivio," Fate scolded lightly.

Nanoha stopped and looked up at her friend. "What's wrong, Fate-chan?"

"Nothing... I just..." The blonde let out a hard sigh. "I'm just really home sick right now. It went from just waiting to go home to suddenly realizing that things are going on here that are just so complicated... Why is Alicia alive? Is it even her or just another clone like me?"

"Fate-chan..." Nanoha reached out and took the hand that wasn't balancing Vivio on the blonde. "You're more than just a-"

"Thank you, really, but you don't know. Knowing I'm a replacement for Alicia isn't that bad since I always had friends who helped me identify myself... but being here... where I died... and she's alive... It just makes me feel..." She looked down. "Even more like I don't belong."

"Aunt Fate?" Vivio's words made both women look at Vivio. "Don't be sad."

"...Thank you, Vivio." Fate bent over and sat teh girl on Nanoha's lap. "I'm going to take a shower, okay?"

"Ah, I have dinner ready for us alre-"

"Thank you." Fate shook her head. "I just want to be alone right now.

The two watched Fate walk away from them and go up the small ramp leading to the upper half of the room. "Mama?" Vivio patted Nanoha's shoulder to get attention on her. "What's wrong with Aunt Fate"

"...Its an adult thing," Nanoha moved her chair over to the dining room table and transferred Vivio over. "Here, let me get your dinner ready."

After eating her fill and making sure Vivio ate her vegetables, Nanoha plopped the small girl onto the couch and gave her the coloring books they had gotten earlier. Vivio took to the new task at once, proclaiming that the coloring books were full of ghost that she had to bring back to life by coloring them. With her temporary child taken care of, Nanoha went upstairs and knocked on the bathroom door. "Fate-chan? You okay, you've been in there for almost an hour."

"...Yeah, I'm sorry." The sounds of water splashing came as the woman stood up. "I lost track of time."

"Its okay..." Nanoha leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath. "Hey...?"

"Yes?"

Looking at the closed door in front of her, Nanoha brought a hand to her chest and gripped her shirt. "I know its hard being here... And this may not really help but... I'll listen if you want to talk about it... Because you're important to me, even if there is an Alicia in this world. Fate-chan is Fate-chan, no matter what." No answer came for a few moments, leaving Nanoha to wonder if she should just leave or call out Fate's name again. Before she could make up her mind on either, the door opened to reveal a still damp Fate with hair that was still dripping slightly.

"Nanoha..." Fate's voice shook slightly and her puffy eyes revealed that she had been crying for quite a while. The woman in the wheelchair opened her arms and got a wet hug at once. "Thank you. I really needed that..."

"That's what I'm here for," Nanoha whispered back to her. When they parted, Nanoha felt herself take in Fate's figure in just the towel. "Get dried off, I'll do your hair, okay?"

"...Okay," Fate nodded and slowly retreated back into the bathroom, closing the door softly.

Nanoha smiled to herself as she looked down at her now wet clothes. 'For some reason, being able to help her makes me feel so much better than when she just spends time with me.' Moving over to the balcony of the bedroom, Nanoha looked down at Vivio. The girl was still coloring contently, a pleased smile on her face. Taking the moment to check on the girl, Nanoha felt a warm feeling in her chest. Her mood lifted and she contently watched Vivio swap crayons several times as she worked. When Fate finally came out again, Nanoha turned and smiled at her, getting a weak one back. "Come here," Nanoha requested while moving to the bed. Raising Heart formed the bars for her to grab a hold to so she could shift to the bed but she found arms wrapping around her.

"Here," Fate whispered to her, picking up Nanoha and holding her close while getting onto the bed. Sitting down, she let Nanoha sit sideways in her lap between her slightly parted legs. Arms went around the girl at once and she rested her chin on Nanoha's hair.

"Fate-chan?" Nanoha giggled. "I can't comb your hair like this."

"It'll be fine," Fate whispered to her lightly. "Just for a little bit...?"

"No," Nanoha answered back, shifting so she could wrap her arms around fate as well. Her head rested against Fate's shoulder and she squeezed her softly. "Not just for a little bit, but for a long time."

"... Thank you."

"Stop saying that," Nanoha scolded her gently. "Don't thank me for things I want to do." Raising her head, she brought a finger to Fate's chin and made her look at her. Leaning forward, Nanoha touched their noses and rubbed them together playfully. "Eskimo kisses make everything better."

Fate couldn't help but give a laugh. "You're so weird."

"I know," Nanoha smiled brightly, watching Fate reach up to take her hand. "But aren't I supposed to be holding you when comforting?"

"We can swap later, I prefer this." Fate replied in kind, closing her eyes when Nanoha went to touch their noses again. "Silly."

"Yes..." Nanoha inhaled lightly, shifting so her nose missed the playful kiss and moved her lips closer to Fate's.

"Mama!" Nanoha jerked back, panting and looking as if she had just heard an explosion. "Mamaaa?"

Fate smiled happily, missing what Nanoha had just tried for. "Get used to it, she didn't get over her 'yell for mama' phase until she was nine."

Nanoha sighed. "I'm coming, Vivio-dear!" She felt herself being picked up yet again and moved to her chair. 'The joys of motherhood...' Despite this, she smiled to herself.

Seems like people ehre also support the Alts!Nanoha x Fate pair :D

((Chapter 6 part 1))
I could feel the pulsing vibrations through my hands as I gripped the steering wheel harder. My eyes were narrow, focusing on what was in front of me intently, scanning and taking in everything all at once. My engine was screaming and my hand stayed next to my shifter and hand brake, thumb pressed on a small red button. The kick was instant and the speed I was going started to move upwards at a rate that would have most people worried about control. I was used to this, however, and my ruby red eyes seemed to drink in the world in slow motion while I kept moving. My power over lightning gave me speed that, when combined with racing, made me quite a formidable opponent. The car to my left was passed and I wove in and out of cars on the road, speeding to the predetermined finish line while the other racers strained to keep their wits about them at this pace.

The black car slid to a halt, skidding as the force died down from the sharp turn. Slowly the door opened and screams of victory came at once from around the woman getting out of her car. A crowd swamped to her, cheering and yelling while the rest of the street racers pulled into the designated area. When another car door open, the winner walked over to him, blond hair flowing out behind her. "Second place," she cooed out with a smile. "The first loser."

The man glared at the woman, fist opening and closing in his rage. "Why didn't they say you were racing tonight?"

"If they did," The woman replied casually, plucking her winnings from a man who came to her. "Then little boys like you would have went home."

"This race wasn't meant for you, Thunderbird!" He complained, pointing a finger at her. "There are rules!"

"I make my own rules." Turning, Thunderbird got back in her car. "Call me when there's a race worth winning." With that, the window rolled up and the engine turned. The people moved from the woman's path, allowing her to leave the scene without any more conversation. The vehicle moved back out onto the road and drove casually to a bar, where it parked away from the other cars.

The blonde got out and began walking to her favorite relaxing place before slowing down to a stop. "You have some nerve coming to see me in person after that little stunt you pulled."

A chuckle came from the shadows under a street light that couldn't seem to make up its mind on if it should be lit or not. In one of its flickerings, a man was revealed underneath it. Light purple hair that went to his shoulders came paired with a set of yellow eyes. A sick grin was set on his face and he showed no signs of fear from the girl. "I assure you, Alicia, I had no hand in what happened then."

Alicia scoffed. "Then why did your little trio attack me as I made the delivery, Jail?" Walking over to him, she stood before the man and glared. "You payed me to transfer the girl from your little secret lab to your base. On the way there, who should I come across other than The Loli Tri-force of yours. If you didn't inform them of me, how did they know I had relics with me, as well as what van I was driving?"

"Simple," Jail almost purred at her while holding up an ID tag smeared with blood. "One of the men who prepared your van was bought off by Erio."

Reaching out, Alica took the card an read the name. "Never cared for him anyway. Always wanted to put an underglow kit on my car." Pocketing the card instead of handing it back, Alicia crossed her arms. "Now, there is still the issue of my payment."

"You didn't make the delivery."

"As I recall, they got all three relics. I left with them, you got them. Delivery completed."

"I wanted the girl." Jail narrowed his eyes. "You failed to bring her to me."

"If your people wouldn't have attacked me, I would have." Her hand moved to jab a finger against his chest. "You pay me to do my job, and I do it. If you can't keep tabs on your little children, who's fault is that?"

"I have my reasons for not telling them about you, Alicia. They are concerned with Project F-"

"And I told you to never mention that name to me again!"

Jail didn't seem phased by the sudden outbreak. Instead he kept grinning while making eye contact. "I thought you would like an exception this time." Moving past her, he took a few steps away before looking over his shoulder. "What my boy Erio found while out will interest you greatly."

"Why do you think I care about him, or your little games you play?" Alicia turned around as well, glaring at him. "I'm a transporter, not a science enthusiast. Where I came from doesn't matter."

"Even if I told you he described you perfectly?" Jail's smirk rose up more, hands moving out in a helpless manor.

"Oh gee, He attacks my van and forces me to make myself scarce before the cops arrive so I don't get noticed. So what if he got a glance at me, he doesn't matter."

"The thing is, Alicia," Jail walked back towards her slowly. "He didn't see you then, nor when he recorded a conversation for me." Stopping right in front of the girl, he raised an eyebrow at her. "He talked to another woman. One who looks just like you, I should say... One who was born from Project F as well. From a very particular person, from my observation. You see, Alicia, from my years of research, I have managed to get a certain feel for clones and the process of making them. I can tell the difference between real and fake, you could say."

"And this interest me, why?"

"Because, my dear friend, with only the voice recordings and pictures that my dear Erio showed me... I know who this woman is."

"You have about three seconds to stop wasting my time."

"She, my precious Alicia... Is your sister. Or should I say twin?"

Alicia's eyes narrowed darkly as she reached out to grab his throat. "don't play your sick games with me, Jail!"

Undeterred by the grip on him, Jail simple lifted his hand, showing a small slip of paper in it. "Here is where she is staying. Once you meet her, I do hope you remember that you owe me a big, very big, favor for this information."

The girl growled at him before letting him go and snatching the paper from his hand. "If this is a trick, Jail, so help me, our partnership is over and ever location of your bases will become public knowledge so fast you won't have time to vacate them all before you're zerged with police."

"Have a good evening, Alicia." Jail called over his shoulder while walking away. "Give my regards to your sister."

((6-2))
~**~

"And this is where you came to?" Yuuno tapped a few buttons on his monitor while looking around at the park. "Strange place for a time shift."

"Not just time, but universe," Fate agreed. Her eyes scanned the area, finding nothing out of the ordinary. "Why was I here in the first place? A battle? But my jacket wasn't even touched."

Yuuno let out a breath while putting a hand on his hip. "Well there is a small spike of energies here, but nothing I can pin down. I need to know what the circumstances were that sent you here before I can really work on repeating the process..."

"I can't remember," Fate rubbed her temples. "Bardiche's memory log is completely blank as well."

"Devices sync to the world's time automatically. If you were sent to our universe, then Bardiche would have adjusted as soon as he was activated."

Fate looked down at her triangular gem. "Bardiche, have you adjusted your clock?"

"Yes Sir, twelve hours."

Fate blinked. "Out of sixteen... that means there are four hours where my memory lost. Bardiche, can you access those four hours?"

"No sir, there is corruption in the data bank."

Yuuno nodded. "I can imagine how that would happen. Our ships are designed to prevent the interference, so an unprotected device would suffer from it. What we really need is for you to recall what was going on that lead up to the rift. Can you remember anything? Anything at all?"

Fate stayed silent for a long moment for letting out a frustrated groan. "Nothing! I can't remember anything past sitting at my desk! Not even someone coming to me or being contacted!"

"Sir, last known contact was from Nanoha." Bardiche spoke up. "Requesting you to come to Hayate's office."

"Hayate...Hayate..." Face paced. "I was at my desk... eating a piece of candy... Hayate... Nanoha... Yes... Nanoha contacted me..." Hands went to closed eyes and rubbed. "She... she... she was nervous... and....and.... ARGH!"

"Calm down," Yuuno tried to sooth her. "Don't force it, just think calmly."

"Okay... okay..." Fate tried to steady herself.

"Maybe you should go to where your desk was in your world, see if it helps jog your memory. What candy were you eating as well?

"Why?"

"Taste brings back memories, much like smell. Its an aid that is proven to work."

"I... I see... Okay..." Fate nodded. "My favourite candy is Red Hots."

"Mine too," A voice made both people turn around to see a blonde walking towards them, red eyes shining as she looked at Fate. "Hello, Fate."

Fate's arms fell to her sides, breath catching in her throat. In front of her stood her mirror image, hair loose and flowing but bound near the bottom with a fluffy green ribbon. "Ali...cia...?"