Preservation - Ch. 4

[walkyourownway]

Title: Preservation
Chapter: 4
Fandom: Wild Kratts
Character(s): Koki, Zach Varmitech, Martin Kratt
Genre: Drama, family, some action
Rating: K+/PG
Disclaimers: Wild Kratts © Martin and Chris Kratt
Notes: I have been wrestling with this thing for a long time, even before I started writing chapter 3. At first I wanted to end it in one place, then I wanted to end it in another place, then another, and another...you get the point. So good news and bad news. Good news: this chapter is finished. Bad news: It's shorter than I planned it to be.

I felt it was getting a bit too long, I think. It's funny though, because as I was typing up the chapter and decided that it was a good place to cut it off, the chapter ended the exact way I wanted it to the very first time I planned it out. Guess it was meant to be...Anyway, enjoy.

Summary: The only thing stronger than the Kratt Brothers' desire to protect the animals...is their desire to protect each other.

~*~*~*~

Across the room, Koki caught the expression on Jimmy's face, a mixture of concern and fear. And at the moment, she completely sympathized with both sentiments.

The two of them sat at their usual stations, watching Aviva as she walked laps around the center dais. They were used to watching her pace as she thought, quietly speaking to herself as she formulated ideas and set plans. But they could see the agitation in her step, the anger in her posture…And she couldn't blame her Latina friend for being this way, knowing exactly what was wrong. But Aviva had something of a temper sometimes, and neither Koki nor Jimmy wanted all that anger directed at them.

It probably wasn't the best idea, then, for them to continue watching as Aviva made her way around the room once more. However, it was difficult to look away, especially when they knew that something was bound to happen soon.

As expected, Aviva seemed to snap and she spun on her heel, causing the Zachbot behind her to come to a sudden stop.

"Would you just leave me alone already?" she exclaimed.

The Zachbot simply beeped in response, almost innocently. Koki would have almost thought it cute if it wasn't…well, a Zachbot.

Aviva threw her hands up, and the Zachbot practically seemed to shrink back. "I'm not even doing anything! Just. Go. Away!"

It beeped again, and Aviva swung her leg forward, close to kicking the robot. At the last second she checked herself, pulling her foot back and instead stomping the ground angrily. When the Zachbot beeped again – this sounding more like a mocking retort than anything – she looked ready to strangle it. Koki and Jimmy shared another look.

The automatic doors slid open with a hiss, and the two finally broke away from the scene to watch as Martin entered the room.

"Where ya been?" Jimmy wondered.

Martin didn't answer, not that Koki really expected him to. Recently he took a lot of alone time, and none of them were quite sure where he went. Instead, he watched as Aviva once again stormed about the room, the Zachbot close behind her.

He frowned. "It's still following you around, Aviva?" he asked.

She turned to fix him with a glare. "What do you think?" she retorted.

Koki noticed Martin glance her way, his brow raised in question. She sighed and shrugged. "With it following her all the time," she explained, "Aviva hasn't been able to get a moment's peace. It follows her just about everywhere."

"Everywhere?" Jimmy echoed, a slight grimace on his face. "That's…kinda creepy. So does that mean it even follows you to the ba–"

Aviva rounded on Jimmy, and he cowered at the look she gave him. "No!" she shot back. Then she paused, breathing deeply to calm herself before trying again. "I mean, not even Zach is that creepy…"

Silence for a beat, and then a collective shudder ran through the group as the thought lingered in their minds.

Aviva resumed her pacing, and Martin watched her for a moment. As she passed, he reached out and grabbed the robot, holding it back. It beeped, as if in protest.

Martin's eyes narrowed, and he shook the robot roughly. "Zach, knock it off."

The Zachbot beeped, pulling out of Martin's grasp and quickly hovered behind Aviva, as if trying to hide.

"Ugh!" Aviva huffed, pushing the Zachbot away from her a little.

"Zach, I know you're there, and I mean it. Cut it out, you hear me?" He took a step towards the robot, and it ducked behind Aviva as if it was actually afraid.

"Forget it, Martin," Aviva said, weariness slipping into her tone. "Zach just doesn't know when to quit."

Jimmy scratched his head in curiosity. "I don't get it. Why's it following you around so much anyway?"

Aviva sighed, placing a hand to her forehead in order to avoid his eyes. "I…I don't know."

Koki frowned, her own gaze falling to the floor. She couldn't help noticing how guilty the words sounded, and worried that the boys would pick up on it as well. Then again, maybe the only reason she could tell was because she already knew that Aviva was lying.

They both knew exactly why the Zachbot stuck so close to Aviva. But they never had the chance to explain it to the guys. And at this point, Koki wasn't sure they could even keep it up any longer.

It was a risk right from the start, but at the time the idea seemed plausible at least. Aviva had gotten it back when Zach had them capture black rhinos in Africa, because it reminded her of his Rhino-dozer plan way-back-when…how he had planted baby Nubs with a camera and a tracking device in order to find and observe them. And Aviva realized that, if Zach could do it, then why couldn't she?

Why couldn't she build a tracking device and place it on one of the animals they handed over to Zach, using it to trace his location and see if it was the place he was keeping Chris? Then they would be able to find and rescue him, and return all the animals that Zach forced them to capture back to their homes.

It was a good idea…except she quickly discovered precisely why she couldn't do it. The Zachbot had started following Aviva around since Zach left it on the Tortuga, and at first it had only been a minor annoyance. But then the robot was always trailing behind her; wherever she went, it followed. It followed her to the lab, it followed her when she was looking for tools or materials, it followed her when she was trying to plan how to build the device… It monitored her constantly, and she couldn't get away from it.

And because it was always around her, she never had a chance to build the tracking device. She remembered their last mistake – discussing the idea of giving Zach an animal that wasn't what he wanted, while the Zachbot was watching them – and knew never to do something like that again. So as long as the robot hovered over her, as long as Zach was watching her every action, she couldn't work on the device.

She quickly realized that that was the real reason Zach left the robot with them. It wasn't just to keep in communication with them; he was making sure that Aviva never got the chance to work on the tracker. With his Zachbot observing her, he could catch Aviva once she started working on the device. And once he knew, he could move Chris to a different location where they still wouldn't find him. Or even worse…Zach might hurt Chris just because they had tried to rescue him.

It was too big of a chance to take, and Aviva gave up building the tracking device herself. Yet she didn't surrender completely. In fact, the only reason Koki knew about all this was because Aviva managed to explain it to her, sending her a message through their Creature Pods. Even that had been hazardous, since the Zachbot never left her alone. Aviva never even got a chance to tell Martin any of it, even with the Creature Pods. But she had risked telling Koki because, after explaining the situation, she asked Koki to help build the device for her.

Again, it sounded like a good idea; the Zachbot only followed Aviva around, which made sense since, in terms of mechanics, she was the only one who posed a threat to Zach. With Zach solely focused on Aviva, he might not notice if Koki sometimes disappeared. And even if he did, he probably wouldn't suspect what she was doing.

And Koki was glad for the chance to do something to help. She hated watching her friends going through all this, hated worrying about how Chris was doing, and not being able to do anything about it. But even after all the times she assisted Aviva with some of her projects, Aviva was always the one actively building the gadgets. Though Koki knew enough to understand Aviva's technobabble and help out, she just couldn't do what Aviva did. She didn't have the knack or the skill to build a tracking device from spare parts, no matter how much instruction she received from Aviva.

She had tried of course. She had done everything she was able to do, following Aviva's directions as best she could. But sometimes they were so difficult to understand, whether because she just didn't know what some of it meant, or because Aviva had been in a hurry to send them before the Zachbot caught her. There were so many things she had to ask about, and she would have to wait until Aviva was able to respond. It just took so much time, which was why the device still wasn't finished even after all this time.

Koki just wished she could get the device done. They had already traveled across the world and back, literally, several times to gather whatever animal Zach felt like making them capture. She had lost track of all the creatures they had to get for Zach; she remembered lions, elephants, crocodiles from Africa…great white sharks and sperm whales from the ocean whenever they could find them…they might have been in the Arctic for a while looking for polar bears…and more recently they had captured whole packs of wolves.

But she was sure there were other types of animals they had been forced to capture. She just couldn't remember them all at the moment because they were all completely drained. They were exhausted by the nearly-nonstop travel and work involved to catching the creatures, and they were troubled by their continuous trapping of animals, of locking them up and sending them to Zach. On top of all that, both she and Aviva had the guilt of working on an idea to put an end to all this – of finding and rescuing Chris – but being unable to follow through with it because they risked putting him in further danger.

It all took a heavy toll on her, and she knew Aviva felt the same way. It was why Aviva's temper was unusually high these days, why little things aggravated her so much. And while Koki wasn't taking out her anger on the Zachbot like Aviva was, she had to admit that she was sorely tempted to.

Koki was pulled from her thoughts by a sudden sequence of beeps, and she and the others looked to see that the Zachbot had stopped, hovering in place as its eyes flashed red. She saw both Aviva and Martin scowl, and it was easy to understand why; they knew what the Zachbot's actions meant, and given the options Aviva probably would have preferred the droid following her around than having to see the face of its creator.

Still, they had no choice but to watch as the robot's eyes glowed with light, projecting the image of Zach before them on the center dais.

"Greetings, team," Zach said with a smirk. He spoke with a casual tone, as if he was their friend and not someone they all hated at the moment.

"Zach," Aviva returned; the name sounded more like a curse on her lips.

Glaring for a moment, Martin then folded his arms across his torso and looked away.

"So," Zach continued in a nearly cheerful manner, "I'm thinking this time I want something that flies. A bird. Something fast, but still something that looks menacing. Y'know; sharp beak, sharp claws, the works."

From where Koki sat, she thought she heard Martin mutter something like 'talons'. But his head was turned away from her so she wasn't quite sure.

"So, Wild Rat?" Zach sneered. "What's the fastest, meanest bird you got?"

Martin's body tensed slightly, but kept his glare on the floor and refused to look up as he muttered, "Peregrine falcon."

As Koki watched him, her expression softened and her heart broke. She hated the way Martin increasingly withdrew into himself; the more animals they captured for Zach, the more Martin seemed to pull away from them, hiding himself away. And Koki worried that by the time this was finally over, no one would be able to bring him back again.

"Falcon, huh?" Zach smirked. "Sounds good. I've got some things to take care of before I meet you this time, but I'll send some Zachbots ahead of me so you can get started."

"Hold up, Zach," Aviva asserted, stepping towards the projection. "How much longer is this going to go on, huh? We've done everything you've asked so far, but this has got to stop! Enough is enough!"

Koki held her breath, and she caught the nervous look Jimmy had as well. Lately, Aviva was the only willing to say anything against Zach; Martin had given in to bitter resolve and didn't say much of anything, and Zach never paid attention to her and Jimmy anyway. But Aviva, while doing as Zach wanted, still argued with him about it…still said exactly what she thought and felt. And while Koki admired her courage, she always worried that Aviva's growing frustration would eventually explode, and that she'd say something she'd regret.

And it appeared this was the moment; all the air seemed to rush out of the room at once, leaving behind a tense, suffocating silence. Aviva appeared to realize that she might have gone too far as Zach looked at her with a risen brow and an unreadable expression.

It seemed like an eternity, but the moment was shattered when Zach finally spoke again. "Well, I agree…Which is why this'll be the last animal I ask you for."

Suddenly time seemed to stop.

Martin's head shot up, looking at Zach with wide eyes, for the first time since the other called. "Wh-what?"

"You heard me." Zach shrugged. "I think I've gotten enough critters for my army."

Silence once again followed, made louder by the echo of the thought running through all their heads. They glanced at each other, exchanging expressions that tried not to be too hopeful, but wanted more than anything to believe. They all turned back to Zach.

"So…" Martin tried, almost afraid to speak the words, "s-so that means…that Chris…"

Zach smirked. "That's right. Just get me the little birdies, and you can finally have the Green Guy back."

---

It was only after the connection cut off that Zach allowed his doubts to creep back into his mind. A thoughtful frown replaced the smirk he wore for the group, rolling the thoughts around as he considered his options.

He began to wonder if it was such a good idea, ending the…arrangement with them so quickly. He may have accomplished his goal, had gotten what he wanted…but he didn't get it exactly in the way he wanted it. Attaining those results would require much more testing, more time. And that would be easier to gain if he still had that team working for him.

Thinking it over a moment longer, Zach scoffed and shrugged it off. What he achieved was good enough for the time being. And besides, he knew he'd have plenty of time for further testing later. He would reach his true objective soon enough.

Rising to his feet, he then turned to address two nearby Zachbots. "Go fetch the Wild Rat," he commanded. "His big bwother misses him…"

---

Deactivating his pigeon suit, Martin dropped down beside Aviva as the crew stood off to the side, watching as nearby Zachbots were not-so-carefully handling the cages of the captured peregrine falcons. Each robot handed a container to another, passing the birds around like cargo.

Martin observed the scene as calmly as he could force himself to; it wasn't easy to bury his anger at the rough manner the robots were treating the falcons, but he knew he needed to settle down if he wanted to catch his breath. Pretending to be a wounded pigeon in order to lure a peregrine falcon and avoiding its attack to catch it was challenging enough, but to do so several times was even more strenuous…not to mention the distances he had to fly in order to cover a territory and enter a new one.

The whole process to capture the number of peregrine falcons they had had severely drained him, but he felt he didn't have too much time to recover. He knew it was important to regain as much strength as he could in that short time. And while anxious resentment bubbled just below the surface, he breathed through clenched teeth and struggled to keep his composure.

Slowly, with great difficulty, he managed to ease his breathing so the cooling air would fill his tired body. And as he placed a hand to his chest to feel his heartbeat steadying, he carefully replaced the pigeon disc in his suit with the peregrine falcon disc.

It might not have really mattered, since the Zachbots' attention remained solely on the peregrine falcons and didn't even spare a moment to him and the Tortuga crew. But they knew, as Aviva covertly slipped him a stray falcon feather, that they couldn't afford any mistakes in such a high-risk gamble like this.

He knew they had to give it a shot, but he couldn't deny the doubt rising in his chest. After all, he was much more used to making things up on the spot, not organizing a strategy to the last detail. Chris was much better at that, meticulously running ideas through his head and plotting a course of action. He only hoped that his current plan was something that his younger brother would approve of.

If only he could have planned it better, though. He had considered the idea numerous times, going over it completely to ensure it would work. But since he developed the whole thing during the times he was alone, he knew that there was still something he could have missed. He wished he could have gone over the idea with Aviva, at least; she could have helped him with any of the glitches he overlooked. With the Zachbot following her all the time, though, he knew there wasn't much she could have done. He was just glad that he was able to let the crew know about his intentions, sending them a message on their Creature Pods beforehand.

His thoughts were interrupted as the roar of an engine rumbled overhead, and a massive shadow eclipsed them. They all looked up, craning their necks to see the jet high above them, its exhausts sending powerful gusts surging through the area. But instead of landing, Martin watched with wide eyes as the jet remained airborne, and instead the Zachbots all began to rise, taking the falcons up to the vehicle.

He and Aviva exchanged panicked expressions as the robots disappeared into the jet. Did Zach somehow figure out what they were up to? He had tried to be so careful about it, doing everything he could to make sure he didn't give himself away. But did Zach still discover their plans anyway?

Once the last Zachbot was gone, they saw Zach appear at the jet's opening, just able to make out his form standing at the entryway and looking down at them. And even from all the way down on the ground, Martin could feel the other man smirking.

"Thanks for all the help, Wild Rat," Zach's voice boomed over the jet's loudspeaker. Before Martin could try yelling up at him, the pale man added, "Don't worry…I didn't forget about my end of the bargain."

Two Zachbots materialized at Zach's side, and Martin's heart jumped into his throat when he saw Chris carried between them, unconscious but still wholly there. At first relief swept through him, but it soon gave way to cold fear when he realized that the jet still wasn't landing. It didn't look like Zach had any intention to land. But surely Zach wouldn't…there was just no way…

Zach's cackling laugh echoed around them, as if he'd read Martin's thoughts. "It's been a pleasure doing business with ya," Zach said, giving them a mocking salute.

And then Martin watched in pure terror as the Zachbots tossed Chris' limp body from the jet.

"CHRIS!"

TBC