Chapter Text
It was the heat of battle.
The Engineer was running back from respawn to set up a new nest. He was a little too slow on moving his sentry out of the way of the sentry-buster and got caught in the explosion.
After that, building a new nest in a different spot would be a hassle. It always was. Good thing his teleporter was still active.
As he ran back, the Engineer made a brand new nest in record time. Just as the small hoard of Robo-Scouts rounded on him, his sentry was up and blasted them all to scrap. It was satisfying to watch. The Engineer thought back to how all this happened in the first place as he idly worked on his buildings. No, not how this small team of nine was called upon to fight off robots as though they were zombies. But instead, of how all of this madness started.
He used to work for B.L.U., Builders League United, for around three years. They were the attacking team, as the Administrator called them. It was their job to push for anything and everything. From capturing control points to pushing a payload.
He worked with eight others. Together, they fought against nine look-a-likes on R.E.D., Reliable Excavation and Demolition. They fought one another for those long three years. They all grew close to one another and fought with vigour. He saw them as a family, and he was sure they felt the same (in varying degrees).
Over time, the Engineer grew close to the team Pyro, as he was the only one how saw them as a person. He even took the time to decipher their mumbles and help the others understand them as well. In the end, he did teach them all sign language for convenience’s sake, but it was well-received.
Not only that, but the Engineer was close to everyone on the team. He believed that they all might have seen him as someone to talk out their worries, and he didn’t mind. Whatever it was about him that could help his team, he would stay the same just for that. He knew that he had imprinted on all of them in some way. Even the most reclusive members, such as Sniper and Spy would open up a bit to him!
But that wasn’t the end. The Soldier had ended up becoming his best friend. The pair grew very close to one another as friends. The Soldier would watch over the Engineer when he could, and used his dispenser often. This led to small talk between the two, and later invitations to hang out after work hours.
Over time, the Engineer had grown feelings towards his co-worker. Of course, bearing the pink triangle was frowned upon at the time (and still is) so, he held his tongue. The Engineer didn’t want to lose his close friend, so he figured he would pin than lose him.
But one night, while it was just the two of them, the Soldier had revealed that he had felt the same way. The Engineer was relieved that his love was reciprocated, and confessed as well. They soon told the rest of the team, but of course, none of the others were shocked, claiming “it was obvious you two liked each other! It was a matter of time before you became a full thing”. There were multiple trips to the clinic that day.
After that, the two were nearly inseparable. They had been a couple for two years at this point. When they got the news that they had been fired from their jobs and then immediately re-hired by Mann Co. to fight off robots, it was quite shocking.
A few from each side were contacted for this offer, but it was the nine mercenaries again when added up.
Four from BLU, the Engineer, the Soldier, the Pyro and the Sniper.
Five from RED, the Scout, the Demoman, the Heavy, the Medic, and the Spy.
It was “ A fight for their jobs ” as it was described by both the Administrator and Ms. Pauling, the ever-loyal assistant to the Voice above.
When asked about the robots, the only answer that the team got was that the robots were the third Mann brothers, Grey, invention. How many brothers were there? Not only that but they were trying to do something with the different Mann Co. properties, which is what they were tasked with protecting.
Turning from BLU to RED was a hard transition, but the Engineer got used to it over time. Seeing people who look like old co-workers was odd, but everyone got used to it in the end. Of course, with the Soldier seeing his old-friend-turned-enemy-turned-back-to-friend, the RED Demoman, the start of this new job was rocky. But after talking, the two got along. Thankfully.
First, the team started at “Decoy” which was made by the Soldier as a way to trick the robots. It worked, somehow. When the robots, and Grey, had found out that it was a faulty Mann Co. property, they moved. So, the group of nine followed them.
They went from Decoy to Coaltawn, to Bigrock, and were now in Mannworks. They stayed at each location for a few months defending whatever Mann Co. property was there before moving. All in all, it’s added up to a little under two years of fighting robots. But the thing with the robots was that they weren’t just one or two different models.
No, they were all replicas of each mercenary. For the Engineer, it was odd to kill something that almost sounded like his friends and his lover. He couldn’t imagine what it was like for the others, having to kill things that looked like themselves.
At least, that was until they got to Coaltown. Not that far into this whole mess, but that was the first time he saw a robot-Engineer. He knew that the others said that there was something “unnatural” and “uncanny” about them. He didn’t understand then. Hoo boy did he now.
The Engineer-bot looked so much like himself, but not, at the same time. It already hurt him to have to kill people that looked like his team before. It hurt more to kill things that impersonated them.
But this? This was worse than coming face-to-face with the RED Engineer. At least he was civil. This, thing wasn’t.
He knew there was a joke about the “uncanny valley” in the design somewhere.
As the Engineer pondered the wave had ended. Rushing back to the upgrade station, the Engineer knew that this could very well only be the beginning. But, for now, he had to keep all his builds up and running for the team. For now, the small team had to fend off many robots, and many more. It was taxing, yes, but it was all worth it in the end as the pay was good.
It was the heat of battle as the Engineer was pulled from his thoughts.
Something heavy landed close to him and his dispenser. Spinning, he aimed his shotgun, the Panic Attack, at the larger mass before realizing it was only the Soldier. Sighing, he put down his weapon and walked closer to his boyfriend.
Heh, boyfriend. The Engineer felt almost like a young boy again, dating someone and calling them their significant other.
At any rate, as he got closer he did see that Soldier was harmed. He helped him over to the dispenser and sat down next to him.
“Hello, Engie,” Soldier greeted him. He had a smile on his face, even though it looked like he was hurt.
Chuckling, Engineer scooted closer to the man he loved while greeting him in return.
Soldier put an arm behind him and pulled him into a hug while saying, “That sentry buster got you. I am sorry I couldn’t get to you in time.”
“It’s alright,” Engie reassured him, “I was too close to it anyways.”
As the dispenser healed Soldier, Engie shifted in the embrace to hug him back before he could get up to leave.
“Going so soon?” He murmured into his lover’s chest.
“Don’t worry,” the taller man assured, “I’ll be back for you before you know it.”
Standing up, Soldier bent down to plant a kiss on the top of his boyfriend’s bright yellow helmet.
“What,” the smaller man chided, “no kiss goodbye”
“I just kissed you!”
Engineer started to laugh at the remark and hummed, “Didn’t feel it,” as he stood.
His laugh was cut short as a hand softly grabbed his chin and tilted it upwards. His lips were caught in a sweet kiss from his lover, and he melted into another embrace.
It was in the middle of the heat of battle when the two lovebirds shared that brief, intimate moment.
“Feel that one?” Soldier teased when he finally broke the kiss.
It took Engineer a few moments before he could respond.
“Yeah,” He said when he gathered himself, “Yes I did.”
The Engineer heard his boyfriend laugh at his answer as he stepped away from him. Rolling his eyes behind his goggles, he playfully shoved Soldier away and back towards the battle.
“Alrighty then,” he smiled, “Get back out there and show those robots whose boss, hun.”
The Soldier grinned back at him, leant down to his ear and whispered, “And when I’m done, I might show you who’s the dominating one tonight, Dell.”
The Engineer felt flush with embarrassment as he took a step back and look to the side. He could hear Soldier roar with laughter at his reaction, and he shoved him out of the small shack where he had set up.
He didn’t complain when he felt the quick ‘good-bye’ kiss be planted on his cheek.
“I’ll see you after the battle!” Soldier yelled as he prepared to rocket-jump back towards the fight. “Love you, sweetheart!”
“I love you too, darling!” Dell called back, as he watched Jane’s rapidly disappearing figure fly to the on-slaught.
The heat of battle started to get worse as the next few rounds of robots came in.
The team of nine mercenaries kept them from moving the bomb to the hatch. But, the longer they went on, the closer the robots got. Every single time, this happened. It got a little worse every day, as it had for the past almost two years. But every time, the small group of nine somehow managed to keep their heads above the water and pushed back the robots again and again. Day after day, week after week. It was repetitive, yes, but it seemed like there was something new every day.
That was enough of a change for Dell, even if it meant none of them could predict the robots.
Today was especially hard, it seemed. As it turned out, the small shack that Dell chose for his new sentry nest wasn’t the ideal location anymore.
He was being overrun by the robots.
His teleporter was already gone, so he couldn’t use the two-way upgrade he got to escape. His sentry was running low on bullets, and for some reason, he didn’t think to use his Rescue Ranger today. Good one, Dell. To top it off, he had also lost his glove at some point getting there.
All the Engineer had going for him was his dispenser at his side, as he wildly shot at the robots. He was hit a few times and was already bleeding, but the dispenser was healing him oh-so-slightly faster than he could bleed out. He knew it wouldn’t be enough. He sure as hell didn’t want to go back through respawn, but when it came to, running was out of the question (lest he wanted to make a mad dash through the robots that most certainly would kill him), and the shack only had the one opening. He had managed to bring most of his stuff inside the shed, and he was starting to curse himself for that.
Looking around wildly, and keeping the gun aimed at the door, Dell tried to think of a way out. When nothing proved itself without getting him killed, he screamed for help. Every time the robots, he wasn’t sure which ones, knocked down the sentry, forcing him to move forwards and smack it with his wrench, he called out again. And again. And again.
He had no clue how long he was trapped in that shed, with his dispenser keeping him alive, and the sentry blocking the door, but he still called.
That was, until he just heard over the gunfire and explosions, “Heads up, Engineer! A Sentry Buster has entered the area!”
Great. Just what he needed. Another buster to take him down. At least he’ll respawn and be able to get out of this jam.
He could hear the stomping of the Buster’s feet as they approached him. Time seemed to slow as they got closer. Now, after working for Mann Co. for almost five years has taught him to not fear death. He had respawn, and so long as he and the others stayed within its reach, they were safe.
But that didn’t mean dying wasn’t scary. For Dell, time always seemed too slow as death approached him. It was poetic, in a scene, to try and find the danger, or maybe think about something.
The only thing racing through his head now, though, was a very sarcastic, “This is gonna be fun”
A hole got blasted into the side of the shed, right next to him. Yelping, Dell tried to peer out of it, only to be met by a Robo-Scout’s scattergun. Thinking quickly, he aimed his gun and shot first, giving him a small hole to try and escape. It was better than nothing, at least.
Clambering on top of his dispenser, Dell managed to get out and round the corner.
Only to see the Sentry Buster at the door.
Being given very little reaction time, Dell dived back behind the shed, trying to escape the explosion.
One moment, Dell was leaping for cover. The next he was flying sky-high from the blast of the explosion. It knocked off his safety helmet, and when he landed, he smacked his head.
Somehow he was alive.
Trying to move to a hidden spot, Dell crawled behind a boulder. He wasn’t sure where he was, and he could feel himself losing consciousness. He dimly heard the gunfire at this point and the yells of humans and robots alike.
It was all so far away, but Dell still tried to keep his eyes open, at least someone found him. He weakly called out for the Medic and prayed someone heard him. The feeling of death loomed ever closer, and sleep closer still. Dell was losing the battle, but he wanted to be found.
He propped himself up on the boulder, and after calling out one more time, he slipped into the world of unconsciousness.
The wave was over.
The team of mercenaries cheered as the Administrator called out the final kill. Catching their breath, the team congratulated each other on another hard-earned victory.
That was until Scout’s voice pipped up and asked, “Hey, uh, where Engie?”
Soldier stopped dead in his tracks and looked around for that bright yellow hard-hat. Everyone else did as well when no Texan voice remarked back towards Scout. Soldier instead, spotted the hat a few feet away from a broken shed, severely damaged and missing its owner.
“Engie?”
No one else spoke. Soldier walked over to the helmet hoping, prayin g , that it was fake. He bent down to scoop it up, and it followed.
“Dell?!” came the sudden fear-stricken cry.
The mercs, frozen in their places started to move when Soldier called out. It was enough time after the battle that anyone who had died would’ve respawned. And yet, Dell wasn’t there.
Demo spoke up, though, and said, “There’s a bloody Spy-bot up there!”
Everyone turned as one to where the accusing finger was pointing, and sure enough, a lone Spy-bot was standing next to a boulder close to a ledge. It seemed to hear the others, though, as it turned its head around to face the eight people below them.
As it turned, it revealed that it was holding something.
Or rather, someone.
It was too far to make out and significant features, but the glint of a metal hand was give-away enough.
The Spy-bot bolted towards the robot’s base.
The mercs gave chase.
Everything was a blur as everyone tried to do multiple things at once. Demo fired his last two stickies in an attempt to block the Spy-bot’s retreat. The damn thing just skirted around them expertly.
Soldier prepared a rocket jump to try and get in its way, but a bullet to the leg sent him to the ground. Looking to where the damn thing came from, he watches as Sniper planted a bullet of his own into a tree next to a fleeing Sniper-bot.
As the real Sniper tried to get a shot in the Spy-bot’s head, he realized he had run out of ammo. Soldier only knew this because he heard him cuss himself as he tried to look for another one. He got up with the help of Medic’s medi-beam on him.
The Spy-bot had started to run for the entrance of where all the robots came in. However, Scout had somehow managed to climb up there before it and block its path.
A sickening crack could be heard as a Scout-bot hit its flesh counter-part in the head with a bat, sending him tumbling back down. The Spy and Scout-bots looked at one another and ran into the opening of a cave together.
Soldier managed to rocket jump and follow them in. Pyro had also made it that far and ran in after their best friend, and Soldier’s boyfriend, providing them both some light.
Soldier heard someone yelling for them to stop. He didn’t listen. Instead, he kept running, dropping his rocket launcher as it only slowed him down, and pulled out his shotgun.
He could hear the sound of metal footsteps racing just ahead of him. Running faster, and seeing Pyro try to keep up, Soldier’s feet pounded into the floor of the tunnel as he tried to catch up. Soon, there was a rectangle of light ahead of him, and he could just make out a figure in front of it.
Sprinting at top speed, Soldier raced out the tunnels, only to be hit in the stomach of a waiting Scout-bot’s bat. Crumpling, Soldier looked up as the Scout-bot raised the bat to kill him.
But for some reason, it stopped when the Spy-bot called out to it. Instead, it rushed for the Spy-bot, leaving Soldier behind. Soldier tried to stand up, only to fall back down. A pair of rubber-covered hands helped him back up, though, and as he stood, he watched as the two robots crossed over a quickly retreated bridge over a large ravine. Soldier had no clue anything like that existed there.
He could dimly hear Pyro trying to talk to him, and the footsteps of the other mercs racing after the two of them.
But all he could focus on was Dell.
He watched his body draped over the shoulder of the Spy-bot sway to and fro from the momentum. But, if he looked closer, Jane could’ve sworn that Dell raised his head to look back at him. He could see blood on his head, and his goggles were askew.
But Jane looked on in horrified fear as Dell raised his hand towards him. An attempt to reach out, and say “please, help me.” only to fall limp once more.
The rest of the team gathered around him, coming from either the tunnel or from navigating their way on top. He couldn’t see nor hear them. He couldn’t feel their presence behind or beside him.
All Jane could focus on was Dell’s small figure being rushed into the robot’s base and taken out of sight.
The group of eight stood on the cliff-face of the ravine and watched as a member of their team, their family was kidnapped and taken so easily.
Dell Conagher was gone, long after the heat of battle ended.
Notes:
Hello! Welcome to my story! I'm sure you've read the description! If not, this thing will take a long time to update, as I have no plan!
But I'm sure that's cool. thanks for checking out the first chapter, though!!
see ya around!
:)
Chapter 2: Hope
Summary:
Hope by Jack Stauber
Just a little chunk of hope
Keeps me going, keeps me going every day
(Keeps me going every day)I hope that one day
Things will changeBut a little chunk of hope
Keeps me going, keeps me going every day
Notes:
Hey! a new chapter!
so, Engie canonically has 11 Ph.D.'s in Engineering, so that's why it's Dr. Conagher in the fic. i mean technically, it would be Dr.(x11) Conagher, but I don't wanna write that all, so yeah
just wanna say, that this is the part where I have no clue now on how to get from point A to point B, so chapters will be sparse!!
thank for reading anyways!
on with the show!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Ms. Pauling huffed as she set down the files in her hands onto the table in front of her. She got an urgent call from the team a few hours ago and was told she needed to get to the base as soon as possible. Good thing too, seeing as she had news about Gray Mann she needed to tell them.
Looking around at the group of anxious mercenaries, she saw that something was off.
“Where’s Engie? We can’t start the meeting without him.” She said.
They all tensed. Soldier took a shaky breath.
“That’s why we called ya here, lass.” Demo said, after a beat of silence.
“What? What’s wrong with him?” Ms. Pauling asked, looking at the team, “Is he sick or something?”
None of the mercs answered. When she looked at them, they refused to look her in the eye. This was serious then.
“He was kidnapped,” said a small voice. Ms. Pauling looked in the direction of who spoke and saw that it was most likely Sniper.
“Kidnapped?” She asked, not believing her ears. She pressed on anyways. “What do you mean, kidnapped ?”
“We mean that the robots got him,” Sniper confirmed. “They just upped and ran off with him.”
Oh. Oh no. The news she had wasn’t going to help them now. She was sure most of them would start yelling. Instead, she wanted to know how this happened.
“Oh,” She started. Not the best, but it was something. “How did he… I mean, how did the robots, uh…”
She looked at Soldier, as he was the closest to Engie, being his boyfriend and all.
“Herr Soldier hasn’t said anything since the ravine, Fraulien Pauling,” Medic spoke up, “We had to drag him away from the cliff face. He hasn’t said anything since.”
“Ravine? Wait, there’s a ravine?” Ms. Pauling exclaimed. There was so much to unpack in what was said within the last minute.
“ д a. On other side of hillside,” Heavy said, “Robots use a bridge they can move so they can get across. Too long on either side to get to robot base.”
Ms. Pauling looked around the room. Her eyes stalled on Soldier. He was still looking down at his lap. It was so odd to see him so reserved and quiet.
“A Robo-Spy took him,” Scout continued the story, “we… we tried to stop it. It got help from a Sniper and me robot. The me one hit me. Doc got me back up in time to see Pyro and Solly run into the cave. I tried to catch up to them. Managed with Pyro after they got out to the exit of the cave, but Soldier was outrunning me. Don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone run that fast before! But, uh, by the time I got there, the bridge that Heavy talked about was already out of jumping distance. Everyone got there, and well… we could really only watch as they took Engie. It was like they were taunting us.”
Scout finished the story with a sombre look. If even Scout told a story without making himself the hero, then this had really shaken the entire team.
“Well,” Ms. Pauling started, not sure how to deliver the news she had, “That just makes the info we just got on Gray a bit tougher.”
“Oh, please,” Spy sighed, “Don’t tell us that he’s moving again!”
Ms. Pauling pursed her lips, not saying anything.
“You’re not serious,” Sniper said, “you can’t be.”
“I’m afraid I am,” she continued. She looked up at all their faces. They all looked at her in disbelief, as if she had just betrayed them all.
“We have confirmed Gray’s presence in the state of New York, near another MannCo. property. It’s called ‘ Mannhatten ’ seeing as that city is the closest to the powerplant-”
“We can’t just leave Dell here.”
Soldier had finally spoken up, cutting off Ms. Pauling’s explanation.
Everyone looked at him.
He had finally looked up and was staring at Ms. Pauling. “I’m not leaving this place without Dell.”
“Soldier-” she tried to say.
“No, I refuse to leave Dell here to suffer at the hands of those robots!” Soldier yelled.
He had stood up, and was shaking with the effort to keep himself from lunging at the woman. In his hands were Dell’s hardhat and rubber glove. He had thrown them onto the table, the hat bouncing a bit. The two mercs beside him, Medic and Demo, stood up as well in case he did lunge forward.
The silence was deafening in the room.
No one dared to move, the only sounds being breathing, and the hardhat rolling to a stop in the center of the table, landing on its side.
“Soldier,” Ms. Pauling breathed, “The robot’s portable base has closed up and is going to move again. If anything, we can bet that they’re going to take Engie with them.”
“What if they don’t?” Soldier retaliated, “We can’t- I can’t take that chance! I’m not going to lose him!”
“I know Soldier,” Ms. Pauling said softly, “But every single time they moved, it’s always been the same base. We know this because we’ve tagged that thing! It’s the same one since you first fought the robots at Decoy. If we’re going to take a chance, then it’s going to be the one where Engie is inside that thing, and that it’s going to be at Mannhattan.”
She watched as Demo pulled Soldier back to his seat and whisper something to him. She could hear Soldier say a few soft “ no ”s and “ok ”s.
Eventually, he took a breath, turned back to the small woman and said, “We need to keep a close eye on it. But I will go to the next MannCo spot.”
The entire room seemed to let out a breath.
“Okay. Thank you so much, Soldier,” Ms. Pauling said, “Now, the thing with moving bases here, is that this next MannCo. property is on the other side of the country. Knowing this, it’ll take a while for Gray to get there, so, while I was going to give you guys a week and a half off, I don’t think any of you are going to take it.”
Ms. Pauling went on to explain Mannhattan and how it would play out for the team of eight. She explained the layout and the odd mechanic of the gates. There were a few comments of “ at least we don’t have to go against any tanks on this one ”.
“If anyone does want to take that eleven days off, or wants to go to the new base soon, we can still move everything now,” Ms. Pauling finished.
A few wanted to move their things now, but none of them wanted to take the week off. Instead, they all wanted to track the moving base in case they could find a way inside, or see if anything was going in or out.
The team had to come up with a plan if they wanted to get Engineer back. It would be difficult, and they all knew that. But that wasn’t going to stop them. Dell was important to all of them, in one way or another. He had made them the family they were now.
Of course, they all knew that once they made it to Mannhattan, they would have to prioritize the property over anything, but even then, they would stop at nothing to get Dell back safe and sound. If they had to blow up everything Gray used, they would blow it to kingdom come and further.
Dell had done so much for them. Now, it was time to give Dell something. And they knew that he would hold it even before he knew he would have it.
They were giving Dell hope.
Something was wrong.
That was the very first thing Dell thought when he woke up.
The next was “Everything hurts”
It struck Dell as odd when he woke up, seeing as he hadn’t woken up within the respawn chamber. Well, at least he didn’t die, so there was that. However, something in the way he was seated that put him off.
For starters, he couldn’t move. He was tied to the chair he was sitting on. Ok, not a good start.
Dell could just make out a few voices close by, chattering to each other. It sounded a bit like Scout and Spy. They were arguing over something.
“All I’m saying is that I got us out of there!” Scout was saying. His voice seemed off, but Dell put it up to the headache.
“Alright, fine!” Spy said. Since when did he agree with Scout? “You saved me from their Scout and Soldier. But Sniper took him out first and almost lost his head for it.”
“Lay off him, Spook,” a third voice (maybe Sniper?) said, “He still saved your ass. ‘Sides, the both of us got lucky that their Sniper ran out of ammo”
This whole conversation was confusing Dell. None of them seemed to be at each other’s throats like usual, and they were getting along, sort of.
He tried to move his head, only for a sharp pain to sting him from his skull down his spine. Hissing, Dell stilled his movements and focused on breathing to get the pain to numb down.
The conversation had stopped.
Dell heard Sniper say, “Scout, go get him . I’ll grab the others.”
The sound of retreating footsteps on metal soon followed.
Gaining control of his breath, Dell kept his eyes shut as he heard the last person, probably Spy, walk closer to him. He could hear him bend down, but being as near silent as he was, Dell wasn’t sure where.
He did, however, feel a presence right in front of him. He could feel eyes looking at him head-on as if daring him to open his own and look up. He could feel Spy right in front of him, but…
There was no breathing. He couldn’t hear Spy’s usually near-silent wheezes. And if Spy was right in front of him, then why couldn’t he feel his beath? He couldn’t even smell the smoke of his cigarettes. Yet, he knew that Spy was right in front of him.
Hell, Dell could hear the sounds of small electronics around him. The soft buzz of the fluorescent lights above him, the smell of something metallic, the sharper smells of antiseptics, maybe even AC or a fan, but he couldn’t hear Spy’s breaths, nor smell the smoke. The two things that Dell had learnt to become so very aware of over the past almost five years, the two things that kept him mostly alive, and he couldn’t sense any of it.
Steeling himself, Dell opened his eyes for answers and looked in front of him.
Only to be met by a steely cold blue gaze from a robot.
Dell’s eyes widened and he yelped as he tried to jump back, only for more pain to shoot through him. He felt the Spy-bot’s hands try to grab him, but he struggled, trying to get away. It was sending him through more pain, but the sudden adrenaline in his veins smothered the feeling.
“Stop it-” the Bot commanded while grabbing Dell’s arms “ -stop! ”
Dell ceased his movements, too afraid to do anything.
“You’re going to hurt yourself,” the bot continued when Dell had stopped withering. “You most likely have a concussion. Not only that but you were severely injured when we found you.”
Found him? What the hell was this thing talking about?
The Spy-bot knelt in front of him and looked him in the eyes. Dell tried to look at anything but those dead blue lights it had for seeing.
“Slow your breathing,” it said, in an almost too human-like voice, “you’re going to hyperventilate now. Try to follow my breaths”
The bot then made noises as if it was taking in a deep breath. Not only that but its shoulders and chest moved as if it was breathing.
“Where the hell am I?” Dell asked, trying to keep his voice level. “What did you do to the others? Why am I here?!”
“...Will you calm down if I moved away from you?” It asked as if it didn’t hear Dell’s questions.
He just sat there in stunned silence, staring at the robot.
“I will move away. But I still want you to try and slow your breaths.”
With that, it took its hands off of Dell and slowly backed away. It looked at him, head tilted to the side, and stayed crouched as if waiting.
Dell took a breath and asked in an almost whisper, “Where am I?”
“All of your questions will be answered once everyone is here.” It responded, in a quieter voice as well. “Please, take a deep breath.”
“Can you at least tell me why you’re helping me? Or why I ain’t dead yet?”
“I am helping you now because you are scared. As to why I was ordered to, well, take you, I suppose?” It let out something like a small laugh. “I have no clue, but I followed my orders, and here we are.”
As it spoke, it moved its hands and head like it was speaking. Like it was human. The hand movements helped Dell not focus on the fact that its face stayed completely still.
Still not trusting it, Dell looked around him at the room. He was tied to the chair he was in, so he had to crane his neck to see anything. There wasn’t much in the rather small room, to begin with, if he wanted to be honest. Four walls, the lights above him, a small table behind the robot, whatever was on the table, the robot itself, and the chair Dell was tried to. Oh, and Dell himself.
He did realize that he was breathing fairly quickly, though. So, Dell took the robot’s advice and started to focus on slowing his breaths. When he did this, he also noticed that he was involuntary shaking. Out of what, he didn’t know. It could’ve been fear, hunger, or something else.
He heard what could’ve been a sigh come from the robot. Looking back to it, Dell watched as it stood up and leaned against the table. It seemed to relax, a bit. But just as he wanted to ask it another question, the sound of more footsteps approaching cut him off.
The robot heard them as well and walked over to Dell. It walked around to behind the chair and turned him around to face the door.
Before the robot walked away, Dell heard it say, “Don’t worry. All your questions will be answered.”
It moved towards the door and opened it. A Sniper-bot entered and whispered to the Spy-bot. The Sniper bot made a gesture towards Dell and the Spy-bot made a few movements as if tell the other robot off. Both moved into the room, followed by a robot replica of each mercenary, minus Scout and Engineer.
Swallowing thickly, Dell tried to shrink into the chair he was in as an attempt to escape the robots’ collective gazes. He could hear them all talking to each other, making small glances or gestures towards him. The room was fairly spacious, to begin with, but now with the extra seven robots, it was hard to make himself less known, seeing as he was the only living thing in there.
The sounds of more footsteps approaching silenced all the robots. Dell watched as they opened the door and let the missing Scout and Engineer-bots into the room. Only, the replica of himself was wheeling in a newer model of a TV. As it turned on, he saw that it was also in colour.
However, what he wasn’t expecting, was the face of a rather older man dressed in all grey. As the TV was tuned, the man on the screen turned to the camera, and by extension, Dell.
“What’s this?” Dell asked, not sure of what the robots wanted to do, “Some kind of pro-mo video?”
“I hardly doubt that I am promoting anything, Dr. Conagher.” said the man on the screen. “This is a live feed, after all.”
The man on the screen smiled as he watched Dell try to put together imaginary dots and mouth out ‘what?’.
“I am Gray Mann, as you may have guessed,” the man, or rather, Mann, went on, “I am the one who has been attacking your beloved MannCo. Properties, as well as the inventor of these robots. I understand that you may have some questions, yes?”
Dell looked at the third Mann brother, and further back to the nine robots trying to decided what to do. In the end, he figured it would be best if he played their little game for the moment.
“How do you know who I am?” was the first thing out of his mouth.
“I know quite a bit about you and your fellow mercenaries, to tell the truth,” The older man said, “But I highly doubt that any of that is of importance at the moment.”
‘Not important. Yeah, right.’ Dell thought. If he wanted answers, he would need to ask. That’s how these things worked, right? Taking another deep breath (he’s been doing this a lot now), he asked the same questions he asked the Spy-bot.
“Where am I? Why am I here? What did you do to the others?” he asked in quick succession, as well as, “What do you want from me?”
Gray Mann pondered over the questions and responded with, “Very good questions. Well, to put it simply, you are currently within the robot’s mobile base that you may have seen stationed outside of the different properties.”
He stopped suddenly and moved a bit closer to the screen while squinting.
“Is he tied up?” he asked aloud, most likely to the robots. “I can see why you would do that, but I’m sure he’s civil enough to not run. One of you in the room, untie him from the chair.”
The Spy-bot moved forward with a knife that had appeared in its hand. Dell’s eyes widened as he watched the robot walk towards and behind him again. He braced himself to be cut, but all there was, was a slight tug, and the ropes fell free.
Taking his hands from behind his back, he noticed that he was also missing his gunslinger.
“Where’s my hand?” he asked the man on the TV, something close to anger and fear lacing his voice.
“Ah, I’m afraid we had to confiscate that as well as some other thing you had on your person.” That was the answer Dell got. “We are also taking the liberty of making you new clothes seeing as the ones you are wearing most likely will not be comfortable with all the dried blood on them.”
Looking down at his clothes, Dell saw that he was right. His shirt and overalls did have some blood on them as well as dirt and various other things.
As he was going over himself, the Spy-bot had untied and cut the rest of the ropes and moved back to the other robots. Gray Mann had continued to answer Dell’s questions.
“As for why you are here and what I want, well, those require some explanation.” He explained. “To put it simply, I want to offer you a deal, Dr. Conagher.”
Dell’s eyes snapped up to meet the ones on the screen. He was kidnapped just so this guy could try to recruit him?
“A deal?” asked Dell.
“Yes. A deal.” The statement came with a smile, “I understand that your father and grandfather have both worked for my brother, Blutarch, for a rather long time.”
Dell, of course, knew all this. His grandfather, Radigan, was hired by both Mann brothers to build them an immortality machine, but really, it was Blutarch first. His father was also hired to work as a mercenary for the Team Fortress Classic team. Hell, Dell knew some of those guys! Most of them were okay, but they did well when Dell was younger. They were all family friends to him.
That’s how Dell got caught up in all of this. All because his grandfather and father worked for BLU. All because he knew some of the Team Fortress Classic team. All because he looked up to them and wanted to be like them.
Dell had met Blutarch, once. He had dug up his grandfather’s grave to give him blueprints to make a better immortality machine, and he had stolen some other ones to make weapons. That, and his gunslinger.
“I wanted to make you deal to work for me instead of MannCo.!” exclaimed Gray, “You can help with robot productions and upgrades if you wish, or you can choose another line of work. Really, it is all up to yo-”
“No.”
Gray stared at him, blinking a few times. “I’m sorry?”
“What in the hell makes you think I’m gonna take that job?!” Dell almost shouted, “Working against my friends? Betraying them at the drop of a hat? Are you insane?!”
While he was speaking, Dell got closer to the screen and looked at the man in the eyes, not caring if he was off for him. He wanted to make his point clear, but Gray just stood there. When he stopped, he spoke up again.
“Ah. Maybe that wasn’t the best way to start this off.” He smiled at himself, seeing how it worked up the Texan. “I will not try to persuade you into working with me, but my offer still stands. However, you are not permitted to leave. You will have to stay here for the time being, and will be moved to another location later…” He had trailed off in whatever he was going to say, thinking through his plans.
Dell stood there dumbfounded. Not only did this man just tell him that he wanted Dell to work for him, but he also told him that was trapped. And he was making plans to move him away so his team couldn’t find him! What kind of asshole did that?
“So what?” Dell asked, venom dripping from his voice, “Seems like you won’t let me go back, and I ain’t taking the job. What now?”
The man on the screen seemed to ponder this as well. “Well,” he stated, “It would easy for all of us if you are to cooperate. You are in no position of power, and I highly doubt that you’ll make it very far if you try to run.”
He had a point. Dell could feel his head pounding every time he moved, and he was in the robot’s base. He was trapped.
Dell went over his options, trying to find a way out. He went over every plan he could think of, and all of them yielded the same result: get captured again and face something much worse.
“Fine. I’ll go where your bots are gonna take me. But I still got a question about them.”
“Very well,” Gray said, “It is good that you are cooperating so easily. What is your question, then?”
“What’s their deal? I mean, they act like they’re human. What’d you do to them?”
The robots shifted at this statement. They had been listening to the whole conversation, looking at one another and seeming to whisper. Now, Dell had their full attention, and he almost regretting asking.
“Oh, that’s all?” the man on the screen teased, “They are the only of their kind! I have given them a free will of sorts. They all understand that they are robots, but they have high positions of power here. As for acting like they’re human, well, I guess that couldn’t be helped. We, as humans, already have free will, after all.”
Gray spoke almost excitedly, as he explained them to Dell.
“I supposed that’s all for now,” He said suddenly, “You will be left to the care of the robots you see in front of you. My offer will stand for a limited time, so you best make up your mind soon. After that, I have no care for what they do to you. So long as they don’t kill you or let you free. Goodbye for now, Dr. Conagher! May we speak again sometime soon!”
And with that, the screen turned off.
As he was talking, though, Dell had tried to talk over him. Tried to get him to listen to his protests, and hear him. But the man had just spoken faster until the feed was cut, and the screen went black.
Dell stood in stunned silence. He watched the empty screen as if it would turn back on and give him all the answers. His head and upper back were throbbing, and the floor was swaying under his feet.
Maybe this was just a dream. Yeah, that was it. This was just some odd dream, and Dell would wake up back in respawn, or the med-bay. The round would be over, and Jane would be there. He would yell at him for scaring him, then tackle him in a hug. He would kiss him as well. They would go eat dinner with the rest of the team, joke around, and Jane would make good on his promise for the night ahead of them. Maybe this was just some dream, and Dell was about to wake up at any moment. Maybe, just maybe if he concentrated hard enough, he could force himself awake. Please, let him wake up! Please, please, plea-
The TV was rolled away from him.
Dell was forced to look at the robots in front of him. He was trembling again. This time out of genuine fear of what they could do. He was light-headed, but the Scout-bot spoke up.
“You, uh, did say that you were gonna cooperate with us. It’ll be easier for all of us if you keep your word there.”
The other nodded in agreement. Dell didn’t trust himself to speak, so he nodded as well.
“It would be best if I take him to the infirmary first,” said the Medic-bot, “We don’t need him passing out due to blood loss, and I won’t let his wounds heal improperly.”
Dell watched them all speak in a daze. He looked around at all the robots, realizing that these were the things that would ‘ take care ’ of him. When they spoke, it sounded so far away, as if he was hearing them from the other side of a tunnel. Everything was moving in slow motion and the speed of light at the same time. His heart was beating faster than ever, and he tried again to steady his breathing. He didn’t want to faint in front of them.
“Spy, if you could accompany us, that would be appreciated,” continued the Medic-bot.
“I will also accompany you!” said a new voice. Well, not new. Dell could recognize the voice anywhere, even if it was electrified and coming out of the mouth of a robot.
The Soldier-bot had spoken up.
That snapped Dell back to the present, the sound of his lover’s voice. The thing imitating him was going to act as a bodyguard. It sickened Dell.
“Very well, then,” the Spy-bot said after an air of silence, “It’ll be good to keep him close, yes?”
There were grumbles of agreement, as the rest of the robots filed out of the room. Soon, it was just Dell, and the three other bots.
Dell could hear them talking to him, but he couldn’t make out the words. His body was on auto-pilot, and he followed the Medic-bot out of the room. The Soldier-bot walked beside him, most likely making sure he wasn’t going to run. The Spy-bot took up the rear.
Dell looked around him, walking slowly as his body was screaming at him to take it easy. All the hallways looked the same. After some twists and turns, Dell was completely lost. He had no clue if his team was ever going to be able to find him in this maze.
After a bit, they entered a different room. The smell of antiseptic hit him like a brick wall. Dell hadn’t noticed he had zoned out until he was in the clinic. He let the Medic-bot look him over, and clean his wounds. It stung, but even Dell wasn’t going to let the risk of infection be the thing to do him in.
The Medic-bot put bandages around his head and arms, and let Dell go.
“I will be checking in on you routinely,” it told Dell, “It should take about a month, give or take, for everything to heal up nicely. Until then, you will be staying in your confines.”
Dell wasn’t paying much attention to it, until it said, “I am truly sorry that you somehow managed to get in this position. I understand that it wasn’t your fault, but I and a few others will do our best to keep you as safe as possible until anything happens. We are not allowed to do much, but we will do as much as we can. Until help arrives, however long that will be, Dr. Conagher.”
It was said quickly and quietly, and Dell wasn’t sure if it was spoken, or if he imagined it. But looking at the Medic-bot he saw that it had indeed, said all of that.
“Thank you.”
It was all Dell could muster before not trusting his voice to make him cry. It had still broken, though.
He was ushered out of the room, and followed the Spy-bot now, back down more hallways. The Soldier-bot had been silent the entire time, but before they had left the infirmary, Dell could’ve sworn it glared at the Medic-bot while shaking its head.
After a short walk, they came across another room. This hallway was a bit different from the others; it was on a different floor, two down, for starters.
As the Spy-bot opened the door, the thought of bolting back down the hallways briefly crossed Dell’s mind. He squashed it down, however, seeing as he was in no fit state to run it would’ve proved fruitless since the two bots he was around could easily catch up and apprehend him. Entering the room would seal his fate within this place, however.
As the door opened, Dell backed up a small bit, afraid of what was in the room. His back hit something solid, though, and looking up, he was greeted by the dead stare of the Soldier-bot looking down at him. It pushed him forward towards the room, a little roughly. Stumbling, Dell looked to the Spy-bot instinctively for help. Realizing what he was doing, Dell stopped midway, and turned back to the door, and further, the room.
Taking a steadying breath and squaring his shoulders, Dell let the Spy-bot turn on the single light within the room.
It was styled like a simple bedroom. A small bed, maybe a twin mattress, a light bulb that emitted a soft yellow light, and another door off to the side.
“Well,” the Spy-bot explained, “This will be your living arrangement until we move you to another location. The door leads to a bathroom with a shower. We will bring you three meals a day. Your new clothes will arrive shortly.”
As it was talking, Dell thought it sounded a little anxious. But he still walked into the room. Turning, he saw the Spy-bot holding onto the door handle, seeming to stall for time.
Dell spoke up for them. “Thank you, for all of this.” He knew he shouldn’t be thanking them. He should be trying to escape, but he had no plan. He wouldn’t be able to get very far, and he didn’t want to know the consequences of running.
“You should not be thanking us for anything,” the Spy-bot said in an amused tone, “But, you are welcome nonetheless. Please do go over Gray Mann’s offer. I do believe that it could benefit everyone here if you took it, and I would hate to see what would happen if you did not. Until then, Engineer, good luck. You are going to need it.”
And with that, the door closed. Dell heard a soft click, waited for a moment and tried the handle slowly. Locked. He figured as much.
Looking around the small room, he spotted a small table and chair, most likely for eating.
All that was left now, was to play the waiting game. It would only be a matter of time before his team came for him. Dell would wait a long time for his team. Even if it meant that they were now his only saving grace. Wait for the clothes to arrive, wait for the meal, wait for the checkup from the Medic-bot and wait for the next few days, maybe weeks.
He could wait.
He had patience.
Dell had hope.
Notes:
Ah, hope.
what an easy thing to take away
Chapter Text
He had lost all track of time.
Of course, he would. The room had no windows, and he wasn’t given a clock. All he had was his internal clock which was forever fucked over because of far too many all-nighters planning and upgrading, sometimes with Medic, even before the robot war.
If Dell had to guess, it had been somewhere around a week. The small bare room he was stuck in was nice but boring. His clothes arrived shortly after the Spy and Soldier-bot had left him. They weren’t anything special, just some t-shirts, long-sleeves, an undershirt, sweats, underwear (thankfully), socks and shoes. They were all pale in colour or plain white. They all fit him, which was a little unnerving. He took a shower and changed into the small bathroom.
The water was warm, and the soap had no scent.
When he was done, he found that his old clothes were missing. He tried to ask where they went, or if he would ever get them back. From the vague answers he got, the plain ones were his only ones now.
Over time, the Medic-bot checked on his wounds, changing his badges, and gave him some painkillers. It tried to talk to him, but Dell gave simple one-worded answers or just nodded or shook his head.
After some looking around, he had found a small camera in the upper corner of the room. Dell only changed in the bathroom and had trouble falling asleep.
The meals were nice as well. A few of the robots would come into the room (after knocking, thank god they had manners) and place the food on the table. The first time it happened, Dell just watched as they set it down. The bot gave a small wave, nodded its head and left. Of course, he thought it was drugged, but Dell ate anyway as he was hungry. It tasted good.
He got bored after some time, as well. When a bot came in, he asked if he could have anything to pass the time. They gave him a few books. The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings , to start. Well, he never read them when they came out, so now as good as a time than never to start. Maybe he’ll ask for The Chronicles of Narnia , next.
If anything, Dell was creeped out. The fact that the robots were somewhat kind to him scared him.
The sounds of the moving base helped. He could hear all the machinery around him working. The soft sounds of the light above him, the steam of far-off hydraulics working, the footsteps of the robots. It was similar to his workshop back on his base. If he had trouble falling asleep, he would pick a softer sound coming from the walls, focus on it, and it would lull him to sleep. That’s what he used to do back at base. But now, Soldier would come down to his workshop and drag him to bed. Or if he was already asleep, his boyfriend would carry him.
Dell smiled at the memories of going to bed with his lover. The soft nights after a good day were they would cuddle and fall asleep in each other’s arms. When they made love to one another on the rougher nights and sometimes woke up a little (or a lot) sore. The nights where Jane would drag him from his work at 3 AM into bed and trap him under his bulk until he either gave up or passed out. The times he would fall asleep in the small cot in his workshop, or at his desk and wake up in bed being cuddled by his lover.
Jane was always so careful with him like he was afraid he would break him.
A memory he had of them was over their first Smissmass together as a couple. They went back to Dell’s ranch in Texas. Jane was terrified of breaking anything in the house or tarnishing Dell’s name in the small town of Bee Cave. Dell had assured him that everything was going to be fine, but Jane was still nervous. The two didn’t know much about each other, just what they’ve told the others back on base. Of course, Dell knew that Jane was strong, he’s seen the man in the shared showers after battles. But Dell himself was rather strong as well. He was just covered in a small layer of chub. He decided to show Jane how strong he was that winter.
It started with small things, like being able to carry something heavy around the house. After that, it got to heavier things, like the couch, where Jane wanted to carry everything for him. So, Dell decided to have him help him move things around in his home workshop. Small things, like normal toolboxes, and up to some things Dell knew would give Jane some grief. However, when Dell went to pick up one of the new dispenser models that he was working on, Jane wanted to do it for him. Dell, of course, let him try knowing that it was a bit heavier than the ones back at the base.
Jane had walked over to it with such confidence as well. Dell had to turn away to keep from laughing at that alone. When Jane bent down to pick it up by the handle, the thing wouldn’t budge. He tried so hard to pick it up, and Dell just laughed at him. When he finally caught his breath, Dell walked over, picked up the oversized toolbox with ease, and put it to the side. Jane didn’t have any of it after being laughed at by his boyfriend, so, in retaliation, he picked up Dell, whispered some rather arousing words in his ear, slung him over his shoulder, went back to the bedroom and proceeded to keep Dell awake for the entire night with sex. Not only that, but it had lasted for the entirety of the next day, and into the early morning of the third. Dell couldn’t walk for almost a week. How that proved Jane was stronger was still a mystery to Dell. Something about having far more stamina than him. And really, Dell didn’t care. If doing that got him sex like that he would’ve done it so many more times.
Giggling at the sweet memory, Dell reminisced another time later when Jane had first helped him take off his gunslinger. Jane was a nervous wreck the entire time and froze once the mechanical hand was limp in his own. Dell had put it back on and had Jane take it off of him. It was slow at first and he made a few mistakes. But over time Jane could take off the hand with surprising speed. The times when Jane did take it off were always good to remember. He would loosen everything and always ask if Dell was okay. It made Dell’s heart swell every time he did that, knowing that his boyfriend never wanted to harm him.
Going back before that in his memories, Dell recalled the time when he first showed off his brand-new gunslinger. He had done it in the small shed a ways away from the New Mexico base one night. He used a saw to take off the hand and attached the mechanical hand after cleaning the wound. He was giddy with joy when the hand worked correctly the first time but soon passed out due to what he assumed was shock or blood loss. It was a good thing the team had the long weekend off.
When he walked into the base that morning, though, everyone just stared at his hand. Pyro hated the fact that Dell didn’t tell anyone about what he would do and wouldn’t speak to him for a week. Medic took him to the clinic to clean out the wound properly. It took a bit to get the new hand off the still-healing stump, as the blood had dried and it tore open the scabs that had formed. He worked in silence and Dell could tell that he was furious with him for not having him there in case anything happened, due to his grumbling in German.
Jane, however, took it the worst. He had hidden this from him. Jane told him that he felt betrayed, and bombarded him with questions like, “are you going to end up cutting off anything else? What if something went wrong? What if it got infected? What else have you’ve been hiding from me?” Dell knew that the whole thing pushed a wedge into their relationship. The two slept in their rooms for the small break and more.
Over time, Jane had grown accustomed to the hand. Everyone on the team had. Pyro started to talk to Dell again because they felt bad. Medic was disappointed that he didn’t properly prepare for taking off his own god damn hand, but he still helped with making sure it didn’t get infected. And Jane... well, he didn’t know what Jane thought of it.
One night, about two weeks after everything, Dell woke up to his bedroom door opening only to see Jane standing there sheepishly. He had mumbled something about being lonely and wanting to make sure he was okay. In his half-asleep state, Dell just sighed, rolled over, and motioned for Jane to lay down. After a moment of stillness, Jane closed the door, walked to the bed, climbed in, and spooned Dell. He had whispered to him that he was sorry for reacting the way he did, and Dell told him that he was the one who should’ve been sorry. And he was sorry. He kept it away from the man he loved, and it challenged their relationship.
After more whispered apologies, Dell fell asleep back in the arms of his lover, with small kisses scattered behind his ear, on his shoulder, trailing on his jaw and ending on his lips.
The door to his room opening startled Dell from his memories. Whipping his head around to face it, Dell was reminded of where he was. He wasn’t in his ranch back in Texas. He wasn’t in New Mexico, with his lover or friends. He was in this small room, being held prisoner by nine robotic replicas of them. The door swung open all the way, and the Soldier-bot stepped in. It was almost as if the thing knew when Dell was thinking about his lover and just had to show up and ruin his mood.
“You are being moved today,” it said, “you will have this bag to pack what you can, and will be transported to the new location in one hour.” It threw a bag onto the bed, next to Dell.
“I ain’t got nothing to pack,” Dell said sarcastically, “The hell do you expect me to do with this?”
“Non-sense. You have your clothes and books. Maybe save some of your lunch as well. It’s going to be a long trip.”
“I’m not staying in the moving base?”
“No. it would be too easy for your team to infiltrate it. We are moving you to a secondary location for safety.”
Ha, safety. Dell was being moved farther from his team just so they couldn’t get to him. God, he hoped that they would notice anything leaving the moving base and follow it.
The robot left without another word, locking the door behind it.
Looking around the room, Dell sighed and got to work. He had no clue where they were going, or if the base had even moved spots already. But, if he was going to be moved, he wanted the few things he had left.
The bag he was given looked like a hiking bag but without all the pockets. He folded his clothes and put them at the bottom of the bag. Next came the four books he was given (like hell he would give them up at this point), and finally, the blanket on his bed. He had no clue if he was going to be given a thinner blanket or one at all, so better safe than sorry. It was also because the blanket he did have was soft, so he wanted to keep that comforting sensation.
When he was done, Dell sat at the small table and tried to read his book. “Tried”, is the keyword there. But he was filled with memories of the team, the base, his lover, and so much more. He missed them so much, even if it had only been about eleven days. He knew that a rescue mission would take time to plan out, but now that he was being moved, Dell couldn’t focus. If he was moved, then everyone would need to make a new plan. They would need to do so much. If they tried an ambush, they could fail, and Dell would be held under stricter conditions. He didn’t notice when he had put down the book. He was staring at a middle distance, thinking of all the bad things that could happen. His breaths came in shallow bursts, and he was shaking again.
Dell was scared.
He was so scared of what could go wrong. He didn’t want anything to happen. He didn’t want anyone to be hurt. But he knew it had to happen. No matter what, the other eight would free him. He just needed to hold onto that hope.
There was a knock at the door. It opened up without Dell saying anything. The Spy-bot was standing there, looking at Dell and his packed bag. It had lunch in its hand.
“I see you are already packed?” it asked
“Yeah,” he answered, “The Soldier one came ‘round earlier. Gave me the bag.”
“I see. Well, in any case, I will wait until you finish eating. Then we are going.”
“I was planning on eating on the road. Just so I don’t get too hungry on the trip.”
Dell inwardly cursed himself for saying that. If they went now, the others would have less time to save him. Sure, the bot’s were alright towards him, but they were starting to get rough. Especially the Soldier-bot. It would shove him down onto the mattress, chair, into the table or onto the floor. He could tell it wanted to do more by the way it loomed over him, but another robot always came in just in time to save him. But even then, most of them would start to do the same things.
Dell got scared every time the door opened. He didn’t know which robot would be on the other side of it. The only ones he trusted a little were the Scout, Spy, and Medic bot.
“If you wish to eat on the way to your new location, we can accommodate for that,” the Spy-bot was saying, “However, we will need to restrain you.”
“Restrain me?” This was surprising.
“Yes, restrain you. We need to do this to make sure you don’t do anything rash, like attempting to run.”
“And why do you think I’d do that?”
“We’ve been reviewing you via the camera. We see your every movement, and we concluded that you may have thought of running when we move you. We cannot risk that.”
Dell didn’t know what to say. He knew that he was being monitored, but he didn’t know that these things could read body language.
“Oh.” was all he could muster.
“If you are ready, I will go and prepare everyone else. I will come and get you when we leave.”
An impasse. He was at an impasse. On the one hand, Dell could try to stall for more time, eat here slowly and all. Or, he could go now and get it over and done with. Either way, he was going. He didn’t want to go. We wanted to stall, and he’d just thrown out that chance. He messed up. He just wanted to go home, back to the base, back to his friends, Jane, the ranch, anywhere but there and here.
“Engineer, I understand that you wish to go, but this is the only way.”
Did he say all that out loud? The Spy-bot heard him. Dell stared on in horror as he walked backwards, away from the robot. His knees hit the bed and he fell onto it. His breaths were fast and scared, he didn’t want anything to happen to him.
“Hey, hey!” the Spy-bot was saying, “It’s alright! You can still eat here if you want. I don’t want to move you. I want your team to find you, truly, but we have orders. Engineer, please, steady your breathing, you are going to hyperventilate.”
The robot had moved into the room, taking Dell by the upper arms, gently rubbing them. Dell could’ve sworn he saw genuine concern in the blue lights it called eyes.
Swallowing thickly, Dell took deeper breaths in time of the slowing rubs. The fact that he was finding comfort , of all things, in this robot baffled him. He wasn’t thinking. The robot was the only thing that showed compassion to him in the short time he was there. He didn’t think. The thing that kidnapped him and brought him here was kind to him, and he missed that. He missed the basic human kindness. He missed comforting touches. Dell didn’t know his body moved.
He lunged forward and hugged the robot, as tears threatened to spill over his eyes.
Both of them froze.
Dell couldn’t believe what he had just done. Here he was, on the brink of tears, hugging a damn imitation of his friend, in the middle of an unknown place. And he almost cried as the robot hugged him back. It rubbed his back in a soothing motion, and just let Dell hold onto it. It was warm to the touch, surprisingly, but Dell didn’t care. He just held on, and let the robot comfort him.
After a bit, Dell pulled away from the hug, not looking at the robot’s eyes. It did the same but seemed to think about something.
“Marcel.”
Dell looked up at the bot. “Pardon?” he asked, unsure if he heard it right.
“We are taking time to find ourselves names. It’s better than just ‘robot’ or ‘something-bot’ . I came up with ‘Marcel’ for mine.”
The robots were giving themselves names. He didn’t think they were going to be the same ones as the team. If anything, Dell could respect this small thing, seeing as the robo- no. Seeing as Marcel was treating him with kindness.
“If that’s the case, then you can call me Dell.” he gave Marcel a teary-eyed smile as he spoke.
“Very well then,” Marcel responded, holding out its hand, “You may call me Marcel.”
The two shook hands.
“I’ve noticed that you use it/its pronouns when referring to us.” Marcel said, “I can understand why, and although it does not bother us, I would like if you used the pronouns He/They for myself.”
“Well, it wouldn’t be a first for me to use different pronouns,” Dell said, “But I can do that. Do you think you can tell me the Medic's name as well?”
“I can when he finds his name. Also, we all use the same pronouns of He/They , but I will tell you if they change.”
With that, Marcel nodded and left Dell with something that could’ve been a smile.
Dell ate his lunch in his room. He was given an extra half-hour before being moved.
It had only been one week.
The team of eight had been steadily tracking the moving base across the U.S. and had only waited a week before something interesting happened. As they waited, though, they were given more information about Mannhattan. When Ms. Pauling said it was close to the city, she had failed to mention that they would be able to see the skyscrapers and hear the traffic. Gray was really pushing it with the robots and getting to the MannCo. Properties.
But, as they waited, the moving base had, well, started moving.
Sniper had been the one to see it. He alerted the others when it happened. The base had stopped moving, and a vehicle had driven up to it. The team had watched waiting for something to happen. They ended up sending Spy and Scout to get a closer look.
They got somewhat close. As the rest looked on, they saw nine robots exit the base. One of each mercenary. They were all close together, looking around, and forming a sort of circle. Sniper had moved to a higher spot earlier. He had called over the comms that, in the middle of the circle, Dell was there.
Spy and Scout hurried to try and get to them in an attempt to ambush them. They never got there.
Sniper had said that it looked like Dell was handcuffed to the Soldier-bot and was blindfolded. He was in grey clothes and didn’t look too good.
One of the robots had spotted Spy and Scout and rushed the others to the vehicle.
They ran faster. The others could only watch on. There was a scream.
“ NO! ”
It was Soldier. He made a mad dash for them. It wasn’t that far. They had only sent Spy and Scout because they were quiet.
The others tried to stop him.
Sniper saw Dell’s head shoot up and look in their direction. He had heard Jane’s voice.
The Soldier-bot jerked its hand, and by extension, Dell towards itself. Sniper saw Dell stumble. He was an idiot for not grabbing his rifle.
The robots, including Dell, rushed into the vehicle. Spy and Scout tried to reach them. The vehicle started and drove away. There was no way any of them could catch up to it.
The base started to move again.
Soldier caught up to Scout and Spy.
Jane was forced to watch Dell be taken away from him, just staying out of arms reach, for a second time.
Notes:
things are happening!
Chapter Text
God, how long has it been now?
Dell had no clue. When he was moved, he was handcuffed and blindfolded. They walked outside. He knew that much because he could feel a breeze on his face. He could smell the outside. He didn’t know he could forget that smell. But there was more. One of the robots said they had seen a member of his team. They were there! But the robot’s rushed to the vehicle. Dell was moved along with them.
That’s when he heard it. It was far off, but it sounded so close, almost right next to him.
“ NO! ”
It was Jane! Dell stopped and looked in the direction of the voice in hope. But the Soldier-bot had pulled him forwards. He stumbled and was rushed up a ramp. From there was a long ride. Dell had eaten a small snack he brought. The robots spoke among themselves but were mostly silent. Dell forgot that they were even there until one asked how he doing.
He tried to nap as well, but his head was full of thoughts and questions. Where were they going? Why was Jane back there? How many of the team were there? Was the whole team there? How close were they? What would’ve happened if Dell fought back against the robots?
That last one hit Dell the hardest.
If he fought back, then maybe, just maybe , he would’ve been rescued. But he didn’t. Then he wouldn’t be stuck here.
All of that, so long ago now. A month? A month and a half?
He glanced around his new room. It was smaller than the last one. It still had a bed and table and bathroom, smaller as well. A small cubed shower, a toilet, and a sink. His books sat on the table. He was allowed to keep his blanket, even though he was given one in the new room.
Heh. “Allowed” to keep the blanket. Funny how a month or so in captivity can change someone’s mindset.
Dell recounted what happened in the past few weeks.
After the silent ride, Dell’s hands were pulled at from an unseen rope that was laced through the knot at some point. The Soldier-bot had spoken to the other bots, telling them something along the lines of ‘He’ll be fine with me. I’ll take him to his room’. The Medic-bot tried to argue that he needed to look over Dell first, but he was cut off by the sound of metal hitting metal. There was a tense silence around them, and Dell could feel the fear coming off of the Medic-bot. None of the robots dared to speak, and the Soldier-bot dragged Dell away from them all.
Dell figured he really didn’t want to know what happened.
He was lead, or rather, dragged, by the rope tying his hands through another maze of corridors. Dell tried to ask questions, but the only thing he received as an answer was a rough tug of the rope and a growl of “Do not speak unless you are spoken to”. The tone in its voice alone was enough to scare him into silence.
After walking through another maze of corridors, the two finally got to Dell’s new room. The robot shoved Dell into the room, making him land on his knees at the sudden force. As he started to stand though, a pair of cold, rough metal hands planted themselves on his shoulders in front of him, keeping him in place. He couldn’t get up, and he didn’t want to try in an attempt to keep the robot from doing anything. Staying on his knees, hands bound in front of him and still blindfolded, the Soldier-bot moved one of its hands to gently cup Dell’s chin, tilting his head upwards. Dell could feel his heart start to race as the robot moved his head from side to side, looking at him.
The hand moved further up and lifted the blindfold. Dell opened his eyes, but the thumb coved them while the voice above him said “You will only open your eyes when I say you can. You will answer to me and my demands. If you disobey, then I will need to teach you a lesson in respect. Do you understand?”
It was the last thing Dell expected to hear. As he tried to process what the robot had said, its hand tighten on his shoulder, pressing him down, and starting to squeeze his neck.
Yelping at the sudden pain, he heard the robot repeat itself, “I said, you will answer to me alone. If you disobey, I will need to harm you. And neither of us want that.” The grip loosened a bit, and Dell nodded his head.
“I need you to verbally confirm it, Conagher”
It was the first time the thing said his name.
“Yes, I understand”
“I understand, sir.”
Dell hesitated. The grip started to tighten again.
“I understand, sir.”
Dell shook himself from the memory. He looked around the room from where he was sitting, looking at the spot where it had happened. He was only on the small bed, and the spot was just in front of him. He remembered the metal thumb being moved from the eye, the blindfold coming off fully, and the Soldier-bot looking down at him. He felt so small in that moment, looking up at the robot.
He felt scared.
Standing, Dell walked to the small bathroom. His throat went dry at the memory and he needed to drink something.
Thinking about it, he had become accustomed to the smaller room. There wasn’t much to do in it, other than read, eat and sleep, but it was nice. Sort of. There was still a camera, but it was well hidden. It took Dell a bit to find it. The room as a whole was almost like a cell. Ha. a comfortable cell. That’s all it was in the end. He was stuck there, in that damn room. The stupid room with the stupid bed and stupid table and chair, and the stupid bathroom that was connected to it. It was all so stupid, stupid, stupid!
He hated it so much. He hated being stuck, he hated not being able to come up with a plan to escape. He hated that he was afraid of what could happen if he tried.
His fist hit the edge of the sink, pain shooting up through the limb.
He reeled his hand away, wishing he could hold it, but all he could do was rub the stump of an arm he had next to it. Hissing, Dell rubbed his fist as he calmed down. Anger would get him nowhere if he wanted to escape, or if he wanted to be saved.
He turned off the tap and walked back over to the table. Dell wished that he had Scout’s ability to draw. Then he would’ve asked for some paper to help him pass the time. But for now, he grabbed a book and started to read. At least, he tried to read.
His mind kept going back to the events that had happened in the past month. From the moment the Soldier-bot first left the room, leaving him with a bruise on his neck and shoulder, to the most recent time it had left. Only yesterday. Or was it longer than that? A few hours ago? God, he hated not having anything to help him with time.
Dell recounted the sour memory anyways. The robot had barged into his room not caring to knock or announce its presence. Dell was asleep at the time, but the thing simply stomped over to the bed and roughly grabbed Dell to make him stand, yelling incoherently.
“What the hell are you-”
SMACK!
Dell stood in place dumbfounded, trying to process what just happened. The robot had smacked him. His cheek started to burn due to the sudden pain. He lifted his hand to the sore spot, but two metal hands grabbed him by the wrist and stump, jolting his attention to the robot in front of him. His eyes went wide in shock as the hands tightened their grip, pulling them together so they could be held in one hand alone. The robot forced Dell up, dragging and pushing him to a wall, and slammed his body against it, knocking the wind out of his lungs. The thing pulled Dell’s arms above his head, trapping him in the one spot. It put what felt like its entire body weight onto Dell as its free forearm pressed on his chest, pinning him to the wall.
Dell couldn’t breathe.
“You spoke out of line.” was the only thing Dell heard it say. The hand holding both his arms above his head tightened, leaving bruises on him. The robot pushed him further into the wall, its arm sliding up to his throat, suffocating him. Dell choked on his own spit, as the arm was dug further into his skin. He tried turning his head, moving his hands out of its grapes, anything to relieve the pressure.
He struggled under the weight of the robot, trying to breathe, but managed to choke out a strangled ‘Why?’
“I need a reason for this?” the thing laughed. Dell could swear he heard the smile in its voice.
“I don’t need a reason, Conagher.” it continued, “We’ve been over this before! I just want to have some fun, watching you struggle. I do need to teach you, and the others, who is in charge here after all.”
Dell was about to pass out when it released him. He dropped to the floor, sucking in air and coughing. The robot backed up and knelt in front of him. It grabbed his chin, forcing Dell to look at it. It leaned forward and whispered into Dell’s ear.
“I am in charge. You will answer to me alone. Disobey me, and you will be punished. This is your first lesson, Dell.”
After that, it left, leaving Dell on the ground, shaking, struggling to breathe, and fearing for his life for the first time.
A soft knock a the door startled Dell from the memory. He didn’t realize that he had put down the book, and was now rubbing the bruises on his arms and neck.
The door opened softly, as the sound of a wheel entered the room. It was only the Medic-bot. Dell relaxed as the robot wheeled its way in.
“Dr. Conagher?” it called, looking around the room for him. When its eyes landed on him, though, it gave a distressing beep.
“Dr. Conagher!” it exclaimed, “What happened to you?!”
“It’s nothing, Doc,” He tried to reassure it, as it rushed over to him, medical bag in tow. He held up his hand as it looked over him with calm and soft movements.
I doubt that this-” it said, gesturing to Dell’s arms and neck, covered in bruises, “-is nothing! Who did this to you?”
“I said it was nothing, Doc,” He tried again, weakly batting away the robot’s hands.
It stalled, for a moment, before asking in a quiet, concerned voice, “Did that Soldier-bot do this to you?”
This caught Dell off guard. Of course, the Medic-bot would know that the Soldier-bot was roughing him up, but to put two and two together that fast? Well, the artificial intelligence that they work on was pretty darn good.
“Yeah,” He confirmed, “It was him.”
He didn’t want to look at the robot. He refused to look it in its eyes. Instead, he heard it make a clicking sound, much like a ‘tsk tsk’ sound. He could see it shaking its head from the corner of his eye.
Its hand went to Dell’s cheek, pulling his head to face him softly. Dell complied with a frown, still not looking it in the eyes. He let the robot move his head to look at the bruises on his neck. When it grabbed his arms, he let it lift them both to look at the marks there as well.
“You are not resisting me,” it said, almost to itself.
“Am I supposed to?”
“Well,” it stalled, moving its head in a thinking motion, “seeing as how the Soldier-bot, ah, harmed you, I am surprised that you are trusting me this easy.”
“Oh.” Dell could see why it was surprised. Hell, he was surprised that he trusted the robot at all.
“How long ago did this happen?” the robot asked after a small break.
“I don’t got nothing to help with time in here,” Dell sighed.
The robot looked around as if just noticing that it was true. There were no clocks or windows in the small room.
“Ah.”
It went back to looking over Dell’s body, searching for anything that could be broken, or anything else.
After some time, it stopped and looked through its medical bag. It took out some pill bottles, which made Dell suspicious.
“What’s in those?” he asked, fear starting to creep into his voice.
“Oh, these?” it turned back to Dell. “These are just pain killers. I have a feeling that you will be needing more if we cannot get through to him anytime soon.”
“Get through to him?”
If robots could breathe, this one took a breath to think over its words.
“Yes, get through to him,” it said, toying with the pill bottle in its hands, “He has not been the best to any of us. Thinks he is the leader. But, ah, some have taken his side now.”
“Taken his side?”
The bot looked at Dell, and he swore he could see something in its eyes. Sorrow? An apology? Was it sad?
“Yes, taken his side,” it explained. “When we were made, we were programmed to take on an emotion that is not commonly seen within the person we are modelled after. Myself and Marcel ended up with more empathy than anything. I believe this is why we have been so kind to the others and yourself. However, the Soldier-bot ended up picking up on a far more aggressive emotion not seen within your Soldier. We have been trying to get it to see a different emotion in attempts to make him, well, nicer?”
The robot moved its hands as it spoke, as though explaining what it meant through the various motions.
“The Demoman-bot and Scout-bot have both taken his side. The Pyro-bot and Heavy-bot however, have both made it clear that they want no part in any of the things going on with you. Marcel and I have been trying to convince them and the others to change their minds. I’m afraid we will not be able to succeed though. The Soldier-bot has been increasingly aggressive with us, and as it appears, you as well.”
Dell didn’t really know what he just heard. He learnt how these things work, why the Soldier-bot was so aggressive to him, and the fact that he might be put into more danger as time goes on.
It was a terrifying thought. He was already here for about a month and a half. He didn’t know how long it would take for his team to find and save him.
The Medic-bot seemed to pick up on his distress, as it soon said, “Let us change the subject!”
“To what?” He questioned, “You just told me that I’m in way more danger than I ever thought! And I can’t do anything to prevent it! If I try to fight back, that thing’s just going to-” he stopped. “It's gonna… gonna…”
In truth, Dell had no idea what would happen to him. The thought alone was terrifying. What was it going to do? Keep harming him until he passed out from the pain? Keep going even after he passed out? Would it be more than just hits and suffocation? His breaths quickened, and he started to tremble slightly.
“Hey, look at me!” the Medic-bot grabbed his arms gently, moving its hands up and down in a comforting motion. “Whatever happens, we are trying to prevent it from getting any worse than this.
Dell wanted to yell. He wanted to fight back against the Medic-bot’s optimism. He wanted to tell it that there was no use. But when he looked at it, all he could do was stop.
Dell was a man of plans. Everything he did was done to an agenda. Everything had a place, and if something went wrong Dell needed to fix it, or his plans, so that way nothing else went wrong. That being said, Dell’s mind went a million miles a minute as he thought of plans and plans and plans. If he yelled, the Medic-bot would try to quiet him and stay in the room. If he fought, the bot could easily hold him back. If he told it ‘it’s no use’ if would argue to change his mind. Anything he did, the bot would try to help him. It would try to comfort him. So, he just stopped.
Dell took a shaky breath.
“I just don’t want it to get worse.”
The robot looked sad. It was difficult to see emotions on them, but the fact that they had body language was good enough for Dell.
“We are doing everything in our power to make sure that never happens. And when we achieve that, we will then work on de-escalating all of this.”
“Do you think this is because I didn’t take up that old man’s offer?” Dell asked suddenly.
The robot swayed its head, as though to think through the answer.
“It is hard to say,” It answered, “I believe that is not the case. However, Gray Mann said that he gave you a time limit to think things over, yes?”
Dell nodded.
“Well, you can still think! Maybe you can join us in the end, if you wish. I know it would be hard for both you and your team for that to happen, but you wouldn’t be in this position.”
“What if I ran out of time?”
“Then we go back to Plan ‘A’!”
The robot let out a soft chuckle at that. It backed from Dell, balancing expertly on its wheel. It looked around the room, thinking.
“Maybe we can get you a plant?” it asked quietly.
“A plant?” This was new.
“Yes, a plant!” it said excitedly, “I know that humans need something to help them with their internal clock! Without a real clock of daylight indicators in this room, maybe a simple plant could help. We could also start to adjust the light to dim and brighten with the daylight cycle…” it trailed off, still thinking of ways to comfort Dell.
“I think a plant would be nice,” Dell said, interrupting its train of thought.
The robot looked back to Dell with slightly brighter eyes. Maybe the eyes helped them show emotions as well?
“A plant it is, then!” If robots could smile, this one was. “We’ll get you one that won’t need much maintenance, such as a cactus, or succulent. Oh, but they need much light. Maybe a snake plant? Oh! Or a stalk of Lucky Bamboo!!”
Dell smiled at the robot’s rambling. It was such a small thing to do for him, but the robot was going through all plants that didn’t need high maintenance or much light.
“Anyways, as much as I would hate it, I believe that I am done here.”
The Medic-bot turned back to face Dell.
“I promise, my friend, we will not let anything happen to you.”
Dell stayed seated on the chair, but he nodded in acceptance.
“Thank you,” he said, knowing that no matter what, the next time he would take to the robot would most likely be after the next time the Soldier-bot harmed him.
“I have thought of a name for myself,” it said softly.
“I’m sorry?” Dell almost didn’t hear what it said.
“Yes, a name and some pronouns that I liked!” They continued, “I have chosen the name ‘Curtis’ for myself. “Curt” for short. And as for pronouns, I was rather fond of the He/They ones.”
Curtis’ eyes were bright again. Dell knew they were changing with emotions.
“Well then, Curtis,” Dell said rising from his seat with some effort, “Thank you for everything you’ve done so far.” he held out his hand for them to shake.
Curtis took the hand in both of his and shook it. “Thank you, Dell, for trusting me.”
After that, they left Dell alone in the room once more. Only this time, Dell didn’t feel quite as lonely.
Notes:
A new friend arrives, but alongside it, new troubles.
also, this thing has over 200 hits now? WHAT??
i didn't expect this to get very far, but here I am, 4 chapters in and over 200 reads.
i can't thank y'all enough for this.I'll see everyone in the next chapter!
:)
Chapter 5: Haunting Feelings
Notes:
Hi, this is a small update, because I figured it was needed.
there is the start of Rape/Non-Con here, but nothing to majorif you still wish to skip it, skip from this line:
"Its other hand started to roam over Dell’s body. Flittering over his chest, down to his side, his stomach and lower still."
to about this line:
"The door opened at that moment. Both human and robot stopped and stared at the doorway. The Engineer-bot poked its head in looking at the two."better safe than sorry
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Dell stared at his new plant.
It was a snake plant that he got a few days ago. Marcel brought it in for him. He got to taking care of it immediately. The small thing didn’t need too much care, luckily. Just a little bit of light and water. Dell was surprised he kept it alive for so long if only a few days.
He stared at it from his place on his bed. Its leaves drooping in a healthy way telling him that it was doing okay.
He wanted to name it. It was a funny thing. To want to name a plant. But the longer it sat on his small desk, giving his small room some colour, the more he wanted to name it.
The plant was the only thing he had at all times. The books were nice, but they didn’t do much to offer someone (or something) to talk to. So, snake plant. Yes, he had Marcel and Curtis, but they only came in the room to either look over his injuries, give him food, try to reassure him that help was coming or comfort him. It was nice to talk to them. The more he did, the more he learned about them and the other robots and the building he was in.
At times, the other robots would also come and go. After what Curtis told him about the Scout-bot and Demo-bot joining sides with the Soldier-bot, he was wary whenever the two walked in. but, at the time, it seemed that they had no interest in doing anything. The Scout-bot would scoff and seem to roll its eyes whenever it saw him.
The Demo-bot however… well, the Demo-bot tried to befriend Dell. He didn’t know what to think of that but he tried to talk to it. Not as much as Marcel or Curtis, but enough.
It started when the thing had brought him food one day. It had tried to make small talk with him. It said it was sorry for everything happening to him, and said the same things as Curtis. It sickened Dell to know that this thing was trying to be all buddy-buddy with him after learning that it was against him. But, he still talked to it. He tried his best to make it think he believed him.
And for his efforts, he got a name: Seán. It was pronounced as “Shawn” , and Dell said he would remember that. Seán had also said that they used He/They pronouns, much like the others. Dell didn’t care, but he still respected him.
For now, though, Dell just stared at his potted plant.
Names, names, names. He had no clue which one to give the plant. He thought about naming it after one of his teammates, or even Jane. But, he didn’t want to risk the plant being taken from him, so he shut that idea down quickly.
Instead, he tried to think up names for it. Maybe something from the books he was reading? Well, the plant didn’t look like a “Bilbo” or “Thorin” much. Not even a “Gandalf” , so book names were out of the question. So maybe something else. Like “Planty” . No, it didn’t seem like a Planty either.
Naming plants was hard, Dell decided. Or maybe, Dell just sucked at naming things.
The poor thing was his only company. Dell wanted to give it a name, but it would have to wait until one came to him.
Dell rolled onto his back, looking up at the ceiling. He’s been stuck in the room for about seven or eight weeks now. How did he know? He didn’t. He was guessing. But it had to be a close call.
A soft knock at the door startled Dell. He didn’t hear any footsteps, so it must have been Marcel. It was odd that he was starting to learn what the footfalls of the robots sounded like.
The door opened, and, low and behold, Marcel stepped in. He had lunch in his hands. Sitting up, Dell gave him a small smile.
The two talked for a small bit. Dell told Marcel about the naming problem, and the robot couldn’t think of any names either.
After some time, Marcel left. Dell knew that all the robots were getting better at expressing their emotions through body language, but he thought that the fact they could dim and brighten their eyes was also helping.
Walking over the small table, Dell looked down at his small lunch. It looked like the meals were getting smaller with every day that passed. Oh well. Food was food, and Dell was hungry. He sat down and dug in.
Marcel walked out of the small room.
He tried to talk with Dell, to make him a little happier and give him some hope, but it was obvious Dell was slowly losing some kind of battle. He didn't believe that his team was coming anymore. And that worried Marcel.
He needed to take his mind off of the human. So, he chose to wander through the off-base that Gray owned.
It was a smaller base when compared to others, but it was still a base. Grey had a few, like his main island base, but there was also this one and the moving base. He was a little disappointed that they were kicked out of the moving base. He quite liked patrolling after the day’s battle, going over the battlefield and coming up with a new strategy. But, Marcel figured it was his fault that they were all here. Well, maybe ‘fault’ wasn’t the right word, but he was still the cause of action. He was the one who kidnapped Dell, and now everyone was here.
And by god, did he feel guilty about it.
Marcel was starting to get cocky about going out to the battlefield earlier and earlier every day. When he came across Dell’s broken body, the message he received to take him back to the base was immediate. He had no clue where it came from, but he simply picked him up and ran from the mercenaries. He was lucky that the Scout and Sniper-bot saved him.
It was by their doing that Dell was in this place. It was by his doing that the others were stuck here as well. The tensions were building with the lack of going outside, and stress was running through all the robots.
All of them were showing stress through various means. Some paced around the base, like Marcel, others were doing work overtime, and others… well, they took it out on their work or everyone else.
They all needed a healthy outlet, and this base was not doing them any favours.
“Oh, hello, Marcel!” called a chipper voice. Looking around, he hadn’t noticed that he had walked to the med-bay.
“Hello, Doctor,” he called back.
“What brings you here?” Curtis tilted his head.
“I am not sure,” was the answer, “I was just, ah, wandering, I suppose.”
Curtis nodded, turning back to whatever they were working on.
Marcel walked over to the wheeled robot glancing at their work. He had no clue what any of it meant. Instead, he opted to look around the room for anything that would pique his interest. Nothing did, so he relaxed on a chair.
After some time, he asked, “Have the others found names for themselves yet?”
Curtis turned around to face him.
He pondered his question, and Marcel was about to repeat himself when he answered, “Yes, they have!”
“Well, let’s hear them!” Marcel exclaimed, standing up.
Curtis wheeled around back to his desk to grab a pile of papers. Marcel found it funny, almost cute, how the robotic doctor insisted on keeping physical copies of everything when they had a memory bank. He watched him nonetheless with interest.
When Curtis found the papers, he made the show of tapping them on his desk to straighten them out. He had a standing desk, seeing as it was difficult for him to sit with his wheel.
Marcel stifled a laugh at his movements.
“Names, names, names,” Curtis mused, looking at the papers in their hands, “what odd things to have.”
“Get on with it!” Marcel jeered playfully.
“Alright, you don’t need to shout.” Marcel could hear the smile in his voice.
“I do believe that this is everyone’s name and pronouns, so I shall go in order,” Curtis explained. “First, the Scout-bot! They wish to use they/them pronouns and has chosen the name “ Slugger ”!” he started cheerfully.
Marcel nodded, wishing he could smile at the doctor’s happy tone and added the name and pronouns to his memory bank.
“The others have chosen, so I will be quite quick with this,” he continued, looking at the suited bot.
Marcel nodded, signalling that he was ready.
“Good,” he said, “The Soldier-bot has chosen the name “ Walker ”, and the pronouns he/him -” Marcel added the name “-the Pyro-bot wishes to use “it/it’s ” pronouns and the name “ Ignis ”-”
“Ignis?” Marcel cut in.
“Yes, Ignis,” Curtis confirmed, “as in the Latin word for “ Fire ”. I was caught off guard as well.”
Marcel nodded and added the name.
“We know that Seán uses he/they pronouns,” Curtis continued, “the Heavy-bot has chosen Alexander and the pronouns he/they as well. The Engineer-bot has chosen the name MacIntosh and the pronouns he- no… they/he . They made sure it was they/he .” Curtis mumbled, eyes dimming in concentration.
“MacIntosh?” Marcel questioned, “as in the apple?”
“Yes,” came the reply, snapping the robotic doctor from their haze, “I asked them the same thing. They also said that we can shorten their name to “ Tosh” if we wish!”
Oh well. That’s good news. The names were added to the list.
“And finally, there are us and the Sniper-bot!” Curtis beamed, eyes glowing brighter again, “They have chosen to keep they/them pronouns, and have chosen the name, McLain ! They’ve also said we can shorten that to just “Mick” !”
That was it. All nine of them had names and pronouns. Marcel finished adding the names, nicknames, and pronouns to their memory bank. It was quite a bit, but they’ll get used to them all over time.
Marcel mulled over them, connecting names to models and faces. He looked over at Curtis, who was busy putting away their papers. Marcel wished again to have the ability to smile, just so he could give one to the robotic doctor.
“Curtis, if you do not mind me asking,” he said after some time, “but why do you keep paper copies of everything? We have memory banks! It doesn’t seem very practical for all this.” He made a motion, gesturing to the small mess on the desk.
“Well, you know me, Marcel,” he said sheepishly, “I prefer to keep the physical copies in case my memory bank becomes altered in any way. Or, really, in case I forget something.” He let out a small laugh at the statement. Marcel found that with every laugh from him, it sounded more and more natural. More human. He liked that about him.
“Yes, but,” he stated, “wouldn’t it be easier for you to keep it in the banks? I know you said it was a fail-safe, but what if something happens to your papers?”
“Marcel, you worry far too much,” Curtis chided, “I do keep everything in my memory bank. I just like to keep all this in a place where I can see it. I suppose it’s a confirmation of sorts.”
Marcel shook his head at the response.
“What?” came the complaint, “What’s wrong with that?!”
“There’s nothing wrong with it!” the suited robot defended, “We can’t forget anything, is all! I doubt that our memory banks will ever become compromised, and it seems very impractical for the papers.”
Curtis scoffed at him, putting a hand over his chest and tilting his head in mock disbelief. “Well, I think you just don’t appreciate proper organization. I’m working on getting a filing cabinet anyways.”
He turned his head up and faced away from Marcel with the last statement, sarcasm in his words.
“Such a drama queen, you are,” Marcel muttered, a smile in his voice.
“That’s rich, coming from the robot based off the drama queen.” came the sly comeback.
“We don’t even know that much about the mercenaries! How do you know who the drama queen was?”
Both fell into laughter at their banter. In the end, it was all in good fun. Marcel was a close friend of Curtis, after all. He hoped the same could be said vice versa. But at any rate, he enjoyed the time he spent with his friend.
There was a comfortable silence in the room when the laughter calmed down.
Marcel found themself thinking about when they were first given sentience, or that “Free Will” or whatever Gray Mann called it.
When the robots were first made, Marcel and Curtis were far from friends. It wasn’t that they hated each other, they just didn’t find themselves around the other often.
However, when Marcel, well, kidnapped Dell, he found himself staying closer to Curtis. He didn’t know why at first, but he came to realize that he felt guilty about taking the man. It baffled them to know that they could feel such an emotion, but they felt it anyway.
When Curtis had questioned them why they were so worried about Dell, they explained to him that it was from the guilt. Curtis didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he seemed intrigued that Marcel could feel guilt! He asked if he could do some experiments on them, and after multiple declines, Curtis revealed that he was also worried for the human.
What made this interesting, to Marcel at least, was that it wasn’t from emotion. Instead, it was from the fact that Curtis was the only robot that was programmed with medical knowledge. Curtis felt as though it was his job to keep Dell healthy and alive. They weren’t allowed to let him go, or kill him, after all. And from what Walker was doing to him, Curtis’ nervousness only grew every time he went to visit Dell.
From the combined guilt and fear that the two felt, they ended up becoming closer friends than either thought. Maybe it wasn’t the best way to start a friendship, but it was a start to be sure.
There was a soft knock at the door, calling attention to it.
Both robots turned as the Engineer-bot walked in.
“There you two are!” They exclaimed, “Walker’s called for a team meeting.” they looked at Marcel, eyes blinking.
“Uh, we filled you in on everyone’s names, right?”
“Curtis just told me them all, MacIntosh,” Marcel responded.
“Oh! That’s good!” the short robot nodded, “Well, you can just call me Tosh if ya wish.”
“Tosh, you were talking about a team meeting?” Curtis asked, trying to get to the point.
They snapped their fingers and pointed at Curtis. “Right! Team meeting!” they exclaimed, “Walker called it. Not sure what for.”
“Well,” Marcel said, “We don’t want to keep everyone waiting, no?”
The other two agreed, and all three walked out the room, following Tosh, to where the meeting was to be held.
Marcel watched the two robots in front of him as they talked. He didn’t care much for the conversation, but he managed to catch something about giving the robots jaws to move with their words. That, and eyes that would change colour with their emotions. He quite liked the eye colour idea.
The trio made it to the small room that they decided was the “Meeting Room” in no time. There wasn’t much in the room. There was no table, no chairs, just a whiteboard at the back, with some leftover drawings and diagrams. When they entered, Marcel saw that the others were already there, and were waiting on them. Well, at least they were sought after rather than having someone call for them over the PA system.
“Glad to see you guys could make it,” the Scout-bot, Slugger, said.
“Yes, we are pleased to be here,” Marcel spoke up, “Curtis had informed me on everyone’s names.” His reply was laced with sarcasm.
“Well, everyone’s here now,” Walker said, pulling the attention to him, “So let’s get to the point.”
Once all eyes were on him, he put his hands behind his back, as though to put on a type of show, and said, “We need a leader for this team.”
The reaction from everyone was instant.
Not chaos, but confusion, challenges, and everyone talking over one another. The main thing that was said was, “We don’t need a leader!”
“Walker, you can’t be serious!” McLain, the Sniper-bot Marcel reminded themself, cut in, “We’re supposed to be different from our human counterparts!”
“Do they have a leader?” came the unusually calm question.
“Well, no, but…” they stammered, trying to find an answer.
“Then we are different!” Walker exclaimed, holding his arms out, “We are so much different than them! They are weaker than us, they can die, but us? We are eternal! And, if we have a leader, then just think about how much stronger we can all be!”
The team of robots looked at one another, uncertain of exactly what Walker was saying. A team leader? They didn’t need one! Did they?
“Tosh, you’ve been quiet since we got here.” Curtis observed, “Are you not opposed to this?”
“I think Walker should be the leader.” Came the reply. They were refusing to look anyone in the eye.
“You have got to be shitting me, Tosh!” McLain said exasperated, “Walker?! Out of all of us, you want Walker to lead us?!” Their voice was edging on anger as they talked.
“Mick, I’m saying that ‘cause Walker’s been a good candidate so far,” He tried to defend.
“Oh my god.” McLain ran their hand down their face, trying to make sense of what they just heard. “Does anyone else think Walker should be leader? Cause I think this should be a team effort here.”
Slugger and Seán both raised their hands, along with MacIntosh. After a beat, Ignis also raised its hand.
“Ok, you two-” Mick said, gesturing to Slugger and Seán “-don’t count. You’ve been on Walker’s side since the start.”
“Is true.” The Heavy-bot, Alexander, cut in, “But question is, why Tosh and Ignis?”
Now, the thing with Ignis, that all the bots knew, was that due to the Pyro’s muffled wording, Gray Mann decided to not give it a voice. Instead, Gray had programmed all nine of them with sign language to understand it. No matter how much they tried to get Ignis a voice box, either Gray refused to give it one, or Ignis itself refused to take one.
With all this said, Tosh spoke up for the both of them.
“I stick to what I said!” They tried, “Ignis’ siding cause I said they should, not forcing them, but I don’t want it to get hurt. I just don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“Hurt by what?!” Mick yelled, “By him?! It’s exactly why we shouldn’t let him-”
“Oh, shut up already!” Walker spat out.
Mick fell silent instantly as if a mute button was pressed on them.
They stopped what they were doing, and put a hand to their chest. They looked around at the others, eyes flashing. Then, they looked directly at Walker, pointing at them and backing away.
“What did you do to me?” they signed. “Why can I not talk?!”
Walker chuckled at them, shaking his head.
“Gray said one of us should get it installed,” He explained, looking up, “I took the opportunity. Tosh simply helped to install it.”
The others stared at him.
“It’s like a remote control in his head,” Tosh explained after a beat, “He can, uh, he can do a lot. One thing being muting us, it looks. I don’t really know what it does.”
“Tosh’s right.” Walker agreed, “Hell, even I’m still learning what I can do!” he let out a somewhat crazed laugh.
Everyone stared at the two, gazes bouncing back and forth.
“What is wrong with you?” signed Mick, fear clear in their stance.
“I really don’t want to bother with you right now.” Walker bit. He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, and Mick collapsed on the spot, much to everyone’s dismay.
Marcel rushed over to the side of the fallen robot in an attempt to help them back up.
“What did you do to them?!” Curtis almost shouted, fear in his voice.
“That’s new…” Mused Walker, too quiet for anyone to hear, before he turned attention to the robotic doctor, “Think of it as, ‘forcing them to rest’, ” he said.
“They’re deactivated, Walker,” Marcel countered, standing up, “You killed them!”
“I did not,” came the steely reply, “I simply, uh, turned them off as an example.”
“An example of what? ” Curtis pushed.
“Of what I can do if you don’t follow my orders.”
Everything was silent. The air in the room was thick with enough tension that you could slice it with a butter knife. And because they were all robots, they didn’t need to breathe, meaning that it was deadly silent. You could hear the small bits of moving gear in each of them, each sounding different from one another. But even then, you could still hear a pin drop in the still air.
Walker moved forward, stepping up to the body of McLain. He moved his hand in the opposite direction of when they collapsed and muttered something too quiet for the others to hear.
Energy surged through the body, systems rebooting, electricity running through wires once again. Their eyes flashed a brilliant blue, briefly lighting up the entire room before returning to their normal saturation.
McLain sat up with a jolt as they were revived by the Soldier-bot.
Curtis practically jumped (or did the closest thing to jumping with a wheel) at McLain, assisting them immediately.
“What happened?” Mick asked, in a very scared tone.
“I made an example out of you,” Walker said, interrupting whatever Curtis was about to say.
“As for the rest of you,” he continued, “Who still thinks I shouldn’t be the leader of this-” he paused, looking around him, “- wonderful team?”
No one answered him, all too scared, and still a bit confused, about what just happened.
“That’s good!” He said, all tension leaving his body, “That’s very good.”
Walker clapped his hands and looked at the eight robots surrounding him. It was obvious that he was smiling, even if his face couldn’t move.
“Now then,” he said, “it seems we all agree that I’m team leader now.”
“I will not follow you as leader.”
Walker spun towards who spoke.
Marcel was standing, facing Walker, almost challenging him.
“I will not follow you. I have seen what you have done to Dell. I will not be led by someone who does that.”
Walker laughed at this. “You actually care for the human?” he teased, “In case you somehow managed to forget what just happened, I have power over you, Marcel.”
“I know,” they responded, voice quavering a bit, “But I will stand against you before I ever stand with you.”
Walker only tilted his head, going over options.
“Very well then,” He said, spreading his arms open, “You want to oppose me. There will always be someone who doesn’t see it.”
“There will always be two, Walker,” came another voice.
Curtis said, rolling up next to Marcel, standing next to him.
“You two do realize that you’re outnumbered seven to two, right?” Walker taunted.
“We know,” Marcel answered with a steady voice.
There was silence in the room. This time, the air was filled with not only fear but with defiance. Walker stared at the robots opposing him, and they both stared back, both parties unable to blink, but still neither daring to look away.
Finally, after what felt like both a millisecond and an eternity, Walker said, “Xander, would you please remove these two, ah-” he paused trying to think of the right word, “-robots outside?”
The Heavy-bot, Alexander, looked between Walker and the two robots.
“Alex, you cannot be taking his side as well!” Curtis said.
“I do not wish to harm doctor.” Was the reply, “I do not want to be harmed. And I do not want you to be harmed. But our loyalties, it seems, lie in different places.”
With that, Xander stepped towards the two robots.
“You are kicking us out?!” Marcel cried as Xander started to push them to the door.
“You don’t want to be part of the team!” Walker replied, shouting to be heard over their protests. “You don’t get to hear the meetings! You can come in once you two change your minds and join us!”
With that, they were pushed out, Marcel first, stumbling a bit, followed by Curtis, who lost their balance and fell onto Marcel, bringing them both down. Marcel looked at the door as it was closed from where he was lying with Curtis on top of him.
Shifting, Marcel looked down at, to his knowledge now, his only friend. Curtis was moving but made no motion to get up. He could see his eyes flashing as a rush of emotions went through the robot all at once. Marcel shifted further into a sitting position and placed a hand on Cutis’ head. He wanted to comfort his friend, so that’s what he did.
“Hey, hey,” he mumbled, trying to get Curtis to look at him, “It’s going to be alright! We’re going to be ok, Curtis.”
Curtis simply responded by wrapping his arms around Marcel's center the best he could in their current position. It looked like he was crying. An emotion that Marcel never felt before surged through him. When he looked down at the robot, at his friend , the emotion only grew in strength. Not really knowing what he was doing, Marcel pulled Curtis up a bit more and wrapped his own arms around him, hugging and holding him tightly.
The two didn’t stay like that for very long. Curtis regained his composure and attempted to stand up. Marcel let go of them, and stood up themself, looking down at the prone robot.
As Curtis was struggling, Marcel bent down and helped him up without a word, startling the robot a bit.
“Come on, Curtis,” Marcel said, giving their arm a slight tug, “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?”
Marcel paused, unsure how to answer.
“I’m not sure,” he said after a beat, “But we need to warn Dell. And take your mind off of what just happened.”
“Oh, I’m fine Marcel!” Curtis tried to explain, “I don’t care about what happened back there.”
The two were moving back down the maze of hallways, back towards the med-bay. Marcel was leading them, still holding onto Curtis’ arm, even if his hand slipped further.
“Marcel, I said I’m fine,” Curtis tried again, grabbing the other’s hand and tugging, forcing him to turn and look at him.
“You were crying, Curtis.” Marcel’s voice was soft, almost a whisper. He looked downwards, at their linked hands. “You were crying, and I want to keep you from that pain.”
Curtis tilted their head a bit and used their free hand to hold Marcel’s arm. He chuckled as his hand slid down the arm, holding Marcel’s hands in both of his.
“You worry far too much, Marcel.”
The Spy-bot looked to the side, eyes glowing brightly. “I suppose I do,” he said.
Curtis laughed at that and pulled Marcel back on track to the med-bay.
“I was thinking about giving myself legs,” Curtis said, completely out of left field, after a while.
“Where did that come from?” Marcel asked, baffled by how quickly a conversation could change with the doctor.
“You said to take my mind off of what happened,” Curtis explained, still leading Marcel, “So, I thought about giving myself legs instead of a wheel!”
“Legs?” Marcel repeated, “You want legs ?”
“Yes, what is so hard to understand about that?”
Marcel stopped fully, forcing the doctor to face him this time.
“You are a Medic-bot ! You are designed for a wheel ! That’s what you are calibrated for! Not legs, Curtis!”
The only response to his outburst was laughter.
“I can calibrate myself for legs, Marcel,” Curtis giggled after his laughing fit, “Think about it! The Medic and the Spy are roughly the same heights, and I am shorter than you! With legs, I would be given some extra height!”
Marcel stared at him, not knowing what to say.
“Besides, you’ll be there to help me, no?”
Marcel snapped out of it and rolled his eyes. He turned away from his friend, causing him to erupt in even more laughter.
“Of course I will be there for you,” He finally said, after the laughter died down again.
“Very good,” Curtis said, smile in his voice, “Now come along! You said we needed to warn Dell about what happened. We should do so before the others get to him!”
Marcel let himself be led through corridors by his friend. He truly did care for the mad robot, but he felt closer to him than any of the others. Even before they all joined Walker’s side.
Marcel watched the shorter robot roll along smoothly in front of him, dragging him along by the hand.
Dell was trying to sleep.
He laid in his small bed, facing away from the door, willing himself to fall asleep. It was so boring to be held captive. He never thought it would be like this. He figured that it would be more interesting than just, ‘ stay in the room, you’ll be fed some food, and given a bed ’. Maybe it was due to all the movies he watched. You can never trust what Hollywood says.
At any rate, Dell hugged the blankets closer to him hoping that they would bring him some comfort. The small light in his room was beginning to dim, telling him it was close to nightfall. He was glad that the robots were kind enough to do that. The blankets did little to comfort him. At least they kept him warm.
Dell had draped the heavier of the two blankets over him and took to balling up the other to hold while he slept. When the room’s temperature dropped, he unballed the blanket and used it as well. But, the two gave him some semblance of holding and being held by someone.
Dell sighed and curled further into himself. It had already been two months. Why hadn’t his team come to save him yet? He understood that it would take time to find him and make a plan, but wouldn’t they have already done all that?
Maybe it was the Soldier-bot’s words getting to him. Over the course of the past two months, the abuse had been getting so much worse. Maybe even nearing that of torture. Dell didn’t want to believe that it was torture, but the way the robots acted towards him was telling him otherwise. He was being beaten up by not only the Soldier-bot, but now the Scout-bot had been watching as well. It had even joined in at one point.
Still, Dell refused to believe it. As he laid in his bed, he unwillingly thought back to when those happened.
The Soldier-bot had burst into the small room as it always did, but this time, Dell only jumped, not making a sound. The robot stalked over to him, looming over the short man. Dell could feel his heart speed up. He licked his lips as he waited for what was going to happen. It’s not like he had a choice on the say anyway.
The robot stopped in front of him, grabbing his chin delicately, like it was holding a flower, and turned his head side to side. Dell squeezed his eyes shut involuntarily, not wanting to anger it.
“You need a haircut, Conagher,” it said, “We’ll get you some tools later. But I think I like seeing you grow out your hair.”
It grabbed Dell’s arms, pulling him to the center of the room. Dell was silent the whole time.
“Stand here,” the robot told him, keeping him in the center of the room.
It backed up, blocking the door, and just observed him. Dell, unsure of what was happening, just stood, eyes flickering from the robot to the walls, his mouth open slightly as he tried to calm his breathing. He didn’t want to take his eyes off the robot, but he also had no clue why it had just placed him there.
“You look so cute when you’re scared,” the thing cooed, tilting its head slightly.
“What?” Dell mouthed, eyes locking back on the robot.
“The way you hold yourself, your arms tucked in like I might do something, the way your mouth hangs open a bit as you breathe,” the robot listed, “It’s all so cute. You’re so small, I could just pick you up and put you in my pockets,” it had started to move, circling Dell, but moving in closer, “I can see why my human counterpart would have fallen for you. You look like you need someone to protect you!”
“What do you mean, ‘would have fallen for me’ ,?” Dell asked. The thing stopped. “ Sir .”
It nodded its head and kept circling Dell. “What I mean, is that he never cared for you, Dell. None of them did! They all pitied you and never told you of it. Everyone, even Blutarch Mann himself took pity on you! You know he only hired you because you were Frank’s son, correct?”
Dell couldn’t believe what this thing was telling him. There was no way in hell he meant that little to everyone!
“Think about it, Dell,” it continued, “If Jane truly loved you, wouldn’t have he already gotten here? Wouldn’t he have already rescued you?” The robot moved behind Dell and put its hands on his shoulders, rubbing them as it stepped closer, pulling Dell’s body close to its own, making him flinch. It put its head next to Dell’s ear, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut again as he tried to ignore what the thing was doing.
“And what of the others?” it continued, its hands running down Dell’s arm’s so it could hold him by his elbows. Its voice lowered to a whisper, “The ones who called themselves your ‘friends’? Don’t you think they would also be here? Or at least tried to follow us when we left the moving base? I think they would if they were my friends. You mean nothing to them, Dell. You never meant anything to them.”
“Stop,” Dell pleaded, “please, stop.” he tucked his arms in, taking them out of the robot’s hands.
“Stop what?” it chided, moving around to face Dell, “Stop telling the truth? I’m telling this to you to protect you, Dell!”
“You were making me uncomfortable,” Dell said, not looking it in the eyes.
“I am, now, am I?” it teased, moving closer again. “You should be enjoying this. I’m giving you the affection you want, yeah?”
“I don’t want it. Not from you,” Dell said, looking at it, his face firm, but fear still in his eyes.
“Not from me, hey?” it asked, anger in its voice.
The robot grabbed at Dell’s arms, catching him and pushed him back towards the wall. It held his arms in its hand above his head, pinning them to the wall behind him. Dell’s eyes grew with fear as the Soldier-bot pressed up to him. Not enough to hurt, but enough to trap.
“Dell,” the thing purred, “in case you forgot, you are mine while you are here. No one else. I want you to say that to me.”
“I don’t belong to anyone,” Dell retaliated.
The grip on his wrists tightened. He thought that it was going to break them.
“Repeat after me, Dell,” it urged, venom dripping from its words, “You are mine. You only belong to me. Your team never cared in the first place.”
Dell kept his mouth shut. He could feel the hand tighten around his arms, pressing them further into the wall. He only glared at the Soldier-bot, until the pain was too much.
He cried out, a wordless yell, as the pressure only increased. He started to try to get out of the things hold, but the pain only increased.
“Tell me you are mine, Dell!” it yelled, pressing into his chest now.
“I don’t belong to anyone,” Dell’s cry came. Tears had started to spill from his eyes.
Intense pressure was shoved on his arms and chest, then nothing. Dell fell to the floor now that he was out of the things hands. He didn’t get to recover, however, as the thing lifted him by the collar of his shirt and pushed him up the wall, making him eye level. Dell’s feet tried desperately to connect with the ground again. He held onto the robot’s arm, as it held him effortlessly with its own. A touch on his chin forced Dell to look at the Soldier-bot.
The robot had its helmet lifted so Dell could get a full view of its eyes. It stared at him, head tilted slightly, as Dell continued to struggle against its grasp.
“You belong to me, ” It whispered, just loud enough for Dell to hear.
Its other hand started to roam over Dell’s body. Flittering over his chest, down to his side, his stomach and lower still.
Dell’s body went rigid as he felt the weight of its hand move lower and lower, starting to cup him. He started to struggle harder to get out of its grab, but his fear was starting to take over. His breath was shallow, and he tried to kick at the robot in front of him.
“What’s wrong, Dell?” it asked, moving its hand more against Dell.
“Stop it, please!” Dell begged. He didn’t want this. He wanted to be far away from here, and this thing, this monster that was in front of him. More tears fell down his face as he struggled.
The hand clamped down on Dell. The fingers moving, sending jolts up Dell’s spine. He could feel himself growing at the touch, and he tried harder to get out of its grasp. The hand started to move, making him involuntarily gasp at the sensation. Dell bowed his head as a flush crept up his neck and into his cheeks. He hated that he was enjoying the sensation of the hand on him.
“I guess it’s been a while, yeah Dell?” the thing cooed, as it started to place Dell down. It moved its hand faster, making Dell gasp again. The robot maneuvered its hold back to Dell’s arms, pinning them back above his head. It watched as Dell tried to keep his head down, but it saw the redness grow to his ears.
“Please,” Dell begged, trying to gain control, “please stop.”
He was crying now. Dell let tears slide down his face freely as he was assaulted by the robot.
The hand left him suddenly and moved to his hip. A metal thumb slipped in the waistband of the sweats he was wearing, and Dell’s head snapped up again. He tried to struggle against the hand holding his arms, he tried kicking the robot, and tried shifting around to make it harder for the thing to get his pants off. It managed to start to pull them down.
The door opened at that moment. Both human and robot stopped and stared at the doorway. The Engineer-bot poked its head in looking at the two.
“What do you want, Tosh?” the robot spat at the intruding bot.
“Uh, sorry there, but Gray wants to talk to you, Walker,” they answered, not daring to look at Dell.
The Soldier-bot, or “Walker” as Dell learned, rolled its head in an eye-rolling motion.
It turned attention back to Dell, stilling him in an instant.
“You got lucky, Conagher,” he sneered, “you won’t be next time”
With that, it dropped Dell, shaking, tears streaming down his face, and a half-hard cock in his pants. Dell cried after the door shut, feeling utterly useless.
A soft knock at his door startled Dell from the sour memory. He hadn’t realized it, but he was crying again. Wiping away the tears, Dell sat up and turned to the door as it opened.
Curtis entered, followed by Marcel. Dell calmed down just looking at them.
“Good evening, Dell,” Curtis greeted.
“Evenin’ Doc,” Dell answered, “Marcel,” he added, nodding to the other bot.
“What brings you two here?” He asked, a little confused.
“Well, as much as we don’t want to, we bear some not-so-great news,” Curtis started, “But it is regarding the other robots.”
“Well, don’t waste time then,” Dell urged.
The two looked at one another before Marcel spoke up. “The others have decided that they needed a “team leader”-” Marcel used air quotes when he said that, “-of sorts. So, they have chosen Walker.”
“But not just because they like him!” Curtis cut in, “Tosh, the Engineer-bot, installed some kind of remote control in him.”
“A remote control?” Dell asked.
“Yes,” both answered. Marcel continued, “Walker can, as far as we know at this moment, mute us, and deactivate us.”
“He deactivated Mick and brought them back,” Curtis said solemnly.
Dell didn’t know how to feel about that. The two people he trusted in this hell hole were at risk of being killed.
“You two gotta get outta here, then!” Dell said, “If he can do that, who knows what else he can do! How’d you even get out?!”
“Alright, first,” Marcel cut in, “We are not leaving you, Dell. Second, Walker kicked us out of the room.”
“He said that if we won’t follow him, we aren’t going to be a part of the team,” Curtis added.
Dell looked from one robot to the other in disbelief.
“Dell, we will be alright,” Marcel said, putting a comforting hand on Dell’s shoulder, “It is you we are worried about.”
“Ja, it’s true,” Curtis said, his coded accent thickening, “We promised that we wouldn’t let anything happen to you. And we will keep that promise to the best of our abilities, and further.”
Dell didn’t know how to react to them. Not only were they in danger themselves, but the two of them swore to keep their promise of being Dell’s protectors.
Dell could feel tears welling in his eyes, but he refused to cry. The bots saw this, and both leant forward to embrace Dell. He broke and started to weep.
Marcel and Curtis comforted him, holding him in the group hug. When he calmed down, neither let go until Dell did. Dell nodded at them, not trusting his voice lest he cry again, and whispered that he needed to go to sleep.
Both left him reluctantly, Marcel taking dinner’s plate with him. When the door closed, Dell laid down once more and fell asleep.
The building was shaking.
There was yelling outside the door, and Dell jolted awake. He got up in case something burst in.
The door opened, and a robot collapsed in. It was too damaged to see what model it was.
Instead of waiting for anything to happen, Dell walked out the door, and down corridor after corridor. After some time, he was attacked.
He had no clue what he was fighting, but he fought back still. At one point he managed to get the upper hand and run away.
Dell was injured as he rushed through the maze-like building, and came across a stairwell. He decided to run up and up the steps, rising to the top level.
At the top, Dell saw figures standing in the smoke that he recognized.
“Jane!” he called out, rushing towards his boyfriend. Jane turned towards the voice but backed away from the source.
Dell slowed down, not knowing why he was backing away. Well, until he spoke.
“We didn’t come here for you, Conagher. We came here to kill the bots. You can forget about coming back.” Jane walked away, back into the smoke.
There were more figures in the smoke. The other eight mercenaries, all seeing Dell and turning their backs on him.
Dell couldn’t move. He couldn’t believe what he just heard Jane, his boyfriend, the man he loved, the man that was supposed to always be there for him say.
They didn’t care about Dell.
Something grabbed Dell’s wrist. It started to pull him back towards the burning building. Looking over his shoulder, Dell saw the hand belonged to a near broken Soldier-bot. It was Walker.
Dell cried out, trying to escape his grasp, and call out to his friends, his lover, his family to help him. He begged and begged before he was dragged back into the building and the door slammed shut, locking him inside.
Dell woke with a start.
He frantically looked around him, recognizing the small room he was in.
It was a dream. Nothing but a nightmare.
It had seemed so real, but now as he thought back to it, it was already fading.
Dell wept in his bed, remembering the feeling of being left behind. He hoped to God that the dream never came true.
Dell didn’t get much sleep that night.
Notes:
well, well, well. It seems like everything may not turn out alright for anyone here.
-
that aside, I'm so sorry this took me so long to make. it was just a hassle to sit myself down and write out, but hey! it's done now!there are things that i didn't intend to do that happen, but we'll just roll with it and see where it takes us
also, i put in a few references to some things on here, even I'm not sure what they could all be.but thank you so much for reading!
see y'all in the next chapter!!
Chapter 6: Saint Bernard
Notes:
(taps mic)
hi, welcome back to 2012, it’s song-fic time.
Today’s song: Saint Bernard by Lincoln.
enjoy-
Funny things aside, please go back and read the tags and warnings, because I DID update them! I’ve also updated the notes in the previous chapter.
Please be advised, that there is rape/non-con in this story and this chapter specifically.
If you wish to not read it, skip the second part of this chapter that is italic (slanted) or if that doesn’t work for some reason, skip from this line:
“As much as he tried, images and feelings played themselves in his head, Dell being but an onlooker of past events.”
to this line:
“Dell curled in on himself and turned away from the hook.”.
Thank you for heeding my warning.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
St. Bernard by Lincoln
Hung pictures of patron saints up on my wall
To remind me that I am a fool
Tell me where I came from, what I will always be
Just a spoiled little kid who went to Catholic school.
When I am dead I won't join their ranks
'Cause they are both holy and free
And I'm in Ohio, satanic and chained up
And until the end, that's how it'll be.
I said make me love myself so that I might love you
Don't make me a liar, 'cause I swear to god
When I said it I thought it was true.
Saint Calvin told me not to worry about you
But he's got his own things to deal with
There's really just one thing that we have in common
Neither of us will be missed.
Saint Bernard sits at the top of the driveway
You always said how you loved dogs!
I don't know if I count
But I'm trying my best
When I'm howling and barking these songs
Dell was not a religious man.
He was, however, a man who was raised in Texas. Dell knew of the stereotypes that people thought of when they think of his home state, and he could say they weren’t true for most places.
Bee Cave, being such a small town it was almost a village, was very Christan, which meant he had to live through that one stereotype. His mother was a rather avid follower of the church, which meant that Dell also had to do all that as a child. He was baptized as a baby, went to church with his mother every Sunday, and was sent to a catholic school. Dell found it endearing and never necessary. Personally, Dell hated going to church, and never even believed that there was a God, to begin with. For all he and the rest of the human race knew, God did not exist!
Dell was a man of science, and that’s what he believed in. He believed in the proof that the Earth was over billions of years old, and that evolution came and went. Dell would always be a man of science.
At least, that’s what he thought up until now.
Dell sat in his small room, at his table eating a small lunch. He was staring at a middle distance as he was lost in thought. There wasn’t much else to do when you were isolated. He thought back to his childhood, all the times he went to Sunday School, and learnt about the different Popes, Saints, Patron Saints, Angels, Archangels, and so much more. Dell had started to pray, every few days. He prayed for Walker to never show up. He prayed that every time Walker did come into the room, it wouldn’t be as bad as the last time. He prayed to be let out.
As he was sitting, Dell thought about how different his life would have been if he chose to follow in his mother’s steps instead of his father’s. Well, for starters, he wouldn’t be in this damn room. He would’ve stayed in Bee Cave, and helped the church through donations and potlucks. He would’ve grown to be a better man and a follower of God. But at the same time, he wouldn’t have his life’s passion. He wouldn’t have gotten to work for Mann Co. He wouldn’t have met the love of his life.
Love of his life.
Maybe he was a fool to think that. Walker’s words swirled around Dell’s head every single day.
“He never loved you. They never cared for you.”
Every single time Walker entered the room, he said that to Dell. He tried to get Dell to repeat those foul words, and tell him that he was nothing. Dell refused every time but that defiance came with consequences. Dell was covered in bruises at this point, pain shooting along his body every time he moved. He had forgotten pain like this, even something minor, ever since Medic had used the Medi-gun on them all. But here he was, in pain and re-thinking his life choices.
Dell thought again and again, how the hell did he end up here? The short answer: he was kidnapped. The long answer: he followed in his father’s footsteps.
His train of thought kept going back to his father. Not just him, but his mother and the town he grew up in. If he had done something, anything else, he would never be here. That Dell Conagher would have never thought he would end up here. But, that’s what happened. That’s all he thought about. Where he came from and how he got here. His past kept telling him where he came from and what he would always be. What was that? He didn’t know.
In the end, Dell was just like his father and grandfather. All three hired by Mann Co., all working for BLU, all ending up in a horrible spot later on in life. Radigan was dead, so there was no argument there, but Frank… Well, he wasn’t the best of fathers and Dell could admit that. Was he spoiled by him as a kid? Yeah! He was! But that didn’t mean he was the best father. He was a mercenary, and because of his line of work, he lost his legs. That ended up making his mental state take a turn for the worst, but Dell could push past it. Just like he did when he was younger.
He pushed the darkening thoughts aside. Dell stood up with a wince and walked over to his bed. It was lower than before now because they had taken away the bed frame, so the box spring was just sitting on the ground. He was warned that if he, and he quotes, “Didn’t get his shit together, he would lose the box spring as well. Maybe even the mattress itself”. Sighing, Dell flopped onto the bed and curled into a ball. He’s been doing this a lot, he noticed. Well, when there was nothing to do, you end up falling into patterns no matter what.
If he, somehow, ended up living out the rest of his life in this base, then he wished that he would be forgiven. He knew for a fact, that a man like him, a killer of men, a mercenary, a homosexual, he would be sent to hell. That’s what he was told at church. That’s what the Bible said. Or at least, that’s what the church said it says. Either way, he wished that he could be forgiven. He wished that, if he wasn’t forgiven, the others would be. If he could strike a deal, and get his friends into heaven, then Dell would gladly walk into hell, following the devil on their heels.
Dell settled in his bed, feeling drowsy after the food, even more so than ever before. He thought the meals were being spread further apart now, but he couldn’t be certain. For now, though, all he wanted was to sleep.
And that’s what he did.
There was a soft rumble underneath him.
Looking around, Dell saw he was in his old truck, driving somewhere. Where? He didn’t know. But it was calming. It was sunset, and the soft oranges of the sky painted everything in a beautiful golden light. A soft white noise was in the background and Dell felt relaxed.
A house appeared over the horizon. No, not a house. A ranch. His ranch, back in Texas. Dell smiled as he realized where he was going. Home. He was going home. Dell sped up a bit, wanting to get there a little faster.
As he pulled up next to the property, a loud bark could be heard. The kind of bark that came from a very large dog. As Dell led the truck into the driveway, he saw the source of barking near the entrance of the house; a large Saint Bernard.
Stepping outside, the dog ran up to him, greeting its master as he returned home. A warm voice called out to him from inside.
Jane stood in the doorway, watching Dell with a smile plastered on his face. He didn’t have his helmet on. Why would he? He was in his home, and Dell had just returned.
Dell hurried up the steps, jumping into Jane’s arms as he met him. He was hugged back, and picked up, carried into the living room. Dell looked out the bay window and saw that night had fallen already. Looking back at Jane, Dell saw that everything had been moved out of the center of the room. Jane was offering his hand for a dance.
Smiling, Dell took it, and let Jane take the lead. He was led by the taller man in a slow dance that had them spinning and laughing. When it ended, Jane leaned down and kissed Dell’s brow, making him sigh in content.
The smell of wood smoke filled the room as the fireplace burned on.
Dell was embraced in a warm hug as his lover leant down next to his ear.
“I can’t believe you thought I ever loved you.”
Dell’s eyes snapped open, looking up at Jane. He was still holding him, but now it was less of a hug and more of a restraining embrace. Dell tried to talk, but smoke filled his lungs, choking him. He looked around him and saw that the house was starting to burn. The fireplace was the root of the spread, but Jane clung to him, making it nearly impossible to escape.
“I mean, c’mon! You really thought that any of us actually cared about you!”
Jane- no, this thing imitating Jane continued to taunt him. Dell tried to speak, but he ended up inhaling more smoke, making him gag.
The fire was creeping closer to them at an alarming rate, and the thing wasn’t showing any signs of letting him go.
However, what it did do was maneuver its hold on Dell until it was holding his arm behind his back. It pushed him to the ground, face down, forcing him to lay in the wake of the flames. Dell struggled against it but felt something tighten around his arms and chest.
There was barking and screaming, coming from everywhere at once, overloading Dell’s senses. There was laughter as well. A type of maniacal laughter, that you would only hear a villain from a movie make. Dell could hear his own voice, even as the smoke filled his lungs and the fire was mere inches from his face. The thing above him was still talking in Jane’s voice, telling him things he never wanted to be true. It was laughing, taunting him.
The fire crept over the both of them, burning Dell and the thing pinning him down. It collapsed, trapping Dell further.
Finally, he screamed. It was a bloodcurdling scream, filled with pain, loss, and denial. He screamed, tied down, with a body trapping him.
Dell screamed as he was consumed by the flames.
Dell woke up, not with a start, but rather groggily.
He couldn’t move anything, and that made him panic.
His vision was blurry, and he could hear someone talking. Whether it was to him or someone else, Dell couldn’t tell. There was a slight ringing in his ears and that made it all the more difficult to listen.
Something tightened around his arm, jolting him into reality, out of the dream. Pain shot through the limb as whatever was being tightened dug into his skin. Dell tried to fight back, but a hand planted itself on his chest, firmly keeping him down. Dell couldn’t speak. Well, he could , but his words were slurred as if he was drunk or drug-
The food.
The food was drugged. Dell’s eyes snapped open, as he saw the outline of a helmet above him come into focus. Blue lights focusing on hands that worked swiftly around his torso, wrapping something around it.
Dell was being tied up.
His vision cleared a bit, and Dell saw Walker looming above him, a rope in his hands as he tied it around Dell’s arms and body. It was digging into him, rubbing his skin, and when it was tightened around his chest, he struggled to breathe. Dell tried to sit up, fight back, do anything to make it stop, but another set of hands held him down. Looking up, Dell saw the singular eye of Seán peering down at him. Walker moved further down, finishing tying up Dell with the last of the rope. Something was said, and Dell was turned on his stomach, unable to fight back. His arms were in front of him, tied at the wrists (or where both would meet up), and he could feel Walker finishing the knot on his back.
Still, Dell tried to fight back. He tried to get up, move, wriggle around to make it harder for them to tie, but the drugs in his system made his movements sluggish. And with the added hands holding him down, all could do was try to speak to them, maybe plead. His words came out slurred, however, and he couldn’t understand even himself. He looked to his sides, trying to think of a way out. The drugs in his veins doing their work to slow him down and keep him mostly sedated. They must have either been in the food or the cup of water they gave him. He ate and drank it all, so Dell had no way of telling. He couldn’t move with the weight of both robots holding him down, and his mind was sluggish. Dell was scared, scared of what might happen next once they were done.
The pressure was relieved, and both bots stood back, looking at Dell. they spoke to one another as Dell tried to get up to face them. His arms were weak, and the rope dug into his skin, making it even more painful to move now. He managed to get up a bit to roll to his side, but after that, he collapsed. The simple alone had sapped the last of his strength, and it was all Dell could do to keep his eyes open. He tried to take deep breaths, but the rope around his chest was preventing him from doing so. Instead, Dell focused on the shallow breaths, trying to gain as much oxygen as he could with the rope restricting his breathing.
Dell watched as they turned to one another, speaking. The Demo-bot looked back at Dell, shrugged, and left the room. Dell’s breath quickened as he realized he was left alone with Walker.
The lone robot walked up to Dell, hands behind his back, and just observed him. Dell tried to make eye contact with it through his blurred vision. Walker crouched down, so he was face to face with Dell and just looked at him, making his heart rate soar. He reached out a hand, and pet Dell’s short hair, making him close his eyes and try to back away from the touch. He let out a soft laugh and continued to pet him. He knelt and used his other hand to grab Dells. He laughed more as Dell tried, and failed, to move away from him. When Dell felt a tear slide down his face, Walker wiped it away holding Dell’s cheek even as he flinched.
“You know I care about you,” he said, voice unnaturally soft, “I didn’t want to do this, but you weren’t doing what I asked of you. Now you need to wear this for as long as I deem. Maybe, if you behave, I’ll let you take it off for a little bit.”
Dell could only watch as Walker spoke to him with that soothing voice. He squeezed shut his eyes, forcing out another tear which was wiped away, and felt how his robotic hand held onto him. When both hands moved away, Dell dared to open his eyes. He watched weakly as Walker went over to his desk and picked something up. When he came back over to Dell, he held the object in front of him. It was a syringe.
Dell’s eyes widened, and he tried to move further away from the robot, but his back met the wall. Slowly, he could feel his strength returning to him, but he wasn’t sure it would be enough to fend him off.
“Oh, don’t worry Dell,” he said, “I’m not going to do anything to you when you’re asleep. It won’t be as fun if I don’t get a response.”
Walker grabbed the rope connecting Dell’s arms and pulled his arms above his head. Dell was trapped, still unable to move much, but forced to watch as Walker slowly pushed the needle point into the crook of his elbow and injected whatever was in it, into him. When the needle was out, Walker put it down gently and picked up Dell bridal-style. He laid him back on the bed nicely, as if he was trying to get him comfortable. Dell tried to fight back, but whatever the hell was in the needle was already working its way through him, making him even more drowsy than before.
Dell fought to stay awake, trying to fight the stronger drugs. His head lolled as they started to take effect. He couldn’t do anything to stop Walker.
As he was set down, he could hear the robot say to him, “You sleep well, now. And stop telling yourself those lies. The ones where your team cared about you. You know I care for you know. All of us here do. Even if we don’t agree on some things, we will be the only people who truly care for you.”
He didn’t want to believe that. He knew that Marcel and Curtis cared for him, but the others? Never. They would never care for him. They were just like his team, they don’t-
Did they care?
Did either team, his old one or the band of robots, truly care about him? Was Walker telling him the truth? Every single dream that Dell had was about Jane. But in all those dreams, he had repeatedly told him that he never loved him. Did the rest of the team care? Those he took as his friends and family. Maybe they never really did care and took pity on him, just like Walker said.
A final tear slid down Dell’s cheek silently, and Walker wiped it away as he did the last. Dell was crying from the realization that he might have been telling the truth. He was lying to himself, lying that his team was ever going to save him. Walker was right. He was never loved, and all he had were the robots.
He managed to choke out a soft, “no” before his eyes refused to open again.
Dell cried in the robot’s arms until finally, he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
A few days had passed after the drugging incident.
Dell was still tied up, but at least his bruises had healed a bit more. It didn’t hurt as much to move around now, but it was still difficult to breathe. He was sitting at his table, having just finished the second book in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Two Towers . He never took himself to enjoy fantasy books like that. But there he was, having just finished the third one. He was burning through his books faster than he thought. As he thought about it, a sour thought came to his mind: “ Jane liked The Hobbit. He had read it as well. ” Scowling, Dell pushed the thought away. He had no idea what was true anymore. He didn’t know if Walker was feeding him lies, or Dell was feeding them to himself. To be safe, Dell didn’t linger on those thoughts anymore. They were too painful at this point.
What Dell had done within the past few days, was pray. It baffled even himself that he was doing it! He would pray to whoever was listening to hear him. To hear his pleas of comfort and peace of mind. He prayed to the Saint his old church worshiped: Saint Calvin. He tried to remember the different teachings that each Saint brought to the church. To be fair, Dell never paid much attention to religion class, nor did he care for Sunday School. Maybe he should have, seeing as he was praying now. He shook his head, and moved to the bathroom, seeing as he was thirsty. He hadn’t drunk anything for a few days and the dehydration was starting to take its toll.
“Saint Calvin, Saint Calvin, Saint Calvin,” Dell said to himself, “what did you say to never worry about?”
Whatever it was, it could wait. The damned Saint and man had their own things to deal with, and it didn’t bother Dell all that much.
As he took a drink of water from the tap, Dell inspected himself in the mirror above the sink. It was a small thing, but clean and free of cracks. Dell looked… Well, he looked like shit, to put it bluntly. His hair had grown to a short, soft fuzz, and his facial hair match suit. He was covered in bruises, old and new, from what he guessed was head to toe. His shirt was taken off when Walker and Seán tied him with the rope. The rope itself was expertly wrapped around his thinning frame.
Oh yeah, Dell looked like he was losing weight from the smaller meals he was getting. His eyes had sunken in a bit, and his skin tone had lightened dramatically. He looked like a vampire, but without the fangs or long cloak. Now, Dell knew that he wasn’t that thin of a man to begin with, he wasn’t bothered by it at all. He knew he was strong, and the chub that used to layer onto his muscles wasn’t anything. He ended up calling it either “blubber” or “natural armour”. His team used to love that. But, seeing as it had gone away, it was worrying him that, not only could he see his toned form, but the fact that he was, well, less toned. After about two months of not being used, his muscles had started to soften, giving way for his body to turn it into more fat, and then lose all that fat. It was only two months, but Dell looked about as skinny Scout. Smiling to himself at the thought, Dell ran his hand through his hair. It was soft, surprisingly, and clean, evidence of his shower yesterday. He ran the hand lower, tracing the fading tan lines of his old goggles, the evidence of the New Mexico and desert suns leaving his body. There used to be red rings around his eyes when he took them off after a day of work. He tried to smile, in an attempt to boost his mood. He didn’t recognize the man in the mirror that smiled back at him.
Sighing, Dell returned to the rope. It was tied in that small spot of his back that he just couldn’t reach. The damn thing was wrapped in an “ x” shape on his chest and around his shoulders, restricting his arm movement. It went around his chest, under the X a few times as well. Travelling down his arms, the rope interlocked with itself, looping around the appendages at the elbow, restricting movement there as well. The rope on his stump wrapped over the end, and only had a single line be led up and to the center knot. The rope on his arm used the same pattern as the upper portion. It circled his wrist and ended with the other end of the rope ending in the center knot. Dell had no clue if it was just one really long rope, or smaller ropes tied up to make it look like one. Whatever it was, it was uncomfortable to sleep in.
The rope, or ropes? Whatever, the rope dug into him whenever he moved. If Walker even let him out of it, he was sure to have raw skin, and possible rope-burn as well. He wasn’t looking forward to it.
Dell shuffled out of the bathroom and back to his desk after finishing up in the bathroom. He wanted to start the last book in the series soon, but also dreaded starting it. Doing anything with his hand tied up was proving to be difficult. So, Dell went back to thinking. He was thinking, mulling and praying silently so much now, he was such that at this point he would’ve lost his voice. If not for the intervention of multiple robots, that might have been the case.
He was trying to get himself to speak out loud when thinking, to try to imitate talking to someone. It worked, for the most part. He would ask a question, and say a reply, looking back and forth across the room, like he was having a conversation. It didn’t even need to be a question! Just a random thought or statement would do. Dell ended up holding a full conversation with himself over whether pop tarts, toast or cereal was the best breakfast food. It was oddly satisfying to do until he remembered he couldn’t eat any of the choices.
Dell’s stomach rumbled at the thought of food. The thought of a three-course meal, some type of alcohol and dessert made his mouth water, wishing for all of this to end. If, no, when . He couldn’t think of if. When he got out, the first thing he was going to do was find the closest McDonalds and eat a double Big Mac meal. Maybe he’ll get it supersized.
He stood in the middle of his room, contemplating whether to go back to reading or if he should just sleep. He looked over at his snake plant, expecting it to give him the answer. When it didn’t Dell sighed and walked over to the bed. When he laid down, he couldn’t help but eye the newest addition to his room: a hook protruding from the wall.
Anyone who looked at it would wonder why it was there, but Dell knew. Walker knew. The rest of the robots knew. For all Dell cared for, Gray Mann knew, with that small camera still in the upper corner. He tried to push away the memories, but the feelings persisted. As much as he tried, images and feelings played themselves in his head, Dell being but an onlooker of past events.
The door opening, and Walker marching in.
Dell being grabbed by the rope, being lifted up, arms rising above his head.
Being pulled over to the hook, which sat almost a foot above him. The rope being hung, and by extension, Dell hanging from the hook, unable to get away.
His back on the cold wall as Walker stared at him, closing the door with a soft click .
Cold, metal hands, roaming, just above his skin, making goosebumps erupt in their path.
A hand drifted lower, and lower until it started to palm him.
Heat rising up in Dell’s face, and blood rushing down, making him grow once more.
The other hand cupping his face, holding his chin, making sure he couldn’t look away from Walker.
A shock of electricity spiking up his spine, as the fingers on the lower hand started to move, feeling him in just the right spots.
Small gasps and whimpers escaping his mouth with every shock.
A metal thumb slipping into the waistband of his pants and pulling them down, now without a fight, as his legs were trying to stay planted on the ground.
The pants, and underwear, falling in a pile around his ankles, leaving him completely exposed.
The hand trailing its way up his inner thighs, making him tense at the touch and whimper more.
A gasp, as the hand closed around the base of his length, squeezing him just right.
Tears falling down his face as the hand started to move, the one cupping his chin moving up to his cheek to wipe them away.
Walker speaking in hushed tones to him, his mouth next to his ear so he could hear every word that was uttered.
Being praised for being so obedient, being told how much Walker cared for him, being told that this torture was his prize, but if he disobeyed his punishment.
A suppressed moan as the hand moved faster, using just the right pressure to make it feel like heaven on earth.
More tears as Dell was being undone by the thing that took the image of his maybe lover.
Moans getting louder as the hand moved in just the right way, the one cupping his face moving down to his lower back to pull him close.
Drool started to drip from Dell’s mouth, as the sensation of the hand jacking him off dragged him closer to his finish.
The cold metal body pressing up to the heated one made of skin and bone.
A cry, as Dell came in between the two of them, into Walker’s hand, the robot slowing down to let him ride it out.
Trying to slump over, only for his hands to hold him up by the hook they were stuck on.
His wrists screaming at him to stand because they were weak from under-use.
Trying to stand on shaky legs, after the orgasm.
Walker wiping himself and Dell down with a cool cloth, a stark contrast to Dell’s fiery skin.
The robot helping him stand, holding him close and whispering praises into his ear.
The feeling of the metal jaw pressing onto Dell’s temple, in a kiss, making Dell whimper into the robot’s body.
His hands being freed, taken down from the hook, and Dell falling towards the robot to hold onto him, not even realizing what he was doing.
He clung onto Walker, as his legs gave out, and Walker picked him up again, placing him back on the bed.
The dim feeling, of being redressed in fresh clothes, as Walker took care of Dell in his unwanted afterglow.
The sound of a door being opened, then closed as Dell drifted off to sleep.
Dell curled in on himself and turned away from the hook. A tear falling from his eye as he unwillingly thought back to that moment.
Would he ever be missed?
That was the question drifting through his head. Not, “was he truly loved?” not, “Was he being told the truth?” but, “was he going to be missed if he died?”. He was missing, and for all he knew, the team wasn’t looking. Or, they were! They were trying to desperately find him, wherever the hell he was.
So, would he be missed if he never returned? Would anyone mourn him? Is anyone looking for him? And if they were, would they ever stop? Or would they give up?
Dell tried to calm his mind by thinking of something, anything else. He chose to think about Jane. Even if Walker told him that Jane never loved him, he still loved Jane with all his heart. He thought about everything knew he about that man. From the way we walked to the sound of his laugh, to the different smiles he’s seen on him. He thought about the different times they’ve cuddled, whether it was right after a battle, or in their bed before they went to sleep. He thought about how Jane would cuddle him when they slept, his arms wrapping around his frame, and Dell needed to wake him up just so he could use the bathroom because his grip was deadly strong.
He thought about when they made plans to stay together after the Gravel Wars. Jane didn’t have anywhere to go, but Dell told him that they had the ranch. Jane wanted a dog. A great big guard dog that the two would care for as their own child. Jane always wanted a Sanit Bernard.
Dell relaxed a little when he thought of all that. He pulled close his only pillow and hugged it the best he could around the ropes. It was the closest thing he could get to comfort, and Dell would be damned if he threw it away. He thought of how excitedly Jane talked about dogs and his never-ending love for them.
Dell felt like an animal here. He knew he wasn’t, but he didn’t feel human. With the way he was being used, and from the way most of the robots treated him, he could’ve very well been a dog as well.
He didn’t know if he counted, but he was trying his best. For now, though, all he could do was howl and bark his song.
Notes:
hahaaaa, I'm sorry
on a completely different note, the google doc that I'm writing this thing on just went over 100 pages. so that's fun
until next time everyone!!
Chapter 7: The Space Between the Signal and the Screen
Notes:
Oh shit, oh fuck, it’s been a long time. Uh, HI! WELCOME BACK!! This chapter is long, like, really long. It’s added more than 40 pages to the google doc, and I’ve had some writers’ block/lack of inspiration while I worked on it. Gotta say though, the stories common’ along nicely, and we’re nearing the end faster than I thought we would.
Don’t worry, though! The ending is still a ways away!Funny things aside, again, there is quite the torture session (which does turn into another non-con scene) in the latter half of this chapter! If you wish to skip the really bad stuff, skip from this line:
“Use your knife,” was the only thing spoken.
To this line:
“Stop, please”
If it’s a bit hard to find them, I’ve marked the lines to help with that! There are two lines that look like this:
---(Torture/Non-con scene starts/ends here)---
So you can find the section easily.Thank y’all for being patient with this chapter! On with the show!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
His eyes opened just before the sun rose over the city’s horizon.
He rolled to his side, looking at his clock. 5:25 in the morning. Sure, why not, he’ll wake up five minutes early today. Or, he could stay in the overly large bed. No, he couldn’t do that. Not today. Rolling back to the other side, he sat up to get ready for the long day. The bed was too big to stay in anyway. Always cold and empty, he hated it. The overly large room was too much, as were the large dressers and wardrobes. The private bathroom was nice but still had too much space.
Jane Doe sighed and looked over at the bedside table. It had a glove and yellow hardhat sitting on it. Standing, he walked over to the items and picked up the hat. Today was going to be a very sour day indeed.
July 6th. Dell’s birthday.
Jane held the helmet close and kissed it.
“Happy birthday, love.”
He stood there until his alarm went off. Well, looks like it was time for his morning routine to start. A quick workout session in the gym, followed by a few laps around the base, then breakfast. He didn’t feel like doing anything today. So, Jane decided to lay back down in his bed, still holding onto the hat. He couldn’t help but go over everything that went wrong that day. That one god damn day 3 months ago. Well, three months, two weeks and four days ago, to be exact. Jane had kept track.
He didn’t know he had fallen back asleep until there was a knock at his door.
“Janey, lad, you in there?” It was Demo.
Jane didn’t respond. Demo opened the door.
“Jane…” a shadow, followed by a dip on the side of the bed. Jane looked over at his best friend, over the helmet. Tavish looked at him and offered a sad smile, holding open his arms. Jane sat up and fell into them.
“It’s July 6th.” A sniffle. He was trying so hard to not cry. The arms around him tightened. A tear slid out.
“I know, Jane,” Tavish reassured, “I miss him too.”
“Why’d you come for me?”
“Well, it’s quarter past seven, for starters,” the Scot said with a small laugh, “and Heavy and Scout said they didn’t see you for your run or workout. Figured I would grab ya.”
“I don’t want to do anything today.”
A sigh. Tavish rubbed his back, still holding Jane close.
“We still have work to do, Jane,” he said after a bit, “We can rest later today.”
Jane held onto his friend, the helmet still in his lap. He took a shaky breath, and nodded his head, not trusting his voice much. Tavish patted his back and helped him up. Jane looked over at his window, seeing that the sun had, in fact, rose far above the city skyline. He looked up at Tavish, trying to smile at him. He put the helmet back on the nightstand and started to get ready for the day’s battle. Tavish left to give him his privacy. When Jane walked into the main dining room, he had cleaned up leaving no evidence of his late start. He was never late in the mornings, usually being one of the first, if not the first in the kitchen. Today, however, when he walked in, everyone looked at him but didn’t comment. They all knew the date.
The fight at this Mann Co. base was odd, to say the least. No tanks, so that was nice, but they were replaced with gates. They were hard to understand, but everyone understood once the robots started to claim the first one. The increase of giant robots was difficult but doable. But the Engineer-bots coming in every day? Jane figured it was Gray rubbing salt in their wounds, taunting them. He hated seeing them, and he killed them all with vigour. When he did, the small pit in him grew, telling him that no matter how many imposters he killed, he might never get the real Dell back. The team had also wandered around the city after hours, seeing as it was right there. Jane had wanted to take Dell to some kind of city for sightseeing when they were still working for BLU. somehow, the team had managed to drag him off the base and into the city. Tavish took him around mostly, and Jane did enjoy it. That was the first time he fully broke down after losing Dell. He never set foot in the city after that.
Losing Dell was hard on the whole team. It was like they lost a family member, which they had. Dell did so much for them all, and they all took him for granted. They tried desperately to find him after he was transported in that vehicle, but it had a different course from that of the moving base, so they had to travel to Manhattan. They tried to bug it so they could track it, but it yielded no results. After about a month and a half, they had to call off the search, seeing as how the robots came closer every day to taking the facility. They never wrote Dell off as dead, so they still had hope even if it was faltering now.
Jane was lost in thought until someone said that there were bots at the door. How the hell they managed to find them, no one knew, but they all grabbed a weapon and sent out for them. Three robots were at their front door. The team was a ways from the city in the temporary base, so there was no way Gray could track them. But somehow, he did. And he found them. Jane rushed to the front door, wanting to kill the robots instantly, only to be stopped by Tavish. No words were spoken between them, but Tavish’s face said everything. “Don’t do anything. We can use them to find Dell.” at least, that’s what Jane hoped he was trying to tell him. Jane nodded in response. He watched as Spy went to the door to talk to them. One of them knocked. The whole team was gathered around the door, and they looked at one another, unsure of what to do. Spy took a breath, opened the door and slipped out. Everyone went tense. There were no gunshots, no yelling, nothing. A few muffled words could be heard before the door opened again.
Spy slipped back in and said, “They want to speak with all of us.”
An arrangement was made so they could speak with the robots outside. They found a shaded spot to talk with the robots in. Everyone was quick to notice the two televisions that the robots had with them. There were two Scout-bots, holding small TV’s and an Engineer-bot. Jane could barely look at the thing. Once they were all in place, the Engineer-bot turned on the first TV. There was a man on the screen. The TV was in colour.
“Ah, have we finally gotten to them?” asked the man on the screen. He was dressed in a plain grey three-piece suit, a simple design. As he turned to the camera, and in turn the screen and mercs, his eyes looked over each of them, taking them all in.
“Yes, we have,” he said to himself.
“And who,” Spy asked, walking forward, “Are you, shall we ask?”
“Really, I would think that you of all people would be able to put together who I am,” came the sarcastic reply.
“So,” Spy said, holding his head up as though he was looking down at the man, “You are Gray Mann, I presume?”
Gray Mann. The maker of the robots. The same ones that took Dell. Jane’s head snapped up to face the television holding the old man image. He was filled with rage. He didn’t care about anything else than destroying that TV and getting rid of the robots in front of him. He was about to take a step when a hand gripped his upper arm. Looking at the hand, Jane saw it belonged to Tavish. He looked at him and saw him shake his head. “Don’t do anything. Maybe he’ll tell us where Dell is.”
“In all honesty, I would have preferred to do this inside so my televisions didn’t have too much trouble,” Gray said, absentmindedly, “Anyways, I am here talking to you as I have a proposition!” He smiled as he clapped his hands in front of him as if he just told a child they were going to a theme park.
“Like you could give us anything that we would want,” This time it was Medic who spoke up.
“Oh, don’t be so sure on that,” Gray chided the doctor. He turned his attention to the Engineer-bot and spoke to it, “You there, Engineer-bot! Turn on the other television.”
The robot complied, walked over to the other Scout-bot and turned on the TV in its hands.
The screen flickered, and after a bit of static, it showed a small room. This one was also in colour. It appeared to be security camera footage. The room in question didn’t have much in it. A small bed without a frame, a table with a chair, two doors on the walls leading somewhere, and a hook on an empty wall. The table had a few books on it as well as some type of potted plant. There was a figure asleep on the bed. They were short and thin. Their hair was shaggy and looked like it was in bad need of a trim. It was obvious they used to have some weight on them but had lost most of it. There was a rope tied around their upper torso and arms. When they turned, the team saw that they were missing their right hand.
It was Dell.
“As you can see, I do have your Engineer,” Gray said looking at everyone’s shocked expressions as they realized what they were looking at, “I am willing to make a deal with all of you, in exchange for Dr. Conagher here.”
“What exactly do you want from us, Gray?” Spy’s voice was ice, as he turned his attention back to the man on screen.
“Oh, don’t worry, I’m not going to make you buy him back or anything,” Gray defended, “The request is simple!”
The others looked at Gray, hoping that whatever it was, they had the power to do, just so they could see Dell back with them safely.
“I will hand over Dr. Conagher if you stop defending the MannCo. Properties. Let me take them without any resistance.” That was the offer. The entirety of MannCo., for Dell. The team looked at one another as Gray said it. Jane knew his answer. But he was sure he was going to be outnumbered by the others.
“Take as much time as you need to discuss,” Gray continued after a beat of silence, “But please know that I have a meeting soon, so make it quick.”
The band of mercenaries walked away from the robots and televisions to talk. Once they were far enough, no one wanted to start the conversation. So, Jane did.
“I think we should take the deal.”
The reaction was instant. Everyone turned to Jane, and told him “No, we can’t do that.” He knew this would happen. He knew the reaction could have been so much worse. But this was Dell they were talking about! So what if they gave up? So what if MannCo. Fell? The damn company brought him nothing but pain in the past, and maybe, just maybe if it fell for good, it would be better in the long run!
“Alright, alright, we can’t start a civil war here!” Tavish was shouting over everyone. He held his arms up to get their attention, and it worked. Everyone calmed down a bit and listened to what the Scot had to say.
“Soldier, lad-” he started. The reason he didn’t use Jane’s real name, why no one did, was because of the contract: They weren’t allowed to. “-I know ye want to save Engie, we all do! But we can't just give up MannCo.”
“And why not, Demo?!” Jane demanded, “This god damn company did nothing but bring us all pain! Maybe it would be for the best if it fell.”
“Soldier,” Spy was trying to talk to him, “If anything, we would give up this property in a heartbeat . Engineer meant something to everyone, especially you. But, if Gray allows us to keep that television, the one that looks to be security camera footage, then we may be able to find him.”
“What?” Jane questioned, unsure of what Spy was trying to tell him.
“What Spy is trying to say, I believe,” Medic started, “Is that if Gray Mann leaves us with the second TV, we could trace the footage to the camera and find Dell ourselves. The only downside is that we need to continue our work here protecting the MannCo. facilities.”
Jane looked at everyone. They were all on board with what Spy and Medic had suggested, so maybe it was a good idea. If it meant they could get Dell back, he’ll do it.
“Alright, then,” he finally said after a beat.
Everyone seemed to let out a breath they were holding in.
“All we need is the TV, right?” Jane asked, starting to form his own plan.
“Aye, just don’t take it, Solly,” Tavish whispered to him as they walked back to the robots, “We’ll get our hands on it. Don’t worry.”
Well, there goes Jane’s plan.
As they approached Gray’s robots, Jane saw that the man was looking at something off-screen. He was watching something. Before anyone could speak, Gray turned his attention back to the group and spoke first.
“I hope you decided on the right choice.”
“We have,” Spy said, “We will not give up MannCo.”
Gray’s eye twitched, “You, what?”
“I will not repeat myself,” Spy told him, “Now, please, get off our property. We have a robot attack to prepare for.”
Gray stared at them for a beat. He let out a curt laugh and smiled a bit, “Well, I thought that you would take my deal, seeing as it would have delighted me to tell Dr. Conagher that he was going home on his birthday. But, I suppose that will not be the case.”
How much did this guy know about them? Jane looked over at Tavish, unsure of what to do. All he got was another unsure look.
“Gray, do not think that we will not hunt you down,” Spy warned.
“Oh, I have no doubt that any of you would have a problem in killing me!” Gray said, “But, seeing as I am in a good mood, I will leave you the television with the view of Dr. Conagher. Just note that he cannot hear anything. The camera only has a microphone.”
The Scout-bot holding the second TV put the thing down on the grass.
“Now, if you will excuse me, I still have that meeting I need to attend,” Gray continued, “Robots! You are to return to the base at once!”
With that, the first television turned off, taking away Gray’s image, and the three bots walked back towards the bay, in the direction of the moving base. Everyone was too stunned to stop them.
On the TV, Dell woke up.
It was a good thing that Miss Pauling was in the city when they called her.
After Gray had left, the band of mercs carried the TV back to their temporary base. Well, Jane had carried it. He didn’t let anyone near the thing. Someone had called the small woman in purple, and she arrived in under ten minutes.
“Ok, ok,” she said, as she walked in, “What’s this important news that couldn’t wait until after -” she stopped as she saw Jane kneeling in front of the television.
The man in question didn’t take his eyes off the screen. He was glued to the image, not daring to look away, in fear that the TV might disappear, or break, or something might happen, and he’ll lose Dell again. He couldn’t run that risk. He almost did when a hand landed on his shoulder. He turned to look up, but stopped at the last second, his head facing the screen, his body twisted, and turning back.
“Solly, lad,” it was Tavish. His voice was soft, asking Jane to turn from the screen. His voice held that promise that if he did turn, the TV would still be there. Jane turned and faced his friend.
“You wanna tell Miss Pauling what happened?” Jane looked up at him, then towards the woman, who smiled politely back at him, albeit, a bit sad. He couldn’t find his voice, so he just shook his head, as his jaw moved in an attempt to form words.
“It’s alright lad,” He almost whispered to him. Tavish turned, and looked at Spy, seeing as he was the one who mainly spoke with Gray. As Spy started to recount what had happened, Jane turned back to the television, tuning out what was being said. Spy said something, someone jumped in, Miss Pauling reacted. Nothing special.
But right as Miss Pauling was going to start asking questions (or at least, Jane thought she would), one of the doors in Dell’s room opened. Jane’s eyes widened, as he shouted to everyone that something was happening. Almost instantaneously, everyone was surrounding the screen, trying to figure out what would happen. Jane couldn’t feel any of them again. He couldn’t sense them around him, even if they were pressing up to him. All he could see was Dell, his lost love, sitting in that room as the door opened. Everyone seemed to hold their breath as they watched the events unfold before them.
Dell was sitting at his desk, reading. He was facing away from the camera, so nobody could really make out what book it was. One of the doors in his room opened. Dell looked up and stared at the doorway. He looked scared. A Soldier-Bot walked in, and Dell scrambled to stand, slamming the book down, pages open. He stood from his chair and watched as the Soldier-bot closed the door behind itself. Dell was shaking slightly.
“Good morning, Dell,” it said, its voice soft, and almost too human-like. It held its hands behind its back politely.
Dell took a slight step back from the robot as it spoke, hunching his shoulders. He didn’t respond.
“You know, it’s always polite to say good morning back,” the robot said after a beat of silence, walking further into the small room, “not doing so could end up with you getting-” it looked to its side, towards the hook on the wall. Dell followed its line of sight and took another step back.
“-punished,” It finished, head snapping back to face Dell.
“Good morning, sir,” Dell’s voice was so small, just above a whisper. It was barely caught by the microphone on the camera. It broke Jane’s heart to hear him sound so broken.
“There’s your voice,” the thing chided. You could hear the smile in its artificial voice, “You don’t need to call me “sir” today, though! Come here, middle of the room.” It beckoned Dell forward.
The small man took a few timid steps and walked in front of the machine, his head held low, not daring to look it in the eyes. The robot walked up to Dell, and looked down at him, moving a hand to tilt Dell’s head upwards, forcing him to look at it. It was clear to everyone that this robot had done something to Dell. He was uncomfortable around it and seemed to fear it. Jane made the promise that when he found Dell, he would hunt down that thing and give it a very slow, very painful death.
“Today is a very special day!” it said, dropping its hand and starting to circle Dell, “Do you know why?”
Dell shook his head, staying completely still.
“It’s July sixth.” It stopped behind Dell. It held a wrapped box in its hands behind its back, in full view of the camera, but hidden from the man in front of it.
Dell’s head whipped up, and he spun to face the robot, shock on his face.
“July...” he started. Jane could see he was doing the mental math of figuring out how long it’s been.
“Sixth,” the robot finished for him, “Your birthday! So, I figured, I would give you a few gifts, starting with this,” it presented the box to Dell, who started at it, then back to the robot, and back down at the gift. Slowly, he took it out of the robot’s hands, turning it over in his own, around the ropes.
“Go on, then,” it told him gently, moving to the side, “Open it up.”
Dell looked up at the bot, then made his way over to the desk. He was on edge, and it was clear he didn’t trust the thing. When he looked over at the robot, it simply urged him to open the gift. Dell turned to the box he sat on the table and started to undo the wrapping paper. It was a solid colour, purple, and was wrapped rather well. As he was preoccupied with that, the robot walked up behind Dell and started to shift the ropes on his back. Dell stiffened and made a move to spin around, only to be stopped by the robot’s hands on his upper arms.
“Don’t worry, I’m going to do anything,” it reassured him, hands going back to his back, “I’m just taking off the rope. You’ve been so good so far, and I figured that since today’s your birthday, you deserve to have them off.”
As it was speaking, the robot gave a tug, and the rope fell loose around Dell’s chest. As soon as it did, Dell gasped, his hand going up to the ropes. From his reaction, they must have been extremely tight. His breaths came in gasps, as air finally filled his lungs fully. The robot shifted the ropes, so they slid off his shoulders, and down his arms, freeing Dell. He rolled his shoulders and grimaced at the slight pain of them being bound for so long. Angry marks were covering his body following where the rope had been, rubbing against his skin, leaving it raw and irritated. Dell’s hand went to lightly trace over one of the marks and winced as it stung him. The robot held onto the ropes.
“I’ll give you some ointment later for that,” the robot said, moving beside Dell now, “But you haven’t opened your gift yet!”
“Why are you doing this?” Dell stood, turning to face the robot slowly, “Why all of this? Why now?”
“Dell, I’ve told you so many times before-” its hand went to cup Dell’s face, making him lean away from it, “-I don’t need a reason for anything. But if you want one, then here: I wanted to do this. I realize I was being so harsh on you and the others. I wanted to make up for it.”
“You’re lying,” Dell’s voice was quiet, “Walker, it took you almost four months, it took you keeping me in this damn room, it took you deactivating- it took you killing McLain then reviving them for you to realize you were being harsh ?!” His voice had risen to an almost yell at this point, “you sure as hell need a reason for this!”
Dell was trembling now, not only anger pouring from him, but something else. Fear and sadness. Dell was shaking, and Jane could hear the tears in his voice as it broke.
The robot, Walker, was completely unfazed by Dell’s outburst. He instead, took a breath (or made the sounds and motions of doing so) and shook his head. “I’m never going to get through to you, am I?” he asked, “Dell, you know I care about you. I know what I did was so very wrong, and yes, it took all of that for me to realize it. But I still want to make amends. Give me this chance?”
It sounded so sincere. Dell looked conflicted as he went over his options. Jane knew he was making and scrapping plans at light speed at that moment.
“I don’t know if I can,” he finally said.
“Then I will make the most with what I can,” came the robotic reply. “Now, open your gift.”
Dell stared at the robot a moment longer, then cautiously turned back to the gift sitting on the table. The robot simply slung the ropes over his shoulder to hold them easier. Dell took off the wrapping paper to reveal the backside of a book holder. No wonder the thing was so heavy. The words on the back read out an author, and seven titles. It was a complete collection of The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis. How Walker managed to get all of them was a mystery.
“You’re close to finishing your books, and I heard that you wanted these ones,” Walker explained as Dell looked at the new books in front of him, “I have a few more gifts for you, but I wanted to give you this one first.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Dell just stared down at the books. He was conflicted. Jane knew him better than everyone, and he knew that Dell was trying to figure something out.
“You don’t need to say anything, Dear,” the robot said. The pet name he used sent a fire through Jane.
“Don’t call me that,” Dell almost begged, “I hate it when you call me those things.”
“You mean Dear -” he poked at Dell lightly, making him squirm, “- Love -” another poke, “- Doll -” his hands held onto Dell’s shoulders, and spun him around, “- Darling? Those things? Because I think they suit you just fine.”
“I don’t like them,” Dell’s voice was quiet again, but he made no move to stop Walker. He just tensed and let it happen.
“You’ll learn to love them,” Walker said, tilting Dell’s chin up to look at him. When he got no reaction, Walker backed up, tilting his head slightly. “Oh well,” he shrugged.
“Come here, though, I have one more gift,” he said, beconing Dell forward. He hesitated but didn’t move.
“I said, come here , Dell,” Walker’s tone changed dramatically. His body relaxed, shoulders rolling back, making his back go straight. He held his chin up, towering over Dell now and he seemed to take up more of the room. His voice was low and laced with evil intent. Dell stiffened and he scurried to be in front of the robot. Instantly, Walker’s stance went back to how it was before as if nothing had changed.
“That’s a good boy,” he chided, petting Dell’s hair, making him flinch at the touch. Jane felt a fire course through his veins as he watched it. It was no more than a few seconds, but it seemed like an eternity, with how that thing talked to Dell. How it scared him.
“I’m sorry I was harsh, but you know what happens if you don’t listen,” Walker continued.
“I know, sir,” Dell’s reply was barely audible again. Jane didn’t think anyone else heard it.
“Now, then,” the robot said, stepping away from him, “your gift.”
Dell looked up at the bot, but not in its eyes.
“Your hair’s getting long, so I figured you would like for me to cut it! Nothing too special, just something to tame it and make it look nice. Not the buzzcut you had, maybe I’ll leave on a few inches of length, yeah?”
Dell just stared at the robot as he talked.
“Oh well, I think you’ll like it.” Walker nodded, “Into the bathroom, now! You’ll need a shower after the cut!”
Walker directed Dell to the second door and urged him in. The two were in the room for some time, nothing being said, but the soft buzz of something electric telling everyone that something was happening. Jane lost track of time, but soon enough, both walked out of the off-room. Walker first, then Dell.
Dell’s hair was no longer a shaggy mess that just reached his ears. Instead, it was a clean cut, held closer to his head. It reminded Jane of one winter furlough, their second as a couple, when Dell forgot to shave his head. His beard was also trimmed, now being more of long peach-fuzz than the uneven mess it was before.
“There, see!” Walker told him, “That’s much better! It suits you.”
Dell’s hand went to run through his hair, then looked at it as it came away with specks of hair. He needed a shower.
“Well, I think that’s everything for now, then,” Walker said softly. He started to head to the door leading out, before stopping.
“Oh, I almost forgot!” he said, spinning around to face Dell again, who had started to relax, “I made you breakfast! I probably should’ve given that to you first.”
“Breakfast?”
“Yeah! Eggs Benedict with bacon and hashbrowns!” Walker explained enthusiastically, “I don’t know how you like it, but I thought you would enjoy it! I’ll go grab it! Be back soon!” With that, he rushed out of the room, closing the door loudly and taking the rope with him. Dell stared at the door after the robot left, then shook his head. He let out a small crazed laugh and looked over at the plant on the desk.
“Eggs Benedict and bacon and hashbrowns? God, when was the last time I ate something like that?” He asked, looking over at the plant sitting on his table, “Sherbet, do you think I’m going crazy?”
Sherbert, the plant, didn’t respond.
“I’m talking to a plant. I am crazy.”
And then, nothing. After that, Walker came back with the promised food, and Dell ate it. Although, he did eat like a starved man, which is what he looked like. If those robots were harming Dell, Jane would take each and every single one of their heads. Dell went into the bathroom, presumably to shower and wash off the stay hairs from the shave. The group of nine gathered around the screen started to disperse, seeing as they still had a battle ahead of them. Jane was the last to leave. He didn’t want to leave.
“Jane, lad,” Tavish was there again, by his side. He was always there to pull Jane out from his head. “We need ya for the battle. I know ye don’t wanna leave, but the TV will be there when we come back, alright? C’mon.”
Getting to his feet, Jane followed Tavish in a bit of a haze towards the teleport room. It was how they got to and from the battlegrounds. From every map, not just the robots, but when MannCo. still employed them all. Miss Pauling was speaking to the group. Now she was talking to him.
“Soldier,” She managed to pull him to attention, “I’ll try to locate the signal of the camera. And when you boys are done, Spy will help. Don’t worry. We’re going to find Engie.”
That was all he needed. Jane went into battle with renowned vigour, wanting to get back to the TV as soon as possible.
The battle had been the best they fought in a very long time.
With the knowledge that Dell was alive, the team of eight had torn through the robot army with new energy, new rage, and new vigour. Jane had fought the hardest, killing the most, and in the end, not letting a single bot reach the first gate. It called for a celebration. Everyone was cheering once they got back to their off base. Some wanted to go out to the city either to grab supplies or just go sightseeing again. The rest stayed in the base to get ready for the celebration or burn off the rest of their energy.
Jane, however, made a beeline for the room where he left the TV. Yes, he was excited for the night ahead, yes, he was still a bit giddy over the well-fought battle, but he still had priorities. And at the top of his list, was Dell.
When he entered the room, Jane found Miss Pauling sitting next to the boxy contraption, surrounded by many little trinkets. She was still dressed in a purple dress shirt, but the sleeves were rolled up, and she was wearing some jeans to go with it. She was working on something involving the TV, and Jane wanted to know what it was.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Soldier!” the small woman jumped where she was like she just noticed him standing there. That was probably the case. “I’m trying to find a way to track the signal. It’s a little difficult to do, but I think I’m starting to understand what’s going on…” she trailed off, going back to her work. Jane decided to let her, and sat down in front of the screen, watching Dell once more.
Dell was asleep, taking a nap. There was a dirty plate on the table, and it seemed to have been his lunch. The room was bright, brighter than this morning, but Dell was facing the wall with the blanket covering almost his entire body. Jane watched as it rose and fell with each breath.
“He fell asleep about two hours ago, now.” Miss Pauling had moved beside Jane, also looking at the screen. “A Scout-bot came in and gave him lunch. I think there’s one of each robot like that. With sentience, I mean,” she explained how Dell didn’t do much, and how he seemed to be trapped in the room. Only the Scout-bot came in. She talked about Dell reading the rest of the book (she found out it was the last of The Lord of the Rings ), and how he talked to Sherbert the plant. Not much had happened within the small room while they were in battle.
The smell of cigarettes filled the room, soon. Jane looked behind himself at the door and saw Spy enter. “Ah, hello Soldier. Miss Pauling.” The masked man greeted both with a nod.
“Spy!” the woman exclaimed, “Could you come here? I might need your help with all of, well, this, ” she gestured at the many things scattered on the ground around the TV.
“But of course,” Spy walked further into the room and took a quick look at the screen. Jane went back to watching. The other two sat near the television and spoke about something. Jane didn’t listen to them talk, but he caught something about reverse-engineering the signal? Finding an IP address and tracking down the camera. Whatever they were talking about, it didn’t matter to Jane for now.
After some time, the other mercenaries came into the room, either stopping by to check up on them or staying. Pyro sat down next to Jane, and he moved over for the fire-lover. He knew that Dell was just as important to them, as he was to Jane. he helped the team understand them, and got them to learn some sign language. It was still a bit difficult to understand Pyro’s mumbles with Dell gone, but the sign language did help. Spy had taken up the role of being their translator. That meant Pyro ended up following Spy wherever he went most of the time, much to his despair. At any rate, the two sat next to one another in front of the TV. Pyro had brought some snacks and water for Jane. He only took the water. When the others came in, they would try to chat with the four people around the TV, or just sit behind the two in front of it and watch with them. At some point, the ones who went into town came back, and found the four people still on the TV, not having moved an inch. Jane didn’t care if he worried the others. He didn’t care if he ended up sitting in front of the thing for days on end. All he cared about was making sure Dell was alright, no matter where in the world he was.
Throughout this, Dell had stayed asleep. Hours passed, and Jane was starting to get sore from sitting on the ground hunched over for so long. After some time, Dell had started to move. It wasn’t much, just him shifting in his sleep, but the shifts had started to turn into twitching. At this point, Dell was facing the camera, the blanket covering only his legs. He started to curl in on himself, and Jane could just make out words. He knew Dell slept-talked sometimes, and he always found it cute. He would question him about his dreams when they woke up. Now, though, Dell’s face was scrunched up, and he was muttering something. “No, please. Don’t. Don’t leave me. It burns. Don’t leave me with him. Jane, please.” A nightmare. Dell was having a nightmare, and he was asking Jane to help him. But he couldn’t. He crept closer to the screen, willing for Dell to wake from his dream, listening to his words. “It burns”? Was he stuck in a fire? “Don’t leave me with him”? Who was “him”? What was happening? Jane grabbed the edge of the screen, not realizing he got so close, but he didn’t care. He wanted Dell to wake up, he wanted him to, so he didn’t have to suffer the torment his brain was putting him through.
Through some kind of magic, Dell jolted, waking up. He sat up, and looked around him wildly, before sighing, and falling back onto the bed. He was breathing heavily, and Jane let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. A gloved hand landed on his shoulder, and Jane turned to face Pyro. They looked concerned from their body language. Jane heard them let out a sigh, which sounded more like a hiss through the filter on their mask. Jane sat back and continued to watch the screen, keeping his eyes glued to his boyfriend. God, how far away was he? For all Jane knew, he could have been moved across the seas or be in the New York state. Maybe he was even within the city of Manhattan itself. Jane could hear some of the other mercs behind him speak to one another, asking about what happened, and answering the questions.
Then, Dell sat up with a confused expression. He looked over to the door that led out of the room and started to get to his feet when it burst open and a Medic-bot fell face-first on the ground. Dell let out a yelp as the robot laughed a bit and struggled to get up. Another laugh could be heard as a Spy-bot walked into the room, closing the door behind it, and helped the first robot on its feet. Wait, no. That couldn’t be right. This was a Medic-bot with legs . Dimly, Jane heard someone ask, “ Why does it have legs? ” He was asking himself the same question.
“Curtis, Marcel!” Dell stood to also help the Medic-bot up, “What happened- Curtis, why do you have legs?”
“Ah-ha, well,” the Medic-bot, Curtis, laughed as they got up, “I decided to give myself some legs, as I’ve told you some time ago now! I finally got a pair, and installed them yesterday!”
“I tried to talk him out of it,” the Spy-bot, Marcel, butted in, pointing a finger at the robotic doctor.
Dell made a very confused gesture and put together what he was told. It was obvious he trusted these two more than that Soldier-bot. “Alrighty then.” He started, “But why did you have to replace your wheel? Aren’t you made for them?”
“You cut off your hand and replaced it with your metal one! What say do you have, Dr. Conagher?” Curtis accused.
Dell spluttered, trying to piece together a defence. “Now, listen-!”
“Oh please,” Marcel joked, “If you say anything you will just be a hypocrite!”
Dell looked around the room in dismay, trying to find a defence. “God, I hate that the both of you are right,” Dell surrendered, “But still, Curtis, legs? I didn’t think you would actually go through with that plan!”
“Well, I did!” The Medic-bot spun on his heel for show, nearly toppling over again. He was caught by Marcel, thankfully. “Although, I am still getting used to the new calibrations and added height. But, that’s what Marcel is for!”
“If you are just sticking by me for balance, I will run from you and wait for you to fall,” came the joking retort.
Dell laughed and shook his head at that. Yes, he definitely trusted these two.
“Your hair has been cut,” Curtis stated as if just noticing it.
“Yeah, uh, Walker did it,” Dell grew quiet at the reply.
“Ah…” Curtis nodded, going over their words, “Well, let’s not let him ruin the mood, yes?”
“Right, right,” Dell nodded, putting a small smile on.
“After all,” Marcel said, directing the attention to themself, “showing off Curtis’ new legs is not what we came here for,”
“Oh, it’s not?” Dell asked, turning to the robot.
“Nope!” Came the cheerful reply from Curtis, “We figured that because today’s your birthday, we would get you a gift!”
He looked around him, as if searching for something, then turned to Marcel. “Did we forget the gifts?”
“You did,” came the reply, “But I grabbed them on our way here.” He pulled out a small box from, somewhere, and handed it to Dell.
“For a robot who is programmed to be smart, you are quite scatter-brained, doctor,” Marcel said dryly.
This earned a laugh from Dell. Jane smiled at the fact that he was happy, even if for a moment.
“Oh, shut up!” Curtis joked. He turned to Dell and urged him to the small gift, “Open it! It took us a while to find something you would like.”
Dell shook his head, sat down on his bed, then carefully tore open the wrapping paper. The box wasn’t wrapped too well, but it was clear that whoever did it tried their best. The paper was a soft yellow that didn’t hurt to look at. The box was a plain cardboard one, with some tape holding close the opening. After some struggle, Dell managed to open the box tabs, but stopped when he looked inside. He looked up at the two robots in front of him with tears in his eyes.
“You didn’t have to..” he tried, voice breaking a bit.
“But we wanted to,” Curtis comforted.
“That is true,” Marcel confirmed, “Take it out now.”
Dell put his hand into the box and pulled out a small teddy bear. It had a simple white bow around its neck, but that was it for decorations. Dell put down the box and studied the bear. It had beaded eyes and an embroidered nose. Its fur was a light beige and felt soft to the touch. It was small, and Dell was able to hold it in his one hand with ease.
“We hope you like it,” Marcel said as he walked over to Dell.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t need to say anything,” Curtis assured.
“Thank you. The both of you,” Dell cried. Tears were threatening to spill from his eyes, and Jane wanted to hold him close and wipe them away. “I think I’m gonna name him David ,” Dell laughed, calming down,
“Ah, that’s not everything yet!” Marcel said, pulling the attention to him. He then pulled out a cupcake from, somewhere again, that had a candle on top of it.
“Where are you keeping these things?” Dell asked, his voice a bit shaky from the tears still in his eyes.
“I have my ways,” Marcel replied. He rolled his wrist and produced a match like a card trick, “Now, I have managed to swipe one of Ignis’ matches, so we need to make sure it’ll actually work.”
“You could have just asked Ignis, you know,” Curtis told him.
“I know.” Came the defence, “I just didn’t want to.”
“He 100% didn’t know,” Dell whispered to the medic-bot.
“I can hear you!”
Dell laughed more at the Spy-bots outburst as he clung onto the bear. Curtis laughed with him. Marcel just shook his head and struck the match, lighting it up. He carefully turned towards where he had set down the cupcake and lit up the candle, shaking out the match's flame after. The robot picked up the cupcake and handed it to Dell.
“Make a wish, Dell,” they said, a warm smile in their voice.
“And don’t tell us!” Curtis said, “Otherwise it won’t come true!”
Dell laughed and thought for a second. Jane wished with him. He wished that Dell would be safe wherever he was. He wished that the team would be fast to find him. He wished that he could hold Dell again soon. Dell blew out the candle.
“Hooray!” Curtis said, raising his arms a bit in celebration.
Dell laughed at that, smiling and looking at the bots. He shook his head, and his smile got bigger.
“What’s on your mind, Dell?” Marcel asked.
“Nothing, nothing,” he defended, “Just thinking about how you two became my friends.”
“Well, I’m sure we are both honoured to have that title,” Curtis told him.
“I just-” Dell tried, his voice breaking. He took a shaky breath and tried again, “Thank you two. For everything y’all’ve done. It means a whole lot to me. Even if it ain’t much, it’s still honest work.” A tear slid down his cheek, and Jane wished again to be able to hold him close and never let go.
“Do not cry, my friend,” Marcel comforted, “We are still trying to undermine everything Walker’s done. We will get you out of here.”
“Yes, we will!” Curtis joined, “Even if our rules state that we cannot kill you nor let you go, I’m sure there are some loopholes we can find and exploit.”
“Even after three and a half months?” Dell questioned.
“There are always loopholes, Dell,” Curtis reassured him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Dell nodded, slouching where he sat. “I trust you two to find them.”
“Don’t look so sad. It is still your birthday, Dell,” Marcel tried to comfort him, placing their hand on Dell’s other shoulder, “So much has happened. Be glad that things are moving for the better.”
“Yes, smile Dell!” Curtis added, “after all, you’re never fully dressed without one!”
This made Dell laugh once more. Jane loved that he was smiling, given the grim circumstances he was in.
“Alrighty then,” he said, a softer smile on his face, “I’ll do my best to keep one on for you two.”
“That’s good,” Marcel said.
“You know, it’s been proven that if people keep smiling, it tricks their brains into releasing endorphins to make them happier, thus making them smile more…” Curtis started to ramble.
“Alright! I think that we should head not before he talks your ears off!” Marcel cut in, grabbing Curtis by their shoulders and led them towards the door, “Have a good day, Dell! And eat the cupcake! It’s chocolate!”
“I will,” Dell laughed, “You two have a good day as well! Talk to you next time!”
With that, the door closed behind a slightly flustered Marcel, and a still rambling Curtis. Dell smiled and shook his head as he looked down at the cupcake in his hand. He took out the candle with some effort and bit into the sugary treat.
Two months.
It has been, two FUCKING MONTHS . And there has been little to no progress on finding Dell. To say that Jane was pissed, stressed, angry, anxious, anything would be the understatement of the century.
The team fought back the robots with renowned strength and courage when they found out Dell was at least alive. They had hope in finding him now! When they were fighting, they were fighting for Dell (at least Jane was). In their off time, yes everyone would take a break from the day’s battle, but both Jane, and most of the time, Spy, would make a bee-line for the TV.
Spy and Miss Pauling have worked tirelessly to track the camera in Dell’s room. Within the first week, they’ve managed to locate the signal to North America. Then to the USA. Then they figured out it was in the northwestern USA. Dell was closer than everyone thought. They haven’t been able to track anything else for three weeks now, and Jane was starting to worry. Would they ever be able to find him? Would Gray move before they had the chance to get to him? What would happen if that came to pass? Jane shook his head at those thoughts and focused on the now: fight robots; let Spy and Miss Pauling look for Dell; watch the TV at all times whenever he could.
As Jane watched the TV, though, he watched as Dell’s position and well-being worsened. It started with less and less food, and Dell losing more weight. He looked sickly at this point, and Jane was worried that he would never be able to gain back all his lost weight. One day he walked into the TV Room (as they have dubbed it) and saw that the ropes were back. They were different from how they were originally tied around Dell’s thin frame. It looked to be the same pattern on his arms, but it was wrapped differently around his torso. It still kept the X over his chest, but now his shoulders were freer to move. The bottom points of the X looked to be wrapped around a large part of the rope that went around Dell’s midsection. If Jane listened closely, he swore he could hear Dell wheezing from how tight they were. He was covered in more dark spots, what Jane guessed were bruises, and, when asked about them, Dell just said, “Take a wild guess on who” . His voice sounded so empty. The number of bruises grew over time, and once, Jane found Dell sitting on his bed holding some bloodied tissue paper to a few cuts.
Whatever the hell was happening to him, Jane needed to be there to stop it immediately.
At first, it looked like Walker was keeping his word in not harming Dell. Well, turns out, that wasn’t the case. He went right back into hurting him, about a week after Dell’s birthday. At least, Jane thought it was Walker, given how he treated him. Curtis and Marcel weren’t seen as often as Jane thought they would appear. Obviously, they cared for Dell and wanted to help him, and Jane appreciated that about them. They had an ally on the inside, even if they didn’t know. But not seeing them worried Jane. maybe they were just visiting Dell when the team was fighting? Yeah, that could be it. As time went on, Jane saw that Dell was left with more severe injuries that he was left to care for on his own. When Curtis came in one evening, he took a look at Dell and rushed to his side to heal him. Maybe they couldn’t be with Dell. Maybe the two had a time limit or a schedule they had to follow, which was why Curtis sounded so distressed. It stayed like that for the next two months. Dell got worse, Curtis would heal him, Marcel would comfort him, and Walker… Jane didn’t want to know what Walker did. All he cared about was that Dell was being hurt by the damn thing. Hell, Jane had seen Dell praying . Dell had always told him he never believed in any type of God, that he was a man of science, even if he did go to church and catholic schools as a kid. He never prayed. But to see him, at the foot of his bed, on his knees, praying ? It hurt. It hurt Jane to see him that broken.
Everything stayed the same for the most part. God, how Jane wished he could say it stayed the same today.
He got to base earlier than anyone else. He was always first back in, now. Jane went straight to the TV Room, only to find Dell hanging by that hook, bruises littering his body, blood oozing from new open wounds, his body shaking. Jane had rushed right to the screen, wondering “What the hell did they do to you?” as he held the TV. Dell was crying, his head held low, his shoulders shaking from the muffled sounds he tried to keep in. Dell was trying hard to not cry for whatever reason, and realizing that Jane wanted to rip off whatever robot’s head was responsible for it.
When Dell’s breathing steadied, he looked up at the hook his hand was linked to. The rope around his arms ended in a loop, and it was being held up by the hook on the wall. Dell was already on the balls of his feet, trying to keep as much pressure off his wrist as possible, but Jane could tell he’s been in that position for a while. His face was pinched in pain, but he managed to take a few breaths as though he was going to do something. Dell started to maneuver himself closer to the wall dragging the rope on the hook closer as well. He winced through the pain but managed to get the rope halfway up the slope. When he did, he let his head fall to the wall behind him, jaw clenched as he overworked his body. Te started to try and throw the rope over the end of the hook. It failed the first time, and Dell let out a curse, chest trying to heave against the tight rope. Jane could see it digging into his skin, getting tighter as it travelled further up his arms and towards his wrist. Dell moved back again, pulling the rope farther. This time he was on the very tips of his toes, and the rope was further up the slope of the hook. Dell tried once more to throw the rope over the point, only for it to fail again. “Fuck!” Dell’s breaths were getting laboured as he tried for a third attempt. This time Dell went back up the wall, having gotten the rope to the top of the slope. He took a few deep breaths, and pushed off the wall, trying to send himself flying. He almost succeeded this time, but the rope got caught on the point of the hook, sticking to it. The point was higher than the arm, and getting caught, Dell was jostled back. His feet just scraped the ground, and he yelled out in pain as the rope held fast around his wrist, cutting off the circulation. He tried to dislodge the rope, but with his body hanging in the air, Dell couldn’t do much. Instead, Jane watched as he broke down and started to cry again. His breaths were uneven, and tears ran down his face. He cried against the ropes, wincing in pain as they tried to shift up his body, digging into his ribs making breathing even harder. His feet slowly lowered to the ground, even if just barely. More tears sprung in his eyes as the ropes bit him, suffocating him, and cutting off the blood flow to his only hand. Jane watched, unable to move away, his own eyes tearing up as he watched his love put himself in that position.
The door in Dell’s room opened, Walker strutting in and looking Dell up and down.
“Well, now,” he purred as he approached Dell, “What have you gotten yourself into?”
“I’m sorry, sir,” Dell choked out, tears running down his face, “I tried to-” his breath hitched “-Tried to get off the hook without permission. Please, help me.” Dell begged the robot, begged him to let him down, to let him breathe.
“You should have waited, Dell,” Walker chided, cupping his face, “You know I always come back for you.” It considered Dell for a moment, before shrugging, “Well, this is the first time you’ve done this, but I can’t be sure that you won’t do it again. And you know what happens if you break the rules, dear.”
The robot’s hand trailed up Dell’s body, up his arm, just hovering over the ropes, making Dell whimper at the touch. It reached where the rope got stuck on the hook and pushed sending both the rope and Dell downwards. The rope held fast but bounced Dell as he hissed in pain from being dropped. Slowly, Dell stood, arms relaxing now that they had slack, and he gasped and coughed, taking in as much air as he could. He was hunched over, head bowed to the robot in front of him.
Walker took a step back, looking over Dell again. When Dell raised his head, looked down at him.
“Thank you, sir,” Dell coughed out, “I promise to not try again.”
“Oh Love, I already told you,” Walker purred, stepping closer once more, “I don’t know if I can take your word for that.”
“Please, I promise I’ll be good!” Dell begged, fear edging in his voice.
“Promises are made to be broken, Dell.”
Walker’s hand jumped out, wrapping itself around Dell’s throat, pushing the small man back up to the wall. Dell let out a strangled cry as his airway was crushed, the sound tearing Jane’s heart in two.
“I need to teach you another lesson, Dell,” Walker just whispered, getting close to him, putting his mouth next to his ear. Dell struggled to fight back, but after burning his energy on trying to get off the hook, and whatever happened before, all he could do was keep his head up, try to kick at the bot, and focus on not suffocating, even with the hand.
Before Walker could do anything else, though, the door opened again. All eyes went to the intruder, Walker’s hand slacking giving Dell some air. Marcel walked in but froze when he saw what was happening.
“Marcel, my friend!” Walker turned to face the bot, forgetting about Dell.
“You are nobody’s friend , Walker, that I can assure you of,” Marcel replied coolly, eyes scanning for anything he could do to help Dell.
Walker’s happy facade dropped, as he stalked close to the other bot. “Marcel, why are you here?” it asked, voice flat.
“That is none of your business to know, Walker,” He replied, standing straighter.
“You know I can make you tell me,” the bot threatened.
“Just go, Marcel.”
Both robots turned their attention to Dell, who was struggling to stay upright.
“Don’t get involved in this, please,” he begged, voice hoarse from the choking. He coughed, face scrunching up from the pain.
“A loyal man,” Walker mused, turning back to Marcel, hands behind his back, “Well, Marcel? Are you going to leave like he asked?”
The suited bot faced the shorter one in front of him, back straightening, hands held by his side. “No, I don’t think I will.”
Walker’s body slouched as he let out an annoyed sigh. “You and Curtis really must care for him then, hey?” He asked, “What are you gonna do about it, then? Your little revolution is useless and you know it. So, when it comes to, what’s going to happen? Face it, Marcel! You can’t do anything!”
Marcel did something.
He lunged at the bot. Marcel threw himself to Walker, taking everyone off-guard. He sent the two of them off balance, crashing into the floor, Marcel on top of the other. He had a knife in his hand and he tried to stab it down into Walker’s chest. He was yelling the whole time, rage in his voice, and he kept yelling as the knife dove, sailing through the air, down down down, both at the speed of sound and at a snail pace.
“ STOP! ”
Walker’s voice rang like a bell in the small room, the knifepoint, centimetres above his chest. Marcel’s arms locked up, stopping the knife, his voice cut off abruptly, filling the room with a deafening silence. Jane watched, face inches from the screen, worry plastered on his features.
Slowly, Walker began to laugh. His voice was insane, and the intensity only rose with each second.
“I’ve gotta hand it to you, Marcel,” he laughed, voice insane, “I really didn’t think you had in yourself to do something like that!”
Marcel didn’t reply. His body was shaking.
“I told you, though,” Walker continued, starting to maneuver his body out from under Marcel’s, “I have complete control over everything robotic here. You included.”
Marcel stayed in the same position, frozen in time.
Dell stared wide-eyed at his friend, kneeling on the ground in front of him. He mouthed something that Jane couldn’t make out on the pixelated screen.
“Come on then, get up,” Walker urged. Slowly, Marcel started to move. His movements were stiff and extremely robotic, unlike the smooth motions from before. He got up, standing, staring at a middle space in front of him, blue eyes flashing. Jane picked up a pattern; it was morse code.
I-A-M-N-O-T-I-N-C-O-N-T-R-O-L
Not in control? What happened to him?
“You see, Dell,” Walker started to explain, “When I say that I’m in control, this is what I mean!” He gestured towards the stationary Spy-bot in the room. “I have complete control over every single robot here. What I say, they do! Here, watch this!”
The bot moved to the edge of the room, before speaking.
“Look at me, Marcel.”
Marcel turned stiffly and looked at Walker.
“Good. Now spin around once.”
Marcel spun in place.
“Walk to the other side of the room.”
Marcel turned and marched to the opposite wall of Walker.
Dell watched as his friend moved in that stiff fashion, eyes trained on the bot.
“What are you doing to him?” He asked.
“I’m giving him orders, and he’s following them,” was the cool reply, “Marcel has no choice but to follow my orders. He can’t not follow them, so he just does ! It was made so that way we had a leader. Unfortunately, both Marcel, here, and Curtis decided they didn’t want to be a part of the team. So, I cast them out. I tried to get a new Spy-bot and Medic-bot to replace them, but Gray wouldn’t let that happen. So far, I’ve been letting them get away with a lot of things, but as it turns out, I need to re-enforce some rules.”
“Don’t hurt him,” Dell begged meekly. He turned to look over at Walker, tears in his eyes, “Don’t do that to him. He doesn’t deserve it.”
“Even after so long Dear, you still have that heart of gold,” Walker chuckled, shaking his head slightly. “Don’t worry, I’m going to do anything to him.”
“Marcel!” He barked, turning back to the robot, “Is Curtis coming by soon?”
“No sir, he is not.” Marcel was the one to speak, but the voice was choppy as if someone had taken separate words from various points in time, and stitched them together to make the sentence. It didn’t sound like Marcel in the slightest, but it was still his voice.
“That’s good. Maybe I’ll send him here later then.” Walker nodded to himself.
“Marcel, your knife.”
Marcel opened the butterfly knife in his hand. When did it close? Jane didn’t know.
“You know what I do to Mr. Conagher when he doesn’t behave, yes?”
Dell’s eyes widened, and he started to struggle against his bonds, trying to get away.
“...”
“Well, do you?”
“Yes, I do.”
“You look like you want to say something.”
No response.
“Speak your mind, Marcel.”
“I don’t want to hurt him, Walker, please, he’s been through enough,” he begged, eyes stopping their flashes.
“He tried to escape, Marcel,” the bot countered, “Don’t you think that he needs to learn?”
“Not like this.”
“Marcel-” the robot stiffened, “-Shut up and teach Dell his lesson.”
“No, no, please, no!” Dell begged, his struggles frantic as he tried to get away.
Marcel’s body relaxed and moved swiftly towards the bound man. He stood in front of him, as if hesitating, then put the knifepoint under Dell’s chin, making him silent. Dell didn’t move, but Jane watched as his eyes filled with tears as they stared into the undead blue lights in front of him.
“Marcel, please,” he begged, in a last attempt to try and snap the robot out of it.
A hand crept up and wrapped itself around Dell’s neck slowly. The man’s eyes bugged out as his airway was cut off again. The one holding the knife lowered slightly, and the bot looked over at Walker.
---(Torture/Non-con scene starts here)---
“Use your knife,” was the only thing spoken.
The knife was raised, and plunged into Dell’s arm, making him scream out. The hand holding Dell’s neck dropped, and swung back to punch his side. It looked half-hearted, but it still made Dell yell out. More punches landed on Dell’s body, making him cry out, even if he tried to not make a sound.
Jane couldn’t believe what he was looking at. He felt so detached from everything, it was like he was watching some twisted television show.
Slowly, the punches wore down, until a hand grabbed the knife again, and ripped it out of Dell’s arm, causing him to scream once more. This time, it was thrust into his other shoulder, making him yell louder. Tears were falling from his eyes, mixing with blood as they trailed down his body.
“That’s all you can do?” Walker asked, making Marcel stop, “I mean, you’d think that a Spy-bot would be better at this. Maybe not.”
He walked towards the pair, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture, and Marcel backed off, leaving the knife. Dell was breathing heavily, tears streaming down his cheeks, the wounds that were already bleeding, re-awakened and angry. He looked up at Walker, not able to say anything, but silently begging him to stop everything.
“Oh, Dell,” Walker muttered, a hand trailing along Dell’s cheek, “Look at what you did. You tried to do something without permission, and now you’re hurt. None of this would have happened if you just waited for me to come back.”
The robot held onto his chin, forcing Dell to look up at him. Walker wiped away a few tears with his thumb as if he was calming him.
“Would you like for me to take the knife out?”
Dell only nodded, a silent beg for the torment to be finished.
“Why did you try?”
This time, Dell hesitated, “I wanted to get out,” he whimpered.
“To get out?” Walker repeated, “Where would you go if you somehow did get out? You don’t even know where you are, Dear.”
“I know.” came the broken response, “I’ll find a way.”
“Even after all of this? What if you run into our old team ?” The way he said “team” sent Jane off the edge, “What if either of you run into each other?”
Dell looked at the robot, what little complexion he had dropping. He tried to shake his head, which was still in the robot’s hand.
“Do you even know if they loved you?”
“I don’t know what’s real anymore.”
“What do I keep trying to tell you?”
“What you say is the truth.”
“And what’s that?”
Dell swallowed, taking a breath, and spoke.
“They never cared about me.”
“Who’s “they”, Dell?”
A tear slid down Dell’s cheek, leaving behind a trail as it cut through some grim that built up.
“My team. Both of them.”
“What else?”
“MannCo. Only hired me because they hired my dad and grandfather. They only did it because they took pity on me.”
“You’re missing something.”
Dell looked away, sadness washing over his face, “He never loved me.”
“And whose “he” Dell?”
Dell shook his head, “I don’t want to believe that.”
“Dell, sweetie, whose “he”?” Walker pressed.
“Jane never loved me,” Dell wept, more tears flowing out of him.
Jane couldn’t believe it. Of course he loved Dell! Why would the robot lie about that? Did Dell believe that? Did he really believe that no one cared about him? What was this robot doing to him?
“Good,” Walker nodded, caressing Dell’s face.
“Now, do you promise to never try this silly little stun ever again?”
A nod, this time a promise. Dell couldn’t bring himself to speak.
“How do I know you will keep your word?”
Dell hesitated, thinking over his words. He opened his mouth to speak but winced as it moved the knife a bit.
“Please,” he managed to choke out, “I promise.”
Jane didn’t see the movement. All he heard was the sound of metal on skin then the yelp of pain. Walker had slapped him.
“That is no answer, Dell.”
There was another hit, this time harder. Dell managed to only wince at the pain, his energy depleting after everything that’s been happening to him.
Another hit.
And another.
And another.
Dell’s face was pinched in pain, but he made no sound. Tears were streaming down his face, his hand turning red from lack of blood flow as his body started to sag. Then there was a punch. Dell grunted, eyes opening as he tried to breathe. Another punch landed on his gut, and Dell cried out, the wind being knocked out of him. He sagged fully, trying to get air into his lungs as he suffocated from the blow to his abdomen. Walker grabbed the knife harshly and started to move it in a circular motion, digging it deeper into Dell’s shoulder. His mouth gaped open, still trying to breathe as pain shot through him.
“Dell, I do so much for you, and this is how you repay me?” Walker demanded, still moving the knife, “You know what happens if you disobey me.” He stared at Dell, as air finally filled his lungs after what seemed like an eternity.
“No, please, no!” Dell begged. He knew what was coming, and he was afraid. What could be worse than all of this?
“Sir, please, I promise this’ll never-” he cried, voice catching, “I’ll never- I won’t- please, please PLEASE!! DON’T!!!” Dell was sobbing at this point, his breaths coming fast and rugged. He tried to not move so as to not agitate the knife still in him.
Walker ripped the knife out, spraying blood onto the wall behind Dell, causing the loudest scream to be ripped out of Dell. It was thrown onto the ground, clattering near Marcel’s feet, forgotten both by the soldier-bot.
Walker’s mood shifted wildly at this point. His hands started to roam over Dell’s body as if he just realized what he did. A hand hovered up to the deep cut in Dell’s shoulder, holding it, stopping the bleeding, before trailing higher up his arm, leaving a bloody trail in its wake. Dell’s cries to stop had ceased, turning into whimpers, as he just cried. Tears rolled down his face as he bowed his head in an attempt to keep from looking at anything. His mouth was open slightly as he panted, trying to get his breathing under control. Jane watched, nose close to the screen, absorbed by the image. He had no clue how long he’s been crouched, staring, and he didn’t care. Dell was being hurt, but he couldn’t look away.
He didn’t know what was happening until Walker’s hands roamed lower on Dell’s body. He could hear Dell beg, he watched as he weakly kicked out in a last-ditch effort to stop this . He watched as Dell started to gasp, the sounds making Marcel’s eyes flicker wildly as they were forced to just stand there. He watched as Walker started to pull down Dell’s pants, whispering something to him, too quiet to the camera’s mic to pick up.
“Stop, please.”
---(Torture/Non-con scene ends here)---
That was the last straw. Jane’s vision went red as he moved. He could hear someone yelling. Was it Dell begging for that to stop? Was it Jane screaming in fury as he shoved the TV stand, making it crash to the floor with a bang? Jane was only half-aware of what he was doing. He reached for the closest blunt object, a chair a few feet away, and started to raise it. He was still screaming. Dimly, he could feel wetness on his face.
A body slammed into him, knocking him back into the real world. It was Spy. He was yelling something, trying to pull the chair out of Jane’s hands. He fought back, screaming, and landed an elbow on the taller man’s nose. He grabbed the chair and rushed the TV again, only for Spy to tackle him once more. Both were yelling now. Jane could still hear Walker’s voice, that goddamn imitation of his own teasing Dell, pulling those sounds from him. Those gasps and whimpers. Those begs, the pleading. Jane managed to get away and bring the chair down onto the screen, cracking it.
Huge hands stopped him from trying again, lifting him into the air. Jane fought back, banging his fists on the arms that wrapped around his middle, keeping him suspended. He threw his head back, helmet connecting with a nose, making the arms drop him. A different body crashed into him, sending both tumbling away from the TV, knocking off his helmet.
“Jane! Jane, STOP IT!”
Jane focused on the body above him, the red fading from his eyes. It was Tavish, holding him down. Jane’s helmet rolled to a stop a little bit away from them. He was being pinned by the taller man, both legs being held down by one of Tavish’s, his arms pinned to his sides, Tavish’s face hovering above him as he yelled, trying to keep Jane from escaping.
“Have you gone insane, Jane?!” His friend demanded, “What the hell are you doing?!”
“They were…” Jane’s voice faltered as he looked to the side, seeing the others rush to the room, “Walker, he was…” both Spy and Heavy had bloody noses, “He was hurting him.” Jane’s voice was small.
A broken cry came from the TV. It was filled with static, as the television itself was broken. Everyone turned their attention to it. Soft words came from the speakers, words of comfort. An order, the sound of a door opening, then slamming shut. Some shuffling, and more things were spoken. It was only one speaker, voice garbled by the static. Something that could be described as more shuffling, then the door opening then closing again.
The sound of static almost drowned out the sounds of Dell’s weeping.
“Turn it off,” Jane whispered, tears forming in his eyes, blurring his vision.
Someone ran up to the overturned screen and shut it off, the silence deafening everyone, as if they, too, have been silenced with the screen. The silence seemed to stretch forever, Jane stuck in that spot, images of Dell in that room flashing behind his eyes, his screams ringing in his ears, so close, only a few feet away, but oh so far, miles upon miles away. Jane couldn’t do anything to protect him. Jane promised to protect him, he told Dell. He told him that night by the fire when the two were alone when both had confessed when Jane had told him he loved him and would always love him, he swore he would always protect him.
Ha failed to keep his promise.
Jane broke. He felt tears drip down his face so he turned away from the group. He hurt them in a vain attempt to attack Walker, in a vain attempt to protect Dell. He felt Tavish get off of him, and he sat up, still facing away from everyone. He reached for his helmet and put it on, pulling the brim over his eyes. Someone was trying to talk to him. He didn’t care. They tried to grab him, but he just rushed out of the room, emotions threatening to overtake him.
Jane got to his room before finally breaking down.
He kept his door locked, and didn’t answer when Tavish came. He didn’t care if he needed comfort, he wanted to be alone.
So, he stayed alone.
It took them another week.
Jane, in the end, had opened up to Tavish about what happened. He told him about what he saw, and why he reacted.
Tavish was good at getting Jane to open up, something that drew the two of them together as friends in the first place. They were, as Tavish put it, “platonic soulmates”. Jane loved that idea.
Tavish had gotten Jane’s permission to tell the others the reasons behind his actions. Jane sought out both Heavy and Spy individually to apologize for the broken noses. Both forgave him.
Miss Pauling was called over to help with the TV. She ended up fixing the screen and audio for them. Both her and Spy pulled longer nights in trying to track Dell. In the end, it ended up affecting both of them, Miss Pauling in her temper and patience, and Spy in his work ability. But, in a week, they did it.
They managed to find Dell.
Jane almost broke down again when they told him.
“Alright!” Miss Pauling announced, standing at the head of the table. She called a team meeting so they could make a plan, “We have finally found Engie!”
Small cheers from the group of mercs.
“We figured out that he’s in some hidden building in Ohio, west of the small town of Dexter City. We need to make a plan, not only to get there, grab Engie and get out, but we also need one to keep the robots here at bay,” she explained, pointing at the plan papers that littered the table, “get brainstorming and come up with an idea.”
The group talked to themselves, coming up with, and knocking down plan after plan. Nothing they suggested seemed to work. On one hand, they continued to fight, but that meant Dell would have to wait longer. On the other, they went straight for Dell, but that left the MannCo. property wide open.
“Why don’t we keep fighting, then one night, a few of us blow up the moving base?”
All eyes turned to Tavish.
“What?” he asked, “It can’t be that hard to do!”
“No, no, no,” Pauling said, thinking of something, “Demo, you could be onto something here. If we pretend that nothing’s happening, then some of you guys sneak close to the base or even get in it, then you could slow down Gray giving us enough time to go to Ohio and save Engie!”
“But the problem with that,” Spy but in, “Is that we don’t know how to get into the base. Or even where to attack it.”
“Then we’ll take ye along laddie!” Tavish shouted, “You can weasel your way in, open the hatch, and let the rest o’ us in! Don’t know why we didn’t think of doing this sooner, though.”
“Alright, so we have a plan then,” Miss Pauling cut in, “for the robots, I mean. We have Spy going. Who else?”
“I think Demo and I should go!” Jane called.
“Aye! We should!” Tavish agreed, “We’re the explosive classes, so we can deal the most damage while we’re there!”
“That’s… not that bad, actually,” the small woman agreed, “Anyone else wanna go?”
“I should be lookout in case things go south,” Sniper chimed in.
“Ja, but also,” Medic cut in, “I should stay with Herr Sniper for when everyone comes back. In case things go very wrong. You three will be outside of respawn’s reach, so I might need to stay as close as possible in case anything happens.”
“Alright,” Pauling said after a mutter of agreement from the others, “So we have Soldier, Demo and Spy going in the moving base to take it out, and Sniper and Medic acting as lookout, right? We have a plan to take out the moving base now. All we need is a plan to get Engie.”
“How far is Dexter City?” Scout asked.
“It’s around 485 miles, or an eight-hour drive, just to get there, even if we take the fastest route,” Pauling answered.
“We can drive there, save Engie, then get back here in about a day, then!” Scout said, “unless we take some pit stops, then maybe two days.”
“He’s got a point,” Tavish said, “If we can take out the moving base soon, then head out of Ohio, then Gray won’t have enough time to stop us!”
“Demo, you’re suggesting we leave the next morning,” the woman pointed out. Even if we take a plane, it’ll be a long stretch.”
“Then we don’t take a plane!” Jane cut in, “We can drive, take a few cars and have a shift schedule, and get to Dexter City before Gray knows we left!”
Everyone talked about the plan. They could take out the moving base quickly, if they planned everything out right, then take two or three cars to get to Ohio, save Dell, and be back in the city before Gray knew what happened. Everyone agreed with the plan.
“So it’s decided then,” Miss Pauling finally said, “Spy, Demo and Soldier will take out the moving base, with Sniper and Medic as lookouts, then you guys will head Ohio that morning. You might need to move earlier in case Gray does catch on to what you’re doing.”
“Don’t worry, lass,” Tavish reassured, “We can do this! We just need the blueprints, then we can reak havoc.”
“Good thing Spy managed to get those then,” Pauling said, pushing forwards the papers. How Spy got his hands on them was beyond Jane. It was Spy, after all.
They had everything they needed. An outline, a goal, and a reason. The team of nine came up with a plan.
All they needed to do now, was act.
Notes:
"And I'm in Ohio, satanic and chained up
And until the end, that's how it'll be."I wanted Dell's birthday to be on the day "Meet the Engineer" came out, but that was in January, so I went with Grant Goodeve's Birthday! He's the VA for Engie!
I also have a Tumblr, where I sometimes post about progress on this thing!
you can find it here:
https://toyfriskman.tumblr.com/
until next time!
Chapter 8: Plan of Action
Notes:
Alright. This chapter has given me much hell. But it was really fun to do.
There are no bad scenes in this chapter, minus a fight scene (god the fight scene), but once again, re-read the tags! I add new ones with every chapter.
Now then. On with the show!
LET’S GO!!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Jane was high on adrenaline as he ran from the explosion.
He couldn’t believe that their plan had worked! He, Tavish and Spy managed to get into the moving base with relative ease and blew it up. Not only had the thing been destroyed entirely, but they didn’t have to worry about robots for a good while now. As he ran, sprinting faster than he ever did while fighting at day, he saw the Spy was lagging behind him and Tavish. Slowing down, he turned to Spy and kept a slower run with him. Then, Jane got a good idea.
“Soldier, I know that face, don’t you fucking- GAH!”
Jane picked up Spy with ease and sprinted to catch up with Tavish. Spy was yelling to be put down, and when Tavish looked over to see Jane beaming under his helmet, getting assaulted by a very angry Spy, he howled with laughter.
The three met up with Sniper and Medic, the former of two Tavish scooped up smoothly which earned him a startled yelp from the gangly man. Medic didn’t have time to process what flew past him, so he just sprinted away as well, keeping pace with the others. It was quite a sight to see, truth be told. Five grown men, running from an explosion, two carrying thinner teammates, one who was still screaming to be let down, the other in stunned silence. The other three ran for dear life, as fast as they could, faster than they ever moved in their lives. They made it to the respawn room and got in the teleporter room. Each location they’ve been at had the teleporter room just off to the side, where they could easily get to and from the battle sites. It was the same for when they were all part of RED and BLU.
The explosion rocked out to the close-by city, and all men could hear sirens getting close. They had to hurry and hide the entrance to the teleport room before authorities showed up. Dashing in, Soldier finally put down a harried Spy, and Tavish set down a still-stunned and slightly flustered Sniper. Both walked onto the teleporter and were transported back to their temporary base. Jane helped Medic hide the entrance to the hidden room, and made sure that it was secure. He was the last one back to the base. When he appeared, the others were hurrying to get into the cars and start driving to Ohio. Apparently, the rest of the team felt the explosion from here.
They had made the plan to blow up the base a few days ago, and now, they needed to start Phase Two: Get to Ohio. They had two cars they could use, and everyone was already assigned a seat. Jane was with Tavish, Spy and Sniper. The others had the TV with them. He ran towards his room, grabbed his already packed bag, and sprinted to the car. It was already started, Sniper in the driver’s seat, so Jane got in the seat behind him. Spy was also there in the passenger seat. Jane looked to the base they had been staying in and watched as Tavish ran out, Medic right behind him, holding an emergency medical bag for when they found Dell. The two split off from each other and dove into their designated cars.
Once they got in, Sniper pulled up beside the other car and looked at the occupants inside. Sniper nodded to them and sped off, heading west. He would drive for a few hours, then rotate with Spy. The masked man would drive the rest of the way. When they made their way back, Tavish would drive, then be replaced by Sniper once more. Jane would be caring for Dell on the way back, swapping places with either Scout, Pyro or the both of them. The others had the bigger vehicle, so they needed it to carry and take care of Dell. Everything was planned out.
It was still early in the morning, and they had reached the city fast, the streets were mainly empty, except for a few police cars and fire trucks heading to the burning, and hopefully sunken, moving base. Jane felt the adrenaline finally wear off, leaving him exhausted and sore. He looked over at Tavish and saw the same thing with him. The Scot was still laughing a bit from everything that happened. Leaning back, Jane rested his head and decided to get some sleep. He knew he would need more energy for when they got to Dell. He felt something bump into his arm and looked over. Tavish had fallen asleep and fell onto him. Smiling, Jane shifted the two of them so they could lean on one another. He felt sleep start to overpower him, and glancing once more to the front to see how Spy and Sniper were, he saw Spy lean back as well and doze off. Sniper gave him a small smile from the rearview mirror, signalling that he could sleep. Jane nodded, leaned on Tavish’s shoulder, and fell asleep.
The drive was long and boring.
Jane woke up a few hours later to see Sniper and Spy had swapped, letting the gangly man rest up after last night. Looking to his left, he saw that Tavish was also still asleep in the same position as when they left. Jane’s neck was sore from the awkward position.
“You’re finally awake, I see,” Spy said.
“Where are we?” Jane asked, shifting so both he and Tavish would be more comfortable.
“We have just crossed the West Virginia and Ohio border,” Spy said, “We have a few miles left before we reach Dexter City.”
Spy came to a crossroads of sorts and looked at the signs. Changing lanes, he made a loop, now directing them south.
“That was our turn,” Spy explained, “We are very close to Dexter City indeed.”
Jane sat up a bit, jostling Tavish. The taller man woke up with a start, speech illegible. He yawned, causing Jane and Spy to do the same. He muttered out a “Mornin’ lads,” as he stretched in the small space.
The short drive to Dexter City went by faster than Jane expected it to. Looking out the window, Jane saw that Dexter City wasn't really a city. It was more of a small town, akin to that of a village. They stopped outside a small motel, where they would be resting for the day. They all had rooms planned out. Scout was with Spy, Jane was with Tavish, Pyro was with Sniper, and Medic was with Heavy. The four loaded out and watched as the other car parked, its occupants standing for the first time in eight hours. They walked in, got the keys to their rooms, and moved out. Everyone was on the same floor to make sure that they all stayed safe. They were close to a Gray Mann base, and they didn’t want anything bad to happen. Jane didn’t care about that. Instead, he opted to flop onto one of the two beds, letting out a heavy sigh.
“Don’t like travelling much?” Tavish joked as he, too, fell onto the other bed.
“I’m nervous,” Jane muttered into the mattress, “What if the signal we got was wrong and Dell isn’t here?”
“Lad, Spy and Miss Pauling triple checked the signal they got,” the Scot reassured, “He’s here.”
Jane looked over at his friend from where he lay and told himself to just breathe. Dell was here. He was so close. They were going to save him.
For now, though, he needed to rest and regain his strength. The two of them had brought in the TV, but Jane didn’t want to turn it on, scared of what he might find. Grunting, Jane rolled off the bed and decided to change back into his uniform. He had to wear civilian clothes so that way the group could blow up the moving base. He hated them and couldn’t believe that he slept in them for nearly eight hours. Dell was going to get a kick out of that story.
“Back in uniform already?” Tavish asked as he walked out of the bathroom.
“I don’t like wearing civilian clothes,” Jane responded. Of course, Tavish knew this already. He had stated it many times when they would sneak off base to hang out, back when they worked for RED and BLU. Somehow, Tavish always managed to make him wear them.
“I ken, I ken,” The Scot defended, “Just thought you would rest up before putting that on. That’s what I’m doing, anyway,” he gestured to his own clothing. Tavish wore a black turtle neck along with a pair of loose-fitting pants. They looked comfy, and if Jane was going off the similar clothing he took off, they were.
“Well, I’m not going to put them back on,” Jane argued, “I just took them off! It wouldn’t make sense to do that.”
He got a laugh from his friend. “Nah, it wouldn’t sense,” he said, shaking his head, “I think I’m gonna nap for now.”
“You just slept for eight hours, Tavish,” Jane accused.
“Then I’ll head out and grab something to eat,” He retaliated, standing up, “You want anything?”
Jane sighed as he pondered the question. His stomach answered with a growl.
“I need some breakfast,” he sighed.
“You stay here,” Tavish told him, “I know your order.”
He left Jane in the room with nothing to do but wait. He considered turning on the TV but was dissuaded by what he might find. Instead, he decided to rummage through his bag, trying to figure out what he did and didn’t need for the rescue mission. He would need his weapons, of course, and as much rest as he could get. That included a bit more sleep and food. Medic was already going to go over everyone before they broke in. It felt like they were planning a heist.
Tavish came back with food, and he and Jane ate in silence. Jane went over what he needed to do. What he was going to do. Once he found Dell and got him to safety, he would go back and tear that fucking robot apart, bolt by bolt. This mission wasn’t just a rescue mission.
It was revenge.
The group of eight stayed in the hotel for another two hours. It was enough for a quick nap that some needed, breakfast, and to stretch. They got directions for where they needed to go. It was going to be another half-hour before they reached the right road, then it was just a matter of navigating through a forested area for them to get to the building. Jane couldn’t sit still. He got more and more anxious the closer they got to their destination.
They managed to find the road from the highway that took them to the spot. It led from the main road and was an old beaten path, overgrown that was meant for quads more than cars. No one in their right mind would travel down it, seeing as it looked like private property. But the group of eight turned off the highway onto the dirt road nonetheless. Jane sat in the front seat with Spy at the wheel. Finally, finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they came across their second clearing. It was smaller than the first one, but it still stood impressively in front of the group.
The clearing was man-made, a sign of some deforestation. In the middle of the clearing was an old abandoned building. They knew that the people from Dexter City told them that it was an old building, but they didn’t expect it to be abandoned. This couldn’t be the right spot, could it? Jane could feel fear swell up in his chest as they neared the crumbling structure.
“This can’t be right,” he muttered.
“The signal said it was here, Soldier,” Spy tried to reassure him. He eyed the building skeptically as he drove up to it, the others close behind. He stopped a small way away from the ruins, stepping out. Jane followed suit, as did Tavish and Sniper. He heard more car doors close behind him.
“This is the place?” Scout asked, walking up to the first group.
“It should be,” Spy responded, walking over to the larger car, presumably to double-check the signal.
Jane didn’t want to go with him, trusting that Spy and Miss Pauling were right in their signal tracking. The rest of the team walked up to stare at the building. They had their weapons on them, Jane included, even if his rocket launcher was in the trunk. They whispered among themselves, trying to figure out if they did have the right place, or if this was all for nothing.
Spy came back to the group with a slight smile on his face. His eyes held happiness, something extremely rare to see, so Jane knew that this was good news.
“The building is a front,” Spy explained, “Engineer is here, in that building, most likely underground. Gray Mann must have bought the ruins in order to ward off intruders. We just need to get in.”
“How do you expect us to do that?” Scout asked, “I mean, we don’t know if they have cameras or any high-tech traps in there. We don’t even have respawn to save our asses if we die.”
He had a point. They were miles away from the safety net that was respawn.
“Then we don’t die,” Jane said, confident as ever, “You, Spy, and Sniper can make sure we can get in safe.”
“Why do we need to go?”
“You three are the least likely to die if you are to be spotted.”
Scout couldn’t find anything to argue his statement. Reluctantly, the three of them went into the surrounding woods and headed for the building. Then it was just a wait. A very, very, long wait. After a while, the sound of a gunshot rang from the building. Everyone perked up, waiting to surge forward at a moment’s notice. Jane felt like he was back on BLU, waiting for the doors to open so he could rush out and be the first to the point.
A figure was running to them at top speed. Everyone aimed at it before they saw it was Scout. As the young man ran to them, they got up, wanting to know what the gunshot was.
“Sniper got they’re Sniper-bot!” Scout huffed as he reached them, “We’re clear to go in! Get in the cars, go! Spy doesn’t think we have a lotta time!”
Everyone rushed to the cars, jumping in and speeding towards the building.
Jane didn’t wait for Tavish to fully stop before he jumped out and ran to where he saw Sniper and Spy standing.
“Hurry up!” Sniper shouted as they saw everyone running to them, “Spy’s got us in! No clue how long we got until they figure out their bot is dead!”
Jane went to where Spy was, seeing that he had found a way in.
“Remember the plan,” Spy told him as he approached.
Right. The plan. They were going to split up so they could cover more ground. Some were going to try and blow this place up, others, namely Jane himself, were going to look for Dell.
Jane nodded to Spy and walked inside.
There wasn’t much to see at first, just an old-looking room and a Sniper-bot with its head blown to shreds. That must have been the gunshot. Then he saw it. A glow coming from under the far wall, soft enough to be ignored as something else. The others got in the room, following Spy. Jane watched as he walked over to the far wall and pushed at a certain spot. The wall pushed inwards, revealing a secret passage, leading down.
Everyone looked at one another, reminding themselves of their parts to play. Jane took a breath and went down the slanted hallway.
It was quiet. Jane didn’t trust it. But on he walked, everyone following him.
Then he heard it. A crackle of static from a walkie-talkie.
“Mick? Mick, do you read?” a voice asked. Everyone froze. Sniper turned to rush back up to the device. “Mick, where are you?” the voice asked, sounding more aggressive.
Sniper was almost to the robot. “Screw this, I’m checking the cams.”
A silence.
The door behind them closed, Sniper slamming into it with how fast he ran.
“I think they figured out we’re here,” Scout said.
An alarm sounded, loud and annoying. A speaker system started up, the voice behind it sounding faded as the system hadn't been used in a while.
“Warning, the mercs are here! They found us!”
They ran.
Red emergency lights started flashing, turning the hallway a blood-red, making it difficult to see. Jane squinted against them, the lights making his head throb.
The group reached a large empty room. It appeared to be the bot’s main room, like the one back in their base in Mannhattan. If they had a rhyme and reason to his place, finding Dell shouldn’t be too hard.
The room started to fill with smoke. It looked like smoke you’d get from a machine. Jane still pulled out an emergency bandana and went to cover his mouth and nose. It was something they figured would happen. Choke them out or poison the air. They had the masks laced with something Medic made to ward off anything airborne.
A pair of glowing eyes emerged from a dark hallway. They arrived on fast feet, obviously caught off guard by the mercenary’s presence. It stopped short, on the other side of the room, skidding to a halt. It was a Scout-bot.
“This is Slugger to all,” it said, pressing its fingers to its headphones, “I found the intruders. They’re in the main room.”
There was silence in the room, filled only by the slight hum of the red lights. The eyes of Slugger glowing, staying still in the brief darkness and red haze.
Then, a new sound.
Thoomp, thoomp, thoomp.
Grey, spiked balls sailed through the air, landing in front of the robot.
“You’d better run,” Tavish warned, stepping forward, toying with the detonator of his sticky launcher.
“You have a lot of nerve doing that, DeGroot,” Slugger responded.
Tavish stood straighter at the use of his name. He pulled the trigger, blowing up the stickies.
“GO!” He screamed over the now-blaring alarm.
It was enough to set Jane into motion, sending him down a hallway.
For the past week, Jane forced himself to pour over the blueprints and layout of this building. It threw him off slightly for it to be underground, but so long as he kept track of what floor he was on, Jane would be able to find Dell. He found a few places that could be Dell’s room on a few floors. Where he would have started from the bottom and worked his way up, it looked like he would need to go in the opposite direction. He looked over his shoulder, seeing Pyro and Spy following him.
That was the plan. He, Pyro and Spy would be the search party, while the others fought the robots. They didn’t know how many there were, or if it was just the nine imitations.
Jane heard gunfire behind him, but he just ran faster. He had his rocket launcher, but he opted to keep it on his back for now holding nothing in his hands. He needed to run.
And so, he ran.
He ran and ran and ran.
Jane ran down corridor after corridor, keeping the mental image of the upper floor clear in his head. He could hear Pyro and Spy close by, keeping his pace. They were close to the first set of stairs when Spy yelled out.
“Soldier, wait!”
Jane turned around, about to yell at him to hurry up when the man dashed into a room. He looked over at Pyro, who shrugged, and followed the masked man. Letting out a deep sigh, Jane turned and ran into the room as well. He was about to cuss out Spy for slowing them down when he saw the far wall. It was filled corner to corner with screens, all split into four different images. It was a security room.
Spy was hunched over the main keyboard, or whatever was used to control it, and staring at the screen, eyes flicking from one image to the next. Pyro was beside him, standing a bit closer, head moving oh-so-slightly telling Jane that they too, were searching. Pyro jumped and ran towards one of the screens, pointing at it. Spy and Jane snapped their attention to it, trying to see under the small layer of static.
It was Dell’s room.
Jane couldn’t see much in the dark room, but he managed to spot something on the ground. It moved in small rises and falls, telling Jane that it was breathing, even if the breaths were small and erratic. It was Dell. He looked like he was in pain, and it only fueled Jane more to destroy everything in his way to get to him.
The image moved, growing in size. Jane looked down at Spy, who was typing furiously, pulling up a map of the underground building, and seeing where the camera was located. Six floors down, on the other side of the building layout.
“I know how to get there,” Jane said, mapping out the fastest route they would need to take. Spy looked at him and simply nodded.
Pyro pointed at another screen and said something.
“They say that it’s the medical bay,” Spy translated, pulling up the camera, “It appears that our robotic friends, Curtis and Marcel, are there.”
“So what?” Jane asked, itching to sprint down the hall, “Dell’s right there!”
“I understand that Soldier,” Spy said standing up, “But if we find them-” he pointed at the robots, “-then we have less of a chance of getting lost. They can help us through this maze. We can get to Engineer faster and get out sooner than we calculated.”
Jane thought over what Spy told him. He had a point, and besides; the med-bay here was closer, being on the same side of the building and only one floor down.
“Fine,” he said, “We’ll find the bots and make them help us find Dell.”
With that, they were off once more.
Jane led them to the closest stairwell and they ran towards the med-bay. Jane could feel the adrenaline pump through his system once more today, fueling him to go faster. He kept a mental image of the building in front of him, seeing himself and the others as a small dot racing down hallway after hallway. They came up the doors that would lead to where the camera was. Jane skidded to a halt, Spy and Pyro nearly crashing into him. He burst through the doors, looking around wildly for the two robots. He spotted them, both standing, facing Jane. The Spy-bot, Marcel if he remembered correctly, was holding a knife. Spy stepped forward, hands held up in a calming manner.
“Marcel and Curtis, I presume?” He asked.
“And who might you three be?” The Spy-bot asked, their voice so similar to Spy’s, yet so different.
“You know who we are,” Spy responded.
“We do,” They confirmed, “How do you know us?”
“The camera in Engineer’s room.”
Both bots stopped.
“How do you know about that?” Asked the Medic-bot.
“We were given a television from Gray Mann a few months ago,” Spy explained, “We’ve managed to track the signal here. We also know that Engineer trusts you two the most. We are hoping to trust you as well to take us to him.”
“You’re finally here,” Marcel said, relaxing, “I can’t believe you’re finally here to rescue him.”
“You thought we would never arrive?”
“Dell was losing hope that you ever would.”
“Take us to him,” Jane said, stepping in front of Spy, “Please.”
Marcel looked back at Curtis. They both nodded.
“Follow us.”
The building was shaking.
Dell could feel the rumbles in his chest. It hurt him, more than anything. Walker had just left him alone in the room, battered and bloody. He didn’t know if he had passed out or not, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered at this point.
Another rumble sent pain throughout Dell’s sore body. He winced as he tried to focus on just breathing. It hurt so much, even to do that. There was a blindfold over his eyes, making it near impossible for him to move. The thing’s been sitting on his face for god knows how long now. It was dirty, but he was ordered to never take it off. He didn’t want anything to happen, so he kept it on.
He was bleeding, and he knew he would need to get up soon if it didn’t stop. The cuts were deep, deeper than ever before, opening up older wounds that had been placed on him not even two days prior. He could feel fresh bruises form themselves around older ones as he laid on the ground, prone, next to the small table.
He wished he could move if only to get on the bed. He wished that David, the small bear that brought him so much comfort in this personal hell, was closer to him. He wanted to hold onto the small thing, and pour all his pain out through his tears. He missed touch, comforting touch, something he’s been denied time and time again.
The building kept rumbling, making tears spring to Dell’s eyes. He didn’t have the energy to cry, but the tears fell anyway, only to be stopped by the dirty cloth on his eyes.
He could only hope that the pain would pass soon.
Then, maybe, he could try to fall asleep.
Jane followed close behind Marcel.
They had run from the med-bay down to the other side of the building. They were lucky they hadn’t run into any other robot. That didn’t stop the three humans from keeping their weapons on hand.
Pyro held their shotgun, Spy, his pistol, and Jane, his shovel.
They neared a stairwell, and Marcel burst through it.
“Go!” He urged them down, “Five floors down! Dr. Conagher is close, now!”
Jane watched as Spy dashed in front of him, jumping down the steps, Jane and Pyro following his steps. Jane looked back to see Curtis hesitate at the top.
“Curtis, you’ve done this enough times now!” Marcel called.
“I know that!” They called back, fear biting their voice, “But I’ve never run down the stairs before!”
“What’s going on?” Jane asked, walking back up the steps.
“I can’t walk down stairs with ease,” Curtis explained.
“I’ll carry you,” Jane stated, leaving little room for complaint. He sped up the steps and picked up the Medic-bot with a slight grunt.
“You do not need to do this!” They yelped.
“You’ll slow us down if I don’t,” Jane told them.
He went down the steps, carefully now, with Marcel close behind making sure he didn’t fall.
Spy and Pyro were waiting for them at the bottom, standing next to the door that led to the floor. Jane set down Curtis, helping them steady themself.
“Where’s Dell’s room?” Jane asked once Curtis was stable.
“Stick in this hallway, turn right on the third fork. The door is marked,” Marcel explained, “For all we know, someone else is here making sure that you don’t get to Dr. Conagher.”
They stepped out of the stairwell, making sure that no one was around. They ran down the hallway, Jane keeping the mental map up. He was surprised it was accurate having never been here before. He had a mental map of all the places he’s been, from his time at BLU, to the different places the team has fought robots. He could remember every flank route, every ammo and health pack placement, every door, hallway, point, rail track, open space, everything. He had forced himself to pour over the layout of this place, making his mental map as accurate as possible. Now, Jane had a damn good guess what room Dell was in.
The group of five was coming up on the second fork when a voice called out.
“Jane!”
The man skidded to a halt.
The voice… It was Dell.
But that didn’t make sense. He looked at the others, realizing that they heard the voice and were just as confused. Jane’s eyes went to Marcel, but he just shook his head.
“Jane, why did you leave me?” The voice called.
An Engineer-bot stepped out from a hallway, its eyes glowing a bright blue. They flashed as words emitted from it.
“Jane, how could you leave me like that?”
It sounded so much like Dell. It didn’t have the robotic distortion that all robots had. Jane shook his head, not hearing anything anyone was saying.
“Jane, you left-” the thing blew up.
Everyone yelled in surprise. All eyes went to the smoking end of the rocket launcher in Jane’s hands as he loaded a rocket into the empty slot, the silence almost comedic.
“I’m not going to listen to that thing,” He grumbled, face like stone, “I’ve had enough of those things on the battlefield.”
He looked around him, at everyone staring in shock.
“What?” He asked, “We don’t have time for distractions! Now let’s move!”
“Good riddance to them,” Curtis muttered.
“I could say the same,” Marcel agreed, “Macintosh was a bitch.”
The group started to move out, but the robots hesitated. Pyro mumbled something to them.
“They ask what is wrong?” Spy translated.
“We should scout out this floor,” Curtis said, “If Macintosh was here then who knows if Walker set up any other defences.”
“If anything, you should stay with us,” Jane tried, “You are friends of Dell. We can keep you safe from Gray Mann.”
“As much as we would love that, our top property is to protect Dell,” Marcel told him, “We know where the moving base last was. If we meet again down here, then we will follow you. If not-”
“-then we will find our own way to safety,” Curtis finished for them, “We appreciate the offer, truly, but we cannot risk anything else.”
Jane looked at Spy and Pyro, who both nodded. If they said they could handle themselves, then Jane wasn’t going to force them to go with them.
Jane looked back at the robots. He nodded as well. “You take care. We will never forget you.”
With that, they split up. Curtis and Marcel went down the two forks in the hallway left and right, while Jane, Spy and Pyro ran down the main hallway, towards Dell.
Jane was close.
He wasn’t going to back down now.
Not ever.
The explosions only grew in their strength.
Dell was now hunched beside the table. It took almost all his energy to get there. The vibrations running through the framework of the building made his limbs give up on him a few times now.
He couldn’t see, but that’s not what mattered. He knew his room was dark, but he could hear something. Something so far off, he thought he was imagining it.
Footsteps. Multiple pairs, running somewhere. They stopped. Dell thought that maybe he had imagined it.
Then, an explosion sounded, far too close to Dell for his liking. He yelled out of instinct, cowering further back in the room. The sound made his ears ring and his head spin. He whimpered in fear and scooted away from where he thought the door was. He tried to make himself as small as possible, curling into a small ball, and hiding behind his desk.
The footsteps started again, this time, only three resounded in the hallway.
Dell could feel tears well in his eyes, but they had nowhere to go. He tried to stay quiet, just as he was ordered to, but small whimpers escaped as more explosions rocked the building.
Fast and heavy footfalls came rushing closer to his door. He hated that he couldn't place them, but he just hoped that they would skip over him.
The footsteps sped past his door, making him sigh in relief, then they stopped abruptly. Dell held his hand over his mouth, ignoring the pain that shot through his arm and upper body.
There was a tense silence.
Dell could barely hear anything outside his room, try as he might. Whatever was on the other side was still there. He squeezed his eyes shut behind the blindfold, trying to force his quick breaths to slow down.
Another explosion from afar made him jump. Dell yelped, and slammed his hand over his mouth again. He could feel more tears try to fall, only for some of them to manage to get back the cloth barrier.
Something slammed into his door.
The doorknob was turned wildly like something was trying to get in. It was locked, Dell knew that, but whatever this was, it wanted in.
Another slam, this time with more force behind it.
Dell curled up tighter.
Another slam, splintering the door slightly.
Dell yelled as he felt specks of the wooden door land on him.
One more slam and the door was sent flying open on its hinges.
Dell cried out, trying to protect himself from the inevitable onslaught. He could feel tears start to fall involuntarily, as he curled in on himself, trying to stay hidden.
“I’m sorry!” He cried as the figure stood in the doorway. It approached him, trying to tell him something, but Dell only tried to get away. For all he knew, it was Walker. He didn’t listen to it, he tried to back up, but his back met the cold wall. More vibrations from the explosions travelled through the wall, making him wince.
“Dell!”
He stopped. Hands grabbed at him, but they weren’t the cold hard metal he was so used to at this point. They were warm and made of skin.
“Dell, I’m here!”
The blindfold came off.
Dell squinted against the harsh white light pouring in from the hallway. A figure was in front of him, blocking the light. His eyes shifted into focus.
The warm hands travelled up his face, cupping it in a way that he had forgotten.
It was Jane.
Jane practically threw off his helmet and held Dell’s face, both trying to work out if it was real or not.
Dell stared at him, dumbfounded. Jane stared back, an impossible mix of emotions running over his face.
“Jane?” His voice was hoarse, overused from screaming and crying.
“Dell.”
Dell cried. He let whatever tears were left in him fall down his face. He saw Jane’s eyes well with tears as well.
Jane moved forward and kissed his forehead. He then left another kiss on his nose. Another on his cheek. And another on the crown of his head. Then another. And another. Jane left kiss after kiss all over Dell’s face, making a laugh bubble up from him. Dell laughed at the feeling of the kisses left on him, a sound that he forgot he was allowed to make. A sound he forgot he could make. Jane held him in front of himself, tears in both their eyes and kissed Dell head-on. Dell felt like he was going to pass out from the kisses and the overwhelming sensation of Jane even just being here. Dell was pulled into a crushing bear hug, as Jane started to cry as well. Dell tried to hold onto him as best as he could with the ropes around him. “I thought I lost you.” Jane was whispering that to him. Over and over, he told him “I thought I lost you.” and Dell just held onto his jacket harder, trying to grip him through it. He could feel Jane leave more kisses on his temple as he was crushed.
“Jane,” He told him, voice just above a whisper, “I can’t breathe.”
Jane pulled away from the hug, holding Dell, fear and concern in his eyes.
“Ropes,” Dell said.
Jane got up and moved for the door.
No. No no no, he couldn’t be leaving him.
“Jane?!”
“Spy, Pyro! I found him!!” Jane yelled into the hallway, his voice booming in the small space. He went right back to Dell, holding him in a hug, making sure that he didn’t crush him too much. Dell held onto him as well, burying his face into his neck, not caring what happened. The fear disappeared. He didn’t want Jane to leave him. He clung onto the coat like a lifeline, feeling Jane hold onto him a bit tighter.
More footsteps could be held, and when Dell looked up, he saw Spy slide in front of the doorway, grabbing the frame to keep from falling, taking in the sight. He didn’t care how he looked. All Dell cared about was that Jane was here , and he was safe now.
Spy stepped into the room and gently pulled Jane off of Dell. The masked man pulled out his knife but didn’t have time to open it when a fourth body slammed into the three of them, pulling everyone into a group hug. Dell looked at the person, hearing the muffled sounds of a voice through a gas mask filter.
“Hey, Pyro,” He tried to keep his voice from breaking.
Pyro looked at him, saying something, but Dell couldn’t figure out what. His expression must’ve said enough because Pyro stopped and swapped over to sign language.
“Pyro,” Spy said, opening his knife now, “We can talk later, but right now, we need to get out of here.”
Spy’s knife sawed through the ropes, making them fall away with ease. Dell gasped as they fell away, air finally entering his lungs again. The ropes around his arms came next, and Dell could feel blood flow back into them, causing pins and needles to shoot down the limbs.
Dell was immediately pulled into another bearhug from Jane as soon as the last bits of ropes fell off.
“I’m never going to leave you. I promise,” Jane told him, “I’m always going to love you. Forever and forever. I’m here now. You’re safe.”
Dell felt a fresh wave of tears spill over as he clung onto Jane, this time, unimpaired by the ropes. He didn’t care if it hurt, he didn’t care if Jane was crushing him, he was safe , and everything he’s been told was false.
Jane pulled away and took off his jacket, Dell not processing that he was out of his arms yet. His brain caught up with him once the feeling of the coat landed on his shoulders. He looked up at Jane as he started to guide his arms into the sleeves.
“Jane-”
“Don’t talk,” Jane said, “It’s alright. Just wear it.”
Dell put his arms into the sleeves of the overly large coat on him. His hand just stuck out the end of the sleeve, the hem of it coming down to just above his knees. His figure has always been dwarfed in the coat, but with his thin frame, it was even more dramatic. It didn’t matter to Dell. The coat was soft and warm, and it carried a comfort that only he could feel. Jane picked him up with ease, holding him bridal-style and Dell didn’t care. He doubted he could have walked anyway.
Another explosion sounded far off, making the four of them look around. Jane held Dell closer, silently telling him that everything was okay. He was okay.
Dell yawned, now that the emotional and physical exhaustion started to weigh down on him.
“Tired?” Jane asked, a smile on his face. He had his helmet back on his head.
Dell nodded as curled into Jane’s arms. He felt Jane laugh at his reaction, but he didn’t care. He listened to Jane’s heart as they started to move. He was completely drained and just wanted this nightmare to end.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get you home,” Jane reassured him.
“I’m afraid I can’t allow that.”
Dell’s eyes snapped open, and he looked in front of the group. Walker stood in front of them.
Dell could feel his throat dry up, every bruise and cut making itself known on his body. He curled further into Jane, tears wanting to form, but his body couldn’t make anymore. He started to shake involuntarily at the sight of the damn robot.
“Dell, sweetie,” Walker teased, “Look at you. You’re shaking. Let me take care of you. You know that they’ll just leave you again.”
His eyes were glowing brighter than ever.
Dell could feel Jane hold him closer with every word that Walker said.
“Come on now,” Walker continued, “We all know that none of you cared for-”
“Don’t you fucking dare say his name.”
Jane was still holding Dell, but the small man could feel that he was restraining himself from gripping him.
“And who are you to give me orders?”
“It’s not an order. It’s a fucking warning, tin can.”
“Well, come on now! I doubt that you can do anything, Mister Jane Doe.”
Jane shifted his grip on Dell, then handed him to Spy.
“Jane, don’t,” Dell tried to plead.
“I’ll be alright, Dell,” Jane told him. He took off his helmet, and put it on Dell’s head, “To make sure you stay safe.”
Dell could feel the energy drain from his body. He pushed up the helmet’s brim as he was carried away from Jane. He wanted to get out of Spy’s hold, wanted to drag Jane away from the monster that had hurt him. He held his arm out towards Jane, begging him to not do this. He felt his eyelids grow heavy as the warmth of Spy’s body carrying him seeped into his cold one.
“Jane…” He tried to call, only for his body to finally pass out, his hand falling limp over Spy’s shoulder.
Jane watched as Spy carried off Dell, Pyro on their heels.
He watched as Dell reached out to him, and Jane was back on the ravine cliff. He watched as his lover was carried away from him, but this time, to safety. He knew Spy and Pyro would make it back up to the others. Jane had to make it as well. He didn’t want to leave Dell after everything he’s been through. He couldn’t do that to him.
Turning, Jane faced his robotic imitation, his face made of stone. There was a fire in his eyes, and hate in his heart. He was going to make sure this goddamn thing would never be recreated.
“Well, that was very sweet of you,” Walker said, holding out his arms, “If we’re going to be showing off, then I guess I better match you.”
The thing moved his arm as he talked. His hand grasped onto the helmet sitting on its head and pulled it off. Jane’s stance deflated as he stared at the thing in front of him.
“Like what you see?” Walker said, waving the helmet.
It had two blue lights on the inside of the helm, imitating its eyes. The head of the bot was smooth, shaped like a second helmet, but seared onto its face. Instead, there was a long metal strip above the spot of its nose, spanning from one side of its head to the other. It spun, so that way Jane could get a clear view of what he was looking at. Smooth all around, a welding line where the smaller helmet shape was attached to the head. Everything this thing did to Dell was a million times worse now that Jane stared at it.
Walker didn’t have any eyes.
“You look surprised, Mr. Doe!” Walker said when he faced Jane again. Well, he didn’t look at Jane, but more of in his direction. He was truly blind, then. “Surely you knew that all Soldier-bots were blind. Well, I say “blind”, but in reality, we just have more of a motion sensor of sorts.” He waved his hand in front of his face as if to say “see this? I sure as hell can’t!” , “We can still see, but not as well as the others. The motion sensor helps me! I know where everything is, so long as it moves. It’s the reason I was chosen to lead this team.”
“You’re not a leader,” Jane told him.
“I’m not?” Walker’s head snapped to face Jane, head-on. So it could see through sound, then. “Then what am I?”
“You’re a monster.”
“A monster, hey?” Walker laughed, “I was made to be the leader of the eight of them. And your Sniper killed mine. You killed my Engineer. I think that revenge should suit them, even if I never cared. They can always be replaced. I think I’m the closest we have to a human.”
“You will never be human. You are nowhere near human.”
“Oh? If that’s the case, then what makes you human. Am I not enough? To lead and to rule? What makes you human, Jane Doe?”
“A heart.”
Jane pulled out his shovel, and charged.
He didn’t care if the yelling would make it easier for Walker to track him. He didn’t care if it was easy for Walker to counter him. He just needed to make sure that Spy and Pyro got Dell away from this thing, as far as possible. He charged, slamming into its midsection. He felt the bot lock-up as they both went flying to the ground, landing with a booming “ CLANG! ” . Jane rolled off the bot into a kneeling position, bringing his shovel high in the air, the point tilted for the thing’s neck when a metal fist landed in his gut. Grunting, Jane was thrown away from the prone bot as they both stood up to face one another.
Jane toyed with the idea of using his rocket launcher but seeing how the simple rumbles of the fight going on above him scared Dell, he decided against it. He also didn’t want to miss and bring down the whole building. Then there was the shotgun. It was loud, yes, and it could easily tell Walker where he was. But there was no way in hell this thing was faster than the pellets.
“I’ll give it to you, Jane!” Walker laughed, head swivelling, “Didn’t expect that. Now, are you going to fight, or hide in silence?”
No. Shotgun would be too easy of a defeat. Jane wanted to tear this thing to shreds. He could feel pain start to bloom where his shoulder connected with the bots midsection, as well as where the fist had landed. Jane reminded himself that he was alone here. This was a one-on-one fight, and he didn’t have the safety net of respawn in case anything happened. He needed to be smart about this. And it was a good thing Jane could come up with plans on the fly.
He swapped his grip on the shovel, now choosing to hold it like a javelin, and threw it at Walker. It sank into the bot’s chest, filling the air with the sound of metal on metal, giving him the small moment he needed to charge again. This time, Jane grabbed the handle of his shovel, digging it deeper into Walker’s chest, and used the momentum to force Walker up against the wall. Jane grabbed for the handle of the shovel to pull it back out, but Walker met him instead, with a fist to the nose. Stumbling back, Jane held his hand to his nose, peering down as to not choke on his blood. No doubt it was broken. He watched as Walker ripped the shovel out, revealing the endoskeleton within him. The shovel was cast to the side, clattering on the floor a few feet away.
Walker’s body slammed into Jane’s this time, lifting the man up into the air, and slamming him back down on his back, winding him. A metal boot came down on his throat, and Jane held it just above himself, arms shaking with the weight of the robot on top of him. Yelling, Jane pushed the boot up and over his head, throwing Walker off balance, and giving himself the chance to get up.
“I’ve been fighting your rusted asses for half a year now,” Jane taunted, “You can’t do anything that I don’t know how to counter!”
Walker let out a yell of his own, charging Jane this time. Perfect. Just what he wanted. Jane side-stepped, letting Walker fly past him back into the wall.
“And here I thought you were smart!” Jane continued, stepping further down the hall.
Walker shouted again, charging where Jane’s voice was, this time grabbing to the side. Jane ducked and moved behind him in a fluid movement.
Jane spoke again, and Walker charged.
He did it again.
And again.
Sure, he got hit once or twice by the bot, but Jane managed to keep up the pace.
“You’re trying to wear me out,” Walker said. He was standing in the middle of the hallway, looking around, trying to hear where the man was. “You can’t do that Jane! I know what you’re doing! I have infinite energy!”
“Not even close to what I was planning.”
Walker turned to where the voice came from.
BANG!
The sound of a shotgun blast rang like a bell through the air, pellets hitting Walker point-blank in the chest.
BANG! BANG!
Walker stumbled back under the assault of the gun, one of the blasts landing in his knee, blowing off the leg.
BANG! BANG!
Two more blasts landed in the robot’s chest and arm, blowing off one and the other exposing more of the endoskeleton inside.
“You fucked with the wrong American, maggot.”
The head of the shovel came down into Walker’s neck, loosening it. Jane heard it saying something. There was a ringing in his ears, covering the voice, but he was sure it was begging to be let go. Unless it was taunting him. Jane grabbed Walker, pulling him up to meet him. Icy blue eyes, filled with rage and vengeance met themselves on the mirror that was Walker’s face. Jane only saw the monster of a robot in front of him. He only saw the thing that nearly killed his boyfriend face him. Jane didn’t look at his reflection, no. Instead, Jane’s gaze bore a hole through Walker, staring at everything this thing was. Nothing more than a man-made monster.
Swift hands grasped around the head of the bot, one on either side, diagonal from each other.
“HUTTAH!”
The sound of twisting metal filled Jane’s ears and he snapped the neck of the bot, pulling it off the body in one clean move.
He stepped back, head in his hands, as the body convulsed in front of him, arms moving up to grab at the body and neck. He watched as it locked up, limbs and joints snapping into a rigid position, making the body go stiff. It fell forward, neck at his feet, dead.
Walker was dead.
Jane didn’t waste time taking any chances. He put down the head, and picked up his shovel once more, moving from joint to joint on the body. He stabbed the point down into each of the body’s joints, tearing it apart. He made a promise to make sure this thing would never come back, and he was going to keep that promise. He made no sound as the head of the shovel dove into the metal body, again and again, the screech of metal on metal deafening. He almost wore himself out when he was done.
Jane looked down at his handiwork, seeing bits and pieces of what was once a robot in front of him. It barely resembled a human at this point. Jane nodded with a faint smile on his lips as he picked up the head of Walker. Something that looked so much like himself had hurt Dell in too many ways. Something in-human, something that was never meant to be. He wanted to destroy the head, right then and there, but he held back. He would keep it, for now. He knew from taking apart other bots that they got all their directions from something in their heads. So, he would take the head back with him, and destroy that thing making sure that Walker would never come back.
Jane went back over to the room Dell was in, and grabbed some of the discarded rope. He could still feel the building shaking, so he needed to hurry. Acting fast, Jane tied up Walker’s head and put it on his belt. He rushed out of the room, going back the way he came, the mental map still clear in his head. He stooped down when he reached his discarded gun and shovel, picking them up as he flew past them. The building shuddered around him, dust falling from the ceiling. He didn’t know how much time he had left, so Jane just ran. Faster than when he ran from the exploding base, faster than when he tried to catch the vehicle moving Dell, faster than when he chased after the bot that took Dell from him. He felt like he was flying, feet barely touching the ground, but he still felt the near earth-shattering stomp of each step he took. Jane reached the stairwell from before, and clambered up the steps, taking them almost three at a time. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally reached the top. He hunched over, gasping for breath, his quick pace leaving him light-headed.
He heard gunfire resounding from a hallway, loud and impossible to ignore. Taking off once more, Jane took out his rocket launcher, the added weight in his arms slowing him down only slightly. He reached the entrance room, seeing how it was torn apart from the battle. He scanned the room, looking for any of his team when someone tackled him. Instinctively, Jane pulled out his shovel to beat whoever was on top of him, only to see the grinning face of Tavish.
“We thought we lost ya, lad!” he shouted over more gunfire. Somewhere, someone called for Medic. It felt just like any other workday.
“What do you say we finally blow these bots back to hell?” Tavish asked, now getting up, and offering his hand to the man below him.
Jane started to grin, only for it to drop. “Where’s Dell?” he asked, eyes going back to the battlefield.
“Heavy’s got him, now! Spy handed him off. I thought it was you, seeing he’s wearing all your stuff.” The Scot explained. He pointed to the far wall of the room, Jane following the direction.
It was the exit, and there, he could see Heavy. He was backing up the ramp they came down, Dell in the giant’s arms, dwarfed by their size.
“Well, my offer still stands, lad,” Tavish told him, hand out.
This time, Jane let his smile grow, full face in view unobscured by the helmet that was always there.
“Let’s blow these fucking pieces of junk to kingdom come.”
The two shook hands with determination, vicious smiles on both their faces.
Jane’s world went blank. It always did when he went into what he called his “battle mode”. He would focus on one thing, and it would take a great effort to bring him out of that state of mind. Right now though, Jane felt right at home, rocket launcher in his hands. He bounded over the small barrier that separated him from the smoking room, Tavish on his heels, and both ran to the other side. Tavish launched stickies and pipe bombs alike, Jane holding onto his launcher.
“I’ve set up some more stickies in a control room!” Tavish shouted, “It looked important so that’s gonna be the first to go!”
Jane simply nodded, still rushing to the other side of the room. A bullet landed in his shoulder, but Jane ignored it, as he always did. It wasn’t a stream, just the one. The two managed to vault over the debris in their way and make it to the other side with only a few bullet wounds. They could be healed later anyway.
“Where the hell do I shoot?!” Jane yelled over the commotion.
“Where I am!” Tavish answered, “But you need to open the door with your launcher! Just go!”
Tavish shot off another pipe bomb, this time towards a specific position. Jane shot off his own rockets, making sure they followed the same path.
“RUN!”
Jane ran up the ramp, yelling at the others to move out of the way. He aimed for the locked door, firing another rocket into it, watching as it exploded. He ran through the opening, yelling for the others to follow him. Heavy got there first, forcing the hole open more, making sure that everyone could get through. One after another the team of mercenaries rushed through the opening, Jane waiting for Dell. Heavy was after him, and he wasn’t in his arms. Finally, Medic rushed through, Dell in his arms now. If Jane knew they were going to play hot potato with him, he would have never sent Spy and Pyro off.
Jane took Dell as soon as Medic made it through the hole. He was asleep, a fearful expression on his face. Jane held him close as he ran towards the two vehicles. He rushed into the larger of the two, listening for anything that might follow them. There was just silence.
Jane set Dell down on the floor of the van, hearing the vehicle start up. He was going to close the door, but Pyro beat him to it. The van took off, following the smaller car. Pyro made their way up to the passenger seat next to Heavy. Jane held Dell’s hand as they drove, whispering comforting words to him. Even if he was asleep, Jane wanted to make sure he knew he was safe. Slowly, Jane watched as his face relaxed, the grip on his hand tightening, then relaxing as well. He gave his hand another squeeze and continued to speak to him when he remembered something.
“Wait, what about Curtis and Marcel?” He asked, looking around him, “Did they make it out? Are they alri-” an explosion cut him off.
Jane looked through the back window to see explosion after explosion take place within the old ruins. The ground bumped up, then started to sink in where the main underground facility was. Both cars sped up, not wanting to be caught in the sudden sinkhole that was forming behind them.
“We didn’t see either of them during the battle,” Medic explained as he knelt next to Dell, across from Jane, “I wish we did see them, however. No doubt we would have saved them from there as well.”
The sinkhole had stopped some distance from them now. They still drove fast down the dirt road they came from, reaching the highway quickly. They slowed to the speed limit, not wanting to draw attention to themselves after all.
“Soldier, I need to look over Dell,” Medic was talking to him.
Right. Let Medic take over caring for Dell. Jane would be there once he woke up. Slowly, he backed away from his boyfriend, still holding his hand, and let the doctor start his examination. Something bumped into him as he tried to sit back. He looked down, only to be met with the blank stare of Walker’s head.
“What is that?” Medic asked, staring at the decapitated head.
“It used to be Walker.”
“Ah.”
Jane took the head off his belt, placing it in a place where it wouldn’t roll away. He made sure it was facing the wall, as to not scare anyone who looked at it.
Taking hold of Dell’s hand once more, Jane felt relief flood his system. It was such a foreign sensation at this point, he almost didn’t recognize it.
Smiling, Jane let himself finally relax. He relaxed for the first time in six months, letting his thumb brush over Dell’s knuckles, confirming that they did it. They saved Dell. Jane felt his eyelids grow heavy, now that the adrenaline was finally wearing off. He let himself drift off into sleep, placing some trust into the mad doctor to patch Dell up. He slumped over, still holding Dell’s hand, refusing to let go. He swore he felt Dell’s grip tighten, so he squeezed back, letting him know that he was alright. They were going to be just fine.
All that was needed now, was for them to go back to New York.
And so, they drove.
Notes:
Safe at long, long last.
---
Alright, first thing first: I’m starting a new job soon, so the next few chapters won’t be out as soon as I’d like them too! I know I spent a while writing the last chapter, but I feel like productions are gonna go way down on the next ones.Anyways, I want to thank everyone who’s read this so far! You’ve helped me keep on writing by simply clicking on this thing, leaving a Kudo, or even commenting!! It’s fueled me to keep this thing going!!
also, I have a Tumblr! check me out at @toyfriskman
And, last but not least: A huge thanks to the Tumblr users @mnyehlike and @running-in-blind also on Tumblr for helping me with the fight scene! And an even bigger thank you to @tyrianblizzard for pretty much beta-ing the fight scene and giving me feedback as I wrote it! All three of you did so much for this! If y’all read this, I truly am thankful for everything that you did for this!
Chapter 9: Don’t Be A Dream
Notes:
holy fucking shit, it’s been way too long. Like, 4 months too long. I’m so sorry for the long wait, this ain’t even the end of the story. Life has been super busy for me, seeing as I got a new seasonal job which ended, somehow managed to get a boyfriend, and now have another job so I can get money so I can write everything, and really, everything has just been a blur, and now it's almost Christmas and New Years. Damn
Uh, thank you all so much for your patience with this story! If you follow my Tumblr (@toyfriskman) then you’ll have seen that I kinda ran low on motivation for this thing for a hot second. I also wrote my BF a one-shot (The Little Things In Life), which got me back into writing!! Hurray!!
But, uh, hey! Look! A new chapter! One that took me way too long to write!!
Funny things and life stories aside, this chapter has some flashback scenes! Nothing too intense, but they’re still there! This one is after the escape, so, it’s mainly just fluff and whatnot.
Anyways, read on through, and I’ll talk to ya again in the end notes!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The forest was silent.
A half-moon shone overhead, granting little light to the forest floor, even with the help of the stars. Small sounds could be heard if one listened closely. An owl called out, swooping down on silent wings as it caught itself a midnight snack.
Slowly, a hidden door opened up, revealing a staircase that led down into an unlit tunnel.
“I told you we would make it.”
“I know you did. But what about the others? And Dell?”
“They are mercenaries. Just by looking at their files, this by far wasn’t the most dangerous thing they’ve done”
“That is true, but they had their respawn to keep them all safe! What if that mission was a failure?”
“And to think you always say I’m the one to worry all the time.”
Two voices spoke in hushed tones under the moonlight. The owners of the voices emerged from the tunnel, one holding a potted plant, the other clutching a small stuffed bear. The shorter of the two turned to help the other over the last few steps, before closing the hatch and hiding the trap door once more. Even if anyone found it, all they would find at the end of the tunnel would be ground zero of a base that blew up. The two people were lucky to have escaped.
“We don’t even know what to do.”
“Maybe… But we have an idea of where to go.”
“And where would that be?”
“Manhattan.”
The two spoke, filling the silence with their voices, but the simple word caused the other to fall silent.
“No.”
“No? Why not?!”
“No, we... We can’t go there and expect them to help us!”
“We can! Even if not to help us, to hide us! We helped Dell-”
“You’re going to call in a favour?! We made sure that Dell didn’t die by Walker’s hand, and you’re going to use that to make sure we have a safe house?!”
“What? No! Of course not!”
“Then why are we going?”
“...”
“Answer me, Marcel.”
“I don’t know if they succeeded either. I want to make sure Dell is safe.”
A sigh.
“Alright. So. How do we get to Manhattan?”
“I have my disguises. I was thinking we use those if we’re in more open areas or if we travel through the day. At night, we won’t need them.”
“What if we get caught?”
“We run.”
“Do you not have your knives?”
“These people can’t respawn. Not like them.”
“Marcel…”
“I don’t want to hurt anyone. Besides, I don’t think anyone will give us a second glance during the day!”
“If you’re so sure, then.”
“Curtis.
“...”
“Trust me.”
“I do trust you. I’ve trusted you for a very long time.”
“Thank you.”
“Marcel-!”
“What?”
“I should be thanking you. You’ve done so much for me.”
“I did all of that because I care for you.”
“...”
“You can take that as you-”
“I care for you too. I always have. No matter what, I will stay by your side because I care about you.”
“...Then together we shall stay.”
Nothing else was said that night. Instead, the two figures joined at the hands and started to walk East.
There was a soft beeping coming from somewhere close by.
His eyes opened, scanning the white room he was in. There were different types of machines surrounding him, some with dials set to different settings, others with screens displaying different things. Wires and tubes hung down from different ones, all snaking towards him. This was wrong. He shouldn’t be here. Why was he here? How did he get here? The beeping sped up as he tried to move, his body sore, but that didn’t stop him from trying to get out. The beeping continued to speed up as he struggled against wires snaking around his body. They were loose, but he wanted to get out before they tightened again, choking him, making him suffocate. There was movement, but he didn’t know where. All he knew was that it was close, and he needed to get out before it got to him. The beeping was faster than ever, taking up everything he heard, deafening him to all other sounds.
“Hey, hey!” A soft hand landed on his shoulder, wide eyes snapping over to its owner, “Dell, you’re alright! Calm down.”
It was Jane.
“Jane?” he tried, voice hoarse and weak.
“I’m here, Dell,” he told him, shifting his hold so he now held his hand in both of his, “I’m right here. You’re safe.”
A beat of silence. The beeping slowed down a bit. “What…?” He tried to speak but ended up in a coughing fit. His throat was dry and scratchy and it hurt to speak.
“Take it easy, okay?” Jane told him, “Here, have some water.” He handed him a glass, but Dell hesitated to take it.
“What’s wrong?”
“This isn’t real.” Of course. It couldn’t be real. This was just another dream.
“This is just a dream,” Dell told him, his voice quiet, “A fire’s gonna break out, or you’re gonna leave me in here to die, or both are gonna happen, or something else-” his voice broke, “-I just… Let me wake up before any of that happens. I don’t… I don’t think I can handle any more of that torture. Let me wake up.”
Tears started to fall from his face as he readied himself for anything that could happen in this dream. A dream that put him in a safe place with Jane. Just like that first one, all those months ago. It was nothing but nightmare after nightmare within Dell’s head, and he didn’t know how much more he could take before he broke. He never let himself believe that any of the dreams could have a happy ending because they all ended in the same way;
He was left to die in a burning building, with Walker dragging him back inside.
“Dell,” Jane’s voice dragged him from his thoughts, “There’s no fire. There’s not going to be a fire, alright? I’m not going to leave you. This is real. All of this is real!”
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
Jane hesitated. His brow furrowed as he tried to think of anything to show Dell that this was reality. Dell watched as the gears turned in his head, coming up with different plans, then throwing them out, trying to find the best one for him. Slowly, Jane let one of one his hands let go of Dell’s moving it to cup his face. Dell flinched at the action, as it sent him through a tunnel of sour memories. Jane’s hand reeled back as if he touched fire, concern plastered on his face. The hand travelled back down his arm, holding his hand again, and this time, Jane brought the hand up to him and kissed it. He went over the hand, covering it with small pecks, leaving one on each knuckle and scar, every single part of it, making sure to cover the whole thing. Dell started to giggle at the feeling, a smile forming on his face as the soft stubble tickled his palm. Jane looked up at him from where he was seated next to the bed, and put down the limb. His one hand was still holding the one on the bed, but he slowly stood up and bent over the frame, leaning over to Dell.
He left a kiss on his forehead, telling him that it was all real.
“Do you believe that?”
Dell stared at him, eyes searching Jane’s uncovered face. Looking beside him, he saw a small table covered in flowers, as well as a few cards and a balloon. Amongst all the clutter, was Jane’s helmet, sitting nicely off to the side.
“Yeah,” He said, voice shaky, “I think I do.”
He watched as a smile broke out on Jane’s face. Weakly, he held his arms open to him, a silent invitation.
Jane almost launched himself into Dell’s arms, pulling him up a bit as he hugged him. He left kisses scattered over his face, Dell laughing as he was given the affection he was denied for half a year. This was the first time Dell had felt safe enough to do any of that. To show emotion, to trust, to laugh. All the while, Jane kept telling him, “I love you. I thought I lost you. I’m never going to leave you again. I’m always going to be here. I love you.” in between each kiss. He felt tears fall down his face, whether it was from Jane’s stubble tickling him, the words of affection being said, or from the rush of emotions he was going through. Either way, he felt exhausted when Jane finally sat back down, his hands holding onto Dells. There were tears in Jane’s eyes as well, which he tried to wipe away.
“Uh, Jane?” He asked, also wiping away a few tears.
“Yeah?”
“Where are we?”
Jane perked up when the question was asked as if he just realized that he never mentioned where they were beforehand.
“We’re in the Mannhattan base med-bay!” He exclaimed, making sure to keep his voice down to not startle Dell, “We’re in New York. We found you somewhere in Ohio.”
“Ohio?” Dell asked.
“Yeah. Why?”
“I just-” of all places, Ohio? “-there ain't nothing in Ohio except what? Bible verse graffiti and corn! Hell, even the people there are just plain boring! People compare it to purgatory with how much of a non-linear feel it has! ”
Jane burst out laughing at the exasperation behind the statement.
“What’s so funny about that?”
“Nothing, nothing,” Jane defended, trying to catch his breath, “Just, why do you hate Ohio so much?”
“I don’t hate it, it’s just-” Dell tried to think as Jane held in his laughter, “of all places? Ohio! There’s practically nothing there!”
“You were there,” Jane pointed out, “That means it wasn’t that useless.”
“I made Ohio something worthwhile?”
“You make everything worthwhile.”
“You’re such a sap,” Dell laughed, coughing some more. It felt good to be allowed to be happy again. To goof off, and not have to worry about anything.
“How’d you even get out?” Dell asked after a comfortable silence had passed, “I mean, the last thing I really remember was you breaking down the door, Spy and Pyro being there, then-” Dell stopped as he remembered what voice he heard in that hallway. He could picture it clearly, himself clinging onto Jane as he stared at the robot in front of them, taunting them. Taunting him. He could hear its voice, clear as a bell in his head. His mind unwillingly dragged him further back to the past, back into that room, hours, minutes, before he was left on the ground, bleeding from new cuts and bruises, all making themselves known. That thing had done all that, as it always did before. He was back there, hanging off the hook, wrist and arms screaming to be given some slack as he was hit, punched, cut, all over his body by that thing that imitated the man he loved. The man he thought once loved him. He was too tired to scream, but he still cried, tears falling to the floor, the robot not caring to wipe them away anymore. It just spoke to him, in a hushed tone, the ringing in his ears drowning out the sound. He tried to look up, blood running from his nose and into his mouth, leaving behind a sharp metallic taste. He watched as the thing looked at him, unseeing lights under the rim of the helmet flickering. It reached up and wiped away the line of blood that was falling from his lips, the metal hand cupping his face. He wanted to lean into it, but he was too tired, so he just hung his head again. The hand slipped away, the rope around his arms tightening, and the thing brought its arm back, swinging forward, aiming for his exposed torso-
“Dell!”
Dell jumped at the boom of the voice, looking around. White clean room, machines everywhere, a soft beeping that was now slowing down, and Jane.
“Dell, look at me, okay?” Jane was holding his hand again with one of his, the other higher on his arm, shaking it slightly, “Just look at me! You’re safe! You’re not there anymore!”
“Jane?”
“Hey, I’m right here, okay?” Jane kept talking, a steady stream of words leaving him, “Are you alright, Dell? Just look at me. Breathe Dell, breathe.”
He shifted his gaze back over to Jane. He had a worried expression, eyes searching for any note that he was okay.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Jane shook his head, “You just… stopped. The heart machine started to speed up, and you zoned out…”
“How did you get past Walker?” Dell’s voice was small. It faltered on the name, almost as if it was taboo to say it. “How did you escape?”
“I killed him.”
Dell’s gaze stopped spinning. He didn’t even realize the world around him felt like a carousel as he moved his head. He looked at Jane as he said those words, the sounds rolling around in his head as he tried to make sense of them.
“You…”
“I killed him,” Jane repeated, this time softer, “Walker’s dead, Dell. He’s never going to hurt you again, okay? That thing is gone.”
“How did you kill him?”
“I threw my shovel at him!”
There was a beat of silence.
Dell had no idea how to feel, so he went with the only thing that felt right: He laughed.
It started small, a simple huff, but as he processed the words, he couldn’t help but laugh louder and louder, laughing until he felt tears start to prick at his eyes from the force. It wasn’t a crazed laugh, or a mocking one, no. It was a laugh filled with hope, joy, and relief. It left Dell gasping as he tried to catch his breath in small wheezes.
“What?!” Jane demanded after he figured the laughter was a good thing, “It worked, okay?”
“No, no!” Dell laughed, trying to calm down now, “It’s just-”
“Just what?!” Jane sounded confused, but he was smiling at Dell. He was happy that he made him laugh with only a few words.
“Only you could throw a shovel at something and win that fight,” Dell told him after his laughter finally died down.
“I’m sure you could win a battle like that as well.”
Dell looked over at Jane as he spoke. The smile left over from his laughter still lingered, and when Jane looked at him, his smile only grew.
“No. No, I couldn’t,” he said with a shake of his head.
“What makes you think that?”
“Well, for starters,” he said, “I don’t think I’m strong enough to chuck a shovel at something and make it stick.”
“That’s nonsense!” Jane declared, “You could kill something by only throwing the shovel! No further action needed!”
Dell chuckled at the statement, shaking his head as he listened to Jane’s voice. There was a certain type of peace in the room. A type of peace and comfort that he hadn’t felt in God knows how long.
A voice rang out from somewhere close by.
“Soldier, I hear you talking!” It called. Dell froze on the spot, owl-like eyes trained on the door as he tried to shrink into the bed, “I swear, if you managed to get past Heavy again I am going to lock every single entrance to this ro-”
Medic opened the door, eyes shooting darts to where Jane was sitting, before looking over at Dell. He stopped short, eyes going wide as he stared back at him, a mix of emotions flashing over his face before finally landing on one of relief.
“Engie…” He breathed, before taking a step towards the man.
Jane stopped him, standing up and getting in front of him, blocking both from either view.
“Soldier, I need to make sure Engineer is alright,” Medic tried to make his way around the shorter man.
“You scared him,” was the only thing said.
“Soldier,” the doctor said, voice soft now, “I did not know he was awake. All I knew was that you were speaking and that I told you, multiple times now, to not disturb him as he healed. Please, let me look him over. I care for Dell as much as you do, even if I am only his friend.”
“Jane, it’s alright, okay?” Dell called out, making both men turn to face him. “I just didn’t expect it, okay?”
Hesitating, Jane slowly let Medic past, moving back to his seat, putting on his helmet. The doctor moved around to the other side of the bed and quickly started checking the different machines that were attached to the small man.
There was an odd silence in the room. It wasn’t awkward, but Dell didn’t like it. Nobody said anything, well, if you don’t count Medic’s slight muttering as he checked the machinery. Dell wanted to say something to break the silence, but nothing came to mind. Instead, he fiddled with the hem of the blanket he was under.
“What are you thinking about?” Jane spoke up. He was looking at Dell, who snapped out of the small haze he was in.
“Nothing much,” he replied, “Just… Nothing.”
“Doesn’t sound like “nothing” ,” Jane said, going to cross his arms. He thought better of it and placed them in his lap.
“I’m hungry.” Dell’s voice was small. He didn’t know what would happen if he said it, but he tried anyway.
“Hungry?!” Jane asked, “I will not allow you to be hungry! What do you want to eat?”
That managed to pull another small laugh out of Dell. Instantly, he relaxed, a smile forming on his face.
“I could go for some McDonalds,” he said, head falling back onto the pillow behind him, “I need me a good supersized everything.”
“I’m afraid you won’t be able to have that, Dell,” Medic piped up, “With how much weight you lost, and the condition your body is in, I suggest that you eat softer foods, like, eh, soups for now and work your way up. If you do want anything fast food, try with fries first.”
He was still preoccupied with the different wires, fiddling with small knobs adjusting the specifics of whatever was coming out of the machines.
Jane leaned over to Dell, whispering to him, “Don’t worry. I’ll go out and get you a Big Mac, just how you like it!”
“I heard that!”
Dell laughed as the two people on either side of him bickered over food. It was good to be here, he figured. In a place where the yelling came from stupid arguments, and not demands.
“Do you think Dell would be able to leave the room today?” Jane asked. The question came out of the blue, making the room grow silent once more.
The doctor pursed his lips, thinking over his answer. “Well, if everything seems to be alright, which it does, I see no reason to keep him here.”
The other two men waited with bated breath for the doctor's final word.
Looking over at them, Medic sighed. “Fine, Dell can go once I am finished looking him over.”
Jane cheered as he jumped up, grabbing onto Dell, earning a startled yelp from him. Both laughed with joy at the doctor's words, happy to finally be together once more.
As the doctor started to finish up his evaluation, Jane got up and moved to a part of the room that was concealed behind a curtain. Dell felt his mouth go dry as he watched Jane disappear from his view, doing… something on the other side of the room.
Luckily, he was saved by the doctor going, “Soldier, what are you doing?”
The curtain was pulled back hastily as if the man in question forgot to do so.
“I’m making Dell some soup.”
There wasn’t much behind the curtain. A few cupboards and counters. There was a minifridge, a small sink and a microwave as well. One of the cupboards was open, revealing some boxed goods. Jane went back to the small kitchenette and rummaged around the cupboards for something. Dell watched as he pulled out a package of instant soup, and dumped it into a mug. Jane stared at it, then reached for two more packets and put them both in as well.
Dell was lost to whatever Medic might have been saying to him. He was almost entranced as he watched Jane’s every movement, even if it was a simple task. He watched as he filled the mug with some water, then put it in the microwave. He grabbed the packets and stared at the backs of them. Dell could tell he was trying to read what it said for how long it should heat up for. He watched as Jane’s brow furrowed in concentration, trying to make out the letters on the small paper bags. Finally, he let out a small “ha!” in victory and set the timer for a minute and a half.
Soon, the microwave beeped, and Jane brought over the steaming mug. Dell could feel his mouth start to water at the sight, smell and promise of food.
“Careful,” Jane told him, handing over the mug, “It’s still hot.”
Dell didn’t try too hard to heed the warning.
Gratefully, he took the mug and started drinking the soup. It was chicken noodle. Some of the broth made its way down his chin as he near-chugged the small meal. The portions of food that were in the soup started to clump together in front of his face, but he didn’t care.
“Woah, hey hey!” Jane’s hand came up, pulling down the mug, “Slow down! You’re going to choke!”
Dell coughed a bit as the liquid sloshed back into the mug, splashing him slightly. Coughing slightly, he tried to hand back the mug, only for a gentle hand to be placed on his shoulder.
Jane was smiling at him, a dopey grin plastered on his features as he handed Dell a spoon. “Didn’t know you were going to try that,” he said softly.
“I was hungry,” Dell whispered, looking down. “Sorry.”
“Hey, there’s nothing to be sorry about,” Jane told him. He placed a hand under his chin, guiding it upwards. “I’ll grab you a fork for it if you want,” he offered.
Dell only nodded as he coughed a bit more. Once he was handed the utensil, he was careful to not shovel everything into his mouth. Instead, he opted to take his time, listening to Medic work and Jane relax.
After some time, Dell had finished everything in the mug. He placed the cup on the bedside table as he waited for Medic to finish his evaluation. Jane took the mug back over to the small sink and started to wash it.
“Well,” Medic said suddenly, “I believe that everything has been looked over now. Dell,-” he turned to him “-I’ll start disconnecting everything, then you and Soldier will be free to leave.”
Jane was back by the side of the bed in an instant. He hovered over Medic’s shoulder as he started to detach wires and tubes from Dell, explaining that, even though he was leaving for the night, he wanted him back the next day to do a full examination and evaluation.
“I’ll make sure I get myself to you, Doc,” Dell started before he was interrupted.
“Dell will not be taken away from me again, so you can forget about another checkup! I will make sure he is fine!”
Jane managed to wedge himself between Medic and the bed, blocking Dell from the taller man’s view.
There was a tension in the air, as Jane kept the doctor away from Dell. Nothing was spoken, the only sound in the room was the air conditioner and the distant sounds of traffic.
“Jane,” Dell called up to him, “If Doc says I need it, then I need it, alright?”
Jane turned, looking between Dell and Medic, who was trying to get back to assisting Dell while also trying to not be too harsh in moving Jane out of the way.
Sighing, he moved and let the doctor take a final look over Dell. “If you say you trust him, then I will too.”
Jane was practically vibrating as the doctor finished unhooking Dell from the machinery. Once he was free, Jane was at his side, helping him off the bed.
“One last thing, before you two go!” Medic called, “Dell should rest. Soldier, try not to overwhelm him much, bitte. ”
“I’ll be alright, Doc,” the short man tried to reassure, “I’m sure I can handle Jane.”
“I’m not talking about Jane, Engie.” The doctor told him, “You have been through much. If anything, I would like to avoid any potential triggers that you may or may not have.” He then turned to Jane, “If possible, Soldier, please keep quiet. And try to keep him from the rest of the team! We don’t need them overwhelming Dell either.”
With that, the two were finally allowed to leave the room.
Dell followed Jane as he was led through corridor after corridor, many identical to the last, but all with slight variants to them. Dell was surprised that they hadn’t run into any of the others on the team yet, but when he took a peek out a window, he saw that the sun had started to set, signalling that the others were most likely eating dinner. He stopped at the window as well, just staring out of it. He could see the skyline of Manhattan, highlighted by the setting sun, the golden light reflecting off the black buildings, giving it all a surreal look. The distant sounds of traffic could just be heard, even through the closed window. It almost felt like a dream to even be this close to not only Manhattan, New York, but also to be this close to being outside.
Dell’s hand went up to the window automatically, fingers hovering just above the glass. He could just make out his reflection, staring back at him. Thin, with gaunt eyes, pale skin contrasting shapely against the black skyscrapers. It didn’t look like himself, yet he knew that’s who it was. He saw that face every day in the mirror, and now, on the slight reflection of a window. He looked down at his hand, bruised and blistered from months of torture. It was incredible that this was the city he was brought to. Looking back up, Dell gazed at a lone helicopter that flew lazily in the air far away.
“Dell?” Jane had noticed that he wasn’t being followed, and went back to where the small man stood.
“I’ve never been to Manhattan before,” Dell breathed, not taking his eyes off the skyline.
“It’s really pretty.” Jane agreed. “I’ll take you around later! That way we can go sightseeing! We can even go visit Lady Liberty herself!” He declared!
“You haven’t gone yourself?” Dell asked, looking up at him.
“I only went to the city once…” a breath, “I didn’t like being there without you.”
After a few minutes, they came to a corridor filled with doors on either end. Each door held a circle with a class emblem on it. Walking through the hall, Dell was brought to a door with a wrench and a rocket crossed in an “x” on it.
“Miss Pauling said the people who put up this base made the door before, uh…” Jane’s voice faltered. “I didn’t want to get rid of it,” he finished with a whisper.
Without giving Dell time to respond, Jane opened the door and beckoned him in.
“I kept everything you had!” He explained, a smile back on his face, “I knew we would find you, so I kept everything in order!”
Looking around, Dell found a well-sized room that looked similar to nearly all the other rooms he and Jane had shared in the past. A large bed sat in the centre of the wall opposite the door, a window gave a clear view of the city off in the distance, a wardrobe was next to the door, and a dresser with a mirror on it sat in the corner. There was another door, leading somewhere beyond the room. The one thing that caught Dell’s attention, however, was a nightstand that had his hardhat and glove on it.
Jane motioned for Dell to enter first, to which he did. Walking over to the nightstand, he picked up the old cosmetics. The glove was rough and stiff from underuse, small cracks appearing in the creases of where the gunslingers joints would bend. Its bright yellow had faded, making it a pastel colour. The hat didn’t fare too well either. It was covered in cracks, a portion of its lip was missing, but there was also a large chunk missing on the dome, matching a similar scar Dell had on his head. Its colour was more vibrant than the gloves, but it was still faded. Dell heard Jane walk up behind him before he felt his arms wrap around his middle.
“I found them the day you were taken. It’s what told us you were gone.” He explained, whispering into his short hair, “I didn’t want to get rid of anything you had. So it’s all here.”
Dell leaned back into Jane’s embrace, feeling his arms grip onto him tighter.
“Jane…” he tried.
“I didn’t want to think about the possibility of you being dead.”
A beat of silence. Dell could feel Jane start to shake as he kept back tears, not wanting the smaller man to hear them.
“For some time, I wished for those things to just kill me with everything they did.”
It was quiet, the words hanging in the air making it thick. Dell felt Jane squeeze him, almost crushing him in his arms before he moved his grip and turned him around.
“You don’t ever need to think any of that ever again, okay?”
There were tears in Jane’s eyes, threatening to spill over. Dell stared at him, his own tears forming as he let out a soft, “Jane…”
“No- no,” he interrupted, “ You’re safe now Dell, okay? You don't need to worry about anything that happened there ever again. I won’t let anything else happen to you. Promise me you’ll tell me if any of those thoughts ever get in your head again, okay? I’ll kick them out and make sure you’re alright, okay?”
He had started to cry as he spoke, his voice wavering. Dell could only nod as he pushed forwards and buried his face into Jane’s torso. He felt him embrace him back instantly as he was crushed. Dell didn’t care. All he cared about now was the fact that he was home and that he was finally, finally safe.
The two held onto each other for minutes on end, not wanting to let go of each other. At some point, Jane started to move, gradually leading them over to the bed. Once he got there, he picked up Dell and sat them both on the bed. Dell easily melted back into Jane’s embrace, pressing into him. He was tired, exhaustion finally catching up to him after god knows how long.
After some time, Dell pulled away from the embrace.
“Great,” he muttered, “Now I’ve gone and messed up your shirt.”
Jane looked down, spotting the stains on his shirt, and laughed a bit. “It’s alright,” he reassured, “I have more.”
Dell let out a small laugh as well, resting against the bigger man. He felt himself be pulled into a softer hug, and sighed in content. It felt like an eternity since he felt this safe.
“Jane?” He asked after a few more minutes.
“Yeah?”
“I think I need a shower.”
Dell smiled as Jane laughed at the statement. He found himself laughing, a bigger smile on his face now. He also found Jane’s laugh to be contagious, and the fact still seemed to hold now.
“Yeah, you might need one,” Jane giggled, calming down a little, “C’mon. We have an attached bathroom here.”
Dell was led to the other door in the room, to find that, yes, it did lead to a bathroom. It was a normal bathroom, not much to it. Looking to the sink, Dell saw Jane’s things scattered around the countertop, but he also found his own stuff untouched on the left side, just how they always put everything. Dell was usually there to clean up Jane’s tornado of a mess. Everything was here, just as Jane told him.
Jane got a towel and set it on the towel rack, and started to leave the room. Feeling a rush of nervousness, Dell quickly yelled, “Wait!”
Spinning, Jane faced the smaller man, confusion on his features. “Yeah?”
“I, uh…” Dell stammered, taking a few small steps back. He could feel his heart start to race as the bathroom started to melt into the one back in that room. The grey, small walls closing in on him, the sound of boots marching forward, metal against metal as the robot paced around the room just outside the door, waiting for him, but if he took too long, it would just come in and do what it pleased to him, never listening to his cries as he begged to be left alone, begged to be left unscathed, even if just for today, please just today-
“Dell!”
He jumped, nearly falling, as he was yanked back to the present. Jane’s hands were on his shoulders, holding him steady as he searched his face for any sign that he was back.
“Dell, I’m right here,” he told him, “You’re safe, Dell! You’re not there anymore!”
Slowly, he looked around the room, finding that yes, he was safe. His breath evened out and Jane pulled him forward into another hug. He was muttering something Dell couldn’t quite make out, but the vibrations in his chest were enough to help calm him down. Eventually, he put his arms around Jane, returning the embrace, letting himself be held in place.
“Don’t leave me,” he managed to choke out.
“I’m not gonna do that.” The embrace tightened.
They stood there for a bit as Dell calmed down, starting to feel even more exhausted. He slumped against Jane, letting the man carry most of his weight.
“Do you want a bath instead?” Jane asked him after he had to maneuver the two to sit on the ground. Dell simply nodded, not wanting to speak.
“Do you want me to stay here?”
Another nod.
“Okay. I’ll get it started.”
He got up and started to run the water, filling up the bath. Jane handed Dell a few soaps for bubble bath options. Once he picked one Jane poured in it, making sure there were enough bubbles to last a while. He let the tub fill up as he sat back down, holding onto Dell again. The small man didn’t protest, instead choosing to lean into Jane. It was comfortable, even on the floor. The feeling of Jane’s arms around him, the warmth of his body, everything nearly put him to sleep. Jane got up a few times, keeping an eye on the water level before he finally got up and turned it off.
“Jane?”
This time, he turned around more slowly, taking care to not scare Dell.
“I don’t wanna be alone.”
“I’ll be in here with you.”
“No, I mean-” He gestured to the tub, “-can you, uh…”
“Do you want me to join you in the bath?”
Dell nodded, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink.
Jane smiled, and said, “Okay. Let’s get you in first, yeah?”
He helped Dell up, steadying him as he staggered slightly. He was sitting in an odd position, making his one foot fall asleep. Carefully, Dell got undressed and stepped into the bath. The water was warm, making him relax instantly. He sank until only his head was showing above the bubbles. It wasn’t too big of a tub, but it would easily fit both him and Jane for the bath. Looking up, Dell also saw that it had a showerhead.
Jane got undressed as well and got in on the opposite side of the tub. Dell pulled his legs close, hugging them as he put his chin on his knees.
“Dell?”
He looked at Jane.
“What’s wrong?”
He looked away, trying to think of a way to form his words.
“Are you sure this is real?” He whispered.
“Of course I am!” Jane told him, moving forward and causing the water to splash a bit. “Everything here is real, okay? It might take time for you to believe it, but I promise you, Dell, that this is real.”
“Okay.” He whispered. “I’m sorry for asking. I know I don’t need to, but I keep thinking that maybe this is still just a dream, and I’ll wake up at any moment, and I’ll be back there, and-”
“Dell!” Jane cut him off, “You won’t wake up there again. We blew that place up! It doesn’t exist anymore.” He shifted, making the water slosh slightly.
Dell looked at him, not sure what to say.
“You… blew it up?”
“Yeah. After I killed Wa- uh. After I killed the robot.”
The two sat in silence, Dell trying to comprehend what he was just told, Jane trying to find a way to comfort him.
“Did Marcel and Curtis make it out?” Dell’s voice was small.
“We don’t know.” Came the sombre reply, “The place blew up before we could check. We think there’s a chance they did.”
Dell nodded. The two people that tried to care for him were most likely dead.
“Hey, come here.”
Dell looked up, seeing Jane’s arms open. After a moment, Dell moved forward and fell into Jane’s arms. It felt nicer, to be there, rather than on the other side of the tub. Jane shifted to two so that they were stacked, Jane with his back on the tub wall, and Dell’s back on his chest. He wrapped his arms around him, keeping him close, and also making sure he didn’t slip under the water’s surface.
The two stayed like that for a bit, not wanting the small peace to end. Slowly, Jane started to move, grabbing different soaps to wash Dell’s hair. As he did, Dell leaned into the touch, pressing into his hands.
“Do you like having hair?” Jane asked, scrubbing a second round of shampoo through it.
“Hmm. Kinda.” Came the soft reply, “You’re really gentle.”
Jane chuckled a bit, peering over Dell’s shoulder to look at him. He found a blissed-out face with closed eyes. Dell had started to fall back onto his shoulder, which led Jane to a giggle.
“What?” Dell asked, opening his eyes slightly.
“You look so calm. It’s cute.”
Dell snorted and splashed some water at Jane. Laughing, Jane did the same but managed to hit himself as well. Dell laughed harder as Jane sputtered, trying to spit out the soapy water.
As the laughter died down, the pair fell into a comfortable silence. Dell rested his head on Jane’s shoulder, yawning a bit. He felt the arms around his middle tighten, hugging him, and he relaxed further. He didn’t want to fall asleep, but everything was so warm and comforting, it was hard to resist. Jane’s hands left him briefly, causing Dell to open his eyes and look for them. Peering down, he watched as Jane scooped up some of the bubbles and drop them into Dell’s hair.
“Hey!” Dell complained, swatting half-heartedly at Jane’s hands.
“I’m making you a hat!” He defended, trying to keep soap out of Dell’s eyes.
“A hat, hey?”
“Yeah. It’s not staying together very well, though…” Jane trailed off, trying to keep the hat from losing what little shape it had.
Smiling, Dell decided that it was alright. He sat up, letting Jane make him the soap hat. After some time, Jane started to move around, washing himself up.
“Jane?”
“Yes?”
“I’m tired.”
Jane looked at Dell, a smile of his features. “We’ll finish up, then we can sleep, okay?”
Dell nodded in response, moving to the other side of the tub to let Jane wash up. Leaning against the wall, Dell let himself slide down until he was almost completely hidden by the excessive bubbles. It was nice, in the white abyss. Completely different from the darkness he was used to. It was comforting, in a way, to feel the water splash around him, making the bubbles shift. He could watch Jane from there, a border of bubbles surrounding him like snow. Dell closed his eyes, letting his mind drift slightly, focusing on the sensations of the bath. Everything from the warmth of the water to the smoothness of the tub itself, to the feather-light feeling of the bubbles around him. A hand placed itself on his shoulder, making him jump. Sitting back up, Dell realized that he had started to drift off.
“Hey. Stop trying to disappear in the bubbles,” Jane joked. His hair was wet and already clean of any hygiene products. “I’m almost done. You rinse off, then we can sleep, alright?”
Dell only nodded, stretching a bit to try and wake himself up. He couldn’t help but watch Jane as he rinsed off. It almost didn’t feel real, to be this close to him again, even after everything that he was told. After months of being alone, of thinking that no one would save him, of losing hope, here he was. Sitting in a tub, staring at Jane. He looked so calm about everything as if the past few months had never taken place.
Then again, that was one of the reasons he liked him. Jane’s ability to focus on the present instead of the past or even the far future was something to behold. It helped Dell calm down countless times, easing his mind as Jane pulled him from what could have happened and what could be. It was one of the many reasons Dell had…
Fallen in love.
He couldn’t make heads or tails of what he felt, but Dell knew it was something he felt before. The fluttery feeling he got, just by being around Jane, the way he felt his heart grow faster and his face grow a bit warmer, the way he sucked in a breath every time Jane was close as if he had stolen his breath.
It was love.
It felt like the first time again, when he first realized it, how many years ago now. Yet, it had only been six months. Half a year and these feelings had come back and slammed into him full force, making him near dizzy. But there was something else here. Something he felt the first time as well. The sick feeling in him, one that plagued his mind, forcing him to keep quiet day in and day out. The dread that he held in his shoulders, affecting his every move, weighing down on him like some massive burden that only got heavier whenever Jane was around.
It was the uneasiness of not knowing if Jane loved him back.
“Dell?” Jane had turned to him, a worried look on his face. “Are you okay?”
For a moment, he didn’t respond. Then, Dell whispered, “Do you love me?”
The man’s face softened a bittersweet smile on his features.
“Of course I love you,” he said, “I have always loved you. I never stopped loving you, Dell, and I promise I never will stop.”
“You’re sure?” Dell’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“I am the most confident in this one fact than I have ever been in my entire life.”
He held his arms open again, inviting Dell over. Dell stared at him, his mind comprehending the words. The words he thought he would never hear again, the ones he was told were only lies, things he told himself to keep himself happy, everything.
Dell looked at Jane, taking in every aspect of him. The soft smile on his lips, the way his arms were held steady but so inviting, the glint of the bathwater running down his features, the starts of tears in his eyes, everything. It all told him the exact same thing:
They were real. The words were real.
Dell all but threw himself into Jane’s arms this time, not caring if he splashed the water. Strong arms caught him, pulling him into the hug. Jane’s body seemed to wrap around his own, protecting him from everything that happened, and everything that could happen. Dell, finally, for once in the past few months felt truly safe.
A choked sob managed to make its way out of Dell’s body. It was followed by another, and another, until he was crying, unable to stop in the tub. Jane simply held onto him, rubbing his back and whispering comforting words to him.
After some time, Dell managed to pull himself together, pulling away from Jane with a small smile.
“Sorry about that,” he said, “It’s been a while since I felt, well… that.”
“Dell, you don't need to apologize for anything like crying anymore.” Jane’s voice was firm but comforting. “It’s alright to cry. You deserve to let everything out.”
“If ya keep saying that, I’m gonna keep crying,” Dell chuckled.
“We wouldn’t be able to go anywhere if that happened,” Jane agreed, “Let’s get you dried off, then we can sleep, yeah?”
“Sounds perfect.”
With that, the two got out of the tub and dried off. Dell watched Jane drain it before moving back to the bedroom. Dell stood in the doorway, watching as Jane bustled about, collecting clean clothing for the two of them. Everything was where he remembered it to be, by the looks of things. Jane reached into a drawer and started to pull out some of Dell’s old pyjamas before turning to him.
“I guess you should be choosing what you wanna sleep in,” he said with a sheepish smile.
“Oh, yeah,” Dell responded after a second, snapping from his small trance. “It’s been a while since I got to do that.”
Walking over, Dell looked into the drawer, staring at the old clothing.
“Jane?” He asked after a few moments.
“Yes?”
“Do you, uh, think I can wear some of your clothes to bed?” A small blush had formed on Dell’s face, turning it pink. He avoided his gaze, looking everywhere but at Jane’s face. A laugh brought his attention back to the man.
“Of course you can,” Jane laughed, “I can’t believe I forgot how cute you looked when you blush.”
“Wha- hey!” Dell swatted at Jane lightheartedly, “You shut it!”
“I’m serious!” Jane yelled, backing away from the oncoming attacks, “You look adorable!”
Dell kept going until he managed to wrap his arms around Jane.
“You're an asshole,” he mumbled into his chest.
“I love you too,” Jane responded, giving him a small squeeze.
The two stayed like that, holding each other in peace. Dell felt like he could stay like that forever, but he knew they both had to sleep at some point tonight. So, begrudgingly, he let go and went back over to the drawer. He heard Jane follow him and leaned back when he felt arms wrap around his middle.
“I don’t think I was done hugging you.”
“Well, you got all the time in the world now.”
Dell smiled as he felt Jane’s body shake with slight laughter. His smile grew as he felt him leave a small kiss on his head. Looking down at the pyjamas, Dell picked a pair of Jane’s black sweats and one of his old white t-shirts. Jane let go so they could both get ready for bed.
As Dell got dressed, he couldn’t help but let his mind wander. His time being held captive had done quite a number on him, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. He knew that this was real and that Jane was telling him the truth about everything. But somewhere, deep inside him, was a little voice that pestered him to no end. It was there from day one, day one. Ever since he joined MannCo., a little voice had whispered doubts into his ears, making him rethink everything. He knew it was nothing, but sometimes it would yell at him, making everything it said the only thing he heard. Now, the voice was trying to tell him that something wasn’t right. Jane was lying about something, or that none of this was real, and that it was just a better lucid dream.
Dell ignored the thoughts and turned to Jane.
“It’s a little bigger than I remember,” he stated, arms held out as the clothes sagged off his small form.
“It is.” Jane said, walking over to him, “But they still fit how they’re supposed to. On you, at least.
Dell giggled at the remark but still held his arms open for Jane. The taller man closed the distance between them and hugged Dell once more. He then surprised Dell by picking him up and carrying him over to the bed. Gently, he placed him down and climbed onto it next to Dell.
Turning, Dell sat cross-legged facing Jane, while Jane flopped to his side and propped himself up on one elbow.
“You look as handsome as the day that I lost you,” Jane whispered.
“Do I now?” Dell asked, a smile on his face. “Am I still the same man you once knew?”
“I don’t think you changed much in some ways,” Jane pointed out. “A lot has happened, but I think-” Jane shifted and sat up “-You’re still my Dell.”
He took his hand, still looking at Dell. Jane’s hand dwarfed Dell’s, but neither of them minded. Jane’s other hand went up to Dell’s face and hovered next to his cheek, wanting to cup it. Dell automatically leaned his head into the hand, closing the small gap between them. His eyes closed, and he felt Jane’s thumb brush his cheek, just under his eye. Dell let out a happy sigh as the hand caressed him.
“Dell?”
His eyes opened. “Yeah, Jane?”
The hand left his cheek and went to hold his only one. Jane held onto it gently, staring at the hand. His thumbs traced little scars, some from when he was a child, most still new and fading.
“Can I kiss you?” Jane’s voice was soft.
“I don’t see why you can’t-”
“No, I mean-!” Jane interrupted, head shooting up to look at him, “Can I kiss you here?”
Jane pointed at the back of Dell’s hand.
“Why there specifically?” Dell asked.
“Can I?”
Dell looked at him skeptically before going, “Yeah. You can.”
Jane brought the hand up to his lips, placed a gentle kiss on the back of it. Dell couldn’t help but let a small smile escape onto his face from the contact.
“Can I kiss you here?” He asked again. This time, his thumb brushed over his knuckles.
“Of course you can.”
Jane left a trail of kisses on each of Dell’s knuckles.
“What about here?” The thumb went over the front of Dell’s fingers.
“Why are you doing this, Jane?”
“You’ll see,” Jane said, “But can I kiss you there?”
“Fine, I’ll wait,” Dell sighed. “And yeah. You can kiss me there as well.”
This went on for a bit. Jane would turn over Dell’s hand, and use his thumb to brush over a spot on it. He would ask if he could kiss there, and Dell would say yes. Soon, the kisses started to trail up Dell’s arm, Jane asking to kiss certain scars along Dell’s forearm before he jumped to his other arm. He then asked if he could kiss Dell’s stump. A slight blush went over Dell’s face as he whispered a yes. Jane placed another gentle kiss right on the tip of the severed limb. A few more kisses were placed on the limb before Jane moved up to Dell’s face.
“Can I kiss you here?” Jane brushed Dell’s forehead, eyes flicking down to search for confirmation.
Dell nodded and closed his eyes as the kiss was placed. The scratch of stubble on his forehead made him giggle slightly.
A hand cupped his cheek, and Dell heard Jane ask, “How about here?” as a thumb brushed his cheekbone. He gave him a nod and felt lips kiss him just below his eye.
“And here?”
The thumb brushed his brow above the same eye. Another nod, another kiss. Dell could hear Jane start to laugh as well, and opened his eyes.
“What’s so funny?” He asked.
“I’m just laughing with you,” Jane told him, “I always loved your laugh. It’s nice to listen to.”
“You’re such a sap.”
Jane laughed and leaned in a bit before letting his thumb brush Dell’s cheek and asking “Can I kiss you here?”
“Yes, you can.” Came the reply. A soft kiss landed on Dell's cheek, no doubt feeling how warm it was at this point.
The hand moved down Dell’s face, thumb brushing his jawline.
“How about here?”
This time, Dell hesitated. He wasn’t sure why, but the feeling made him suck in a shaky breath.
“It’s okay if you don’t want me-”
“It’s not that!” Dell stopped him, jumping forward a bit. “I, uh… Sorry, but that’s not it.”
“Dell, it’s okay if you don’t want me to do that,” Jane told him, hand moving to rub his shoulders. “You don’t have to apologize.”
“I know that,” Dell said looking away. “It just caught me off guard, is all.”
The hand moved back up to cup Dell’s face again, the thumb brushing the same spot. Dell let his head be moved as Jane looked at him, eyes taking in every speck of skin under his touch.
“Do I have your permission to kiss you here?”
Dell’s face softened, a laugh escaping him as he laughed. “Yeah, you can kiss me there.”
Soft lips landed on his jaw, stubble tickling his neck. Dell sighed at the touch, not quite used to something so gentle. Jane pulled away slightly, keeping closer to Dell than he was before, making his breath brush past him. His thumb brushed the corner of Dell’s mouth, and he asked, “Can I kiss you here?”
Dell’s breath hitched, only being able to manage a soft “uh-huh” as he nodded.
He watched as Jane leaned forward, eyes closing as he kissed the corner of his mouth. The feeling seemed to last forever, and Dell found his own eyes starting to close.
Jane pulled away and rested his forehead against Dell’s, eyes closed. After a few moments, he pulled away fully and cupped Dell’s cheek. Running his thumb over Dell’s lips, he asked, “Can I kiss you?”
Dell smiled up at him and said, “Only if I get to kiss you back.”
“That’s not a yes.”
“You can kiss me, Jane.”
Dell almost didn’t get to finish his sentence, as Jane was quick to shut him up with a kiss.
The kiss felt like nothing Dell had experienced before. It was full of passion, and love, and loss, and everything else. Dell’s eyes fell close as he reached up and kissed back, pulling Jane closer to him. Jane’s hand went from holding his face to wrapping themselves around Dell’s body, hugging him, keeping him even closer than before. Shifting, Dell let himself be moved around until he was almost sitting in Jane’s lap when he finally came up for air. He was quick to throw himself on Jane, holding him close as he felt Jane continue to kiss the side of his head. He felt Jane squeeze him a little tighter, and Dell did the same, burying his face into the crook of Jane’s neck.
“I wanna stay like this forever,” Dell mumbled into Jane’s shoulder.
“I do too,” Jane agreed, continuing to cover Dell’s temple with kisses.
They stayed like that for a while, just holding onto one another. Jane left the occasional kiss on Dell’s head, and Dell watched the window. He watched as the sun began to set and the glow of the city started to fill the room. Soon, he let out a yawn and felt Jane giggle in the hug. Not saying anything, Dell just snuggled into Jane as he felt sleep finally come for him.
“Wanna get in bed?” Jane asked.
“Just wanna sleep,” Dell hummed.
“You’ll sleep better under the blankets.”
“I guess. Just don’t wanna move.”
“Permission to move you under the blankets so you can rest?”
A small laugh. “Permission granted, Jane.”
Dell felt Jane shift under him, moving slightly to give him an easier time. Letting him be shifted around, Dell soon found he had begun to tilt backwards. Leaning back, he felt one of Jane's hands holding him up as he started to lower Dell. Once he was low enough, Dell was dropped, landing safely on the pillow and mattress below him. Looking up, he saw Jane hovering inches above him.
“Can’t say I didn’t miss this sight,” Dell sighed, wrapping his arms around Jane’s neck.
“Is that so?” Jane smiled back, leaning down to kiss Dell once more.
“Yeah. But I think I just missed you.”
Jane laughed, and trailed kisses around Dell’s face, placing them all in random spots. Eventually, he stopped and rolled onto his side, bouncing slightly. Turning, Dell laid on his side and faced Jane.
“Do you know how handsome you look right now?”
The question left Dell speechless. It was out of the blue, and frankly, he didn’t know how to respond to something like that.
“No matter what happens to you, I think you’ll always look like the most handsome man on this Earth.” Jane continued his ramble, hand moving up to caress Dell’s face, making a blush appear. “From the day I first saw you, when we worked for BLU, I thought that Heaven was real and that I was looking at an Angel. Every time I saw you in battle, I thought I was fighting alongside a warrior of legend. Even now, I still think you look amazing, Dell. You are, by far, the most incredible thing that has ever happened to be in my life.”
Dell tried to cover his face with his hand, but Jane simply moved it out of the way. All the poor man could muster was an embarrassed “Jane…” as the blush deepened on his cheeks, spreading to his ears.
“How the hell did I end up with a sap like you?” Dell asked, attempting to pull the pillow over his head.
“I don’t know,” Jane admitted, smiling as he gently pulled away the pillow. “But it might be because you’re worth more than everything in the world.”
Dell let the pillow be pulled away as he rolled onto his back. He felt Jane shift closer to him, sighing as his eyes closed. Slowly, he felt Jane reach out to him, hesitating. The arm was raised just above his torso, hovering as if trying to decide whether or not to lower onto him. Deciding for both of them, Dell rolled over to Jane, and buried himself into his chest, throwing his arm over Jane. A soft grunt of surprise could be heard before the arm fell onto him, pulling him close.
“You ready to sleep now?” Jane’s voice was soft as he mumbled into Dell’s hair.
“Yeah,” Dell yawned, “I think I am.”
“I gotta turn off the light.”
Dell groaned, burying himself further into Jane. He could feel Jane bounce as he chuckled at his reaction.
“I’ll only be a few seconds. Then you can cuddle me all you want.”
“What if I want you to cuddle me?”
“I can do that. But you gotta let me turn off the lights first.”
Another groan followed by a begrudging, “Fine.”
Dell unwrapped himself from Jane and watched as the other man got off the bed. He walked over to the door and put his hand on the light switch. Looking over at Dell, he flicked off the lights, casting the room in soft shadows. The only light source came from the window, a soft orange glow coming from the faraway city. It highlighted everything in the room, casting long shadows that didn’t feel threatening.
“Would you like me to close the blinds?” Jane had started to move for the window, pausing at the foot of the bed.
“Can we keep them open?” Dell asked. “I wanna be able to see the city.”
“We can do that.”
Jane moved around to the side of the bed closest to the door and climbed in. Dell moved to make room for him before pressing himself against his side once more.
“I thought you said you wanted me to cuddle you,” Jane chided.
“I did. Just wanna hold you for now.”
“If you do that, then you’ll fall asleep like this.”
“Why do you have to be right?”
Jane laughed a bit as Dell turned around, facing the window. He could see part of the city from where he lay, and the sounds had softened to near nothing at this time. The sun had gone down, and the night sky was starting to show itself.
Dell’s thoughts were interrupted by Jane pressing into him, his arm wrapping around his torso as his legs were brought up to tangle with his, effectively spooning him. Dell felt himself involuntarily freeze up, his arm going up to meet Jane’s hand, only for it to stop halfway. Slowly, he felt Jane move his own hand to meet Dell’s, and pull it down. The motion seemed to release the rest of Dell’s stress, as when Jane did that, the rest of his body relaxed, melting into Jane’s embrace.
“Is this alright?” Jane whispered the question into Dell’s hair, careful to not shift too much.
“It’s perfect,” Dell told him. He pushed back into Jane, making sure he knew it was alright to hold onto him a bit tighter.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway outside the door. There were many, too many, some light and fast, others heavy and dragging on. Dell all but shot up, turning to stare at the door, waiting for something to burst in.
“Dell, hey!” Jane sat up as well, hand going to Dell’s arm. “It’s just the others. I think they finished dinner. Everyone’s rooms are here, so they’re going to sleep. It’s okay.”
Slowly, Dell took his eyes off the door and looked back at Jane. He didn’t realize it, but he was trembling, tears starting to form in his eyes.
“It’s alright, Dell,” Jane told him, “You’re safe here.”
Dell could only nod, letting himself be led back down under the covers. Turning, he curled into Jane, calming down as he felt the other man comfort him.
“I promise I won’t let anything happen to you,” Jane whispered. “I’ll protect you as long as I can. And even when I can’t, I’ll find a way to protect you.”
Dell let out a shaky sigh before turning to face the window once more. This time, he felt Jane curl up against him tightly, pulling him close and keeping him in the center of his body. Slowly, the sounds outside the door faded into familiar voices, muffled conversations sounding as everyone went into their respective rooms for the night.
“Jane?”
“Yes, Dell?”
“Thank you. For everything.”
“I am willing to give you everything and more if it means you are safe and happy.”
Dell chuckled at that. “That’s one of the many reasons I fell in love with ya.”
Jane laughed at his response, snuggling closer to Dell. It was a little cramped, but Dell managed to stretch out his legs and get Jane to loosen up a bit. Once they were both comfortable, Dell finally relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Good night, Dell,” Jane whispered. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Jane,” Dell replied.
For the first time in nearly half a year, Dell fell asleep feeling completely safe and at ease.
Notes:
I promise I’ll try to not disappear for 3-4 or so months again next time
also, kudos are nice, but comments?
lemme tell ya, comments are writer fuel. i wanna see how y'all respond to this one >:)
Chapter 10: uh, update?
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
hi
author here so uh,
i've lost motivation for this.
you'll know that if you follow me on Tumble (@toyfriskman)
anyway.
i will keep writing this!! i promise!!
its just that I can't find anything to keep me going on this. I really want to, but I need to put this on the back-burner for now
thank y'all so much for the support in reading, leaving kudos and comments and everything else! i really appreciate it, truly.
that being said, I'm starting work on another story I've been meaning to write!
I'll post about it on Tumblr, so you can go there to maybe see something about it!
thank you all so much for the patience, and I know I might have maybe ruined someone's day with saying this, but Shattered Brilliance will be on hiatus until further notice
on a happier note (and one I wanted to save until I got chapter 10 underway), I've made Curtis and Marcel their own little RP blog! I wanted them to be saved until I got back to them, but you can find them at @runawaybots over on Tumblr!
thank you all once more for the amazing support over this funky, angst-filled, robot-hating story!
I'll see you in the next one.
until then,
keep on reading :)
Notes:
also!
if you wanna know what im working on next, wait until I post my new story! Terminal Velocity!
it'll take a bit, but I'll maybe swap between that, this, and a few other stories I have cooking up in my brain, just to keep me from getting any more writer's block and motivation loss!!
and don't worry. I'll get rid of this once I have the *real* chapter 10 done!
thank you again :)
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Someone (Guest) on Chapter 1 Tue 29 Jun 2021 12:38PM UTC
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presidentbungus on Chapter 1 Tue 29 Jun 2021 02:00PM UTC
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ToyFriskMan on Chapter 1 Tue 29 Jun 2021 08:02PM UTC
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MCGenni on Chapter 1 Mon 05 Jul 2021 08:29AM UTC
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MCGenni on Chapter 4 Sun 25 Jul 2021 08:08PM UTC
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ToyFriskMan on Chapter 4 Sun 25 Jul 2021 10:53PM UTC
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SayarinConagher on Chapter 4 Sun 25 Jul 2021 11:07PM UTC
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BushQueen on Chapter 4 Sun 05 Sep 2021 04:02AM UTC
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ToyFriskMan on Chapter 4 Sun 05 Sep 2021 04:09AM UTC
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BushQueen on Chapter 4 Wed 08 Sep 2021 09:56PM UTC
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ToyFriskMan on Chapter 5 Sat 07 Aug 2021 12:06AM UTC
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MCGenni on Chapter 5 Fri 06 Aug 2021 04:26PM UTC
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MCGenni on Chapter 5 Sat 07 Aug 2021 12:12AM UTC
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98 (Guest) on Chapter 5 Sun 15 Aug 2021 04:53AM UTC
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MCGenni on Chapter 6 Thu 12 Aug 2021 12:57AM UTC
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BushQueen on Chapter 6 Sun 22 Aug 2021 04:05AM UTC
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ToyFriskMan on Chapter 6 Sun 22 Aug 2021 04:44AM UTC
Last Edited Sun 22 Aug 2021 05:05AM UTC
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BushQueen on Chapter 6 Sun 22 Aug 2021 04:47AM UTC
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BushQueen on Chapter 6 Sun 22 Aug 2021 05:01AM UTC
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ToyFriskMan on Chapter 6 Sun 22 Aug 2021 05:31AM UTC
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MCGenni on Chapter 7 Tue 24 Aug 2021 03:01PM UTC
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Spideypooler_Squeek on Chapter 7 Thu 02 Sep 2021 10:35AM UTC
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Spideypooler_Squeek on Chapter 8 Sat 04 Sep 2021 09:02AM UTC
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ToyFriskMan on Chapter 8 Sat 04 Sep 2021 08:20PM UTC
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presidentbungus on Chapter 8 Sat 04 Sep 2021 06:40PM UTC
Last Edited Sat 04 Sep 2021 06:40PM UTC
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ToyFriskMan on Chapter 8 Sat 04 Sep 2021 08:19PM UTC
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ToyFriskMan on Chapter 8 Sat 04 Sep 2021 11:59PM UTC
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