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“Curly…” Anya whispered, as if telling a secret. “Curly, I'm sorry,” she continued. “So sorry, so sorry…” Those two words were muttered and repeated more and more.
Curly would have cried if he still could, the former captain was begging (making pleading noises counted as begging?) with all his might for Anya to stop, to open the door, to seek help, to live. But it was hypocritical of him, wasn't it? He had wanted to die for all the months the crew had been stranded. Anya swallowing all those pills was only the beginning, they had to face the truth: they weren't going to be saved, they were going to die in this ship.
“Attention Tulpar crew!” A voice was suddenly heard, making both Anya and Curly jump. “You are being saved, you are not going to die in this ship!”
Well, damn thought Curly as he heard a short incredulous laugh coming from the nurse. Nearby, a door was unlocked.
Swerve was so happy he would have jumped up and down from the excitement, were it not for the fact that Megatron of Tarn (a mellowed out version of Megatron of Tarn but still, Megatron of Tarn) was right in front of him. The co-captain was directing Velocity, First Aid and Rodimus to the angar where a human ship had been rescued.
And how cool was that? Humans! Real humans! Not just ones that Swerve saw on his TV (it was a holopad, but no one questioned it) in sitcoms! The minibot was excited to finally meet actual humans, he knew so much about them, and he hadn't been in the Earth team like Rodimus or Megatron, but he had studied them for years! Not a long time, he knew, but still long enough to learn a lot.
Swerve had heard that Megatron had called Ratchet while the medic was in his bar, only for the captain to get chewed out for not asking for help from First Aid in the first place. It still seemed unreal that Ratchet had retired, so no one could blame Megatron for his slip-up. Bots did in fact blame Swerve when he overheard the conversation and suddenly decided that the bar was closing soon tonight.
How would this universe’s humans be? Maybe they would resemble Connie, she would love to have some organic company! Swerve commed Misfire really quick to explain what was happening, and then commed him again when he saw the human ship: it was bigger than he had expected (how many humans were there?) and it was covered in foam.
Once the angar’s doors were closed and the room pressurized and oxygenised, Rodimus and Megatron studied the ship. “I think our best bet Is to break the closest door to the cre-” And before Megatron'd finished talking, Rodimus had ripped out a part of the Tulpar and was digging through the foam.
Swansea had brushed away the message as a delusion, as there really was no way for them to actually be rescued at this rate. But then Daisuke had ran towards him crying of happiness. “We're saved, we're saved!”
And then the ship had started blasting the emergency alarm. Given that the last time that had happened everyone had stayed stranded in space, Swansea had immediately gone towards the main area to stop Anya from doing what she had told him she was going to do. If it was true, if they were truly being saved, then Anya deserved to live too. Reaching medical, Jimmy was yelling at their nurse while she tried to carry Curly to a wheelchair. No one blamed Swansea when he decked Jimmy's nose in, making the asshole fall unconscious. Daisuke made a noise of surprise, but decided that helping Anya was more important.
Metal bending itself and foam being pushed away as if it was bubbles in a bath, Swansea (who was carrying Jimmy like a sack of potatoes on his shoulder) and the crew watched mesmerized as a blue light flashed in their eyes and a hole big enough for all of them appeared.
“Found them!” The same voice that they had heard before said.
Swansea blinked, shook his head and blinked again, when the giant robots didn't disappear, he blinked once more.
“What the fuck…?” Daisuke whispered incredulously.
“Do the humans in your universe,” the red and yellow robot asked while getting rid of the foam on its hand, pointing the other one towards Curly. “Normally look like that?”
“Rodimus,” the grey one said, oh great they had names. “Are there more of you?”
“Huh,” Swansea tried speaking, but his voice didn't come out in a sensible way. He resolved to shake his head.
“Oh, really?” The shortest said, as if disappointed.
Before Swansea could formulate an answer, the grey one asked: “Do any of you need medical assistance?” It looked at Curly and then at Jimmy. “Aside from the obvious.”
Anya slowly raised her hand, already wobbly and having trouble maintaining her eyes open. Daisuke also raised his hand and pointed to Swansea. “We drank so much mouthwash.”
“I know how important gender distinction and privacy is for humans, so you will be coming with me, if you don't mind?” The blue robot said to Anya, who just nodded, was it a she? Was that what it was saying? “I'm Velocity, by the way, um, sorry, never seen a human before!”
Well that didn't inspire a lot of confidence.
Anya was left with Velocity in a small room next to what seemed like the medical bay, where various other robots were interacting. The blue robot left her on top of a bed of metal that it raised so it would be closer to its eye level.
“How are you feeling?” Velocity asked. “I still don't know what I'm treating you for, did you also ingest mouthwash?”
Anya blinked slowly, the ringing in her ears had gotten much worse and, now that she was laying down, the dizziness was making her see black spots that slowly obscured her vision. “What…?” She managed to mumble.
“You look way too pale, let's check your vitals,” Velocity grabbed something and-
“BLEGH!” Anya puked all over herself, starting to choke on her own vomit. Velocity rapidly put her on her side, preventing it.
“Did you overdose, because that looks like an overdose, what did you take, um, don't know your name, but I'll love to know it! Once you are, not dying,” it rambled to itself while moving around the room, getting different materials and expertingly connecting them to Anya.
The nurse passed out.
Meanwhile, both Daisuke and Swansea were getting their stomachs pumped, Jimmy having woken up and gotten a cast for his nose.
Due to the severity of Curly's injuries, Ratchet (who had gone to wait for the medical team in the med bay after chewing off Megatron anyway) was assigned to help First Aid in the surgeries that the human would need for the rest of the day.
Velocity was cleaning the berth around the human at her care, whom she had administered an antidote. Still, it was a delicate moment and the rest of the analysis the doctor had made when the human was stable had told her some unpleasant things.
“Ugh…” the center of the berth was now moving, meaning the human had woken up! Velocity had no doubt she had done the right things, but she still let out a sigh of relief. “Where am I…?”
“Hi,” she smiled at the organic. “You accidentally overdosed on what seemed like painkillers, and are now under my care. I'm Velocity, in case you didn't hear before. You should be good to go for now, but I'm going to keep you here a little while longer.”
The human blinked, looking around and then at Velocity. “You saved my life, I don't know what to say…”
“There's something else.”
“What is it?” The human tried to sit but got dizzy and laid down again.
“Are you aware that you are pregnant?” Velocity talked directly, no beating around the bush. “And,” she knew this was a delicate topic for sexual creatures. “Would you like to keep it?”
The human's face seemed surprised and, suddenly, she started crying.
“I'm sorry! I know that wasn't the nicest way to ask, but you deserve to have the option and-”
“It’s not that…” she sobbed. “You're the first one to have asked me if I want it, that has given me an option,” she sat slowly, letting her head rest on her knees. She realized then these weren't the clothes she had entered with as there was no puke anywhere. “I don't want it, I hate it, I feel it growing inside of me, changing my body and making it thei- its. I hate it, I hate it.”
“Then I can perform an abortion, right here, right now. Well, not right now but-” Velocity smiled awkwardly. “You know what I mean.”
“Anya,” she said, only for Velocity to look at her with confusion. “You said you wanted to know my name, while I was having an od. It's Anya.”
“Velocity,” she bit her lip. “Was the, um, conception consensual? You were in the middle of a long travel and accidents happen but-”
“It wasn't,” Anya said dryly. “Sorry, it's just, I haven't exactly been listened when I've shared this.” She looked at the robot. “But… I have a good feeling about you,” and the smile the human- Anya gave her was sad and so tired, and it filled Velocity with such determination that no one could have stopped her if she decided to go and kill the rapist (she still didn't know the Tulpar crew nor the name of the person) right then.
“Then you will have to stay until you are stable enough to abort, I already have tools to do it here, so don't worry about it,” Velocity let the air come out of her vents, there would be no good coming from the (justified) anger at the moment. For now she would prepare herself and start disinfecting.
“Have you performed an abortion before?” Anya asked cautiously.
“I have, in both inorganics and organics,” she sat down near the berth, getting to work. “It's quite a strange procedure, as my kind doesn't exactly reproduce sexually.”
“What is your kind, if I can ask?” Anya seemed curious.
“We are cybertronians, from the planet Cybertron. Well, I wasn't created in Cybertron, I was created in Caminus. It's a colony of Cybertron.”
“So,” Anya tapped a finger on her chin. “You're aliens?”
“You're aliens too, you know?” Velocity teased.
The human chuckled lightly. “We sure are,” she then bit her lip. “Are you a, well I don't know how you would say it or if there even is a distinction, but are you a woman?”
“I am a woman, yes, some bots call themselves femmes but I have never liked the term,” she made a gesture with her hand. “Too…”
“Organic?” Anya was the one teasing this time.
Velocity snorted. “I like our differences, that is what makes us unique. Did you know that my whole race's default gender is male? It wasn't until we made contact with organics that some of those males learned they were actually female.”
“Just how old are you?” The human asked in wonder.
“Oh, I've lived around 2 million years, honestly you stop counting at one point because our kind lives for so long it's actually quite absurd.”
“2 million years… You must have done so much with your life…” Anya avoided her gaze, as if embarrassed.
“The thing I'm more proud of is finishing medical school, well, after 10 attempts but I did it!”
“You're a doctor?” Velocity raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Right, well maybe my tenth time trying to get into medical school will be the one?”
“You're also a doctor?” The camien stopped what she was doing to get closer to Anya, who blushed a little.
“Technically I'm a nurse, but only in Pony Express’ jobs, the company that controls the whole sending people in cargo ships for years to get mouthwash to another planet,” she seemed angry, but sighed and her usual sad air came back. “I have tried to get into medical school 8 times, no luck so far. Though I have been reading a lot of psychology books…”
Velocity and Anya kept talking for hours, exchanging stories and memories with one another just as easily as if they had known each other for years. When it was time for the procedure to be done, Anya was put unconscious and the pregnancy was no more.
“And then the ending-”
“Oh, don't get me started with the ending-”
Swansea's left eye twitched, he had been listening to Daisuke and Swerve (the short robot who didn't know when to shut up) talk for hours, and he couldn't leave, he was hooked to an IV bag. Apparently they were all severely malnourished and, after a shower and some new clothes, the three of them had to sit down while the robot watched them.
Jimmy had tried to interrupt the talking duo, but Swansea had sent him such a glare that had shut him up immediately. Probably too scared of Swansea's left hook, by the look of his nose.
It wasn't until a tired looking robot had told them to go rest in a room nearby (IV bags stills connected) that the three crew members were finally allowed some peace and quiet.
The next day, Anya had appeared, but she seemed glued to the blue robot that had treated her. This made Swansea relax a little, kid deserved a friend after all that she had gone through. Velocity, as it seemed was the name of the blue robot, had volunteered to stay with the crew until Curly had recovered.
Except for Jimmy, who she had said was having a bad case of nanocons and needed to be quarantined. So they investigated the ship, Daisuke begging Swansea to go to Swerve's bar so he could still talk with his friend. He grumbled a lot, but in the end Swansea relented and Velocity and the trio walked (well, Anya had taken a liking to sit on the doctor's shoulder, so she didn't walk) to the bar.
No Guns. No Swords. No Briefcases.
Sounded promising.
They ended up drinking soft drinks that the robot had saved for such an occasion (which Daisuke loved) and Swansea stroke a conversation with Ratchet, who seemed just as tired as him, having just being kicked out of the operating room, a doctor that was helping Curly, apparently. Daisuke talked to Swerve and another robot with wings that appeared out of nowhere. Anya seemed starstruck with Velocity, who was doing a terrible job at watching any human other than Anya.
“I'm sorry,” were Curly's first words after coming out of surgery the next day. He had been given a skin replacement that didn't cover up his entire body, as if it was still assimilating it. He had metal legs and metal arms, yet he used crutches and was having trouble balancing. “I'm so sorry.”
Before Daisuke could say anything, Swansea covered his mouth and let their capitan talk to Anya.
“I should have done something, anything,” he murmured, his voice sounding exhausted and artificial at the same time. “I was a fool, I was wrong, he hurt you and I just stood there. No, worse, I took his side. I can't make up for that, but all I ask is that you accept my apologies.”
Anya was silent, gaze locked into the man who had ignored her pleas for help; but also the man who she had cared for for months, who had at one point been her friend. “I don't forgive you,” she said without mumbling. Curly lowered his head. “I don't think I could ever forgive you. But I accept the apologies, Jimmy hurt us both, in widely different ways he took our bodies and turned them against us,” she took a breath. “But you are still our capitan, and even though you did the wrong thing, you are still someone I consider amicable. Maybe not friends, but we are closer that any other human could choose to be, for better or for worse.”
Curly cried, but he nodded solemnly and accepted Anya's words, doing what she demanded at last.
“Wait, what did Jimmy do? Didn't Curly crash us into an asteroid? What's happeni-” Daisuke whispered, only to be slapped on the back of the head. “Ouch!”
“Jimmy was the one that crashed the ship, slowpoke. He did something terrible to Anya and was scared that he would get found out if we ever came back from the delivery,” Swansea explained, leaving it moderately ambiguous. It wasn't his right to tell the whole truth, it was Anya's.
“You're staying?!” Daisuke cried. “But- But-”
Anya smiled at him, a new set of glasses (that a guy named Brainstorm had made) on her eyes. “I don't have anyone waiting for me on Earth, and no money, no job. I would be miserable, humans have shown me such a dark facet that has rotten me to my core. I think I deserve to heal,” she looked at Velocity, who returned the smile. “And I have chosen to heal here.”
Daisuke immediately hugged her, surprising the former nurse for a second before she returned the hug. “I will never forget you, Anyaaaa!” He seemed to taking it well.
Swansea had seen it coming a mile away, so he wasn't particularly surprised. Curly was simply happy to let Anya take control of her life once more, and kept silent.
Jimmy was in handcuffs, exhausted after the hours he had kept on insulting and pleading to anyone that came near him that he was innocent. Minimus (the smallest robot of them all) was taking care that the human didn't try anything funny.
Anya hugged Swansea and nodded with respect at Curly. And then she was face to face with her abuser, but this time she wasn't scared.
“Whatever happens to you once you take responsibility for your actions, Jimmy,” Anya started. “Well, whatever happens: I hope it hurts.”
The men were sent home in a ship (a pretty ugly one, but a functional and fast ship nonetheless) home, where everyone would continue their lives. Daisuke and Swansea would go back to their families, Curly would find his life changed completely but he would push on and sue Pony Express, and Jimmy would face Earth's judgment (would he be found guilty? Innocent? Whatever he would be found as, Anya would never have to face him again.)
The dead pixel didn't go away, Anya thought it would never do. But when she looked into Lotty’s eyes, not a single pixel of her light was out of place.