Chapter Text
As the moons of Copper 9 were floated above in the pitch black night sky, and the winds rushed through the frozen city, stood a towering mountain of mechanical corpses that could be seen for miles had it not been obscured by the ruined and vacant buildings of a faint memory of human civilization. The sight of it alone would instill fear into the hearts of any, marking it as a place to avoid if you wanted to have a chance of surviving out here in this wasteland. But, if one were brave enough, they would come across quite the sight upon arrival.
Wandering around the hallowed interior of the spire was that of a feminine disassembly drone, dressed in a red velvet and sparkly dress and wearing a sense of worry as she moved around. "Ok, I got my arms, hair, bubble wand, my purse of lethal weaponry... ugh, what am I missing?" V said, listing off everything she had on her person as she paced back and forth repeatedly at the entrance of the spire. 'Why am I panicking? It's just a date with N! What is there to be panicking about!?' V thought, taking an effort to breathe in and out to calm her circuitry before sitting down on the head of a deceased worker.
Closing her eyes momentarily, V calmed down as she listened to the violent winds crashing against the spire's walls. It was only two days or so ago that N, who, although his memories were long gone, had once been her loving husband back in their days as servants to the Elliots, finally worked up the courage to ask V out on a date, to which V accepted... after saying that she would think about it. She was... hesitant, to say the very least. She was scared of getting too close to him, terrified of what he'd say if she let her mouth slip if she ever mentioned their past together, of the chance of that thing coming back and resetting everything back to zero. When she had been constantly pestered by her daughter, U, she finally said yes to N. And if there was one thing in this universe V knew she couldn't say no to, it would be her gremlin of a daughter. Now that V thought about it, she was glad U went out of her way to consistently pester her to accept N's proposal. And for as long as she kept her distance from him, she yearned for one thing and one thing only: having N's hand in hers. Which begged the question... why did she feel like something was eating away at her and wouldn't leave her alone. Was it her fear of the date going horrifically wrong? No, that couldn't be it. She and N dealt with J daily, so what could go wrong on the date? Maybe it was her fear of that... thing coming back to ruin everything before they could even have the chance to rekindle? Possibly... but it wasn't that, it couldn't be.
Then it finally struck her why she was so afraid to go on a date with N. It wasn't because of who she was going with. It was who wouldn't be coming along with her. And that someone was none other than her own precious baby U. The product of her and N's love for each other back when they were servants, the only light she had left remaining in this universe, and for the life of her, V couldn't remember the last time she was not in her presence, at least not without N there to keep an eye on her for her. From the day U was in her UNN body to when she got her toddler one, V had always managed to keep her eyes on her, worried about what she would do if U disappeared. This marked the first time in her life since U's creation that V would be leaving her little girl alone... Well, as close as she would get to being alone, what with J being on babysitting duty.
"HEY! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE FIRING THOSE SNOWBALLS AT, YOU TWERP! THIS HAIR WAS OUTFITTED WITH JCJENSON'S TOP-OF-THE-LINE BEAUTY PRODUCTS!" Shouted a distressed J, running away from what appeared to be a small, downsized disassembler wearing purple hair and dressed in the cute little pirate pajamas N had scavenged for her. Said little disassembler was also consistently firing at the squad leader, with who knows how many snowballs were stored away in her compartments. 'Huh, speak of the devil?' V thought, turning her head to face the scene their squad leader was having with their plus one, chuckling to herself as U cornered J between the pod and herself, U's nanite-less tail twirling around in excitement.
"Any las werds, landlubber!" U shouted, pointing her snowball canon at the squad leader, whose eyes hollowed out when she realized she had been cornered. Using her arms to point at the child and then at herself, J spoke up nervously, her eyes looking towards V for a second, only to see the snickering look on her squad mate's face.
One might wonder: why J didn't just use her wings and fly out of such a predicament? The answer to that question was simple: it was against the rules of the game U was playing with J, and it would be considered cheating if J brought out her wings and started flying out from U's reach and range. After all, the toddler disassembler body U was housed in... wasn't equipped with the wings the rest of her squad were outfitted with, leaving U completely flightless.
It was also one of the many reasons they had even bothered to clean up the floor of the spire, to ensure that the squad's plus one didn't trip and fall over a discarded worker's arm while she was running around and chasing someone for fun.
"Uh... equity partnership-?" Was all J could muster before the child had enough of her words.
"That's enough words outta you, now prepare to die!!!" U shouted, firing at J, who shut her eyes tightly to avoid looking at the child, filled with murderous intent... but the sound of an empty gun echoed throughout the walls of the spire, leaving an awkward moment between the two. U, looking at her arm canon, which she swore was full of countless snowballs a few minutes ago, making the clicking noise of an empty gun. "Uh..." U muttered, looking at the cannon before looking back at her victim, who blankly stared into the child's very being before slowly approaching her. "Umm... I... uh... is sowwey?" U said, tail freezing in place and her body shaking at the sight of J approaching her.
"OH, YOU BETTER BE SORRY ONCE I'M THROUGH WITH YOU, ROOKIE!" J shouted before lunging at V's daughter, who dodged out of the way in the blink of an eye, causing her to land on the snow-covered floor.
"Mommy! Aunt J's gonna kill me!" U cried as she sprinted towards V, J right behind her. Before V could process what was about to happen, her 6-year-old daughter rammed into her like a freight train, knocking her over onto her side and causing her to make an "OOOF!" noise. Squinting her eyes and looking down, she found her little U clinging on for dear life.
Using one arm to get up from the snow-covered floor, V used her other arm to gently pat her child's head as she sat back down on the worker's head she had been sitting on before a certain someone knocked her down. "She's not going to kill ya, U," V said as she sat up and looked down at the shaking child. "Right, J?" V asked her squad leader with a toothy grin, her voice laced with venom, and her tail pointed at an enraged J, who came to a skidding halt.
"Uh, of course not!" J said, beads of sweat going down her visor as V glared at her. "I was merely intending to put her through some rigorous exercising!" she said, pointing a finger up in the air. "JCjenson approved exercises, to be exact!" she clarified, sounding like a nerd as she said that.
"Ugh! Da is even worse than death!" U regurgitated, "Also, MOM! IT'S Z NOW! NOT THAT BORING LETTER!" U shouted, her bright yellow eyes gleaming as she looked up in rage at her mother's forgetfulness.
"Ah, the middle name you prefer over your birth name because it sounds edgier than the name U does; how could I forget?" V rolled her eyes, chuckling at her daughter's silly behavior. This all started when U discovered her middle name a few weeks ago, and ever since then, she's been insistent on being called by her middle name rather than her first name.
"Hmmm..." U hummed before tightening her hug and burying her little head into V's chest. From there, U muttered something barely audible as she continued to hug her mom.
"What was that, honey?" V asked, hearing her daughter muttering something under her breath. "Speak up, dear, I can't hear you."
"Why can't I come wiff you and N? Why do I have to stay whiff stinky J?" U asked, glaring at J as she said that.
"WHAT?! I AM NOT STINKY!" J shouted in the background, mouth agape at the child's audacity, only for U to stick her tongue out in response. "Grrr, if it weren't for your cute face, I-I'd... figure some way to punish you!" she threatened, crossing her arms as she glared at the six-year-old, only for her to be ignored.
"Oh honey," V said, bringing U into a tighter hug, "Dates are something for adults only, not little drones like you," as she said that, V heard some rustling up near N's nest, making her wonder what was taking him so long. Maybe he was struggling to put on his suit, trying to psyche himself up, or something like that? Whatever it was, V was glad she had something to distract her from going up there herself. "Plus, it'd ruin the mood if one of the adults brought their children with them, and you've been so insistent on me getting with N... you wouldn't want to ruin your dreams, now would you, right?" V said, dragging out the words 'So' and 'Right' as she teased her daughter, who gasped at what her mom told her.
"Fine, but why do I have to stay whiff J of all grownups?!" U complained, quickly accepting what her mom said, but not before she accepted J of all people. "She's lame and a big meanie to N!" U stated, pulling away from V to stare up at her.
"Because she's the only one here to keep an eye on you... Or would you rather have a toaster watch over you?" V asked, raising a digital eyebrow at her daughter. Of course, she was being rhetorical there, but she wanted to see what U could dish up.
"Hmmm..." U hummed, narrowing her eyes, thinking as she looked over at J and then back to her, placing her thumb and pointer finger on her nonexistent chin. "Yup!" U cheerfully answered, nodding to V's question while backhandedly insulting J, who gasped at such an answer.
"And do you know a toaster who can look over you as mommy goes on a date with N?" V asked, barely able to avoid cackling at her daughter's answer. That question seemed to make U pause for a second, thinking about it for some good time before the look on her face soured as she realized she didn't know any worker drones who would look after her. 'That's what I thought.' V thought to herself, giving her daughter a soft look as she knew the answer was before her daughter spoke it aloud.
"No..." U grumpily muttered, sulking as she glared over at J.
"Then you'll just have to live with J babysitting you," V said before kissing her daughter's forehead. As she did so, N got out from his nest and then came flying down where the rest of her squad rested, with something in his hands. Rolling her eyes, she picked U up, got up from where she sat and handed her daughter over to J as N walked up to her side, a gigantic blush on his face. "Now, be a good girl to J for Mommy, and maybe she'll bring you back some anime figurines," V bargained with a smirk as she looked at her daughter's face lighting up. Looking at N with a raised eyebrow, V wanted to probe her memory-wiped squadmate for an answer, "And what took you so long?" she said, putting a hand on her hip.
In response, N chuckled nervously and held up a dog and cat plush in both hands, "I was looking for these so I could give them to Z." he offered before walking over to a U being carried in J's arms. "Here, little buddy. Just know that whenever V and I are not around, these little guys will keep you company whenever we're gone." N said, comforting the daughter he had yet to learn was his too.
'Right... he doesn't know...' V thought as she watched U gleefully grab onto the two plushies N offered and hug the two of them. She looked at the sight, the same feeling she had from earlier creeping up as she saw the result of N making U the happiest. 'And he deserves to know... she's his kid too.' she thought as she watched N walk away from J and U and towards her.
"You ready?" he asked as he stood by her side, looking at her with that sweet and infectious smile plastered over his face.
'Tonight...' was all she thought as she stared into his gleaming yellow eyes that she couldn't tear her own away from. 'I'll tell him tonight.'
"Just one thing," she told him as she made eye contact with J. "J. If I find out that you harmed her in the slightest, not even the parent company will be able to save you from me." she threatened with a toothy smile, causing J's eyes to hollow out and shakily nod, all the while U made an Oh-ing noise with a smirk on her own face. Satisfied, V turned herself back to face N and spoke up, "Alright, now I'm ready. Let's go." she said as her wings rose out from her back, preparing herself for flight.
As the two went out flying into the beautiful night sky, full of stars sparkling above, U and J watched on, one in awe while the other wore a smirk on her face.
"So, I'm lame, huh?" J said aloud, looking over to the child in her arms.
"Yup." said a confident U.
"Would a lame person teach you how to hunt worker drones?" J asked, eyebrow raised, brewing a secret plan to get the child to like her... or, at least, stop her being as antagonistic as she was with her currently.