Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Uzi sits in her room on her bed, a small smile on her face. She’s made a group chat with N and V, talking with them whenever they’re not together. She was planning on telling her mom and dad today about them, and she was pretty anxious about it. Luckily, N and V told her that if they don’t like it, they can suck some nanite acid and that she could come live with them.

She knew only her dad was home now, Nori was out talking to the WDF members about the ongoing search for J that has ended up being quite the fruitless endeavor. Uzi decides that maybe one parent at a time is easier, so she tells N and V she’s about to do it. They wish her luck and remind her that if she needs a place to stay, they’re always here for her. She types a quick thank you with a heart emoji and puts away her phone.

Uzi’s core beats quickly as she tries to psych herself up to leave her room. “Come on, Uzi, come on. Just do it. Just get it over with. If this goes badly you can just go over to N and V’s. It’s fine. Just get it over with.” She notices her hands shaking and tries to take a few deep breaths to calm herself. “Damn anxiety…” After about five minutes of trying to calm her racing core, she finally deems herself calm enough to walk out of her room. One more deep breath as she opens the door.

She sees her dad sitting in the chair in the living room, watching TV. “H-hey dad…?” she says. Khan looks up at her. She speaks again, trying her best to not sound shaky and nervous. “I.. need to tell you something.”

Khan pauses the TV, “What is it?” he asks, slightly suspicious of her tone.

She decides to make this as quick and painless as possible, so she quickly blurts out, “I’m dating N and V!” and makes an embarrassing squeak as she hides her face in her hands, a bright purple blush on her visor.

Khan’s eyes hollow at the quick confession, but quickly narrow as he realizes exactly what she said. “N… and V… Wait a minute…” “Did you say N and V? As in.. the guy one and the girl one?” Uzi nods, averting her gaze from her dad’s piercing eyes.

A small, quick argument breaks out between them, leaving Uzi near tears after the last thing that Khan said. She finally breaks. She finally says what she’s thought her entire life.

“You know what, dad? I don’t care what you think about me anymore. You’ve never treated me like your daughter. Hell, you even cared about the STUPID DOORS MORE THAN ME!” She catches her breath, “You never loved me anyway. I don’t care anymore. At least they love me, unlike MY OWN FATHER!” she slams her door, finally letting her tears fall as she locks the door with her solver.

Uzi runs over to her bed, texting her mom to come home, and that it’s an emergency. Nori quickly responds, asking if she’s okay. Uzi just says “You’ll see when you get here. Just please hurry.”

“I’ll be there in 5” Nori quickly responds.

She quickly texts the group chat:
Uzi: it went badly
N: are you okay?
Uzi: not really
Uzi: i kinda went off to my dad a little bit
Uzi: but he deserved it!
V: yeah he did
V: want us to come get you?
Uzi: no my mom’s coming home and I think she’s gonna give dad a talking to
Uzi: i’m still kinda shaken up though
N: are you sure you don’t want us to come get you?
Uzi: i’m sure
Uzi: just wanna wait till mom gets back at least
Uzi: i kinda wanna hear what she says to him
V: just let us know if you need us okay?
Uzi: i know i know
Uzi: thanks. love you guys <3
N: <3
V: :3
Uzi: my mom’s home wish me luck
V: if Khan tries anything i’ll chop his head off
Uzi: i don’t think that’s really necessary V but thanks
N: good luck Uzi! <3

Nori practically breaks open the door with her solver, “I’m here!” she yells. Khan startles, nearly jumping out of the chair.

She gets a text as soon as she opens the door, “Talk to dad, I don’t want to see his face right now.”

Her face quickly sours, her eyes hardened with anger as she says, “What did you say to her?”

Uzi overhears about 80% of their argument from her closed door. She texts the group chat with updates:
Uzi: oh my mom is roasting my dad this is great
V: good
V: he deserves it
Uzi: OH MY GOD MY MOM JUST CAME OUT TO MY DAD WHAT
Uzi: SHE SAID “Yeva was a better partner than you’ll ever be.” WOW
V: wait your mom’s bi too?
N: aww like mother like daughter
V: wait isn’t Yeva Doll’s mom?
V: does that make you like
V: half-siblings or something?
Uzi: that’s weird to think about
Uzi: when she’s done here i’ll ask my mom about it
Uzi: oh wow that’s a lot of profanity
Uzi: oh she’s really coming at him now
V: you should go out there and join her
N: i’d let her have this alone she seems to be doing rather well
Uzi: i haven’t heard a single word my dad said
Uzi: i don’t know if she’s not letting him speak or if he’s just really quiet
Uzi: i’d say she’s doing good enough alone i don’t wanna interrupt her
Uzi: oh she called my name maybe I do have to go out there
Uzi: update you soon
N: byeeeee <3

Uzi once again anxiously walks out of her room, trying not to hyperventilate at seeing her father’s face again. She’s both angry and scared, and it’s too much for her systems to handle. She feels like she’s on the verge of overheating as she finally registers what her mom just said.

“Wait, what?” she asks, her voice weak.

“I said we’re leaving. Get your things, Uzi, I’m not staying with this man any longer than I have to.” Uzi quickly walks back to her room, grabbing her pack and texting N and V again.

Uzi: so me and my mom are leaving
Uzi: is it okay if we both stay by you guys?
N: of course you can
V: i’m just glad you’re getting away from that idiot
V: stay as long as you need
Uzi: thank you guys it really means a lot
Uzi: i’m getting packed now so see you in a bit
V: see you soon Zi

Uzi packs in less than five minutes, just glad to leave. She makes her way out of her room again and Nori opens the door while Khan stands there, staring at them with a dumbfounded expression. Neither say a word as they walk out and close the door behind them, finally able to talk now.

“You okay Uzi?” asks Nori, noticing Uzi’s hollowed eyes and seemingly half-aware state. Uzi doesn’t speak, her chest feels too heavy, her throat dry. She knows words won’t come out even if she tries. All she does is shake her head, noticing how it’s getting increasingly harder to breathe.

Nori puts a hand on her shoulder but she flinches, only partially aware of her surroundings. “Uzi?” she asks softly, “Can you hear me?” as she slowly crouches down. Uzi doesn’t give a sign of acknowledgement, so she takes the next step. She herself knows firsthand how overwhelming it can be to be trapped in your mind, so she’s very gentle. She remembers back when they were on Earth being experimented on by the humans, how Yeva would comfort her in this situation. She unzips her backpack and takes out her blanket. She slowly and gently wraps it around Uzi, hoping it helps even a little, then she takes her hand, gently holding it so Uzi can pull away if she wants.

Uzi flinches at the feeling of the blanket being draped over her, but quickly finds slight comfort in it. It’s quite soft, she notes, using the hand Nori is not holding to softly caress the blanket.

Nori waits until Uzi looks at her to speak, “Can you hear me now, love?” Uzi nods weakly, her breathing still quick and ragged.

“Good. Now can you take a deep breath for me?” she requests softly. Uzi nods, and Nori continues to hold her hand as she tries to take a few deep breaths. She notices that Uzi is struggling on her own, so she guides her.

“Hey,” she says to get her attention again. Once Uzi looks at her, she continues, “Three seconds in, three seconds to hold, and three seconds out. I’ll guide you, okay?” She nods, and Nori starts counting.

A few guided breaths later, Uzi starts to feel slightly better. Her chest isn’t so tight and heavy, and her mind calms slightly as she focuses on her mom’s voice guiding her breaths. The static in her mind soon quiets, and her breathing is closer to its normal, rhythmic state. Uzi squeezes her mom’s hand to indicate that she’s okay now.

Nori offers her a sad smile as she helps Uzi stand, the blanket still draped over her. “Are you alright?” Nori asks.

Uzi’s voice comes out a bit scratchy and weak, “I am now… Thanks mom.”

Nori pulls her into a gentle hug, “Anything for my little bat.” she whispers. “Do you want to talk about it? If not, that's fine. I won’t force you.”

Uzi shakes her head, “I need a bit to breathe first.”

Nori nods, “I understand. I know what it’s like. I’ve been there too.” she says softly.

Uzi feels her phone buzz in her pocket. She mentally curses, “N and V! They’re probably worried about me!” She unpockets her phone and sees a message in the group chat.

V: you ok? It’s taken you a while to get here
Uzi: i’m fine now
Uzi: be there soon i’ll tell you when i get there
N: love you Uzi <3
V: i’m just glad you’re okay
V: love you Zi

Uzi’s posture softens into a more relaxed one as she reads N and V’s messages, even a small smile makes its way to her face. V rarely ever words her affection, but she did just now, and that makes Uzi feel warm and fuzzy inside. Then she remembers that her mom is probably staring at her and looks up to her with a sheepish grin and blush, but before she can speak, Nori does.

“They make you happy, don’t they?” Uzi nods shyly. “Then that’s all that matters.” Uzi visibly relaxes at her mom’s words, all her previous fears gone away as she lets out a repressed relieved sigh.

Happy tears well in the corners of her eyes, “Thank you.” she whispers as she hugs her mom tight. “We should probably go now,” says Uzi. “I said we’d be there soon and don’t wanna worry them more.”

Nori smiles, “Let’s go. Wanna keep the blanket on?”

Uzi nods, “It feels nice… thanks again. It did kinda help.” They start walking.

During their walk, Uzi asks, “So how’d you know what to do about, you know, the whole breathing thing?”

Nori smiles, “Well,” she starts. “Back on Earth, it’d sometimes get so bad, I’d end up just like you did a few minutes ago.” Her voice softens as her smile becomes even softer, “Yeva’d help me calm down and breathe, just like how I did with you. She taught me how to focus on that, counting to myself or focusing on her counting for me.”

“Sounds like she really cared about you.” Uzi says softly, smiling at her mom.

“Yeah. She did.” She starts again, continuing her other train of thought. “You know, it got to the point where the panic attacks were a daily occurrence. She was always there for me when she could be, and when she couldn’t she helped me recover afterwards. I really wasn’t okay, and she knew that.” She pauses. “After a while, sometimes the solver would trigger a panic attack, or vice versa, and the dumb humans tried to ‘help’ the problem by isolating me from the other drones.” She laughs dryly, “That just made the problem worse. Without Yeva there, it was harder to calm myself down. I’ve done it alone before, but knowing I wouldn’t see her afterwards made it harder to do. I felt so alone, and that made the solver take advantage of me. It got worse, until I couldn’t control it anymore. That’s how the whole ‘planet explosion’ thing happened.” She pauses again. “Once again, Yeva stepped in at the last second and was able to snap me out of it, but the solver had other plans for the planet and used one of the corpses to null the planet’s core and cause the collapse. That’s how we ended up here.”

“Wow… that’s quite the backstory.” says Uzi as they arrive finally at N and V’s place. “Also, we’re here so be prepared to see them probably squish me to death with hugs. At least N.” She knocks on the door.

The door opens immediately and N charges at Uzi and pulls her into a tight hug. V stands behind him in the doorway with a soft smile.

After a bit, V shakes her head, “Can I get a turn too, idiot?” she says with a laugh.

N laughs awkwardly, “Sorry, V.” he says as he lets go of Uzi, dropping her back onto the ground. He makes room for V to walk over to Uzi.

“You okay, Zi?” she questions as she brushes a stray strand of hair out of Uzi’s face.

“Kinda.” Uzi replies, looking at V with a sad smile.

V pulls her into a gentle hug, “I’m just glad you’re safe.” she whispers.

Nori signals for N to come over to her, and pulls him aside for a moment to talk to him. “I just want you to know…” she looks over at V and Uzi in their embrace. “I’m glad she has people like you in her life. She’s been through a lot in her life, she needs you guys.”

N smiles as he looks back at Uzi, “I promise that we’ll love her as much as possible. With all our heart-or core, I guess.” he laughs awkwardly.

“We should head back over there now. Uzi’s waiting for us.” Nori says, turning around.

They all head inside and N closes the door behind him. Uzi is gripping V’s arm tight, as if it’s the only thing grounding her and keeping her present. Which isn’t entirely wrong. They all sit down on the couch and Nori sits on one of the free chairs.

“Uzi?” questions V softly.

Uzi shakes out of her daze, “Yeah?”

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asks softly. Uzi nods and takes a deep breath, tightening her grip on V’s arm as N takes her other hand.

“I just… it was all too much.” she starts.

“For you two,” she nods to N and V, “When we started walking here, it was like I lost control of my emotions and they all came flooding out. Basically, in simple terms, I had a panic attack in the middle of the walk over here.”

She sighs, “I almost had one before leaving the house, but somehow was able to repress just enough to make it outside and walk a few feet.” She pauses for a moment, then continues. “Mom helped me out of it, that’s why I had the blanket around me when we got here. If I’d have left alone, I don’t know what would have happened.” she says quietly.

She looks up at her mom, “I’m glad I told you. I might not have made it here without you.” She smiles slightly. “Now I’m just exhausted.” She leans on N’s shoulder, sighing as she closes her eyes for a few seconds.

“Maybe we should head to bed. We have two rooms, so your mom can take the one on the left.”

Uzi nods as she lifts her head again. “Sleep sounds good right now.”

V smirks and lifts Uzi up, prompting a flustered squeak from her. “H-hey! I can walk!” she yells.

“Mmm... no. I’m carrying you. You need rest.”

Nori huffs in amusement at the display, “She’s right, Uzi. You need your beauty rest.” she teases with a smirk.

“Not you too mom.” she groans. Meanwhile, N’s tail wags joyously as he hands Nori back her blanket that Uzi was wearing when they arrived. She throws it over her shoulder as she walks up to Uzi, who’s still in V’s arms.

“Goodnight, my little bat.” she whispers, ruffling her hair playfully.

“Moooom you’re embarrassing me.”

V smirks as she interjects, “I think it’s cute, ‘little bat’.”

Uzi groans. “Fine, I guess you can carry me to bed.” she grumbles. V smiles and carries her to their room.

“I guess I’ll take you to your room then.” N says. “If you’re walking behind me, watch the tail.”

They get to the room and Nori sets her stuff down, “Thank you for letting me stay here too. I… had to get away after what he said.”

N nods, “Anytime. Thank you for being such a good parent to Uzi.” he smiles back to her.

She nods, “You should go. Uzi’s probably waiting awake for you. You know how stubborn she is. Probably got that from me.”

N laughs, “Yeah. Goodnight, see you tomorrow.” he says, walking out of the room.

V and Uzi are on the bed waiting for N to come back. “You can sleep now, you know.” V whispers to Uzi.

“Wanna wait for N.” she says tiredly.

V sighs, “He’ll be here. Just rest, Zi.” V whispers softly, starting to gently stroke her hair. Uzi visibly relaxes at the touch, nuzzling into V’s hand, and, much like a cat, purring quietly. V smiles at her soft purrs, continuing the gentle action.

Uzi can’t even begin to describe how relaxing it was after such a long, emotionally taxing day to just be held like this. She fights off her sleepiness, wanting to wait for N to get in the room. That is, until V starts petting her like a cat. She instinctively purrs and closes her eyes as she leans into V’s hand. This makes it harder for Uzi to fight off her sleepiness, so she whispers, “..Night, V… Love you.”

V smiles, “Love you too, Zi.” she whispers, placing a gentle kiss on Uzi’s forehead. Uzi sighs, letting herself shut down for the day, finally able to sleep peacefully.

N walks in, surprised to see Uzi already asleep. “How’d you get her to sleep before I got in here?” he whispers.

“She’s exhausted, all I had to do was start petting her like a cat and she was out.” V whispers with a soft laugh. N smiles, climbing into the bed and carefully wrapping his arms around Uzi and V, pulling them in close. V sighs as she feels N gently stroke her back in a soothing way, “Goodnight, N…” she whispers, “Love you…” her voice almost silent as she says it, but N smiles and replies in the same way.

“Night, V. Love you too.” He places a soft kiss on Uzi’s head, “You too, Uzi.” he whispers softly. Uzi smiles in her sleep at N’s kiss, making a soft content sound as she sighs softly. Both N and V eventually drift into sleep mode, completely at peace knowing Uzi is safe and here with them, and nothing bad can get to her now. Not if they can help it.

Nori waits until she believes all three of them would be asleep to sneak a little peek at them, slowly opening the door very quietly. She sees them all cuddled up together on the bed. “Awww…” she whispers nearly silently. She snaps a quick picture with the camera built into her optics to save for later, “You picked good, Uzi.” she whispers quietly. She turns and walks out of their room with a smile, leaving them to their peaceful rest, as well as getting her own rest. It’s been quite a long, exhausting day, and everyone needs the rest.

Chapter Text

Uzi slowly woke up from what she could only describe as the best sleep of her life. The sound of purring still filled the air, but she couldn’t help but notice N was missing from the bed. She didn’t move, however, she was far too comfortable in V’s arms and wanted to stay like this forever. She softly sighed and let her body fully relax again, but stayed awake to enjoy the warm comfort of V holding her close. 

V wakes to Uzi’s small form wrapped around her. She nuzzles into Uzi’s hair, her purrs becoming louder as she does so. V hears a soft noise from Uzi and smiles, “She’s so cute…”  

“Morning, V.” Uzi says quietly. 

“I didn’t know you were awake.” V says, slightly embarrassed by her actions. 

“Been up for a while now. Didn’t wanna move. This feels too nice.”

“Hey, where’s N?” asks V. 

“Don’t know. He was gone when I woke up.”

“We should probably get up.”

Uzi groans, “Fine…” She slowly sits up and stretches, letting out a soft yawn before she looks over to V, who is stretching very much like a cat. “Murder kitty.” she says. 

“What did you just call me?” 

“Murder kitty.” 

“You little…” V tackles her to the ground, also quite like a cat would. 

“HA! You are a big murder kitty!” Uzi yells with a laugh.

V growls, “Okay then, little bat. ” 

“You’re gonna pay for that!” yells Uzi, who manages to free herself and tackle V to the ground.

They roll around on the floor of the room for a few minutes before N and Nori walk in to see why they’re causing all that racket so early in the morning. 

“Uhh.. what are you two doing?” asks N.

The pair freeze in place, and all noise ceases at N’s query. 

“She started it!” V yells, poking her finger at Uzi. Uzi promptly bites it, and V recoils in pain and shock. “Hey!”

“What? It’ll grow back.”

V growls as her finger does just that. “Whatever.”

“Now, are you girls going to try to kill each other again or can we leave you alone for the day?” Nori asks, leaning against the doorway and crossing her arms with a smug smile.

“Wait, where are you going?” Uzi asks, finally sitting up and pushing V off of her.

“We’ll figure that part out later.” N says with a smile. 

V sits up, “Don’t worry, we won’t kill each other… Maybe.” she says, flashing a creepy grin to Uzi. 

“We’ll be fine, mom. Go do your weird bonding thing or whatever.”

“Alright. Have fun, you two.” Nori says as she walks away to get ready.

N runs up to V and Uzi, giving them each a quick little kiss, “Love you! Bye!” 

Uzi and V sit frozen in place with blushes plastered over their visors. Their eyes are still hollow with shock for a few more seconds before they shake out of it. 

“So… what now? We have the house all to ourselves.” Uzi asks V.

“Well… you look like a mess.”

“Rude.”

“I say you let me take care of you for the day!” V says with a grin.

“I can take care of myself perfectly fine.”

“Uzi… you need this. You had a rough day yesterday.” V says softly. “Plus, I think you deserve a rest day.”

“Are you sure?”

“Very sure.” V replies with a smile. 

“Okay. I guess it would be pretty nice to have a rest day…” 

“First thing, Your hair is an absolute mess. I noticed that last night.”

“I know…”

“I’ll be right back!” V says, leaving for the bathroom.

Uzi stands up and walks back over to the bed. She sits down and waits for V to return.

V comes back and sits next to Uzi on the bed. “Alright, turn around.” she says.

Uzi turns to face the wall so V is behind her. She pulls her knees to her chest, “Okay, I’m ready.” 

“Okay.”

Uzi was expecting V to be a bit rougher, bracing for pain. But all she feels is a pull, no pain at all. 

“It’s not too bad, this shouldn’t take too long.” V says as she gently continues.

After a few minutes, Uzi’s hair looked much better than it did before. Uzi felt a lot better herself, too. Now, she’s just enjoying the sensation of the brush going through her hair, holding back the purr her body wants to let out at the sensation. Her eyes close as she focuses on the feeling, finding it strangely soothing, especially since V is being so gentle with her. She starts to think that agreeing to this wasn’t such a bad idea after all. She finally lets herself completely relax, her purr finally allowed to show itself. 

V notices Uzi relaxes slightly when she finishes getting all the knots out of her hair and starts just brushing through it without any knots getting in the way. She smiles, continuing to brush since Uzi seems to really enjoy it at the moment. V then hears Uzi purr. She lets out a small, barely audible huff, and her smile gets softer. 

“You’re really enjoying this, huh?” she asks

“Mhm… feels nice…” Uzi replies in a relaxed voice. 

“You don’t want me to stop, do you?” V asks with a small laugh.

“Not really… Five more minutes.”

“Five more minutes it is.” 

As the time passes, Uzi relishes in the sensation once again, her purr only growing in intensity the more time passes. But, eventually, V asks her the dreaded question, “Is it okay if I stop now?” 

She waits a few seconds to answer, just to have a few extra seconds, but answers with a sad “Yeah…”

V keeps going for about 10 more seconds, then stops, as her arm is getting pretty tired.

Uzi turns back around to face V. “Thanks… that was nice.” she says quietly, a small blush now present on her visor. 

V smiles at her, “I told you this was a good idea.” she says. “Plus, now you look extra cute .” she teases, noticing Uzi’s blush. 

“I am not cute! I’m cool. ” she says, crossing her arms and closing her eyes, looking away from V. 

V, of course, takes this opportunity to prove her wrong. She quickly reaches a hand up to her head, her fingers combing through her hair. V watches as Uzi practically melts at the touch, purring loudly. 

“No, you’re definitely cute.” she teases.

“Fine… only because I like this a lot .” 

V watches Uzi melt into a purring puddle in her hands, “And you called me a ‘murder kitty.’ Clearly you’re the cat here.” 

Uzi grumbles something that V didn’t hear. She decides to let it slide and just enjoy this moment with Uzi. “Alright, come here.” she says, pulling Uzi into her lap.

Uzi is about to complain about her stopping, but gets interrupted by V pulling her into a tight hug. She quickly reciprocates, though slightly confused at her sudden change in demeanor. 

“I’m glad you’re here with me.” V whispers quietly, a slight hint of emotion in her voice. 

Uzi smiles, nuzzling her face into V’s fluffy jacket collar, “I am too.” she whispers back. 

“Love you, Zi”

“Love you too, V”

Chapter Text

“So where are we going?” N asks.

“Wanna take a walk outside the bunker?” Nori asks with a smirk.

“I haven’t been outside in so long! Sure!”

The two make their way out of the bunker, taking a walk around the perimeter of the bunker, talking. Mostly about Uzi, of course. 

“So, how did you guys meet? She never told me that.”

An awkward laugh is heard as N recalls the first time they met. “Well…” he starts. “We met by uh.. Trying to kill each other.” he says with a nervous laugh.  

“I expected as much.” Nori says, clearly unphased by the confession.

“Then she shot my head off with her railgun, but I grew it back and then she slapped me with an arm she found on the ground.” he says with a more genuine laugh. “I’m gonna skip over the boring stuff now but basically we talked for a bit until V and J returned.” 

He pauses for a moment to think of how to word the next part. 

“She kinda got me almost killed. I questioned the company- to J of all drones! I can’t believe how stupid I was to say something like that to her. If it had been V she might have not tried to kill me.” He pauses, seeing that Nori’s stopped walking. He walks back over to her. “You okay?” he asks. 

She snaps out of whatever trance she seemed to be in to look up at him, “I heard some things from Uzi about how badly you were treated, but she didn’t tell me you almost died by your own boss.” 

“Yeah she uh… really didn’t like me.” 

“No, N. She abused you.” 

“I’d call it more of… deconstructive criticism .”

“N.”

He looks at Nori. “Yeah?”

“She abused you. That’s not normal behavior. I heard she threatened to kill you almost daily and now that she pretty much did kill you. You didn’t deserve to be treated that way.”

N looks down at his feet, “Thanks.” he says with a grateful smile.

Nori smiles, “Now let’s get back to the conversation.” she says, patting N on the back.

“Oh! Right.” he says. “Uzi saved me from completely dying and we fought J and V and Uzi pretty much single handedly killed J.”  

“Hell yeah! That’s my daughter all right!” Nori says with a proud smile. 

N laughs, “Yeah… She’s pretty awesome…” he says softly. 

“You really love her, don’t you?” Nori asks.

“Yeah… She’s the first one to treat me as, like, someone that deserves a friend. She said to me that I did the same for her, and… I can’t help but wonder why everyone disliked her so much.” 

“She may be a little different than her peers, but she’s the most wonderful different that she could be.” Nori says. “Plus, she’s just like her mama! She gets a lot of her personality from me, and I’m pretty glad about that. Could you imagine if she was like… him ?” Nori shudders at the thought of Uzi becoming like Khan, especially after the little incident that happened yesterday. 

“She’s a great person, Nori. You have a great daughter.” N says with a smile.

“Well, my wonderful daughter has two amazing partners who love and care about her more than I ever have in her entire life.” 

“She has a good mother too. Even though you might not think so. You did a good thing by taking her away from him.” 

“I guess so. I just… I haven’t been around for 90% of her life and… I really haven’t been a good mother to her.” Nori says quietly. 

N doesn’t interrupt at all, he just listens. He’s been through talks with Uzi similar to this, he knows that all she wants is someone to listen.

“I mean, I could have returned to her. But I didn’t. I didn’t return.” she continues. “I haven’t been there for her when she needed me the most, I… I should have been there for her.” 

As N realizes she’s finished talking, he tentatively speaks. “It’s not your fault.” he says. 

“It is my fault. I could have returned to actually raise my daughter, but I chose not to.”

“If anything, it’s my fault. I’m the one who, you know…” he says, making a throat slitting gesture with his hand, using his sword for extra emphasis. “I’m the one who reduced you to just your core. It’s not your fault.”

“It’s not your fault either.” Nori says. “If we want to blame anyone, we should be blaming the solver. That damn thing caused all this. Made you into killing machines against your will and possessed innocent drones like Yeva, Doll, Uzi, and me. Cyn too. She was innocent in it all. It’s that damn solver that made her destroy Earth and so many more planets.” She slumps down onto the ground against a car, “I… I miss her so much… I never even got to say goodbye…”

N knows exactly who she’s talking about, and feels a heavy weight on his chest. He knows V killed Doll’s parents, and he’s not sure if he should tell her or not. But as soon as he decides to say something, Nori interrupts him. 

“Before you say anything, I know V killed her. Uzi told me.” she says. “I don’t blame her, I blame the solver. I just wish it wasn’t Yeva that was killed.” 

N walks over and sits down next to her, “Me too.” he says sadly. “I’m sorry.”

“For what? You didn’t kill her.”

“I’m sorry for many things. I almost killed you, I almost got Uzi killed more times than I’d like to admit, I’m the one that broke into the colony first. If it weren’t for me, no one would have died that day.” he says. “I’m sorry.” 

They sit there for a while, just silently processing the conversation for a bit. Soon, though, daylight looks imminent. 

“Looks like the sun’s rising soon. Let’s get back before we burn up.” Nori says. 

N nods, “Yeah. Let’s go.”

They walk back into the bunker and make their way back home. “I wonder if V and Uzi are doing alright.” N says as they get closer to home. 

“Judging by this morning, I’d be surprised if the house is still clean and there’s nothing on the floor from their little catfights.” 

N laughs, “I don’t know, usually when they’re alone, they’re pretty nice to each other. Well, unless something happens, like this morning.” he says. 

They soon arrive, and N opens the door, noticing how clean the house looks, and is slightly surprised. 

“Let’s go check to see if they’re asleep.”

Nori nods, “Be quiet though, Mr. Clumsy.” Nori says with a small laugh, being quiet in case they are sleeping.

The two head over to the room V, Uzi, and N all share and open the door quietly. They see that V is still awake and looks over to them. “Hey.” reads her visor. 

“Uzi’s asleep?” asks N with his visor. 

“Yeah. Was waiting until you got back but fell asleep.” She stops to smile at their tiny girlfriend resting in her arms and purring softly, “She was fighting off sleep for about an hour. Finally fell asleep about 10 minutes ago.” 

Nori smiles at the scene in front of her, “Can I?” her visor reads as she points to Uzi. V nods. Nori walks up to Uzi resting and crouches so she’s at a similar height. She simply runs her fingers through Uzi’s hair for a few seconds, whispering quietly, “Goodnight, my little bat. Sleep well.” Uzi’s purrs increase in volume at the sensation, and she smiles in her sleep. 

After a small bit, she stands back up, “Sun’s rising. We should all get some rest.” she whispers. “Goodnight you two. See you tomorrow.” she waves and walks out to her room across the hall, closing the door behind her. 

“We’ll talk tomorrow, I’m tired.” says N. 

“Me too. Spent all day taking care of this little gremlin.” says V with a smile. She shifts slowly and carefully to lay down, making sure she doesn’t wake Uzi. N soon follows, laying down and pulling the blanket up before pulling V and Uzi close. 

“Night, V.” he whispers.

“Night, N.” 

“Night, Uzi.” N whispers, placing a soft kiss on her head. V follows and does the same. 

They find sleep quickly, the soothing purrs of the others nearby lulling them into a peaceful sleep. Nori, too, finds sleep rather easily after getting all of her worries and fears off her chest. No longer do they plague her as she tries to fall asleep. Maybe she should talk about her worries and fears more, she thinks.

Chapter Text

It’s been a week since Uzi and Nori left Khan. A whole week of loneliness, isolation, and depression. He had lost his wife for the second time, and now his daughter too. He sits, alone, on the couch, staring at the blank TV, not even bothering to reach for the remote. He had decided to stew in sadness for the rest of time. That is, until a certain someone came over for a wellness check. 

Tim was worried. It wasn’t like Khan to just up and disappear for a whole week. Did he leave the colony? Did he go out one day and not come back? Or was he just holed up in his house? But for a whole week? That was unlike him. Tim decided today would be the day he’d find out. 

He came up to the door, knocking three times. No answer. “Khan?” he questioned. “If you’re in there, please answer.” Still no answer. “That’s it, I’m going in.” he decided. Luckily, he knew the passcode for the door’s lock, and was able to get in. When he entered, however, a sight he never thought he’d see was before him.

Khan was sat on the couch, with an extremely tired look on his visor. “Woah, Khan. Are you alright?” Tim asked. No answer. Tim noticed just how empty the house seemed, and took a look around. 

The usual mess created by Uzi was gone, and so was most of her stuff. No blueprints covering the floor, or strange inventions laying about. It was eerie, in a way. Everything seemed clean. Too clean.  

Tim sat on the couch next to Khan, which finally got his attention away from the blank TV screen. “You’ve been gone for a week, we’re a little concerned about you. Are you alright? It’s not like you to be holed up in your house for a week.” 

Khan blinked, looking down at his feet, then spoke quietly. “They’re gone.” he said.

Tim quickly realized what he meant, and attempted his hand at comfort. He pulled Khan into a hug, awaiting any reaction. Khan leaned on Tim’s shoulder, letting out a deep sigh of pure exhaustion from staying awake for an entire week. He simply couldn’t sleep, he was too deep in self-deprecating thoughts and tears that had finally stopped after the third day. 

Finally, some of the self-deprecating thoughts were quieted. Khan could finally relax, even if for just a moment. Even a small moment, however, was enough to trigger his sleep mode. He was so exhausted, and could finally rest his weary mind. 

Tim looked down and saw the “Sleep Mode” on Khan’s visor. He blushed a little, Khan had fallen asleep on him. There was no way he’d get up now. Tim leaned back against the couch, letting himself relax. He was going to be stuck here for a while, wasn’t he? 

Khan finally awoke hours later, only to find himself laying atop Tim, who was laid down on the couch, asleep. He felt his face warm with a soft blush, but didn’t move. He felt strangely… safe like this. It felt nice. He decided to lay his head back down and rest for a small while longer. 

Tim woke up about 10 minutes later, his processor slow and relaxed as he shook off the remnants of sleep. As he opened his eyes, he caught a glimpse of Khan’s visor, noticing he was most definitely awake, considering the bright blush he had. 

He tapped Khan’s shoulder, “Hey.” he whispered. Khan looked up. “How are you feeling?” he asks. 

Khan takes a few seconds to answer, but does so honestly. “Strange.” he says. 

“Is that a good strange or a bad strange?” Tim asked, knowing exactly why he answered the way he did.

“I think… good strange.” 

“Then that makes two of us.” Tim whispered. 

Khan sat up, “I think I have an apology to make.” he says quietly.

“You never did tell me, what happened?”

“I said something I shouldn’t have. Now I’m no longer married and my daughter is gone too. I can’t believe I was such an idiot…” he says, his voice cracking slightly. 

“Maybe you should do that tomorrow.” Tim says. He puts a hand on Khan’s shoulder, “I can come with you if you want.” he says. “For moral support and all, you know.” 

“That would be… much appreciated.” Khan said, averting his gaze so Tim couldn’t see his blush. He then feels a hand grip his own gently.

“How about you come stay with me? Clearly being alone like this hasn’t helped.” 

“Alright.” Khan says. “Thank you. This means a lot.” 

“Of course. I’m not going to let you sit here and wallow in sadness for the rest of your life.”

Tim stands, reaching out his hand. Khan takes it and stands for the first time in six days. He hears something creak, and his eyes hollow in surprise. 

“That’s what happens when you sit for a week.” Tim says with a slight laugh. “Come on, let’s go.” he says with a smile. Khan nods, and they head off. 

Tim helps Khan as he gets used to using his joints again, catching him if he wobbles or falls, and smiles gently as he lets Khan take his time. As they approach the house, Khan is finally able to walk somewhat normally, and doesn’t need any more help. 

“Again, thank you. I don’t know what I would have done without you.” 

“Anytime, Khan. You looked pretty rough when I got there. Exhausted, depressed. I’m glad I checked on you today.” Tim says softly. 

“Me too.” Khan says quietly, slightly flustered by his new, strange feelings. 

“Tomorrow’s a new day, Khan.” Tim says. He pauses for a few seconds, “It’ll get better.” he says in a softer tone.

Khan lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, “...Yeah. I just… really regret what I said, especially now.” 

“Well, you’re apologizing tomorrow, right?” Khan nods. “Then it’ll be okay.”

“I hope it will.” 

Tim wraps an arm around his shoulder and walks him to the couch. The two of them sit, “It will be, I know it.” he says. “Even if they don’t forgive you, you still have me.” 

“I suppose I do.” Khan says quietly. 

Tim smiles as he reaches for the remote, turning on a random show as background noise. “You still look tired, you should rest.” he says. “I’ll be here all night. Probably shouldn’t have napped earlier, but that’s alright.”

“I’m only at about 50% charge, I suppose I could use a bit more rest.” 

“Go right ahead, I’ll be right here next to you if you need me.” 

Khan hesitantly rests his head on Tim’s shoulder, closing his eyes. He feels a protective arm wrap around him, but doesn’t have time to think much about it before he falls asleep once again, clearly still mentally exhausted from the past week. 

Tim continues watching TV as Khan rests on his shoulder, occasionally casting glances at his resting form curled up next to him. He smiles as rests his head atop Khan’s, looking back at the TV once again. 

“Tomorrow’s a new day.” he whispers. 

Chapter Text

Uzi wakes slowly, the remnants of sleep still clinging to her processor. The warmth surrounding her doesn’t help her wake up either. N and V are both curled around either side of her like big cats, purring softly in their sleep. Surprisingly, V is the most affectionate at the moment, her whole body curled around Uzi, and her tail wrapped around Uzi’s waist as if she was scared she would disappear. Uzi raises a hand up to brush V’s hair out of her face. She smiles at how peaceful V looks, it’s a rare sight. 

V unconsciously leans into Uzi’s hand, her purrs becoming louder as Uzi gently caresses her cheek with her thumb. Uzi giggles quietly, “You sound like a big cat…” she whispers. 

N wakes up next, yawning quietly. “Morning, Uzi!” he whispers happily. “V’s still asleep?”

“Yeah. She’s like a big cat. It’s adorable…”

N giggles softly, “It’s nice seeing her like this. She deserves it.” he says. He moves his hand over to stroke her hair. V makes a soft sound and smiles at the sensation. 

“Love you, ya big murder kitty.” whispers Uzi, giving V a gentle kiss on the middle of her visor. Another soft content sound is heard from V as she nuzzles Uzi’s cheek, cuddling even closer. 

Meanwhile, Nori wakes up from a very restful night. She’s glad she finally got all of her fears and worries off her chest, it made it a lot easier to sleep without issues. She gets out of bed with the intention of checking on Uzi. She tries to peek through the small window on the door, but she’s too short to reach it, so she opens the door instead. 

N and Uzi hear the door open, and look over to see Nori. “Hey mom.” Uzi’s visor reads. 

“She asleep?” Nori asks, pointing to V. 

“Yeah. Acting like a big murder kitty. It’s kinda cute.” Uzi responds, blushing slightly. 

Nori smirks, “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.” reads her visor. She walks away with a wave, closing the door behind her. 

Uzi hears a soft whine from V as she presses into Uzi’s hand, which has stopped its movement. Uzi huffs in amusement and continues what she was doing. 

N has a big dorky smile on his face as he watches the two drones he loves the most. He’s happy that they’re all together now, and nothing can change that. 

After a few more minutes of cuddling, V finally wakes up. “Morning sleepyhead!” N says happily, his tail wagging off the edge of the bed. 

“Morning, murder kitty.” Uzi says with a small giggle. 

“Says the one who was purring up a storm last night.” V says with a smirk. 

“Oh yeah? Well you were purring very loudly earlier. AND whining, if I may add, for me to keep petting you like a cat.” Uzi says. “So, murder kitty.” 

V blushes brightly, “W-well so are you!” she says, clearly flustered by Uzi’s words. 

“At least I admit it.” Uzi says.

“I didn’t say I wasn’t doing those things. I merely said that you also are.” 

“Whatever. I’m hungry, let’s go get some food.” 

They all get up and dressed, and walk out of the room to the kitchen. Uzi sees her mom at the stove. 

“Oh no, my mom’s cooking again.” Uzi whispers. 

“Why is that a bad thing?” N asks. 

“Last time she cooked, she set the stove on fire… By boiling water.” 

V sputters out a laugh, trying not to alert Nori that they’re talking about her, but fails, as it’s louder than she wanted it to be. 

“Ready for breakfast, guys?” 

“Did you burn something this time?” Uzi asks. 

Nori looks at the stove, “Maybe a little…” she says. 

Uzi walks over, “Oh… Yeah I think we’re gonna need a new meal.” she says. “No offense, mom. You tried.” she says apologetically. “At least you didn’t start the stove on fire this time!” 

Nori just laughs, “None taken, Uzi. Now who here knows how to cook?” 

V and Uzi look at N. “Me?” he questions. 

“Dude, your food looks and tastes delicious.” says Uzi. 

“I’d say I could rival you, but that’s a lie. You’re so careful with how you present it that it almost looks like an art piece.” V says. 

N blushes, “Thanks guys… I guess I could cook today.” 

“Get in that kitchen, bud. I’m hungry!” says Uzi. 

“Alright, alright.” 

“I call choosing the ingredients!” says V. The others look at her. “What? You know I have good taste. In more ways than one.” she says, smirking at Uzi. 

Uzi grumbled something no one could understand and sat down on the couch, crossing her arms and blushing furiously. What she had said was this: “Stupid… weirdly hot robot…”  

V just laughs and gets to work on choosing ingredients. She gets them all out and hands the stuff to N. “My job is done, now you make the food.” 

He salutes, “Yes ma’am!” he says. He quickly gets to work, delicately chopping ingredients and stirring them together gently. It doesn’t take long before it smells very good in the room. 

“Hurry up N, I’m hungryyyyyy.” whines Uzi. 

“It’s almost ready!” he says excitedly. 

A few minutes later, N makes a show of serving his food. He holds two plates in either hand, the third atop his head, and the fourth held by his tail in some kind of strange- but definitely impressive - balancing act. 

“Eat up, guys!” he says proudly.

Meanwhile…  

“When do you plan on leaving?” Tim asks Khan, who looks very anxious at the moment. 

No answer. 

“Khan!” Tim says a bit louder. 

“Huh? What?” 

“When are you planning on leaving?” he asks again. 

“Oh. Soon.” Khan said. His tone was clipped and anxious. 

“Are you… are you okay?” Tim asked hesitantly. 

“I’m fine.” Khan said quietly. 

Tim sighed, “No you’re not.” he said. He walks over to him and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Come on, sit down.” They walk over to the couch. Tim notices How tense Khan is, so he gives his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. He doesn’t budge. Tim wraps an arm around him and lays his head on his shoulder. He can hear Khan’s core beat fast. 

“Hey.” he says, squeezing his hand now. “How about we just relax for a little while huh?” Khan nods, though his eyes look glazed over and distant. 

“Sorry.” Khan said, his voice shaky and quiet. “All I do is mess things up, huh?” 

“That’s not true.” Tim says softly. 

“Then why does everyone I care about leave?” 

“Do you care about me?” Tim asks. 

“Yes.”

“Are you scared I’m going to leave as well?”

“…yes.” Khan said quietly. 

“Well, I won’t.” 

“Everyone else said that too. How do I know that’s true?” 

“Because I see that you’re hurting. No one would rightfully leave someone who’s mourning, now, would they.” 

“I suppose so.” 

“Let’s relax for a bit now. We’ll leave in 30 minutes.” 

“Alright.” 

About an hour later…

Uzi sits on V’s lap, purring loudly as she is squished between the two larger disassembly drones, practically being cuddled to death by them. 

“Who’s the murder kitty now, Zi?” V asks playfully. 

Uzi growls quietly, “Still you.” she mumbles into V’s shirt.

V huffs out a laugh, “Yeah sure, purple thing.” she says. 

Soon enough, the trio hear a knock on the door. V gets up to open it, leaving Uzi and N on the couch. 

N and Uzi hear a growl and turn over as V asks, “What are you doing here?”

Chapter Text

Uzi and N look over to the door and see none other than Khan standing there. V growls and speaks once again. 

“I’ll ask you again, Khan.” she says, putting extra emphasis on his name like he’s a misbehaved puppy. “What are you doing here?” She growls lowly as she speaks like an angry cat.

Tim considers speaking for him, but decides against it, as he wouldn’t know how they’d react seeing him there too. 

N gets up too, growling quietly as he walks to the door as well, “I’d consider leaving before we decide to behead you, buddy.” he says, one of his eyes turning to an X as he glares at Khan coldly. 

Tim decides now is a good time to step in, “Woah, woah guys! That’s not necessary!” he shouts, finally showing himself. 

A small voice from farther in the room asks, “Tim?” The two disassembly drones turn around to see Uzi standing up, “Why are you here too?” 

“Moral support?” he says shyly. “Where’s your mom, Uzi?” 

“In her room. Why?” 

“Can you please bring her out here?” Tim asks, his voice unwavering; but Uzi can sense the worry behind his voice. 

Uzi nods, “Give me a minute.” she says. She casts a glare to Khan, then walks away. 

N and V still glare at Khan, growling quietly. “Care to tell us why you’re here?” asks V. 

“To apologize.” he says. “To both of them. A-and you.” Khan says nervously. 

“Well I certainly don’t accept your apology.” states V. 

“Neither do I.” says N. “Normally I’m very forgiving. But you messed up big time, buddy.” he growls. 

V’s tail lashes threateningly, “You’re lucky Uzi’s letting you be here right now or I’d rip you to shreds. That’s a promise.” she says, looming over Khan. 

Khan’s visor is overtaken with artificial sweat droplets. His eyes are hollow and frightened. 

“I’m here.” Nori says from behind N and V. Her voice clipped, posture rigid as a steel pole. She looks very angry.  

“H-hi Nori.” Khan says, preparing for a brutal talking to, or some kind of item thrown at him, but neither happens. 

“Why are you here?” is all she says. 

“He’s here to apologize.” V says. “Or so he says.” 

“I’m sure he is.” Nori says sarcastically. 

“I am!” 

“Do you actually mean the apology or is this just to get us back. Because it’s not going to work.” 

“I mean it. I promise.” Khan says. 

“I don’t believe you.” Nori simply says. 

“He means it!” Tim yells from behind Khan. 

“Wait… Why are you here?!” 

“Moral support.” 

“Is he the reason you’re here?” Nori asks, her voice hard, as if she’s talking to a misbehaved puppy. 

“...I uh… don’t know how to answer that.” he says. 

“Why?” Nori practically growls out the word. “Is it because I’m right?” 

“N-not completely!” he says, trying to explain without pushing her further away. 

“What is that even supposed to mean?” 

“I don’t know, okay!” Khan yells, surprising quite literally everyone both in and out of the room. His eyes hollow as he realizes he just yelled at the top of his lungs. 

Something in the atmosphere shifts at that moment, V notices. Her eyes narrow as if she’s trying to read a sign that’s far away without her glasses. “Oh, I see,” she starts. “He’s a hypocrite.” she states dryly. 

“Wait, what do you mean by-” Uzi starts, but stops herself when she realizes how stupid of a question that is when the answer is literally staring at her. “Oh.” she says as her gaze lands on Tim. 

It’s at that moment everyone goes silent. Tim looks nervously at everyone, seemingly fearing for his life at the moment. 

Nori’s eyes are hollow, shocked. 

N and V glare judgingly at Khan. 

Uzi stares at Tim.

Then Nori walks away, shutting the door to her room. Everyone jumps as they hear a loud noise from exactly where Nori resides.

For the first time, Uzi speaks to Khan. “Just leave.” She walks away to the room she shares with N and V, closing the door behind her. 

“You heard her.” V says. “ Leave.” she says threateningly. She bares her teeth and unsheathes her claws, “Or I’ll rip you to shreds.” she says with a low growl. 

Khan backs away slowly, and Tim casts one last look at them, “I’m sorry.” his visor reads. V’s eyes narrow, then she shuts the door. 

“I’m going to check on Uzi.” V says. N grabs her wrist, stopping her. 

“I know you’re angry,” N says. “But don’t talk too angrily with Uzi, she’s probably not doing okay right now.” 

V’s eyes soften slightly, “I know. You should go check on Nori. I didn’t like that noise.” N nods, and they both head to the respective rooms.

Chapter Text

V opens the door to their shared room, “Zi?” she questions softly. She sees Uzi curled up on the bed, hugging a pillow tightly. She’s shaking. 

V sits on the bed, “Hey.” she says quietly. “You alright?” she asks. Uzi sniffs and shakes her head. “You wanna hug me instead of that pillow?” she asks with a smile. Uzi sits up and nods. “Come here, Zi.” 

Uzi quickly latches onto V, her breath shallow and quick. She’s on the verge of tears, V can tell that much just by looking at her. V sighs and rubs up and down Uzi’s back gently.

“I’m here.” is all she says. 

Uzi whimpers, the first tear falling down her visor. She grips V’s jacket tight, as if she’s scared she’ll disappear. She’s shaking so much that V can feel her entire body trembling. 

Meanwhile… 

N opens Nori’s door to see her about to throw something with her solver and stops her. 

His tail grabs the item as he says, “Woah there, how about we not throw things made of glass.” 

“I need to break something!” she says angrily. 

“How about we just breathe for a bit, yeah?” 

Nori’s tail swishes angrily until she breathes out a sharp breath, “Fine.” she says.

“Wanna talk about it?” N asks, his voice gentle. 

“What’s there to talk about?” she asks. “You saw it for yourself. My ex-husband is a massive hypocrite.” she says angrily. “Aren’t I allowed to be upset and break something?” 

“Well…” N starts. “I guess you’re right. But I have a better idea!” 

“Like what?” Nori asks, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. 

“You said you need to break something, right?”

“Yes, I did.” 

“Well, why not break lots of things?” he says, his tail tentatively wagging. 

“I like it.” she says. 

“Uzi showed me a place she goes to do just that! We could go right now!” 

“Why not?” 

N’s tail wags with joy as he heads for the door, “Then let’s go!” he says excitedly.

Meanwhile…

V cradles Uzi as she whimpers and sputters out soft sobs into her jacket. “Shh… It’s alright now. I’ve got you.” Uzi’s practically hyperventilating by now, and V decides to try to help a bit more. She pulls Uzi as close and tight as possible, squeezing her with all the strength she can without breaking her fragile body. 

“Try to focus on me, okay?” she says. “I’m here.” she whispers, purring softly. This gives Uzi another thing to help her focus on V’s presence and ground herself more easily. The comforting hum of V’s purr, along with her gentle caresses across her head and back are Uzi’s main points of focus. 

V notices Uzi’s breathing start to slow as she focuses on V; she focuses on the gentle vibrations of V’s purr, and the pressure on her body from V’s tight hug. 

V smiles softly, “Feeling any better, Zi?” she asks in a soft whisper. Uzi nods, now nuzzling into V’s jacket a bit more. “That’s good.” V says softly. “You hungry?” she asks. Uzi nods again. “I’ll go get you some oil, okay? I’ll be right back.” Uzi nods and lets go of V. V smiles at her and leaves. 

V sees N and Nori about to walk out the door when she gets into the kitchen, “Where are you two going?” she asks. 

“To go break things!” N says excitedly. 

V laughs, “Just don’t blow yourselves up.” she says. “See you later.” N waves as the two of them walk out the door. V goes to the fridge to grab a fresh can of oil for Uzi, then quickly returns to their room. 

“Here you go, Zi.” she says, handing Uzi the can. She quickly gulps it down and sets it on the nightstand beside the bed. V sighs and takes a seat beside Uzi. They sit in silence for a few moments until V speaks again. 

“Your mom and N left.” she says. When she sees Uzi’s confused expression, she elaborates, “They’re going “to go break things” is what N said.” Uzi nods in understanding. 

V pulls Uzi close, “How about we get some rest? You look exhausted.” she says. Uzi nods, but doesn’t let go of V, keeping her face hidden in her jacket. 

V decides to pull Uzi down with her to lie down. She uses her tail to carefully pull up the blanket. 

“Is this okay, Zi?” Uzi responds by nuzzling into V’s jacket again, to which V smiles; she got her answer. 

She runs her fingers through Uzi’s hair as she watches her with a loving smile. Uzi purrs at the sensation, letting both her mind and her body finally relax. 

As she starts to fall asleep, she finally lets out a soft whisper, “Thanks…” 

“Always.” whispers V. “Love you, Zi.”

“Love you…” Uzi whispers sleepily. She finally falls into sleep mode, cradled in V’s arms, feeling completely safe and sound. 

V stays awake to watch Uzi for a small while, making sure she’s alright before drifting off into sleep mode herself. She presses a soft kiss to the top of Uzi’s head, “Sleep well, little bat.” she whispers, mirroring what Nori would say if she were there. 

Meanwhile…

A loud crash is heard as Nori quite literally launches the broken off hood of a car into another car. 

“WOOOO! LET’S GO NORI!!!” N shouts over the noise of her beating up the cars. 

“HELL YEAH! THIS IS AWESOME!” Nori shouts as she smashes the headlights of the car she’s been abusing. 

N launches a rocket out of his arm, exploding an entire car in a single blast. Nori yells out incoherent things in a pure adrenaline-fueled excitement and rage mix. 

After what seems to be only a few minutes, but is surely at least two hours, Nori ends her rampage and lays down on the snowy ground, panting and laughing. “That was easily the best experience I’ve ever had.” she says breathlessly. 

N laughs, taking the spot next to her, “Me, Uzi, and V come here a lot.” he says. “It’s nice to just… let everything out, you know?”

“I never took you for an angry guy, N.” Nori says. 

“Maybe not on the outside.” he simply replies. “I try my best to keep everyone happy. But what Cyn did… It makes me angry. She was my little sister, and she betrayed and hurt me and the ones I loved. I lost two friends that day.” he says. “And a little sister.” he whispers nearly silently. 

“I’m proud of you, N.” Nori says softly. 

N looks over in shock, “Really?” he asks. 

“Yeah.” Nori says. “You’re strong. You made it through all that, and you’re still finding ways to help and be kind to others. You could have been mean like J, or choose to forget like V did, but you chose to be kind and compassionate toward others, and that’s something impressive to me.” 

“Thanks…” N says softly, a small smile on his face as he closes his eyes and sighs softly. 

“I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted. I don’t know if we can make it back either, the sun looks like it’s about to rise.” 

“We can stay in that building today.” N suggests. “There’s a bed in there. Uzi and I sometimes were out here for too long too, and had to find shelter.” 

“Let’s go before I pass out from low battery.” Nori says. They walk in and N lets Nori take the bed while he sleeps hanging from the ceiling with his tail. 

“You sure that’s comfortable?” Nori asks. 

“I used to sleep like this all the time, I’m fine. Too tired to really care anyway.” he replies. 

“Alright then. Goodnight, N” 

“Goodnight.” 

The two fall asleep almost instantly, the prior exertion causing their batteries to drain a significant amount in a short time. 

Everyone gets a restful sleep that day, despite the circumstances, comforted by the other person in the room with them. They all know that tomorrow is a new day, as well as a new chapter in all of their lives. 

Chapter Text

“Ow!” N says as a loud crash is heard. He’s fallen to the floor while sleeping upside down again. 

“You okay over there?” a groggy voice asks. It seems his fall woke up Nori too. 

“Yeah, I’m good. This used to happen a lot.” 

“That’s concerning.” 

“Yeah, Uzi said that too. But it’s fine, after today, I won’t be sleeping like this anymore.” 

N stands up, brushing the snow off his coat. He stretches and yawns before sitting on the bed. “We should probably get going. They might get worried if we’re not back when they wake up.” 

“Yeah, probably.” Nori agrees. “That blizzard looks concerning, though.” 

“What bliz- OH BISCUITS!” N shouts as he looks outside.

“Yeah, that might be a problem for us.” 

“V’s gonna kill me!” N shouts. 

“Wait, why?” Nori questions. 

“Because last time there was a blizzard I came home in a terrible mess and promised her and Uzi I wouldn’t do it again!” 

“What kind of mess?” 

“It was just so overwhelming and I could barely function when I got back home. It was so loud and everything was just too much. I pretty much collapsed into the snow for a few minutes and cried.” he starts. 

“After I got home, I was just so done with everything and went straight to the couch without saying anything to either of them.” he says. “When they asked me what was wrong, I told them to leave me alone, which I shouldn’t have done because that just made them more worried about me.” 

“They’d have been worried without you saying that, N. They care about you a lot.” 

“I guess…” he whispers. “But after I said that, they knew I was not okay for sure. I got up to leave the room and tripped over something and fell right on my face after that. Without giving it any sort of rational thought, because I had none left at the moment, I got out a missile launcher and shot it across the room.” N pauses. “It almost hit both of them.” he says quietly. 

“I didn’t know about that…” Nori says quietly. She paused for a moment. “We can wait here.” she says. 

“But then they’ll be worried and come looking for us, and they might get hurt and it’ll be all my fault and-” 

“Woah, slow down buddy.” Nori says, interrupting his downward spiral. “They know better than to come looking for us in this weather… At least Uzi does.” she says. 

“But-” 

“Hush.” Nori says, interrupting him again. “We wait here, the blizzard stops, and then we go home. Got it?” 

“O-okay…” N says nervously, not seeming to calm down very much.

“Let’s sit back down now. Okay, N?” Nori says, hoping to help calm him a bit. 

N doesn’t move, however, and this concerns her. 

“N?” she questions. “Shit, wish I brought my blanket.” she mutters under her breath. She walks over to the bed, glancing back every few seconds to see if he’s still there, and grabs one of the sheets. 

“Sorry in advance if this scares you a bit.” she says before reaching up to drape the sheet over his shoulders. Luckily, she’s just tall enough to reach. N jumps a bit at the sudden sensation of something touching him. This brings him back to reality just long enough to see Nori looking at him with concern. 

“Hey, buddy. You alright?” she asks once he looks down at her. N doesn’t trust his voice to work, so he just shakes his head. “Let’s go sit down, yeah?” N nods. He clutches the sheet tight as he slowly makes his way over to the bed. 

“I know this might be a bit awkward since I’m like… your girlfriend’s mom, but, uh… want a hug?” N nods, trying his best to hide the tears threatening to flow. 

Nori moves back and slowly wraps her arms around N. He quickly returns the embrace and shuts his eyes tight, still fighting back tears. 

“It’s okay. It’ll pass.” Nori says in a hushed tone. 

N whimpers softly as he hugs her tighter, his tears finally falling. 

“There you go, N. Just let it out.” she soothes. “I know, hun, it’ll be okay.” 

N grabs fistfuls of Nori’s shirt in a desperate attempt to ground himself, and Nori notices a change in the way he’s crying. He’s practically gasping for air like there’s none left in the room, and he’s shaking even more than before. 

“Hey kiddo, you gotta breathe.” she says. She pulls back slightly and cups his cheek gently with one hand, the other still holding him. “N, breathe, buddy. Follow me, okay?” 

She takes in a slow, deep breath, exaggerating it slightly so he follows suit. It’s a struggle, but soon enough he gets his first full breath in. He follows her breath out, then back in again a few more times, his processor slowly removing the false warnings from his visor as it slows down. 

“There you go. Good job. Keep going, okay?” 

Meanwhile…

“Where the hell are they? There’s a blizzard, Uzi! A blizzard! N promised he wouldn’t go out in a blizzard again, but what if he does? What if he gets hurt? What if they both get hurt?” V says, her mental state rapidly declining as each second passes. Her eyes are hollow and scared, and she’s pacing around the living room rather quickly. 

 Uzi tentatively calls to get her attention. “V…?” 

“What?” V responds, “I’m fine.” she says after she turns to see the concern on Uzi’s face. 

“You’re not, V. You’re pacing around the room like an anxious animal and asking too many questions too fast for anyone to answer.” Uzi says. “How about you sit down and take a breath?” she suggests. 

“Fine. But only because you look so worried.” V says, trying to brush off Uzi’s worry and hide her anxiety. 

She walks over and sits next to Uzi, but even she knows that she can’t hide this feeling. She’s been trying to stop masking her feelings, but some instincts never die. 

“You’re shaking.” Uzi says softly. She takes one of V’s shaking hands, “I trust he’ll be okay, and so should you.” 

“What about your mom?” 

“She’s not stupid, V. She may have lived underground for about 18 years but she knows it’s too dangerous to be out in this weather.” She wraps her tail around V. “They’ll be okay. We just have to wait.” she says softly. 

“Okay…” V says, still shaking slightly. 

“Cuddle time?” Uzi asks with a smile. V smiles, despite her anxiety, and nods. 

They quickly curl up together on the couch. V lies down first, then Uzi lays on top of her, pretty much using her as a big pillow. V enjoys this, she loves feeling the weight of Uzi on her chest. It’s grounding, calming. 

“This feels really nice.” V whispers. “Thanks.” she murmurs as her eyes close. Uzi smiles as she hears her start to softly purr. 

“Anytime.” she whispers, reaching a hand up to gently scratch at her head, which elicits more purring. V hums softly, a soft smile starting to show on her face. “Relax for a bit, they’ll be back when the storm’s over.” Uzi says. 

“Thanks, Zi.” V says softly, “I’m okay now. Sorry I got all scared there.” 

“Don’t apologize, it’s okay. I get it.” 

Uzi places a soft kiss on her forehead, causing V to giggle softly. She enjoyed seeing this side of V more often now. She loved the real V. 

“You’re making that weird thinking face again.” V says. 

“Just thinking about you.” she says without thinking, a bright blush on her visor after realizing she said that out loud. 

V just laughs, nuzzling Uzi as she hides her face in V’s jacket. She sighs, content and comfortable in their embrace, her eyes closing once again. 

Meanwhile…

“You okay kiddo?” Nori asks after a few minutes of trying to calm N’s panic. 

“Tired.” he says, his voice strained. 

“I bet you are.” Nori says. “Looks like the blizzard’s nearly over, should we start leaving?” 

“Yeah.” N says. He looks rather drained, and Nori is still a bit concerned about him. 

“Are you sure you’re up for it?” she asks, her voice gentle and caring. “You look pretty drained.” 

“M’fine.” he mumbles, clearly not wanting to seem weak. 

“It’s alright if you’re not, kid. I know how it feels.” Nori says softly. “I can call Uzi if you want.” 

N nods tiredly, “T-thanks…” he says quietly. 

“Anytime, N.” she says, getting out her phone to call Uzi. 

“V, my mom’s calling, I gotta get up.” 

“M’kay…” V says sleepily. 

“Hey mom, what’s up?” 

“You know where we are, right?”

“Yeah.” 

“Can you get over here? N needs someone to carry him home.” 

“Is he alright?” Uzi asks, mildly concerned. At her question, V immediately perks up and looks very concerned. 

“He says he is, but…” she pauses as she looks over to him sitting on the bed. “He doesn’t look okay.” 

“Okay, we’re on our way.”

“See you soon then.” Nori says before hanging up the call. She walks back over to N, “They’re on their way, kiddo.” she says. 

N nods, pulling his knees up onto the bed to rest his head without lying down. 

About 10 minutes later, V and Uzi arrive in the building. 

V immediately walks up to N and takes Nori’s spot as she stands up. “You alright?” she asks softly. N shakes his head, leaning his head on her shoulder after she pulls him closer. 

Uzi joins as well, taking his hand and squeezing it gently. “Wanna go home, bud?” she asks. 

He nods, and V picks him up with ease. “Then let’s head home.” she says softly. 

Another 10 minutes pass, and they are all home again. N has fallen asleep in V’s arms, so she takes him to their room and sets him down on the bed. Nori decides to leave them alone with him so she doesn’t seem nosy. 

“Hey, V?” Uzi asks quietly. 

V looks up from where she lays with N, “Hm?” she replies with a soft hum, making sure to not wake the finally peaceful looking N. 

“I’m gonna go talk to my mom real quick, probably just ask her what happened. I just want you to stay with him so he doesn’t have any nightmares and wake up all alone.”

“Go ahead, I was gonna stay anyway. I’m… I’m worried about him.” 

“Okay. I’ll be back hopefully soon.” 

Uzi leaves their room and closes the door behind her. She walks out of the hallway to see her mom on the couch, seemingly deep in thought. 

“Hey mom.” she says. 

Nori perks up at Uzi’s voice. “Oh, hey kiddo. What’s up?” she asks. 

“What happened back there?” Uzi asks. 

“I think… the blizzard- and being away from you guys during it- triggered some bad memories.” Nori says. “Good thing that bed had a blanket, because that was what snapped him somewhat out of his flashbacks. I tried comforting him but after I hugged him it seemed to- for lack of better words- break him.” she explains. 

“Did he…” Uzi pauses, hesitant to ask the scary question that’s taking over her processor right now. “Did he… hurt himself during it?” 

“No.” Nori says. “But I think if I hadn’t stepped in, he would have. It seemed like he wasn’t fully in control of himself.” 

“Thanks for taking care of him when we couldn’t.” Uzi says. 

“Anytime, little bat.” Nori says with a smile, ruffling Uzi’s hair playfully. “Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty tired.” 

“Yeah, I think we should call it an early day today. It’s been a rough day.” Uzi agrees. 

“Alright, then. Goodnight my little bat.” she says, pulling Uzi in for a hug. 

“Night, mom.” 

They head to their respective rooms and shut the door behind them. V is still awake when Uzi returns, and seems to be trying to soothe N, who seems to be having a nightmare. 

“He’s been like this for five minutes.” V says worriedly. 

“Maybe you should wake him.” 

“Maybe he’ll like you better. You try before waking him.” 

Uzi nods and climbs into the bed. She rests a hand on N’s head and gently scratches. “Hey, bud, it’s okay.” she says. “I’m here.” 

A small while passes, and N seems to slowly relax, his face changing from a scared frown to a calm neutral expression. “Told you he’d like you better.” V says with a playful smirk. 

“I guess I’m just cooler than you.” Uzi replies with her own smirk. 

“If you mean temperature-wise then yes.” 

Uzi sighs, “Fine, you win. Only because you’re correct though.”

V looks down at N, “Is Mr. Golden Retriever sleeping in the middle tonight, then?” 

Uzi laughs at the silly new nickname, “Guess so, he needs it today.” 

Uzi lies down and gently wraps her arms around N, nuzzling into the back of his neck. Soon enough, V and Uzi fall asleep, both of them curled protectively around N. 

Nori, on the other hand, can’t seem to fall asleep. She sighs, finally giving up on trying after about two hours and just scrolls on her phone. Eventually, low battery alone is how she falls asleep. Her sleep isn’t very restful, however, and she wakes up multiple times throughout it. Finally, she falls asleep for long enough that the next time she wakes up is the next day. “At least the others got restful sleep.” she thinks to herself as she watches Uzi and V help N make breakfast again. “Hope today will be a better day.”  

Chapter Text

I can’t believe you’d ever stoop so low, dad. First you leave me to die at the hands of a murder drone, then you pretend to care about me enough for me to actually believe you? I thought it was just because mom died, but I couldn’t be more wrong. Now she’s back, and you’re the same. You even got her to leave because of how far your head was up your ass. And no, I don’t care that I’m saying this to you. I’ve felt it long enough. You may not be the worst person I’ve ever met, but you’re at least a good third place on that list. You’re such a hypocrite it’s ridiculous. You tell me that I can’t be bisexual because it doesn’t exist, but then you turn around and do the same damn thing??? What the hell, dad?? How far were you in that damn closet that you couldn’t even see that both your wife and daughter were the same way as you, and you still say it’s not real?? And I know you didn’t say what you said to me because they are different from us. You said it in such a biphobic manner, that even mom wanted to use her solver on you after you left the front door a few days ago. Honestly, I hope I never have to see your face ever again. You’ve caused enough damage to me and my mental wellbeing. I used to love you. But now I can’t say that anymore. You’ve done enough to my mental health, and I simply can’t take any more of it. I’m disappointed. Goodbye dad.