It was dark in the room, not pitch black but there was plenty of shadow for Waya to enter with the strange cat like sentinel that had been both her tormenter and her savior. George was going to be a surprise to the rest of the team, but she wanted to wait before telling them. She needed some rest and most of all, a shower. She also needed time to figure out what she was going to tell them. How she was going to keep them from destroying him...
George seemed even bigger in this small place, but his cat-like appearance let him curl up tightly as he watched Waya with his glowing eyes. "Nice... place you have here" he said, trying not to move anywhere or tip anything over "So I'll just... wait up here right?"
"Please." She told him. She'd always considered the room to be rather big, but with him in it it halved in size. "I'm going to go take a shower... Don't go anywhere." Not as if he could fit through the door any way."
"I promise not to peek" George said, as though he hadn't slammed her down onto the floor in his spare time before. He was being all respectful now, adn that just made him all the weirder. He was just... sitting there, in her room, looking around at the walls with interest.
"Ok..." And Waya gave him one last glance before slipping into the bathroom. He really was too big... She was going to have to shadowport him from room to room... maybe that would make him feel burdened... Rhydian and Liz were both smart enough to build him a rudimentary chassey and she was certain Stark or Richards might have some spare robot bodies laying around... They;d figure all that out later, for now there was a perfectly good shower going to waste. She turned on the water and caught her reflection or the first time since before all this happened. She didn't even recognize herself.
George was true to his word, not peeking at her, even with his special eyes that were installed just for peeking. Instead he was looking around her room, reaching out and taking books from her shelves to scan with interest. He had nothing else to do.
She distinctly remember him bathing her... but... there was still old dried blood smeared along her hair line, etched in the lines of her face and flaked and crusted in other places. It matted her hair and made her want to look away. It made her not want to see what had happened to her. She looked any way and set her jaw. She'd survived. She'd been torn apart, crushed and turned every which way but loose, but she'd survived. She smirked at her battered reflection. It was time or things to go back to normal... or as normal as they could be with her new pet robo-george. She stepped into the tub and before too long the water in the bottom of the shower had turned a dirty shade of rust.
George was not the source of the blood at least; well, not on purpose anyway. He hadn't exactly been gentle while under control, but he'd been good enough not to make her body split open like a ripe fruit. Right now he was scanning any books he could find on "love", since he rather needed to examine the topic if he was going to win Waya's heart. So far, he hadn't found many.
Books were few and far between in here, she did have a neural implant on which to download such things, but there were a few topical histories, a fiction or two but nothing really romance oriented. She wasn't that type pf girl any way. Once she could see the water run clear she plugged the drain and turned up the heat. A relaxing soak would be nice and George was being quiet. He couldn't get out without making noise or breaking something so she felt safe that he was doing as she asked. As the tub filled beneath her she poured in some saltz and a bit of cream and laid back with a relaxed sigh. The heat, the security of being back home... she could fall asleep in here...
George was flicking through the items quickly, he cocked his head as he heard the bath salts fall into the water, though quickly ignored it. He was too busy scanning her books for anything useful that he could learn about her. Unfortunately, no romances, so he was trying any other type of book.
If he wanted to learn more about Waya, this was not the room to do it in. This is where she slept, sometimes read and only half the time bathed and changed clothes. Waya wasn't up here, Waya was down stairs, in the danger room. Due to her sensitivity to light she couldn't use the danger room like the others could, but she could compile programs. She'd spent most of her waking time there, reviewing the street and security camera footage from the day their parents disappeared. She'd even walked the same street and watched as they'd been sucked away into some nothingness void leaving a crater in the center of the street. She only really surfaced for food, minor social interaction and to sleep. Sometimes there was a mission or like today someone stopping by to wreak a little mayhem, but for the most part Waya's place was downstairs.
He couldn't get down there however, George was rather stuck up in her room. If he wanted to move about he would either need a smaller body or Waya's help to escape this room. Though maybe it was a bad idea to have George trapped only in her bedroom, it was going to be where he stayed until she brought up the idea of having him around to the others.
There was a splash from the bathroom as Waya jerked suddenly. She'd fallen asleep for a moment and she'd slipped. It was a small movement, involuntary, just enough to wake her up and remind her that it wasn't a good idea to fall asleep in the tub.
George looked around at the splash. He couldn't help it... his eyes started up, and he began to scan through the wall; after a moment, seeing she had just fallen asleep in the tub, he called out to her. "Would you like to go to bed now?" he asked gently, his metallic voice carrying through the closed door "You seem tired..."
"I'm ok..." Waya called back, wiping her eyes. "I'll be out in a minuet." He was right, she didn't need to relax that much. She finished up, rinsed her hair free of the oils and saltz and began to get out. She felt so heavy and slow but at least managed to reach for her robe. Looping it around her and dried her hair with a towel and combed out the tangles. She looked at her reflection again and felt much more like herself. She was gray with fatigue but the blood and grime was gone. She was back... or at least she would be soon enough. Sleep, then normalcy, she left the bathroom.
George was watching her as she came out, still curled up tight; it was obvious that he was trying not to be there, not to take up her entire room. He was failing rather miserably at it as well, but he was trying. He didn't speak as she emerged, as if frightened that doing so would make her angry... or perhaps, just break this spell of peace she seemed to have over her.
He was still there... large... frightening... well actually... not so frightening, not any more. Then again she couldn't see those things that had made her scream and cry and writhe beneath him... No... he wasn't so frightening, more pitiful really. She sat down on the edge of the bed, it felt nice having something soft and warm after being so cold outside and in. She needed some clothes, pajamas. She usually slept in just a shirt, but after everything, she needed bottoms too. Those were half way across the room and he looked like he wanted to be useful. "George... Would you do me a favor?"
"Sure" George said, his eyes lighting up a little bit more as he was acknowledged. It felt good to know that Waya could talk to him without freaking out. That had been a little worry of his. He turned his head to her, a small smile on his... what could be called a face. "What do you need Waya?"
"The second draw in the dresser to your right... there's a pair of sweats with a gray top and black bottoms. Can you get those for me?" She felt odd asking him for something so domestic when he probably rather do something that made her moan and quiver beneath him, but she had to get it into her head that he was going to change, he was going to grow. He was going to become something different than the thing that wanted to be inside her and make her feel good. She needed to remember what eles he had said, that he was here for her, for whatever she needed... well... right now she needed clothes.
But maybe her own view had become more than a little warped by what he had been made to do for her, because his response was simply "Sure", with no indication that he was somehow sad that she hadn't asked him to pin her to the bed and rape her. He reached forward, his arm extending almost the entire room, and carefully pulled open the dresser drawer. He reached inside, picking up the clothes she had asked for. He shut the drawer after him, then held the clothes out to her "These ones, right?"
"Yes, thanks." Waya said reaching to take them. She looked at them for a moment and considered going into the bathroom to change... what was the point? He'd seen her naked fom every direction possible... She stood by the edge of the bed, turned her back to him and dropped her robe.
It wasn't so much of a gasp as a small shudder that ran through George from head to toe. He loved seeing her naked... and she was just... stripping right off in front of him. He swallowed, then covered his eyes quickly "W-waya... please, do not tempt me. I am trying my best, but if you do that... well it doesn't help."
"Sorry..." Waya grabbed her robe and suddenly felt stupid. "I thought... since you'd seen me already there wasn't any reason to..." No... subconsciously she wanted to know how he would react and she'd gotten her answer. He could control himself, to a degree. "I'm sorry." She told him again and pulled her robe back over her shoulders. She slipped her pants on and pulled the shirt over her robe. She pulled her arms in to the robe, pushed them into her sleeves and let the robe fall, leaving her clothed. She tossed the robe at the food of the bed and turned back around. "You can look now..."
What would she have done if he hadn't resisted? It wasn't as if there wasn't a chance that he would just... grab her. George gave a small shudder at the thought, still keeping his hands over his eyes, the smallest glimpse might jut tempt him into action. Finally, when she said he could, he took his hands away from his eyes "D-did I do good Waya?"
"You did fine George." Waya said slipping into bed. It was the only time she'd wished her bed had been closer to the ground. Her sweats caught unnaturally against the sheets and she remembered that she hated the restricted feeling that sleeping in pants always gave her. She'd deal this time, she'd deal because she didn't at all want to feel naked.
George looked over at Waya, cocking his head to one side and blinking slowly. She seemed so clumsy right now... He sighed softly and reached up, gently pressing her down onto the bed lightly "Waya... relax alright?" He tried to smile at her, reaching over to the blankets and starting to pull them up over her, effectively tucking her in "Have a good night sleep alright?"
In the moment between "Relax" and "Goodnight." there was a slight moment of panic. It was fleeting, but enough to make her heart double beat. It was just that he had pushed her down, that had caused it, but he had followed it by pulling the covers over her and tucking her in. "Thank you..." She said softly. "You... you can sleep here if you want." She said indicating the floor by her bed. "Oh... you don't sleep do you..." She said reminding herelf.
"I could just... curl up on the floor..." George said with a little shrug "It'll be fine, honest. I can shut myself off for a little while, that's BASICALLY sleep." It was a bit weird to think about it this way, but he couldn't spend hours and hours just thinking about the girl laying beside him... he'd go insane.
"You can't shut down?" Waya asked. "Like putting a computer on sleep mode. It's still on but not active..."
"Well... kinda..." George said gently "But in that mode my image processors seem to get all fuzzy, and... well... I'm almost embarrassed to say, but they appear to glitch out slightly. I see... strange things... things you probably wouldn't like..." Did George just admit that he had dreams in that mode? And they were of having sex with Waya?
"You... dream?" Waya asked, leaning up on one elbow. The question of his artificial intelligence was beginning to have a little more merit. Eliza and Rhydian could find out for sure, but... his need for self preservation on top of his ability to overcome that programming on top of the news that he could dream... She didn't know what to think.
"I'm... not sure if that is the correct word" George said, avoiding the subject smoothly "It's more like... random sparks running across my vision processors. Yes, surely, that's what it must be." He nodded, as if proud with himself for thinking of that. "Anyway" he coughed, once he was sure he had covered himself "you should sleep."
Waya laid down and placed her arms over the covers to adjust her pillow. "Random sparks?" She asked. "Like images?"
"Just... you know... mistakes from my memory banks, cropping up in front of my eyes... or strange... impossible things..." George gave a small shrug to Waya "It's... nothing."
"You're keeping something from me." Waya said. She was telepathic but his mind was completely blocked to her. It didn't take a telepath to see that he was uncomfortable about something. He was hiding it well but she could still see it in the way he shrugged and the tone of his voice.
"I... I just don't know about calling them... dreams... dreams are for living people." George muttered under his breath, if he'd had any breath that is. He didn't want to pretend he was alive if he wasn't. False hope was a terrible thing.
Waya settled back down into the bed. Let him keep his secrets if he wanted to keep them. There would be plenty for him to answer for in the morning. Half of their team knew what had happened to her trapped in Rex's universe and it wouldn't take long for them to put two and two together. She knew very well that she should hate George for what he'd done... but the other half knew that he deserved a chance to develop his programming, that it hadn't been his fault.
"Goodnight" George said gently as Waya began to drift off "I will.. always owe you my... freedom. Thank you, for everything, and for giving me the chance to live." He didn't seem to grasp he wasn't in just yet; he was here, he was happy... what would happen if the others didn't want him?
"Goodnight George." Waya said softly. she thought about saying that he was welcome but she was;t 100% sure yet
Just then was a soft, double toned, "...
Waya?" from the other side of her bedroom door.
George didn't so much wake up as twitch in his sleep mode; again the issue of robot problems, he had shut himself down for a while. He was partially aware what was going on around him, but he was in a deep rest right now, and he'd probably only wake up for one person.
Waya felt like she'd only been asleep for a moment and by the clock next to the bed that was basically true. Only twenty minuets had passed since she'd said goodnight to George. She snapped awake when she heard the twin's voice. She hadn't dealt with them yet and more importantly, no one knew about George. "What?" she said angrily. If they thought she was still pissed at them (which she was) maybe they would go away.
The twins flinched when her voice rang out. They could practically feel the force of her breath through the door. "Could..." one began.
"-we talk to you?" they finished together, "Please?" Their voices were meek and very insecure right now, given how sensitive their situation was.
"No." She said shortly in the same tone as before. She reached down and tapped George on the shoulder. He needed to activate just in case... in case of what she wasn't sure. She thought about taking him to the shadow realm to hide him but he probably wouldn't like being left there to wait again. "I'm trying to sleep." She added, hopefully they'd allow her that curtosey. Knowing them, probably not.
The twins silently pressed their forwards against the flat of the door, staring sadly down at the carpet near the base. She wasn't going to let them in... she would be stupid to be alone with them ever again after what happened. Still, they had to try, though they couldn't keep themselves from crying now. "Waya... please..." they pleaded. She could no doubt hear in their voices that they were weak and lightly sobbing.
The lights of
George's eyes increased from a gentle blue glow to a fierce red glare against the door. The twins would no doubt be able to see the sudden light being bathed over the wall and door; George remained silent however, eyes locked on the door as he just waited for an excuse. He didn't speak however, that would give everything away. He just waited.
"Go away." Waya said a little more urgently than she would have liked. If they saw George now before she had a chance to prepare everyone it might not turn out as well as shed like.
Unfortunately for Waya, the boys could see the strange light seep out from underneath the door. They didn't know... WHAT to think from that. They ignored it for now and stayed focused on the issue at hand. "Just.... please Waya..." they begged again, their cheeks wet from their tears. Jayden took his brothers hand and they stood there, foreheads against the door, sobbing and fearing for what would be in store for their lives should Waya decline them again. "We don't w-want... to go a-away." Those words meant more then just leaving the hallway.
"Then sleep out there."
Waya snarled and flopped over onto her side, facing away from the door. "I could care less."
George looked up at Waya now, cocking his head to the side, the colour behind those eyes turning to a strange green light. He was puzzled by her actions... her team mates were crying on the other side of her door. Why wasn't she at least going out to see them?
The twins couldn't hold their tears back anymore. The boys truly loved Waya, inside and out... and she was denying them even a chance to apologize. They stood there silently, sniveling in their sorrow.
Waya lay on her left side, back to the door. There was no way she would get back to sleep now that they were here, hovering. Finally she responded the only way she knew how without George being discovered.
What? she asked them telepathically
. I'm trying to sleep. Kinda had a rough day what with being raped and betrayed by two of my best friends and all.
The twins weren't religious, but they were thanking the cosmos that she replied. The twins kept their hands together and spoke as one entity. We are...SO so so sorry, Waya. What we did was despicable....downright inhuman. For a moment, they both remembered Uncle Omanti and their time spend on Aztrentos being molested and physically tortured. This time, THEY were the ones inflicting this unbearable amount of pain...onto the one they love the most. We are monsters...If we could take it all back, we would. We would tear out all of our eyes if it would undo what we did.
"Well you can't!" Waya said both out loud and telepathically. "You can't take it back!" No more than George could take back what he had done. The twins could see George now. She wasn't the best telepath and she still had issues transmitting her thoughts. They received the briefest flash of memory as she watched that long articulated silver thing enter her body. It was followed by their faces, smiling and jerking as they came into her, throbbing and thrusting with her sandwiched between them.
The image made the boys flinch as the memory came flooding back as if it just happened all over again. Their stomachs grew tighter and they didn't speak, rather concerned suddenly. They remembered the flashes of light and wondered. Was that? How could that be? The door knob turned and slowly opened and the two leaned over, looking into the room, their faces a wreck from crying.
Between her and the boys in the doorway, between the crying twins and the exhausted Waya, sat George. The lights that scanned the faces sticking through were red, and even huddled up he was a pile of solid machinery. "She doesn't want to be disturbed boys" George said simply, the sound of metal moving smoothly filling the room, along with the buzz of electricity, as George very slowly stood up. He had to stoop over inside the room, but this just meant him lean in close towards the door. His glowing red gaze never blinked once. "If you want to talk. Try the morning" the robot was being more than a little defensive of Waya. These two had obvious hurt her badly.
Waya flipped over in the bed, shocked that they'd had the balls enough to come in without being invited. With George between them she could almost see what was about to happen. They weren't going to understand. They weren't going to listen when she told them not to do anything rash. She wasn't even sure what to say to stop them.
Before anything could be said or done, the sentinal found itself forced against the far wall with a profound amount of speed and strength. Gravity pushed it through the drywall and into the planks of wood that supported her room. George's chest cavity was would be crushed into himself if no one interjected. Jayden and Jaden sprinted forward while the robot was being held back and slid in front of Waya to protect her.
George didn't yell, there was no need to yell, even as he was slammed against the wall. He did try and squirm however, his metal joints screaming as he tried to turn himself; their powers were forcing him sideways, so he was trying to twist himself so he was no longer just grinding against a wall. "I said..." George grunted, trying to reach out with one arm towards the boys "go away! She... she doesn't... want you here..." His chest was caving in, they could hear his voice modulator malfunctioning, and he just kept trying to protect Waya.
"Stop it!" Waya shouted from the bed and suddenly the twins found themselves in a very similar position as George. Waya's ability to manipulate shadows had only ever manifested in four ways, teleportation, levitation, a crude shield and in the shape of animals. But this was as if every shadow in the room had suddenly swept up to smack the boys against the opposite wall with a tremendous force. "Let him go!"
"WHY?!" they shouted, still keeping him pinned against the wall. They couldn't take another breath to say anything else.
"Because I said so!" Waya growled. Her left arm was outstretched as if it was her own hand holding them back. "He saved my life. That's more than I can say for you two."
Again, guilt overpowered them and the twins released George from the broken wall.
Waya didn't release them. "Are you ok George?" She asked, looking at him. His nanites could probably repair the damage but his positronic brain was located in his chest. If there was any sentient artificial intelligence in him it was located in that grape fruit sized orb. He might just be a big bucket of bolts designed to act and sound human, but she at least wanted Liz and Rhydian to take a look and make sure.
She is asking if HE is ok?! What the fuck was going on?! The twins's chests were pressing hard against the opposite wall and they could see the robot. They stared hard at one another, not knowing what to think. This thing- according to the memory- raped her and she was... protecting it!? Why was this sentinel given special treatment over them?! The boys had no right to be, but they were furious.
"Yes, thank you Waya..." George gave her a small smile, reaching out and giving her side a gently stroke; his eyes stayed on her, glowing a faint yellow. She seemed to actually care about him it seems. At least a little. He sighed as he looked around at her rather busted up wall "I'm sorry about that Waya..." He wasn't sure how he could fix it though.
"Dont you DARE touch her!" the twins shouted with all their might. Just who did this robot think he is?! How the hell did he make it back? Is Rex still a theat?!
George ignored them in every way, just smiling down at Waya as his hand gently touched her shoulder "Do you want me to take them outside for you Waya? I promise I will be gentle."
"It's ok George." Waya told George, slipping out of the bed and out from under his hand. Screw walking, her legs were still rubbery and she didn't want to at all seem weak. She levitated, her toes just barely dragging the floor. "You two," She said to the twins, "Need to calm the hell down. You don't have any right to barge in here pretending to protect me."
"We don't need any right to protect you!" one of them shouted.
"What the hell is going on, Waya?! Why is that thing here?!" shouted the other.
"Unless you two wanna spend the rest of your lives feeling your way around the shadow realm you had better fucking calm down." Waya growled and a heavy black portal opened behind them. "After what you've done how dare you barge in here and start demanding answers!? How DARE YOU!" The last part she almost shrieked. Had she not a sound proof room everyone would likely have heard all this commotion by now.
Jealousy and rage was held back as she screamed at them like that. They hadn't heard Waya do anything like that before and it was terrifying. The twins didn't fight against the shadow pull at all- they hadn't from the moment they were tossed. Their faces were tense and concerned as they looked down at Waya, then up to the sentinal, wanting to dismantle it piece by piece.
George just stared back, but his eyes were blue right now; he wasn't threatening them or trying to kill them. They were just placing all their hate on him. He sat there, curled up again, gazing at the scene on the other end of the room. Finally, he spoke up. "Waya..." he said gently, just her name, as if trying to call her back from the brink of whatever place she had just gone to.
"Not now George." Waya said a little more harsh than she would have liked. "He's here because I inadvertently removed him from Rex's... trap. He exists now and he's here and as far as I can tell he's sentient. I removed his Sentinel programming so you can just forget about him spontaneously trying to kill everyone." Spontaneously trying to force Waya into a screaming orgasm, maybe not, but she seemed to trust him. More than she could trust the twins right now any way.
"So that thing is just going to sit here for whenever you need a good fucking or what?" Jayden asked, as if it were completely his business.
"We don't even know what the repercussions of you bringing that thing here will be!" Jaden added.
"The best thing we can do is have Eliza look at him for spare parts so we can get our parents back." they said together, despite the fact they were confident that their parents were both very dead by now.
"spare parts?" the voice was fearful as it came from George his arms tightening slightly over his chest; he didn't want to be scrap, he liked the idea of being allowed to live. "I'd never touch Waya" he said suddenly, his eyes glowing brighter, clicking back to red "She's... I've hurt her too much already. I owe her my life. I'd never..." He stared down at the floor now, turning his gaze away from the three mutants.
The moment the twins mentioned it the twins suddenly found themselves ten feet deep into the portal behind them. She was holding them there, her room visible through a circle of light. "Don't you even." She said, standing in front of the portal with her arm stretched toward them. She'd never suspended anyone with shadow before and hadn't really noticed. All she knew was that she hated the twins right now. Hated them enough that she considered leaving them where they were."You don't even think they're alive, don't bother pretending now. Rhydian and Eliza are going to look at him after I've explained everything, but I'll be damned if I let them scrap him. If he's sentient he deserves a chance to expand his programming."
The twins were growing a tad nervous that Waya was holding them inside of her shadow realm. There was black all around them expect for the stream of light coming from the portal opening. Would she really just dump them here? "You give that machine a second chance but you won't even let us talk to you?"
"There's a difference between him and you." Waya told them. "He was programed to do what he did. He didn't have a choice... You two did. You took control of my mind and forced me to... What you did was worse than rape... You..." Her anger had extinguished into a menacing whisper and the portal around them seemed to shrink. Was she really considering leaving them there? Did she really hate them that much?
the twins had become utterly defeated again. That pained look in her eyes broke their hearts into a million pieces. They looked at one another with watery eyes before nodding and looking back ahead at Waya. "Close it." they insisted. "We are monsters. Leave us in here so we can't hypnotize or hurt anyone else. Please..." They were both deathly serious. The twins had come to her room wanting to speak with Waya and beg for forgiveness, but in the end, the twins realized that she was never theirs to be had. Jayden and Jaden had taken her(and some of the others) under hypnosis and should be in prison for life anyway. "We went about this 'love' thing in all the wrong ways....we fucked up and don't deserve you, Waya."
It hurt to look at her now. Her face held the guilt of what they had done to their best friend and love of their lives. "CLOSE IT!" Jaden shouted regarding the portal that Waya held open.
"DO IT!" Jayden shouted. The boys would rather see eternal blackness than that betrayed look on her face when she looked at them.
"You would say that wouldn't you..." Waya said darkly. "But you don't get off that easy." And suddenly the pool of light came hurdling towards them till they were spat from the shadow realm and slammed against the cavity they had caused with George's body. Had the wall not been brick they would have gone completely through. "You're going to make up for what you've done." She said. "And you're going to start by apologizing to George."
The twins hit the debris hard. Their bodies were weak from earlier events and from sobbing so much. Looking away from the robot, they finally muttered together, "Sorry." They didn't whole heartedly mean it however, still pissed that he was even here to begin with. But if it meant pleasing Waya, they would have to suck it up.
"You are hurt" george said simply, taking one of the twin's arms without thinking about it. His eyes were a simple glowing white as he gazed at a gash which had appeared in Jayden's arm, from hitting the already quite broken bricks. "Do you have some kind of medical supplies? I might have something" George muttered, opening the hand not holding Jayden's arm and starting to open up the compartments in his hands. There were quite a few weapons there, weapons he could have used to defend himself from the twins, but he was searching for medical supplied.
"Don't you fucking touch me-" Jayden said in a low, murderous whisper. He would rather bleed out than be healed by this heap. If it were any other robot, the twins wouldn't mind... but this thing was one of those sentinals that had raped their Waya...for what she said was MONTHS. They had seen what these robots had done to her and like hell they were going to give into George's niceness so soon.
"Leave it George." Waya told them. "They'll be fine... You two..." She told the twins. I can't trust you to not tell the others but I had better not find anyone else knocking on my door. I'm going to sleep and I'm going to sleep for as long as I want. When I get up, I'll deal with the others and you can fix my wall."
George had ignored the twins, and had finally chosen a tool to use, when waya told him not to. He paused, seemed unsure for a moment, then let go of Jayden's arm. He stood there, silent, as he listened, gazing at the twins. "You do not need to worry about me staying in here" he seemed to reassure them "I... I am no longer that person. Waya... took that part out of me..." His chassis was rather tool marked, if they looked; Waya had ripped into his quite a few times, and had actually taken a screwdriver to his brain just to make sure he wouldn't really rape her anymore.
Jayden pulled away from George. The twins didn't have anything against him personally, but the fact Waya was choosing him over them made their blood boil- especially at a time like this. Jayden helped his brother out who seemed to have gotten a pretty bad bruise on the back of his thigh, causing a slight limp. "We still need to talk to you."
"I don't really think I care for what you have to say right now." Waya told them. Not only had they done what they'd done, but they half destroyed her bedroom too.
"Please. Today must have been tiring for her" George had no idea that they'd all been through their own personal hells. He tried to slide out of the way, so the twins would be able to leave "I'm certain she will be here tomorrow."
The twins were in such a mix of emotion right now, it was hard to articulate the best plan of action. They were both completely exhausted physically and mentally right now...not to mention, bleeding on Waya's carpet. George was just the icing on the shit cupcake that was their entire day. As Jayden helped his limping twin to the hall, they both flipped off George as they passed before hopping through the doorway.
For that final indiscretion Waya swung her arm and by closing the door's shadow it slammed shut, whopping them both before they cleared the threshold completely. Finally, they were gone and Waya couldn't levitate any longer. The bed seemed so far away, she just lowered herself down to her knees and breathed a heavy sigh.
Much like earlier, Waya found herself in George's hands liked a ragdoll, dangling there as she was lifted into bed. He paused before placing her down again, sweeping some mortar from her linen, then placed her back down. He carefully raised the sheets, starting to tuck her in again. "I'm sorry about the wall" he told her gently, eyes a worried indigo as he tried to make her comfy.
"It's ok." Way told him, realizing again how very tired she was. "They over reacted... which is understandable, but it's their fault not yours."
"You shouldn't have used so much of your powers" George told her gently, ignoring the bit about it being understandable. Was he going to have that much trouble here? He finished tucking her in and went back to his curled up position. If he'd used his internal dampener he would have stopped the attack, he knew that, but by the time he realized they were attacking, Waya had been placed in the firing line. And he didn't want to make Waya feel powerless again. "Goodnight... again... Waya" George said simply, wondering what the morning might bring.
"Goodnight George." Waya said softly. "And thanks for not freaking out when they attacked. You handled that well."
"I'm used to it" George said simply, not saying directly what he meant, that he was used to not responding while Waya took him to pieces. "And... I thought it better to make a good first impression... not attack the people who might be friendly..." George was silent for a moment before saying "I might as well have attacked. Are all sentinels hated this much in your world?"
"They're not supposed to exist any more." Waya told him. "But the technology behind them is still around. We're pretty sure they're still out there, but they're supposed to be illegal to build and own..."
"Oh..." George replied, his lights dimming as if he had just received a sudden shock "So... I... There's... no one left?" It was a bit like Waya being told that mutants were suddenly illegal and you could be in great trouble if you were one. "Will... you get in trouble for having me?" he asked, large robotic eyes staring at the floor.
"There's none left because they were emotionless automatons run by murderous people who hated us. SHIELD has a few, but they've human pilots. Not like they used to be." Waya explained. "I'll show you tomorrow when everything dies down. And no we won't get in trouble for having you... at least I don't think so. You're unique any way. You don't really even look like a sentinel. Not a typical one any way."
"Ah... no... thank you" George replied quickly "I do not wish to see the... very worst times of... I suppose you could call them my people." He sighed softly, stroking his battered looking chest plate "I understand now... why you feared me so much. I didn't know how much damage... sentinels had done." He seemed to whir for a second before saying "Sorry... will never be enough. But I want you to hear it from a sentinel. For everything we have done, I am truly sorry." He whirred again, thinking "I am... going to have to make up for so much that my kind has done..."
"It wasn't their fault..." Waya said, almost sounding as if she were convincing herself. "It was the people who programed them. Small minded bigots who hated and feared us. What is it they say? Their are no bad dogs, just bad owners? It's not a pit bull's fault it bites, it;s the fault of the man who taught him to."
"I suppose it would be worse if they had emotions... if they enjoyed what they did... but they still did it" George pointed out with a small nod of his head "And when people see me, they won't think about the fact they were programmed to do it... they will think about the fact that they... caused so much death and destruction. And I'm going to have to face that a lot, aren't I?"
"You hardly even look like one." Waya said "Apart from the red and purple color scheme really and that's easily fixed. The Sentinels people are used to are humanoid, three to four stories tall. I'll show you tomorrow. It's better than you know at least a bit rather than what I've told you."
There was a small silence before George responded with a "please don't..." He didn't want to see people... robots... killing thousands on someone else's orders. Killing people without mercy or emotion. He didn't want to face that reality.
"Eventually then." Waya told him. "But not yet." She yawned and adjusted her pillow. "One of these days you'll want to know I'm sure."
George didn't agree. He didn't want to know too much about the violent past of the sentinels. It would be different for a human, they could also learn about culture, art, love, even if it was rather primative; sentinels it was just... death and destruction. He wasn't sure if he could bare it.
"Goodnight George." Waya said softly. She was beginning to drift off again an sincerely hoped no one decided to ride the twin's coat tails and barge up here demanding answers.
George whispered a "goodnight" in return, starting to tune his sleep mode on. He should also look for some wi-fi or something, try to pick up a connection and look into this different world. That would be very useful.
Waya finally drifted off to sleep. Her body felt heavy as she relaxed into the bed. It felt wonder to feel safe again and the ordeal of the day began to drift away into nothing.
The twins arrived in Waya's room with two buckets. One with told and supplies and the other will their plaster. Before starting to work, one of the boys pulled in their breakfast tray and set it on Waya's dresser. It was cold now and needed to be cleaned up...but they would get to that later. Everyone knew a thing or two about fixing walls....it was as if they had to ALWAYS repair them after robots came crashing it. The boys dropped their things and looked at the huge hole they had made and sighed. They had done it in attempt to protect Waya...only to get thrown and chocked into the shadow realm. They never got off easy or were appreciated...and sometimes, it got to you. Jayden pulled out a small pocket radio from the bucket he set down and turned it to a classic rock station. Jaden took out their overalls from his bucket and handed his brother one of them. This was going to take all day...so long as they didn't fall asleep like they did in the kitchen.
The hole wouldn't have been so bad had the supports not bent under the bulk of George's weight. Though, thanks for the twins, when the school had been rebuilt... again... five years ago it had been reconstructed with steel vibranium curtosey of the Wakandan government. The boys would have to reinforce the bricks outside where they'd bulged and some had come loose, they'd have to plaster the hole they'd made that revealed the insulation, but as for the support, their powers could fix that quite nicely.
"God...what a mess." Jaden said, rubbing his brow. Stepping forward, he grabbed his brother's hand. There was a loud CRACK-SNAP and the beam was forced into place. It wouldn't be as strong as it was before, but at least it was straight enough to build around. Next, the twins peered out her window and did the same with the bricks, forcing them onto a straight plane. With control on gravity and push and pull....it was relitively easy. They continued to pack the walls back up with the furry insulation and foil until it was somewhat even.
The bricks would need mortaring but for now they'd hold. The job was taking less time than they'd imagined, but it was the plaster and mortar that would take the most time... then there was painting...
They were both well aware of this and slipped into the painting overalls that were already dappled from years of fixing walls. Jayden turned up the volume of the radio before the two started piecing chunks of plaster back in place and sealing it. It was a long, frustrating process and the boys already had stuff splattered on their faces and arms.
But God help them if any paint ended up on Waya's nicely polished floor.
A while passed before the twins found a nice rhythm together. They were keeping zero gravity in her room, but the only way one could well was from seeing the twins float from ceiling to floor and floor to ceiling, one laying plaster, the other following and smoothing it out. Their buckets floated along with them as they guided it. The radio was spinning in the center of the room after being casually released by Jaden along with a few other miscellaneous tools they had touched. As for her bed and the rest of the furniture in the room, they stayed fairly stationary. Unless touched, they remained in place. Only microwaves brought them to a minuscule hover above the floor.
It all looked like some silly Disney movie as they fixed the wall.
Even so- it was working surprisingly well...though the wall still looked a but uneven. They would probably have to put another coat on. "After this... cuddle and sleep."
"Definitely." the other replied as he jumped from the ceiling, running his tool across the wall to smooth it.
In the shadows, unseen, because she did things like that, Waya was looking through the shadow of her dresser. She wanted to check on them. To make sure they weren't splattering paint all over her room.
The twins both "Don't forget though... we told Rhydian we would make dinner."
"Oh right....that gives us..." he trailed off, counting, "Only two hours to sleep... maybe three depending on what we wind up cooking."
When they turned to continue working, their shoulders suddenly froze up. Without glancing at one another for reassurance or warning, they both turned their head a little and waited. They were stiff, but their bodies slowly floated. A brief moment later, Waya found herself being stared at directly by two Relman boys.
They couldn't see her. She knew they couldn't, no one could see into the shadow realm but her and her father... and maybe other shadow users but she'd never met any of them. Waya froze though, when they're eyes met her's it surprised her.
They saw no one, but rather...felt it. The boys slowly tore their gaze away and stared hard at one another as they turned back to their project, not saying a word to one another.
This made no sense. They shouldn't have been able to detect her. Waya was just about to close the portal that exited from that shadow when a sudden surge wrenched up through her from behind. It was as if a horse had suddenly decided to understand the inner contours of her ass. It caused her to cry out for a moment in surprise and it shook her to her knees. It felt similar to the sensation she'd received in the kitchen with George, but this was much more intense... twice over in fact.
The twins didn't hear anything or seem to react to the hidden Waya's peril. They both proceeded with their handiwork.
As sudden as it came, it was gone, but Waya was still on her hands and knees as if someone had decided to have a go at her. She placed her hand on her abdomin, cringing as the phantom pain of violation left her. That was the second time this had happened today... She'd figured the first was a coincidence, a residual after effect of being close to George in a confined space... Then it made sense... Rex may have left something behind... something that still thought it could hurt her... She had to bury it... ignore it... it would go away...
Jayden pushed off the wall into the center of the room where he snatched the radio to adjust the station. He kept floating until his feet planted on the opposite wall, above Waya's hiding spot. No sooner had he landed, Jayden pushed off again, letting go of the radio to return to work.
Waya felt a little more alone when Jayden came close and pushed away with indifference to her suffering... He couldn't see her any way... She almost wish she didn't know what she knew now... She'd begun thinking they were sort of cute... she hadn't been snapping at them as often... then they hall off and do what they did... or had done it... Keeping it hidden made it worse. Then again, it was doubtful she would have reacted any differently.
If only she knew... if only she knew the REAL reasons that the twins made her forget was of her own request. She had wanted to live a night in passion with them, but regretted it later on the off chance it would stay hidden forever and she could go on liking them just as friends. It was a sad, sick...twisted story, one the twins hoped she would learn one day.
It would all come out eventually, but for now she had George to look after. Stupid George. She hated him... or she hated that she had this stupid feeling that she needed to give him a chance. He'd be with Rhydian by now... worried that she wasn't there to hold his hand and looking at the twins fix her wall was making her angry again. She left, off to hol the stupid robot's hand while Rhydian poked around in his brain.
The boys didn't say anything about the odd feeling they had shared. No doubt they knew one another felt it, they just refused to accept that Waya had been spying on them. Though, after what the two of them did to her, there was no doubt a vast ocean of distrust between her and the boys.
Waya's room was far different from when the twins had seen it in the past. Usually it was clean and spartan, but now there were clothes in the floor, forgotten dishes and the general lack of tidiness that she was known for. Then again... she'd not really been herself lately. Recent events left her moody and disjointed... well, more moody and disjointed than usual.
The twins ignored it for now, but made a small mental note of it. They carried her to the bed. Jaden moved the blankets back and they gently placed her down. "You sure you're going to be okay?"
She nodded, pulling the covers up under her chin. She squirmed a bit and the silly metal bikini she'd been wearing fell out onto the floor a second later. "I'll be ok." She said. "Just... exhausted... I just need sleep and shadows... and maybe another blanket."
"Do you want us to grab you some PJs? Those things cant be comfy." Jayden offered while his brother went to the hall to grab a sheet from the linen closet.
"Just the blanket." She was naked beneath the covers now and didn't want to call attention to it.
Jaden returned and with the assistance of his brother, laid out the blanket over her. "We'll get the new girls situated. Just get some rest. Do you think you are going to want something to eat?"
"We probably are just going to order some pizzas or something."
"Later." She said shortly, not wanting to grow short tempered with them trying to take care of her.
"Okay." the twins replied and headed to the door, both very well aware that she still really hated them both. At least in her weak state, she couldn't lash out or stick them in the shadow realm.
Her feelings weren't quite as severe as hatred. They had clarified things several weeks ago and though the pill had been very hard to swallow, but she didn't hate them. As they left for the door she rolled over, turning her back to them. "Hey guys..." She said.
"Hm? Yeah?" they asked, thinking they heard her, but weren't quite sure. They had almost clicked the door shut.
It wasn't much, but considering their perception of how she felt about them, it was a lot. She turned her head slightly over her right shoulder, just enough hat they could see her cheek and eye without seeing her nose and said, "Thanks..."
They smiled, "No problem. Let us know if you need anything else, P- Waya." Since the scuffle, they hadn't been calling her by that name anymore. With a wave, they let her rest.
She lifted her hand in agreement and they saw her snuggle down in the warmth of her blankets. Exhaustion took her quickly than she had anticipated but one brief thought passed through her mind before it did. Maybe they're not so bad after all... she was unaware that she'd transmitted it telepathically.
That made the twins stop in their tracks in the hall and look to one another, then back to her door. Giving one another one last gaze, they smiled and walked back downstairs. Perhaps there was still hope?
Eight am had come far too early for Waya and the sound of a helicopter had been too much for her rooms sound proofing to handle. To find that it was only Penelope's mother, Isabelle Carrington aka Captain Britain, had only pissed her off further. "I'm fine." She told Rhydian as she came up the stairs. She was lying, but she was doing a good job of it. She'd already accepted help from Junior and didn't want the others to see her accepting Rhydian's help after snapping off at Pen's mother.
Rhydian followed after her, regardless of her objection. Once they were far from earshot of the others, he said quietly, "Then just let me walk you to the room. You can tell the others anything you want to."
She was just bout to answer when her toe caught on the carpet runner down the hall. Normally she'd have stumbled and went on, but half exhausted as she still was, she went down, hard.
He was at her side in an instant. "I've got you." He said softly, taking her elbow gently.
"I fuckin hate this..." She hissed, leaning on him as he helped her up.
"I know...You'll get better quick though. You always do." He told her with a smile as he wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her up.
"This isn't a burn or a cut..." She said, looking at the hand on her waist. "Shadow can't fix this... not like Dad could any way..." She walked with her right hand smoothing over the wall, using it to help steady herself instead of leaning on him completely.
"Then you just need rest and time." He replied, glad that she wasn't pushing him away. "I..I could stand guard...make sure nobody disturbed you."
"That's not stalker-ish at all..." She said, stopping when they reached her door.
"No it's not. Stalker-ish would be me insisting to be on inside of the door." He told her with a smirk. "Guarding from the outside, shows that..that I care, Waya."
Her dark eyes flickered to his. He could see recognition of... something. "I'm ok..." She said, looking away again. She was blocking, not noticing she was adopting submissive behavior. She opened the door, leaning on it a bit.
"Are you sure you'll be alright?" He asked her softly. He knew she hated appearing weak and the only thing worse than that, was for someone else to notice.
"I will be..." She said. She hung onto the door and looked toward her bed. It looked as if it were miles away.
He scoffed and took her gently by the arm. "Just lean on me, I'll make sure you get there."
"You sound like the twins..." She said, leaning against him as he helped her to the bed.
"Ack...fine, forget I said anything then..." He told her with a grimace. He wasn't flirting with her...
"I didn't mean that in a bad way..." She said. "They just... never mind... It's weird to have someone wanting to help me that... isn't them."
"I've..." He started, and then looked away, his entire face beat red. "I've always..." He tried again, but once more found himself incapable of speaking further. He stopped before the bed and looked down at her arm.
"You've always liked me..." She finished for him.
He swallowed hard and his entire face throbbed as the blood surged to his cheeks and ears. He pulled his bottom lip into his mouth and held it there. He had nothing more to say, she'd taken the words from his reluctant mouth.
"I might be telepathic, Rhydian." She said. "But I'm not stupid... I don't need telepathy to know you like me..." She moved toward the bed again, eager to sit.
He sighed and looked down at her feet. "Is..is it really that obvious?" He asked her, worried now that someone else might've noticed. Junior knew because he'd confided in his friend...
"Not usually." She said, carefully sitting down. "It's your eyes mostly... they linger on mine when you think I'm not looking."
"I..I'm sorry if it offends you..." He whispered, still finding it hard to look up at her.
"Did I say that?" She asked him seriously. "I'm pretty sure I didn't..."
He slowly lifted his eyes and looked at her curiously. "Then...then you don't mind?" He clasped his hands, rubbing them together nervously. "I..I don't want to seem creepy...."
"If I minded every guy at this school who's developed a crush on me, I wouldn't have any friends." She told him. "Between you, Junior and the Twins..." And George. "I might as well get used to the fact that there's something apparently fuckable about me..."
"The twins want to fuck every last one of the girls here, Waya. I can't speak for Junior, but I..." He looked at her pleadingly, "It's not about that with me."
"The twins..." She looked away from him. "Their biology caused some issues when they went through the... Change." She said, actually sticking up for them for once. "You can't really blame them for things out of their control..." Maybe she was sticking up for herself as much as for them. "You're sexually attracted to me Rhydian... Your heart rate is elevated and your pheromones are going off the charts. It scares you for me to know how much I know you want me..." She was being just a little heartless, she was exhausted, physically and mentally drained after yesterday. She fell back on irritation and anger as if it were an old friend that would keep her safe.
He groaned and turned his back to her, finding it easier to talk when he wasn't facing her. "Every guy in this place is sexually attracted to you Waya, and I don't blame them, or myself. You're absolutely beautiful, exotic even, and you flaunt it before us all..." He hated saying it like that, but it was true. Her uniform left nothing at all to the imagination. "But I'll say it again, it isn't about that with me. I couldn't care if you were ugly...I'd still feel the same way."
She grit her teeth and looked away from his back. So she dressed like a whore... that was nice to know. "I'm not beautiful Rhydian... I'm a freak." She told him. "Even in a school of freaks I'm a freak. And if you think what's on the inside is beautiful you're wrong. I'm mean and hateful and..." She closed her eyes, trying not to feel the hound's claws on her. "And if you knew much more you wouldn't feel like you do."
"Nothing you could tell me, would ever change how I feel. Junior and Jeremy with their red and green skin are far more of freakish than you with your porcelain shade could ever hope to be. I could compliment you until the next full moon were to rise, but you wouldn't listen..." He said sadly and looked downwards. He clenched his fists and turned to face her bravely. "You won't listen because you're stubborn. That's the only real problem thing with you, Waya. But stubbornness can be a good thing, under the right circumstances. I won't bother you any longer, but neither will anyone else." With that said, he turned and left her room, shutting the door behind him.
I wasn't talking about how I look. She told him as he left, cementing the last word. She laid down and rolled away from the door, covering herself with the blankets, pretending she'd be able to sleep after that.
She could hear the thump of his head against her door as she got in the last word. He would sit right there until she opened the door and told him otherwise. He'd make sure she got her rest and was undisturbed, one way or another. She is beautiful...No matter what she thinks. She'll always be beautiful. he thought to himself. His heart was racing, but he found he could do little more than sit there.
Stumble!