Suffering in Silence (a Rescue Bot Academy fanfiction)

Chapter 16

I closed the door as I turned to see Hotshot climbing onto the berth. It was a little bit taller than him, so climbing onto it was needed. I smiled as he struggled a little bit, but I did not help as I did not want to trigger him, despite the fact he came to me. Once he was done climbing and settled down. He looked at me, as I leaned against the wall by the door. I didn't move from this side of the room until he patted the berth, signaling that he wanted me to join him. I sighed, moving to the berth next to him. I went all the way to the wall, going back to my previous position, just more aware of my surroundings as well as Hotshot. We sat in silence. I didn't want to speak, because for once with him here in the room, I did not feel like I had the authority to speak to him or to start any conversation. Movement sounds disturbed the silence, but I wasn't looking until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I released my legs from my arms as I looked at Hotshot, who had moved next to me, on his knees. But when I released my legs, moving them down, I felt and saw him move and hold me, leaning into the area humans would consider my chest. I didn't feel like I could move my hands to hold him, but my body did not listen and held him closer to me. We stayed like that for a good while, silent.

"I'm scared," he whisper, as he held me tighter. I really felt bad for him, he was so young, and yet he has to deal with being an orphan and currently, a threat to his life. I didn't even know what to say, but I knew that I needed to comfort him.

"It's going to be okay. You got a lot of people there for you. Whatever happens, you will not face it alone, Hotshot," I told him, as he began to tremble. I instantly thought I did something, but when I heard him crying, I pulled him closer to me and held him tighter. I put my head on him, and I continued to hold him as he cried. I have never seen him cry, so this was new to me. I rubbed his back as he cried into my chest.

"Why did it have to be me?" he cried. He continued to cry things into my chest and I did not know what to do or say. I was never much of a comforting person, that was more of Blade's area of expertise, but I continued to try and comfort him to the best of my abilities. He began to calm down after a while as silence fell upon us again, minus his sniffles from crying. He pulled away from me a little and looked at my face, before covering it with his servos. "What can I do, Heatwave? I, I just feel so powerless here."

"Hotshot," I sighed as I pulled his hands away, making him look at me. He seemed so exhausted and tired. "You just need to continue being strong for yourself—nothing more, nothing less. You have more strength than me, but also more stress due to the situation you are in. And no one expects you to be strong all of the time. And you are not powerless here, you are the most powerful. I would have cracked under the pressure you were feeling. You just need to take care of yourself and let the rest fall onto everyone else. You will get through this alive and stronger than ever, but only if you allow yourself to do what you can do when you can not control the situation. Trust me, a lot of us are impressed with how strong you have been."

"Thank you," he whispered, hugging me again. I held him again, and he soon began to fall asleep, as his grip loosened quite a bit. It was near the end of the day, but I wasn't quite ready to sleep. Hotshot was holding onto my neck, so I held him as I walked around the room, figuring he probably did not want others to see him in the state he was in. I rubbed his back as I walked, being quite careful not to drop him. I will admit, it was quite comforting having him here, even though I did not exactly know what to do. I don't believe I have earned his full trust yet, but I now had faith he didn't hate me and he was beginning to trust me again. Hopefully. I sat on a chair in the room, still holding him, as I began to look a few things up on a data pad on my desk. I felt him move a little, so I gave him space to move around, but my hands were still hovering so he did not fall. I could tell he was awake or at least trying to stay awake. Once he stopped moving, I held him again.