Android

33

"Don't. They need space to work," He said, making me grimace.

"Actually Abigail, could we borrow your Tinker friend?" Neptune asked, surprising everyone.

"Why?" I asked.

"The cylinder I need to fix on Pluto requires smaller hands." Despite wanting to help Pluto, I hesitated. "Don't worry Abigail, I won't let the twins lay a finger on him." Neptune reassured. At first, I opened my mouth to argue, but instead I looked back at Henrie.

"Is that okay?" I asked, to which he nodded.

"Of course. If I am to stay with your comrades, I want to show them I'm trustworthy," He said as he hopped off my back and pulled himself up on the table. "Talk me through the procedure," He said. As Neptune and the others started working then, Jupiter tugged on my shirt.

"Let's go get you cleaned up. I have a feeling we're going to be here all night," He said, and reluctantly I followed him back outside to the car. "You were very brave in there you know," He said as he opened the glove box and pulled out a first aid kit for people injuries.

"I had to be; Pluto's life depended on it." I shrugged.

"I thought you didn't like him though?"

"My feelings have...changed. He's not that bad." I admitted as I sat on the hood of the car and allowed Jupiter to start cleaning the blood off my chin. I hadn't realized it until now but when the gun kicked back it cut open my chin.

"I see." Jupiter mumbled, making brief eye contact with me.

"And, I also figured if our rescue mission was successful maybe there would be a chance of rescuing my family." I added quickly, wondering why Jupiter's tense disposition was making me nervous.

"Yes, I believe that was the goal," He said as he continued gently dabbing my chin. "Who told you about Venus?" He then asked, making me shift uncomfortably. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to tell anyone about her or not. Although, Mel never told me I couldn't.

"Some lady whose friends with Pluto. He sent me to her when the house got overrun. Do you know about her? About Venus?" I asked, watching him rummage through the first aid kit.

"Of course, I do. I know every droid and Tinker in the program." He then pulled out rubbing alcohol and poured a little on a cotton pad before dabbing it on my chin. "What do you know?" He asked as I hissed.

"Just that she was the only one as strong as Titan and the most likely to take him down," I said, deciding to keep the rest to myself. Especially the necklace, being Mel had specifically told me to keep that on the downlow.

"Does this...Mel...know where Venus is?" He asked, then putting a bandage over my chin and moving on to rubbing biofreeze over the bruises on my neck.

"I don't know. I don't think so. She said Venus got lost the night the experiment fell," I said, sighing a little in relief as the gel soothed my aching skin. "Jupiter my throat still hurts from being strangled earlier, could we just talk about this later?" I asked. At that he slammed the first aid kit shut.

"No! This is important! This isn't a game Abigail I—" He took a deep breath. "What's the plan after we rescue your family?" He asked, throwing me off.

"I don't know, I guess we'll go to another safe house, maybe work out a way to fight Titan—"

"And if that succeeds?" He pushed.

"I don't know Jupiter, probably go home and try to continue on with life as normal," I said, and he nodded as he turned away to put the first aid kit in the car.

"There is no more normal for you Abigail, you're stuck with us. Titan is a difficult force to reckon with, it could take us years to take him down. Really, it might not even be worth it," He said making me frown as I slid off the hood.

"It is worth it though! That's my family Jupiter. I'm not just going to abandon them. Anyways, maybe the rescue mission would've gone a lot better if you hadn't allowed yourself to get caught so many times." I retorted.

At that though, Jupiter's face became dark. "I wasn't caught," He said harshly, catching me a little off guard.

"Well you were kind of—"

"I was in a tricky situation Abigail; I don't get caught. As far as any of you know I am the strongest out of everyone here!" He shot back before exhaling slowly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just, I just don't want you to think I'm weak," He said, and I shook my head as I grabbed his hand.

"I don't think your weak Jupiter. Pluto was in a far worse position then you and I don't think he's weak. I think he's brave," I reassured, but this only seemed to disturbed Jupiter more.

"But you don't think I'm brave?" He asked, pulling his hand away from me.

"Of course, I think your brave Jupiter," I was confused why this was bothering him so much. Honestly, I was confused why any of this was bothering him.

"You trust me, right?" He asked, grabbing my hand again.

"Yeah Jupiter, obviously I trust you, or I wouldn't have followed you into that death trap," I said. Sighing then, in what seemed to be relief, Jupiter pulled me closer to him.

"Good. I'm glad you feel that way." His eyes then met mine with a deep, observant expression. "You know I care about you right?" He asked, and I nodded as I bit my lip. "I'm the only one who really cares about you here. The others, they're just protecting you because the Minds told them to. I, I'm protecting you because I don't want to lose you again Abigail Williams," He said giving me chills. Something about the way he said my name gave me an overwhelming case of déjà vu.

"I'm glad I can trust you then Jupiter," I said hoarsely. He then smiled a little and leaned down before kissing my forehead.

"Go inside. I'm going to get my two friends out of the trunk, and I don't want you to see what I'm going to do to them," He said, before pushing me away from him.

Swallowing thickly, I turned around and began walking back inside.

I have no clue what just happened.

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Hey guys!

I was so happy I actually had time to update this before work, although I wish I could've made it longer, and I'm really excited because we're finally entering the exciting parts of the stories where plot twists are revealed, tears are shed, characters are lost, and all that fun stuff. ;)

Stay tuned for an update soon <3

-Mari.