Morning seemed to have passed by so quickly. The sun was soon up, and the lamp posts turned themselves off. Aunt Fanny was now in the kitchen cooking for her boarders, with Alli helping out.
The Rusties and Blue. tiredly walked their way towards the table. The young human was dressed in a white tank top, baby blue PJ capris pants, and a robe, with one side nearly falling to the side. Like her friends, she was lost in the early morning wake-up fog. But Aunt Fan had come up with a special remedy.
"Breakfast! This will perk everyone up. Some of Aunt Fanny's fresh brewed coffee," Aunt Fanny placed a tray of coffee in the middle of the table. The Rusties perked up and each took a cup. "Careful, it's hot."
The Rusties moaned with delight when the coffee met their tongues and lips. Nothing wakes up a bot quite like a cup of hot coffee in the morning. Blue wasn't one for coffee, so she was alright with strawberry milk. Wonderbot sipped on some grease through a straw and let out a high-pitched hiccup.
"Excuse you, lil' guy," Alli chuckled to the little bot as she entered the dining room area with plates of crepes. Blue slightly covered her mouth as she giggled.
"Whatcha got there, Alli?" Crank asked as he studied the plates.
"Just some special crepes. My mom would make those on Fridays since my sis and I were kids," Alli beamed as she set the plates down. "Plus, I've been told Blue's gluten-free, so no one's left out."
"No way! Pears and cinnamon dulce! Nice!" Fender remarked once he took a bite of his crepe.
"This is awesome!" Piper added.
"This is heaven. And I'm being genuine at the moment," Crank agreed.
Blue let out a content squeak when she recognized the pears and caramel in her crepe. Alli chuckled at the young human's delight as she took a seat between her and Piper.
Rodney, who had just walked in, beamed softly with quiet, blushing cheeks at the auburn-curled woman before taking a cup of coffee from Aunt Fanny. "So, sleep well last night?"
"You mean, after the whole armpit fart party? Yep." Alli snorted at her joke. The Rusties also chuckled, as well as Rodney.
"So what are you guys doing today?" He then turned to the Rusties.
"We're doing it," Fender answered.
"What about you?" Piper asked next.
"Bigweld's disappeared, and you're just sitting there," Rodney said unbelievingly.
"I think that's already been established." Fender shrugged.
"And when is that established?" Alli inquired.
"Like, about three seconds ago?"
"Well, I gotta go find out what happened to him," Rodney said as he set down his mug.
"Hey, you want my advice?" Crank suggested.
"Yeah."
"Forget it," Crank answered. Rodney looked at him disapprovingly. "Never try, never fail. Those are the words I live by."
Rodney couldn't believe it. "Crank, the idol to millions is gone, and no one's caring about it!" He stepped up next to the window. "There's supposed to be an angry mob out there!" No sooner had the words left his mouth when a crowd of bots passed by the house down the street. He did a double take out through the window. "What the—?"
The Rusties, Aunt Fanny, Alli, and Blue let their mouths wide open at the mob.
Rodney, Alli, Fender, and the Rusties rushed outside to watch the mob pass them.
"Oh, that was great, psychic friend! Now say, 'Money should be falling from the sky!'" Fender raised his hands in the air with hope. "Say it! Say it!" He clung to Rodney while sobbing.
As it turned out, every bot in the crowd had headed down to Jack Hammer's shop. They had one thing in their minds: spare parts.
"Sorry, folks! All sold out! Nothing but upgrades from here on in!" Jack addressed the crowd. A truck with Ratchet's smug face and his new quote pulled up to the shop.
"But I like myself just the way I am," one of the robots claimed before her lightbulb broke.
"We can't afford upgrades!" Another declared.
"Let's get him!" A bigger robot held up a trash can, but he opened up before he could throw him.
"Hey, hey! What are you doing?! Don't throw me!" The trash can bot yelled.
Just as Rodney, Alli, Blue, and the Rusties rushed towards them to hear the commotion better, the bot spotted Rodney.
"Isn't that the guy who fixed Fender's neck?" He pointed at him as they stopped in their tracks.
"Yeah, that guy fixes bots!" another yelled. The bigger bot dropped the trash can bot as the crowd began to approach the Rusties. They had heard about Rodney's great deed.
"Yeah, that kid can help ya!" Jack announced, relieved that the attention wasn't on him anymore.
"Brace yourselves. You're about to be very popular," Fender muttered to Rodney.
The crowd got closer to them now. Alli gently took hold of Rodney's arm, but he didn't shake her away. Instead, he stood in front of her protectively.
"Only those with insurance!" At Fender's words, the crowd stopped. "Oh, I forgot. Everybody, c'mon!" The bots soon stopped close to where the Rusties are standing.
However, when they took a closer look at Alli and Blue standing with the Rusties, they stopped completely, their eyes written with fear. Alli didn't need to ask, for she released her hold on Rodney's arm and stepped forward. When she did, most of the crowd gasped with terror and took a few steps back. She didn't blame them at all, she understood how scared they were.
"Don't worry. Blue and I, we're here to help," Alli explained tenderly, gesturing to herself and Blue. The soft perseverance in her eyes was all it took for the bots to relax, but they still held their guard up around her.
"Parts, man! I need parts!" A hunched-over teal-blue bot approached Rodney pleadingly.
"You don't look that–" the bot soon fell apart to the ground before Rodney could finish. "Bad..."
The bots looked at the fallen robot before one of them looked up. "Hey, everybody. Spare parts!" In their desperation, the rioting bots started to pick away at the metal carcass on the ground.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute!" Rodney shouted. Fortunately, they all stopped to look at him. "What the hell is wrong with you robots?!"
"You should all be ashamed of yourselves!" Fender backed him up. It was a powerful statement, which would have been more convincing if he had not been wearing two noses.
Rodney, Wonderbot, Alli, and Blue glanced at him confused and agitated. "Why do you have two noses?" Rodney asked Fender as Wonderbot glared at him.
"One's for showing, one's for blowing," Fender chuckled.
Wonderbot squeaked and hit him in the back of the head, which sent the nose flying off. "Sorry," Fender said sheepishly. Blue stifled a laugh before Rodney and Alli glimpsed at her sternly.
"Hey, could you look at my arm?" One of the robots stepped up to Rodney and extended his hand out to him. The bluenette took it, but the hand stuck to him.
"Uh, nice grip," Rodney remarked, trying to shake it off.
"Like iron!" The arm-less robot said proudly.
"I can't get rid of this spare tire!"
"I am losing my mind!"
The bots began to approach Rodney and the others again.
"Back off! Back off! He's got his own dreams that won't come true!" Fender shouted to the crowd.
Rodney and Alli gave him a one-sided glare as the bots started to depart discontent. They and Fender then turned to look at the truck with the image of Ratchet's smug face and his truck that was leaving from Jack Hammer's store. Alli may not know that man or what his purpose was, but she wanted nothing more than to smack Ratchet's cruel smile off the side so badly.
But right now, helping the outmodes is more important.
"See a need, fill a need," Rodney muttered with determination.
"Wait!" He called to the robots, who stopped to face him. He spun out his wrenches, with Wonderbot flying in and handing Alli a screwdriver. "Who wants to get fixed?"
At that, the bots cheered wildly.
That day was just the beginning.
The group created an entire clinic designed to help the outmoded and forgotten bots of the city. The clinic worked like a well-oiled machine, in which each bot and human played a part. Aunt Fanny took appointments and temperatures. Fender assisted in the examining room. Lug used his strength to prepare patients by unscrewing their heads for examination. Piper welded rusted metal with a blowtorch. Blue and Diesel painted over scars and other disfigurements on their faces. Wonderbot had been a big help, too.
They had even asked anyone if they had seen Bigweld. It was hard, even when Wonderbot and Blue went around showing a picture of Bigweld to anyone standing in line. No one had seen him, but Rodney was not going to give up.
For what seemed like days, the Rusties, Rodney, Alli, and Blue worked hard to help repair the outmodes that needed parts more than anything. With the Rusties conversing and fixing other bots, Rodney, Alli, and Wonderbot were left with the remaining bots. Rodney was happy to coach Alli and Blue on how to work with the tools needed and how to repair the bots they are with.
As it turned out, Rodney was quite an innovative doctor. He might not have had actual replacement parts to work with, but he was able to come up with ways to fix broken bots. He gave the bot with the broken arm an extendo-arm. Blue helped him unclog a toilet bot by using a plunger.
Alli had even offered to paint and sketch with the youngsters while they were waiting for their parents to be repaired by the others, which turned out to be a great idea. Blue was also a wonderful help as well. Whenever she didn't need to help Diesel paint over scars after having to coach him how to do that properly, she'd plan a special class of arts and crafts.
At one point, Rodney noticed Alli painting a pattern of flowers and colorful lines on one of the kids' arms. The youngster lit up with delight, his eyes shining with happiness, as the other kids gasped with wonder and studied the artwork.
Rodney, his cheeks turning light red, beamed dreamily at Alli, who giggled at the kids' amazement. Wonderbot and Fender leaned up next to him, and the red-haired man wiggled his eyebrows at him. Rodney rolled his eyes playfully and lightly shoved him as Fender chuckled.
However, it was difficult to turn away from each other for longer than they needed to. Whenever they'd see each other, Rodney and Alli would smile and blush before returning to work on the bots they are working on.
Being around the Rusties and Alli helped Rodney put his mind off those who had doubted his determination to be an inventor just like Bigweld, and that seemed to have given him hope. Blue started to act like a little sister to him, always around to help him if needed. He grew to love them all like a second family, but the biggest, special bond he had felt close to was Alli.
He couldn't stop thinking about how sweet her smiles were, how soft her auburn curls felt, how heavenly her laughter and voice sounded. But most of all, he couldn't stop thinking about how patient, caring, and friendly she was with every bot that came to her. How she was able to keep the younger bots occupied by cheering them up with her stories about her people and town, how she was able to calm them down when their parents are being repaired.
The more he spent time around her, the more his heart fluttered within his chest.
Rodney and Alli also didn't waste any time writing to their families separately as much as possible, telling them about the progress of their journeys. Rodney had told his folks in his letter that he had made it to Robot City and had made great progress. And not only that, he told them how he met a wonderful girl, how incredible and sweet she was...how much in love he was with her.
Meanwhile, Alli had learned Michael James was telling people back in Treelighty about how he had planned on marrying her before she had left for Robot City and that he wanted to ask her father for her hand in marriage, only to be shut down by Halbert and Karol's stern warnings. She chuckled at that irony; Michael hates to be told 'no', and her father is not one to force her to marry someone she doesn't even love. In her last letter, she told her parents and sister about how she met an amazing man, how he went above and beyond to save the outmoded bots...and how she believes she's fallen for him hard.
From then on, Rodney spent his days tightening heads, reattaching arms, fixing tickers, changing oil and blood, and reprogramming innards. He went on without sleeping, eating, or bathing for two straight weeks as he helped rebuild bots.
But it was all worth it. This was his chance to make a difference.
By the end of the fourteenth or fifteenth day (they had lost count), the Rusties, Rodney, and Alli had finally fixed the hunched-over robot that had fallen apart. The crowd roared with delight, chanting Rodney and Alli's names.
Pride rose in Alli's heart for Rodney's deeds for the outmodes. She glanced at him with a proud, loving smile.
Rodney wanted to resume helping the outmoded bots, but Alli, seeing how tired, dirty, and hungry he was after two long weeks of endless labor, decided he needs some rest for the day. Despite his protests to continue working, she was too stubborn to let him tire himself out like this.
"Alli, c'mon..." Rodney started.
"No means no, Rodney. Look at you, you got bags under your eyes. Your hair and hands are all greasy. You need to rest, and that's final," Alli sternly lectured him.
Rodney turned to the Rusties and Aunt Fanny with a pleading look, but they just shook their heads at him. "I'm sorry, Rodney, but Alli is right. You need to take care of yourself," Aunt Fanny tenderly told him.
"Sorry, she's not wrong. You need it more than we do," Lugnut added. Diesel nodded in agreement.
"Guys..."
"Just go. We'll be fine here for the night," Blue urged him gently.
Before Rodney could even get another word out, Wonderbot grabbed him by the arm and started to drag him. "Wonderbot, not you, too," Rodney groaned. His invention squeaked at him in defiance.
"Rodney, please? Just for the night," Alli pleadingly asked him. Her hands held tenderly onto his other arm.
Rodney wanted to argue with her further, but the stern, tender look in her sky blues prevented him from doing so any further. He may not know that look before, but he understood there was no use saying 'no' to her in situations like this. And if he were to persist, she would have to force him to...
After a second, he sighed in defeat. "Alright, fine. But just for one night."
"Yeah, promises, promises," Alli smirked at him.
"Hah. Thank you, Alli, thank you. Finally, someone around here decides to get the doc bot to sleep," Crank remarked.
"Crank..." Alli said to him warningly.
"We'll leave you two lovebirds to it," Fender jokingly grinned at the two.
"Fender!" Rodney hissed at him as Alli guided him to the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When they made it to her apartment, it was nearly furnished. The guest bedroom finally had a bedframe, mattress, bed sheets, two bedside tables, and a dresser. The living room didn't have a TV yet, but it was now occupied by a couch, a coffee table in the middle, and two single chairs. The dining room only has a dining table, but no matching chairs yet. Meanwhile, Alli's bedroom was close to being completed; a bedframe, mattress, bedsheets over said mattress, and a dresser in front of the bed.
Rodney and Wonderbot gasped in amazement at Alli's place. "Whoa. How did you manage to do all this?"
"While I was not on painting duty, I'd get back here when new furniture comes in and have them directed to their assigned rooms," Alli explained as she picked out some towels, shampoo, body wash, and conditioner from the hallway closet. "And I did manage to get some things before I found you."
"Smart move," Rodney remarked.
"Yeah, not really. I should've picked out what furniture I wanted, but at the same moment, I did not know what the place was going to look like. Stupid move, I know." Alli then handed Rodney the towels, shampoo, body wash, and conditioner. "Bathroom's down the hall, next to the main bedroom. Try not to fall asleep," she jokingly told him.
Rodney chuckled as he headed to the bathroom. Wonderbot followed behind him so it could stop him from falling asleep.
Some time later, Alli had managed to finish making some stir-fried rice when Rodney stepped out of the bathroom, drying his hair with the towel, clad in a tank top and PJ bottoms. Wonderbot squeaked as it studied her place some more.
"Smells great," Rodney commented.
"Well, we're celebrating. Two weeks, every bot repaired and already telling the story about the doc bot," Alli playfully announced. "Take what you need."
Almost minutes later, Rodney and Alli laughed on the couch, his fill now complete and his stomach finally satisfied after two long weeks of not eating. They had been telling stories to one another to help pass the time. He had told her how he never fit in with his school peers and how he moved to Robot City to work with Bigweld so that he could help his father pay back his debt to his boss. By then, it was already midnight, but Rodney was nowhere near tired yet. He wanted to stay up longer. And not to get back to repair more bots.
Alli giggled, pushing a strand of hair from her face. "Alright, so, uh...you came from a small town?"
"Yeah, I didn't want to tell you that, 'cause, uh..." Rodney had scratched the back of his head, clearly nervous. "It's complicated."
"It doesn't matter where you're from. It's what you do that count," Alli smiled at him, receiving one in return.
"Anyway, uh, you never told me about your life," Rodney began.
"My life?" Alli asked, astonished.
"Y'know, where you're from, what does your family do for a living? The whole shebang," Rodney clarified.
Alli thought about what she wanted to say. What was her life like? Happy? Depressing? Uneventful? She honestly had no idea. She wanted to tell the truth, but she would hate herself if she ever lied to him about that.
"Well...there's nothing to tell," Alli said after a moment.
"Well, maybe there could be," Rodney urged her.
The sky-blue-eyed woman leaned her head back on the couch cushion with an exasperated sigh. "My mother's side was what you would call a narcissistic family. Greedy, always caring about their image, willing to throw someone under the bus to save themselves. She had to cut them out of her life the moment she turned 18 and moved out. That's when she met my dad. She finally got the unconditional love and acceptance she couldn't get from her parents. My parents fell hard for one another, and the rest is history."
"So what do they do now?" Rodney asked.
"My mum's an art teacher for school, and my dad's the leader of the town I grew up in. My older sister was going to take the role as leader later on in life. But me? I was just...trying to forge my own path in life."
Rodney tilted his head confused. "What do you mean?"
"Well...I feel like the longer I get stuck in my hometown, the more trapped I become. And with a stuck-up asshole wanting to marry me just for my family's position and for my looks, it's not any better."
"I'm really sorry."
"What for? I'm actually one step closer to making my own path." Her smile fell after a moment. "But now I'm already thinking..."
"What is it?" Rodney softly asked with worry.
"...the moment I find my own path, what now? What happens after that?"
"That's the best part," Rodney answered with a soft smile. "You get to find a new path."
Alli's eyes softened a bit. "You think so?"
When she turned to face him, Rodney nodded at her, the smile that makes her heart melt every time she saw it still evident for her to see.
"You did great out there," he remarked to her, changing the subject.
"So did you. They were chanting your name out there," Alli added.
"Yeah, but they were also chanting yours. They were already warming up to you and Blue," Rodney remarked. "I couldn't have done it without you and the others." He turned to face her with a soft, shy smile. "But mostly you..."
Alli smiled back, her cheeks red. The moment was interrupted when Rodney yawned and stretched his back.
"Now it's time for bed, Bot Doc," Alli playfully told him.
"You're starting to sound like a parent."
"That a bad thing?"
Rodney couldn't answer, for his eyes were starting to droop, even when Alli and Wonderbot led him to the guest bedroom. The moment his legs met the edge of the bed, his body flopped down on the soft mattress. His body went limp, out like a light. Alli would have left sooner, but he unconsciously had a hold on her hand and pulled her close to him. She couldn't bring herself to wake him up, it'd keep him awake for much longer. And besides, it'd make her feel guilty for that.
She chuckled softly and pulled the bed sheets over themselves before letting Rodney pull her closer to him.
"You're lucky you're adorable," she whispered to him, brushing a strand of hair from his face. Soon after, she let sleep take over her.
For the first time in their lives, unbeknownst to each other, they don't feel so alone anymore.