Chapter Text
11 months. It had been that long since they’d returned to Earth. The adjustment had been rough to say the least… for some more than others. Lovelace and Jacobi had made it their mutual life goals to tear down Goddard Futuristics brick by brick… but first they’d decided to take a roadtrip for some healing. Minkowski had returned home of course. Her husband had been more than happy to have her back. They’d allowed Eiffel to stay with them until he could get back on his feet again, making sure he knew the basics needed to get started.
And now it was it. Now it was time for him to be on his own.
He wasn’t the only one finding new independence, though. Hera had been working long and hard with scientists to put together something special, something of her own design: an android body. Designing the body itself had been a piece of cake. It was figuring out a way to fit her complex system into such a confined space that was the issue. Living in a building seemed nice and all, not very different from the Hephaestus. But she wanted more than that. She wanted to experience the world. She wanted to hug her friends the way she watched them hug each other. There was a sort of intimacy lost in the lack of a physical form.
So, they had made it part of their agreement in returning to Earth. A sort of compensation on Goddard’s part in an attempt to appease them and shut them up. It wouldn’t work of course, but there was no way Hera would complain about this opportunity. She’d worked tirelessly (not that she necessarily could tire), working through equation after equation, and here they were, nearly a year later. The scientists had told her it would probably be a long time before she was able to get a working model, but they obviously had no experience with her stubborn nature.
Maxwell would have laughed them off.
“Are you sure you feel comfortable leaving the lab?” Minkowski asked for about the fifth time, picking up a box of equipment to carry to her car.
“Yes, Commander, I’m sure.” Hera wheeled up next to her, struggling to pick up a box but eventually settling it in her lap. “I have all of the resources needed to guide myself through the basic occupational therapy necessary, and until I feel stable on my feet I’ll have my wheelchair.”
Following her friend, she added, “Besides, if I need help with anything I can always ask Off- I mean, Doug.” It was strange getting used to the new naming convention, but it didn’t feel right to him or the rest of the crew for him to be known by the same name that he used to.
She caught Minkowski watching her with uncertainty out of the corner of her eye.
“What?”
“It’s just… I don’t know. Are you sure this is a good idea? This is his first time living on his own since everything has happened, and you’re adjusting to having a body… I just want to make sure it won’t be too draining on you, having to deal with all that on top of… well… him not remembering.”
“Please, Commander.” Hera rolled her eyes. It was a fun thing to be able to do; she’d quickly taught herself to do that. “I’ve got this. I’m essentially a supercomputer with access to any information we need, remember? And if there is something I’m missing, I can always hook up to the internet and download it. Besides, I’m sure after staying with you for so long he knows how to handle himself.”
Minkowski shook her head. “I wouldn’t be too sure… but ultimately I guess it’s your decision. As long as you realize he’s not the same person he used to be.”
There was an awkward silence as they walked down the hallway, Hera barely noticing the few scientists who waved goodbye to her.
Minkowski walked through the automatic door that slid open at the entrance, but Hera paused, a conflicted look on her face.
“I know, Commander. I know it’s not Eiffel. You think I haven’t had that thought nagging the back of my mind this whole time?” Dragging in a breath she didn’t necessarily need, she looked her friend in the eye. “But Eiffel is… was… no, he is my best friend, whether he has his memories or not. This is the least I can do for him. We’ve been through so much together… I can’t imagine wanting to be with anyone else right now, even if it is difficult.”
The sigh from Minkowski let Hera know she’d won this argument. How could she come back at her after that? It wasn’t as if Hera hadn’t gone over several scenarios in her head already. Quite literally, actually. She’d run through the probabilities of this situation over and over again. Still, she’d already spent nearly a year away from him. It felt… strange. Like something wasn’t quite right.
After accepting help getting into the car and putting her wheelchair away, Hera gazed out the window. The sky… it was so much bluer than she ever could have imagined. Leaning her cheek against the glass, she flinched, surprised at how cool the surface was. Still getting used to those sensory receptors.
“I’ve missed you too, you know.”
Surprised, she glanced at Minkowski. She had a good poker face, but Hera could see through that.
“Hey…” She picked at her synthetic skin, testing the tension that she already knew by heart. “I’m sorry. I’m just… anxious. I’ve really missed you, Commander, believe me.” She snorted. Huh, that was a new function. “What are we going to do without you there? Probably get ourselves killed within the first week.”
The former commander laughed, her face softening. “What’ll I do without the shenanigans from you two… I’m glad to have Dominik back, but it’s been strange not to be around the people I was with for years, not gonna lie there.”
Hera nodded. “Yeah… I can definitely agree with that.”
The conversation seemed to spiral from there. Talking with her again seemed so natural, as if no time had passed at all. They talked about Minkowski’s husband, and how he was doing. They talked about the process of creating Hera’s body and why she had chosen the traits she had. They even discussed fond memories of Hephaestus, mainly from before things had gotten complicated and all hell had broken loose.
There was something about the exchange that reminded Hera of why she had even wanted an artificial body in the first place, why she had wanted to come back to Earth. Right… it was that feeling. That feeling of being treated like a person. Like Maxwell had treated her. Like Eiffel had treated her. She’d almost forgotten what it felt like after being around a bunch of scientists and engineers for so long. They’d regarded her as an equal to some extent, especially as a collaborator on the project. But in the end to them she was Unit 214.
To Minkowski… She was Hera. It was nice to be regarded that way again.
“Ah, here we go.”
They’d stopped in front of a small house. The paint seemed to be peeling, and… was one of the windows broken? From her databanks she recalled that this was not what would normally be regarded as a nice house.
“I know it doesn’t look like a lot, but it was cheap, and Doug insisted he wanted it. Something about how working on fixing it up would help give him something to do. Bought it with some of the money Goddard threw at us. Maybe between the two of you, you can help find him a job. Can’t be living off of that bribe money forever.”
“Right…”
They unloaded the car (not a lot; Hera’s personal effects really just consisted of the equipment she needed to function) and headed up the walkway to the door. Weeds grew up between cracks in the pavement, but Hera couldn’t help thinking they looked rather pretty. Then again, she supposed about any sort of flora looked nice if you’d never seen any before.
Startled out of her thoughts by Minkowski banging on the screen door, she glanced up at her friend as she yelled, “Hey! Doug, we’re here!”
There was a thud, a muffled swear, and then the sound of feet running through the house. The screen door swung open, and there he was.
His hair was a bit of a mess, curls falling out of his ponytail. He still apparently wasn’t in the habit of shaving often enough, and his sweats were spattered with paint. Wiping a hand on his T-shirt, he extended it.
“Hey, Hera, right? It’s nice to see you again. Well… technically my first time seeing you, but… you get what I mean.”
Oh.
Oh no, she thought as he spoke the voice stirring up so many memories in her mind.
This was going to be harder than she thought.