Chapter Text
Uzi briskly walked through the halls of the Worker colony with focus and purpose. After what seemed like an eternity, the school day had finally ended and she was free to do whatever her edgy, teenage mind could conceive. At the moment however, she had some dumb homework thing to do, but that could wait as she’d promised N that she would meet him after school. He had something to show her, he’d said, and Uzi’s curiosity buzzed throughout the day. Reaching the massive metal doors, Uzi swiped her keycard and stepped outside. Leaning against a wall, she waited patiently for N, the wind ruffling her hair and even causing the little sewn-on bat wings of her backpack to flap slightly. Just as Uzi thought she’d have to wait a second eternity, the winter silence was broken by the sound of crunching snow and a familiar voice.
“Uzi! Hey Uzi!”
Uzi turned around, smiling on seeing her boyfriend bounding towards her like an excited puppy.
“You made it!” N ran right up to Uzi and scooped her up in a tight hug, spinning around while grinning from ear to ear. Uzi laughed, despite having the breath momentarily being knocked out of her. “Easy N, I need to breathe.”
“Oh, sorry,” said N, putting her down, but he continued smiling and even wagged his tail. Uzi couldn’t help but giggle, despite that fact that N was a giant, killing machine, he was about as mild as a friendly dog. Today, N was out of his usual gear, wearing a pair of ripped jeans and a white t-shirt with a smiley face on it. Around his neck, he wore silver dog tags and a gold, heart-shaped locket that he’d put a small picture of the two of them inside. Ever since they’d joined the colony, Uzi had been helping N and V find some new clothes to wear. She remembered V being especially happy to get out of her jacket, and she’d taken a surprising liking to jean shorts.
N brushed the wrinkles out of his shirt and readjusted his backpack.
“Alright, you ready to go?”
“Where are we going exactly?” Uzi gave N a quizzical look. “You’ll see. It’s gonna be great, I promise,” said N.
Well, N wasn’t the type to break a promise. Uzi nodded and the two drones spread their wings, taking off into the night. N led the way, gliding and dipping through buildings. A few times he weaved around scaffolding and construction equipment. Uzi followed close behind, copying his every maneuver. She’d had time to brush up on her flying skills over the last few months, and relished any chance she got to test them out. Eventually, N perched on the arm of a crane and Uzi skidded to a stop beside him, she was gonna have to work on her lands, she thought. N straightened her out.
“You ok?”
Uzi shrugged, “Well… I didn’t crash so-“
“Great!” Said N, “We’re almost there. Come on!”
After some more flying, N led Uzi into a large hole in the exterior of a skyscraper. The two landed inside, coming face to face with the familiar sight of a trashed building. Uzi looked around the interior while N dropped to all fours and began poking around one of the interior walls. Uzi watched as he stuck his nose into small crack in the concrete and pawed at loose rubble.
“Here it is!”
He moved aside a steel of metal, revealing a tunnel dug into the wall. Uzi was both confused and surprised, but she’d come this far and didn’t want to hurt N’s feelings so she allowed him to take her hand and lead her upwards.
“You might wanna watch your step,” N kept close by, making sure to point out loose rocks are hanging beams so Uzi didn’t hurt herself. After a minute of walking, a faint light began to shine at the end of the tunnel.
“Okay! We’re here!”
The two drones emerged into a small room that had once been an office cubicle. In one corner, several bean bags were piled into a makeshift nest and up front was a broken window with a tattered curtain hanging from it. The view of the city was remarkable, the buildings below were illuminated by the stars and the brilliant twin moons. However, what interested Uzi the most were the drawings taped to the walls. On closer inspection, she saw that they depicted a variety of things, from a crude landscape of the city to an array of colorful scribbled that could’ve been a bouquet of flowers. There were also a lot of dogs, which was when it clicked.
“N… did you make all of these?”
“Sure did,” N beamed, “but that’s not the best part.”
Walking over to the window, N pulled back the curtain, shrouding the room in a slight darkness. He then set down his backpack and fished out a pack of batteries. Locating an adapter on the wall, N inserted the batteries and flicked a switch. Instantly, the room came to life with dozens of twinkling lights, looking as though the night sky had been contained in a tiny box. Uzi couldn’t help but gasp.
“N, you’re quite the magician.”
“I knew you’d love it.” N flopped down on the beanbag nest, beaming with pride. Uzi walked over and laid down beside him, resting her head on his shoulder. N put an arm around her and they looked up at the small, LED lights, their flickering motions reflecting across their glass screens. Eventually, Uzi’s curiosity could no longer contain itself.
“Hey N,” she sat up, “What is this place exactly?”
“It’s my special place,” said N, “I’ve had it for quite a while actually. Long before I met you, in fact.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, back when me, V, and J first arrived here, we kinda stayed close to the pod, but began to spread out more once the bodies started stacking up.”
Uzi felt N’s body tense slightly, the memories he was recalling clearly not being fond ones.
“I don’t know why, but I got sick of it all really quickly. But at the time, there really wasn’t anything I could do about it, given J’s stance on me having opinions.”
N tried laughing it off, but that only made it awkward, so he continued.
“I kinda just… wandered around on days where nothing happened, and that’s when I found my special place.” “For the longest time, this room was my sanctuary, was free to what I wanted without judgement and just be me.” “Plus it was really the only way I could keep my drawings safe, since J kept ripping them.”
“Wait what?” That last comment caught Uzi off guard. “J did what?” She’d known J had been pretty terrible to N, but she wasn’t sure how far it actually went.
“Yeah she did that a lot, unfortunately. So much so she ended up burning my crayons… one… time…”
N sat up abruptly, a look of dread on his face. His fingers touched his mouth, easily locating the scar on the left corner. Then he felt a scratch on his right arm, a claw mark on his leg, a cut on the tail. Little by little, N became aware of all of the scars on his body, each starting out as small pinpricks, but growing into something more painful. Uzi looked at him with immense concern.
“N? N! Are you ok?”
N couldn’t say anything, he really wasn’t okay. All he could think about where the terrible memories that were flashing through his head, one in particular being more clear than the others.
…
“HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU TO STOP MAKING THESE IDIOTIC DRAWINGS!”
N stood in the snow, hunched over like to frightened dog. J glared at him through the smoke of her extended flamethrower. Beside her was a burning crayon box and several other papers piled into a small bonfire. N had tried his best to hide them.
“I… I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry… YOU’RE SORRY?!! I DON’T CARE IF YOU’RE SORRY!”
J angrily kicked N, hard, onto the ground. Despite the fact that N was bigger and stronger than J, he could never bring himself to fight back. He’d been reminded constantly that J was in charge and he should do as she said. And well… N wasn’t exactly a rule breaker.
J violently grabbed his hair and forced him to look at her. “I don’t care if you give me a thousand apologies. It’s not an excuse.”
N whimpered and nodded.
“One way or another I’m going to whip you into shape,” she pointed to the bonfire, “And if that’s what I gotta do to get there, then so be it.”
Her knife claws came out, and in a quick motion she swiped N across the face. N felt his head being knocked back, as well as the warm oil that flowed out of the fresh wound. J walked away.
“Patch that up yourself, I expect you to be on your best behavior tomorrow, or you know what’s going to happen.”
N shakily stood up and nodded. J left him there, the crayons and paper were now nothing but a pile of ash and melted wax. After that, N remembered taking off and flying. He’d gone right to his special place, where he’d cried the whole night.
…
In the real world, N started crying. The pain of that memory, and so many others like it, were all too much to bear. His scars where punishments, reminders that he was a failure, that he’d never amount to anything, that he…
“N!”
Uzi’s voice suddenly penetrated through his mental chaos. N had completely forgotten she was there, so her voice startled him a little. He looked at her, tears flowing and fear in his eyes. Uzi looked deeply concerned for him.
“N, what’s wrong?”
N felt like freaking out again, as he was having trouble getting words out. Uzi calmly took his hand and rubbed his back reassuringly.
“Shh, calm down, it’s alright, I’m right here.”
N shook, “She… she treated me like I was nothing.”
Uzi instantly knew what he meant. N had been through a lot, used and abused by people he trusted. She’d especially felt a strong disgust for J, who was always berating him for the smallest things, even when he was just trying to be helpful.
“N… you didn’t deserve any of that.” Uzi stroked her boyfriend’s hair gently, hugging him around his neck. “J shouldn’t have done those things to you, she just doesn’t understand. You’ve been such an amazing friend, you’re so kind and brave, and you’ve helped me out so much.” “I really can’t imagine my life without you N, you’re so special.”
Hearing her words, N started to calm down. Uzi kissed him tenderly, her hands softly rubbing the sides of his face. He hugged her passionately, wondering how on Copper-9 he managed to get so lucky. Uzi was the first person who he felt truly loved him for who he was. In way, she’d helped him come out of his shell, and fight for something that really mattered to him. He whipped tears from his eyes.
“I… didn’t know I needed to hear that, thank you.”
“You’re welcome dork, I love you.”
“I love you too.”
They stayed in that position for a while, finding comfort in each other’s embraces.
“Uzi… I’m really sorry you had to see that,” N pulled away, a look of embarrassment on his face. “I wanted this to be relaxing, but I just made it terrible.”
“No, it’s alright!” Uzi quickly responded, “I think it’s safe to say that things haven’t been easy for either of us.”
“Yeah, that’s true,” N nodded. “But I do appreciate what you did, all those things you said, it means a lot.”
“Oh yeah, you’re welcome. Just uh… remember to take of yourself okay?”
Uzi playfully bumped N’s shoulder. He smiled, but then seemed to remember something.
“OH BISCUITS! I forgot!”
“Forgot what?”
“The reason I brought you up here! Since I’ve gotten my own place in the colony in all, I don’t really need to come here anymore. So, I was thinking about moving some of this stuff into my dorm. These beanbags really need a wash anyways.”
“Oh,” Uzi found herself coming back to reality. “Well… you want some help?”
“Yeah, I’d love that.”
…
And so, for the next few days, Uzi helped N move all of the drawings and lights into his bunker. The project livened up them both, and gave them something else to focus on. However, at the back of her mind Uzi kept replaying the events of that fateful evening. She didn’t exactly know how she could help N with his PTSD, but she wanted to do something special for him. Something that could help remind N that he was special and loved. During the moving process, Uzi thought about what exactly she could do, flipping over thoughts in her mind until she finally got an idea. Once Uzi had it, she just knew it was perfect, all she needed to do now was plan accordingly.