Chapter Text
Testube watched in horror as Fan fell down the side of the cliff, not waiting to see where he landed, she immediately shoved herself up from the ground and ran down the side of the mountain.
“Testube!! Stop! It’s dangerous to go down there alone!” Someone called out, she didn’t really hear who though. All she could hear was her heartbeat ringing in her ears and the thunder booming in the sky. The mountain was steep, dangerous even, but she was still covered in the blue ray from when Fan shot her after Jack's angry outburst. It was slippery from the mud, and she had slipped and fell a couple of times attempting to get down, but she didn’t care. Fan could have been dead. Maybe he was dead the moment the lightning hit him. Maybe he was dead after he was set on fire. Maybe the way he hit the ground killed him. Bot was following at a distance behind.
“Testube wait! Be careful!!” Bot was taking large, careful steps, attempting to place their foot on stable and non-muddy ground. Testube slipped near the end of the cliff, falling the rest of the way down, landing in the ground below with a grunt, but as she got up from the ground, she saw Fan, laying on the ground in front of a tree, the grass under him burned by the fire, but overall the rain had put him out.
“FAN!” Testube screamed, quickly running over to him, slipping on the ground from mud but landing right next to him. She grabbed him, being gentle but firmly pressing him against her body. She could feel tears running down her face, and she could feel the limpness of Fan’s body, “Please be okay… Please be okay, Fan.. don’t leave me.”
“Testube!” Bot quickly ran up behind Testube, their hand quickly reaching to cover their mouth and gasping after seeing Fan. They froze in their spot and their body trembled after seeing Fan. (Bot couldn’t cry due to being a robot, so their sadness/crying is replaced by shaking. The harder they shake = the more crying)
“Fan please be okay….” Testube sat there holding Fan close to her, whispering endlessly about Fan being okay and how she didn’t want to lose him. The more she spoke the more she sobbed. Lifering and Suitcase had came down soon after Bot had left, OJ slowly following after, needing to be more careful because he was glass. Paintbrush and Box had stayed up with Cabby, fighting Poppy and Metag while they tried to put them both in cuffs. Cabby supervised, and attempted to help, but she couldn’t do much as the path down the cliff was to Rocky for her wheels, and she couldn’t really bend over when Poppy put up a fight and was pushed to the ground.
“Is he okay??” Suitcase called out as she made it to the bottom of the cliff, she quickly ran over. Testube hadn’t given a response, all she did was let out a choked sob and she struggled not to hurt Fan further by hugging him too hard. The sound of Testube struggling to gather air due to her crying caused Bot to run over to her side, hugging her while grabbing Fan’s hand. The sight of the family all “crying” (Bot shaking) was heartbreaking to see. Lifering and Suitcase walked over, allowing the family to have their moment while still coming over to assist them.
“Alright, Testube were going to need you to give us Fan.” Lifering said, leaning over to grab Fan.
“NO! No-…” Testube pulled Fan away. Glaring at Lifering. OJ had finally made his way down, walking up behind Suitcase, who was standing near Lifering.
“Let her hold him..” OJ said, before turning to look up to the others at the top of the cliff, “Start bringing Poppy and Metag back to the Hotel, We’ll meet you there soon.” Cabby gave a thumbs up, the 5 then left.
“There’s a safer way back up the cliff, it takes longer to get back to the hotel, but it would be much safer for all of us.” Suitcase said. Bot nodded, Testube didn’t give any reaction. She was now looking at Fan, crying more at the look of him.
“Let’s head back now.” Suitcase said, watching as Testube gently got up, clutching Fan up against her. The walk was long, but it felt longer because of the weight of the situation and the lack of talking. By the time they reached the hospital, Testube had overall calmed down, still had tears running down her face but wasn’t letting out heartbreaking sobs. As they walked inside the hospital, Salt couldn’t be seen at the front desk, reading a magazine, Pepper wasn’t anywhere to be found, which wasn’t shocking as the two took shifts when it was later in the night.
“Welcome in, what seems to be the-” Salt paused as she saw Testube walk in with Fan, “Oh my salt shaker.. what happened…”
“It’s a bit of a story..” OJ replied, before turning to Testube, “It’s late, you and Bot should head home and rest.”
“I-I don’t wanna leave Fan..” Testube clutched Fan closer to her.
“I know you don’t. But Salt needs to take care of him. And you can’t stay when she’s doing that.” OJ said, putting his hand on Testube’s shoulder.
“… Fine..” Testube sniffled, gently giving Fan to salt, and watching as he was taken back to one of the rooms.
“Come on Testube.. let’s head home.” Bot said, grabbing Testube’s shaky hand. Testube didn’t reply. She just turned around holding Bot’s hand and left for her lab with Bot.
As the two entered the lab. Testube let out a shaky sigh, letting go of Bot’s hand so they could go to their charging station in their room.
“Goodnight Testube..” Bot muttered, looking at Testube’s tired face, tear stains were visible on her glass, and she looked exhausted. Before Bot got the chance to walk away, Testube scooped Bot up into a hug.
“Goodnight Bot..” Testube whispered. Soaking in the comfort before letting Bot go, Bot gave Testube a weak smile, then left the room. Testube stood there in silence for a little bit. Before slowly making her way to her and Fan’s room, they didn’t share a bed, but they shared a room, Fan’s bed was in one corner, and Testube’s was in the other. It felt weird. Too weird, and quiet. Fan usually would ramble Testube’s ears off before he fell asleep mid rant. But now, Fan wasn’t there. She tried gaslighting herself into thinking Fan was staying up in the other room writing his theories in his journal, but she couldn’t force her brain to believe that lie when everything was so fresh. Testube’s crawled into her bed. Laying there facing the wall. After a long moment of silence, she broke down again.