"I am Zane. Built to protect those who cannot protect themselves."

I smiled, taking his hands in mine, tears running down my cheeks. His skin glimmered a smooth silver, and his eyes shown a gentle blue. But his voice, his voice broke me.

"Yes. Yes, you are. And you did. You did wonderfully." I lifted a hand, cupping the smile of his cheeks. His hands remained at his side. My fingers trembled as I cradled him. It was as if he were a doll I had to move myself to feel any semblance of affection. We were inches away from each other, but the disconnect between us seemed worlds apart. He was here in front of me, he had done the impossible, rebuilt himself, come to me after he had died, and yet it was as if a cruel puppet had come back to taunt me in my grief. "Zane, what's wrong with you? Don't you remember me? Don't-"

"Yes, you are Pixal, a droid much like myself, created by Cyrus Borg-"

"Yes, yes, I know," I placed a finger on his lips, silencing him. "I know who I am. But do you remember why you know me?"

"You assisted me in recent missions, repairing me, protecting me, and providing information-"

"Yes," I sighed, slightly exasperated at this point. "But do you remember what our relationship was? Do you remember… how compatible we are?"

"My systems have increased compatibility with Borg's designs upon my rebuilding."

"How's that?"

"Several key pieces in my systems were not found in Borg's factory, so my designs were slightly altered to coincide with the materials available. The main redesign being my power source, which has now been replaced with-"

"Your power source?" My eyes widened. "What happened to… your heart? I thought-"

"The power source in my body was destroyed." Dread washed over my body. It made sense now. The monotone speech, the clinical talk, the total obliviousness. He couldn't feel anything. "The only remaining piece resides inside of your systems." He placed his hand over my heart, indicating its location. I placed my hand over his, more tears leaving my eyes. He had given me his heart, ripped it in half to keep me alive. And here I stand, now more Zane than Zane himself. It felt awful. As if I had stolen his identity, kept his life from him.

"So, you don't feel a connection between us?" My eyes rose to his.

"Droids like myself are unable to experience human emotions."

I removed his hand from my chest, squeezing it between both of mine. My heart, his heart shattered inside me. I knew now. I knew what he had been through before he had given me a piece of himself. How he felt when he confessed his feelings for me.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm sorry I broke you."

"It is not your fault that my body was destroyed."

I giggled. "That's not really what I meant."

"Is there anything you require of me at the moment? I was programmed to assist you first after my completion."

A wide smile spread across my face. Zane had thought of me before he had passed. He had gone the extra step to make sure I would be taken care of. I looked into his eyes, thinking for a moment. "Hold me. Please."

He smiled, placing his arms around me in a loose hug. "You do seem in need of emotional support."

My head rested on his shoulder as tears poured from my eyes. Zane was gone. Lost to the world, only a shell left here as a constant reminder that he wasn't coming back. Not only to me though, to the rest of the team. To his family, his brothers. They had known him for much longer, most likely loved him more than I could ever hope to, with real love, not artificial. With real honest emotions that couldn't be turned off, or restricted. How could I ever face them? How could they ever face me? The girl who stole his life force and now lived over his corpse. They could never forgive me. They would hate me. This second chance Zane had given himself would only taunt them more. I didn't deserve what Zane had given me. I didn't deserve to live with him dead. He was meant to live and feel and make connections. I wasn't. He should be the one with the energy.

… he should be the one with the energy.

I broke from his grasp, smiling. "Zane, you trust me, right?"

"I am ready to do anything that may assist you."

"I'm going to shut you off for a little while, just to make a few adjustments to your system, okay?" I held his hands gently in mine.

"Of course," He nodded.

"But before I turn you off, I want you to remember a few things for me, okay?" My breath became very short as I continued. "For… when you wake up again."

"I am equipped to remember any information given to me."

I laughed lightly, wiping the tears from my eyes tried to find the words I wanted to express. "Zane, I want you to remember that… this was my choice. You sacrificed yourself for me, and this is the least I can do for you."

"I'm not sure-"

I pressed a finger to his lips again, shushing him as I struggled to speak. "Zane… we are compatible. We will always be compatible. And… I'm sorry."

"There is no need for you to apologize-"

"Zane," I held his head in my hands, trying to keep him focused. "I'm going to miss being with you, but I'm not the one built for this."

"According to my database, you were built to assist-"

"Yes, Zane. Yes, I was." I hung my head, trying to focus on what I had to do. "And I'm going to assist you right now, okay?"

"Okay," He smiled.

I looked at him for a long moment thinking of anything else I needed to say to him. "Zane, do you think you could open your control panel for me?"

I stood back as his chest was opened in front of me. "If you wish to access my power, this switch controls its functionality." He pointed to a large switched at the corner of the control panel. My hand slowly reached forward, touching the cool metal of the switch, but hesitating.

"Zane, I…"

"Is there something wrong?" My eyes traveled up to meet his, concern playing across his face. There was nothing else to say, there were no words to express what I wanted to. There was no way to make him understand. Without thinking, my body moved forward, connecting our lips for a brief moment. It wasn't special, or romantic, and held no meaning to him, but it was the only way I could ever tell him what I wanted to. I opened my eyes to see him very much confused by the situation.

"Why-"

"Just," I stopped him. "Remember that for me, okay?"