Protective

By: DemonClowSorceress

So, saw this on TV, caught up with all the episodes, and instantly loved Razer and Aya's interactions. Had to do this. Spoilers up to "Reckoning."

Disclaimer - I don't own Green Lantern: The Animated Series.

He didn't remember much after seeing the hologram of Atrocitus' war fleet from the stolen file.

He'd heard Hal Jordan and Kilowag begin talking about contacting Oa and the Guardians, but Razer's focus remained on Aya's broken form. She stayed active long enough to backup the file on the main computers, then the green energy holding her pieces together dissipated, leaving her remaining metal parts behind like shed beetle husks.

He stepped aside, leaving Hal and Kilowag to talk as he sat by the window and tried to calm down. He knew he should've taken off his ring then. The rage inside him burned to run loose, to cause pain, to be free. But he kept it under control. Razer slipped into a state of detachment, letting his mind wander across the galaxy, far away from the Interceptor. Time disappeared.

When Razer regained his sense of time, he was alone in the room. The two Green Lanterns had apparently returned to the bridge. He immediately looked over to Aya, but saw that there was no change. She was still down for repairs.

And for good reason; Atrocitus had been brutal to the AI. Since they couldn't really go back to locate the parts that had been ripped away, Aya had needed to procure replacements. That took time, and once they were ready, she shut down all but her basic functions to instigate repairs to both her body and the ship in general. That had been hours ago. She was silent as the grave, save for the pulse of energy that made the ship thrum.

I shouldn't worry so much about an artificial intelligence, he thought. It's not like she's alive. And yet seeing Atrocitus holding her lifeless form in Battery Square...it made him recall the horror he'd felt when he walked into his home and saw his wife dead. Murdered. Gone. In that brief moment, he'd equated losing Ilana to almost losing Aya. Perhaps because Atrocitus was behind both acts.

Straightening from his slouch, Razer winced when his back cramped. He gritted his teeth and continued to sit up, trying to crack his back and alleviate the pain.

"You appear to be in some discomfort."

His head jerked up at the sound of her disembodied voice. A chuckle escaped him. "You can't talk," he replied with a smirk. "You're still in half a dozen pieces."

"My repairs are nearing completion. Estimate return to operational functions in three-point-two minutes." She paused for a minute. "My surveillence systems indicate that you have been here for seven-point-three hours."

"That long?" He continued to stretch, working out the kinks from his back. "I didn't notice."

"I have noticed that you are very protective of my human robotic form, Razer."

He froze mid-stretch, more out of surprise than anything. "Excuse me?"

"Is my vocal box damaged? Were my words garbled?" she asked.

"No, just...no, you're mistaken. I'm not being protective."

"There have been several notable examples." Aya's cyber-eye descended from the center console and turned to face him more fully. "You shielded me with your body from the patrols in the catacombs on Betrassus. You carried me outside the Interceptor on Mogo before you destroyed the device set by Drusa. You came to retrieve me in Battery Square on Shard, and carried me again back to the Interceptor."

Razer gave the AI a look. "Those are your notable examples?" he asked flatly. "You're being absurd."

"Then please define your actions. I see no other explaination."

"Very well." He crossed his arms. "Maybe you haven't noticed, but your components are white and you faintly glow in the dark, and so I moved to make sure the passing guards didn't see you."

"I have noticed," Aya said. "Very well. And on Mogo?"

"I carried you outside because the Green Lanterns would've blamed me had anything happened to you if the device set off booby-traps in the ship. I did used to set traps for Atrocitus and the Red Lantern Corps, if you recall."

"I do. Please continue."

Razer was on his feet by now. "I went to get you on Shard because I knew, out of the three of us, I was the only one still strong enough to take on Atrocitus and not get killed. I carried you back because, if you'll recall, you asked me to."

Aya paused once more. "Your logic is sound," she finally said. "However, I believe you are not being entirely truthful."

"Believe what you want. It means nothing to me," Razer said with a careless shrug. Blue eyes glanced over her disassembled form. "Are you close to done yet?"

In response, her replacement limbs glowed green as they reassembled. Wires were sheathed in Lantern energy. Razer watched as Aya, quite literally, pulled herself together in front of him. When her face materialized, stark blue eyes blinked open.

"Repairs complete," announced the AI, sitting up on the cot. She examined her robotic form, testing all her limbs before looking at Razer and asking, "Are my components properly aligned?"

He couldn't help the small, relieved smile that tilted one corner of his mouth upwards. "You look fine."

Reviews, anyone?