Title: Amicus
Description: Written for a prompt on the kinkmeme. Chuck finds one of Kane's hound-bots, reprograms it, and makes a new friend. Contains some Mike/Chuck, oneshot.
Pairing(s): Mike/Chuck
Word Count: 6,298
Notes: Shoving some Mike/Chuck in here because the OP asked for it, and it fits kind of well. So yeah! More boys kissing. Big surprise. Not too much of it, though, since the fic doesn't really revolve around them.

Another cheesy title meaning companion in Latin! I'm unoriginal!

Chuck was one-hundred percent sure that once they got back and set to work rebuilding Mutt, Chuck would never put himself near Kane's technology again. Of course, he knew that he didn't really have a choice—being a Burner and fighting for Motorcity had interactions with Kane and whatever he could cook up for them written all over the description.

So when he found Kane's giant, terrifying dog-bot sitting on the ground, shorted-out and down for the count, he told himself to turn back. To tell Mike, who would take it somewhere no one would be able to get their hands on it and turn it against them.

Instead he found himself tearing open the circuit board and control panel, overriding the protocol the beast was set to follow, and rewriting it with one of his own.

"Mikey's gunna kill me," Chuck grumbled to himself as he fiddled about with the wiring. "Julie, too. And Jacob. And Dutch." His fingers flew across the keys of the control panel, typing in the robotic language. "Texas might think you're cool," he said, talking to the scrap of metal now, "but then he'll probably kill me too."

He had to make two runs back to the garage for parts and tools, but when he finally got the thing working once more, he typed in a final passage and took a step back. The thing's eye (could it be called an eye? It was just a glowing light, but it looked like an eye to Chuck) shone to life, blue this time instead of red, and it stood up on all fours. For a second Chuck felt his stomach drop in fear—what if it hadn't worked, and he'd just done Kane's work for him? What if it killed him and went after the others? What if—

And then, dropping to its elbows, it butted its head against Chuck's chest and slowly wagged its rear end back and forth. Chuck let out a shout of surprise and fell back, and the thing made a noise less like the horrifying snarling that it had made before and more like a sort of whine and nudged him in the side.

Okay, so it wasn't trying to kill him. That much was good.

Instead, it was…being affectionate?

"Hey," Chuck said when it prodded at him with a paw. "I'm fine. Get off."

It did as it was told, its rear still moving side to side ever so slightly as he dusted himself off and stood up again. So it listened to him as well. Two for two.

"You need a name," Chuck decided, putting his hands on its face as it sat down on its haunches. "Kane didn't give you names. He just made you and set you out to fight and retrieve."

Lowering its head, it rested its head on Chuck's arm.

"How about Steele?"

It gave him a look, and if Chuck didn't think that he was going crazy, he would have said it looked disappointed.

"Fine. Not Steele. It's okay, it wasn't very good anyways. What about Ace?"

Looking away, it rubbed its head against Chuck's arm.

"Fine, Mr. Picky. Chance, then. Chance is a good name."

Again, the look.

"You're impossible. Rex."

It looked a little happier with that.

"Really? You turn down Ace for one of the most common, unoriginal dog names there is?"

With a small wiggle of its rear end and the parting of its mouth, Rex pressed its snout against Chuck's shoulder once more. When Chuck wasn't fast enough to reach up to give it a pat it nuzzled his side, earning a squeak and a laugh from him.

"You know, you're not that bad when you're not trying to kill me."

Rex didn't say anything back, instead sitting back down on its haunches.

"Let's take you home."

The whole way there, Chuck was actually feeling pretty proud of himself.

Until, of course, Texas went after Rex with his nunchucks and Mike almost sliced him (Chuck had decided he was a boy robot dog) in half with his staff. It's hard to feel good about yourself when two of your best friends just tried to destroy probably one of your greatest accomplishments.

"No Texas, I told you, he's not one of Kane's hounds anymore!" Chuck's voice was thin as he backed up against Rex, one hand over his metal body and the other on top of his head. "Look at the eye! It's not red anymore! Notice how he's not trying to kill you!"

"Texas still thinks he should destroy it," Texas grumbled, reluctantly putting away his weapon.

"Chuck, I'm not saying this isn't cool and all, but why would you do it?" Mike asked him, still eyeing Rex nervously. "I know you put in those codes and everything, but Kane can still take control of it in an instant and turn it against us."

Chuck scowled. "I'm not eight anymore," he argued. "I know how to create secure anti-hack systems. He'd need to actually capture him and override the code manually if he wants to do that."

Mike still looked nervous, but he took a step back anyways. "Just…" He shook his head. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Chuck didn't add the "so do I" that was lingering on the edge of his tongue, and instead lead Rex down towards the garage. Julie and Dutch watched him the whole way there, their eyes burning holes into the back of Chuck's shirt as he slunk away.

He closed the door with excess force after he ushered Rex inside, grumbling to himself as he started to strip off the protective metal armour covering the hound.

"I'll show them," Chuck muttered as he set the first place down on the ground. "We'll show them. You're not bad. I just…ugh."

Rex lowered his head, looking up at him with that one shining blue eye.

"It's not your fault. It's Kane's. He made you this way; he made you to kill."

The terrifying growling that Chuck hadn't heard since there were hoards of them attacking made its way from within Rex, and Chuck froze.

"You don't like Kane either?" Chuck paused, thinking it over. "Of course you don't. I programmed you not to." He grinned, taking off the plate over Rex's back. "Kane's the monster, not you. You're…there's nothing wrong with you."

Rex's rear end started to wag back and forth again, and much to Chuck's surprise, his mouth opened and a long metal tongue lolled out.

Chuck took his face in his hands, stroking the textured metal. "Man, I'm so glad I reprogrammed you." He reached back up to take off the last piece of armour, fumbling a bit with the bits holding it on. When his grip slipped and he cut his hand on one of the parts damaged when they had taken the hounds down, Chuck took in a seething breath. "You know, Dutch would be way better at this than I am."

"Of course I would."

Chuck jumped with a screech, stumbling backwards and falling on his back, and before he could yell at Dutch for entering unannounced Rex was on his feet and leapt into action. His body was positioned above Chuck's, his legs rigid and mouth half-open with a ferocious snarl.

"Woah buddy, woah, easy," Chuck soothed, picking himself back up and holding onto Rex. "It's just Dutch."

The mechanic was pressed against the garage door, his hands held defensively in front of him, and he let out a small laugh. "Some guard dog you got there," he joked, walking towards them after Rex calmed down.

Chuck let out a nervous laugh as well. "Yeeeeaaah, some training would be good for him."

"Let's see what you've got there," Dutch proposed, taking out a wrench. Rex eyed him as he walked towards them, but after Chuck set a hand down on his head and nodded, he seemed to take the hint and sit back down. Dutch set to work on getting the plate off, fumbling in his toolbox for a different size of wrench. "Kane sure did take every precaution to the max with these things."

"Yeah," Chuck agreed, opening up Rex's control panel once more to get the wires to let go of the armour. "At least that means that if he ever goes back up against Rex, it'll be just as hard for him as it was for us."

There was a click and the wires went slack, allowing Dutch to take out the last couple of bolts and drop the cover beside the others. "So you settled on Man, those K's sure are ugly. What do you plan on replacing them with?"

Chuck shrugged. "I was hoping you could help me out." He ran a hand through his hair. "You know; only if you want. I just thought, seeing as you are the artist and all…"

"Don't worry about it," Dutch told him with a laugh, lightly punching him on the arm. Rex's head snapped up, but thankfully he didn't react. "We don't want something that'll attract too much attention. How 'bout just the flaming B?"

With a nod, Chuck repositioned one of the plates so they were all face-up. "That would be nice."

Dutch grinned before he flipped down his mask, and Chuck and Rex took a couple steps back to avoid the fumes.

Of course, Rex seemed excited by the new design when Chuck and Dutch fastened the armour back on. His body quivered and he stamped his six paws up and down while they worked, until Chuck shushed him and told him to stay still—and unsurprisingly, he did. When the two finally stepped back, he spun in a little circle before nuzzling up to Chuck.

"Hey, buddy, thank Dutch," he told him, giving him a shove towards the mechanic.

"No way man, don't send him over here, I already got—hey!" Dutch let out a cry as Rex all but pounced on him, his long tongue snaking out to press against the side of his face. "Cut that out, man!" His tone was light and his words halfhearted, and Chuck let out a laugh.

"At least he's not trying to tear you to shreds," he said with a shrug.

Picking himself back up, Dutch grimaced. "Dude, I did not need that image in my head!"

"Sorry." Chuck shrugged, a grin deceiving his words.

"Anyways, let's get back out there before the others think Rex ripped us apart or somethin'."

Chuck nodded, placing a hand on Rex's flank before walking back out through the door with him. Dutch walked ahead, waving out as he turned the corner, but Chuck held back, turning around to rest his head against Rex's shoulder.

"This was a bad idea," Chuck murmured to himself. "What if Mike's right? What if Kane does manage to override your systems, and he turns you against us—"

He'd noticed that Rex had started to growl at the mention of Kane's name, but he wasn't expecting the open-mouthed snarl that seemed to come from the very center of the hound's system as the last few words tumbled out of his mouth. Chuck felt a little taken aback, and with a slight squint, he looked into the glowing blue light.

"You hate him almost as much as we do, don't you?"

If he thought that Rex has looked terrifying before, he hadn't thought that he could get like this.

"Of course you do. Because under all that programming, you still have memories, and a mind of your own. He just…restricted that."

Rex stopped growling and lowered his head, pressing his face against Chuck's armpit. With a laugh Chuck grabbed hold of his head, feeling the cool metal under his fingertips.

"Come on, let's follow Dutch."

Rex stood back up, and Chuck would have thought that he was going crazy if he wasn't sure that he'd seen genuine affection in Rex's glowing, robotic eye.

So Mike didn't like Rex being kept in their room. He made that much clear right away.

"I feel like he's watching me," he complained as he undressed, not able to break the staring contest he was having with the hound even as he spoke to Chuck. "How are we supposed to…hell, how are we supposed to anything?"

Chuck sighed, sitting up in bed. "He's a robot, dude. It's not like he's going to judge you." He frowned as Rex turned his attention on him, deciding that Mike was right, even if he was exaggerating a bit.

"It's unnerving," Mike argued, pulling off his pants before sliding into bed. His eyes were still locked on Rex, and even though he wasn't touching him, Chuck could tell that he was pretty tense.

Bringing his fingers up to pinch the bridge of his nose, Chuck groaned. "Well what am I supposed to do with him?" he scoffed, looking back at Mike.

"I don't know! Put him in the garage! Like you just said, he's a robot!"

"But he's a robot with feelings! I can't just—"

"Oh my god. Tell me you didn't just say that."

"Say what? A robot with feelings? It's true."

"Robots don't have feelings, Chuck. They're just programmed. Program him to turn off or something."

"Now that's just being rude."

"Chuck!"

"Okay okay, fine!" With an indignant scowl, Chuck threw the covers off of himself and walked over to Rex. He waved a hand in a shooing motion when he noticed Mike watching him, and pretended he didn't see the little eye-roll he received in return.

Rex's rear end started to shake ever so slightly as Chuck walked over—he'd have to install a tail or something on him; it was a little odd just seeing the body movement on his own—and Chuck felt a sense of betrayal welling up in his chest.

"I'm really sorry about this, buddy," he told him, noticing that Rex stopped moving and cocked his head to the side as he opened up his control panel. "It's just for the night."

Mike would also call him crazy if he told him that Rex looked a little confused as Chuck tapped away. But by this time he was sure he was going crazy, because he closed the box and stood up, shaking his head and patting his leg. "C'mon," he told him, walking out the door. "This'll be better."

Rex followed him down the stairs and into the garage, where Chuck fashioned a little makeshift bed out of old towels and blankets. He watched from beside Mutt, sitting on his haunches, as Chuck threw together something that vaguely resembled a pillow.

"I'm sorry, Rex," Chuck said, patting the blankets so Rex would come over. "But it's either this or getting turned off for the night. And I'm more than sure you don't want that."

There was a certain sadness to the way Rex watched Chuck as he walked out. He flipped off the light switch and the garage was bathed in light blue, Rex's eye reflecting eerily off the cars and casting long shadows on the walls.

"G'night, bud," Chuck said as he closed the door.

He trudged back up the stairs, lazily pulling his feet up one step at a time. Mike sat up as he came in and closed the door, and held out an arm to invite him back into bed. Chuck slipped in beside him, feeling Mike's arms wrap around him, and curled his body up next to him.

"Sorry about that," Mike said into Chuck's hair. "It's just…those things were once trying to kill us, and though I know you've made sure Rex won't cause us any harm, he still makes me a bit uneasy."

"I understand."

Mike sighed, giving Chuck a squeeze before he kissed his hair. "Don't think too hard about it. In time we'll all get used to having him around."

Chuck nodded, letting out a breath. "I hope so."

Though Mike didn't say anything to that, Chuck knew that he had heard him by the hand running through his hair. They stayed like that for a while, neither quite tired enough to fall asleep yet or awake enough to get up and walk around. By the time half an hour passed Chuck felt Mike drift off, knowing because of the tell-tale regular pattern to his breath and the loosening of his grip on him. Mike usually fell asleep first.

An hour rolled around, and Chuck was just starting to feel drowsy when he heard something scratch lightly at the door. Untangling himself from Mike, he had just sat up to see what was going on when it opened.

And standing there, retracting his long metal tongue back into his mouth, was Rex.

"No!" Chuck hissed; pointing back the way Rex had come. "Bad dog! You're supposed to be in the garage!"

Using his tongue once more to close the door behind him, Rex padded over so that he was beside Chuck's side of the bed. He laid himself down, though his frame higher than the bed so he acted as some kind of guardrail to keep Chuck from falling off.

Chuck fell back on the bed, taking a pillow and pressing it over his face to muffle a groan. "You're impossible," he whispered down at Rex, taking it off for a brief second before pulling it back over his eyes.

Rex grabbed the pillow between his jaws and pulled it off, cocking his head to the side in a curious gesture at him.

"Give me that," Chuck snapped, snatching the pillow back and putting it under his head once more. "Now to sleep. Or hibernate. Or whatever I programmed you to do."

Resting his head back on his front two paws, Rex huffed out the robot-dog equivalent of a sigh and his light faded to a dull glow.

"There we go." Chuck reached down to give his head a pat, and then settled himself back in Mike's arms.

With luck he'd wake up first and have time to lead Rex back downstairs, but Chuck kind of doubted that. Smiling as he felt Mike curl back around him in his sleep and heard Rex snuff beside him, he felt a sense of security he hadn't experienced since he was very, very young.

Oh well. He'd deal with it in the morning.

Once Texas finally got it in his head that Rex wasn't going to rip his face off, he actually liked playing with him.

Except that Texas's version of 'playing' wasn't playing at all.

He'd swing his nunchuck at Rex, who would snap at it and bounce away, Texas yelling and chasing after him until Rex would drop it and take a step back. When he threw it as hard as he could Rex just kind of sat there and looked at him, and Texas looked a little disappointed.

Chuck and Mike clutched each other, trying their hardest not to laugh, as Texas tried his best to imitate a dog and ran after his weapon. He came back with it clutched in his mouth, panting for effect after he dropped it.

Neither could take much more by then, and when Rex picked it up in his own mouth and launched it even farther than Texas had, they finally dissolved into laughter.

"He's done this before, hasn't he?" Julie asked, smiling as she too let out a chuckle.

Unable to form words quite yet, Chuck just tried to nod. He pushed at Mike's shoulder to try to get up but lost his balance once more, and as he tumbled back beside him, the two started their fit all over again.

"Texas doesn't think this is funny," Texas complained as he came back, holding his nunchucks away from Rex. "He's supposed to be the one fetching, not me."

Even Dutch couldn't help himself as he too let out a laugh, and Rex lifted his head in a sense of pride. "It's hilarious, man," he argued.

By the time they all died down, Texas had sat himself down in a huff and there were tears streaked down Mike and Chuck's faces. Julie and Dutch were grinning at the two of them, and when Rex came over to nuzzle against Chuck, he held onto his face and allowed himself to be pulled up.

"Sorry about that, Texas," Mike apologized, taking Chuck's hand and standing up himself before he brushed himself off. "That was just—"

He was cut off by the red alarm systems, screens popping up with warnings all around them. Immediately they were running towards their cars, Mike shouting "Come on, let's go! Bots by the east gate!" and Texas swinging his nunchucks with what he thought were ninja noises.

Chuck was running with them, until he noticed Rex beside him. "No, Rex," he shouted above the alarms, pointing back to the garage. "I'm sorry, but you can't come. You'll get hurt." Rex growled, his hackles rising, but Chuck was firm. "No. Go back."

Even the others would agree that Rex looked dejected, his head falling and his paws dragging as he trudged back to the HQ. Chuck felt bad, but it was for the better.

"Chuck, come on!" Mike yelled from inside Mutt, revving her engine.

Prying his eyes away, Chuck ran towards him. He didn't look back.

It was kind of hard to feel bad while upgraded, somehow even more dangerous than usual Kanebots were firing at their tail and inches away from hitting Mutt. Chuck's brain was in overdrive, working out a thousand different scenarios at once—none of which ended well—and calculating their chances of survival, which was also lower than he would have liked to elaborate on.

"Mikey, you need to slow down or—AUGH MIKEY!" Chuck's voice rose about an octave and a half and he clutched the door handle and the console to keep himself in place, screaming at the top of his lungs as Mutt fell over the cliffside.

And Mike was grinning.

Grinning.

Clamping his eyes shut, Chuck waited for the sickening sound of Mutt crunching against the ground they surely had to hit at some point. So naturally, he was surprised when it never came.

Instead Mike had somehow turned Mutt around so she was just level with the cliffside, and with a small bump of her wheels, she was driving down the side of it. Of course the huge drop wouldn't be until the next road down, but Chuck didn't have much time to sit there thinking of himself as stupid.

"We need a way out of here," Mike yelled, shifting Mutt into a higher gear as they bounced onto the pavement. "I can't hold these things off for long."

"I'm working on it, hold on!" Chuck shouted back, tapping his fingers away at the screens now that he didn't have to worry (as much) about dying. The little dots of the Kanebots were on the screen, along with the larger ones telling them where the other Burners were, and Chuck zoomed the map out.

"Chuck!"

"Yes yes, okay! I've got it! Take your right up he—oh my god Mikey you're going to go over the edgAAAAHH!"

Chuck shut down the screens as Mutt's back tires went over the edge, though their momentum carried them forwards until they were back and coasting along forwards again.

"Don't you ever do that again!" Chuck screamed, his knuckles white where they were gripping for support.

"Relax, Chuckles," Mike told him, and in that moment Chuck would have liked nothing better than to smack that smug grin right off Mike's stupid face.

"Don't 'relax, Chuckles' me!" Chuck yelled. "We could have died! We have almost died more times than I can count! My heart's going to just implode on itself one day from all this stress, and then—"

"Chuck!"

He saw Mike's eyes go wide before he yelled his name, but by the time Chuck had turned to see what had bothered him there was already one wire arm wrapped around him and another pressing the release on his seat belt.

And Chuck screamed.

Thrashing was useless, and he just had time to see the terror in Mike's eyes as he was pulled from Mutt.

The bot wasted no time flying upwards—why it was so intent on taking him alive rather than just blowing them up like they usually did Chuck had no clue—but Chuck kept screaming bloody murder like there was nothing else he could possibly do. Technically there wasn't, at least not with Chuck's ability, but he knew that the other Burners would be trying their damndest to be getting away by now.

"Chuck! No!" he heard Mike shout, and saw Mutt turning around to try and scale the hill. She wouldn't be able to, Chuck knew, but it was a little late to tell Mike that now.

There was the obnoxious noise of Texas's horn as Stronghorn came barreling down the slope, and Chuck had just enough time to stop screaming and look with horror before the bot threw him down.

He didn't have enough time to scream during that moment, though, as another one caught him by the foot and started off in the other direction as Stronghorn kept going. Chuck wanted to shout "nononono" but he couldn't quite make himself do anything other than look on in terror, and watched as he plowed into the front of Mutt and sent them both tumbling backwards towards the road.

At first he thought he was imagining things when he heard the familiar snarling, but when the bot holding him suddenly changed course towards the other side of the cliff, he knew that they'd been followed.

Rex burst into view, shooting or tearing apart one bot after the other as he made his way towards Chuck. He looked down, seeing the very edge of the road slowly gain more distance away from him as the bot tried to fly away, and then back to Mutt where Mike was already trying to get out. But Rex was faster and more agile, and as he leapt from the pavement onto the bots back, tearing apart the insides, Chuck went too.

Now, he screamed. The rocky cliff face was coming upon them fast, and Chuck was still trapped in the arms that looked all too much like the same material Rex's limbs were made of. They hit it with a painful thud, all three of them—tumbling down the rocks towards the bottom of the pit.

He saw Rex trying to force his way back up to him, scrabbling at the loose dirt, and felt pain in all of his limbs as he was flipped around like a ragdoll.

Rex had almost reached him by the time a huge rock loomed in front of them.

Chuck didn't see much of anything after that.

If Mike had ever been more terrified of anything his entire life it had obviously escaped his memory, because he couldn't remember a time where his entire body shook and he felt like vomiting.

"We have to go after them!" he shouted, getting back into Mutt and starting her engine. He prepared to launch himself over the edge, line locking the brake and hearing the back wheels spin in response. He was just about to let go when Julie cut in front of him, her icon staring him down in panicked anger.

"Are you stupid?" she shouted, loud enough that Mike could hear her from her car as well. "We can't go that way! We need to go around!"

"We'll be too late!"

"We're already too late!"

Letting go of the gas and turning his wheel, Mike swerved around Julie and tore down the road. He set his mouth in a line, trying to see down the slope but unable to from his vantage point. She was right—even if he had shot himself over the edge, he wouldn't have been able to make it there in time. He could only hope, and go after them instead.

The drive couldn't have taken more than about three minutes, going at well over 300 mph, but to Mike it was the longest drive of his life. Each corner seemed too far away, and when he reached the bottom, it seemed to go by even slower as he searched for the familiar figure of his friend.

"Chuck!" he yelled, leaning out of the window. "Chuck!"

Julie caught up to him, speeding past to check further down the way, and Mike just caught the flicker of a light blue light a little ways down before it disappeared.

Rex had jumped after him, hadn't he? It had to be him.

Mike slammed on the gas, kicking up gravel with the back tires, and skidded to a halt beside the wreck that was now Rex. A wreck was all that really could describe him—with one of his side panels completely missing, his faceplate and eye light cracked and wires torn all over his body, he looked in worse condition than when Chuck had first found him.

Rex was dead. Or at least he was as dead as a robot could get. There was no life to the metal scraps of his body, and no light to his single eye. His jaw had almost been torn off, and his long tendril of a tongue hung grotesquely from his face. Mike reached forward to touch his face.

Nausea already rolling in his stomach when he heard a whimper from inside the empty chassis—Mike hadn't realized his legs were tucked in against himself, as if he was holding something in—and he froze. Pulling back the slack limbs and wires, Mike was surprised when he saw blood stain his fingertips.

He was even more surprised when the familiar blue of Chuck's shirt was revealed under all the broken machinery.

"Julie!" Mike cried. "Julie, I found him! Come here!"

9Lives did a drifting turn as Julie came rushing back. Pulling more and more wires out of the way, Mike finally revealed a very much alive, albeit banged up, Chuck resting along the untouched cables inside of Rex. There was a wound on his head where most of the blood was coming from, but aside from that, it was mostly just scrapes and bruises.

"Where is he?" Julie called as she jumped out of her car. When she saw Rex she froze, staring with an obvious horror to her features, until Mike reached in and pulled out Chuck. "Oh my god."

Mike nodded. "He'll be fine. He saved him," Mike told her, jerking his head towards Rex as he carefully deposited Chuck into Mutt. "Chuck was right, fixing him up. He saved Rex, and Rex saved him in return. Gave back the life he gave to him." Despite himself, he sighed. "Chuck's not going to be very happy about this."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Julie said with a grin, reaching over to pick up one of Rex's broken parts. "You forget that you're talking to me. I can get new parts no problem."

With a grin, Mike helped her haul the remaining pieces of Rex into the back of 9Lives. "Let's do it, then."

Waking up not knowing where you are is never a good way to wake up.

Add not knowing why your head had a ton of bricks dropped on it, and it's even worse.

With a groan, focusing on the individual imperfections in the ceiling to pull him out of his sleep, Chuck rubbed his forehead and felt the bandage wrapped around it.

Oh. The accident. Right.

He sat up with a little bit of trouble, noticing that he was in his and Mike's bed with various bandages on his body. His knee hurt something awful, though he could move it without much pain. So he didn't have any broken bones. That was good.

The floor creaked ever so slightly as Chuck set his feet down on it, thankful that he had pants and a shirt on so he didn't have to dress himself. He couldn't have been out that long, but surely Rex would have missed him—

Rex.

Chuck remembered falling down that hill, and the faint few seconds on consciousness he had as Mike carried him towards Mutt. He'd seen the mess that was left of Rex; it would be impossible to get the parts they needed to fix him again.

Suddenly he felt even wobblier on his feet. He reached out, clutching the dresser to keep him from falling. Left foot, right foot. Left foot, right foot. Good. Now repeat.

He made it to the door, gripping the handrail for support. Taking the steps one at a time, trying to push the dizziness out of his head, he counted each step out loud until he was at the bottom.

"Chuckles! You're awake!"

Chuck looked up from the floor, seeing Mike standing behind the counter beside Julie. She was cooking something in a frying pan, and though Chuck heard Texas and Dutch arguing, he couldn't see them from the doorway. Slowly, shakily, he walked in. Mike walked over, holding a hand out for Chuck to grasp. And when Texas turned back to Dutch and Julie looked back at the food, he stole a quick kiss to the uninjured side of Chuck's head.

"Glad to have you back in the world of the living," he told him, turning back to Julie. "Just in time, too. We're about to have lunch." He sat Chuck down, and grinned at him once more. "And before you ask, you've only been out for about a day. You were pretty banged up when we found you, but it was mainly just that nasty head wound we were worried about."

"What about…" Chuck swallowed, feeling the room spin a bit as he remembered the broken metal and extinguished blue light. "Where's Rex?"

Mike and Julie shared a look, and Chuck felt his heart leap into his mouth before they grinned at each other. When Mike looked back at him, Chuck realized he was wearing the same smile that he usually did before he threw Mutt off a cliff or pulled Chuck off a rooftop.

"Come with me."

He helped Chuck up again, and slinging his arm over his shoulders, helped him back outside to the garage.

Chuck didn't quite like the look on Mike's face, but it was better than dread or sadness, so he let himself get a little bit optimistic. Though by the time they got to the garage, he stopped in his tracks as Mike opened the door.

"I swear to god if he's just a heap of broken parts, Mikey…"

He regretted his words a bit when he saw the hurt in Mike's eyes. "Would I do that to you, Chuck?"

Reluctantly, he frowned and looked down. "No."

"Then come on."

Mike took Chuck's hand again, leading him through the door and around the Burners' cars. There were spare parts everywhere, and Chuck was surprised that Dutch hadn't gotten after them for leaving quite the mess yet. Though surprisingly it was the dirtiest around Mutt, with wrenches and spare parts and paints everywhere. And…wires?

But sitting in his bed, curled up and looking like he'd just come out of the factory, was Rex.

"Oh my god, Mike, how did you…?" Chuck stammered, letting go of Mike to rush over. He ran a hand over the newly painted sideplate of Rex's; unable to hide the enormous grin that he was sure was taking over his face.

"Actually, it was mostly Julie," Mike told him with a shrug. "We salvaged what we could, including his core and memory drives, but a lot of parts needed replacing. And since she words for Kaneco, she was able to get them for Dutch to replace." He nodded to the control panel. "We just weren't sure how to turn him back on, or I'm sure he would have been by your bedside."

"I…" Chuck swallowed, opening the hinge to expose the keyboard and screen. "Thanks."

Mike shrugged again, grinning almost as much as Chuck. "Don't worry about it. It's the least we could do."

With his fingers flying across the screen Chuck forgot about being dizzy, and was relieved to find his old coding was still in play. With a few commands and the shutting of the panel, a spark of electricity went through Rex's circuits and his eye shone to life.

And seeing Chuck in front of him he pounced, making whimpering noises similar to those the programmer made during particularly stressful rides, and nuzzled his face into Chuck's chest.

"Rex, buddy," Chuck cooed, holding onto his head and allowing himself to be pushed up to his feet. "You're okay."

Rex's whole rear end was wagging from side to side; his back paws stretching with the effort. His mouth lolled open and he lifted a front paw, eager to be as close to Chuck as possible.

"He saved you," Mike told him, leaning back against Mutt. "He sort of…almost absorbed you into himself and took the brunt of the fall. It was a long way down."

"I know," Chuck murmured, scratching Rex's head.

"I was wrong. You did the right thing, reprogramming him."

Chuck rested his head on top of Rex, feeling the cool metal against his cheek. "I know," he repeated, a little quieter.

They just stood like that for a little while longer, until Chuck wobbled on his feet and both Mike and Rex moved to steady him. "Come on," Mike told him, motioning them towards the door. "Let's get some food. You've got to be hungry."

"Starved," Chuck corrected him, and holding on to Rex's shoulder plate, followed him back towards the little kitchen.