Author's Note: I WROTE THIS CHAPTER IN THE STUFFY 83 DEGREE HEAT OF MY ROOM
AIR CONDITIONING WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS

H- I FORGOT TO MENTION LAST TIME- REVIEWS/COMMENTS ARE MY FAVORITE THING. EVER. RECOMMENDATIONS. CRITIQUES. ANYTHING. THEY ARE MY MOTIVATION. EVEN IF IT'S JUST ONE OR TWO WORDS PLS GUYS THANK YOU
HOPE YOU ENJOY :D

Chapter Two

Much to Spine's surprise, the professor kept his distance. They did not receive letters, calls- it seemed that he had given up. But Spine knew that all was not always what it seemed, and that it was better to be safe than sorry.

It would appear that his caution paid off.

They were driving home. Their car was black and streamlined, blending into the night. Well, except for Rabbit. He had stuck his head out the window, one hand on his hat.

"Rabbit, you're going to get your head knocked off by another car." Spine said. "Rabbit? Rabbit!"

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Rabbit shouted into the night air, grinning and closing his eyes against the biting wind. "YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAH!"

"Rabbit, you are being incredible immature-"

Rabbit turned, struggling to see through squinted eyes, and stuck a mechanical tongue out at him.

"Why are you even shutting your eyes?!" Spine said. "You have goggles! There are goggles on your hat! Brass goggles! That is specifically what those are made for!"

"But what fun is there in that?!" Rabbit laughed. "Come on. Join me!"

"I'm driving, Rabbit."

"Gee Spine," Hatchworth said critically, "I don't know if I'd call that driving."

"Oh, well I'M sorry- maybe I'd drive better if I had better arms!"

"Probably." Hatchworth agreed.

Spine sighed. "Hatchworth, that was meant as an insult."

"Why, an insult towards whom?"

Suddenly, Spine caught a glint in his rearview mirror. The second he tried to focus on it, it was gone.

His eyes narrowed.

"Rabbit." he hissed. "Back in the car."

"Aw, Spine!" Rabbit said sadly.

"I'm serious!"

Rabbit saw that he was. Giving a quick look around, he pulled himself back into the car and rolled up the window.

"We're being followed." Spine murmured.

A dark worry buried itself in Rabbit's chest. He edged slightly closer to Spine, automatically reaching for the other's jacket.

"Are you sure?" he breathed.

"Why are we whispering?" Hatchworth whispered.

Spine's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "We can't show any sign that we notice them. Don't look back."

A moment passed.

Hatchworth looked back.

The other car dropped back instantly, disappearing into the night.

"GODDAMMIT, HATCHWORTH!" Spine shouted furiously. He stepped on the pedal, and the car shot forward with a jolt. Rabbit screamed.

"YOU'LL KILL US AAAAAALL!"

"RABBIT, BE QUIET!"

"WHY ARE WE SHOUTING?!"

"YOU TOO, HATCHWORTH!"

The car accelerated, and the road blurred as it whipped by

"I feel sick, I feel sick!" Rabbit moaned.

"Robots can't feel sick, that's ridiculous!" Hatchworth said.

Spine shushed them. "Look around- since we lost sight of the car, it could be anywhere!"

'Anywhere' turned out to be much closer than expected. The strange car swerved in front of them, screeching to a halt and cutting off their path.

Spine gritted his teeth and wrenched the steering wheel to the side, peeling into a small street. The smell of burnt rubber filled the air, and Rabbit yelped- his strong metallic fingers carved into Spine's arm-

There was a crack, and Spine's arm was still.

"GODDAMMIT, RABBIT!"

"I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY!" Rabbit yelled. "WE'RE GOING TO DIE AND IT'S ALL MY FAULT I'M SO SORRY I-"

"We're not going to die." Spine said. His eyes glinted.

The car began to slow.

"Uh- uh- S-spine?" Hatchworth stammered. "What are you doing?"

"Get out and hide... NOW!" Spine shouted. He threw the car door open and dove behind a dumpster.

Rabbit sucked in a breath of steam. His head clicked from side to side, and he finally kicked the car door open and threw himself into the crawl space under a block of mailboxes, across the street from Spine. Hatchworth edged under the dumpster.

The three stilled their gears as a pair of headlights flooded the road with twin beams. The other vehicle slowed. It was a black van, sleek and sturdy-looking.

The door opened.

From his hiding-place, Rabbit saw two pairs of feet drop to the ground. He heard a dreadful crackling noise, and saw the head of a small staff swipe past the ground. It was an electrified livestock prodder.

He held very still.

Opposite from him, Spine clenched a fist. At this rate... he had to make a decision. Right now.

He knew Rabbit wouldn't be able to use his weapons- not because they didn't work. They worked just fine.

Rabbit had always had... a problem with his weapons. He hated to see himself as a weapon, as a killer, as a thing to be used. It had haunted him for most of his life- a dangerous, alien part of his body. He lived in uncomfortable silence with it.

One of the strangers turned towards the block of mail boxes...

And with a click and a whirr, a section of Spine's arm slid back to reveal a gun.

Spine liked to think of himself as more of... a practical pacifist, in his own words.

He slipped out of the shadows and rammed his elbow into the nearest man. The man grunted, falling and dropping his prodder. Spine stepped on it, breaking it in half. Then, he sprinted around the car, stopped-

"The Spine!" Rabbit shouted. The other man had found him- he scrambled back from the tip of the other man's prodder... the electricity snapped centimeters from his face- and then Spine was there, grabbing the man in an iron chokehold. He dragged him back, slamming him again the van. The stranger fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Look out!" Rabbit shouted, pointing with eyes wide. Spine whirled, stumbled back from the blow of a third man-

Who was suddenly hit in the head by a wrench. His eyes rolled back and he fell to reveal Hatchwork behind him, who smiled and winked. "Hey, chaps!"

Spine smiled, sliding his gun back into his arm. Rabbit let out a relieved breath of steam

It didn't last long, though- suddenly, the sound of tires against pavement pierced the still air.

"Car!" Spine hissed.

They all scrambled to the car, and the air was alive with the sound of the buzzing and clicking from their quick movements. Once they were in, Spine slammed his foot down. The car advanced, careening into the night.

They sat in shaken silence.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Thanks, Hatchworth!" Spine called after him. He heard a tired mumble in response, and then a door closing.

He moved his newly repaired arm, listening closely to the hum of the electronics. He caught sight of his watch on it, and he sighed.

Another late night, it seemed.

CLANK

Spine cocked his head, listening.

Click-click

"Rabbit, I can hear you." Spine said. Hearing a sigh from outside, he chuckled.

"Why can't I have super hearing?" Rabbit complained, opening the door. "Why do you always get the cool stuff?"

"Because I'm the only one here with any sense."

There was a brief silence. Spine twirled a screwdriver, adjusting the bolts on his arm.

"Say, The Spine," Rabbit said cautiously- "After that car thing, I was just thinking... shouldn't we move away?"

Spine looked up at him from under the brim of his hat, raising an eyebrow. "I wish." he muttered. "We don't have enough money, though. Who'd by this run down shack of a house?"

"Th-they're hunting us down!"

"It's only one person, and we've seen many like him before."

"But- it's n-n-n-ot safe!" Rabbit protested, face stricken. "S-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-!"

"Now, don't get yourself worked up." Spine said, standing. He leaned against the table, a concerned look on his face. "As long as we keep our guard up, I'm sure he'll move on."

Rabbit looked down at the ground, arms stiff by his sides.

"You're lying." He muttered.

"What-?"

"I said you're l-l-l-lying!"

"Rabbit, are you-?"

With a whirr, Rabbit's hands clenched into fists. He looked up, squeezing his eyes shut.. "I don't know how to stop it!" he cried.

His face was streaked with black, greasy oil. It leaked out the corners of his eyes, dripping off the curve of his jaw.

Spine's brow furrowed. It was a strange little glitch that they all had, the leaking oil. It had absolutely no purpose, except maybe to resemble human crying. They could never be sure.

It was rare, though, and Spine understood that Rabbit was distressed.

Rabbit swiped his sleeve across his dirtied cheeks, glancing to the side in embarrassment. "I- I just don't want to kill anyone. Haven't I killed enough p-p-p-people? What if they use m-m-m-m-m-me?"

Spine reached for him. "Rabbit-"

"NO!" Rabbit yelled, his voice breaking. He batted Spine's hand away. "I'm going to be used as- as a thing to kill people-" he gulped- "and you just want to SIT here and do NOTHING?! I'm- I- I-" More oil dripped down his cheeks. "I'm not just a machine, I can't do this! And- and I don't want to die!"

"None of us want to die, Rabbit."

"But I SHOULD!" Rabbit sobbed. "I can't control myself well- I'll kill innocent people, and what then? What'll I do THEN?!" He let his face fall to his hands.

"I think," Spine said reassuringly, "That you're just shaken up by what happened today. He won't get you, not while I'm here."

"But-"

"Rabbit." Spine grabbed him by the arms, looking him intensely in the eyes.. "Rabbit, listen to me. Nothing's going to happen. We escaped this guy's men today, and everything turned out just fine. That's it."

"I-"

"And if it comes to it," Spine went on, "Then you use your weapons in self defense."

Rabbit's eyes widened. "No! Never!"

"Yes." Spine urged. "You've got to promise me that. You've got to promise me that if you're out of ideas and out of luck, then you will use them."

"Well- well, fiine." Rabbit said nervously. "But- but only if there's nothing else! Only then!"

"Only then." Spine said, letting go of his arms.

Rabbit became embarrassed again, shifting uncomfortably. "S-sorry about your arm."

"It's okay-"

"The Spine-how do you do it?"

Spine eyed him curiously. "Do what?"

"How d-d-d-d-d-do you use your- weapons- without..." He paused, and the silence spoke for him.

Spine understood.

"I don't know, Rabbit." he said. "And honestly, that scares me a little sometimes."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Spine had trouble shutting down properly that night.

His circuits kept waking him up- at every little sound, every creak of the house, his eyes were open again.

All this Professor guy needed, he tried to convince himself, was some time. He would give up. He had to give up. They just needed to hold out for a while longer.

But it is hard to predict time, and harder to predict the actions of a madman- and when both are involved, it becomes hard to be certain of anything at all.

In fact, it would be over by the next nightfall.