Authors Note: Hello again! I decided that I'm not going to try to type out any accents becuse I'll just make a fool out of myself. :D

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

2D stared up at the ceiling. It felt as though everything good inside him had been forcibly removed. He could barely feel good about music anymore. Not without Noodle. All he could do was hold on to the shred of hope that she had just decided to leave them and go into hiding. Nothing could kill her. Could it?

He wasn't even exactly sure what had happened. Everyone had known El Manana was a hoax. She had run off to the Maldives for some privacy. He could respect that. The superstar lifestyle could be a bit tiring. But that transmission on the radio? That was definitely not a hoax. And then Murdoc putting it in "Rise of the Ogre"? That man had no boundaries. Anything for publicity. On that note... he thought. On the transmission, she had first called Murdoc's name, then Russel's, then Murdoc's again. Why hadn't she said his name? He felt childish for feeling hurt about such a small thing. She just meant so much to him...

His head clouded with thoughts of Noodle. All in his head, he watched her grow from a little girl into a whiny preteen into a moody teenager. She would be turning twenty this year... he thought. NO! She IS turning twenty this year! Every time he thought of her as being dead, his dark eyes would fill with tears. His peaceful reminiscing was now overrun by images of a mangled corpse. Noodle's body laying lifelessly somewhere where he couldn't reach her. He ran into the bathroom and vomited.

"Oi, dullard! Get your ass out here now!" He heard Murdoc shout from the lift.

"Technically, wouldn't I be getting my ass in there?" 2D asked as he wiped his mouth and stepped into the lift. "You know, 'cause of you being in the li-"his smartassness was interrupted by Murdoc's large hand making contact with his face.

"Shut up, you bloody idiot." Murdoc hissed. "I want you to go sit with Noodle for a while." 2D winced as he referred to the cyborg he built as "Noodle". That was NOT Noodle. "She's been acting a bit er- strange since the Stylo video. Stupid directors couldn't have just given that stupid actor blanks. Noooo had to be authentic..." 2D stared at the wall while Murdoc rambled on about how his money was being wasted on bullets that clearly didn't need to be there and such.

His thoughts drifted back to Noodle. He tried to piece together how she looked as a young woman. Her hair was the hardest to make up. He liked the way it was four years ago, but he wanted to see her eyes more often. He finally decided he would always picture her as just a wee bit taller than she was as a teenager, with the same choppy hair, but the bangs swept sideways, out of her eyes. She was really quite attractive. He was bumped out of his in-mind Noodle dress up by Murdoc's fist thumping him on the head.

"Hey! When I'm talking to you, I expect you to listen! And you smell like puke." Murdoc growled. They reached the boiler room and stepped out of the lift. The old engineer was gone; Murdoc had wasted no time firing him for scamming them out of their money. Now there was a young man with black hair down to his lower back, who never spoke or wore a shirt, working on their boiler. Murdoc sighed heavily as they walked past, down to Noodle's cupboard. She was sitting in the corner with the many plugs jammed in her head. Her head snapped up and sparked a little when the two men walked in.

"Mr. Niccals fix Noodle?" the cyborg asked. Her speech had reverted to broken English since the video. Murdoc just shook his head at her.

"Soon. Someone will be coming by in a couple weeks." He told her. You mean you'll be kidnapping another poor bastard and dragging him here... 2D thought. "Alright, face-ache. Just sit with her a bit. I'm going to find Russ. Need him to mail something for me..." Murdoc stalked out of the tiny room and shut the door tightly.

2D turned to face the wall, so he wouldn't have to look at the android. He could feel her eyes boring into the back of his head, as if daring him to turn around and look him in the eye. Then, a question popped up in the back of his mind.

"N-Noodle?" he asked. He wished he didn't have to call her that. "Why didn't Murdoc go to find the-uh- other Noodle?" the robot looked at him quizzically. 2D could hear her gears and circuits whirring inside her metal body, searching for the answer.

"No... Time..." she responded slowly. 2D's eyes began to fill with tears again. That bastard. They had all the time in the world to go find his little Noodle. Instead, he saw it fit to kidnap a bunch of people, and replace one of the greatest guitarists of all time with an empty shell, and record an album. Murdoc was such a publicity whore. "2Deeeee is... leaking?" The robot asked. 2D just sniffed and shook his head.

"I-uh," he started. "I miss the... other you." The android just stared at him. Her processors where buzzing and beeping in her head. What is this emotion? She wondered. Finally an almost inaudible ping sounded. Love. She usually would've been able to come up with that right away, but the damage from those bullets was severe.

"2Deeee... loves... other Noodle." She concluded out loud. Now it was 2D's turn to stare at her. Was she right? No, he was over ten years her senior! But did that really matter? If it really was love, it wouldn't. He began to imagine Noodle. Back with the band, back with him. He felt much happier than he had in a long time, but it was an empty happiness. Noodle wasn't here in his arms. He had no idea where she was. There was nothing he could do to find her, as long as he was trapped in this prison. His head started to pound from all this intense thinking he was doing. "2D needs... head... medicine." Noodle said. "Go."

2D gladly followed her orders. He passed the young man with his tools into the lift. On his way to his room, all he could think of was Noodle. And how right that stupid robot was.

A/N: You like? Next chapter will be back to Noodle. Where the action starts. :D Please R&R!