Into Rapture
The girl was basically acting younger than her 12 years, splashing in the water more than actually cleaning herself up, though all the activity was making the water cloudy anyways. Some poking around the cabinets on the part of the mech failed to turn up any kind of cleaners, so Ultimus turned to the 'human hygiene kit' he'd started carrying since becoming able to turn human; he was more than a bit of a clean freak, and while he often used scent to track quarry he didn't particularly like it when his own scent drowned out the prey's. Fishing out some soap, he used some on the dress's stains, placing the bar where Jack could reach it.
She blinked at it, knowing what it was and what it was used for but turned a hurt puppy look up at Ultimus. As far as she had lived in Rapture, or at least had been alone in the splicer areas, the layer [or two, or three] of... stuff on her had helped hide her from notice.
The redhead rumbled softly, amused. "Being dirty is not always a good thing. And most of the fluids down here tend to smell foul after a while." He made a somewhat triumphant sound as he succeeded in getting one persistent stain out of the dress.
"But it blends in." Jack pointed out, "And I'm clean...er...ish..."
"By Rapture standards maybe," was the calm reply. The redhead shifted, settling closer to Jack, the hand holding the soapy cloth before darting out to swipe it down her arm. Jack ducked away by reflex, and she scrunched her face at the cleaner spot. Then she smiled, ducking away again. The redhead grinned, playfully going after her and swiping at another spot, removing another layer or two of dirt. This very rapidly could dissolve into a pointless game as Jack gave a girlish squeal and splashed to the other side of the tub.
Ultimus had to laugh, his yellow eyes sparkling. It felt good just to have a little pointless fun. He feinted with the soapy cloth, and then got her other arm with it. Jack splashed at him, and then taking a deep breath she 'vanished' under the water. She may not have as much ADAM in her body to be able to 'breath' in water for short periods like the full on Gatherers, but Jack was still like any other child that had grown up in and around water. She could hold her breath for a long time.
The human Cybertronian grinned, reaching under the water and fishing around for her. His other hand, holding the soapy cloth, was poised just above the surface, ready to strike as soon as he located her.
The advantage, as least for the thin child was that the tub was comparatively large. And as Jack squirmed underneath the water- though cloudy she was still visible with that purple slip, it started to stretch to a full minute without her popping up on her own. Ultimus would have been concerned had she been any normal child from the surface, but he remembered her saying that she could live for a short period of time even outside the city. He continued to fish for her, smiling to himself.
There was only so far she could go in a tub before Jack ran smack dab into Ultimus' hand, giving a yip and flailing as she just yipped under water. The redhead tugged her to the surface; ADAM slug or not, water in the lungs was not healthy for a human. He took the opportunity to get the dirt on her upper arm and shoulder in the process. Jack of course squirmed, but a laugh bubbled up. She was having fun too, even if she was getting a scrub at the same time. Yet that didn't mean she would make it easy for Ultimus, at least for now.
Ultimus grinned. "Caught you," he teased, tapping the very tip of her nose with the soapy cloth.
"Can't hold me!" Jack exclaimed, and doing her best to get away.
Quick fingers skittered across Jack's ribs and along her side, testing to see if she was ticklish. She yelped and then dissolved into giggles, she was very ticklish apparently. The girl kicked out her legs and tried to find his larger hand with hers. The redhead chuckled, continuing to tickle. He took the opportunity to sneak in some more washing, evicting more dirt.
The girl soon was gasping for air and giving the chance would go limp form the energy lost at flailing around. Finally, Ultimus stopped tickling, letting her lean against his arm. He hummed a soft, random tune as he washed the dirt off her arms before moving down to her legs.
Jack didn't resist now, too busy poking the arm the girl was against. She had gotten used to the feel of metal and, admittedly, wasn't used to feeling living flesh near her in a non-hostile way. Ultimus' bronze skin was heavily scarred in some places, from narrow lash wounds to burn-scars, to jagged multiple gouges where some beast's claws had struck home. The muscle under it was hard and strong. After a bit, Jack put her hand over top of Ultimus', tilting her head at the size difference before she abruptly yawned.
"...sorry." She shifted as internally the slug was hard at work now, and in turn making Jack drowsy again.
"It's okay," he replied, his voice soft as Ultimus gently washed the layers of dirt off of her, getting any new debris out of her hair. Her hair was still a bit of mess, for all that Ultimus had brushed it out before. From the general looks of her, Jack had been in some... interesting places before meeting the Autobot.
It didn't take long for Ultimus to finish washing Jack. Some of the dirt had required a bit of extra effort to dislodge, but he'd been careful to be gentle about it. He took a quick moment to investigate a closet, finding some somewhat dusty but usable towels. After giving himself a quick wash, he lifted the drowsy young girl out of the water, wrapping her in a towel.
Jack jerked a bit, coming awake and automatically wrapping her own arms around the human-formed Autobot's neck, "M'tired." she stated, having to point that out in the way of any child.
The human mech rubbed her back gently, carrying her out of the bathroom. He paused for a moment, debating, then eyed the rooms and decided to settle on the bed. He peeled off the top cover to avoid the dust, laying on his side and curling around Jack protectively.
When morning came, the redhead was again the first to wake up. He'd kept an ear open all night, rousing now and again to listen for any danger. Lifting his head, he listened intently, sniffing for any foreign scents. Then he yawned, looking down at the young girl he was still curled around. Jack was half in a ball, somewhere, somehow she had either squirmed away or just found it in reach. But she had an old teddy bear and was hugging it, she was snuggled up to Ultimus as well, heat leaching.
The redhead smiled softly, settling back down and dozing. He didn't mind being used as a heat source; it wasn't the first time. Since there was no reason yet to get up, he remained where he was, letting Jack sleep as long as she wanted.
Jack would have wanted to sleep another ten hours... however, there was the fact that she had an ADAM slug in her stomach that had been making the stuff all night... So the girl started to restlessly move and slowly shift to lift her head. Ultimus had made sure to have a bucket handy, remembering the previous morning. Jack's stirring roused the big Cybertronian, and yellow eyes opened to watch her.
The glow in her own eyes was a bit more notable than the night before. She blinked a few times, and then jerked up right, looking around for the bucket. Ultimus stretched out one arm, snagging the handle and tugging the bucket onto the bed. He pushed himself up to lean on one arm, rubbing her back gently.
There was more ADAM this time, or so it seemed to Jack as she regurgitated the green stuff. After a few minutes she leaned back, licking her lips and waited to see if there was more. When there wasn't she carefully pushed the bucket away, "At least that's not as bad as when harvesting it..."
"I would think that the regurgitating it would be worse than the gathering, but then, I've had to scavenge the dead and the dying to keep myself alive, so I'm more or less used to the collecting. It's the thought of bringing it back up that gives me the surges." Ultimus rubbed her back gently.
"It's not a whole lot that comes up really." Jack said, scooting back until she was leaning against the mech again. "Not when you see what a true Little Sister can do, or even a Big Sister when they have to."
Ultimus settled back down, letting her lean against him. "I'd have to wonder how such small girls can produce so much of this stuff." He was clearly thinking of the 6-year-old they'd seen with the Bouncer two days before.
"It's takes a little while to be able to." Jack said softly, "I don't think some of the Little Sisters eat anything more than a little bit once a week it seems."
"They run mostly on ADAM, I assume." He placed a bronze hand on her shoulder.
"I don't know how it all works, just what I've seen and... felt." Jack paused, wondering if that was the right world. The redhead wrapped an arm around her, giving her a gentle hug. It took a moment, as if she was remembering what a hug was again before hugging his arm back, "What you said before, what did you mean?"
Ultimus tilted his head. "Which particular thing I said are you referring to?"
"That I'm... yours?" Jack asked, "When you were talking to that Pack leader."
"My kind may be robotic, but we are capable of forming deep attachments," Ultimus said after a moment. "We care very deeply, and we do become very attached to people. As I've become attached to you." He gently leaned his head against her shoulder for a moment. "It's hard to explain... But I would put my own life on the line to keep you safe." Yellow eyes met hers.
"...you are a Big Daddy." Jack said as she mentally chewed on his words.
The redhead made a soft humming sound. "That's one way to put it..." He tilted his head. "Eventually, I will be going back to my own world... And I would take you with me, if you wished to come."
"...is it like Rapture?" Jack asked, eyes drifting to the single window in the room, showing off some of the glowing, underwater city.
"Cybertron is a dark world, but Earth is bright and open, with a bright sun and open skies, like the images I showed you when we met." In his human form Ultimus couldn't show holo-images, and he didn't feel like shifting back to mech just yet. "Room to run and room to play, where no one can sneak up on you like those damn spider splicers do."
The girl flinched against at the name of that type of splicer, "That would be nice I think... seeing the sun." Jack still wasn't fully sure about too much open space though.
Bronze fingers touched her cheek lightly. "It's not that bad once you get used to it."
"You should see the new Arcadia domes." Jack said after a minute, "I heard the oldest Big Sister led the making of them."
"Arcadia... I take it there's a nature section there? With green plants?" Ultimus tilted his head, lifting a curious eyebrow.
"There's several domes and sections as well as original Arcadia area." Jack said, pulling her legs up and grasping her toes, "I've been there several times."
"Sounds like an interesting place, though I would bet it's a bit frightening if someone's never seen trees," the redhead noted.
"Some of them are scary looking," Jack admitted, "And if you avoid the Saturnine it's really nice. I've seen Little Brothers there but not..." she paused looking down at her toes again.
"Not yours?" Ultimus asked delicately.
The girl shook her head, pulling her knees up, "I never found my parents either. I thought they'd be here."
The human Cybertronian made a soft sound, curling closer to her. "Their scents still linger here... I know them now. If we pass near any of your family, in whatever form, I will know."
Jack glanced up at last, "You can do that?"
Ultimus nodded. "Because of my predatory nature my sense of smell is highly enhanced. I can track pretty much any quarry by scent when I have to, and I can sort out many different scents from a crowd."
"...like how I can find ADAM, and know if it's good or bad?" Jack asked after thinking.
"By variations in the scent I can tell if someone is sick... Illness produces a distinct scent that anyone with a good nose can detect. Injuries and death are pretty easy to sniff out... More than I'd like at times." The big redhead shifted.
Jack eyed the bucket of ADAM, reaching out to nudge Ultimus to make it vanish. One bronze hand reached out to touch the handle, and the bucket vanished. The big redhead stretched, shaking back scarlet hair. His armor was piled next to the bed, as was Jack's dress, considerably cleaner than it had been.
The girl had a plan, and now that she wasn't worried about losing all that ADAM she made, Jack turned. She half flopped onto Ultimus' chest, trying to give him a hug. Ultimus made a soft purring sound, wrapping his arms around her and embracing her gently.
"You are a Big Daddy," Jack said again, still tired enough that her eyes had closed again as she rested there. Instinctually taking reassurance of the living warmth. The Cybertronian purred again, settling back so that she lay on his chest, rising and falling slightly as he breathed. Freeing one arm briefly, he pulled a cleaner blanket over her. The girl shifted, her ear against the human-formed Autobot's chest, listening to see if he sounded like a Big Daddy too in a random moment.
She was able to hear his breathing, the sound of air filling his lungs, then leaving on the exhale. His heart was a steady, powerful beat, slightly faster than human norm, a regular but powerful pulse. It was enough to let Jack doze off again. She didn't move when sleeping for the most part, going completely limp. Oddly like a Little Sister would as Ultimus may find out later.
Ultimus smiled, settling back into a doze as well. He was a fairly stationary sleeper as well, rarely shifting position more than an inch or two. After listening carefully for a long moment, he closed yellow eyes and slept.
Jack turn and shifted, making a face as she pushed herself up a little. She blinked, still under one of Ultimus' arms, the girl poked him to wake him up, "Ulimus...? I gotta go."
Yellow eyes opened the moment Jack started to move, and he let go, sitting up and stretching. The girl slid off, hopped down off the bed and bolted. It was a few odd minutes before she came back into sight again, seemingly to be wandering in the apartment.
Ultimus pushed himself to all fours, twisting slightly and getting several pops along the length of his spine. He watched the girl as she wandered about. Jack was looking at this thing or that picture, trying to link memories. She did sometimes, but it seemed more like a remembered dream as the girl blinked at a black and white picture of her family that was.
The human Cybertronian rose to his feet, padding over to look at the picture. "Your family?"
Jack nodded and held it up to show him, "I kind of remember it, Aunty took the picture. It was when we went to Fort Frolic together for the first time."
Ultimus looked at the picture. "I never had a family... I was built in a lab."
"I was taken to the labs." Jack gave a humorless smile, she reached up to touch one of his hands.
"I was built in a time when my people were enslaved, built and sold and broken for profit." His lip curled briefly. "I was a gladiator, fighting and killing my own kind, to entertain our enslavers. But I had no family. Not then."
"...but what about now?" Jack asked, blinked, most of that going half over her head again.
"Now, I consider my commander to be something like family... And you, as well." His yellow eyes were serious; he meant every word. Jack tilted her head, holding the picture in her arms, still not sure how he could form an attachment to her within the last few days. Big Daddies did but they were made/altered that way... One corner of Ultimus' mouth twitched into a faint smile. "We may be robotic in nature, but my people are as capable of forming deep bonds as humans are."
"You said that before." Jack pointed out.
"So many think that just because we're machines means we don't feel. It drives us crazy." He leaned against the wall. "It's hard to explain..."
"Big Daddies feel," Jack said slowly, "And they're alive too, just like you."
"But they were human originally," Ultimus pointed out. "I never was. I'm circuits and steel, chips and circuit boards. To most people, machines can't feel."
"The Thinker does I heard." Jack shrugged, and then poked the human formed Autobot's... human-ish-ness, poking him in the leg.
"Interesting." Ultimus barely twitched at the poke, smiling down at her. "Curious as a sparkling," he murmured softly. A 'what?' look was what he got in return, the confusion with Jack at some of the things Ultimus said was starting to become normal now. "'Sparkling' is the term for a child of my race," Ultimus explained. He smiled briefly. "Yes, we can reproduce even though we are mechanical life-forms."
Jack shrugged, having never been predisposed to idea that 'machines' could make babies- even if she wasn't sure how that could happen. "Now what?"
The redhead tilted his head, consulting his time sense. "There should still be time before the old man expects us back..." He lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
"Should we go early or do you want to still look at the archives here?" Jack asked as she carefully put her family photo down.
"I would like to know about Rapture... How it was before it fell, and why it fell. There is nothing like this where I come from," he replied, fishing his hairbrush out and picking at a knot trying to form in scarlet hair.
"The archives in this building aren't all of Rapture's, but it maybe will help?" Jack offered.
"Since I know next to nothing about Rapture, anything will be of help," Ultimus replied.
"What about that person you talk to on the radio?" Jack asked as she once more started to poke through things but, she wasn't taking anything.
"Icy? Sometimes getting her to tell me anything is like pulling teeth. She does her own thing." He shrugged, finally getting the knot out and tying red hair back in a ponytail.
The girl paused and tilted her head up at him, "Have you ever said please?"
Ultimus blinked at that, "Can't say it's ever occurred to me."
"Momma Tenenbaum liked it." Jack looked down, shifting.
"I'll have to remember that." The big redhead looked slightly sheepish. "Manners were not important when I was built, around eighty million years ago, and I have yet to pick many of them up."
His mentioned age didn't mean a much to Jack (other than 'really damn old!' from an ADAM given thought), "Well, most people I knew liked them."
Broad shoulders rose slightly. "In the middle of the battlefield, manners don't mean much. And more than a few of my fellow warriors get insulted if you try to be polite."
"It's not a battle field now." Jack pointed out.
"Not here. But where I come from, occasionally." Ultimus blew a stray strand of hair out of his eyes, offering Jack the brush.
She took it, blinked and handed it back, grinning, "Please?" Ultimus smiled, settling cross-legged on the floor after retrieving the blue ribbon. Placing the ribbon on his knee, he waited patiently. The girl hopped into his lap without hesitation this time, wriggling with repressed energy and beaming. "Please does work!" She announced.
Ultimus had to laugh at that as he gently began brushing out her hair. Since it had been wet when they'd settled down to rest, it had dried frizzy and had wrapped itself into several knots. He carefully teased out the knots, taming the frizz until it lay smooth again. Picking up the ribbon, he neatly tied Jack's hair back.
She reached back after feeling he was done to pat at the bow. Smiling, still proud of that ribbon he'd given her, she slid off the Autobot's lap and headed to the bathroom for the last part that went with her dress. "I think... there's a few archive rooms..."
The Cybertronian rose to his feet, indulging in one last stretch before going to retrieve his tunic and armor, drawing himself up to his full, impressive height. His armor-plated boots were silent as he padded over to his piled armor, pulling on his tunic and beginning to reattach armor plates.
Tbc...
Read and review, please!
There may be art of Ulti in his splicer/Big Daddy form forthcoming; I caught a DA artist's "Week of Halloween" free commission event. I'm greatly looking forward to seeing what comes out of it.
