Hwaila! There'snoconsistency here with another chapter of Scrapped! So… let's get to the shit!

*Thanks for the reviews and birthday wishes!

*Sorry for the wait. Again.

*This chapter is mostly fluff. Just saying.

*Enjoy!

Scrapped - Chapter 14 - Grown

When I wake up, BB is still asleep, but Bonbon is awake. I go over to him.

"Hey, Bon. Sleep well?" I ask.

"No. I didn't sleep at all."

"Why?"

"I can't. the fire must have damaged my circuits, so I can't fall asleep. I haven't been able to charge either.."

"Bonbon…"

"I'm too weak, Teddy. I won't be able to carry on." I don't bother trying to say otherwise. I know it's impossible. "Teddy, promise me you'll take good care of BB. You're a great father."

"I will. And I won't forget you." I assure him. Bonbon whispers a muffled,

"Thank you," as if it pained him to say it. I look at the ground, not knowing what to say next. I think of something - one last thing.

"Hey, Bon…" I look at him. He doesn't respond. He isn't even looking at me. "Bonbon?" I kneel down and take his hand. Still nothing. "Bonbon… I don't know if you can hear me, but… you were the best friend I could have ever asked for. I might have acted like a total shit head sometimes, but even them you were there to back me up. I'm sorry it had to end this way." He still doesn't do anything. "I guess this is goodbye," I say. 'it's just me and BB now. Just… me and him,' I think. 'Wait a minute - if it's just me and BB…, one of us could be next! I just have to make sure it isn't BB.' Almost on cue, BB sits up.

"Good morning, Teddy," he says, rubbing his eyes. "Good morning Bonbon." Unsurprisingly, Bonbon doesn't respond. "Bonbon?"

"Uh, BB… Bonbon just… he… it's… just you and me now, BB." I explain.

"No!" BB wails, then shoves me aside, running to Bonbon's body and clings on to it, sobbing. "Bonbon, don't leave us, please!" he cries.

"BB, calm down. Everything will be alright-"

"No, it won't!" yells BB, standing up. "You say that every time someone dies, and things never get better! It's always 'Stay strong, carry on,' trying to simply cover it all up; and for me especially, like I'm some king of idiot who doesn't see what's really going on, when I really do! I can see that we're dying left and right, and I can also see that we're next, and nobody can do a damn thing about it!"

I open my mouth, as if to say something, but I don't have anything to say. We both fall silent for a moment. I finally speak up.

"BB, I know that you probably don't want to hear this, but… if you don't want to die… we should keep moving. It's the only way we can hope to get out of here." BB wipes his eyes.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. And I'm sorry for yelling. And… saying a bad word."

"That's okay, BB. I don't blame you. We're all - both - pretty stressed out."

"So, you think we should keep walking now?"

"I suppose. As long as you're ready," I say. BB nods.

"Let's go. We might even find a town tonight." As we walk out of our camp and pass by Bonbon, BB sighs and says, "Goodbye," then walks on, not looking back.

'Is this what I brought him up to be? Someone who can move on, accepting death that easily? Or maybe the trip did this to him. I can't imagine what going through this as a child must be like. Is BB even a child anymore? I haven't heard anything so… adult or mature from him before. Is the little boy I knew a few days ago gone? I probably should have done a better job shielding him. Then again, maybe this is for the best.' I decide on checking to see if BB is more grown up than I thought.

"Hey, BB…" I make a loud, obnoxious raspberry sound with my tongue. "FLPPPPT!" BB starts giggling, harder and harder, and repeats the sound, then bursts into a fit of hysterical laughter. 'At least I know he's not completely corrupted,' I reassure myself. 'But then, what was that earlier? Probably just build up from all the stress? I-'

"Hey Teddy, look! FLPPPPT!" he laughs even harder at his own sound. BB spends the remainder of the morning making such noises, which then, (don't ask me how) turns into a conversation about what we want to do should we find a town. "…probably somewhere with balloons. And it has to be big- ooh, and fun! Somewhere where kids would want to go… like the restaurant…" I listen to BB talk about what he wants, and then… I freeze again. I can't move.

'Just go!' I order. My body won't respond. BB doesn't seem to notice, still talking and talking. 'Come… on… stupid…' I feel weaker and weaker. My vision starts fading, then goes completely white, but not with blindness. The whiteness is something; almost like a place. It's the only thing I see. Then, just as quickly as it had come, it's gone. I can see a blue sky above me. My other senses return. I hear a loud sobbing. I look down and see BB crying on my stomach. I'm… on the ground. 'How did I get here?'

"No… no!" I hear BB mumble in between cries.

"BB, are you okay?" I ask, concerned. He looks up at me like he's seen a ghost.

"Teddy? Are you… alive?" he asks, clearly confused.

"Um… y-yes…" 'I think…. What happened to me?'

"Well… you stopped moving and then-" *sniffle* "you fell down, and… I thought you were dead." I didn't realize I had said all of that out loud. 'At least this is reality. Probably.' BB offers me a hand. I take it and he helps me up; he's surprisingly strong.

"Teddy, what was that?" BB asks when our hike continues.

"I don't know. But don't worry. I'm sure it's noth-"

"No, it obviously is something if it's been happening a lot. Bonbon was right. This is serious."

"Well, it's never been that bad before. It might be a sign that…." I trail my voice out, hoping BB is satisfied.

"Sign that what?" he inquires, very seriously. "Teddy, tell me. Please. I can handle it. Now that it's just the two of us, keeping secrets won't do anyone any good."

`Really, when did this kid become so grown up?'

"Well, I'm not exactly sure what it means, but… it might be a sign that I'm shutting down. One time- like Bonbon said- I might shut down forever."

"I thought you would say that. But, I appreciate your honesty. It's refreshing to have some." BB stops and looks around. "How about here?" he asks.

"Here? Here what?"

"To camp out for the night. We usually stop at about this time, but, I mean, unless you want to keep go-"

"No, here's good." I say. We slump down against a tree. BB asks,

"Teddy, how much time do you think you have left?"

"Well, seeing as how my shutdowns only get worse, not much, as much as I hate to say it."

`I have to make sure I get BB somewhere safe before it happens. I have to.'

"I'd hate to see you go, too," says BB. "Well, I'm going to sleep. I want us to be able to get up early to search for a town." BB says, rolling over and closing his eyes. "See you in the morning."

'He's such a good kid,' I think. I wish there were something for him. But, what?' I get an idea, and jump up, feeling determined to spend however long it takes working on this special thing.

First, I find a sturdy stick on the ground, then a larger log, about as long as my shoulder to my elbow. I then find a sharp rock and break the log twice - once long ways down the middle, and again to break off the rounded back, so I'm left with a flattish scrap of wood. A few long strands of grass work nicely to tie the two together.

As I look for the last piece I need, I step on something squishy. Purple juice is on the ground where my foot was, but no remnants of anything else, save for a black… something. Puzzled, I look up and see a bush with more black things on it. The look to be half an inch long, and look like small clusters of black beads. The word comes to me:

"Blackberries. Perfect." I say to my self, and pull a few off the bush. I use them to write - or at least attempt to write - my intended message on the plank part of the creation. Each letter is cumbersome, especially when you are a large, clumsy robot writing with wild fruit.

Finally, I'm done. I have built a replica of BB's sign, using the stick as the handle, the plank as the panel, and the blackberries to write "BALLOONS!" I hide the sign where BB won't see it when he wakes up.

So… that's it for the chapter. Very sorry for the wait. My laptop overheated. I hope to get done with typing this by the end of the year. I've also been easy on my many other projects I'm constantly working on. One I have been working on since January 5, but am just now working on again. I have about 3 or 4 stories or other things at any given time. Hope the next chapter doesn't take a month. Good bye bye!

Song of right now - Disaster - JoJo