Chapter 10

Cyborg hummed along to Rhinestone Eyes as Noodle drove the Stylo away from the trampoline park. "Where are we going again?" she asked, replacing her hums with taps against the dashboard.

"It's another surprise," Noodle answered.

"Oh yeah," Cyborg said, "Hey, I'm getting a bit low on battery. Can we go home soon?"

"How low?"

"Three hours left I think."

"That's plenty of time," Noodle grinned. She turned onto a dirt road.

"I sung that part," Cyborg said.

"Hm?"

"The bit where it goes 'electric-tric-tric-tric' in the song is me - I sung that," Cyborg looked proud.

"Do you like singing?"

"No."

"Oh."

"Here we are," Noodle stopped the Stylo.

"Where is here?"

"Nowhere."

"You're messing with me."

"It's just a tree on a hill, it doesn't have a name," Noodle pointed.

"Why are we here?" Cyborg asked. Noodle climbed out of the Stylo, taking the keys from the ignition. Cyborg blinked, then removed her seatbelt and followed Noodle. "But why are we here though?" Cyborg repeated.

"You'll see," Noodle smirked. Then, she took Cyborg's hand and lead her towards the hill. They both climbed up to the tree, then Cyborg followed Noodle's lead and sat beside the trunk.

Cyborg looked around. There were a few buildings in the distance, although the site of them was mostly blocked by the trees that bordered the hill. "I don't get it."

"Not the trees," Noodle blew air from her nose, "Look up."

Cyborg turned her eyes to the sky, "Oh."

The night sky was pink and the stars almost appeared to be golden. Cyborg grinned - she'd never seen the sky so beautiful before. Even the mist that rolled in front of the moon was an abnormal colour - blue-ish purple. "This is the only place with a view like this," Noodle said, "I don't know why, but the sky always looks so nice this time of night around here."

"Do you come here often?"

"I used to every night after I went to that trampoline place. Back when I didn't have any memories, coming out here helped calm me down."

"You didn't have any memories? What?"

"I'll explain later - it's not... important," Noodle waved Cyborg's concern off, "Just enjoy the view."

"Okay," Cyborg looked back at the stars, "Do you know any constellations?"

"Nope."

"Me neither," Cyborg smiled.

"Wanna drive the Stylo back home?"

"Low battery, remember? That and I can't drive anything except a helicopter."

"You can fly a helicopter, but you can't drive a car?"

"Yes."

"I could teach you."

"No thank you. I'd end up crashing it."

Noodle scratched her nose and sniffed, "I might be getting a cold."

"Would you like my jacket?"

"What about you?"

"Robot," Cyborg pointed to herself.

"Oh, right," Noodle said. Cyborg took off her jacket and handed it to Noodle.

"When we get back home, can we keep doing that thing we were doing back at the trampoline place?"

"Jumping?" Noodle assumed. Cyborg blinked. Noodle chuckled, "I know what you mean. And sure."

"Cool."

It took a few minutes for Noodle to notice that Cyborg's eyes were half-lidded and that she was nodding off. "Are you tired?" she asked.

"No. I am getting low on battery though," Cyborg slurred her words a little.

"What's that like?"

"I guess it's..." Cyborg trailed off.

"Hello? Earth to Cyborg Noodle."

"I guess 'tired' is a good way of describing it," Cyborg decided.

"Let's go back to the car," Noodle suggested.

"I guess 'tired' is a good way of... okay let's go back to the car," Cyborg agreed. Noodle stood, then helped Cyborg to her feet.

Noodle helped Cyborg into the passenger seat and clipped her seatbelt for her. "I might deactivate to... conserve... conserve... energy," Cyborg said.

"I'll wake you up when we get home," Noodle said. She pressed her lips against Cyborg's cheek, then made her way around to the driver side of the car and took a seat beside Cyborg. After turning the keys in the ignition, she began back down the dirt road. Cyborg listened to the soft melody of Empire Ants as she deactivated, blackness overtaking her vision.

Noodle gently shook Cyborg's shoulder when the Stylo pulled up outside 212 Wobble Street. "No," she grumbled, "No more shooting pirates."

"Wakey-wakey," Noodle shook her a little more. Cyborg shot up in her seat, her eyes still closed. They slowly opened and she looked at Noodle. "We're home," she told her.

"We aren't home," Cyborg said. Her voice almost sounded sad. Noodle motioned out the window.

"Oh. Our house," Cyborg looked out the window. She lazily tried to push open the door, but it didn't budge.

"Pull the handle," Noodle said.

Cyborg fumbled for the handle, then - using some effort - she managed to get the door open. "Two percent battery remaining. One minute until mandatory shutdown," she notified Noodle, her voice suddenly stiff and robotic.

"Let's get you inside then," Noodle walked around to Cyborg's side of the car. Cyborg unclipped her belt, then forced herself out of her seat. Her legs wobbled as she stepped onto the pavement, but she managed to stay upright.

Noodle, supporting Cyborg, lead her towards the front door. She almost had to lift her up the stairs. "I can walk on my..." Cyborg trailed off again.

"It's okay," Noodle cooed. She kicked off her shoes, then helped untie Cyborg's boots.

"I can..."

"It's okay," Noodle repeated, pulling Cyborg's boots off.

Hugging the wall, Cyborg walked into the kitchen. "Look who's decided to come home. I was starting to hope you'd run away," Murdoc greeted the robot.

"Yes," Cyborg dipped and rose her head in a clumsy nod.

"C'mon," Noodle hooked her arm around Cyborg's. The robot's eyes shot open as Noodle walked her to the stairway. Murdoc eyed them warily, then went back to fixing himself a drink. "Let's get you to your charger," Noodle said.

"Yes please," Cyborg nodded again, then let Noodle help her up the stairs.

Halfway up - once they'd reached Russel's room - Cyborg collapsed. "Zero percent. Mandatory shutdown in five..." Cyborg groaned, her words muffled by the carpet.

"Five what?"

"Three... two... one..." Cyborg finished. The light faded from her eyes and she went limp. Noodle took Cyborg's shoulders and lifted her up, then hooked one arm around her back and another behind her knees. Noodle carried Cyborg bridal-style up the rest of the way, lowering her onto the bed when she reached her room.

As Noodle clipped Cyborg's charger into her port, the light returned to her eyes. "Reactivation sequence initiated," she said.

"H-"

"Loading memories - zero percent... one percent... two percent..."

Noodle sighed.

"Memories successfully loaded," Cyborg said.

"Thank Go-"

"Loading vision - one percent..."

Noodle rested her face in her palms, groaning against her skin.

After an hour and a half of loading her programs and subroutines, Cyborg was finally brought back online. "What happened?" she asked drowsily.

"You fell asleep on the way up here," Noodle said, "So you had to reload... everything."

"Oh. Sorry," Cyborg apologised, "How long did that take."

"Almost two hours."

"I'm so-"

Noodle rested her hands on Cyborg's shoulders and kissed her. When she drew back, the robot looked confused. "You asked if we could keep doing this when we got home," Noodle reminded her.

"I did? Oh yeah, I did. Can we still do that?"

Noodle looked at her blankly. "That's the plan," she said.

Cyborg grinned, then returned Noodle's kiss.

"Hey, where's the sleeping bag?" she asked when they parted.

"I put it away. I thought we could both sleep in the bed now," Noodle explained.

"I'll sleep down the end this time."

"No, no, we can both sleep up the top."

Cyborg smirked, "Oh okay."

"Lift your legs up," Noodle suddenly ordered. Cyborg widened her eyes at the sudden request, but she did so. Then, Noodle pulled down the duvet, letting Cyborg move the legs back down, before she crawled on top of Cyborg. She giggled at the blush that rose in Cyborg's cheeks, then pulled the duvet over them both and coiled her arms around her waist, pressing their lips together again.

Cyborg's eyes fluttered open the next morning. The first things she noticed was the arm draped over her torso and the warmth hugging her back.