Forever Feeling

The hospital lights were harsh in the early morning before the sun had even thought about rising. The hospital was mostly silent, but after six months of waiting, a very special day had finally arrived for Jenny and her new friend. For the last few months Jenny and Brittany had been almost inseparable, doing everything they possibly could as a pair. Their arrangement was mutually beneficial... Brittany had someone to lean on, and Jenny gleaned a bit more of the human experience every day. Today was the day Brit needed the robot most however, and she was running late.

"Excuse me, I need to get through!" Jenny barreled through several nurses on her way down the highly waxed and polished hallways. She skidded to a screeching stop in the middle of a fork in the hallway, looking down each alternative. Making a quick mental note, she charged down the right side and soon skidded to a stop in front of a door.

She pushed it open and stepped inside the small hospital recovery room. Brittany looked over at her from the bed. She was covered up to her neck, but her face looked tired and worn. There were bags under her eyes, and her hair was a wild tangle on top of her head. "Well, you showed up." She muttered.

"I'm sorry, I had to stop an alien invasion of Mexico." Jenny walked up to the bed and sat in the small chair beside it. "Are you okay? You look terrible." Jenny asked worriedly. Brittany blinked, then busted up laughing. "What?" Jenny blushed.

"Brutally honest aren't you?" Brittany shook her head with an amused smirk. "Well yes I'm quite tired and suffering a lingering pain, but fine. Just waiting for Tiff to get back..." She leaned back against her pillows and looked over at the door as it was pushed open. Tiffany walked into the room with a small bundle held carefully in her arms. Jenny could see a small hand the color of hot cocoa reaching out for her earrings as she moved up to the other side of the bed.

"And there she is now..." Brittany smiled and reached out to take the small bundle from Tiffany, pulling it close to her chest. Tiffany smiled and leaned against the side of the bed, propping her head up on one arm as her cousin gently unwrapped the small bundle's head. Jenny leaned over to get a better look at the little figure.

"Wow... it's so small and fragile..." Jenny whispered softly. Its face was pudgy and round, with skin that was much lighter than her mother's. It had Brittany's deep black eyes however, which were open and staring up at the robot as wide as they could open. One little arm had wiggled free of the blankets to reach clumsily toward her.

"Yes, she is isn't she?" Brittany replied with a strange tone in her voice. She reached down with her free arm to run one finger across the baby's cheek. The little hand grabbed at the finger, but couldn't quite latch onto it. Brittany smiled and moved her finger into the small hand so the child could latch on.

"What's her name?" Jenny asked.

"Jennifer." Brittany replied instantly. Tiffany looked up at Jenny strangely, then back down at the baby. Jenny knew the other Krust cousin still didn't like her very much. She wasn't sure why, but the girl always seemed to get defensive when Jenny was around. She'd tried to patch things up at first, but by now she'd learned to accept it and ignore it.

"Would you like to hold her, Jenny?" Brittany asked.

"Me? Sure!" Jenny grinned in delight and moved her arms into the same position she'd seen Tiffany use upon entering the room. Brittany lifted the child and gently set the child in her arms, careful to keep the blankets between the child and Jenny's steel limbs. The baby stared up at her blankly, as if trying to figure out whether to scream or not.

Jenny used her extending arms to move one hand around the baby to the front, one finger reaching down to gently run over the child's cheek. The baby squirmed and let out a small 'ugh' sound. "She's so cute..." Jenny smiled. Suddenly Jennifer opened her mouth and let out a broken scream, turning red-faced at an alarming rate. "Ah! I'm sorry... did I do something wrong!?"

"No no, not at all." Brittany chuckled and pulled the baby away from her, leaning it against her chest. The wails faded into soft gargling noises. "Babies are just like that, they don't like anybody except mommy for a while. It's nothing personal against you." She rubbed the baby's head softly, and it stopped squirming so much, content to just lie on top of her.

"Right..." Jenny muttered softly. She looked down at the child over Brittany's shoulder. The baby's fingers opened and closed spastically, like it was waving to something. Jenny reached up to wave back, but suddenly the baby balled up its fist and shook it violently. The robot leaned back again, holding her hands close to her chest.

"Seein' other babies almost makes me wanna have one." Tiffany commented, reaching out to poke at the child's stomach. Jennifer warbled and looked up at her in confusion. "Then I remember all the long nights ahead of ya and pity ya instead." They both laughed lightly. Jenny sighed and sat down in her seat again, watching the others have fun with the baby.

"Such a pity... this is the greatest feeling in the world..." Brittany smiled, running the tip of one finger across her daughter's cheek.

This continued for several hours. Brittany and Tiffany were so engrossed in the new addition to the family that they never noticed Jenny didn't move from her chair. The baby seemed fairly happy with them right up until it fell asleep in Brittany's arms. It was so small and peaceful... and Brittany looked completely enraptured by it. What kind of... feeling... must it be?

"It's almost time for school and I can't afford to miss it again. One more this week and I get the big E." Tiffany stood up straight. "I'll check back tomorrow, Brit."

"See you around Tiff." Brittany watched her leave, then noticed Jenny sitting forlorn beside the bed. "Is something the matter Jenny?"

"Oh... nothing..." Jenny stood up and shook her head. "I should get going for school too. I'll see you later."

"Sure thing." Brittany waved as Jenny turned and left the hospital, walking along the sidewalk instead of taking flight. She'd been part of their group for the last few months... but now, once again, she was as outcast as she had been before. Even the baby had sensed it... she had no business being there with something she could never do. There was so much she could never do...

She stopped and took a deep breath, looking up at the sun rising over the horizon. Why couldn't she feel them if she wanted to? All it would take is a little know-how. She knew her mother would never help her out... she wanted Jenny to remain a tool for world-protection... but Sheldon would do anything she asked him to.

Her pigtail engines flared to life and she took off through the sky, heading toward the school as fast as she could. She landed just as the first groups of students began to arrive. She stood in front of the large school entrance and waited for Sheldon to arrive, carrying a couple tools and a weary smile on his face. His expression brightened when he saw her.

"Hey Jenny, what are you doing?" He asked politely.

"Sheldon, I need you to do something for me." Jenny pushed herself up from the wall and approached him with a cute smile on her face.

"Anything, just ask." Sheldon smiled.

"I need you to modify my internal systems to accept human sensory input." Jenny blinked her eyes in a cute manner. Sheldon's smile faded, replaced by an apologetic frown.

"Gee Jenny, I don't think I COULD. I mean, Mrs. Wakeman built you and even SHE hasn't been able to make sensory devices that work correctly. I'm just a kid in science class." He walked inside with Jenny tailing behind him. "Maybe you should ask her."

"She doesn't even WANT me to be more human. She would rather leave me like this." Jenny spat venomously. "She probably could do it if she wanted to. And you're a great scientist, I know you could do it."

"I still don't know... you're talking about very intricate work. I could permanently damage your systems..." Sheldon shied away from her.

"I trust you Sheldon." Jenny put one hand on his shoulder and gave him a sweet smile. "I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt me." Sheldon stared at her, his eyes watering until finally he heaved a heavy sigh and nodded in acceptance. "Great! Thank you!" Jenny grabbed him and hugged him tightly before rushing down the hall again. "I'll see you at your place after school!"

"Yeah... later Jenny..." Sheldon sighed as she disappeared from view. This was great... she would be able to feel physical sensations by the end of the day thanks to Sheldon... and if all went well, she would be even more human than that. But first, she had to wait until school ended, which proved to be a monumental feat. It was all she could do not to tear out of there before the bell rang.

When it finally did though she charged through the hall at top speed, beating Sheldon to his own home by a good twenty minutes. "You're finally home, so are we ready to start!?" Jenny exclaimed excitedly.

"Give me a minute, I have to get the gara... lab ready." Sheldon headed into his garage with Jenny following close behind him. "Are you sure about this Jenny? One wrong move on my part and it could have disastrous effects..."

"Of course I'm sure." Jenny smiled at him encouragingly as she took her place on the seat in the middle of the moderately sized garage. "I trust you Sheldon." Sheldon nodded slightly and gathered up his tools, dropping them all on the small desk beside the chair on which the robot was sitting. He turned to her when he had everything gathered up.

"Well... wish me luck..." Sheldon reached up and deactivated her systems, plunging her into sleep mode. Her systems began their information arrangements as she waited to be reactivated. Thoughts of Brittany and her new daughter lingered in her consciousness. She was sure why, but seeing then even in her mind sent conflicting thoughts racing through her mind. She wanted a child of her own... but there was also something else. Wait... was she feeling? Were Sheldon's adjustments taking effect?

Suddenly the image in front of her began to blur like an interrupted TV signal. Her very thoughts began to scramble, making it hard even to wonder if something was going wrong. As quickly as the strange phenomena had begun, it ended, leaving her in the same state as before. The image of Brittany and Jennifer was still in her mind, as crystal clear as ever.

Suddenly she found her systems powering up again and she opened her eyes. Sheldon was standing over her with a worried expression on his face. "Jenny, please tell me you're okay." He grabbed her shoulders and shook her lightly, trying to get a reaction. "I'm so sorry... I should never have tried to tamper with your systems..."

"Sheldon?" Jenny blinked and shook her head, looking around. For some reason everything looked a little different... a little bit darker than before. "What happened to me? Everything looks dark..."

"You're okay..." Sheldon breathed a sigh of relief and smiled down at her. "Your systems apparently have an emergency shutdown if anyone tries to tamper with them... I can't believe I didn't think of that. I tried to get all your systems back the way they were... but I was forced to leave a few new pieces..." He trailed off and looked around nervously.

"Pieces? What pieces?" Jenny asked nervously.

"Don't worry about it Jenny, they probably won't work without the micro sensors I didn't get a chance to install." Sheldon reached down and grabbed her arm to help her climb to her feet. "I'm sorry I couldn't give you what you wanted... I'm just glad you're okay..."

"Don't worry about it Sheldon." She smiled slightly and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for trying. But I really should get going."

"Okay... tell me if you feel anything wrong." Sheldon told her.

"I will." Jenny smiled and turned to leave, waving over her shoulder. "See you later Sheldon." She took off with her pigtail engines and flew across the sky. The entire city looked different thanks to the shift in her eyesight. She had to wonder which version was the REAL one... was the city brighter or was this how it really looked?

She shook her head and landed at the hospital, heading inside. She passed by the hotel staff on her way into the back to find Brittany's recovery room. She found her in short order, but Tiffany was already there. Jennifer was nowhere to be seen. "Where did Jennifer go?" Jenny asked.

"The doctors wanted to make sure she's okay before we leave tonight." Brittany replied with a slight smile. "You're rather late, did you stop by somewhere after class?"

"Yeah... it didn't work out though." Jenny walked up pulled up a chair to sit on.

"Such a pity." Tiffany smirked and shook her head. "I think the robot's cheatin' on ya Brit."

"I wouldn't." Jenny frowned.

"I believe I'll stay out of this one." Brittany put her hands behind her head to watch the show. Before the others could continue however the doctor walked in with Jennifer in his arms.

"Here you go, one healthy baby girl ready to go. As long as you have everything ready." The doctor told them.

"Absolutely." Brittany climbed out of bed, dressed in her normal clothing Jenny now noticed, and took the baby from him gently. "Jenny, will you grab the things we'll need?" Jenny looked down and saw a bag by the foot of the bed full of diapers and pajamas. She grabbed it and followed the two cousins out of the hospital.

They talked companionably on the way to Brittany's mansion, where they went inside and made their way into the small room they'd set up to be the baby's bedroom. Brittany slinked over to the bed and gently deposited the sleeping baby into it, moving back to let it sleep.

"There we are... that should last about five minutes." Brittany smirked and set up a small one-way radio to listen for the baby as the trio of girls walked into another room. "If you girls don't mind, I need to go change. I've been wearing these clothes since yesterday."

"No problem at all." Jenny watched Brittany leave, leaving her and Tiffany alone in the living room with the baby monitor. Jenny looked around nervously, trying to avoid the steady, peering gaze that Tiffany leveled in her direction. "So... how have you been Tiff?"

"Fine." Tiffany replied in a strained voice. Suddenly a wailing noise floated over the baby monitor. "And the torment begins." The girl smirked and stood up. "Go find Brit will ya? I'm gonna go see if I can calm the kid down before she gives me a headache." She walked into the baby's bedroom again.

Jenny stood up and headed into the back toward Brittany's bedroom. "Brit, are you back h..." Jenny stopped when she opened the bedroom door, staring at a bare bottomed Brittany standing in the middle of the room. "H... here... you're here..." Jenny stuttered.

Brittany quirked one eyebrow, seemingly unbothered by the intrusion. "Jenny, what is your problem?" She asked. Jenny just stared at her, feeling something strange revving up in her systems.

"I... don't know... um..." Jenny shook her head. "Jennifer is crying... I think she wants you..." Jenny quirked one eyebrow as well, trying to figure out why her body felt so strange. The darkness of her vision seemed to lift somewhat, making her vision brighter than before.

"Um... thanks... I'll be out momentarily." Brittany replied. She stared at Jenny, who was still staring at her with a blank gaze. "Do you need anything else?" Brittany asked irritably.

"No... nothing!" Jenny ducked out of the room and closed the door, leaning against the wall. "What was that... my body..." She looked down at her hand, which was vibrating somewhat. "It feels strange..." She shook her head and lowered her hand. "Did Sheldon's modification work?" With a slight smile, she turned to head for the living room.

She could hear Jennifer crying from the next room, with Tiffany trying to coo her back into silence. It was probably best not to interfere anymore since they would probably be dealing with the baby for a while, so she headed outside and took flight over the city. She watched the people milling about below her going on with their lives.

She looked over in surprise when she heard an explosion from a nearby building. "What the...?" She saw a small man scurry away from the burning building, carrying several large bags for such a small guy. She felt the same sensation from before lighting up her body. "Time to save the city!" She flew down toward the man and whirled vertically, landing in a crouch in front of the thief.

"Hey, you're not getting away with this!" She stood up straight, holding her arms out to her sides. "Give the money back."

"I dunna think so lassie." The figure grinned and several more identical figures leapt from his sides, all lining up to face the robot with vicious looks on their faces. "Ya cannot fight what ya cannot catch!" They all shouted. Jenny felt the sensation from before flooding through her body as her hands withdrew, making way for a pair of massive hammers.

"Bring it on!" Jenny shouted as she lunged forward. Spectators watched the fight with gazes of shock and awe at the sheer viciousness of her strikes. The battle lasted only a matter of minutes, and by the time it was over Jenny's body was teeming with energy... this must have been what excitement felt like. The rush of combat, the thrill of victory...

"I FEEL so alive!" Jenny screamed into the air victoriously. Her vision had grown even brighter than before, illuminating her surroundings in a light halo. She didn't notice the horrified spectators watching her fly away with her pigtail engines. She ripped through the sky, the adrenaline of the battle still roaring through her systems. "I've got to thank Sheldon for doing such a great job... I've never felt like this before." She looked down, seeing Brad walking up his driveway to the house.

She turned down toward the ground and flipped so that she was facing him as her pigtails lowered her to the ground. She was already rushing toward him excitedly the moment she hit the ground. "Brad!"

Brad stared at her in amazement. "Jenny? Is that you? You're acting... strange..." Brad took a step back when Jenny almost slammed into him, moving right up next to his face. "What's... up?"

"Brad, this is the most wonderful thing... I can FEEL!" Jenny exclaimed excitedly with he rface mere inches in front of his.

"Wh... what? Feel?" Brad blinked in confusion and backed away reflexively, his back slamming into the corner of the doorframe. "Jenny, how could you feel? You couldn't feel before... could you?"

Jenny giggled, grinning delightfully. "Sheldon did some modifications to my systems! I can feel now! It feels so wonderful... there's like this energy that goes through me... it's so exciting!" She put her hands up and grinned, staring down at them. "I feel so alive... I've never felt this way before in my life!"

"Well... congratulations Pinocchio." Brad told her with a somewhat nervous smile. Jenny quirked one eyebrow, staring at him. "Uh, sorry, long story."

"I'm so excited... I can't figure out what I want to do with this feeling." Jenny jumped up and down in place, looking at Brad. "I want to do something exciting. Let's do something exciting Brad!" Jenny exclaimed.

"Well, can't you feel anything other than excitement?" Brad asked curiously. Jenny blinked, staring at him.

"Like what? Don't be silly, come on, I want to do something!" She grabbed his hand and ran down the street laughing. Brad yelped as he was dragged along behind her, pumping his legs just to keep from being pulled along the ground. She dragged him all the way to the park and threw him to the grass. "Let's wrestle!"

"Wrestle?" Brad looked up at her warily. Her arms and legs were twitching spastically, and she had a wild-eyed expression on her face. "Um... let's not... why don't we take you home and get you some rest..." He suggested.

"Come on Brad!" She grabbed him and pulled his face close to hers, still grinning. "Afraid I'll whoop you?"

Brad whimpered and squeaked like a wounded puppy. "Yes..." He squeaked. Jenny blinked and threw him to the ground.

"You're no fun..." She looked up when she heard a cry from across the park. She saw an older kid holding a small girl onto the ground, holding a small doll above her head teasingly. "Now that looks fun!" Jenny grinned.

"What? Jenny, don't!" Brad jumped to his feet, but Jenny was already halfway across the playground. Her body flared in excitement her vision growing even brighter than before until it was an almost blinding intensity. She stopped in mid-stride with several blades already protruding from her fingers, inches from the little bully.

Jenny shook her head to try to clear it, but her vision remained bright and shining. "My eyes..." She squinted against the suddenly glaring lights. This let her see a little more. The boy was running away screaming, while the little girl clutched the dropped doll, staring up at her fearfully. She looked down and saw her limbs visibly vibrating.

"These feelings are... weird..." She activated her wing-like engines and took off through the sky, ignoring Brad's screams from the ground. "I need something to do... work off some energy." She turned to head back toward Brittany's house, the memory of her nude earlier in the day sending more surges through her system.

She landed and went inside, finding Brittany and Tiffany in the living room, where Brittany had a bottle in Jennifer's mouth. "Welcome back, Jenny." Brittany smirked. "Decided to come back and say goodbye since you neglected to before?"

"Brit... I need you alone right now." Jenny told her.

Brittany lifted one eyebrow with a smirk. "Not likely at the moment. My daughter needs me." Jenny shook her head, the image of Brittany that morning stuck in her mind, driving more energy spikes through her systems.

"Well I need you too!" Jenny grabbed Brittany's arm and yanked her off the couch. The girl stumbled in surprise, but Tiffany managed to lunge forward and help her keep hold of the baby. Jennifer started screaming in fear at the sudden movements.

"Have you gone insane!?" Tiffany demanded angrily. "You're gonna hurt someone you half-baked robot!"

Brittany stared at Jenny, shaking slightly. "Tiff, why don't you take Jennifer in the other room?"

"What!? No!" Tiffany complained.

"Just do it, I can handle this." Brittany retorted. Tiff looked like she wanted to complain again, but she straightened her back and gently took the baby from Brittany. Without another word she marched into the other room, trying to coo the child into silence. "Now you listen to me robot, we've had a lot of fun these last few months but if you ever put my child in danger again I will make sure you're disassembled."

"Why are you being so upset? I have needs and feelings too!" Jenny replied, gripping Brittany's arm tighter. Her vision grew almost pure white, obscuring all of her vision.

"Feelings? What kinds of feelings do YOU have!?" Brittany spat.

"I... feel like I... need... you..." Jenny gripped Brittany in both hands, pulling at her shirt despite her blindness.

"J... Jenny!? Stop it! This instant!" Brittany's voice wavered as she tried to push the robot's arms away from her. Jenny gripped at her clothing, her movements growing increasingly spastic. Her limbs barely felt like they were functioning anymore. What was happening to her? "Jenny! STOP!" Brittany screamed.

"I..." Jenny gripped at Brittany as she fell to her knees, her entire frame shuddering. "Feeling... weak... feel..." The light faded from her vision, granting her full view of Brittany. She was sitting on the couch only half-dressed, holding her clothing around herself and staring at Jenny. She was shivering somewhat. "Feel..." Jenny muttered as she fell backward, hitting the ground with a heavy thump.

Her body wouldn't respond to any mental commands. Her visual and auditory functions were beginning to fade as Brittany moved slowly from the couch still staring at her with those wide eyes. "Jenny... what happened to you?" Brittany's voice faded away as surely as Jenny's systems shutdown beyond the standard sleep-mode.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ "What did you-" _____________________________________________________________ "Will she b-" _________________________________________________________________ "I'm sor-" _______________________________________________________ "You'll be ok-" ________________________________________________________ "-ive me Jenny... Forgi-" ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ "I miss you Jenny... please come back..." _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ "-it! I think her basic functions are repaired."

Jenny's systems flared spastically, sending her entire body into confusions. But her eyesight flared back as well, though it was much darker than normal. Her mother, Brad, Brittany and Tiffany were all standing over her with anxious looks on their faces. Mrs. Wakeman spoke first. "XJ-9, are you fully functional?" The others clasped their hands in front of their chests.

"I... am..." Jenny's eye twitched and her voice fluctuated as she spoke. "I think... I'll be okay... but I feel... strange..." Brad heaved a sigh of relief and flashed her a smile. Brittany closed her eyes and lowered her head, obscuring her face from view while Tiffany shook her head and put her hands on her hips.

"You got a flare for the dramatic girl. I gotta give you that." Tiffany commented.

"What... happened... to me..." Jenny asked. "I... can't feel... anymore..."

Mrs. Wakeman frowned darkly and shook her head. "You never did feel XJ-9. That meddler Sheldon welded a power-amplifier to your main circuitry. Any time you were in a situation that a human would deem exciting it increased your power output. But it was unregulated, so your power output increased exponentially until it overloaded your system. We're lucky your main CPU wasn't melted." She smirked.

"Sheldon... where is he...?" Jenny asked.

"He ran off when he realized he was responsible for all of this." Brad shook his head and put a hand on her shoulder. "I wouldn't worry about him Jenny. He'll be fine."

Jenny blinked and tried to move, but all she got was a twitching arm. "I can't move my body..."

"I can't remove the power-amplifier without the proper equipment, so until I get it you're going to have to remain incapacitated." Mrs. Wakeman said. Jenny sighed and nodded, since that was as much physical movement as she was able to accomplish at the moment.

"She can stay with me for the time being." Brittany volunteered, lifted her eyes to Jenny's for the first time since her reactivation. Nobody else complained, so arrangements were made and the others left for home since it was apparently getting late in the evening. Jenny wasn't sure how long she'd been out, but apparently it was a good while.

Jenny stared at Brittany as she walked into the living room after showing the others out. "What... what did I... do to you?" Jenny asked.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Just a small scare. You weren't really in your right mind." Brittany shrugged it off and sat on a small chair beside the robot. "Tell me Jenny... why would you go to a computer geek to modify you? What could be worth that?" She asked.

"I... wanted to feel." Jenny replied sincerely. Brittany quirked one eyebrow in a quizzical gaze. "I wanted to feel... like you. You seemed to feel so much when you were holding Jennifer... you feel so much when we make love... you feel when we meet in the school hallways..." Jenny sighed and looked up at the feeling. "I wanted to experience those feelings."

Brittany looked down, clasping her hands in front of her. "I suppose I must confess to having never thought of what it would be like to live in a physical vacuum." She looked up at Jenny again. She looked over her shoulder when Jennifer started wailing from another room. She smirked and shook her head. "If I could give you these feelings I would..." She looked down and patted Jenny's hand gently. "But if it helps... you're a source of many good feelings." She smiled and turned to head into the baby's bedroom.

Jenny stared up at the ceiling and plunged herself into sleep-mode. There was so much new information to process... but her mind was a clutter with new and old information thrust into a jumble. That amplifier must have really done a number on her systems; it would take her several days straight to sort it out. Well, she probably had plenty of time.

Jenny awoke some time later when she heard a soft knocking noise from the front of the house. She listened as a pair of footsteps moved through the living room and the door creaked open. "What are you doing here?" Brittany's voice demanded irritably.

"I... need to see Jenny..." Sheldon's squeaky voice was even more unstable than usual.

"I think you've seen enough of her." Brittany scoffed.

"Come on, I need to apologize." Sheldon countered desperately. "I'm the reason her life was in danger... I drove her crazy. I have to at least tell her I'm sorry."

"Forget it, you're not getting in this house." Brittany replied. Jenny listened to the conversation intently, but her attention turned elsewhere when she heard a crash from somewhere in the back of the house. The two students at the front of the house obviously heard it as well. "What the devil was that?" Brittany asked curiously.

"I don't know, but it came from the back somewhere..." Sheldon replied. Jenny heard Brittany gasp.

"Jennifer!" Brittany's footsteps rushed into the back of the house quickly, followed by Sheldon's.

"Wait, you don't know what it is!" Sheldon's voice faded as they went beyond Jenny's earshot.

"Brit... Sheldon... someone activate my body so I can help!" Jenny shouted. She got no response however... her part of the house plunged once again into uncomfortable silence. "Brit! Sheldon!" Jenny called again, trying to make her body move so she could make sure they were alright. She heard a soft crash float out of the back, followed by an even softer wailing noise.

Suddenly a louder crash was followed by a girl's scream. "BRIT!" Jenny screamed, trying desperately to make her body move. There just wasn't any power running through her limbs. There had to be a way to get back there and make sure they were alright... there had to be.

The sound of Jennifer crying was joined by Brittany's voice yelling angrily, followed by a resounding smack sound. The baby's wail grew in pitch as Brittany's voice grew too muffled for Jenny to hear. She didn't hear Sheldon's voice anywhere back there. What was going on back there? She had to find out... wait...

"The Power Amplifier!" Jenny exclaimed. It was still attached to her CPU... if she could activate it, it could give her body enough of a surge to go help. But it could also overload her systems again... and this time she might not get lucky enough to escape with her vital parts intact.

A muffled scream from the back joining the baby's frightened scream was enough to settle the debate. Jenny closed her eyes, concentrating on her main processing systems. The amplifier roared to life, sending all the power it had stored up earlier rushing through her body again. She lunged from the small coffee table, her limbs twitching spastically.

"I'm... coming..." Jenny stumbled toward the back of the house. "Brit! Where are you!?" She stumbled into a nearby wall, barely able to see thanks to the excess energy in her optical sensors. Her twitching legs carried her into the back slowly, but she was moving at least. "Brit... answer me! Where are you!?" Jenny shouted.

"Look out!" Brittany's voice screamed just before something slammed into the back of Jenny's head. Jenny's neck twitched violently and she stumbled to her hand and knees, wounded more by her own power than the impact. She looked behind her to see Tyler staring down at her with a large grin on his face and a steel bat in his hands.

"Think you can take my girl? Think you can take my DAUGHTER from me?" He swung the bat again, hitting her straight in the jaw with a sick metallic thud. Jenny flew to her back, her entire body twitching spastically and emitted electrical sparks. Jenny forced her eyes open, watching the intruder move to stand over her. "I knew you'd have a weak moment eventually."

Jenny tried to sit up, but the steel bat slammed into her jaw, knocking her to her stomach on the ground. The bat proceeded to slam into the back of her head repeatedly, knocking one of her steel pigtails to the ground in front of her. Jenny pushed herself up, but a few swift bat strikes knocked her twitching body down again.

"Get up Jenny..." Brittany prompted shakily. Jenny opened her eyes, staring into the bedroom the voice had come from. Brittany was huddled in one corner of the room, holding her daughter close to her bare chest. Her clothing lay on the floor in front of her in tatters. What had Tyler been doing to her...? Sheldon was lying against the wall unconscious, with a small trickle of blood running toward the ground.

Jenny pushed herself up again as the bat slammed into her again and again, sending her already damage body into a convulsive fit. Even her internal systems were beginning to feel the abuse. Her eyesight returned to normal as the power began to drain and her hearing was beginning to fade as well.

Jenny clenched her fists drawing all the power from the amplifier into her arms. They twitched and whirred spastically, but before they could cut out Jenny whirled with a single punch. It plunged straight through Tyler's chest, embedding into the wall behind him. His face contorted in shock as the steel bat fell from his hands, clattering on the ground.

"Leave... Brit... alone..." Jenny grunted as the excess power started to overwhelm her systems. She yanked her arm out of Tyler's body, letting him slide to the ground. Her metal frame fell backwards to the ground, convulsing randomly as it had before. Brittany crawled over to her, still clutching the crying baby in one arm as she put one hand on Jenny's chest.

"Jenny, stay awake this time. At least until Mrs. Wakeman comes..." Brittany told her.

"I... cn't..." Jenny replied, barely able to control her own mouth enough to speak. "Cn't... fel... en... gy..." She whispered.

"It doesn't matter..." Brittany smiled slightly and put a hand on Jenny's cheek. Unlike the gentle caress she used when they made love, this one was a soft stroke across her cheek. Jenny blinked slowly as tears filled the girl's eyes. "It doesn't matter what you feel physically... you do feel it all anyway."

"I... fel..." Jenny stared up at her. One of her hands lifted off the ground slowly, moving through the air in a series of spastic twitches and zigzags until it touched Brittany's cheek. "Wat... d... I... fel...?"

"The same thing I feel... or else you wouldn't... wouldn't do this..." Brittany covered her mouth, looking Jenny's convulsing body up and down. "Jesus Jenny... you should have stayed where you were... it wasn't worth this. I would rather let him have my body than watch you like this."

"Cn't... not... pr... ect... ou..." Jenny smiled slightly, though it was probably hard to identify with how furiously her face was twitching. "I... L... ove... ou..." Her vision blinked in and out of existence, until finally her hearing systems began to follow.

"Jenny? JENNY!" Brittany's scream followed her into the darkness into which she descended.

_________________________________________ "I love you too..." ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SYSTEMS CHECK... 5,847 ERRORS DETECTED. REPAIRING... FATAL EXCEPTION OCURRED, HARDWARD REALIGNMENT REQUIRED... HARDWARE REALIGNMENT COMPLETE, REPAIRING... NEURAL NETWORK RESTORED TO 25% EFFICIENCY... COMBAT SYSTEMS OFFLINE, JAPANESE/CHINESE/KOREAN/RUSSIAN/FRENCH/AFRICAN LANGUAGE DISKS OFFLINE, LIMB EXTENSIONS OFFLINE, POWER AMPLIFIER OFFLINE, TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS OFFLINE. STARTING NEURAL NETWORK...

Jenny opened her eyes slowly. Everything around her looked dark at first, but it brightened up considerably as she looked around the room. She saw her mother and Brittany standing over her. There were also flashing lights in the background behind them... police and ambulance light. The robot blinked and shook her head, staring up at the two women above her. "This... looks familiar..." Jenny commented wryly.

"Welcome back again XJ-9." Mrs. Wakeman frowned. "What were you doing using the power amplifier like that? If it had been active one more second your hard drive could have detonated, taking half the city with it." She narrowed her eyes. "We're going to have a long talk about this young lady."

"Don't blame her... it's my fault." Brittany shook her head. Jenny looked over at her. She was wearing a luxurious blue bathrobe, and had her sleeping daughter tucked safely inside her arms. "I was the one who was in trouble... she came to save me..." She looked down at the robot softly.

"It doesn't matter, she has important responsibilities, like not KILLING anyone." Mrs. Wakeman stood up, glaring down at Jenny who realized she was lying on the floor. "Now I have to go sort all of this out with the police chief... hopefully I can convince them not to dismantle you." She walked toward the front where the lights were still flashing.

Jenny blinked and looked up at Brittany, who stared back with a steady gaze. The robot looked around nervously. "Sheldon's going to be fine... if you were wondering." Brittany commented.

"That's good to hear." Jenny replied with a soft smile. Brittany cleared her throat and looked down at Jennifer, running one hand over the baby's cheek. "Are YOU okay?" Jenny asked.

"I'll be fine..." Brittany smiled down at her and shook her head. "Jenny..." She trailed off softly.

"I know..." Jenny reached up with one hand to stroke Brittany's cheek. "What I am physically is just a shell... what matters is... how I feel INSIDE..." Her fingers brushed over Brittany's dark skin. "And inside... I want to be there for you... to protect you..." Brittany reached up and wiped away a tear that had formed under one eye. "I... love you..."

Brittany smiled and put one hand on Jenny's hand, squeezing it in her palm. "I love you too, Jenny..." She replied softly. She looked up when Mrs. Wakeman approached again, looking less upset than she had before, but she was still quite stern.

"You're getting off this time XJ-9." She said. "Just be more careful in the future... if it happens again there won't be anything I can do." She broke into a soft smile when she was finished with the lecture. "For now... let's get you back to my lab so I can work on rebuilding your damaged systems.

Brittany stood up and moved aside as two burly police officers approached Jenny. They each took an arm, and struggled to haul her limp frame off the ground. Jenny let them, looking over at Brittany before they hauled her away with much groaning and straining. Things had changed again... though this time she wasn't sure if it was for the better or worse. It didn't really matter though... it was done either way. She would just have to live with it and take what life sent her way.

THE END