Zydrate Baby

Disclaimer- I do not own Repo! The Genetic Opera or its characters.

Plot Summary- Graverobber gets Shilo pregnant; both are unsure if it's ethical to bring a baby into their world.

"Come on man, just one hit! You know I'm good for it!"

Graverobber's eyes could have started the addict on fire. Brenn, Brogan…Whatever his name was, the peddler didn't care if it was a regular costumer. He was ten-seconds away from striking the next zydrate addict who pissed him off.

"Word to the wise." Graverobber said as he threw his bag over his shoulder. He didn't have the patience for these addicts tonight. "Pay up or leave me the fuck alone!"

He hated people. Hated dealing with them. Not having to deal with their stupidity was just one of the many perks of working with the dead. That's why he had worked so hard to build a world that fit only to his needs and personality. When he just didn't care, it made it easier to tell an ailing person to back off. Made it easy to walk out on the last piece of ass for a new one. So when in the past year or so, had he become so soft?

The kid made him so. He should have been mad at her. That's stupid, Graverobber sighed. He couldn't blame Shilo for anything. He was smart enough to realize that things like this just happened. Sure, you could control how many surgeries you had or whether or not you became a drug dealer, but you couldn't control the people who impact you or what might come from those relationships. Shilo had been an unexpected breath of fresh air in an otherwise dead world. She wasn't carved like a statue or plastic like a toy. She was more like the Virgin Mary. He laughed because that would make him god.

But now he wasn't god. His world revolved someone else and soon enough it'd be two. Provided Shilo chose not to get an abortion, which didn't look likely. Another option was simply to leave Shilo and go back to living in his dumpster or worse his 'house'—unappealing but no responsibility.

The idea went away as soon as he was over the graveyard fence. Oddly enough, it didn't cross his mind seriously again even as he started collecting zydrate.

Hypothetically, let's assume he didn't love Shilo (even if that was only because he didn't believe in the concept). He was extremely attached to her. She trusted him as a guide to this world, and it was endearing that she did. She had shown him more loyalty in just the first few days he knew her, than he had ever known in his entire life. This was despite knowing that he had slept with countless women, stole from the dead, and had taken advantage of a teenage girl. Graverobber, of his own admissions, had done some messed up things in his life, and he was capable of doing more. But betraying Shilo was just unfathomable in his mind.

"You lucky bastard." He murmured to the dead corpse, and then proceeded to drive a needle into his brain.

Poor kid, imagine telling all his friends that daddy's a drug dealer. The idea did lighten his mood a tiny bit. It would be hilarious to see the look on a teachers face when his kid told her that his father jacked up sluts for a living.

Then, his mood turned sour again. He realized there was a very real possibility of that actually happening. And even his cruel sense of humor couldn't appreciate it.

()

The table was cold. Everything was. Her breath was shallow. Even her hair felt dead. Shilo couldn't even call for help. It took all of her strength just to keep breathing.

"Marni! Marni!" Shilo closed her eyes so as to hide from the voice. Her father's hands grasped onto her arms and shook her lightly. "Dear god, Marni!"

She wanted to scream. Her dad was calling her by her mom's name. Even in death, he held on to that obsession. Not that she could tell him the truth. Shilo couldn't speak.

Suddenly, a sharp pain dug into her lower stomach. She arched her back and mouthed a scream. The pain spread like jolts of electricity through her. Every muscle tensed as fought against the agony. Then in mere moments, the pain was over and a crying sound was heard. Shilo gasped loudly in rejoice—then widened her eyes at the idea of being able to make noise.

Her body was no longer held in place. She could move. Shilo carefully pushed herself up, expecting to see her crying baby.

Instead, she was face to face with a fully clothed repo man. Her reflection was visible in his visor. He held a knife just inches away from her face. Shilo's mouth dropped. The baby was still crying.

She finally grew the courage to speak. "Dad?"

And he responded by plunging the knife into her throat.

Shilo's eyes flew open as she startled awake. "Kid? You alright?"

She was in her bed. Warm and safe. She glanced up to the bathroom where Graverobber watched her—confused, but thankfully, home. Must have just gotten home, Shilo noticed. She heard the running shower and noticed his shirt was hanging over his shoulder. His face still made-up as to protect his identity (which he now only revealed to Shilo).

"I think so." Shilo sat up slowly. There was no repo man. Thank god for small miracles. "You came back?"

Graverobber shot her a bemused look. "I live here."

"I thought maybe you'd trick some scalpel slut into sleeping her place, or you'd skip town." Shilo didn't really believe it. She expected it, but didn't believe he'd do it.

And he knew better than to be mad she thought he would. "So, let me get this straight. There are wanted posters of me all over the city, but you think I'd skip town because of some fucking kid? Give me a little credit."

"Believe it or not, I'm actually flattered." She said. Graverobber shrugged and returned to the bathroom but left the door open. Shilo pulled the blankets over her and laid back down. Her mind still partly focused on the dream. She didn't tell him about it—she didn't understand it so he probably wouldn't be of much help. "I'm still not sure what I'm going to do, you know."

"I know."

"I might decide to…have the surgery." The words were spoken carefully, as if to be kept secret from the small life growing inside her. "Or, I might decide to have the baby."

There was a long pause before he repeated himself. "I know."

"And you're still going to stay?" Shilo asked, more confused than upset. There wasn't an immediate answer. After a few minutes, the water stopped and after a few more, Graverobber emerged with nothing but a towel around his neck. He had been less than modest about his nudity even before he and Shilo slept together..

"Look, kid, I'm not going to lie to you and say that I'm happy. Hell, I'd rather spend the rest of life in a crypt than follow around a tiny-shitting machine." Poetic as usual, Shilo sarcastically thought. "But hey, like or not, I did this to you. I may be a heartless son of a bitch, but I'm not gonna leave you to clean up the mess alone."

Shilo groaned. Graverobber rolled his eyes impatiently. He left, he was an unfeeling bastard; he stayed, he was still an unfeeling bastard. She knew how he was, so shouldn't she have been happy he was still there? Even if his forth coming was less than desirable?

She explained her frustrations. "It's not just a mess, Graves. This is life-alternating stuff here. We're not in this for 9 months or 18 years. It's a lifetime. Whether I have the kid or not, the fact that we know it exists has to mean something to us both."

"Shilo, I know!" Graverobber repeated in a low tone. He knew she was right to give him this speech; he had to hear it. He just hated being lectured. He calmed himself and sat on the edge of the bed. "Come on, Shi. I've had a hell of a day. We both have. Can we just—I don't know, not talk it anymore tonight?"

She didn't know if she could let it go after the dream she had just had, but nodded anyway. Shilo didn't believe in avoiding problems or pretending they weren't there (after all, hadn't her dad done that to her for seventeen years?). That being said, she was shocked Graverobber hadn't high-tailed himself out of her home and didn't want to punish him by shoving baby stuff down his throat. Anyway, she agreed that talking about it only caused more stress.

Graverobber climbed under the covers and reached out for Shilo. His hands landed on her back and he pulled her against his body. She didn't think it was possible for her to go back to sleep but after a few minutes, her eyes became heavy lidded. It was surprisingly easy to push today's discovery out of her head when she just closed her eyes and willed it away.

The z-peddler was tired too but managed to ask. "Hey kid?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you really think I was going to leave?"

Her hand, which now lay on his chest, tensed at the question. How to say it without offending him? "Can you blame me?"

With a defeated sigh, he answered. "Nope."

()

The baby wasn't brought up for a few days. Those days were filled with agonizing tension. Shilo could barely focus on her schoolwork while Graverobber seemed to bury himself in his work. This didn't so much create a space between them as it did create a mutual misery between the two.

After three days of this, Shilo couldn't deal with it anymore. She had to make a choice. "I made an appointment at GeneCo."

Graverobber was barely awake when Shilo had dropped that bombshell on him. They hadn't talked much about the baby, or anything for that matter. Sure, they made small talk here and there, and would sometimes catch one another in deep thought, but nothing ever came out of these moments. It was as if both were trying (and failing) to resume normal life. The only intimacy left between them was the late night/early morning embraces as they slept.

Once the impact of the words hit him, he immediately growled. "And why would you do that? What about that one doctor?"

"Dr. Kellis?" Shilo asked while flipping through her medical textbook. "Dr. Kellis can take care of me if I have the baby but…she can't perform the alternative."

Bombshell number two. "Did you decide to have the abortion?" He asked perhaps a little too hopefully for her liking. Shilo sighed and closed her textbook. She was reading about what happened during an abortion. The thought made her sick, but mechanics and morals aside, she thought she was capable.

"I still haven't decided. This is a consultation." Shilo murmured. Putting her annoyance aside, she continued. "You know how I said I didn't want you around for the Doctors appointment?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well…I was hoping you could go with me to this." Shilo whispered. "You know, in case we need to make an escape. You're pretty good at that."

The truth was Shilo was afraid to go alone. She would be even if she wasn't Shilo Wallace. Even if she didn't have to hide under a mountain of make-up and clothing to throw off the press; GeneCo was still a dangerous place to be. Their goal was to manipulate their clients into buying surgeries they didn't need, so they couldn't afford the payments on the surgery they did need and the organs could be taken back. As far as GeneCo was concerned, there was no moral code. They'd rip her to shreds in a minute just as they had done to Mag and her father. Graverobber could easily see through their manipulation and lies because, well, he was a good liar himself.

Part of her also just plain wanted him there.

"You know that they're looking for me right?" He reminded her gently.

"Just don't wear your make-up. You look completely different without it. Come on Graves, please?" Shilo didn't use her child-like charms to guilt him. She held a serious adult look so he could see how much it meant to her. "I can't do it alone."

He rolled his eyes and waved his hand. For her not being his girlfriend, he sure was whipped. "Fine. Fine. I'll go."

()

Despite selling Zydrate for so long, he never felt the need to ask what procedures his costumers were getting. Being a Z-dealer didn't exactly call for a lot of bullshit and small talk with his customers. That being said, he shouldn't have been surprised to see so many of his regulars hanging out in the GeneCo Hospital Ward. He was shocked however that Shilo was right; not one of them recognized him.

Actually, he wasn't sure whom he looked like. Shilo (who had offered him some of her father's old clothes and even an old pair of his glasses) insisted he looked like a bleeding heart artist and Shilo (wearing white make-up, heavy eye shadow and keeping the hood on her sweat jacket up) his gothic muse. They should have felt nervous in the disguises but it was actually comforting to be able to laugh over what they truly weren't. Also, Graverobber was use to life-threatening situations, while Shilo simply trusted Graverobber.

"Ms. Smith, I presume?" The doctor said when he finally walked into the uncomfortable room they had been put in. The doctor was almost nothing like Dr. Kellis. He walked in with a gentern hanging off his arm and a cocky attitude that immediately pissed Graverobber off. He had seen some pretty terrible surgical work before but this guy took the cake. His face was unnaturally proportioned to his features, making the couple wonder if people had told him he looked good or if he had insisted on keeping up with the modern fashions despite the end result. Shilo squirmed uncomfortably on the medical bed while Graverobber kept close watch from the corner. "I'm Dr. Wilson… And, is this your father?"

Graverobber narrowed his eyes. Shilo interjected before their cover was blown. "No, this is the baby's father. Mr. Smith."

Dr. Wilson switched his look back and forth between them and shrugged. He pulled a chair over to sit in front of Shilo. The gentern stood idly on the side and looked pretty. She kept making suggestive looks at Graverobber. Whether she thought he was familiar, or just wanted to fuck him, he couldn't be certain.

He was too distracted by the way Dr. Wilson just placed his hands wherever he pleased. The doctor started by cupping both sides of her face. "So, how far along are you?"

Shilo tried to pull out of his reach, but he moved his hands down to her neck. "Um, about a month according to my Doctor. I just…I don't think I'm ready to be a mom."

"Mhm." Dr. Wilson's hands started going lower. Graverobber made a low dangerous sound just as he was about to touch her breast. The doctor didn't even look back. "Problem, Mr. Smith?"

"I don't see why you have your hands all over her. She's already been check by her real doctor." Dr. Wilson glared over his shoulder at Graverobber. Shilo used the distraction to remove the doctor's hands from her body, which made him face her once more.

"I'm just seeing what other surgical options Ms. Smith needs so we could try and work out a package."

"Package?" Shilo repeated.

"Yes, most women who need abortions also consider breast-augmentation or a tummy tuck to hide signs of previous pregnancy. I would definitely recommend a breast-augmentation, though in this case, maybe implants. Perhaps a nose job while we're at it."

Shilo looked like she was about to vomit, and it wasn't because of the morning sickness. "No! I don't want to change the way I look! I just…I want to know if this is right for me."

Dr. Wilson sighed. "Well, Ms. Smith…I assure you an abortion is a very standard procedure."

"How standard?"

"Probably one of our most popular surgeries." Graverobber cringed along with Shilo. He certainly was doing him any favors. "See, women of today's standards don't have the time to raise a family, and GeneCo believes that choice is very—"

Shilo cut off his obviously rehearsed speech. "But if it's so standard why are you trying to hide it with plastic surgery?"

Go, kid Graverobber could have laughed. Shilo could see through his act, though he had a feeling any zydrate slut could. Maybe they were just too high to actually hear the doctor.

Dr. Wilson smiled, despite the obvious discomfort between them. "Ms. Smith, a woman like you has such potential—are you really going to let a baby and your appearance pull you down for the sake of proving me wrong?"

Shilo glowed red. She was about to go off when Graverobber did. "Hey buddy, she said she didn't want your god damn surgery. How about instead of making her feel like shit, you do your actual job?"

A domino effect seemed to be happening, as Dr. Wilson lost his patience as well. "Perhaps you should wait outside. You're not helping the situation. Melinda, would you please escort him out?"

"He's not going anywhere." Shilo practically growled. The gentern tried to place a hand on Graverobber. He pulled away from her grip and glared her down.

"Fuck off—both of you. I'm not going to let you treat her like one of your drone, bimbo patients. Come on, kid, let's get out of here!" Shilo, shocked by his outburst and words, jumped from the table and quickly over to Graverobber.

The doctor panicked as they walked towards the door. "Come now, we can work this out. I didn't mean to insult you, Ms. Smith…" One of his hands grabbed her upper arm and just like that, all the pressure, the stress, the anger—Graverobber released it by delivering a punch to Dr. Wilson's face.

The gentern screamed as the doctor stumbled back. Graverobber's survival instincts took over as he pulled Shilo away with a murmured 'fuck'. They went running down the halls and towards the fire escapes. They would escape no problem, but Graverobber realized now he had revealed himself to the only company that could take care of this pregnancy problem.

The only thing that made him feel better was how pissed GeneCo's CEO (his former fling) would be if she knew who had just escaped from her building.

Just want to take a moment and say thanks for the very supportive reviews thus far. Always means a lot to hear that people like a story. Hopefully, it continues to please, thanks again :)