A/N: Hey guys, I'm back with a new chapter as promised. As always thank you for the reviews, follows and favourites. In this chapter it focuses on Mac and Gus. It contains Darren Criss's Not Alone, which I of course I don't own. Okay on with the story, hope you like it….
After their quick introduction to each other, Mac had found her feet. Looking around she realised they had crashed in a large meadow of some sort that was on a small mound which was surrounded by a dark looking forest. They're out there, all of them. Somewhere, deep within that forest are my parents, Gus' family, and everyone on our Starship. Unlike Gus, Mac wasn't as worried about her parents survival. She could sense her mum was still active due to her electrical signal. She was half robot and as such she could detect electrical signals. Normally Mac hated the robot side of her; it caused her so grief that she tried to drown it out. Finally my robot half comes in useful. Closing her eyes, she cleared her mind and focused on a gentle pulse in the distance. She knew it wasn't her mum as she knew Megagirl's signal was on the other side of this additional pulse. It's the crashed ship. Realising what it was, she turned to a rather confused Gus.
"We need to head north" she stated bluntly before she disappeared into the trees, a dark shadow swallowing her. He didn't ask why, he simply rushed after her into the darkness.
In the forest it was surprising bright. It took less than a minute for Gus to catch up with Mac. When he reached her, she had a cold determined look on her face which reminded him of her mother's robotic expression. He was starting to worry.
"Mac? Mac? Why are we going this way?" he pleaded but she didn't respond. "Mac?" It was like she was caught in some sort of trance. He didn't know what to do. Was this some sort of coping mechanism? No knowing what else to do her grasped her wrist; maybe if she stopped he could talk sense to her? The effect was instant. The moment his hand touched her skin, her whole demeanour changed. Her stiff position dissolved, her face soften and she returned to looking more human. The robotic mask lost. "Mac?"
She stopped dead. Turning towards him, her cheeks flushed red and her eyes watered. Stupid robot part. Why does it always take over!
"Gus… I'm so sorry. Sometimes the robot part of me just takes over. I can't help it. It's like it has some sort of power over me, I didn't mean to scare you, sorry." She spluttered. Why are you telling him this? You don't know him, he doesn't know you. It's not like he cares. She was confused when he pulled her into a hug. She wasn't much of an affectionate person to the people she knew never mind a stranger. But she relaxed into the hug, she found it comforting, his arms were wrapped around her waist. Her head fell into the crook of his neck and he placed his head on top of hers. He lowered his head and spoke in her ear.
"It's okay, you don't need to apologise but do mind telling me why we are heading North?" He asked. She pulled herself from the hug and they started walking north again.
"Because that's where I believe the crashed Starship is…" Mac mumbled. Even though she wasn't really zoned into the signal she could still feel the light pulse
"Mac, how do you know that?" Gus wondered curiously. He wanted her to be telling the truth but he didn't want to be just walking around in circles. She took a deep breathe. He needed an explanation.
"Well, as you know I'm half robot. I normally try to ignore that part of me, but the truth is, in a situation like this it does come in handy. I pick up energy signals, that how I now where the ship is. I can also sense my mum's still active so we're not alone on this planet…" Mac explained and Gus nodded along.
…..
"Eye spy with my little eye something beginning with S…" Gus rhymed. Mac looked around their new surroundings. They had been walking all day, talking and playing games. Mac found it weird to think that 24 hours ago she wouldn't have known who he was. She felt like she had known him all her life and was comfortable around him which was unusual for her. Earlier they had discovered a stream and had followed it. Suddenly the answer hit her as she stared at the sky.
"Gus, that's easy. It's the Sunset!" Mac answered correctly. They both stopped and stared up at the darkening colour creation above them. It was a gradient scale perfectly blending deep violet and crimson, with small sparkling jewels scattered across the entire canvas. "That's something you don't see on Earth. It's beautiful".
"Stunning, what do you say we just set up camp here?" Gus suggested. Mac nodded. They were in a small clearing across from the stream but not too far from the trees.
An hour later, they lay on beds of leaves built by Gus, their feet pointing towards the fire which Mac had created from a fallen down tree. They made trivial small talk while the continued to stargaze. Both were captivated by the night's sky. It had completely darkened which contrasted with the petite glittering diamonds. After a while, Gus fell asleep. Mac could only ever sleep for four hours a day. It was another robot thing that annoyed her. She could only 'shut down' for about four hours a day. And because she was shut down for a while when they crashed she couldn't sleep. She never really got tired. Sure she slept but she never really felt exhausted.
After a while even the stars seemed to lose her interest. She was bored. Normally she would just go do something with her Mum at this time at night as she never slept but she couldn't do that. Her mum wasn't here. She felt tears prick at her eyes although she supressed them. She wasn't going to cry. Sitting up, she shuffled as quietly as possible towards the fire. As she warmed herself she began to sing lightly.
"I've been alone
Surrounded by darkness
I've seen how heartless
The world can be
I've seen you crying
You felt like it's hopeless
I'll always do my best
To make you see
Baby, you're not alone
Cause you're here with me
And nothing's ever gonna bring us down
Cause nothing can keep me from lovin' you
And you know it's true
It don't matter what'll come to be
Our love is all we need to make it through…" She was interrupted when she heard movement from Gus. Her singing had woken him up. Why did I sing so loud? He pulled himself up and squinted his sleepy blue irises at her. Yawning he rubbed his left eye with the back of his hand. "Sorry Gus. Just go back to sleep, it's probably only like two in the morning. I didn't mean to wake you. I shouldn't be allowed to sing. "She laughed sadly looking at the ground. He straightened himself up and ran his fingers through his messy sticky up black hair. He smiled.
"You need to stop apologising. You didn't do anything. I don't mind being woken up by beautiful singing." He flashed her a winning smile and she turned her head, praying to dead god it was dark enough to hide the blush creeping up her cheeks. No one had ever complimented her singing before, mainly because no one normally heard her.
"You think I sing beautifully? No one has ever said that before," Mac confessed. Gus looked dumbfounded, his expression illuminated by the crackling fire.
"Really? You have such a pretty voice and from what I heard of it that song was incredible, what's it called and who wrote it?" Gus asked genuinely interested.
"It's called Not Alone. I don't really know who wrote it. My mum used to sing it to me when I was going to sleep, or if I was ever upset when I was younger. But now a days I normally just sing it to myself, most of the time it's when I'm lonely or upset but tonight I just felt like I needed to be close to my mum. You know what I mean?" Mac asked while lying back on the leaf bed. Gus copied her.
"Yeah, yeah I do. I miss my family but I don't miss the Starship. Where else in the universe would you get a sky as clear and magnificent as this? I could stay here forever, just looking up at that sky," Gus admitted. Mac knew exactly how he felt. She found herself nodding as she answered him.
"Same. I could happily lie here forever. If I never had to go back to her everyday life, I would be over the earth's moon. Well, if I had my parents here as well. I really don't want to go back to Earth where people make fun of me daily because I'm a hybrid, because I'm different. Humans really don't like anything different, especially if it has anything to do with the 'toasters'. Do you know I've never even had a friend? Everyone makes fun of me, or is terrified that I'm going to 'zap' them. I can block them out but I've always really wanted someone to talk to sometimes other than my parents. No one likes me back home. They say I'm not normal. I don't fit in. They call me a weirdo. Do you know what it's like to be called a freak every day of your life?" Mac confessed. She didn't know why she'd just told him that. Why did I do that? He doesn't care about my life, why would he? What a way to play it cool Mac. She frowned as she heard him start to proper belly laugh. She felt like he had just ripped out her heart. He's laughing at me. "What's so funny?" She huffed angrily. He stopped laughing immediately, turning on his side to face her.
"I'm the son of a human science officer and a bug from bug world. And the only reason I'm alive is because they fooled around when my father was in a brain dead human's body, yeah of course I do. I'm the bug freak, pleased to meet you. I know how you feel. You aren't alone. I guess I'm just lucky I spent most of my childhood on Bug world, and I've always had Woodie, who is actually a bug. Don't be upset, embrace who you are and show all those against you that you aren't going to let them keep you down. Always remember, you're not alone. How good am I? Quoting your song and everything. And when it comes to friends, if you want I could be your friend" Gus offered. They had grown closer over the past day. The more she thought about it the more she realised how much she enjoyed his company.
"I think I's like that, friend" Mac smiled.
A/N: Okay, so that's this chapter. Please review for anything you want to see. Who you think I'm going to write about next chapter? Your views on Mac and Gus? Who's your favourite next generation of Starship ranger? I really don't mind. I will hopefully see you next week. Until the next time ~ Takeawalk x