Digit had wanted to comfort the doctor. He couldn't help himself - Dr. Marbles so rarely spoke about Hacker before his banishment. He might not know much about how the doctor felt, but he had a hunch that bottling up all those feelings and memories would eat away at the core.

They sure did gnaw at Digit's CPU.

The sympathy and understanding that Digit and the doc shared for each other was in sharp contrast with the…confusion written plainly on the Earthlings' faces. The mere mention of his own experiences with his ex-boss had opened the door for memories to come pouring back through his brain. And old feelings too.

Vulnerable. Gullible. Cowardly, his thoughts accused him. Smiling faces? Better times? Happy memories of a horrible, vile man who lied to you all? Manipulated you? That's just pathetic!

He realized he was being too quiet. Digit glanced at each pair of eyes, hoping he wasn't making a scene. But he didn't know how much time had passed, and from the looks on the teens' faces, it'd been long enough. Well-meaning and innocent looks of concern that stabbed him like a knife. Obviously they would be worried and shocked about his past. Obviously they would've known better, seen through the Hacker's tricks. To any normal borg it would've been obvious. But he was stupid and lied to himself and-

Oh, no, he still hadn't said anything.

Digit couldn't look at their eyes anymore. His gaze dropped to his shoes, nearly invisible in the long grass. A weak chuckle escaped him. "I guess when you say it's a trauma, that means it's hard to talk about, huh?"

"Digit, you don't have to if you don't want to," Inez said. Her tone was so kindly soft that he found the courage to look up again, albeit briefly.

"W-well," Digit stammered. What exactly had he meant to say? It was a rash action. He didn't even think before he said it. Did that make it straight from his heart? I used to enjoy hanging out with the guy. I used to admire him. I used to make him dinner and hoped he would like it. I used to see him as a friend. He was my father.

Small, plump arms wrapped around his neck. Inez knelt next to him and embraced him in a hug. Digit leaned into the embrace, allowing the overwhelming rush of thoughts to melt away. A tear pushed itself out of his eye, him only noticing because of the damp sensation against his face.

In a moment he pushed away, clearing his throat. Inez rose to her feet and he was grateful for the space.

He lifted his head to regard his friends with more clarity. You're not that same boid anymore, Didge. You got away from all that, sooner or later, and that's what matters.

"I guess…Well, I know. I know that I knew back then that what he was doing wasn't right," he said. The effort of speaking through the lump in his throat made him feel like he'd swallowed some chalk beforehand. He paused to view each listener's face; these were all his friends. They liked to hear about his bad boid past about as much as he liked to talk about it, but they were his friends, through and through. They'd made him feel like a valued member of the team. They trusted him. One bad story wasn't going to break the trust he'd earned through countless missions. They made him feel like Hacker did before it changed.

Digit simply had to push the little nagging voice in the back of his head saying otherwise away.

"...But, uh, that didn't stop me from…doing those things with him anyway." Digit's wingtips found the back of his neck again.

The little group patiently waited as he paused again. He was grateful. Again.

"Do you guys know the feeling when, when an old friend starts, uh, drifting away?"

Matt shuffled his feet. Out of all the people here he looked the most uncomfortable. It made Digit even more uneasy before he tried to calm himself again with positive thoughts. "Yeah."

"Digit, you've said you were created by Hacker, right?" Jackie asked. She was curious but sensitive, prodding him gently.

"Yeah. So, when you're first booted…Er, your creator…" The positive thoughts weren't working. He couldn't stop seeing flashes of twisted images and mixed emotions. Words just weren't doing it. He stuttered and stammered, all the while feeling more and more red-faced, until the slug-ball sized lump in his throat just couldn't take anymore.

He stared at his feet again.

"You see, children, Hacker had established a strong bond with Digit. His original purpose was that of a menial assistant, and a companion," Dr. Marbles explained. Digit's shame only grew when he continued. "So when Hacker first started suspicious activities, he swept Digit along with him."

Hot tears stung his eyes. "He didn't sweep me along," Digit blurted out. "I went along with that stuff because - because I thought he knew what he was doing."

Digit didn't look up to see their reactions. He wouldn't be able to handle anymore. Anymore, "how could you have not known?"

But it seemed to have finally broken the barrier in his mind, because words came rushing out like a waterfall. He was almost babbling, in such a hurry to fill the quiet before anybody else did. "He always knew best before that, or that's w-what I thought. He taught me all kinds of stuff, and I guess I looked up to him. I wished that I was as smart as him and-and he taught me how to fly. I mean he basically raised me. He was my creator. I thought he was just making a mistake. I thought it would go back to normal. B-but I see now that, that he did know what he was doing, a-and he just - just didn't want what was best for me, too. Just what was best for him!"

"You trusted him," Jackie said.

The sentence cracked whatever composure Digit had managed to save. In an instant, the boiling emotions overflowed in messy, ugly tears and loud bawling. He noticed absently that the birds stopped singing.

Jackie swooped down to hug him, Matt and Inez quickly following, their arms and bodies enveloping his small frame. He tried to say thank you but choked on the words, the pain hollowing his chest too much to talk through. The warmth was comforting. Their almost-too-tight embrace was enough to break through the non-stop, nonsensical movie in his head. Through his cries, he suddenly felt absent from the moment. Wondering if he was really curled in their hugs.

In his absence, the images in his head cleared. A life-changing moment. One of the worst times of his life. Looking back, it was growing pains.

He surprised himself when he spoke. "Yeah…I trusted him. We did all kinds of nasty stuff. He was trying to get all the big-wigs in cyberspace to look his way. When I helped, I got good shares of the gains. We were…kinda in it together. He was always the boss but I…thought he respected me. Till one night."

Digit eyed the package of cash on the kitchen table. He was scrutinizing it a little too long, most likely. If he didn't open it right now Hacker would get angry.

He pretended he didn't notice the smug way Hacker smiled as he leaned on the table, palms pressed against the surface.

As Digit lifted the package, alarm bells screamed in his head. He pushed away the negative thoughts until they were a dull roar.

This package was too light. It didn't fit in his wing right. He didn't have to carefully pull it out of the brown paper bag so it didn't tear from the tight squeeze.

His gut twisted as he pulled out the cash. He was far too aware that he wasn't smiling the right way. He uttered a thank you that was too late. He knew he was being ungrateful, and that was dangerous, but he couldn't seem to yank his head out of the fuzzy clouds.

A quick dart of his eyes to Hacker's face and back and he knew he'd messed up. The borg sneered at him, eyes squinted in suspicion.

"Something wrong?" his boss hissed.

Digit rushed to hide it. If he complained, if he said anything, Hacker would just get angry. But the words he stammered out betrayed him. "W-well I just - I just - th-this is a-a third. O-of my share."

The cash crinkled between his tightening fingers. He stared at it, hardly daring to draw a breath.

"It's all of your share," Hacker said. His voice wavered with a fake patience.

This whole thing felt wrong. Him and Hacker split everything. Half and half. The schemes, the work, their less than respectable apartment's rent. Yet Digit felt like he was the bad guy, asking for his full share of their latest, most successful scheme yet.

"I-I just…" Digit trailed off as Hacker leaned in closer. The action made the boid shrink against the wood back of his chair.

Hacker gripped the edges of the table, hard. A creak squeaked through the air. "You're just ungrateful," Hacker snarled.

The poisonous acid in Hacker's tone set Digit on edge. He was fighting the urge to push his chair back and high-tail it out of there. "I'm not! It's just - we always - we always split." He could come back when the borg was in a better mood, right? Was he ever in a good mood about money?

There was no ignoring Hacker, who, even bent over the table, loomed over him. Digit couldn't escape a conversation when it was his idea to start it. "We are splitting."

"Boss," Digit started, then he corrected himself, "Hacker." The borg's eyes softened in response to Digit's pleading tone, though the smoldering disdain remained. "We always split fifty-fifty. Did…you change the plans? Why am I getting less?"

Hacker straightened. He fiddled with the cuff of his burgundy suit coat. "Tell me, Digit. What was your job for our…partnership?"

Digit's brief sense of relief when Hacker backed away dissipated into thin air. His mind was sent reeling, scanning through the last parts of their scheme. Did he make a mistake? Did he do something wrong? The plan was simple enough. They'd had contact with the Red Coats for long enough that setting up a location for a drop off was fairly easy. After that…he had to watch Hacker's back while they traded semi-illegal codes and blueprints for the fat briefcase of snelfus. The Red Coats wanted something to destabilize the structure of a rival's hideout. Then they would drive off in an easily disguisable van and make it home.

They'd done all that. Where had Digit gone wrong?

He was helpless to answer. He stared at Hacker, unable to mask the confusion twisting his features.

Hacker sighed. "No, Digit, you didn't mess up." Digit's jaw dropped but he shut it quickly. Hacker usually could read him like a book. "Just tell me what your duties are as my cohort."

Hacker meandered around the table as Digit answered slowly, now even more confused. "Well…I'm supposed to make sure that the location's legit. And I gotta…watch your back, scout around I guess. And I'm the getaway driver."

Hacker nodded airily with each listed duty. Digit's gaze followed the borg as he rounded the corners of the table. Coming to Digit's side. "And who finds the borgs to make deals with?"

"You."

"And who finds the resources to make these deals?"

"You." Digit's gut twisted again. He was starting to sweat.

"Who does the talking with these borgs?"

"You."

"Who makes the decisions, who calls the shots, who's the boss?"

"...You." The word tasted bitter in his mouth.

Hacker was now kneeling next to Digit's chair, gazing at Digit with an expression so understanding that it made him drop his eyes to the stack of money in his hand again. "So…if I'm the boss, and I'm doing most of the work, then it seems only right to take my share of the money! Doesn't it?"

Digit had never felt so trapped. The way Hacker phrased it, it sounded like Digit hardly did anything. Like he was just some hired hand to do the small stuff. And he didn't like that patronizing tone. The last thing Digit should've said was 'no, it doesn't make sense, you're cheating me', but what about all those times he'd sat and brainstormed with Hacker for hours, well into the night? When he'd gone without food with Hacker too? The many times he'd caught somebody trying to pull a fast one behind Hacker's back?

"...No?"

Hacker shot back up on his feet. "No?!" he roared, and fear overcame anything else Digit was thinking. He leapt out of his chair and flew to the countertop.

Hacker advanced on him, jabbing a finger in the air. "No?! I, when I do the work, don't deserve the reward? You need more?! Tell me why you need more, you stupid cyberturkey! Come on, we're 'partners' so you can tell me why you think you need a bigger share!"

Digit started to fly again but bumped his head against the cabinet directly above the counter. Instead he scrambled over dishes, slipping on a fork, to maintain a safe distance between them.

Hacker swept a stack of dirty dishes off the counter. They shattered on the floor. "Tell me!"

"Hack!" Digit yelped. His words stung, but Digit knew that his boss had a quick temper, and oftentimes regretted getting so angry. Maybe he meant it when he said to tell him. "I-I just mean we're working together! I'm trying to do a good job too! What about when-"

"When WHAT?!"

Digit dodged a cup hurled at his head, heat from his own frustration flowing to his face. "What about when I got you away from all those tinheads in Botopolis? What about the scheme on Pyramidia? I came up with that too, you know! What about our rent? I pay half of that!"

In an instant, Hacker lunged and Digit's feet were smacked out from under him. He crashed onto the floor with a shriek.

"You've done next to nothing! I've come up with everything! I've financed everything! I've done everything while toting you along with me!" Hacker yelled. Digit scooted back and back with every stomp of Hacker's boots, until his back hit the oven. He sucked in breath after breath as his ankle started throbbing.

"What about the last few months, 'partner'?!" A pang of hurt ebbed in his chest at the way Hacker spat the word, like a partner was something hateful. "What about your rent the last couple months?! That I'VE PAID! What about when you messed up that time and I had to find us a new car?! What about that virus you dropped?!"

Digit flinched at every mention, his mind ricocheting with reasons and his own guilt. They were all true. He did wreck that car. But the borgs chasing them had planted spikes on the road. And he hadn't paid his rent the past three months. But Hacker had agreed to it. But that was because he'd lost a poker match-

Digit grabbed his head as it didn't stop, and Hacker was still yelling. Tears came to his eyes. Was this all his fault? He'd made Hacker mad when it was his fault. He was being ungrateful. He should've just taken the money. At least he still got some when he'd set Hacker back this much. Why didn't he just take the money? Of course Hacker was mad, he'd insulted him. Been a bad boid.

Before he realized it, he was apologizing profusely. Crying. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" He just kept going.

It was probably several minutes before his hysteria cleared enough to realize Hacker wasn't yelling anymore. He eyed him coldly, hands behind his back. Digit remembered him taking the same stance when speaking with the Red Coats.

"I created you to help me," Hacker said. "I took care of you when you were too dumb to speak. You were a dead weight on me! You're only here now because of me! I didn't need you then, and I don't need you now. You're a liability. And you have the nerve to be ungrateful?"

Digit couldn't bear to look at his creator's disapproving gaze now. Hacker was beyond angry with him right now. He'd messed up so bad.

"Look at me, you sniveling cybird."

Digit trembled as he lifted his head, peering through his wing tips.

Hacker's chest heaved as he took a long breath. A gaze turned evil with anger hovered on Digit's weak, teary one. "A stupid cyberbird is easily replaceable. What you do is nothing compared to me. Don't ever question my decisions again, or I will find another hired hand, one that doesn't complain."

Digit whispered one last 'I'm sorry' as Hacker turned and stormed off.

Digit wondered if he really was useless.

That was the day that his creator became, truly, his boss.

And now his friends had to handle the brunt of his issues.

"I'm sorry, guys," he mumbled into Matt's sweater. His face felt swollen from the tears.

"It's okay Didge," Matt replied immediately.

Dr. Marbles cleared his throat. Their group hug slowly broke apart, each one readjusting their person. Digit picked up his cap that had slipped off, shaking out the blades of grass that got caught inside. The fit felt fresh on his head.

He shook his head. "That…that time was awful. But it did make me the wonderful boid you know now, so, I guess it had to happen," he remarked, shooting a wink at the three kids.

"This has been quite the day," Dr. Marbles said. The kids turned to face him in unison, most likely already able to guess what he was about to say. "Thank you, Earthlings. It's half past three - I should probably send you home."

Mumbles of agreement came from the squad. They awkwardly lingered as Dr. Marbles fished a remote out of his pocket and readied a portal.

The pink vortex opened and Matt vaulted inside with a "Byeguysseeyoulater!"

Jackie hugged Digit. Despite having hung out for hours, Digit felt sad to let her go when she turned to hesitantly ask the doctor if he wanted a hug. He would never tire of their time together. He wondered if he was a burden today - Jackie looked like she might cry.

Inez hugged him next, murmuring, "Pobrecito."

Then they were gone.

A slightly cooler breeze tickled his feathers. It would be evening soon. He glanced up at the doc, reddening ever so slightly at the memory of his breakdown. "Back to duty?"

Dr. Marbles didn't stop staring into the distance. Digit couldn't tell what he was looking at. "No…"

"What?"

He turned to view Digit, a slight smile pushing his mustache up. "No, I've decided we should take the rest of the day off."

Immediately ideas of binge-watching drama shows entered Digit's mind. "Really?"

"Yes. I'm a bit tuckered out, myself."

Digit rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess we've had a day. Do you think anyone saw us? I mean, not that I mind looking a little sensitive for the ladies, but maybe people won't take to their cybersquad bawling their eyes out." He shuddered at the idea of Hacker following them from the restaurant.

To his surprise, Dr. Marbles shrugged. "Possibly. This is a public park, after all." Then he extended his elbow in offering for Digit to perch. "Let's go home."