Project Motherhood: Uzi and Doll

by Gamer95

Two drones, abandoned by their owners, find solace in one another, and wind up falling in love. With each other's support, their new owner that took them in, and a quirky group of apartment tenants, Uzi and Doll's life seems perfect. But when a little boy with no one to turn to comes into their lives, it somehow gets even better... Co-writer: ama2005

3. Chapter 3

Morning came, the sun shining in through the windows, causing two drones to stir in their bed. Uzi and Doll's eyes fluttered open, and then smiled tiredly when they saw each other.

"Morning..." Uzi murmured sleepily.

"Ahh... Good morning..." Doll yawned. Both groggy drones slowly sat up, before realizing something.

"Uh... Doll... Last night... wasn't a dream, was it?" Uzi asked. "Y'know... Finding a certain little kid and all that?"

"Hmm...? No, of course not, that happened..." Doll murmured.

"...He's... not in bed with us..." Uzi said with a frown.

"What? Oh... Oh my... You're right... He is not there...! Oh dear... Harry?" Doll called out softly, not wanting to wake Will.

"He... might be out in the apartment somewhere..." Uzi murmured. "Let's go see if we can find the little guy..."

"Yes..." Doll nodded.

It didn't take long for them to find Harry. The first thing they noticed was that the apartment was incredibly clean. Like, almost unnaturally so. And the second thing was that Harry was lying on the floor next to a bucket of water and a wet sponge, curled up, fast asleep, the stain on the wall Will was apparently so attached to completely soaked but completely unwashed despite what was clearly a significant amount of effort to do so. It was clear to them that Harry had woken up before they had to do a deep clean of the apartment, and he had done an amazing job, but he had clearly been desperately struggling to clean off a stain that would never be removed practically all night long and worked himself to exhaustion until he just couldn't stay awake anymore.

"Oh...oh geez..." Uzi said.

The two drones immediately ran up to his floored form, kneeling down to examine him. Doll touched his forehead.

[He's...extremely sweaty...he overworked himself...]

"Yeah...but why?" Uzi asked. "What brought this on!?"

"No time to question. He needs rest."

"Right, yeah."

Acting swiftly, Uzi scooped him up in her arms, and together the drone duo climbed back up the stairs and retuned to their room. Uzi slowly slid Harry under the covers.

The boy let out a soft coo as he nuzzled in closer to the blankets, his expression forming into a small smile. Uzi and Doll smiled softly down at him before frowning at each other. "...Okay, so... He was working his butt off down there... Why? We didn't tell him to do that..." She murmured.

"...They did... They make him work too much... He thinks he has to... Or he will be hurt..." Doll said softly, clenching her fists at her sides. Uzi's eyes widened in realization, before narrowing in anger as she let out low growl.

"Did they let this kid even get any sleep...?" She hissed. "I am SERIOUSLY gonna bite their fingers off one by one, I swear I am..."

"..." Doll didn't respond. She knelt down by the child's side and gently cupped his cheek with her hand, stroking his cheek with her thumb as she donned a sad expression. "...My poor boy..." She whispered. "How could they hurt you...?"

Uzi's expression softened as she joined her lover, kneeling by the bed and gently grabbing his hand. "Well... We'll have to talk to him about this when he wakes up... Make sure he knows that he doesn't have to worry about any of this..." She looked at Doll. "I... I don't know why they hurt him either, Doll... I really don't..."

Doll hummed in response. [...He looks so much more peaceful now that he's tucked in properly, he looked distressed when he was sleeping on the floor...]

"Well, the floor's not exactly comfy, it's a bunch of hard tiles..." Uzi chuckled softly.

[...He was crying, Uzi, look... His eyes are wet... And they're puffy and swollen...]

"Oh man... He... He must have been really stressed out because he couldn't clean up that stain...!" Uzi breathed.

"...Poor baby..." Doll whispered, tearing up slightly. Uzi wrapped an arm around her, and she leaned her head on her shoulder, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "...I am well... Is very awful... But... He is safe... He is not with they, they can't hurt him..."

"Right. Yeah. He's with us, and we'll protect him." Uzi said with a smile and a nod.

"Yes..." Doll murmured with a small smile. "...Breakfast..." She rose to her feet. "I make breakfast. Uzi... stay with Harry, will you? Make sure he stays comfortable..."

"Yeah. Yeah, of course." Uzi murmured.

"Thank you." Doll said, before giving Uzi a brief kiss on the lips with a smile. Leaving the room, she left Uzi alone with Harry.

Uzi turned to look down at the sleeping boy. "Quite the rough life you got there, kiddo...didn't deserve one bit of it, I'm sure."

Sighing, she slowly and gently lifted the covers, before sliding in beneath them. She tucked Harry in a little, but the boy had other ideas. He unconsciously moved and snuggled against her side, finding her clothes comfortable.

Uzi smiled a little at that. 'He looks so adorable there...' She moved some of his hair, and planted a kiss of her own on his head.

She blushed slightly at the action and let out a small chuckle. "Just look at you, turning me into a big softie, heh... C'mere, bud..." She grabbed the child gently and carefully laid him down atop her torso, draping the blanket over him carefully and gently running her fingers through his messy dark hair. "Heh... We should probably get this cut, honestly, just cause your name's Harry doesn't mean you have to BE hairy..." She chuckled softly at her own joke, then watched him snuggle in closer and clutch at her hoodie as tightly as he could, getting a soft laugh out of her. "Heh... Taking care of kids is easy when they're asleep..." She muttered.

She stayed like that with him for a few minutes before she felt him stirring. "Ah, he's wakin' up. Heh... C'mon, bud, up and at 'em, ready to face the day!"

Harry slowly cracked his eyes open and looked around with a soft "Hmm...?" It took him a few seconds to remember. His eyes widened. "I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I tried to get it, i tried so hard, it wouldn't come off, please, I'll go back and clean it up, please I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry..."

"Hey hey hey! Shshshshshshhhhh!" Uzi gently embraced the frantic boy in her arms. His breathing sped up slightly, but slowed down when he realized he wasn't being hurt or hit.

"There we go. Nice and easy. Steady..." Uzi said, stroking his back as she spoke. "Don't worry. You aren't getting hurt, 'kay?"

"O...okay..."

'Whew, I did it...okay, off to a good start.' Uzi mentally sighed in relief. She adjusted Harry and looked at him face to face.

"Alright kiddo, tell me...did you get up to clean the entire apartment?"

"Mm-hmm..." Harry nodded his head slowly. "Um... Did... Did I not do a good job...? I... I tried really hard... I did... Really... I... I'm sorry, I... I can..."

"Heeeey, come on, dude. You know I'm not gonna hurtcha. You did an awesome job, I've never seen this place so clean. But... You didn't have to do it..." She murmured. "It kinda worried Doll and I when we woke up and you weren't there..."

"Oh... Sorry... I just... I had to... I..."

"Hey, hey... Just relaaaaax... Don't get panicky... You're not in any trouble, dude, don't worry. But... You don't have to do that... You don't have to wake up at...Uh... Was it at least getting light out when you woke up...?" Harry winced. "...Guessing that's a no... Oh man, kid... You need your sleep... You don't have to do a bunch of unnecessary cleaning... Listen... Work around the house is shared between everyone, it's not just for you to deal with... We all work together to keep this place clean, all right?"

"Okay..." Harry murmured.

"...Kid...?" Uzi murmured. "...Were you... crying...? Your eyes... kinda look like you were crying..."

"...I... I... Um... I..."

"Hey..." Uzi gently cupped his cheek and gave him a small, sad smile.

"I... I... Maybe a little... I... Yes... Yes... I cried... I..." Harry closed his eyes. "It wouldn't come off, I had to get it off, I... The last time I couldn't clean something, he... He... I tried so hard, I didn't want him to hurt me, I was scared, I didn't want you to hurt me, you're nice, I..."

"Hey, there's no need, ya hear?"

Harry looked up at her.

"Listen, kiddo. There's no need for you to exhaust yourself like that. We ain't gonna hurt you over a little stain. You shouldn't even be cleaning. You're too small for that."

"But..."

"Nope, no buts. We use those to sit." Uzi joked, booping Harry's nose. "Tell you what, whenever the people in the apartment here team up for a joint clean, you can join us. But ONLY then, capiche? Otherwise, no cleaning. Just rest."

She let out a soft sigh. "We'll probably give ya a few chores when you're older and all healed up and recovered, and uh... you should definitely clean up after yourself, but... you don't have to stress yourself out to the point of having a breakdown over not being able to make everything perfect..." She let out a soft sigh and ruffled his hair. "Geez... I hate that they messed with your head like that, dude... Just... beat that awful mindset into ya... It..." She took a deep breath. "Y'know what? Doesn't matter... Don't worry about it..."

Harry looked up at her with wide eyes. "I... I don't have to clean the whole apartment all alone...?" He asked softly.

"No way." Uzi shook her head. "I mean, that's just WAAAAAY too much work for a little squirt like you. Heh... Might be too much to ask ya to clean a bedroom all alone, let alone an entire apartment..."

"I...I..."

"Heeeey, c'moooon. you're too young to be a workaholic, kid, you usually have to be at least in your twenties before that becomes a problem." Uzi chuckled.

"Um... Oh... Um..."

Uzi exhaled. "You're okay, kid..." She pulled him in close. "We're not them... We will NEVER BE them. Ever." She looked down at the boy. "We, unlike them, actually plan to look out for ya and do what's best for ya... And drowning you in work you physically shouldn't even be able to do is NOT what's best for you. Now... Here's what we're gonna do. You and I are gonna lay here together and hang out while Doll makes us something to eat. You're gonna relax today, all right? Just a nice, calm day where we do basically nothing... How's that sound?"

"...R-Really...?" Harry gasped out. "I... I'm allowed...?"

"Course! Totally, dude! Just make yourself comfy, cause you're not going anywhere." Uzi chuckled. Harry tilted his head, then carefully crawled forward to adjust his position, wrapping his arms around Uzi the best he could while resting his head up against the crook of her neck and nestling up to her.

Uzi blinked a little in mild surprise, but smiled nonetheless and hugged him back.

'He trusts me enough to cuddle up to me...' She thought. 'Y'know...maybe this mom thing won't be so hard and stressful after all.'

She had been stressing over how well she and Doll would do as Harry's parents. So much so that she barely got enough sleep last night. Though seeing how much Harry seems to enjoy her presence and closeness...

'Yeah...I can work with this.' She looked back down at him. 'Plus he's just so damn cute. Like, MAN he's such a sweet kid... Whoever treated him like that is getting their nuts ripped off.'

She let out a soft chuckle and lightly nuzzled his face. "You're gonna be all right, bud... You can count on it..." She murmured.

Back downstairs, Doll was in the process of cooking breakfast when Will walked into the room. "Ah... G'morning, Doll. Ya have a good date last night?"

"Good morning, Will. Yes. We had good time." Doll said with a smile.

"...You... You spoke English...?" Will asked, surprised.

"Ah. Yes. I make myself speak English. Is easier for all this way, yes?"

"Well, yeah, just... surprised is all..."

Doll giggled. "Well... Something special happen. I had reason to start." She turned back to the meal she was preparing.

"So uh... Thanks for the chocolates, really, I appreciate it, I'll have to thank Uzi too, it was really thoughtful of you... And you even tidied up the house, it's spotless now."

Doll's expression faltered slightly. "Ah... You are welcome, but... no, the clean house was not us..."

"Oh. ...Was I sleep cleaning again...?"

"No, you have not done that in many days. No... Was someone else..."

"Oh. Anyone I know?"

"No. Not yet. Soon. Very soon... He is upstairs with Uzi."

"Ah. All right..." Will pulled out his newspaper just as Nori flickered into the room.

"Goooood morning, and how are my favourite apartment dwellers doing today?! Heh... Don't tell the others I said that, no matter the situation, a mother never plays-Oooh, wow, it looks so clean in here! ...TOO clean. It's freaking me out. Can someone make a mess? Knock something over, spill a drink? This doesn't feel natural..." The hologram spoke.

"Morning, Nori. The stain's still on the wall over there."

"Ah, good old stain! We can always rely on it to bring some much needed character to this apartment!" Nori giggled.

"Good morning, mother." Doll said with a small smile.

"Oooooh, she's calling me mother now!" Nori clapped her hands and squeed.

"Yes, well... Uzi and I will marry someday." Doll giggled.

"Huh. Something's different about you, Doll. Did you do something with your hair?" Nori asked, head tilted.

"...You're joking, right...?" Will asked, perplexed.

"I speak English now, mother. Something happen. I speak to communicate easy." Doll explained.

"Oh? And what would 'something' be?" Nori asked, intrigued.

"By drone law, Uzi and I are married." Doll said with a soft smile. Nori blinked twice.

"Oh... Oh! OH! HOLY CRAP, WHERE'S MY GRANDBABY?!" Nori shouted before flickering right up into Doll's face.

Will blinked owlishly. "...Grandbaby...?" He asked. Doll simply smiled.

"Is quite a story... I tell you and cook."

"Tell. Me. EVERYTHING!"

And so, Doll told Nori the events of last night. How they found Harry in a horrible state, nearly freezing, how they brought him home, cooked for him and took care of him.

"Awwww...my sweeties are already prime mom materiaaaaalll..." Cooed Nori with a happy smile. "Come here, Dolly! Gimme a hug!"

Nori immediately flew forward to tackle Doll in a hug, but then phases right through and fell through the floor head first.

She floated back up, eye flickering.

"Ugh...stupid holographic body..."

She perked up. "I gotta go talk to my paintball and meet my new grandbaby!" Nori chirped before floating up through the ceiling.

Upstairs, Uzi was laying down on the bed with Harry curled up on top of her. "...Aaaaand that is why I also don't like dogs, so you don't have to worry about tha-"

"PAINTBALL!"

"AAH!" Uzi jumped.

"Eep!" Harry hurriedly buried his face in the female drone's neck and latched onto her sweater.

"M-Mom! You can't just jumpscare us like that, what are you doing?!" Uzi exclaimed indignantly. "You scared the heck out of the poor little guy!"

"Ah! S-sorry! I just got so excited about having a grands-"

"SSHHHHHHHHHHH!" Shushed Uzi with an angry expression.

Turning around, she slowly and gently picked Harry up and hugged him close.

"There...there...don't worry, nothing to be afraid of. I'm here, no one's gonna hurt ya..."

The boy dug his face into her jacket as he trembled in fear. Nori stood back and watched, now feeling incredibly bad. As a result, the lights flickered a little in the apartment.

"Uh... Haha... I'm... Uh... Heh... Oh geez... I had NO idea he was such a shy little guy, heh... Um... Oh man, I'm so sorry about that... Um... Heh... Hi, sweetie! Um... I'm... I'm Nori, and uh... I'm Uzi's mom!"

"Um... I... Um... H-Hi Miss Nori..." Harry mumbled, "Um... Are... Are you a ghost...?"

Nori beamed. 'Okay! I can still salvage this!' She nodded her head and clasped her hands in front of herself. "I am! Kinda! I'm a friendly ghost, though, so you don't have to be scared of me, it's my job to take care of the people in this building and make sure everything goes smoothly!" She winked. "So you can sleep easy at night knowing your friendly ghost robot security system will keep any bad guys away from ya!"

Harry tilted his head to the side. "Oh... Um... Okay..." He looked up at Uzi, and then back at Nori. "You're Miss Uzi's mama?"

"Yeah, heh... That's my mom. Think I'll keep her, she's all right." Uzi chuckled, ruffling his hair.

"All right?! Paintbaaaaall, I'm the best mom in the history of forever and you know it!" Uzi raised a brow. "...Uh... Heheheh... Aside from... that time, but... Um... I tried..."

Uzi snorted. "Relax, mom, you're a good mom, warts and all, heh." She looked down at Harry. "I told ya about my dad, kiddo, but my mom was awesome for the... five years I got with her, and she's been awesome since Doll brought her back."

"Miss Doll brought your mommy back...?" Harry asked, eyes wide, looking hopeful.

Uzi blinked twice. "Oh... Uh... Well... Yeah, her... My mom's a drone, so she had a spark that stuck around me all those years, and... Doll found that spark and she put it into the security system... Uh... I... don't think she'd be able to do that to a human though, bud... Sorry..."

Harry blinked twice, then looked down. "Oh... It's okay... They're probably not watching me anyway... I don't think they'd like me..."

At that, the two drones froze up. "What...are you saying?"

"Uncle Vernon...and Aunt Petunia...they told me that...my parents didn't like me...so that's why they...they..."

"Oh, I am going to rip the security machine guns from the ceiling and pay those freaks a visit-"

"Mom...not the time..."

"R-right...ahem..." Nori lowered herself and gently placed a holo hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Listen kid...I know what a parent that doesn't love their kid looks like...and lemme tell you, your parents...most certainly loved you. More than anyone else."

"...You... You've seen my parents...?" Harry asked softly. Nori blinked twice.

'...Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap I just said what sounded right I've never seen his parents ever what was I thinking craaaaaaaaap...'

"What mom means is that she has special mom powers that let her just... uh... know these things, yeah! Every mom has superpowers!" Uzi chuckled awkwardly. then let out a sigh. "Ah... Yeah... Heh... She can tell your mom and dad care a lot about you... Do you remember anything about your parents, kiddo? Anything at all?" Uzi asked with a tilted head.

Harry blinked twice. "Uh... It was a really long time ago..."

"Right... Just think hard and see if you can find anything, bud..." Uzi murmured, ruffling his hair.

"Um... Okay... Um... I... I remember... it was... dark one night, and there was... loud noises outside... I think... I think it was a storm, um... I got scared... And I think I cried... And... I think... I think they came... And they got me... And they held me and made me feel better and... and I stopped being scared..."

"Okay, yeah, that's good. Now would a parent that didn't love you do something like that?" Nori asked with a smile and a wink.

"...No... I don't think so..." Harry murmured.

"Course they wouldn't! They had to have loved you! That one little memory's all the proof you need, hun." Nori assured him.

"...They... They DID love me...?" Harry asked softly.

"You bet they did, bud..." Uzi murmured. "Those two are losers for telling you that... No one should ever say that to a little guy like you," The fact that she intended to feed them their own heart if she ever got her hands on them went unsaid.

"...They... They said they died in a car crash because they were drinking the bad stuff and they took me on the ride too because they didn't care about me..." Harry mumbled, rubbing his arm.

"...I gurantee you that's a load of... uh... poop." Uzi replied. "I'll bet you anything the whole thing was just an accident... Seriously, what is WITH these people...?" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to get her composure. "Okay... Okay... So... Don't worry, bud, they are totally watching over you, and I bet you anything they're seriously happy that you're away from those morons." She booped his nose with a light smirk. "Just trust us, all right? You're not a bad kid at all, and they had no right to say stuff like that and lie to you."

Harry looked down. "They... They said no one was ever gonna care about me cause I'm bad..."

"Lie. Flat out lie. Completely wrong. Nothing about that is even CLOSE to being right. You know that." Uzi murmured softly, gently squeezing his shoulder.

Harry paused, then remembered. "...Y-You care... And... And so does Miss Doll... I think... Y-You do, right...? You really do...? It's not a lie...?"

"Nope. Not one bit of it!" Uzi confirmed. "We care about you. You have no idea how much."

"But...I...I'm a...freak..."

"No."

"Huh?"

"You're not a freak, kid." Uzi said. "If anything, the bigger freaks are the people who abandoned you on the street, in the trash. You are perfectly okay, and we care about you."

"And not just Uzi and Doll." Nori piped up. "But also the other people in the building."

"Other...p-people?"

Harry looked down nervously and began to shake slightly. "There... There's other people...?" He asked softly.

"Oh yeah, lots of 'em, and they're all seriously so sweet in their own ways! Ha! They can be a bit loud here and then, but if you can look past that, they're an awesome bunch to live with, don't worry!" Nori assured the boy. Harry looked down shyly and rubbed his arm.

"Um... Um... I...Um..." Harry stammered out timidly.

"Ah, I see... You're a little nervous about meeting new people, huh, bud?" Uzi asked with a tilted head.

"Um... I... They're gonna hate me... They are, I know it..."

"Nope." Uzi said simply. Harry looked at her, confused. "They're not allowed to hate you. They don't have my permission." She chuckled.

"...But... But..."

"Relax, bud... They don't have a reason to hate you. These are good people, they're not gonna hate a kid for no reason. Heck, some of them even HAVE kids. And I know two of them that have a kid that was hurt just like you were!" Uzi assured him.

"...Really...?" Harry asked softly.

"Mm-hmm. I met the little guy, and he's just like you. He's tiny... And shy... And adorable. Heh... You two are gonna get along great, I can tell." Uzi lightly booped his nose.

"But... But what if..."

"Heeeeey... Easy... You'll meet them... But... We'll do it piece by piece, okay? You'll meet 'em at a nice, slow, easy pace... Start with the ones that are easy to deal with and work up from there. Sound good?" Uzi murmured to the child, who took a deep breath.

"Okay... Okay... Okay..." He spoke softly.

"Atta boy." Uzi chuckled, ruffling his hair. Nori grinned at her daughter. "You're doing awesome, paintball. Keep up the good work." She said with a wink. Uzi tilted her head, then looked away with a blush at the implication.

"Mooooom..."

And then, the door opened. Doll stepped in, followed by Will, the latter looking curiously at the small boy in the bed while the former smiled brightly, carrying a tray containing three meals. "Harry! Good morning, baby, you sleep good with Uzi, yes?"

"Miss Doll...!" Harry initially looked excited to see her, before he noticed Will. His eyes widened, and he shrunk back, intimidated by the massive, towering man.

"Ah. Hey there, mate. You all right? You're lookin' a bit nervous there..." Will spoke.

"Oh, no, no, no, Harry, no, you don't have to be scared, Will is good, he is nice man, he will not hurt you, no, he is friend, sweet boy, I promise." Doll hurriedly rushed over, setting the tray on a dresser as she rushed over to tend to the child.

"Heh... Yeah, the guy's a building with feet, but he's a big softie." Uzi assured Harry. "You know he did the same thing for us that we did for you? He took us off the streets and gave us a home! A guy like that's GOTTA be someone you can trust, right?"

Harry blinked up at her, then slowly turned his gaze to Will, who put on a small ghost of a smile. One that Harry caught. He didn't... SEEM to be mean... Maybe... "Um... Hi... Mr. Will..." He spoke softly.

"Hey." Will nodded. "So uh... You're the one that tidied up downstairs, ah? Uh... Nice work, mate, you did a great job."

"M'sorry... I tried to get the stain off the wall, but..."

"N-No no, don't worry about the stain. I... actually quite like the stain, it's... it's sentimental, I guess." Will assured the child, who tilted his head.

"Oh... Sorry I tried to clean it..."

"Not at all, mate. No way you could've known, everyone says I'm weird for being attached to it anyway. Um... But yeah. Good work ethic. Too good though, that's too much for a little fella to do all on his own, you should make sure you ask for some help next time, yeah? We'll all do it together."

"Oh. Okay..."

"I talked to him, big guy, don't worry, he's not gonna overwork himself like that again." Uzi assured him.

"Good..." Doll breathed out, reaching over to gently caress the boy's face with her hand. "You work too hard, sweet boy, you don't have to... Poor thing... You were crying... Why...?"

"I...I thought you'd be mad cause the stain was still there..." Harry admitted, making Doll wince.

"No... Never. Never ever, I promise, poor baby... Never mad at you for this..." She whispered. "You need rest... Bedtime is not worktime... We bring you to bed... We want you to be staying in bed, yes? Sleep is important... Makes you big and strong."

"I'm sorry..." Harry looked down. "I... I didn't mean to make you sad..."

"Is okay, sweet boy, is okay... I do not blame on you... Is your aunt and uncle's fault, they are bad, not you... Now... I make you breakfast... You and Uzi relax, and I feed you, yes?"

"D-Doll, come on, I can feed myself, don't worry about-"

"No, my love, I feed you both. You deserve relaxing morning as reward." Doll said with a wink.

"Wha...no, no way. I ain't a baby. I get the kid, but not me."

"Oh yes. You will eat just like him."

"Doll...don't you dare..."

"Anyone would be lucky to have partner feed them like this."

"B-but-"

"Ssshhhh."

Uzi huffed and looked away with a blush. Doll let out an amused giggle.

"Now...eeeeeaaaaat."

Will rubbed his arm. "Erm... I'll just... leave you to it then. Uh... Nori. Think it's about time you scare Ian awake, yeah?"

"Oooh, my second favorite part of the day!" Nori cheered. "Talk to ya in a bit, paintball, byyyyyyye!" And with that, she faded away, and Will walked out of the room.

Uzi let out a sigh and opened her mouth when Doll offered a forkful of food. "...It's delicious..." She muttered, still feeling more than a little embarrassed and sulky about what was happening.

Doll giggled softly. "Thank you, I work hard to make breakfast very special for Harry."

"For me...?" Harry murmured softly.

"Oh yes. You are new member of family, of course is important to give you nice meal." Doll replied.

"I... But... I... You don't have to do anything special for me..."

"Didn't HAVE to, buuuut she did it anyway cause she wanted to." Uzi chuckled.

"That is right. I want to very much. I want you feeling happy and welcome in new home." Doll said with a wink. "Now, you have some of yours..." Harry blinked twice, then opened his mouth and allowed Doll to feed him.

Doll gently placed a piece of bacon into his mouth, and the boy chewed on it slowly, thinking he might upset the pair if he ate too fast.

He felt his eyes tear up. 'It's...so good...' He thought, but quickly shoved his tears back. He couldn't cry. He wasn't allowed to.

He didn't want the two drones to get angry because he cried without permission.

And so breakfast would pass smoothly. Doll would feed Uzi and Harry pancakes, bacon and eggs. The two drones could tell easily that Harry enjoyed every bit of it. And as begrudgingly as she admitted it, Uzi liked being fed too.

No judging okay!?

As as she fed her lover and their child, occasionally taking a quick bite from her own meal, Doll idly noted that Uzi was doing quite the excellent job at tending to the boy. At one point, he had leaned over a bit too far for his breakfast and almost slipped off of her torso where he was resting [the sight of which Doll had to fight the urge to loudly squeal at when she walked in], which prompted Uzi to gently catch him with her hand and carefully shift him into a position where he was less likely to slip off.

At one point, he got some syrup from his pancakes on his face, which prompted Uzi to laugh softly and grab a tissue from the bedside table that they usually used to keep their visors clean, using it to gently wipe around his mouth. "Heh... Bit messy, huh, bud? There we go, all better..."

"Thank you..." Harry murmured shyly, looking down. Doll beamed.

But of course what caught Doll's attention the most was the way Uzi looked at Harry the whole time they were eating.

She wore a huge, very much adorable and happy smile on her face as Harry enjoyed his first proper meal. She was so obviously happy for him.

'[And she said she wouldn't be a great mother...]' Doll thought with a smile. '[Yeah, right. Her obvious happiness at his health would beg to differ.]'

Eventually, at the steady pace they were going with, the breakfast was finished soon enough.

"Alright...time to get up." Uzi sighed and got out of bed. "Wanna stay in bed a little longer, little guy? It's okay if you want to. You can stay as long as you want."

She ruffled his hair. "Heh... Ya definitely deserve a little r&r after working your butt off so early in the morning..."

Harry looked up at her. "Oh... Um... I... I just... I don't really... wanna be alone..." He said softly, rubbing his arm.

"Ah... All right, no worries, buddy..." Uzi stretched as she climbed out of bed, bringing him along with her. "Here... Why don't ya let Doll hold you for a bit? I've been hogging ya all morning." She extended her arms to pass the boy along to her lover, who accepted him into her embrace with a warm, beaming smile and hugged him close to her chest.

"Oh, hello, my sweet boy..." She murmured softly, rubbing his back.

"Hello...Ms. Doll..."

"Did you enjoy the breakfast?" She asked. "I cooked everything alone."

"Oh...m'sorry..."

Doll raised a brow. "Hm? For what?"

"I...didn't get up to help you cook..."

"Oh, no. Don't worry, child. I didn't need help. You should rest, not work. Especially after cleaning so much."

"So...I...didn't have to cook?"

Doll shook her head. "No, no. You are too small for this. That is grown up work." She assured the boy gently.

"Oh... I... I can't do it anymore...?" Harry looked down. Doll noted he seemed saddened.

"Oh? Did you enjoy it, sweet boy?" She asked with a tilted head, patting his back.

"Um... Y-Yeah... It... It was... fun..." Harry admitted.

"Ah... I see... Well then... If this is true, then you can help me when it is cooking time. We can make food for whole family together." Doll said with a smile and a wink.

"...Really...?" Harry asked, eyes wide.

"Yes, of course. We cook together. We clean together. We spend time together. We do many things together." Doll booped his nose with a wink. "No more working all alone, sweet boy... We help you from now on, yes?"

"...Th-Thank you..." Harry murmured softly, nestling closer into her chest.

Doll's inner alarms suddenly flickered over her screen, but she dismissed them. She knew nothing was damaged. Just hee core heart was melting from the sweet gesture the boy just gave.

She cleared her throat gently to suppress a squeal of delight and happiness at the feeling of being embraced like this. Uzi meanwhile watched them both, sitting back with a fond smile. "Doing well, it looks like?"

"Mhm...he's so precious." Whispered Doll.

"Alright, the current situation has been solved and I've-" Nori suddenly stopped after floating into the room. Her systems registered what was happening, and she suppressed her own squeal of delight so as to not disturb the boy again.

"Dawwwww, wook at him, he loves his mommy so muuuuuch." She cooed to Uzi, who blinked twice, then chuckled and rubbed the back of her head.

"Heheh... Yeah..." She murmured softly. "He really, really does..." Doll and Harry didn't hear what was said, too lost in their mutual bliss. Doll looked over at Nori and smiled softly.

"I take Harry downstairs now..." She murmured. "Join us soon, my love, we need time as family." She winked before walking out of the room with the child, Uzi watching after her fondly before turning to her mother.

"Sooooo, I'm guessing you have a few questions?" Uzi asked.

"Nope! Dolly told me all about it! How ya found him, how you took care of him... Soooo, that's my new grandbaby, huh? Gotta say, I wasn't expecting a human, but he's as cute as a button either way, so who's complaining? Oh! Did you know this means you two are techincally married now that you have a son?"

"Oh..."

"..."

"Wait..."

"Mhm."

"Wait WHAT!?"

Nori winced at Uzi's yell. "Whoa! Okay, too loud. Maybe lower your volume a few bars?"

"MOM! This is serious! A scandal!"

"What is?"

"Our WEDDING mom! We didn't even have one! The whole thing was so anticlimactic! No wedding, no party, no guests, no NOTHING!"

Uzi collapsed to her knees and whined. "Awwwww, why didn't I pay attention in class...?"

She looked down at the floor and groaned. "I didn't even get to give her a nice ring under the moonlight like I wanted... Wait... Wait... It's not... officially official yet, is it? We haven't technically ADOPTED him, we're just... looking after him for now, yeah, we can adopt him officially AFTER I've done the whole proposal and we've had the wedding-Buuuuut Doll's pretty much already accepted him as her son, oh geez, she totally already sees me as her wife, aaaaahhhh, things happened so faaaaaast, I wasn't prepared for this, mom, what do I do?!"

"Paintball... Paintball, relax. Just breathe... Focus on me. Okay... Now just listen to your mother, young lady. You can still have your nice wedding. You can still do the ring and the proposal and all that stuff you wanna do. It'll be less official than a proper human wedding, but even if you're just doing the ceremony and the celebration and all that, isn't that enough? It's the vibes you want... And you can still have that. You don't have to freak out, because really... has much actually changed? Sure... you have a baby to look after, and your relationship took a leap, but at the end of the day, that's still the drone you love all the same. Doll hasn't changed one bit. You don't have to change one bit. You can take it easy... Doll must know already, and if she's accepted it... you can too, can't you, sweetie?"

Uzi took a deep breath. "Yeah... Yeah, I guess you're right... Doll had to have known what we were signing up for when she asked to bring him home... She wanted to raise him so bad... She... She wants us to have a family... Oh my gosh, mom... Doll really does want to marry me, doesn't she...? She... She wants us to... to be a big, proper family... I..." She rubbed her arm. "Okay... Yeah... Doll and I... we're married by drone law. And that's okay..." She closed her eyes and smiled. "Heh... That kid sure made things complex, huh?"

"Oh, he didn't mean to." Nori giggled. "And he's cute as a button! Ooh! What's your cute little pet name for him gonna be?!"

Uzi blinked twice. "Uh... My... what...?"

"You know! Your nickname! You have to give your baby boy a sweet little pet name! Like how I call you paintball! It's the law!" Nori insisted.

"Oh, right!" Uzi nodded. "But...what do I call him?"

"Don't ask me. I can't know. I named you paintball because you were so colorful and loved bright colours, purple especially."

She floated down and booked Uzi's nose. "YOU are his momma. You need to be the one to think here. What do YOU think is an appropriate pet name?"

"Uuuuh..."

"Figured as much." Sighed Nori. "Okay, just...be yourself. Okay? Just think of something inherently you. Something only you could come up with."

"Okay... Okay... Uh... Owl chick! ...Nah, that's not me... Uh... Little midge-eeeeeeeh, I'm pretty sure I can't say that anymore... Uh... Pipsqueak! No, no, that sounds too much like I'm picking on him.. Uh... Sweetie Pie...? Ugh... That doesn't feel good on my tongue, I dunno, too cutesy... Um... Uh... Hmm... This is way harder than it looks..."

"Hmm... Well... it did take some time getting to understand your personality and interests before I came up with your pet name, soooo... just give it time, it'll click into place at some point!" Nori encouraged her daughter.

"Right! Right, it'll find its way into my head at some point, yeah! Heh... Thanks, mom... I... I think I'm gonna need your advice a lot to get myself through the whole... 'mom figure' thing... I never thought I'd be the... y'know... momly type..."

"You mean 'motherly', paintball." Nori giggled. "But yeah. I'll help you out all I can! But I don't think you're gonna need me quite as much as you think you will. I've been watching you for a long time, y'know. Trust me. You, my adorable little daughter, are gonna be JUST fine." Nori winked. "Now why don't we head out and be with the rest of the family, huh? Harry's probably missing you right now~!"

"Pfft! He's got Doll right there, I betcha he likes her better anyway." Uzi chuckled.

"Uzi, sweet daughter of mine, that boy has two sweet, loving moms and he loves both of them equally, don't you ever sell yourself short! And before you say anything, no, that was NOT a dig at your height."

"Indirect!"

"Was not!"

Chuckling, Uzi rolled her eyes good naturedly. "Ah, well. We'll see. Thanks mom. For the, uh...encouragement I mean."

"You're welcome, sweetie." Nori nodded.

Uzi approached the door and left through it, walking fown the stairs. Nori simply sank into the floor.

Uzi eventually arrived downstairs, seeing the top of Doll's head from the sofa. She also spotted the glow of a TV.

'Must be watching cartoons or something.' She thought.

She stepped into the room. "Hey, guys." She murmured softly, joining them on the couch. Indeed, Harry was seated on Doll's lap, as Will sat in his usual armchair, reading the newspaper for the day and sipping from a cup of coffee.

"Hello, love."

"Hi Miss Uzi..."

"Y'all right?"

Uzi chuckled at the greetings, then looked at the television. "Soooo, what're we watchin'? Ah, Sesame Street, huh? And what's the letter of the day today?"

"I, I think..." Doll murmured.

"Terrific." Uzi nodded with a chuckle. She supposed it was good for the kid to watch some educational stuff, even though she knew she herself could probably teach him much better than a bunch of puppets ever could.

"Soooo... What are we gonna do today...?" Uzi wondered.

"Hmm... Not much, I say." Doll murmured. "Little one needs his rest. He is recovering... He is tired... Hungry... Needs to heal."

Uzi chuckled. "Right... Gotta take things easy for a while..." She looked back at the TV. "Hey Will... Ya got any board games?"

"Yeah, I got Monopoly." Will nodded.

"...I'll go to the store later and pick some board games up." Uzi declared.

"...You don't like Monopoly...?" Will asked, mildly saddened.

"It's too long, no one ever finishes a game of Monopoly, and I always somehow get stuck with the stupid shoe!" Uzi whined.

Doll laughed softly. "Board games... A wonderful idea. We have nice time today, Harry." She promised the child.

"Oh...okay..." Nodded the boy, unsure how to answer.

*knock knock knock*

A knocking sound was heard from the door to the apartment. "I got it." Will got up, walking over and opening it.

Standing at the door was Squigly, with Leviathan sticking out of her head. Accompanying her were Lizzy and V.

"Hello, Mr. Will." Greeted Sienna.

"Oh, hello guys. What's up?"

"Ah, not much, just came by to see how the big date went." V shrugged.

"If it's not too much trouble." Sienna murmured with a light bow.

"Sooooo, can we come in, oooooooor..." Lizzy's voice trailed off when she noticed something in Will's room sitting on Doll's lap. Her eyes widened and she clapped her hands over her mouth as she let out a soft gasp. "Oh my gosh, look, they have a baby...!" She excitedly squealed, her hands clasping together.

"Wait, what? Wow, that was quick!" V peeked around Will as well, and her eyes widened. "Whoa... They got a little human guy...!"

"Oh my goodness, really? Mr. Will, what happened, if I may ask?" Sienna asked, head tilted as Leviathan craned his neck upward to take a look as well.

"Ah. Erm... Uzi and Doll just sorta... found him. In an alley..." Will murmured. "He's... a bit on the shy side, so... you can come in, just don't be too... overbearing, I guess..."

"Pfft. You've seen my kid plenty of times, Will, you know all too well I'm well equipped to handle this." V chuckled.

"I wanna meet him, he's so widdle!" Lizzy spoke quietly.

"All right. Just a moment... Um... So... We have some visitors here, Harry, you don't have to be afraid of them, they're all quite polite." Will called over to the boy, who looked over, visibly nervous.

"Oh... Um... Okay..." He murmured softly, rubbing his arm.

"Eeeeeee!" Squeed Lizzy quietly. "He already sounds so precious!"

"Please calm yourself, Miss Lizzy." Said Leviathan. "We don't wanna startle the boy, do we now?"

"Yeah, I get ya, but I can't help myself!"

The trio all walked in one by one, approaching the sofa and slowly peeking over. The boy immediately looked away and dug his face into Doll's chest.

Doll gently stroked his back and spoke. "Don't worry. They are nice. Nothing to be afraid of."

"Certainly." Agreed Sienna. "We promise we won't hurt you. Right Leviathan?"

"But of course, young man. You've no cause for alarm, we've no ill intent." The snakelike drone agreed. Harry slowly removed his face from the drone's chest and looked up at the unfamiliar blue skinned woman that was beaming down at him.

"H-Hi..." He murmured softly.

"Hello there, dearie! Your name was Harry, wasn't it?" The girl asked with a tilted head.

"Um... Uh-huh... Hi... Um... Yours...?"

"Oh, I'm Sienna! And this is my faithful companion Leviathan!" She introduced the drone, who outstretched his tail.

"A pleasure, my boy." He greeted warmly. Harry looked at the outstretched tail, then slowly reached forward and grabbed it to shake it lightly.

"Y-You're like Miss Uzi and Miss Doll..." He murmured softly. "But... also different..."

"Ah, yes, drones do come in many shapes and sizes, after all." Leviathan chuckled.

"Leviathan is very special, as you can see." Squigly giggled.

"Your voice is cool." Harry said shyly. "It's all echoey..."

"Oh, why thank you, that's very sweet of you to say." Sienna giggled. "It's all thanks to Leviathan, you see..."

"Oh. Okay." Harry said with a small smile, feeling a bit more at ease.

"Alright. My turn." Said another voice, and before long V was now on the couch.

"Heya."

"Um...hey..."

"Nice to meet'cha, kiddo." Said the other drone as she laid down and propped her head up on her arms. "I'm V."

"Hi...Miss V...um...you look a lot like Miss Uzi and...Miss Doll...but...different."

"Yep. I'm a drone like them, sweetheart. Just uh...a more...um...upgraded kind of drone."

She then gently stroked his hair. "And that doesn't make me any different. You have nothing to be scared of with me, kid. I actually have a boy like you."

Harry blinked twice. "Like me...?" He asked softly.

"Yep. Juuuust like you. He's a little guy... Heh... Here... Check it out." She reached into her coat pocket, pulling out her wallet, and pulled it open to reveal a small picture she carried around. "So ya have me there..." V in the picture was giving a toothy grin and flashing a peace sign. "And that's my wife, J..." J was simply sitting tall and poised, smiling at the camera. "And there is Crona." There, sitting in between the two drones and wearing a small, shy smile on his face, was a small boy, around his size.

"...He's... He's not a robot...?" Harry asked, wide-eyed.

"Heh... Nope! He's as human as you are, kiddo. We pretend Tessa's his mom, buuuut he's ours." She winked.

This revelation made Harry look back and forth between Uzi and Doll for a few seconds. They simply smiled back. V chuckled, seeing where this was going. "You guys'll get there."

"Um... Excuse me, little guy..." A soft voice murmured out. Harry blinked, then looked over at the drone with the blonde hair, who smiled softly and waved. "Hi... I'm Lizzy." She murmured, kneeling down to his level.

"Hi...miss Lizzy."

"Awww, he's shuch a cutie..." She cooed. "Nice to meet you, little fella. How are you feeling here?"

"Ummm...it's nice. Everyone's...nice to me, and...I...feel happy..."

"That's good. It's real nice that Miss Doll and Miss Uzi found you and took you back in. You must've been so cold out there...poor sweetie..."

Uzi watched from the side, blinking with wide eyes at Lizzy.

'Damn...she's so good with him...'

"Can I hold him? Oh... Sorry... Can I hold you, sweetie?" Lizzy asked with a tilted head.

"Oh... Um... Can she...?" Harry asked Doll shyly.

"Yes." Doll nodded. "This is allowed." She handed Harry over slowly, Lizzy clapping her hands together and squeeing softly before gently accepting him into her arms. "Awwww... You're just as light as Crona... " She cooed. "And you're just as cuddly tooooooo~!" Harry snuggled in closer to her and she let out a soft squee of delight as she rested her cheek on his head.

"I-I like your eyes... They're pretty..." Harry murmured softly.

"Awwwww... So are yooooours!" Doll cooed, resting her cheek on his head. "You have little sparkly emeralds for eyes."

Uzi looked on with a small frown. 'Wow... She... knows what she's doing... Ugh... Preppy girls always seemed like better moms than the goth girls... Like me...' Uzi slumped slightly. 'Ugh... She'd probably be a better mom than I would, wouldn't she?'

As if she could sense her lover's emotions, Doll looked over at Uzi, her visor flickering for a moment before forming text.

(Something on your mind again?)

Uzi bit her lip, before doing the same.

(It's just...look at her.)

(At...Lizzy? What about her?)

(She's...so good with him. He already likes her.)

(Jealous?) Doll smiled lightly.

[I dunno... Maybe just a little bit...?]

[Don't be.]

[But like... I'm supposed to be... Not... Not her, I'm... I'm the one who's...]

[Uzi... You are.]

[I... I mean I'm trying, but she doesn't even have to try... She's literally just like some old bullies of mine and she's already doing way better than me without even trying...]

[Uzi... You don't need to try that hard either.]

[Huh? Of course I do, Doll... I'm constantly asking myself if I'm doing it right...]

[You are doing just as well as she is. He cares for you more than her, I know he does.]

[You... really think so...?]

[I know so.]

[I...I hope you're right...]

[I am right.]

(Heh...yeah, you always are.)

(Hm.) Doll smiled a smug grin mentally.

"Alright, here you go back to Miss Uzi now."

"Eh?"

Lizzy gently placed Harry into Uzi's arms, patting his head for good measure.

Uzi looked up at Lizzy with a raised brow and the blonde drone shrugged. "Hey. He wants you." She said simply. Uzi blinked twice and tilted her head, then looked down at Harry with a small smile.

"That right? Heh... Ya wanted me more than her, kiddo?" She asked softly.

"Um... I like Miss Lizzy, but... but you... you and Miss Doll saved me and I like being hugged by you most..." Harry admitted softly.

That struck a chord in Uzi's core. 'He..trusts us...'

Oh God she was being depended on as a mother figure!

Smiling widely, she embraced him in one of the hugs he loves so much. "There, like this?"

"Mhm...this is good..." He nodded.

They stayed like that for a few moments, Uzi replaying his words in her head over and over.

"Hey, so uh I'm gonna go to the store. Anyone wanna tell me if you want something?"

Uzi suddenly piped up. "Can I go with you?"

Will blinked twice. "Uh... I mean... Don't you wanna stay back here with the...?"

"I mean, yeah, I do..." Uzi looked at Harry, who tilted his head. "Buuuuut there's something I wanna do, I got a fresh paycheck, got a little kid here, only makes sense to splurge juuuuust a bit. So, can I come? C'mon, be a pal, big guy!"

Will tilted his head, then nodded. "Well, all right. Um... You okay with tending to the guests and everything while we're off, Doll?"

"Yes. It is easy." Doll nodded her head, giving Uzi a small smile, getting the sense Harry was about to get some kind of surprise.

"Heh... All right." Uzi smirked down at Harry. "Well, little buddy, I'll be back in an hour or two, sorry to cut this short on ya, but hey. Ya get to cuddle up with Doll till I get back, ya love Doll, don'tcha?"

"Mm-hmm." Harry nodded and gave her a small smile. Doll put her hands over her mouth, doing little to hide her wide smile at the casual confirmation.

Uzi chuckled before handing the boy over to her lover, giving her a quick peck on the lips. "Be back soon, babe." She said with a wink.

"Good luck, love." Said Doll, giving her a happy wave alongside Harry.

The smaller drone turned and left the room, leaving Doll with the guests all alone.

"So, uh...what do we do now?" Asked V.

"I...don't believe I had breakfast yet..."

"Oh, don't tell me you stayed up all night writing another opera." Lizzy groaned. "Seriously girl, take a break!"

"You don't get it! It's one of my best ones so far! I have to make sure it is finished before the deadline next month!"

"Nonetheless, you still need food, m'lady. And staying up late and falling asleep to the point of missing breakfast is not healthy for you."

"I can cook you something."

Squigly perked up. "Oh, would you? That's so kind of you, but are you sure you don't mind? I'd hate to impose or anything!"

Doll waved a hand. "No, no, is not trouble. Is simple to cook. What would you want?"

"Oh, thank you so much, I don't mind at all, anything would be just fine, beggars can't be choosers, thank you!" Squigly bowed politely.

"All right then." Doll rose to her feet and moved to set Harry down, but he grabbed her arm.

"Um... Can... Can I help you...?" He asked softly.

Doll tilted her head. "Ah. You want to work with me?"

"Uh-huh... Is... Is that okay...?" Harry asked shyly.

"Of course is all right. But... make sure that you are careful, sweet boy, I do not want you burned or hurt." Doll murmured.

"I promise I'll be extra careful." Harry said with a small smile.

Doll beamed at her child and gently played with his hair. "I'm sure you will, sweet boy..." She whispered. "Just do as I say, okay?"

"Mm-hmm." Harry nodded.

"Yo. I'll help out too, might as well." V rose to her feet with a shrug.

"Ah, yes, would you and Lizzy also like to eat?" Doll asked.

"Nah, I had breakfast with the wife and kiddo." V replied with a shrug.

"Yeah, dad cooked for me already, I'm good." Lizzy agreed. "I'll just hang with Sienna while she waits for her food to come."

"Okay then!" V clapped. "C'mon, we have to cook!"

"Here we come." Doll nodded, picking Harry up in her arms. The trio walked to the kitchen, while Lizzy and Sienna sat down at the table to chat.

"Alright, what should we prepare?"

"Something easy for breakfast. I think I heard she likes sausages."

"Eggs too?"

"You know it!"

Nodding, Doll set Harry down on the counter, before leaning down and opening a drawer.

Meanwhile, in the store...

The scene transitioned to Uzi and Will, the former currently listing off what they should buy.

"So the standard stuff like toothbrushes and toothpaste are a must. Then we have some sweet snacks cuz the kid clearly never got a taste of 'em in his freaking life. Then we need some toys, a few kid books, and then-"

"Uzi...please...slow down..." Will said as he breathed tiredly. "You've been...listing off...stuff for the kid...since we started driving..."

"Hey, come on, man, this stuff's important!" Uzi protested. "I mean, he's gotta brush his teeth, he can't let them get all plaquey and gross, and he deserves a treat, and he needs something to do if we can't entertain him, and-"

"I know, but... I mean... have you at least been keeping track of-" He looked over to see Uzi opening a list that sprawled down from Uzi's face to the car's floor. He blinked twice. "...You... Can we afford all that...?"

"Sure, I saved up way more than I needed to for the date last night, I got the cash to spare." Uzi shrugged her shoulders.

"I mean... If you say so, I guess..." Will shrugged.

"It's not too much..." Uzi muttered. "A kid needs to be taken care of, y'know?"

"Yeah, I know, I'm not judging, just making sure is all."

"Thanks...nice to see you...care."

Will smiled a little. "Of course I do. The kid is clearly in need of care. I may not be all that expressive, but I have a heart, even though people don't seem to believe it."

"Hehe, I get you." Uzi chuckled. "Everyone always thought I was a spunky troublemaker and that's all. Well, I am but...I'd like people to notice some of my other traits too."

The pair silently agreed with each other over their words. People truly made them out to be something they weren't, so a bond like this between them was precious.

Leaving the car, they entered the store, and Uzi took this opportunity to ask a question.

"Alright so first we need some hygiene equipment. I think we can find those-"

"Hey, Will?"

"Eh?" Will looked at Uzi in confusion. "What's up?"

"Am I...doing a good job?"

"Eh? What do you mean?" Will asked, looking down at the little drone with a tilted head.

"I mean... taking care of the kid and stuff...? I mean... People are telling me I'm doing fine and all, but like... I dunno... I feel like I need to hear it from... someone who'll just... tell it like it is, cause I'm nervous as hell and I can't stop worrying about things." Uzi murmured, wringing her hands together.

Will looked thoughtful, mulling over the best thing to say. "...I think you'll be just fine, really." He finally said.

"Oh. Yeah?" Uzi asked with a raised brow.

"Sure. I mean... you care about others, you always did, ever since the day I met you. I could tell how much you cared about Doll and went out of your way to make her happy. You've done all you can to improve my life too, you built a tv for us to watch, and you're constantly fixing stuff up around the house just cause you want to make sure I'm all right with things, and I can tell that the little guy's already found a place in your heart, so of course I think you're gonna be great with him. You're just... always great with the people you care about." The man said with the smallest ghost of a smile.

Uzi looked up at him for a few seconds, then wrapped her arms around his leg in an embrace. Will blinked in surprise, then crouched down so he could return the gesture. Uzi smiled up at him. "Heh... You're one of the best things that ever happened to me or Doll, y'know that?" She said sincerely.

"Oh... Yeah? You really think so?" Will asked, happy to hear those words.

"Course I do... I dunno where we'd even be without ya... And... Just... thanks. A ton. Really... Hearing it from you just... clinches it. I can do this. I know I can. Thanks for getting that through my head. Heard it from Doll, heard it from mom, and heard it from you... The whole family thinks I got this, so now I just have to prove them right!"

"Heh... There ya go." Will nodded. "Now, do you wanna meet back up by the registers when we're ready to pay for our stuff then?"

"Sure thing, big guy. You go handle the groceries, I got the kid's stuff." The two broke the embrace and nodded before heading off in separate directions.

"Alright, to start off, the hygiene stuff..."

Uzi first arrived at the hygiene aile, looking up from the list and gulping with wide eyes at the sheer SIZE of everything.

"Ooookay...I gotta get this before I accidentally crash something..."

Looking around, she furrowed her digital brows at the obvious lack of kiddy sized toothbrushes.

"Ugh, I can't give 'im an adult one. That just wouldn't be right. He's a kid!"

Finally, she spotted a line of kiddy toothbrushes on her left.

The problem?

They were a few shelves too high.

She narrowed her eyes, then let out a loud "Uuuuuuuughhhhhhh..." as she rolled them. She stepped onto one of the shelves, using it as a stair, then clambered up the next shelf. "Tch... Stupid... friggin'... Ugh... They should be more accomodating to the little people, the lousy... stupid..." She finally managed to reach the shelf she needed, and grabbed the toothbrush with a triumphant "Ha!" And then, she lost her grip. "Wait, no, crap!" She grunted as she fell flat on her back. "Ugh... That was... Wait no, no, NO!" She shielded herself with her arms as a small avalanche of hygiene supplies beared down on her.

An employee rounded the corner to see Uzi's twitching leg sticking out of the large mound of dental supplies. The female drone let out a long suffering groan before slowly popping her head free from the pile. She noticed the employee and smiled sheepishly. "Uh... Oops..." She chuckled awkwardly. And then a last tube of kids' toothpaste landed on her head. "Ugh... Friggin'... Oh hey, I need that actually... Uh... I'd... offer to help put it all back, but I'm not tall enough, bye!" Uzi rushed off as the employee sighed deeply.

Sliding to a stop an aile or two away, Uzi breathed a little, before stuffing the toothbrush and paste in her shopping bag.

"Alright..." Pulling out the list, she crosses the two items out. "...that's that done. Now, the clothes."

Looking around, she realized she was exactly at the aile she needed.

"Now then, his size is already accounted for." She murmured, having done a quick scan on him before leaving so she could pick out the correct sizes.

"So, the kid sized clothes should be all the way on the back...why do they put them there I have no idea."

Really, kids were more important than adults in her opinion. Adults have way too many clothes anyway.

Sighing, she made her way over to the back and put her hands on her hips as she looked at the clothes. "Okay... So... What would look good on him...? Hmm... Kinda feels like he'd look good in blues and greens, but what would he like...? Uh... Okay, pajamas, that's an easy option, pajamas..." She looked at the options. "Okay... Uh... We got some onesies, these look comfy as hell, actually, he'd like these..." She grabbed a little blue onesie off the shelf, looked at it with a raised brow, and then her eyes widened. "Holy crap he's gonna look so damn adorable in this thing, I GOTTA get it..." She muttered as she put it in her bag as well as two others, in green and red. "And uh... These ones have... kittens on them, kids love cats, and... oh hey, these ninja turtle guys are a hit with kids, I think... And... Spider-Man too, might as well... Okay, that oughta do it for pajamas... Um... Oh, he'd love hoodies cause he can hide in 'em, and uh... okay... Pants are probably the easiest, who honestly judges pants unless they're ratty and old? All right... This oughta do it... Yeah, I think he'll be happy with these." Uzi nodded her head confidently with a smile. "Okay... Now, what other...? Riiiight, shoes, gotta get some new shoes... Hmm... Pokemon... Kids like Pokemon. That'll work."

Satisfied with her clothing choices, Uzi smiled as she left the aisle with her bag in tow. "Okay... Next up... Snacks..." She needed to pick some stuff up that the kid could eat through the day, he was a growing boy. Some fruits would do nicely, maybe some crackers and cheese... Ah, rice cakes, excellent... Hmm... Maybe a few sugary things for when he was good... All right, she had what she needed there... Oh, she had to pick up a little treat for him for when she got home, he deserved to be spoiled just a bit...

Speaking of which... Toys...

"Oookay. The best part!" She said peppily. "The toys!"

Running off, she soon arrived at the toy aile. Her eyes lit up in wonder at the countless amount of trinkets and toys she saw lined up on the shelves.

"Oooooooooh! He would LOVE all this! I'm taking everything!"

She started running, before her visor flickered and she slid to a stop. The message on it read "TF DID I JUST SAY?!"

"Wait! No! Agh, I can't buy all of this! I don't have NEARLY enough money to do it, and I wouldn't be able to carry any of this home!"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 'Oookay... Step back, Uzi, think... What would he like...?' She put a finger under her chin and tilted her head. 'Okay... So... He's a shy little guy, soooo... Gotta get some plushies. Uh... Oh hey, it's an owl plush, heh... That's just TOO perfect... Aaaaand this Pikachu's cute... They make plushies out of food now? Well, it's cute, so in it goes... Uh... Squishmallows...? Agh, these things are so soft, he'd love em!'

After deciding that was enough plushies, she looked at some other things. 'All right... Uh... Kids like action figures, I'll take a couple of those... Uh... This ball... Yeah, that works... Um... Oh hey, little jigsaw puzzles... And... huh... Toy robot... Heh... Nice...' Satisfied with the selection, she turned away from the shelves. 'Aaaaand I promised some board games... What board games does a kid like to play? ...Candyland?' Her eyes widened as she had was flashbacks of Lord Licorice. '...If it'll make him happy... I'll deal with it...'

Arriving at the shelf with the board games, she began picking several out.

"Alright, Candyland is here...then we get...hmmm...oh, Uno is nice...aaaand...oh! Maybe Battleships! And...and Yahtzee as well..."

After picking out four board games she figured they could all enjoy together, she went back to the checkout, where Will was already waiting.

"Oh, hey Uzi." He said. "Did you, uh...get lost? I waited quite a while..."

"Not my fault every convenience store in existence has to be minotaur's labyrinth..." She grumbled.

Will chuckled. "Fair enough. I'm over here a lot, so I've memorized the layout, actually used to work here, my mums thought it'd be a good first job for me."

"Huh. Y'know, you never mentioned your parents before. So, you have two moms, huh?" Uzi asked as they moved up in the line.

"Yep. I was adopted when I was just a baby. Best parents you could ask for, I'm lucky to have them." Will chuckled. "Tessa loves them quite a bit too, and that's nice, cause... her parents were just... the worst..."

"Oh... Yeah...?" Uzi asked, rubbing her arm.

"Yep. Not my story to tell though..." Will sighed.

"Fair enough." Uzi nodded. "...Soooo, you visit your folks a lot?"

"Yeah, you girls always were a bit busy when I was gonna ask if you wanted to come along, but I mentioned you a lot." Will explained.

"Ah. So they know about us. Guess that's the element of surprise out the window." Uzi chuckled.

"Ah, they're really excited to meet you two. Huh. Guess I'm gonna have to tell them you two have a kid now, aren't I?" Will remarked.

"Pfft! Can't wait to see how they react to that..." Uzi chuckled as they paid for their items.

"Ah, they'll be calm, don't worry." Will chuckled as they walked out the doors.

"Really? I'm not gonna get snatched up off the ground and hugged like a plush toy?" Uzi snickered.

"Well... One of them might." Will chuckled as they loaded the car and got in. "Best not keep the wife and kid waiting, yeah?"

"Yep! Allonsy! Uh... Doc taught me about that, haha..." Uzi chuckled.

"Right. Let's go then." And so the ride home began.

Back at the apartment, Doll watched on with a smile as Harry delivered the finished meal to Sienna.

"Here you go, Miss Squigly..."

"Aww, that's so precious of you, sweetie." Sienna clapped her hands with a smile. "I'm sure you must've cooked wonderfully!"

"I'll say..." Leviathan said as he sniffed the steam coming from the food. "If this goes on, you young man could become a professional chef!"

Doll smiled as Harry blushed a little under the praise. She watched as the boy then scurried back to her and hid behind her legs.

"Wasn't just me, I just helped Miss Doll..." Harry mumbled out shyly.

"Oh, sweet boy, what's wrong, why are you hiding?" Doll asked softly.

"Mmm... She said I was good, and I... I don't know... I... People don't say that to me a lot and... I dunno..." Harry mumbled.

"Ah... My poor boy..." Doll sighed as she bent over to pick him up and hold him close. "You don't need to be embarrassed, you did good. Be proud." She said with a wink.

"I... I can be... proud...?" Harry asked.

"Of course, baby." Doll murmured, ruffling his hair. "You did very good job... Ah. She is taking first bite." Indeed, Sienna took her first forkful of food, and her face lit up.

"It's fantastic!" She breathed out, eyes sparkling.

Leviathan's eyed glower brightly as the info flooded his mind. "Exquisite! The taste complements the texture of the dish like a painter's brush complements the soft canvas it spills the colours over!"

"The fragrance matches the aroma near perfectly, guaranteeing that you'll want more after every bite..."

"IT'S EXQUISITE!" They both said in unison.

Harry looked down bashfully at the praise he was receiving. "I...I didn't do a lot...I was just helping a little...miss Doll was the one to cook..."

Doll looked down at him with a small, fond smile. "Oh, you were much bigger help than you say, sweet boy." She said with a wink. Harry smiled back up at her. Doll had honestly mostly been just letting him instruct her to see what he was capable of. But she could tell he was too shy for the spotlight, so she made the choice to take more credit than she felt was deserved.

And so, Squigly and Leviathan ate their food, idly having a discussion with Lizzy, while Doll, Harry and V watched television. Doll looked at V, head tilted. "So how come J and Crona are not here?"

V chuckled. "Ah, J took Crona out for the day, heh... We have a thing going on where we alternate weeks to spend some one on one time with the little guy. Helps us get a bit closer to him if he gets to spend time with one of us at a time every now and then, y'know?"

"Ah... Yes... I see..." Doll smiled down at Harry. "...Is a smart idea... Perhaps we should try it one day..."

And then the door creaked open. "Knock knock." Uzi said casually as she and Will stepped in.

Immediately, Harry perked up and smiled at the sound of Uzi's voice. "You're back!"

"You bet I am!" Uzi smirked. She dropped the bags to the floor and ran over to the pair.

She knelt down and spread her arms out. Harry understood what she asked for and Doll gently set him down so he could approach and hug her.

Uzi giggled at how tight the embrace from him was, and nuzzled his head affectionately. "Hehe, awww, did you miss me, bud?"

"I did." Harry nodded. "A lot."

"Not completely though. We had fun while you two were out." Doll spoke up.

"Oh yeah?" Uzi chuckled, leaning forward to give Doll a quick kiss on the lips. "And what'd you guys do while we were out and about, eh?"

"Sienna did not have breakfast. We cook for her." Doll explained. "She likes the food very much and Harry is excellent kitchen helper."

"Heheheh... Nice." Uzi ruffled Harry's hair. "Chef Harry has a nice ring to it." She took a seat on the couch with the boy, resting him on her lap, then pulled up her bags. "Okay! Soooo, I got some shopping done for ya, kiddo."

"F-For me...?" Harry asked softly, eyes wide.

"Yep! Let's crack these open and show ya!" Uzi reached into one of the bags. "Let's seeeeee... Ah!" She pulled out the toothbrush and toothpaste. "Now you can keep your teeth clean for starters."

"Okay..." He nodded.

"And I got you some nice threads too!" She said, pulling out several different articles of clothing. Shirts, pants, pajamas (she loved picking out those the most), and other stuff. "So now you don't need to wear any of dirty or torn stuff you did before.

Harry just nodded, happy about the new clothes, even though he didn't think he really deserved them.

Doll meanwhile looked away to hide her blush. She was NOT thinking about how cute Harry would look in one of those onesies! No! Not at all!

Yes she was, she absolutely was, she wanted to see him in his new clothes right away, she wanted to see him dressed up so badly...

"And we got some stuff you can eat through the day cause you're a growing boy..." Uzi set the snacks down on the table. V looked them over.

"All right, good choices there, J would have picked the same things." She chuckled.

"Oh yeah?" Uzi chuckled and rubbed the back of her head. J was definitely the kind of mom she'd want to emulate, the kind that just sorta seemed to know best, so it was comforting that she'd emulated her without even realizing it. "Well, uh... A kid needs something to play with, right? Sooooo... I picked out a few things for ya..." She reached into the bags and pulled out all the toys she'd got for Harry. The plushies, the toy robot, the ball, everything, and set it all down in front of him on the couch as he looked on in awe.

"Oooh, that little marshmallow plush is so cute!" Sienna cooed.

"Ooooh, this kid's hit the orphan jackpot with these two." Lizzy whispered to V, who nodded with a small smirk.

"Yep... They care a lot, I can tell." She said sincerely.

Doll beamed at her lover. It warmed her heart that she went out of her way for the boy, even though she wasn't yet sure about being a mother.

Harry? He was staring at the toys in shock before slowly reaching over and grabbing one of them, the one that looked like an owl. He held it up, looking at it with wide eyes, then hugged it close to his chest and looked up at Uzi. "Th-These are really for me...?" He asked softly.

"Yup. Every last one of 'em. I bought them all just for you and-whoa!"

Uzi almost stumbled backwards as Harry suddenly hugged her tightly.

A choked sniffle escapes his nose as he hugs her with all his tiny might. "Th...thank...you..." He whimpers, burying his face in her chest.

Uzi could feel her hoodie getting damp. Blinking, she smiled a little. "Awwww, come here..." She embraces him herself, letting him lean deeper into her, and started stroking the back of his head gently.

Harry buried his face into her shoulder and forced the tears to stop flowing. He clutched onto her as tightly as he could, trying to will himself to stop shaking. He had to calm down, he couldn't start crying here... He focused... He focused on the gentle, warm embrace he was being given by Miss Uzi... She was nice and cool and gentle, and she had a very sweet scent... It was kind of fruity... She smelled like those fizzy blueberry lemonade drinks he was forced to serve Dudley and his friends that one time... Sweet and fruity, but cold and refreshing, like the scent was being blown into his face by a fan on a hot summer day...

He slowly looked up at Uzi, his eyes reddened just slightly, when he felt a gentle hand caress his face. It wasn't Miss Uzi, she was still using both hands to hold him... He looked up and saw that it was Miss Doll, giving him a small, sad smile. "Is all right, sweet boy..." She said softly. "No need for scared feelings, yes...?"

"...Yes..." Harry nodded and put on his best smile for them. Doll smiled back. But she knew that he was repressing a lot of his pain... There was a mess buried deep within this poor baby, one that they would have to work hard to effectively clean up...

'I'm sure we can do it.' Doll said to herself in her mind. 'It will be a hard and long endeavor, but...as long as we do that together, I can say for certain that we'll do a great job.'

"Alright, calmed down yet?" Uzi asked. Harry sniffled a little again, but nodded and smiled again. "Good. Can't enjoy your treats with gears in your eyes, can you?"

Uzi grabbed a packet of what looked like chocolate cookies. Opening it, she pulled out a cookie and offered it to him.

"Aaaaaah..."

"Aaaaah..."

As Uzi began to feed Harry, Lizzy, V and Squigly watched from the side. "They're really doing well with him." Lizzy remarked.

"As a mom, I give 'em the official V stamp of approval. They're doing awesome for their first time."

Squigly sighed. "Oh, I want one so badly..."

"...You can literally just adopt. Y'know, like... literally every other parent in this building did." Lizzy said with a small smirk.

"Yeah, between you, Filia and Carol, you'll be an awesome group of moms." V chuckled. Then she blinked twice. "... Wow... There really isn't anyone in this building that has an actual biological child, is there?"

Squigly let out a sigh and smiled. "Oh, yes, adoption will do just fine, it does seem nice to bring light into a child's life..." She murmured.

"...Y'know? I think we should give them some time to bond with their new kid alone." V whispered.

"I concur." Leviathan agreed. "This is a very special time for the lad's development, we needn't intrude."

"All right. Wanna go to my place and do manicures or something?" Lizzy suggested.

"I'm game." V chuckled. "Yo, thanks for having us, everyone, buuuuut we're gonna head on out now! You guys bond with that little rugrat, okay? Catch ya later!"

"Alright. See you guys later!" Uzi waved.

"Bye Miss Lizzy. Bye Miss V. Bye miss Squigly, Mr. Leviathan."

"Bye sweetie!" Lizzy called happily.

"See ya later, squirt." V called.

"Byyyyeee!" Waved Squigly enthusiastically. The trio then closed the door, leaving the small family alone again.

"Alright, want more cookies?" Uzi offered.

"Um...can Mr. Will and Ms. Doll get some too?"

"Ah, don't worry, little guy. You didn't have to." Will said.

"Um... I know, but... It's good to share..." Harry murmured shyly.

"Oh, you are such good boy." Doll cooed as she ruffled his hair. Harry smiled and held one up to her, and she took it with a soft giggle. "Thank you, dearie..."

Smiling, he held one up to Uzi too. "Ah, thanks, dude." Uzi chuckled as she accepted it.

He held one up for Will. "Heh... Thanks, mate." Will accepted it. Harry felt happy inside, glad that he had shared his treat with the people that were nice to him. It felt nice to pay them back for their kindness.

"Did everything go well at the store?" Doll asked Uzi with a tilted head.

Uzi blinked. "Uh... Yeah. Why?"

[Well, I guess... I'm just a bit concerned that they wouldn't treat you well, since... we're drones...] Doll admitted softly, going back into Russian so she could avoid dragging Harry into an uncomfortable conversation.

"Ah. Nah, you don't have to worry about that, everything went just fine." Uzi said with a shrug. "Stores are used to drones coming in to run errands for their owners."

"Plus we took the car." Will explained.

[Oh... Good... Well... Let me know if someone does mistreat you...] Doll murmured softly.

Uzi giggled. "Ah, I will, sweetie. Don't worry." She kissed Doll's cheek with a smile. "Now, uuuuuh...what board game do we feel like playing? I didn't buy them for nothin'."

"How about Yahtzee?" Will suggested. "Been a while since I played that one."

"Harry, do you wanna play Yahtzee?" Uzi asked. Harry nodded, interested in how the game is played. The name sounded fun...

"Alright, so uuuuuh...I don't know how to play, hehe." Uzi said awkwardly. "I've seen how they ay it on commercials buuuut...I...never played it myself."

"Hmm... Might not be best game for Harry yet... He is still small... Hasn't learned much math yet." Doll explained.

"Ah... Right..." Will murmured.

Uzi grimaced. Great... She'd bought a game he was too young to even play, what a screw up! She looked at the Candyland game she'd bought. Her war flashbacks started again. Despite herself, she spoke. "Uh... How... about... C-C-C-Candy...land...?" She managed to choke out with an awkward smile.

"Hellooooooo, family!" Nori chirped as she popped up. "Did I hear board games? I want a piece of that action!"

"Greeeeat! I'll play for mom!" Uzi chuckled.

"Hey! I can...oh..."

Nori crossed her arms and sulked.

"I am SO gonna ask Heinz to build me a new body someday..." She grumbled

"Alright then. Let's start." Will said, taking the box and opening the contents.

After starting the game, the family got so into it that they lost track of time. Before they knew it, they had been playing for two hours already.

"Agh! Darnit!"

They still didn't notice the time though.

"Cheer up, sweetie." Nori calmed her daughter. "Speaking of, my turn! C'mon, Uzi. Help your mother out!"

Uzi groaned and pulled the card, moving her mother's piece up the board and grumbling to herself in annoyance. Doll laughed softly into her hand. "You are still mad about your losing streak last time you play this?"

"Uuuuuughhhhh..." Uzi simply groaned in response. "Of course mom has the best luck ever, I gurantee you I'd end up stuck with Lord Licorice on the first turn if I was playing, reality itself would bend over backwards to make it happen!"

"Oh, don't be jealous of your old lady's good luck, dear." Nori chuckled.

"Grrrrrmmrgh..." Uzi grumbled.

"Come on, look at Will, he's in last place and he's not pouting." Nori gestured to the tall man, who looked up, shrugged, and turned back to the game. "Now come on, Harry's beating me, get me to that castle, paintball, let's gooooo!"

"Yeah, yeah..." Uzi grumbled. "Oh joy, four spaces ahead, you're all caught up, lucky..."

"Now now..." Will reasoned.

"Is all right, dear." Doll chuckled.

Ultimately, Nori did end up winning, but Harry was so adorably proud of himself for having second place.

"Finally!" Uzi exclaimed. "No more Lord Licorice for the day! Woohoo!" She cheered.

"See that Harry? You go second place!" Doll said. Harry tilted his head.

"Is...is that good?"

"Oh, yeah sure thing." Uzi nodded. "You almost won completely. Mom won out over ya in the end."

"Thayer still really good tho!" Nori exclaimed. "You're so good at the game, Harry!"

"Yeah, while you didn't win, second place is a real good start!" Uzi nodded.

Harry smiled happily, blushing a bit from the praise. "Okay! So..I did good!"

"Yes, you very much did." Doll patted his head.

"Yay...aaaaaaahhhh..." A yawn escaped Harry's mouth.

"Feeling sleepy, kid?" Will asked.

"Hmm..." Harry closed his eyes and nodded. Doll reached over and grabbed him, hugging him up to her shoulder and gently patting his back.

"Ah... He is still so small, needs lots of rest, is naptime now..." She murmured,

"Heh... All right, let's get the little guy up to bed." Uzi chuckled. She grabbed the bags of gifts she had brought back for Harry, Will stepping forward to help out, and followed behind Doll as she carried the boy up the stairs.

"Oh, I'll go and tell everyone to keep it down and not wake the baby if they know what's good for them!" Nori chirped before vanishing from sight.

"Hmmmmmm..." Harry breathed as he snuggled his face deeper into Doll, rubbing it against her jacket. His nose caught her scent, which calmed his mind.

A soft, sweet fragrance that brought to mind grassy plains, full of not just green, but red, blue, yellow and many many other colours. The smell also brought the sounds of a rushing stream of water passing just by you, and the metal, industrial smell of iron, while to some ruining the fragrance, brought Harry a sense of solace and peace, due to how familiar the scent was to him.

Doll returned the snuggle with an embrace of her own. Her metal arms, while normally rough, bent and twisted around Harry to snuggle him deeper into them. The inner heaters inside Doll also added to the comfort, bringing a blanket of warm aura over his body, calming his nerves as he let himself relax deeper in the metal pair of comfortable limbs.

Doll smiled as he snuggled in closer, humming softly into his ear as she gently rocked him back and forth in her arms, pressing a quick kiss on his cheek as she stepped into their shared bedroom. Gently, she lowered the boy down onto the bed, then carefully tucked him in up to his chin and pressed another kiss against his forehead before gently caressing his face with her hand. "Sleep now, sweet boy..." She whispered.

"Mmkay... Thank..." Harry was cut off by the sound of his own snores. Doll beamed, and Uzi chuckled as she and Will set the bags down. Uzi stepped over and reached over to gently run her fingers through the boy's hair.

"Sleep tight, dude..." She murmured softly.

"Ah... I'll leave you girls to it." Will said with a nod and a small smile before leaving the room. The two drones watched the boy sleep for a few seconds. Then they turned to smile at each other. Then Doll made the first move.

Pulling Uzi in by the face, she connected her mouth with hers, starting off a kiss. Uzi of course was more than happy to reciprocate.

The kiss, despite it's gentleness, carried a strength that was simultaneously comforting and alluring, allowing both to enjoy their partner's own style.

Doll's side was slow and steady, her lips leaving a cold aftertaste that lingered similarly to the morning ice on the metal rails in her homeland. It carried the scent of industrial oil, with an added aroma of rose and apple mixed it. There was also a hint of molten steel, as well as strangely warm aura of peace and calm radiating off the normally cold drone.

Uzi was the polar opposite. In contrast to Doll's slower and gentler approach, her's was feisty, fiery and swift. Her lips were more calloused and dented, and her metal surface was warmer and more crusty, despite rust being literally impossible for them. The taste was a mixture of the spiciness of chili, added with a sweetness of honey and the smell of a freshly lit incense that is yet to fully release the soothing smell, but still holds a beautiful fragrance combined with light smoke and flame.

After several seconds, the two drones pulled back, breathing heavily despite... not needing to breathe, then smiled tenderly into each other's eyes. "Ah... Seriously... No matter how many times we do that... Every single time, it feels just as awesome as the first..." Uzi whispered, causing Doll to giggle and kiss her on the nose.

"My lips are yours any time you like, my love. ...But... Maybe not in here... Not while little one is sleeping in same room, yes?" The Russian drone replied.

Uzi chuckled. "Heh... Yeah... Quick pecks on the lips are one thing, buuuut it's probably best not to start full on making out like that in the same room as the little guy..."

"Indeed. Let us go." Agreed Doll. The pair turned to leave the room, with Uzi quickly running back and placing another gentle kiss on Harry's forehead and running out of the room.

Doll gently shut the door behind them, and Uzi breathed.

"Whew...I really didn't wanna wale him up, but it was just too tempting. I couldn't resist.

"Understandable, considering how much you love him."

"Eh?"

"Uzi..." Doll placed a hand on her shoulder. "I really don't see what you worry about about. You are doing a job as his mother better than ANY other mother I've ever seen except my old master's. Serious. You are good. It is great that you are going out of your way to help and care for him."

Uzi looked down at the ground shyly, rubbing her arm with an embarrassed chuckle. "Oh yeah...?"

"Oh yes..." Doll murmured.

"Heh... I... I'm trying... For... For you... and for him... I'm really trying..." Uzi said softly.

"You are succeeding." Doll replied.

"I... I'm glad to hear that... I'm... REALLY glad to hear that, I... I thought... Cause... I didn't have the best example to look up to after mom died that... I'd... I'd suck... at the whole parent thing..." Uzi whispered.

"...I know you will not fail like your father." Doll said gently, taking her hands in her own. "No... I see the drone you are. Loving. Caring. That is you. You are not neglecting. You are not him. You are good mother."

Uzi smiled softly into Doll's eyes. "...Yeah... I'm... I'm a good mom... I really am... I... I can do this." She sounded sincere. Confident. It made Doll's heart leap. Overjoyed, she tackled her lover into yet another kiss.

"Gmph!" Uzi was caught off guard, but sighed with a chuckle, and melted into the kiss. This one was far less peaceful than before. Much more rough, feisty, and most of all, FAST.

Doll carried Uzi over to the bathroom, using her telekinesis to twist the knob and open the door. She kicked the door open, still kissing Uzi, before walking in and shutting the door. A click was heard, signifying the door was locked.

Will passed by about ten minutes later, then heard the noises from within the bathroom that made him blink twice before slowly backing away and going back into the main room to watch the television again. He did not want to walk in on them in the middle of that a second time. Thankfully they'd decided to do it in the bathroom instead of his bed this time...

Eventually though, as all other things, it ended. The pair of Drones walked out of the bathroom, Doll shutting the door silently since Harry was still asleep.

"Ah...ah! That...was...AWESOME!" Uzi cheered.

"Mm." Doll nodded.

"Pfft, that's all you can say?" Uzi chuckled. Doll shrugged. "You already summarized my thoughts."

Then, she moved and wrapped Uzi in a hug, the other Drone reciprocating.

"This parenting thing..."

"It's gonna be difficult, I know." Doll said. "Bit I'm with you. All the way."

"Hehe, yeah." Uzi agreed. "We may be new at this, but we're gonna do our best. That kid's about to have the best life he can ever get, and the best parents in the world."

Later that day, Harry had woken from his nap, and he was currently nestled snugly in between Uzi and Doll, holding the new owl plushie Uzi had gotten for him. It warmed Uzi's heart that he loved that thing so much, she knew it would be a special gift for him...

They were pulled from their thoughts by a knock on the door. Doll tilted her head, then used the Solver to pull it open. There stood Mahiru, who stepped in and waved with a small smile.

"Hi, guys." She greeted. "So, V told me that you have a new tenant living here, is it okay if I say hi to him?"

"Heh... Sure thing, come over." Uzi shrugged before turning to Harry. "No worries, kiddo, she's nice, I promise." She murmured.

"O-okay..." He shyly replied. Mahiru blinked at the adorable voice, approaching the sofa.

"Awwwww, he's sho cuuuuuuute..." She cooed, leaning down a little. "Hiya little guy."

"Um...hey...I...it's...nice t-to meet you..."

"Likewise." Nodded the photographer. "My name is Mahiru. What's your name?"

"Um...H-Harry..."

"That's a cute name! Fitting for a sweetie like you." She spoke, before her smile disappeared. "Goodness you look skinny."

"Heeeey!" Uzi protectively hugged the boy with a light glare. "Not cool!"

"No, no, she is correct, Harry is small and thin. Is not his fault. He will grow." Doll reasoned, resting a comforting hand on her lover's shoulder.

"...Ugh... Yeah... He is pretty small, he's old enough to speak full sentences and he's the size of a baby..." Uzi reluctantly agreed. Harry winced and she gave him a squeeze. "Hey, don't worry, bud, I didn't say it was a bad thing..." She reassured him.

Mahiru beamed at the sight, it was clear these two cared a lot about the boy. Then she frowned. "You said you found him on the streets?" She asked.

"Yeah... Said he was out there for a bit..." Uzi muttered.

"...I... think he should see a doctor, he might have some things that need to be looked at..." Mahiru murmured.

"Oh geez, you're right, I didn't even think about that!" Uzi exclaimed worriedly.

"Okay, okay, take it easy, I know the perfect person for the job. She's actually kind of the designated doctor for this entire apartment complex, she comes here a lot, you might have seen her at some point." Mahiru assured.

"Uh... I mean, I remember seeing... Oh yeah, I did see that girl from that picture you showed me walking into Ian and Anthony's apartment a couple weeks ago..." Uzi mused.

Mahiru rolled her eyes. "Ugh... Those two sure keep her busy, that's for sure..." She said in exasperation. "But yeah! Mikan would be perfect!"

"Hmmmmm..."

"Uzi..." Doll spoke. "Has Mahiru ever lied to us?"

"Well, no...but..."

"Hmmm...let's ask Harry."

Doll looked down at the boy. "Harry, would you be okay if a nice doctor lady came for a visit?"

"Um...will she have needles?"

"I can ask her to not use needles on you, sweetheart." Mahiru spoke up. "I'm certain she will comply. She's nice like that."

"Um... Okay..." Harry murmured softly, rubbing his arm.

"Well... Guess the kid's spoken..." Uzi sighed, smirking slightly down at Harry. "Heh... You're a brave one, bud..." She patted his head. "A real little trooper."

"All right! I'll go and call her right now, just a sec..." Mahiru rushed out to make the call.

Uzi's shoulders sagged and she heaved out a sigh. "It'll be okay, it'll be okay, you won't get hurt..." She murmured to Harry, patting his head.

"You don't have to worry about anything, my love." Doll spoke gently, resting her head against the crook of Uzi's neck.

"Really, I am quite curious as to why you are worried so much. She isn't a bad person if Mahiru can trust her."

"I know, I know...but...haaaaah..." Uzi sighed as she wrapped an arm around Doll's waist. "...I guess it's the fact that...mom almost got me killed in a trash compactor. Remember that?"

"Yes, I do." Doll nodded. "And I'm assuming you're worried you might do the same?"

"Yep...call me overly protective, but I don't care. I wanna be as good a mom I can be, and I can make sure that our kid is gonna be safer than what I went through, I'm gonna do my absolute best to make that promise real."

"And you are uncertain about leaving him with a stranger, yes?" Doll asked.

"Yeah... Kinda..." Uzi looked down at Harry and heaved out a soft sigh. He seemed to be thinking deeply, not really paying attention to their conversation. "I just... don't know this person, don't know what she's like or what her intentions are or anything like that, most I know is a picture and a few brief glimpses of her going into apartments... I think the little guy's a bit worried about it too..."

Doll laughed softly and gave Uzi a soft kiss on the cheek. "Oh, don't worry, my love... It will be all right... We stay with him while she looks at him, we will not leave him alone."

"Heh... Yeah..." Uzi leaned down to Harry. "Hey... Ya hear that, buddy? We're stickin' by ya, so don't worry too much, okay?" Harry blinked, then looked up at her and smiled, feeling a bit better.

"You don't have to worry." Will said. "I know Mikan. Nice girl. Wouldn't hurt a fly. Kind of like Harry in a lot of ways, she's pretty shy herself."

"Hmmmm..." Uzi bit her lip.

"She's the shy type, so you don't need to be scared of her doing or saying anything wrong. In fact I'd honestly think she'd be more scared of you. Uh...don't scare her, please."

"Relax, I ain't gonna do that. Haaaaah..." She sighed. "I guess I got no choice then...fine, I'll relax."

"Good choice, dear." Doll patted her shoulder with a smile.

So, the trio spent some small time relaxing, watching TV together. It took about half an hour, until there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it. Probably Mikan." Will said, coming to the door and opening it to reveal the purple-haired Ultimate Nurse herself.

"A-ah...good morning Will."

"Afternoon, Mikan." Will nodded.

"Ah! It's after noon?! Oh dear... Oh, I really need to pay closer attention to the time, I'm so sorry." Mikan bowed her head politely.

"Oh, no need for that, Mikan." Mahiru giggled as she approached, gently resting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Thanks for coming over."

"All right, ladies, please come in." Will stepped aside.

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Will. Okay. Now, where's my patient?" Mikan's shyness suddenly faded ever so slightly as she entered duty mode.

"Uh...here..."

Uzi tentatively brought Harry with her as she and Doll approached Mikan. She raised him up to Mikan, and...

"Okay, listen here. I don't care how m-"

"Sweetie." Doll interrupted.

Uzi bit her lip. "Okay, listen I know you are, like, the best doctor on the planet, but I need to make sure he's okay! I don't wanna see him get hurt, so pleeeease be gentle when you handle him. He's really shy and nervous too, so be nice when talking to him! And one more thing, me and Doll will be here with him during the entire treatment, and there's no room for discussion on that!"

"Awww, Uzi, you don't have anything to worry about." Mahiru said with a soft giggle.

"Yes... I promise I won't do anything to make the poor thing uncomfortable..." Mikan said softly, twiddling her index fingers together and putting on a small, shaky smile. "I... I think it's nice that you care so much... You're... kind of like a mother bear, actually, it... makes me happy."

Uzi was a bit taken aback at those words, but she felt a little bit of pride swell up within her when she heard them. "Heh... Uh... Thanks, uh... I try..." Internally, she was kind of gushing. 'Holy crap holy crap holy crap she complimented my parenting skills, I am KILLIN' it!'

"You really do, Uzi." Mahiru spoke. "And you're doing an excellent job at it. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Darn right I won't!"

"A-alright, um...can we start the checkup now...please?"

"Oh, right. Um, this way." Uzi led the nurse over to the couch, sitting Harry down and climbing up next to him, Doll doing the same. Mikan knelt down and opened her medical equipment.

"Alright, first, say aaaah..."

"Aaaaah-gah!" Harry gagged when Mikan swiftly placed a stick on his tongue and removed it just as fast. "Alright, the throat is good..." She wrote something down in a notebook. "Now I'll need you to lift your shirt up a little and turn around.

Doing as he was told, Harry turned around and Uzi lifted his shirt a little to show his back. Mikan winced at the sight, writing something down and then using the stethoscope. After a few seconds of listening to his breathing, Mikan pulled the device back, writing more stuff down and sighing.

"Oh, dear...how is he still alive...?"

"What?" Uzi asked. "Wh-what does that mean? Is he okay?"

"He's horribly malnourished." Mikan began. "His weight is criminally low, without me even needing a scale. There are barely visible callouses on the skin around his spine and side areas. What's more, his skinny build makes it easy to stop some underskin damage, and sone ribs look a bit strange."

Uzi's pupils dilated and her mouth hung open in shock. Doll clapped her hands over her mouth and let out a sharp gasp. Mikan continued. "These lines on his limbs indicate that they've been fractured at several points and barely healed properly... His eye twitches frequently, a common sign of stress and fear... His fingers are stiff and rigid, implying they see far more use than they reasonably should... His breathing is ragged... A combination of malnourishment and exhaustion no doubt..." Her expression slowly shifted as she spoke, from timid shyness to sadness to a quiet anger as she glared at her writings.

Uzi rested a palm against her forehead and collapsed onto the couch, heaving out a deep sigh as she slowly slid the hand down her face. Doll looked at Harry, digital tears forming on her visor, then slowly reached over and pulled him into a hug.

"Th...this...I...I can-...I...argh..." Uzi struggled to form words as her limbs began to spam from sheer overload.

'She's being emotionally overwhelmed.' Drones weren't as suited towards emotion as humans are. As such, too much emotion can cause some mild issues. This appears to be one of them.

Doll picked Harry up in her arms and carried him over to Uzi. Immediately, the other Drone took the boy from her arms and embraced him with such strength Doll was almost worried she might hurt him.

"You're not getting hurt..."

She perked up at the sound of Uzi speaking.

"You are not getting hurt again. Never. Not even once. I am not letting that happen..."

Harry looked up at her, eyes wide, tears beginning to form, before he buried his face in her hoodie and stifled his rapidly growing desire to break down crying. Uzi shifted her hold on him so that she was practically covering him in her hold, visor tearing up slightly as she gently rubbed his back. Doll felt her heart break, seeing the both of them in such a state, and was quick to join in on the hug, embracing Uzi from the side and wrapping an arm around Harry's back.

Mikan, Will and Mahiru stood back and watched the scene before them. Mikan was wiping tears from her eyes. She found the sight so heartbreaking, yet also so beautiful... Mahiru bit her lip and clenched her fists, looking down at the floor. Will's gaze noticeably softened, and he heaved out a deep sigh, shaking his head in sadness at the trauma the poor child had endured.

What they all agreed on was that they were immensely grateful that the two drones had found the child. And that they already cared so much about him.

A fourth guest entered the room. As she slowly rose up through the floor, Nori's face was shown to be set in an expression of worry and sadness.

'That pain...' She thought. 'I've...never seen Uzi in such pain...not to the point of spasming...'

She backed away. She felt like if she did something, she'd end up ruining the mood. As much as she loved being a fun mom, Nori could tell when the right moment for being fun was. This...wasn't it.

She noticed something out of the corner of her eye. It was a small notebook. Likely belonging to Mikan if what she saw in the cameras was true.

'Just what could have elicited such a reaction from Uzi...?' She thought, approaching and peeking at the notes to see what was written.

Her eyes widened, pupils dilating as she took a step back, clapping a hand over her mouth and gasping in shock. Then they narrowed, and she heaved out a deep breath and flickered back out of the room. She was about to lose her temper, and she was NOT going to do it here and spoil the moment, she was gonna go rant about it to the Imps...

Mikan cleared her throat after several seconds, and everyone turned to look at her. "Um... Okay... I'd... like to carry on with the checkup now... if that's okay." She requested politely.

"Yeah... Course..." Uzi nodded her head, allowing the nurse to approach, setting Harry back down between them, making sure she was close enough to him that he'd feel comfortable and safe as she watched the nurse take care of business.

Mikan bit her lip. Human hands... These injuries were undoubtedly caused by human hands... And she knew it wasn't a good idea to pry... She herself knew how much she hated it when people pried into her life, he was away from whoever had harmed him so she supposed it didn't matter TOO much...

She pulled her stethoscope away with a soft sigh, then pulled out her notebook once more. "Okay... Okay, so... I have a few instructions for you two... He's healed surprisingly well, all things considered, but... I still need you to make sure you follow these instructions to the letter... I have a diet plan written down, to get him to a healthy weight, and I have your instructions on how to properly handle him until he's healed up enough... He's going to need plenty of rest, he's not ready to do anything too strenuous just yet..."

"Diet plan?" Uzi asked.

"Mhm. Here." Mikan handed them a list of what he's allowed to eat until her recovers.

"He needs something with oil in order to gain some mass, but nothing too fattening so he doesn't get any stomach issues. Next, feed him lots of soft stuff. Nothing too hard to chew or swallow. He needs a regular intake of liquid, so make sure he gets lots of water. He also needs some sugar and carbohydrates, as of course, he needs LOADS of veggies and fruit. Those are essential. And..."

"Okay, I think...I think we get it." Uzi said. "So lots of healthy and not too hard foods and occasionally something sweet for sugar."

"Yeah, basically."

Uzi sighed softly. "Okay... We've already been to the store... But... we should probably restock... Not sure we got enough of what the little guy needs... Guess you can take me back, right, Will?"

"Ah... I will go as well, I want to help."

"No need, girls. I got this. I'll head down right now, I already have a pretty good idea what he'll be needing, don't worry, it's no trouble." Will assured them.

"Ah, thanks, big guy, you're the best. Here..." Uzi reached into her hoodie for her wallet, but Will raised his hand. "Nah. No need for that, I can pay for this, you already bought him everything else he needs, it's no trouble. Be back soon." Will nodded to Mahiru and Mikan before stepping out the door.

"Sooo..." Uzi began. "Any more we should know?"

"A-h, y-yes. Well, he of course cannot under any circumstances do anything strenuous or exhausting. He needs as much rest and relaxation as possible if he wants to totally recover."

"Hear that buddy?" Uzi asked. "No cleaning, sweeping, moving big stuff around or anything like that. Just rest, and relax."

"Mm...okay...I'll rest."

"A-and of course make sure he doesn't consume anything suspicious. I had a nagging feeling that he once consumed something he shouldn't have..."

Uzi and Doll's eyes widened in shock when they heard those words. "...You mean...?" Uzi spoke softly. Mikan nodded slowly and hung her head. Both drones exchanged a horrified glance. Doll immediately got up off the couch and rushed to hide anything that she didn't want Harry thinking he had to drink. Uzi looked down at Harry, who visibly flinched.

"I didn't wanna, I promise I didn't wanna, I don't want it ever again..." He whimpered out. Uzi squeezed him gently.

"It's okay, bud, it's okay, it's okay..." She whispered softly, picking him back up and hugging him against her shoulder, biting her lip when she felt how hard he was trembling as he buried his face into her hoodie and clutched to her as tightly as he could. She teared up, heaved out a deep sigh, then gently patted him on the back before looking up at Mikan. "Okay... Anything else?"

"Um...No... That's it. But I would like to come back for a routine check up at least once a week for the next few months, give or take." Mikan replied.

"Yeah, that's cool." Uzi nodded her head as Doll rushed back to the couch and worriedly caressed Harry's cheek. "Thanks for coming..."

"Of course." Mikan bowed. "I'll never let anyone remain injured..."

"Hey Mikan, you wanna come and stay at my apartment for a little while before you go? N would love to see you again!" Mahiru offered.

"Oh, that sounds wonderful, I'd love to see N!" Mikan clapped her hands excitedly before catching herself and blushing. "Eep... Sorry..."

"Hehe, it's alright. N would like to meet you and everyone else too. He's always been asking me to take him to the academy. C'mon, let's go."

Mahiru led Mikan out of the apartment, shutting the door and leaving the small family alone.

Uzi and Doll both sat in dead silence. Their mind slowly caught up to what they just experienced.

"..."

"..."

"So...what exactly happened?"

"Hm?"

Uzi looked down at Harry. "Buddy, you can tell us...what happened?"

[Gonna change 'honey' to 'buddy', it's more in character for Uzi.]

Harry blinked twice. "Oh... Um... The... The doctor came, and she was nice and she looked at me, and..."

"No, no, sweet boy, before we find you on the streets. That is what she meant." Doll asked gently. "Someone has hurt you. We want to know why this has happened."

"Uh...Uh... Um... I... Nuh... I..." Harry looked down and clamped his mouth shut, beginning to shake slightly.

"Hey... It's okay... You can tell us. Nothing's gonna happen." Uzi assured him.

"Yes. We will make you safe." Doll agreed, nodding her head. "Please, sweet boy...?"

Harry just whimpered and curled in on himself, trembling violently.

'Agh...we didn't say anything bad, did we?' Uzi thought.

['Just as I suspected...'] Thought Doll. ['He's too terrified to even think about speaking of it.']

Sighing, she grabbed Uzi's shoulder. Her lover looked at her, and she shook her head.

"Best to not push it anymore."

"But...Doll, look at him."

"I am...and he's too terrified to tell us. He can't talk about it."

"Then..."

"We'll need to wait. Wait until he'd more comfortable with telling us. For now, neither should pressures him."

Uzi bit her lip, then heaved out a soft sigh. "Yeah... You're right..." She relented. "Geez... Sorry, buddy... I didn't mean to push ya like that..." She gently gathered him in her arms and hugged him close to her chest, Doll reaching over to stroke his hair and coax him into a sense of security. Harry slowly looked up at them, sniffling. Both drones smiled, then Uzi tightened her hold on him, resting her chin on the top of his head, as Doll embraced her from the side, turning it into a group hug.

Harry found himself snuggled between the two Drones. And yet, despite their cold metal, their solid, unbending bodies, he...he felt comfortable.

It didn't feel like they were trying to crush or hurt him in some way. They were genuinely showing affection. Of course, he didn't fully believe that, but...

This...

He could enjoy this for a while...

Right?

So, he let himself relax in the arms of the pair. His muscles no longer tensing up, he felt a rush of constriction leave his body, and his eyes suddenly felt heavy. Before long, he was asleep in Uzi and Doll's arms, comfortable and safe.

Cut forward to several hours later. Doll sat on the sofa, watching TV with a blank expression. She and Uz had already set Harry into bed for a more comfortable surface to sleep on. Meanwhile, Uzi was at the stove, cooking dinner.

Doll occasionally shot her lover a warm smile before turning back to the show she was watching. Truthfully, she was pretty worried about the boy... He got tired so easily... He was deprived of sleep and needed to get his rest... But the fact that he needed so much sleep was worrying to her... She just hoped that he was doing okay alone in bed...

She decided she would go check on him. Rising to her feet, she made her way over to her and Uzi's bedroom, pulling the door open and peeking inside, hoping to see Harry sleeping soundly. No such luck. He was tossing, turning and whimpering in his sleep. Doll gasped and hurriedly rushed to the boy's side, gently scooping him up out of the bed and hugging him close, gently shaking him in an effort to wake him. "Harry... Sweet boy, wake up...!" She pleaded softly.

Unfortunately, the boy kept whimpering, his struggling only increasing as he was suddenly seized in a hold, his conciousness immediately assuming he was about to be hurt.

Doll struggled to hold him and stop him from accidentally hitting her and hurting himself, even being forced to use Absolute Solver to gently seize him and stop his struggling.

"Shhhhhhh..." Hushed Doll. "You're safe...you're fine...you-"

Before she could react, she was suddenly knocked away by a powerful force causing her to let go of Harry and slam into a wall.

She let out a grunt, more startled than anything else, then slid down to the floor and immediately sat back up, eyes wide as she looked over at Harry, who had just snapped awake with a loud yelp, frantically looking around and processing what he just did when he saw the small crack Doll's body had made on impact with the wall. He gasped in fear, then flinched as Doll stood up and began to approach. "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry..." Was his mantra as he braced himself for the inevitable punishment. He felt himself being picked up and cringed, letting out a choked sob... And then he was gently rocked back and forth. He heard the familiar soothing sound of Doll's voice gently murmuring into his ear.

"Shhhhhh...I am okay...you are okay...no one is hurt...calm your breathing..."

And yet, despite her efforts, the boy still struggled to escape her embrace, whimpered all the while.

"Hmmm..." Doll bit her lip as she brainstormed ideas on what she could use to calm Harry down. Then, she came to a conclusion. Taking in a breath, she began to sing a lullaby her mother taught her.

Immediately, Harry's body began to relax. Her soothing voice reached his ears and he visibly relaxed. However, his breathing was still heavy. Gently stroking his back, she leaned him over her shoulder.

She gently rocked herself back and forth, the slow, gentle motions causing his fear to slowly melt away as he latched onto her shirt, burying his face in her shoulder and whimpering softly. Doll continued to sing softly, not stopping until she felt his trembling cease. She stayed holding him for a few seconds, then gently cupped his chin and tilted his head up to look at her. "Are you all right, my sweet boy...?" She asked softly.

Harry sniffled. "I'm sorry I... I didn't mean to... I'm sorry I hurt you with the freaky stuff!"

Doll shook her head. "I am not hurt, baby. Not hurt at all." She murmured. "Is not your fault... You were sleeping, and scared too... You had hard time controlling it..."

"I... I'm not supposed to do it, I..." Harry whimpered and buried his face in her shoulder. "Please don't hate me..."

"Never."

"H-huh...?"

"I. Could not. EVER. Hate you, Harry." Doll said, stroking his back.

"B-but...I'm a freak...I..."

"I am too."

At that, Harry stopped. He slowly turned his head to look at Doll. "You...you're...like me?"

"Here. Let me show you."

Doll sat down on the bed, adjusting him into her lap, before activating the Solver. Suddenly, a pillow was lifted into the air as Harry watched with wide eyes.

"I have the same powers as you." She talked. "Or, well, similar enough. And just like you, I too was hated because of what I had."

Harry blinked twice. "But... But you're... You're a robot... It's okay because you're a cool robot, and I'm not a robot, and people can't do that, so it means I'm a freak..." He murmured softly.

"Oh, no no no, my sweet boy, is not true, not true at all... You are very normal, baby..." Doll gently embraced the child and rocked him slowly. "Other robots cannot do this. I am rare. Other robots were ones to hate me. Said it was wrong. Said it was dangerous. Said I would hurt someone..." She rested her chin on Harry's head and closed her eyes with a soft smile. "But I prove them wrong. I find love... I find family... And I find my sweet little Harry... They all love me... Just the same way I love you..."

"You...love me...really?"

"Really. More really than any reality."

At those words, Harry teared up. He held himself back from fully crying, but his tears were no longer something he could hold back. He buried his face into Doll's shoulder, the drone immediately patting his back gently. She began to rock him left and right, as she hummed a small song.

'Wait...song...'

Harry, do you want me to sing you a song?"

"H-huh?"

"I know a lot of different songs. If you want, I can sing them for you. They're very beautiful, and I'm sure you'll like them just as I have. I promise."

Harry blinked twice, then slowly nodded his head. "I... I like when you sing, it sounds nice, your voice is pretty..."

Doll giggled. "Oh, thank you so much, my sweet boy... All right... Hmm... Now which one...? Ah... I know..."

Uzi walked into their shared bedroom, concerned at how long Doll was taking to come back. Had Harry had a bad dream? She felt those fears fading and felt weak in the knees as she heard the familiar, soothing sound of her girlfriend/wife's beautiful singing voice flowing through the air. She managed to muster up the strength in her jelly like limbs to slowly push the door open and see Doll sitting Harry in her lap, gently singing to the very happy little boy. A more upbeat and playful tune than the usual lullabies she sang to him, the sound was still extremely melodious and pleasant and it made Uzi feel like she was melting.

"Robo-God I'm so lucky to have you..." Uzi whispered softly to herself.

Her whisper turned out to not be quiet enough, and Doll ended up noticing her.

"Hello. Did you finish cooking dinner?"

"Mhm. Just got done." Nodded Uzi.

"Come here then." Doll said, patting the spot next to her on the bed. Uzi walked over and climbed up next to Doll.

"That singing voice is as great as I remember it." Uzi smirked.

"And I do not remember ever hearing YOU sing, dear."

Uzi grimaced and looked away. "Uuuuhhh... I mean... I... I don't wanna sing, I don't like it, it's weird, I... I don't like people staring at me while I make a complete fool of myself, I'm not good at it, I... I don't wanna get laughed or booed at or freeze up and make myself look stupid, I..."

"Hush..." Doll murmured softly. "Hush, hush, is all right, my love, I won't make you if you do not wish to, do not worry." She gave her lover a soft smile, which she returned.

"Heh... Thanks for understanding, babe." She gave Doll a kiss on the cheek before turning her attention to Harry. "Hey, buddy. How ya doin'? Doll taking good care of ya?"

"H-Hi, Miss Uzi, um... Miss Doll was making me feel better after I had a scary dream..." Harry mumbled softly.

"Oh... Scary dream, huh...?" Uzi rubbed the back of her head, wincing slightly. "...And you're okay now...?"

"Yes." Harry nodded. "M'not scared anymore..."

"Good... Good... Okay... Come down and have some food, before it gets cold, c'mon, let's go." Smiling, Uzi gently took Doll's hand, then led her and Harry back to the kitchen.

Doll sat down, putting Harry on her lap.

Uzi placed down a smoking pot of something...delicious smelling, before lifting the lid.

"Here it is! A simple, easy veggie soup! Nothing heavy. Carrots, kale, cabbage, and other easy greens."

"You're doing a great job at this easy diet." Doll remarked with a smile.

"Hey, anything for the kid." Uzi smiled, pouring herself and Doll the soup. "Hopefully I didn't make it too hard on the tounge. I didn't know what to add to make it easy, but also not bland."

Harry tilted his head at her, then picked up his spoon and put some of the broth in his mouth. His face lit up at the taste. "S'yummy..." He said softly before taking another spoonful.

Uzi beamed. "Yeah? Really? Awesome! Ha! Nailed it!" Uzi pumped her fist, proud of herself.

The door opened up, and Will walked in. "Hello." He greeted.

"Ey, big guy, how was helping your girlfriend?" Uzi teased with a smirk.

"Oh. It was fine, we got it done." Will nodded.

"...You know I don't mean that as in 'friend that also happens to be a girl', right?" Uzi asked.

"Yeah. Just hard to tease me if I don't give you what you're after." Will shrugged.

"Ha! This man is unshakeable." Nori remarked as she appeared.

"Mmmmm..." Uzi bit her lip dejectedly. Sighing, she shrugged and filled a bowl for Will.

"Ah, thanks." He said, taking the bowl and sitting down at the table with everyone.

As soon as that happened, everyone got to dinner for real. Eventually, even Nori joined in to dine with everyone. However...

"Uh...mom...where are you sitting?"

"Air."

"And...what are you eating?"

"Holo soup. Looks like nothing, but taste ain't half bad.

"You can make taste...?"

"Hey, I don't understand the workings of this whole hologram thing any more than you do, paintball." Nori shrugged as she took another slurp of her holographic soup.

"All right then." Uzi shrugged and turned to look at Doll, who was sitting Harry on her lap as she gently fed him his soup, smiling warmly and giving his nose a light boop every now and then, causing him to giggle. 'Dawwww, that's just adorable.' She thought to herself with a smirk.

Nori looked over, then turned to Uzi with a toothy grin. "Hey Paintball, want mommy to feed ya like she did when you were a little droneling?"

"Wh-No! Of course I don't, mom, come ON, what do you think this is, I'm a grown drone now and you can't pick up the spoon anyway, so it's not even physically possible, stop trying to embarrass me in front of Doll!" Uzi groused.

"Ah come on! You looked so sweeeeeet! Indulge mommy just one wee bit!"

"No! Stop it, mom! Now! I'm serious!"

"EEEEEEEK you always said that whenever I teased you when you were a toddler! C'mon, babble a little!"

"Mooooooom!"

Doll let out a small laugh at the banter between mother and daughter. They were seriously so hilarious whenever they exchanged their little fights.

[I miss mother...]

Some memories came rushing back to her... Her mother holding her and cradling her as a pill baby. Her mother singing her lullabies. Her mother holding her close when she was frightened or upset... Oh how she wished she could see her again, she wished she didn't have to live life separated forever from the woman that loved her above all else... She prayed her mother was doing okay... After her father died, they were all they had... What was her mother doing...?

Harry noticed that Doll seemed to be lost in thought. To snap her out of her sadness, he gave her a hug.

Doll registered the sudden touch, blinking and looking down at Harry. "Hm? Is everything okay, sweetie?"

"You looked sad...I...didn't want you to be...so I gave you a hug."

Doll let out a small chuckle. "Haha, ah, don't worry, Harry. It was nothing."

"Are...are you sure? I...don't want you to be sad..."

"I am not sad, sweetheart. Never will be, with you." Doll rebuked, before leaning down and hugging the boy, planting a kiss on his little head. "I'm grateful that you're so willing to help me be happy."

Uzi and Nori stopped their arguing to look over at them. Uzi simply smiled at the scene before her. Nori? "Dawwww, look at you, being a total supermom to my grandbaby..." Harry was too focused on enjoying Doll's warmth to hear what the holographic drone was saying. Doll just blushed and smiled shyly, gently patting Harry's tiny back.

"Is my job to be good to him, yes?" She murmured.

"Well of COURSE it is, and you're doing a VERY good job, both of you are." Nori said, winking at Uzi, who tilted her head, then let a small smile grace her features. "Now let me feed you."

"No! Leave me alone!" Uzi hid her face under her beanie.

"Hehehahahaha!" Doll let out a mirthful chuckle. Uzi sulked. "Well I'm glad YOU'RE enjoying my torture."

"Ah, don't worry dear. Just lighthearted fun is all."

"Hmph...still don't like it."

Doll chuckled again, before returning to the food. Eventually, after lots of banter, as well as delicious food, the meal was finished, and then came the time for bedtime.

Uzi slowly laid Harry down in their bed, handing him his Teddy bear as Doll gently placed the blanket over him.

Both drones smiled down at the boy. "Well, you better get some shuteye, kiddo, you're gonna need it to get all healed up." Uzi explained.

"Mmkay..." Harry mumbled, nuzzling his bear close. Both drones smiled, then carefully climbed in bed next to him, embracing him from either side. He was out like a light within seconds. The two drones smiled softly, before looking up at each other.

"I'm gonna teach him how to read and write tomorrow." Uzi declared.

"Oh?" Doll tilted her head.

"Yeah... Got some stuff for that. I'm gonna teach him." Uzi replied.

"Ah. ...Good. Is good chance to bond with him." Doll nodded.

"Well gotta start somewhere." Uzi shrugged. "Might as well teach him."

Doll placed a hand on Uzi's shoulder.

"I'm glad you're taking the first step to teach him and help him learn and develop."

"Hehe..." Uzi chuckled awkwardly. "Ah, ya flatter me too much."

"I mean it, Uzi." Doll said seriously. "I am very happy you are trying so hard. And don't worry. If you ever stumble or need help, call me. I will gladly come to help you both."

Uzi beamed and gave Doll a quick peck on the lips. "Course you will... You're a total supermom..." She murmured. Doll giggled in response.

"As are you, my love... Now... Let's rest... You have long day of teaching tomorrow..."

"Pfft! I'm not a school teacher, babe..." Uzi snickered.

"Hush... Rest time..." Doll whispered.

"Heh... Yeah... G'night, Doll..."

"Good night, love..." And so, both drones closed their eyes, joining the child in his slumber.

The next morning, the sun shone on Uzi's visor, causing her to groan and open her eyes, glaring out the window. "Ugh... Sun... You suck..." She muttered before looking down when she felt a small weight on her chest. There was Harry, having somehow ended up lying down on her chest, his tiny body curled up in a little ball as he snored softly. "...Awww..."

He's so cute!' She said in her mind. 'We are soooo lucky to have him as our kid...'

She simply settled into her pillow and watched as Harry slept, sucking on his fingers in an adorable manner, Uzi cooing over him.

"Mmm...aaaaah..."

Uzi's partner slowly stirred awake as she yawned. "Morning...wait..." She turns around and looks at Uzi. "You rarely wake up before me. What's...awwwwwww..."

Doll's usual expression turns into a smitten one as she starts to suddenly coo at the sight of the sleeping Harry on Uzi's chest.

"Look at hiiiim...so cuuuuute..." She cooed silently.

She reached over to gently caress his face, smiling softly, before heaving out a sigh and carefully climbing out of bed. She leaned down to kiss Harry's head, then gave Uzi a quick peck on the lips. "I go cook now... You stay..." Doll murmured.

"Heh... You got it, babe." Uzi nodded, waving her off. As Doll left, she turned her attention back to the boy, smirking fondly at him just as he began to stir in her hold, letting out a soft yawn as he woke up, stretching his tiny arms in the air and slowly cracking his eyes open.

"Aaaaah..."

"By those cute little sounds I'm guessing you slept well, little guy?"

"Mhm...morning..."

"Morning." Uzi replied, planting a morning kiss on the Boy's head. "You sure you don't wanna go back to sleep again? A minute or two extra?"

"No...not sleepy anymore..."

"Hehe, I get you kid. Don't worry." She sighed. "I too can't fall asleep anymore the second I wake up."

She laid back and heaved out a soft sigh, letting out a chuckle and rubbing his back as she held him against her neck. "Heh... Well, we might as well just hang out for a bit... Ya gotta get your rest, doctor's orders and all that." She heaved out a sigh and looked out the window. "Urgh... Raaaaaain..."

Harry looked up slowly, and tilted his head. "Oh... Is... Is it really bad...?" He asked softly.

"Nah. Just a shower. Heh... Doesn't look like thunder and lightning's gonna be much of an issue, don't worry, bud..."

"Oh... Okay... Good..." Harry looked relieved.

"Aww... Ya scared of thunder, kiddo?" Uzi asked.

"I... I got stuck outside once when there was a bad storm, and it was loud, and cold, and scary..." Harry murmured.

"WHA-" Uzi had to slap her hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming and scaring him on accident. Her eyes flickered a little.

"Ummm...c-could you...repeat that...please?" She asked with a smile straining to stay on her face.

"Um...I got...stuck outside...when it was raining...and thunder was loud...everything was cold...and scary..."

"O-okay, that's about it. Stop that's good." Uzi stopped him as he almost kept talking. 'WHAT THE HECK!?' She screamed in her head. 'Seriously! What the heck happened! Who put him there!? I'm blasting them to bits!'

"M-Miss Uzi...?" Harry asked softly.

"Huh?!" Uzi startled slightly, looking at him wide-eyed. He winced. "Oh... Uh... No, it's... Uh... What's up, buddy?"

"Are... Are you... okay...? You look... sad and scared..." Harry asked shyly.

"Y-Yeah, I... I'm all right, I just... Um... I..." Uzi hesitated for a moment before heaving out a sigh. "What... happened...? Why were you out there...?"

Harry looked down. "Oh... Um... I... I did a bad thing, and... they had to punish me, so I... So they put me outside in the rain, and..."

"Oh those mother..." Uzi stopped herself from cursing, closing her eyes and heaving out a deep breath.

"No. No they didn't have."

"What?"

"They didn't have to punish you. Never. Not at all."

"But...I did a bad thing."

"Harry, you're a KID. Kids do bad stuff all the time and don't mean any of it. I'm sure it was all a stupid little mistake. You didn't deserve to get thrown out into a storm."

She grabbed him by the shoulders. "Can you tell me what they looked like? Any details, faces, anything?"

"Ummm..." He thought for a moment, before shaking his head. "No...I'm sorry..."

"Ah... Hey, no worries, buddy, that's okay, don't worry about it, it's fine." Uzi was quick to reassure him. Her inner thoughts? 'Agh, dammit, I need to figure this out somehow, these people have gotta pay! They need to go to jail, or they need me to pay 'em a visit, or something!' She heaved out a sigh. It wasn't as if she was going to get anything done just thinking about it... She needed to distract herself... And then she remembered her plan from the night prior. "...Hey kid. Wanna learn to read and write?"

"Umm...okay."

"Nice. Okay, lemme get some equipment first..."

Reaching into the bedside drawer, Uzi fug around a little, she eventually pulled out a pen and some paper.

"Alright, for now this can be enough." She said. She turned around and began furiously scribbling stuff on the paper at high speed, careful still to not accidentally tear or set the paper on fire.

After a minute or so, she was done, turning back to Harry, she presented him with a full alphabet.

"Okay! So! Uh... This... is the alphabet! Soooo... Ooh boy, how do we start with this...? Uh... Okay... You ever heard the alphabet song before?" She asked.

"Oh... The letter song... My aunt used to sing it to my cousin to help him learn, he was really bad at it... Um... It goes... A...b...c..." Uzi listened patiently as Harry sang the song, smirking as he nailed each and every letter in the correct order.

"Well, would ya look at that? That woman wasn't even bothering to teach ya and you still got it down pat! Okay! You know your abcs, buuuut you should also learn how the different letters work, soooo..." She reached into the bedside drawer again and pulled out a set of cards. "I picked these up yesterday, and uh... we're gonna go over the letters now, starting wiiiiith... A! Sooo, you see what's on the card here, right?"

"Um... It's an apple?" Harry asked, head titled.

"Right! An apple! Now... Apple starts with 'aaaa. Aaaa.' Make an 'aaa' sound for me, okay, bud?"

"Aaaaaaa." Harry obeyed.

"Atta boy! Now, what else stars with 'aaaaa?'

"Um... Uh... Ant...?"

"Yep!"

"Okay! Um... Alligator...?"

"You got it!"

Harry smiled. "Um... Auntie...?"

"Good, good!"

The pair carried on like that for a long while. Harry would present some words starting with either A or B or C, and Uzi would help him out by giving a few words if he couldn''t think of any.

They did that for about 40 minutes, both sides genuinely enjoying each other's company. Harry was obviously very eager to learn more, and Uzi was all too happy to teach him.

"Okay, you've done well so far." Uzi patted Harry on the back. "Now, we got D. What cam you tell me starts with D?"

"Doll."

"Breakfast is ready."

Uzi blinked as Doll peeked her head into the room, looking back and forth between Harry and her lover, before she burst into laughter. "And speaking of, right, buddy?!" She playfully messed with Harry's hair. Doll blinked, tilting her head in confusion, and Harry giggled. "Ah... I was teaching him some alphabet stuff and he said Doll literally the second you were about to walk into the room... Guess it wasn't THAT funny..." Uzi chuckled awkwardly.

"Oh. I see. Ah, that is quite coincidental." Doll laughed softly into her hand. "Now then... Come, come, we must eat."

"Breakfast starts with B." Harry said innocently.

"Yes it does, sweet boy, good job." Doll giggled.

Harry gained a small, proud smile at the praise.

"Okay! Let's put the teaching on hold for now. We have fast to break!"

And so, the trio all headed down the stairs to the dining room, where the entire table has been set up.

"Oh? Ie that oatmeal I see?"

"Mhm. The easiest breakfast I could make for Harry. I also added some brown sugar. He needs some taste, but not for it to be too sweet, lest he get sick."

"Smart."

The group sat around the table, and dug into their food. Will walked in shortly afterwards, tired and looking like he'd just been flailing around. "Hey, big guy. Ya get into a dream scuffle and flail around in bed all night, or what?" Uzi asked.

"Eh? Oh. No, I just fell out of bed." Will yawned as he reached for the coffee maker.

"Oh, dear..."

"Are you okay?!" Uzi asked. "You didn't break anything, did you?"

"Nah. I'm fine. Just a small bruise. Nothing special." Will nonchalantly replied, grabbing a cup and pouring some coffee. He sat down at the table with everyone else, taking his own bowl of oatmeal.

"Well...if you're sure..." Doll replies hesitantly. "At least let me check your body to see if any bigger bruises are on you."

"Nah. No need. Keep the kid safe before me."

"Aaaaaah, morning chums..."

Nori popped up at the table, and snapped her fingers, causing a small spread of food to appear before her. A sandwich, a stew, and a bowl of mashed potatoes. Uzi looked at her mother with a raised brow. Nori shrugged. "I can make what I want, and I'm a hologram, I can eat a ship and still have room for more!" Her mother explained.

"...Okay, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around how you function in this state." Uzi said flatly.

"Ah, ya learn to just go with the flow." Nori waved her hand dismissively as they all returned to their meal.

Shortly after breakfast was finished, Uzi decided to get back to working on teaching Harry the alphabet.

As soon as she began, the trio behind her, consisting of Will, Doll and Nori, observed as she taught the boy.

"She's doing so well." Doll remarked. "It's honestly surprising how good she is at teaching."

"No kidding." Will started. "If she tried, no doubt she would've gotten a job at a school. Don't think she could handle all the pressure though..."

"Awwwwww, look at them!" Nori squeed. "My widdle paintball is teaching her kid! Aaaaah! Thank God I have picture snapping options in my system! This is too precious to not salvage!"

"Shhh..." Doll hushed Nori gently. "Don't bug her, she is having peaceful time..."

"Heh... Yeah, sure thing." Nori chuckled softly as she silently observed.

"All right, now, L. Know any words that start with L?"

"Um... Lion...?" Harry asked.

"Uh-huh!"

"Uh... Um... Lick..."

"Good..."

"...Love..." Harry mumbled. And as he said that, Uzi noticed he seemed to be leaning closer to her.

Immediately, she could feel her inner circuits melting at the sight. 'AWWWWWWWWW, he loves meeeeee!'

Then, she shook her head a little.

'No...no way. No way he already likes me THAT much. It's barely been a day or two. No way would he actually bond with me that far. I'm...'

Mentally, she sighed. 'I'm overthinking...of course there's no way.'

Still, a hand belonging to her slowly slithered around Harry, pulling him closer to her as they continued.

Harry proved to be good at coming up with words from the alphabet. Uzi even quizzed him a few times. "All right, awesome job, dude, you nailed it! Gimme five!" She held up her hand, and Harry obediently clapped his palm against hers. "Heh. Awesome! Now... Let's see... Hmm... Oh, I know! You can learn how to write the letters!" She pulled some cards from their packets. "Okay, so, you see this? That's what A looks like. All you have to do is draw these letters. Can ya give it a shot for me?"

Harry nodded and Uzi placed a piece of paper and a pencil on the table in front of him. "Okay! Just go for it, go through the cards and draw the letters, let's see what ya got!"

"Okay."

And after a few minutes, Harry had successfully managed to write down every single letter he had learned up until now. He did have a slightly hard time differentiating some like the lowercase b and d, but he figured them out quick.

"Alright! Nicely done!" Uzi said, patting Harry's head.

"I did good?"

"Yep! Very good, actually! That's some nice handwriting!"

"Thanks! Um...but...why do I have to write two letters?"

"Ah. Well, y'see, bud, the bigger ones? So... Let's say you're starting a sentence. You ALWAYS start a sentence with a capital letter. Like this." She wrote something she thought he would understand on the paper. 'The dog jumps.' "See? The dog jumps. See how the first letter's big and the rest are small?"

"Oh... Okay..."

Uzi smiled. "Names also always start with the big letters. Liiiike... Let's say I wrote a sentence with your name in the middle of it? I'd have to make the H big, no matter where it is. Beginning, middle, end, doesn't matter, H has to be big. Like this." She wrote on the paper again and held it up for him to see. "See this? It says 'I like Harry.'"

"Oh... Okay..." Harry smiled softly and looked down bashfully, happy to hear those words.

"Heh... Also, if you're using the word 'I', that's always capitalized. Know what I mean?"

"I... I don't... Oh... Oh, I think I do..." Harry realized.

"Atta boy! Okay! Now. We're gonna try and help you spell some actual words! Soooo... Here's a sheet of paper, and I'm gonna give you some nice, easy ones that you can spell no sweat. Spell... Dog."

"Okay... Dog... Um... D...O...G...?"

"Yep! That's it, way to go! Now, spell cat."

"Um... C...A...T..."

"Nice! Okay, now spell..." She looked over at Doll, who was still watching, and smirked. "Doll!"

"D...O...L..?"

"Uh-oh! Liiittle mistake there, buddy." Uzi chuckled.

Harry flinced. "Sorry..."

"N-No, no, you're still learning, it's fine, dude! See... Doll's name actually has TWO ls, not just one."

"Oh... Okay... Two ls... Um..." Harry added the second L. "Why's it need two ls...?"

"Well... That's just kinda how it is, I guess... Huh... It's kinda hard to explain. I guess... Does it... feel right when you look at it the other way...?" Harry tilted his head at the paper. The new way DID feel better... He looked at Uzi and shook his head. "Well, there ya go, if it doesn't feel right, it's probably not. But hey, you're doing good, bud, don't worry." She ruffled his hair. "Okay, let's try and keep at it..."

About an hour later, Uzi was wrapping up his teachings. "Now speeeell... Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." She said with a smirk. Harry looked at her with wide eyes, and she burst into laughter. "Ah, don't worry, little buddy, I'm just messin' with ya." She ruffled his hair. "Okay, for real though... How about you spell... Mom?"

"M-Mom...?" Harry asked.

"Yep. Moooom." Uzi replied.

"Okay... Um... M...O...M...?" Harry wrote the word, and for some reason, seeing it in his hand writing made Uzi feel strangely pleased.

Presenting her the paper, Uzi immediately melted at what she saw.

'Ooooooh, look at iiiiiiit!' She thought. 'The curved lines, the perfect widdle size of the letters, the perfect spelling! It's...it's...!'

"It's wonderful..." She whispered.

"So...you like it?"

Instead of answering, Uzi grabbed the boy before giving him a playful noogie. "I LOVE it, kiddo! Tell ya what, let's end it here. You did a great job today."

"I...I did...?" Harry asked softly.

"Heck yeah, dude, you were awesome!" Uzi gave him a gentle, careful, playful noogie, taking great care to ensure it didn't hurt him by accident. "I'm proud of ya, dude, you worked really hard today." Harry's heart warmed. She said she was proud of him... She sounded like she really meant it too... No one was ever proud of him before... He almost teared up, but he was quick to wipe it away before she noticed. Or at least he thought he did, but she noticed.

"Uh...you okay, buddy?" She asked. "You look a bit sad. Everything okay?"

"Y...yeah...*sniff*..." He forced down the urge to start crying. He didn't want Uzi to get angry. He quickly forced the pain down as much as he could.

Uzi frowned. She couldn't probably recognize it, but her scanners told her the kid is swallowing some serious pain.

But...what was she to do? Should she ask him to tell her about it? Would that be too early? Or should she tell him it was okay to keep it in a little more. But would that not hurt him even more?"

'Agh, this is haaaard...' She groaned inwardly as she winced at the boy. "Hey... Y-Yoy know you can tell us anything, right, kid...?" She asked softly. Harry looked at her and sniffled.

"R-Really...?" He asked softly.

"Yeah. Of course. Really really." Uzi assured him gently. Harry opened his mouth, before looking down and whimpering slightly. "Don't feel ready yet, huh? All right... I can wait till you feel like you're comfortable..." She relented.

"Hmmm..." Harry hummed quietly, before leaning forward and gently embracing her with his tiny arms.

Uzi smiled a little, wrapping her own arms around him to return the gesture. 'Such a hugger, aren't ya? Not complaining, though.'

Steps were heard, and Uzi looked to see Doll walking over with her own expression of concern. "Is...everything okay?" She asked, kneeling down.

"Mhm. S'fine now." Uzi nodded with a small smile. Doll fell at ease, smiling herself.

"Your skills as a teacher are impressive. You're doing very well."

Uzi smirked. "Yep. I'm teacher of the year, that's me. I should start teaching over at Harvard." She joked.

Doll laughed into her hand. "You didn't deny your skills, this is good. Ah... Perhaps I could help him too? I need to help our sweet boy learn as best I can. And learn more English also."

"Heh... Sure thing, babe. We'll develop your English vocabulary." Uzi chuckled with a wink.

"Good. I will need it a lot."

And so, Doll joined Harry and Uzi as they all exchanged lessons. Harry, even with his limited knowledge, wanted to help Doll out as much as he could, even if Doll didn't need it. Both Drones found it extremely precious, and decided to play along just because it would make him happy.

After a while, came time for lunch.

"Alright. I think it's time I started cooking lunch."

"What'cha making?"

"Hmmm...onion soup."

"Oh, cool! I love onions!"

"Um..." Harry spoke up. "Can...can I help?"

Doll let out a soft hum. "You are supposed to rest, sweet boy, you must heal..." Harry looked down with a small frown. "But... you can help with words. You can tell me what I must do, does this sound nice, Harry?"

"Oh... Okay." Harry nodded with a small smile. Chuckling, Uzi sat the boy down on the chair, curious to see where this went.

"Okay, sweet boy. What is first thing onion soup need?" Doll asked.

"Onions, then broth." Harry replied immediately.

"Ah. Very good. And onions are in...?"

"The cupboard." Harry responded.

"Good boy, very smart!" Doll pulled the cupboard open and collected the onions. "And what goes into broth?"

"Um... Water. And then you cook the onions in olive oil and put some beef broth in it and cook it for a little bit..."

Uzi looked at the boy in surprise and Doll sighed and gave him a small smile. "You are very good chef, sweet boy." She said softly.

'TOO good...' Uzi thought to herself worriedly.

'Just what the Hell did he do back at his old home? He has way too much knowledge about cooking than someone his age should. Unless he was born to a family of prestige chefs, but I highly doubt that considering how we found him.'

All these thoughts coalesced into one image that gave Uzi an expression of worry. Whatever happened...she wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

Doll meanwhile had similar thoughts. However, as she was working with Harry at the moment, she couldn't allow herself to look worried. It would make Harry worry in return, and she couldn't have that.

Harry and Doll kept on cooking as Uzi watched in sad fascination as Harry expertly guided her lover. Her visor scanned the soup, and her visual sensors indicated that it smelled amazing, the message 'Holy crap this food is gonna be better than-' She shook her head to get that message out of her line of sight. 'Well damn... He's GOOD at this too...' She thought to herself.

After a few more minutes of cooking (about 20), the soup was done. Doll proceeded to take it to the table, setting it down and telekinetically moving the plates and utensils.

"Alright, now the test tastes." She said, pouring soup to herself, Uzi and Harry.

"Hey, where's Will?" Uzi asked.

"He left to have dinner with Tessa."

Uzi snickered at that. "Pfft, yeah. "Dinner" he says."

Doll gave Uzi a flat look. "Really? Right in front of the child?"

Uzi raised a brow. "What? He knows romance exists. He knows you and I are together, doesn't he?"

"I suppose..." Doll took a spoonful of soup. She paused. "...Is... delicious, sweet boy, absolutely delicious..." She murmured softly, forcing a smile.

Uzi took some of her own. "Yeah... It's great. Ya... did an awesome job giving Doll directions." She said, also forcing a smile.

Both drones were sharing more or less the same thought. 'He's too young to be so good at this...'

"Harry... How do you know how to cook so good...?" Doll asked softly.

"Oh... Um... Aunt and uncle made me cook a lot, so I had to get good if I didn't wanna..." He clammed up and looked down at his meal with a wince. "Um... I... I just had to get good..."

Uzi and Doll exchanged a worried glance, Uzi feeling anger building inside her as Doll felt a deep cold dread. Uzi closed her eyes and heaved out a sigh and Doll nodded her head.

"You... don't have to worry now... No more threats or... or pain..."

"Really? So...I won't be-"

"NO!" Uzi screamed, before clasping her hands over her mouth. "I-I mean...no. Of course you won't be...that. Not with us. Ever."

"We mean every word of it, little one. No harm will be put on you by our hand."

"And I gotta say..." Uzi said, slurping up another two spoons of soup. "Ya did an excellent job. Seriously, this is awesome!"

Harry looked between the pair, before a smile grew on his lips. The two Drones smiled at his happiness, before exchanging looks that told their thoughts without words.

'I'm gonna kill them, I'm gonna rip them apart, I'm gonna burn them alive.'

'Be calm, my love, please, don't let him see you angry...'

Uzi forced herself to relax, her expression softening as she heaved out a sigh. Both drones made a silent pact with their eyes. They would find who hurt their boy, and they would ensure that they PAID for it...

"Hello!" A voice suddenly exclaimed...

"Gah! Mom!"

...right next to Uzi's face.

"Soooooo, what's up everyone? Enjoying lunch I see?" She made a motion of smelling the food, humming in delight. "Mmm, smells nice! Finger in..."

She "dipped" a holographic finger into the soup... "...lick it." ...before "licking" the nonexistent soup on her finger. "Tastes nice!"

"You didn't even taste anything." Uzi said with a flat look. Nori waved it off with a "Pfft. I need no taste to know it's good."

"What are you even doing here? Didn't you say you're taking care of the cameras?"

"Kiiiiinda? I mean, I did, but then I realized I'm connected to ALL the cameras so I could do it instantly. Aaaand I wanted to talk a little with my grandson!"

Harry blinked in confusion before looking around for the grandson in question, then blinked when he realized Nori was looking right at him with a wide grin. "Heya there, little buddy, how're ya doing today, huh?"

"Oh, um... I'm good. I... I learned how to write the alphabet... And I learned how to spell some words too..."

"Heh, yeah, I was watching, you were doing a really good job, that daughter of mine is a natural born teacher, isn't she? So, the soup taste good?" Nori asked.

"Uh-huh. I... I hope so..." Harry murmured.

"Ah, didja help make it?" Nori asked with a smirk.

"Mm-hmm. Miss Doll said I could tell her what to do and she did it all." Harry affirmed.

"Well, whattya know, we got a little wiz kid in the house, how do ya like that?" Nori chuckled, playfully ruffling Harry's hair. He felt a light tingling sensation against his scalp, kind of like the light tingle of static, but it didn't quite feel like she was physically touching him. Still, it did feel nice.

Uzi and Doll watched Nori interact with the boy. Uzi smirked. "Well, no surprise here she's getting along with him so well. Gotta admit, I wasn't expecting him to start warming up to her THIS fast..." Uzi whispered to Doll.

"Baffles me as well...though I cannot say I dislike it. Not at all."

"You and me both." Uzi agreed. They both did a small fistbump, and turned back to listen to their conversation.

"So did Doll really listen to everything you said? She didn't tell what was wrong, no other stuff, she just followed what you told all the time?"

"Mhm." Harry nodded. "She listened to everything. But I was a bit scared with the stove. I didn't want her to burn herself. The stove...hurts...r-really bad..." Harry spoke, an expression of fear on his face at the mention of the stove.

An expression Nori certainly didn't miss.

She frowned and tilted her head to the side when she caught onto his sudden fear. Uzi and Doll noticed as well, and more pieces began to fall into place, tensing up in alarm. "Uh... Y-Yeah, you... gotta... watch out for that, buddy..." Nori murmured, moving closer. "Are... Are you okay there-Oh..." Harry attempted to hug her, but his arms phased right through her holographic body. "Hey... Kiddo...? Oh man, you're hyperventilating... Hey, just breathe, just breathe in nice and easy, don't worry, you don't have to... Hey, uh... Paintball, c'mere, hug this baby for me, would ya-"

Uzi didn't need to be told twice, the second she was told he was hyperventilating, she had all but leapt out of her chair and ran right over to properly embrace him, kneeling down and hugging him close as he tried to regain his bearings. Nori sighed in relief and leaned down to the boy. "Hey... Just... Just breathe in and out, deep breaths, you can do it... There we go... Getting better... Okay... Okay... Now... You don't have to say anything right now, it's fine, you're going through some things, that's okay..." Nori murmured as Uzi set to the physical comfort, gently rubbing his back as she held him close.

"I...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to...s-s-scare you..."

"Shhhh, it's okay, kiddo. You just...startled us, is all. It's all good. Calm down."

"O...okay...m'sorry..." He hugged Uzi back, snuggling his face into her shirt. "I just...got burned a lot while cooking...that's all..."

"Oh...okay...um...sorry for...bringing out bad memories..."

The trio looked between themselves. They knew he wasn't being truthful...at least not fully. But the fear...

Yeah, no way are they asking him further.

Harry clutched tightly to Uzi's sweater before heaving out a deep sigh. He felt the fear fading away. "You okay, bud...?" Uzi murmured softly.

"Um... Yeah... Better..." Harry mumbled.

"Good..." Uzi carefully picked him up and set him down in his seat. "All right, dude... Better eat up before it gets cold, heh. Gotta get your strength up and all that!"

"Okay." Harry nodded.

And so, they all returned to their meal. Only now in relative silence. All of them had thoughts on their minds... Unpleasant thoughts...

Will entered the apartment and looked over at the table. "Hello, everyone... Are you all right?" He asked with a small frown. They all turned to look at him. "Guessing not, judging by your faces... Anything I can do to help then?"

Uzi sighed: "Honestly? Not really, no..."

"Ah... Well... I have to go get something real quick... Let me know if I can help out at all, yeah?"

"Will do, big guy." Uzi chuckled fondly as Will went to his room.

"Ah, so good to have him as our master. He's so considerate." Doll spoke.

"No kidding. Think Harry will start to call him papa?" Uzi suggested jokingly, before the quartet started laughing merily. After a minute, they calmed down and caught their breaths.

"Ah, I can already feel the mood lightening up!" Nori exclaimed. "Much better." She turned to Harry. "Feeling better, little guy?"

"M...mhm..." Harry nodded, smiling a little. "I...feel better."

"Good. That's good." Uzi nodded. "Remember, no need to talk now. We got a whole life. You can tell us whenever you feel like it. No pressure."

Harry smiled softly. "Thank you..." He said softly. He looked back at his food. He felt like he really was safe here with them...

Several days had passed by this point, and Harry was healed up enough that the drones felt he was safe to at least walk around the apartment on his own and spend more time out of bed. They had double checked with Mikan just to be on the safe side, and she assured them as long as he wasn't doing any heavy work, he should be okay.

And so, Uzi made a decision. She realized that this room she shared with Doll and Harry only really had personal touches from her and her lover.

From Uzi, the room had a few posters of some of the bands Uzi enjoyed, as well as some figures of certain "cool" characters from anime Uzi watched. What was there the most however, was a huge collection of photos of herself, Doll, and other tenants. There were so many photos that they overshadowed pretty much everything else. Some parts of the wall were even painted purple.

For Doll, it was a bit different. Doll decided to paint her entire side of the wall in a dark red. Likewise, she too had sets of pictures of herself, Uzi and the other tenants, albeit in a much smaller amount than Uzi. One outstanding part though, was the bottom of the wall, where there was a painted on picture of herself and Uzi, holding each other in a one-armed embrace, with hearts floating around them.

Uzi always did smile when she saw that picture, though she did make a mental note to help her lover get into some kind of fandom... But that wasn't for now. Harry needed his own personal touches on the room as well. Was it too cluttered with their own stuff...? It WAS a pretty big room... Yeah, there should be space to put some things Harry liked... Maybe make a little shelf to store his plushies on... They could dedicate a wall to his drawings too if he decided he wanted to do that... Hmm... Maybe she should ask him...

And so, Uzi and Harry found themselves up in their bedroom, Uzi holding Harry comfortably on her shoulders. "All right, bud, how do ya wanna decorate this place?"

"Ummm..." He began. "I...I'd be okay with...whatever you want."

"Nuh-uh." Uzi said. "This isn't for us, kiddo. This is for you. We already have our stuff here. You gotta choose something for yourself."

"Oh...uh...mmmm..." He thought for a moment. "Can we.. paint this wall here...blue? And...green?" He pointed at a relatively empty wall.

"Okay, sure." Nodded Uzi. "Maybe draw something with the paint. And ads stickers too. Ooh, maybe a shelf for your toys?"

"Oh, okay. And um... Maybe I can put some drawings on it...?"

"Yeah, awesome idea, make a drawing wall, heh..."

Doll beamed at the interaction. "Sounds like very nice idea." She murmured softly. "Do not go too overboard though, you know you get really into things, you might want to put in too much." She was mainly just referring to Uzi. Uzi chuckled and rubbed the back of her head.

"Yeah... We'll be careful. ...Okay, I'LL be careful..."

"Good. Please don't break anything like last time."

"That was because I hit my finger with the hammer! One time! One!"

"Make it the only one."

Sighing, Uzi surrendered the battle and got to work.

What followed was a joint effort of several hours of work. Uzi herself started off with the toy shelf. Thankfully she had spare planks she got from the junkyard gang. Assembling it swiftly, she nailed it to the wall (thankfully avoiding another outburst like last time), and arranged the toys on the shelf. She also placed a toy box underneath it to place the remainder toys inside.

Harry sat on the bed and watched intently as Uzi worked, excited at seeing the plushies his mother had gotten for him displayed so proudly on the shelf. Uzi had made sure that the shelf was low enough to the ground that Harry could easily reach up and grab the plushies if he wanted to hold one of them. "Okay, so, just try and grab one and let me know if it's too high, I really hope it's not too high cause then I'll have to go through all the steps again and...ah, never mind, give it a shot, heh." Uzi instructed.

"Okay." Harry hopped down from the bed and made his way over to the shelf. He had to stand on the tips of his toes slightly, but he found he had no trouble grabbing his plush toys, much to his joy.

Uzi sighed in relief. "All right, that's good... Okay! Now... we just gotta paint around the shelf... Soooo... Blue and green, you said? Half blue, half green or what?"

"Um...What you think looks good..." Harry murmured shyly.

"All right, no worries, bud, I think I got a few ideas." Uzi chuckled, ruffling his hair. "So, d'you want it light colors, or d'ya want it a bit darker to match the other walls?"

"Um... What do you think is better...?" Harry asked softly.

"Tricky question... One one hand, the green and blue would vibe better with the other walls, on the other hand, your side being a bit lighter fits cause you're such a cute little ball of light." The drone chuckled, giving the boy a gentle, playful noogie as he giggled.

Doll beamed warmly at her lover's interaction with their child and how much fun they seemed to be having before turning back to what she was working on.

Unlike the other two, who were constructing a shelf and placing it on the wall, her work was much less taxing.

Doll was assembling sets of picture frames of varying shapes and sizes. Each frame would have a piece of blank paper on it, and Doll would use the Absolute Solver to rearrange the molecules of the paper to give it colour, creating various elaborate and beautiful pictures, both of herself and Uzi, and Harry mixed in.

She was finishing her fourth picture now. It showed the trio sitting in front of a fireplace, snuggled in one huge blanket. Harry was between the pair, his little face sticking out in the space between them, stuck in a sleepy expression.

She focused on the image she was working on, face scrunched in concentration, before smiling warmly as she finished working on it. She heaved out a soft sigh as she set it aside for the time being, then set to work on making another one...

A few hours later, Doll was just about to finish up the last of her pictures, when Uzi popped up next to her. "Hey, whatcha working on?" She asked. Doll was so focused on her work that her lover's sudden intrusion startled her, causing her to slip up.

"Whoa!" Uzi backed up. "Sorry...didn't know you were so focused."

Doll sighed. "Haaaah, no. It's fine. Just..."

"Hm? Oh..." Uzi approached the pictures framed in ornate wooden and modern looking metal/plastic frames.

"These...these are beautiful!"

Doll blushed. "Y-you think so?"

"Doll, I freaking KNOW so! Look, there's me and Harry snuggled together, there's you and Harry in the snow, there's...there's everything!"

She looked over to see a picture Doll had drawn of the three of them as a family together. Just sitting on the couch, smiling and huddled up together. Uzi smiled softly and embraced her lover with a quiet chuckle. "Doll, you're just way too adorable for your own good, you know that, right?" She murmured into her girlfriend's 'ear'.

"Hahaha, ah yes. I know." She planted a kiss on Uzi's cheek. "Now let's see what little one thinks of them."

"Oh, right." Uzi nodded. "Harry, come here for a moment."

Harry looked up at them, getting up and walking over to them.

"Look what Doll made." Uzi presented him the pictures. "Aren't they awesome? Wanna put 'em up around here?"

"They're...very pretty..." He nodded, touched greatly by the pictures, especially the family one. "I...wanna hang them on the wall."

"Got it! Ima get some nails and we can put 'em all up here!

"Heh. You got it, little buddy, lemme just go and get some nails! Be right back!" Uzi rushed out of the room, and Doll smiled softly and gently stroked Harry's hair affectionately.

"I am glad you like them, sweet boy..." She murmured softly. "We will take real family pictures soon... And we put those on my side of room, this sounds nice, yes?"

"I...I'm really... part of a family..." Harry murmured.

"Yes... You are family, baby..." Doll knelt down and hugged him. "Never forget this..." She gave him a soft, gentle kiss on the forehead, and he hugged her back as Uzi came back with the nails.

"All right, let's get these bad boys all set up, shall we?" She declared. Doll giggled.

"Yes we shall, love..."

And so, Harry's wall was decorated with the pictures, and they stood back to observe them, all smiling brightly... Before Uzi blinked. "Uh... Hang on, this one's a bit crooked, lemme fix that real quick... Yeah... There we go... And uh... this one too... All right, nice... Uh... This one would look better a few feet to the left, lemme just... Yeah, there..."

Doll and Harry blinked as they watched Uzi run around and constantly tilt some of the pics to fix them. Some even didn't need to be fixed at all, yet Uzi still worked on them, somehow noticing faults not even Doll did.

Sweatdropping digitally, Doll spoke up. "You know...they're fine as they are, love. You need not fix them."

"Nope! Yes I do very much!" Uzi said. "They have to be perfect! Harry deserves to have his wall look the best it can possibly be! It's for him, so he needs to enjoy it the best he can!"

And then, she turned back to the pictures. Doll shook her head with a sigh, though understood Uzi's sentiment.

"I think it looks nice." Harry said, head tilted, and Uzi paused and turned back to him, then heaved out a sigh and gave him a small smile. "Yeah? Ya sure, buddy?" Harry nodded, and Uzi chuckled and picked him up, setting him down on her lap and rubbing his head. "Well, if you say so, guess I'll leave it as is. Heh..." She wrapped her arms around his tummy and gave him a gentle squeeze, and he smiled in delight. Then he looked at her and Doll's walls to see what they had on theirs. Doll's wall seemed to contain images of fashionable dresses, a few pictures of another female drone that looked like her, but with shorter hair, and some pictures of a her with a young boy, older than him from the looks of it. And on Uzi's, there were some people in a lot of black clothes with instruments, and...

"Um... Miss Uzi, what cartoon is that?" He asked innocently, head tilted.

Uzi blinked. "Ah! That'd be Attack on Titan, my dude! Heh... It's an anime."

"...Anime...?" Harry asked, head tilted.

"Yeah! That's a show that's made all the way over in Japan!"

"Japan...?"

"Yep! It's another country all the way on the other side of the planet!" Uzi explained. "They have their very own special shows that they make over there, and we bring them over here cause... well, we just like what they make."

"Oh. Okay. Um... Can I watch... Attack...on um... Titan...?" Harry asked softly.

"Hmm... I dunno, bud, might be a bit too scary for ya, you're just a little guy, after all, don't want ya to have any scary dreams or anything." Uzi chuckled, ruffling his hair.

"Oh. M'sorry..." Harry looked down timidly.

"Ah, no need for that, there's other anime we can watch! Lemme just take a quick look here... Hmm... Guess we could start with something nice and simple. Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh are a big hit with little kids and all..."

"Pokemon?" Harry asked, perking up. "I can watch Pokemon? I saw it on the tv before, I... I can... I...I like the cool animals... I wanna watch Pokemon..." He went from excited to shy and timid in a heartbeat.

Uzi gave him a toothy grin and messed up his hair playfully. "Heh... All righty then, bud, sold! Once we're done getting your part of the room set up, we'll sit down and watch some Pokemon, cool?"

"Yay!" Harry cheered slightly before wincing and looking up at the two drones for any signs of anger, relieved when all he saw was a pair of warm, genuine smiles.

Uzi chuckled. "All right, dude, let's get this done, okay?" Harry nodded and they set back to work.

About thirty minutes later, they'd successfully put together Harry's side of the room. The plush toys were placed securely on the low-hanging shelf that he could reach to grab them off of while the other toys sat inside a little toybox Uzi had built. The pictures hung proudly on the wall. Uzi was... attempting to fix things again. Doll lightly yanked her by the hoodie, and she looked back with a small annoyed pout. "There is no need, love. Is all fine." She assured her.

"I..." Uzi looked over it once more, then heaved out a sigh. "Yeah... I guess..." She relented. "All right, a promise is a promise. Let's go and watch some Pokemon, dude!"

And so that's just what they did. Uzi grabbed the television remote and handed it to Doll. "Okay, babe, you get things set up, I'll go and get us something to snack on."

"Yes, dear." Doll nodded, before flipping through the channels. Uzi smiled, and when she came back with a couple bowls of potato chips, she saw Harry sitting patiently on the couch while Doll fumbled through the channels, just clicking through all of them one at a time in search of the right show. Uzi smiled and shook her head in amusement before deciding to step in and help her lover out.

"Babe, I meant turn on the streaming service." Uzi chuckled, causing Doll to blush and look down, rubbing her arm shyly.

"Ah. Yes. Of course. It streams the show..." She murmured.

"Yep!" Uzi sat down next to Harry, Doll taking the side opposite him, and turned on the service in question. "Sure does! All right, let's see here... Uh... All right, here we go! Let's watch!" She clicked the play button and looked over to see how her lover and partner reacted. Pokemon WAS also her gateway anime back when she was only five years old, so she felt it was special that Harry had the same one she did, she really hoped he'd grow to like anime like she did so she could binge watch shows with him... And he did, indeed, seem enthralled by the first episode where Ash first got his Pikachu and stood to protect it from an enraged flock of Spearow. Doll seemed mildly interested, but her main focus seemed to be on the people around her, just pleased to be with her lover and their child, keeping a single arm wrapped around Harry and occasionally deliberately placing her hand in the chip bowls at the same time Uzi did just to touch hands with her. She figured Uzi's usual fluster over simple hand holding would have gone away with how far their relationship had gone up to that point, but apparently that wasn't the case. Uzi, for her part, was more than happy to answer any questions Harry had about the show. "...So yeah, there's like a million Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys all over the planet, they all look the same and they all have the same job! Pretty wild, huh?"

"...Are they being mass produced? They are like mass produced worker drones." Doll remarked.

Uzi blinked twice. "...Wow. That... is SO true." She noted, head tilted to the side. "Well. I now officially have a new headcanon." She chuckled as they continued watching the show.

When they got to Charmander's introduction episode, Uzi noticed Harry feeling sad for the little fire lizard, and gently patted his back. "Don't worry, bud, he's going to a better place with a nicer person now." She chuckled. "And then he's gonna turn into something super cool later! Y'know. Just like you." Harry looked up at her, head tilted. "Heh... You got taken into a better place and you're gonna grow up and be awesome." She explained with a wink.

"Oh... You... You think so...?" He asked softly.

"Big time." Uzi messed with his hair as Doll beamed at her.

And so, the trio sat and watched the show for several hours. Uzi found herself getting quite invested as well, it was very nostalgic to go back to her first anime ever. But they had to quit at some point, and when she noticed it was getting dark outside, she stretched her limbs. "All right, dude, you get your fill?" She asked. Harry looked up at her, looking just slightly saddened, but nodded his head regardless, and she chuckled. "Don't worry, we'll watch it again soon, okay? We'll pick up where we left off, but for now, it's time for us to go and get some supper. Now what time is-Oh man, we almost missed dinner, we totally lost track of time, haha! Wow that's nuts! Uh... All right, I'm just gonna..." She hurriedly rose to her feet to rush to the kitchen, only to jump and let out a yelp when she saw Will was already sitting there at the table, watching the television behind them with the same blank, impassive stare he always seemed to have. "Will-You-How-How long have you been there?!"

"Um... Few hours, I reckon."

"...Why didn't you say anything?!"

"Well, you were having a nice moment and I didn't want to interrupt you. Also, I was watching the show." He replied.

Uzi raised a brow at him, and then heaved out a sigh and chuckled with a shake of her head. "Will, my dude, you are one strange guy." She stepped past the table and into the kitchen. "All right, guys, what are we feelin' for dinner tonight? I'll make it this time." Doll smiled and nodded. "All right... Now... What should I make...?" She mused to herself. "Hmm... Ah, I got it." She settled on making homemade pizzas. As she worked, she began to think. She was deep in thought about how much better her life was, and how many amazing people she had now... She had her mother back, the one true source of warmth and love she'd had in her old life. She'd met a whole bunch of humans that she genuinely liked being around, Will most of all. She had a son now. She was a mom herself. Nothing was official, but she knew it was true, and the boy she'd taken in was seriously the most adorable thing she'd ever met in her entire life, just being around him brought a smile to her face. And of course the one that made it all possible, the love of her life... She owed so much to Doll... Doll was the best thing that ever happened to her... She would do anything for that drone...

She was so deep in thought as she prepared the family's meal that she failed to fully pay attention after putting it in the oven. When she heard a beeping noise, she let out a panicked "GAH!" and hurriedly threw the door open, yanking the pans containing their food out and sighing in relief when she saw that she hadn't completely ruined the meal, just very, very slightly singed it. She studied the finished pizzas closely to make sure all really was well, and when she was satisfied, she called out to the family "All right, guys, dinner's ready, come and get it!"

The family gathered around for dinner, Will politely thanking Uzi for taking the trouble as he entered, Doll carrying Harry as she walked behind him with a smile. And so the family sat together around the table. "Ah... Uzi... Remember. Harry's diet." She warned.

"I know, Doll, I was careful, I made Harry's special, I kept it nice and light and didn't add too much to it, Mikan said he was good to branch out a bit more, I looked into it. He'll be okay, won't ya, bud?" Harry nodded.

"Hmm..." Doll took a taste herself. "...Ah... Yes, this is good... Well done, my love, you did very well." She concluded with a nod. "I underestimate you."

"Heh... Ah, thanks, babe..." Uzi chuckled bashfully as they all ate

"Sooo, how 'bout you guys? You like it too?" Uzi asked Will and Harry.

"Yeah. Course. You and Doll are excellent cooks as always." Will replied with a smile and a nod.

"It's yummy." Harry said softly with a smile.

"Awesome. By the way, where were ya today, Will? Hanging with Tessa again?" Uzi asked with a raised brow and a smirk.

"Ah. Business purposes, yeah, we were talking about some business stuff." Will nodded.

"Suuuure ya were. Heeheehee..." Uzi snickered into her hand.

"...Eh?"

"Ah, don't mind me, big guy. ...Y'know the others have been pretty quiet lately." Uzi remarked.

"Ah, yes... Other tenants must be not trying to disturb little one." Doll smiled at Harry.

"T-Tenants...?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, the other people that live in the building. You met Lizzy and V and Sienna. But there's a bunch of other people that live here too, like we got a couple of... really weird guys that use food as keys, we got a scientist, we got a bunch of kids, we got a kid that looks like a fully grown mad, we got a felt puppet, we got more drones like us, it's... yeah, we're one weird bunch of people, heh." Uzi rubbed the back of her head.

"Oh. ...Um... Are... Are they scary...?" Harry asked softly, shrinking in on himself. Uzi was about to assure him that was not the case, only to stop for a brief moment and consider the question. She turned her gaze to Doll, and their visors displayed the same message: "B tries anything funny, we murder him."

In the Imps' apartment, B felt a sudden shiver run down his body. "Urgh... How am I shivering?! I'm a f*cking drone for god's sake!"

"You don't have to worry about anyone scaring you, kid." Uzi eventually spoke to assure Harry. "They're all good people, don't worry."

"Oh,,, Are you sure...?"

"Totally, bud." Uzi nodded her head. "Now eat up, gotta get strong now."

"Okay." Harry obediently went back to eating, the rest of the family following suit.

And so, dinner was all wrapped up. Doll and Will were working together to clean up the dishes, Will washing as Doll dried and put them away. Will had insisted, as he hadn't done it since Uzi and Doll moved in and it didn't feel right. Uzi got the sense he wanted to give them more time with Harry, that was just the kind of guy Will was.

Well, both drones were very grateful for the sentiment. In fact, Will had wanted to wash the dishes on his own, but Doll was grateful enough that she insisted on helping him out anyway, having no idea how to properly thank him at the present moment. While they washed the dishes, Uzi set Harry on her lap, and they watched another Pokemon episode before all was said and done.

Once Will and Doll were done washing, however, it was apparent that the boy was getting sleepy. Uzi let out a soft chuckle. "All right, buddy... Looks like it's bedtime, eh?" She stood up, holding him against her shoulder and gently patting his back. "TV's all yours, big guy, we know ya love your corny soap operas before bed!"

"Ah, wonderful. Thanks. G'night, girls." Will said appreciatively with a nod. "See you tomorrow then."

"Bet on it." Uzi chuckled as Doll approached to give Harry a quick kiss on the head as they made their way to their bedroom. Doll pulled open the door for them, allowing them to head in first before following along behind them and closing it. Uzi sighed softly and looked around with a smile at all the nice new things they'd added for the newest member of their little family. "Dang... Feels like a new universe in here with this stuff, eh?"

"It certainly does." Doll agreed, smiling lightly at the sleepy boy nuzzled in close to Uzi's jacket, clinging to it as tightly as he could with his tiny fists.

"Dawww..." Uzi cooed at the gesture, tightening her hold on him slightly and gently patting his tiny back. She carefully went to climb into bed, forgetting about her sleeping attire altogether. Doll heaved out a soft sigh, yet smiled regardless, understanding her lover's behaviour. Harry seemed to enjoy being cuddled up against her hoodie anyway. Doll grabbed her usual bedtime wear of a loose purple nightgown that went down just above her thighs, then slipped underneath the covers next to Uzi, who lay facing her, giving all her attention to the very sleepy child in her arms.

"Heh... Just look at him..." Uzi chuckled softly. Doll saw the boy was fast asleep in Uzi's hold, snuggled close into her, his face buried in her chest. Doll giggled softly, then gently made a shushing sound with her finger over her mouth. "I know, I know, I'm not gonna wake him." Uzi chuckled softly, gently rubbing his back. "...Pretty good day today... Feels like we got a bit closer to him..."

"Yes... It was very nice day, wasn't it...?" Doll murmured.

"Heh..." Uzi looked down at the sleeping child. "Pretty cute when he's asleep..."

"Hmm." Doll hummed softly, nodding her head and smiling warmly. "He is our sweet boy..." She whispered.

"Big time." Uzi agreed. The two drones looked at each other and exchanged a quick peck on the lips. "Okay... Night, babe..." Uzi whispered.

"Good night, love..." Doll whispered back, sleep overtaking them shortly after.

The next day came along, and the family had decided to watch some more Pokemon. Uzi, Doll and Harry sat quietly around the couch, quietly watching the TV, when suddenly, the door to their apartment was kicked open violently, and B came staggering in. "AGH! DUDE, WHAT THE HELL?!" Uzi shrieked in sheer shock, scooping Harry up and holding him protectively as he began to tremble from the sudden intrusion.

"Urgh... W-Will! Will, where the F**K are you?! I need your credit card for... For my... I need my fun sauce, Will, you gotta... You gotta hook me up, man, come on, be a pal, I..." He fell over and threw up on the carped slightly.

"Come on, man, we just cleaned that a few days ago!" Uzi exclaimed in frustration. "And-Oh geez..." B brought his gun with him.

Doll noticed it too, and immediately narrowed her eyes before using the Solver to throw the gun out of B's hand and send it clattering across the floor. "Heeeey, that was Billyyyyy!" B whined. Doll rose to her feet, then stormed over to the implike drone and grabbed him by the tail, dragging him out the door of the apartment as Uzi and Harry watched. Doll closed the door behind them, and Uzi heard her furiously screaming at B in Russian. Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped. She had never heard her lover drop a single explicit curse word the entire time she'd known her, and now, though Harry couldn't understand it thankfully, she was cursing B out like a drunken sailor.

She turned her attention to Harry with a concerned frown. "Hey... You doing okay, bud...? Hey, just look at me... Focus on me... Are you okay...?"

Harry snuggled deeper into her hoodie in fear. "M-Miss Doll's mad... Wh-Why is she mad...? I... I did something wrong... I... I made her mad, she's gonna throw me and I'm gonna get hurt and... and..." He began to breathe heavily.

"Doll would NEVER hurt you. EVER." Uzi reassured him gently. "She loves you so much, she would never do anything bad to you. I promise you you're okay, dude..." Uzi murmured. "You didn't do anything wrong at all. Doll's just mad at B for being destructive and stupid and a danger to the people around him, you're fine. Doll's just protecting you." Uzi reassured him.

"P-Protecting... me...? Is... He... dangerous...?" Harry asked softly.

"Eh... I wouldn't really say THAT, it's more like he's... loud... and obnoxious... and he doesn't think before he talks, and he breaks stuff a lot, and he doesn't have any respect for the people around him, but he's uh... he's also not... an awful guy. ...He was doing something pretty unsafe just now, though, that's why Doll's mad at him." Uzi explained.

The door slowly pushed open, making the sound of Doll's shouting more audible, as M1 slowly walked into the room. "Is everybody okay in here? I'm so sorry about that, I saw him walking in here with his weapons, he didn't toss a smoke grenade in the oven, did he-Oh. Well... Hello there, young man, I don't believe we've met before."

Harry shied away, burying his face in Uzi's chest, afraid that the new drone would be loud and scary like B was, and Uzi chuckled softly and patted his back. "Heeeey, no need to worry, buddy, M1's not like his loudmouth boss, the little guy's a total scaredy cat." She assured him.

"Wha-Heeeey!" M1 protested, looking annoyed. Uzi shrugged, and he heaved out a sigh, deciding not to get too upset over it. He stepped forth slowly, so as not to frighten him, and then extended a hand. "A pleasure to meet you, young man. What's your name?"

"H-Harry..." Harry replied shyly,

"Ah, a very nice name!" M1 said with a nod. Harry warmed up just a little, and he began to reach to return the handshake... when suddenly, an axe burst through the apartment door.

"DAGNABBIT, QUIT YOUR DODGIN', B!" M2's angered voice barked.

Harry let out a yelp of fear and immediately turned to latch onto Uzi, trembling fearfully once more. M1 facepalmed and left to go and calm things down as Doll seemed to turn her angered shouting on M2. Uzi narrowed her eyes at the door as he went. 'Okay, those two better shape up or I'm gonna have to learn what Doll's got myself and throw them out the window with it.' She thought to herself. Once the door closed, she turned her attention back to the boy in her arms and squeezed him gently. "Hey... It's okay, bud... They're nuts, all right, but they can be nice too. M1 was nice, right?"

Harry hesitated for a moment before slowly nodding his head. Yet she could still see the fear in his eyes. Uzi let out a soft sigh, then wrapped him up in her embrace once more. Suddenly, things seemed to go quiet as the lights flickered. Uzi looked up in confusion, and the door opened again, and L entered, holding a taser. "Hey. Sorry 'bout that. Had to amp up the voltage, or those morons wouldn't get knocked out. Uh... I didn't zap your girlfriend, don't worry. Oh, hey, look at that, you got a kid... Uh... Hey there..." She awkwardly approached. "How... uh... How ya doin'...? Name's L..."

Harry looked at her hesitantly and winced away. "Hi..." He murmured.

The ensuing silence was... awkward, to say the very least. Uzi blinked twice, then motioned to L subtly for her to keep speaking a little more, to get to know the boy. "Eh? Oh... Uh... So... You're... cute." L got out, rubbing the back of her head.

"Um... Th-Thank you..." Harry murmured softly as he slowly moved his head away from Uzi's chest to see her better. L chuckled.

"Okay, yeah, he IS pretty dang cute, especially now that I can see him clearly..." She looked over at Uzi with a quizzical expression, and Uzi chuckled.

"You wanna give him a headpat, don't ya?"

"Huh? N-No, I... I... probably shouldn't, I mean... I got these... these claws here, and... I don't wanna... I don't wanna hurt him or anything..." L muttered.

Uzi rolled her eyes. "Come on, I know who I can trust, L, it's totally fine. You're one of the people I'd put on my trust list, cause you're practically me. Now c'mere..." L blinked, then took a step forward. Once she was within distance, Uzi reached out and grabbed her arm before placing her hand atop Harry's head.

"Ah! Uh... Okay... So far so good... Uh... You... You like that...? ...Yeah... Okay, he seems into it, heh..." L gently began to rub the child's messy dark hair as he closed his eyes and leaned into it like a kitten.

Uzi snickered into her hand at the sight. "Ah, would ya look at that? He likes you already!" She blinked owlishly. "He uh... took a shining to you... pretty fast, actually..." She winced slightly. Faster than he warmed up to her... She felt a twinge of envy in her chest, but didn't do anything about it. L continued to rub the boy's head, and they continued to chat for a bit.

"Oh yeah, where's Doll?" Uzi asked.

"Ah. She was still pretty steamed, so I suggested she take a bit of a walk to calm herself down before she came back in here." L chuckled, rubbing the back of her head.

"L?" B's now much more sober voice called out. "L, help me, my head's splitting in haaaaalf..."

"Ugh..." L rolled her eyes in annoyance. "All right, I gotta go and babysit for a while. Stay safe, guys. See ya again soon. And uh... kid, don't worry about B, he's an idiot, but he means well. He won't hurt ya." She assured him before turning to leave the room... just as Doll was coming back.

"I'm so sorry for that, did anything else...happen...?" Doll paused when she saw L had been in the room. "Ah. You meet Harry then... I see... Good..." She sighed and stepped aside. "Please keep your father under control, he bring a gun into our home..."

"He WHAT?!" L exclaimed. "B!" She stomped out of the room and Doll shut the door behind her with a deep sigh before turning to face her family with a small wince, especially when she noticed Harry flinch when he saw her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, my sweet boy..." Doll murmured softly, taking a few steps closer. "I did not mean to scare you, baby... I'm sorry..."

Uzi bit her lip when she realized Harry felt fear towards her lover. "Hey... Hey, we talked about this, buddy, remember...? She isn't mad at you and she'd never hurt you... She got mad at B cause she loves you so much... Remember?"

Harry nodded. "I know, but... but she yelled so loud and yelling is bad bad stuff always happens to me when people start yelling I don't want anything bad to happen to me, I..." Harry sniffled and looked up at Doll, who was visibly saddened before noticing he was looking at her and giving him a small, gentle smile.

"I am so sorry, Harry..." Doll stepped forth and knelt down to the boy's level, reaching out to caress his face. "I did not mean to... I am sorry..." She whispered. "I only want you safe, baby... I am not angry with you, you are very good boy..." She gently stroked his cheek with her thumb.

Harry's eyes widened. "I...I am...? I'm good...?" He asked softly.

"Of course you are... You are amazing boy..." Doll murmured gently.

"Heh... Yeah... You just might be the best kid I've ever met." Uzi agreed with a wink.

"Yes, you are polite, and you are gentle and kind and sweet..." Doll murmured gently.

"Not to mention totally adorable and cuddly." Uzi chuckled.

Harry squeaked and buried his face in his hands. "M'not..." Was all he could manage to get out, and he didn't sound like his heart was fully in the denial anyway. He loved hearing these genuine, kind compliments...

"Sure ya are, bud, look at ya, you're so tiny even I can pick you up, what's not to love about that? And ya got those big pretty green eyes and you got that cute little mop of hair and that quiet little voice..."

Doll laughed softly at her lover's antics. "You see this, sweet boy? You see that you are loved, yes? Always remember this, never forget." She said gently. "And you will always be, as long as we are with you."

"And that's gonna be for a long, LOOOOONG time." Uzi said with a wink.

Harry looked back and forth between them, his heart swelling when he realized they were truly willing to stay by his side. With a small smile, he leaned into Doll, hugging her tightly out of gratitude, wanting to do the same for Uzi, but only able to hug one at a time. Thankfully, Doll made that easier on him by sitting down next to her lover and embracing her so that all three could be together in a group hug. The trio sat there, engrossed in their shared embrace, none of them wanting to break apart. Will walked into the room, smiled at the sight, then slipped past quietly so as to not interrupt them.

The next day started off peaceful enough. The small family played board games, Will off to the side having a snack while Uzi moved Nori's pieces for her. And Uzi, for once, was actually winning! That fact made her extremely happy, she was finally accomplishing a victory at one of these cruel games!

Suddenly, the door opened, and Ian walked inside. "...Uh... Come in?" Nori said curtly, brow raised.

"Hey Will! I really need to borrow some OJ, can I have some? Pleeeease?" Ian asked.

"Erm... Sure... It's... just in the fridge..." Will said with a shrug.

"YES!" Ian fist pumped, rushing to the fridge and grabbing the orange juice, then began pouring some into the pocket of his jeans.

Everyone looked on in pure confusion at the scene before them, and Doll spoke up. "...What...are you doing, Ian...?" She asked.

"Borrowing orange juice! Where else am I gonna keep it? I mean, duh!" Laughing, Ian walked out the door. Uzi sighed.

"Wait! Get back in here, we need to resolve whatever the heck you're doing before Mahiru rips your ears off your heads!" She called out.

"...He's weird..." Harry mumbled softly.

"Yes. He is." Doll agreed without a moment of hesitation, a deadpan look on her face.

Ian walked back into the room, looking thoughtful. "Yeah, I do remember needing help with something kind of important, but I don't know what-" And then, suddenly, out of nowhere, he began to violently smash his face into the kitchen counter over and over and over again, as hard as he could with each slam, screaming "BALLS! BALLS! BALLS! BALLS! BALLS!" every single time his face made contact with the hard counter.

"Ah!" Harry cried out, hiding nervously behind the table, only his eyes peeking over as he trembled slightly. Doll snatched him up and hugged him close to her chest, looking on in shock and surprise at what Ian was doing as Harry hid his face in her bosom.

"Hey hey hey hey hey!" Uzi exclaimed, rushing forward and grabbing him in an effort to make him stop. "Cut that out! What are you doing?!"

"I-BALLS! Can't-BALLS! Stop-BAAAAAALLS Been-BALLS! Doing-BALLS! This-BALLS! All-BALLS! Day-BAAAAALLLS!"

Uzi looked at Doll with a raised brow. "Are... Are you...?"

"No. No I am not." Doll denied, shaking her head. "The Solver isn't even turned on..." Ian eventually stopped smashing his head on the counter, groaning in pain, His nose was crooked, he was missing several teeth and he had two black eyes.

"Ugh... Well... That wasn't so bad-Wait, what is it making me do now...?" Ian walked into the bathroom, right towards the toilet. "UWAAAAAAAAAH!" Ian screamed before he was forced to dunk his entire head in the toilet.

"Dude, come on, I just cleaned that squeaky clean like an hour ago!" Uzi exclaimed, throwing her arms up in frustration,

"Bim borry bont bow bhats boing bon!" Ian's response was a gargled mess as he struggled with the toilet, accidentally pulling the level and giving himself a swirlie. He screamed, then yanked his head free, before he slammed it against the door knob and began to rub the back of his head against it for no apparent reason. "Oh! Hey! This isn't so bad! I've been itching there all day, that's so much better! Phew!" Then he abruptly stood up. "Oh, what's going on now?" He began to rub his face against the bathroom mirror.

"Oh come on now, I just cleaned all the glass in this apartment and you're smudging it all up?" Will asked, baffled.

"Pfft! These guys and their shenanigans are pure gold." Nori snickered.

"Mom, do you have any idea what's going on with him?" Uzi asked.

"Nah! Not a clue, but man am I enjoying the show!" Nori chuckled.

"Yeah, well 'the show' is messing up the apartment and freaking out the kid, so we better put a stop to it like right away." Uzi replied.

"Ah. ...Yeah... I guess you're right..." Nori sighed reluctantly. Ian then proceeded to smash his face into the mirror, shattering it and causing his face to start bleeding. He then walked out of the bathroom and slammed his face on the stovetop several times. In his attempts to stop himself, he ended up turning the hot burner on, making it that much worse. He then proceeded to walk over to a nail sticking out of the wall, and slammed his head into it, hammering it deep into the wall, before he stumbled out of the apartment, leaving it a chaotic mess.

Uzi groaned and rolled her eyes. "Well. Guess we're cleaning up again..." She groused.

"Hmm... I'll deal with it, it's no trouble. Um... Someone should go... keep an eye on him though, he could... end up getting hurt worse than usual, or... getting someone else hurt for that matter..." Will remarked.

"...Uuuuugh... I'll do it..." Uzi groaned before rushing out the door after him.

"Well. Guess that's settled then." Will said with a nod. And with that, he set to cleaning up.

Doll, meanwhile, gently rocked Harry back and forth with a small, gentle smile. "Is all right, sweet boy, he is gone now..." She murmured gently into his ear.

Harry slowly looked up at her with a concerned expression. "Is... Is he okay...?" He asked softly.

Doll blinked in surprise, then giggled softly. "Oh, sweet boy, I am proud, you care even if you are scared of him..." She murmured. "Do not worry. He does things like this very much, he is always okay... He is... different than most humans."

"Oh. ...I... I hope he doesn't get too hurt..." Harry murmured.

"He will not. He is surrounded by others that try to... keep him from doing things too dangerous..." Doll explained. "...His feelings might be hurt though..."

"Heeeey, why don't I turn the cameras on the TV and we can keep tabs on 'em and see what happens, eh?" Nori offered, draping an arm around Doll's shoulder. Doll felt the slight static tingle and smiled.

"Yes, this is good idea..."

"All right, let's do this!" Nori changed the TV to display the cameras and began flipping through them. "All right, let's see, where are they...? Ah, there they are!" The trio watched the television, Will glancing over from his cleaning every now and then, and Doll heard a crunching sound nearby.

"...You are eating popcorn?" She asked.

"Yep! Want some? Oh... right... holographic... Heh... Uh... Sorry, kid." Nori chuckled.

"I'll make some for you two." Will offered, grabbing the popper.

"Oh, you don't have to, Will." Doll said with a smile.

"S'all right, no trouble." Will replied as he turned it on and multitasked his work. Doll beamed.

"So considerate..." She said softly.

Out in the halls, Ian was screaming in pain as he slammed himself into walls and doors all through the apartment. "Heeeelp meeeeee!" He pleaded. Mahiru swung her door open to see what was the matter and groaned when she saw Ian stumbling around.

"Just what the heck is going on here?" Before she could answer, Ian placed a kiss on her forehead, then continued to smash into stuff all through the hallway. Mahiru stared blankly after him. "...He's drunk. He has GOT to be drunk."

"Hey!" Uzi ran up. "Sorry, he didn't smash anything, did he?"

"Uh... Not in my apartment at least... What's going on exactly...?" Mahiru asked. "Why'd he just kiss me?"

"Oh, he says he can't control his body and he's being forced to do stuff against his will and-wait, he kissed you? Like, on the lips kissed you?" Uzi asked, brow raised.

"Wha-I...No! Not like THAT, on the FOREHEAD! Stop thinking what I know you're thinking!" She said indignantly, prompting Uzi to raise her hands placatingly.

"All right, all right, sheesh! But seriously, he really didn't wander in and bust anything important? Cause he basically undid an entire morning's worth of cleaning back at our place." Uzi asked.

"No. What is going oooooon?" Mahiru groaned.

"No idea, he just showed up, put our orange juice in his pocket and then started smashing his head in the counter and giving himself swirlies in our toilet." Uzi explained.

"...We... better go and find him before he does something too stupid..." Mahiru sighed in exasperation.

"BAAAAAALLS!" Ian screamed from around the corner. Both drone and human ran over to see him falling down the stairs.

"...How many stairs lead down to the next floor again?" Uzi asked.

"About a hundred and eighty two steps down." Mahiru sighed.

"...Elevator?"

"Elevator."

Sighing, the two females stepped into the elevator down to the next floor as Ian continued to tumble. Just as he reached the bottom, he suddenly performed an impossibly acrobatic flip and landed expertly on his feet. "Whoa, that was sweet-AH!" Ian suddenly flew to the side, breaking through the door of one of the vacant apartments. The elevator came to a stop, and Uzi and Mahiru rushed out to see the busted down door.

"Oh geez..." Mahiru groaned as they ran inside to see him licking an old timey TV. "What's a TV even doing here, aren't these supposed to be vacant?" Uzi asked.

"Ah, Tessa likes to keep some stuff inside here for when someone does move-" Before Mahiru could continue explaining, Ian ended up licking an antennae that violently electrocuted him until it exploded and sent him flying into the wall.

He busted right through, creating a massive hole in the wall. "Oh no, we might have to pay for that!" Mahiru exclaimed worriedly.

"Not important! We need to see if he's doing all right!" Uzi exclaimed. Mahiru groaned as they rushed out of the room. But before they could reach Ian, they found he had already wandered off elsewhere, and was smashing his head through another apartment. He now had a pot stuck firmly on his head, and was banging it against the wall, with toilet paper stuck to his shoe.

"Okay, does he know how to teleport or something?! How is he so fast?!" Uzi exclaimed. Before she could question further, however, the same pot that had been on Ian's head was suddenly slammed down over hers, causing her to yelp slightly. She yanked on it a couple times, and then managed to pull it off... just in time to see Mahiru just barely miss Ian taking a running start and diving headfirst out the window, shattering through the glass on the way out.

"BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLS!" Ian screamed before an audible thud was heard.

Mahiru let out a loud, horrified gasp as Uzi cursed under her breath. They rushed to the window to see Ian had smashed into the pavement hard enough to crack it. Thankfully, he didn't seem to be bleeding or anything, and suddenly, he sprung back to his feet, and, in a single bound, managed to leap all the way back up through the window he had jumped out from. He did a stylish roll, barely avoiding tripping Uzi and Mahiru as they dodged, and proceeded to start Naruto running down through the door and into the hallway.

Mahiru began to shake and collapsed to her knees, eyes wide in shock. "Oh my gosh I just witnessed someone almost die, oh my goodness... HOW DID HE SURVIVE THAT ALMOST UNINJURED?!"

"Yeeeah..." Uzi agreed with a raised brow, to baffled to really say much of anything else. They then heard a loud metal clanging sound, and rushed to see what he had gotten himself into next. When they rounded the corner, they saw Ian was continuously ramming into Ben, who was just looking on with a raised brow. "...Did I miss something? What's goin' on here?" Ben asked.

"Trust us, big guy, we got NO clue." Uzi replied. "He's ransacked a bunch of apartments and almost killed himself and even he doesn't know why he's doing it!"

"I'm sorry, did you just say he almost killed himself?" Ben asked. "Man, what's goin' on in that head of yours?"

"I think I'm possessed!" Ian screamed.

"Best explanation I can think of. He just showed up and started acting like a crazy person." Uzi shrugged. "Sooo, what brings you around, anyway?"

"Just doin' a favour for Tessa, she wanted me to check around and see if the old owners of the apartments left behind anything we could send back to them." Ben explained.

"Well, someone lost their old fashioned rabbit ear TV because someone was licking it." Uzi gestured to Ian.

"Ah, that's no worries." Ben waved it off. "Patricia can fix that, she has a knack for fixin' old stuff like that."

"Huh. Interesting." Uzi filed that little piece of information away for later. "Wait, where'd Ian go?" She noticed he wasn't ramming into Ben anymore and seemed to have run off somewhere. They all looked around... and Uzi saw him. "Uh... Ben...?" She began. "He's about to..."

Before she could say anything more, Ian blew as hard as he could into the saxophone on Ben's back, causing the man to cry out in shock as all of his instruments sprung out at once in a loud, awful chorus. "AAAAAAAH! Urgh..." Ben slumped down in a daze.

"I'M SO SORRYYYYAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Ian sprinted away, screaming like a maniac. Uzi and Mahiru were quick to run after him, the former giving Ben a quick once-over to make sure he wasn't seriously hurt or anything. He'd be fine in a minute or two, so she focused on catching the bowl-headed man.

Seth was just walking to his apartment, battered, bruised and holding a pack of ice against his forehead. "Urgh... Cursed physical education... I'm not qualified to teach such a class, why would they-" Before he could finish venting his woes, Ian interrupted him.

"SETH, RUUUUUN, I CAN'T STOP MYSELF!" He shouted.

"Hmm? I beg your par-AGH!" Ian ran past, grabbing Seth by the wrist and harshly slamming him into the wall hard enough to audibly crack some bones. "...Ow." Was all Seth said as Ian ran off screaming. Uzi and Mahiru rounded the corner.

"Oh crap, Seth, you okay, dude?!" Uzi exclaimed, rushing over.

"Aww, Ian, come on, like he isn't dealing with enough already!" Mahiru shouted after Ian, who shouted back a desperate apology.

"Oh, it's quite all right, it's far from the first time I've been slammed through a wall." Seth groaned. "Frankly, it's more of a nuisance at this point than anything else..." Both Uzi and Mahiru helped him to his feet, when another crash was heard.

"Ah geez... Sorry, dude, we gotta take this, can ya get home yourself?!" Uzi asked worriedly.

"Yes, yes, I'll manage just fine, thank you." Seth replied.

"I'm so sorry, Seth, I promise I'll come and check up on you as soon as we catch him and get to the bottom of why he's acting like this!" Mahiru apologized with a polite bow before she and Uzi rushed to catch Ian.

By that point, Ian had wandered into a shooting range the Imps had set up to keep their skills sharp. They thought it was secret, but... it was kind of hard to keep a secret firing range in an apartment complex full of people who could clearly hear the sound of gunfire. The Imps themselves were there practicing right now, when Ian ran into the middle of the firing range. Mistaking him for another target, B opened fire, only for Ian to start dodging each and every shot perfectly. B blinked in confusion. "Well what the f**k? I don't recall hiring any live meat- stuntmen!"

"...Really, sir? I wouldn't put it past you." M1 said with a small frown.

"Hey, screw you, M1, I'm not crazy enough to risk getting booted out of this place!" B snapped back. M2 continued to open fire on Ian, firing everything from pistols to AK-47s to rocket launchers, all of which he dodged expertly. Eventually, she got annoyed with the constant dodging and grabbed B's signature bazooka. "Heyheyheyheyhey don't fire that-!" B panicked as he tried to talk her down. Too late.

M2 fired the rocket, causing it to fly straight into Ian and explode. Ian screamed as he went sailing through the wall and crashed into a power line outside. The power lines bent backward like a rubber band, and then they launched him right back into the apartment, sending him crashing right into Mahiru as she cried out in surprise, sending them both smashing through several walls in the process before Ian rolled away and started running again.

"Holy crap!" Uzi rushed over to check on Mahiru. "Uh... How many fingers am I holding up?! Can you hear me?! Are you-" She was taken aback when Mahiru casually stood up and dusted herself off.

"Ugh... Honestly, that man is gonna give me ulcers..." She groaned before noticing Uzi's shocked expression. "Oh. Don't worry. After that one incident with a classmate, that was nothing. Let's just keep at it." Uzi nodded dumbly, and the two of them continued chasing after Ian. The Imps looked at the damage done, and B turned to look at M1.

"I'm docking that from your pay." He said simply, causing M1 to glare indignantly at him.

Uzi and Mahiru ran to the end of the hallway, only to hear Ian screaming "BAAAAAAAAALLS!" and see him get launched to the other side of the hallway. Both girls blinked, then looked to see Carol, looking extremely perturbed to say the least. veins throbbing on her forehead and her skin blistering red as Sienna comforted a very flustered Filia.

"Uuuuuuhhh... What just happened?" Uzi asked.

"That idiot just started kissing Filia on the freaking head is what happened and didn't stop when she asked him to!" Carol barked. "I had to do something to get him off!"

"Oh. ...Well... At least it wasn't any worse..." Mahiru sighed.

"Wait, where'd he go?" Filia asked.

"Oh geez, we have GOTTA stop losing track of him!" Mahiru exclaimed as she and Uzi ran off after Ian, the three young women looking between each other in confusion.

By the time they rounded the corner again, they saw that Ian was in the middle of a waltz with Kname, looking extremely uncomfortable as Kname seemed to be actively enjoying it. "Yeeeeeeah! Whoooooo! Look at puppet daddy goooooo! I'm danciiiiiiin'! You seein' this, Billy?!"

"Yaaaaay daddy! Oh! Ian! You should dip him!"

Alas, Ian stopped dancing, and he threw Kname towards Uzi, who caught him in one hand. Ian then proceeded to do a backflip over Kname's handler and run off again. Uzi sighed and placed Kname on his handler's hand. Kname let out a sigh. "That was the most fun I've had in a long time..."

"It was the closest you've had to a loving non-platonic touch in years, Daddy!" Billy said innocently.

"...Billy. Daddy's gonna go inside the freezer. Make sure you shut the door behind me." Kname said flatly.

"DON'T STICK YOURSELF IN THE FREEZER, KNAME!" Uzi shouted as she and Mahiru ran past him.

"Wow, Daddy! They were running SO FAST! They were like the Road Runner!" Billy chirped.

When Uzi and Mahiru arrived, they found Ian sprawled out on the floor, V looking mere seconds away from tearing into him like a savage wild animal, her arm formed into a chainsaw as she gave him a vicious death glare. "Whoooooa, hey, what's going on here?!" Uzi exclaimed, alarmed.

"Oh, not much, just this IDIOT decided it would be a good idea to pick up my wife and start shaking her like a freaking cocktail bottle while she was holding our son!" She barked.

"Hey, hey, easy, easy, don't rip out his intestines and feed them to him!" Uzi tried to reason.

"Hey, good idea, I didn't even think about that!" V snarled.

"Okay, okay, that is very disproportionate, you don't have to do that!" Mahiru reasoned as she and Uzi set to restraining V.

J, standing nearby, was carefully looking over Crona, who had been sleeping in her arms. He hadn't woken up, he was deep in his slumber despite the aggressive shaking and was innocently sucking his thumb, causing her to sigh in relief.

Suddenly, Ian gained a boost in his strength as he shot up and ran right through Uzi, Mahiru and V, sending them all sprawling to the floor as he ran off once more.

V slowly sat up, staring blankly at the wall for a second. "...I'm gonna kill him." She said simply. And then, pulling out every weapon she had, she gave chase, screaming ferally as she hunted down her prey. Uzi groaned and rubbed her temples as she sat up.

"Great, now we got TWO destructive maniacs running around the apartment..." The purple haired drone sighed.

"We'd... better stop them before they end up tearing the whole building down..." Mahiru murmured. As the two ran off, J watched them go with a raised brow.

"Hmm... Knowing Ian and Anthony, there's something going on over at their place that's causing this whole mess..." She muttered to herself. Looking down at the sleeping boy in her arms once more, she began to make her way over to Ian and Anthony's apartment. Maybe Cyn would have an idea...

What ensued was a high speed chase where V was chasing down Ian while Uzi and Mahiru chased down V. They ran past just about everyone they'd encountered in the hallways thus far. Ben watched after them, having just recuperated from his previous encounter, and simply heaved out a sigh. Seth had his foot trodded on by each of them as they ran past him. The Imps started shouting at them frantically when they ran right in the middle of their firing range and narrowly avoided being hit. Filia, Carol and Sienna were all very nearly run over by Ian, then narrowly avoided V, only to end up getting bumped into by an apologetic Mahiru as she and Uzi ran past. And Kname was used by V as a projectile in an attempt to hit Ian in the back of the head.

But just as they were passing by Ian and Anthony's apartment, J poked her head out the door. "HEY!" She barked, stopping everyone in their tracks. "I found the source of the problem, come in here." She stepped aside, and it was revealed that Cyn and Tessa were in the apartment together, each holding what appeared to be a small doll that looked like Ian and Anthony, Cyn holding Ian's doll with a bright, cheerful smile and Tessa holding Anthony's as she grinned sheepishly.

"Ah... 'Ello, I just... bumped into Cyn out in the hallway and she asked me to play with her, and you know how hard it is to say no to that face, she found these really cute little dolls of her dads and that's what she wanted to play with." Tessa chuckled as she lifted the doll Anthony's arm and used it to wave.

"Giggle. Father Ian says hello as well." Cyn made her doll's arm wave.

"Oh hey! I remember that!" Ian said cheerfully as he waved his own hand.

"Okay, what do the dolls have to do with any of this?!" Uzi exclaimed.

"Oh wow... I... have a classmate that involves himself in this kinda thing, those are voodoo dolls..." Mahiru remarked, eyes wide. "Basically, whatever you do to the doll, happens to the person the doll looks like."

"...Ooooooooh..." Uzi said with a nod as V looked at Ian with a raised brow.

"...Guess that explains a few things then." She said with a sigh.

"You should... stop playing with those, they've been causing problems." Mahiru said to Cyn with a raised brow.

"Head tilt. Concerned frown. Troubles? From playing with dollies? I didn't know such things could happen. I did not hurt father, did I?" Cyn asked worriedly.

Mahiru opened her mouth to respond, before pausing. "Um... Well, uh... I... don't know if you hurt THEM, I haven't seen Anthony and Ian's still standing and running around, but uh... The dolls... kiiiinda made a mess of things."

Tessa's eyes widened as she rose to her feet, Cyn following suit. "Yeah, just uh... take a look out into the hallway and you'll see what we mean..." Uzi chuckled awkwardly.

"...Oh...bollocks..." Tessa breathed out, looking at the damages caused.

"...Sad face. Hang head in shame. I am sorry. I did not mean to." Cyn said as she looked sadly at the floor.

"Awwwww, who can be mad at that faaaaace?" Ian cooed as he bent over and hugged Cyn close, bringing the smile back to her face as she returned the embrace.

"Giggle. Return platonic familial affection." Cyn returned the embrace.

"Heh... Yeah, it's hard to be mad at her when she really didn't know what she was doing." Uzi chuckled.

"And I'm about as guilty as she is." Tessa chuckled. "Oooh, this is gonna be a bother to clean up..."

"Hmm... I think I'll see if Tanaka knows anything about this... Maybe he can get the curses out of these things so that they can just be... y'know... normal playthings." Mahiru remarked.

"...This is a very weird situation to have a specific friend to help with." Uzi said with a raised brow.

"Well..." Mahiru shrugged, when Cyn embraced her, hugging her legs.

"Grateful smile. Thank you big sister. Your considerate actions make me feel very happy." Cyn said sincerely.

"Awwww..." Mahiru melted and knelt down to hug Cyn. That soft spot she had for the little drone would never die.

"Soooo, where'd you get that thing, anyway?" Uzi asked.

"From him." Ian pointed outside the window. There was an 8-bit Lakitu floating on its cloud directly outside, staring at them. "Hey! Hey Lakitu, PLEASE let me have a voodoo doll of Kesha, pleeease, please please please-" The Lakitu hurled a spiky red ball through the window, causing it to hit Ian. Ian let out a scream as he leapt up slightly and then seemed to plummet clean through the floor like a ghost, entirely vanishing from sight as the Lakitu flew away.

Everyone just stared blankly in confusion at what they had just witnessed. Mahiru let out a loud groan and rubbed her temples. "Okay... I have had ENOUGH chaos for today... I'm gonna go take a nap..." She groaned, walking away. As she left, Patricia walked in, holding Ian by the hoodie and throwing him back into the room with a sour expression. "Fallin' through the floor is MY gimmick, bowl cut! And stop pesterin' that flying turtle guy, I'm gettin' real sick of havin' to make ya these things!" She aggressively slammed a green mushroom down on Ian's skull that seemed to sink into his body the second it touched him, causing him to regain consciousness. "Now don't let me catchin' you clowns stealing my schtick again!" And with that, a hole in the floor formed, and Patricia crossed her arms and jumped inside with an annoyed scowl on her face, the hole closing when she was out of sight.

"...I... I think I'm just gonna have a lazy day from here on in." Uzi said simply as she turned to walk out of the room, Cyn looking over her father with a tilted head and concerned frown.

Uzi entered her apartment with a sigh, glad beyond compare to have this whole nightmare over with. She pushed open the door and walked in, then blinked as she found her mother lying down in midair, laughing hysterically. Doll was laughing softly into her hand as well, surprisingly, and even Harry seemed entertained. As expected, Will was the only one to seem unfazed. "Uh... Hey, guys, I'm back. Uh... What's up?" She asked before spotting the TV. "Wait, is that the apartment complex? You've been watching the whole thing, haven't you?" Uzi sighed. "Moooooom, security cameras are for security, not filming comedy skits, you need to be more serious about your job!"

Nori continued to cackle like a hyena on laughing gas, before she calmed down and waved her daughter off. "Ah, being serious all the time's for stick in the muds who don't know how to do their job right! I'm connected to this whole building, the whole place is practically my body, I'd know if some loser tried to pull a fast one, I'm an all seeing god!"

Uzi stared flatly at her mother, then heaved out a sigh. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, still doesn't make sense though." She grumped. "...Huh... Ya clean up nicely, Will."

"Oh yeah, cleaning up was easy enough. Erm... I do need a new bathroom mirror though... Doll tried to fix it, but she kinda made it worse somehow..." Will replied. Doll winced slightly and murmured an apology in Russian.

"Huh... How much worse did you make it?" Uzi asked Doll. Doll simply pointed at the picasso-esque sculpture of glass and metal in the bathroom. Uzi raised a brow before shrugging. "Ah, no biggie, I know some guys that'll want that anyway, they lost their mirror because one of them just had to use it for a prank." Uzi rolled her eyes, annoyed.

"Ah. Yes. Your junkyard friends." Doll said with a small nod. "Are they well?"

"Eh, bout as well as ya can be when you live in a junkyard. Jax is still a jerk, Rags is still the mom friend, Pomni... is still a high strung little wet cat, so yeah, they're all good." Uzi shrugged. "They got what they need, Caine's got their back. Huh... I should introduce you all to them sometime..."

"Well, I am glad to hear that they are well." Doll said with a small smile before narrowing her eyes and speaking in Russian. [This Jax character is fifty meters away from my child, so you'd better tell him that if he does ANYTHING to hurt my son, I'm going to tear all the circuits from his body one by one and slowly pry his head off of his body before throwing the remains into the furnace.] She said darkly.

"...Or we could just do a restraining order...?" Uzi squeaked out, intimidated.

[No. We do it my way,]

"Uh... Yeah... Right... Your way... Whatever you say, babe..." Uzi chuckled nervously. She loved Doll more than anyone could ever imagine, but man she could be terrifying when she wanted to be. And her speaking Russian while being so frightening only compounded the issue.

...It was pretty damn hot, she had to admit.

Elsewhere, the group at the junkyard was sitting around in a comfortable silence, drinking oil, when Jax felt a shiver run up his spine. "Uh... I feel like someone just wanked off at the idea of me getting eviscerated..." He muttered. Everyone in the room looked at him in stunned silence. Even Caine and Bubble were shocked. Well... Everyone except Gangle, she just did her best to appear innocent as a few beads of sweat poured down her tragedy face.

Doll calmed down and heaved out a sigh. "So then... voodoo doll... What else do they have?"

"Pfft, I dunno, hopefully nothing else dangerous like that." Uzi said with a grimace. "Uh... But yeah, Cyn's kind of adorable playing with those dolls, so hopefully Mahiru's friend can get whatever... weird... dark... magicky stuff is going on in there so she can hold onto 'em."

"I am happy no one is hurt." Doll murmured softly. "Especially our little one..." She gave Harry a gentle squeeze around his midsection. "You are not scared, sweet boy?"

"Um... Mm-mm." Harry shook his head.

"Oh, right!" Uzi remembered as she stepped up and embraced Doll from the side so she could hug the boy. Doll smiled and passed him over, and Uzi was all too happy to take him into her arms. "Heeeey, bud, ya doin' okay?"

"Um... Yes, I... Um... He's weird... but he's... nice." Harry decided.

"Heh... Yeah... That's this place in a nutshell. Weird, but nice..." Uzi patted his back. "Heh... Now it's MY turn to make ya feel safe..." She chuckled. "Don't you worry about a thing, if anyone here scares you, I'll give 'em a good swift kick in the shin." She said with a wink. "...So... That was a little sneak peek at some of the people who live here. What do ya think?"

"Um... They're kinda... different... but they don't look bad..." Harry murmured shyly.

"Ah, yes, yes, this is right, sweet boy. Every-erm... most of the others here are nice people." Doll said with a warm smile. "...Oh... You have not met Ben, Illeum and their children yet..."

"Oh yeah, he could use some company his own age, we should probably arrange a play date at some point." Uzi nodded.

"Yes, but not now, is too early, must be slow about it, he needs to heal." Doll agreed. "...Marie would be nice babysitter if Lizzy cannot come for a reason..."

"Oh yeah, she's a good kid." Uzi said with a smirk. "I'd trust her with Harry. ...Actually... Doll, if we're gonna introduce Harry to any kids, then Crona's the way to go."

Doll perked up. "Oh... Oh, yes, certainly, he is perfect friend for our boy!"

Harry tilted his head, intrigued. "Um... Wh-Who's Crona...?" He asked.

"Well, he's a little guy, about your age, that was uh... apparently really hurt and beat up by his old mom..." Harry noticeably flinched when he heard that, and Uzi gave him a sad smirk. "But it's okay now, cause... you remember V, right?"

"Oh... The... The pretty robot lady with the coat and the white hair...?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, her! She and her wife adopted Crona and now he has a proper family. Soooo, he's kinda like you." Uzi finished the explanation.

"Like... Like me...?" Harry asked softly.

"Yep! Just like you." Uzi booped his nose gently with a low chuckle. Harry felt... Well... He didn't even know... A friend that was like him...? That could understand him...? ...SHOULD he be happy about that...?

"Heeeey, I see that look in your eyes." Uzi said with a small smirk. "Don't worry, kiddo, Crona's a good kid, he won't bite." She assured him.

"Yes, Crona is very nice boy... You will like him. He will be good friend to you." Doll agreed with a nod. "...As long as that annoying thing doesn't spoil anything..."

Uzi smirked and chuckled softly. "Ah, don't worry, I'm pretty sure he's afraid of you, something about you having 'the world's most potent mom glare' or something like that." Uzi chuckled.

Doll smiled at the memory. "Ah, yes... You are right... He will not be issue..."

Harry still wasn't sure... But... if his caretakers thought he was okay, then... he'd give it a chance at least... If it would make them happy... And if he was scared of the other boy, that might make him feel sad, if he was also hurt by his family... Would he be scared of him...?

"We will mull it over later, sweet boy." Doll assured him, stroking his hair. "But is almost time for lunch now... Who will cook today?" Uzi and Nori both promptly raised their hands.

Wait... Nori?

Uzi looked at her mother with a raised brow. "Hey, you know me, paintball, I just LOVE to experiment. I managed to work out a few things and I found out this thing's got built in claws for security purposes so I can use 'em to throw out intruders... ooooor I can use 'em to move stuff around. Liiiike so!" And with that, Nori extended the claws in question down from the ceiling, then used them to start opening cupboards and placing down cooking utensils. In record time, everything was laid out. "Soooo, yeah, you kids take a little rest and leave the cooking to the old folks, sound good?"

"Um... I dunno, mom..." Uzi murmured uncertainly.

"Ah, don't worry, I know what to do to stick to the kid's diet plan, I'm not gonna make anything over the top." Nori assured her, waving one of the claws.

"I see no problems..." Doll began. "But if it turns out subpar, I fix."

"Eh, fair enough. Welp! Off to start cookin' now!" And so, Nori began to cook.

Uzi cringed as she watched her mother pick up green pasta, onions and spinach. Sure, she was a drone that didn't need human food, but even still, she HATED spinach, and whoever came up with that stupid cartoon sailor that used it as his fuel deserved a boot to the head. But she SUPPOSED it was good for the kid though, so she was just gonna have to grin and bear it, be a good influence...

Nori quietly hummed a random tune she found as she cooked, and Uzi had to admit, for using giant, cumbersome metal claws, she was actually really skilled at this. She did not look at those things and think 'dexterity and delicacy', but she was managing it.

After a while, the food was done, and everyone was seated at the table. Nori set a covered dish down in the centre of the table and took the lid off to reveal a green pasta, with leaves and paste made of spinach. It looked absolutely revolting [to Uzi], but it smelled really good, actually. And judging by Harry's reaction to tasting it after Nori served him the first plate, he certainly seemed to think so.

"It's yummy..." Harry said softly as he gave Nori a small smile.

"Heh... Thanks, kid!" Nori's hologram propped her hands on her hips and smirked rather smugly. Uzi was stupefied. She was pretty sure despising spinach was like... kids 101. Looking over at Will, she wanted to see his reaction. She knew Will didn't like vegetables in his pasta because they got soggy and he preferred them crunchy... but he seemed to like it quite a bit too!

"The boy's right, it's pretty good." Will nodded in agreement.

"Yes. Is delicious." Doll agreed.

"Soooo, little miss 'I'll always hate spinach no matter what', wanna put your money where your mouth is?" Nori challenged, pushing the pasta towards her daughter. "Heh... Said that to me when you were like four, soooo consider this me accepting the challenge."

"...Wouldn't wanna be left out, I guess." Uzi relented, accepting a helping of the pasta. She closed her eyes, heaved out a sigh, and took a forkful. She took a single bite. Her eyes went wide. And she looked at Doll. "We've found your equal..." She remarked simply.

"Equal? I think not, young lady! Nothing's better than mom's home cooking! Not even a lover's cooking can hope to compare! Mother just has that little magic touch, y'see." Nori winked as Doll laughed softly into her hand.

"Is very good, Mrs. Doorman." Doll said with a polite bow of her head.

"Thank you for making yummy food..." Harry said softly. "Um... Everyone here is good at cooking food..."

"Dawwww..." Nori melted at the praise. "You're a good little cook to, kiddo."

"Oh... Um... I'm... I'm not that good..." Harry murmured.

"Oh, you are, sweet boy, you were very big help." Doll giggled.

"Yeah, don't sell yourself short, buddy." Uzi agreed with a nod.

"Seen you helping Uzi and Doll, you know what you're doing." Will agreed.

"Yep, you're a natural, little man." Nori said with a wink.

Harry smiled softly and looked down shyly. "Thank you..." He murmured softly.

They all dug in, and in about an hour, the food was gone, and Uzi was in the process of recalibrating her systems because the sheer surprise of her mom being a heavenly cook overwhelmed her.

"Aaaaand that's how you dig a way to a girl's heart through her stomach." Nori smirked before leaning over to Doll. "Hey. Later on I'll tell ya all my paintball's favourites so you can REALLY secure that heart of hers. Ya caught it now already, but this'll make sure you can hang onto it forever." She said with a wink.

"O-Oh, erm... Th-Thank you... Mrs... Doorman..." Doll murmured with a small blush.

Harry was confused at the heart analogy, "But... But don't we need hearts for stuff...? Is Miss Uzi okay...?" He asked worriedly.

Nori laughed in delight. "Ah man, you are so adorably innocent, little man. Nah, when I said heart, what I actually meant was love." She said with a wink. Harry tilted his head, then looked back and forth between Uzi and Doll.

"Oh... But... I think they already love each other, and... I don't think they can love each other more than they already do..." He said softly.

"...Yes... This is right..." Doll said with a warm smile, picking him up and setting him on her lap. "I adore Uzi with all my heart, and always will..." She leaned over and gave her lover a kiss on the cheek, shocking her out of her stupor.

"Huh? What? I was freaking out that my mom's Gordon freaking Ramsay, what'd I miss?" Uzi asked.

"Oh nothing." Doll laughed.

"Ah. Well, in that case, back to contemplating." Uzi fell back into her stunned trance.

"Well, we have dishes to work on, I'll get right on that..." Will spoke as he rose to his feet.

At that moment, Harry let out a yawn, and Nori looked over at him with a tilted head. "Oh, y'hear that? Someone's sleepy! Go on now, get this little man tucked in for a nap, make sure he gets his sleep, and uh... I think paintball's freakin' out again, she's gone back into shock, heheh..."

"Ah... If this is what you think is best then..." Doll bowed her head politely while taking Harry and Uzi to their room, holding Harry carefully in her arms while carrying the shocked Uzi with her telekinesis.

Opening the door with one hand, she made sure her lover was safely inside, closed it behind her, and gently, carefully set both Harry and Uzi on the bed, tilting her head as she watched Harry worriedly cuddle up against her side in hopes of a response. "M-Miss Doll...? Miss Uzi's not... She's not doing anything, is she okay...?" Doll tilted her head in thought... She then smiled widely as she got a little idea, and she leaned down to press her lips gently against Uzi's, which INSTANTLY woke her up.

"Ah! Uh... Wha...? Wha happun? I... I had a crazy dream, my... my mom was a good cook, and I... LIKED a meal made with SPINACH, and..." It took a few seconds before reality caught up with her and she realized it wasn't a dream. "Oh God it was real..."

"Yes. It was real." Doll nodded with a smile, and Uzi fell back.

"Doooooll... I'm being corrupted by parental love, and I love iiiiit, I'm going soft and losing my eeeeeedge... Doll smiled.

"Well I hope you still have enough love in your heart left over for us, my love." She teased.

As a response, Uzi tackled her in a hug. "Course I do, what kinda ridiculous things are you saying here? You're actually insane if you think I love you any less cause my mom's being the first time in years I've actually felt a parent's affection, who's the reason behind her being able to do that again? Oh right, it was you, so yeah, don't say asinine stuff like that every again." She huffed.

Doll laughed in delight and returned the hug, and Harry joined in the best he could, so the family shared one large embrace together as one, the unofficial mothers and their unofficial child.

They ended up falling asleep together like that. Harry cuddled up between the two drones, as they rested their heads on one another's shoulders, nuzzling into one another as they entered sleep mode.

Another week had passed, and Uzi and Doll were preparing for a date. Uzi was styling her hair, smiling proudly once she was done. Doll popped in from the side, smiling in amusement. "You changed nothing, my dear, your hair is same as always."

"Well, no real reason to bother changing it when you already love it, right?" Uzi said with a smirk.

"Hmm... I cannot argue with this." Doll said with a slight shrug.

Uzi turned around, wanting to know what Doll was wearing, before falling slackjawed at the beautiful dress Doll had on.

The dress wasn't as revealing as the one Doll had brought on her first date, there was no long slit down the legs and it was fairly high cut, but it more than made up for it in glamour. It was a dark purple dress that sparkled in the light, the dress itself going down just below Doll's thighs.

Doll noticed Uzi's expression and shyly rubbed her arm, before Uzi rushes in to give her a huge hug, causing her to blink a couple times before laughing softly and returning the embrace. "Agh, you look adorable right now, rrrrrgh, I wish you were a plush toy so the hug could be fluffyyyyyyy..." Uzi said.

Doll smirked at her lover. "Oh? If I were a plushie, would you like this?" She asked before pecking Uzi lightly on the lips.

"Ah! I-You-Buh-Gee-Muh-I..." Uzi stuttered out, causing Doll to laugh softly.

"Ah, you are too funny, my love..." Doll murmured gently, caressing Uzi's face. "Are you ready?" Uzi nodded with a gulp. "Good. We spend time with Harry until V comes, yes?"

"Y-Y-Y-Y-Yeah..." Uzi agreed, a bit jittery from the experience. She blinked. "Yeah... Harry.. Heh... Can't go off without giving him a hug goodbye, can we?" She power walked out of the room, and Doll shook her head with a smile.

"She loves him so much... Is so beautiful..." She whispered softly. "She has come far... Said she would never be mother, and now she is best mother he could have..." Smiling warmly, she followed after to join them.

When Uzi entered the room, Will and Harry were calmly watching Pokemon on the TV. "Heh... Lookin' cozy there, guys." She chuckled. She was surprised Harry was so cool with hanging around the much taller and physically imposing Will. "You two hangin' out. Funny, can't say I expected it."

"Mr. Will's nice. He's quiet, but he's nice." Harry said with a small smile.

Will smiled faintly at the praise and patted his head. "Heh. Thanks, mate. I see you're all set for your date then, Uzi."

Uzi nodded. "Yep! We're basically set to go, just wanna hang with the kid a bit while we wait for the babysitter. You all set for your arrangement tonight? The one that's totally NOT a date, as you claim?"

"It... really isn't though, Tessa and I are just going out for a meal as friends, she told me so herself." Will replied.

"Suuuure, bud." Uzi chuckled. Will was clueless and dense as could be.

Still confused, Will shrugged and continues watching TV, while Uzi smirked and approached the couch, climbing up and putting Harry on her lap as she gently patted his head, smirking fondly as he cozied up against her. "Heeeey, buddy, how ya feeling? Hurting anywhere? Eat anything weird?" She asked.

."I HEARD THAT!" Nori called over from the PA system, but Uzi ignored her.

"Um... I'm okay..." Harry assured her., Uzi didn't... NOT believe him, but she was very overprotective, feeling the need to ensure extra measures to make sure he was and stayed okay, especially given how V had a whole armoury in her hands. "Are you sure? If you really need us here, we can stay, we uh..."

"Uzi, dear, do not worry, Harry will be fine." Doll assured her lover as she stepped into the room with a fond smile.

Uzi looked down worriedly at the boy, mentally listing off multiple ways V could accidentally injure him with her weapons. What if he wanted to cook with her and she accidentally burned him with the laser, or cut him with a claw or sword when holding him, or something like that?!

"You do not think she is careless, do you?" Doll asked, brow raised. "You have seen how gentle she can be. She has her own sweet boy to raise, remember?"

"...Yeah... Okay... Yeah... You're right... You're totally right... Okay..." Uzi sighed, before she remembered V mentioned she'd planned on bringing her own son along to watch Harry. "Oh right! Hey, buddy... You ready to meet Crona for the first time?" She asked. Harry bit his lip and looked down.

"Oh, it will be all right, baby..." Doll murmured softly, caressing his cheek with her hand. "Crona is VERY nice boy... You will get along very good, I promise."

Harry fidgeted a little bit, still uncertain, but eventually decided to simply nod his head as he remembered how Doll and Uzi had told him a lot about how Crona was nice and wouldn't hurt him. He would try his best to not be scared, even if only because he trusted them. "Soooo, what were you boys watching, anyway?" Uzi asked. Harry pointed at the TV. "Um... Some Pokemon... We... We saw these ones already, but I liked them..."

Uzi chuckled and rubbed his hair affectionately. "Atta boy, this is just step one on your path to become an anime lover just like me!" She said proudly. Doll rolled her eyes goodnaturedly.

[Now hopefully he doesn't follow TOO much in your footsteps, I don't think I want him pirating any shows.] She said in her native language with a small smirk.

"Awww, come on, Doll, it was for our anime night together!" Uzi protested.

[This does not make it any less illegal.]

"For you? ANYTHING is legal." Uzi replied with a wink. Doll and Uzi then shared a laugh together, while Will simply rubbed the back of his head.

"Please don't let the police show up looking for her..." He muttered to himself.

Doll's laugh ended first, as she took on a dead serious expression. [But seriously, don't do it again. I mean it. I don't want any legal trouble. Especially since Harry is around now.]

"Don't worry, I get it. Wouldn't want any issues for the kid, so I'll play by the rules. Plus I actually have the money to buy blu rays now, so that's nice." Uzi assured her.

"Ah. Good. Thank you for being understanding." Doll said with a light bow.

"Soooo, which episode is this again...? Ah, heh... The Jigglypuff one, classic..." She and Doll sat around next to Harry and they all watched Pokemon together, snuggled in close as a family. Will kept a slight distance. This was mother-son time, and he didn't want to intrude on that. Plus he had to head out soon anyway...

After a while, Will rose to his feet "Right then. Have fun you two, and don't forget, Doll, you promised to tell V not to trim the plants like last time, I'd like to keep Tessa's gift in one piece and all that."

"Of course, Will." Doll nodded with a small smile.

"Thank you. See you later, everyone." Will nodded as he left.

Uzi snickered at his total obliviousness. "Pfft... Those plants were literally roses, saying how he reminds me of those cringey harem main characters from some of the anime we watched."

"Yes. I do hope he becomes more perceptive of her affections." Doll agreed with a small smile.

Then, there was a knock on the door before it was abruptly thrown open in V's trademark way of entering rooms.

V walked in, nonchalantly picking her teeth, before replacing her claw with her regular hand. "Hey there, ladies. Will just left I see."

"Erm... Yes, but... where is...?" Doll looked at the doorway.

"Oh, I was just giving him a sec to psyche himself up, he's shy around new people, heh... Hey, hun, you can come in now, it's okay." V called over gently as she leaned behind the doorframe. After a few moments, Crona's head peeked around the doorway before he timidly stepped into the room, tapping his index fingers together. V picked him up in her arms cradling and nuzzling him with a gentle smile. "Don't worry, sweetie, it's gonna be fine, he's not gonna hate you." She assured him.

"Hmm..." Crona nodded, clearly still shy about the situation.

"Heheheh... Ah, you'll lighten up around the little guy, don't worry." V booped his nose with a wink. before approaching the sofa where the family looked on. "Hey, kid. Looking pretty nervous yourself there, you feeling shy too?" She asked.

"Oh, um... H-Hi, Miss V..." Harry murmured softly with a small awkward wave before noticing she was carrying something, and making eye contact with Crona for the first time.

The two boys held the eye contact they established for a tense moment, their respective families watching with bated anticipation at what they will say, do, or how they'll react.

The two boys proceed to bury their faces in the clothes of their families, too shy to look at each other.

"Awwwww..." Came the collective disappointment from every female in the room.

V gently moved Crona away from her jacket, giving him a tender smile. "Don't worry, sweetie. Remember, nothing's gonna happen to you with me around. C'mon, say hi! You can do that at least if you're a bit shy."

Crona reluctantly looked at her, before...

"Uuuurgh, seriously, I've met a fly who holds a better conversation than you two!"

Ragnarok popped out and almost IMMEDIATELY terrifies Harry, who hid into Uzi's clothes again. Ragnarok looked around at the new environment, "Oh, hey. This place again-Oh. Wait, she's not here, is she...?" He turned white when he realized what he just did right in front of Doll. He slowly turned to look at the red-eyed drone, who was giving him a very disapproving glare. Ragnarok gulped. "Okay. I swears I didn't mean anything by it!"

"Mhm. Right." Uzi replied skeptically, rubbing Harry's head gently.

"C'mon, it was a total accident, how was I supposed to know I'd freak him out that much?!" Ragnarok insisted.

:Accident or not, you scared the poor kid out of his wits." V chided him with a frown.

"Yeah, Ragnarok, we... we told you you have to be quiet." Harry chided his partner as well, albeit much more shyly and reserved.

Ragnarok slumped and grumbled. about "Ah, everyone is making him feel like an ass-DONKEY, I meant donkey!" Was all he said before retreating.

Doll and Uzi rolled their eyes before turning back to Harry. "Hey... Buddy, you can look up now, the rude blob guy's gone." Uzi murmured to him softly. Harry slowly peeked out, seeing no black monster sticking out of Crona's back.

"Wh-What was that...?" He asked nervously.

"Um... S-Sorry, he's... He's Ragnarok, he's... I'm stuck with him... He's my blood... Um... I know he looks kinda scary and he's loud, but... he isn't bad, I promise..." Crona replied.

Harry, blinking owlishly upon hearing Crona say Ragnarok was his blood, looked up at Uzi with a tilted head. "B-Blood can be alive...? Is my blood gonna come alive too...?" He asked.

"Heheheh... Nah. Crona's a special case, kid." V explained with a soft chuckle. "He's one of a kind. That slimy little goo ball used to be a human, buuuut one thing led to another, and now he's melted down into goo, but got turned and then put inside Crona."

"Oh... Does... he hurt... being all melty and blobby...?" Harry asked.

"Um... No... He's fine... Um... Usually..." Crona murmured.

"He has to be, Ragnarok can't get hurt or my kid will be hurt too, and nobody wants that." V said with a chuckle, gently messing up her son's hair.

"Oh...Are... Are you okay...?" Harry asked Crona, concerned. Crona saw the worry in his eyes and smiled softly. He hated to admit it, but he liked it when people worried for him, it made him feel important and wanted.

"Um... Y-Yes, I'm... I'm okay..." Crona assured him. "Ragnarok's not as grumpy as he used to be, my mommies love me, and I'm not hurt anywhere..."

Uzi smiled and gently squeezed Harry. "Hey... There's a good boy, lookin' out for his new friend..."

"Yes, you are already getting along nice. Do you see, sweet boy? You did not need to be worried." Doll agreed with a soft smile.

Harry slowly eased up, realizing that indeed, Doll and Uzi were right. Uzi gently set him down, and he looked up at her. She nodded encouragingly, and he walked over to Crona. "Um... Hi... I'm... Harry..." He murmured softly.

"Hi, Harry... I'm Crona." Crona returned the greeting, timidly extending his hand towards the other boy as he did the same, the two of them slowly, gently clasping hands together and shaking lightly in greeting, smiling softly.

"Awww..." Every female present cooed gently at the sight, even the previously not present Nori, and Nori immediately puleds out a camera using her new limbs and took several pictures of the little pair, while Uzi and V recorded the using their visors.

"His first friend, Doll, this is awesome!" Uzi whispered to her lover, who simply smiled back at her.

"Yes... Yes, this is very good, I am glad to see it." Doll agreed with a smile and a nod. She then sighed softly. "But we cannot stay much longer, we are reserved, we mustn't run out of time."

"Oh yeah, the date!" Uzi remembered. "Okay, uh, we're gonna head on out now, but before we go, I made a little list of what to do when looking after the little guy here, we got him on a diet right, he needs to eat lightish until his little stomach can handle the bigger stuff, don't want him to get sick or anything, he usually goes to bed around eight thirty, I don't mind him staying up until nine but he usually gets tired and passes out around that time, uh... He loves board games, and he's been watching Pokemon on TV so you can put that on for the kids if you need a sec to do something..." V sighed and waited patiently for Uzi to finish, very much familiar with this procedure thanks to J.

After a while, Doll sighed and rolled her eyes goodnaturedly, then gently grabbed Uzi by the arm, gently dragging her out the door as she continued talking and trying to make sure V heard as much as possible, before the door shut, Uzi giving one last "BYYYYEEEEE!" from outside as she was being pulled off.

V raised a brow and smirked fondly. "Heh... Well, kid, I'd definitely say you hit the orphan jackpot there." She said to Harry with a wink. "Soooo, you remember me, right? I'm V, we met before like... the day after you got here, and uh... I guess I made a good first impression, cause they asked me to look after you. And I gotta say, I'm happy to see you get along so well with my little guy Crona here." She lightly booped her son's nose.

Crona giggled softly in delight, and Harry nodded. "Um... Crona's nice.. Talking to him is nice..." He murmured.

"Heh! Hear that, kiddo?" V gently messed up Crona's hair. "Sounds like you're a good little conversationalist!" Crona beamed at his mother's praise. "Okay! So... you already have dinner?"

"Mm-hmm." Harry nodded his head.

"Okay, good, cause I just cooked before I came here and I've had my fill for the day." V chuckled. "Sooooo uh... Watch some cartoons, or...?"

And so that was just what they did, Harry and Crona sitting side by side as V sat on the side next to her son.

After about thirty minutes passed, V sighed very softly and barely audibly, having already gotten bored with the show. She looked between the pair of boys, smiling at how much they seemed to enjoy it. Her boredom prevailed, however, and she felt the need to strike up a conversation. She looks between them, sifting through topics she can pull out through her mind, before blurting out the first question she could think of to make conversation. "Soooo, do you boys know the lyrics to the national anthem?"

'WHAT?!' She asked herself internally.

"Oh... Um... I... I don't think... Miss Uzi... taught me... that... yet..." Harry mumbled nervously, rubbing his arm.

"Huh...? Um... Something about... god... and a queen...?" Crona mumbled in confusion.

"Okay, nevermind, wrong question, uuuuuh..." V thought long and hard for another question, before sighing and giving up, slumping into the couch in resignation.

Harry then decided to chime in. "Um... Miss V, you... you said you had someone else... Um... Are they like Miss Uzi and Miss Doll...?" Harry asked.

"Hmm? What do you mean, kid?" V asked, head tilted.

"Um... D'you love this other person like Miss Uzi and Miss Doll love each other...?" Harry asked.

V tilted her head, then smiled warmly. "Oh, you bet I do, kid... Heh... I can't even tell you how much I love that drone... Ah, I remember all those hours we spent reading before we got together back in that mansion when we were just a couple of little worker drones, she was so adorable back then... Heh... Now she's just the prettiest drone I know, and honestly, she's just as devoted to Crona as Uzi is to you." She winked at Harry and ruffled his hair.

There was a moment of silence. "Soooo, you call them your moms yet?" V asked.

"Um... No... I... I dunno if I should..." He murmured.

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" She asked.

"I... I love being with them, I love them, but... but I dunno if they wanna... be... that..." He said softly. "I... I dunno what they think of me..." He rubbed his arm.

"Hmm... Well... I think they care a lot more than ya think, kid. And that's saying a lot." V said with a wink. She decided it best not to push this. It needed to happen naturally, all on its own. She couldn't influence it any more than this.

"Are you sure...?"

"More positive than I've ever been, kid. I've seen how she and Doll treat you. Trust me, you have nothing to worry about." V answered. Harry's worries were still there, but V's words...they struck a chord with him. He calmed down a bit more.

"Soooo...is it me or is anyone else a bit bored by this show now?" Asks V.

Harry speaks up first. "Umm...I...think I am a bit bored."

"Me too..." Crona nods.

"Me three."

"Nobody asked you, ooze pile." V calls out to Ragnarok. The creature grumbles and silences himself.

"Hmm...any toys we feel like playing with?"

"I...have some toys." Harry said. "I can bring them here to play with Crona."

"You wanna play with Harry and his toys, sweetie?"

Crona feels a bit uneasy at the prospect, twiddling his thumbs. "I...I don't know if I should. What if...what if I break them?"

V simply chuckles, gently patting Crona's head. "Nah, don't worry kiddo. No way is someone as gentle as you gonna break his toys. Right Harry?"

"Mhm..." Harry nods. "You don't seem like...someone who would break my toys. I...I think it's fine."

Crona felt himself grow happy at his words. He truly did trust him that much to play with his toys? Truly?

"See? Nothing to worry about. Just uh...don't let Ragnarok touch them. Like, at all."

"Hey"

"Didn't I tell you to shut up!? Go away!" V said.

"Mmmmghhhhhhjjjjfgaaaah..." Ragnarok spewed an incorrigible mess of words, before groaning and growing silent.

"I...I'll go get some toys." Harry said, getting off the couch and leaving for his room. After a minute he returned with his toys, and the boys began to play together with action figures, board games, and other stuff. All the while V watched with a smile as her son got along swimmingly with the other boy.

Like, it was undeniable. The boys were perfectly fine together. Crona was supremely careful not to damage any of Harry's stuff, while Harry, the sweetie he is, attempted to get Crona to liven up and play more.

The boys, while still a bit shy with one another, now loosened up and are much more friendly together.

And what's even better, Ragnarok didn't even talk once!

"They're doing so well..." V sighs in pride.

"Yup, they sure do." Nori suddenly chimes in.

"Gah!" V jumped in surprise, looking up at Nori's floating ghost form. "Geez, you have to stop sneaking up on people like that!"

"Why would I? It's so much fun! Haha!" Nori laughed, backflipping in the air and stopping in a resting position.

V sighed, calming down. "How Uzi puts up with you as her mom I will never know."

"Eh, she's my steel and oil. If she couldn't put up with me I wouldn't be her mother!" Nori replied. "Soooo...assassin drone, eh?"

"Uuuh...yeah?"

"Cool! So, what kinda badass missions do you go to?"

"I don't." V replied. "Me and J...and the others, are decommissioned. Tessa took us in so we wouldn't kill people anymore."

"Awww, that's boring." Nori slumped. "But you still went on badass missions, yeah? What sorta cool stuff did you do?"

"I don't think gutting live people and killing targets who often did absolutely nothing wrong is all that cool."

"It's cool on TV."

"This is real life!"

"Still looks cool!"

"Ah..." V wanted to reply, but stopped. "Okay yeah, it does look sorta cool."

Nori decided to let up for now. "Guess I shouldn't be picking on the living impaired, heh... Soooo... You uh... got any lingering feelings of remorse or pain from those days? Cause... I know a thing or two about therapy, I did a bit of studying on the subject when Paintball was asleep, interesting stuff, always good to help someone that needs someone to hear 'em out."

V raised an eyebrow in surprise at the offer. "I'll... keep that in mind..." She murmured, even though she didn't really think she or J would need any of it. "But... Yeah... No, I'm pretty sure the overwhelming majority of the people we killed had it coming... I mean, one of them was straight up mafia, for crying out loud... But... I... probably took it too far with a few of them... Well... A lot of them... But I did manage to get some payback for Patricia and Filia and Sienna in the end, that's pretty good, isn't it?"

Nori remembered those three girls were hurt by some REALLY bad people, even if she didn't know the details, wincing at the thought of how that must've felt. "Yeah... They got a bit of payback, that's nice..." She admitted. "So... Anyone who WASN'T bad? You take down anyone like tha- I am prying WAY too much, I am so sorry...",

"Nah... You're good, I... don't really know how I feel about the whole thing... Like, yeah, I feel bad, but...part of me really doesn't care. I don't know if it's the part of me that's an emotionless robotic husk or something else, but I know that one half of me really couldn't care less, when the other obviously feels guilty... And... I don't know why, I mean, I know I can feel deep strong emotions, I love my wife and kid more than anything on this planet..." V murmured.

"Hmm... Might be something to do with your programming. After all, you're not an everyday worker drone like most other drones here,. you're an assassin drone. A machine meant to kill things. Whoever the people who made you like that are, they made sure you would feel jack about killing stuff..." Sympathy overtook her, and she summoned a hand and patted V on the head with it. "You poor kid...no one, especially you, deserved that sort of stuff."

V smiled and chucked. "Heh... I can see how Uzi puts up with you. You can be a real mom when you need to. ...I... I need to overcome this, it's not right to feel like this, and... and... oh man... what if I end up hurting my boy and not caring...?"

"Well, remember, my offer still stands, counseling's an option for ya now. I'd be happy to hear out any issue you got, and I'm available 24/7, 365, for as much time as you need."

"Riiiiight, cause you're a hologram, you can watch the cameras and play psychiatrist at the same time... Well, that can wait, I got kids to worry about right now. But hey... Expect me soon though... And maybe J too, I dunno, she's always been a bit closed off emotionally, we're trying to work on that, heh..."

"Right. And for what it's worth... I'm pretty confident you'd never hurt that boy and if you did you'd probably puke all over the place." Nori assured V.

"That... is probably not the most normal thing to say to make someone feel better, but I'm getting the sense it's pretty much on brand for you, isn't it?" V sighed. "Well... I'm not gonna hurt him even the tiniest bit, I'm gonna make sure of that, and if I do, J has to kill me."

"That's even worse than what I said!" Nori remarked.

V shrugged. "Either way, that kid's hurt, we're both hurt, and I don't intend to ever let that happen, but I still can't do it all alone.

"Well, you got more than just J and yourself to rely on. You're surrounded by people that would love to help out. Tessa especially. Hell, you should talk to Heinz about checking your programming and making adjustments."

"Yeah... I guess you're right..." V relented.

"Well, that's enough of the gloomy atmosphere. Tine to talk fun stuff!" Nori chirped, causing V to chuckle softly.

As the two drones talked, the two boys were playing a board game. "Oh, I won again!" Harry said, perking up.

"Oh. Okay. Hmm... Am I gonna get two wins also...?" Crona wondered to himself.

"Um... We can... play with something else if you're sad you didn't win..." Harry murmured shyly.

"It's okay. It's just a game." Crona replied with a small smile Both boys then looked at the two drones talking between each other. "Um... Harry... Is Miss Nori your grandma...? She keeps calling you her... grandbaby when she talks about you to my mommies..."

Harry looked at him, head tilted to the side. "My... grandma...? She... calls me that...? Really...?" He asked softly.

"Oh... You... don't know... Um... So does that mean you... don't call Miss Uzi and Miss Doll your mommies...?" Crona asked.

"I... I..." Harry looked nervous.

"I was scared too..." Crona said softly. "I... I was scared to ask mommy and mama to be mommy and mama... Um... You can do it when you think it feels right... Don't do it if you don't want to right now... I think they're your mommies though... They're just like my mommies are with me."

"Really...?" Harry asked softly.

"Mm-hmm... They... saved me from hurting, and they held me, and they told me it was okay, and they sang me songs and they protected me, and... they loved me... And when I called them mommy and mama for the first time, they were so happy they cried, and..." He rubbed his arm. "And I think it'll be the same with you and Miss Uzi and Miss Doll..."

"...You do...?"

"Mm-hmm..." Crona nodded.

"...I... I don't... think I'm ready..." Harry said softly.

"Okay. Do it when you are. It doesn't matter." Crona shrugged. Harry smiled slightly as they played another round of the game. He liked Crona... He was nice...

A couple hours had passed, and Uzi and Doll were now making the walk back home, hand in hand, in a comfortable silence. Uzi turned to look at Doll with a small, concerned frown. "Hey, uh... Doll... Am I too... overbearing with the kid...?" She asked.

Doll blinked and looked at her, confused. "Hmm? I do not understand. What do you mean?"

"I mean... do I make too much of a fuss over him...? He uh... We were running late for the reservations because I was freaking out over things going right for him with V, and..." Uzi let out a sigh. "I dunno, I don't wanna be anything like my dad and make him feel like I don't care, but like... do you think I'm overcompensating or trying too hard, or anything like that...?"

"Hmm... No." Doll said simply.

"...Really...?" Uzi asked softly.

"Uzi, I am happy you care so much about this, you are good mother and that makes me glad." Doll said softly, leaning against her slightly. "I am okay with missing dinner date to make sure little one is safe and happy... You do not have to be so stressed over everything, but I am happy that you are showing him that you care about him."

"Still... I dunno... What if I totally overwhelm him...?" Uzi said softly.

"Do you see, Uzi?" Doll said softly.."This means you know what is wrong, and will try not to do it, this is good, you are good. You do well." She rested her head on the top of her shorter girlfriend's and closed her eyes. "I could not ask for better mother of my baby boy."

Uzi smiled softly and looked up at her. "Seriously, how are you so good with giving him cute little pet names? You call him 'sweet boy' and 'baby' all the time and I just call him 'dude' and 'bud' and all that crap..."

Doll laughed softly into her hand. "Is only natural to call my little one cute nicknames, is what any mother would do... My mother used to call me her little violet... "Uzi... you should make a cute nickname for him, it will make you feel little bit closer with him... and would make him feel closer with you also."

"Yeah... Mom told me I had to come up with a cute nickname for the little guy a while back... I've been thinking about it, but I just can't find one that feels... me, y'know? I mean, I could call him 'baby' or 'sweet boy' or something cutesy like that, but that just isn't me, I need something that's... me, does that make sense...?" Uzi asked with a tilted head.

"Yes... It does. Cute is not your style... I do not mean anything bad by this, is just true. I think you will pick something that sounds cute, but not... sugar... Something cute, but cool..."

"Hmm... Cute but cool, huh? What to do, what to do...?" Uzi put a finger under her chin thoughtfully, but eventually sighed. "Drawing blanks here..."

"It will come naturally... Harry will do something to inspire one." Doll said with a soft chuckle.

"Yeah... Hey... D'you think he's okay without us? We've never been away from him this long before..." Uzi murmured.

"Harry will be okay. He is adaptable." Doll chuckled.

"Yeah, heh... He's a real little trooper. ...Hey... Little trooper... Little... trooper... Holy crap, Doll, that actually works!" Uzi said excitedly.

Doll blinked twice, then laughed softly. "Oh, that WAS quick... Yes... Is good nickname,"

"Good? No, this is better than good. This is GODLIKE!"

Silence reigned in the area at those words, before Doll snorted, before falling into full on laughter, Uzi pouted and huffed softly. "What's funny?!"

"Oh, is nothing, is just so cute how proud you are of new nickname." Doll giggled.

"Well... Can ya blame me? It's a special thing concerning our kid! It's no laughing matter, this is a momentous occasion in all our lives!" Uzi insisted. This in turn just caused Doll to laugh even harder. "Dooooooooll..." Uzi whined softly.

"Ah, relax. It's just adorable, the way you're so affectionate. You worry so much about being too overbearing or not good enough, yet you do good job at being a mother without barely even trying."

Uzi bashfully waved her hand with a digital blush. "Ah, come on. No way is it effortless. I'm putting in effort. Just..."

"Just?"

"I...I dunno...it seems like it gets easier and I have less effort to put in, y'know."

"And that's exactly it, Uzi."

Doll walked in front of her, stopping under a light.

Approaching, she grabbed Uzi's hands and gazed into her holographic eyes.

"You are perfect, Uzi." She began. "Everything about you. You are beautiful in a way no other drone, human, or anything else can compare to. You are a unique flower in a field of flowerbeds, standing alone and somehow being more pretty than any of them."

Uzi's felt her wiring start to spark.

"Your character is also a beautiful one to see." Doll continued. "Your personality is a fiery, blazing and powerful bonfire that tells everyone "listen to me, I am here, and I am talking", and yet it has a more comforting warmth than any fireplace as soon as you are around those you love and care for, friends, family or other."

Now, Uzi's face was replaced with an error message, which was in a heart shaped sign.

"And most of all, you try." Doll spoke. "You try to be kind, warm and soft, you try to be sweet, loving and caring. You succeed without even trying, and yet you still try so you could be even better. You are successful without effort, yet you still put it in so it could be an even bigger success."

Doll began stroking Uzi's face with one hand.

"So, what I'm trying to say is...you are perfect, Uzi. You are good. Or, hehe, not good."

She planted a kiss on her cheek.

"You're GOD, as you would say."

Shakily, Uzi touched the spot she was just kissed at. "A...any ch-ch...chance...you could..."

"Keep up the kiss?"

Uzi just gave a very eager nod.

Doll chuckled. "You needed to just ask."

And so, their lips connected.

A clash of metal as silent as morning dew. A pair of sweet, passionate lips full of nothing but praise met a pair of metal, hard, yet soft and warm lips full of affection in an explosion of love and sincerity Shakespeare would be amazed by. It lasted for a solid flat minute, just as perfectly as the participants in the entire thing were.

After that minute had passed, the pair separated, Uzi stumbling and almost falling to the ground, before Doll caught her hand and pulled her up with a chuckle.

"I take it I haven't gotten rusty?"

"Rusty?!" Uzi replied, appalled. "Doll, that was Heaven! I think you have the door to Heaven on your lips!" At that, Doll simply laughed with mirth.

"I am serious here!" Uzi insisted. "That tasted wonderful! Like you took everything that made you awesome...your sweet, wonderful kindness and personality, your beautiful...EVERYTHING, your voice, your affection, your smarts, your sweetness...you took all that and...and..."

"And?"

"And mixed it all up in a...bowl of...love soup, I dunno!" Uzi replied. "Point is, that was beautiful! You're beautiful! I loved it! Just like I love you! This sounds so sappy but goddammit will I keep saying it!"

Unable to hold herself back, Uzi hugs Doll tightly. So tightly in fact that you can practically hear the metal bending and groaning under the pressure.

"I love everything about you! How you care for me and are so affectionate with both me and Harry, how you do your best to help not just us but everyone else in the apartments. I love how your voice sounds when you sing, I love listening to you speak, not just English but Russian as well! I love how you can be kind and sweet yet quiet and mysterious and cool and aaaaaaaah! I love yoouuuuuuu!"

Doll smiled, even if slightly strained due to the hug. "And what else do you like about me?"

"Um...um..." Uzi's face went purple completely as she set Doll down and twiddled her fingers. "I, uh...l...like..."

"What?" Doll leaned in, smiling. "Tell me."

"I...I like it when you speak Russian whenever we...we...do that..."

Doll blinked, before smiling mischievously. "Hehe, well, [I'll make sure to speak plenty of Russian on our next time. Deal?]

"D-d-deal..." 'HOT!' Uzi thought.

"Hehe, come here."

Doll then enveloped Uzi in a hug of her own, gently nuzzling her lover's head into her neck.

"I love you too, Uzi."

"Not more than I love you..."

Doll looked down at her. "Hm? I can tell in your voice that you have more to say. Go ahead. Let me listen."

"Y-you sure? I mean...it's sorta embarrassing..."

"No. Nothing coming from you is embarrassing. Never."

Uzi blushed more at that, before nodding. "O-okay..." clearing her throat, she began.

"You're the most perfect creation I have ever met. Your behavior, how you act all stoic, quiet and blank, yet have a sweet, loving and kind soul under all that. I love how you present yourself as quiet and stoic and always in control, and in reality you're just the sweetest being on the green Earth. You kinda remind me of some anime I used to watch. I always liked the tall, quiet and stoic beautiful girl archetype, and...I've always had fantasies...of getting swept off my feet and carried away by that sort of girl, back when I was still a dorky, nerdy teen in high school."

Uzi wrapped her own arms around Doll again, in another hug. "And now...now that I have exactly that...well, minus the anime part, hehe..." Uzi joked, though her voice could be heard cracking. "I wanna thank you."

"Hm? Thank me?"

"Yeah...for...coming into my life. I...was alone. For so...so many years, I was alone...no one wanted to deal with me...no one cared about me...not even my own dad...I was ostracised, rejected and hated by everyone for no freaking reason...and when I got thrown out...I almost lost hope. Then...then I met you."

Her hug around Doll tightened.

"You...were a light that I've been looking for for so...so damn long. You brought life into what I used to call a life. You shined into my existence and gave me meaning to keep going. You...you were the first person to stay with me. Not reject me. Not run away or want nothing to deal with me. You stayed. You didn't leave...you accepted me. Without asking to change or be different, you accepted me because I was...ME! So...so..."

Small sparks appeared between Uzi's forehead and Doll's metal neck.

"I...I love you, Doll. I love you...so, so much...I'll say it as many times as I freaking want and need to. I love you...and thank you..."

She was silent for a moment. "Seriously, thank you, just... I know it's getting old and cheesy and sappy and all that, but I'll keep saying it anyway. Thank you for choosing me... You could have gone for Lizzy, she's way more conventionally attractive, but you chose ME-"

"No, Uzi, not at all..." Doll murmured softly. "You are much more beautiful than Lizzy... That is fact, and I will never stop repeating it. I thank you too, for being with me..." She smiled warmly at her lover. "You are my one and only. Mine, no one else's. That is promise." She said gently.

"Aww... Doll..." Uzi choked up slightly.

"Now then... We kiss again, yes?" Doll asked.

"I...I'd love that..." Uzi sniffled.

"Good..." And their lips contacted once more.

This kiss didn't last as long as the one prior, just a quick, five second exchange to show their love before they split up, gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. "Heh... We better get back home before Harry starts to worry about us..." Uzi murmured.

"Ah yes...He would worry, poor baby is shy... And your mother, she would worry too?" Doll replied.

Uzi smirked and rolled her eyes. "Mom would probably call 911 in every nearby country to assemble their entire police task force and ambulance personel to find me if I stayed out just an hour longer than I said I would, and no I am not exaggerating."

"Oh my." Doll giggled. "Well then we must not keep her waiting..." Gently, she grabbed her lover and scooped her up in her arms bridal style. Uzi let out a light squeak, and Doll laughed and kissed her cheek. "Is very cute sound you made."

"B-Bite me..." Uzi muttered, looking away with a blush but making no effort to wriggle away as Doll began walking, a warm smile slowly finding its way onto her face. They walked for a few minutes before Uzi spoke again. "I can't believe we already started our own family... It's crazy, isn't it...?"

"Hmm... Yes... It happen much sooner than I expect." Doll agreed with a nod.

"Heh... Well... I'm not complaining... I mean... It's just... another sign of how close we really are, that we're comfortable enough to... to have a kid together... I... Geez, I'm so glad you're my co-mom." Uzi chuckled before leaning her head against her lover. "I love you... And I love our son..."

Doll teared up and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "I love you too, my darling... And so does our son... most definitely..."

"Hmm..." Uzi hummed uncertainly. "I dunno, kid hasn't exactly called us his parents yet, so he might not be all too comfortable with us..."

"You worry too much." Doll said gently. "Way he acts says this is not true. He IS happy around us. We just shouldn't rush it. He is hurt, so he needs time to get used to new life. Then he will call us parents."

Uzi narrowed her eyes. "Doll, when I get my hands on the assholes that put their hands on my kid, I swear I'm just gonna..." she didn't wanna go into it, so she settled for making strangling motions.

Doll nodded. "Yes... I feel the same... I am hoping I meet them someday... to make them pay... Hmm... Perhaps we can borrow from V and J... Eviscerate properly..."

Uzi laughed. "Geez... Kid's barely out of being a toddler and we're already looking for ways to get back at his bullies! Figured we'd at least wait till he started school to worry about that!"

Doll smiled softly. "We want to protect our baby. Is natural. And that means we should hurry home to make sure he is okay..."

"O crap, we're running late!" Uzi exclaimed. She jumped out of Doll's hold and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her along as she dashed towards the apartment complex. Doll smiled softly, looking at her, looking back on everything and being grateful that it happened, because otherwise she never would have met the girl she loved the most, and would have likely remained heartbroken and sad for the rest of her life. She followed her along as they ran.

Meanwhile, back at the apartment, Nori and V were in the middle of a conversation. Nori was talking about what her experiences as a worker in the medicine industry was like. "...And that's how I lost my medical license and am legally prohibited from being within ten feet of a scalpel!" Nori concluded.

"Pffft! Haha! Badass! You'd be a top tier assassin drone if you had the right gear!" V chuckled.

"Aw, thanks, ya unhinged psycho! Wonder if my paintball would like a badass assassin mom..." Nori mused. Then, the doorbell rang. "Aaaaand speak of the devil, they're back home! Not a moment too soon, ten more minutes and I would've gotten the government involved! Hey, V, go let 'em in and I'll let the kids know!"

"Sounds good. Better get Crona set to go home anyway, close to bedtime." V chuckled, making her way to the door as Nori faded out to get Harry and Crona.

V opened the door and was just about to open her mouth greet the pair, but before she could even get her mouth opened, Uzi grabbed her by the shoulders and started to rapidly shake her. w"Hey! How are the kids?! Did you follow my instructions?! He didn't get hurt, did he?! Was he any trouble?! Was Ragnarok a dick to him?! Tell me Ragnarok was NOT a dick to my boy!"

V smacked her upside the head with a wing to quiet her, needing a few moments to reboot herself back to normal. "Okay, you did NOT have to shake me like a freaking maraca, Harry's fine, I followed everything to the letter and made sure Harry was safe and sound the whole time. I'm a mom too, all right? I know what's up." She said flatly.

"Oh... Uh... Right... Heh... Sorry... My bad..." Uzi chuckled, blushing slightly as Doll gave her an amused glance.

V smiled and patted her on the back. "Heh... Don't feel bad for worrying, I get it. It's a mom thing." She assured the other drone. "Now get in here." She stood aside to let them in, and Nori brought the kids back down, Harry moving a bit quicker than Crona, excited that his caretakers were back.

"Hey, Harry!" Uzi immediately knelt down and spread her arms for him, and he excitedly picked up the pace as he walked towards her. As soon as he was within reach, she snatched him right up off the ground and lightly booped his nose with a bright smile. "Heeeey, there's my little trooper, heh... You okay, bud?"

"Yes, Miss Uzi, I'm okay... I had fun with Crona, everything was okay... Um... Did you and Miss Doll have fun doing your grown up trip...?" He asked softly.

"Heh... Yep. You bet we did, bud. We had a ton of fun. But ya know what? I think we have just a liiiiittle bit more fun just hanging out with you here at home." Uzi replied, patting his head.

"Oh... I'm sorry... I... I didn't mean to make going out not fun anymore..." Harry winced.

"Ah, it's fine, buddy, ya don't have to apologize." Uzi chuckled, Doll watching with a wide smile and following along as she took him to the couch.

"So um... What did you do...?" He asked softly. Uzi looked thoughtful.

"Well, first we went out to get something to eat..." Uzi began.

As Uzi and Harry exchanged stories about their time away from each other, Doll turned to V. "Hello, V. Did everything go well? No others showed up and did anything crazy or dangerous?" She asked.

"Heh... Nah. no one popped in, Nori made sure of that. B tried to show up drunk at one point, and she chased him off by getting a hose with those weird limbs of hers and spraying him with dirty brown water." V chuckled. "Don't ask where she got a hose, she won't tell me." Crona was standing beside his mother, holding onto her tail gently as it drooped down to his level. "Buuut enough about me." V knelt down to gather her son up in her arms and lightly nuzzled him before turning back to Doll. "What was the date like? What'd ya do?"

"Ah... It was quite fun date..." Doll murmured with a small smile.

Back with Uzi and Harry, Uzi was telling the boy all about what they did on their amusement park date, about all the rides and games they participated in. Harry was amazed. "Wow... You went to a park... I... I always wanted to go, but they didn't..." Harry winced and looked down.

Uzi frowned softly before putting on a soft smile. "Aww, don't worry, bud, we didn't bring ya this time because you're still healing up, once you're back in shape, you are THERE." She promised. "We'll all head on down together! That way we won't have to miss you the whole time."

Harry gasped and looked at her in awe. "Really...? I get to go...?" He asked softly. Uzi smiled softly and hugged the boy tightly, gently squeezing him and sighing softly.

"Course you do, little buddy... You've seriously missed out on so much... I promise we're gonna do everything we can to make up for everything you've missed... There's a whole world of fun out there waiting for ya, and we're gonna bring it to you. Just you wait..." She murmured softly.

Harry just barely managed to restrain the tears that so desperately wanted to form and hugged her back, with Uzi kissing his head and keeping her lips lingering for a few seconds before breaking the lip contact while still keeping the bottom part of her face buried snugly in his hair. They stayed like that for a while. Uzi gently squeezed the boy and smiled warmly. This felt right... This just felt so right... This was her child, pure and simple...

Everyone else in the room observed the sight before them, all remaining quiet and smiling at the wonderful interaction, Doll even tearing up a little bit at how loving her lover was being.. Crona was then shifted in V's hold and held in the exact same manner as Uzi held Harry. "Heh... Isn't that nice, hun? Harry's got someone to make him the same promises J and I made for you..." She murmured. Crona hummed softly. He was happy that Harry was going to live his life surrounded by comfort with two loving moms at his side forever. Glad that he had good parents like Miss Uzi and Miss Doll, just like him.

V gave her son a gentle squeeze. "Whattya say we head on home now and let them have their family time, huh, hun?" She whispered softly to him, and he nodded in agreement with a small smile. "All right, see you guys later." She murmured to Doll and Nori.

"Bye bye." Crona said softly.

"Thank you for watching him." Doll said gratefully.

"See ya." Nori said with the finger guns. V gave a small wave before leaving. Nori stretched slightly. "Well... Now that everything's under control here... I better get back to focusing on security stuff. You kids have your moment. See ya!" And with that, she faded away, leaving Doll and Uzi with Harry alone.

Doll looked back at the tender moment, wiping away her tears of joy, and much as she wabted to be part of it, the sight of it made her hesitate as it felt to her like she'd be breaking up the wonderful little moment between them. This little moment of special one on one bonding time they were sharing...

She decided to leave and prepare the room for sleep. She entered and looked around, letting herself get immersed in the wonderfully decorated imagery of the entire thing. How each and every part, corner, wall and shelf in the room had their own piece of each occupant. In some way, Doll could believe that the entire room was telling the history of it's denizens just through pictures and belongings alone. She laughed softly and set about preparing the bed and thought back on everything Uzi said, finding a new appreciation for her lover. Somehow, against all odds, she managed to love her more than she had before. And that was high praise.

She was so lost in thought that she spent much longer than she really needed to making sure the bed was all set for sleep. Truthfully, she wanted to make sure it was just right for the little one. She wound up getting so focused on fixing it all up for her small family that she didn't realize that they were standing right behind her in the doorway, an amused Uzi holding Harry close as he innocently leaned against her neck. When she finally stopped and noticed them, she yelped and almost fell to the floor. "Oh my...! When do you get here...?" She asked.

"Eh, bout ten minutes ago, didn't want to stop what you were doing because ya looked so sweet all fussy and it was really adorable." Uzi chuckled.

Doll blushed and looked down, shyly rubbing her arm. "Ah... I... Just want us to have... comfortable sleep..." She murmured.

"Heh... I know, babe... Thanks for that." Uzi chuckled, kissing her lover on the forehead, getting a small, soft smile from her in turn. Uzi looked over the bed, playfully scrutinizing it much like a teacher in a grade school would, then turned to Doll with a thumbs up. "A++!" She declared.

"Ah... Two pluses. This is very good." Doll chuckled.

"Sure is. And it earns you another kiss." Uzi said with a smirk, pressing a quick peck on her girlfriend's lips. Doll blushed slightly and looked down with a bashful smile.

"I am... happy you think it is good..." She murmured. "I try to make it just right..."

Uzi chuckled. "Well, ya did it. Now let's get some shuteye..." She gently laid Harry down on the bed before climbing in next to him, Doll following soon after as trio huddled up close to each other.

"It's comfy..." Harry murmured, nestling deeper into the pillow.

"Sure is, bud. Heh... Doll made sure of that." Uzi patted his head gently.

Doll fidgeted a little bit in the bed. "Hmm... Perhaps I overdo it small bit..." She murmured softly.

"Nah. It's all good." Uzi chuckled. "...Soooo, what're you thinking, bud? Starting to feel a bit safer with us?"

"I... I felt safe with you for a long time..." Harry murmured softly.

"Yeah?" Uzi asked, head tilted. "Well... Glad to hear that, heh..."

"I am glad you feel safe, sweet boy." Doll murmured softly, wrapping her arms around him. "You are healing well... Do you still hurt...?"

"Um... Not... too bad anymore... I... I feel okay..." Harry said softly.

"Good... Am so glad this is true..." Doll whispered, kissing his forehead.

"Yeah... Heh... I am never gonna forget what you looked like when we first found you, all dirty and cold and hungry and scared... But now you're all cleaned up, and in a nice warm bed, and you got a nice full tummy, and you're making yourself right at home!" Uzi chuckled, lightly booping his nose. "...So... Think you're ready to talk about it?"

"Mmmmm..." Harry looked frightened and on edge.

"Okay, okay... No rush." Uzi whispered. "...D'you at least wanna tell us who did it...?"

"Um... I... They got mad at me if I looked at them, so... I didn't look at them, and... and they made me call them sir and ma'am, I... I don't remember what their names are..." Harry said softly. "Um... Sir is big and... and Ma'am is skinny..."

"Oh dear, that makes it hard..." Doll sighed.

"Sorry..." Harry squeaked.

"It's okay, buddy, it's not your fault." Uzi assured him. "Hmm... Y'know... I don't think we know when your birthday is."

"Um... My... birthday...?" Harry asked, confused.

"Yes... You have birthday. We have nice celebration of day you were brought into the world." Doll explained. "There is cake, and presents, and you spend time with people you love most in the world..." She smiled softly at Uzi.

"Oh... Um... I... I only know beating day... Um... He said beating day was because I didn't deserve to be born, maybe that's my birthday..." Harry murmured softly.

Uzi and Doll froze in silent horror at what the boy had just told them. Uzi sat up and clenched her fists, squeezing her eyes shut. 'Breathe in... Breathe out... Breathe in... Breathe out...' Was her mantra as she calmed herself down from flying into a blind rage. Or, tried to at least, no matter how hard she tried, she could feel her oil was boiling to the point of bubbling inside of her.

Doll, meanwhile, sat up as well, snatching the boy right up off the bed and holding him tightly and protectively, gently rubbing the back of his head and rocking him back and forth. "No... No, no, no, sweet boy, my poor sweet baby..." She whispered softly. "We will never do this awful thing to you, baby... I promise you we will never hurt you, sweet boy, never ever, no more beating day, not ever again..." She spoke shakily, tearing up slightly. How could anyone treat a child so horribly...?

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry, I... I didn't mean to make you feel bad, I'm sorry, don't hate me..." Harry began to shake slightly... until he found himself pulled from Doll's arms and held tightly and protectively in Uzi's embrace, the purple haired drone squeezing him as tightly as she could without hurting him.

"Shhhh... We do NOT hate you... We could NEVER hate you... Especially not for something like this... It is NOT your fault AT ALL..." Uzi assured him. Doll joined the hug, embracing her lover from the side, as he began to tear up slightly, fighting back the urge to cry. "...D'you remember the day...?" Uzi asked.

Harry looked thoughtful. He'd tried his best to memorize the numbers and words on the calendar last beating day, because he decided to try and lessen his pain as much as possible, and thanks to Ms. Uzi, he could properly say what it was.

"Um... Jul three one..." He said softly.

"Jul... three... Oh, July 31st, I got it..." Uzi murmured softly. "Okay... That's a few months yet, but... we're gonna make sure you have a good birthday this year, I promise... No... 'beating day' or whatever the idiot that..." She trailed off, struggling to get the words out, before exhaling softly. "You're gonna get a real birthday, buddy... A birthday that you deserve... And you're gonna celebrate all kinds of other holidays too. We'll do Christmas and Easter..."

"Y-You mean the Santa holiday and the bunny one...?" Harry asked softly.

"Yes, baby... Santa and bunny holidays..." Doll murmured. "We will celebrate then with you... We will celebrate all holidays with you..."

"Yeah. Heh... Maybe you can help me out with setting up the Halloween decorations, eh? Would ya like that?" Uzi asked with a small wink.

"Um... Y-Yes..." Harry choked out, trying not to cry. Uzi squeezed him gently and laid back down in the bed, cuddling him tightly against her chest as she gently stroked his hair.

"Awesome, having my little buddy help out'll make it loads more fun..." She murmured softly into his ear.

"Please do not make it look too scary, we don't want to give our sweet baby nightmares." Doll warned.

Uzi blinked twice and looked down at the boy. "Ah. Fair. Guess it's not the best choice to really go all-out when I got sensitive eyes here, heh..." She booped the boy's nose gently. "Don't worry, Doll, I'll keep it PG for the little guy..." She turned over, still hugging Harry close while gently resting her forehead against Doll's. Harry kept his face buried in her hoodie, clutching to it as tightly as he could with his tiny fists. "You okay, bud?" Uzi asked gently.

"Mm-hmm..." Harry replied, his voice trembling audibly.

"Awwww..." Uzi groaned sadly. She and Doll exchanged a glance, one that told a silent agreement. They were going to FIND the ones that did this to him, and they were going to make sure they PAID for it... Uzi looked back down at the boy in her arms. At her... son. "Hey... Hey, Harry, d'you have a favourite... colour?" Uzi asked.

"Hmm?" Harry looked at her, and then at Doll. "Um... I like red... and I like purple... and... blue too..." He murmured softly.

"Heh... Nice. I like purple too. Bet you can probably guess just cause of the hair, right-Oooh..." Uzi smiled softly at the realization that she might be the reason he liked purple.

Uzi chuckled softly and gave him a light squeeze. MIGHT just be a coincidence, but then again, perhaps not. "Okay... Hmm... Ya have any favourite foods?" She asked.

"I um... I really liked the pizza you made... It was yummy..." Harry murmured.

"Oh yeah? Nice, glad to hear it, heh... I had to make it special for ya, needed to make sure it was light enough for that teeny tiny little belly of yours to choke down." Uzi gave him a light poke in the tummy, and he giggled slightly at the slight tickle, causing Uzi to chuckle as well.

"And you like Pokemon, sweet boy?" Doll asked, head tilted.

"Mm-hmm... It's my favourite..." Harry murmured.

"Ah, you have favourite show, very good... Do you have favourite parts?" Doll asked.

"Um... I liked it when Pikachu wanted to be Ash's friend, I didn't like it when Pikachu was mean... Friends shouldn't fight... And... And I liked it when Pikachu came back... When Ash tried to leave him..." Harry murmured.

"Ah... Yes... I remember that well... You held our hands when he ran away without Pikachu..." Doll laughed softly. "Was very sweet..."

"I... I wanted to know you were still there, cause I'd be sad if you left me like that..." Harry admitted.

"Well, you're in luck, cause that is NEVER gonna happen." Uzi was quick to assure him. "Sorry, little man, but I'm afraid you're kiiiinda stuck with us for life, heh... Hope you can live with that."

"I... I like that... I like that a lot..." Harry said with a soft smile.

Uzi smirked. "Know what my favourite part was? Sabrina."

"Really? She was kinda scary..." Harry mumbled softly.

"Yeah. But she was pretty. Kinda looked like a human version of Doll." Uzi smirked at her lover, who looked at her in surprise.

"I... see no resemblance." Doll said simply.

"Long dark hair, gorgeous face, perfect figure, you seriously don't see it?" Uzi chuckled.

"...Isn't she teenager...?" Doll asked.

"We're just barely eighteen, it's not weird." Uzi huffed.

"I... will just accept compliment." Doll relented with a soft smile. She looked back at Harry, who looked back and forth between them innocently at their exchange, then gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Do you have favourite food to cook?" Doll asked softly.

"Uh... With one of us, of course!" Uzi was quick to clarify.

"Oh... Um... I liked making cookies... I didn't get any but making them was fun..." Harry murmured.

"Cookies... Ah... Yes... Cookies... We will make them. We will all make cookies together soon." Doll promised with a small smile. "All three of us, as family."

"I... That sounds fun... I like that..." Harry said softly.

"And whattya think of the people around us?" Uzi asked.

"Um... They're kinda funny..." Harry murmured.

"Pfft! You bet they are!" Uzi laughed out loud. "Let me tell ya, buddy, never a dull moment living here!"

"I... I like Miss V and Miss Lizzy and Miss Sienna and Mr. Snake and Miss Mahiru, they're nice... And... Miss Nori and Mr. Will... I... Is it bad to like them best besides you and Miss Doll...?" Harry asked.

"Nah. I'd hope that's the case, you should like your housemates." Uzi chuckled. 'And your uncle and grandma...' She thought to herself.

"Mr. Ian and Mr. Anthony are weird..." Harry said.

"Yep." Uzi replied, popping the P at the end. "BIG time."

"You haven't met them all just yet... But soon you will..." Doll whispered. "And you will like them all just like the rest..."

"And what about Crona?" Uzi asked.

"He's my friend... I think..." Harry said softly.

"Just think?" Uzi chuckled. "That kid's probably gonna be the best friend you've ever had, little buddy... He'd get you better than anyone here..." She closed her eyes and sighed softly. "He's hurt too, y'know... He was hurt by his... mom, apparently... But he's got two new moms now. Two new moms that love him, and take care of him, and just wanna make sure he's okay." She said with a wink.

"Oh..." Harry murmured softly. And then, he let out a soft yawn, clearly growing sleepy, Uzi and Doll taking note of this and laughing softly.

"Okay, bud... I think it's time for you to sleep now..." Uzi murmured. She slowly laid back down with him and laid on her side, keeping him held close as Harry lied right next to her on his back. Uzi leaned over to kiss him on the forehead at the same time Doll kissed him on the cheek. "Night, bud..."

"G'night, Miss Uzi... G'night, Miss Doll..." Harry mumbled out, nestling closer into the blankets and closing his eyes as his soft snoring filled the room. Both drones hugged the boy close from either side, watching him closely to make sure he was asleep. Once satisfied he was out like a light, Uzi heaved out a deep sigh.

"...Beating day... BEATING day... Fu...Freaking BEATING day, doll...!" Uzi whispered harshly.

"Hush..." Doll soothed her. "He is sleeping..."

"I... I can't help it, babe, my oil pressure's through the freaking roof right now... Beating day...! They... They took his special day and used it as an excuse to beat him even more than they already were...!" Uzi hissed.

"Uzi." Doll whispered sternly. "You have. To calm. Down. You will wake him."

Uzi felt Harry stir slightly and leaned down to gently shush him lulling him back into his slumber before she let out a deep sigh. "...Beating day..." She whispered softly. "It's... It's sick, Doll, It's so sick, so wrong... I don't even wanna think about what these freaks did to our kid..."

"I know... I'm more grateful than ever we found him that night..." Doll sighed. "If we hadn't... I... I... My poor sweet baby..."

"Don't think about that..." Uzi whispered. "Nothing happened... He's safe... We got him safe here with us... That's all that matters... And we're doing a pretty good job with him... Look how much better he looks now since we found him eating from that trash can... He's... not AS shy as he used to be, and he's not as scared... We don't have to worry... As long as we're here to keep him safe... we don't have anything to worry about."

Doll's expression became worried. "Uzi... We legally cannot adopt him... We are drones..." She murmured. "What if we lose him because of that...?"

"Tessa can help us out. She helped out V and J, I bet you anything she'd help us too." Uzi said confidently. "V and J are parents to a human kid, and she's the one that makes it possible. If push ever comes to shove, I bet Tessa'll help us make sure he stays home with us, safe and sound." Doll smiled softly, the anxiety in her eyes melting away at her lover's reassurance. Uzi let out a soft laugh. "Heh... Usually you're the one soothing my constant nerves, it's nice to have it be the other way around for a change."

"Yes... Well... Is good we can count on each other to help when we need it..." Doll murmured. "You are good at calming me, darling, I am impressed."

"Heh... Well, I guess it's a skill I keep in reserve for the people I love the most." Uzi shrugged. "My girlfriend, my kid, sometimes my mom on rare occasions where she needs it... I'd say Will, but I don't know if he even gets sad." Doll laughed softly, and Uzi couldn't be happier to see her calm. "Seriously... Everything's gonna be okay. Now... why don't we sleep on this whole thing? Kid's in dreamland, and it's time to join him, wouldn't wanna wake up with a low charge after all."

"Yes..." Doll said with a soft smile. Both drones leaned forward slightly, giving each other a quick kiss on the lips, before pulling back. Then they each pressed a kiss against Harry's temple. "Good night, my love..."

"Night, babe. Love ya." Uzi replied softly. Both drones closed their eyes, gently resting their visors together as they drifted off into slumber alongside their little charge.