AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The room exploded in bright light and I slammed my eyes shut. “Too bright Dax,” I hissed. “Is the Military Model trying to blind me?”
The lights immediately dimmed and I breathed a sigh of relief. “Not the room, the place where I was. The darkness, it wanted to take me.” I shuddered in Dax’s arms, recalling all the helplessness I had felt when I was trapped and at its mercy. “I couldn’t remember, but then I heard it. The beat. It helped me to fight,” I took a deep breath as my vision begin to grow hazy. I had woken up starting on empty and all this talking and trying to move was sapping what little energy I had forced myself to drudge up.
I zeroed in on Dax’s face, using it to keep me focused for a bit longer, just to finish what I had been trying to say. “The beat...Dax...it was your heartbeat.” I didn’t even get to see his reaction. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, my eyelids slammed shut and blessed sleep took me under.
*Dax*
Panic swam through my processors. She had just been awake and talking. She had come back to me for a few perfect minutes. “Poe?” At the sound of her name, she mumbled something I couldn’t catch, snuggling closer to my frame. Relief swamped my circuits. It appeared she had simply fallen asleep.
“She will be okay now, right Dax?” Theo asked softly. I wanted to answer yes. The truth was, I didn’t know. I knew I should be running tests, but I couldn’t bring myself to put her down.
“I hope so, Mr. Theo.” I cradled her a bit tighter. “I hope so.”
The door swung open and I dragged my eyes away from Poe to find Brone standing behind Reaper and Aria. His eyes scanned the room, taking in the sight of me cradling Poe, traces of fluid still lingering on everyone’s cheeks-including Reaper’s. The gruff Military Model scowled and swiped at his eyes.
Brone’s eyes narrowed. “What happened? Is Poe okay?” His voice caught.
“She’s better than okay! She woke up, Brone!” Theo exclaimed as he bounced over to Brone, a huge smile on his face. He turned back to gaze at us and his gray face scrunched up. “But then she fell back asleep again. You would think she had gotten enough sleep by now, but humans are tricky like that. Just when you think they’ve got enough of something they go needing more. I mean my mom kisses my dad over fifty times a day-I know. I’ve kept track.” Theo shook his head. “She should be getting more than enough but nope, she always goes back for more.”
“Theo!” Aria scolded. “I don’t think Brone wants to hear about that.”
“No, kissing Reaper is not a topic I care to discuss.” Brone shuddered as Reaper let out a laugh, earning him a smack from Aria.
Poe stirred in my arms and I held my breath waiting to see if she would wake once again, but she only curled herself further into my lap, letting out a small sigh.
“Come on guys, let’s leave Poe and Dax alone for a bit.”
“But mom!”
Aria herded Theo towards the door. “No buts, Theo. If I recall, you weren’t supposed to be here in the first place.”
Reaper followed, placing his hand on Theo’s shoulder. “And you lied about your whereabouts. We are going to have a nice long talk when we get back to our quarters.”
Theo hung his head. “Oh, man. This is going to suck.” He was ushered out the door closely followed by his parents.
“Wouldn’t want to be him right now,” Brone said quietly. “Tell you a secret. I’d be more afraid of Aria.”
I shifted Poe slightly in my arms, reveling in the way she nuzzled against my chest and mumbled something I couldn’t catch. I could keep the panic at bay when I saw signs of life from Poe. A small part of my programming thought about shaking her awake just so I could make sure she really did wake, and this wasn’t a dream.
I eyed Brone. “Shouldn’t you be leaving, too?”
“What?” His giant shoulders shrugged. “I just got here.” He moved, stopping right next to the exam table to gaze at Poe’s sleeping form in my arms. “Are you really going to hold your female on that tiny, cold exam table? Hasn’t she been lying on the thing long enough?”
I wished I could say he didn’t have a point, but the Tank Class was far smarter than his designation gave him credit for. Poe had definitely been on this exam table for far too long. I slid off the exam table, careful of the precious female resting in my arms. My frame shuddered at the thought of how close I came to losing her.
I took a step and my frame swayed violently, red warning lights going off inside my programming like alarm bells. Examining my power levels, I discovered I wasn’t faring much better than Poe at the moment. I had been ignoring all my systems for the past month. The little break I took after Acer punched me hadn’t been nearly enough for my systems to power up fully. Since then, I hadn’t spent a moment away from Poe, taxing my already stressed systems to the point of failure.
A large hand grasped my arm, steadying me. “Whoa, take it easy there, Science Model. When was the last time you recharged yourself?” Brone made sure to keep his voice barely above a whisper, not wanting to disturb Poe.
I shook my head in response. I honestly couldn’t recall. “I would like to take her to our quarters, but I don’t think I am going to make it in my current state.”
Brone’s brilliant blue eyes flashed. “I have to agree with you.” He let out a sigh. “If you tellanyoneabout what I’m about to do we will have more than just words, Science Model.”
A flicker of worry sped up my spine. What was the Tank Class about to do? Brone bent his massive frame and scooped me up off the ground. His arms slid under my knees and he lifted, pulling my frame against his chest. I let out a small squeak of surprise. “Put me down!” I ordered.
“No,” he growled. “You carry her. I carry you. My class is designed to not only take a beating, but also to haul massive amounts of weight. Carrying the weight of the two of you combined is nothing to me.” He glared down at me, daring me to argue.
I clamped my mouth shut. Fighting Brone would only make things worse. I had no energy to battle a fly at the moment, let alone a Tank Class. “Fine.”
