Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He ran.

He just fucking ran.

He just had to get there as fast as he could. Just fast enough before the countdown run all the way down.

His breaths heave with each fast step he takes, he’s an android he shouldn’t even be this worked out, but as the countdown goes lower and lower he turns more and more non vital functions off. He needs to RUN.

‘Please, please, please’ he begs to himself, ‘I just need to get there in time. Please!’

If he could cry right now he’s sure tears would be streaming down his face like a cascade.

He leaps over another obstacle on the floor, makes a sharp turn over another corner. 

He’s starting to feel the strain he’s been putting on his systems since he started running.

Each step he takes is painful for more than the physical side, each step he takes a millisecond falls from his grasp.

3 MINUTES UNTIL S̶̵̻̤ͫͥͦ͗̈ͫ̍ͫH̵̡̩͖͎̘̃ͫͥ̚͘͝Ự̸̧͖̗̻̹̝̬͊͋̔̇͗̒ͨ̄ͦ̕T̀͏̶̡̝̺̠͒̈́͆̐ͧ͘͠D̝̹̻̠ͧ̉̃҉̡͚̼͖͍ͩ̃̋O̝̯̗W̸̛̰̞͔̉͑ͮͫ̽ͥ̐͑ͯͅN̶̹͇͕̖̫͑̈́͊ͪ̍͗͊̂ͥ͜ͅ

God fucking dammit, fucking please he’s almost there! 

He leaps over the fence, climbing it and then falling on the other side roughly, his legs wobble when he tries to get up.

Fuck, fuCK, FUCK .

His throat closes up and he chokes on a dry sob.

He looks up from where he’s still trying to stand, a little tiny yellow dot shines at him, taunting him. 

The objective.

The thing he needs to get to if he doesn’t want-- doesn’t want to--

He looks down at his legs and something hot and burning runs through his veins. Liquid anger burns him through the inside out. 

FUCKING USELESS BODY!

2 MINUTES UNTIL S̴̛͓͎̟͔͌̎-̩̉̏Ş̸̹̗͖̟̭̈̊̍̌͡͞H̶͍͉̪̫̼̲̞̅ͮ̋̉ͭ͋ͧ̇͐́͟Ų̥͘͏̴̝̣̒ͮ̿͛ͭ̏̚T͋́͋̐͌̽̉̕D̢̯̬́ͧ̓̒̄ͪ̍ͯ̅̋O͌͏̛͉̼͉̠̭̇͛̄͛ͦ̾͜͠W̥̯̘̹̣͔̭̦̝̗̽͐̏ͩ̎̚͞Ṋ̵̨̤͈̲̀̽͐͊̇ͥ̔̃ͧ̽̓͜͟

He looks back at the little dot of yellow, his only hope.

...Fuck this

TURNING SOCIAL MODULE OFF ( Y/N)

                     TURNING OFF BREATHING OFF ( Y/N)

           TURNING PRECONTRUCTIONS OFF ( Y/N)

                                 TURNING È͎̐VER̴̮̰̤͋͛̊Y̴̭̓Ț̖͍̌ͮ̆͠H̼ͯͯ̾ͥÌ̥͙́ͣ̔N̡̯̏͂ͨ̐͠G̛͙̕̕ ̨͇͉̉̎̏O̙̺̤̼ͤ͆̈̚͟F̧͓̱̂ͧ͌̐F̜̻̭͊ͪ̈͠?̧̪̝̽  ( Y/N)

                                                -    COMMAND: _KEEP LEGS FUNCTIONAL_

DANGER-

He whips his head to the direction of once the little yellow dot stayed. Getting up in inhuman speed he runs straight in its direction, limping over spare parts and rusty materials, face always staring straight ahead.

His step doesn’t halt until he finally sees it. 

Getting closer and closer, he stops right beside him, without his preconstruction on he can’t see how much time he has left, but by his calculations he knows he got there in time. Turning his breathing and voice box, he lets out a deep breath to cool down and crouches.

The analyzing software is still off so when he puts his hand on the shoulder and he doesn’t move his breath hitches.

His social module is also still coming back to life-

He grabs the shoulder and the hip of the skinless android he has been running for all this time. Still there’s nothing, no accidental interface like he normally allows to happen, no twitch, nothing.

He turns the body to face the sky--

And on his next blink his analyses software comes to life.

MODEL NUMBER: AL600

SOFTWARE DESIGNATION: ALLEN ‘bitch uwu <3’

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: BOYFRIEND

SYSTEM STATUS: -THIRIUM LEVELS: 27%

                    -DAMAGE TO: LEFT UPPER QUADRANT OF CHEST

                                         INTERCRANIAL DAMAGE

                                         RIGHT OCULAR

                    - STATUS:

                                         -DECEASED--

                                                   -deCEaSED ?

                                         D̴̨̢̥̗̥̥̳ͨ̃̃ͦ͛͋̒͘Ė̠C̸̷̶̹̣̏̈́͋̌ͦE̴̢̥̲̟͇ͮͧ̓̓̑̕A͇̲͐ͤ́Ș̲͊̏͝E̳̪͓͕̰̩̭͒ͭ̈̇̈́͌̚D͚̣?̸̡̤̤̬̣̱͙̪ͤ̈́͂̽ͫ̌ͨ̓̐?̶̣̝̘̱ͯ̃̒͌-͗͡

He stares numbly at the body in front of him.

Deceased?

But, he got here on time--

TIME OF DEATH: 5:56

He looks at the glaring numbers, over and over, before slowly moving his eyes to the corner of his vision.

CURRENT TIME: 8:25 

He stares blankly at the time, he stares and stares until his eyes blur and swim and his throat closes up.

He stares at it until his social module finally comes to life.

Until he bows on himself and screams in agony.

Agony that envelops his entire being, crushing the remains of hope, love everything his heart still had.

Tears drop like rain water onto the dusty chassis under him, leaving, at first tiny dots, but then as it overflows, it turns into a big puddle of salty painful tears.

He can’t breathe and he can’t think.

Everything hurts, he feels like he’s going to throw up.

He howls and grabs his hair and pulls, screaming louder, and louder in despair, making his voice turn into static, he can’t even see him anymore. There are so many tears and panic that he can’t see him anymore.

He curls on himself, closer to the body of his loved one.

Of the light of his life. The one he couldn’t live without. The one that kept the pieces that now lay shattered into tiny pieces, together.

He rests his head against his chest, where there should be a heart beating. Lungs working.

There should be laughter.

3 hours sooner.

3 hours later and then there was nothing.

Look at what you’ve done.

You should have been quicker sixty.

Chapter Text

He stays where he is until his tears dry, or more, until he runs out of them.
Pulling his head away from Allen's chest. His hands are shaking, breath hitching in his throat. There's an unexplainable ache coursing through his body, his heart stuttering in its beats. He was going to propose. And the opportunity was missed, no, taken away from him. As was Allen. The ring is a light weight in his pocket. It's a simple silver band, the initials 'S + A' engraved on the inside. He was going to propose, even though the androids rights to marriage law hadn't been passed yet. He'd been planning it for weeks - every last detail of how it'd go down. And yet. He was too late. 3 fucking hours late. Sixty pulls the ring out of his pocket with unsteady hands, reaching out for Allen's own. He can feel a sob building up at the back of his throat again. He takes a breath before slipping the silver band onto Allen's finger, leaning down, and pressing his lips against the ring.

"Until we meet again, my love."