Aloe's process of trying to upgrade Cyborg so they have more defensive capabilities goes wrong- As typical for the defective memory- and instead of defending cookies, Cyborg defends robots (and cyborgs to an extent). Cyborg's name change will likely be something like "Neo-Borg" or something like that, I gotta think on that more. And while Cyborg is taking over, Aloe is realizing emotions and mental conditions through all the wrong ways.
DJ's capture likely happened much easier due to them having a rivalry against Cyborg (this rivalry is what sparked a rebellious part inside of them, most likely, either that or fearing they aren't perfect enough and wanting to escape the inevitable failure), and Lem's was after the disappearance of DJ, who likely ran and used Lemon as a scapegoat/substitute of some kind because DJ themselves may be brave, but they aren't free from being a coward.
Hero is still a coward, and still built C-4, though he actually had time to buffer out any mistakes there were (aside from, well, some emotions and aggressions), and once Hero was captured by DJ, C-4 awoke with the primary objective of finding his father."
The late night hours of the evening were beginning to drag him down, drag him deep down and tempting him with the thoughts and promises of a well and good nights rest. Alas, there were a few more things he had to get done before turning in for the evening. The man sat up on the couch in his sweat pants, with a blanket covering him and the side table lamp on beside him. The gentle chatter of the television was the only sound to be heard in the room, yet it had settled so far into the back of his mind that it was now merely silent background noise.
With a rub of his eyes, Kevin hoped to rid himself of the terribly, tired feeling that hung over him like a thick blanket. Worn out brown eyes gazed over the calculations he still had to decide on for the upcoming season, yet he simply couldn’t find it in himself to get it finished. Although his pen was pressed against the notebook page, Kevin made the mistake of allowing his eyes to fall shut for longer than a simple moment, and never before had he realized how soft the couch was as he fell back into it.
The man’s breathing began to slow, and he truly had never felt more comfortable than in this very moment.
However, the creaking sound of the wooden floor boards startled him enough back to his fully awake position. He blinked several times, rubbing the sleep from his sight once more before putting his arm against the back of the couch to turn around. “Harper …” He spoke in the best, sleepy, fatherly tone he could muster.
Harper had just turned four last month, and it wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration when he’d say that Kevin spent a large portion of his day chasing around that little energetic trouble maker. Though her energy made him eager to keep up with her, and boy was her giggle the cutest chiming bells he had ever heard. Though Melody, at a year old, was starting to have issues sleeping through the night, and when Melody wakes up, everyone wakes up.
“Baby, is Melody making is difficult for you to sleep again?” The man finished rubbing his eyes, blinking once or twice more before turning his gaze to whom he expected to be his small daughter. But it wasn’t his daughter.
“Margaret?” He felt his voice hitch in his throat at the heart wrenching sight that was before him.
In the doorway from the main hall of the house stood the man’s wife, dressed in her pink silk nightgown with her honey golden hair worn loose and hanging down around her supple facial features. Her face however, was stained with tears, and her deep crystal eyes now clouded over and deep blood red. Her breathing was heavy, trembling as her body struggled to keep herself standing. When his gaze met her’s, the tears began flooding down her cheeks once more.
The sense of urgency hit him instantly, rushing through his veins and causing his action much quicker than his mind could even process. “Sweetheart, what’s—” He threw himself from the couch, moving to meet her, though before he even could she rushed to him as well. Her arms wrapped around him and clutched him close to her, her fingernails digging desperately into the back of his shirt as she buried her face into her husband’s chest.
As the sobs broke out from her throat, the woman’s weight finally gave in. The pair dropped to the ground, the man instinctively wrapping his arms around his wife’s shoulders as one hand held the back of her head. The sounds of her sobs filled the room, gasps for air in between each heart broken cry that escaped her. It continued on for a while, he wasn’t sure how long, every time she cried it was as if time itself stood still. Allowing them this moment together, only the two of them, to share and to only hold each other close.
Her crying fell silent, though he could still feel the trembling of her body as she struggled to keep her breathing under control. Kevin pulled her body onto his lap, wrapping one of his arms around her waist as the other gently caressed her back and ran his fingers through her hair. His own eyes he held shut, resting his head against her’s as he listened to the deep silence that was falling between them. He could hear her heart beat; fast, rapid, panicked, and he could hear her desperate attempts to hold back her crying.
The atmosphere was heavy, broken only by Kevin’s voice, softly spoken as if any louder would startle her. “Did you … have that dream again?”
The woman had exhausted herself, finding words almost demanding too much strength from her at this time. Strength that she just couldn’t fathom in this moment. Silence hung for several more moments, before with everything she could muster, she lifted her head from her husband’s shoulder, where it had been securely resting while she attempted to ease herself. She rose high enough to meet his gaze, and as she looked over his features, love overwhelmed her heart inside her chest. She studied his face whenever she was given the opportunity, yet … it was changing. Not by much, deeper smile lines, the lack of sleep weighing on his eyes, but he was most definitely aging.
Why couldn’t she? Why couldn’t she be the same? What would she do for a graying hair? Any sort of wrinkle? Anything to convey some passage of time.
“You were dead.” Her voice cracked, tears once again dripping down her face as she wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck. “You died … You left me alone, all by myself.” Her body began to trembling again, the streams of tears gaining it’s strength once again as her tone was harsh and accusing. “You said you wouldn’t leave me— you promised you wouldn’t leave me alone again— ” The sobbing filled the room once more, her words causing even Kevin’s eyes to dampen as she clung to him.
He knew she didn’t mean her words. He knew, that she knew, the reality that they faced together. “Margaret …” Kevin spoke in a gentle tone, his hands raising to cup her face and to try any attempt to wipe her constant flow of tears. His touch against her skin influenced her breathing to calm, her eyes meeting his once more, and this time finding comfort in them. “I love you.” He breathed. “I’m here. I’m right here with you, I’m holding you, and I promise … I promise not to let you go.”
The woman finally released her arms from around him, slowly, almost unsurely, as if doing so would allow him to slip from her grasp. Delicate hands rested on top of his, holding his hands against her face. “Please …” Her voice still trembling. “Please don’t …”
Silence fell between the two again, a sense of calm finally settling. Kevin was about to offer the suggestion of them both moving back into the bedroom, before a voice spoke up from behind them both.
“Daddy … Why is Mommy crying?” Harper now stood in the doorway, dazed in sleep as she dragged her stuffed cat behind her.
And a switch clicked. The nightmare vanished from the woman’s mind as she turned and laid eyes on her daughter. Sudden worry overcoming her. “Baby, did Mommy wake you?” She cooed as one hand laid rested on Kevin’s shoulder as she wiped her tears with her other.
Harper walked toward them, her small golden colored pigtails bouncing as she did so. “I heard you crying,” Her small tired voice spoke as she stood before them both. “… and I was worried. I wanted to know why you were sad.”
With her motherly instincts breaking through, Meg reached forward to pull the little girl between the two of them, causing a surprised squeak to escape from her. “Mommy had a bad dream sweetheart … I’m so, so sorry that I woke you.” Harper could play her heartstrings better than any instrument, the sadness that had caused her chest to ache just moments before was beginning to loosen, to instead be filled with the overwhelming amount of love she felt for the two before her.
Harper interrupted her thoughts, offering her mother the kitty cat toy she had been holding. “When I sleep with toy Tony I don’t have any nightmares! He chases them all away! Since fluffy Tony started sleeping in Melody’s room, I’ve been using toy Tony to help me sleep!” The little girl wore a bright smile, sunny enough to brighten even the dark room. “You can sleep with him tonight, because whenever I sleep beside him, he keeps my nightmares away!”
Words had escaped her. Margaret took the small toy from her grasp and held it against her heart. There were no words, none she could come up with to express how she felt in this moment. “Thank you … thank you baby ♥.” She leaned forward to press a kiss to the cheek of the small little girl, before also pressing a kiss against her husband’s cheek as well. “I think … it’s time for bed you two. What do you think?”
Harper yawned and nodded happily, wiggling out from between the two before racing off to her bedroom to be tucked in again. Margaret however, took a longer minute, gazing down at the plush toy she held in her hand. “You know … I’ve decided.” She spoke, finally looking up to meet the man’s eyes. The blue to her eyes returned, the once previous sadness has dissipated and overshadowed by the love in her heart she felt for the man and the family they had created together. “You’re not allowed to stay up late without me anymore … Whenever I go to bed, you have to come with me okay?” Her fingers traced the man’s facial features, the one’s she loved so dearly. Before she finally, after the long evening they’ve had, smiled her usual bright and adoring smile. “Because whenever I sleep beside you, you keep my nightmares away.”
