Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

They liked it in their strange, small home that could be comparable in shape almost to a totem pole. It was safe. They got to kill weirdo cultists all day. They got to do whatever they want, no one could tell them no. No one could force them to do things they despised. It was good.

Another one down. They watched as the robot's parts slowly disintegrated away. If you asked anyone else, such a sight would be horrific.

Fen was used to it. And found joy in it.

Destroying was something they were meant to do.

-

It was still fun to destroy, but they were destroying in the same exact way. Nothing new.

It was boring.

And then she came along.

It had gotten destroyed, and they felt small again. They didn't like this feeling. They didn't like this steambot, either. So of course they immediately annoyed her.

Guess they're a team now, huh?

-

Seeing steambots that weren't weirdos was something else. That didn't mean they didn't talk down to them, though. Dorothy immediately followed up with anger.

But despite this, they had been given a name. No one in vectron ever got that!

Fen.

Their name is Fen.

They liked it.

The nickname Dot was pretty stupid, though.

-

Blowing up things was so much fun! That wall had it coming, it was just so much fun. The way Dorothy destroyed things made them happy. They were technically a part of it, in the end.

The way her pickaxe sliced through some things was good. She was creative with destroying things.

They liked that.

-

Shiners were freaky looking. Apparently, Dorothy thought the same, because she immediately began to stab one.

Apparently they can talk.

One likes to blow things up. They like that one.

Apparently this "Rusty" got changed by Vectron. They weren't surprised.

-

The temple was fun, Dorothy killing cultists was fun, dodging lava was fun, it was all just... Amazing! They were so far away from Vectron. They loved their new name. Fen.

They were so much happier than ever before.

-

No. No, no, no, no. This wasn't ok. They didn't want to go back. Vectron was hell. It had them by the throat.

But Dorothy wasn't familiar with the word no.

They didn't want to leave her alone down there. She'd die. They didn't want her to die. They really didn't want her to die.

And soon, they were in emptiness.

-

Fen felt... Sick? They weren't sure, but she was alive. She was back. She was fine, but she looked scared.

But they knew about more. More of those machines. It was time.

-

Destroying the machines with Dot- Dorothy. Dorothy. Had been fun.

But now there was a new issue. They were blocked off.

Something about the bombs felt familiar, an instinct, almost. They ignored it.

-

Time was running out. Everything was hot. She was hurt, and so was her friend.

Was she insane, too, now? She can't climb out! They had to do something, anything!

They knew.

And they said their final words to her.

"See you around, Dot."

Chapter Text

Floating in space unconscious with burn marks on you wasn't what Fen had anticipated.

They also didn't exactly want the earth to explode. Wait. Why didn't they?

Their head hurt. Did they have a head?

They felt something grab them.

-

This space was tiny. It also hurt.

They didn't want to be here.

Something was moving them, suddenly.

Good, anything but here.

-

This was a horrible idea. Sure, they had no choice, but it was still bad! They could feel everything... Fading? They thought it was fading.

Everything hurt.

That laugh hurt.

Their sight was becoming black and white, their head felt like a mess. Everything felt like it was going to explode. Maybe that would be less upsetting, actually.

Something was fading from their mind, something, something-

-

Waking up was hard. This person wasn't Dot. Whoever they were, they seemed nice. Talking was hard.

Reassembling themselves had been harder.

The person was leaving. They were going to help.

Piper?

That's a nice name.

Why was Piper leaving, again?

-

She had immediately been worried. To be fair, they didn't exactly know why they were standing up either. Their head still was full of static.

There was also the realization that they had no home.

At all.

They were let on board. Walking felt weird, they didn't remember it feeling weird. Did they walk before this? Who knew. Not them.

Oh, they were definitely not used to walking. They almost fell on the way in.

The other people there immediately were suspicious of them, but it settled down quick.

It would be fine.

It's just a group of people, all with guns who aren't exactly happy with you existing.

Oh by cog, they were stressed.

-

Their first mission went great. Blowing up things felt euphoric. It was all so fun, especially blowing up these people who looked vaguely familiar.

Apparently they called themselves Royalists.

The Royalists aren't good at living.

Fen was happy doing this, it felt right.

It was right.

-

The other crew members were warming up to them, apparently. And new members were joining too.

Fen liked most of them. (Sally and Seabrass scared them.)

Piper was nice. She helped them a lot. Their memory was coming back, but not completely. It was all vague.

And she always listened.

She seemed so ruthless at first, and yet... She was really nice and even somewhat funny.

They were happy here.

-

The Queen had been hard to kill, they were tired, but the group had done it. Piper looked deep in thought. She always came on missions, no matter what.

This time wasn't different.

Weirdly enough, the Queen hadn't sparked a single memory.

Fen made a noise that sounded like sighing.

-

They felt sick. They didn't even think that was possible.

They didn't want to go into deep space. Vectron was there. It was there. It wanted to kill them. It had them by the throat.

This felt familiar.

-

Vectron made them feel horrible. Remembering that ship they found made them realize what was happening here. Everything was. It just felt panic inducing.

They wanted Dot back.

-

It was dead?

It was dead.

Voltbot is dead.

They felt so many different emotions, before being pulled into a hug by Ivanski and hitting heads with another crew mate briefly.

On the way back they decided they were going to pull a small joke.

This was their family now, in a way, after all.