Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

From Fear to Awe

Yevgeniy, or Zhenya to a few, was no stranger to the cold wastes of Copper-9. They were his home just as they were to the Murder Drones that flew across the blackened skies. He knew in his years of life a few things.

1. The only one you could count on was yourself.
2. No one cared about you.
3. Trust no one.
4. Night was where Death walked.

Those were the rules he lived by ever since his father put a bullet in his head and left a 6 year old Zhenya alone.

They were rules that had saved his life from many dangers, from Scrap Gangers that wanted to take his core and sell it, to avoiding the shadows of Death that swooped over the sky and filled the stillness with angelic demon cries. And tonight was no different.

His overactive cooling system was fired up once again, sending shivers of frigid snowmelt through his spinal strut while he stretched his fingers towards the small, wavering flames. His traveling companion sat across the fire from him, wincing as he pulled his boots free from his feet and dumping out a not so small amount of ice and snow slush from them.

“We should leave that going tonight,” the other Worker said.

Dark amber eyelights flicked up at him.

[Stupid.] Zhenya stated, letting the fire warm his core back up.

“It’s not stupid, you’re gonna freeze if we don’t.”

[And we will both die if we do,] Zhenya replied, [Murder Drones have a sharp sense of smell.]

“You’re an idiot.”

[And you are a fool.]

Zhenya got to his feet, grabbing the kettle full of hot water and filling the silicone bottle back up with the near boiling water before stuffing it against his shirt. He then zipped up his coat over the water bottle, giving a faint sigh as the heat seeped through his chest, sending a faint breath of steam through his teeth as his casing and core warmed up again.

He then stamped out the fire and sent the smokey embers flying through the air as his companion grumbled about freezing to death. Zhenya ignored him and settled for grabbing the ratty sherpa blanket and wrapping it around him before settling down in the corner where he could see everywhere and kept his back safe. 

With that, he watched the sun set, a warm glowing gold turning to amber against the reds and blues that touched and became a lilac sky.

It didn’t take long before the night was torn asunder with cries of the damned as the Night Terrors streaked across the skies. Music of the danse macabre filled the night, chilling both Zhenya and his companion to the strut. Through their hiding place they could see flickers of yellow that flitted through the sky, like the fireflies Zhenya’s mother had read to him as a child. He saw one alight on a water tower, massive and looming with Michael’s wings folded behind them, he wasn’t sure if it was funny or disturbing the fact that it was dressed like one of them. A black hoodie and what looked to be a beanie over snowy locks. 

He watched as its wings hitched up, half furled as the pinpoints of brimstone looked and scanned for prey. A purple flicker shot across the sky, a warbling devil’s choir singing as it passed, star-thin and bright. 

“Oh hell…” his companion hissed, “They’re close…”

[Quiet,] Zhenya ordered, his oil chilling as he heard the soft tinking of something sharp above them.

His companion opened his mouth to protest, he didn’t hear the whisper soft breath behind the star-metal fangs. Zhenya knew that if he didn’t shut him up that they’d both be caught. 

Rule 3.

Fast as thought, Zhenya shoved the other Worker in the chest, hard. He stumbled into the moonlight shining from the window. Painted white as a perfect sacrificial lamb. 

“The hell was that fo-”

He was cut off as shadow blotted the moonlight from the window, the Reaper’s wings outstretched as the window shattered and screams from his companion echoed in eerie choir. A loud, clear silver laugh echoed through the small space, over the scream as mercury claws flashed and closed over the unfortunate soul’s throat.

Zhenya huddled deeper into shadow, dimming his light as dark as it would go, watching with hollow eyes as the diamond dust powder settled…

And revealed an angel.

Her wings shone nearly ivory in the milk-light of the moon, haloed in gold from a crown of golden gems over bright platinum blonde hair. A tail tipped in clear starlight and steel flicked upwards, gleaming near silver in the moonlight. A scarf, red as saint’s blood flowed down across her chest as she tilted those three ice-shard claws upwards. His companion whimpered as a shudder ran through the angel’s body, as those two golden eyes flickered and ran, transforming into a brilliant sunglow cross. Her smile broke through like the clouds in the morning sun and showed Zhenya a set of silver fangs that put even the sharpest of his knives to shame as that bell-like laugh tittered from her again. Higher and lighter, birdsong and church choir.

And with all the speed of a prayer, she lunged towards his companion’s chest. Her bell like laughter transforming into ice-sharp snarls and growls as his companion’s screams echoed out. Oil sprayed as she threw him to the ground, jabbing one of her ballerina’s legs into his foot while one of her wings arced forwards and stabbed through his shoulder, pinning him down. The screams died down after her tail arced forwards and jabbed through his screen, the crunching of glass and internal processor components and shattering casing filled the area, and silence save for the crunching crackling snapping of the angel pulling entrail and wire free. 

Zhenya stayed silent as the angel, no, the valkyrie, rose from her kill soaked in black ichor blood with a content smile. She raised her oil soaked claws to her lips and let a loud thunder purr rumble through the room as she licked the tarry liquid off. Her tail flicked as more song rippled through the air and she took a few tapping steps out of the building, crossing her arms as the bigger one he’d seen on the water tower and a much smaller purple one landed not far away.

“Told you I had it,” the Valkyrie said, “You see anything else?”

“No,” came the bigger gold one’s voice, a low tenor near baritone, as he shouldered what looked like a bow, “We should get back. Parents are gonna freak…we weren’t supposed to be this far…but someone thought it’d be a good idea to herd this way,”

“Hey!” a higher voice, lilting soprano protested as the purple light flickered, “I was trying to get them to an open spot! But they weren’t budging…”

“Which is why I took action, A,” the Valkyrie winked, giving that bell-laugh again, “C’mon, the big dork’s right, let’s get back to the fam,”

“I’m not a dork!” the male growled.

“...She’s kinda right, bro-bro,”

“Astra!” 

“What! Not my fault you like to sit with Andy an-”

“Ahaaaa nah! Nah! We are not doing this!” the male hissed, “Freakin’ ughhhh just…”

“Puppy wants to get back to his giiiiirlfriend !” the Valkryie Angel teased.

“BITE ME, TORI!” came the snarl as the male’s wings flared out and he shot into the air.

“C’mon, bro-bro!” the purple one sighed, another pair of wings, accompanied with shimmering clinks and rings, opened up and she too took to the air.

The Valkyrie Angel laughed, her own wings flicking as she followed, rushing high into the air. Zhenya slowly came out of his observation spot and made his way towards the entrance, stepping over the body of his former companion and staring at the retreating figure.

It was then that the fear turned into something else.

It turned to awe.

Chapter Text

From Awe to Obsession

Zhenya sat in the apartment building overlooking the square, his joints cracked and creaked as he grabbed the thermos full of warm coolant and took a sip. He’d heard stories of the famous Outpost 3. How its doors were impenetrable, had kept the Murder Drones out for decades and the colony only ever had two major incursions…but the death count never went above 50. How the Murder Drones avoided it as much as they could, never hunting near it.

And, it was the last chance Zhenya had.

He’d stole, fought and even killed his way out of other Outposts. He tended to not last long in society, they were too soft. Sheep compared to sheepdogs and wolves.

[There are three types of people in the world, Yevgeniy. Sheep, Sheepdogs, and Wolves. If I find out you have become a Sheep I will scrap you myself.] his Protectorate-Security father’s voice, bereft of a face and timbre rumbled in his superstructure’s memory, [Sheepdog, Wolf, I do not care. But not a Sheep.]

Zhenya had met each in his travels. And he felt he was more Wolf than anything. After all…Sheepdogs did not throw their comrades and traveling partners to the Valkyries to consume.

He watched as the sun’s first rays painted the buildings in front of him with saffron gilt. The last leg of the trip was the most dangerous. The other Outposts had whispered that while Outpost 3 was the supposed ‘safest’ from the Murder Drones…it was the one closest to their corpse wasp nest of a Spire. He’d dealt with the demonic angel song all night, though a part of him wondered if one of the voices belonged to the seraph he’d met the other night. 

With a shake of his head, he got up from his perch and started down the stairs. He’d packed up long ago, stamped out the fire long before sundown, and made sure that any sign of his presence was snuffed from existence. Once he got to the ground level, he quietly looked around the area to make sure that he wasn’t followed or anyone but himself was here. 

Thankfully, no one was. It was just him.

With another cautious glance around, he took a step into the freshly fallen snow. His footsteps crunched welcomely with every step, the warmth from the hot water bottle stuffed down his coat becoming more and more tinged with ice and soft cold as he walked on. The warm orange of the sunrise starting to bleed away into dull grey the longer he walked. A frown crossed his features as he stopped and looked up…

At the near black clouds on the horizon that snuffed the sun from sight.

WARNING! ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD DETECTED! 

CORE TEMPERATURE DROPPING FAST!

SEEK HEATING AND SHELTER IMMEDIATELY

[Ah.] Zhenya blinked, his breath already frosting over.

A blizzard was not what he was wanting to experience out in the open again. He’d run out of fuel to start a fire and his blanket was still soaked from the previous night.

So, he ran in the direction of Outpost 3.

He did not want to go through the main doors, doing so would, at any other time, have made him an easy mark for anyone. But by the time he saw the golden flood lights mounted  to those renowned doors, the blizzard was already upon him. His fists slammed against the doors, frost coating his extremities as he repeated the motion. He couldn’t get words out, just frantic and desperate banging on the doors to let him in.

With a loud clanging hiss-whirr, the doors began to open, and he pitched forwards, falling to the ground as he scrambled inside. He could hear voices around him, feel overly warm hands against his frigid limbs as his sight was obscured by mist and frost.

“Jeeze kiddo, what the hell?” a female voice demanded, “You get lost or something?”

Zhenya blinked, wiping the rapidly melting frost from his screen as a mildly annoyed set of violet eyes caught his blinking orange ones. 

“Scara! Grab some blankets from the break room,” the voice barked, “And don’t stop to talk to your boyfriend on the way there. I will know. Harris! Give the kid some space, god, what are you? His mother? Beat it! Marcus! Check the hydraulics and make sure that the pipes don’t freakin’ freeze on me. We didn’t get to it before the blizzard hit and if I have to crawl through the internals of the door locking mechanism again I will bite you. ”

He wiped the melted slush off his screen, blinking more as the blurry figure of black, white and violet came into clarity. She was as tall as he was, which said something as Zhenya was not a small Worker. Her violet eyes were slightly amused under a set of dark purple bangs, the black hoodie with a Dead Batteries logo was old but lovingly taken care of despite some of the flaking paint on the white logo itself. Her legs were what caught his attention, same as the sparkle at her throat. Her legs first off seemed to have been covered in black armor, they didn’t look like a Worker’s legs at all. Rather something built to withstand a violent blunt force strike. Around her neck was a collar necklace of white and black crystal flowers with a single silver and black metal plate with a skull and twin triangle etching with the number 002 engraved below that logo.

“‘Sup kiddo, name’s Uzi,” the woman grinned, “Welcome to Outpost 3.”

Not long after he had met Uzi, who he later found out was the daughter of the Worker who had made Outpost 3’s doors, Zhenya found himself in the medical ward. To his very much dislike. Apparently having an overly active cooling system was a bad thing. Gee, who’da thought. 

Suffice to say, the medical team of Outpost 3 found out very quickly that Zhenya was not one to mess with. 

The first doctor that they sent into perform an exam, he’d kicked in the screen so hard it shattered and he was sent reeling back to the floor. To much the amusement of the rest of the medical staff. Zhenya had seen them exchange credits between each other as they dragged the cursing doctor out. 

The second doctor was a woman, kind faced, blonde haired and blue eyed. She gave a soft smile as she came close, not getting too close to him and just examining. 

“What’s your name?” she asked.

Zhenya was quiet. Giving names wasn’t wise in his position. The woman gave a smile and a soft laugh as she shook her head.

“It’s ok, we’ll come back to that. How old are you?”

[...Don’t know,] he finally grunted, [17? 18? Not a child. Not an adult yet.]

“Yeah you feel like you’d be about the same age as my granddaughter,” the woman nodded, “She’s a bit of a spitfire. Super sweet though, you’d probably like her. She hates medical exams too. Her other grandmother has to have her mom and dad hold her while they do her firmware updates. She still leaves some nasty scars though. My son’s got a pretty good one from where she got him.”

Zhenya raised an eyelight and the female doctor hummed, looking him over again.

“You look like you’re overdue for a frame upgrade or two…that looks like a pre-teen frame. Which…oh my. You’re gonna be a big guy aren’t you?” she asked, “If you wait here we can get that frame printed quick and then brought out to transfer you, sound good? Your AI will probably like to have more room to play around with. Might fix your rampant cooling too,”

Zhenya was quiet, warily watching her as she stood up slowly.

“Well, you didn’t say no…so I’ll get the frame printed. Shouldn’t be more than about half an hour. I’ll have some of our nurses bring in some warm coolant and a better blanket. One that’s not wet. I’ll leave some hot water bottles too to warm you up.”

With that, she left and Zhenya was wondering what kind of paradise and heaven-hell hybrid he’d landed in. As she had promised, the nurses came in with food, blankets and other warming substances to help his core. And, after they had left and he’d made sure it wasn’t poisoned…Zhenya had bundled himself up and stayed in the corner with his back against the wall and his eyes locked on the door.

When the half hour had passed, the doctor came back into the room accompanied by a taller blond man with green eyes and an easy smile that lit up the discolored scar across his screen. She gave a smile as she wheeled the teenage frame into the room and got everything set up for the transfer.

“Alrighty, John Doe,” the doctor started, “Considering I saw you crack Kevin’s screen like an egg, I’m going to assume you’ve got security programming. Maybe a bit more considering how big you are. So! I’ve recruited help. This is my son, Thad. He’s a pretty chill guy, you can trust him.”

Zhenya stared at the two and the blond man, Thad, gave a chuckle.

“That’s actually pretty dang close to that Elliot Deathglare™,” he smiled, “I thought I was getting one of Tori’s glares there.”

“He fights like Vicky does, yeah,” the woman muttered, “Think you can help?”

“Maybe,” Thad shrugged, coming closer and kneeling down in front of Zhenya, getting a jump and a bared toothed glare at him, “Whoa! Hey…it’s ok. I’m not gonna hurt you, pro-”

He barely avoided the right hook Zhenya threw at him. Zhenya then took the opportunity to slip past and start towards the door, only to get football tackled from behind. The Russian Worker thrashed and snarled, scratching and biting to get away…but Thad was not letting go. 

“Hey, kid, need you to calm down ok? I know it’s scary and all…but I’m not gonna hurt you, ok?” Thad managed to pin Zhenya down, using his body as a leverage point to keep him from bucking him off. Green eyes met orange for a split second before Zhenya’s eyes slid down to Thad’s chest, looking to do a strike to his core to get him off…

And he froze.

He stared at the jersey that Thad wore. The same jersey that he’d seen his Valkyrie wearing that night under her jacket, could see her smile her eyes turned up in cocky reassurance. And Zhenya’s whirring core came down from it’s saw-pitched whine to a gentle thrum.

“Well, guess that worked,” Thad gave a nod, “Hey, Mom, I’ll get him opened up…get the transfer ready. I’ll be careful ok, man? Don’t worry…you’re in good hands.”

It took a few days for him to get used to his new frame, it was a few inches taller than his last one and he towered over most of the people in the bunker. The only one he didn’t seem to completely eclipse in height was Mrs. Doorman, and that was only because Uzi had some form of a weird modification she’d had done to her legs.

Zhenya wasn’t very fond of the fact that, despite being on his own and knowing everything about how to take care of himself, he’d been forced to go to school in the bunker. He was 17 after all. Not an adult. And without any parents to back him up or any other documentation…well, no one would take him seriously when he said he didn’t need it.

And oh did he hate school.

He was mainly going through the motions at this point, drifting from class to class, not caring for any of the subjects. Barely listening to the dronings of the Domestic drones in charge, barely noticing anyone who was staring or whispering at him. 

At least…he was for the most part.

As with most schools, there were those that thought they could assert their dominance by picking on others. Especially the newer ones to their domain.

“Where you going, Rebar Ruskie?” a Worker boy about a foot shorter than Zhenya sneered, shoving against Zhenya’s chest…Zhenya didn’t move, just stared dead at him with an almost bored expression, “Ex cuse you! I was talking?”

He felt a hand grab his jacket and yank him down, earning an eye twitch from the giant Worker.

“God, can you hear from up there?” the boy’s buddy sneered as a third smacked Zhenya’s books out of his hands, “Think your audials are clogged up with all the vent exhaust and dust bunnies.”

Zhenya ignored him, grabbing his books from the floor, only to get kicked from behind and sent sprawling as he was knocked off balance. 

Was it really worth being here? Would it really be that bad if he was kicked out of the last safe place for murder?

“Hey!”

His musing was cut off as a bird-song and church-choir voice cut through the snickering and laughing group. 

Tap. Tap. Tap…tap.

“What’s going on here?” the angelic female voice asked as Zhenya’s eyelights lifted from his books to slightly higher on the floor.

Only to be met with two goldenrod and ebony striped ballerina points. A canister of crystal clear glass and silver needle point swept low in his vision for a brief second as his eyes traveled upwards. The ballerina point legs continued, ebony in color until they reached the upper thigh, cutting off in a strip of the same goldenrod and ebony stripes as if a pair of stockings. A jersey, identical to the one that the doctor’s son had wore, was proudly worn and tied tight at the waist under a white, crimson and gold letter jacket. A saint’s blood red scarf wrapped around the neck as a three-pair of long silver claws tapped against white sleeves edged in black and gold. Bright platinum-blonde hair framed by a halo of brightly shining golden orbs on a headband curled against her head in a bobbed wreath. Sunglow gold eyes hidden behind a pair of silver glasses narrowed angrily at the wastes of space standing before the angel as her tail arced up and pointed over her shoulder.

His Valkyrie.

She was here .

“I said,” the Valkyrie deadpanned, “What’s going on here,”

“Nothing…” the first boy stammered, “Uh…w-we were just leaving…s-sorry uh…”

“Yeah, I bet,” the angel raised an eyelight as she pointed her tail at him, “Don’t do it again, you know how fragile you little ego is. And you definitely know what your social standing’s gonna do if you cross me. ‘Kay? Kay. Now bye-bye.”

The boys scrambled and the Valkyrie winced as she rocked back on her pegs, one of those silver taloned hands retracting and replacing with more Worker-like fingers as she offered it down to Zhenya with a smile.

“Sorry, don’t pay attention to those idiots. They’re bottom feeders looking for an easy mark. Not that you were giving it to them,” she smiled, “You’re not hurt, are you?”

[...N-No,] his voice was quiet as he took her hand, marveling at how warm she was. She gave another sun-blinding warm smile as she hauled him to his feet with surprising strength…though considering he watched her rip a man in half the other night he shouldn’t have been surprised.

“Good, hate to see when those guys cause trouble,” she admitted, “Don’t listen to them. They’re a bunch of idiots. Anyways…name’s Tori, Tori Hart. You’re…the new guy, right? Sorry I didn’t get here sooner,”

[Is fine…] Zhenya blinked, [Ah…thank you…]

“No problem,” she gave him a smile as she swapped her hand back into those long, gorgeous talons.

“Toriiiii!” a voice groaned and both Tori and Zhenya looked to see a group of girls, one of which was the smaller purple girl that had been with his Valkyrie the other night, “We’re gonna be late! C’mon!”

“On my way, A!” Tori waved back and started towards them, only to stop and give Zhenya a wink, “You let me know if they start bothering you again, ok? I’ll see you around!”

She then shot him a thumbs up with those talons before tapping off to return with her group. Zhenya watched her go, staring as she walked off. Tori. His Valkyrie’s name was Tori . He needed to see her again. He needed to speak to her again. He wanted to be around her again.

And unknowingly, his thoughts about her had shifted once again from awe.

It turned into obsession.

Chapter Text

From Obsession to Worship

If someone had seen Zhenya after his non-prey interaction with Tori, they would have been very concerned. In fact, he was pretty sure he’d sent some other Workers scattering with the intensity of his stare. 

But, it was an afterthought for him. They didn’t matter. All that mattered was the goddess in drone form that saw fit to grace his life with deific golden light.

So he decided to do what anyone in their somewhat right mind would do for their goddess. And decided to make up an offering. But…he wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to do.

In listening to the conversations his Angel had with some of her bees, it turned out that it was actually quite safe to be outside. Unless it was a certain week of the month. Apparently that week was the one that the Sky Demons, Disassembly Drones and their children went hunting. And that week had passed.

So, that was why he was currently skulking about without fear in the snowy buildings. Granted, he still did keep an eye on the sky. Even if Tori had said it was not a hunting week…she did say that her mother and her uncle still liked to fly through the night. Same with her cousins. 

He dimly wondered if that meant he might run into her too…

He shook his head. He had to focus and get to the destination in mind without being seen or caught. If not by the Disassembly Drones then definitely not the scrap gangs that littered the area.

With another quick scan of the area, he ducked into a darkened alleyway and made his way towards a worn building with faded lettering reading Copper-9 Interstellar Seed Bank and Greenhouse . With a grim smirk, Zhenya pulled out a set of lockpicking tools and worked on getting back into the building. 

He’d been in the place before, long ago. And it was still one of the few places on Copper-9 that still worked and functioned correctly after the core had detonated nearly forty years ago. The warmth washed over him as he opened the door just enough to slip inside and shut the door behind him. 

The building itself was built as a doomsday bunker by some paranoid humans that had run on a mix of wind and propane generators. The lights were still on, the heaters still worked and the automated gardeners still tended the plants even after all these years. 

He wandered through the rows, avoiding the water that soaked the concrete and dripped off some of the plants. Despite it being warm and keeping him from freezing to death, the sheer amount of water in this place was enough to make him avoid staying here for long. 

[What do I give her…] he murmured as he looked over the flowers again. He couldn’t take too many, otherwise there would not be enough for the future. And he very much wanted to make sure there were flowers for a very long time.

And that’s when he saw them.

Zhenya gave a smile as he gently cupped the flower petals in his hands, a smile splitting his face as the burnt umber glow from his screen brightened.

[Perfect.]

Lockpicking was one of Zhenya’s greatest strengths, so was being able to be unseen. And the lockers at the school were laughably easy compared to the Seed Bank. That being said, Zhenya watched from a distance as Tori tapped towards her locker, chatting away with the smaller purple girl and an even smaller girl with white eyes and glasses. 

A smile crossed his face as she opened the door to her locker and a small ‘oh!’ left her. A waterfall of daffodils, yellow roses and yellow tulips fell out of the compartment into her arms. Her screen burned with brilliant sunglow gold, blushing as a joyous smile crossed her face. A bird-song chirrup rang into the air as her tail gave a series of happy wags. Her smile only grew as she found the little paper that contained his scrawl in English. He wasn’t sure if she could speak or read Russian, so better to fall on the side of caution.

“I love her form, the matchless grace The pale sunrise of her face The lips that speak of love’s delight And the eyes that shame the stars of night,” she read as her tail wagged even harder and she hugged the flowers and poem closer, “Oh…oh that’s so sweet !”

The girls with her looked at each other and then back at Tori. He could hear them ask her something but Tori seemed to ignore it, a long, low and thrumming purr rumbling through the air as she took a deep breath.

“Oh…oh they’re actually real !” she breathed, “I’ve never seen real flowers before…Mom’s gonna freak ! I didn’t think anything could live on the planet since the core went boom! I need to give the sender a big kiss that’s for sure,”

Zhenya’s screen lit up apricot as he darted around a wall, leaning his head against it with a dull ‘thunk’. 

[She…give kiss? Me?] his smile was growing, almost as wide as hers. Dopey in appearance, love drunk and beatific. He felt like a little droneling promised sweet double As and computer chips and filament floss. With another happy sigh he turned around the corner to face her again…but with a slight sinking feeling, saw she was gone.

Well, just meant that he’d have to get her more things! More flowers, more poetry…maybe even some of those lithium watch batteries she said she liked. 

Was it slightly obsessive? Yes. Slightly stalker-y? Also yes. But he wasn’t sure on how to exactly confront the girl who held his core in a vice grip.

The second trip to the seed bank was not as smooth as the first. Zhenya had gotten a bunch of the yellow flowers again, as well as a new little plant that he’d been watching the caretakers work with and had been helping cultivate them ever since finding it. The title on the habitat had read “Ghost Lily”, a carnivorous plant native to Copper-9 that had evolved to both eat and synthesize to stay alive. Its petals were completely clear save for a golden throat and the edges that seemed like molten gold, delicate and dangerous…just like his Valkyrie.

He was on his way back to the bunker when he heard the whispers. And every single one of his prey-senses kicked in, throwing him into shadow with eyes dimmed to near blackness. 

The ground outside the building he hid in had exploded into chunks of ice and asphalt and he watched as Death on wings stood straight up. It wasn’t his Valkyrie, it was male for one and appeared more like the other Disassembly Drone that had been with his Valkyrie and the purple girl that first night. 

“Scare the prey away, why don’t you,” a second voice scoffed as the rasp of claws on brickwork caught Zhenya’s attention and his eyes hollowed as he saw his Valkyrie…but…no. No it wasn’t his Valkyrie.

The female Disassembler was similar to Tori, same design and all but…minor differences. No glasses, wearing a cropped top leather jacket with a fur ruff and yellow armband and nothing more save a red scarf that matched Tori’s. Her hair was more silver-white than silver blonde as well. In the same way, the male Disassembler was off from the one that had been with Tori, a long black coat with a fur ruff and matching yellow armband to the female one. 

“I thought I saw something,” the male shrugged, his voice was higher than the other male’s, “You’re in a bad mood tonight V…”

“Gee, very observant of you, N. What gave it away?” the female, V, snarked.

“Is it because Tori came home with those flowers?” the male, N, asked, “You seemed shocked to see them but you got reaaaaal hissy after hearing where she got them,”

“That stupid toaster does not deserve my kid,” V hissed, her tail flicked and a spray of golden nanite acid spattered uncomfortably close to where Zhenya was hiding, “I don’t know who he thinks he is, but like hell am I going to be ok with it!”

“V…you know Thad and Tori have talked to you about this,” N chided, “You can’t maul the kid.”

“Why not ?!” V snarled, “I don’t like him, N. Every single one of my reactive plates prickles when she talks about him and I just…look, he’s got two arms! He’s not gonna miss one!”

“V!” N snapped.

“Are you two done squabbling?” another familiar voice called as the snow crunched and Zhenya watched in confusion as Mrs. Doorman walked up to the two Disassemblers without fear, “The night’s burning and I don’t want to spend it with V moaning about how much she hates that kid.”

“Uzi c’mon, you’re on my side with this?” N asked, “He’s just a kid…”

“From what I’ve heard from Astra and Orion? I’m actually leaning more towards V’s reaction,”

“See,” V preened, “I’m saying…two arms…”

She stopped, her head tilting to the side almost too far.

“You smell that?” she asked.

Both Mrs. Doorman and N froze, Zhenya swallowing as he heard this…horrific sound, the rasp of sandpaper over burnished metal in quick staccato. 

“...Yeah,” N nodded, “I’ve…smelled that before. Just…not on Copper-9,”

“What is that?” Mrs. Doorman asked.

“Flowers,” V stated, “Like, a lot of them. C’mon…”

Three pairs of footsteps crunched away. Zhenya’s core humming in his chest violently as he swallowed and, after making sure that the trio had continued on far enough, bolted towards the bunker.

He…wasn’t looking forward to meeting Tori’s mother that soon.

Zhenya had taken up his usual spot, watching as Tori and her group of bees walked up to her locker to grab books for the upcoming class. Though he did notice that sandpaper rasp sound he’d heard the previous night from Tori’s mother and from the one called N sounded through the air. Tori’s eyes lit up and her tail wagged a little more as she all but ripped the door to her locker open. 

The taller girl beamed as she buried her screen in the avalanche of flowers, Zhenya could feel the breeze from her tail’s wagging from where he was. He could hear the other bees giggling and tittering as Tori dug into the locker and pulled out a small box. Her head tilted in hawk-like motion as she used her talons to delicately open the lid.

“Oh my robo- god !” she gasped, plucking out a lithium battery and crunching it between those long silver fangs, “Oh…oh where…”

She scanned the area and her gaze looked towards Zhenya, whose core near ceased as she immediately bolted towards him.

What was he going to say? What could he say? ‘I’m sorry I was the one that broke in’? Or explaining that he had been, well, effectively stalking her the past couple weeks to figure out what she liked?

He could smell the soft, delicate apple blossom of her perfume as she neared. He opened his mouth to say something! Anything!

“Adam!” Tori called, tapping past Zhenya and near pouncing on another Worker boy in an embrace. 

He was smaller than Zhenya, smaller than Tori by a good amount as well. Dull mint green eyes shadowed by a mop of greasy brown-black hair that was slicked with so much hair product under a backwards ballcap it made Zhenya’s sensors cringe away. He wore the letter jacket of the school much like Tori did, but where hers was meticulously taken care of and spotless, cut to her form…his was baggy and sagged on his frame and the snow white sleeves were dingy cream. Gaudy gold and rhinestone jewelry that reflected the amber light from Tori hung from his neck and clinked with every step. He grunted as Tori embraced him and lay a loving kiss on his cheek.

“Ayyy Tori what the hell?!” Adam sputtered, “What’s up?”

“You’re silly,” she gave a soft giggling sound as she tapped a talon on his screen with such gentleness it was as if a cobweb had brushed against it, “I got your gift! I thought you said you couldn’t find any lithium batteries! And the flowers…they’re even more beautiful than the last one!”

Zhenya staggered as if he’d been punched. Maybe he had. Of course…of course a beautiful goddess like her would have someone. Why would she ever care for this whipped alleydog of a Worker when she had a boyfriend already?

“Huh?” Adam blinked, looking at the flowers and then up at Tori, who was all but wrapped completely around him, “Oh! Yeah…yeah sure. Nothing but the best for you Tor,”

Tori gave a low, loud purring sound as a wavering and high warbling sound pierced through the air. Adam winced and Tori jumped, pulling back slightly.

“Tor, we talked about that,” he told her.

“Right…right, sorry. Guess it’s a bit loud,” she admitted, her tail snaking around his waist and wrapping around him as she lay another kiss on his screen, “God, just…this made my day you have no idea!”

“Whatever you say, babe,” Adam nodded, “Let’s get going, yeah?”

“Yeah!”

Zhenya watched as they walked away, dropping what books he held in his hands as he watched them go. He’d rather Tori’s mother stabbed him with the acid last night…it would have hurt less than this. 

He stood there, back against the wall and looking up at the ceiling. This…set a lot of things back. He couldn’t really murder the guy, it would make Tori upset. So, he’d settle for pining from afar. Making the little gestures still…even if she loved another. He’d be an acolyte to her church, to his goddess…

And so his Obsession turned into Worship.

Chapter Text

From Worship to Love

The more that Zhenya watched over his Valkyrie, the more he was very convinced of one thing. 

He absolutely hated Adam. 

It wasn’t the fact that Tori had chosen that scumbag as her partner. He might be petty but not that petty. It was the fact that Adam had a…very fickle nature and didn’t treat Tori with the reverence she deserved. 

This was especially compounded on what he had witnessed yesterday. 

It was lunchtime, full of a bunch of people he didn’t care about and one person he did. No one sat at his table to chat with him and he was perfectly fine with that. Good, let them be scared of him. He didn’t care. Less babble ringing in his ears and taking away from his thoughts. Tori had sat down with Adam and the popular clique, her tail coiling around the chair’s legs to avoid accidentally sticking someone as she pushed up her glasses. 

Her smile melting through his permafrost and causing a faint smile to tug against his lips. She seemed to freeze, looking up and waving, letting out a series of high, bell-like whistles and chirps. Zhenya could vaguely hear a return combination as a purple blur shot towards her, dragging a red-haired and green eyed boy with her. 

“Tor…” Adam winced as he held a hand to his audials, “You know how loud that is…normal voice please?”

“Ah…right,” Tori apologized, her face falling for a split second before returning to the sunbright smile, “So, A, heard you and Cole got the lead role in the play! Awesome!” 

He didn’t pay much attention to the rest of the conversation. He was full on ready to rip Adam limb from limb, seeing V’s way of thinking for a moment. She looked so sad…so distraught that he demanded she be silent, to hide that part of her!

And Zhenya decided he didn’t want to see that face ever again.

He gave a grumbling sigh as he pushed the door to the school wing of the Outpost bunker open and shuffled inside. As expected, when some of the other Workers saw him, they shuffled away from him, trying to avoid the supposedly rabid dog. What wasn’t expected was the amount of whispers and gossip he was hearing.

“Did you hear?” a green eyed girl asked her friend, looking around.

“About what?” the red eyed boy asked.

“Tori!” the green eyed girl whisper-hushed.

Zhenya paused putting his books in his locker, listening as his Valkyrie was mentioned. The tittering between the friends continued as the green eyed girl did a bad job of trying to keep a secret.

“She and Adam broke up!” the girl continued.

Zhenya’s core stuttered as his eyes hollowed out. Did he just hear that right? Did that mean…

“They’ll be back together at the end of the week,” the boy dismissed, making Zhenya’s shoulders drop slightly.

“I don’t think so…” the girl shook her head, “Cuz Tori was the one that broke it off.”

“Seriously!? Ok, not gonna lie, I’m glad. Adam’s a tool. But did they say why?”

Another shake of the head, “No, apparently though it was uh…really really bad. Like, so bad that Adam actually threw a hissy fi-”

There was silence down the sea of drone-kind…parting as if from Moses’ staff and Zhenya watched as a sunglow gold, dim and barely lit tapped down the hall. Her head was down, tail trailing behind her in limp wake. Zhenya’s core seized when he saw Tori’s eyes over the books that she clutched tightly to her chest…

Hollow, fuzzy and glitching artifacts around the edges. She…did not look well. He could have sworn he saw tears glittering in topaz shards in the corners of her screen.

She was gone and the hallway remained in silence for a few more seconds. Chatter started back up and Zhenya slammed his locker shut, making the green eyed girl and red eyed boy jump five feet in the air. With no further words or emotion other than fury on his face…Zhenya set upon tracking down Adam.

The only thing that stopped him from killing Adam was the memory that Tori would have been upset. So he settled for breaking his screen into myriad shards of black glass.

He was suspended for a few weeks because of that. But, Adam stayed well away from Zhenya after.

After he had gotten back from staring up at the ceiling of the shelter because he wasn’t allowed to be at the school during his suspension, he saw that Tori was…strangely back to her normal self. At least, for the most part. Not many would notice but she seemed to dim when no one was looking only to brighten again when attention was pulled back to her. 

Oh he really wished he would have put Adam six feet under.

But, Tori would not have liked that. So he would have to show his support of his Angel in a different way. Even if it meant being with people and having to deal with them.

Apparently the prom was a big deal in the school setting. Zhenya didn’t really see much a point in it, but Tori had thrown herself into it all. His core fluttered lightly as she’d actually talk to him…more on telling him what went where but still. She was paying attention to him and whenever she told him thank you for help for reaching a high spot or smiling and softly laughing as he played the role of ladder as she stood on his shoulders for a hard to reach spot that made him blush like mad…he felt important and just…

Happy .

Seeing her light up like the sun was worth all the uncomfortable blushing on his end. 

He was currently picking at a loose thread of the suit he’d managed to scavenge from a shattered storefront outside, he’d done what he could…spent countless hours scrubbing out the stains and stitching the rips and tears together to be presentable. 

He still looked like a homeless hobo…but a nicer one than normal. One who was able to go to a dance with an Angel.

The gym looked gorgeous, balloons and sparkling lights and streamers everywhere. It didn’t look like the high school gym they were forced to run laps around every day, it looked like something out of a sappy teenage chick flick where Cinderella went to the prom. 

Zhenya saw a splash of yellow light and lit up slightly only to deflate as he saw it was the boy Working Disassembler that he didn’t care to know the name for. He was Tori’s cousin and that was all Zhenya really cared to know about him.

“Oh! You came!”

Zhenya’s eyes hollowed out as he whipped around to face Her . His Angel, his Valkyrie stood in front of him dressed in saint’s blood red dress that hugged every curve that whatever fabricator made her as gently as a lover’s embrace, showcasing her long legs and hips as she sat a taloned hand on one of said hips. 

“I didn’t know if you would or not,” she admitted, her tail arced in front of her in a glittering gold arc to push her glasses up, causing Zhenya to blink.

That was nanite acid? And she was as tall as he was now…did she move up a frame?

[Thought it…would be good idea,] he admitted, [Your work…is important to see, yes?]

“Yeah,” Tori gave a small laugh as she rubbed the back of her neck, “It’s a bit of a labour of love, y’know? Gotta throw myself into something , you know? Keeps all the negativity at a low. But! It turned out great, couldn’t have done it without you and everyone. You guys did amazing,”

[Y-Yeah…]

The sound of tapping on a microphone caught their attention and caused both Worker and Working Disassembler to look up at the stage. 

“What’s up everyoooone! We’ve got a special announcement to make!” one of Tori’s friends chirped from the stage, “You all voted and I’m going to give you your prom queen and king!”

The crowd cheered and Tori clapped, smiling as her friend waved the envelope containing the names.

“First up, we’re gonna announce the Queen,” the girl on stage stated as she opened the envelope, only to give a light laugh, “Oh wow! Yeah not surprising this one! By a whopping landslide …your Prom Queen is Victoria Hart!”

The spotlight turned onto Tori, who winced lightly at the sudden bright light, but turned it into a smile as her tail gave a lazy wag and her smile became more a self-confident smirk. She turned towards Zhenya and gave a wink and a shrug.

“Duty calls,” she chuckled as she sauntered towards the stage, waving as the crowd parted and applauded her.

Zhenya watched in joy and awe as Tori received her crown and her flowers. As the first truly happy smile lit up her face as she waved at the crowd…

And then it all went wrong.

One snap, one twang and a waterfall of rainbow-black oil spilled down from a hidden bucket from far above. The cheering turned into dead silence as Tori stood in the middle of the splash zone, that ruby red gown now ruined as she squinted, swiping the oil away from her screen. Her glasses were gone, skittering somewhere across the gym floor as a tremor ran through her frame.

Her eyes were hollow as they looked blearily up at the crowd, her tail flicking as she took several shuddering breaths. Her eyes went down to her talons, the clicking snap as they scratched and creaked against each other. Her stunned expression started showing too many teeth, cracking into a wide and manic smile as a soft giggling sound filtered through the air. He watched as those eyes flickered from hollowed, tearful horror into a broad, death-filled X and back repeatedly as her breaths came out in fast pants and her wings spread in pearlescent array.

He heard some chaperones ordering the students to get out. But it was dull and quiet in his ears as Tori fought down the rictus grin and turned it into a grimace. A flash of silver, violet and gold caught his attention as the smaller purple girl and the taller golden boy both hopped up on the stage, both with wings outstretched to block Tori’s view of the gym and Zhenya’s view of Tori. 

He looked up to see the bucket dangling from a rope, still dripping oil, and he grit his teeth as he was finally herded out of the gym.

Someone did this on purpose.

“Hey! Watch out guys, oil slick coming down the hall!” Adam’s voice was mocking and ear piercing and Zhenya still wanted to punch him.

Didn’t help the fact that Tori stood in the middle of the hall surrounded by her bees as she held her books close.

“Careful, she might bite …” Adam smirked.

Tori just looked at him, her tail flicked once, the acid canister casting golden shadows over his screen as it caught. Zhenya could hear a low growl rumbling in the air, could see that her claws dug into her books. She shoved her glasses back into place and gave a wide, toothy smile.

“Dunno about that,” she smirked, “I’d rather not upset my fuel tank with how nasty you’d be,”

“Oh is Miss ‘nice and tame’ actually threatening to eat someone?” a girl Zhenya dimly remembered used to be one of Tori’s bees, “The murder bot’s actually defective.”

“Nah, just full of love ,” Tori purred, tapping up and pointedly yet gently tapping a claw on the other girl’s screen, “Unlike your virus ridden self. Good god I’m surprised that he’s not shut down with the toxic personality you bring to the table. I know you two have definitely been core coupling. No way you haven’t been. But there’s something that I’ll have that you never will,”

His Valkyrie gave a sharklike grin as silence reigned for a few seconds, the other girl’s face turned stunned and mortified as Tori turned on her foot and sauntered off. 

“And you know that how ?” came the girl’s shrill voice, “There’s no way you’d know you were the first.”

Tori did stop there.

“You really don’t know when to shut that garbage disposal you call a mouth, do you,” Tori deadpanned, turning back around, “But, I guess Mom was right, toasters are stupid. Specially defective easy bake ovens such as yourself whose only purpose is to cultivate the worst of micro-organisms after some human child forgot to clean you out. And y’know what?” she gave a soft giggle behind a closed and fanged smile, “I honestly feel sorry for you. That you have to stoop so low and scrape the bottom of the barnacle encrusted barrel of the Titanic’s wreckage. But hey, a parasite like him deserves a leech like you.”

“Maybe they were right…” a boy murmured, “You saw her at the prom…she was gonna rip us all to pieces…”

“She’s dangerous…so is the other one…they shouldn’t be here,” a girl agreed.

Zhenya watched as Tori’s grin faltered as she heard the murmurs and his anger finally blew up.

[How many of you has she defended against lowlife bully?] his voice rumbled, carrying through the hall and getting people to freeze, staring at him. Part of him wanted to cringe away, but the surprised and yet…grateful look on Tori’s face made him brave, [has helped with homework despite it taking time of her day? Prom was…90% her work. And because of cyber roach like him you forget? You all are stupid. You have no idea how much she has done for you. And you turn on her like that. You know what we would have called you out in the wilds?]

He gave a savage grin.

[Bait. Because bait does not know when to shut up and appreciate the lives they were given. You do not want to be bait now do you?]

With that, he looked up at Tori to gauge her reaction. An amused smile crossed her face as she gave a nod and turned on her heel to go…her head held a little higher.

Zhenya made his way to the gym and ducked under the bleachers. It was the end of the day and he really didn’t feel like going directly to the shelter. He’d just settled back against the wall when something caught his eye.

A golden glitter.

“Y’know…you’re really not supposed to be here after school,” a church-choir and bell tone voice chuckled. 

Zhenya’s core soared as he looked up to see none other than Tori lounging like some big cat on some of the higher up beams. Her tail flicked lightly, tapping the glass canister against the metal of the bleachers.

[You probably as well.] he stated.

“Touche,” Tori scoffed as she grabbed a lithium battery and crunched it between her fangs, “So…why are you still here? Now that I did the obligatory ‘you shouldn’t be here’.”

[You seem sad,] he admitted, reaching up to try and climb up to be closer to her, [Was making sure you are ok. I do not like that sad expression on your face. Better when you shame stars of night.]

Tori stared at him, head tilted in hawk-like action as those expressionless golden eyes pierced through him. A few more core pulses whirred by…and she gave a derisive laugh.

“...God I’m an idiot,” she whispered, thunking her head back against the support, “It was you, wasn’t it? The flowers, the batteries,  the poems…it wasn’t Adam.”

[He could not court his way out of paper bag if it bit him.] 

She gave a bell-like laughter peal as she shook her head.

“Yeah, yeah you’re right,” she chuckled, “So, why?”

[I just... I like it when you smile, it makes this place... bearable.] he admitted, [And if I didn't... I don't try... it would not be fun if... the sunrise went away. So just want to... make try help, I guess...]

“That why you punched him in the face?” Tori asked, “And got yourself suspended?”

[...Yeah…]

She gave a snort as that smile returned, casting sunlight shadows across the space.

“Good to see someone other than my family cares,” she murmured, “Thanks,”

[..I think you are worth more than anyone in this school is,] he confessed, [I…not been to…prom before but…yours…is the only one that I think I would ever go to,]

A brilliant lemon blush spilled over her screen as an equally bright apricot one rushed over his. 

"Spasibo, Yevgeniy, eto znachit bol'she, chem vy mogli sebe predstavit'.” 

His eyes hollowed as he looked up at her, giving that cheeky and brilliant smile that made his core near stop. She did speak Russian…and very well too…

“You good there?” she asked, “I didn’t bluescreen you did I?”

[Your…your accent is…it is nice,] he mumbled, trying to hide the blush under his hat and he heard her bell like voice laughing in amusement, [...your voice is like a song…]

“Well I’d hope the accent is good. I have an aunt that’s Russian and she’s been te-” she froze as she computed the last part of his statement, “Ah…s-sorry…I didn’t realize. I thought I kept the ping down. It know it’s really loud for Workers…”

[I don’t think it’s loud,] he told her, [I think I…I think anyone be sad if you stop…]

She stared at him for a long, long while before a warbling birdsong chirrup sang through the air. Her hands clapped over her mouth, eyes hollow as another blush burned over her screen.

“Sorry uh…um that wasn’t…exactly supposed to be a thing,” she admitted.

Zhenya stared at her a moment, forgetting all his doubt and insecurity. She had that effect on him and he both loved and hated the vulnerability that came with it. But…it just...if it was her, he felt save. And so, he smiled like a boy for the first time since his mother died. Sharklike yet soft. 

[I always liked hearing those sounds in the hall.] he told her.

She gave him a wry grin as she winked and shot him a pair of finger guns, reminding him of the green eyed doctor that he’d broken the screen of when they upgraded him to his teenage frame. 

“Guess that means I’ve gotta keep doing it now, huh?” she smirked.

[Yeah…I…think the world would be better if you did,] he smiled back.

“I’ll…have to do it more then,” she admitted, flashing this…soft and shy smile that seemed like it would have belonged to a soft little domestic drone than the Valkyrie she was. She pushed off her perch, landing lightly on the floor. Zhenya reached out a hand to steady her, his hand gently meeting hers…

Zzzzt!

Both of them stopped as  they stared at their hands, at the spark that flashed from them both. They looked up at each other, the red and blue of their fire and ice lives blending together to make a lilac sky.

“Why don’t…we go get something to eat, yeah? Probably something good at the mess hall, you think?” she admitted, voice quiet as their hands interlocked with scuffed and rough scarred hands and military grade armor.

[...I’d like that,] he admitted.

As he held her hand and they walked out into the light, Zhenya realized that the Worship he had so diligently kept had transformed into Love. 

And with that realization, came the need to update his rules that he lived by.

• The only one ones you could count on was were yourself and Tori.
• No one Tori cared about you.
• Trust no one. Tori
• Night was where Death his Valkyrie walked.