Waiting for as long as it will take

Eugene was not doing well for a while after Jane had left. He was weakening and worsening by the hour, but somehow his father had refused to give up on him. Frankly he wasn't sure what had happened, but he had woken up one time during his procedure, screaming in pain as the scientists were operating on his back. They had quickly sedated him once more, but it didn't help with the nightmares. His father had done something to him, he was sure of it, and as he had started to walk around it felt almost mechanic. He couldn't explain why.
A scientist had taken pity on him, finding that despite his disfiguration and lost hand, Eugene seemed handsome still. She had been easy to manipulate, and soon enough he had her wrapped around his fingertips. Being alone had changed him. His heart had grown colder, and he cared less and less as the days went by. But one thing was keeping him alive and that was thinking of Jane.
One night he had convinced the female scientist that he wanted to go for a walk with her, hinting at something more, hence why they had headed down towards the Blocks. "Eugene, I'm not sure about this," she whispered a little hesitantly, but he kept walking, not caring as he looked down at his small tracker. Gods, he hoped she still had Beep, because that would make tracking her so much easier. She walked in front of him, touching his chest and stopping him with the same motion, "we can just take any bed in one of these houses ... I'm not picky," she spoke almost innocently, but Eugene rolled her eyes. He didn't have time for playing along right now.

Eugene grit his teeth, holding on to his cane as he had to stop for a minute. He was still healing, but he didn't care anymore. He couldn't take being with his father much longer. He checked the small device as it finally picked up on something. He breathed out in relief but the female scientist didn't seem to budge. "Come on, Genie, let's get you out of the cold," she said but he ignore her walking on through the snow even if it mean he would lose toes as well. His body was a mess anyways, and if he hadn't been fixed by his father, he would've been dead by now. Sure, it meant he was indebted to his father but he wouldn't let it dictate his life. Tracing the signal was troublesome.

Beep started to go crazy, running out from under the cabinets, making quite a lot of sound as it crawled up Jane's leg to sit on her thigh. If she ignored it or tried brushing it off, it would simply climb up higher until it was basically dangling from her hair in front of her face, beeping and booping.

Beep was going crazy, but it was because it was being detected. It was something Eugene had done so that if people ever caught on to his creation it would warn him. But Beep seemed to know that Jane was not Eugene and that whoever was tracking him might be either a danger element to the person or maybe, even hoping, it was Eugene. It started beeping in segments. Morse code. E-U-G-E-N-E. It was the only real language it knew but whether or not Jane could understand was another case. As it was placed on the floor it scattered over to the door, scratching at it like it was a dog waiting to be let out.

Beep was still going crazy, even as it was picked up and stuffed in the scarf, it kept beeping Eugene's name over and over in Morse code.

The female scientist was starting to get impatient, "I'll tell your father about this," she warned him, but it didn't deter him, not as the signal got stronger. Had she moved outside? His heart started pounding as he moved further through the Blocks towards the signal. The female scientist grunting as she followed, clearly freezing in the snow, but Eugene wasn't to be stopped now that he was on the move.

The beeps became more frequent, and then as he looked in that direction he saw her. She came sprinting towards him, the beeping going crazy until she wrapped her arms around him. He chuckled, wrapping his arm around her as he lost his footing and fell back in to the snow. He held her close, the female scientist clearly feeling cheated.
As Jane let go and asked about her, Eugene scoffed, lifting his hand to touch Jane's face, "just my ticket out to you," he assured her. Did she really think that his father would ever go out alone again? The female scientist looked from Jane to Eugene as they got up, Eugene slapping loose snow off of his pants and jacket. "What's the meaning of this, Genie?" she asked, her voice already annoying him. He looked at Jane softly, touching her cheek so gently and it was clear the scientist felt jealous. "As if she could ever be useful," he muttered to Jane, smiling as it was clear he held her in such high regard. He slowly turned around, wrapping his arm around Jane, mostly to hold her close, but also for balance, though he wouldn't put his full weight on her. "Genie?" she repeated and Eugene scoffed, "stop calling me that, it's ridiculous," the scientist's eyes welling up. It was like she was now realizing just how much Eugene had played her. "If I let you leave, you'll tell my father where we are," he said in a small ponder, turning his head to look at Jane, "and I don't want him showing up when we are not interested in talking to him." Letting her decide what should happen to the scientist. If she didn't decide, then Eugene had an idea.

Wanted her gone? He smiled as he leaned down to kiss the top of her head, "then you never have to see her again," he promised her in a sweet whisper, but the scientist clearly didn't hear that, stepping closer, reaching for Eugene. The human looked at her, tilting his head to the side, clearly not liking being interrupted when all he really wanted to do was go away with Jane. But alas, this scientist had served her purpose for now.
He heard the small beeping from Jane's scarf, smiling as Beep poked its little LED face out, beeping like crazy at its owner. Eugene took the small robot, lifting it to inspect it. It was in a rough shape by now, but he could easily fix it. He then looked at the scientist who seemed nervous, making Eugene chuckle softly. "Jane, you don't happen to have a little bomb on you?" he asked and that made the scientist panic. They had all seen what Jane was capable of creating. He sighed, shaking his head, "then again it would be messy," he sighed, digging in to his pocket to take out a syringe. He stepped closer to the scientist, "what was it you told me? Hmm ... Just a little pinch and it's over," he chuckled and the scientist backed away, but Eugene grabbed her, inserting the syringe in to her neck. The fluid spread fast being so close to the pulse and the scientist gasped for air before falling limb. Eugene let her go, his hand releasing the syringe and letting it disappear in the heavy snow.
"Let's go, Zippy," he said, turning around to pull her in and walking side by side with her.

He knew this wasn't pretty. He wasn't normally cruel, but if they didn't do anything, they would never stop. A dead scientist would send a signal to let them be. Following her through the snow he held her close before they went inside. He got out of his jacket, keeping on his shoes as there really was no reason to take them off when the floor was covered in metal shavings and dust. He let Beep down, letting it run off for now before he would inspect it later, and he looked at Jane as she came closer. Feeling her hand against his cheek he smiled, leaning in to her touch. "It's really me," he promised in a sweet whisper, his hand reaching down to pull her a little closer. They were both rather cold, but now that they were too, they would quickly heat up. "And it really is you," he followed up, leaning in to kiss her forehead, closing his eyes to breathe in her scent. He had missed her so much and just standing here with her felt almost surreal. "Have you been busy without me?" he asked looking around but not letting go unless she moved out of his embrace.

He looked towards the small workspace she had made for herself on the floor, frowning as she said she hadn't been able to finish it all. What was keeping her back? She was an incredible tinkerer, surely she could finish whatever she put her mind to. But then again he understood her so well. He knew it was because she had missed him. "I need to update Beep ... I'll have a look at Crabby for you too if you would like me to?" he suggested, looking at her as she placed a hand on his chest. Gods how he wanted to take it, but his only hand was wrapped around her, holding her close. She mentioned friends and he tilted his head a little, "I'm sure I would," he told her, leaning down to kiss her nose, "but I feel like I need to be whole first." He lifted up his stump, "did you make me a hand?" His question soft as if he was whispering his undying love to her.

"We agreed it could just be a prototype," he argued, but he knew she was somewhat of a perfectionist. Being instructed to strip down made him hum, pulling his shirt over his head, taking her hand and sitting down in the chair. His back looked rough, filled with scars from stitches and cuts. And there was something operated in to him, something that made him able to walk normally, or at least somewhat.
As she walked behind him, he didn't need to look at her to know she was seeing how beat up his body was. It was still bruised, and a few spot had darkened, though the skin wasn't dead. It was mostly a side effect from using the serum. "I'm sorry you have to see me this way," he said a little apologetic.

Not apologizing to her would feel weird. He hadn't felt himself in quite a while, but with Jane here he felt more connected to his own body. Perhaps because she so effortlessly forced him to feel it. She touched his skin, his muscles tensing slightly at the gentle touch, feeling how the arm was sitting on his shoulder and around his stump. It didn't feel uncomfortable, but it wasn't like it was pleasant either. He guessed this was something that had been hard for her to make without his measurements. She spoke of this place being her hideout from way back when, and he looked around a bit in wonder, taking it all in. "I still wish you had stayed with me," he confessed, even though this place was cool, he had missed her so much all those years. Perhaps that was why this separation had been more hard, because both knew they were waiting for the other.
He got up, moving his arm, testing out the grip a bit. The sensors had to be optimized to fit his nerves better, but this was pretty good. "I like the colors you've painted on it," he smiled at her, but that was far from the only thing he liked about this. He reached his mechanic arm out to her, "let us test it for a bit," he said in a slight chuckle. If she took his hand he would move it carefully to grip hers, pulling her in to his embrace. His real hand felt up her curves carefully as he buried his face in her hair. His mechanical hand moved down, touching her hip. It was a little clunky, and he muttered a small "sorry," as he was pretty sure he nipped her a bit.

Her mumble made him smile. To him one of the greatest joys was to see her tinker, so as she apologized he shook his head, "no, tell me more of your ideas," he said, his warm hand touching a bit of bare skin between the hem of her shirt and her trousers. It was clear he was as happy as could be, "perhaps we should smooth the metal out more ... It would ruin the paint you've given it, but you could always recolor it anyways you'd like it," he worried a bit about accidentally cutting her or himself on a surprise sharp edge.
He moved his shoulder a little, the mechanical hand moving with him as he tried adjusting himself a bit. It was cutting a bit in to him from being rather heavy, "the next one would do well if we used more carbon fiber, making it lighter and perhaps easier to maneuver."

He liked hearing all her ideas. "Titanium," he hummed, his mouth pulling up in a smile. He moved around a bit, adjusting a strap here and a piece of metal there as she asked if he wanted it off. "No, I just have to get used to it," he smiled, moving the fingers slowly one by one, calibrating them a little, "though perhaps we should get a hold of some scrap cloth to put on the contact points; It's digging in to my skin a little, but it won't be too bad just for now." However he could only imagine the wound if he kept it on for a whole day.
"It feels good to have a my hand back," he chuckled, looking at her as he lifted both hands to cup her face. He looked at her, smiling to himself, "I've missed doing that," he confessed. He loved seeing her face getting lightly squished together, feel her warm cheeks.