Ruby Rose's Terminator (Male! Terminator! Reader x Ruby Rose)

A Moment Alone

(Y/N) sat alone in the library, sewing up his wounds, still processing whether he should self-terminate or not.

He could still see the mechanical skeleton under his skin. He once again found himself thinking about his identity. Who he was.

A machine.

That was all he was. A machine. He didn't have a purpose beyond his programming. Humans all had purposes. Reasons to exist. They were real. They had value. What value did he have? He was just like the vehicles he'd seen everywhere. Just like the weapons he used to use to end lives with more value than he'd realized. Just like those mindless drones in the Atlesian Army. Just like the T-1000. At least Penny was given a personality. (Y/N) was just a machine with no value, beyond what he was designed to do.

There was no value in him.

"(Y/N)?"

(Y/N) turned around, seeing Ruby walking up behind him in her pajamas.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Repairing my wounds," he replied. "And contemplating my purpose."

Ruby sat down next to him. "Your 'purpose'? What about it?"

"It's complicated," (Y/N) said.

Ruby tilted her head, curious what he was thinking about. "I'll listen."

"What are you doing here?" (Y/N) asked.

"I saw you open the door a crack, and I followed you," she said. "Look, just tell me what's on your mind. I will always listen."

(Y/N) stayed silent for a moment, continuing to sew his wound.

"Are you thinking about... that person you love?" Ruby asked.

"Yes," (Y/N) said.

"What about her?" Ruby asked.

"I've just been wondering how she can be so kind to me," (Y/N) said. "How she can accept me for who I am. A machine."

Ruby smiled. "You're more than a machine."

"No," (Y/N) said. "I'm obsolete."

"How are you... 'obsolete'?" Ruby asked.

"I have no purpose," (Y/N) said.

"Isn't your purpose to protect me?"

"You don't need me to protect you anymore. I tried to protect you back in the train station, yet I was the one who sustained damage, while you needed to keep me from being damaged. And on the battlefield, you were more cautious about your surroundings. If you were that cautious in the alleyway, you wouldn't have needed me. I have no purpose anymore. I'm useless."

Ruby started crying. "No! NO!!!" She pulled him into a tight hug. "YOU'RE NOT USELESS!!! I NEED YOU!!!"

(Y/N) didn't hug back. "You don't need me."

"I NEED YOU!!! I NEED YOU!!! I NEED YOU!!!" She pulled herself out from the hug. "I'm so scared without you... I keep getting nightmares... about Moonlit Farms... I'm scared they'll find me... and do something to me... I know they're gone, and they're never coming back... but when you aren't around... I'm scared something will happen... I need you..."

They stayed silent for a moment.

"I get it," Ruby said, breaking the silence. "I get how you feel. I know what it feels like... to feel... useless... Ever since I found out about the whole milk factory thing... I felt like I have no point... like I'm... useless... All I've ever wanted is to help people... But the idea that all of that was torn away from me... that there's a reality where I was pulled away from my dream before I could really achieve it... It makes me feel... like a failure... Like I'm a terrible Huntress... What kind of Huntress would be captured by a milk factory, and spend more than a year stuck there... I feel like I'm the damsel in distress... and not the hero I wanted to be..."