Dreams Come True

I Can Fix You

My eyes slowly cracked open as Maria pulls me closer into her, making sure I'm still here. Without moving my head too much so I didn't wake my adoptive mother up, I glanced at the clock that was on the nightstand next to me. It read a proud 8:30, making me smile. I then remembered everything that happened last night, frowned at the memories of nearly being gutted by Scrap Baby.

Which made me think: What were we going to do about her?

It was a tense thought, as unlike all the times before something like this had happened, it took longer to best the intruder. But this time, we beat them instantly, and they were captured. While a part of me hoped it made things easier, the rest of me knew this was only the beginning. Scrap Baby would be a tough egg to crack, so we needed to be ready for anything.

"You're thinking too hard", a gentle whisper sounded off in my ear.

Rolling over in surprise, I looked to see Maria awake and sitting up, Maple sleepily resting on her shoulder.

"Sorry..." I mumbled. "Just... a lot's happened, so I've been.... Yeah."

Maria nodded and moved me so I was sitting up too. "I get it. But you shouldn't worry about it too much."

I simply hummed. "What happened to Scrap Baby? I was kinda out of it last night after everything went down."

"Steve offered to watch her. Surprisingly, he doesn't need to sleep, it's just a habit. So he built a shack next to the mess hall, I think he used obsidian, and for the whole night he locked himself in there with that freak..." She ended with a slight snarl, her hand instinctively reaching out to squeeze mine. "Trust me, no one is happy about what happened."

"I know..." I sighed. "But we can't do anything drastic. Scrap Baby's whole universe hinges on her existence like the rest of you guys, so I don't want her dismantled."

Maria scoffed as she got out of bed, her faded red nightgown swaying as she walked over to a privacy screen. Maple made sure to hop off her shoulder and climb onto mine. "We know, that's why we're all so angry. You should have seen The Doctor, honestly. He was this close to having the TARDIS force a black hole into existence to swallow her up."

I turned around as Maria got dressed, respecting her privacy even with the screen up. "I want to talk to her."

All the sound behind the screen froze. "Caleb, mijo... are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I need to, Maria", I said firmly, hugging the still sleeping Gladius close to my chest. "I need to try and see if I can get through to her."

Maria sighed, and I turned around just as she walked out fully dressed. Her ponytail was undone, with her impossibly long hair dragging on the floor behind her. "Yeah... Yeah I should've expected that."

"Trust me, Maria. I know what I'm getting into."

She walked over and kissed me on the forehead. "I do, and I always will."

I smiled up at her and left the bedroom. Maple was now fully awake on my shoulder, while I strapped the still sleeping sword to my back. With some final adjustments, I left the bedroom so Maria could finish getting ready in peace. Walking through the hallways of the TARDIS, I occasionally ran into some of the others, making small talk with them.

Corey was seemingly getting inspired for his own lyrics, which made Laney extremely proud. And her lovestruck gaze as he and Manolo practised together made me smile knowingly. She blushed when she noticed me, and I laughed as I left.

Later, I ran into Jenny, Majima and Galacta. The three of them seemed to be talking about what to do with Scrap Baby, but I didn't press them on it. I simply let them talk, because I knew the whole killer robot thing was a very sensitive topic right now.