Gotta Be You

7 Rodney: In the Dead of Night

Rodney was yanked from the embrace of sleep by hands shaking him roughly by his shoulders.

"Bluh, huh?" he garbled.

Aunt Fanny's face swam into view. "Wake up!" she said urgently.

"Why, what's wrong? Is it Ratchet?" Rodney said, rubbing his eyes. He bolted upright. "Is it my dad?"

"No, no. Nothing like that," Aunt Fanny said. "Just... pack your things and come downstairs."

Still half dreaming, Rodney did her bidding. His mind tried to process through what Aunt Fanny had said as he threw tools into his old suitcase. He felt his mind flash back to a similar midnight flight—when he had left home nearly one year ago under the cover of darkness. He'd been so optimistic, so full of hope back then.

He shook himself out of his reverie as Aunt Fanny called for him again. He grabbed Wonderbot, who let out a startled shriek, and stumbled down the stairs. What he saw next stopped him dead in his tracks.

Aunt Fanny, Piper, and Crank were seated on the couch, looking anywhere but at Rodney. A large black bag was set on the table in front of them. Two big, official-looking robots stood silently by the door.

"What's going on?"

Aunt Fanny stood, wildly disrupting the equilibrium of the couch. "Rodney," she said hesitantly, "We need to talk."

She patted the seat next to her and lowered herself back down, catapulting Crank onto the floor. Rodney sat, his eyes trained on the suspicious figures in the doorway.

"You know we've been low on cash recently, Rodney," Aunt Fanny said.

Rodney nodded, frowning. Since all the work he'd been doing on outmodes was pro-bono, he wasn't bringing in any money. Aunt Fanny hadn't made him pay rent for months, but Rodney could see the strain it had placed on her finances. Meals had gotten smaller, the AC no longer ran, and rumor was that Aunt Fanny had taken to entertaining strange men during the nights.

Rodney had felt bad, to say the least, but hadn't thought much about it. If the price of saving robots from a fiery death at the Chop Shop was skipping dinner, he was willing to pay it.

Aunt Fanny continued, "Well, it was looking like we were going to have to leave the boardinghouse by next month. But then..." She clasped her hands and looked towards the heavens. "Our Lord Nuts and Bolts Himself shined His light down upon us."

She stood once more, causing the house to shake violently. Kneeling by Rodney, she took his hand. "You can help us, Rodney," she said. "You can save us!"

Threads began to knit together in Rodney's mind as he looked once more at the security bots, Piper and Crank refusing to look at him, and the tears now streaming down Aunt Fanny's face.

"What did you do?" he said slowly.

"We sold you to One Direction," Aunt Fanny said. "We need the money, and the boys offered us a price we just couldn't refuse." She stepped away from Rodney. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Rodney jumped as he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Alright, time to go," one of the security bots said.

He looked around for an escape, but both of his arms were locked tightly in the grasp of the bot. There was no way out. After struggling for a few moments, Rodney hung his head and let himself be escorted out, not bothering to look back at three people he'd considered family for the last year.

The guards opened the door to a stretch limo and pushed Rodney in. "Get ready to meet your new owners," they said in unison.

As the car zoomed away, Rodney swore he could hear Fender calling out to him.