“Stop!” You screeched, voice echoing through the room with a sharp finality as you boss let go and N's hand fell to his side, limp and vaguely disconnected. Your head swam at the sight.

“I won't let you hurt him.”

“Unless you take him, that's not your choice to make.” You wanted to wring his neck, rip it off and throw it from the room. Never in your life had you experienced an impulse as violent as this. N and Leo were both injured; you thought back to the elevator episode, when Leo claimed he would always be there for you. Always.

You sharply inhaled as something clicked in your mind, some latent memory that spun into clarity while the fat man kept blabbering. Hope began to blossom in your chest, the feeling exceptionally light compared to everything else going on around you. The details were coming to you quickly, one by one by one until you could remember the page in the handbook that told you exactly what you needed to do.

In the case of unexpected or induced shutdown- restart procedures occur at the voice commands of the owner only, recalling and rebooting necessary files. Your boyfriend will have recorded all events during shutdown; please allow up to thirty seconds for it to reintegrate this information. Command codes are as follows: Model number, Given name, “Awaken”.

“...Customer loyalty, my dear. You get first pick.”

You stumbled backwards towards Leo on the floor. “H-hold on,” you said, not needing to fake the tremble to your voice. “I just need-- I need--” You tripped back, falling to your knees at his side.

“A moment to say goodbye?” The man chuckled to himself. “Then let me fix this, no need to sell broken goods.” He grabbed N's limp hand again and popped it back into the joint, something you feared he had had to do many times.

You tuned your back to the man and to N, praying that you were doing the right thing. You had won yourself a little time. You pulled Leo into your lap, his eyes still closed, and tried to remember the exact words that you needed to say. It had been weeks ago that you read that damn book; you had skimmed it occasionally in the meantime, but that hardly helped now. Realizing that he would remember what happened while unconscious, you spoke quickly and quietly to try to convey what you planned-- even if it really was hardly a plan.

“Leo, listen, I'm try to remember the wake up commands--” Was he actually conscious or would he just remember what you were saying later? “--but we need to get N away from him. He said something about him being in stasis. We have to wake him up.” Your mind sparked at “wake up”. “Um, 037, Leo, wake up!”

Nothing, no movement, as though you were talking to a corpse. You continued to chattered quickly about what to do as the fat man behind you cooed to N about a new owner. “If- if you can carry N out, I think I can distract my boss, and don't tell me it's dangerous, we need to do it, N's girlfriend is alive. If they took you away from me I--”

You stopped talking, a tear dripping down your cheek to land on his face. It was no fairy tale; he didn't move. Your tears didn't help you.

“Hurry up, I don't have all night.” The man behind you snapped, and you closed your eyes in exasperation. He freaking kidnapped you, how could he act like this? You ignored his prodding.

“037. Leo. Get up. 037, Leo, reintegrate. 037, Leo please.”

There was nothing. Silence. You couldn't remember the exact words. You mumbled a few more options heartlessly; he did not stir. With each useless word you uttered your head dropped a little lower until you were murmuring between sobs with your forehead on his. “0-037, Leo, I need you, 037, Leo, please, awaken.”
The stillness of his body was causing your heart to slowly break; you would have to take the deal if he didn't get up, and your conscience wouldn't allow you to let N die. Despite your trembling, you still cradled him, as if you could protect him from you had decided to let him fall too. You brushed your lips against his, softly first, but then the need of desperation gripped at you and you kissed him like it was the end of the world. Maybe it was.

The feeling of an exhale across your lips made you freeze, the feather touch sensation of air a small cloud that made the core of your being constrict. You didn't dare open your eyes, not yet-- but then you felt it again.

“L-Leo!”

You searched his face imploringly, begging for a response, a hint of life. Had you said the right thing in your mumbles? Your hand went to touch his cheek, your thumb positioned over his lips; yes, there it was, a breath. And only seconds later, the flutter of his eyelids.

“Leo.”

You could barely hear your voice beneath the sound of relieved sobs. He looked at you blankly for a few moments, blinking occasionally, before the life came back to him. You brought a hand up to cover your mouth, trying to put yourself together.

I thought I was going to lose him, I thought I was going to lose him, I thought I was going to lose him... It ran through your head on a harsh repeat, the relief almost as painful as the fear.

“I heard,” he said finally, though he didn't move. His expression was so tender, so pained at the sight of your tears, but you could only focus on the fact that he had an expression. “I understand. I'll get N, and be back for you. Be careful.” He had listened.

“Alright, tears, sobs, yadda yadda, I have business to attend to so please do hurry.”

You had forgotten about that soulless man behind you. You gave Leo the slightest of nods and he closed his eyes again, this time, pretending. You lowered him to the floor, wiped the tears from your eyes and took a single, deep, shuddering breath, and then stood to face him.