It's a stormy night when Codie saunters down the aisle of a grocery store. The rain pelts the roof hard, giving the ginger a sense of calm. She's always loved storms and their serene atmosphere. With a basket hanging from her elbow, she stops and turns at the frozen food selection. She puts a hand to her chin in thought.

The hairs on the back of her neck suddenly stand and a shiver goes through her spine. Confused, she looks around the aisle, empty of anything but her and one other guy down at the other end. She goes back to picking out a frozen meal, deciding on a fettuccine bowl.

Codie pops a couple of them into her basket and carries on to the next aisle. When she turns down it, however, she notices the man from the previous aisle turning down it, too, immediately going to inspect the nearest items. Odd. No need to raise any alarms, though.

She slowly continues down the row of food, no longer paying attention to it and subtly keeping an eye on the man. She takes note of one of his hands never leaving his sweatshirt pocket. Codie darts into the next aisle and sighs in relief when she sees another person shopping.

Alarms start to raise, however, when that same man follows her. 3rd time in a row cannot be a coincidence. Thoughts going through her head at a mile a minute, Codie nervously sticks near the other shopper, waiting for the strange man to maybe leave on his own.

She thinks about maybe pretending to know the other shopper, but can't summon up the courage to do so. Maybe she should just leave the store? It's dark and she parked fairly close enough to get to her car, but would the man follow her out? Codie settles with moving to the front doors.

She breathes in deeply, trying to stop the nervous tick in her neck. At hearing the footsteps behind her, Codie starts to hyperventilate, making a sharp turn away from the doors and back into the store. Looks like the stranger is following her and will follow her out.

Feeling in danger now, Codie shakily pulls out her phone, scrolling down the contacts until she reaches 'M' and quickly pressing the first name, Mom.

It rings a couple times before it picks up and before anyone can speak, Codie does. "Hey, mom? I'm at the store.. I think I'm being followed and I'm really scared. I don't want to leave and he-he hasn't taken his hand out of his sweatshirt." Panicking, Codie fists her shirt, "Wh-what if he has a knife or something!?" she shouts into the phone in a whisper.

It's silent on the other end and Codie worries the call dropped for a moment before a voice speaks. "Codie, do not move. I'll be right there." A beep indicates the call ending. Moving the phone from her ear, Codie is frozen in place. She called Moon, not Mom. He sounded serious and mad.

Thankfully, Codie knows she shouldn't have to wait too long for Moon to arrive, as the grocery store is only a few minutes away from home. Picking up her basket she sat down earlier, the ginger slowly walks to the only open check-stand. She makes a show out of going slow, probably annoying the cashier but she can't be bothered by it right now.

She anxiously awaits for Moon as she can see the stranger lingering nearby.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Moon shoves his phone into his pocket and flings himself off the couch, startling his brother who was right next to him. "Moon? What happened?" Sun follows suit, noticing the glare on his counterpart's face.

"Get the keys. It's Codie, I'll explain on the way." Sun nods, grabbing the car keys and following his brother out the door. They get into their convertible, Sun driving, and Moon tells him to head to the store Codie went to this evening. "She called in a panic. Said someone was following her and she was afraid he had a weapon. She didn't want to risk trying to get to her car."

Sun nods grimly, hands gripping the steering wheel tighter now. "Good. Who knows what that person's intentions are."

"Nothing good, that's what," Moon growls. The two pull into the parking lot in 6 minutes as opposed to the normal 9 it'd take to usually get there. Moon points out Codie's parked car so Sun parks right next to it. "Stay here, I'm going to run in and get her." Before Sun can respond, Moon is already out the car and speed-walking towards the store, passing by a man outside the doors, leaning against the wall.

When the bot enters, it's practically devoid of human life. His eyes scan everywhere for his human, finally spotting her at a register. He walks up to her and catches her nervously apologizing to the cashier. "I'm sorry, my card was working earlier! Let me swipe it one more time."

The cashier lady huffs but says nothing, then squeaks when she sees the hulking jester animatronic rapidly approaching her check-stand. Codie turns and she swears she can cry tears of joy at seeing Moon's soft, yet intimidating red optics.

Scratch that, she does cry tears of joy. Forgetting her card in the machine, she runs into Moon's legs, gripping them for the life of her, crying into the soft material. Shocked, Moon bends down and puts a comforting hand on her back. He looks up to the worker who shrugs with wide eyes.

"Do you want your groceries?" he asks softly. Codie just nods into his pants, sniffing. Moon goes ahead and finishes her transaction for her. The lady packs them in a brown bag and, after putting the receipt in, hands the bot the bag. "Come on, Starlight." He starts to walk away, lightly prying her off his legs.

"Th-thank you for coming...." Codie lets go and sniffles, wiping her eyes.

The lunar bot looks down at her sadly. "Of course, Stardrop..."

Moon suddenly gets a ping from Sun. "Moon...there's a suspicious person outside the front doors. They have a hand inside their sweatshirt pocket like Codie described."

Now even more alert, Moon doesn't hesitate to grab hold of Codie's hand, entwining their fingers. He leads her out, immediately taking notice of the person Sun pointed out. When the stranger noticed Codie, he started to move before promptly backing off after seeing the menacing robot walking with her.

'Sun, I'm sending her over.' Moon pings. He bends down. "There's Sunny, hurry over to him." Confused, Codie turns around, wondering why Moon wouldn't just walk over. Then she sees the man that had been following her, her stomach dropping at the implication from his position. Nodding silently, she jogs over to Sun, hugging him.

Behind, the stranger deduces now is the time to leave. Before he can, however, a blue hand snatches his arm tightly. The man winces, trying to pull away, other hand still in his pocket. With a huge, menacing grin, showing sharp teeth, Moon towers over the guy, red eyes shining deep into the man's.

"H-hey man, let go!" When Moon only tightens his grasp, the man panics, pulling out his previously hidden hand, knife wielded. Bingo. Moon seizes that arm quicker than the man can even think, pushing him up against the brick wall.

"And just what were you planning on doing with that, hmmm?" he growls lowly.

"Nothing!" the man whines, sweat running down his forehead.

"Then why were you following that girl? What were you doing right outside the front doors?"

"I-AH!" Moon's grip borders on crushing bone, his security coding telling him to do so. Even though he wants to, he knows he probably shouldn't, knowing it wouldn't help the animatronic's case of integrating into society by breaking a man's arm.

He rips the weapon out of his hand with disgust, lowering his face to look the man in the eye. "If I ever see you near her again, you won't be able to even hold such a vile thing," he promises with a hiss. Without waiting for a half-assed agreement, Moon throws the man and watches as he struggles to get up and then run off.

When the stranger leaves his sight, only then does Moon step away, snapping the knife in half and shoving the pieces into a nearby garbage can. Now thoroughly soaked, yet satisfied, the bot returns to Sun who has been waiting and watching anxiously.

Moon studies Codie, shivering in the rain, leaning up against Sun in the passenger seat. She doesn't even want to know what Moon did to the guy, but she hopes she never sees him again, that's for sure. Sun shakes her gently. She opens her eyes and looks up into his white ones.

Frowning, Sun wished he had a jacket to give her, they did kinda leave in a hurry. "Ready to go, Sunshine?" he asks, brushing the wet hair out of her eyes.

Moon walks around the car and opens the passenger seat. "We'll be right behind you, promise." He gives her a smile, earning a small one back. She gets up and heads over to her own car, wishing one of them could go with her but knowing the process to fit them in is time-consuming.

Her drive back is silent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The pitter-patter of the rain no longer soothes Codie as she pulls up to her spot in the apartment parking lot. Rubbing her goosebump filled arms, she takes a shaky breath when she stops the car, comforting heat no longer spilling out of the vents.

Sun and Moon pull up next to her soon after. In any other circumstance, she would giggle at their sopping wet forms. As well as their poor car getting soaked from leaving the confines of the roof for the cars. But now? She can only feel awful. Awful she mistakenly called Moon instead of her Mom. Awful she worried them. Awful she might have disturbed their peaceful night.

But then Codie can't help but feel immensely grateful as well. Grateful at their speed of coming to help her. Grateful for Sun's comforting words and touches after Codie joined him in the convertible. Grateful for Moon's comfort when he saved her. Grateful she may never see that man again thanks to the lunar bot.

She sniffles again, emotions being run ragged since the store. She tries to calm herself down, remembering Sun's instructions from her sleep paralysis.

'Seven seconds in... Seven seconds out...' she repeats over and over. The sounds of the boys' car doors slamming so suddenly scare her, causing her to jump in her seat. Outside, the boys' worriedly glance at the unmoving human as they walk around her car. Sun bends down and lightly raps on her window. She slowly turns her head to look at him.

The solar bot frowns at the fear and sadness in her eyes. "I'm going to go run her a hot bath." Sun nods, letting Moon know he heard his message, hearing his footfalls fade as he walks to their apartment.

Codie finally opens her door, Sun grabbing the edge and opening it further to help the girl out. "Sorry..." she whispers. He wonders what she could possibly be apologizing for but ignores it and gives her a smile.

"Don't worry, come on, let's get you inside. You're shivering, poor thing!" The ginger locks her car up and allows Sunny to walk her back inside. He wouldn't take no for an answer anyway. The two step inside and Codie kicks off her shoes, wincing at her soggy socks.

"Why's the bath on?" she asks, her nose crinkling in confusion. Do the bots get cold? Do they need to take showers or baths?

"Moon's running you a hot bath, silly!" Sun exclaims as if that was obvious. Codie's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. 'He did? He didn't have to... how sweet of him.'

The nighttime bot exits the bathroom, smiling sadly at the wet human in front of him. 'She looks so small...'

She passes the bot, looking up to his ruby red optics, whispering, "Thank you...both of you..." and retreats into the bathroom, gently shutting the door. Moon sighs as Sun walks up to him.

"Should we grab her a change of clothes?" Sun suggests, rubbing his hands together, eyes darting from the bathroom door to Codie's bedroom door.

Moon nods. "Yeah, good idea." At any other time, Moon would make a joke about Sun being a perv as he rummages through Codie's drawers, but now? Their friend needs them and Sun definitely doesn't need to be teased like that right now. His brother is very upset, as is he. Maybe he'll shelf that thought for another time.

Sun finishes, holding a nice, folded pair of pajamas, underwear hidden in the middle of the shirt and shorts. Also a bra, but he's not too sure if she'll need one this late. He steps over to the bathroom and listens in. Sun can only make out subtle sounds from the bath water. He knocks.

"I've got a change of clothes, Sunbite. May I come in?" He hears her give him permission so he steps inside. Without looking at the bathtub, (they have a shower curtain but it's not that good) Sunny places her clothing on the counter and bends down to pick up her wet ones. "I'll throw these in the dryer, hm?"

Codie smiles to herself. These boys' will be the death of her. "Okay, thank you, Sun-bun..." His fans pick up at the nickname, causing a smile to adorn his face. Suddenly, the human sneezes, making the Sun frown with concern. He doesn't say anything, though, and leaves her to her bath, quickly putting her wet clothes in the dryer and turning it on.

"What if she catches a cold, Moonie?" Sun says as he joins his brother in their shared room.

"Huh?" Moon grumbles, confused. Did he zone out or something? "What are you talking about?"

"Sunbite! She sneezed! What if she catches a cold from the rain tonight!" Moon watches as his brother fidgets in his seat from the bed, rattling the entire frame.

"We'll take care of her, of course," Moon replies with a wave of his hand.

The solar animatronic nods, hands on his cheek as he mumbles to himself. "Of course, of course we will." The two take notice of the sound of water going down the drain, both hoping it helped the poor girl. "Did you hurt that man earlier, Moon?"

Surprised by the question, Moon sets the book he started reading down on his nightstand. "Not too bad..." he mumbles, hoping Sun won't lecture him on hurting humans.

He's shocked when Sun says, "Good."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At 4:29AM, Moon awakes to their bedroom door creaking open. He starts his systems up and opens his eyes, scanning the room. He sits up upon seeing Codie standing in the doorway. "Stardrop? Are you alright?"

She shifts in place, feeling stupid now that she's gone through with her actions. "I...I kinda had a nightmare." Even though she whispers, Moon can hear her clearly. He tsks. Before he can offer anything, such as a Moondrop, Codie asks, "Can... Can I maybe stay here tonight? I don't wanna be alone..."

"I can sit with you in your room?"

"Nuh-uh, my bed is too small and I feel bad making you sit upright." Moon smiles at her concern. He's an animatronic, she shouldn't feel bad at something that wouldn't bother him, but he's grateful for her kindness and concern anyway.

"You're welcome to sleep in here, if you'd like?" Moon suggests, wondering if that's what she wanted.

It is what she wanted. Badly. She hates sleeping alone. She hates the fear of possibly having another sleep paralysis episode alone. She hates making Sun or Moon sit with her like some child. She hates that she can't get a good nights sleep without one of them helping her. But after tonight, Codie can't take it anymore, not after the nightmare she had.

Though she can't help but ask, "It won't be weird?"

Moon stifles rolling his optics. The only weird thing here is him kinda, maybe, sorta wanting Codie to snuggle next to him. He will not say that out loud though, so he goes with, "It's only weird if you think it's weird. I promise I don't think it is."

"Okay...I brought a blanket." Codie holds up a rather large one for herself. It would definitely be weird if she just got under the covers with them. Moon pats the middle of the bed and she crawls up, feeling awkward like she's a little girl again, crawling to sleep in the middle with her parents.

But Sun and Moon bring a different kind of comfort to Codie and she's not sure how to describe it. Nevertheless, she settles in between the sleeping bot and the awake bot. "Don't worry. I used to chase away the nightmares. I will do the same for you." Moon smiles, patting her head. She snickers, hiding her face in her blanket.

Codie yawns. "Thank you and goodnight."

As she closes her eyes, Moon gazes at her, murmuring, "Sleep well, Star..." endearingly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Codie awakes confused before panicking at the bed she's in. She totally forgot she slept with Sun and Moon! How embarrassing! Though last night it seemed like such a good idea in her head. And hey, it worked, right? She didn't have another nightmare, so there!

She goes to take a deep breath but breaks into a harsh coughing fit. She fights to breathe as she hacks. She can feel the thick phlegm preventing proper airflow. She jumps out of the large bed, swaying in dizziness, and then spits anything she can get out into the little sink in the walk-in closet.

Sun opens the bedroom door after hearing commotion. He goes to make sure Codie's okay. "Sunshine are you alright? Oh my goodness! Are you okay?" He rushes to her side, rubbing her back as she practically dry heaves into the sink. She sniffs, turning on the water.

Before she can tilt her head to drink it and relieve her dry throat, Sun panics, moving her away and giving her vertigo. She groans, nauseous and swaying on her feet.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, uh- here! Come lay back in bed and I'll bring you a water bottle!" Sunny leads her and forces her to lay down on his side of the bed. After she's stable lying down, Sun rushes out. "Moon! Sunflower is sick! I knew this would happen..."

Moon grimaces. He knew the probability of her catching a cold was high, but he was hoping she'd be alright. "It's okay, Sun. It's probably just a small cold. No need to fret. Where is she?"

His brother scoffs. "I made her lie back down, of course!" he explains as he pulls a crisp cold water bottle out of the refrigerator. Moon accompanies Sun back to the room. "Here you go, Sunshine!" Sunny uncaps the bottle and hands it to the pale human.

"Thanks, Sunny-Bunny," she gives him a shaky smile and sits up to take a sip. The frigid liquid feels like heaven on Codie's throat and she realizes how thirsty she is. She quickly downs half the bottle and then instantly regrets doing so when her tummy rumbles in disagreement.

Both jesters wince at her actions. Moon gently pries the bottle from her grip. "Not a good idea to down so much water in so little time, Nova." Codie makes a face at the lunar bot, earning a chuckle from him.

"I'm fine, guys, just a little achy...ohhh," After saying that, of course her stomach twists in pain, pulling at her insides. She groans, bending over and clutching her middle. Both bots hover their hand over Codie worriedly. "Yup..." she whimpers, "Totally fine..."

"You need rest," Moon tells her sternly, crossing his arms.

"No way am I going to be able to fall asleep with a nose as stuffy as mine!" Codie argues, her voice sounding severely congested just to prove her point.

Moon glares at her as if challenging her to refuse rest. She glares back, starting a staring contest between the two. She knows she realistically could never win, as the thing she is attempting to have a staring contest with, is an animatronic. And animatronics don't blink. His eyes abruptly go blank, the red pupils fading into nothing and leaving a pitch black abyss in their wake.

Codie gasps, pointing at the blue bot accusingly, "H-hey! Foul! You can't just-just turn your eye lights off!"

Sun covers his mouth, giggling behind his hand.

"Oh well," Moon cackles, "You lost anyhow. Now go back to sleep."

Codie pouts, pursing her lips. She doesn't speak and just stares at Moon. He just smirks at her, knowing what she wants but not giving it to her. After a few minutes, Sun imitates clearing his throat, clearly over his teasing. Sighing, Moon's pupils slowly turn back on, going from dark to bright.

Codie un-purses her lips, "Anyway, I already said I can't sleep if I can't breathe through my damn nose." She ignores Sun's shocked gasp at her using the word 'damn'. "Help me breathe and then maybe I'll consider it."

Moon opens his mouth to speak, but Sun beats him to it, excitably pointing a finger in the air. "Oh, oh! If you can't sleep, I'll make you some soup! Yesyesyes! Chicken noodle is good for you when sick!"

Her tummy rumbles at the mention of food. Whether it was a good rumble or a bad one, Codie isn't sure. She nods nonetheless. "Thank you, Sun." Smiling at the sick human, he pats her head and leaves to make her food.

Moon tilts his faceplate, hand on his chin and staring at the poor girl. "I should go get some cold medicine..." he mumbles, mostly to himself but loud enough for Codie to hear it.

"Aw, Moon, no, don't worry too much about me. A little cold like this shouldn't last more than a couple days..." Codie waves off his concern with a smile before diving into another coughing fit. This time, her abdomen contorts in pure pain, a throbbing, stabbing feeling. She groans, "Ah! Oh.. Ugh...!" The ginger leans over again, trying to soothe the ache.

Frowning, Moon adds, "Yeah... I'll pick up some pain medication as well. Please do not get out of bed, alright? Sun will take care of you and I'll be back soon." Codie can only nod as she pants, breathless from the flare up. In a few long strides, Moon is out of the bedroom and in front of the front door, hand on the handle, peering back at his brother in the kitchen. "Sun," said bot looks over, "I'm headed out for medicine."

"No worries, Moonie! I'll take good care of her!" He waves him bye and goes back to warming up the can of soup.

Moon buckles up and drives off, the wind blowing his hat as he drives. Thankfully, it's attached to him, almost as much as he is to it! He pulls up to a Walgreens and enters, scanning the aisle names. He finds medicine and marches over.

He rolls his eyes at the lingering stares and not so quiet whispers. Curse his good hearing. "Isn't that the one from the daycare? At that big pizza plex?" The bot hears a woman ask her friend.

"No, no! The Daycare Attendant was that creepy sun guy..." the friend replies. Moon growls at the insult to Sun.

The first lady tilts her head in confusion. Moon tries to ignore them and inspect the different kinds of medicine and pain killers. "But I thought they had naptime?"

The friend gasps obnoxiously. Moon's eye twitches and he clenches his fist. "You're right! That is the daycare guy, the nighttime one that is! I wonder why it's out in the light."

"Man that thing is terrifying. Why did the city council ever allow them to roam freely? Look at its claws! My little brother has been to the daycare before. We had to pick him up after naptime after a worker called us. I've never seen Brody that scared before. Now, I can see why!"

Subconsciously, Moon's pupils go off in his anger. He grabs the first thing he sees that reads 'Cold remedy' and 'Pain relief'. He tries his hardest not to squeeze the products too hard as he passes the giggling women.

The lunar bot pointedly avoids the cashier with a scowl as he checks out. Said cashier also tries not to look at Moon, hands shaking the whole time. This is pretty much how anything goes for the jesters. Extreme fear, or extreme disgust. Sure, the Glamrocks get the same but not as much it seems.

Adults seem to not like the free roaming AI. Kids are the opposite, though, always running up to them and asking for autographs. Most of the time the parent always pulls them back, sneering at the bots in disgust. Sun has gotten away with signing an autograph or two while Moon is always looked upon and ran away from.

Well, except that one little boy from the grocery store with Codie. That was nice until the mom yelled at him.

Moon is back home by the time his thoughts fade away. His fans still whir in his anger, though, so he tries to calm himself down. Next meeting, he's bringing up the constant hate and fear. He's usually silent during them, the Glamrocks and Vanessa doing all the talking and Sun sometimes pipes up.

This time, though, he's going to bring up a lot at the next meeting. He's sick of this. Moon opens the door, his systems immediately going on the alert at the pained cries coming from his room. When he enters it, he sees Sun kneeling beside Codie who is doubled over in pain, blanket halfway off.

"Sunshine, please! You're freezing! You need to be under the covers!"

"Nuh-uh!" she moans, kicking the rest off. "I'm burning up, Sun! Owwww..." she groans at the next wave of pain that comes through around her navel. Sun whines, chewing on his silicon fingers before noticing Moon in the doorway.

"Oh!" He gets up quickly. "Thank goodness you're home! Where's the medicine?"

"Here," Moon hands him the cold remedy, "what's happening?" He knows what's happening, his scan telling him Codie has a fever and her heart rate is higher than normal, but it doesn't explain the chicken noodle soup all over the bed.

"Uh," Sun fidgets, "she tried to eat but it made her sick. She dropped the bowl all over herself trying to get to the bathroom to throw up." Moon tsks, glancing at the shaking girl. He moves around his brother and grabs the discarded blanket.

"Come on, Starlight, lie down," he coos softly, holding the blanket up to set down on her when she lies down properly.

She whimpers, "I'm so hot, Moon." The lunar bot puts a hand to her forehead, frowning at the clamminess of it while she leans into him, his cold hand feeling nice against her.

"You're clammy, Codie, you need to warm up and rest. Sunny's getting your medicine."

After he gently presses her chest to lie her down, Moon tucks her in, brushing the bangs out of her face. "'M sorry 'bout the mess," Codie mutters, shutting her eyes.

"Not a problem, Little Nova. We're experts in cleaning messes." Moon chuckles at her pout when Sun bursts back in.

"I've got it! Sit up, Sunbite!" Sun kneels back down, though is still tall enough to be above Codie when she sits up. He hands her a cup of red liquid and sets a new water bottle on the night stand.

Blearily, Codie takes a sniff and just about gags. She plugs her nose and downs the thing regardless, sticking her tongue out after. Both bots smile, more than relieved now that she's taken proper meds. "Don't forget these, Starlight." She looks up to see Moon reaching out to her, two pain pills in his palm.

She downs those, too, after opening her bottle of water. Codie sighs in relief, thankful for the pain pills as she's been on the verge of tears all morning. Her head hurts, her abdomen hurts, her eyes hurt, her tummy hurts, basically everything.

She feels so bad she couldn't eat the soup Sun made for her, too and even worse she got it all over their bed and now she's kind of lying in it.

"I really should clean the bed..." Sun murmurs.

Moon nods his head, watching as the human lies back down and closes her eyes. "Not now, Sun, she needs rest. We'll clean it after." He glances over and frowns, "What's wrong?"

"I'm just really worried. She was in so much pain earlier. I scanned her I don't know how many times but nothing other than a fever showed up."

"Hmm," Moon scans again as well. Nothing different. "We'll keep an eye on her, Sun," he assures him, putting his hand on his shoulder. "In other news, I have to talk to you." Moon goes on to tell Sun what happened at Walgreens, Sun visibly getting upset for his brother having endured that.

He tells him about bringing this all up at the next meeting, wanting this to stop. "I agree, Moonie. It's not fair for us..." Sun whispers forlornly. Codie coughs in her sleep so the two end their conversation for now. Moon takes a seat on the side Codie isn't while Sun figures he could at least try to clean up the soup mess.

He grabs a rag from the bathroom and lightly wets it with warm water. He also grabs some paper towels. Moon looks up from a new book he started when Sun walks in. He smiles and holds up the cleaning supplies. Moon chuckles, of course Sun would keep himself busy by cleaning.

The solar jester goes about dabbing the dark spots of chicken soup and then carefully picks up stray noodles into the paper towel. "That should be good for now..." Sun mumbles, his systems begging him to rip the covers off to clean them properly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Moon finally sets his book down after reading all day. Codie hasn't made a sound (except for her nose whistling as she sleeps) the entire time so he decides to start dinner. "What do you want for dinner tonight, Sunny?" Moon asks as he walks into the living room. Sun looks up towards him from the TV.

Sun wrings his hands. "I don't really want to eat." Moon, who had his head in the fridge, turns around and looks at his brother in shock. Sun? Not wanting to eat? That's like Roxy not calling herself the best.

"You okay?" he queries, already having an inkling on what he may be glum about.

"I just don't want to eat without Codie." Ah, if this bot was organic, he'd have the biggest heart, Moon swears.

"I know you're worried, but we're well equipped to handle sick children and Codie is no different. She's gonna sleep her fever off, get some liquids in her and maybe try to eat again. She should be fine by tomorrow, okay?" Moon gives his brother a smile in assurance.

Sunny returns it. "Yeah, you're right... Can we make her favorite tonight! That way she can have some when she wakes?"

"Good idea. Buuuuut, we're out of cheese. We can pick some up quickly from the store, though."

"Nonono! One of us has to stay and watch her!"

"Sun, she's been asleep this whole time, and we won't take more than twenty minutes." When Sun worriedly glances at their room, Moon continues, "We can even grab some popcorn for that upcoming movie night she's been planning. A film called, Shirk? Something like that."

Sun mimics a sigh, albeit a static-y one, "Well...alright, let's go now then! I don't want to leave her alone longer than we have to."

The lunar bot nods, grabbing their keys. Truth be told, Moon really doesn't want to go out by himself again and he definitely doesn't want Sun going on his own, either. The two close and lock the door and descend the stairs, leaving Codie alone in the dark apartment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Codie awakens to darkness. Did she really sleep all day? She blinks to try to adjust to the low light and rubs her head. The headache is gone but not the stomach ache. "Uhng," she grinds her teeth at the sudden flare up.

Figures as soon as she wakes up the pain would start again. She must have slept off the pain pills. Where is the bottle? She glances around the room, fruitlessly might I add as it's dark as hell. "Ugh." She starts to push herself up but gasps at the torment her abdomen is making her endure.

'This can't be a normal cold...' she thinks, wincing every other second. "S-Sun? Moo-Moon?" she weakly calls out to no avail. 'Where did they go? Come on, Codie, get up!' The ginger pushes herself up onto her elbows, swinging her legs over the bed and shakily standing up. 'Yes!' She celebrates but not for long before another wave of, this time, excruciating, pain.

She screams, crying out and falling to the ground, clutching her abdomen. Her phone, where's her phone? She needs to call her parents. "Agh!" she cries, crawling to her room. In only a couple minutes that feels like a couple hours does she finally reach her nightstand, clutching her phone so hard her knuckles turn white.

She quickly dials her father's phone, tears running down her face from the torture. As the phone rings, she lies her head on the floor and focuses on her breathing. "Hello?" her dad answers.

"Dad! D-dad it hurts so bad, I don't know what to do!" Codie panics.

"Codie?! What's wrong, Sweetheart? What hurts?"

"Everything! My-my stomach, all over, it's awful! I don't know where Sun and Moon is!"

"Okay, okay. Where on your stomach?" Why does that matter?!

"I don't know! My lower right?" she gasps again, dropping the phone.

Her dad is silent for a moment before saying, "Codie, I'm calling an ambulance, hang up and call your roommates. Now." He doesn't wait for a response before ending the call.

Confused and dazed, she delicately taps Sun's contact. He answers quickly in a jovial voice. "Hello, Sunshine! Sorry we're gone, we left to get stuff for dinner! How are you feeling?"

"SUN!" she sobs, "Please, p-please come home. I'm in so much pain I can't move... I don't know what's wrong..." She can't even describe the excruciating pain she's going through. She can't even think straight.

Sun almost drops his cell phone at the pure agony he can hear in Codie's voice. Down the aisle, Moon picks products, none the wiser. "S-Sunbite? D-don't move, okay? We're coming. Calm down, we'll be there okay?" He doesn't hear a response before the call ends. Panicking, Sun drops the bag of elbow macaroni in his hand and races to his brother.

Moon flinches, taking a step back. "What is your problem, Sunny?" He looks passed him at the forgotten pasta.

"We have to go. NOW!" Sun doesn't wait for Moon to respond, immediately turning around and fast-walking to the exit. Moon is stunned momentarily, not remembering the last time Sun was this serious. He quickly catches up, buckling up when they enter their car.

"Sun, what the hell is going on?" Moon worries when Sun doesn't scold his language. "Sun?" He watches as Sun's grip on the steering wheel tightens. From his head, Sun sends Moon the audio from his and Codie's phone call. Moon listens to it, going silent.

"Step on it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They don't make it. An ambulance is out front and the two assume the worst. They had only stepped out for 15 minutes. Sun barely turns the car off by the time Moon is out of it and rushing to the EMTs.

Though shocked at the animatronic's presence, the EMTs pay him no mind. "What happened? Where's Codie?" His question is answered when another pair of medics wheel Codie down the stairs, strapped to a stretcher. Moon's eyes go blank and Sun gasps loudly.

"What happened! Where are you taking her!" Sun demands the paramedic with a clip board.

"She's being taken to the hospital for a ruptured appendix. You two live with her?" the man explains, not glancing up.

"Y-yes but she only had a cold! She was fine!"

"We think the virus worsened it, speeding up the process for the rupture. We're taking her in to have an emergency open appendectomy. If I can get your phone number, the hospital can call you when she's out of surgery."

"Can we come with her?" Moon asks, his fists closed tightly around his pants.

The man nods, a somber look on his face. "I'm afraid all you'd do is sit in the waiting room. I have to go."

He leaves the two shaken animatronics as they stand hopelessly in the parking lot. The brothers stay still as the ambulance siren fades in the distance. Their only thought; Codie was all alone.