It was late, very late, despite there being essentially no passage of days up here in the Bunker. There was still a time each day when some of the androids would be allowed rest and downtime in their rooms, giving a fake semblance of a night cycle. Maybe it made them feel more human, to give their soldiers time to recharge between missions.

Regardless of the reason, it was common knowledge among everyone he knew that 9S loved this downtime. While 2B would get antsy and want to head out to the next task immediately, unnerved by relaxing for too long, 9S would gladly stay in bed for days if he were so allowed. He liked having a task to do, yes, and he liked going out and about to be productive. But he could never quite get over the self indulgent satisfaction he got when he was given a chance to do absolutely nothing.

He didn't feel that way tonight, though.

No matter what he did or didn't do, he didn't feel satisfied with his time. Rest refused to come to him, even when he shut his body down into sleep mode parts of his conscious stayed ticking, mulling over useless information and keeping him from completely knocking out. When he gave up and sat up in his bed, after a couple hours of tossing and turning, he still didn't feel any better. His internal clock ticked away the seconds, turning to minutes, while he just sat and stared at a wall. He tried to entertain himself and relax by going over some of the data he had stored from earlier missions and not had a chance to go over yet, but after a while he just sighed and dismissed his holographic screen.

There was no doubt about it. He was bored.

Finally, after countless hours of utterly agonizing nothingness, he finally lost it and wrenched himself from his bed. His bare feet silently met the cold metal floor, and he pulled himself to the door and out of the room.

Outside in the hall, there wasn't a soul in sight. All the other units were either on missions or in their rooms, leaving the halls deserted. 9S felt eerily alone, a stray thought crossing his mind for just a moment that maybe he was the only one around. That maybe, somehow, something had happened to everyone else and he was left all by himself. The feeling grew and grew, settling in his stomach as a cold spear of anxiety that dug deeper by the second.

Before he knew it, he was running. Running down the halls, his feet pounding silently on the cold metal panelling, dashing away blindly as if to escape the feeling trying to take over his heart. He had no idea where he was going or why, just that it had to be away, and not realizing in the slightest that he'd already started looping through the Bunker and going in circles. Somewhere along the way he had started making more of a ruckus than he realized, his ragged breath echoing loudly down the halls and his feet pounding quickly against the floor, the noise rising to a whirlwind as if he was truly in danger and running for his life. By now he was running fast enough that his body was turning to a blur.

And then he collided harshly with an unknown immovable object, all of his momentum causing him to bounce off and hit the floor hard. The wind was knocked from his lungs and he collapsed in a boneless puddle, suddenly too worn out to bother trying to investigate what he ran into.

"9S?"

Oh.

He looked up.

The 'unknown immovable object' was 2B.

"9S, are you okay?" She was looking down at him, her blindfold off and her expression composed, betraying nothing. "I heard you running out here."

Looking back down to the floor and his lap, 9S said nothing. There was still a strange, uneasy feeling nagging at the back of his mind, and he honestly couldn't think of anything to say. He had no words to explain with. The air shifted as 2B crouched in front of him, and he avoided her gaze, feeling somehow guilty.

Why did he feel guilty? Why did he feel so...nervous?

Her hands appeared in his vision and he jumped, startled. She paused for a moment, carefully considering his reaction, before letting her touch fall ever so gently on his face. Her gloves were gone, packed away with the rest of her combat uniform, and her bare skin was warm and soft. Slowly, she pulled, tilting his head and forcing him to look up at her again.

Looking down at him with an expression as soft as her hands, and a faint look of concern, she pulled him close.

"I'm sorry, 2B. I didn't mean to disturb you." His voice was weak and shaken, and he hid his face in the curve of her shoulder to muffle it. She said nothing, and he couldn't see the way her expression darkened.

Without a single word, one of her hands moved to his back and the other caught underneath his legs, and in one swift movement she'd scooped him up from the floor. A startled noise escaped him as he was hoisted up, feeling wobbly and unsupported until he was pulled firmly against her chest. His legs were pulled to either side of her waist, her arms crossing underneath to support him, and his hands met her shoulders.

She looked up at him, and he turned bright red.

"2B, you don't have to-"

"You look bad." She interrupted flatly, and turned for her room, 9S still held flush against her chest like a small child. He spluttered, offended, and she continued. "No, I mean… you look unwell."

Once inside the room she deposited him onto the bed, gently. His legs were left dangling over the edge of her bed, and she kneeled on the floor in front of him again.

"What's wrong, 9S?"

Her face was serious as always, her steely gaze trained on him expectantly. She was going to sit there and wait as long as needed to get an answer from him, and they both knew it. He sighed.

"I don't really know." 9S admitted honestly. "I just feel weird."

She blinked, unimpressed. "Pod, run a full mental and physical diagnostic on unit 9S."

Her pod popped out of the corner from out of sight somewhere, and 9S gave an indignant squawk when it turned to scan him."2B I don't think that's quite necessary, is it?"

"Scan complete. Conclusion: Unit 9S is experiencing feelings of melancholy, possibly from a lack of direction or task, as well as a feeling of isolation possibly due to an emotional breakdown."

"See, 2B? There isn't anything seriously wrong." 9S huffed, swatting the pod away and trying to ignore its effortless reading of his inner turmoil.

She frowned at him. "But you don't feel well."

"Emotions are prohibited, right? I can just ignore it until it goes away."

"9S…"

"Proposal: unit 2B should provide unit 9S with support to recalibrate his mental state."

They both blinked.

"Okay." 2B agreed slowly, and 9S blinked again.

"2B, you really don't have to do that." Some part of him felt bad for making her worry about him.

"It's okay." She soothed, reaching for his hands and taking them in her own. "Can you tell me what's bothering you?"

"I just…" He trailed off. She waited. "I couldn't sleep. And then I just felt kind of freaked out when the halls were empty? I don't know."

"What about it made you freak out?"

"It felt like I was alone. Some part of me thought that you wouldn't be here, or the Commander, or the Operators, or anyone. It was scary."

Slowly she disentangled their hands and stood, leaving him afraid for a moment that he'd lost her interest. But she only turned and took a seat beside him, her arms winding around him in a warm hug. As warm as her touch was, though, her next words sent a spike of ice into his heart.

"I wake up feeling like that a lot, too."

Guilt clawed its way into him again. He'd never considered how she felt, especially with how often she was alone too. "I…" He tried to speak, to apologize, but her hand found its way to his face and her fingers on his lips made him fall back into silence.

"It's okay, Nines. Don't worry." The silence continued, and she had another thought. "Would you like to stay here?"

9S blinked, not understanding.

"Stay here with me tonight, okay?"

Turning his head, 9S looked up at her face. She was watching him, her expression warm and gentle, and an ever so faint dusting of pink on her cheeks. "If you're okay with that, I'd love to, 2B."

Without a word, she shuffled backward into the bed and tugged him with her. It took a bit of adjusting to get comfortable in the small space together, but after only a few moments, they were settled and 9S found himself staring up at the ceiling. He was too nervous to reach out for 2B, keeping his hands folded on his torso.

Another moment later, she did it for him, calming his chaotic nerves. Her hands gently took his and wrapped them around herself, snuggling close and resting her chin atop his head. In no time at all he was melting into her touch, slowly forgetting about his mood with each puff of her breath that tickled his hair.

"Thank you, 9S."

He didn't know why she was thanking him after all this, but he decided not to question it again, instead just turning his head to hide his face against her neck and letting out a deep, unwinding sigh. A relaxed, calm feeling settled over the two as 9S's erratic emotional state melted into something a little more tranquil.

And then ever so slowly, 2B felt his breath slow against her skin, turning deep and regular. His body relaxed in her arms as the tension bled away, and when she shifted ever so slightly to see his face, he looked completely at peace.

Satisfied that he was okay, she pulled him close again and let herself drift away as well.

A/N:

This was supposed to be the pillow fight prompt I mentioned, but I was in a real strong mood and halfway through I think my feelings bled into 9S. I know it's a borderline sadfic, but I'm hoping it counts more as hopeful and bonding since 2B took care of him.

Besides, I had written down '2B babies an emotional 9S' as a prompt anyway so that's my excuse

(the actual pillow fight fic is next I promise)