32. Wallace
Wallace
Wallace woke slowly, filtering in unfamiliar sounds and smells, and then sat up with a jolt.
Daddy! His Daddy had been hurt and now he was here at Ben and Oliver’s house and… Where was his Daddy? How was he doing?
Wallace tumbled out of bed, the too-tight sweatpants that he’d slipped into last night biting into his waist. He’d slept in his makeup, too, judging by the itching around his eyes and the tacky texture to his lips. His bladder told him that he really needed to find a bathroom.
But Volt…
He wanted to see Volt first. The sun was high in the sky, so he must have slept for hours. Maybe Volt was better now!
He tried to prioritize his morning rituals, but all it came down to was taking care of things as quickly as possible to see his Daddy.
“Good morning, Wallace,” the voice came from the ceiling as Wallace strode across the room, and he bristled.
It threw him back into memories of his father throwing the door to his bedroom open when he’d been a teen.
The constant anxiety that he’d lived under, never feeling like the privacy of his room was really private.
The ongoing worry that anything he looked at or thought about might give his father more ammunition to shame him.
That his secret crushes on boys might be found out.
“Hey, Oliver,” he managed, trying to slow his heart rate.
He knew this was totally different, but he really didn’t like to think about the knowledge watching him all night.
He knew he was in Oliver’s home, and that he essentially interacted with the world through cameras and microphones, but when Wallace was already so off-kilter, a knock would have been nice.
“I’m not watching you, by the way,” Oliver stated, like he was reading his mind. “I have a motion sensor set up, and you triggered it. My cameras are turned off in the room.”
“Ah. Thank you.” Wallace’s shoulders fell. “Could you, uh, knock or something next time first?”
There was a pause.
“Like this?” A knocking sound came through the speakers, the gentle sound of wood on wood.
“Yeah, uh, thank you.”
“No problem. I probably should have done that at Orbit, too. Thanks for telling me.”
“Thanks for, uh, doing it.” God, had he fucking misjudged Oliver. And Ben. How many times would he need to keep learning this lesson?
Not everyone was his family. There were good people in the world.
Oliver, in particular, was a real sweetheart. Maybe, potentially, even a friend if he hadn’t fucked it all up too much.
He was just feeling off this morning, worried about his Daddy, and it made every other anxiety a thousand times worse.
“I wanted to give you an update first thing,” Oliver continued with that soothing, mellow voice, grabbing all of Wallace’s attention.
“I’ve stabilized the degradation of Volt’s memory access pathways, and I’m testing communication channels.
He might need some time to fully recover speech, and we almost certainly need to replace his chips for internet connectivity, which can be disorienting.
I’m keeping him unconscious while I make repairs. ”
Wallace nodded, chest tight, unable to even form a question.
His Daddy wasn’t better yet. And he might have lost his speech capabilities?
Was that something that took months or years to recover, like a human stroke victim, or something where you could just pop in a new mod? Or a different thing entirely?
“I can wake him up if you think it’s important,” Oliver explained, “but I believe this is safest. It’s uncomfortable for sparks to have somebody firing off commands that they can’t control, but I don’t trust his internal diagnostics right now.
And I’d rather fix as much as I can before having him wake up in an unfamiliar space with some of his internal systems still down.
But I don’t know him as well as you do. If I woke him, he might be in distress or he might be able to help. ”
Wallace hugged himself. That was a huge decision to make.
Wallace had no idea what Volt would want, and they hadn’t discussed any of this.
Although… he remembered Volt’s discomfort doing mechanical repairs, because the mod he’d purchased for it didn’t mesh well with his own experiences.
Having someone else run tests seemed like it would be worse.
So Oliver was probably right.
“Whatever you think is best,” he finally answered.
Wallace really wanted to see his Daddy. To hear his voice again. To see his emerald eyes alight with warmth and care. But Volt might not be able to speak anyway, and this wasn’t about Wallace’s fears. Everything was about Volt’s safety.
“I’ll wake him as soon as I think it’s safe,” Oliver told him gently. “Is there anyone we should notify?”
“Shit!” Wallace swore, already scanning the room for his phone. “Yes. I need to call his… brother.” Yes, he should definitely call Angel and not bother Magnolia, even though he felt more comfortable with her. “Let me do that.”
“Sounds good. I’ve left your clothes outside the door, and you should find everything that you need in the attached bathroom, and breakfast is available downstairs when you’re ready. I can take you to Volt any time.”
“Thank you,” Wallace told him, gratitude overwhelming him. He’d done nothing to deserve this. The opposite, in fact. And yet Oliver was opening up his home to him. Diverting all of his resources to repair a spark he’d never met. “Really, really thank you.”
“No problem, Wallace. We’re glad you’re here.”
Wallace sank back down to the bed. The thing was, he was starting to believe it. Even Ben, immature, angry Ben, hadn’t been mean to him. Or not really. He’d been angry, but for the right reasons. For things that were actually Wallace’s fault, not for who Wallace was.
He hadn’t really understood the difference until these past few months of trying to make friends at work and being around Volt’s family. Really, that was what had made the difference—seeing Magnolia and Angel tease Volt, but with love. Never meanly.
They’d even teased Wallace and… it was fun. Silly.
Now that Wallace understood it better, he could see the same thing between Oliver and Ben. Even when Ben said harsh words, it wasn’t always an attack.
Wallace’s stomach rolled at the thought of calling Angel now. He should have called him last night. Immediately. If anyone was authorized to make medical decisions on Volt’s behalf, it was Angel.
Wallace had messed up with that, but he’d just been so worried that it hadn’t hit home until just now. Hopefully Angel wouldn’t be too angry.
Wallace took a few steadying breaths, then hit the call button, mentally rehearsing what he was going to say.
When the phone rang and rang, and then Angel’s automated answering process picked up, it threw him. It wasn’t like Angel owned a phone as a separate piece of machinery. His phone number was just as much a part of him as his arm or his mouth.
Unless he didn’t want to pick up Wallace’s calls?
Wallace saw Angel all the time at Prism, but they’d only sent a few short texts before.
Wallace had called the Prism phone number to make reservations last spring before he started dating Volt, but that was different. Maybe Angel wasn’t a phone person?
Or he could be in an area with no coverage, Wallace’s skittering mind finally supplied.
Volt would sometimes be out of contact when he was at the hospital visiting Magnolia or in some parts of the subway tunnels.
And Magnolia had gone into the hospital last Tuesday.
Wallace had already visited her there, her frail body somehow looking smaller in that sterile room than it did in a very similar hospital bed at home.
So… yeah. That was probably why Angel wasn’t answering.
Shit. Magnolia was in the hospital while Volt was effectively in the same situation. Angel was going to be devastated.
Or angry. Angry at Wallace for putting his brother in danger. For even touching that fucking thumb drive instead of stomping it into smithereens at the first opportunity.
Wallace was certainly angry enough at himself.
All of a sudden, the phone beeped, spurring Wallace into talking before he was ready.
“Hi, Angel. I’m really sorry. So sorry. I guess you’re with Magnolia, and I should have called you last night.
Uh… because Volt got hurt. I mean, there was a takeover mod.
And it was all my fault. Well, it was in my apartment, but I didn’t know?
But I’ve got people helping him. Really good people.
They say he’s going to be fine. He just needs to sleep today while they work. Or, not sleep, because—”
The beep cut him off, before a recording stepped in and asked if he’d like to send his message or record a new one.
In the past, he would have re-recorded it three times, trying to fit in all the information and not sound like a lunatic, but he couldn’t make himself go through it again.
Instead, he let it transmit, and then followed up with a text where he tried to be a bit clearer and give Ben and Oliver’s address and Oliver’s contact information.
Angel could be angry that Volt was hurt, but at least he would know. At least he could be here with his brother, the same way he visited Magnolia.
Wallace’s heart was rabbiting in his chest, but he couldn’t tell whether it was out of guilt or fear. Or maybe it was all fear. Fear that Volt wouldn’t be okay. Fear that Angel would be angry at him. Fear that Volt would be angry at him.
And he deserved every bit of it.
Even feeling guilty, though, he wanted to see Volt. He needed to curl up in Daddy’s arms.
He showered as fast as he could, oddly glad when he pulled his clean leggings and favorite cozy sweater back on for yesterday.
He would never have worn them over here on purpose, but now that he was here, having this one little thing that made him feel more like himself—and know that he was accepted by Ben and Oliver—gave him a tiny bit of comfort.