"When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion."
- Dale Carnegie

One Year Later.

Maria Robertson shivered slightly in her cashmere sweater. Despite the warmth of the fireplace, the apartment remained vulnerable to the cold of the snowy December of the year, and this high in the skyscraper the draughts and wind were particularly strong. She curled up on the couch with her mug of hot chocolate, remembering how she had sat this way before the night that had changed her world.

Sonny joined her and wrapped an arm around her waist. She smiled up at him. “Is everything ready?” he asked gently.

“Yeah,” she nodded, finishing the last of her drink. “The pie’s nearly done. Spooner will go wild when he sees it… although I doubt it’s as good as the one his grandmother apparently makes so well.”

“I’m sure it is,” he smiled, stroking metallic fingers over her cheek tenderly. In the past year he had picked up many more human gestures and characteristics from the world around him, and was becoming more and more used to being her lover. “What were you thinking about a moment ago? You looked quite engrossed in yourself.”

She laughed. “Just thinking about the night we got together for real. Right here. I can’t believe we managed to get our hands on the very same apartment… Dad sure left me a lot of money. I never imagined quite how much.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “I am glad that we purchased the apartment. It is wonderful to have our own home.”

The Skyview apartment gleamed with Sonny’s cleaning efforts, every surface polished to perfection in preparation for their dinner guests. The buzzer suddenly went off and Maria quickly jumped up, running a hand through her crimson curls and checking her makeup in the mirror as she passed it. She opened the door and was instantly enveloped in a huge hug from the short, plump girl in the doorway.

“Maria, babe!” Mari-Jayne shrieked, and Maria hugged her back tightly. “Oh my God, I’ve missed you so much!”

“Oh God, I know!” Maria agreed, kissing her on both cheeks. “You’ll have to tell me all about it – hey Rocky,” she smiled at the young man standing behind her, who gave her a wink and a hug. “So it’s true then, what I read in the papers about you two?”

Rocky chuckled. “But of course,” he grinned, and she saw a flicker of his tongue piercing. “We’re in love, baby.”

Mari-Jayne leapt right into Sonny’s arms with a shriek of delight. “Oh Sonny, I’ve missed you like hell!” she laughed, and the robot embraced her with great affection. “I missed you on tour – six months without my favourite robot? Unbearable!”

“I have missed you too, Jayne,” he smiled, his eyes sparkling with joy at seeing his friend. “Very much.”

Both Jayne and Rocky looked pretty much the same – Jayne was still stout and pale, although her hair now reached all the way to her waist and was streaked with red, whilst Rocky remained tall and dark, although he had gained several facial piercings during his absence. Bleeding Black had just returned from their first world tour, which had been an enormous success.

“Hey, hey, hey!” a familiar voice came, and all four of them were immediately embracing Del Spooner, newly promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant thanks to his solving of the Salvador case. “Whoa, guys, give a guy some air!” he laughed as they chattered wildly. “Anyway, is that pie I smell?”

“It is,” Maria grinned. “Sweet potato.”

“He’ll love that!” another voice came and a tall, pale brunette walked in, to the joy of the others. Sonny lifted Dr Susan Calvin right off her feet with the enthusiasm in his embrace. “Goodness, Sonny, you only saw me yesterday!” she laughed as he put her down.

Sonny smiled widely. “I know. But it is always lovely to see you, Susan.”

“Sure is,” Rocky agreed. “Like my piercing, Dr Calvin?” He poked his tongue out at her and she shuddered when she saw the bolt in the pink flesh.

“Urgh, Rocky, that’s horrible,” she told him seriously, looking revolted. “I thought it was bad enough when you had your nose done for the third time… but that really is just disgraceful.” She smiled. “Nonetheless, I think congratulations are in order for both of you. When is the wedding?”

Jayne flashed her amethyst ring proudly. “As soon as possible. We want to do it before we head off for the world tour. You’re all invited, of course.”

It had come as a great surprise when the newspapers had pronounced Rocky Orbit and Mari-Jayne Storm’s sudden engagement. Jayne had just turned eighteen whilst Rocky was nearing his twenty-first birthday, but they were very much in love and wanted to be married. The others were all extremely pleased for them, of course, although it stirred some envious feelings in the hearts of the other women in the group.

As the four guests made their way to the glass dinner table to await their meal, Sonny turned his eyes back to his young lover. Maria would be twenty in a few months and was more beautiful than ever.

“Maria…” he said quietly and she looked at him with the brown eyes that had comforted him so many times before.

“Sonny, don’t,” she murmured, shaking her head. “We’ve been through this… I don’t mind.”

He would have said more but for a shrill noise from the oven announcing that the meal was ready. Maria quickly moved towards the kitchen to save it from burning, avoiding his gaze as she went. He followed her with sorrow lingering in his azure eyes, but he knew he could discuss it with her now.

Sonny seated himself between Jayne and Susan and joined in the discussion gladly as Maria prepared the dinner in the kitchen. He did not eat, but enjoyed seeing and smelling the food that his human friends ate. It was oddly fascinating to watch their different eating habits, and always pleasant to join in the table conversation.

“So Rocky, does it hurt to eat with that in?” Spooner asked, indicating Rocky’s mouth. “And Jayne, for that matter.”

She rolled her lip piercing around with her tongue, much to Susan’s revulsion. “Nope,” she grinned.

“Mine does,” Rocky grimaced, trying to look at the piercing and ending up with an absurd cross-eyed expression. “Bastard that did it was so brutal, I’m surprised he didn’t give me something terminal.”

“Drama queen,” Jayne snorted, giving him an affectionate nudge with her elbow. “Anyway, how’s life in the human world, Sonny?” she asked her close friend kindly. “I can’t believe Maria’s the CEO of USR now.”

Susan laughed. “I can’t believe that she promoted me to CEO-in-chief! And that the public are finally starting to trust again, with the modifications.”

The uplinks had been removed from the NS-5s and the Three Laws were in the process of being edited. There would be no repeats of the VIKI Revolution. Sonny was now able to wander the streets quite freely without fear of attack, as long as his true nature remained hidden beneath his mechanical exterior. His relationship with Maria was also a closely guarded secret.

“I feel I am doing well,” Sonny nodded. “Life could not be treating me more kindly. I am so fortunate to have such great friends as you.”

There was a murmur of agreement and everyone smiled at him widely, pleased by his praise. Maria came in at that moment, bearing two vast dishes of her own sweet potato pie. Spooner stared at it and was digging in as soon as it had touched the tabletop, scooping a huge amount onto his plate in a minuscule space of time.

Susan breathed in the smell. “Ooh, this looks gorgeous, Maria.”

Maria beamed and placed some side dishes on the table. “Gigi’s recipe, of course,” she informed them. “But where are the other two?”

Jayne frowned and reached for her phone. “I don’t know. Let me give them a ring, we can’t have them missing the pie. Can you imagine Pete’s face if we told him that we had eaten anything without him? He’d have a right temper tantrum.”

It was unnecessary for her to call, however, because two more people suddenly came crashing in, almost tripping over their own feet in haste. Rose Rotherham and Pete Orbit were hugging Maria within moments, both of them babbling excitedly.

“Oh Maria, I’m so sorry we’re late!” Rose apologised profusely, kissing the older girl on the cheeks. “It’s his fault, with that damn car.”

“You haven’t even got a car!” Pete reminded her, grinning. “But yeah, sorry Maria. Hope the meal hasn’t gone cold?”

Maria returned their embraces warmly. “No, no, it doesn’t matter, I only just put it out. I’m so glad both of you could make it!” she laughed, seating herself. Rose and Pete hugged everybody else and handed them all gifts, which brought some cries of delight and ‘you shouldn’t have!’ Rose merely smiled mysteriously and reached for the serving spoon.

“What’s this in occasion of, then?” Spooner asked, rattling his present with interest. “Christmas is two weeks away!”

Rocky swallowed his mouthful of pie and exchanged a meaningful look with Rose. “You’re telling them?” he beamed and Rose nodded, glancing at Pete with an expression of elation. “Yes! Go on, go on!”

Jayne raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been keeping secrets, Rocky!” she complained. “What’s this about?”

Pete cleared his throat. His blonde, spiky hair had been dyed bright blue, which made the serious announcement look a little comical, but he looked really happy as he placed a hand over Rose’s. “Well, err, I know it’s a bit sudden,” he said, barely able to disguise his smile of joy, “But me and Rose are getting hitched.”

“You’re joking!” Jayne exploded, staring at them. “You copycats. Damn you. And congratulations,” she added as if it was an afterthought. Rose grinned at her, looking absolutely thrilled.

“That’s wonderful,” Sonny smiled.

Rose gave him a long, intense look from behind strands of her hair, which had grown to just past her shoulders and was now deep brown and slightly curly. Her eighteenth birthday was coming up soon; she, like Jayne, was very young to be married. But Sonny knew how much it must mean to her. After all the struggles and the pain, the anguish. He nodded to her, and she returned the gesture.

Maria had just opened their gift and gasped with delight when she saw the dress that had been wrapped up in spangled wrapping paper. “Oh my – it’s beautiful!” she exclaimed, holding it up. It was rich purple and made of satin, and had a corset back. “Oh you shouldn’t have… but I’ll accept it if you accept my congratulations.”

“’Course,” Pete beamed. “We thought you’d like it.”

Spooner had opened his present to find a giant spoon with the words ‘Spooner’s Pie Spoon’ engraved into the handle. “Haha!” he laughed loudly, immediately exchanging his original spoon for it. “That’s great. Wish I’d had that when I was a teenager, I literally lived off it.”

“You still do,” Susan reminded him.

“True,” he agreed, winking at her. “Still the dumbest smart person ever, though, Calvin.” She rolled her eyes.

Susan’s icy demeanour was melting by the minute since the Silver and Gold incident. Although she still wasn’t quite ready for the depths of romance and feelings she had long since forgotten since Milton, she had become much more friendly and relaxed, and obviously enjoyed the company of the others. She still got on best with Sonny and Spooner, her first friends, but Maria was very close to her too, especially since they had started working together so closely at USR.

Maria had gone straight to her father’s lawyer once Jack was gone and announced that she was alive and well. Upon reading Lawrence Robertson’s will, it was confirmed by him that USR was indeed rightfully hers, as was half of Robertson’s fortune. The other half was to go to Maria’s mother, although whether she was alive or dead, no one knew.

However, Maria was determined to track her down. The Russian Government had been contacted and they were searching their databases for any evidence of Rhonda Robertson’s existence.

Sonny watched them eat jealously. “How was the tour?” he asked them to distract himself.

Immediately, the four members of Bleeding Black present exploded in excitement. “It waf fuckin’ amafin’!” Rocky informed him thickly through a mouthful of pie, spraying Jayne with crumbs. “Oh, err – sorry, Jayne,” he apologised after swallowing his mouthful, and she gave him a deadly sort of glare. “But yeah, it was like… wow.”

“Indescribable,” Pete nodded, running a hand through his blue spikes. “The places we went to, man.”

For their first tour they had visited the capital city of most major countries, and would be doing smaller towns and cities later on. “London was just unbelievable,” Jayne told them. “It’s amazing there. The English have such great accents, and they were so friendly.”

“I liked Paris best,” Rose said. “The fans there were so like, loud. And Sydney was pretty good, too.”

“It must have been great to be able to see the Eiffel Tower and all that sort of thing,” Maria guessed and they all nodded enthusiastically. “Did you see Big Ben in London? I can barely believe that’s still standing without renovation.”

Jayne nodded. “Yeah, it was so cool. It was fun in Stockholm too, ‘cause it was snowing when we were playing. We got some great photos. Wolf wanted to come today but he had to visit his great-aunt’s ex-husband’s stepson, or something.”

----

The meal was eaten and a sumptuous dessert of chocolate gateaux followed shortly afterwards, much to the delight of the guests, especially Spooner. The guests all proceeded to the living room to continue catching up with each other, with the exception of Rose, and Sonny, who lingered in the dining room to speak to each other alone.

The robot looked at her with affection. “I am truly glad for you, Rose. I am sure he will make you very happy.”

“I sure hope so,” she smiled up at him. “Well, I remembered what you said after Silver and Gold. That there would be someone… someone who would accept me for who I really was.” She paused. “You were right.”

He nodded. “How is it?”

She knew that he meant her bipolar disorder and grinned at him. “I’m off the lithium,” she told him and he looked delighted. “I know. It took me so long… I was almost forgetting how to live without it. But since Pete… well. It’s changed. It’s all changed.” She looked truly relieved. “I’m never going on it again if I can help it. And I’m getting on fine without the other drugs at the moment, too.”

“Well done,” he congratulated. “It must have taken a great deal of effort to break away from lithium.”

“It did,” she agreed. “But I guess… I’m okay now. I’m not officially cured but I soon will be if I can help it.” She smiled. “How are you and Maria?”

Sonny looked a little depressed and she frowned. “Very well,” he told her, but he sounded unsure. “I love her so much it hurts me, and I know she feels the same way about me, but… I wish so much I had more to offer her.”

Rose raised her eyebrows, which were as yet untouched by piercings. “Like what, money? I don’t think she needs that.”

“Not money,” he said, shaking his head. “It is just that… she is young and beautiful, very much like yourself and Jayne, and I know she longs to be married to me. But she does not see how it can ever happen. I am a robot… people would not accept us, and I doubt it is legal for a robot to marry a human being. It could threaten her career, or even her life. And she does not want to fear for that any more.”

“So what?” Rose exclaimed. “Even if you don’t get married, why not just get engaged? Put a ring on her finger and she’ll feel more like she’s yours forever, even if you can’t actually marry her.” She waved the third finger on her left hand at him, where there was a beautiful silver engagement ring with a tiny rose adorning it, made of ruby. “Or do it in secret! Just with us. It doesn’t have to be like a huge deal.”

She was convincing him. He looked at her ring for a moment before meeting her eyes again. “I do have a ring for her,” he admitted.

“Let’s see it.”

They went to Sonny and Maria’s bedroom, which was done in shades of brown and cream, like the rest of the apartment. Rose perched herself on the end of the bed as Sonny went through a drawer and pulled out a tiny cube-shaped box, which he flipped open and handed to her.

Though she adored her ring, Rose couldn’t help but be in love with this one too. It looked like white gold and had a tiny, heart-shaped star sapphire glistening darkly on the front of it. She knew they were very rare gems and it must have cost a lot of money.

“God, that’s beautiful,” she told him truthfully. “You’ve got to give it to her, Sonny. You can’t waste that ring.”

As the evening wore on into night, Sonny pondered on what Rose had said as he sat with his human companions in the sitting room. Maria had brought out some bottles of pricey red wine, which was being sipped from glasses by all those present with the exception of Susan, who had deemed that she would rather have a cup of tea. At last, near midnight, Spooner got to his feet a little unsteadily, having knocked back four glasses of the alcohol.

“I’d best be going,” he told them, to groans of disappointment. “Well, Marci’s coming again tomorrow and I’m taking her to that restaurant near Late Nights – the Chinese one that costs a fortune. I’ll need my wits about me to beat the bill down a little.”

Marci and Spooner had eventually come to an agreement that they would start dating again and renew their relationship little by little. They were unsure if they would remarry, but it was common knowledge that they both wanted to. Gigi, of course, was over the moon that they were back together.

Late Nights, on the other hand, had been transformed. Maria, to repay Ray Carlton’s kindness during her hours of greatest need, gave him a large sum of money to renovate the club. He had decided that he didn’t want it to be a strip club anymore – “I’m getting old, Maria, perhaps it’s time to make a change” – and he had converted it, with her cash, into a beautiful health spa.

Vina Velasquez, Kellie Rose Hartley, Lisa Thompson and the other strippers were now on much higher pay, working for Ray as senior managers and receptionists. Maria had also insisted that they, too, take some money, reminding them that she knew exactly what it was like to be virtually starving. With the money and their new pay, they were now respectable members of society, and close friends of Maria’s.

“Alright,” Maria agreed reluctantly, hugging him tightly and kissing him on the cheek. “Good luck – don’t spill champagne over her again.”

He chuckled bashfully, rubbing the back of his head. “I’ll try. Bye, everybody else.”

He shook the hands of Sonny, Pete and Rocky, hugged the women and then was gone in a swish of leather coat. His battered Converse All Stars were still firmly on his feet, as they probably always would be.

“I guess we’d better leave you two now as well,” Rose grinned, winking pointedly at Sonny. “Thanks so much for having us, you two.”

----

Final farewells were exchanged between the guests and the hosts before Sonny and Maria were finally left alone again.

Maria turned to her robotic lover with a wide smile. “I think that went well, don’t you?” she asked, scooping up the empty wine glasses distractedly. “I wish I could go to all those places that the band went to; I’ve always wanted to go to London.”

“You will, one day,” he assured her as she put the glasses down on the side. “Maria… will you sit down for a moment?”

She looked at him with open misgiving but approached the couch by the fireplace and sat down, keeping her eyes on his. “What is it?” she asked a little worriedly, twirling a lock of hair around one finger. But she thought she knew.

He came and sat down beside her, taking both her hands in his. “Maria, I know we have already talked about the idea of marriage.”

Maria shook her head and bit her lip. “Sonny, don’t… it hurts too much.”

“No, I have to say this,” he pleaded, squeezing her hands a little. “I love you. And I know I have nothing to offer you but love…”

“That’s enough for me, Sonny. It’s always been enough,” she whispered, stroking a hand across his cool, smooth polymer cheek.

He nodded, suddenly feeling incredibly nervous. But also… excited. He remembered telling his father with certainty once that he would get married and hoped that Alfred was watching him from wherever his spirit was now. “Even if we cannot be wed,” he murmured, gently lifting her left hand, “I want to ask you. And I want you to have this.”

Maria could not help but gasp in delight when she felt the ring slide onto her slender finger, and her eyes sparkled when she saw the star sapphire. “Oh God – Sonny –”

“Will you marry me?” he asked her softly. “In secret. Where no one can see… no one can judge us.”

She raised her trembling right hand to her mouth and he could see that the tears in her eyes were threatening to spill over. As he looked at her with total frozen anticipation, his eyes dark with adoration, it hit him yet again how unbelievably beautiful she was. Her soft ruby curls fell about her face and her dark eyes swum as she looked at the ring.

Father… please make me have done it right.

She sniffed thickly to dispel her tears of pride and joy before she gave him a wobbly smile. The world did not have to know. But she loved him so much it pained her… wanted nothing more than this anymore. She had everything she could ever need.

“Yes,” she nodded, a beam breaking out through her tears. “Oh God, yes I will.”

----

Author’s Note: And so ends Silver and Gold at long last! I’ve been working on this since 2004, would you believe it, and it’s gone through a million editing stages and changing chapter names, but it’s done. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this fiction as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it and I would hugely appreciate any feedback. Thanks again for reading.