Futurama

Because You're Here
By LaPointe

I do not claim to own Futurama, any of the characters or anything in this text document, except maybe that I wrote it.

Fry lay happily dreaming in his bed, his messy possessions surrounding him.

Leela smiled at him as they walked along the sidewalk outside of Elzar's Restaurant. His gaze meets hers. Fry parted Leela's hair, exposing her beautiful face. She stopped suddenly, reached over, and held his hand. Looking down at their grasping palms, Fry slowly scrolled his eyes upward to meet her own. She tilted her head back slightly, giving Fry a new angle on her smiling face looking up into his.

"I have something to tell you Leela," Fry said, breaking the momentary silence.

Leela gave a look of sudden added interested in what he was about to say.

"Leela, you're the best thing that has ever happened to me," he went on.

Fry thought it strange how easy it was to get these words out to her. Normally he would have choked up or started to panic, and say something completely odd. Fry felt a great feeling coming on, he was about to tell Leela just how much she meant to him. How deep his feelings for her went, he would never do her wrong.

Just then, Bender dived through the glass window of the restaurant, a bottle of expensive wine tightly grasped in his robot hand. Elzar chased closely behind him waving a dough roller, yelling something about turning him into silverware set.

Fry sat up in bed feeling let down.

"Damnit Bender! Every time," he murmured.

He was answered by, "Kill all humans," a standby mode Bender outputted, just outside of the closet.

Struggling to fall back to sleep, Fry gave up and put on his clothes. He headed outside. The cold air kept him huddled up in his jacket as he walked down the block. The night was his, except for the occasional homeless robot or nightwalker hanging out in the alleys.

Fry walked around a corner stopping by a sewer cap. It had the PJs logo on it. Remembering when Leela discovered her parents to be mutants.

"Poor Leela," he thought. "She feels like an outcast, just because she has one eye. She's beautiful to me, but that's not enough I guess."

Fry let out a deep sigh. His breath blew out in front of him like rolling fog.

Walking once more, he made his way for awhile through New New York until he was in front of the PE building, the bay to his side. The water was a dark void extending into the horizon. Fry strolled up to the railing and clenched his hands upon the top bar. He lent forward looking up into the sky, the stars shown brilliantly above him.

Fry stood there for a few moments in deep thought. He missed his family badly, his life changed so abruptly upon coming to the future. His time was so long ago, a world unknown to his friends of this time. Fry dropped his head down and closed his eyes.

"I miss you Mom and Dad," he let out. As a single tear slid slowly down his face, before freezing to his cheek.

A breeze blew in from over the water, it beckoned Fry to shiver. The digital clock skyscraper read 3:27am. Fry had to be at work later in the morning. Wishing he had tried to get more sleep, Fry turned to go.

A thudding noise caught his attention. He listened for a moment, the noise seemed to be coming from the dumpster around the corner of PE. Inquiring about the racket, Fry snuck over to the dumpster to have a look. Suddenly the lid popped up to reveal Dr. Zoidberg, who was pulling something from the filth.

"Oh Fry, have you come to share some leftovers with me?" the doctor said, looking just as startled as Fry.

"Uhh, no. Actually I'm just out for a walk... find anything good?" answered Fry.

Zoidberg crouched down and pulled up a chicken carcass Fry remembered Bender had cooked.

"There is a feast to be had here Fry. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm making myself a plate," Zoidberg explained just before ducking back down into the reciprocal.

Fry found himself not at all surprised at what he had just seen. The cold air was beginning to tax on Fry, he started back home.

The walk became brisk as Fry had had about enough of the frosty conditions. Each step making contact with the sidewalk slightly faster than the one before. In no time Fry was jogging, and making good time at that.

If the light wasn't on he wouldn't have noticed a thing, but it was. Leela's window was the only luminant one of her apartment building.

Fry skidded to a stop, and inhaled the painfully cold air into his lungs catching his breath. He wondering why she would still be up at this hour, and if he should go up to see her. Remembering the last time he was up there, and how it ended in a hellfire of depression. Still not feeling tired and quite bored, Fry walked into the building.

Making his way up the stairs, Fry rehearsed what he might say to explain his unexpected appearance.

"If she is annoyed by me I'll just leave," Fry thought to himself.

Then there it was, Room 1I.

He looked at the door, hesitating. Finally, after a deep breath, Fry reached out to knock. Then a flash manifested in his mind. Leela had a date with that guy tonight. It was the last thing she told him the day before. She was going out to dinner with Ken, she met him at the gym.

Fry realized what he could be walking into on the other side of the door. Instantly he turned around ready to creep away, when he heard a faint noise escaping from Leela's room.

It didn't sound like what he expected, in fact it almost sounded like crying. Silently he continued to listen for a moment. He definitely heard cries… it was Leela crying! Instinctively Fry opened the door and looked around. There was no sign of Leela, or anyone else. The living room however had more furnishings than the last time he was there. Only they were all scattered on the floor, something happened here.

Fry darted into the bedroom.

"Leela are you okay?" he called aloud.

The room was equally as messy as his own, this was bad.

"Leela are you here?" he asked the room again. No answer.

Fry noticed some glass broken on the floor around a picture frame. He bent down and picked it up, and was surprised to see Leela kept a picture of him by her bedside. Fry felt warm inside, and a faint smile fought for it's place upon his face.

"Fry....Fry help me," a familiar voice called out from behind the bed.

The words hit Fry like a Space Bee sting, he dropped the picture to the floor.

To be continued

Quite short I'll admit, but I'm calling this an introduction... I need to figure out where to go from here.

I'll get part 2 out as soon as I can listen to my Rolling Stones CD for motivation.