Chapter Text
“Anderson, Reed, in my office!” Connor’s head snapped up from his desk when he heard his name called. Captain Fowler caught his eye when he looked to his office, waving his hand in his ‘hurry up, I don’t have all day’ gesture before ducking back inside the room. He glanced over to Detective Reed’s desk and watched him finish off his coffee before slipping out of his chair with a yawn. A quick look at the clock on Connor’s computer screen reminded him just how late it was.
Connor finally pulled himself out of his observations and fell in line behind the other detective as they ascended the short staircase into what Hank liked to call his own personal hell. Connor himself felt the smallest bit apprehensive whenever the Captain called him to the office. Even when he was in a good mood, he sounded angry, so he could never quite tell if he was in for a bad time when he sealed himself in the office with him.
Fowler seemed to look them both over as if he was about to change his mind, then shook his head. He didn’t have an LED for Connor read, but he didn’t need it to see the man was nearing the end of the metaphorical rope. The amount of stress rolling off of him in waves was almost tangible. He couldn’t blame him; it was only a month after Markus’s Revolution and the integration was slow going. Human-Android relations were tense, and it seemed like every day, at least ten new cases of human on android violence found their way into Connor and Hank’s desks. With Hank currently out of commission with the flu, Connor was swamped with more work than even he could handle, and his own stress levels never dipped below 43%.
It had to be worse for Captain Fowler. Hank wasn’t the only one out sick; the virus was particularly nasty this year, and had spread without mercy through the department in the past weeks. The building had been eerily empty, with only a few android officers and humans who had either avoided or already recovered remaining. Everyone was overclocking hours at a time just to keep a handle on things.
“I’m reassigning you,” he said bluntly to Detective Reed. “We just stumbled into something messy and I need people I can trust not to run their mouths on it. With everyone else out of commission, that leaves you two. Congratulations, Detective, I’ve finally found you a partner.”
It took a moment for his words to sink in, but Connor could pinpoint the exact moment when Detective Reed realized what the Captain was telling him. All traces of exhaustion were wiped off his face in an instant, replaced with narrow-eyed anger. It was shockingly similar to the start of the conversation Hank and Captain Fowler had regarding the deviant cases last month.
“What?!” Detective Reed snapped. “You can’t be serious! I’m not going anywhere with this asshole!” He jabbed his finger at Connor to emphasize his point. Well, at least he dropped the ‘tin can’ and ‘plastic’ insults, which was a lot more than he ever expected of Detective Reed. Not that he was ever any nicer to him, of course.
“I can’t say I’m pleased about this either,” Connor added cautiously.
“Is there anyone in this damn precinct who listens to me?” Fowler growled. “I don’t care how much you hate each other, with half the department out we don’t have the luxury of picking our partners.”
“Yeah?” Reed snarled. “I’ve done just fine without a partner, I don’t need one now, especially not him.”
“Do not start with me, Gavin, I’m not in the mood for this. Until Hank is fit for duty again, you’re taking on this case with Connor.”
Reed opened his mouth to say something else but Fowler held his hand up and interrupted him,.
“If the next thing out of your mouth isn’t ‘yes sir,’ I don’t want to hear it, and I won’t hesitate to pull out your disciplinary record if you keep pushing me.”
The detective’s face turned an interesting shade of red, but a warning glare from Fowler kept his tongue in check.
“Fine. What do we have?”
“That’s what I thought.” Captain Fowler lifted his tablet and swiped his finger across it. The screen against the wall displayed several images. Connor scanned them quickly and noted the address was for a bar downtown. “We got the call about an hour ago. A couple of drunks stumbled across the body.”
The location on the screen was replaced by an image of a battered corpse lying across the alley. It was a human male, who appeared to have suffered massive trauma to the head. His face was an unrecognizable mass of bruised and bloodied flesh.
“If I may, Captain, what about this case in particular requires such discretion?” Connor asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. It was gruesome, sure, but it didn’t look like it deserved this level of secrecy.
“I was getting there,” Fowler sighed. “So far, there haven’t been any cases of violence where an android has been the aggressor. This time, we have reason to believe the murderer wasn’t human.”
That certainly was messy. At the moment, there was so much support for the android cause, thanks to Markus’s determination to remain peaceful. While not all androids were as pacifistic as Markus, the public had a very specific image of the innocent, non-violent android. If it got around that androids were committing murder, it could damage Markus’s efforts. It could set negotiations back, when they were still at a critical moment.
“We found evidence of thirium degradation on his hands and clothing. Not enough to prove anything, but there’s little other evidence at the scene. I don't think I need to tell either of you what’s at stake.” He gave Detective Reed a hard look.
“Yeah, I get it, play nice. You don't need to tell me twice.”
“And get, I don't find myself relieved. The both of you will behave, or there’ll be consequences. Now get going.”
“Right away, Captain.”
Reed was out the door and halfway to his desk before Connor even turned. It was almost impressive if it didn't irritate him the slightest bit. His hand wrapped around the door handle and he was about to pull it open when Captain Fowler stopped him.
“If he gives you any trouble, don't hesitate to report him.”
“Sir?”
“You’re one of us now. Just remember that. Now get going.”
“Yes sir.” Despite the situation with Detective Reed, he found himself smiling when he joined the other detective by his desk, where he was busy throwing things into his bag, including his copy of the case file.
“I'm getting a coffee before I go. If you aren’t by the car in ten minutes you’re finding your own ride.” Detective Reed spoke through gritted teeth, tossing one final look at Captain Fowler, still watching them from behind his desk, before pushing his chair in angrily and cursing again. Connor winced and found himself wondering of calling a taxi would be the safer route. But no, they were assigned this case together, and he needed to work with him whether he liked it or not.
“Don't worry Detective Reed, I’ll be there.”
“Whatever.” He muttered.