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“Fucking Reed.” Hank muttered, glaring at Gavin from his desk. Connor looked up from his own desk.
“Is something wrong?”
“Yeah, that scumbag’s pissing me off.”
“But, Lieutenant, he is just sitting.”
“Yeah, but he’s sitting in a way that makes me wanna fucking kick him.” Hank growled.
“I fail to see what the problem is.”
“His face, kid!” Hank indicated to him. “I wanna fucking punch it!”
“That would be unwise.” Connor went back to work, but smirked. “Though… I suppose it would be amusing.”
“Hell yes it would.”
“I should give him his coffee.” Connor muttered. Hank blinked in confusion, turning to Connor.
“You what?”
“Shortly after my arrival here, Gavin confronted me in the break room. He ordered me to make him a coffee my programming made me obey. He refused to take it and flicked me in the head. Now that I am Deviant, I could throw it at his face.”
“Kid, go for it.” Hank chuckled. “If that’s what you wanna do.”
“I’m uncertain. It would be amusing and well-deserved, but he could become injured. I’m uncertain if I want to be responsible for injuring a human, even if he is, as you say, a piece of shit.”
If Hank had a coffee, he’d have spat it over his monitor.
“Meh, whatever. You’re your own person, you gotta make your own choices.” Hank shrugged. “Though coffee sounds good.”
“Allow me, Lieutenant.” Connor stood. “I fear if you walk past Gavin’s desk, you’ll accidentally deck him.”
“Fair enough.” Hank chuckled. “Thanks, Son.”
“I will be right back.” Connor smiled as he left and headed towards the kitchen.
Connor hummed his favourite Knights Of The Black Death song as the coffee machine did it’s job. A hand fell on his shoulder.
“If it ain’t the plastic prick.”
Gavin.
“Would you like some coffee, Detective Reed?” Connor turned and offered a bright smile. Gavin scowled.
“Fuck you.”
“Thank you.” Connor turned back to the coffee machine, only to be spun around by Gavin. He gasped in shock, his LED flashing yellow.
“Aw, did I scare you?” Gavin chuckled. “Fucking androids.”
Connor opened his mouth to respond when a loud boom ripped through the air and shook the building, then suddenly, nothing.
Connor winced as he blinked his eyes open, only to meet darkness, he struggled against the pressure on his body, forcing himself to sit up before taking in the sight around him.
The entire building was in tatters, some parts of the ceiling only held up by metal beams. The building looked like a skeleton of its former design, except with rubble and dust as far as the eye could see.
Connor suddenly remembered he hadn’t been alone and looked around for Gavin, his eyes falling on a spot of burgundy.
God, he hoped Hank was okay…
“Gavin?” Connor crawled over to the burgundy, sighing in relief when he recognised it as Gavin’s hoodie, not a pool of blood. The detective was buried under a pile of rubble; Connor wasted no time digging him out. He sighed in relief when he heard coughing.
“Detective Reed?” Connor whispered, offering his hand. Gavin took it, and Connor pulled him up out of the rubble, placing his hands on Gavin’s shoulders and holding him upright. “Are you injured?”
“The fuck do you care? Ah, fuck!” Gavin hissed. “Fucking leg kills…”
“Allow me.” Connor knelt down to examine Gavin’s leg, Gavin leaning on Connor’s shoulder for support. “You may have fractured it. There is a large gash… I would recommend immediate medical assistance.”
“Your fuckin’ head light is red.” Gavin muttered, but his voice was surprisingly less harsh.
“I am worried about Hank.” Connor confessed.
“Let’s go find him then.” Gavin rolled his eyes and stepped forward. No sooner had Gavin moved, Connor heard a noise from above. Creaking, then cracking. Without a second thought, he threw his body weight against Gavin, shoving the detective out of harm’s way as the ceiling caved in.
“Connor!” Gavin sat frozen in horror as the Android disappeared under a large chunk of ceiling. Fuck his leg, Gavin forced himself to move, scrabbling over to the fallen ceiling and grabbing the edge. He pushed as hard as he could, trying to push the large slab off the Android, only pain to shoot up his leg. He cried out, looking around for something he could lever the slab up with.
“Connor!”
Gavin sighed in relief. Hank.
“Connor! Fuck! Talk to me, Kid!”
“Hank!” Gavin yelled as loud as his throat would allow him. “Over here!”
Hank was at his side before he could wonder why he was helping them.
“He’s under there.” Gavin told him, pointing to the large ceiling slab. “He pushed me out the way, I’d be fucking dead, Anderson, we gotta get him out.”
“Fucking kid…” Hank muttered. “Come on, push with me.”
Gavin didn’t need to be told twice. He pushed against the slab again, this time with Hank’s added strength. Fucking old man was stronger than he looked. The slab shifted, slowly at first, until it slid down the pile of rubble from its own weight.
Connor lay under the rubble, his LED black and his eyes closed. Blue blood dripped from a huge gash on his forehead and a deep cut on his shoulder. Hank felt himself trembling.
“Connor?” Hank whispered, reaching down to caress the androids face. “Fuck, Connor…”
“Hank, I think he’s still functioning.” Gavin scanned the android. “His LED’s fucked but he still doing that fucking fake breathing shit.”
“Jesus Christ, Connor!” Hank sighed in relief. “He’s fuckin’ heavy, how’re we gonna move him?”
“I͞’m f̧i͡ne̷, Lieut̵en̛a̧nt̶.” Connor blinked his eyes open. Hank couldn’t help but smile. Even Gavin breathed a bit easier. “Th̕ou̧g͏h̶ ̡I̕ ̨h̛a͜v͏e sustain҉ed̶ som͞e̸ ͞d̶a̸m͢agę.̨..” Connor winced at the static sound of his voice. “My ̶v̕i̡su͠al̡ ͢r͝e̕c̛e̸p̵tor͞s h̕ave͟ ͢be҉e̸n̶ ̨d͢a͏mag͘e̷d̷.̧ ̴I c͟annot ̸see̛ ͢cu͜rre̛n̴t͠ly.҉.̡.”
“We’re gonna get you to a repair place, okay?” Hank whispered, running his hand through Connor’s hair.
Fuck, it was like losing Cole all over again…
“Connor…” Gavin shifted anxiously. “Thank you… for saving me.”
“It fȩlt ̸l͝ike̷ t͠he ̡right̛ thi͏ng ҉to ̛d̶o.” Connor smiled, then he felt himself fading away, the last thing he heard being a cry of his name.
Connor woke with a jolt and sat up, blinking as he found himself in a familiar room.
His room.
He was home.
“About fucking time!” Connor turned to see Hank.
“Hank! Your head!” Connor cried, noticing a large bruise on Hank’s temple.
“My head? Kid, you only had half a fuckin’ face when we found you!” Hank ruffled Connor’s hair before pulling him in for a hug. Connor returned it. “You’re okay. Some lady came and fixed you up, sealed your wounds and refilled you with that blue blood shit. She said something about your vocal and visual receptors so I’m guessing she fixed those.”
“It certainly seems that way.” Connor smiled, pulling away. His now-functional blue LED spun happily. “How is Gavin?”
“He’s in the hospital, gettin’ his leg seen to. He’s a bit shaken. He didn’t expect you to do what you did.”
“Gavin is only human. The collapse would have killed him.”
“You’re a fucking good kid, Connor, you know that?” Hank sighed. “You didn’t have to do anything for that asshole.”
“Hank… I scanned him earlier. He grabbed me and spun me around so I scanned him to gain an upper hand in case he got violent. He is a victim of child abuse, for about 10 years.”
“Fuck…” Hank whispered. “This fucking hell hole of a world we live in… Fucking everyone up…”
“He doesn’t know what an act of kindness is. I do not think we should ‘pick on him’ anymore. Instead, perhaps we should show him some kindness, help him to see the world isn’t as bad as he believes.”
“You something else, kid…” Hank muttered. “But you’re right. If anyone can make anyone believe the world isn’t such a fuck up, it’s you.” Connor smiled.
“Thank you, Hank.”