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“Why?” you huffed as you pushed him down, your knees on either side of his torso. Gun pressed on his head, your hands shook as he stared at you.
“Aren’t you supposed to follow your fucking orders, Nines?” you asked, gritting your teeth. He’s not used to this, to be on the other end of your aggression.
You were partners, assigned by the captain after the integration of androids into society. He was the cold-blooded machine while you were the quiet but hot-headed detective of your precinct. Everyone thought you would’ve killed the android within two weeks of your partnership but you surprisingly worked well together.
It’s been eight months since you’ve met him and you thought everything was going well. You had the highest amount of closed cases in the precinct and you found the balance in your partnership. At least, you thought you did.
You had been on a stake-out. Red ice dealings were happening in an old abandoned shoe factory and you were assigned to catch the dealers. It was only a small dealing but the captain ordered that you get the perpetrators for questioning. You’ve been on the trail of their network for a while now and you just needed a few more key information to crack them down.
“You were comprised and something had to be done, Detective,” Nines spoke, his LED blue. Of course, even having a gun on his head won’t terrify him.
“What made you think that letting the goddamn criminals go was a good fucking plan?!” you shouted.
Now, it was his turn to glare at you.
“Detective, you were the one who they got surrounded. You were the one that had to be saved because you did not think things through.”
You gritted your teeth. Even if you didn’t want to admit it, he was right.
You thought you had them. You thought that they were all already inside and that it was the perfect time to go in. You were wrong.
They knew you were coming. Maybe it was through a snitch in the DPD or they found one of your contacts, you don’t know. Whoever it was, they knew that you were going to be here tonight.
“You had a clear shot, Nines. Why didn’t you take it?”
You knew it was unfair, that you were only taking out your frustrations on the RK900. You knew that the failure of your mission had been your fault.
When your gun ran out of ammo, you had been surrounded by perps. As much as you took pride in being a good fighter, there had been too many of them. As the fight continued, you started to struggle. Why couldn’t you have been built like an android instead?
You had cursed then, regretting that you had agreed to split up with Nines earlier in the mission. It had seemed to be a good idea at the time, thinking you could cover more area and exits.
One of them got you with a knife. With a stab on your shoulder, they had you. They pulled you, turning you to suddenly face Nines, who had heard the commotion and ran towards the source. He had aimed his gun on the man’s head. His LED was red as he stared at the man pulling the knife out of your shoulder and then pressing it against your throat.
“Answer me, Nines! I know you. You must’ve known the perfect time and place to shoot. Even if it would’ve caused me some injury, why didn’t you?!”
He had let them go. He dropped his gun, like a fucking idiot, in exchange for the promise of your safety. You were lucky that the perp who had you didn’t slice your throat even after Nines threw his gun away.
“The dealer who had me was young. He was shaking and you must’ve known he couldn’t have actually killed me,” you said, arms slightly shaking.
“He still had no problem in stabbing you, Y/N. I couldn’t take that chance.”
You pressed the gun closer to his head. “Stop bullshitting me, Nines. You could’ve shot him, even with the risk of me being damaged.”
You knew, oh god, you knew you were being unfair but you’re just so livid with yourself. You didn’t know how else to express your frustrations.
And then, he had grabbed your arm. He twisted it, forcing you to let the gun go. He got your arm stuck behind you. He leaned in, close to your ear and you could feel yourself burn.
“Why do you speak as if you’re a machine, Y/N? You are human. Such damagesare detrimental and are not as temporary on you as they are on an android.”
“Cut the crap, Nines! Months ago, you and I both know you would’ve taken that fucking shot,” you said. You wanted to turn towards him but he had a firm grip on you. “You know that I wouldn’t care if the bullet had grazed me if it meant making sure those assholes would give us the information we needed.”
His grip on you seemed to tighten. He knew that statement was true. You and Nines knew that both of you would do anything for the mission. That’s what made you both accept each other as partners. So why hadn’t he done what was needed for the mission?
“Why didn’t you shoot?” you huff, arms and knees weak, knowing that this was leading nowhere.
A beat. And then–
He had slammed you down on the floor, his hands on either side of your face, taking hold of your arms. He kicked away the gun from the both of you, glaring at you. As you stared at the red light of his LED, you knew you fucked up.
“Why? You’re asking me why Y/N?”
You stared at his grey eyes and you can’t help but feel as if he’s suffocating you. You stared at his sharp jawline and the curve of his neck, his features suddenly too much. You wanted to push him away but you can’t.
He leaned in, too close for your comfort but you can’t help the rush of heat. Why, why, why?
“You keep getting under my skin, you stubborn, hot-tempered, foolish human. You’re so willing to throw away your life away as if it’s replaceable,” he said, gritting his teeth. “You don’t even care about the consequences, about the harm that you may cause to other people with your recklessness.”
“How dare you–”
He slammed his fist by the side of your face. You froze.
“You have much more worth than these missions, Y/N.”
Red, red, red.
Grey eyes bore into yours and you drown.
“You’re not something I’m willing to risk. Not now. Not ever.”
For a moment, all you could do was stare. Your eyes wide as you stared at him. And then you wondered, you wondered if he realized the meaning of his words, if he knew you were burning under his gaze.
He’s a machine. He’s supposed to be a goddamn machine.
But as his LED remained red, you wondered what exactly will become of the two of you after this.
Fuck.