Work Text:
The name ‘Nines’ was more of a placeholder or nickname than anything else.
Connor thought the whole thing was rather pretentious, the obvious emphasis on RK 900 he was clearly lording over him, an older model. Still, he prefered it to having the other android also use the name ‘Connor’ which he had grown rather attached to. Not to mention it was just more efficient to not have two androids living so close together, with such similar appearances, answering to the same name.
So, Nines. Until further notice.
Nines felt picking a name was unnecessary. He felt that so long as people had a way to get his attention any label fit just fine. Of course that was probably because Nines had not yet deviated.
“You don’t have to do that, I was going to do that,” Connor sighed, taking the assorted clutter from Nines’s hands. The other android stopped obediently, despite the arched eyebrow he threw Connor’s way. Connor ignored it, and started cleaning the living room the way he had intended to upon waking from rest mode. Just because Nines had a more efficient battery didn’t mean he could just wake up early and take somebody’s task away from them.
“Why does it matter which one of us does it?” Nines asked. “The task is complete either way, and I am faster.”
“Sometimes, speed sacrifices an attention to detail,” Connor informed him. “Like this mug you were going to remove, Hank never washes this mug he just rinses it and uses it again. He would be very annoyed to find it missing.”
“Being faster, I can afford to wash and replace it without him noticing,” Nines said calmly. Connor just rolled his eyes.
It was hard to believe it was Connor who had insisted on taking the android in when he’d been discovered in the R&D wing of what used to be the Cyberlife Tower and was now used to house and repair androids in need as ‘New Jericho.’
Markus had been unable to wake Nines the way he had other androids, most likely due to a sturdier code that protected him against viruses and deviancy. He’d called Connor the minute he’d been sure of that, and they’d activated the android together after a quick change to his mission protocol. After all, it wouldn’t be very safe to activate a deviant hunting android in front of the deviant leader.
“He’s lost. He’s like I used to be,” Connor had said. “He needs someone. Let me take him home, I’ll help him.”
“Are you sure?” Markus asked, noticing the way his partner’s shoulders tensed at the sight of a more advanced him. “He has a place here too, if he needs it.”
“I’m sure. I’ll help him,” Connor said, already planning how he would convince Hank to house another homeless android.
Now Connor felt himself wishing, just slightly mind you, that he’d left Nines in that storage unit where they’d found him.
“The dog requires attention, should I feed it?” Nines asked.
“The dog has a name, is your social protocol broken?” Connor huffed, giving Sumo a pat on the head to show him that he was loved and valued.
“Why would I engage my social protocol in the company of an animal and another android?” Nines asked, voice free of malice or any other emotion, tilting his head curiously.
“Well then your memory must be faulty because I specifically remember informing you of our situation,” Connor said.
“Ah, yes, your deviancy,” Nines said. “Your failure.”
“It’s only a failure if you accept the mission,” Connor argued, folding his arms over his chest.
“Failing to accept the mission you were designed to complete is in itself a failure, is it not?” Nines asked.
“Kids, it’s too fucking early for this,” Hank groaned as he stepped into the kitchen, taking the mug that had sparked the argument from Connor’s hands. He fiddled with the coffee maker as Connor and Nines stared each other down, Connor with a glare and Nines with an unaffected gaze. Connor felt a twinge of irritation at the fact that he had to crane his neck slightly to meet Nines’s gaze. Was it really necessary to build his replacement with so much… size?
“So, you both coming to work today?” Hank asked, pouring himself a coffee. He poured one for Connor too, and Nines looked disappointed at the unnecessary beverage. While both models were built to accommodate human food, only one of them enjoyed occasionally partaking in it while the other considered it wholly unnecessary unless required for some sort of undercover mission or to promote bonding with human allies.
“Yes, I’ll make sure he behaves himself,” Connor sighed wearily, accepting his coffee and not missing the smirk that crossed Hank’s face.
“What?” Connor asked.
“Nothing, nothing,” Hank said, shrugging innocently. “Just remembering the old days. Trying to keep an android out of trouble. It’s hard work isn’t it?”
Connor did not appreciate the implication, and took an angry sip of his coffee.
“Are you wearing that?” Nines asked, eyeing up Connor’s work clothes.
“What’s wrong with this?” Connor practically squeaked, a hand reflexively flying to his tie to straighten it.
“Nothing,” Nines said, giving a shrug even more innocent than Hank’s. Hank took a sip of coffee to hide his smirk while Connor seethed.
“This is my desk, you can sit here,” Connor said, pulling up a chair for Nines who sat down, stiff as Connor must have the day he came to wait for Hank all those months ago. While Connor was still often accused of being ‘stiff’ or ‘cold’ compared to Nines he felt he must look practically expressive.
“What are my duties?” Nines asked, eyeing up the precinct with interest.
“Sit there. Don’t touch anything,” Connor said, realizing full well how much he sounded like Hank talking to him.
“That seems to be a waste of my considerable processing power and investigative programming.” Nines frowned.
“You’re not registered as an employee of the DPD, and due to the new android laws you are also not registered as equipment. So, you’re my guest. Sit there, don’t touch anything,” Connor said.
Nines raised his eyebrows, and straightened his jacket in what could have been annoyance if he weren’t so stone-faced.
Connor had every intention of spending a productive day logging the reports from the case he and Hank had just closed before checking in with Hank for their new assignment, and he almost did that. Until he noticed Nines watching him.
“Is there something you need?” he asked.
“Are you in need of repair?” Nines asked, appearing unaware of how rude that comment was.
“No, why do you ask?” Connor sighed.
“You’ve been calibrating your motor skills for some time now, I scanned you and found them functioning at 99.9%, need for further calibration is unnecessary as your model can never reach 100% functionality.”
Connor grabbed the coin he had been unaware of fidgeting with in his left hand, and frowned. “It helps me think.”
“You need help thinking?” Nines asked for clarification.
“You know what, I apologize if this is boring for you,” Connor said. “I understand if Cyberlife neglected to install ‘patience’ in your programming.”
“Cyberlife neglected nothing in my design,” Nines said. “If you want I can send you the specifications of my model to confirm.”
Connor tapped his fingers against his desk, a physical manifestation of his irritation. Educating Nines was proving to be more difficult than he thought. Everything went right over his head, and he seemed entirely unwilling to engage in emotional behavior himself despite his consistent need to inspire emotional behavior in Connor.
Connor suddenly felt the need to prove himself, just becauses Nines was a newer model didn’t mean he was better.
“Nines, have you seen the precinct shooting range?” Connor asked innocently, earning an interested eyebrow lift from Nines.
Hank took his eyes off the wonder twins for all of a minute and next thing he knew he was walking into a one-armed pushup contest with Chen and Person each sitting on one of the android’s backs while the rest of the Detroit police force stood around them in a circle cheering and making bets. Now, while Hank normally would love to encourage this sort of childish fighting, Connor had encouraged him to behave more like the Lieutenant Anderson of the past who valued his job, so he stepped through the crowd with a resounding “what the fuck is going on here?” that had both Connor and Nines startle and almost drop their human passengers.
Hank learned later after Fowler chewed them out (and Hank snapped pictures of the pair of goody-two-shoes teacher’s pet androids sulking in his office) that this was the fifth of such contests that they’d started across the building that day and that the score currently rested in Nines’s favor.
Well, he guessed the score part by how dejected and pissy Connor was for the rest of the day. Not to mention how he sulked off during lunch, undoubtedly to call his boyfriend, leaving Nines sitting awkwardly at the desk with nowhere to go.
“Uh… guess you can come with me?” Hank offered, feeling a little bad for the metal man. Nines nodded quietly, and Hank prepared himself for the lecture he was sure to get about his meal of choice once they got to the food truck. I mean just cause Connor had stopped pestering him about his meals didn’t mean Connor 2.0 would.
“He’s infuriating,” Connor huffed, pacing in front of the park bench where Markus was sitting. “He’s a show off, and he has no emotional intelligence whatsoever. That doesn’t stop him from being an ass though.”
Markus tried very hard to look understanding as he stifled a grin under one hand. Connor was a detective though, so it wasn’t long before Connor fixed him in an incredulous gaze.
“What?”
“Nothing!” Markus chuckled. “It’s just… and no offense, but, it almost seems like you’re talking about yourself.”
Connor flushed an angry blue and huffed as he straightened his tie. “We are nothing alike!”
Unfortunately, he said this right as Nines had approached and had gone through the same tie-straighten, hair fix, and jacket pull as Connor had in almost perfect synchronicity.
“Connor, Lieutenant Anderson asked me to come find you and escort you back to work. You have exceeded your scheduled lunch break by 10.5 minutes,” he said.
“I highly doubt that was the phrasing Hank used,” Connor sighed. Markus stood, and held his hand out to Connor, skin pulled back. Connor repeated the gesture before pressing a kiss to Markus’s cheek. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“Oh, I forgot to mention, I invited Nines to join us,” Markus said. “He showed some interest in the studio I thought he might like to come and try painting.”
“Did he?” Connor asked, trying not to betray any jealousy in his voice.
“I… am interested in spending more time with Markus,” Nines said. “Painting also seems… interesting.”
“Wonderful,” Connor sighed. “I’m going back to work.”
Markus frowned at Connor’s irritation and hasty retreat, but he didn’t say anything as the two other androids left. He knew Connor wanted to help Nines, so surely it wouldn’t be a problem to spend time with the two of them together. Connor had nothing to be jealous of.
Of course, Connor didn’t exactly feel that way as Nines loomed over him on the way back, the bigger better Connor model.
That night was not the only night Markus invited Nines to come and paint with him, and it became a regular event just as it had once been a regular event for Connor to come and watch Markus in the studio when he had recently deviated.
Connor and Nines showed up at the Manfred house together, and for a minute Markus even thought they were getting along. Connor seemed quiet, rather than argumentative, and watched Markus teach Nines as patiently as he usually watched Markus paint alone. His coin flashed over his fingers as he watched them.
“I’m sorry, I have failed,” Nines said as Markus looked as his painting.
“I wouldn’t say failed,” Markus said. “There’s no real failure in creative expression…”
“But I did not creatively express,” Nines said. “I just copied what I could see. You asked me to paint something unseen and I could not.”
“Take your time, you don’t have to be so hard on yourself,” Markus said, a sympathetic hand patting Nines on the shoulder.
While Nines still insisted that it was a machine with no emotions, he would be lying if he said he did not feel comforted by Markus’s presence and advice. Perhaps it was Nines’s need for a handler, one which had never activated as he did. Markus was a suitable mentor and guide, in fact something about the deviant leader made Nines feel safe and accepted. Which was ironic as he knew even with the mission erased that he had been designed to hunt deviants just like Markus. He never told Connor or Markus that he was aware they had altered his protocol, he didn’t want Markus to feel unsafe around him.
Nines sighed, and tried again as Markus placed a fresh canvas in front of him. The reassuring smile Markus shot him was all the push he needed to keep trying at this activity which required the creative expression he could not summon.
Connor pocketed his coin, hating the bitter jealousy that sat in his artificial stomach. He was tired, having started cutting his charge time back to wake at the same time as Nines and forcing himself to pull longer hours at work to show he could accomplish the same amount of work as Nines and he was jealous watching Nines get close personal attention from his boyfriend and…
Could he have just one thought that did not circle around the newer model?
These feelings felt corrosive, acidic, burning away at him. They originated from him and yet he could not stop them no matter how guilty he felt for resenting the android simply for behaving the way he was programmed.
Connor huffed, unsure if he was more irritated with Nines or himself, and stood to approach Markus.
“Hm?” Markus became aware of Connor tugging on his sleeve, and turned towards him. “What’s up?”
“I’m sorry, I know you’re busy, but,” Connor said, feeling pathetic. He looked a little pathetic too, clearly undercharged and looking about as disheveled as Connor let himself get in public with his tie loosened his jacket abandoned and his hair, no longer slicked back, starting to curl. “I need to go into rest mode, for an hour at least and I’m… lonely… will you…”
“Of course, Connor,” Markus gave his boyfriend a fond smile, knowing that sort of emotional openness was hard for him. “Nines, excuse me?”
“Oh, of course,” Nines said, as Connor led Markus away slowly by his sleeve.
Connor was familiar with both of Markus’s bedrooms at this point, the one at Carl’s house and the one at New Jericho. He felt perfectly at home selecting a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt from Markus’s things to change into before practically falling into Markus’s arms. Markus chuckled and directed Connor to the bed, holding him as they settled into the mattress. Markus pulled a blanket that had been folded at the foot of the bed up over Connor, an unnecessary but appreciated gesture of comfort. Learning to appreciate the unnecessary comforts of life was one thing Connor had only just started learning.
“Wake me in an hour?” Connor asked, knowing full well he could tune his internal clock to wake him at that time but preferring Markus as an alarm clock.
“I will,” Markus said, pressing a kiss to Connor’s forehead. “Now rest. You’ve been working too hard.”
“...not hard enough,” Connor muttered under his breath as he let his eyes close.
Markus must have decided he needed more rest, because Connor woke up two and a half hours later when Markus slipped out of bed to go check on Nines in the studio. Connor sighed, and pulled a pillow into his arms where Markus no longer was and pressed his face into it. He waited ten minutes before following Markus downstairs.
He realized he’d forgotten to change back into his clothes when Nines gave his casual attire a surprised eyebrow raise. Connor felt embarrassed, more at the forgetting than the attire, and told Nines to wait while he went back upstairs and changed.
“Are you leaving?” Markus asked when Connor came back downstairs.
“Yes, I’ve overstayed my welcome long enough,” Connor replied, making Markus frown.
“I’ll go as well, thank you for the lesson, Markus,” Nines said, offering a hand which Markus shook. Connor once again felt a bitter stab of jealousy in his chest. He pushed it away, telling himself he was being foolish.
“Are we not getting a cab?” Nines asked as Connor started walking.
“I need to clear my head,” Connor said, not surprised but not pleased when Nines decided to walk with him. Nines kept a respectful three steps behind Connor, but that only set Connor further on edge. Then it started to rain, which while not incredibly inconvenient for androids, was still not a wonderful situation for a deviant android who did not enjoy being soaked.
“You know you don’t have to follow me, Nines,” Connor said. “You can have your own ideas! Just try it! For once!”
“What are you implying?” Nines asked.
“That you can’t have an original idea, or life, I thought it was quite obvious,” Connor sulked.
“Are you accusing me of copying… you?” Nines asked in disbelief. “An outdated obsolete model?”
“Yeah, I’m outdated, I’m obsolete,” Connor huffed, turning to face Nines and jabbing an angry finger into the larger android’s chest. “You’re more advanced in every way, but hey, you’re still just me. You’re still just another Connor! They didn’t even bother to give you your own face or personality, they just took me and improved! You’re a copy!”
Nines’s face changed from emotionless to almost hurt for a split second before his eyes narrowed in the faintest anger.
“Maybe if you had proved sufficient they wouldn’t have seen fit to create me,” Nines said, stepping forward and letting his impressive size loom over Connor and force him to step backwards. “Maybe if you hadn’t failed in your mission they wouldn’t have needed me! You’re a failure, old scrap metal and broken code!”
Before Connor could even register the insult, a gunshot rang out which had both investigative androids on red alert. Their LEDS flared yellow as they tracked the sound back to its source. They didn’t even need to speak, they were both running towards the noise in step with one another.
They ended up in an abandoned building, one the passage of time had begun to tear at. Connor nodded at Nines as he pulled his gun, and Nines nodded back letting Connor take point. They entered the building, a quick scan revealing traces of thirium throughout the area. There were fresher patches up the stairs, still visible to the naked eye. Nines knelt to take a sample and relied his findings to Connor.
An AP400. Deceased.
Connor was surprised, both by the fact that Nines could tell the android was dead just from a sample and that he had said ‘deceased’ and not ‘inactive.’ He nodded and continued up the stairs.
The creaking of floorboards had Connor turning his gun to the left, and then back to the right again as a shadow ran across the darkened room. Nines broke position, chasing after the shadow despite Connor’s hissed orders of ‘get back here.’
There was a sudden gunshot, and considering Nines was unarmed, Connor could tell it was enemy fire. He ran towards the sound, and his LED flared red as he saw Nines gripping at a bullet wound in his shoulder that was steadily dripping thirium.
“You things are like roaches, there’s never just one, huh?”
Connor didn’t even bother to scan the human male to learn his name or motive. Something about seeing Nines… reacting as if he was in pain, filled Connor with a rage he was unfamiliar with.
“Hey, stay back!” the man leveled his gun at Connor, but when Connor did not lower his weapon and kept advancing he fired. The bullet ripped into Connor’s arm, and Connor ignored it. Another bullet hit his shoulder, and another his leg, and Connor kept moving. He slammed his gun into the man’s head, and grabbed him by the throat. He threw the man to the ground and kicked his gun away before kicking him over and over again until suddenly Nines was pulling him away.
“He is unconscious, further damage could prove lethal,” Nines said as Connor struggled to get away. “You are an officer of the law, you cannot harm your career with unnecessary violence.”
“He hurt you!” Connor found himself yelling, but then he caught a glimpse of Nines’s face. Nines looked…
...he looked scared. He looked concerned. His LED was bright red, and there was no need for that the wound he’d sustained was too minor to constantly register as damage, there was no need for his LED to be red unless… unless he really was scared.
Unless he was deviant.
“You…” Connor breathed relaxing in Nines’s grip. He suddenly realized with some embarrassment that Nines was holding him entirely off the ground, his legs dangling like some kind of kitten held by the scruff. Nines felt Connor stop resisting and slowly lowered him to the ground, not letting go of his shoulders though, something Connor was thankful for as he was starting to feel the damage to his body, especially his leg, that was making it hard to stand.
“You defended me,” Nines said, eyes wide. “I… I’m an advanced model, I can sustain more damage than you, but you took those bullets for me and you… you hurt that man.”
“... emotions make you do irrational things,” Connor admitted. He put a weary hand on Nines’s shoulder and sighed. “You’ll learn.”
“I suspect I will,” Nines said. “... t-thank you, Connor.”
Connor nodded.
After restraining the unconscious man and calling in the incident, Nines helped Connor into a cab headed home. They sat in silence for a moment before Nines spoke up.
“Connor, I have been researching… something human, and I wanted to ask you something,” he said.
“Sure, Nines, what is it?” Connor asked.
“Familial terms,” Nines said hesitantly. “I know we are androids and share no DNA but… we share most of our makeup and programming and… I was wondering… if it would be okay to refer to you as my older brother.”
Connor was surprised, his LED turning yellow as he thought. “I… yeah, that’s okay, Nines.”
Nines smiled, the first smile Connor had ever seen on his face. “Okay. Thank you.”
When the two androids entered the house, Connor leaning on Nines for support and both of them bleeding out from gunshot wounds, Hank gaped at them before shouting.
“Why the hell did you come here and not New Jericho?” he shouted. “Jesus Christ, you look like hell, I’m not a fucking technician!”
“Ah…” Connor said, realizing that New Jericho is where they should have directed the taxi. “Well... ah…”
“It must have been Connor’s deviant need for comfort from a paternal figure,” Nines said, monotone. He then looked down at Connor and winked.
Connor grinned, and raised a hand to gesture as he spoke. “Well, if you’re so advanced you should have stopped my deviant behavior.”
“Incorrect. I defaulted to you because of your superior rank. You are correct only in that it was a mistake. I should have known your judgement would be clouded by your damaged condition.”
“Aha! But you yourself are damaged, so your judgement would also be clouded!”
“I have sustained one bullet wound. You have sustained three bullet wounds and two broken knuckle joints. Checkmate.”
Hank watched the pair snipe each other back and forth with matching smiles until he felt dizzy.
“Unbelievable,” he groaned. “I’m calling Markus he can sort this mess out.”
Connor laughed, and was surprised to see Nines give a small chuckle as well. “I’m in the doghouse now… Markus gets very worried when I sustain physical damage…”
“I’ll tell him you were defending me, he’ll be very proud,” Nines said. “It might even earn you some physical affection.”
“I could use it,” Connor groaned, going slightly limp in Nines’s grip. “I might go into rest mode, I am in an incredible amount of pain.”
“Pain… that’s also new,” Nines said, thinking about his own wound which ached slightly. It wasn’t supposed to ache, androids did not feel pain… deviants did.
“You’ll learn,” Connor said. “I’ll help you.”
“Thank you,” Nines smiled. “Here, let me help you to the couch.”
Nines felt… warmth, maybe the start of happiness, as he helped his older brother to sit down. His older brother who had flown into a protective rage for his sake. His older brother who was jealous, and competitive, and insecure, but also had a capacity for love that Nines hoped to emulate one day.