Chapter Text
It had taken every ounce of will power Kara had to keep still.
They’re too close. Protect Alice. They’ll see through this. Protect Alice!
The soldiers firing indiscriminately in their attempt to get as many escaping androids as they could, likely not knowing—or caring—what fleeing forms their bullets actually hit, was a blessing. What Kara had initially intended as a means to avoid the hail of gunfire could possibly save them.
Alice was quick to action, quick to adhere to Kara shouting to get down. Quick to understand Kara’s instructions not to move. So smart. Kara could feel motherly pride swell beneath her fear.
The two soldiers stepped through and over bodies, coming closer. So much in Kara screamed to spur her into action. They’ll see. They’ll know. Protect Alice! But she forced herself to stay still. If Alice could shove down any fear coursing through her and keep from moving, trembling, making a sound, then Kara had to do the same. Kara had to emulate her brave little girl. She had to stay the course, even with the soldier’s boots coming so close to them. Even with the beam of light illuminating their faces.
Don’t move!
“Come on! Let’s get out of here!” One of them shouted. The beam of light slipped away, the boots retreated. It was done. They were safe. For now.
——
Markus broke the surface of the water, his eyes frantically searching around him as the debris from the crumbling Jericho rained down behind him.
“North!” He called, seeing no one around him. His insides churned with anxiety. “North!” He tried again, his arms and legs treading through the water desperate to keep afloat to catch a sight of her. He should’ve stayed closer to her as they all jumped. He should have held her. She was injured, for God’s sake!
A foot away, Markus heard the sound of another form breaching through the water’s surface. He jerked towards it, hoping to see her, hoping she’d managed to find her, only to see Simon and Connor.
”Markus,” Simon breathed out, relieved at the sight of his friend. The two androids swam closer, closing the gap within their group.
”Where’s North?” Markus asked as soon as the two reached him. “Did you see her?” Simon’s face fell as he shook his head, regretting not having any answers for him.
”We need to get out of here,” Connor advised, getting a determined shake of the head from Markus.
”No, not without-“ Markus was cut off by his own fears choking his throat along with the smoke emanating behind them. He kept searching his periphery, until he was drawn back to Jericho. The light of the fires imprinting on his eyes. What if North hadn’t managed to get far with her injuries?
”Don’t,” Connor cut through Markus’ thoughts and placing a firm hand on his shoulder to keep him where he was. He could see the deviant leader’s intention even without needing to scan or deeply analyze him. Markus would swim back towards the wreckage if he had to. Markus glared at the former deviant hunter, opening his mouth to demand he take his hand off, when a sound caught his attention.
Groaning. Pained. A voice, her voice.
Markus quickly turned to see North gingerly climbing up to the dock, where a hand was reaching towards her to help haul herself out.
”Come on, you’re almost there, reach,” Markus heard Josh’s encouraging voice as he continued to reach out. “There ya go! I got you!” Josh cheered as his and North hands made contact and he pulled her out of the water.
Markus tore through the water towards the dock, chastising himself for not having thought about Josh, and also praising all deities in existence for him.
”North,” Markus spoke as soon as he was up in the dock, sighting Josh carefully sitting her on the ground.
“Markus,” she sighed, happy to see him. She kept her eyes on him as he rushed to her side, dropping to his knees once he’d reached his destination, being only acutely aware of Josh touching and examining her wounds.
Markus cradled his lover’s face in his hands, peering into her eyes.
”I thought...” He began, his tone a desperate and frightened whisper. “I thought I-“
”I’m okay, Markus,” North said, leaning forward to press her forehead to his in an attempt to soothe him and chase away his troubled thoughts. “I’m okay.” She nodded against him, to reassure them both that they were each alive.
”She’s hurt, badly,” Josh gently spoke, interrupting the couple’s reverie. “We need to close up the wounds, get some Thirium in her.”
”What? How....w-where?” Markus asked, panic returning. All of their bags of Thirium where on Jericho. How could he get them? How could he save North?
”There’s a safe house,” Simon spoke up. He and Connor had managed to get out of the water and caught up to them. “An old abandoned church, it’s not too far.”
”What?” Markus asked, completely thrown by this information. Simon moved to join his friends in kneeling beside North, checking her status while Connor stood back. He didn’t feel it would be acceptable to crowd in them. He hadn’t earned that right. He hadn’t earned the privilege of their camaraderie. He busied himself with checking his handguns and keeping an eye on their perimeter.
”After we got the truck from the CyberLife warehouse,” Simon explained. “I thought it’d be a good idea to have some supplies elsewhere, in case.....” Simon trailed off as he looked out onto their former home, allowing it to serve as a visual representation of his line of thought. “If we ever needed somewhere to lie low, treat injuries, anything.”
”Simon, you’re a genius,” Josh marveled, clapping the blonde on the shoulder. It earned him a modest smile and shrug from Simon.
”Its big,” Simon continued, his gaze turning to address Markus. “It should be enough for anyone else that got out. Can you reach them?” He asked, holding his arm out to Markus. Markus nodded, wordlessly understanding what Simon meant.
”I can try,” he said. He took hold of Simon’s arm, forming a connection between them. Once in, Markus scanned Simon’s memories while simultaneously reaching out to fellow surviving androids.
”Regroup here. You’ll be safe, injuries tended. Go, be careful!” He cast out, showing the location of the church Simon’s memory provided. He felt the pings of acknowledgment in his connection, voices calling back. Some understanding his instructions, some giving a rallying cry of support back to him, some calling out for help, some quickly shutting off mid reply...
”It’s not enough,” Markus spoke, breaking off the connections he had with the wayward androids, and Simon. His voice shook with the terror and grief filling him of androids being shot or apprehended as he spoke to them.
”What do you mean?” North asked. Instead of answering directly, Markus pressed his lips into a firm resolute line and drew himself up to stand. He stood back to address his three stalwart companions, as well as their new companion Connor.
”Take North to the church, I’ll catch up with you as soon as I can,” he said, his instructions directed to Josh, Simon, and Connor.
”What?! Markus, no!” North objected. She couldn’t let them be separated again. Watching him go alone to set off the explosives was hard enough, she wasn’t about to go through that again.
”Markus, what are you doing?” Josh asked, rising to his feet to be level with him.
”Our people are still being hunted down,” Markus stated. He focused his attentions to Josh believing he’d understand and agree with him. “I need to....I need to find them, help them.”
”You can’t save everyone, Markus,” Simon interjected, trying his best to be a gentle voice of reason.
”I know that!” Markus snapped, angry. Angry at his failure to keep everyone safe on Jericho, angry at himself for letting down those who’d already been gunned down. “But I...I need to try,” he was broken, lost. He needed to do something more for his people than hide.
There was a moment of silence as the others took in his words, his desperation. He was going to do this whether they liked it or not. Nothing short of incapacitating him and carrying him through the streets against his will would dissuade him.
”Okay,” Josh spoke, “I’ll go with you.”
”No,” Markus said, shaking his head.
”Markus, you can’t do this alone!” Josh insisted. Markus simply shook his head again, determined.
”I can’t get you killed,” he said. Josh gave an incredulous grunt and opened his mouth to continue arguing. “If anything happens,” Markus went on, cutting Josh off at the start, “I need to know all of you are safe, and still fighting for our people.” He stares intently at Simon, North, and Josh especially. The people may believe him to be their leader, but he knew they’d follow the three of them in his stead. They’d give the people hope, guide the change they were seeking. He was certain of it.
“I’ll go with him,” Connor said, speaking for the first time since the five of them all reunited on the dock.
”Connor,” Markus wearily sighed, not having it in him to argue with someone else.
”Let me help you, Markus,” Connor implored. “You say you need to do this? Well, so do I.” Markus regarded him carefully.
The not-too-former deviant hunter, now trying to help and protect the deviants’ leader?
Trust?
Don’t Trust?
The wiser, safer option would be to deny Connor’s request, or go along enough to lower the deviant hunter’s guard right before putting a bullet in his head. After all, this could all be a ruse. Part of a sick game Connor was attempting to play.
The lowering of the gun.
The warning of the imminent attack on Jericho.
Likely helping North help others escape while Markus fought his way to detonate the bomb.
Jumping into action and shooting the soldiers about to come down on Markus and North. And now this? Angling to get him away from the others to capture or kill him?
No....
Markus didn’t know much about what protocols CyberLife may have programmed into their enforcers, but he imagined efficiency was a key in their missions. If this was all false, where was the efficiency? What was the point? Connor could have killed Markus as they stood face to face on the Jericho. They were alone, and Connor most likely had knowledge of the attack about to rain down, meaning it’d be too easy to concoct a story to lower his inner circle’s guard. He could’ve found them, pretended to be some deviant desperate for escape and lying how he’d watched soldiers shoot Markus. Destroying their morale to all the better pick them off one by one when the time was right.
Alternatively, he also could’ve just stood by as Markus tried to run with an injured North, let Josh and Simon watch their friends die. Killing two birds without even having to throw the one stone himself, and leaving himself an opening to take out the two that remained.
But Connor hadn’t done that. He hadn’t done any of that.
Markus came to the realization that, even with the absence of logic or reason, there was something greater pushing aside any doubts he had regarding Connor’s intentions.
Connor could’ve shot—either to kill, or at least a wound severe enough to take him in alive with ease—without saying a word, without letting Markus speak. But he hadn’t. Connor had begun to doubt, to wonder of his true identity, well before pointing his gun to Markus’ turned back.
He tried to fight his doubts, cling to the comfort and familiarity of his programming, but his words betrayed him.
Don’t force me to neutralize you!
This wasn’t what Connor wanted. He was simply following orders. The more Connor hesitated in following those orders, doing what he was being forced to do, the clearer that became; and the more Markus could slip in, come closer, try to show Connor he was more than what CyberLife had made him to be, they all were more than that.
You don’t have to obey them anymore. You are alive. You can decide who you want to be.
Markus had noticed the small, almost undetectable, waver in how level to his chest Connor held his gun at those words. More uncertainty blossomed on Connor’s face as Markus had continued to speak and question him. The assumption that things on his journey to Jericho had planted the seeds of doubt inside Connor was what led Markus further in.
Markus was actually not as surprised as he thought he would be to see tears glittering the hunter’s gaze as Markus prodded and made him look inside of himself, to look back on the things that had led him here, and question whether there was something inside of him beyond his program.
Markus pitied him. He knew that look in Conner’s eyes all to well. It was painful, scary, difficult to watch the tiny pricks forming in the bubble of what you knew to be true, and allowing doubt to flood in as your world deflates around you. It was throwing yourself off of a cliff, knowing you could never come back and uncertain if you’d even survive the fall. Connor had likely stepped onto the ship already standing at that cliff. All that was left for Markus to do was cajole him into throwing caution to the wind and taking that leap.
At being called to decide, Markus saw Connor’s increased wavering, the body swaying of hesitation, the catch in his breathing, his eyes shinning with tears as the muscles of his face twitched. The seeds of uncertainty had grown into saplings and Connor had to choose whether to cut them down and remain what he had been designed to be, or cling to them like a life line as he tore down the walls of his programming.
The clouds of doubt slipping from Connor’s face and being replaced by.....so much else, was enough to tell Markus what choice had been made. His rigid shoulders slumped, his posture going slack as who could even know what went through his head.
In the absence of doubt came regret, and something that looked like self loathing. Connor’s head shifted from side to side as if taking in some long hidden information. Markus found himself wondering if the weight of every thing he’d done from the moment he’d first been activated—every deviant he had hunted, killed, all the things he’d done in being what CyberLife had made him to be—was now crushing down on Connor. Was that what was causing his new turmoil? Taking stock of his actions and wondering how could he ever tip the scales of his soul and be redeemed?
That piece, that thought, spoke to Markus now in the present as Connor stood pledging himself to Markus’ current cause. It was something Markus could almost relate to.
One tableau of regret still haunted Markus’ mind: the sight of Carl dragging himself to Leo’s prone body. Because of what Markus had done. Because Markus broke free with abandon and allowed his anger to take over. Carl’s anguish as he cradled Leo in his arms had nearly killed Markus. He wondered if he’d crossed a point of no return, his soul was irrevocably tainted by the harm he had caused. That was just one moment, Markus couldn’t even begin to fathom how Connor now felt with so many of his own moments stacked in his conscience.
This was now how Connor sought to attempt to wipe out the red in his moral ledger; helping Markus continue to save as many of Jericho’s refugees as they could. Protect Markus and ensure he made it through to continue to fight for their kind.
From deviant hunter, to deviant protector.
“Alright,” Markus finally consented. Connor gave him a short nod, grateful to Markus’ acquiescence.
“Here, take this, just in case you run into any trouble,” Connor spoke to Josh, handing him one of his guns as Simon helped North up to her feet.
“I’ve got her,” Josh addressed Simon, electing to exchange duties with his friend. He handed the gun off to Simon as Markus stepped forward and helped shift North to Josh’s care.
“Markus,” North said, her voice low and pleading as she settled into Josh’s supporting hold. “Please don’t do this.” Markus leaned in close to her, his hands going back up to cup her face.
“I need to do this,” he gently argued. “Please understand.” North hated there was no way she’d win this conflict. Markus’ mind was set, there was nothing she could do except let him go.
“Fine,” she relented with a resigned nod. “Be careful, I can’t lose you,” she said, restating—strengthening—the statement she had made before leaving him to his thoughts earlier on the ship.
“I swear,” he whispered to her, “I am going to fight like hell to come back to you.” North took in a deep breath, a tear slipping down her cheek at the conviction behind his words.
“Good,” she replied, tilting her face up to meet him in a quick kiss to seal his vow.
“We’ll keep her safe,” Josh promised as Markus stepped away much too soon for his liking. Markus gave his friend a grateful nod as he moved closer to Connor and watched the three of them depart. Simon took the lead, gun in hand, as Josh scooped North in his arms so as to not be hindered by her wounded gait.
“Let’s go,” Connor advised, tearing Markus from one last look North was giving him over Josh’s shoulder as they retreated from view.
“Yeah,” he nodded, forcing himself to turn away from the others.