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Gavin all but ripped his arm from the RK900’s grip, glaring daggers. Held at gunpoint, he didn’t really have much choice but to continue walking through the warehouse full of androids in stasis. As they neared the center aisle, he was shoved forward, staggering for a moment. He hissed out, “Easy, fucking piece of shit…”
Nines was frozen in place, hand hovering over the forearm of another android model. His eyes darted between Gavin’s form and the duplicate with the gun raise to his head.
“Step back, Nines!” RK900 shouted. “And I’ll spare him.”
Gavin’s shoulders slumped, and he threw a rueful look in his boyfriend’s direction. “Sorry, Nines,” he began, “this bastard’s your spitting image.”
“Did he hurt you?” Nines questioned, concern dripping over his words. From where he stood, Gavin could see the little LED spinning a bright yellow on his temple.
He shook his head once. “No.”
RK900 made a face that closely resembled one of frustration before saying, “Your boyfriend’s life is in your hands. Now it’s time to decide what matters most! Him… or the revolution.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Gavin said with conviction. He winced slightly when the barrel of the gun – his gun – knocked against his head. A flame of rage burned in his gut. “Everything this fucker says is a lie.”
Nines visibly stiffened, brows knitting together. “Let him go!” he yelled to the android. “He doesn’t need to get mixed up in all this!”
“I think it may be a little too late for that, unfortunately,” RK900 replied, feigning sympathy.
A feeling of dread washed over Gavin as he met Nines’ eyes. He looked conflicted, torn between his sense of duty and his instinct to protect. Nines’ eyes were wide with fear, and it physically hurt Gavin’s heart to see it. “Do what you have to do,” he said, and he hoped that his voice wasn’t shaking as bad as his hands. “Baby, don’t worry about me.”
“I won’t let him hurt you,” Nines gritted out, shoulders squared back. The lingering I promise hung deafeningly in the poignant silence.
“Very moving, Nines,” RK900 sarcastically sighed. “But I’m not a deviant. Sentimentality means nothing to me. I’m a machine designed to accomplish a task, and that’s exactly what I am going to do!”
The gun clicked as the android adjusted it. A severe chill ran down Gavin’s spine when it pressed against his head. Oh, God. This was going to be it. This was how he was going to die.
“Gavin, honey –”
“Enough talk! It’s time to decide who you really are.” RK900 had a fury in his voice that Gavin had never heard before. His voice was the same one that he woke up to in the mornings, the same one that made his heart flutter, but with the underlying threat laced in his words, it was almost foreign. “Are you going to save your partner’s life? Or are you going to sacrifice him?”
Almost immediately, Nines let go of the other android’s arm, raising his hands as he moved further into the aisle. “Alright, alright,” he said quickly, desperately. “You win.”
Nines had stolen a look in his direction. The gun was still pressed firmly to his head, but with the RK900 distracted in the moment, Gavin took the opportunity to move. His snatched the barrel of the gun and shoved it away, using his other hand to grab the duplicate android’s arm. With one well-placed punch, the wind was knocked right of his lungs and he collapsed to his knees, wheezing through the pain. It took a couple of seconds later to realize that Nines had rushed forward to wrestle with the other RK900, quite evenly matched in both combat and skill.
Gavin crawled towards the discarded weapon, still trying to catch his breath. He huffed as he pushed himself to his feet, handling the grip like a vice. The detective raised it to shoot – but then hesitated. “Fuck,” he breathed sharply. He wasn’t sure which one was the real Nines anymore.
One of them landed a punch to the other, using the momentum to throw him off balance. Gavin watched as he swept the legs out from under the other, dropping down and poised to land another blow before – “Hold it!”
Both RK900s stopped, slowly moving to their feet. The one on the floor rolled onto his knees, moving to Gavin’s left side, while the other one straightened up, slinking to his right.
“Thanks, Gav,” the right one began, eager. “I don’t know how I’d have managed without you. Get rid of him, before he tries something else.”
The one on the left shook his head. “It’s me, Gav. I’m the real Nines.”
“Well, I know one of you is my boyfriend… The other is a sack of shit.” His nostrils flared as he huffed, frustration seeping into his bones. Gavin considered both of them, trying to see if he can anything physically stood out to differentiate them. He couldn’t be sure – and he’d be damned if he shot Nines on accident. “God, I hate CyberLife and their fucking –”
The RK on his right huffed indignantly, prodding. “What are you doing, Gavin? I’m the real Nines.” He glanced at the android at his side, gesturing as he said, “Give me the gun, and I’ll –”
“Don’t move, either of you!” Gavin trained the gun on him, and then to the other. His heart was pounding in his ears. The detective kept his trigger finger straight (and if he believed in the powers that be, he probably would’ve been praying by now).
“I get it, you’re right. This is virtually impossible.” The RK to his left looked considerate, despite the slightly worried expression on his face. He suggested, “Why don’t you ask us something? Something only the real me would know.”
“The real me, you mean,” the other interjected.
Gavin swallowed, eying the two of them. “Uh, what happened with us after our first Android Crimes case?”
“I came to your apartment!” It was the RK on the right who’d piped up first, without hesitation and fully confident in his answer. “I brought dinner as a peace offering, and we talked for a while on your patio. It was the night you gave me my name. We watched I, Robot afterwards.”
Damn it, Gavin thought inwardly. That was right. His eyes flickered between them again, catching the look of suspended disbelief painting the other one’s face.
“He uploaded my memory…” The RK blinked once, his expression turning hard as the realization hit him that this was probably going to be a lot harder than he first suggested.
So, Gavin asked another: “How did I end up working at the DPD?”
The one to his left looked up to meet his eyes, answering, “It was Fowler. He found you one night on his beats, bleeding out in the snow. You said he offered you an internship.”
“I knew that too! I…” Whatever else the RK was going to say was immediately snuffed out when Gavin turned the barrel of the gun back at him.
Gavin swallowed, his eyes going back and forth between them. Nines was the one to his left, he was almost sure of it. But almost wasn’t good enough. Taking in a deep breath, Gavin asked, “This morning. Before we went to work, what did Nines tell me?”
A small, reserved smile appeared on the RK900 to his left. Bingo.
“I told you that I love you,” Nines said, meeting his eyes with such warmth and adoration that it sent his heart soaring. “I told you that I wanted to be complete for you. That I would die protecting you. That you were the best thing to ever happen to me since Markus woke me up. And that I would always –”
“– Be there with me whenever I woke up too,” Gavin finished for him, lowering the gun slightly. He returned his smile.
“I-I knew about that!” RK900 strained, fear in his eyes. “I would’ve said exactly the same –”
It hurt him to do it. There was just a little pang in his heart when the RK900 dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. It wasn’t his Nines, but he had his face, and that’s what got him. But the pain in his chest was abated somewhat when he felt Nines’ arms wrap around him. Gavin hugged him back tightly, burying his face in the crook of his neck and just breathing him in like he did earlier this morning.
Gavin remembered being warm all over. The sun was shining through the window, and the two of them were still tucked under the comforters in a tangle of limbs. He was laying comfortably on top of Nines, snuggled under his chin. It was one of the mornings where he felt protected and loved, his own chest filling with something he couldn’t really figure out.
Happiness, his mind supplied eventually.
Nines had an arm firmly around his waist while the other drew invisible patterns across his bare back with his fingers, sending ripples of tingles under his skin. If he focused hard enough, it seemed like he was – “Are you tracing your name on me?” Gavin asked suddenly, his lips turning up at the corners.
His boyfriend’s chest rumbled with a chuckle. Nines challenged half-heartedly, moving to hug him closer, “And what if I am?”
“I’m not complaining.” Gavin angled his head up to kiss Nines’ throat, then along his jaw, until finally capturing his mouth. He absolutely loved the way they both smiled into it, small bouts of laughter bubbling from their lips.
Gavin pulled away slightly before going back for another chaste kiss, unable to hold himself back. Nines was smiling, beaming, and looking at him like he was the world. One of his hands shifted to card through Gavin’s hair lightly, before settling against his cheek.
It didn’t go unnoticed that his skin had retracted on contact, especially as his thumb caressed Gavin’s skin. “Hey, why’s this happen sometimes?” the detective inquired, placing his palm over Nines’ hand. “With your skin?”
“Androids retract our skin to interface, which can be a sign of affection among partners.” Nines’ grin broadened, eyes softening. He admitted, “I don’t have much control over it around you.”
A smirk tugged on Gavin’s lips as he turned his head to press a firm kiss into his boyfriend’s own palm. “Yeah, I know,” he said breathlessly. “I just wanted to hear you say it.”
