Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You were stuck.

Your fingernails drummed over your personal coffee mug as you stared over the case you were working on, the coffee skimming at the bottom was now cold and unappealing.

Robert Albright was a hard little rat to hunt down, hopping from ship to ship, infecting everyone that comes into contact with him. He needed to be arrested for his crimes, but with being young and wild, he was a hard buck to shoot down. The investigation had run cold months ago and the question of where his whereabouts were was placed within you and your partner’s hands. And with long nights spent at the station and longer days trying to piece each dot of evidence you had about this asshat, and hours searching throughout various locations that you had sourced out, you were still stuck without a pair of fresh and experienced eyes. Your partner had gone home already, recalling how you insisted for her to go home to her husband and children, reassuring her you wouldn’t stay long as she tried to stay.

It was now late in the Detroit Police Department and most of the detectives and officers had left for their homes and families, all except for you and a few other night owls who were also deciding if coffee was even filled with caffeine anymore. This had to be the third night you had stayed over, your fingers now scraping over your white board that was coated in every sheet and indication of where the hell he was. It was getting to you, your once boisterous energy from your youthful age now lagging behind you like a shadow, losing its tone as the days went on. Coffee wasn’t working and your office chair was becoming more comfortable by the minute. You stood up, stretching your stiff limbs as you picked up your cup and headed over to the break room, your hands working into your hair to keep you awake, not aware of a pair of eyes following you. You cleaned out your glass as you waited for the coffee maker to brew you a new gallon of the grounded beans, your eyelids flickering as the warm water splashed over your aching fingers. Your gaze trailed over the star-themed mug, the constellations that decorated it making you wish that you could see the night sky from the building. God you missed your bed, the scent of your home, and tang of your own coffee in your own coffee machine. You dried off your cup and leaned over the counter, your fist under your chin as you watched the dark liquid drip into the clear container. You needed to find him, you wanted to crack the code that laid beneath his bio, you must-

“Detective L/N?”

You jolted in your spot and looked up at the owner’s voice, an embarrassing red draping over your cheeks. Connor Anderson was looking down at you, his head tilted slightly to the right in what seemed like concern as you realized he had said your last name as a question. You were introduced to Connor when you joined the force, excitement coursing through your blood when you realized he was the Connor; The android that helped lead the revolution and was still helping the androids to this day with their freedom. The tv screen did no justice to how truly gorgeous he was, his dark roasted hair matched perfectly with his eyes, and the random set of freckles and moles that dotted his face broiled the same color. He wore a simple grey dress shirt with a long black tie and dark pants, possibly one of the only cops that sported a decent outfit in the workforce, his LED spinning a deep blue that lightly glowed in the dim room. The lieutenant’s partner was definitely something to behold, as if God had decided upon himself to create a creature that fits perfectly between holy and unholy. You haven’t really talked to him as much as you wanted to, your friendly and outgoing demeanor going out to those who you came into contact with throughout the day, already making friends at this crazy and chaotic workplace. But that didn’t mean you ignored him, you both had exchanged friendly conversation since you both arrived at work around the same time, him holding the elevator for you, you bringing him an extra folder for a case he and the Lieutenant were working on; just being friendly coworkers.

“Oh! Hey Connor, what’s up?” You questioned as you brushed a few rebellious strands behind your ear, your eyes wandering to his own ambiguous curl.

“I had asked how your case was going, Detective, but you didn’t answer.”

“Ah, sorry about that, I’m just tired and stuck on it,” you let out a sigh and leaned the weight of your head into both your hands.

“This guy is really good at invading the law and I just can’t figure out where he is hiding.” You didn’t want to complain to the android, but this case was plunging you into insanity if you had to stay up one more night-

“Maybe I could help?” You were in the middle of pouring the new batch of coffee into your mug and you were so thankful that you didn’t drop the pot. Connor, the detective that had several different cases and investigations rolling inside his mind and could crack and solve them in minutes, the guy who stayed way late and still made it early in the morning still looking like a snack, wanted to help you with your case.

Was there nothing he couldn’t do?!

“Really?! That would be great!” You exclaimed as you stirred in your favorite creamer and sugar into the coffee, the once dark drink now a softer brown.

“Here, I’ll show you what I’ve got,” you stated and waved him over to your desk, taking a delicate sip from your cup as you listened to the steady footsteps behind.

You sat the drink onto your coaster and pushed the chair aside to your whiteboard, lifting it up by its hinges so it would be at both of your heights. “His name is Robert Albright, he is wanted for theft, smuggling illegal drugs, and underground crime business, his last location was at a factory building not far from here,” you explained and then pointed to the main photo in the middle of the board. “This is what he looks like.”

You turned to see Connor’s LED blazing a persisting yellow as he looked over at the evidence, possibly scanning it and entering it into his database. You watched in astonishment at how he collected the information, his fingers picking up a few files that were clipped on the white material and then neatly placing them back. You reached over for your coffee and took a longer and more deserving swallow of your joe as you rubbed your stomach, the tension of your hunger growing, but you needed to satisfy your hunger for this man’s blood. Figuratively, of course. The robot detective turned to you, his long fingers elegantly twisting and flipping his quarter between his palms.

“Mr. Albright is known for his illegal transition of drugs, specifically Red Ice and a new drug with an unknown name. By your evidence he had either worked a job or had gotten access to certain yards to transmitting these goods to their buyer,” he started off, the coin being squished between his thumb before it tucking itself under it and then flipping up into the air. “Breaking down each shipping unit in Detroit, there are only a few he hasn’t worked at, so-”

“-He should be working at one of them!” You finished, rising from your leaning position against your desk as your brain started to connect the dots. How did you not see it or piece it together? You prayed it was due to stress and not because you just somehow passed all of your detective classes by sheer luck. Then again, your partner didn’t see the answer between the lines either. But your thrilled burst quickly deflated as you looked up at Connor, a frown decorating your face. “But, which shipping company could he be at, I can’t search all of them in one night,” you brought yourself closer to him as he pondered on your words. His earth-tinted eyes narrowed and you marveled at the reaction, how human it looked as he finally turned to you.

“I added up each factory he hasn’t applied to yet and calculated each possibility of which one he would work at next, there is a 87.6% chance he is working….here.” Your terminal sprang to life and the name of one of the multiple shipping companies that was in Detroit enlightened your screen, along with the phone number to their company. He cracked his location in under ten minutes, a criminal who had been teasing the cops who had spent weeks tracking him was found by one android in ten minutes. You had no words on how to express how thankful you were, how the pressure from this case got somewhat lighter at knowing where this bastard was. Now, the hunt actually begins. Sure, now you know where he is located and knew he had to be there now (due to the evidence showing he only worked nights), but you were a lone huntress without a pack to help take him down. Your stress was then replaced by fear. Even if you got into the shipping factory, where exactly could he be working in the massive facility? Was he even working? Or hidden away somewhere and getting ready to smuggle more dangerous supplies? Or- A stiff hand landed on your shoulder and you swiftly locked eyes with Connor, a slight ripple of concern drifting into his facial features.

“Your stress level has increased, Detective. Are you alright?”

You send a reassuring grin and pat the hand on your body, his once tense features now relaxing at the touch.

“Oh yeah! Thank you so much for the help, Connor! I owe ya, but I better head over there and catch this felon.” His doe-like eyes watched every single move as you stuffed your badge into your pocket and then slugged your jacket over your shoulders. You were just about to get your bag ready when he spoke up, his voice soft and light as a feather.

“You are going by yourself?” You frowned at the question, and then remembered that you had sent your partner home. You couldn’t call her, no, you wouldn’t call her; she deserved a break and it was a Friday night and was probably hanging out with her children and husband. You couldn’t ruin that for her.

“I guess? There’s no one else here to go with me, except you,” you stated, scanning the surrounding desks of the detective district to find them empty, the only sign of life in the building was a few night owl cops and you two. You take one languid gulp of your coffee, the caffeine pouncing into your bloodstream as you sit the mug back down. Once you made the indication that you were heading out, Connor soon followed like a worried pup.

“I can accompany you, if you would like."

Sweet, smart, and kind?! God, what was Cyberlife thinking when they created him?! He did state that he could read your stress level so there was the possibility that he could sense that you didn’t want to go alone or maybe he didn’t want you to go alone. Either way, you felt relief bless itself over your shoulders and you smiled gratefully at him. “I would like that.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You both had made it to the factory without saying a word, causing a small sheen of sweat to gloss over your skin. It’s not that the android made you feel uncomfortable, it was that neither of you could create a conversation without it being short and simple. You made it through security without a hitch, but you sadly had to leave your guns and bag due to protocol and showing up unannounced. But your legs and arms worked just fine as weaponry, along with the literal tank walking next to you. While Connor hacked into their terminal to find Robert, you couldn’t help but feel the uneasy rise of goosebumps when the workers grumbled or death-stared the detective, instantly noticing his glowing LED. Even after the peaceful protests and revolution, some people will never see them as anything else. But it didn’t bother you one bit when you drifted into their eyesight, blocking their view of the robot and for their hatred to be melted into your bones. Once he got which building and line Mr. Albright worked on you both placed on hi vis vests (for safety purposes) and set off.

You never imagined to see the excellently dressed android in a bright neon yellow but there was a time and place for everything. And shock traveled over your spine when the male next to you spoke. “Do you mind if I ask you something, Detective L/N?” A single eyebrow rose from your face as you twisted your face up towards his and had to swallow that salvia that suddenly gathered at the base of your throat. The moondust that drifted around the busy factory has delicately smothered the soft and strong features of his face and the once dirt pooled eyes had liquefied into gentle orbs of the night sky. You prayed to God and rA9 (that’s what they called it, right?) that he didn’t scan your increased heartbeat because the looks he was gifted with surely pulled at your heartstrings.

“Ah, sure? You don’t have to ask me for permission, Connor.”

“Sorry, force of habitat I guess. Why didn’t you call your partner to come with you?” You spit out a laugh and wiggle your eyebrows at him.

“Why? Do you regret offering to come with me?” You joked, but once his face dropped with embarrassment you realized that he didn’t see it as humor.

“No! Of course not I was just-” You lightly patted the side of his arm, causing him to pause during his sentence. “I was just joking, Connor! Take what I say with a grain of salt,” you giggle out and you hum when you see him return a small tip of a childlike smile to you.

“I didn’t call her because she’s home with her family, and this job comes with staying late and coming in early. She deserves a break, to see her family, spend time with them.” You both waited for an automatic tug to pass by before you crossed over to the area of the building where the criminal was supposed to be working, your eyes flickering over to Connor every two seconds to see if he would respond to your answer. But you both had made it to the long line of workers, their arms throwing countless boxes onto a moving belt and mindless chatter bouncing between them. You hoped you didn’t look out of place as you eyed each person and a long breath of annoyance squeezed out of your lips. “Do you see him?” You ask Connor and he narrowed his eyes. “No. He might’ve been warned of our arrival and hid.” This shipping ground was the size of several football fields with multiple sections, it could take hours if he went into hiding. You quickly pull out your phone and turn to Connor, a plan sizzling in the back of your skull.

“Okay, we are going to split up to cover more ground. Here’s my phone number, text me so I have yours, so then we both can contact each other if we find him.” He nods to the instructions and the circle on the side of his temple twirls a bright yellow and a message pops up on your feed.

Hello, Detective L/N. It’s Connor.

You roll your eyes at the formality and send a quick text so he has yours.

Hi, Connor. It’s Y/N.

He headed over to the other conveyor belts on the bottom level while you headed upstairs where the packages were processed over to the other buildings. It took you over twenty minutes to find the slightest clue that you were on the right track, finding a spare key stabbed into a storage area and leaving behind nothing except the dusted hand who owned the key over the doorway. And then the footprints, and the struggle against the equipment in the way, and lastly the pair of eyes you caught in between the metal cabinets. Your fingers dialed the new contact and your new partner answered before the first call could go in.

“Hello Detective.”

“Hiya Connor, I believe that I have-” The creature that was hidden sprang out of his hiding spot, a gasp of shock wheezing out of your lungs as you were pushed away and he booked it towards the exit of the room.

“Detective L/N? Are you alright?” You groaned at the impact and dusted off the grime and soot as you went in for the chase, catching a glimpse of his hi vis as you discarded your own. “I found him, we’re heading to Section FA on your level!” You bark and then shoved the phone into your pocket as you hop down the last set of stairs. You slam a door open and dodge two workers as you continue to race after him, the early morning runs you do having you easily gain ground to the male who had been working here for hours. He cut a tight corner and you followed, the ground slowly dipping downward as you squeezed between two different conveyor belts where they were wrapped and rotated back, barely paying attention to your surroundings as you scraped past the barrier.

Until you were caught under the headlights of one of the self-driving tugs barreling towards you at an unstoppable speed. You hardly had time to process the bright rays and then the arm that secured itself around your waist and pulled you back up against the bolted machinery, the speed of the machine never once braking. Your heart hammered within your ribcage as the cargo zipped by and your nails dug into the hands that held you; you were surprised that your ears still worked since all the blood in your body pounded within them.

“Detective L/N? Are you alright?!” Connor then continued on about your vitals and how they were basically all over the place but you shook your head violently and lifted yourself off of him.

“Yeah...yeah, I’m fine! Come on, he’s getting away!” The android quickly caught up with you due to not only him never losing stamina, but your kneecaps wouldn’t stop wobbling due to the impact of the situation. You would have been splattered onto the pavement if it wasn’t for him, and you made a mental note to thank him later. Seems like you’ve been doing a lot of that lately. The advanced cop was already at the felon’s tail, but the young male swiftly maneuvered out of the building, like a gazelle zig-zagging out of a predator’s claws. A smirk painted on your lips and you darted out of the building in pursuit, gaining more ground as the two men continued onward. Astonishment blossomed within you as you watched Connor effortlessly bolted after the wanted man, his face or body showing no signs of exhaustion. While you felt as if your lungs were about to slip up your throat. But you drove yourself forward, almost catching up to Robert’s shadow, just waiting for the dark figure to be replaced by the one who owned it. And once you caught the neon vest in your sights, you launched yourself. Your nails clawed into his sweat-stained shirt as you both crashed into a tower of boxes, the cardboard crumbling against your weight. The edge of your knuckles grew white for how tight you held onto him, even as he tried to shove you off of him, you held your weight over him until Connor came around the side.

And as he helped you pin the guy down is when you realized that your first case was a success. But as his face had connected with the floor, you swore that he stared at you as if memorizing your face.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After Connor had called up for backup to send Robert Alright to jail, he came over to you to check on your injuries. You only had a few minor cuts, the most pain you had was the bruises forming around the arm and leg that took most of the impact. Your outfit was busted up as well, small cuts into the fabric and dirt prints painted over them. While Connor’s outfit barely had a wrinkle in it. You couldn’t help but feel a little envious over it, the android never once breaking down to the environment around him, it could sleet and flood and he would somehow find a way to stay dry. But you pushed those rude thoughts away as he placed the last band-aid over a deep paper-like cut. So gentle, as if you were made of glass and this mission has broken you apart. But, Hank was soft on you and maybe it had rubbed off on his partner as well. You didn’t know why you allowed him to do this, maybe because you didn’t want to interrupt anyone else with your small wounds, or that his soft and calculated hands treated you better than most people you have met.

“Thank you, by the way,” you rasped, surprised to find your voice beaten up. His wide and curious eyes looked up and he titled his head to the left, the color lights on the cop cars overflowing him with blue and red.

“Not only did you help me solve this case, but you helped me get him as well. I owe ya big time.” That small lopsided grin you soon realized was his signature look popped up on his face as he went back to the slit he was covering up on your arm.

“You don’t owe me, Detective. Working with you has been…..enjoyable.” You laughed at that and his own lips parted to let out what sounded like a breathless chuckle.

“I’m glad to see that I’m fun to be around, Hank better watch out or else I just might steal you from him.” Your stomach grumbled against your shirt and suddenly every inch of your body boosted back to life. You were starving and your feet and hands ached from the tip of the nails and those bones that joined at edges. Your gaze flashed over to him as the cops drove off, your hand gripping your bag that had your gun and badge inside.

“If you find my company enjoyable, do you mind if you would join me for dinner? I’m starving and I bet you could use a drink,” you asked, both of you heading out of the glass doors. He frowned down at you and the corner of your mouth twitched at knowing what he was going to say.

“Sure. But, Detective, I don’t need to eat or-” You link your arm with his as you led him away, a skip in your step as he tried to regain his balance.

“That’s what you think! Come on, I’ll show ya!”

Chapter Text

“Wait, wait, wait. So, out of all the music genres out there, Hank has only shown you metal and jazz?!”

You gasped as you sat yourself down onto the black sofa, your mouth agape at Connor’s confession that his father figure had only played those two types of music choices. 

After dragging the poor boy across half the city, both of you chatting about the investigation you just did, you both landed in front of a hidden café that was smashed between two other stores. The aesthetic color of ivory and black decorated the front and the flowers hanging around the windows waved at you as Connor held the door open for you, the small bell on top of the door calling out your visit. 

The inside was a retro yet modern theme; it had the bar on the left side and then a set of booths on the right, and then in the back was a pile of beanbags, shelves of books, and a music station to pick what music to play. 

Old photos in new frames hung on the walls and behind the bar were rows of milkshake and coffee makers and built into the front of the bar was a bakery goods section. Only a few customers were there, some with an acquaintance and others by themselves. 

The first thing that Connor noticed though wasn’t the people, but the Android-friendly sign plastered on the glass door and then over the register. 

And there you were, your small mouth open wide as Connor fiddled with his hands at your response to the question. 

You couldn’t believe that this poor guy had been deviant for almost over a year and all that old fart has shown him was metal and jazz?!

You felt your brain reeling into your skull as you tucked your bag next to you, pulled out your phone, and laid it on the table. 

“I can’t believe that he only showed you that crap, no rock? No pop? Not even country?!” You were flabbergasted at this point. 

It shocked you with how much Hank cared for Connor that he didn’t expand the new guy on the finer things in life. Sure, he didn’t say it, but he would exhibit it with action: a hand on the shoulder, a side hug when the android solved another case, hell, you one time got to witness him wiping off a bit of blue blood on Connor’s face after an ugly fight with a thug. 

“The Lieutenant only likes a certain kind of music, so I haven’t had the chance to listen to anything else,” he stated like it was a fact and you rolled your eyes. 

“Well, that’s gonna change, trust me,” you chuffed out, pointing at yourself with your thumb as your waitress came around. 

Your face brightened like the lightbulbs that hung above as you recognized the woman. You had been coming to this diner since your early teens, coming here late at night with friends, and then the early mornings as a college student. 

So you might’ve made a friendship or two with a few of the workers here. 

The young woman had short, curly blonde hair and dazzling green eyes, her body covered in sun-kissed skin and a retro diner dress tight over her figure. 

Once she spotted you, a sarcastic smile graced her plump lips. 

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite customer, how ya doing, sweetheart?” 

You beamed at the nickname and gave a polite wave. 

“Hiya, Pamela! I’m doing good! How about you?”

She gave off a shrug and her own form of a wave, her arms crossing over her chest afterward. 

“Same old same old.” Her eyes then flipped over to Connor, who had seemed to be entranced by the friendly talk you two were having. 

“Oh! This is my coworker/friend, Connor. I’m showing him around since his partner can hardly handle the change of a phone update. Connor, this is Pamela.”

The older waitress gave him a dazzling smile and the android across from you gave a curt nod, his body suddenly going stiff at being the center of attention. 

You shoved a chuckle back down into your lungs as Pamela turned back to you, a mischievous glimmer dancing in her emerald orbs. 

 “Let me guess, your usual, sweetheart?”

It was your turn to go stiff and felt the heat brush over your face as your new friend turned to you in curiosity. 

With how much Connor was on Hank’s case about eating healthy, you believed that the android would short-circuit if he saw what your usual was.

You violently shook your head and placed both hands up in defense. 

“No! I-” You then cleared your throat as they observed your strange reaction.

“-I would rather have something that isn’t that, please.”

 “Your usual?” He questioned and Pamela eyed you, seeing the small tinge of embarrassment flash over your expression. 

It made her turn to the brown-eyed male and pushed back her artificial skin, revealing her white and polished skeleton underneath. 

Connor’s eyebrows perked in surprise that the waitress was also an android, but by how you didn’t react to it, he guessed that you had already known. 

When he lifted his hand to hers, he tried to cover up his disappearing skin from you, the only piercing white of his skin that showed was his fingers and the flat of his hand. 

In a second, your usual was in his CPU, and how many times you ordered it, and how many times you finished it. 

And when he turned to you all you felt was the over-pounding pool of embarrassment steam over you. 

“A brownie batter milkshake with extra brownie bits or a hot chocolate with whipped cream and chocolate shavings, seems you buy either depending on the weather. Your choice of the meal has been two waffles with strawberries, blueberries, and chocolate chips.”

He then formed his sarcastic look at you and you were puzzled at why it felt like your heart stopped. 

“I’m predicting that you like chocolate, Detective L/N.”

You released a groan and looked up at Pamela, whose cheeks had puffed into a light blue due to holding in laughter. 

“You have no idea, Connor. We have to order extra just for them.”

“Anyway,” you commented, pulling your hair back from your face as you ignored their snide looks.

You picked something light on the menu along with a drink and handed her the flimsy piece of plastic and as she reached for it, you gently grabbed her wrist and pulled her close. 

Connor had more advanced hearing than humans, along with other androids due to his model and purpose, so he could make out a few words you had whispered. 

Please. Thirium. Him.

The waitress nodded and strolled away, leaving you two alone to create your own conversation. 

“I can’t believe you two were making fun of me for liking chocolate with my food,” you started, sending your new friend a grin. 

And he returned it, his gesture of smiling and showing emotion in his expression becoming easier for him. 

“It is a...plentiful amount, especially for your calorie intake.”

“Hey! I run every morning so that chocolate is basically sweated off.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works, Detective-”

“Connor.”

He perked up at how you said his name, trying to come off as calm so you wouldn’t see his reaction. 

“Just call me by my first name, Connor. Not only are we out of work, but we are also friends.”

There it was, that flicker that dashed over the sides of his lips and then crossed over to his chocolate-tinted eyes, that growing luster of him undergoing emotion, of understanding it. 

It was a sight to behold. 

“Okay, Y/N.”

Of course, he says your name like that. 

The oddity of how it rolled off his tongue as if he was trying to analyze each symbol within your name. As if your name was a forgotten treasure that had been discovered after decades of searching, of wondering where it could be.

You couldn’t tell if you regretted it or were overall thrilled that you told him to call you by your first name. 

The small ring of the front door echoed throughout the small building, your eyebrows perking up at seeing an older-looking customer at this time of the hour. 

You took in his snazzy love for blue in his outfit before the sound of a swinging door squeaked past the low music and Pamela rounded the corner, your drink and meal on one silver tray and a sapphire-colored float on another. 

Your mouth was practically salivating at the sight of your food, but you held yourself back as you eyed the android across from you. 

When the blue drink was placed over on Connor’s side of the table, he glanced over at you and then up at Pamela, who spoke up before he could tell her that he didn’t order anything.  

“They insisted, it’s a Thirium Float, safe for androids. Enjoy you two!” 

Those chestnut eyes met yours. 

“Det-Y/n, you didn’t have to-”

“I know, but I wanted to. Hopefully, it’s good. I can’t try it or else it might poison me.”
He examined the beverage presented to him, the tip of his fingertips flicking the straw that was placed in it. 

“Thirium doesn’t have taste, and you would need to consume a large amount of Thirium for it to cause-”

“Just try it,” you interrupted after taking a sip of your drink, seeing that his LED was blazing a fearful yellow. 

Hesitant at first, he lifted the glass drink into his hands ( as if the counter couldn’t handle its weight) and brought the plastic tube to his lips.

You watched as the bright liquid maneuvered its way throughout the straw and then once it was planted inside the robot’s mouth, his eyes went into the size of saucers. 

His LED spiraled yellow. Then blue. Yellow. A mixture of the two. And finally stayed in blue.

You didn’t press any further as you both enjoyed your meals and each other’s company.

When you both finished your meal, you headed to the back of the café, signaling Connor to follow when he didn’t get up with you. 

The old retro studio set had been converted to a new modern music station, allowing customers to type in a song they know and it would play (even if it wasn’t on any music app). As you were searching for a song that you believed that Connor would like, you sparked up another question. 

“So, if Hank doesn’t show you new music, does he at least take you to places since you deviated?”

Connor was watching your fingers click against the table when he lightly responded. 

“The Lieutenant and I have done various activities-”

Oh God, someone teach this boy to not use the term activities!

“- and we've taken Sumo to Dog Parks on the weekends,” he then grinned at the thought. 

“It’s always a challenge to get him up for a walk.”

“Who? Hank?”

You both shared a look and you let out a burst of laughter, practically wheezing when he frowned at you, your hand going to the side of your mouth. 

You were pretty sure he didn’t mean to make it a joke, but him being inexperienced with telling them is what made it hilarious. 

 “So, you’ve never been further out than that? To any festivals, the zoo, not even to a park that’s not for dogs?” 

When he shook his head back and forth, you believed that you felt your heart shiver between your lungs. 

You made a mental note to give the old man a word or two about needing to take Connor out more. 

Sure, the newfound creature should venture out on his own, let him test the waters when he was ready; but you could see the glaze over his eyes at the topic at hand, the drop of his mouth, how he’s never truly explored the adventures that were out there. 

You understood the fear of the unknown and you weren’t going to let him be alone during this. 

That is if he wanted you around.

“Well, as new friends, we should make plans soon. If that’s okay with you?”

You could sense his gaze as you scrolled through the album you had typed into the screen, sweat trickling down your spine, not even realizing that you cared about how he viewed you. 

You’ve studied androids during your college years, especially after the android revolution; you wanted to be prepared if an android needed your aid. 

But, there were no books on their developing emotions, the programming and systems of the robot next to you were a challenge. Sometimes, you just don't know what to believe in.

“We are friends, Y/n?”

He sounded...uncertain, like a child answering a question they didn’t know. And he basically was a child, thrown into a world that he barely knew outside of his programming.

And you wanted to ease that uncertainty. 

You sent a smile his way and he returned it after you said:

“Of course.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been well over an hour until Connor brought up his concern for you, trying to edge you on to go home and get some rest. 

He watched you yawn as a response and it reminded him of how Hank would try to function through work without sleep, a coffee always in his hand during late or early investigations. 

It did...trouble him that he could see that you were on the same path as the Lieutenant.

When he tried to pay for the meal, you placed your hand over his and stated that you dragged him here, plus the reaction he gave to the Thirium float was priceless. 

After tipping and saying goodbye to Pamela, you both exited the cozy café and into the comfortable chill of the fading summer night. 

Connor held the door open for you and you giggled out a thank you. 

The male didn’t know why but hanging out with you had caused his vitals to tickle within his body, as if the veins that traveled throughout his body had pounded with an overflow of blood. 

He had felt this pleasant sensation when he and Hank would hangout, but something more pulsed throughout him as you both took in the slightly quiet city. 

You tugged your jacket closer and turned to him, letting out a sad sigh after calling for a taxi. 

“Well, it was fun hanging out with you, Connor. We should do it again! Without all the chasing and arresting, of course,” you joked, shoving your hands into the pockets of your oversized jacket. 

He chuffed at that, and you recoiled at wondering how it did that without lungs and then just guessed it was his voice box, as if it was deviating as well. 

“ I would enjoy hanging out with you more, too, Detective.”

You groaned and rolled your eyes hard enough to sink them back into your head, but they came back when the taxi strolled up to you two. 

You gripped the handle and opened the dark door, turning to him and giving him a wistful grin, one that carried to your bright eyes. 

“Me too, Detective Anderson .”

And you swore that you saw a rivulet of blue swim over his face at the new nickname before you both parted ways. 

Waving goodbye through the window, you let the automatic car take you home, but you knew you wouldn’t sleep a wink with how your heart twirled into your stomach.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a long time since Connor had gone into sleep mode, but once he reached the residence where he and Hank stayed at and entered the room his father-figure had given him to stay in, it was the first thing he set out to do. 

He would usually spend his nights going over files, scanning through them for any details and hints he or his partner had missed. 

But tonight, he felt off. 

He sat up in the bed the Lieutenant had given him a few weeks after moving in, barely leaning himself back up against the headboard due to his perfect posture. 

He had studied the known comfortable positions that humans did to relax their bodies,  and he tried to develop the action, but it still seemed he hadn’t established the movement just yet. 

Still, he closed his eyes and proceeded to place himself into stasis mode, his LED switching to an eerie yellow that lit up the small room. 

And just like that, he was in a state of darkness. 

He was used to this since his deviation, since he went against his AI, Amanda, the once pristine and flawless software that he would visit was no longer available to him. 

Until now. 

He couldn’t see it, but he could sense it. 

And it brought the same uneasiness cloud that overshadowed him all those months ago, going against Amanda, his orders, then himself in the Cyberlife Tower with Hank's life on the line. 

A soft and delightful laughter echoed throughout his head. He had never heard Amanda laugh, but maybe she was because she had slithered her way back into his CPU like the snake she was. 

And the light breaths of glee continued to jump around him, as if the owner was dancing around him, or stalking him like the blind prey he identified as in the moment. 

And what caused his systems to go haywire was that he couldn’t exit his own head. 

So, all he could do was listen to the ringing of the person’s laughter inside his network, his eyes finally allowing him to wake up hours later into the Saturday morning. 

Chapter Text

Connor was the type to over think, overdo, and over analyze every single detail, and it caused him to miss what the Lieutenant was explaining to him a third time on the way to the police station.

Even though the android had a deep and complicated thought process that was more elaborate than most technology in the world, it could be compared to a human’s way of thinking by a few similarities.

He had researched all morning about the issues he could be having through his AI, at how Amanda could breach into his hardware once again without him detecting her. The android continuously ran system checks as he let Sumo hobble outside the back door to the backyard and headed back into the kitchen to prepare for Hank’s breakfast. Connor didn’t even hear the grumbled good morning from his father figure or even uttered a word as he fed the oversized dog before petting him goodbye. He couldn’t understand how this was happening, how could he let this happen? He was the pristine prototype android, never once making a mistake with his choices or his CPU.

He was built to know.

And as he stared outside the Lieutenant’s dirty passenger side window, the question continued to roll around in his subconscious. This didn’t start happening until you two spent time with each other.

You.

The first human to show a sign of friendship to him.

Sure, other officers at the precinct were favorable of him due to his work ethic and would prefer him over a few other detectives (a little jap at Detective Reed). But no one offered their time outside of work, nor asked him so many questions that didn’t relate to how he functioned. Yet, you shifted yourself out of that category after asking him to the diner, and you sprung so many compliments at him that Connor believed that his body had overheated, causing him to secretly draft himself with the cool air when you would turn away.

It was fun; Connor had experienced that emotion before by playing with Sumo or Hank pushing Gavin’s buttons to the point that the man was pink in the face. And the experience with you was at the top of that list now, his instinct telling him to continue interacting with you.

There it was again, instinct, urges, need.

He had searched and read the definition of each word and connected it with what he was experiencing, but just because he believed it was what he was undergoing doesn’t mean he knew how to handle it. It was hard trying to calculate and test what he felt or what he believed he felt. Back to the subject at hand, he didn’t know how to react to you, and didn’t want to bother Hank with another question about his “emotional crisis” as the older male would out it.

Of course, this wasn’t the first time he had encountered you at the police station; there were actually multiple occurrences where he had the courtesy to see you flourish your personality to others.

For instance, there was a time during a case not longer ago (precisely two weeks and four days ago on a Monday at 2:13:56 pm) when Connor had to collect a DNA sample from the forensics department ( the android could only sample blood, hair was out of his league unfortunately). While Hank was on his lunch break, the android placed himself under the position to collect what the scientist had analyzed during the early hours of the morning.

What the detective didn’t expect to find though was the scientist and the newest member on the force blaring music within the small lab and both of them dancing in between the tables and lab equipment. You had been helping out the scientist with a few chores he needed done in the laboratory, such as cleaning up tubes and vials and then filing away paperwork into the terminals. But, it seemed with the added songs and speakers you both became preoccupied. It was unprofessional to say the least, and if the walls were clear you and your new found dancing partner would’ve been well under trouble, so when the researcher saw that they had been caught, his fluid moves came to a halt.

But yours didn’t.

When your bouncing eyes came across his tall frame in the doorway, you waved your hand at him as you continued to dance along to the vibrant song, pen and checklist twirling in your hands.

Hesitant at first, he waved back, his hand stiff and rigid.

Even though the android’s attention was suppose to be towards the DNA sample that the doctor was retrieving for him, he couldn’t stop his eyes from averting over to your not-so-graceful dance moves, your lips spilling a few lyrics here and there. Connor had read up about how positive emotions can be reflected to others due to the pheromones of how positive and negative waves can be “catched” to others. Even though he wasn’t human, he could certainly detect the uplifted mood that you casted around yourself, and maybe he contained it too. The scientist came back and off the detective went, barely catching the two of you going back to laughing and frolicking around the body samples and paperwork.

That was the first time you two had met, but a memory he recalled that was a better introduction of your personality raced across his mind.

It was another night in the detective unit, weeks after that encounter and most cops packing up and heading home after their long shifts. Connor had just placed a new file on the Lieutenant’s desk when Detective Reed spoke up against the dim room.

“Y/N has five minutes to bring in Mr. Dobbs or else they owes me twenty.”

Chris looked up at the statement, his hairy eyebrow raised.

“You gave the newbie three days to find your missing guy, Gavin. Ease up on them.”

Gavin took a long sip of his espresso and hummed an out of tune tone, throwing his legs on top of his desk.

“I was gonna give Y/N a week, but they think they have enough balls to find him sooner than that.”

Hank shot him a look as he walked out of the break room.

“They definitely have more than you, Reed.”

A few snickers echoed against the walls and the male cop huffed in his seat and snuggled into it deeper, a few cruel slurs towards the older man escaping his mouth. Connor didn’t pay much attention to the gossip that surrounded him, but knowing that Hank had grown a soft spot for you made him slightly grin at his rude remark towards Gavin. The front doors then burst open and your partner walked in, her outfit out of place and layers of grime spotting her face due to the heat.

You were nowhere in sight.

A wicked smile fell upon Gavin’s face as your partner made her way over to her desk, practically throwing her bag on her desk and then herself into her office chair, her gaze averting the smug detective’s glare.

“Well, well, well. I see one detective, but you seem to be missing your little sidekick,” he joked, his eyes rolling over to the digital clock on the wall and then back to the exhausted woman. Your partner rested her head into the palm of her hands as if she was trying to hide from the overbearing man since she had known about the bet. But just when he was about to continue his taunting, a crafted smirk arose over your partner’s lips as she called out:

“Actually, they're right on time.”

There was the sound of struggle at the entrance of the office, but a worn and beaten man stumbled past the security doors and onto the floor, his wrists strapped in cuffs and behind his back. Bruises claimed you and a thin trail of blood flowed from your nose and from the left corner of your smirk as you glared down at your score. You had your handgun strapped to your thigh, but you didn't seem to need the weaponry. The criminal whimpered as you lifted him up, your nails curling into his arms as you pushed him forward and straight to Detective Reed’s desk, the office supplies that decorated it exploding as the body made an impact. You puffed an ignorant strand of hair from your face as you turned to the now shocked male, your hands detaching from the criminal and pressed an open palm to Reed.

“I believe you owe me twenty bucks, Mr. Reed,” you purred to his flustered face.

Hank bursted out into laughter while Tina and Chris held theirs behind their hands, even Connor couldn’t contain the warmth that spread into his sensors. It was entertaining to watch the smug detective spill into a pool of embarrassment and anger as he handed you the crimpled wad of money, your dirty and red fingers eagerly attacking it. You high-fived your partner when you got back to your desk, undoing the gun around your leg and throwing the small bag you had around your shoulder on the counter. As your ally pulled out her medical kit from her desk, you did one languid stretch, a few pops quivering off your body as you finally allowed yourself to relax. The way your muscles flexed in the static light of the building and how you observed some of your wounds as if they were inconveniences...

“Connor, you’re staring.” The android slowly turned to find his own partner glaring at him from under thick eyebrows, his fingers mid-turn on his paperwork.

“I was?” He questioned, knowing fully well that he was due to his sharp memory.

The old man let out a groan and rubbed the tiredness from her wrinkled face, as if he couldn’t believe that the android was doing something so human or that he would sooner or later need to give his son-figure “the talk.” Back then, Connor didn’t realize that it was impolite to stare, especially if someone was doing the position that you were performing.

He could still hear the ringing of Hank’s voice in his audio processor from that night.

“Connor!”

Oh wait.

“I’m sorry, Lieutenant. What were you saying?” The blazing sunlight of the new day crashed over Mr. Anderson’s aging face, his once long hair not cut back and his beard trimmed due to Connor’s pestering. But the glare he sent the young man was colder than Detroit's winters.

“Jesus Christ, kid! Do I need to send you to get a check-up or somethin?”

“Not that I know of, Lieutenant. All of my diagnostics and checks have come back normal and-”

“Yes, Connor, I know that you can do that, but you’ve been zoning out on me.” The android frowned at that statement as his fingers dug for the quarter that held its home in his front pocket.

“Zoning out?”

Hank grumbled out a few complaints about the conversation between them as they drove into the station’s parking lot, throwing the old piece of junk into park and fully turned his body over to Connor’s view.

“I had asked how long were you here last night? I didn’t even hear you come home.” The android was so caught up with the strange stimulations and irrational thoughts that he completely forgot to tell Hank about your case and the café.

“I was helping Detective L/N with her case and after helping her apprehend the criminal, she invited me out to a restaurant downtown,” he explained and let the coin roll between his knuckles after the confession.

He wasn’t going to inconvenience Hank with his...personal issues. He had defeated Amanda before, he could very much do it again.

But he didn’t miss the dumbfounded look on the officer’s face, his mouth slack with shock as he took in Connor’s words.

“You? You worked with Y/N? And not only just worked with them, but went out with them?!”

The brunette nodded, even though he found it odd that Hank’s voice was peaking. “Well, Y/N did state that we are friends and as friends, we should do activities with each other.”

The old man gagged at the word 'activities' as he exited the car, slamming the door shut and awaiting Connor to do the same. With coin in hand, he exited the old vehicle and joined Hank’s side as they made their way to the elevator, Hank stretching his neck as tried to collect his thoughts.

“So, did you like it?”

“Hm?”

“Did you like hanging out with Y/N, Connor?”

Since the android already had time to process it, he gave Hank a crooked grin.

“I believe so. They are quite enjoyable.” The elevator ride was quiet after that, but Hank’s eyes brightened with joy at the sight of Connor showing signs of pleasure in the life he was constructing.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With it being Monday morning, the bullpen was as chaotic as a children’s playground. Every officer that had shown up for their shift was busying themselves either at their desks or traveling from room to room. The harsh, potent smell of coffee and hot conversations filled every corner in the building. The duo went straight into work, Hank diving into his leftover paperwork that was due last week and Connor setting up a list of certain cases they could open up and then would organize it. It wasn’t until the beginning hour of afternoon that Connor had the satisfaction to see you again. After a rather rough investigation with a prickly man who didn’t want to give out any information until Hank’s more brutal side started to overshadow his more detained grumpy demeanor. Long story short, the Lieutenant needed a new cup of coffee before his cold one was slammed into the wall. Waiting for his certain brand to be created in the coffee pot, the two detectives engaged in small talk over their most recent investigation and that they would have to go over the interrogation with that impossible man. It was a kind atmosphere between the two, until someone interrupted it.

“So, you’re the infamous android, huh?”

Both heads turned to see a new recruit standing behind them, a smartass smirk fierce on his face as tapped his fingers against the table he was leaning on. He had his badge presented proudly against his belt and his button up lifted so others would see the metal braze in the light and Hank soaked up this malapert act quickly.

“What’s it to ya?”

The older man questioned as he crossed his arms and leaned his back into the counter, all while Connor followed the words that were thrown at each other with his eyes. The new foe chuffed out from his pearly teeth as he eyed Connor as if a target, his brown eyes like tar in an endless pit.

“I was just expecting more, but it is just a machine after all, Lieutenant.” Hank saw red flash within his eyesight as he felt Connor stiffen next to him at the insult, LED shining a questionable yellow. As Hank opened his mouth to retort back at the new rival, a newcomer beat him to it.

“Jesus Christ, Trey, do you ever shut up.” And that’s when Connor saw you in the doorway, empty coffee mug in hand and a raised eyebrow as you entered the arena.

Chapter Text

This wasn’t your first rodeo dealing with a bully, and with Trey Spears joining the same force as you, it certainly wasn’t going to be the last.

Mr. Spears had graduated at the same academy you had, being the type to take the badge as a symbol of forced respect rather than a sign of duty. Fortunately, he didn’t succeed at the academic side and was placed as a cop instead of a detective in training like you were, causing him to work his way up by the opinion of his peers and chief instead of being hand chosen. It might've made your ego rise higher than you wanted it to, but you couldn’t help it, you two had been at each other’s throats since day one. You recalled the last time seeing him, your diploma in hand while he had to stay and train; loathing swimming in his eyes hot enough to boil your skin. But you didn’t expect him to wrangle up a job so quickly, especially at the same bloody department you worked in.

Sometimes, you felt as if the world just wanted you to suffer in the littlest and the most annoying ways.

After leaving the file room to place the last bit of paperwork for Robert Albright’s case is when you saw his tight-ass walk into the breakroom, his hands sweeping into his stiff hair that always reeked of gel. But you had to confirm your suspension that it was him, that your once haunting nightmare was now back to roll with you between your pillows and blankets. You expected to find him complaining about the unhealthy treats or trying to pick up one of the older women’s phone numbers in the break room, but what you found made the tinted red in your face burst to life. Of course he would try to go after Connor, but you couldn’t believe that Trey was foolish enough to do it right in front of the Lieutenant. But then again, what else would you expect from a person like Trey Spears. So, there you were, the slope of your exhausted body leaning on the break room wall, your mug empty and your anger filling you up instead of the grounded joe. Your old foe twisted to face you, an over-confident graze of his lips twitched on his face as he took in your figure, a grunt of disgust falling from your mouth.

“Well, well. If it isn’t Y/N L/N. Didn’t expect to see you here, but I did bet that you would be at the new Eden Club since they’re hiring humans now.”

Ooooohhh your foot was practically ready to kick him right between the legs.

But, you kept your cool, barely showed a sign of distraught as you moved from your position and over to the coffee pot.

“Because you’re a regular there, aren’t you, Spears?”

A grin spread on your face as the Lieutenant chuckled next to you, lowering his hand next to you to give you a low-five. You turned your gaze over to Connor for a split second, concern lacing around your heart as you tried to read his expression. You didn’t know how the android developed his emotions; in the small amount of time you have gotten to know him he expressed himself in the smallest flutters of manners. Whether it be the twitch of his mouth or the rise of his eyebrows, he had gotten better at the engagement. And it saddened you to see that he fully was taking in the insult the new cop had thrown at him.

His face wore a frown that wasn’t fully constructed as if he could pause an expression, his hands holding each other as if he had forgotten his coin at home. But you knew that the infamous Connor could never forget his trusty coin. From the corner of your vision, you caught a line of red spread over Trey’s face, but he knew just like you how to hide a reaction.

“Always the witty one, weren’t you, Y/N. But stay out of this, it’s between us men.” He then snickered to himself, an ugly snarl on his tan face.

“Well, two men and a terminal.”

You were stirring in your specialties to your morning joe, the two males next to you looking to see if you would respond or if you needed Hank’s backup. You took a lazy sip of the drink, cleared your throat after it, and twirled until you were face to face with Spears, his gloomy eyes piercing into your own.

“You know trying to bully Connor won’t make your dick any bigger.”

The older male next to you bellowed out a laugh to the point that he had to hold onto the side of his stomach to hold him over, his teeth breaking against the hairs of his beard. It took all the control that flowed within your body to hold back your own fit of giggles, taking another drink of your mug as you raised your eyebrows at your foe.

While Trey tried to clean up his composure, your eyes peered over to your fellow friend, and the reaction he gave was enough to fluster you up. He was grinning from ear to ear at your sarcastic remark, the motion foreign to his face as it tried to settle on his mouth. It was endearing to see and it made you continue onward in the fight when the douchebag replied.

“I haven’t heard any complaints yet, Y/N.”

“That’s because there’s no girls to complain about it.”

Hank was now holding the edge of the counter, his howls turning into wheezes as he clapped the back of your spine, as if begging for you to stop. You blew out a gust of air, your face unable to hold back the smirk from the next line you were going to throw at him.

“Now, excuse us, Spears. But, us, detective’s, have actual work to do.”

With a wave of your hand, you lead Hank and Connor out of the break room, leaving a pissed off officer behind. The leading detective wasn’t even holding back anymore, the echoes of his aging laugh hitting everyone in the office like a punch in the gut.

“God, that guy is such an asshole. Never let him do that again, you two. If he does, I’ll make sure to neuter that fucker before the end of the day,” you hissed out, the grip on your cup tightening at the thought of Spears getting away with this shit all over again.

The leading Anderson chuckled at the threat as he nudged Connor, a playfully gleam in his eye.

“This is what you have to look forward to in the friendship, kid.”

A lopsided smile rested on his face as you awaited his reaction.

“I believe that it is a good quality to have a friend who is willing to stand up for you.”

The pink in your face blossomed to full bloom and you fluttered your eyes away in hoping the smart male next to you didn’t read your increased heart rate. As you made it to their desk, you sat your cup down on Connor’s side and then lightly whacked Hank’s shoulder, causing the old man to cease his laughter and let it replace it with a frown.

“What the hell? I thought you were attacking the new Gavin Reed of the district, not me!”

Connor’s gaze flickered to the two of you as he rested at his own desk, his eyes immediately catching the rise of your chest as you held in a laugh.

“You, good sir, have not been treating Connor to the way of life! I had to figure out myself that you two barely do any hobbies!” You exclaimed, your arms crossing over your torso to express how sarcastically frustrated you were. Hank scuffed up at you, his fingers already working against his terminal and logging him in.

“I’m not as young as I used to be, kid. I would rather spend my time off resting so then I have enough energy to deal with your dumbass,” he fired back, a line of red running across your cheekbones. “Well, Connor and I will just have fun without you then!” You announced, sending the android a grin as the Lieutenant groaned next to you, brushing his silver hair out of his face.

Connor returned the gesture back, but it switched to a confused frown when you whispered to Hank about teaching Connor not to use the word activities.

His father-figure only replied with, 'Way ahead of you.'

You all three made light chats about each other’s weekends before you headed back over to your desk, waving to your partner as she made it into the bullpen. With Mr. Albright's case done, you finally had the chance to dive into the investigation that your partner had, your fingers pulling a new file to place the evidence in and entering your password into the advanced computer. With every new day came a new case was a saying that started to repeat in your head as your friend sent all the information she had gathered without you.

It was late into the afternoon when you shot out of your chair, wringing your jacket and bag as you headed towards the police station's garage, your companion collecting her own supplies for the car ride ahead. With the new found data that was sent in from one of the officer’s out in the field a few hours ago, connecting the black and white dots on the desk like the puzzle on a Sunday paper. Bill Pace had been a suspect for theft and underground workings for a long while, and when his shopping list started to add android parts was when the district thought they had him. There were rumors that he was buying his own parts without the actual permission of the android that owned their own body.

But, he had no evidence in his house, and his alibi checked out everytime a missing android was noticed. You and your partner had been scanning every single detail you had over it, from his background to each interrogation that was recorded for file, but all came up empty. It wasn’t until you were halfway into eating your lunch that you caught something that could be useful. Mr. Pace was being questioned by one of the detectives about his grocery list and how he had strange code names for certain items. He coolly replied that he didn’t want people to know that he was making alcohol, that his friends would want free samples. You quickly went into your terminal and started to look up facts about making the intoxicated liquids, and that’s when it clicked.

You couldn’t exactly make the expensive liquor in a regular house with no basement, it also explained why he bought a rundown cabin in the outskirts of town.

You were surprised that you actually found this needle in the haystack of a case with how your eyes darted back and forth from Connor to your computer. Of course your desk had to face towards him, only three desks away and on the right side of the office and it felt too far and too close at the same time. Ever since that small date you two had, you couldn’t help but let your child-like heart thrash inside your ribcage. You hated how you formed a crush so easily, how one compliment or smile could make the butterflies multiple in your stomach. Of course, it wasn’t real, it was just how your emotions reacted to kindness from cute, nice, irresistible guys, right? But, that didn’t matter, what mattered was this case and potentially saving another android from being torn apart like a nerd having a field day with a defective phone. And as you twisted your key into place and listened to the engine in your car purr at the startup and your passenger side was taken by your partner, you pushed the innocent thoughts aside of young detective Anderson and headed outside of Detroit.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The dying summer air and rising autumn wind crashed against your shirt as you quietly shut your car door, trying to not raise suspicion if Mr. Pace was home.

You had parked at the beginning of the turn of his driveway that led into the eerie dying forest that bordered Detroit like a cautions wall. Your co-worker followed in action and you both crept down the long road, your badge favoring your left hip and your gun on the other. Pace’s cabin was something out of a horror film; the logs structuring the shack were aging and withered at the ends. The lawn that was placed around it was unkempt and curled at the sides of the house. The front porch was littered with dying leaves that had lasted from the year before and any sort of decoration he had was layered with grim and dust. No trespassing signs decorated every tree and post that could be fitted onto the area, and unfortunately neither you or your partner had a search warrant since his house was already searched.

You had a plan though, and as your companion went over to the front door, you made your way to the back. If the culprit was home, your friend would talk his ear off to distract him, if he wasn’t, then she would come and meet up with you in the woods. The endless trees and shrubs came into view and you headed down the slightly tilted slope, your eyes already catching the lightly treaded trail that was created from his back door and out into the wilderness.

You questioned how the cops didn’t notice the flattened grass that made the makeshift trail, but his back lawn was unkempt to the point it rose to above your ankles and in his file stated he claimed to have wild dogs in the area. You continued onward, your eyes taking in every detail that would lead you further into the forest, the light call of your name echoing against the trees as your partner caught up with you. So, Mr. Pace wasn’t home, that meant you were on an unknown timer, especially since he would see your parked car on the side of the road.

Your foot slipped into a large mud puddle that was created due to the rainfall yesterday and as you regained your balance, you noticed that your footprint wasn’t the only one imprinted into the sludge. You were on the right trail, that’s what you believed until the makeshift trail in the vegetation slowly dispersed. Of course, you were no expert tracker (even though it would benefit your job), so trying to get an inch above the ground to find traces of leftover footprints or the blades of certain pieces of grass scraped just at the edge was out of your league. You were wasting time and panic started to sweep into you like a cold as you made the guess of which was to go. With a mysterious guy like Bill, he would want the cellar to be hidden, not like a shack that had the door in the ground. No, he would want no building to give it away, the door would be-

“Ow.”

The tip of your toe stubbed the edge of something solid, not like the rubbery slime of the watery dirt under you. Your companion came up next to you and stretched out her foot and tapped the area where your boot had grazed. Her foot hit something solid and soon you both were pushing the leaves and shrubs away until a rusted trapdoor came into view, the color blending into its surroundings. The bulging lock that held the hatchway took two shots from your partner’s gun and your arm was lifting it overhead, slips of mud and leaves dripping into the dark cellar below.

“I should be the one going in, not you,” your mentor stated, her eyes darting back and forth in a glimmer of panic.

You offered her a reassuring smile. “If I find something, I’ll call you. If not, I’ll make my way back. Plus, this was my idea and if we’re caught, I’ll be the one placed under arrest instead of you.”

Your partner frowned at the statement as you got your body prepared for the climb down. “You know I wouldn’t let us come here if I didn’t agree with your suspicion. I just...I hope you don’t get hurt.”

“I know. I’ll be careful, I promise.”

“You have five minutes or else I’m coming down,” the detective ordered and you gave a simple nod, cell phone in hand for light as you grabbed onto the shifty ladder and headed downward.

The room was rotting around you; the smell of overused machinery and spilled oil wafted into your nostrils and you covered it with your sleeve as soon as your feet landed on the cemented ground. The uncanny sound of water dripping filled your ears as you walked down the long corridor, the only light surfacing from your phone. Your body started to react to what you were doing: You were checking out someone’s hidden cellar that they didn’t mention and they have been accused of several different illegal actions.

And you just entered his own playground when you heard a shuffle of movement.

Flipping your wrists on top of each other, your gun and flashlight aimed to the area in front of you, you took in the sight of the climax of the horror film you were rolling in. Certain body parts of androids hung from hooks or laid useless on the ground, and even though the cellar was spotless of their blood, you knew it was coated with it. Various types of tools and machinery garnished the multiple benches and desks that were pressed against the walls. You gagged into your arm at the sight of the torso of an android and the electronic in your fingers started to shake violently. There was going to be a point in your life that you would come across this, all your training and classes warned you that criminals will do filthy and gut-churning acts.

But you could never prepare for this, to get used to the metallic smell of the androids blood burning your lungs like cigarettes. There was one head up on one of the shelves, the bright blue eyes of the being now titled in a disturbed manner. And for a split second, a horrifying and repulsive stop in time, those eyes were brown in your mind. Finding a lightswitch, you used your elbow to flick it on, the few lightbulbs that hung from the poorly built ceiling glowing in and out a few times before permanently staying on. Your fingertips clicked off your phone and flashlight, calling in to your friend to call this in and that the finding of Bill Pace was mandatory. Then a whimper bounced off the walls like a ghost making its presence known.

“Who’s there?!” You called out, your body whipping around, both hands gripping the handgun to the point your knuckles were blistering white.

“Detroit Police Department, come out with your hands up!”

There was a door on the right side of the already tight room and another small animal-like cry squeezed from under the airways of the wooden frame. You should wait until higher ranks get here, you should be patient until someone with more experience, you should just stay until your partner comes down after calling for backup. But that weak wail was desperate, like a creature held captive without food or water for weeks. With your weapon in hand, you made your way to the second room. No, none of your classes or training made you prepare for this.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bill Pace was nowhere to be found; officers were sent to his job, the house he owned in the city, and his usual hangouts during his free time. Either he abandoned this idea of being a mad scientist or he caught wind of you.

You honestly didn’t know what was worst.

Several cops were searching the surrounding area for any more cellars or surprises that Mr. Pace could be hiding on his property. With more equipment and people, you felt secure enough to fully investigate the cellar without messing up or getting hurt, especially with the back room being empty. You were trying to read the shipment paper that was in Mr. Pace’s piles of paperwork on the one bench that wasn’t coated in thirium or body parts, but you couldn’t stop your eyes from watering up or the tremble in your limbs.

How could this man do such a thing? How could he-

“Detective L/N.”

You practically jumped out of your own skin as you tried to hold the journal in place, but it slipped from your shaking digits and onto the stained floor.

You cursed under your breath as you turned to Connor, who seemed a little taken aback by your reaction, but was quick to bend down and pick up the paperwork.

“My apologies, Detective L/N. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

You couldn’t help but let a nervous chuckle slide as you also bent down to collect the evidence.

“No worries. I’m just jumpy is all. What are you doing here by the way?”

He handed you the rest of the paperwork when you both rose and you shivered at his touch. So lifelike and warm at just the tip of his nails.

“The Lieutenant and I have been assigned to most android cases, so when your call came in about the suspect, Bill Pace, we came to help the investigation. Also-”

The android next to you never paused in-between his sentences and it caused you to stop in your action of shuffling the paper in your hands. He wasn’t making eye-contact and his hands were continuously moving as if he was holding himself back from reaching for his coin. His LED was circling a bright yellow that outshined the bulbs above you and you tilted your eyebrows in worry.

“I-the Lieutenant and I were concerned with your well-being and wanted to make sure you were alright,” he stammered out, and if it weren’t for the poor lightly, you would’ve betted that you saw the flush color of blue over his face.

A small ‘aw’ brushed over your mouth as you smiled up at him, patting the side of his arm for his attention to go back to you instead of the wall behind you.

“Thank you, Connor. I am a little shaken up by this scene, but I’ll be okay.” You then put a little pressure on his bicep as you tried to push him away from the horrific crime.

“Are you okay, though? This is an...android killer and his work. Why isn’t Hank down here checking it out?” His coffee-colored eyes were scanning your hand that connected to his limb, the orbs flickering a few times before answering.

“Don't worry, I'm alright. And I thought it would be safer for the Lieutenant to stay above ground,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper in the contained room.

You giggled and lightly elbowed him as you went to collect the rest of the evidence, replacing the evidence gloves you wore with a new pair.

“Are you saying that Hank is too old and fragile to get down that ladder, Detective Anderson?” You joked, a playful gleam in your eye.

Once again, the light of the room hid the secretive twitches of Connor’s emotions on his face, but you vowed that his once somewhat sorrowful face had brightened due to the change of atmosphere. He walked up to where you stood, his LED now spinning a positive blue and you believed that he was wearing cologne.

“Don’t tell him, Detective L/N.” You were glad to see he was adjusting to your humor as you started to pick up the evidence and place them into plastic bags or bins that were brought down.

Even with the surrounding massacre, you wanted the detective to be distracted by you, that his eyes didn’t wander to the discarded body fragments or the bottles of Thirium that was either bought or stolen from. And you prayed that he didn’t see the unconscious little android girl that you found in the back room and was being rushed over to the DPD’s android clinic wing.

Chapter Text

You made it back to the station around five, spending around four hours at Bill Pace’s hidden cabin and cellar, all of the evidence found was packed and shipped off to one of the evidence rooms at the station. The dread started to sweep in when you parked your car in the parking garage and walked over to the elevator, the mountain of paperwork already building within your mind.

So, you already had a food delivery person on the speed dial of your favorite fast food restaurant. 

 During that time organizing the paper evidence to the objects that had to be sealed in bags, you talked with Connor while he helped out. 

You might’ve been a little too eager to get him out of the damp cellar due to what was down there, but that didn’t mean you pushed him fully off the property while the rest of the officers searched the rest of the surrounding area. 

It felt good to talk one-on-one with the android once more since the chase with Mr. Albright and the date afterward; that assholes like Trey couldn’t interrupt or try to ruin. The Lieutenant would pop in a few words, but his knowing nature had him step back when the conversation would just bounce between the two of you. 

The brown-eyed male helped carry the heavier load of boxes into your car, his unnatural strength easily allowing him to hold a few more extra containers than you or any other person at the scene could. 

And you totally didn’t stare at his built in muscles and the way they pulsed under the fabric of his button up. 

Back at the headquarters, you found that most of the officers were not at their assigned desk; actually, there was hardly anyone in the building. 

You had watched Hank and Connor leave the scene before you, and while your partner went to the restroom you went to your desk to get your terminal up and running. 

The impatient chatter of people filled the corner of your ears and your eyes darted over to down the hall where the meeting rooms were located. 

As a member of the force, you set your bag down and headed down the pristine floor and looked through the stainless glass of the walls that surrounded the room.

Everyone was in there; from detectives to new police officers, your eyes narrowed into slits at the sight of Trey. Your partner came up behind you, her voice pushed to a whisper as if they could hear them behind the glass wall. 

“What the hell? I wasn’t informed of a meeting.”

“Neither was I,” you replied, your arms crossing over your chest and swatting a strand of hair out your face. 

Their voices were muffled against the burnt sand; Captain Fowler was at the head of the room, his eyes reading on his tablet and when talking to someone, his rough voice would rise past the wall. 

From your experience there were two options for what this meeting was about: The entire branch was in trouble or there was a case that needed someone on it immediately. 

 That’s what made the question of interrupting the meeting to get into it or sneaking back to your desk and waiting afterwards to ask what it was about. 

“Whatcha thinking?” You asked your friend, your movements slow so no one would notice you. 

“I’m thinking I’m too old for this shit,” and then proceeded to walk over to the stainless steel door and open it (but in your head, you knew that your companion would’ve kicked the damn thing down). 

The room went hush at the sudden burst, all eyes falling over to the doorway as your partner walked in, the faintest hint of embarrassment flooding into your body before you made your legs move and followed her. 

“Detectives, it’s nice to see you’ve made it,” Fowler ruffed out, his age sketching over his face and voice. 

You only nodded while your associate let out an exaggerated gale fall from her mouth before finding an empty seat. Sadly it was between two other officers, leaving you to hunt one down on your own. 

How fortunate you were to find that there was an empty seat right next to the two Detective Anderson’s. 

Hank looked as if he was about to fall asleep in his chair while Connor stood perfectly in the chair next to him, his hands folded neatly in his lap as he watched you make your way over. 

“What’s Fowler talking about?” You whispered to the android as you took the office chair next to him, the captain going back to his speech once you and your partner made yourselves comfortable. 

Without taking his eyes off the boss, he replied smoothly. 

“Captain Fowler is trying to get someone to take the case of the android girl you found on Mr. Pace’s property.”

He then turned to you, his eyebrows angled upward, almost as if he was hurt and confused. 

“You didn’t mention that you found a victim.”

Shame rushed throughout your body as you thought your decision over. 

Your heart was in the right place in wanting to protect Connor from the horror of his kind being tortured, but as a detective, you needed to communicate to your fellow co-workers. 

“It was hard to process, I didn’t know how to bring it up,” you confessed, your fingers digging into your pants. 

Your attention went back to the meeting once you heard it was over the little girl, your brain rolling over the memory of her ducking away from you in the cell she was trapped in. How she hid from you as you tried to comfort her, the LED embedded into her temple vibrating red continuously as other officers came down to help you out. 

“Now, the YK500 that was found is being taken care of in our android medical wing. But, due to the evidence we have discovered in Mr. Pace’s case file, this child might’ve been used as a drug mule.”

Trey, who was a few seats behind you, scoffed and whispered that the DPD shouldn’t waste time on things that are not alive. 

You sent him a death glare, but kept your mouth closed so you wouldn’t interrupt the captain. 

“We need someone to take the case and get the information about Mr. Pace and the client he was selling androids to so we can put a stop to this.”

“Why don’t we just have one of our androids probe to find the info,” Trey interrupted, a cheeky grin on his face at the idea. 

For a guy who hated androids, you were a little flabbergasted that he even knew that they could do that. 

People mumbled around you, throwing and tossing the thought between each other and it felt as if your stomach was continuously tumbling within your body. 

How could they even phantom the proposal of prodding inside the girl’s mind?! With the new laws over androids, you would believe they would include the children as well. 

Once again, her terrified face flashed through the muscle in your head, how she could barely stand when the officers unlocked the cell door and took her away. 

No. You wouldn’t stand for this. 

“We will do no such thing,” you hissed from your spot, causing everyone to turn at the sudden outburst. 

Trey narrowed his hazel eyes at you, as if daring you to try and overpower him. 

“As detectives, we would’ve never thought of invading a victim’s personal thoughts and the trauma they’ve endured. Why would our opinions change over an android girl-”

“You just answered your own question, Y/N. It's a thing, not a child,” Trey spat, his body coming forward in his chair and leaned his weight into his hands as his arms supported him. 

Some of the officers gasped at the man’s confession, while some kept silent in agreement. 

Hank was fully awake now, his stormy eyes stabbing daggers into Spears as he opened his mouth to report back to him, but you beat him to it. 

“And your humanity, Trey? Where did that go? Because the only “thing” I see here is you.”

“Y’know, Y/N, there’s a training room here, if you got something to say, we can head there after this.”

“From what I recall you can barely take a-”

“Enough!”

You and Trey froze as Fowler screamed over the two of you, your index finger halfway up to point at your rival. 

You took a second to look at your partner, who was holding back a concerned look that was over glossed with an amused one for trying to overthrow Trey. You then turned to Hank and Connor, the older man not laughing at this battle like the last time.

And Connor, you couldn’t tell what he was thinking, those mousy eyes wide at your stance and the argument you stood for. 

The old man who took charge of the meeting rubbed the bridge of his nose, his eyes closing and then quickly opening as he eyed Trey down first. 

“Officer Spears, we all have our opinions, but don’t let it take over your first role: Doing your job,” the captain ordered, causing Trey’s nose to twitch before he sat down. 

Fowler then twisted his eyes towards you and you believed you would solidify into a puddle at his furious expression. 

“With your enthusiasm for this case, L/N, I’m expecting you to take it.”

It wasn’t a question and you cringed under the peer pressure and responsibility of having your own case. 

Your hands started to sweat and you twirled the inside of your lip with your teeth, trying to think over the situation before the atmosphere turned awkward. 

This would be your first case alone. Sure, you would have others helping on the sidelines, especially your partner, but you would fully be in charge of this one. You would call the shots of where to go, how to execute things without the backup of others. 

This wasn’t the Albright or Pace case, where you had others to fall upon. 

So, if you failed, you would take it all downward with you. 

The girl’s innocent face flashed across your mind and the sweat over your body suddenly ran cold. 

If you refused this case, then someone else would get it, someone like Trey who would want nothing more than for the girl to be sold for scraps as he would say. 

With it being an android case, there was the possibility that Hank and Connor would catch it, but they were already stocked with so many and there were more waiting on the backburner. 

You straightened your posture and looked up at your commanding officer, pride swelling within your spine. 

You were a detective; an officer of the law and it was not only your job to take on the hardest knots to undo, but to protect those who were bound to them. 

“Yes. I’m taking this case.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh God you took the case, what the hell is wrong with you? 

Why would you take this bloody case?!

All that confidence that had swelled within you was completely drained as the file was flattened onto your desk by Captain Fowler, who gave a quick layout of instructions and a wispy good luck before heading back to his office to pack up for the night. 

Your partner was at your side in an instant after the older man walked away, her head leaning over your shoulder as she eyed the information you were given. 

You swatted her away, a fake smile pressing over your lips. 

“Shouldn’t you be heading home to your family?” You asked, pushing the white envelopes aside and away from her wandering eyes. 

“Just because you took this case all on your own doesn’t mean I’m going to let you.”

“I won’t be on my own. Hank and Connor will be helping me with it.”

After the meeting, the two had approached you, Hank smacking the android with his shoulder when Connor didn't speak. Hank's partner was offering to help with this case, even with all the other ones that had piled up with the amazing duo. 

It shocked you at first, especially when Connor's LED sparking a yellow as you thanked him for the help.  

You scanned the office but came back empty in trying to find the Lieutenant and his son-figure.

Guessing that they were somewhere else in the building, you lightly shoved your partner towards her side of the desk, switching off her terminal and swiping her bag. 

“I’ll head out soon, I just want to get things set up for tomorrow. Say hi to the kids for me,” you ordered, and the older woman huffed out a laugh before getting the rest of her things packed. 

“Sure you will, just promise me you’ll get, at least, five hours of sleep.”

“Yes, mom .”

“Damn straight.”

After your partner left the station, you scanned the rest of the remaining officers. Multiple detectives and other officers had already clocked out and headed home, leaving only a few stragglers like yourself, behind. The night shift started to stroll in as well, energy drinks in hand as they headed to their designated area. 

With your terminal booted up once more, you logged in the information you had obtained from Bill Pace’s hidden cellar and about the child android that was found in it. 

You knew that you would have to wait until most of the evidence from Pace’s property was set up in your very own evidence room, but for now you could meet with the child android while waiting for your food to be delivered. 

After making a new pot of coffee and picking up the file Fowler had provided, you headed over to the medical wing, the uptight smell of medicine and cleaning supplies filling your nose. 

Flipping through the paperwork on the tablet, you found what room she was stationed at and counted down the numbers until you got to it, your fist lightly knocking against the wood. 

A woman in a lab coat opened it, the LED on the side of her forehead revolving in a puzzling yellow as she scanned you with her green eyes. 

“Detective L/N, I assume you are here for the YK500 child android?” She questioned those forest orbs looking down at the clipboard she held. 

‘Unfortunately’ , you thought to yourself as you agreed and then followed the mechanic inside her lab, the automatic door shutting behind you. 

The room had the same layout as a hospital room; the white walls and metal scooters filled with medical supplies were placed up against the wall. Three beds were placed up against both sides of the room, curtains encircling each bed to give the patient privacy. 

The doctor took you to the second bed on the left, the white sheet tightly wrapped around the person inhabiting it. 

“Here is her biopsy, along with other reports about her biocomponents,” the female android then paused as she closed her eyes, her LED twisting into a blinding red for a moment before turning back to a weary yellow once the file was sent to your tablet. 

“The YK500’s assigned name is Sawyer, I...I hope you find the human who did this to her. Call me if you need anything, Detective L/N.”

You let your fingernail pick at the end of the papers you held as the doctor walked away, an ill feeling pulsing throughout your stomach at her reaction to her patient. 

You almost caught anger in the woman’s voice, and her eyes had a watery texture under them as she walked away. 

Before meeting the little girl, Sawyer, once again, you decided to read over the doctor’s report and opened the folder, your fingers skimming over the typed words. 

Nothing caught your eye until you got to the injuries list and you felt as if every crumb of food in your stomach would come rushing up. 

The YK500’s lower workings has been manipulated for not only drug related transactions between states and/or countries, but also had a procedure to add a WR400 part from a female android.

WR400’s were androids that worked at the Eden Club. 

You were surprised to find that the paper you were holding hadn’t been crumpled into a wrinkle mess as you reread over the disgusting fact. 

So that’s why there were so many android pieces in Pace’s basement and why Sawyer was so terrified of you: she thought you were him coming back. 

You continued reading, trying to hold back the bile that had built in your throat.

She had low Thirium levels, showing that he either didn’t provide it for her or he hadn’t been there to give it to her. All her other limbs were working properly and the damage that was done such as being hit with a hard object had been fixed. 

Looking back up at the sheet that divided you two, you reached up to move it aside, to comfort the young girl who had already been through so much. 

But, you held yourself back, rethinking it over. 

You wanted to go with your gut-feeling, but your mind overpowered you, bringing back the long hours of studying how a detective thinks in these situations. 

You should first find Hank or Connor and show them the files, and then meet Sawyer. 

This was going to be a long night. 

Chapter Text

You finally found the android saying good-bye to the Lieutenant, who was gathering up his keys and tablet from his desk. 

You straightened up the edges of your outfit and tried to undo the knot from the back of your hair as you made your way over, Hank’s voice scratching against your ears as you gained ground. 

“Now, you call me when you find something, understand me?” The older detective ordered, his index finger pointing towards his partner. 

Connor let out an amused gesture as he playfully watched the pointer finger go down from its intimidating stance. 

“Don’t worry, Lieutenant. I will inform you if I find anything insightful.”

The older man grumbled a few inaudible words as he rubbed the tired from his eyes, the inner workings in his mind barely moving due to the lack of sleep. 

“And take a break as well, you slept well throughout last Saturday morning. You’re usually the one waking me up,” Hank muttered, letting Connor lead him to the exit of the department. 

A dark glaze casted over the android’s face for a split second and you were surprised that you were able to catch it. 

But Connor simply nodded in agreement as his father-figure made his way over to the elevator, his aging yet sharp eyes catching you waiting over on the sidelines. 

“Well, if it ain’t the detective of the hour,” Hank whistled, making his partner turn around as you made your way over. 

You froze for a second before clicking your mouth, those delicate brown eyes making everything melt around you.

“Hiya Hank, Connor,” you chuckled, bringing yourself into the inner circle, clinging onto the tablet you were aiming to give to both of them. 

“I didn't get to congratulate you on getting your first case. But, then again, this is your first case so there isn’t much to celebrate,” the old man joked, knocking his arm lightly against yours as you rolled your eyes. 

“Oh yeah. I’m oh so excited for this,” you threw back, rocking on the edge of your shoes before remembering why you came here. 

“So, you’re leaving for the night, Hank?”

The grey-haired male sighed as he scratched at his trimmed beard, the sound of the hairs brittle against his fingernails. 

He glared at the screen in your hand and then rose those stormy eyes back to yours.

“I need sleep, kid. I’m not as young as you two,” he replied, eyeing the two of you, causing you and Connor to look at each other before switching back to the Lieutenant. 

“You two can handle it right?”

You couldn’t stop yourself as you laughed out loud, placing a free hand over your mouth to help keep you silent. 

You lightly patted Connor’s forearm before looking up at him.

“You do realize you are talking about Connor, right? The best detective here,” you giggled, earning the smallest smile from the android next to you. 

“Together, we’ll have this case done in no time!”

“I believe that Detective L/N and I will work well together for this case, Lieutenant,” Connor replied, 

Hank closed his eyes for a long second as if trying to take in your positive outlook and then quickly distinguishing it from his body. 

“Just don’t fry the poor boy’s mind,” was all he said as he walked into the inviting elevator and then clicked the parking garage button, a sarcastic grin crafting on his face as the doors closed. 

It was you and Connor now, just the two of you once again. 

It hit you like a surprised whack on the side of the head, an irritated itch on the back of your skull as you swallowed and turned to your new partner, the tablet for the new case now shifting on your grip. 

You were going to have to break the upsetting news about the child android to him without having Hank at your side in case things went south. 

Of course, Connor was an adult and he didn’t show much emotion about cases that involved androids, but if you bought anything controversial up, you always had Hank next to him to side eye you to shut the hell up .

Or...maybe you just didn’t want to talk about it, you didn’t want to speak or think about the horrid thought of what those criminals were doing-

“Are you alright, Detective L/N?”

You mentally punched yourself as you soaked in that you had been staring directly at him, a deep flush festering over your cheeks as his soft brown eyes blinked innocently down at you. 

God who decided on that feature?! 

“Uh, I’m alright. Why do you ask?” You pressed as you both let another officer by to get to the elevator. 

“Your heartbeat level has increased to an alarming rate. Does it have to do with your new case?”

You almost slipped an annoyed growl as you crossed your arms over your chest, as if trying to hide your distressed heart. 

“Yes. I have some...unfortunate news about the girl,” you mumbled, revolving away from his direction while handing the small screen to him. 

The black portable terminal was taken from your grasp and you let your hands rub against each other as he placed his hand over the screen, his LED swimming in a yellow and then back to the gentle blue as he absorbed the information. 

The unnatural still in the precinct was deafening as he handed the tablet back, your fingers cradling it as his eyebrows bent into different directions.
“Oh.”

“...Yeah.”

Your eyelids started to fall, the harsh realization that this was one of your key clues to solving this case, yet how could you get into depth with it without pressing the trauma back onto the victim?

It was enough to make your nails sink into the plush material that coated the tablet as protection and for your teeth to curl into the side of your mouth. 

As you opened your mouth to speak, a firm yet timid weight was placed on your left shoulder, a synthetic warmth spreading into the area. 

You fixed your gaze over to Connor, whose hand had eased onto your body without a second thought in a way to comfort you. 

“I know that this information is...unsettling, especially the circumstances. But, I do know that as your partner, I am here to help solve this case with you.”

Even with the crisp atmosphere of the building’s air conditioning, it felt as if a furnace had been forged inside your stomach and you were shocked to not find fumes poking from every hole in your body. 

It was just a small thing, a tiny tinder moment that most new friends give between each other during that first awkward situation of one being upset. 

But it meant everything to you in the heat of the moment. 

“Thank you, Connor. That means a lot,” you replied wispy, blinking back the clear liquid that pressed against the underside of your eyes. 

Taking in a deserved gulp of air, you released the tight hold you had on the tablet and reassured  your friend with a gentle grin. 

He built his own smile, the corner of his lips tugging and creating the fine lines in his artificial skin as you puffed out the inhaled air. 

“And like I said, you’re the best detective here. I bet you’ll solve this case as fast as you did with Albright’s, might make a new record here,” you joked, your feet finally moving back into the station, slipping through the metal detector, the male soon following your path. 

“There is a high probability that I could. But, your added help and intelligence will make that chance higher. Plus, I’ve come to discover that I find your company quite pleasing.”

You had just reached the break room and were going for the pot you had made that awaited warmly on the heating plate and you almost lost your grip on the glass container, the dark liquid swirling madly within it. 

He’s just a coworker/friend that doesn't understand the terms of words he used to explain his thoughts and feelings and you shouldn’t catch feelings oh god don’t catch anything!

With the mug you left next to it now full and your hair tucked back, you took a prolonged sip and let the caffeine dig into your organs before letting out a small groan. 

“Okay, I think it’s time to meet our client,” you grumbled, your teeth grinding at the term you used. 

Taking the lead, you and Connor headed back to the clinic, the backup lights slowly gaining strength as the night settled in. Going back into the small room, you could feel the prickle of anxiety hit the nap of your neck. The curtain circling around her was still there, indicating that she hadn’t moved from her bed since you had first come there. 

You placed your belongings on the side table and sent a glance over to your partner, who’s blank face only caused you to question if he was emotionally ready for this while you knew you weren’t mentally ready for it. 

You knocked on the side wall before lightly tugging at the rough fabric, your body titling as your fingertips pushed. 

“Hello,” you softly called, your eyes catching the young girl once again. 

The YK500 was hidden under her blanket, her wide hazel eyes peering from the bright fabric before hastily burying herself back into the sheets, the linen wrinkling at her hold. 

You cleared your throat before fully pushing the curtain back until only you and Connor were in view, leaving the rest of it to hide her. 

“Whoa, whoa. Hey, it’s okay,” you cooed, lowering yourself until you were on your knees, your head level with the mattress. 

You quickly recalled your reading over androids during your last year of training, the manual thrown towards you due to the revolution and rights act for the androids. 

Child androids were the most human-like out of all of them, mostly so then the people who adopted them wouldn’t have to come to terms that they were adopting for the sake of replacing their lost children or to be showered with affection due to the act of adopting one. 

So the process of her sensation and reaction to her situation was unimaginable to say the least. 

Spear’s remark boiled in your mind and suddenly a bad taste formed in your mouth. 

The thought of it made your guts twist and fight within you as you softly tapped the firm bed. 

“Do you remember me? I’m the one who found you,” you whispered, your head leaning to the side in hopes of finding her under the waves of white. 

Silence answered you and you bit the inside of your lip to hold back a sigh. 

Alright, there are a few ways to go about this. 

One was to continue trying in route in getting closer and closer, could be effective with the right words and body language but if failed then Sawyer could not trust you at all. Another idea was to give her space for the night and look through the evidence placed in the evidence room and get it sorted out while trying to think of a way to win her over. 

You casted a glance over to Connor, who was quietly watching you as if he knew the muscle in your head was flipping in thought. You then took in the bare walls and how her bedside table bore nothing but Thirium blood placed in a cup with a straw and a button to call for a nurse. 

Seeing that the second option would overall be better, you lifted yourself up from your kneel and gave the bed a small pat, causing the figure under the covers to jump. 

“If you need anything, Sawyer, just push this button and someone will come. I know it’s hard to believe, but you are safe now and I promise that nothing will hurt you here.” 

Lifting up your hand, you closed the curtains to give her full privacy and then bobbed your head at your friend towards the exit, the sound of your footsteps echoing against the pristine walls. 

As you walked out of the door, you instantly pulled out your phone, typing a few words into your online shopping app and quickly searching up a few objects to bring a little life to Sawyer’s area. 

 With remembering you had your food in waiting to be made and sent you way, you clicked the confirm button and then went to your emails-

“Detective L/N?”

“Yea-”

You had turned around to answer but instantly rammed in something solid, your nose being crunched due to the firm wall. 

You caught a whiff of expensive cologne and a small hint of pretty laundry detergent as you ruffed out of Connor’s shirt, a frizzle of red running across your face. To keep you from falling due to the crash, the android grabbed both of your forearms to keep you steady.

“Crap, sorry. I didn’t realize you were right behind me,” you brushed off, giving him an embarrassed smile as you detached yourself. 

But Connor held onto you, his LED twisting into a concern yellow as he eyed you. 

“Detective L/N, your vitals are low and the lack of sleep is affecting your field of vision, maybe you should head home with the rest of the officers,” he stated, his dark eyelashes fluttering at the end of his sentence. 

Oh, so you didn’t just accidentally run into him, you rammed into him when you could’ve prevented it. 

Maybe the coffee just didn’t work anymore. 

You backed away from him, tucking your loose hair behind your ears.

“No. No, I’m fine. We need to organize the evidence and my food is coming-”

A hand grasped yours before you could walk away, your eyes instantly looking down to find the male’s fingers grasping yours. 

He was warm. Very warm, as if individual sensors were picking up heat to every fiber of skin in your hand. 

You swallowed and looked around, glad to find that no one was seeing this interaction between the two of you. 

“Y/N. From my time spending with the Lieutenant and the vast understanding of the human body I know that with the lack of rest and the increasing usage of caffeine is unhealthy and will shorten your attention span for this case,” he calmly asserted, his eyebrows furrowing upward and then directly back down as if he was trying to code the words he was trying to say together. 

“I’m...concerned for your health, please, Y/N.”

It had been a long time since someone was genuinely worried about your well-being, especially in a workforce that wants to bleed you dry with the piles of work to get through in a matter of days. 

Of course, a few words wouldn’t usually hold you back, especially with the circumstances that were wrapping around your neck like a noose. 

 The grounded beans were not working though, and your bones throbbed underneath the skin and tissue and you were surprised that you could even have enough brain power to do the simple tasks on your phone minutes ago. 

You wouldn’t be able to help the young girl with a brain that was practically dead within your head. 

“Let me help set up the evidence and get my food. Then I’ll go home,” you answered, lightly rubbing your thumb into his hand hoping you two could find middle ground. 

The corner of his left lip twitched as he grinned and untangled his fingers from your palm, leaving a strange remains of heat as if you had wrapped a heated blanket around your hand and then quickly ripped off. 

“Thank you, Detective L/N.”

“And back to the last name bases,” you huffed out, chuckling at his pouty expression since it was structured strangely on his face.

With the subtle agreement, you both headed over to the evidence room that was proclaimed as yours, the door opening with your badge. 

The countless papers and other objects proclaimed as evidence were stored in boxes and containers on the front table provided. 

It wasn’t like the main evidence room downstairs since it was already being used and this case wasn’t the one on the top list, but that didn’t mean the room you were provided with wasn’t just as good, just lacked the futuristic gleam the main one was gifted. 

It didn’t take long to unpack the journals written by Albright and the photos that were taken by the forensics photographers. Neatly placing them into place, you couldn’t stop yourself from taking a peek into one of the stuffed books while Connor started to place the photos in order. 

Albright’s written words were more like scribbles of a mad man, his penmanship all over the place and he pressed hard on the ball of his pen since the words were puffier with the black ink. 

And you did find something that even after heading home you still picked at the food you bought with the tip of your fork.

Something had caught your eye on the bottom of one page after shifting throughout the book in a fast yet silent pace. 

One out of place paper was tucked within it and instead of black ink twisted to make words it was in a bright blue. 

The words that were written in the color that matched Connor’s blood made yours run cold. 

“The school of fish has been moved except for the last YK500.”

Chapter Text

It has been a week since you’ve taken this case. Two weeks of absolute nothing.

It was the same routine every damn day: Waking up, going for a run, heading to work, decorating the evidence room with any bit of news or data you collected, searching the worldwide web of any connection of Bill Pace, staying way past your shift to only be shuffled home by your concerned android friend. 

By the third day you skipped the run and Connor practically had to carry you out due to the lack of sleep. 

And the lack of sleep wasn’t the main problem that you were having when your new partner was a gold-like painting that you couldn’t help but gawk at until he shook yourself back to reality. 

It was just a lot to process with such little time.

Luckily, you were able to bond a bit with the little girl, Sawyer. Just a little. 

The things you had ordered when you first met her, being kid toys and coloring books, was something she took kindly to. She only went towards them after you had left the room and a few hours later you went to check up on her to find that she was coloring into one of the books. 

She didn’t jump like a frightened cat when you entered the room for the first time, even when you crossed over to her side of the room. 

Her hazel eyes still watched you like a hawk as you walked past her though, as if she waited for you to lash out and for her to make a break for the door. 

It was painful to see that much fear graze over someone’s face, especially a child’s. 

Before you left, you eyed the small trash can that was leaning near the front door, the white bin for once having contents inside. 

A stuffed animal, a few papers from the books, and some of the crayons were inside once you looked through it. 

All of it being blue or closely related to the color.

You made sure to write down the strange decision the child android made and placed it onto your bulletin board, your eyes straining against the bold words as if it would tell you what the action meant. 

You’ve stared at that small note everyday after it, both you and Connor wondering if that one detail could open this case wide open. 

“If it ain’t Detroit's next Hero .” 

‘Oh come on!’

You placed your marker back into its spot and inhaled a long and overdue breath before you turned to see Trey in the doorway, a smug expression smothering his face. 

It was too early in the morning to take in his shit-eating grin and the way his eyes prowled over you like a predator with its next prey made you want to get the gun that was at your desk. 

The one time you forget to close that damn door and he comes in for the kill. 

You swiftly covered your evidence board with your body so he couldn’t view it, your arms going over your chest before responding. 

“What do you want, Trey?”

The male smiled confidently since you didn’t throw a comeback or insult back and strolled inside the room, his hand making a gesture towards you. 

“Just wanted to see the star detective in her prime. But-” he let his fingers flip through a few stacks of unorganized papers and let out a low whistle. 

“Seems like you aren’t as good as you believed.”

You let yourself give a slow blink as you took in what he said, the sway of exhaustion swimming inside your skull as you rolled your tightened shoulders. 

 You could have had a million insults just ready to be loaded into your tongue and aimed to spit at him, but the stress enough over this case had caused a mental block against everything that wasn’t the main goal at hand. 

“Y/N was good enough to be hand-picked, dumbass.”

You both turned to see Gavin Reed in the doorway, two coffees in hand and a disgusted look falling over his scarred face. 

You were a little surprised to see him coming in to stand up for you, but not really shocked over it. 

From what you heard from your partner and Hank, Gavin had a lot of problems within himself such as anger issues and taking them out on other people, even on victims that came to seek help from the detective. 

Especially Connor since he was the first android to join the force after the revolution  

But, a few of the other officers finally pushed the detective to get some help and he did because now he was just that loveable sarcastic asshole that everyone loved in movies as the secondary character. 

It took a little bit for you two to see eye to eye, especially since you had to prove to him and some of the other officers that you were worth this job, that you being hand-picked wasn’t just a stroke of luck on your department. Gavin also had to prove to you that the stick up his ass wasn’t that far up. 

But, all of your work and sarcastic remarks towards him have now paid off. 

Because here he was, going against the new bad apple in the bunch. 

A really rotten and worm-filled apple. 

“Now, go do your job so they can do theirs's, asshat.”

The left side of Trey’s mouth curled at the insult, but he cast one last glance before storming out, not wanting to make any other higher ranks upset with him and ruin his chance at a higher position. 

Once the prick walked out, you let out a sigh of gratitude as Gavin handed you the cup of joe he made for you, the warm mug toasting your cold fingers. 

“My hero,” you purred as Gavin leaned up near you, his grey eyes rolling as he took a sip of his dark roast. 

“Yeah, yeah. I can’t let a guy who has that tight ass walk get away with everything,” he muttered back, his eyes darting over the evidence board and then the scattered notes you had over the table. He then took in the more organized and proper side of the table that belonged to Connor.

“That bad, huh?”

You rubbed the bridge of your nose as you let the fumes from the mug invade your senses, taking another long sip of it before setting it down. 

“I’m not getting anywhere,” you confessed, the exhaustion finally breaking your hold on your emotions and tears edging the corner of your eyes. You blinked them away before the detective could notice them and sat up from where you leaned. 

“Connor is able to spot anything in a second, Most of this information is from him.”

You eyed your pinned note about Sawyer and her distaste for blue, one of the only few facts you had scavenged. 

 Gavin let out a groan as he clicked his tongue, the scar on his nose twitching due to the action. 

“That tin can is going to take all of our jobs,” he spat, a chuckle erupting afterward as you lightly smacked him on the shoulder. 

“That’s not what I meant!”

The uplift in the atmosphere had you grinning once more, the happier tone having your eyes flutter awake and bringing you back into a more focused state. 

You let him look through the bits of evidence, even though he shouldn’t be seeing the inside of an important case, most detectives ignored the rule due to wanting to solve the problem. 

As you drained the rest of your coffee mug, there was a groan of a floorboard behind you and you rotated to see Connor in the doorway, his clean suit lightly dotted with the rain from outside. 

If being attractive in every living condition and situation was a crime, poor Connor would be the one behind bars instead of the criminals he found. 

Gavin turned at the noise and let out a disgusted sound, his eyes prancing over the male’s figure as he strolled over towards the door he stood at. 

“Gotta go, Y/N. The smell of motor oil makes me gag,” he snarked, sending an evil wink towards you before shoving past the detective, you had a confused glaze over his face due to the insult. 

Your friend then turned to you, his arms cleanly going for his jacket to roll it off.

“Good morning, Detective L/N.”

“Good morning, Detective Anderson.”

Connor grinned at that as he came up to the chair he had next to yours, his long fingers already working against the paperwork on his side of the table. 

A wave of embarrassment hit you as you glanced over at your disaster of a work area, how little notes and highlighted files were littered all over the steel desk. 

You should be better than this, especially with what was at stake. Sawyer was counting on you, she needed you to find Bill Pace and his schemes. 

And the last note in his journal. 

“The school of fish has been moved except for the last YK500.”

Both you and Connor had stared at the statement for hours on end, trying to connect it to anything else within the books or papers Pace had in the cellar. 

At that memory, the contents in your stomach stirred and you felt the bile quickly rise to your throat, as if your brain knew how repulsive the assault was on the girl. 

You sighed and rose from your spot, those dreamy brown eyes instantly looking over at you as you started to clean up your side of the desk.

Halfway through the cleanup, Connor piped in a question that had you practically rolling on the ground in a fit of laughter.

“Do I smell unpleasant, detective L/N?”

You then spent the next ten minutes telling him that the cologne that Hank had bought for him did not smell bad. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Even with how hard the android detective tried to convince you to get something to eat during lunch break, you waved him off and said that you would order something after finding the connection between two facts.  

Humans were bizarre creatures. 

Hank loudly crunched into his favorite fast food from the Burger Zone as the standard rain of Detroit continued on around them, the passing automatic cars and citizens strolling across the sidewalk somehow not drowning out the grunts and swallows. 

But Connor had learned how to “zone out” as his partner would call it and was leisurely eyeing everything around him as the day passed on. 

He combed through some of the Lieutenant's cases through his database to somehow push you out of his CPU, a small shake going through his body at the sudden action within his system. 

He didn’t want to treat you like a virus, but sometimes it was a little difficult to focus on his prime objective. 

“You’re doing it again.”

The brunette blinked a few times before turning back to the older man, his relaxed posture now straightening as if to impress his father-figure. 

“Doing what, Lieutenant?”
“Overthinking.”

The young detective tugged his quarter out of his pocket and started to toy with it, his calculated fingers twisting and flipping it. 

An android couldn’t really overthink. They could get overheated due to overriding requests in their protocol, especially with all androids being deviated and new to the overflow of emotions they now have. 

Connor hadn’t countered these attractions yet, only coming close due to the overflow of new emotions that had come over him in the past year. He didn’t know if other androids had reacted in the same manner he had, but he knew one certain emotion that engulfed him during these times. 

Fear. 

Fear of what was happening to him, why he was out of control with all of these strange new responses to things he never knew before. 

Maybe androids did overthink. 

“What’s on your mind, son?”

Another flip and specific trick between his knuckles.

Too much. 

He tossed the round piece of strange metal into his other hand and flipped it under his thumb. 

Too little. 

The coin was up in the air now. 

You. 

“Is it Y/N?”

The echo of the coin missing his catch and clashing onto the concrete was deafening as Hank raised his undone eyebrows. 

Hank watched as the young detective knelt down and picked up his signature trademark, his mind going blank at never once seeing him drop it in the whole year he had known the android. 

It made him a little worried in all honesty. 

“Is the case not going well for you guys?” Hank pushed as Connor slipped the round silver back into his pocket, his hands now holding each other as he supported his body onto the tall table. 

“We are….stuck. Due to no new found evidence we haven’t been able to progress.”

Connor then looked over at Hank, his chocolate eyes darting back and forth before continuing. 

“I’m also concerned for Y/N’s health. Their stress levels are staying at a constant level and has shown signs of being sleep deprived.”

Hank couldn’t help but release a hoarse chuckle, a few bits of his food flying from his mouth as he tried to clean himself up. 

His partner fixed his composer as he took a long swig of his soda. 

“Son, Y/N is a detective. It’s part of the job for us humans unfortunately,” the man muttered, his voice barely louder than the storm arguing around them. 

His own stormy eyes glanced over at his son-figure, how Connor’s realistic eyes were practically frantic within his skull as he tried to calculate someway to make me feel the slightest bit better. 

Everyday Connor did something that surprised the Lieutenant, and with the way his perfect partner was reacting, he would consider that Connor saw you more than just a colleague. 

Hank then took another bite of the burger, his brain wrapping around the taste and then an idea following right after it. 

“Y’know, food is a comfort thing for us humans,” the older man offered, causing Connor to raise his quivering eyes. 

“Maybe a nice treat will help Y/N.”

The new human fact filed into Connor’s hive mind as Hank continued on with his meal, his memory bank coming in handy as he fibered up directions within his head. 

“Thank you, Hank. I’ll meet you back at the station. There’s a stop I have to make.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You pushed a strand of untamed hair back behind your ear as you headed back to the evidence room, a headache starting to form in the base of your head. 

You finally broke through the wall between you and Sawyer, she finally said a few words to you as you sat in the same room as her. 

You were complimenting her drawing and knew you weren’t going to gain a response, until a small voice broke through the building’s air conditioning and groans of its age. 

“Thank you.”

Your eyebrows rose to the point they could’ve been lost into your hair, but you held back your shock and excitement as she continued on to color, the moment barely lasting but was a massive step in your mind. 

You gave a sickly swallow as your stomach growled to the point that it’s roar had jetted daggers into your sides. 

Your fingers gripped the doorknob a little bit too tightly as if to suppress the unforgiving turmoil within your body and practically collapsed into the room. 

The first thing you took in was the smell of food and your face instantly perked up to find Connor in his usual spot and a bag and drink from the diner you took him to. 

Your fingers went up to your chin to wipe off the drool you thought was dripping from your face as you headed over to your side of the table, your eyes poking holes into Connor to make him look at you. 

“Who’s this for?” You couldn’t help but ask, your hands laying the report you had made during the time you spent with the child android. 

The detective looked up from his tablet, the circular rod on the side of his head swirling a timid yellow before flipping to a blue. 

“For you, detective L/N,” he simply replied, not once making any contact with you as if he would crumble if he did. 

Your head twisted between him and the suspicious bag as you sat down, your fingers delicately opening up the brown craft paper to find one of your favorite orders from the diner wrapped nicely in the bag. 

Your stomach did a few flips of excitement at the sight and you had to dig your fingernails into the side of the table to control yourself. 

Connor bought you food, he bought you something?!

You couldn’t tell if it was because you paid for the meal last time or due to him knowing you hadn’t taken the time to take a break and eat was beyond you. 

You took a comforting slug from your drink before relaxing in your chair, the tip of your toes bouncing up and down as you exposed the delicious dinner from its wrapping. 

 Before you dived in though, you sent Connor a grateful smile. 

“Thank you, Connor.”

Your new ally finally looked up from his work, those softened brown orbs sending you waves of embarrassment as you shyly looked away. 

“You’re welcome, Y/N.”

And over the course of the meal, you told him about the new improvement you had with the case, the flaming anxiety of the evidence board looming over you two for once forgotten. 

Chapter Text

It was around 1:15 in the morning when you got the call.

You tossed in your bed in an attempt to ignore the ringing, but then remembered that your job was a 24/7 thing and turned back to the device with a groan. 

You rubbed the tiredness from your eyes as you flipped the answer button on your phone, your throat tightening to clear it. 

“Hello?”

“Is this Detective L/N?” A male voice asked on the other end. 

Thinking over whether you should answer that or not, you decided to answer due to this person knowing you were a detective. 

“Yes. Who is this?”

“This is PC-I mean- Jonathan. One of the patrol androids at the Detroit Police Station. I’m sorry for interrupting your slumber, but there is a YK500 requesting to see you.”

Requesting? That’s a strange way to say that Sawyer needed you for something. Then again, some androids were still having trouble knowing what to do with their deviantance.

“Oh. Does she want to talk to me?” You asked, sitting up in your bed and turning on the light next to it. Maybe Sawyer was finally going to tell you something, anything to help with the case and put you a step further into solving it. 

“No, Detective L/N. She wants you to come here. She will not settle down and she’s only requesting for you,” the android replied in a stiff tone. 

You blinked several times before tossing your feet over to the side of the mattress, your heart pounding more blood into your body. 

“Uh, okay. Tell her I’m on my way then?” It was more of a question than a statement when it left your mouth. 

“Okay, Detective L/N and….thank you. YK500 seems stressed.”

The male android then clicked off and you threw your phone into the blankets, a sigh parting your lips as you rubbed the sleep from your eyes. 

Within five minutes you had dressed into some comfortable casual clothes and made your own cup of coffee before heading out, the chill of the night fluttering into your layers. 

Fall somehow had crept upon you without even noticing and you couldn’t help but gnaw on your nail at the thought. 

Since this case you haven’t had time for yourself or others, texts from your friends slowly piling up on your phone. 

You haven’t made plans with Connor as you promised and your teeth broke off the last nail you had. 

You slid your ID and parking pass onto the scanner as you pulled into the parking garage, cars barely sprinkling throughout the levels as you parked. 

Luckily, the blinding lights of the station were slightly dimmed as you entered it, throwing your bag and placing your traveling mug at your desk before marching over to the clinic where Sawyer was. 

You didn’t see the android that called you nor the android doctors as you opened the white door, your fingers brushing over it until you were fully inside. 

“Sawyer?” You called out, the lightbulbs blackened out as if the little girl in the room needed darkness to sleep. 

A small head peeked from the curtain that gave her bed area privacy before she dashed over to your side, her small hands burying into your sides. 

Your body gently sidestepped so she wouldn’t knock you over before placing a tender hand over the space between her shoulder blades. 

She wasn’t crying out like most children her age or telling you what had frightened her, but the vibration in her body showed that something had happened to make her frightful. 

With the tip of her fingers you flipped the lights fully on in the room, your knees bending until you were within her eye-level. 

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m here, I’m here,” you reassured her, sending her a kind smile as she brought her hands back to her chest in a form of protection. 

Letting her trail behind you, you walked over to her little area to see if anything could give you clues on what had turned her into a scared animal pinned in a corner. 

Her coloring books and toys were neatly placed next to her bedside table and the only thing out of place was the sheets and blanket that she had if she wanted them. 

Everything seemed fine until you laid your eyes on the cup on the table, the liquid within it darkening the white material of the mug. 

It was thirium, the blue liquid bright in the artificial light. 

Something about blue had the girl acting as the android blood was poisonous to her.

You turned to her, her deep chocolate eyes hiding behind your body as you reached for the medical mug. 

“Is this what upset you?” You asked, bringing the white ceramic closer. 

Sawyer shut her small eyes and covered her face with the lip of your jacket, her knuckles going into a heat blue for how hard she was holding onto you.

You turned your stare back at the mug in your hand. 

The nurse most likely had given it to her in case she needed it throughout the night. It was half empty due to the blue dye staining the cup. What most likely happened was that the YK500 needed the blue blood but couldn’t stand it after the first full swallow. 

Whatever or whoever traumatized her to the point she couldn’t even handle looking or feeling the one thing that kept her alive had your hands shaking at the grasp of the cup.

Get through it, Y/N. You have to help her.

Detaching yourself from her for only a moment, you took the mug and placed it onto the counter the furthest away from her. For extra measure you hid it behind some books and files that were placed on the marble. 

“There, out of sight, out of mind,” you soothed, your body responding with a caring grin as you made your way back to her little space. 

‘Now,’ you thought, your bottom lip being sucked in by your teeth, ‘what can I do to bring her stress down?’

You kind of wanted to call Connor, you did have his phone number after all. He would know how high her stress levels were, he could help you calm her down. 

His presence would calm down your own stress. 

You shook your head in hopes of kicking the handsome male out of it, your eyes catching one of the books. There was no need to bother her, especially since he was finding most of the connections throughout the case.

“Hey, how about I read you one of your books?” You offered, your fingers already pulling up one of the chairs that is offered with every bed. 

“You can pick whatever you want.”

Sawyer swayed in her spot for a moment, the suggestion tempting by the way she would look up at you, the book, and then the floor. 

Before you could offer something else for the two of you to do, she slowly made her way over to the bed, her small digits instantly picking out a book from her collection. 

You suppress a yawn as she handed you the book that was as thick as Hank’s hamburgers, your eyes raising to see that she was barely past chapter 2. 

As Sawyer got herself comfortable on her bed, you slapped your past self for not bringing your delicious and comforting coffee with you. 

Hoping that the coldness of the seat would keep you awake, you started to read where she had left her handmade bookmark. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Wakey Wakey, sleeping beauty!”

Your eyes were instantly open as you stood up, your once peaceful nap now ruined as you tried to gain balance with the new weight on your feet. 

You turned to see Gavin snickering behind your desk, the faint hovering of noise from the officers coming in flowing into your ears.

“What the fuck, Gavin?!” you lashed out, your aching eyes narrowing at the male as you tossed your tangled hair back. 

“What? Woulda rather me kiss ya awake?" he asked as he sat on the offering chair behind your desk that was for clients and witnesses. The scarred male took a sip of his warm drink before raising an uneven eyebrow. 

“What’s got ya here so early? ”he asked as you got comfortable in your chair once more. 

You glanced over to the digital clock on your terminal to see it was around seven in the morning and you let out an exhausted breath. 

It didn’t take long for Sawyer to sleep or go to stasis mode, but every time you tried to sneak away, she would open her copper eyes and plead silently for you to stay. 

So, you did, and now you desperately needed another hour of sleep and a well-earned shower. 

“The little girl, Sawyer, from my case got scared and one of the patrol officers called me so I could help calm her down,”you explained, your hand lazily reaching over for Gavin’s drink only to watch him pull it closer to his chest. 

“Well, you look like shit from it,” he stated, taking a long and outdrawn sip as if to spite you. 

You huffed out half of a growl as you scanned the desks. 

“Where is everyone?” 

Gavin rolled his eyes as he rose from the chair, his free hand tossing his stiff hair to the side. 

“Some meeting, only the higher ranks and shit had to go. So you little robo-boyfriend won’t be here for another hour or so,” he gooed out, a sarcastic grin stitching across his face. 

You didn’t have enough energy to build any sort of comeback in your head so instead you raised your middle finger and replied. 

“Sit on it.”

Detective Reed let out a fake chipper laugh as he walked away, his own hand giving you the bird as he went to his desk. 

You couldn’t let him tattoo the thought of Connor as more than a friend into your brain, not when there was only one objective printed into the muscle. 

God you needed a warm shower to wake you up and help reset your mind.

You steadily got up and strolled over to the elevator, an idea drifting into your head as a way to cross off that wonderful idea as you headed for the training room. 

You took a long and refreshing shower where half of it you were using the wall to help you stand. It was past an hour before you finally clicked off the water and redressed, your mind now clear as you headed back to the precinct.

The place was now buzzing with life as you headed over to the breakroom, your stomach now growling due to the familiar scent of pastries and brew of coffee. 

As if fate was on your side, both of your favorite boys were in the room as well, Hank always being the first to hop on the fresh pot of Joe. 

“Did you two have fun at the meeting?” You asked from behind, your fingers clicking against your travel mug that you had picked up on your way over. 

Connor was the first to turn to greet you and you almost lost your breath. 

Sometimes you believed that the biggest crime here was how breathtaking Cyberlife made Connor look. 

His usual perfected hair was now slightly curled, as if he had run out of gel in the bottle he used and did what he could with the last bit he had. He wore a simple grey suit with a white button up and a dark grey tie. Always the one to stand out in the crowd of officers with stained t-shirts or overworked uniforms. 

It had the salvia that dappled in your throat to dry out and for you to harshly swallow to only feel the cottonmouth starting to form on your tongue. 

And the smile he sent you was enough to have your once drowsy face brighten with excitement. 

“Good morning, Detective L/N,” he commented, his eyes scanning you and for a moment you believed he was checking you out. But with a simple blink his face constructed into a worry expression. 

“Your fatigue levels are low. Did you not rest well?”

Your lips went into a fine line and you glanced over at the Lieutenant. 

“Does he do this with you everyday, too?” You asked, scooting yourself in to get the next pour of grounded coffee beans. 

The older man let out a half-hearted laugh as he looked over at Connor who’s eyebrows were raised in confusion. 

“You don’t know the half of it, kid.”

The white-haired male looked you over though and noted the dark circles and wrinkled clothes that tightened around your body. 

“But he’s right. It looks like you didn’t get much sleep last night,” he muttered, his cup rising to his lips and the pull back to reveal his mustache stained with the dark liquid. 

Before you could reply, his electric eyes darted over to the entrance and he nodded towards the thing that had his attention. 

“Seems like someone wants your attention.”

You slowly turned to see Sawyer hiding herself against the doorframe, her face and hand barely in view as she saw that you had seen her. 

You pushed back the bit of annoyance that tried to crawl into you and reminded yourself that she was just a little kid. A very frightened and traumatized child that needed you. 

You placed your coffee down before you could even have a simple taste of it and lowered yourself to the floor, a reassuring flash of your teeth straining your facial features. 

“Come on, it’s okay,” you encouraged the young girl, your hand opening up for hers to take when she came over. 

Her dark eyes surveyed the area, her head stopping on Hank and Connor as she backed away from the white hinge of the doorway. 

“Hey, they won’t hurt you. I promise,” you practically whispered, your heart twitching within your ribcage as the fear was clear as day on her face. 

You would get Bill Pace for what he did, you would make that disgusting piece of shit suffer for treating Sawyer like an experiment. 

With a few shy steps and then a hurried sprint, Sawyer made her way up against your thigh, one hand clenching your pants and another holding a piece of paper. 

“I was here with her all night. One of the patrol officers called and said that she was asking for me,” you finally answered, your fingers gently patting her jetted shoulder before going back to your drink. 

Connor’s LED twisted to a yellow before going back to blue at the new information. 

“Why didn’t you contact me?”

The worry that was designed into his voice wasn’t hard to miss as you took a few thankful gulps of the coffee. 

“I didn’t want to disrupt you. Besides, she called for me and with how skittish she is, you might’ve frightened her if you came.” 

You tried to say the statement in the friendliest tone you could muster up, but you could tell that your android friend was a little taken aback by this. 

The brunette thought over the fact and then slowly nodded, as if he wanted to be upset over it but knew that you were right. 

The paper crinkled made you look down at the colorful sheet she held in her right hand. 

“Whatcha got there?” You asked, the tip of your finger poking the corner of the paper. 

Sawyer eyed the drawing and then handed it over to you, her eyes glancing away. 

Holding the drawing like it was an art piece, you couldn’t help but smile at the drawing she made. 

The drawing was a little dog with stick legs, the grass under it bright with stripes and its collar a dull red. The sky had no color, not even black for the night sky, as if that color was still too close to blue. 

From the color and build of the dog, you knew it was from the story you had read to her last night. 

You pushed out the awful thought and looked down at her. 

“I think this is a beautiful picture of Winn-Dixie, Sawyer. I just might have to pin it up somehow at my desk,” you complimented, a tiny smile forming on the young girl’s face.

You then leaned over towards Connor, a grin gracing your face. 

“What do you think, Connor?”

He slightly bent down to get a better view of the drawing, his horizon-like eyes taking in the scribbles and the large proportion size of the dog’s head. 

“I believe that the drawing would make your desk area more lively, Detective L/N,” he said before turning to Sawyer. 

“I also like dogs, so my opinion might be invalid.”

The child android hid behind your shadow, but the blue blush that highlighted her face was one of the cutest things you’ve probably ever seen.

“I like dogs too.”

Hank, Connor, and you all twisted your heads towards the little girl, the shock appearing in different ways over your faces as Sawyer hid away once more.

But that little comment made the late night of barely any sleep and the extra lines under your eyes all worth it. 

She was opening up, and the gentle smile that Connor gave at the news had hope finally blossomed to life inside of you.

Chapter Text

The crisp, fall breeze drifted through your coat as you slowly walked around the shady factory, the old shafts of metal not updated like the rest of the city. 

The concrete under your shoes was stained with the recent rainfall as you turned another corner, your eyes scanning for some kind of entrance to the oversized building. 

Finally, after searching for over ten minutes, you found a piece of the material bent to reveal a small opening, the ends of it curled to show that it was used frequently. 

Maybe you shouldn’t be doing this alone, maybe you should wait for your partner. 

Wait for Connor.

But, the android went on a case with the Lieutenant due to the brunette having the ability to click on certain clues on the scene to figure out what happened. 

Almost minutes after he left, you found a hidden slit in one of the multiple journals you had searched through over a dozen times. 

You couldn’t believe that you both had missed it, but you have only found it due to dropping the book and seeing the spine bend at a strange angle.

Hope pulsing through your veins, you quickly pulled out the piece of paper that was tucked inside the glued in sleeve, your fingertips shaking as you got it out. 

It was old due to the crumbled edges and a weird stain on the bottom right of the paper. It was only one slice of paper and you unfolded it. You could see the outline of words labeled over the paper as you finally got it fully uncovered. 

It was written in the same blue as the note you found in Bill Pace’s journal, the handwriting the same as well. But, these two pieces of paper didn’t match up to the rest of the cursive in the books, making you believe that someone else wrote these two clues. 

‘Don’t forget the code, Pace. I know you have a shit memory.’

Code? Code?! What fucking code?!

You continuously flipped through the pages in hopes of finding out what the code was, your worn-out eyes searching through the words and strange chicken scratches to find nothing. 

With a slam, you thrust the book away, your hands coming up and ranking through your hair as your patience was running thin. 

“Okay,” you whispered to yourself, your throat wobbling as you swallowed your anger.

“ A code can be multiple things. It can be a series of words or letters scrambled out throughout the books. It can be hidden within the journals. It can be…”

You trailed off as your fingertip landed onto the page as you scanned the book, your eyes going wide as you noticed a detail that didn’t seem significant at the time. 

The page number, 72, was circled, but only the seven were circled with the same blank ink that Mr. Pace used in all his work. The circle was added with his constant, odd doodles over the pages of android parts he would draw. 

The wires of an android’s arm were spilled out until one of the wires circled over the printed number as if he forgot he was drawing in a writing journal instead of an artist. 

“Or numbers.”

With newly built energy, you skimmed over the pages, hope now flaring within your stomach as if the coffee you just drank had it swimming within it. 

After ten minutes, you were able to find four numbers circled. 

You placed them in order with how the journals were written in order, an upturned, ‘Thank you,’ escaping your lips to how forgettable Mr. Pace was of this code. 

You stamped the code onto the board, the small piece of paper outshining the rest of the information and facts. 

You bit your lip as you eyed the code, a part of your brain screaming at you that this should be your signal, that these four numbers should be your yellow brick road into finding the leader of this group. 

 Your eyes then jumped over the rest of the notes until they landed onto the one note you had read when you first got into Mr. Pace’s works. 

“The school of fish has been moved except for the last YK500.”

That was in code too, it had to be. 

Going back to the number code, you started to toss and structure the puzzle pieces within your head. 

Alright, since the mysterious writer said this is a code, this could be a password to a computer or a place with a lock on it. 

A school of fish is usually represented for a group being coordinated into a direction. So, these “fish” have been moved. 

“You’re an address, aren’t you?” You questioned the piece of paper you tacked onto the wooden board. 

It was a bold move to think so due to there being a million other possibilities of what the numbers could be, but you had to be confident in your findings. 

Fish… Why use the term fish?

Going back to Mr. Pace’s stuff, you searched through the boxes of the stuff you and Connor had deemed as unimportant for the time being. When one of the kidnapper’s coats came up, you pressed your thumb into it before checking the door to see if it was shut. 

Shit, I can’t believe I’m doing this. 

Inhaling fresh air, you took a short and disgusted whiff of the jacket. You could smell the cigarettes, the old cologne, and after another small smell, you caught the scent you were hoping for. 

The fish that was caught in Lake Erie, where the fish market was at. 

It was a stretch, a very long and sketchy stretch, but it was all you had. 

So, here you were, back up against the warehouse, your eyes straining against the wind as you saw the rusted address of the building. 

7827.

The large market below was upbeat with life, customers shopping for certain fish and equipment they wanted. 

Looking down at the chewed metal that revealed the doggy-like door, you bit the end of your lip as you once again rethought over the idea. 

There was no signal due to it being in the lower parts of Detroit. You had no way of contacting your partner or Connor. If you took the time to find a way to get to them, more androids like Sawyer could get hurt.

Dusting off the wet dirt that clung onto you after crawling in, you flicked on your flashlight that was once strapped to your belt. 

 Your fingers brush over your gun for a split second, fear freezing your blood at the thought of having to use it. 

You didn’t know what you would find, but as you took a large inhale, your throat was pierced with the technical taste of Thirium. 

The place was ghostly quiet, the crash of the waves in the harbor barely noticeable due to the thick sheets of metal covering the building. The tear of the chilly fall found its way through the deteriorated cracks and vents and you brought your jacket closer to you.

The old warehouse was decorated with cobwebs and layers of dust sprinkled over the equipment and supplies that have been left behind. 

You aimed your light downward after hearing a rat let out a cry of alarm at seeing you, the distress causing your aim to become shaky. 

Below you though was mud-ruined footprints, the slippery soil not even close to crusting over yet. 

You bent down to examine it, the trail of yellow from your hand going forward as the footprints went to a staircase, the fifty boots finally cleaned of the mud as they slowly disappeared. 

There was a “No Trespassing” sign outside, so no one should be on the property except for government officials. 

Whoever was here wasn’t the owner either since the bolts over the doors have been rusted over. 

This person was a trespasser just like you, meaning you could use them as a backup plan if you are caught.

Heading down to the basement, you did a double-take as you saw a gleam over the iron stairs. 

Blue liquid dripped step by step until the fifth stair as if someone had slipped a large pack of it and let it leak out until it was empty. 

You swallowed the lump in your throat that had built up as you stepped around it, your hand now over your gun as you took in the cramped basement. 

Most warehouses have basements for extra storage, and as you search around the rectangular room, your eyes scan every inch of the place in hopes of finding any new evidence. 

All you had was the thirium that was now staining the black bars, but Connor wasn’t with you, and the liquid would disappear soon.

God, this was a waste of time. You could feel the fingers of your free hand curl in anger at how you were getting nowhere. That Sawyer was suffering, that several other androids were suffering and the villain behind it all was making you run in circles. 

In a fit of rage and the need to let off steam, you pulled out your gun and shot at the wooden bookcase in front of you, the echo of the bullet spilling into your ears. 

Panic instantly covered over the anger as you gasped at what you did, your hand placed the gun back in its holster as you walked over to the half-empty shelves. 

You had to find the bullet before anyone else did, you couldn’t leave any evidence behind that could make you lose your job. 

With gloves that you had put on before entering the place, you started to look for the small piece of metal that you threw, placing your phone halfway out of your pocket to keep some light. 

But, you didn’t need it. A hole that the bullet had created cast a blinking light out of it, revealing a hidden room behind the shelves.

In a hast, you pushed the old shelves aside, your blood now pumping as you saw that no dust clouds didn’t roll with you. 

With a hard slam, you were able to slip on in with the gap you had created.

But you were slamming your spine up against the back of the bookshelf as you took in what was hidden from the seeing eye.  

The room was filled with technical equipment, the tools shining in the blinking lights of the terminals as they continuously worked with someone behind them.

Heaps of typed-out paperwork and files laid unorganized on the desks and tables that crowded the room and each piece of paper, at least, had a stain of blue on it. 

“Holy shit,” you muttered to yourself, your legs shaking as you took a step towards the hidden lab around you.  

You instantly pulled out your phone and started to take pictures, looking over the shipping arrangements of selling private goods, the surgery-like tools cleaned of any blue-blood, but Connor had shown you that you could slightly feel it still staining the object. 

With a gloved finger, you wiped the rough material over one of the scissors and then carefully took off the glove and tucked it into the pouch with your gun. 

Moving further into the room, you made your way to the main terminal, the tech connected with several other monitors that hung around it. 

There were ID’s of people flipping on and off of each screen, having all of their information flashing in bright, white fonts. Their names, address, jobs, schedules. 

Jesus, who made this?

You turned to the last corner you hadn’t explored yet, large tarps splayed over the things hidden under it. 

With your still gloved hand, you lightly pulled the blanket to reveal what was important enough to hide it. 

And you thought you were going to hurl all of your breakfast onto the polish floor. 

Two large cages that seemed to be from old circuses that cooped up their animals were under the large cloths, android limbs and parts left behind to spill their blue-blood out of their system. 

You couldn’t tell what would be worse to see: humans or androids. 

The blue liquid was still their blood, those were some androids body parts, torn and butchered like an animal. 

Slapping yourself back into reality, you took a few pictures before letting go of the curtain and back to the computer. 

It would be hard to take all the pictures of what was on the terminals. Luckily, you found a wireless charger next to the screen, your phone fitting perfectly on it due to the advanced technology of the police station and whoever owned this. 

With a few taps on the screen, you were downloading the information that was dashing across the screens right into your phone. 

It was odd to have no password protection, to have it wide open, but maybe it was luck. Maybe you were finally getting lucky. 

Until there was a loud thud above your head, a wave of dust shaking off of the ceiling and onto your head due to the weight. 

Or maybe the person on it had only walked out and didn't need to lock up the screens.

You froze for a second when you heard voices and then instantly went into action, your fingers pushing the bookshelf back into its original spot. The download needed a few more minutes, but you didn’t know if you had a few minutes. 

Heavy steps came down the stairs and you wrapped a shaking hand over your gun, horror blazing over your body at the thought of having to use it. 

Voices could be heard from behind the furniture as you pulled your phone into your pocket, your gun ready and aimed. 

You should’ve called Connor. 

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But, Connor was already speeding toward the harbor, Hank behind the wheel as he flicked on his police lights. 

When he came back from his call with the Lieutenant and found that the office room you both used was empty, he didn’t conduct anything with it. 

It was when ten minutes and 56 seconds went by that he felt his LED flicker with a concerned yellow as he rose from his chair and was about to wall out and ask your partner if she knew where you were at. 

But, the scanners in his realistic eyes caught something new on the bullet board you both had constructed. 

A new note written in your handwriting was stabbed right next to the “School of Fish” note that you had placed weeks ago. 

7827. 7827. Address!

In a blinding instant, the android had the number searched throughout all of Detroit, finally coming down to the conclusion of the numbers being an address down in the South District. 

That was the docking area and fish market where people could get their aquatic meats or equipment for fishing trips.

Strange. You wouldn’t go somewhere without notifying him first, right? 

After a few minutes, he showed Hank, and then he showed your partner, who didn’t even know that you had found a new clue in the investigation. 

One of the officers then raced by, their eyes wide as a few more cops dashed past them.
Over the rush of panicked orders and cops slipping on their coats and weapons, Connor connected the orders clearly from the Captain. 

You called in, and you were in trouble. 

Connor understood fear, he had felt it many times throughout his short span of becoming deviant. 

It wasn’t a pleasant feeling, it was something he didn’t want to experience at all when it came to having a life. 

Yet, the emotion somehow made his tic of messing with hands and outfit vibrate as ever as his father-figure took a hard right, several cop cars right behind as the fish market came into view. 

He couldn’t build up an excuse on why you didn’t wait for him, on why you didn’t call for him to tell him your discovery. 

Maybe…..maybe you didn’t trust him as he believed you did.

Your partner was next to one of the tall boardwalks, her eyes searching for you with a pair of binoculars through the sea of people. 

“Has anyone found them yet?” Hank asked as he came up to her side.

The woman shook her head in dismay, “no, but once I do, I’m going to ring Y/N’s neck for being this reckless.”

A call made itself known in Connor’s CPU and your name flashed in bright, white letters. 

He instantly answered it as he gave himself space from the two humans next to him. 

“Connor?!”

“Y/N,” he replied sharply, the mannerism of stating your last name before flying out the window. 

“Where are you?”

As if on cue, you came dashing around the corner of a shack, out of breath and your hair disheveled as you took in your surroundings. 

You were about 300 feet away due to the levels and multiple different shops and huts that were squished together, but even from where he stood, he could see the white in your knuckles due to the hold you had on your phone.

“I’m by-”

“To your right!”

You turned to see one of the goons after you, red spots dotting his jacket due to your hasty shot to the first guy that came through the door. 

You were lucky to get the first shot in as you pushed through the group, their shock freezing them for a second before they started to hunt you down.

His arms were around you, your hand dropping the phone as you both tousled around before his boot slipped over the sleek path. 

With him being unbalanced, you secured a kick into his kneecap before bringing it up to meet with his chin as he headed downwards. 

Snatching up the phone, you raced down the steps, your eyes swinging in panic as you tried to see if any of your fellow coworkers were around. 

“Up here!” your partner screeched out, her voice piercing the area since you wouldn’t be able to hear her through Connor. 

You looked up to see Hank, your partner, and Connor all looking down at you. You instantly started to search for the stairway that led up to them, your feet coming to a halt when another criminal revealed himself to you from one of the shadows. 

“Go to the market! I’ll meet you there!” Connor ordered, his body already climbing over the fence and down the hill.

 But you were already racing towards the shops and vendors, a small drop of relief hitting your gut to see that the men after you weren’t releasing fire to the innocent bystanders. 

But the citizens could tell a chase when they saw one and were moving out of the way as you came barreling through, your breath now a wheeze as you tried to find a place to hide. 

“Gotcha!”

A pair of large hands wrapped around your arms and let out a cry of alarm, your limbs desperately shaking until the warmth of your coast slipped off. 

“Y/N?!” Connor questioned into his automatic call, his eyes scanning around in trying to scan your facial identification. 

“I’m okay! Going to the loading center, the third station!” you instructed before ending the call and slipping the phone protectively into your pocket. 

Dropping it was a mistake you couldn’t afford to make again.

All the information was on this one device, the one thing to lead you to your next step in the investigation. 

You pushed and shoved past the crowd as you tried to make some distance between you and the men, your feet trying to keep up with your adrenaline as the shipping yard came into view. 

You stopped to take a few gulps of air before continuing onward, the overbearing footsteps of the criminals behind you growing louder by the second. 

“Connor?!” you cried out, hoping that your friend would find you in the nick of time. 

“Connor!!”

He didn’t come into view in the swarm of people, the only male that did was the goon that you recognized as possibly their leader, his finger pointing towards you and howling like a hound who found the rabbit it was hunting. 

With no other place to run, you dashed to the loading bins, the large crates swinging by as you headed straight into the maze of them. 

The workers took no notice to you as you dodged past the yellow and blue loading bins that were being dropped with the rest of the empty ones. 

You could feel someone right at the edge of your heels, their breath ragged as you continued to push yourself throughout the maze. 

Your left pocket started to vibrate and you knew it had to be Connor or one of the other officers, but there was no time in this pursuit to answer it. 

With precision, you pulled one of the unlatched doors of the containers and slammed it behind you, a cough of laughter catching in your throat to hear the face meet with the metal frame. 

But with a simple glance, you saw that there were two more men to replace him. 

With a grunt, you kicked open one of the crates and ran right into it, the darkness taking over as the door swung itself back closed. 

Exiting from the other side, you found the end of the box maze and made your way back around in hopes of spotting someone you recognized. 

You hopped onto one of the smaller docks and quickly scanned your surroundings, hoping that just for a second you could get another gulp of air. 

“You’re not out of the woods yet, cop.”

Large hands seized your face and you frantically jumped around like a fish out of water, desperately trying to get away. 

You wheezed into the palm before revealing your teeth and sinking them into the soft flesh, a yelp pulsing against your back as the man reacted. 

But he kept a firm grip on you and for a split second, you thought it was game over. You tried your best and it still wasn’t enough. 

These guys were going to drag you away into their secret hideout and torture you to no end to find out what you discovered in their stash. 

You tried to kick the male from behind but it was to no avail as you tightened his grip on you, your ribs screaming to be let go. 

Sawyer wasn’t going to get justice, you would never see your family or friends again. 

No more bickering with Gavin, no more grumpy mornings with Hank, no more late-night laughs with your partner. 

No more seeing Connor become the person he wants to be. 

A scream of pain pierced your eardrums as the goon holding onto you released his grip, your lungs inhaling the fresh air that was finally given to you. 

You turned around just in time to see Connor lift up the male and slam him into the ground, a pair of handcuffs already latching onto his wrists. 

Your fingers dusted over the bruises forming over your side as you tried to form words in your mouth. 

“Con....Connor.”

The male android twisted at the sound of his name, his hands still holding the struggling criminal under him as he looked you up and down. 

And the emotion in his eyes had you take a step back for a split second as if a typhoon of his feelings washed over you and swallowed you whole. 

It hurt to see that betrayal was written and scratched all over his face.

Before he could say anything, you slipped out your gun and took aim.

“Duck.”

With perfect instinct, your new partner lowered himself as the last guy came rushing up, a dull knife sparkling in his grip due to the dying sunlight and rising waves. 

Once he saw your gun aimed at him, he placed his hands up in a sign of defeat, the weapon in his hand thudding against the platform under you. 

 Connor called Hank's phone and led him and the rest of the officers over to the area you both were at, the sirens of the police cars making people scatter from the market. 

While the two men were being taken away and you told the other officers where you left the third one, you decided to come clean before your friends chewed you out. 

“Nice to see you guys here,” you started off with a sigh, a nervous smile spilling onto your face as they all eyed you.

“What. Were. You. Thinking?!” your partner screeched, her hands frantically waving up and down. 

You scratched the back of your neck as you tried to hide from their stares. 

“Would you guys go a little easier on me if I said that I wasn’t thinking?” you asked. 

“No, it wouldn’t,” the Lieutenant huffed, his arms crossed over his chest. 

“Y’know, you could get in a lot of trouble with this, kid.”

You turned over to Connor in hopes to have a little bit of backup in some way. But, the android turned away, his amber eyes downcast at the events that had happened today.

Your adrenaline rush was slowly fading and you took in a few long breaths before leaning up against one of the pillars, your hand going for your phone in your pocket.

“I know. I know. I’m sorry. I found a clue and didn’t want to bother anyone with it in case it wasn’t even a clue. But, you’ll never believe what I found-”

“Detective Anderson.” 

All four of you turned to the officer that approached Hank, a smear of blood in a sample tissue that he held.

“One of the men that were after Detective L/N in the shipping bins escaped before we could find him. All that was left was some of his blood.”

The forensic scientist looked over at Connor, his eyes wide with expectation since the brunette was the only cop that could sample blood. 

Before taking the hint, Connor made his way over to you, his hair slightly disheveled due to the fight the criminal gave when he pinned him. 

With a simple motion, he pulled off his coat and laid it over your shivering shoulders, your eyes growing wide at the action. 

He could probably see the drop in your body temperature, and without the stress of the chase keeping you warm, everything in your body was dropping at a rapid speed.

His LED was burning such a bright yellow that you were surprised it hadn’t flickered over to red yet.

With one last look over towards you, he headed back down into the shipping yard with the scientist. 

You sighed as you rubbed the exhaustion out of your eyes before taking the cuffs of the formal jacket and bringing it closer. 

You could tell you broke what little trust you and Connor had built over time, the debris and rubble of faith you had created could possibly be all gone by now. 

But he still cared for you, even without telling him about the information you had gained he still worried about your safety. 

You turned back to your partner and Hank, your hand still gripping your phone in one hand. 

“How much trouble do you think I’ll be in?”

The older male eyed the device in your hand before letting out a rough sigh of his own, his hands going up to his coat to bring it closer.

“Depends on how much you found from these guys.”

You were going to make up for this, you were going to make up with Connor if it was the last thing you do.

Chapter Text

“Connor! Wait!” 

The android turned as you raced towards him down the hallway, your voice going mute once you reached him. 

You winched when something pinched in your lower calf, the events from days ago making your body so sore that the light jog you did to reach him had you out of breath. 

You both haven’t spoken since that day, he hasn’t looked at you the same since that day. 

You could blame it on the countless interrogations you had due to you sneaking on the property, having to write down exactly what you saw, and also sending a personal apology letter to the Captain and higher-ups. It was miserable writing it, especially with the information you had gained for your case and how you uncovered a secret base for bad guys. But hey, you gotta do what you need to do to get out of full-time trouble. 

You could place the problem on the several trips to the computer labs where the tech androids were decoding all the data that you received from the terminals. Even though they stated it would take a few more days to decode due to how advanced the work was, you would still make a daily visit there, because Connor would be there. 

But you knew that the reason the male wasn’t speaking to you was all on you. 

You betrayed his trust, something that the android wasn’t quite used to. Sure, a lot had happened during the revolution, but from what you had heard, Hank always had the android’s back. 

And you decided to split his spine instead. 

You tried to deny that it hurt that he was ignoring you. You would question why he would make this small mistake. But, if you were in his shoes, you would be gravely upset too. 

You didn’t want to think about it, but you could’ve died during that stunt. Sneaking onto the property, downloading all of the data into your phone, being chased by criminals that could make your nightmares into reality if they caught up to you. 

Yeah, it was a lot to process over the last few days, along with the warehouse you were in was destroyed minutes after the chase, leaving all the evidence you didn't take with you now lost in the debris and ash.

You were already chewed out by your partner and the Lieutenant, even Gavin would come to your room and pick on you like the asshole brother you never wanted. 

You were surprised that Trey hadn’t come around to have his pickings tormenting you, but maybe he was finally doing his job and leaving you alone. 

But with losing him, you gained a new person following your every move. 

Sawyer had become attached to your hip now, always waiting for you to come to visit her, following you around the office until you clocked out for the night. 

Until one of the patrol officers would call you and tell you she needed you and you would travel back to the precinct to comfort her. 

You didn’t want to complain, but you didn’t like seeing the new addition of bags under your eyes or how Gavin made it his mission to wake you up from your desk in the most ridiculous way. 

“Detective L/N?”

You looked over at the brunette, your eyes finally focusing on him after the overhaul of thoughts that fell over you. 

Suddenly, you completely forgot what you were going to tell him. 

Over the few months you’ve been working on this case, you have gotten to know the man that stood before you. 

Connor Anderson was kind, slowly starting to blossom into a curious friend when asking why you did certain actions or the choices you made during a task. 

He would do these little quirks when he was confused or didn’t understand the reference or term you would use.

It was a sight to behold, a wonder to experience. 

“I was…ah wondering if you were free tonight?” 

The words you threw up barely made any sense to you after they spewed from your mouth, a scared smile crossing your mouth. 

You watched as the male in front of you titled his head as if wondering what you were playing at. 

With a nervous laugh, you then added: “you can help me with the new evidence and with watching Sawyer.”

You would hope this would kill two birds with one stone, knowing that your new friend felt left behind because you didn’t call him the first night you came to watch over the child android. 

Even with the cooling temperature of fall breezing outside, the heater and the nervous sweats had you overcome in heat as you awaited an answer. 

The male that only stood a few feet away from you seemed to be a hundred miles away with the way he gazed at you. His roasted brown eyes soaked into every corner of your face, at the lines that upturned your pleading look as you squinted your eyes. 

You prayed that he could at least sense that you were trying to make things right between the two of you, to reconstruct the wall of trust you effortlessly tore down. 

“Wouldn’t you prefer to have your partner for it.”
Ooooofff, that hurt, you didn’t know that Hank had already rubbed off his dry remarks onto him. 

You blinked a few times before taking a step forward, your eyes never leaving his. 

“You are my partner, too.”

Connor’s LED shined an anonymous yellow, the tinge of red barely creeping in before it swept back into blue, as if all of his emotions engulfed him at once. 

You could never understand what it must feel like, to have those feelings spark like wildfire; untamed and unknowing of how far it can go. 

 “But, I do know that as your partner, I am here to help solve this case with you.”

He said that to you and you practically crumbled the words and blew them away. 

And you promised to help him learn it. You promised to do your job to be a trusting partner. 

You just needed one more chance.

Finally gaining the courage, you reached for his hand for the first time.

“Please, Connor.”

You let your thumb rub over the edge of his palm, not an ounce of imperfection over his skin, not even the form of callouses to show his hard work for the department. 

What did he feel when you touched him? Did he feel the mini and multiple cuts that were plastered all over your fingers due to the chase? Did he glaze over the rougher patches and visible bruises to see if you would flinch?

There will always be that tense wall between androids and humans, a wall that could never be destroyed. 

But, you could still see him through it, you could see the hope that flared in his facial expressions as he let his fingers release some pressure into the hold. 

“Okay.”

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You had just organized the last bit of files on your tablet before your stomach growled loudly. 

Not like anyone was there to hear it. 

Officers had long since gone home for the night, except for the night prowlers and the ones that had cases like you. 

It was going to take the cyber security team a few more days to fully decode the information you had, meaning that you and Connor were at a standstill until then.

You had moved your chair over next to the detective, both of you taking the time to enjoy the slower pace of the case. 

Hoping that the coffee would help settle your stomach, you took a few hearty gulps before turning back to the screen. 

Your stomach then screamed at the exchange and Connor tilted his head up to look as if he wondered if he heard correctly. 

“I wish this job came with removing the need to eat and sleep,” you joked, your hands placing the tablet down onto his desk. 

The male raised an eyebrow at the plain sarcasm as he leaned forward. 

“That doesn’t sound very safe, Y/N,” he commented as if he believed you were actually wishing for your intestines to be shoveled out. 

You only grinned up at him, the need to roll your eyes dying off in knowing that he wasn’t used to your sarcasm. 

“I’m only joking, Connor.” You joked, your tongue slipping out to point at him.

The brunette pondered on your answer, his eyes moving around as if he was doing multiple things in his CPU. 

“I can understand that. Refilling on thirium and the need to go into stasis mode can make me feel…weary.”

He then let his own tongue slip out and you couldn’t help but snicker at the action. He hadn’t mastered it quite yet so his tongue was barely poking out and his eyes scrunched up as if to concentrate. 

It went quiet after that, your fingers typing against the keyboard of the tablet as you replaced the coffee with water. 

“Would you prefer your regular or something else?”

You frowned at the odd question, your eyes slowly looking up at him from your screen. 

“My regular?”

Connor’s LED shined a sunlit color before turning back to the calming blue. 

“Your order will be here in 35 minutes. Possibly 40 due to traffic lights and other drivers.”

“My-my order?”

“Yes. From your favorite restaurant.”

It connected within your head like a missing puzzle piece and then you rolled your head back until it came into contact with the headrest. 

“Wait. Connor, did you just order me dinner? Is that what you were asking me?”
He did his regular tilt of the head as if he had done something wrong. 

“Was…was I not supposed to?”

You groaned before bringing up your hands towards your face, your digits rubbing over your tired eyes. 

“Oh gosh, what am I going to do with you, Con?”

“Con?”

Those coffee-colored eyes met yours, making you love the roasted beans even more. If only you could have it in the early morning and the late evening, like you were now. 

“Yeah, it’s a nickname. It’s what friends do.”

A slip of dusty blue flared over the android’s face and you soon realized that this was Connor’s way of blushing. Your heart fluttered at the new detail before you darted your gaze away from his, your teeth taking hold of your bottom lip. 

You looked over to find someone watching the two of you, the small figure quickly hiding away at seeing that it had been caught. 

Forgetting why you were here in the first place, you offered a tiny smile to the cautious eyes that watched you. 

“I got some new coloring books, Sawyer. You have to come and get them though,” you called out, making the male next to you turn in his chair to see what you were talking to. 

The little girl hid away from the eyes that cast over her as if the attention was too much to handle at a time. 

Yet, with the new courage you helped build within her, she slowly crept out of her hiding spot before speeding over to where you sat, her bronze eyes searching for the color books you promised. 

“Have you drawn another dog for us?” you asked. Sawyer had quickly slipped into your lap, her box of crayons in one hand as she waited to get her new book. 

The young girl shook her head, her face shyly looking away from the male detective when he perked up at the sound of his name. 

She then crawled up your lap until her head was up against your ear, her hand cupping over it. 

“Can we watch a movie about the dog?”

Recalling the Because of Winn Dixie book you had read to her, you nodded your head excitedly, a joyful smile covering your face. 

“A movie night sounds great! We deserve a break, don’t you think, Con?”

Your friend looked between the two of you, Sawyer copying your pleading look once she saw you were making one. 

“We have work to do-”

“Oh come on, Con!” You rose from your spot, your arms secured around Sawyer so she wouldn’t fall.

“We won’t have any information until the cyber team decodes the files and-” you rotated your friend’s chair away from the desk so that he was facing you and not the terminal. 

“I promised you some friend activities and watching movies is a major one.”

You shook Sawyer around a little bit, making a breathy giggle release from her due to the movement. 

“Come on, Sawyer! Say please so then he’ll join!”
“Pleaseee!” The little girl laughed out as you twirled her around, your own laughter echoing through the abandoned office. 

You turned over to Connor and caught his own grin spreading over his face as if the positive energy had wavered over to him. 

It was enough to convince him to help set up a little area for the three of you to watch the movie you rented off Connor’s terminal, the cozy blankets you had gotten for Sawyer now wrapped securely around her as the movie started. 

“I’ve never seen this movie,” you confessed as you got comfortable in your office chair, the fuzzy warmth from Sawyer’s blanket and body already making you sleepy. 

“I’ve never watched a movie,” Connor confessed back, making you almost launch Sawyer out of your lap. 

“You and Hank never watched movies?”

The android smirked and you felt every fluid within you come to a halt, the crafted smile doing something to you that just couldn’t be placed. 

This…this was the first time he had ever smirked. 

“Hank does a few things outside of work. Watching movies isn’t one of them.”

“Ah, that’s what happens when you grow old.”

You froze after you said that line, realizing what you said. 

Connor would never grow old. Sawyer would never grow old. Hank, your partner, Chief, Gavin. You would all wither out and die while the androids around you wouldn’t look a day older from the day they were created. 

They would be the ones to hold history, the ones to experience it all. 

How will they feel once everyone they grew up with will be gone? Not knowing if they can follow to the other side?

You could hardly pay attention to the first half of the movie, even when you felt Sawyer drift off into slumber against your chest you still held the deadly thought that she will never grow any older. 

Will she find a family that won’t outlive her? Maybe be adopted by an android family? 

You yawned before curling up closer to the little girl as if your grip could protect her from the cruelty of the world. 

To stop worse things from happening to her. 

You made a desperate promise in her hair that you would bring her justice, that you would find her a family that deserved her. 

Before you knew it, you were snoozy with her, your exhaustion pulling you over along with the only warmth within in station. 

You didn’t even notice that now no one was watching the movie anymore. 

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Connor watched silently as you drifted off into sleep, your soft snores barely being able to be picked up as your head was supported by Sawyer’s. 

How your limbs slowly lost friction with your body and if your memory forgot to hold your legs up against the desk then both you and Sawyer would go tumbling down. 

It was such a rare thing to see, to never understand that human reaction. 

He could stand perfectly still when he went into stasis mode and could rock right back into the world as if he was never asleep. 

Shifting in his spot, he tried to replicate the position you were in, to claim the same bliss you were experiencing. 

After six minutes and 24 seconds, he realized that he wasn’t going to achieve this goal he had placed. 

Hank had told him that he just can’t download these steps, that he couldn’t adapt to it like the multiple things he could.

That he had to live it and experience these changes instead of finding a file and slipping it into his CPU. 

The detective looked over at you again to see you hadn’t moved an inch, your face going slack as you dive deeper into sleep. 

He didn’t even get to tell you that he liked his nickname, that he never had one. 

Deciding to give himself a new challenge, he leaned himself back, closed his eyes, and let his body shut down into the sleep mode he had. 

And he was awoken by Amanda’s voice. 

She was back, wandering around his programming like the virus she was, sinking into his wires and plastic and metal layers. 

It was all black once more, the pretty scenery that she once spoke to him destroyed due to his deviancy and how he viewed Amanda. 

Because she was nothing. 

He searched and scratched throughout his software in order to wake himself up, to get him away from her deep voice and orders to kill. 

“Remember what you were made to do, Connor.”

No.

“You will never escape what you were programmed to accomplish.”

NO.

“To find and kill.”

NO!

In an instant, her dreadful commands were gone. The woman’s voice was soon brushed away as if he pleads were answered and someone had silenced the android that once controlled him. 

He couldn’t make out the savior, he couldn’t even manifest who it was, only the soft warmth that pierced his thirium when they came near. 

How their presence made him feel less alone and how for the first time since he learned to understand how to sleep, he was left alone to rest. 

No dreams. No Amanda. Only that piece of heavenly humanity he wanted.

Chapter Text

It was a few days after the movie night when the Cyber Tech Team contacted both you and Connor with the information they had discovered. 

Whatever the lawbreakers were using as a barrier to hide their illegal information was something the police needed. 

With the warehouse being destroyed by the criminals, the data you had downloaded onto your advanced work phone was the only information you had besides the photos you took and the criminals to interrogate. 

Due to your actions, you weren’t able to join Hank or Connor in the interrogation that was today, making you huff in your seat in anger. 

No matter how many good deeds you will do in the future, there will be someone on the station that will remind you of your first rookie mistake. 

But, you got to see the information the two men will be using during the questioning, your eyes growing wide at all the clues and evidence you and Connor had now. 

The information you downloaded from the terminal was several marked areas throughout the shipping docks, all of them color-coded.

Robert Albright’s drug order was on one of the files,  his color code green. 

The guy you caught with Connor a few months ago from the shipping company was in on this as well?

And that’s what you and the brunette detective were doing now, going over the newfound information and building a strategy to break the two criminals in holding. 

“Maybe try to bring in Mr. Albright,” you commented, your finger pointing towards his file and how his drugs were not only be supplied there but he was also connected with Mr. Pace. 

“It’s strange; how both of our subjects are all connected in this. This might be bigger than we thought.”
The android next to you processed the information, his memory bank fully taking over every step he needed to get this interrogation right. 

But it would all be erased when your finger would brush over his every- single - time you would raise it to point at something and then settle it back down on the desk. 

You were also leaning over next to him, the overshadowing presence of your figure suddenly making everything within him go into overdrive, like a computer when liquid is spilled onto it. 

“Connor?”

He looked back up at you, your left eyebrow raised at seeing him zone out like that. 

For some reason, he didn’t like the way his full name sounded on your tongue. 

He preferred Con.

“Did you hear what I said?”

The well-known detective blinked a few times before shaking his head. 

“I’m sorry, Y/N. What were you saying?”

You blew out a gust of air, but a grin was playing against your lips. 

“You’re forgiven. Only because you’ve finally started to say my name.”

You then pointed to one of the files on the screen, your nail almost going through the clear screen. 

“It seems like everything is labeled with their first and last initials,” you started, your finger grazing over the stems of the men and their relations. 

“RB for Robert Albright and BP for Bill Pace. They also have codes that are color-coated. See, Albright is green while Pace’s is yellow. There are other names highlighted with these colors.”

You moved your finger over to the two names of the men you had in holding, your eyes darting back and forth at the connection. 

“Both of these guys we have are working for Bill,” you gasped, your hand falling so fast that it grazed over Connor’s pinkie and ring finger. 

“Unfortunately, none of them are the leader of this organization,” Connor piped in, a bit of surprise rising in him at being able to send out that sentence. 

Surprise was new and made the thirium flowing in him almost bubble. 

You sucked in your bottom lip at the fact, your brain practically shaking at trying to think this all over. 

So, Albright and Pace were working for someone. They needed Robert for drugs and Bill to dissect the androids they were bringing in.

Bill Pace was still on the run, but Robert Albright was in custody. 

Going over to the bulletin board in the office the two of you shared, you wrote down on a notecard to pull him out and question him after the integration with the two other men. 

Donald Carter and Walter Swinford were the two men that were after you and brought down during the chase sense. 

Carter had over a dozen different misdemeanors on his file: distribution of drugs, going against his probation, assault to multiple men that left them barely able to function afterward. 

Swinford was in the same boat. He was known for dealing out drugs, especially with Red Ice, remembering that you and the other detectives found samples of it everywhere during this operation. He was also known for his anger towards androids, a lot of calls and complaints about a 6’2 male with a scruffy beard and tattoos covering both of his arms. 

One downside of being a criminal: You either need to be a plain Jane or John or you’ll easily be recognizable. 

It was a big leap, but Swinford might be the one kidnapping the missing androids. 

You glanced over to the small section of the board where there were missing posters over the past several months, all being androids and children androids. 

This was one of the things you dreaded most about being a detective, the one thing you hoped would never happen. 

The case just continued to grow and you couldn’t put a dent into it to stop it. 

The android came and stood next to you, his body barely putting any weight against the side of the table you fully supported on. 

“You still have a bruise.”

Your eyes fluttered as you looked at him and then to the injury he was indicating, the purple spot fading into a gross yellow. It was still hard to curl your hand into a fist as if your body didn’t want to forget. 

“Yeah. Some things take longer to heal.”

You feathered your fingers over the purple tattoo, your mind racing back to how you got it. Even when it will finally disappear, you will always remember it, remember every second of how you hit it and how to form over time. 

A hand came into view and your eyes turned to see Connor reach over, his long fingers stopping when they hovered over the bruise. 

Suddenly the room was very warm and you knew it wasn’t because of the overworked heater. 

Swallowing the nerves that were boiling in your stomach, you let out a relaxed chuckle. 

“You can touch it. It won’t hurt I promise.”

His digits floated in the same spot for a minute before they finally skimmed over the injury, the sensors on the tips of his fingers taking in everything. 

He felt the swollen lump that was taking its time in going down, how the color smudged over your skin like a blob of paint. If you couldn’t dim this away or fix it, it would naturally have to fade away. 

Before he realized it, his hand slipped into yours, as if it was a natural reaction at this point. Your hand was warm and a few hidden scars and new scratches decorated it. He felt the veins and lines in your palm as if they told your life story. 

Maybe if he concentrated hard enough he could read it. 

“Detective Anderson.”

Both you and Connor turned to see one of the officers in the doorway, the first-time nerves written all over her face. 

“The Lieutenant and the other detectives are waiting for you.”

You swiftly moved away from your partner, an embarrassing wave striking your cheeks as you moved away. 

It wasn’t like the two of you were doing anything wrong, right? 

The male next to you straightened out his outfit, the blazing badge on his chest bright and blue like his LED. 

You waited for him to collect his papers for the interrogation, but then remembered that all of the information he needed was loaded into his CPU. 

You couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to be on the other side of the table of him, knowing that he could read every twitch or rise of heartrate. 

Was he reading your heartbeat when he held your hand?

You followed him to the other side of the building where the questioning was going to happen. Hank, your partner, and a few other officers waiting for the two of you. 

Your partner eyed the pink that still dyed your face, her eyebrows knotting up at trying to see what had happened. 

You quickly fluffed out the sweater you were wearing in hopes of cooling down while everyone got into place. 

With everything that was happening, you felt a little bit of excitement about seeing your friend do what he’s good at, especially from the stories you heard from other lawmen about the androids' exceptional skills at peeling away the people he interrogated. 

Hank was giving a small pep speech to his son-figure, his hands fluffing up the young man’s collar before giving pointers about a person’s facial expression or actions when they are questioned. 

You chuffed out a laugh that you quickly covered up as you headed over to Connor, his hand about to go over the door scanner. 

“Hey, Connor,” you called out, making the tall male stop in his tracks. 

You gave him a confident smile and two dorky thumbs-ups, your mind instantly regretting the action. 

“Good luck.”

But your friend returned the cheeky smile, the expression a level higher than the smirk he did days ago. 

“Thank you, Y/N.”

As you started to follow the crowd into the Observation room, a familiar face came into your view. 

The female doctor, Adrianna was her name, was holding Sawyer’s hand as she came up to you, a string of emotion you couldn’t pinpoint sewing into her face. 

“Detective L/N, we must speak with you. Immediately.”

You looked over to the group that was waiting for you, knowing that Connor’s work was already starting in the next room. 

Sawyer couldn’t even look at you from behind Adriana’s legs, the streaks of tears barely being seen due to them soaking into her skin. 

But her eyes…it was her eyes that had you stop in your tracks. 

You gave a hurried excuse to the workers in the room before dashing off with the doctor and Sawyer, your mind coming up with a million things of what they were going to say. 

But you could’ve never imagined what would come next.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nothing major came out with the integration, unfortunately. 

Donald Carter wasn’t going to talk until his lawyer came through, but due to his credit and liability, the state was trying to find anyone who would represent him. 

Walter Swinford eyed the android in front of him like a predator sizing up its opponent, his fingers rolling over his knuckles anytime Connor would say a word. 

Luckily, he could read their heart rate, how their pulse would rise anytime he would mention Bill Pace or the warehouse they were working in. 

It wasn’t the best start, but he had quickly learned from you that you had to start somewhere. 

Speaking of you, he thought you would be in the crowd that exited out of the Observation room along with the Lieutenant and other officers, but you were nowhere to be found. 

“She was never in there, kid,” Hank commented, his confusion spreading over his face at seeing that you skipped out on it. 

Connor checked the office the two of you shared, your desk, and the break room, all while counting down to see if you were using the restroom. 

It wasn’t until he caught your partner darting out of the hallway that lead to the clinic that he was able to learn something about your whereabouts. 

“Oh, God. You haven’t heard?” She asked. The paperwork in her hands slightly crumbled before she darted her eyes away from the male’s. 

“Heard what, Detective?”

The woman tucked a string of hair behind her ear before sighing, her eyes finally meeting his. 

“Sawyer talked to Y/N. About…what happened to her.”

It didn’t click into Connor’s mind about what your friend was insinuating, making him tilt his head to show that he didn’t catch on. 

“There’s a balcony on the third floor. Y/N should be there,” she said before dashing off, the files in her hands almost reduced to shredded paper. 

It took Connor a moment to process your friend’s strange action before he headed over to the elevator, his finger slipping over the panel to let him in. 

All while traveling to the floor he was told you were at, all he could develop within in thought process was worry. 

He added in the tense atmosphere of the precinct, your partner’s racing heartbeat and the green color that filled her cheeks, and then how you weren’t at the interrogation. 

In the blistering wind of the late fall air, you sat on the thick railing of the balcony, your knees brought up to your chest. 

The invisible waves lapped around your sweater as the android brought himself closer to you, his scanner taking in your body’s condition. 

Everything seemed fine; you showed no signs of injury and your stress levels were lower than usual. 

As if your body was shutting down. 

“Y/N?”

You turned so fast that you almost fell over, a shocked gasp spilling from your mouth before you caught yourself. 

“Jesus Connor! A little bit of a warning-”

“You’re crying.”

Your fingers went up to your face as if you didn’t even notice that the tears were still falling down your cheeks. 

The male took in your sorrowful state, at how your face was reddened by the chilling weather and the streams that flowed down your face. 

In your hand was a transportable recorder, your nails digging into it like it was something you so desperately wanted to crush but couldn’t. 

You didn’t know how to reply to his response, so, you flipped the piece of technology in your hand before handing it to him, your eyes darkening when he looked at you. 

“She opened up. She told me everything.”

By she, you meant Sawyer, if Connor was correct with his guessing. He took the tape recorder and twitched his finger over the play button, his hand bringing it up to his ear. 

And in a few short minutes, the brunette understood why you reacted this way. 

Most humans would to such devastating and disturbing news, especially with a child going through it. 

Sawyer admitted to the horrifying experience she went through. How she was taken from the Cyberlife factory she was made in and taken to over a dozen locations. 

All while being used as a shipping vessel for the drugs Robert Albright and his crew were creating. 

For the first time, Connor felt his built-in stomach unit deteriorate. 

During the session, Sawyer must’ve connected herself to your laptop in the spare room you both shared because a small static came over the recording. 

YK500 are made to not know they are androids, making the people who adopt them easier to manage. 

Somehow, Sawyer had that part of her disconnected from that command, making her be able to show the police everything through her eyes. 

And with that knowledge, Sawyer just gave them every place she’s traveled, over a dozen faces of criminals, and their main hideout and distribution of androids and drugs. 

That the person behind it all went by the name AZ. 

The male next to you sent a confused look as if he hadn’t quite connected the dots yet. 

Sawyer finally gained enough trust to tell you about the information she knew. 

Before he could say anything, your partner raced out, her hair fluttering against the hard breeze. 

“We got the location surrounded. You two should be there to see if you recognize anyone or anything they find.”

You pushed yourself off of your spot and took the tape recorder back, her free hand sweeping the leftover tears away as you headed for the door. 

“If Bill Pace is there, he better pray I don’t get to him first.”

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The location of the system of using androids to disturb drugs was an old car wash, one that was barely in business anymore. The only thing new on it was the blue coat of paint on the outside.

The Detroit SWAT team had already surrounded the area, but the party had since died before you and the rest of your group had gotten there. 

You had left Sawyer with Adriana, your fingers tirelessly tucking in her short hair behind her ears before you realized you were sweeping thin air. 

You promised her justice, and you were so close to fulfilling it. 

It was as if the information you swallowed was a toxin, destroying everything within you in its toxic and horrific way. 

It didn’t help that everyone around you was staring at you as if trying to see if you would slip and release every tense emotion that so desperately wanted out.

You were numb against the overbearing wail of police sirens and the warmth that radiated off the cars.

Officers were pulling drug dealers left and right from the building to the point that someone questioned if they had enough handcuffs and zip-ties. 

One of them bumped onto you, your body barely reacting to it as you continued. 

People were kept at bay by barriers and regular police officers, and some of the journalists of Detroit were already trying to make up a story with their photos and interviews. A sea of different colors hit your eyes, your head ducking down to pass someone in a royal blue sweater before jogging past the rest. 

The forensic team was already packing up the evidence that was all inside and loading them up into the larger vehicles of the station. 

You, Connor, Hank, and your partner followed Detective Ben Collins to the secret entrance, where a cellar was hidden right under the transport of cars through the car wash. 

With the right amount of money and repairs, none of the soap or water would drain into the hidden lab as you descended into what you could only describe as literal hell. 

One section was the creation of drugs, mostly red ice, and the drug they were making to sedate the robots before taking them. 

Mutilated and destroyed android bodies took up the other half of the hidden lair, more coarse and careless than what was in Mr. Pace’s cellar.

If thirium didn’t evaporate, the cold floor would be decorated like a child’s painting. 

Arms, legs, random body parts were either laying in a bin, on a man-made operating table, or on a table where they were labeled for their uses and where they will be placed next. 

You thought you were going to be sick. 

These had to be the missing androids throughout, the ones that Markus and the rest of Jericho would make announces of over the news. 

From the Eden Club to androids trying to plan out their new lives after deviancy; so many were taken by this gang and used as bloody drug mules. 

The smell of the different ingredients for the drugs, the sweat and odor from the criminals, and the steel-like smell that was left by the blue blood were almost too much to bear. 

“Jesus Christ,” The Lieutenant muttered, a large hand going up into his hair to push it back. 

Another person came into your peripheral vision, their coffee-stained hair barely moving as he took in the scene. 

You didn’t even know what he was thinking, what he was feeling. 

This had to be a lot to take in, even with everything he had been through. 

Before you realized it, your hand went into his, his eyes doing a double-take when he realized it was you. 

“You doing okay?” you asked, your thumb grazing over his to ensure him that you were there. 

The male swallowed, which was something you didn’t know he could do, as his LED cast a sad yellow. 

But, he gave a swift nod, like a human would do when they were trying to keep tears at bay.

Hank came to the opposite side of his son-figure, his hand going up on Connor’s shoulder as the scientists carefully started to pack up the bodies after the evidence photos were taken. 

There was so much to do, so little time. 

With your other hand, you pulled your friend into a soft side hug, your fingers dipping into the grove of his side. 

“Hey, we did it,” you whispered to him, a tender smile somehow spreading over your face. 

“We got the bad guys. We have given Sawyer justice. They can’t hurt anyone else.”

You said that with a tide of confidence, but that wave was soon washed away when you and Connor learned that the leader of this organization, AZ, was not in the secret lair or carwash.

Neither was Bill Pace. 

The predators were still on the prowl.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was late in the evening before everyone made it back to the station, all the criminals and evidence from the crime scene were packed away and placed with either the forensics lab or in the shared office.

The heavy drizzle had half of your outfit soaked, but you could hardly feel it as you limped yourself towards your desk.

Connor spent most of the day analyzing the underground cave, using everything in his power to find a scratch of evidence of where the leader was. 

Either AZ caught wind that the police were coming or decided to stop showing up to the hideout because there wasn’t a fingerprint or piece of hair left behind that didn’t connect with the drug dealers and killers behind bars. 

You spent the time questioning the businesses around the carwash, trying to see if they noticed anyone sketchy or strange going into the carwash that wasn’t in your custody. 

You both came back empty-handed. 

You swiped your hands down your face in exhaustion and frustration, the sound of officers leaving for the night echoing throughout the dense building. 

Another night of just digging through paperwork and pictures of nothing. 

It felt as if you were back at square one, all the way back at the bottom. 

You didn’t even know if you could celebrate busting a hidden lab and murder house, how over a dozen criminals were finally behind bars because of the trust Sawyer had for you. 

Usually, one of the cops would start a party or celebration with the news, you just hoped they wouldn’t do it tonight. 

This was your first big win, but you still felt like a failure. 

You turned to catch your partner walking in, a sad grin on her face at seeing the state you were in.

Before one of you could make a move to say something, a dry comment from Trey made you stop your train of thought or motion. 

“Don’t understand why we need to waste our time with people doing shit to androids,” the male grunted to one of his fellow minions, an ugly snarl on his face as he continued. 

“Especially since it took this long to find them. Should’ve just forced it out of that kid android.”

You sharply turned away from your friend and headed towards Trey, your hands already forming into fists as you came into eye level with him. 

“What is your problem, Trey?!  It’s still blood spilled! As an officer, you shouldn’t want any of it spilled!”

Some of the detectives and other workers turned at the sudden outburst, a few of them walking away as if guessing what was about to happen.

Your rival only smirked at your outburst, a chuckle barking up his throat at seeing the tears that bubbled around your eyes. 

“Don’t let this win get your panties in a twist, Y/N. You haven’t saved any humans. Maybe you can fuck the Lieutenant’s android so you can get a bonus.”

Too many times. Too many times has this guy insulted Connor and you weren’t going to allow one more word to come out. 

The stress of the case and friendship you were trying to rekindle with Connor was over spilling now, hateful tears now dashing down your cheeks as you turned away from Trey. 

And just as your old partner realized what you were about to do, just as Connor and Hank strolled into the room, just as Trey was about to let out another disgusting remark, you charged towards him and braced yourself as your fist connected with his mouth. 

Chapter Text

You hated how movies and shows made hitting and punching look. You thought it was going to be so much easier.

Every pint of pain switched into your knuckles as it took the blow against Trey’s cheekbone, one of your fingers popping at contact. 

The male rocked back in shock, his dark eyes darting back and forth as he took in the piercing pain that blossomed into his mouth. 

The surrounding officers stopped at the action as if everyone felt the hit you landed because you certainly felt Trey’s teeth rattle during the blow. 

Trey brought up a finger and saw that a few drops of blood were staining the corner of his mouth, a distasteful look crossing his face. 

But he masked it with a smirk, thin lines of blood marking his front teeth. 

“Is that all you got?”

You got into a fighting stance the academy taught you. 

“It seemed enough, sweetheart.”

That sent him over the line and caused him to charge, his form of insults spilling from his lips.

Policemen shouted at the ruckus, some of them even placing bets as you landed another punch into Trey’s stomach. 

He swiftly got you in the shoulder, your collarbone humming with a heating pain as it took the force of it. 

The battle hadn’t even started when two strong arms latched around your waist, pulling you away from the hold you had on Trey’s jacket. 

Two other officers pulled the male away from you as well, but you knew that Trey was looking for any kind of excuse to stop the fight. 

“Y/N, you know about the rules of workplace violence.” Connor’s voice in your ear was anything but soothing as you eyed Trey across from you, your breathing hitching when his charcoal eyes met yours. 

“Yeah, Y/N, follow what the android says. Maybe he can download it into you!”

Your back repeatedly bumped into Connor’s chest as you felt your breathing turn rapid as if Trey’s fueled your anger like a well-oiled machine about to go into overdrive.

You twisted yourself in your friend’s hold, his fingers becoming undone at the fast maneuver. 

With newfound speed, you actually launched yourself onto Trey, the detective's arms around him unlatching as you two went rolling on the floor like feral cats. 

“Kid, stop it!” Hank called out, but he was outmatched by your female partner’s cry. 

“Get him, Y/N! Give him what he deserves!”

Trey landed a flimsy punch into your stomach, but a harsh scratch down his face stopped him real quick. 

You knew that someone was videotaping it, you knew that this would be the main topic of office drama for years to come. 

But, you didn’t care. You didn’t care about anything other than seeing the wine-colored liquid spill from the wounds you caused over Trey. 

In a sick, twisted way, you knew you were pretending he was the criminal you were after, the hatred you felt for the crimes that were done to Sawyer. 

“ENOUGH!”
Both you and Trey froze as Captain Jeffery Fowler stormed into the large room, all the other officers and detectives departing to make a path for him. 

“Spears! L/N! In my office! Now!!”

Suddenly the hot fury you felt had gone cold, like a child caught by their parents after doing something they weren’t supposed to. 

This might be your last night here. 

Crawling off of Trey, you sent a wary glance over to your friends, each of them giving a concerned or scared look as you slowly trodded over to Fowler’s office. 

“You don’t get paid to stand around!” The leader boomed at the others that were still standing there in shock.

“Either clock out or do your damn jobs!”

Almost everyone scattered away from the brawl area, their bodies either darting to their desks or outside the room to do a different shift. 

All except Hank, your old partner, and Connor. 

Connor couldn’t help but watch as you went up the few steps that lead to the captain’s office, Trey keeping a good distance from you as he followed. 

“What the hell happened?” Hank questioned once the door was shut, his body turning over to your friend as if knowing what the problem was. 

The female cast a tired glance over at the male android next to the Lieutenant, her teeth taking in her bottom lip as she fought to find the right words. 

“Y’know Trey can’t keep his damn mouth shut. He always taunts Y/N about Sawyer and Connor. I think Y/N finally had enough of it.”

She turned to the brunette android before heading to her desk. 

“He was insulting you. I believe Y/N was defending your name.”

Connor’s LED twirled a horrified red as he looked over at the revealing office of the Captains, the glass walls vibrating as the male shouted both at Trey and you. 

Why would you do that?

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The captain let a small, hopeful wave of silence wash over you and Trey before he started a hurricane over the two of you. 

“I don’t know what you take this place for, but this is not a damn playground!” He howled, a vein popping on the top of his bald head. 

You could barely keep eye contact with the officer, your hands messing with each other in hopes of distracting yourself. 

“If you two need to let off some steam, we have a perfect training room for the two of you to knock the shit out of each other!”

Trey glared over at you before opening his mouth. 

“Y/N was the one to start it, sir-”

“Don’t start with me, Spears,” the captain hissed, his dark eyes shooting bullets over to the young officer. 

“I’m not oblivious to the way you treat L/N, and I’m sure that the security cameras will show that L/N had their reasoning in hitting you.”

Your eyes lifted in surprise, courage finally finding its way into your bloodstream as your boss stood up for you. 

Maybe there was some hope in this. 

Trying to make your image look better, you made eye contact with the man who scared you more than the criminals you faced. 

“I’m sorry, Captain Fowler, for doing what I did. I got tired of Trey’s insults and comments about Connor or myself-”

Your rival leaned over his chair and opened his lips but you gladly rose your voice so he wouldn’t overlap yours. 

“You can say you’re joking all you want, Trey. But you’re not my friend and your remarks are vulgar and disgusting.”

“You make the same remarks too!”

“It’s the only way to make you leave me alone and I never do unless you do it.”
“For fuck sake-”

“Enough!”

You both went silent once more, Fowler leaning back into his chair as a hand went over his face in exhaustion. 

The older male thought it over for a moment before he pointed a strong finger over to Trey. 

“You. You get a two-week suspension with no pay and when you come back you will be on fucking thin ice for a while.”

Trey lifted his arms in shock, before they swung back down in anger, his obsidian eyes shooting over to yours. 

“Now, leave my office.”

Trey sat in his seat for a moment before he stood, nodded toward his boss, and stormed out of his office. The glass walls rattled with how hard he slammed the door shut. 

You were the one who started the fight. If Trey was let off with a two-week suspension, then your fate was to be much worse. 

The eerie quietness of the room was enough to cause you to shiver, your eyes blinking repeatedly in hopes of not breaking under Fowler. 

Luckily, the leader of the police station had a soft spot for you, especially since you just hit a milestone in your case. 

The older man heaved a heavy sigh before going towards his terminal, his fingers typing in Trey’s name to place him under suspension. 

“What do you think I should do about this, Y/N?”

You took your bottom lip into your teeth, the strength behind it causing blood to spot into your mouth. 

Your fingers were so sore and you could feel the knots and bruises starting to form over your body. 

All you wanted to do was sleep. 

“I...I don’t know,” you finally answered, the weight of your actions falling all on top of your shoulders. 

“Maybe give me a longer suspension than Trey? Or fire me. I was the one who started the physical fight and I should be held accountable for it.”

Fowler turned his body towards you after your confession, his aged digits tapping against his desk as he thought over what you said. 

“No suspension and you’re not going to be fired.”

Your face perked up in shock, tears of relief flickering in the corner of your eyes at knowing you were still a detective. 

“But, you will be going on leave for a while. Clear your head and learn to hold yourself back when someone says something stupid.”

You couldn’t help but chuckle at the statement, the atmosphere finally lifting as you nodded in agreement. 

Maybe some time off was something you needed after all the stress and damage that had been done to you. 

“Understood, chief. How long should I be gone for?”

Fowler was already typing in your time off into his computer, the annoying keys creating a small headache in the back of your head. 

“A week or two. The holidays are coming up so just let me know. Not for too long though. I’ll have Hank and Connor look over the evidence while you are gone.”

He didn’t make eye contact with you when he answered and that was your cue to leave, knowing that he would want to go home sooner than later. 

Saying your goodbye to him, you opened the door of his office, your eyes darting over the remaining officers. 

Some of them dared to maintain their stare while others quickly swirled theirs to something else, a few chairs turning back to their terminals as you made your way over to yours. 

Your friend leaned forward until her head was on your side of the desk, her eyes swimming with worry as if she expected to see you pack your things. 

“Sooooo. What happened?”

You gave your friend a gentle wave as you packed up your bag with your work tablet and some of the notes you had taken while at the drug bust. 

It clicked that you wouldn’t be able to skim over any of the material that was gathered at the hidden lab or interrogate the drug dealers that were taken into custody. 

It was all up to Connor and Hank to start from scratch. 

What would happen with Sawyer? Would she be okay without you? You should’ve asked Fowler when you had the chance. 

“Y/N?”
You looked up to see that Connor and Hank had joined behind your friend, both of them leaning a little in to hear your response. 

Especially Connor, whose chocolate eyes were enhanced on your figure as if he was dreading the answer. 

“I’m not fired if that’s what you guys are worried about,” you reinsured, your digits typing in your password to your terminal to search where Sawyer was. 

“Trey got a two-week suspension and I got some…time off. Nothing against my record either.”

The female across from you let out a huge sigh of relief before leaning back into her chair, the wheels under it slowly moving her back. 

While Hank commented about how lucky you were to not have anything go on your record, especially with it being a fight, you saw that Sawyer would be staying with a children's organization that was connected with Detroit police. 

You made a mental note to go into more detail about where it was and to pay a visit as soon as it was open. 

Logging yourself out of the computer, you finally joined the small group as you slung your bag over your shoulder. 

Connor watched as you came, his lips forming a small smile to show that he was glad you didn’t get a harsh punishment for the fight.

You could still recall his hands around your waist and a small blush flustered over your face at the memory. 

“I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, but the chief will be sending you two the case until I return if that’s okay.”

The Lieutenant let out a low groan at the thought of it before he turned over to his partner, who hadn’t said a word during the whole conversation. 

Hank could see the disappointment of you temporarily leaving the case dance between the two of you. 

As you turned to tell your friend to discuss your soon-to-be vacation, the older man cleared his throat before rolling his gaze elsewhere. 

“Connor, Y/N shouldn’t celebrate their first case and, potentially not getting fired, by themselves, now should they?”

The android didn’t acknowledge what his father-figure had said until the man knocked his shoulder into his, the brunette giving a small shake of his head at the action. 

His gaze went to yours before back to Hank’s, a stream of confusion patterning over his face, along with his LED flipping to a questioning yellow. 

Hank let out a small ‘ goddamnit ’ before deciding to give his partner one last chance to do something about the typhoon of emotions that were happening between the two of you. 

“Connor. Invite Y/N over,” Hank whispered, the words sounding more like a rasp due to his aged voice. 

A thick eyebrow rose on Connor’s forehead before he quickly twisted back to you as if it finally clicked and transported into his head. 

“Y/N, why don’t you stay with us? It will most certainly help with the conflicting emotions and negative actions that have been happening over the past week.”

All three humans slightly cringed at the words he used to show his worry towards you, knowing that he was trying his best in trying to ask you to come over to forget the recent events. 

But you smiled at him, the odd structure of his question making the ache in your body stop for a moment.

“Honestly? That sounds great!” 

You then let out an excited gasp, your eyes lighting up at the realization as you looked over at Hank and Connor. 

“I get to meet Sumo!”

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You first went to the nurse's office and got your mini wounds cleaned up and wrapped up before you headed home to get a few things.

You quickly packed some extra clothes and a few cheesy movies that you loved, remembering that Connor told you that he had never watched movies before the night at the station. 

Finally, a night off with nothing to worry about except what’s left in Hank’s wine cabinet. 

Hank had decreased his amount of drinking over the past year, but that didn’t stop him from having the lighter things such as wine and beer. 

Sumo was the first to welcome you into the house, his large tongue soaking into your face and clothes and you were really glad you had packed extra clothes. 

Hank had ordered some Chinese food for the two of you while Connor sipped on a can of thirium. 

You let Connor choose a movie from the pile you brought and all four of you curled in your comfortable positions. 

Sumo was between you and Connor while Hank practically fell asleep in his recliner ten minutes into the movie. 

Throughout the movie, you would tell Connor your favorite scenes, some of the background, or foreshadowing that would soon come back up in the future. 

Somehow you were able to stay up for a second movie while Hank headed off to bed, mumbling about not getting too rowdy or something. 

Halfway through the film is when you felt your eyelids start to fall, Sumo’s warm fur, and the continuous rainfall turning you in. 

You were soon sound asleep as the adventure on the screen continued, the only viewer being Connor, who was captivated with the film. 

It didn’t take him long to notice that you were asleep though, his earth-coasted eyes soaking in how you were slumped in a strange position as you tried to stay close to the large saint bernard. 

Once again, he questioned how humans could do bad things against their bodies, knowing fully well you will be feeling it in the morning. 

Still, it brought a tender grin to the young man’s face as Sumo snored into your face and your face made a grossed-out emotion at the stench of his breath. 

With a flick of his mind, Connor had the movie and the lights flicker off, his CPU connected to Hank’s house the first day he moved in. 

He was still getting used to this sleep thing, but he was taking your advice to its full extent, his back leaning back up against the couch. 

It didn’t take long for the android to fall into his sleep mode, and it didn’t even take a second before his dark mind space was interrupted. 

He was back in the Zen garden that Amanda had created for their meetings, but everything was beyond chaotic in the one perfect landscape. 

The plants were overgrown to the point that vines and overly large shrubs were covering every inch of the mind space. 

The pearl paths were now stained with the dark green and brown of the yard and bits of grass and weeds were growing in the cracks. 

The path never had cracks. 

Usually, Connor could feel the connected pull of Amanda when she would pull him into this world, like a wire connected to its main source. 

But it was as if rodents had been chewing against the link he had with his handler, her voice even more faded and disconnected than before. 

She was still here though, still pressed on by her mission to have the RK800 destroy every deviant android in his path. 

“Amanda.”

The world glitched for a moment, causing the android to almost crumble to the ground at the throttle. 

Connor used to have this sort of thrill when he had to embark on something challenging, especially when it was in a subject he would exceed in. But, that fear was still festering inside of him; of one day waking up and being back to the obedient deviant hunter and would go back on the prowl for Markus's heart. 

Connor calculated the chances he had in his head, measuring out the possibility of standing up against the AI once and for all to get her fully out of his head. 

He made his way through the overgrown garden, the green blades tickling his pant legs as he struggled to get past the thick vines and swaying leaves. 

He called for the woman again but was answered by the familiar force he felt from before. 

The overbearing heat of the forest soon vanished and Amanda’s presence seemed to sprint away at the sudden attack as if she feared it. 

The brunette waited for the bystander to let itself known, for him to hear that soft laughter that had once pushed Amanda away from him echo throughout the bushes and roses. 

But nothing came, nothing but a shake of his shoulder as he was awoken by you. 

Brilliant light shined into the living room of Hank and Connor’s home, the android's eyes adjusting to them as your hand gripped his shoulder. 

Your hair was disheveled and the large dog was no longer wrapped up in your lap. 

Before the male could say a word, you opened your mouth to speak before him.

“Connor, who’s Amanda?”

Chapter Text

With the uncomfortable position you were in and the large dog that smothered you with his garage breath and drowning slobber, people would believe that you were a heavy sleeper. 

But apparently, a singular voice can make you stir out of your slumber. 

The rain had stopped and was replaced by a bitterly cold wind and a mix between water and snow, the weather not cold enough for the snow to stick.

Someone’s voice stirred you from your warm rest, the large mammal that once laid on you long gone and probably spread out somewhere on the floor or his dog bed. 

You stretched your bent and awkward limbs, your hands making contact with the back and sidearm of the couch. 

When you straightened your legs to the other side of the couch, you froze when they came into contact with a stiff figure at the end of the furniture. 

Rubbing the sleep from your eyes, you lifted your head to see that Connor was sitting at the end of the sofa, his tall frame lightly leaning into the back cushions but not quite settled into it. 

Never once seeing the male in a peaceful state, did you let yourself soak in how different the android looked when he wasn’t working or distracting himself. 

His hickory-colored hair was curled out of place, the head tuft slightly untamed due to the lack of care and attention while in his stasis mode. Instead of wearing his usual work uniform, he was fitted with sweats and a hoodie that Hank had provided for him since he didn’t quite understand why he didn’t have different types of clothes for different things. 

But even with all those additions to add up to a nice sleep, it was the expression written all over his face that made you realize he wasn’t having any pleasant dreams. 

His eyebrows were knitted upward and his mouth was straightened into a fine line, his teeth barely trying to poke out as he controlled his tension. 

Then he said the name that woke you up. 

“Amanda.”

Your eyebrows perked up in interest, your mind now wide awake as you leaned forward. 

Connor never spoke of an Amanda, and you were sure as hell that there wasn’t an Amanda at the police station. 

You stopped yourself short, knowing fully well where your mind was going. Jealously was a gross emotion to wear, especially since you and Connor were only friends. 

That’s all you wanted, right? 

“Stop.”

You turned your attention back to the android, your body flinching backward when Connor’s body jerked in his spot.

Oh, this wasn’t a dream, it was a nightmare over this person. 

You knew that the internet would state not to wake someone up while they are having a nightmare. Or was that for sleep-walking? 

You shook your head to rid of those thoughts as you unraveled yourself from your spot, your hand reaching out towards Connor. 

You didn’t know what to do when an android had nightmares, not even knowing that they could, but you weren’t going to sit around and wait for him to wake up. 

“Connor, wake up! You’re having a nightmare!”

You curled your fingers into his shoulder, trying to use your rising strength to shake him, even with sleep trying to drag you down. 

“Connor!”

Those walnut eyes flashed open, his LED shining a warning crimson as he rose from his spot, his spine straightening to an almost sickening angle. 

You reeled back at the reaction, your unused hand bringing the blanket closer to your chest, almost like a barrier between the two of you. 

The male turned to you as if you had shot him, his eyes almost thinning into daggers as he stared you down. 

“Are you okay?”

The young man swallowed as he turned his attention to his surroundings as if he didn’t hear your question. 

With your hand still on his shoulder, you softly shook it this time, his mousy gaze finally taking you in. 

“Connor, who’s Amanda?”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Connor didn’t answer your question for almost half the morning. 

He let Sumo out into the backyard while you went to the bathroom, all while you continued to cast worried glances over at him. 

It wasn’t until Connor started to make breakfast for both you and Hank is when you sprung the question once more.

“Is this Amanda bothering you? Because if so, y’know Hank and I can do something about it, right?”

Connor continued flipping the hashbrowns in the pan, but the curve of his knuckles strained as he held the spatula tighter. 

When he didn’t respond, you decided not to push it and helped him get the ingredients to make pancakes, your body going around the kitchen to gather everything. 

When you placed the batter mix and the fruit you found on the other counter next to him was when he spoke.

“Amanda was my supervisor and handler, back when I was ordered to hunt deviants before the revolution.”

You felt your blood run cold at his answer, the way his tone wavered at mentioning her name as if he could taste every veil letter in it. 

You recalled how Sawyer mentioned AZ and Bill Pace, the two people behind her abuse. She would utter their names as if they would charge into the room, weapons, and tools in hand to finish what they started. 

Connor showed the same distaste when he spoke of Amanda.

“So, is she still contacting you?”
The brunette placed the shredded potatoes aside, his hands taking the mixed batter before going over to the sink to clean out the pan. 

“I….I don’t know,” he confessed, his voice small as if he didn’t believe in the words he choose. 

“She was an AI programmed by Elijah Kamski to watch over my progress in the new deviation of androids. I never knew if she had a body or solely existed in the incorporeal AI.”

Suddenly, Connor was scrubbing the pot in his hands viciously, the sponge in his hand squeezing out every last bubble of soap in it. 

“Even after I deviated, I still get these….visions of her.”

You glanced nervously downward before placing a weary hand on his shoulder.

“Connor…the pan.”

Connor looked down at the pot he was cleaning to see that he scrubbed it so hard that the coating in the pan was being shredded off. 

Removing his hands from the sink, he brought them to the cuffs of his hoodie and straightened them out, almost as if to calm himself. 

You swallowed at the action, your mind buzzing in trying to think of something to say to help him. 

You couldn’t recall ever having nightmares where they happened continuously, even with the bumps in the road you’ve had. 

How long has this been going on? If this woman was inside his head, how the hell was he supposed to get her out? Having someone haunt you from your past is one thing, but for them to be inside of your head to do whatever the hell they please?

You took the responsibility onto yourself and slowly pulled the pan out of the sink, your hand finding the nearest rag to dry it off.

“Do you think she’s still…. around ? Like, with Cyberlife or anything?”

Those chocolate eyes watched as you whipped down the metal pan, his LED going haywire at trying to decide what color to choose as he thought it over. 

“I don’t know.”

You never once heard Connor be so unsure of himself, you could never believe that he could even say those three words.

You had never heard your friend sound so defeated, so deadpan as if he was worried to show his true fear over this woman. 

It was never like Connor to not know something, to not be sure of himself. 

But maybe he hasn’t been sure of himself from the beginning. 

Something wet brushed against your leg and you turned to see Sumo at your side, drool slowly dripping from his muzzle as he eyed the food on the counter. 

You gave the large dog a scratch behind the ears, a soft groan dripping from his mouth. 

 After pouring the first pancake into the pan, you turned the stove on low so that the food didn’t need that much attention. 

“Well, I can’t tell you what you should or shouldn’t do, but I think you should tell someone, especially Hank. Maybe he could find someone at Cyberlife and see if they can help. But, don’t forget that we are all here for you if you need someone.”

You then lowered yourself to Sumo’s height, your hands taking hold of his furry paws since you knew there was no way.

“Even Sumo! Dogs are very good with support.”

Almost on cue, the massive dog turned to your face and swiped his tongue over your cheek and nose, your face twisting from a smile to a disturbed frown. 

“SUMOOOOOOOOO!”

As if a spell was broken, the male next to you let out a joyful laugh, his eyes closing and his face scrunching up to make the noise. 

It was off-pitched and certainly new to the android, but sweet nonetheless. 

You quickly wiped off the excess salvia that painted your face with a paper towel, your tongue rolling out in disgust at the gross liquid.  

You sunk a glance over to your friend, your heart skipping a beat at seeing his face dot with a light blue blush and how his teeth poked out from his lips. 

You felt your own face heat up at the sight, a faint grin perking the corners of your mouth as you turned your attention back to the food. 

You flipped the pancake and sighed in relief to see that it hadn’t burnt. 

To keep the peaceful atmosphere the same, you went to the couch and grabbed your phone, those cocoa eyes watching every step you made as you came back. 

“Remember how I said I would show you new music?” you asked, a cheeky smile pulling at your lips. 

“Of course. I also remember how you made the joke about how it’s hard for Hank to go for a walk when I was appealing that it was Sumo.”

“Con, you’re gonna ruin the memory if you have to explain the joke.”

The young detective titled his head at your blunt statement as if he couldn’t quite get with your sarcasm yet. 

Gently smacking your shoulder into his, you scrolled through your musical playlist, your teeth taking hold of the inside of your lip as you tried to decide on what song to play. 

A strong presence hovered over your shoulder and you carefully twisted your face to almost jam it into Connor’s, a surprised gasp breezing from your mouth. 

His eyes were fixated on your list of songs as if he was calculating himself which one you would choose. 

Trying not to make your heart speed out of your chest, you quickly sped through the music, trying to find a song that he would like. 

“Ah! How about this one?”

You clicked the song title and placed your phone on the counter, your body swinging back to the stove to take the flapjack off and poured in a new one. 

“No more metal or jazz in this house while I’m here,” you joked, the tip of your finger poking the end of Sumo’s nose, the dog’s tongue rolling out at it. 

Connor joined your side as you both continued on with making breakfast, the brunette cutting up the fruits while you continued on with piling on the pancakes. 

You weren’t the type of person to take time and make breakfast in the morning, especially with the job you had. But, on the days you did decide to settle down and make something tasty, you couldn’t resist playing music and dancing along with the lyrics. 

And nothing was going to stop you from doing it here. 

You started to lightly hop as the beat picked up, your hips swinging as you tossed another pancake as the tempo continued. 

When Connor came up to you with a few chocolate bits to place into the pancakes, you reached over and took a few off the plate to eat. 

The android took notice of the moves you did while reaching for the rich candy, your feet tapping with the beat of the song. 

“What are you doing?” he asked, his dark eyebrows raising to amplify the question. 

You quickly chewed the chocolate down, your hand going over your mouth as you answered. 

“Um, dancing? If you want to call it that.”

You then swallowed as a perfect idea popped into your head. You quickly flipped the pancake before turning to your friend, your hands extending out towards him. 

“Hey, dance with me.”

The young male’s eyes went wide as he stared down at your open palms, your sides still swaying with every strum of the guitar. 

“I haven’t been equipped with that kind of function or program-”

“Con.”

You reached out and softly took his left hand, making sure to give him time to pull away if he so desired. 

“Humans aren’t programmed to instantly know, either. They learn by experience. There are just certain things you can’t download. You’re just going to have to experience them and feel them. Plus, you’ve seen how bad I dance, I’m sure you’ll do better than I.”

Taking his other hand, you felt your breath catch at not only how warm he was on the cold day, but also how he slightly shook once you came into contact. 

With the faint patter of the music, you easily showed the android how to roll his hips, the movement instant and stiff. 

You chuckled at his clunky dance moves, but you knew that you were no better. 

After a few more seconds, your dancing partner was slowly getting the hang of it, his sides now more fluid and simple. 

You let the catchy lyrics dance off your tongue as the song started to pick up to the climax, your hands releasing Connor’s as you started to clap, the male slowly joining you. 

Turning the stove off so that you wouldn’t cause a house fire, you spun around the small kitchen, Sumo leaping up with a bark at the fast movement. 

You didn’t know what took over you, but it felt as if the tension between your shoulders had mysteriously disappeared. 

An idea leaped into your mind and you swiftly bent down and grabbed Sumo’s paws, the strength of your job letting you lift them up until they were near your waist. 

“See! Even Sumo can dance!”

Laughter filled the warm house as Connor watched you dance with his pet, the furry creature looking around as if he didn’t know what was going on. 

Even with the hidden gloom of your job poking at the back of your mind, along with the fear of your friend and his nightmares, it was refreshing to have something nice happen between the two of you. 

Extending your hand back out to him after setting Sumo down, the android took it, confidence flowing through him and into his movements. 

Shoulder to shoulder, you both swayed to the end of the song, fits of giggles vibrating against your throat as Connor’s sides were aligned with yours in the beat. 

“You two look like a bunch of drunks.”

You let out a high-pitched scream at the intruder, your heart making a beeline to escape your ribcage as you turned. 

The Lieutenant’s bedhead was about the same way he looked almost every day, the only thing missing was coffee staining the fine hairs on his face and a strange and exotic outfit instead of a t-shirt and pants. 

Quickly releasing your hand from your friend’s, you gave Hank a nervous smile, your eyes trying hard not to look at him. 

“Good morning, Hank!” you almost accidentally screamed out, your hand reaching behind your neck to scratch the goosebumps that started to dot over your body. 

Why were you reacting like you just got caught by their parents?! 

The older man groaned at your loud outburst, his hands shooing the St. Bernard away from him as he headed over to the coffee pot. 

Connor returned to the last pancake while you turned the music off, your eyes glancing out of the back window to see small flurries spinning in the wind.

The holidays were coming up and at some point, Detroit would be pillowed over with snow and storms. 

You just hoped it wouldn’t put a halt to your investigation. 

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rest of the morning was spent enjoying each other's company and the food you and Connor made.

During it, Connor opened up to his father figure about the strange visions he had been getting about Amanda, and Hank concluded that if they got worse then they should see a specialist about it. 

 After breakfast, Hank let you use his shower while Connor was pulled into a call with Markus, which you wish you could overhear but knew not to invade your friend’s privacy. 

After cleaning up, you decided to search and call the place that was holding Sawyer, your nerves causing you to chew at the end of your nails in waiting to hear from her. 

You wanted to cry out in joy to hear that she was not only doing fine but also getting help due to her past trauma. 

You didn’t expect the woman in charge to ask if you wanted to see the young girl, which, of course, you immediately said yes, your body leaping from the couch to get yourself fully ready. 

With the address written down on your phone and a few quick goodbyes to the owners of the house, you quickly took a self-driving taxi over to the building where the android child was being held. 

You nervously messed with the end of your sweater, an exhausted chuckle brushing your lips to see that you picked up the habit from Connor. 

Heat reclaimed your cheeks once more as you leaned back in the elevator, your mind taking you back to the morning dance the two of you had made. 

Even though the two of you hadn’t gotten the chance to wind down and have a chance to breathe (mainly just you), you realized how much you and Connor have bonded over the past few months. 

You had just planned on becoming friends with him because he not only helped you with one of your first cases but also seemed like one of the friendlier officers at the station. 

But now, you whacked your self-consciousness for not doing it sooner. 

Connor was kind, curious, and loved to learn things about the world around him that he was now open up to. 

He was intrigued to learn things about you. 

You blinked several times at the thought, your throat having trouble swallowing as you exited the now suffocating elevator. 

This feeling was becoming familiar, a feeling that you knew you shouldn’t be having. 

Shaking away those dirty and almost unnatural thoughts, you made your way to the room that the woman instructed, your whole body sparking with joy when you saw Sawyer waiting with one of the workers on the other side. 

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You spent the rest of the day with Sawyer, most of it being with her in your arms, tears streaming down her face as she believed she wouldn’t see you again. 

You couldn’t stop the waterworks either, the stress of where she was washing off of you at seeing her safe.

The woman in charge, Judy Williams, explained to you about the organization as you let Sawyer show you her room. 

After the rebellion, a lot of families and citizens turned in their android children in fear of them becoming fully deviant and killing them in their sleep (their words, not hers). 

Luckily, one of the members of Jericho helped the organization raise enough money in order to take in more of the surrendered children. 

Due to your recent investigation and the testimony that Sawyer had given, the organization was now upgrading its security and background checks. 

You frowned at her statement, your lips opening to report that they should’ve had those in the beginning. 

But Sawyer tugged at your hand, her hazel eyes practically glowing at the sight of you. 

She’s an android. All the children here are androids. That’s why they didn’t care.

Sawyer was given a room that was shared with other children her age, the oldest one being around eleven or so. 

She had her own bed and even toys to play with. 

All the blue toys were shoved into a corner.

“I was wondering if you knew why she doesn’t like the color blue?” Judy asked, her hands patting a few hands of the children as they came up. 

You swallowed as you tried to think of the best response without giving too much away from your case. 

“The color…has been a big impact on her trauma. Whoever ordered to put her through the abuse she endured must have some connection with blue.”

The older woman raised a thin eyebrow in question but seeing you eye her made any other questions she had come to a halt. 

With a sigh, she picked up the leftover blue objects and materials. 

“Poor thing, I can’t imagine hating a color. I will have to tell the guy who sends these to maybe get new colors!”

Before you could reply, the back of your pants vibrated, the ring-tone you created just for Hank bristling from the fabric. 

You quickly grabbed it before the little kids could hear the curse words that were about to come from the ringtone. 

“Hank, everything okay?”

There was a tried groan on the other side of the line and you felt the start of a nervous sweat prickle at the nape of your neck. 

“Hank?”

“They found Bill Pace. He was on his property.”

The uneasiness that was tossing in your gut quickly disappeared at hearing Sawyer’s abuser was captured. With all the evidence you had against him, all he would see now was gray bars.

But the Lieutenant's voice didn’t sound overjoyed like you felt, his words didn’t have that curl of a smirk to finally see a criminal be put in their place

“But?”

“.....He was found dead. Murdered.”

Chapter Text

Hearing the death of Bill Pace put you in an odd loop of relief but also anguish. 

The kidnapping, sociopathic, poor excuse of a human being deserved what got coming to him, deserved to have his last breath be withered in pain. 

He was beaten and tortured for hours before his body was dumped at his house, a casual statement from the gang he was in that they knew about the investigation. 

You couldn’t go to the crime scene due to your “time off”, meaning you wouldn’t be able to investigate anything other than the pictures that were taken and the biopsy the team would conduct. 

Your fingernails dug into the sleeve of your arms, the jacket you wore bending at the action. 

Even though you wanted him to suffer, you wanted him dead, you hated that he was gone. 

You couldn’t use him to find out more information, to find out who was the leader of this organization, this kidnapping, and drug selling rogues. 

The criminals that were locked up weren’t going to say a word, not even the two men that Connor interrogated let out a peep about their evil-doings. 

Why did it feel like you took three steps back when you got one step ahead?

Sumo continuously sniffed around the backyard, his large head trying to push itself into the patchy white ground as he tried to find the perfect place to relieve himself. 

Winter was finally upon the two of you; large, yet soft, flakes flickered around you and delicately froze into the crusted earth under your feet. 

Night had quickly dived over you without you even noticing, the stars and bits of snow becoming one in your vision. 

You didn’t know how long Hank and Connor would be gone. You didn’t even know if you should still be here. 

You never realized how much of a family the two men, your partner, and even Gavin, had become. 

When was the last time you saw your friends that weren’t co-workers? The last time you texted or called a family member?

It was almost becoming too much, just too much. For the past few months, you’ve had this same thought process, the deadly reality of being a detective consuming you like a rabid beast.

Maybe the Captain should’ve fired you. 

The kitchen lights flickered on behind you and Sumo perked his large ears up, his head tilting to the side before going back to sniffing. 

There were muffled voices from behind the glass wall, and you curled yourself closer in hopes that they wouldn’t worry. 

A few minutes passed, the gentle snowfall drifting around you as you watched your breath become a cloud in front of you. 

Then the glass door behind you slid open and your body tensed up at the squeaky result of the door being moved. 

The languorous Saint Bernard bounded up towards you and the figure behind you, his long tongue dripping from the corner of his mouth as he let out a low bark. 

You cautiously looked next to you without turning your head, your eyebrows raising at seeing it was Connor who was standing next to you. 

One mug that was filled with something heated occupied one of his hands as he looked down at you, his doe-like eyes gleaming in the dying light of Hank’s back porch light. 

You already knew that he was scanning you due to the LED on the side of his forehead that continuously swirled from blue to yellow, a hint of green becoming on the cylinder due to the mixture. 

“Hello, Y/N.”

“Hiya, Connor.”

His eyebrows slightly twisted upward as if his name on your mouth was a foreign word. He then looked at the two mugs and back at you, his mind slowly connecting on what he should do next. 

Taking a spot next to you, his eyes locked beyond the backyard as if trying to find what you’ve been staring at. 

The android then twisted until the cup of brown liquid was in front of your gaze. 

“Your regular body temperature is below that standard it should be, Y/N. This should help increase it back to normal.”

The aroma wafted into your nose and you instantly recognized the beverage was hot chocolate, your eyes widening to see that there were even marshmallows bubbling on the top. 

You knew that Hank had a sweet tooth during the cold weather. 

You offered him a grateful smile as he slipped the mug into your hands, his hands not even trembling like yours due to the brittle weather. 

A small thank you slipped from your lips before you brought the steaming drink to your mouth, your body eagerly taking in the creamy liquid as it warmed your throat. 

A sigh of content fluttered into the air as your blood slowly started to toast itself up. 

The silence between the two of you wasn’t awkward, but it wasn’t welcomed either. 

Sumo set in between Connor’s legs, his obsidian eyes looking back at the male awaiting to be petted. 

Connor obliged the dog’s silent demand and let his long fingers brush through his thick coat, his digits taking in every ridge and loose hair amongst the Saint Bernard’s body. 

“Did you guys find out anything at the crime scene?” you finally asked, your curiosity getting the best of you. 

Those dark and dusky eyes looked over at you and you quickly turned away, the sudden shyness of him seeing your inflamed nose and cheeks making your face settle elsewhere. 

“Bill Pace’s body was mangled and disemboweled. He didn’t have his wallet, license, or any fingerprints on him. There were no tracks so no cars can be identified.”

Connor sucked in a breath he didn’t need, your head turning at the action. 

“He had thirium dried and embedded into his fingerprints. It came back to be YK500 that’s been reported missing for the past two months and two days.”

It felt as if you were soaking in poison from the prickles of your skin, your eyes instantly looking upward to keep the tears at bay. 

Even with him dead, he still got in one last victim. 

You hardly saved Sawyer from his clutches, your mind completely blanking out on the rest that was still held captive. 

The school of fish they were talking about was always being moved. 

You swallowed a gulp of air, your pupils now darting back and forth in hopes of finding something for them to latch onto to.
‘We…we should’ve caught them by now,” you finally choked out, her memory sprinting around you as you recalled that you stated both you and Connor would have the case done in no time. 

It’s been months with what felt like nothing . 

The tall male ignored the dog in front of him at the spew of your words, his chocolate eyes slightly widening to see the silent streams down your face. 

“All those other kids are still being tested on; being used as drug mules and we’ve only saved one. Even with Sawyer, how is she supposed to get through all this? Do what Spears said and wipe her memory? What’s the most humane thing to do for her?”

You felt the salty tears at the corners of your mouth, your face crinkling up at the taste. 

“And here I am: having play dates with Sawyer and picking fights with co-workers instead of actually solving this case.”

A dry laugh pressed over your chapped lips and your vision had become blurred. 

“I’m so sorry, Connor. Someone else should’ve taken this case with you. Maybe then the case would’ve been solved. Sawyer and the rest of those kids would’ve gotten justice by now.”

The hot chocolate long forgotten you pulled your legs up to your chest to rest your chin on them, an icy whimper trembled against your vocal cords. 

“I’m the worst partner and friend.”

You never realized how much you took for granted being an apprentice with your female partner, how you look towards her for guidance and reassurance. 

Sure, you were still receiving those wonderful reinforcements, but you wanted to do this on your own. 

You wanted both you and Connor to bust the bad guys, give those children a second chance, to celebrate afterward by showing him the best parts about being alive. 

But, here you were: crumbling apart on his back porch like glass that had been dropped one too many times. 

Something firm and warm brushed up against your arm and you dusted the tears away to see that Connor had moved up against you, your bodies now firmly smushed together. 

Those lustrous and concerned eyes darted to where your hands laid on your knees, his bushy eyebrows narrowing at the wrapped-up cuts and revealing bruises from your fight with Trey. 

In one swift motion, he took your right hand into his, his smooth and perfect hands caressing your own just like he did a few days ago. 

With no one to interrupt, he let his digits explore your busted and healing palms, a pleasuring warmth dying into your body as you let him tour your imperfect hands. 

“When androids get damaged, there is a high percentage they can mend or blend their wounds back up with their artificial facial cover-up. The android barely registers pain from hits or impacts.”

You shivered as his index finger slipped over a heavily wrapped knuckle, your mind recalling that it was that digit that took the most blows when you were fighting with Trey. 

His hands were so….real. Of course, you expected them to since Cyber-life didn’t mess around when it came to making androids realistic, but it still shocked you to feel certain areas of his skin were either warm or had no temperature at all. 

“I…I don’t like how human bruises and cuts work. They hurt you,” he stated, the grooves of his hair already being dotted with fluffs of snow. 

You pondered on what was happening within his mind, at what he was seeing and thinking about your black and blue hands, wondering if they would ever regain their normal color. 

“I…I’ve never had a friend before. Hank has been the only companion I’ve had. Sumo is an animal and the androids in Jericho aren’t the friendliest with me due to previous engagements. 

“You are the first human to show interest in me. One of the first to stand up for me.”

A heated string of embarrassment stripped over your spine at his words, your thought process heading straights toward you thinking that this was a confession. 

“You haven’t let me down, Y/N. You haven’t let anyone down. I’m not speaking by my programming of probability or statistics, it's because I know you, and you didn’t fail her. You’ve helped Sawyer more than the most percentage of detectives would.”

His hand gently cupped into your own as if he feared to inflict any more pain on you, those designed fingers slipping between your own.  

He was slow and intense, like a child testing water for the first time before letting the waves consume them. 

“As we’ve talked about before, you and I will solve this case because we are partners in it. I hope you find my words comforting and see the truth within them.”

New tears replaced the old ones, but an uplifting grin formed on your face as you lowered it and out of his view. 

It felt good to know that Connor, one of the best detectives in the business, believes that you didn’t fail, that you won’t fail.

The calm of the winter dance around the two of you, Sumo’s old bones causing him to lay himself on the slap of concrete that was known as Hank’s back porch, his large paws holding his snoring head. 

Connor kept your hands warm as you absorbed all of his comforting compliments, your head swimming with conflicting emotions towards the vowels and letters. 

“Thank you. Thanks for believing in me,” you finally responded, the male next to you tipping his lips into a solaced grin. 

“That’s what friends do, correct?”

You stifled a laugh and leaned your head into his shoulder, hoping to show that it was a friendly chuckle. 

“Yes, Con, that’s what friends do.”
The lean male fully smiled after your words, his eyebrows rising upward with the lines on his face. 

As the two of you let the world revolve around you, your mind twisted back to the plans you had for yourself and your friend, the places Connor needed to see. 

While you started to construct something for the two of you to do with your sudden vacation, the friend you were thinking of was having the same thought process as you. 

He didn’t understand why your head on his shoulder caused his insides to overheat as if he dialed it up to inferno heat. 

He knew for sure that he didn’t like seeing you upset, seeing your face fall into that upsetting frown and tears dripping from your face. 

It wasn’t a pleasant sight at all and he wished he could delete it from his CPU forever. 

But that meant deleting a moment he had with you and he couldn’t bear the notion of doing so. 

The weight on his shoulder didn’t make sense to him on why he liked it, why the software that made up his body felt like gooey honey that had swept into his body. 

Maybe this was the deviant in him, showing him the things and actions he likes and dislikes. 

At least, he hoped so. 

It wasn’t long until Connor voiced his concern over your body temperature, seeing that the hot chocolate you had finished minutes ago wasn’t keeping you at your normal blood temperature. 

You instantly greeted the warm air of the house, a small sigh of comfort escaping your lips as you went to change into your pajamas. 

Once returning to the living room, you offered your friend another movie night out on the couch, knowing fully well that showing Connor a movie was the furthest thing from your mind. 

If he had another nightmare, you would be there this time, to let him know that he wasn’t alone. 

And…maybe having him near you as you slumbered would help with your own tumbling fears. 

It didn’t take you long to grow weary against the couch cushions, Sumo’s fur and Connor’s presence drifting you into a semi peaceful slumber. 

The last flickering thought that arose in your stream of consciousness was how excited Connor was going to be when he will find out what you have planned.

Chapter Text

You waited eagerly in front of Hank and Connor’s house, the tails of your jacket flapping with the chilly wind the winter of Detroit brought. 

It was a week after your fight with Trey, your knuckles slowly starting to heal along with the bruises that scaled over your body from the brawl. 

With the time off, you were somewhat able to look over the new evidence and learn about the interrogations that had happened during your absence. 

Bill Pace’s body was….disturbing. His torso was mangled as if a pack of wild dogs was sent after him with no mercy. 

This group wasn’t messing around and surely wasn’t going to stop their mission of using androids, specifically children androids, as drug mules. 

No one was giving up any names and the evidence that was found in the hidden lab under the laundry mat was anything but useful. 

You quickly brushed those negative thoughts aside as you heard the door in front of you unlock, a smile peeking behind your lips as you took in the bronze eyes that connected with yours. 

Today wasn’t about the investigation. Today was about you and Connor. 

“Hiya, Connor!” you said gleefully, the small flecks of snow catching in your vision. 

The tall male returned the happy aura with his own smile, the navy blue sweater that broaden his chest and shoulders making you swallow at the sight. 

Suddenly, the icy wind that swirled around you couldn’t stifle the heat that coursed through your body like a building flame. 

You straightened your outfit as Hank came into view, his bread once again nicely trimmed of deadends and his hair combed against his head. 

“Don’t forget your coat, Connor. Can’t have you come back with some kind of virus.”

You frowned at the strange comment, your mind flipping from wondering if Connor could get a cold from the winter winds or if the Lieutenant was making some kind of a joke since he used the term virus .

The leather, brown coat completed the android’s outfit, the wool fur as bright as the snow that slowly started to cover Detroit’s street. 

“You kids get back before ten, okay?” the old man huffed, his voice affected by the incoming weather. 

You felt your eyes roll around at the comment, your snarky tongue holding itself at wanting to remind him that you and Connor were adults. 

“Sure thing, Hanky. Don’t want to come back with you waiting out front with a shotgun,” you joked, a smirk rising on your face as he shook his head at the reply. 

After saying your goodbyes, you lead Connor to the self-driving taxi that was waiting for the two of you. 

Your friend still didn’t know where the two of you were heading and frankly, it left him astray. The only information he gained was you waking up Sunday morning with a child-like smile and you asked if he was free on the upcoming Friday. He would usually be working, but due to your absence and with nothing to lead on, he suppose he was “free” on that certain day. 

He tried to calculate what the activity you had planned for that day of the week, but there was no possibility higher than 60% of what it could be, especially since you gave no hints or indication of what it could be. 

It was the first time Connor was left to wonder on what it could be. 

It was different than trying to solve a case where things were at stake, where it could diagnose different clues and evidence to solving it. This curiosity was more a….necessary warmth that pumped into his heart inside of thirium. 

He couldn’t pinpoint the emotion and even looked up the symptoms on his CPU and the results were empty. 

“Will you tell me where our destination is now, Y/N?” he suddenly asked, breaking the peaceful silence that covered the two of you. 

The question lead your eyes away from the window where you were people-watching, even though the streets barely had any citizens due to the cold. 

“That would ruin the surprise though!” you exhaled, your lip pouting out as his golden eyes started to search around in hopes of finding clues. 

“You better not login into the car’s GPS or else,” you warned, your fingers ruffling up your thin jacket. You hoped that it would shield you long enough during the adventure until you found shelter in the heated buildings. 

“Or else what, Y/N?”

The saliva in your throat quickly shot down your throat, the heat of the taxi suddenly making you dizzy. If Connor continuously read your heart rate, you wondered if he was questioning why yours suddenly rose to an alarming rate. 

“Or else…..you won’t get to hang out with me today,” you finally responded, your arms crossing over your chest in hopes of getting your point across. 

Connor grinned at your statement, Hank’s sarcastic and snide conversations making it easier for the android to catch on to witty throwbacks. 

“Alright, under one condition.”

You raised your eyebrows at him, your body turning towards him to show that you were listening. 

“That you are going to enjoy this surprise as much as I will.”

A cocky grin drifted onto your mouth as the car took a left and started to zip out and onto the interstate. 

“Oh, believe me, you and I are going to have a blast at this place!”

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You wished you pulled your phone out to capture Connor’s reaction so that Hank could see, but you couldn’t pull away as your friend stared in wonder at Detroit’s Zoo and Aquarium's front entrance. 

You knew that Connor had a tender fascination for animals, especially the canine breed like Sumo and the dogs that Sawyer used to draw for him. 

With all of his help and friendliness towards you, this place felt like the perfect getaway from the overworked male. 

Due to it being Friday, groups of people roamed around the entrance, families and friend groups dashing left and right in trying to get their properties in order. 

The paths that led to the front entrance were paved from the building snow, but it seemed like the android was frozen to the icy ground. 

“Do you like your surprise?” you asked quietly, the words almost scared to leave your throat. 

His LED was circling into every color it could touch, the chocolate orbs within his face easily taking everything in at a snail’s pace. 

A sliver of sweat prickled against your spine your sweater suddenly clinging to your body as if it shrunk. 

Maybe this was too much to handle? Or maybe he only liked dogs and didn’t like any other species? No. No, no, that would be so unlike Connor to dislike any animal. 

Yet, when he turned to you and the sun titled into his eyes, you swore it grew jealous as he spoke. 

“I do not believe that like would be a respectful term to use for the fondness I feel,” he practically breathed out as if he could lose his breath. 

You released the air caught in your lungs, your hand going towards him to pull him along. 

“Well, come on! We don’t want to leave the animals waiting!”

After waiting in line, you bought a ticket band for both you and Connor, the android behind the desk sent the two a soft smile before wrapping the band around your wrist. 

The zoo was buzzing with life, both humans and animals. Due to a large number of extinct species, a lot of the zoo animals were androids so that people could still gain the experience of seeing the animals they let down. 

There was still a small handful of species that were still alive that were placed in the zoo, but it still saddened you to see how the world was slowly letting itself down. 

Shaking yourself out of your depressing thoughts, you picked up a map that was offered at the front gate, your fingers opening up the long flap of paper. 

“Okay, this first area in front of us is the savannah animals and it slowly goes into other sections of animals and then to the Aquarium and the butterfly house are at the end,” you started, your body slowly leaning so that your friend could view the map. 

Connor took one swift glance over the map before taking it out of your grasp, his hands neatly folding it and placing it back perfectly in its slot. 

You stood dumbfounded as he did this action, your eyes catching his own to show your confusion. 

“I’ve memorized the paths and exhibits for the creatures that inhabit here so that we don’t need to look at the map when lost,” he simply put, his head tilting as you continued to open your mouth like a fish out of water. 

“You are just full of amazing surprises,” you finally mustered up, your feet finally finding their will to move forward. 

Connor only grinned at your words, his legs smoothly following yours. 

“Not as amazing as this one.”

You let Connor lead the way to the closest exhibits of animals, the sign stating which animal was an android or not making you sigh in defeat towards yourself. 

But, when Connor leaned over the railing to look at the creature up close, his eyes sparkling like crackling pieces of wood off a fire, made you subside those moral thoughts for later. 

He gawked at the gazelles, lions, rhinos, zebras, and the rest of the smaller animals that preferred hotter climates, all while Connor spilled fun facts about each creature. The zoo provided indoor heat for the animals that couldn’t handle the cold, your sweater become toasty over time as you took your friend to the next section. 

A small line was piled in front of you, a few zoo keepers helping visitors feed giraffes that had come over to the side of the railing of their dug-in enclosure. 

Showing the nearest worker your bracelet and then having Connor do the same, you carefully brought him up the ramp towards the nearest long-neck creature. 

The android came to a halt once you were up near it, his brown eyes meeting the giraffe’s timid stare as it flicked its ear in curiosity. 

Noticing Connor’s shy reaction towards the creature, you offered him a reassuring smile. 

“Hey, he’s not going to hurt you. Here, I’ll go first.”

Thanking the employee for the piece of fruit, you carefully flattened the palm of your hand as the large, spotted head lowered itself and quickly licked up the treat offered. 

You giggled/cringed at the feeling of the creature’s warm tongue over your skin, your body reacts by pulling back and grabbing for a tissue and hand sanitizer offered to visitors afterward. 

You beamed at Connor as you stood beside him. 

“See? Easy and gross, but that’s the fun part of it.”

Connor was still conflicted about getting near the large mammal, his fingers moving next to his sides and you realized that he desperately wanted to pull his quarter out. 

Reaching over, you took the shaking hand into yours and eased him closer to the spotted mammal until you took another piece of fruit from the worker and spread your fingers into your friend’s palm. 

“I’m right here next to you and I promise he won’t hurt you,” you whispered, your hand delicately raising his wrist until the treat was presented to the animal. 

As quickly as the giraffe saw it, the mammal swiftly licked it up, the muscle in its mouth leaving a trail of spit behind. 

The brunette detective eyed the clear liquid in the palm of his hand and then back at the creature who left it behind. 

You chuckled at how speechless he was during this trip, your eyes rolling as you lured Connor away so that the people behind you could have a turn. 

As you waited for him to clean his hands, you snapped a few pictures, giving yourself a mental high-five at the photographs you caught of Connor feeding the giraffe. 

Someone harshly ran into you, your eyes once glued to the photo now looking for the person who rudely trimmed you when you were in no one’s way. 

You didn’t catch the stranger but you could still feel the stinging heat that came with the shove. 

“Are you alright, Y/N?”

Connor was next to you, his hands shining with cleaner and his chocolate eyes glazed with worry. 

You offered him a smile before scooping your arm around his, the action forcing you to forget what happened. 

“Ah, just a rude person. Gonna run into a few sooner than later. Let’s head over to the next section.”

Passing the crowd that had gathered to feed the tall mammals, the land slowly started to dip until you both were greeted with a door that led to the aquatic life and water-based mammals. 

You awed at the otters and penguins that you passed, your giggles nonstop as Connor told you countless fun facts about them. 

While you are trying to get a closer look at a pregnant seahorse, Connor lightly shook you within the lock between your arms. 

“What does Open Pool mean?” he asked, your eyes leveling to see where he was reading the words from. 

Realizing where you were in the marine life section, you cheerfully pulled him along, both of you surprised to see how minimal effort it took. 

“It’s where you can pet baby sharks!” you squealed, your steps slowly so that you wouldn’t disturb the tanks that held the grey creatures. 

Finding a spot without screaming kids, you carefully taught Connor how to pet a shark. 

“Use only two fingers and don’t pet it like Sumo or else you’ll scare them. Just gently let your fings sweep over their side and only their side.”

You then provided an example just like you did with the giraffe, your fingers gliding over the smooth skin of the marine life before it continued with its travel. 

Connor’s face lightly scrunched up as his fingers slipped into the cool water, the liquid temperature for the animals that lived within it. 

Seeing that his fingers were too stiff and rigid that they could hurt the shark, you smoothly dipped your hand into the water and lightly bent his fingers to ease them up. 

Before Connor could react, his digits were rubbing up against a baby shark, its silver skin like silk over his touch before jetted away. 

“Smooth,” was the only word Connor could press out and you couldn’t help but chuckle at the reaction, Connor’s smile tipping into his lips. 

The next baby shark didn’t seem to like the contact because once Connor’s digits glided over its side, the fish flipped its tail until a splash leaped out of the pool and onto the side of your jacket. 

Even with the exhibit being temperature, you shivered as the water quickly froze against your skin. 

“You are cold,” Connor announced, his warm eyes gliding over the stain of water and then back to your face, a hard swallow dipping down your throat. 

“Ahh, it’ll dry in its own time. Let’s not let it ruin our time,” you protest, but the taller male was already leading the two of you off to the side, his linear shoulders bending to roll off his coat. 

Remembering the last time Connor gave you his jacket, your face quickly blazed with a rustic color as you lifted your hands. 

“Connor, really I will be fine! It’s just a small spill-”

“Yet, you are always grabbing for the blankets and winter-type clothing when you are cold. Plus, the next area we are heading to is a ten-minute walk outside. Your body temperature will drop to the point you will be more than just uncomfortable,” he shot back, your mind slowly seeping away from the conversation as his broad chest and the tightened sleeves hooked into his biceps came into your vision. 

It did squeeze your heartstrings that he cared so much about your health, especially since your job definitely weighed it down to a breaking point. 

Nodding to show that you accept the offer of his coat, you swiftly slip yours off and let the overlarge coat dip onto your shaking shoulders. 

His cologne tumbled into your nose and you couldn’t stop yourself as a sigh of comfort breezed out of your mouth, the collar of the brown jacket creating a comforting wall around you.

You didn’t even notice Connor gently take hold of your wet jacket, his hands neatly folding the piece of clothing so that it hung off his arm safely. 

“Have I ever told you how good of a friend you are?” you asked, a thankful smile shining off your face as the two of you continued onward with your adventure.  

A dark blue drifted onto the male’s cheeks at the compliment as you both started to scale up a ramp, the frosty tip of winter once again recoiling against your clothes. 

“I don’t believe you have, Y/N.”

“Hm, remind me to do it more often.”

“Certainly.”

You felt your blood swell at the playful banter, the blush staying plastered over your face as you made the journey to the last stop at the attractions. 

The Green House/Butterfly room was engulfed with bright greens and uplifting colors of the different plants and flowers that grew within it. 

The sun had already started to set as the two of you made it inside, your body shaking off the bits of snowflakes that latched onto you. 

You took in the scent of pollen and the mist that lightly sprayed itself onto the thriving plants, the flying dots and swirls of colors that carefully navigated throughout the area from one flower to the other. 

Taking a seat on one of the empty benches, you gestured for Connor to still with you, your hand patting the spot next to you. 

Taking the spot, you both wait quietly for the butterflies to get comfortable in your presence, a black and blue one finally spawning next to you. 

You let it settle onto your shoulder, an awe-struck giggle coming from your lips as it slowly closed and opened its luminous wings. 

“I wish Sawyer could be here to see this,” you whispered, your voice barely growing as if you only wanted Connor and the butterfly to hear. 

“They won’t let her out of the building she’s staying in due to all the kidnappings. Like prison, except they have windows.”

You laughed at your sarcasm, causing the butterfly to hop off your body and flutter over to Connor, his stiff stature luring the insect to land. 

Keeping his voice lowered as well, he timidly leans towards you for you to hear. 

“I do believe that Sawyer will be adopted very soon,” he stated, his finger slowly going towards the butterfly so that it could move from his shoulder to his hand. 

“What do you mean?”

The android finally had the insect within his palm, its long legs slowly taking in the realistic skin that was under its legs.

“Do you recall the phone call I had with Markus almost a week ago?”

You nodded, your still body drawing in two butterflies to land on your head and the top of your hand. 

“Markus and his partner, Simon, have announced that they are ready to create a family. Due to the predicament that they are both androids, they want to adopt.”

“Connor….please tell me-”

“I thought it would be a good idea to recommend Sawyer to them. You highly care for her and I know that Markus and Simon are well-adjusted androids. Was I incorrect to do this?”

Tears bundled around your eyes, your body slowly quivering to let the butterflies fly off before you huddled up next to Connor, your voice rasped due to holding back a cry. 

“No! No you were super correct to do that, Connor. It means that she’ll be safe! That she will be loved!”

Connor had spoken to you before about the leader of the revolution, about how kind and wise Markus was, especially with letting Connor join even after trying to hunt him down. 

It made you want to sob out cries of joy and relief to know that Sawyer would be adopted into a family where she will be wanted and loved, knowing that her darker days were finally behind her. 

You slipped your hand into his and dipped your head into his shoulder to hide your tears, the eyes around you realizing that you were weeping. 

“Thank you, Connor. Thank you.”

Connor’s face was more blue than white, his eyes darting around at the passing visitors who eyed the two of you afar. 

Letting the butterfly go and fly up to the next person, he fully engulfed you in the embrace, his fingers digging into the jacket he gave you. 

Hugs and breaking personal boundaries were still new and sensitive for Connor, especially when it came to you. 

With fear continuing to increase within him due to the terrors of Amanda, he didn’t want the new fear of this emotion he felt with you to drown out this moment. 

He had noticed a change in him, like a new model added onto him or if the Cyberlife company made the thirium pumped into him have a new, tangy flavor to it. 

He wouldn’t thoroughly admit that he had scanned the details of your face and body more once...approximately 18 times throughout the day. He wouldn’t let others know of the file that was saved within him of photos of you, mostly the ones that you were smiling or laughing in. 

The ones where you were fully pressed up against him in a hold were the most difficult ones to look at without overheating. 

It was times like these that made him feel most alive. 

Taking in the natural warmth that radiated off your body, the even breaths that breezed over this neck as you brought him in closer. 

The way your fingers dug into his back as if he was your lifeline. 

A cough floated from your throat as you pulled away from him, realizing how long you were latching onto him and knowing how he was still fresh to the idea of physical contact. 

Deciding that it was time to leave due to the rest of the visitors heading out and the sky switching to a darling hue, you both called in a taxi and headed home. 

Like the gentleman he was, Connor dropped you off at your place first, making sure you made it to the door before making his way back to the waiting taxi. 

“Connor! Wait!” 

Right as he turned, you rose to where you were up against his cheek, your lips leaving a feathery kiss over the side before you slipped back to the safety of your home. 

“Happy Holidays, Connor!”

“..Happy Holidays, Y/N.”

Raising a hand to the place where you left your lips, he carefully let the tip of his fingers brush over it as if expecting a mark to be there. 

Suddenly, it felt as if Connor did contact a virus. 

He could feel it drifting into his CPU, like honey sticking to his veins and swimming throughout his head to the point he was drowsy by the time he made it back to the car. 

Even though he didn’t have to look to see what color his LED was, he couldn’t help but grin to see it flustered with all three different colors, even a twist of pink seemed to make its way into the river of hues. 

This new emotion was warm. It was soft against and within him. 

He almost craved more of the fluttering tingle that arose within him. 

When he wasn’t around you, it was as if everything in his body not only stopped but disappeared, his thirium pump, the blue liquid that coursed through his body, he was just...empty, a lonely shell. 

He didn’t even realize he was rolling into statis mode before his eyes closed once he made it home and into his bed, the spot on his cheek still blazing with a tickling heat. 

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Zen Garden was no longer overgrown and lacking in care. It was flared with colors; the bushes and plants were all trimmed nicely to reveal the old paths Connor used to walk. 

Long gone were the towering shards of crystal that stacked around the area and were replaced with simple oak wood, the veins crawling and growing on it to show how much work has gone into this. 

Taking in the area, the android couldn’t help but let the emotion of relief roll through him at seeing things go back to normal, thinking that he was able to change it of his own will. 

Something bright and orange flared in his view and he turned to see a butterfly float into his vision, its body larger than a normal-sized butterfly. 

The insect slowly led him towards the center of the garden, the brilliant bridges of glass now replaced with clayed stones, the water coating them in a shimmering shine underneath. 

Soon, the butterfly took him over the small hill, a breath unneeded sticking into his body to see someone bent over in the old rose bed. 

It couldn’t be Amanda since this person was covered in some kind of farming gear and not the professional outfit the woman always wore. 

The butterfly sat on one of the blooming flowers next to the person who was in his thoughts, its curled antennae twitching as if it was communicating with the human. 

“Hello,” Connor announced, his head leaning to the side to get a better look. 

Then, with one turn of a head, he quickly straightened his back more than he ever could. 

You smiled at him, your hands clapping off the dirt that coated them. 

The spot where you kissed him was engulfed in flames, his heart beating past its normal pace as if it was trying to fight its way out of his chest. 

You continued to smile at him as a few more of the hovering insects came into view, their wings slowly becoming bigger as they drew near. 

Connor couldn’t seem to make himself move as you took the first step forward, the flap of the wings becoming overbearing as they started to create their own wind. 

The male could feel the draft press against his clothes and weave into his hair as the butterflies grew to the size of dogs. 

Suddenly, the area had turned into a frozen tundra, the area submerged with falling snow and rain. 

Your grin was gone as the butterflies scattered, and the floor beneath you changed to the rustic metal of a ship. 

Connor recognized the walls and outline of the Jericho ship, his eyes taking him to see the old outfit he wore when he went to confront Markus. 

You were terrified of him, your farming clothes gone, and were replaced with your regular choice of clothing. 

He watched as you shivered in your spot, the ship slowly started to rock as if waves were crashing against the walls of the vessel. 

A small rasp of a voice started to whisper in his ear, the words so low that he couldn’t make out what the creature was trying to state. 

Then, the ship started to tear itself apart. 

Pieces of metal shot out of their spots, letting more snow and hail splatter into the small hold they were in. 

He quickly glanced towards you, seeing that the flooring was quickly coming out from under you. 

And in a voice that quivered and drowned in fear, you called out to him in warning

“Your ship is going down, Connor. And I’m going down with it.”

And in the midst of the ship's destruction, the floor gave way and you collapsed into the dark void below. 

Connor couldn’t stop the scream that rippled from his mouth, his feet frozen in place as you tumbled into the wreckage.

The voice that continuously whispered in his ear suddenly became loud and clear, screaming into every hole within his head. Amanda’s venomous words echoed to him that he was just a machine and these emotions were not real. That he wasn’t real. 

That what he felt for you wasn't real. 

The storm whirled around him, trying to take him down from the palace he stood, Amanda’s own storm of words deafening him with all of his worst fears. 

It took Connor too long to force himself out of the nightmare, his eyes furiously taking in the room around him to stabilize him. 

He felt…..drained of his blood. As if parched. 

He let his fingers scratch into his ruffled hair as he stood, Sumo’s snores slipping against the dark walls and the android made his way to the kitchen. 

It was still dark out, and flurries of snowflakes dashed over the clear glass and dusted the frozen ground into an untouched layer. 

While taking it in, trying to roll past the vision he just had and find the reasoning behind it, his thought process was still clouded with you. 

And that’s how it was until the sun rolled in from the horizon.

Chapter Text

After winter vacation, you decided that it was time to head back to the office and get back into burying yourself in the case. 

A lot of people welcomed you back, even Gavin raced up to you and gave you the hardest noogie that you had to check in a mirror to see if he created a bald spot on your head. 

Even your partner was eager to have you back, her voice nonstop as she told you the latest gossip around work and yet, somehow, it was still deeply dull. 

Trey still wasn’t in the department, and you couldn’t help but sigh in relief, knowing that you couldn’t handle the confrontation with him just yet. 

Connor was one person who couldn’t seem to leave you alone for over five minutes, the only time you ever got the silence of being alone was in the restroom. If you two still didn’t claim that empty meeting room for the evidence you had over the case, which finally got its own name called, “The YKiddnappers,” (not your choice of names; the press didn’t seem to be creative that day), then you would’ve bet that the android would be sitting next to you at your desk. 

It was like Sawyer’s shadow was replaced by his. 

Not that you minded… much. 

You could understand that the male next to you didn’t quite understand when someone needed personal space, especially after the trip to the zoo and aquarium it seemed that your friend didn’t want you out of his sight. 

Trying your hardest to ignore the chocolate eyes that were cautiously watching you, your eyes scan over the file you were reading on your terminal for the fourth time. 

There were so many people involved with this, so much evidence and places to search. Yet, the answer to all of this was still at the end of the maze and you were still running into dead ends. 

Robert Albright was the drug dealer who was dealing materials to knock out the androids they took. 

Bill Pace, now deceased, was one of the “surgeons” that assaulted the children androids into becoming drug mules. 

Donald Carter and Walter Swinford, who chased you throughout the docks, seemed to be the few dozen goons that the leader had that did the dirty work of the kidnapping and were the muscle of the group. 

Then the leader. 

Still didn’t know the name or the description of what he looked like, at least you knew it was a male. 

The only fact you had over this man was that he was good at staying hidden and that he represented the color blue, the same color as the android’s blood. 

This guy really likes color-coding things.

You searched through each piece of information and evidence bit by bit, hoping to find any other secret folds such as the one in Pace’s diary. 

It was like picking off the meat of an already dried-up bone. 

Time passed between the two of you, the slow numbers on the digital clock on your computer going slower and slower as you tried to find something to connect the dots. 

Your eyes kept catching Connor’s, a darling pink sprinkling over your cheekbones at seeing those doe-like eyes on you. 

Everything seemed…different between the two of you after the zoo. A wall that you believed was there seemed to collapse and you got a firm glimpse of the person across from you. 

Over the course of several months, you came to terms that you liked Connor more than just a friend. 

He was kind, intelligent, extremely handsome, and cared about you more than most people you’ve had around. 

But, there was one thing that held you back from trying to pursue these emotions that brewed within your heart. 

He was an android and you were human. 

Dating an android wasn’t the problem you were facing, but the thoughts through it. You didn’t even know if Connor could process the idea of dating, of falling in love. 

Plus, you would outlive him, you would never get to grow old with him if the relationship ever kindled between the two of you. 

It was a hard pill to swallow because Connor was someone you could see being with until your final breath. 

The whole thought process was too complicated, more complicated than trying to understand the desire and want you would want with someone who understood intimacy and making one of their stepping stones in life to grow with someone. 

You leaned back into the chair you were in, the brown jacket you wore rolling with you. 

Connor’s jacket. 

He didn’t ask for it back and you didn’t make the gesture to return it. 

“Y/N?”

You perked up at the sound of your name, your eyes glancing over at Connor to show that you were listening. 

“There is something I wish- I need to speak with you about,” he said and you rose from your slouched position when he stuttered to find the right words. 

It always caught you off guard when he did that, knowing Connor always knew what and when to say something. 

“Sure, what’s up?”

His throat bobbled and you felt a chilling sweat drift over your body, even with the freezing weather of Detroit blizzarding outside. 

His brown eyes shook within their spots, his mouth repeatedly opening and closing as if the letters on his tongue couldn’t form into words. 

You rolled your chair over to the other side of the table, abandoning the paperwork and electric files as you let your knee bump against his. 

“You doing okay, Con?”

A severe, blue blush blazed over his cheeks, the way androids showed embarrassment or being flustered making your heart leap from within your chest. 

Before your friend could say anything, there was a soft knock against the frame of the door and both of you turned, your faces burning at almost being caught. 

It was your old partner, a knowing smirk sculpted across her mouth as she pressed her body weight against the frame. 

“You both remember you have an appointment with the leader to Jericho, right?”

You cleared your throat before you popped out from the chair and went to grab your wallet and phone, your eyes dancing away from the others in the room as you slowly headed out. 

Before you escaped the suddenly suffocating room, your female friend leaned over and whispered, “Be glad I wasn’t Gavin. The whole building would be gossiping about the two of you for weeks.”

Your face stayed red until both you, Connor, and Hank made it into the Lietenunt's car, the back seat was hardly far enough from where the android sat in the front seat. 

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Over the last few weeks, Markus and Simon had visited Sawyer in the section of Cyberlife where they took care of the YK500s. 

It took Sawyer a few several visits for her to get used to the two older males. Having Connor and yourself there during their visits helped the girl become more comfortable with the leaders of Jericho. 

It wasn’t until Simon brought in a book series about a group of dogs traveling with each other across the lands in search of a place to live was when Sawyer started to open up. 

While Simon was more compassionate and calm towards the young girl, it was Markus that would have the girl race with him down the halls and play small pranks on his husband. 

You almost started to cry from the balls of laughter that thrust out of your mouth when Simon jumped a foot after Markus and Sawyer scared the blonde when he walked into the room, Connor joining in on the fit of giggles when it happened a second time. 

Today was the day of her adoption, the papers were finally finalized and you promised her that you would be there, along with Hank and Connor being there to see if she would say any last information about the case.

Today though seemed to be the bad days that were promised to come in between the good days. 

Once the three of you walked inside the room where Sawyer stayed, the young girl launched herself out of Simon’s arms and into yours, tears running down her face as she heaved in the air she didn’t need. 

“Woah! Hey, what happened?” you asked, your arms slightly pushing her back to kneel down to her eye-level. 

The two men joined the group at the front door of the room, their eyes gloomed over with concern as you held Sawyer in your arms. 

“She’s been upset all morning. She won’t tell us what has happened,” Simon said, his grey eyes clouded with worry for the girl he now viewed as his daughter. 

You shot a worried look to Hank and Connor before you lead Sawyer over to the neatly made bed, her whimpers shortening as you got her to relax. 

“Hey, you’re safe now. You know that, right? Markus and Simon won’t let anything bad happen to you,” you soothed, your hand sweeping through her short hair. 

Just then, Judy, the social worker that had Sawyer and countless other children androids in her custody walked in with a large pile of paperwork stuffed into her clipboard. 

She let out a sad sigh as she strolled in, her brown eyes swimming with leftover tears. 

“Poor thing; she still hasn’t relaxed yet?”

Markus shook his head, his strong arms opening up towards Sawyer and she gladly crawled into his embrace. 

Judy set down the files she held on the side table, your eyes glancing over to the several signatures of someone’s nice handwriting, the lapis swirls taking up most of the box of the unusual name. 

Judy tucked a few strands of hair behind Sawyer’s ear before returning back to the clipboard, pulling out a few un-signed forms. 

She handed them to Markus and Simon, her slim fingers tugging out a black pen for them to use. 

“I just need you two to sign these last few papers to show that you took her out of the facility and everything will be good to go!”

As the two new parents got through the last bit of paperwork that was given to them, you turned just in time to see Hank lightly shove Connor forward, his grey eyebrows raising as the brunette made his way towards you. 

“YN, can I speak to you? In private, please.”

Your eyes turned over to the older man and then back at Connor’s, your shoulders uncontrollably scrunching as your body tensed up. 

“Sure.”

You both stepped out of the room, the door closing as it sensed you two had departed. 

There were streams of people around you; some caretakers taking children to different areas and people wanting to adopt being led to different kids' rooms. 

You messed with your hair as you awaited for him to say something, believing that it was the same thing he wanted to tell you back at the precinct. 

Trying to maintain eye contact with you, Connor let the words he’s been trying to tell you spill out in a jumbled mess. 

“Markus and the rest of the Jericho are placing a celebration for the university of the android’s independence and freedom on January 28th at five pm on a reconstructed model of the Jericho ship. I was wondering if you would accompany me as my plus one since we’ve both been invited.”

You suddenly felt weak in the knees and your breakfast was twirling so fast in your stomach that you believed it would never settle. 

Did….did he just ask you out?

There’s no way one of the best detectives in the business wanted to take you as a date to this important dinner and party. 

Before you could even stop yourself, your voice whispered, “You want to take me?”

You couldn’t even take in the other people in the hallway were listening, one man leaning in as if he wanted to hear about the latest gossip. 

Connor’s LED was shivering with yellow and red like the two colors were battling over control of the circular device. 

“Yes, I do.”

Your fingers quickly started to mess with each other and your heart suddenly started to work overdrive. You let the question sink in before you you nodded eagerly, your teeth taking in your bottom lip before quickly letting it go. 

“I would love to.”

The smile Connor gave to you had the nestled butterflies that laid dormant in your stomach burst to life the whole way back to the police station.

Chapter Text

You stared at yourself in the mirror, your self-confidence dipping up and down as you looked over your outfit for the millionth time. 

It was the night of the party celebrating android rights, the sun had already set beyond the city as you finished getting ready. You gave yourself a small twirl to make sure everything was tucked and straightened neatly against your skin. 

You didn’t want to come off to flashy or dull, especially since you would enter the ship with Connor.

You hardly ate throughout the day knowing Connor was your date to the party, your stomach still churning within you as you freshen yourself up. 

It had been a while since you’ve had a date due to your job, the work overload and countless nights spent at the office or hunting someone down making it difficult to settle and talk with someone. 

Yet, this wasn’t your first date with the pretty brunette, was it?

You recalled the first night the two of you spent together, your mind turning back to several months ago to when you took him to your favorite local diner. Even now, you hardly had time to visit there and Pamela. You wondered if she thought of you and why you suddenly stopped visiting. 

After this case, you would make some changes to your work schedule and the plans you needed to create for yourself. 

There was a sudden knock on your front door just as you turned off the bathroom light, your heart skipping a few beats as you semi-froze in fear. Taking a shallow breath, you made your way to the door and made your shaking hand grasp the knob and turn it, the small amount of air that you had saved in your lungs being pulled out at the sight. 

Connor always understood had to dress up, but seeing him in the tux that matched the outfit you wore was enough to make you weak in the knees. 

You both had communicated over the past several weeks on what to wear and the male had suggested matching, making your mind go blank with the only thought being the two of you matching at a very overpopulated occasion. Connor’s face was flushing at the sight of you, his hands fidgeting with each other as if he wanted nothing more than to grab something. You tucked a piece of untamed hair behind your ear as you stepped outside, the frigid cold of Detroit settling just once for the occasion. Luckily, the sleeves of the outfit your wore kept you covered from any untamed wind that decided to come in. 

“Hey,” you started, your mind instantly telling you that the warmth in your cheeks wasn’t because of the cold. 

“Hello,” Connor replied, his hand lifting to offer a small wave, the limb instantly going back down as he realized what he was doing. 

He then offered his hand to you, a timid grin settling on his face as he waited to lead you to the automated taxi. 

You looked over at the car that awaited the two of you, your eyes searching the tinted glass to see if you could make out anyone in the vehicle. 

Hoping that no one was watching, you let your hand slip into his and gestured towards his suit. 

“You look great, by the way,” you commented, a gentle smile gracing your lips as the android’s face was covered in blue before he blinked several times. 

“You look great as well. Fantastic, actually,” he responded, the words spilling out as if he didn’t know how to catch them before they fell.

You only giggled at his embarrassment, your hand giving him a reassuring squeeze as they made it to the car. 

As Connor opened the door for you, you easily slipped in and right next to Hank, an out-of-date suit lacing over his body. 

“Aw, Hank, did no one want to be your date to the prom?” you asked, your hand stifling a laugh as the Lieutenant scoffed and pulled out a small beer. 

“Just you wait, kid. You’ll be crying when I win Prom King,” he sassed back as Connor settled himself next to you. 

You raised your eyebrows at him as the taxi started to move. 

“Oh please, I’ll be the spotlight of the night.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The remodeled boat was breathtaking to say the least. 

You had caught what the original Jericho had looked like over the news reports from over a year ago, the ship massive compared to the rest of the harbor. The steel that embodied the vessel gleamed in the dying sunlight and the snow that dappled around it had it resemble a fading star in the night.

Androids and humans alike were piling on, even the YK500s that were at Cyberlife were invited to join since they were androids too. Colors blazed around you as you slowly made the trip up the ramp, your eyes glancing over to the multiple guards that were hooked around the area, their simple suits giving them away. Knowing the public, you weren’t shocked to see so much security, someone would try to attack during this due to their hatred for the freedom of androids. It left a bad taste in your mouth, your mind quickly cleansing those bad thoughts as you watched the children squeal with excitement as they raced each other through the entrance with the group they were with. 

After Connor showed the front worker the invite (you don’t know how they did it, but they sent it between each other through the network, your head hurting even trying to think about it), you slowly made your way through the ship, the lights streaming cream-colored beams throughout the new walls and floors. 

The smell of food and perfume found its way to you and you felt your stomach growl, your body finally relaxing to the point that it realized how deprived it was of food. 

The inviting buzz of laughter and liquor being poured filled your ears as the three of you made it to the main port of the ship, the stomach of the boat filled with citizens of Detroit. 

You instantly found the buffet table and felt your mouth fill with salvia at the delicious display of cuisine. 

“Hank, please tell me that you’re hungry?” you asked, your hopes raising as the older male eyed the long rows of food. 

“That’s the main reason I came,” he shot back and both of you bolted towards the food, a few words slipping from your mouth to excuse yourself from Connor. 

Both you and Hank joined the crowd of people that circled the different pots of vegetables, fruits, and meats. 

You didn’t know that your stomach could ache so much. 

You passed by the variety of suits, your body eagerly waiting behind someone in a designer suit before you could finally fill your plate with the food you desired. 

There were tables offered to those who wanted to sit and eat and the Lieutenant kept you company as you both chowed down to fill your stomachs before you filled them with alcohol. 

Right as you placed your empty plate in the container to rush back to the dish room, a small force pushed itself around you, your stomach twisting at the pressure. 

You looked down to find Sawyer clinging onto you, a sweet yellow dress flowing to her ankles with matching sunset shoes. 

“Hi!” she squealed, her fingers creating wrinkles into your outfit. 

“Hiya, Sawyer!” you exclaimed, your arms going around her and giving her a small twirl, a loud laugh spilling from her mouth. 

Markus and Simon came into view; Markus wore a modern suit that had darker swirls sewed into it and Simon had a lighter grey suit, both having their pocket squares yellow to match Sawyers. 

Connor was behind them and your hands flew up to make sure there wasn’t any leftover food on the corners of your mouth. 

“She couldn’t wait for you to come. She’s been bouncing around waiting,” Simon said, a soft smile on his face as his daughter sent him a bashful grin at her previous action. 

“Are you causing your dad's trouble?” you asked, a playful grin on your face as she hid her face in the fabric of your clothes. 

Hank shook Markus and Simon’s hands, the four men speaking about the party as the dancefloor slowly started to fill up. 

You eagerly pulled Sawyer to where the music was being played, a fistful of giggles dripping from her lips as you both twisted with the melody. 

After the discussion, Simon soon joined the two of you, the three of you laughing gleefully as other guests were intoxicated by the group’s happiness. 

While Hank went to the bar, his middle finger coming up when Connor warned him of his liquor intake, Markus took his spot next to the brunette detective, a satisfied smile on his face. 

“Isn’t it wonderful how far we’ve come?” the leader of Jericho asked, his hand waving over at North, a suit blazing over her body as she participated being on guard duty. 

“Humans and androids enjoy each other's company; the full freedom of androids coming closer and closer every day.”

Connor hummed at Markus’s small talk, his chocolate eyes fixated on your figure as you spun Sawyer around the dancefloor. 

Markus followed the detective’s eyes and a knowing grin curled on his face, his hands going behind his back as he soaked up the scene. 

“You and Y/N seem to be very close, Connor. You’ve made a really good friend in the workforce.”

Connor felt himself blink at the term friend, his head slightly tilting towards Markus. 

“Markus?”

“Yes, Connor?”

“When…..when did you realize you no longer wanted Simon to be just your friend ?”

Markus straightened at the question, his once laidback demeanor now mended into the serious look that was the picture of the resistance. 

His multi-colored eyes watched as his husband and you swing Sawyer like a swing, her laughter overpowering the music and making the other dancers giggle and laugh along with her as if it was contagious. 

“I don’t know,” Markus answered, his words edged with hurtful honesty. 

“Simon always had my back. With all the choices I’ve done, all the mistakes I’ve made, he was always there for me. I could create a world in my head of what it would be like in this world without him and it hurts every fiber of my body to just create the scenery.”

He smiled wickedly then, his mind bringing up an old memory that he could see repeatedly playing throughout his CPU. 

“Maybe it was when he would touch my arm or shoulder and it willed me to freeze on the spot. Maybe it was when he make sure that it was him who was by my side throughout all the meetings and helping with all the files and paperwork. Maybe it was when I kissed him after he confessed how much he cares about me.”

Markus slightly bowed as a group of elites as they walked by, their heads tipping at the leader before returning to their conversation as he turned back to Connor. 

“Love is one of the strongest, yet strangest emotions I’ve ever experienced. I have a love for Carl as a father figure, I have a love for the android race as my passion, and I have a love for Simon as a partner; as someone I want to spend the rest of my life with.”

Connor’s gaze instantly drifted over to your figure, Simon and you playfully dancing with each other as Sawyer and a few other kids clapped along with the beat of the music. 

Sweat glistened over your face and the smile you wore made your eyes almost completely shut, you and Simon whirling around with not a single trace of grace or structure. 

Connor never believed he could witnesses something so imperfect, perfect. 

“Has any of what I’ve said helped?” Markus asked. 

As if realizing that his friend was still there, the young detective nodded swiftly, like a child caught not paying attention in class. 

“Emotions are hard,” Connor confessed, his eyes gleaming with uncertainty and fear. 

“I have dreams about Y/N. Saving me from the control of Cyberlife, from Amanda. I’ve seen Y/N die in these visions and I don’t know what it means or why Y/N is there-”

“One thing that I’ve witnessed is that people usually dream about the ones they love,” Markus, said, stopping Connor mid-sentence. “ They dream about what they want or who they want. They have nightmares over losing those they care about the most.”

Markus shifted uncomfortably next to Connor, his eyes wandering down to the point of his shoes. 

“I’ve had nightmares of Simon being killed during the revolution. Same with North and Josh, a few with Carl and Leo, and even of you killing me that night on the ship.”

Connor twisted in his spot at the end of the statement, shame spreading over him as if a bucket of water was soaked into his suit. 

“I believe that a lot of androids are going through this. Emotions such as love and fear are driving into this vision within us. Tearing us apart like dogs. But, you know what humans do about nightmares? They face them; better yet, they resist them and ensure that it doesn’t come true.”

“But how do I face it?”

Markus winked playfully at him, making the detective reel back at his returned laidback attitude. 

“By ensuring your dreams come true.”

He wanted to be selfish; Connor wanted you. But what he wanted wasn’t important, right?

It was silent between the two before a voice was raised again. Markus didn’t know Connor’s voice could tremble; that his words could shiver as if fear was laced within them instead of himself. 

“It’s not unusual of me to desire this?” 

Markus didn’t skip a beat to answer. 

“No. Not at all, Connor.”

The party music soon ended and the DJ suddenly rolled out a slow song, the party guests slowly dispersing to either find a partner or the nearest table with drinks.

“Go on, Connor. Make those dreams a reality.”

The detective followed Markus's gaze and his eyes caught yours as you exited the dancefloor, your chest heaving as if you had run towards him. 

Simon was along with you and he sweetly asked Markus for a slow dance, Sawyer jumping into their arms and exclaiming that she wanted to be in it too. 

You replaced Markus’s place next to Connor as the couple took their spot out on the swaying dancefloor, a few others clinging onto each other as the music started to build. 

You dappled the few drops of sweat off your face as you took in your surroundings, your body was finally able to relax and take in the refreshing air that wasn’t swelled out from laughter and the hot air of movement. 

“Y/N?”

You turned your gaze to the handsome male next to you, your eyebrows perking up to see his hand held out towards you. 

“Would you like to dance?”

Your face barely had a chance to cool off, every layer of skin now fueling with heat as your eyes flickered from his to the intimate people on the dancefloor. 

You had almost forgotten that Connor had invited you has his date, the memory slipping back as you eagerly nodded your hand. 

“Yes! Yes, of course!”

The gold of the room reflected in Connor’s eyes as he took his hand into yours, your body relishing the hold he had on you. 

Surprise hovered around you as his strong hand gently cupped your waist and while the other held bounded to the other. You let out a nervous chuckle as you looked at him. 

“Have you been taking lessons after I taught you how to dance, Connor?” you asked, your mind recalling the morning in the kitchen at Hank’s house, Sumo’s long face, and Connor’s laughter drowning in your mind. 

A smile dipped into Connor’s lips as you both found the rhythm of the slow song, your eyes continuously looking down to make sure you didn’t step on his feet. 

“There’s a possibility that I download the basic tutorial of slow dancing,” he answered, his feet shuffling around yours as he took the lead. 

You prayed that you weren’t sweating as your chest leaned into his, the pink that grew on your face traveling to places you didn’t want it to find. 

“Are you alright, Y/N?”

You twisted your attention back to your dancing partner, a soft smile pursuing your lips. 

“Remember how you used to only same my last name?” You suddenly asked, causing Connor to blink quickly at the question. 

“I do. You were so adamant about saying it, even outside of work. I never thought I would hear my name come from your mouth unless you were forced to.”

Connor grinned, a bashful gaze causing you to giggle in the little bubble the two of you shared. 

You both swayed past Markus and Simon, the couple almost looked a little worn out due to the wild child that was whirling in their arms like an untamed cat. 

Seeing Sawyer so happy made you recall the horrible trauma she had to endure in order to get here, your mind racing on what could’ve possibly happened if you and your partner weren’t there at the cellar. 

As if knowing, the android watched as your eyes glazed over with sadness at the memory. 

“Do you remember what I told you, Y/N? Back at the house?”

“Of course I do! It doesn’t mean that I will stop worrying about the case. I still worry about the fact that we might never find out who AZ is and put a stop to all of this.”

You sucked at your bottom lip hoping that it would stop the tears that wanted to form, your head tilting upwards to focus on the light instead of the cruel thoughts. 

Connor lost the will to think of words, his LED flashing the three primary colors as if raving with the party.

You tried to make eye contact with the male, but he would quickly tear his gaze away from yours, those toffee eyes trying to fixate on anything but you. 

“Are you okay?”

Connor swallowed and it made you cringe on the spot, the music fading away as you tried to focus on him.

Out of nowhere, Connor whimpered the words you never thought would ever come out of his mouth.
“I’m afraid.”

You gripped tightened on him, your body racing towards his into a suffocating hug, your arms now wrapped around his torso. 

You didn’t like how he gasped it like the words burned his mouth. 

“Con, it’s only me. You don’t have to be afraid.”

“That’s why I’m...afraid. I don’t want to hurt you or lose you, not when it’s almost happened countless times.”

His fingers bent into your back, his head tilting onto your shoulder as you both clung to each other as if your lives depended on it. 

Suddenly, you felt as if all eyes were on you, blistering into your skin as they took in the intimate sight of the two of you swaying to the last vocals of the song. 

As the couples separated themselves from the dancefloor, it took a few minutes for you and Connor to detach from each other. 

You honestly didn’t know what to say, any source of words that could comfort him quickly retracting back into your mouth as you let his words replay in your mind. 

You’ve never had someone distressed over your welfare, nor had they ever expressed it so bluntly that it had your heart plummet to the soles of your feet. 

“I, uh, I need to use the restroom,” you stumbled out, your body pulling away from Connor’s before you dashed over to where the signs pointed to the wash areas. 

Diving into a stall, you let yourself cool down before exiting, your body driving you away from the main ballroom and needing to separate yourself from others. 

Seeing that one golden and pearl-encrusted hallway was empty besides the paintings that hung on each side, you let your feet guide you to observe each painting. 

Some were just expensive art that was possibly purchased for decoration, but some were specific towards the cause, one being a portrait of the main crew of Jericho. It was a gorgeous painting and you quickly started to search for the painter’s signature. 

“It’s Carl Manfred’s if that’s what you’re looking for.”

You almost screamed when a voice came from your right side, your eyes taking in the male that stood next to you. 

He was tall and surprisingly good-looking, his narrowed jawline painted with a slight beard and grey eyes that sunk into you like hooks. 

You wheezed out a small chuckle before you created distance between you and the stranger, your hands holding onto each other. 

“Ah, thank you. I don’t think I would’ve found it with how much work was put into the portrait.”

The male chuckled along with you as if noticing your shyness, his laughter trying to make the atmosphere less suppressing. 

“Don’t worry, I completely understand. Some creators don’t want their names to take away the project they are creating. You are Detective L/N, correct?”

He held out his hand towards you and you quickly took it, his hold firm within your shaking hand. 

“I didn’t know I was popular,” you confessed, your lips shaping into an embarrassed smile as you scratched the back of your neck. 

The man flashed his white teeth at you, like a wolf at a cornered rabbit. 

“Oh, the public loves you. You’re all over the news after the dock situation. Pretty impressive for fresh blood.”

You cringed at the term, your eyebrows scrunching up as you tried to make your stance taller, yet knowing full well that the guy towered over you like a building. 

“Thank you,” you politely hissed out, your shoes clicking as you tried to hold back your tongue. You really didn’t want to cause a scene due to the respect you held for Markus and Simon, but you also knew you weren’t going to let yourself be pushed around anymore. 

“Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get back to the party.”

You quickly collected your composure before taking a few steps away, the man still staring at the portrait before he stated.

“And that whole commotion at the laundry mat situation. I have to say, I was even impressed on how you were able to put two and two together with that one, Y/N.”

You quickly halted, your mind racing at how the hell the man knew about that case, knowing very well that you haven’t answered any of the countless interviews that were thrown at you. 

Taking a peek behind you, the blood that swam through you froze as you took in the color of his suit. 

Blue.

The man at the orphanage, the person buying the blue toys, how the leader of smuggling androids was always one step ahead. 

“AZ.”

Those grey eyes turned towards you and you swallowed at the deadly stare he gave you. 

“Nice to meet you again, Y/N.”

Something cold was pressed against you and you looked down to find someone pressing a gun against the lower side of your back, their face unrecognizable to your mind before the weapon was lifted and swiftly swatted against your head. 

Chapter Text

You were stuck once more, those words being the first thought within your broken mind. But this wasn’t like being stuck in the mud of a case with dead ends. 

No. This was much worse with no way out other than death. 

You wake with a piercing headache on the back of your skull and you were lying on the cold floor of the ship, the groan of the waves hitting the boat echoing throughout your body. Your vision was blurred as you blinked multiple times, your head swaying as it took in the weight of the injury and the familiar metallic taste of blood hit the top of your tongue. 

Your hands were tied behind your back and your ankles were bonded together, the wire digging into your ankles that you could barely move without burning into your skin. 

You bit the muscle in your mouth to hold back a groan as the pain settled throughout your body, the bruises already forming all over your body. 

You rolled your jaw instead, hoping that the people who kidnapped you didn’t see your slight movement. The muscles in your jaw ached at the twitch. You slightly flexed your fingers within the bondage and you mentally sighed to see that whoever tied it tied it well.

Voices finally started to find their way into your ears, your brain being able to slightly clear the fog that clouded it to take in the sentences. 

“Markus is preparing for his speech, sir,” said a gruff voice, the male sounded like he had smoked for decades. 

You barely let your eyes open, your pupils peeking out from your eyelids hoping to see something without being noticed. 

“Seclude the two remaining guards; the whole room needs to be under control before we come in.”

AZ .

Taking in the room, it seemed you were shoved into one of the empty rooms of the ship, boxes, and equipment stashed in every corner of the stuffy space. 

Another figure was tied up next to you, their motionless body hard to see within the dimly light area. 

The two men who were talking were pacing in front of you, your mind trying to decide if the figures behind them were other goons or stacked packages. 

You caught on to what the men were saying, hearing something about having control over the ship.

Your face scrunched up at how much work it took to focus on the situation, a hiss spilling from your mouth before you could stop it. 

The two men finish their conversation before one of them walks over to you, your squinting eyes seeing the blue outfit become clear in your mind. 

“Look who’s finally awake.”

Fingers gripped into your shoulders and lifted you, the throbbing in your skull building as you were placed against the wall instead of the floor. 

The person next to you was situated as well, the sweat prickling over your body worsening to see that it was Simon next to you. 

Blue dripped from his nose and there was a thin cut over the end of his eyebrow, the skin around it trying to hide it from his exoskeleton under it. 

Dread and shock started to set in and you shivered as your burning nerves turned cold. 

AZ still stood in front of you, his shadowing covering you before he lowered himself to your height. 

“Sorry for knocking you out, we didn’t want the guests to hear you screaming,” he said, a snark grin shadowing his mouth. 

You knew he didn’t care, he only cared for his profit of using children as packing mules. 

“Let me formally introduce myself. Azure Zimmerman. It’s nice to finally meet the detective who’s been tripping themselves behind my heels.”

He titled your chin up to make you look at him, his blue eyes piercing in the dim light of the room. 

A million things were rampaging within your mind: Why didn’t his name show up in the database? Was this his true name or one he created? How many others does he have captive? 

Why was he on the ship when it had nothing to do with his drug dealing?

Were Connor and Sawyer safe?!

But those crashing thoughts subsided as the building rage boiled into your heart. He was the one who ordered the kidnapping of Sawyer. He was the one who commanded Bill Pace to destroy her from the inside out. He was the one behind all the kidnappings and endangerment of children. 

Before you could hold yourself back, you swirled the saliva and blood that coated your mouth and spat at him, the ball hitting the corner of his mouth. 

Before you could prepare for it, Zimmerman’s fist squared itself into your jaw, a gasp of surprise and pain breezing from your mouth as you took it. 

Simon stirred next to you, his baby blue eyes barely visible from his eyelids as your shoulder leaned into his. 

Taking the pocket square from his pocket, he slowly wiped off the spit on his face, the man behind Zimmerman came up to give you more than just a hit, but Azure held his hand up. 

Getting back to his full height, he sent you a knowing smile, a silver tooth revealing itself from his plump lips. 

“You have a soft spot for these things,” he stated and he kicked the end of his shoe against Simon’s, the blonde’s LED panicking with a dark red. 

It then flashed a concerned yellow and his eyes flickered wildly for a second before he completely slumped over. Someone had tried to contact him, your mind drifting to the interactions you’ve seen between two androids when messaging each other. 

That had to be a good sign, right? Someone had to notice that Simon was gone and they would start looking.

Throwing the dirty rag to the side, he bent his spine to gain a good look at Simon, his blue eyes turned cold as he let the yellow consume his face. 

“Pathetic AI that believes its gained sentient. All the YK500s I’ve used cry when they’re supposed to cry. They laugh when they’re supposed to laugh. They listen when they are ordered to.”

As if following your role, Simon sprang to life, his pale blue eyes widening as he spat his thirium blood all over Zimmerman’s face. 

This time, Azure didn’t stop his men from racing up to him with water and rags, the large and exaggerated coughs given by the leader made you question the reaction. 

After Azure composed himself, completely cleaning off the thirium blood that spotted his face, he lifted his fists towards Simon’s face. 

Desperately trying to stop the beating that was supposed to happen, you leaned your body until Zimmerman caught your eye.

“What was your point about the YK500s?” you rasped your tongue gliding over the top of your lip to taste that your nose was bleeding. 

That didn’t stop him from knocking Simon out, his LED crying out with the flashing red light.

“Stop!” you cried out, your voice broken to see your friend’s face slowly break in front of you.

His sadistic eyes met yours and you couldn’t stop yourself from swallowing, the gaze was nothing like the kind of ones Trey would give you. 

This one was vile and full of disgust towards you and your beliefs about the android race. 

“I knew you were getting close to finding out our plans, especially after the car wash. I thought the death of BP (Bill Pace) would be enough for you to back off. But it wasn’t. Once I saw you at Cyber Life, I knew you were still working on the case.”

For a moment, you felt a sense of pride dash through you to see that AZ thought you were on his trail when you were so far off.

But then your memory flashes back to the man you saw weeks ago. You couldn’t believe you missed him, missed the signs that were thrown at you about him being there. But, if he was working at the place where android children were being cared for….then that meant….

“You’re here to take the children,” you whispered, tears now spilling from your eyes at the realization.

Zimmerman perked an eyebrow at you, his hands going up to straighten his outfit. 

“Nice observation, Detective L/N. Maybe if you had more of that intelligence you would’ve been able to stop me.”

You bared your blood-stained teeth at him, your eyebrows pinching your eyes together at him as more goons walked in, each disguised as security guards. 

As Azure spoke with the rest of his team, you let your eyes dot everything in the room, your gaze trying to find anything that could be used to escape. 

That brought up another question in your mind: Why were you still alive? He should’ve killed you on the spot for finding him (well, more like him finding you). But he didn’t. You and Simon were needed for something. 

The answer popped into your mind a minute later as two goons came to and the blonde and Azure’s wicked smile displayed behind them. 

You were bait, a term of negotiation. 

As if the realization was painted over your face, two of the men came forward and lifted you by the wrists, an extra coon coming up to help lift Simon since he was still unconscious. 

They had to do something to him for him to stay under knowing that if he was awake he would instantly send out a message for help.

That meant it was only up to you to get out of this, to stop Zimmerman. 

But what could you do? 

You yelped as your shoes slid on the sleek floor, your hands taking the blow of the fall as you turned to see that you slid on the handkerchief Zimmerman used. 

The goon behind you swiftly rose you back up onto your feet, his hands never once leaving your wrists as he pushed you out of the room.

Your eyes quickly darted around the hallway you were being led down, your mind mentally destroying itself in trying to find some escape route or anything that you get your hands on. 

You could scream, but that would most likely lead to a bullet in your head. Same with trying to run for it, it would all lead to the same outcome.

During the whole situation, you didn’t even think about your own life, your mind always going toward those around you. 

It didn’t hit you that this could be your last night alive…

And you never got to tell Connor how you truly felt. 

You felt a hand on your shoulder, Azure’s voice deadly in your ear as he whispered, “ how about we touch up on your face before we see your friends again, hm?”

You let out a surprised cry as a fist hit the side of your face, the first of many.

–-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Connor? Have you seen Simon?”

The brunette detective was snapped out of his thoughts as Markus’s voice came through it, his multi-colored eyes blinking at him. 

Sawyer held onto Markus’s hand tightly, her little fingers clinging to him as if her life depended on it. 

Connor gently shook his head, his eyes scanning the room to see the top of the blonde’s head to no avail. 

Strange. It seemed that you weren’t the only one missing. 

Connor made eye contact with one of the guards that stood a few feet away from him, his eyes squinting on trying to recall the familiar face that stared back at him. 

As if he was back on duty, an uneasiness filled his body as if the atmosphere had taken hold of his thirium pump. 

“Hank,” he started, the old man’s eyes glancing over towards Connor’s before he followed where his son was staring, his grey eyebrows narrowing as he took in the suspicious guards. 

“Hm, that doesn’t seem like a problem,” he slurred, setting his drink of watery beer down on the counter before fully taking in the situation around them. 

Even Markus was looking at the people he hired to patrol over the party, his arms going around Sawyer as he didn’t recognize any of the men. 

“Connor, those aren’t-”

Shots rang out, followed closely by screams of the guests that attended. The men in suits closed in on everyone, their hands pulling out long ranged weapons and aiming them at guests that tried to make a run for it. 

Soon, everyone was entrapped within a circle, the security team keeping them together like a herd of sheep. Connor instantly sent out a message to the DPD, radioing in their location and the situation they were in. 

Right as the message was sent, there was a harsh tilt that had the ship shake, some of the guests knocked onto their backs as the ship fully came to life and set itself off. 

“Jesus, Markus, you sure know how to throw a party,” Hank muttered, his hand going over where his gun would’ve been strapped if he was on duty. 

Markus pushed Sawyer and the rest of the kids into the main center of the group, the young girl’s eyes dashing back and forth as she recognized the men in the drug-mules organization. 

“Y/N….Where’s Y/N?” she whimpered, tears already spilling down her bronze cheeks. 

Connor felt his consciousness think the same thing, his eyes never once finding yours in the pinned group. 

If other well-combat androids were around, such as Josh and North, they could stand 71% of fighting successfully against the thugs. But the androids that were in the group were not accustomed to fighting, especially the children. Along with them leaving the dock, causing Connor’s SOS signal to be useless….

There was hardly a chance of them making out of this. 

A slender man came into view as he passed the disguised men, his deep blue eyes blazing against his tanned skin as he smiled wildly at the people of the ship. 

“Greetings, everyone!” the male bellowed, everyone’s heads turning to see where the voice came from. 

The male casually walked himself over to the group, his steps somehow smooth against the heavy sway of the ship sailing away. 

Once he was within a few inches of the group, Sawyer started to bubble into tears, her hands desperately trying to find Markus as soft wails escaped her lips. 

“It’s him! It’s HIM!! The blue man!”

The kids around her watched her wearily, their eyes drifting between her and the man that loomed a few feet away, his sapphire eyes darkening like burning jewels. 

They all backed away from the man until they bumped into the adults behind them.

Markus, Hank, and Connor quickly connected with what Sawyer was saying, their eyes going back to the man who started abducting android children and using them as packaging. 

Connor quickly scanned the man’s face, his network instantly finding the man behind all this. 

“Azure Zimmerman.”

Azure smiled as his name was presented in front of everyone, his eyes taking in the brunette that stood only a few inches below him. 

“Your partner caught on pretty quick, too.”

Connor’s eyes widened, the brown dots slightly shaking within the milky orbs as he soaked in that you were captured. 

That you were possibly dead. 

Zimmerman went straight to the point, a cheeky grin on his face as he scanned Markus. 

“Nice to finally meet the thing that started this mess,” he hissed, his thick eyebrows narrowing as Markus sent daggers at him, his arms still protectively around Sawyer. 

“Let’s get this over with; I have business to attend to and I would rather not make them wait up for us.”

Markus staggered for a moment, his eyes fluttering open and close to show that he had received a message, and with how his LED brightened to a frightening red, Connor knew it was bad news.

With a snap of his fingers, a few of the guards came forward, two figures dragging behind them before tossing them in front of the crowd. 

Sawyer let out a suffocated cry as Markus and Connor’s eyes caught the stilled bodies of both you and Simon. 

Blood had spilled and dried around your nose and mouth, red and purple decorating your face as you heavily breathed against the floor. Your hands were clenched into fists as if you were prepared to fight them while being knocked out.

Simon was in the worst shape: long cuts were dipped into his body and blue was splattered around his face and his right arm was bent at an unnatural angle. 

Your arm was outstretched around him as if protecting him, red marks around your wrists and ankles to show that you were once held down.

Androids and humans alike let out stifled gasps and shared concerned glances as Azure took a step towards you, his foot a few inches away from your face.

“Bet you didn’t see this coming, huh?” he called towards Connor, a triumphant smile on his aged face to see that he had won the battle that waged on for months. 

But Connor wasn’t looking at him, he was looking at you, your beaten and a fragile body laying unconscious on the floor as the white of your knuckles started to show. 

“Now, I will be frank with the people on this crew. You will not survive this ride; you will be killed before we leave the new harbor. As for the androids, you will be taken with us. You know the whole shebang of what we use androids for, especially the YK-500’s.”

Many of the children whimpered and ducked behind the legs of the adults around them. 

Connor made an effort to step forward, to do what he was designed to do, but Hank held him back with a firm grip. 

Zimmerman quickly turned at the sudden movement, the men behind him pointing their guns eagerly at Connor, wanting a reason to shoot. 

He stared down at the brunette detective, his deep blue eyes taking in every freckle and line within the android’s face before his hand reached down and seized the scruff of your neck. 

A weak groan slipped from your lips at the forced movement, your clouded mind making you blink away the stars within your vision as Azure brought your face up close to Connor’s. 

“You two were so close to stopping me, so close ,” the villain cooed, his fingernails pinching into your face with how hard he held onto you. 

The tall male turned to you, his strength around the hold shaking you to wake you up. 

But you were already awake, your finger clinching onto the secret weapon you had. 

Azure should’ve rethought the whole close thing.

Your hands went right up to his face, the rag he used to wipe your spit off his face now stained with Simon’s blood. 

You tied it around his face as your body screamed in pain at the wounds that scattered over your body, but you let the adrenaline pump it away as you held Azure hostage. 

His men lifted their weapons, but it was you who ordered them down, your voice hoarse from the recent beating. 

“Put down your guns or else he dies!”

Azure struggled under your grip but you didn’t budge, your wrist almost popping with how tight you were tying the rag over his nose and mouth. 

The men didn’t shoot, but they didn’t lower their guns either. Azure waved a hand at them, the angry motion a silent order to put down their machinery. 

Instantly, Markus and a few other androids sprang into action, the leader of Jericho ringing out order after order as the guests panicked around them.

“Security is tied up on the lower deck, section D9 of the storage unit! Hank, round up the citizens and get them away from the men!”  

Several androids, after receiving a private order from Markus within their CPU, started to rip the rifles away from the goons, the men slipping away in surprise at the quick movements of the androids. 

A shot rang out and an uproar stretched over the ship. 

You still had Azure in a chokehold, his face growing red with a hint of green flushed into it as he started to fling around, his size easily outmatching yours. 

People ran around like a herd of untamed beasts, their shoulders and legs ramming into Connor as he tried to fight off the goons and get as close as he could to you. 

Azure then body slammed you into the golden floor, a wheeze knocking out of your lungs as you took the rough impact. 

Hank was leading the children and unarmed androids over towards the exit before the ship seemed to slowly change course, showing that something was happening within the control room.

The leader of the drug dealers fell onto the floor next to you, his throat constricting as his allergic reaction started to fully set in, his eyes almost bulging from his face. 

Markus had slowly started to fight off the rest of the thugs, his eyes continuously looking over at Simon as if he wanted to abandon everything and run over to him. 

Too much was happening, too much noise and movement in the now small area. 

You gained enough strength to gently support the weight of your body with your hands, your eyes locking with the handgun that was pointed at your head. 

Azure was practically losing the will to breathe, but that didn’t stop his raging breath making it seem like someone was squeezing his lungs.

“If…if I’m dying on this ship then you are too.”

Your eyebrows rise to your hairline as tears started to bubble around your eyes, the small piece of hope that had burned within you now extinguishing like a dim candle. 

You awaited to be engulfed in darkness, for that bullet to claim you. 

“Y/N!”

Both you and Azure turned to see Connor barreling into the tan man, his fingers locking around the gun and sending the bullet that was meant to you up into the ceiling. 

One man came to help his boss out but Connor swiftly kicked him away with the back of his foot, his hands not once leaving the gun as Azure tried to point it back towards you. 

You tried to stand, to help the man you loved with the attack, but your legs quickly gave out from under you, your torso tumbling into the ground. 

Another goon tried to come after your friend, but Connor slammed his foot into Zimmerman’s foot, causing the male to be distracted for just enough time for Connor to elbow the incoming criminal in the stomach before slamming him to the ground. 

‘Come on, Y/N, get up!’ you screamed to yourself, your hands growing into fits as you tried to stand. 

You trained your eyes back at the battle next to you, your eyes widening to see that more goons were overtaking Connor, the detective only able to dodge so many hits. 

With this, Azure aimed at you once again, before his hand went up to his throat, his bronze skin now enflamed with red as the allergic reaction fully succumbed to him. 

But he still took aim and you turned to see where the bullet would land, your body reacting before you could cry out the warning. 

The shot rang out like a chime of bells, Connor’s yell muffled against the ringing in your ears as your body slumped over Simon’s figure.

Strange. Did the android’s blood slowly change color? You don’t recall it ever changing from its constant blue. 

You heaved out a heavy breath as you continued to eye the red dots that started to stain the front of Simon’s suit. 

Hands planted themselves on your waist before flipping you over onto your back, your eyes finding chocolate pools that seemed to fuzz with the darling light. 

Your side felt numb, why did everything suddenly feel cold?

Something wet hit the side of your face but you hardly reacted to the drop. 

You could hear your name slipping in one ear and out the other before something warm brushed up against your cheek, fingers stringing against your face. 

The hanging lights above almost seemed like stars and breezed out an airy chuckle at the sight. 

Simon was safe. Sawyer was safe. Hank, Markus, and the citizens on the boat were safe. 

Connor was safe, yet he wasn’t gleeful about it as you thought he would.

Because he was watching you bleed out onto the floor, the bullet creating a gaping hole in your hip. 

Chapter Text

Connor had grown accustomed to the rise and fall of your chest, the primary signal that you were human and alive. 

When you were working at your desk, at the scene of a crime, at the end of the couch in Hank’s living room; he was so used to seeing the fabric around your chest rising and falling as you filled your lungs with much-needed air. 

He had gotten used to how you would fiddle with your fingers, the tips always digging into your hair when something happened or you needed to think as if your digits were trying to grip the thought out of your skull. How they would reach out towards his own, his sensors taking in the warmth that radiated off your body. 

He was holding yours so tightly now that he couldn’t comprehend that he might pop them off.

He didn’t like how those hands were coated with red and blue. 

He hated how your chest barely rose, your throat raspy as the will to breathe didn’t seem obtainable. 

How your eyes flickered like an android’s when they were shutting down. 

Connor had once thought that humans were weak with how many ways they could die. It only took two things to kill an android: shutting them down or something splitting their CPU or thirium pump. 

The detective had witnessed more death in his first few days of working as a detective, the red and blue swirling within each other, the different liquids never once being able to mix due to the density. 

The color didn’t suit your skin, it didn’t suit your hip.

He could just wash it off. All that needed to be done was to wash off the bleeding hole on your side. 

Screams of panic and whimpers of concern danced around Connor in an agonizing twirl, the boats heavy tilts making it hard to hold onto you as the captain tried to steer everyone back to the docks. 

Sawyer was crying out your name and Hank was tearing your beautiful outfit apart in order to get to the wound. 

Someone was gripping his shoulder, trying to pull him back. 

With enough force to knock the person behind him forward, he lunged back to your side, his body almost knocking into Hank’s as he tried to stop the bleeding. 

It was all blurring together: the red, the blue, the clear liquid that started to drip from his eyes. 

His own name was spilling from someone’s mouth but he couldn’t bare to listen, his LED blazing a terrifying red that almost matched the liquid that stained the rag that the Lietentiunt had stashed up against you. 

The paramedics wouldn’t reach here in time, the data conjuring in his mind showing that by the time they reached here by helicopter you would’ve bled out. 

The bullet went right through you, the bang-up bit of metal laying a few feet away, the silver and bronze dosed with your blood. 

How could this happen? How did he let this happen?!

He had somehow missed the signs; the signs that stared at him with unblinking eyes that he choose to be blind to. 

Because he was blinded by you. 

The tears were still falling but his face was stiff with fear, the red and blue eyes tearing into his vision and the piercing twist of a helicopter’s wings pounded into his ears. 

He was supposed to protect you. He was supposed to be your partner, your friend. 

As if by instinct, he dipped his arms under you and brought you close, his order towards himself hoping to feel your pulse instead of scanning it. 

You were draining. You couldn’t be draining. You just couldn’t. 

His fingers dug into the fabric of your outfit, the material soft and wet in his grip as he tried to come up with a reason why you weren’t dry. 

He would rather have the ship crash into the harbor than discover that you weren’t going to make it. 

“Don’t go,” he whispered in your ear, hoping that somehow you would hear him. 

“I don't what will happen if you leave.”

Tears splattered against your cheek, the clear liquid swirling into the dried blood that had stopped draining from your face. 

“You promised me, remember? That you were going to show me how to live.”

There was no response and he felt his fingernails bury into your body as if they would shock you back to life. 

He so desperately wanted you back. 

It was Hank this time to pull the android away, people in emergency outfits busying themselves around your motionless body as the Lieutenant held his son back. 

Connor rose a hand up to reach out towards you and his eyes caught the liquid that stained his hands, the red already crusting over his fingernails. 

For once, he wanted Amanda to appear in his mind. 

He wanted to see her rage about how she was right, that the brunette would only lay chaos and destruction in his wake. That he is nothing more than a piece of technology that could be turned off with a flick of a switch. 

Anything to distract himself from the hushed tones of the medics and how they were trying to bring your breathing back to a stable rhythm. 

Maybe the woman would never come back, just like you. 

“It’s okay, son. It’s going to be okay.”

But Hank’s words were like acid against his eardrums. You would’ve awoken by now if everything was okay; you would’ve opened those lustrous eyes and called out for him to show that you were still alive. 

Could….Would he be alive without you? Could he handle walking into the office every day and not seeing you sitting at your desk, a smile perking up on your lips at seeing him? Could he take the loneliness that would set in at seeing the meeting room the two of you used to place your evidence together now empty? Could he bare the idea that he would never feel your fingers within his own? To never hear your laughter fill the room like heat during the colder days? 

Was this the ending that was foretold for his life?

He was picked up off the ground, his chocolate eyes seeing that your body was gone, leaving nothing but a few bits of fabric from your outfit drowning in the pool of crimson. 

He didn’t know where Hank was leading him, but he knew one thing for sure: he was going to find where they took you and make sure you knew how much he cared for you before your last breath.

Chapter Text

The snow that once buried Detroit was now melting away, finally making room on the paths and sidewalks for people to access. 

Citizens of the city idly walked by as the taller male stood by the looming building, the sun had barely left the sky, making the world painted in a haze of purple and light violet. Groups of friends and families strolled by, each offering the man a kind smile as they passed and entered the building. 

Even with the air losing its blistering cold, the attractive man hung a coast loosely on his shoulders as an extra precaution. He let his fingers fiddle with the coin that usually laid safely in his pocket, the mix of nickel and copper twirling in his grasp as he read over the headline of the daily news once more. 

“ Azure Zimmerman has been charged with multiple charges such as assault/battery, kidnapping, manslaughter, child abuse, and drug trafficking/distribution. All of these charges added up will land him a life sentence in prison. Four months ago, Zimmerman and the men that followed him infiltrated the leader of the Android Revolution and Founder of the Android Freedom Act, Markus Manfred’s, ship to celebrate the first anniversary of the freedom of androids to kidnap the YK500s that were there for the celebration. Zimmerman has been known for his drug business in Detroit, his plan only going deeper by bringing children in and using them to smuggle drugs. Fortunately, one detective, Y/N L/N, was able to put a stop to Zimmerman’s plans and everyone escaped unharmed except for a few minor injuries. Unfortunately, L/N didn’t come out unscathed -”

“I’m back!”

The tall male turned towards the voice, a smile gracing his face to see his date making their way up towards him. 

You still had a slight limp in your step, your body still not used to holding its own weight and your hand unconsciously hovered over the wound that was taking its time to heal. But you were still vibrant as ever, the excited smile on your lips making the man cool away his worry over your injury. 

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Connor. There was a line for the bathroom.”

He felt your hand slip into his, the gesture now normal between the two of you as he started to take the lead into the building. 

“Nothing to apologize for, Y/N. We won’t run late.”

“I still cannot believe you have a surprise for me! I feel so honored!” you squealed out, your face slightly wincing at the little jump you did after the sentence. 

Connor easily slipped his hand around your waist, causing the blood that wanted to spill out of your wound to go straight to your face as his sturdy body gave you support. 

“Maybe I should’ve postponed this activity for a day where your injury was fully healed,” the android confessed, his digits patting against your uninjured side to keep you balanced. 

“What? No! I’m fine, I promise! It’s just going to take some time for me to get used to the fading wound. It will take forever for it to heal into a scar. But, I should count myself lucky that’s all I escaped with.”

You gave Connor’s shoulder a firm pat, a reassuring smile on your face as you took charge of the walking. 

“Plus, I have to know where you wanted to take me so late! Usually, you’re the one telling me that I should be in bed right now,” you stated, a smirk curling on your face as Connor released a small chuckle. 

“Tonight we can make an exception.”

He carefully lead you towards the building, your eyes trying to take everything in hopes of figuring out what the surprise was. 

You thought you had Detroit memorized by now, but the large and circular structure left a large question mark in your head as you continued onward into the darkness. 

You felt the bracelet that Sawyer had made for you rub up against Connor’s wrist, the little metal dog hanging between the two of you in mid-air. 

Suddenly, his hand left yours and you were soon blinded, his large hands covering your eyes and a puff of air slipped past your lips. 

“You could’ve told me to close my eyes, Connor.”

“I could’ve,” his voice whispered into your ear, making a shiver run down your spine. 

“But I’ve read that this is more of a personal way of revealing the surprise.”

For the past several months, you’ve noticed a big change in Connor. He was more open with you, especially since he stayed next to your hospital bed until the day you checked out. Of course, you were more than thankful that Connor stayed by your side through those difficult times and that he got to meet your family and friends that came to visit. Yet, it did concern you in the slightest bit at seeing this, believing that he might take the fault for you being shot. 

You didn’t blame anyone but Zimmerman because he was the one to pull the trigger.
You took light steps forwards as your friend led you closer to the destination of his surprise, the faded noise of people filling your ears as you felt children zip by you. 

“Can I look now?” you asked, your hands going up to Connor’s to gently peel them off. 

“No, not yet.”

You barely let a beat of a pause go by before asking again. 

“Be patient, Y/N.”

“ ‘Be patient, Y/N .’”

You could feel Connor’s laugh up against your back, the sensation making every part of your cold body sizzling with warmth. You couldn’t stop the shy grin that graced your face, your cheeks warm and breathing hitched as you came to a halt. 

“Okay, now you can look.”

You eagerly pushed Connor’s hands aside and your incoming breath got trapped within your throat, your hands going up to your mouth as if to help it stay there. 

The observatory was one of the few places you had never been to in Detroit and you couldn’t stop the tears that perked around your eyes. 

The building was decorated like the night sky at the front entrance, the booth where you paid being modeled like a rocket ship as if to blast off into the massive telescope. From beyond the entrance, you could see podiums of different constellations and several shops where merchandise of stars and other sky-related objects were being displayed. 

You were star-struck, your eyes trying to soak everything in as Connor leaned forward to catch your wonderment. 

“Is this a good surprise?” 

You almost didn’t catch the sarcasm in his voice, his mind finally taking in both you and Hank’s dry and sarcastic remarks and creating his own. 

You simply nodded at the question, his hand taking yours as he lead you over to the booth, your eyes wandering to every corner as Connor paid for both tickets inside. 

“I can’t believe you brought me here….it’s…it’s.”

You let out a breathless gasp as if words could suffice for how much this meant to you, how Connor had even thought up this place. 

“Does the surprise please you?”

You tightly held onto Connor’s hand and shoved your head into the side of his arm, the action desperately, and failing, to hide your blush. 

“Of course it does! Come on! I think I see Cassiopeia’s constellation over there!”

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Within the next hour, you had seen most of the Observatory’s stunning displays of stars and comets. 

With your hand never leaving Connor’s, he would let a few facts slip from his lips when the display cases hardly gave any. You both would slip into a comfortable conversation about the galaxies that surrounded the two of you. The android seemed most interested when you would sprout about your favorite planet or constellation, a grin spreading over his lips at seeing your eyes light up at telling him about your own facts about the burning lights that shined in the sky. 

You took more pictures of you and Connor just like you did at the zoo, but this time the male broke the space between the two of you and would smash his face against yours, making you laugh more in the photos than just your regular smile. 

The gift shop was filled with expensive, but wonderful and unique stuff to buy. Of course, you pointed out a bracelet that would compliment the one that Sawyer gave you and you instantly bought it, the small star fragments that were connected with the navy blue string stood out with the pale gold that was the dog bracelet you had. You also bought a pin for Connor’s outfit, the fake constellation of a dog making you giggle at his blue blush. 

The Observatory had a small area where you could buy snacks and drinks and you bought a hot chocolate for yourself, your eyebrows narrowing at seeing that there was nothing for androids to buy for themselves. 

Soon, Connor led you up a large flight of stairs, the two of you having to stop a few times for you to make sure you weren’t stretching out your wound too much. The top was littered with a few families and couples, each staring up at the starry night of Detroit. 

You were glad to see that the Observatory was located outside of the city, the flicker of lights barely getting in the way of the clear twilight about you. 

Finding a spot to sit, you thanked Connor for helping you down before he took his spot right next to you, his arms flinging his coat around your shoulders as the chilly air settled around you. 

“Always such a gentleman,” you joked, your hand going up to the coat and fluttering it over half of Connor’s body to share the warmth. 

“Don’t tell Hank, he’ll take all the credit for it.”

You had to cover your mouth to keep the laughter in, your mind telling you not to disturb the other citizens around you as they stargazed. 

Over a year, you had grown so accustomed to him, so comfortable that you no longer worried about personal space with him, not even caring about the wandering eyes that saw the human and android. 

It was just you and Connor and that’s all that mattered. 

“Do you think we’ll see a shooting star?” you asked after a few minutes of silence between the two of you. 

Connor’s LED flashed yellow for a moment before turning toward you, his face inches from yours as if he didn’t want the other humans to hear. 

“There’s a high probability of it, but there’s also going to be a meteor shower tonight.”

You gasped at his cocky expression, his well-shaped eyebrows raising as you lightly smacked his arm. 

“That’s why you brought us here!”

Someone let out a shocked gasp a few feet away from you and your eyes turned back towards the sky and your face was suddenly flushed with a collection of colors. 

The meteor shower was a dazzle of colors shooting through the darkness of night, the stars shining even brighter as if to cheer the meteors on. The grip you had on Connor’s arm almost made you spill your drink, the liquid that matched his eyes almost spilling as you gasped at the show. The people around you were letting out their own “oohs” and “awwws” as they watched the meteor shower over their heads. 

“Oh Con, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so beautiful,” you whispered, your voice barely high enough for him to hear. 

But he wasn’t looking at the show above him, he couldn’t remove his eyes off of you to look at the history that was happening above him. 

Because he would much rather see how you saw it, how you expressed your amazement with the powerful smile on your face and the way your eyes would crinkle at the corners. 

He tried to recall what Hank had told him how to do it, how to make sure not to hurt you during it, but his nerves were flying wild within him that he believed that his body would soon burst into holes to let all the steam out. 

But, he had to let it out, or else he never would. 

“You make me feel too many things, Y/N,” he whispered, making your face twist quickly towards him, your face inches from his and you felt your breath hitch at how the sparkling rocks in the sky made his brown eyes seem like distant planets. 

The strange statement didn’t stop your heart from hammering around in your ribcage like a bird in a cage; so desperate for release and freedom. 

“Is…is that a bad thing? That I made you feel things?” you asked, your voice almost mute with the lack of confidence. 

Something brushed over the side of your cheek and you soon released that it was his free hand, his long digits fluttering over your skin as if you would break. He knew that nothing could ever break you though. 

“Never doubt my feelings for you, Y/n,” he stated, and as heeding his call after that confession, you swiftly brought your lips to his, your hands flying from their positions to wrap around him. 

And you couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief as he gripped onto you as well, his hand holding the length of your jaw while the other held onto the small part of your back. 

It was going to be bumpy, dating your partner and an android, but you were used to things being difficult to come across. 

You knew though that both you and Connor could solve anything though, as long as you both were in it together.