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It seemed like a perfectly typical rally for them. Markus stood on a podium in front of thousands of androids and humans alike, celebrating yet another leap of progress towards equality for androids.
Connor marvelled, as he always did, at the skill Markus had for speaking to a large crowd like this. His words were serious but still inspiring and hopeful. It was something Connor deeply admired about him, among dozens of other qualities.
It was Connor's fault what happened next. He was too distracted, drawn in by the eloquent leader like all the others before him. Connor had appointed himself Markus' protector against his protests ("I don't need a bodyguard Connor, I just want you to be there." "If I'm there, I'm going to protect you. It's what I want to do, Markus. Isn't that what we've been fighting for? So we can make our own choices?") so he stood on the podium alongside Markus, as well as North, Simon and Josh. Connor should have seen the angry man in the crowd, should have seen the pure hatred in his eyes, should have seen when he'd drawn a gun. And he did see, but by the time he did it was already much too late.
A shot fired and Connor used every single processor he had to get to Markus, yet Markus was too far. Wait, why was he so far away? Connor had been standing right next to him! Connor's thirium pump beat exactly once in between the gunshot and when the bullet slammed into Markus' chest, but that one beat was enough for Connor to feel his heart shatter as Markus went down. It was like the bullet had hit his own thirium pump instead. Connor vaguely registered security tackling the shooter before he rushed to Markus' side.
Connor's systems were so in sync with Markus' that he didn't even need to scan him to know that he only had seconds to live. Connor couldn't speak past the tightness in his throat to offer Markus reassurances as he slipped away, Connor's name the last thing on his lips. All Connor could do was watch as Markus' eyes turned glassy, the life that had been so abundant in them, gone forever as Markus’ thirium stained Connor’s hands bright blue.
Connor woke and sat up with a start, his systems all primed and ready for action. He scanned the room for danger, unaware for a moment what he was looking for. The nightmare came back to him in a rush and he felt his whole body seize up in pain. Markus!
He looked beside him desperately, his stress levels decreasing at seeing Markus sleeping beside him. Connor loathed to wake Markus, especially when he got so little stasis time to begin with, so he settled for watching Markus’ bare chest rise and fall, taking comfort in the older android’s quirk. Most androids automatically suspended their breathing cycle while in stasis, but not Markus, his older yet sophisticated system needed the extra cooling even when resting. It was the same reason he slept without any upper layers, not that Connor was complaining. In stark contrast to his lover, Connor’s systems were a little too efficient at keeping him cool at times and Markus’ radiating heat was a welcome balm.
Markus stirred, his arm reaching out towards Connor, and he let out a little hum of concern when he realised Connor was not asleep. “You okay, Con?”
Ever the caretaker, Connor thought with both overwhelming fondness and a hint of exasperation. Because of course Markus would sense Connor’s distress even while deep in stasis and then interrupt that cycle to make sure Connor was okay. It was so intrinsically Markus, to put others' needs before his own.
“Just a bad dream.” To put it both colloquially and lightly. It was far easier than to say, ‘my preconstruction program played out a potential outcome to a past event where I failed to save you and then had to watch you die in my arms.’
“Come here,” Markus said, eyes soft and arm inviting Connor into his embrace. Connor couldn’t have resisted even if he tried. He felt his stress levels drop again at feeling Markus’ strong arms around him, at feeling the sheer warmth of his embrace, at hearing Markus’ thirium pump beat steady in his chest. Markus held Connor’s hand, entwining their fingers.
The connection happened automatically, their synthskin retracting where they were touching as their systems synched. Markus’ arms tightened even more around him at feeling Connor’s residual fear and grief from his nightmare.
“I get those too,” Markus said quietly, his fingers brushing through Connor’s hair. “Where you jump in front of me again to save me, but you don’t survive this time.” Connor could only guess he didn’t share it through their connection, as not to add to Connor’s stress. “I came so close to losing you.” Connor pressed a kiss to Markus’ chest, then nuzzled into the heat of him.
Connor hadn’t thought twice about shielding Markus with his own body all those months ago. It had been instinctual. Markus had chewed him out about it once Connor had recovered, out of love Connor knew, so he hadn’t taken it to heart. But Connor would do it again in a heartbeat, though he kept that thought out of their connection. Markus probably still knew. Markus knew Connor better than Connor knew himself.
“You didn’t though and I’m right here. I will always choose to be right here.” Connor would never promise Markus that nothing would ever happen to him and would never ask Markus for the same, even when the thought of losing him was unbearable. They were both in positions where safety was never for certain. But for as long as he lived, he would always choose to be by Markus’ side.
It was an easy thing, to slip back into stasis, wrapped in each other’s arms as he felt the sentiment echoed back to him.