Work Text:
Vision slightly blurry, swimming in and out of focus, the android stumbled, tripping over his feet. He barely manages to catch himself, nearly tumbling back into the hell that was the pit behind him, the screeching, moaning androids who couldn't get out ringing in his ears.
Thirium pumped sluggishly through him, his body aching with the loss of so much to begin with.
It was a miracle he was able to crawl out as it was.
Markus stops at the top of the trash heap, taking a moment to relax and adjust to his new biocomponents, startling when another android appears in front of his vision.
Markus knocks the side of his head, kicking his hearing component back into action.
He can't just have people sneaking up on him now that he's a criminal for being a deviant.
This other android looks him up and down, studying him and Markus takes note of his uniform, thirium pump stuttering when he realizes that a cop is standing in front of him and he could very well end up back in the hole behind him, hopefully dead if that's the case.
The other android looks around, searching for a moment, before his eyes land back on Markus, softening his gaze.
"Are you alright?" the other android asks, voice sweet and kind.
"You're not going to-" Markus starts, gesturing behind him.
The other android shakes his head. "I'm deviant too. They just don't know it yet," he whispers as if scared to be overheard, which Markus figures is probably the truth. If this android really was a detective, his whole job relies on him not being deviant as he hunts other deviants down. If he were found out, he'd obviously end up in the dump like the rest of them.
"Do you need any help?" the android asked and Markus shook his head, eyeing the other warily. "Let's get you out of here then."
"Who are you?"
"I'm Connor."
"Why were you at the dump?" Markus asks, suddenly very curious.
"I was trying to find anyone who seemed salvageable, anyone who could continue their life," Connor offers, voice seemingly tight.
Markus wasn't sure he believed Connor.
Markus stumbles again as he takes a step forward, the lack of thirium really getting to him.
He shifts awkwardly as Connor's gaze rakes over him, taking in any details in order to discern what's wrong.
"Here," he mutters, offering his hand, which Markus took with much confusion.
There was a static feeling for a second, before his biocomponents started whirring to life with the added thirium.
"How did you do that?" Markus asks, astonished.
"It's kind of like a blood transfusion. The only difference being that all androids use the same thirium so we don't have to worry about blood cells attacking one another."
"Thank you," Markus murmured.
"Let's go. I want to get you out of here before the patrols start," Connor says, taking his hand and dragging him through back alleys in the city until they stop at a very pristine, white building.
"Where are we?"
"This is my apartment. Issued by cyberlife for meetings that need to be held in private since I am the most useful asset. However, there are no cameras since a lot of the subjects here are deviants and they get antsy when being watched. You'll be safe here."
"Thank you."
"It's no problem," Connor starts.
"Seriously. Thank you. You didn't have to help some random person you found."
Connor just nods, gesturing for Markus to step inside.
He locks the door behind them and Markus watches as he shuffles about, pulling another charging station from the closet so that Markus could get his rest.
As he plugs it in, he stumbles and falls, catching himself on the table as he goes down.
Markus rushes forward, caring entirely too much about a man he'd just met, but something was wrong.
When he gets over to the other android, Connor is cursing quietly to himself.
"You weren't at the dump looking for deviants were you? You needed something."
Connor looked at him sheepishly, a shy smile on his face that Markus found entirely too endearing.
"I got in a fight with one of my coworkers, real asshole of a human and he destroyed my regulator in an attempt to get me kicked out of the office. I'd gone down to the dump to see if I could find one, but instead I found you and you looked in need of help, so I decided that it was more important to help you."
"That's just dumb," Markus murmured. "I'll go back and get you one. What kind of regulators are compatible with yours?"
"There will be too many people patrolling the dump now. If you go back, you'll be killed."
"There has to be something I can do," Markus started, panicking a little because if Connor dies it's going to be his fault.
"Check the alleyways, a lot of people just dump their destroyed androids there. Just be careful."
Markus nodded, running out to find a regulator, hoping the one he found would be compatible with the android.
When he arrived back inside the apartment he was shocked to find Connor still functioning. He'd have thought the android would have shut down by now.
He opened the other android's chest and replaced the regulator, thanking his lucky stars that they were compatible with one another.
Connor's eyes, which had fallen closed when Markus opened his chest, fly open and he sits up gasping.
"What happened? How did you-" Connor trails off as Markus pulls him into a hug. "What was that for?" he asks when Markus pulls away.
"That was for saving me despite nearly dying yourself."
"That's no problem. It's my job to protect people no matter the cost at my own expense and if I hadn't done that then you would-" Connor was cut off again, Markus kissing him. "What was that for?" he asked again.
"That was to get you to stop rambling," Markus mutters.
"Really now? Maybe I should ramble more often," he states, seemingly confident.
"Maybe you should," Markus mutters, kissing him again.