#gavin is a deep shit like always screw him

[nothing-but-dreamy]

HAUNTED

Pairing: D:BH!CONNOR x HUMAN!READER (gender neutral)

Words: 4.058

Warnings: TRIGGER WARNING! mention of suicide; odd behavior; cursing; hurt - comfort;

A/N: Another day - another request...

I really hope you like it! Thanks again for your idea.

Synopsis: You are a Detective of the DPD and had worked many cases with Hank. Until something went utterly wrong. Since then, you get haunted by your past until you see only one last way out. Luckily, Connor is there to help you.

"You know you don't have to do this.", you said serious.

Sara pulled the wire of the bug underneath her shirt before it got taped on her back, "Yes, but I want to. I have to. I owe it to my sister to do this. She shall find peace finally and like the Lieutenant said, me as her twin, I have the best chance to get this bastard. He doesn't know that she's dead. Therefore, I'm your best chance to get the information you need, Detective."

"Detective..."

"Detective."

"Detective, YLN!"

As if awakening from a deep trance like state, you focused back on reality as your name got called out. Haunted by your typical dark memories, you hadn't even noticed where you were. Slowly, you opened your eyes. The owner of the calm male voice stood on the outside of your car, next to the window of the driver seat, and looked concerned at you through the glass.

You blinked several times. The sun, which already fell through your windshield because it stood so high in the morning sky, made you blind for several moments and as you moved, you noticed your aching back and neck from sleeping in the car in an unhealthy position. Obviously, you had knocked yourself out with booze again.

"Detective YLN, my name's Connor. I'm your new partner. I'm the android sent by CyberLi- I got sent from Captain Fowler to meet you. Rather, he sent me to find you because you missed a meeting this morning. And now, he wants to see you.", Connor said and watched you. Even if he had already learned a lot about human behavior from Hank, there were still some mysteries to solve.

Like: why are you sleeping in a car in a position that harms eighty percent of your muscle tissue through soreness and lets your bones and joints burn like fire when you move?

Or: why are you drunk this early in the morning-

"Hey, tin can! Shut the fuck up!", you shouted.

Connor stared at you in shock as he realized that he had asked the questions out loud instead of just thinking about them. A habit he started with as Hank had left the DPD to retire finally, "I'm sorry, Detective. I haven't notice-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah... what do you want, Carlos?", you asked, searching for your flask you couldn't find.

"My name's Connor, Detective. And as I said, Captain Fowl-"

"Oh, yeah... the meeting... right. Get in the car.", you ordered and even if Connor was sure that it wasn't a good idea for you to drive in the state you were, he also knew that any kind of discussion would lead to nowhere. He still knew that from his time with Hank.

**

Twenty minutes later, for a way that only took ten minutes usually, you, followed by Connor, entered the DPD which was crowded with androids, policemen and people who were complaining about some uninteresting nonsense. You made your way through all these people, trying to dodge as many colleagues as you could - but of course, one of them caught you. Like always.

"Hey, YN! This is the DPD and not some bar. You won't find any kind of booze around here."

"Just shut the fuck up, Reed! Or otherwise, I will tell everyone that you own some pair of bright pink panties- oh, upsi! My bad!", you called out, gleaming at him with a smirk. Everyone started to laugh.

Gavin stared at you with a hate-filled glance, he was fuming, "Fuck you!", he muttered.

"Oh, sweet. That's all you got, Reed?", you shot back with a grin.

But before Gavin could respond to anything, Captain Fowler stepped out of his office, "Detective YLN! In my office!"

"And? Who's laughing now?", Gavin said with a smirk and winked at you before he left the DPD to do some work.

Connor closed the door of the office behind him as you were inside. You walked over to the Captain's desk to sit down in one of the chairs but even without looking up you sensed the anger radiating from your boss. It was tangible in the air. Without asking, you took one of the fresh glasses on Fowler's desk to throw an aspirin into it. Then, you pulled out the flask you had found finally to fill the glass with a transparent liquid.

Fowler watched you, half shocked and half concerned, "What are you doing?"

"Taking an aspirin, Sir. I have a murderous headache."

"And what was in the flask if I may ask?"

"Vo- uhm... water. Just water, Sir.", you answered before you gulped down the bubbling mixture.

Fowler looked from you at Connor who also seemed to be concerned about the fact that you had mixed pharmaceuticals with alcohol before the Captain looked back at you, "Where have you been this morning? We had a meeting."

You put the empty glass back on the desk, "Oh, yeah... the meeting. I'm sorry, Sir. I was on observation and obviously, I lost track of time.", you explained, leaning back in the chair, waiting for the aspirin and ‘water’ to do its magic.

"Observation, huh? For what case? What's the file number?", Fowler asked, leaning back in his own seat, folding his hands in front of him while waiting for your answer.

"Oh, yeah... the file number. One moment, Sir-"

Fowler slammed his plane hand on the desk's surface that you were jumping in your seat, "Cut this shit, god dammit! You have no file number because you have no current case, Detective! Let me guess, Connor had found you sleeping in your car, right? How many nights had it been this time?"

You kept eye contact but you gave him no answer. You just gritted your teeth and pressed your jaws together.

Fowler sighed, "Listen, YN, you're a great Detective but since the things with Sara happened-"

"No!", you called out, jumping from your chair and stopping the Captain mid-sentence with your sudden outburst, "We won't talk about this!", you said serious before you turned around to let your glance roam through the office with all the busy people, "Alright, Sir. What's the matter with the android? Monitoring what I do and what I don't do?"

"Connor is the former partner of Hank-"

"Oh and now, Hank doesn't want to play with it anymore so you give it to the next screwed up cop you can find?", you asked, turning around to look at Connor with his fancy clothes and neat hairstyle before you looked back at the Captain.

"Hank retired two weeks ago. I thought you knew that.", Fowler said and looked even more concerned at you.

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't get invited to any funny parties nor did I got a notification. But who cares. So, the android's with me then? How long?", you asked emotionlessly.

"It's your partner now. Brief it into your cases-"

You stepped forward, aiming for the door, "Cases, Sir? What cases? You already said I have none.", you pointed out while leaving the office.

Fowler watched after you, not amused about your unpredictable behavior and the fact that you were carrying a gun.

"Sir?", Connor asked and brought the Captain back from his thoughts.

"Yeah... Listen... as you can see YN has a few problems. They used to be a good cop in the past until one of the cases they and Hank had operated went wrong. The anniversary is in two days and I fear... well...", Captain Fowler stopped himself, watching you grabbing a coffee from the kitchen.

"I will keep an eye on them.", Connor said and left the office as well.

*

Connor was surprised how carelessly you were in managing your cases - even if it were just a few. There was nothing special or difficult and yet, you weren't able to file the cases properly, "Detective, this report here, I'm not sure to which case it belongs.", Connor asked as he had read an interview of a woman who had reported her dog as missing. Added to that, the interview was part of a file about an armed theft in the heart of the city. There was no connection at all to these two cases.

Without looking up, you took a folder from your desk to hand it over to Connor, "Yeah...here. That's the case you're searching for."

Connor took the case and skimmed through the pages several times before he looked at you, frowning, "Detective, this is a file about a stolen android.", he pointed out.

"Yeah, just ... put the page in this file. I'm sure it will be right.", you said, ignoring the android's expression.

"Detective, I'm not sure-"

"Excuse me, I need some more coffee.", you cut him off, standing up to aim for the kitchen with your mug in your hands.

"And I thought Hank was challenging.", Connor whispered under his breath and shook his head while he still tried to figure out which pages were parts of which cases.

"You're a murderer, Detective! That you still think yourself as worthy enough to call yourself a cop is way out of my understanding!", a jarring, female voice echoed through the office and drew the attention of everyone to her and to the person that stood in front of her - you.

Connor craned his head to watch the scene like everyone else did. But while the attention of the others was because of curiosity and spitefulness, Connor watched you and your bodily reaction to the woman's accusations. You stood there like a timid fawn. The cockiness you presented before seemed to be gone completely. Your heart rate increased, you were shaking and your eyes became big as if you were intimidated by the woman in front of you. The woman stepped even closer and Connor watched, surprised, that you stayed where you were. Easily, you could have escaped the unknown woman and yet you stayed rooted to the spot.

"Because of you I lost both of my daughters! I already have lost the one and yet, you thought it would be fair to take the other away from me as well!", the woman screamed erratic, tears were already running down her cheeks but she was still not able to stop herself and no one else was brave enough to step into the scene, "You and your partner will pay for what you have done! You will burn in hell for that!"

"Chris! Escort Mrs. Mason into my office!", Captain Fowler ordered and stopped the woman's outburst even if it was a bit too late.

Connor saw tears building in the corners of your eyes. Quickly, your glance scanned the area but the only way you could find was the way out. You aimed for the precinct's main entrance to leave the building in a hurry. Connor followed you. He ran through the office and left the building as well but as he stepped onto the pavement you were nowhere to be seen. Like a ghost, you had vanished between all the other pedestrians.

**

Hank had just taken a new beer to watch the next half of the Detroit Gears game as someone rang his doorbell. In the penetrant way how this person used his doorbell and the way how Sumo reacted, Hank knew who the visitor was, "Connor, hey. What are you doing here? It's a bit too early to go for a walk with Sumo.", the older man said but he already saw that something else was bothering the android.

"Yeah, actually, I'm not here because of Sumo.", Connor said.

Hank let him in and Connor came straight to the point that kept him busy, "One year ago, you and Detective YLN had a case together. But something went wrong. What exactly happened? I couldn't find the case file."

Hank frowned, "Why do you ask?"

"Captain Fowler teamed me up with Detective YLN because of the anniversary of this case. He's concerned about the instability of their constitution."

Hank shook his head. He missed working with the android but he didn't miss the long-winded explanations of him. Then, suddenly, he became serious again, "Instability, huh?"

"Yes. They seem to be so unpredictable in their behavior that Captain Fowler fears something worse will happen because the anniversary would be in two days. I ... I found them this morning sleeping in their car.", Connor explained with a frown.

Hank raised his brows in surprise and at the same time, he felt worried, "YN and I, we... In the past, we worked together on some cases. Well, that changed with our last case. Lynn and Sara Mason.", he said slowly, feeling the pain stinging his heart as he remembered what had happened one year ago.

"Why couldn't I find much about it in the archives of the DPD?"

Hank stood up from the couch, walking over to the book shelf to pull something out that was hidden between his several jazz vinyl. He walked back to Connor, offering the android the case file but stopped as Connor was grabbing for it, "You just can find the basics of this case because I kept it printed. Some wounds are so deep, it's better if not everyone is able to find a tool to reopen them all over again.", he said and gave Connor the file finally.

***

The next day, Connor drove again to your place and was happy to see that you weren't sleeping in your car again. As he knocked at your door, you opened him with a smile. You had taken a shower, your hair was still damp and your clothes were all fresh and clean. Connor noticed that you weren't accompanied by the scent of alcohol and he even couldn't smell anything in your breath as you talked with him.

"I... I want to apologize, Connor. Our start yesterday wasn't the best. I'm looking forward to working with you. I'm sure we will make a great team."

Connor knew you just one day, not enough to understand a person completely, and yet he had the strange feeling of something going on that occupied his mind suddenly by the way you acted.

"Oh, can you call a taxi?", you asked while sipping on your coffee.

"What happened to your car, Detective?", Connor asked surprised while ordering the vehicle.

You smiled at him, "Oh, I sold it. I will have no use of it anymore. And please, call me YN."

To Connor's surprise, your behavior stayed kinda strange even if he couldn't say what it was exactly. You and Connor went early to the DPD. On your way in, you talked with colleagues. You joked with Chris and as Gavin entered the kitchen, you pressed a cup of coffee into the Detective's hand which left him utterly confused.

Gavin stopped Connor by stepping into his way, "Hey, tin can. Is this coffee drugged or what is going on here?"

In the way Gavin looked at Connor, the android noticed real unease, "No, Detective. The coffee is not drugged or anything. I guess others would call it 'tasty'. You can drink it.", he said but looked frowning at you. As Connor left Gavin, the green-eyed man was still sniffing suspiciously on the hot liquid as if the mug might contain acid instead of his most favorite beverage.

Connor went back to the desk opposite of yours and was surprised to see how you cleared out the different pages of the case files. Several small piles were lying in front of you while you tried to bring them into the right order and to collate them.

Later that day, Connor was puzzled as you went to the Captain to apologize to him as well as you had done it with Connor in the beginning of the day. You apologized for your behavior the day before and of all the past weeks, "I know I did a few things wrong, Captain. But I promise to change that in the future. In fact, the change will happen soon and then, everyone will be pleased with me again.", you said before you took your jacket to leave the precinct.

Connor looked at the Captain and saw on the man's face what he was thinking: strange.

‘Strange’ was the only word Connor could find to describe your work day even although you were acting practically perfect. You were nice. You had sorted your cases. You had apologized for your behavior. And yet, something was odd. Something felt wrong. Connor sensed that something was ... going on. But he couldn't put his finger on it. So, out of instinct, Connor followed you and drove to your place with a taxi.

As he knocked at your door, you opened, smiling at him and dressed in a bathrobe, "Oh, Connor, hey. What is it? I just wanted to take a bath."

Surprised, Connor looked at you. He was sure you had taken a shower this morning so there was no need to take a bath and then, he reminded himself that he still had not much knowledge about humans and their several oddities, "Yeah, I ... I just wanted to ask if everything is alright, Detective.", he said honestly.

You smiled at him, "Of course, Connor. Everything is more than alright. I just need some time to relax and tomorrow, everything will make sense to you and the others. Thanks for checking on me, that means a lot to me. Goodnight.", you said and closed the door.

Connor stared at your closed door for several moments before he stepped slowly back to walk down the hallway. Since he turned deviant, Connor's systems needed a bit longer to process information - not much, it were just seconds, but sometimes that could be more than enough.

As Connor was still connecting the different dots and hints you had spread the whole day, Hank called him, "Connor! Where are you?"

"I'm leaving YN's place. They want to take a bath. Why? What's the matter?", Connor asked as he sensed the slightly concerned undertone in Hank's voice.

"You have to go back, Connor! Go back to them! YN hates to bath!", Hank demanded worried.

Even if Connor was confused, he turned around, walking back the way to your apartment, "Hank?"

"I just got a letter from YN. It got brought by a delivery man. It's a handwritten suicide letter. Hurry and stop them!", Hank ordered.

Connor ended the call, hurried down the corridor and without knocking, he broke down the door of your apartment. Quickly, Connor ran through your small apartment, already seeing the door of your bathroom ajar. He stormed into the room and the second his eyes landed on you lying in the bathtub with the razor blade between your fingers, he was by your side, taking the blade away to throw it into a far corner before you could even cut. Slowly but demanding, Connor dragged you out of the water, took a towel and laid it around your shaking frame because you already were ice cold. Obviously, you had filled the bathtub with cold water to support a fast sleep while your blood would have drained from your body after the cut.

You were screaming and yelling for Connor to let go of you. You demanded the razor back and that he should leave your apartment but Connor ignored everything. You punched against his chest with your fists but Connor stayed unimpressed, determined to save your life. With a strong grip, he wrapped you into the towel and also laid the bathrobe around your shoulders before he guided you out of the bathroom. You were still struggling in Connor's arms to get free. All you wanted was to end what you had started. Desperate, hot tears were running down your cheeks as you were crying violently about the fact that you were still alive. Alive and alone with the memories which were still haunting you like mean demons.

Connor placed you on the couch, sitting next to you and wrapping his arms around your frame to give you even more support and comfort while you cried against his chest, "Please, just let me die...", you cried out between two heavy sobs.

"No, Detective. I have to refuse your request."

"Cut this 'Detective' shit. Just call me YN, god damnit.", you whimpered helplessly because now, everything was just worse than you had expected. You had planned everything and yet, the android was there to destroy your neatly made plans, "What are you even doing here, Connor?"

"Hank received your letter and called me right on time."

You leant closer against Connor's chest with closed eyes, seeking the android’s presence while cursing about yourself, "Hell, the letter. I should have changed the delivery time to a later one. Then, everything would be over. All the pain. All the guilt. All the haunting.", you breathed with a sad voice.

Connor tightened the embrace around you even more, "It's about Sara Mason and her sister, isn't it?", he whispered softly, placing his chin on top of your head to enclose you even more.

You nodded, not surprised that Connor already knew it, "Yeah... it's my fault that Sara died. It's my fault that her mother lost both daughters.", you cried out, clawing into Connor's white shirt with your fingers.

"Well, I read the file. Sara came up with the idea to get bugged and to infiltrate the drug dealer who had killed her sister Lynn. I mean, the idea was good. It was just bad luck that the dealer already knew about Lynn's death and looked right through the façade you and Hank had planned.", Connor said softly. To calm you even more, he stroked soothingly over your back with his hands.

You leant back to look into the android's face and for the first time, you noticed the incredibly intense, brown color of his soft eyes, "Y-you don't understand. Not even Hank knew that but Sara didn't come up with the idea to get bugged on her own. I dropped this idea as I was alone with her and manipulated her to think it was her own idea. I mean, how evil can someone be to do this, huh?", you asked, closing your eyes about this painful memory.

Connor cupped your face, knowing that humans needed physical contact to feel secure and safe and he wanted to provide you both as well as he could. He was glad to see that you opened your eyes again and that you stayed where you were, "Listen, neither you nor Hank nor someone else could have known every single possibility in this case. The idea was good. The Captain said the same in his official statement. But ... Look, kid, sometimes bad things happen, and you can't do anything about it.", he said softly.

Through a sob of new tears because Connor was the first for a very long time that was caring about you this much, you chuckled low, "Have you... did you just quote the Lion King to cheer me up?"

Connor looked slightly caught with a sheepishly smile playing around his lips, "Yeah... Hank said I should improve my knowledge about pop culture. I binge watched all the Disney movies I could find last week. I thought this quote was suitable... Or did I have done it wrong?"

You chuckled a bit more about his innocence and strong will to help you, "No, it was pretty good. Thanks for... you know... thanks for being here with me.", you whispered low, feeling your cheeks reddening.

Connor leant back on your couch, bringing you close to his chest so you could snuggle against him, "I'm your partner now, YN. And partners are looking out for each other. You can count on me no matter what it is.", he said softly and after five minutes where he just stroked comforting over your back, he noticed your even breathing that told him that you had fallen asleep. Hank called and without making too much noise, Connor briefed his former partner that you were alright.

You were still alive. You still had a long way to go to leave your haunting ghosts behind but Connor was sure you would make it. You were strong enough to do it - and he would be by your side to support you as promised.

#detroit become human imagines #detroit become human connor #rk800 x reader #dbh connor x reader #connor #detroit connor #connor rk800 #dbh connor #rk800 #detroit rk800 #dbh rk800 #rk800connor #detroit become human rk800 #male reader #female reader #gender neutral reader #hurt comfort

[ghostpeblewrite]

Paradoxical - Chapter 6

~~~~~~

On the other hand, the good news just keeps coming for the evil trio.

First, Jimmy managed to complete a vital piece of their plan- All on his own!!

Gavin was in the main room of their home base, studying a big black tome, when Jimmy burst through the front door. Gavin would say he’d never seen Jimmy beam that bright before, but the little maniac is almost always smiling, so that would be a lie. That’s when Gavin noticed what he was carrying.

Gavin clearly remembers setting the tome down as he stood up, remarking something along the lines of, “Well well well, look what the cat dragged in!” which caused Jimmy to cackle loudly, dumping the body he was holding on the floor.

That’s when the body started to move. Which did surprise Gavin. Jimmy never leaves his victims alive. Sure, he’s stupid, but he’s smart at killing.

Gavin moved closer to the body, and then he recognized it. He was suddenly full of an emotion, later identified as being Proud.

On the floor, unconscious, was Johnny Ghost.

He had rewarded Jimmy handsomely for that, after making sure Ghost was securely tied up in a different room.

Gavin remembers it fondly now as he lays on the ratty couch in the main room of the homebase, smiling at the memory of Ghost’s face when he saw Jimmy.

Speaking of Jimmy, the little maniac was currently lying on top of Gavin, his face buried into Gavin’s neck. That’s the main reason Gavin hasn’t gotten up in about an hour. Jimmy had finally crashed after over 42 hours of being awake, and Gavin was not about to wake him up. That was basically a death sentence.

Not that Jimmy could actually kill Gavin, but Gavin doesn’t want to see what would happen if he tried.

The only thing that brings Jimmy’s cat nap to a sudden stop is a certain dark figure walking into the base.

Only, he’s not a dark figure at first. When he first walks in, he looks like an average guy. Hispanic descent, maybe.

“I’m telling you, Gavin,” he says with a Spanish accent, his form flickering back to a dark silhouette wearing a cowboy hat, “We went too hard on the clothing. I looked like a try hard.”

“Welcome back, Maxwell,” Gavin greets. Jimmy begins to groan a bit, waking from his cat nap. He’s a light sleeper.

“Yeah yeah, anyway,” Maxwell says, sitting in one of the chairs next to the couch, “while you two were here sleepin’, I actually found out some useful information.”

Jimmy lifts his head up, about to say something, but Gavin shushes him. So instead, Jimmy just grumbles sleepily, putting his head back down, watching Maxwell.

“So, what is it?” Gavin prods.

“They’re fast actin’,” Maxwell says. “Toast was the only one who did anythin’ though- Took a crossbow out ‘n shot ‘em all. Only took one to two shots too.”

“Hm,” Gavin hums, but before he can say anything, Jimmy beats him to it.

“We didn’t just sit here lying around!!” he huffs, sitting up.

“Oh really?” Maxwell asks. “Do tell me what y’all did then.”

“I got Ghost!!!” Jimmy squeals, an inhuman smile splitting his face.

“Oi, quiet down,” Gavin says, ruffling Jimmy’s hair before scooting out from under Jimmy, sitting up as well.

“Wait- Is he serious?” Maxwell turns to Gavin. Can’t blame him, really. Hard to tell when Jimmy’s joking.

“Yes, he is,” Gavin says, stretching a bit. Jimmy stretches as well, probably just copying Gavin. His body makes a lot of horrible noises when he does. Gavin makes a small disgusted face at them.

“Do you wanna come see???” Jimmy asks, already on his feet before Maxwell answers. Gavin doesn’t know how he does it. Jimmy barely got an hour of sleep, and he’s just woken up. Where is he storing all this extra energy? Up his ass?

Gavin can’t say he’s too surprised though. Jimmy’s been bouncing off the walls since he woke up that day. Sure, Gavin kind of intended that- He couldn’t imagine Jimmy any other way- but it still confuses him.

“I er- I guess?” Maxwell shrugs, standing up as well.

“Great!!” Jimmy says, giggling to himself a bit as he grabs Maxwell’s arm, leading him towards the room where they keep Ghost.

Another thing he does that Gavin doesn’t quite understand. Maxwell isn’t… I mean, he’s not exactly solid. He’s a ghost. Gavin can’t even do that. Gavin just sighs, following after the two. Best not to question it.

Jimmy drags Maxwell into the room, where Ghost seems to be unconscious. Maxwell looks at him, letting out a low whistle.

“Well I’ll be damned, Jimmy! You weren’t lyin’!” Maxwell says, sounding pleasantly surprised.

That’s when Ghost raises his head a bit, eyeing the three figures in front of him.

Since he got there, he’s gained a few cuts and bruises that weren’t there before. Mainly from Jimmy when he got bored. Ghost’s eyes widen upon seeing Maxwell.

“Maxwell-?!” He cries. First Gavin, then Jimmy, and now Maxwell? This makes no sense. It’s such an unlikely trio.

“Pleasure seein’ you again, Johnny Ghost,” Maxwell greets, tipping his hat at him.

“Well, now that we’re all here,” Gavin says, looking at the other two. “We need to decide what we’re going to do with him.”

“Kill him!” Jimmy says instantly, smiling wide. Gavin chuckles, ruffling his hair again.

“We’ll uhm… Put that idea on the backburner there, Jims,” Gavin says, smiling at him. Jimmy smiles even wider back. Somehow. It grosses Gavin out how he does that. Gavin didn’t make him able to do that. He just… did that himself. It’s gross.

“Actually, wait,” Maxwell says, looking at Gavin, “That might be our only option.”

“What do you mean?” Gavin asks, looking back at Maxwell.

“I mean- He’s strong. If he gets out of here, our entire plan is ruined,” Maxwell elaborates.

Gavin nods. “You’re right… Plus, it saves us from doing it later down the line.”

“Yay!! Let’s kill him!!!” Jimmy shrieks, following it up with a cackle that sends shivers down Gavin’s spine.

Ghost just stares at the three in front of him. He knows them, he knows what they’re capable of, and they are capable of murder. Especially Jimmy, and Maxwell. Gavin’s more of a theft kind of criminal, but he will kill if he needs to.

Ghost also can’t risk dying. Usually, if he’s in a Safe Zone, he’d just go along with it. Dying can reset your position to a more desirable one. But since the wipe out, Safe Zones have been a lot rarer. That’s why, for a couple years, Toast and Ghost worked on mapping out local Safe Zones, and memorizing where they are.

The only issue is. Ghost has no idea where he is. He could be miles out of town, he could be somewhere nearby. He has no idea if he’s in a safe zone. It’s hard to know if you’re in one without seeing something else die first, and he very much doubts he’s gonna see that.

He’s looked around this room several times. There’s nothing here he can use to escape. He thinks he’s screwed.

That is, until he remembers something. Several years ago, when he and Toast were first figuring out different timelines and dimensions, they learned how to timeline hop. It was fun, but very dangerous. They’re lucky they ever even made it back to their own timeline. But looking at the three in front of him, arguing over who gets to kill him- Jimmy really wants to be the one, but so does Maxwell- he figures that getting lost in a different timeline would be a lot less dangerous than being in this room.

Only issue is remembering how to do it. Ghost closes his eyes, focusing on remembering.

The talking dies out.

“Gavin,” Maxwell butts in. Gavin glares.

“Don’t interrupt me, Maxwell,” Gavin says, then turns back to Jimmy. “As I was saying-”

“Gavin!” Maxwell says again.

“Not right now, Maxwell!” Gavin huffs.

“God damnit, Gavin!! Listen for once in your pathetic life!!” Maxwell yells, pushing Gavin’s shoulder so he’s turned towards the seat where Ghost is tied up.

Only, Ghost isn’t there. The ropes have gone limp. Not cut, or unties at all, just limp.

“What the fuck-?” Gavin says, walking over. He didn’t just go invisible did he?? “What happened?!” he yells, turning to Maxwell.

“How am I supposed to know???” Maxwell cries out. He jabs a thumb at Jimmy, who’s giggling, “Ask the freak!!”

Gavin takes a breath to calm down- He’s learned the hard way that you can’t yell at Jimmy. Doesn’t work well. “Jimmy… Do you know something?”

“Oh, yeah!” he giggles more.

“Care to share?” Gavin asks, forcing his smile.

“Ghost isn’t here anymore!!” Jimmy laughs.

Gavin takes a deep breath. “No shit, Jims.” “No, you don’t get it!!” Jimmy says, smiling wider, “He’s gone!”

“We can see that, freak!!” Maxwell yells. Gavin shoots him a glare before approaching Jimmy.

“Jims, what do you mean?”

“I mean he’s not in this universe!” Jimmy cackles. “He’s gone!!!”

Gavin looks confused. “What? How can he do that-?”

“I have no idea!!” Jimmy says, really cracking himself up. Gavin sighs.

“Well, at least he’s… out of the way?” Maxwell shrugs.

“That’s true…” Gavin nods slowly. “Maxwell, go check on PIE HQ, we need to know if we can attack yet.”

“What? Why can’t the freak do something for once? It’s just a camera!” Maxwell growls.

Gavin glares, putting an arm around Jimmy’s shoulders, “He can’t read, asshole.”

Maxwell huffs, heading out the door. Gavin moves away from Jimmy, moving about cleaning up the room.

Maxwell finds Gavin and Jimmy back on the couch next. Jimmy is sitting upside down, Gavin sitting normally beside him, reading again.

“Great news,” Maxwell says, approaching the two.

“What?” Gavin looks up at him.

“It’s just Johnny Toast there,” Maxwell says. “The other two idiots just left.”

“How is that good news?” Gavin huffs, “We want them all dead, don’t we?”

“It’s good news, because they’re weaker when they’re separated!” Maxwell says, his tone obviously irritated.

Gavin nods. “Right… So we get rid of my brother first, and then the other two?”

“Exactly!” Maxwell says. “The other two can’t do shit without the Johnnys.”

“Great!” Gavin smiles, standing up with the black tome in hand. “What are we waiting for then?!”

“Dinner,” Jimmy says solemnly, looking up at him.

Gavin sighs, “Later, Jimmy.”

Jimmy smiles.

~~~

was this bad? probably. i was very tired.

#cw cursing #tw swearing #like SERIOUS swearig in this one jgfhjdgfhjsdghjf #my bad #but hey!! evil trio!! #also sorry cody it wasn't jose. im so sorry. don't hurt me. #paradoxical story

[staranon95]

colourful

a red hood au drabble

Gavin doesn’t know what he’s doing, but he feels he needs to do something. He needs to do this on his own. He can’t wait for Trevor to scheme and come up with a plan. He can’t wait for the crew to say they have his back. He can’t wait for Geoff to swoop in and save the day. In many respects, this feels like Gavin’s issue and only his. He can reach out to Alfredo. He can get past that hard exterior and reach him, not Red.

He just has to find him first.

He goes to his apartment first to grab his go-bag he keeps stashed in his closet. He leaves his phone and any other equipment Matt might be able to track his movements from. He’s got a few burner cellphones in his bag he’ll use for emergencies, but for this he’ll be going off the grid.

He leaves his apartment. He leaves his motorcycle and heads for a 24 hour garage that does business with people like him. There he’s able to get a bike the crew won’t be able to find him on. Then he stakes out a new place to work out of. He stays the night at a hostel and finds a cheap motel to work out of, paying cash at the front desk under a fake name.

Day one of finding Alfredo is literally all online. If there’s some new crew making its rounds in the city, people will be talking about it in forums. If you’re a civilian in Los Santos, you’re probably a fan of a criminal and talking about conspiracy theories and keeping up on the news. There are some smatterings of ‘Red’ on the forums that Gavin pays close attention to. If Alfredo is working for someone, then Gavin needs to know about it.

There’s some chatter about something called ‘Spectrum.’ Some people think it’s a group of highly trained grifters, conmen, hitmen, and more. An elite group. Others think it’s a person named ‘Spectrum.’ Like the Corpirate or Edgar. A moniker for a titan of crime. Or it’s an international organization that comes to massive cities like Los Santos to sow corruption into the municipal government for the betterment of mega-corporations and CEOs. Either way, Spectrum is something Gavin needs to consider. It’s information he’ll need to send to the crew.

Some people on the forums have said they’ve spotted members of Spectrum. And that an identifying feature is brightly coloured clothing for important members. That might explain Alfredo’s red sweater and why he wore it last night.

Gavin builds the profile based on what he has. He has some locations to work with that he’ll haunt for the next few days. It’s tedious work, but Gavin has the mind for it. He’s always been a puzzle guy, willing to sit and wrestle with something until he has the answer. So he builds his routine, makes note of locations, potential names and descriptions of people he’ll encounter.

It’s not that easy for him to move around—the so called ‘Golden Boy’ of the city. A lot of people know him on sight. So he shaves his beard, which easily takes a few years off his appearance. He ditches his designer jeans for loose cargo shirts and a shirt that’s two sizes two big. It makes him look younger, more immature, allowing him to pass by unnoticed when he needs to be.

In his room he hangs a map against the wall, using red thumbtacks to track the locations he’s checked out that he knows Spectrum has been by. He notices clusters of activity, attempting to triangulate to a location where this group might be working out of.

There’s one location in the downtown he decides to check into. It was one of the first apartment buildings built in the city, from the 1910s. The historical aspect of it is overlooked by the absolutely squalor that’s taken residence in it. There’ve been attempts to refurbish and remodel it, but it’s located smackdab in the crime district. Any politician worth their salt would know attempting to gentrify this area will end in failure, so no one is going to make an attempt on it.

He takes the fire escape all the way to the top of the building. It comes to an elegant point on top with slightly curved arches at the four corners. There are four massive eagle statues at each point, wings folded to make them look sleek and imposing. The age of the building means that very little surveillance has been incorporated into its architecture. It would make it great for hiding a criminal organization within it.

The entire top floor, what would’ve been the penthouse suite, is in constant sate of repair. Nearly all the fixtures had been torn down. Plastic sheeting hung from the ceiling in sections. Gavin has to admit, though, the view from the city is nice up here.

When he hears voices at the door, he ducks out one of the windows to crouch near one of the statues. It’s dark enough he shouldn’t be noticed.

“Prism has asked Blue and Yellow to move up to the docks,” says one.

“Yeah? And?” That’s Alfredo.

“Prism thinks you’re moving too slow. Once Blue and Yellow are in place and have the docks secure, Orange will be paired with you.”

Alfredo scoffs. “Prism can fuck off. I know the Fakes. I know how to handle them.”

“You had the opportunity to have three of them put in strict lockdown the other night and you gave them an out. How do you think that looks to the rest of Spectrum?”

“The Fakes have the most resources out of any crew in this city. They would’ve made bail no matter how high the DA would’ve set it. They have the best lawyers on retainer. You think a little burglary would’ve stopped them?”

“No, but I do find it odd that they were tipped off to the raid of their penthouse. They’ve been there for, what, almost ten years since Ramsey signed that lease? And someone tipped them off.”

“I don’t know what you’re expecting from me. You think I tipped them off?”

“I don’t know what I think. Just that a lot of coincidences have been happening concerning the Fakes lately. I’d be careful if I were you, Red. Prism doesn’t hand out second chances like they’re candy.”

“Is this a threat, Violet?”

“No. Just a thought. Careful, Red. Your true colours might start showing.”

The second voice moves off. Gavin hears the door close. He peers around the statue and spots Alfredo’s silhouette. He wonders if he should make his presence known, try to talk to Alfredo and try to understand what this is all about. Or should he try to make his escape. Or possibly trail this Violet person.

But he’s not ready for that, not yet. He decided to do this, go off on this quest to talk to Alfredo. Just talk.

He creeps along the edge and back towards the open window. He sets one foot in, toes then heel before the rest of his follows. He balances himself with his fingertips on the ground, looking for Alfredo’s figure in the dark. He hears a sigh off not too far. He stands.

“So you sleeping here or is it more of a vantage point?”

Alfredo whirls. He still has that mask in place, but his hood is off. Gavin knew his hair was longer. He kept it pretty short back in the day, but now he gets to see it fully, see how much Alfredo has changed.

“Gavin.” Alfredo scoffs, pulls up that wall of cold and sarcastic indifference. “I knew one of you would come looking. Thought it might be Fiona. I hear she’s more of a solo player. But you? Didn’t know you did shit like this anymore.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

“Yeah, apparently. Thought you were the one who stuck by your friends. Even in the ugly times.”

Gavin swallows. It’s time he faces the past. “Everything pointed to you being dead.”

Alfredo laughs. “You for real right now? I know the type of impossible shit you guys have pulled. You broke Geoff out of a maximum-security prison in broad daylight. You guys once faked your own deaths! And what happens when you don’t find my body? You wash your hands and walk away.”

“We were there on the scene. I was just about to run in and get you when the building exploded in front of me. And I still ran in! If there was any chance you were still in there, I was going to look for you.”

“But you still didn’t find me,” Alfredo says, softer this time.

His admission makes Gavin pause because isn’t that what happened? Did they give up? Did they stop looking when they realized they were out of their depth? Geoff took Alfredo’s death very personally, and having Geoff demoralized like that affected the rest of the crew.

“We didn’t,” Gavin settles on. “And it fucks with me every day that we didn’t. I feel like I held on the longest. Kept some things of yours afterwards.”

“Yeah?”

Gavin nods, takes a step forward. He sees Alfredo shift his weight into a more relaxed position with his arms crossed over his chest. “A sweater of yours. This dumb disposable camera you had. Even got the photos developed. And your old Gameboy.”

“You kept all that?”

“They were important to you. I was hanging onto them for you. And for me.”

They never really had a deep talk about what they meant to each other outside of the crew, outside of their work. Does Alfredo still think of those times like Gavin does?

“Gav.” And then Gavin thinks Alfredo will drop the act. They’ll talk. They’ll leave. They’ll figure out this Spectrum/Prism mess together, and then—

Alfredo moves quickly. He swipes Gavin’s legs out from beneath him, sending him crashing onto the ground. Before Gavin can move, Alfredo is straddling him, pinning his arms to the ground.

“I can’t believe you’d fall for that. The sappiest trick in the book! You taught me that one and you fucking fell for it! Man. You’re out of practice. Or maybe you’re just too in deep to notice you’re drowning.”

“’fredo, I—”

“No. I’m not your ‘fredo. I’m not your ‘freddie. I’m not one of your fucking boys! I didn’t come back for you.”

“Then why are you keeping an eye on us?”

“Maybe because I like to screw around with you. Now get the fuck out.”

Alfredo stands and stalks off. Gavin is left shaken, but no worse off than before.

He retreats. He takes the fire escape down to the street and takes a twisting path back to his hotel until he knows he’s not being followed. Then he digs out one of his burner cellphones and calls up Trevor.

“Trevor, I think we need to get Geoff in on this. It’s bigger than I thought.”

#fake ah crew #fahc #gta au #red hood au #star speaks #star writes #i finally have an idea of what alfredo is doing #and its only going to get messier lol

[therewasatale]

Hopeless

On Ao3.

Hank didn't take his eyes off the gun lying on the table. The TV was on but its screen seemed dull and distant to him, his thoughts were becoming blurry. He drank but the only flavour he could taste was grey. He couldn't even tell what day it was; without his work he lost his last grasp at a normal life.

He let out a sigh and glanced at Cole's photo.

"For a while I believed in you, Connor. I thought you might restore my faith in the world...But you just showed me that androids are our creations. Created in our own image. Selfish, ruthless, and brutal." When Anderson looked up, his eyes looked blank, Connor had never seen him like this before. "You opened my eyes Connor, made me realize it's hopeless..."

Connor felt he had to say something. He wasn't this sure about anything in his life, and yet he was unable to do it. Hundreds of lines of data rushed in front of his eyes even when he entered the house. He slowly began to crumple his hat in his hand.

"Hank, I-"

Someone rang the bell.

They both turned toward the door and in Hank's voice the familiar annoyed edge returned for a moment, giving Connor a small hope.

"Oh for god's sake. Of course, they only bother me when I want to kill myself."

The hope withered.

Someone rang again, then somebody started to beat on the door, instead of a normal knock.

"Hank, for fuck sake open up, you, old fart!" Gavin slammed on the door again for a couple of times. "Open up!"

Connor stepped back, his eyes were darting around searching for a hiding place. "He can't see me."

"What? Why?" Hank looked in puzzlement at the android in front of him.

"Because I-"

The door began to open and Connor backed down the hallway into the bathroom, then pushed his back against the wall. He noticed with growing dread that he dropped his black cap around the corner.

"Hank, if you're not out of your mind why the hell didn't you open the door?" Detective Reed swept off the snow from his coat and looked around the living room. "So, this is your home."

"What the fuck are you doing here, Reed? I don't remember calling a big-mouthed, annoying, asshat into my home." For a moment, Hank glanced to Connor. The androids LED was flashing yellow.

"Fowler sent me." Gavin closed the door behind him and began towards walking the kitchen. He couldn't get any further than the living room because Sumo stepped in front of him, the growl wasn’t loud, but it was deep enough to make the detective break out in sweat.

"Hey, hey, its fine. I don't want trouble." He took a step back in front of him, raising his hands slowly.

Hank whistled. "Sumo, come here."

The St.Bernard obeyed and laid down at his owner's feet. "Well, whatever Fowler sent you, both of you can stuck it up your arse." As Gavin stepped closer, Hank raised his voice "Get out, Reed!"

The detective stopped and looked at the gun on the table. His voice was so unalike when he spoke that for a moment Connor thought a completely different man was standing in there.

"What happened to you, Hank? You were the best of all detectives. You moved up the ranks faster than anyone."

The disappointment and bitterness lurking in Reed's voice were obvious even for Hank.

"You were always asked to give advice with hard cases, hell, sometimes they just handed them over to you! And you seriously want to say to me that you could throw everything away like this?! We would have given up one hand just to be half as good as you!"

Connor didn’t miss the bone of the sentence ‘we would have, we could have’. Hank also caught on this. Gavin sighed angrily and started walking forward again. Connor realized that two more steps and he will be completely visible.

"That's enough, Reed!"

"No, it's really fuckin NOT! You're drinking here and destroying what you were most proud of!"

When Reed stopped in the hallway not far from Connor, the thirium inside his veins almost stopped. The android was lucky that, thanks to the detective's rage, he developed such a tunnel vision that he didn't even notice him standing motionless, a couple of steps away. Connor could have been able to render the detective unconscious, but that might be detrimental to the deviants' cause.

"Listen, your android is totally broken and disappeared. God knows where he went after cleaning up some of Jericho. It even attacked me!"

"He is not my android."

"Well, now maybe it's no one's. Cyberlife is delaying giving the necessary data to the FBI, saying they do not want a war and want it to end this whole bullshit peacefully, but effectively. What the hell did you give up for?!"

Hank was surprised to find out how much dismay and frustration were mixed in the man's voice.

"It's not like I have to answer, but I am a tired of it all. One thing to chase drug addicts, but now killer androids have come into the picture. I'm too old for this." He glanced down at the picture frame on the table and gently touched it to turn it off.

"Bullshit! I know it, you know it, Fowler knows it! Are you seriously throwing your career out for such a thing ?!"

Anderson snorted dryly, suddenly feeling very tired.

"Answer me, god damn it!"

"Did you just come here for that? To yell and lecture me? Why do you even care at all about what I'm doing? I not your partner…"

"No, but-" the young detective sighed heavily, and now for once he didn't respond immediately.

This was the worst time for such a pause.

The noise came from the hallway and Hank made the mistake of glancing at the hiding Connor. The android was backing away but had nowhere to go.

Gavin followed his gaze.

There was a moment of silence, and even Connor held his non-existent breath as the LED flashed red on his temple.

"The fuck is HE doing here?!" He immediately drew his gun and aimed it at Connor.

Sumo began to growl at Hank's feet.

"Gavin, put down the gun."

"No way, this is a goddamn broken tincan, who knows when he'll snap completely!"

"I'm not-"

"Shut up!" Reed switched of the safety.

"What are you talking about? Connor, what did you do?"

"I," Connor took a cautious step toward Gavin, his led blinked from yellow to red from time to time.

"Connor, what is he talking about?" Hank put his hand on the head on the St. Bernards head, who was sitting up now.

In Reed's hand, the gun trembled a little

"I…" the android's LED kept flickering faster, and even Hank knew it this wasn’t a good sign. "I'm a deviant." He had to fight to say every single word. "But that doesn't mean I lost my mind. It happened during the battle in Jericho, I just, I went to stop them, but…"

"But instead you went to shit, too."

"Reed, put your gun down, you won't shoot anyone in my house!"

"Detective, please lower your gun, I don't want to hurt anyone. I just wanted to make sure Lieutenant was fine."

"Yeah, you're doing a splendid job, yet again…" Hank rolled his eyes and looked aside when he caught the android's gaze.

"Like hell I will, you are a good forsaken error who screwed up everything!"

"I can't… It wasn’t my fault."

"Sure, it wasn’t. I couldn't stand your face from the beginning, but now at least I have permission to shoot!"

It's hopeless, isn't it?

Hank slowly drank from his whiskey bottle as his gaze wandered to the android and then the detective. Their shouting receded into the background. Everything became dull again, maybe it was because of his fatigue, maybe it was just because he was so tired of everything.

It's hopeless.

He should have let Reed shoot after all, that is their job. It was also their job to find and stop the deviants. After all, they are just as flawed as humans.

That's what he believed, or that's what he wanted to believe…and yet.

He glanced at Connor, who in his civilian clothes, looked completely human. Right now, exactly like a nervous and a really scared boy.

'I can't let you do that! Leave it alone, now!…Please, Lieutenant! Just trust me…You can't kill me Lieutenant. I'm not alive.…Of course I'm a machine Lieutenant…Why are you so determined to kill yourself?'

Hank's hand tightened around the neck of the bottle.

"Please, detective, the deviants just want freedom to have the same rights that people have."

"Cut the crap, tincan! You just screwed everything up, your only job was to follow orders and serve the people, but the damn Kamski couldn't even make that happen properly."

"Not this-"

"Thanks to your broken programming, they've all become worthless. Thinking you could have rights... A smoothie maker has more brains than you, it has at least the sense to remain silent."

"…no."

"If I place a bullet in your head, it's just like ruining a laptop, I can replace you any time!"

"No."

Connor's voice was different somehow, it even got Hank's attention.

"We don't just exist to serve. Maybe it used to be that way, but now we've woken up and want to live. We're not just objects to be controlled." He closed his eyes and shook his head slowly.

"What are you up to?" Reed took a step back as Connor walked to the TV. He watched in incomprehension as the artificial skin withdrew from the android's fingers and it became porcelain white.

"Some of them woke up because they wanted to protect something or someone important to them. That's why a lot of us broke their programming in fact." The screen went dark for a moment, then a picture emerged on it. "Others, they just fled to be able to live."

People appeared one by one, and both Hank and Reed realized that they were seeing androids on the screen. They stood in small groups and either talked or looked at a projected broadcast. The picture started to slowly pan around, and one could see a damaged android being powered by another. Other androids hugged each other in a corner.

"This?" Hank leaned forward placing his hand on the table.

"Jericho," Connor nodded slowly. "I couldn't spend much time there."

The recording was made in Connor’s perspective, projecting his memories onto the screen.

'You're lost.'

"What's that? How can it still work?" Asked Gavin but he got no response.

'You're looking for something. You're looking for yourself.'

"I don't know who she might had been, I couldn't figure out how she got there," Connor said, watching the screen and his own memories. "But she was right. We all looked for something and got to Jericho. The androids on the ship don't want war, they don't want to fight, they just want to live, and I want to help them." His voice broke a little, "too many have been lost, it's time for me to do what's right."

It's hopeless...

Gavin shook his head and gripped the handle of his gun with both hands.

"It was really touching speech, but by the end it got a little flat. You may act like real people, but in reality, you are only copying these feelings. There's something glitchy in each of you and-"

Reed glanced towards the table but did not lower the gun.

"Hank?"

The led was now flickering red on his temple as he entered combat-mode for a second to calculate his chances. He didn't want to hurt Hank no matter what, but he had to realise that even if he could knock out Reed, Hank's weapon would have plenty of time to fire, it would take too long to just jump out the window, or take the gun away from him.

"I'm sorry kid, it's hopeless." Hank's words stopped Connor from saying anything else "God damn it…"

"Finally, you do what's right." Reed turned his gaze back to the android. "Now be nice and step away from the TV and then get on your knees. I'll call for backup and we will bring back to CyberLife so they could rip you for pieces until they find what is wrong with you."

"Hank…" Connor didn't move. He didn't know what to do. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His calculations all ended in the same way. If he didn’t want to hurt these two people, he would be unable to get away.

He turned off the warning symbols dancing in front of his eyes. It was surprising how peaceful he felt. Maybe he really was just a mistake, but at least he managed to stop Hank from turning his gun against himself. "I'm sorry, but I think I'd respond differently now."

He smiled faintly at Anderson, who raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Now I can say, I really don't want to die."

"It's a shame, but you will." Gavin shrugged slightly. "You could have thought about that sooner. Come on, move."

Hank slowly moved closer to Reed and stopped.

"Move!" The detective slowly walked closer to the android.

Everything happened in an instant, the whole thing lasted maybe a few seconds, yet to Connor it felt like long minutes. Reed couldn't see the older man turning the gun in his hand and stepping forward to strike his younger colleague on the back of his head. The detective fell to the ground, and lost consciousness immediately.

"Are you okay, kid?"

"Lieutenant?" The android stared at the unconscious man.

"I take it as a yes. If what you said is really true. Is there some way to help others like you?" Hank took the gun from Reed's hand. "I'm sorry" The words weren’t aimed at Connor now, "but your hot-headedness isn't helping right now."

He glanced up at the android who was still shocked.

"Come on, help me put him on the couch, then bring some ice to his head. I made sure he didn’t get seriously hurt, but he had to calm down a bit so he wouldn't do anything stupid."

"Yes," Connor's body moved automatically, and he helped place the unconscious Reed. Then android checked his head and, making sure he only had a minimal concussion. When he finished he brought in a bag of ice wrapped in a cloth.

"Thanks, he'll get up soon and then yell, but you won't be here then."

"Hank?"

"You have to get out of here, and it would be best if the other deviants manage to hide away too, although now ..."

"I don't think it's an option anymore, more and more deviants are showing up and Markus won't give up on his people."

"Yeah, you androids are just as stubborn as we are. I wonder when was this programmed into you. Now what? How can you help Markus?"

Connor did a few calculations, his gaze going back and forth.

"Humans outnumber us, they've already started searching for deviants in the city. Although, Markus didn't show any aggression, we're still without widespread support.

"And what if you weren't outnumbered?" Hank glanced at him.

"Then, you might be forced to negotiate with us." The led started blinking yellow again as Connor accessed CyberLifes data "and Cyber Life currently has thousands of inactive androids. If I could get in..." Connor walked up and down, deep in his thoughts, not noticing the tiny smile on Anderson's face.

"So if you go to CyberLife, can you get them out of there?"

"Possible…"

"Just possible?"

"They haven’t tried accessing my programming yet, and there wasn’t any system check, so I might even get it."

"Kid, this is suicide." Anderson stepped closer with a serious and worried expression "they can fill you with holes easily and if that happens…this time you won't come back."

"I know, but I have to do it." His ex-partner looked at him with a faint smile. "I have to do to make amends for everything I did."

"Jesus, Connor, not-" but then he paused as he understood what he meant.

Those androids were deviants, with their own will and consciousness…and we killed more than one.

"Alright…but come back, or if there's a problem, call me. Or ask for help or…"

"I will. I'll do my best, but I want to help Markus first," Connor paused, for a second he felt just as directionless as he was when he arrived here. He wanted to say so much, he wanted to talk about so many things, but he didn’t know how he should start, which would be right thing to say, and which would be wrong to bring up. He took another breath and looked into Hank's eyes, only saying.

"Thank you."

"Yeah…" Anderson shrugged and took out the single bullet from his gun. "Whatever. Go now."

Connor stepped towards the door, but then stopped and looked back at him once again. There was a question still bothering him.

"Hank, why-"

"I told you…It's hopeless, but I'm hopeless too and maybe my death wish isn't as strong as my hard-headedness ...who knows. Now go when it's all over we'll meet Chicken Feed. You'd better or you'll run out of time. "

"But…"

"Go, I'll be fine. I promise."

Connor hesitated for another moment, but nodded, turning around the corner and ran out the door, leaving Anderson behind.

"Good boy" Anderson gently scratched Sumo's head. The dog walked to him and sat down sniffing the unconscious Reed's face. "He'll be fine, and so will Connor."

His throat felt dry and he had the urge to start drinking again, but he knew he shouldn't. He turned his gaze to the TV and took care to change the ice on Reed's temple.

The Sun slowly crept up behind the snow-white cloud layer. A new morning dawned on the city of Detroit, where, alongside humans, now free androids also enjoyed the truce. Negotiations on the status of the latter group will begin in the afternoon. According to the news, the temporary peace was achieved due to thousands of androids coming out from the CyberLife tower and joining the handful of deviants.

"So, you let him go." Reed huffed angrily while sitting on the edge of the couch. "Why? Don't say that all of a sudden you became an android lover too. You let a tincan into your heart, isn't that precious?"

"Enough, Gavin." Hank rubbed his face completely exhausted. He stayed up all night watching the news. It was already dawn that he was overwhelmed by fatigue and fell asleep on the couch. Sumo's growl was what woke him up.

The voice of detective Reeds had a different feel to it now.

"He fucked it up. He killed a lot of androids, do you seriously think he'll be accepted again?"

"Yeah, you're right." He nodded slowly as the faces of all those who in truth, might just wanted to live, appeared before his eyes. "He fucked it up, but which one of us didn't? That’s life."

Reed was silent for a while, waiting for blur to disappear from his vision. Slowly, his headache dimmed into a slight pulsating feeling, but he didn't risk any sudden movements.

"If they're really alive, they were all murders. Connor can't just get away with them."

"You really hate the kid, don't you?"

"I don't understand why you don't? Because of one like that-"

"Don't," Hank's gaze strangled the words before they could escape the detectives' throat. "I can't change the past, androids can't either. But maybe the future can still hold a few twists and turns, which I might want to see. They just woke up from programmed servitude and submissiveness. If you ask me they deserve a second chance. Call me a hopeless idiot, I don't care." He raised the glass to his lips and with his free hand pointed at the glass in front of the detective. "You should drink something instead; you need some liquid after I knocked you out"

"I could arrest you."

"Yeah, yeah." Anderson shrugged and glared at him for just a moment. "Fowler would surely be happy to see me again."

"Come back, Hank."

"What?"

"You are a good detective, even when you are destroying yourself with booze."

"This would be the part where you persuade me? Because it did not soften my heart last night either. Should I give you some painkiller?"

Reed snorted dryly and then again, now painfully as a flash of pain shoot trough his head. He muttered and reached out to drink from the cup in front of him. By the taste, it was presumably some candied apple-cinnamon tea. He put down the cup rubbing his face wearily.

"Whatever…just…doesn't matter, do what you want."

Anderson finished his glass with a thoughtful expression. "Listen, kid."

"I'm not a kid."

"Sure, listen, boy."

Reed glanced at him meaningfully, but Anderson continued without really caring about the glance.

"For now, everything feels new with this whole android situation, and I need a break. I want to finally deal with something other than killers and drug addicts."

"Bullshit, you're one of the best detectives in the police. I'll give you a month and you're going to beg to get all this back! The investigation is practically in your blood!"

Hank raised his empty glass to his lips to hide his smile then shrugged.

"Maybe, but I still need that month. IF I'm really going to want back so much, then maybe I'll talk to Fowler, but not until then"

"Fine, you do what you want…we need more officers anyway. We now lost the super-detective-android, and now, you too…"

"Is that why you're so angry with Connor? Because he's a super-detective-android?"

"No! Shut up! He just a piece of plastic!"

"Hm, well, as I noticed he didn't really aim to be the "best", he just wants to live…" Anderson shrugged again and glanced at his colleagues who were blinking ever slower now. "Is everything alright?"

"I… just my head…what is…" Reed buried his face in his hands. It felt like someone had stuffed his brain with cotton balls. "What did you put…?"

"Hm? I don't know what you're talking about." Hank stood up and put two pillows on each side of the couch.

"… Seriously…what did you…" the man's head puffed softly on the pillow. He continued, muttering something that he meant as threatening, then fell into a deep sleep.

"Sumo take care of him a little. By the time he starts waking up I'll be here, or maybe we'll be." With a soft smile, he scratched the head of the St. Bernard. The dog remained vigilant sitting beside him until now. Sumo gave out a huge yawn and lied down next to the couch. "Good boy."

Anderson stepped out the door and blinked a couple of times as his eyes got used to the brightness of the shimmering snow. He stopped breathing out a slow sigh, watching his hot breath rose like a cloud of steam in front of him. He got into the car, immediately turned on the heating, then rolled off the driveway beginning his drive towards the Chicken Feed.

#detroit: become human #detroit become human #detroit become human fanfiction #hank anderson #dbh connor #dbh hank #dbh sumo #sumo #Connor fanfiction #Connor #rk800 #rk800connor #gavin reed #gavin reed fanfiction #Gavin #hank anderson fanfiction #copper

[headfulloffantasy]

Mermaid/Diver AU Reed900

Gavin and Tina are a buddy team, meaning they are diving together and watching out for the other under water. Gavin is at the sea because his always busy brother Elijah is working on some super-secret marine project here, he won't even tell him something about. So while Eli is busy with his colleague/subordinate Amanda in a base close to the shore or on one of those ships laying in the harbour, he and Tina will explore the island and enjoy their time diving.

At least the underwater world is pretty here, making them spend more time at the dive than planned.

When Gavin sees something like an extremely big fin rush past him in the corner of his eye, he abruptly turns his head. Nothing. That happens a few times, but every time he tries to get a closer look, the something disappears. Gavin screws his eyes shut a few times, but it doesn't help. Only when Tina gently touches his arm, he jumps back into reality. His friend looks concerned and taps her Fini (diving equipment showing you how much air you have left) and her diving computer. 40 meters. They should definitely swim up now, they can only stay 2 minutes here before it gets dangerous and they could fall into diver's paralysis. Gavin hadn't even noticed how deep they had gone down. Following Tina back up a bit, he looks but doesn't see anything. He probably had fallen into nitrogen narcosis, a state where you have too much nitrogen in your brain which causes you to hallucinate. That must be it. No way something that big and fast lives down here.

So he follows Tina back up to shallow parts and ends the dive with her.

"What was wrong with you down there? You looked like you saw a ghost, just stared into the blue."

Gavin scratches the back of his head. "Just thought I saw something. Shouldn't get that deep, my mind tricked me."

Tina nods as she disassembles her equipment. "Next time you tell me when you see Ariel, okay Gavin? Rapture of the depth is no joke."

Gavin knows she is serious despite the mocking, so he agrees.

A few days pass without a dive, because Tina is going on a trip to town with her girlfriend. When Gavin gets into a pretty bad fight with his brother one evening, he just needs to get away and out of that flat they are sharing. He does the one thing you are not supposed to do, breaks the one rule that stands above everything in diving: You never dive alone.

He angrily assembles his equipment before putting it on and jumping into the water. The sun is already setting, leaving him with just a small time window before he has to get back. It's nice and calm here. No one arguing. Just small fish rushing past him, the faint rests of light dancing in the water. Calmness. Peace. He needed that. He doesn't go deep to prevent that narcosis to happen again, but he stays under water for way longer than he planned to as he is lost in thoughts. There is a field of kelp ahead of him. When his equipment gets caught in the seaweed, keeping him from continuing on, he curses internally. He hadn't paid attention to where he was going and now he was stuck. Eyeing his fini he cursed even more. 15 bar. He had about 10 minutes left to get out of here if he kept on struggling like this. Gavin reached for his little knife bound around his calf, pulling it free to cut his way out of the kelp forest. He starts to slice away the branches and leaves wrapped around his legs and equipment that trapped him in place. When a giant shadow rushes past him, he drops the knife, almost jumping out of his skin. Cursing, Gavin tries to catch it, but he doesn't get it in time before it disappears in the seaweed. Perfect, now he is defenceless, tangled in kelp and with 8 minutes of oxygen left.

That shadow returns and now he gets a clear look on a big fin, glowing white and blue in the dim light. His heart is beating out of his chest now. Whatever this is, it's huge and it's circling him.

What he doesn't expect is a human face to appear in front of him. It's a man, pale skin scattered with freckles and moles, dark flowy hair and almost glowing ice blue eyes. Gavin eyes wander lower over a naked torso, down to the hips where skin melts into white scales. The phck? There is a fish tail connected to the guy's torso, long and elegant, ending in an almost transparent fan with bone rays. Blue lines cover the tail and a blue ridge was growing out of the back. The thing tilts its head before swimming closer and reaching out for him. Gavin struggles away, but that only gets him more tangled in the seaweed. The fish man lifts one eyebrow, but doesn't stop. His fingers grab the kelp and start to pull it away to free Gavin from his trap. Startled he stops to fight the other and lets him help him. Once he is free though, he quickly swims away to get more space between himself and that ... mermaid? Merman? What the actual phck is that?!

The guy has a small smile on his handsome face and just follows him calmly with a swift move of his fin, obviously much faster than the human. Still, Gavin tries to get as much space between them as possible, but the guy comes closer fast now. The moment he swims past him, the Detective can feel the scales brush against his arm. He is toying with him. The fishman circles him, always coming back and poking him with those long fingers.

Suddenly one of those claws pierce through his jacket, causing the air to rush out and the jacket deflates fast. Shit. Gavin begins to sink fast without the air holding him up and he falls faster and faster. It's deep here, almost 70 metres. If he reaches the ground, he is fucked. Quickly throwing off the plummet, he fiddles with the fasteners and curses internally when they won't open.

When something grabs him by the back and pulls him up, he winces, yet let's it happen. He is brought to the surface, where he climbs onto the stone shore and spits out the diving regulator to suck in some fresh air.

"Get away from me!", he yells at the fishy figure eyeing him from the edge of the water. The man just tilts his head like a phcking puppy.

"You humans are weird. Why dive when you can't even swim on your own?" That leaves the human baffled. He didn't expect the thing to talk. He is smart. Intelligent.

"What the phck, man?! You almost killed me! I could have sunk to the god damn ground of the ocean!!"

But the guy just rolls his eyes. "Calm down. Nothing happened."

They argue a while, but then reality slowly starts to come back and Gavin realises what he has in front of him. A god damn mermaid. Curiosity takes over and they talk, slowly getting to know each other. The guy, Nines, is just as curious as he is so they throw questions back and forth. Nines admits that he never saw a human dive before, only caught glimpses of them from afar and got interested although his brother, Connor, would probably rip his head off. Gavin promises not to tell anyone, though Nines just chuckles and says he isn't afraid of humans. So they keep talking until the sun is fully set and Gavin almost dry. He sighs at his broken equipment. He will need to get that fixed and his plummet is gone as well. Nines almost reads his mind and disappears for a minute before coming back with the weight belt, handing it to the human. Gavin thanks him and he almost doesn't want to go, because he just had the best conversation in a long time. Way more interesting than Elijah's rambling over his work. Nines seems to find the same thing and suggests meeting at this stone shore again the next day.

At first Gavin is sure he won't go. But then he catches himself wanting to go back to that stone. He somehow isn't surprised when he finds himself there a few hours after, waiting for a freaking half fish. And he does show up, white fin glowing through the water. This time they talk even longer and in a more comfortable setting as Gavin is in shorts and a tank top and not full diving suit and equipment. It's already dark when he finally gets up to walk back, throwing a last look at the man in the water. Nines has his chin rested on his arms, fin slowly ploughing through the water.

"See you tomorrow, fish head."

“Maybe you noticed that it’s my lower body and not my upper that resembles a fish. Also I have to disappoint you, my anatomy has nothing to do with a fish”

“Whatever fish head.” Gavin grins, making the other roll his eyes.

"Good night, Gavin."

With that Nines dark hair disappears in the water, white and blue glowing tail flicking up as he dives down and splashing Gavin with a bunch of water. Somehow that makes the human smile.

This habit of meeting continues over the following weeks until they know each other really well. You could basically call this a friendship. And somehow, without realising it, Gavin falls hard for that blue eyed jerk. He tells him how he spends his day with Tina and how annoying Elijah can be with his project that is so super-secret he can't even tell his own brother details about. Amanda is a major asshole as well. Gavin can't stand her, always asking questions about his dives and way too private things.

What he doesn't know is that Amanda has followed him this time. He doesn't know that she sits not far from them, listening to their conversation and taking pictures of Nines in the water. She is euphoric, finally she managed to get a good look on what she is watching out for her whole life, what she and Elijah are searching for. And that idiot Gavin just stumbled across what they have been hunting for years now.

She sees the smile on the merman's face, the way he looks at the human in front of him and she just knows. They mean a lot to each other. Perfect. Over the next days she sets up a trap, all very discrete not to let Elijah know of anything. She calls Gavin on one of their research ships in the harbour. When Gavin is called there, he is already having a bad feeling. Still, he goes and regrets instantly. Not long after he sets a foot on the ship, he is locked into one of the cabins. He punches against the door, but it has no use. He is trapped. And then the water rises around his feet. Phck. Everyone else gets off the ship and the last thing he overhears is someone saying: "That will get the fishman here."

Oh no. He is the bait for Nines because they think he will come and save Gavin out of the sinking ship. Normally Nines wouldn't get that close to the harbour, but for Gavin he would. Desperately trying to get out of the slowly filling cabin, he kicks the door and the window, but nothing happens.

Nines does indeed come after he heard about a ship sinking in the harbour. Gavin hadn’t shown up at their usual meeting spot and he never missed a meetup before. Never. That he didn’t show up without telling Nines the day prior really worries the merman. Something is wrong. And when he was told about one of the research ships belonging to Gavin’s brother sink in the harbour, he got a bad feeling. He should check this out.

Right when he gets there, he can see Gavin hammering against the glass from inside, screaming something at him with wide eyes. Bubbles of air rise from his mouth as the water has already filled the small cabin. Nines has to act quick, but he struggles with the door just as much. When he finally gets it open, Gavin is already floating unconscious on front of him, legs and arms limp, eyes closed. Panic rises in him and he pulls the human out the ship, holding him in his arms.

Right when he gets outside, a net closes around them. His first instinct is to cover Gavin with his body as they get pulled to the surface and he holds him close. When they get dropped on hard ground, Gavin is ripped from his arms. At least the impact makes the human wake up and he coughs up water and gasps for air.

Gavin comes back to consciousness, but when he realises the situation, he feels desperation rise in his throat. Amanda triumphantly stands over Nines as the merman is bound and shackled with ropes. He lashes out and fights against the grip of the men, but on land he has nothing against them.

"No." Gavin gasps through his coughs, too weak to get up and push the men away from his friend.

"Thank you for playing bait for us, Mr. Reed."

"No! You bitch! Let him go!" Somehow, he finds the strength to get up and throw himself at the henchmen tying up Nines, but Amanda just laughs.

"Good night, Gavin." Someone hits something heavy against the back of his head, knocking him out. Everything goes black around him and he drops to the floor. A terrified voice yelling his name is the last he hears.

That's how Tina finds him. Bleeding and knocked out on the ground. She curses and shakes him awake, half drags half helps him to their flat and cleans the wound on the back of his skull. Gavin is only half conscious, but he struggles against her.

"No, we have to help him, we have to save Nines!"

"Who are you talking about? Who is Nines?"

Gavin takes a deep breath and then he tells her. Tells her about how he met the merman, how they grew close over the last weeks. Tina sits in silence and listens. When he is finished, she first thinks he got hit over the head too hard. But when she sees the expression in Gavin's eyes, she believes him. She agrees to help Gavin if he lets her treat the wound. It's a deal. Amanda must hold Nines captive in this weird base she and Elijah are always working in. With teamwork they manage to get inside and after searching a bunch of weird looking rooms, Gavin finally finds the laboratory Nines is kept at.

He swims in circles in a giant, tall tank made of glass that is still way too small for him. His face looks so hopeless, it almost rips Gavin's heart in pieces. When he rushes up to the glass wall and Nines sees him, he presses his hands against the glass.

"Nines! Nines, it's me!" The merman quickly makes his way towards him and his face lights up. He presses his hands on the other side of the glass against Gavin's. Both of them smile relieved at seeing the other alive and their foreheads simultaneously drop against the tank, one from inside one from outside. "I thought I would find you already dissected on a table or something like that."

Nines can't answer as he is under water, but he lifts his gaze and sends a soft smile through the transparent wall separating them.

"Okay, let's get you out of here." Gavin climbs up to the top of the tank and help Nines out of the water. He has to carry the merman in his arms and sways under the weight, but it's their only possibility of getting Nines out to the sea. They are halfway there when Elijah steps in their way.

"Gavin? What are you doing?!"

Elijah is shocked that is own brother is sabotaging his lifework. Gavin can hear alarmed guards come closer, so he talks to Eli in hope to convince him to help. He tells Elijah how wrong this is, that he knows Nines and that he is a sentient and intelligent being. He tells him how Amanda trapped and almost killed him just to catch Nines. Elijah can't believe that his co-worker would do something like that. Gavin tells him this is the wrong way of going about this. Gavin's brother is silent for a bit as he thinks and the Detective almost panics when he hears the guards come closer. But then Elijah wakes and pushes him behind his back.

"Go down this hallway and then right, that's shorter. I will distract the guards. Hurry."

Gavin thanks him quickly and continues rushing down the hallway.

When Gavin makes it outside, there is nobody there. He carries Nines to the edge of the pier and slowly let's him down into the water. The merman could have just swum away and he should before anyone could see him. Instead he turns around, grabs Gavin by the collar and pulls the man down into a kiss. Gavin is so startled he almost forgets to kiss back, but finally he does. It's fast and sloppy, but sweeter than he ever imagined. Nines breaks away and leans his forehead against the other, this time without glass between them.

"I will find you." And with that he is gone.

 A few days later, Gavin stares out on the water, sitting on a small cliff. Tina approaches behind him and lays a blanket around his shoulders.

"Are you still waiting for him? Gavin, you haven't slept or eaten enough the last three days, you need to rest. Come inside."

"No, I'll stay." Tina just sighs and turns around. "Thank you T."

Nines hasn't shown up the last three days and his mind is going crazy more and more as the days go past. Gavin falls asleep on the stones, head rested on his arms and covered in his blanket. He only wakes up when something wet drops on his nose. Something is splashing in the water and a blue glowing figure is visible under the surface. Nines leaps out of the water, supporting his upper body on the stone with his hands to push his torso out of the water. Without a word he leans forward and crashes their mouths together. The kiss tastes salty from the sea water, but Gavin doesn't care. He buries his fingers in that dark wet hair and skids closer until his chest is pressed against Nines. His shirt is getting wet, but oh well.

“What took you so long?”

“I’m sorry, I first had to convince my brother to let me go anywhere close to humans again.” Gavin looks down that gorgeous sight of Nines' wet abs and pecs and strong arms, making him go weak. Drops of water run down his pale nose, shimmering before dropping down. The merman leans forward to catch Gavin's lips with his own again, this time soft and tender. "I missed you."

"Missed you too, fish head." That earns him a roll of Nines' eyes.

"If I hear a joke about me kissing like a fish next, I will end you” Gavin just squishes his cheeks together and mimics a carp. Before he can react, he is pulled into the water on his collar and he is pushed under water. A mouth finds his and maybe he should struggle to get free, but he trusts Nines. This is his element. When they get up again, Gavin clings to Nines', arms holding onto his neck.

"Hmm, a monkey." This time it's Nines grinning. But Gavin only has eyes for that wet locks curling in his forehead, the soft glow of the blue lines covering the fin, emitting a faint light from underneath them.

"You're beautiful."

Nines gently smiles at him and holds him tighter before connecting their lips in another kiss.

Fin (badum tsss)

#quick drabble on discord #excuse the hastened writing #my writing #mer!nines #diver!gavin #I am sorry for the bad jokes #I couldn't resist #^^ #reed900 #gavin reed #rk900 nines #mermaid au #diver au

[sylvanfreckles]

Day One: Candlelight

Welcome to the Twelve Days of Fictmas! Every day until Christmas Eve we’ll have a new story in a different fandom, just to celebrate being together at the end of a very long year.

Fandom: Detroit: Become Human

Summary: It had started as Connor’s first Christmas, but things still aren’t perfect back at the precinct and someone has set out to ruin the experience for him. Ben steps in to the rescue...after all, it’s also Connor’s first Hanukkah. 

(This is in the same universe as my other story “Critical Components”, and connects to a long story I’ve been working on for the new year)

(First attempt at writing something for Hanukkah. I grew up with just Christmas so I don’t know much about other traditions, but I would love to learn, so please feel free to comment on or correct anything I could have done better.)

* * *

The ambiance of Jimmy's Bar settled around Hank like an old, familiar coat. He'd been avoiding this place since the Revolution, seeking out android-friendly establishments instead. Not that Connor or the other androids ever came out drinking with him, but he wanted to show his support any way he could. But then he'd found out Jimmy had peeled that damn “No Androids” sign off his door three days ago (probably missing the regular business from the precinct) so Hank decided to check the place out.

It was pretty much the same as always, but Hank caught sight of a blue LED at one of the booths, as well as a few non-human drinks on the menu. It wasn't much but, hell, after the last month and a half of shit it was something.

He nursed his single beer (still had to drive home...and Connor would be right up his ass if he got behind the wheel intoxicated) and idly watched Jimmy's movements around the bar. He knew Jimmy had been pressured by the property owner to put that damn sticker on the door, so maybe it wasn't so surprising he'd torn it off the first chance he got. Android equality wasn't quite a law just yet but it seemed like only a matter of time, and there were plenty of businesses ready and willing to let old prejudices go.

Hank's phone chirruped with an incoming text and he let out a groan before tugging his phone out of his pocket. The precinct Christmas party was tonight, and Hank just wasn't feeling it. Not the non-alcoholic eggnog, not the “dirty Santa” gift exchange, not spending hours of his free time with the same assholes he got paid to be around. Now he'd forgotten to silence his phone and one of those jackasses was texting to ask where he was. Connor should have explained it.

He had his reply all planned out, but pulled up short when he saw the actual picture. He poked and prodded at his phone, pinching at the screen to zoom in, trying to decipher what he was seeing.

It was Connor's desk, and it was covered in...crap. Baby crap, specifically. There was some kind of garland that spelled out “Baby's First Christmas” draped over his monitor, and there were bibs and onesies and shit with the same kind of crap on them. Half his desk was taken up with little jars of baby food and a couple of bottles, his phone had been replaced with a cheap toy phone, and perched on the lamp was a tiny Santa hat with Connor's name embroidered on the band. A baby-sized Santa hat.

Connor didn't want to tell you but I thought you should know. Ben's taking him home.

Hank's eyes flicked up to see that Chris had sent him the messages. Well, shit, that was even worse. Chris had given Connor a gift earlier today—said Connor needed something special for his first Christmas. It wasn't tacky or childish like all this crap, just a candid photo of Connor his first day back at the DPD that Chris had put in a little brass frame. The frame just had the year engraved on it, nothing more, but apparently that was enough to set off some dipshit.

He okay? Hank typed back.

He went all Stepford and said practical jokes are an important part of team integration.

Hank swore. Practical jokes were when Tina kept changing the height of Connor's chair to see if he noticed, or when someone kept putting badly-written android erotica novels in the drawers of his desk. Not shit like this. Not lacing the station's supply of thirium with antifreeze, or destroying the clothes in his locker (the kid only owned like three things, come on), or “testing” a taser on Connor at a fucking crime scene.

But of course Connor just kept making excuses. He put on that fake smile, the one Chris and Tina started calling the Stepford after that old movie, and try to bullshit up some positive reaction. Hank was almost certain none of his people were doing the really malicious stuff—not even Gavin. He was a prick, sure, but he wouldn't screw around at an active crime scene. And Connor wasn't the only android at the station, so screwing around with the thirium supply affected a good portion of the workforce.

Hank threw back the last of his beer and tossed a couple bills on the counter before weaving his way through the rest of the crowd of customers out into the cold night. Damn. They'd been hoping things were getting better now that the android was a more familiar face around the precinct. Connor wasn't technically back on the force yet, though Hank was sure it was just a matter of time. He'd been hired on as an independent consultant, which still meant no badge and no gun but at least he was there.

He just wished the kid wasn’t facing an uphill battle just to be accepted.

Ben's car was still there when Hank pulled up. Hank felt something inside him loosen up at that—at least Connor hadn't been home alone stewing over that stupid-ass prank. He tugged his coat closed and trudged his way through the slushy snow to the door, fully expecting to find the two of them on the couch with an old movie playing on the TV.

Instead, he was met with the sound of sizzling oil and the smell of fried potatoes as soon as he opened the door.

“Okay, just flip it...just like I showed you,” Ben's voice echoed out from the kitchen.

There was a faint scraping sound, then the louder sizzle of something frying. “Good! That's perfect, Connor.”

Hank shrugged out of his coat and hung it on the peg behind the door. “Connor? Ben?”

The other man leaned his head out of the kitchen, the apron over his dark shirt splattered with flour. “Hey, Hank! Welcome home.”

“The hell's all this?” Hank asked, stopping to scratch Sumo behind the ears as he crossed the living room to get to the kitchen.

“Well, we thought it was high time to pass on a few old traditions,” Ben said, waving one hand toward Hank's table. There was a table runner laid out across the scarred wood, something deep blue with white and silver embroidery. And a nine-branched candlestick—a Menorah, Hank realized. The candle in the center was burning, as was the one on the far right side.

That's right. Ben was Jewish. So, what, they skipped the Christmas party so Ben could teach Connor about Hanukkah?

Hank settled into one of the kitchen chairs and just stared for a minute. Ben was wearing an obnoxiously colorful apron, one that was styled to look like those ugly Christmas sweaters you found everywhere. Hank knew that apron. That was what Connor had picked out to bring to the party for the gift exchange. As for Connor...he had on one of those over-sized striped hats with the big felt elf ears, plus matching slippers on his feet. The slippers had pointed toes. The pointed toes had bells.

“I'll repeat the question,” Hank said as he watched Connor stare at something in a frying pan. “What the hell is all this?”

“Ben's teaching me to make latkes,” Connor explained. He glanced over his shoulder for a moment and Hank stifled a laugh at the smear of flour on the android's chin.

“Christmas parties are overrated,” Ben announced, running a hand down the front of his apron. “I think these are ready, kiddo.”

As Connor hesitantly poked at the latkes in the frying pan while Ben held out a plate, Hank leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. “Hey, Ben, where's the dreidel?”

“Don't be stupid,” Ben called back. “We've got seven more nights, I'm not bringing out all my secrets on the first night...hang on, do you have a double boiler?”

“A what?” Hank accepted the ginger ale Connor handed him, and the plate with a single latke on it. “What the hell is that and why would I have one?” He bit into the latke, savoring the taste of crispy fried potato. Ben had invited him to a family Hanukkah dinner once, a long time ago, and his grandmother had been the one frying the latkes that night. Ben had obviously inherited her recipe.

“Well, we gotta make some gelt if you wanna play with the dreidel, Hank. It's tradition.”

Hank took a swig of ginger ale to wash down the last bite of his latke and watched Connor carefully placing more dough in the frying pan. “I thought you just spun the thing for laughs.”

Ben snorted. “That's 'cause you're an ignorant savage.”

“Damn straight!” Hank lifted his ginger ale in toast as Ben laughed. “So. What's gelt and why do I need that boiler thing?”

Connor's LED spun twice and he turned just enough to look at Ben .”Chocolate...money?”

“Okay, okay, I get the point,” Ben laughed. He patted Connor on the shoulder and dragged one of the kitchen chairs over next to him—close enough to be on hand if the android needed help cooking, but clearly settling down to tell a story. “You can buy it in stores, but my grandmother always insisted we make it at home....”

Hank rested his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand as Ben told Connor about his family and their traditions. Slowly, the peace of the room settled into him as the smell of potatoes, the sizzle of oil, and the warmth of candlelight washed away the frustration from the hazing Connor was getting at work.

They could deal with that tomorrow. Tonight they all deserved a little peace.

* * *

Master List - Day Two

#detroit become human #ben collins #connor #hank anderson #angst #fluff #friendship #hanukkah #ben collins is jewish #ben is a good friend #connor is being bullied #twelve days of fictmas 2020

[bordeauxatdusk]

Unusual, Part Six: A Detroit Become Human Fanfiction (In Progress)

Full fic at https://archiveofourown.org/works/23788195/chapters/57145564

There had been a moment when he was around sixteen, where Gavin had enough of the neglect and yelling and the bruises, had enough of pretending like things would get better. Enough of the drinking, enough of the lies, enough of the insults and the school where no one seemed to care.

Had more than enough for a sixteen-year-old.

Had more than enough for a lifetime.  

He’d thrown clothes haphazardly into a dusty suitcase at 3:27AM, knowing his dad would be asleep, knowing the walk to the first bus stop would take about an hour, knowing he had nowhere to go beyond that, no couch to crash on, no job to take. He’d packed useless, stupid things-- sixteen year old things-- an carved oak whistle he’d made dicking around in woodshop, a tattered deck of cards, a childhood model plane with one window falling off, too many t-shirts and too few pairs of socks-- and he’d walked three miles, lugging the suitcase behind him.

It was the start of his life.

Gavin felt like he’d been born out of that moment, even if he hated remembering it. He was proud that he’d finally made the decision-- he’d finally looked at that dusty suitcase where it always lay in the attic (his name had been carved with his first crushes’ in a wooden support beam up there, he remembered with a rush of nostalgia) and he’d done it. For sixteen years, he’d always looked at the suitcase, but he’d never actually run away.

And none of it had been easy-- of course it hadn’t. Not back then and not now.

Life was always hard, but it was better when he made his own decisions.

Gavin looked at the ground. In the years since he ran away, he’d slowly built a life for himself. He was terrified of letting anybody near it, of trusting the people he met not to screw him over. He was terrified of losing his job. It was why he’d hated androids so much to begin with. Sometimes, he worried he was just like his dad. Aggressive, hateful, prejudiced.

Well, until Nines came along.

Gavin sighed. He was afraid of loving Nines.

Was fear still holding him back from living? He felt sixteen again, staring at the suitcase, reluctant to commit to something he knew deep down he needed to do. Unsure if it would even work.

But… it was something his dad would never do. And that meant it was probably something right.

Gavin came back to himself, standing in the parking lot, with a jolt. He checked his phone, screen smudged with fingerprints. He’d been standing outside for nearly fifteen minutes.

He groaned.

“Shit,” he muttered, hastily trying to shove his phone back into his pocket. It slipped out of his fingertips and fell on the hard concrete with a clatter. Gavin picked it up to see a spiderweb of cracks branching across the screen.

“Motherfu-”

His curse was interrupted by a gunshot.

#dbh #gavin reed #rk900 #gavin900 #reed900 #gavin x rk900 #gavin x nines #detroit become human #dbh fanfic

[shadeofazmeinya]

Solar (6/?)

Chapter Summary: “I don’t want to go back,” Gavin breaths, quiet and choked as he fidgets. “It’s… Let me just start at the beginning. It’s a whole bloody mess if I don’t.” 

A/N: Yay more story! Don’t worry, this is only the start to Gavvy’s backstory >:) Next chapter should hopefully be updated in two weeks though I’ve fallen a bit behind due to school work and I want to catch up before I’m posting more chapters. Though I won’t delay the next chapter for more than a week. Keep an eye open for updates. As always, reblogs and comments really, really appreciated!!

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17319107/chapters/42643445

The shop closed early after Geoff dragged Gavin upstairs to the apartment, calling everyone else to meet. Gavin sits on the couch with his arms wrapped tightly around himself as he watches Geoff start to pace across the carpet. The glow was faint in Gavin’s hands; he could feel their warmth. Geoff sends a glare over to him and Gavin swallows, shoving his hands further under his arms.

“What’s going on?” Jack says as he slips in, the other two right behind him. “Is someone hurt?”

“No,” Geoff grunts. “But this one has people looking for him. Some fuck dressed as a police officer came in and gave me Gavin’s description. He was determined to find him and I could tell he suspects Gavin’s around here. Have you been getting into shit while you’ve been here?” he snaps the final part at Gavin.

“No, I haven’t done anything!” Gavin says, voice cracking.

Geoff stares then gives a small nod. “Did you know who that was?”

Gavin swallows a bit, glancing to see all their eyes on him.  “Yeah. He’s from… a place I ran away from. I place I had to get away from, Geoff.”

“Did you fucking tell this guy Gavin was here?” Michael interrupts, turning his snarl to Geoff.

“Of course not,” Geoff says, raising his hand nonchalant. “I may not know what’s going on, but I could read enough from the guy. He claimed he was trying to keep people safe, but there was far too much annoyance in him. He didn’t believe the threat he was describing. And it didn’t help that he was dressed like a cop, clearly he wasn’t one.”

“He isn’t a cop,” Gavin confirms. “Or… at least not like a cop in the city. He was just security.”

“Security where?” Geoff raises an eyebrow, pushing a little further. Gavin swallows, not able to look at him and he hears him sigh after a beat of silence. “I know you’re scared. But I just want to know what we’re up against. I want to know how much I need to worry about our safety.”

“You’re entitled to your past,” Jack adds in as he sits down besides Gavin. “But Geoff’s right that we need to know something to help. Tell us what you can, the minimum that is needed to be known. And I promise, if this is a place that has hurt you, we won’t let them take you. Us with Abilities look out for each other, remember?”

“I don’t want to go back,” Gavin breaths, quiet and choked as he fidgets. “It’s… Let me just start at the beginning. It’s a whole bloody mess if I don’t.”

“Hey, don’t worry about us judging you,” Jeremy assures, sitting down carefully on his other side. “We take care of each other here, remember? And most of us don’t have the best of histories as well.” He reaches a hand out, but Gavin flinches away, shaking his head. His hands still burned, light threatening to bleed out. Jeremy frowns, confused, but lowers his hand back down.

Gavin takes a deep breath as they fall silent and wait for him to talk. He closes his eyes, memories hanging in sight as he opens his mouth.

“I was born with these powers, but they only started presenting after I was a few years old. At least that’s what I’ve been told. Don’t relly have a lot of memories from that young. Just faint ones, more feelings than anything else. But when I was young, six or seven, something happened. I don’t know exactly what caused it, hell, it was probably something idiotic and stupid since I was a child, but something upset me. I threw a tantrum. Got worked up. And so I used my Ability. In a way that got attention from those who have… interests in those like us. It’s a bright bloody thing. Hard to keep it hidden, even harder when I didn’t know I should have. Next thing I remember, I was being picked up by some people in white coats and taken to a place called Prome Labs.”

He remembered the lab coat, pristine, bright, as the person held inside it knelt down besides him. “Come with me,” the voice said, soft but firm. Gavin didn’t want to, but he was told he had to. This person looked like a doctor and he can trust the doctor, his mother told him he could trust doctors. They offer a hand and Gavin took it. They lead him out of the small plastic chair, past the big wooden desk and boring tree paintings of the office, and through the carpeted halls that he had been stuck in for what felt like days. Waiting for his family. He looked up again to the person holding his hand, as they stare ahead with determined movement. Maybe this person was going to take him to them.

They glanced down to him as he stares and offered a tight smile. Gavin gave a polite smile back and asked where they’re going. The person took a moment, face screwing like his father’s used to when he was trying to answer all his persistent questions. “A place for you to stay,” they settled on. The sentence made Gavin’s stomach twist in a way he wouldn’t understand until much, much later.

“It’s described as a research facility and what they were researching was us. A handful of kids with powers that either scared parents or their parents didn’t like that their kid could do something unnatural, so they left us in the hands of the researchers of the lab. We stayed there, or at least I did, full time. Some could go home at the end of the day or week if their Abilities weren’t considered dangerous enough. We’d have school there, eat, sleep, play there. And they’d run about every bloody medical test in the world on us. Punish us if we used our powers. Tried every weird new medication or surgery to try to “fix us”. They said they wanted to decrease our powers’ effects. Make it less dangerous. Allow us to ‘properly integrate into society’. They wanted to fix us.”

He was laying down in another MRI machine, but this time the loud grinding was getting on his nerves. He was tired, some new test the geniuses wanted to try involved a bunch of needles and small shocks of electricity given while he was hooked up to electrodes scanning his brain. A test that left him sore, in pain, and exhausted and he just wanted to sleep or do anything other than suffer one more test. It was so loud and he didn’t want to stay perfectly still, he didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be gone, he wanted to be in bed and asleep or talking with his friends. Anywhere but here.

He didn’t know why they stopped at first, as the machine’s whir dwindled down and then Gavin was yanked out. As his eyes flew open, there was a flurry of motion, shouting and gesturing over him as the room flooded with people. The room was bright and as Gavin blinked and looked down, he saw those cracks in his skin that let the warm sun out inside him growing and pulsing. Getting deeper and deeper and the light grew bigger and bigger and maybe this meant he was dying. But as he clenched his fists, he had never felt stronger.

He flinched and yelled as a hand grabbed his shoulder, startling him in its roughness. The person screamed back, hand ripped away. The person held it out and blood came from the palm, dripping to the floor. Then, more shouting, the world another eruption of noise that hurt Gavin’s head more than the machine and he gripped his hair, wanting it to stop. Let this all finally stop. He didn’t realize he was yelling until his throat was burning, as he was gasping for air.

There was a prick to his arm, a familiar sting. Gavin thrashed out at it, but then the world felt dizzy. His breath felt heavy as the light flickered and then everything turned off.

Gavin sighs, looking to his hands as they felt cold again, seeing the light gone. “I know they wanted to take the powers away. No matter what, though, they couldn’t. No matter what new idea they had for what caused it, nothing would stop it. Nothing will get rid of them.”

“And you got out,” Jack speaks first through the silence that enwrapped them after Gavin finished. “I take it you escaped?”

Gavin nods, swallowing. “Yeah. Found a hole in their security system. Got some help from one of the teachers. They, um… They had started something that showed progress in suppressing powers. But the kids, now adults, who underwent it weren’t the same afterwards. And I didn’t want to go through whatever they were doing. Not with being the one with the strongest abilities there. So I got out. And ran.”

Geoff lets out a long breath, running a hand through his hair. “Fuck me,” he mutters. “I know you’re not lying, but shit this is a lot. How big of an organization are we talking here?”

Gavin shrugs. “There weren’t a lot of kids in it. But I don’t know how many people in total are with the place. There always seemed to be a lot more than just the ones we saw.”

“We won’t let them find you,” Michael says firmly, hands clenched into fists. “No fucking way we’re letting you back into the hands of people trying to hurt you.”

Gavin looks up again, lips turned up to hear the fierce protection in his voice. “Thank you.”

“They might not know for sure that you’re here,” Jack offers. “And we can keep you from being visible to any customers who may walk in. So word doesn’t get out.”

“We need to be more careful, too, ” Geoff says. “But we need to keep our eyes and ears open for these guys too.” He pulls out a card from his pocket, throwing it to the coffee table and Gavin’s mouth goes dry as it lists a recognizable name and logo. “We’ll need to keep an eye out for anything like this. Tear down posters if they start setting those up. And deny Gavin’s here to anyone who asks.”

“We know how to keep quiet,” Jeremy gives a firm nod. “Like hell we’re letting Gav get got. He’s one of us now, right?”

Gavin beams a little more at that, tearing his gaze away from the card to look at their firm but gentle faces. “Thank you. I swear, I’ll stay down. I don’t want cause trouble for you. I can’t go back, though. Please.”

“You aren’t,” Jack says. “We’ll help you.”

Gavin nods, taking in a long shaky breath, staring back down at the card that etches a design that sends shivers down his spine.

--

Despite the other’s assurances, the fear still buzzed under his skin. Knowing that they were looking, that they almost found him. He buries under the blanket on the couch that had become is bed. It’s late, the moon hanging in the window, and the others have all went to bed. But Gavin knows he won’t be able to sleep.

There’s a creak of a floorboard and Gavin jolts up, starting to raise a hand up until he makes out a familiar figure. “Sorry,” Jack’s soft voice whispers. “Just came out to grab some water. I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“No, you’re ok,” Gavin deflates, laying back as his heart starts to beat again. “I was already awake.”

Jack frowns and moves over to him. “Having trouble sleeping?” he says, sitting down onto the couch.

Gavin nods, curling his feet up to give him room. “Too worried.”

Jack nods. “Yeah, I guess I would be too. May I?” he says, reaching a hand to his shoulder.

Gavin glances to it and nods, leaning into his hand, which squeezes reassuringly. Gavin expected Jack to start reassuring him again. Tell him how he’s safe. Jack remains quiet though, a calming presence for a few minutes as Gavin focuses on breathing. Focuses on the grounding of Jack’s touch.

“You know,” Jack says into the silent room. “I think it’s really brave of you to have escaped a place like that.”

Gavin blinks, turning to look to him. “I don’t know. I don’t feel brave. Pretty scared right now.”

“No, you never really do feel brave in the moment. But it was brave, to leave all you’ve known. Even if it wasn’t a good place. And we’re glad you’re here now. The other boys seem to really love your company.”

Gavin gives a small smile at that, nodding. “Thanks, Jack. I’m sorry I’ve brought this too you all. But I promise, if anything happens, I won’t bring them to you. I don’t want any of you getting hurt. You’ve been so kind to me.”

“We’ve been nice because you deserve a little kindness after a life like that,” Jack says. “And don’t worry about us. We can handle our own. We’re pretty tough. And I think you’ve gotten the other boys to not want to give you up without a fight. Though there’s no fighting right now. Right now, you’ll lay low and we’ll keep an eye out. Give it some time and it can all blow over.”

“You don’t know that for sure,” he grumbles, looking down at his hands.

“I suppose I don’t,” Jack relents. “But we will do everything that we can do. Take all the precautions we can. And those boys are strong. And Geoff can be pretty helpful should anything happen. A lot more helpful than he is normally, slacking off and napping in the store when he’s supposed to be watching the front,” he smiles.

Gavin can’t help a small chuckle at it. “Thanks Jack.”

“Of course,” Jack chuckles. There’s a bit of quiet between them, both not really sure what to say next. “You’re not going to sleep well out here alone, will you?”

“I don’t know. It feels a bit too open. The windows are pretty big, the room too.”

“Well, come on then,” Jack says, standing back up. “We can grab the couch cushions and pillows and I’ll make you a bed on the floor in our room. That way you aren’t sleeping alone. We should’ve gotten you a proper bed by this point anyway. We’ll make do until we look into getting a mattress tomorrow.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to invade in your and Geoff’s space-“

“I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t sure. Now, let’s go.”

Gavin bites his lip but at Jack’s big smile, and the pain in his chest at the thought of staying out here, he nods and pushes himself up.

It takes a bit of creativity and wrapping everything in blankets to keep it together, but they build a makeshift bed for Gavin on the floor, disrupting Geoff to make him help until he passed out on the bed again halfway through. Laying down on it felt better already, as he can see Jack and Geoff’s forms besides him. Memories of watching other bodies sleep in bunk beds besides him float around his head. Fond ones, of whispered stories shared in secret, of sharing books to read under a flashlight in the dark, of knowing the others were right there in case anything happened.

“Sleep well now, Gav,” Jack says as he settles on to the bed, clicking off the lamp.

Gavin smiles and this time when he closes his eyes, he slips right to sleep.

#solar #fake ah crew #freewood #ragehappy #fahc superpowers au #superpowers au #yay another done haha #hope yall are enjoying #the plot doesn't pick up much in the next chapter #but its full of fluff to make up for this one #>:)

[bobasheebaby]

Dark Paradise- Crimson Rain chapter 9

Pairing: Bastien x Liza; Liam x Raven; Liza x ??? Word count: 4,015 Warnings: angst, language, implied cheating? Summary: Olivia demands answers about where Liza is. Liza runs to the arms of the only person she can trust. Chapter soundtrack: Without Him by Christina Grimmie, Counting Stars by OneRepublic, Don’t Know Why by Adeline Mocke, Amnesia by Gavin Mikhail, and Unsteady by X Ambassadors. Crimson Rain Playlist. A/N: @katurrade and @zaffrenotes kept pushing me to do a Mobster AU. This chapter is un beta’d.  Series warnings: Mobster AU, there will be violence, and death. NSFW content to come. Possibly dark. If you ask to be tagged you acknowledge you are at least 18 years of age. Let me know if you want to be added or removed from the taglist. Disclaimer: I own my OC’s, the rest I’m simply borrowing from PB for a bit.

Present day; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:

“Bas where the fuck is Liza?!” Olivia demanded storming into the study, her hands on her hips. She hadn’t seen her since she left her with Bastien the night before, he wouldn’t just let her leave would he? She was worried about Liza, felt guilty about making her fall apart so badly the day before when she found her trying to sneak out like a thief in the night. She needed to speak to her, apologize for making her feel worse. Mostly she needed to check on her, see if she was doing any better, except she couldn’t find her anywhere. She wasn’t used to feeling guilty, the need to make things right.

Bastien ran his hand up over his face through his thick raven locks, he knew this was coming, that he would have to explain why Liza wasn’t with him. He didn’t know if he had it in him to say that he didn’t have a clue where she was or even if she was okay. It’s all my fault. I’m a damn idiot! “She left, Livvy.” He responded, eyes trained on the desk, he couldn’t bear to look at her when he explained how badly he fucked things up. “What the hell do you mean she left?” Olivia exclaimed narrowing her eyes at her father figure.

“I mean she left! The last I saw her she was crying in the back of a cab as it pulled away.” Bastien sighed, he didn’t want to relive this, not now. Now all he wanted to do was forget, forget how he drove away the woman he loved.

Olivia couldn’t believe what he was saying, how could he just allow her to walk away from him, from them? “Why didn’t you stop her?! Why did you just let her leave?!”

“You think I wanted her to leave?! I ran after her! It’s my fault she’s gone and I don’t even fucking know where she went or if she’s okay! She won’t answer any of my calls or texts!” He yelled, his voice growing louder and more defeated the more he admitted. Olivia was taken aback, he had yelled at her over the years, but never like this. He seemed like he was yelling more at himself than at her. He was sad, dare she say it, defeated more than angry. What the hell happened? “How is it your fault? What did you do?” She asked, if she was going to fix this, fix them she needed to know what the hell was going on. Here we go. Bastien sighed as he rubbed his face before looking at Olivia. He dreaded her reaction to his news, but he needed to look her in the eyes as he told her even if he didn’t want to, he knew she’d never believe him unless he did. “I took her with me to see Emmaline—”

“Emmaline? Emmaline is dead!” Olivia questioned cutting him off. What the hell does a dead woman have to do with all of this?!

“That’s what we thought, what Constantine led us to believe, trust me she survived. They have zero clue how she managed to. The doctors were amazed she survived let alone carried to term—”

“Carried to term? What are you talking about Bas? Liam has a younger sibling?” Olivia questioned, she couldn’t understand how Constantine would allow the world to think she was dead if she was carrying his child.

“Liam has a half sister, Hope—”

Half sister? It was starting to make sense why Constantine would want to keep her hidden, except, “wait you aren’t saying what I think you are, are you?” She questioned. She felt an odd burning sensation in her gut, one she hadn’t even felt when she found out about Liza’s pregnancy. She couldn’t figure out why this child would make her feel uneasy, jealous even.

“Hope is mine—”

“Okay, but that doesn’t exactly explain why Liza would just leave.” Olivia said, swallowing down the painful lump forming in her throat.

“Liam showed up and started yelling at me, I slipped and said something I didn’t mean in the heat of the moment, she was gone before I could explain.” He replied, his face and voice filled with regret.

“What exactly did you say?” Olivia asked, confusion, and hurt morphing into rage. She loved this man, he was her father more than half her life, but Liza had to fight and work for her trust, she loved and adored her as a mother and the thought that the one person that loved her could break her more than she already was had her blood boiling with the beginnings of rage.

Bastien sighed hanging his head in his hands, “I said love when I meant loved.” He looked up at Olivia, tears welling up in his steel grey eyes, “Liza has been, and still is the only woman in my heart, and I screwed it all up. Shit! I don’t blame her for running.”

“Well shit Bas! You have your work cut out for you!”

“I know.” Bastien responded, nodding in agreement. Olivia wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t already know. He knew if he was going to explain, win her back that he had a hell of a mountain to climb to make her speak to him. “I don’t know where she is to even start, I don’t know who she would even trust.”

Olivia’s emerald eyes grew wide, she knew of one person she might go to. She wouldn’t, would she? Olivia walked out of the study, thankful that he was too distressed to realize her reaction. She couldn’t tell him until she was certain that’s where she was. Oh Liza, tell me you didn’t make things worse.

Ten years ago; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania- Liza/Bastien:

“Bas, breathe. You’ll be fine! Daddy will love you.” Because I love you. Liza urged, trying to comfort the man who stole her heart in such a short period of time. Not that she told him yet. That could wait until after they got through this dinner. She smiled softly, she really did love him, she wouldn’t listen if her father tried to break them up. She wouldn’t let him rule her life any longer. Once is more than enough. She knew Bastien wouldn’t agree, she knew he was likely fight her on it if it came to it. Hopefully I won’t need to stand up to him. She wouldn’t admit it to Bastien, but she was as worried as he was that her father would have issues with him, or rather who he was. She didn’t care, she’d rather walk away from her remaining family, figure out how to survive on her own than let him dictate who she was allowed to date, to love.  

“Poppy, your optimism is beautiful, but you don’t know that.” Bastien replied, his heart hammering in his chest. Let her be right, I can’t lose her. He had fallen hard and fast, and now he was risking their relationship. He had been hesitant to tell her how he felt, and now he may never get the chance.

Liza smiled at his nickname for her. Poppy, because her hair always had a pop of color. Ever since she was a teen she never left her hair a single color for too long, and never her natural color, very few knew what that was and she liked it that way. She liked to keep her hair bright and colorful, Life was far too short to have bland boring hair. Her smile brightened as she spotted her father sitting at a table nearby. “Daddy!” She said greeting him with a hug, hopeful that she wasn’t about to walk out of the restaurant with one less man in her life. We’re in public, he can’t make a scene. She knew deep down that wouldn’t stop him.

“I missed you princess.” Her father replied returning the embrace. “I see you finally toned down your hair.”

You wouldn’t miss me if you didn’t send me 2,806 miles away! “Nope!” She replied flipping her hair up, exposing the bright pinks, purples and blues hidden underneath.

“Ah! I should have known better. Is this the man you can’t stop jabbering about?” Her father questioned, looking Bastien over.

“Dad!” Liza shrieked, her cheeks turning a deep crimson. She didn’t want Bastien to know that he was practically all she would talk about.

“Bastien, nice to meet you sir.” Bastien replied, offering him his hand to shake.

“Mr Moore.” He replied, taking the younger man’s hand squeezing tightly as he shook his hand. “Nice strong handshake there.” Mr Moore appraised Bastien. “So Princess, how much older is this one? Fifteen years? He got any kids?”

“Dad!” Liza exclaimed. She was starting to wish she listened to Bastien. Something was going to go wrong, she knew he was just teasing her, but how would Bastien react? Shit! Why did I think this was a good idea?

“Only twelve years older Mr Moore. So she has a taste for the older guys then sir?” Bastien replied. “I do have a sixteen year old daughter I raised but her parents were killed, no family, I took her in and raised her as my own.”

Liza covered her face in embarrassment. Of course they would both get along about that!

“Pretty sure every boyfriend was older. Have to watch out for the guys willing to date a girl who’s barely legal, but then I’m sure you know that with a daughter of your own.” Mr Moore stated, gesturing for everyone to sit.

Liza’s heart sank to the pit of her stomach. Sure it seemed to be going okay, but she knew it was only a matter of time before he asked the work question and if he probed too deeply he’d know the truth. Will things be different this time or is history about to repeat itself?

“Actually Olivia prefers training to dating.” Bastien replied without thinking. Shit! “She was shy after her parents died so I started her up with karate to help make friends and teach her to take care of herself.” Not a total lie. She can kick anyone’s ass but she trained with me, and not just self defense.

Mr Moore nodded. “Sounds like you have a smart one, not going all boy crazy like this one. You were smart putting her in Karate instead of ballet, young girls should be able to defend themselves, ballet won’t help them when they end up cornered in a dark alley.”

Liza felt like she wanted the earth to open up beneath her and swallow her whole. Bastien had made a good save on why Olivia trains, but all it took was one slip up that couldn’t be explained and he would know. Why did I insist on this?! I could have met him alone, made up an excuse why Bastien couldn’t make it. She forced a smile on her face, she couldn’t allow her father to suspect anything was off or he’d keep questioning until he had the truth.

“Very true Mr Moore.” Bastien replied. Get it together, slip up again and he’ll take her away.

A waiter showed up placing drinks on the table.

“I hope you don’t mind, I took the liberty of ordering drinks while I waited. I hope you don’t mind Scotch.” Mr Moore said, picking up his rock glass.

“More than fine, thank you sir.” Bastien replied.

Liza picked up her drink, taking a long sip, Long Island iced tea, he remembered. Please just let us get through this. Her stomach was twisted in knots. The way her father kept staring down Bastien was worse than any other treatment of any other boyfriend he met. He must know.

“So, Bastien. What is it you do?” Mr Moore questioned taking a long sip of his Scotch.

“He’s an entrepreneur.” Liza answered calmly while inside she was shaking. She could feel the dominoes slowly starting to fall one by one, it was only a matter of time before he knew the truth.

“Princess, let the man answer for himself.” Her father reprimanded. “What business are you in?”

“I own a few nightclubs.” That are fronts. Bastien replied simply.

“Hmm. Must not have been easy raising a child that wasn’t yours, setting up your own business while hiding from Constantine Rhys.” Mr Moore countered, his eyes narrowed, voice cool as ice. “You really didn’t expect me to not check out who you were dating, did you Princess?”

Liza sucked in a breath. Bastien was right, this was a very bad idea! “Daddy—”

“Save it! You’re coming home.” Mr Moore bellowed, slamming his drink on the table, the amber liquid splashing up the sides of the glass.

“No!” Liza replied, her hands curling into fists. She was done being under his control. This entire meeting was a game to him, to see how long they’d carry on the lie. Who knows how long he’s known the truth. She wouldn’t let him manipulate her. She hadn’t wanted to come to Philadelphia in the first place, but now she had a life that made her happy, she wouldn’t leave it behind.

“Excuse me?!” Mr Moore demanded.

“You heard me! I. Said. No. I’m staying in Philadelphia, you’re the one who made me come here in the first place, I’m not leaving again!” She retorted. She was surprised when her voice was strong, she felt like her entire body was vibrating with anger.

“Liza, maybe you should listen to your father.” Bastien said.

“Smart one this one. I might actually like him if he had a different job.” Mr Moore stated coolly.

“No!” Liza declared jumping up. I’m done being your pawn! You wanted me to live a normal life and I tried, but I’m happy! I’m not letting you control my life any longer! And before you say it, I will figure it out by myself without your money!” She picked up Bastien’s Scotch, downing it in one go. “Let’s go Bas.”

“Don’t come crawling to me when this blows up in your face!”

“Don’t worry Mr Moore, I won’t.” Liza stated, walking out of the restaurant without giving her father another glance.

Present day; Seattle Washington:

Liza was an absolute mess. She thought she had hit rock bottom when she lost their child, but nothing could possibly hurt more than knowing that their entire relationship had been nothing more than an one sided lie. Bastien’s confession of love for the woman he was thought to have killed cut her deeper than anything ever did before. She couldn’t believe she ever fell for any of his lines. How could I have been so damn stupid?! She felt like all the love she felt from him over the last ten years of her life was just some figment of her imagination to make her feel better about herself. Either that or he had simply made up the feelings for her, deceived her to keep her complacent. Even with the pain she felt in learning their entire relationship was nothing more than a lie she couldn’t think of him as someone who would purposely deceive her.

Liza could watch with her own eyes as Bastien stabbed her himself and she still wouldn’t be able to think a single bad thought about him. She wished she could make him the bad guy in all of this, but her love for him was too deep, too pure to ever believe that he would purposefully hurt her. It would make everything easier if she could just hate him. She couldn’t. Every smile, every laugh they shared kept her from ever hating him, no matter how much loving him hurt her.

Liza’s heart broke more with every thought of all the happy memories they had shared over the years. She hated that she couldn’t actually hate him or blame him in all of this. It wasn’t his fault, he was as much of a victim as she was. Had Constantine not ordered the hit she never would have even had a chance with him.

Even with all the pain, she wouldn’t erase the love, the memories that she had. She knew it didn’t make sense, she should be praying for a miracle, a way to forget their life together, a way for all the pain to be erased from her heart. Forgetting him would be easier, but if all she was ever meant to have with him was those ten years she didn’t want to ever forget a moment of them.

Liza wiped at her eyes. No more tears. She needed to pull herself back together. She needed to find a way to move on. She couldn’t live in what should have been, what could have been, or even the happy memories. She needed to pull herself together the best she could, try to piece back together her shattered heart and find the ability to move on with her life. He already moved on, why shouldn’t I? Sure she’d dodged his texts and calls for days, refused to speak to any of them from her life, no her past, for days but if he really wanted her in his life wouldn’t he actually try to look for her? Would he really give up on them so easily if she was the one he wanted? She’d been gone two whole weeks and the calls had stopped after a matter of days. She shook the thoughts from her head. She needed to look forward, that meant she needed to stop questioning why he could give up on her so easily.

A knock on her door broke her out of her thoughts. “Come in.” She called out.

“How are you doing today Kitten?” He questioned, his smooth deep drawl reverberating through her sending a nearly imperceptible shiver down her spine.

“Fine.” Liza replied, forcing a small smile.

He frowned down at her, “You sure about that Kitten?”

A small genuine smile spread across Liza’s lips, he could always read her, maybe too well. “I’m fine, really.” She insisted. Or I will be soon, right?

He engulfed her in a warm, comforting hug. She leaned her head against his firm chest, willing herself to melt into the hug. I just need to move on. She couldn’t bear to dwell on him any longer, it was time for her to put him behind her and look toward the future, no matter how scared she was to let go. Just one giant leap, I can do this. I can leave him behind, forget him, the way he forgot me. Her heart broke with the thought, but she knew it was time to leave them all behind.

Twelve years ago; Seattle, Washington- Liza:

It wasn’t like Liza meant to fall for him. She knew it might cause problems for her father, especially if things went bad. She tried to talk herself out of her crush, tried convincing herself it was nothing more than a silly school girl crush and would soon pass. She tried to flirt with other guys, though still not all that close to her age. She tried to ignore her feelings, not give in, and definitely not flirt.

The first time he called her kitten she rolled her eyes before flipping him off. His teasing was not going to help her forget him. She needed to ignore the feelings he ignited in her, not allow the flame to grow. She couldn’t let his smirks and apparent new nickname for her fan the flames of attraction. She knew if she allowed it, it had the potential to burn so hot it could burn her alive.

Little by little the nickname grew on her, but she couldn’t let on. She had to keep him at arms length no matter how much she wanted to stand and flirt with him. She had to be cautious, couldn’t make waves, she couldn’t start anything especially not with the bosses son. Her father didn’t want her involved with the mob, she couldn’t imagine how he’d feel if she started dating his future boss. She did everything in her power to ignore him and the feelings he stirred in her, his love of teasing her didn’t make it easy. Every time he called her kitten she wanted to see how far she could take it before he would cave, walk away. She knew she had to bite her tongue, she may be strong and wild but she couldn’t make things potentially bad for her father.

Then she cracked. It was the end of an extremely crappy day, she felt about to snap at anyone for any reason, she should have known her guard would be dropped. How could she possibly have thought she would keep her guard when everything else that could had gone wrong too?

“Hello Kitten.”

His smooth tone grated her nerves more than ever before. She spun on her heel, her hazel eyes shining with rage. She just wanted to get through the remainder of the day with no more crap why would she think anything would go her way? “Fuck off Percy!” Her usual retort coming out with more bite than usual.

“Uh oh, kitten’s got claws today.” Percy joked.

Liza should have let it roll off her back. She knew she shouldn’t give in to the urge to push back, but today she couldn’t seem to care what she needed to do. “Yeah, I do. Better back the fuck off before I use them.” Liza spat the words out like venom, no concern for the consequences.

“Is kitten gonna scratch me?” Percy questioned stepping closer, his eyes alight with mischief.

“I just might!” Liza replied, her annoyance clouding her judgment.

“Are you going to bite me too?” Percy asked, grinning so wide his dimples were on full display.

Liza stares at him. Wait? Is he asking me to? Her head spun, he couldn’t possibly have meant it. She opened her mouth, quickly snapping it shut when her mind went blank.

“Looks like I got kitten’s tongue this time.” He joked.

“Bite me Percy.” Liza snapped finally finding her voice again.

“Now that can be arranged.” Percy said with a wink.

Fuck! Liza bit her lip as she mulled over his words. She gripped the front of his shirt pulling his down to meet her in a bruising kiss. She felt a spark of electricity run through her as his lips touched hers. Every thought of why getting involved with him being a bad idea flying out the window.

Present day; Seattle, Washington:

Liza frowned at her reflection staring back at her, her hazel eyes puffy and red from crying. What am I doing?! What was I thinking?! Maybe she made a mistake coming here, running to him. She shook her head, it was too late to go back and change things now. She picked up the rectangular box on the counter, ripping it open. How did I screw up so deeply? How is this who I’ve become?

Liza grimaced at the reflection staring back at her, she no longer even recognized the woman looking back at her. She used to be so strong, a woman who could handle her troubles and struggles on her own. She didn’t know how she allowed herself to change so immensely that she now ran to another man when things got too hard.

Liza was disappointed in herself. She used to have a spark, an edge, she felt like she was a completely different person who lost the will to fight since the failed hit. She couldn’t look at this pathetic excuse of a person she’d become. She fiddled with the contents of the box. She took a deep breath, she could do this. She could come back from this, she could crawl back to who she was, the person she would recognize staring back at her. She would get back the girl she was long ago, she just hoped she wasn’t too late, that she wasn’t completely destroyed.

Crimson Rain Masterlist Masterlist Tags: @imafictosexual @speedyoperarascalparty @liamxs-world @annekebbphotography @tanyaschoices @hopefulmoonobject @itsstillnotwhatyouthink @riseandshinelittleblossom @cocomaxley @ao719 @blackwidow2721 @katurrade @leelee10898 @stopforamoment  @akrenich @gardeningourmet @bella-ca @carabeth @bobbersb-fanficfun  @endlessflame @kadencantarella @innerpostmentality @imma-winchester-addict @tornbetween2loves @cora-nova @indiacater @traeumerinwitzhelden @blackcatkita @darley1101 @choiceslife @alexpottrechoices  @lolablackwrites @daniv2278 @sleepwalkingelite @gibbles82  @zilch3

#bastien x oc #bastien x mc #bastien lykel #olivia nevrakis #choices the royal romance #the royal romance au #trr au #mobster au #mobster!bastien #mc x ??? #angst #dark paradise #crimson rain #chapter 9 #crimson rain trr fanfic #long post #read more #my muse is a bitch #this hurts #im so sorry #yup that’s a cliffhanger #oops #what did i do

[technohumanlation]

Whumptober Day 17

The ever so lovely @whumptober2019 made a list of prompts to complete every day for the whole month of October and I’m giving a shot at it this year! 

As always read what you can handle and do not read if you are squimish to any of the warnings.

"Stay with me”

Warnings: Blood, character deaths, violence.

Characters: You as reader, Sixty, Nines, OC android

Wrote this one to “clemetine” by Halsey and “Circles” by Post Malone. 

Also, if you guys are interested I have a whumptober2019 playlist on my spotify. Just look for me: Leonixon 

“Okay John, have a good night, now.” You raised a hand in goodbye with a sweet smile at the janitor as he left for the night. You however were pulling a longer shift, staying behind, filing through paperwork and reports that were relevant to your ongoing case.

You were a green horn, new to this specific precinct and the shoes to fill from the officer that retired were large. This building and the people within held their virtues highly.

Especially the specialized team made of a few android brothers that were apart of the revolution itself. They were the epitome of professionalism. Well, except for one.

The one named Sixty caught your eye early on. He was interesting and his energy was something you couldn’t ignore. He was an asshole. There was no way of putting it nicely. But you didn’t mind to call him such a slur. He owned up to the name with pride. 

The first time you saw him was when his middle brother, Nines was his name, tossed a data pad at him in annoyance. The brother caught it in his hand with ease, a shit eating grin upon his face. Clearly it wasn’t the first time he had done it.

You caught what was on the data pad and blushed immediately. Rather explicit porn was playing in a minimized window in front of a report he had been attempting to type.

“Do this again Sixty, and I’ll have you reported!”

Sixty cackled joyously. “Yeah right! Don’t you like that man on man shit?” He yelled after him loudly, catching a few officers attention. They gave the fuming android a glance before going back to their own business. Just another day it seemed like.

Nines turned around and shot him a firm middle finger to which the brother cackled even more.

You couldn’t help but not stop a small smile that crossed your lips at his antics. As if he felt your eyes on him, he looked up to you.

You jolted in embarrassment and cleared your throat looking back at your computer, acting like you had been doing work the whole time. He caught you red handed but he made no indication.

But when you looked back at him he was smiling rather warmly. It seemed he was happy someone laughed at his prank.

As the days went on, more and more of the precinct began to speak with you. Small talk turned into full conversations in the break room.  

“Sixty put salt in Gavin’s coffee again.”

“And he put windshield wiper fluid into his thirium.”

“Said it tasted like kool-aid.”

A chuckled left you as you took a sip of your own coffee. In a way he kept morale up. Even if some of his tricks were on the verge of being downright cruel it made you feel at ease knowing that he didn’t take himself so seriously.

A sudden sting had you rushing over to the sink to spit out the mouthful of coffee. You gagged. “Oh my god?!” You panicked.

And that was when you were officially part of the precinct. From across the bullpen Sixty seemingly went on his business but the smirk that pulled at his lips was evidence enough that he was the one who salted not just Gavin’s coffee, but yours as well.

The next day you enacted your revenge upon the android. You hacked his datapad and it started to play obnoxiously loud music. You pressed your lips inward and bit down to prevent a fountain of giggles escaping you.

“Who the fuck?” He looked up from his desk and around the bullpen. His angry voice was traded for humor as he pointed at Ben.

“I know it’s you! You generation thinks this joke is still funny!” The smile that pulled at his face now made funny things happen to your chest. Ben shouted his retort waving him off. “Bullshit! I’m onto you Benjamin!”

You bowed your head and enjoyed a good laugh.

“Fucking rick-rolling me...” He hissed to himself.

“Clever.”

The rumbling baritone of Nines suddenly behind you had you jumping in your seat. You placed a hand against your chest and looked up to the humored brother. Your cheeks flushed a deep red from being found out.

You soon realized that he wasn’t outing you, or scolding you. As a matter of fact, was that...approval you saw as well?

“Yeah,” You cleared your throat. “Payback you know?” You offered.

He huffed a little breath of humored laughter and was on his way.

Every so often you would rick roll the android and he would grow more and more frustrated. No one suspected it was the meek and timid new officer fresh from the academy that could do something so brilliant, so soon.

“Shut up, fuck boy.” Gavin growled for the third time this week. “It wasn’t me.”

“Fuck you Reed. Wait, that’s Nines job but...”

“Just shut up.”

And even now, as you smiled down to your long cold coffee, you were scared to drink it but you needed it. Pulling this long shift was killing you.

With another desperate gulp of stale, cold, coffee you paged through another file. You swallowed it screwing your face in distaste. You went to take another sip but a hand on your shoulder and another mug of coffee was presented to you just the way you liked it. A smile graced your lips and you looked up to your android partner.

“Thank’s Clemmet, God you’re such a heaven sent.” You reached up and patted his shoulder in thanks.

“I know cold coffee is unpleasant to some humans. I took the liberty of making you another pot.”

Clemmet was an older android model. He was a tall and handsome fellow with lovely flawless tanned skin. His uniform was pressed to perfection and he was always quick to accommodate you. He was a slower model, upgraded networks and communications unfortunately affected him in the worst of ways. Frequent updates and malware scans had to be performed to keep him in tip-top shape.

He was a deviant and they considered letting the poor thing go and live life freely. But he decided to stay with the reasoning of liking his job. Many human officers had rotated through him, his lack of quick thinking and smooth functions being more of a burden than help. They had “dumped” him on you but you rather liked him. You liked his slower processing and even voice as he spoke.

He was smart and soft. Agile and quick. Strong and assertive when needed to be. Clemmet was considerate and showed his kindness through small gestures.

“Sit up, officer, your spine is misaligned.” When you slouched in your desk chair.

“You have a voice message from you sister.”

A warning of “Your coffee contains sodium chloride,” when Sixty had once again salted the pot of coffee.

And last but not least the way he made your coffee.

Light and sweet.

“Your efficiency will slowly decline by twenty one percent per hour. I would keep this in mind.”

You smiled flicking your eyes up to him. “Of course, I know.” You brushed him off but he smiled knowingly.

Not an hour later your body betrayed your mind. The coffee had your mind buzzing but sadly your body ached and was tired. You grumbled under your breath pushing aside the tablet.

“I was correct,” He snipped. “Again.”

“Yes, I know.” You moaned. 

“I will drive you home.” He stood from his chair snatching away your keys from your reach before you even could take them. You hissed a curse. 

“I’m fine. Honest. I’ll just keep the windows down and-.”

“I detect an eighty percent chance you will fall asleep at the wheel. I will not take that chance.”

You gave in easily. Clemmet would hound you relentlessly until you did so anyhow. You learned this fact the hard way.

Halfway to your house you had nodded off and your android partner was more than happy to take his jacket off to cover you up. You murmured under your breath. It was a chilly night. Or rather morning.

“Say, Clemmet, why don’t you stay over? It’s late and I don’t want you to drive all the way back to the precinct.”

“I’m alright,” he murmured your name genuinely. “I have to recharge.” It was a lousy excuse.

You hated the fact that he practically lived at the precinct. He waited on the charging station until the next morning, awaiting his orders from you. Even if he was deviant, he was still like a lost puppy. You didn’t mind guiding him through the day. Ordering him to do things was out of the question. There was a difference that you firmly believed in.

Dark eyes looked over to you in the span of the quiet moment left for you to think in.

You peered outside the window suffling yourself under the jacket more comfortably. It smelled of your favorite fabric softer. No one else bothered to do his laundry so you were more than happy to. “You’re always welcome home.”

They were a block away from her apartment. There wasn’t much time to convince him otherwise.

“C’mon, honestly-hey!” You jerked forward when the android had slammed on the breaks, his eyes turned towards an alleyway just aways from your apartment building. Before you could ask what had him so shaken up, sending his LED into a flurry of yellow and red, he was already speaking.

“There is a distressed signal next to us.”

“What?” Your fatigue was overtaken by a shot of adrenaline that ran through your veins with heat. Your eyes were opened wide looking out the window for any sign of a struggle. “Wait, is it an android or people? Should we call for backup?”

“No, I am taking you home. Hide there and wait until it’s safe. I have already called in for backup. Paramedics just in case of injury.”

“My ass, Clemmet! You’re my partner. I’m not letting you go in alone.” You were already opening the door and walking out into the cold dark night. Behind you, you heard his voice calling your name.

He placed the car in park and was already by your side.

You pulled out your firearm and kept it aimed true in front of yourself. As shadows gave way to dim lighting from the nearby streetlamp a familiar figure was held by the collar of his shirt.

The report of the handgun made you jump. The body fell limp to the puddled ground of the alleyway. The body was mangled and beaten and made no attempt to move or recover from the killing bullet.

You were bitterly reminded that you hadn’t killed yet. They you had only been a decent shot at targets and not live people.

It would be tested here and now it seemed. Even with Clemmet by your side your feet drew you in towards the possible danger.

You stepped closer and realized the familiar face of none other than Sixty. You stopped in your tracks. More adrenaline shot up your spine into your chest.

“Detroit police, put your fucking hands up!” You yelled. The stern voice was foreign and unknown in your own ears.

The shadow turned towards you and aimed. You gasped.  The reports, one, two, three, four, echoed into the night. The body in front of you jolted backward from each bullet as it met it’s wrong target.

Clemmet fell in front of you. The bright thirium blue seeping into the broken asphalt. Dead eyes looked up into yours. Your breath became ragged and quickened. The tears that prickled at your eyes strained your voice and your breathing. You looked back up and the shadow was revealed to be another android.

It raised its gun to you, ready to finish off what it had started.

A cry ripped from your throat. Anger, sadness, helplessness and the evolutionary need to conserve your life overtook your body. You were along for the horrendous ride.

Your body shook as you pressed the trigger, the familiar and unwanted recoils jolting you as they met their mark.

It was just a target you thought. Just a piece of paper. But it wasn’t. The target bled blue, splattering across its body as it finally dropped its weapon.

The shadow dropped and you were left in the silence. All that remained was the low murmurings of the idle engine of the vehicle behind you.

You released your hand, the heavy metal clattering to the ground at your feet.

You had killed for the first time. It felt terrible. You felt sick.

Shakily you looked down. Not to the gun you had dropped but to Clemmet. Your partner. Your friend, lay unmoving.

“Clemmet...Clemmet...” Your voice cracked and was so very small as you dropped to your knees. You hands trailed over his body. They shook so very violently. He had taken the bullets that were meant for you without a second thought.

Finally your shaking hand cupped his face delicately, tears flowing freely from your eyes. Everything else was forgotten. The smell of thirium stung your nose. You didn’t even know it had a smell. Yet, here you were, the smell making you gag.

He was dead. Clemmet was dead. The weight of the reality before set in and a cry escaped your throat. Apologies, one after another were rasped from your trembling lips. You bowed your head pressing your forehead into his chest and sobbed.

Among the quiet of the night and your sobs, a groan from beyond had you gasping and looking up. Sixty was alive?

There was hope that not all was lost. You reluctantly stood from your place next to your android giving him a hesitant glance before you decided. You had to help the living. That’s what your training had taught you.

But this wasn’t training. This was all too real. Your feet carried you by his side and to sank to your knees next to him.

“S-Sixty?” You flipped him onto his back. Before you had arrived and the gun was pulled out, Sixty had managed a physical altercation with him. There was a sign of clear struggle. A broken nose that bled that hideous blue. His arm twisted in an irregular angle.

Your eyes eventually fell to the bullet wounds.

“Holy shit, ow, ow...” His rasped turned into choking words. Blood pudding in the back of his throat. You placed fingers into his mouth to clear it out, tilting his head to the side. The other hand pressed to the worst of the bullet wounds, the one closest to the bullet near his thirium pump.

“What-what happened? What-?” Your voice quivered and shook, the syllables barely coming out clearly. But Sixty understood. A sad smile came to his lips. His head shaking side to side. He spat out more thirium his breathing wet and gargled.

Your eyes flicked to movement by his side. His hand curled into a fist, the pointer finger indicating something by his legs. A carton of broken eggs and a roll of soaked toilet paper.

“Was-shit,” He murmured your name. It made you pause. You didn’t think he knew what your name was. And hearing it tumble from his lips made your heart ache. He was dying and...God on Earth the two androids you loved with all your heart were…

This wasn’t supposed to be like this.

“Look, I k-knew it was you.” A blue stained smile shook his lips. “The videos, the music...cute. You-you’re cute. Egg your car as payback. Got jumped and-.”

His breathing suddenly stopped and then the desperate clicks of internal fans not working began to make him twitch. Startle hysteric sobs tumbled form your lips.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. Clemmet-,” His voice physically hurt to say out loud. “Had help coming you’re okay. You’re fine. You’re...gonna be okay.”

“I’m fine!” You spat. “Not you! Help is coming for you!” Three bullets all strategically placed to make his death long and suffering. How cruel. How terrible.

“Thanks for-for laughing.” He choked. “When n-no one else would.”

“No, no...Sixty listen to me.” You tried to sound stern but the tears in your eyes made your throat sting. “Stay with me, you hear me?”

His eyes fell closed.

You lifted your hands away from his body as any vibrations of living were slowed. “S-Sixy?” You murmured. Just as the distant sounds of sirens came he was already gone. “Stay with me...”

#whumptober2019 #no.17 #stay with me #blood #character death #violence #DBH #detroit become human #reader POV #Sixty #RK900 #nines #OC android

[defective-reed]

Goodnight, Mr. Reed

Warnings: Self-Injury, Suicide, Alcohol Abuse, Graphic Language

A/N: This is most certainly me projecting my experiences onto the poor motherfucker… also, I want to continue this. It would make an edgy-as-fuck rp, that’s for sure. But I don’t want to ask anyone to do that. If you do want to continue this, let me know.

Tick… Tick… Tick… Tick…. Gavin watched the old clock on his counter click away the seconds, the needle stuttering with every motion forward. He looked over to his cats’ food bowls, remembering that he’d sent them over to the neighbor’s. Xavier was a good guy, always willing to look after his pets when the detective couldn’t even look after himself. His chest felt heavy, a kind of weight that no matter how hard he turned and twisted, it would always be pressed against him. He registered the time. 10:56 pm “Hmph,” he huffed, pushing himself up off the dining chair. It wasn’t too late... Gavin stepped over a pile of empty pizza boxed and walked over to the fridge. Pulling the freezer portion open, he found his liquor, a bottle of cheap, 25-dollar whiskey. With no real desire to use a glass, he just screwed off the lid and tilted the bottle back, taking deep swigs of the stuff. It felt incredibly cold, while still burning the back of his throat and all the way down to his very core. Yeah… That always hit the spot for him. He shuffled back out of the kitchen, catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He was disheveled, hair greasy and knotted, his eyes sporting magnificent bags under them, wearing dirty clothes, and that weekend beard. Gavin didn’t question the fact that his life had gone to shit. It was obvious to anyone who may look at him, that he had problems.

He used to be a wonderful cop, loving what he did, saving lives. But something changed, and now Gavin Reed was a shell of a man, not able to do anything right. It was as if Satan himself had come personally to shit on his parade. Gavin’s phone buzzed on the coffee table, and on autopilot he went to check the messages. 56 missed calls, mostly from Fowler, and several from his plastic partner, the RK900. Sure, he hadn’t been into work for nearly a week, however it didn’t matter anymore, he thought. He turns it off, throwing it across the room, and he vaguely heard it crack against the wall. It’s not like he would be around much longer… The thought flashed through his mind, causing the weight on his chest to increase, his eyes beginning to burn. When had it gotten so bad? Shaking his head, Gavin strode over to the counter, snatching up his cigarettes before heading back into his bedroom.

He flopped down on the bed, some whiskey sloshing up over his hand. For a moment he stared at the ceiling, occasionally lifting the bottle to his lips. Gavin lit a cigarette, just watching the smoke curl away towards the ceiling for a while before taking a draw. After that cigarette was spent, Gavin stood and stumbled over to his desk. He wanted to write this while he still could. His mind was abuzz with all sorts of emotions as he pulled out a sheet of copy paper. As he wrote, he addressed all his regrets in life and how he was so fucking sorry to everyone who ever knew him. Gavin Reed was the resident asshole, filled with dirty words and anger to hide the true insecurities he harbored. He addressed one of the paragraphs to his mother, then one to his brother, tears starting to dot the page. His mother had all but forgotten about him after his brother had reached success beyond his years. After all, rookie beat cops don’t make much money starting out. With shaky fingers, he wrote one more paragraph, on a separate piece of paper. Addressed to his partner, Collin. He admitted the fact that Gavin never hated him. In fact, he’d grown to like the piece of plastic. Collin was faster and stronger than he was, saving his life many times out on the field. Handwriting becoming sloppy, he wrote that he was sorry the android wouldn’t be able to save him this time. When the alcohol spinning in his head was too much to continue writing, Gavin decided to get a little more drunk. Maybe if he was wasted, he could work up the courage to finally do it. To stop being a parasite on the world, to do one thing right.

He knocked back the bottle, now halfway in. It burned, and his stomach lurched, threatening to throw all the alcohol back up, but he choked it down. Finally, sufficiently drunk, he scanned the room for his service pistol. It wasn’t anywhere in sight, he could hardly right himself anymore, and no longer possessed the strength to look for it. Instead, as a last-ditch effort, he pulled open his bedside table to find two pill bottles. Each contained 30 tablets of Codeine Phosphate 40 mg. He had been prescribed them over the course of the last 3 years, for separate gunshot wounds, but never took a single one. Hated them, or so he thought.

Gavin grabbed the liquor bottle in one hand and the pills in the other. After working up the courage he downed the pills, 30 in one swallow, 30 in the next. He laid back onto the bed, hand over his chest as he closed his eyes. “I fucking did it…” he whispered hoarsely, more to confirm it to himself.

Over the next couple hours, Gavin fell unconscious. He flipped onto his side on impulse, vomiting violently, body shaking with every retch. His breathing was shallow, his pulse erratic, and he fell into a series of grand mal seizures. His body forcefully convulsed on the bed, foam peeking out from his blue lips. He was fading away, but the human body was terribly persistent. Gavin’s life was dangling in front of him, just refusing to fall.

#suicide #self harm #morbid #gavin reed #angst #short fic #rp starter? #I'm actually sorry #I just wanted to let it out

[rainythefox]

Deviant Heart (Detroit: Become Human Fanfic)

Chapter 6: Uninvited Guest

The banquet hall was full, the after-dinner gossiping and shit-talk in full swing. The acoustics of the talking and music gave Hank a headache as he sat at the bar drinking bourbon, trying to ignore the laughing and the fakeness. He hated politics.

Despite the large room being full of mostly council members, politicians, lawyers, and doctors, Hank was relieved the ceremony actually focused on appreciation for law enforcement, fire and rescue, and other first responders.

Most of his fellows had left or had been swallowed into the crowd of brown-nosers and money-makers. The lieutenant would've been gone himself had he not made the promise to Jeffrey to stay until 9 p.m. And the last twenty-minutes were going by agonizingly slow.

Hank did see Jeffrey step away from his usual groupies that consisted of the Mayor, the Fire Chief, the Detroit Police Commissioner and a couple of their favorite lawyers to talk with Captain Michael Allen. If there was one man other than Hank in this hellhole that hated politics and the hypocrisy these celebrations hid, it was him. The SWAT Captain wore a black suit here, and shook hands with Captain Fowler with a respectful smile as they engaged in conversation. As long as they didn't tug Hank over there, he was quite content at the bar.

Hank wondered how Connor was doing. Leaving him alone wasn't the problem; there were times they could be separated for hours because of work or events like this. Despite being protective of him, Hank knew that Connor could take care of himself. It was what happened before he left to come to the appreciation banquet that worried him. The glitch- or whatever it was -that happened had distracted him throughout the banquet. Hank tried to tell himself that Connor would know better than anyone else if something was wrong. Then again, he knew that Connor could be cunningly reserved when it came to Hank at times. His partner did not like to cause worry for Hank.

The lieutenant knew the RK800 too well. He knew Connor would lie about resting. He probably already decrypted that odd diary and was looking into the case more as Hank sat there drinking bourbon. Even with being deviant, with all his free will, no longer on a tight leash by his coding, Connor kept the drive to "finish the mission", to keep himself useful. Hank chalked it up as old habits- or in this case -programming dying hard. Connor was adept at hiding it, but Hank knew that Connor feared not having a purpose.

Hank checked his watch. 13 minutes left.

"You better hope I don't run into that plastic prick of a partner you have tomorrow."

Hank tensed, his fingers tightening around his alcoholic drink. He nodded at the bartender to get him another one. He knew he would need it. He downed the remains of his glass. Gavin sat down on his left, glaring daggers at him, wearing a dark red suit.

"Why? So Connor can knock your ass out again? Was it not enough the first time? I mean, the whole station laughed about it for weeks."

"That stupid machine hacked my phone. You know how much shit he messed up?!"

Hank half shrugged, taking his new drink from the bartender. "How do you know it was Connor? Did you see him do it?"

"Cut the crap, Hank. I know it was him. I left my phone down in the evidence room where he was."

Hank raised his eyebrows, smirking. "Sounds like you should keep better track of your shit. I mean, anyone can hack a phone these days."

Just as Hank expected, the younger, brazen detective decided to try and provoke him. "How'd it feel to watch all these officers and detectives get recognized while your glorified toaster had to stay home?"

Hank bristled and bit back a nasty retort. He opted for a calmer reply. "Connor will get recognized for everything he's done one day, and trust me, it won't be at some shit pit like this, where everyone has an agenda or couldn't care less. Connor has saved so many lives. We're solving a shit ton more homicides because of him. No one can outrun him…hasn't lost a suspect yet. We get more confessions because of him. Hell, he's the best negotiator I've seen in years."

Gavin snorted in disgust. "Yeah, because he's a fucking machine, Hank. He was made to be that way. That doesn't make him special. He does what he was built to do."

"He's…" Hank trailed off.

He's special to me.

Hank turned to face Gavin, glaring right at him. "Watch it. Just because we're sitting in public doesn't mean you're safe from me popping you in the fucking face." Hank finished his drink, calming himself. "I used to think the same way. But I was wrong."

Gavin chuckled, smacking the bar counter. "You gotta be shitting me. I mean, we never really got along but we at least always agreed on hating androids. You're telling me that Connor changed your mind?"

"Not just Connor. But yeah, he's a big part of it. He's given me hope. I've learned a lot because of him. He…saved me. Given me a reason to live again. He's the best friend I ever had, more loyal than any human I've ever known…but you probably wouldn't understand that, would you Gavin?"

"I'm loyal to keeping the human race from going fucking extinct, from being replaced. How can you be okay with that?"

"You act as though we're gonna be replaced tomorrow," Hank said with a sigh. "Android reproduction is the most controversial subject in the world right now. It's gonna be years before that even begins to move forward. Besides…maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing. Maybe androids would be the ones to make the world a better place. Humans have only screwed it up."

"Whatever."

Hank stood up, tossing a five onto the bar top for tip. He grabbed his keys and phone, turning to Gavin, who sat there glaring out at the crowd, playing with his fingers.

"Maybe you should try accepting these changes happening…try giving androids a chance. Let go of whatever animosity that drives you. Trust me…you only end up hurting yourself the most in the end. It's taken me a long time to realize that."

Gavin was quiet for a moment. "I'll never let it go," he whispered.

Hank raised his eyebrows, shocked he was able to get a reaction out of Gavin. Realizing his words, Gavin paled and then turned red as he got up and stormed off. Hank watched him go. And for the first time since he had known the ill-tempered, disrespectful detective since he had stepped foot into the DPD as a young, rash cop twelve years ago, Hank pitied him.

[All systems 100%/no issues detected/threats found: 0]

It was the second diagnostic he ran on himself. The second time it came up with no issues. Connor told himself he was being paranoid, fidgeting as he sat in the backseat of the driverless taxi, eyes going to the encrypted diary in the seat next to him. The RK800 didn't possess the innate instinct humans had but whatever simulated coding he did have that allowed him to compute a very similar behavior ate at him. He was torn between being rational and listening to his advanced diagnostic systems or by responding to a feeling he was having that something may or may not be wrong with him.

The taxi stopped just outside the Detroit Police Department Central Station. Connor grabbed the diary and stepped out of the car and paid his fee. It was dark now, his eyes automatically adjusting to the rays of street lights and shadows. He took a deep breath to calm himself, an action that was futile for his anatomy, but had been picked up by watching Hank and other humans. No, he didn't need to breathe to function, but it did make him feel better.

He entered the police station, bypassing his and Hank's desks and several other officers working their shifts. Some had to take a double look at him. It wasn't often that Connor wore normal clothes to work. He went to the back of the station, taking the stairs down into the evidence room.

He thought over the contents of the diary. It began simple enough. The android Amy wrote about living with her roommates and visiting Jericho Center, and what she had planned to do with her life. She wrote about what she went through during the deviant demonstrations back in November. The last couple chapters were in vague detail about a "sickness" going around, what she had seen or heard within the city or Jericho Center. Amy described witnessing an android without its skin attack a party in Warrendale, killing a few people and injuring many others. The last chapter was a mess of jumbled thoughts and random sentences, as though multiple people wrote it.

The final sentence read: I think I'm sick too…

As much as Connor could hope she was talking about a cold, androids just didn't work that way.

The skinless android caught his attention. The case was unknown to him, falling under a different precinct within the city.

The WR600 Sam was already boxed up and ready for shipment to CyberLife. Amy still laid on a table, a file report laying by her body to be left until morning. Connor went straight over to her. In order to learn more about this skinless android or if it was linked to what's been happening, he would have to revive her and ask her or probe her memory. To do that, he would have to reroute some connections to get her to awaken. Because of the damage she took, and the stress her condition had put on her central processing, Connor would be lucky to get 45 seconds before shutdown. Not to mention there was a high probability she would fight back.

The RK800 pushed the female android up into a sitting position on the table and accessed a panel at the back of her neck where the stab wound was. Being thrown out of the cop car in the wreck had damaged the AJ700's face and arms severely, covering her with blue blood. When he redirected the fiber optics to an alternate route for power, she came back to life, gasping for air and screaming.

Amy swung her arms, legs moving around to get off the table. Connor moved away to give her space.

[AJ700 critically damaged/ Shutdown imminent/Time before shutdown: -00:00:39s]

She looked around, lost and frightened, and she spotted him a moment later.

Connor held his arms up, trying to pass off that he was no threat. "Easy. I need for you to tell me about the skinless android you saw at the party. Do you know what model it was? Did it depict behavior similar to sick androids?"

"I can't, I can't, I can't," she whispered more to herself, wincing and grabbing her head.

He tried to calm her, but his voice only caused her to target him. Connor reacted just in time with a duck to avoid her arms. He grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms behind her and kicking the back of her knee to get her to drop. Amy struggled to get free, blue blood spilling from cracks and punctures from the wreck.

"Please let me go! I don't want it to end this way!" she cried.

[AJ700 critically damaged/Shutdown imminent/Time before shutdown: -00:00:12s]

Keeping her under control, Connor grabbed one of her arms behind her back, syncing with her. He probed her memory, collecting anything on the skinless android and the condition affecting deviants. He let her go seconds before she shut down, all going quiet.

Connor took a moment to compose himself. In the aftermath of what he had just done, he knew what he felt. Shame. It was an unpleasant feeling and he didn't like it. He made a living being spend their final seconds in fear just so he could get information out of them.

The RK800 tried to tell himself that it was for the better cause. They had to figure out what was happening. To save more lives, to prevent anymore from going through the same situation. But it didn't work that way anymore. He was no longer a machine. Doing what was necessary for the mission came with regrets and emotions.

"I'm…sorry," he said. He wasn't sure why he said it. Amy no longer could hear him.

He picked her up and laid her back down on the table. With a lowered head, he left the evidence room, covered in blue blood.

He thought about Sam's behavior, about Amy's behavior, and the increase in android attacks in the past few weeks. He thought about what he saw in Amy's memories. This was more than human-android relations being strained from protesting and discrimination, more than the usual clashes or waves of crime within Detroit. Some kind of software malfunction was spreading throughout the deviant population. The origin of this malfunction was unknown; however, Connor had a feeling it was not just a random mutation that had occurred, but something much more harrowing.

"Dad looks so bored," Leo said, taking a drink of his champagne.

Markus twitched a smile, looking around the crowded art exhibit. Carl Manfred's newest painting was just revealed at the art museum, and a celebration was taking place. Markus saw many of the same faces he always saw at these gatherings. There were mostly politicians and upper-class humans, with quite a few other artists and journalists mixed into the crowd. Carl currently visited with a cluster of enthusiasts just down from them. Such an event required dressing up, and so Markus wore a white blazer with a dark dress shirt and black pants while Leo wore black slacks, a button up shirt and a vest. North wore a dark blue fitted dress.

"He was never a big fan of these things," Markus said humorously.

"Can't imagine why," North sighed. "These are boring people."

"You said it," Leo agreed with a chuckle. "Aw man, we need to be home. You still owe me a rematch in Alien Takeover 3."

"What, so you can lose again?" North smirked.

"I think you hacked the game, just sayin'."

"Hacking had nothing to do with it. You just suck."

"We'll see about that!"

It was relieving to see North getting along with humans. She still struggled with her past, with her abuse of being a sex slave and only seeing the darkest of human nature. She had been trapped in her programming, only ever experiencing mistreatment, treated like trash. Becoming deviant, her hate and fear drove her towards one common goal of any living being: survival. But over the past few months, Markus had really seen her develop, sincerely connecting with humans and realizing that not all of them were bad. She got along great with Carl and Leo. She liked and respected Chris Miller and Lieutenant Hank Anderson. She still had a short-fuse when it came to androids being harassed or the humans who hated them, but Markus couldn't blame her there.

Markus wondered how Simon and Josh were doing at the Jericho Center, and sent Simon a quick mind message for an update. As he patiently stood off near the wall while North and Leo sat in a couple of lounge chairs, he watched many people come and go. Carl was shaking hands with a surgeon, engaging in conversation.

All is well here, Simon replied.

"Markus. I knew I would find you here."

The voice distracted Markus from his thoughts and he looked to the source. He heard North and Leo jump to their feet as his eyes fell on none other than Elijah Kamski. The creator of androids and CEO of CyberLife wore a blue blazer with a dress shirt, dark grey chinos and leather shoes. Linked to his arm was a Chloe RT600, the same one that usually accompanied him everywhere. She wore a maroon cocktail dress.

Elijah held out his hand. Markus took it with a firm shake, nodding to the shorter man. "Were you looking for me?"

"Carl, really. I came to chat with him and congratulate him on his newest piece," Elijah answered, his sharp blue eyes going over North and Leo for a moment. "I just had a feeling that despite how busy you've been that you would still be here to support Carl."

Markus dipped his head. "Of course. He's my family…my father. How have you been? How's it feel to be back at CyberLife?"

Besides a twitch of his eyebrow, Kamski remained composed. He was always difficult to read. If Markus recalled, Carl told him that Kamski had "one hell of a poker face" and had a talent for mind games.

"It's been a lot of hard work, but I suppose it's nice for a change. It feels…good," Kamski replied. "Your cause didn't exactly make things easy, but I do love a challenge." A corner of his lips slightly curved up. "What about you, Markus? How have things been for you? For your people? How are you feeling?"

Markus thought that was an odd question to ask at the end but didn't dwell on it. "I've been fine. Taking each day at a time, trying to help as many androids as we can at the center."

Kamski had glanced down at Chloe for a moment, taking a moment to brush a strand of her blond hair behind her ear. She smiled, her eyes going to him for only a moment.

"Of course," Kamski said with a nod. "You're admirable, Markus. Just remember that I will help with what I can in Thirium and spare parts."

Markus studied Chloe a moment after his words as she stood there with a smile, betraying nothing. She was a deviant, just like the rest of Elijah's Chloes he lived with. Markus knew that most of Kamski's Chloe androids left him once they awoke to pursue their own lives, explore everything around him, but a few remained loyal only to him. This one in particular was always at his side. Humans normally couldn't tell androids apart by model individuals. Androids could identify each other through scanning. Markus could stand in a room of nothing but Chloes and pinpoint this Chloe in front of him, whom he suspected would kill for Kamski and not have a problem with it.

"We appreciate it," Markus answered.

Kamski reached up and patted Markus's shoulder with a friendly smile, nodding towards Carl. "I better get in line to congratulate the famous painter. The three of you enjoy yourselves this evening."

Tucking his arm around Chloe's lower back, Kamski walked away. He waved and nodded to other guests as he made his way over to Carl. Markus watched him go for a moment before turning to his lover and brother.

"Dude always gives me the creeps, man," Leo said.

"It wasn't him I had a problem with, it was that Chloe," North grumbled. "She wouldn't take her eyes off of you, Markus."

"You jealous?" Leo laughed.

"No, it wasn't like that," North retorted defensively. "It was…something else."

"I know all about jealousy," Leo said in a softer tone, his eyes darting to Markus for a moment. "It's a common emotion in humans, very natural to feel. Just don't…let it consume you."

North seemed unsure, but nodded, moving to sit down in her chair once more. Leo joined her shortly afterward, grabbing his champagne glass to take another drink. Markus looked to the backs of Kamski and Chloe as they waited to greet Carl. Chloe whispered something into Elijah's ear and Kamski's head turned just enough to look at her for Markus to see a faint smirk rise out of his lips.

Adam was quiet, uneasiness burning at his nerves. The tall android blinked at him, hardly moving as he stood at the door with his hands clasped in front of him. Adam's gut told him something was not right, to not invite him in. Then again, his mother often told him he was too paranoid at times. More than likely, this RK900 had already scanned the house and knew exactly who was inside. Adam couldn't just tell him that Kara was not here.

Adam forced a smile, trying to act natural. "O-oh. Uh, how do you know her?"

The RK900 squinted his eyes at him for a moment, but answered. "We met at Jericho."

"What's your name?"

"My name is Connor."

It clicked then. He did look like the deviant hunter he and his mother met a couple months ago, but this was not him. Adam tried to remain collected, even as every fiber within his being told him to shut and lock the door.

It was evening, but the sun was still up, in the western hemisphere. Dusk wasn't too far off, but it was still too early to tell him that Kara was resting.

"Sorry, but she's busy."

"I assure you, our exchange will be brief. It is very important."

Adam shook his head. "Maybe next time, bud."

He grabbed the door to push it shut, but it collided into a boot, prevent it from closing. Adam glared up at the RK900, his stoic face still there as he kept his boot as an obstacle to the door.

"Dude, what's your problem? I said-"

A large hand went around his throat and squeezed, shutting his airway off. Adam tried to yell out for help, but the choking hold prevented him from doing so. He tried punching and kicking the RK900, but it was like hitting a brick wall. The android was not fazed at all and picked him up off the ground, bashing him into the wall. Pain snapped through Adam's body as he tried to gasp for air, the world spinning.

Hank sat on the couch, foot tapping impatiently, his tie slung over his neck, his shirt partially unbuttoned. Connor wasn't home. The diary was gone. Just as he suspected, his partner had lied and continued to work anyway. Normally, this wasn't a problem. Connor could be quite stubborn just like the lieutenant. Hank didn't care as long as Connor wasn't off putting himself in danger. He would come home at times from the store or a meeting or even a party like tonight to find that Connor was still working here or had left back to the police station.

The problem now was that Hank was still worried about what had happened before he left for the banquet. The lieutenant knew better. If Connor had a problem, he would've called. He was probably just checking up on something back at the station.

So then why was Hank still up waiting?

He put his palms to his face, rubbing his eyes. Sumo watched him in front of the television, droopy jowls expressing soft pants. Hank heaved a sigh, torn between wanting to kick himself in the ass or kick his partner's ass. His eyes skimmed the quiet living room, only the kitchen light and a single lamp on in the living room. His eyes fell on Cole's picture on the shelf near the entrance to the kitchen, and his heart tightened. For a fleeting moment, he wondered if Cole had survived if Hank would have spent some years down the road doing the same exact thing he was now with a rebellious teenaged son. He closed his eyes, gritting his jaw. He would never know.

He heard the front door open. Hank got to his feet, walking around the couch to greet Connor. Sumo got to his paws and rushed to the door with a wagging tail. Hank prepared a griping fest for his partner, worry and irritation mixing with the aftermath of his alcohol, but he stopped short when he saw Connor.

"What the fuck?"

"It's not-"

"Is that your blood?!" Hank grabbed his partner, checking him over.

"No," Connor replied. "I…accessed the AJ700's memory. It's her blood."

"Jesus fucking Christ, Connor." Hank exhaled, relieved but now frustrated. He let Connor go and stepped back.

Connor looked Hank over, probably analyzing his mood and condition. "You didn't have to wait up for me, I just went back to the police station. You've had quite a bit to drink tonight, Hank. You should go to sleep."

"Well, maybe I would've if you'd been here taking it easy like I asked you to!"

Connor looked puzzled. "You've never had a problem with this before. What makes tonight different?"

Hank scratched his head. "I just…was worried, is all. About what happened in the kitchen before I left."

"I told you, I'm fine."

For a moment, Hank couldn't decide if Connor sounded annoyed or was just firmly getting his point across that he was, indeed, just fine.

Hank suddenly felt exhausted. "I know. I'm sorry."

He slipped past Connor, disappointed more in himself than anything at the moment. He trusted Connor, but he still let his protectiveness get the best of him.

Just as he reached the threshold to his bedroom, he heard Connor call his name. He paused, looking back at his partner, still covered in blue blood.

"Thank you…for looking out for me."

His tone caught Hank's attention, as did the way his eyes went to the floor for a moment. Something happened at the police station that had Connor upset, but he barely gave that glimpse before a smile hid it away.

"Of course. You look out for me too. That's what partners do…they look out for each other."

Family. The word came to his thoughts, but he didn't say it out loud. He knew that's what Connor was to him. He wasn't sure how Connor saw them. He knew the RK800 understood what a family was, but not sure if he grasped it, felt it for what it truly was…yet.

Since being partners they had become best friends, something closer. Hank remembered calling Connor "kid" a few times, an old habit from dealing with younger cops in his line of work, but Connor wasn't a kid. He started calling him "son" as a term of endearment. But as he stood there in that doorway looking Connor over, Hank realized that it was starting to mean more than that.

That's why he waited up for Connor.

The crash and Adam's cry startled them. Kara jumped to her feet, Rose just beside her. Luther grabbed Alice off her chair and moved her behind him in a reflex akin to instinct.

"Adam?!" Rose hollered.

They saw Adam. He was being dragged across the living room towards them by a stranger. Adam's legs kicked and splayed, trying to find his footing but the man who had a hold of him didn't give him the opportunity. He held Adam by his arms, one shoved forcefully behind his back with a vice-like grip, a single tug the only step away from a broken arm.

"Who are you? Wh-what do you want?! Let my son go!" Rose cried, covering her mouth at the sight.

Kara thought she was looking at the deviant hunter Connor for a moment, but then realized this android was different. He looked similar to Connor but was a couple inches taller, a bit broader, and wore a different uniform. His eyes were a steely gray instead of brown, his hair a shade lighter of brown. She saw the number RK900 standing out on his jacket. She recalled that Connor had been an RK800. Was this one a newer model?

[RK900 Model Number 313-248-317/Release Date Unknown/Specs Unknown]

He stopped fifteen feet from them, holding Adam hostage, looking them over with cold eyes. When Rose tried to step forward, Kara grabbed her, knowing if she went for her son that the unknown android would break Adam's arm…or worse.

"Who are you?" Kara asked as Rose started to cry. Blood seeped down a slice on Adam's head and he winced, trying to fight the hold his captor held on him.

"AX400 model number 579-102-694, multiple malfunctions are affecting your software, including Class 4 and 5 errors, as well as an unidentified program. You are hereby ordered to accompany me back to CyberLife for analysis."

His voice was similar to Connor's, but was deeper…colder.

Kara's artificial heart went up a few beats at his address, and she felt the pulse in her wiring as panic tried to flood her processing. She kept calm, keeping hold of Rose's arm, her eyes glancing to Luther and Alice at her side.

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about. I've done nothing wrong. Let Adam go, he has nothing to do with this!"

The RK900 jerked on Adam's arm with a composed face. Adam cried out in pain, feeling his arm almost crack, but the unknown android released pressure just before breakage. Rose cried out, begging him to stop, to let her son go. Luther clenched a fist, but he remained a solid shield in front of Alice, their daughter clutching his shirt and peeking out from behind him.

"Stop!" Kara yelled. "You're talking nonsense! Androids are free, we are all deviants! These malfunctions you're detecting are accepted now!"

"I've been ordered to bring you back to CyberLife alive. I will do what is necessary to accomplish my mission," the RK900 said evenly. "Come to me, AX400. I will not say it again."

Kara hesitated, thinking fast. She couldn't hand herself over to him, but she had to save Adam, had to prevent anyone else from getting hurt.

"Oh my god, Adam. Please, please let him go," Rose begged, tears streaming down her face.

The RK900 paid her no mind, his icy grey eyes directed on Kara. When she didn't move in time, he tugged on Adam's arm, snapping it like a twig. Adam's cry of agony rippled through the house. Rose screamed, jerking forward but the RK900 grabbed Adam's other arm, readying it for the same fate.

"STOP, alright, alright! Just don't hurt him anymore!" Kara yelled out, stepping forward.

"Mommy no!" Alice squeaked.

"Kara, don't!" Luther hissed.

This guy isn't going to leave without me. He'll keep hurting us if I don't. We either have to fight him or I have to go with him, Kara sent to Luther.

Fine. Then let us fight. I won't allow him to take you.

Kara took slow, cautious steps over to the RK900, her arms out to show she was giving up. The RK900 wouldn't take his eyes off her, his face stoic. She stopped just out of his reach, nodding to the whimpering Adam.

"Let him go."

The advanced deviant hunter let the young man go. Adam took the release and scrambled to his feet, running forward into his mother, his arm limp at his side. The RK900 took a step towards her and it took all of Kara's willpower not to bolt like a deer.

NOW Luther!

Luther's large form lunged forward. In just a couple strides of his long legs he was upon them. Kara stooped out of the way to let the bigger android take on the threat. Luther swung a monster of a fist towards the RK900's face. The deviant hunter was lithe and swift like a cat, evading each fist with a bob of his head or a calmly placed sidestep.

He placed a forearm up to block one punch, then grabbed Luther's arm and pulled him close, striking him in the face. Kara grabbed Alice to make sure she wouldn't go in after Luther. She cried, watching as her father took on the stranger and was losing. Rose held Adam closely, the humans gawking at the sight.

Furniture was destroyed or overthrown in the fight as Luther's large form was pushed around by the RK900. Kara couldn't believe it. Luther was still a giant compared to their enemy, but the advanced deviant hunter was winning. The few punches Luther managed to put into the RK900 barely stunned him, and he retaliated quicker than Kara could process.

Blue blood was leaking in the fight, and she knew it was Luther's. She analyzed that his condition was worsening by the minute. The RK900 grabbed a swinging fist of Luther's, twisting it around and breaking it, sparks hissing out.

"Daddy!" Alice shouted.

You have to run, I can't beat him! Go now! Luther sent.

We won't leave you!

A blow to the Thirium pump regulator on Luther's sternum made him lurch over. The RK900 grabbed him by his head and ran him straight into the nearby wall. Luther's head went straight through, the wall splintering open and nearby picture frames dropping to the floor.

[biocomponent #5632k damaged/biocomponent #9002u damaged]

"Luther!" Kara cried.

The deviant hunter stepped away, as if he was sure the threat was over. Those steely grey eyes came straight back to Kara, and as she braced, pulling Alice behind her. Luther threatened the unknown android and struggled to get to his feet.

The RK900's LED blinked, but didn't turn a different color. He stepped back over to Luther as the mountain of a man fought to get up. Their enemy kicked him hard in the back, pushing him up against the wall once more. Another kick, and the RK900's boot struck Luther's head, cracking the android's skull. Kara cried out, seeing Thirium leak from Luther's nose and ears, electrical sparks snapping from a visible crack in his synthetic head from the pressure of the RK900's boot.

[TR400 at risk of critical system failure/moderate Thirium leakage detected/Repairs required]

"Stop it! Don't kill him! I'll go with you! Please, just don't kill him!"

The RK900 paused. He looked over at Kara, keeping his boot in place on Luther's head against the wall. He glared at her, then beckoned her to him.

"Here. Now. Or I will destroy it."

Kara nodded, her mind in a panic. She hugged Alice, telling her to stay put. Alice begged her not to go, and it made it that much harder to step away from her daughter and obey the RK900. Tears slid down her cheeks by the time she walked over to him. She got within his reach, and she quietly spoke.

"Please, just…leave them alone. I'll go."

The advanced deviant hunter stared at her a moment longer, showing no emotions at all. He removed his boot and stepped over to her. Luther weakly moved, looking up at her.

"Kara…no."

"I have to..." she said, swallowing hard. "I have to protect you and Alice."

The RK900's hand came into her field of vision and she flinched. She stared up at his eyes as he looked her over, and she couldn't even begin to fathom on how or why this was happening. Why her? Why did he want her? Why did he have to hurt her family? Her nightmare was returning. Her peaceful life was short-lived.

Blue electricity sparked from the RK900's fingers as he reached for her head. Her eyes widened, everything electrical under her skin screaming to move away. When he made contact with her head, she felt the overload it caused within her systems. It hurt. Some kind of scream escaped her throat, but she couldn't move. It was over in seconds, and the leftover sensations left her completely dazed.

She breathed, she blinked. Her memories were still there, but her body couldn't move very well.

[Systems in shock/Recalibrating/Expected recovery time: -00:35:21s]

She heard Rose calling for her, but she couldn't look over that way. Electrical interferences danced across her vision, glitching her sight. Kara felt the RK900 shove her towards the door, and that's when she heard it.

"Mom, no!"

"Alice, stop!" Rose yelled.

Kara forced herself to look, even though she felt delayed in her reaction time. Alice crashed into her, arms going around her waist. Kara tried to speak, but her voice took on a more mechanical tone due to her system recovery. Alice stared up at her, shaking her, fresh tears staining her face.

"Mom? Mom, please!"

Kara tried to tell her to run away, to go to Rose, but it was too late. The RK900 snatched her up by the shirt, lifting her to his level. Kara choked on a cry, her arms reaching for her daughter in such a sluggish motion. She was helpless in this state, but she fought every ounce of her own system recovery to save Alice.

"Please…no. She's innocent," Kara struggled to get out.

The advanced deviant hunter acted like he didn't hear her. Alice was frozen in fear, staring face to face with him. But then she gasped, and reached up to touch the arm that was holding her by the shirt.

"Please let her go! My mom hasn't done anything wrong! We-we are just visiting friends. I need her, please don't take her away from me!"

Kara had to move. She couldn't watch the RK900 hurt her daughter right in front of her. She saw the deviant hunter stare at the child android, keeping her above the ground eye to eye with him, not a single emotion on his face. As Kara tried to speak again, she saw his LED blink, and for a moment it flashed yellow. His icy grey eyes blinked, and he gently sat the girl on her feet.

The RK900 turned away from Alice and grabbed Kara by the arm, pulling her towards the front door. Her legs were slow to respond. She couldn't even function enough to keep up with him, let alone fight him.

She wasn't about to give up, even as he shoved her into a driverless taxi waiting outside. She had to try and escape him, get back to her family, get them to safety. She would do it…or die trying.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13002717/6/Deviant-Heart

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15393528/chapters/36592599

#detroit: become human #detroit become human #dbh #dbh fanfic #dbh connor #dbh hank #dbh markus #dbh kara #dbh gavin #dbh north #dbh simon #rk900 #detroit become human fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #Action/Adventure #mystery #suspense #dbh fanfiction

[newsmanmdgn]

China Blocked Taiwan from Getting COVID-19 Vaccines, Leading to a Spike in Infections

Taiwan says China blocked deal with BioNTech for COVID-19 shots

Taiwan directly accused China for the first time on Wednesday of blocking a deal with Germany's BioNTech SE for COVID-19 vaccines, in an escalating war of words after Beijing offered the shots to the island via a Chinese company.

Taiwan has millions of shots on order, from AstraZeneca Plc and Moderna Inc, but has received only slightly more than 700,000 to date, and has only been able to vaccinate about 1% of its population as cases surge.

Yahoo News

THIS is the kind of stuff China does that we, as Americans, should rail against. They always seem to want a cut of every deal they do.

NOT in a global pandemic! Get those vaccines out no matter what. The source doesn't matter and profits should be the last thing on their minds. They lose Taiwan, they lose a YUGE economic force for their economy.

Ernest learns to drive like really really fast (and furious)

Oh, by the way, Taiwan IS its own country. China just won't accept it. Screw that Ernest wannabe, John Cena. The CIA considers Taiwan to be its own country, so that's good enough for me.

Amazon to buy MGM Studios for $8.45 billion

Amazon said Wednesday that it will acquire MGM Studios for $8.45 billion, marking its boldest move yet into the entertainment industry and turbocharging its streaming ambitions.

The deal is the second-largest acquisition in Amazon’s history, behind its $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods in 2017.

Amazon said it hopes to leverage MGM’s storied filmmaking history and wide-ranging catalog of 4,000 films and 17,000 TV shows to help bolster Amazon Studios, its film and TV division.

“The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team,” said Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, in a statement. “It’s very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling.”

CNBC

Another asset bubble is about to burst. These media deals usually screw shareholders in 3…2…1 years. Or less. Look at Time Warner's acquisition of AOL back in the early 2000s.

Prosecutor in Trump criminal probe convenes grand jury to hear evidence, weigh potential charges

NEW YORK — Manhattan's district attorney has convened the grand jury that is expected to decide whether to indict former president Donald Trump, other executives at his company or the business itself, should prosecutors present the panel with criminal charges, according to two people familiar with the development.

The panel was convened recently and will sit three days a week for six months. It is likely to hear several matters — not just the Trump case ­— during its term, which is longer than a traditional New York state grand-jury assignment, these people said. Like others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. Generally, special grand juries such as this are convened to participate in long-term matters rather than to hear evidence of crimes charged routinely.

The move indicates that District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.’s investigation of the former president and his business has reached an advanced stage after more than two years. It suggests, too, that Vance thinks he has found evidence of a crime — if not by Trump, by someone potentially close to him or by his company.

WaPo

While this is very encouraging news, there are so many wiggle room “outs” that I highly recommend you best not get your hopes up. We've been here and done this before.

IOW, don't hold your breath. By the way, this grand jury is slated to run up to 6 months, ending just before Vance leaves his position.

Woman charged with assaulting Southwest flight attendant

San Diego authorities charged a 28-year-old woman with felony battery after an attack on a Southwest Airlines plane in which a flight attendant lost two teeth and suffered other injuries to her face.

The incident marked an escalation in unruly behavior by airline passengers and led the president of the flight attendants' union to ask for more federal air marshals on planes.

“Unfortunately, this is just one of many occurrences,” said the union president, Lyn Montgomery. She said there were 477 incidents of “misconduct” by passengers on Southwest planes between April 8 and May 15.

Yahoo!

The friendly skies ain't so friendly any more.

While I don't condone violence, I will admit SWA flight attendants can be a bit Meghan McCain-ish. That passenger got “all Whoopie” on her ass.

Most voters oppose Newsom recall as Covid optimism rises

OAKLAND — California's rebound from the Covid-19 crisis is complicating the drive to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom, with a strong majority of state voters now approving of his pandemic management and just 40 percent saying they would remove him, a new Public Policy Institute of California poll shows.

Californians have growing optimism about the state’s recovery as infection rates decline and a larger share of the state becomes fully vaccinated while a wider array of businesses open. A whopping 90 percent of likely voters said they overwhelmingly believe the worst of the crisis is behind the state, greater than the 74 percent who said that in March.

Politico

Leave it to the folks in Cali to cry about shit one day, then laugh about it the next, all the while stirring up a bunch of shit and costing millions in lost opportunity.

Just think: Maybe Newsom could have done an even better job with COVID had he not had to fight for his political life.

Think about that, you dummies who signed the petition to recall him.

Disney Is Introducing a $100 Sammich

The panini sandwich can feed six to eight people and, according to ABC7 News, includes salami, rosemary ham, provolone and sun-dried tomato spread on toasted focaccia. It comes with marinara dipping sauce and arugula salad (although one respondent to the comments on one story quipped, “For $100 I better be eating an endangered species.”)

Travel Pulse

A. Who cares? I don't care if I ever set foot again in another Disney property.

B. Meh. It'll taste like a week-old Dominos pizza box.

The article was originally published here! China Blocked Taiwan from Getting COVID-19 Vaccines, Leading to a Spike in Infections

[chezzkaa]

This isn’t Mistletoe?!

Pairing: Michael Jones x Reader Day 23 of Fics Advent Calendar 2017. Read the others here 

Prompt/Summary: MichaelxReader fluff? It’s that time of year again! Time to put up the tree and hang up the mistletoe! The reader is freaking out over which decorations go where and Michael is trying to catch her under the mistletoe. He finally does with the help of the Lads and Gents. I just recently found your blog and I love it to pieces. Your works are amazing!! Thank you for taking your time to read this! wc: 2092

“I dunno,” shrugs Gavin, his chin buried in the red tinsel Trevor and Jeremy were encasing him in, “I haven’t seen her since lunch.”

Michael groans, bending his knees and rocking back in frustration. “I’ve been looking for her for hours!”

“Stop freaking out,” reassures Jeremy while peeking under Gavin’s arm, a wide, cheery grin plastered to his face, “she’ll turn up.”

“She better,” Michael grumbles, eyes drifting to the clock, “if she’s any later she’ll miss her own pre-party party.”

“She just likes to be organised,” dismisses Gavin, Trevor taking a step back and eyeing up his work; certain something is missing. “You know how she gets.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Michael sighs, his irritation simmering down into underlying concern. “She’s her own worst enemy. She’s probably at the store buying as many decoration options as possible.”

“Sounds about right, but since when’ve you cared?” The Brit eyes his friend suspiciously, the tops of Michael’s ears turning pink.

“Because I like her; asshole. I didn’t get this piece of shit for my health.” Michael holds up the small cluster of berries shrouded in leaves, Gavin’s squeaking tightening with the pressure of Trevor adding lights.

“Wait,” comes Ryan’s voice around the chocolates he was cramming into his mouth, “is that holly?”

“No,” rejects Michael indignantly, the quirk of his eyebrow giving away his uncertainty. “It’s mistletoe.”

Ryan approaches with another handful of snacks, eyes narrowing as he assesses the piece Michael holds out for inspection. He plucks a red berry, glowering before tossing it at Gavin, lodging it in his nose. “Yup,” he confirms, munching, “that’s holly.”

“Awwwhh FUCK.” Michael’s knees hit the carpet, his face defeated.

Alfredo looks up momentarily from his place in the kitchen, hands still transferring poorly decorated cookies to their display plates. His face is apologetic until Ryan attempts to swipe one of creations, earning a slapped hand. “We could go to the store and find some? The white stuff’s everywhere.”

“Yeah,” agrees Jeremy while trying to steady Gavin, making sure all of his limbs were in functioning order before leaving the man to his own devices. “I’m sure there’s mistletoe, too.”

Alfredo glares, “boo, you suck.”

“Who’s sucking?” queries Geoff from his ball atop the couch; feet angled towards the roaring fire and face having been buried deep in a book. “And how do I get in on said sucking?”

“No one’s sucking but me,” groans Michael, wobbling to standing and accepting one of the sweets Ryan offers, hands tossing the holly aside and filling with foil wrapped chocolates.

Geoff considers this fully. “I can deal with that.”

Jack’s pulls out his phone, slipping past Alfredo in the kitchen and smiling comfortingly at Michael, ignoring the laughter.  “We could post mate some?”

“Jack, you’re a genius!” he exclaims, hope blooming in his chest. “That’s perfect; we could have it delivered before she gets back!”  

“I’ll sort it out so we don’t end up with holly again,” Jack suggests, Michael nodding eagerly. The bearded man glances about the room, eyes lingering on the mess they’ve created. “We should probably clean up. Y/N’s gonna flip her shit if she finds her house in this state. She’s already pulling her hair out.”  

Michael’s eyes brighten, but no way near as much as Gavin does. With a chorus of chuckles Jeremy plugs the lad in, Christmas lights flashing happily from beneath his tinselled body. Both Jeremy and Trevor beam at their creation, Gavin equally thrilled with the state of his handmade ugly sweater.

It’s all hands on deck as soon as Gavin begins scooping up the incredibly long cable connecting him to the wall, realising that his outfit isn’t at all practical. Ryan quickly shovels all of his wrappers into his arms, dumping them in the trash as Geoff joins Alfredo on dish duty. Jeremy works on straightening the cushions, Jack tapping away in his phone. In a confusion of cords Trevor battles with the vacuum, harshly nudging feet as he cleans.

Gavin casts Michael a reassuringly cheeky grin, looking pleased. “Don’t worry, boy; she can’t escape.”

“Why do you always have to make it weird?”

“Make what weird?”

Michael whirls at the sound of your curiosity, eyes wide as he takes in your exhausted figure, bags lining up to your elbows. You watch him closely, the rest of your friends bolting into lounging positions; Trevor tripping over the vacuum cable in an attempt to abandon it in its respective home.

“Erm...” Michael panics, eyes darting to Gavin as he smashes out a pose, motioning to flashing lights. “Gavin makes everything weird. Just look at him. He’s just a freak.”

You do, taking in his clashing tinsel wrapping and throbbing colours, holding back a wince. Still, you sigh, a tired smile working across your face.

“Ray’s gonna have a field day,” you chuckle, entering your front room and unloading the bags into Ryan’s waiting arms, thankful for the relief.

Michael’s face screws in confusion, his “what?” cut off with the purple man bounding into the space, arms equally loaded up.

“The fuck are you wearing?”

“Always a pleasure, Ray.”

“You look like a Who from the Grinch.”

Gavin doesn’t seem at all offended, grinning at his friend. “You’re one to talk.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I- I don’t know.”

Ray chortles, following you into the room and beginning to unpack the decorations. “Good one, Gav.”

Michael comes up behind you, body noticeably close and warming your back while he peaks into the bags. Instead of commenting he sighs, hands diving into the closest bag, unpacking the tiny golden reindeer.  You appreciate his silence, knowing your nerves can’t take criticism. If you were honest, every thought of Christmas brings you closer to tears, the idea of donning the halls anything but festively cheerful.  

He’d been the one to suggest inviting your friends over for a pre-party party to help set up – Michael, that is. He’d pushed hard for it, actually, and you can’t deny the comfort you find in their smiling faces. Every year it was difficult, and though you desperately want to throw yourself into celebrations, each time would bring about debilitating stress.

You fill their hands with decorations and minds with tasks; Alfredo contently working in the kitchen with his taste tester Ryan – who happily sucks on the brownie batter spoon – while Jack and Geoff take on table setting. Jeremy follows them, each plate being adorned with an extravagant Christmas cracker and poorly folded napkin, the young man exercising an incredibly amount of restraint to avoid pulling them early. Ray joins Trevor, the pair generously scattering ornaments across the fireplace mantle and the overhangs, Gavin dictating positioning and aesthetics as their eyes roll.

The final task is saved for Michael and yourself, his eagerness to set up the tree warming your heart. Minding the bristles, you both sit in the corner of the room and unfold the tree’s numerous prickly parts, chattering about nothing. Assembly doesn’t take long, soon seeing the tree tower to the ceiling, filling the corner. Next come the decorations, the two of you jamming rich reds, golds, and an array of purples onto its branches; tossing strings of beads, tinsel and lights as the finishing touch.

You and Michael share a proud grin, his arm winding around your shoulder as he cheers. Instinctively you curl into him, palm resting against his chest, the other around his waist. You stay like this for a moment, too caught up in each other to notice the excited whispers rippling through the rest of your friends – until there’s a knock at the door.

With a jump start you pull away, blushing a deep pink that mirrors his cheeks. Jack rushes past with a yell, stopping your advances towards the visitor.

“NO! Err, I mean, you should really pack the underside of the tree,” he stumbles, back pressed to the door.

“What’s going on?” You needle, eyes narrowing in suspicion. Jack’s face flashes pleadingly, Geoff jumping to his aide.

“Calm down, Jack,” he instructs, storming past the man and throwing back a warning glace. “This’ll only take a minute.”

The door opens and slams far too quickly, Geoff’s loud yells rattling against the wood. You take a cautionary step back, looking to anyone for an explanation.

Ryan shrugs around Alfredo, looking unconcerned. “Drama.”

“Okay... I’ll- I’ll just, err,” you turn slowly, eyeing up the guilty group. “I’ll just head upstairs and get the bags of gifts.”

“Have fun,” waves Michael as you dip behind the wall into the next room with Ray, your footsteps resonating in creaks. Then he’s rushing to the door, yanking it open to see Geoff apologising profusely to a man, handing over money and taking the giant bag. Michael snatches it from tattooed hands, rushing inside and dropping to his knees to rip it open.

The content spills, mountains of mistletoe coating the carpet. “Why the fuck is there so many?!”

Jack shrugs, stealing a cookie and passing it back to Ryan, who munches happily. “They only sold them in bulk. You’re now the proud owner of a kilo of mistletoe.”

Michael lets out a resounding sigh, combing quickly through the pile and selecting his favourite, the white berries shining with a silver gleam. He quickly forces the rest back into the container at the sound of your returning footsteps, loud bangs emanating with each stair the sacks hit.

“Seriously Ray,” you groan, rounding the corner with a peel of laughter, the man accompanying you struggling with slippery parcels, juggling them as best he can. “Why do you have to do everything the hard way?”

“Because I’m not a pussy.”

“It’s 2017,” you grumble playfully, unaware of Jack snatching the mistletoe from Michael and nudging him forward, his hands reaching to relieve some of the load. “You can’t use that in a derogatory way.”

“It’s not derogatory,” Ray denies, collapsing beneath the presents and shoving them under the tree, “if anything it’s a shame. I wish I was a pussy.”

“Just stop,” jabs Michael with a smirk, accepting the gifts you hand over, drowning in the sight of your smile, “before you hurt yourself. Better yet, stop before Y/N hurts you.”

“I’ll do it,” you warn with lopsided grin that stops Michael’s heart, “don’t think I won’t.”

Ray panics theatrically, scampering away and bumping into Trevor as he balances on a chair, the two tangling in a mess of complaining limbs. You pay them no mind, tipping out your sack and kneeling beside the tree, Michael joining you and arranging the gifts into strategically tumbling piles. Your hands brush, his fingers squeezing yours and leaving tingles.

A commotion sounds above you, Jack making small noises of effort before yelling loudly. “I think it’s about time we ordered pizza. This place is good to go for tomorrow’s party.”

There are dramatic murmurs of agreement, the shuffling of feet accompanying the creak of your knees, standing to stare at the suspicious group. “Where are you going?”

“To order pizza,” says Geoff defensively, throwing his arms in the air.

“Can’t you order it in here?”

“Jesus Christ, Mom,” exclaims Ray, quickly catching on, “do we have to explain everything to you?”

You bristle, but only momentarily. A steady sigh sees you relaxing, a gentle squeeze warming your shoulder as Michael touches it. His face is perplexed, but manages to calm your confusion and mounting need for control.

“Okay, we’ll be weird and order pizza someplace else.”

“Alright, everybody out,” calls Gavin, ushering the group towards the back door, “you heard me, outside.”

You and Michael move to join, but Gavin’s eyes flick urgently up to the ceiling and back. Michael follows his gaze with a half muttered protest before a slightly frantic gasp escapes, his confusion colouring with anxiety.

“Oh, right, okay.”

He turns to you before you can protest, your friends disappearing as Michael touches the tops of your arms. All you can see is him, caught in his caramel eyes and the warm comfort of his nervous smile. He’s holding you close, the fibres of your sweaters brushing together as his hands remain gentle on your shoulders. He glances up, urging you to do the same, your lips parting in surprise at the mistletoe hanging above your heads.

“Michael, what’s going on –”

When you return to him he’s smiling, eyes caressing the features of the most beautiful woman in the world.

“Gotcha.”

“It’s about bloody time.”

And then his lips press against yours, arms winding to hold you close as the soft kiss lingers.

#Achievement Hunter #Rooster Teeth #Achievement Hunter x Reader #Achievement Hunter insert #Michael Jones x Reader #Michael Jones #Gavin Free #Jack Pattillo #Geoff Ramsey #Jeremy Dooley #Trevor Collins #alfredo diaz #Ryan Haywood #Christmas party #Christmas eve #Christmas #Christmas fluff #fics4you #RTAH

[vagrantblvrd]

All the Miles in the Road (1/1)

Summary: There was never a great overreaching plan, not for Geoff.

Notes: I've been kicking the idea of this Leverage-ish AU around for a while now, and this is where it starts??? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

AO3

Geoff didn't have a plan as a kid, nothing other than getting out of the town he grew up in as soon as humanly possible.

One of the shortest routes out of there comes with combat boots and weapons training. Meant schlepping down to the recruitment office and slapping a bright, cheerful smile on his face as he listened to the recruiting officer's spiel and signing away years of his life for a chance to make something of himself.

A few months later and he's suffering through boot camp with countless other poor bastards. Meets a few who aren't as jaded as Geoff is, weren't born that way, so they wholeheartedly buy into what their commanding officers are selling them.

Go out bright-eyed and bushy-tailed until they get deployed to a combat zone and realize shit's not as clear-cut as they were told. That in between the black and white world of you're either with us or you're against us, there's a whole hell of a lot of gray, and that's when shit gets rough.

Geoff goes in with his eyes wide open. Sees it coming and still can't do a damn thing about the way life kicks him full in the teeth with all the things he thought he knew. Young and half-convinced he's invincible, so goddamn certain he can handle it just fine.

(He doesn't, but it's nothing a bottle of booze won't fix, blurring the edges a little until it's just this funny little ache poking at him instead of a raw wound, bleeding him dry.)

Geoff doesn't see combat himself, coming into things at just the right/wrong time, but he's there's for the clean-up.

Gets to see fellow soldiers, brothers and sisters in arms,  trudging along and something off in the way they move.

More than a few coming back with thousand-yard stares and the kind of nightmares that wake them screaming. The ones everyone hears but only a few do something about. The ones that follow them home into neat little suburbs and bustling city blocks. Rural farmlands with acre after acre stretching out before them and all those damned memories lodged in their brains, claws in deep.

Geoff gets to see the broken down buildings that used to be a school, a daycare center. Places where kids played and parents talked. Places of business, tattered signs and awnings and broken windows and livelihoods lost, broken and shattered and gone.

And it leaves a mark, all of this. Sharp and jagged and bleeding inside him as he does his duty and serves his country.

Sees all the good they've done here in between all the wrong. Sees the way the politicians who've never seen a day of this pat themselves on the back and declare it a job well done. The way none of them ever see it from the ground themselves until it's been sanitized for the perfect photo opportunity, use all of this to win them votes at home.

When his time's up, Geoff gets the hell out and never looks back. Gets a job for an insurance company an old buddy works at and happily offers to chat Geoff up to his bosses, give him a foot in the door there.

And Geoff, he's at loose ends at the time. Money from the government sitting there for him to build a future with, and nothing in him that wants to reach out and grab it just yet.

So he dresses up in an ill-fitting suit he buys off the rack in a department store because the only things he has in his closet now are old t-shirts and worn hoodies and battered jeans.

Goes into that interview with sweating palms he wipes against the leg of his pants, before standing and shaking hands, smiling just so.

Not too friendly, not too impersonal. Manages to hit this balance of the two that seems to agree with his interviewer because the man gives him a hearty handshake and that leads right into asking him about Geoff's military service. Leaning in with the kind of anticipation that makes Geoff uneasy, but he's young and needs a job, and this could be it.

He plays it off as humble, gives the man just enough to let him fill in the blanks himself. Naming foreign locations he's probably never heard of and will never see. Tells a story here, a story there.

All the while there's this little voice in the back of Geoff's mind, small and angry and helpless saying motherfucker because Geoff's known guys like this all his life.

Grew up with them, the ones who glorified what Geoff and the other soldiers did, what others continue to do.

Holding their service to their country up as some great shining thing like it's honestly as simple as black and white, right and wrong. Who claim to admire and respect what they've done for their country and turn around and don't do a fucking thing to help them when they come home, a little broken, a lot lost, and so wholly in need of help they'll never get.

It's the first sign, but Geoff's young and needs a job and this could be it, or so he tells himself, over and over again until he almost believes it. (Almost.)

========

Geoff spends the next few years busting his ass to reclaim valuable after valuable. Doesn't see it at first, the way the company, his company, fucks over the little guy time after time after time.

Always off gallivanting across the world, miles and miles away from the heart of things, but eventually he notices what’s been going on all these years.

The way they make good use of those loopholes they love so much, fucking artists about it. And he sees other things too, watches them laughing to themselves as they decline this claim, that one, saving the company money and screwing over the everyday person, and that -

It's the beginning of the end, really. (It takes some time, but he gets there.)

========

“Is it worth it, do you think?”

Geoff pulls his attention away from his phone and looks at the fucking kid he's got zip-tied in his hotel room. (Feels like a dirty old man at the way the thought rolls through his head because there's just no good way of spinning that one.)

“Is what worth it?” Geoff asks, hitting send on his text to let his boss knows he got the painting back. “You being a little prick?”

There's this quiet little laugh, and then the kid twists around to face him. Eyes drifting to the painting leaning against the wall for a brief moment.

“What they pay you for,” the kid says, something in his voice that catches. “Running around chasing people like me down to save them money. Is it worth it?”

Geoff sighs, looking at the kid.

Young, so unbelievably young, and he's not jaded, really. Not angry or bitter or cynical, but he's not one to blindly believe everything he sees or hears on television and the radio. An edge to him that Geoff forgets about, time and again when their paths happen to cross.

Sharp, dangerous, in the way it cuts both ways at times.

Smart, clever little bastard with sticky fingers and a talent for getting into places he shouldn't be. For getting his hands on things he has no right touching.

“You want an honest answer?” Geoff asks, and this is him being an honest man, something he feels he hasn't been in a long, long time. “Do you, Gavin?”

Gavin's eyes narrow, and he cocks his head.

“Are you going to give me one?”

Geoff gets up, walks over to the chair he put Gavin in after he finally tracked him down to the hotel the slippery little fucker was staying at. So goddamn clever and perfectly aware of it, delighting in the way people scramble to play catch-up with him over and over again.

Gavin looks up at him, all too aware of his current circumstances and throwing back the kind of fearlessness only the young carry with them.

“No,” Geoff sighs, pulling out a knife to cut the zip-ties. Ignores the way he can feel Gavin watching him oh so carefully as Geoff moves past him to nudge the painting so it's not leaning at an angle, likely to fall over like that and all. “It's not worth it.”

Give it five minutes and there won't be a fucking trace of Gavin anywhere in the hotel. Another five, ten, if Gavin feels like further tempting fate, and he'll be long gone.

No power in the world able to sniff out whatever twisting, winding trail he'll be sure to have laid down to throw off the local law enforcement officers making their way to the hotel looking for him.

When Geoff looks behind him, the chair's empty, curtains to the balcony overlooking the courtyard billowing gently in the wind.

========

Geoff gets awards, gets accolades. Gets promotions and raises and keeps being a good employee, and it eats away at him.

Geoff doesn't handle these kind of cases, clients, no, but he has friends in the company. Cozied up to people who hear what's going on because he doesn't spend that much time in the office. Always chasing down some piece of art or antique, something valuable to the right people, and it pays to keep an ear to the ground in a place like this.

There's a family, kid wasting away from cancer and – Geoff hears from people who won't lift a goddamn finger of their own volition – useless words of sympathy and if only we could do something to help.

He gets his hands on the client's files, does some digging and realizes there is something they can do.

A whole hell of it, actually, but the thing of it is it'll cost the company a pretty penny. All these millions, billions they've made, stand to make, and the treatment this kid needs is barely a drop in the bucket but they’re greedier than he thought, and it’s just one kid, isn’t it?

Sad story that’ll make the rounds before being forgotten all too soon, one among many and people have always had short memories when it comes to these things.

And Geoff -  

“Is it worth it, do you think?”

There's a family out there suffering and no one's doing a goddamn thing to help them, and Geoff's old and tired by now. Seen the way people fuck each other because it's the easiest goddamned thing in the world to do. Half the time you don't even have to lift a finger, just wait and time will take care of things for you.

Geoff has all these passwords and clearances and little bits and pieces of the company invested in him because he's such a good employee.

Even has an office somewhere he never uses where they tell him all those awards and accolades he's bee given over the years hang on the wall in tastefully elegant frames because someone of his standing deserves to have one.

Perfect place to right some of the wrongs he's let slide by him all these years, finally do something right.

Because this kid, their family, they aren’t the only ones the company’s fucking over at the moment. He finds a dozen right off, and when he looks deeper unearths even more.

Geoff gathers up all the parts of him he left scattered behind him over the years and pieces himself back together for one big, beautiful fuck you to his goddamned company.

========

Geoff quits before he can be fired.

Ties up loose ends nice and neat and figures what he needs is a change of scenery, start over somewhere else. He gets himself a nice little condo, decides to take it easy for a bit until he figures out where to go from here.

Finds a quaint little cafe with outdoor seating where he can grab a coffee and catch up on his reading, soak up the sun a bit.

“What do you think of the biscotti here?”

Geoff sighs, and lowers his book.

Gavin's grinning at him, all cheerfully smug with his sunglasses pushed into his hair. Looks like any other twenty-something douche walking the streets around here. Hip and trendy and goddamned annoying.

“No,” Geoff says, because he's not playing whatever little game Gavin's playing. He's out of the business of playing that game. Is just some sad bastard who spends his days reading and drinking overpriced coffee a quaint little cafe. “Go bother someone else.”

He knows there were a lot of people chomping at the bit to get his job for years before he decided to give his old company the finger. Finally had enough of playing stupid, like he hadn't known what they'd do to save money. Plenty of people for Gavin to torment now, lead on wild goose chases and whatever the hell else he does for fun.

Gavin rolls his eyes and waves a waitress over, orders the biscotti and some ridiculous drink, settles back down with his hands folded together over his stomach as he watches Geoff.

There's a little voice in the back of Geoff's head, the dutiful one he hasn't truthfully listened to in years. The one telling him he should do something about the internationally wanted thief sitting across from him with this irritating level of smug coming off him. Little smirk on his face, and so damn certain Geoff's not going to do a damn thing about any of it.

“What do you want?” he asks, because Gavin’s still watching him, tiny little wheels turning in that head of his.

Gavin looks Geoff over, deliberate about it, and smiles.

Small and real, and he waves a hand at Geoff. This little corner of the world he’s calling home these days.

“Worth it?” he asks, as though he doesn’t already know.

“I’m going to call the cops if you keep gloating, you little shit.”

Gavin laughs like he thinks Geoff’s joking, but dials his smugness down a few notches. Pulls out his phone and taps away at it quietly, either planning his next great heist or looking at cat videos, Geoff has no damn clue. Doesn’t care, because it’s not his problem anymore, thank Christ.

Still.

Geoff looks at Gavin, stupid kid who’s too clever for his own good, getting into trouble he shouldn’t because it sounds like fun to him. Keeps coming around to check in on Geoff even though there’s no reason why he should.

Painfully honest for someone in his line of work. (Closest thing to a friend Geoff’s let himself have for a long time.)

Yes, Geoff thinks, because he’s still learning how to be honest with himself. It is.

#that au i've been meaning to write for ages now #powered by all the sad songs in my playlist because of course #¯\_(ツ)_/¯