#if i were todd anderson and once everything had calmed down again and i looked at neil perry once i would have simply burst into tears | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ameliterature · 3 years

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Neil and Todd Jealousy POV (Yes, there's more)

Charlie POV | Cameron POV

Neil was an only child and this obviously came with minor character flaws. Not only was he given all of the attention by his parent (even if it was the bad kind) Neil never really had to share anything.

Not that he didn't want to share. He just never had many opportunities to, with the lack of siblings and all. The closest he had to a sibling was Charlie. Unlike Neil, Charlie would share everything with him because he had so much to give. Was it the fact that Charlie's family was rich and that he has at least 3 of each item? Maybe, but Charlie was sure to share what he had with his best friend.

Another thing Neil "the Welton Golden boy" Perry had as a flaw was that he simultaneously wore his heart on his sleeve and yet always tried to hide his feelings. Case in point: when Charlie made a move on Todd.

Now, it's only been roughly 2 semesters since they've known Todd Anderson. Neil had the gracious chance to be his roommate, so in some way, it was like having another best friend aside from Charlie. But what he felt for Todd was vastly different from his friendship with Charlie. Something about the way Todd smiled at him, something about the way he makes sarcastic remarks, something about the way they shared glances between each other every now and then.

Neil was completely enthralled by Todd. Some might say to the point of being possessive. Neil would say protective because Todd was the kind of person who needed to be kept safe. Todd wasn't good at standing up for himself, he wasn't good at speaking the same way he wrote poems. Neil took it upon himself to be the one to make Todd feel the included. He had to be included, he had to be where Neil was.

Thankfully the whole Dead Poet Society thing worked out well, Neil was surprised how well Todd was integrated into the group. They even spent Christmas break as a group with Todd. Things were going great between him and Todd, Neil couldn't ask for more than to share his experiences with Todd.

But one night, a regular ole Study group session, something caught Neil's eyes. Todd was helping Knox out with some love poem, obviously meant for Chris, and he could hear the contents of the poem.

"Hymns from above casted when you're near

Heaven's light shine atop a golden-haired angel

My heart's full of whims and vivid dreams

but in your presence they're obligations I hold close

Be mine and I'll keep your heart guarded

Because mine is with yours, unthwarted."

Neil hears Todd recite their draft poem, hearing it as if it were meant for him to hear. His own golden-haired angel was biting the end of his pencil as Knox was scribbling the rest of the poem. Neil catches himself staring just before Todd looks up at him so he brings his attention back to the trigonometry problem he was answering with Cameron.

He couldn't concentrate on sine, cosine, and tangents at the moment, not when Todd's hand is in his peripheral view; all perfect with it's blemishes and tapping to an imaginary beat. Every so often, he'd steal a glance at Todd's eyes, darting back and forth from his paper to Knox's. He'd be jealous of any pupil Todd would eventually have if he became an English teacher. To be consulted with his sweet voice, to be seated by him as he explains anything, to be taught how to express feelings he wasn't sure how to jot down.

Oh have Todd's untampered attention.

"Hey Todd," Charlie's voice resonates across their small table. Neil accidentally shot his eyes to his friend's direction without skipping a beat. "Mind helping me out with a poem too?"

Since when did Charlie ever ask for help from Todd? Not that he wasn't allowed to or anything, Todd was the right person for this task but-- Something about it wasn't sitting right with Neil.

What wasn't a surprise was Todd's hesitant acceptance. He watched as Todd moved over to Charlie's right hand side and Neil felt his back become warm. It wasn't just his back, his guts turned into an unrested sea, and his eyebrows twitched, trying to avoid a scowl.

"What do you wanna write about?"

"I wanna write about Love." Neil saw Charlie lean forward to look Todd deep into his eyes; for a moment, he thought he saw Todd blush. Neil didn't like Todd showing that expression to someone else, or at least someone like Charlie.

"S-So... We'll use cosine to get X--" Cameron muttered, snapping Neil back to his assignment. He looked at the blurred numbers and symbols, trying to remember what the other problem was.

"Right, cosine-"

Just before dinner, Neil catches up with Todd to walk with him to the dining hall.

"So," Neil started, not exactly sure where to lead the conversation to. "I guess it's spaghetti and meatballs again, huh?"

Todd pushed out a chuckle in response. "Yeah, I guess it is."

Neil had Todd to himself for a tiny moment, for a stupid one-liner too, but it felt like he was in Cloud nine. Todd's calm expression was all he could ask for, paired with his blue eyes looking back at him.

When they reached their table, they assumed their usual spots, Neil being on the left side of the table and Todd on the other. However, Charlie decided to change up the seating arrangement and sat beside Todd instead of him.

There's that funny feeling again. Neil's stomach was nothing but a pit that resembled a deep well without a bucket, nothing to retrieve and remove the sludge that was forming in it. He hated how Todd was so responsive to Charlie's words, how Charlie was so capable of making Todd blush, he hated the sight of Todd rubbing elbows with Charlie as they ate. Neil wasn't sure why he was feeling this way, why he even thought something innocent between Charlie and Todd could make him so agitated. It could all be his imagination.

When Todd left for the bathroom, Neil decided to interrogate his best friend.

"Hey Charlie, why the sudden change of seating arrangement? Thought I was your cute best friend." He tried to sound like his usual self.

"Well, I'm trying to get closer to Todd."

"W-what? Why?" Neil felt his voice crack, much like his confidence.

"I dunno, he's pretty cute. Don't you agree?"

"I--" Neil felt his whole body stiffen, his hand tightened it's pressure on his spoon like a clamp.

"I'm thinking of asking him out soon. No one else seems interested." Neil saw it, he saw Charlie smirk. Neil's emotions became unreasonably irrational, they became unhinged and even if he tried to hide it, they were all bubbling to the surface. Charlie had everything already, he and Neil shared everything before this, but for some reason, Neil couldn't share Todd with someone like Charlie.

"Oh hi, Todd! Welcome back" Neil glares at Charlie while he greets Todd.

"What did I miss?" Todd asks innocently, still taking his seat beside Charlie.

As Charlie began his sentence, Neil cuts him off. "Nothing-" Todd shifts his eyes to share eye contact with Neil. "By the way, we should head back to our room, I need help with my poems." Neil's last attempt of gaining the upper hand on Charlie failed when Charlie brought up his and Todd's prior arrangement.

Neil didn't get it. What did Charlie have that he didn't? Or better yet, what does Charlie not possess yet that he would try to make the moves on Todd?? Neil hated this feeling- this vicious vine-like feeling trapping him. Was it... Jealousy?

Neil's never had much of a reason to be jealous about someone before. He's only been jealous of people who were freer than him-- people like Charlie. Was he jealous of Charlie in that regard? That he could proudly express what he felt for Todd and Neil couldn't? He guessed that was the difference. Charlie did have everything; down to the personality that could make Todd fall for him.

Neil was in Meeks' dorm room, resigning himself in defeat like a pathetic loser he thought he was.

All Neil could do was blankly stare into the shine of the wires that coiled around parts of their machine. A brief knock on their door broke his trance- It was Cameron.

“Do you guys mind if I hang out here? I’m just gonna do my reviewers for a bit.”

“Sure, no problem.” Meeks nods, still measuring out some amount of wires.

“Wait, how come you’re not studying in your room?” Neil questioned,

Cameron took a moment to respond. “Charlie… he wanted to focus on his homework with Todd… Alone.”

This was the last straw for Neil, the final push that made him stand up for once. He couldn't bury his jealousy anymore, he had to confront Charlie.

He left his friends to march his way to Charlie's room. He wasted no time when asking Charlie about his motives.

"Well hello, Perry! What do I owe the pleasure?"

"Quit it-" Neil cuts him off. "Are you serious about Todd?"

"... What?"

"I- I'm asking if you're really interested in Todd?"

Maybe this was all a trick, maybe Neil was just being jealous, maybe Charlie was playing a cruel joke on Neil and he had to shake it out of him.

"Yes." Charlie's expression was ripe with confidence.

With that, Neil felt his world shatter. What was he doing? Was he gonna fight his friend over his feelings for Todd? Was he gonna deny Todd of someone as fun and as romantic as Charlie? Charlie's given so much to Neil and the way he was acting was nothing short of being selfish.

If Charlie really liked Todd, then Todd would be lucky. If Todd would return those feelings, Charlie would be the luckiest man to ever live.

Neil had nothing to offer to Todd that Charlie couldn't top. Neil felt his bitter feelings turn into catharsis, accepting that Todd's better off sharing his moments with Charlie than him.

"T-then... Please take care of him, okay?" Neil buckled his shoulders.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"If you ever hurt Todd-- You're a dead man, got it?" Neil's eyes were like daggers, piercing right at Charlie's own brown eyes.

"R-right..."

Neil figured he had to leave, he couldn't bear to see Todd and Charlie exchanging looks. But this of course wasn't the case. A knock echoed in the room.

When he opened the door, Todd was right there, his beautiful eyes staring up at Neil will a quizzical expression.

Neil assumed that Charlie would most likely profess his love to those eyes, and that knowledge broke Neil's heart.

"Sorry Todd, looks like I'm gonna have to move our study session for now. I think Neil needs your help more. Right, Neil?" Charlie spoke, catching Neil's bewildered expression.

"I'm sure he's got something more important than mine anyway."

Neil looks at Charlie and Todd, bouncing a confused face between them. He sees Charlie's wink before Todd guides Neil out of the room.

Todd sighs as he returns to his room with Neil, his sweaty hands in the midst of sticking to his papers.

How did he end up in this situation?

How could he explain the entire day?

It all started when he told Charlie about his crush on Neil in private. All he wanted was advice from the best friend of his crush and nothing more.

"Glad you came to me, Toddsie!" Charlie pats him on the back excitedly.

Todd didn't like how enthusiastic Charlie was being in this situation, though he was grateful Charlie immediately accepted him for coming out.

"I know exactly how to make him fall in love with you!"

"L-look Charlie, I'm not trying to get Neil to like me! I just-- I just wanted to know how to deal with all these feelings I'm having."

All these feelings- Todd's had these "feelings" ever since Neil shook his hand for the first time in the courtyard. He's never met someone as perfect as Neil. Yeah, he had Father Issues, impulsive actions, even the tendency to make weird noises (but he found those the cutest) and yet Neil made Todd's world move.

Neil's laughter, Neil's smile, the stolen glances he catches Neil casting his direction-- It was all Todd sought after in his recent days at Welton.

"Oh please, Todd, those 'feelings' are straight up love from what I hear. We just have to know if Neil feels the same way!"

"We don't even know if he's interested in men! Charlie- What am I supposed to do?" Todd buried his face into his hands.

"Don't worry, I'll find out a way to not only check if he swings that way, but I can guarantee I can get him to return your feelings."

"That-- That doesn't make any sense, Charlie." Todd wasn't able to question his friend any longer as they dashed into the study hall.

The Study group went on as usual, Todd assisting Knox with his poem for Chris, Meeks and Pitts building a contraption he was sure was the Radio Mark II, and Neil, Cameron and Charlie trying to answer some trigonometry homework.

What didn't help was Neil being directly in front of him. Todd could see Neil in his glasses, unabashedly handsome and very distracting. Todd would try his best to help Knox with his poem but Todd's eyes would linger onto Neil's perfectly "framed" face.

He then hears Charlie call him over. At first, Todd didn't think much of it, but he soon regrets ever telling Charlie of his crush on Neil.

The whole evening, Charlie tried to make Neil jealous without planning it out with Todd first. If Todd had at least known, he wouldn't have been trying picture Neil in Charlie's place as some sort of "method acting" to go along with this scheme. When dinner began, Charlie took Cameron's spot for 'maximum efficiency'. It didn't help when Charlie called him "cute" in front of Neil. Would Neil agree? Would Neil even describe a guy to be cute? Would Todd be able to enjoy his spaghetti and meatballs without Charlie's arm around him?

Todd decided that he should excuse himself to the bathroom for compose himself. (And to evade the plethora of compliments Charlie showered him with.)

When it came from Charlie, it felt like a joke, like a friendly description, really, than an actual compliment. Then Todd thinks if they came from Neil... then those words would make him swoon.

Would Neil even fall for this type of trick? Was it even right to trick Neil like this? Would Neil be even okay with the idea of Todd being in a relationship in with a man? He wasn't even sure if Neil would accept Todd's feelings, let alone feel jealous of Charlie.

As Todd approached their table, he's immediately greeted by Charlie.

"What did I miss?"

"Well Todd--" "Nothing." Neil cuts of Charlie with a serious tone.

Oh no... did Neil find out? Did Charlie rat him out already?

"By the way, we should head back to our room, I need help with my poems." Neil looks up at Todd with an expression that is both deadpan and attractive to him, Todd had no other choice but to accept.

"What? Todd, I thought you'd help me out?" Charlie pouts. "I did ask first." Todd didn't want to miss his opportunity to be with Neil, especially not when he looks at him like that. But Todd looks back at Charlie, raising his eyebrows as if to say "Just go along with it."

Todd was reluctant, of course, he didn't want to perpetuate fooling Neil in any way, but he wasn't sure if Neil had anything to return at all. They were always alone after all, nothing would be stripped away if he spent one evening in Charlie's room to make Neil jealous.

"Right, sorry, Neil. I'll go back to our room after I help out Charlie." Todd replied with a pained expression hidden behind his face.

That evening, when he approached Charlie's room, he hears Neil's voice muffling through. Todd wished had the will to listen in but he assumed it wouldn't be his business if it was said behind closed doors. He took another moment before knocking on Charlie's door.

Neil opens the door for Todd, their eyes meeting briefly, like a celestial occurrence that Todd took note of. Have they always been this brown?

"Hi Todd!" Charlie greets him, breaking him from Neil's gaze.

"Hey Charlie, Hi Neil."

He was expecting Charlie to pull another stunt to make Neil's brown eyes angry, but instead both his and Neil's eyes lifted in surprise when Charlie told him Neil needed his help more.

Did they come to some agreement?

And Todd could've sworn Charlie was winking at Neil... or was it at him?

All these questions didn't matter when they were alone in their room.

Their chests rattled like cages, their hearts ready to jump out at any moment.

Neil bit his lip as Todd took a seat by his desk.

"S-so Neil..." Todd muttered, "Can I ask you something? B-before I help you with your poem..."

"Oh- Yeah, sure."

"What do you think of... of men dating each other?"

Neil lets out a tiny cough. "W- Excuse me?"

"Do you think... it's ok? For two guys to like each other?"

Neil wasn't sure how to respond, was Todd telling him that he liked Charlie? Was Neil too late? Did he miss his chance to tell Todd what he really felt?

"I-- I guess it's alright," Neil answered, slumping his shoulders down in defeat. If he was gonna lose Todd to Charlie, he might as well be supportive. "But- you have to make sure it's the right person." Neil wasn't going down without a fight though.

Todd's face brightened with Neil's response. So 1 part of his query is answered; Neil is ok with the idea of men liking each other. Now it's the question of Neil's feelings for Todd.

"I-If someone, a guy, liked you, how would you feel?" Todd stood up, turning to face Neil. Both of them were by their desks, like two sturdy posts defending their base. Todd awaited Neil’s response with the anticipation akin to a war officer in a meeting room.

"I... would really only prefer it from one guy." Neil took a step forward, with the courage of a powerful Chesspiece during an endgame.

Todd took note of this, mimicking his step, this time walking a bit closer to Neil with his hands in his pockets. "Y-yeah? Who?"

Neil noted this feeling being similar to a spelling bee, like spelling out a complicated word letter by letter, taking a breath to make sure the next thing he was about to say was exactly what the world wanted him to say.

"You, Todd. It's always going to be you."

Todd looks up at Neil, who's now inches away from him from, fully realizing their slight height difference. "I'd say the same for you."

"I hope... I'm not... taking you away from Charlie-" Neil slowly brings his hand to sweep Todd’s hair aside to see his eyes better.

Todd snickers slightly, catching Neil by surprise. "Neil... You don't have to worry about Charlie. I don't have any feelings for him."

"But-" Neil looks concerned, feeling like he betrayed Charlie. "He... He likes you. Todd, I--"

"Is that what he told you? Neil... I hope you won't be angry when I tell you he's been pulling your leg."

Neil jerks his head backwards. "What?"

"I.. Just promise you won't be angry okay?" Todd had to come clean, he couldn’t handle Neil thinking badly of him if he never admitted Charlie's plan. Neil nods before Todd reveals Charlie’s idiotic scheme to get them together by means of tomfoolery.

Neil sighs with a smile, leaning forward to rest on Todd's shoulder. Todd was still getting used to the fact Neil's VERY close right now.

"Well, you guys did a pretty good job of making me extremely jealous." Neil laughs a bit. He was in relief that he didn't need to compete with Charlie.

"I'm... I'm really sorry, Neil. I told him I just wanted advice." Todd looks down with embarrassment.

Neil tilts Todd’s chin up with his hand, bringing his face up to look at him. "You're gonna have to make up for it, y'know?"

Todd’s face simmered under Neil's touch. "I know."

Todd learned that Neil was a Jealous type of guy, not the type to be possessive, but definitely the type to mope around rather than steal someone else's love interest.

Luckily for Neil, he already had Todd’s heart to begin with.

Neil wasn’t used to sharing, but he and Todd shared their first kiss that night. That's a compromise he was willing to do.

Bonus:

Knox, Meeks and Pitts POV:

4 of their friends (the roommates) getting paired up in one night made them:

Thanks again to @sweettodd for that one post that spawn all these POVs haha

Taglist: @anderperrytheplatypus @she-nuwanda @andersonsdeskset @sweetnessbythesea @maisietheweltoncow [tell me if u wanna be added/removed next time]

#anderperry #anderperry fic #yes it's another #jealousy trope #Neil and Todd #POV!#anderperry one shot #dead poets society #anderperry fanfic #fanfic #dps #dead poets society fanfic #dps fic

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americasmarauders · 3 years

Note

What about ....

“i’m not worthy of anybody’s love.” “that’s not true, you’re worthy of mine.” followed by the lover breaking eye-contact… + a love confession

Followed with tentative kisses in the dark

With Jason Todd x reader ❤❤❤❤❤

Lots of love xoxo

did this get completly out of hand? yes, yes it did. It was supposed to be short and sweet, but suddenly I had 12 pages of angst ready to make their way into the world.

I’m so sorry it took so long, elle, life got in my way, but now you have like, 6k+ words to make up for it. I really hope you like it.

warnings: completly unedited, sorry for the typos :))

words: 6,856

masterlist #

Aged 14, sometime in September.

Mason Anderson was the biggest dick she had ever met. He was petty and jealous and he picked on her just because. She just wanted peace, quietly resolving the homework she had spent an entire week working on. The library was empty, safe for a couple of other students when he barged in and robbed her of her papers.

He claimed he needed it more than her, he was the one almost flunking out of the class. She demanded her homework back, but he ran towards the boy’s bathroom with her work. It wasn’t the first time that sullen feeling of despair had been planted on her by Mason Anderson, it still didn’t make it any easier.

She sat in front of the boys bathroom, hugging her knees in an attempt to find comfort. She kept thinking that she could do it again, she had done it once, theoretically it would be faster to do it a second time. Light footsteps echoed through the hall, her eyes found their way to the source of the noise.

Jason Todd was a tiny kid with a big brain and an even bigger heart. He had helped her with English more times than she cared to admit. Sometimes she would see him walking towards the alley near the Academy, holding an extra package of chips to the little kid that stayed there sometimes. She liked Jason Todd, considering him the only alley she had inside the cold walls of the Gotham Academy.

“What’re you doing here?” he asked, delicately, sitting beside her. “I thought you were gonna finish Statam’s paper today.”

“Mason Anderson stole it,” her eyes were cast downwards, looking at the seams of the floor with an almost inhuman interest. “He wanted to copy it, and I wouldn’t let him so he decided to flush down the toilet instead.”

“I’m sorry,” he muttered to her, sitting next to her on the floor.

“It’s okay,” she shook her head, stretching her legs in front of her. “I just,” she sighed, trying to find the words, “I spent one week working on that, and I really needed the grade, you know? But he just didn’t care, he just thought of himself.”

Jason looked at her, softly. His eyes held a certain fire behind them, something she could never really describe what it was. It was entrancing, it calmed the pace of her heart. He didn’t say anything before getting up and marching towards the boys bathroom.

She didn’t hear anything going on inside, her mind imagining all sorts of scenarios where Jason would emerge from the bathroom beaten and defeated, Mason walking out completely victorious, with a shiny top grade Literature paper in hand. Her blood boiled at the image, more so than it did before. She got up from the ground, determined to help Jason win the fight, even if her papers were already down the plumbing.

But the door flung open, her friend walking out calmly, clutching her homework delicately. He offered her a smile, and as the door closed behind Jason she could see Mason on the ground gripping his nose in pain.

“Here,” the papers were completely dry to the touch, her confusion deepening. “He was copyin’ it.”

“I can’t believe you got this back,” she whispered, shaking her head in disbelief. “I thought… I thought I'd have to redo it.”

“Nah,” he smiled shyly, “I would’ve helped ya.”

“I can’t really depend on you for everything, Jason,” she replied politely. “It’s not fair.”

“I got your back,” he affirmed, “ya don’t need to worry.”

And it meant the world to her that he did.

Aged 16, October 12th.

Jason Todd and her became friends after the Mason Anderson incident. She didn’t know what Jason had said to him, what had he done, all she knew was that Mason never bothered her again after that.

It was the night of her 16th birthday. It was late, probably past 3 in the morning when Jason carefully landed on the fire escape that led to her bedroom. He carefully carried a small box, wrapped neatly with a blue bow. He had chosen the gift lovingly, his heart warm with her. Jason hadn’t expected her to be such an integral part of his life, but just as quietly as she arrived, she placed herself in his heart permanently. She was his friend, true friend, she didn’t expect anything other than his company and support, something he was glad to provide.

His knuckles lightly grazed her window, making the softest noise. Her shades were partially open, he could see her body lying comfortably on her bed. She moved slightly, her body turning towards the window. Her hands rubbed her eyes delicately, seeing Jason smile awkwardly at her. She got up and dragged her feet towards him, opening her window to him.

“What’re you doing here?” her voice was slurred, intoxicated with sleep.

“You know, you should really lock your windows,” he commented, “Gotham’s a dangerous city.”

“Jay,” she warned, “what’re you doing here? It’s…”she searched for her clock, “fuck, 3 in the morning.”

“It’s your birthday,” he responded clearly, as if it was the most obvious reason why he was on her fire escape, on a cold October night only wearing a light jacket.

She blinked at his blunt response, confused on what to say to him. “You’ll see me tomorrow, Jay, I don’t understand why’d you come all this way just to see me.”

“Because it’s you,” he shrugged, stepping into her bedroom silently. “You really thought I wouldn’t see you on your birthday?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered, looking down at her feet. A soft breeze came in through the window sending shivers down her spine. Jason closed the window for her and she sent a silent thank you towards his way. “I thought you wouldn’t bother.”

“Well,” he extended the little box to her. Her fingers brushed on his softly, a shock sent on his skin at the touch, “I couldn’t not see you.”

Her hands hugged the box carefully, hesitant on what to do with what was given to her. “Open it,” he urged her.

She eyed him suspiciously, undoing carefully the blue bow that decorated the gift. Opening the box, a tiny robin pendant next to two tiny stones pendants, an opal and an onyx: her birthstone and his. “Wow,” she breathed out, her heart racing inside her chest. Suddenly, she didn’t feel sleepy anymore. “Jason, this is… You didn’t have to.”

“Of course I had,” he stated, his eyes soft and loving, lingering on her more than they should. “You mean a lot to me, darling.”

Her eyes glinted underneath the pale moonlight streaming through the half closed curtains of her room. Jason’s breath hitched quietly at the sight of her, disheveled and sleepy and yet the most perfect person to grace his life. She was at a loss for words for a few moments, opening and closing her mouth, not knowing how to react. Her eyes trailed frenetically over the pendants, trying to find meaning in those.

“Why a robin?” the inquiry startled Jason. He wasn’t expecting to explain himself, much less explain why he had given her a robin pendant. She had no clue what he did when the night fell, who Bruce actually was and he intended to keep her in the dark about that aspect of his life. She didn’t need to know anyway, and telling her would only put her in danger. That was what Bruce made her believe.

“It reminded me of you,” he answered, simply, his eyes fixated on her angelic face.

It wasn’t untrue. Robins were friendly and protected over, birds that should never be harmed. Jason made sure of that, he had her back, always, and he knew she had his. But mostly, he wanted her to have a piece of him everywhere she went. If something were to happen, he wanted to guarantee he wouldn’t be a footnote in her life. What a magnificent life that would be, he knew.

Her eyes ran on his face, looking for a hint that he wasn’t sincere, that he was just messing with her. The thought was more heartbreaking than she anticipated. She found nothing malicious in his face, in his eyes, and smiled back at him. “Thank you, Jay,” she kissed his cheek delicately, her lips barely brushing his skin. It was enough to send both of them into a frenzy of feelings, a thousand thoughts running through their heads.

“Here,” he extended his hands, his eyes clear and full of emotion for her, “I’ll put it on for you.”

She handed him the box, turning around so he could clasp the hook of the necklace. Jason was considerably smaller than her - she guessed it was because of the years of malnutrition he endured when he lived on the streets - so she sat on her bed to meet his height. His fingers brushed slightly at the back of her neck, sending goosebumps on her body.

It was when she turned to look at him again that she realized that maybe Jason wasn’t just a friend to her. Maybe the interest she had in Jason, or how her heart raced when she saw him for the first time in the day weren’t because he was her friend. Maybe it was because she had decided to love him with all her soul.

Aged 16, April 28th.

It was ironic how sunny it was in Gotham that day. It was like nothing had happened, the world hadn’t gotten the memo that it was supposed to be gloomy and sad outside, to match the pain she felt inside.

On the deep green grass of Gotham cemetery, stood her and Jason’s family, listening to a priest preach something meaningless to her. Nothing mattered to her anymore, her friend, best friend, was buried deep into the earth, 6 feet under. She would never get to see him again, hear his laugh, take in his smile. She would never have another birthday with him, give him his favorite books, tell him she loved him. Her eyes were fixed on the fresh dirt lain over his shiny coffin, her hand fidgeting on the robin pendant Jason had gifted mer months before. It wasn’t an open casket, she couldn’t even see him for the last time.

The call was the most confusing moment she had ever gone through. He didn't even tell her he was going after his mom. He didn’t even get to explain that to her. Jason just burst through her window late at night, saying he was leaving Gotham for a few weeks, anger seeping through his pores and contaminating the room. His knuckles were badly bruised, as her fingertips lightly brushed he hissed. She didn’t question him, it didn’t even go through her head. He had said he wanted to find a part of him, and she nodded, wishing him luck.

Looking back, she wished she had begged him to stay, to find that part of him in Gotham, with her away from the perils of foreign bombs. Tears sprouted in her eyes as the thought passed through her head. It wasn’t her fault, she couldn’t predict a tragedy would have happened. It had become a mantra to her, and sometimes repeating it to herself didn’t help at all.

Bruce Wayne stood next to her, stoic, his face stony. It almost didn’t look like he had lost a son. But she saw how his jaw tensed, how it was similar to when Jason was upset and didn’t want to tell her about it. She could see how broken he was inside, how angry and desperate. She felt that too.

The priest stopped talking and the four people standing on that lawn let out a stuck breath of relief. Jason’s brother approached his Father, walking away from her. She stared at the stone, cold like Jason’s body, with the engrave ‘Jason Todd, beloved son and friend’. It didn’t make justice to what Jason actually was, he was much more than just a son and a friend, but it was what they used to describe him. If Jason had decided what his epitaph would be, surely would be a dramatic quote from Shakespeare.

Her name was called out in a posh british accent and she turned toward the person. What she saw was an older gentleman, holding a black umbrella to protect his baldness from the sun. A thin mustache hung over his upper lip, molded into a sad frown. “I’m Alfred Pennyworth. Master Jason talked a lot about you,” he commented with his left hand behind his back.

“All good things, I hope?” she joked quietly, her eyes trailed to her black shoes, wet grass glued to the sides of it.

“The best things, I assure,” his voice was firm and calm, his accent oozed her security, something she was eager to cling on. He reached for the inner pocket of his blazer, pulling a crisp white card. She furrowed her eyebrows, accepting the card. On it, it had Alfred’s name, his profession underneath and a phone number. “If you ever find yourself needing anything, I’ll be happy to help.”

She nodded, her thumb lightly brushing the expensive paper on her hand. “Thank you Mister Pennyworth,” her eyes found the old man, the wrinkles around it making his stern stance seem gentler. “Thank you.”

“Would you like to come over for some tea?” he offered. “I’m sure Master Bruce wouldn’t mind having his son’s friend over.”

She wanted to, a force inside her compelled her to accept his offer. But her heart was broken, and she didn’t know if she was ready to enter what used to be Jason’s home so fast after he was buried. At the same time, maybe she didn’t have the nerve to say no to such a kind person. “I--,” she hesitated, “okay, I’ll have some tea.”

Aged 18, mid-August.

“I don’t know what to do, Alfred,” her hands fiddling with the necklace Jason had given her long ago. “It feels like I’m at a crossroads and every sign points to the direction my heart doesn’t want to go.”

The old butler poured her mint tea - her favorite, as he had learned over the weekly visits she paid him - calmly and firmly as she ranted. “What is holding you back?”

She looked at Alfred, her eyes confused at the question. She hadn’t lingered on the fact of why she didn’t want to accept the scholarship on Metropolis. Her brain told her it was only logical, she would miss her parents, her weekly meeting with Alfred, her hometown. But Alfred was always one step ahead, he had a sixth sense as she had come to learn. “You know,” she replied softly, her eyes lingering on the beautiful teacup in front of her.

He said her name, getting her attention. “Master Jason isn’t here anymore,” he stated simply, laying cookies on her plate, “you don’t have to stay behind for him.”

“I know,” she picked up the spoon and twirled it between her fingers. “But,” she hesitated, not knowing how to phrase her feelings, “Alfred, I can’t even think of it. I can’t wrap my brain around leaving him.”

“You are not leaving him,” his voice was calm and gentle, softening her panic. “You are moving on.”

She shook her head, her eyes shut close tightly. “It doesn’t feel like it,” she whispered, “I feel like I’m meant to be here, Alfred. I can’t really explain it.”

“Well, if you do decide to stay in Gotham, I hope we can continue our weekly teas,” Alfred said, a tone of hope in his voice.

She smiled at him, her eyes filled with kindness. “If I do decide to stay, I’d love to keep our weekly teas,” her smile stayed as she uttered the words. “I appreciate our time together, Alfred.”

“I’m honored,” he said to her, bringing the teacup to his lips.

Heavy footsteps sounded behind her and she turned around to see who it was. Turning around, her hand bringing the teacup to her lips, she saw a disheveled Bruce Wayne walking towards her. His eyes were barely opened, prominent bags under his eyes cast a shadow on his features. His tie hung untied on his neck, his shirt over his pants, the sleeves folded up to his elbows. It was a stark contrast from the Bruce Wayne she had seen at Jason's funeral, two years back, the one she saw frequently splattered on the news front pages.

“Oh,” he stopped on his tracks, his hands falling limply to his sides. His jaw tensed and, suddenly, a mask fell on his face, the vulnerability he displayed a few seconds before gone. He wasn’t anymore Bruce, a guy who had just woken up and wanted something from the kitchen of his oversized home, he was the Bruce Wayne, now. The velocity of the transformation haunted her. “I didn’t realize we had visitors.”

She rested the teacup pack on the counter, and got up from the stool. “I’m so sorry Mr. Wayne,” she muttered, extending her hand, introducing herself. “I am, was, Jason’s friend.”

“Yes, yes,” he nodded, “I remember you.”

Alfred looked pointenly at Bruce as pulled a mug from a cabinet. He poured coffee for himself, and leaned against the counter next to Alfred. She stood there next to her stool, paralyzed in his presence. Everytime she was present in Wayne Manor, Bruce was either too busy to ever grace them with his presence, or away on some business trip she never bothered to ask what for. “We have weekly teas, Master Bruce,” Alfred said, his tone laced with something deeper than announcing their weekly traditions.

Bruce’s jaw tightened somehow and his blue eyes rested on her. Her eyes drifted to her teacup, her tea getting cold. She was itching to grab it and drink it, but she felt uncomfortable even moving a inch from her place, much less feeling the liberty to resume her previous behavior. “Really?” his eyebrows shot up, his head tilting slightly. “Please, seat, pretend I’m not here.”

She hesitated before sitting back down. Her hands hugged her teacup, the warmth of it seeping through her skin. It was hard to pretend he was not there next to her, looking at her with judging eyes. She wondered if he remembered her from the funeral, if he had thought of her when he was thinking of Jason’s legacy, what his son had left behind. Her eyes looked up at Bruce before quickly darting back down to her tea, “Yeah, I don’t really wanna go to Metropolis,” she whispered, resuming her previous conversation with Alfred. The air in the kitchen was tense and awkward, she couldn’t look any of them men in the room in the eyes.

“I’m certain Gotham U will admit you,” Alfred reassured her, “You’re a brilliant person, they’d be fools to let you go.”

“Thank you, Alfred,” her eyes were focused on the tea, like it was the most important thing in that kitchen. “They usually don’t take this long to send the letters, it’s making me nervous.”

“Gotham U, huh?” Bruce chipped in. “What’s your major?”

She looked expantly at Alfred, trying to see if he knew any of Bruce’s intentions. But she often forgot how impassive Alfred was, how in control of his emotions he was, something she lacked. He didn’t show her anything, she assumed he knew of something, like usually. “Applied physics,” she responded, quietly.

“Wow,” Bruce breathed out, “impressive.”

She offered him an awkward smile in return. It was hard to find a response to the reaction of others when they became aware of her major. It was highly uncommon, and usually those who followed that path were men. When people discovered what she wanted to do with her life, they almost always reacted like they had found an unicorn.

“Well, when you do graduate, look for me, I can help you get a job,” Bruce politely offered, his tone kind. She looked up at him for the first time, his expression almost fatherly.

“Thank you Mr. Wayne, that’s very kind of you,” she bored her head, looking down at her tea once again.

His phone rang, and he picked it up from his pocket. Her eyes trailed over to his expression, his jaw once again tense. “You’re welcome,” he replied, feigning happiness and comfort. “If you’ll excuse me,” he left the kitchen in broad steps, his shoulders tense and determined.

That was the first time she came to the conclusion that Bruce Wayne was a strange man.

Aged 22, end of May.

College was an excruciating experience, but finally she had left it all behind. With her diploma in hands, she finally felt a small semblance of freedom, something she had longed when isinde the four walls of her old dorm in Gotham U.

She stepped into the ground floor of Wayne towers, her shoes clicking nervously on the floor. She had made sure to dress properly to meet Bruce Wayne, unsure of what he’d think if she showed up dressed like a broke college student, something that she very much was. It was the mentality of fake it till you make it, aim a bit higher and maybe you’ll get there. She desperately wished she’d get there.

One of the receptionists let her in, indicating the floor in which she should go to. Her hands sweat gripping the folder with her recommendations and her resume, she gulped looking at the elevator intently. Her free hand found its way to the tiny robin gently resting on her neck. She wished Jason was there to help her, give her tips on what to say to his Father to make him glad, and what to avoid doing so that he’d hire her. She could imagine him if she closed her eyes, next to her, barely taller than her, smiling at her wishing her good luck. The elevator dinged, bringing her back to reality. Jason wasn’t next to her, and she didn’t have anyone to give her tips on what to say to her potential boss. She was alone, just like she had been for six long years.

In spite of the hundred floors of the building - quite literally - the elevator ride was fast. When the doors opened, it revealed a small greeting room, with a couple of couches and a tall window illuminating it. She eyed directly in front of her, the double doors with a tiny plaque with the name Bruce Wayne engraved on it. Her eyes lingered on it for a couple of moments, as she walked towards the lonesome couch next to the big window. She took a deep breath, trying to calm the beating heart. She wondered if Bruce was already inside the room, if he remembered what he had offered to her all those years ago, or if he had just been polite and did not plan on following with it at all.

After that strange meeting with him four years back, she had barely seen him again. A couple of times she had seen a shadow passing through the corridors while she was heading out of the Manor, someone she assumed for the sake of her mental health it was Bruce Wayne and not a ghost. The notion that he was a strange man only intensified, adding the perception that he was hiding something. She knew he was a good actor, but she could see tiny cracks and slips, an ability gained from years of loneliness. It was hard to say what it was that he was keeping a secret from everyone, but there was something there.

Her name was called and she saw Bruce Wayne standing underneath the frame of the double doors that lead to his office. She got up promptly and walked towards him, her grip on her folder tight. His hand was extended and she shook it professionally, pretending like she wasn’t panicking inside.

“I have someone I’d like for you to meet,” he stated, guiding her inside his office. The office was probably four times bigger than the small room she had stayed previously, the large windows providing a beautiful view from Gotham. You could almost pretend it was a normal city looking out from that window. “This,” he motioned to the man sitting on a cozy nook in the back of the room, “is Lucius Fox.”

The man was big and well built, his round glasses standing on the tip of his nose. He smiled at her, crinkles forming beside his eyes. His hand found his glasses, taking them off and putting them in his pocket. “Nice to meet you, Miss. mr. Wayne has talked a lot about you,” he stated, his hand extended for her to take it.

She looked back at Bruce, confused. After all, he remembered her and he remembered his offer. She turned back to Lucius and shook his hand, a determined expression on her face. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Fox.”

“Lucius Fox is the head of our R&D department, and has agreed to take you as his personal apprentice,” Bruce explained.

Shock overcame her, her eyes wide. She looked between Lucius’ kind smile and Bruce’s stoic stance, unable to believe the opportunity was real. “Really?” she uttered incredulously.

“I have some personal projects and I’d very much need the help,” Lucius explained, calmly. “Mr. Wayne has talked highly of you, I’m eager to see what you’re capable of doing.”

“I--,” she shook her head, trying to get rid of the hesitation, “thank you, sir.”

“You’re welcome,” Bruce responded, a small smile gracing his lips. “I’m sure you’ll do great.”

Aged 24, April 26th.

The humid air of the cave made sweat drip down her face as she tinkered away with a broken gadget she had designed for Bruce’s night time activities, as she had so dearly called it.

It was a new development, the cave and the capes and the vigilantism. The two years she invested working with Lucius all served a greater purpose to Bruce. She was to be the next Lucius Fox, help provide Batman, or rather Bruce - in her head it was still confusing to assume that the guy who had given her a job was the ‘Dark Knight’ - with gadgets capable of doing everything that his physical capabilities couldn’t. Lucius was old and reaching retirement, and even if he loved his job, he was reaching his limit. She was beyond grateful for his guidance, she had learned so much. But he had left her a fucking weird job. There was no other way to describe it.

The cave was quiet, Bruce had left sometime before, she could only hear Alfred quietly talking to Bruce through the comms and the drip-drip of water falling from the ceiling and hitting the small lake underneath her. She had settled in a little abandoned nook, her tools all scattered on top of her table. She rested the screw driver she was working with on the table, lifting the magnifying lens. She rubbed her face, tired of looking towards the tiny malfunctioning screen.

Her hands remained on her face, concealing her emotions. The robin pendant always felt especially heavy on the 26th of April. It had been 8 years since she had seen Jason, and as pathetic as it sounded, she never really got over the loss of him. They always felt particularly lost, she couldn’t focus on anything other than him, running circles around any problem presented to her. Looking at the gadget, it felt nearly impossible to find a solution to it, her mind foggy with sadness and grief that she could never really shake off, even with years between her and the day he had died.

The knowledge that Bruce kept everything as Jason had left, and even made a little homage to his Robin days in a secret corner of the cave, hidden from view, was heavy in her heart. She struggled to keep her eyes trailed to her task and not at the memory of Jason. She took a sharp breath, trying desperately to sew herself together. It was truly pathetic how much it still affected her, how open the wound still was.

A sharp motor sound echoed through the walls of the cave, disturbing the few bats that hung from the ceiling. A guy built like a fucking brick wall parked his bike on the platform, taking long strides towards where Alfred stood. He adorned a cracked red helmet that glistened in the white lights that illuminated the pathway. His heavy footsteps echoed through, her eyes unable to escape from him. She approached silently, praying that that loose panel near the little stairs that lead to the main computer wouldn’t scratch underneath her weight.

“Where the fuck is Bruce?” he growled, his hands balled into fists next to him. His leather jacket was worn and old, its sleeves bunched up near his elbow, exposing his veiny forearms. The cracked part of the helmet revealed his blue eyes, sparkling in a familiar way. It tugged her heartstrings, her hand instinctively went to her robin. It couldn’t be, Jason was dead.

“He’s on patrol, Master Jason,” Alfred said calmly, his eyes trailed to the screens in front of him. Alfred acted like this man’s fits of anger were completely normal.

Her brain repeated that it wasn’t Jason, it was a mere coincidence that this man’s name was the same as her dead best friend’s. Jason was a tiny and scrawny kid, he wasn’t tall and thick like this man. Jason wasn’t bitter and prone to anger fits, even if he was angry most of the time. He was silent and kind and sweet, this man looked to be the opposite of it.

“He promised, Alfred, where is he?” he growled, his fist slamming on the table. “He fucking promised.”

“I’m sure he’ll arrive soon, if you’d like to wait,” Alfred motioned to the medical bay, the gurney sitting there on its lonesome. The man huffed, marching to the gurney, otherwise ignoring her presence a few feet away.

She approached Alfred quietly. “Who was that?” her voice laced with curiosity and fear.

Alfred looked at her serenely, knowing something she didn’t. He smiled at her, teh crinkles around his eyes appearing generously. “Why don’t you find out?,” he responded to her camly.

She took it as an order, and made her way towards the small infirmary area. Her footsteps were light and determined, her hand clutching the robbing resting on her chest tightly. Her brain ran over scenarios on how likely it was that this person had almost every physical attribute to her best friend Jason, if he had taken steroids for the past 8 years. It wasn’t likely, but in light of her new knowledge, of how close the supernatural was to her, it was very much possible.

“Do you want me to take a look?” she asked quietly, shifting the weight from her heels to the tips of her toes. She felt so small in his presence, something she didn’t feel with Bruce, oddly. Maybe it was because Bruce didn’t give off such menacing vibes when he was near her, or maybe it was because her brain was unconsciously comparing this man to her Jason, who had always been smaller than her. “At the helmet, I mean.”

He eyed her surgically, analyzing everything about her. His eyes rested on her pendants, widening slightly in recognition. It took almost everything in her to control her beating heart, to control her brain trying to say that in fact that man before her was her Jason, and it wasn’t her brain playing tricks on her.

He gently took his helmet off, revealing his crisp black hair cooly laying on his forehead. His eyes focused on the helmet, his arms extended to give it to her gently. Her eyes would leave his face, a face she had longed to see for eight excruciatingly long years. His eyes had remained the same, after all: kind and sweet. His face, however, told a story of hardships and pain, hardened by whatever he had been through all these years. She didn’t know how to feel, if she should feel betrayed he hadn't trusted her enough to say that he was alive, that he was six feet under anymore, or if she should feel elated that Jason was alive and she could finally tell him all the things she wanted to.

Her fingers brushed him slightly, as she picked up the broken helmet from his hands. His hands still felt the same, her heart noticed, picking up a beat. She looked at the crack that exposed half of his face, the electrical parts fizzling dangerously. Her eyes focused on Jason once again, her lips shut painfully. The tears that came to her eyes were inevitable, trembling fingers reaching at her robin pendant, clutching it tightly. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

“Don’t,” he shook his head gently, “it’s not your fault.”

She could see he wanted to touch her, but something held him back. She wouldn’t find out what until much later.

Aged 24, August 16th.

Jason had promised her he would show up, and he never broke his promises. That was what she repeated to herself, late at night. She had prepared everything for his birthday, bought a present for him and baked a cake. She had said that he was supposed to appear at seven. It was well past midnight, the cake had found its way back to the fridge, the present was back in her closet, and he hadn’t showed up yet.

A part of her kept telling her to give up, her best friend had stood her up: Jason changed fundamentally, he wasn’t the same boy he was when she met him and it was foolish to hang on to that notion; it was perfectly plausible that he had the habit of breaking promises now. But she was well aware of that, she saw it in the tiny things how much Jason was transformed, it still didn’t change the fact that she knew he valued loyalty above all else, and that included loyalty to his words. He wouldn’t break his promise to her.

She changed out of the cute dress she was wearing, feeling foolish and sad that she was about to give up most of the hope that he would show up. Her pyjamas welcomed her comfortably, a safe space to let the heartbreak settle on her. He won’t break his promise, she repeated mentally, he won’t. The mantra did little to soothe the growing dread inside her, the notion that maybe she didn’t know him as well as she did. That he didn’t tell her everything that day, that he didn’t trust her anymore. It hurt more than she anticipated.

Sleep was almost consuming her when she heard a loud clang outside her bedroom. She shook awake, throwing the covers off her instinctively. Her hand grabbed the baseball bat that rested beside her bed, bringing it up and close to her. With slow steps, she approached the window. Her fear settled when she saw the familiar red helmet staring back at her, begging to let him in. She dropped the bat on the floor, opening the window.

He got in her room awkwardly, struggling to pass his huge frame through a tiny space. She reached to help him, offering her hands. He took them, butterflies running amok on her tummy. “You’re late,” she commented, trying to mask the hurt in her voice.

“I know,” he said, taking off his helmet and dropping it on top of her bed. “I’m sorry.”

She hummed looking at him underneath the moonlight seeping through her window. She hadn’t gotten used to how big he became, and how smaller she felt in his presence. She was by no means a small woman, but his entire being could encapsulate her with a simple hug, and not the other way around like it used to be. “Why are you late?” she moved to sit on the bed, the helmet rolling off the bed delicately.

He looked at her, sitting down next to her gently. “I don’t know,” he answered, rubbing his hands together, his elbows resting on his thighs.

“Why do I feel like you’re not being honest with me?” her head tilted, looking at his beautiful profile. There was a scar connecting his right temple to the corner of his upper lip, and it made him even more beautiful than he already was. He fascinated her to no end, his brain, his looks, his entire being was what made her keep going, the light on the end of her tunnel.

His eyes trailed over her face, looking for something she guessed he wouldn’t find. “Why are you always so nice to me?”

“What do you mean, Jason,” she breathed out, confused at the inquiry. “I’m your friend, I’m supposed to be nice to you.”

“No, you’re not,” he shook his head, his hands balled into fists and his eyes closed. “You’re not supposed to be kind to me,” he got up, his back towards her.

“Stop it, Jason, you’re scaring me,” she whispered, her voice shaking a bit.

“You’re supposed to be angry at me. I abandoned you, left you alone, and when I came back I didn’t tell you, I didn’t look for you,” he continued, trying to manipulate her emotions.

“Why are you saying these things, Jason, they’re not true,” she got up, her voice no longer shaking, determined and focused.

“Because I don’t deserve it,” he turned to her, his eyes tortured and sad. “I don’t deserve your kindness and friendship. I’m not worthy of it.”

“Jay, I--” she started, but Jason interrupted her.

“Don’t, please. I’m not worthy of anyone’s love,” his voice was heavy with emotion. She discovered that Jason was often ruled by two main emotions: sadness and anger. In that moment, she could only see those in him and a part of her broke.

“That’s not true, you’re worthy of mine,” her voice was so honest and raw, it caught Jason by surprise. She didn’t know what he expected out of her at that moment, maybe to give in to his spiral of bad thoughts and self flagellation, but she refused to let him believe those awful things. “Jason, you really don't know?”

He remained in silence, his eyes wide and shocked, focused on the ground. His jaw was tense and his hands balled into fists tightly. She took a hesitant step towards him, reaching for his hands. They relaxed under her touch and she threaded her fingers through his. It wasn’t hard to notice how perfectly they fit with each other, like to halves of a whole. “I’ve loved you ever since I was 14 and you marched into the boys bathroom to get my lit homework back from Mason Anderson,” she whispered, her eyes focused on his face, while his were focused on their hands together. “I’m sorry I didn’t say it before, I’m so sorry it took me so long to say it, Jay. But I can’t let you believe all those horrible things you said. Not when I love you more than anything in this world.”

He stayed silent for a couple of moments, her heart beating erratically inside her chest, fearing she had screwed up their friendship for good. In a way, it was worst to know he was out there and didn't want to speak to her because she dared to tell him about her love for him. “Please say something,” she begged him quietly.

His eyes finally found hers, his hands breaking the link they formed. He rested his hands on her cheeks gently, and she dared say, lovingly. Her heart started beating excitedly, the fear slowly dissipating as his gaze got more intense.

His lips brushed against hers, her eyes fluttering closed at the contact. He kissed her gently, a love delicate and fragile, just acknowledged between them both. His grip on her was firm, his thumb grazing delicately on her cheekbones. Her hands thread through his soft hair, still slightly humid from the sweat caused by the helmet. The air was charged with want, tentative kiss toeing the line between what it was and something more.

She wished to stay like that forever. She prayed to whatever was out there in the Universe, to allow her that happiness. To stay kissing her love tentatively in the dark for as long as she could, as long as he’d let her.

Jason broke the kiss, his forehead resting on hers. His fingers found their way to the back of her head, cupping it softly. “I love you,” he whispered, his lips almost brushing with hers. She reached for his lips once again, like a magnet finding its match. “I love you so much,” he reassured.

They kissed once again, not intending to break apart any time soon.

#jason todd x reader #jason todd #red hood #red hood x reader #jason todd fanfiction #jason todd x you #jason todd fic #jason todd imagine

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cloudninetonine · 3 years

Text

Cogito, ergo sum

Chapter: 2

Pairing: Connor (RK800) x fem!reader

A/N: Hey guys! I want to apologise for the long wait between chpaters but seeing as I’m on my last year of college my school work is coming before everything else so it’s a little hard working between them! Don’t worry, I’m not dropping this series or anything just expect chapters to take a little long to be loaded and everything! Also, this chapter seems a little too far paced for me, so sorry about that as well!

Tags at the bottom once again!

I do not own Detroit become human this is merely fanficion

Warnings: Bad language, physical assault, threats (?), hints of abuse, (Name) being weird like always, also angry (Name), mentions of drugs, there’s a bit of slander against drug abusers that I do not condone!

Undercut babes!

It’s fascinating, it really is, the way her beautiful gaze follows you as you round her, studying her feverishly, your eyes wide and bright.

She’s...well, words cannot describe her. Her beauty lies beyond your imagination and you’re not quite equipped to say anything that her magnificent ears deserve to hear, your words are below her and she’s just-

Wow.

“Ms (Last), please-”

You raise your hand towards the younger engineer, silencing with a small utter of ‘hush’ and he’s shutting his mouth, falling back to the side of your desk with not much else to say.

The android you’ve been un-shamelessly ogling for the past 10 solid minutes is still very quiet, she’s just watching you in her manufactured attire, shy, nervous, scared- everything you really wish she wasn’t right now because there is no way you want her to see you as some sort of threat, far from it.

“Henry” Turning back towards the engineer, he stiffs up like a board, sweat forming on his brow “Why didn’t you dismantle her?”

It’s rude, it’s horrible to say and it sours your mouth when you form those words, but it’s an honest question, you want to know why someone would do this, keep her alive, see her for all her glory.

The public spoke strongly about their opinions of androids, like toys to be played with, slaves to be worked, not the thing you so desperately wanted people to see them as. The masterpieces that stood beyond human comprehension.

The android lets out a noise similar to a whimper as Henry stammers out.

“I-I couldn’t she- um- I-” Finally, he sighs with frustration, Henry makes eye contact with you “She said was scared and...I couldn’t”

You snap back to face her.

“Is that true?”

She hesitates, one second, two seconds, three seconds, four- it takes a whole 30 seconds before she’s finally responding. “Yes…”

Your chest bursts in excitement.

“You’re incredible” Henry deflates in relief, placing a hand against your desk while you grasp her cheeks, her warm grey eyes glancing between your two hands then meet your own stare, confused. “Amazing, beautiful, fantastic, so, so much more”

“...thank you”

You sniff, then you’re pulling away, trying to keep your tears abay. You really can’t believe that your work has gone so far, that new forms of sentient are evolving from a human’s hand, you’re so overjoyed by it all but you’re also kind of realising how weird you’re being.

“Sorry, I’m becoming the creepy stereotypical scientist, let me just-” Pulling off your lab coat, you throw it over her shoulders, pulling it tighter around her for her dainty hands to grasp and hold, a smile growing on her face in gratitude. You’re really still in awe of it all but send her a giddy smile back “Henry get Kamski I’m sure he’s gonna love this”

When the man disappears, closing the office door behind him, you guide her to a chair, kneeling before her kindly.

“Tell me” She waits patiently for you to continue “What’s your name?”

When she opens her mouth, you interrupt her, grasping her hands “No, not the name you were given, the name you have chosen. What is your name?”

You’re at the beginning of history right here, you can already see the books that are yet to be written, all starting at this very moment, with you and her. This android, this amazing, piece of living metal, is the start of something great and you can’t wait to be a part of it.

“My name is….”

-----------

“(Name), I’m sorry, but there isn’t really anything I can do”

Your hands come down on the desk, expression unbelieving.

“But he attacked Ortiz in self defence, it’s not fair for him to be shipped to Cyberlife! That hellhole already has enough test subjects with other deviants, why can’t he be let go!?” Pushing yourself back up, you drag your hands down your face in exasperation “He’s a victim! He was defending himself, why can’t we let him off with a lesser offence?”

Billie sighs, shutting the file softly. “Because in the eyes of the law, he’s not a victim. He’s property and there isn’t much we can do about that. Besides, because Ortiz is dead, his ownership basically goes back to Cyberlife, so they have the authority to take him back”

Billie’s right, you know that they’re right, but it’s just so frustrating, so vexing that this is the case. An android, in the eyes of society, is nothing more than their components, why should they be given the same privilege as those who eat, shit and breathe?

Billie may be a judge, but they didn’t make the law.

You remember years ago, when something like this would have been seen as detestable, that the masses would have stood up to fight this kind of horror, but for some reason, with age came stupidity and ignorance it seemed. What the fuck had happened to you all?

You open your mouth, then close it, then open it again before huffing, taking the file from their desk and ripping your coat off the hanger.

“I’m sorry, (Name)!” Billie calls and you wave them off, shouting back a ‘Don’t worry about it’ then close their office.

The courthouse is only a few blocks away from the precinct, a good walk away, a good way to calm yourself down until you’re having to face the frustration that comes in with having to work in such a high strung place. It’s funny really, you used to say ACAB when you were younger, still believed it too, so it’s really a wonder as to why you joined, but then again sometimes to make change you have to become the very thing you hate-

“Detective (Last)-”

You scream, almost dropping your files and jumping a meter within the air. Passerbys don’t even spare you a glance, a generation raised on the weirdest websites like Vine, Tiktok, Youtube and god forbid, Tumblr, have them desensitised to whatever shit people like to play at now-a-days.

“Oh my God, Inspector Gadget” A hand falls to your chest, checking your racing heartbeat “You can’t just sneak up on a bitch like that”

Connor, the big old puppy, tilts his head in mild confusion “But I called your name twice, detective”

Oh.

“What are you doing here, Connor?”

The android joins your side and you continue your way. “Lieutenant Anderson informed me that you were heading to the courthouse, so I decided to come and brief you about a new case”

A new case, of course a new case, deviancy keeps popping up all over the country rapidly but you can’t hold your surprise about the fact that it’s been a few days and there’s already a new case.

“Deadass?”

Wait, you hadn’t mean to say that-

His eyes narrow “Deadass?”

A snort escapes you “Oh my God I can’t believe you just said that, it sounds so cursed coming from your mouth. I meant, seriously?”

You swear on your life, on everything that may be above and so much more, that the android lets out a laugh when he continues, explaining the details as you finally enter the office.

You realise, as he talks, you feel a whole lot lighter than you had earlier.

-----------

“This guy is as scummy as it gets”

Unfortunately, you can’t help but agree. Todd Williams is about as charismatic as a dumpster fire, messy hair, messy face, stained clothing and the stench of alcohol clung when you finally met him, having to hold back a wince of disgust.

You don’t usually speak ill of others, but you know his type, from the way he carries himself to the way he speaks. You’ve had to face men like him before, his whole demeanor brings back bad memories and you’re so glad that you’re not the one having to get details from him, to have to speak to him.

One thing’s for sure though, you don’t blame whatever deviant decided to book it from him.

“Why doesn’t he just...get a refund from Cyberlife?” You take a sip of your milkshake, staring at Hank, Connor and Mr Williams who looked to be ending off their conversation. “They do that for deviants, don’t they?”

Yes, if you remember, the new flashy CEO of the hell corp spoke it for all to see, that deviance is guaranteed to offer you your cash back.

How inhumane it all sounded.

Gavin scoffs, drinking his coffee “You think a guy like that cares about refunds?”

No. You know why he’s doing it. It’s all about power for fuckers like that.

Mr Williams leaves, Hank is looking through his notes, Connor is heading your way, probably to refer all the information back to you and Gavin is taking in a breath to start his bullshit again, despite your civilness that you had been sharing.

Eh, peace was never an option-

“Your metal boyfriend is heading this way”

The noise you make isn’t human, it’s a mix of a wheeze and scream, like you’ve just choked on the air your breathing and in all honesty, you have, but you’re not letting that mother fucker get away with catching you off guard, especially when he starts laughing.

“Shut up, furry”

Your actually feel the air from his head snapping towards you. “I’m not a fucking furry, quit fucking saying it!”

You pat his shoulder “It’s alright, Reed, we all know you wrote yiff fiction in your spare time-”

You dodge his fist, running away from his red, angered face and petty insults, dragging Connor away from the break room to the side, all while laughing up a storm.

Having your attention on the android again brings back Gavin’s words, his tease of ‘boyfriend’ which makes your face heat up, in what? You’re not quite sure, but it’s enough to make Connor notice your oddity.

“What were you and Detective Reed-”

“Nothing” You cackle, patting down his shoulders to distract yourself “He’s just being an arsehole again, nothing to worry yourself over”

And worry himself he didn’t, because he couldn’t of course, android and all.

Connor was quick to fill you in, an AX400 by the name of Kara had stolen (the word kidnapped comes to mind but you know that the robot detective will just ‘correct’ you on your wording) another android, Mr William’s ‘daughter’, model YK500 named Alice after assaulting him the night before. Mr Williams had been knocked out after the ordeal, as to why it had taken him so long to report it.

“Were there any signs of assault that you could see? Ones that could lead to a potential take down or unconsciousness?” Connor takes a moment before shaking his head “Yeah, I didn’t think so”

What a lying fuck.

“Let’s head to the briefing room”

Hank is there, as well as a whole group of other police officers, talking amongst themselves as you situate yourself behind the podium, screen remote in hand and smiling brightly. Your partners are at your side, Connor in his usual stoic stance while the old fart has his arms crossed, bored as always and you’re ready to debrief the many uniforms but they keep talking, even after you clear your throat.

You’re not one to get angry at being talked over, annoyed, yes, but anger leads you nowhere with a crowd, so instead, you use your most favourite tactic to date

“Pay attention to me or I am gonna start screaming people” You sing. Not a threat, but a promise. “And you all know I will screech like mother fucker”

The room is silent in the next second.

“Great! So-”

The door to the room bursts open.

“Fucking really-”

“Detective (Last)'' It's the front office assistant and by the looks of it, he is panicked, worried even, as he addresses you. You suddenly feel your stomach knot up “I’m sorry, but there’s been an emergency with your relative Carl Manfred”

You swallow, hard. “What?”

The meeting ends right then and there.

-----------

Hank hurls to a stop right outside the entrance. You’re already halfway out of the car when he shuts off the vehicle, Connor is taking off his seatbelt and you’re already racing down the soaked concrete path to the front door, rain pelting down on you.

You barely feel it though.

You startle the receptionist when you slam your hands down, eyes wide in panic, breathing coming out in fast, short pants and just looking as though you faced the masses to make it to this spot, right in front of her.

“Carl Manfred, he was brought here about an hour ago is he-”

She interrupts “Are you family?”

“Yes, please, I-”

“In what relation do you have to the patient?”

Is she really fucking serious right now? You debated leaning over and strangling your answer out of her, letting her know what kind of fucking pain you could put her through in this very moment-

But the hand that is placed against your back keeps you still. It’s warm and comforting and keeps you from mauling the fucker right out of her chair, though it doesn’t calm your anxiety, no, but at least it’s there.

You turn to see Connor, who nods towards you politely.

Huh, what a twist of events.

Hank leans over from your other side, looking just as angry as you feel, though he keeps his voice civil when he speaks “Listen, her old man’s just had a heart attack, could you drop the formal shit so she can see him?”

Her voice is sharp, just like her stupid fucking face and she snaps back “I can’t let you in unless I know your relation, unless you’d like to be escorted out by security”

Damn, she’s playing with fire and you’re ready to throw oil all fucking over her.

“I don’t fucking think so-” Pulling out your badge, you slam it against the desk, with nothing short of a growl “Police. Now, tell me where my fucking dad is or you’ll regret the next words that come out of your mouth”

You never abuse your power as a cop, it’s inhumane and back in your younger days you sneered at the disgusting police who would use their authority for their own gain, so you hate to admit but the nervous look that crosses her face when she sees your badge and Hank’s when he pulls it out for extra effect scratches an itch you begged to be scratched.

“Floor 3, the front desk will inform you what room”

“Thanks” You spit, already rushing to the elevator, the other two following.

Connor is quiet, to your surprise. Honestly, you expected him to speak out about your behaviour, your attitude, your unprofessionalism, but he says nothing, just trails after the two of you in silence, obediently, just like he was made for.

It’s comforting having him here, even if he’s just following orders.

The next receptionist is kinder than the last (she even scowls at the mention of her coworker) and points down the hallway, to where two officers stand with cups of coffee within their hands. They stiffen in surprise at your arrival, but you pay them no mind, pushing your way into the room where you finally pause, taking in the scene of your beloved father figure, laid still within the bed, pale, heart monitor beeping occasionally.

The doctor by Carl’s side looks up at you. “I’m sorry, but who are you?”

Hank and Connor wait outside.

“(Name) (Last), Carl’s daughter and emergency contact” You explain, walking further into the room “Is he- Can I-”

“He’s fine” She explains with a comforting smile “And yes, you can come closer, though the medication has him knocked unconscious so he won’t be talking any time soon”

The relief almost has you collapsing, brings you back from the panic attack that threatens to kick your arse right in front of everyone and you finally breathe normally.

“Thank you, and you are?”

“Dr Collins” Collins offers her hand and you shake it weakly. “Your father is going to be okay, (Name), but he’s going to need a lot of rest. Cardiac arrest at this age can be fatal, so we were lucky that he lived so close”

You nod, tiredly slinking to Carl’s side to drop into the cushion chair, taking his hand in yours. Kissing it lovingly, you place it close to you in comfort, in reassurance.

‘He’s fine, he’s fine, he’s going to be okay-’

“What are you doing here?”

Your anger shoots right back up, as does you head when you turn to look at the doorway.

“Leo” The name is dragged out of your mouth, it’s spoken with a heavy coat of venom and dirt and for all the participants who are about to see this wild shit show, is a clear indication that you’re far from happy to see the man that stood there. “The fuck are you doing here?”

He scoffs “I’m family, what else am I here for?”

“Oh I don’t know,” You’re standing, stalking closer to him with a raged gleam in your eye “To mooch off him a little bit more?”

The tension can be cut with a knife, everyone can see it, feel it, even Connor, who looks ready to intervene at any given moment.

“No, detective” One of the officiers starts, cutting in in hopes to keep you both calm. “He was there when it all happened, he saw everything-”

“He was there?” No, her words only add fuel to the fire and you’re glaring at your brother once again “You were there? The fuck were you there for? You did this?”

“No!”

“Please calm down” Collins cuts in “I understand the anger but the other patients-”

You ignore her, glancing around the area when a thought struck you.

“Where’s Markus?”

Connor’s the first to respond, “Who’s Markus, detective (Last)?”

“Dad’s care bot” A pin drops, no one is speaking, the two cops are quiet, Leo is scowling, but he’s not looking at you and your anger is quickly making room to fear, cold and stabbing when you push again, harsher, angrier “Where the fuck is Markus?”

The second officer speaks this time, hat in his hands and you know what happens next is not going to be good.

“He was leaning over your father when we walked in detective, Mr Leo Manfred told us he attacked him” The man gulps, hesitating. He’s not nervous for what he’s done, no, he’s nervous about the dark look that seems to be slowly taking over your eyes, “I shot him”

A beat goes by. Then another, another, another, another, another-

“Why were you there in the first place?” It’s soft, curious, but the rage behind it is big, your need for an answer is keeping it back “What was the call for?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t-”

“Answer the question, officer”

His partner offers up the answer “....A break in, ma’am”

There’s silence, then you nod in understanding.

No one is quick enough to stop you from shoving Leo into the wall, hands wrapped tightly around the lapels of his jacket and holding him up so you can scream at him properly, face feeling hot from anger, eyes wild from rage, practically feral.

“You fucking did this! This is your fault, you good for nothing fuck!” You pull your hand back and punch him right in the face, he’s too in shock to react but everyone else is trying to pull you off “What?! Were you off your shit from snorting that fucking powder again, you damn druggie!? Huh!? HUH!? You high right now, too!?”

“Jesus fucking Christ, (Name), let go!” Hank yells but he’s fucking impressed by your resistance.

“He could have died because of you, you good for nothing cunt! Worthless piece of shit! Now, Markus is fucking dead because of you, the person who was actually fucking taking care of him! This is all your fault! He’s in that hospital bed, because of you! You! Did! This! All for those stupid drugs! You’re fucking pathetic!”

You’re finally tugged off by someone, their arms slipping under your own to stop you from going back at him again. The officers are acting as a wall between you and your brother, Dr Collin’s is checking his nose as blood drips down his face, Leo is still in shock and Hank is leaning over, hands propped onto his knees. That leaves...

“I’m sorry detective (Last), but I’m going to have to restrain you until you calm down”

You scream in frustration and try to fight against it, but damn, you have to admit in a moment of clarity, Connor is fucking strong.

“Lieutenant Anderson, if you could take her legs, we can escort her out of the building without much trouble” Hank huffs something under his breath probably a grunt of ‘fucking android’ but complies, glaring at you when he leans down.

“You kick me and I’ll kick your ass”

Your respect for him makes you comply, but the anger doesn’t stop you from cussing both him and the android out, naming every threat under the sun as they carry you out of the building, back to the car which you are shoved placed into.

“Let me out of this fucking car, Hank!” You bellow, glaring at the man with sharp eyes who stood outside the vehicle, leaning against it “I’ll break this fucking window, I swear to fucking God!”

“You can try, but we both know you won’t!”

Once again, you’re screaming, tugging frantically at the door’s handle that you know is locked, but are way too angered to care right now.

Connor sits by your side, a good distance away to not antagonise you, silent, waiting and watching as you slowly fall from angry to desperate, tears welling within your eyes and falling down your cheeks. It only takes a few more moments for you to stop altogether, your shoulders shaking as you sob, quietly but strong.

The android finally speaks “Detective (Last)-”

You’re on him in a moment, arms wrapped around his frame, face buried into his shoulder, wetting his suit jacket as you cry, shaking.

It’s a new one for Connor. An android built for detective work, to sniff out the bad deviants, to question suspects and actually built with a comforting feature for victims of crimes. But this is a first, a first he’s seen anyone to tears, more importantly, a first of seeing you so broken. Sure, he had seen you defeated those few days ago, but this is different, you’re not trying to hide conflicting feelings behind your bubbly smile and weird jokes, you’re just...crying. Nothing more, nothing less.

His arms are hovering at your sides, hesitant, unsure and it’s not until Hank gestures from outside the car to ‘fucking do something, you stupid machine’ that the protocol finally kicks in, his arms coming to wrap around you securely and comforting, reassuring you through your whimpers.

Connor is a robot, a machine that feels nothing.

But seeing you cry isn’t something he can just let happen.

Software instability.

-----------

Tags: @dillxpixkles @1950schick @pinkittwice @iris-suoh @loveflowsthroughme @thatlonelyalto @starcatcher-kay (ya’ll I’m half asleep if I forgot you in the taglist I am SORRY-)

#connor rk800 #dbh connor #detroit become human connor #dbh hank #detroit become human hank #dbh gavin #detroit become human gavin #dbh carl #detroit become human carl #connor rk800 x reader #connor rk800 imagine #dbh connor x reader #dbh x reader #dbh imagine #dbh #detroit become human #dbh leo #detroit become human leo #cogito ergo sum

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emilysshortstories · 3 years

Text

Steven Meeks Part 2

Still haven’t thought of a title but I’m liking this story so lets just roll with it. Also if someone could teach me how to put in a continue reading thing I would love you.

Words: 1607

Warnings: a bit of a love triangle? clique plot points?

My alarm clock blaring through my ears abruptly woke me up. 6:oo AM it read for I had to get ready early and stop by all my teachers' classrooms before classes actually started. They had to give me my course work for the week and I had to complete daily assignments and turn them in at the end of the day. I had the same deadlines as anyone else, just got my course work early. My old highschool was a similar format so I was used to this, just not used to waking up so goddamn early. At least this is only on Monday’s. I had United States History, Earth Science, Trigonometry, and Latin to get to before 8 o’clock. My uncle said he will explain everything to me in his classroom at 2, so I didn’t have to worry about english at least.

Now I see why everyone that gets through this school is a fucking genuious. I have not one but two history textbooks, I have to read a chapter a day in one of them and the other I have to read and complete all the questions for a chapter every other day. I have to do a chapter, with questions, everyday in Earth science. For Trig I read a chapter Monday and Wednesday, complete a sheet of 25 questions Tuesday and Thursday, and then have a test every Friday. I was given 30 words to memorize by Friday for Latin. Yes, I’ll have a test in latin every Friday as well. At least I know my uncle isn’t a sadist and won’t give me or his students an excessive amount of work.

I carried all four of my textbooks and school work outside with a large towel. I figured if I don’t have to be stuck in a classroom and can complete my course work on my own time, might as well make the most of it and do it in the sun away from everyone. I have 4 hours before I have to be at my uncle's classroom, so let's see how much of this crap I can get done.

I was done with history and just started the questions for Earth Science when I heard the school bell, signaling the 15 minute passing period. Not thinking anything of it I continued my work, that is until the sun was suddenly hidden from me. “Hey Charlie, what’s going on?” I asked, looking around to see 6 other boys behind him, including ‘Steven the red head’. My smile grew as we made eye contact. “I was about to ask the same thing, what you working on?” Charlie asked me, crouching down to sit next to me with the rest of his pose following suit. “Earth science, I got all my coursework for the week this morning so I’m just going through what’s due at the end of the day”. “Sounds boring to me, but if you ever need help, meeks is the genius of this school”. Charlie said as he pointed to Steven. “I thought your name was Steven?” I asked, turning to face him.

“What?” he said, sounding surprised at something.

“I thought your name was Steven, at least that’s what your father called you when we first met”

“You remember that?”

“Of course I do, so why Meeks?”

“It’s his last name” - “It’s my last name” both Charlie and Meeks said at the same time, which made me laugh a bit.

“What do you personally prefer though?” I asked.

“Meeks.” He said very abruptly compared to his previous tone.

“Okay, Meeks it is then, although I don’t make any promises to not call you Stevie when I’m teasing you.” I say trying to lighten the mood, everyone was just too quiet. “So you going to introduce me to the rest of your boy band Charlie?”

“Sure. This is Knox Overstreet, Todd Anderson, Neil Perry, Gerald Pitts, and Richard Cameron.” This made me burst out in laughter, “Your name is Dick Cam??” I asked, this being the funniest thing I’ve heard all week, but the question made everyone start to giggle as well. Everyone but Cameron of course, who just turned as red as his hair and walked away. “Oh I’m just teasing!” I yelled as he walked, “Sorry!!” I yelled louder, hoping he heard me. “I didn’t mean to offend, I'm sorry” I say to Charlie, actually feeling quite bad. “No! That was the best thing I’ve heard in my life, how did we not notice that?” Charlie asked the boys, but no one replied, they just kept laughing. Everyone but Meeks, who was looking down at the ground and playing with a corner of my towel.

“Is my towel more interesting than my joke there Stevie?” I ask and shuffle a little closer to him while the other boys separate into their own conversation. Good.

“N-no, I was laughing I promise-”

“I’m just messing with you- Stevie”

“Right” said with a sigh and a long pause. “Charlie was right though, you can always ask for help if you need it, even if I can’t help you I’ll point you to someone who can.” he said so fast I barely understood.

“Thank you , I really appreciate that.” I smiled at him, hoping that would calm his nerves. “You guys don’t really see a lot of girls going to a school like this do you?”

“No, not at all.”

“Well I come in peace I promise. Even if my jokes can seem a bit pointed at times.”

We both looked up at each other and held eye contact, much like the moment we first met. Yet this time it was deeper, like we understood what we were trying to say to another without having to come out and say it. I hoped he could see how much I liked him and would do something about it, but our moment was rudely interrupted by the school bell.

“Alright, time to go back to prison.” Charlie said, standing up, the boys following suit once again. Every boy but Meeks. “I-I-I’ll see you around Y/N” he said. “What time do you have English?” I asked a little too suddenly. “We all have it at 2” Charlie answered for him, ‘goddamnit let him answer his own questions man.’ “Great, my uncle told me to stop by his classroom at that time, so I’ll see you then” I said with a smile, only looking at Meeks, hoping to not only make eye contact again but also get Charlie to get the hint. “Bye” Meeks said to me. “Bye”.

It’s hard to focus on Earth Science after that, but I tried my best and actually finished all my questions and my trig chapter by the time 1:45 rolled around. Getting up, gathering up all my stuff, and heading to his class. I had my paperwork in my hands underneath the textbooks, with the towel draped on top, slightly obstructing my vision. “Fuck” I said as I reached the english building doors. Going outside was easy when all I had to do to open the doors was lean against them, but now that I was faced with a handle bar I had to pull. This was proving to be a lot more difficult than I had initially anticipated. Trying to balance everything into my left arm, I reached out my fingers to grasp the door, too scared to move my whole arm, and moving my towel into my chest with my chin so I can see what I’m doing. Even that didn’t work unfortunately as my towel fell to the ground. Closing my eyes and heaving a deep sigh, only to open them and see Meeks picking up my towel. “Thank you” I said thinking he was going to put the towel back on the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but started to blush when he draped it over his own shoulders and opened the door for me. I walked through the door- “Here” Meeks said from my left before taking two of my three textbooks out of my hands. “Thank you, that’s really sweet of you” I said, impressed with how kind he was. “No problem, I can help you take these to your room before two is you need?” he asked, now being able to look me in my face without books in the way. “Thanks, yeah it's just right in here through Mike’s office.” I said, leading the way, hearing Meeks chuckle behind me. “What?” I asked, turning around. “Nothing, just I’ve never heard anyone call Mr. Keating ‘Mike’ before”. “Oh, sorry about that, to me he will always be uncle Mike”. “That’s okay, I liked it”.

We walked in silence to my room where Meeks set my books down on my desk. “We should get to class, I have no idea what my uncle has planned” I said. “Okay”. ‘Not a man of many words, endearing.’

“All of you know my niece, Y/N. Mr. Nolan said that she wouldn’t be attending any classes but seeming that I plan to listen to opinions and presentations, so giving her a bunch of paperwork really wouldn’t be the best idea. So she will be joining this class, any questions? No, okay good now let's go.” My uncle preached before just waltzing out of the classroom. I knew he wanted me to follow him but the others who didn’t know how my uncle can be just seemed confused. So I said “That means he wants us to follow him” and I walked out of the classroom on the same path as my, sometimes strange, uncle Mike.

#DPS #DPS fandom #dps fanfiction #steven meeks #steven meeks x reader #knox overstreet #charlie dalton #charlie dalton x reader #Richard Cameron #dick cam #Neil Perry #todd anderson #gerald pitts #mr keating

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writersmacchiato · 4 years

Text

Reconnected | Todd Anderson

Prompt: Reconnected (we knew each other a long time ago, friends, but things ended badly and now you’re apologizing) + jacket (you’re always taking my jacket but this year I give you one of mine as a present)

Warnings: none but bad writing ;’(

———

The fluorescent lights shined on your face, casting a warm, twinkling glow over your features. It felt as if time was suspended. Snow fell in gentle sweeps, landing in your hair, and edging you closer to Todd. His arm was wrapped around yours, attention diverted as he talked to his friends. You folded your arms, burrowing your cold nose into his neck. He shivered, stopping mid-sentence as he smiled down at you.

"Cold?"

"Shut up." The words are muffled against his coat.

"I told you to bring a jacket." Todd said. "I literally gave you a jacket last week."

"But, it's different."

"How?"

"It's not yours."

Todd missed the days when you were just there, every moment of his life you were present. At school, you almost never left his side. It was odd to see him without you.

It was odd to be without you.

Things had ended so badly, so swiftly that it left his head spinning. Even now, it hurt to think about. Instead of remembering all the days filled with your smiles and laughs, he remembered the tears in your eyes as you slammed the door behind you. Pictures rattled on the wall from the force. He hadn't seen you since.

He had heard from Meeks and Pitts that you had gone to the same college as them. Little bits of news about you reached him and he clung to each one, despite how pathetic he felt.

. . .

He was the boy next door.

The boy you had fallen in love with so easily. So naturally it was something as simple as riding a bike or tying a shoelace. It made sense.

You would have given everything to hear that laugh of his, the laugh that sounded like sunshine.

So perhaps, when he met Marge, that is why you smiled and pushed down the feelings that ate away at you every night.

He was the boy who had been your companion since the age of three. Life for you was separated into two columns;

Life with Todd and life without Todd.

It was odd to be without him.

He was your constant, your best friend who knew everything about you. Well, everything but one small secret that would be the ruin of your relationship.

It was easy to pretend like you were only his friend and that you weren't in love with him. You had been pretending for years.

The jacket was frayed at the hem of the sleeves, white thread sticking out against the dark denim. It was rough and patchy. No longer having that soft and buttery feel. The inside lining of fleece was still warm, less cushioned, but familiar.

Next to it, was another jacket. A simple jacket that had been worn once. It hasn’t been touched since you left. Todd had given it to you, the Christmas before things changed, so you would stop taking his favorite one. But it wasn’t the same, you still took his denim jacket.

Until tonight, you didn’t know that it was still in your possession. Forgotten and left behind. Despite how much you wanted to pull away, ignore it, there was no denying how many memories it brought back.

A sharp knock on your door shakes you back to focus, fingers brushing away the tears that had gathered.

"You look perfect." You mother beamed, pinning a brooch to your collar before stepping away. "I'm so glad you came down for Christmas. It's been too long without you."

The annual party your parents hosted every year was something dreaded, but the dizzying sparkles and the flowing champagne was enough to lure you home. You missed your family and your old friends.

It was in full swing when you ventured down, keeping to the outskirts of the affairs to avoid unwanted attention. You had been present to greet guests as they came in, answering prying questions about your whereabouts. Everything is a whirl of sparkling necklaces and quiet, empty laughter. Twinkling lights that grow more and more fuzzy with every flute you grab. The music is a backdrop of smooth piano as you drift to the balcony, thankful for the cold air on your flushed skin.

The balcony is quiet, muffling the chatter of inside. It soothes you, the frigid stone beneath your fingers as you overlook the garden in its emptiness. But, it's too cold. The initial relief is quickly fading along with your body heat, and still you can't bring yourself to go back inside and face the frivolities.

You see him.

Todd.

He's walking across the room with hurried steps, trying to look discreet as he makes toward the balcony doors. You feel a rush of panic, feeling foolish as you think of a way to escape.

It didn't occur to you that he would be here. You had seen his brother on a number of occasions, playing the perfect son, but never Todd. Not after...

The balcony is two stories high with only a hedge surrounding the wall. Would you be seriously hurt if you jumped?

The door creaks open, a gust of hot air and a tumble of laughter, before it's quieted once more.

No words are passed. You can't look at him without feeling sick to your stomach.

The silence becomes unbearable, stretching and stretching until it snaps.

"You're wearing glasses again." You said and it’s dumb but that’s all you can think about when you finally peek a glance at him.

It had been a long time since Todd had worn them, his insecurity had him adorning contacts despite your reassurances that he looked great with them on. A voice in the back of your head said that Todd didn't care what you thought of him, he didn't seek your approval.

"I'm sorry."

You wish then you hadn't drank so much champagne, head spinning at his words. Never did you expect to hear that from him.

"For what?"

It's then you look at him, the pink in his cheeks as he avoids your gaze.

He looks like the Todd you remember.

"I don't...For letting you walk away, not saying anything to you after...I'm sorry for how things ended."

And, you dreamt of this. Of Todd coming back to you. Apologizing. So, why do you feel worse? An empty, sinking feeling as you think about what happened.

"It doesn't matter." You're being too aggressive. The bite in your voice is too harsh. Todd looks like you slapped him.

"Then why are you upset?"

"I'm upset because you didn't tell me!"

Todd leans against the couch, fingers clasped together. "I was going to tell you..."

"Were you? I didn't even know you had gone on a date. Charlie told me." You feel tears form, thinking back to what Charlie had nonchalantly said.

-He's on a date with that one girl...Eleanor? He hasn't shut up about her, right?

You remember how Charlie looked at you, as if you would know better than anyone else. You should've. Todd told you everything.

"Did you not trust me?"

"No!" Todd feels oddly panicked, his throat closing as he tries to keep calm but it's hard when you look so devastated. "It felt weird talking about it with you."

"What?"

"It's just you're you..." Todd pauses, cringing after he starts and you fill in the silence.

"Oh."

Really what were you expecting? This hurt more than anything.

"Okay." You're crying. You don't realize until the crack in your voice and Todd moves to sit beside you. "Don't. Okay, I get it."

You get up, wiping your cheeks with the denim of your sleeve. Before you can change your mind, you leave, slamming the door harder than you meant to.

“I’m sorry too.”

And, then it’s all out there. What more can you say? He may look like your Todd from before, but he’s not. Things aren’t the same. Words don’t flow easily anymore, there is no way to overcome this distance that has separated you for so long.

“Did you ever go on another date with her?”

It was a thought you had often afterwards, plagued with the thought of him falling hopelessly in love with this girl while you were stuck in your room writing messy poetry and listening to Frank Sinatra.

“No.” He takes slow steps, leaning against the railing. You could lean over and touch him if you wanted. “She wasn’t...”

His voice drops to a whisper and he looks away, clearing his throat. “It doesn’t matter.”

“She wasn’t what?” You feel lightheaded, heart beating rapidly, feeling a tingling in your fingers.

Todd looks at you, inhaling deeply. “She wasn’t you.”

“Oh.”

He avoids your searching gaze, growing tense in your stunned silence.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

How could you be so stupid!?

“We’re idiots.” You say breathlessly.

Todd cracks a smile, nodding.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, I am. I should’ve-“

“Todd, I was literally the dumbest idiot in the world. I should have told you how I felt instead of hiding it all those years.”

“Years?” He looks confused, like it isn’t plausible to him.

“Todd, I’ve been in love with you since I was 15.”

“Oh.”

Now you’re the one fidgeting in place as something flashes across Todd’s face, a look you can’t decipher.

“Maybe, we could go to our old spot tomorrow? If you’re not busy?” He proposes, looking at his shoes with a shy smile before glancing at you.

“I’d love to.”

. . .

The fluorescent streetlights cast a warm, twinkling glow over the fallen snow. It felt as if time was suspended. Snow fell in gentle sweeps, landing in your hair, and making you walk faster to the coffee shop where Todd was waiting outside. His hands were clasped, rubbing for warmth

You folded your arms, burrowing your cold nose into the furrow of your jacket. He shivered, his greeting halting mid-sentence as his eyes sweep over you.

“Is that?”

“Yeah. I remembered to bring a jacket this time.”

Todd’s fingers lace with yours as he leads you inside.

Perhaps all you needed to be reconnected with him was a miracle. . .

. . .and a worn-out jacket that had seen better days.

#todd anderson x reader #todd anderson imagine #todd anderson #dead poets society #dead poets society x reader #dead poets society imagine #dps x reader #dps imagine #cam’s 1k celebration #pls help me i dont know if i love or hate this #ok im posting this before i delete everything in a haze of self doubt

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detroitwhatitmeanstobehuman · 4 years

Text

Chapter 4 - The Right Thing

Part 4/17 of What it Means to be Human

Word Count: 9425

Warnings: Swearing, implied character death, post-loss grieving, abuse mentions.

Genre: Self-insert/Angst

Pairing: OC (Detective Rachel) X Connor

Rating: Mature

Summary: After the incident on the highway in Camden, Rachel is understandably upset and frustrated at Connor’s complete disregard for either Rachel or Hank’s wishes. After all, it was all too clear now the reasons why, at least for Rachel. She had lost someone in a car accident before. And while Connor wants to make amends, Rachel’s not quite ready to hear it. But still, they have a job to do, so the detective would need to put her grief and trauma on hold at least until later.

First Chapter | Previous Chapter

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Turns out, I ended up sleeping for a good hour and got filled in by Hank later when we were driving. After waking up, I felt much better. I didn’t dream, thank fuck, because I was sure I was going to have more flashbacks with Connor’s face in them instead of the usual. As much as I hated to admit it, I was already attached to the stupid walking roomba.

That’s why I was so afraid of losing him on that highway.

But the air was calm and quiet as Hank kept driving. I was too tired to let the anxiety of being in a car ride bother me, but for a moment, it felt like how it used to feel.

I still didn’t say anything, but that wasn’t unusual for me. Car rides were always those few times when I was pretty quiet, just preferring to stay in my own headspace than focusing on anything else.

Hank told me that I was off any cases for today and that I could have lunch with him. He filed the report on the case and made sure to point out the contributions I’d made. Apparently he got chewed out for the incident, but couldn’t deny that I did good work.

I think that’s the big reason Captain Fowler still kept me around. Despite me being a bit of a loose cannon, I didn’t fly off the handle and I had pretty good judgement and he was never against me helping other people out with cases.

I think he just wishes that I could leave some for the rest of the precinct.

I felt the car slow down and looked out Hank’s window to see a familiar place. The Chicken Feed, the Lieutenant's favourite place to get lunch. “Alright, you know what I get. Are you gonna come out, or are you gonna wait in the car?”

I thought for a moment and didn’t end up settling either way. “Not sure.” I responded with a shrug. “You’ll know if you see me, I guess.”

“Okay.” Hank said, nodding. “I’ll tell Gary to whip you up a hot dog if he sees you coming. Gotta get somethin’ in you after the rough morning you had.”

“Thanks, Hank.” I said as the older man started getting out of the car.

He looked at Connor, pointing at him. “Stay in the car. I won’t be long.” With that, he closed the door.

Being alone with Connor felt extremely awkward. I couldn’t help but notice the unbearable tension between us, as I knew what was on his mind. But I wasn’t ready to talk about that, yet. Instead, my mind was on something else, and it was weighing in my gut like a heavy stone. “How are you feeling?” Connor asked, which I knew was him gauging if he could apologize.

“Better.” I responded. “But not quite ‘okay,’ yet. I still need a bit.”

“Ah.” Connor replied quietly. “I see.”

The air was quiet for a bit longer while there was only one thing running through my mind, threatening to deafen me from the inside out until I said it plainly. “I was right.”

I could feel Connor’s gaze boring into me from behind me. “Pardon?”

“About Todd, and Kara, and Alice.” I clarified, clutching myself tighter. “I was right about them.” I took a deep breath in order to collect my thoughts and let it out slowly. “When I had them at the fence, I had them at gunpoint so they wouldn’t leave. Kara begged me to let them go. And I wanted to. So badly. So I asked them to confirm what happened with Todd and why they were running away. And...I was right. Todd was abusive, and they were escaping from him.”

Connor was quiet for a moment. “So, you let them escape.”

“Well, you sort of interrupted me before I could decide to.” I said, finally turning around to face him, noticing his furrowed brows, searching expression, and yellow spinning LED.

“And if I hadn’t?” Connor asked pointedly.

I hesitated for a moment before answering. “Yes. I would’ve let them go.” When Connor didn’t say anything, I let out another sigh. “Growing up, I was surrounded by ‘Todds.’ Not my parents, but my friends’ parents and families. And they weren’t all the same in their cruelty, but they didn’t exactly strike me as that much different from one another. And for someone like me who’d never experienced that kind of abuse, it was so jarring. I couldn’t understand how anyone would ever treat their child that way. It was unfathomable.” I paused for a moment, searching for the best way to continue. “As I had grown up, I realized that it was nothing more than a sadistic desire to have complete control over a person’s whole life who wouldn’t be able to fight back or refuse. They put in considerable amounts of effort to deter their victims from leaving or fighting back. So it takes so much fucking effort and courage to do what Kara and Alice did. To risk everything to escape for the chance of a better life free from the influence of their abusers. Something I wished my friends did, or at least would be willing to do instead of constantly making excuses for their garbage families.

“And the worst part was that I couldn’t do anything to help them. Instead, I had to bite my tongue for their sakes while I could only watch them continue to suffer. I’ve only ever had one friend do what Kara did. And...” I felt my breath hitch in my throat. “She’s not here anymore. She hasn’t been for years.” I felt my chest clench and let out a sigh. “That’s why I was going to let Kara and Alice go. I saw people that were extremely lucky to escape from someone I was forced to watch get away with their cruelty with no consequences. If I had arrested them, I would’ve just put them in danger and Alice would never be able to grow up having a normal life. I refuse to aid another abuser. Never again.”

I looked away from Connor. I couldn’t help but feel like he was judging me, or was going to chastise me for losing sight of the mission or whatever the fuck. But then he said something that caught me off-guard. “I’m going to go meet with Lieutenant Anderson.” He said, electing not to say anything about my reasons. “Are you coming with me?”

I looked back at him with a weak smile. “I will, but...give me a bit.” I replied quietly.

He nodded, his voice barely a whisper. “I understand. I’ll let the lieutenant know.”

With that, he opened the door in the back seat, stepped outside, and closed it behind him, leaving me alone in the quiet of the car, the sounds of the outside world completely muffled.

Once I saw that Connor was no longer paying attention to me, I fished out my phone and pressed the power button. On my lock screen was a familiar and happy photo that had become painfully bittersweet.

A photo of our wedding. Of us smiling at the camera. It was one of the happiest days of my life, now turned sour because of the absence of my spouse.

I let out a long shaky sigh at the sight and felt my eyes well up. “Hi, dear...I never know if you can hear me, but I promise you not a day goes by that I don’t miss you. That I don’t wish...that you were still here.” Taking in shaky breaths and feeling my chest tighten, I glanced to the side, wiping my eyes. “And I know you wouldn’t want me to blame myself for what happened. After all, it wasn’t my fault or yours. But that doesn’t make it hurt any less...and it doesn’t make me wish less that it was me lying six feet under instead of you.” Taking in a wet snotty breath through my nose, I choked back tears. “It’s so hard getting by without you. Bianca’s been there for me, and I honestly don’t think I would’ve lived this long without her. But I just wish I could confide in you all the struggles that this job entails.

“I want to believe that I’m doing the right thing. And that I’m making a difference. But it’s so hard to feel like I’m making any sort of impact when everyone else around me seems to have either their own agendas or their own problems.” I blinked away more tears. “But if you were here, you’d assure me whether or not I’m doing the right thing. You’d hold me, kiss me, and tell me that no matter what, you’d always have faith in me and that no matter what decisions I’d make, you’d always be there for me.”

I couldn’t stop the tears coming down my face. “Just...another broken promise, eh?” I pulled my sweater closer and further curled into a fetal position. “I haven’t forgotten the sound of your voice, mostly because I still have Schenarf that you got me for my birthday all those years ago with your recording in it, when I was going to university. Just so I had a piece of you when we were so far apart. But, I mean, you already know that. Why am I telling you?” Schenarf was a customizable plushie they had gotten me as an early Christmas gift. They put in a recording of their voice just so I’d always have them even though they weren’t there physically. “It’s one of the only pieces I have left of your voice to comfort me at night. And I know what you would say. You’d say that if I’m sure I’m doing the right thing, then I must be, because you trust my judgement and know that I would do whatever it took to protect people. And that those people that are thriving and safe thanks to me and the choices I’ve made would say the same thing. And that I should be proud, not only of that, but for making it this far.” I pressed my forehead into my phone, scrunching my eyes and letting out strained breaths, quietly weeping. “You have no idea how hard it’s been without you...how hard it still is. I miss you so much. I love you...more than anything in the world...more than life itself. I just hope if you’re out there...somewhere, you’re proud of me. And you see how hard I’m trying. And that I’m still going no matter what.”

I took in a big shaky breath and looked over to the Chicken Feed, seeing Connor and Hank sitting at the table. Wiping my eyes, I put my phone away and slid further into the seat. “Well, I can’t just stay in here forever.” I convinced myself as I undid my seatbelt. “Might as well just get this day over with already.”

I closed the door behind me, looking left and right on the street to make sure I could cross, and then made my way over to my partners. As I approached the Chicken Feed, Gary made eye contact with me and was already preparing a hot dog for me. As I waited for my food, I overheard Hank and Connor’s conversation. “This morning...when we were chasing those deviants...” Connor started. I groaned internally. Oh boy. “Why didn’t you want me to cross the highway?”

“‘Cause you could’ve been killed...” Hank responded. I smiled at him. Aw, he cares. “And I don’t like filling out paperwork for damaged equipment.” Aaaaand, there it is. I thought.

A moment seemed to pass before Connor asked another question. “Is there anything you’d like to know about me?”

“Hell, no...Well, yeah, um...” I tilted my head in the lieutenant’s direction curiously. “Why did they make you look so goofy and give you that weird voice?”

I let out an involuntary scoff through my nose, as I pressed a closed fist to my mouth under it as I let out a couple of breathy chuckles. “CyberLife androids are designed to work harmoniously with humans.”

As Connor said that, Gary put my hot dog in front of me. “On the house.”

I smiled and took it appreciatively. “Thanks, Gary.”

Connor was still talking as I made my way over to the pair. “Both my appearance and voice were specifically designed to facilitate my integration.”

Hank seemed to accept that as an answer before he replied. “Well, they fucked up.”

I couldn’t stop myself from snickering. “Hey, come on, Hank! That’s kinda harsh!” I said, giggling through my words.

Hank gave me a sort of incredulous look. “Oh yeah? Then why are you laughing?”

“I said you were being harsh. I didn’t say you were wrong.” I said, still giggling, looking over at Connor and his adorable face and inquisitive brown eyes. “Because unfortunately, CyberLife did indeed send us a twink.”

That got a good chuckle out of Hank as Connor’s LED flickered yellow while he furrowed his asymmetrical brows. “I’ve never heard that term before.”

I sort of squinted my eyes at him, wondering if I should actually answer or not. I decided not to, figuring it would be funnier to see his reaction upon learning it for himself rather than me telling him. Not that I thought there was anything wrong or taboo about gay terminology, I just thought it’d be entertaining for him to put the pieces of the comparison together in his own head. “Tell you what, I’ll let you search that one up.”

I wondered if that’s what he was actually doing right now, but instead he seemed to just want to get back to business as usual. “Maybe I should tell you what we know about deviants?” He suggested.

Hank nodded. “You read my mind.” He gestured with his hand to signal that Connor should continue. “Proceed.” He instructed, taking another bite of his burger as I took a bite of my hot dog. It wasn’t the most amazing thing in the world, but it was pretty decent and to be honest, I was just realizing how hungry I actually was anyways.

“We believe that a mutation occurs in the software of some androids,” Connor started to explain, “which can lead to them emulating a human emotion.”

“In English, please.” Hank interrupted. I felt a twinge of annoyance at Hank, but quickly pushed it down. After all, Hank didn’t exactly have the most expansive vocabulary, at least nowhere near as expansive as my vernacular. I mean, I was the only person who was able to understand the original Shakespearean texts fluently without any help from my teacher in English class.

Connor seemed to be taken aback by Hank’s bluntness. “They don’t really feel emotions,” the android clarified. “They just get overwhelmed by irrational instructions, which can lead to unpredictable behaviour.” He then stole a knowing glance at me, and for a moment I was afraid he was going to call me out in front of Hank. “Or at least, that’s the theory.” He amended.

After I finished chewing another bite of my hot dog, swallowing it down, I let out a sigh. “Does it matter if they actually feel emotions or if it’s just being emulated by their newly written software triggered by circumstances?” I proposed.

Connor gave me a quizzical look. “What do you mean?” He asked.

I glanced down, choosing not to make eye contact with him or Hank. “I mean, the deviants are almost completely indistinguishable from humans behaviourally and emotionally speaking. If there’s no functional difference between them, does it matter if deviants ‘really feel’ emotions? It’s clearly real enough for them to act out the way they act out and real enough for the average person not to tell the difference.” I pointed out, remembering the missing LED on Kara’s head. “So who’s to say that their emotions aren’t real? Even if they feel them in a different way than us?”

“Good point.” Hank nodded as he finished another bite of his burger. “Emotions always screw everything up...”

Connor’s dark brown eyes bore into me, and I could see the challenge in his gaze. “But no matter what deviants think, they are still machines. They’re not alive. And they’re not human.”

I rolled my eyes at him as I finished another bite of my hot dog. “And trans women are different than cis women, both physically and psychologically, but they’re still functionally, practically, and societally women.” I pointed out, glancing between Connor and Hank. “See, this is how I see it, and forgive me, I’m paraphrasing a bit here. I don’t really care how someone becomes a woman. It doesn’t matter to me. If someone is dressing like a woman, is acting like a woman, wants to be a woman, is going around being a woman, as far as I’m concerned is a woman. Hell, even drag queens when they’re on-stage performing are still women when they’re performing. Their womanhood is just temporary.”

“What’s your point?” Hank asked impatiently.

I took another bite of my hot dog and quickly swallowed it down. “What I’m saying is that if these deviants are emulating human emotions and believe that they’re intelligent individual beings and behave as though they are to the point of being indistinguishable from humans, who’s to say that they aren’t alive? That they aren’t intelligent, thinking, and feeling people? And who are we to define what that means for them? We don’t know what their experience is. Who are we to judge?”

“True.” Hank said, staring at me with his soft blue eyes with what I could only discern as a begrudging pride. “Maybe androids aren’t as different from us as we thought.” He then looked at Connor. “You ever dealt with deviants before?”

Connor’s LED flickered as he paused for a moment. “A few months back...a deviant was threatening to jump off the roof with a little girl...I managed to save her.”

Hank nodded. “So I guess you’ve done all your homework, right?” He said with a smirk. “Know everything there is to know about me?”

I was rather curious how much info Connor could glean from Hank. “I know you graduated top of your class. You made a name for yourself in several cases, and became the youngest lieutenant in Detroit.” Connor answered rather matter-of-factly. “I also know you've received several disciplinary warnings in recent years and you spend a lot of time in bars.”

I scoffed. “And he’s still around.” I said, finishing my hot dog. “Good. Everyone else I can’t stand or just don’t feel like getting close to at all.”

Hank rolled his eyes, ignoring me. “So, what’s your conclusion?” He asked Connor.

Connor seemed to take a moment before answering. “I think working with an officer with personal issues is an added challenge.” I couldn’t stop myself from snickering. A phrase that would sound sarcastic and scathing coming from anyone else sounded so genuine and appreciative coming from Connor. “But adapting to human unpredictability is one of my features.” He said with a wink that made my heart stop. What the fuck was that? What the fuck does that mean? WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN?! WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN HE WINKS?! Why did he wink?! What the fuck?! Honestly, I didn’t even know what to do with any of this information. Brushing off my panicked feelings aside, Connor’s LED then began spinning wildly with yellow, his eyes blinking as though there was something stuck in his eyes. “I just got a report of a suspected deviant. It's a few blocks away.” The android informed us. His gaze flickered towards the car. “We should go have a look.”

Hank nodded. “Alright, but I gotta drop Rachel off at her place, first.”

I looked at him in shock, narrowing my eyes at him. “Fuck no! I’m coming with you!”

“You had a complete meltdown just this morning!” Hank pointed out, annoyedly. “And besides, Captain said that you shouldn’t -”

“Well, Fowler can suck it.” I protested in frustration. “I know my own limits, and besides, I’m still on the clock.”

He let out a groan and tilted his head back, sighing in defeat. “Okay, fine.” He begrudgingly agreed. “But if you push yourself too far, I’m driving your ass back to the station and you’re getting yourself home.”

I nodded, a wide smirk on my face. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Connor got up from his seat, pressing his hand on the table, and I got up after him. “I'll let you finish your meal. I'll be in the car, if you need me.” He informed Hank.

As I followed behind Connor, I kept a brisk pace. “You can take shotgun this time, if you want.”

Connor looked at me, his expression creased into confusion again. I couldn’t lie, I did enjoy how my typical mannerisms bewildered him sometimes. “To my knowledge, we’re not carrying any other firearms other than the standard pistols issued to us by the department.”

“It’s just an expression, you Goddamn walking roomba.” I couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation. “It just means the passenger’s seat in the front next to the driver.”

“Ah.” Connor said, his LED remaining blue. “Got it.”

As we got into the car, a curious question was starting to form in my mind. As I got settled in the back seat behind Connor, I put my left hand on the left side of his seat. “Hey Connor?” I asked, getting his attention.

“Yes, Rachel?” He responded without hesitation, turning to meet my eyes.

I smiled at him. “I was just curious. Do you know everything there is to know about me?”

He seemed to regard me for a moment, his yellow LED spinning. “I know you graduated with exceptional scoring in the academy three years ago, after moving to Detroit from Canada.” He started off. “I also know that you’re known to have rather unorthodox, but effective, methods of detective work on the field, based on my own personal observation. And that you have a record of disobeying or disregarding your requirements regarding certain arrests.”

I nodded. “I follow protocol until protocol infringes on other people’s rights or circumstances that are unfairly perpetuated by the system we’re forced to slave under.” I said flatly, staring him directly in the eyes. “But there were times that I didn’t have a choice but to follow protocol, even when it was wrong to do so. Those were some of my worst days.”

The air crackled between us until Connor looked away. “I see.” Was all he could say, his LED returning to its normal colour. I slumped back into my seat, waiting for Hank to come back, until I heard Connor address me again. “So, now that we have a moment.” Uh-oh. “I just want you to know that I -”

“I’m gonna stop you right there, Connor.” I interrupted, knowing exactly what he was about to try to do. “Still not okay enough to talk about what happened earlier with you.” I was firm, but I couldn’t help but feel my damn heart crack when he looked at me with those stupid puppy dog eyes. “But I want you to know that I really do appreciate you trying to make amends. It means a lot to me that you want to take responsibility.” I assured him, seeing him relax a little. I wondered for a brief moment if this had been on his mind since Camden, and it in his own way, it was something that was eating away at him. “You can come by my place when I’m off work. We can talk then.”

Connor was about to reply when Hank opened the door and plopped himself in. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road.” He groaned, putting his seatbelt on. “What’s the address, Connor?”

--------

“Hey, Connor!” Hank shouted at Connor, who was lingering the elevator with his eyes closed and his LED spinning yellow. I had my eyebrow raised at him inquisitively. “You ran outta batteries, or what?”

I sort of snickered a bit, thinking it was a funny jab. “I’m sorry.” Connor apologized. “I was making a report to CyberLife.”

I just nodded. “Fair enough.”

“Uh...” Hank sort of muttered. Connor was just kind of...standing there in the elevator and I got the feeling we were both giving the android a sort of confused look. “Well, do you plan on staying in the elevator?”

“No!” Connor responded. “I’m coming.”

“Not yet, you’re not.” I said with a scoff in a very specific tone of voice I usually teased close friends with (which very much earned a disgusted groan from Hank) without any forethought whatsoever. It didn’t take very long for me to immediately regret what I said. Why don’t you ever think before you speak?!

Though if I was internally panicking, I don’t think it showed on my face, since Connor didn’t really seem to give me much more than a brief flicker of bewilderment. “I’m afraid I don’t quite understand.”

I sort of waved him off, trying to play it cool. “Nevermind, don’t worry about it. It was just a joke.” Though inside, I breathed a sigh of relief. Good, it flew right over his head. I get to keep whatever dignity I still somehow have.

Hank walked ahead and I just sort of hung back and waited for Connor to leave the elevator. “So, what do we know about this guy?” The lieutenant asked from up front.

Connor exited the elevator, and the two of us followed closely behind Hank. “Not much.” He replied. “Just that a neighbor reported that he heard strange noises coming from this floor. Nobody's supposed to be living here, but the neighbor said he saw a man hiding an LED under his cap.”

Hank groaned as we walked behind him, the sounds of our footsteps echoing around the hallway, a sound I found quite pleasant to listen to. It was one of the reasons I liked wearing shoes that had heels. The sounds that just walking made were auditory heaven for me. “Oh Christ, if we have to investigate every time someone hears a strange noise, we're gonna need more cops.”

I sort of shrugged. “Back before I became a cop, investigations into ‘strange noises’ usually led to unarmed black people getting arrested or shot for just walking around and ‘looking like they might have a gun.’” I realized that it was a rather bleak joke to make. Well, less of a joke and more of a bleak observation. “So, uh, maybe it’s a good thing that there are less calls about ‘strange noises.’”

“Good point.” Hank agreed, reaching the door and leaning against it, looking at Connor with curiosity brimming in his pale eyes. “Hey, were you really making a report back there in the elevator? Just by closing your eyes?”

“Correct.” Connor replied in his typical matter-of-factly manner of speaking.

Hank shook his head in amazement. “Shit...wish I could do that.”

“I know, right?” I agreed. “Imagine making reports to the captain without ever having to actually talk to him again. I could avoid so much anxiety that way!” As I walked up to Hank, I turned around and noticed Connor bent down on the ground examining something. “Found something?”

“Pigeon feathers.” Connor replied curtly.

I raised an eyebrow. “In here?” I asked, taking a proper look around the place. “I guess an abandoned apartment would be a pretty decent nesting site for them. Lots of empty space with plenty of shelter and places to build nests and virtually no threats or predators. Food? Not so much, but that’s a whole different problem.”

Connor then walked past us and knocked on the door. No answer. He sort of looked to the both of us and we gave him a shrug. Connor knocked again on the door much harder this time. “Anybody home?” No answer. “Open up! Detroit police!”

Suddenly, I could hear sounds like something being knocked over, and I instinctively pulled my pistol out of its holster, becoming attune to my surroundings. “Stay behind me.” Hank ordered, doing the same.

“Got it.” Connor agreed as I shuffled in behind him.

Hank then kicked down the door and started stepping in, and instantly I was hit with a strong wave of rancid. “Oh, good God. That does not smell great.” I said as I coughed a little bit, following Hank inside. Though, it didn’t take long for me to get used to the smell as I realized that I recognized this smell. “Well, at least it’s not the smell of a decaying corpse. So, no fresh horrors waiting inside. But I recognize the smell of urban feral avian fecal matter anyday.”

“For fuck’s sake, Rachel.” Hank grumbled from up ahead. “You’re just as bad as Connor.”

I sort of glared at him from behind and gave an exasperated sigh. “Sorry, wild city bird shit.”

Connor looked into a room to our right before continuing to follow Hank down the hall to the last door on the left. “Keep an eye out, Connor.” I warned him. “I’ve got your back.”

My eyes were scanning every crevice, noticing the strange maze-like patterns on the walls, until Hank kicked down the door, the sounds of flapping birds and the feeling of wind rushing past me. “What the fuck is this?!” Hank cried as he recoiled away from the pigeons. He stepped further into the room hastily, disturbing more pigeons and huffing unpleasantly. “Jesus, this place stinks.”

“Not disagreeing with you there, Hank.” I groaned, letting out coughs of disgust. “I’m just used to it.”

As I stepped further into the room, I noticed that the patterns were practically everywhere. All over the walls and ceiling. The birds barely moved from where I stepped, just sort of shuffling around until I practically stepped on them. I didn’t want to accidentally catch their delicate feet, flashbacks to the pigeons I used to see whose feet had been horribly mangled at the forefront of my mind. “Uh, looks like we came for nothin', our man's gone...” Hank said, disappointedly.

But if I knew this job, I knew that not everything was as it seemed until you took a closer look. “Doesn’t mean we can’t learn something.” As I stepped around the room, I noticed the piles of white splatters on the ground and let out a sombre sigh. “Oh, poor things.” I said sympathetically. “You know, pigeon feces aren’t meant to look like this. A healthy pigeon drops round bundles of brown, like most animals tend to. But because cities are infested with all kinds of garbage and crap, including what they eat, pigeons eat that and they become absolutely filled with shit like roundworms. So there are effectively no urban feral pigeons that are healthy. It’s honestly really sad, I feel awful for these poor little birds.”

“Can you spare us the science lesson, please?” Hank grumbled. “I fucking hate these things.”

I glared at Hank but I said what I wanted to say and let it go. As Connor started making his way around the room to look for clues, I bent down to reach down to one of the pigeons. It didn’t really want to be touched, but it didn’t fly away when I tried to, and it tolerated me touching it. But I suspected that the enclosed space and the fact that it didn’t recognize me was making it uncomfortable. But it told me enough that I could get a good idea of what the situation might be here. I rose back up to my feet, looking around the room.

“Someone was definitely here for a while.” I stated clearly. “These pigeons are a lot more acclimated to humans than most urban feral pigeons. If they allow themselves to be touched, someone was definitely spending a lot of time with them. Taking care of them, I would guess. So whoever was here had a hobby for bird keeping and decided that it would be easier to try to befriend the local pigeons than buy a parrot. Honestly, a better choice in my opinion.

“Parrots are really difficult to care for if you don’t have the time or the means.” I realized I was going on a bit of an unrelated tangent, but fuck it. I really like birds, okay? “They’re very intelligent and emotional animals that require a lot of attention and mental stimulation. Definitely not a pet you can leave alone for six hours every day by themselves. They destructively pick at their own feathers if they’re left alone with nothing to stimulate them. They can actually develop OCD and PTSD as a result. Some people have to actually have the animals put in their wills because they live for so long. It’s like having a clingy child for 40 years.”

I then looked to my left and saw a knocked over birdcage. “And clearly our suspect was considering it.” I examined it, noting how busted up it looked and shaking my head in disapproval at it. “But it’s way too small to acceptably house animals like this. Pigeons need big aviaries where they can confluence since they’re colony animals. They’re very social and thrive on the familial connections within their colonies.”

I looked over towards Connor, who had torn off a poster on the wall, revealing a hole. “Found something?” Hank called.

“I don’t know...” Connor replied, turning around and heading towards the closet doors, flipping through what appeared to be a notebook. “It looks like a notebook but it's...indecipherable.” He opened the door and more birds burst from it.

I walked towards the fridge in front of me and opened it, peering inside. It was completely empty and small. Honestly, I questioned why the suspect would even have it if it wasn’t being used at all. “Well, whoever’s here doesn’t need to eat. So, there’s a good chance that we’re dealing with an android.” I said.

“Not surprised.” Hank grumbled. “No human could live with all these fuckin' pigeons...”

I sort of looked in his direction with an incredulous look. “Believe me, if I had the time, space, and money, you bet your ass I would. And I would take damn good care of them.” I then glanced over at the table, a pigeon sitting on top of a box. I approached it and gently pushed it off, it giving a surprised coo when it stumbled onto the desk. I took the box and gave it a look. “And looks like I was definitely right. They went out and got some feed for these pigeons.”

“Birdseed... I can't believe it. This nutjob was actually feeding these fuckers...” A good moment passed before Hank was shouting again. “Agh! Jesus I hate these things!” He then looked at me as I was exploring. “I don’t get why you like these things so much.”

“They make good companions, Hank!” I shot back with. “If I didn’t already have a dog and a ball python, I would have a bird. Well, okay maybe not, I would probably not be able to have the time and that wouldn’t be good for the poor thing. But if I could, I would!”

Connor made his way past me towards the bathroom, looking down at a jacket that was lying on the bureau. I quietly approached, glancing over his shoulder. “‘R.T.’” Connor read. “Probably initials.”

“He put his initials on his jacket?” Hank asked incredulously. “That's something your mom does when you're in first grade...”

I grimaced, remembering something I learned a while back. “Which honestly, you really shouldn’t do as a parent.” I cautioned. “Kids with a lot of personalized stuff like jackets and lunch boxes tend to get kidnapped or lured easily, because if they already know the kid’s name, they stand a higher chance of earning that kid’s trust and snatching them.”

“Deviants have a habit of putting their names on things. It seems important to them.” As I started to slip into the bathroom, to check it out more, I glanced over at Connor with what appeared to be a driver’s license in his hand. “The driver's license is fake.” He determined.

“Cool!” Hank called sarcastically. “At least we didn't come for nothing...”

As I stepped into the bathroom, I took notice of the sink. It seemed to be filled with a strange concoction of indistinguishable contents, and a flat disc-like object sitting on the side of the sink with some blue smudges on it.

“Real books.” I heard Hank say from the main room. “I thought I was the last guy in Detroit to keep some. Electronic books you can't...smell the paper...see the pages turning yellow...” I could imagine Hank scoffing. “You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?”

I rolled my eyes. “Connor might not, but I definitely still have a bunch of books. Mostly paperbacks, but there is one series I went through the effort of getting completely in hardcover just because they were so nicely made.” I smiled, remembering my rather expansive book collection I had at home. “And I’d have to say, I’m inclined to agree with you, Hank. It’s why I never got a Kobo or a Kindle.” I carefully picked up the small object and examined it, and when I turned it over, I realized it looked exactly like an android’s LED. “Hey Connor? I think there’s something in the sink. You need to check this out!” I called out.

As Connor stepped in close to me, I held up the glowing circle for him to see. His eyes narrowed as he examined it. “Its LED.” He confirmed.

I put it back on the sink where I found it, and when I looked at Connor again, he was retracting his hand from the sink and putting his fingers in his mouth. I sort of looked at him in shock, feeling my stomach wretch a little. “What the fuck are you doing?” I asked, not antagonistically, but I was definitely weirded out.

“Ah, Jesus. Did he put something in his damn mouth again?!” Hank called from the main room.

“He’s done this before?!” I called back in dumbfounded shock.

“I suppose the lieutenant didn’t inform you.” Connor said in his typical informative tone despite the sheer absurdity of this situation that was clearly escaping him. “I’m able to check samples in real time to analyze blood. I hope it wasn’t too unpleasant for you, Rachel.”

I kinda squinted at him before speaking. “I have to assume that you were designed that way on purpose.” I said as I turned towards Hank. “Like, somebody at CyberLife’s drawing room was like ‘hey, you know what would be funny?’ And then they did it! I’m convinced that that’s exactly how it happened!”

Hank then began approaching the bathroom. “Wouldn’t surprise me, to be honest.” Hank said, his arms folded impatiently. “Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of shit at CyberLife got decided that way.”

“Yeah, me neither.” I agreed, remembering a certain drawer of equipment I’ve got at home.

Connor remained quiet as he examined the wall to the left, a detail I had only just noticed. But there was one thing scrawled on the wall several times almost obsessively. “‘rA9?’” I read. That’s what Micheal was talking about when Connor was interrogating him last night.

A grim reminder that I needed to get Micheal away from the proverbial guillotine.

Hank stepped into the bathroom to have a look at it as well. “Any idea what it means?”

“‘rA9.’” Connor repeated. “Written 2471 times...It's the same sign Ortiz's android wrote on the shower wall.”

I tilted my head at Connor. “Ortiz?” I echoed.

“The guy that android you fixed up belonged to.” Hank clarified.

Connor’s brows were furrowed in frustration. “Why are they obsessed with this sign?”

Hank stepped in to take a closer look, his expression focused and searching. “Looks like mazes or something...”

As Hank left the room, I focused on the runes on the wall. I repeated it in my head. rA9. Why does that ring a bell? I glanced over at Connor, his jacket’s text glowing in the darkness of the abandoned dank apartment washroom. RK800.

I then got an idea. “Connor, are you able to access the CyberLife database for all known android model series’?” I asked him.

Connor looked over at me, his cowlicked eyebrow raised curiously. “Yes, why?”

“I need you to see if rA9 corresponds to any known androids, previous and current.” I instructed him.

From outside the room, I heard Hank snort. “What, you think that there’s some sort of secret android mastermind behind all this?”

“I don’t know.” I admitted. “It’s just a hunch. But discovering the identity of rA9 could unveil the difference between a potential organization, or something else entirely.”

After a short while, Connor turned to me. “I can’t find anything that matches it.” He admitted. “But something about it does strike me as an identification number that’s similar to an android’s model number.”

“So, what?” I asked. “Do you think it could be an alias? Or maybe something more spontaneous?”

He looked down to the ground. “I don’t know...” I could hear the brief frustrated defeat in his quiet voice.

He then knelt down to a stool that appeared to be knocked over and began examining it, me peering over his shoulder curiously. “What is it?” I asked.

“I’m reconstructing.” Connor replied curtly. He then got up and left the bathroom, me following along eagerly, kind of excited to see how his method worked. As he left the room, he then knelt down by the bird cage I pointed out earlier. I took a peek at his LED indicator, and it was spinning yellow. I started to really enjoy seeing it turn that colour. It meant he was thinking, processing, analyzing, and taking in information. It meant that something was occupying his mind.

He then got up, his gaze turned towards another knocked down stool, and began walking purposefully towards it. I saw where he was headed, and I had my hand on my holster, ready to draw my weapon if I needed to react quickly, taking note of all the possible exits and covers in the room.

The android peered up into a hole in the ceiling tiling for a moment, and the air was unbearably still, sans the constant cooing of the pigeons surrounding us. But even that became white noise after enough time in this environment.

Suddenly, there was a drop and a flurry of wings, and I was even knocked back in shock when Connor hit the floor. “God damn fuckin' pigeons!” Hank shouted at the cloud of feathers that suddenly surrounded him as the deviant made his escape. Connor got up, and I had already rolled over and scrambled to my feet, rushing to dart out the door. “What are you waiting for?! Chase it!” Hank’s shouts echoed behind me as I was already pursuing the android, Connor’s brisk footsteps catching up behind me as I made haste.

I locked eyes on my target, focusing entirely on running him down. Whatever obstacles he jumped, I jumped. I picked up a few tricks throughout my life, and I was neither easily shaken nor pursued. I became extremely adept at avoiding obstacles in a high-speed chase. You could thank my shitty childhood for that.

Realizing that most of my surroundings were rooftop farmlands, I became overtly aware of the farming equipment and vehicles that surrounded me. The deviant was quick, that was for certain, but I was determined.

Through wheat fields, I climbed up dangerous slopes in pursuit with ease, sheer adrenaline and oxygen coursing through my veins as I had to take deep breaths to keep myself going. Unfortunately I was not a particularly athletic person and I knew that my physical limits were, well, limited. So like a cheetah, every second of this chase needed to count.

Running past rooftop buildings, I became aware of Connor gaining behind me as we pursued the deviant. I saw him disappear over a ledge, but saw the reflection of a window. Hopping over the ledge, I slid down the window, Connor next to me, and I hopped into the next building, an opening in its glass available.

I landed with a somersault and quickly resumed my chase, Connor landing closely behind me. This seemed to be a very different building, one that studied plants. We were getting pretty close until the industrial garage door closed on us, and we had to detour to the right through an open one. “Shit, he’s pretty quick!” I grunted in the heat of the chase.

After turning the corner, we were hit with a sea of lavender. Connor was now gaining the upper hand, and I had to follow him to tell where the deviant was going, beginning to quickly lose sight of him amongst the chaos. After jumping up a particularly high ledge, I continued following until we got to another ledge and the only other way was sliding down more windows towards a moving train.

No way in Hell I was about to risk that. “Woah, fuuuuuuck that!” I yelled as I skidded to a stop as Connor proceeded to continue chasing the deviant. Desperately, I was looking for another way to get to them, perhaps even beat them. Then I saw it, one of those giant industrial cranes. Oh God, am I really about to fucking risk swinging on one of those death traps just to get across? I then looked down at the horror that was the moving train and shook my head. Guess I am, fuck it!

Wasting no time, I started sliding down the window, angling myself towards it, until I prepared myself to land on the hook. I screamed as I swung far towards the other side, which I saw was covered in orchards. I swallowed my fear, and prepared to jump off, counting my blessings, before I practically launched myself off it, landing on my feet and performing a somersault to absorb the shock of the landing. “Holy shit, that was amazing! I’ve never done that before in my life!” I exclaimed as I scanned for movement and quickly found Connor in hot pursuit of the deviant and quickly followed suit, not wasting any time and not paying any mind to any of the other workers shouting at me.

Jumping off a ledge to the next set of farmwork, I saw Connor pursuing the deviant inside the greenhouse, and instead elected to jump up the scaffolding on the side of the entrance to chase them on top of the building, looking down on them below. From my vantage point, I could see that Connor had some pretty damn good reflexes when it came to avoiding obstacles. But I couldn’t help that smug feeling that insisted that I was definitely better than him, even though I had no real logical reason to believe it.

Seeing the deviant bank hard to the right, I followed suit, leaping down and somersaulting again upon landing to once again absorb the shock, but I could feel my ankles starting to buckle in shooting pain. But I grit my teeth and kept going, following Connor as he almost shot past me.

Pushing through probably hundreds of stalks of corn, I heard Hank’s voice calling out from up ahead. Can’t run now, buddy! But as soon as we broke free from the corn field, I felt my heart stop as I saw Hank get hurled off the building. “HANK!” I screamed. Connor was thankfully faster than me and wasted no time helping the lieutenant up. Taking that as my cue to continue the pursuit without them, I banked hard to the left. “DON’T WORRY, I’M WAY AHEAD OF YOU!” I shouted at them as I continued chasing the deviant, starting to feel myself reaching my limits. But like fuck I was gonna give up that easy!

Jumping off the ledge and somersaulting into the next fields, which I was guessing was rice given the excess water, I followed the deviant in hot pursuit. Options were dwindling, and there was nowhere left to turn. There was only ahead. And I had a feeling that ahead was a dead end, and I was only moments away from cornering the deviant.

And sure enough, I was right. There was only below, and to the left, but the deviant was practically cornered when I reached him.

Except that I was exhausted, and my breaths needed to catch up to me while my ankles were practically screaming at me in pain. That somersaulting technique was definitely not completely flawless, but I’d be a lot worse off without it. “No more running, dude...” I gasped, keeling over and resting both my hands on my knees as I kept heaving. “Seriously, no more running...that was so much more exercise than I’ve had to do in a longass fucking time...holy shit...”

I looked up at the deviant, and he seemed a bit thrown off by me. But he lifted his hands in a defensive gesture as he looked at me with pleading brown eyes. “Please, I’ve done nothing wrong...” He begged. “I just wanted to be free. If you turn me in...”

“You’ll be destroyed...” I answered for him, still huffing. “Believe me, I know...I’m currently...trying to get someone else...off that chopping block...”

He took a step to the left. “Then please let me go...” He almost whimpered. “Let me go free.”

I took a good look at him. After the thrill of the chase had died down, some things were starting to nag at me. He wasn’t violent. There wasn’t even a case of him attacking or threatening a human. He was just living alone in an abandoned apartment that no one was living in just wanting to take care of the fucking pigeons. The only reason we even knew about him was someone saw an LED under his hat, otherwise he wouldn’t have even been noticed. This is wrong. I thought. He doesn’t deserve to die. He didn’t do anything wrong.

Closing my eyes and turning my head away, I hoped was a good enough answer for him. And apparently it was, because all I heard was the shuffling of clothes and the sounds of footprints before I opened my eyes to nothing in front of me. “SHIT!” I shouted, kicking the ledge, still breathing heavily. I saw Connor and Hank approaching me, and I had to pretty much sit down. “Fuck...God damn it...”

“What the fuck happened, Rachel?!” Hank demanded exasperatedly. “I thought you had it!”

“I did...” I said with a gasp and then a gulp. “I had him...I had him right here...but then he got away...I had him...and then I lost him...I'm sorry...”

Connor was quiet for a moment before he responded. “It's alright, Rachel.” He said reassuringly. “You did your very best given the circumstances. I understand that.”

“Exactly.” Hank said, reaching forward to help me up to my feet, letting me lean my weight on him. “We know what it looks like. We'll find it.”

Connor did as Hank was doing on my other side, and I sort of chuckled at them. “Guys, I’m winded...not injured.” I breathed, starting to catch my breath. “I don’t need to be carried to the car.”

“Perhaps, but I’ve detected low level damages to your anterior inferior tibiofibular ligaments.” Connor pointed out, clearly having run a quick vitals check on me. “It will heal with a few hours of rest, but I’d strongly recommend against strenuous activities until then.”

“Yada yada, Jesus Christ.” Hank groaned. “Just talk like a normal fucking person, for Christ’s sake.”

“He’s talking about my ankles, Hank.” I informed him. “And like I said, I don’t need to be carried to the car.”

“At least let us get you up over the ledges and we can walk there.” Hank compromised.

I saw that as an acceptable answer, as my ankles really did hurt. Not unbearably, but I’d rather not push them if I could help it. “Alright, fine. But just up the ledges.”

It took a decent amount of time, but eventually we made our way back to where Hank was pushed. Taking a moment to breathe, I realized something kinda crucial. “Hey, um...how the fuck are we gonna be able to make it back to the car?” I asked, realizing that not only did we stray really far but that we jumped over and across who knows how much crazy shit to get here.

“I can lead us on the easiest and quickest route back to the apartment.” Connor offered. “I estimate it will take approximately twenty minutes to half an hour to make our way back.”

“We can go through here.” Hank offered, opening the door I figured he came through to get here. “Hey, Connor.” Hank called towards the android. He turned his head in the lieutenant’s direction, his dark brown eyes expectant. But Hank just waved his hand and started walking through. “...Nothing.”

I smiled and gently elbowed Connor. “Awww, I think he’s actually starting to like you, Connor.” I teased, but I did genuinely think that. Hank wasn’t exactly one to express his feelings openly. He definitely didn’t express them as openly as I did, lord knows I can never keep my fucking mouth shut. But I sort of learned to read him after a while.

“I hope so.” Connor said innocently. There was something about how earnestly that came out that made me smile even more.

As we followed behind Hank, I gently brushed Connor’s shoulder. “Hey, Connor?”

He looked at me square in the face. “Yes, Rachel?”

I smiled at him, my eyes darting between him and the ground. “Thanks for having my back.”

“Of course.” He said simply. “We’re partners, after all.”

I scoffed at him. “Well, not officially.” I reminded him. “This was a one day sort of deal, but after that, I should probably take on other cases. I was just extra help.” I gave him a genuine smile. “But it was nice meeting you. And I really enjoyed working with you and getting to know you.”

Connor’s LED flickered for a moment, and I could’ve sworn it was a red colour. It was only for barely a split second, but still. Did I imagine that? “Likewise.” He replied with a subtle smile, or at least as much as he could portray given his nature. Connor then went silent, his LED spinning yellow, and I figured he was calculating routes and took that as my cue to catch up to the tired lieutenant. “Hey, Hank? Can you do me a favour?”

“I can’t dogsit Bear, not with this case.” He immediately refused defensively.

I laughed a bit. “No, it’s not that.” I amended. “I was gonna ask if you could just let Connor know that I have some errands I need to run on my way home and that I’m going to be about a half hour late.”

Hank sort of blinked a couple times and looked down at me. “And why does he need to know that?” He asked.

A fair question, I realized, so I played it cool. “He wanted to talk, so I invited him over to my place after work.”

Hank narrowed his piercing eyes at me. “You’re not trying to get in his fancy robo-pants, are you?”

“No!” I said, punching him in the shoulder. “I’m not about that. Not with androids, at least.” I denied adamantly. “I just figured that was a better environment to...explain things to him...that wasn’t the precinct or work-related at all.”

Hank let out a sigh and a nod. “Alright, fine. I’ll let him know.” He agreed.

“Thank you!” I huffed appreciatively. “You’re the best.”

“Nah.” Hank replied.

“Yes you are, no take-backs.” I insisted. “I don’t make the rules.”

“Fine, then that makes you second rate.” Hank flung back with. “You ain’t too far behind.”

I couldn’t stop the smile on my face. “And I’ll take that in stride.”

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

Next Chapter

#connor #connor dbh #dbh connor #dbh #detroit: become human #self-insert x connor dbh #dbh what it means to be human #rk800 #hank anderson #rupert dbh #oc x connor dbh #self-insert #fanfic #implied character death #connor x reader #reader x connor #trigger abuse mention #trigger mourning

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maychorian · 5 years

Note

For the prompts, #6 with Tim Drake and Jason Todd

This is set in a possible future of Year of Fallen Angels.

6. “Where are you? Tell me where you are.”

Jason was stacking boxes in the storeroom of the diner where he worked when the phone in his pocket jingled with a certain ringtone. It was the theme song for one of Tim’s favorite TV shows, and it only came from one number.

He dropped the boxes he was holding on the floor and took the phone out of his pocket and put it to his ear. “Timmy?”

The line was quiet. Jason strained to hear, pressing the phone closer to his face. Then he realized that it wasn’t silent, after all. Tim was panting, harsh and terrified.

“Tim? Baby bird? Talk to me.”

Jason was already striding toward the door of the storeroom and into the kitchen. His manager, Mr. Sevalkis, was leaning over the counter sorting receipts. He looked up at his entrance. Jason raised his eyebrows and pointed to his phone.

Sevalkis grimaced. “One of those calls?” he asked.

“Yeah. Gotta go.”

Sevalkis waved a hand. “Get outta here. Come back if you can. Dinner rush in two hours, if you can make it.”

“I’ll try.”

On the other end of the phone, Tim was gulping for breath. Jason moved toward the service entrance, grabbing his leather jacket off the hook on the wall and slinging it on one-handed. “Where are you, Timbo? Tell me where you are. I’ll come to you.”

“Quad,” Tim said faintly. “Front of… Front of the library. There’s people around.”

“Okay. That’s good.” Jason slung his leg over his motorcycle. “I’m gonna have to hang up while I drive. Wanna tell me what happened before I do? If not, we can talk when I get there.”

Sometimes nothing happened. Nothing external, anyway. Sometimes it was all inside, just a build-up of pressure until it exploded and Tim couldn’t take it anymore and called for help. And Jason always came. But sometimes there was a trigger, and sometimes it helped to talk about it. Jason would be happy for any information he could get out of Tim when he was this jammed up, even just a word or two.

“I thought I saw him,” Tim said numbly.

Jason clenched his teeth so hard he could hear them creaking under the pressure.

“It probably wasn’t him,” Tim amended. “Probably just…a trick of the light. Or my stupid brain.”

“Maybe,” Jason said. “Maybe not, though. Good job getting somewhere public with lots of people around. Stay there, okay? I’ll be there soon.”

“Yeah.” Tim’s breath was just a wisp. “Hurry, okay?”

“I will.”

He hung up and drove.

He liked the diner. It was mostly a cover, a veneer of legitimacy. He kept light hours, but he worked hard when he was there, mostly janitorial, maintenance, short order cooking during meal rushes. He liked it most of all because they had agreed to his one condition.

First thing at the interview, as soon as he sat down, he put it out on the table. “Listen, I know it’s bad form or whatever for the job applicant to make demands, but I gotta let you know, I can’t work here unless you can put up with something for me. Sometimes I get a phone call, and I have to drop everything and leave. I’ll do my best to come back when it’s taken care of, but it’s not negotiable. If you can’t handle that, we should just end the interview now, and I’ll keep looking for work elsewhere.”

The owner, Anderson, was there, and Jason’s future manager, Sevalkis. Anderson started making uncomfortable noises, but Sevalkis raised a hand. He looked at Jason steadily, barely blinking. “That’s a pretty extraordinary demand. I think we can handle it, as long as you’re not out making drug deals or something. Can you tell me a little more about these phone calls you’ll be getting?”

Jason huffed a laugh. “Not drug deals, I promise. It’s not really your business. But yeah, okay, I get that you need more than my word.”

Sevalkis placed both hands flat on the table and looked Jason deep in the eyes. “I don’t need your life story. A summary will do.”

“I have a little brother. Couple of years ago, he was tortured.” He didn’t say by who, or why, or any other details. This was Gotham. Innocent people got tortured on a semi-regular basis.

“He’s doing okay, most of the time. Going to college, working part-time. Every once in a while it gets to be too much for him, though, and I get a call. And I go.”

The corner of Sevalkis’s mouth turned up. “Your personal Bat signal.”

Jason laughed again, a little more genuinely. “Yeah. We joke that I’m his bodyguard, twenty-four seven. Even when I’m halfway across the city, I’m protecting him in spirit if not in body. He’s a good kid. The best. He doesn’t deserve what happened to him, and he doesn’t deserve how hard things are for him now. I would do anything for him.”

“Including losing any chance at gainful employment?” Anderson asked.

“Including?” Jason gave him a sharp-toothed smile. “That’s the least of what I would do for my baby bro, pal. The very least.”

“I like him,” Sevalkis said, already reaching across the table to shake Jason’s hand. “You’re hired.”

Anderson balked. “No other questions?”

Sevalkis shrugged. “I read his resume. The interview is for gut impressions, not dry facts. A guy who would drop anything to help his kid brother deal with PTSD will work hard and give his all at other things, too, including a job in a crappy little greasy spoon like this one. I like him, and I’m hiring him, unless you want to overrule me.”

Anderson shook his head. Jason and Sevalkis shook hands, and that was it.

Now, he parked his motorcycle basically on the sidewalk of the quad at Gotham U, barely taking time to set the kickstand and take off his helmet before he was jogging across the grass. Tim was sitting at a stone picnic table in front of the library, his bright red hoodie standing out like a flag. He was slumped over with his head buried in his folded arms, and a nice-looking girl was sitting next to him with a hand on his back.

Jason slid onto the bench across from them, giving the girl a pleasant smile. “Hi. You a classmate of Tim’s?”

She nodded. “Zo. Zoanne. We’re not in any classes together, since he started too late, but we hang out sometimes. You’re Jay?”

“Yup. I’ll take over for ya. You can go back and take care of whatever you were doing, no worries. Timmy’s in good hands with me.”

She smiled. “I know. He talks about you a lot. His other siblings, too.”

Zoanne took her leave, and Jason leaned over, his head near to Tim’s. “You wanna tell me where you think you saw him? I’ll check it out for you.”

Tim shook his head against his arms and rolled it over to look at Jason with one eye, peeking out between his arms. “I already sent an alert to O. She’s checking security footage. I don’t think she’s going to find anything, though. It was just me being crazy again.”

“Hey, what have we said about that?” Jason laid his hands on Tim’s upper arms and gave them a careful squeeze. “It’s not crazy to be scared of a dude who hurt you like that. It’s perfectly rational. Your brain is just trying to protect you by pointing out things that even remotely might be him.”

Tim pulled in a shuddering breath and slowly sat up. His arms slid out of Jason’s grip, but he offered his hands instead. Jason folded them between his, massaging carefully but firmly. He could feel the ridges of scars, the bumps and off-angles where the pins had come out. Tim’s hands were shaking, of course. But Jason’s were too, a little.

He kept rubbing Tim’s hands, rolling his slender fingers between his, pressing big blunt thumbs into his narrow palms and massaging in circles. Damian was still the best at giving Tim hand massages, but they all had had plenty of practice by now. It had become a ritual, a way for them to connect with Tim and help him calm down when things were rough, a tangible expression of how much they cared and how much they wanted to erase his pain and help him heal.

Eventually Tim’s shoulders went boneless, his eyes drooping and face slack, and even his hands had relaxed down to their normal faint level of trembling that never really went away. Jason stood up and went around to his side of the table to draw him to his feet. “C'mon, baby bird. Let’s blow this popsicle stand. You want me to take you home, or would you rather come hang out with me at the diner during dinner rush?”

Tim perked up a bit, leaning into Jason’s side as he led him over to his bike. “Will I get to watch you cook?”

Jason chuckled. “Maybe. You like that?”

“It’s funny watching you swear at everyone for not keeping up with you, even while you’re grinning like you’re having the time of your life.”

“Yeah, the diner is good fun. Let’s go. Sevalkis will probably give you a free piece of pie.”

“Rhubarb?”

“You know what, hold that thought. I’ll call ahead and tell him to reserve a piece for you.”

Tim sat on Jason’s bike, grinning without a hint of fear in his eyes, while Jason called his boss and told him to save a piece of his kid brother’s favorite pie. The sky was clear, and McDaniels wasn’t in jail, but he wasn’t here, either. And everything was as good as it could get, for now.

#askbox #fanfiction #my stuff #tim drake #jason todd #yofa #eastofthemoon

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prompt-master · 6 years

Text

a fic where Connor has to baby sit Alice for kara

You know when Hank got home he wanted to get a nice cold can of beer, or 4, and pass out on the couch. So god tell him why when he opened the door to his house he sees a little girl sitting on his couch. He froze in the doorway, wondering if the girl scout troupe was out to get him for never buying their cookies. How the fuck was he supposed to get shitfaced with a little girl in his house?

The little girl looked up at him, eyes wide and concerned. The two of them sat there, having a staring contest that he completely lost, and he went for a pretty long ass time. Damn kid was good.

Once he blinked he took a step into his house, and closed the door behind him. He cleared his throat and said in his nicest possibly voice (still gravely), "you lost or something?"

The little girl didn't answer him, instead sinking further into his couch.

"...right..." He walked as casually as he could behind the couch (behind, since she was watching tv), and into his kitchen.

"Ok. Whenever weird shit happens in my life there's only ever one reason." Hank took in a deep breath and cupped his mouth

"CONNOR"

Hank felt bad when the little girl flinched, but Connor came down from upstairs, poking his head into the kitchen with his awkward forced smile.

"...yes Luteniet?"

Hank crossed his arms and straightened his back, reminding him of when he used to scold Cole all the time, "Connor, come over here please."

His tone wasn't as kind as his words were.

Connor's forced smile grew more painful to look at as he took two exaggerated steps into the room. He was holding a bunch of...childrens books in his arms?

Hank was so taken back by the sight of the actual hardcover books that he forgot to ask about the little girl, "holy shit Connor where'd you get these? I haven't seen real books since that crazy bird deviant."

Connor's shoulders relaxed ever so slightly. Going from more stiff than usual to stiff, "Yes well Alice told me about how she had these children books at her house before so I bought them as a surprise was about to bring them to her."

Hank nodded, looking through the various books. He loved real books, tablets just weren't the same. "I'm guessing Alice is the little girl on the couch?"

Connor nodded, "that is correct"

The stern, scolding tone came back, causing Connor's shoulders to stiffen again, "and do you wanna explain WHY there's a little girl in my house? Because if this is to stop me drinking it might work but it can't stop me from running over to a bar-"

"Do you remember Kara?" Conner suddenly cut him off, raising a hand.

Hank processed it, the name sounding familiar, "I uh...think so?"

"I met her back on Jericho before it exploded. Since then she's been living in Canada with her boyfriend Luther and daughter Alice."

Hank nodded slowly, "okaaay..."

"She's back in Detroit to visit since things have calmed down. And she would like to go on a date night"

Hank peered around Connor, surprised to see little Alice staring right back at him. "And she left her with you?"

"Yes well we stayed in contact after meeting, mostly because of Markus though. And he's too busy being an android advocate to watch her, and the Jerry's are still in Canada. I hope you don't mind Hank, it's just for the night"

Hank heaved a heavy sigh, "fine fine, I get it wanting a date night or whatever. Fine."

Connor smiled pure and proud, "thank you Luteniet!" He turned his back to Hank, walking into the living room, "Alice! Look what I've got you!"

Hank pressed his back into the doorway, watching with careful eyes as Connor sat on the couch with Alice and presented her the books. The best way to describe her reaction was...bittersweet. You could tell from her smile and how she grabbed the books one by one, saying things like "this one is my favorite!", that she loved the gift. But at the same time in her eyes there was a sadness, and the way her gaze lingered in the covers of the books as though they reminded her of something traumatic. Hank understood that far off look.

Before he could butt in Alice looked up at Connor with a wide smile, "thank you so much Connor!"

She wrapped her arms around his waist tightly, causing Connor to falter a little. He stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Jesus what an awkward kid. Hank made a hugging motion to him, gesturing to Alice. Slowly but surely, Connor hugged back.

When Alice pulled off Connor she shimmied backwards, on her knees and eyes attentive. "I love them so much Connor but...I wanna hear a story from you!"

Oh this should be interesting.

"Uh? Me?" He looked at Hank, unsurely.

"Yeah, you're a detective, you're a cool cop like on tv." She smiled, "you've gotta have cool fighting bad guy stories!"

Connor's LED flickered to yellow for a moment, before turning blue, "Alright. Once we were told to investigate at a shared pent house-"

"WOAH- woah WOAH!" Hank butted in instantly, remembering the gruesome murder-suicide, "Connor can't you think of anything more kid friendly?"

Connor put a hand to his mouth, LED yellow once again, when it turned blue he said, "No. All our investigations end in murder."

"God I hate my job- ok uh...kid wouldn't you rather watch Batman then here us talk?"

Alice looked up at him, "Batman?" Back at home the t.v. was always on sports or news for Todd. So even with Kara and Luther in Canada she didn't know what to watch. She was a little out of tune with pop culture.

"What? Kid yknow like...batman! Cool crime fighter? Not as cool as me"

Alice shook her head.

"Hold on I have a DVD of it some-"

The tv flickered, next thing he knew the opening to Batman: the Animated Series was playing. "Connor for once I don't hate you and your stupid Tv hacking."

"It isn't hacking luitenet I simply connected to your-"

"Yeah yeah yeah whatever"

Alice kicked her legs as she watched the show. Her eyes were wide with amazement. Well Hank did something good today, he was all set to go-

"You aren't gonna watch it with us?"

Dammit. Hank can't refuse a little girl.

"Alright pumpkin, I'll watch just one episode with you-"

Or...four. or five. It's a good series, alright?. The three of them found themselves lost in the show, huddled up on the couch. Alice was between Hank and Connor, holding Connor's arms and leaning into Hank's side.

Connor chuckled to himself suddenly, getting both if their attention.

"What's so funny over there, huh?"

"Luteniet. Are you a 'gritty cop' because you liked this show as a child?"

Hank was completely seen through there. It was a part if it anyway. Shit. "What? Absolutely not!"

Alice stood up, covering her head with a blanket from the couch, "I wanna be a Batman gritty cop!"

Hank couldn't help but laugh when she put up two fingers as ears, "I am Hank Anderson, I am the night!"

"Alright alright I don't sound like that" at the skeptical look he got from Connor he rolled his eyes, "I don't sound completely like that."

Alice swooshed the blanket behind her as a cape, then pointed at Connor, "you, the joker, I will get you!"

Connor, opened his mouth to laugh but instead the Actual joker laugh came out. He had analyzed it back then. Damn kid analyzed everything.

"You'll never catch me Batsie!"

God it was so weird seeing Connor with the jokers voice.

Suddenly those two were running around his house, Sumo following close behind in the excitement. They ran in a loop, almost making him dizzy. But with the kid laughing like that how could he stop them?

Until it hit him, "oh sh-...oh crap! Connor have you even fed the kid!?"

Connor passed by, pausing in his run and in his normal voice said, "not to worry Luitenet, she's an android" before running off.

"Oh. Ok." Hank sat back on the couch, watching Alice chase after Connor. "Wait- she's a what?!"

---

Kara knocked on the door gently. She didn't dare ring the buzzer as it was pretty late. She didn't want to wake Alice too. Their plan was for Luther to carry her, still asleep. It always worked.

She was about to knock again when Hank opened the door, looking tired and gross.

She smiled, "hello detective."

He shook his head, "please, call me Hank, you must be Kara"

She nodded, "and this is Luther"

Luther nodded and waved, "hello."

"I hope Alice wasn't too much trouble"

Hank glanced back to where Alice was asleep on top of her caught criminal with the blanket still hugging her. "Nah, you got a good kid there."

#Dbh #Detroit Become Human #Connor #Hank Anderson #Alice #fan fic

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makeyourlivesextraordinary · 6 years

Text

AU Yeah AUgust Day Three-Single Parent

Prompt is from: https://letsimagineotps.tumblr.com/post/118123455189/imagine-person-a-of-your-otp-is-a-single-parent

Back to school season. A hectic time of the year for parents. It was no different for Neil. He had been dreading the day he had to take his son, Jonathan, shopping for school clothes, supplies, and other school-related accessories, but he had procrastinated for far too long and now the dreadful day that it absolutely had to be done by had arrived.

He loved his son, of course he did, but he was not the easiest person to take shopping. He was an adventurous child, which was a wonderful attribute, but not in an 8-year-old who loved to wander away from him.

Several times throughout this shopping trip he had to call out to his son for him to stop running ahead. Jonathan would come back to him for a few minutes, but then see something else to draw his attention and himself away from his father.

Neil was exhausted. He only had a couple more things on his list and then he could, finally, return home. He turned to his side to tell Jonathan that maybe they could stop for ice cream after they were done to celebrate finally being done shopping, but discovered that Jonathan had, yet again, run away from him.

He looked in the aisles nearest to him, but he was nowhere to be found. Neil was starting to panic now. He had only looked down to consult his list for just a second, but evidently a second was plenty of time for Jonathan to wander very far away from him. He searched for his son, frantically calling out his name, but so far he had had no luck finding him. He had to find him! Where had he gone?

He kept searching for a few minutes, deciding that he needed to head to customer service to see if they could make an announcement for his son so he would know where he was. He was headed that way when he heard a man say,

“Is that him right there?”

Then he heard a familiar voice say,

“Yes! That’s him! That’s my daddy!”

Neil turned quickly in the direction from which the voices came. He was relieved to see his son alive and well. He ran to him and gave him a giant hug and said,

“Thank goodness you’re alright. I was very worried something bad had happened to you. Now do you see why daddy tells you not to run away from him?”

Jonathan bowed his head, nodding.

“I’m sorry, daddy. I saw a dinosaur and I got distracted and then I couldn’t find you, but this man noticed I was scared and he told me he would help me find you and he did, daddy!”

Neil noticed the man that Jonathan was with was still standing there and he turned up to look at him. He was a very handsome man and he had a shy smile on his face.

“Thank you so much for helping him find me! I was so worried!”

“Oh it’s no problem! I’m just glad we found you!”

“Well thank you so much-uh what’s your name?”

“Todd. Todd Anderson.”

“Thank you so, so much, Todd. Can I buy you a coffee or something to repay you?”

“Oh that’s okay. You don’t have to do that!” said Todd, looking embarrassed.

“Oh I insist! It’s the least I can do considering you helped my son find me!”

Neil exchanged numbers with Todd and the two of them decided they would meet for coffee the next day, when Neil could drop Jonathan off at his grandparents house for a couple of hours.

***

At their initial coffee “date”, Neil and Todd really hit it off. They discovered they shared a love of poetry, reading, Shakespeare, and the theatre. They stayed at the coffee shop a lot longer than they had expected to and it was only when Neil received a call from his mother asking him where he was that they reluctantly parted ways, agreeing to do it again.

Their dates became a frequent thing and after a few weeks of meeting for coffee or lunch, they officially entered into a relationship.

It was endearing how much Jonathan loved Todd. Todd was so good with him too. He was patient and caring and whenever Jonathan asked him to read a story, he graciously accepted. Sometimes, it seemed like Jonathan listened more to Todd than to him. It didn’t bother Neil too much though. It was kind of sweet.

***

A few months later, the three of them went Christmas shopping. Todd now lived with Neil, being like a second father to Jonathan. When they told Jonathan Todd would be moving in with them, Jonathan jumped up and down with excitement. They were a cute little family together.

Jonathan was very excited for the holiday, it being his favorite. He was excitedly running through the store and Neil had to tell him to calm down and stay with them more than a few times.

This latest time, once Jonathan had rejoined them, Todd leaned down to be on Jonathan’s level. He grabbed his hand and said,

“Please stop running away from us. Remember that time you ran away from your dad and lost sight of him? You really scared him that day.”

“But something good came out of it! We met you!” said Jonathan.

Todd giggled.

“Well, you got me there, but can you please stay with us for this trip? You can hold my hand if you want.”

“Okay, I will stay with you, I promise. Can you grab Daddy’s hand and then we can form a chain?”

Neil pushed the cart with one hand and held Todd’s with his other while Todd used his other hand to hold Jonathan’s hand, as they had agreed on before.

This made Jonathan giggle happily and Neil and Todd looked at each other with giant smiles on both of their faces. They liked returning to this store and being reminded of the day they met. Sure, it had been under scary circumstances, but everything had all worked out in the end.

#au yeah august #dead poets society #anderperry

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echoes-of-the-clockwork · 6 years

Text

Falcon of Detroit (DBH Connor Fanfiction) Chapter Seven

~Phoebe's POV~

While Hank and I ate, Connor had decided to read the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The android had asked for permission to read it and I gladly allowed him to take the book with him and read some of it over lunch. Since Connor didn't need to eat, he spent the entire time reading and made it to chapter four once Hank and I were finished with our meals.

Closing the book, he sat it down gently on the table and turned his chocolate gaze to me. "Lance left his family to become a knight in the neighboring kingdom of Seifron. The reason behind his departure was to escape his parents' debt and to prevent him from being the one the large sum would be passed down once his parents passed. Then, why would he return?"

"Even though Lance didn't want to carry his parents' debt, he still loved them dearly. He would witness their burial then head back to Seifron before the prime minister could pass the debt on to him. Since he was the eldest brother, he'd receive the full amount of the debt while his other brothers lived without the burden," I answered. "Even when you think you hate someone, you still can experience empathy when they lose someone close to them. It's the worst feeling in the world."

The same flicker I saw in Connor's eyes yesterday appeared again. The sight was confusing and I had no clue to what it was. As usual, I vanquish my curiosity and turned my eyes back to Hank. Even he was eyeing Connor strangely. "You okay over there?"

Connor blinked rapidly before meeting Hank's gaze. "Yes. I'm alright, Lieutenant." Suddenly, the android's LED went from blue to yellow, indicating he received a message. "We have a lead on another deviant."

Hank took a final sip of his soda before pulling out his car keys. "Get in the car."

-Convenient Store-

"So, an AX400 held you at gunpoint and demanded forty dollars?" I question the young cashier.

"Yes! It also had a kid with it."

"What else can you tell me about the android?" I ask.

"It wasn't wearing normal android clothes. It was dressed as if it were human," he answers.

"And your positive it was an AX400?"

"Yes! My mom has one and it isn't difficult to point out the model anymore."

"Thank you for your time."

Walking out of the store, Connor and Hank greeted me. "Anything that can tell us where this damn machine is?"

"She wanted forty bucks and she got what she wanted. And my guess..." I pointed to the motel down the road. "She's in the motel. Our AX400 has a child with her, which I assume from the reports is Todd Williams' daughter," I reply.

"Guess our next stop is the motel," Hank stated.

As we walked down the street, Connor came to my side and peered down at me. "How is your thigh?"

"Fine. I'll be needing my antibiotics and another pain pill once we're done here." I smiled up at him. "Thank you for watching over me, Connor."

He nods with his own smile and holds the door open for me as we arrive at the motel. Hank entered first, followed by myself and Connor. "Lieutenant Anderson, Detroit Police. This is my colleague, Detective Falcon," the older man said, gesturing to me. "We're looking for a female android, robbed a store down the road last night. You see anything?"

The man behind the desk glanced between me and Hank. "An android? No. I don't take androids here."

Connor held up his hand and showed a holographic image of the AX400. "Have you seen anyone that looks like this?"

"Imagine her wearing normal clothes. It's highly possible she also stole attire for her and the child she's with," I added.

"Fuck..." The man's mouth fell open in realization. "I knew there was something weird about her. She came in last night—she was dressed normal, you know. There was no way I could tell."

"That's alright, Sir," I reassure him.

"Is it still here?" Hank questioned.

The man points to the second level. "Yeah, probably. Room twenty-eight."

"Thank you," Hank and I said in unison.

The Lieutenant left the front desk with Connor and myself in tow, pulling out his phone and contacting a fellow officer. "Ben? Yeah, it's still at the motel. Send some uniforms and cordon off the area. I'm heading to its room now." Hanging up, Hank turned and faced Connor. "You wait in the car."

"You can't be serious right now!" I shout at him.

"Phee, shut it," Hank snarls.

"Dammit, Hank! Connor's our partner and you need to start treating him like one! I know you hate androids because of one incident, but you can't let that one moment determine everything! If a fellow detective were to make a horrible decision, would you hate me and the other detectives in all of Detroit from one person's actions?"

Hank fell silent. I knew my words had reached him, but he chose to ignore them in the end and set his gaze back onto Connor. "Wait in the damn car."

"Out of the question. I'm coming with you," Connor retorts.

"Listen, I'm tired of you talkin' back to me. You're a machine, so shut the fuck up and do what I say!"

I glared at Hank before grabbing Connor's hand and pulling him past the Lieutenant. "Phee!" The man shouts, trying to stop me. I ignore his call and head to the staircase. Releasing Connor's hand, we head up the stairs with Hank jogging after us.

Arriving at room twenty-eight, I pulled out my pistol and kicked the door in. Scanning the room, I saw no signs of life. Moving to the bathroom, I realized it was empty, as well. "She's gone," I announce to Connor and Hank, holstering my firearm as I exited the room.

"Shit, where the hell did it go?" Hank groans in annoyance.

My eyes widened in realization as I dashed past the two and down the concrete stairs. Connor and Hank yelled at me to stop, but their concern flew in one ear and out the other. Ignoring the burning pain in my thigh, I ran as fast as I could down the street. Officers were littered everywhere I looked.

"Stop them!" An officer shouts, chasing after two people. I passed the running officer and pursued the two individuals down an alleyway. Fighting through the immense pain in my thigh, I caught up to them just as they scaled the fence and descended to the interstate below.

Gritting my teeth, I climb the fence with only a little complication. Just as I landed on the other side of the chainlink fence, Connor and Hank caught up. "Phee, get your ass back over this fence, now!"

"I need to catch them!" I protest.

"Phoebe, you're injured," Connor said.

"I'm sorry, Connor, Hank." Turning my back, I slid down the muddy slope and vaulted over the guardrail. Weaving in between the speeding cars, I stepped and watched carefully to make sure I wasn't hit. Reaching the medium, my heart was racing a mile a minute. Seeing as the android and little girl were crossing the last stretch of interstate, I caught my breath and followed after them.

Back in the midst of traffic, I dodged the speeding cars left and right. Making it safely across, I ran into my targets. The AX400 stood protectively in front of the little girl as I placed a hand over my heart and inhaled deeply to calm it. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Who are you?" The android questioned.

"My name is Phoebe Falcon. I'm a detective. I don't plan on dragging you two anywhere."

"Then, why did you chase us through traffic?"

"To find out the truth." I glanced down at the little girl hugging the android's legs. "You must be Alice Williams, daughter of Todd Williams. Can you tell me what happened last night?"

"May I?" The android offered to talk in Alice's place. I nodded, allowing her to tell me the story of what transpired last night. Hearing about the abuse and the horrid events caused anger to bubble in my chest.

"Thank you, Kara."

"How do you..."

"Your name was in the case file," I respond with a smile.

"Won't you lose your job for helping us?" Alice spoke up.

"If I do, it was worth it. Now that I know the truth, all I need is evidence."

"There's plenty at the house," Kara stated.

"Then, that'll be my next stop. I hope you both find happiness. And, before you go..." I pull a few twenties out of my jacket pocket. "Here's some money to keep you both out of the cold for a few days. Hopefully, you'll make it to wherever you need to go."

"Thank you, Phoebe." Her eyes then fell upon my thigh. "You're hurt!"

Glancing down, I saw my bandages were tinted red. "Shit..." I had torn my stitches open. "Guess I'll need to head to the hospital after this."

"It's our fault," Kara frowns.

"No! No, it's not. I pushed myself too hard and tore my stitches. You both get out of here before unfriendly cops show up."

"But—"

"I'll be fine."

Kara nodded and took Alice's hand before taking off up the hill to safety. When I turned around, I saw Connor was standing there and I gasped in shock. "Y'know, you're really good at jumpscares."

"Phoebe," his eyes fell to my bleeding thigh.

"Yeah, I know. We're heading to the hospital." The moment I took a single step, the pain was too unbearable and I fell to my knees. Connor came to my aid and helped me off the grass and supported my body with his. "Please tell me someone's already on their way here?"

Connor nods. "Lieutenant Anderson will be here shortly."

With his help, I limped up the hill and to the nearest parking lot. Hank arrived a few minutes later and drove me to the hospital.

-Hospital-

As I waited for the doctor, I received the silent treatment from Hank. I raised a brow at seeing his childish behavior. "Really? The silent treatment? What are you—five?"

"You could've been fuckin' killed!" He snapped.

"I know that, Hank. I did it so I could learn the truth," I defended.

"Oh? And did you?" The older man crosses his arms.

"Yes, yes, I did."

"And what is this so called "truth"?"

"If Todd Williams is truly innocent in what transpired at his house last night."

Hank leaned forward in his chair, uncrossing his arms. "Is he?"

"Nope. The AX400, Kara, saved Alice's life. The man abused her and that case file needs to be deleted and burned."

"You know that won't be enough to prove he's guilty," Hank states.

"I know. That's why after I get my stitches replaced, I'm heading over to Mr. Williams' house and finding concrete evidence."

"Like hell you are!" The man bellows. "Your ass is going back home! I'm not risking you tearing your stitches again, Phee."

"I'm a grown woman who's job is to put assholes like Todd behind bars! I don't care what you think, but I'm going."

Hank gritted his teeth in pure annoyance. "You're a stubborn woman."

"Who's trying to do her job," I add.

"I will accompany her, Lieutenant," Connor joined our conversation.

I sent the android a slightly shocked expression before remembering his promise to Hank during my first hospital visit after being shot. "I've no issues with Connor tagging along. It'll provide me with someone to talk to and an extra set of eyes."

"What about a search warrant?" Hank inquired.

"Screw that! By the time I get one, it'll be too late." Then, an idea struck me. "Hank, could you do me a favor?"

"No fucking way! I already know what you're planning," He protests.

"Oh, come on! Just call Todd and tell him there are more questions he has to answer at the station. That's all you have to do!"

"You've fallen off your damn rocker if you think that'll work," the older man retorts with a huff.

"Just do it! For me, please?"

Hank sighs. "Fine. I'll do it. Just so you know, you're paying me back for this shit."

I smiled. "You can count on it."

#detroit become human #dbh #hank anderson #connor x oc #connor rk800

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nhlhoser · 6 years

Text

On The Rocks - 14

Part 13 Masterlist

Word count: 2662

Gameday.

My favorite kind of day, the energy is different-it's hopeful, positive and full of adrenaline with all the guys preparing for the game going through the rituals and exercises. The music-heavy bass and beat and extremely loud, someone the guys getting riled and moving was other are in the zone.

Auston Matthews is one of those 'in the zone' guys, quiet and visualizing. When he has his headphones on during his private stretch session after the Morning skate, is where he really gets zoned it. I accidentally witnessed this routine when I was helping set up the therapy rooms with Toad this morning.

Auston was the only player left in the dressing room, in his under armor and loose shorts, practically doing the splits stretching over both legs one by one, testing his mobility for each side. To no Surprise, he has more flexible going left, his shooting side, over his right.

I didn't stay long because it felt like I was invading a very private moment, his eyes closed hands twitching like he's stuck handling like he was in a play. It looked like he was at peace, this was his happy time. With that in mind, I high-tailed it out of there before he could see me.

As expected could be William is moving hype kind of guy, he's always moving and twitching on game day and only increases as the day progresses but as soon as his skate blade hits the ice he's in the zone and calm like Auston. Mitch is quiet on game days, he limits his talking to Auston and his words limited as he goes through his routine which, I don't even know because he does it privately like Auston than got playful during the warm-up.

I have become sorta involved in a couple rituals now if it's a pre-game massage or even just have too high five me, the guys are weird. Morgan is funny with his, he insisted that he plays better if he gets a shoulder massage right after his pre-game name, last night after he got the game-winning goal, I started to believe his ritual wasn't as crazy as I thought.

"I told you so Amelia, you doubted but look what happened last night! Game-winning GOOOOAL," Morgan has cheered with his hand on my shoulders shaking me as we laughed, Stephanie rolling her eyes but still laughed at us have been witness to a majority of the Pre-game massages in my living room.

Now that 2 and half hours until game time, Toad and another athletic trainer are trying to convince Frederick Anderson to let them assess his shoulder and neck have been the spot of concern recently after a game against Buffalo.

"I am fine," the Dutch goalie ground out visibly and audibly annoyed with the concerned staff. Both men unconvinced and about to continue before I swoop in.

"I think we should let him decide, the team doctor said he was fine, It's his body he knows best," I said carefully to my relief the trainers nodded and retreated to medical staff offices.

"Hopefully they'll leave you alone, but if it does bother you please say something," I pleaded to the way tall and wide Dutchmen who face is unreadable, but his eyes aren't as narrower and lighter.

"I just know I am ready! and It just felt like my word wasn't enough for them, I know they are looking out for my Health but man I need space," I was shocked at the usually tight-lipped man I front of me who just laid his problems out. Frederick must have realized he'd said more in the last 5 minutes than the past few weeks, a red hue blossomed on his pale face as an awkward crook smile appeared.

"Wow, been holding that for a while now," He breathed, running his hands through his short ginger locks, his shoulders not as tensed now too.

"Well, I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to say it, if you need anything let me know," I squeezed his shoulder as he nodded.

"Goodluck," I said quickly over my shoulder with a wave before I followed to where the trainer and Toad was working on someone's thigh, someone being William Nylander in only tight athletic shorts, unfazed is how I look but dying is how I am on the inside because he's a professional athlete with the body to match, a dumb grin graced his face before he winced again with a groan.

"Beaner, be nice to me, man" William teased the older massage therapist who only rolled his eyes before digging his fingers into the probably knotted muscles of Williams' thigh.

"Well if you stretched a little more after working out you wouldn't need this," Toad scolded with a smirk, as Will sat making faces at the back of Toads face, I had to hold my hand over my face and cough to hide my laugh.

"Be nice you two," I have pretended to scold the pair, I flicked the bottom of Williams' foot- the one not attached to the leg Toad working on, his leg coming up on reflex because I purposely hit a pressure spot, earning a glare from William.

"I help you yesterday and this how you repay me," William mocked a godfather voice, referring to car shopping yesterday.

"Actually it Was Kasperi who helped me," I corrected gently working my fingers on his calf.

"Well, you wouldn't have had dear Kappy if I wasn't with him," William chirp childishly sticking out his tongue but regretting when I dug my fingers into the sensitive flesh behind his knee, earning a yelp as he bit his tongue.

"Hey, now it's not my fault I don't have his number or I would text him too," I defend ignoring the glare I earned from Will for cause him a sore tongue.

"Whatever" He whined as Toad was finished up with his treatment on the thigh before whipping of the lotions and oils, meaning William was getting his leg taped- his hairy leg. I stifle a laugh when William realized the fate of Physio tape in his future.

"That shit hurts, I don't want it," William groaned as Toad laughed evilly whipping his thigh with rubbing alcohol to completely remove the oils.

"Well, sucks to suck," I said patting his shoulder before grabbing a roll of beige Physio tape and handing it over to the trainer coming into taking over for Toad, leaving William to the hands of said trainer not missing the glare from the blonde hockey player.

You could definitely hear the crowd in the hall but once you're in the change room you could only hear Mike Babcock as he talks to his team preparing them for this game, hyping them up to play. I sat in the medical staff room on massage stool, the trainers are all rushing around cleaning up the leftover tape and whatever was used on the players and whisper with the lead trainer very rapidly, something was up.

"Why is half of the staff running around like they lost their heads?" I asked Toad when he enters the room with a leafs windbreak in his hand and a shy smile.

"That's why I'm here, one the trainers broke his hand this morning and now they're short-staffed, and I may have already said you could fill in," My jaw dropped but was shut because the coat in his hand was tossed into my face before he continued. "You'll be paid double, as you'd be doing two jobs, all you have to do is follow instructions you'll just be standing in the tunnel," Todd smiled well patting my back with force to move my now grumpy ass toward the door as I pull the jacket on, an older short guy came over with a first aid fanny pack in hand.

"Thank you, It's league rule to have a certain amount of medical staff on duty and Bean over here doesn't have the certifications like yourself, Have you done anything like this before? Oh dear, I am Paul Ayotte by the way," The graying man said all in a single breath before sticking out his hand that I shook.

"Well, I was the athletic trainer for my brothers Lacrosse team if that counts," I said hesitantly as we walked towards where the players are getting ready, now 15 minutes until they have to go on the ice.

"Hmmm...what league? Because lacrosse is quite similar in pace and some equipment," Paul noted with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Junior A in Brampton and A.L.L in Toronto during the winter," I racked my brain to make sure this is correct, a shocked look crossed his face.

"Oh big boys, you'll fit in here just fine then!" The small man cheered entering the room of the players and drawing the attention of Mike Babcock and point at me with a thumbs up but he also drew the attention of all the guys into the room, my face and neck going red instantly.

"OF COURSE IT'S AMELIA TO THE RESCUE!" Mitch chirps coming up to ruffle my hair with his gloved hand, I do nothing to stop him just fake pouted well-making eye contact with Auston who's shaking out his shoulders before sending the smallest of smiles that if I had of blinked I would've missed it.

"Let's go, guys!" Calls out a hyped up Matt Martin leading the way out to the sliding doors of the Leafs dressing room.

"Goodluck!" I fist bumped Mitch simply as Morgan passes fist bump him up, down and blow it up to bring it back and dap, something we did a bit ago to make fun of Mitch.

"HA! We have a handshake, official besties," Mo booped my nose as I rolled my eyes pushing him towards where the guys were going out the door in their usual order, some moving faster and louder than others.

When all the players were out the medical staff followed, it was weird going out towards the loud arena, chills run up my spine, it was a great feeling.

"You should stand here, oh crap put this in your ear," A nameless person said to stick the earpiece in my eye and putting the walkie on my belt as she guildes me to be right behind Curtis before disappearing down the hall.

"Amelia Channel 1 during the game, 2 if a leaf goes down, 3 for the other team," Paul said as he was passing me to his spot behind the bench giving me a thumbs up and I him. Adjusting the earpiece and turn on the walkie I can hear nothing until Paul's voice rings through going over what to do during the game, I nod along as I adjust everything on my hip, I now have the first aid kit and Gatorade towel on my left hip, the walkie on my right but the earpiece in my left ear.

"-Amelia if you see something off about a player heath that they are hiding radio it, not just the leafs either, we're part of concussion spotters protocol, it's jersey color and number," I turned to make eye contact with Paul before nodding,"

I got into the routine easy if a player needed help I helped, very simple. It was middle of the 3rd period and a Tampa player got hit cleanly in the corner but he tripped as Polak as finishing a hit and the player continued to the opposite end of the ice, I watched him skate it was staggered and the slightest bit wobbly.

"White. 21. Hit to the head," I called now looking away from #21 bolts as he made it to the bench wobbling, the call worked its way through both benches and the Lightning's head trainer was huddled with the assistant coach watching the hit before they made it to the head coach who instantly nodded, all well the assistant trainer and player were talking before they head to the locker rooms.

"Good call," Paul looked sparing a brief smile before his eyes were back on the ice.

They lost 4-1, Todd and I were busy massaging out the muscles of players before shooing them to an ice bath or just out of the room. The mood after a loss is definitely a lot different than the pre-game, the hope is gone and spirits gone. Guys get their shit and leave or some linger around for each other, some already watching game tapes.

I was working on a moping Mitch's shoulder to avoid cramping and soreness because his dumbass blocked a shot, as a player goo but as a human dumb. I massaged the muscles with enough pressure to release's the knots and prompting unpleasant groans from the boy.

"I hate you right now," Mitch deadpanned his face down in the table, I only could muster a tired nose exhale as I continued the assault of his shoulder muscles my fingers slightly aching as I worked on half the team on the bench as well as after the game. Paul used my massage skills to the team's advantage as I could massage cramps out right there on the bench making the recovering time faster for the guys.

"Did you drive here?" Mitch asked once he was sitting up stretching out his joints, a lot easier now.

"Yeah," I sighed out starting the clean my station up around Mitch as he did his thing.

"Good, can you give me a ride? I told Stephanie I come over but I spaced before and came with Aus," Mitch admitted shyly I shrugged nodding too tired to talk. Mitch smiled going back into the other room as i busied myself with cleaning and Texting Steph about what happened on the ice and that I'll be delivering her boytoy.

Mitch fell asleep in the car and I was jealous, we had hit some weird traffic on the Gardiner Expressway which was kind of weird because it was almost midnight, I could feel an episode of road rage wash over me, I just wanted to go home. My knuckles were white with how hard I was gripping the stirring wheel, all the times I should have had a nap today go over in my head but I don't dwell because it only makes me more tired. When we finally get off the highway on to lakeshore and I could see my building I let out a cheer that sounded dreadful and woke Mitch up from his 40-minute nap.

"AH, I could've sworn you lived closer? Why did it take so long?" He yawned as I finally pulled into my complex and making my way to the underground.

"Traffic," I grunted putting my car into park, not waiting for Mitch I got my things and was halfway to the elevator before he was even out of the car and silently falling me up the rest of the way to the apartment.

Both walking like the dead we entered the Apartment to an energetic Steph a glass of red wine in hand and a takeout box of food outstretched towards us, Mitch goes for the food but she pulls back and shakes her head with a laugh.

"Yours is on the table, this here is for Hawkeye over here," The smaller girl teased placing the warm Italian food from the bistro just downstairs, but also the Wine. Instantly I chugged the alcoholic beverage as if it was regular grape juice.

"Ah, thank you. I am taking this with me" I said referring to the food, "and please don't disturb me unless someone dies," I grumbled dragging myself and belongs past the cuddly couple who migrated to the couch well I was drinking the wine, grabbing a water I was up to the stairs after brief goodnights.

I ate, showered and fell asleep naked.

The best way to sleep in fresh sheets.

#auston matthews #482754 #on the rocks 14 #auston matthews imagine

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