AN: Welp, my very first story ever on FF. Helloooo everyone. I was very unsure whether or not I wanted to pull myself out of my 5 year writing hiatus BUT HERE I AM. Yes, this is story will eventually live up to it's M-Rating, but for now, accept some simple cliff-hangy stuff.
I'm in this for the long hall; hope I gather a couple people to ride it out with me! Thanks for reading!
Near Miss
A close call. A near miss. You know, the kind of thing they make a big deal of on the six o' clock news; 'Officer is nearly shot in the line of duty, his heroic efforts are honored in a solid gold statue. Up next, a pony who can play the piano!'. It's what we all come to expect, after all. In the movies the good guys always come out on top, because who doesn't walk away from a point blank gunshot wound? Society expects the good guys to pull through, never really considering the other side of the coin, never thinking about the goons that don't miss. Hell, John had seen this all first hand, been the statistic, but it never prepares you.
Everything happened too quickly. Vladimir's haunting smile flickered ominously on the view screen, every smug detail pixelated in high definition, "So close, Detective. Too close, if you ask me."
The recording flashes the well rehearsed smile once more, the young Armenian's face growing more wicked as the seconds ticked on. Beside him, Dorian desperately tried to trace the feed, one hand pressed securely to the computer module below the screen. John could hear the small sound of disappointment under his breath as he looked back, shaking his head. Shit.
"I applaud you, sirs. If only Detective Kennex had not been so occupied with the pretty brunette at the station, maybe you would have made it in time to catch us," his controlled chuckle was cold, calculated, and John seethed at the prodding.
"I shall give you another chance, to show you how much we care about this great city of ours. However, since you have failed this round, we should mark it a 'strike', yes? Like in your American baseball, we must have a player take the bench, but who to choose?" Vladimir seemed to consider the options, his smile grating on John's patience. "Pretty Miss Stahl? Or what of Captain Maldonado? No, neither will give you an edge. Ahha! I have it!" The Armenian's sharky smile grew as he dropped his hands from the viewer.
"How about our DRN friend? You always did hate Synths, Mr. Kennex. I guess you consider this a favor!" John opened his mouth to reiterate, to shoot off some snarky remark, his finger pointed at the viewer, when Dorian let out what could only be a yelp. The android stumbled back a few steps, his body clicking, whirring. John's eyes flashed to his partner with a questioning glance, still not breaking eye contact with the dark haired crime lord.
"Good day, Detective. Good luck in round two." The transmission cut, dropping the room into haunting blue light that was being emitted from the command console. John swore, dropping his facade as he reached for Dorian.
The androids body shook, his joints spastically jerking as his legs gave way. John gripped at his shirt, struggling with the added weight as he slowly lowered his partner to the floor. Searching his face, John took in the rapidly dilating eyes, the way his mouth floundered, "Dorian, what's going on?! Come on, fight this!" His breath came in panicky bursts, his partners hands curling and uncurling against his bulletproof vest.
"Jo-..." Dorian's pupils blew wide, black swallowing the light grey irises. His body fell silent, every click shutting down simultaneously. His hand opened, his fingers falling limply to his side as the android shut down.
Cursing, John quickly dropped an ear to his lips, listening for the tell tale whir that signaled the synthetic was processing. Silence.
"Dorian...? DRN, reboot sequence," John held his breath. His head drops again, listening, waiting. Silence.
"Dorian, respond!" Fumbling, John groped desperately at the back of his head. The electric blue lights flickered, occasionally plunging him into darkness as he swiped his thumb over the manual reset. His strained breathing was the only sound, the desperation he heard there deeply embarrassing.
"Do-... Dorian," John quickly divoted the intercom system at his wrist, pulling Dorian's unmoving frame tight against his chest. "Kennex reporting! I have a 10-00. Requesting immediate transport." Kennex drops his head once more, silently pleading beneath his breath, praying for a sign.
Silence.
"I repeat," John's voice sounds rough to himself, far away under the sound of blood pounding in his ears, "I have an officer down!"
Thirty-Seven Hours Earlier
"I think you should get a cat, man."
John's hands slowed in their furious assault on his pad. Brown eyes flickered for a moment to the spot where his partner was wearing holes into the linoleum wood of his living room. Scowling, he looked back to his pad, fingers resuming their unrelenting pace, "Oh, definitely. I should also look into having a kid, quitting all this boring work and join the circus, Dorian." He grumbled under his breath, knowing his partner would hear anyways. Stopping again, he looks up flings his stylus towards the android, "And stop yer pacing! I don't care about the floor, but goddamn, you're gunna fall through the floor soon!"
Dorian's ever-pleasant smile turns on him, raising his palms in a mock surrender, "Hey man, I give. I'm just sayin', a cat could do you good," The android fell with a hmph onto the sofa, testing the soft cushions with his meticulous curiosity. Smoothing his fingertips along the crisp white fabric, he began counting the thread fibers, synthesizing the blends of cotton and polyester, "Oh!" Grinning, he turns to look at John's back where he sat hunched over the kitchen bar, "We could name it Stahl!"
The android ducked just as the pad went flying over his head, landing with a thump further down the couch, stifling a chuckle. John fumed, pulling on his jacket to quickly and nearly busting a seam.
"Fine! No more paperwork. See if I even care," he spun on the android who had quickly moved to stand at his side, stabbing a finger into his chest, "But you get to tell Maldonado why the reports she wanted didn't get filed." Smirking, John spun around and ushered them into the brisk morning air.
The android's smile fell, imagining the look the the chief's face as his partner informed her that their long overdue paperwork would be late. Again. Quickly pulling up the file, Dorian sorted and jotted down all the information that John had been putting off. He topped it off with something he hoped would read 'John' to Maldonado. Sending it directly to her desk, Dorian replaced his pleasant smile as he locked up behind the harried Detective.
John Kennex roughly pulled open the side of his standard issue Cruiser. He mood had soured, no thanks to a certain Synthetic know-it-all. The shrill chime from the forward console pulled him from his increasingly negative thoughts, "Accept call."
Sandra Maldonado tired face swam into clarity, her posture straightening as the call was accepted, "Kennex. Good morning."
John gave a non-comittal sound under his breath, trying to show his interest despite the lack of coffee in his system. Dorian, who'd slipped in the car beside his partner, smiled and gave a mini-wave to the Chief of Police, "Good morning, Sandra. I take it you have an assignment for us?" Grinning, the android steepled his fingers, ignoring the killer glares from the human at his left.
"Correct as usual, Dorian," a tiny smile flitted to her face as her eyes stayed fixed on John. Her eyes didn't move as she continued, "I was glad to find that report on my desk. Right on time even," The cool brown irises swiveled to the android's face, "You know the human Detectives are the ones who must submit the final paperwork, Dorian. Next time John can do his own work." Her controlled smile tightened, pinning them both under her glare.
"I'm sure I don't know what you mean, Chief," Dorian gave a genuine smiling, attempting his most winning grin as he reached up to click into his safety belt. Oh, if looks could kill. Despite John's best attempt at burning holes through his head, Maldonado's laugh broke the awkward silence.
"I'm sure. Anyway; both of you are to report to my desk within the hour. I've got something for you," And with that she cut out, leaving Dorian with a fuming John. The detective reached up to roughly punch the console, turning it back to the basic navigation screen as they prepared to leave. Dorian's steely eyes stole a quick glance to the man as he swore amiably to himself.
The android opened his mouth to speak, but was promptly cut off with a sharply raised hand, "I-don't-want-to-hear-a-single-word-from-you," The detective's voice was just above a growl as he heavy-handedly turned on the vehicle.
"Whate-"
"AH! ISAIDNOTASINGLEWORD." John seethed between his teeth, quickly pulling away from the city block just outside his apartment. Dorian held up his hands for the second time that morning, surrendering to the surly man who spent entirely too much time cursing and hating his life. Closing his eyes, the android worked on keeping quite as they pulled onto the interstate.
It hadn't even been a minute before the exasperated detective spoke, "I would have finished the damn thing if you hadn't been pestering me. Do you know how bad this looks? Finally back to work and I get a robot with a goodie-two-shoes complex!" He didn't have to look over to know that Dorian's smile had fallen. He can hear the android's clothing shift as he crosses his arms, turning to stare out the window. 'Good, let him stew a bit. Had no goddamn right to submit my report...'
The silence drew out as they reached downtown. Frowning, John stole a glance at the DRN, the self-satisfaction of telling him off already gone, "What no response? I normally can't get you to shut up." Silence. The android lists to the right further, seemingly trying to become part of the car door. Looking back at the road, John let out a long, begrudging sigh, the guilt gnawing uncomfortably at his gut, "Dorian. Now you're just acting like a child."
Dorian let his eyebrows shoot up for a second as he huffed, clearly unimpressed.
Rolling his eyes, Kennex pulled into the station, steering to the back interior lot. Withdrawing the keys, he pushes a hand through his hair and turns to face the disgruntled android, "Look, I'm sorry. I get you were trying to help and that I was being an ass, but I didn't mean what I said." The apology was quiet, but as sincere as he could manage. John knew Dorian was... well, different. Would he apologize to a MX? Hell no. "Come on, Dorian... Say something? I already friggin said I'm sorry, you ass." the bot smiled at that, unclipping and slipping from the car.
"Yeah, just wanted to see if I could get you to repeat yourself, man." Fastening his holster to his belt, Dorian held the garage door open as John threw up his hands in frustration. He had to stop himself from laughing out loud as the man stalked past him, mumbling about cats and 'goodie'goodies'. Following him, Dorian silently updated the man's dating profile, adding a bit about his love of felines and a previous stint in the circus. Chuckling, the android moved past the hustle on the main floor as they jogged up the steps to Maldonado's office.
"John. Dorian. Come inside," Sandra motioned them to enter, offering them both a chair as she moved to close the glass door behind them. Entering a seven digit code, the glass surrounding the office half frosted, allowing a modicum of privacy to the three within. Walking to sit behind her desk, the Chief held them with a unwavering stare, her arms crossing as she leaned back, "I want you to tell me what you know about a man named Vladimir Zadian."
AN: Soooooooooo? OHGODIHOPEYOULIKEDIT. Interested? Please leave me a review and a rating. It literally will be the only thing keeping me going. ThanksgaisI'mgunnagodienow. -HG