Once a revered detective amongst the DPD's force, Detective Barbara Martin has spent the last years fearing that her greatest accomplishments are behind her, until she is paced on the deviant investigation alongside Hank Anderson and Connor.

After the android revolution and the evacuation of Detroit, Jericho struggles to negotiate with an aloof U.S. Government, as Connor comes to terms with his past and purpose.

Crime spikes in the all-but-abandoned city, and the DPD must send their forces to investigate a string of murders as a new population desperate for justice emerges on humanity's horizon...

I do not own Detroit: Become Human or any of its characters.

CHAPTER 1: MISSION

NOVEMBER 1, 2038

9:01AM

Locate Lieutenant Anderson's desk.

Connor entered the Detroit Police Department precinct, which was a large open space filled with trios of desks bustling with officers. On the far side of the room was a large glass office overlooking the department. Captain Fowler. He examined the displayed name on the side of the office. After the homicide and interrogation the previous evening, he'd done some research about Lieutenant Anderson and the DPD, and he felt prepared for his first official day on the investigation.

He couldn't anticipate what kind of mood the Lieutenant would be in. They'd gotten off to a rocky start when Connor had all-but dragged him out of Jimmy's Bar the evening before. Lieutenant Anderson clearly enjoyed drinking, to an extent that was likely unhealthy. Maybe it was the result of past trauma, but as of right now, that wasn't any of his business. Connor had one mission: to figure out why the rates of deviancy had spiked in recent months and report his findings back to CyberLife. Lieutenant Anderson's personality and dislike for him wasn't something he'd expected, and definitely was a bit of a fissure in the investigation thus far. Connor would try to bridge the gap, especially if it hindered him from completing the mission. But if it didn't, it seemed futile to pursue a relationship.

Employees milled about, chatting with one another after the weekend, and settled into their desks with cups of coffee or tea. He scanned the tags on each desk until he finally found the one marked Lieutenant Anderson.

The woman at the front desk had warned him that the lieutenant was typically late, so he took the extra time to examine the desk, scanning several newspaper articles pinned to a cork-board, finding some useful information. Photos of a much younger Hank Anderson were amongst them, including career highlights; a successful takedown of a Red Ice dealer, being promoted as the youngest lieutenant for the Detroit Police Department. Connor had learned that he'd been quite successful in his heyday. But the android's experience with him the previous evening hadn't done much to demonstrate his aptitude.

On his chair were hairs from a Saint Bernard, most likely transported via his clothing. He had a dog. Connor sat down at his desk chair, examining a cold cup of coffee that must have been left from the previous week, and a box of stale donuts. Directly across from his desk was another, but before he could read the name on the placard, a flash of motion out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.

A woman approached, had her head bowed as she scanned a folder in her hand, eyes focused as she absentmindedly sipped from a mug of coffee and paid no attention to the people weaving around her. If she stumbled, or bumped into anything, she'd be likely to supply first degree burns to herself or one of her coworkers. However, when she glanced up and her eyes briefly registered Connor's presence, she lowered the folder and regarded him.

"Can I help you?" she asked, placing the folder down. He could see her face clearly enough now to identify her.

Martin, Barbara

Born: 8/19/2011 / Detective

Criminal Record: Disorderly conduct

Connor observed her. Clipped back in a half-up, half-down style, her hair fell well past her shoulders, but shorter pieces framed her face and fell in her eyes. He noticed a pen tucked behind her ear.

"My name is Connor, I'm the android sent by Cyberlife."

"Right," she nodded. It appeared she'd adapted to the office's more casual style of dressing, as she pushed up the sleeve of the thick red wool sweater she wore. "Detective Barbara Martin," she extended a hand. "I'm also a partner in the investigation."

He shook her hand, registering her firm and steady grip before she pulled away, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, and sat down at the desk across from him. "I wasn't made aware Lieutenant Anderson had a partner," he said.

"I just got assigned to the case," she answered, and gave him a decided appraisal, eyes examining his face and his uniform. "But I've worked with him on several cases before."

Connor didn't respond verbally, but nodded as he processed the information. Disorderly conduct? He knew that charge could mean many things, but part of him wanted to inquire about it. If he was going to be working alongside someone who may have an unpredictable temperament, he wanted to be aware of the nature of the crime she'd committed, and whether or not those actions would interfere with his investigation.

"If you're waiting for Hank, I'd expect it to be another hour or so," she broke him out of his reverie. "He's not exactly known for punctuality."

Based on his interactions with Lieutenant Anderson, he deemed it best not to ask her about her criminal record now. Previous experiences told him it wouldn't exactly set him off on the right foot. Of course, he wasn't here to make friends, but it might be a more pleasant experience to complete his mission without his two partners both disliking him, and he already wasn't off to a good start with one.

Detective Martin seemed calm and focused, her eyes on a paper next to the computer on her desk. There was an aloof, determined air about her, and she didn't strike him as particularly friendly.

The phone on Lieutenant Anderson's desk rang loudly, shrill and unpleasant. Once, twice, until Detective Martin's hand reached out to pick it up. "Lieutenant Anderson's office," she spoke, pausing for the person on the other end to answer. "He's unavailable right now, but I can take a message for you..." she nodded. "Great. I'll let him know you called," she put the phone down.

Grabbing a pen, she scribbled down a note on a scrap of paper and stuck it on her desk before attending to her emails. "You were at the house last night where they found the android in the attic?" she asked, glancing up at him from the side of her computer.

Connor nodded. "Yes, I was. Not much came of the interrogation."

"So I heard," she answered, seeming to ponder for a moment. Connor briefly wondered how much Lieutenant Anderson had told her. "I was looking through the case file, at photos of the bathroom in the house where Ortiz was killed. It looked like some kind of religious ritual had been set up in the shower. I wasn't able to match up the statuette to any specific religion, and I have no idea what rA9 means."

"We were trying to figure that out as well," Connor processed her input, though there wasn't much to take in. None of the evidence from the homicide was coming together in a helpful way, and he felt partially responsible for the failed interrogation that had ended with the deviant shooting itself.

Detective Martin glanced behind Connor and nodded at someone approaching. "Morning Hank," she greeted, and he turned around to face the man he'd met the day before.

"It's good to see you again, Lieutenant," Connor stood from his desk and turned, opting for a friendly greeting.

The lieutenant looked dejected, and rolled his eyes at the sight of Connor. "Oh, fuck me."

"I got to play assistant for you," Detective Martin said, her voice flat with a twinge of annoyance. "Someone named Andy Noltan called," she lifted the piece of paper where she'd scribbled down the note, and he took it from between her fingers, looking it over briefly before tearing it up and throwing it in the trash. She watched him closely, eyes narrowing, but said nothing.

"So I see the two of you have gotten acquainted," he said gruffly, and looked between Detective Martin and Connor.

Before either of them could answer, Captain Fowler called from his office. "Hank, Martin. In my office!" he boomed, assertive. A few employees turned to look at the officers in question.

Connor followed along to listen in, feeling that it would be more useful than to exploring the rest of the office, for now. Detective Martin sat in the empty chair across from the captain, next to Lieutenant Anderson, a notepad in her lap, balancing a pen between her fingers. She leaned back in the chair.

"Every day I'm getting more and more cases that have to do with androids," Captain Fowler said, looking at his computer. "Normally, they aren't anything more than disappearances, or minor malfunctions that resulted in property damages."

"But they're becoming increasingly more and more violent, like the homicide last night. CyberLife can't keep trying to cover these things up. It's a criminal investigation, and we've got to figure out what's going on before all hell breaks loose. I want the both of you to get to the bottom of this, find any common denominators between the cases," he nodded at the two of them, with a brief glance to Connor, one that was more bregruding than a real acknowledgement.

This didn't seem to please Lieutenant Anderson, who groaned loudly. "Why me?" he challenged, leaning forward. "I'm the last cop you want investigating this case. I know jack shit about androids, Jeffrey, I can barely change the ringtone on my cell phone."

"Every cop in this precinct is overwhelmed," Fowler shot back. "You're no less qualified for this than the rest of them. With Martin alongside you, it should be a cakewalk. The two of you work well together."

Detective Martin glanced over at him at the mention of her name, but he ignored her and she crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair.

"Bullshit!" Lieutenant Anderson said. "The only reason you have me doing this is because no one else wants to. You'd think at my rank and after all these years, I'd have some type of say in the cases I'm assigned to," He stood up, shaking his head and turning away from the captain, almost like he was going to leave the room.

Fowler was clearly familiar with this type of behavior from Lieutenant Anderson, and continued on. "CyberLife sent over this android to help with the case. It's a state-of-the-art prototype, it'll act as your partner."

"I'm fine with Barbara as my partner, but I don't need any help from this plastic piece of shit!" Lieutenant Anderson wheeled around to face Fowler, but jabbed his finger towards Connor.

Detective Martin was watching with her arms crossed over her chest, her head turned enough so that he could make out her expression, which was blank. This confirmed that this was either common conduct for the Lieutenant, or she wasn't interested. Perhaps it was a little bit of both.

"Hank," Fowler raised his voice. "That's enough. You're a police lieutenant, you're supposed to do what I say and shut your goddamn mouth."

"You know what my goddamn mouth has to say-" Lieutenant Anderson began, and Detective Martin's jaw dropped, her eyes widening as they flickered between her partner and captain.

"Alright," Fowler interrupted. "Let me pretend I didn't just hear that, so I don't have to add anymore letters to your file, since it's already as long as a fuckin' book!"

He tried a different approach then, leaning forward and lowering his voice, as if Connor couldn't hear him. "Jeffrey, Jesus Christ. Why me? You know how much I hate these fuckin' things. Can't you just leave Barbara on the case and put me somewhere else?" he tilted his head towards her, who still stayed silent as she watched the argument unfold.

"I'm not putting Martin on this case alone, it's too much for one person to take on," Fowler answered, ignoring his pleas.

"She can handle it-"

"Hank!" Fowler cut him off. "One more word out of your mouth or I'll take that badge out of your hand and hire someone who wants to be here. Now get out of out of my office, I've got work to do, and so do you."

Lieutenant Anderson groaned and then stormed out, slamming the door so hard behind him it rattled. Detective Martin sighed, shaking her head as she stood up to leave, her notepad and pen in hand. As she turned her back, Fowler spoke up. "And Martin? If he gives you a hard time, you let me know."

"Of course," she turned over her shoulder at the captain and nodded. "Thanks."

Briefly, she looked over at Connor before exiting the office and following after Lieutenant Anderson. Standing alone now, he wasn't quite sure what to say to the Captain who now seemed focused on his computer. "I'm very pleased to have joined the team. I can assure you I'll do my very best."

"Close the door on your way out," Fowler said flatly, not looking up.

Connor did as he was told and had no choice but to return to Lieutenant Anderson's desk. Detective Martin was standing beside her desk across from him, in conversation with a blonde-haired man who looked about her age. Connor scanned his face.

Walter, James

Born: 1/27/2010 / Police Officer

Criminal record: None

Lieutenant Anderson had his head in his hands, and Connor decided to give him time to cool down and explore the rest of the office before he approached the man again. He entered the break room, which was mostly vacant, but before he could observe anything he heard a voice from behind him.

"What the hell is this?" the tone was sarcastic, but familiar, and he turned slowly to find Detective Reed, who he'd met the evening before, leaned over a table with a cup of coffee. A woman, who Connor identified as Officer Tina Chen, sat next to him in uniform.

"It looks like the plastic detective is back in town." Detective Reed clapped sarcastically, egged on by Officer Chen, who giggled next to him.

Connor glanced at him, unsure of how to respond to the man that clearly didn't care for him. He wasn't surprised, as most humans didn't like androids, but there was something more malicious in the way that he was speaking.

"Hello, Detective Reed," he responded, assuming that a pleasant response would maybe change his attitude. "My name is Connor."

Pushing himself away from the table, the detective took a few steps forward, looking Connor up and down. "What model are you? Never seen an android like you before..." The question caught him off guard, curiosity instead of callousness.

"RK800," Connor answered, looking down at the man. "I'm a prototype."

"A prototype." Detective Reed snorted, glancing back at the woman who sat drinking her coffee. "Android detective." Turning back to Gavin, he frowned. "So machines are just going to replace us all, is that it?"

Connor didn't respond, partly because he felt that any answer wouldn't be acceptable to the irritated man.

"Hey, dipshit, bring me a coffee," he ordered, expectant. When Connor didn't move, he spoke again. "Come on, let's go!"

Connor chose to ignore him again, knowing it wasn't in his best interest to defend himself. But he also wasn't programmed to serve humans the way some other androids were.

"Are you defective or something? I gave you an order!" Detective Reed raised his voice.

"I'm sorry, I only take orders from Lieutenant Anderson," Connor replied calmly, hoping the situation would diffuse and wouldn't cause a scene. However, his response only served to enrage Detective Reed more, who wound up his arm and punched him in the stomach.

Falling to his knees, Connor reached out to steady himself with his hands, knocked off balance by the punch. Detective Reed leaned over him, crouching slightly to growl in his ear. "When a human gives you an order, you obey, got it?"

Connor looked up briefly at the man. "Stay out of my way. Next time, you won't get off so easy," Detective Reed straightened up, jabbing two fingers sharply against his forehead, casting Connor's eyes back down to the clean tiled floor. The grouchy detective left the room with Officer Chen.

Standing up, Connor brushed off the altercation and tuned in to the news broadcast happening on the large break room TV, adjusting his tie. The anchor was discussing CyberLife, and their creation of a new police detective prototype. They were talking about him. He was sure that wasn't going to help public opinion, the people who were already concerned that androids were taking jobs away. It'd been a growing issue since androids were first introduced, but with the use of them so widespread, public interest was high.

Connor would have listened in to the rest of the broadcast, but he felt like it might be a better idea to check in on Lieutenant Anderson, since he'd given him several minutes to cool off. He trekked back to his desk, where the man was glowering alone. Officer Walter, who'd been talking to Detective Martin had disappeared, and she now sat typing at her computer, while Lieutenant Anderson had his head in his hands.

He groaned as he saw Connor approaching, but didn't say anything. Detective Martin's eyes flickered from her computer and nodded at Connor, but concentrated back on her work without saying a word.

"Listen, I know you don't care for androids," Connor began, directing his efforts at the lieutenant, hoping to reason with him. "But we'll have to work together to solve this case."

The man groaned, and looked between Connor and Detective Martin, who seemed enthralled in whatever work she was doing at her computer, eyes determined and focused, though he could tell by the slight scowl on her face that she was irritated. Hopefully it wasn't by him, or else he'd have two partners to win over.

"Jesus Christ, Barbara, do you wanna help me out a little bit here?" he finally said, refusing to answer Connor.

Ignoring him, Detective Martin continued to work, almost as though if she ignored the situation unfolding in front of her, it would go away.

"Hey kid," Lieutenant Anderson leaned forward, slamming a palm on his desk. "I know you can fucking hear me."

Straightening up, she closed her eyes and inhaled sharply through her nose, looking at her lieutenant, then up to Connor, than back to her lieutenant. "What do you want?" she asked.

"I want to know what you think of this bullshit," he leaned forward, one hand gesturing wildly towards Connor's general direction, his voice grating.

"Hank," she began. "Do you want me to be honest?" she asked, and he nodded before continuing. "I think you're being overdramatic," she stated flatly.

He leaned back in his chair and groaned, head in his hands. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"You asked my opinion, look at yourself," she held her palm out in his direction. "I don't understand what the big deal is. Sometimes you have to work on cases that you don't want to, sometimes you have to work with people you don't want to."

"Very respectful, Babs, why would I expect anything else from you?" The lieutenant's voice was laced with sarcasm and warning, but it didn't stop Detective Martin from continuing.

"If you wanted me to tell you what you wanted to hear, then you asked the wrong person. You should know that," she said, matter-of-factly. "We're all going to have to work together, and I have a low threshold for how long I'll listen to you complain about it." she gestured towards Connor and herself. "Some of us can't afford to be so entitled."

Connor was surprised at her blunt response, considering that he was technically her superior officer. It appeared they had a closer relationship than he originally assumed, but it seemed somewhat strained.

Hank didn't respond, defeated, and instead just glowered at Barbara across from him. Connor tried to think of another way to approach the conversation, breaking the silence. "...Is there a desk I could use?" He asked, deciding that changing the subject might work better. When Lieutenant Anderson didn't answer, Detective Martin spoke up.

"No one uses this one-" she pointed to remaining desk in the trio. "You can sit there."

Connor nodded, and took a seat as she directed her attention back to work. She stretched absentmindedly, rested her chin on her fist as she scrolled with the other hand. Even though he'd been initially concerned about her criminal record, she was the most measured person he'd interacted with so far today. It seemed unlikely at the moment that she'd negatively impact the investigation.

Lieutenant Anderson, on the other hand, seemed like he could be a potential burden. Connor hoped that with time he could determine a better way to get to know him. If not, it didn't matter, as long as he was able to complete his mission. That was his only priority.

A/N: I know, I'm about a year late to this party. I've been going through it lately and have found an outlet while writing this. I haven't written anything of substance in awhile, but watching playthroughs of this game got me inspired.

The first 10-ish chapters will cover the events in the game, I tried to make it interesting by changing the timeline a little and adding in scenes here or there, plus offering different POVs. Eventually we'll get to a post-game event period and then comes a much more original storyline which I hope you like! I think the Post-Pacifist Game Ending (which is the general direction of where this will head) was a little abrupt and I have an interpretation of how things play out after, but I needed to incorporate my OC in a believable way before jumping straight into it.

While my OC definitely has her own traits/qualities/backstory, etc., I've tried to leave her physical description vague, because as a reader, I always like to come up with my own interpretations of how main characters look. I also know that the "X Reader" style of fics is much more popular nowadays, but I am such a character-based writer, I had to give her a name and backstory & her own motivations.

Putting this together, I've been constantly torn between thinking this is the best thing I've ever written and then in the same second, thinking it's just garbage. I have a ton of it written out already, and the rest of it mostly planned, but was hesitant to share anything right away. After thinking on it for awhile, I decided I wanted to share this with you in the hopes you enjoy it. So if you do, let me know!

I always write while listening to music, so feel free to check out my playlist for this story (Go on YouTube and search Mari Allen - Stuck On The Puzzle)! And I have a tumblr (from-the-clouds)! I post about a variety of things, but you can chat to me privately there.