The Curse of Le Nain Rouge

by wolftez

When Gavin gets marked by a centuries-old curse on his birthday, he soon finds that Connor could be his only solution.

Hi! Here I am with yes, another gavcon, and nope, not another kid fic, but one in universe. This is my Halloween/birthday gift to Gavin, and it features a Detroit legend known as Le Nain Rouge, which is actually pretty interesting. I wrote this on and off during the week, and I have to admit this fic gets a bit twisted, so it's a little unlike the usual fluff I write.

Enjoy!

---

If Gavin had to sit at his desk and listen to another one of his coworkers explain something basic to the newest rookie cop to join the precinct, he was going to deliberately spew his coffee all over his own fucking computer in desperation.

"You just type in the name of the suspect here, last name first, and hit search. The computer will do the rest, Pepper, just trust it," Tina Chen was saying behind Gavin. Gavin closed his eyes and took a quick second to center himself before glancing over his shoulder.

At the desk behind him, across the aisle, sat the new rookie, Pepper, as Chen leaned over the desk and pointed out the police database on his monitor in detail.

Pepper. What kind of name was Pepper for a dude, anyway? The only Peppers Gavin knew were the caffeinated beverage, the little piggy cartoon, the pepper shaker on Blue's Clues, and the smoking hot lover to Iron Man, Pepper Potts. All female in Gavin's educated opinion.

The blonde man sweating slightly at his desk right now was very much not female. He was young, fresh out of the academy and probably college not too long before that. His floppy blonde hair was matted to his head as sweat overtook him from head to toe, his thin lips set in a determined frown. He had a distinct vulnerability about him, something Gavin had picked up on almost immediately upon meeting him last week. It was what drew Gavin to the young man at first; not in a sexual way, because Gavin didn't do vulnerability—quite literally—but in an evil villain picking his next victim sort of way.

Pepper was such an easy target, and the fact that Fowler had placed the unsuspecting rookie right behind the toughest jerk in the precinct… Well, it couldn't have been a coincidence! Fate wanted him to pick on this dude, Gavin just knew it; he could feel it all the way down in his bones.

Gavin smirked as he made eye contact with the flustered mess of a man before Chen as Pepper Potts casually let his eyes wander over in Gavin's direction. Once Pepper locked eyes with him, the other man sat up rigidly, eyes going wide, before hunching over his desk enough to use Chen as a human face shield. Gavin stifled a chuckle.

"Just figure it out!" Chen let out frustratedly, and Sgt. Pepper immediately jerked back in his seat at her intense volume. She straightened up and sighed before more calmly stating, "I just mean I have other work to do. I've got a pile of paperwork that needs to go in before the end of the day, and I can't spare any more time for this."

Chen gazed around and did a double take when she caught Gavin amusedly watching the sordid ordeal. Then, she smiled evilly. "Here ya go," she said as she walked the two feet over to Gavin and pinched his cheek, Gavin growling and swatting her hand away almost immediately. "Ask Gavin to help. I know he seems like a big, bad detective, but he used to sit in a desk just like yours, with the blue outfit and everything. And, he doesn't look busy at all," she said, pointedly gazing at his computer monitor where solitaire was maximized on the screen.

"Fuck off, Chen," Gavin said as he protectively curled himself around his monitor to block it from prying eyes. "I'm not his babysitter."

Chen only half-smiled at him, but before she could retort, a new voice chimed into the conversation.

"I couldn't help but overhear the situation," Connor—RK800, a prototype, Anderson's lap dog, tin can, begrudgingly official detective of the DPD—said, appearing at Chen's back from seemingly out of nowhere. Gavin snorted quietly to himself because no shit; everyone in the fucking building probably just heard Chen rip into Mrs. Pepper over here.

Chen turned around to face Connor as Connor gazed back and forth between her and Pepper Potts expectantly. "I'm not busy," Connor said in that questioning tone of his, as if he were waiting for someone to accept his unofficial invite to help.

Gavin stared at Connor through narrowed eyes, his chest heating up with words unsaid, all the jokes and insults that were brimming at the edges of his mind being thrust down deep into himself in his effort to keep quiet. It was a conscious effort because he was already on thin ice with the android and the android's favorite drunk ever since that incident from last week…

No, the bruises on Gavin's face were starting to heal, and he wanted to keep it that way, so after a quick involuntary check around and finding Anderson hunched over some papers at his own desk, he bit his fucking tongue and only sneered silently at Connor before ditching the conversation and going back to his card game.

"Thanks a bunch, Connor," Chen said, and Gavin shuddered once, violently, as he heard the genuine relief in her voice. "You're a lifesaver."

"I am quite useful in these situations. I have the knowledge and the will to help, so why not help out my fellow colleagues? The world will never grow unless we expand outside of ourselves to seek our fullest potential."

"That it is, Connor. That it is," Chen said as she began to walk back to her own desk, but not before she kicked the legs on Gavin's office chair as she passed. Gavin flipped her off as she smirked over her shoulder at him.

Connor said, "Let's see," and proceeded to explain to Peppa Pig in what Gavin thought was more complicated terms than what Chen had used, but Gavin tried hard to tune their conversation out.

It was hard, though, listening to that voice. That same infuriatingly calm tone that had berated him nearly a week ago, that had become a pain in his ass nearly a year ago.

At the time, it had seemed like a good idea. Fucking Chen had even cracked a smile as they both stood in the break room last week as Gavin dialed Anderson, blocking his number so that it would come up unknown. When Anderson had answered, Gavin had put on his best official voice and pretended to be a doctor as he explained that there was an android down in the ICU that had been injured in a hit and run. An android with Hank Anderson as their one and only emergency contact.

Gavin could admit that he was good at impressions, and so it was no surprise that after he'd hung up, Gavin and Chen had watched from across the room as Anderson floundered about at his desk, papers falling everywhere and picture frames being knocked down in his haste to grab up his keys, jacket, and scramble out the door. The icing on the cake had been when not two minutes later, Connor had come back from a quick coffee run for Anderson, a cup of steaming coffee in his hand, as he stopped at the edge of the room and confusedly asked, "Why was Hank driving 80 miles per hour out of the parking lot?"

Gavin had lost it then, cackling loudly throughout the entire precinct. Chen had lost interest as Connor's worry only increased at Gavin's reaction, and after Chen muttered a quick, "You're such an asshole, actually," she'd drifted away back to her desk, leaving Gavin to look like an idiot as he came down from his prank high.

"Aww, come on, you aren't so innocent! I wasn't alone in this!" he'd called out to her. His somewhat accomplice had failed to acknowledge him, though, so he quietly breathed, "Asshole," and headed back to his own desk.

Connor had slowly come back to life as the commotion died down, and Gavin watched as the android had walked back to his desk across from Anderson's and sat down, hands resting comfortably on his thighs, head tilted and eyes glazed over in that way that Gavin had come to recognize as Connor communicating through his internal operating system. No doubt the kid was already phoning daddy in concern.

And, sure enough, fifteen minutes later, Anderson had come stalking back into the precinct, heated eyes immediately seeking out his favorite android. Gavin wasn't expecting the old man's gaze to next fall on Gavin himself, and before Gavin could bolt because fuck how did he know? Anderson had already ran for him and plowed into his face, knocking Gavin out of his chair and unceremoniously onto the hard tile floor.

It had taken a whole team of their colleagues to tear the angry bear away from Gavin, and by then Fowler's voice was ringing clearly through the air, berating the two of them for starting a fight right here in the middle of their workplace. Which was fucked up because how was Gavin at fault here when Anderson started it? It didn't matter to Fowler, though, because he'd decided to give both Gavin and Anderson a personal day to collect themselves, and then come back more calmly to work.

It had been total bullshit, and after Gavin cleaned up his bloodied nose in the bathroom, gently pressing on his bruised cheekbones that were already starting to purple from the angry red, he started to head out when he was suddenly being pushed back in and being thrust up against the wall, a grip as tight as iron pinning him at his chest.

Connor was standing before him with a fire in his gaze that unnerved Gavin because Connor was a machine? How could there be actual depth to those damn brown eyes?

"What you did today was unwise, Detective Reed," Connor had started, calm and cold and calculating all at once, nothing like the warm, cheerful tone he'd heard him use day in and day out with their colleagues. Gavin swallowed but schooled his face into one of contempt. "It would do you some good to think about your actions next time you decide to enact whatever idiotic scheme you brew up next."

To say Gavin was speechless was a gross understatement. Not only was he speechless, but he was a little scared and a little turned on at the fact that Connor had done this, a clear act of protectiveness regarding that drunk, Anderson, and honestly, Gavin respected that.

But, that didn't mean he had to let Connor know any of this.

Gavin's top lip had curled in defiance, but before he could bite into Connor like a scorned animal, the android had simply let him go, calmly turning his back on Gavin after taking a moment to straighten his tie and waltz back out the fucking bathroom door like he hadn't just threatened the detective.

That had been nearly a week ago.

Since then, everyone had treated Gavin as if he had some sort of disease, keeping their distance and avoiding eye contact with him like he had the fucking plague. Everyone except Chen that was, bless that damned woman.

Behind him, Connor was still easily conversing with Sgt. Pepper, helping him to figure out the new program the entire police force had upgraded to recently, and the noise was finally starting to get to him. All morning he'd had to sit there and listen to various people help the rookie out, and having Connor's voice mixed into that mess was the last straw.

Gavin groaned loudly, uncaring if anyone heard because he wanted everyone to know that he had a problem with the way things were around here, how everyone had their loyalties set on Anderson and the android and left Gavin out to dry. Fuck them.

He pushed himself away from his desk and packed his shit, ready to leave early, because it was a slow day. Hence, the solitaire on his computer screen.

As he started for the exit, Connor's unmistakeable voice called after him, deceivingly cheerful.

"Leaving so soon, Detective?"

"Eat me!" Gavin called out, deciding he could get away with this one insult since he was already heading out for the day.

The sound of Anderson's amused chuckle crawled through his skin the entire drive home.

---

October 7th was a very important day, one for the books, because it was Gavin's fucking birthday. His birthday had always been special to him, especially so since he was an only child, and so his parents only had one birthday to throw every year. Needless to say, they went all out with the decorations covering the entire backyard, the elaborate magic shows they used to host for Gavin's friends and some of the neighboring children who were invited, and the awesome pony rides they'd all been allowed to participate in.

When he got into his teen-hood, his parents had split by then, but that didn't affect his birthdays one bit. If anything, he got two then. A nice, quiet special one at home with his mom, and an epic one spent at amusement parks with his dad. The amusement park was great and all, but his dad had just taken to dropping him off with his new step-brother, and so those days weren't the greatest.

Now that he was an adult, he'd taken to spending his birthday at the bar, inviting the whole office down for a round of drinks and pissing the night away with booze and laughter.

Tonight was no exception as Gavin found himself celebrating his 37th birthday by telling some random stranger about the time he'd accidentally on purpose butt-dialed his step-brother while he was fucking his girlfriend at the time in the back of his car. It had been fucking hilarious to Gavin, but he wasn't sure he was getting his words out right because the man in front of him merely stared at Gavin like he were off his rocker before he took his drink and found another table to sit at.

"Yeah, you wish that were you, bitch!" he slurred out, his tongue feeling heavy in his mouth. His head was pounding as he gazed around the crowded bar crawling with cops and detectives alike, people he'd known for years off to the side and talking with each other in small groups.

An unexpected pang of loneliness swept over Gavin as he watched everyone mingle and chat at Gavin's own expense. He fucking paid for these drinks, so why was Gavin sitting in a booth all alone like a fucking loser?

He'd even allowed the android to tag along this year. Allowed in the way of not outwardly voicing his opposition to the idea when everyone at the office had talked about tonight's annual extravaganza.

Connor was sitting up at the barstools with Anderson by his side, as per usual, and a small group of off duty cops standing around them as Connor talked animatedly with his hands. Gavin was seething as he realized that everyone was enthralled by whatever the fuck Connor was talking about, and when everyone suddenly laughed as Connor finished speaking, Anderson patted Connor's shoulder pridefully with one hand, tipping his head back to down his drink with the other hand.

It was all Gavin could do but let the simmering anger inside him wash through him, coating his skin in a layer of resentment, and in his current state, all of that negative energy just couldn't be contained.

Gavin stood up and announced to the entire bar that they were all a bunch of dipshits who fucking owed him for each and every drink they'd freeloaded off of him. Through his slurring, though, and his hazy mind, it was hard to tell what exactly came out of his mouth because the entire bar erupted into fits of laughter, laughing at him, mocking him.

Screw them, screw them! They could all sit there with their fucking amused grins and their damned loyalties and shove them up their asses!

Gavin stumbled out of the bar, deciding to take his own party on the road. He could always call his step-brother because even though the dude was a piece of shit, Gavin couldn't deny that the guy knew how to party.

The alleyway beside the bar was dark, quiet, and just the kind of place Gavin was searching for as he leaned against the wall and fumbled his phone out of his coat pocket. The words were all blurry as he tried to focus on his step-brother's contact name, fittingly nicknamed Asswipe, and once he thought he found it, he sent off a quick message asking for a ride, and then pocketed the phone back into his leather jacket.

He leaned his head against the wall as his misery swam through him. He didn't even try to push it down this time because he just didn't have the energy for it. Why the fuck was Gavin like this? What was it about him that drew people away? More importantly, what was it about Connor that drew people in?

Gavin stood there with his head tilted toward the sky, and his eyes closed as he got lost in himself when he heard the tip of a trashcan lid clatter to the ground. His eyes were thrown open as he gazed around himself, the foul smell of old takeout food and the general smell of sex permeating through the side alley as he inspected the source of the sound.

A flash of red flying through the corner of his eye had Gavin pushing himself off the wall and twirling his entire body around in his haste to keep up, to catch sight of whatever the fuck was in this alley with him, but he was still met with the silent call of the wind as it rushed through Gavin's hair.

No way. Fuck this. Gavin wasn't going to stand around in an alley and get murdered like he was in some B-rated horror film. Gavin was an idiot sometimes, but he wasn't dumb.

Gavin thrust his hands into his coat pockets and started to head back to the sidewalk, but when he turned around to face the front, he bumped right into someone.

"Aye, watch it, asshole," he said reactively, grimacing down at the person before him.

Gavin froze upon gazing at them, and he took a moment to blink his eyes through his drunken gaze to catch what was really standing before him.

It was a damned kid. Or, at least, he thought it was a kid. A damned hobgoblin was what it looked like with its entire pudgy body coated in a fiery red, its eyes glistening and glowing a burning yellow. It was hardly 5 feet tall, and if Gavin was seeing correctly, this person wasn't wearing any clothes, the red paint acting as body paint to cover their entire being.

"Put some clothes on, you piece of shit, nobody wants to see all that. I could have you arrested for this," Gavin said, his drunken stupor fading a bit as his apprehension grew.

The little hobgoblin merely tilted his head at Gavin as if he, too, couldn't understand a word coming out of his drunken mouth, but Gavin was almost positive he was speaking real, legitimate words this time.

After a moment of more silence, Gavin gazed around himself, asking himself if this was his life, if he was really standing in a side alley with a little red goblin on his birthday.

"It's a little early for Halloween, don't you think?" Gavin asked, letting some of his cockiness shine through. He was a little weirded out by the silence this person was radiating—and something important was crawling on the edges of his mind, as if he just couldn't remember something important—but Gavin wasn't going to show that they were actually getting to him. "What are you supposed to be? Satan's unwanted love child?"

Gavin laughed at his own joke for a minute before the goblin's silence grated on his waning nerves. Then, he huffed, done with the bullshit. "Come the fuck on, move it, dipshit," Gavin said, and as he stalked forward, he roughly shoved the little goblin aside and made for the sidewalk.

He made it about a foot before he felt the little fucker press a hand against the back of his neck, a cold feeling coursing through his entire body as he whirled around and pushed the goblin away from him. He moved too fast for his heavy, alcohol laden body to keep up with, though, and he fell to the ground, his hands catching the fall as he landed on his ass.

Gavin winced and hissed at the sharp pain that coursed through his arms, but as he looked back up to look for the little dude, no one was there.

Fucking kids.

Gavin finally made it out of that god-forbidden alleyway, and soon enough, his step-brother was pulling up to the curb of the bar. Gavin took one last forlorn look through the window at his colleagues, laughing and drinking together, before he spat on the ground and crawled into the luscious backseat of his step-brother's car. The last thing Gavin remembered before he passed out sprawled in the backseat were fiery flames of hell and glowing yellow orbs floating amidst the flames.

---

The day after Gavin's birthday should be a day all to itself. A day for Gavin to relax and nurse his hangover so that he didn't go to work in a piss-poor mood, but he'd already used all his vacation days in previous years for this very reason, and on the occasional day he had to take his cat to the vet, so Gavin was fucked today as he slowly staggered his way through the front doors and passed the metal bars that let him into the office part.

He probably looked like he'd been through hell, and he couldn't blame anyone for the dirty looks he was receiving as he trudged on and flopped down into his chair. Offhandedly, he brought one arm up to sniff himself and winced; a shower would have done him some good.

But, Gavin had barely managed to scrape himself together this morning. He didn't remember too much of what happened last night after he left the bar, but he distinctly remembered his step-brother smacking him awake a few times to get him to walk on his own out of the car, and then again to pass him his keys, and then again to toss him down onto his bed.

When Gavin woke up to his alarm blaring, he was startled to realize he'd overslept 45 minutes (45 fucking minutes with his alarm going off), and so after changing his shirt and deciding the pants were doable for a repeat, he grabbed up his jacket and left the house.

Needless to say shower time was impossible if he wanted to make it to work on time and avoid the wrath that was Fowler's verbal disciplinary warnings.

As the morning wore on and Gavin caffeinated himself awake with some coffee, he thought he could probably get away with going hobo for a day. It wasn't until he was coming back from the bathroom and noticed the very familiar sight of Chen standing over the rookie Pepper once more that Gavin began to question if there was someone up there who had it out for him.

But, as he sat down at his desk once more and their conversation began to filter into his consciousness, he realized it wasn't the same old Database 101 talk.

"I'm serious when I say that I saw Le Nain Rouge right before last year's revolution started," Chen was saying to the rookie, who was leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed and staring up at her in a fearful sort of awe.

"Nooo," he said in dismissal, disbelieving of whatever the fuck she was going on about. "I mean, that's not real, right? I've never even heard about this goblin, and I did a ton of research before I relocated here to Detroit; I think I would have heard something about it by now."

The little tiny hair's on Gavin's neck stood on end as their words finally registered in his rattled mind, and he whipped himself around in his chair so fast to listen in on their conversation.

"Oh, you did your research, did you? You know all about the motor city just because you read a few tourist articles and some Yelp reviews?" Chen said, and even though Gavin couldn't see her face, he knew sarcasm was written all over it.

As he should, Sgt. Pepper had the decency to look bashful as Chen set it straight for the rookie, and she continued. "You don't know jack shit about the culture here, new guy, so let me lay some facts out for you. Le Nain Rouge is no fucking myth. It is a legend set in truth that dates back all the way to the founding of this great city."

As Chen started to settle in for yet another lesson for the new guy, she pulled a chair from a neighboring desk and swung it over so she could sit in the aisle between Gavin and Pepper. Chen's eyes roved over Gavin for a minute, probably waiting for his usual bout of arrogance to show, but he was interested in what she had to say, and so he merely stayed silent. And with that, she continued.

"So, legend goes that way back when, when Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded this city, he was in his prime. The guy was held in high prestige, and on the surface, it seemed like he had it all. Now, if you ask different people, you'll probably get a different version of the legend, some that don't even include Cadillac, but I'm only telling that part because I think it's hilarious," Chen said, chuckling to herself.

"Just get to the good stuff," Gavin interrupted, then he immediately clamped his mouth shut. He didn't want to act like he actually bought into any of this crap.

Growing up, he'd heard the legends of Le Nain Rouge, the obviously fake little hobgoblin that plagued the city and showed up when horror strikes, but he'd never believed in any of it. The city even threw this huge celebration to metaphorically run the goblin out of the city every Spring, but Gavin never paid it no mind. It was the reason he'd nearly forgotten the legend, the reason the little goblin from last night had simultaneously freaked Gavin out and still seemed ridiculous at the same time.

Chen turned amused eyes on Gavin. "Okay, mister I'm-so-impatient. So, anyway," she said, gazing back at the slack-jawed rookie. "Legend goes that the early French and Native American settlers had these legends they used to share with each other, all involving a little red goblin who spooked the city, who acted as a sort of bad luck charm. If he showed up, then you knew shit was about to go down. I'm talking catastrophic, like showing up before a war showdown catastrophic.

"So, once Cadillac moved his corrupted ass into town, it's said that he spoke with a fortune teller, and she told him that he needed to make peace with Le Nain Rouge since this was basically, like, his turf. But, did Cadillac listen to her? Of course he didn't!

"But, sure enough, he crossed paths with the Nain Rouge one day, and do you know what he said to the little red creature?"

Gavin knew that the question was meant for Peppa Pig over there, he really did, but Gavin couldn't hold in the burning, "What? What did he say?"

Chen swiveled her head around to Gavin with a smirk on her face.

"He told Le Nain Rouge, the most fearful legend of Detroit, a creature shrouded in mystery and terribleness, the red beast himself—"

"Goddammit, Chen, if you don't—"

But, she didn't get a chance to retort before an annoyingly gruff voice chimed in with, "The damned bastard told the little red dwarf to fuck off."

Gavin straightened up in his office chair as he realized Anderson had joined Chen's little midday story time and was leaning against the unoccupied desk beside Gavin, Connor directly on Anderson's other side. In fact, everyone was now standing around them in a loose circle, as circular as you can get with rows of desks lining the room.

Chen smiled at Anderson and nodded her approval. "Pretty much," she said, nodding to Gavin before turning her attention back to the rookie. "He basically wrote off the Nain Rouge as harmless, but that was his mistake. It was his big mistake because as we all know, Cadillac did not exactly have a smooth sailing life here. He got charged with abuse of authority and even went to jail for a little bit, and most of that money he made in his life he ended up losing."

As Gavin surveyed the room, he was surprised to see such anxious looks on everyone's faces, as if they honestly believed a little red hobgoblin was to blame for the deceit one man had caused and had gotten karmic payback for.

It was the rookie who spoke first—Sgt. Pepper, Peppa Pig, Dr. Pepper himself as he gazed at Chen as if she held all the answers. "So, Le Nain Rouge cursed Cadillac? All because he told him to get lost?"

Gavin scoffed, effectively done with story time. He stood up dramatically and opened his arms out. "Come on, you guys can't possibly believe in this shit. It's a fucking story parents tell their children so that they have something to blame for all the bad shit that happens. There's no legitimacy to this legend."

"It's real, Reed," Chen said, glaring at Gavin in annoyance now. "Just because you don't believe in anything—"

"Oh, so I suppose you believe in Santa Claus, too? Fucking Easter Bunny?" Gavin fired back. "Get real, Chen. I thought you were better than this."

Gavin began to tear his jacket off, because this whole conversation was making him hot as fuck, but as he turned to lay it over the back of his chair, a collective gasp of horror vibrated from the crowd behind him.

He whirled back around and stared dumbfounded at everyone, taking in the looks of pity mixed with downright fear as some of the cops on the outskirts of the circle began to slowly back away, wide eyes on Gavin.

"What?" Gavin rushed out harshly. "What the fuck are you all looking at?"

Hank and Connor were standing closest to Gavin, and he hated to say that the out of place confusion on Connor's face that mirrored Gavin's own was a strange comfort.

Even Anderson was eyeing Gavin with something close to shock, and Gavin turned to Chen, the only one he knew he'd get something straight from.

But, once again, it was Pepperoni over there, still sitting in his chair, that answered first, voice wobbly and soft.

"You… You've been marked."

Gavin frowned at the blonde Pepper, trying to make sense of his words. "What? The fuck are you…"

Chen stood up from her chair between Gavin and Pepper and gripped his arm tightly. Gavin was shook enough at the moment to not even care, he just let her grab at his arm without a fuss.

"Gavin," she started, voice tense and eyes wide. "Be honest here." She paused. "Did you see him?"

"Who? See who?"

Chen rolled her eyes, but never lost the serious gaze in her face. "You know."

He did know.

Gavin sucked his lips in between his teeth as he gazed out at the crowd surrounding them, their innocent story time turning into something fucking weird.

At least he still had Connor's matching confusion to hold onto, to prevent him from going into full defense mode.

"No," Gavin said, but it only took him a second before he came out with, "Maybe."

"Ah, shit," Anderson said, tossing a hand into the air as Gavin seemingly confirmed everyone's suspicions. "Leave it to Gavin fucking Reed to invite the devil into our city once more. Don't you know when to leave well enough alone?"

"Aye, fuck you, Anderson, what are you even talking about? I didn't do shit."

"You clearly fuckin' did since the damned thing marked you," Anderson said, vaguely pointing in Gavin's general direction.

Gavin tensed and was seconds away from doing away with his earlier resolve of staying out of Anderson and his android's way, but Chen tightened her grip on his arm and said quietly, "Look for yourself."

Chen let go of Gavin to pull her cellphone out of her pocket before she flipped Gavin around by the shoulders and snapped a pic of his back. Once he heard the shutter of the camera go off, Gavin scrambled back to glance at the phone screen—and his breath caught.

He snatched the phone out of Chen's hands, her half-hearted protest dying on her lips as Gavin pressed two fingers to the image to zoom in.

Sure enough, a tiny, red handprint was plastered across the back of his neck. The memory of last night suddenly flashed through his mind as he remembered the little goblin grabbing at his neck and the accompanying cold feeling that had followed from the touch.

No, Gavin thought as he huffed a laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. No, that couldn't possibly mean anything. So what if he had a red handprint on his neck? That just proved that some weird kid or dwarf or whatever was dressed in paint last night and had slapped Gavin on the neck. It didn't prove the existence of a long told Detroit legend. It just didn't.

Someone walked up beside him to take a look at the photo, and Gavin flinched as he realized it was Connor.

"How does this prove anything?" Connor asked the crowd confusedly. "As far as anyone knows, Le Nain Rouge is merely a legend, as legendary as RA9, or Pecos Bill. There are no roots to this legend set in hard facts. And, anyway, Le Nain Rouge doesn't mark individual people. Just the one—allegedly."

Gavin agreed. Gavin agreed one hundred fucking percent, but he merely watched as Connor took the reins here. No way these people would try to deceive Connor in the same way they'd have no problem pulling a fast one on Gavin.

Anderson stepped forward to place a hand on Connor's shoulder, a look on his face like one would give to someone telling their kid the tooth fairy wasn't real.

"Con, there's some things that are just based on faith. Most people don't see the religious yoo-hahs they worship, but does that stop them from believing it? Does that make it so that it's wrong? False?"

Connor seemed to hesitate, but Anderson must have known what Connor was going to say—and didn't agree with the android—because he clapped Connor on the shoulder and stepped back, a resigned sigh leaving his heavy body.

"Good talk," Anderson said.

Chen stepped back up and snatched her phone from Gavin's hand, inspecting the image once more. "All I have to say is I hope for your sake, Gavin, that it is a legend, a children's story, like you said. But, just know that if World War III goes down tomorrow, then you'll know that we were right."

And, those were the parting words Chen left Gavin and everyone else in the room with as she strode off to her own desk. Their lunch break was past over, and everyone else seemed to get the memo as the small crowd slowly dispersed, muffled whispers trailing behind them. Pretty soon, it was just Gavin and Connor standing at his desk, and Mrs. Pepper gazing incredulously at Gavin from his chair.

Gavin curled his lip, shooting daggers at Pepper Potts with his eyes. "You need something?"

"N—No; nothing at all, I'm just gonna…" he said, and he swiveled around to face his computer screen so fast Gavin could hear the wind go by like a cartoon.

Gavin's head was reeling with this entire lunch break ordeal, and he wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and wake up once more, to start the day off right because this entire morning sucked ass from the time he woke up with a hangover, to the big revelation of his mark.

Now that he knew it was there, it was all he could do but be self-conscious about it. He hurriedly scooped up his jacket and slid it back on, deciding that the ink will come off with a shower tonight.

Before he could flop back down into his chair, he noticed Connor still standing beside him, head tilted and gaze down in concentration. What was he still doing here?

As soon as he thought it, Connor's eyes snapped up to meet his, and Gavin felt rooted to the spot with bated breath to hear what Connor had to say.

"If it means anything to you, I don't think this supposed Le Nain Rouge has marked you. If it's anything like RA9, then I don't think you need to worry about it. It is simply a faith held in the word; there are no actual immortal beings out there."

Huh.

Gavin bit his lip as he tilted his head back to study Connor, trying to decide if the android was trying to be coy like with his thinly veiled threat in the bathroom last week, or if the words were genuine, and he were just trying to put Gavin at ease.

It was hard to tell just by looking at Connor how he was feeling, but Gavin found that Connor was wearing the same, openly imploring gaze on his face right now as he usually did with their other colleagues when they were feeling down. Gavin had always laughed to himself when he witnessed those interactions, but right now he felt like doing anything but.

His nerves were too on edge, too vulnerable right now, and while he tried not to come off like a dick, he couldn't help but reply with, "You look pretty fucking immortal to me. What with your machine limbs and your endless supply of Thirium to keep that regulator pumping. You get destroyed, and someone can patch you right up."

Gavin didn't think about what he'd said, but Connor lost the concerned furrow to his brow as his face got the now familiar blank stare that was just reserved for Gavin it seemed. Then, a tiny crack, the smallest sliver of something vulnerable flew into his eyes.

"I'm not immortal, Gavin."

That was all he said.

Like it had never been there, the weird look quickly disappeared from Connor's face as he made a hasty exit, striding purposefully back to his desk across from Anderson.

Fuck.

Gavin could feel the underlying feeling beneath his skin, the very words I am such trash coursing through his mind, but instead of doing something about it, he merely sighed and let himself fall back into his chair.

Maybe when he wasn't so fucked up, he'd find the time to tell Connor he didn't mean it. He didn't really even know what he did to make Connor react like that, but it was obviously something that went right over Gavin's head.

Connor had just been trying to help, and Gavin loathed to admit even to himself that he could have said something more akin to thanks! He didn't know what exactly, but maybe next time he'd go with a simple head nod to show he heard and understood, and that way he wouldn't put his big foot in his fucking mouth.

But, it wasn't Gavin's fault, not entirely. Fucking Chen with her Detroit legends, and fucking Anderson going along with her. They were fucking with him, he just knew it. When Gavin went home tonight, he'd scrub his neck real good and show everyone that he wasn't the victim of some hobgoblin.

Because Le Nain Rouge wasn't real. It was a story, a fairytale, a myth.

Right?

---

Gavin was cursed.

He should have fucking believed Chen when she started spouting her legend shit to the rookie, Pepperoni.

Gavin didn't scare easily; if he was going to fear something, then he was going to fear something legitimate, and fuck was this Nain Rouge shrouded in legitimacy.

For the past week, the DPD had been dealing with the fallout from a major loss.

The day after Chen's story time, Gavin had walked into the precinct ready to show everyone his very clean, very unmarked neck, only to find it in a frenzy. Every officer available was readying up to head out, and when Sgt. Pepper had tried to hurry past Gavin, Gavin swung his arm through his to twirl him back around so he could question the rookie on what the hell was going on.

It was a fucking bank heist, Pepper had told him, wild eyes darting around the chaotic room rapidly. Apparently, a group of four masked persons were camped out in a bank with hostages, demanding to be let go with their money in exchange for the hostages. The heist was still active, and after Pepper took off after the rest of the uniformed police, Gavin scratched his eyebrow before heading out and following the team. Any and all backup was needed, he supposed.

That day had been the longest day in Gavin's entire time on the force, and that was saying something. 14 years he'd been doing this. 14 years ago he'd started out like Sgt. Pepper and rookie'd for a little bit, slowly but surely making a reputation for himself on the force as maybe not one of the brightest, but definitely one of the most clever. It was why he'd been made a detective 6 years ago. And, in all his time, he'd never had a day as exhausting as that one had been: standing outside the bank all day while one by one, hostages began to file out, one every time a demand was met.

The media was in a frenzy behind the line of tape that cordoned them off a safe distance away from the entrance to the bank. Cameras were flashing and filming the scene before him for everyone at home on their TVs, and everyone here in person was talking, yelling, a few people crying because they had loved ones holed up in there. Judging from the massive crowd behind the media where bystanders stood, it seemed the entire city had come to see this once in a lifetime spectacle, because they'd never had a bank robbery so grand and dangerous before.

Fowler was a fucking mess. The average person wouldn't be able to tell just by looking at him as he strode around with a furious pace and a stern face yet an outwardly calm demeanor, but Gavin and the guys on the force could see the barely constrained anger beneath his thin layer of calm. They were used to his outbursts, and that's how they could recognize how one was just threatening to spill over as Fowler tried to work with SWAT and hostage negotiators on how to proceed with the bank robbery.

For all his angry bursts of tearing one's manhood down in his office, Fowler could keep it professional while dealing publicly with Detroit's citizens.

By nightfall, the DPD and negotiators had managed to rescue about seven of the twenty-two total hostages in the bank, all the while trying to lower the insane demands of the robbers to a doable level, because if somehow those thieves managed to escape without getting caught, it wouldn't be as worse as it could have been.

But, it wasn't like they had to worry. The DPD and SWAT had everything under control. Besides, how many successful bank robberies with hostages had there ever even been?

A single instance, the fucking legendary D. B. Cooper, is what Gavin had thought. But, after that day spent outside the Detroit bank, the tally went up by one.

The masked thieves got away.

The hostages were let go, all but two who stayed with the group as they made their escape by car, and then, unexpectedly, by boat as they took off into the fucking sunset like a movie. They eventually released the other two hostages once they were far enough away, sending them back to shore in a plastic air boat, and by then, no one had a fucking clue where they'd gone because no one knew they had a boat ready to whisk them away after they ditched the car negotiators provided.

The FBI had taken over the case at that very moment, and so far, in the past week since it happened, nobody had been able to locate the team or the money. They just fucking vanished like D. B. Cooper himself.

It was unheard of and a national sensation, and throughout the week, it was all Gavin could hear from his colleagues and the people he passed while out and about in the city.

"This force is never going to hear the end of this debacle."

"How in the hell did our good police let those thieving criminals get away?"

"The FBI can't even solve this one, you know it's going down in history as one of the greatest bank robberies of all time. Right here in our city! Fantastic."

It wasn't all bad, he supposed. The FBI seemed to be taking most of the heat for the botched capture of the robbers, and Fowler and the rest of the DPD were praised as heroes during a tense situation, managing to save all twenty-two hostages and return them safely to their families.

The rest of the team seemed to take comfort and pride in that fact, but it was hard for Gavin to go along with it, hard for him to be anything but high strung and fidgety all week.

It was fucking Chen. Fucking Tina and her magical myths getting into his head and making him hear her words over and over like a broken fucking record in his mind.

"If World War III goes down tomorrow, then you'll know that we were right."

It wasn't World War III, but it was damn near a coincidence that the heist of the century happened right there in Detroit the day after Gavin saw the little red goblin.

None of his coworkers were making it any easier with all the anxious looks they'd been throwing his way, looks Gavin had returned with his sneers, but it was half-hearted; Gavin was starting to believe them.

So, Gavin was cursed, and he thought it might be time to seek some counsel before the goblin turned his sights on Gavin next.

Of course, this included just another chat with the oh-so-wise, Tina Chen.

Gavin walked into work as per usual, this time ignoring the look of disdain from the woman at the front desk whose name he didn't even know, and headed straight for Chen's desk.

She glanced up in surprise when she saw him stop to nervously stand over her desk, one hand tapping anxiously onto the tabletop, his one foot moving to cross over his ankle. He tried to go for relaxed, but from the slightly amused eyebrow raise he got, he knew he was failing spectacularly.

"If it isn't Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac himself. How can I assist the aforementioned doppelgänger today?"

Gavin rolled his eyes. "I don't even look like that slimy bastard."

He wasn't entirely about sure about that one since he didn't really know what Cadillac looked like, but fuck if he was going to stand there and be compared to that corrupted asshole.

Chen laughed and finally leaned back in her seat to give Gavin her full attention before she said, "Seriously, what's going on?"

Gavin ran a hand through his hair and blew air from his cheeks in a steady stream. "Right. So, I'm not saying I believe you about last week or anything, but let's say one did want to lift some stupid magical curse from themselves. Is there a way that could be done? I mean, that Cadillac guy wasn't stuck in a shit hole of bad luck until the day he died, right?"

"No," Chen said, eyebrows crinkled in thought. "Things did turn around near the end—but only once he'd lost everything."

Gavin swallowed, and Chen continued.

"I never saw anything about a way to lift the curse put on him by the Nain Rouge, but there might be something…"

Gavin perked right the fuck up. "For real?"

Chen's eyes cut to his, and she seemed to be debating something before she finally sighed and stood up, leaning over her closed fists on the desk.

"Anderson! Come over here a minute," she said, and Gavin immediately felt his muscles lock up.

He didn't need to turn to feel the presence of their very own resident drunk stalk up beside him, and when Gavin finally picked his head up, he was met with the sight of Anderson standing before him, hands tossed into his coat pockets, a shit eating grin on his face.

"Must be pretty important if Gavin didn't run for the hills the moment he saw me. Far as I'm concerned, we still have a score to settle."

"Screw off," Gavin said instinctively. He didn't care why Chen had summoned Anderson, he wasn't going to be talked down to.

Anderson chuckled. "I'll take it easy for now since you've already tainted the city up with your bad luck mojo. That's gotta suck knowing you're pretty much responsible for what hap—"

"Okay, Hank, cool it," Chen interrupted. "You know the legend doesn't work like that. The heist isn't on Gavin, but at least we know it's real now. And, anyway, I didn't bring you over here to antagonize the enemy. I need some info."

"That I can do," Anderson said, turning to face Chen more squarely.

Gavin closed his eyes for a second to try and calm himself, before he opened them and focused on their conversation.

"You've been around longer than most of us here," she said, and Anderson snorted softly, "so, I feel like you might know more better about the legends of this city, as well."

Anderson glanced at Gavin knowingly before turning to Chen. "And, we're back to the little red devil, ain't we?"

"Precisely. I was wondering if you knew of any ways to … counteract the curse by the Nain Rouge? Some way to banish it."

It was quiet for a minute as Anderson glanced at Gavin and sighed deeply, a hum going throughout him as he considered Gavin. It was unnerving as fuck, but Gavin loathed to admit that he needed the help, and if Anderson was the only one able to provide some semblance of hope...

What a fucking joke.

"There might be something. A long forgotten part of the legend nobody talks about anymore."

Gavin's nostrils flared in concealed anticipation, and his fists clenched ever so slightly, but he waited as Anderson explained the missing part of the legend.

"Apparently, since the little fiery goblin marked Cadillac because of his rudeness, he made it so that Cadillac had to right some wrongs in his life if he wanted to be free of the curse. Legend says that he had to go back and find the one person he'd wronged and make it up to them. Now, I don't know who that poor son of a bitch was for him, but for you, Gavin … I have a hunch."

Anderson was staring expectantly at Gavin, and when Gavin whipped his head toward Chen, she saw her mirroring Anderson's infuriatingly knowing look.

"No fucking way," Gavin said, and his eyes subconsciously floated around the room until they landed on Connor, who was currently standing at a free table in the break room, focusing hard on his tie as he tightened it and loosened it, appearing frustrated with it.

Gavin turned back to these two dipshits in front of him, and said, "There's gotta be someone else."

Chen merely shrugged her shoulders, while Anderson surprisingly got salty. "It's no secret that you're an asshole to everyone you happen to meet, but you gotta admit that Connor got the brunt of your piss-poor attitude. You put a target on him the minute you saw him, and even though he knew that, he still tried over and over to get through to your thick skull; Connor's just like that. And, if you're looking for someone to make it up to, you can't find anyone better than him."

Anderson's words went down Gavin's throat with a bitter taste, and Gavin gazed back at Connor. Connor was still messing around with his tie, but as Connor grew increasingly frustrated, he tore the tie off his neck in one fluid swoop and tossed it into the trash can in what Gavin could say was the first time he'd ever seen the android get frustrated—when Gavin wasn't antagonizing him, that was.

But, as soon as Connor straightened back up once more, the frustration all but dissolved as Connor calmly strode out of the break room and headed back for his desk.

"Seems you've got a choice to make, Gavin. Either eternal damnation, or making up with one person," Anderson said as he pointedly gazed at Gavin. Then, he left to join Connor back at their conjoined desks.

Gavin kept watching, even as Connor perked up at Anderson's arrival and rustled around in one of the drawers of his desk until he found something small and passed it over to Anderson. The older man smiled at whatever it was Connor handed him and took it from him with a gracious smile. Gavin squinted at the shiny object, trying to see what it was, but Chen pulled him from his spying.

"You know, the man's kind of right. I don't think you can find anyone more deserving of your redemption than Connor," she said as she sat back down in her chair and readied herself to get back to work.

Gavin knew the truth in her words, and by extension, the truth in Anderson's words, but as Gavin gazed at Connor once more, at the—for the moment—innocent nature the android projected, he just … couldn't.

Gavin raised his eyebrows at Chen defiantly. "Watch me," he said and strode purposefully back to his desk. Well, to the desk behind his own.

Sgt. Pepper was studying hard at his computer screen, lost in his rookie work, so it took him a minute before he realized that someone had stopped at his desk and that that someone was Gavin.

The rookie's eyes widened slightly, and he gazed around them for a minute before focusing back on Gavin.

"Can I… Can I help you?" Pepper said, voice wobbly.

It took every ounce of willpower in Gavin to not roll his eyes as he answered.

"It's not what you can do for me, Dr. Pepper, it's what I can do for you."

Pepper narrowed his eyes at the juvenile nickname but didn't call Gavin out on it. "I don't get it. Is this some kind of rookie initiation? Because I'd rather not go through that. My would-be frat brothers tried the same thing a few years back, and I'd very much not like to have a repeat."

Gavin blinked. "I'm serious, man. You're always yapping about how you can never figure out the new police database we upgraded to, and I just happen to be an expert in computers, so … I'll pay it forward; I'll help you out."

Pepper still continued to scrutinize Gavin, as if he just couldn't believe him, until Gavin got tired of the suspicion and went ahead with the situation.

"Don't look so fucking shocked, Jesus," Gavin said as he wheeled his chair over to Pepperoni's desk, ready to assist the rookie.

It took a little prodding on Gavin's end, but Pepper Potts finally came around and accepted Gavin's teachings. It was all the basic shit, like how to search for a criminal's past history, or how to filter certain suspects according to race, sex, and whether or not they were currently incarcerated.

All in all, by the end of the day, Gavin felt as though he'd done his part in helping the rookie Pepper get a good handle on the mechanics of the database. So good, in fact, that he didn't think Pepper would be bothering anyone else with mundane questions during the day on how to gather a list of possible suspects for a case.

As Gavin was gathering up his coat and shutting down his own computer for the day, he felt good. He felt very much lighter, as if there wasn't a heavy curse weighing his shoulders down.

Then, Connor and Anderson walked by.

Connor gave Gavin as much attention as he ever did nowadays, which was a brief, polite, "Excuse me, Detective," as he slid by Gavin on his way through the rows of desks. Once Connor was far enough away, Anderson stopped right in front of Gavin and merely shook his head.

The old man didn't even need to say a word for the pit to come back in Gavin's stomach, a small knot of anxiety causing him to frown at the older man.

"What?" Gavin whispered harshly. "I did my part, I helped someone. I righted this wrong."

Anderson continued to stare at Gavin.

"I'm not a fucking saint, what do you expect, for me to go through each and every person I've ever wronged? That'll take months, and then some for the ones I have to track down."

Anderson cocked his head, and Gavin huffed, already mentally answering his own questions in his mind, all of the answers leading him to an outcome he wasn't ready to accept.

"I'm good now," Gavin said finally and brushed past Anderson to get away from the suffocating feeling of being pinned under his scolding gaze. On his way out past the metal bars, he walked by Connor, who was waiting for his precious Lieutenant, and Gavin pretended he didn't stumble a step when Connor half-smiled at him.

---

There was gay porn on Gavin's computer.

On Gavin's work computer.

As if it couldn't have gotten worse than that, wherever that hardcore porn had come from had also invited a virus to overtake Gavin's computer, and now he was being chewed out by Fowler in his office for everyone to hear yet ignore.

He was used to this, though. Fowler was always yelling at him for something or other, and at this point, Gavin was just grateful to still have a job here, so after an initial attempt to clear his good name had been shut down by Fowler's rumbling voice, Gavin just let his words flow in one ear and out the other as he gazed in at the precinct. One of those dipshits had done this to him, and he had a hunch who it was.

As soon as Fowler was done with him, Gavin slammed the door shut on his way out and headed straight for Anderson.

He kicked the desk hard to signal his arrival, and Anderson jumped in his chair, arms raising placatingly.

"Woah, woah, the hell do you get off barging in on my space like a damn maniac?"

"You want to punish me so bad, don't you? Want to coerce me into doing your fucking bidding? But, my fucking work computer, Anderson? Really?"

Anderson stood up and matched Gavin's glare with a fierce one of his own. "You'd better have some hard evidence to be up here accusing me like so, because this is bullshit."

"Is it? Because right now, you're the only one I can think of who has a bone to pick with me. What was it you said to me yesterday? Oh, right. 'You and I have a score to settle.'" Gavin sucked his lips between his teeth and raised his eyebrows as if the evidence were damning.

But, Anderson merely snorted and waved him off as he were a nuisance. "Boy, get outta here before I decide to beat you where you stand, consequences be damned."

Gavin could feel the blood rushing to his face in anger, embarrassment, he didn't know, but he was about to explode right here in front of everyone, but then a gentle voice came from beside them.

"I don't mean to intrude, but perhaps I could assist with the computer. I don't think a technician from Information Technology will be down until later, but I know how—"

"Connor, no," Anderson said, his eyes cutting briefly to the other man, and Gavin finally let out the breath he'd been building up, the perfect way to rile Anderson up coming straight to him. "Don't help this walking prick. What has he ever done for you?"

Before Connor could respond, Gavin spoke up. "No, no, I'd be glad for the help, Connor. Come on," he said, and after fighting the urge to stick his tongue out at Anderson, he headed back to his desk, hearing Connor's footsteps behind him, and smirked. Take that, Anderson.

Connor sat down in Gavin's chair as Gavin took to leaning his ass against the rookie Pepper's desk so he could watch, arms folded as he watched Connor get to work.

As Connor messed around on the screen, a few more pop ups of the gay porn that had somehow slipped onto his computer started to play, and Gavin gulped as he realized that one of the men on the screen resembled Connor.

The lean Connor lookalike was on his knees on the bed, blowing some dude's back out as he harshly thrust in and out at a torturous pace. The wrecked moans coming from the guy getting plowed was enough to have Gavin clearing his throat and readjusting his jeans as he cut his eyes away. No way was he going to spring one here at work with Connor right here in front of him.

"Can you turn that shit off?" Gavin said, and he winced at the way his voice sounded rough.

"Oh, right. Sorry," Connor said, as if he didn't even notice the two dudes going at it, and he muted the speakers. As soon as the sounds of pleasure left his ears, Gavin felt cold, but better.

Connor continued to do shit on the screen that Gavin had no clue about. Gavin knew how to work his way around a computer fairly enough, knew how to navigate the database like a pro, but when it came to stuff like this, he didn't know how to tell left from right.

There was nothing else to do really, so Gavin let his eyes wander down to Connor. He'd never actually taken the time to study the guy before, but it felt safe to do so now that no one was paying the two of them any attention, and Connor was otherwise preoccupied, so damn it, he let himself divulge.

Objectively speaking, Connor was everything Gavin used to fantasize of when he thought of his dream guy. Tall, a nice, wide smile that matched the warmth in his eyes, a lean, strong-looking body that could handle what Gavin loved to give. But, more than that, he was a detective, just like Gavin, and that was the icing on the cake for Gavin.

Maybe that was why Connor had always startled him, straight from the beginning. Because it couldn't be real. Cyberlife couldn't have just recreated Gavin's very dream man and then plopped him into the world with a suit and tie and title of Detective. It just wasn't possible because Gavin never got the things he secretly wished for.

Not the time when he was a teenager and had secretly hoped his parents would get back together. Not the time he'd been hoping to become something more with his best friend, but then have her turn him down for his step-brother. And, not even when Connor showed up, because Connor was a goddamned android.

But, what did that even mean anymore? What did being an android in today's time actually mean?

According to the government, it meant being a new intelligent life species. Just like humans.

According to Anderson and Chen and everyone else in the fucking pro-android stance, it meant treating them with some dignity and respect because they were alive. Just like humans.

Gavin wondered what being an android meant according to Connor.

Gavin almost wanted to ask him, but instead he said, "Did that porn do nothing for you?"

Connor didn't move except for a slight head tilt in Gavin's direction and the halt of his typing fingers on the keyboard.

"If you mean if the video was able to illicit a sexual response from me, then … it's complicated."

Woah. Gavin was not expecting that. He was full on expecting the android to shut him down, to explain what Gavin already knew in that he was a damned machine and therefore couldn't feel. Well, Gavin thought he knew that, anyway.

Maybe he was wrong.

"What does that mean?" Gavin prodded.

Connor did what Gavin likened to a huff before he swung the chair around to face Gavin curiously. "It means that I have an opinion of the images, and certain … feelings associated with the aspect of sexual pleasure, but I can't form a physical response, as such."

The words rattled around in Gavin's mind until he finally registered what Connor was saying. Gavin had never actually wondered if the androids had a penis, but he guessed he always assumed that it was like a Ken doll down there. Apparently, it was, and usually he would have felt cocky as fuck for being right, but as he stared at the openly conflicted look on Connor's face, he couldn't seem to find a funny bone in his body.

As callous as the question had sounded when he'd first asked, he didn't know that it would open a plethora of questions in Gavin's mind; wasn't Connor full of frustration at not being able to have a physical release of pent up arousal? And, did not being able to form a physical response apply to other things, like not being able to cry actual tears?

He wanted to ask these things, but there was just an invisible barrier between them, one that Gavin had built with his closed-mindedness, one that shuttered Connor miles away from him.

So, when Connor turned back to the computer screen, Gavin kept his questions to himself.

Connor finished up within the next half hour, and in that time Gavin had gone to make himself some coffee. The sight of the coffee machine made something guilty tug low in his gut, a time long ago when he'd used it as a weapon of torture against Connor haunting him now as Connor sat in his very seat and selflessly tried to fix his computer.

He tried to push the guilt down like he always did, but he was finding it difficult to do today. His heart wasn't in it or something because the heavy feeling was coursing through him with no emergency brake to stop it.

When he came back to his desk, coffee in hand, Connor was standing at his desk, waiting expectantly for his return.

"So. I've removed the virus and all the accompanying malware, and I worked to rebuild the safety and efficiency of the protection on your computer. Your old software was outdated. That's how the virus was able to slip by undetected."

"Huh," Gavin said, gazing at the screen behind him. Instead of his usual wallpaper of his cat curled up by the window, though, the screen was still blue and had a message on it to enter a password.

"Is it done?" Gavin asked as he moved around Connor and slipped into his unoccupied seat to study the message.

"Not quite," Connor said, and Gavin turned to look at him. If he didn't know any better, he'd say Connor was looking a bit nervous as he rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck, eyes darting from object to object like he couldn't pick just one thing to settle on.

"What do you mean 'not quite'? You just told me that you removed the virus and shit."

"Yes. I did. But, I still need to enter a passcode to reboot the system back to its original state."

"Okaaay," Gavin said, tilting his head at Connor as if he were simple. But, Connor wasn't slow. He was fucking deadly, actually.

Connor stood still for a moment before reaching up to pull on his tie, arching his neck in the process. It was completely unlike him, and Gavin was starting to worry about this android's mental state, but then Connor said, "I just had one request."

Gavin narrowed his eyes at the android, wondering what the hell he could possibly ask of him.

Gavin raised his eyebrows, urging him on. The anticipation was thick in the air, but thankfully Connor didn't do with the dramatics and didn't make him wait.

"Hank was right earlier. When he said that you don't do anything for me." Gavin gathered a breath to defend himself, but Connor hurried on. "And, I don't hold that against you. I knew what you were like, and if I decided to offer my help, then that's on me."

What was Gavin supposed to say to that? Thanks for helping me, even though you know I'm an asshole!

But, it didn't seem like Connor was looking for gratitude, so what else could he want?

Connor continued. "Still, even knowing how you are, Hank was right in a sense. So, before I complete this removal process, I'd just like an apology. Just a simple, sincere apology."

An apology? Sure, maybe to Connor it sounded simple, but coming from Gavin? People would have better luck getting Gavin to behave than to pull an apology from his stubborn mouth.

Gavin would have outright laughed at the notion if he didn't think Connor would follow through and leave Gavin stuck on the very last step in the removal process. He hadn't forgotten how dangerous Connor had sounded in the bathroom a couple weeks ago when he'd threatened him for that dumb prank on Anderson.

"Apologize for what?" Gavin said, and yes, it was possible to ask stupid fucking questions.

"I have a running list," Connor said, and that brought Gavin up short. That list was probably a hundred pages long. "Shall I start in November of last year when we first met? Or, do you want me to start with the most recent incident in where you inflicted emotional pain on my partner while using me as the pawn?"

And, still, it all came back to three weeks ago when Gavin made Anderson think Connor was, like, dead or something. It was just a fucking prank! Why couldn't they get over it?

But, Connor had just sat there and fixed up Gavin's computer all nicely, and even though Gavin highly suspected Anderson was the cause of the malware in the first place, Connor didn't have to be punished for his unfortunate partner; Connor never had to fix the damn computer.

Even so, the supposed cure for the curse rang through his head, and Gavin knew the true answer to his curse wasn't some rookie who hadn't even had the full force of classic Reed.

His cure was standing right in front of him.

"I'm…" Gavin started, voice soft, then he shook his head slightly. "Look, I know that I've just been the biggest asshole to you, and maybe you didn't deserve it. Maybe I had gone too far at times. But, it's just … I don't know," he said frustratedly, though his frustration was directed at the fact that his apology wasn't going as simple or as easily as he had thought.

But, Connor didn't rush him. If anything, he seemed genuinely pleased with what Gavin had started to say, and Gavin found the words rolling off his tongue in response to the look of praise.

"It's hard for me to reconcile something that humans built being stronger, smarter, more resilient than us. It's fucking scary, man, and maybe you don't know what that's like, but I can tell you that it ain't fun. And, I know this isn't an excuse for all my bullshit, but…"

"It's a reason," Connor finished, and Gavin could only nod lamely. Connor waited a moment, letting his words sink in to both of them before he spoke once more, with purpose. "I know a little something about fear, Detective. It's an all-consuming freezing of your mind, a place where imagination is given free and dark reign to create just about any worst case scenario and make it a reality for you. It's the absence of logic, and the denial of a breath, and I don't think there's anything more terrifying than feeling out of control of yourself. To feel like someone else is pulling all the strings around you, and all you can do is watch helplessly from the exterior as the world crashes and burns around you."

Gavin gulped and brought his eyes up to meet Connor's. Fuck. He really did understand.

Connor smiled a bittersweet smile at him, and said, "I do know how you feel."

And, for once in his life, Gavin thought that he just might.

"Sorry for all the stupid shit I ever did to you," Gavin started easily, "and if I ever made you feel like that. I don't think about the consequences of the fucked up shit I do or say, but I'm starting to think that maybe I should. Maybe then I wouldn't be fucking marked as the biggest dipshit in Detroit."

Gavin chuckled darkly, and Connor merely gazed away before he glanced back at Gavin. "I accept your apology."

Then, Connor was leaning across a still seated Gavin to reach the keyboard, and Gavin could only hold his breath as Connor's torso was suddenly looming across his vision. The smell of dog and something purely out of this world it had to just be Connor flooded his senses, and he couldn't breathe normally again until Connor had straightened up once more and adjusted his tie, completely unaffected by their close proximity.

"You're good to go now," Connor said, and the bastard actually tried to walk away like they hadn't just been so deeply into an emotional conversation.

"Wait!" Gavin found himself calling out. Connor pivoted only about five feet away and waited patiently.

Fuck. He knew what he had to do.

"Do you… I mean, let's not get all sappy, but I have to lift this curse off me, so I'm gonna find a way to make it up to you for all the bullshit."

He didn't want anyone mistaking his intentions. If anyone saw him cozying up to Connor in the coming weeks, then it was purely business.

This little heart to heart was enlightening at best, and if everything he thought he knew about androids was slowly being defied by Connor, then maybe it was time to re-evaluate his opinion on the matter. This didn't mean he wanted to be friends all of a sudden. Besides, Anderson had already left his grubby imprint all over Connor, so that was a taint on him in itself.

But, if he was going to make it up to Connor for all the insults and pranks he'd thrown his way over the year, then he was going to need to get to know this guy and find out how that would be possible.

Gavin guessed he wasn't really waiting for an answer from the dude, but when Connor smiled at him, his soft brown eyes melting with the gesture, he realized that he was.

Connor accepted.

---

The first few days after he'd decided to do the right thing and be kind to Connor, those days were a little rough.

He'd gone to use the coffee maker one morning and found that it wasn't even working, some asshole not even deciding to put a note on it saying so.

His car refused to start, his brand new Chrysler 300 hadn't wanted to let him leave the precinct, so he'd begrudgingly had to catch a ride with Connor and Anderson, which the former had insisted on and the latter had just loooved. Gavin would have denied, too, and called his asshole step-brother, but agreeing to Connor's requests was a part of the deal he'd made with himself, so he suffered through a 30 minute car ride with Anderson trying to keep the volume up high with his death metal shit as Connor tried to argue with Anderson to turn it down because they "have company."

And, then, he'd slowly started to realize that all of his case load was bullshit. He got put on petty shit like a stolen bicycle or a convenience store whose inventory was consistently not matching its available stock.

He got nothing like his old, exciting cases anymore, and if he had to say, he'd say that this boring case load had started on his birthday, the night he saw the Nain Rouge.

Fuck that little red dwarf.

But, his week hadn't been all terrible.

He was making real progress with Connor in trying to rewrite his wrongs with the dude. Connor was making it easy, too, by happily accepting any little bit of kindness Gavin threw his way. Like the time Gavin had invited Connor out on a coffee run for everyone, and Connor hopped right into his front seat like he belonged there.

Or, the time Connor was having trouble with his tie. Apparently, Anderson had gotten him a new kind of tie for his birthday that was shorter than the rest of his ties, and his calibration was off when he tried to tie the damned thing around his neck. So, him and Gavin stood in the break room for five minutes while Gavin tied and retied the knot about three different times until Connor seemed satisfied enough.

Hanging out with Connor wasn't as horrible as he'd used to think it would be. Connor was funny, actually. Not in any way that was intentional, though. No, Connor was funny in his mannerisms, or in the way he actually had no filter and sometimes said things without thinking of all the ways it could be construed.

Like when he'd hilariously pointed out that pets sometimes resembled their owners and had told Anderson with a straight face that his face reminded him of his dog. Connor hadn't seen the joke of it all, and while Anderson merely gave him a thin-lipped smile and told him to quit goofing off with Gavin, Gavin could only double over in his chair from laughter.

And, not only was Gavin's reputation changing in Connor's eyes, but the rest of the precinct had noted how much lighter Gavin had seemed, lately. Chen had come over to his desk a few times to sit and chat with him and Connor, and when she left that first time, she'd patted Gavin on the back and smiled a secret smile to him, something like praise, or something like approval, but whatever it was it had Gavin fighting to hide his own smile.

One night, when it was raining and his car had decided to act like a fool once again, he'd been about to phone his step-brother because mostly everyone from the office had already left, but when Connor appeared from inside and stated that he'd stayed behind to finish up some work, he'd offered Gavin a ride home and a ride to work the next day, and Gavin hadn't needed to be told twice.

Being in the car with just the two of them had been a bit of a reality check for him. He was actually willingly sitting in the car with what used to be his least favorite android in the world.

But, that wasn't Connor anymore. Or, it was, but that wasn't Gavin, anymore.

Now, Gavin was sitting in the car while his colleague that he was friendly with gave him a ride home, a shelter from the rain.

Gavin sometimes wondered why he hadn't been this kind to him earlier.

Obviously, it was because Gavin was an idiot and wasn't willing to look past his fear to really notice the person in front of him; a person who was just like him and had hopes and fears and feelings—feelings Gavin had no trouble forgetting about.

Sometimes, Gavin got really into himself and scolded himself on how terrible of a person he was. Why was he like this? Why did he let fear consume him to the point of tearing other people down just to gain a little semblance of control back?

Maybe he could blame it on his parents and how they'd failed him in showing him what compassion was supposed to look like. Or, maybe he could blame it on genetics in that he was helpless to break away from what was ingrained into his very being even before birth.

But, there would come a time when he would have to stop blaming his parents for an emotionally shitty upbringing and start to take credit for himself. He had to start taking responsibility for his actions and learn to take control of his emotions if he hoped to successfully function in the adult world.

And, maybe that time had come.

As Connor had pulled them into Gavin's driveway and parked it, waiting for Gavin to head inside, Gavin had taken a minute to glance at Connor.

The other man was completely relaxed at the wheel, the epitome of what a functioning adult looked like in today's society. Gavin knew Connor was to credit for his sudden change, for his realizations, and there was something stirring deep in Gavin's chest as he let himself think on that.

Had Gavin never taken up this task to right his wrongs, he'd be just the same old dipshit who waltzed into work like he owned the fucking place and used the people there as his playthings. Gavin could see how that person was an asshole, but he didn't want to be that person anymore. He wanted to be better.

Connor made him want to be better.

Gavin was struck with a thought, and he felt safe enough in their camaraderie to ask.

"Why are you so nice to me?"

Connor had blinked and turned to gaze at Gavin, but Gavin cut his gaze down to the gear shift as he went on. "Because I've just been such an asshole to you and to everyone, and I don't understand why you would keep trying to show my dumbass some kindness. It just … I don't get it."

The words felt as though he were putting his soul out there on display for Connor to do what he pleased with it. Connor could easily laugh right in his face and make him feel stupid for asking, or he could tear it up and toss it into a black hole. But, Gavin knew that he would do neither.

Connor's hands tightened on the wheel, and his gaze cut to look out the windshield, before he said, "Everyone deserves to be shown some compassion. No one is above deciding who gets to be shown that and who should be cast aside." Connor looked back to Gavin, his warm eyes confident. "You're right. You have been an asshole to everyone in the precinct. Me included. For that reason, I don't think anyone around the office would be willing to show you any sort of compassion. So, I decided that I will do that for you, until you learned to accept it for what it was. Just selfless, kindness."

Damn, damn, if Gavin were drunk right now, he knew he'd be crying like a punk bitch right here in front of him. Instead, he merely swallowed and blinked a shit ton of times to allow his feelings to go back where they came from.

"And, maybe," Connor continued, a small smirk playing at his mouth, "maybe I thought that the kindness would rub off on you, and you'd feel the obligation to return it until it no longer felt like an obligation, but a natural instinct."

Gavin huffed a laugh at that. "Yeah, don't expect me to be showering everyone with gifts for the hell of it anytime soon."

Connor snorted. "I'm not that delusional. But, I do think what you're doing with me is progress."

The words caused yet another guilty stir within Gavin, and he didn't hold it in this time. "You do know this all started because I want really bad to lift this stupid fucking curse, right? And, you were part of the solution. This is just a means to an end."

That's what he'd been telling himself for a week now, but he didn't know why the words rang hollow as he said it out loud, or why a sudden ball of anxiety had just formed in his gut at the thought that this, this right here, would soon be unnecessary.

But, Connor looked unperturbed by Gavin's blunt reminder. In fact, as he studied Gavin with secretive eyes, as if he knew something Gavin didn't, he looked downright amused.

"I'm aware that the origins of our sudden partnership came from your own selfish needs, but something tells me that it's not going to end that way."

Connor sounded so damn confident. He had an alarmingly large amount of faith in Gavin that their friendship would last beyond the end of the curse, and as Gavin thanked him for the ride and started to head inside, he secretly wanted to believe Connor.

---

Hallow-fucking-ween.

Gavin's favorite time of the year.

It was finally here, and as Gavin walked into the precinct, he got a little tingle seeing all the orange and black Halloween decorations hanging around the office. That was something Gavin always insisted on every year, and he always had to do it himself because no one else had the will or cared enough to spruce the place up.

This year, though, Gavin had Connor help him with the decorations, and while it took them about half the week, he was pretty proud at how spooky the place looked.

They'd hung up cobwebs on every corner of the ceiling with spiders dangling down halfway through the room in random places. They'd plastered the walls with huge stickers of black cats and witches and ghosts and zombies all around the windows. There was even a nicely fitted scarecrow sitting outside of Fowler's office with his name on it, and Fowler merely shook his head and told them to get it out, but his voice didn't really hold any conviction, and so it was still sitting there after a week.

Someone—Anderson, no doubt—had thought it'd be funny to buy a life size little plastic Nain Rouge and set it in front of Gavin's desk, and that particular decoration did not stay for long and found a new home in the dumpster out back.

Surprisingly, for the entire week after Connor gave him that car ride home, his cursed luck had begun to change. His car always started and didn't give him anymore problems. The coffee machine was replaced with an even better one. And, his case load had gotten a whole lot sexier with his work bringing him down to the Eden Club for a simple robbery.

Things were really starting to turn around.

And, maybe he held off from letting this detail become known. The simple fact was that Gavin liked hanging out with Connor, and if he told everyone how the curse seemed to be gone, then there'd be no reason for Connor and Gavin to be hanging out like they have been. Not without everyone assuming that they were friends now, and Gavin was still trying to decide how he felt about that.

So, until then, it was his little secret.

When Gavin walked into the main office area, he smirked when he saw Connor already sitting by Gavin's desk, his eyes on Anderson settling into his own desk. Gavin rushed over and quietly sat down in his own chair beside Connor.

"I didn't miss it, did I?" Gavin asked, shrugging out of his jacket and placing it over the back of his chair.

Connor swiveled slightly toward Gavin. "Do you see him fuming?"

Gavin snorted. Connor was a sarcastic little shit.

Together, the two men watched Anderson as he flipped through some files on his desk, and when he started to reach for his drawer, Gavin tensed in anticipation.

The horrified shriek of one Hank Anderson was definitely a sound Gavin would carry with him for the rest of his life.

His yell had vibrated through the room as a little plastic spider catapulted from his desk drawer and hit him squarely in the eye, just as Gavin and Connor had planned.

It was fucking hilarious, and pretty soon, the only sound in the office was Gavin's choked laughter as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Uh, Gavin? I think you'd better—" Connor started, but Gavin didn't need to hear the rest before he was suddenly being lifted up from his chair by two hands grabbing at his shirt collar.

"You think you're so damn funny, dontcha, kid?" Anderson said, and if the sound of his scream wasn't still reeling through Gavin's mind, maybe he would have pushed him away with more strength than the pathetic little swats he was currently doing.

And, maybe he knew Connor wouldn't let this go very far.

"It was me, too, Lieutenant. I helped Gavin plant the toy spider in your desk."

Immediately, arms fell away from his neck, and he fell against the back of his chair, a hint of laughter still bubbling through him.

"What? Why— why the hell would you think that was a good idea? You know I hate spiders. What if I had a heart attack and died?" Anderson said to Connor, and Gavin was surprised to see the hint of a smile on Connor's thin lips.

"You wouldn't have died, Lieutenant; I ran multiple simulations and gauged your heart rate right before impact. It was safe to proceed."

Hank glared at Gavin, as if this were all his fault and Connor had simply been manipulated, then he turned back to Connor, looking incredulous.

"I just don't understand why you went along with him."

Connor shrugged one shoulder. "I find it highly amusing to target your friends for the ideal prank. In that way, you know what to use against them, and you also have the power to ask for forgiveness." Gavin snorted at that. "So? Do you? Forgive me for this grievance I've bestowed upon you?"

Holy shit, this was better than Gavin could have imagined. He might have even thought Connor was being serious if he hadn't learned that Connor got a certain twinkle in his eye when he was fucking around with someone.

Anderson recognized the depth of sarcasm running through Connor, and he only shook his head at him before facing Gavin with a glare.

"Congratulations, dickhead, you've broken him," Anderson told him.

"Hey, at least it was a prank that didn't mess with your psyche. This was just some good old fashioned pranking, old man."

He wasn't expecting it, so when Anderson smirked at him, and said, "I want you to remember that," Gavin felt a bolt of uncertainty flow through him. But, then Anderson was walking away and calling for Connor to follow him, and things went back to normal.

"Nice one," Gavin whispered as Connor slipped by, and Connor slipped him a double thumbs up before he left to go back to his desk.

The rest of the day went by torturously slow, and Gavin was damn near glad when five o'clock hit, and he was free to hit the bar with everyone else.

It was another ritual of theirs to hit the bar for many occasions, Halloween included. Even the rookie, Pepper, had gotten an invite from Gavin to join them this year, and Gavin told himself that he only did that just to see how badly this kid could hold his liquor so he could make fun of him for it later.

Gavin had asked Connor if he wanted to ride with him to the bar, because they'd been carpooling everywhere lately, but Connor surprisingly turned him down. Said something about Hank asking first or something. It sounded like bullshit, but it was whatever. They'd all get there eventually.

When Gavin arrived, it was already starting to get dark, and as he walked by the side alley beside the bar, he stopped for a second to stare down the empty walkway, the memory of the Nain Rouge filling him once more.

He hadn't been having any bad luck lately, so he thought it was safe to assume that he'd miraculously dodged a bullet with that one.

"Fuck you, Nain Rouge," Gavin yelled hollowly out to the wind. "Can't beat me down."

It was then that he heard it. The commotion that he'd distantly heard a moment ago and had thought was a ways down the road was actually coming from inside the bar. As Gavin took one step in the direction of the front entrance, the sound of a gunshot ringing out had Gavin freezing in his fucking boots.

He didn't spur into action until two men came running out of the bar and went blazing down the sidewalk in the opposite direction.

"Hey!" Gavin yelled, starting to pull his gun from his waist as he started for them. "DPD, stay where you are!"

He ran a little bit but stopped once he reached the front of the bar, and once he glanced inside, the two men were forgotten about in his sudden panic.

There were blue blood droplets on the ground leading up to the door.

Immediately, he holstered his gun back on his hip and tore through the door. There was a huge crowd blocking his view, and he pushed through the booze-stinking bodies until he reached the center.

Connor was laying on the ground, eyes closed, body loose, Anderson knelt down by his head as he cradled it. Gavin could almost think Connor was asleep, if androids even slept, if it weren't for the growing patch of blue staining through his suit.

Gavin was on his knees before he could consciously think to do so, and Anderson ducked his head down even further.

"He was just trying to be a hero," Anderson said, voice rough. Gavin was finding it hard to find his own voice through all the heaviness in him all of a sudden, so he did what he did best and let anger consume him instead of his fear.

"Don't just fucking stand there, somebody do something!" Gavin yelled out to the crowd because why were they all just standing around and not panicking? Gavin ripped open Connor's suit, and his skin was just as Gavin imagined—smooth and flawless, yet still freckled like a perfect imperfection. He couldn't see anything below his chest past the deep blue liquid pooled low on his stomach, and Gavin tore off more of Connor's undershirt so he could hold it over where the blood seemed to be coming from. He didn't even know if this was helping, but he couldn't just do nothing.

"He's not fixable, Gavin," Chen said, and he gazed behind him to find her standing over him, a somber look drawing her features down. "There's nothing anyone can do. He was a prototype; nobody else has the components he'd need."

No, no, no. This couldn't be happening. Not now, not when he was just starting to get to know him.

Gavin's hands were shaking as he ran them over Connor's torso in random places, the incredibly false thought of, he's fine, he'll recover, we'll get him the fucking components he needs, he's fine, floating through his mind doing nothing to quell the growing pit of despair in his stomach.

Fuck, why had he waited this long to be nice to the damned kid? Maybe then he could have had more time, maybe then he wouldn't be in this situation right now.

Or, maybe this was the curse coming back again, rearing its ugly head and snatching away the one nice thing he'd just found. Maybe this was his fault.

Yeah, this was totally the work of the Nain Rouge. His luck hadn't been tested all week because it was building up for this, for the worst kind of pain. To let Gavin have the opportunity to redeem himself, and then have it all be for nothing.

And, to think that Gavin had made this very scenario a joke to Anderson a few weeks back made Gavin sick to his stomach.

"Oh, fuck, this was my fault, wasn't it? I caused all this bad shit to myself because I was a dickhead to that little red fuck."

He gazed around at the crowd, and when he was met with silence and looks of pity, he knew they all thought the same.

"Anderson," Gavin said desperately, "Anderson, there's gotta be something we can do, I mean, come on, for fucks sake. Surely you've planned for something like this?"

But, Anderson wasn't even speaking anymore. His shoulders were shaking, and he had his head down and touching the top of Connor's, and—

And, Connor was slowly blinking his eyes.

At the same time Gavin noticed this, he also felt Connor's fingers skim over his jacket and pull slightly, and Gavin puffed air out harshly at the slight relief.

"Gavin," Connor said, and the dry, wiry sound was horrible, a staticky sound Gavin was unaccustomed to.

"Yeah, I'm here, Connor," Gavin said, leaning down to follow Connor's motion. But, when Connor beckoned him closer with his hand, Gavin leaned all the way down to hear what Connor wanted to say.

"Gavin," Connor whispered softly, then he said, "Happy Halloween."

Gavin blinked. He gasped, and he blinked again.

He jerked his head all the way back and just stared at Connor for a minute before he slowly recognized that the atmosphere in the room had morphed.

All around him, his colleagues and the other bar patrons were bursting into tiny fits of giggles, and as Gavin inspected Anderson's shaking shoulders once again, he realized that the bastard was actually laughing.

What the actual fuck?

Gavin's hands were frozen on Connor's torso, and Gavin hurriedly used the piece of cloth that he'd been using to cover the blood and wiped at the stain on his lower stomach. His skin was fucking intact. No bullet wound or anything of the sort.

"What the fuck?" Gavin said to anyone and everyone. Then, he stared down accusingly at Connor who now had a hint of a smile on his face. "What the fuck is going on?"

"It wasn't my idea," Connor said, and then Anderson's laughter was getting too much. It was fucking booming as he lifted his head and clapped two times, praising himself.

"Oh, fuck, I haven't had such sweet revenge in years," Anderson said.

Gavin was honestly shocked and confused at the sudden turn of events, and that was a bad combination. That was a really bad combo because when Gavin got scared, he got angry, and when he got angry, he usually fucked something up.

His fists were slowly closing up and clenching into the sides of his legs as he knelt there, taking in the amused faces of all these fucking assholes.

"Revenge?" Gavin said lowly.

Anderson patted Connor on the shoulder, and the kid sat up, his torso seeming to glow in the low light and the fact that Gavin had ripped half of his shirt off in his haste to find the damage so he could fix him up, and Gavin couldn't even let himself enjoy the sight because Anderson was consuming all of his attention and negative energy at the moment.

"I told you, kid. We still had a score to settle," Anderson said.

"Wha— Really? Are you never going to fucking let that go? I told you it was just a—" Gavin choked, unable to finish. He'd said it so many times over the past few weeks, it was doing nothing. Anderson was going to do what he pleased. "And, how is this considered revenge? The fuck do I care if Connor gets shot up?"

Anderson gave him a look that told Gavin that his secret, budding friendship with Connor hadn't gone unnoticed with him. Fuck, maybe Connor had even told him about some of their conversations they'd had.

"This wasn't even the best part about it, ya sucker. Having you think it was your fault for this because of that dumb mark on you was great, but by golly, the best part was that I've had you fooled for weeks that you were marked by some hellion legend that don't even exist! You must be some stupid son of a bitch to have fallen for that load of crap."

Gavin's jaw clamped together as Anderson's words rang through his skull, beating against his brain like a bad song he couldn't forget.

This whole ruse of his had started weeks ago, and from the looks of it, it seemed like everyone was in on it.

Gavin turned around and caught Chen's eyes and narrowed his own at her. "You, too, Chen? I trusted you."

But, Chen didn't even look remorseful. She shrugged. "Hey, that phone call prank you did to Anderson was low. I had to redeem myself somehow. So, once I narc'd on you, Anderson came up with the brilliant idea to give you a Halloween you'd never forget since you love the holiday so much. It was my civic duty, don't take it so personal. You can still trust me." She waggled her eyebrows.

"Haha, fuck you, Chen. As if," Gavin said.

Gavin couldn't believe how stupid he'd been. He should have trusted his initial gut feeling when he'd called bullshit on this Nain Rouge legend. But, that damned bank heist, though… that was once in a lifetime shit. Was that really a coincidence that it happened the day after he found "Le Nain Rouge" stalking the alleyway?

"Wait," Gavin said, thinking through all the events of the past few weeks. "Then, what about that little red goblin I saw out in the alley?"

Anderson searched the room until he found what he was looking for. "Oh, you mean Billy Bob? Drunk Billy Bob who would do just about anything for a couple bucks to buy a couple two by fours? Yeah, it wasn't hard to get him to corner you in the alley that night on your birthday."

Gavin followed his gaze until his eyes landed on a short, stubby man sitting down at a booth, not even paying attention to the huge debacle currently going on in the bar. When he saw Gavin staring, he raised a hand in salute, but Gavin was pretty sure he was piss drunk by now because his hand flopped down to the table and his eyes fell closed.

Lo and behold the object of his fear for the past three weeks: a fucking drunk, dwarf who was half passed out right now.

Gavin's life was seriously a fucking joke right now.

"It was all planned right from the beginning, starting with Billy Bob over there, and then the porn on your computer, and your car not starting, and all that shit with the files. Fowler gave me all the good stuff," Anderson said with a wink. "Oh, and that bank heist was just a huge fucking coincidence. But, I'll be damned if it wasn't perfect timing. I swear, you can't plan this shit. Fucking karmic justice, is what that was," Anderson said, chuckling.

Gavin was beginning to feel stupid with how much had gone over his head all this time, and he glanced at Connor, wondering if their fragile friendship was even real or just part of the ruse.

"Were you in on this, too?" Gavin asked him quietly, and Connor was slow to meet his eyes. That was all the answer he needed.

"Not at first," Connor rushed anyway, explaining himself. "I didn't know until two weeks ago, after that day you spent offering your computer services to Pepper. I commented to Hank how I thought it was very uncharacteristic for you to go out of your way to help someone in need, and he informed me then of his revenge scheme. I told him you wouldn't react ideally to this situation, but that wasn't a top priority of his."

None of what Connor had just said answered his real question, though, and there was just too much of a crowd here to ask.

But, Gavin had heard enough. He'd had enough of these people, and they ruined his favorite holiday, and yeah, maybe he deserved it big time for messing with Anderson that one time ... and all the other times in the past few years ... and for fucking with everyone else for years ... but, this was just all too much.

Gavin sniffed and tore himself away from Connor to stand up, and he brushed past the pack of boozy bodies in his way. A few people awwed at Gavin's pissy attitude, but screw that. He didn't care. He had to get away from this crowd. There was too much pressure on his chest, and too much confusion in his heart, and it was making him go mad.

The cold air hit him real good as he pushed the door open and began walking. He didn't know where he was fucking going, but anywhere was better than that fucking bar.

Gavin was never cursed. He never met a mythical legend, and he sure as fuck never had to make it up to Connor to lift some stupid, imaginary curse.

So, why was that part even thrown in there? Why did Anderson make Gavin right his wrongs with Connor? To punish him? Well, the joke was on him because Gavin had a fucking transformational trip from that.

His heart sat heavily in his chest, and the thought of Connor made it sink even lower. He didn't think Connor had been faking it when they were becoming friendly, but it was hard to tell with him sometimes.

Gavin heard the footsteps coming up on him, and he whirled around in time to see Connor slowing his run as he jerked to a stop before him.

He was a fucking sight: brown hair all mussed up from Anderson messing it all up, shirt jaggedly torn and flying open, leaving his blue blood-stained torso on full display for the fucking city to see—and, he couldn't have looked more beautiful.

Gavin narrowed his eyes at him, though, his automatic defense on display. "If you're here to explain yourself, then you can save it. I'm a big boy, Connor, I get it. It was all a big fucking joke. Ha ha, everyone got the office asshole, so you can fuck off back to your master now."

Fuck, why was he such an asshole still? He'd been making good progress in trying to better himself.

Connor tilted his head at Gavin, and he knew the other man wasn't buying into his false bravado. "Come on, Detective Reed. What was it you said to Hank multiple times over the past few weeks? 'It was just a prank.'"

Gavin only kicked the sidewalk. Connor had a point.

Connor took Gavin's silence as an invitation to take a few steps closer until there was only a foot of space between them, and Gavin could only look down at their feet facing each other on the ground.

"What's really upsetting you?" Connor asked, and Gavin could only purse his lips to the side, debating whether or not to say it. But, Connor made the decision for him. "Are you afraid that I wasn't sincere when we were spending all of our time together and sharing words of confidentiality with each other? Because I can tell you right now that I very much enjoyed those moments spent with you. You showed me a lot of new things, like how to shoot the perfect spitball, and that decorating for holidays is an essential part of spreading the holiday cheer, and that sometimes, if done correctly, you can find joy in the perfect prank."

Gavin snorted, but his heart was already feeling lighter just listening to Connor ramble on. "Yeah, pranks are just the bees knees."

Connor smiled wryly. "Hank has a morbid sense of humor, I'll admit."

"You think? I mean, fuck, that was hardcore. I mean, the blood and your fucking flawless performance as a dead guy, and I just…" Gavin said and swallowed down the rest of his words. His mind didn't even want to go there again.

Connor furrowed his eyebrows. "I have to say, I didn't expect you to react as harshly as you had. I saw your heart rate. It was extremely elevated to an unhealthy rate."

Heat blossomed into Gavin's cheeks as the answer came to him, but to Connor he said, "Well … yeah, I mean, you were fucking dying. Seeing anyone die would be enough to make anyone's heart fucking race."

A gleam slid into Connor's eyes, a twinkle that Gavin knew was going to end up winning. "But, I'm an android, and you've long since made your opinion about my kind known. No, I have my own theory as to why I think you got so worked up back there."

"It was a perfectly normal response," Gavin said, trying to sound intimidating, but damn if Connor hadn't found a way through all his defenses.

Connor took another step closer, and he was nearly on top of him now, as close as they had been back in the bathroom all those weeks ago when Connor had Gavin pinned to the wall in a threatening manner.

Gavin held his breath and straightened his neck, trying to appear calm even though he was anything but.

"Stop lying," Connor said, and there it was. That dangerous lilt that promised consequences if his orders weren't followed.

But, Gavin was a risk taker.

He finally gazed up into Connor's eyes and matched the steady, intense stare Connor was pinning him with. "I'm not lying."

And, this was a game now. A game that was about to end once one of them finally caved and called it.

"You underestimate me," Connor whispered, and fuck it. Gavin always cheated at games anyway.

Gavin pressed forward and pressed his lips against Connor's hard. His hand flew up to Connor's neck to hold him to him once he felt Connor's mouth open up to him, his tongue sliding against his in such a skilled way it nearly drove Gavin insane with pleasure.

This kiss wasn't anything like the other kisses Gavin had shared during drunken nights, or those seldom sweet nights in high school, and yet it was exactly like those times. He'd always wondered what kissing an android would feel like; if he would taste the rubbery mechanics of the simulated skin, or if the android would be stilted and awkward.

But, Connor just did what he'd always been doing and defied every one of Gavin's expectations. He felt just like a human in the natural motion of their clashing tongues, the wet feel of his lips sliding back and forth against his own, feeling just as if he were kissing his ex-girlfriend back in high school.

And, Connor was a thousand times better because this was his fucking dream man.

Gavin pulled away eventually after his air got sucked from him, a detail Connor probably didn't notice since he didn't need to breathe. Damn, Connor could go hours just kissing without even taking a breath. Gavin hummed at the thought.

"What is it? Was that okay?" Connor said, a touch of concern reaching his eyebrows, a certain vulnerability on display in his usually confident brown eyes.

Gavin huffed a laugh. "Fucking amazing, but I need to breathe, asshole."

"Oh. Right." Connor took a step back, and Gavin let him, his arms falling back down to his sides. It was easier to think when Connor wasn't literally attached to his chest.

He could still feel the warm feel of Connor's lips on his as he said, "Did that do anything for you?"

Because he knew Connor couldn't have physical reactions, but Connor had cryptically revealed that he had certain feelings on this kind of thing, an emotional response.

Connor thought for a minute, eyes briefly darting around them, before he focused on Gavin. "I felt alive. I felt … wanted. It felt right."

Gavin's heart squeezed at this, the emotional aspect of his affections somehow even better than the physical, because anyone could have a physical reaction to anything, but that shit was only temporary. Feelings, as complicated as they were, didn't lie, and neither did Connor. Not about this.

"I felt the same. You know, in addition to … other things," he said and pressed a hand down to adjust himself. He couldn't let his imagination run wild or else the semi in his pants was going to go full on hard.

Connor actually glanced down and stared at Gavin's crotch unabashedly, and Connor needed to stop looking right now or else he was going to witness the slight inflation that would take place in about ten seconds.

But, when Connor gazed back at Gavin with troubled eyes, any sexual thoughts flew from his mind.

"Does it bother you that I can't react in a physical way like you can?"

The question threw Gavin off kilter, and he hesitated a moment before answering. "No," he said, but his voice was high, and Connor had already called him out for underestimating him. So, he lamented. "Well, not yet, anyway. I mean, there's always things you can do for that, right? Like," Gavin waved his hands vaguely in Connor's general direction, "I don't know."

"There's always upgrades I can adjust to, either on my internal server, or … manually."

Gavin cocked his head. "Manually? You mean…" Gavin said, but Gavin got the meaning almost as soon as he said it. "You can actually do that? Give yourself a dick?"

Connor huffed. "In theory, yes. But, I've never had the inclination to do so before. I've never had a reason to need one. But, that can change."

Gavin smirked at him, at the flustered way Connor spoke about the subject as if he were detached, but Gavin knew better. He knew Connor was full of thoughts, and that this was his defense mechanism.

"Now, that is interesting," Gavin said, and as Gavin raised his eyebrows, making his intentions clear, he was pleased to see Connor's familiar smirk fill his lips.

"I do have one thing to ask," Connor said.

"Shoot."

"Do you forgive me? Do you forgive me for this grievance I've bestowed upon you because of this prank that 100% was not my idea? Do you—"

"Ya-di-ya-di-ya, cut your shit, Connor. You know I don't blame you for this. Actually, I'm sure you know exactly who I blame."

Connor raised his eyebrows. "That seems unfair. Did you not pull the exact same prank on him? Did you not deceive him into thinking that I was dead for your own amusement? And, it was worse because you know Hank and I share a very deep bond with each other—"

"Okay, okay, I get it. I really deserved this one."

Connor shrugged his acquiescence, and then things were quiet. The cool, October wind was whistling through the air, raising goosebumps on the back of Gavin's neck. People still strode by on the sidewalk in small groups, chatting noisily and happily amongst themselves. And, the steady feel of Gavin's heart pumping through his chest was pleasantly warm.

Maybe Halloween wasn't ruined.

"You should come back inside. Get a drink," Connor said softly, but Gavin was already shaking his head.

"Nah, man, I'm not going back in there to spend my Halloween with a bunch of dipshits." Gavin bit his lip as he sized Connor up, debating. Screw it. "You wanna go to my place and have a Halloween marathon? That franchise is the best of the classics."

Connor stared at him for a moment before his lips split into a radiant smile, one that lit his whole fucking face up like the sun shining through the night. "Okay."

And, after Connor sent a quick text off to Anderson letting him know that he'd be at Gavin's tonight (which Gavin secretly laughed to imagine Anderson's reaction to that), they headed out in Gavin's car.

It turned out that Connor loved horror movies. As they sat on the couch together and squished down into the back of the couch with their shoulders pressing against each other, he could feel every jump that coursed through the other man's body as easily as if he were the one jumping. Which he did just as much, and while Gavin also had a bowl of candy to help distract himself, Connor could only lean slightly over and curl against Gavin's shoulders, bringing his feet up to rest on the couch so he could rest his bent arms on his legs.

It was kind of fucking sweet, though Gavin would never admit how much he liked Connor curling against his side during the really intense parts.

Somewhere around the fourth movie in the franchise—because Gavin always skipped number three; fuck number three—Connor had gone into sleep mode beside him. Gavin gazed down at him and shook his head at the blue blood still staining his torn shirt. What a fucking night.

At least one good thing to come from this whole shitty idea for a prank was that he knew he wasn't cursed. As silly as it had sounded, he'd actually believed for a minute that there was some actual legitimacy to the myth of Le Nain Rouge. The fucking bank heist was what threw him off. Really, what were the odds of such a rare event happening at the same time Anderson was trying pull off the prank of the year?

So, one good thing had come out of this.

Well…

Gavin gazed back down at Connor, who was resting so peacefully on his shoulder, and he decided that two good things had come from it.

---

Gavin let Connor sleep the night away at his house, and he'd dropped him off at Anderson's in the morning so that he could change his messy clothes from the previous night. He was going to wait for him, but Connor said he wanted to talk with Anderson for a bit, so he left him there and decided to go catch a bite at Dunkin' Donuts, and no, the irony of a cop eating at Dunkin' Donuts was not lost on him.

He ate his coffee and donuts with fucking pleasure, and by the time he arrived at work, he felt fully satisfied and ready to start the day.

Of course, he didn't know why he thought the day would go smoothly.

As soon as he made it past the metal bars, a round of applause greeted him as he stalked his way over to his desk. Everyone who was in already stood up to clap their hands for him, and Gavin greeted them back with a double showing of his middle fingers.

"Yeah, yeah, fuuuck you, dipshits," Gavin said, glaring at each and every single one of them.

Chen broke away from the cheering crowd with her hands full of a store bought cake. It had red icing all over it with black lines decorating the edges, and, wait for it, a little red goblin gracing the middle as a centerpiece.

"You guys actually suck ass, you know that? I hate you all," Gavin said.

"Aww, come on, Reed, we're sorry! We really are. It was pretty funny, I'm not gonna lie. Your face, though…" Chen said, breaking off to stifle a giggle. At Gavin's unimpressed look, she sobered up. "Anyway, we know that you really have been working to change yourself and better yourself, and so that's why we got you this. It's a peace offering."

Chen held the cake out for Gavin to take, and after he seriously debated flipping the cake down to the floor like a petulant child, he finally heaved an exaggerated sigh and took the cake from her hands, placing it on his desk.

The cake did look kind of enticing, and after he ran his finger along the edge and scooped up some of the icing to taste, he decided to accept this pity gift.

"Okay, fine. I'll take it. But, you fuckers aren't getting shit, so don't ask me for any," Gavin said, and as he said it, Connor and Anderson walked through the metal gate, taking in the current display with some surprise.

"What the hell is this?" Anderson said, looking for an answer from Chen. Connor, on the other hand, strode over to Gavin and peered down at the cake, a small smirk appearing on his lips.

"Cute," Connor said.

"It's a peace offering," Chen explained. "I think it's time we all just squash this old beef between you and Reed. Aren't you guys tired of going back and forth at each other?"

Anderson walked closer and inspected the cake with interest. "Well, where the hell's mine?" he said, and when he reached for a slice of Gavin's, Gavin swatted his hand away.

"Fuck off. Chen gave this to me."

Anderson glared at him before he stormed off to his desk. "Whatever. I don't need that shit, anyway. Not unless you all wanna give me diabetes this late in my life and kill me."

"Oh, would someone? Please?" Gavin said.

Chen glanced at Connor and shook her head. "These two just don't know when to quit," she said before she headed back to her desk. Everyone else took that as their cue to continue business as usual, and Gavin finally flopped down into his chair.

"I'm serious, I'm not sharing this deliciousness with anyone else," Gavin said to Connor.

Connor pursed his lips. "You know, I don't think Officer Bubbles was in on any of this."

Gavin crudely cut himself a slice of cake with his fork and brought a piece to his lips. "Who the fuck's that?" he said around a mouthful of cake.

Connor frowned at him and moved aside to gesture at Pepper Potts seated behind him. "Officer Bubbles," Connor said, and Gavin choked on his cake.

No fucking way.

"Are you kidding me? Dr. Pepper," Gavin said, and Pepper slowly circled in his chair to glare at Gavin. It was pretty apparent that he'd been listening this entire time. "Is that your real last name? Bubbles?"

Pepper narrowed his eyes into slits and almost turned back to his computer, but Gavin rushed on. "Holy shit, with a name like that, you deserve a fucking piece. Fuck, take the whole damn thing, you poor bastard," Gavin said and picked up the cake platter to lean over and drop it on Pepper Bubbles' desk. Holy fuck, Gavin was going to have a fucking field day with this new knowledge.

"Thanks," Pepper said through gritted teeth, that grimace still resting on his face.

Gavin patted his back once. "It'll get better."

"Oh, I forgot. I have something for you," Connor said, and Gavin settled back into his chair as Connor reached into his pants pocket.

Connor pulled out a silver keychain from his pocket and presented it to Gavin. Gavin merely stared at it for a second before he realized that Connor wanted him to take it.

"For me?"

"Yes. I made it," Connor said, and Gavin's chest felt like someone had punched it. But, he slowly took the silver keychain from Connor's fingers and studied the charm.

A tiny little G and R were dangling down in cursive script, the shine of the light hitting the silver of the charm dazzling to Gavin.

"You made this? It's fucking impressive," he said, running his fingers over the smooth finish. It was a work of art, really. Something so undeserving of Gavin. "But, why? I mean … why?"

He was completely flabbergasted, and he couldn't even remember the last time someone had given him a gift. It was probably one of the last birthdays he'd shared with his mom when he was 16. She'd gotten him this sweater with his favorite band on it, and Gavin still wore it sometimes when he got cold at night.

But, this … this was one of those handmade gifts, a complete fucking original, and Gavin had to clench his jaw so tight to keep his emotions in check.

"I make one for all my friends," Connor said, and the small smile he gave him was fucking killing him.

Gavin clenched the keychain around in his fist, remembering that day Connor had reached down into his desk and passed something to Anderson. He'd been wondering what that little thing was. And, now he knew.

"Thanks," Gavin said, voice surprisingly soft. He just had no way to express his gratitude at such a simple act of kindness.

"It was my pleasure," Connor said.

Gavin studied him for a minute, a conversation from a couple weeks ago suddenly floating through his mind, before he asked him something that he'd been wondering about.

"Can I ask you something? It might sound fucking weird," Gavin said.

"Shoot," Connor said, and Gavin smiled for a second at the little things Connor was picking up from him.

"I was just thinking about last week when we were talking about your basic functions… What does being an android mean to you? And, I'm not asking to be smart, or anything. I was just genuinely curious as to what you thought about it."

Gavin almost felt stupid for asking. It was such a random question, a weird follow up question to receiving this gift, but his conversation from last week had just come to mind, and he couldn't ask then because him and Connor weren't in a stable place enough for him to ask questions like this.

But, things had changed, and Gavin was asking now.

Connor thought for a long time about his answer, almost long enough to have Gavin regretting asking in the first place, but then, Connor said, "It's different to every android, I believe, just as the question 'What does being human mean to you?' would be different depending on which human you asked. But, for me personally, it means that I have a chance to contribute to the world I live in. I have a chance to experience life, and make meaningful decisions, and lead the best life I can lead for me. But, probably most profound of all, I have the opportunity to inspire a change in someone for the better, to make someone's life a little more happier in a dreary world."

It was probably the most perfect answer Gavin had ever heard, and the funny thing was, Connor was telling the truth. Connor wanted all of that, and he lived by those standards he set for himself, and it was so human that Gavin had no doubt in his mind anymore.

There was no grand difference between androids and humans. For the longest time, Gavin had assembled invisible boundaries between androids and humans in his effort to keep himself feeling like the superior one, but all he'd been doing was closing himself off from this great species, a species that might even be better and more kind than his own fucking species, and that was the real tragedy.

It was kind of sad that it took a fucking prank to make him see just how much of a jackass he truly was, and even though he was still pissed about Anderson's little ploy, he was also secretly grateful.

Because instead of being stuck in that comfortable defense of anger masking his fear that he'd been so used to living in merely three weeks ago, he'd take sitting here with a handmade gift from Connor and being in the most progressive mindset of his life over his old ways any day.

---

Thanks for reading :)