"Honey honey, nearly kill me, aha, honey honey

I've heard about you before, I wanted to know some more

And now I'm about to see, what you mean to me"

- ABBA


Saturday, November 6, 2038

An argument can be heard brewing before you even stepped into the bullpen. The sounds were slightly muffled by Captain Fowler's glass office, but anyone could clearly distinguish the angry voice of Hank Anderson. A majority of officers in the bullpen paid no attention to the goings on within that office, but your interest was piqued. It was always entertaining to watch Hank's millennial rage monster come out.

Shaking your head bemused, you continued to your assigned desk. The still warm paper bag of chocolate chip bagels rested on your desk for mere milliseconds before your partner snatched it off.

"How did you manage to show up later than Anderson?" he asked in his gruff voice. Gavin peeked into the bag, swiped a bagel, and then held it between his teeth as he placed the bag back on the desk.

You only scoffed in return, ignoring his question. "Uh… you're welcome?"

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled with a bagel-filled mouth. "Where the fuck were you last night, anyway? We had to interrogate that android suspect without you."

"I got caught up with something. Fowler knows." You shrugged off your coat before taking a glance back up to the captain's office, where he was still arguing with Hank. It took a second before you realized that there was someone else in there—someone you didn't recognize.

And even just from his left profile, you could tell that he was definitely handsome.

Without taking your eyes off this mystery man's form, you voiced absentmindedly, "Gav, who's Tall, Dark and Handsome over there?"

"Who, besides me?" was his reply. You almost snorted out a laugh. Gavin Reed was either really thick, or thought the world revolved around him. After being his partner for a solid couple of years, you concluded that it in fact was both.

"No, you idiot," you said, rolling your eyes dramatically. "I was talking about the guy in there with Fowler and Anderson."

Gavin straightened up in his seat, brows furrowed in annoyance. "First of all, that's no 'guy,' okay? That's the plastic prick sent by CyberLife to babysit Anderson." He took an angry bite from his bagel, continuing to speak with a mouthful. "D'you really think that thing is handsome? I never pegged you for an Eden Club gal."

"Yeah, I rented your mom out last night. She's a lovely woman," you shot back, giving him a pointed look.

Your focus returned to Hank as he exited Fowler's office with a huff. The android followed him out with sure, calculated movements. You scrutinized its uniform as it walked: the arm band and triangle marking it as an android were shown prominently; perfect tie and white button-up pressed perfectly. The LED on its forehead was shining a bright blue. Squinting, you read "RK800" was displayed on the right side of the jacket.

You turned to your partner, curious. "What exactly is an RK model?"

"The fuck would I know. He's some detective prototype or something." Gavin raised his mug to his lips, and then frowned when he found it empty. He wordlessly stood up and headed to the break room.

You logged into the terminal in hopes to focus on work, but something kept nagging you in the back of your mind. When the RK800's form walked past my desk, you realized that it was that something.

The android was the new shiny thing that would inevitably draw your attention. From where you sat, you had a clear view of it near the counter.

Gavin's voice was faint from the break room, but you clearly heard him say, "Fuck, look at that. Our friend the plastic detective is back in town! Congratulations on last night, very impressive." The sarcasm was dripping heavily from his words.

"Hello," the android said in greeting. "My name is Connor."

Connor. An apropos name for such a movie-star face. Android or not, CyberLife really knows how to design them to seamlessly integrate into society's standards.

Before you could even process it, Gavin was ordering Connor around. "Hey, make me a coffee, dipshit!" A pause. You watched their exchange carefully. "Get a move on!"

"I'm sorry," Connor replied without missing a beat, "but I only take orders from Lieutenant Anderson."

It should not have said that. Knowing Gavin's personality, it only would push him further. From your desk, you called out loudly, "Leave it alone, Gavin!" Your words only fell on deaf ears, as Gavin moved to sucker punch the android in the gut. You immediately got up from your seat, a little ticked off at your partner.

"If Hank hadn't gotten in the way yesterday, I would've fucked you up for disobeying a human." Gavin leaned down to the android, saying something you couldn't quite hear. He turned to leave, with Officer Tina Chen behind him.

"Gav, what the hell was that?" You back handed his shoulder when you got close enough, brows furrowed. "I told you to fucking leave it alone."

"Go ahead and come to its rescue, Y/N," he said as he walked back to his desk. "I think it's learned its lesson."

Shaking your head, you turned to face the android—Connor. It had just gotten to its feet, adjusting the tie around its neck. "Hey, sorry about Gavin," you started. "Although, I guess this wasn't your first interaction with him."

Connor's eyes met yours and it shrugged. "The detective seems like a… pleasant human to be around."

Is it normal for androids to be sarcastic? You barked a laugh at that, surprised at the android's quip. "Yeah, imagine being his partner." After a moment, you extended your hand out to Connor. "Detective Y/L/N. Welcome to the force, I guess."

Connor stared at your hand for a moment, and then its hand enveloped yours in a firm handshake. Its artificial skin was surprisingly warmer than you expected. "My name is Connor. I am the android sent by CyberLife."

Honestly, this android's selective temperaments wasn't what you expected.

"I guess I'll be seeing you around, Connor, sent by CyberLife." You gave a small smile before you returned to my desk, smacking Gavin upside the head as you passed.

Monday, November 8, 2038

A group of androids had infiltrated the Stratford Tower and broadcasted a message to the entirety of Detroit. Every news outlet jumped on it, speculating terrorism and the rise of anarchy.

The seventy-ninth floor was littered with Detroit police, CSI, SWAT, and even the FBI. Hank didn't take too well with meeting that Special Agent Perkins, especially when he was informed that they were taking over the case. Nevertheless, with so much evidence around the floor, it was basically all hands on deck.

You and Hank had gone out to the hallway to inspect some things while Connor went to interrogate the station androids in the kitchen. At some point, you noticed Hank flipping a quarter between his fingers hesitantly.

Raising an amused brow, you asked in jest, "Learning some new tricks, lieutenant?"

He dropped the coin with an audible "fuck" before reaching down to pick it up. "Heh. It's some annoying shit Connor does. Took the damn coin from him 'cause it was getting' on my nerves."

You shouldered a laugh. "Hank, you did not take that quarter from the poor thing!"

Someone pushed past you in the hallway. You turned to see one of the broadcaster worker androids making a bee line towards the elevator. That's weird. Really weird. Before you could voice my concerns to Hank, you heard footsteps and Connor's voice call out an urgent "Stop!"

Connor ran down the hall, shirt splayed open and blue blood all over him. "It's a deviant. Stop it!"

The deviant android grabbed a SWAT's rifle and aimed. Your blood ran cold. Before you could even think to grab the gun from the holster on your waist, Connor was beside you. He unhooked the holster, raised your gun in one fluid motion, and took a step in front of you before popping off two shots. The android slumped to its knees before promptly shutting down, blue blood trickling down to the floor.

"Holy shit" was the only thing that came from your mouth. Everything had gone down in a matter of seconds, and you had to take a moment to process it.

Still in slight shock, you looked up at Connor. You blinked. He held the gun out to you, and you holstered it wordlessly. Hank and Officer Miller, who had both dropped down for cover, helped each other to their feet.

"Nice shot," Hank breathed almost incredulously.

Connor's eyes never left the deviant android's lifeless form. "I wanted it alive."

Hank stared at him, long and hard, before saying, "You saved… human lives. You saved my life." The two of them shared a look.

Your gaze met Connor's and your heart skipped a beat. It was probably the adrenaline speaking, but you never realized just how nice brown eyes could look.

The expression on his face was one of slight concern. "Are you alright, Y/N?" he asked, head tilting slightly. You almost didn't register him calling you by your first name. "My scans show your heart rate has jumped significantly."

You felt heat rush to my cheeks and you could only imagine how red you were. You merely nodded your answer, and Connor moved toward the body of the android.

You cleared your throat, noticing the dryness. Looking down at your hands, you saw the fresh blue blood that had come from your gun. Connor's blood. "Hank, we need to get him looked at. Whatever that android did—it hurt him."

You realized what you had said the moment the lieutenant's brows rose in surprise. Hank seemed to huff a laugh from his nose.

Tuesday, November 9, 2038

"Uhh… Penny for your thoughts?"

You looked up at Hank, confused, as he took a seat across from you. "What?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. You've been staring off into space and clenching and unclenching your teeth for like twenty minutes."

Most people in the bullpen were either out for lunch or doing just about anything else to procrastinate on paperwork. There were only a handful of officers still milling about the place. Hank must be bored if he's talking to you.

Shaking you head, you hesitated, "Just that… It's nothing."

"It's Connor, isn't it?"

You both locked eyes. In a very unconvincing voice, you said, "No."

Hank leaned back in the seat, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're worried, I get it."

"I'm not worried. He's a very capable—"

"You like him, then?"

"I—" He smirked, and you scrunched my nose at him. "Shut up."

You faced forward and opened your terminal, trying to ignore him. Special Agent Perkins exited the restroom at that time, wads of tissue paper up his nose. He gave Hank a dirty look as he passed to go to Fowler's office.

Nodding in Perkins' direction, you asked Hank, "You like Connor enough to help him distract the FBI and give him a head-start to finding Jericho."

Hank shrugged nonchalantly, simply stating, "Frankly, the kid has saved my life more times than I can count. I owed him one. Or a few. He's sorta grown on me."

"He's grown on me, too," you admitted, scrolling through the reports that had come in recently from deviant activity. When you looked back up to Hank, he had a knowing look on his face. "What now?"

The lieutenant palmed his face, sighing. "You wouldn't know a love bug from a mosquito even if it bit you in the ass."

Your brows knitted together, and you gave Hank a look. "What in the fuck does that mean?" You chuckled, trying to wrap my head around his weird metaphor.

"Connor has been here barely a week. Your stance on androids has changed like that" – Hank snapped his fingers for emphasis – "and don't think I never notice you making eyes at him, because I see that shit."

You stared each other down for a long moment before you sighed reluctantly. "Fine. I, like, sort of like him. He's just so…" You leaned back into your seat, pursing your lips. "So human that sometimes I forget he's an android."

Almost as if he was satisfied with your answer, Hank got to his feet. As he walked away, he called over his shoulder, "Seems like he forgets that he's an android, too."

"Why?"

"He never shuts up about you."

Friday, November 12, 2038

"It's fucking cold, Hank."

"No shit, Y/N. This is Detroit."

You huffed back at him, shoving your hands into your jacket pockets. The air condensed every time you exhaled a breath.

The fresh snow on the ground reflected the early morning sun like it always did, but today it seemed different. Detroit was quiet.

You tagged along with Hank this morning to see that dumb android. That dumb android who helped free his people. That dumb android who had kept you constantly worried over the last forty-eight hours.

The two of you turned to the sound of snow crunching beneath footsteps. Connor walked toward you looking like he always did—CyberLife jacket and dress pants. Except that he wasn't wearing his signature black tie, and his usually wind-swept hair was just a bit unrulier.

He and Hank exchanged tired smiles, and then pulled each other into an embrace. It was the first time in a long time that you had seen a genuine smile from Connor, let alone Hank.

"You did good, kid," Hank said proudly once he pulled back.

"Thanks, Hank." Connor beamed. The smile reached the corners of his eyes. If it weren't for the bright blue LED on his temple, anyone would have thought he was human.

But then you remembered that you were supposed to be mad at him. "You're such an ass, Connor! It's been two days! Do you know how worried we'd been?"

"Well, you were worried."

"Shut up, Hank."

Connor's gaze landed on you, and his expression changed immediately. He took the two strides it took to get to you and nearly bowled you over with a hug. You held yourself from returning it for a moment, angry but grateful that he was safe.

He rested his chin on top of your head, saying, "I'm sorry that I made you worry, Y/N."

That was it. That was all it took for you to wrap your arms around his waist and give into the warmth that came from him. "Don't you ever do that to me again."