Their little chat with Killian Jones had been both awkward and cloaked in threats; Belle had practically been able to build a graph showing tension increase by the second. However, they'd gotten through it without anybody dying or losing another limb. It certainly didn't take an android with fantastic perception to see the two men hated each other, there was a story there but Belle didn't dare ask. Despite the insult loaded conversation, the Sergeant and android had gotten some rather interesting information from the criminal consultant. Turned out Killian knew an awful lot about The Legion including the fact that Samuel Long was a low-level package boy for them, so low-level that the police had never even noticed. Thankfully Killian knew the location of the smugglers new favourite hang out; part of the reason law enforcement hadn't managed to track them down was that their HQ kept moving.
That little nugget of information was how Belle had found herself in the passenger seat of Gold's restored Cadillac hurtling through the Storybrooke Cynosure district, while he drove she used the smart glass in the windshield to go over the footage Jefferson had cleaned up for them, it took a while but eventually she noticed the taller android take something from Eliza Reddington's hair, at least that's what it looked like; she couldn't tell exactly what though.
Gold raced to the supposedly abandoned paper mill, to avoid being seen or heard he slowly brought his beloved classic Cadillac to a gentle stop where no one could see. The two got out of the Cadillac and just looked at the building for a moment, old and in need of being pulled down, paper mills hadn't been needed since at least 2020. The thing was an eyesore sitting there on the Storybrooke coast with its grime and peeling paint. As other police tactical vehicles pulled up beside his own to unload a unit of MX-43 androids Gold couldn't help but think of how similar the abandoned building looked to the raid before his coma and missing leg, the way the sun had bitten at the back of his neck when he'd pulled on his vest. The way Neal had laughed and said this is going to be fun, completely unaware of how the day would end.
Out the corner of his eye Zane saw Detectives Swan and Nolan slip on vests and prepare themselves. An MX approached him, oh joy.
"Sergeant Gold, your tactical unit is ready to move in on your orders. Heat signatures indicate there are twenty humans within the building's confines, however that does not rule out more in rooms designed to block thermal imaging." It told him in that monotone voice.
Gold didn't answer the MX instead he went to the Cadillac trunk and pulled out his vest, he slipped it on as he returned to the hood.
"Sergeant, I think Eliza was killed because she had something Long should have delivered. They have so many noise complaints on file, maybe he took something pretty to say sorry, a hair pin, a comb, something he thought his boss' wouldn't notice." Belle drew her weapon – a Baretta 8000 Cougar with laser module and wine colored grips, far nicer than anything a MX had – and made certain it was loaded as she spoke. "Seems they did notice."
"This all boils down to money, why am I not surprised?" He grumbled while checking his Taurus in much the same Belle had with her own weapon. "They killed her to send a message. Put-"
"Surveillance on Samuel Long until we can find something to charge him with?" She interrupted. "I've already sent the request to Captain Mills. Shall I lead you in?"
There it was, shall I lead you in, the real reason the higher-ups wanted an android with all their officers, to act as human shaped shields. No one liked to say that in front of the press of course but it was exactly what androids were to law enforcement, Zane doubted that was quite what Doctor Nigel Vaughn had intended when he'd built the BLEs.
"Sure, dearie, no time like the present."
Belle and Zane led the way into the abandoned and practically hollowed out building followed by a wall of MX-43 androids and Detectives Nolan and Swan. The place was suspiciously quiet but no one said a word about it, just continued through the old piles of paper that had long since yellowed.
"Picking up anything?" The Sergeant asked in a whisper, Taurus PT92AF pointed straight ahead.
"No human active on this level, Sergeant." She whispered back making sure to keep him behind her. "There's a Wi-Fi signal coming from this building though, the single is six floors up and-"
A MX suddenly interrupted forcing Belle and Gold to halt.
"Sergeant Gold, I recommend you ignore the report of your BLE, it is an inferior model that was deactivated for being flawed. The MX-43 series is far more-"
"Oh do shut up before I shoot you." Gold groaned, he didn't have time for an MX's I'm superior speech. "Have Nolan and Swan lead half the MXs up the east staircase." He ordered and was happy when it left him alone. "Belle, go."
They continued up the west staircase while Swan, Nolan and their team of MX androids moved up the eastern one. Everything was silent, a void broken only by the occasional ruffle of paper as they walked over the yellowed pages that scattered the floor. It was so quiet that Gold could hear the sound of his heart beating in his chest and then suddenly there was a boom. Loud and stunning. Whiskey colored orbs and Belle's synthetic blue ones flashed across the building to the other staircase where two of the MXs had been blown to bits by a tripwire grenade while another slumped to the ground having lost its leg.
"Superior android my ass." Grumbled Gold from the other staircase. "There goes our element of surprise."
That was when all hell broke loose, men appeared from the upper floors and bullets flew. Everything went from dead silence to a war zone in the space of a few seconds. Just as Gold and Belle made it up to the top of the stairs a dark-haired and rather menacing looking android with violet-green eyes, that looked far more artificial than Belle's own, rounded the end of a long hallway and surged towards them; Belle instantly realised he could only be the taller man from the camera footage. She had nothing to fear though because before she'd even processed that information Gold had raised his weapon and shot him in the head sending it to the ground, for a moment Belle wondered who was the android, his reflexes were so fast.
Belle remained in front of her partner just as her programming and conscience dictated as the gun fight continued, muzzle flash lit the room and the sound of spent casings bouncing off the floor echoed, some men let out cries as bullets twisted into their flesh. Sergeant Gold was the best marksman the SPD had ever seen – even better than Emma, though not by much – and didn't miss a shot.
Belle had downloaded every bit of information she could on Sergeant Zane Gold the second she'd been provided access to the police database and learnt of his skill but seeing the man in action was far more amazing. Her mind had started to drift to the Scotsman and away from her task, a dangerous thing that quickly got her shot. She felt the bullet enter her shoulder, twist and turn through her circuits, it hurt but not like a human would feel pain, it was both the same and different; practically impossible to describe. The force knocked Belle backwards over the railing, she grabbed hold of the metal rail just in time to stop her falling down two floors where she'd have no doubt been damaged beyond even Jefferson's skill.
Zane continued to fire rapidly and three more men dropped to the ground, oh I've missed this! The adrenaline. The speed. The skill. Then something caught his attention, Belle, his new partner dangling over the edge, most in law enforcement would have left her to fall since she was nothing more than a machine, an automaton designed to resemble a human being, but Gold still found himself lunging forwards to grab at her hands and try to pull her up, maybe it was because he hadn't saved Neal, maybe it was something else, but Zane didn't think about it in that moment; for an android with a cortinide and duranium support structure she was incredibly light. Belle would have been able to pull herself back up had the bullet not damaged her arm mechanisms.
Zane had gotten his android officer halfway back over the pipe-like metal railing when a heavy set man grabbed him from behind and threw him to the floor, Belle nearly lost her grip and went tumbling to the ground as bullets continued to fly. The new attacker may have been strong as an ox but Gold was quick and cunning despite his age; he easily dodged out of the way of the attacker's punches. Zane was back on his feet before the man clad in a wife beater had even fully managed to turn and with a swift and powerful kick from his synthetic leg the criminal went flying through the air and into a brick wall causing it to crumble; Gold wasn't sure if he was unconscious or dead and didn't really care.
"Maybe I should replace the other leg too." He mused aloud before remembering he'd left Belle dangling.
Once she was back on her feet Belle looked down to the hard concrete two stories down.
"That was almost bad."
Gold smiled at that and for a split second he wanted to turn to Neal and shoot back some stupid and sarcastic comment like yeah no shit... then he remembered, this was Belle not Neal. The Sergeant took a deep breath and shook those thoughts from his head.
"Come on, criminals aren't going to kill themselves, dearie."
"Don't you mean arrest?"
"Aye, sure." He shrugged as Belle picked up her weapon and then they got back to work.
XXXX
In the end they'd lost seven MXs to the scrap pile and another four for Jefferson to put back together. Seriously, how did a team of MX androids – so called superior androids – miss a live tripwire? The police had killed about half of The Legion's men while the rest had been taken into custody; Regina had sent someone to pick up Samuel Long as well thanks to the fingerprint evidence Belle had discovered.
All that had happened a few hours previous, since then Gold had been sat at his desk in the precinct finishing off his paperwork which, ironically, involved no real paper. He'd just about finished when Belle rolled a chair up to his side and sat with a smile.
"Jefferson has patched you up I see."
"I still need a section of skin replacing but the main damage has been taken care of, it looked worse than it was." She pulled her hole ridden top aside to show him her shoulder, it was flat undamaged grey metal, an almost perfect square, an anomaly on her otherwise porcelain skin. "Can I sit here?"
The question confused him for a moment before he realised what she was doing, he'd yelled at her before when she tried to sit at Neal's desk. Gold paused for a moment and took a long breath, he didn't look at her.
"You... you can sit at the other desk." Belle's eyes grew wide as he finally met azure. "It's yours now... Neal would want you to have it."
Belle smiled happily, an emotion Gold still didn't truly believe she could feel, and pushed the chair back to where she'd taken it from. When she returned Belle paused a moment by the Sergeant's side then bent down to kiss his cheek before going to sit at Neal's – her – desk. No android had ever gotten their own desk before.
"What was that for?" He asked.
Her lips had felt warm and real, gentle and silky.
"You saved my life earlier. Pretty much anyone else would have let me fall, I'm just a machine like you said, but you pulled me up anyway. You saved me. Thank you, Sergeant."
She truly meant that, Zane could see it in her eyes. Those beautiful eyes.
"You're welcome." He managed to affirm in his thick accent. "And you were right, you're nothing like the MXs. Newer doesn't always mean better. Oh and em, you can call me Zane." Belle looked surprised and rightfully so. "Friends remember, dearie?"
"I'd like that... Zane." She grinned at him for a moment. "I can send your report up to Captain Mills if you like."
"Thank you." He said as he passed over his tablet. "Night then."
He stood and grabbed his leather jacket off the back of his chair and left without looking back. Zane hadn't admitted to it but Belle could see the bruises starting to form on his skin and the way he limped ever so slightly, clearly that kick had hurt the connection between his amputated leg and synthetic prosthesis.
Belle sat there for a time, they'd gotten off to a good start on them being an effective team, there was still a way to go but Belle didn't give up easily. Doctor Vaughn had made her stubborn. Zane would soon accept her, he'd already given her Neal's desk which was a huge step.
After a few moments the BLE stood and made her way up to Captain Mills' office and set Sergeant Gold's report on her desk, the woman herself wasn't there but she must have been close since her office hadn't been bio-locked, she left again quickly and found herself glancing around the bullpen, it was good to be working again. When Belle had been deactivated she'd been so scared, thought she'd never see the world again but there she was. Knowing she couldn't wander around the precinct or leave when off duty Belle went to the small circular cobalt colored elevator marked with bold white letters that read; Android Officer Charge Hub. She let the sensor scan the chip implanted in her left wrist and stepped onto the elevator where it quickly descended to the sub-basement and the mass of charging stations, about fifty percent of which were occupied by MX officers. Gold got to go home to a nice cosy bed while Belle got a load of MX males that thought she was inferior; Belle was starting to see why Zane hated them.
