He was greeted with the melody of songbirds over head, the sound of rushing water fading in soon after. The digitized sunlight offered no actual warmth, but he could almost feel its radiance embracing his synthetic skin as he loaded into the fabricated oasis. Eyes drifting open, Connor took in the familiar space around him. As much as he longed to remain here and bask in the beauty of the simulated garden, the only business he had here was to report his findings and undergo routine examinations conducted by his handler. He sighed, knowing his visit would be brief. Making his way between the neatly arranged flowerbeds and shrubbery, he paused to admire his favourite Cherry Blossom tree all in bloom, standing tall as if keeping watch over the expanse of the sanctuary. His musing was short lived however when a voice greeted him from behind.

"Connor, it's good to see you." He turned around, offering his handler a polite nod. "Hello Amanda." The woman smiled in return, her gaze wandering to the tree the android had just been appreciating. "She's growing well, much quicker than the others. A fine specimen to be sure." Connor wrinkled his brow slightly. "She?" He glanced up at the tree then back to Amanda. "How can you be sure what gender it is?" She chuckled lightly at his genuine confusion. "Truthfully, I'm not. But one could assume by the sheer elegance and grace with which she holds herself over the rest of this place; there is certainly a feminine beauty about her. Wouldn't you say?" Connor was a little taken aback by the profound statement, and he blinked as he processed the observation. However, looking back at the tree once more, he couldn't help but see it in a different light than before, and a small smile formed on his lips. Amanda hadn't noticed as she wound her was through the garden plots, settling on a nearby bench. Pulling himself out of his reverie, he joined her. Down to business.

"You handled the interrogation well. Deviants returned to CyberLife in working condition will allow for a more comprehensive examination." She referenced the android he and y/n had taken into custody the day prior. Not allowing his pride to seep through, Connor simply nodded with a terse "Thank-you." Amanda looked out across the pond, her expression taking on a more serious, and possibly even troubled visage. "It would appear Lieutenant Anderson was absent during the android's apprehension. Who was it that assisted you at the scene?" He considered his response carefully. He and the Lieutenant had been prudently notified by Captain Fowler that your involvement with the IMF was strictly classified, the only people privy to that knowledge being Hank, Fowler, and himself. As far as everyone else was concerned, you were merely an out-of-state detective sent over to aid in the deviant case, owing to your specific set of skills.

"Detective y/l/n. She has been assigned to us by the LAPD to cooperate in our investigation." Amanda hummed, returning again to her thoughts. "And what do you make of her so far?" Flustered by the question, he shifted in his seat, his LED betraying him with a flash of yellow. He hadn't really expected her to pry for details. In all honesty, he still didn't now all that much about you. True, it had only been a day and a half since your arrival, but he prided himself on the rapid rate at which he could acquire personal knowledge of others. You were very tight lipped though, ignoring half of his inquiries, and offering fiery glares and muttered annoyances to the other half. What he did know wasn't of much use, aside from being able to offer you a fully dressed cup of coffee.

"She seems very capable, astute, and has an evident interest in the case. I believe she will prove useful." He actually wasn't so sure just how enthralled with the investigation you were, but he figured allowing Amanda to believe you intended to be fully compliant with their efforts couldn't hurt. She nodded slowly at his response, turning back to face the android. "I find it...troubling that CyberLife was not notified of her involvement prior to her arrival." She stood then, Connor following her movements. "You are to monitor her movements and report any questionable activity. Am I clear?"

"Of course Amanda."

His reply may have sounded sincere, but he struggled to understand her suspicions. Shouldn't she be pleased another body was on the case? She had made it very apparent that CyberLife wanted the deviant situation taken care of as soon as possible, and having y/n around could very well bring about an accelerated outcome.

Satisfied, Amanda took her leave, and finding himself alone once more, Connor took one last look up at the grand tree across the garden and his smile returned. He reluctantly closed his eyes, the world around him fading to black.

-o-

The alarm blared through your sleep induced haze, indicating 6 a.m. You groaned, slowly turning over in bed before trying and failing to find the switch multiple times. As the buzzing in your ears quickly sobered you up, you remembered the wonders of modern technology; "Shut up." you grumbled, and the agonizing buzzer fell silent. You breathed a drowsy sigh of relief.

Going through your newly established morning routine for the third day in a row, you felt an odd sense of giddiness at the idea of "going to work". You knew the line of duty as a detective meant responding to calls at odd hours if the night from time to time, but it still beat skydiving off buildings before your morning cup of coffee. Your years at the IMF had relieved you of any sense of normality; there were no 9-5 work days, rather you were picked up and placed in various locations all over the country, and often the world whenever duty called, living out of hotels or temporary apartments scouted out by the organization. Every once in a while you'd hold up somewhere nice, like that Villa in Italy 2 years ago.

You observed the near empty studio loft you currently called home, wandering as you brushed your teeth. It wasn't awful; high ceilings, exposed brick and sleek hardwood floors. Shame it had no furniture aside from an old lounger, a small TV, a single seat kitchen table which mostly served as your desk space, and a bed. You caught yourself envisioning the place after an intensive trip to Ikea, shaking your head at the notion. Your stay here was very temporary. With a sigh, you returned to the bathroom to finish making yourself look human for the day. God you wish you had a coffee pot here.

-o-

Connor had been surveying you throughout the day from his desk. He honestly wasn't sure if his observations were a programmed response to Amanda's orders, or if he was working to satisfy his own growing curiosity. He watched as you flipped through a small stack of case files, noting the way you gingerly licked your thumb to separate the pages. You maintained an air of refinement and poise despite your hard edge, qualities he found rather striking. Your movements were sure, but not quite calculated, your dealings diplomatic but not demanding, and your work ethic put nearly everyone else in the DPD to shame thus far. With the exception of himself of course. Not to mention the way you held your own 3 days ago with that deviant. You were a wonder to him and he couldn't help but desire to know more. These were dangerous thoughts however, and Connor knew it. Ever since he'd accompanied Hank on the Ortiz investigation, he'd felt...off. Questions and doubts scraped at the back of his mechanized mind, and it seemed the more he pushed them back, the harder they worked to claw their way out. He could always report to CyberLife as a defective model, they would replace him and that would be that. But he found himself not entirely fond of the idea. It would be a shame to be interrupted before cracking the case after all.

All reports now complete and accounted for, boredom began settling in, and he found himself scanning the office space for an outlet. His sights fell upon you once more, and drawing in a cooling breath, he stood, setting out for your desk.

"Hello agen-detective." He caught himself before unwittingly letting your cover slip. It would take some time getting used to the fact that you were undercover and not an official detective.

"Hey." Your focus remained on the documents in front of you. In truth, paperwork really wasn't your thing. As a field agent, your talents were best reserved for the real world, preferring a hands-on approach rather than shuffling through records. Unfortunately, you knew this was a crucial aspect of your cover, so you had put in extra time to teach yourself the art of filing reports, however gruelling.

"Do you require any assistance? I've already completed filing my reports for the day." Tempting, but you were determined to free climb this mountain yourself. "No thank you Connor." You bit down on the end of your pen, scanning a shotty segment of wording.

Strike one. He straightened up slightly, directing his attention to your desk space. You'd left your iPod on and he made note of the current band on "Pause". "You enjoy heavy metal music? Hank is rather fond of it as well, you could possibly use that to "break the ice" as they say." He offered an encouraging smile. Connor had noticed the chilly air between you and the Lieutenant since day one, and there were no signs of it improving. If one of you was accessing the filing cabinets, the other would wait until they were clear of the area before going over. Reports were passed on without a word, and you both took to mumbling obscenities at one another under your breath. It would have been comical if Connor wasn't sandwiched in the middle. He was determined to make you two bury the hatchet, lest his functions be diminished to forever passing angry notes between the two of you.

You sighed, a recurring tick of yours Connor noticed, and released the pen from your teeth, tapping it lightly on your desk and glancing up at the android. "What's eating you detective?" He'd discovered since Hank's use of the phrase that it was merely a figure of speech, and he now prided himself on grasping its meaning.

"Nothing in particular." he began, "I just find myself understimulated having completed all of my current assigned tasks for the day." You smirked at his choice if wording.

"You're bored?" He paused, considering the idea. "Yes, I suppose I am...bored." You nodded, leaning back in your chair to stretch. "Well, I haven't taken my lunch yet, so I guess you can tag along. But ONLY if you keep the anecdotes and "fun facts" to a minimum. Like...one. You get one fact per day." Connor beamed, agreeing to your terms. "Very well, but you'll be missing out on some riveting true facts about the-"

"Connor... don't make me call over Reed."

-o-

You held the warm paper cup between both hands, relishing the caffeinated beverage Connor had insisted on buying you. You didn't make much of an argument; CyberLife made more than enough profit off their robots to buy one lowly detective investigating THEIR case a much needed coffee. The fast approaching Winter months announced their arrival on the crisp air, and Connor couldn't help but admire the light rouge that now dusted your cheeks and nose as a result. He'd offered to sit inside the cafe longer, but you'd expressed your need to get out for a bit. "I'm not used to being chained to a desk all day." you had said.

The two of you sat quietly on a bench overlooking the Ambassador bridge while you worked on your beverage. You eyed the wordless Android next to you. He sat calmly, looking out across the water with what you concluded was a rather thoughtful disposition. You wondered what thoughts whirled amongst those gears and gadgets. He felt your gaze, turning to face you with a slight tilt of his head, LED flashing yellow for a split second. You didn't know why, but you felt your face grow warm then as his eyes met yours. He was just a machine, and yet he looked so...human. And he wasn't exactly unattractive either. Every freckle that peppered his otherwise flawless complexion seemed meticulously placed, only adding to his enticing bearing.

"What's eating you agent- I mean, detective. Sorry." He hung his head slightly, his attempt at humor shot out of the sky by his blunder. Swing and a miss. You chuckled, acknowledging his efforts. "Look, just call me y/n. It'll save us both the headache moving forward." He nodded. "Got it." You took a sip of your coffee, looking back out over the river. "And nothing is "eating me". Just thinking is all." He cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? About what?" You thought a moment before simply shaking your head. "Nothing in particular." Another sip of coffee. Connor clasped his hands in his lap, leaning forward somewhat as his LED resuming a faint yellow glow. "You don't talk much, do you?" he finally asked. That wasn't an entirely accurate observation. You could be quite vocal when you wanted to be, never afraid to speak up when discussing cases, or just in general around the office. But when the focus shifted to you specifically, you appeared to close yourself off.

Your brows knitted as you observed the ground, annoyance bubbling at the accusation. "And what is it you'd like me to say exactly? No offence, but I'm hardly going to spill my life story to the "Android sent by CyberLife". You know my association with the IMF is highly classified, as is any and all information I possess." You paused, tilting your head to face Connor. "Captain Fowler was only supposed to notify Lieutenant Anderson of my involvement, but I suppose he couldn't help having you at his heels when the bomb dropped."

He was thrown by your words, hurt flashing across his face. As soon as the words left your mouth, you regretted them. Looking into your coffee, you chewed the inside of your cheek as a heavy silence fell.

Swallowing your pride, you shook your head, mentally kicking yourself for the outburst. "Look, I'm...I'm sorry. I don't mean to be an asshole. It's just...my whole life revolves around the IMF. There really isn't much else to tell." His aura softened at the indisputable pain in your words. He recalled a moment in the Zen Garden: "You seem...lost Connor, lost and perturbed." Amanda had apathetically remarked when he failed to comply with his instructions. In truth, he seemed to be losing more and more of himself every day. And looking at you now, he suddenly felt as though he was looking into a mirror. Could it be possible you were just as lost and alone as he was beginning to feel? You may not have been an android, but you seemed bound to your duties in a similar practice to that of he and his own limiting source code.

"Coffee." You cast him a sideways glance. "Huh?"

"You enjoy coffee, a double double to be exact. It's a start." He offered you a small smile, which you naturally found yourself returning. His words were few, but you couldn't help the fleeting, foreign notion of belonging, and a sense of calm as the kindness in Connor's tone reached out to you. Maybe there was hope for you after all, and you found solace in the idea as you took another sip of your coffee.