Chapter Eight
Blood
As soon as Richard pulled out of the parking garage, Gavin was assaulted by the sunlight. It was an oddly sunny day today. Or maybe he was just being oversensitive to the light now. But whatever, it was still fucking bright and he wasn't about to look towards the sky to confirm that. So he dug through his glove box, putting on the sunglasses he found there with a relieved sigh. "Are you alright Detective?" Richard asked him as it drove.
Gavin planted his elbow against the door handle, putting his cheek against his fist as he closed his eyes. "Ya know, I already had this conversation with Connor so I'm just gonna say 'yes' and leave it at that." He didn't mean for it to come out as harsh as it did. But there was no changing it now. They drove the rest of the way in relative silence. The only noise was the radio that was set pretty low to provide background noise whenever Gavin drove. He didn't like sitting in silence too much. Left too much room for unpleasant thoughts to creep into his head. But with the throbbing he felt, especially behind his eyes, he simply leaned forward and muted the radio. He could use silence for once.
They arrived at the scene in record's time especially since it was located fairly far away from the precinct. He couldn't remember where exactly, he just didn't have the brain power to recall it right now, but still he was impressed. Not too much to allow Richard to drive unless absolutely necessary though. Gavin stepped out of the car once the car had stopped. He took a quick glance around, having to squint even with the sunglasses. It looked like they were at an abandoned building. The signs to label the building for what it was had long since disappeared, or were removed. All that was left were some signs marking it as condemned and to not enter. Well, that did a lot of good.
Gavin didn't even go through the usual pleasantries with the responding officers. Which honestly, they were probably grateful for. He just took out his notepad from his jacket and started marking things down. Only two bodies were found this time, lying in the middle of the building's main room. Which after looking around, it appeared to be an abandoned café. The building had been gutted for most of it's worth. Gavin could only tell it was a café from the way the floor was tiled, the far wall had a serving window, and the floor showed wear from where the booths had sat. Apparently smoke could be seen coming from inside the building. Local pedestrians had thought some teenagers or homeless people were vandalizing it.
The detective went through the motions of analyzing the evidence that was there. As Richard spoke to him, he wrote down whatever stuck out to him. The accelerant used this time was turpentine, not kerosene this time. There wasn't much in regards to evidence left behind. There was no spill this time. So either the guys learned from last time or it was someone completely different. Richard did most of the exploring of the scene, sharing his – its findings with Gavin in hushed tones. Which Gavin greatly appreciated, everything else was just so loud at least Richard wasn't adding to it. The detective was quiet, not going into any thoughts about the case even as they drove back to the precinct.
It wasn't until later when Gavin wasn't in pain anymore did he finally submerge himself into the case. Which, to be honest, probably wasn't the best way for him to cope with his pain but whatever, it made him one hell of a detective! For the next few days, Gavin had refused to go back to his apartment. When he wasn't focused on the androids set on fire, he tried to take care as many of his smaller cases as possible. But over all, he was rather run down. He would only take a break to take small cat naps that lasted no more than three to four hours at a time. The coffee maker was his friend, and slowly, all his coworkers were starting to worry about him. It had gotten so bad that even Hank had suggested that he go home. Gavin politely told him to fuck off before getting back to work. While his mood was as aggressive as ever, most of his energy was directed into his work so he wasn't snapping at people as much as he usually was.
Currently, Gavin and Richard were in pursuit of two suspects. They were to be taken in for harassing some androids, not linked to his main case but still something he had to take care of. As soon as they had seen Gavin was with Richard, they had taken off. The two cops quickly followed, having to split up once the two suspects tried to lose them by splitting up. Gavin darted across the street, having to dance around the autodriving cars to keep up. His legs were screaming at him as he pushed himself faster. He could barely breathe, his heartbeat the only thing keeping him in pace with his suspect.
The guy quickly darted down an alleyway between two buildings. Gavin nearly toppled over as he tried to make the turn to follow. He did slam his side into the building as his shoes kind of slid on the sidewalk from his momentum. He pushed off of the building to, hopefully, give him a bit of a boost to finally catch up to the guy. His shining moment was when the guy had to take a second to look between two paths to take. Gavin had caught up to him in that time and just threw his body against his. The two slammed into the dumpster that was sitting at the end of the alley, letting out a thunderous roar as it clattered against the wall and their bodies.
Gavin was panting harshly, limbs shaking and trembling. "Don't fucking move!" He panted as he threw the guy to the ground, shoving him harshly so that he was laying on his stomach. Gavin crouched over the guy, knee against his back to keep him still. The perp struggled as Gavin tried to grab onto his arms to cuff him behind his back. "Stop fucking moving! Jesus!" He leaned against the guy a little more in hopes that a little pain will make him stop.
"Detective," Richard spoke from behind Gavin. He looked over his shoulder to see his partner approaching him from the entrance of the alleyway. There Gavin was, panting and sweating, face flushed from exertion and Richard, fucking android!, wasn't even tussled after his chase.
"You get yours?" He paused in his movements in getting the perp to stop wiggling to just let him get it out of his system.
Richard nodded. "Yes Detective."
Gavin nodded his head. "Good, good." He kept nodding his head, leaning off of his knee against the guy's back for half a second. One second he was on top of the guy, the next he was on the ground with the guy trying to punch him. The detective immediately threw his arms over his face and neck to protect those spots. It didn't take long before the guy was removed from on top of him, thrown against the wall by Richard.
"Detective!" He sounded concerned, why was he concern? Gavin sat up, placing his hands on the ground to push him up to his feet when he felt something slide down his left arm. He looked, seeing his own blood starting to pool around his hand. He lifted his arm up inspect his arm, trying to find the spot it was coming from. It didn't take long before he was able to locate the long gash that cut into his forearm through his leather jacket. He hissed as the pain suddenly registered in his system. It hadn't even occurred to him that the perp could've been armed. Well shit, he kind of fucked that one up didn't he?
The detective clutched the wound with his hand to cover it as much as possible, holding that arm cradled to his body. Richard had knocked the guy out – Gavin did not envy him – before it directed its attention to him. The android briskly walked up to him, grabbing hold of Gavin's injured arm and pulling it away from the detective's body. It then shoved his sleeve up his arm to get a better look at it, all the while Gavin was trying to pull away from him. "Ow, fucking ow! That hurts dipshit!" He protested as Richard basically manhandled his arm in his inspection. The android's grip didn't relent, despite the blood that was making his arm slick and red.
Richard's eyes were intense in their examination of Gavin's injury. "It does not appear that you will need stitches, however, having it inspected by a professional is recommended."
"Great, just fucking let go already!" Gavin was starting to lose feeling to his hand with how tightly Richard was holding onto him. Except the android didn't let go. Instead, it brought its free hand up, gathering some of Gavin's blood onto its two fingers before moving to lick them, to analyze them. "The fuck Richard!" Gavin yelled as he tried to stop the android from licking its fingers with his free hand. He gripped the android's forearm and tried to wrench its hand away from its mouth. But it didn't work. Richard stared him directly in the eyes as his tongue flicked out to lick at the blood.
The detective felt himself swallow before he realized he was staring at Richard's mouth. His arm throbbed painfully but it wasn't enough to quell the shudder that ran up his spine. He wasn't sure if his face was flushed from the exercise, the pain, or Richard's action. And he didn't really want to know. He definitely did not. His eyes flicked back up to Richard's, ice cold eyes boring directly into his own. He didn't like that look. Richard looked – was pissed the right word? Frustrated? He wasn't too sure. It was hard to tell sometimes with the damned thing!
"Your blood sugar is dangerously low and your white blood count is starting to drop at an alarming rate as well," It – no he, no wait…said in a low tone of voice. "I noticed you have not been eating as you should be, however, it had not occurred to me that you were malnourished. Pursuing a suspect was not an intelligent thing to do with your body in its current state."
"I'm fine," Gavin immediately defended, starting with renewed vigor to get his arm away from Richard. The android's hand shifted to grip his arm better, as well as to cover as much of the wound as possible, even if it elicited a hiss from the detective. It hurt like a bitch!
Richard gave him a look that was basically the equivalent of 'are you fucking serious?' for his lack of emoting. "You are not fine, Detective. You are starving your body of the nutrients that it requires to function."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll get a snack on the way back," He snapped before Richard started to pull him towards the exit of the alleyway. On the way out, Richard leaned down to grab onto the back of the perp's shirt. The guy was still out cold as the android started to drag him with them. Gavin really did not envy the guy. Or, maybe he did because at least the perp was out cold while being manhandled like a fucking doll. Gavin just couldn't fight back as Richard practically dragged him along. That didn't stop him from digging his heels into the ground to try and stop. Despite the pain that it caused his arm. "Let go!" He protested again.
"Once Officer Brown and Chen come to escort Mr. Lewis – " So that's what the guy's name was, " – back to the station, we are going to seek medical attention for your wound. Then we shall go and get something substantial for you to eat." Why did Gavin feel like he was being scolded for not taking better care of himself? It's not like Richard cared about him. Right?
"I don't need to go to the hospital," he hissed as the grip on his arm tightened slightly.
"It's not up for negotiation." The fuck it wasn't!
"I said no, Richard!"
The android rounded on him, icy blue eyes burning into him. They almost seemed to glow against the light, striking a bolt of fear in Gavin. "I don't think that you're in any position to be making sound judgements about what you deem is necessary and what isn't, Detective." If Gavin didn't know better, he'd say that venom was practically dripping from Richard's tone.
Gavin's lip pulled up in a snarl. "You can't make me go!"
Richard cocked his head to the side slightly, but it wasn't in the usual way when he – no, it! Richard wasn't a person, fucking get your shit together Gavin – was considering something or thinking. No, this almost looked predatory, like Richard was sizing him up somehow. Gavin had to suppress the whimper that wanted to escape his throat. He had seen that look too often to know it didn't mean well. "You are in no position to be resisting me. You could barely hold your own against Connor when you tried to attack him in the evidence room. What makes you think you fair any better against me? When I'm his superior in everyway: faster, stronger, more resilient. You can't fight me Gavin."
Well that didn't mean he wouldn't fucking try! Gavin stared up at Richard with slightly wide eyes, stomach turning uneasily. He had started to shake against Richard's hold. He chalked it up to the pain, and the not the fear that was making his chest tight. He didn't really think when he made his move. Had he taken two seconds to actually consider the consequences to his actions, Gavin probably wouldn't have reached for his gun to threaten Richard. His hand hadn't even brushed against the metal of his weapon before his back contacted the brick wall behind him. His head cracked against the stone, making his vision swim for a few moments as he tried to blink the world back into focus. The hand that had gone to reach for his gun was held in a vice grip above his head, wrist pressed painfully against the wall. Richard's hand had shifted to securely lock his other arm against the wall as well, steel hand still wrapped around his forearm but pressing the wound into the wall instead of keeping it covered. Richard's body was pressed flush against his, barely leaving enough room for Gavin to extend his chest to breathe as he towered over him.
"I thought we had moved passed you threatening me, Gavin," He said in a low tone of voice. Gavin couldn't think of a better word for it other than predatory. He was pinned. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place, literally. And he had no one to blame but himself. Out of sheer desperation, Gavin tried to wiggle a bit which only caused the android to press its hips against his own to keep him still. Gavin bit his tongue to keep quiet but his breathing was becoming more ragged. "Why do you insist on fighting me when I have only your best interests at heart?" This came out quieter, but did nothing to soothe Gavin's rising anxiety.
The detective swallowed hard. "You don't have a heart," he croaked. He nearly slammed his head into the wall on his own for sounding so vulnerable. He didn't like it. He could feel himself trembling, his calm starting to slip away.
Software Instability ^^^
Richard was silent for a moment, just staring down at Gavin. Gavin hadn't looked away yet. He wasn't able to. He felt in his gut that trying to look away was a bad idea. He had learned to listen to that feeling at a very early age. Ignoring it lead to terrible consequences. So he held the android's gaze, as much as he trembled because of it. Surely Richard could tell how rattled Gavin was because of his actions! The fucking dick didn't even care! 'Best interests at heart' his ass! "Why must you be so difficult? Why don't you understand that I'm only trying to help you?"
"I'm just trying to make you a better man Gavin! I'm only trying to help you!"
The memory flooded his mind before he could stop it. He felt his chest tighten even tighter as he finally closed his eyes and turned his head slightly. He couldn't breathe, he felt his chest heaving but no air was entering his lungs. "Nines, please," he whimpered breathlessly. He was instantly released, Gavin falling to his hands and knees as he panting for breath. He clenched his hand at his chest, grabbing a fistful of his shirt as he struggled to normalize his breathing. He felt a hand come to rest on his shoulder but Gavin jerked away from it like it had burned him. "Don't fucking touch me!" He screamed, scrambling to his feet. He had to get away. He just had to put some distance between him and Richard. He ran as quickly as he could out of the alleyway, nearly ramming into Officer Brown as he rounded the corner to walk down the alleyway.
"Whoa, where's the fire?" He heard Brown ask around the pounding in his ears but he didn't stop running. He just had to get away.
Thank you for reading chapter eight of Blue Blood, Blue Eyes. I also wanted to thank you guys for being so patient with me this weekend since I went camping and all. Didn't turn out as good as I was expecting but eh, what can you do? Hopefully this makes up for the short hiatus. I didn't get as much writing as I wanted done but oh well. I'm still ahead of what I'm posting for you guys so I can't really complain.
But anyway! While I was camping, this lovely idea for an AU popped into my head. It would still be Gavin x RK900, but instead of androids, they're vampires. It's not a one shot, but definitely shorter than what I have planned for Blue Blood, Blue Eyes. I figured I'd get your guys' opinion on it. I could just wait until I'm done with Blue Blood to start working on it, or I could alternate between the two stories so you get both but takes longer to finish one. Just let me know what you think.
If you'd like to keep up with updates and my progress, check out my tumblr: pennameab
See you guys in the next chapter!
