Chapter Eleven
Alive

As soon as Richard was able to identify the guy's photo in the database, they were able to swing by his last listed residence. On the way there, Richard informed him of the guy's rep sheet. Which honestly just consisted of some small-time crimes, petty things like thief and possession of drugs. Nothing too big or noteworthy. All in all, Chad McDonald didn't seem like a bad guy. A guy that wasn't home when they stopped by his place, but not a bad guy. The apartment complex was pretty average, a bit on the pricey end but if Chad had room mates then he could easily afford rent in the building. And with it being still so early in the morning, about five – thirty actually, Gavin wasn't too sure what the hell the guy was doing. Even he was home before this time of morning. Usually.

Out of the four neighbors they tried to wake up, only one came to the door. So either everyone was heavy sleepers or they were just ignoring them. Not that Gavin really blamed them, but still. It sure as hell made his job harder. As it turns out, Chad tended to work odd hours so he didn't follow a set schedule when it came to coming home at night or early in the mornings. The neighbor didn't know where he worked, just that he was all over the place when it came to times. Helpful, but not really. He asked the neighbor to give him a call if Chad happened to come back. They agreed and went back to probably catch a few more winks of sleep. And how Gavin envied them. He was still exhausted even after all the sleep he had gotten. But this was why coffee was his good friend.

The two would've gone to check out Chad's current work place on file but a call from Fowler had them making a detour back to the precinct. "I'd like an update on the case," the man said as soon as they had entered his office.

Gavin slid into one of the chairs, Richard stood behind the second like it usually did. "Well we have a lead. We tried to check out his place but he wasn't home. We were going to check out his work place but then you decided to leash us back, so here we are."

Captain Fowler nodded his head along with what Gavin was saying. "How did you come across this lead?"

"An android from…shit what was it called?" He pulled out his notepad to begin flipping through his notes to find the name of the establishment.

"Diamond Dust," Richard answered for him easily.

Gavin snapped his fingers. "Yeah that one!"

Captain Fowler shook his head and held up a hand to stop Gavin right there. "Wait, you're lead is from an android sex club? How the fuck did you come up with that?"

The detective shrugged. "Well after a wonderful epiphany, it occurred to me that we're probably dealing with a pimp getting rid of his girls when they want out of the game."

"And what exactly made you come to that conclusion?" He asked slowly, trying to understand how Gavin had come up with that one.

The detective shrugged before listing reasons on his fingers. "Well, the registrations were all tampered with." One finger. "They could all be companion models." Two fingers.

"Modifications would have to be made for some models," Richard added.

Gavin merely nodded his head. "Honestly it just feels like someone is getting rid of them. Usually pimps'll drug their girls and fake overdoses. Can't do that with androids." He finished, staring at Fowler who was giving him a look. They were quiet for a few moments before Gavin finally caved. "What!?" He bit out.

"That's good work, Detective. I'm finally starting to remember why I keep you around." Gavin let out a huff, crossing his arms over his chest as he slouched more into the chair. Despite the compliment, it felt a little back handed. Like Gavin knew he was a good detective, a damned good one. He did get mouthy and had a temper but he still deserved more credit than he was given.

Captain Fowler was talking to Richard about something pertaining to the case, probably just some follow up questions about what they had learned from the android. Gavin couldn't help but feel a ping through his chest upon remembering it – her. He didn't even ask her for her name. Wow, he really was a piece of shit. He should really go back and ask. Maybe check up on her when all of this was said and done. Make sure that ass hole Kevin was treating her right. It was the least he could do considering that she had given them the lead they needed to crack this case. Potentially. They still needed to get ahold of this Chad guy. Which honestly was leaving this odd feeling in his gut. Like, something was off about this whole thing. He felt like they weren't getting the bigger picture. Sure destroying androids that knew of their prostitute ring would keep them in business but letting a hooker go was still better than getting the police on their asses. What was so important about these androids that they were being destroyed simply for being a part of it?

"Trafficking…?" Gavin voiced out loud as he mused over his thoughts, scratching his chin absently. It made sense. It would be why someone was offering to fix up androids from clubs who needed repairs for cheap. It still followed the pattern of jacking up the prices once they were regulars. But what if it went further than that? What if it escalated the point that the androids were in debt due to the repairs and a way to pay it off was to work under new management? Only the catch was, there was no paying off the debt so they remained under one person's thumb. It would explain why the androids were going missing as opposed to just remaining at the clubs they worked at. And the androids that came up dead; they were probably going to go to the police or something. Something happened that made this person kill them. He just didn't know what yet.

"What's going on Detective?" Fowler's voice pulled him from his thoughts. His eyes refocused on the Captain, chewing on the inside of his cheek for a moment before answering.

"If this were just a simple case of prostitutes being taken advantage of by a pimp, why the bodies? Why get the police on their tail? That's just fucking stupid." He took a moment to cock is head to the side as a thought passed through his head. He straightened his head back upright. "It almost feels like we're dealing with trafficking," he voiced finally. There was a long pause of silence within the office. Long enough that Gavin was starting to squirm a little in his seat. He managed to hide it but bouncing his leg. "I know – " He started to justify.

"If that's the case, I'm assigning Anderson and Connor to the case as backup." That was not the reaction he was expecting.

The detective threw his hands up into the air with frustration. "Oh come on! Nines and I got this!" He tried to defend. The look in Captain Fowler's eyes told him that he wasn't buying it.

"If it's even a possibility we are dealing with a trafficking ring, I want my best detectives working on it." While any other time, Gavin would've hooked his fingers into that compliment now was not the time to be distracted by pretty words. Fowler wanted him to work with both plastics and Anderson for fucks sake!

"I already have one Robocop on my ass with this case, do I really need two?" Gavin made the mistake of asking.

"With luck, it'll teach you some manners. Now shut the fuck up and catch Anderson up to speed." Well that was the end of that conversation. Gavin groaned heavily as he got to his feet and moved out of the office. He then made a beeline for Hank's desk. The man was sitting there working paperwork most likely. Connor was no where to be seen. So Gavin walked right over and plopped his ass down right where Connor usually sat on Hank's desk.

"The fuck you want Reed?"

Gavin cocked his head to the side slightly, smirk on his lips. "What? I can't visit the precincts favorite senile ol' man?" He would be dead if looks could kill with that glare that was sent his way. Gavin held his hands up in surrender. "Fowler wants us to buddy up with my case. Might be sex trafficking." He explained simply, putting a hand on his thigh as he turned to look over his shoulder. He would assume that Richard would be near to give Anderson the files. Where was that fucker?

He finally found the tall figure standing by their desk with Connor. The smaller android was staring up at Richard with a slight head cock. Richard pulled the skin away from its hand offering it to Connor, who took it. Gavin could see Connor's eyes twitch quickly, much like that android in the club had done when Richard did the data transfer. Something deep inside him wished he could transfer data that quickly, it would be so fucking convenient if he could. But he quickly stamped out that thought when he realized that he was actually envying the fucking tin cans for their ability. Like, what the fuck had gotten into him? He must be getting sick or something.

"Creepy as fuck," he said instead, turning his head away as the two got their freak on.

Hank let out a thoughtful hum, leaning back in his chair. "I don't know, Connor doesn't seem to mind. He prefers it actually. Something about raw data and being able to interpret the information himself…or something. I kinda block a lot of the technical mumbo jumbo out." Gavin scoffed. Hank then tapped his own neck with his finger. "Have a lil' fun while you were running around?"

At first, he was confused as to what Hank was talking about. He shot the man a look that expressed as much. "What - ?" He started to ask before realization set in. "The fuck it matter to you? Mad that I actually can still get some action?" While that hadn't been the case with the android, Hank didn't need to fucking know that.

It was Hank's turn to scoff. "Get off my desk," he demanded instead of biting the line that Gavin was throwing.

Gavin crossed his arms over his chest. "What you gonna do? Make me?" He really should've known that Hank wasn't going to take that lying down. As soon as Gavin turned his head to look at the two android that were now walking over to them, Hank's foot shot out and collided with his shin. Hard. The detective hissed as he slid off the desk right as Hank was bringing his foot back for another kick. "Fuck you Anderson! Fucking, shit, you call me a child!" He bit out as he used his hand to lean against the desk, his other hand holding his shin up as he tried to rub the pain away. It had been a good solid hit too. Was that fucker wearing steel toed shoes? Oh Gavin was going to shoot him if he was!

"Detective," Connor greeted from his side as he moved to lean against the desk where Gavin was sitting only moments before. Of course Hank would want him away from his pet's favorite spot. Gavin merely grumbled at the android as he set his foot down on the ground again, crossing his arms over his chest as he stood straight.

"You are a child Reed," Hank responded lightly before turning his attention to Connor. "Got everything?" Connor nodded its head.

Gavin unfolded his arms and clapped his hands together loudly. "Great!" Gavin said suddenly. "You two stay here and go over everything we've got, while Richard and I can go check out our lead. Have fun you two!" He then turned on his heel and started to walk towards his desk to grab his keys. Instead, he felt someone grab onto the collar of his jacket to stop him in his tracks.

"The Lieutenant and Connor will be joining us," Richard said evenly, letting go of Gavin when the detective had started to turn back around.

"Seriously? That's overkill and you know it," Gavin tried, huffing at the look that Richard had shot him. "Fucking fine," he ground out. He tried not to pout as he waited for the old man to gather his own things so that they could head out. He was considering going out for a quick smoke, just let them catch up to him out in the garage when he realized he was being stared at. His eyes quickly found the perpetrator. None other than Connor. It was staring at him intently, curious look in its brown eyes with that stupid slight cock to its head. Gavin stared back, trying to get it to look away. "What're you staring at?" He demanded.

"Cool it Reed. Let's go," Hank said immediately after Gavin snapped. Gavin replied to the old man with a growl, lip upturned to show his teeth slightly before he turned to stomp out to the garage.

"It was admirable, what you did for that android." He heard from beside him as all four of them walked to their cars. He looked over to his left, seeing Connor walking beside him. At first, he was shocked, confused as to how Connor could even know what he did for that android. Did Richard really share that bit of information when they interfaced? Oh dear god… He felt his face flush a bit, mouth opening and closing as he tried to come up with something to say. His teeth clicked together when he finally closed his mouth.

"Yeah well…Don't mention it. Like ever," he grumbled finally before picking up his walking pace to put more distance between him and Connor. Why was he so nervous all of a sudden? Fuck that! He had nothing to be embarrassed about!

They finally left the building, entering the parking garage. Gavin started to go towards his car. "We can take mine," Hank offered.

Gavin snorted. "I'm not riding in that piece of shit you have for a car."

"It's not a piece of shit! It's a classic!"

"That's just another word for old as fuck. Like you," he snarked.

"Fuck you Reed."

"It would be more efficient to take one vehicle," Connor pipped up.

"Yeah, but I'm not taking something that could fall apart at any moment."

"It's not gonna fall apart!"

"Says you! I'd rather take a taxi!" Which was saying something because Gavin did not like the self-driving cars. He kind of followed Anderson's example in getting a manual driving car. It was definitely newer than Anderson's piece of shit, but still considered old what with the self-driving cars.

"Oh stop being a baby about it Reed," Hank ground out. Gavin flipped him the bird.

"I suggest that we come to an agreement soon. It is not productive to waste time like this over something so trivial," Richard voiced suddenly. Gavin shot it a glare.

"Yeah Reed, you're holding us up," Hank smirked, making Gavin turn his glare to him instead.

"Fuck. Off. Me and Richard will meet you there." He turned on his heel and started to stalk over to his own vehicle, effectively ending the conversation. He had to glance over to his side to see if Richard was following him. Indeed it was. They made it to his car soon enough, taking off to go check out Chad's work place.

Chad's workplace, a mechanic's shop, actually hadn't seen him in months. He just stopped showing up one day. Which was uncharacteristic of him, apparently. He always called when he had to take a sick day or something came up to where he couldn't come in. They were worried that this would lead to another dead end but after talking to some of Chad's coworkers, they were able to find out a place that he frequented quite often. Some run-down apartment in a not so safe part of Detroit. Which was saying something because nowhere in Detroit was truly considered 'safe.' There had been some claims of the apartment building being a Red Ice hotspot but nothing concrete. Which could only mean one thing: stake out!

Now Gavin usually enjoyed stake outs. Stake outs were fun. Except when they weren't. Having to sit around and wait for the suspect you were waiting for fucking sucked. Especially when your only company was an ever-stoic android. At least he was able to catch up on some much needed rest while waiting for something to happen. Gavin and Richard were assigned the first watch, alternating with Hank and Connor every twelve hours. They had already been watching the building for two days already. Nothing. Gavin was starting to think that maybe their guy Chad had skipped town or something. Or was dead in a ditch somewhere. If he was still using, it wouldn't be too hard to believe that he overdosed on accident somewhere.

Currently Richard and Gavin were parked around the corner, still within eyesight of the building but not too close to cause suspicion. Gavin had managed to shove a few parking tickets under his windshield wipers to help his car fit in. It was almost time for Connor and Hank to relieve them, Gavin tapping on the stirring wheel as he waited.

"What are you tapping?" Richard asked suddenly, scaring the ever living fuck out of Gavin. Sometimes he forgot that Richard was in the car with him, the fucker was just so quiet all the time. Gavin shot him a confused look, mainly because wasn't sure why Richard was even asking. "It sounds like a beat to a song but I can't seem to locate where it comes from," the android explained upon seeing Gavin's face.

The detective shrugged. "It's a pretty old song," Gavin explained. He stopped tapping though, letting out a deep sigh as he adjusted himself in the seat to be more comfortable. Like it would do any good. His ass was hurting from sitting for so fucking long. No amount of adjusting would help him, not until he could finally get up and move.

"What song?" Richard questioned.

Now Gavin didn't really want to answer. Not because he was embarrassed about the song or the tapping. No, it was nothing like that. He mainly didn't want to answer because normally, whenever he answered these questions, the one that would follow is 'why that song?' And he just didn't feel like answering that follow up question. So he shrugged again. "It's not important." He tried.

Richard was silent for a moment. "I would still like to know, Detective." Damn android and its curiosity!

Gavin let out a deep breath, rolling his stiff neck from side to side. "Just don't laugh alright?" He cast Richard a glance. He waited for it to nod its head. "Awake and Alive. It's by a band called Skillet." In the reflection of the passenger window, he could see Richard's LED turn yellow briefly, as it looked up the song most likely. He waited, just waited for that follow up question.

"Thank you, Detective. I would seem that I could not located it because you were tapping out multiple instruments." And that was it. No follow up question. Just silence once again. Well this was new.

Gavin stared at Richard for a long moment, the android staring straight ahead to the building before looking back over to him. "Detective?" It asked him.

He waited. Still nothing. "You're not gonna ask me why?" He asked slowly.

Richard cocked its head to the side. "I see no point in asking such a question." Gavin clicked his tongue before looking away from Richard. God he was bored. And hungry. Thank god he kept a stake out bag in his car. Complete with snacks and energy bars. He reached his arm behind the passenger seat, trying to sift through said bag for something to snack on. Only he couldn't get the damned thing open with only one hand. He grumbled as he leaned against the center console to use both hands. He tried not to pay attention to how Richard shifted slightly when he got close. He continued to grumble as he continued to look for what he was aiming for. Finally getting his hands on it, he let out a triumphant 'yes!' before righting himself back in his seat. His 'meal' consisted of saltine crackers, peanut butter, and a meat stick. He first tore into the meat stick, throwing the wrapper over his shoulder to be cleaned up later. He really didn't want to look behind his seat to see how much of a mess he had back there. Out of sight, out of mind.

Once that was eaten, he started to eat his crackers and peanut butter, pulling out a plastic knife to make it easier to spread it on the crackers. Now Gavin was never really a fan of peanut butter, especially consider how much of it he had a child. But it was easy and filling so he just sucked it up. When a particular bit got stuck to the roof of his mouth, Gavin tried to use his tongue to dislodge it as best as he could. "God I fucking hate peanut butter," he grumbled as he had to use his finger to get the fucking stuff to move.

"Then why are you eating it?" Richard asked, actually sounding curious.

Gavin slathered another cracker with the stuff. "'Cause it's cheap, filling, and good for protein." Plus when you hungry, you'd eat pretty much anything. But he didn't really feel it was necessary to explain that to an android that didn't need to eat.

"May I try?" Now that was not a question he was expecting to hear. He gawked over at Richard with wide eyes.

"You want to try peanut butter?" He asked slowly. Richard nodded at him. "But you don't eat."

"I still would like to try."

After a few moments, Gavin just handed the plastic jar over to Richard. "Knock yourself out." He was not going to take the thing to the equivalent of the emergency room because it was being a fucking moron. H couldn't help but watch though, as Richard took the jar from his hand and stare down at it. It then gathered a small bit of the brown spread on its finger from the rim before licking it off.

Software Instability ^^^

There was silence for a long moment before Richard handed Gavin back to jar. "Well?" He couldn't help but ask, curious as to what the android thought.

Then the android did something he never would've thought it would do. It shrugged. It fucking shrugged! "It's consistency is a little thick. I can see why you don't like it." What the absolute fuck was going on!? Gavin just shoved his cracker into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully as he turned his attention back to the building.

More silence. "Connor and Hank are here to relieve us." Well that was some good news. "They are currently pulling into position." He closed his jar of peanut butter, setting both it and the crackers back into the bag behind Richard's seat. He then moved to start his car so that they could leave when Richard put his hand on top of Gavin's, effectively stopping him. "Just a moment Detective."

"What is it?" He found himself looked towards the building.

"It would appear that our suspect is approaching the building." It took a moment before his eyes could locate Chad's figure but he did. He looked twitchy, constantly checked over his shoulder as he slowly walked up the building. "Connor is going to approach him before he can go into the building." Well that made sense. Kind of. Wasn't Connor's specialty negotiation? God he really needed to pay attention more. He watched as Connor approached the man, dressed in casual clothing for a change. It was weird to not see the Cyberlife uniform and armband. Even Richard had merely shucked off his jacket, leaving him in his black shirt and pants. Which was a little too formal for a stake out but whatever. And Gavin did not sneak glances at how form fitting the shirt was to the android. He did not!

Gavin immediately noticed that Chad looked too stiff as Connor approached. Something wasn't right. His eyes narrowed as he watched Chad like a hawk. "Something's not right," he voiced, reaching to get out of the car. Richard put a hand on his shoulder.

"Just a little longer Detective." And he waited. That was, until he heard a loud bang and saw Connor stumble backwards. Chad shot him.

"Fuck!" Gavin bolted out of the car, Richard quickly following. Chad bolted down the street, trying to get away. He had the advantage of distance but Richard moved to catch him. Gavin turned to Connor, trying to approach. "Connor!" He yelled, seeing the android recovering from the gun shot and taking off after Chad, right behind Richard. "Fuck!" Gavin yelled as he changed directions quickly and followed both the androids. Richard was fast approaching Chad, who must've known because he started to shoot behind himself. Gavin couldn't help but flinch. His first instinct was to seek cover but he had to pursue. So he ignored it and continued following.

Chad bolted to the left, running between the buildings to try and escape. The three followed. Gavin was slowly falling behind, his lungs starting to burn from the chase. He only knew where to go once he hit a two way path from hearing a gun shot ring down one direction. He booked down that alleyway, turning one more time to see that Hank had blocked off the exit to the street with his car. Richard currently had Chad against the car, hands cuffed behind his back with Connor handling the gun that was fired at them.

Gavin jogged up, getting about a yard's distance between him and the others before having to stop. He panted, leaning on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "'Bout time you showed up," Hank snarked.

"Fuck – " pant " – you. At least – " pant "I didn't – " pant " – have to drive." He coughed a bit, standing straight as he put his hands behind his head, spreading his elbows wide to try and open his lungs up for air. An old trick he learned from the gym.

"No, but you look like you're about to die." Gavin just waved off his comment, still struggling for breath.

"You good – " He coughed a bit, dropping his arms as he started to walk over to them, " – Connor?" He asked, seeing the spread of blue blood from the other's shoulder on his shirt.

He looked surprised by Gavin's question before nodding his head, soft smile on his face. "Yes, nothing important was damaged." Gavin shot him a thumbs up as he was forced to stop and lean on his knees again. God his legs were burning! They felt like they couldn't keep him up if he walked too much.

He then realized that Chad was screaming at them to let him go. "They're gonna kill me! Let me go! They're gonna kill me!" He repeated over and over again as Richard just held him so he couldn't get away. Right as Richard was going to open the door to put Chad into Hank's car, three things happened in succession.

First, a car came speeding around the corner to get onto the street they were currently on.

Second, three loud bangs came from said car as it passed them.

Third, Chad fell to the ground as two of the bullets hit him. One in the head, the other in his arm. The third bullet, well he wasn't sure where it had gone.

"Detective!"

"Reed!"

"Gavin!"

He heard all three yell at the same time. And he was confused. Why were they calling him? He tried to stand straight, finding that he was suddenly incredibly dizzy. Probably from all the running. It had to be. Richard was before him in an instant, dead suspect long forgotten. There was no point in dwelling on someone that was dead. Gavin was then aware of this warm feeling that was spreading down his side. He looked down. His jacket had a hole in it. Now that was sad, he just replaced the damned thing. He brought his hand up to the hole, pulling it away a moment later when he felt something wet and sticky come through it. His hand was painted red.

"Oh fuck," he said weakly before he collapsed, falling right into Richard's arms. Blackness followed him soon afterwards.

Software Instability ^^^

Thank you for reading chapter eleven of Blue Blood, Blue Eyes. It occurred to me that I forgot to show Richard's Software Instability in chapter ten. So I apologize for that! I will go back and edit them in. It's like only twice so it won't be too big of a difference. Also, when I was writing that chapter, whenever I said 'sex establishment' it was because I couldn't think of the fucking word 'club.' Because I'm a moron haha. So yeah, Eden CLUB is a sex CLUB. Just ugh, why is this my life?

Also, I just wanted those of you who follow me on tumblr to know that I fucked up. Like big time. I didn't know you couldn't have two primary blogs for one account so my pennameab blog was on my other account so I had to delete that blog and start a new account to have a separate primary blog. I apologize for that! You'll have to go back in and follow my new tumblr blog, and I'm so sorry! But we should all be good now. I even opened up my inbox so you guys can ask me questions and shit if you're interested. So yeah…sorry I suck so much!

Everyone, follow me on tumblr to listen to me scream at the internet for my writing problems! Haha! Also, any and all feedback feeds my muse! You guys leave so lovely comments for me and I'm so eternally grateful for that! You guys literally help me keep writing with your comments. I love you all!

See you all in the next chapter!