"False Lead"
"God dammit Chris! Hold him down!" Hank exclaimed, grabbing the clearly inebriated man around the waist. trying to prevent him from knocking ay more objects off of the desks in the precinct. His hands and shirt were stained with blue blood.
"I am holding him down!" Chris retorted, grabbing the man by the legs, and trying to reach for a pair of handcuffs.
"Piss off y'damn pigs!" "The man slurred, stumbling with the two officers clinging to his extremities, still violently flailing around, trying to free himself. "Issa free fucking country you…" The man doubled over, looking like he might throw up.
"You'd better fucking not, jackass!" Hank yelled, grabbing his neck and forcing the man's head down. "I don't get paid enough to deal with shit like this."
"Free country doesn't give you the right to assault an android." Chris said through gritted teeth as he tried to fight back against the man's struggling. "O-or a police officer!"
"So what, I hurt a piece of plastic. You gonna charge me with littering?"
"Shut it asshole!" Hank yelled from behind. "You really want resisting arrest on your record as well? Because it's getting pretty lengthy."
Almost in response, the man reered his legs back, striking Chris in the face and knocking him off his legs.
"Okay, that's it cock sucker!" Hank responded infuriated, kicking the man behind his knees and bringing him to the floor. Holding his hand tightly over his damaged and bloody nose, Chris trembled, handing Hank the cuffs with his free hand. Hank cuffed the man and gave him to another beat cop to take him into a cell to sober up.
The man stumbled around for a bit before catching sight of Connor, who was in the corner, taking care of and trying to retrieve a statement from him.
"You...fuckin' machines!" He tore himself from the officer's grip and threw himself at Connor and the damaged android. Connor stood up from the floor, allowing the drunk man to throw himself directly into the floor, smashing his face on the linoleum tiles. Connor found himself stifling a chuckle, his face staying at an awkward smirk.
The officer ran back to collect the man, who was now vomiting violently on the floor.
"Oh that's just fucking great.." Hank grimaced, stepping over the man's prostate form, and offering his hand to help Chris up off the floor. "Shit…" he responded lightly, "That bastard got a pretty good shot atcha huh?"
"It's not as bad as it looks." Chris reassured, wiping the blood from his nose with his sleeve. "Hurts like a bitch though.."
On the other side of the room, Connor was trying to help the panicked android off of the floor, his hands still stained with his own thirium.
The android had run into the precinct after being attacked by the drunken individual on the street. The man had followed him in moments after, wreaking havoc throughout the precinct and causing quite a few disturbances.
"We're gonna let you see the precinct's technician, Jacob." Connor reassured, "Thank you for giving me your statement. We're gonna make sure that your attacker is taken care of." The android nodded as another officer took him by the shoulder and walked him back to the technican's office. Connor's L.E.D. spun yellow for a moment before returning to blue. Hank returned to his desk where Connor was standing and reached out and put his hand on the android's shoulder.
"He'll be alright. You know how Jordan is. One of the best technicians in Detroit. He's patched you up more than a few times." He laughed bitterly.
"I'm not worried about that android, Hank." Connor answered, "It's just...Detroit was supposed to be a sanctuary for androids and deviants...It was evacuated but when humans were allowed to return it's like nothing changed." Hank sighed heavily, grabbing Connor's shoulder and bringing him back to his desk to finish the report and record the android's statement.
"That's just humans for you, kid." He admitted, "It takes them a while to adapt to change and accept it as reality." He grabbed the cup off coffee from his desk and took a sip of it, before grimacing in disgust and setting the cup back down. Connor smirked at him.
"Cold?" He asked. His question was met with a heavy sigh.
"Again."
"Would you like me to get you more?" Connor offered. Hank shook his head and sat back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest.
"Nah, you're not my fucking secretary. The shit here is cheap anyways." Suddenly, Connor's L.E.D. flashed yellow rapidly as a report came through his head. Hank looked over his desk to the terminal on Connor's. "What was that?" He asked sitting up curiously. "We got a new case already?"
"Armed robbery of a convenient store of fifth." Connor responded nonchalantly. "A bystander claimed that one of the men was bleeding thirium."
"Of course he did." Hank retorted sarcastically. "Isn't that usually the response nowadays when someone commits a crime?" Hank stood from his chair, grabbing his jacket from the back of it. Connor stayed unmoved, typing at his terminal.
"What? You too good to investigate robberies now?"
"No…" Connor responded, hardly paying attention to Hank's comments, "I'm going to finish this report and walk that android in Jordan's office home. I just want to make sure he gets home safe." Hank shrugged his shoulders and logged off of his computer.
"Fair enough, " Hank responded, "This shouldn't take too long anyways. Call me when you're done with all that and I'll meet you in town to discuss whatever we find at the scene, alright?"
"Of course, Lieutenant." Connor didn't even look up from the work on his desk. Hank gave the android a look, not exactly appreciating Connor's dismissive attitude, even if he was in a work setting.
"Alright whatever." He muttered, shrugging it off and walking out to his car.
Once Connor had finished writing up his report on the android's assault, he made his way to Jordan, the precinct's technician, and stepped into his office.
The android Jacob that had been attacked was sitting on the edge of Jordan's exam table, topping off a bottle of thirium that had been given to him in order to replenish his blood loss. Jordan had his long black hair pulled back in a bun as he worked on the android who was now slightly less panicked.
His healing program had already kicked in and was beginning to repair the worst of his wounds.
Jordan, on the other hand, was doing his best to pick out the shards of glass that had been embedded in Jacob's abdomen, likely from a liquor bottle.
"How are you doing?" Connor asked, leaning up against the door frame.
"I've been better.." The android admitted. "Thank you for trying to help me out though." Connor nodded, looking to Jordan for any important information.
"His healing program is repairing most of the damage, but I would advise him to keep his abdomen covered where the majority of the damage was done. I've already dressed it but it may need to be replaced." He said to Connor, sitting back and peeling the latex gloves from his hands. He nodded at Jacob, scratching his thick beard. "It will help prevent any foreign material from entering your wound while it heals."
"Thank you." The android responded, standing from the exam table and facing Connor.
"I'd like to escort you home if you don't mind, Jacob." Connor offered. "I'd just like to know you made it there safely." Jacob nodded in response.
"That's fine. I'd probably feel a bit better as well."
Connor took a small bundle of supplies from Jordan to help Jacob treat himself over the next few days, and the two androids waited outside the precinct as Connor called an automated taxi.
When the two androids finally arrived at Jacob's apartments, the other Android thanked the detective for escorting him before returning to his home.
Connor stood on the street as the taxi doors closed behind him and sped off on its own route. The android pulled out his phone, a little bit surprised that Hank hadn't called or texted him yet.
Rather, Connor had received three missed calls from Captain Fowler. He exhaled heavily through his teeth, feeling a strong sense of dread as he dialed his chief back. He didn't exactly expect any good news.
"Hello?" Connor answered as the Captain's receiver picked up, "Captain Fowler, sorry I couldn't pick up sooner."
"Connor, thank God!" Fowler's voice had a strange sense of relief to it. "Are you alright? Where the hell are you?"
"I am fine captain.." Connor answered, confused and shaken by his captain's very panicked response. "I was simply escorting the android who was assaulted by the inebriated human from earlier. Is something wrong?"
"Connor you need to get off the street and somewhere safe, We're trying to get Witness Protection on the line but-"
"Witness Protection?" Connor interrupted, in a slight panic as his L.E.D. flashed yellow. "Hold on, Captain. What's going on?"
"I just got off of the phone with one of the FBI agents from Parker Jareau's specialized team." Connor felt his heart sink slightly.
"What did they say?" Connor asked, pushing past the pain in his voice,
"The man known as Cyrus O'Sullivan has escaped from one of the high security facilities that he was being held in, and they're afraid he's going to come after you. We're trying to arrange to get you somewhere safe." Connor blinked, his L.E.D. cycling yellow as he tried to process the name.
"I'm sorry captain, that name isn't familiar to me, and why does this affect me in any way?"
"He was the Ringleader in the group of mercenaries you and Jareau took down about a month ago. He was known there under the codename 'Scarver.'" Connor nearly dropped his phone at the realization. Scarver...the man responsible for killing Agent Jareau.
"What the hell?!" Connor exclaimed, noting the obvious change in the pitch of his voice, "How did he escape? Where was he last seen?"
"Most likely it was an inside job, a prison guard or someone else that might have been associated with the Bucs while they were still around. No one has seen him but the facility wasn't too far from Detroit." Connor was still trying to process this information, his L.E.D. cycling between red and yellow, keeping his stress as low as he could on his own.
But his levels were beginning to rise as he looked down at his hands, and reality began to slip away in his mind, disconnecting the android from the world around him.
The feel of human blood between his fingers
The echoing of distant gunfire
It had been a month, how could this be happening?
"Connor, I am ordering you to come back to the precinct now. You're the guy that put this bastard away in the first place, and no doubt he'll be coming after you."
"Okay, okay!" Connor responded defensively, trying to hide the fear and anxiety in his voice. "Let me call Hank first and le him know what's going on. He's out working our case right now."
"What are you talking about, Connor?" Fowler exclaimed, "There hasn't been any cases assigned to you and Hank this morning."
"No, I received a report this morn-" But Connor fell silent as the slow realization hit him. A false lead.
His L.E.D. began cycling red as the gravity of this situation hit him. That report had been a trap set for Connor.
"Shit…" He cursed under his breath, taking the phone from his ear.
"Connor, what the hell is going on? Connor? Connor answer me!" Connor looked down at his phone as the vibrating alerted him of an incoming call from disconnected his call with the captain and brought the phone back to his ear.
"H-Hank?"
Hank arrived at the convenient store on the corner of fifth avenue, following Connor's directions from the report. To his surprise, there didn't seem to be any sort of investigation started. No other officers had arrived on scene. In fact, the store itself seemed unnaturally quiet considering what had happened.
"Huh…" Hank muttered to himself. "I don't guess I'm actually early for once in my life." He stuck his hands in his pockets and made his way towards the store. However, when he tried to open the door, he was met with the resistance of the door's lock.
"The fuck..?" He mumbled, knocking twice against the glass to no avail. He peered through the door to see if there was anyone inside, but to his surprise, the lights were all completely out.
When he looked to his right, he spotted a sign that seemed to bring more questions than answers.
AVAILABLE FOR RENT
The red and white sign stated in big bolded letters.
"Did someone really call an armed robbery on an abandoned property or is this just a fucking joke?" He asked himself, exhaling through his teeth.
He turned back to get in his car, pulling out his phone to call Connor about the false alarm.
"Hey!" A voice called out from behind in a hushed whisper, "Are you Detective Anderson?" Hank jerked his head around, walking back towards the store where he thought he heard his name called.
"Yeah..?" Hank answered warily, looking around, a bout of anxiety swelling in his chest. "What's it to you?"
Suddenly, the detective felt the cold metal of a gun barrel against the back of his head as an unknown figure stepped out of the alleyway. He instinctively raised his hands above his head, his heart stopping for a moment. He could almost feel his assailants grin against his face.
"Good…" the voice responded coldly, pulling back the hammer of his gun. "I need your help."
