Chapter Three – Driving Home

"Detective…Detective Reed…You shouldn't sleep here." A gentle voice said, the soft tone somehow annoyingly familiar. Gavin groaned lightly as he turned his face away from whatever it was hovering over his desk. He felt a hand on his shoulder, the hold strong and firm but controlled. He shrugged and tried to dislodge the annoyance. "Gavin, you need to go home." The voice insisted in an even softer tone that was laced with concern. Gavin slowly opened his eyes, regretting it instantly. The stinging was unbelievable, but then he remembered being awake for almost two and a half days straight.

"…time is it?" He managed to groan out, turning his face towards his arms as his eyes watered. He could feel the ache in his back already and knew he'd fucked up. Five minutes he'd said to himself. He could tell it had been a few hours. The hand relaxed its grip on his shoulder and just rested there, just touching in some strange show of support. He could feel the person leaning down over his shoulder. He knew the person, knew there was a name floating there somewhere just out of reach in his half asleep state.

"It is eight pm Detective." The voice repeated and Gavin grunted his acknowledgement. That meant his shift was ending. "Captain Fowler said he will let it slide this once, but he expects you to be properly rested in future." His companion chided, the detective letting out a theatrical sigh as he waved a hand dismissively. Sure, Fowler would say something like that. He'd say it again the next time this happened too. And the time after that. And the time after that. So on and so forth. He slowly pushed himself up, whining pathetically as he leaned back in his chair. His back was killing him. Every time he breathed in he could feel a dull ache all the way down.

"Phck…" He sighed as he looked down at the messed up papers, seeing the photos still spread out on his desk. He ran a hand over his face as he shoved them into the file and pushed it aside. He wasn't going to make the mistake of taking work home again, not tonight. He was still half asleep as he shut off his terminal and got to his feet, stretching up like a cat. Everything was tired. Everything hurt. He was completely exhausted.

"Would you like me to drive you?" The voice asked, and Gavin looked up as if for the first time to look at his companion. He wasn't sure if he was really surprised to find that it was Connor. The android had only been back for a single day and seemed determined to break the one condition Gavin had had about its return. How fucking hard is it to stay away? I'm enough of an asshole that most people would jump at the chance for a sweet deal like that!

"I'm fine, I got it." Reed replied as he grabbed his leather coat and shrugged it on. He turned to leave, but stopped short as the slightly taller android stepped into his path. Gavin found himself speechless for a moment, dirty green eyes barely focusing on the prim proper figure before him. He was still wearing his Cyberlife uniform, though Reed couldn't say why. It wasn't like the company was still running at the moment, things were still up in the air. He also still had that annoying little curl of hair. Something neatly out of place. Natural but unnatural. Synthetic.

"You are severely fatigued. Driving would be…less than advisable." The android stated, standing in the standard Cyberlife at ease position. His back was straight, hands lightly clasped behind, legs slightly apart. It was a pose that almost every single android would take up on occasion. Reed was too tired to work up to frustrated, his jaw tightening slightly as he met Connor's warm hazel eyes.

"What part of stay away from me is difficult for you to understand dipshit?" Reed asked, something in the android seeming to soften. He could recognise it, the bone deep exhaustion weighing down the usually aggressive human. The hint of a smile teased his perfectly sculpted lips. It reminded him of Hank when he'd drunk far too much. He was even squinting like he couldn't focus.

"It is part of my job to ensure that laws are obeyed Detective, and that includes traffic offenses. You are physically compromised right now, and would be a danger to yourself and others." Connor reasoned, seeing the human sag a little more. He knew the android was right, hell he could barely even focus on the damn thing and it was standing right in front of him. Reed held a hand up tiredly, almost wincing at the ache in his tired eyes.

"Alright, fine. I'll get a cab." He compromised.

"I am more than capable of driving you." Connor insisted, giving him a look like a wounded puppy. Reed finally sighed, so done with the conversation. He said nothing as he pulled out his keys and slapped them into the android's waiting hand. It surely couldn't do any harm. If in doubt he could feign sleeping to avoid engaging with the machine. Connor said little as they walked, only pausing to compliment Gavin's choice in car. It was a fairly modern Mercedes, but not so new that it was self-driving. Gavin didn't even have to fake sleeping. He was out light a light almost as soon as he strapped in.

Connor had been surprised by the neighbourhood he lived in. It was quite a well-to-do area, one that Gavin would have had to save a lot of money to live in. He'd been lucky to snag the place cheap after one of his homicides a few years back. Nothing like a gruesome murder to lower the price. It also helped that he'd had some money in a trust fund, and had saved most of it over the years. His mother had never explained where it came from, but he guessed it must have been from whoever his father was. The man hadn't stuck around. If it hadn't been for the unexplained money he would have thought the man didn't even know he existed. Whatever the case, it had gotten him through the academy and bought him a nice house, so they were even as far as he was concerned.

"Detective…We've arrived." Connor said softly as he roused the sleeping human. Reed opened his eyes and looked around blearily, confusion in his eyes as he looked Connor up and down. He winced as he remembered the android driving him home. "I'll call a cab and see you tomorrow, have a good night." The android said politely as they climbed out of the car.

The street was quiet, lined with houses. It wasn't exactly a white picket fence area. It was mostly smaller houses built for young couples and first time buyers. It was still pretty pricey, and not too far from the town. It's why Gavin had chosen it. He paused a moment, wondering if he should ask the android in while he waited. It would be the polite thing to do, what he'd do with any of his human colleagues, but before the thought could take form he heard the hum of an auto-car. Looking down his driveway he saw Connor climb into the cab, raising his hand in farewell. Reed waved back tiredly before heading inside.