1. Belongs: The universe and characters of Detroit Become Human belong to Quantic Dreams and David Cage.

2. Rating: "T" in general, but might be "M" for cursed words, graphics contents such as violence, injuries, or sexual scenes.

3. Summary: Leaving Jack's house, Gavin crosses paths with Midnight waiting for him at his car. Gavin suddenly feels relieved to see him again but at the same time angry at having been worried about the vigilante. Midnight, who wanted to see Gavin to make sure he was okay after the alley attack, discovers that he probably feels more than just worry about the detective. But he hadn't thought about the fact that Gavin might be in a relationship.


CHAPTER 7
« Cortisol »

- April 29, 2039, 2:14 AM, Jack's apartment. -

Gavin opened his eyes when the sound of a car passing down the street below woke him up. He looked around for a few seconds but didn't recognize his apartment. It was when his eyes landed on the small bluish light source to his right that he remembered. Jack was in stasis next to him, lying face down in the pillow.

Gavin straightened up in the sheets and nervously bit his lip as he watched him. He didn't really regret what had happened with Jack a few hours earlier, but he felt bad at the same time. The android, although Jack supposedly had had sex before tonight, was still a good person and Gavin was afraid he would get attached to him and want to see him again.

Usually, Gavin didn't sleep with the same person twice unless there was an affinity. But that wasn't what he was looking for, and if he stayed there until Jack woke up, he was worried the android would think there was more.

Gavin watched Jack for a few more seconds. He had really been prejudiced against androids. His experience tonight was far from unpleasant.

The human got up quietly anyway, afraid to wake Jack up, and began to get dressed. After putting everything on and putting on his shoes, he grabbed his jacket and headed for the front door. He put his hand on the doorknob and saw a sticky note pad on the small table with a felt pen beside it. He glanced around the bedroom, then grabbed the felt tip pen to write a simple Thank You :) on the yellow paper and stuck it to the front door.

He got out and down the stairs, finally returning to the rather quiet street. At this time, some bars and nightclubs were open, but because of what had happened over the past four days, and the events in general in Detroit, people were afraid to go out too late at risk to meet the android killer or a group of anarchists.

He took a cigarette from his jacket and lit it as he walked on the sidewalk, heading towards Hart Plaza to reach the precinct's parking lot near the River. He was nonetheless forced to stop at a pedestrian light at the crossroads under the Skytrain bridge, letting a few cars passing on the main road.

He couldn't help but think back to what had happened between him and Jack. He had been able to discover that, indeed, everything was almost the same in androids as in humans, it was something both reassuring and… disturbing. What psychopaths in the Humanization department at Cyberlife had done all this research and testing to make androids so realistic at this point and especially in this area? He had also been able to discover that sensors were active all over the synthetic skin and that the sensations seemed to be as real to androids as they were to humans. It was frankly a good experience, and maybe he will consider the idea with other androids in the future.

The light turned green and he finally crossed the road to pass by this large bronze statue called Spirit Of Detroit. He continued to smoke his cigarette, crossing the main roads again to bypass Hart Plaza and go to the parking lot where his car was.

He stubbed out his cigarette, rummaged in his pockets for his keys, and when he looked up he saw someone leaning against his car.

"Damn ..."

Midnight was in front of him. Gavin opened his mouth in astonishment despite himself and walked over to his car. The vigilante then raised his head to look at him, his arms crossed over his chest. Gavin had to squint for a few seconds so as not to be dazzled by the vigilante's luminous eyes.

He instinctively raised his hand to hide his eyes.

"What are you doing here ?" Gavin said, stopping in front of him. "And for fuck sake, stop making your eyes glow or whatever, it's blinding ..! "

Midnight didn't do or respond for a few seconds, posing the pros and cons of turning off the light in his eyes. No matter how dark it was, there was enough light for the detective to see him well.

He eventually turned off the light, revealing his icy eyes to the detective. It was the second time he was seeing them, but it was the first time that he'd seen them so well, so close and ... He realized the light didn't seem to come from the mask.

Gavin was certainly too tired to think coherently.

" Thank you... !" He said mostly annoyed, rubbing his eyes to chase that glare away. He looked at him again. " What are y- "

" You're doing better? "

Gavin opened his mouth and closed it. He opened it again but… closed it. He sighed as he shoved his hands, still bandaged, into his pocket pants, and gently shook his head.

"Okay," he said, trying to keep his cool. "Yes, I'm better." He breathed in. "What have you been doing the last few days?"

The vigilante tilted his head slightly to the side, frowning. Why was the detective asking him this question? He believed that he annoyed him, that what he was doing was illegal, that it was the police's role initially.

"You were hoping I would continue to hunt down the bad guys on the streets? I thought you didn't want me to do this, and that was your job? "

"It's-" Gavin pointed his finger at him but sighed before lowering his hand. "That's not what I was saying."

"Oh…" Midnight looked genuinely surprised and looked the detective up and down. "You… Were you worried about me then..?"

"It's not that I.. !" He pursed his lips. "You are a civilian, you expose yourself to danger all the time, something serious can happen to you! And you've been out on Detroit's streets every night for five months. You've been away for three nights in a row, and no one had seen you ..! I am not the only one who was worried or to have thought to find your corpse somewhere one fine morning!"

Midnight slowly lifted himself off the car, approaching the detective. He was slightly shorter than him, but not so much. A slight tilt was sufficient and eye contact was made. Detective Reed looked furious according to his heartbeat and his face's color. Only one thing betrayed him behind this anger: his dilated pupils.

"Do you… care about me ..?"

Gavin snorted, frowning in a grimace that meant What? Bullshit! But Gavin wasn't cheating on anyone, especially Midnight.

"How could I care for someone I don't know? I can't trust a person who doesn't tell me their name and hide their face. "

"You get a point. "

Midnight mimicked a sigh and stepped back to lean against the detective's car in a nonchalant but at the same time very ... enticing way from Gavin's point of view.

"I was absent because I was indeed injured."

"Wh-What?"

"I've been shot in the shoulder three nights ago." He gently wiggled his right shoulder. "But nothing too serious, all I needed was some care and rest."

It wasn't quite right, but it wasn't quite wrong either. His repairs had been long, and he had to ask Simon's help to replace the motor in his shoulder. Obtaining the necessary components was what took the longest.

"Fuck I… I felt that something bad had happened."

"I'm fine, Detective." Midnight said with a small smile to reassure him. "And now I have to get back to work. I need to find who shot me."

"And who was it ?"

Midnight stared at him intently, unsure whether to tell him the truth about Collin. He had certainly slaughtered deviants by now, but he had to deal with him personally. He was his predecessor, it was his responsibility.

"I can't tell you, detective ..."

"Wait. "

Midnight narrowed his eyes. Gavin pursed his lips as he watched him intently.

"Did you come here just to tell me you were okay?"

"I came here to find out how you were doing. But if knowing that I'm still alive gives you peace of mind, then we've killed two birds with one stone."

"You knew where to find my car," Gavin said, pointing to his car, then put his hands back on his hips. "Are you spying on me? "

"Is… spying and monitoring from afar the same?"

Gavin tilted his head back, letting out an annoyed groan before straightening it up and approaching Midnight.

"You can't follow me constantly or watch me from afar. It's called privacy."

"Before you go after me on this point, you could first file a complaint against Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Cyberlife."

Gavin took a deep breath, not knowing what to say to that. Of course, the vigilante was not wrong on this point, because more intrusive than these companies, it did not exist. But, unfortunately, this type of surveillance had become part of the mores and habits of society. Having someone physically actually following you is, for Gavin, a little more creepy than being spied on through your phone or other connected devices.

Gavin finally blew the air he had blocked into his lungs loudly and looked Midnight straight in the eye. They weren't quite blue, rather it was a mix of bluish, gray, and slightly green hues.

"What exactly do you want from me hm?" Gavin asked, not knowing how to formulate his question differently. "You follow me, you watch me, you ..." he bit his lip, "What do you want? "

"I don't want anything to happen to you."

"And why the hell? We don't know each other !"

"Yes..." Midnight sighed in disappointment. "That's true ... but ... in an alternate universe, maybe the two of us could have gotten along just fine."

Gavin frowned. Did Midnight just imply that he wished they were friends?

"Except there is no alternate world." He rubbed his eyes, tired from the conversation, and from the fact that it was almost three in the morning. "If you want us to be on good terms, we have to go through a few essential steps. First, I need to know who you are. "

"I'm Midnight, and I have no first-"

"-Name, yes, ok, let's pretend," Gavin said rolling his eyes. "Let me see your face."

" No. "

Gavin sighed.

" Why? "

"You're not ready to see my face." He said, biting his lip nervously. "You won't like it. "

Of course, he would, Gavin thought. Even with a mask on, Gavin could tell the vigilante's face couldn't be anything but attractive.

"Look, let's keep it simple, okay? I begin." He clears his throat. "My name is Gavin Donovan Reed. I am 36 years old and have been a DPD detective for almost ten years. And you ?"

" I... "

Midnight opened his mouth but closed it. He didn't know what to say. He then searched his database for something similar that would be similar for the human in front of him. He knew what he looked like and that he had the cognitive ability of an adult in his thirties.

"I am 32 years old, and was born on November 10th." He finally said. It wasn't that wrong, but he couldn't tell him he was an android. "I was trained... to work in the police force. "

"Seriously ?" Gavin wondered. "I guess that explains a lot of things, like your close combat skills, and everything in between. "

"I can do a lot more than just fight."

" I do not doubt it." Gavin gently lifted his hand, bringing it up to the vigilante's face. "Now I wish I had at least a first name, or else I take the mask off. "

His fingertips rested on the rim of the mask and the vigilante grabbed the detective's hand suddenly. The latter jumped at the abrupt gesture, expecting to receive an arm lock, but nothing happened. His gaze was fixed in the vigilantes, and his gloved hand loosened slowly around his, without letting go.

"If you see my face… You'll think of me being an enemy when I am not. "

"This is your opinion. Why don't you let me have mine? "

He closed his fingers on the mask but the vigilante tightened his grip on Gavin's hand as he lifted it above their heads, forcing their bodies to suddenly come closer.

Gavin then realized this was the first time - where he was aware - that he'd touched the vigilante and that they were so close to each other. Their torsos were almost touching.

Gavin did nothing except to stop breathing and to fix his gaze on Midnight's icy one. His heart began to quicken dangerously as his eyes rested on the thin pink lips, the curves looking like those of a traditional bow.

He had a furious urge to kiss them, right here, right now.

"Don't do that ..." Midnight said, exhaling a light warm breath on his face.

"D-Don't do what?" Gavin said suddenly flushed with embarrassment, thinking the vigilante had read his mind.

"If I have to show you who I am… I don't want it to happen here, on the streets, under the precinct's parking lot cameras."

Oh yes, of course. Doing this here exposed the vigilante way too much, but Gavin wasn't sure he could convince him to get in his car and go somewhere safe so he could remove his mask.

"And you would regret it. "

"Why do you seem so sure?" Gavin asked suspiciously.

"Because…" Midnight sighed. "You've known… a relative of mine, let's say ... you'll recognize the similarities right away and ... since you hate that person, you'll hate me too."

Gavin raised his eyebrows. Did he know a Midnight's relative? Most astonishing, however, was the fact that the vigilante thought Gavin would hate him just because he hated that other person.

Gavin wasn't a very polite person in general, except when he had to stay professional. He tended to get on fire and get angry when facing with annoying or dangerous situations or people. Midnight was far from dangerous in the end. He was helping the police, he was helping civilians and androids in Detroit, and he had never seriously injured anyone.

And Gavin was still there, against him, his arm in the air.

"There are a lot of people that I hate, Night… And I can tell you that right now, you're not one of them."

"For now." Midnight said, narrowing his eyes. "If you take off my mask, I'll be part of them."

"Alright, I won't try to remove your mask." Gavin sighed, loosening the muscles in his arm which was starting to go numb.

"Thank you." The vigilante said, lowering their arms while keeping the detective's wrist clamped between his fingers. "Sorry for the abrupt gesture."

Gavin realized that, even though they had lowered their arms, their torsos were still against each other. The detective's cheeks started to blush, and he didn't know if he should stay there against him or pull away.

Yeah, pull away.

Quick.

Gavin then pulled back, breaking physical contact with both their bodies and their hands. Gavin quickly brushed the air in front of his face, shaking his head.

"It's-It's okay, I pushed too hard too."

"You should get back home Detective, it's getting late." Midnight frowned behind his mask. "What were you doing so late in town? "

"This is my business and it's private." The vigilante tilted his head to the side. "What? Is this an interrogation? Shall I call my lawyer first? "

Midnight then scanned him and found out that the human's body in front of him was still under the endorphin, serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin influence. The combo of all these hormones together could only result from sexual intercourse, or at least, from an orgasm.

Midnight might not have been human and was only five months old, but he knew humans don't go out of their homes to have orgasms. Well, not alone.

So Detective Reed hadn't been alone tonight.

|| … SOFTWARE INSTABILITY

Midnight slowly pulled off the car with a few steps, his LED flashing yellow, hidden under his mask. He thought ... He ...

What an idiot.

"Is everything alright ?" Gavin said suddenly worried at the look of annoyance on the vigilante's face. "I was kidding, I'm not going to call my lawyer."

Midnight looked up at the detective for a few seconds, refraining from scanning him further to find out who he had spent the night with. It was none of his business. Why would he want to know anyway? Why did he suddenly feel jealous?

His artificial endocrine system signaled him, through his HUD, that he was producing cortisol in a fairly large amount. Yes, he was feeling it, thanks for letting him know, in case he hadn't noticed yet.

He gave a fake smile before reactivating the light in his eyes with a blink of an eye.

That smile returned Gavin's stomach for a few seconds. He knew it was a fake smile, he had seen it plenty of times and had worn it many times before. A bitterness to hide a feeling of pain. But most of all, that smile gave him a feeling of déjà vu, and that smile was associated with anger and disgust for some reason Gavin couldn't identify right now.

"Sorry for wasting your time, Detective. Take care of yourself. Have a good night. "

And Midnight started to walk away but Gavin reached out to grab his hand. Only, the vigilante was faster, and with a quick and skillful movement, Gavin found himself face down against the trunk of his car, both arms folded behind his back by the vigilante's firm grip. The latter leaned over him, and Gavin couldn't help but focus on the body slamming against his and pressing him more against his body. Gavin felt Midnight's breath close to his ear and felt his own crotch pulsate as his deep voice vibrated throughout his body.

"I said… Have a good night, Detective."

The vigilante stayed like that for a long while, the time to send a signal to his motorbike to drive it to the parking lot. When the vehicle pulled up on its own and stopped a few yards away, Midnight straightened up and let go of Gavin before heading for the motorcycle and mounting it.

Gavin straightened up and jerked his head to look at him. His heart was pounding and his face was red with both embarrassment and excitement. He wanted to intervene to tell him something, but the vigilante started the engine and drove out of the parking lot.

Gavin felt like he had clearly done something wrong, for it was the first time Midnight had left without winking at him.

He didn't understand why he felt guilty and bad. It wasn't like they were a couple. Stupid.