Halsey - Ghost

Connor moved through the near-silent halls of the Detroit Police Station with no destination in mind. Normally at this point in the evening he would have put himself into sleep mode, but tonight he was restless. Because he was restless, he kept running diagnostics, making sure he had not developed any errors in his programming.

Taylor had not shown up since she had left the crime scene earlier. Logically, she had gone home. He didn't know why his mind kept coming back to the blonde, wondering where she was, or why she had been so upset after they had caught the deviant. They had completed the mission.

He was still working to reconcile what she had told him this morning, about helping deviants to escape. That didn't reflect on the case. She'd sworn that she wouldn't do anything to jeopardize their progress. Yet she'd been so distressed over arresting the AP700.

Connor paused, tilting his head as he heard a noise. Shuffling, echoing from down the hallway to his left. There were still several police officers in the building, some working late to finish reports and paperwork, others stuck on the overnight.

Turning on his heel, he strode down the hallway toward the origin of the sound, ears perked for another clamor in the quiet. The lights were dim in the hallway as he moved down it, his internal clock informing him that it was 10:27 pm.

He heard another faint rustling just ahead, too soft to hear if not for his android senses. He continued towards a door on the left. Referencing the blueprints in his head, he knew it led to one of the overnight sleep rooms for the cops, but at last count they had all been present upstairs. He reached for the knob and pushed the door open without hesitating.

Taylor was curled up on the cot in the corner, her back leaning into the wall and the thin blanket pulled around her lap. Her phone was open in her hands, her thumbs scrolling across the screen at their usual mind-numbing speed. Blonde curls were falling into her eyes as she glanced up, hearing him enter, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Connor?"

"Taylor?" He responded, his voice tinged with equal surprise. He was uncertain how to react now that the source of his unease was now before him. "Shouldn't you be at home?"

He thought he saw a grimace pass over her face, but it disappeared just as quickly. The phone in her hand buzzed and she went back typing, her hair falling into her eyes once more. The ends were slightly damp, like she'd just showered.

A moment of silence passed before she looked up at him again, a smile quirking the corners of her mouth. "You don't have to stand there in the doorway. You can come in."

Connor stepped through the threshold, standing a few feet away, glancing around uncertainly. Taylor's smile widened and she patted the spot on the cot next to her. He hesitated before lowering himself down awkwardly, trying to mimic her posture as best he could. She was giggling by the time he managed to cross his legs.

Her phone buzzed again, and she started typing, turning her attention away once more. He studied her face. The glowing light from the phone screen made the exhaustion around her eyes more apparent than that morning, the dark circles prominent. She finished whatever message she had been sending and tossed the phone onto the cot, leaning her head back against the wall.

"You look tired." He said carefully, remembering her response this morning when he had tried to point out her lack of sleep. She gave him a skeptical look and rolled her eyes.

"In my experience, that's just a polite way of saying 'you look like shit'." She must have read something in the expression he gave, because she nudged his shoulder with hers and gave him a small smile. "I'm just kidding."

They sat there quietly, Taylor's phone buzzing in the space between them. Her blue eyes were fixed on the screen as it flashed. Her hands were resting in her lap, her fingers curling into fists and then relaxing, over and over again.

"Alex hates texting." She spoke so softly, even he had trouble hearing her at first. He was watching her hands clench and unclench, mesmerized by it. He glanced up at her face, tilting his head, but she wasn't looking at him. The phone had gone silent, nestled on the blanket, but she was still staring at it, through it.

"Taylor, why are you here?" She was dressed in an oversized sweatshirt and sweatpants, looking like she planned to spend the night on an uncomfortably thin police cot at the Detroit Police Station. Evidence suggested she'd even showered there. She didn't answer him, just closed her eyes and leaned her head back into the wall again.

He thought she wouldn't answer at all. He knew she wasn't sleeping, her hands were still working in her lap, clenching and unclenching, but finally she spoke, "I can't sleep in that house."

There was a tremor at the end of her sentence, and she squeezed her eyes shut, her hands tightening into fists and staying. "I stayed in the guest room, on the bottom floor, as far away from my old room as possible. I wanted to be brave. But I'm not." She took a deep breath, in through her nose, and sighed, "I came here because it felt safe."

Connor reached his hand over and placed his fingers gently around Taylor's fist. He knew from his programming that humans used touch to comfort each other. She tensed at the contact. He almost pulled away, but she relaxed her hand a second later and curled her fingers around his.

"I guess you don't hate me at least?" Taylor opened her eyes and tilted her head toward him, her lips curling into a half smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Connor blinked at her in confusion, and she elaborated, "This morning, when I told you I helped deviants. You were upset."

Connor thought back to that morning. She had told him she helped deviants escape. He was programmed to be a deviant hunter. He stared into her face now, trying to reconcile the two things in his head. He was not programmed to want things, but Taylor was staring up at him, her eyes full of hope, and he didn't want to hurt her.

"No, I don't hate you." She smiled, a real smile this time, and suddenly placed her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. Connor knew his LED was flickering between yellow and red. He could feel Taylor's skin against him, smell the flowery scent of her shampoo in his nose. Before he could react, she pulled away, still smiling.

"Thank you, Connor."

"You should sleep." Connor was still trying to collect himself, to analyze his reaction to the hug as Taylor nodded. She shifted toward the pillow while Connor stood and moved away.

"Hey, Connor?" The android turned, his LED still a solid yellow, processing. Taylor had burrowed under the blanket and she was peering up at him, looking sheepish. "Can you stay for a little while?"

"Yes." Connor walked back and took a seat on the cot parallel to Taylor's. She smiled at him again and muttered a thank you before closing her eyes. The lack of sleep caught up with her quickly; her breathing slowed, and he could tell she was sleeping. He watched her for a while, sleeping peacefully, before going into sleep mode himself.

Connor sat at the desk he shared with Taylor looking through the deviant files and reports he'd requested from other major cities around the United States. Detroit had the highest incidence of deviant activity by far, but other major metropolitan areas had seen a rise in cases as well. He was running comparisons, trying to find similarities and common denominators.

Taylor had left over an hour ago for her 'morning run,' claiming that Hank was never on time anyway. Connor had conceded the point. When he glanced up, however, he spotted the lieutenant sinking into his desk chair, on time.

"Good morning, Lieutenant." Hank grunted in response, then glanced around when he noticed the blonde was missing.

"Where's the third fucking musketeer?" He grumbled, sipping the coffee in his hand.

"She went for a run. We expected you later in the morning." Connor explained.

"Huh." Hank raised his eyebrows and sipped his coffee again. "Sounds awful."

They lapsed into silence. Hank shuffled the papers around on his desk, looking like he wanted to do anything but work on his reports. Connor decided to indulge him, "Lieutenant, you met Taylor when she was a child, correct?"

Hank glared at him over the desks that separated them. "What do you care?"

"The two of you do not seem to get along." Connor observed, tilting his head as he looked at the lieutenant, completely unfazed by his glare.

"I think we get along just fine." He responded noncommittally. "Also, just because I've known her since she was a kid doesn't mean we're friends."

"She was famous when you met her then, wasn't she?" Connor pressed. Hank sighed, realizing the android wasn't going to drop it.

"Yeah, she was on some kid show that I'd never watched in my life. Her mom was famous for music that I never listened to. Didn't mean much to me." He shrugged.

"Taylor said that she had met you twice before, once when her mother died, and one other time." Hank suddenly looked uncomfortable, but Connor went on, "What other time?"

"That's none of your god damn business." Hank glared at him again over the desk. "Is it part of your programming to be so fucking nosy all of the time?"

"You guys look like you're having fun without me." Taylor smiled as she took her seat next to Connor. His LED was still flickering yellow as he processed Hank's response, or lack thereof, to his questions. She'd pinned her hair back in a bun and had a coffee in her hand from the same café as the previous morning.

"Look who's the late one today." Hank said with amusement from his side of the desk. Taylor rolled her eyes.

"Not effective coming from the chronically late one, you know." She glanced over at Connor, arching an eyebrow. "Were you guys having some kind of man-to-man? Should I go?"

"The plastic asshole here was just prying into your personal life." Hank informed her without hesitation, making the blonde raise her eyebrows in surprise. She turned those blue eyes on him, and he could feel the thirium rushing to his cheeks. Her lips quirked upward in that familiar smirk of amusement at his reaction.

"That doesn't sound like him at all." Connor blinked a few times before he processed that she was joking, but by then she had started laughing at his expense. "Any news on the case?"

"There are no new reports yet this morning." Connor informed them, his cheeks returning to their normal color, LED fading back to blue.