Les Misérables – Empty Chairs at Empty Tables
Connor tightened his hold on Taylor as she shifted in his arms, and then relaxed as she resettled, falling back into sleep. They were tucked into the quietest part of the church he could find, away from the survivors of Jericho, alone.
When he had pulled the blonde out of the water hours ago, shivering, lips blue, he had worried that she might shake apart. He'd considered the risk of hypothermia and had wanted to take her to get medical attention. She'd refused outright.
Markus had brought her dry clothes, an android uniform of all things, and started a fire. When he'd tried to help her out of her soaking wet clothes, she'd started to panic even more. He'd let her do it alone, turning away, not knowing how to help her.
Then he'd led her closer to the flames, still shivering, teeth chattering, wet hair clinging to her face. He'd sat her down, and settled next to her, watching her shake. Fragile. Human.
And she'd scooted closer, drawn to his warmth. He couldn't say exactly when she'd moved from pressed against his side to curled into his lap, still desperately cold. He hadn't protested, had placed his arms around her, lending her every bit of warmth that he could.
Eventually she did stop shaking, her skin going from icy cold to the same temperature as his. Her breathing slowed with it, and she'd fallen asleep against him.
Now Connor felt her shift again, wondering if she was finally coming to. His arms tightened, one curled around the middle of her back, the other parallel with her thigh, his hand resting lightly against her hip.
Her head was tucked against his shoulder. Every slow exhale, he could feel her breath tickling against his neck, could feel every steady beat of her heart against his chest. She shifted again, and Connor knew she was waking up.
Taylor sucked in a breath and squeezed her eyes shut hard before she blinked them open. Her left arm was curled around his neck, and he felt her fingers tighten before she suddenly pulled away, her face bewildered.
"Connor? What...?" She looked down, realizing all at once that she was fully sitting in his lap. Scarlet covered her face almost instantly, like someone had lit a match under her skin. She scrambled away from him, and he released her, feeling the absence immediately.
"You were cold," he explained calmly, watching her rub her hands over her face. She groaned at this but didn't say anything. He added, mostly to try and ease her embarrassment, "You were also in shock."
She peered at him through her fingers, face still red. He couldn't help the smirk that quirked his lips. She groaned a second time, hiding her face once more.
After a few minutes, when she had calmed enough to show her face, she glanced around them. "Where are we? Where's Markus?"
"The survivors from Jericho have all come here. It's an abandoned church outside of Detroit. Markus left shortly after we arrived. He said he had something to take care of." Connor watched Taylor lower her hands to her lap. She stood and walked toward the doorway that led into the main area of the church, where the Jericho survivors were.
She placed a hand over her mouth as she counted them, her eyes filling with sadness. He stood up and joined her but couldn't bring himself to say anything in comfort. "It was my fault."
Taylor turned, her blue eyes on his, uncertain. "You said they followed you."
"It was a setup," he conceded, glancing toward the floor. "CyberLife must have planned this from the start. They were using me."
"You can't blame yourself for that." She said softly, stepping closer to him. "Connor, you were following orders."
Connor frowned, then looked up into her eyes again. "You helped Markus break into Stratford Tower."
"I did." She nodded, uneasy.
"You lied." Her eyes flickered away from his face for a moment, and back.
"I didn't lie. Not really." She argued stubbornly. Biting her lip, she added, "I tried not to lie to you the whole time. Besides, didn't you tell me you could tell when humans lie?"
There was a note of challenge in her voice as she met his gaze, leaning in. He supposed she had never lied outright so much as avoided the truth. It was a moot point now that he was deviant, so he conceded it.
No, he was more concerned with how close Taylor had leaned, without even realizing it. His mind was on the last time she had leaned so close to his face, when she had kissed him and then left him standing alone in a hallway. He had stood there, reeling, trying to figure out why she had done it.
Now she was studying his face, eyes scrunched in amusement. She couldn't see his LED because he was still wearing the beanie, couldn't see the flickering yellow as she reached out her left hand to touch the lapel of his coat.
"Where did you get these clothes?" He could hear the laughter in her voice as she glanced over him. "And this beanie? What a waste of all that gorgeous hair."
Her right hand reached up for the edge of the hat, but he caught her arm in midair, his fingers closing gently around her wrist. "Why did you kiss me?"
She froze in his hold, the mirth fading from her face. He could feel her pulse quickening under his fingertips, her eyes searching his expression. She swallowed, her stress levels spiking, but didn't try to pull away.
"I wasn't sure I'd ever see you again." She said quietly. He considered this, his head tilting slightly, processing. The phone call, her showing up to hand him that badge that didn't need to be returned, their brief meeting. His eyes narrowed.
"Why did you kiss me?" Connor asked again, his voice low, leaning in closer. Taylor shifted, her heartrate kicking up even faster. She opened her mouth again, closed it.
"I wanted to." She finally whispered. He released her then, his hand leaving her arm, fingers tracing along her jaw. As he leaned in more, closing the distance, he hesitated, brown eyes studying her face uncertainly.
"Can I kiss you?" Her fingers tightened around the fabric of his shirt and she pulled him into her, closing the rest of the gap herself. Their lips crashed together so suddenly that Connor thought maybe he had malfunctioned, his thirium pump stuttering before restarting at hundred miles an hour.
Taylor slid her arms around his neck, pulling him closer still, her body pressing flush against his. He slid his arm around her waist, his other hand tangling into her hair. He ran his tongue gently along her bottom lip, and she parted them, her own tongue darting out to meet his.
Connor knew, as an android, he didn't feel hot and cold, but it felt like heat crawling under his skin now, setting his entire body aflame. As Taylor's mouth moved against his, he could feel his fans whirring at full speed, his thirium pump working in overdrive like he was overheating. She had worked her fingers under his beanie and dislodged it, curling her fingers into his hair.
The sound of Markus clearing his throat behind them made the two jump apart as though scalded. Connor was still looking at the blonde in his arms, her blue eyes dilated, chest heaving as she gasped for air, face flushed.
He wanted to pull her closer, kiss her again. It took every ounce of willpower he had to move his gaze over her head, to where Markus was watching the two of them, looking somewhere between embarrassed and amused.
"You're back," he observed as Taylor attempted to pull away from him. His fingers tightened on her waist briefly, but he blinked several times as Markus's face stretched into a smile and he released her as she twisted away from him a second time.
"I came to check on Taylor," Markus said, still smiling, decidedly amused now as he glanced between them.
"I'm fine." The blonde answered, fixing her hair nervously. "Connor said you left, is everything alright?"
"I had to take care of something personal." He responded, his smile fading. "I'm not sure if I would say everything is alright after what happened."
"Markus, I'm so sorry," Taylor stepped forward and took his hand, squeezing. Markus looked surprised for a moment, but he squeezed her hand back as she asked, "Do you know how many...?"
Markus shook his head, pursing his lips.
"It's my fault the humans located Jericho." Connor heard himself say for the second time. They both turned in unison to look at him, still holding hands. "I'm sorry, Markus. I can understand if you decide not to trust me."
Taylor released Markus's hand, finally, and he felt the uncomfortable emotion that had been pressing down on him ease somewhat. He'd been through too many emotions, all of them new, in the past several moments to sort through any of it. He'd only been experiencing real emotions for several hours after all.
Markus considered him for a moment, while Taylor glanced back and forth between the two of them, looking like she wanted to say something first but was holding back, "You're one of us now," he said after a pause. "Your place is with your people."
Taylor smiled, her whole face brightening. She hugged Markus in her excitement and then came back to hug Connor as well. Connor placed his arms around her again, holding on for just a second longer, taking in the feel of her.
Markus was turning to go when he said, "There are thousands of androids at the CyberLife assembly plant. If we could wake them up, they might join us and shift the balance of power."
"You want to infiltrate the CyberLife tower?" Markus asked, turning back, his face distorted with shock. Taylor had jerked away from him, but her expression was closer to fear. "Connor, that's suicide."
"They trust me, they'll let me in. If anyone has a chance of infiltrating CyberLife, it's me." Connor retorted, trying to make it sound reasonable. He kept his gaze leveled on Markus, ignoring the guilt gnawing at him from the look that Taylor had given him.
"They'll kill you," she said softly, drawing his eyes back down to her face. She had worked to bring herself back to a neutral expression, but the edges of her mouth were still drawn down slightly, a small line notched in between her eyebrows.
"There's a high probability," he conceded, "but statistically speaking, there's always a chance for unlikely events to take place."
She stared at him in silence for a moment, and he found another new emotion bubbling up in him. Unsure, he thought it might be apprehension. He wanted her to say something, anything.
"Just," she began finally, then hesitated. Her blue eyes darted away from his face and she drew in a shaky breath. "Just come back, okay?"
"I will." He said softly, brushing his fingers against hers, entwining their fingers and squeezing her hand. She squeezed his hand back once before pulling hers away and turning toward Markus.
"I'm going back to the city."
"What? Why?" Markus, who had been standing quietly and trying not to intrude on what felt like their private moment, sputtered. "Did both of you go insane?"
"We've had this conversation. I'm useless here." Taylor sucked a breath in through her nose. "I'm useless without a phone in my hand. If we're doing this, then I'm going to make sure everyone will be watching."
"When we had the conversation before, we agreed that was too dangerous," Markus protested, frowning.
"You did, I didn't. It's a little late to be worried about how much danger is involved. We're all in danger." Taylor glanced over her shoulder at him for just a second, and Connor felt the objection he was about to raise die in his throat. "My personal level of danger is comparatively low I would say."
"Taylor—" Markus began again, but she just shook her head as she moved past him to gather up her clothes.
"I'll come back." She said matter-of-factly, throwing her coat over her arm and digging into the pocket. A moment later, she withdrew her hand with a ring of car keys clenched in her fist. "Or I'll meet you there."
Connor watched her leave, again, without looking back.