Taylor Swift – The Archer
Connor opened the door for Taylor, watching as she slid into car without looking at him. He followed her into the backseat, still observing while she sent text messages on her phone. He had been measuring her stress levels since the clothing store. Whatever had happened, he couldn't puzzle it out, but her stress levels continued to fluctuate even now, higher than usual.
"Rachel is going to meet us at the church, to do her interview with Markus," she told him, still tapping away. Finally, she closed the screen and tucked the device in her pocket. When she turned her head toward him, however, she still wasn't looking in his eyes. "That was the Secretary of Homeland Security that called me just now. Alexis Headley."
"I overheard some of the conversation," he admitted. Her lips quirked into an amused smile. Guilty, he felt like he had to explain himself. "Your stress levels were rising. I was concerned. I only heard something about squatting and that you would talk to Markus."
"It's okay." Her smile widened at his fumbled explanation. "I don't mind. It would seem that they want the two of us to go to Washington D.C., to represent androids in whatever talks they intend to have."
"Markus knows about this?"
"He gave them my number, so I think he knows as much as I do." She turned back to the window. "I asked her to give Markus the CyberLife tower."
Connor didn't say anything at first. He took long enough responding that she shifted to face him again, this time finding his eyes. Tension lined her face, caused small lines to form around her mouth and on her forehead.
He reached across the seat and placed his hand over her fingers, diligently tapping against her knee. They stilled, but she tensed. Even though she didn't pull away, he released her. He was getting the sense that whatever was bothering her had to do with him, though he still wasn't sure what he had done.
"What did she say?" He asked, instead of what he wanted to. Taylor was staring at his hand still, which he had placed back on his knee.
"'I will see what I can do'." Her blue eyes flickered up to his face again. He could feel her stress levels still fluctuating, rising.
"Have I done something to upset you?" He couldn't take it. He had to ask. Her face smoothed over in shock, and she raised her head.
"What? No." Then she reached for his hand and twined her fingers through his. A sense of relief flooded him, even though she still looked reluctant. In a small voice, she added, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry." He squeezed her hand gently, running his thumb back and forth over her skin. "Tell me what's wrong."
The taxi rolled to a stop. Taylor gave him a wide-eyed expression. They stared at each other for a few seconds, before her countenance softened. "Let's get this over with. We'll talk about it tonight, when it's just us."
She gave his hand a squeeze in return before she opened the door and slid out of the cab. By the time he followed her, she was already making her way down the sidewalk, to where he could see the silhouette of Rachel Bailey waiting in the distance.
"—going back to New York once I get material for this piece. If there is material. I would hate to think I came to Detroit for nothing." Rachel was saying when he approached the two of them. She glanced in his direction and gave him a lopsided smile. "Hi, Connor."
"Hello, Miss Bailey. May I take your things for you?" She had a camera bag slung over one shoulder and a backpack over the other. Rachel looked down at her bags and shrugged, handing them over.
"Sure. Thanks, Connor." They made their way toward the church together. "My cameraman decided to evacuate himself after Hart Plaza. I guess it was all a little too much for him."
"Or is he the latest in a long line of cameramen you have run off?" Taylor asked, smiling in amusement.
"I resent that." Despite her words, Connor noticed that Rachel also seemed to be fighting off a smirk. "It's not my fault that no one can keep up with me."
"Sure."
"Anyway, no big loss." The three of them stepped into the church. Rachel looked up at the ceilings before glancing around at the crowds of androids. "Can I interview whoever I want?"
"I don't think you should be asking me that." Taylor said. Rachel glanced back at him, and Connor blinked, surprised. She didn't want to interview him, surely?
"I'm digging the Robot Jesus vibes." She turned back to Taylor as though nothing happened. The blonde groaned.
"Please don't put that in your story." Rachel only laughed in response as they made their way towards the back of the church. Josh met them about halfway across the congregations of androids and led them through to where Markus was waiting.
"Taylor, Connor," Markus nodded to them and extended his hand to Rachel, who shook it, observing him with interest. "And you must be Rachel Bailey. Taylor tells me that we have you to thank for helping with the revolution."
"Don't thank me too much. Most of that was done without my knowledge and against my better judgment." She smiled as she released his hand. Markus, to his credit, just raised his eyebrows in response. "Still, thanks for the interview. You must be very busy."
"It's no problem."
"Are you okay with shooting at the pulpit?" Rachel looked around the small room, frowning. "It's too dark back here. Also, I didn't bring a tripod. Or a cameraman."
"Of course. Josh will help you set up." Markus smiled at her. "I need to speak with Taylor and Connor for a moment before I join you.
Rachel hesitated, her eyes passing between them, before she nodded. Connor passed the bags he was carrying to Josh and the two of them retreated back to the main area of the church.
"You could have given me a heads up about the Secretary of Homeland Defense calling me." Taylor pounced the second Rachel was out of earshot.
"I doubt there was much time for that. Alexis Headley seems like a very efficient woman, I'm sure she wasted no time." Markus turned his unaffected smiled on her. "What did she say?"
"It seems that Connor and I will be traveling to Washington. Though she wanted you to come, too." She bit her lip and placed her hands in her pockets. Markus didn't seem to notice as he nodded.
"I have to admit that this is happening faster than I anticipated." She gave him a look of surprise. Then she stepped closer to him and nudged him with her elbow.
"That's a good thing." Taylor headed over to help Rachel set up her equipment. Josh was trying to help, mostly unsuccessfully as he didn't know what he was doing. Connor made to follow her, but Markus held up an arm to stop him. They watched the two of them debating on where to put the camera for a few moments before Markus turned his attention to him.
"I know this goes without saying, but please look after her." Connor adjusted his tie, frowning.
"You think she will need to be protected in Washington?" He was being difficult, perhaps, on purpose. The request threw him off. He still didn't quite understand Markus and Taylor's relationship. Markus arched an eyebrow at him.
"We both know that Taylor has a propensity for recklessness. I feel better knowing that you will be with her, but if something happens to her because of this..." Markus trailed off, his dual-toned eyes shifting back to the two women. They were arguing about lighting while Josh still looked on, perplexed.
"Why did you ask Taylor to do this?" Connor folded his hands behind his back and didn't meet his gaze when Markus turned his head. He kept his eyes on Taylor, watching her laugh at whatever Rachel had said as they set up chairs.
"I didn't expect that question from you."
"Her friend Raj came by to suggest that perhaps you were using her as a shield to protect yourself from danger." Connor did turn his head then. A look of shock was covering Markus's face, real enough that some of the tension eased out of his shoulders. "She defended you, of course, but you can't deny that there is a certain logic to it."
"I see." Markus clenched his teeth, synthetic muscle in his jaw ticking. "What is it that you want me to say, Connor?" After a beat of silence, he said, "I asked Taylor because she believes in our cause, and because she is human. We need allies. At no point did I consider her a shield. You may find it hard to believe, but I care about Taylor."
Connor felt his own synthetic muscles tightening, his shoulders tense once more. Markus glanced over at him. Noticing his posture, the other android smiled. "I know that you also care for her."
"I do not need your encouragement to protect Taylor." Connor knew he was being unfair. He may have never become a deviant if it wasn't for Markus. Still, those very emotions were clouding his judgment now, making him irrational. "She's safe with me."
"Have you said anything to her?" Markus was still smiling. Connor blinked, the tautness in him releasing in his sudden confusion, but Markus elaborated, "About how you feel."
"Markus, she's ready for you." Taylor had reappeared before them, smiling at the deviant leader. He nodded and stepped around her. "Good luck!"
The blonde turned back toward him, her smile fading. She scanned his face for a few seconds before she asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Connor forced his face to relax, but she only frowned at his response.
"What were you talking about just now?" She came closer, tilting her head slightly. "You looked pretty tense."
"It's not important." She appeared unconvinced, but let it go. She eased in beside him, watching Rachel as she jotted notes and asked questions to Markus.
"She wants to interview you next." Connor raised his eyebrows. Taylor smiled. "Deviant hunter turned deviant. Great angle, you know."
He was quiet for a while, watching the interview in silence. Until he felt Taylor's fingers brush against his. His eyes found hers. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to."
"I don't mind." He squeezed her fingers before he released her, nervous suddenly that she would draw away from him again.
"Maybe you'll be famous, too." She smiled up at him again, a tinge of amusement in her features. A smirk tugged at his lips.
"I don't know if you can handle the competition." Taylor laughed, sudden and loud. She clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle it. His thirium pump surged with the sound. Humor was not a part of his programming, but he suddenly wanted to make her laugh again and again.
"Well you are smarter and prettier than I am." Their eyes met. Her face was flushed, eyes creased in laughter. He fought the urge to lean in and kiss her, wondering if emotions were supposed to be this overwhelming.
"That's debatable." He managed. She turned away, the color in her cheeks deepening.
"Hey, Blondie." They both looked up. Raj approached the two of them with an easy smile, but his dark eyes were on Taylor.
"Hey, Raj. I didn't know you were still here." A smile touched her lips, but there was tension around her eyes.
"Of course. There's still plenty of work to be done. Where else would I be?" He narrowed his eyes as he studied her. "I hear you're going to D.C. though."
"How exactly did you hear that?" Her voice was tinged with disbelief. Again, Connor was unsettled wondering if Raj had somehow been following them without him knowing.
"I've told you before, it's my job to know things." Raj shrugged as though it was really no big deal, but Connor knew that they had only found out about this hours ago and had come straight to Markus. His levels of distrust continued to rise, but Taylor scarcely thought twice. "You aren't still mad at me? I don't much like the thought of you leaving on bad terms."
"That depends. Are you apologizing?" She crossed her arms, frowning at him. He raised his eyebrows, and her smile morphed into a scowl.
"I still stand by what I said. I could have put it a little more delicately, I suppose." He wiggled his eyebrows and her glare faltered somewhat. "I wasn't trying to imply that I didn't need your help, Blondie. I couldn't have done half as much in L.A. without you. You don't have to be so god damn sensitive all the time."
"You don't understand what it's been like out here," she countered, a touch of defensiveness creeping into her tone. "That was a shit apology. But I suppose we're good."
"Guess I wasn't programmed for apologies." He grinned at her. Taylor laughed, and Connor found that when Raj was the one who had caused it, he felt discomfited. As if he could somehow detect the vein of his thoughts, Raj glanced over at him before he said, "Take care of yourself, Blondie."
"You too, Raj." Raj retreated back into the church from whence he came. Taylor turned back to him, and she must have read something in his expression or the knit of his brow, for she said, "What?"
"How much do you know about your friend Raj?" Now she looked perplexed, her eyebrows creasing with concern. To her credit, it only took her a few seconds to work out what he was getting at.
"Are you suspicious of him, now? Come on, Connor." Her easy dismissal of his concerns only served to make him more suspect. Taylor sighed deeply through her nose. "Well it really isn't any of your business, but he had no qualms talking about me, so I guess I don't see the harm. I'm sure you can see by his model and serial number that he was formerly a security android. More specifically, he worked at the Mexican-American border."
Connor registered a bit of surprise at that tidbit of information, which must have translated to his expression, for she smiled. "Raj was a member of the United States Border Patrol? So all of his work smuggling deviants into Mexico—"
"Was largely possible because he was a deviant Border Patrol agent, yes." Her smile widened. "The irony of him previously belonging under the jurisdiction of Homeland Security is not lost on me. I'll try not to think of it when I meet Alexis Headley face to face."
He frowned but didn't say anything else. The information, rather than putting his mind at ease, unsettled him further. Taylor considered him, tilting her head slightly. "I'm sorry. I don't really feel comfortable telling his personal history. I do trust him, though. If that means anything."
Connor studied her face. He trusted her, certainly, but he wasn't certain how far he trusted her judgment. Thus far she had not displayed a high capacity for logic or pragmatism.
"I believe it's your turn, Connor." Markus had returned, a smile gracing his features. Rachel was still standing near her camera, flipping through her notes with a look of concentration. Connor gave one more fleeting look at Taylor's face before he nodded and headed for the pulpit.
Taylor watched Connor walk away, still uneasy about the sudden shift in their conversation. She couldn't fathom why he didn't trust Raj, apart from the other android's clear skepticism towards Markus. Trying to explain the months of time before she had come to Detroit to Connor felt impossible, though. He wouldn't understand, he would have to trust Raj on his own.
"He is very protective of you." She'd almost forgotten about Markus, standing just beside her. He was watching her as she watched Connor, but she found herself drawn into his different colored eyes.
"I'm aware." Really, it was a bit of an understatement. Connor was underfoot whenever he was around, though she couldn't really complain. His persistent concern for her wellbeing had not only kept her out of trouble but saved her on multiple occasions.
"Are you?" Something in his tone, the humor laced in his words, made Taylor reconsider what Markus had said. What did the deviant leader see when he looked at the two of them? He had walked in, unceremoniously, on their first kiss in this very room. Though from that moment her relationship with Connor had stalled, and she had an inkling that was mostly her doing.
"You're a self-proclaimed deviant expert. I would think it would be clearer to you." The hint of a smile still played at his lips. He had folded his hands behind his back in a stance that, as usual, reminded her of Connor. Unable the focus, she kept glancing between the blue and the green, suddenly wondering which color had been his original and which the replacement.
"Actually," she said, turning her gaze out to the church, away from him, "CyberLife designated me a deviant expert. I never claimed to be an expert of anything."
"Right. Of course you didn't." He was nearly laughing at her now, and she snapped her head back to him. He had the decency to look abashed. "I'm sorry. I'm only trying to figure you out. Even now."
"Something else you two have in common, I suppose." She sighed. Markus raised his eyebrows, though the mirth still played behind his eyes. She was trying her best to pretend that it, coupled with his penetrating stare, wasn't getting under her skin.
"Do you want to know what I find the most puzzling thing about you, Taylor?" Despite how discomfiting, she met his eyes again. She hoped that they were green, before, though she liked them now. They were beautiful, otherworldly even, and that's what made them hard to look at.
"What?"
"I told you before that I watched all of your interviews related to deviants." She nodded, suddenly nervous. Perhaps she didn't want to hear this after all, but it was too late to take it back. "This was before I decided to reach out to you, to ask for your help with the revolution. I wanted to see what kind of person you were."
"And?" Markus had gone quiet. Without an LED, she couldn't tell if he was processing, accessing memory files, or just lost in thought.
"There was something...poignant and passionate in the way that you spoke. About deviants, about android rights. You got angry when someone suggested that deviants weren't people, but you certainly knew how to work a camera."
"I've been famous my entire life," she said, brows furrowing. She couldn't understand where this was going. Markus smiled, nodding, acknowledging her.
"Yes, I know. Still, I thought that you believed in our cause, and so I waited for a chance to meet you alone." He paused, considering her again. "You were so different in person. Unaffected. Almost reticent."
"You accosted me in the middle of my run and asked me to follow you to God knows where." Taylor said in her defense, not liking the direction the conversation was taking.
"I considered that. I admit I didn't expect you to pull a gun on me." His lips twitched. "But the more I got to know you, up until this very moment, I still don't understand how to reconcile that person on film with you. The confidence you have on screen doesn't seem to follow you. It almost prevented you from staying here, from continuing to help with the revolution when you've already devoted so much."
"I'm an actress." She blurted it into the first pause, unable to bear anymore. Markus laying her bare so nonchalantly. "What you see on camera is just an act. A persona. Taylor Kolbeck comma celebrity. She doesn't exist."
Markus had gone silent. He stared at her in surprise, and she almost laughed, the bitter emotions curling against her throat. "What did you expect me to say? It's not some big mystery. Something terrible happened to me and I haven't been able to believe in myself since."
Without realizing it, her fingers had come to rest on her neck, mirroring the pattern of bruises. She clenched her hand into a fist and tucked it against her side, too late for Markus not to be openly staring at them. He was as flustered as she had ever seen him, his normally cool composure completely frayed.
Then he took a step closer and placed his hands delicately on her shoulders. "I think that you're wrong." A shudder of breath made her chest tremble under his fingers. Her hand relaxed and her arm fell back to her side.
"I think that the person on camera is a part of you, too. Even when you don't believe in yourself, there are other people who do. I'm one of them." He leaned down so that they were at eye level. She found that in this moment, though he was still looking right through her, she couldn't look away.
"I'm amazed by the things that you have done and the things that you have been through." His fingers squeezed her shoulders, gently. "I should have told you this before I asked you to be our ambassador. I haven't acknowledged how hard this has been for you."
"Probably because your people have been dying." It was a poor attempt to divert topics.
"Less of them because of you." He smiled at her again, soft, kind, and her shakily cobbled together composure wanted to crumble. "The people here have a real shot at freedom because of your help. I believe in you."
Those four words broke something in her, like pulling a stone from her foundation and making the whole structure collapse. Connor had said the same thing to her, and hearing it again now somehow cemented it into fact. A choked noise escaped her, but Markus drew her into his chest before she could lapse into sobs. His hand worked slow strokes through her hair, soothing her.
"I know I have said it before, but I am grateful for what you've done for us." His voice was a rumble in his chest, her face pressed against it, tears soaking into his coat. Beneath it, she could feel the steady thrum of his thirium pump. "Thank you for saying yes to becoming our ambassador."
She just nodded, not trusting her voice or her ability to string together words. He slid his hands down her arms and gently pulled away, his hands still cupping her elbows. He gave her a gentle smile. "I expect you to be in close contact while you are in Washington."
"Of course."
Rachel was staring up at the ceiling of the church with her face scrunched in a look of determination that Taylor recognized all too well. The brunette tossed her a look over her shoulder, waggling her eyebrows. "You think I could get up there somehow?"
"What, in the ceiling?" She returned skeptically, following her gaze up to the rafters. "I don't see how. I don't see another level."
"I really want a shot from above. You think I could climb on the roof?" Undeterred, Rachel headed toward the large doors at the front of the church, still surveying the room as she went. She had interviewed both Markus and Connor at length, then asked Josh some questions as well while she filmed shots of the church.
"Judging by the holes already present, even if you could make it up there, I don't think it would be wise." Taylor tried, unsuccessfully, to fight off the grin tugging at her lips. After Josh, Rachel had singled out Simon next, who had been nervous but willing to answer her questions. North had flat out refused, which only seemed to interest the reporter more.
"Oh, so you can run into danger left and right, but I have to make sure the roof is structurally sound?" There was a teasing undertone to her words as Rachel posted up next to the church doors, spanning her camera across the crowds of androids. Her eyes were still searching for something, someone she had missed to include in her story.
"Very funny." Taylor rolled her eyes. After a couple of minutes, Rachel closed the foldout panel on the handheld camera and turned to consider the blonde beside her instead of the room at large.
"You ready for your part?" Taylor felt her shoulders tense. She knew what was coming next, she just wasn't sure if she was ready or not.
"You aren't going to film it?" Her blue eyes flicked down to the camera, inert in Rachel's hands, The brunette shrugged.
"Story isn't about you, is it? I think it might be better to keep you off for now. I'm pretty sure this story is going to be print, but I might post the interviews separately." She looked toward the back, where Markus and the others were talking. "Some things you have to see with your eyes to make it real. Genocide is only a word until people are face to face with the bodies."
Taylor didn't say anything. She knew that Rachel had a point, but she had been fighting this too long. She knew the real battle would be getting holdouts to acknowledge that deviant androids were people deserving of rights. She only hoped that Rachel's article would help in some way.
Rachel sat her camera down on a nearby pew, one of the many that had been pushed against the walls in stacks, and sat down, pulling her notebook out of her pocket. She had to be one of the few people left in the modern world to hand write her notes, but she swore that it helped her to remember them later.
When her pencil was poised over the page, she gave Taylor an expectant look, eyebrow raised. "Aren't you supposed to ask questions?"
"In this case, I feel like you'll tell me more if I don't." Her lips twisted into an ironic smile. "I still want to know what you were doing in Los Angeles."
Taylor grimaced. "I'll tell you, but it has to remain off the record."
"What the hell, Taylor?" Rachel practically screeched with her indignation, so much so that some of the androids closest to them turned to stare.
"Look, it involves the safety of others. You can't publish it." Taylor gave her a hard look, and she sighed.
"Fine, fine, enough with the cryptic bullshit. Off the record."
"I was helping to smuggle deviants out of the country into Mexico." She said in one quick breath. Rachel blinked. She lowered her hands into her lap, quiet for a full minute.
"Okay, I know what I just said, but you have to let me publish that." She turned so that her whole body was facing her, their knees bumping together, leaning forward. "Do you realize how much more sympathetic this story gets when people realize that androids have been fleeing the country."
"Rachel, absolutely not." Taylor frowned. "This is people's safety we're talking about. If you publish that you could jeopardize everything."
"Androids don't have to escape across the border anymore," Rachel argued. Taylor took a deep breath in her nose, releasing it before she responded.
"For now. No one believes that this whole thing is going to work more than I do." She paused, almost unwilling to say it, as if speaking things gave them power. "But if it all falls apart, and the government, or CyberLife, or whoever else decides to capture and destroy androids again? They can't escape if everyone knows exactly where to look."
Rachel stared back at her in silence, her lips pursed, blue eyes narrowed. Eventually, though, her shoulders slumped. "Fine. I guess you have a point."
They settled in again, and Rachel fired off a couple of questions to get her going. About the investigation, about her involvement with CyberLife, about the deviant cases. Before she realized it, Taylor was telling the whole thing without prompting, just as Rachel had anticipated.
When the whole tale wrapped up, Rachel tucked her notebook in her pocket again and gave Taylor another appraising look. "One more question. Off the record."
"Okay?" The uncertainty crept into her voice unbidden. It was the way the left side of Rachel's mouth was curling upward, the corners of her eyes crinkling.
"You totally blew me off last time I asked, but what's the deal with you and Connor?" Taylor felt heat creeping up her neck almost instantly, her heart rate spiraling out of control. This time she didn't even bother trying to deny her feelings, so newly reconciled with them as she was, and Rachel snorted with laughter. "Oh dear, don't make that face."
"What face? God, stop laughing at me." Rachel positively shook as she covered her mouth with her hand, the other clutching her sides. She was trying to keep herself under control, quite marginally.
"I'm sorry, I just didn't expect that reaction." She wiped at the corners of her eyes. "Seriously, though."
"I think I'm in love with him." Taylor blurted. Rachel stopped laughing immediately, her face freezing in a comical expression of shock. When a moment passed and she realized that Taylor was serious, working her hands nervously in her lap, the expression faded.
"Well, I mean, I kind of figured that. I just didn't expect you to say it." Rachel gave her a smile, nudged her with her elbow. "Don't look so worried. That android is crazy about you."
Taylor snorted then, shaking her head. "How do you know?"
"As if the way he looks at you wasn't enough." Rachel rolled her eyes. "I thought he was going to explode right in front of me when you were getting all cozy with Markus in the corner. You could have at least taken that somewhere private."
The blush that had faded Taylor now felt coming back full force. "We're just friends."
"Well that's certainly not what Connor was thinking." Rachel grinned at her. "What about that time he rescued you from Anthony at that charity event? I was there for that one." She paused, and then added, "I also just got to listen to him talk about you at length in relation to a certain deviant investigation. Very endearing."
Taylor worried the edge of her lip with her teeth as she looked out across the church. When she finally found the familiar silhouette of Connor among the crowd of androids, she realized that he was looking in her direction. Her eyes dropped back down to her fingers twisting in her lap.
Rachel reached over and placed a hand on her arm. "Hey. Seriously. If you're in love with Connor, then go for it."
"Yeah, thanks," she said, huffing out a laugh. She'd been trying to work out, in the back of her head, how she was going to even tell Connor how she felt. She hadn't moved on to how he might respond yet. When she looked up again, his eyes were still fixed on her.