You were running 30 minutes late; you hadn't meant to sleep through your alarm. "Shit shit shit!" You scrambled to get your shoes on, a piece of toast hanging out of your mouth, falling against the counter hard, probably bruising your hip. Hissing, you straightened one shoe on when you heard a knock at your door.

"Detective?" Connor's voice sounded from the other side. "Are you home?"

"Connor?" You didn't realize how shitty you sounded until that moment. "What are you doing here?"

"Hank and I were on our way to a crime scene. You were late so we needed to stop by to take you with us… Would you open the door?"

You stumbled to the door, opening it. You leaned heavily on the door frame as your head spun nastily, making your empty stomach churn.

"Are you unwell?" Connor's hands shut out and steadied you by your shoulders.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired. Didn't sleep well." You knew you were lying, but you didn't have any sick time saved up. So, you had to soldier on, shove your feet into your shoes, grab your pistol, purse, and badge and follow Connor out of the apartment. "Let's go!"

In the car, you started to feel feverish but again, you couldn't afford to take time off. Stifling a cough, you turned to smile at Hank. "Hey, kid." His voice was gruff and tired. He wasn't usually up this early so it had to be bad.

You nodded, leaning your head against the cold glass of the window. You were hot, but shivering. Shit. "Are you sure you are alright, Detective?" Connor turned in his seat to look at you. "You are pale and shivering."

"Like I said, I just didn't sleep well last night." You smiled weakly at Connor. His caring nature was sweet and endearing, but right now, you wished he would shut up. Your head was heavy and pulsing with your heartbeat. "I'm just tired."

Connor's face suggested he didn't believe you, but he thankfully dropped the subject. Hank and Connor started filling you in on what they knew thus far, which wasn't much. It looked like an android had either been taken when a human was murdered or the android had been injured while they attacked the human. "Apparently it's really gruesome."

You said nothing, just watched the scenery fly by.

Hank was right; the scene was gruesome. The victim's head had been caved in, her face covered in her own brain matter. Her bottom lip had been ripped off her face, the flesh in tatters. The woman's fingers had been broken systematically, a few even cut off. Her knees were broken and her femurs shattered. One look at the victim had your head spinning even worse than it already was and you turned and stumbled out of the crime scene to heave the toast you had scarfed down into the bushes.

You were shaky and unsteady on your feet. You head was pounding and there was so much pressure in your sinuses that you felt like they were going to explode. Coughing made it worse; the wet sound of the coughs hurt your head, the coughs themselves hurt your head and they made your lungs feel like they were on fire.

"You good?" Gavin's face swam in front of you. "You look like shit."

"Yeah, fuck you, too." You pushed past the detective, reentering the crime scene. "Have we identified her yet?"

"Carrie de Franke." Connor stared down the vic, most likely scanning her. "34, works at a home care center. No criminal record or next of kin."

As he listed off more information about her, you looked up the to the corner of the room, and saw a huge shadow thing leaning over Connor, its long, sword like claws against his neck. You let out a strangled gasp, your hand flying to your gun. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" You unholstered your pistol and aim it at the monster, your breathing harsh and wet, causing you to cough.

Connor was in front of you. He gently took the gun out of your hands, handing the firearm to Hank. "Detective…?" You weren't looking at him. You were looking above him, into the eyes of the shadow monster hovering over him.

'You think I won't end him?' The monster's voice was that of your worst nightmares, the man you were held captive by as a child. He was the reason you became a cop. 'I will do it… You know I will.' The man had murdered your best friend in front of you. He haunted your dreams, the dark places in your apartment.

"Who?" Hank's voice was alarmed as you stared up at the shadow. "Who did who kill?"

You must have been talking rather than think about it. "He's gonna kill Connor." Your voice was thick with fear and unshed tears. "He's gonna kill Connor like he killed Kit." You turned to Hank, your heart pounding, your head spinning. "He's gonna kill us all."

"There is no one here besides us," Connor soothed. "We are safe."

As soon as the words left Connor's mouth, the shadow monster lunged forward. Out of fear, you jerked back, tripping over your own feet, and scrambled backwards until you back slammed against the wall. Someone was screaming and you realized it was you. "He's come back for me. He promised he would." You were hysterical, sweating and cold.

"Connor, get her out of here." Hank sounded unsettled.

Connor walked towards you with even steps, his eyes warm and concerned. He said your name gently. "Are you ok to stand?"

You didn't—couldn't—respond, just stared at him, not comprehending the words he spoke. You watched his eyebrows knit and he scooped you up. "You're burning up!" Connor's voice was alarmed. "Hank, she has a temperature of 103.5."

"Get her to the ER. Now." Hank threw his keys on your stomach.

You remember Connor putting you in the passenger seat of Hank's car. You don't remember the drive, or the ER. You do remember vaguely the doctors working over you, and you remember him, the man who had taken you and your best friend as captives. You were both 10, and you had just been at the park. The man was insane, a serial killer. He murdered Kit because the tried to protect you. Just as he sliced Kit's neck open, the police had arrived. He had shouted at you with a huge maniacal grin, promising to come back for you.

In your nightmares, he was there, carving into you, beating you. He'd been in jail for the last 10 years, but it was your biggest fear that he would make good on his promise.

"Hey, hey! Calm down!" Connor brushed the hair sticking to your sweaty forehead away. "You're safe. He's not coming here. It's ok." You thought you felt lips on your forehead, but your couldn't be sure. "Your fever hasn't broken yet, but it's going down. You're just hallucinating." His voice was panicked as he tried to keep you from thrashing around. "Please, just calm down."

You were in and out of awareness. You weren't sure what was real and what was not. When your fever finally broke, you woke up and looked around. You had an IV in your arm, an you could hear your heartbeat beeping. You were in the hospital, and you hated it. After Kit died, you were kept in the ER for hours until your parents got there.

"Are you really awake this time?" Connor looked at you. His skin was pale, his hair in a complete disarray. "You've been…" He trailed off, running his hand down his face. "You've been waking extremely feverish, crying for him to leave you alone." His suit was wrinkled.

"How long?" Your voice was rough, and you tasted copper as you spoke. "How long have I been in here?"

"Two days. The doctor's weren't sure when your fever would break." He sounded tired. "You just missed Hank. He's gone home for the night."

"Thank you for staying with me." You whispered the words, your lungs burned when you tried to speak any louder. "What did I say?"

"You talked about what he did when you were young." Connor's hand wrapped around yours. "You talked about Kit… I looked it up and he's never getting out of jail. He's on death row."

"So you know I'm broken." You certainly sounded it in that moment. "You know what he did…"

"You are not broken." Connor shot up and pulled you to his chest. "You are brave. You became a police officer despite you fears. You chase down perps like it's a breeze. You are kind to the people we save." He pressed his lips to your forehead. "You are amazing."

You closed your eyes, enjoying his warmth. You'd fallen for him after all these months working with him, but you were too scared to tell him. Hank knew; he'd told you tell him. "Was that all I talked about?"

He shook his head. "You also talked about how you loved me." He spoke into your hair. "You said that you liked my voice, my sense of humor, and my hair."

You groaned. "I'm sorry. I-!"

He silenced you by pressing his lips to yours. "I like you, too. It's all good." He smiled, resting his forehead against yours. "By the way, Nines found out perp. He was an android Carrie used to own. She'd beat him and he came back for revenge."

"That's good." You sighed. "I mean, it's good we caught him, not that he was beaten and… all that."

He laughed. "Yeah. After you get out of here, I'm taking you home and making you soup." He motioned for you to make room on the bed. "For now, you're freezing." He climbed up on the bed and laid down, pulling you onto his chest. "And, I'm not letting you go. You're safe; now, try to go back to sleep and rest."

And you did fall asleep, a smile on your lips, you head over his pump, your own heart light, and, for once your dreams filled with laughter and love, free of the nightmares.