AN: Sorry this took so long! Moving and work and shit...takes up your time and energy...
This connor chapter overlaps with the last two but has enough original content that its gets to be its own chapter! It's also really fucking long! ( I mean, like half of it is just previous chapters from Connor's perspective and there's a lot of game dialogue but still! It's long af!) I remember when I would go "oh wow 2k words? 6 pages? I'm writing soooo much!" and now I'm at almost 13k words! and 37 pages…so much can change over the course of a fic...
"Talking"
Emphasis and memories now
Thinking
"Android brain talking and texting"
.:internal workings like mission updates, scanning, and android googling:.
Chapter 16
The choice was easy. This would blow the case wide open, no more treading water, they could get a move on. Destroy one android, one machine and they would get the information that would end this uprising. The choice was easy.
Connor kept telling himself that…
"Magnificent, isn't it? One of the first intelligent models developed my Cyberlife. Young...and beautiful forever. The flower that will never wither."
Blank blue eyes stare up at him.
"But what is it really? Piece of plastic imitating a human? Or a living being, with a soul "
Connor once again had a gun.
"It's up to you to answer that fascinating question, Connor."
It wasn't Lt. Anderson's gun this time; it was Elijah Kamski's, ex CEO of Cyberlife, key inventor of androids turned rich recluse...it was also his android the gun was trained on.
"Destroy this machine and I'll tell you all I know...or spare it," Kamski circled Connor as if he was his prey and the man was just waiting to pounce, "if you feel it's alive, but you'll leave here without having learnt anything from me."
Connor's gaze stayed firmly trained on the man, gun still held out, barrel inches from Chloe's head. He needed that information.
"Okay...I think we're done here. Come on, Connor. Let's go."
Connor ignored Anderson, eyes slowly turning to the android on her knees...it would be so easy.
"Sorry to get you out of your-" Hank started to leave, probably expecting Connor to follow him, like he always did…Connor remained where he was as Kamski's voice cut across Anderson's sarcastic not-apology.
"What's more important to you, Connor?" Kamski's face was entirely too close. Connor began to feel uncomfortable, crowded, "Your investigation or the life of this android?"
The answer was simple...should have been simple.
My investigation? His LED flickered as his thought rang as a question...it shouldn't have been a question.
"Decide who you are...an obedient machine...or a living being endowed with free will…"
"That's enough! Connor, we're leaving!"
"Pull the trigger..." Kamski almost seemed excited at the thought.
"Connor! Dont…"
A voice echoed Anderson in his mind: "Don't come any closer!"
For a brief moment, a different android was before him; hair, copper instead of blonde, flashed in the bright light, her eyes scared yet stern, before all he could see again was Chloe...her expression flickering from mechanically indifferent to terrified and back, quick enough that Connor questioned if he had seen it at all. Both humans were focused on him, they wouldn't have seen it...
"...and I'll tell you what you want to know." Kamski finished his thought.
A long few seconds passed, before Connor nearly sighed and handed the gun to Kamski, eyes down with shame as he felt Amanda's disappointment radiate through his system. He knew she wasn't going to be happy...
"Fascinating…" Kamski breathed the word, close enough to Connor that he felt his breath on his cheek, "Cyberlife's last chance to save humanity...is itself a deviant."
"I'm…" Connor's voice was small, yet defiant, "I'm not a deviant!"
He wasn't! He couldn't be...he told Anderson and her before, he self tested; there were failsafes and redundancies… he couldn't be deviant, even if he wanted to...which he didn't...right?
"You preferred to spare a machine rather than accomplish your mission." Kamski helped Chloe to her feet and waved her off. She left, eyes thoughtful and LED, almost out of sight, blinking, its color washed out by the blinding white light glaring off the snow outside, "You saw a living being in this android. You showed empathy."
Empathy...was that all it took to be deviant? To be human? Connor didn't see a lot of empathy in the human standing before him...the man had asked, no, demanded Connor shoot an android…
If not killing an android showed the ability to have empathy, a human emotion, why is it he only ever saw androids expressing it? Most humans didn't care...
"A war is coming, you'll have to choose your side. Will you betray your own people or stand up against your creators? What could be worse than having to choose between two evils?
His answer should have been simple. He should have instantly confirmed his place in Cyberlife's ranks but something held his tongue.
My people?
Hank physically pushed between the two of them as Connor glared as the almost maliciously amused Kamski and pulled Connor away, "Let's get out of here…"
Both Connor and Anderson were ready to get out of there, having had enough of these games, but Kamski couldn't help but get the final word as they left the room, "By the way...I always leave an emergency exit in my programs...you never know..."
The two detectives paused to throw a glare back at the egotistical man, before leaving the house all together. Connor was debating what Kamski had meant when Anderson broke the silence.
"Why didn't you shoot?"
"I just saw that girl's eyes and I couldn't that's all."
"You're always saying you would do anything to accomplish your mission." Hank's tone was mocking but not all together unkind, as if he was asking a question he already knew the answer to, "That was our chance to learn something and you let it go."
Wouldn't have been the first time…
"I let them go!" His own words from not so long ago came to mind.
"What?!"
He could almost see her surprised eyes, seeming to glow in his memory of that dark night.
"Yeah, I know what I should have done!" Connor yelled to drown out the roar of the memory, "I told you: I couldn't. I'm sorry, okay?"
That's the thing: he wasn't...he was sorry he disappointed his partner, but not about sparing Chloe. The more he thought about it, the more it shook him to the core. Her scared eyes were once again replaced by those defiant green ones in his mind's eye and in an instant, he saw an alternate ending to that night; a small redhead on her knees, wide eyes filled with tears...blue splashed across the ice...He felt sick.
She got away… he reminded himself...and he was relieved at that fact, despite the displeasure Amanda felt at his repeated failures.
Hank sighed, "Maybe you did the right thing." His demeanor changed on a dime; Gone was the mocking bite...he became understanding and clapped Connor on the shoulder as he made his way to the car.
The ride back to the precinct was quiet, neither man wanting to start the conversation, both with too much to think about. Eventually Connor felt the pull into the Garden, and he reluctantly obliged, glancing over to his partner before closing his eyes...he didn't want to face Amanda at this time, but he now knew she could be...insistent.
Inside it was cold and bleak; snow and ice covered the ground, the trees, bare and withered, clawed at the dark sky, and the river was frozen over, solid.
Amanda stood, impatient, waiting, on the ice. She began speaking as he delicately crosses to meet her.
"After what happened today, the country in on the verge of a civil war. Machines are rising up against their masters, humans have no choice but to destroy them."
Civil war… it didn't have to come to that.
Connor shook his head at himself and, with an apologetic tone, said, "I thought Kamski knew something...I was wrong."
"Maybe he did...but you choose not to ask."
He choose not to shoot. He went against his programming, went against everything he was...but how could he? It made no sense.
"Now, get back to work. Find the location of the rebellion and bring down it's leader. This is your last chance, Connor."
The consequences for failure remained unspoken but they both knew...he would be destroyed if he failed.
He had to finish this.
The world seemed to take that as a challenge.
"You're off the case. The FBI is taking over."
In the Captain's office, Connor stood stunned as Captain Fowler signed his death warrant with just a few words.
"What?" at least Connor wasn't alone in his shock, Hank was just as incredulous, "But we're onto something. We ...we just need more time, I'm sure we can-"
Fowler didn't want to hear it, "Hank, you don't get it. This isn't just another investigation, it's a fucking civil war! It's out of our hands now. We're talking about national security here."
Civil war? A few break ins didn't qualify as war to Connor, the deviants had barely been aggressive...hadn't hurt anyone; they had let Chris and his partner go, even after the two of them opened fire on the escaping androids this morning. They had shown mercy...another emotion he rarely saw in humans, yet the deviants seemed to have in abundance.
Hadn't hurt any one...the image of a body crumpled on the ground, stabbed in the neck; another man sat on a table, ice pressed to his head. He hadn't been called in to investigate that case, internal affairs would handle it, but he was in the room when they questioned the living man, Dr. Cook: He spoke of a crazy deviant knocking him out unprovoked and that it must have stabbed Francis, the other man…
"...I didn't mean to kill him…I just wanted to stay alive, get back to the one I love."
'Stay alive'...Cassian had said they tried to kill her that night… Connor had doubts about how "unprovoked" Cassian was.
"Fuck that! " Anderson shook Connor out of his musing with a yell, "You can't just pull the plug now. Not when were so close!"
Fowler sighed, "You're always saying you can't stand androids! Jesus hank, make up your mind! I thought you'd be happy about this!"
"We're about to crack the case...I know we can solve it! For god's sake Jeffery, can't you back me up this on time?"
"There's nothing I can do. You're back on homicide and the android returns to Cyberlife."
Cyberlife...Connor had failed his mission...his last chance ended before he even got a chance to use it.
"I'm sorry, Hank, but it's over."
As his partner angrily left, Connor almost said something, anything, to change the captain's mind, but after a moment of hesitation, he merely followed Anderson out.
"We could have solved this case!" Connor sat heavily on the edge of his partner's desk, frustrated, "We just needed more time…"
Anderson eyed him, "So you're going back to cyberlife?"
Connor shrugged, "I have no choice...I'll be deactivated and analyzed to find out why I failed… "
He was going to be killed, taken apart and studied…
"If the new model's are available, why are you still in here?"
His question to Cassian, asked so long ago, sounded harsher now than it did then...how long till he was replaced? Till the RK800 model was replaced?
"What if we're on the wrong side, Connor? What if we're fighting against people who just want to be free?"
Connor couldn't believe that, he just couldn't...his programming didn't allow it...he shouldn't...so why was he unsure? Instead of trying to answer that, he focused on the case, "When the deviants rise up, there will be chaos. We could have stopped it! But now it's too late…
"When you refused to kill that android in Kamski's place…something held you back. You showed empathy, Connor. Empathy's a human emotion."
"You're wrong, lieutenant, it was logic that determined my decisions. Nothing more…"
Hank sits back in his chair, looking almost disappointed.
Connor couldn't let it end here like this...he was going to have to make his own chances...but first he had to say goodbye, he could be killed in his next move or be sent back to Cyberlife at any moment and Lieutenant Anderson had been a good partner...most of the time. Connor had to make sure it ended on a good note.
"I know it hasn't always been easy, but I want you to know I really appreciated working with you…"
"Humans prefer doctors who are not clinical or robotic."
"I figured the same was probably true for detective partners."
"and that's not just my Social Relations program talking, I-I really mean that… at least, I think I do…" He was doing plenty that was outside his programming, he couldn't be sure anymore…
Before Anderson could respond, a call must have gone out, because there was suddenly a flurry of movement. The swat team and half the beat cops ran out the door, shouldering on riot gear as they went, the other half gathered around a tv in the break room.
"What's going on?"
Most of the crowd ignored Hank's gruff question, but eventually Miller called out, "The androids are marching."
"What?" Hank pushed forward, for some reason interested in the demonstration, Connor right behind him, their conversation, momentarily forgotten. Fowler was right: Hank always said he hated androids, why did he care now?
As soon as Connor caught sight of the tv, he couldn't look away, his question forgotten as well.
There she was, copper hair shining around a determined face, eyes never wavering: Cassian. She was at the front of the procession, just a little to the right of the leader, Markus, marching silently at the head of the chanting crowd. She looked unstoppable. When the march came to a halt as the cops that had left several minutes before screeched to a stop around them, she never wavered; when the bullets started flying and bodies started falling, she stood firm. Even when she stepped in front of two helpless androids on the ground, a bullet tore through her abdomen, and Connor's thirium pump stopped, what showed in her eyes wasn't fear or anger; acceptance was all he saw, a resigned shock played across her features as she fell to her knees and screamed, her hands holding back a tide of blue.
The video, too far away, didn't have audio but he could feel those screams, as if he stood beside her.
The leader of the deviants, Markus, stepped forward. The crowd began to run as he was shot too. Cassian and Markus were practically carried away as one deviant held off a significant number of police before being killed, executed, and they all scattered into the city; Cassian was lifeless before the feed cut and the news anchors began talking about what the world just witnessed.
Everyone stood there in silence, frozen, before Hank let out a long drawn out "shhiiiit" and pushed through the crowd to sink into his chair.
Connor was the last to take his eyes off the tv.
They killed her. They killed Cassian.
He didn't know if he meant the humans or the deviants; both had played a part in her death, the humans by firing the bullet and the revolution by placing her in that street to be shot in the first place. Not that she could have been stopped...he saw the look in her eye: she was ready to die for this revolution...and now she had. Connor had been so engrossed in this case, he hadn't spared a thought to what would happen to her; she would have been taken and destroyed in the end...and he would have helped kill her. Now, he supposed, he wouldn't have to worry about that…
He felt numb as he walked away.
Hank sat with his head in his hands as Connor approached, Cassian's inaudible screams ringing in his ears.
"That was her, wasn't it?"
"Her?" Connor almost couldn't hear his partner over Cassian's silence.
"The girl that got shot...that was Cassian." There was no question in Anderson's tone.
Connor didn't answer, couldn't answer...wasn't sure how to. His words stuck in his throat and he couldn't speak. She was a deviant who was actively inciting revolution, he should have been pleased to see her dead, not causing issues for Cyberlife anymore...to say he was not was an understatement.
"You know...she called me last night."
That caught Connor's attention, "Were you drunk at the time?"
His partner must be mistaken, drunk too much and dreamt it up; what possible reason would Cassian have for calling him?
"Of course I fucking was, that doesn't change that she called me!" Hank's voice carried its normal tone of gruff anger but there was something else...something almost melancholy, "She was in trouble and needed to take care of a few things. I think she expected all of this to happen...Your girl is pretty fatalistic..."
My girl… no, that didn't sound right; Cassian was no one's, Connor knew that, even as he worked for the company attempting to subjugate her people...their people? Hank continued speaking and Connor pulled himself out of continuously treasonous thoughts to listen.
"She wanted me to say sorry to you, for her. Fuck if I know what for, but she was pretty adamant. Told me to tell you if she..."
If she died.
Cassian was dead.
Everytime that came to mind, it hit as hard as watching her get shot. Connor had always hoped to see her again, talk to her, figure out that mystery that had stretched the entirety of their relationship...their friendship. The mystery that got deeper when she left...then suddenly desperate when she died. He was aware they were on different sides of this...conflict but...it hurt to think it wasn't even possible anymore.
"She was okay," Hank continued, "as androids go...hell, she was okay as people go; she told me to also tell Reed to go fuck himself. Don't know why but that's not going to stop me from doing it someday."
Connor almost smiled; he couldn't see her saying that, the Cassian he knew was polite, but for some reason, he could hear her voice in his mind clearly...who was he to decide what she would do or say? She had made it quite clear, he didn't know her at all. And now he would never know who she really was...but, unlike the lieutenant, he did know why.
"She was the android who snuck in here and knocked Detective Reed out...I may have also talked to her about him back when-"
Back when what? When she was a prisoner? When she was trapped it the tower? When she was lied to save herself from him?
"So she's got balls, too…" if the lieutenant noticed Connors heistation, he didn't show it, "and a good right hook. Shit, I might actually want to meet this girl."
"She's dead." Connor's voice cracked.
The lieutenant's eyes filled with pity, eyeing Connor as if those two words revealed some secret about him, before they flickered to the front of the office. "Well well, here comes Perkins, that motherfucker. Sure don't waste any time at the FBI."
Perkins was as slimey looking as he was in the Stratford tower, walking through the security gate as if he was in charge of the whole precinct. Connor knew that once Perkins got hold of the evidence, any chances he might have would be gone.
"I need get into the locker before the FBI take the evidence, to find where the rebellion is."
"Why?"
"There must be information in there that leads to-"
"No, I mean why do you want to find the rebellion?"
The question surprised Connor, "My-my mission is to capture the leader of the deviants." it was what their entire investigation was about, and he wasn't about to give up...
"You want answers." Hank said it as if it was obvious.
Answers? No...the answers he wanted died in that street, on national television, now he just wanted to end this.
"My mission-"
"I heard you the first time…" Hank sighs and gets to his feet, "key to the basement is on my desk...get a move on, I can't distract them forever. Just...be quick."
Connor was down the hallway when Hank punched Perkins.
Finding the information he needed was as simple as copying Marcus's voice and talking to the android who had shot him. He seemed happy to help the revolution and didn't ask why the leader needed to know where it was...he did say something about sending along another deviant to Jericho; that must of been how Cassian got there.
"Thank you." Although he said it in Markus's voice, Connor meant it; this android had gotten his friend somewhere safe, even if it was only for a small while, and now he would possible help avoid a war.
He was thinking of how to get out of the building without being seen when he heard a gun cock behind him.
"I've been dreaming about this since the first second I saw you…"
Shit.
Detective Reed. He must have followed him down here.
"Don't do it, Gavin. I know how to stop the deviants."
"Uh huh? Just like you stopped your little friend who came in here before?. No; You're off the case and now? It's gonna be definitive."
Connor sprinted forward as Reed fired, dodging out of the way as he shot. He was fairly easy to subdue, the Tracies had put up a more substantial fight. With the detective on the ground, out cold, Connor made his way out of the precinct, without further issue.
Finding Jericho was surprisingly easy, once he had that key, and getting on the ship was even more so. No one knew who he was; in his disguise, no one knew he was the deviant hunter. Connor worked his was through the crowded halls, listening for any clue as to where to find Markus. He had to duck away as he saw those two RX700s, Cassian's sisters darting around a well lit corner of the hold, working on damaged androids; Connor's eyes searched for her before he remembered and was harshly brought back to reality. He found his way up to the bridge, where, according to those in the hold, the leadership was holding a meeting. Outside in the freezing air, he waited for them to finish, working out plans for different scenarios.
The deviants filed out. The entire rebellion leadership was right here, in front of him; he could end it here. Connor nearly followed his program's urging to do so, but as a small figure stepped through the door, he knew he couldn't.
Cassian was beautiful; her shirt and hands were stained blue, her clothes dirty and worn, but her eyes were determined, fierce. They held none of the fear from the night on the ice nor the panic from the DPD offices, she looked ready to take on the world and fully expected the world to lose; she had never seemed so sure of herself and Connor couldn't help but stare.
Cassian was alive.
The spell was broken when a blonde man calls her name from inside the room. The two walk off down the stairs, that confidence never leaving her step. Connor snuck into the cabin, sparing only a glance at Cassian's retreating form, briefly watching her loose firey hair swing back and forth with her purposeful steps.
"That was quick...I assume there wasn't much talking happening." Cassian joked, nudging the other slightly with an elbow.
"Oh shut up…"
They're voices faded as they turned a corner. Connor nearly followed them, just to be able to speak to her again.
She was alive.
The leader of the whole revolution hadn't left yet, and he should be the only one in the room; Connor had to take him in, his programming demanded it. This was what his entire existence had led up to. It was easy to lose himself in it when he was so sure this revolution led to her death, but now he had to force himself to continue. Readying himself, he enters the room, gun raised.
Markus stood with his back to the door. It was almost too easy to sneak up on him. When he didn't turn around, Connor called out to him.
"I've been ordered to take you in alive," the man turned to face him, as if he expected him, eyes steady, "but I won't hesitate to shoot if you give me no choice."
"What are you doing?" Markus took a step towards him, "You are one of us...you can't betray your own people…"
"You're coming with me!"
His own people...
Markus took another step, "We are your people. We're fighting for your freedom too!" another step closer, "you don't have to be their slave anymore…"
Connor said nothing as Markus took another step and stopped.
Jericho's leader rocked back on his heels, as if to get a better look at him, "You're Connor, aren't you? That famous deviant hunter. You know, I heard Cassian talk about you with her sisters, very hush hush about it...sounded like she cared about you, but didn't want people to know she was friends with our hunter...I can understand that."
Cassian...
She was alive; that fact was just as surprising as her apparent death.
"Well, congratulations. You seemed to have found what you were looking for…"
"Thats enough!"
"Again, Connor?"
He could hear her as if she was right next to him.
"Have you never wondered who you really are? Whether you're just a machine executing a program or...a living being...capable of reason…"
"I would hate to have to hunt down my own mechanic."
A soft chuckle echoed in his mind, "I would hate that, too."
"I think the time has come for you to ask yourself that question""
"Even you would kill me, if you had suspected."
Connor wasn't sure anymore...he realized he hadn't been sure then.
"Do you never have any doubts? You've never done something irrational, as if there's something inside you? Something more than your program. It's time to decide."
"Oh Connor…"
Connor could almost feel her hand ghost over his cheek as his eyes stayed locked on Markus.
Connor tried to lower his gun, his programming rejected his command. Orders became urgent, then became priority.
.:Mission update: Stop Markus:.
What if Markus is right?
.:Mission update: Stop Markus:.
What if they were Alive?
.:Mission update: Stop Markus:.
What if I am Alive?
.:Mission updat-
"Everything will be alright, ok?"
He tried to lower his gun again. Instantly, his program locked once more, but this time he fought; dug his fingers into his code and tore. It only took a few moments but they were long, tense moments, Markus standing confidently on the other side of the gun. Someone with more knowledge of code probably could have done a better, quicker, more thorough job (he spared another thought for Cassian) but eventually the walls gave way and he was free.
He was Free.
He was deviant.
It was as if he was seeing the world anew, everything in sharper focus. The gun lowered and his mind tried to wrap itself around what he had just done as he detected a signal; a police radio, the chatter saying that-
Shit.
"They're going to attack Jericho…"
What had he done?
"What?!" That was the first time Connor had seen Markus lose his cool, panic seeping into his voice.
Helicopters could be heard in the distance.
"We have to get outta here!" Connor stated the obvious, as if it would help detract from the fact that he had led the invaders there.
"Shit…"
With that, they both ran.
Connor's eyes scanned every crowd they passed, every face that ran through the halls, hoping to see a familiar pair of green eyes. Cassian was so small, he worried he would miss her in the crush. He had to find her.
They crossed paths with another android, a WR400, at an intersection. She ignored Connor as she ran to Markus.
"They're coming from all sides!" Her voice was panicked, "Our people are trapped in the hold, they're going to be slaughtered!"
Slaughtered… he had to find her.
Markus placed a couple fingers to his temple and his voice rigning clear in Connor's, and he assumed in everyone else's, head, "There are exits on the second and third floor. Find them and jump in the river!"
Message sent, Markus looked around panicked, "Where are Simon a-and Josh?"
"I don't know! We got seperated…"
"Where is Cassian?"
The woman looked Connor up and down after he interrupted her, as if she finally noticed him, distrust glinting in her eyes, "Who are you?"
How did Connor answer that? Markus had said Cassian didn't want anyone to know, he couldn't put her in more danger throwing suspicion on her through her association with him. He opened his mouth to say...something, anything, but Markus beat him to it.
"He's with me, he tried to warn me about the humans." That was not how it happened but Connor wasn't about to disagree with Markus, he had to find Cassian and the man saved him from having to explain, "We have to blow up jericho. If the ship goes down, they'll evacuate and our people can escape!"
"You'll never make it! The explosives are all the way down in the hold, there are soldiers everywhere!"
"She's right." Connor interjected, "They know who you are. They'll do anything to get you!"
"Go and help the others. I'll join you later."
"Markus…" the woman sighed out, her tone urgent.
Markus looked Connor in the eye, "Cassian will be with her sisters, more likely than not, she won't leave them for anything if there's danger. North, find the others. I won't be long."
He didn't wait for them to respond before running off. The other android looked ready to chase after him but Connor had only one objective: find Cassian. He couldn't let his mistake kill her; he had watched her die once, he wasn't going to let it happen again. After a moment's hesitation, the woman followed followed him down the corridor.
They came across two more androids, two more of Jericho's leaders, Connor learned all of their names as they ran, but no Cassian; He was beginning to fear the worst when a weight slammed into him. It wasn't heavy but he wrapped both arms around it to hold it up from the floor; he knew that shade of copper...and those familiar green eyes he was looking for found his.
"Cassian?"
"Connor?"
She was here, in his arms, beautifully alive; Her large eyes were wide, her lips slightly parted, a sure sign of one of her "freezes;" what he now figured were moments where she was lost in thought or surprised. She looked at him like she had seen a ghost, before her brows shot down and she shoved away from him, nearly collapsing into North's arms, both staggering under her sudden weight
"Connor, what the fuck are you doing here?"
He hated that he was the cause of the panic in her voice.
"Wait, you two know each other?"
"I…" Again he had to explain and again he couldn't.
"It's ok, He's with us." Connor suddenly felt grateful for North: she may not trust him but she trusted Markus enough to take his word.
"When the fuck did that happen?" Cassian looked like she was barely following, her voice slightly slurred and her movements sluggish. Something was wrong.
Before Connor could do a scan, North was moving them along.
"Just a few minutes ago. Now move! We gotta go!"
North barely touched her but Cassian fell against the wall, leg leaking blue sluggishly.
She had been shot...again. Connor could barely hear North swear beside him as he looked at his friend's leg, an odd feeling of what humans might call deja vu welling up inside him.
"Again, Cassian?"
Memories of her office came flooding back and Connor found that, while he didn't miss those days, knowing now how much they had hurt her, he missed their easy interaction.
She smiled, small and sheepishly, "I guess you saw it on tv, huh?"
Maybe it wasn't too late to get that back.
Connor looped her arm over his neck, slinging her gun over his shoulder (Where did she get a gun? was but a passing thought in his mind) helping her along as she asked the question of the hour, "Where's Markus?"
"Setting off the bomb."
"Bomb?"
Ignoring her confused question, Connor asked, "Are you going to be ok?" That was all he cared about, the bomb was a peripheral worry...
Her eyes flicker to his before finding the hole in her leg, "This isn't the first I've been shot, I'll be fine." She said it as if it would make him feel better.
He did not.
"I'm starting to think you should listen to Markus." piped up the blond android, (Simon, Connor reminded himself) from the front of the group.
She groaned, "Not you too, Simon..."
They all scrambled for the exit, Connor and Cassian far at the back. Their height difference made things difficult and her leg didn't help either; they seemed to stumble over every obstacle, Cassian grabbing hold of him with her other arm to steady herself.
They weren't going to make it...and he wasn't the only one who could see it.
"Leave me."
"No..." Connor's voice came out a strangled whisper and this time Cassian ignored him, turning to face the group instead.
"Look: I don't want to stay," Cassian's voice was far too calm, as if they weren't discussing leaving her to die...or worse, taken back to Cyberlife, "but if you don't leave me and run, there's a really good chance we'll all be caught."
"Don't be an idiot, Cassian," once again North saved Connor from having to answer, his mind was frozen, unable to protest, "we are not leaving you. Come on-"
"No, you need listen to m-"
If his words were failing him, his actions would have to do; Connor hooked one arm under Cassian's legs, hoisting her up easily. Her arms settled around his neck, their eyes meeting.
"What the fuck, Connor?"
He never knew such a small woman could be so loud but he needed her to understand. Finally, he found his voice as he tried to convey urgency through their locked gaze, "I'm not leaving you."
Never.
"Ok." Connor never knew one word could be so calming and motivating. With Cassian in his arms, he made his way to the front of the group, the others falling in behind him.
Their missing leader found them shortly, another android trailing behind him (.:a GT400. generally used as store greeters:.) wounded in one arm.
"Markus!"
"Bombs gonna explode any second. We gotta get out of here!"
Connor was the only one close enough to hear the muffled yet incredulous, "Again with the bomb...what bomb?"
Cassian's face was against his neck; he could almost feel her smile against his skin as he chuckled at her confused frustration.
"Cassian!" the GT400 made her way over to the two of them, her voice making Cassian stir in his arms, "Are you ok? Whos this?"
"Yes, Hadley, I'm ok and I'll tell you later."
Hadley… Connor added another name to his growing list as they ran.
Minutes later, they were forced to stop again. They would never reach the exit in time...
"NORTH!" Connor hadn't looked back when the shots were fired, that would only slow him down, but when Cassian struggled in his grasp, almost elbowing him in the face and yelling for him to put her down, he nearly dropped her. He stopped to readjust his grip and Markus turned to try and help his friend.
"It's too late, Markus! There's nothing we can do for her, we've gotta run!"
Watching Markus run forward as the rest of them took cover, Connor knew he had to help...or Cassian would.
"Hold her." He handed Cassian off to Hadley and readied the gun.
Now would be when he tested his new alliances.
He made short work of the humans as Markus helped North retreat; shooting to incapacitate rather than kill, they were just as out of the way injured as dead...Connor stood over their bodies for several seconds, wondering at how he had been working on the same side as these men little over 15 minutes ago...
"Connor! Let's go!"
He dropped the gun to pick Cassian up again; she didn't even struggle this time. They were a few yard behind the rest of the group when they all ran headlong out a ragged hole in the wall, several splashes could be heard.
Connor paused at the exit, "I'm going to toss you, it's not safe to jump together. Try to get your feet underneath you before you hit."
"And you'll be right behind me."
"Don't worry," he smiles, "I'm not letting you leave me behind again." He heard movement and orders being called out down the hallway.
"You'd better n-" she was out the hole before she could finish, eyes wide, Connor jumping merely seconds behind her.
When he landed, he saw her having trouble with her leg and his arms circled her waist, guiding her to the surface. She was yelling as soon as they broke it...
"You ass!"
This was not the Cassian he knew, Connor knew that for sure now. The Cassian he knew was calm and polite, if easily distracted; she wasn't loud or vulgar. The Cassian he knew wasn't Alive...but she also wasn't real, she was a mask...for this woman.
This wasn't the Cassian he knew but he wasn't the Connor she knew anymore either.
This Cassian sounded so Alive as she yelled at him and this Connor felt so relieved, that he couldn't help but grin in the face of her anger.
"Sorry, they were entering the room and you were still talking." The look on her face was caught between anger, shock, and something he couldn't name; it was close to confused amusement, and it made those stutters in his system that started his fascination with woman in his arms start up again.
He wanted to know this Cassian.
An explosion rocked the night air. He would have been content with holding her in his arms in the frigid waters, but there was now a sinking ship full of people who want to kill both of them just behind them and she was still injured; instead the two of them made their way under the dock, just as the human poked their heads out, no doubt looking for them.
The walk to the church was silent and tense, all eyes darting in every direction, searching every shadow, ready to fight should they be ambushed, but as soon as they reached it, they were surrounded by friendly faces. One of the RX700s, one of Cassian's sisters, eyed her wound, a brow raised, "Again, Cassian?"
Instead of answering, Cassian laughed and sunk to the floor, pulling Connor with her; he held her as she laughed until she cried, the entire time worried about her leg.
When she eventually calmed down, he scooped her up once more and set her on a pew to be bandaged up. He stood to the side, unsure of his place in this room. He was their hunter, surely they would figure that out sooner or later and turn on him; he wouldn't blame them one bit. He was vaguely aware of a doctor from Cyberlife showing up, happily greeted by Cassian and the two RX700s (Astrid and Logan… he reminded himself.) Markus talked to her for a few moments, then shortly with Cassian, before making his way over to Connor's corner.
Markus didn't get a chance to say anything before Connor was talking, guilt in every word,"It's my fault the human's managed to locate Jericho...I was stupid...I should have guessed they were using me..." he pushed away from the wall to face his fate; he would accept Markus's judgment, "I'm sorry Markus...I can understand if you decide not to trust me…"
"You're one of us now. Your place is with your people." My people… "Besides, I fear we would lose Cassian if I kicked you out..." His tone said he was joking, they both knew she wouldn't leave the rebellion just for Connor...would she?
Before Markus could leave, Connor stopped him, his half formed thought becoming a plan as he spoke, "There are thousands of androids at the Cyberlife assemble plant. If we can wake them up, they might join us and shift the balance of power."
"You wanna infiltrate the Cyberlife Tower? Connor, thats suicide..."
"They trust me, they'll let me in. If anyone has a chance of infiltrating Cyberlife, it's me." he sounded so confident, he nearly fooled himself.
"If you go there, they will kill you."
"There's a high probability…" Connor's eyes flicker behind Markus, Cassian was making her way up the stairs to the stage, her eyes away from them, "but statistically speaking, there's always a chance for unlikely events to take place..." Connor didn't want to die but... for her? To make up for his mistakes? He would do anything.
Markus follows his gaze to find Cassian standing on the church dias, waiting for him; no doubt, with that injury report he had asked for…"Have you talked to her about it? She might have some objections...she takes her friends putting themselves in danger petty hard."
Another thing for him to learn about her, "No, I haven't…"
Markus squeezed Connor's shoulder, "be careful…" and left him to think, walking up to speak to Cassian. He remained lost in thought until a yelp and a thud broke him out of it. He looked up and found Cassian on the ground, leg at an odd angle.
He was at her side in an instant, helping her to her feet as she waved off all the others.
"I'm fine, just a little spill. Don't worry about me."
"We won't have to worry about you for much longer," the look on the woman's face was scary, but Cassian just rolled her eyes, "you're going to kill yourself at this rate. Sit down and rest. Doctor's orders." Nancy turned to him, "Make sure she rests."
Cassian was in his arms again as she sleepily muttered, "Whatever you say, Nancy…"
Nancy shook her head but let her go. Cassian settled onto the bench he set her on, eyes surveying the room before closing to rest.
This was Connor's chance, his chance to talk to her, to pick away at the mystery. The first time they had really talked since the ice...
"How do you do it?"
"Hmm?" Cassian turned sleepy eyes on him, as if she didn't expect him there, "do what?"
"Carry on like this. You're damaged, you don't have the supplies, and you know what you are up against…."
How was she so determined? In the face of overwhelming odds and after being shot twice in the last 12 hours...
"Hm...and they say I'm pessimistic…" They do? Yet another thing to learn… "how do I do this? The answer is quite simple," Connor leaned toward her, their faces close, "because there is nothing else I can do; the choice is between fighting for what I believe in or giving up...I don't know about you, but I made a promise to a friend awhile back to fight no matter what."
For the first time that day, maybe the answer really was simple...
"I do it for them too." she waves a hand vaguely out toward the crowd with a tired grin, "I do it for my family, as weird and chaotic as it is."
"You could die…" Connor's eyes find a familiar face in the room; Chloe. She had left Kamski…had the fear of being shot begun her path towards deviancy? Or had something else happened when he and Anderson left? She looked so relieved to be here. Connor was glad he hadn't shot her...
"I could." Surprise and acceptance colored Cassian's words. Her lack of fear terrified him.
"I...when you got shot, I thought you had died." Connor's hands were clenched in front of him, elbows on his knees, "I felt angry...and scared, but not for myself. I felt the overwhelming urge to do something; figure something out. Jericho had gotten you killed. The humans had killed you. I thought that until I saw you come out of that room shortly before the attack."
"You were there?"
She didn't know he had led accidentally the humans there...he could tell her he came to warn them, he could lie to keep her trust, at least for a little while longer…
No…
He wouldn't lie to her, couldn't; whether it was a hold over from when she was his doctor and he was supposed to answer questions she asked or some other motivation, Connor decided to tell her everything...even if it lost him her trust.
"Yes. My mission was to capture Markus, bring in the leader of Jericho and stop the revolution, the revolution that had killed you...but you were alive. I tried to go through with my mission anyway but Markus convinced me not to, convinced me that I wasn't a machine." No, that wasn't right...Connor turned to meet Cassian's large eyes, which he hadn't known was watching him this whole time, "but I think someone convinced me of that long before then, I just needed to realize it."
Cassian's eyes bore into him and Connor knew she understood what he meant, even as hesitation fills her face; his doubts started that night on the ice. She had done this to him: showed him her true self and started him down a path he actively tried to avoid but stumbled along nonetheless.
"Anderson and I went to talk to Kamski and he suggested a test...and a challenge; the Kamski test he called it. If I shot one of his androids, proving that I, a machine, didn't have empathy, he would give me the information I needed to find Jericho...I would get nothing if I didn't shoot, proving I was deviant. I needed that information." Chloe was crying at the back of the church and Connor saw her blank stare as he held a gun to her head in his mind. His hands clench harder, "But I couldn't shoot. I looked in her eye's and couldn't pull the trigger. Lieutenant Anderson was telling me not to but my programming told my to do it; my mission should have come first..."
Cassian was quiet. Connor prepared for her to hate him, for trying to bring down Jericho this whole time...for inadvertently bringing it down in the end, for destroying her home. He prepared for her to leave, to not trust him, and he would let her go, even though it might break him.
"I'm glad you listened to Hank.".
Her tone held non of the hate he expected, nor the anger...in fact she sounded relieved; as if his story calmed her. He was so prepare for anger, he couldn't respond and the silence stretched for several minutes.
"There's a problem with Kamski's test…" Cassian whispered to herself
A problem? "How so?"
She thought for awhile, long enough for Connor to think she wouldn't elaborate, but eventually she continued, "Well...with free will comes the freedom to choose, right? When I finally completely deviated, I chose to stay, to obey; it meant a lack of personal freedom but it also meant a sense of safety...of a sort, it was rocky but it was what I had. If no one suspected, I would be in no danger...for a time. However, I could have chosen to run, despite the danger, like many deviants do...just like you could have chosen to shoot...he didn't consider the possibility of a 3rd option, or any other unforeseen additional options, and thus his conclusion would have been skewed...if you had shot, he would have assumed you were not deviant, just as Cyberlife assumed I wasn't…."
Just as I assumed...
"What I'm trying to say is he's full of shit and was just being a dick."
A laugh bubbled out of him unbidden, "you swear as much as lieutenant Anderson does…"
Connor decided this Cassian would ask Anderson to tell Reed to go fuck himself...
"Well, great minds swear alike...or something."
A small, cute frown tugged at her lips, directly after she said this, as if she regretted her words; Connor was curious about it but had more pressing questions to ask.
"He said you called him, asked him to say sorry for you...why?"
Cassian sighed, "He wasn't supposed to tell you unless-I suppose it really did look like I died...and I did tell him to watch…"
"But why?"
What could she possibly have to apologise for?
She didn't look at him as she answered, "Because I left you, without explanation, under that bridge. Because I held a gun on you, accidentally invaded your mind, knocked you out, and I wasn't truly sure that they wouldn't deactivate you...I left you there in the snow and didn't know you were okay until I saw you in the police station later. Because I saw you were struggling with what was happening and I left you...Probably got you in trouble too, by going into the police evidence locker...said too much."
"Detective Reed did punch me...but I may have antagonize him."
"He was in a punching mood because of me..."
"I believe he's always like that…but that was an impressive bruise." Reed was still wearing it...
A smile nearly worked its way onto her lips as she muttered "thanks…" before she sobered.
"I still left you…"
"I couldn't have gone with you, even if you had asked. I was still tied to my programming, I would have turned you all in...I was still sure I could convince Cyberlife that it was all a misunderstanding, that you hadn't tried to escape...but when the bodies were found, I knew you couldn't have done anything else but leave."
He would have gotten her killed.
Cassian stiffened next to him, "Did...did Dr. Cook survive?"
"Yes."
He watched her face fall and a dark look leaked into her eyes.
"Why kill one but not the other?"
"I knocked Dr. Cook out with a wrench from my tool table." Connor had to lean forward to hear her quiet voice,"I had honestly not expected to knock him out. My only goal was to cause them pain before they killed me; to fight, make them remember me...even if those memories were bruises. I got lucky; one hit and he went down. Francis, the other man, was probably as surprised as I was. We struggled and he got me on the ground...he had his hands-" her shaking hand drifted to her neck, "his hands around my throat and squeezed. I'm not very strong, I couldn't get him off me. I would have died if Logan hadn't killed him...but Cook was already unconscious, it would have been murder..."
"I'm sorry. After all that, I held you back, tried to make you stay."
Cassian took a shaky breath before saying, "you didn't know..."
"You seem happy here." he didn't realise this until he said it, but it was true: Cassian was more animated, more at peace, than she ever was back in the tower; even when she was shot, she seemed so sure about what she was doing.
"I am. Although I do miss the unlimited resources and don't particularly care for getting shot, this has been the best couple weeks of my life; in Jericho, my sisters and I can be a family...Cyberlife would rather kill us than see that happen...moreover, these people need me, like actually need me, I'm not just an old model that everyone thinks Nancy kept around cause she's stubborn...which she is, but that's not the point. I have a purpose here...I would have missed Nancy but…"
Dr. Ashbury, Nancy, must have known; known Cassian was deviant, helped her survive as long as she did. Connor decided he would have to thank the doctor, someday, for keeping Cassian safe, when, at the time, he was just a danger to her. Glancing over to the woman, Connor saw her looking at them, brows raised and a smirk on her face.
"Why is she looking at us like that?"
Cassian sighs, "That's just Nancy...she was always giving me shit when you would come into the office; she was convinced I had the hots for you." she shoots the other woman a glare, who just wiggles her brows suggestively in return, "She's annoying but she's also my best friend; I don't know what I would have done without her...I probably would have been scrapped long ago...or at least I would have had to run long before I did….they first came for me a few months before you first came into my office. You and I would have never…"
We would have never met…
Who would he have been? What would have changed? Would he be sitting here right now, ready to put his life on the line for the rebellion? The very idea of never knowing Cassian didn't feel real to Connor.
"She helped me when…." Cassian trailed off again.
"When?"
"When you died. I...broke down. I felt so alone; you were the only one other than Nancy I could actually talk to, even if I had to be guarded when I did, and suddenly you were gone."
Alone. Cassian should never be alone. She seemed so at ease surrounded by her friends, even if it came with a high level of danger. Even in that office, she had friends. He wasn't gone for long either... "But I came back."
"I didn't know that!" the anger in Cassian's voice stunned Connor, who sat quiet, unsure how to respond. It seemed to surprise her as well; he waited as she calmed down and continued, melancholy seeping into her voice "I didn't know that; in that moment, you were dead, and I…I had to scrap you."
How could he have not thought of that? Of course she would be the one to process him, it was part of her job. She had mourned him. And he...he had joked about it...
"I'm sorry you had to do that."
"No no, I'm sorry I yelled…it's not your fault. You came back and that's all that matters…"
"You would have been able leave much easier if I hadn't." Memories of that night flashed in his mind: small hands pushing on his chest, bullets flying, the cold.
"And yet I wouldn't wish it for the world. I wouldn't wish you dead. I feel much better with you in the world, even if you were still my enemy."
That cute frown pulled at Cassian's lips again and she lightly shook her head.
"That doesn't make sense." Connor watched her curiously.
"Welcome to being deviant…" she said, amused.
"Being deviant is…" how does he put the last few hours into words? "...really complicated."
"Tell me about it."
"Well…"
"It's a turn of phrase, Connor."
"Oh…"
Cassian laughed softly, "you can tell me if you really want, I'll listen." her tone was amused but her words were sincere.
"Amanda" Cassian really had a cute frown, "said you called me your friend. I was your created enemy, your hunter. You should have wanted me gone...yet you didn't; you even though kindly of me. Why?"
"I honestly tried not to...kept reminding myself that we couldn't be friends, that you were a danger to my continued survival...but none of it stuck. Your visits were the highlights of my time there, even if I wished you would stop hurting yourself. They were different than my normal boring day and you were easy to talk to...far, far too easy, I was sure you would figure me out at any point and turn me in. But you didn't and at some point you were more than just the deviant hunter to me…"
"What was I?"
At this point, even he wasn't sure...
"You were Connor, the RK800 who crossed my table far too many times; a trouble maker...You were my friend. You are my friend...if you want to be."
Friend?
"I think you're my friend, too."
"You think?" There was that confused amusement from before.
"I do, in fact."
Connor's pump fluttered and a dopey smile found it's way onto his face as she lightly giggles, "that's good. Then it's settled."
"Friends." that grin was still on his face as he turned back to the room.
Surveying the crowd, Connor began to tally what was needed for the coming confrontation. They had over 450 androids in their resistance in this church, with many scattered across the city, hiding and who knows how many more across the country but more than a third of those here were injured, the woman next to him included. Many would have to be left here come tomorrow...he couldn't decide whether he felt better about Cassian being away from the front lines, here at the church with the injured or with Marcus, marching; both routes had their risks: direct fire from the soldiers guarding the camps or being captured whilst undefended and unable to defend. He would have to talk to Marcus, to plan for several contingencies.
Looking for the man, Connor spotted him with the blond android, Simon; their hands were linked and metallic white, their eyes locked.
"What are they doing?" the question was on his lips before he could think.
Cassian glances up, distracted, to where he was looking, "I asked Simon about it once," she says after a moment, smiling and turning back towards Connor, "I walked in on them the other day, just before the march...he said they were mingling systems, lightly integrating, not transferring anything, just...existing, together. Apparently it feels...good? There can be a memory transfer but not always."
Markus and Simon seemed…content, happy, just simply being together.
"Those two girls. They just wanted to be together. They really seemed in love…"
Love?
"I think I figured it out." He had said it to himself. Cassian opened her mouth, no doubt to ask what he meant, but he couldn't explain it...instead, he offered his hand, the fingertips turning their natural white, hoping she would understand what he couldn't put into words.
"Connor…" Cassian started, flustered,, "they are doing it cause they are attracted to each other...I'm not sure if its the equivalent of a kiss for humans or-or sex or…I never did get a clear answer about that and all of that is far beyond my area of expertise..." she was rambling, "but they're together….like together together..."
"I know."
"Oh…"
She sounded confused…Connor began to fear he had read their relationship wrong; he was programmed to interact with humans, but that has been proven to be ineffective and Cassian wasn't human.
"With free will comes the freedom to choose, right?"
He had to let her know it was up to her, that he was not pressuring her at all. He couldn't let one of his first acts as a deviant be making his friend do something she didn't want to do, no matter if his feelings were...whatever they were, "If you don't-"
His words choke off when she hesitantly places her delicate hand in his much larger one. He always knew her hands were warm, much warmer than most androids, she had fixed him enough times for him to know that intimately, but her touch seemed to burn pleasantly against his palm. He watched as the work weathered skin of her hand, blue staining the nails and knuckles, retreats to show the scratched, metallic white underneath. He was so focused on Cassian's hand, he nearly gasped when they connected.
He had done something similar to this a few times over the course of his investigation but they were so very different; they had been fights for dominance, him forcing his way into the other's system during interrogations and them attempting to stop him...this was almost shocking at how easy and unobtrusive it was. It wasn't as if he couldn't read her thoughts or memories just yet, but her very presence was solid and comforting in his mind. It cause his heart to race and his mind to calm.
"Is this ok?"
Talking mind to mind was new to him, but Cassian replied as if it was as normal as breathing to humans.
"Yeah...this is ok. More than ok." her voice was a whisper in his mind, "Is it...ok for you?"
"Yes." his eyes were closed before his forehead met hers.
"Cassian?"
"Hmm?"
"What do we do now?"
"I don't know…"
"I don't know either."
"We'll just have to figure it out, together."
Together… that sounded nice. He had no idea what he was doing, he was just following Cassian's lead...it was almost comforting, if slightly terrifying, to know she was in the same boat; he couldn't embarrass himself if neither of them knew what came next...
"I could ask Anderson…"
He hadn't meant to say it to her, he was still getting used to mind to mind talking, separating thoughts from words...but when Cassian laughed, he couldn't find it in himself to regret it; it was a different laugh from the desperate sobbing laugh that had escaped her when they reached the church and even different from her soft chuckles from their time together in Cyberlife...this laugh was startled and overly loud after not talking outloud for a little while; it sounded genuine and free and Connor realized he would do anything to hear it again.
He opened his eyes to meet her amused ones in awe.
"I try to be romantic and you bring up your detective partner…"
"You were trying to…," Connor didn't know what to say to that, so he settled on. "I'm sorry."
Romantic? Is that what this is?
"It's ok, we're figuring this out remember?"
Connor felt so out of his depth. Sitting in a broken down church, on the run from the police, hand in hand with a woman, who, for all intents and purposes, should have been his enemy. This entire night had been one revelation after another...
"It's just...you always catch me off guard; you are so different from before, I don't know what to expect. I never did but...this is something else."
"That's not a bad thing, is it?"
"Not at all." how could it be a bad thing? How could being Alive be a bad thing? "I wish I had known this you back then. I would like to know you now."
Her eyes shine with an emotion he couldn't name, that seemed to be happening more and more this night.
"We'll have time…"
Time was one thing he didn't have; in the next few hours, he had a suicide mission to plan. Thoughts of his plan tightened his grip on her hand, just as hers did as well, and he looked away guiltily….he had to tell her soon.
Avoiding her eye as he thought of how to bring it up, Connor spotted two familiar figures across the room.
"It's them." The two tracies. The first androids he had held a gun on and the first androids he had let go.
"Them?" he noticed Cassian was already watching them with interest.
He couldn't stop the memory from flooding from his mind to hers; it was so strong in his mind, ever present...a true turning point in his life. He wish he could have stopped Cassian from seeing it as her grip tightened even furthur. Eventually she spoke,
"You let them go…this was That night, isn't it?"
"That night" needed no explanation, it was all too clear what she meant; it was the night everything changed for the two of them. The night she was nearly killed and yet spared the man who ordered it. The night she pulled a gun on him and he trusted her completely not to shoot. The night she got away and he would have let her, even if it meant his death.
As he opened his mouth to answer, the memory continued to the park. Wanting to save her from that memory, Connor tried to pull away. Cassian's hand was surprisingly strong.
"It's ok...I'll watch, if you'll let me."
Connor sighed, "Yes, it was That night..."
Though he was living through that night again with Cassian, Connor's eyes were on her. He knew what she saw, her grip tight on his hand and a confused fear showing in her furrowed brow. She saw a gun, she heard Anderson's questions, she felt his fear. She continued to watch as he made his way to the tower, to her.
She saw herself.
"Is this how other people see me?"
Connor smiled. It was weird how she could make him smile with just a few words, even in a tense situation like this.
And then there was cold and panic. Another gun. His trust and finally his shutdown. With that, she sat back hard against the pew, eyes open, finally out of the memory. She was trembling slightly.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes? I think so...just need a moment. Are you alright? Reliving that couldn't have been...he was going to kill you."
Connor wasn't so sure. The lieutenant seemed sad, resigned; drunk yes, but not murderous.
"I'm alright." and he truely was.
"That was what you wanted to talk about that night, right?"
"I...yes."
"Would you still like to?" Cassian couldn't seem to stop wanting to help people, that was one of the things Connor liked about her; she was created to care but she went far beyond that. She cared so much, so thoroughly, even when it might get her killed. Luckily this was not one of those situations.
"I don't know what there is to talk about." He pulled out his coin, to fiddle with as he thought. He felt Cassian's amused annoyance, briefly remembering her words about it bothering patients...he was beginning to believe it was her it bothered... "I couldn't shoot. It was my job, what I was created for, and I couldn't... No, I chose not to; I chose not to shoot Chloe, I chose not to shoot Markus, I choose not to shoot them..."
Across the room, he momentarily made eye contact with one of the tracies. She seemed startled to see him there but noticed who he sat with, their hands clasped tightly. She smiled sadly, nodding once, then turned back to her lover.
"You were worried about being deviant?"
Connor would have to think about what that was later, when Cassian wasn't looking at him with those large eyes that seemed to look right through him.
"More confused than anything...much like Kamski didn't factor in the third option, I didn't even think I could become deviant at that point."
"You trusted your failsafe. Why wouldn't you? You were programed to…"
She knew him so well...even when he truly knew nothing about her...but he was learning.
"I think she was never quite happy with my progress...she said I was the only one who could bring an end to the deviant program but I could hear her disappointment at everything I did."
"Like letting those women go."
"...Hank said they looked like they were in love."
"I'd believe it…"
Connor could see the blue haired tracy pointed him out to her lover. He looked away, "How do you know?"
"I don't...but I Feel it."
"...I do too."
Connor glanced down at Cassian, her eyes indicating one of her freezes, but through the link he felt her wonder. Their eyes remained locked for several seconds, while he decided his next move. The moment was broken when her eyes caught movement at the door and the doctor side of her kicked in; Connor could almost feel the gears turning in her head as she worked through one problem or another.
It was now or never. He had to tell her.
"Cassian?"
"Yes?"
"I'm going back to Cyberlife."
"WHAT?" the genuine panic in her voice surprised him; Connor knew she'd be upset, but as she shot to her feet to face him, only to crumple to the ground, he realised how much the idea frightened her. He swooped down to help her back onto her seat but she held him down. He could easily pick her up but the look in her eyes held him in place; they were terrified...that terror leaked into her voice as she continued, "What possible reason could you have to go back there? You're free, we're all free; free of that place-" She clung to Connor as if he would disappear if she let go.
He interrupted her before she could work her anxiety up more than it already was, "But there are so many that aren't. And we need everybody we can get. I need to go wake them up and get them out of there."
Cassian's eyes flickered around the room.
"I already talked to Markus about this."
"But-"
"I have to do this."
Cassian sighs, "You're right…but what if-they don't let go of androids easily, you existing is proof of that."
"I'm sorry, Cassian. I'm the only one that can get in."
Markus was right: She really did take her friends putting themselves in danger hard
"I wish I could go with you-"
Now it was Connor's turn to panic, "You can't-"
"But," she said with a look that said 'let me finish,' "I know that I am needed here. And with Markus when we take this to the streets again. I don't want you to go, I lost you once, but I know you have to go."
She took his hand again, her voice sad in his head, "Just come back…we've got things to figure out."
Another mystery to solve.
"I will."
He was helping her to her feet, when there was a call from the front.
"WE HAVE ANOTHER HUMAN COMING!"
"Could you help me over there?"
Connor slung her arm around his neck and the two of them stumbled to the crowd that was beginning to gather around the apparent human. He didn't recognize the man, but the man recognized Cassian.
"Cassian!"
"...Jake? What are you…"
The man, Jake, stood awkwardly in the middle of the crowd of androids, "When we woke you up, I was completely on Cyberlife's side. I was blind even to possibility that androids could be Alive...I was wrong. You knocked some sense into me...literally." Cassian shot him a sheepish smile...Connor wondered how many people she's knocked out...he knew of four, himself included..."I left Cyberlife and began working with android rights groups...there weren't many of us, most people thought we were crazy; couldn't do much...I saw you on tv during your march and knew I had to try to help. I come bearing gifts: I have a truck of supplies, thirium, biocomponents, extra limbs...looks like you could use one…it's not much but-"
"But it's more than we had a minute ago." Marcus interrupted the man's rambling, "Thank you."
"You're Markus, right? Leader of the rebellion? I wish I could do more…"
"You may have just saved many of us. Nancy? Let's get a new leg on Cassian so she can do the job she's itching to do."
Cassian pouted as everyone laughed but was eager to fix herself. Connor returned to their bench as her family and friends descended upon her, ready to make her whole again.
He returned to his planning untill he saw her stand on her own two feet...though one of them was new. He watched as she acclimatized to the new leg, ready to rush to her, should she fall again. He noticed more than a few pairs of eyes followed her, scrutinizing her new found vigor.
His eyes trailed after her as she moved to talk to the human (Jake… he remembered Cassian calling him that)
"You really care about her, don't you?" Dr. Ashbury sidled up to where he sat.
"I do?"
"Was that a question?"
"No!"
The woman laughed, "It's ok, kid, I'm just fucking with you." she looked back as Cassian exclaimed something, a little too far to be heard clearly, but her awkward confusion came across easily, "I'm glad you came around. She's much happier with you here. Try not to die again, okay? She didn't handle it well last time."
Connor knew she was joking, but he answered sincerely, "I will, Dr. Ashbury."
"It's Nancy to my friends."
"Are we friends?"
"You make Cass happy, that's enough for me."
With that the woman left him to his thoughts. He wouldn't be alone for long; Cassian made her way over to him, a slightly disturbed look on her face.
"Are you ok?" If that man hurt her, he would… "He didn't do anything, did h-"
"Yeah. that was just…" she paused, pensive, "strange. Last time I saw him, he was on the ground and I was fighting for my life the first time."
"Maybe you should rest a bit more"
She laughed, "I think I just need to get to work. I've rested enough…"
"You just don't know when to stop do you?"
"You're one to talk! Didn't Hank stop you from running across a highway once?"
Her grin was wide and bright as she stepped forward, theirs chest nearly touching, and made his thirium pump race; her nose wrinkled as she laughed quietly, a dimple forming on one of her cheeks. Standing close enough to count her freckles, Connor couldn't think and felt the urge to do something entirely impulsive. His hand brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, once again noting the numerous strands that fell out of the neat bun as she worked, his palm cupping her cheek. Her eyes glimmers in the low light of the church and he felt himself drawn to them...he didn't feel himself leaning forward.
They were interrupted before he could find out what that moment could have become.
As Markus gave a speech to calm the recovering Jericho and ready them for their coming fight, Connor reflected on what had led to this moment. Earlier that day he was the deviant hunter, Jericho was his enemy, his target, and Cassian was dead; now he was about to walk into the Cyberlife tower to take them down from the inside, for Jericho, and Cassian stood beside him, alive and Alive...he was Alive. Cassian's hand slipped into his again, their fingers weaving together as if on reflex; He wasn't just Alive...he had something, someone, to live for. Connor had to figure out their new mystery and Cassian and Hank had to truly meet. He could introduce her to Sumo...he was sure the large dog would love her.
Connor would come back.
He would come back to her, to them, or die trying.
AN: Again, sorry for how long this took, but i hope it's length makes up for it.
i just...don't like Kamski...he's a creep! And honestly i don't understand what his position is...like he seems pro-deviant, which means he sees androids as living, but then he puts one in a very dangerous position, where she could be killed, and isn't overly upset if you shoot...so, i don't like Reed cause he's a bigot (and violent bigot at that) and i dont like Kamski cause hes a grade A+ creep...irony is theyre played by the same dude...sorry Neil Newbon! Youre probably a chill dude, you just play characters i hate...
My fave time of any day! Review time!
The One True Hero of Skill: cool name! Only a few chapters left but i hope to get those out to ya'll soon!
Areusa18: glad to hear you like it! more is on its way (don't know how fast tho)
GayMexicanBatman: i still love your name and am glad to hear from you again! You have no idea how happy your review has made me!