"Keys?" Richard cocked a brow.

"Got'em," Gavin patted his front pocket.

"Your handheld transceiver?"

"Yup," the detective lifted his blazer to reveal the radio.

"Tickets?"

"Yea—" the brunet's eyes shot open as he felt nothing in his back pocket. "Oh fuck," he froze, "The tickets," he panicked, "Where are th—"

Richard smiled as he held the tickets in his hand, "I was only teasing," he giggled.

Gavin let out a relieved sigh before nudging his partner's shoulder, "Don't mess with me like that," he shook his head, "Almost had a damn heart attack."

"My apologies, detective," the machine expressed with kind eyes.

The brunet grumbled in protest as the pair reached the car parked outside the apartments. "You mind driving?" Gavin turned to his colleague, "I—um—I just need some time to mentally prep for the ball. I don't think I'll be focusing much on the road if I were to drive," he scratched the back of his head.

Richard analyzed the officer, noting his fearful undertone and uncomfortable body language. "Of course, Gavin," the machine nodded.

The car was quiet; only the occasional murmur of the heater would cause the pair to glance at the under dash AC unit.

A few more seconds of stillness passed by before RK900's gaze shifted from the snowy road to the brunet who was biting at his lower lip. "Biting and picking at your lips could cause long-term scarring," the machine broke the silence, "It would be a shame to damage lips as beautiful as yours," he smirked.

Gavin's eyes widened as a light shade of pink spread across his cheeks. "It's a habit," he looked to the passenger's side window.

"I know something's on your mind," the android returned to focusing on the street ahead, "You bite your lower lip when you're nervous."

The detective sighed while crossing his arms over his chest. He stared out the window for a little while longer before opening his mouth, "Today was Travis' preliminary hearing," he glanced at his feet, "I was supposed to be there."

Richard's eyes rounded.

"I should've been there," the detective rephrased with furrowed brows.

The android shot a sympathetic look at his colleague as he parsed through the various dialogue options his processors strung together. "Gavin," he began, "You d—"

"I didn't want to see his face," the officer withdrew into himself, "I couldn't deal with that," he shook his head, "Not today with all this bullshit about to go down."

Richard stared at the detective momentarily before focusing again on driving, "Don't feel guilty about missing the hearing, detective," the machine stated with a comforting cadence, "You have every right to feel anxious about seeing that monster again," he looked to his partner, "But as I told you before, you have nothing to worry about. So long as I am at your side, nothing will harm you," he gripped the brunet's hand, "Nothing," he squeezed.

Gavin felt his face heat up at Richard's sign of affection.

"They'll likely reschedule another time later in the week," RK900 explained while preparing to make a left onto the next street. "Whatever date they choose, I will be there with you," he reassured, "You will not be alone."

The brunet lowered his head, humbled by how much the android cared for him. "Thanks, tin can," he mumbled.

Ten minutes had gone by. The android remained silent as he concentrated on maneuvering around traffic while the detective was dozing in-and-out of sleep. Soft laughter emanated from the radio talk show Gavin had randomly tuned into a few minutes ago in a vain attempt to stay awake.

Richard drew his upper lip between his teeth before looking to his partner, "Detective?"

"Hm?" The brunet jolted awake.

"Sorry to disturb you but I've been meaning to ask you a rather personal question for some time now," the machine gestured, "Seeing as I probably won't have another opportunity to ask for a while, may I bring it up?"

Gavin drew his brows together, a bit confused by his partner's request. He rubbed at his eyes and yawned before shrugging his shoulders. "Ask away," he expressed with a wave of his hand.

"What is Elijah to you, really?"

The brunet lifted his head, a bit startled by his partner's question. "Where'd that come from all of a sudden?" Gavin eyed the android.

"It's fine if you don't want to answer. I was merely curious—"

"We're brothers," the detective stated in a monotone voice, "Didn't you already know that?"

"Hm," RK900 knit his brows, "But the both of you are born in October of the same year," he glanced at Gavin with a doubtful expression.

"Half-brothers," the shorter of the two pointed out. "Same father, different mothers," he turned his head away from the android.

Richard took a second to analyze what his partner said before revelation crossed his face. "Wait," he paused, "That means that your father h—"

"Yeah," Gavin stated shamefully. "He knocked up two women around the same time," he dragged the corners of his mouth into a frown, "Fucker broke my mom's heart and tossed her to the curb."

RK900 arched his brows, "Your mother and father weren't married?"

Gavin scoffed, "It's a long story."

"Is that why you and Elijah have different last names?"

"Yeah," Gavin nodded, "No way in hell was I gonna call myself a 'Kamski,' so I adopted my mother's last name."

"I see," Richard stated, "I apologize for bringing this up again, but why weren't your parents married?" the android asked with piqued interest.

"Like I said," Gavin stared at the machine, "Long story."

"The mansion is still quite a ways from here," Richard noted, implying he wanted to hear more.

The detective let out a frustrated huff before shaking his head, "Ryan was married to Nancy—Eli's mom."

"Ryan?"

"My father."

"Mh," Richard nodded, "And how did your mother get mixed up in all this?" the android tilted his head to the side.

"My mom was a school teacher," the brunet explained, "She didn't even know Ryan and Nancy," he stated with a bitter cadence, "She just happened to stop by a coffee shop one morning and met Ryan there." Gavin clenched his jaw as he felt anger seeping into his veins, "Bastard lied to her about being single, charmed his way into her home and eventually slept with her."

RK900 continued to gaze at his partner with empathetic eyes. The machine wholeheartedly wished there was a way to heal all the damage done to his partner.

"My mom was devastated when she found out Ryan was married to another woman," the detective watched the slow-moving traffic on the other side of the street, "Nancy ended up moving out after she found out about my mother. She and Ryan hardly saw each other in the months leading up to Elijah's birth."

There was a bit of silence, before RK900 spoke, "So how did you end up living with Elijah?"

"My mom didn't want to raise me alone," Gavin lifted his shoulders, "Though I think we would've been better off if she did." He let out a long sigh, "Nancy immediately left after giving birth and Ryan was left alone to raise Eli. He approached Delilah—my mom—and apologized for putting her through the mess that he did and promised to stay faithful." The detective began biting at his lower lip again, "That motherfucker," he chuckled, "He told my mom that they should get hitched for the sake of Eli and I...so we can grow up with both a mother and a father."

"What happened?"

"He was a selfish bastard is what happened. Marriage meant nothing to that fuck," Gavin raised his voice, "He would go drinking and would sometimes be gone for days before coming home with the stench of another woman on his clothes." The detective's breathing became more distinct, "My mother was left to take care of both Elijah and I," he pushed off his seat and turned to glare at Richard, "And you know what's even worse? That despite fully knowing how much my mom had to sacrifice for him, Eli abandoned her in her time of need…when she got sick, he never visited her," his eyes began to water, "Said that his research was more important than the woman who raised him as her own."

"Detecti—"

"Not even once did he show remorse!" Gavin shouted, voice straining. "I didn't know about any of this shit until she finally cracked at the hospital," he stated with a few tears streaming down his face. "She was so convinced that either Ryan or Elijah would come one day but guess what?!" he laughed hysterically, "They never fucking showed up! I was the one who had to sit there and watch her deteriorate into nothing!" Gavin let out a shaky breath, "One day, she said that it was time I learned what had actually happened between her and Ryan. That was when she told me all of this…that I was some kinda bastard child and my father was just some disgusting, unfaithful piece of shit."

Richard shut his eyes for a brief moment to refrain from pulling over and embracing his distraught partner. He allowed the brunet a few moments to cool off. "I can't imagine how hard all this must have been on both you and your mother, Gavin," the android expressed with a saddened tone, "I wish I could've been there somehow to help you through all that."

The detective looked to the ground as he tried to calm down. He wiped away his tears then turned towards his colleague who was sporting a yellow LED, "Did that answer your question?"

The android lowered his lids before returning to stare at the road, his heart aching for his partner. "Yes, detective."

Another twenty minutes had passed and Gavin had dozed off into a deep sleep. RK900's patience was wearing thin as the late afternoon traffic in Detroit began getting to him. Luckily, the two were quickly approaching the mansion and according to the android's GPS, they were only about five minutes from the ball. Richard checked the clock on the dash and smiled as he realized they would get their roughly two and a half hours before the event—plenty of time to snoop around until the ball started. RK900's thought process was interrupted however, when he heard the detective mumbling from the passenger's seat.

Richard glanced at the officer who had a distressed expression plastered on his face.

"Please," Gavin whispered under his breath, "N-no," he whimpered.

"Detective?" RK900's LED remained locked at a yellow hue.

Gavin continued to slowly squirm in his seat.

Concerned, the android changed lanes to pull over and park next to a curb.

Gavin's sounds of discomfort grew louder and louder as Richard quickly shifted gears and parked the vehicle. Just as he was about to turn towards his partner, the brunet woke up screaming.

"RICHARD!" the officer shouted at the top of his lungs as a steady stream of hot tears trailed down his face. The detective gasped for air as he quickly scanned his surroundings. It took him a moment to realize where he was.

The machine's eyes shot open, his LED spinning red as he analyzed Gavin's pained features.

The brunet instantly sprang at the android's face, gripping RK900's cheeks with trembling hands, "Y-you're okay?!"

Richard blinked several times, as he tried to understand what was happening. He'd never seen the detective this scared before. "Gavin," the machine gingerly grasped his partner's left hand, "Everything's alr—"

Before giving his colleague a chance to finish responding, the disheveled officer pressed a hand against Richard's chest. "Oh thank God," he breathed out a sigh of relief, "Your pump is there," he let out a nervous laugh before his body began to violently shake, "F-fuck."

RK900 lowered his lids as he finally came to realize that Gavin had a nightmare. The android wrapped his arms around his horrified partner, "It was just a dream, Gavin," he stroked the back of the detective's head, "I'm right here."

"G-God damn you," the brunet barely managed to say before tightly embracing Richard, "Please don't leave me," he begged, voice cracking.

The android arched his brows, his heart imploding at the detective's request. "I'm not going anywhere," he promised.

It took the brunet a few minutes to regain his composure and speak properly again.

"What happened, Gavin? What did you dream about?" Richard asked, his LED reverting back to a hypnotic yellow as he watched his partner calm down.

The detective brought a hand to his forehead before slowly shaking his head, "It felt so real," he whispered.

"What did?" the android leaned in closer.

"I dreamt that we'd finally cornered John after having chased him down into the mansion's kitchen. Everyone was screaming and he ended up grabbing a hostage," Gavin explained in a jittery manner, "Before I had the chance to do anything, you bolted toward him and the both of you got into a fist fight."

Richard remained silent as he listened intently, his eyes darting up and down his colleague's nervous features.

"I ran to help the hostage but before I knew it, I heard you grunt in pain," Gavin swallowed, eyes filled with terror, "I turned to look at you. He'd ripped out your thirium pump. I saw him crush it in his hand."

"Oh, Gavin," Richard began, "You know that won't happe—"

"I had to watch helplessly as you inched closer and closer to death," he paused, "I-I…I hadn't felt like that since my mother died in the hospital years ago."

RK900 let out a long sigh while he placed a hand on his partner's cheek, "I promise you nothing like that will happen to me," he traced his thumb over Gavin's cheekbone, "I won't ever leave you."

Gavin took a moment to stare into the android's piercing blue eyes, his heart beating hard against his chest. He remained silent for another minute as he convinced himself that his partner was telling the truth. He let out a small, shaky breath, "Okay, Richie," he nodded, "I trust you."