She had promises from both of them that either contact her as soon as possible, let her know the outcome and they were both all right. That usually came in the form of a phone call, text message, even a ping. Instead, (Y/n) was startled when there was a knock at the door, and Connor was on the other side of it.

One look at him told her that something had gone terribly wrong.

"Okay. What happened?" (Y/n) gasped. She instinctively reached out and touched his cheek with one hand. Usually when she did that, his eyes would light up, ever so slightly. It was rare for her to ever see that with an android. This time, there was no light in his eyes, no pull back at the brush of her fingers. Just that same horrible dead expression. If he was replaced again God so help her...

She grabbed his arm and dragged him into the house roughly, slamming the door behind them; she waited a moment as he automatically took his shoes off, as normal if it were her house, then again took hold of his arm and pulled him along. "You look like my brother," she said, suddenly desperate to fill the silence with words. "Get in here. Sit down." She gestured and he obediently sat down on the couch. "You're white as a sheet, Blue Blood. What happened? Did you get hurt? I knew it was dangerous ." As she babbled, she ran around, draping a blanket over his shoulders as though it were necessary.

"(Y/n)..."

Her name, in a voice that sounded like it was being dragged over broken glass. It sounded nothing like the normal android. She stopped and just looked at him. He looked tired. Broken.

Defeated.

At a loss, she sank to her knees in front of him.

"Please, just tell me what happened."

He slumped even more, if it was possible, and refused to meet her eyes.

" A drug ring - they're circulating Red Ice to the nearby schools. There've been too many deaths. So I did some poking around, and got some solid intel. They set up a string based on what I found out."

"Okay, that sounds like a normal case," (Y/n) said, uncertain of where this was going.

Connor fell silent for a moment. Just when the girl was about to speak again, ask him further, he finally told her.

"Someone...died."

She went cold.

"...an officer, I mean. I'd rather...not. Everything was going well, but then one of the dealers came out of nowhere and he had a gun, and...then it was too late," he said. He fell silent.

"Oh, Connor..." she immediately slid her arms around his neck. "It's not your fault."

He made no move to hug her back. "How is it not my fault? I'm the reason they were there in the first place. I gave them the information."

"You had no way of knowing."

"I should have suspected! Or at least planned for it!" The RK800 model said desperately. His hands tugged at his hair. "And now his family..." That was the crux of it, in many ways. Ways she might not understand.

"C'mon..." She cupped his face in both her hands and drew him closer until their foreheads were touching. She shifted slightly, and her nose brushed his. "Every cop joins the force knowing that there are risks. They all went there tonight knowing that it was a dangerous operation and that any number of things could happen or go wrong. Or that they could die."

"But-"

"And how many lives do you think have been saved because you were able to get the police there to stop those idiots?" she pressed on, not daring to let him have a moment to protest and backslide into a dark place. "No one wants to die, mostly, but think about all the people they've already killed with their stupid drugs, and how many people would have died if they hadn't been stopped? One life against potentially so many..." She took a breath. "It is sad. It's tragic. But he died doing his job - protecting others. He'll be buried with honors and remembered as a hero."

He looked at her with those same bleak eyes.

"You didn't kill anyone. You saved lives tonight, Connor. Don't believe anything else."

Now his eyes slid shut. He took a deep, shuddering breath, and his shoulders slumped forward enough that (Y/n) was more or less supporting his weight. He was unnaturally light as she shouldered willingly with warm arms and quiet words. "I've got you. We'll get through this."

His arms finally slid around her waist, pulling her close. She gladly took it as a small victory - at least he was letting himself accept some form of comfort from her now, as opposed to the beginning where he was refusing it, probably believing he did not deserve any such consolation.

They sat there like that for a long time. It was quiet, comfortable, and would have peaceful if not for the black cloud hanging over his head over the events of the evening. He would carry this death, she knew, as he carried everything that went wrong on heists or operations. Always imprinted in his memory. His shoulders were strong, but even the strongest sometimes needed someone to prop them up.

"You're staying here tonight. Let me take care of you, just this once."

He was still a moment, then nodded once.

Relief swept over her, and she tugged gently on his hand. "Come on. We'll face this again in the morning after we've both gotten some rest." He did not resist as she pulled him towards the stairs that led to the bedrooms upstairs. It didn't take long to get him upstairs to her room. The curtains were open, letting in plenty of light from the full moon, so she didn't bother turning on the light.

A full moon. It struck her as fitting, somehow.

When she stepped into the room, she let go of Connor's hand. He immediately stopped in the doorway and watched as she puttered around for a moment, turning back the bedding and fussing with this and that. (Y/n) eventually slipped her jacket over her head, leaving herself in her jeans and a camisole, before she turned and looked at him quizzically. "What's wrong?"

He shifted awkwardly. "I'll stay here."

"No you won't," she said firmly, crossing the room and pulling off his jacket. It was like undressing a sleepy child who insisted they weren't tired, all limbs and wide eyes watching her move. Rarely did he let himself be manhandled this way, but right now he seemed content to just let her take care of things. Eventually she had him stripped down to his jeans and shirt - perhaps not the most comfortable sleepwear, but it would suffice.

The next challenge was getting him to lay down. He was still attempting to insist that he would just stay by the door, and she more or less had to physically grab him and bodily move him to the bed. Finally, though, she had him tucked in. He was on the side closest to the door, the best she could do.

Once he was settled and lying calm in bed, she sat down on the edge of the mattress, running the fingers of one hand through his messy hair.

"How do you feel?"He changed the subject.

"...I'm fine, really," (Y/n) said quietly as she shuffled in under the covers, pulling her arms around his chest just to make sure he didn't slip away at 'd be there for him until morning.

The morning. The morning would bring the news and investigations and plans for the funeral and more guilt. But it would also bring the sunlight and the promise of a new day and a new chance to help fix things in the world. This one had gone badly, but he had done so much to help people, and he needed to remember that as he tried to forgive himself for what had happened.

When she told him that, he actually smiled - it was the closest an actual true smile that she had seen since he had arrived on her doorstep. "I won't leave (Y/n)."

"You'd better not. Goodnight, Connor."

She slipped away into sleep quickly, an immediate testament to how exhausted she really was. But throughout everything, he did not let go of her hand.