Chapter 3: Echoes

"So you got yourself stabbed with...what was it exactly?"

Valerie asked as Connor sat down.

"A screwdriver," he said absentmindedly. He scanned his system again, but everything was running smoothly. So why did he feel so wrong? He had followed his instinct, he was just defending himself. "Yes I killed him but I was just defending myself" said Traci between sobs, her voice full of hate. But it was different. She… it was just a machine. Not a living being.

"You are soaked to the skin. Here, take this," Valerie said and tossed him a towel.

He caught it with one hand and wiped his face.

"Could you take off your jacket, please? Oh, and the shirt too, I need some access to that wound. Drop the clothes to the bucket on your left," she wasn't looking at him, busy preparing the tools.

He undressed quickly and watched her tie her hair in a high ponytail. There was some aura of sadness around her. She looked better than yesterday though, the shade still present under her eyes, but it seemed that she finally got some sleep.

Valerie turned to him and eyed him up and down. Suddenly she bit her lip and snorted.

"Is something wrong?" Connor asked, tilting his head.

"No, nothing," -is she blushing?- "I just… well, Peggy Carter came through my mind for a second," she giggled. Well that is certainly a first.

"Who is Peggy Carter?" he asked, confused.

"She's a character in those old movies about superheroes… Oh God, I'm sorry, that was so unprofessional," Valerie cleared her throat and sat down in front of him. "So, a stab wound, huh? At least it's just one, not twenty eight," she looked up to meet his eyes.

"You've heard about that one?" his eyebrow furrowed.

"Oh yeah, everybody is talking about the first android detective's interrogation," she pointed at the hole on his chest "May I?"

Connor nodded. Valerie gently touched the edge of a place where the screwdriver pierced through plastic, the playful sparks still glimmering in the eyes. Her fingers were cold but he didn't mind, the feedback from the sensors was actually surprisingly pleasant.

"It shouldn't take long, two wires are damaged and there is a small leak from the other one," she shot him a quick look "but for some reason you seem to be overheating just a little bit."

Shit. "That's probably because of the leak," he lied smoothly, trying to ignore the warning popping up in front of his eyes.

Valerie wasn't convinced, but decided not to say anything. She grabbed her tools and started working on the wires. As she was trying different angles for the best access, she occasionally placed her other hand on his chest, and it took a lot of his processing power to force his thirium pump to remain steady. What is happening? As he tried to divert his attention to something else another wave of flashbacks hit him hard – the blue haired Traci weeping over the lifeless body on the ground, "You've taken her away from me. I love her..." her voice breaking "I loved her."

"Connor are you alright?"

He blinked few times focusing on a woman in front of him. She looked worried, her lips pressed into a line.

Connor lowered his head. "I'm not sure."

"What's wrong?" she asked, placing one hand on his arm.

"Why? Why did you killed her? She had nothing to do with any of this..." echoed on the loop inside his head.

"Do you want me to run some diagnostics?"

At first, he wanted to decline, but he needed to know. Connor's eyes met hers and he nodded.

Valerie quirked her eyebrow and rolled her chair to the desk. She gave him a pad. "Place your hand here, please." She squinted her eyes as data flooded the terminal's screen. "Everything seems fine, as far as I can tell. Even the temperature is back to normal. The programming isn't really my thing, but I can't find anything glitching. What is your internal checkup saying?"

"The same." That's impossible. "So there are no sings of-" the word got stuck before it left his mouth.

"Of what? Deviancy?" she winced at the term. "No, you're not a deviant, Connor. Your system's boundaries are intact. Is that what this is about?"

He closed his eyes, embarrassed. He heard that she left her chair and sat next to him on the workbench. There was a moment of silence and then he felt her hand on top of his own.

"Why don't you tell me what happened today?" Valerie said, her voice soft and soothing.

So Connor told her everything. She remained silent, only squeezed his hand gently when he was talking about shooting that Traci and what happened afterwards. "...and now I can't stop thinking about this, I can't erase it from my memory banks because it's a part of my mission and I have to remember. But it's face, what it said… It's haunting me." he said and opened his eyes and looked at Valerie. She was blinking fast, fighting the tears, her lower lip was trembling. He didn't know why but he felt like there was more to her reaction than just his story.

"Oh Connor, I'm so sorry," she whispered.

They sat like that for a while, her hand still holding his.

"I don't know how to help you from the technical side, but I think I could try something else, if you're up to it," she raised her eyebrow, a shade of smile on her lips.

"Anything."

Valerie hugged him.

For a split second Connor was certain his sensors were about to overload. And then everything stopped. He embraced her, focusing solely on this moment. Valerie, tense at first, melted into his arms and stroked his back slowly. He made sure to save this memory deep in his data banks.

She pulled back. "Did it work?" she asked, a sheepish grin lighting her face.

"I don't think that's a standard CyberLife's protocol, engineer Jones," he said and winked. "But I think it did."

Valerie burst into laughter. "Yeah, but it definitely is a standard human protocol."

Notes: I'm not really sure about the previous ones, but I'm pretty happy how this one played out.

What do you think?