Chapter Four
Innocence
Being pissed was becoming a constant in his life by now. So was giving people the silent treatment apparently. Tina and Connor were now on Gavin's shit list. Richard, not so much, but he was still getting the silent treatment. Over the weekend, Tina had shown up on his doorstep to apologize for throwing Gavin under the bus. Or, she would've apologized if Gavin had let her into his apartment. Instead, he ignored her calling from the other side of the door. Which probably made his neighbors hate him but did he care? Not really. Especially considering that he let them get away with god awful noises late into the night when he was working. So fuck them. Pay back was a bitch.
The banging on his door had caused Mister Ass to lose his shit a bit. The cat had taken to hiding under his bed until Tina went away, after she finally got the fucking hint. She didn't seem to be good at picking up on those. That was something they could work on. Maybe. If Gavin ever forgave her. When she hadn't been at his doorstep, Tina had repeatedly sent her apologies over text message. Again, he promptly ignored her. He realized he was probably being petty midday Sunday. But damn it, Gavin could be a petty bitch if he wanted to be. That whole situation could've been avoided if she just fucking respected his privacy. So, in his mind, she deserved this and so much more. She was lucky he was just ignoring her.
Connor hadn't been so insistent with his apologies. The android had managed to catch Gavin alone a few times. Those few times Gavin ignored him, sometimes shoulder checking him, before the detective went on his way. So Connor just gave the man his space. If the two were in the break room, Connor either excused himself or Gavin just flat out ignored his existence. If Connor needed something, he went to Richard instead of him. Which, honestly, Gavin was grateful for.
Tension was incredibly high within the precinct, however. So dense that you could probably cut it with a knife. The other officers were just waiting for something to happen. It was the calm before the storm. And Gavin was right smack in the center of it. So while he was busy ignoring and avoided Tina, Connor, and Richard; everyone else was busy avoiding him. Like they were scared that they'd be subject to the extent of his rage or something. Gavin was not a ticking time bomb threatening to blow…Okay, maybe he was. But this was different. Different in the sense that he did nothing wrong and everyone else were the ones that were responsible. For the most part. Alright, so he did everything wrong and it was all his fault. But fuck if he knew how to fix it. Besides, it's not like the other officers didn't already make up excuses to avoid him. He knew he wasn't liked in the precinct. Pretty much hated in fact. So if everyone was standing a foot further away from him than they usually did, it wasn't any different than how they usually treated him.
Another day of avoiding and being avoided. He didn't know why, but for some reason, it was damn near exhausting to be at work now. He'd go to bed tired, wake up tired, and go to work only to come back from his shift feeling worse than when he went in. He might be getting sick or something. It was already December, snow filling the streets of Detroit with icy winds that cut through even the best of winter coats. 'Twas the season for colds and flues to run rampant. Usually he was good about not getting sick though. Gavin made sure to get his flu shot every year. He had gotten it once. Fucking hated it. Did not want a repeat of it, thank you very much.
He had just gotten done with a rather hot and steamy shower. Mister Ass was happily fed, laying over one of the heating vents in the apartment because 'cat.' That's what they did. Gavin was towel drying his hair, having just slipped into sweat pants when his phone had started to ring. He hefted a big sigh as he went over to answer it, already knowing who it was before he even looked at the damned thing.
"Just send me the address, I'll be there," he answered, already moving into his bedroom to change back into jeans.
"Anderson and Connor will be meeting you there. Try to play nice," Fowler said gruffly before ending the call. At least his boss had warned him. But why was Hank being sent as well? Must've been real bad then. Gavin hurriedly slipped on the first thing he could find, a long sleeved shirt and the jeans he had worn that day, and made his way out of his apartment to his car.
The house already had two police cars out front, red and blue lights flashing against the white snow of the yard. Yellow holographic tape separated the house from the rest of the neighborhood, like it would somehow protect everyone else from whatever horrors that laid beyond that front door. The yellow hue from the tape did not mingle well with the red and blue from the cars. Gavin stepped out of his car, immediately regretting not putting on a warmer shirt. It was starting to snow again, having started halfway enroute to the crime scene. His hair was still wet, not soaking but definitely damp. He wished he also threw on a beanie or something. He had not thought this through when he scurried out of his apartment. He burrowed his chin into his scarf and jacket, trying to keep as warm as possible given the situation.
Richard was standing beside the door, because of course it had gotten there first. Chris was standing beside it, appearing to be conversing with the android. Most likely about the case. Or his kid. Wasn't he a year old by now? Poor Chris, having to entertain Richard though. Well lucky for him, Gavin was to the rescue. The detective walked right up to the two, causing Chris to stop midsentence to look over to him. "Reed," He greeted with a nod.
"Miller."
"Bad timing huh? I was just about to sit down and eat with the family." Gavin hummed absently at the admition. "Speaking of which, have you eaten yet?"
Gavin cocked an eyebrow at him. "No?"
Chris nodded his head. "That's probably for the best." He then led them inside.
He was quite happy he hadn't eaten yet. In the dining room, the hardwood flooring was soaked with blood. The smell alone from the sheer amount of it made Gavin gag slightly. He tried to pull his scarf over his mouth and nose to help dilute the smell. It did not help. The table was turned over, shattered plates and glasses decorating the floor through the blood. Like a fucked up rendition of the sky and it's constellations. The table was turned in such a way that all he could see from the entrance of the room was a lone hand and wrist poking out from behind it. Very classical murder/mystery movie style. Only, the worse he had yet to see until he had stepped into the room to see the body that was hidden by the table. He let go of his scarf to put his hand over his mouth, immediately having to fight the urge the vomit. "Fucking Christ," he mumbled into his palm.
The hand and wrist had belonged to a woman, but they were attached to the body of a man. He lay there with his head down. Or, it should have been face down in the blood, had his neck not been snapped to be facing the complete opposite of what it should've been. Chest against the blood soaked floor, Gavin couldn't help but note that his head wasn't the only thing facing the wrong way. One leg was twisted at such an angle that his foot was sticking up when it should not have been. His other leg was just missing. Like it was crudely ripped from his body, the fraying of his pants hiding the torn muscle, ligaments, and vessels that most likely dangled from the wound. He stepped even closer, swallowing hard as his eyes took in every detail carefully. Now that he was closer, he could see that the arm was attached to the body with thread. Like someone had tried to sew the hand and wrist that had been ripped off at the elbow back to this body. And his leg wasn't bent at an odd angle. Much like the arm, it was sewn onto the body backwards. Only, it wasn't his leg. The skin color didn't match. Petite and slim, like the wrist. It was a female leg. Before he could crouch by the body to examine it more, Chris stepped beside him.
"It gets worse," Chris warned him as he gestured to the kitchen that was right beside the dining room. Gavin turned to look, immediately having to look away. A woman was against the far cabinets, in front of the sink with her back to the wood. Blood soaked her shirt and skirt, much like the man. The only difference was that her chest was open. Intestines spilled in her lap, a few ribs being shown the light of day when they shouldn't be. Chunks of skin were missing from her chest, exposing more of her ribs, like something or someone had literally tried to claw their way into her chest.
Once he had taken a few practiced breathes, he looked back at the body. Both of her legs were missing. One was accounted for. But he couldn't catch sight of the other. Instead, in the middle of the blood in the kitchen was the man's original leg that the woman's replaced. Her arm was missing, replaced by the man's in a similar fashion. Only not as tightly sewn together. Whereas the man's new arm was pressed flush against the woman's, her new arm was dangling from varying lengths of thread. Like the person hadn't finished the job. Like someone was trying to make pieces of two puzzles fit together then they didn't. That wasn't even the worse of it though. Her neck looked like it had been torn into at one side. All the way passed the bone as her head was resting against her shoulder. The only thing that kept her head attached to the body was the muscle and skin that had yet to be torn apart. A brown head of hair just laid limply off to the side, in front of her shoulder in a way that it just shouldn't be.
And there was blood everywhere in the kitchen. The white title under his feet was stained red and pink from the sheer amount of it. On the walls from spraying, as handprints, and other impressions. The smell was overwhelming; not even breathing through his mouth helped. He could taste the iron in the air. He became lightheaded, stomach rolling at the taste that lingered on his tongue. It was like he wasn't breathing in any air at all, only blood. He felt ill.
"Detective," Richard was suddenly in front of him, blocking his view of the woman. "You appear ill, perhaps you should step outside for a moment," it suggested. Gavin just stared at the blue triangle of its white and black jacket as he tried to fight the waves of sickness that were passing over him. He had seen a lot of horrible things with this job. But this was something you just didn't get used to.
A hand on his shoulder caused his gaze to snap up to Richard's. "You're incredibly pale, Detective. I must insist that you take a moment to get some fresh air." Gavin swallowed hard, quickly nodding his head before he turned on his heel and made his way outside.
Being outside just didn't help, even with the crisp, sharp smell of a cold winter night. The smell of iron was still in his nose. The taste lingered on his tongue. It left him no choice but to light up a cigarette just to flood his system with another taste and smell. He was only just barely starting to feel better when he turned towards Hank's car. He heard it more than saw it as it pulled up to crime scene. It was always easy to tell when the Lieutenant rolled up anywhere. That noise that he always claimed was good music was a good indicator if there ever was one, blasting in the speakers of the car and leaking into the outside world where it wasn't wanted. It didn't take long before the old model came to a stop, as well as the music. Hank with the ever present Connor stepped out of the vehicle. It didn't take long for them to approach him. He was standing on the outside of the police tape. He had to if he wanted to smoke; the whole contaminating a scene and all that bullshit.
Hank looked more suited for the cold night than Gavin was. And Connor was wearing his usual Cyberlife jacket. He would question it if he didn't know that androids didn't feel cold like humans did. Their fingers didn't go numb from the cold like Gavin's were right now. The wind didn't bite at their faces and make their noses red like Gavin's was. Long story short, Gavin was miserable in the cold. He really should've put on better clothing. He gave a nod of greeting to Hank. When he passed his gaze over to Connor, the android refused to meet his eyes. Instead he casted his gaze to the ground. Good. It pleased Gavin, more than it probably should have, that Connor was still feeling guilty over the accusations. As he should. Fucker deserved it.
"Lil' early to be slackin' on the job, isn't it?" Hank questioned instead of returning Gavin's nodded greeting.
Gavin shrugged. "With Robocop in there, don't know why the fuck I'm here," he grumbled, obviously unhappy. But not for the reasons that Hank was probably thinking.
Hank huffed at him with an eye roll as he moved to walk away from Gavin. The detective brought a hand up to grab his arm to stop him though. He received an eyeroll from the older man, who also waved at Connor to go on without him.
"You eat yet?"
Both eyebrows shot up at that question. "No…We were in the middle of making dinner when I got the call. Why?"
Gavin immediately thought it was strange that Connor would be making dinner with Hank, but whatever. If they wanted to play happy little family outside of work, good for them. Gavin didn't give a shit. "Might not wanna go in there then. It's pretty bad."
Hank pulled his arm from the detective's hold at that. "I've seen my fair share of fucked up shit. I think I'm good." Oh well, no skin off his teeth. He just shrugged at the older man, going back to his cigarette. It either bothered Hank or it wouldn't. But at least he couldn't say that Gavin didn't warn him about it first.
Gavin just about finished his first cigarette when he noticed someone come back out from the house to join him outside. He only had to listen to the huff of breath and shuffling of clothes to know it was Hank. Without a word, Gavin dropped the cigarette onto the ground and stepped on it to put it out. "Told ya," he said was he pulled out another cigarette to light up.
"Yeah, yeah. Should've listened. Mind letting me bum one of those off of ya?"
The detective paused in lighting the cigarette between his lips to stare at Hank questioningly. "Didn't you quit?"
Hank nodded. "Yeah, but that stench was just awful." Gavin couldn't help but hum in agreement. Since he was feeling oddly generous, and didn't mind the company so he wasn't outside freezing his ass off alone, he held the pack out to Hank for him to take one. "Thanks. Just don't tell Connor." After Gavin lit his, Hank took the lighter to light his own.
Gavin couldn't help but snort at the man. "Oh, I'll try to refrain on our next lunch date." The two were then smoking outside together. Well it was more like Gavin was smoking. Hank took one puff as just held it between his lips for a few moments. Not that he was one to tell anybody how to smoke but he couldn't help but be irritated that Hank was letting a smoke go to waste. He should've said no.
He then pulled the cigarette away from his mouth after taking a small puff in with a breath. "He is sorry," he said as he exhaled.
Gavin simply hummed around his own cigarette. "And?" Honestly, he didn't know why Hank thought he cared. He didn't.
"Well he'd tell you himself if you'd let him. Since you won't," he paused to take a short puff, "thought it might help hearing it from me." It didn't. Gavin just flicked the ash that was collecting at the tip, watching it fall and mingle with the snow on the ground. There was a moment's pause. Then another. "He was just doing his job."
"The fuck he was," Gavin snapped. He glared over at Hank, who easily met his eyes with a determined look.
"Come on Reed, you know you would've done the same thing if it was someone else! You were acting all sorts of strange, all twitchy. It was suspicious! And instead of assuming one way or the other, Connor did the smart thing, what any good cop would do, and asked you about it."
Gavin growled. "He thought I raped someone! How would you feel if you were accused of that!?" He rounded on the other man, bringing his cigarette up to his lips to pull in a long, tense drag. He didn't need this right now. What had he done to deserve this kind of treatment? Honestly? What god or deity did Gavin piss off?
Hank stared him down, not backing down from Gavin's challenge or anger. He had done this dance before. He knew how it went. "Better him asking than treating you like one." He would've rather Hank just smacked or punched him, with how heavy the weight of that statement hit him. It knocked the air out of his lungs, the smoke burning painfully as he sputtered. "He went to you, Reed. He asked you first. He could've gone to Christopher, behind your back. Or he could've just assumed the worst and treated you like a rapist. But he didn't. He let you tell your side of the story." He was making it sound like Connor was doing him a fucking favor. Had done him the courtesy of letting him prove that he wasn't a piece of shit like the people they put away.
"I could've lied," he sneered.
Hank just let that one hang in the air with a look that read 'really kid?' He knew it well. Gavin had received it quite often before he hit detective. Hell, he was still receiving it apparently. But the fact remained, he could've lied. But Connor would've known in an instant. Despite all that, it did little to make Gavin feel better. Hank dropped the cigarette, only two thirds of the way done, and stomped it out under his toe. "I've said my peace. You do whatever the hell you want with it." He didn't even wait for Gavin to respond, just turned on his heel and walked right back inside.
The detective swore after the old man, finishing his cigarette before marching back inside. He had work to do after all. And he was freezing his ass off.
"Who called it in?" Gavin asked as soon as the wonder twins had gotten done with their evaluation of the crime scene. He made sure not to look too hard at the bodies, lest he found himself outside again. His appetite was definitely ruined for the night. Maybe the entire week, possibly the whole month.
"Records indicate two calls were made from the home. One from Mrs. Kent that was quickly ended shortly after connecting. A second was made roughly seven minutes later from, what sounded like, a child," Richard was quick to answer, monotone and disinterested.
"Hold up!" Gavin immediately latched onto that. "A kid made the call and nobody thought to fucking look for 'em!?" How the fuck did the responding officers miss that?
"Dispatch searched the house, couldn't find anybody else," Chris was the one to answer this one.
Gavin glared at him. "Did they look hard enough? You can't fucking tell me that a kid called nine-one-one and didn't stick around!" Before anybody could respond, he ran through the house to the other side of it, where the bedrooms were located. He tore through the bedrooms like a storm, searching desperately for any sign of the kid that was most likely the prime witness in what happened to Mr. and Mrs. Kent. He honestly didn't know if the other officers were helping or not. He didn't care. He was a man on a mission. And he'd be damned if he didn't accomplish it.
He had almost given up hope too, until a quick scan of the bathroom told him otherwise. Under the sink of the master bathroom, he caught a glimpse of what he thought was fabric peeking from inside. Unease welled in his stomach, almost as powerful as that stench that caused him to go outside. Taking a deep breath, he braced himself as he stepped inside the room. He dropped to his knees and opened the cabinet.
Screeching immediately erupted from inside, being emitted from a little girl who was just doused in blood. Gavin threw his hands up in a surrender position, hunching down to make himself appear smaller than he actually was.
"Hey, hey, hey," he tried softly. "I'm not here to hurt ya. You're okay. You're safe. I'm a police officer. I'm here to help." He kept going through similar phrases, not once raising his voice or moving an inch as she slowly stopped screeching. Bright blue eyes stared back at him, welled with massive tears that streaked down her bloodstained cheeks. Her skirt was ruined. She tore and pressed and rubbed her hands at the hem of it; smearing, grinding the blood into the fabric.
He could barely make out someone standing at the entrance of the bathroom, most likely drawn by the screaming. Not that he blamed him. Poor girl sounded like Gavin was murdering her. Her body shook violently with trembled, her lower lip quivering in and out of her mouth as she took labored breaths.
"My name is Gavin. What's yours?" He tried.
"E – E – Emma," she said around her breaths.
"Okay Emma, I'm gonna grab my badge okay, to show you that I'm who I say I am. Is that okay?" She looked hesitant before nodding her head. Slowly, very slowly, Gavin dropped one hand to his belt and pulled his badge from where it was clipped onto it. From how he was crouching, it had been hidden between his hip and the meat of his thigh. He brought it up and offered it to her for her to inspect. She just glanced at it momentarily before more tears escaped her eyes.
"A – are you h – h – here to take me – me away?"
Gavin slipped his badge into his jacket's pocket, not wanting to risk any big movements. He nodded his head. "I'm going to take you some place safe okay? You don't have to be afraid." He offered his hand out to her to take. "Can't be too comfortable down there. Don't you wanna stretch your legs?"
She sniffled, wiping her cheeks and nose with her hands, effectively smearing blood, tears, and snot all over her face. She then nodded, taking his hand slowly as he helped her clamber out of the cabinet. Now that she was standing, he could see that she was wearing a dress that looked like her pajamas.
"There we go, that's it. Much better right? Not as cramped," he said, despite remaining in a couched position. His legs were killing him. He glanced over to see Hank, Connor, and Richard all standing there watching him with the little girl. "These are my friends. They're also police officers. Why don't you go with them for a lil' bit?"
She gave a hesitant look up at the three standing in the doorway. Her blue eyes seemed to narrow in on Hank though. "I like your hair," she said softly around her shaky sobs.
Hank chuckled a bit, offering his hand out to her to take. "Thank you. I like your pjs." She took his hand, letting go of Gavin's. Both androids stepped aside to let the older man lead her out of the bathroom, and out of the house ultimately. She didn't need to stay there. Not after everything that she had been through.
Now Gavin was left with both androids. Great, just great. He had to brace his hands on the countertop and heft himself up. His legs immediately started tingling after being crouched for so long. His left knee popped loudly, painfully. "Ow," he sang, leaning against the counter for a moment to let the pain pass.
"Detective?" Connor pipped in, obviously concerned.
"I'm good," Gavin's voice was strained, as he flexed his leg a bit. He bent it back and straightened it, before doing it one more time. When he was sure that his knee wasn't going to back talk him anymore, he moved to walk out of the bathroom, slightly limping as feeling returned back to his toes.
"Detective," Connor voiced once more. Which was honestly the most he's talked to Gavin in days. Gavin simply regarded him with a glance as he walked passed. Instead, he grumbled about how responding officers couldn't do their jobs, how they might not have found her at all had Gavin not taken it upon himself to look. "It was not for lack of trying on their part." He felt the need to add commentary to Gavin's mumbled breaths.
"Oh? And what makes you say that?" This ought to be good.
"She could've easily eluded the officers."
"How? She's just a kid?"
Connor cocked his head to the side slightly. "The responding officers were human. And she's an android."
Thank you so much for reading chapter four of Red Blood, Red Ice. I really appreciate everyone's patience with me on writing this. A lot has just been going on and I haven't had a chance to sit down and actually write this chapter in a while. I do hope it was worth the wait. It's not as long as I was expecting so I apologize for the lack of length on this guy. But sweet baby Jesus and all things holy was it difficult for me the write. I don't even know why. It just was. Hopefully I'll have an easier time with the chapters coming up.
Originally I was going to have Emma holding onto one of her parents' missing legs but I decided against it. It just didn't fit right into how I was writing the chapter. This was also my attempt as suspense/spooky shit - a messed up case - but I'm not sure how it turned out. Let me know what you think, and any areas you can think of on how to improve it. I live for suspense/spooky stuff, I just can't write it very well.
As always, if you'd like to keep up with my updates and progress, check out my tumblr: pennameab
And I will see you guys in the next chapter!
