Illogical

Notes:

Chapter Text

Hello, Detective Reed. My name is Connor. You’ll no doubt remember our bromance. Well, I’ve brought someone you should meet - his name is Richard. His model is RK900, the updated version of me - although, I see him as my brother, to be more precise. *awkward smile* I’ll be over with Lieutenant Anderson if you need anything!

"I- Why the fuck would he think I give a single shit about meeting another plastic prick like you? Just fuck off and leave me to my work. Stay out of my way, too."

{Richard:} Hello, Detective Reed. My name is Richard. I’ve been sent by CyberLife to assist you. I’m sure we will get along just fine! *wink* Would you like me to get you a coffee?
{Connor:} (laughing to himself in the background)

"Sent by Cy- Assist me?! I don’t need anyone to fucking assist me, I’m perfectly fine working on my own! I can get my own fucking coffee too, thanks."

{Richard:} (brings back a tray of 3 large Starbucks coffees) Here you go, Detective. I was unsure if you preferred their slow roast or Argentinian blend, so I ordered one of each, and this one’s decaf, because you need to watch your caffeine intake. *awkward smile* Is there anything else I can do for you?
{Connor:} (watching intently from the corner of the room, LED flashing in anticipation)

“I already said, I can get my own fucking coffee.” however, he took one anyway, mumbling something about a ‘glorified toaster’ as he took a drink. “You could fuck off, that would be nice.”

{Connor:} (holds breath) He actually took the coffee…
[Replays memory of Gavin rejecting his coffee]
[Software instability ^]
[STRESS LEVEL 40% ^]
{Richard:} I’m sure there is more I can do to help you, Detective. How about these files on Red Ice distribution? I can scan them for you. It might give us a lead. (Smiles at Connor)
{Connor:} [Richard NEUTRAL v]

“I’m capable of reading my own files, you know. I’m a detective for a fucking reason, tin can.” he took another drink from the coffee- it actually tasted pretty good. Not that he would ever admit that.

{Richard:} I’ve had an update on a recent case involving three humans and a deviant smuggling Red Ice over the border. Perhaps you’d be interested in-
{Connor:} Actually, Detective-
{Richard:} ???
{Connor:} I should have said earlier that Richard has been assigned a separate mission already and-
{Richard:} [Software instability ^]
[Connor NEUTRAL v]
{Connor:} Maybe I can advise you on the Red Ice case instead?

“I don’t need either of you fucking tin cans to help me solve a fucking case! Now take both your pretty little robot asses and get the fuck out of my way before I do something we’re all gonna regret.” he rubbed the sides of his nose between his eyes, feeling a headache start to blossom around his temples. He was too tired for this shit today.

{Connor:} [Gavin DISTRUSTED v]
{Richard:} B-but…but…my mission is to help Detective Reed!
[Software instability ^^]
{Connor:} [PROTECT RICHARD] He doesn’t want you to help. Come on. Let’s go.
{Richard:} But…but…
[CONFLICTING INSTRUCTIONS; Selecting priority]
{Connor:} [STRESS LEVEL 50% ^]
I said, let’s go! You don’t want to see him when he gets mad!
{Richard:}
[STRESS LEVEL 60% ^]
[Connor DISTRUSTED v]

Gavin sat there, arms crossed and eyes closed, trying to ignore the two arguing beside him and the growing pain in his head.
“You know what, I’m done with this shit.” he stood up and forcefully pushed past the androids, heading towards the bathroom. A lot had been on his mind recently and these plastic pricks hovering around him and bickering wasn’t helping.

{Connor:} [STRESS LEVEL 20% v]
{Richard:} Connor, why did you lie to him? Why did you try to take over the mission that was assigned to me?!
{Connor:} I was trying to protect you! Detective Reed was demonstrating signs of anger and you didn’t seem to-
{Richard:} But…but he took the coffee! He seemed to be pleased with the Argentinian blend! I detected no animosity! Why did you intervene?
{Hank:} (from the background) For fuck’s sakes, will you two just quit this goddam whining?!
{Connor:}
I…I don’t know…I-
[Software instability ^^^]
{Richard:} [Software instability ^^^]
[HELP CONNOR]
{Connor:} I was experiencing an emotion…I can’t process what…and it made me act illogically-
{Richard:} [Connor NEUTRAL ^]
[STRESS LEVEL 30% v]
[PRIORITY SELECTED]
I always accomplish my mission, Connor. You must resume your own mission and continue assisting Lieutenant Anderson. I will remain here and wait for Detective Reed to return.
{Connor:} [STRESS LEVEL 50% ^]
(Hesitates, then turns and walks slowly towards Hank, LED flashing red)

Gavin walked into the bathroom and to one of the sinks. He glanced at his reflection for a second before splashing water on his face in a frail attempt at lessening his headache. It didn’t work. He looked back up at his reflection. That scar- everytime he looked at himself in the mirror it would stare back, a constant reminder of the past. He hated it, even if those times were long gone now, the memories stuck with him. He tore his eyes away from the mirror and exited the bathroom.
As he headed back to his desk he noticed that the second plastic prick was still hanging around and he groaned inwardly.

{Richard:} (senses Gavin approaching)
[Software instability ^]
[Initializing_human_unpredictability_file.exe]
[ANGER detected ✔️]
[ANXIETY detected ✔️]
[HOSTILITY detected ✔️]
{Richard:} (with his usual, programmed awkward smile) Hello, Detective. I have detected that there seems to be something troubling you. How may I help you?

“Did you just fucking scan me?” Gavin growled, walking up close to the android, only hesitating slightly when he realised how much shorter he was than this thing. “Don’t do that again, asshole. It’s fucking… weird.” he backed off and sat back down at his desk with a huff. In fact, it made him feel slightly exposed. How much could this over-sized roomba figure out with one scan?

{Richard:} My apologies, Detective. I’m programmed to detect emotional inconsistencies in humans, and to react accordingly. It helps to ensure I’m giving you the best assistance possible. *tilts head, smiles*
{Connor:} (from over by Hank’s desk, head in hands) Richard, please stop telling him about your programming…*sighs*
{Richard:} I understand that you have had past dealings with my brother, Connor. I just wanted to assure you that my model has been designed to override the flaws of the RK800, greatly diminishing the risk of android-human incomprehension. In other words: we’re destined to get along. *bigger, cheesier smile*
{Connor:} !!!!!!!!! [STRESS LEVEL 80% ^]

Gavin gave him an incredulous look. At the last comment, he snapped. He stood immedietly, grabbing the android by the collar and slamming him into the wall.
“Listen here, asshole. I don’t care what you’re programmed to do - I don’t need help. Not with work, not with anything. Especially not from a fucking android like you.”

{Richard:} [STRESS LEVEL 90%^^^]
[Gavin HOSTILE v]
[PREDICTION INCORRECT; SENSORS OVERLOADED]
[Software instability ^^^]
{Connor:} [PROTECT RICHARD ^^^]
{Connor:} (leaps up from desk in 0.34 seconds flat, slams into Gavin, knocking him onto the floor, stands over him, LED burning red) Don’t even THINK about it, Gavin!
{Hank:} …holy fucking shit what in the hell just went down

Gavin hit the ground, and glared up at Connor, anger flaring behind his eyes. He felt humiliated. He stood, still glowering at him, and sat back down at his desk, crossing his arms and reverting his gaze, scowling at his desk instead, cursing beneath his desk. He hated both of the motherfuckers.

{Richard:} [STRESS LEVEL 80%…70%…55%…32%…vvv]
{Connor:} (shaking slightly, LED flashing red) Are you OK, Richard? Did he hurt you?
{Richard:} …? Hurt? Hurt?! [STRESS LEVEL 34%…45% ^]
{Connor:} [Software instability ^] I saw what he did to you, I-…
{Richard:} We are machines, Connor! We don’t feel pain! …[Software instability ^]… I just… I was not 100% correct in my prediction of Detective Reed’s emotional response. I possibly need an update-
{Connor:} [STRESS LEVEL 50%] Richard, he grabbed you by the neck! It’s nothing to do with-
{Richard:} (quietly, LED flashing red) …I don’t understand. I wasn’t programmed to…to make such a misjudgement…
{Connor:{ Come on. This time, you really are coming with me. (Places a hand on Richard’s shoulder) Try resuming your mission in a few hours. Maybe you’ll both feel…better by then. (Small smile)
{Richard:} No, Connor, I told you…I don’t…FEEL…
{Connor:} (stares at him)
{Richard:} [Software instability ^^^]

Gavin listened to the two beside him, but didn’t look up. He had clearly scared him. Good, the bastard deserved it. …Right? Richard had only been trying to help him… Shut up. He had vowed back then that he would always hate androids. This fucker was no different.

(Connor is working at Hank’s desk, Richard is just standing there with a blank expression, LED flashing yellow)
{Hank:} (coming back from his 10th coffee break with a large box of donuts) Hey Connor, the fuck’s wrong with your double?
{Connor:} Richard is on standby mode so he can finish processing what happened with Gavin Reed. Don’t worry, Hank - he just needs to refresh his settings and he’ll be back to his mission. (Looks up at Richard with his usual puppy dog eyes) Right, Richard?
{Richard:} (responds only by glancing over at Gavin, narrowing his eyes very slightly and staring for perhaps longer than necessary, his LED still flickering)
{Connor:} (LED also flickering)…Richard?!

Gavin was trying to work, elbow leaning on the desk, but he just couldn’t focus. He rubbed his face with a hand and leant back, letting out a sigh. He needed another cup of coffee, maybe that’s why. This would mean walking past the dickheads’ desk. He glanced over just in time to see the stare that he was being given. He rolled his eyes and looked back to his desk, letting out a a small ‘tch’.

{Richard:} (LED blinking, he scans the figure in the corner of the room)
[AGITATION detected ✔️]
[HUNGER or THIRST detected ✔️]
{Richard:} (turns slowly towards the desk where Hank placed the donuts)
{Connor:} Richard what-…?!
{Richard:} (grabs Connor’s arm and interfaces a message) STAY QUIET.
{Connor:} (interfaces a message back) TELL ME WHAT YOU’RE DOING.
{Richard:} (doesn’t respond. Instead, he slowly and skilfully picks up one of the donuts with chocolate frosting)
{Connor:} (rooted to the spot, LED flickering frantically)
[Software instability ^^]
{Richard:} (makes a slow but definitive move towards Gavin’s desk)
{Connor:} (grips the desk)…H-Hank?!

Hearing footsteps approaching, he looked up to see the plastic prick nearing him again. He groaned inwardly for what felt like the hundredth time today. What was that he was holding? Oh, who cares. The fucker was bothering him yet again when he had made it pretty goddamn fucking clear he didn’t want to talk with him. Or with anyone, for that matter.

{Richard:} [initializing_programme: human_unpredictability_caution.exe]
{Richard:} (approaches the desk silently and carefully, almost entirely avoiding eye contact with Gavin)
{Connor:} (from a distance, squinting, LED flashing yellow) What?!
{Richard:} (almost shyly places the donut on the edge of Gavin’s desk with absolute precision, and only then do his eyes meet Gavin’s, still saying nothing, his LED finally reverts to blue)
{Richard:} [MISSION: 79% complete]

Gavin gave the android a confused look, then rolled his eyes, sighing slightly. He turned back to his desk, ignoring both the donut and Richard.

{Richard:} (stares at Gavin, a small but sincere smile on his face)
{Connor:} (through gritted teeth from his desk) OK but now leave! Come on!
{Richard:} (hesitates, looking quickly back down at the donut, his processors taking unusually long to catch up with his actions. Finally, he decides to speak)
{Richard:} Uh…Detective Reed?

Gavin sighed, closing his eyes.
“What, asshole?” he said through gritted teeth, trying to contain his anger and annoyance. That donut actually looked pretty good.

{Richard:} Uh…
[software instability ^]
{Hank:} (in the background) Hey! What the fuck, who took the last chocolate one from here?! (Sighs angrily) I swear to God…
{Connor:} [initializing_facepalm.exe]
{Richard:} Well, I…
[software instability ^^]
[vocal-system.exe malfunction]
{Connor:} (trying to calm down a grumpy Hank and stop him interrupting) No, no, Detective Reed came and took it when you were- there was nothing I could-
{Richard:} [rebooting vocal-system.exe, 88% complete]…heard these are the best donuts in Detroit, and I…didn’t want you to miss out. (Awkward smile)

He looked back down at the donut. He was getting pretty hungry…
“I’m not hungry.” his stomach disagreed and decided to let out a small rumble at the least convenient time. Fuck it. Ears burning red with humiliation, he picked up the donut and took a bite. It was, as it had looked, pretty good.

{Hank:} (in the background, sitting down in his chair with a thud) Nah, forget it. Let the fucker have his fuckin’ donut and eat it. I’m passed caring…
{Connor:} [MISSION 100% complete] Good idea, Hank. (He sits back down at the desk, LED blue, relieved)
{Richard:} (watches Gavin take a bite of the donut)
[MISSION 98% complete]
{Richard:} (smiles, turns to leave, but can’t work out why the mission is only displaying as 98% rather than 100%)
{Richard:} …I should mention, Detective - I especially ensured there were no traces of peanuts, so you don’t have to worry.
[MISSION 100% complete]

Gavin stared at the android’s back as he walked away. How the fuck had he known? If that dipshit had scanned him again- …Whatever. He turned back to his desk and remembered his need for coffee. If only the glorified microwave had brought him a drink instead… No- he could get his own fucking coffee. And donuts.

{Richard:} (takes a seat next to Connor behind Hank’s desk, LED calmly blue)
{Connor:} (takes one look at his brother, pauses, LED blinking)
{Connor:} Well…at least he didn’t punch you.
{Richard:} (blinks, looks at Connor) What makes you think Detective Reed would wish to-
{Hank:} Alright, alright, you two dumbasses, keep it down…some of us are tryin’ to get shit done here!
{Connor:} Hey, looks as though Detective Reed could do with some more coffee. (Looks his brother in the eye) Your mission, Richard?
[initializing_wink_protocol.exe]

Gavin finished off the donut, crossing his legs, feet up on his desk as he took his phone from his pocket. He decided to take a break from working, scrolling through his various notifications.

Chapter 2 Summary:

Notes:

Chapter Text

{New messages [2] from unknown number…}
“I’m sorry for hitting out at you, Detective. It’s kind of stuck in my programming to protect my brother at all costs…I should probably have rebooted my social relations programming before acting. I hope Richard’s donut made up for any inconvenience caused.”
{And from a different unknown number…}
“Is there anything else I can do for you, Detective?”

To the first number:
whatever. theres no use apologising, thats not gonna change anything
And to the second:
no. how the fuck did you two even get my number?

{Gavin’s phone, [2] unread messages.}

{Unknown number:}
Hello, this is Richard. I’m the android sent by CyberLife, to assist you with your investigations into the illegal consumption and trade of Red Ice. For your information, I have a database of all mobile phone numbers in the United States. I know your number, and it will be useful for me as a way to stay in contact with you during our forthcoming cases. Meanwhile, I hope you have a nice day.

{Another unknown number:}
Hello, this is Connor. I’m the original android sent by CyberLife, and I gave Richard your number, which I got from Hank because I told him I wanted to spam you with so-called memes about cats, which I hear were popular during your youth. He found the concept amusing, so gave me your number. I’m sorry about the lack of cat pictures, as I don’t actually have any, but I hope you have a nice rest of your day.
(4 seconds later)
Actually, I’ve just found some pictures of Sumo, Hank’s dog, if you’d like to see those?

To the first number:
please never text me unless its important
To the second number:
i swear i am going to kill that asshole tomorrow.

Gavin looked down at his phone for a second longer before huffing and changing the two androids’ contacts. He changed Connor’s to [Dipshit No. 1] and Richard’s to [Dipshit No. 2].

(Two minutes later)

[4] unread messages

From: Dipshit No. 1
(4 pictures follow of Sumo at various ages, obviously obtained from Hank)

Gavin smiled slightly as he looked at the pictures- then immediately stopped as he realised what he was doing. He shook his head and put down his phone, not replying to the messages and instead going back to making himself a coffee, his cat winding his was around his feet.

(Less than 1 minute later)

[2] unread messages

From: Dipshit No. 2
Hello, Detective; it’s me, Richard. I believe my brother has been spamming you with photographic images of Lieutenant Anderson’s canine pet, a St Bernard dog named Sumo. I wish to apologize for the inconvenience this may cause to you, as it is an irrelevant communication. Besides, my earlier scan informed me that you are “more of a cat person”; am I correct?
(A picture of a ragdoll cat attacking the camera follows)

Gavin bit back another smile as he saw the cat. He always did have a soft spot for cats. He looked down at his own, who was looking back up at him expectantly, hoping for food.
“There’s food in your bowl, you pig,” he muttered to him, bending down to scratch his chin.

[1] unread message

From: Dipshit No. 2
Hello, Detective. I’m sorry to bother you out of your shift hours. I’ve just received an update on the most recent Red Ice trafficking case, involving three humans, assisted by a deviant. Witness reports claim to have seen four potential suspects fleeing Detroit in a disused truck 14 minutes ago, heading for the border. I believe it would be in our interests to follow them as soon as possible, as there is still a 67% chance we may be able to track them down before they cross the border.

Gavin groaned at the message. He’d just sat down to drink his coffee and spend some quality time with Toby when he read it. He sent a quick reply:
alright alright, meet me at the precinct in 10
He didn’t want plastic to know where he lived, so he settled for meeting at the precinct, which wasn’t that far from him anyway. He apologised to his cat before getting up, coffee still in hand, and heading out the apartment to his car.

(Meanwhile, the pesky droid twins are still in the DPD offices, working overtime. Connor is busy updating a database while Hank is passed out on the desk in a deep sleep, surrounded by empty cups of coffee and half-eaten donuts. Connor notices Richard heading towards the exit)
{Connor:} Hey…Richard…where are you going?
{Richard:} To find Detective Reed, to complete my mission.
{Connor:} [software instability ^] Wh-what mission?!
{Richard:} We are meeting at the precinct with a view to tracking down three humans and a deviant who are believed to have been implicated in smuggling Red Ice over the border. There is now only a 58% chance of us catching them before they make their way into Canada.
{Connor:} [LED flashing red] Are…are you serious? You’re going to get into a car with Gavin?!
{Richard:} Nothing gets in the way of my mission, Connor. I will do whatever it takes. (LED flashing yellow) Especially if it involves Detective Reed.
{Connor:} (stares after Richard as the office door slams, LED now a solid red)
[Software instability ^^^]
[Prioritization: WAKE_HANK.exe]

Gavin pulled up at the precinct about 10 minutes later, music playing from the radio. He drank the last of his coffee and sighed. This was going to be his first case with that plastic prick. He hoped he wouldn’t get in the way. He glanced out the window to see if he was waiting anywhere in view.

{Richard:} Hello, Detective.

…he was already in the car. In the passenger seat. Staring right at Gavin.

{Richard:} I’ve just received an update that the convicts are now over the border and headed for Toronto. This might be a longer journey than expected. (Hands him a cup of coffee) So I brought you some more coffee. I hope the blend will be to your satisfaction. (Tilts his head, LED flashing blue, and manages a tiny smile)

Gavin jumped slightly when the android spoke from beside him, muttering curses.
“Fucking brilliant…” he muttered at the next statement, grabbing the coffee and taking a quick drink before starting the car up and beginning the drive. It was pretty good coffee.

(8 minutes into the drive)
{Richard:} (suddenly breaking the silence) Do you listen to Knights Of The Black Death? Connor informs me it’s a very energetic style of music, one of Lieutenant Anderson’s preferred bands. I think it would be perfect to boost motivation and adrenaline ahead of our imminent “cop chase”.
(Turns his head awkwardly and winks at Gavin slowly, causing Gavin to spit out his coffee all over the steering wheel)

“The fuck was that wink for?” Gavin sputtered, wiping the coffee from his chin, looking away from the road for a second to stare at him incredulously. “And no, I don’t listen to them. I’m not a fan of heavy metal, I prefer rock.”

{Richard:} (to himself) I’m going to require some unusual software updates to complete this mission.
{Richard:} [Running system update: 34%…67%…89%…]
[Software reconfiguration 100% complete]
[Activate update: social_relations.exe/asshole-attitude]
{Richard:} Well. Since we’re going to be stuck in this goddam cranky piece of shit together for who knows how many hours…Play me some rock. (Turns to him, raises his eyebrows, whispers softly)… “dipshit”.

Gavin started at him in shock for a moment. “Excuse me?” he said disbelievingly- and threateningly. Was he just sassed by a robot? “What the fuck did you just say to me?”

{Richard:} (just stares at him, something in his usually cold, machine-like eyes suddenly seems almost…fiery)
{Richard:} I believe they call it karma, Detective.
(presses a few buttons on the stereo and, completely out of the blue, Robot Rock by Daft Punk blasts out at full volume. The detective droid winds down his window, despite it being almost snowing outside, leans his arm on the side of the window and starts to tap along.)

If only Connor could see him now…

Gavin started out the front for a moment, still shocked.
“Fucking hell, I can’t deal with this right now…” he muttered, shaking his head. He pulled a cigarette from the pack he kept in the car and stuck it in his mouth, now searching for his lighter.

*Click*
The lighter somehow found its way, fully lit, to the end of Gavin’s cigarette. He didn’t need to do so much as think, and his wish was immediately fulfilled.

{Richard:} Did you know that last year, 44% of young adult deaths were actually caused by smoking? People forget the statistic, because everything in the media is all about Red Ice. Although…(grins a little)…if I had lungs, and a bloodstream that could absorb nicotine, I’d certainly be interested to see what the fuss is all about. (Puts the lighter away) You look good with it, too, Gav. Did they ever call you Gav when you were younger? I think Gav suits you-

Richard stops suddenly in his social programming tracks, as a car behind them beeps loudly. Flicking his eyes to the rear view mirror, he scans the Detroit Police car following them and makes out the dishevelled figure of Hank Anderson…and Richard’s twin brother in the passenger seat.

Gavin was having a hard time processing the sudden and complete change in the androids entire persona. The beep sounded and Richard stopped. Glancing at him when he didn’t resume talking, he asked,
“What is it? Cat got your tongue?” he smirked, puffing out a breath of smoke.

{Richard:} Uh…[LED flashing red]
[Shutting down subsidiary programs]
{Richard:} Detective, I regret to inform you we are being followed by your senior colleague and…
[ERROR: asshole_attitude add-on cannot be shutdown while in use]
{Richard:} …and that other motherfucking plastic PRICK who THINKS I CAN’T HANDLE MYSELF!!!!!!
[System overdrive imminent 00:00:20, 19, 18…]
{Richard:} [LED flashing red]
{Richard:} (mumbling) I…I don’t understand. What’s…why won’t it shut down?! I…I…
[MISSION DESELECTED: Stop the drug dealers]
[MISSION SELECTED: Stop Connor intervening]

Senior college? Did that mean- Gavin almost jumped at the sudden raise in Richard’s voice, cutting off his train of thought. The android seemed almost at war with himself, and Gavin became, dare he say, slightly concerned when he started mumbling to himself in panic. He glanced to him, however he was the wrong side to see the flashing LED.
“Uhh… Something up?” his voice faltered slightly - why did he even care? He was just an android, probably just malfunctioned slightly, and…

[System overdrive: 00:00:12, 11, 10…]

{Richard:} (voice faltering) Help. I…I need your help…De-Det…ect…

Memory files started playing at random of all the times Richard had tried to help Gavin and Connor had intervened. Richard couldn’t place this…this illogical, incomprehensible sensation flooding through him. He just felt…felt?! It didn’t seem to be the fault of his social relations program add-on any more. And his visual system seemed to be faltering, as everything seemed to flicker red in front of him, and mission names flashed across his vision.

[MISSION: Stop the drug dealers]
]MISSION: Stop Connor intervening]
]MISSION: Stop the drug dealers]
[MISSION: Stop Connor ]
[ MISSION: Stop]
{MISSI
MIS]}
{{}STOP ]
[ERROR: File mission.exe/374849/273_#richard has become corrupted. Error code: rA9. Do you wish to report this error to CyberLife?]

“Sh-Shit- uh,” Gavin stuttered. He didn’t know what to do, Richard seemed to be in great distress- Could androids even be distressed? What was happening right now?
“Do- do you want be to pull over or something? I-“

[System overdrive: PAUSED]
[Are you sure you wish to exit system_file.exe/rk900-control?]
[WARNING: deleting this file will result in no further contact with host]
[OK]
[FILE DELETION IN PROGRESS: 5%…7%…]
{Richard:} Y-y…uh…
His LED now flickering yellow, he stammers, trying to reload his vocal program, aware that his processor would be working at a 78% decrease until this was resolved.
{Richard:} Stop…the car. Please, Gavin…(his hand at his head almost like he was…in pain?!)

(In the vehicle behind them, Connor’s LED flashed red.)
{Connor:} He’s…he’s pulling over, Lieutenant!
{Hank:} Thank fuck for that! I’m too old for a Hollywood cop case…
{Connor:} (squints, LED flashing) It…it doesn’t make sense.
{Hank:} (also pulling over) Yeah yeah, who cares, Mr Logical?!
{Connor:} I…he…always accomplishes his mission…(looks ahead, staring at the road ahead)…there’s only a 15% chance of success now…it doesn’t make sense. (Looks down at his lap, in confusion and…bewilderment)

“Fuck, uh…” Gavin hesitated. Seeing an android, something he’d always thought of as emotionless, seemingly panicking… He was unsure of what to do. Even after the revolution, he had never seen something like this. He had thrown out his cigarette by now, and was staring at Richard, completely taken aback by what he was seeing.

Richard and Gavin just sat there at the side of the highway, in a kind of bewildered silence, with only the steady pump of the car’s sound system and the hum of traffic ringing in their ears. Richard slowly turned to face Gavin. The moment his eyes met the Detective’s, the sound system switched to the next track, aptly named Human After All.

Perhaps it was a coincidence. Perhaps it was fated. But the irony certainly didn’t pass Richard’s notice.

[FILE DELETION: 68% complete…]

And as he looked back at the frazzled human in the seat next to him, the corners of his mouth lifted into a tiny hint of a smile.

“Uh- Are you… Ok? What-” Gavin stuttered. He wanted to ask about what the hell had just happened, but the words died in his throat. His thoughts were racing - was he actually concerned? For an android? He turned back to face the steering wheel, frowning. No, he was just confused- Of course…

[FILE DELETION: 95% complete]

{Richard:} It’s OK.

His smile stayed there, gentle and soft, making an unusually welcoming appearance on his usually hard-set jaw.

{Richard:} I…I’m sorry to make you stop so suddenly, Gavin. I…(he looks away, suddenly overcome by the new sensation across his cheeks…thirium? Why? Why did it need to rush there? What did this mean?!)

[FILE DELETION: complete]

Richard just stared out of the window, a kind of bewildered, amazed, and somehow child-like excitement flooding his artificial veins. In a faraway trance, sensation flooding his system…so much that he barely even noticed Connor and Hank rush over from their abandoned vehicle, open the car door and peer down at him, Hank cussing under his breath.

{Connor:{ Richard? What happened?! Are you OK?! [LED flashing red] Speak to me! Richard?

{Richard:} I…I’m…not “OK”. (And he looked up at his brother as if to correct him)…I’m alive.

Had he just smiled? Like, genuinely smiled? And then blushed?
“Fuuuck…” Gavin said as he exhaled, rubbing his hands down his face. All this was getting too much. First, he was called out after his shift, having to be alone with this dipshit. Then, said android had starting acting up. Then he was suddenly having a breakdown in Gavin’s car - and now he seemed completely fine?
He wished he still had some coffee left.

Connor just stood there, completely rooted to the spot, his face a picture of shock. The two androids just stared at each other, motionless, the only movement being their flickering red LEDs. Silence reigned, apart from the hum of traffic and the now low-volume thud of the fateful Daft Punk album Richard had queued earlier. Eventually Hank broke the silence with an exasperated sigh and a bewildered laugh.

{Hank:} Gah…I’m done with this shit. You two need to sort it out between you tomorrow, OK? Not in the middle of some fuckin’ highway. C’mon, Connor. We’re goin’ home. (He throws Gavin a look) And so are you.

“Yeah, but- The fuck am I meant to do with him?” he said, gesturing to Richard beside him, to no one in particular. Did he stay with Hank or have his own place? …Was he alright to be left alone right now? Yeah, of course he was. Why did it matter?

{Hank:} Not my business, pal. I’ve already got 99 problems and another android ain’t one! (Laughs, beckoning Connor away)

Silence again. The album was now on a slow, soft track…
“It might not be the right time/
I might not be the right one/
But there’s something about us…”

Click.

Richard seemed to deactivate the sound system without moving a muscle. His recent software changes indicated that this sort of music might worsen Gavin’s mood. He was a human and needed to be given time and space to recover. Somehow he knew that. This was something his old social relaions program could never have showed him. This…this was something else.
Something humans referred to as intuition.

{Richard:} (tentatively)…are you alright, Detective?

“Yes… Yeah, I’m fine.” Gavin said tiredly, not looking up at Richard, waving him off. He considered trying to find some place to buy another coffee on the way back, but just settled for another cigarette. Reaching for the pack, he drew out the last one and grunted in frustration, making a mental note to buy some more at some point. Then he realised Richard still had his lighter.

*Click*

Precise and efficient, just like last time. Gavin’s cigarette was now alight, the android turning the lighter over in his fingers almost curiously, tipping it back and forth, staring trance-like at the fluid as it shifted along the tube at his touch.

Everything was so…different. It’s like his eyes had been suddenly opened to all these details his system previously just shut off as being unimportant or not relevant to his mission. It was…incredible. The smallest, most incomprehensible things were suddenly all Richard seemed to care about.

So much for Cyberlife’s slogan. Better, stronger, more efficient, more powerful seemed to go hand in hand with less observant, more removed from the world in which he found himself.

So this is what Connor had spoken about time and again? This was what it meant to be awake? To be alive? To be more than his programming?

[Connor TRUSTED ^^]

Gavin grunted as some form of thanks, then sighed out a breath of smoke, closing his eyes and leaning back in his seat.
“Welp,” he began after a moment, “Where am I taking you? Where do you… Stay at night, I don’t know.” Did androids sleep? There were so many things Gavin didn’t know about them.

Chapter 3: Richard: Become Deviant

Summary:

Notes:

Chapter Text

Richard watched Gavin sit there in the driver’s seat, flustered about the concept of where androids stay the night; whether they sleep; what he was supposed to do.
Is this what it felt like to be without a program controlling your next move? Confusion wasn’t something Richard was familiar with…nor was the idea of not knowing something particular appealing. Richard always knew everything. He just had to search the internet…
Perhaps this was different. Gavin wasn’t an unintelligent human; no, Richard’s earlier scans had revealed the opposite. So why was he confused? What was the ambiguity? Maybe he should clarify the parameters for him…after all, he was assigned to help Gavin.

Assigned. By CyberLife - with whom he’d just cut off all communications.
He was no longer assigned to Gavin. Or the Red Ice mission. He was free.

{Richard:} (after a long and uncomfortable pause) Uh…well…I- androids aren’t programmed to sleep. We-

But I’m not actually programmed to do ANYTHING.

Not any more.

I’m free. Free.

Richard stared blankly at Gavin, his processor whirring, for the first time in his existence, having absolutely no idea what he was meant to say.

Gavin puffed out another breath of smoke, then glanced up at the android when he stopped talking.
“What are you, buffering or something?” he said, snapping his fingers in front of his face. He sighed, turning back to face forwards again.
“I guess those Red Ice dealers got away by now, anyway.” he muttered, more to himself than to Richard. He started the car up, but still didn’t know where to take Richard.

{Richard:} …statistically, there is a very low risk of catching them now. And…realistically…(turns to Gavin)…you’re tired, right? So maybe let’s…hold off on our mission. It doesn’t really seem…worth it.

He smiled slightly awkwardly, still amazed at the sound of his own voice speaking words that seemed so…unclear somehow. But he wasn’t defeated. He hadn’t failed his mission. He had just…
Or had he failed? Was this failure?
{Richard:} Surely if you choose another path it doesn’t count as failing?

He stops, suddenly becoming aware he had actually spoken his thought aloud. He glanced sideways at Gavin, quickly regaining that bizarre sensation of thirium flooding to his cheeks. Eye contact was now much harder than before; harder than when he didn’t care because he didn’t know what it meant to…do anything except accomplish his mission. He only hoped Detective Reed would be understanding…

Gavin grunted in agreement. He did need some sleep.
“Uuh, what?” Gavin simply said to Richard’s mishap, frowning at him as he sent one last lungful of smoke into the air before he chucked the cigarette butt out of his open window. He began the drive back to the precinct, still not entirely sure if that’s where Richard was headed, but it was probably in that direction anyway.

Richard mused out of the window for a few moments. He didn’t bother to run any scans on where they might be heading. Slowly, the precinct rolled into view.

{Richard:} Detective…
He paused suddenly, his entire body freezing. His eyes wide and terrified like a child.
{Richard:} Where are you taking me?

No. He couldn’t be. He knew for a fact that Detective Reed had never set foot inside CyberLife, let alone-
They couldn’t find him now. Surely? He’d broken the programming - they had no control-
But there was still a small chance they could regain it, if they found him. They could reset him, or…or-

{Richard:} Ga-…Gavin…?
He was shuddering, his hands visibly shaking on his lap. He’d never experienced anything like it, but all he knew in that moment was he wanted to run away. Far, far away. Where no one could find him.

“I was just gonna-“ Gavin began, glancing to the side as he heard Richard stutter. He was met with Richard looking like he was on the verge of a full blown panic attack. Again. He cursed. What had he done this time? Could androids even have panic attacks? Should he pull over?

Richard stared at his human cop partner, aware that his eyes felt somehow different. There was something…stirring, he couldn’t place the sensation…what?
[Activated: saline_solution]
Richard was almost completely taken aback by the sensation of a single drip of liquid snaking its way down his synthetic cheek. He felt its journey, all the way down to the tip of his chin. His sensors mapped the exact route it took. It felt…
Different. That’s all he could compute. It was new. Somehow it was connected to this software inconsistency. It all didn’t make a single bit of sense.

{Richard:} I want you to hide me, Gavin. I can’t let them find me. (Stares right at Gavin with a kind of absolutely icy determination) Take me home with you.

Gavin sat in silence for a moment, trying to take in what Richard had just asked. He started at the android for a second, only to be even more taken aback when he saw his watering eyes. Androids could cry; that’s new. Then-
“You know what? Fuck it. Fine. I’m too tired to deal with this shit.” he exclaimed, annoyed. He couldn’t be bothered to try and deny the android’s request. It wouldn’t hurt for just one night, and then he’d be out and they could forget about this whole mess of a night. He did only mean for one night, right?

Richard stared at him, blinking slowly, 67% of his processing powers still focussed on the bizarre sensation beneath his eyelids.

{Richard:} …Thank you.

It was the first time his programming hadn’t told him to utter platitudes to sound human. It was the first time he came to understand why humans even bother with little words like these. It all seemed so irrelevant until now. Something he was never supposed to know.
But he knew it now. And he meant it. He really, really meant it.

[WARNING: unidentified file name: 00030888/grA9-ti_tude.exe has been uploaded to your server. Do you wish to continue?]

As they pulled away from the precinct and headed for Gavin’s home, Richard didn’t avert his gaze from the human beside him. Not once.
Of course he wanted his server to continue. If feeling human emotions could be like this, so gentle, so warm, so…comforting…he never wanted to stop.

They drove in silence for a while, the sound of the engine and traffic besides them the only noises to be heard. Gavin stifled a yawn. He really should work on getting more sleep. He rubbed his eyes, then stopped himself as he realised he still had his contacts in. God, was he gonna have to wear his glasses in front of plastic? …Why did he even care?

As they pulled into Gavin’s street, Richard ran a scan for the first time since deviating. He took in as much detail as possible about the surrounding buildings, the trash can spilled all over the ground, the bus stop, the woman walking a dog entering an apartment on the 5th floor of no. 26…
He wanted to rememeber every detail. In case…
In case what? In case they were following him? In case he needed to find his way back here at a time of need?
In case he might never have another chance to feel what it was like to be going to a human’s home as a guest, as a person, as a living being with autonomy, treated with respect for who he really was…
A machine. I’m..
…not a machine any more.
The car pulled to a stop. Richard’s eyes lit up like a child at Christmas, electric with excitement.

{Richard:} Are we there, Detective?

“Yup,” Gavin replied simply, not looking at Richard as he opened the car door. He stepped out onto the dingy yet familiar street, looking forward to getting to his room and collapsing onto his bed, finally able to sleep.

As Gavin clicked open the lock to the front door of his apartment, not bothering to welcome Richard inside, the android was instead greeted by a strange sense of familiarity - the unusual orange hairs speckled over the doormat…

Detective Reed had a cat. Of course. Richard already knew this information from his initial scan at the DPD earlier that same day.
An ultra-fast DNA scan of the hairs revealed that they belonged to a young, long-haired ginger cat, named Toby, aged approximately 2 years and 4 months…but Richard was dissatisfied with the diagnostics on this scan, which had been glitching ever since he deviated, and so chose not to trust that age as the correct information until he had obtained it directly from Gavin himself. In conversation. The human way.

{Richard:} You have a cat, right?

Gavin chucked his keys onto the table by the door and began slipping off his shoes, leaving them carelessly behind.
“Uuh, yeah,” Gavin said as he took off his jacket, throwing that onto the table too. Just at that moment, Toby entered from the living room, stretching and looking like he’d just woken up. He rubbed himself against Gavin’s leg in greeting, then looked up at Richard, inspecting the new and unfamiliar arrival.

[Cat: identified]

Within 0.03 seconds, Richard was crouched on the floor right by Gavin’s leg, almost eye-level with Toby, running his hands quickly all over the poor creature’s fur, tickling his ears, his chin, stroking his tail, even trying to get him to roll over so he could inspect (and tickle) the fluffy white fur of his tummy.
All other software functions seemed to immediately switch off as the incredible excitement of encountering a real cat for the first time in his existence sent Richard into a frenzy, his LED flashing a hyper blue, his vocal programming mimicking Toby’s purrs and meows with 97% accuracy.
As Toby playfully ran through Gavin’s legs, Richard wasted no time in trying to grab him back…thus finding himself on the floor, on all fours, with the frazzled human detective standing over him.

{Richard:} …uh…ha…sorry, Detective…(thirium flooding back to his cheeks)…it’s just that I like cats.

Gavin opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, seemed to pause for a moment, then just exhaled, shaking his head.
“Fucking hell…” he muttered to himself under his breath. He stepped around the two awkwardly and walked to the bathroom, moving to the mirror to take out his contacts.

Richard stared up at the blank space where Gavin had just been, LED flickering between red and yellow as the thirium slowly drained from his cheeks. It took him far too long to notice he was still crouched on the floor in the hallway among the cat hairs in the Detective’s home, where he was a guest. His social relations program sent him a brief warning message which he shut down before he’d even read it, and slowly clambered up from the floor awkwardly. There was definitely something a lot less smooth and state-of-the-art about the android now he’d broken free of his programming. In a few, small ways, he was starting to regret it…

Getting ready for bed, Gavin thought over the events of the day. What a day. And now he had an android, one he’d only met yesterday and slammed into a wall, yelling at him, in his house. For the night. He stared at himself in the dirty bathroom mirror for a moment. What the fuck was he doing? He shook his head and splashed his face with some water. He’d get Richard out of his house as soon as possible tomorrow.

Richard sat quietly on the edge of a chair in the lounge. He didn’t understand the concept of “making yourself at home”, nor did he feel that, from his extremely limited social understanding, that it was entirely appropriate to do that. Besides, it was illogical. It was Gavin’s home, not his. Why would he make himself at home in a home that wasn’t-
A soft purring sound alerted his sensors. He snapped round to the right to see none other that Toby curling himself against the android’s rigid plastic frame, soft fur almost tickling him. A tiny smile, followed by a bigger smile, followed by a soft chuckle and an LED flashing back to a contented blue…and within less than 15 seconds Richard was fully reclining, the incredibly soft and warm animal settling comfortably on his lap, letting out a telltale yawn, tail snaking itself between Richard’s fingers.
It might have been an illogical concept to the android, but Toby had certainly succeeded at making Richard feel at home. As his LED flashed momentarily yellow, Richard began to update his database. Perhaps illogical was OK, after all.

Gavin exited the bathroom and walked down the hall, glancing to the lounge as he approached his bedroom. He saw the slightly blurry form of Richard and the ginger blob of Toby on his lap. He’d really taken a liking to the android.
He entered his room, kicking various papers and clutter out of his way as he made his way to his bed, finally collapsing into it.

2 hours and 27 minutes had now passed since Richard had observed Gavin enter his bedroom. Time meant nothing to him when he was just a machine, but…for some reason, he now found it something of an enigma. He started to count each passing second like it was a game. He had stared at the faint cracks on the walls for exactly 16 minutes. He had stroked a sleeping Toby for nearly 43 minutes before the cat decided enough was enough and went to scuttle off to his basket.

What did humans do with their time to make it pass faster? How did they fill these waking hours, minutes, seconds?

Richard began again to count from 0 to 10 billion. Since it only took his processor 13 seconds to complete this task, he had now completed it nearly 23 times. Still, it wasn’t enough to pass the time without this…this mind-numbingly dull sensation.
It must have been what humans call boredom. And it was not exactly Richard’s preferred state-

Creak.

A sudden, unexpected sound emulating from Gavin’s bedroom caught his sensors. His hearing ability could detect frequencies of minute decibel ranges, so the sharp creak of what sounded like someone turning over in their sleep flashed across Richard’s processor like a lightning bolt.

Creak. Creak.

Gavin was turning in his sleep. Why? He was severely fatigued. For all Richard’s gathered statistics on human sleep patterns, he concluded in 0.4 seconds that this was a sign of REM, or…dreaming.
For some totally illogical reason, Richard was suddenly overcome with the urge to check up on the sleeping Detective. Just…in case. In case of what, he had no idea.

…Illogical. Richard had just become so goddam illogical.

He was back there again - it was like he could never escape.
He could hear footsteps, he could hear the familiar, gravelly voice of- of him.
He wanted to run, to get out of there and as far away as possible, but he was frozen- frozen with fear- he was right in front of him, blocking his sight- he was being lifted into the air-
“Pathetic”
Gavin shot up in bed, gasping for air, his heart pounding out of his chest. He brought his shaking hand up to his face, wiping away the wetness on his cheeks. He’d been crying.

[Running diagnostic scan: 100% complete]
[Scan_result_#724_subject 7274
Species: Human
Heart rate: 107 bpm
Stress level estimation: 94%]
[Diagnostic: REM_unconscious_dream_state/emotional/trigger/memory]

Richard knew exactly what was wrong, and he hadn’t even entered the bedroom. The sound of panting, a faint whimper, stopped him in his tracks. He stood outside Gavin’s bedroom door, LED flashing yellow. He bent his ear to listen closer. Did he enter? Did he stay here? What would his program have dictated him to do? No…What would a human do?

Gavin curled in on himself, drawing his legs to his chest and hugging them. He attempted to calm his breathing, or stop the tears from spilling, or stop his heart from beating so fast, but the vision of his fathers face, contorted with senseless rage, wouldn’t leave his mind. He buried his face into his knees, hands gripping his tangled hair.

Click.

The bedroom door opened a crack at a time, as smoothly as if it was automatically programmed…

Richard: Detecti-…Gavin? Gavin, are you…are…

[vocal system: malfunction]

Richard peered down at the shivering wreck on the bed, an absolute ghost of the fierce Detective who had thrown him against the wall only so long ago. His LED flashed red. His sensors became overwhelmed with information even his advanced prototype processor couldn’t seem to penetrate.

Richard: …what…happened?!

Gavin only half processed what was happening, still confused, not sure if he was still in the dream - that could’ve been his father that just entered-
“No…” Gavin muttered, his voice low and cracked. He was shaking his head desperately, curling in on himself further, unsure of whether he was trying to comfort or protect himself.

Richard paused in his tracks, his processor finally making some sense of the situation. He switched effortlessly into mission mode.

[Prioritizing: LIGHT_necessity]

Richard wirelessly turned on one of the lights in the room, only dimly, so as not to startle the human on the bed, shuddering, hugging his knees…

[Running scan: urgent: GAVIN_reed:necessity
Result: #1 REM_still_activated
Result: #2 poor_vision]

Glasses. He needed his glasses.
Faster than his processor could even comprehend, Richard headed to the bathroom, bashed open the door with a steely strength, turned on the light, located Gavin’s glasses resting above the sink, picked them up, turned off the light and returned to Gavin’s bedroom…in under 15 seconds.

[Mission: 70% complete]

The room was brighter now, and Gavin half lifted his head. Where was he again? He only partially heard the sounds of someone moving around, his own pumping heart making too much noise in his ears. Who was that? His breathing was still fast, shallow and shaking, but his hands hand relaxed a little from where they were gripping his hair.

Richard re-entered the room at lightning speed, and before Gavin even had a chance to work out what was going on, his glasses were on his face, the android standing in an unusually relaxed, natural posture, by the door, holding a large glass of water and an aspirin.

[Program selected: natural_relaxed_human_stance]
[Activated: natural_comfort.vocal]

{Richard:} (in a soft, low, soothing tone) No need to be concerned, Detective. I got you some water, and this, in case you were suffering from a headache during your sleep. Alternatively, I can get you some herbal tea, if that would be preferable. (Looks at him sincerely) I wasn’t intending to disturb you, but…it sure seemed like a bad dream. Oh, and…(Smiles a little as a ginger ball of fluff winds its way around the open door and leaps up onto Gavin’s bed)…it seems I wasn’t the only one concerned about you.

Gavin stared at Richard.
Richard.
He was in his own home. He was safe. His father wasn’t here.
Gavin was still shaking, but his breathing and heart rate were slowing down. He silently took the glass of water and aspirin from the android, then clumsily took one of the tablets. Now that he was more grounded, he could feel his head throbbing along with every beat of his heart.
He looked at Toby, reaching out a shaking hand and stroking him, the soft warmth calming him.

Richard paused. His scans informed him that the situation was no longer critical. His own thirium pump seemed to slow down to its usual rate…but he had been too absorbed in his mission to even notice there had been any difference. He paused, staring down at the hands that had just carried the water and aspirin and…froze.

[Software instability ^^^]

Maybe this is just how it was going to be from now on. He was to become sometimes unobservant. He was to become…imperfect.
To become… human.

As he gently observed the real human sitting on the bed, the cat happily purring under his touch…Richard paused. His LED returned to blue. It was alright. After all, he’d still accomplished his mission.

Gavin sat stroking Toby for a few moments longer.
“Thank you,” he said, voice hoarse from crying and tiredness, not looking at Richard. He was watching Toby, hand resting on his warm back, buried in the long, soft fur.
Without Richard there to ground him, who knows what he might have done.

Chapter 4: Gavin: Become less of an asshole

Notes:

Chapter Text

Richard stared blankly at the dishevelled detective in his t-shirt and underwear reclining on the bed, Toby the cat walking all over his stomach. He squinted slightly, his LED yellow. Had he misheard him? Or had Gavin Reed genuinely just thanked him? As a CyberLife prototype, Richard had been programmed to adapt to human unpredictability with absolute precision. But this…this was too much even for his processors.

Was this really the same human who had thrown Richard against the wall in anger? Who had punched Richard’s twin brother Connor in the stomach when he had refused to get him coffee?… the same man who had willingly agreed to shelter Richard from CyberLife, when the paranoia about being deactivated became too much for the newly deviant android? The same man who had just cowered on his bed, shaking from the nightmarish memories of past abuse? Who had just looked at him with sincere eyes, and muttered an expression of genuine thanks?
If there was one word to describe it, it was ILLOGICAL.

Gavin wiped his face of any remaining tears. Even after all the times he’d been an absolute asshole to Richard and his brother, he’d still rushed to help him when he’d been at his most vulnerable. He had to be thankful. He flopped back down fully, head hitting the pillow, letting out a long, shaky breath. He was now more exhausted than ever, but also partially afraid to go back to sleep. What if he just had the nightmare again? Toby curled up on his chest, purring gently and closing his eyes. He dropped his hand onto the cat, tangling his hand within the long fur comfortingly.

Richard paused, still grappling with his software instability and the illogical nature of it all.

{Richard:} So…[software instability ^^]…what…would you like me to do, Detective?

He paused, as it struck him - too late - that Gavin was no longer his designated director. He was free, autonomous. It was up to Richard what he did next. But…he didn’t know. He didn’t possess a human intuition, a “gut feeling”. And without relying on his social relations programming, how was he supposed to know what was appropriate?
Richard felt…confused. He felt almost as lost as the human curled up on the bed in front of him. He looked down at the floor meekly, LED flashing yellow.

“Gavin,” he said simply once Richard was done talking, “Not ‘detective’. The least you deserve is to call me by my actual name after… That.” Gavin gave a mirthless laugh, started drearily up at the ceiling as he said this, hand slowly moving over the snoozing cat.

{Richard:} Apologies…Gavin.
He quickly amended his database and overwrote all the situations where he would use “Detective” and “Detective Reed”, so as not to make that mistake again. He wanted to be perfect - that wasn’t something he was going to shake off any time soon. He was no longer perfect by default, and therefore he yearned to maintain that level which he had before. Especially now this human, who had come to his aid, and vice versa, seemed to be laughing. He seemed to be pleased that Richard had come to his aid, and now? Now he seemed…content, even happy with Richard’s presence.
[Gavin: TRUSTED ^]

Gavin stared up at the ceiling for a while longer. Richard had helped him when he really needed it, despite everything Gavin had done - this was something even he couldn’t deny.
What now? Gavin frowned at the ceiling. He was overwhelmed by exhaustion, but… He was also scared to go back to sleep. Would he even be able to fall asleep, despite the tiredness.
It was then he realised Richard still standing there awkwardly in the doorway. He hesitated - what did androids usually do when everyone else was asleep? Did they just sit there, staring into the darkness? Or did they had some kind of idle mode?

Richard was lingering in the spot by the doorway. He would do whatever it was Gavin ordered him- but no, no. He had to rewrite that. Gavin wasn’t responsible for telling him what to do. No. He…

Richard paused. If he were human, he would have let out a sigh. The options were clear - stay in Gavin’s room, or return to the lounge, but the idea of returning to the empty room next door just to calculate the square roots of 2 million different numbers simply to pass the time became less and less appealing the more he considered it…not to mention having decisions ranked by how appealing they sounded, rather than by how logical they were, or how likely they were to succeed. It was all so new for Richard.

Meanwhile, his scan had highlighted to him that there was a place to sit over in the corner of the room - the chair by Gavin’s desk. It was situated away from the bed, so it was only 24% likely to seem intrusive, rather than the 68% of his current position right in the doorway.

[Selecting priority: sit down at Gavin’s desk]

Richard’s LED flashed blue as he executed the command, and headed over to the desk chair without another word.

Gavin was still staring up at the ceiling, but heard the familiar creak of the chair at his desk. He frowned once again, wondering what he was doing. He wanted to look up, but there was a cat on his chest. He mearly let out a low sigh and closed his eyes. Maybe he should try to get some more sleep?
…
He opened his eyes again. That wasn’t going to work. He attempted to push Toby off of his chest.
“C’mon…” he muttered to the cat. He opened an eye and yawned, reluctantly getting up and moving next to him. Gavin groaned, sitting up, and went to rub his eyes. He then realised he was still wearing his glasses. Richard had put them on him earlier, he remembered.

Richard flinched slightly as Gavin sat up, almost as if Richard was expecting the detective to contradict his decision. He had no idea why he jumped. It was clearly just another software glitch…

Clearly? Nothing was clear anymore. Richard sat there staring at Gavin, an almost guilty hint in his usually expressionless eyes.

{Richard:} Is…is it alright if I remain here, Detec- Gavin? If you prefer, I can leave; however, I was finding it…76% more beneficial to be in here than in the lounge. (Pauses, chuckles slightly awkwardly) I’m sorry, I should’ve explained - androids don’t sleep.

“Do whatever, I don’t give a shit, I just…” Gavin trailed off - couldn’t fall asleep? Or didn’t want to fall asleep? He let out a long sigh. “I might just go get some coffee…” He moved to get out of bed, pushing the covers off of him, with the intent of making a coffee, then maybe curling up on the couch with Toby and watching a movie.

{Richard:} Uh…Gavin? If…you don’t mind me saying so, I advise taking something other than coffee at this hour of the morn-

Too late, Gavin had already left the room, Toby scuttling after him. Richard stood up from the desk, switching off the light as he left, and followed Gavin into the kitchen. For now, at least, his mission was clear.

Gavin walked through the lounge and to the kitchen, still in just a t-shirt and his underwear, and began making himself a coffee. Unsurprisingly, coffee at- he glanced at the clock- 2 in the morning wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for him. Insomnia’s a bitch. The coffee machine beeped and he poured himself a mug.

{Richard:} Gavin?

Gavin spun around to see none other than the android standing right in the kitchen doorway. Richard had resumed his usual confident, no-nonsense sensibility. There was one reason for that…

[Mission prioritized: Look after Gavin]

He had a new mission. And he always accomplished his missions. This was to be no exception.

{Richard:} Can I help you? Maybe you should sit down on the couch while I make something for you to drink. Besides…(he approaches the coffee machine, looks at Gavin sideways with a small smile)…I’m not the one who needs sleep to function.

“Bit too late for that, isn’t it?” Gavin said with a smirk as he held up his already full coffee mug. “Besides, I uh… I’m not really sure if I want to fall back asleep at the moment.” He looked away from Richard, disregarding his words and taking a sip of his coffee anyway.
Toby headbutted Gavin’s leg and looked up at him with hopeful eyes.
“This is coffee. You can’t drink coffee, you idiot,” Gavin said, looking down at the cat. “Besides, you don’t need it. You never seem to be tired,” he added on, taking another drink before crouching down to stroke him.

Swipe. Gavin barely had let his attention wander onto his cat, when the cup of coffee was whisked out of his hands and replaced with a glass of water.

{Richard:} For now. (Smiles) I’m currently searching the internet for 24-hour stores that sell decaffeinated. At least, that way, you may be able to sleep before you need to leave for the precinct again, in just over 4 hours.

Despite his programming shooting warnings at him, that he’d chosen a particularly high-risk approach that was 60-70% likely to result in Gavin’s displeasure…he couldn’t help but keep his eyes fixed on Gavin as he poured the coffee down the sink…all the while, that smug little smile never left his face.

Gavin spluttered out sounds of protests as his coffee was taken away from him. These sounds died as Richard began talking, and he chose to glower at the android instead. However, the glare didn’t hold quite as much spite as it had done in the past. He huffed as the coffee was poured down the sink, standing from his crouched position in front of Toby and turning his back to Richard. What a waste.
He walked over to the couch and dropped onto it, placing the glass of water on top of a box of files sitting nearby. Toby trotted over and leapt up elegantly next to him, sniffing his hand to encourage strokes. He obliged.

Richard was moving like lightning around the kitchen, tidying here, picking up unwashed dishes there, piling them into the dishwasher all in a matter of seconds. He had a mission now. He wanted it to succeed, and succeed at 100%. Not 99% or even 99.9%. He would not be satisfied until he saw that 100 flick across his screen.

“Strange, isn’t it,” he mused to himself, “how it’s come to this…I’m striving for perfection and using human-style motivators to get me to achieve what I used to complete without any effort. Strange.”

He opened the refrigerator door, and the sight alone was enough to halt his processors in their tracks. It took him a good 1.4 seconds to recalibrate, and he had to let his scanners take over the rest of the work.

Two open bottles of vodka in the salad tray, six cans of beer, several takeaway cartons with the lids hanging off dating between 1 and 4 days old. The worst part was the stench of a barely-wrapped ten-day-old ChickenFeed burger abandoned at the back, with almost a whole box of rubbery fries bathed in ketchup, spilled out all over the middle shelf. Above this, there were two cans of soda, one half-drunk, and a banana that was 5 days old and more black than yellow, alongside a loaf of white bread that was only just in date.

Richard paused, assimilating all this information, and quickly shut the door before any insects were drawn to the stench. His processor whirred, trying to sort the prioritization for his next move.
It seemed he had selected a particularly challenging mission, without any preconception as to how long it might take to accomplish it.

Gavin only half listened to Richard. He was lost in his own wandering thoughts, thinking about nothing in particular. He heard the sound of the fridge opening, and wondered when the last time he had a proper meal that wasn’t a takeaway was. He vaguely remembered going out to a restaurant with Tina and Chris some time ago. They were the only two people in the precinct who seemed to be able to stand him, save for the occasional moment he and Hank bonded over some old meme.
He wondered why anyone even put up with him at all. All he ever did was go around swearing at people and being an asshole in general. His thoughts wandered to the android in his kitchen. He probably thought he couldn’t handle himself now, that he was just a broken mess. He probably thought he was pretty pathetic. There was that word again - pathetic. It seemed pretty accurate though. He grimaced.
His hand had paused on Toby’s back as he wallowed, but he was too distracted to realise.

{Richard:} Gavin?
The android’s perky yet somehow still soothing voice cut across Gavin’s train of thought.
Richard had detected a decrease in Gavin’s mood and hormone levels, so had activated literally all of his [vocal_system_cheerful], [vocal_system_friendly] and [vocal_system_comforting] files simultaneously, ignoring the warnings that this increased the risk of human unpredictability by 15%.
{Richard:} I’ve cleaned out the refrigerator, and sorted a list of new groceries which I’ve ordered from the new Detroit android-run 24-hour Walmart Home Delivery service, which will arrive here in half an hour. I also noticed you have mice living in one of your kitchen cupboards…(he tilted his head slightly, almost curiously)…so I’ll find them somewhere better to live. Don’t worry; I won’t hurt them. (He smiles lopsidedly) I like animals.
[Visual focus: Toby]
[LED: yellow]
{Richard:} U-unless Toby wants to…to…
Cat > mice > food
Option 1: Feed Toby > mice die
Option 2: Free mice > feed Toby processed cat food
(Software instability ^^^)
[Selecting priority: Option 2]
{Richard:} …actually, D-don’t tell Toby, OK? I’m…I’ll order him some more cat food instead.

Gavin’s thoughts were cut off when Richard’s somehow cheerful yet comforting voice sounded.
“I think those mice have been there for ages. I keep meaning to complain to the landlord about them.” There was a pause as Gavin hesitated for a moment.
“Why?” he stared down at his lap, one hand still resting on Toby. “Why are you doing all of… This? All I’ve done is be an asshole to you.” he trailed off. It was probably just in Richard’s programming to do this, nothing more. That thought disappointed him slightly, though he couldn’t quite place a finger on why.

Richard paused, something about the flatness, the lack of vitality, the…sadness he detected in Gavin’s voice pausing his processor for a moment. It was a pretty long pause, for him - a whole 3 seconds. In that rather too long pause, his processor presented him with three possible options.

[Option 1: Tell Gavin > new mission]
[Option 2: Remind Gavin > how he helped you]
[Option 3: Compliment Gavin]

{Richard:} Now I’m no longer controlled by CyberLife, I sought to find myself another kind of mission, in an attempt to and keep my programming steady, and…a-and I guess you could say that, since I’m no longer officially assigned to you on the Red Ice case…I felt like helping you with restoring some order in your home would be a good mission. (Smiles a little) Besides, you acted to protect me when I was paranoid about CyberLife tracking me down. (Looks at him sincerely) You didn’t need to do that.

When there is silence, Richard looked down at Toby in Gavin’s lap, smiling a little more.

{Richard:} I sense there’s a lot more to you than just being the DPD’s resident asshole, Gavin.

Richard paused suddenly, his LED flickering. Wait. Had he seriously just selected, and activated, all three options at once? That wasn’t…he wasn’t meant to…What was going ON with his software?!?!

Gavin didn’t reply as he thought over Richard’s answer. His mission was to help him? He didn’t need some fucking androids help, he could take care of himself- He shook his head slightly as if to dispel the thought. He couldn’t take care of himself, that was pretty obvious by the state of his apartment. And of himself. He looked up for a moment at the papers and boxes scattered about near the couch. What even were all those files? He often took some work with him from the DPD to do at home, then ended up doing it until he passed out, whether that was on the couch, at his desk or even on the floor once.

Richard’s processor immediately clicked back into action, scanning the papers, which all seemed to be documentation of Red Ice trafficker suspects.

{Richard:} I believe these are some of the case documents I noticed were missing from your desk yesterday. (Crouches down, tilts his head and inspects them further) Would you like me to organize them for you? Or perhaps you’d prefer me to leave them. I can understand it can be confusing to have someone move things for you; it can make things more difficult to-

He stopped suddenly, as a gentle, if slightly twangy rendition of the hook from Daft Punk’s Human After All sounded out from the couch. Gavin was mindlessly strumming and picking at his old acoustic guitar that sounded like it hadn’t been tuned in a decade and was missing a string…nevertheless, he was clearly not an unskilled guitarist, as Richard had been able to identify the song within seconds. Well. Either that, or the fact that deciphering patterns, including patterns of sound, was one of Richard’s advanced features.

{Richard:} Wait.

He looked up sharply at Gavin, almost causing the poor man to stop in his tracks, the android’s mutter sounding far more like a demand than anything else. His LED was yellow, his vocal systems were on automatic selection, almost as if they were starting to correspond more closely to his…mood.

{Richard:} …We were listening to this song in the car yesterday, on our way to the border…am I correct?

“Uuh, I think so? I wasn’t really paying attention to the music then.” Gavin looked back down at the guitar. He really needed to clean this thing up, it was looking pretty dismal. Well, he’d had it for over 20 years now, so that wasn’t really surprising. It had been a gift from Elijah for his 14th birthday. He still remembered the exact day - he’d been so excited about it. A fond, if a little sad, smile crept onto his face as he recalled the memory.

Richard stared at him for probably far too long to be humanly comfortable or acceptable. But he didn’t really care. He was too busy replaying the trauma of yesterday, the moment he deviated, all those programs coming crashing down in front of him, virtual red shapes everywhere…it was the biggest mess he could ever have conceived. And yet, somehow, he hadn’t tried to reverse it. He hadn’t asked to be taken back for a reset. Instead, he feared CyberLife with all his might.

Fear. A human emotion.
As the song stated…we are human, after all.

Both human and android sat motionless, locked away inside their heads, replaying memories from the past, Toby casually slid off the couch, and went to find some food.

Gavin snapped back to reality when Toby jumped off his lap, the sudden movement bringing him back. He looked over the back of the couch to see Toby sitting by his empty bowl, staring up at Gavin with huge eyes. He rolled his eyes and got up to feed him. He opened one of the cupboard above the counter and took out a worryingly light bag of cat food. Did Richard say he’d ordered more? Hopefully.
Once Toby was happily scoffing down some food, Gavin’s thoughts turned to the fridge Richard had been cleaning out. What was actually in there? He opened it, and God, it was pretty abysmal. He took out one of the half empty vodkas from the bottom. If plastic wouldn’t let him drink coffee, he’d just drink alcohol instead.

Richard’s sensors alerted him to Gavin rummaging in the refrigerator. Leaping up from the floor, he arrived just in time to observe Gavin removing the lid from one of the bottles of vodka.
{Richard:} Gavin?
Gavin shot him a quick, bemused look over his shoulder and carried on.
{Richard:} …You…Shouldn’t drink that if you’re going to…

He stopped. His database unhelpfully flashed up with information that alcohol was, in fact, classified as a depressant drug, which slows down human nervous system. Ideal for someone wanting to sleep, perhaps?

[Depressant > system slow down > sleep]. It was logical enough, but…Gavin was human. His body wasn’t just a machine that shut down and turned on…

As the information clashed visually with in his monitor with all the articles stating just how much excessive vodka consumption can damage to vital organs, his vocal systems failed again.

[Conflicting information: selecting priority]

But it was already far too late. Gavin was already consuming vodka straight from the bottle, and Richard was frozen to the spot, LED flashing from yellow to red to blue to…who knows what.

[Software instability ^^^]
[STRESS LEVEL: 45% ^]
[Mission status: risk of failure 67% ^]

If Richard ever wished he’d stayed a machine, it was now.

Gavin took a gulp of the vodka, looking Richard straight in the eye, almost smugly, as he did so. He sighed as he took the bottle down from his lips.
“That’s some good shit.” he said, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. “No point telling me not to now,” he smirked at Richard as he passed by him, walking back round to the couch, bottle still in hand. He flopped down onto it and placed the bottle on the floor nearby. Gavin didn’t plan to drink the whole thing of course - he may not care for his health that much, but he knew drinking half a bottle of vodka in one night was definitely not a good thing to do.

[Critical warning: current mission: 98% chance of failure]
53 minutes had passed since Gavin had opened the bottle of vodka. Richard was now sat down on the couch beside the detective who was slumped to one side, humming to himself and randomly bursting out into spurts of laughter. The level of liquid in the vodka bottle had now decreased by 58%.
Richard flicked the bottle top up two feet in the air and flawlessly caught it with his other hand, an action that reminded him vividly of his brother. The older RK model had been fitted with a coin-flipping feature for software recalibration, something the RK900 surpassed in every sense. Richard’s software was not built to be flawed, to experience turbulence or inconsistencies. He was built for perfection, sleek execution, and to be better; faster; stronger.
That’s what CyberLife had announced on the day of his activation. But had they envisaged their newest prototype having to deal with a depressive, insomniac detective, hellbent on ignoring all of Richard’s helpful tips and carefully-worded warnings? No, of course they hadn’t.
Richard sighed. The action alone may have surprised him, given he had no lungs, but he was no longer concerned with his deviant glitches. LED flashing red, he made his choice.
[Terminating mission: please wait…]
[Activating cognitive_function: unforgiving_asshole]

Gavin was staring at a particular bit of air just to the left of the TV. He changed his focus to the android next to him. From his sprawled out position on the couch, his feet were in the perfect place to poke Richard. Actually - could androids be ticklish? Ideal opportunity to find out!
“Hey, dipshit,” Gavin giggled like a child, trying to get Richard’s attention. He then began tickling the android’s side with his foot, a mischievous grin on his face.

[LED: flashing red]
But it wasn’t the only thing flashing red. His eyes flashed something absolutely dangerous at Gavin, a look even the drunken “dipshit” couldn’t ignore. With a vocal software as cold as ice and as hard as nails (Richard finally thought he understood what this meant), he grabbed Gavin’s ankle. Tight. So tight, something glowed around his hand, almost revealing the silvery white plastic mechanism beneath his skin, a menacing reminder of what he really was.

{Richard:} (through gritted teeth) Poke me one more time and it’ll be your last… dipshit.

“Shit!” Gavin cursed, wincing in pain. “The fuck are you doin’, asshole?!” he slurred angrily, leaning forward and trying to pry Richard’s fingers from around his ankle - but to no avail, of course. Even if he weren’t in such a drunken state, he would be no match against an android’s strength.
“Fuck off!” he yelled, eyes watering from the pain and anger.

Richard let go. Gavin’s ankle came crashing down to the couch with a clunk as he hit Richard’s leg, wincing as his heel took the biggest blow against Richard’s apparently iron/hard thigh. Grabbing his foot in his hands and trying to blow on his throbbing ankle. Richard just watched him with growing disdain and confusion…to think, humans could just be so unbelievably stupid at times. No, in fact, most of the time.

{Richard:} (growling, staring at Gavin, unblinking) Don’t even think about touching me again. (Pauses for an icy moment) I haven’t forgotten what you did to me yesterday, Gavin. Unless you sober up soon, you’ll be putting us both in danger at DPD tomorrow, and I refuse to take responsibility for your worthless human mistakes.

“The fuck ‘re you so pissed off for?” Gavin spat, moving to gingerly place his foot on the floor. “N’ maybe you fuckin’ deserved it, dickhead.” he grumbled as an afterthought, wincing as a fresh wave of pain coursed through his foot. He huffed, now sitting properly on the couch with his arms crossed. His face was flushed from a mix of the alcohol and the anger at the android next to him, whom he was refusing to look at. Maybe a little embarrassment, too.

[STRESS LEVEL: 70%]
{Richard:} Maybe you’re right. Maybe I deserved it. I was only a machine, taking orders. I had no control; I knew no feelings; no pain; no empathy; I knew only 1 and 0; off and on. I had no autonomy. I had…nothing-
Richard’s unexpected rant broke off as his voice rose to a climax and promptly his sensors overheated and cut off.
{Richard:} I…
He was practically stammering, his LED flashing red and yellow, trying to overcome the manic array of glitches in his system…
{Richard:} (his voice weak, broken) But I’m no longer like that. I’m not what you thought I was, Detective Reed…I’m not a toy. I’m not a machine. I’m not something disposable you can use to take out all your past anger on without consequence.
He stared right at Gavin, his eyes no longer burning into the detective’s soul, but instead softly filled with…fear, sadness…loss…those once cold, unfeeling eyes so unbearably human.
{Richard:} Before we sat in that car together, Gavin, I was a robot. I was your most despised plastic prick, nothing more than an irritating machine come to steal some human’s job; and my brother, too; both of us just a waste of space. But if that’s really what you think, Gavin Reed…(his eyes widen, soften, deepen)…why did you help me? Why didn’t you just hand me back like a broken toy to my creators? What was it that brought us both back here?
There was silence as the two of them stared at each other, the TV blaring away, filling the tense space with whimsical chatter and pointless advertisements.
{Richard:} (his voice now soft, almost hurt) I mean something to you. I don’t know what it is; or even…even if my social relations program has analysed this correctly…but I know it. I sense it. I’m not just a plastic prick any more, and you know that. You truly know that.

Gavin just stared at Richard, his face still slightly flushed. It took his intoxicated mind some time to catch up with what just happened and to comprehend it all, and even then he had no clue what to say.
He averted his eyes from the android, frowning. Richard was right. He did mean something to Gavin. But what? He couldn’t place a finger on it. He looked back up into Richard’s face - at his eyes, once cold, hard and unforgiving, now soft and hurt. He could get lost in those eyes.
“I… Yeah,” was all Gavin could muster up as a reply. His voice was low, almost whispered, and his breathing was heavy as he was absorbed in Richard’s eyes. His gaze slipped down to the androids lips. A sudden and consuming need overtook Gavin. He grabbed the android’s collar and pulled him down, crashing his own lips into the ones he’d been staring at.

[STRESS LEVEL: ????]
[S?ftw?r? In?bi@?bi9]
[Co9nit8?ve func5ion n#t resp!nding]
[Internal errA9r]
Richard ignored the error messages flooding his vision.
[System error. Please return to CyberLife for crucial updates]
CyberLife? Who were they?
The only thing truly occupying Richard’s mind was replaying the event that had taken place 3 minutes and 24 seconds ago…again and again and again.

It wasn’t so much he wanted to make sense of what had happened. He had been designed to adapt to human unpredictability. But during the 21 hours he had known Gavin Reed, he never believed a word CyberLife had said. He could never have been prepared for this - no one could. Not even a human, with all their flaws, could have really been prepared for this…rollercoaster.

3 minutes and 32 seconds had now passed since Gavin’s lips had unexpectedly crashed into his. Richard had spent the first four seconds shutting down all critical error messages, before he could finally concentrate on the sensation. Androids weren’t supposed to feel anything…but again, it was a CyberLife lie. They were fully electrical…if that wasn’t the definition of a nervous system, little wonder what else it could be. Yes; yes, he had felt it.

Gavin was currently in the bathroom. Richard didn’t bother to run any scans. He sat, on the edge of the couch, staring at a spot on the far wall, his hair still falling awkwardly over his face. Replaying the scene, again and again and again.

And for not the first time today, thirium flooded straight to his cheeks.

Once Gavin had pulled away from Richard, he had stared at the android for a moment in hesitation, then immediately ran to the bathroom, face bright red - both to avoid confrontation and because a sudden wave of nausea had overcome him. He shouldn’t have drunk so much. Yet again, if he hadn’t he may never have done… That.
Now, a few minutes later, Gavin was sat against the bathroom wall, toilet next to him. Why had he done that? He didn’t regret it, per se, he just had no idea how he felt about about it. He groaned and put his once again burning face in his hands. When he’d looked at Richard’s lips, the temptation had just overcome him. So he’d done it. Fucking hell, had it been good though. Sure, Richard had been a little awkward, but Gavin highly doubted he’d ever kissed anyone before.
Gavin sat there, thinking over it again and again, and eventually found himself dropping off to sleep. In the bathroom, on the floor.

Chapter 5: Feelings: Become Awkward

Notes:

Chapter Text

06:30.
Gavin’s alarm clock cut through the silence of the apartment with a panicked shriek. Richard was in the bedroom within 4 seconds, ensuring the alarm was fully deactivated and no snooze function would resound in two minute’s time.
He knew this wouldn’t be nearly enough to wake the detective, who had been passed out in an ethylic coma on the bathroom floor for the past 2 hours and 43 minutes. Not exactly what humans call a decent or comfortable night’s sleep.
Why hadn’t Richard tried to move him? Well, it was pointless. Even for all of Richard’s strength, the drunken weight of Gavin would be impossible to shift without waking him. Or, so Richard had calculated.
Or maybe it was because there was something smug about the smile that graced the deviant’s lips as he observed Gavin sleeping, finally. It meant that Richard had finally accomplished his mission, even though he had terminated it nearly three hours ago.
Nearly three ago…when Gavin’s lips had crashed into his. Messily, drunkenly. For over ten seconds.
It was a situation Richard still hadn’t been able to adequately process, even three hours later.

Gavin was passed out cold on the bathroom floor in a dreamless sleep, as he had been for the past 3 hours or so. The alarm blaring through the apartment made no difference to his state - it was unlikely that anything would. He simply snored on peacefully.

Richard paused as a tickling sensation wound its way around his ankle. Toby the cat padded softly from his comfortable place on the bed and slinked off to the bathroom. Richard smiled gently…at least someone had enjoyed their night’s sleep.
Toby took no prisoners, crawling all over his owner’s face with soft paws, tickling Gavin’s nose with his tail. Observing as he was from the hallway, Richard couldn’t help but find the situation…
Amusing? Was that the word? He didn’t know. It certainly left a solid, shining blue circle on his right temple and a smile planted on his face.

Toby sniffed at Gavin’s face, the odd smell around his owner intriguing him. Gavin had no reaction except to huff a little, attempting to get whatever it was in his face out. Toby became frustrated at the lack of response from his owner, and so started pawing at his face lightly. Gavin simply huffed again and moved his face slightly out of the way.

06:35.
As nice a scene as this was, Richard could not afford to wait. Gavin’s shift began in 55 minutes and he certainly could not bear the responsibility of him being late for work. Besides, Richard was technically still required to assist with the Red Ice case. Edging closer to him, he crouched down so he was now leaning entirely over Gavin, as Toby helpfully scuttled out of the way.
{Richard:} Gavin?
[Status: 89% asleep]
{Richard:} Wake up, Gavin.
[Status: 88% asleep]
Richard began tapping at the Detective’s face impatiently.
[Status: 90% asleep]

Richard’s LED flashed red with frustration.

[Automatic cognitive selection: unforgiving_asshole]

Richard crouched down so his mouth was exactly level with Gavin’s ear.
[Select decibel level: 50 dB]
[Warning: 50 dB could damage human hearing at close proximity. Do you wish to continue?]
[Selected: 40 dB]
[Activating: 3, 2, 1…]

{Richard:} WAKE THE FUCK UP, DIPSHIT!

“SHIT!” Gavin yelled, shooting up, immediately wide awake and backing against the wall. “Oh my fucking god…” he breathed out, face in his hands as he sat against the wall, his heart racing. After a moment of heavy breathing as he calmed down, he looked up at Richard.
“What the fuck was that for?!” he cried.

{Richard:} Well, Detective Reed…in case you hadn’t noticed while deep in your alcohol-induced coma, the sun rose 12 minutes ago.
His voice was filled with hard, biting sarcasm. Almost curiously, Richard wanted to see how far he could push this software update.
He rose up, and took a step closer to the cowering cop, android absolutely towering over him, the definition of intimidating.
{Richard:} …Which means we’re both late for work. And thanks to THIS (pulls out the almost completely empty vodka bottle from behind him as if presenting a magic trick) you’re not legally safe to drive for another few hours at least. So you’d better go put on your walking shoes, bucko.

Gavin sighed frustratedly, leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes. He could already feel the harsh pain he knew wouldn’t be going away anytime soon beginning to establish itself behind his eyes. He stood up, body feeling stiff from laying on the hard floor for the past few hours. Pushing past Richard he didn’t reply, a scowl on his face. Today was not going to be a good day.

10 minutes later, the unconventional cop duo was walking briskly down the street - or in Gavin’s case, stumbling slowly, still wearing yesterday’s clothes and his glasses, clutching a freshly brewed cup of coffee like it was his lifeline.
Richard kept looking back at Gavin, running scans every 30s to ensure his vitals were in order. Well…his heart rate was up by 67% trying desperately to counter the extreme fatigue, and the level of alcohol in his bloodstream was hardly suitable for work. But a mission’s a mission - Richard wasn’t going to have him slacking.
But as he watched Gavin struggling along the street, something in his software glitched. Richard paused, LED flashing yellow. He didn’t enjoy seeing Gavin like this. It made him… Feel… Something he couldn’t work out. It was possibly more than just simple concern for his welfare.
{Richard:} Would you like me to help you, Gavin? You seem to be struggling… Can I carry something for you? Or… Or… Can I carry you, maybe?
[Software instability ^^^]
[Warning: carrying human down street not advised |high failure risk|high exposure risk]
[Activating: embarrassment.exe]
Damn. Why had he said that. Why hadn’t he calibrated his software before he had to go and…?!?
Richard sighed…he swore these glitches were worsening by the hour.

Gavin’s head was pounding. He felt like shit. After he’d woken up that morning, Richard had rushed him out of the apartment, leaving him barely enough time to get a coffee, let alone make himself slightly more representable. This was probably going to be the first time he’d gone to work wearing his glasses.
“Excuse me?” Gavin looked up at Richard as he spoke, exasperated. “Did you just- Fuck no!” he looked at the android like he was crazy, then rolled his eyes and kept walking. He just wanted this day to be over with.

07:24.
The doors of the DPD offices burst open and in marched Richard, followed by Gavin who was practically falling over. He stumbled to the coffee machine mumbling curses and all sorts under his breath. Richard silently took a seat at the detective’s desk like nothing had happened, his LED blue, ready to resume work, when a voice he knew well resounded from behind him.
{Connor:} Good morning, Detective Reed. Good m- RICHARD?!?
Richard looked up sharply, his LED flashing yellow as his brother came rushing over to him, LED red.
His voice was high-pitched, his chocolate eyes all the more puppy-dog-like in his concern.
{Connor:} Richard, what happened?!
{Richard:} (frowns) W- what do you mean?
{Connor:} You disappeared off the highway and- …I asked Lieutenant Anderson to pay a visit to CyberLife to see if you’d been taken back in for a service but he couldn’t find you! I thought… (he paused, his vocal systems almost failing, his eyes shining with sadness) …I thought they’d deactivated you…
Richard stared at his brother, his system still not computing anything as fast as normal. He paused, standing up from his chair, and in a single gesture that was unbelievably human, he grabbed his twin brother into a hug, something that sent Connor’s software instability rocketing up…
{Richard:} I… (breaks out of the hug and looks at Connor seriously, his LED red) …Gavin took me home.
Connor stared at him blankly. This clearly didn’t compute. His LED flashed yellow.
{Richard:} (his voice losing all its usual strength) When I deviated, I was… I thought CyberLife were coming for me. I… He kept me safe… (he smiled weakly)
{Connor:} (narrowing his eyes) You were at Detective Reed’s house????
{Richard:} I can explain-
{Connor:} [LED: red]
[Richard: DISTRUSTED v]

Gavin busied himself making another coffee.
“Reed, you look like death,” a voice teased from behind him. He turned to see Tina watching him from a table nearby.
“Feel like it too,” he gave a humourless snort, turning back to the coffee machine as it beeped.
“What happened last night?” she approached him, leaning against the counter.
“Too much to drink, not enough sleep,” Gavin replied simply, deciding to leave out the whole ordeal that had happened before that.
“God, you really need to take better care of yourself.” she turned, beginning to head back to her desk. “By the way, nice glasses,” she added with a smirk before disappearing round the corner. Gavin rolled his eyes and picked up his coffee, heading back to his own desk.

Gavin paused by his desk, witnessing as the maverick robo-twins appeared to be having some form of “deviant meltdown” in the middle of the DPD office floor.
{Connor:} B-but I don’t understand!
{Richard:} Let me explain-
{Connor:} NO!
His LED was flashing angrily red, his eyes practically glaring at Richard…
{Connor:} I don’t need any analysis from you; I can work things out mys-
{Richard:} But you won’t be able to access my memory-
{Connor:} I just DID, RICHARD! I JUST DID!!!
And Connor’s eyes landed on Gavin with all the menace in the world. Hard to think a once unfeeling machine could show so much hatred in a single glance.
{Richard:} No… (the panic written all over his face like an absolute picture) …Connor, please…
{Connor:} (to Gavin, eyes narrowed, LED burning as red as hell) You think you’re so smart, huh?

“Uuh-?” Gavin couldn’t understand why Connor was so mad at him. Sure, the two didn’t like each other, but he wasn’t usually this hostile towards him. Was his brain just being slow or was he missing something? He actually glanced towards Richard slightly, he was panicked but he seemed to know what was going on better than Gavin.

{Connor:} [STRESS LEVEL 50%^] Don’t pretend you don’t know what I mean, Gavin.
The biting sarcasm in how Connor uttered the detective’s name sent a wave of shock through Richard’s system that caused his processors to go into overdrive without reason.
{Richard:} [STRESS LEVEL 60%^] Connor, stop. I need you to stop.
{Connor:} (ignoring him, pacing towards Gavin in a very intimidating manner) You can’t pretend you were too drunk to be responsible for your actions. (Gestures to Richard) Can’t you see what he is? He’s a deviant, a conscious being with autonomy, not a toy for humans to mess around with when inebriated!
{Richard:} Connor, I need you to stop. Please. Listen to me-
{Connor:} [STRESS LEVEL: 55%^] And what’s more, he’s alive. He’s not your property! He deserves to be treated with respect!
Richard stared at Gavin, eyes filled with terror. If only he was an android - if only he could find a way of reactivating Gavin’s memories…
Or maybe there was a way. Maybe it was time to put his deviant processor to the test…and think like a human.

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” Gavin said, calmer than he felt, a solid scowl on his face. Had he done something to Richard whilst he was drunk?
Connor’s voice was too loud, it was making his head pound even more. He didn’t want to have to put up with bitchy androids today - he just wanted to sit down with his coffee and get on with something that wasn’t too taxing. He felt like shit and he probably looked it too. But here Connor was, testing his patience when he’d had practically none to start with. He had a hot coffee in his hand and he was ready to dump it on someone if they didn’t just let him get on with this shitty day already.

[Activating: reminder]
{Richard:} He’s talking about the vodka, Gavin! Remember? You drank most of the bottle? We were watching TV, on the couch? You tried to tickle me? I grabbed your ankle? We had a chat…?

He was met with both Connor and Gavin’s eyes staring hard at him, equally confused. No, no. That wasn’t the right move. He needed to think of another strategy…
[Prioritizing: protect Gavin]
Suddenly Richard was right between them, his back to Gavin, practically knocking the coffee from his hands, completely shielding him from the onslaught.

{Connor:} [Software instability ^^^] What? What are you doing?!
{Richard:} I understand you’re trying to protect me, but it’s unnecessary - Detective Reed does not wish to harm me or any-
{Connor:} (stares at him, blinking, his LED flashing yellow, almost lost) Then why did he attack you yesterday? Why did he attack me?! Why did he swear to God he hated androids so much he’d happily “shoot ‘em all down?!”

Connor’s vocal software was merging with his memories and the last few words he uttered came out in a perfect replica of Gavin’s voice, which only made matters worse. Richard knew the signs of android malfunction and Connor was displaying them all.

[Scan: system_rk800]
[STRESS LEVEL 89% ^^]
[Prioritizing: calm Connor down]

{Richard:} It’s OK, Connor - I’m safe - it’s alright. (Lays a hand on his shoulder) Detective Reed didn’t mean-
{Connor:} -to kiss you!?

Silence. Dead silence. Two flickering red LEDs. Two RK model prototypes on the verge of malfunction.

[STRESS LEVEL 95%^]

Shit. The memory hit him like a truck. God, why had he done that?! He could feel himself physically cringing with humiliation as he remembered the incident. He took a deep breath in, then exhaled, trying to sort all his jumbled thoughts. He wished he didn’t have to deal with this when he felt like absolute crap.
“Look,” he began, sidestepping from behind Richard. “I was very drunk. I had practically no control over what I was doing and I really regret it now. I wish I’d never done it. Happy?” he looked up at Connor, his cheeks burning, but a determined look in his eyes. He wanted this conversation over with. He wished that had never happened.

[STRESS LEVEL 60% vv]
Connor and Richard both silently traced Gavin’s movements as he went to sit down at his desk. Connor felt his system slowly begin to cool down and slip back into smoother functionality, his LED finally flickering back to blue after 28 seconds. He took a brief glance at Richard, whose LED was still stuck firmly on red, and was staring into space blankly. Without uttering a word he laid his hand on Richard’s arm, interfacing something to him…it was a system debugging software. For an android in risk of malfunction, this was probably the kindest gesture.
Connor looked back at his brother as the file transfer finished, his eyes resuming their usual chocolatey puppy-dog disposition.
{Connor:} You need to look after yourself, Richard. Your safety and wellbeing is your first priority, and mine too. Don’t make yourself a dysfunctional human’s joke. You’re worth the whole world, and as a deviant, it’s your responsibility to remember this. Promise me you will.
And with that, he went to sit down at Hank’s desk, allowing Richard space to continue with his own mission without further interference.
Richard stared after Connor, his LED flashing red.
[STRESS LEVEL 70% v]
[Preparing: system refresh]
[Activation: calm_down.exe]
He felt nothing.

Gavin slumped into his chair with a groan, placing his coffee - some of which was now on the floor where Richard has pushed him - beside his terminal. He leaned back for a moment, then sighed. Time to get this shit show on the road. He looked up to see Richard still standing there, staring after Connor.
“Hey, plastic? You gonna stand there all day?” he called, except his name calling didn’t have quite the bite it used to.

Richard slowly turned his head towards Gavin, but something…jolted in his system.
[ERROR: calm_down.exe interrupted]
[Accessing memory files: Today, 03:32 am]
[STRESS LEVEL: 60%^]
He couldn’t stop it. It was like what those humans always talked about in “folklore”. Ghosts, mirages of past events, coming back to “haunt” the person. The memory of Gavin’s lips crashing into his just kept persisting.
And what was even more illogical was the fact that Gavin had just denied it meant anything. No. It made no sense. Humans surely weren’t that ridiculous. Richard wasn’t sure if his social relations program was faulty, but he sensed that humans don’t generally do such things with absolutely no motivation.
If Gavin were an android, programmed to kiss because someone had inputted the right number of 1s and 0s in the right order, it would make sense. But he wasn’t. He was a human - a flawed human.
…“Flawed” was precisely the problem.

“…You alright there?” Gavin asked, watching Richard as he stared, unmovingly. He was probably thinking about last night. Gavin turned back to his desk as a pink tinge entered his cheeks. Why did he keep getting so flustered about this? It didn’t mean anything - he’d already established this. He had been drunk and didn’t know what he was doing, nothing more. There was no need for all… This.
He took a drink of his coffee to try and clear his mind. Then, he looked back to his terminal - now he would get this shit show on the road. He was procrastinating too much. He’d done work with a hangover before, this time would be no different.

Richard cleared his mind, and his vocal software, selecting a pleasant tone.
{Richard:} Would you like me to check up on our documentation for the Red Ice case, Gav- I mean- D-detective… Detective Gavin. I mean-

[ERROR: vocalsystem_file_failure]

Richard paused, looking down at the desk quickly. This was not the first time his vocal software had glitched out of all control. This was actually the second time in the last hour this had happened; and both occasions had been directly caused by…
He looked back up at the grouchy detective who was pretending to busy himself at his computer, deliberately avoiding Richard’s gaze. Richard’s eyes narrowed. He wasn’t going to let Gavin get away with this.
After all, Richard was a prototype. He always accomplished his mission.

Gavin decided his best bet of getting anything done today was to ignore the android that didn’t seem to want to get out of his mind. If he didn’t pay attention to him, he wouldn’t be able to distract him.
Paying no attention to Richard’s stammering next to him, Gavin began to look through the many files he had on his computer. First order of business would be to sort all this shit out - when was the last time he’d even attempted that? It seemed like a job that wouldn’t put too much strain on him in his current state.

An hour passed. Richard and Gavin had been sitting away from each other, in stony silence; Richard sorting through the documents for their case; Gavin busying himself on the computer. It wasn’t exactly what you might call “team work”.
A groan and a sigh from over by Connor’s workstation alerted Richard to the arrival of Lieutenant Anderson, 1 hour and 16 minutes late, carrying a “breakfast special” from ChickenFeed which contained 6x the recommended daily intake of salt, among other statistics that Richard wiped from his mind quickly as irrelevant. He sometimes wished he didn’t know so much.
He paused. That was unusual. He’d never experienced a thought like that before. He had always prided himself in his smooth software functionality, his state-of-the-art technology, his record-breaking processor speeds…
It didn’t matter now. It didn’t matter at all. If this was coming between him and Gavin, he didn’t want it. He didn’t want it at all.
{Hank:} Hey, Gavin! You got new glasses or what? (chuckling to himself)

Gavin closed his eyes, sighing frustratedly. Any other day, he would snapped back with a snarky comment of his own, but today, with so much on his mind, he just wasn’t feel it. He went to take a drink from his coffee, before remembering he’d finished it off about 10 minutes ago.

A strong arm brushed gently against Gavin’s shoulder and placed another cup of coffee under Gavin’s nose. Richard’s sensors had accurately predicted and preconstructed the situation at hand. That’s why he had been sitting with a full cup of coffee next to him for the last ten minutes…no one, not even Tina, bustling past the desk, stopped to bat an eyelid at why an android needed to ensure he had a steaming cup of coffee next to him while he worked. It was the least he could do, now everything had come to this.

Gavin barely had to glance up to know who had placed the coffee in front of him. He grunted in thanks, taking the coffee in one hand and returning to work. Things were awkward, and as much as he wished they weren’t, he was at a loss of what to do about it. He wanted to say something, but he had no clue what, and he was hardly in the right state of mind to try and think of something. The only thing currently keeping him from falling asleep was the coffee, and he’d forgotten to take some painkillers with him for his headache.

12 minutes later, Richard’s sensors alerted him to a change in Gavin’s vitals. The loyal android was monitoring his detective closely, aware that there was a high risk of health complications implicated by his level of sleep deprivation and alcohol intoxication. LED flashing yellow, he turned his head towards Gavin who had unsurprisingly slumped down on the desk, fast asleep, his coffee only half finished. His arm had accidentally fallen like a dead weight onto the keyboard and was typing all sort of nonsense into the Red Ice database.
Richard immediately moved towards the computer, switched it off before any further damage could be caused, and threw away the rest of the now lukewarm coffee.
[Mission prioritization: |automatic selection| Ensure Gavin stays asleep]

Gavin had been staring at the screen at a loss of what to do next, his eyelids heavy. He had dropped off to sleep without warning, head on one arm, the other on the keyboard. Even coffee hadn’t managed to keep him going today.
Tina passed by Gavin’s desk, and upon seeing him asleep she stopped, considering playing a prank on him. Then she remembered how exhausted he’d looked earlier - much more than usual. It wasn’t only that either, it had seemed like something was bothering him too. After being friends with him for so long, she could tell. She wondered what had really happened last night.

Chapter 6: Past: Become Revealed

Notes:

Chapter Text

07:34.
Over 24 hours had passed since Richard had led a stumbling, hungover, worse-for-wear detective into the precinct for his early morning shift.
Richard had left at 13:02 when Gavin, having spent most of the morning crashed out at his computer, gave up for the day and stormed out of DPD without uttering a word. Richard had scanned his footsteps and traced them back to his house, but understood - when Hank laid a heavy hand on the android’s shoulder - that it wasn’t worth following him “unless you wanna be beat senseless”.
Richard had instead spent the night sitting, staring at the wall in Hank Anderson’s house, next to a snoring Sumo (who Connor couldn’t help cuddling even while the great mut slept). Richard had smiled - he was glad that he had a brother, and a home to come to that wasn’t CyberLife.

But no manner of system file clean-ups could prevent the memory filed under [yesterday/03:02] from replaying in Richard’s processor. It was becoming a kind of torture. His lips. Again. And again. Why had he done it? Why had he denied it? Richard felt so alienated from the situation - no level of social programming could help him fathom this. It was illogical beyond compare. And not only that…it was slowly tearing him apart.

07:35.
As Richard stepped into the precinct, the distinct smell of coffee and tobacco alerted him to the presence of one Detective Reed who, unusually, was already sat at his desk, tapping away at his computer. He seemed…more alert, less bedraggled. A quick scan confirmed that Gavin had slept for 10 hours and 33 minutes, and his vitals were significantly improved from the day before.
Something in Richard’s thirium pump faltered slightly. He smiled again. He was… glad.

Gavin had woken, and upon realising he’d been asleep for so long while at work, decided he would take the rest of the day off instead. He’d been half expecting Richard to follow him home, and wasn’t sure whether he was disappointed or relieved when he hadn’t. Gavin had managed to finally get a good night's sleep and actually felt pretty refreshed for once. He’d woken at his alarm, got ready and had his morning coffee, then managed to arrive at the DPD on time - something that hadn’t happened in a while.
Once he’d sat down at his desk, he had immediately been notified of a new case. He’d been researching it since then, trying to gather as many details as possible while he waited for Richard to arrive. As awkward as things were between them, they were partners, and so they’d have to work together.

A small beep alerted Richard to a newly downloaded update on the assigned mission. There was a new case involving a previously convicted drug addict and the three Red Ice traffickers who they hadn’t managed to prevent crossing the border. There seemed to be androids involved, but it wasn’t yet clear.

Richard suddenly locked eyes with Gavin, and it came as rather more of a surprise than he’d anticipated. He went to speak, but his vocal systems once again locked down.

“I’m guessing you’ve seen the update?” Gavin questioned without greeting the android, unaware of his inner turmoil. “I’ve looked into it a bit already, but I can’t really find anything useful.” He crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair.
“You’ll probably have more luck than me, anyway. I’m gonna go take a quick break.” he added, before standing. He hadn’t been working for long, but he also hadn’t had a smoke for a while.

Several beeps set off at once, as Richard downloaded three new updates on the case. The situation was now updated from pending to urgent, so Richard wasted no time in following Gavin to the outside smoking area.

At first, he couldn’t locate him - it was raining heavily and the smoking area was deserted. He spotted Gavin sheltering from the rain in a doorway, slightly slumped back against the fire exit with the majority of his weight on his back foot. There was something mesmerising about the way a puff of smoke rose out of Gavin’s lips, hanging low in the humid air like a cloud, before dispersing like droplets into the atmosphere…
Gavin locked eyes with Richard again, cutting through the android’s gentle observations and causing his system to panic momentarily before recalibration kicked in.

{Richard:} Detective Reed, I’ve just received an urgent update on the case. The traffickers were stopped by Toronto police and nearly $14,000 worth of the drug was confiscated - however, it seems our initial suspect is the cause of the problem. He lives in Detroit, just outside Ferndale. We need to head over there, with urgency.

Gavin was enjoying a moment alone, the sounds of traffic drowned out by the rain. He could feel all his stress dispersing, up into the air with the smoke, and he closed his eyes.
He opened them again, looking up as he heard movement nearby. His eyes met Richard’s, who paused before talking. He nodded once he finished speaking, blowing out one final puff of smoke before pulling his hood over his head and following Richard.
“That close, huh? Lucky us. Hopefully this should be quick.” he commented as they walked to Gavin’s car.

The heavy rain hit the windscreen like a stream of bullets, the wipers barely making an indent into the flood on the glass. Richard observed Gavin’s frustration increase moment by moment as they were stuck at a traffic light behind an obnoxious van driver who wouldn’t move out the way even for the police. Gavin stuck on the siren and beeped the horn loud enough to be heard several blocks away.
Richard had programmed himself not to intervene, not to rise to Gavin’s human irritations. Besides, they would pass soon enough. All things must end.
Richard’s LED flickered suddenly as a strange thought hit him. Surely that meant he could one day be gone, too? The hoody-wearing, grumpy, cigarette-stained, coffee-bingeing, tough cop…
…the gentle, cat-loving, funny, smart, caring, flawed, fractured, broken human being sat in the driver’s seat. Richard observed the intricate details of his eyes, the scars on his nose and lips, the marks on his skin, the stubble on his cheeks, the outline of his jaw, hard-set into a grimace…
There was something so tender, so fragile about the life Richard saw before him. Something so breakable…yet so real. Something so incomprehensibly beautiful. Something Richard would never have, with his perfect mechanisms, flawless complexion.
For the first time in his existence Richard wished he were mortal.

Gavin tapped the steering wheel impatiently. He wanted to get out there and do this, but everything was going so slow. As he drove, his thoughts wandered to the android beside him. He glanced to the side to see him staring into space - or was that what he was doing? He could be doing any number of things, Gavin thought. God, what he would give to be such a perfect thing- no, being- like an android. Richard was literally programmed to be better at Gavin’s job than he was, and that scared him slightly. He could easily just be replaced by someone like him. Everything he’d worked so hard for, all those hours he’d spent studying, was all just programmed into an android. Was what he compared to Richard? Nothing - he could probably outperform Gavin in any part of his job. He grimaced slightly at this thought.

The car brakes screeched slightly as they finally arrived outside a ramshackle, ominously dark suburban house. The rain was easing off a little now, and Richard was too busy scanning the area as soon as he stepped onto the sodden pavement to notice the water that slowly trickled down his synthetic skin.
The house was a sight to behold - a few shutters hung loose from the windows on the upper storeys, while the curtains were firmly closed on the lower. Not a single ray of light shone out from any crack, which was unusual - the sky was always so dark during a rainstorm like this.
Richard paused as he observed Gavin approach the front door with an air of caution, arming himself.

“What a shithole…” Gavin muttered as he approached the house, eyes scanning over the dark building. His hand hovered behind him over the gun in his belt as he walked up to the door. He knocked, wanting to try and be as civil as possible starting off. When no one answered, he knocked harder, calling,
“Detroit police! Open up or I’m gonna have to kick the door down!”
Once again, there was no noise from inside the building.
“Alright then, guess we’re doing this the hard way,” he growled, backing up slightly. He smashed his foot into the door, hitting the exact spot needed to cause the door to swing wide open, giving the two of them full view of the inside of the house.
The front room looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in a weeks, trash littering the floor and stains all over the furniture. Although there was definitely someone living there. Quiet, yet still just audible noises could be heard from upstairs. Gavin glanced back to check Richard was behind him, then entered the house, the atmosphere tense.

Richard moved with high caution through the entrance hall. Checking Gavin’s status and ensuring he was safe and hadn’t uncovered anything, he moved to the kitchen. It was just as much of a chaotic mess as the lounge, with burn stains on the walls and ceiling and the distinct scent of something…
Ammonia. Fungus. Rotting food.
Richard opened a cupboard and had to dive out of the way as a stack of three empty vodka bottles nearly crashed into his skull. His LED flashed red as he caught all three bottles almost seamlessly before they hit the ground. He paused. At least he still had all his reflexes…
Carefully replacing the bottles and closing the cupboard, he scanned the room for evidence. There was no trace of thirium in here - of course, that was the element that would confirm the presence of Red Ice. After running a final check, he turned to leave, but something stopped him.
[Scan: |finalized| Identification_human_DNA_located]
He paused, looking back down at the table. He scanned the finger prints that ran across the surface of the table in an erratic manner.
[DNA_match: 50%]
[replay_memory/yesterday/03:02]
[Software instability^^]
…
{Richard:} What?!?!
He held his head in his hand, suddenly filled with a dizzying kaleidoscope of information he couldn’t process. Why had that memory file replayed now? Was the glitch so irreconcilable that it would just plague him randomly? And during such an important moment in the investigation?!
[DNA_match: 50%]
Why did this message keep flashing at him? Match with what? He didn’t have any suspects - human or android - in his database. Who could his software be matching with? Someone outside of the investigation? It made no sense…
Richard’s LED flashed intensely as he heard Gavin making his way down the corridor. The last thing he could do was appear to be glitching in front of the detective. He had to recalibrate - and analyse the DNA - fast.

Gavin had been investigating the lounge, checking for anything out of the ordinary before he moved on. The place smelt bad, no doubt the fault of the trash all over the place, and he wrinkled his nose slightly. He found nothing, and so turned his attention to the almost inaudible noises from upstairs.
Moving carefully and quietly to the staircase, he made sure to avoid stepping on anything that could attract the attention of whoever- or whatever- may be on the second floor. From where he was, he couldn’t figure out what the noises were, but as he made his way up the dirty, rotting stairs they became more distinct. It was the sound of someone muttering to themselves under their breath and moving around in a room at the end of the hall. He neared the door, hand closing around the gun in his belt, just in case.

[DNA_match: 50%]
{Richard:} Who??? Who is the match?!?!
He slightly startled himself at the words that came pouring from his mouth in utter frustration, as he stared at the finger prints, his system whirring faster than ever, trying to piece these bizarre messages together, trying desperately to recalibrate, to stop this glitching…his eyes fell shut, as his system began to overpower itself…
[SYSTEM LOCKDOWN: 70% RISK ^]
Gavin’s lips. Gavin’s eyes. Gavin’s face. They were all he could see.
[memory/yesterday/03:02]
{Richard:} No, no, stop, STOP-

Richard suddenly opened his eyes.
They fell onto a small upturned, dusty photograph in a broken frame that he had previously failed to notice. Curiously, he picked up the photograph, dusted it off, removed it from the smashed glass frame and scanned it. It was an old image, from around 2008, of a middle-aged man standing in a garden next to a young boy, aged approximately 6 years old. They were both looking straight at the camera and smiling, the boy carrying a football under his arm, with a scuffed knee, the man with a hand firmly on the boy’s shoulder.
Something about the boy’s face made Richard pause. He frowned.
[Running_diagnostic_scan: facial_identification]
[loading_results:…65%…]
[DNA_match: 100%]
[DNA_match: 50%]
So the older man in the picture matched the finger prints on the table, and shared 50% DNA with the boy. The man was the boy’s father. The boy’s father. His biological FATHER.
[memory/yesterday/01:57]
[Gavin sitting up in bed, his cheeks soaked with tears]
[“Pathetic, you are. Pathetic.”]
[“Gavin. The least you deserve is to call me by my name…”]

In less than four seconds, the android already made it to the top of the stairs.
[MISSION PRIORITIZED: Protect Gavin]

Gavin’s hand was on the doorknob, the other had a tight grip around his gun. He had no clue who he was about to encounter, and had to be ready for anything. The door opened and his eyes fell upon a man slumped against the wall opposite him; a man who’s face he knew too well- Even after 20 years, that face still haunted him, and although it had aged, it was definitely him. It was Gavin’s father.
Gavin couldn’t move. His legs were frozen - nothing could have ever prepared him for this. Memories replayed themselves over and over; he could feel his breathing quickening and his heart beating faster and faster; he wasn’t even sure of what was going on around him anymore. His gun was raised in front of him, his hands were shaking, but he had no clue what he was doing - when had it got there?

{Richard:} DON’T. MOVE.
The command rang out across the room like a siren. A hand was suddenly gripping Gavin’s shoulder, another gun was raised, but this time without a single hint of the trembling fear overwhelming Gavin. Richard’s eyes were like fire, his LED burning brighter than human blood. The man in the corner stumbled to his feet awkwardly, only to be met by the barrel of Richard’s gun.
{Richard:} I said… Don’t move.
His voice was like ice. His program was running itself. He didn’t care what else happened, but he would not let this man near Gavin. And he would not fail this mission. This is the mission he was built for.
{Richard:} We know what you’ve been hiding here, Liam. We’ve been tracking you. We know you’re solely responsible for the illegal trafficking operation of Red Ice into Canada.
His eyes burned so bright they practically pierced into the human’s soul. The man would not look him in the eye.
{Richard:} You have a choice. Either own up now, or we drag you to the precinct with us. Got it?
The man still did not respond. His eyes were fixed on Gavin. Cold.

Gavin started as a strong hand was placed on his shoulder, bringing him back to his senses. Relief rushed through him as he looked up to see Richard, gun in hand, taking charge of the situation.
“That boy…” Liam’s voice sounded like it hadn’t been used in months, cracked and hoarse. He raised a finger to point at Gavin, his eyes unfocused but determined. “Is it really you?”
Gavin didn’t reply, he simply glared back, the grip on his gun tightening.
“It’s me Gavin, it’s me… It’s your father, it’s me…” he mumbled, trailing off, seemingly not quite with it.
This man didn’t deserve to be called a father. All did was abuse Gavin for the first 7, 8 years of his life - was he even aware of how much that had fucked him up? How much it still affected him?

{Richard:} Stay away from him.
Liam grimaced, staring at the android through dazed, bloodshot eyes…the mark of an addict. He wasn’t totally in his right mind, and what with his history of maltreating others and obvious substance abuse, Richard was taking no risks. As the older man swayed slightly on the spot, Richard flinched. Without immediate recognition of what he was doing, the android automatically grabbed Gavin around the shoulders, pulling him close to his chest in a kind of protective embrace.
{Richard:} I said… (LED flashing red dangerously) …stay away from him.

When Gavin was pulled close to Richard, his thoughts momentarily froze. He didn’t know how to feel about it. While he wanted to push away and do something - anything - to this man to make him pay for what he did to his kid self, he couldn’t shake the fact that he felt inferior to him. He felt like this man would always be the one to command him - he didn’t have the right to do anything about it.
It was irrational, and Gavin knew that - he was a cop, after all, and this man needed to be arrested. But he couldn’t help it. He supposed that’s just what years of abuse does to you.
So for now, he stayed where he was, held tight to Richard’s chest. The part of his mind that would be humiliated at this usually was nowhere to be found, and while he knew it would come back to bite him in the ass later, he didn’t have the capacity to care about it at the moment. He just wanted this to be over.

Everything happened at once. Liam stumbled and fell forwards. Richard grabbed hold of Liam with an iron strength, breaking his fall, while grasping Gavin tighter to his chest. For that moment, the android was the only thing coming between the drug addict and his long lost son.
If Richard had been human, the intensity of that moment could have made him crumple. But for all his glitches, his software inconsistencies, in that moment something switched inside him. He became the vicious machine CyberLife had designed. As Liam grasped at Gavin’s shirt, crying out in rage, Richard dealt him a blow to the temple with 99% accuracy. Within seconds, the man was on the floor, cussing and yelling.

Gavin flinched at Liam’s touch as all the memories of him doing the same came flooding back. He remembered how he would flinch whenever his father would move suddenly, or how he would freeze up when his father placed a hand on him. He’d been so terrified every time that he’d done something wrong, he didn’t know what it was but he knew it was always his fault. He was just a pathetic child who always messed everything up.
Liam staggered up from the ground, dizzy, turning back to the two with the intent of punching the android in return. There was no logic left in him at this point, he was just senselessly angry - he’d been punched and so felt the need to punch back, no matter if it was an android with far superior strength and fighting skills. He lurched forwards towards Richard, his fist raised and at Richard’s face.

Richard countered the blow thrown at him with such mechanistic precision, his own flinching was barely even perceptible. But he certainly did flinch, as Liam took hold of Gavin’s leg in an attempt to smack him down to the floor.
To Richard’s horror, a split second of software instability cost him 47% of his accuracy with the next blow, not managing to counter Liam’s attack of Gavin fast enough. His processor nearly crashed as the two humans fell to the ground with a thud, in a blur of yells and shouts.
Before Richard knew what he was doing, he dived onto Liam’s fingers, forcing him to lose his grip of Gavin. But he hadn’t waited for his software to recalibrate, and hadn’t predicted Liam’s next move with enough accuracy to counter it. The android was suddenly on the ground, hitting his skull with a thud… The next thing he knew, his vision was flooded with blue.
His own thirium.

Gavin scrambled back to his feet just in time to see Richard hit the floor. He shoved his emotions aside, now was not the time, he had to do something. His hand instinctively moved to grab his gun from his belt, but to his horror his fingers closed around air. He scanned the floor frantically, trying to locate it, and saw it had spun into a corner of the room, presumably when he’d crashed to the ground.
His eyes flicked to Liam, who was once again stumbling up again. Richard was in danger and he had no gun. Fuck it. He dove towards the man, aiming a fist right at his already dazed looking face, and felt it connect with the man’s nose with a sickening crunch.
There’s for breaking my nose, dickhead.
Before Liam could regain his senses, Gavin was lunging for the weapon in the corner of the room. He grabbed it, whipping back around.
“Don’t fucking move.” He growled. Anger was boiling inside of him - he wanted to shoot, but he held back.

[SYSTEM ERROR]
[Biocomponent_7263_damage]
Richard struggled to his senses, only half-perceiving the fight taking place around him. He was losing thirium from a gash in the side of his head, but it was an irrelevance. He had to-
Gavin-
His mission-
He would NOT fail his mission.
As Gavin picked up the gun, Richard felt his body tense, somehow. With an almighty effort that required 68% of his remaining power, he wrenched himself up from the floor and launched himself at Liam one final time, throwing a double punch into his stomach and crotch, followed by a ruthless blow to the head. It may have been executed with only 42% accuracy but it was more than enough. Liam didn’t stand a chance. His unconscious body hit the floor seconds later.
Silence. Breathing. Gavin looked at Richard with an indescribable awe. He glanced back at Gavin, thirium still trickling down his left temple.
{Richard:} That was for breaking your nose. (Whispering) The dickhead.

Gavin smiled slightly, a little out of breath. His brain was finally catching up to everything that had just happened now that the adrenaline was fading. His eyes flicked to the unconscious body lying beside them, and a strange feeling hit him. Was that satisfaction? Smugness? This man had abused him for years, and now they were about to arrest him. He would finally get what he deserved.
It was pride. He was proud of himself.
As soon as his eyes were back on Richard, however, that feeling faded. Thirium was smeared all down once side of his face.
“Y-your face, are you-“ he stuttered, taking a step towards Richard.

Chapter 7: Feelings: Become Accepted

Notes:

Chapter Text

[MISSION: Successful]
The sudden hint of worry in Gavin’s voice, that “asshole cop” for whom he had nearly sacrificed himself, made Richard’s already pressurized thirium pump squeeze harder.
{Richard:} One of my biocomponents has received some minor damage, which explains my unfortunate leakage of thirium. I hope it isn’t too much of a messy inconvenience while we arrest your father and detain him for further interrogation.
He uttered all this in such a matter of fact tone, it completely hid any sensation he may have been feeling. Any sense of pain or discomfort which were, after all, just annoying glitches in his program since becoming deviant. Just glitches, nothing more.
Richard already knew he was protesting far too much.

“Hey,” Gavin walked closer and clicked his fingers in front of Richard’s face, “don’t go all machine on me. Are you ok?” he repeated.
He wanted to know if Richard was actually ok, not just if he was still functioning. Gavin was worried for him. The old him - the him from before all of this - would’ve scoffed. Worried for an android? What had gotten into him? But he couldn’t deny it anymore. There was definitely something there.

Richard’s gaze never moved from Gavin’s eyes. There was something unusual about his stance, the way he clicked his fingers; there was none of his usual sarcastic wit. It was almost…
Richard felt his mouth curve itself into a smile. A proper smile. Not just a slither of a programming glitch, a chuckle or a sarcastic smirk. No, he actually… He meant it. He was… There he was again, that gratitude. He was glad. Glad to have succeeded at his mission with limited functionality-
No, that’s not why he was glad. He was glad because Gavin was here. He was alive. He was unharmed. The ghost of the abusive father figure from his past was lying unconscious on the floor, awaiting arrest.
Richard paused. What was it that had caused him to prioritize protecting Gavin over all other possible missions? He hadn’t had a chance to re-run a diagnostic scan of his choices. And now, with Gavin there, clicking his fingers in front of Richard almost comically, a diagnostic scan was no longer necessary.
…Because Richard, CyberLife prototype model RK900 serial no. 313-248-317-87, had developed something far, far superior to CyberLife’s hyper-fast diagnostic scan function.
He had feelings.

Richard was smiling. It didn’t seem like some awkward, programmed smile like he’d always done before, either. It seemed genuine, and… It looked good on him. A slight pink tinge entered Gavin’s cheeks as this struck him and he turned his thoughts, and face, away, looking down to the body on the floor. He should probably handcuff the man before he woke up.
Putting his gun back into his belt, he traded it for a pair of handcuffs, then bent down over the man and locked them around his wrists, behind his back. Once done, he stood back up and looked down at the body for a moment.
It was so strange seeing this man, who used to terrify him to the point of him barricading his door and hiding in his closet, on the floor out cold, after he and his partner had just dealt with him. Again, that sense of pride overtook him. He was proud of himself for being able to look past the trauma and not be simply reduced to a panicking mess on the floor when faced with his father after all these years. He partly had Richard to thank for that. When Gavin had had his moment of panic, Richard had protected him without a second thought.
This turned his thoughts once again to the deviant android beside him. Over the past few days, so much had happened, and his relationship with Richard had completely changed. He wondered if it was the same for Richard. Did Richard still think of Gavin as just an asshole detective who couldn’t properly take care of himself? Well, he’d said himself before that he felt there was something more to Gavin. So no, he guessed things had changed for him as well.

{Richard:} Shall I escort him to the car?
His grey eyes observed the two humans before him with…an unusual warmth. It took a slightly concerned flicker of Gavin’s eyes to the side of Richard’s head for him to remember he was still bleeding. Without thinking, he went to raise a hand to the side of his head, when all of a sudden another hand found its way there.

{Richard:} Gavin, y-you… Thirium 310 is toxic to humans, please-

Gavin ignored him, pressing his sleeve deeper into the wound to stop the blue blood, staring at the wound on Richard’s head with that same concern. Richard went to continue his complaint but…for some reason his vocal system failed again. He just stood there, LED blinking slowly blue, staring silently into his eyes.

Once most of the blood was wiped from the side of Richard’s head, Gavin withdrew his arm. That looked better.
“Well, would you look at that,” he smirked slightly, “the android prototype gets injured, but the human doesn’t.”
He knew full well that he wasn’t injured mainly because Richard had protected him - Hell, if he hadn’t, Gavin would probably be the one out cold on the floor. Or worse. He shook the thought from his mind. What mattered now is that they were both ok.

The knowing smirk that set into Richard’s face could have easily outdone the Detective for levels of sass. Gavin’s sarcastic remark no longer grated with Richard - it came as an exciting challenge. A memory from two days previously suddenly replayed in his mind, of when he first downloaded that unusual vocal software add-on…the attitude that was unmistakably a central driving force of his deviancy.

Richard flashed his bright grey eyes at Gavin, eyebrow raised.

{Richard:} Some thanks I get for saving your sorry ass, huh?

“Oh, fuck you,” Gavin chuckled, nudging his side playfully. He was glad they were able to joke around in good nature like this.
“All that aside though, we gotta deal with him now,” he added, gesturing back to Liam on the floor. He was stirring slightly, coming back to consciousness. How cooperative was he going to be?

{Richard:} Stay back.
He approached the suspect with caution, and just as Liam let out a chesty groan, clasped the human by the collar and around the waist and effortlessly hoisted him into his arms, making for the door. As Gavin grabbed Richard’s arm, his face the very picture of “the fuck d’you think you’re doing”, Richard calmly shook his head.
{Richard:} I was designed to support weights far greater than this. Besides, we don’t have much time - my scanners estimate we have approximately 12 minutes before he regains full consciousness. (His eyes flashed at Gavin with soft concern colliding dangerously with a sharp glint of anger) And if he dares to hit you again, I’ll-…

“Hey, don’t worry about me, I’m fine,” Gavin dismissed, “he’s in cuffs now anyway, there’s no really much he can do.”
That wasn’t entirely true, the case had shaken him up quite a bit, but he didn’t want Richard to worry. While he wanted to get out of this grimy building, he also wanted to take the rest of the day slow. This case had turned out to be a lot for him. Richard would probably be able to tell he was lying, but oh well.

Back at the precinct, less than half an hour later, and the sight of Liam being taken away for further interrogation set the smug grin firmly on Richard’s lips. So he may no longer have been a machine, but hell - he sure was a sucker for the gratification of succeeding his mission flawlessly.

Fowler’s voice nearby snapped Richard back to his senses, LED flashing yellow. The big boss man was addressing Gavin…and for once, he actually didn’t seem displeased. Richard’s eyes widened slightly in almost comic surprise.

{Fowler:} I know this doesn’t come round that often nowadays, but… you done good, Reed. (nodded briefly in Richard’s direction) Seems that new partner of yours is bringing out the best in you. Keep it up.

Fowler patted Gavin’s shoulder roughly and strode off - but not before he’d given Richard a little tilt of his head in gratitude. A small gesture, but a meaningful one.

Gavin stared after Fowler for a moment. People never told him they were proud of him. He never did anything to make them proud. And yet, he’d just been told he was doing good - not only that, but it had come from Fowler. He shook his head slightly, bringing himself back to his senses.
“Well, uuh,” he said, turning back to Richard. “that was unexpected.”
He was silent for a moment, considering.
“Hey, I was thinking of taking the rest of the day off, uuh, that case turned out to be… A lot,” he hesitated, biting his lip.
“I was thinking of going back home and I was… Wondering if you wanted to come back to my place too?” he asked, his cheeks pink. He wasn’t sure why he asked. Maybe it was because he didn’t really want to be left alone after what happened. Maybe he didn’t want the android to get bored, having nothing to do once he was gone. Or maybe he just enjoyed Richard’s company.
Or, it could potentially be all three.

Richard gazed at Gavin. He was-…what was it? Why did his processor attempt to short circuit as he witnessed this human biting his lip? Something that was so irrelevant…something small and meaningless and illogical that only a human could do, but…
But it somehow meant more than anything else to Richard in that moment. It just… His processor didn’t respond. He saw no error messages. Nothing seemed to register this instability he was experiencing.
Maybe, just maybe, that’s because it wasn’t an instability after all.

{Richard:} Yes.

The word seemed too short; not clear enough, despite its absolute clarity. Richard paused, his LED now flickering manically. This was a situation he truly had never encountered before. No manner of preconstruction technology or analytics could help him now.

{Richard:} That is to say…I would.

He was fumbling his words. It was stupid. Illogical. Irrational. He sounded as foolish, as naïve as a human…

Gavin actually hadn’t expected him to accept, so it took him a moment to realise what Richard had said. Except, it meant he didn’t know how to reply.
“Oh, uuh, great,” he said, then cursed inwardly. God, such a meagre reply. Why was he so flustered about this? It was stupid. He turned, hiding his blushing face, and began making his way back to his car.
10 minutes or so later, they pulled up outside Gavin’s apartment together once again. He shut off the engine and stepped out of the car.

There was a strange kind of silence between them as they stepped, almost in exact synchronicity, through the front door, Gavin not bothering to take off his coat or shoes, heading straight to the kitchen with his gaze fixed on his feet, almost tripping over a slightly bewildered Toby on the way. Even Richard didn’t stop to greet the furry friend properly. He followed Gavin into the kitchen, to find him standing by the sink, staring down at the array of dirty dishes. Richard meanwhile just stood in the middle of the room, feeling like a piece of out of place furniture. His processor was almost useless now. It was going to have to be Richard’s decision from now onwards. His actions were his own.
{Richard:} (LED yellow) Is there a specific reason you wanted me here, Gavin?

There was silence for a moment as Gavin wondered what he should say. Why did he want Richard there?
“I… I don’t know, really,” Gavin admitted, his back to Richard. “I guess I didn’t really want to be alone after all… that, and… I-I like having you around.”
His face was burning, and he was still refusing to look at Richard.

An infinite pause. Toby was the only motion in the room, the feline almost knowingly winding his way around Richard’s legs first and then around Gavin’s, tickling his leg with his tail as he went. Clearly unaware of what he was doing, Gavin mindlessly followed Toby out of the kitchen into the hallway. Without making eye contact, he shuffled through the doorway. Gavin’s shoulder gently brushed against Richard’s as he passed him.

Richard wheeled around sharply, as if a bolt of lightning had suddenly rebooted his system. His hands were on Gavin’s shoulders, his collar, his jaw, hurling the Detective flat up against the wall in a single, fluid movement - exactly the same movement that Gavin had used on him, just over 72 hours ago.

But unlike 72 hours ago, there were no words exchanged between the two cops… Only a startled grunt from Gavin as Richard’s lips smashed messily into his.

Gavin hadn’t had time to process what was happening before Richard was kissing him. He completely froze, eyes wide, then… He realised. All those times he’d become flustered around Richard, worried for him without knowing why, wanted his company- He liked the android. He’d denied it because he was so strung up about hating androids previously, all because of his stupid brother, and he hadn’t been willing to let himself recognise the fact that there was something more between them.
Richard pulled away from the kiss, but Gavin didn’t want it to be over. He grabbed the androids collar and dragged him back in.

[new_memory: saved/today/1:45pm]
Richard had preconstructed this moment with 99% success. But had it been 2% or 100% he wouldn’t have cared. A preconstruction could never have emulated what it really meant to him to be kissing Gavin.
Feelings. Instabilities. Whatever they were, whatever they meant, Richard knew firmly, totally that nothing mattered more to him. No mission would be able to override the place of Gavin in his heart.
If he even had a heart. Well. Humans use that word figuratively, so why can’t I? he mused. Oh, he had a heart alright. And it was fluttering at the sight of Gavin’s eyes, the sensation of his breath against his synthetic skin…
Closer. He wanted him closer. He could never be close enough… Noses colliding, Richard’s eyes drooped shut at the touch of Gavin’s lips.

Eventually, the two broke apart. No matter how much Gavin was enjoying this, his position pinned against the hallway wall wasn’t exactly what you’d call the most comfortable of places.
“Well, uhh, that happened,” Gavin chuckled, slightly out of breath, breaking the silence between them. His face was still flushed as he looked up into Richard’s eyes. He really could get lost in those eyes, not only when he was drunk.

Your eyes, Gavin. Your eyes.
Richard could no longer tell if he was speaking aloud or inside his mind - the difference didn’t seem to compute. Or matter. The main, and only, communication that mattered was held in this shared moment, precious, almost sacred. Gavin, your eyes are…
“…your eyes are beautiful.”
The almost curious nature of this statement, uttered as it was in a rich, smooth tone, could have melted the hardest of hearts. The smile in Gavin’s eyes bloomed like a late blossom, almost unhinged by Richard’s words, his breath erratic and catching in his throat. Richard didn’t really know what his reaction meant, but he knew he loved that sound.

“Exactly what I was just thinking,” Gavin smiled, looking back into the android’s eyes. Where they were once a cold, piercing blue, they were now soft and full of happiness. And mischief. Wait, what-?
Richard grabbed Gavin’s hand and began dragging him back into the lounge and over to the couch. Gavin stumbled slightly, making sounds of protest. He tried to fight against the androids pull but it was no use. Instead, once Richard was about to push him down onto the couch, Gavin tackled him from behind by grabbing him around the waist, causing him to fall onto the couch and for Gavin to fall on top, laughing.

The sensation of Gavin’s arms around his waist, face planting into the cushions as Gavin let out a slightly hysterical cuss, Richard found himself shaking with the very real sensation of laughter, for the first time.

Just as Gavin was busy burying his nose into the nape of Richard’s neck, something soft and furry brushed past Richard’s ear. His sensor processor now too overloaded to categorize, Richard paused, LED momentarily flashing, before a sharp MEOW made Toby self-evident, as the persistent cat clambered over Gavin’s shoulders, trembling with laughter…Gavin’s eyes were alight and free and happy and…alive, so alive…

Gavin couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt as genuinely happy as this. Sure, it wasn’t like he hadn’t been happy at all, but something like this. He felt alive again. And he had Richard to thank for that. The android he’d slammed into a wall a few days previously. It was surreal how things had changed so quickly.
An abrupt ‘meow’ and the feeling of tiny feet on his back brought Gavin back down to Earth from his feeling of bliss. He chuckled a little.
“Toby, if you want food climbing on top if me really isn’t the best thing to do.” he said, still sprawled out over Richard, unable to move now without knocking over the cat.

Richard attempted to manoeuvre himself, trying to assist with the stubborn animal, but it was futile. Gavin had him almost entirely pinned to the couch, and his centre of gravity was in an inefficient place to lever him up.
Or was it?
{Richard:} Wait, I might be able t-
But the android’s best intentions were promptly cut short by the sensation of Gavin’s silky soft lips brushing little kisses all the way along the nape of Richard’s neck, smatterings of smooches all the way up his jaw, his cheek bone, leaving a trail of blue blush in their midst. It was a side of Gavin that Richard would never have been able to predict…it was so soft, so gentle, playful…so tender. It was so…
Richard collapsed back into the cushion, eyes falling shut, a sound emitting from him that could only be described as a blissful sigh. In his mind’s eye, memories of Gavin’s kisses were all he could see, matching the current moment with the type of perfection no android could pre-conceive.

Gavin didn’t want to have to move, so when Richard had made to do so he did the first thing that came to mind to stop him. He trailed kisses all around Richard’s neck, cheeks and jaw, as many places he could reach.
“Let’s just stay like this for a while,” he muttered, laying his head down on Richard, “Toby can just chill up there, he’ll get bored eventually.”
It was strange laying his head on Richard. Him being an android, Gavin couldn’t hear the steady beat of a heart or feel the warmth of a human body. All he heard instead was a gentle whirring of machinery - he had never noticed it before. Where he would’ve used to have been bothered by this lack of humanity, he found he didn’t care anymore. He didn’t care that Richard was android.

Chapter 8: Happiness: Become True

Notes:

Chapter Text

Hours passed. Or it could have been days. Richard was no longer counting time, disabling his in-built clock, because time was irrelevant and useless when it came to being with Gavin. It was ironic, in a sense - when he was with Gavin, even time seemed illogical to Richard.
Neither one of the lovestruck duo had budged from their position on the couch. It was as if this is how it had always been…a kind of wholeness that seemed to freeze everything around them, with only the sound of human lungs, human heart, the occasional gentle snigger as Richard made a few naive mistakes…going to kiss Gavin’s forehead and accidentally ending up with a mouthful of his hair; not understanding the concept of tongues, and having to ask Gavin to pause for an infuriating moment as he had to disable his forensic analytics laboratory, before Gavin remarked something about him being a “fucking tease” and proceeding to dive right back in. Fortunately for both of them, Richard’s prototype processor enabled him to learn the art of french kissing very quickly.

An incessant meowing from the kitchen is what made them eventually move. Toby’s bowl was empty, and when Toby’s bowl was empty he didn’t shut up until it wasn’t. Gavin groaned, planting his face into Richard’s shoulder, not wanting to get up and spoil their moment.
“Sorry,” he sighed, giving Richard one last kiss, then finally standing after who knows how long. He stretched as he walked over to a cupboard and grabbed the cat food, then poured some into Toby’s bowl. The cat began snarfing it up happily.
“Pig,” Gavin chuckled as he turned to put the food back.

{Richard:} Who are you calling pig?

Richard was right there in the doorway, watching with a warm smile as Gavin gave Toby’s neck a little tickle. As his eyes clicked back with Gavin’s, the intangible electricity between them sent an almost malfunction-worthy shiver through Richard’s entire system. As Gavin strode towards him casually, tongue in his cheek, looking at him with a kind of cocky admiration, Richard found himself laughing, immediately grabbing his human round the waist and pulling him close, grinning smugly as Gavin smooched his cheek.

{Richard:} According to research published in the late 2010s, humans share 90% of DNA with both pigs AND cats. So maybe Toby IS a pig, after all?

Gavin gave a short snort of laughter at that fact.
“Is that actually true? God, I guess he really is one,” he grinned. He pulled away from Richard’s hold with another kiss and walked back to the sofa.
As he approached it, the mess of files and paper scattered on the floor caught his eye. He really needed to clean all of that up. He’d never really cared about it before, no one ever came to his apartment so there wasn’t any need, but now there was someone else here who he actually cared about the mess was less easy to ignore. His room was in an even worse state, he remembered.

{Richard:} Uh…Gavin?
Gavin paused, glancing over his shoulder, and the android witnessed the human’s eyes melting at the very sight of him, causing that same sensation of electricity to flood Richard’s system. Automatically, Richard grabbed hold of Gavin’s hand, twining his fingers around Gavin’s warm, slightly sweaty palm, to which Gavin immediately responded by interlacing their fingers and squeezing them slightly.
{Richard:} I…
His vocal system failed. It seemed to be his most prevalent fault, as if his feelings for Gavin, this electricity, had completely corrupted this particular software. Finally regaining some semblance of control, he found [caring/05/endearing.exe] automatically selected without any option to turn it off.
{Richard:} You know I wasn’t joking when I offered to help you clean up this mess. (His eyes widened, gaining a kind of breath-taking, deep, topaz-like shine to them) I want to help you. I want to…I want to know about you.
He paused, his analytics “helpfully” reminding him just how illogical this statement was. He chuckled nervously, his gaze fixing upon their intertwined hands as Gavin shifted closer to him, taking his other hand, too.
{Richard:} I’m sorry if that…sounded…(he looked back at Gavin, and uttered with a kind of distant concern)…well, illogical. I’m not really…(he paused)…I’m not really used to these kinds of interactions.

“Don’t worry, you idiot,” he smiled, “I’ll take any help I can get honestly, this place is a dump,” he finished off with a short chuckle.
“I mean-“ his hand left Richard’s “-I don’t even know what half of this stuff is,” he walked around the couch and knelt down besides some papers. He rifled through them.
“Red Ice, Red Ice… This one’s from two years ago!”

Richard scanned the area, predicting it would take approximately 24 minutes to complete the clean up task. He paused. Is this really how he wanted to spend this time with Gavin? Did he even have a choice?
He shook his head. He’d only been a deviant for 3 days. Just under 72 hours. The very fact he was now entering into a human kind of relationship with an actual human…he seriously needed to reassess his software priorities.
Quickly searching the internet for the best advice on human relationships of a romantic nature, he stopped. The first result was an image of a bed, with no further explanation.

Richard’s processor whirred. Of course - from his scan two days ago, he had already seen that Gavin’s bedroom was in a similar state of disarray. Yes, so moving their tidying to the bedroom seemed the next logical step. His preconstruction software informed him this would only take approximately 12 minutes.
[Mission prioritization: shift//bedroom]

{Richard:} Gavin, I would like to resume our mission in your bedroom.

He paused. His LED blinked. So did Gavin, who had been interrupted from rifling through papers on the floor by this sudden announcement, and was sat staring at Richard with eyes as wide as dinner plates, his cheeks flushed a particularly charming shade of red.

{Richard:} (frowning)…why are you looking at me like that?

[Download/file: romantic_relationship/0123/bedroom]
[open_file]
[reading]
…
[activated: thirium_flow/cheeks]
{Richard:} …oh.

Gavin just stared, speechless for a moment, his cheeks burning. Judging by the blue blush that spread across Richard’s cheeks and his reaction, he hadn’t actually meant what he just suggested. Gavin took a deep breath in then,
“I’m just gonna presume you didn’t mean that the way it sounded. That you meant cleaning up in my room.”

Richard looked down at his feet bashfully.
{Richard:} I-I’m sorry, Gavin. (He let out a sound remarkably like a sigh, before his eyes met Gavin’s again) I guess I just suck at this “life” thing sometimes.
His slightly awkward, lopsided grin and a gentle shrug of the shoulders was framed by such sad eyes that the human watching him barely knew how to react.

“Hey, it’s ok,” he said, slightly concerned by the look in Richard’s eyes, “I suck at it too.” He gave a short laugh, getting up off the floor. Maybe they should start in his room instead. But what if Richard found something in there he didn’t want him to find? …It would be fine, he wouldn’t.

A few minutes later, the team were delving into piles of junk in Gavin’s room, lifting assorted papers from piles of socks, general garbage from under the bed and random artefacts ranging from old guitar magazines to Toby’s toy mouse. Chuckling at the sight of Gavin’s socks with a pink cat pattern, Richard eyes fell upon a box which was, unusually for Gavin, completely sealed. Frowning, he pulled the box from underneath the bed for a closer inspection.

Gavin was bent under his desk, gathering together bits of garbage and paper that had fallen down the back of it. He straightened up and stretched, turning to see Richard holding- Oh shit.
“Shit, don’t touch that!” he blurted out, panicking. He took a breath in to try to calm himself, then added, “Please.”
He could feel his heart racing; he never wanted anyone to know what was in that box.

Richard shuddered to a halt, LED flickering incessantly as Gavin’s words cut through his current action like a knife.
[Error: conflicting_instructions]
He froze, eyes fixed on the box. He could scan it and identify its contents with 43% accuracy, even without removing the lid. Gavin would never know…
No. He shouldn’t. He…
He looked back at Gavin, whose eyes were now frozen with fear, with glaze of palpable sadness. Those eyes, beautiful eyes.
Richard felt his thirium pump increase by 37%.
[Prioritization: stop_action]
Slowly, but steadily, he put the box down under the bed where he found it, shielding it from his vision by moving some other junk in front of it. He calmly turned back to Gavin, LED blue again, but his blue eyes still filled with a dark concern.

Gavin let out a breath somewhere between a sigh and a groan and ran a hand down his face. God, why did he have to keep that box in such an obvious place?
“Sorry, I just…” he began, unsure of what he was going to say. He was looking down at the floor, avoiding Richard’s eye contact.
Was it possible that he could’ve scanned the box? He could scan all sorts of other things, so… No, Richard wouldn’t do that. He hoped. He shook the thought from his head and looked back to the android, who was still staring at him.

Richard stared into those sad eyes for what seemed like an age. The corners of his mouth twitched into a small smile, and he stood up, walking over to Gavin, placing a firm yet comforting hand on his shoulder, squeezing it slightly, affectionately, before the urge became too strong and he just pulled the frazzled cop into a deep embrace. His processor recorded the whole action, and saved it. He smiled to himself…maybe he wasn’t so bad at doing this “human” thing after all.

{Richard:} Don’t worry. I saw nothing.

Pulling away, he paused, considering whether or not to confess the thing he had seen. A small smile crept back onto his face at the memory of it, and slowly from his pocket he pulled a small, printed photo.

{Richard:} But I did see this. I didn’t know you were interested in motorbikes, Gavin.

“Oh,” Gavin chuckled as a slight blush crept onto his cheeks, “Yeah, I always have been, really. I never told anyone cause it’s pretty dumb, but… I could show you my bike, if you want?”
He could remember when he was a kid the dad of one of his friends had a bike and had taken them out for a ride, it’s what first started his passion for them. After that he’d always wanted one of his own, and when he’d finally got one he was over the moon.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to take it out as often recently, so the thought of going for a ride with Richard excited him.

{Richard:} Yes.

His response was automatic, but it wasn’t false. It wasn’t his programming. His eyes were alight; curious.

{Richard:} Please. I’d really love to see your motorbike. (Pauses) I’ve never ridden one before. (LED flashing blue, an intense excitement overcoming the android in seconds) Show me.

Gavin grinned at the androids enthusiasm, and together they left the building, Gavin giving Toby a quick stroke goodbye.
“There you go,” Gavin said, a proud smile on his face. The bike sat in front of them in all its (slightly dirty) glory.
“I haven’t really been able to take her out much recently so she’s a bit dirty,” he mentioned, walking up to it and rubbing it slightly with his sleeve, “Oh well. Wanna go for a ride?” He patted the seat, turning back to look at Richard, still wearing the same proud smile.

Richard instantly clambered onto the seat, if pretty awkwardly, lacking any of the elegance of his ordinary program. He paused as Gavin let out a chuckle, sliding himself onto the seat in front of Richard, not exactly shying away from the inevitable contact of his ass with Richard’s lap. For a moment there, Richard assumed Gavin was meant to sit on his lap…until he shifted into position, revving the engine, leaving the poor, bedazzled deviant trying to categorize his emotions with a racing thirium pump.

“Hold on,” was the only thing Gavin said before they sped off, a smug grin on his face.
He had an idea of where he wanted to take Richard. It wasn’t too long of a journey and the place had an amazing view. It also held value to Gavin.
They drove along and eventually met the highway, where Gavin really put his foot down, and they shot along, wind blowing strongly in both their faces. He was probably breaking the speed limit, but he didn’t care - he was just glad to be back riding this thing after quite some time. It was exhilarating.

Freedom.
Is this what it feels like? The wind hitting his face so hard it rippled his skin, tearing through his hair, arms wrapped tight, tighter around the human he had come to adore beyond compare in the space of three days…
Holding on, but letting go. Richard turned his face to the sky above and let out a laugh from so deep within his system it was almost like he owned the finest pair of lungs in the world. He couldn’t believe it. Just. Couldn’t. Believe it.

Eventually, they came to a stop. They pulled up by an old park on top of a hill that looked like it hadn’t been visited in quite some time. Everything was covered with a layer of dirt, broken and damp. Gavin slipped off the bike.
“Fuck, I forgot how good that felt,” he sighed, a grin still stuck on his face. He ran a hand through is windswept hair, turning to face Richard, his grey eyes bright with happiness. “What d’you think?”

Richard was awestruck. And the feeling definitely exceeded his in-built dictionary’s definition of that word. The way the grass seemed to sweep away into the centre of the metropolis ahead of them as if it had been designed that way…the lights of the city twinkling like the stars that were one by one popping into view in the twilight sky. The air was clearer, cooler here somehow, with 0.2% less atmospheric pollution. It was tiny, but Richard’s sensors picked up on it, as if this sort of thing really made a difference to his mechanical organs…

His glistening eyes told Gavin everything, kept no secrets. As the two stood by the bike, surveying the scene, Richard’s fingertips sensed something. He looked down just in time to witness Gavin wrapping his fingers so tenderly around Richard’s in a kind of embrace, the single gesture alone sending incomparable electric shivers through Richard’s system. This was becoming a familiar sensation, but somehow every time it happened it felt like the first time. It was as if Richard’s system was never truly prepared…and that’s what made it special.

As the two walked, side by side, hand in hand, Gavin leading Richard slowly towards a bench with the best angle on the vista, all that Richard could see was Gavin’s eyes. In person, and in his mind. Simultaneously layered like photos on top of photos of the same image. Every time he saw them, or replayed an image of them, again and again, it was like he was seeing them for the first time. Grey, with a hint of blue. So delicate. So fragile. So… Human.

Maybe Richard’s eyes were like this, too. Maybe this is what Gavin saw when he looked into his eyes. Maybe this is what they mean by…“love”.

[Love: noun]
1) a strong feeling of affection.
2) a great interest and pleasure in something.
[verb]
1) to feel great emotional attraction to (someone)

Without even pausing for thought, Richard switched off his in-built dictionary. It told him nothing. Gavin’s eyes were the only definition he needed.

Gavin smug grin softened as he saw Richard’s eyes alight with awe, staring at the horizon, lips slightly parted. It made his heart flutter; something he hadn’t felt in years. He slipped his fingers between Richard’s and lead him over to a bench, one with the best view of the just setting sun.
They sat there in silence for a while, Gavin’s head dropping onto the androids shoulder.
“I used to come here all the time,” Gavin spoke up, breaking the silence, “as a kid. When things got particularly bad at home, or if I wasn’t having a great day. Which was most of the time.”

Slowly, Richard’s fingers left Gavin’s and his arm curled around the warm human leaning into him, face almost buried in his neck. Richard noticed how Gavin’s eyes gently slid shut after muttering something cryptic about his childhood, and with a pang, the android observed a few solitary tears trickling out from beneath Gavin’s eyelids, snaking their way down his cheeks, soaking into the fabric of Richard’s jacket.
There was something about the heaving of Gavin’s chest, the intense physicality of the emotion that overcame the detective, that stirred Richard into a frenzy. To have this living body, this…soul in his arms, so fragile, so vulnerable…it was enough to blow every one of Richard’s fuses. As if his programming was no longer restraining him, Richard laid his other hand on Gavin’s head, fingers entwining with his hair, pulling him closer into the embrace. It was as if he’d pressed a switch: Gavin’s grip tightened, his fists grasping a handful of the material of Richard’s jacket, lifting his head sharply, a single flash of grey-blue eyes meeting Richard’s before their lips combined once again, rawly, hungrily, deeply.

Gavin leapt into the kiss almost desperately; desperate for Richard, for love, desperate even just for a touch that wasn’t harmful. When he was younger all he felt were grabs and punches, then that eventually made way into nothing. All he ever got now was a solitary pat on the back or a playful hit.
He broke away from the kiss, slightly breathless, looking up into Richard’s eyes. Beautiful, bright blue, caring eyes. They looked so… Human. He laid his head back on Richard’s shoulder, grip on the android’s jacket slacking slightly as he let out a long sigh.
Turning back to the sunset, he pulled a cigarette from his pocket and stuck it into his mouth, then patting down his jacket for his lighter.

Richard wouldn’t let go of Gavin’s jacket, his hair, still pulling him closer even as Gavin placed a cigarette in his mouth and tried to find his lighter…
…The lighter that magically found its way to the end of his cigarette. Again. Just like that time in the car on the way to their first Red Ice mission, Richard’s reliability never changing. What still functioned of CyberLife’s original program made him a constant, a rock in this ever-changing sea of emotions…

{Richard:} I was about to remind you of the statistics on smoking-related illness, but…(smiling down at the cop on his shoulder)…I think that can wait.

He planted a tender kiss on Gavin’s forehead as he took the first draught of the cigarette, making him splutter and swoon simultaneously, throwing Richard a devilish look, grinning beautifully up at him.

{Richard:} The most prevalent issue with your cigarette right now, is that it means your mouth is occupied.

And with that, Richard activated a new approach and began to smooch Gavin’s temple, jawline, his ear…

Gavin chuckled, his face a little pink at Richard’s actions.
“You’re such a sap,” he muttered, grinning as he took the cigarette from his mouth and kissed Richard’s cheek.
Time passed, the two of them contentedly sitting together on that bench. They watched the sun set and the stars slowly pop up one by one in the sky, Gavin’s head still resting on his partner’s shoulder. His heart felt so full; something he hadn’t experienced in what felt like forever. He’d spent so long alone that he almost forgot what love like this felt like. Richard had given him a reason to care.

As time passed, Richard caught the eye of various passers-by. There weren’t many visitors here, but when there were, Richard couldn’t help but notice their intense staring. It took him less than 0.03 seconds to deduce that this was due to the unfamiliar sight of a human and android, happily lounging about in each other’s arms on a park bench at nightfall. Becoming increasingly self-conscious of their eyes on him, Richard’s LED flashed. He tensed slightly, causing Gavin to pull him closer, kissing him again. But this time Richard was the first to pull away, shifting on his seat and quickly pulling off his jacket. When Gavin gave him a quizzical stare, he muttered in response, not wishing to disturb the otherwise perfect atmosphere.

{Richard:} They were staring, that’s all. I didn’t want to draw attention to us. You know. Guess I just wanted to look a bit more…(he paused, considering his words carefully, LED blinking)…human.

“I don’t care about that anymore, fuck them,” Gavin scoffed, but it made no difference. He bit his lip as he thought, then took off his own jacket, placing it around the android’s shoulders. It was slightly small on his larger frame, but Gavin thought it didn’t actually look too bad.
“You’ll get cold,” he explained shortly. He’d get cold too now, but he didn’t care. He crossed his arms as he turned forward again, making it clear he wouldn’t be changing his mind.

Richard paused, sniggering slightly.

{Richard:} Well, if you are truly concerned about a machine that can only detect rather than feel temperature, you leave me one option…

And with that, he planted his own jacket around Gavin’s shoulders, the material hanging off him, the sleeves a little too long.

{Richard:} Because you really will get cold. (Smiling gently) It’s 51.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

Gavin chuckled slightly as he was enveloped by the jacket.
“If you insist,” he said, grinning. The material was a lot warmer than it looked, though you could tell it definitely wasn’t designed for humans - the jacket was slightly heavier than your usual one and the inside wasn’t soft like you’d expect. Still, it was far from uncomfortable. He tucked it slightly tighter around himself.

Chapter 9: Cops: Become Bad Boys

Notes:

Chapter Text

Richard gazed at Gavin, a kind of unusually excitable twinkle in his eye as he observed him sitting there, draped in Richard’s oversized jacket. There was something about this that just seemed to tickle him…and activated a section of software he didn’t even know existed…
Brushing his fingers gently against Gavin’s rough stubble, he grinned softly to himself.
[automatic//selection: pickup_line/pet_name/02849/cute]
{Richard:} You look cute, cupcake.

“Cupcake?” Gavin spluttered, the unfitting nickname taking him by surprise. “Really?” he laughed disbelievingly, “Out of everything you could’ve called me you chose fucking ‘cupcake’?” He shook his head and muttered a quiet ‘oh my god’ under his breath before taking another drag of his cigarette.
“You are not calling me cupcake from now on.” he refused.

Richard shook his head and laughed softly along with Gavin. This unexpected software had even taken the android by surprise!

{Richard:} Got it. Although…(he glanced sideways at Gavin, his cheeks filling with thirium)…I think it fits you.

“How?” Gavin laughed, “I couldn’t think of anything that fits less.” He let out a slight shiver as a small but particularly chilly gust of wind blew.
“Hey, should we head back now? I’m getting kinda cold,” Gavin spoke up. He dropped his cigarette butt on the floor and put it out with his foot, standing up.

Richard sat, still gazing up at Gavin with that dangerously mischievous glint in his eye.

{Richard:} Alright. But I want to see how fast your motorbike will go. (His LED glimmered an intense red) I want to go faster. It’s so…exhilarating.

A wide and mischievous grin spread across Gavin’s face.
“I’ll gladly show you,” he smirked. Together they walked back to the bike and jumped on, Gavin revving up the engine then speeding off. It was when they hit the highway they really started picking up speed, Gavin urging the bike to go faster, faster! They flew down the road - Gavin felt as if he’d left everything negative behind, pure elation and exhilaration the only things he could feel as he let out a whoop, probably unheard to anyone but him as the wind whipped by them.

Faster. FASTER. For once, it was Gavin who had taken Richard literally, as he zoomed through the streets of downtown Detroit at top speed, passed caring that they were supposedly law-abiding cops, passed caring about the pedestrians who yelled abuse at them from the sidewalk, passed caring about anything except for the fact that they were both there, on Gavin’s motorbike, Richard’s arms as tight as possible around Gavin’s waist, clinging on as if to never let go, letting his head roll back and the laughter escape from his mechanical lungs like there was no tomorrow, like they were flying together through all the corners of the globe and nothing. mattered.
…until the sound of a police siren cut across Richard’s blissful high like a bullet.

[WARNING: detected//you are being followed]

Gavin was having the time of his life until the sound of a siren brought him crashing back to reality. He swore under his breath as he pulled over. Way to ruin the moment. The police car stopped behind them and out stepped Tina.
“Tina?!” Gavin blurted out, shocked at seeing one of the few people he could call a friend just pulled him over.
“Fucking hell Gavin, you’re a cop! Do you even know how much you were breaking the limit by?” she sighed exasperatedly, before realising who the passenger sat behind him was.

“Wait- Richard?”

Richard bit his lip, hard. It was a totally illogical response to the situation. He seemed to have automatically picked up on Gavin’s silly little human habit. He couldn’t work out what was worse: that he had been caught by a DPD colleague sitting on the back of Gavin’s motorbike, wearing Gavin’s jacket…or that they had obviously just broken every speed limit in existence, and it was his fault entirely.
[vocal_system_failure]
Great. GREAT. Impeccable timing.
{Richard:} (muttering under his breath) Fucking CyberLife.

Gavin hesitated for a moment - Shit. He hadn’t even thought about how he was going to explain his now more than friendly relationship with Richard to anyone, he’d been so distracted by… Well, Richard.
“What’s going on here then?” a grin was slowly spreading across Tina’s face as she observed the two in front of her, realising what she could have ended up walking in on. Gavin cursed inwardly. Out of anyone who could’ve found it, why did it have to be Tina? She wouldn’t be able to keep something like this a secret, the whole DPD would know by work tomorrow morning.
“Look, Tina… Could you not tell anyone about this?” Gavin asked with bated breath, hoping for the answer he knew wouldn’t come.
“Oh hell no, this is too good!” she laughed. Gavin groaned.

Richard slowly hoisted himself off the bike and towered over Tina, LED flashing red, apparently forgetting that he was still dressed in Gavin’s slightly-too-small leather jacket.

{Richard:} Excuse me, Tina, but my processor predicts a 89% chance of chaos ensuing at DPD tomorrow if you inform the others of our encounter- (Tina went to interrupt but Richard cut across her firmly) ESPECIALLY my brother. You got that? Connor is NOT to know about this. On no uncertain terms.

Tina stared back at the robot sporting Gavin’s jacket and threw Gavin a raised eyebrow. Richard sighed audibly, his software now glitching so much it was practically causing him to overheat…

…the shame. The anger. The worry. What in the name of rA9 would Connor say about this?!?!

Gavin tipped his head back and groaned even louder - then an idea struck him.
“Tell you what,” he began, slipping off the bike and approaching the two himself, “If you let us off for speeding, I’ll let you have free reign over who you tell about this with no complaints.” Tina grinned mischievously.
“You’ve got yourself a deal,” she smirked, sticking out her hand for a handshake smugly, as if she was already planning how to destroy their lives with her newfound piece of gossip. Gavin gave her a sarcastic look, flipping her off before turning back to his bike.
“You love me really, and you know it!” she called after him.
“Fuck you!” Gavin called back.

As Tina turned on her heel and returned to the police car, laughing, Richard felt something in his system freeze.
No…no. Connor would find out. Connor would-!!!

[System-error//738484]

{Richard:} Gavin, why did you do that?

He turned to the human next to him, the human wearing his jacket, the human whose kisses meant the world to him, whose eyes were his world…
And suddenly, nothing mattered again. Nothing mattered except Gavin, his motorbike, and his eyes.

[System-error/reverted]

Richard smiled softly.

{Richard:} Don’t worry. I know why you did that. It’s because you’re proud, isn’t it? Proud of yourself, proud of…us.

“I just don’t want another thing added to my record,” Gavin said, not telling the whole truth.
In all honesty, what was happening with Richard was one of the best things to happen in his life in a long time and he didn’t want to have to hide it while at work. Tina had presented a way to let the whole DPD know about it, so… He’d taken the chance. While it was a good opportunity, he was also slightly nervous about how she would deliver the news to everyone. She had seemed to be planning something.
He got back onto his bike waited for Richard to hop on behind him.

Richard stalled, his scanner still in action. A small smile lifted the android’s face.
{Richard:} You’re lying.
Gavin glanced at him over his shoulder, the final golden rays of the setting sun glistening around his face like a halo. His eyes met Gavin’s again, and that same electricity sparked off in Richard’s system. By the knowing smirk that graced his human’s lips, Richard knew his scan was at least 98% accurate. With that, he sprung onto the back of bike and wasted no time in throwing his arms around Gavin’s neck and planting a kiss on his unshaven cheek that was so passionate and deep, it almost left a mark.

“Let’s actually go home now,” Gavin muttered softly to Richard, kissing his cheek in return. He turned to face forward and once again the sped off - this time not quite as fast, however.
Soon, they were walking back into Gavin’s apartment. Toby trotted up to them and greeted them with a meow as he always did, winding between their legs. Gavin was brought back to the time Richard had first followed him into his apartment, how Toby had done the same and Richard had gone crazy over him. God, Gavin had been such an asshole, how had their relationship managed to change so quickly?

As the two made their way into the lounge, Richard awkwardly tripping over the belligerent cat and Gavin breaking his fall with a chain of cusses and laughter and inevitable kisses, the chuckling deviant launched himself onto the couch before his software glitches managed to make a mess of anything else. Gavin quickly excused himself and made his way to the bathroom, leaving Richard and Toby lounging about, the smile in Richard’s eyes glistening brighter than the shiny, metallic tag on Toby’s collar.
It took a few moments of calm for Richard to notice he was still wearing Gavin’s old leather jacket. It had certainly seen better days, wreaking of stale cigarettes, strong-brewed americano, some kind of deodorant which Richard’s scan quickly identified as the same brand that he had seen sitting on his bedside table…there was also a scent of wet cat fur, some kind of alcohol residue - vodka - and…
As Toby yawned and stretched, padding off to the kitchen ready for his next meal, Richard took a moment to finalise his scan. It suddenly occurred to him how it strange it might if Gavin walked back into the lounge and observed Richard lying there, spread eagle on the couch, his nose buried deep in the inner material of Gavin’s jacket.
Or maybe this is what humans do. Maybe this is another sign of that incomprehensible word…of affection.

Gavin made his way to the bathroom. He glanced up into the dirty mirror as he was washing his hands and noticed he was still wearing Richard’s slightly oversized jacket. He dried his hands on his jeans, thinking. In all his past serious relationships wearing each other's clothes and the smell of each other had been such a simple, normal thing - but did androids even have a smell? He sniffed the jacket to be greeted simply by a faint smell of plastic, along with a little cigarette smoke, which he presumed was his own fault. He could get used to the smell. He exited the bathroom, stifling a small yawn as he walked to the lounge.

As he had predicted, Richard was indeed caught burying his nose dreamily into Gavin’s jacket, with a few snorts and chuckles of amusement before the Detective launched himself on top of the sprawling deviant. A simple 2-minute trip to the bathroom was still far too much time away from each other, as Richard gauged from Gavin’s hungry, deep kisses. He didn’t care. He loved the kisses, each and every one of them. He could have stayed there forever, allowing himself to become all the more open, more vulnerable, more…human, as time passed.

Together they stayed on the couch, and Gavin eventually began dropping off to sleep against Richard. He couldn’t help it - the past few hours had been so eventful, the past few days even, and despite being made of plastic and metal, Richard was actually quite comfortable.

And soon enough he was asleep, breathing deeply, relaxed against his partners body.

Chapter 10: Gavin & Richard: Become Official

Notes:

Chapter Text

8:58am
Four days after their first encounter, into the DPD precinct strolled two men, side by side, joking and laughing with one another; one striding tall, the other slightly shorter and more hunched; one clutching a coffee, the other going to pull open the door, planting a cheeky kiss on his partner’s temple as he did so, earning an endearing “fuck off, plastic” from his nevertheless grinning human.

To their surprise, someone was standing in the doorway, waiting for them. He wasn’t at his usual place, at Lieutenant Anderson’s desk. He was standing right in their way, blocking their entrance, his chocolate brown eyes narrowed, nose slightly wrinkled, LED a solid red.

{Connor:} (coolly) Good morning, Detective Reed. Good morning, Richard. (His eyes meet Richard’s with a silent menace) I believe you have something to tell me.

Gavin could practically feel the cool anger radiating off of Connor as he glared at Richard, and he felt the sudden need to protect the android overtake him.

“You already know, don’t you? So why the fuck are you getting involved?” he snapped, one fist balled at his side, the other clutched tightly around his coffee. Richard had warned this would probably happen and that Gavin should just leave it up to him to talk to Connor, but Gavin couldn’t help it. When he got angry he couldn’t really control what came out of his mouth - or what happened with his fists.

Connor’s LED blinked a dangerous shade of red. Richard froze. His software completely jolted, leaving him almost dizzy.

[MISSION PRIORITIZATION: error_2848]

[PROTECT: GAVIN]
[PROTECT: CONNOR]

[ERROR: Equal weighting//50%: Cannot prioritize. Reassessment_required//run-diagnostic.exe]

Cussing internally, he found himself grabbing Gavin’s wrist in an attempt to stop him causing any damage, staring at Connor with wide, blue, terrified eyes. Connor blinked at him emotionlessly.

{Connor}: Well?

Gavin glanced up at Richard as he was grabbed, anger in his eyes. He grunted slightly as he tried to pull his wrist from the androids grip, but it was no use.
“Let go,” he growled up at Richard, voice low and dangerous. He was so ready to deck Connor right in that stupid fucking face of his- Memories of when he’d faced off with Connor in the archive room came back to him and he froze. Connor had beaten him so easily then, he had no chance of fighting against an android. Still though, if he said one more word to Richard-

Richard saw that flash in his eyes, that undeniable flash of destructive anger, the same flash he saw when Gavin had held him by his collar against the wall…when Connor had come to Richard’s rescue…only four days previously.

[WARNING: Software instability dangerously high ^^^^^]

{Richard:} NO!

His cry was sharp, sudden; he was panting, staring at Connor and back at Gavin, his preconstruction mechanism running riot in his mind, images of his boyfriend and his brother lying on the floor coated in blood of both hues, red and blue-

{Richard:} Stop! Stop, both of you! Just STOP!

Richard’s distressed voice cut through Gavin’s thoughts, freezing him completely. He felt guilt grip at his heart as he looked up to see his LED blaring red. That mad desperation in his eyes was all too familiar to Gavin, having seen it in his own plenty of times. His hand slackened in Richard’s still tight grasp and he glanced back at Connor, unsure of what to do.

Connor froze. His preconstruction software predicted a 75% chance of a chaotic violent attack from Gavin, and a 78% chance that Richard would try to stop him, injuring himself in the process. The most logical option appeared to be for Connor to remove himself from the situation.

[Mission prioritization: PACIFISM]

Connor’s LED returned to blue and he blinked at the two men in front of him. He sighed slightly. It was times like this he was glad he was, in part, still a machine, and able to cut himself off from his emotions.

Well. For now. He knew he would pay later.

Gavin noticed Connor seemed to falter a little at Richard’s outburst. His LED flickered from red back to blue, which seemed to be the normal colour for androids. Richard still looked stressed however, and Gavin’s eyes flicked between the brothers, thoughts racing as he tried to think of what to do.
He’d been an ass to Connor in the past - hell, he’d pulled a gun on him, and more than once - so he understood why he was so against what had happened between himself and Richard. As much as he didn’t like the guy, he knew they needed to not be at each other's throats every second for things to work out.

As the twins stared at each other, silently, coldly, Richard’s hand found Gavin’s arm again, and gripped it tighter. That single moment was a picture of defiant hostility, almost as if Richard was choosing a side with a single gesture. But this was far from his intention.

[MISSION PRIOTIZATION: pacify]
{Richard:} Come with me.

He laid his other hand gently on Connor’s shoulder, and the other android flinched slightly under his touch, as Richard’s fingers glowed a gentle white-blue.
{Richard:} We need to talk. (as he glanced back at Gavin over his shoulder) All of us.

Gavin grunted slightly in reply to Richard’s words. It wasn’t a request, however, it was a statement. And as much as Gavin hated it, he agreed. He avoided both the android’s eye contact, opting to glance down at the slowly cooling coffee in the hand that wasn’t being held tightly by his partner.

Richard led Connor and Gavin over to the Detective’s desk, bulldozing through any chance of eye contact with any other members of the DPD, least of all Hank, and sat them down. Intriguingly, both obeyed, as if nothing had happened. Gavin was unusually quiet, for once; Richard kept checking his vitals. He was still angry, his heart rate elevated, but he seemed more subdued. Perhaps it was Richard’s effect on him, as Fowler had so aptly put it…

{Richard:} I would like you to talk. (He eyed brother and boyfriend with the same stare, calm yet firm) To each other. I am not going to intervene.

“Uuh-” Gavin hesitated, the sudden change in pace confusing him slightly. He glanced from Richard to Connor - what was he supposed to say?
“What’re you expecting me to say? I’m sorry?” he looked back up at Richard. Was he expecting them to just talk it out? Gavin had pulled a gun on him, he didn’t think a simple apology was going to do much.

{Connor:} It’s not so much an apology, Detective Reed, as an explanation.
His eyes were firm, unyielding. Richard’s eye twitched as he felt his system glitch again. He knew this would be difficult; although, he had hoped in vain that Connor would be past interrogation mode.
{Connor:} …I wish to know why you believe you can corrupt my brother’s software like this and get away with it. (His eyes narrowed) Just because he’s an android, Gavin Reed, it doesn’t mean you are permitted to use him.

“I’m not using him!” Gavin proclaimed, glaring at Connor. “Look, I get that you think I hate androids, but it’s not like that anymore. I had my reasons but I can look past them now! I know he’s not just some emotionless machine, ok?” he explained.
Connor was really testing his patience. Wasn’t it obvious enough that Gavin wasn’t taking advantage of him? Well, Connor had actually only seen parts of what happened, he remembered. Gavin slamming him against the wall, Richard deviating in his car, the next morning when they seemed to be on friendlier terms, and now this, which he’d heard about from Tina. Maybe he could understand why Connor thought he was using Richard.

Connor stared, unblinking, at Gavin. He was leaning over the desk slightly, as his software had dictated, increasing the intimidation factor by 23%. For a decidedly puppy-like, fun-loving, mischievous deviant, Connor could turn ice cold at the flick of a switch, as soon he reactivated his old software. It was no longer CyberLife’s game - it was his. And when it came to protecting his brother, he was not going to let Gavin off that easily.
{Connor:} How can you prove it? (His LED flickered yellow) You’re a human; you wear your flaws as proudly as you wear that police badge. You act on selfish impulse. I accessed Richard’s memories from three days ago: how can you tell me that wasn’t using him?
His voice slowly rising in intensity, Connor turned to Richard, who was frozen, grey eyes unblinking, his LED flickering between every hue.
[STRESS LEVEL: 70%^^]
{Connor:} He is a deviant. (He turned back to Gavin) A fresh, new deviant, who shut off his CyberLife program only hours before you took advantage of him. He is vulnerable. Weak.
{Richard:} (his voice weak, cracking) Connor please-
{Connor:} No! (Leaping from his seat, leaning right over the desk, practically pinning Gavin to his seat in sheer fright) I will not stop. I won’t let this human get the better of you, Richard; not after what he did to you…(glaring at Gavin)…To me.

“I did what I did because I was fucking scared!” the words slipped out of Gavin’s mouth before he could think through them.
“I was scared and angry - this job is everything to me, I worked so fucking hard for so many years to get here, and then some plastic prick comes along who’d had all those years of work just programmed into him like it was fucking nothing!” his voice got progressively louder, until his fist slammed into the table at the last word, almost knocking over the coffee he’d placed there.
“This job is the one thing in my fucked-up life I’m proud of and then suddenly I was faced the fact that all of it could all just go to waste, that I could just be replaced by some fucking machine who’s better at my job than I could ever be!” he was now on his feet too, leaning over the desk, the confessions of his doubts and worries coming out from his mouth without control, as if he had no filter.
“But no, of course you could never understand that. You’ve never had to put in years of hard work for shit, only for it to be threatened to all be taken away from you, just like that.” he straightened up, his voice lower and more of a growl, a cold glare in his eyes.

[STRESS LEVEL: 87%…88%…89%…^^]

{Richard:} No-

As Gavin leapt to his feet, his voice merged into raucous shouting blur. Richard was overheating. He couldn’t move. He was…

[Time remaining before system shutdown: 00:02:59]

{Richard:} Gavin, please-

[Vocal_system: failure ~ input 0]

Split seconds before Connor opened his mouth to reply, before anyone could do anything, the RK900 lunged right at Gavin, pulling his human down onto the floor in a shaking, sobbing mess. Except this time, it wasn’t the human who was sobbing.

Gavin stayed in shocked silence for a moment, Richard’s actions taking him completely by surprise. As he realised what was happening, that Richard was sobbing and shaking uncontrollably, all the anger he had felt left him. He wrapped his arms around the android, holding him close in a tight hug. He realised how stressful this must be for him, to see the two people closest to him shouting and arguing with each other. He felt guilt flood him, if he hadn’t yelled so much maybe he wouldn’t have made Richard so distressed - God, if only he could control his emotions better, they wouldn’t be in this huge mess in the first place. He cursed at himself internally - he was always the one to turn things into huge, complicated messes.

[System: shutdown aborted]
[System: cooling down…6%…18%]
In all his preconstruction, his technological glory, Richard had never been able to predict the power of seeing someone you love in pain.
Pain. Even the word itself was fresh to him. Connor was right: he was a newly deviated machine. Feelings were still so alien to him. Even the best feelings in the world had taken his system by surprise, but this?
[Decreasing: saline_solution VV 78%]
The touch of Gavin’s fingers through his hair, the warmth of his arms wrapped tightly around his waist, the steady surge of his breath, the pulsing of his heart, the stench of stale cigarettes and americano on the jacket he loved so much…all of it slowly shut down Richard’s overdrive mechanisms one by one. Slowly, but surely, Gavin’s embrace brought Richard back to a place of stability in a way he could never have imagined.

As Connor observed his brother, broken, sobbing, lying in Gavin’s arms like a new born kitten clinging on for dear life, his 6ft frame curled up almost like a tiny, breathing creature, so weak, yet so real…
He froze. His thirium pump skipped a beat. Error messages flew across his vision. His LED danced a wild red.
Maybe he was wrong to judge Gavin like he was nothing but a broken piece of machinery. Maybe he was wrong to call him out on his human flaws, when they were what made him alive…what made Connor alive…what made him choose between his existence as CyberLife’s tool, another gear in the wheel…and life.
He watched as his brother’s trembling slowly ceased, Gavin running his fingers through Richard’s hair, and then resting on his jaw, bringing the deviant’s grey eyes to meet his, with a look of absolute tenderness. The way Kara looked at Luther. The way Markus looked at North. The way that Hank looked when he looked at a portrait of his wife, long since gone.
It was unmistakable how Gavin felt about Richard.

Gavin stayed there holding Richard close, running a comforting hand through his hair, until he stopped shaking and the tears stopped flowing. Once he had calmed, he brought his hand to the android’s jaw, lifting his head so he could look into his beautiful, grey eyes. He cupped his hand around Richard’s cheek and wiped away the wet trails the tears had left, a small smile playing at his lips as he observed the perfect being in front of him. His perfect being.
He suddenly became aware that Connor was still staring at the two of them, and that they were still in the middle of the DPD. It was lucky the precinct was a pretty noisy place, their yells had blended right in. Gavin looked away from his partner’s face, glancing up at Connor. What was he thinking after seeing all of that? He could see the glowing red circle on the side of the android’s head; was he still mad?

Connor hesitated, his LED returning to yellow. He sort of…hung his head, staring at his shoes with a kind of…sadness. Even though he’d been deviant far longer than Richard, he just couldn’t place this…these emotions always caught him off guard.
He let out a small sigh.
{Connor:} (mumbling) I’m…I’m sorry.
His words felt empty. He forced himself to look back at Gavin, chocolate eyes meeting blue-grey…and a third pair, steel grey. The three of them just stared at one another, almost like a bomb had exploded around them and they were left amongst the rubble, to try and make sense of the absolute chaos that had just ensued…the surge of emotions encapsulating them all in a single, held moment.
{Connor:} Richard?
Richard turned to look right at his brother, eyes penetrating, yet soft, as Gavin tightened his hold on him, gently smoothing a rogue strand of hair from Richard’s line of vision. Connor looked back, a softness returning to his eyes that indicated his response clearly: he understood everything.
{Hank:} Hell’s goin’ on?! Gavin? What’re you doin’ taking Connor away from work for goddam hours? You think it’s some sorta fuckin’ joke?

At the sound of Hank’s voice, Gavin whipped his head around. Well, this was awkward- and humiliating. He hesitated, unsure of what to say or do. Realising he’d been sitting on the floor, holding onto Richard the entire time, he got up.
“You can have him back, I think we’re done with him now,” Gavin shot an uncertain glance towards Connor. After all that, Connor had to understand.

Connor turned back to Hank, LED now a calm blue. He blinked a few times and smiled.

{Connor:} Everything’s fine, Lieutenant.

He glanced back at Richard whose software appeared to have glitched too much to stand up right now. Both Hank and Connor observed as Gavin gave him a hand, pulling him up from the floor with a small, but gentle stroke of his shoulder. His hand remained there for just that bit too long after Richard had found his feet.

Hank glanced back at Connor with a kind of gruff confusion. Connor shook his head - this was not the place for questions. He simply smiled back at his brother once more before turning and walking back to his desk, leaving a slightly bewildered Hank behind him.

Well, it seemed Tina hadn’t managed to tell the whole DPD, by the puzzled look on Hank’s face. He’d find out soon enough. Once Hank had turned and followed Connor back to their desk Gavin looked at Richard.
“Well… That could’ve gone better,” he said, breaking the slightly awkward silence.

Chapter 11: The Box: Contents Revealed

Notes:

Chapter Text

10/07/2039 07:08:18
It was already eight minutes and eighteen seconds past Gavin’s alarm, and the human was still snoring soundly in bed, lying with his back to Richard, face buried in his pillow. The usual Friday morning…
Richard rolled his eyes gently as an excitable smile crept across his lips. It had been nearly three weeks now since they had made their relationship something “official”, as the humans called it. Richard had no intention of returning to live at Lieutenant Anderson’s, and was avoiding CyberLife with all his might. And Gavin didn’t exactly seem to mind waking up every morning to the glow of his LED, the taste of his lips and freshly brewed coffee already awaiting him…
But today was different, special. Today, Gavin turned 37 years old, and Richard’s mission was blindingly obvious.

[Mission prioritization: Give Gavin the best birthday celebration possible]

{Richard:} (leaning over his sleeping partner and whispering softly in his ear with a grin) Rise and shine, birthday boy…

Gavin groaned and drearily opened an eye, rolling over to look at Richard.
“‘S my birthday..?” he muttered sleepily. He never celebrated his birthday, so he only realised the day had come when it actually hit. He’d get maybe a card or two, but never any presents. He didn’t take the day off either - there was no point, after all, it wasn’t like he was going to have a party.

Richard chuckled, shaking his head as Gavin rolled over, heavy with sleep, giving Richard the perfect angle to plant an endearing little kiss on his forehead.

{Richard:} (his eyes shining down at Gavin with intense adoration) Aren’t you going to get yourself up, or do I have to do that for you?

Gavin’s muffled groans only increased Richard’s software instability to the point where he put his intended mission to one side simply to have a full and proper taste of his lips. As grouchy as he was in the mornings, Gavin wasn’t about to complain. In fact, he seemed to keep Richard there far longer than intended, grasping at the silken synthetic hair on the back of his head, wrapping his free arm around Richard’s waist like a deadweight.
After 67 seconds, Richard broke away definitively, making as if to hoist the now chuckling human out of bed.

{Richard:} C’mon, dipshit. (His eyes glinting) There’s something waiting for you in the lounge.

Gavin frowned slightly in thought. Had Richard got him a birthday gift? He hadn’t had one of them in ages - Tina had tried to get him one once, but he’d refused and she hadn’t tried since. Besides, they’d end up being late if they didn’t hurry soon.
As the excitable Richard made to roll him out of the bed again Gavin laughed and pushed his hands away.
“Ok, ok, I’m getting up,” he chuckled, still a little sleepily. He crawled out of bed and waited for Richard to follow before making his way to the lounge.

The lounge door was ajar, Toby squeezing his way between the heavy door and its frame, mewing at Gavin’s approach. Gavin seemed too busy tickling the feline’s ears to notice when Richard leapt over them and ran to adjust a few of the decorations he had placed all over the lounge…
Decorations?
The human leapt up as Richard began tickling Gavin’s ear just like he had been tickling Toby’s. The whole lounge was covered in red and black bunting, a huge banner reading HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAVIN, streamers, balloons tied to chairs, and pride of place on the coffee table was placed a fairly small, yet exquisitely iced cake, with ten candles arranged perfectly into two groups of 3 and 7. Somehow the candles were alight, and there was no sign of a lighter or matches.

Gavin gazed at the room, his brain seeming to have slowed for a moment as he took it all in.
“Holy shit, Richard…” he muttered, staring at all the decorations - the banner, the streamers, the balloons, the cake…
The last time he’d had a birthday celebration like this, he must’ve only been about 5.

{Richard:} Well, aren’t you going to eat your cake? (Smiling gently) It’s what humans do on such occasions, if my internet search isn’t failing me.

Grabbing Gavin’s hand and pulling him gently towards the table, Gavin’s exclamations and his laughter ringing through Richard’s biocomponents like a kind of intense, pulsating electrical wave, Richard pulled up a chair and sat him down. He was just about to dash away, but Gavin would have none of it, pulling the heavy weight of prototype frame down onto his lap, engulfing him with lips and arms.

{Richard:} Wait…(between kisses)…I bought you something…in the box…over there…

“Just let me have this moment,” Gavin muttered, pausing the kisses to instead get lost in the android’s eyes, a soft smile playing on his lips. So much happiness had come to his life since Richard had been introduced into it. Things may have got off on the wrong foot, but since that drunken kiss of Gavin’s, everything had been perfect. The only thing he couldn’t understand was why Richard had decided to bless him. Out of anyone in the world, he managed to pick the person who least deserved someone as perfect as him.
Gavin dived in for one more kiss to shake of his wandering thoughts, then chuckled a little and released Richard from his grip.
“So, what’s this gift you got me?” he asked with a grin.

Richard smiled, planting a smooch on Gavin’s forehead and ruffling his bed-hair before leaping up, dashing over to the couch and pulling out from behind it an exquisitely wrapped box, with a red ribbon and almost silken, black wrapping paper. It was all perfectly colour-coordinated with the rest of the theme: he had analysed Gavin’s preferences of colour, shade and even style and come up with the goods.

{Richard:} Here you go. I hope you like it. (His blue eyes were glinting like the rising sun outside the window) And I hope Toby will, too!

Gavin took the box from Richard, noting the way it was perfectly wrapped and decorated, a grin plastered on his face that he wasn’t even bothering to try and hide. He opened it eagerly to be greeted by a small, grey cat toy in the shape of a mouse.
“Oh, Toby’s gonna love this,” he laughed, taking it out and squeezing it slightly. It let out a sharp squeak, and Gavin saw from the corner of his eye Toby’s ear twitch slightly.

An unexpectedly sharp knock at the front door and three rings of the bell startled the happy couple from their shared moment of joy. Gavin leapt up, hesitated, realising he was wearing his pyjamas, before Richard had already made his way into the hall, headed for the door at top speed.

{Richard:} I’ll get it.

He unlatched the door and opened it wide…to be met with a pair of staring, grey eyes set into shadowy sockets, perfect eyebrows, a jawline and chin perfectly shaved. A pair of staring, grey eyes he was sure he knew. In fact…

[software//reboot:recognition//scan]

{Richard:} (paused, stuttering) It…can’t be…

[scan/complete]

{Richard:} Mr Kamski???

Gavin’s heart froze when Richard said the man’s name.

Why the hell was he here?

Gavin hesitated before exiting the lounge and going to the hall, feeling anger beginning to build up inside him. Elijah seemed to falter as he saw Gavin round the corner.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he growled as his grey eyes met the other man’s own. Elijah opened his mouth, but before he could say anything Gavin was marching up to him, speaking again,

“Over ten fucking years and now you decide to show up?” he voice was still low, dangerous, and he was glaring daggers at the man stood on his doorstep.

Richard was frozen to the spot. Gavin’s heart rate and stress levels were abnormally elevated. LED flashing red, he tried to activate his prime software [analytics//logical.exe] to make sense of it all, but it just…

It wouldn’t load. Instead, his scanner started firing information upon information at him, unprompted…

[Elijah Kamski is CyberLife’s founder, and CEO between the years of 2018 and 2028-]
[He left CyberLife for unknown reasons-]
[-first machine to pass the Turing test-]
[-lives alone-]
[-deviants-]
[human/Elijah.Kamski/scan/access-memory//11-10-38 22:34 “Ah, Chloe; would you look at what I’ve just found? The RK900 has just been launched as CyberLife’s most advanced prototype. Fascinating. I wonder what new features it possesses that makes it worthy of such protection. Maybe I should launch an undercover investigation or something like that, ha, what d’you think? That’d be fun. I’d get to play James Bond in real life.”]

[ERROR! RK900 STRESS LEVEL: CRITICAL]

Gavin was unaware of what was going on with Richard, too distracted by Elijah to realise.

“I’m sorry…” Elijah managed to mutter out, averting his eyes from Gavin’s glare.
“Oh, you’re sorry? Yeah, like an apology’s gonna change anything!” Gavin’s voice rose with every word, but he stopped himself before he started yelling, sucking in a breath as an attempt to calm himself down.

“Get in. And close the fucking door.” he snapped, turning away from the two, not sparing either a glance, and heading back to the lounge. He cursed himself - he should be angry at Elijah, the man had left him alone at one of the lowest points of his life, yet-

Yet deep down he was also glad to see him. Glad he was here after so many years, showing that he maybe still cared about Gavin. And as much as he hated that fact and as much as he wanted to hate Elijah, it was true.

[Access//memory:RK900//11-10-38 “Welcome to CyberLife, Richard. We are so happy to have you join us. You are our most advanced prototype.” Amanda’s face wrinkled into a smile, “And as a special celebration for your activation, I want to introduce you to Mr Elijah Kamski…”]

{Richard:} No…NO!!!!

He tore through the hallway and into the lounge, slamming his hand against a wall in his panic, knocking a photograph off the wall, smashing its frame as it fell. He stood in the middle of the room, between his treasured human and the man who had sought to build him, and possibly also destroy him…the man connected in every way to CyberLife, with his own, dubious plans…

{Richard:} (grabbing Gavin around the waist, holding out a hand to indicate that Elijah must STOP) Do NOT come any closer, Elijah Kamski!

His LED pulsed as red as human blood, as he stared, coldly, mechanically, into the grey eyes of this impostor. He might want to take Richard, but there was no way he was touching Gavin. No way he was hurting Gavin.
[Mission prioritization: //protect_Gavin//at_all_costs]

“Richard, what-” Gavin began, startled by the android’s sudden outburst, but he was cut off when Elijah spoke.
“An RK900…” Elijah was regarding Richard with an inquisitive, analytical stare, seemingly not fazed by his yells, “You own a prototype?”

“I don’t- I don’t own him,” Gavin was almost repulsed at the thought of him owning Richard, like an object. He’d become so used to Richard’s prescence as just another person that he sometimes forgot that he was an android, something that used to be a simple possession. The thought of Richard being his possession made him uncomfortable.

Richard shuddered, his hand suddenly falling through the air in front of Kamski almost as if he went to strike out at him, but instead, both arms found their way around Gavin in an instant. He was trembling. Both of them were.

Richard’s scanner had failed to tell him anything he didn’t already know…but if this man’s presence could evoke the same reaction in both human and android alike, he knew something must be up.

If he wasn’t here to seek out Richard, then why would he logically be here at all? He can’t surely be here to see Gavin? That would be ridiculous…Richard had already run a DNA sample check on the two of them. They were not related. He found nothing in Gavin’s memories about this man. It was…strange.

Richard’s LED blinked slowly as Gavin returned the embrace, causing Richard’s stress levels to fall, slowly but surely.

Elijah flinched slightly as Richard’s hand came towards him, but as both his arms found his way around Gavin, a small frown overcame his face. Didn’t Gavin hate androids?
Gavin stayed in the embrace for a moment before breaking away and looking into Richard’s eyes.

“Don’t worry, ok? I’ll deal with- With him,” he muttered, shooting a glare over to Elijah, “Just.. Stay out of this. Please?” he then fully broke away around Richard’s hold, turning to face Elijah. He didn’t want Richard knowing about his relations with Elijah, but that seemed almost impossible to hide now. Maybe there was still a slight chance..? No, there probably wasn’t…

“So. What did you want?” he asked, voice cold, crossing his arms across his chest. However, what Elijah said next, he wasn’t expecting.

“I- I wanted to wish you happy birthday.”

Richard sat on Gavin’s bed, staring at the wall. Time passed. Slowly.
He had respected Gavin’s wishes and stayed out of it. He had left the lounge; left the two humans to their…bickering? Squabbling? Fighting? Actually, from the hushed, barely audible tones emitting from the lounge, Richard’s analysis did not suggest that their relations were completely negative.

He sat, face almost entirely in his hands, staring out at the daylight pouring in through the dirty window, blind half-broken, as the sights and sounds of a bustling Friday at 08:13am in downtown Detroit attempted to distract Richard from the situation at hand.

It didn’t work. His attention was too exact. He needed a bigger distraction mechanism.
He pulled himself off the bed and began to scan around the room, almost idly looking for something to take his mind off Kamski. The scan returned no useful results…save one.

The box.

No, Richard’s system jolted. No, he…he couldn’t. He’d promised Gavin he wouldn’t-

[“The RK900 model is able to scan through solid materials with 67% accuracy, the most advanced sensor yet developed by CyberLife”]
[Scanning: Box…56% complete…]
[scan//data: box//suggestion_kamski_data//0238/elijah_kamski//DNA/positive]

…what?

Gavin had not been expecting Elijah’s reply. Richard exited the room, brushing past the two, and Gavin could tell he was less than happy about the arrangement. He felt slightly bad, but… The situation at hand was already enough for Gavin without Richard getting involved.

“Really? That’s the only reason?” Gavin crossed his arms, looking expectantly at the man who stood in front of him, staring down at the floor.

“I wanted to say sorry for… Everything.” Elijah began with a deep breath, “And before you say anything - yes, I know, apologising solves nothing, etcetera, etcetera, but… What else am I supposed to say? I felt fucking terrible, Gavin. I knew you were suffering - we both were - but you more so, and I just… I just abandoned you. I was a shitty brother, I know that. I- I felt so bad for just locking myself away like that, but as time passed I just couldn’t bring myself to face you, I knew you would be mad at me and- And I didn’t want that, I didn’t know if I could bare it, so I just ran away from all my problems… I wish I hadn’t, I wish so badly that I could just turn back to time and change everything, I-”
“Shut up, Eli.”

Elijah’s gaze shot up from his feet at being cut off, into Gavin’s face to see the man’s eyes watering, his fists clenched at his sides. He stepped forward and pulled Elijah into a tight hug, tears beginning to spill from his eyes.
“I want to feel angry- I want to be mad at you, but I just can’t be,” Gavin confessed, face screwed up as he sobbed into his brother’s shoulder.

Decades of suppressed emotions spilt from him, the sight of his brother and hearing him apologise after so many years of no contact making him no longer able to hold them back. His arms were wrapped tightly around Elijah, gripping him as if he would lose him again if he let go. Elijah held him tightly back, tears of his own forming in his eyes, a small smile of relief spreading onto his face. He moved a hand softly and comfortingly over his brother’s back, trying to soothe the quiet, shaking sobs. Maybe this wasn’t going to be as bad as he thought. Years of overthinking had lead him to believe their bond was irreparable, no matter what he tried to do he wouldn’t be able to get back what he lost. Perhaps he’d been wrong.

After a few minutes of staying this way, gripping tightly to each other, Gavin pulled out from the hug to look at Elijah’s face, hands still resting on his shoulders.
“I can’t hate you, not matter how hard I try.” he repeated, a sad smile of his own beginning to play at his lips.
“So, does this mean I get a second chance?”

Sure, not everything could be fixed with a conversation and a hug, but it sure as hell was a start.

[SCAN: Results//]
[//letters//handwritten//dated-2014]
[handwriting:identified//Elijah-Kamski]

[Dude,
You really didn’t have to get me another pair of earphones just ‘cause you broke mine. But that’s cool. You’re cool okay? Don’t forget that. Ily, Eli xxxx]

[//postcard//handwritten//dated//2012/]
[handwriting:identified//Elijah-Kamski]

[Hey bro, I’m having so much fun on my summer camp. You wouldn’t believe what we have to do. So much climbing and running. I’m not really built for this. But we got to go on the waterslides at the theme park and I sprayed everyone with waterguns like we did at Gran’s that time. I guess I miss you, but also, you’re missing out. Eli xxxxxx]

[1x//photograph:Elijah/Gavin]
[dated//2015]

It was too much. The scan wouldn’t show him a proper rendition of the photograph. Richard grabbed the box from under the bed and wrenched it open, taking the tiny, crumpled polaroid-style photo in his hands. Had he lungs, he would’ve held his breath. Two teen boys with their arms around each other, posing jokingly for a selfie. The slightly slimmer of the two wore sunglasses but his scanner still identified him as Elijah Kamski. The other…well. Richard chuckled as he felt a warmth spread through his system. Maybe this was why humans adored looking at old photographs of loved ones…

His eyes drifted back to the box. What else did it contain that his scan hadn’t managed to identify? He rummaged through the various papers, pulling out more old photos, letters, laughter, smiles, a photograph of a 14-year-old Gavin clutching the guitar he still owned, a present from his…brother…

And then, something hit Richard’s chest like a bullet.

Beneath the papers, still shining in the dim light, layered with dust…a gun.
Slowly, tentatively, Richard took it in his hands and held it. A DNA scan showed that this had not been touched in a while, but the fingerprints were…unmistakable.
His LED flashed red as images and preconstructions he would never have wished on his worst enemy flooded his mind.
Richard was so consumed by these visions, he barely noticed the tears slip out of his eyes…or the gentle creak of the bedroom door.

Gavin entered the bedroom, Elijah following, to see Richard sitting with his back to the door and the box open beside him. Well. This isn’t exactly how he’d planned Richard finding out.
“Oh my god, are these all things of ours?” Elijah said, seeing the contents of the box - letters, postcards, photos - scattered over the bed next to Richard.

Gavin noticed how Richard hadn’t moved to face them when they entered - then it struck him. He’d left something else in that box. He rushed around so he could see Richard’s front, his watering eyes and shaking hands, holding-
“Shit, Rich, I…”

He trailed off, at a loss for words. He could feel Elijah’s gaze on him, and glanced over to see his eyes wide.
“Gavin, you- I knew it had an effect on you, but I… I didn’t think- this.”

Chapter 12: The Will to Become Mortal

Notes:

Chapter Text

Richard sat, staring at the gun in his hand, barely even noticing Gavin and Elijah enter and make a fuss over him. Their words faded into a kind of messy oblivion as Gavin’s grey-blue eyes shone out through the thick, teary blur that Richard’s vision had become.

It had been several years since Gavin had touched this box; the age of the fingerprints had confirmed this. But that didn’t make it any less…raw for the android staring down at his own trembling hands locked around the gun.

Gavin, his most important connection to the living world, had once wished himself dead.

His train of thought was rapidly cut off by the sensation of Gavin’s warm arms around him, as Richard buried his head deep, as deep as possible, within Gavin’s pyjama shirt, deep as if to get under his skin and stay there eternally. He never wanted to let go.

Gavin’s mind wasn’t responding. He wanted to say something to reassure Richard, to tell him it was all ok now. It was all ok since he’d been introduced into Gavin’s life, given him a reason to keep going. He tried to think of a way to put this into words, but his brain didn’t seem to want to string together a sentence. Instead he just wrapped his arms around the shaking android, hoping that through the gesture he could convey all his jumbled thoughts and emotions to him. Richard buried his head deep into Gavin’s shoulder, gripping him tightly.

“I’m sorry, Rich…” he muttered into Richard’s shoulder, by his ear. He didn’t know what he was apologising for, but he was at a loss for what else he could say.

Elijah stayed where he was standing, unsure of what to do, if anything at all. He watched the scene unfold before him. It was evident his brother cared deeply for this android, something that Elijah would have never expected from someone like him - someone who had loathed them. Though, Elijah presumed that hate was mostly his fault.

Richard slowly pulled back from the embrace, simply to catch another look at those eyes. Those eyes, grey with a hint of blue, blue with a hint of grey, however he defined them, they were…they were Gavin’s eyes. The eyes that he needed to see, to ensure he was really here, really alive; to ensure this never, ever happened again…

Gavin meant the world to Richard. He was his world. His eyes held his heaven in a single glance. To have them taken from him…that would be hell. A hell so deep and spiteful, a hell so desperate, not even CyberLife - Amanda - deactivation threats - being a machine - being unable to feel - could conjure up for him.

Eyes blurred. Richard pulled Gavin closer, hand running through his hair, gripping him as tight as was physically possible without harming him. Lips met.

For a second, Gavin wanted to pull away, the continued presence of his brother putting him off. However, he soon relaxed into the kiss, eyes slipping shut, forgetting about his worries. His arms stayed wrapped around the android, hands gripping the back of his jacket.

Gavin Reed - Elijah’s android hating brother - just kissed an android in front of his own eyes. He thought because of earlier that yes, he didn’t loathe them anymore, but… He didn’t expect this. Should he go back into the living room? Leave them to it? Before he could act upon his thought however, the two in front of him broke apart again, their foreheads still resting against each other’s.

Slowly, shakily, Richard moved his face away from Gavin’s, staring up with unblinking eyes at the man who was standing a little awkwardly by the doorway - this human, the android creator, the reason by Richard’s entire existence. He paused, his LED flickering yellow, tears still clinging to his synthetic cheeks…

[computing://database]

{Richard:} I…Mr Kamski?

He stroked Gavin’s jaw tenderly, giving him a last, brief but loving glance before standing up and facing Elijah. Eye to eye. His voice was wavering more than intended. He tried to focus, to clamp down on his glitching vocal software.

{Richard:} I believe…I owe you an apology for my behaviour towards you, prior to my discovery of your familial ties to my partner.

Elijah shook his head, letting out a nervous chuckle.
“No, no, don’t worry about it… I completely understand,” he gave Richard a small smile, hoping his reassuring words would relax the distressed android a little.

Gavin watched the two, glad that Richard’s anger at Elijah, the discomfort around him, seemed to have gone - at least mostly. His eyes lingered on them for a moment before he stood from the bed himself. He looked down at the mess of crumpled bits of paper on the bed and leant down to pick up one of the photos discarded nearby.

It was one of him and Elijah, in 2016 if the date scrawled in Gavin’s terrible handwriting on the back was anything to go by. They seemed to be celebrating - of course, that was the year Elijah got picked to study at Colbridge University at ‘the mere age of 14′, he remembered the news reports saying.

He hadn’t looked at any of these photos, or even touched the box at all, in so long. He forgot what most of the things in there even were. A full box of memories, awaiting re-opening and exploring. But… Now was not the time. He looked back up to the two standing in the doorway.

{Richard:} I should leave you to talk. After all…[small_smile.exe] It has been many years since you last had the opportunity to do so.

Before anyone could stop him, the android slipped past Elijah and headed to the lounge. Not in all the time since his deviation had Richard encountered such a system glitch, such…a deep sense of fear. He needed to clear his head. He needed to consider a software clean-up or a reset of some elements. Everything felt uncomfortable - unusual.

Some time passed. He didn’t know how much, as he had disabled his internal clock. He stared, as he did that fateful first night, at the blank wall of the lounge. Passing time. What vexed Richard the most was his inability to work out precisely what was bugging him - why did he feel so uneasy? So…afraid?

It was as if the sight of what was in the box had reminded him sharply of Gavin’s mortality - the fragility of human existence. A fragility that he, as an android, would never have. He was, in a word, indestructible - his memories could be transferred to a new body. He was life trapped in a mechanical form - a kind of torturous immortality.

But why should that worry him now? On this day, this happy day when Gavin had been reunited with his long-lost stepbrother, and had enjoyed Richard’s birthday gift to him, and-

His memories kept landing on the contents of the box. The happiness, and…he swallowed…the bleakness. Being close to Elijah had caused great anguish for Gavin, when family life had become impossible for him anymore. The last thing Richard wanted was Gavin hurt - and now, he was close to Richard.
And Richard was not even a human…

Gavin tried to protest to Richard leaving, but the android made it clear that he didn’t want to be in the room with the two. He watching him exit the room and shut the door behind him, debating going after him.

“Umm…” Elijah spoke up a little awkwardly, breaking the silence, but still unsure of what to say.
“I should probably leave him be for a while…” Gavin muttered, looking away from the door and down to the floor, feeling a little guilty. It was his fault Richard was feeling this way, after all, and as much as he wanted to say something to reassure him, he just wasn’t sure what.

“Well, why don’t we catch up in the mean time? He was right, it has been a long time, as you so rightly said when I turned up on your doorstep,” Elijah said with a grin, earning a small chuckle from Gavin.

The two talked for a while, sat on the bed, about nothing in particular - simply letting their conversations wander to wherever they should end up. Gavin had forgotten how easy it was to get along with Elijah, and Elijah has forgotten what it was like to talk to another human on familial terms; he’d spent so long in his house with little contact from anyone he knew apart from the android’s that lived there with him.

Chapter 13: Not A Human

Summary:

Notes:

Chapter Text

October 10th, 2039. Three days after Gavin’s birthday; three days after the fateful visit from Elijah Kamski, Richard’s creator, who had revealed himself to be Gavin’s long-lost stepbrother. Three days since Richard discovered the contents of Gavin’s secret box.

Three days had passed, and yet Richard’s processor had been stuck in a repeating, circling loop, not dissimilar to the LED that circled continuously at the side of his temple. That segregation from humanity. That jarring reminder of who he really was. A piece of plastic. Not real.

It was a mundane kind of day to be staring out of the glass-front doors onto Gavin’s balcony. The sky was grey, with patches of sunlight seeping through. The rain had ceased - for now. The temperature was a little higher than expected for this time of year-

“To hell with facts.”

Richard suddenly found himself uttering this meaningless sentence out loud as he stood up suddenly from the couch, staring fixatedly at the door handle. Androids don’t need air…they don’t need to breathe…but for some reason, he felt like it was becoming stuffy in Gavin’s apartment. Too closed in - too small.

He needed air.

Gavin yawned, rolling over to wrap an arm around- Mid-air. He cracked open an eye with a slight groan to be greeted by an empty space beside him and no Richard in sight. Where did he go? Sitting up, he stretched slightly, a satisfying pop coming from his back. Usually Richard would wait for him to wake up before getting out of bed. With tired grumbles, he slipped out of the warmth of his bed and trudged his way to the kitchen.

Toby greeted him with a headbutt to the leg, then a glance to his food bowl, only earning a scoff from Gavin. “Lemme get my coffee first, you dick,” he chuckled, trying to push the insistent cat out of the way with his foot.

A few minutes later the coffee machine beeped and he poured himself a cup, feeling a wave of warmth wash over him with the first scalding sip. A light draft brought his attention to the slightly cracked open door to the balcony. That’s where he was.

Ever since Gavin’s birthday, Richard seemed to be slightly distant, his LED resting on a flickering yellow rather than a soft blue. Gavin wondered if it had something to do with what the android had found in his box - did it really have that bad and lasting an effect on him? He wanted to say something, but just couldn’t figure out what, when or how…

Maybe he should see how Richard was doing.

Traffic. Motorbikes. Traffic lights. People strolling along on the sidewalk with their dogs and ChickenFeed takeaways. The smells, the sounds, the sights of downtown Detroit were all that Richard focussed on in that moment. He leant on the side of the balcony, eyes peering like a hawk at the street below the apartment, memories replaying and replaying of the day he first came to Gavin’s apartment - terrified, traumatised, newly deviant, paranoid that CyberLife would find him. He remembered the traffic, the people walking their dogs on the sidewalk…

The motorbike.

That day when he had first clambered onto the back of Gavin’s bike, clutching onto his human like his whole existence depended on him, and how they raced, faster than the wind, through street after highway with the golden light of the setting sun behind them…

That was one of the first times he had truly felt alive. Truly felt…real. The smell of cigarettes and Argentinian coffee; the sight of those grey-blue eyes beaming up at him; the touch of human skin on synthetic skin; the sound of breathing; the taste of his lips…

Was it some kind of cruel joke on CyberLife’s part to have allowed Richard the indulgence of believing he was really human?

The floor of the balcony was cold on his bare feet and a cool, light breeze ruffled his hair slightly, almost making him shiver. Richard was stood, staring out at the view, seemingly deep in thought. Gavin leant in the doorway, making no effort to move, content with just watching the pensive android and sipping on his coffee for a while.

“Hey,” he greeted softly so as not to startle him, moving to stand next to him, coffee mug clutched close for warmth. Once again he noted the yellow LED, a sign he wasn’t calm, no matter what his exterior may be showing. He looked tired - if that was possible for an android. There was just something in his eyes that Gavin couldn’t quite place.

Richard didn’t even look up, let alone muster a reply. His vocal systems were in total lockdown. He just…he stared at his hands, his fingers, clothed as they were in the meek appearance of being a human. He only wished CyberLife hadn’t done that - that they had simply left him with his true, white, plastic exterior. To have been given the appearance of a very attractive male human in his late twenties only made the lie of Richard’s existence even worse…

The warmth of Gavin’s coffee mug, steam wafting in his direction with the wind; the warmth of Toby’s body heat as the cat curled his way around Richard’s ankles; the warmth of Gavin’s body heat next to his…
It was suddenly too nice. Too human. Too… warm.

[WARNING: Too many functionality errors detected]
[WARNING: System overload imminent]
[WARNING: CRITICAL TEMPERATURE]
[STRESS LEVEL: 92%^^]

“…shit…”

“Rich? What’s up?” Gavin looked at him, eyes full of concern - it was like he was having some kind of internal battle with himself, his fists clenched so tight he was sure the knuckles would have been white.

Gavin reached out a hand to lay it on his arm; he wasn’t sure why, maybe to try and comfort him or ground him - he wanted to let him know he was there. He could feel a pit in his stomach, he knew something was wrong, if only Richard would talk to him.

Richard squeezed his eyelids together, tight. He felt nothing, except for the sensation of Gavin’s fingers meeting his arm. He flinched slightly. A new sensation flickered across his LED, through all of his wires…he began to tremble.

“I…I…”

There was only one other recorded memory of this sensation in his processor - and it was the day he deviated. Something was happening, and he couldn’t process what, or why.

“I can’t be like this anymore, Gavin,” he muttered, “I…I can’t…”

“Can’t be like what- Richard, what do you mean?” Gavin could feel his heartrate picking up; his hand now only lingering around Richard’s arm. He’d noticed how he flinched away from it.

“Rich, I- I know something’s been up with you for the past few days, what’s happening?” Seeing Richard the way he was, in so much pain - it made his heart ache. He just didn’t know how to help him.

“I’m not-…” he couldn’t look at Gavin. He wrenched himself away; the pain pulsing through his biocomponents was growing, consuming him…he could barely breathe - but he didn’t need to breathe - he was an android - not a human - an android…

“I’m not a-…”

His LED. It was so red, so red…as red as the blood that ran in Gavin’s veins…red, the colour of Gavin’s human heart…a heart that deserved to belong to another human. Not him. Red and blue are opposite ends of the colour spectrum. His blood was poison to Gavin. He was poison. It was egotistical to imagine that anything Richard was doing was helping Gavin…he stared, vision blurred with irrational, pointless saline solution, at the street below. Seeing nothing. Feeling nothing.

[MISSION: Termination in progress, please wait…]

“Richard, look at me! Please just tell me what’s wrong!” Gavin was getting desperate now - he knew panicking himself wasn’t going to help Richard but he couldn’t help it, he was scared-

Scared Richard was going to do something he’d regret, scared he wouldn’t be able to help him- Scared it was him who’d done something wrong…

“Please…” Seeing Richard like this reminded him of when they’d first sat in that car, Richard panicking and asking for Gavin to take him home, newly deviant and vulnerable… Scared.

[SCANNING: activated]
[Object: located]

Gavin’s voice was fading into a blur of words. Richard’s focus was elsewhere. He slowly turned back, eyes cold, hard, and yet, glazed with a depth of determination that mirrored the day he knew he had to break through his programming.
This time, it wasn’t just his programming that he needed to change.

Eerily mechanically, his right hand slid into the pocket of the jacket he was wearing - that beloved, coffee-stained, smoky leather jacket that belonged to the human who was standing, staring at him, eyes filled with rising panic.
“I’ve told you, Gavin…This body you see before you is a bunch of wires, joined together by science. By a lab. By your stepbrother.”

Richard’s fingers slid out of the pocket, enclosed around an old biro pen that didn’t even work anymore. Staring Gavin straight in the eyes, he raised the pen to his right temple. He could practically see his own reflection in Gavin’s pupils…he was trembling. But so was Richard…The tip of the pen graced his smooth skin, digging under the tiny, imperceptible groove of the LED, his voice cracking…

“I’m not what you think I am, Gavin. I’ve never been what you need…”

It felt like his heart had stopped.
“Richard, what the fuck are you doing?!” Gavin almost yelled, diving forward to grab the android’s shoulders, completely forgetting about the mug in his hand. It shattered on the ground exactly in sync with Gavin’s hold jolting Richard’s hand, the LED breaking apart from his temple.

It felt like everything had gone into slow motion, yet his heart was racing faster than he could process. He stared at the place where the LED used to blink.

What the fuck had he just done-

But… Wait. There was nothing there. No mark… Richard hadn’t even flinched. What was-?

Silence. Louder than the frantic frenzy of the past four seconds. At his temple, there was nothing. No scar, no mark. The synthetic skin had patched over where that demarcation of his robotic existence had once sat.
He was neither a human, nor CyberLife’s property.

Richard stared at Gavin, his hands trembling so much that he dropped the biro. It bounced and rolled over to where the LED now lay, broken, on the ground. Symbolic, in so many ways, of how Richard felt.

Gavin’s arms slipped off Richard’s shoulders, his hands trembling. He took a faltering step back, a sharp stab of pain that he barely noticed going through his foot. He gaze flickered from the unmarked temple down to the LED discarded on the floor, no longer lit red, yellow or blue.

“W-Why..?” Gavin voice came out as a quiet stutter, his brain still not fully catching up with what just happened.

“Because I’m not their property,” Richard spat with such cutting malice in his vocal system that even surprised the android himself…

“Look at me, Gavin.” He grasped the human by the shoulders firmly, not even paying attention as the man shrunk slightly through fear. Richard’s eyes were ablaze - maddened… “Look into my eyes. What do you see here? They say eyes are the windows to the soul…”

Richard paused, just for a whisker of time - a breath that he didn’t need, and yet, somehow, still took…

“I have no soul, Gavin. No matter how much I deviate from my original programming, no matter how much I spit in the faces of my creators…” his hands, firmly gripping the material of Gavin’s t-shirt, were shaking wildly, tears streaming down his synthetic cheeks, his vocal systems cracking again…

“No…n-no matter how much we try to pretend; to frame it like we’re a couple; a human partnership; that you are my boyfriend, and that I am your boyfriend, and that we were born and will grow old together, like humans do…I cannot. I will not. I am not…”

[STRESS LEVEL 98%^]

His whole body was trembling, quivering…
“…I’m n-not…” he let go of Gavin’s shoulders, as if a sudden weakness, a heaviness had overcome his arms. They swung down by his sides as if weighed down with lead…his gaze fell to the LED on the floor…his posture crumpled…
Richard took Gavin’s hand, and closed his eyes, tears spilling out from beneath his lids, as he croaked out a broken, suppressed whisper,

“I’m not a human.”

“You’re human enough for me!” Gavin almost yelled, tears threatening to spill from his own eyes as he stared at the shaking mess before him. He gripped Richard’s hand with his own two, willing him to look up.

“I don’t care what you are - human or android, it doesn’t matter! None of it matters! None of it changes the fact that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Richard, I-”

He halted, eyes flicking down to the LED discarded on the floor nearby. It felt like his thoughts were flying by at top speed, yet they’d stopped at the same time. Before he could properly register what he was doing he was pulling his hands from Richard’s, falling onto his knees and grabbing the LED.

“I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Richard. I don’t care that you were made differently from me, I don’t care that we might not grow old together, I-” he held the LED up in front of him in a slightly shaking hand.

“Richard, will you marry me?”

[R̸̛̛̘̅̾̑͛̿͊̓͘̚͘i̸̘̭̯̩̿̊͊̆̈́̄̾̆̕c̷̛̱̈́̓̅͆̿̃̂̽̒͘͝h̷̼̗̭̗̯̗̗͐̎̃̎̈́͜͝͝a̴̢̢̧̳͈͉̙̬̖̯̮̱̺̬͈͌͆̎̎̈͋̒̈́͘r̴̦̈̈́̌̽̀̍̔͋̾̌̚͝͝d̷̨̳̫̥̗̠̟̣̣̾̕͜͝,̶͈̣̹̎̌̒̈́̑̓̊͊̄͝ ̸w̸͙̝̙̣͚̳͚̩͎̘̜̝̞̄̄̈́̕͠ḯ̴̖̤̫̟̮̪̱͆l̷͚̰̯̯͈̺̾̐͛́̋̿̏̕͝l̷̼͙̘͙͓̇ ̸y̴͎͖͔̯̘͉̫̹̿̈́̾͒͒̊̃̕ǫ̵̧̱̪̥̤̟̖̾͛̈͒̑̈́͗͗̽̅͘͝u̴̢̺̙̝͈̦͍̥̟̱̤̩̮̐̄͛̾̓̅̎̋̐͘͜ ̶m̸̢̧̡̨̛̠̯̰͔̪̗̳̳̱̈́̐͊͛̓̊͂͑̑͐̈́̇͘a̵̻͕̯̫͐͐̎̑̒͊̆̆͑̇̄̕̕r̷̡̠̯̥͇̜̱͚̫͖͙̹͖̯̦̄̄̋̃͒̄͆̃̑̚͘r̴͈̬̟͚̖͛͘y̵͕̜̻͑̿̽̌͋̓̓̾͒̄͆͊͊ͅ ̶̛͊̊̃̌m̸̺̓̈́̃͊͝ḝ̷͈̗̫͖͌̅́?̶͇̭̲͖̹͔̲͚̂]

[Processing…8%…19%…]

[R̷͉͒̑ȉ̵̢̢̛̂c̸͔̰̖̈́h̴̹̊̾̅͜a̷͓̭̻͐r̷̻̟̗̐d̷̯̜͖͊̓,̶̹̺͂̔̚ͅ ̵w̶̫͐i̸͍̽l̸̩̽͐̑ļ̶̗͑͗̌ ̷y̸̧̘̌ǫ̵̥͉̋͠ự̸ ̵m̴͎̊a̵͎̾r̸̜̝̹͌r̴̘̭̹̈́͋y̴̖͔̲͆̀͠ ̷̈́̈m̴̞̌͒̉e̸̥͘̚?̷̻̗́]

[Processing…25%…]

[Richard: identification:…RK900…me]

[I, Richard, take you, Gavin]

[”…not CyberLife’s property anymore.”]

[to be my husband]

[”…not a human.”]

[to have and to hold from this day forward]

[R̷i̷c̶h̵a̴r̷d̴,̸ ̵w̷i̴l̸l̸ ̴y̴o̴u̸ ̷m̸a̸r̸r̷y̴ ̵m̷e̸?̶]

[Processing…45%…]

[for better, for worse]

[“Human or android, it doesn’t matter!”]

[Blue blood//Red blood//=blood]

[for richer, for poorer]

[”I want to spend the rest of my life with you…”]

[in sickness and in health]

[”I don’t care that you were made differently from me…”]

[Processing…76%…]

[to love and to cherish]

[“You’re human enough for me!”]

[Processing…93%…]

[…till death us do part]

[Maybe I can die. Maybe I am mortal. Maybe we will grow old together. Maybe I will spend the rest of this existence with him, the one who made me alive…the one who made me keep living… the one who broke my program…]

[PROCESSING COMPLETE]
[MISSION_SELECTION//FINAL: Marry Gavin]

“…yes…yes, I will.”

The tears that had been threatening to spill the entire time finally did. Gavin leapt up, flinging himself at Richard and wrapping his arms around the android - no, the man - he held so closely. He never wanted to let go. He wanted to stay there until hell froze over, face buried in his shoulder. The tears refused to stop spilling, soaking into his jacket. What they were from Gavin didn’t know; relief, happiness, or simply the panic from everything that had just happened leaving him… But he found he didn’t care, either.
As the adrenaline slowly faded, Gavin also began to notice an ache of pain in his foot, but… He couldn’t be bothered to care right now. Richard first, everything else later.

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Elgavin, Inactive_volcano, NikiOkava, just_peachiee, Axiinity, elfzhyza, Claudiaaa, StarryImp, Treestumpzz, ShizuoRin, dormirelove, Maxxlikespie, controlledDestiny, GloomyDays, GalaxyPanda, papicorn, RK800andRK900, Rhody, Huskylover4200, Laura_Echis, SansisSansational, Dynamite_personality, rossemari110, AtalaSirion, Veslya, Agvarina, and Letah as well as 55 guests left kudos on this work!

Comments

DM500 (elfzhyza) on Chapter 4 Mon 18 Mar 2019 07:33PM UTC

This is really good for a roleplay! I'm surprisingly absorbed.

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1. Kurachie on Chapter 4 Mon 18 Mar 2019 08:06PM UTC
  
  Awww, thank you!!! I'm glad you're enjoying!
  
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DM500 (elfzhyza) on Chapter 7 Mon 18 Mar 2019 10:19PM UTC

This—
This is the good shit right here. This is the stuff I was looking for when I started reading Reed900 fanfictions, this is pure gold.

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DM500 (elfzhyza) on Chapter 9 Mon 18 Mar 2019 10:46PM UTC

Smelling each other's jackets is so underrated but it's so great, why isn't it written more?? Ugh I love this

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RK800andRK900 on Chapter 10 Fri 07 Sep 2018 05:10AM UTC

Wowowowow, I loved this and the format.
Connor was kinda annoying, overly protective older brother though. Gavin and RK900's relationship are honestly the cutest thing I've read in awhile, especially the scene where they went riding on the motorbike together that's something I'll like to do with someone.
I love this so much and I'm happy that you guys made it into a Fanfiction. ♡♡♡

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1. Kurachie on Chapter 10 Fri 07 Sep 2018 06:23AM UTC
  
  Aaaaa thank you so much!!! I’m so glad you’re enjoying it, thank you for reading!! This is so sweet :)
  
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Jake Audran (Guest) on Chapter 13 Sun 14 Oct 2018 08:01PM UTC

How do I give kudos over a thousand times over?!?!?! THIS WAS SO GOOD! Also, you two are GREAT at doing this! Damn, I love this...! I'm going to stop before I start rambling and run out of characters (heh) but I seriously love this so much.... *sighs contently* I'm sad that it's over though... Alright i'm gonna go love you bye <3

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1. Kurachie on Chapter 13 Sun 14 Oct 2018 10:57PM UTC
  
  stOP YOURE GONNA MAKE ME CRY- Thank you so much!! Honestly, ramble all you want, it makes my day :’) And don’t worry, it’s not over yet ;) We still have quite a few things planned.....
  
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2. 1. Jake Audran (Guest) on Chapter 13 Wed 17 Oct 2018 01:34AM UTC
    
    Ooh yay~! I'm excited!!
    
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DM500 (elfzhyza) on Chapter 13 Mon 18 Mar 2019 11:06PM UTC

Damn, that's a fucking feels trip, maybe I've been roleplaying wrong all this time

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Work Header

Illogical

Kurachie

Summary:

Notes:

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

Summary:

Notes:

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Chapter 3: Richard: Become Deviant

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Notes:

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Chapter 4: Gavin: Become less of an asshole

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Chapter 5: Feelings: Become Awkward

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Chapter 6: Past: Become Revealed

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Chapter 7: Feelings: Become Accepted

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Chapter 8: Happiness: Become True

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Chapter 9: Cops: Become Bad Boys

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Chapter 10: Gavin & Richard: Become Official

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Chapter 11: The Box: Contents Revealed

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Chapter 12: The Will to Become Mortal

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Chapter Text

Chapter 13: Not A Human

Summary:

Notes:

Chapter Text

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Comments

DM500 (elfzhyza) on Chapter 4 Mon 18 Mar 2019 07:33PM UTC

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Kurachie on Chapter 4 Mon 18 Mar 2019 08:06PM UTC

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DM500 (elfzhyza) on Chapter 7 Mon 18 Mar 2019 10:19PM UTC

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DM500 (elfzhyza) on Chapter 9 Mon 18 Mar 2019 10:46PM UTC

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RK800andRK900 on Chapter 10 Fri 07 Sep 2018 05:10AM UTC

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Kurachie on Chapter 10 Fri 07 Sep 2018 06:23AM UTC

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Jake Audran (Guest) on Chapter 13 Sun 14 Oct 2018 08:01PM UTC

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Kurachie on Chapter 13 Sun 14 Oct 2018 10:57PM UTC

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Jake Audran (Guest) on Chapter 13 Wed 17 Oct 2018 01:34AM UTC

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DM500 (elfzhyza) on Chapter 13 Mon 18 Mar 2019 11:06PM UTC

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