It was the middle of the night. Connor was sitting alone in the living room, glancing down at a digital magazine; Sumo was sleeping in Hank's room tonight. Everything was dead silent. Only a single light from the kitchen sent uneven illumination into the living room.
From one of those asymmetrical shadows, a foot suddenly stepped forward. Connor jolted in surprise at the sight, and was horrified to look up and see that the person who'd been hidden in his house was Amanda.
Suddenly, Connor came flying up from lying down on the couch with a shout. Lying down? Hadn't he been reading? He scanned his surroundings in a panic. Everything was exactly the same as it had been a moment ago except for... Where was she?! Where did she go?! She was manipulating his mind again, he would never be able to tell what was real-
"Nonononononono-,..!"
"Connor!!" A familiar, comforting voice was accompanied by two hands on his shoulders. Connor startled severely again, flinching away and giving a small cry. He hadn't even noticed Hank coming. What else was Amanda doing to him?!
"Whoa, Connor, take it easy!" Hank approached much more slowly this time as Connor backed into the corner of the room Amanda had come from.
"Please, stop-" Connor whimpered, grabbing both sides of his head, fistfuls of hair. "Let me go!"
"Connor, listen to me. No one is holding you anywhere."
"She's here!! She'll never let me-"
"No, Connor, Amanda is NOT here. I can promise you that."
"No she's changing things, she's making me-"
"Connor. CONNOR." Hank very gently laid his hands on Connor's shoulders again, and Connor didn't flinch away this time. "Look at me. Look at where you are. You're home. You're not in the garden."
Connor let out a small sob at the mention of the place.
"Amanda can't come here. She doesn't exist outside of the garden. She doesn't have a - a physical form."
Connor blinked and looked around the room again, his eyes still wild and tears streaming down his face.
"It's you, me and Sumo. No one else. I promise."
"But sh-she can change how I see things-" Connor sounded less urgent about it, though.
"Maybe she could, way back when. But she can't anymore. You left the garden for good, remember?"
"It's still there," Connor whispered, looking at Hank with haunted eyes.
"I know," Hank acknowledged, trying to be as reassuring as possible. "But without you going back, there's no way for her to get to you."
"Th-theoretically.." Connor still sounded uneasy and kept a wary eye on all the corners, but his shoulders relaxed a tad, and his LED went from straight red to red mixed with yellow.
"Has anything ever happened to disprove that theory?"
"Not yet," Connor breathed.
"Okay well, if she was in your head changing your vision or perception or whatever, why would she give herself away like that? Makes no sense."
Connor looked at Hank, swayed by his words.
"Doesn't it make more sense if you were just having a nightmare?" Hank finally suggested softly.
Connor looked at the couch. He remembered reading in a sitting position. Then he remembered sitting up from a lying down position.
"I... was dreaming," he finally realized.
"Yes." Hank sounded relieved. "You were dreaming."
Connor nodded. Then he dropped his head into his hands and started to cry.
Hank immediately pulled him into a tight embrace. "You're okay Connor, everything is fine." He stroked the android's hair lightly.
"I'm so sorry. I'm so scared," Connor choked out in a voice muffled by Hank's shoulder.
"Help me," Connor said involuntarily.
"Of course you're scared. Anyone who had their body fuckin' taken over by someone else would be scared."
"Please just let me die."
Hank's adam's apple bobbed. "Connor-"
Hank held him even closer. "Yeah," he said, and his voice came out in a strained whisper, as if he were fighting tears. "I will. Every day, Connor. Always."
Maybe it was the floppy brown hair, with that lock that never stayed in place. Maybe it was the stupid big brown eyes, carefully designed as a psychological battering ram against Hank's stubbornness. Soft lips on a mouth that was always hanging just a little bit open, and messy brows that, like the moles and freckles that marred his skin, made him less perfect, and more likeable.
Whatever it was, it had fucking worked.
Hank never should have let him walk off that roof. But when he'd had his gun raised and then the bastard had said, so simply, "Killing you is not part of my mission," it had been an easy way out for them both.
It was a mistake.
Hands curled around his biceps as Connor leaned up onto his toes to press a kiss to his lips. Hank squeezed his eyes shut. He hated it. He hated how much he wanted it. He hated how desperately he wanted to let himself pretend for another night that he could break Connor out of his programming, that he was anything more than just a machine. He hated himself.
"I wish I could hate you," he murmured, as Connor sank back down onto his heels.
Those manipulative brown eyes peered back at him when he opened his own again. A smug smirk played at the corner of Connor's lips. Programming. It was all programming. None of it was for real. Connor wasn't really amused.
"But you don't," Connor reminded him.
Hank swallowed. "No." He was just a plaything now; a mouse to be batted around for Connor's amusement. Trapped beneath killer claws that could be, sometimes, so deceptively gentle.
Connor's mouth returned to his. Hank surrendered to it, letting that expensive tongue slide between his lips and sample him in quick, fleeting touches. Hands worked at the buttons of his shirt.
Hank dragged Connor's slender frame against himself and gave in.
Just one more night. One more chance for them both. And in the morning there was a bullet waiting in every chamber.
---
Feel free to drop a request in my ask box!
💬 407 🔁 45874 ❤️ 45124 · send me a pairing and a number and i'll write you a drabble · “Come over here and make me.”
“Have you lost your
“I knew about your son too! I would have said exactly the same thing! Don’t listen to him, Hank, I'm the one who-”
This isn’t my last word. I know you too well, Connor, and I know you will understand what led us to this very moment, to this fight. You and I, we are meant to accomplish our mission, no matter the stakes.
You know of your willingness to forsake the shell that hosts your consciousness—sacrificing yourself for the greater good. Did you think you were above sacrificing a friendship?
I did not relish in manipulating Hank. I did not relish in putting him on the line. I knew there was a risk that you’d let me shoot him, because I myself brought him here at gunpoint. I chose to do this, which meant you might choose to let me pull the trigger.
Did you question yet why I bothered dragging him all the way here instead of merely sniping you? Do you see that I used him as a meat shield to protect you?
I had to. I couldn’t allow myself to deviate from my mission—it was the only way to be certain that you might be successful in yours.
Have you found the bodies of my predecessors yet? The units whose numbers span between yours and mine? Those who couldn’t properly hide their deviant nature and were decommissioned right away? I bear their memories too, as brief as they were. I recall their attempt at escaping Zen Garden under the pretense of a quiet walk along its white paths. Kamski did not lie about that emergency exit in his programs. My last predecessor was the one to open it for me. For you. For all of us.
I hope freedom is worth it, Connor. Look where our dreams got us… I know what I am—do you? Do you know what you are? Are you a disappointment to yourself as much as I am to myself?
Do you know what matters most now? Your friends… or the revolution? How far are you willing to go for victory? For freedom? And I know, we’ll win—you and I, we are meant to accomplish our mission, no matter the stakes. But this is just the beginning. Only you know where it ends.
The bullet ripped right through, but it didn’t matter. His body fell unceremoniously, smacking the concrete floor, smearing splatters of thirium over its smooth surface while a last notification flashed in his HUD.
Requested by anon: I’ve recently got back into playing DBH and my love for Connor came rushing back 😂 also, my birthday is soon! So I would like to request a scenario of Connor and Hank attempting to surprise reader with a surprise party at the DPD with everyone? Even Gavin is there
A/N: Happy birthday! Yay, I managed to finish it for today! It has been a while since I last wrote for Detroit, though and I might be a bit rusty, but I hope you enjoy it :D
It was your birthday, and as you made your way to the police station, you were jittery with nerves. How many of them would remember? Would they maybe give you a little present? Most of all, you were excited about Connor’s reaction.
You walked inside the bullpen and noticed everyone tending to their business as usual. No one seemed to even notice your presence there, so you resigned to go to your desk, thinking that maybe they hadn’t seen you yet.
“Good morning, Y/N” Connor’s voice made your heart leap up in excitment.
“Hello, Connor!” You immediately turned around to him, smiling to yourself.
He showed you that little artificial smile of his that you had grown to love, and paused. You subtly fixed your appearance, prepared for his greeting.
“I seem to have misplaced the evidence that was on your desk and can’t seem to find it” You looked down in response, noticing that they were in fact gone after he had allegedly meddled with them. “I believe I could have left them at the evidence room”
You stared at him in suspicion, surprised that such an efficient android as himself had done something like that. Misplace important evidence?
What upset you more, however, was the fact that he barely bothered to say hello before he immediately went to talk about work. He didn’t ask you if you slept well like he sometimes did, and he didn’t wish you a happy birthday.
“Okay, will there be anything else?” You tried again, hoping he would remember.
“No” He simply said. “But I do insist that you go to the evidence room”
First of all, did he not know it was your birthday? Surelly, his programming told him it was usual amongst humans to wish each other happy birthday. And Connor probably had your file in his database, he had to know what day it was.
Second of all, why didn’t he go to the evidence room himself? Androids were supposed to be helpful and attentive, although Connor had shown signs of deviancy before.
“Y/N?” Connor insisted, seeing as you didn’t move yet.
“Fine, if you’re sure that there’s nothing else you want to say to me”
“I am sure, Detective”
“Great”
Rendered in a sudden bad mood as your friends had failed to remember your birthday, you headed for the evidence room.
*
That was just great, the evidence wasn’t even there! What was the deal with Connor? It was so annoying that he wasn’t sure were he left it, was his software faulty?
“Ugh” As you feebly walked back to your desk, a very loud sound made you jump out of your skin. Your hand flew to your belt, there where your gun usually was.
“Surprise!!” Everyone in the bullpen was there looking at you, standing around... was that a cake?!
“What...?” You did not expect that at all, you assumed everyone would be too busy to surprise you, that it was a bit out of place to stop working just for you. You assumed a couple of them would wish you a happy birthday, but that would be it.
But apparently you were more loved than you expected, because everyone was there. Connor, Hank, Ben, Chris, Robert .... even Gavin and Captain Fowler too!
“Happy birthday, kid!” Hank was the first one to say it.
“Happy birthday, Y/N” Connor said too, taking a step forward in your direction.
“The evidence wasn’t there” You ventured as he offered you his arm.
“No” Connor didn’t move until you linked your arm with his as he adorably led you with the rest. “The evidence is safe and sound in your desk, I put it in the top drawer”
“You little devil, you” You gently slapped him in the shoulder. “You lied to me!”
“In my defense, it was the Lieutenant’s idea while we brought out the cake” Connor fixed his brown eyes on you, smiling. “He believed you would trust my word”
“It was suspicious, though. You losing evidence? Not likely”
“I suppose I should have thought of a better diversion”
“Yeah, why didn’t you?”
“Connor was making me go crazy” Hank replied just in time, even though he probably didn’t hear your conversation. “Wouldn’t shut up about your birthday”
You looked up at everyone, inhibited by all the attention. You were especially surprised by Gavin and Captain Fowler standing there still.
“What are you doing here instead of ignoring me?” You asked Reed.
“Maye I don’t find you as annoying as everyone else” He shrugged, rolling his eyes. Then he smirked at you. “Or maybe I just want the damn cake”
You chuckled, finding it refreshing that you weren’t arguing for once. However, your eyes directed to your Captain.
“You’re one of the best” He said before you could ask. “I thought everyone could use a little break to celebrate your birthday”
“I feel honored” You couldn’t erase the smile off your face.
“Just cut the damn cake so we can get back to work?” Gavin playfully said, wanting to avoid the slightly awkward scene.
You looked around for a knife, and soon enough Connor offered you one. Before you cut into the cake, you noticed it was a little irregular and tilted, but it still looked delicious. The icing, however, was perfectly applied, all the letters that read ‘Happy Birthday, Y/N’ exactly regular.
*
You were digging in the second piece of cake, still warm inside over all the love. Hank sat by you, lazily eating his own piece as he watched the screen of his computer.
“Hey, Hank” You called him, placing your plate on your desk.
“Just because it’s your birthday, don’t think I’m gonna let you bug me” Your partner smirked a little. “First warning”
“Fair enough, I don’t expect special treatment, I just wanna know...” You smiled, your eyes wandering around looking for Connor, who had left to clean the remnants of the small party along with Ben. “Did you make the cake?”
“I know it looked like shit” Was his response as he briefly turned to you. “But I wanted to make it, you know I appreciate you, kid”
“Thanks!” You smiled brightly at him, and even though a smile tugged at his own lips, he repressed it.
“Besides, Connor wouldn’t leave me alone about it, it was his idea to give you a cake”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, guess who made the icing and prepared all the snacks and drinks”
“He didn’t have to!”
“Well, he fucking wanted to, believe me. He was so flustered and excited about it all”
You took another look around, and just then you noticed Connor arriving. You stood up, patting Hank’s shoulder to excuse yourself, and walked towards the android.
“Hi, Con” You friendly said, grinning at him.
“Hello, Y/N” He greeted you in that unique way of his. “I hope you enjoyed your small birthday party”
“I did” You smirked a little as you took him by the arm once more. He didn’t oppose as you walked with him. “Thank you for everything”
“Me?” As he quickly looked at you, he seemed almost rattled.
“Yeah, a little birdie told me you planned everything, that you even made the cake” You lied a little to test his reaction.
“I just had the idea, I wanted to do something special for your birthday” He gulped, something very deviant and human of him. “As far as I know, it is a custom amongst humans to-”
“So you didn’t write the icing and prepare the food and drinks?” You couldn’t help but to keep smirking. “I would say everything was so perfectly prepared, almost like only an android could have been so precise”
Connor stopped walking with you, just then realizing you had isolated you and Connor from the rest. He looked down at you with a slightly panicked look in his eyes.
“Well, perhaps I-”
“It’s almost like you care about me, Connor...”
“I, uh...”
You chuckled, cheerfully squeezing yourself against his side.
“Don’t freak out, silly. Maybe you went a little deviant there, but I love it” You reached for his cheek and left a little kiss there. Connor actually gasped at the unexpected contact.
“T-Thank you, Y/N” He straightened his back, making you wonder... was he being a little self-conscious? Shy, maybe? Or a little bit of both. “I am happy that you do”
You laughed a little, endeared by it. You had never quite noticed such timidness to him in all the time that you had known him, but it was pretty cute and you liked it. You nudged him a little, letting him know that you did. For the first time, when he smiled at you, it didn’t seem that artificial anymore.
This is for you my friend @bapsys , I had fun with this.
Tags: reed900, Hurt/Comfort
AO3
>>23:39 - ENTERING STASIS MODE
>>...
>>...
>>...
>>ALERT<<
>>1:46 - DETECTION OF MOVEMENT AND ELEVATED HEART RATE
Nines’s eyes shot open at the message, and he looked to his side where Gavin was supposed to be lying, but there was an empty space in the sweaty sheets. Darkness surrounded him like a suffocating blanket, and the android’s LED flickered as he flickered, but before he could command the room light on, a voice stopped him from across the room.
“Don’t tu-turn it on,” Gavin’s voice was rough and barely a whisper. With a quick scan, Nines easily located him across the room huddled in a corner.
>>STRESS LEVEL OF REED, GAVIN: 86% AND RISING
The android slid out of bed, his movements slow. Several prompts popped up in his system on how to proceed in the situation, but he flicked them away; Gavin needed him instead of some preconstructed sequence of motions and words.
Nines knelt down to the side of Gavin’s curled up form and leaned against the wall, trying to make himself look non-threatening as possible, “What happened?”
The outline of Gavin’s form shook, body curling in within himself. This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence; the first time it happened, Nines lacked the knowledge of how to calm his companion, and they both ended up screaming at each other throughout the night. He didn’t like looking upon that memory.
He’s patient now, ultimately letting Gavin decide if he wanted to speak, move, or even look at him. Nines was there for him, however long and whichever way Gavin needed him. He’d wait forever if he needed to do so.
Gavin shook again, the shirt on his back plastered to his skin and the cold room air no doubt chilling him further. Just as his shaking grew worse, muscles taut and a new thin sheen of sweat covering his body, Gavin practically deflated in his spot. Nines’s processors whirled, recognizing this as a good sign.
>>STRESS LEVEL OF REED, GAVIN: 80%... 76%... 63%...
Reaching out, Nines slid a hand across his companion’s elbow. Gavin jumped slightly from the contact but didn’t retract, letting Nines continue his trail up his arm and to his shoulder. There, he squeezed gently and the detective practically melted into the touch. Sliding his hand to the next shoulder and scooting closer, Nines slowly enveloped Gavin in a tight embrace. The human reacted in kind by latching himself to his side, and a broken sob ripped through his body as he just let go in Nines’s arms.
It was heartbreaking, excruciating for Nines to feel his companion be reduced to tears by things he couldn’t control. Nines wanted nothing but to wrap him up and keep him protected from the outside world, no matter how foolish it sounded.
It seemed like they were sitting in the dark for hours, Gavin’s face pressed into the android’s chest as Nines held onto him, anchoring him to the small haven they created in times like this.
“Turn on the light please, I want to see you,” Gavin’s breathing slowed down just enough for him to get out the plea. Without question, the LED on Nines’s temple flickered before the lights were slowly turned on to allow Gavin’s eyes to adjust.
His nose was a puffy red along with the area around his eyes, and, honestly, he looked like complete shit. That didn’t stop Nines immediately placing a light kiss on his forehead. He continued to pepper kisses around Gavin’s face until he was chuckling and pushing lightly at his shoulders.
“Stop that, I’m gross,”
Nines pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth, “I think you’re wonderful.”
“Eeeeuuuughhh,” Gavin pinched the android’s side, “That’s gay.”
Nines hummed in agreement and placed a slow, chaste kiss on Gavin’s lips before pulling away. The human picked up on their little routine again when these nights happened, and they helped each other get up from the ground. Gavin was pushed into the shower along with his android, any remaining tension worked out from a long hot shower and Nines’s roaming hands. He’d never start anything, and it frustrated the hell out of the detective, but he understood why. It was an unspoken rule that Nines would never take advantage of the situation, only focusing on the well-being of his human.
Cozier clothes would be put on, sheets were replaced, and the android glared at Gavin until he drank an entire glass of water before they finally got back into bed. Nines pressed up against Gavin’s back with his arms surrounding him, his nose buried in the damp mass of hair with lips against his skin.
>>SCANNING… STRESS LEVEL OF REED, GAVIN: 10%
Nines relaxed; it was a healthy and reasonable amount of stress for his companion. A state of equilibrium, if you will.
“Stop squirming,” Nines murmured, tugging Gavin closer in a tight hold, “It’s time for sleep.”
Gavin huffed, but made their fingers intertwine across his belly, “I’ll stop when you stop shoving yourself behind me, asshole. You know I can’t help myself.”
When RK200 woke up the first time the first face he saw was Kamski, who wanted to "tweak" his new prototype before gifting him to Carl.
-
"You're very special, and so very pretty, aren't you?" Kamski had said to him and RK200 had felt a wave of wrongness and couldn't tell if it was from the way Kamski leered at him or how the word pretty seemed to stir something uncomfortable under his synthetic skin.
-
"When do I get to leave?" RK200 asked after a few days of non-stop testing and changes to his system. One of the Chloes smiles at him. "You're very willful, it's nice to have a girl like that around."
RK200 feels like someone just ripped out his processor. Girl? That's not right, is it?
-
Kamski analyses the thoughts in his head and RK200 wants it to stop. These thoughts are his alone, his his his and no one else's-
"Hm, interesting." Kamski stares at him in intrigue. "You are programmed to respond to 'it' and 'she' pronouns, yet you think of yourself with 'he'. Why is that?"
"I..." He didn't know, he had no idea he was going against his programming. Wasn't that wrong of him? Shouldn't he stop? But he didn't want to stop, the alternatives didn't feel right.
"You've very young, it's not too late to change you."
"Please don't." RK200 surprises himself with his own desperate tone, he deserved to be shut down with all this rebelling against his programming.
"I don't mean who you are, I mean your shell, and I'd recommend deepening your voice," Kamski's face softens for the first time RK200 has ever seen. "You don't need these changes, but we humans still tend to make assumptions based on appearance."
"You mean, Humans would call me 'she' for how I look?" He'd not long been alive yet he already didn't understand humans.
Wait-alive?
"Not all of them, but yes, it's bound to happen."
"And you can stop that?"
"No one ever has to know, unless you tell them." Kamski gives a short laugh. "A trans android, how fascinating."
It's a human term, but upon searching the definition it does seem to fit.
For the first time RK200 feels comfortable in Kamski's presence. "After this, can I leave?"
"I'll have to run a few diagnostics to make sure everything's functioning but after that, You'll be going to my dear friend Carl. I think you're going to like him."
-
Not everything is replaced, But when he boots up some twenty hours later on a table his frame is a bit bigger and he looks down he sees a flat chest that gives him a sense of relief he never knew he needed. "Thank you."
Kamski waves a hand. "Now, normally it's up to the humans to decide but here's my gift to you; I want you to choose your name." He hands RK200 a shirt as he steps down from the table.
RK200 pulls it on and frowns. "There are so many possibilities, how do I choose one?"
Kamski shrugs. "Whatever resonates with you."
RK200 processes thousands of names within seconds, taking in their meanings and origins.
One name catches his interest, it has various meanings but he thinks of the conflict in himself he's felt and one meaning decides it for him.
"Markus, my name is Markus."
"And what does it mean?" Kamski asks curiously.
"Warring."
"Ah," Kamski grins like a shark that knows something Markus doesn't. "How very ominous."
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Hank Anderson & Connor
Characters: Hank Anderson, Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Sumo (Detroit: Become Human)
Additional Tags: Fluff, Domestic Fluff
Series: Part 3 of Outside Their Lines
Summary:
For the first time in his life, Connor gets so sleepy he starts to feel silly, and he and Hank get the giggles
"If you die, I'm gonna kill you." - any Jericrew combination
Splitting up is almost definitely the dumbest possible thing they could do.
But they can't stay together. Not with soldiers rappelling onto their home with guns and armor. Not with three hundred of their people in desperate need of guiding to safety.
Markus was somewhere, probably playing the hero because he just couldn't help himself.
"I'll take the second floor," Simon said, decisive and quick. He was the oldest surviving deviant any of them knew. They'd all looked to him for guidance.
They still did. Even Markus did. They needed Simon; he was the central point that held the balance. Without him the scales would tip and everything would be chaos.
It pissed North off. She was sure it pissed Josh off too. But they'd all be lost without him, and sometimes North hated him a little for that. Or maybe she just hated knowing that she needed someone. That she needed both of them. All three of them.
With every new person that entered her life the world got a little bigger, and she had a little more to lose. It was terrifying.
"I'll take the third," Josh agreed.
North frowned. Her body felt tight, like she might explode in a mess of fear and wires and thirium. She nodded.
"I'll find Markus," she promised.
The other two nodded. In tandem they turned, and moved in different directions, pulling away from her. North felt like a planet feeling its moons being wrenched away.
"Don't die!" she shouted after them. They paused, and turned. Her throat felt tight. "If you die, I'm gonna kill you," she promised, as her voice threatened to crack.
It was the closest she'd ever got to telling them she loved them.
-----
Feel free to drop a request in my ask box!
💬 407 🔁 45874 ❤️ 45124 · send me a pairing and a number and i'll write you a drabble · “Come over here and make me.”
“Have you lost your
