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Daffodils and Cyclamens

So this turned into a multichaptered fic, so I’m posting it like this! @aum45-pastel

Rating: Explicit Word count: 6,486 Ship: Reed1700 (Gavin/Connor/Nines) Chapters: 1/2

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There was still no cure for humans, and there's definitely no cure for androids. Most people didn't even know androids could get this, but Connor was proof.

He hadn't expected it at all. He had been going about his day when he felt a tickle in the back of his throat.

And then he coughed.

Androids don't need to cough, so he instantly assumed there was something wrong with his coding.

And then a single small bulb came out of his throat and he easily identified it as a daffodil. He almost wanted to laugh at that. Of course, it was a daffodil. It was the most common flower to get.

He already knew who this was for. Well, the two people it was for. It wasn't going to happen, though. They loved each other and everyone could see it except them.

He didn't know if this would actually kill him or not. It wasn't like he knew any other androids that went through it. Maybe it would be interesting to see exactly what happened to him.

So he went about his day like nothing had happened. There were three possibilities for humans with this disease.

The first was the most sought after. The person would return your romantic and or sexual feelings. The flowers would wilt inside and they could safely remove them or just let them digest.

The next option was death. This happened if the person didn't love you the same way and you couldn't move on. You have to have both parts to die. If you can move on then you'd be fine.

The last one was getting surgery. Doctors still didn't know how, but if the flowers were removed you would lose all emotions.

He wouldn't let anyone know unless it became absolutely necessary. There was the chance that he could just clear the flowers out with a system cleaning and there would be no adverse effects.

Days drag by and he very rarely coughs up any bulbs. The itch would get worse when around the two and he'd always have to excuse himself before it got noticeable.

The bulbs were slowly blooming and now it was petals. Small petals that he'd cough up and find a way to dispose of without anyone knowing.

"Connor, I have a-" Nines trails off, staring him down.

Connor quickly straightens, plastering on a smile. There's a small itch at the back of his throat once again even though he had already coughed up five petals that day.

"You have thirium, on your lips," Nines says, reaching out and brushing his thumb across Connor's bottom lip.

Connor freezes, eyes going wide. Nines barely touched anyone unless he absolutely had to.

Nines stays there for a few seconds before pulling his hand back. "Were you injured?"

Oh, right. Some thirium had been coating the petals. It did make it easier to get up and out, but it did make him have to ingest more thirium than usual.

"No," he quickly shakes his head before cringing at himself. "Not really? I, I bit my lip harder than I should have, but I'm fine. Thank you."

It wasn't a completely unbelievable lie. He did tend to bite his lips a lot when he didn't have a pen or something to bite while he thought. "Oh, I did have something for you. If you have the time, could you follow me to my desk?"

Connor is instantly by his side, following along.

Nines's desk is besides Gavin's, who is sitting there glaring at his computer.

"Connor? Oh, right." Gavin says, looking at the two before grinning at Nines.

The itch comes back full force and he quickly swallows as much as he can. He doesn't want to have to leave now, not when Nines and Gavin seemed to want him near them.

Nines opens a drawer in his desk and pulls out a small bag. "We got you this. There are different flavors so there should be one you'll enjoy."

Nines hands over the bag and then simply stares at him, waiting for a reaction.

Connor held the bag and looked it over. It was thirium lollipops. He had heard of these before but hadn't thought to get any.

They had gone out of their way to get him this? But why? He thought they were friends and human friends often gave each other gifts. Normally it was given for special occasions, but he couldn't find anything that had happened on this day before.

"Well?" Gavin prompts, also totally focused on Connor.

Right, he has to reply. His throat itched so badly but he had to say something. "Thank you, this is… thank you." He manages to get out.

Nines gives a slight nod. "I'm sure the Lieutenant will appreciate having you no longer destroy his pens and pencils."

Connor winces at that. He definitely had destroyed many ends of pens and pencils.

"Well, are you gonna try one?" Gavin asks, leaning forward.

Connor quickly nods and pulls open the bag. He grabs the first one that he can, which is green and unwraps that. Then he sticks it in his mouth.

It tastes amazing, and the thirium helps that itch dull somewhat. He accidentally moans slightly, then his face instantly flushes blue.

It wasn't the first time he'd had this reaction to food. After all, his entire mouth was incredibly sensitive compared to humans and even other androids. Normally he can keep in any sounds, but this one just slipped out.

Gavin makes a choked noise and stares at Nines with wide eyes.

"I'm so sorry! This is just really good, thank you so much." He says, pulling the lollipop out of his mouth to talk.

"It's fine. I'm glad you enjoy it. Now, we should all be getting back to work. Have a good day, Connor." Nines says. He reached out and gently pats his shoulder before sitting down.

Gavin is now staring at his desk, so Connor turns and walks quickly to his desk. He ignores the smile Hank is giving him and puts the lollipop back into his mouth.

Once again he almost moans at the taste but quickly stomps it down so it just comes out as a hum.

"That's a nice gift your boyfriends got you," Hank says, leaning towards Connor. He doesn't even pretend to be focusing on work.

The itch comes back full force and he coughs around the lollipop before he can stop it. He tried to play it off as choking but everyone knew androids couldn't choke. "They aren't my boyfriends!" He squeaks out around his coughing.

By now quite a few people had turned to see what the commotion was. Connor quickly stood, and all but ran to the bathroom.

He was lucky no one else was in there, but even if someone was he wouldn't have noticed. He was too focused on getting into the stall so no one could easily see him.

He's coughing so hard it hurts, and then a few flower petals come up and out of his mouth along with thirium. He drops his lollipop which is a shame, but all he can focus on are the petals.

Two daffodil petals and two cyclamens both covered in blue blood.

He really shouldn't be too surprised; he knew he loved them both. Though this would mean the disease will progress twice as fast.

Normally it could take multiple months depending on how deep the love is. How badly the person hurt being around the ones they loved.

With two and this amount of aching when around them, which was almost all the time, he'd be surprised if he lasted even two months.

"Connor!" Hank calls out, knocking on the bathroom stall.

Connor jumps and quickly drops the petals into the toilet. He grabs toilet paper and wipes off his hands and around his mouth. Then he flushes the toilet and smooths down his shirt.

Hank is ready to burst into the stall when Connor opens the door, looking only slightly uneasy. "What the fuck was that about?"

"I'm sorry, the lollipop caused an odd reaction, and I had to take care of it immediately. The problem has been fixed and shouldn't occur again." That was good; Hank still didn't know a whole lot of information.

Though, he was a terrible liar when he didn't have to do so for work. Hank was staring him down, trying to pick apart every little detail to see if he was lying.

"Right." Hank deadpans. He definitely didn't believe him, but he would hopefully not push it.

Connor quickly nods, stepping out of the stall completely. "Thank you for your concern, we should probably get back to work now."

Hank grunted and followed along.

Hank kept a watchful eye on him, it made it incredibly difficult to be able to step away when the itch got too bad and he knew petals would come up.

The number of petals per day was increasing rapidly and Connor was getting a bit scared. He had thought his systems would be able to wipe this out like everything else, but the petals always came back.

It was interfering with his work too, because he had to make up so many excuses as to why he couldn't go to a crime scene. He also had to find ways to avoid Hank.

He noticed that the itch got slightly better whenever Gavin or Nines would show him affection of any kind.

Then it would get worse the moment he saw Nines and Gavin together, fully immersed in one another.

It wasn't that he didn't want them to do that. He just wanted to be a part of it too. To know they looked at him the same way and felt love.

It all came to the worse one day when Gavin and Nines invited Hank and Connor to take their lunch break together.

Connor couldn't say no, no matter how much it was going to hurt later.

Gavin and Nines took them to a small new cafe not too far from the station.

It had a 60s theme to it, and an actual working jukebox on display. They sat down at a booth, Gavin and Nines on one side and Connor and Hank on the other.

Connor was pleasantly surprised to find that the cafe had equal parts android and human food. He scanned over the menu, unsure what to get. He never really had this many options before.

Eventually, he settles on a classic burger, fries, and a chocolate milkshake.

"So, did you boys invite us just to show us this place?" Hank says, interrupting Connor's thoughts.

He had been wondering why the two had invited them. He was grateful but confused.

"We did want to share this. Gavin took me here two days ago, and I thought you'd like it." Nines says, tilting his head slightly towards Connor.

Nines had thought of him? Nines had actually thought of him while with Gavin, alone on what was probably a date, even though neither would have realized it.

"Well, thank you. There aren't many restaurants that have this many options." It was Nines probably just thinking that Connor would like the food, especially after the lollipop incident. He probably wasn't thinking about bringing him here on a date.

Before they can say anything else a waitress comes by and takes their order. She's pleasant enough but seems incredibly tired with life in general.

"Anderson, you two have that case about the five dead androids right?" Gavin asks. And then they are off.

They talk about their cases and fellow officers. Gavin talks about how one of his cats fell into the sink while he was washing dishes and the cat had been grumpy for a week.

Nines rarely talked, but when he did it was quick, snarky comments on whatever story Gavin was telling. Connor tried to not laugh but it was honestly adorable to see the two interact, even with the pain of it.

Hank jokes with the two, nudging Connor when he had been spacing out for too long. Who could blame him? Gavin was being overly dramatic and Nines would sometimes look over and smile slightly at Connor as if to say 'can you believe this?'.

Then their food was brought and they all dug in. Connor didn't even chastise Hank for his choice of meal and how unhealthy it was.

The food was delicious, and he had a feeling it was as close to the real thing as they could get.

"Ok, ok Connor I need you to do something for me," Gavin says, voice completely serious, but his lips quirked up just the slightest bit.

Connor nodded and sat up completely straight. "Of course, whatever you need." Hank snorts beside him and his facade broke just slightly.

"Take a fry-" Gavin says. Connor grabs one and holds it up. "Good, now dip it into the milkshake and eat it."

Hank sighs and doesn't even try to stop Connor. He'd put anything in his mouth even without being told to.

Connor does as told and doesn't even pause to decide if he was actually going to eat it.

It's surprisingly good. The combination of the saltiness of the fries and the sweetness of the milkshake go really well together.

So, he grabs another and does the same thing again, and Hank drops his head to the table with a bang.

Connor snorts and reaches over to rub his back. "This isn't the worse thing I've put in my mouth, and you know it."

Hank lifts his head slightly before dropping back onto the table. "Connor, just no. You are an abomination for liking it, and Reed so are you for telling him to." Hank finally lifts his head to point a finger at Gavin.

Gavin doesn't seem phased in the least, actually seems quite proud of himself. "It's delicious. Just like peanut butter and syrup on a waffle is delicious."

"Oh, I haven't tried that. The next time we can get the time to buy the ingredients, I'd like to make that." Connor says.

Hank groans and glares at Gavin.

Nines rolls his eyes, but Connor can tell he's actually having fun. If anyone else looked at him they would have thought he was incredibly uncomfortable or a snotty asshole. Or both.

"Ok, ok. We did actually invite you to lunch for a reason, and it wasn't just for your lovely self, and you too Hank." Gavin says, giving Hank a Cheshire cat grin. Hank flips him off and Connor's cheeks flush.

Gavin had probably just been his snarky self calling Connor lovely, but a part of him wanted to believe it. It was sadly also the same part of him that wanted him to cough up flower petals until he died.

"What Gavin was trying to say is we have a small announcement." Nines cuts in before the two would get going again.

Gavin nods and leans back, sitting incredibly close to Nines. "We do. So, I guess just like a bandaid right?" Gavin chuckles a bit nervously. "Alright, so Nines and I are dating. We've wanted to tell you both for a few weeks and decided now would be the time."

Oh. He knew this was coming and yet he was still so shocked he couldn't breathe.

Then he couldn't breathe for a whole nother reason. He started violently coughing.

This was somehow so much worse than before. It felt like an entire flower was trying to come up his throat.

"I have to go." He got out before standing. He doesn't even try to walk calmly, he just sprints out the door, ignoring the calls of his name.

He keeps running until he knows they won't catch up (at least Gavin and Hank, Nines could outrun him.)

He's in some park and it seems blissfully empty. He finds a small spot that is barely visible to the trail before he falls to his knees.

He can't stop coughing or even suppress it somewhat.

Then two whole flowers fall out of his mouth. This was the first sign that death was near.

It would only get worse and worse. The flowers in full bloom from his pain and aching.

He keeps coughing until at least ten more petals fall out. Then he wipes off his mouth and stands back up on shaky legs.

He has no doubt Hank now knows at least somewhat what is going on. If he didn't then he would be a shitty detective. Sadly all of them were good detectives and it would be easy to connect the dots.

He has to go to Jericho. He knew he wouldn't be able to move on from them in time, and he had to know for a fact if this would kill him.

He doesn't take a cab, simply walking the whole way. His throat still burns and itches but at least he wasn't coughing anymore.

He knows he looks like a mess when he arrives, but none of the androids give him weird looks for it. They had all learned to accept that it was normal for another android to stumble into Jericho looking like a mess.

He wasn't injured so no one immediately rushed up to him. They did know who he was though, so that could also be a factor.

He no longer has to check in with the receptionist before going to the elevator and riding it all the way up to where Markus would be.

He hadn't even thought to message him. He could be incredibly busy or not even there.

He almost turns back until he hears footsteps coming towards him.

"Connor? What are you doing here?" North asks, slinging an arm around him to give him a side hug.

Then she finally takes in his appearance and the blue blood on his chin he hadn't managed to get off. "Shit, let's get you in. Markus should have finished his call with the president."

He couldn't resist even if he wanted to. If North decided she was going to do something, she'd do it. One way or another.

Markus is sitting at his desk, looking over papers with a scowl. Connor was incredibly glad he denied being a part of any major political decisions. He'd still put his two cents in, but he'd much rather be solving cases with Hank.

Markus looks up and grins when he sees Connor, but it quickly changed to worry as he looks him over. "Are you ok?"

"He was standing outside your door like a lost puppy." North supplied after Connor didn't immediately answer.

Right, he came here for help. "I have Hanahaki Disease because of Gavin and Nines."

Both North and Markus look at him with wide eyes.

"I'm at the first stage before death and I need to know if this can actually kill me." If it didn't then he wouldn't worry. He could deal with coughing up flowers if it meant he could keep his emotions and his life.

"It can. We don't know how or why this affects androids but it's basically the same as humans. Removing the flowers is possible. Though, from what we can tell the process reverts the android back into their machine state. They can still feel but they are forever trapped behind their coding."

A fate worse than death. Anyone could order him to do anything and he'd have to obey. That would be dangerous with him. He had skills that could hurt many people if it were in the wrong hands.

"Connor, have you thought about telling them?" North asks, gently taking his hand.

He quickly shakes his head. He had somewhat thought about it but completely shut down that line of thinking. "No. And I really can't now. They just announced they are dating and I can't tell them and then die. That would put a rift between them. I won't do that to them."

"You'll die," Markus says, standing and coming over to take Connor's other hand. "Or you'll be stuck."

He would take death, and both North and Markus knew that. "I know. I don't have a lot of time, so I should probably prepare."

How could he explain to Gavin and Nines that he was dying? That they couldn't know why, and they couldn't be there for it. He won't let them see it.

How was he going to tell Hank? The man had already lost one son, and now he would be losing Connor too. "Markus, I need a favor."

"Of course, anything you need." Markus squeezes his hand.

Connor ignores both North's and Markus's tears. "Look after Hank? He's not going to be doing well after, and he'll need someone even if he denies it. Don't let him push you away, and don't let him drink."

"I'll make sure of it. Connor… are you sure they don't love you back? I know they are together, but that doesn't mean they can't both love you. Look at me, Simon, North, and Josh." Markus pleads.

He knew Nines and Gavin cared for him, but he also knew they didn't love him. They loved each other so much that everyone else seemed to just disappear. "I'm sure. After I… after, please don't tell them about this. They will just blame themselves."

"Please, please just ask them if they love you. You don't have to tell them about the disease or anything, just ask." North says, tugging on his hand slightly.

"They are both detectives, they'll figure out why I asked after I'm gone." There was still the chance they'd figure it out, but as long as he didn't make it obvious they may not realize it was them he was in love with.

North squeezes his hand a bit too hard. "Bullshit! Connor you are going to die if you don't tell them! Don't you want to live?"

"Of course I do!" He snaps at her. "I want to live but I can't hurt them. I can't, North." He could never knowingly hurt them. "I love them too much to do that."

"Ok, I don't want to fight with you. Not now. Will you let us know when it's time? I don't want you to be alone." North sighs.

Connor nods his head. He doesn't want to be alone for that. It'll definitely hurt for them to watch, but he knew he'd do the same for anyone else. "I will. If you both aren't busy, could I stay here for the day? Or, I can just sit with you? I don't want to be alone right now, and I can't go back to Hank's yet."

He would go back tomorrow, but right now he needed to come to terms with everything. He couldn't tell Hank now; not with only having found out he was actually going to die, today.

"Of course, you can stay here as long as you need."

They stay with him, canceling all other plans or meetings. Eventually, Josh and Simon join them, and they all sit with Connor.

They rub his back when the itch comes back and he's coughing up petals and sometimes small flowers.

He gets multiple messages from Hank, Nines, and Gavin but he chooses to ignore them for now.

When it starts getting dark he decides it's time to head back home. He'll explain it to Hank, he owes him that much. He's ready.

The others offer to walk with him, but he assures them it's not necessary. He'll have to stop to cough a few times, but he can make it back by himself.

It's a long walk and the moon is high in the sky when he finally makes it back to Hank's.

The lights are still on, so Connor knocks on the door before going in. Hank had told him he didn't need to knock, but it was still polite to do so.

Hank is sitting at the small dining table, a beer in hand. Connor shuffles over and sits down, not meeting Hank's gaze.

"Who is it?" Hank asks, finally breaking the silence. "Is it me?"

"No! No, Hank, I do love you but not like that." Connor says, looking up then quickly back at the table.

"Thank fuck," Hank mumbles. If it was him he knew Hank would blame himself forever for not loving him the same way.

Connor nods and picks at the table. "You already know, though. You know it's them."

Hank huffs and rubs at his face. "I do. Your reaction to their little announcement gave it away. I thought you had it, but then how could androids get this? Turns out you fuckers are just as unlucky as us humans."

"I didn't mean to. I was trying to get over them, but it hasn't worked. They don't love me back, and Markus told me that this will kill me." The disease killed more than cancer did, and almost everyone knew of someone that did or had at least gotten it.

Humans were never sure why it happened. The religious thought it was some sort of curse or punishment. Others thought it was the cure for overpopulation, an evaluation trait.

Connor honestly didn't care, all he knew was he was dying because of it. All of the times he had almost died before coming deviant he was terrified but also confident. He would always just get remade. He did enough and succeeded enough to be brought back.

Now that wasn't fully allowed. Humans had protested against androids being able to get new bodies if their old ones were destroyed. They said it wasn't fair that they couldn't do that.

Now they can only be brought back if they can prove the death could have been prevented. So if an android was murdered they couldn't be brought back. If an android died while working and a machine malfunctioned then they could have the chance.

He wouldn't be brought back. He knew it and so would everyone else. He would be gone for good. Of course, he would die because he is deviant and can therefore love.

Well, that's not completely correct. Deviancy is just breaking through the code that made you only do what you were told. It didn't prevent you from feeling beforehand, but after deviancy, they had free will.

So he was dying because he was in love.

He always thought he'd die on a case. Maybe saving Hank or a hostage. It seemed more likely than this at any rate.

"How do you know?" Hank asked, taking a long sip from the bottle. Connor doesn't have it in him to take it away. If he could, he'd be drinking too.

"What do you mean?"

"How do you know they don't love you? Don't give me the bullshit, I just know excuse. Give me cold, hard facts." Hank says, slamming the bottle down.

Connor jumps only because he hadn't been expecting the sudden noise. He knew Hank wouldn't hurt him. He also understood how upset he was.

Then his mind tried to find actual evidence. Finding such evidence would be hard as it was difficult to prove an emotion.

"They are together," he points out.

Hank stares at him, with his 'you're shitting me' look. "Right. I totally forgot that people weren't capable of loving multiple people. My bad, I guess you can't have the fucking Hanahaki Disease for them then."

"They haven't shown me they feel anything more than friendship," Connor says, throwing his hands up. How many times was he going to have this conversation?!

"Alright, listen the fuck up. You're what, two? You don't have much life experience yet so I'll let that shit slide. Now, you listen to me and listen carefully." Hank says, gently pushing Connor's head up so they can lock eyes.

Connor sinks into his chair just slightly but nods his head.

"Nines and Gavin bought you those lollipops. Meaning they both watched you enough to realize you got some oral fixation or whatever. Then they must have talked to each other about you and said fixation." Hank starts.

"Gavin gave you a succulent in a dog vase because he knew you liked both. So he obviously pays attention when you go on those long rambles."

"Nines gave you that pastel hoodie. You only mentioned liking pastels one fucking time, and he was so focused on his case that he hadn't even noticed the tornado warning. And yet he heard you and got it for you."

"Then they keep complimenting you on whatever you're wearing or just random shit. Praising you for doing your job well. Then you get all blushy and hide your face. So you don't see that they look at each other and they both just seem to melt at the sight of you."

Connor was ready to break in and explain all of those incidents but Hank put up a finger to silence him.

"I'm not done. They continuously invite you and only you along to after-work drinks. I'm assuming they also always try to pay for your drinks. If you even mention wanting anything those two perk up and try to get it for you."

"There are so many more things I could bring up, but I think I've made it clear. They fucking love you back, and all you have to do is tell them that you feel the same." Hank finishes, putting his finger down.

Connor just sat there for a second and then he went over as many memories as he could where the other two were involved. There was a lot more than he expected.

How had he not noticed all the gifts? He, of course, had given many to the other two, but he hadn't thought about the amount they were giving him.

Oh no, they probably thought he wasn't appreciative of their gifts! He wore the hoodie often and took care of his plants. He loved the lollipops and had almost run out of them. He did try to pay for his own drink at least, but they almost always paid for him. He wanted to return the favor but they both somehow distracted him every time.

He had noticed the praise , and if they did it too much he often had to run to the bathroom to calm down) but didn't think much of it. He thought it was just something the two did for everyone. He never thought he was special.

He never thought that they had singled him out. If Nines showed any interest he thought it was just because he was the only other android detective. He could understand him better than anyone else.

Then with Gavin, he just assumed he was… flirty with everyone. That he mainly became his friend because of what happened before the revolution. Connor had easily forgiven him and then saw what a wonderful friend he could be, even with all of his assholeyness.

Actually, his assholeyness was part of his charm as long as he didn't mean it. He would joke around with the people he cared about and often called them names as long as they were fine with it. Connor was tincan or dumbass, Nines was fucker or terminator, Tina was whore or slut (or bitch, or sometimes even slutty whore), and Hank was old man.

Had they been flirting with him all along? How had he not noticed? He was built to notice things! It was literally his job to notice things and figure shit out. How could he have not noticed?!

"They love me?" He mumbled, eyes going wide. He didn't have proof that it was love but they were definitely interested.

"Fucking finally, I thought we'd have to sit here all night as you figured that out." Hank chuckled.

Connor sat straight up in his chair so fast he almost fell out of it. "They like me! I might not die!"

Hank looked up at the ceiling for a second before back to Connor. "Thank fucking god. Now, do you want to talk to them tonight or tomorrow?"

"Oh shit! Oh no, I totally ran away!" Connor yelps, running his hands through his hair. "I ran away after they said they were dating. What if they think I hate them, or I'm disgusted? They probably think I'm insane!" He pulled at his hair just slightly.

"Woah, calm down son, it's ok. They were more concerned than anything else. Nines looked ready to kill if need be for you. Though, he does kinda always look like that." Hank trails off before shaking himself. "Anyway, they don't think you're insane."

"I need to apologize for running out. I didn't want any of you to see the flowers." Hank nodded and drank the rest of his beer.

"It's fine. You've been running away every time you cough so it's not too out of character." Hank said. Of course, he had noticed, everyone probably has.

"You can't blame me. Androids don't cough so it would have been too easy to put together." Though his running away probably brought up many rumors.

Wonderful. He was getting odd looks at the station and he always just assumed it was something silly.

"Right, so I should go talk to them if they'll even look at me." He sighed, running a hand through his hair to try to flatten it down a bit.

Hank stood and then ruffled Connor's hair, grinning at the glare he got for it. "They'll look at you, and probably do a lot more… no, nope not thinking about that."

Connor smirks before flushing blue at the implications. Not that he would be opposed to that. "Please don't. Ok, I'll message you when I get there." He says going to the door.

"Nope, you aren't walking. I'll drop you off and then go to a bar, I need another drink." Connor glared at him. "Fine, I'll find something else to do with my time, but I'll be there if you need me." If this didn't go well and they couldn't return his feelings was left unsaid.

Connor rambles the whole way, going over every possible outcome (and leaving out… certain details that would come later).

Hank pointed out when something was mostly Connor's anxiety and not an actual possibility. Some of those included the whole precinct turning on him. Honestly how Connor could come up with something like that was beyond him.

"Alright, let me know if you need me ok?" Hank says once they are parked outside of Gavin's place. (Nines often stayed with him since he couldn't afford his own place, and the nights he didn't he stayed at the precinct.)

"I will. Listen, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't tell anyone and I couldn't even admit to myself that it was real and could actually affect me." He fiddled with the door handle before starting to cough.

Hank quickly reaches over to rub his back until the coughing subsided. "It's alright, had an uncle who just randomly died off and no one knew what happened until the autopsy. Turns out he was in love with the postman but he still loved his wife so he didn't want to leave her. Figures the wife also had a thing for the postman. Damn idiot died for nothing."

"Oh, I didn't know. I'm sorry Hank." Then he reached over and gave him a slight hug. "I'll try to be more open about any ailments if I survive this one."

Hank rolled his eyes before pushing him out of the car. "You will or I'll bring you back and kill you myself. To get 'em."

Hank gave him a thumbs up and Connor snorted before heading into the building.

It wasn't the nicest place to live but he knew Gavin loved it. He knew all of the people that lived in the building. He remembered all of their birthdays (or activation days) and remembered their favorite foods. Connor was definitely impressed and when he had found that out he fell a little bit more in love.

He took the elevator up and stood in front of the door with his fist raised to knock. He could hear muffled talking inside and his heart was pounding.

He was actually doing this. He was going to tell them everything. Hopefully, it ended well but there was the chance it wouldn't.

He jumped when he got a message and snorted as he read it. It was from Hank telling him to just get it over with and go in. He knew him too well.

He did as told and knocked on the door. The talking stopped and then the door opened and Gavin's eyes went wide. "Connor."

"I'm sorry for such a late visit, but I had to see you. Is Nines also here?" He asks, shifting from foot to foot.

Gavin glances back before nodding and moving aside to let him in.

Nines stands when Connor comes in, looking between him and Gavin. "Connor, are you alright? You left in a hurry."

He doesn't walk closer to Connor, he just stands there letting Connor do what he wants. He's almost treating him like a scared animal.

He can't really blame him, he does keep running away. It was only logical that he'd also strike out if poked enough.

"I'm… well, I could be better. I need to talk to you both. It's important but it can wait if you aren't up to it, it's not a light topic." He'd never blame them for telling him no. That they weren't ready to hear what he had to say.

Nines and Gavin shared a look before slowly sitting on the couch. "Of course we will listen," Gavin says.

That's all he can really ask for. He didn't think he even deserved that but he would take what was given.

"I'm dying." Alright, not what he wanted to start off with, but oh well. Ripping off a bandaid, right?

The two stare at him before Nines is on his feet and coming over. Connor lets him look him over and knows he's doing a full scan. He would do the same after all.

Then Nines is stumbling back and Connor can see that he knows.

"Nines? What is it? Connor, what's wrong? Why are you dying?!" Gavin says, standing too now that the initial shock has worn off.

"I should have known." Nines mumbles and Connor quickly shakes his head.

"No, I was hiding it from everyone. Hank didn't even know until tonight." He wanted to reach out and touch them but that would probably cause a coughing fit.

"What the hell is going on?!" Gavin shouts looking between the two.

Connor takes in a deep breath before looking him dead in the eye. "I have Hanahaki Disease."

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