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endless-summer-soldier · 3 months

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something like that - part two [Steve Harrington x reader]

pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader

summary: after five long years, Steve can't get that special someone out of his mind. he can only hope that he'll run into her again when he visits Robin in Chicago

word count: 11.5k (sorry, may have gotten a little carried away with this one)

part one

March 10, 1989

Steve was zipping up his duffel when he heard the familiar honk of a car horn.

“HARRINGTON!” How he’d missed that voice. Steve collected his things and called goodbye to his roommates as he walked out of the shitty house. Eddie was leaning against his van with a warm smile on his face. “There he is…” Eddie said, imitating a proud father.

“How was the tour?” Steve asked. Eddie slid open one of the van doors and Steve tossed in his bag.

“We had a rocky start but the last few shows went off without a hitch. We’re finally getting into a rhythm and building up our fan base.” Eddie had moved to Cincinnati about a year ago to pursue music full time. His band had just completed a mini-tour, hitting Columbus, Detroit, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. They had a few nights off once they returned to Cincinnati and then they played a few shows in Indianapolis. While the rest of the band went home, Eddie headed for Bloomington to meet up with his high school friend.

“How’s school been?” Eddie asked, as he started up the van. Steve was in his senior year at Indiana University in Bloomington. While his father would’ve preferred he attended Notre Dame, he was relieved his only son decided to attend university. Steve wasn’t sure if college would be the right fit for him, but as soon as he walked onto the Bloomington campus, he knew he had made the right choice. Steve filled him in on how his semester was going and shared his excitement for graduation.

“Can you believe our girl’s turning 21?” The two were currently driving from Bloomington up to visit Robin at DePaul University in Chicago for her 21st birthday. They had a four hour car ride ahead of them and were scheduled to get to the city around 8PM. Robin hadn’t given them many details for the night other than hitting the bars and drinking copious amounts of alcohol. Steve had been looking forward to this weekend for months, not just to be reunited with his two closest high school friends, but because he was hoping Y/N might be there. He hadn’t seen her or spoken to her since that night at the lake all those years ago. A part of him was always tempted to ask Robin how she was, but he never did, hoping to avoid her sass and knowing gaze. Even if she wasn’t there, it would still be a great weekend. He was grateful the three of them still kept in touch and that their friendship remained intact despite going their separate ways.

The boys didn’t miss a beat, catching up on the new and reminiscing on the old. Eddie pushed his van to its limits while Steve handled the navigation. They had made it about half way there when Eddie had to pull over for gas. Steve went into the gas station to use the restroom and grab a bag of chips. He also wanted to peruse their alcohol selection to see if there was anything gift-worthy for Robin. He looked through the sparse selection and wasn’t thrilled with his options, but ultimately decided it’d be better to show up with a shitty bottle of vodka than empty handed. He chose a frosted bottle with fake purple jewel on it that claimed to be a high-end Polish vodka. When he completed his errands, he walked out of the gas station to find Eddie finishing up at the pump.

“We’re making good time,” Steve stated as they headed back toward the highway. He checked his watch again and it seemed like they could make it into the city a little before eight. As soon as they merged onto the highway, Steve ate his words.

Eddie merely peered over to Steve and read his expression as you jinxed us. Steve tried to remain positive, thinking maybe it was just a minor fender bender that they were clearing out of the road.

It wasn’t. They crawled along the highway for about 45 minutes before Eddie lost his patience.

“I’m getting off at the next exit so you better find us another route.” Steve expected this would happen and had been marking some backroads that would ultimately lead them back to the highway, hopefully past the traffic buildup.

“I’m on it.” Eddie cut over to the right a little early and followed a few cars riding along the shoulder. They exited the highway and were surrounded by fields and farms. Steve told Eddie to keep driving until they saw some more road signs so that Steve could determine where they needed to go. They continued down the road but then the van started to wobble a bit. Steve looked at Eddie with panicked eyes and Eddie responded, “It’s fine, she does that all the time.” His tone wasn’t quite believable though. A few minutes later it happened again and Eddie announced he was going to pull over briefly. Steve held his forehead in his fingers, stressed about their current situation. It suddenly felt like fate was trying to keep him out of Chicago. He wasn’t giving up that easily.

Eddie got out of the van and circled the vehicle, inspecting it for signs of concern. Eddie knocked on Steve’s window, interrupting Steve’s desperate thoughts. Steve cranked down the window.

“I found the problem,” Eddie said.

“How bad is it?”

“It’s a flat tire.”

“Please tell me you have a spare.”

“Harrington, how irresponsible do you think I am?” Steve didn’t answer him and Eddie added, “Yes I have a spare. And I’ve changed a tire before.”

Steve climbed out of the van as Eddie opened the doors for the back, collecting his tools.

“Do you need help with anything?” Steve asked his friend. Eddie genuinely seemed to know what he was doing and Steve didn’t know that he would be of much assistance.

“Nah, I’ve got it.”

Steve peered off in the distance and saw a strip mall about a half a mile away.

“I’m going to walk down there and see if I can find a phone to call Robin. Just let her know we’re on our way but maybe a little delayed.

“Great idea, I knew I kept you around for a reason.” Steve shook his head at his friend, grabbed the maps from the front seat, and then headed down the road toward his destination. Maybe if he met a helpful local they could give them a good route to take. He hoped that by the time he returned, the car would have a new tire and they would be back on the road.

The walk didn’t take him too long and it gave him an opportunity to clear his head. He walked into a small grocery store and was greeted immediately. He let the motherly cashier know his predicament and she was more than happy to help. First he called Robin and the call went to voicemail. He left her a quick message letting her know they were running late and would meet them out at the bar. He just asked that they leave a spare key for them to be able to get into her apartment and drop their stuff off. Once he finished the call, the cashier, who’s name he learned was Cindy, gave him a good back road route that would lead them back to the highway when they got closer to Illinois. He thanked her graciously and walked back to Eddie and the van.

True to his word, Eddie changed the tire and was packing up the van, ready to get going.

“You did that quick,” Steve commented.

Eddie shrugged, “I basically grew up in a mechanic shop. I learned how to change a tire when I was five.”

“Impressive.”

“Did you get a hold of Robin?”

“Left a message on her machine. I told her to leave us a spare key and we’d meet up with them later. Annnnd a very nice lady in the grocery store gave me directions so I know where we need to go.”

“So efficient. We’ll be back on track in no time.” The two piled into the car and, once again, headed north to Chicago.

The duo did make up some time by opting to ignore some speed limits, but they still ended up more than fashionably late. They pulled up to Robin’s address, a row home in Lincoln Park. Eddie let Steve out of the car with the bags while he circled the block in search of free overnight street parking. Steve located the hide-a-key in a potted plant near the front porch and opened the door, dropping the bags by the front steps. He wandered around the house and into the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of tap water that he promptly chugged. There was a piece of notebook paper pinned to the fridge with a magnet that read, “Lily’s Bar, Lincoln and Altgeld St - meet us there!” Robin was always a great communicator.

Steve dug through his backpack looking for a fresh shirt that didn’t smell like Eddie’s van. He put on a printed button up and threw on his oversized denim jacket, needing an extra layer from the crisp March air. Eddie barrelled in a minute or two later, ready to party. Steve locked the door behind him and returned the key to its rightful hiding spot.

Steve checked his map to figure out the general direction of their destination and found it wasn’t too far, he guessed a seven minute walk.

“You nervous?” Eddie asked him.

“Well I wasn’t…” Steve commented, remembering the potential upcoming encounter he was about to have.

“Did you ask Robin if she was coming?”

Steve shook his head, “Didn’t want to be disappointed if she wasn’t. Figured I’d keep that little sliver of hope alive.”

“I’m sure she’ll be there. She’s Robin’s cousin and one of her best friends.”

“I don’t even know if she still lives around here. She could be at school in California or something.”

Eddie gave his friend a look, “We’ll find out soon enough. No sense worrying about it now.” As if Steve hadn’t been worrying about it the whole drive up. It was the build up that was getting to him. This big dramatic scene that had played out in his head. They had a moment together one night almost five years ago, and Steve hadn’t stopped thinking about her since. Tonight things would be different. In a perfect world, they would still have a strong connection and would be drawn to each other immediately. In a more realistic world, things would be awkward and they would never see each other again. Either way, it would give him closure and he could hopefully move on from this fantasy.

They approached a bar with wood paneling, tall dark windows, and a hanging black sign that displayed an outline of a shaggy haired woman. It was a dive bar with character and live music was flowing out the open door. Steve and Eddie handed their IDs to the bouncer and easily walked into the bar, in need of a few brews. They beelined it to the bartender and Eddie flashed his winning smile and was quickly greeted. He nudged Steve, “What do you want?”

“Budweiser,” Steve said absentmindedly, skimming the bar for his old friend and her very beautiful cousin. It was loud with the live music and packed considering it was a Saturday night, which put Steve into stimulation overload.

As Eddie flirted away with the bartender he added, “Hey, do you happen to recall serving a round of shots to a group celebrating a 21st birthday?”

“Oh yeah.”

“They still here?” he followed up.

“I think they went upstairs to try and get a table.”

“Thank you darling. Much appreciated,” Eddie left a few extra dollars on the bar to show his appreciation.

“Laying it on a little thick there,” Steve murmured.

Eddie shrugged, “It’s the Munson Method. I recently developed it and found that if you butter up the bartenders early on in the night, they remember you, thus serving you quicker, and often providing more potent mixed drinks.”

“I’ll have to remember that one,” Steve chuckled, still skimming the crowd for a familiar face.

“C’mon lover boy,” Eddie said, taking the lead after recognizing the look on his friend’s face. Eddie headed toward the corner and up the stairs, where the sound of live music was replaced with the loud chatter of college students. The second floor was mostly tables, all of which were currently full and covered in beer bottles. There was a small bar along one wall where people were collecting cans of beer and plastic cups full of mixed drinks.

A flash of pink caught Steve’s eye and he turned toward the corner to find Robin, sitting pretty in a hot pink feather boa and a plastic tiara.

“Found her,” Steve said, pointing toward the crowded corner. There were a lot of people surrounding her and Steve quickly looked for Y/N, but found himself disappointed with every glance. He didn’t see her. His heart would’ve skipped a beat if he even thought he saw her. Yet here he was, happy to see his friend but missing the butterflies in his stomach.

Eddie and Steve walked over to the table and Robin’s eyes lit up when she saw them.

“MY BOYS!” she screeched when she saw them approaching her. She jumped from her hair to put her arms around their necks in a squished group hug.

She let them go and turned back to the group, “Friends, these are my boys.” Then she sat back in her chair and continued sipping on what looked like a Long Island Iced Tea.

“I’m Eddie, this is Steve.”

“I see you’ve been taking good care of her,” Steve joked, referring to Robin’s inebriation.

The group shifted to make space for them at the table and provided a dozen different names that Steve wouldn’t remember.

Steve let out a deep breath, admitting defeat that his potential soulmate wasn’t here. He chugged the rest of his beer and went to the bar to get another. He would cope with alcohol. It was a bad plan, but it was what he needed tonight.

He stood at the crowded bar and looked for an opening to make eye contact with the bartender. There was a girl in a purple fringed jacket who was on the shorter side currently ordering and Steve slid in behind her, hoping he could order once the bartender filled her order. He saw the bartender pouring a line of layered shots which she then slid towards the girl. There were probably eight shots and he almost considered offering her help. But then she impressively bunched all the shooters together and grasped them in her talons, focusing on her grip before she took a deep breath and picked them all up. She turned quickly and ran full force into Steve, somehow only dropping one of the shots. He reached out instinctively and placed his hands around hers to stabilize the glasses. She looked up at him and Steve could’ve died right there. It was Y/N.

“Hi,” she breathed, her expression softening from frustration to shock.

“Hi,” he responded.

“You probably don’t remember me. I’m-”

“Of course I remember you,” Steve smiled. “Can I give you a hand?”

“Um yeah, can you take some of these back to the table and I’ll grab a few more?”

“You got it.” Steve took six of the shot glasses and left her with one, as she turned back to the bar to order again. He placed them in the middle of the table and Eddie said, “Aw Steve, you shouldn’t have.”

“We have more coming,” Steve announced, so that people knew to wait before taking the shots.

“We?” Eddie asked, looking up at Steve. He merely shrugged and walked back to the bar, Eddie’s eyes following him. When he saw Steve sidle up next to a petite brunette, he had it all figured out.

“Son of a bitch,” he muttered to himself with a smile.

Steve returned to Y/N’s side as she collected the remaining shot glasses. She ordered a replacement for the one she dropped, as well as two extra shot glasses for himself and Eddie.

“I’m gonna get a drink, do you want something?” he whispered into her ear as she collected the shot glasses.

“Yes, could you get me between the sheets?” Steve’s heart dropped into his stomach and his eyebrows rose.

“What was that?” Steve asked, not believing what he had just heard.

Y/N blushed, “The drink. Between the Sheets.”

“Oh. Ohhh, yes I will get it.”

“You didn’t think I was coming onto you this early in the night, did you?” she flirted with a glimmer in her eyes.

“A boy can dream, can’t he,” Steve added, sending her a smile back. She held his gaze for a moment then took the remaining shots back to the table, leaving him at the bar. He ordered her drink and a rum and coke and returned to the table.

He walked the drink over to where Y/N was sitting and considered lingering for a moment but decided to play it cool. He placed the drink in front of her and she turned around quickly to thank him. She looked like she wanted to say more but then Robin was tugging at her sleeves, pulling her into her conversation to settle an argument.

Steve gave her the signal to go ahead and stated, “We’ll catch up later.” She gave him an enthusiastic nod and then turned over to Robin.

He returned to his seat next to Eddie and tried not to make eye contact, ignoring Eddie’s knowing eyes.

“Someone looks happy,” he commented.

“Shut up,” he said, nudging his friend.

“Is this moment everything you hoped it would be?” Eddie teased.

“I’ll report back at the end of the night.”

“Fair enough.”

Before they could continue their conversation, Y/N stood up and called for their attention. She held up her shot glass and signaled for everyone else to do the same. She gave a toast to Robin, but Steve didn’t hear a word she said. This was the first time he had gotten a proper look at her and she looked as good as ever. She was in a purple fringe jacket with a black corset top and black jeans. Her hair was straighter, but teased with side bangs that framed her face. But her smile was just as infectious as it had always been. He watched her, laughing with Robin, and longed to hear that beautiful sound again. He had to figure out a way to get her alone.

After a few more drinks (and a couple rounds of shots) Steve had loosened up and had a plan in place. The live band was still playing downstairs and he felt it was time to move the party to the main event. He enlisted Eddie’s help and Eddie ran over to Robin and took her hand, pulling her from her chair. He wasn’t sure what Eddie said to her, but he saw Robin’s eyes go wide and she called to the group and said, “Guys, there’s dancing downstairs!!”

The table all stood up and followed Robin and Eddie. Steve hung behind, letting everyone else go before him. Y/N walked over and stood next to him, watching the others head downstairs.

“Dancing, really? Was this your idea?” she accused.

He shrugged, “I may have made a suggestion.”

“I’m glad you guys made it. I heard you had some car trouble.”

“Yeah, hit some traffic then got a flat. But we weren’t gonna let that stop us from celebrating Robin’s special day.”

“I know she’s wasted right now, but she’s so grateful you guys made it. All she could talk about all week was how excited she was to see her hometown friends.”

“Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

“How’ve you been Steve?”

“Doing pretty well. Finishing up my last semester and getting ready to graduate, which is crazy.”

“Where’d you end up?”

“Indiana. What about you?”

“Northwestern. Didn’t have it in my heart to leave Chicago just yet. How do you like Bloomington?”

“It’s been great. Very different from the Hawkins small town life, but still feels…I don’t know, comfortable?”

“That’s great! I’m so happy for you. And what-”

“Y/N! Come dance!!” Robin had barrelled back up the stairs and interrupted their conversation by pulling Y/N’s arm. She looked back apologetically at Steve and he gave her a smile, following their lead. He figured if he couldn’t talk to Y/N he could at least try to dance with her.

It was packed on the dance floor as college kids were flocking to the band. Steve imagined this is what it was like at the shows Eddie played. The girls were dancing with each other and some of Robin’s other friends and Steve found a spot with Eddie.

Steve waited for his moment and when Robin spun Y/N around and she landed a few feet in front of him, he slid in and put a gentle hand on her hip. She turned her head around casually to scope out who was touching her, and she eased when she realized it was Steve. She found his free hand and held it in hers, leaning back into him a little more. Then she spun into him so that she was facing him and moved her hands on his shoulders. They were in a slow dancing position but they were moving at pace with the upbeat music. He could feel the tension building between them and all he wanted was to taste her lips again.

He was pulled from his thoughts when the frontman of the band made an announcement.

“Alright, we’re gonna switch it up a little here and invite a friend up to the stage. Munson, get up here.” The crowd cheered, particularly the birthday crew, as Eddie clambered up to the stage. The frontman took off his guitar and passed it to Eddie, who strummed a few test chords. Eddie walked over to the drummer and bass player and they nodded their heads together before the drummer counted them in. The former frontman took a spot next to the bass player as Eddie took position center stage.

The song started with some aggressive, repetitive guitar chords that Eddie hit hard. Then eventually the kick drum came in, holding a steady beat.

Then Eddie started to sing, “When I get to the bottom, I go back to the top of the slide. I get to the top and I go for a ride. I get to the bottom and I see you again. I see you again.”

The crowd went wild at the Motley Crue cover and Eddie’s vocals were throaty and intense.

“Do you, don’t you want me to love you. I’m coming down fast but I’m miles above you. Oh tell me, tell me, tell me, come on tell me the answer. You may be a lover but you ain’t no dancer.”

A flock of coeds had made their way through the crowd and were now salivating at Eddie’s feet and he was loving every minute of it.

“He’s really good!” Y/N nearly yelled into his ear. Steve hadn’t seen Eddie play in a while, and he had to give it to him. The guy knew how to work a crowd.

“Helter skelter, helter skelter, helter skelter…”

The song continued and included a killer guitar solo that Eddie absolutely crushed. When they finished the song, the crowd went wild, screaming and cheering as they drew out the final notes. Eddie gave a thank you to the crowd and high fived the other band members. The front man came back up to the mic and said, “We’re gonna take a quick break and then we’ll be back with some more tunes for you.” The crowd sighed in disappointment and then quickly flocked to the bar for another round of drinks.

“Should we go find him?” Steve asked, wanting to give his friend a clap on the back. Y/N agreed and they moved towards the side of the stage, hoping they could intercept Eddie before his newfound fan-club.

They heard him before they saw him. He was buzzing off the natural adrenaline high and was speaking his praises to the band. When he saw Steve and Y/N waiting for him, he said his goodbyes and approached them.

“Where’d you learn to play like that?” Y/N cooed.

“That is all self taught baby!”

“You were incredible!”

“Seriously man, you killed it out there. One of these days you’re gonna be selling out arenas all over the country.”

Eddie put his hands together in a prayer position to show his gratitude.

“So how do you know those guys?” Y/N asked.

Eddie shrugged, “I shared a joint with them somewhere in Ohio. They’re on the college circuit too. I recognized them and gave them a wave when we walked in, but I never expected them to call me up like that.”

“I think you’ve got some fans looking for you back there,” Steve said, signaling over his shoulder.

“Well it’d be rude to keep them waiting, right?” He smiled. Steve gave his pal a pat on the shoulder and watched him walk off.

“You want another drink?” Steve offered, hoping he could keep Y/N to himself.

“Yeah, definitely.” They wove their way through the crowded bar and Steve ordered them a few cocktails as he tried to shield her from the bustling crowd. He picked up the drinks and paid his tab, then led the way out of the crowd. He found a spot along the wall with a ledge where they could rest their drinks. He held his plastic cup up to hers and they cheers-ed, taking quick sips of their beverages.

“So are you liking Northwestern?” he asked, hoping to pick up the conversation where they left off.

“Loving it. It’s north of the city, so it's a little quieter but I can come back into the city easily enough to visit family and friends.”

“Best of both worlds. What are you studying?”

“Psychology.”

“Tell me you’re going to school to be a therapist.”

She shrugged, “It’s possible.”

Steve beamed at her. “You are going to be so great at that.”

“I’m still coming to terms with it. It feels weird to follow in your parents footsteps, you know? Like is this something I actually want to do or is it just all I know.”

“Well, I wouldn’t know anything about that. But I genuinely think you have a talent for it. You’re so easy to talk to and I can tell you actually, like, listen to what I’m saying.”

“Oh yeah? As opposed to all the other girls you spend time with,” she teased.

“You’d be surprised. Half the time I think girls only talk to me because they like my hair.”

“It is really nice hair,” she added.

“Thank you, but there’s more to me than the hair.”

“The handsome good looks?” she teased.

He blushed, “Well I don’t know about that.”

“I do. You’ve got a lot going for you. The girl you're dating right now is a lucky lady.”

“Oh, no. I’m not seeing anyone.”

“Really? I just assumed…”

“Nah, I’ve been kind of hung up on someone and haven’t really dated much since then.”

“Oh,” she replied. He could see her brain moving, trying to understand where that left them.

Before he could reassure her, the crowd cheered again, signaling that the band had returned to the stage. The loud guitar riffs confirmed that.

“Are you seeing anyone?” Steve asked her, hoping he knew the answer.

“What?” she called, struggling to adjust to the noise coming from the amps.

“Are you seeing anyone?” he repeated, this time a bit louder.

She pointed toward her ear and yelled, “I can’t hear you.”

Steve sighed, but quickly recovered as an idea entered his head. He leaned in close and whispered into her ear, “Do you wanna get out of here?”

She looked up at him with an amused expression on her face. She stood on her tiptoes and he leaned closer to make it easier for her.

“And go where?”

He shrugged and moved his lips toward her ear again, “Anywhere.” She looked up at him as he kept his face close to hers. A smirk was spreading up her face and she held his eye contact as she said, “Okay.” They chugged down the rest of their drinks and snuck out of the bar. Steve made eye contact with Eddie as they left so that he would know not to look for them. Eddie gave him a wink and a smile and Steve shifted his gaze away from his friends.

The moment they stepped outside they were met with the cold air, but they could also hear again.

“That’s better,” she commented, happy to be away from the hustle and bustle.

“Know any good spots around here? Maybe somewhere a little more quiet.”

She looked up at the sky and pouted her lips, thinking through some potential options.

“Mmm, I’ve got it.” She started walking down the street and took a few turns down some side streets.

“Are you planning on mugging me in this alley?” Steve asked, eyeing their surroundings.

“Oh stop, it’s a short cut.”

“You shouldn’t be taking shortcuts down alleyways late at night.”

“Okay, Mom,” she joked.

“I’m serious! Don’t put yourself in a dangerous situation.”

“Okay, okay. I hear ya,” she waved him off, but secretly she thought his concern was kind of cute. They walked back onto the main street and stopped at a small storefront on the corner.

“Here we are,” she announced. Steve opened the door for her and she stepped inside first. The bar was cozy and warm, much different than the establishment they came from. There were a few people sitting at the bar, drinking out of stemmed glassware. They took two empty seats at the bar and skimmed through the cocktail menu. When the bartender approached Y/N requested two glasses of water and she ordered a whiskey smash. Steve ordered the same, making it easier on the bartender.

“This is much better,” Steve said.

“I can actually hear you, which is nice.”

“You say that now,” he joked, “Get a few more drinks in me and I won’t shut up.”

“Well lucky for you, I’m a really great listener.”

“I know this about you,” Steve smiled. He was trying to figure out how to ask her if she was single. She was giving him all the signs that she was, but he still wanted to confirm.

“You never told me what you’re studying.”

“Education. I’m going to be a middle school history teacher.”

Her face lit up, “That’s amazing. I can see you being so good at that, you’re so patient. And I bet you’re great with kids.”

“I’ve had some practice over the years. And as much as they can be a pain, I’ve really enjoyed seeing them grow as humans.”

“There should be more teachers like you out there. Growing up we had so many teachers that just did the bare minimum, handing out worksheets or making us watch videos. They lost all the respect of the students. But I don’t think you’ll be like that.”

“I hope not.”

“What do your parents think of your career choice?” Always with the hard hitting questions. Yet oddly enough, he didn’t mind answering.

“My mom has been very supportive. My dad…let’s just say he wasn’t thrilled. He loves to remind me that it won’t be easy to support a family on a teacher’s salary. I could care less about the money. I spent my whole life being the rich kid, wondering if my friends were hanging out with me just because I had the nicest toys and a pool in the backyard.”

She placed her hand on top of his, showing him her support.

“Robin and Eddie don’t see you that way.”

“You’re right, they don’t. And they really showed me what it means to be a true friend. I was really insecure before I met them, and I was kind of a jackass. I was friends with terrible people and treated others outside my circle really poorly. And then I met Robin and she called me out on my bullshit. She helped me realize I didn’t have to try so hard and I could just be myself.”

“She’s really good at that,” Y/N added. “She did the same thing for me when we were growing up.”

“Really?” Steve asked.

Y/N nodded. “I was always really shy and worried a lot about what people thought of me. And she taught me not to be like that. She told me that I was awesome and if people didn’t see that, then it was their loss. And slowly but surely I started to believe that myself, and that’s when I finally began to feel confident.”

“I’m gonna have to thank her for that next time I see her. Your confidence was one of the first things I noticed about you. It’s extremely attractive.”

There was a brief moment of silence between them, nothing uncomfortable, just quiet. And Steve figured now was as good a time as any. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

Her brow furrowed, “Yeah, you can ask me anything.”

He tried to see if there was a more subtle way of putting it, but there wasn’t.

“Are you…currently dating anyone?”

She smirked, “Is that what you were trying to ask me at Lily’s?”

“That’s not an answer,” Steve countered.

“No, I am not dating anyone. You know how you said girls are mostly interested in your hair?”

“Yes…”

“Guys are mostly just interested in my ass. Doesn’t make for a great dating pool.”

He thought about complimenting her ass, but it felt distasteful.

“I’m really sorry you have to deal with that. I mean, guys are assholes but you deserve better than that.”

“I’m starting to think that not all guys are assholes,” she flicked her eyes up to him at the comment. By now, their drinks were mostly ice cubes.

“Do you want to get another round?” Steve asked.

“Actually, can we go somewhere else?”

“Sure,” Steve replied, knowing he would follow her anywhere.

“I want to show you my favorite place in the city.” Steve smiled. He wanted to see her favorite place. He wanted to know everything about her. And she seemed to be letting him in.

“This is it!” she smiled, arms spread out as she walked onto the shore of Lake Michigan.

Steve looked out across the lake ahead of them, stunned by the size of the water.

“Wow,” was all he could manage. Y/N turned around to find him stopped in his tracks, taking it all in. She walked back towards him and stood by his side.

“Amazing, right?” she said, peering up at him.

“I feel like I’m looking at the ocean…”

She nodded, “It has that effect on most. But if you get a clear day, you can just barely make out Michigan across the way.”

“That’s wild.”

“I know it’s not as quaint and picturesque as your lake in Hawkins, but it’s amazing when you consider there’s a full city right behind us.” Steve looked over his shoulder, peering at the illuminated skyline.

“I can see why you like this place,” he commented.

“I always felt like the lake brought me a little bit of peace, away from the hustle and bustle of the city.”

They stood there for a moment, listening to the distant sounds of the city that contrasted with the calm of the water in front of them. At some point Steve took her hand and they walked further along the sand, sitting just shy of the tides.

“This is nice,” he said. He thought it before he realized he had spoken it out loud. But he meant it. They fell into an easy, comfortable silence. Neither of them needed to force conversation. He was happy just sitting there in her presence.

“I’ll give you another thirty seconds,” she stated.

“We’re leaving already?”

“Not exactly,” he looked at her, expecting an elaboration, “Just…enjoy the next few seconds.” Steve was utterly confused, which made it impossible for him to relax.

“Times up, come on!” she said, quickly standing up. She kicked off her shoes and tore off her jacket, throwing it onto the sand. Steve sat there still, wondering why she was running straight to the lake. She unzipped the back of her top and let the fabric drop to the ground. She turned back around toward him, wearing a simple black bra and her jeans. “Are you coming?” she asked playfully. She didn’t have to ask him twice, he would follow her anywhere. And her lack of clothing certainly helped.

She unzipped and wiggled out of her jeans, leaving them splayed across the sand as she ran toward the water’s edge. Steve couldn’t get his clothes off fast enough, despite the chill in the air.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked, finding it strange to be the voice of reason. “It’s gonna be freezing.” His shirt was off and he was working on his pants.

“Come on Stevie. Live a little,” she winked over her shoulder before running into the icy water. She shivered at first but powered through, knowing she had to force herself in to get acclimated.

Steve followed her lead, albeit with slightly less excitement. When the water hit his skin, he tried not to think about how cold it was. He focused all his thoughts on catching up with her and keeping her warm in his arms. When he reached her, she was out deep enough that she was treading water.

“Took you long enough,” she smirked at him.

“I wasn’t sure if you were serious.”

“Didn’t think I was spontaneous?”

“Didn’t think you were crazy,” he joked.

“Only a little bit,” she smiled back. They bobbed in the water together, eyes locked on one another, and Steve was contemplating what his next move was when she spoke.

“I think about that day all the time,” she confessed. Steve almost told her that he did too, but she didn’t seem like she was finished. “I’ve replayed it in my head over and over again. And it all was perfect, but there is one thing that I would change.”

Steve tensed slightly, unsure where she was going with this.

“I wish I would’ve given you my number. I just had it in my head that I was going to be coy and mysterious and, looking back, that was stupid. And now I’ve spent all these years thinking about you after spending like four hours with you and…I don’t know why I’m telling you all this, probably because the cold-”

Steve heard everything he needed to hear. As she spoke he slid in closer and closer and a dumb smile was spread across his face. She felt it too, this was the confirmation he was waiting for. He cut her off suddenly, his hand cupping her jaw and his lips were on hers. He took her by surprise but she melted into the kiss almost immediately. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she brought him closer, wrapping her bare legs around his waist. His free hand moved to the small of her back and the skin to skin contact reminded him that they were scantily clothed. Whatever his expectations were for the night, this surpassed all of them.

He pulled away for a moment, connecting his forehead with hers as he caught his breath.

“I’ve been waiting five years to do that,” he spoke onto her lips. She smiled and let out a breath. “Well we can’t have you waiting any longer,” she said, leaning into him again. He held her tight as he kissed her again, giving her a playful nip on her bottom lip. She deepened the kiss, allowing him access into her mouth. She played with the hair on the back of Steve’s neck and he let out an unconscious moan, which generated a playful smile on Y/N’s lips, as she continued kissing him.

Steve had almost forgotten about being submerged in ice water, until he noticed Y/N’s shoulders twitch in a shiver. He had lost track of how long they’d been in the water, which meant it was probably time to get out.

He pulled away from her slowly and ran his hands over her shoulders in an attempt to warm her up. “Come on, let’s get you dried off before you catch a cold.”

She nodded and he gave her a quick peck on her nose, which she giggled at. He reluctantly released her and she took his hand, guiding him out of the water. The minute the air hit the two of them they were shivering, teeth clattering at the cold, as they ran back to where they left their clothes. Y/N struggled to pull on her jeans and didn’t even bother with the corset, instead throwing on her jacket. Steve dressed quickly and she pulled at his arm, urging him to come with her, which of course was unnecessary.

They ran through the streets of Chicago, stopping only when there was a car approaching, and within about ten minutes, Y/N led him up the stoop of a brownstone. She easily unlocked the door and led Steve inside. All the lights were out, save for a single lamp, and the entire house was quiet.

“So this is my house,” she said in a sing-song voice. It was small compared to the spacious house Steve lived in, but it was still beautiful. And it felt like home. There were school portraits and family vacation photos strewn all over the walls. It could’ve been a set for a sitcom, it looked that perfect.

“Well this is cute,” Steve said, pointing to a photo of Y/N in her elementary school years. Y/N peered over and winced at the awkward childhood photo.

“Oh god, that’s the worst one,” she said, covering her face with her hands. “I blame my mother for letting me out of the house like that.”

Steve chuckled, “Are you kidding? That girl would’ve been my third grade crush.”

She scoffed, “Maybe if you liked chapter books and jigsaw puzzles. I was pretty introverted.”

“And I always liked shy girls.”

She blushed and looked at him for a moment too long, wondering if he could read her mind. He didn’t disappoint when he took a step closer and gave her a sweet, affectionate kiss on the lips. She looked up at him, a smile extending up to her eyes, and wanted to remember this moment.

“C’mon, let’s get you out of these wet clothes,” Steve offered.

Y/N raised an eyebrow, “Steve Harrington, you big flirt.”

Steve blushed, “I genuinely did not mean for that to sound so sleazy.”

She simply shook her head and smiled at him, before she led him up the stairs. Her room was on the third level, so they made their way up two flights and walked past several closed doors. When they reached Y/N’s room, Steve couldn’t help but smile. Her room was exactly what he would’ve expected. There was a shelf full of books and a turntable with a crate of records under it. She had a movie poster of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off taped to the wall overlooking a small desk covered with writing utensils and pictures of her with her friends. But what caught his eye was a familiar looking Members Only jacket slung around the back of the chair.

“You still have this?” Steve said, pulling at the sleeve of the jacket.

Y/N turned around towards him and a faint blush crept up her freckled cheeks.

“Oh, well yeah. I thought you might want it back someday.”

“Not deserving of a hanger?” he picked the jacket up

“Um, sometimes it stays in the closet.” Steve read the guilty expression on her face and followed his instinct. He brought the familiar fabric to his face and gently inhaled.

“It smells like you,” he smiled.

“It gets cold here,” she shrugged. He looked at her in amazement and she couldn’t maintain his eye contact. “Are you enjoying this? Because it’s mortifying for me.”

“I am actually,” he smiled. “But it could be worse.”

“Oh really?” she challenged.

He merely shrugged, “You could keep a Care Bear in your closet because it reminds you of a pretty girl.”

Her jaw dropped into a smile of disbelief. “Are you serious?” He didn’t say anything, but instead gave her a tight lipped smile and an eyebrow raise as if to say “guilty.”

“Did you bring him with you this weekend?”

“Hell no. Wish Bear is not emotionally prepared to be reintroduced to the woman who abandoned him in the backseat of a car.”

Y/N couldn’t keep in her laugh. “Tell him I’m terribly sorry that I was distracted trying to find him a new daddy.”

Steve’s eyebrows rose as a grin spread across his face. “What was that?” he challenged.

She immediately put her head in her hands, “That…that came out wrong.”

“There are so many things I could say right now…”

“And on that note, I’m going to take a shower.” Steve said nothing as she rushed out of the room, cheeks burning red. She popped her head back into the room to say, “Oh, make yourself comfortable. I’ll be quick.”

“Take your time, sweetheart.”

Y/N showered quickly, letting the warm water melt off the embarrassment from the situation she just escaped. Steve was here, in her childhood home, in her room. She had no idea where the night was going, but she wanted to savor it. Enjoy every minute with him while she could, because she didn’t know what tomorrow would bring.

She emerged from the bathroom in nothing but a towel and took a deep breath as she stepped back into her room. Steve was looking through her crate of records and turned towards her as the door opened. Upon seeing her in just a towel he turned his back toward her, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable.

“Sorry,” he instinctively apologized, “I won’t look.”

“Oh, it’s fine. The shower’s all yours anyway. I put some clean towels out in the bathroom for you.”

“Thanks,” he walked past her and inadvertently brushed her bare shoulder, sending a small shiver down her spine. He was grateful for the escape because the sight of her in nothing but a towel was too much for him to handle.

Once she heard the water running, she changed into a pair of sweatpants and a Northwestern T-shirt and pulled her wet hair up with a scrunchie. Then she raided her brother’s room, in search of a pair of gym shorts and a T-shirt that Steve could wear. She folded the borrowed clothes on her bed and curled up with a book, attempting to distract herself from the boy in her bathroom, which proved to be difficult.

She was overthinking things, as per usual. She tried to convince herself that she was okay with having a one night stand with Steve, but she wasn’t sure that’s how she actually felt. She wanted more with him. The connection and chemistry was there, but the path forward was unclear.

Steve interrupted her internal monologue when he emerged from the bathroom. And Y/N made the mistake of turning to look at him. He was glistening from the shower with his wet hair disheveled, yet somehow framing his face perfectly. There was a towel wrapped around his waist but Y/N’s attention was drawn to his firm pecs, covered by the slightest amount of chest hair that matched the happy trail that ran from his navel down to the edge of the towel. She wanted nothing more than to feel his body pressed on top of hers. Luckily, she was completely frozen by his bare form because her instinct was to take his hand and pull him towards her.

“Good water pressure,” he smiled at her, breaking her trance.

“Oh yeah. It’s one of the things I miss most when I’m at school.”

“I’d be happy if I could get a third of that in my apartment.”

She contemplated her response, running different replies over in her head, but ultimately all she gave him was a smile. It’s not that things were awkward, but there was tension in the air and she was trying to tread lightly.

“So there’s fresh clothes at the end of the bed for you. Hopefully they fit, they’re my brothers and you’re probably close to the same size.”

“Thank you, I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

“And there’s extra toothbrushes in the drawer to the right of the sink.”

“You are truly a gracious host,” he smiled, collecting the clothes and retreating into the bathroom. He came out a few minutes later and she took his place in the bathroom, washing her face and brushing her teeth. Steve took a careful seat at the edge of the bed and waited, realizing this perfect night was coming to an end. He noticed she’d tensed up a bit recently, and he hoped it wasn’t because he was making her uncomfortable. He ultimately decided to follow her lead because he didn’t want to risk crossing a line.

When she walked back into the room, Steve finally took in her appearance. She was in sweats and a T-shirt, hair pulled into a messy bun, with no makeup on, and he was floored by her natural beauty.

She caught his eye and said, “What is it?”

He smiled at her and shook his head, “Nothing, I just like looking at you.” She blushed and joined him on the bed, leaning against the pillows and pulling her knees into her chest.

“So…what now?” he asked her. She peered at the clock on her bedside table and realized it was nearing 2AM.

“I think now we just go to bed.”

“Bed it is,” he said. He nodded and stood up, wondering how he should end this night with her.

“What are you doing?” she questioned.

“Oh I just figured I’d go sleep on the couch or the floor or something.”

“Steve…don’t be stupid.” They eyed each other for a few seconds before she signaled for him to approach, saying “Come on.”

“Are you sure?” he confirmed.

“Of course I’m sure.”

He certainly wasn’t going to argue with that. She pulled the comforter down and slid underneath and he easily followed her lead. Once they were settled, she stretched out toward the side table and turned off the lamp.

It was awkward for a beat. The double bed fit two, but in close proximity. They were both looking up toward the ceiling and Steve heard Y/N pull in a deep breath. She eventually shifted so that she was laying on her side facing him. He easily turned his head towards her and his hair fell over his eyes. Without thinking, she brushed the hair off his face. A verbal thank you wasn’t needed; it was communicated by the look in his eyes.

“I should warn you that I’m a bit of a restless sleeper,” she spoke.

“Not a problem for me. I sleep like a log.”

“The real question is do you snore?”

A smile spread up his face, “Now how do you expect me to answer that?”

“With a yes or no.”

“How am I supposed to know if I snore if I’m asleep when it happens?”

“Has anyone told you that you snore?”

“No, but I don’t think there’s many people that would know if I did.”

“I don’t believe that for one second.”

“Why not?”

“Because…look at you. You can’t honestly expect me to believe you haven’t had hookups before.”

“I’ve had hookups before, just…not a lot of sleepovers.”

“And why’s that?”

He studied her face as he came up with an answer. “I don’t know. I think I didn’t want to give anyone the wrong idea. It seemed like if I spent the night, there was maybe hope that something more would happen. But I never met anyone I wanted more with.”

“Yet, you’re sleeping over tonight…”

“Well this is a completely different situations because I’m from out of town and-”

“That is not the answer I was looking for,” she interrupted his rambling. Now he shifted so that he was laying on his side, fully facing her.

“Oh no, you don’t want me to get all sappy.”

“Oh I absolutely do. Girls love it when guys show their vulnerable side.”

“Really? I’ll have to remember that,” he joked. She playfully hit his chest in response. And they laughed for a moment before he gave her a genuine response.

“Y/N, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’m crazy about you. Always have been. You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, I was drawn to you the moment I first saw you, before I even knew who you were. And then I talked to you which made me realize you were someone I needed to have in my life. So to sum all that up, I’m here and sleeping over because you are someone special.”

Her cheeks naturally flushed as she smiled at him, and she turned more into her pillow in an attempt to hide her amusement.

“Come on now, don’t hide that smile from me.” He carefully slid his fingers between her cheek and the soft pillow, angling her so that she was facing him fully. She took this opportunity to lean in closer to him.

“Do you really mean that?” she whispered. She wasn’t sure why she was looking for confirmation. In her brain, this all seemed too good to be true.

“Without a doubt.” He held her eye contact and she believed him whole-heartedly. She moved in closer, at a painfully slow pace, and then her lips finally connected with his. They melted into each other, as Steve easily wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her as close to him as possible.

With every second that passed, Steve found himself growing more courageous. First he slid his hand under the hem of her shirt and placed it on the dip of her waist, drawing little circles on her warm skin with his fingertips. When she tugged on his shirt to pull him closer, he gained another boost of confidence. He pulled back for a brief moment, but before she could protest, he peppered kisses up her jaw and gave her earlobe a gentle tug with his incisors. She let out a heated breath and he smiled, planting a kiss behind her ear and working down her neck.

With each new spot Steve explored, he lit a spark under Y/N’s skin. It was like he was thoughtfully stringing Christmas lights but the final result was that Y/N was getting very, very turned on. Steve paused for a breath when he reached the collar of her T-shirt.

“Can I take this off?” he boldly asked. She was flushed but didn’t have to think twice about answering. She sat up and Steve gently pulled the shirt up and over her head, careful to ensure it didn’t get caught anywhere. As she lounged on the bed in a simple bralette, it suddenly didn’t seem fair that Steve was still fully clothed.

“Your turn.” Steve cocked an eyebrow at her suggestion, but easily gave in, reaching behind his neck to pull the shirt over his head. She couldn’t help but notice the flex in his bicep as he shed his tee and felt her attraction increase even more. His hair was perfectly messy, falling over his chocolate brown eyes that were currently fixated on her lips.

She needed to feel his touch again. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him on top of her. He was careful not to put his full body weight on her, but she wanted the skin-on skin contact. He found a comfortable position where one of his legs rested on the mattress between hers. As he closed the gap between them, he could feel the anticipation emanating off her. The minute his lips met hers, she tightened her grip around him, wanting to feel all of him. He allowed himself to drop some of the weight he was holding up, which increased the contact between them. She loved the feeling of his bare chest on top of hers and she ran her fingers through his hair, forcing a small moan out of his mouth. As her arousal increased, she became bolder. She untangled her fingers from his hair and tucked her arms under his, giving her access to his back. He was currently tracing small circles on her side with his fingertips, barely tickling her and making her giddy. She countered his motion, taking it a step further by digging her nails into his trapezius and slowly pulling down. She felt Steve’s breath catch momentarily as she caught him off guard, but he recovered quickly, deepening the kiss. He pulled away, rubbing his nose with hers in an eskimo kiss, before focusing his attention on the spot where her neck met her shoulder. He leaned in close, his lips gently caressing her soft skin before he slowly sunk his teeth into her flesh. She let out a small gasp but held Steve’s head in place so that he wouldn’t pull away. Her entire body was tingling and she could feel her underwear dampening with every second and Steve’s current actions were only making things worse. As he shifted to come back up to her mouth, he adjusted his position and in doing so, his leg slid up and his thigh brushed between her legs. When he found her lips again, the friction between her legs continued as Steve’s thigh retained its position. And then she felt his erection pressing into her hip bone and she pulled away.

She leaned her head back and shut her eyes, “Fuck…”

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Steve looked at her, concern plastered on his face.

She sighed as she looked at him, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. We can stop if you want.”

She rested a hand on his cheek, “Steve, I want this so badly and I thought I could be this cool, laid back girl who can have a one night stand but I just keep thinking about what happens tomorrow morning. I can’t give myself to you tonight because it will crush me when you leave.”

He turned into her hand and kissed her palm. He contemplated sharing the bit of information he’d been waiting to bring up all night, but he decided to wait. He didn’t want it to come across like he was trying to persuade her to change her mind.

“You are very wise, my dear,” he smiled at her. “I already can’t stop thinking about you and I haven’t even seen you naked yet.”

She blushed and let out a small laugh, and he couldn’t resist kissing her again. He leaned in first with a peck and then gave her a soft, deeper kiss.

“Will you still cuddle with me tonight?” she asked him, giving him her best puppy dog eyes.

“Only if I can be little spoon,” he teased.

“Nooooo….” she whined. He kissed her on the cheek and then fell back onto the mattress, pulling her tight into his chest.

“Settle in cuddle bug,” he said, kissing the nape of her neck. She made herself comfortable in the bed and intertwined her hand in his. She let out a deep sigh and melted into his arms.

“Goodnight Steve,” she said.

“Goodnight Y/N.”

The morning sunlight crept through the blinds, waking Steve from his peaceful sleep. He smiled when he found Y/N curled into him, her cheek pressed against his chest and her arm draped around his torso. A part of him thought it all might’ve been a dream, a trick his mind was playing on him after years of longing. Yet the evidence was right in front of him: the smell of her grapefruit shampoo, the sound of her steady breathing, and the feel of her warm, soft skin. He didn’t dare move a muscle for fear of waking the sleeping angel in his arms.

He eyed the digital clock on her nightstand and saw it was around 7:30. He’d gotten less than five hours of sleep, yet he’d never felt more refreshed. He never wanted this moment to end, so he savored it by tightening his grip on Y/N and lightly tracing patterns on her back with his fingertips. She shifted slightly and let out a slight groan, a sign that she was waking up. Her eyes fluttered open and she squinted up at him.

“Good morning,” he smiled down at her.

“Hi,” she squeaked, “You’re still here.”

Steve looked down at her in shock, “Are you crazy? Of course I’m still here. Where else would I be?”

She shrugged sleepily and he kissed her forehead, tightening his grip on her and pulling her in closer.

She let out a deep sigh, “I think I’m still in denial about…all of this.”

He nodded, “I had the same thought when I woke up.”

“Do you like coffee?” she asked, out of the blue.

“I love coffee.”

“How about I go make us some coffee,” she suggested, sitting up to stretch.

He nodded in agreement, “Do you want company?”

“Yeah, sure,” she smiled at him. As they climbed out of bed, Y/N took his hand and led him down the stairs. She expertly maneuvered the coffee pot while Steve took a seat at the kitchen island.

“Sorry, I’m not a morning person,” she explained.

“How’d you sleep?” he asked her.

She turned toward him and replied, “Surprisingly well.”

“Surprisingly?”

“I wasn’t sure how I was going to sleep with someone else in my bed.”

He tilted his head and looked at her funny, “Then why did you let me sleep there?”

“Because I wanted you there,” she said sincerely.

“Well I’m glad I didn’t keep you up.”

“I mean, you did a little bit,” she gave him a knowing smile, “but I didn’t mind.”

As the coffee finished brewing, Y/N poured them two cups and brought over some cream and sugar. She sat down next to him and took a deep sip of her coffee, needing a little extra courage for this next part.

“So…what’s your plan for today?” she offered.

“Um, well I’ve gotta get back to Robin’s at some point. All my stuff’s there and Eddie parked his van there and he’s my ride home.”

“Are you heading back to Indiana today?”

“Yeah, at some point.

She nodded, thinking through her words and how to breach the subject on her mind.

“So-” she started

“I should tell you something,” he said at the same time, not meaning to cut her off. He sounded serious and she felt her heart sink into her stomach, realizing this was all coming to an end.

“Go on,” she replied, eyeing him with curiosity. She almost didn’t want to hear what he had to say. This was probably why Robin seemed to keep them apart.

“Well I’m graduating in a few months, so I’m in the fun process of looking for a job. And I actually have an interview in a few weeks for a teaching job in Oak Park.”

Her eyes widened and she clarified, “Oak Park, Illinois?”

He nodded, trying to read her expression.

“So you’ll be back in a few weeks?” she smiled at him.

Steve tilted his head, not sure that she fully grasped what he was saying.

“If all goes well, I’ll be moving out here in the summer.”

Her face turned from contentment to pure joy as things finally seemed to be coming together. She had no words to express her feelings, so instead she reached out and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. He embraced her around the waist and hugged her back, planting a kiss on her cheek.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?” she asked, as she moved back to her seat.

He sighed, “I was trying to find the right moment. Early in the night, I didn’t really know what was going to happen and didn’t want to be presumptuous. And then you kind of pumped the brakes last night and I felt like mentioning it then would’ve seemed like I was just trying to get in your pants.”

She looked at him with soft eyes, realizing how truly considerate he was, “You are unbelievable.”

“Is that a good thing?” he asked, eyebrows raised. She responded by placing both hands on his jaw and pulling him towards her so that she could express her emotions with her touch. She captured his lips in hers, kissing him gently but with passion.

When she pulled away, Steve gazed into her loving eyes, “Can I take you out to dinner?”

She smiled and said, “Steve, it's 8AM.”

He rolled his eyes, “Not now. When I’m back in a few weeks.”

“Where are you gonna take me?”

“I hear this city has some pretty good hot dogs,” he joked. She laughed and leaned into him. “I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

She stood up unexpectedly and walked across the kitchen, grabbed something from a drawer, and walked back over to Steve. She took his left hand and pulled it towards her. She uncapped the pen in her hand and carefully wrote a series of ten digits on Steve’s forearm.

“Had to make sure you wouldn’t lose it,” she smiled at him.

“You’ll regret giving this to me. I’m gonna call you three times a day.”

“It’s a good thing I like the sound of your voice,” she complimented. He placed his hands on her hips and brought her closer. She countered by placing her hands on his shoulders. She looked at him adoringly, wanting to run her fingers through his tousled hair.

“What are you thinking about?” he posed.

She let out a sigh, “It feels like this might be the start of something special.” He leaned up from his sitting position to find her lips and she graciously accepted his advances. As they slowly pulled away, she added, “I really hope you get the job.”

“Even if I don’t get this one, I can find another job in Chicago. But I really hope I get this one.”

“Tell me about the job!” she mused. He returned to her chair and slid closer to him, sipping on her coffee and he gave her the details of the opportunity. It was the first time she saw the passion he had for his career and it was incredibly attractive. He was so excited to teach in a public school in an urban environment and he wanted to help mold these young people who may not have been given a lot of opportunities. He explained that he knew he grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth and he wanted to give some of that back to others. He explained that it probably wouldn’t pay much but he’d have the summers off which would be nice. Y/N still had another year of undergrad followed by two years of grad school, which meant they’d have a lot of time to spend together during their breaks.

“You’re gonna get it,” she smiled at him.

“You think?”

“If you repeat that same spiel to them, they’ll hire you in a heartbeat. You have this twinkle in your eye which shows that you’re excited about the opportunity and you care about your future students.”

“Is that the therapist speaking or my future girlfriend?”

“Well aren’t you sure of yourself? You haven’t even taken me out on a date yet.”

“Oh I’m going to nail the date. In fact, I’d go as far to say that you just might fall in love with me by the end of it.”

She blushed and tried to hide her smile. All she could think was that she couldn’t fall for him on their first date because she was already in love.

#steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington #steve harrington fanfiction #steve harrington x you

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pixelmensupremacy · 1 year

Note

If you feel like it, can I request female reader with Nines ( maybe with Connor too ) where Reader hadls to get all dressed up for a mission (long black dress ) to infiltrate some red sand / android dealer . Basically the boys are both impressed and slightly jealous when they see their girl in action .

A/N: It’s embarrassing how little I cloud write about a drug dealer, despite having binge watched documentaries the entirety of the past summer.

Summary: The request

Word count: 0.7k

Warnings: The rk bois post deviancy, not proof read, fem!reader

Distant clicking sound of heels caught his attention. Walking into the department was (Y/N); there was a sudden change in the atmosphere, caused by her presence. The mundane sinfonietta that was the constant tapping at keyboards and rustling of paperwork seemed to quiesce once she fell under the field of vision of dozen curious eyes. She welcomed the attention, pursuing the object of her desire, which happened to be in Connor’s direction.

Just barely he caught on the quiet whispering of his colleagues, though he couldn’t pay them much attention, for he had focused it on a far more important manner- (Y/N). An inexplicable discomfort formed in his throat at the sight of her. Raven velvet hugged her form, putting on display every curve of her body; a risqué opening divided the elegant fabric of the dress, omitting a discreet trace of her glowing skin. Deep crimson set her lips ablaze just barely anchoring Connor’s attention away from the deep, v shaped cleavage that was slightly deviating from the elegant, modest aura of the dress. The flames atop her lips danced, composing an incoherent melody Connor couldn’t piece together.

“Earth to Connor.” She snapped her fingers at his, forcing him back to reality. Just then, raising his head from the reports, he busied himself with, he noticed what was going on. The icy blue of his irises diminished at the sight of her.

“Yes. I apologize, I must have malfunctioned for a moment.” Connor rushed put the words so fast (Y/N) barely heard them. She giggled at his bashfulness.

“What is the status of the subject?” She planted her arms on Connor’s desk, accidentally emphasizing her cleavage, her (E/C) met Nines’ greyish ones. He clenched his jaw.

“He is expected to arrive in approximately 15 minutes.” He spoke in calm manner, avoiding meeting her eyes.

“Then what are we waiting for?”

From a safe distance, the two androids watched, ready to take action if necessary. (Y/N) appeared to do well in disguise, despite having doubts at first when she was first assigned to practically seduce one of the most dangerous men in Detroit. She laughed and even initiated physical contact with the man responsible for the ruination of multiple lives. Though what stood out to the androids was that this interaction was reciprocated. The man smirked and even went as far as resting his hand atop her exposed thigh, which she welcomed.

Despite the settled silence in the car, loud thoughts occupied the CPUs of the two detectives. Worry had settled within them. Even though they were aware of (Y/N) abilities and they didn’t have any doubts in her whatsoever, they couldn’t help, but feel uncomfortable at the situation. A criminal not only being in her presence, but going as far as flirting with her. That was what they, despite their differences, could agree upon- this whole situation was outrageous.

Much to (Y/N)’s delight, everything went according to plan; though her smile vanished once she took a glance at her android partners.

“I extracted the needed information; the drugs are being stored at a nearby book printing supplier.” The boys didn’t share her excitement, especially Nines. There was something wrong.

On the ride back to the department, (Y/N) tried to chat with them, but to no avail.

“I expected you two to be glad with what I managed to get from him. He wasn’t really the talkative type.”

“We took a notice of that.” Connor noted, a bitter expression washed over his features. “Although, you did a remarked job.” He complimented, but it was somehow distant. Aloof; as if he was drifting away into his own world. Nines was no better; keeping silent, not uttering even a single word.

“We were simply...” Connor paused, searching for the right word to describe what he and Nines felt. “We were concerned about your wellbeing.” He spoke, sparing his successor the need to explain himself.

For a moment, (Y/N) pondered upon his words until it hit her.

“Are you two jealous?” The both of them seemed to freeze in place, their mutual silence gave her all the answers she sought. A smug grin curled the corners of her lips as she stared out of the car window.

#requests #dbh fanfic #dbh x reader #rk800 x reader #rk900 imagine #rk900 x reader #connor x reader #connor x you #nines x reader

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rhapsodiq · 2 months

Text

* ◟ : 〔 PARK HYUNG-SIK , NON BINARY + HE/THEM 〕 SIWOO KIM , some say you’re a THIRTY-FIVE YEAR OLD lost soul among the neon lights. known for being both OPTIMISTIC and GULLIBLE, one can’t help but think of FOSSA by DAUGHTER when you walk by. are you still a REPLICANT / COMPUTER SCIENTIST at STONEAGE INDUSTRIES , even with your reputation as THE FOOL ? i think we’ll be seeing more of you and LATE NIGHTS SPEND AT THE LAB, FINGERS TAPPING AWAY AT THE KEYBOARD, HEADACHE STRAINING BEHIND THE TEMPLES; UNEXPLAINABLE GAPS IN THE MEMORY, ANYTHING THAT POINTS AT THE TRUTH BEING DISCARDED AWAY; MEMORIES OF SHARING EVERYTHING, YET FEELING SAFER THAN EVER, although we can’t help but think of SAM ( SUPERNATURAL ) , ALPHONSE 'AL' ELRIC ( FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST ) , ALICE ( DETROIT BECOME HUMAN ) whenever we see you down these rainy streets.

BIOGRAPHY

general tws: violence, death mention, murder, child neglect, voluntary human / replicant testing

THE FOOL: represents beginnings, leap of faith, spontaneity, innocence

the wastelands are his home, the barren land, the nothingness. they live off of scraps and the overwhelming heat seeps into their bones. despite it all, as the youngest, he is the lucky one, naively unaware that he gets the bigger portions, the nicer books they find here and there. gets to sleep safe and sound when many like him fear if they will make it through the day.

he grows accustomed to the comfort; grows gentle and hopeful in the face of the horrid reality they live in. the broken machines his father brings home from work are his toys, and the younger boy grows around bits and pieces of broken technology, an empty battery there, a radio that only lets out static here, he learns how they work and how to make them work. despite the heat, the hunger, and the danger looming on the horizon, the wastelands become his home.

he's almost twelve when they lose their parents. at one point he cannot believe he thought it used to be difficult before. he's still lucky, he reminds himself, he's not alone, and with his brother next to him, siwoo feels nothing but safe, regardless of the peril that looms outside their car, regardless of the sounds he has to shield his ears from at the middle of the night. they take shifts, he learns how to shoot before he learns how to ride a bike — but it's fine, he's fine, he will be fine. as he looks into his brother's eyes and feels the warmth, he is convinced they aren't alone, they'll never be alone, as long as they have each other.

siwoo doesn't know how much time they spend in that purgatory. there is no difference between day and night, today and tomorrow. all of his thoughts morph into something akin to pure survival, they need to watch their backs, scavenge for food — survive, just survive, be better than the rest so that they can just exist. it wears down on siwoo's soul quick, quicker than it would have if he were a better man, he's sure.

when the offer comes from stoneage, it is almost too good to be true ( foolish boy, it certainly is ). — but siwoo, ever the optimist, is convinced it's the turn in their life they were looking for. future is coming, it's here, it's bionic, and the fact that they are asking siwoo, the odd boy from the wastelands to be a part of it, is a once in a lifetime chance he simply cannot turn down. he jumps for the opportunity, yet the only thing that makes him falter is that daniel's not coming. he convinces himself that it's the right thing to do, that finally, with this, he will go into the city, become his own person, and finally be strong enough to protect daniel instead after all these years. it will be fine, it will, it has to be.

THE FOOL REVERSED: represents chaos, lack of direction, poor judgement, folly, naivety

it turns out just fine. ň̵̵̴̡̛̙̟̰͍̭̜̮̼̯̘̖̬̺̹̱̄̀̀̀ͤ͌ͬͬͩ̚͘͜o̷̵̡͙̦̥̥̙̣̙̠͕̦̹̖̯̬̹̫̳ͭ͛ͧ͌ͯ̇͂̊̎ͣ͐̂͘ͅt̶̢̢̢̼̘̩͇̞̼̙̎͌ͧ͐ͦ̊̂͜ḥ̴̺̤̲̒́́ͪ̐͌͜͞i̗̅ͬ́͒͊͑ͥ̃͊́͠͞ņ̺̲̟̼̪̻̼̯̼̦̀ͩͦ͋ͦ͂ͬ̈́ͬ̌̀͑̾̈̚͘͟͡͡g̸̸̢̪͙̖̟̟͚͇̤͙͖̗̰͙͓̣͍̮̐́ͥͯ̇ͣͪ͗ͣ̄ͤ̚̚͟͞͡͠ iͤ͛ͪ͝ͅs̷͎͎̞̰̞̠̠̣̫͓ͧ̑ͭ͐̾͆ͬ̏ͫͦ̉̄͋͛̑ͯ̾̚̕͜͝ w̸̷̧̻̫͙͉̬̳̻̟ͯͯ̔̃͛̒̏̍̏̌̉͒͋ͮ̀͗́̅͗̋́͑̂ͣͬͩ̚͘͡ŗ̸̵̸̯̬̻̖̠͈͍͇͈̩̼͚̪̖͔̩͚͇̻͔̲ͨͪ͆ͮ̂ͫ̀ͫ̌ͤ́̆͑ͥ͐̈ͭ̑̋͘̚͟on̷̢̰͓̠̦͔̣̣͛̏̓ͦͣ̌̓͊̀͐̆g̴̙̹̮̤ͬ̂̀̊̇ͧ̇̿͡͝͠

years later, siwoo, the odd boy from the wastelands, makes his name as a computer scientist for the stoneage industries. he's well off now, with a little condo of his own and a reasonable amount of savings — it's everything he dreamed of and more. [ is it? are you not missing something foolish child? at nights when he cannot sleep, he dreams of a pair of eyes filled with warmth, and a promise he failed to keep. he needs to find him, he will, he has to, he misses him like a part of himself is missing. then that thought is replaced by a dream filled with static, amidst type of a pitch-black darkness he has never seen before— ]

at the industries, pinnacle of technology, where they write the future together, he's good at what he does, and he loves it. he has his hands on technology he never could have dreamed of back at the wastelands. as part of the initial offer, he was one of the first people on the project, and years down the line, when their hard work is coming finally into fruition, siwoo feels part of it more than ever. this is his home now, the city, with its ups and downs, he plants his flowers in the soil with careful hands and treats them with gentle care. it's home — he has made it so.

[ a divine entity cackles at that, a nasty, unseemly sound. you should have been careful about what you wish for, you foolish child. with a gap in your memories you deliberately try not to fill, you'll never be human again. in place of your veins, there's wires, in place of your heart, there's an artifice, it's fake, all of it's fake — i wonder when you'll realize you're further away from the truth than you've ever been. you've flown too close to the sun, you tried to bite the hand that feeds you- and at this rate, you'll never know what you've become ]

CONNECTION IDEAS:

people he knows from the wastelands: it has been a long time since he was there, but it would be very interesting if they knew eo when they were a kid etc.

The Mentor: the person who recruited him when he was in the wastelands, saw his potential with technology, and most of all, his desperation to have a better life!! the dynamics are up to interpretation but! i am hcing at this point that someone from the stoneage industries is the reason why he got murdered (which he Does not know, there is a gap in his memory and he still thinks he's human). after seeing something he shouldn't have (he was either going to leave the company or they think he might have whistleblown) he was put into his replicant body, his memories were already part of stoneage database since he was voluntarily testing for them for so long. — so the mentor would either have a hand in all of this, or at least know about it!

science friends: siwoo, is, through and through, a nerd. he has a plethora of science facts at his disposal, and he loves tinkering and learning more about technology. anyone to share that passion w would be very fun

cybernetics: while siwoo's official position has to do with coding, he is also a very good mechanic. as such, if your muse's path ever crossed that part of stoneage, siwoo could have been the person to help

coworkers: other people from the stoneage industry he gets along with or doesn't? siwoo is pretty cheery and friendly, but it could also annoy your muse when they are trying to focus and siwoo is all chatty

friends, neighbors, antagonistic connections, etc etc!!: any & all, let's plot! i will put more info here when i have further specific ideas <3

#— c: siwoo kim.#— about: siwoo kim.#lawlessintro

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wild-aloof-rebel · 3 years

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today in AUs i’m never gonna actually write:

planes trains and automobiles au where david and patrick are both on a pre-christmas flight from new york to toronto that because of a blizzard gets redirected to, idk, detroit? indianapolis? chicago? and even though they’re both a little annoyed with each other—david because patrick manages to sweet talk a booking agent into finding him the last spot on a flight in the morning when david couldn’t get her to budge, patrick because david actually stole his taxi on the way to the airport in the first place—they decide to share one of the very few hotel rooms available for a very awkward night. they part ways again in the morning, only to end up on a train together after patrick’s new flight gets cancelled, and they reluctantly get to talking on the trip.

everything is cordial enough until the train breaks down and dumps them out at a station in the middle of nowhere. there’s a bus then, and eventually a rental car, more nights spent together in hotels as they inch closer to toronto and each other. the frustration of the trip wears on them both though, making them prone to occasional outbursts that hurt the other, but it opens them up too because who else is there to talk to when they’re stuck together on this neverending trip? david discovers that patrick is headed home to his parents’ house where he’s decided he’s going to propose to his girlfriend on christmas eve, though he doesn’t seem particularly excited about it. patrick learns that david’s supposed to be having christmas dinner with his family in a rural town a couple hours north of the city, and he doesn’t seem particularly excited about that either.

they argue over the radio stations they can find and the hotels david is willing to stay in, even though patrick is the one who gets stuck paying for both the car and the rooms because david has somehow lost his wallet. there’s almost certainly some kind of confusion at the border crossing where they nearly get arrested, and there’s definitely some kind of further money shenanigans where patrick ends up having to pawn rachel’s engagement ring to get them enough cash to make it home. the trip takes so long that christmas comes and goes while they’re still trying to get there, and the whole thing should be awful—and it is—but it also kind of... isn’t? because things are starting to click between them, and their conversations get longer and deeper, david talking about art and the most underrated romcoms and the places in manhattan that have always made him feel intensely lonely, patrick about hockey and his hidden talents and the overwhelming fear of disappointing the people he loves. and there’s a loaded moment then in a greasy roadside diner where patrick automatically thumbs a bit of ketchup from the corner of david’s mouth, where he almost does something completely reckless, where david almost says something completely honest. but nothing good can last, so when they get back on the road, they only make it a few more miles before their shitty rental gives up the ghost, and it’s just the last fucking thing that either of them can take, leaving them stranded on the side of the highway, angry and exhausted and broken.

when they finally manage to roll into toronto, it’s in icy silence in the cab of a kindly trucker. patrick calls his parents to come pick him up, and he dutifully offers to take david the rest of the way, thankful when david declines, insisting that his own family can make the drive to get him, and they finally say their stilted last goodbyes, both ready to be done with all of this. but as patrick’s leaving with marcy and clint, he sees david trying to barter with someone, offering up one of the silver rings he’s wearing in exchange for a ride, and realizes that there is no family coming to get him after all. patrick makes his parents stop, and he finally gets the truth out of david—he’s running away after discovering that his parents had been paying off the patrons at his art gallery, as well as most of his friends and dates, too, subsidizing the little bits of happiness he’d thought he’d managed to claim for himself, and in his embarrassment he’d decided to cut them out, to leave and start over in a town he apparently somehow owns, the only place he could think to run to, the only option he felt like he had left. he apologizes, sorry that he’d lied, sorry that he could have just given in and called his parents all along and gotten more than enough money to get him and patrick to toronto with far less trouble, but patrick cuts him off with a kiss, tells him that he doesn’t need to be sorry for being brave, for having been hurt by people he trusted, for wanting to find a path for himself. and he definitely doesn’t need to be sorry for the last few days because even though they’ve been a disaster, they’ve been some of the best of patrick’s entire life, and when david finally smiles, patrick kisses him again and asks him to come home with him for a belated christmas dinner because maybe schitt’s creek isn’t the only option he has after all

#it's thanksgiving in the movie but we're going christmas to avoid having to deal with the difference in timing between the u.s. and canada #and no it shouldn't take you like four days to drive from even chicago to toronto #but that's the whole thing in the movie too right?#setbacks and weather and whatnot #just go with it #rebel writes

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rk1kheadcanons · 4 years

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Connor and Markus are on vacation when they first meet

Connor's workaholic ass kept trying to weasel out of going on vacation up to the last moment until his dad, Hank Anderson, literally hugged him roughly in their shared beat up the car and then pushed him unceremoniously out the door at the airport, then sped off leaving him two options: Uber home or take the damned plane and go on vacation proper. Connor shook his head; the precinct could wait a week without him.

Carl had a limo come and get Markus and ferry him to the airport. Markus hated it. It showed he was a child of money and he was always so nervous about leaving his Dad's side. He never knew if it would be the last time. He had two choices: worry himself till he was prematurely gray and call the limo back it goes on this week vacation. Begrudgingly and guiltily, he enters the airport.

Connor's a nervous mess and it shows at the bag check out. He wishes the floor would swallow him whole. There are too many people. Then the lady is telling him he's in the wrong line, this is a first-class ticket and Connor is both mad and flattered that his father splurged this much for him. He nervously moves his bags out the way to the blessedly clear first-class line.

Well, that's not quite true. There is this beautiful man dressed in a brand of a suit he could never afford in a year's worth of income, in line, getting checked in.

Connor feels like an obvious bum behind this airport God, with his bronze skin and-oh! Two-toned eyes, one blue and the other green...and crap he's staring.

Connor mumbles a 'hello' in passing as the airport God continues to stare at afterward, probably thinks he's weird.

Check out isn't a problem.

Markus has been flying since he was one year old, and first-class, too. What he didn't expect to see was this adorable wallflower staring at him absolutely terrified and a hairsbreadth from being spooked by him. Oh my goodness, he was so adorable! Soft looking curls, large brown eyes framed in large framed glasses, pale mole, freckled skin that was actively blushing. Even his graphic tee, skinny jeans, and DG shoes we're just somehow him, Markus knew. Markus walked past with a greeting...and right into some rope off markers because he was so enamored with the other man. Too bad they aren't going to the same place, that could have been markus time to get to know him.

They are row mates and the flight is surprisingly pretty much just them.

Markus is not the most religious but prays to all entities for this happenstance.

Connor has problems breathing with the man being right there in his visual range. The dude is way out of his league, probably straight as a board, and Connor's gay heart can not deal. He fucking smells good from across the row from him. Bitch.

"Hi, I'm Markus. What is your name?"

Connor flinched like he was slapped and with the added confusion as his eyes landed on where the voice came from.

Markus would have laughed if he wasn't certain that the other would probably ride the rest of the flight in the bathroom just to live down the unwarranted embarrassment.

The man, Markus, is all smiles and beautiful eyes, and Connor is melting in confusion inside. This man is talking to him?

"I'm Connor. Are you talking to me, not a phone, or?"

Markus smile dims a little. So this Connor had self-esteem issues, felt a like person like him could not be talked to by a person like him.

"Yeah, I'm talking to you directly. There are no other beautiful people taking my attention like you are."

Connor blushed even harder and tried to will his heart to not fall out of his mouth. Here this absolutely fetching male was talking to him and he was ready to put his earbuds in for the duration of the trip like a normal person would when being flirted with.

Markus knew what he was doing.

Looking both ways down the aisle, he got up with his carry on and sat by Connor.

Connor freaked out for multiple reasons: what about assigned seating? This man was too hot, and Connor was very Gay.

Markus could see the panic attack welling up in Connor.

Markus started to talk to him about himself. He spoke of how this was a 'forced vacation'/from his Dad, a point Connor could relate to. He started to relax, take in the man's calming voice.

Connor found his voice and started talking back about his own experience. It was an enjoyable experience with a perfect stranger that just happened to look like Connor's future husband.

It never crossed their minds they were on a joint flight to Hawaii even when whey they finally disembarked hours later, it still didn't click.

Connor slept on his first day.

When he did wake, he enjoyed the scenery of the beach from his verandah. He thought about Markus and the fact that maybe he could have drawn the scene before him.

He decided to hit the beach. He'd bought some ridiculously small board booty shorts, painted his nails a lovely iridescent navy blue, and parked himself under a large canopy on his doggie pattern beach towel. He was pretty and he was going to pay that aspect up.

There was a 'thud' and slight groan as someone tripped and more or less stop, dropped, and fell under his canopy with him.

It had him scrambling up, fist ready to fight. He was no pushover no matter how he may look to others. He looked down and couldn't help but snort inelegantly. Markus lay frozen in place, borderline terrified Markus, eyes wide and shifting all over Connor's figure before landing on those tiny shorts.

Markus can't help but want to stay by Connor's side, and it looks like Connor is just as receptive to that, if his eyes glued on Markus muscles have any say in it.

Baring just the good looks and obvious attraction between them, the conversation is good as well. They find they have a lot in common as well.

They decide after a fun day at the beach to sort of unanimously to enjoy the trip as whatever this would evolve into. They now were certain they both resided in Detroit, Markus a curator for his father's works and some of his own as well.

Connor was an up and coming detective that partnered with his father, Lieutenant Thank Anderson. Markus knew of his dad from a large art heist that he'd busted when he was younger and had nothing but respect for the man. Likewise, Connor enjoyed Carl Manfred's artwork from the time he could understand art concepts.

Nightlife came and the pair went out and enjoyed the energy of the clubs. Connor would not have come if not for Markus, and Markus doubted that he would have either alone given his homebody nature. They both fed each other positively in that regard, sharing drinks and laughs and dancing late into the morning hours.

At some point, they had decided to call it a night in their tipsy way of handling, Markus arm around Connor's shoulder as giggled themselves, shuffling back to the hotel that they found they also shared.

Somewhere along the trip up to their respective rooms, Connor became very brave indeed, pulling Markus slightly flushed face to his and kiss him soundly. Markus looks at him with wide, expressive eyes, the vestiges of drunkenness slipping away for confirmation of what this can mean, what it will mean if he steps a foot into Connor's room with him.

Connor murmurs his assent to whatever the night will hold and Markus kisses Connor back with more passion this time around, finagling the room key from Connor's hand and fumbling to open it, too stubborn to fly stop peppering kisses on Connor and look at the lock mechanism to which Connor just can't contain his giggles. The four finally swings open and Connor is lifted up and onto the room, the door closing slowly behind them letting his giggles echo into the hall until the slip into pleased little groans by the time the door is completely shut.

A week goes by and two fathers await their son's return. Somehow Hank is pleased with this little turn of events. He wanted Connor to enjoy himself, to truly unwind. If 'unwind' meant to bring a boyfriend home, well, as long as he was safe, Hank was proud of his boy. He seemed to have a good eye when he saw the other slightly nervous young man named Markus holding his son's hand.

Carl was the same sort of supportive. He even was having a good day health-wise so he really got to get to know (pick on and tell embarrassing stories to) Connor. Markus rolled his eyes and sighed good-natured.

To think neither we're interested in going on their vacation for their own reasons. They may have gone their whole lives and never met.

Here's to all the perfect strangers in the world that could be soul mates waiting to happen.

#rk1k #rk1000 #conkus #dbh #connor x markus #ask #anonymous #human au #rk1kweek #my addition in prompt form #🌸ask post #hella long ficlet

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myhauntedsalem · 3 years

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Truckers Share True Ghost Stories from the Road

Truckers log thousands of hours behind the wheel and encounter everything from bad weather and treacherous conditions to careless drivers and fatal accidents. However, sometimes even truckers are shocked by what they see on the road.

The Guardian Angel

“In the late 80’s, Michigan had I-94 west of Detroit all torn up as they were completely replacing the roadbed.

I was going into Detroit about 2 a.m., driving in the construction zone, when I saw this heavy-set elderly lady in a rain coat standing behind her car in the construction zone waving her arms for me to stop. I had almost passed the elderly lady when I saw her and couldn’t stop. So I turned around at the next exit and circled back and pulled up behind the broken down car with my four-ways on.

Two heads popped up from behind the seats and a young guy came back to the truck. I told him to get everyone out of the car and I would take them to a gas station where they could get some help. He got his wife from the car and they got into my truck and shut the passenger door.

I looked at them and said, ‘Is that everybody? Where is the elderly lady?’ The couple looked puzzled and asked what I was talking about. So I told them the story of the elderly lady flagging me done and described her to the couple.

Immediately the woman burst into tears and said that she had heard that guardian angels look like deceased relatives. She went on to explain that her grandmother had passed away earlier that year and I had just described her grandmother to a ‘T.’

This story still gives me goose bumps thinking about it all these years later. I can’t wait to meet that elderly lady someday. I did something right that night, for once in my life.”

The Man on Jensen Road

“It was about 3 a.m., and I was west bound on Jensen Road in Fresno, CA, just before the residential area. I had slowed to about 40 mph when out of nowhere appeared this freakishly tall figure of a man in a black, buttoned up trench coat and a round, black sombrero standing on the white line of the two lane road. He must have been at least 6’7″ or 7’0 tall. My partner and I watched and he didn’t even flinch as the rig passed by. I swear, the side mirrors must have missed his head by only a couple of inches. My partner and I looked at each other with our eyes wide open and screamed ‘Did you see that?! What the fuck was that?’. I swear our skin crawled and we were both in a kind of shock. I couldn’t stop thinking about it for a couple days.”

Knock, Knock

“Last week, I had just left Gallup, NM and was driving west on I-40 near Holbrook, AZ when I heard a KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, two times, on the side of my sleeper. It was very loud and distinct…like ONE, TWO, THREE, and then it repeated once more shorty after that. I had the radio off and was alone in the rig. Honestly, I thought ‘KEEP DRIVING!’ was the best thing to do. When I got to Holbrook, I stopped for a break but was too freaked to get out and go look. The next day, I walked around the cab and was looking at the cat walk.

There is no way a human being could have been hiding back there, at 3 a.m., in 10 degree freezing winter weather, going 70 mph, without anyone noticing.

I LOGGED THIS ONE AS UNEXPLAINED!”

Ghost Rider

“I was driving to work around 3:30 in the morning on a back road in Mississippi near the Louisiana line. I was probably going about 35 or so, as it was raining and the road is a winding with no lines or anything. It’s dangerous enough in daylight under normal conditions. Anyway, I’m driving along and suddenly this jet black horse just flies out of the woods on a side trail. There was a rider decked out in a black cloak with a hood and everything. The horse must have been blasting at full speed, and the rider’s cloak was just whipping in the wind. They must’ve ran for 1/4 mile or so and then darted off down another side trail and disappeared into the darkness. A buddy was riding with me and I looked over at him, and he looked over at me, and we both said something along the lines of ‘Did you fucking see that?!’.”

A Child’s Cries

“I was driving at night when I heard an odd grinding noise, like I had run over something that got stuck. It was about 2 a.m., so I pulled into well-lit rest stop and woke up my buddy. I explained it to him, and as we got out of the car, we heard what sounded like a kid crying. There were no other cars at the rest stop, but we frequently heard stories about child trafficking and kidnapping, so we decided to check it out. We grabbed our flashlights and headed towards the noise, which was coming from the bathrooms.

As we get closer, we realized it was coming from the women’s bathroom. It was a low, dull sobbing. We prepared for the worst and walked in expecting to see a brutally beaten or raped 8 year old or something, but there was nobody inside.

The sound was still there, it was still clearly coming from the room, but the room was empty. We turned on the lights but still found nothing. We checked each stall, the trash can. Nothing. We even started looking for WHERE in the room it was coming from – nothing. We wondered, is it a hidden speaker? Are we on candid camera?

My buddy climbed up one of the stalls to get to the top window in the rest stop which was vented out and open. He closed it, and the noise stopped.

Completely. He opened it, and there was no more noise. We sat there for a few seconds, staring at each other. He shrugged. Then the window slammed shut again without him touching it.

We were out of that fucking bathroom in seconds. The noise started up about 10 seconds later, and we tore out of the parking lot. The grinding noise was still there. So this time I pulled over a few miles later at a Flying J Truck Stop, one that was well-lit and occupied. We checked and saw a red and silver piece of metal wedged underneath. We couldn’t remove it by hand as it was really wedged in there, so we kicked at the metal to bend it and figure we’d remove it when we got back.

A week later, I had my mechanic take it out when he was doing a service – it was part of a kid’s tricycle, the red area where somebody can stand. That was one of those moments for me. Totally crazy.

#Truckers Share True Ghost Stories from the Road #shared stories #paranormal #ghost and hauntings #ghost and spirits

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lotusthekat · 4 years

Text

Flashes

Fandom: Detroit: Become Human

Rating: T

Relationships: Familial Hank & Connor (please do not ship them)

Characters: Connor, Hank Anderson, Original Minor Characters

Summary: Flashes are what keep coming back to him. Flashes are what alarm him, take him away from reality - only for it to retribute with a deadly force.

Or, Connor suffers a car accident.

Word count: 2225

AO3 / Fanfiction

A/N: My first fic on this blog! This was an idea I had one night, without knowing it was Connor’s birthday on the 15th. I decided to torture him as a birthday present then, haha.

I did my own take on the car accident prompt, even though I don’t really know how to write car accidents, so I hope this is good enough. Enjoy!

WARNINGS - car accident, near death experience, fear of death, major character injury, implied past death, trauma, panic attack and swearing.

Connor only sees flashes. White, blinding blurs. Thirium blue, its metallic smell sickening. He hears and sees and speaks static. Nothing makes any sense, and the android is aware his eyes burn inside.

Until, in the next moment, his optical components are stabilized. He still sees mainly white but rebooting system messages give him a rather positive diagnosis: aside from a couple, non-severe injuries, Connor seems to be alright.

However, the android takes a while to acknowledge other presences in his surroundings. He recognizes an android technician using the computers, controlling the unliving machines that are looking after Connor’s body. Beside them, a human woman accompanies the procedure; soon enough, she turns around expectedly, maybe knowing Connor awakens through the screens.

It’s only then that the RK800 concludes he’s in an Android Repair Center, especially when he takes notice of their uniforms – different tones of gray and blue, though they no longer have the CyberLife brand, the company having been shut down a month or so after the first stage of the ongoing Android Revolution.

The woman approaches Connor with a sympathetic smile.

“Hello, Connor,” She says. “How are you feeling?”

(Feeling. Times truly have changed, for this question to be directed at him.)

The RK800 blinks several times before replying, still growing used to the bright room, and yet bothered by his lacking memory.

“I’m…” He doesn’t know what to answer, as there is only one question lingering in his processors: “What happened?”

Her smile falters a little. “You…” She looks down for a moment, as if to plan her words. “You suffered a car accident.”

Connor gapes at her. “I- I did?”

She sighs, not in annoyance but concern. “Your car crashed into a tree; although you had no deadly injuries, you fell onto hibernation mode due to your stress levels before we treated you.”

After this, the android says nothing. Flashes return to him. Cold, biting cold creeps in his thirium vases, causing him to tremble. Logic is far from his senses, as he knows he’s approaching the inevitable, the endless darkness.

Loud, deafening “ping” sounds are heard somewhere, and voices try reaching him, yet Connor can’t seem to find their sources. He sees the same blurs, hears the static again.

It’s cold, cold, cold.

He’s going to die.

He doesn’t want to die. He doesn’t want to go. He doesn’t—

… nor. Connor? Can you hear me? You’re safe.

A telepathic voice has reached him. It sounds to be the other android in the room. They begin to form again in his vision, a dark void.

Calm down. You are in the Android Repair Center. You’re not there anymore. You’re safe, they repeat. You’re going to be alright. You just need to listen to me. Can you do that?

Desperate, Connor nods, at this point crying helplessly.

You’re not going to die, Connor. You’re almost healed, and you will be ready to leave soon. I promise.

The RK800 struggles to breathe, to calm his loud, hammering pumps. Connor replays the words in his head several times, even repeating it out loud to himself until his thirium pressure returns to normal. The other android is still present, staying for him, and just that helps.

Finally, Connor is back in the room, both technicians relieved. The blaring pings are no more, and the android doesn’t feel cold anymore.

“You’re alright, Connor,” The woman says. “We will do one last check-up, and then you’ll be free to go, okay?”

He nods.

“As for the car, it was already taken for repairs,” She reveals. “We contacted Mr. Anderson and he’s waiting for you outside.”

Connor tenses up. Hank…

Oh, goodness. He crashed Hank’s car. He’s screwed.

“You’ll be okay,” The woman insists, in a lower volume; maybe noting he’s distressed again.

Connor silently lets the technicians finish their job. The android eventually accepts the furious scolding that’s coming for him.

It’s snowing outside, though it’s not so dangerous, which is why Connor agrees to this.

Hank is apprehensive to let him wander around in the snow, yet Connor reassures him it’ll be alright. The android offers himself to go to the market, after everything the former lieutenant has done for him. Connor might as well let the man rest for tonight and get the groceries by himself.

Given many humans have evacuated Detroit in a short amount of time, the available markets are farther from Hank’s neighborhood, so Connor takes the car. The groceries themselves are quick to get done, taking roughly forty minutes. The ride home is tranquil, not too many cars share the same snowy road tonight. Connor texts Hank that he’s on his way back, quickly getting a reply.

Hank: don’t text while driving

Connor: Mind you that I am, according to your own words, a “walking smartphone”.

Hank: scratch that, you’re a smartASS phone

Connor: A highly-advanced smartass phone, indeed. :-)

Hank ultimately replies with a middle finger emoji, bringing a smirk to Connor’s face.

The radio, one of Hank’s favorite stations, plays Joy Division in a satisfactory volume. Connor finds out he enjoys the sound and wanders in the night. There’s still half of the way left. He already anticipates Hank’s sassy remarks regarding the healthier food the RK800 has bought; he imagines Sumo jumping and trying to snatch the treats Connor buys for him, whilst Hank complains he spoils the dog too much.

He feels… warmth. A feeling he’s become familiarized with. The warmth of home.

Except it fades once Connor realizes how… foggy and dark is outside. The snow seems faster, stronger; going against what the weather updates have told him before he left home. Connor is careful and attentive, managing to drive at a soothing speed.

But the more time passes, the snow worsens. It’s not a blizzard yet it does little to calm him.

Somewhere, Connor is aware his stress levels are higher than recommended. His hands hold tight onto the wheel. Regardless, he doesn’t lose control of the car.

However, his enhanced attention fails when he needs the most.

Once the flashlights blind his view, the android barely realizes what’s happening. Rather than following his programming, he follows what is most likely his flight or fight response – which leads to complete failure.

He dodges the other vehicle but at the cost of Hank’s car drifting furiously along the snowy, wet asphalt. Connor screams as he’s unable to stop it, until the crashing glass and metal deafen his audio processors.

His hearing is static and painful, vision at first darkened by uncertainty. Connor slowly awakes, eyes stabbed by blaring warnings, even though they’re not numerous. The android looks at his side, multiple glass shards having attacked the right seat. His right side hurts for that matter, and he tastes thirium. He’s just barely touching whatever the car has crashed into. Either way, Connor can still move, and he chooses to get out of the ruined vehicle.

Which gets even worse, as he’s caught by the freezing wind outside. Connor gasps for air, until he realizes there’s next to nothing. He can’t go so far, his limbs hurting, burning, and so he falls onto the snow, having what’s remained from the car to support his body. Connor is long gone when it comes to his high stress levels, and he does try to call the emergencies. Problem is, he cannot speak.

“Help…” He begs, throat wracked by the cold. “P-Please, help me… I-I’m cold…”

There’s a voice trying to talk to him, but the snow is so loud that he can’t understand it. He’s distantly aware that tears are rolling down his face, only for them to freeze and bite his eyes and cheeks.

Connor doesn’t feel the car anymore. He detects nothing but the snow. No light. No life.

He’s trapped again. And he’s… he’s not getting out this time.

He won’t go back home.

He won’t see Hank and Sumo again. He won’t see Markus and Josh, and North and Simon again. He won’t feel the sunlight on his face, or the rain softly wetting his clothes.

Right now, he’s shot by the freezing snow.

He’s going to die.

“Please…” Connor whispers, growing numb at this point – and so desperately trying to stay awake. “Help…”

I need more time, he begs.

But another voice arrives with the harsh truth: one that sounds too much like Amanda.

It’s too late, Connor.

You failed.

The way to the waiting room feels endless.

Connor looks down, trying to come up with a rational explanation of what happened, failing in the end. He’s not willing to tell Hank. This might be the turning point for the man to decide not to live with him anymore – and that’s really alright. If anything, Connor will do everything to pay for what he did.

Finally, he arrives. The Center’s waiting room is less white and neutral – its shades of blue are vivid. Though it’s not what draws his attention in the slightest, as he realizes there’s only one person waiting there.

Hank sits uncomfortably on one of the chairs, restless. He’s grabbed the nearest clothes he could find, as Connor judges by his mismatched socks and shoes, his home sweatpants and his worn, thick jacket. Hank is hiding his face with one of his hands, practically leaning onto his arm for support. He doesn’t appear to detect Connor’s approach at first, so the android finally voices his presence.

“Hank?”

The older man raises his head only a little, enough to reveal red-rimmed, swollen eyes, contrasting his light blue. Knowing Hank, he must’ve been crying in silence the entire time, and once he lowers his hand, Connor’s suspicions are confirmed by obvious tear stains. Connor has never seen Hank in such a tragic state.

The RK800 stares back, guilt creeping in his chest.

“Hank… I—”

The moment the android opens his mouth, Hank jumps from his chair and tackles Connor in his arms. He’s mindful of any injuries he might have, but at the same time Hank engulfs him so he never leaves.

“Jesus Christ, Connor!” Hank curses wetly. He can’t see his face, but Connor feels the other’s tears wetting his neck.

Connor considers for a moment, yet he doesn’t resist for long. He crushes the older man in both relief and fear, fearing he might go back to the snow and pain if he doesn’t let go.

Hank’s heart rate is high, too high. He’s barely holding it together, his sobs silent and muffled by Connor’s shoulder. After what feels like forever, Hank manages to pull away, looking even more terrible.

“Fuck, Connor,” He says, a hand gently reaching Connor’s face. “Are you okay?”

The android nods. “My injuries weren’t so grave, and the remaining, less severe ones will be healed by my own healing system.”

Hank sighs in a confusing mixture of feelings, drying his own tears with one of his hands. “Good fucking God…”

Connor lowers his gaze, remorseful.

“I’m sorry for crashing your car, Hank,” He apologizes. “I couldn’t—”

“I don’t give a shit about the car, you fucking idiot!” Hank snaps and faces him again, firmly grabbing his shoulders. Even so, the man is far from angry; he looks like he’s about to have a complete breakdown. “I could’ve lost you! I can’t-!” His voice breaks, crying harder. “I can’t fucking take this again, Connor. I can’t.”

Again…

Connor freezes, feeling stupid for not acknowledging why Hank is so distressed. Not that the man has ever been pleased with Connor risking his life and even dying once. But it’s been months, everything has changed. Everything between them has changed, and Connor knows Hank much better than before.

Of course Hank would be devastated. A car accident, of all things, to take Connor away from him in a snowy night…

The android cries along with him. “I’m sor—”

“Shut up, Connor. I just—” Hank takes a deep breath and pulls him close again. “I’m just glad you’re alright, son.”

The same warmth returns with these words, specifically the last one, and Connor buries his face in Hank’s shoulder. “Me too. I was…” He fists Hank’s coat and whispers, “I was so scared, Hank.”

The older man squeezes him. “I know.”

Finally, Connor relaxes in his hold, so much that his legs no longer cooperate with his weight. Hank supports him either way, smoothing his brown curls. After another squeeze on his shoulders, he lets go of the android, though not allowing him to go anywhere out of his sight.

“Come on, let’s go home,” Hank tells him. “Sumo is worried sick about you. Dog’s probably got a ‘Connor In Danger’ radar at this point.”

Connor smiles sadly at the thought, yet he finds himself staring at Hank and how his smile doesn’t meet his eyes. Hank guides him outside and calls a taxi, his arm firm around Connor’s shoulders. The latter feels him calming down, despite the hesitance of letting Connor go.

The taxi arrives in a couple minutes and so Hank and Connor share the backseat. The way home is silent, though their beating organs are soothing and clear. Connor lies on the former lieutenant’s side, while the other smooths his brown hair over and over. Connor takes a deep breath and finds himself slipping into a peaceful slumber, warm and welcoming and loving.

(Thankfully, it wasn’t too late.)

#detroit become human #dbh #connor #dbh connor #hank anderson #whump #fanfiction #car accident tw #death mention tw

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tomhiddleston-is-mischief · 4 years

Note

So excited you asked for requests! I can't gush about your corner of the internet enough! I would love any combo of SPN/Hiddlestons (which includes the character crew) ... May I request the Winchester rolling up in Detroit to go after a reported vampire den, but when they burst in it's just our buddy Adam chilling with his guitars and popsicles? Please don't kill my baby Adam.

“Here We Are...”

Dean Winchester x reader, Adam (OLLA) x platonic!reader, Sam Winchester x platonic!reader, Eve (OLLA) x platonic!reader

Summary: After mistaking Y/N, Adam, and Eve to be bad vamps, Dean and Sam take you and Adam to kill the real murderer

Warnings: mild cursing, murder, sex is brought up, murder of a child, and fluffy ending

Word count: 1,547

A/N: FIRST OFF, you are awesome for requesting this. I enjoyed it very much! Hope you do too! Second and last, thank you so much for the kind words 💚💚💚

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BAM!

“The Hell..?”, I whisper, carefully getting out of my room. I tip-toe into the dark hall hearing the voices of strangers. “Get your ass up, vamp!”, I hear a rough voice say. “What the fu-“, I hear footsteps behind me. Turning around, I see a tall man with long ass hair. “Hunters..”, I gasp. “Yup.”, he grabs me, and takes me to the living room. I kick and punch, but he does not let go of me.

“Y/N, no!”, Adam yells as I am pushed into the room. Long hair McGee still has not let go of me. “Adam! Eve! What are they doing here! We didn’t even do anything!”, I growled towards the hunters at the last part. The blonde hottie gives me a weird look. “You said killing people isn’t anything?”, he asks, still pointing a gun at Adam. I glance at him and Eve, hoping nothing bad happens. They have taken me in, and have been extremely nice to me. They are like my surrogate parents and siblings in one. I look at the blonde again,”We don’t kill people. We trick a doctor into giving us blood. If you don’t believe us, then eat me.” “Y/N, language.”, Eve smirked. I rolled my eyes, then glance at the giant that was pressing a gun to my side. He let go a little bit. Does he believe me? Huh. That’s a first. “Sammy?”, Dean looked at him. “I- I think they are telling the truth. “Fuck yeah, we are telling the truth.”, Adam growls. Dean and Sam give him an annoyed look. “Then who in the Hell is suckin’ these people dry, and hanging them?”, the blonde rolled his eyes.

“Gabe.”

The two men look at me. “What?”, Sammy asks. “I-It’s Gabe.. Adam, why is he here?!”, tears well up in my eyes. I force them to stay put, not wanting to show these hunters my weak side. Gabe always kills like that. “I- I don’t know, darling.”, his British voice that usually calms me does not stop my insides from twisting with fear and pain. “Who is Gabe?”, the blonde asks me. I notice the two have put their guns down. “He- He turned me..”, I whisper,”He turned me after killing my mom and- and my little brother. He- he- he’s here. He’s in Detroit.” My voice raised when I speak of my family. “As long as I am here, nothing will get to you.”, Adam walks towards me and rests his hand on my shoulder. “Thank you..”, I look down.

Gabe’s stupid, sadistic grin comes to mind. I know what he’s trying to do. He took everything from me. My mom, brother, and my mortality. I am not letting him take me from my new family now. “I am coming with you two.”, I say matter-of-factly. “What? No!”, Adam’s eyebrows furrowed. “I am. He wants me. I’m going to kill him by telling him I’m giving myself up. That will be the only way we get through his men.”, I walk towards the door. Before I open it, I say: ”Well?” The hunters hurry to walk past me, and Adam kisses Eve on the lips before following me. As we get to the car, Adam gets in the back when Sam tells him to. Of course he grumbled something as he did so. I tried to join him, but Blondie stopped me. “You are up front. Don’t want you and Edward over there to plan something in the back where we can’t see you.”, he states. I shrug, and get into the beautiful car. “Nice ride..”, I whisper, mainly to myself. “I know.”, Dean pats the Chevy proudly. “You do know where he is... right?”, the taller one asks me. “Yeah, I have an idea..”

I get bored five minutes into the drive, so I try to make conversation: “What are even your names?” Dean glances at me, then the road again. “I’m Dean. Back there is Sam.”, he answers. I nod,”So, what’s you two’s love story?” Dean nearly chokes on the air he is breathing. “We’re brothers??”, Dean and Sam say at the same time. I chuckle, glancing at Adam. He is looking out the window with his sunglasses on. “Dude, it is eight o’clock at night.”, I tell him. He scoffs,”Why don’t you just shut up?” I roll my eyes with a smirk,”You first, dickhead.” “Fuck off, shitface.” Adam and I share a chuckle as the brothers give confused faces. “What are you to to each other?”, Dean asks. Why the Hell does he care? “She’s basically my daughter and sister in one, so I suggest you quit checking her out up there.”, Adam replies before I could. I look out the window, trying to hide my blush even though it is dark outside.

*.*.*.*

“Let me through. I am here to give myself up for Gabe. And I have presents.”, I tell a guard. I gesture to Adam, Dean, and Sam as I said the last part.. He looks at me, then to the boys, and back to me. “Sure thing, sexy.”, he winked at me. I wink back, trying not to puke in my mouth. Adam and Dean are tense, making me chuckle. Adam’s tension, I get. Dean? Not sure why.

As me and the men following me enter a dark room in the large house, a chuckle echos around it. I look toward the sound, seeing the monster I have hated for most of my decades on earth. “Gabe.”, I curtly greet. “Now, baby, don’t be so stiff.”, he walks closer,”We both know that I won’t like that.” I resist the urge to rip his head off as I purse my lips. “You’ve killed more families, I see.”, I tell him. “Well, you know how it is, baby!”, Gabe smirks as he slides a finger into my belt loop. He brings me closer to him, making Adam growl. “Don’t touch-“, Adam was interrupt my Gabe’s men putting a machete to his throat. I gulp as more did the same to Sam and Dean. I set my gaze back on the monster pulling at my belt loop. “How about we dance like we did back in the day, before you left, huh?”, he let out a cruel smirk. “Yeah, okay, that’s enough!”, Dean pushes the other vamp away from him, but they end up fighting. Sam and Adam joined in with their guys, leaving me with Gabe. “Aw, how cute.”, he chuckles as he looks back to me. The smirk was wiped from his face once he saw what I was holding. “Dead man’s blood.”, I smiled at him fakely before pushing the dark red blood into his neck. “NO!”, he yelled, then dropped to the ground. I grab a machete from his collection, and cut his head off. Then, I plant the sword into his chest. “That’s what it feels like to have a sword go into your chest. Except he was nine, you monster.”, I whisper, then feel presence behind me. I turn around swiftly to see Adam looking at me with pity. “Finally did it, Adam.. I did it..”, I hug him. He snakes him arms around my waist. “Yes, you did.”, he kissed my forehead.

*.*.*.*

“Sorry, I um, almost killed you.”, Sam chuckles as he rubs the back of his neck. I smirk,”No prob, giant.” He chuckles, then walks out of the house after giving Adam and Eve a nod. “Hey, you going to tell me goodbye too?”, Dean teases. I roll my eyes,”And why would I do that? So you could check me out one last time?” He looks away with a grin on his face. “Well, yes and no.”, he looked back at me,”I wanted to give you this.” I look at his hand to see a paper with numbers on it. His number? “Bet you never thought you’d be giving this to a vampire.”, I smile after taking the paper. “Yeah, no, I um.. Never would have thought that, but here we are.” “Here we are..”, I repeat his last words.

“Thanks, but please get the fuck out of my house.”, Adam ruined the moment. I rolled my eyes,”Really?” He nodded before picking up a guitar and strumming it. “See ya, Y/N.”, Dean winked. I smiled,”See ya.” He walks out of the house, and I hear Eve giggle. “What?”, I ask her. “He likes you a lot. I can tell. And I can also tell you like him too. Well, I don’t blame you, Y/N. With that face, I mean, come on.”

“Hey!”

“Don’t worry, Adam, you have the best face.” “Thank you, but…”

I tune out the rest of their conversation as I peer out the window. The boys are still here, I see. Sam is doing the movement that people make when they are saying they are making out with another. A grin takes over my face. Dean looks at the window, feeling eyes on him. He smacks Sam’s head, then points towards me. Sam looks into the window, then hurries to get into the Impala. I giggle as Dean winks at me for the last time tonight.

Hopefully, I can see it on more occasions.

...

Perm. Tags:

@lovesmesomehiddles @marshyrebelcloud @peasant-right-here @blackeyedangel9805 @an-adventureland

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iatasbcl · 5 years

Text

Everything Will Be Alright

Connor (Detroit: Become Human) x gender-neutral reader

Summary: Connor has a bad day and his partner makes sure he is okay.

Warnings: Angst, insecurities, Gavin being a shitbag. Fluffy ending??

A/N: Y’all, I just wanted to give Connor a hug

Word count: 2205

Today had been a disaster, an absolute shitshow. The criminal he had been trying to catch for months managed to escape and Hank got injured during the chase. It wasn’t a serious injury, but he knows it could’ve been avoided. On top of that, detective Reed blew up in his face, again.

Today was one of those days where everything felt too much. He was in a constant state of panic, his hands shook, and his inner temperature rose.

Emotions were still hard to handle for Connor, especially the negative ones. Guilt, fear, pressure, and stress would sometimes consume his mind, they would eat him inside out.

“You can’t do anything right, can you?”

Reed’s words would usually fall on deaf ears, he had gotten used to his crude and irritating behavior after working alongside him for a while. But him beating him down when he already felt like a failure seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Gavin pushed him around and taunted him, clearly delighted to see Connor fuck up. Something in him snapped and before he knew it, he had pushed him back, harshly. He immediately fell on the floor with a loud thud.

Connor turned back and hurried out of the prescient, he needed to be anywhere but here.

A few hours had passed.

He opted to walk around the city despite the heavy rain, it soaked him completely, but he didn’t care. He sat on a bench and let the droplets pour on him. His LED was a dangerous red spinning and rotating endlessly.

Connor was the most advanced model Cyberlife ever came up with, Failure should only be a small possibility; something that most likely won’t happen. So why did it happen?

Hank was home, probably resting because his partner failed to protect him.

He failed, he failed, he failed, he failed.

His thoughts were spiraling down into a deep untangled mess, a mess he couldn’t get out of.

A sudden message flashed in the corner of his vision, Hey Connor, Chris told me about what happened, you okay? It was from the detective, they were out on a case today, so he didn’t get to see them at all. He didn’t know if he should reply. A few minutes passed and another message flashed.

Please talk to me. Is it alright if I call?

Was it alright? Could he talk normally? He probably could. He’d rather not worry them.

Yes.

The second they saw the message; he received a call. He picked up; his LED turned yellow as soon as their voice reached him. “Connor? Baby, are you okay?” They sounded like they were worried sick. It made him feel terrible but nonetheless, he answered.

“Yes, all of my systems are fully functional.” They sighed in return, “Connor, that’s not what I meant. Also, are you out in the rain? What’s that sound?”

“I am outside, yes.” He muttered; they didn’t say anything after that, but he could see that they didn’t hang up. “Is it okay if I come to pick you up? We can go back to my place and talk,” They paused momentarily. “But it’s okay if you want to be alone, I understand.”

He contemplated their offer for a moment, he would love to let every single one of his doubts out and be held in their loving arms. He craved it, in fact. However, burdening them with his own worries didn’t seem right to him.

“Sweetheart, you know I will always be there for you, right?” They knew how he was by now; they probably already knew what he was thinking. “I want to be there for you, Connor. Please let me.”

A soft “Okay.” Left him and he sent them his current location. “Alright. I will be there as soon as possible, see you.” With that, they hung up. It amazed him how their voice alone had managed to calm him down a bit. It still wasn’t enough, his chest remained tight and his thoughts were all jumbled up. He knew he should move out of the rain, find a better spot to wait for his partner, but he couldn’t.

And so, he waited. It didn’t take long before someone approached him. Their steps were hurried so he turned to look at them, and there they were. They held a bright yellow umbrella to shelter them from the rain, they didn’t approach him immediately; a mistake they made in the past.

“Connor is it okay if I share this umbrella with you?” they asked tenderly, worry laced their features and it made Connor feel bad. He nodded and they carefully moved towards him and the umbrella covered them both now. They held out their hand, it was an invitation that he was grateful for and accepted. His hands brushed against theirs and eventually they intertwined. It made him feel safer.

They stayed like that for a while, he found the comfortable silence rather pleasant and peaceful. However, he knew they shouldn’t stay out for too long in this weather. He tapped their hand and they looked up at him, eyebrows slightly raised in question.

“We should go, staying out in the rain like this could be harmful to your health.” He said. They stared at him, “My apartment isn’t that far away, we could go there.” It was more of a request than an invitation, a request he complied with.

They lead him through the park and to their automated car. Once the two of them got in, they closed their umbrella and threw it in the back, after that they proceeded to turn on the heat and set the destination to their home. Comfortable silence loomed on them again and stayed for the whole ride with only the sound of raindrops accompanying them.

The ride took exactly 10 minutes and 15 seconds when they pulled into the driveway. The car doors opened, and they got out first, they stood Infront of the car and waited for him to get out.

And he did, they extended their hand again, waiting for him take it. He did that too, following them up to the stairs and into their apartment. “I have a hoodie that would probably fit you; do you want to change?”

Right, he was socked wet and was probably ruining their carpet. “Yes.” they hummed and went into their room, they came back after a few minutes with a towel, a D.P.D hoodie, and sweatpants. “You can change in the bathroom.” They said and gave him everything they had brought.

He went to the bathroom and changed, it was a relief to him, the sensation of wet clothes was starting to bother him. He dried up his body and synthetic hair and looked at himself in the mirror, he looked slightly better, slightly. He opened the bathroom door, his water-filled clothes in his hands. His partner was hanging their coat when they noticed him standing there, he felt lost as to what to do and probably looked like a lost child.

They smiled a bright, adorable smile that sent his heart throbbing. They approached him and took the clothes from him, “I will wash them later, don’t worry about it.” He nodded and they left to probably put his clothes in the washing machine. He went on and sat on their couch, he sat straight with his legs close to one another. He took out his coin, he could never really leave it.

He fumbled with it, throwing it around and doing his usual tricks. It somewhat helped him when everything got overwhelming. “Connor?” the voice took his attention away from his coin and to his love, who cautiously sat next to him.

“Do you want to talk about it? We can cuddle or watch something if you don’t wanna.” They said and put their hand on his, slowly rubbing it. He knew talking about could help him, it did help him a bit before, but it made him feel horrible at the same time.

Unpacking your baggage to someone helps you deal with the shit it causes, Connor.

Hank had told him, referring to his therapy sessions. Connor didn’t fully understand it before, he hadn’t deviated for that long. But now he could see what he was talking about, your past can wear you down in the worst ways possible.

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. “It’s okay, take your time.” They gave him a gentle squeeze. He let out an unneeded sigh and instinctively went to fix his tie; another nervous habit.

“We were chasing someone.” He started; his voice sounded distressed, so his partner held hand in a delicate manner. “I was right behind him, but he still managed to escape. Hank sprained his ankle during the chase. I could have prevented it if I had been faster.”

They looked at him with compassion, nodding for him to continue. “After I took Hank to the hospital then home, I went back to the precinct. Detective Reed heard about what had happened and he wouldn’t stop sneering in my face and pushing me around.”

“I just couldn’t take it anymore and I pushed him. I shouldn’t have let him get to me.” He was looking at his hands now. He felt hands grip his shoulder softly, urging him to look up. “No, okay? This is not your fault. Gavin had it coming, I’m surprised you didn’t punch him or something.” They paused. “You’ve been the bigger person for so long, it’s not your fault he can’t stop acting like a child.” They emphasized the ‘not’ as if trying to make him believe it.

“He shouldn’t be kicking you when you were clearly so down. I’m sure the captain will talk some sense into him since everybody saw what happened. That piece of shit.” They cursed, clearly angered with the other man’s behavior. But that was quickly pushed aside when they said, “As for the first part, Connor, you did everything you could. I’m sure Hank doesn’t blame you for it.”

They were right, Hank didn’t blame him for it. He even scolded him when he looked at him with guilt in his eyes, telling him it was his own fault he slipped, not his.

“Love, does this have to do with what we discussed before?” the question was asked delicately but it still managed to make him flinch. They had touched on his insecurities before but never unwrapped the whole issue. “Yes.” Was his broken answer.

Amanda still haunted him. He could still hear her criticize everything he did; something was always wrong, nothing he did was ever good enough for her. He still shuddered when he remembered how she almost gained control of him during the revolution, it frightened him to his very core. “Sometimes, it feels like she will come back and reset me into a machine. The perfect machine she always wanted,” he paused when his vision got blurry, he was crying. “I want to be perfect; I crave it.” He muttered as tears rolled down his face, he moved quickly to wipe them away, but they stopped him. He could feel their warmth against his cooler body, they had pulled him into their arms. “It’s okay baby, let it all out.” They whispered.

And he did, he sobbed as he buried his face against their shoulder. Everything crashed down on him, his fear, his insecurity, and his guilt. They held him as he shook, running their hand in circles on his back. It went on for a while, but he eventually calmed down.

“I am sorry.” He said, wiping his face in embarrassment. Their hand touched his face, wiping some of the tears themselves. “Never apologize for this, Connor.” Their tone was gentle yet stern.

“Amanda never saw you for who you are. You are the most amazing person I’ve ever known, wanna know why?” They paused and pressed a kiss on his forehead, “You are selfless, amazing, worthy, god, you’re so fucking loveable. We all mess up occasionally, it’s part of being human. You can make mistakes, everyone does. It’s important to love and forgive yourself.” The next kiss was on his nose, “You are a brilliant detective, Gavin just wishes he was half as good as you are.” His cheeks, “You are the best boyfriend anyone could ask for.”

They pecked his lips this time and rested their forehead against his, “I love you for who you are, Connor. So many people do; Hank, Sumo, many officers appreciate you like Chris and Tina. Don’t let anyone tell what your worth is.” They smiled and so did Connor. They stayed in each other’s arms like that, them whispering sweet nothings in his ear and him taking in all the love and appreciation they gave him.

He knew the road to being completely fine would be long, hard and challenging. It scared him but he wanted to get there, he wanted to be free from doubt, to accept his mistakes, to be okay. As he laid against their chest, listening to their steady heartbeat, he knew they will be with him every step of the way.

Everything will be alright.

#dbh connor x reader #Connor x reader #rk800 x reader #dbh #dbh imagine

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pixelsandkink · 4 years

Text

Acquaintance (Logan x MC)

Pairing: Logan x MC Rating: who knows. There’s a few swears, but that’s it. Word Count: ~815 Summary: New Year traditions, resolutions, journeys. Notes: idk friends, I just like longing and reunions and introspection. And have a lot of feelings about Ride or Die. Enjoy, lol. OH, and a honest, genuine Happy New Year(’s eve!) to all of you. ___________________________________________

When the clock strikes midnight, she’s alone.

From the radio comes “Auld Lang Syne,” as if from the bottom of a bowl of Rice Krispies. She would kill for something--anything--else, but in the land of shit reception, her phone is GPS and GPS alone.

It’s an especially maudlin rendition, the notes dragging through a dismal syrup. But she can’t not listen. It’s tradition. Sacred, almost, and she’s already going to be gone for so much.

The blackeyed peas and collard greens had been her mother’s insistence, something the southerner had never given up after transplanting to LA, after marrying her father. She wouldn’t miss the meal, not exactly. Dad tried. But he’d never quite managed to capture that bitter, salty, savoriness of her mother’s greens, the pot liquor that made her take her cornbread through the dregs.

They never tasted like luck or money. But no matter who was standing at the stove, they tasted like love, cooked low and slow.

This new year tastes like gas station coffee and Takis. It’s okay.

She’s honoring other superstitions.

When the sun breaks over the horizon, egg yolk yellow, it gives her the courage to pause at the next rest stop. She’s all jangling keys and nerves, her sweatshirt pulled tight down her thumbs. Her armor against the cold. LA could make you forget the necessity of a coat.

Sometimes, the sleeve of tattoos blooming up her arm was a deterrent: a don’t fuck with me that made other girls think she was mean. Sometimes they were a beacon: a ain’t you a pretty little hellcat.

There was no one else at the rest stop.

Back behind the wheel, she can’t help that her eyes slide closed. She has a second to think of nestling her wallet between her thighs and her purse behind her calves and lock her damn doors and then she’s done for.

Two hours after sunrise, she shoots awake. A couple with a kid and a dog, knocking on the window. They are the nice kind. He knocks on the window, but she stands close by, bouncing the baby, close enough to reassure her that he’s not a bad man.

It takes her maybe a minute to piece together that they’re worried about her. Alone, her car littered with the detritus of a late-night drive. Their attention makes her feel sweaty. Stupid. It was a dangerous thing to have done, falling asleep. She could have become true crime podcast fodder.

Not a wish, but a possibility and she considers the good and bad side by side. Finally, eager to get on with their own trip (and satisfied they’d done the right thing) the couple leaves and she’s moments after them, back on the highway.

Her mother spent New Year’s Day doing something nice, always. Cooking, hiking, reading, laughing.

How you spend New Year’s Day, she’d said, was how you’d spend the rest of the year, after all.

The hours feel more and less difficult after that. She only stops again for gas and more chips and coffee. She stretches in line at the register, her angry joints popping like she’s eighty.

By the time she gets there, the sun is leaving her again and there’s snow. Flaky, and spitting from the sky like God doesn’t want to share, but it’s still coming down bit by bit, less blanket, more powdered sugar.

He wasn’t lying when he said he had people in Detroit. It wasn’t all truth either. He did have people there. But Vaughn’s kryptonite was tears, and he gave him up quick.

He’s four hours south of Detroit and there, exactly where Vaughn had said he’d be. It’s a party. There’s music and movement in the house behind him, but his face is tilted up to the stars, flirting with him between the snow clouds. He inhales and releases a steady stream of smoke-like breath into the night air.

“Logan?”

It takes him a moment. She doesn’t blame him. He’s reconciling two worlds. Making sense out of nonsense. He’s shocked, because it’s her name, not troublemaker that falls off his tongue. His voice pitches high with panic: why are you here, what are you doing here?

She’s shaking her head as he crosses the lawn because he’s shaking his head, even though his arms are already opening to bring her in. They’re talking at the same time, he wants to know why she couldn’t stay away, why she couldn’t let him protect her.

And she: “Can’t do another day, another year, another minute, please.”

His face is wet when they brush cheeks, bodies pressed together in an embrace that belies the fact this seems like an impossibility.

But he is here, real real real.

His hands are everywhere--her face, her hair, at the small of her back. Pushing her away to get a look, tugging her close again. They go high in the air: I thought I dreamed you.

No. For the first time in a long time, she is here. Real real real. ___________________________________

tagging: @brightpinkpeppercorn @choicesarehard

#ride or die logan #logan x mc #ride or die #RoD #long post

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detroitwhatitmeanstobehuman · 4 years

Text

Chapter 6 - Shared Loss

Part 6/17 of What it Means to be Human

Word Count: 13,649

Warnings: Swearing, alcoholism, Russian Roulette, suicidal ideation, very suggestive banter (they’re in a sex club in this chapter, kind of expected), hardcore flirting, trauma-induced panic attack.

Genre: Self-insert/Angst

Pairing: OC (Detective Rachel) X Connor

Rating: Mature

Summary: After getting a report of a homicide at an android sex club downtown, Connor and Detective Rachel go out to look for Lieutenant Anderson so they can all investigate. After finding Hank, they depart to investigate the Eden Club and find more than what it initially appears on the surface. But the environment is ripe with opportunities for jokes and teasing, and Rachel takes full opportunity of it, not realizing that Connor can dish it back quite effectively.

First Chapter | Previous Chapter

---------------------------------

It was actually a pretty fun car ride! My anxiety didn’t even once cross my mind, since I was both texting Bianca and talking to Connor, also about Bianca. I made it a habit to text my sister every day, just so she’d know how I’m doing. Especially since I was living pretty much on my own, now.

She had moved back to Canada after we both lived in Detroit. She had pretty much only lived there because of me so she could help me. It was also the reason she worked at CyberLife before she eventually went back home.

She seemed pretty scared and worried when she heard that I was gunning to be in the police academy here. We both knew it was a tough job, but she also knew it was something I had to do. It gave me a sense of purpose, of making a difference, and I think she knew that I needed to keep myself busy that way.

So, she went back home. And I promised I would text her just so she’d know how I am. As much as sometimes I didn’t feel like it, I always did anyways. I think it helped me avoid some of the worst days. My depression after the accident was really really bad. I couldn’t blame her for being so worried. After all, we were kind of the only really close family we still had, save for cousins.

We’d always been really close, and we only became closer as we grew up.

And Connor was listening intently to me talk about her. Something I noticed about him ever since leaving my house was that he seemed to focus intensely on me whenever I spoke. As if he was trying to hang onto and record my every word. Even when I wasn’t really saying anything in particular, he still seemed to commit it all to memory.

I didn’t really know what to think of the gesture.

We looked for Hank at Jimmy’s Bar, but Jimmy said that he hadn’t seen Hank.

So, here we were at Hank’s house. Connor was standing next to me and started knocking on the door. “Lieutenant Anderson?” The android called. He then held the doorbell, the loud buzzer continuing on as Connor held it. Still no answer. “Anybody home?”

We waited for a few moments before I just shrugged. “Welp, he’s probably drunk.” I said, bending down. “Luckily for us, I know for a fact that Hank -” I then noticed Connor’s absence and looked around, not really seeing him. “Connor?” I called, confused. I sort of shrugged, flipping the doormat up and grabbing the house key, putting it into the keyhole and turning it, his lock giving way without much resistance. I had been at Hank’s enough times to know my way in and know that he wouldn’t really be surprised at my intrusion.

After stepping inside, I was immediately greeted by Hank’s adorable St. Bernard dog. “Hi, Sumo!” I greeted the dog sniffing at me, his tail wagging happily as I bent down to slip the key back under the doormat outside. Hank’s dog was as familiar with me as I was with Hank, as I sometimes dogsat for him. Once I closed and locked the door again, I started petting the dog. “I know, I’m happy to see you too, my sweet baby boy!” I said in that tone of voice I usually spoke to animals with. It was pretty damn near impossible not to baby talk at animals.

Suddenly, interrupting my moment with Sumo, I heard the sound of glass breaking, and snapped my head in its direction, Sumo and I rushing toward it. “Argh!” I saw Connor rolling through Hank’s window into the kitchen/dining room area, my eyes wide in disbelief. Sumo quickly went into attack mode, or at least as much as the sweet pooch could really be in, and went up to check Connor out. “Easy!...Sumo...I'm your friend, see?...I know your name...” Connor assured the dog. As much as I found it adorable how Connor reacted to the St. Bernard, I was more appalled at the fact that he jumped through the fucking window! “I'm here to save your owner.”

“What the Hell, Connor!?” I whisper-yelled at the idiot android.

“I’m sorry.” He said, getting up. “I had to get into the house.”

“Hank keeps a spare key under his doormat!” I informed him, gesturing exaggeratedly towards the front door. “Something I was about to tell you if you had just waited for like five seconds before deciding to break in! Because like Hell I’m having a homemade hysterectomy at his house!”

Connor looked a little embarrassed for a moment. “Oh.” Was all he seemed to say.

As Sumo walked back up to me, sniffing at my legs, I let out an exasperated sigh that was quickly undercut by an amused snicker. “We’ll deal with that later. First we gotta find Hank.” I then looked around. “Speaking of which, where - ?” My eyes then found Hank’s form unconscious on the floor.

And next to him was a revolver, laid on the ground carelessly.

I felt my heart stop and my blood go cold at the sight, and instantly my instincts kicked in as I rushed towards him, kneeling over him, Connor joining me by the man’s side. “Hank!” Oh God, please no! Please don’t be fucking dead! “Hank! Can you hear me?! Please say something!” I pleaded, shaking him, feeling my breaths growing rapid and shallow.

Connor was staying silent, likely analyzing the lieutenant for any signs of danger or injury. “Lieutenant?” He asked, quietly. His seemingly nonchalant attitude put me somewhat at ease, but I couldn’t tell if he was always like that, or if he could portray panic or sadness. Either way, his lack of reaction made me feel better.

Quickly, Hank mumbled and shifted a little, sort of babbling. I let out a sigh of relief and slumped against him. “Oh, thank God...you’re just drunk.” I then quickly recoiled at the overwhelming unpleasant stench of alcohol, almost stumbling backward. “Really drunk! Ugh, Jesus Christ! That is definitely one of the reasons I don’t drink. The other being that I have a debilitating fear of losing control of myself and my body and thus I have an intense discomfort at the thought of being inebriated.”

Connor then reached over and firmly patted Hank’s face, causing him to grumble and shift even more. “Wake up, Lieutenant!” He willed once again.

Sighing and feeling my heart rate go back to normal, I got back up and leaned against the table, trying to catch my breath, looking over at Connor. “He’s probably gonna need more than that.” I advised the android. “It takes a lot to get him going when he gets that drunk.”

Seemingly taking my advice, Connor nods. Although, much to my shock, he winds up and delivers a hard slap that makes me almost choke in surprise. “It’s me, Connor!”

I couldn’t help but laugh, both because Connor just deadass slapped the shit out of old man Hank, and because I wasn’t expecting him to just slap him like that. “Holy shit, I didn’t mean that much!”

But it seemed to work, as Hank was starting to actually stir, grumbling and groaning even more in his drunken state. Connor wasted no time pulling Hank up to his feet, much to the man’s drunken protests. “I'm going to sober you up for your own safety.”

“Hey!...Leave me alone, you fuckin' android!”

“I have to warn you, this may be unpleasant.”

Hank seemed to regard Connor for a moment before he started complaining again. “Get the fuck outta my house!”

I let out an exasperated sigh and just started pointing at him. “Hank, I know you’re in your fifties, but I will mom the shit out of you, so help me!” I warned him. “Connor’s gonna sober you up, and you’re gonna fucking like it, God damn it!”

“I'm sorry Lieutenant, but I need you.” Connor apologized, pulling Hank’s right arm over his shoulders and snaking his own left around Hank’s side under his other arm. “Thank you in advance for your cooperation.”

“Hey! Get the fuck outta here!” Hank droned on as Connor started dragging him towards the bathroom, Hank continuing to make a series of loud grumbles and noises that I honestly couldn’t help but find hilarious, despite the unfortunate nature of Hank’s alcoholism. “Sumo! Attack!” He ordered, getting nothing out of the dog but a quick bark. “Good dog. Attack!”

As Connor rounded the corner, taking Hank to the bathroom, I shook my head and sighed, heading over to where Sumo was laying down. As soon as I approached, the dog heaved himself back up onto his legs. I quickly sat down next to him, my legs crossed, and let him lay down on me, his large head resting in my lap. “I know, baby.” I said to him, scratching him behind his ears the way he liked it. “Daddy’s got problems, I know. I don’t like it, either.”

From the direction of the hallway leading into the bathroom, I heard Hank’s voice again. “Fuck, I think I'm gonna be sick...” The sound of a door hastily being opened immediately followed, along with another protest from Hank. “Ah! Leave me alone, you asshole!”

I couldn’t hear the rest of it, but I just rolled my eyes and shook my head, electing to just continue petting Sumo. He was a very good dog, and I think he’s one of the few things that keeps Hank still going. But it was very easy to see that he tended to get nervous, and it was mostly because Hank didn’t really take good care of himself. Dogs, and mammalian pets in general, were pretty good about sensing shit like that. And it does affect them. And anytime I would try to get Hank to start taking better care of himself, he’d just tell me to go fuck myself. I never took it personally, but just once I wished he would actually take my suggestions seriously.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of a shower being turned on, and Hank shouting at the top of his lungs. “TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF!” Even after the sound of the water had just as quickly ceased, I couldn’t help but laugh a little. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“A homicide was reported 43 minutes ago.” Connor informed Hank. “We couldn't find you at Jimmy's bar, so we came to see if you were at home.”

I practically facepalmed at Connor’s complete tactlessness. “DUDE!” I shouted at him from the other room. “THE MAN HAS JUST BEEN LYING ON THE FLOOR PISS DRUNK! YOU DON’T JUST OPEN WITH THAT! MAKE SURE THE POOR MAN’S OKAY, FIRST!” I lectured him, still shouting and shaking my head. “Jesus!”

“I’m sorry!” Connor replied back to me. “I’ll keep that in mind for the next time!” It sort of amazed me how he could maintain the same sort of polite and professional tone of voice while raising it. Despite the change in volume, he didn’t sound like he was actually shouting at me.

A small moment seemed to pass before I heard Hank complain again. “Jesus, I must be the only cop in the world that gets assaulted in his own house by his own fuckin' android.”

“Hey, if Connor didn’t do it, I would’ve!” I yelled at Hank. “So, SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

“YOU TOO?!” Hank exclaimed in indignation.

“Yes, me too!” I bit back with. “Because like it or not, I care about you! Because someone has to, so deal with it!”

I knew Hank didn’t really have much of a high opinion of himself. It was one of the reasons his self care was so poor. But like fuck I was gonna let that slide! I considered Hank a good friend, and I sure as Hell wasn’t going to let a friend wallow in his self-loathing and misery.

“You seem to have personal issues.” I heard Connor saying from the bathroom. “You should consult a professional who can help you!”

“Beat it! You hear me!?” Hank shouted at Connor. “Get the Hell outta here!”

I scoffed at him. “Hank, Connor’s right, you know!” I yelled.

I got no answer, so I just went back to petting Sumo. As much as I wanted to join in, the dog has me pinned to the ground with his head, and thus I am not allowed to leave.

That’s just the law of having animals. If they decide they wanna sleep, sit, or lay on you, that’s it. You live there now.

“I understand.” Connor said. “It probably wasn’t interesting anyway...a man found dead in a sex club downtown...” I snickered at him. “Guess they’ll have to solve the case without us...”

“Hey!” I shouted. “If Hank wants to stay home, we can make this case into a fun romp! Wouldn’t be too bad a place for a date!” I teased, a smug grin on my face. I knew he didn’t react to things like jokes or teasing in the same way humans did, but it didn’t make me want to do it any less. It was one of the ways I expressed affection, and I got the feeling that even though Connor didn’t understand it really, he understood that that’s how I expressed myself.

“You know, it probably wouldn’t do me any harm to get some air...” Hank said, agreeing. I couldn’t help but chuckle. There he is. Sumo shifted a bit, though instead of getting up and leaving, he just slumped more onto his side and shoved his face further into my lap. Welp, guess I’m never leaving.

“I’ll go get them!” Connor’s voice rung out. I was confused for a moment, but very quickly my brain pieced together from context clues. Ah, clothes. Fresh clothes. “What do you want to wear?”

“Whatever!” Hank groaned.

A moment seemed to go by before I heard Hank yelling and gasping, and I felt my stomach churn. I’ve always had sort of a weak stomach, and I especially couldn’t really handle vomit. The most I’ve ever had to do was help my sister throw up over the phone after she drunk too much one night. She was very much the sad drunk that night, but at least my sort of nonchalant blase attitude made her feel a lot better. Anytime she’d moan about how she was dying, I would just remind her that she wasn’t dying, and that she was just sad and drunk and that she’d be fine.

Sometimes reacting to something as if it’s not a big deal can help ground someone in reality. Inversely, reacting to other things like it is a big deal can also help ground someone in reality. It just depends on context.

Connor closed the bathroom door, muffling the sounds of Hank’s ordeal and the android slowly approached me. “Is Hank okay?” I asked him.

“He’ll be fine.” Connor informed me. “He informed me that he just needs five minutes. He’s just suffering from alcohol intoxication and his body is forcefully expelling it from his systems.”

“Yeesh!” I grimaced. “I’m very glad I stay away from alcohol. It’s not good and it tastes like urine in a mug. I’ve only ever really gotten drunk once, and I’m avoiding that situation again.”

Connor’s brows furrowed in concern for a moment as he regarded me. “Did something happen?”

“Oh! No, nothing bad happened!” I assured him. “I was in my apartment when I was still living in Canada just after I finished going to university. I was with Frank and a few of my friends from school for a beach day/board game night, and I wanted to see what I’m like when I’m drunk. Needless to say, I’ve discovered that I’m a silly drunk. So it wasn’t horrible and it’s definitely fun to remember, but I don’t think I want to get drunk again.”

“Ah, I see.” Connor said, nodding. “Probably a wise decision.”

His dark eyes then flicked over to Sumo and I saw his lips gently curl into a smile as he bent down to pet the St. Bernard, the dog lifting his head up to sniff at Connor’s hand. “You mentioned that you like dogs.” I said to him, remembering his conversation with Hank earlier at the station.

“Yes.” Connor replied, gently running his hand over the dog’s back and belly. “And I think it would be easy to assume you do, as well.”

“Oh, absolutely!” I answered, giving Sumo a good head scratch, to which the dog groaned and grumbled happily. I could easily recognize the sounds of a dog that was enjoying a good scratch. “But, I love all critters. Well, I’m not a fan of spiders, but I can usually at least appreciate them...when I’m not cowering in the corner.”

Connor nodded and got up, looking over the room. He inspected Hank’s vinyl collection, a set of jazz records.

He then left the living room and walked towards the dining room where we found Hank. I wondered for a moment if Connor inspected my house like that while I was brewing myself tea, learning as much as he could about me through simple observation. He knelt down to examine the revolver on the ground, and I couldn’t lie, the sight of it still made me tense up. “What were you doing with the gun?” Connor called out to Hank.

“Russian roulette! Wanted to see how long I could last...” Hank called out, his voice muffled by the bathroom walls. I let out a sigh, scrunching my face. “Must've collapsed before I found out...”

I heard Connor examining the revolver further, before he put it back down. “You were lucky, the next shot would have killed you.” He said rather pointedly.

I snuggled in closer to Sumo, feeling a darkness creep into my very senses. I knew Hank had...tendencies. He wasn’t suicidal. He couldn’t really pull the trigger. Not knowingly. But he kept testing the limits and leaving it up to chance, hoping somewhere that God would just kill him already.

The kind of man with nothing to live for, but no reason to die. A feeling I knew all too well.

And I knew full well the reason why. Connor had gotten up off the floor and was staring at it. A framed photo of Hank’s son, Cole. He died four years ago in an accident. He was only six. For a moment, I contemplated telling Connor the whole story. But...that wasn’t my story to tell. Whether or not Connor should hear the story was up to Hank, not me. And I had enough respect for Hank not to infringe on that right.

Hank wasn’t the type who was really all that good at expressing his feelings or talking about his problems. He tended to keep that shit to himself. He locked himself off from others, while I was eager to share. I talked about vulnerable things, but...I wasn’t really being vulnerable. Oversharing was just something I did to help me feel more in control. It was just another way to protect myself from my own guilt. My own darkness.

Hank and I weren’t always friends. But we understood each other. There was only one time he really opened up to me, and funnily enough, it was sort of the first time we had properly met.

I had just made detective after graduating from the police academy and being an officer for a while. One of my first cases was dealing with a set of red ice dealers, and I got a tip from a CI that a handoff was supposed to go down in a public park. So Chris and I made our way there early so that we couldn’t miss it. Chris waited in an unmarked vehicle, keeping an eye on things and letting me know if he saw any movement through my walker.

Whilst I was making my way around the place, I saw him there. Lieutenant Hank Anderson, sitting on a bench with a bottle of whiskey in hand. I’d seen him around before, but I’d never really even spoken to him. I sort of didn’t really like him, as he just kind of seemed like an unprofessional, crotchety, old drunkard that didn’t really take his job seriously, yet enjoyed his position of authority anyways.

But when I saw him sitting there on that bench, he seemed so...lost and forlorn. He was looking pretty sombre, and since he was off-duty, this was his time off the clock. He noticed me and gave me a nod. “Officer.” He greeted with a grunt.

“Lieutenant Anderson.” I replied in kind. “And it’s ‘detective,’ now.” He rolled his eyes, and I noticed that there was a place I could sit. I wasn’t sure what compelled me to keep him company, but...I felt like I should. “I’m waiting to see if my CI was right about a dealer making a handoff here. So, mind if I have a seat?”

The lieutenant scoffed. “Yeah, go ahead. Whatever.” He droned.

I was briefly annoyed, but took a seat, being careful not to sit too close to him or touch him. He was definitely distant, I could see it in his pale blue eyes. Looking around, it seemed pretty strange to me that someone like him was just sitting and getting drunk at a children’s playground alone. So in my mind, he was either dealing with some shit, or he was just an old drunk creep. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, however, and decided to gently pry at him. “So, what’s a guy like you doing at a place like this at this hour with a bottle of booze?” I asked him. “Get kicked out of too many bars for roughhousing some assholes?”

He seemed to actually be briefly amused by my attempt at bonding, giving me a weak chuckle. But he downed another gulp of whiskey and shot me a glare. “Why the fuck do you care?”

As rude as that question was asked, I just shrugged. “Why not? Wallowing in misery is a lot less shitty when someone’s there to make sure you get cleaned up, after.” I said to him blankly. “I’m not allowed to be worried about a fellow officer?”

“Tch, what?” He scoffed at me, shoving me a little aggressively. “Do I look pathetic to you? Like a fucking loser? You just sitting here and acting like you care outta fuckin’ pity?”

I’ve dealt with enough aggressive jagoffs to know that responding in kind with aggression just made them angrier. It was just easier and better to diffuse them. “You say that like basic human empathy is a bad thing.” I shot back with a monotone delivery, an eyebrow raised.

He seemed to respond to that neutrally, shaking his head with a scoff. “Whatever.” He grumbled, taking another swig of booze. “It’s not like a kid like you could understand.”

I blinked at him a couple times, not breaking my gaze from him. “Try me.” I said simply.

He was quiet for a moment. But then, to my surprise, he actually started talking to me. He...he told me everything. About Cole. About the truck skidding on the road. About Cole’s trip to the hospital. About how an android was tasked to operate on his son, and...Cole didn’t make it.

I listened intently, responding only when it was appropriate for me to. And...I told him about Frank.

At that moment, we understood each other. We both knew grief and loss, and it affected us in our daily lives. It changed the way we each respectively saw the world. I then heard Chris on the walker about the dealer making the handoff, and Hank and I ended up arresting him and a couple of other dealers that were in the area.

After that, we actually started to become familiar with one another. We were partners on a few cases, and after that, he started getting me on other tougher cases. Even the other detectives were surprised that I was getting “special treatment.” But at that point, we weren’t just colleagues or occasional partners.

We were friends. We could depend on each other and trust each other. We had each other’s backs. And we understood each other better than anyone else in the precinct did. All thanks to that one night.

Distracting me from my thoughts, Sumo quickly got up and walked towards the bathroom, and I heaved myself up onto my feet, approaching Hank. He was wearing something pretty snazzy, if a little silly. But for where we were going, it would work. Hank turned from Connor to me and sighed. “Hey, kid.”

“Hey, Hank.” I replied in kind. “You feeling better now?”

“Yeah.” Hank assured me, looking down at Sumo. “Be a good dog, Sumo. I won't be long.”

With that, Connor and I quietly followed Hank to the front door, my gaze glancing back at the photo of Cole before continuing out the door. “Sorry about the window, Lieutenant.” Connor apologized to Hank. “I really thought you'd been attacked. Of course, CyberLife will pay for the damage.”

Hank scoffed. “Yeah, trust me, I'll send 'em a bill...”

I sort of shrugged as we emerged back out into the nighttime rain. “I tried to tell him it wasn’t necessary, but he sorta jumped the gun a bit. Or the window, in this case.”

Hank groaned. “That barely took any effort.”

“Yeah, definitely not one of my better jokes.” I agreed. “But in my defense, I didn’t have much to work with.”

--------

“Aw...Feels like somebody's playing with a drill inside my skull...” Hank groaned in the front seat. He was in the passenger’s seat while Connor was driving, a wise decision, I thought. “You sure this is the place?”

Connor shrugged. “It's the address in the report.” He replied nonchalantly.

“Right...Okay...” Hank grumbled. I was feeling pretty bad for him. I mean, he did just deal with lying on the floor drunk. And I would’ve offered him some ibuprofen, but I knew that wasn’t a good thing to take anywhere near alcohol. “Let's get going.”

I raised a concerned eyebrow at Hank. “Are you sure?” I asked him. “Maybe you should stay in the car and Connor and I can deal with this.”

“No, no. I’m fine.” Hank stubbornly assured me. “Don’t you worry about me, I’m okay.” He then got out of the car, bumping his head with a mumble, and I followed quickly along. Connor was last and locked the car after we got out.

As we approached, I noticed all the cops outside, and the cool blue club lighting coming from inside, bright pink neon letters spelling out Eden Club. From the outside, it didn’t seem like a bad place to hang.

As we approached the entrance, barred off with a holographic do not enter barrier for police investigations, I heard Hank scoff. “‘Sexiest androids in town’...Now I know why you insisted on coming here!”

The club interior was bathed in violet and blue lights, the cool hues making it pleasant on the eyes, I had to admit. Glancing over at Connor, I decided to have a bit of fun. “Really? I didn’t know Connor works here.”

Hank snapped his head around to glare at me and Connor’s brown eyes quickly darted in my direction. I saw his LED flicker red for a moment, and this time I knew I didn’t imagine it. He seemed so typically composed, but I realized something crucial.

Connor could get flustered. Or at least embarrassed.

And then the widest smirk on my face grew. This was going to be fun.

“Alright, that’s it. You’re staying in the car.” Hank ordered.

“Noooooo! I wanna see Gavin get beat up by sex androids!” I cried at Hank as we started to walk in. “Come on, this is the most action I’ve had in months! Wow, given the context, I really should’ve rephrased that.” I realized mid-sentence before shrugging it off.

“Oh, great! A dead body and an asshole, just what I needed...” Hank grumbled before glancing over at me curiously. “Wait, how do you know that Gavin’s here?”

“He texted me when Connor was at my place just before we came to yours.” I told him.

“Why the fuck do you have his number?” Hank exclaimed in disbelief.

I shrugged exaggeratedly. “I don’t! He has mine! And I can promise you I did not give it to him! Someone else must’ve!” I explained. “And he keeps texting me despite the fact that I have never once responded to him!”

“Then why don’t you just block him?” Hank asked in exasperation, seeming to get tired of my general tomfoolery.

I scoffed at him. “Because he’s a shitpost with feet and I’d miss out on comedy gold. Let me read you the text he sent me.” I cleared my throat and fished out my phone, opening it. “‘It’s a real shame that I’m the best cop ever, or I might make a pretty decent stripper.’ Okay, can we agree that Gavin would make an amazing stripper, but none of us are going to stroke his ego like that?”

Hank made a disgusted sound and then sped on ahead, leaving Connor and I behind. I put my phone away and glanced up at Connor, his LED his usual cool blue. I saw it flicker red earlier, and I couldn’t help but desperately want to see it turn that colour again. Putting on a confident and sly look on my face, I put my hands behind my back. “You know, Connor.” I started, the android looking in my direction. I only continued once we were making committed eye contact. “If you run your hands as well as you run your mouth, you could really spice up business around here.” I said with a deliberate raise of an eyebrow and a very deliberate tone to my voice.

And there it was again, that flicker of red. I have never felt more smug in my life.

But that very quickly faded when Connor’s expression changed into a bold one. “Rachel, did you know that I speak over 3000 global dialects fluently?”

It seemed like a random thing to bring up, but I was actually pretty impressed by that. “Ooooh! Cool!” I complimented. “Think you could help me brush up on my Romanian and my Spanish? I’m quite out of practice.”

But his eyebrow turned up at me, a gesture I was not expecting. “Do you know what that means, Rachel?”

Curious, and also skeptical, I narrowed my eyes at him. “What?” I asked.

And the fucking look he gave me when he leaned in close to me to whisper in a voice I didn’t know he could do nearly took me out right then and there. “I’m quite skilled with my tongue.”

I was not expecting him to actually shoot back at me, and I felt the hottest of shame surge up from my toes to my neck, making me involuntarily clench and arch my spine backwards and curl my fingers inward. I felt my chest tighten, feeling like it was going to explode as I just stared at him, wide-eyed and blinking at him as I stopped in place. “D-d-did you just fucking 1-up me?!” I stammered at him in shock.

And he did it again. He stared me down with that damn look, his smirk just taunting me. “What’s the matter, dear detective?” Oh God, no. He’s learning. I thought, trying to ignore the feeling of being referred to as dear detective. “Frustrated to have your own wiles thrown back at you?” I could feel my breaths getting caught in my throat and my chest feeling light. “That’s what you were doing, wasn’t it? In an effort to get under my synthetic skin, as it were?”

What the fuck was happening right now?! He wasn’t supposed to actually be good at this! That’s my thing! Well, if he thinks he can beat me at my own game, he’s dead wrong. “Ohhhhh, you don’t wanna do this with me, tin man.” I whispered at him low, getting all up in his face. “You’ve started a battle of wills of which you cannot hope to win. You may be a machine, but you are not impervious, and you will quickly learn that my spirit is unbreakable. You will emerge from this a broken man, Connor.”

As much as I was taking this challenge, there was a sense of satisfaction that bloomed within me at the blinking red LED on his temple despite his face remaining confident and neutral. “We’ll see about that, detective.”

Connor had been calling me by my first name since I first told him this morning. Clearly choosing to refer to me as simply detective was a deliberate choice. As if he knew this was only a game between us.

Clearly he did not count on the fact that I’m one of the most stubborn people on the planet, and that I have a natural inclination for competition and a refusal to be bested. Quite simply put, I refuse to lose.

“So we will.” I replied. I glanced down, only now noticing the tie he was wearing. I wasn’t exactly the expert on ties, but I liked them. A lot. And I knew that knot when I saw it. Now, this was totally something I saw on a show, but perhaps Connor would respond well to it. Experimentally, I let my right hand travel up his chest and gripped his tie to gently tug him down towards me. “A single Windsor knot?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “Really? The easiest knot to undo? Why bother wearing any clothes at all if you were going to make such a brazen display, detective?”

There it was again. That blinking red light I was now very much enjoying seeing. “In this environment, it wouldn’t be out of place.”

“Oh, that’s right!” I teased in a mocking voice. “It wouldn’t be out of place for you to strut around in a sex club like the peacock that you are.”

“To be fair, you did mention that I have the visual appearance of a twink.” Connor bit back with a smug grin. “So yes, perhaps I wouldn’t appear too out of place here.”

I then narrowed my eyes at him, both in disgruntlement and in begrudging pride. “Well played, Connor. Well played.”

“Guys!” Hank shouted at us. “The fuck are you doin'?”

Connor’s attention immediately shifted and he began following the old man as if that conversation just didn’t happen. “Coming, Lieutenant.”

I tried to ignore the feeling I was getting after Connor left, and followed them further inside the club. Getting a better look, my potential anticipation of fun quickly plummeted when I looked around at all the androids in underwear and bras that were being kept in tubes. There were also androids performing as pole dancers in the middle of the rooms, but most of them were just...waiting to be rented. As I approached one, I immediately clung to my jacket and pulled it closer to myself, feeling my blood go a little bit cold. “You alright, Rachel?” Hank asked me, approaching me.

I sort of shook my head with a sigh. “Yeah, I just...I thought this was gonna be fun. But,” I paused, taking another look at the sex android that was just staring at me through the glass, “seeing these androids just on display for everyone to see, waiting to just get used and then put back is...to put it mildly, making me uncomfortably self-conscious.”

“Oh yeah?” Hank said with a scoff. “Why’s that?”

I sort of glared at him with a lazy tilt of my head, very much giving him the really? look. “Because most straight white men look at me like that.” I said very bluntly, not hiding the annoyance in my voice. “Let me tell you, it fucking sucks to have to be constantly hypervigilant of my surroundings, especially at night, just so I don’t end up waking up behind a dumpster because some asshole feels entitled to my vagina.”

“Okay! Okay, I get it!” Hank said, waving his hands. I rolled my eyes. I knew men could be squeamish when “women problems” were brought up around them. Or when they had to be confronted about their privileges. But I knew Hank wasn’t just dismissing me, he just wasn’t really...a sensual person and got grossed out kinda easily. “So, what the fuck was that whole deal with you and Connor back there?”

I sort of gave him a confused look. “What do you mean?”

“You were practically climbing up him like a cougar scoring up some territory!” Hank clarified a bit too bluntly for my liking.

“Ugh, gross! It’s not like that!” I groaned, mock gagging a bit. “It was just playful banter that was in theme with the environment because come on. When else am I gonna have an opportunity to make jokes like these in an appropriate setting?”

Hank shoved me with his shoulder as we further walked in. “Alright, whatever you say.” I could tell he wasn’t convinced, but I didn’t really care. “Just keep it in your pants.”

I rolled my eyes at him again. “Won’t be hard.”

As we made our way closer to who I recognized as Ben who was talking to someone I assumed was the manager. “You're not gonna take my license, are you? I mean, ha, I had nothing to do with this!” I heard the guy say in a very hushed and slimy voice and already I decided I did not like him.

I mean, I didn’t have high hopes that someone who ran a facility like this was a stand-up person. Don’t get me wrong, I have infinite amounts of respect for sex workers and pole dancers and strippers! But it’s no secret that it’s not a safe industry to be in for workers and that management isn’t usually great or even qualifies as the most basic definition of ethical.

Which was why I was very picky about the clubs I went to. Because pole dancers are actually super fun to watch and I want to support them. “The investigation's ongoing, sir, I can't tell you anything for the moment.” I heard Ben say, breaking me out of my thoughts. I noticed Connor regarding the sex androids as I made my way over, and I wondered for a moment if he was just doing his usual observation thing or if he was actually a closet pervert.

But he stole a glance at me, and I looked away just as quick, not wanting him to catch me staring at him.

Wait, why was I staring at him? And why did I care if he noticed?

Deciding not to dwell on that for too long, I decided to just catch up with Hank again and approached them. “Hey, Hank!” Ben called his colleague before glancing over at me. “Hey, Rachel! Heard you got put on the case, too, huh.”

I nodded, a small flush of pride spreading through me. “Yeah, guess they decided that I was too good to leave off the case!” I bragged somewhat jokingly.

“Yeah, don’t get too cocky.” Ben said, gesturing towards a room that was labeled The Red Room. “This one might be a bit of a tough nut to bust.”

I turned to Hank. “See? Ben’s making jokes, too!”

Hank ignored me, deciding just to talk to Ben. “So, how's it goin'?”

“It's that room there. Oh, uh, by the way...” Ben paused, an unpleasant frown on his greying face. “Gavin's in there too.”

“Yeah, I know.” I droned in equal disappointment.

“He texted you?”

“Yeah.” I replied dully. “We’ll head on in. Thanks, Ben.”

I started making my way into the room, the door opening and Hank following behind me. I sensed Connor’s footsteps briskly catching up and ignored the fact that my breath briefly quickened for a moment.

As soon as I walked in, I saw Gavin with his back turned to us, another officer I soon recognized as Chris, and two bodies laid on the ground. It barely took any time for the asshole to notice us. “Lieutenant Anderson, the Detective Slut, and her plastic fuck toy...The fuck are you doin' here?”

I felt a brief rage and frustration bubble up in me before I exhaled it out. “I’m gonna pretend that you didn’t just say that combination of words out loud.”

“We've been assigned all cases involving androids.” Connor replied way more professionally than I would have.

“Oh, yeah?” He said with a condescending glare that made me want to throw him out of a fucking window. “Well, you're wasting your time.” He was looking at the body with a less than appropriate grin on his face. “Just some pervert who, uh, got more action than he could handle.” He laughed, looking directly at me. “Sounds like it’s your kind of Friday night, huh, Rach?”

No way in Hell was I about to take his shit. “Okay, first of all, Gavin, I may be a slut, but I’m a slut with social anxiety and trust issues, so tread lightly.” I warned him with a glare. “And second, you know I don’t have sex with androids. Period.”

“Really?” He was glancing between Connor and I, and I knew exactly what he was implying. And it was making it really hard not to kick him right in the dick. Especially since I was at the perfect height to do so. “Could’ve fooled me.” He said, getting uncomfortably close to me.

“We'll have a look anyway, if you don't mind.” Hank said, trying to ease the tension, getting closer to me.

As Gavin leaned in close, I stood my ground, glaring up at him. “You know, all this is making me pretty frisky. Huh, Rach?”

Blinking at him a couple of times, I replied in the most monotone voice I could muster. “I’m ovulating, let’s go.”

He then gave me a face that I knew meant he was no longer interested. “And, like that the boner’s killed.” He then looked over at Chris and gestured to the black officer to follow. “Come on, let's go...” He said, his eyes focused on Hank. “It's uh... starting to stink of booze in here...”

In a fraction of a second, I had my left hand wrapped tightly around Gavin’s wrist, and I pulled him in close. His groans of pain were audible as I simply glared at him, not breaking my grip on him. “Fuck!” He spat in his strange unique way that sounded more like a sneeze than a swear.

“You’d better watch your damn mouth, Reed.” I warned him, my voice dripping with venom. “Unless you want to be picking your teeth up off the fucking floor. And you and I both know that I can kick your ass with one arm.”

I let him go, and Gavin wasted no time leaving, aggressively shoulder checking Connor as he left, gripping his wrist which I could easily see was going to bruise something fierce. Chris then approached us, nodding politely at us. “Night, guys.”

“Night, Chris.” I replied after him.

After the door closed behind us, I let out a sigh. “Man, the fucking nerve of that guy.” I groaned. “At least he was nice enough to pull out.”

Hank rolled his eyes with a disgusted groan at my joke and I just snickered at myself. I glanced over at Connor and I realized he was staring at me quite intensely, his LED spinning yellow. “What?” I asked him.

“Why did you tell Detective Reed that you were ovulating when it would’ve been counterproductive to rejecting his advances and is also untrue?” I sort of blinked at him in surprise. “I’m not detecting any spike in your ovulation levels based on my vital scan.”

“Oh, Jesus, Connor!” Hank shouted, throwing his arms up. “Can’t you ever just mind your own fuckin’ business?”

I was about to feel really embarrassed and maybe even scold Connor a bit, but then I got a better idea. “Well, first off, guys don’t respond well when you break down stuff into technicals. Sort of kills the mood.” I said, stepping up to him. “And second of all, my eyes are up here, pervert.” I teased, walking up to him and grabbing his tie again, but not pulling him. “Try not to get lost in them, I know that can be quite hard.”

“Hm.” Connor said, tilting his head in confusion. “Interesting how you say they’re ‘up here,’ but I actually have to look down at you to see them.”

“Ohhhhh...fuck you, Connor.” I immediately let go of his tie and shook my head, backing off and sort of laughing begrudgingly. I’m sort of used to having short jokes thrown at me, but the fact that it came from Connor somehow made it worse.

“Hey, dead body here.” Hank said, getting our attention and throwing a very pointed glare at me in particular. “Can we maybe focus?”

Connor nodded. “Sure thing, Lieutenant.”

I walked over to examine the body of the guy on the bed, feeling a bit queasy. Even though he hasn’t been dead long enough to smell or even look dead, aside from his eyes popping out of his head, it still never got any easier looking at them.

I glanced over at Connor, who seemed to have decided to investigate the android. He dipped his fingers in the blue blood trickling down her nose, and brought them to his lips, gently lapping at it once. “Whoa! Hey! Hey! Hey!” Hank rushed over in exasperation. “Argh, Connor, you're so disgusting... Think I'm gonna puke again...”

My brain was running on autopilot, generating what it seemed to think was a totally normal completely inconspicuous response. “Yep, super gross. Absolutely disgusting.”

Although, as soon as I said that, Connor locked eyes with me, and I immediately felt my heart jump, and just looked away, blocking my view of him with my right hand. I started breathing heavily as the obscene thought might have crossed my mind a bit...maybe...somewhat...kind of...sort of...You know what? It doesn’t matter. As I walked over to the dead body, trying to avoid looking at Connor, Hank made his way over to the nearby table.

I quickly realized that my heart was still going. It wouldn’t stop. And it was really weirding me out. Why is everything so weird all of a sudden? I then took a good look around myself and reminded myself of where I was currently. Sex club. That’s why. We’re in a sex club, of course things would feel weird.

I was not prepared for Connor to approach me from behind, the brush of his shoulder making me almost gasp in shock. “Are you alright, Rachel?” He asked, dropping whatever playful or teasing tone he had before in favour of one of concern. “Your heart rate has elevated again and so has your breath intake. Do you need to take a step outside?”

I sort of smiled at his concern, turning to look at him. “I’m fine, I’m just...never used to dealing with dead bodies, that’s all.” I assured him, but somewhere inside, that didn’t feel completely honest. But...why? Connor, however, seemed to accept my answer, and I went about examining the body.

The first thing I noticed, aside from the victim’s protruding bloodshot eyes, was the bruising on the neck. It was definitely obvious enough to me that it was clear that he was strangled to death. It wasn’t a heart problem. And clearly, Connor noticed it too, as he got up and approached Hank. “He didn't die of a heart attack, he was strangled.”

“Yeah, I saw the bruising on the neck.” Hank agreed, reading something. “Doesn't prove anything though. Could've been rough play...”

I scoffed. “Not like this, it’s not.” I said, confidentally. “When you engage in breathplay, if you’re gripping so hard that it’s potentially bruising, that’s extremely dangerous. Even gripping hard enough to lightly bruise can cause brain damage. That’s why you really need to know your limits before you try it. The android who did this was choking with the intent to kill. They meant to strangle him to death.”

Hank glared at me. “I don’t want to know how you know that.”

“I’ve dabbled before.” I answered. “Not that hard to figure out.”

I glanced over at Connor and noticed him staring at me, his LED flickering red before spinning to yellow. “We're missing something here...” He said in frustration, walking over to the android on the ground.

“Think you can read the android's memory?” Hank suggested. “Maybe you can see what happened.”

“I can try.” Connor said hesitantly.

“It might be our best bet.” I agreed. “Androids don’t leave fingerprints, so we’re out of luck there, and we can’t really figure out what happened otherwise. Ben was right, this is kind of a tough one.”

A moment seemed to go by before Hank broke the silence. “Driver's license says: Michael Graham.” He said, violently reminding me of the android that I somehow managed to sneak out of the police precinct earlier before I went back home. It was not an easy feat, and I’m really fucking glad I didn’t get caught. But I managed to smuggle him to my house, get him a change of clothes, cleaned him up, and now, Micheal walks a free man. I just hope he doesn’t get himself into more trouble. “A credit card, cash in the wallet...Picture of his wife and two daughters...” Yikes! “I wouldn't want to make that call.”

I sort of let out a sigh. “You know, I think his wife might’ve actually dodged a bullet, there.”

“The only way to access its memory is to reactivate it.” I heard Connor say from behind me. I decided to leave the dead body and approach the android, broken on the ground with blue blood coming out of her nose.

“Think you can do it?” Hank asked, coming up behind us.

“It's badly damaged...” Connor pressed his hand on her abdomen, making her stomach deskin itself, revealing what looked like a panel against grey plating. “If I can, it'll only be for a minute, maybe less...I just hope it's long enough to learn something.”

As he opened her up revealing the wiring and tubes beneath, I grimaced in phantom pains. “Poor thing.” I muttered under my breath. “If I had my tools, I might be able to repair her. Compared to Micheal, she might actually be easier to repair, if I can figure out what’s damaged.”

The two ends of a tube inside were dislodged and separated. Connor carefully gripped them and locked them back together, suddenly spurring the android back to life, her LED a constant red. As she gasped and scrambled away, I nearly fell backwards onto my ass, quickly rolling over so I could crouch beside her. Instantly, my response was to reassure her. “It’s okay, we’re not going to hurt you, we need you to tell us what we need to know.” I said softly.

“You were damaged and I reactivated you. Everything is alright.” Connor said succinctly to the reactivated android.

She seemed to relax, taking in the situation. “Is he...is he dead?” She asked.

I nodded. “Tell me what happened.” Connor ordered.

“He started...hitting me...” She began explaining, her LED going back to spinning yellow. “Again...and again. I begged him to stop, but he wouldn't.”

“Did you kill him?” Connor asked.

She blinked at him for a moment before she answered. “No...no, it wasn't me...”

“Were you alone in the room? Was there anyone else with you?” Connor asked, his tone more frantic and urgent.

“He wanted to play with two girls...” She responded, her breath starting to pick up speed. “That's what he said, there were two of us...”

“Where did the other android go? Did it say anything?”

But there wasn’t enough time, as her facial expression instantly dropped, and her LED started winding down to nothing. She was dead. “Jesus Christ...” I breathed. I had never been so unnerved. It wasn’t like when a human dies and slowly bleeds out. It just...stopped. Mid-sentence. It made my blood drain from my face.

“So, there was another android...” Hank remarked. Connor got up, sighing in frustration and I got up with him, facing Hank. “This happened over an hour ago, it's probably long gone...”

“No...It couldn't go outside dressed like that unnoticed...” Connor pointed out, his eyes still on the android. “It might still be here.”

I shrugged. It seemed logical. “Makes sense, I doubt there are a lot of spare clothes either in here or the local dumpsters.” I said, agreeing. “But it has still been an hour. And it’s not like someone immediately noticed a dead body and a missing android. That’s quite the window of time to make an escape.”

Hank seemed to regard Connor for a moment, the android’s gaze fixed on the lieutenant. “Think you could find a deviant among all the other androids in this place?” He asked.

Connor shook his head. “Deviants aren't easily detected.”

I sort of looked at him in surprise. “Damn, so this is stumping you too, eh?”

“Ah, shit...There's gotta be some other way...” Hank muttered, starting to pace. I was trying to rack my brain for some way to solve this, too. But it was difficult. “Maybe an eyewitness? Somebody who saw it leaving the room...”

“Maybe...” I repeated, still trying to think.

“I'm gonna go ask the manager a few questions about what he saw. You let me know if you think of anything.” Hank said, the door opening behind him as he left.

We followed, seeing no point in staying in the red room. I decided to grit my teeth and try to talk to the manager, seeing as I had managed to think of some decent questions to ask him. But I was definitely not looking forward to dealing with the slimy creep.

He was standing around anxious, reasonably so, and I stayed right next to Hank with my notepad out ready to take notes. “Hey there, just wanna ask you some questions, sir.” I said in a relatively neutral way.

“Oh, yeah. Sure thing, not a problem.” He agreed, shuffling on his feet.

“Did you know the victim?” Hank asked.

“No, I mean he came in maybe two or three times...I mean these guys they don't really talk very much, you know...” The manager answered without much hesitation. So far, so good. I thought as I jotted down a note. “They come in, do their business and then go on their way...”

Hank nodded. “You ever had any trouble with androids before?”

“No way!” The manager said in a way that really didn’t sound convincing and I had to stop myself from giving him a judgy eyebrow. “Well...Once...” I nodded. Ah, there it is. “We lost a model 2-3 months back, bah...same model...Just vanished, we never found out what happened.”

I nodded, jotting that down, also taking note about the potential questionability of that piece of info. “You probably don't have any CCTV in here, huh?” Hank then asked, looking around the place.

The manager then sort of chuckled. “No way...I mean...” He replied. “This is what people appreciate about Eden Club...discretion. They can come and go without a trace.”

“Sure, sure...” Hank said sarcastically. I nodded. Cool, cool, really helpful, ain’t you? I thought, taking another note. “Eh, business is booming, right?”

“Yeah, can't complain...” The manager answered all too eagerly for my liking. “Good thing about androids is they're up for whatever you want, you won't get any diseases and, uh...they won't tell anyone...So, why not go wild?”

I shook my head, taking another note. Gross. “Huh, yeah...Yeah, the more I learn about people, more I love my dog.”

I smiled, letting out a sigh. “Alright, and I’ve got a couple questions myself, if you don’t mind, sir.” I said. “So, the androids are sort of like the staff, right?”

The manager was laughing at me. “I mean, they’re androids. They don’t exactly need to be paid, little missy.”

I sort of glared at him before sighing. “Okay, that’s my fault, I should’ve phrased that question better.” I conceded. “There are staff entrances and areas where customers and patrons don’t have authorization to enter. Do the androids here have that authorization?”

“Well, yeah...I mean, they have to go somewhere between their, uh, sessions.” The manager answered. “To get repairs and checkups, y’know. Keep them in working order.”

I took another note. “So, where would the most prominent places be for the androids to go between sessions?” I asked.

“Entrance to the warehouse, probably.” The manager answered again. “It’s where our models come in and also where we get them calibrated and built, y’know. All that technical stuff.”

That was all I thought was necessary to know, and my notepad looked like this:

Micheal Graham, death by strangulation about an hour ago

The android that was dead in the room was not the one that killed him

Patrons don’t have a personal relationship with the manager, but this one was somewhat of a regular

Only trouble was an android that disappeared around 2-3 months ago, though that seems a bit questionable (needs to be looked into, potentially)

No cameras or recordings

Business is good, so real reason for foul play or some kind of financial scandal

Androids have staff authorization

Android warehouse most likely place for androids to hide

“Alright, I think that’s a good amount of info to at least have something to go off of.” I said to the manager. “Thank you for your cooperation.”

“Oh yeah, no problem!” He said a bit too hastily. “Just, uh, let me know if you, uh...need anymore help.”

“Excuse me, Lieutenant.” I heard Connor say, making me jump a little as he approached us. “Can you come here a second?”

“Found something?” Hank asked.

“Maybe...” Connor replied, less like he actually had something and more like he had an idea and needed to make sure it actually held any water.

I followed Connor alongside Hank to one of the tubes with an android in it, grimacing slightly as I neared it. “Can you rent this Traci?”

I sort of blinked my eyes at the android in surprise for a couple seconds. “I’m sorry?”

“For fuck's sake, Connor, we got better things to do...” Hank protested in disgust.

“I know I was making jokes earlier, but this is very much not the time to get your rocks off, Connor!” I scolded him. “You can come back and do that later after we deal with the murder!”

“Please, Lieutenant!” Connor pleaded as Hank was turning to walk away. “Just trust me.”

Hank looked like he was going to just leave, but gave up and started to work with the interface, actually going through with a purchase. “Hello. A 30 minute session costs $29.99. Please confirm your purchase.” The machine said.

I blinked a couple times at it. “$30 for half an hour?!” I exclaimed. “Holy shit, what a steal!” Hank then slowly turned towards me, his eyes narrowed into the most judgy look I’ve ever seen him give me. “I’m sorry! I guess everyone else has more expensive tastes in sex workers than I do! Excuse me!” I said, backing away and throwing my arms up. I was a cheapass bitch, and I was not about to be ashamed of it. I say, as I actually kind of have expensive tastes that I really have to fight myself on.

Hank then went back to confirming the purchase and groaning. “This is not gonna look good on my expense account...”

The machine then chimed again. “Purchase confirmed. Eden Club wishes you a pleasant experience.”

“Yeah, you're welcome.” Hank grumbled.

The door to the pod opened and the android stepped out to greet Hank. “Delighted to meet you.” I couldn’t lie...her voice was doing things to me, and as much as I didn’t like the thought of sleeping with androids, I couldn’t deny the appeal. “Follow me, I'll take you to your room.”

“Okay, now what?” Hank asked Connor annoyedly.

Connor then locked eyes with me, his dark brown irises swirling with interest as I felt myself prickle under his gaze, and by the way his LED was spinning yellow again, I could already tell he was analyzing me. “Hey, don’t look at me like that!” I hissed at him in slight embarrassment. “I stick to my scruples, but I’m only human!”

Connor raised an inquisitive eyebrow at me. “I didn’t say a word.”

I grumbled and turned away from him. “Just do your thing, you fuckin’ roomba.”

Connor then approached the Traci and grabbed the inside of her arm, his left hand deskinning and his LED turning yellow again, showing that he was taking in information. “Holy shit, Connor...” Hank breathed. “What the hell are you doin'?”

After a moment of Connor just standing there holding onto the Traci, he suddenly turned to the both of us. “It saw something.”

“What are you talkin' about? Saw, what?” Hank asked, his brows knitted together in confusion.

“The deviant leave the room...” Connor clarified. “A blue-haired Traci.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “Damn, we’ve got a lead!”

“Club policy is to wipe the androids' memory every two hours. We only have a few minutes if we wanna find another witness!” Connor said, jumping my instincts into overdrive.

“Oh, great!” I groaned. “That’s just super fucking convenient.” I let out a sigh as I consulted my notepad. “The manager said that androids have authorization to go into staff only areas. If we check those places, we might find her. They’d make pretty decent places to hide.”

“If we go looking blindly, we might alert the deviant to our presence and lose it.” Connor retorted.

“But checking every android on the chance that they’ve all seen her walking around might take too long and waste time!” I pointed out.

“We don’t have time for this!” Hank shouted at the both of us. “Split up, we’ll cover more ground that way.”

I nodded. “Right. I’ll go look in the staff only areas, you check the androids.”

“Right.” Connor agreed.

“Just let me know if you need backup, Rachel!” Hank called.

“Will do!” I was already on my way, scanning every potential entrance and every room.

Blue-haired Traci, that’s pretty easy to find. So far, I haven’t seen an android with blue hair in here. I thought, wandering around into an offset of the main area that was bathed in more red lighting than purple. “Hey, what are ya doin’ here, Luis?”

Luis! That name shot through me like lightning and I felt my heart start racing as my eyes locked onto where the sound was coming from. “Sorry, I know you’ve got this whole thing going on, but I forgot to tip you.”

The rest of the conversation started sliding off my brain as it started to spiral completely out of control. Glasses...beard...anime obsessed creep look...Luis...I started to breath heavily and tremble, both fear and rage long buried starting to bubble to the surface threatening to drown me. I took a few hesitant steps backward as my mind started to swirl. No...I thought I was rid of him! I thought he was gone for good! But he’s here! And he’s found me! I nearly stumbled. No! No! No! No! No! He’s going to see me and drag me back! I can’t go back! I can’t! Not again! Never again! I can’t ever go back! Never! Never! Never! Never!

--------

“There're androids everywhere! How you gonna tell which one saw the Traci with blue hair?” Hank asked impatiently from behind Connor as he began approaching the Traci dancing on the pole.

Software Instability ^ But he noticed movement from the corner of his eye and saw Rachel, stepping backwards out of the red room, her heart rate spiked far beyond what was typical of her and she was beginning to hyperventilate. She was showing signs of another trauma-induced panic attack, and Connor followed her gaze and saw a man talking to the manager in the red room.

He approached closer and scanned the man to identify him.

Question Luis 🔓

Locate Deviant

--------

I couldn’t stay. Not while he was here. I ran into the blue room and ran through the first staff exit I could find, and it led down a hallway towards a black door that I tore open without any thought. I was too afraid to think about anything else than getting away and hiding. He’ll find me! I thought frantically, gasping for air and feeling my eyes swell.

I found myself surrounded by several androids that weren’t even activated yet. It was a warehouse of sorts, but I didn’t care, I just ran.

I ran and found somewhere to hide and curl up into a ball until this was all over. I nestled myself in the furthest and darkest corner of the room, rocking myself back and forth in my panic.

And suddenly, I heard whispers around me.

“What are you doing?”

“We have to help her!”

“She’s a human! We can’t trust her!”

“But she’s so scared...she’s just trying to hide...like us.”

“How do we know we can trust her?”

“We don’t...but we can’t just leave her here.”

My eyes started darting around wildly, my hand reaching for my pistol as I pulled it out of my holster, my hands trembling as I held it out and pointed it around me. “W-who’s there?!” I stammered, my voice cracking. Not exactly the toughest image for potentially violent androids to see. “Show yourself!”

I heard the sounds of shoes clacking in the warehouse as I saw two shapes step out of the shadows slowly with their hands up. “Please don’t shoot.” One of them whispered.

In the light, I was able to see them both more clearly. They were both Tracis. One had very short brown hair that was more spiked, and the other was the blue-haired Traci. “Don’t be afraid.” The blue-haired Traci said, gently leaning down to me with her hands still up. “We’re not going to hurt you. Just tell us who you’re hiding from.”

With both Tracis showing themselves to me with a gun pointed at them, not wanting to attack me, I let my guard down and put the gun back into my holster and allowed both androids to approach me.

--------

Probing the memory of a working janitor in the blue room, Connor was able to see where the blue-haired Traci finally ended up. “I know where it went! Follow me!” He announced to Hank who was following him along. He made a mental note to pay Hank for all the funds he had to spend on renting the androids just so Connor could probe them, especially the unsuccessful ones.

“Fucking-A. This is crazy...” Hank groaned, shaking his head. “Let’s go find Rachel, first.” He then looked around. “Wait...where the fuck’s she gone?”

Connor began to feel uneasy at her absence. It hadn’t been long ago. “She was going to check all notable staff entrances for the deviant.” He recalled. “When I saw her last, she seemed panicked and frantic. Like earlier, on the highway.”

Software Instability ^ “Shit!” Hank cursed, throwing his arm down. “We’ve gotta find her before she gets herself into trouble.”

Connor looked around the room. “She couldn’t have gone far.” He said, more panic and worry in his voice than he intended to show. “Maybe she’s closer than we think.”

“Well, find out!” Hank shouted at Connor.

Objective: Find Rachel

Connor tried to locate the android with the best vantage point and approached the one he had checked earlier for the blue-haired Traci and failed to locate her. “This one must have seen her come by this way if she has.”

“We’ve already checked this one!” Hank complained.

“For the deviant.” Connor pointed out. “An hour ago. But Rachel had to have come here within the last two minutes, and he was here.”

Hank shook his head and complied, renting the android again. Connor probed its memory once again and saw the blue room as it was when they arrived. Easily, he saw Rachel rush into the staff entrance.

Software Instability ^ “She went where the deviant is.” Connor said.

“Holy shit.” Hank breathed. “We’ve gotta get to her now! She shouldn’t have run off by herself like that!”

“We don’t have time!” Connor shouted, already making a beeline towards the door. “Hurry!”

“Wait!” Hank said, pushing himself in front of Connor before the android could burst through the door at the end of the hallway. “I'll take it from here.” He ordered.

Connor obediently stepped behind Hank, feeling an urgent need to rush in. If Rachel had gotten hurt, Connor didn’t think he could stop himself from doing something reckless, even if he had promised her he wouldn’t. But he was confident that no harm would come to himself, for her sake.

Objective complete

Hank quietly opened the door into the warehouse, and slumped against the wall with two androids was Rachel, breathing deep and trying to steady her heart rate.

Connor quickly identified two Tracis, including the blue-haired Traci who was standing up in front of Rachel head-on. “Don’t you dare come near her!” She threatened.

“She’s our partner!” Hank shouted at her. “Back off!”

Connor saw Rachel’s left hand clasped around the brown-haired Traci’s hand. But something was different. Something was off.

They were both the same shiny off-white that android arms were made of. And clearly, Connor wasn’t the only one who noticed.

Rachel’s left arm was replaced with an android’s.

“Wait...you’re...?” Hank hesitated, staring at Rachel who was now looking at the both of them. “You’re an android?”

“No.” Connor said, seeing where the arm stopped on Rachel’s left. “She’s missing her left arm. It’s a prosthetic.”

--------

It only took a moment for me to understand. When the brown-haired Traci offered her hand to me, I took it. But I wasn’t prepared for how it would feel to be connected to someone else that way.

I felt her fear. Her love. Her care. And her concern. I felt everything she was feeling. And she could feel mine, I could see it in her eyes.

They were crouched beside me protectively, listening intently to me explaining why I was cowering in the warehouse, a detective amongst the deviants I was tasked to take in. I couldn’t say much, but I think they understood.

And then Connor and Hank came into the warehouse and saw me. They were threatening the Tracis and then saw my arm and realized the truth.

“Wait...you’re...?” Hank hesitated, staring at Rachel who was now looking at the both of them. “You’re an android?”

“No.” Connor said, his eyes scanning over her arm. “She’s missing her left arm. It’s a prosthetic.”

I felt my heart get stuck in my throat at the sight of him. “Connor.” I whispered, another set of tears rolling down my cheek.

Hank had his gun on the Tracis and I felt my heart stop. “I’m giving you both one last chance! Step away from her!”

“Make us!” The blue-haired Traci challenged before she charged at Hank.

Connor quickly dashed in front of Hank to engage in combat with the blue-haired Traci before the other Traci let go of my hand, and her comfort, understanding, and compassion with her. Once again, I was alone with the darkness of my own thoughts and in front of me was fear.

Fear for the safety of my partners. And fear for the safety of the androids who had just risked theirs to comfort me. “Wait, stop!” I cried.

But they didn’t listen.

Things were moving too fast and I couldn’t pick out details. But I saw Connor and the brown-haired Traci rolling over the different appliances and examination tables near the exit of the warehouse.

“Connor!” I cried, wobbling to my feet to get to him, but my balance was really poor and I quickly collapsed to the floor as he had. I was definitely in no condition to fight right now.

“Rachel!” I heard him cry back, and I saw him reaching out to me before the Traci was on him again, yanking him away from me.

Suddenly, they both rolled out of the warehouse and I gasped. “CONNOR!” Once again I tried to scramble to my feet to try and reach the android before I suddenly saw the blue haired Traci rush over to help the other Traci up.

I tripped over the ledge as I stumbled forward, landing fully onto Connor. I managed to push myself up and was looking down into his dark eyes, hid LED spinning red.

In only a second, Connor grabbed me and and pushed me up against a nearby box. “Stay here, and don’t try and fight!”

“But you - !”

“No!” Connor insisted sharply. “You’re in no condition to fight, stay there!”

Hank quickly rushed out back into the fight, but was easily outdone by both the Tracis and thrown against the brick wall. As they both rushed towards the fence, Hank shouted at Connor. “QUICK! THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!”

I couldn’t properly walk, so all I could do was watch. But the more I sat there while Connor was dragging them off the fence, the more I couldn’t sit there any more.

I couldn’t let them hurt each other.

They put up even more of a fight against each other, grabbing other instruments in the alleyway. As I stumbled over, Hank glared at me. “Don’t you fucking dare!”

“I...can’t let them...” I managed to choke out as I stumbled my way closer.

As I got close, the brown-haired Traci threw a garbage can at Connor, and before I knew it, he had a gun drawn on them.

I felt my heart stop for a moment, thinking he was going to kill her.

But instead, he lowered his gun and was kicked to the ground. And the fighting stopped. It was only for a second, but I saw it clear as day.

But before I could process it any further, I tripped and collapsed onto the ground with a loud grunt. “Rachel!” Connor cried, quickly rushing over to help me up, pulling my right arm over his shoulder and wrapping his free arm around my waist to keep me steady. “I told you to stay out of the way!”

“I couldn’t...” I gasped, heaving heavily. There was more I wanted to say, but I didn’t have the breath or the energy to. I had completely depleted.

The Tracis stayed, and the moment was at a standstill. The blue-haired Traci was the first to speak, facing Connor directly, the brown-haired Traci behind her. “When that man broke the other Traci...I knew I was next...” She began, with a snarl in her strained voice. “I was so scared...I begged him to stop, but he wouldn't...” She continued, her voice further breaking. “And so I put my hands around his throat, and I squeezed...until he stopped moving...I didn't mean to kill him...I just wanted to stay alive...get back to the one I love.” She looked over at the other Traci, a tender smile on her lips. A sigh escaped my own at the sight. It was both one of relief and one of admiration. “I wanted her to hold me in her arms again...make me forget about the humans...their smell of sweat and their dirty words...” She looked over at me when she said that, and I felt the meaning behind it like a stab in my chest.

The brown-haired Traci stepped closer, addressing Connor as well. “Take care of her.” She said, gesturing to me. “She needs your help.” I swallowed hard, knowing about the conversation I was going to have to have with them after this. “Come on, let's go.” She said to the blue-haired Traci.

Hand in hand, the pair of androids jumped the fence and disappeared into the rainy night. Like that, the ordeal was over. I looked over at Connor, the android looking lost and unsure for the first time I’d really seen in him. “Connor...y-you...” I stammered, causing him to look over at me. “You let them go...”

He blinked a couple times, his mouth agape, but no words coming out. “I...”

“It's probably better this way...” Hank said, interrupting what Connor was going to say before he walked over to me. “You feelin’ okay, kid?”

“Yeah...I just...” I gasped, suddenly pulling away from Connor, collapsing onto the ground as I felt my stomach lurch.

“Hey, kid!”

I barely heard Hank cry out before I was throwing up into the wall of the alley, all the built up anxiety finally taking its physical toll on me. I could barely register Connor crouching next to me, his hand on my back as I kept vomiting whatever was still in my stomach from today.

It didn’t take long for my stomach to stop forcing out everything, and I collapsed onto the ground, exhausted and gasping for air. “We need to get you home, Rachel.” Connor said, his hand firmly gripping my shoulder. “Can you walk?”

I felt like it was a stupid question, but I was far too exhausted to bite back with anything, and my mouth tasted disgusting, the acidity of my stomach acid stinging my throat. “Not...without...losing my balance.” I managed to answer.

Without any hesitation, Connor hooked his right arm under my legs and his left cradled my back as he lifted me up in his arms bridal style with ease. “I’ll take you to the car and drive you home.”

I hadn’t been carried like this in many many years, and it was honestly kind of embarrassing. But...I could barely care. And I would’ve had a worse time trying to walk through the club than just letting Connor carry me through.

It didn’t help that Hank was scolding my ear off. “What the Hell, Rachel?!” He growled at me. “You nearly scared me half to death! Don’t ever fucking run off like that without telling us, first!”

I was too weak to really fight him on it. “I’m sorry...Hank...” I apologized meekly. “I was just...scared that...he’d find me...”

“Scared that who’d find you?!” Hank shouted.

“That’s enough, Lieutenant!” Connor told the old man off firmly. “You need to let her rest! She’s in no condition to argue with you! She’ll explain everything when she decides she’s ready to!”

I was sort of taken aback. Both by his brief aggressive protectiveness and by him considering my own feelings and emotional limits. No doubt, he remembered my reaction to the incident on the highway this morning and how long it took me to be ready to accept Connor’s apology for it. Hank clammed up as Connor carried me through the warehouse.

As soon as we got back into the club, the music was too much and I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I pressed myself further into the crook of Connor’s neck, a gesture I wasn’t sure if I actually did on purpose or not, nuzzling into him as he carried me.

But then, something strange happened as I was being carried through. I could’ve imagined it, because it was so brief and because everything was so much and I refused to open my eyes. But...I could’ve sworn I felt Connor press his cheek into my forehead.

It didn’t take long before I felt the cold air hit my skin and the rain soaking into my pants again. “Lieutenant, I’ll need you to ride in the back seat with Rachel while I drive.” He ordered. “Make sure you look after her while we make our way to her home.”

It was strange hearing Connor give Hank such direct orders, and even stranger to hear Hank comply without a fight. “Sure thing, I’ll take good care of her.”

Connor was standing still for a moment and I could hear Hank getting into the car, opening another door. As gently as I think I’ve ever been handled, Connor slipped me into the back seat next to Hank, the old man buckling me into the middle seat and letting me rest my head in his lap and resting his arm across my chest protectively. “Don’t worry kid, you’re gonna be okay.”

I could only shift and moan in exhaustion. “I know...thanks, Hank.”

The door was then closed in front of me. I then heard another door open and felt the motion of the car moving as Connor got into the driver’s seat and started the car.

After a moment of just the sounds of rain and the car engine working, it wasn’t hard for me to fall into the pit of exhaustion.

The only thoughts I could really hold onto was Connor. Connor lifting me into his arms. Connor telling off Hank just to look after me.

And the ghost of the feeling of his warm soft skin on my forehead.

---------------------------------

Next Chapter

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cup-half-full-of-anxiety · 4 years

Text

Taron Fic - Working Title (Chapter Five)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Auther’s note:

So this is going to be pretty angsty. I hope you all enjoy! Let me know.

Exhaustion didn’t even come close to describing how Adelaide felt when her head finally hit the pillow in her bedroom at her Grans flat. She always felt most at home here, more than the house she grew up in in Michigan, more than the home she currently lived in in LA, maybe not as much as the home that she once shared with Taron but that may have had more to do with the person feeling like home vs the actual structure itself. The summers spent here held her best memories, it saw some of her highest and lowest moments. She and Tilly had had one of their biggest fights there directly after her 13th birthday and they didn’t talk for almost a year, it’s where she fell down the stairs and broke her ankle when she was 10, it's where she was when she learned her dad was sick and it’s where Tilly had first introduced her to Taron.

But as exhausted as she was, sleep just didn’t seem to want to take over. Maybe combining her meeting the cast and crew and her confession to Taron into one event wasn’t the most mentally sound thing to do but it’s how it happened, and she needed to move forward. If asked she would say it was the time zone change that was throwing her off, but she knew that wasn’t the whole deal.

No, her mind was away with a boy somewhere within a 15-mile radius, whose heart she had the displeasure to have broken not just once but twice in her lifetime.

Adelaide will admit, she had readied herself for the hate she was going to recieve from Taron. She was nowhere near ready for the pain that the look of hurt and disappointment brought her. It almost made her wish for the hate.

**BUZZ BUZZ**

Suddenly she jumped when her phone started vibrating on her nightstand. She quickly looked at the clock next to it.

3:16 am

Adelaide grabbed her phone, thinking it might be her mom calling about Elea, but she was shocked when Taron’s name flashed across the screen.

She took a deep breath and answered.

“Hello”

“You’ve never changed your number?” He sounded surprised.

“You never deleted my number?” She questioned back.

“Don’t think it would have mattered; I’ve had it memorized since we were 15” he confessed.

Adelaide stalled, she didn’t know what to say, she didn’t think she was going to have a conversation with Taron any time soon, outside of the talking that was needed to be able to do their job or possibly their daughter.

“I’m sorry” His voice was quiet.

“T, you have no reason to be sorry.” Her voice was just as tender.

They fell into another silence but this one wasn’t as uncomfortable. They just listened to the sound of the other.

“Can I come over?” Adelaide was startled, she thought he may have fallen asleep.

“What?” She asked opening her eyes.

Taron cleared his throat before he spoke again.

“Can I come over?” he asked again, he sounded almost desperate.

“Of course,” She didn’t hesitate “I am at my Grans. Do you rem-“

“I remember, I’ll be there in 15 minutes” he hung up.

Adelaide got out of bed, she changed out her tank-top for an old Detroit Red Wings hoodie, she already had on shorts, so she just stuck with them and slipped on her unicorn slippers Elea picked out for her for Christmas last year. She checked her headscarf; she grabbed her phone and headed downstairs.

Her Grans flat was quite ridiculous for one person to be using. It had 4 bedrooms, 5 and ½ bathrooms and was three stories tall with a basement but she was not one to argue with her Gran when she gave her orders to stay in the house the duration of filming and not waste a cent on a hotel.

5 minutes into her endless Instagram scroll there was a knock at the door. She slid her phone into the hoodie pocket and made her way to answer it.

“Hi” She greeted a sweatpants and hoodie clad Taron with a smile.

“Come on in”

She stepped aside. He followed her to the living room after he took off his shoes.

“Wow this place hasn’t changed much” Adelaide looked around with him. It hadn’t.

“No, Gran loves the design of this place. Now the house in Canterbury, I swear she changes that one every year, sometimes with the seasons it feels like” She joked, unknowing that her comment made Taron wonder how many times Adelaide had been in England in the last 5 years and he had no clue.

How many times had she only been a tube ride away and he didn’t know?

What if he had been on the tube with her and he just hadn't really taken in the faces around him.

He pushed the thought away. It was too late to get into that.

They sat in comfortable silence for some time. Adelaide really wanted to ask him why he wanted to come over so late, but she also didn’t want him to think he was intruding.

Her sudden yawn pulled both their attention.

“I should go, it’s late. I shouldn’t have even-“ he started rambling, she grabbed his hand to calm him.

“Taron, it��s fine.” He looked down at their hands. Adelaide made to move but Taron closed his other hand around her, lacing his top hand through her fingers. “I wouldn’t have agreed to you coming over if I didn’t want to. It has just been a long few days” He had to agree with her.

“Do you think we could maybe lay down?” He asked before he yawned himself, his eyes still on their hands.

Adelaide should have been shocked by the question, but she just quickly answered yes.

She stood up taking Taron’s hand with her and leading him to her room. She had flash to the night they gave themselves to each other for the first time play in her mind as they made their way down the hall. They had had the flat to themselves for a whole weekend, well Adelaide had it to herself but of course, nothing was going to stop her from having her boyfriend over.

They both stood on either side of the bed, looking at each other just as they did all those years before but instead of two red-faced teens, each undressing and timidly climbing into bed, they were both fully clothed when they laid down, facing each other. Their eyes taking each other in.

Taron studied Adelaide’s more mature features. Her tan skin was smooth, not surprised with how diligently she took care of it as a teen with the acne she had. She did everything she could to keep it clear. Her hair was wrapped tightly in a scarf, as it always was when she slept. The last kiss he had pressed to her lips that morning she left flashed in his mind.

Had he kissed her? Or had his mind wanted so badly to have something to hold on to that he wished it into existence?

Her eyes were still just as vibrant, but he could see the pain behind them that tried to dull the light.

“You have a scar on your chin?” he observed.

Her eyes flicked back to his.

“Yeah, I got into a car accident about 2 years ago” She told him “Drunk driver ran a red light while I was visiting family back in Michigan”

Taron’s eyes widened.

“I’m fine” She assured him. “I had a concussion and a broken arm. I had to stay in the hospital for 2 nights. Eleanor wasn’t with me. She was back in LA with my mom”

Taron repositioned himself, he laid on his back, getting lost in the ceiling for a moment while his mind ran.

Eleanor

It was the name they had talked about.

“Eleanor Louise?” He asked.

Adelaide smiled; of course he remembered.

Taron had missed so much over the last 5 years, he wanted so bad to put all the blame on Adelaide for running but he had to at some point admit he understood her knee jerk decision.

“I’m sorry I did this to us” Tears filled Adelaide's eyes as she watched the emotion play across Taron’s face.

“Shh” Taron rolled back to his side “That’s not why I am here” He finally breached the distance they put between themselves and wiped the tears from her face.

“Why are you here?” She whispered.

Taron smiled at her bluntness.

“I really don’t know” He answered honestly. His hand now reasting on her the side her face, his fingertips just brushing againt the skin just at the edge of her scarf, the pad of his thumb running sofly over her cheek.

“Every part of me feels like I should have nothing but anger toward you but then my heart just wants to hold you”

Adelaide can say she was shocked by his confession.

“Can I hold you?” His eyes were pleading.

She again didn’t answer, she adjusted herself as close to his body as she could. Taron finally getting to wrap his arms around her and pull her flush to him, her forehead resting on his chest. Smiling as she listened to his heart.

Their bodies both relaxed in a way they hadn’t in some time.

Adelaide found herself clutching onto the front of Taron’s shirt as he ran his hand up and down her back. As she circled her free left arm around his waist, she could feel him trembling, then she heard the quiet sniffle. She pulled herself closer to him and began running her hand over his back as the silent tears fell.

She didn’t say anything about it, she knew she didn’t need to.

After some time, his breathing evened out. Adelaide quicked a look at him to see he had fallen asleep. She pressed a long kiss to his chest before she rested her head back down and let sleep take her over.

“Love!” Taron called out, closing the front door.

“I’m home” he followed up as he hung his coat in the closet, he kicked his shoes off as well.

Something about the house felt off, it was quiet. Normally there was always music playing when Adelaide was home, she was in between productions right now so she wasn’t working.

She must have run to the store. He thought to himself.

He moved throughout the house. Dropping his duffle bag on the kitchen table. He didn’t see the paper on the table fall to the floor. He went to the fridge, grabbing out the apple juice. He twist off the cap and leaned back against the closed door to take a drink but before the bottle met his lips he noticed the paper on the ground.

He moved over to the table and leaned down to pick it up but every time he reached the paper was farther and farther away.

“What the hell?”

He set the bottle on the table and knelt to reach for it but somehow it seems to always be out of his grasp.

He could hear footsteps coming up behind him, he turns around to see Adelaide standing there. Her belly looked to be almost 8 months pregnant.

“I’m sorry. I hope one day you’ll understand” she says as she rubs her belly.

“Understand what?” he asks but she turns away.

“Adelaide, understand what?” he asks again as he starts to follow her, but with every step it was like he was walking on a treadmill, he wasn't moving.

“Where are you going? Adelaide!” He calls out again, but she was gone.

He jerks awake.

His dream had been haunted with the memory of that day; the day he came home to find his life empty with no explanation aside from the note she left.

I’m sorry

I hope someday you’ll understand

He never thought he could feel pain like he had that day.

His heart rate began to steady as he took in his surroundings. Adelaide’s childhood bedroom, with Adelaide herself still in his arms.

She at some point in the night had rolled onto her other side, her back pressed firmly to his chest. His arm wrapped around her waist and her hand interlocked with his.

The last 15 hours of his life had been turned upside down.

A ghost that he thought was going to haunt him for the rest of his life not only came back to life, but she told him he was a father.

He was a father.

He pulled his arm from around Adelaide, his hand feeling cold when he unlaced their fingers. He made his way downstairs. Shuffling around the still familiar kitchen, he made himself a cup of tea. He had spent so much time in this home in his teens and early 20s.

As the water heated he leaned back on the kitchen island, looking out into the living room.

His eyes ran over some of the art that was different from before, seeing a larger TV mounted to the wall and then his eyes landed on the corner of the room where it was clearly set up for a child. A toy chest, drawing table, and a child’s painting easel.

As he took everything in his mind wandered, wondering if his daughter had a room here.

He turned and shut the stove off, he pulled the kettle from the burner and abandoned the empty cup and tea bag on the counter before he headed back up the stairs.

Adelaide awoke a little while later, she thought last night had been a dream. She was alone in the bed but when she rolled onto her back and took the room in, she spotted Taron’s phone still on the nightstand.

She pulled herself out of bed, checking the clock.

9:15am

Adelaide started heading downstairs but the creaking of a floorboard a room away caught her attention.

She pushed open the door to Eleanor’s room to find Taron sitting on the bed, a teddy bear that Adelaide had made her from one of Taron’s old shirts in his hand.

“I made that for her when I was pregnant. I was bedridden in my last two months and had a lot of time on my hands. She has another one stateside, I had to make it when that one got left behind once.” Taron didn’t move, he kept toying with the arm of the bear.

He could feel himself starting to lose control over the anger he had been able to keep at bay last night.

“You know how much it is taking for me to not explode about this” His voice was to calm.

“But last night you-“ He cut her off.

“Leaving and having her is one thing but to still be coming back here. You have come to England to see family and Tilly, you know how it feels knowing there were so many times over the past 5 years that you and our daughter were only minutes away from me”

“Why didn’t you just tell me Adelaide!” The anger in his voice made her cower, she knew he would never hurt her, but she had never heard him sound like this before.

“We could have made this work!” He set the bear back down on the bed as he stood up. “We could be a family right now, have more kids. We could be married.” His voice sounded so broken. She could see the tears in his eyes, but he wasn’t going to let them fall.

“Taron I am sorry. I am so sorry and I will be apologizing to you and Eleanor until my last breath but you can’t stand there and tell me things wouldn't be different if we stayed, you can't say you wouldn’t have hesitated or even turned down Eddie the Eagle, Billionaires Club or even Robin Hood, all three projects that would have had you out of the country for months at a time” She argued back

“Hate me, fine. I fucking hate me, I have accepted that I am going to have to live with this choice forever. What I can’t deal with is you resenting me-“

“Resenting you? What do you think I am feeling right now! I missed out on 5 fucking years of my daughter’s life! 5 years!”

He took a step toward her.

“Her first words”

He held up a finger as he stepped again

“Her first steps”

Second finger followed with another step.

“Her opening her eyes for the first time”

With his third finger and last step he was in front of her.

“You took it all away from me. You took it away from Eleanor. You decided that you got to be Judge, Jury, and executioner of this situation! Does she even know about me?” He watched Adelaide shake with tears, he could see the pain in her eyes, but he couldn’t stop himself. Apart of him wanted her to hurt just as much as he did.

“Of course she does!” She wished they could go back to last night. She wished she could go back to holding Taron in her arms.

“Oh, and just how good do you think this is going to be for my career now?” He argued “You say you gave so much thought to how this would affect it, how do you think this is going to affect me now?”

Adelaide stood there silent. She didn’t have anything else in her. The internal battle she had been fighting for 5 years was being thrown back at her but now it was narrated by Taron.

“Taron Egerton: Deadbeat dad” He mimes the words appearing in front of him as he says each one.

“That is going to do wonders for me, I can hear the TMZ coverage of it now”

“Egerton love child scandal”

He paused for a breath. He watched as Adelaide sank down the wall of Eleanor’s room to her knees as she continued to cry.

He was done.

“But in regard to my dream” He started walking out of the room

“You, me, and a family was the only dream I needed” he was gone again.

Walking out on her for the second time in less than 24 hours.

Adelaide sat crying. She couldn’t move.

She listened as Taron left, slamming the front door.

She was still there long after the tears ran dry.Chapter six

@xceaf @sarahegerton96 @primaba11erina

#Taron Egerton #Taron x Reader #Taron Fanfiction #Fanfiction #writing

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omgjasminesimone · 5 years

Text

The Hot Exchange Student Part 3

Logan x MC (Ellie)

Previous Part: Part 2

Next Part: Part 4

Author’s Note: This is longer than usual, and I didn’t get as far as I originally wanted to. Hopefully you guys like the longer length! One last RoDAW entry!

Summary: Logan is an exchange student from Detroit a month into his exchange program in L.A. Tensions rise with his detective host father as Logan becomes involved in L.A.’s criminal underbelly, while simultaneously becoming romantically involved with the detective’s daughter.

Word Count: ~4000

For a few moments no one speaks, a silent showdown. Mr. Wheeler is looking at his daughter with his ‘I’m not mad, I’m disappointed’ face, but when his stare turns to Logan sitting beside her, his face reads, ‘I’m both mad and disappointed’.

“Where were you guys?” Detective Wheeler finally asks.

“A car show.” Ellie answers.

“I was unaware they had car shows at 11:00 PM on Saturday nights. Did you mean an illegal sideshow?” Detective Wheeler prompts.

Ellie sighs, her shoulders slumping. “Yes.”

Detective Wheeler nods. “Despite the fact that you guys are grounded, and you’re only supposed to leave the house for school or if you’re studying.”

Ellie deflates further. “…Yes.” She answers when her father looks like he’s waiting for a response.

Detective Wheeler turns his gaze to Logan, who is sitting beside Ellie defiantly, not looking remorseful in the least. “Anything you want to say Logan?” Detective Wheeler asks, narrowed eyes informing Logan that he’s looking for an apology.

He doesn’t get one. “Just that the three week grounding for missing a 10:00 curfew seemed a little excessive to me. Ellie is a good person. You can loosen the leash a little bit.”

Ellie winces at that response. Her dad is going to explode.

The cold, calm anger Detective Wheeler speaks with next is more terrifying than the rare occasions when he’s yelled at her. “You’ve been very disrespectful since you got here Logan. We’ve had several conversations about it, and your behavior has not changed. I think you’re a bad influence on Ellie, and I really don’t like that. If you’re going to live under my roof, you’re going to follow my rules. Otherwise, you can leave my house and go back to Detroit early. Are we clear?”

This is the first time Detective Wheeler has actually threatened to kick Logan out of the house. Logan’s jaw clenches as he fights his desire to retort. He chances a quick look at Ellie before he nods. “Crystal.”

“Good. I also want to speak to your parents about your behavior.” Detective Wheeler adds, leaning back in his recliner.

Logan hesitates, taking a breath before he finally speaks. “I can give you my current foster father’s phone number if you really want it, but I can promise you he’s not going to care. And most of the time his phone doesn’t work because he spends his whole social security check on beer before paying the bill.” Logan reveals.

Foster care. That explains a lot. The lack of belongings. His aversion to parental authority. His ‘situation’ in Detroit. Ellie feels bad for him, but she tries to fight down that feeling. She knows Logan well enough to know that he doesn’t want her pity. That’s probably why he never told her.

“I’d still like his number.” Detective Wheeler says, pulling out his address book while Logan goes through his phone to pull up his contacts. Logan recites the number, and Detective Wheeler writes it down. “I’ll call him tomorrow since it’s so late, even later Central time. You guys should get to bed too.”

Ellie looks at her dad suspiciously. That’s it? Ellie starts to get up, but then her father speaks again.

“By the way, you guys are grounded for another 3 weeks. And this time, I mean it.”

…

Ellie’s phone pings as she and Logan watch a movie on the couch, her head resting on his shoulder. She sits up to grab it from the coffee table. It’s a text from her dad.

Dad: Peace signs by the refrigerator.

“Logan, peace signs by the refrigerator.” Ellie reports, standing up and heading towards the kitchen. Logan follows behind her, hands in the pockets of his jeans.

“This is so stupid.” He complains as they pose for the selfie. Ellie sees he’s flipping a bird in her camera screen as she prepares to take the photo.

“Logan.” She admonishes, so he lifts his index finger as well to make the peace sign her father has requested.

To enforce his grounding when he’s away at work, Ellie’s father requests specific poses somewhere in the house. That way, he knows they’re home like they’re supposed to be. This is their last day of grounding, but it hasn’t been all bad.

Ellie has gotten a lot of studying done over the three weeks, and more importantly, she’s had a lot of quality time to spend with Logan. He’s more open with her now, since he’s not trying to hide his background anymore.

Logan told her that he was born in prison. That he doesn’t know who his father is. That his mom is still in jail for all he knows, they’ve never had any contact.

He told her about his current foster father, an alcoholic with 6 foster kids in a small three bedroom trailer. Logan shares a small bedroom with a 15 year old foster brother, who Logan simply describes as ‘troubled’. Despite this, he tells her it’s actually one of his better placements.

That’s why when his high school counselor told him about the opportunity for a full ride scholarship for the exchange program, he jumped on it.

(“She’s straight out of college. So she’s not jaded yet, she still cares.” Logan scoffs, drawing skulls on the toes of his chucks as they hang out on the porch. “That won’t last long.”)

Another reason why the grounding hasn’t been all bad is because they’ve found creative ways to work around it. Ellie and Logan signed up for an after school SAT prep class, and Logan convinced her to lie to her father about what time it ends, giving them 2 hours of free time each day after school. Well, Logan has 4 hours of free time because he doesn’t actually go to the class. She’s not sure exactly what he’s doing, he’s very vague about it when she asks.

Ellie feels bad about lying, she didn’t habitually lie to her father before Logan got here, but she does enjoy those 2 hours with Logan. Sometimes, they go to the beach. Or that diner she loves with Riya and Darius. But usually, that time is dedicated to driving practice. Ellie really want to pass her license test.

Since they’re already in the kitchen, Ellie pops another bag of popcorn before they return to the couch. “Do you feel ready for your driving test tomorrow?” Logan asks, watching her instead of the cheesy horror movie.

“I think I am.” She smiles up at him. “You’ve taught me well.”

Hmm, what to wear. Ellie is looking for an outfit that says, hey, this girl is a competent driver who totally deserves a license. She settles on a denim skirt and a white shirt that hangs off her shoulders. She’s putting her long hair into her usual braid when Logan knocks.

“Hey troublemaker. Change of plans. I’m sorry, but I can’t take you to your test. Something important came up.” He takes in her outfit. ��Wow, you look great.”

She’s too annoyed with him to be flustered at the compliment. “What do you mean you can’t take me? I can’t ask my dad and rescheduling with the DMV would be an absolute nightmare.”

“You can take the car, just drive yourself.” Logan underhand tosses her the keys.

She catches them with both hands, “But, I don’t have my license! It’s illegal for me to drive by myself.”

“Just don’t get pulled over on the way there and you’ll be fine. You’re definitely going to pass. Come here, good luck hug, not that you need it.”

She wants to ask him what he’s doing that’s so important, but she doubts he would tell her. So she just walks over and hugs him. He smells really good. Like, vanilla-y? She tightens her grip around his muscled chest, burying her face into his shirt.

“Text me when you’ve passed.” Logan says as he pulls away after one last squeeze.

She is even more of a stickler for the rules than she usually is as she drives to the DMV, cars behind her getting annoyed with her since she’s actually under the speed limit. But she doesn’t get pulled over, and when she finishes her test the instructor says she’s the best beginner he’s ever seen. She’s passed.

Ellie smiles for her new license photo, and once it’s printed she takes a photo of the freshly minted license and texts it to Logan. He replies right away.

Logan: congrats!!

Logan: knew u could do it troublemaker

Ellie: Thank you! I’m very excited, if you couldn’t tell from the big cheesy grin on my license photo. :D

Ellie: Where are you? I can come pick you up, we can get a celebratory late lunch/early dinner.

The three dots indicating that Logan is typing starts, stops, and then starts again as he probably writes and deletes a message.

Logan: I’m actually at a drive-in movie theater

Logan: come meet me troublemaker 😉

His next text includes an address on Rosecrans. Ellie plugs it into her phone and takes her first licensed solo drive.

Ellie wanders the parking lot on foot. Logan told her to park on the street (they charge by car), and that she’s looking for a white van. But there are a lot of cars here. She looks around helplessly, pulling out her phone to text Logan again.

“You lost, sweetheart?”

Ellie turns to see who would use sweetheart in such a condescending manner. She’s met with a boy who looks to be around her age, dark hair, even darker eyes, dressed in a leather jacket and carrying a tub of popcorn. He seems familiar for some reason.

“Maybe a little lost. Logan’s directions were a little vague.” She admits.

“Aah, you must be Ellie. Logan said you were coming.” He looks her up and down. “What is a girl like you doing hanging out with a lowlife like Logan?” Before Ellie can say anything in Logan’s defense, the boy walks off. Ellie assumes she should follow him.

He stops in front of an old white cargo van, opening the sliding door. Inside there’s Logan, a man with long hair, prominent neck tattoos, and glasses, an extremely tall woman, and another woman with long black hair and a piercing gaze all resting on bean bag chairs in the back.

“Hey Ellie, you made it.” Logan says, taking her hand to help her into the van. “Ellie, this is Toby, Ximena, Mona, and Colt.”

Toby and Ximena both give her a welcoming smile, while Mona just looks at her appraisingly. “Take a seat Ellie! Or you’re going to miss the best part!” Toby warns, eyes returning to the screen.

Ellie squeezes onto Logan’s bean bag chair, leg flush against his. “How’d you meet your friends?” She asks Logan softly.

“I wouldn’t say they’re my friends. Just coworkers I get along with. Well, I don’t always get along with Colt. But he’s just visiting Kaneko over his Fall Break.” Logan answers.

Ahh, so that’s why Colt looked familiar, he’s Kaneko’s son. Ellie’s brow furrows as she goes over the rest of his statement. “Coworkers? You have a job?”

His eyes widen slightly at his slip up. He gives her a measured glance, as if he’s deciding how much he should tell her. “I’m doing some work for Kaneko.”

Ellie’s blood runs cold, remembering how everyone feared Kaneko. Knowing that whatever work Kaneko is offering is probably criminal. What has Logan gotten himself into? “What kind of work?” She presses.

“Shh you two! Blown Gasket is playing!” Toby chastises, looking at the screen raptly during a car chase scene.

Ellie shuts up, but not before giving Logan a look that clearly says the discussion isn’t over.

Colt scoffs at Toby’s enthusiasm. “Calm down Toby. You’ve only seen this stupid movie fifty times.”

“No one forced you to come Kaneko Jr.” Mona retorts, not even bothering to turn away from the screen to look at Colt.

“My dad wanted everyone out of the garage while he does whatever he’s doing, especially me.” Colt replies.

Logan leans over slightly to whisper in Ellie’s ear, not wanting Toby’s wrath. “Does your dad know where we are?”

“I just told him we’re out with friends. We’re not grounded anymore, so he was fine with it.” Ellie whispers back.

Half an hour later, Ellie finishes the last of the popcorn in the extra large tub. She starts to put the empty tub down on the floor, when Ximena interjects. “Nuh uh sweetie. Whoever finishes it gets the next refill.”

Toby gives Ellie a $100 bill. “Does anyone have anything smaller?” Ellie asks, standing from the bean bag chair and heading for the door.

“Nope.” Mona responds, opening the door for Ellie.

Ellie is walking across the lot towards the concession stand when suddenly someone steps in front of her, blocking her path. Ellie looks up and is met with Salazar’s smirking face. “I can’t believe it, real nice of you to join us.” Salazar sneers.

“Salazar…” Ellie mumbles, dropping the popcorn bucket and turning around to head back to the van when Salazar steps towards her menacingly. Ellie’s escape path is cut off by the same four goons who had accompanied Salazar when he lost the race.

“I heard the Mercy Park Crew was hanging around here, came to see for myself.” He spits out when he reaches her. Mercy Park Crew? Ellie has no idea what he’s talking about. “Your boyfriend owes me money for what he did, lots of it.”

“You lost the race. You both agreed on the terms.” Ellie mutters weakly, looking around for a possible escape but finding nothing.

“I don’t remember him stealing the opportunity I had with Kaneko being one of the terms. I worked hard to build respect in the streets, to make a name for myself, and now some punk kid shows up and gets everything handed to him? That’s bullshit.” He turns to the biggest goon. “Grab her. He’ll pay to get her back.”

“No!” Ellie tries to fight off the heavily tattooed man gripping her arm roughly, but he’s twice her size so she doesn’t stand a chance.

“Get away from her. You got a problem with me, you leave her out of it.” Logan’s voice has a dangerous edge to it that Ellie has never heard before. The goon looks to Salazar, waiting for a small nod, before releasing her.

Ellie quickly retreats to Logan’s side, and he gently pushes her behind him. Salazar smirks, eyeing Logan venomously. “Now it’s a party.”

The goons close in, encircling Logan. Logan clenches his fists, gearing up for a fight.

“No, Logan! You can’t fight them five on one. We need to run.” Ellie reasons.

He briefly turns to look at her, his gaze hard. “You need to run. Now.” He swings his fist at the nearest goon, rocking his jaw.

That goon goes down, clutching his jaw, but one of the others cries “Get him!”, and the remaining goons and Salazar attack all at once. Ellie doesn’t run as instructed, instead she looks on worriedly as Logan fights like an animal, punching, grappling, slamming.

Her heart hurts a little as she wonders where he learned to fight like this. Was it a particularly abusive group home? Out on the streets of Detroit? He holds his own for a while, but eventually he can’t fend them all off and they get him down to the ground.

“You piece of shit.” Salazar sneers, kicking Logan hard in the ribs, again, and again. Ellie can’t take anymore, so she grabs a forgotten pipe on the asphalt as she runs towards the melee.

“Stop it!” She cries, swinging as hard as she can into Salazar’s back. He topples over with a grunt.

Salazar glares at her. “You little bitch.” Logan takes advantage of Salazar being momentarily preoccupied, kicking straight into one of the goon’s chin. He falls with a yelp. But another goon grabs Ellie, throwing her roughly into a car door. Ellie feels a searing pain from her forehead, raising her hand to grasp at it. When she brings her hand back down, there’s blood on her palm. “Nnh.” She mutters weakly, putting both hands to the asphalt in an attempt to get back to her feet.

“Ellie!” Logan exclaims. He’s covered in bruises, but he tries to push himself up anyway. He is quickly beaten back down.

Salazar gets to his feet, dusting himself off. “You don’t know who you messed with.” He threatens, readying to stomp down on Logan.

Suddenly, a razor sharp knife flicks to Salazar’s throat, Mona appears behind him with Toby, Colt, and Ximena, all looking very threatening. Ellie is surprised Toby can pull off such a menacing look.

“Do you?” Mona asks, allowing the blade to dig in a little more. Salazar lowers his foot, putting his hands up, knowing he’s been beaten. “Don’t show your faces here again.” Mona threatens, shoving Salazar away. Salazar glares at Ellie and Logan one more time before stalking away, his injured goons following behind him.

Colt offers Logan a hand up. “You’re pretty lucky I saved your ass, huh? Pshh…and dad thinks you could replace me.”

Logan ignores Colt’s hand, getting up on his own. “Funny, I don’t feel too lucky right about now. Where’s Ellie?”

“Logan!” Ellie runs to the group, taking Logan’s face into her hands and gently examining the bruising, the worst of it around his right eye, which is swollen shut. He smiles weakly at her, apologetically. Ellie sighs, gently rubbing her thumb on his cheek. “We need to get you home Logan.”

She turns towards the others. “Thank you for saving him.”

Colt smirks, crossing his arms over his chest. “Consider it Mercy Park Crew community service.”

…

“Ellie? Logan?” Her dad’s voice carries from the kitchen as Ellie opens the front door and the door alarm chimes shortly.

“Hey Dad, we’re home.” Ellie calls back, trying to tug Logan up the stairs before her dad sees his bruises, which will no doubt lead to questions they’re unprepared to answer.

“Dinner is almost ready!” Her dad calls back. The smell of his home made spaghetti permeates the air.

“Okay! We’ll be down shortly!” Ellie yells from the top of the stairs, pulling Logan into his room. She pulls the door almost closed behind them, leaving it open just a crack. That’s another one of her dad’s rules, she and Logan aren’t allowed to be in a room together with the door closed.

Ellie pulls the first aid kid from the closet. “Sit.” She commands, so Logan takes a seat on his bed. Ellie turns the lamp beside the bed on, bathing Logan in its soft glow. For the first time she sees how badly injured he is. She sighs, taking a seat beside him. “You shouldn’t have gone through all that trouble for me.”

“What are you talking about? They never would have gone after you if it wasn’t for me. So yes, I did” Logan insists. Ellie tenderly touches Logan’s face, and he tries to hide his wince, but she sees it. He places his hand over hers before she can pull back. “I’m fine Ellie. I’ve been in worse fights. They only got a few licks in.”

They clearly got more than a few licks in, but Ellie doesn’t argue with him. Instead, she opens the first aid kit. She remembers watching Salazar kick him in the ribs, knowing they’re probably seriously injured. “Can you take off your shirt?” She asks softly.

He peels off the white t-shirt, wincing a little at the movement, and tosses the shirt to the floor. He keeps the spark plug necklace he’s always wearing on.

She’s felt how toned he is when they’ve hugged, but it’s an entirely different experience to see all his taut muscles exposed in the low light of the lamp. But before she can become too distracted by his amazing body and six pack abs, she notices the dark purple bruising all over his sides. And beneath that, the scars from the car accident he told her about when he was teaching her to drive, making her promise to always be in control.

Ellie grabs the peroxide from the kit and dabs it on a long gash running down his collarbone. “Fuck, that stings.” Logan complains, squeezing his eyes shut as he tries not to pull away from her.

“I’m sorry.” She apologizes, placing a soft kiss to the tan skin near the gash without even thinking about it. But she notices his soft intake of breath and realizes what she just did. She slowly raises her gaze to meet his.

Something electric passes between them, and then Logan’s eyes go up further, to the cut on her forehead. He pushes her hair out of her face and traces it, his touch gentler than she could ever expect from the same boy she saw just a half hour earlier fighting the goons so viciously.

“You’re hurt.” He observes.

“I’m fine. You’re the one who’s hurt.” She retorts, knocking his hand aside and getting back to her task of bandaging up the cut.

He shakes his head softly, watching her as she starts to bandage up his ribs. “You should have run Ellie. Why didn’t you run like I told you to?” Logan admonishes.

“I couldn’t just leave you there Logan.”

“You have to. You have to be able to leave me Ellie. Otherwise…” He trails off, turning away from her.

“Otherwise what? Logan?” When he still doesn’t respond, she puts both hands on his face and forces him to make eye contact. “What are you trying to tell me Logan?” She asks softly, looking deeply into his brown eyes.

Suddenly, he surges forward, lips capturing hers in a searing kiss.

Oh my God, he’s kissing her. She’s having her first kiss. She’ll have to call Riya later, her long-time best friend will want to know about this. Logan’s hands tangle in her hair, tilting her head as he attempts to deepen the kiss. Ellie doesn’t know what to do with her hands, she starts to put them on his strong bare shoulders, but chickens out at the last moment and let’s them fall back to her sides.

Wait, he’s licking at her lips now. Does that mean something? Does he want her to open her mouth? Is she ready for that? What if she’s a bad kisser? Is she totally embarrassing herself?

Logan pulls away from her lips, resting his forehead against hers as both of their eyes open. “You’re overthinking this.”

“I overthink everything.”

Logan smiles softly at that response, giving her a quick peck. “Just relax. Do what feels natural. Trust me Ellie, there’s nothing you can do that I won’t like.” He closes his eyes and kisses her again, and Ellie takes his advice. She doesn’t think, she does what feels natural. Ellie’s hands trail up his arms to loop around his neck, pulling herself closer to him. He opens his mouth, and because of the way their wet lips are staggered, her mouth opens too, allowing him to slip his tongue in.

It’s an unfamiliar sensation, but she decides she likes it. She tentatively circles his tongue with her own, and he hums appreciatively. Despite his injuries, he pulls her onto his lap, letting her straddle him. He pulls back to give her time to breathe, kissing down her neck and across her collar bone.

She tangles her fingers in his hair. It’s as soft as she always imagined it would be. Logan’s name escapes her lips on a breathy sigh as he sucks on her collar bone, marking her. He returns to her lips, kissing her more forcefully, hand pressed to her lower back to pull her even closer.

“Dinner!” Detective Wheeler calls from downstairs, causing the two teens to quickly spring away from each other, remembering where they are.

“We can’t let him see you like this. I’ll tell him you’re tired and skipping dinner. I’ll bring up your food later. Hopefully your eye will be less swollen tomorrow, we’ll put some concealer on your bruises.” Ellie plans out loud.

Logan smiles softly, really wanting to kiss her again. “Sounds like a plan troublemaker.” She turns to head downstairs. “Wait!” Logan calls out, reaching for her hand. He gently pulls her back to him and tugs her shirt up a little, covering the hickey forming on her collar bone. “Okay, you can go now.”

…

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#logan rod #logan x mc #ride or die #rodaw #choices fanfiction #choices #playchoices

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