#cityofandroids

@cityofandroids

(*)

To say he was surprised was an understatement. It had been well over a year since the Revolution and androids gained their freedom. Since CyberLife had been taken over by androids and the general population became more accepting of androids in general. Since everyone’s lives got turned upside down, shaken around and then thrown back out like dice in a game of Yah-tzee. 

But nothing really shook Corwin more than being out in the city one afternoon and found Connor out on a date with Markus. They looked so happy together, standing close and holding hands, the synthetic skin peeled back so they could interface and Connor’s LED a bright shining pink.

It really snapped things into a new perspective for Corwin.

If Connor was with Markus, then did that mean Corwin’s original assumption was wrong? Connor had once loved Hank Anderson with the kind of passion that nearly left Corwin reeling when he first had Connor’s memories. How could a love like that fizzle out or be replaced by someone else?

Ethan watched Gavin silently as the detective seemed to wrestle with the question, or perhaps the various responses that he wanted to give. There was defiance in his eyes, but also discomfort, which had prompted Ethan to ask.

Truthfully, he didn’t think that it was the issue. Gavin didn’t seem to dislike what he was…it was more that he seemed to resent his own acceptance of Ethan despite what he was.

He smirked as Gavin predictably went with defiance, shaking his head in amusement. “Alright. Then perhaps it’s how you feel for me, that gets you so worked up?”

“How do I feel about you other than annoyance?” Gavin shot back, grabbing his coffee and taking a swig. Ahh, nothing like the sixth cup of the day. “I thought Connor was the bane of my existence until you showed up. Now I gotta deal with the both of you on a regular occurrence.”

Setting his coffee down, he picked up his phone next, opening up a game and kicking his feet up on the desk. It was a slow day, nothing but paperwork, something he was not that fond of doing. Procrastination was his friend.

Ethan had seen Gavin endure nightmares before, so it wasn’t a complete novelty. But he hadn’t yet witnessed this level–this gasping and twisting, muttering words too quietly for even him to hear, Gavin clearly struggling to pull himself from the blackness of his subconscious, and unable to do so.

So Ethan did it for him, shaking him awake. He went still went Gavin came to, letting the human cling to him for stability as Ethan tried to calm him with soothing nonsense.

“It’s alright. You’re safe, you’re awake. I’m right here.” He perched on the edge of the bed on Gavin’s side, moving his hand to curl his fingers through Gavin’s. “Breathe, baby. I’m here beside you. It’s okay.”

Gavin took a deep breath as instructed, inhaling a bit raggedly before he swallowed, reaching up to wipe at his face, fingers coming back wet. But that was okay. Ethan was right, he was alright, he was safe.

Ghost bounded up onto the bed then, her dainty white paws creeping over the comforter to come closer to Gavin, rubbing her head against his side. He gently rubbed under her chin and against her neck, the soft fur a soothing texture, and she purred softly, closer her eyes as she leaned her weight against him. Really, she was turning out to be a good emotional support animal without any proper training.

“I saw you.That night at the docks, when all of those parts went missing,” the punk said after finding the Jericho leader, finding him in broad daylight on Woodward. He was planning something, what it was, Vivienne didn’t know. 

“Let me introduce myself. Detroit Police Department knows me as Novacaine, but you can call me Vivienne. I have eyes and ears all over this city, and I’ve done quite a bit for passing Deviants. If you’ve got a few minutes, I’d like to have a chat with you. Might help us both,” she explained with a small shrug. The offer was open, and if Jericho didn’t want to work with her? 

@cityofandroids

(*)

They didn’t really talk about it, which was probably why karma was rearing it’s ugly head and biting Gavin on the entire ass. Because why would he be allowed one good thing in his entire life? Just one?

Whatever he and Ethan had stumbled into that weekend, it never spilled over during work. They were as professional as always, by which they bickered and argued like they normally did, or at least tried to put up with each other’s bullshit. Gavin got increasingly annoying, because now Ethan followed him home at night, and he’d get the fucking of a lifetime based on his behavior. If he was good, then it was pretty vanilla. If he was his regular bastard self or more, then Ethan got very creative. And Gavin loved it when Ethan got creative.

But they didn’t talk about it. Gavin wasn’t ready, and Ethan seemed to know that, seemed to understand. Sometimes they didn’t even do anything at night besides hold each other, letting the silence fall in the apartment, listening to the pattering of the cats if they moved, and the distant sound of Detroit traffic still going at all hours of the night. It was the closest to peace that Gavin had felt in ages.

After a few months, marking the one year anniversary of Ethan joining the DPD, they were called on a case. One of their contacts for the black market was on edge about something, and while he was a twitchy guy, Gavin didn’t really think he was a threat. Not until everything went wrong, and the guy used a gun to nearly blast Ethan’s thirium pump regulator to kingdom come. Thankfully, he missed, but Gavin fired back on instinct, killing the bastard, before rushing to Ethan’s side, seeing the damage and the way his LED was shining crimson.

“I need an ambulance with a CyberLife attendant to 12th street northwest!” he barked into his phone as soon as he had the DPD on the line. “Officer down, I repeat, officer down, the RK900 known as Ethan has been shot, and he’s going into shutdown! Get someone here now!”

@cityofandroids cont.

(*)

Sometimes, Gavin kind of forgot that slowing down was a good thing. He was used to being a workaholic, running away from his thoughts and past memories, trying to work himself into the ground so that he had a better chance of having no dreams when he managed to pop some sleeping pills and pass the fuck out. He didn’t want to overwhelmed with bad memories, didn’t want to be trapped in more nightmares.

But with Ethan, Gavin could finally slow down. He could appreciate the more quiet times. He could stop and smell the roses. He could be okay with letting some of his old memories catch up with him, knowing that Ethan was right there in case it got bad. And it finally felt good, to let someone in, to give his heart to someone he knew would treat it well.

This was heaven, if he even believed in heaven at all.

@cityofandroids

(*)

Some days, Gavin could forget. He could go about his day, he could laugh with his friends, he could do his job, and he could spend time with Ethan, and he could forget, because forgetting was easier. Forgetting was nicer. Forgetting meant he could breathe; he could feel like he was a bit more alive than he had been in a very long time.

But some days, like today, forgetting was the hardest thing he could do.

Ethan worked a back to back shift, which meant Gavin was alone save for the cats that night. He dreamt of Garret, of their time together, of the man dying in his arms in that horrible rainy night, soaking his shirt and jeans with blood. He woke up abruptly around three in the morning and proceeded to text Ethan to make sure the android was alright. Once he received confirmation, Gavin dug into the hall closet until he brought out Garret’s old hoodie, taking it back to bed, and that was how Ethan found him at around seven thirty am, when the android returned home.

@cityofandroids

Ethan knew that things would get a little worse before they got better. Socially, anyway–now that the government was wisely afraid to be anti-android, in the face of public support, the laws were changing. And rapidly.

But humans didn’t adapt to massive changes happening overnight easily. Even less so when it was change that a good solid number of them hadn’t wanted. Positive public perspective was one thing. When you went from one day having androids doing the menial tasks in your life to suddenly being obligated to treat them as equal, things became…tense.

He’d known this, been braced for it at work and at home, but that didn’t mean that Ethan was always watching over his shoulder. And he should have been.

The attack came from nowhere, and he barely glimpsed their faces. He wasn’t even sure if they had targeted him intentionally, or if they were drunk and saw an android and lost their tempers. But as he was walking past a bar, he was suddenly grabbed so roughly that he dropped his bag of food for Gavin. Defensive protocol kicked in and he focused on protecting his vital biocomponents, but they seemed determined to get fists–and then knives?–into any part of him that they could reach.

Someone shouted from the other side of the street, and they quickly abandoned the attack. But the person hadn’t noticed them, wasn’t shouting in Ethan’s defense, and he was left alone, slumping against the wall, clutching his sides and trying to determine where the worst of the damage was…but he couldn’t assess…his sensors were fuzzy…

Gavin.

“Bad,” he grunted, on the chance that he wasn’t hallucinating and Gavin was actually there in front of him. “Don’t–don’t know, can’t scan. It’s bad, Gavin…”

Oh fuck, this was terrifying. This was like Garret all over again. Now that Gavin was up close, he could see various stab marks, though from what he could deduce, none of the weapons had managed to hit Ethan in the thirium pump, or any seriously needed bio-components. But he was still bleeding heavily, and when he managed to speak, his voice was glitchy and filled with static, proving just how much damage he had taken.

“Jesus Fuck,” Gavin hissed, cradling the android’s face in his hands as he tried not to dissolve into a panic attack. He lost Garret, he wasn’t going to lose Ethan. Not like this. Not ever.

He didn’t think he had time to call CyberLife, or Elijah or even the police. Not when Ethan was in such critical condition. Taking a moment to try and clear his mind, Gavin steadied his breathing. “Ethan, I need you to go into stasis. You’re looking too much thirium. Going into stasis blocks the flow, I can call for an ambulance to get you to CyberLife, it’ll buy you some time.”