Tick Tock Part Three - Dock

Rage

The question plagued him for weeks. That life was so normal made it worse. The Hickory Killer had gone silent. The AAL and AHL were playing nice for the moment. Even Stan's case was over and done with. He'd come in himself to give him the good news. It hadn't even gone to court. His lawyer had cited breached rights and harassment of a minor, pointed out the lack of physical evidence that tied him to the event besides his being found at the location, and the whole matter had been dropped. Stan had decided to follow in Gavin's footsteps and join the academy. All he needed was a recommendation, and Gavin was happy to give him one, proud that he'd had something to do with his turnaround. His mother wasn't thrilled, but being on the force was better than being in a gang.

From what they knew, the gang was simply letting it go. They hadn't tried to contact Stan throughout the legal proceedings, nor had they turned up after the fact. It seemed they'd either written him off as dead at the scene or let it go because he hadn't incriminated them. Losing new members had probably hit them, too. They may not have the time and resources to follow him around. They were a relatively small gang that would likely be swallowed up at some point. It was also no secret that Stan was close to Gavin, who had a reputation on both sides of the law. Being a sergeant, it was unlikely they'd want to tangle with him.

Gavin's duties as a sergeant were going well. His recruits had all settled in nicely over the past month. All of his pairings had been a success. The newer officers were gradually seasoning and learning from their new long-term partners. There was almost a strange sense of harmony in the bullpen these days. With androids becoming more common and accepted by the day, the level of harassment had calmed. Fowler's last email about the consequences of android harassment and sensitivity training may have had something to do with it. Connor had conducted the training, with Nines making the modules and grading written assignments. All humans had been required to complete the training. Even Fowler and Hank had sat in and completed the work as a show of humility. No one was above learning. Everyone could make improvements. Gavin had completed the modules too, though he'd been downright insulted to learn he didn't get extra points for being Nines' partner. He hadn't even accepted sexual favours for extra credit.

"You'd happily choke on my cock if I told you to anyway, assignment or not." Nines had watched with smugness as Gavin almost choked on his decaf. He couldn't deny it. "Choking on my cock is one of your favourite things to do." Again, not a lie. Gavin had snickered quietly, eyes darting around to make sure they hadn't been overheard. They were lucky that Connor and Hank were out, so no one had been listening. Because of the fraternisation code, they rarely talked about such things in the bullpen. No one heard, but it was always best not to take any chances. They were already pushing it by living together, and they could hardly pass it off as a father-son relationship like Hank and Connor.

Despite the good things that had happened, the lack of activity had given Gavin time to think and time to think was dangerous. Especially when the Hickory Killer's words kept spinning in his head. He'd told him it felt good to hold someone's life in your hands. He'd done that now. Experienced that power. He'd chosen to end a life. An innocent life. How had it felt? It hadn't traumatised him, so maybe on some level, it had felt good. He shuddered every time he thought about it. He was beginning to doubt himself. What about all the other times he'd ended a life? Had that felt good? Sure, he'd sighed in relief after dropping a perp before. Those were kill or be killed situations. It always felt good to know you were going to live, but was that really why it had felt good? What if it had felt good because he was the one who'd just snuffed a life out? It felt good to save lives, but did it feel just as good to end them? According to the Hickory Killer, it did. Was that how he felt? Was he just trying to dress up his true feelings as something more palatable? Something that made him feel less like a monster?