Deviant Behavior (Connor x Reader)

Part I: The Hostage

August 15th, 2038
PM 08:24:04

They say the equation for humor is tragedy plus time...except you weren't laughing, you were dying.

And all you had "time" to do was sift through the series of events that led to you bleeding out on a rooftop terrace belonging to a family who made more money in a month than you did in a year.

You could've gone to college. Or maybe even joined the military. You should've adopted that dog you rescued last week, because you'd never have the chance to second-guess yourself again.

You shouldn't have moved to Detroit, following a man you thought you loved while he pursued his career. You shouldn't have taken this job, solely because you felt like you were out of options. You sure as fuck shouldn't have tried to talk a deviant who held a child hostage off a ledge, ignoring the advice of your partner. Old partner. He was dead, inside the apartment. Gunned down. You'd deal with that mental baggage later.

While you complained, you were perfectly content in the office, combing through files on your terminal - albeit bored. But you'd learned quickly that boring was safe...and that you should've stayed bored.

A body floated in a pool, blood leaking from a wound more fatal than yours. Jeff was the guy's name. Maybe John. Something generic that didn't separate him from the rest of Detroit City PD. You'd only met him a couple times.

You laid in your own pool - much less inviting than the sparkling grave that Jeff or James died in. Comparatively, he was having a far worse day than you. You hoped you wouldn't join him at some bar in the afterlife, drinking amongst the first responders taken out by the deviant android.

How ironic, that was. To be killed by something you'd defended so fervently. Your friends and family had called you crazy - campaigning for mass-produced machines as if they were coherent. As if they had a soul. Independent thoughts. Feelings.

All you'd wanted to do was help. Maybe save the deviant, and the little girl. As it were - all this android wanted to do was kill.

The sliding glass door behind you opened. A single shot pierced the air, cracking and violent as it set the ringing in your ears straight.

The bullet didn't ricochet; it planted itself in a new host, watered with a fresh burst of blood. You heard the tear of skin, something you hadn't been too familiar with until tonight.

You couldn't see who was hit. Through your blurry vision, you thought you made out two legs covered in dark jeans and a pair of dress shoes. Probably some corporate asshole sent out as fodder.

Still, they only flinched. Didn't fall. Must have a seriously high tolerance for pain...or, you know, a bulletproof vest.

"Hi, Daniel! My name is Connor!"

"How...How do you know my name?!" Daniel shouted.

"I know a lot of things about you. I've come to get you out of this!"

Lights...They were so bright before they swung away. You thought they were beacons while you passed between worlds before thundering helicopter blades brought you back to reality. That, and the tumbling lawn chair that almost decked you in the mouth.

"I'm an android, just like you. I know how you're feeling!"

Negative – the new contender was not a corporate asshole. He was an android programmed with a specific task. One that, more than likely, didn't involve saving you.

"What difference does it make if you're an android?! You're on their side...You can't understand how I'm feeling..."

Daniel sounded so...wounded. Like someone had touched his soul without permission. Why you felt sympathy for the maniac who shot you and killed your partner - your best, if not only friend, was beyond your understanding.

"I know you're angry, Daniel. But you need to trust me, and let me help you."

Connor's voice was gentle, but powerful. The executive presence that came with it was undeniable. It calmed you. The sincerity in his words made you feel like everything would be okay...like he couldn't fail.

"I don't want your help! Nobody can help me! All I want is for all this to stop...I...I just want all this to stop!"

But Daniel was more than upset. He was desperate. He wanted to live, and sounded ready to do anything to make that happen.

"Please..." The plea came with a strong push from your chest, "Please, help me..."

You wanted to live, too. You clung to hope that there was still some humanity in the machines your species created.

"They were going to replace you, and you became upset. That's what happened, right?"

Connor paused just on the closing borders of your sight, framed by an approaching darkness with fringed edges.

"I thought I was part of the family...I thought I mattered...But I was just their toy! Something to throw away when you're DONE with!" Daniel's growl boiled over into pure rage.

A kneeling figure snapped your attention to a glowing triangle with the words, "Made in Detroit," sprawled underneath as it rippled along the tailored seams of an expensive suit. A badge that read, "RK800" with a serial number lining the bottom laid across a gap formed by a pressed, white button-up and a black tie. A bright armband encased one clothed bicep, and a sparking, twitching wound bled blue on the other.

"She's losing blood..."

You? Was it you he was talking about? You were never a religious woman, but in that moment, you prayed.

"If we don't get her to a hospital, she's going to die."

There was a sense of finality in the last word. Not just because the concept of death itself was disheartening, but the pain that came with the idea...It was almost like he cared.

"All humans die eventually. What does it matter if this one dies now?"

A lot, fucking prick. You thought it mattered a lot if you'd die today.

"I'm going to apply a tourniquet!"

You were rolled on your back, and for the first time, you saw his face.

A pale, precious little thing - one with deep-brown eyes that were the softest you've ever seen. Hair that was sculpted perfectly, all except a small tuff of loose strands hanging above his forehead. An LED that blinked yellow, running in circles on his temple.

His hand wrapped around your arm – his fingers careful, tender-

Another gunshot pushed them back, and a gasp inflated your lungs.

"Don't touch her! Touch her, and I kill you!"

The pool's reflection cast dark-blue shadows on Connor's features. A crisp sheen glazed over him from the water's mist. His collar fluttered from the helicopter's breeze. His face had sharp edges and deep curves – all resting above a rigid jawline. His eyebrows folded as his words came out, determined and borderline hostile.

"You can't kill me," Connor ripped his tie from his shirt, his finger pulling at the knot, "I'm not alive!"

His eyes were fixated on your wound as if he was hellbent on saving you. He didn't seem the least bit scared, even with an armed deviant threatening to murder him...one that'd taken human lives.

His forehead wrinkled as his gaze met yours and his brow raised. The slightest, most innocent smile tugged on his lips – one so subtle you could've missed it.

"Everything's going to be fine, Officer..."

He read your badge, and recited your name.

The smoothness of the way it rolled off his tongue battled any anxiety you'd had only moments ago. Things were peaceful, even if that wave of relief was short-lived.

As he looked back to Daniel, the face of a hunter reappeared, hidden away by a trustworthy farce...

But you wouldn't be awake to witness what happened next, taken hostage by the image of the android who'd saved your very human existence:

Connor, an RK800 sent by CyberLife...

And you owed him a lot more than a new tie.