Deviant Behavior (Connor x Reader)

Firewall Proxy

November 8th, 2038
PM 03:42:27

The locker room was empty, save for an Officer you'd only passed in the halls.  You didn't know her name, and didn't care to learn it.  So, you sat there on a bench and kept staring at your opened locker.

An aluminum rectangle standing at your height with vents in the door, your last name sprawled across its face.  The responsibility that came with the uniform within it brought a comfortable weight.

It was more than a branded set of clothing.  It was part of your identity, now.  Your suspension had that stripped away, leaving you to figure out how to find comfort without a second home to escape to.

It felt good to be here again, in Central Station.  Things made sense most of the time, and even when they didn't – there was always a way to figure them out.

If you were missing a set of prints, you knew where to find them.  If you had a question about a file, a person down in PICS knew what was going on.  There were laws to follow; laws that you enforced.

There were no laws written on how one should handle the situation you were in.  No one to enforce a code that dictated what was right and wrong.  That in itself was a scenario you'd gotten used to being a constant in your life outside of work.  It was familiar.

Just like the officer in the room with you – you may not have known who she was, but she, too, was familiar.

Everyone in the DPD was.  Here, they were forced to act a certain way, maintain a certain distance.

You'd hoped that any fear of the unknown would do the same...

A faceless familiarity, but one you didn't care to identify with, either.

As it were, it was starting to creep up on you.

You pulled your hoodie over your head, the vinyl DPD brand white on black cloth.  The clothes you'd worn before were stowed in a similarly-marked duffle bag, slung over your shoulder.  You stood, closed your locker, and left for the main hub.  The room filled with desks where yours sat untouched with a slew of "Get Well" cards and other trinkets sat around a terminal that'd been left alone for far too long.

You'd go through them later.

"Come over here for a sec."  Hank beckoned you over with a nod.

You adjusted the strap on your shoulder and sighed.

Truth was, you came back to the station to get the weight of life off your chest.  You didn't expect helping anyone else do the same in the process – Gavin, Chris, or otherwise.

After your name came as a bark from Hank, you'd guessed it wasn't over yet.

The desk connected to his that was supposed to be bare was also covered in a plethora of new decorations.

You turned your head to the side, "Connor's redecorating?"

"People have been chipping in.  Started saying it wasn't 'normal' to not have shit all over the place."

A plant in a small pot was behind his monitor.

"You gave him your bonsai tree?"

"He liked it."

A mouse pad with a dog's face on it rested next to his keyboard.

"And you totally bought that for him."

"So what?"

You raised a brow, "When you say 'people,' have been chipping in..."

"Chris gave him the calendar and picture frame. So yeah, people."