Partners [Path Unlocked 🔓]

Chapter 12 - S***w@r* I*st@b**i**

With all the unprofessional and generally apathetic behavior Connor had displayed in the few hours Hank had known him, the android had to admit he had his misgivings about being partnered with the man who seemed too tired to do anything but drink coffee and smoke. However, the moment the detective walked down the carpeted hall and wrapped a hand around the gold toned metal doorknob separating them from the crime scene, it was as if someone had flipped a switch in Connor's mind.

"Stay behind me." Detective Anderson commanded softly, dropping his voice to a cautious whisper yet still speaking in such a tone that no room was left for argument, even if Hank had possessed the capacity to do so. As it was, the android was a machine, programmed to obey orders without question and the detective's command flashed across the prototype's vision in bold, red letters until Hank obediently took his place behind his assigned partner. Even still, the mechanical man's logic went against the order, the android wanting to inform the detective that it would, in all fact, be much safer to let Hank go first - The android was, by anyone's measure, stronger and better equipped to handle violent attack - but his programming barred even the slightest protest from passing the machine's lips. Still though, that didn't stop Hank from privately thinking Connor probably looked like a marshmallow trying to defend a boulder.

Connor reached a hand back and knocked aside the low hanging hem of his jacket to reveal the steel sheen of a handgun, the detective wrapping slim fingers over the grip and threading one through the trigger guard to pull the thing from where it had been safely holstered under his coat, the clever, baggy material effectively concealing the weapon from even Hank's keen eyes. The detective drew the thing forward, keeping the barrel pointed steadily ahead of the pair as he finally twisted the metal knob and slowly pushed the wooden door forward, eliciting a low groan from the old hinges that echoed eerily through the empty hallway.

A great burst of motion exploded forth from the newly opened door, a flurry of noisy movement indistinguishable in the moment as something flew forth from the doorway and swallowed Detective Anderson whole. Connor shrieked, the sound of a gun going off exploding deafeningly through the small room as the detective lurched back at the sudden onslaught and stumbled directly into where Hank still stood at his back.

Hank grabbed the man as he fell into the android, wrapping a large hand firmly around either of the human's upper arms to restabilize him the moment he was in reach. However, a moment later, the android's impeccable processors caught up with the machine's knee jerk reaction and he was actually able to analyze the scene for what it was... And what it was happened to be a huge flock of pigeons flying forth from the room to crowd the hallway beyond in a great, cooing mass. The birds fluttered in and out of the newly opened door, landing on the evergreen carpet to hop pointlessly about with no real destination, cocking their tiny heads to the side and pecking uselessly at the ground in search of food.

"Jesus Christ kissing Elton John on M fucking TV! Are you serious?" Connor all but growled angrily, waving his hands frantically at his soft hair that a pigeon had mistaken for food and was now trying to tug at, one curling lock stuck determinedly between the bird's sharp beak as it perched atop the detective's head and fluttered angrily at the man's futile attempts to wave it off. "Why the hell are there this many goddamn birds in one place?" Anderson groaned unhappily, pulling his gun back up to its previous position and continuing on into the room with an exasperated huff after Hank helpfully removed the pigeon from his companion's hair and the bird fluttered to the floor to yank at a stray thread rather than the sensitive strands of Connor's curling locks.

"Oh god, there's more of them." Detective Anderson moaned unhappily as they finally stepped into the room and well, wasn't that just the understatement of the year? There wasn't a surface of the apartment not overcrowded with pigeons, the gray birds fluttering to flee the newcomers with each falling footstep they took, though a few brave feathered souls hopped valiantly forward to give Connor's shoes an experimental peck every few moments only to receive a frantic shake of said shoe and a displeased groan at every attempt.