We All Bleed

Brothers

3rd Person

"The victims were brothers," Conan said, scanning over the faces of two more bodies.

The Coordinate Killer had struck again and claimed two more lives. Fortunately, both the victims were human. It meant there was a chance the killer had been there himself. And if he had been, then there was a chance he'd left evidence behind.

And he did. A shoe print.

The police were all over it. They were taking pictures and making casts. There were people determining the size of the feet and how fast the killer had been fleeing from the scene.

There were two pieces of evidence now. An entire case full of dead bodies and still only two clues. It wasn't much, but it was a start as far as any of the detectives were concerned.

Connor, even though he didn't sleep, looked exhausted. If he were human, Conan knew there would've been dark circles and bags under his brother's eyes.

Brother... that was a word Conan found himself unconsciously calling Connor a lot more these days. Well, not to Connor directly. Only in his mind. The longer he spent deviated, the more he thought of Connor as his brother. It felt fitting.

Gavin stood oddly close to Conan, who found himself fighting a smile. He was still a machine to everybody else. Only Gavin knew his little secret. Conan considered keeping it that way. Just have Gavin know and nobody else.

"DAMN IT!" Shouted Hank's voice.

The group of police ran over and all groaned. There, at the bottom of a hill, was a dead android.

And they had a feeling that shoe print actually belonged to him.

They were back to just having the knife.

The stupid. Fucking. Knife.

The ambulance arrived on-scene and the investigation wrapped up. The Coordinate Killer was just too good.

Nines sighed and got in Gavin's car. Gavin got in as well and started to drive back to the station.

The android reached for Gavin's hand and Gavin gently took it, pressing a soft kiss to the back of Nines' hand.

"Do you want to come over to my house tonight?" Gavin asked quietly. "We can watch movies and pet my cats."

"That sounds nice," Nines agreed. "I will have to return to Hank's house for a little bit, though. Just to gather what I need."

"I thought you only had that outfit?" Gavin said, raising an eyebrow and casting a quick glance at Nines.

"It is the only thing I have," Nines said. "But I've discovered I'm rather attached to a blanket Connor gave me for my bed."

"You have a security blanket?" Gavin said, trying his best not to laugh.

"... Is that not normal?" Nines asked.

"Well, I mean... I guess everybody has their little thing that makes them feel safe. It's alright if yours is a blanket."

"It doesn't make me feel safe. I just prefer having it."

"Well, I guess it's just your little piece of home, then."

It went quiet for a moment.

"Do you have a comfort item, Gavin?"

"Yeah."

"Do you mind me asking what it is?"

Gavin pulled up to a stoplight and pointed at his jacket. "My mom bought this for me when I joined the force. She said it'd keep me safe and warm in the police station."