Tangible (Yandere Elijah Kamski x Reader)

Twenty-Three

"All right, look. This is clearly the first time you've gotten pulled over in awhile," he spoke, handing the driver her license back. The ticket book was tucked into his pocket again as he sighed. "I'm gonna let you go with a warning this time. Just, y'know, keep an eye on your speed." Officer Reed grinned in a rather charming manner. "Especially around here. Lots of folks that prefer to walk downtown instead of drive, you know?"

While it wasn't entirely intentional, that charm worked wonders when he had to pull people over. This was no different, as the young woman was practically melting in her car as he spoke. "--wh-what? Oh! Right, right, speed, o-of course! I mean, yes, Officer, I'll pay more attention!"

"Like you're doing now?" When her face turned a bright red, seen even when it was well past sundown, Gavin chuckled. "Relax. I'm pretty understanding. I get it, believe me. You get a little distracted. Well, self-driving cars aren't a thing yet, but I hear CyberLife is working on that. But until then, I don't want to hear that you got pulled over again. Not all of us are gonna let you go this easily."

Despite the obvious fluster, the woman managed to respond rather boldly: "Are you letting me go already, Officer Reed...?"

An eyebrow lifted as he said nothing, waiting until she looked embarrassed again. "You know, soliciting an officer is a more serious offense. You want that on your record?" She shook her head rapidly, now properly filled with guilt. Gavin took a step closer to her vehicle. "Listen. Don't take it personally. I'm still kinda new to this shit, and--"

A horrific crash down the block cut his words right off, the screeching of metal preceeding the worst: a blood curdling scream. Whoever was nearby also began to scream, which meant that Gavin had to get there before things could get worse.

Already forgetting the young woman, he bolted to his patrol car, diving behind the wheel and putting the sirens on full blast while he called in the incident to dispatch, demanding assistance and emergency responders.

Scream like that doesn't mean anything good...

But even over the wail of the siren, there was more grinding metal. He floored it, speeding towards the inevitable disaster and hoping it wasn't going to be as bad as he feared.

When the first vehicle caught fire, and those pale eyes caught sight of the flames, the smell of gasoline made him close to panicking. But Gavin Reed was not a coward, and he ran towards the wreckage, demanding backup over his radio again.

It wasn't as bad as he feared, even when he saw movement in the car, heavily dented and pinned against the building on its side. The semi was also on its side, spilling the petrol all over the road, pooling and running in rivulets. Dangerous, flammable rivers, headed for the pinned car. For him.

The license plate he knew, much more than he'd have liked.

So no, it wasn't bad. It was worse.

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Who the hell is calling this late...?

The benefit of having you and Chloé connected to damn near everything meant that the two of you could answer phone calls for him. But the fact that Elijah's cell was ringing at all meant it was someone in his contacts.

He snatched the device and held up a hand to you, seeing that it was Gavin calling. "I got this, Vi, don't worry about it." With a slightly sleepy grin he finally answered the call. "What's up, you fucking loser?"

"Elijah Kamski?" Shit. That was definitely not Gavin's voice.

The human sat up, now wide awake and trying to force the sinking feeling in his gut to settle. "Yes, this is him. Who is this and how did you get Gavin's phone?"

The male on the other end let out a grumbling sort of sigh, his voice rough. There was an awful lot of distant commotion in the background. "This is Sergeant Hank Anderson, I'm told you're his brother. There--"

"Is Gavin all right?!"

"He's fine, son. He's... well, he's currently at Detroit General Hospital. Can't hold his phone right now, but he asked me to call you on it. There's... been an accident."

On his feet, Eli could not stop pacing, his heart liable to burst in his chest. Gavin was involved in some kind of accident, but he was at least alive, yet unable to hold his phone. "... what kind of accident, Sergeant...?" The damn tremor in his voice betrayed his closing throat.

Hank did not elaborate, sighing again and pausing. He'd pulled the cell phone away to talk to someone nearby- hopefully Gavin. "It's best if you just come down here, son. I'm sorry."

There was no reply on Elijah's end: he'd ended the call and was in the middle of pulling on a hoodie. One glance showed both you and the RT600 waiting, indicators yellow and visibly worried. "... both of you, come on," he spoke out loud, at the mercy of the tears that would probably fall as soon as he could judge his brother's condition.

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The oncoming horde of footsteps made the younger sibling glance up, but only momentarily. By the time Elijah and his pair of androids reached the doorway, Gavin was staring at his hands again, wrapped heavily in bloodstained gauze but too emotionally numb to feel any of the pain. Or maybe it was whatever the hell the nurse had given him.

"Gav?" Eli reached him first, perching on the edge of the hospital bed. When the shorter male looked up again, the pain was etched deep into his face. Gingerly pulling his brother into a hug, mindful of the damaged hands, your creator spoke softly. "Gav, Jesus... I'm so glad you're--"

"I couldn't save her." The rough voice was broken, barely above a whisper. Gavin had his head against Elijah's shoulder, not reacting when you sat on his other side. He was on the bed but still dressed in his blues, so he was in decent condition.

Physically, at least.

"There was a semi that toppled over on 82nd Avenue," came the gravelly tone of Sergeant Anderson. When he'd walked in, no one knew, but there was an awfully watery sheen in his eyes. "Full of fuel. When it lost control, it skidded sideways. Another car got caught in its path and went sideways, too. Right up against one of the buildings nearby. Fuel started spilling by the time he reached the scene." Shifting, Hank sat down in a nearby chair, not taking his eyes off of his fellow officer. "He's strong. Quick. Got the driver out and had to carry the guy, but went back for the passenger. She..." He paused, taking a moment to wipe his face. It never got easier. "Lady was pinned. Shredded his hands trying to pry her free, but..."

"I... r-ran out of... t-time...." Gavin choked, his face breaking but unable to sob. "I couldn't get her out... I tried so f-fuckin' hard, that goddamn gas...." Eli squeezed him a little bit, stomach wrenching. No wonder his brother was in pieces.

Swallowing the lump back down, Elijah cast a glance over at Anderson. "What about the guy he pulled out? He okay?"

"Yeah, he's... he's alive. Paralyzed, from what the doctors said." Hank allowed himself to sigh and shut his eyes, head leaning against the wall behind his chair. "Lucky guy. If he was half an inch further to the right, he'd have gotten it much worse. But he has control of his hands, and that's all painters need, I guess."

One terrible beat passed before the sergeant's words sank like stones in the river. "... Painter...?"

As much as he hated doing it, Hank had been dancing around the bomb. "Yeah. Carl Manfred was driving the vehicle, son. It was sideways on the passenger side. Gavin was only able to reach Manfred before the..."

Gavin's efforts to keep himself collected shattered, bursting into abrupt, harsh sobs that wracked his frame. Elijah kept him close, mouth pressed thin, not wanting to make his brother feel even worse, but the tears escaped anyways.

It only took a couple of minutes before the younger male began to scream his agony.