Malfunction (DBH Connor x Reader)

Chapter 18

"It's dark... Where... where am I?"

The combination of sound of the android's voice and dark, sightless eyes sent shivers down my spine. Seeing my very evident distress, Connor's grip on my hand tightened. I swallowed the dry lump in my throat, "I'm friends with Markus. I'm trying to help him but in order to do that I need to find Jericho. Can you tell me where to find it?"

He shook his head, "I... I'm sorry but I don't recognize your voice, you're not one of us... I won't tell you where Jericho is..."

We turned away from him, trying to come up with a new plan. A sickening feeling rose in my stomach as an idea popped into my head. I hated the words before they even left my mouth but we didn't have much choice, "Connor... I... I think we're going to have to trick him."

Connor's LED turned yellow as he thought about it. He let go of my hand and walked over to the collection of items we had recovered. I followed, immediately missing the contact. Connor picked up the recording of Markus' speech and played the ending a few times. He repeated some of the words before his voice changed to match Markus'.

We walked back over to the android, "Who's there? Who are you?"

"Everything is alright," Connor said in a perfect imitation of Markus's voice, "Don't worry."

"Markus? Is that you? Why did you leave me?"

Both of us visibly flinched at the desperation in those words. Connor shook it off, "I had no choice, they'd have killed us all... You'll be alright... I came to take you home. Just... give me the location to Jericho, we've got to leave now."

"Jericho... Y-yes... Yes, of course..." Connor reached out for the android's arm and scanned his memory. The android reached out and grabbed Connor by the shoulder.

(A/N: The rest of the chapter was written (with some tweaking by me) by my friend @Serpex.)

"Markus? Is that you, Markus? Don't leave me again, Markus! Don't leave!"

Connor pulled away as his LED turned yellow and then back to blue. I winced as he proceeded to return the android back to his former status. The fear had been so evident in his voice. He was so desperate and scared to be left behind, but here we were deceiving him.

It didn't feel right.

"So, that's it, then... Was there really no other way to do this?" I whispered. Connor turned away and put a hand on my shoulder forcing me to avert my eyes from the dark dead ones.

"There's not much time left. We know where to find Jericho, and we need to get there as fast as we can. We can't grieve for those who are gone right now," Connor replied. "If we don't hurry, we won't be allowed to leave at all."

I swallowed down the guilt burning my chest and shook my head. He was right. Just before we could leave, we flinched as the doors opened behind us. The clicking sound of a gun being cocked back drew our eyes to come face to face with a certain individual.

"Sorry to interrupt your little moment here, lovebirds, but it's over now. So, be a good girl and give up," Gavin sneered. His aim moved to Connor's head. "And as for you, I've been dreaming about this since the first second I saw you." I gritted my teeth and instinctively shielded Connor behind me.

"You're the one who needs to step down here," I stated.

I could see Gavin tense and jerk forward. He was closing in on us, "Listen, (y/n). Leave that thing already. Work together with me and we'll take this little deviant army down."

"Absolutely not!" Connor shouted angrily and pulled me away from Gavin.

"Don't do this, Gavin," I pleaded, "We know how to stop the deviants. Let us finish what we were assigned."

"Oh? You'd like that, wouldn't you? Well, I think you don't need a farce like that. I would compliment you better than a damn plastic toy like it ever could! Besides, you're both off the case, especially that piece of plastic. And now, it's going to be definitive. I'll make sure of it!" Connor and I ducked behind the console as Gavin fired a shot.

"Lay off, Reed!" I shouted. I swung around the side and rushed towards the other detective. He stumbled as I grabbed his arm and twisted it so he dropped the gun.

"Bitch," he growled.

Pain shot through my abdomen as he kneed me making my grip on him loosen. I fell to the ground. Gavin quickly retrieved his weapon and aimed it towards me only to scowl, "Humph, I suppose it would do nothing if I shot another cop. However, I suppose tin can over there can still take a beating."

"Connor, look out!" I tried to stand only to stagger as a breath got caught in my throat. Upon seeing Gavin, Connor went straight for the gun mimicking my moves. He successfully made him drop it again, the metal clanging on the floor with a broad echo. His fist jabbed up into Gavin's gut making him waddle back. It was clear that Connor wasn't here to reign mercy, but Gavin was no pushover. Every punch and kick was met with an equal or stronger bout from Connor. It was only when I suddenly saw Connor move past Gavin's arms and suddenly grip his neck did I gasp.

"Connor, don't!"

He stopped for a split second, realizing what he was about to do and opted instead to raise his elbow up and bring it down on the back of Gavin's head. With one last grunt, Gavin fell face-first onto the floor, his unconscious body lying still. Connor blinked a few times before distancing himself from Gavin and running over to me.

"Are you okay?" he asked. He gently cupped a hand to my cheek and (probably literally) scanned me for injuries.

Instinctively I leaned into his hand before realizing that was a weird thing for someone who's just a friend to do. I took a deep breath and nodded, "Just a little shocked. I didn't expect him to throw me so hard. But, well, I guess you did more than he did. I'm glad that you didn't kill him."

Connor pulled his hand away sheepishly, "I'm sorry if I worried you... I got a little carried away. I just... didn't like the things he said about you."

I waved a hand and gave him a smile, "He kind of deserved it. Besides, you protected me just now. If you weren't here, who knows what he would have done to me. I have to admit, you were reckless, but you were also brave."

"It felt like I had to. For the first time, it felt like my body was moving before I could think about what I was doing," Connor lamented, "I was overcome with something... I can't explain it."

"You want to know what I think, Connie?" I asked with a cheeky grin, "I think that your programming was compromised with emotions. Perhaps... Jealousy?"

I raised a brow in his direction, to which he seemed to get bit flustered. He turned around and awkwardly cleared his throat before straightening his tie. His attempts to cover his embarrassment couldn't hide the LED that was starting to betray that he was processing the new emotion very quickly.

"Let's head back to my place first," I suggested, "You won't get very far in those clothes."

On the way out, I gave Gavin one last good kick to the rear. Damn it felt good to see him get cut down to size at least once in my life.