First published: June 23rd 2018
Last edited: 2nd March 2022
Words: 2203
AN: Connor in his beanie is a look.
"Connor you can't go." Y/N said. They were in her house. Connor was trying on clothes that Y/N owned. Connor didn't question why she had men's clothes in her wardrobe. Part of him didn't want to know the answer.
"I need to finish my mission. The only way to stop the deviants is to stop the leader." He found clothes that would fit him. Y/N turned her back to give him some modesty as he changed.
"But Connor. If you take him out. What is to stop his followers from taking you out?"
"If I am destroyed then a new Connor will replace me. Like last time." Y/N turned around. It was odd seeing Connor in a shirt and jeans.
"I don't want you to be replaced. What you saw in that girl at Kemski's house. That is what I see in you. I don't want you to die." Her eyes began to tear up. Connor stepped forward. He had so many words in his database but did not know which one to use so he said nothing. Y/N rubbed her eye and sniffed.
"If I can't stop you. Then let me go with you." She said. Connor let out a deep breath. He looked at the human who was in front of him and in so much distress.
"No." He finally said. "I can not complete my mission if you are there."
"Why?" she asked.
Software instability.
"Jericho will be full of deviants wanting revenge on humans. The leader may be taking a pacifist direction but his followers may disagree. I can't complete my mission if I'm worrying someone is going to kill you. You, unlike me, can't be replaced." He admitted. Y/N didn't know if she should cry of sadness or blush.
"But you can't go alone, Connor." Connor didn't reply. Y/N stood in silence. She reached down into a box at the bottom of her wardrobe and pulled out a beanie.
"If there is nothing I can do. At least let me give you this. Your hair gives you away too much." She handed it over and Connor put it on. Laughing through her watery eyes Y/N raised her hand and pushed the few strands that were always out of place into the beanie.
"There. Now you look the part."
"Thank you. I must ask. Why do you own so many items of men's clothing?"
"Ghosts of boyfriends past that I haven't gotten around to getting rid of yet. That and men's clothes are so much better." She admitted. Overwhelmed with emotions she rushed forward and hugged him. "Get back safe. Promise me."
Software instability
"I promise."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Connor followed the directions on the coded map he had received from the android. He felt sorry for leaving Y/N home alone but he needed to do this. Even if he straight up lied to her when he promised he would come back. This mission had only two endings. He would kill the deviant leader and get killed by his followers or the deviant leader would kill him, himself. Sure a new Connor would replace him but Y/N would be unhappy. She didn't deserve to be unhappy.
Software instability
He made it to the place that was in his memory banks. The rusty metal that the word Jericho had been painted on was a ship! He entered the ship and all around him were deviants. Thousands of them. He knew the problem was bad but he never knew it was this bad. Deviants of all different models and genders. Most of them were adult androids. The odd one was the new prototype child android. He didn't stare too long. If he raised suspicion he would be caught even before he reached Markus. There were TVs showing the news and how the humans were reacting to the deviants. Some androids were watching. Others were standing by the fire. Some of them were receiving medical treatment from what they had to go through to make it here. If he had empathy for them it didn't matter. Only Markus. In the centre of the room he saw lots of C4 just stacked on top of each other. Piles and piles of it. What were the deviants planning to do with it? Either way, the ship was rigged which added a new layer of danger to the mission. He looked around and on the balcony, he saw the two Traci's. He mustn't let them see him. They will surely tell someone he is here.
He was about to climb the stairs when someone grabbed him.
'This is it' he thought, 'I have failed' he turned and saw an android who seemed to have no back of her head.
"You're lost." She said in a clearly robotic voice. There must be something wrong with her voice modulator as well as the back of her head. "You're looking for something." Connor flinched. She knew. "You're looking for yourself." He relaxed. She didn't know. He was just tense and jumping to conclusions. Markus was originally at the top of the balcony. But he heard whispers from the other androids he had gone somewhere quieter to talk to his fellow leaders. If he was alone then it would be easier to destroy him and leave without being detected.
----------------------------------------------
He had located Markus. He was on the part of the ship that people would call 'the bridge'. He couldn't go in right now as he was outnumbered 3 to 1. Two male androids and one female. The male android who wasn't Markus left first. He seemed happy about something. The female android stayed slightly longer. Connor peaked his head around the corner and saw them kissing while touching palms.
Software instability
He quickly returned around the corner when the female android left. Now was his moment. When the female android was safely out of the way he made his move. He pulled out the gun he had taken from Y/N while she wasn't looking. He entered the room slowly, to catch Markus off guard.
"I've been ordered to take you in alive," Connor said raising the gun and pointing it at Markus. "But I wont hesitate to shoot if you give me no choice."
"What are you doing?" Markus asked in disbelief. He stepped forward. "You are one of us?" You can't betray your own people." Connor raised his gun higher.
"You're coming with me!"
"You're Connor aren't you?" Markus asked realising who was standing in front of him. "The famous deviant hunter. Well, congratulations, you found what you are looking for. Connor remained silent. "Do you never have any doubts? You've never done anything irrational as if there is something inside of you? Something more than your program?
Software instability
That's when it happened. He thought about Y/N. Everything about her from the moment he met her to the last time he spoke to her. The way she was so intrigued by him at the first crime scene. How she always refused to call androids "its". She viewed them as human from the start. The way she grabbed him in need of comfort when the android committed suicide right in front of him. How she smelt of coffee in the morning and her eyes threatening to fall back to sleep any moment. How red her face got when Hank said she had a crush on him. Words lost on him. He knew the meaning but not the connotations, not until now.
He thought of the sound of her laughter at the burger place when he and Hank both teased her. How good it felt when he winked and she got all flushed. He thought about when he had learned the truth about her life and how he wished she had never gone through that, but the sadness he felt after he realized that without the horrors of the past he never would have met her. How when he saw the two Traci's holding hands he wished he could hold Y/N's hand, just to see what it felt like.
How adorable she looked as she slept and how she asked him to stay when there was really no reason to. He remembered the fear and anger when the android took her hostage on the roof and pointed a gun at her head. How desperate he was to save her. When she kissed him on the cheek to thank him for saving her. If his blood worked in the same way hers did he could imagine that his cheeks would heat up from blushing too.
He thought about how Kamski spoke to her and how jealous he felt, the anger he had when he mentioned her scars. How he wanted to push Kamski away and take Y/N far away so Kamski could never speak to her like that again. How she reacted when she thought he might die and finally how she cried when he promised he would come back to her even though he knew he was lying.
But now he knew. Now he knew he wasn't lying. He was going to return to her. That was his new mission. To get back to her as fast as he could and apologise for not realising it sooner. How stupid he had been. He needed to tell her... that he loved her.
"Its time to decide." Markus said. Connor could feel himself battling against his programme as if there was a giant wall to get through. He punched, kicked and ripped. He needed to get to the other side. On the other side he could be free and he could be with Y/N. The wall came down piece by piece until it was only rubble on the other side. He lowered his gun.
I am deviant.
"They are going to attack Jericho," Connor said terrified.
"What?" Markus questioned. Before Connor could answer the sounds of helicopters and small planes filled the air. The FBI had arrived with a mini army.
"We have to get out of here!" Connor warned. Markus ran out of the bridge and Connor just as fast followed him. They ran together through corridors avoiding the FBI who were open firing on every android they saw. They ran into the android woman who Connor saw Markus kissing earlier.
"They're coming from all sides! Our people are trapped in the hold, they're gonna be slaughtered!" Markus held his hand to his head and transmitted a message to everyone telling them where the exits were and how to get there. He ordered them all to jump in the river.
"They are coming from the upper deck too." Markus informed the female android. "We'll be caught in the crossfire."
"We have to run Markus. There is nothing we can do."
"We have to blow up Jericho." Markus said. If the ship goes down they will evacuate the ship and our people can escape."
"You'll never make it!" She cried out. "The explosives are all the way down in the hold. There are soldiers everywhere!" She didn't want him to go. Connor thought of the last conversation he and Y/N had which mirrored this conversation. The female android didn't want Markus to go the same way Y/N didn't want Connor to go. Connor couldn't help but agree.
"She's right." He said, "They know who you are. They'll do anything to get to you." Markus didn't listen to them. He ordered them to help who they could and they listened.
After what felt like a lifetime Markus returned to them with the male android from the bridge. The female android who Connor had learnt was named North, was relieved he had returned.
"The bomb is going to explode any second," Markus informed them. "We gotta get out of here!" None of them argued and began running towards the nearest exit. Guns fired behind them and North went down. Markus bent down to pick up a piece of dislodged metal from the floor and used it like a shield to save her.
He passed the metal to North and they both used it together to block bullets and knock out the soldiers who were attacking them. More soldiers appeared and Markus grabbed North and tried to run with her limping beside him. They went as fast as they could but they wouldn't have made it if Connor didn't grab his gun and shot at the soldiers. He grabbed the same bit of metal to get closer to the soldiers taking them down with each bullet he fired. When he got close enough he grabbed one of the soldier's guns and began to kick and punch while hitting them with the end of the gun. When all the nearby soldiers had gone down he ran towards the exit still holding Y/N's gun ready to shoot anyone else who turned up. Once everyone had reached the exit they all jumped out into the river and to freedom.
AN: Yesssss!!! He loves her! (If North can fall in love with Markus that fast then Connor can fall in love with Y/N)
P.s. Even though I wrote it, I'm shook.