When Gavin came back from the hospital after the revolution, he nearly had to get into medical treatment again as soon as he entered the police department. After Connor beat him up in the evidence room, androids definitely were in his bad books for good. Getting one assigned as a partner was the least thing he wanted, especially after those things got equal rights.
"Are you fucking serious?", he yelled at Captain Fowler, who had called him into his office for the news.
"Yes, I am, and yelling at me won't help! I'm not the one you have to blame, and if you go on with this attitude, I will not hesitate to dismiss you. Your colleagues would definitely celebrate me for that, so if you're attached to your career, you better deal with it! I doubt that any other department would hire you with that disciplinary record!"
"Fucking hell, one of these bastards just put me into a hospital, and now I have to work with one of those shitheads?"
Captain Fowler rose from his chair and glared at Reed. He pointed at the RK900 that stood a little bit off the scene and watched everything quietly. "You will take him with you and you will learn to deal with it, because since the revolution you can get a lot of lawsuits for the behavior that you showed against androids before. I'd think twice in the future if I were you! This conversation is over!"
Gavin glared back at the Captain for a while, then he stroke on the desk angrily with his fist and stamped out of the room. He showed his middle finger to Connor and Lieutenant Anderson, who both watched him with furrowed brows from their desks. He let himself fall down on his own chair as soon as he reached it and kicked the table leg aggressively. This was his first day back at work, and immediately life shat on him.
The android that was assigned as his partner also left the office of the Captain and came towards his direction. He looked nearly exactly like Connor, but he had blue eyes instead of brown ones, that gave him a cold and emotionless look, and was a little bit taller. But except for that, the only thing that differed him from the RK800 was his outfit.
"Good morning Detective Reed, I-" The android stopped when Gavin threw a ball of paper against his face. And their voices were different, Gavin noticed. The RK900 seemed a little bit off his stride for a moment, then he frowned. "I think you should pick that up", he stated.
"Fuck you", Gavin answered and turned on his computer. He really had to control himself. If this job wouldn't be so important to him, that android would have been nothing more than little pieces of plastic on the floor by know.
"Detective Reed, I think have to report your behavior to Captain Fowler, if you don't clean up that paper. Contamination of the workplace is against the rules." Gavin clenched his fingers into fists and tried to calm himself down. Then he stood up, went around the table and picked up the paper in the most aggressive way possible. He glared at the android with hatred and threw the ball into his bin. "Thank you, Detective. Your colleagues will appreciate it."
"You're so fucking dead", Gavin snorted angrily. The android ignored his words and just continued talking from where he was distracted by the paper before.
"Anyway, I'm looking forward to work with an officer with such a high rate of success. My name is Conan, by the way." Gavin ignored the android and just proceeded on working. He innerly prepared for the worst time of his life. He might as well just kill himself and go to hell without any detours.
One month went by, and slowly Gavin got used to Conan's presence. He still hated the android, but his constant anger against him slowly changed into simple annoyance. This day, they were on their way to a family that was reported to the police because of child abuse. They had to question the parents and eventually take the kid with them. "Detective, I have to positively remark that your hatred towards me seems to have decreased. I think we are making progress", Conan said as they stood in front of a traffic light. Gavin ignored him, even though he could feel his anger rise again. "May you allow me the question why you don't like me in the first place?" Again, Gavin said nothing and just stepped on the gas when the lights turned green. "Detective, I don't think our relationship can improve if you constantly ignore what I have to say." That was when Conan had stepped over the line. Gavin stopped the car at the side of the road and stepped out of it. He approached the passenger side of the vehicle, opened the door and grabbed Conan by his jacket. He pulled him out of the car and pushed him over the pavement. Then he threateningly positioned himself directly in front of the android and glared at him.
"There is no relationship, and there never will be. You are a fucking machine, you don't feel anything. The only reason you're still here is because of this fucking stupid country that believed those fucking broken androids and made these fucking new laws. I'm sick of you and your kind." He took a swing, but before his fist could reach the face of Conan, the android had blocked his hand and within the blink of an eye held Gavin against the wall so that he couldn't move anymore.
"I think I have to make some things clear, Detective. First of all, I'm the most advanced android on this planet, so you have to try harder if you want to harm me. Secondly, just because you don't believe something, doesn't mean you're automatically right. You would really help yourself, if you'd start to open up your mind a little bit." Conan let go of him and straightened his jacket. "We should continue our way now, there's a case waiting for us." Then he went back inside the car and left behind a foaming Detective. Gavin would love to just shoot the android in the head, but he wasn't that stupid. So he followed Conan's example and they continued their way without another word.
When they arrived at the house, Gavin already was able to see what kind of people lived there. He grew up in this sort of neighborhood. People here often were poor, constantly on drugs, and aggressive. He approached the door, followed by Conan, and a blonde woman with sunken eyes and a scar on her chin opened up shortly after Gavin rang the bell.
"Who are you?", she asked aggressively.
Gavin showed her his identification badge and began to speak. "Hello Mrs. Miller, I'm Detective Reed from the DPD and we've received reports about child abuse from your neighbors. We came to check and ask a few questions." The women spotted Conan and huffed.
"Fuck off, you have no right to be here, especially with an android. Bastards!" She tried to slam the door, but Conan held it open with one hand.
"Actually, I do have the right. And if you don't cooperate, there will be consequences", Gavin answered and glared at her provocatively. "Believe me, you don't want more problems than you already have." The woman seemed to think about it for a few seconds, then she grunted and stepped back to let them in. "Jason, the fucking police is here to ask a few questions", she yelled into the room next to her and made her way into the kitchen. A boy sat there in front of the table and stared at his hands. He maybe was around ten years old.
"What do they want?", a male voice yelled back from another room. The woman glared at the boy. "It's something about Henry", she answered. A rumble could be heard, and a few seconds later, a fat man with oily hair entered the room. "What did you do, freak?", he yelled at the boy.
Gavin decided to intervene. "The kid did nothing. We've received reports about child abuse", he explained with dislike in his voice. He couldn't stand people like that.
"Child abuse? This thing isn't even a child!", the man, Jason, said and grasped the boys arm. He pulled him from his chair anything but gently. The boy let out a cry of fear and got a slap on the back of his head for that.
"Hey!", Gavin said loudly to put a stop to this. "Let go of the child or you'll get yourself a bullet!"
"This isn't a child, for fucks sake!", Jason repeated and ruggedly turned the boys head so that Gavin was able to see a LED on the side of his forehead.
"It doesn't matter", Conan suddenly said with an unknown authority in his voice. "He has the same rights as a human child."
"I won't let a fucking android tell me what to do with my property!", Jason answered aggressively. The boy anxiously looked back and forth between Conan and his father. Conan slowly approached the man with an intimidating energy that radiated off of him. "Let go of the child, Mr. Miller", he said with a warning tone. Jason suddenly drew a gun with his free hand and aimed it at Conan with anger. The boy screamed and began to cry.
"Go the fuck away, android!", Jason yelled, but Conan didn't move. Gavin decided to pull his gun too, and pointed it directly towards the mans head.
"Shoot the android and you're fucking dead. Let go of the child and lay down the weapon. Slowly! Put your hands were I can see them."
Jason stared at him for a while, but then he obeyed. The boy ran towards Gavin and hid behind his back. As soon as Jason let go of the gun, Conan grasped his arms and put them behind his back to handcuff him. "You're under arrest. We'll call for backup that will take you and your wife to the police department. I would advise you to stay quiet for your own sake until you get a lawyer." Jason just glared at the still crying boy.
"When this is over, you'll fucking die, Henry", he said and Conan let him fall over his feet. Gavin put away his gun and handcuffed the woman, while Conan slowly approached the boy. He knelt down in front of him, and for the first time Gavin thought he'd see emotions in his look. While Conan tried to calm down the child, Gavin stared at Mr. and Mrs. Miller warningly and called for backup.
When the other policemen finally arrived, Conan already manged to make the boy stop crying and went into the living room with him. Gavin gave his colleagues all the information they needed and then followed his forced partner. The android sat on the sofa next to the boy and watched the silent kid. Gavin wasn't really eager to talk to the child, but he knew he had to. So he knelt down in front of him and demanded Conan to record the conversation. "So, your name is Henry, is that right?", he asked. The little boy stared at his hands when he nodded. "Good, then tell me about your parents. Did they harm you before?" Again, the boy nodded. "Can you tell me what they did to you?", Gavin asked impatiently and got a warning look from Conan. Gavin glared back at him. He had never been good with children. And this one was an android as well! Conan began to speak now, and sounded unusually gentle. "Henry, you probably went through a hard time, and you certainly don't want to think about it. But to help you as good as possible, we have to know as much as we can. You can trust us, you are safe now."
Henry looked up at Gavin, his eyes still wet from all the tears. "They hate me. They always beat me."
"What exactly did they do to you?", Gavin asked as empathetic as possible.
The boy began to cry again, and Conan laid one arm around him. "They took everything they had and threw it after me. They yelled at me all the time. Dad was the worst. Sometimes, when it was night, he and some of his friends would come into my room and undress me. And then themselves. I didn't want it, but I had to-", the boy was shaken from all of his sobbing, and Gavin felt anger rising in his chest again. But not towards the kid, but his so called parents. There were two things he hated more than androids. Child abusers and pedophiles. Gavin laid one hand on the boys shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "They won't hurt you ever again, trust me!", he said with a grim voice. "I'll personally lock them up." Henry looked at him through his tears and then suddenly hugged Gavin without a warning. The kid was shaking. The Detective was taken by surprise, but he then decided to stroke the boys back calmingly. Conan however stood up and left the room. Gavin looked after him with furrowed brows, but stayed at the boys side. Then, he heard the muffled sound of a fist meeting its target and a cry of pain afterwards.
On their way back to the DPD, Gavin and Conan both said nothing for a long time. The boy was in the safe hands of the responsible authorities and Mr. and Mrs. Miller were on the way to their cells.
"You helped an android", Conan stated after a while.
Gavin huffed. "It was a child", he said. Conan looked at him with his piercing blue eyes.
"But it was an android."
"It doesn't matter, it was a child!", Gavin answered with annoyance.
"You showed empathy towards an android."
"For fucks sake, the parents were psychopaths and the child was crying. Now shut the fuck up." Conan looked back on the street, when Gavin decided to turn the tables. "You hit that Jason-guy."
"I know", Conan answered and Gavin frowned.
"So your programming had a short circuit or what?"
"No. You may not want to understand that, but I'm actually thinking for myself. He deserved it."
Gavin said nothing for a while. "I should report that behavior to Captain Fowler."
Conan looked at him again. "You're an asshole, Detective Reed", he declared. Gavin grinned complacently, and for the first time, a slight smile went across the androids face, too.