#But more importantly I was at my peak German again writing Nines cooking Leberkäse and then searching for the translation

[fandom-necromancer]

Chasing time

This was prompted by the wonderful @smolandangry001! Enjoy!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 (Warnings: self-neglect, description of a serial-killer-case)

[Remaining time: 00:00:05] [Remaining time: 00:00:04] [Remaining time: 00:00:03] [Remaining time: 00:00:02] [Remaining time: 00:00:01] [Remaining time: 00:00:00] [Victim died.]

‚PHCK!‘ Nines stared down on his hands, back up to the screen where he saw millions of pictures, websites and articles flickering by. He had long connected himself to the computer and didn’t care to put up an act as a human. They had no time for typing, no time for writing down and waiting for sites to load. They didn’t even have the time to blink, to go into stasis for the day or to go to the toilet. Thankfully, Nines didn’t need that. Gavin, however did, and the human slowed him down despite his unbelievably efficient way of thinking and his willingness to sacrifice whatever necessary to fulfil his duty.

Disappointed and weirdly worn out, Nines took the few seconds to shut down all processes that would only lead them to another dead body. They had outsourced finding the body to their co-workers, solely concentrating on finding the next person faster and hopefully still alive. Their opponent was always a step in front of them, always dropping hints for them to run after and deciding to send them in a loop whenever they got too close on finding the murderer. It was a game, a perfidious game that played with the life of people.

It chiselled away on their nerves and with every new victim turning up there was less hope they would be able to win. All they had managed until now was lose and lose and lose, picking themselves up and trying again. Three persons were dead already, well four now, and every body would turn up with a stopped watch depicting the time of the next murder and a hint to the location. Well, time to send off the gathered data to the other team and then tend to their own bodily needs until someone would wake them with the time and hint of the next.

Nines stood up and waited for Gavin to follow. The man looked worse than ever. Too little sleep, a constant headache too high intake of caffeine and no free time did that to a body. Humans were no machines and still Gavin tried his best to be one, to force himself to functionality. It would be remarkable hadn’t it been his friend and partner wrecking himself in front of him.

‘We did what we could’, he tried to soothe the man as he stood up and shakily walked over to the android. ‘We’ll get him the next time.’ ‘We won’t’, Gavin shook his head weakly. ‘He wants to wear us down. And phck me is he succeeding.’ ‘Gavin. Trust me. We’ll get him next time. You need sleep. Me too. Come on.’ ‘’M coming, toaster.’

Nines guided the human to the old, now unused android booths and stepped into the one he had taken for himself to charge and go into stasis the minimum time required. Gavin had brought a mattress, blanket and a pillow with him the next day they found out this was a serial killer and they wouldn’t have any time to lose to driving home. Gavin remembered to kick off his shoes, before falling into his makeshift bed as he stood. ‘Night tin-can.’ ‘Good night, Gavin.’

-

‘Come on! We got it! Wake up!’ Gavin groaned at the loud screams that echoed through the precinct, neither team bothering to waste time by walking over. Nines immediately stepped out of the booth and got to work, downloading all evidence the others had gathered. The human took a bit longer, prying open his eyes and putting on his shoes as he was filled in by someone.

Nines only allowed himself one look over to his partner as he fell into his seat, a coffee already prepared and standing next to a dozen empty mugs and takeaway cups. Then he already raced through the networks again searching for anything related to calligraphy pens. They had eight hours.

-

[Remaining time: 00:00:00] [Victim died.] ‚Goddamnit, Phck!‘ Gavin was more aggravated as before. ‘We nearly had him! We already had the damn paper-shop, how long of a drive would it have been?’ ‘Twenty-three minutes.’ ‘Twenty-three phcking minutes. They could have been saved. Phck. A few piss-breaks less from me and we could have had it!’ ‘Gavin. Calm down. You are right. We nearly had him. We are getting better. Next time we’ll have him. Trust me. Now it’s time to sleep. We need every bit we can get.’

-

[Remaining time: 00:00:00] [Victim died.] This time they weren’t even close. Nines dearly needed a full stasis cycle. His calculations weren’t as accurate anymore, heaps of data had accumulated and were ready for deletion. He was no way close to a forced shutdown, but if this continued on, he would be. And Gavin looked worse with every day. He looked years older than he should be with deep rings under his eyes and shaking hands. He had fallen asleep several times at his desk already, the scarce sleep the man got finally taking its toll and overpowering the coffee. He didn’t complain. He didn’t talk about how hopeless their work was. He just stood up and shuffled his way to the bed. He was already asleep as Nines followed shortly. The android looked down on the human at his limits end. In a breeze of sympathy, he bowed down, pulled off the man’s shoes and covered him with the blanket, before he stepped into his own booth.

-

[Remaining time: 00:38:16] Nines worked away relentlessly. This had to stop. They both would work themselves to death if this continued only one more day. Baseball. 11pm. Not the slither of an idea. His thoughts were interrupted by sudden silence opposite to him. Had Gavin fallen asleep again? He needed him now. These last minutes he could stay awake but- Gavin was awake. Wide awake. And staring at his screen. ‘I got him…’, he mumbled, then louder: ‘I got him!’ He jumped from his chair in excitement, screaming once again: ‘I got him!’, before crashing to the ground hard.

Nines immediately was by his side, checking his pulse, then looking up to the screen. He identified the location instantly and sent it to Connor and Hank. ‘Get a car and drive fast!’, he screamed out to them. [Remaining time: 00:36:02] The drive was fifteen minutes. They would make it.

The same was not to be said about his partner, who still laid unconsciously on the ground. He had pulse and was breathing; his temperature was alright. He should be okay. ‘Chris. You know what this is?’ But the other human standing next to him just shook his head. ‘Sorry. No idea. I’ll call an ambulance.’ ‘No!’ That was Tina. ‘I know what’s up. Big guy. To his car!’ Nines lifted Gavin from the ground and followed Tina. ‘He will be alright, Nines. Take him home. Here are his keys. Lay him on the couch and start cooking him something. He will wake up then. But no word to anyone and now go!’

Nines knew better than to argue with Tina, also the human knew Gavin longer than he did. He trusted her to know what was going on. He sat down in the car and it felt weird as he grabbed the wheel. He had never driven Gavin’s car. He had only ever been his passenger. He brought the man home, relaxing more and more since Connor’s message had come in. He had been there on time, saved the victim from certain death and apprehended the criminal. They were on their way back to the precinct now and Nines knew they could handle it. They had time.

-

Gavin awoke to the blissful scent of onions and garlic sizzling in a pan. Whatever else was being cooked was drowned out by it and immediately the man felt his stomach cramp in pain. He let out a groan and was immediately caught by the cook: ‘So you finally woke up.’ ‘Mmyeah’, he mumbled and looked around. Wait. This was home. But that voice was Nines. Somewhere had to be a connection but Gavin couldn’t find it. ‘What happened?’ ‘Your dumbass decided to pass out after you solved the case.’ ‘I did?’ ‘Yes. Connor and Hank got them. The victim is safe, the criminal is locked up at the precinct.’ ‘That’s… so good to hear.’ He struggled to get up, only to be stopped by a not so gentle hand on his chest. ‘Don’t.’ It was nearly a threat and Gavin looked up to these blue eyes. ‘Stay down. Your circulatory systems wouldn’t take that yet.’ ‘What?’ ‘I don’t want you to pass out again, I just cooked.’ ‘Oh.’

Gavin sank back down into the pillows and watched Nines going back into the kitchen. How the hell had they gotten into- oh. Right. Tina. He would never let her look after the cats for him again. The android came back with a steaming plate of mashed potatoes, eggs and bacon, waiting for Gavin to give him enough space to sit down too. The human already reached for the plate, starved beyond reason, but Nines pulled it out of reach, looking at him harshly. ‘Why didn’t you eat?’ ‘What? Come on, I’m starving over here!’ ‘I know. You passed out in front of me. I’m only letting you eat if you tell me why you did it and promise me, you’ll never do it again!’ ‘Okay, yes, I promise! Goddamnit, let me phcking eat!’

Nines handed him the plate, watching him as he greedily gulped it down. ‘Slow down, Gavin. Your body won’t take that much so sudden.’ Surprisingly, the human listened and started talking between the bites: ‘It keeps me focussed. The pain… it grounds me. And the hunger creates urgency, so I don’t slack on the job.’ ‘That are terrible coping measures’, Nines judged, and Gavin nodded, chewing. ‘Hmm-hmm. I no dat.’ He swallowed and continued: ‘I know that it’s not healthy and I’m a total shit for falling back into it… Having a partner helped me get out of it, because I knew you wouldn’t tolerate such bullshit. But this last case it… It is proven I am more productive when starving myself!’ ‘That’s no excuse, Gavin.’ Nines did his best to sound worried and it wasn’t too difficult. He actually was. ‘I got too caught up in the case, too. I should have noticed. Please, don’t ever do that again. I know we should have asked for help with this thing.’ ‘You are right with that.’ Gavin yawned long and thoroughly. ‘Both to stubborn to admit defeat.’ ‘Promise me, you do it now?’, Nines asked, looking the man in the eye. ‘I’ll never do it again. I swear by your goddamn thirium pump.’

Nines sighed at that and allowed himself to sink back into the couch. His partner was fed and getting better. Gavin was safe. They both had finally time. He decided to message Fowler they both would take time off for at least the next few days, then he allowed himself to disconnect from everything, just being himself sitting here with Gavin. Finally, being able to relax. Gavin was finished with the plate and sat it down next to the couch before cuddling deeper into a blanket, closing his eyes. Soon the human was asleep and Nines entered stasis next to him.

Leberkäse – a type of meat loaf popular in Germany and Austria