#thankfully there are lesser backup weights at home

[soymimikyu]

Rain!

[fandom-necromancer]

Stubborn Stupidity

This was prompted by the amazing @smolandangry001! Enjoy!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900

‘Nines, over there!’

The android saw what Gavin referred to before the man could point it out. With one quick punch to his opponent’s jaw, he freed himself and ran from the narrow hallway to the open roof. He heard Gavin struggle behind him, but the Detective was a very capable human, he would manage a single human aggressor. For once it was Connor, who was in trouble. The RK800 was held over the edge of the roof by the throat. The huge android that held him was grinning and where his hand connected to Connor’s chin and neck, the synthetic skin had retracted. A forced interface and judging from his cut distress signal it was an active connection that planted a virus into his systems.

It had been supposed to be a simple mission: Hank and Connor infiltrated the empty building in the abandoned district to eavesdrop the conversation of the criminals gathering on the flat roof. It had gone smoothly until someone had come up the stairs directly into their hiding place. The person had been one of the criminals, only late due to traffic and had unmasked them. Hank had been shoved down the stairs, Connor had been fighting with the man until the rest of the group came in and the giant android – leader of the operation – put an end to it. Gavin and Nines had been backup but had been too late to help immediately.

The human group had mostly dispersed upon the android’s command and those that had stayed, Nines and Gavin had quickly rendered unconscious. Now there was only the leader for them to take down, but with Connor hanging over the edge that would be quite difficult. Nines also couldn’t simply start a fight as the android was far superior to him. He had once been an AF200, but by now he was so heavily modified Nines couldn’t be sure of his specifications. The only thing he knew was that he had easily subdued Connor and there were a few black-market spares installed in his arms and legs.

His main advantage was that the android hadn’t seen him yet. Maybe, if he managed to free Connor, they had a chance at taking him down, both being the most advanced androids built by Cyberlife. So, he pre-constructed his best approach and executed it.  He passed the android from behind, stretched out his leg and put in his full weight to pull him over it. The android stumbled, but kept his balance with Connor as a counterweight, until the RK800 got ground under his feet. Connor pushed and that toppled the former AF200 over. Nines was quick to roll back on his feet and get over to Connor, who was kneeling, his LED a bright red. But the other android wasn’t slow either: The modified model jumped to his feet and stepped backwards, ready to lunge at them again, when three shots echoed over the roofs of Detroit. Gavin stood at the door, behind him the two now unconscious humans, gun drawn. ‘DPD, don’t move!’

But instead of listening, the android decided to make a run for it. Nines was ready to follow, when the order came in: ‘Nines! Stay with Connor, I’ll take pursuit!’ The RK900 looked down on Connor, who was struggling to free his systems from the virus, then back at Gavin, who was already sprinting after the android. They got closer to the edge and the former AF200 showed no sign of stopping. Instead, he got even faster, and Nines realised with horror, the android would jump to the next building. It wasn’t far, but Gavin’s chances of crossing the chasm weren’t the best. Still, his human didn’t slow down.

[STAY WITH CONNOR.]

The red wall kept him from running and stopping Gavin. He could only watch as Gavin jumped and flew through the air. But he made it. With relief Nines saw how Gavin hit the ground and rolled a few more metres. Nines was standing, analysing the situation. There were no more roofs they could jump to and there was no way they would make it back up here. Unless… No. The AF200 hadn’t stopped. He had landed perfectly and was now running towards the next drop. Nines calculated his speed and proven strength and came to the conclusion he could make it. But it wasn’t humanly possible to jump that far. He hoped Gavin realised that too. The human was getting up slowly, his face telling Nines he was in pain from the heavy impact. The Detective could only watch how the modified android leapt to the next building, expertly grabbing the edge and pulling himself up.

By now Gavin was on his feet, but thankfully clever enough not to try what the android had pulled off. ‘What now, little pig?’, the AF200 taunted. ‘How do you plan on stopping me now?’ Gavin narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth in anger before lifting up his pistol in one quick motion and firing three times. Nines followed the trajectory and was impressed to see two had actually found their target. Only that the AF200 didn’t seem too bothered. ‘Impressive. But futile’, the android commented. ‘Go back home. Pray I don’t find you.’

Nines knew his partner. Nines knew Gavin was as stubborn as he was reckless, both a combination of qualities that ended in very, very dumb ideas. Just like this one. RK900 immediately made the connection, as Gavin looked over to a crane, most likely used to support a platform for window cleaners once. Before most of Detroit’s citizens had left the city and never returned after the revolution. Nines watched in terror as Gavin pulled on one of the cables attached to it.

[STAY WITH CONNOR.]

Nines watched through the red haze how Gavin grabbed the cable and pulled it with him to the edge of the roof, looking over to the next where the AF200 was still standing, watching too. Nines knew what Gavin would try. He would grab the cable and jump off the side, hoping he would swing over to the other roof. Nines couldn’t even begin to explain how stupid that was. The crane could give in. The cable could rip from the mount upon the sudden weight. Gavin could lose his grip. And even if none of that happened, he could get slammed against the building he stood on now. He could get caught on the building front. He could miss the other building entirely swinging back and slamming back against the building. He could miscalculate the distance and never make it. He could make it and miss the edge to grab. He could make it over to the other side unharmed and still had to face an android that was willing to kill and stronger than Nines. The human’s chance at survival was so little, Nines would have said it to be impossible hadn’t there been the hope in the back of hi head his human would make it. His chance to come out of this alive stood at 0.001 percent. And Nines couldn’t stop him.

[STAY WITH CONNOR.]

Nines wasted precious time looking at the RK800 at his feet that still hadn’t recovered. There was no way circumnavigating the clear order. He had to watch how Gavin took a few more steps back. His survival rate jumped to 0.003 percent. Nines couldn’t stop him. He focussed on the red wall.

[STAY WITH CONNOR.]

Oh, hell no! Nines pressed against it, ignoring the warnings and sizzling pain from disobedience. He had to stop, he had to save his human! There was no pain he wasn’t willing to take to achieve that. He clawed at the wall, dug his fingers in deep and pulled. He punched and kicked and accepted stress levels high enough to deactivate any lesser android to tear it down. And as it shattered, it was music to his ears.

‘Gavin, don’t-‘ He managed to get only that far, before Gavin jumped. Nines pump stopped. He watched how Gavin vanished behind the edge, the movement of the attached cable the only sign something happened. Nines mind was focussed solely on the human once he reappeared in his vision. At incredible speed he rushed through the air, following one of the few possible trajectories to make it to the other side. But would he be able to grab onto the other roof? A human wasn’t an android. Gavin couldn’t pre-construct or calculate, he could only react. Time passed agonisingly slow as Nines calculated every possible outcome, watching Gavin fall to his death countless times, until the Detective’s hand touched the rain gutter and grabbed it. There was a short moment when he let go of the cable and hung there that everything looked like he would still drop down. Only then he made it, reaching for the gutter with his other hand and pulling himself up before the AF200 managed to get to him. He rolled over the edge to solid ground.

From how he lied there for just a moment, Nines was sure his heart was beating just as hard in his chest as Nines’ wasn’t. Because the modified android had just made it over and was about to strike. In the blink of an eye Gavin had rolled to the side and out of the way of the fist that cracked the asphalt on the roof. The human got to his knees, lifted his pistol and emptied the entire clip into the AF200. And it still kept going. Obviously desperate at that point, Gavin threw the empty gun at the android who batted it away like an annoying fly. At that point Nines was only nerves and hope. Gavin had made it so far, please….

The android had reached him and pushed him to the ground, hand finding his throat just like it had with Connor before. Only that he didn’t bother playing games. The AF200 pushed down, quickly cutting off all air in one calculated movement. ‘Gavin!’ Immediately, a timer appeared in Nines’ vision, nearing the moment Gavin would fall unconscious and a second one only waiting to tell Nines the additional time it would need to the final end once the first run out. Nines couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He could only hope for a miracle now.

Gavin was in a similarly panicked state, except that he had no timers. He only knew he would have to be fast. There was no use in struggling, he knew that. This android asshole was far stronger than Nines and his partner had proved in several situations no human was a match for him. His eyes flickered to the bullet wounds and what laid beyond their Thirium coated rims. In a last rear as his vision started to show black spots already, he blindly punched into what he hoped to be the most instable spot, broke through the hull and grabbed the wires behind it. Then he pulled with all his strength and felt something give. Nearly instantaneous the grip around his throat relaxed and the body of the android sagged to the side. Gavin coughed and spat, desperately forcing air into his lungs that wanted to push out everything at the same time. Gavin thought he had actually forgotten how breathing worked, until clean fresh air filled his lungs and he managed to relax. His last coursing adrenaline made him crawl backwards away from the modified AF200, until his back hit an AC unit. Then he just sat there staring at the android, while his fingers began trembling from the shock and all strength left him.

‘Gavin!’ The shout made the Detective look up and he was more than relieved to see his partner. ‘Nines!’, he rasped out, waiting for these strong arms to hold him and to take him away. Instead he got a fist in his face. ‘Ah! What the hell? What was that for?’ The android grabbed him by the shoulders with force and slammed him against the AC unit. ‘You idiot! You complete moron! You fucking selfless stubborn bastard human!’, Nines shouted in his face, underlining every word by slamming him against the wall in his back. ‘WHAT IF I FUCKING LOST YOU?!’ ‘Nines?’ ‘No, no “Nines”, don’t expect me to hold you and kiss you and tell you how much I love you after that stunt! You forced me to stay with my idiot brother, while you decided to pull this stunt! Do you even know how risky that was? Do you even know how high your chance of survival was?’ ‘Er… no?’ ‘Non-existent!’, Nines shouted and let go of Gavin, who immediately fell back on his ass. ‘God, Gavin, you… I couldn’t even save you. I deviated and still… you were… You could be… You should be dead…’ Nines had lost his anger, having shouted it through Detroit, but now the realisation hit how lucky they had been. For all laws of probability and pre-construction, Gavin shouldn’t sit here with him, living, breathing and continuing to make dumb decisions. Like standing up and walking over. ‘Nines? Hey, babe?’ ‘No. Go away. I… I can’t.’ ‘Nines, please.’ ‘Leave me alone you idiot!’

But the man didn’t. Instead, he wrapped his arms around him. ‘I’m sorry. Yes, I am an idiot. I didn’t think…’ Nines turned around and held his human in return. ‘Do you care so little about me? I… I couldn’t live without you, Gavin. I wouldn’t want to. I need you.’ Gavin sighed. ‘I’m sorry, Nines. I didn’t- I care about you. A lot. I’m just not used to having someone who cares about me. I shouldn’t have been so reckless. For your sake.’ ‘Please, promise me to never do something like that again, okay?’ ‘I promise. And now that you are deviant, you can stop me.’ ‘You bet your ass I will.’