Chapter Text
Gavin couldn't sleep.
It was almost midnight and he couldn't close his eyes despite the fact that he was tired and exhausted. Despite his whole body screaming for rest.
Because every time his eyes drifted shut for even a second he saw Nines on that white table with his insides being taken out and replaced. That ugly wound on his stomach still bleeding and dripping dark thirium to the ivory floor below.
As a cop he had faced the fact that he could die on the job years ago. He knew full well that his coworkers faced that same bleak reality and he tried not to let that weigh him down.
But with Nines, it was different. The android had never been hurt on a job before. He was programmed to avoid injury or any sort of damage. And yet here he was jumping in front of bullets for… for Gavin.
The bullet from Rebecca's gun could have easily killed the detective.
Nines simply didn’t let that happen.
It was that thought that kept the detective up, reverberating in his head on a tormenting, endless cycle. If Nines had died, it would have been all his fault. The fact that he was hurt at all… that was on Gavin. There was no getting around that. The blame fell solely on Detective fucking Reed and his idiocy and impulsiveness.
And Gavin didn’t exactly believe in any sort of higher power. But it felt a lot like this feeling of wretched guilt and worry was the world’s way of letting him know that he fucked up. That it should have been him that took the bullet.
The detective didn’t want to think about… didn’t want to think about much at all, really. Didn’t want his mind to keep screaming at him under the blankets of his bed. Didn’t want to let this guilt keep festering in his chest.
So he sat on his balcony chain smoking and listening to music that was probably way too loud for earbuds. But in someway the light pain and shock of each heavy cord from a guitar distracted his thoughts. Helped him feel less like Gavin Reed and more like just a blank slate sitting in the cold.
It was almost nice.
Honestly, whatever he did at this point, it was better than continuously checking on the android currently in stasis on his couch. Watching Nines’ chest rise and fall with artificial breaths like that was some sort of indication of his health. Like Gavin would be able to do anything if something went wrong anyway.
That was another thing that was so fucking wrong with this whole situation.
Nines would have known what to do if Gavin was the one who was injured. Hell, Nines knew what to do when the detectives nose was broken, the android knew what to do when Gavin sprained his wrist by punching a wall that one time, knew how to treat hangovers and headaches.
Meanwhile Gavin would need a whole damn manual to fix a pulled out wire. He would have offered to tie a tourniquet around the androids waist if he thought that might have helped. But that's the thing, he just didn’t have the slightest clue of what to do so he just drove to the old Cyberlife facility as fast as he could without getting Nines worked up.
Nines had said that he was fine, but how was he fine when his LED was bright red the whole time? Androids said that they don’t feel pain but how could that be true when Gavin saw his partner wince when he thought the detective wasn’t looking?
He pushed the raging tide of questions away and took another deep breath of smoke. The familiar sting friendly and welcome in his lungs.
He leaned back up against the brick wall to his back and breathed it out. Mindlessly watching the smoke dissipate in the night air.
There were some stars hidden behind wispy clouds. He could only just make out Orion and the Big Dipper, countless lessons from his mom still stuck in his head even after all these years.
He closed his eyes and sighed, wondering if falling asleep out here would be that bad. He would need to grab a blanket though… and the night air was far too chilled to let him rest for long. Besides, if he did wind up back inside he was going to his bed and then he wasn’t going to move again.
When he opened his eyes, Nines stood in the doorway to the balcony. Gavin just about had a heart attack and jumped about five feet in his seat. He ripped out an ear bud. “Thought you were in stasis, tin can.”
Gavin’s voice, meant to be strong and tough, turned out to be more melancholic and sad than anything.
The android looked at the cigarette in Gavin’s hand, pointedly ignoring the question. “You should stop smoking.”
The detective huffed, “It hasn’t killed me yet. What’s the big deal?”
“It could cut your life short, Gavin.”
“Jesus Christ, Nines, I didn’t expect to get a fucking PSA. I’ll die when I die. Whatever.”
Nines’ eyebrows furrowed, frustrated. He crossed his arms in an imitation of being cold. Dressed in a baggy t-shirt and old basketball shorts of Gavin’s, the detective guessed that if he was human he would be freezing.
The android sat down softly next to Gavin and, out of some sort of consideration for Nines’ wishes, he put his cigarette out even though he wasn’t close to halfways done with the thing.
“I don’t think that it’s whatever.” Nines said as softly as he could.
Gavin said nothing because what was he supposed to say to that?
The night was quiet for a few heart beats. Then, giving into tiredness or old temptation- Gavin didn’t know what- the detective leaned against the android, resting his head on Nines’ large shoulder.
The android said nothing as he wrapped an arm around Gavin’s waist.
The detective nestled into the vaguely unnatural warmth Nines’ body was putting off. Finally able to let some of that guilt and worry go because Nines was fine. He wasn’t hurt anymore, he wasn’t dead, and he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
-
Gavin woke up in his bed- to his phone’s alarm this time.
He had no memory of how exactly he got there but he was positive that it involved the android being nicer than Gavin would ever deserve.
He threw his arms up to stretch lazily, in no real hurry to get up and get going. He had a good forty-five minutes to get ready and find something edible, plenty of time.
He meandered over to his bathroom, took a shower, and got a much needed shave in. His face was still rough, but yellow had started to mix in with the purple bruises around his eyes and nose meaning- at the very least- he had started to heal. His nose was still a little tender too, but Nines was one hell of a medic so it felt a lot better than when he broke it that first time.
He mused his hair up into his typical sloppy style then got dressed in his usual faded leather jacket over top a comfy black t-shirt and blue jeans made soft by age and use.
Gavin yawned and went to his kitchen to make himself a coffee and maybe a piece of toast if he was feeling ambitious.
His eyebrows shot up when he saw Nines in his kitchen cooking bacon and eggs like it was the most normal thing in the world. “What the hell is this?”
Nines didn’t look back, choosing instead to focus the majority of his attention on making the perfect sunny side ups, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, Gavin. Some protein will be beneficial to you and the healing process.” He made a motion to the table behind him, “I made you coffee.”
Gavin sat down slowly, not quite trusting this odd vision as reality instead of some weird fever dream. As per usual, the coffee was amazing. The detective took deep breath when the android put the food onto a plate, “Nines… this is unnecessary…”
If he sounded hesitant when he said that, it’s because he was. This was probably the best food that was made at his house in… well, in forever.
Nines shook his head as he pulled up a seat near Gavin, “Nonsense, this is a proper thank you for letting me stay at your house for the second night in a row.”
Gavin took a bite of egg and of course it was delicious and somehow- as if by magic- it was cooked just how he liked it. “Shit, tin can,” He joked, “If you’re gonna cook me food like this then you can move in.”
A flicker of a yellow LED, “I think I would like that.”
Gavin choked on his sip of coffee. “You fucking what?”
Nines looked taken aback, “Well you offered.”
“I- I know I just… I…” Gavin realized that he stuck his entire foot in his mouth and now he was fucked.
“I don’t have my own home or apartment due to heavily restrictive land laws for androids, so I would be able to stop staying at the station all the time. I could sleep on the couch as I don’t require anything incredibly comfortable to go into stasis. I could help you pay for rent as I have an expendable income, and I could continue making you food that doesn’t come with an overabundance of sodium or grease.”
Literally nothing the android said sounded like a bad thing. “I- I- fucking alright. When do you want to move in?”
“Today,” Nines chirped without a single hint of hesitation.
Fucking hell, this shitty toaster was going to be the death of Gavin.
And here’s the thing, the detective was starting to think that he wouldn’t mind that.
-
“Reed! Nines! Get your asses in here, now!”
Gavin had barely been at work for five seconds and now his boss was screaming at him. Perfect.
He glanced at Nines who looked just about as pleased as the detective felt. Well, at least he wasn’t the only one stuck in this shitty situation.
Fowler looked like he was about to have an aneurysm. “Close the door behind you.”
Nines compiled in complete silence.
“Reed, what the fuck were you thinking? Going into an apartment without a search warrant? Are you aware that you could be pressed for charges of breaking and entering?”
“Sir,” Gavin said, trying his best to use a brown nosing voice that didn’t quite fit a single part of him or his personality. “I have a solid case for imminent destruction of evidence. If I hadn’t gone there when I did then that whole bag of red ice would have been in the hands of other criminals-”
“If you just hadn’t gone there at all one of our best officers wouldn’t have gotten injured. You simply wouldn’t have been in danger at all if you just stayed at Eden like you said you would. I told you yesterday that if you pulled another stunt, you were going to be off the case. Yes, you got me some good evidence and several suspects for dealers, but that doesn’t excuse this major fuck up.”
Gavin bristled but tried to remain civil, “I never said that I was going to stay at the club, sir. I went to Mendoza’s house because I thought I could get a lead form doing so, and I did. What happened to Nines was my fault, I know that-”
“I can speak for myself, and my injury was my own fault.” Nines stepped closer to Fowlers desk, arms crossed. “I took a bullet for Gavin, and that was on my own accord. I do not regret it, nor do I-”
“Nines, I don’t care who’s fault it was for your wound. We’re lucky enough that Cyberlife offered to pay for your treatment. What I care about is who put you in that situation in the first place.” He turned his attention to the detective, “And that’s you, Reed.”
“If Gavin is kicked off of the case then I would like to drop it as well.”
Fowler’s scowl deepened, “No, we need you on that case. You’re the best investigative model ever made! You have to keep working-”
“I am Gavin’s partner, first and foremost. Whatever case is his is mine as well.”
The captain pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a deep and upset breath, “Are you serious?”
“Absolutely.”
Fowler muttered under his breath, low and angry- a swear most likely- and leaned back in his chair. “Fine then. You two, if you have another fuck up then you both are off and I’ll just give the case to another team.” He waived them away flippantly, “Dismissed.”
Nines left out the large glass doors first and Gavin followed not long after. He was about to reach the safety of literally anywhere but the captain’s office when he heard a halting and gruff, “Reed, stay back a moment.”
He stopped in his tracks and turned to face Fowler, but not before catching Nines’ eyes and responding to a worried unasked question with a dismissive mute answer. He could hold his own with the big scary boss. He’d been doing so for years before the android came around, so he could handle an extra few minutes.
Gavin marched to the center of the imposing desk.
“The only reason you’re still on this case is because of your partner.”
Gavin swallowed, “I know that, sir.”
The captain seemed to mull over his words for a few beats. “Keep him safe, you got that? He’s a good officer.”
The detective’s throat felt dry and uncomfortable. “One of the best.”
Fowler sighed like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders and that statement almost seemed like it wasn’t all that far from the truth these days.“We’ve lost too many men in this drug crisis.” Then he cleared his throat, “Well, the lab has the toxicology reports back. You and Nines go there and check it out, see what you can see.”
Gavin made a move to leave.
“You stay safe too, Reed.”
The detective gave him a curt nod before leaving.
-
The new strain of Red Ice contained more hydrochloric acid and thirium than any previous batch that the lab had ever seen.
The increased aggression was due to the thirium that messes with hormone balances, triggering vicious mood swings and violent outbursts.
Meanwhile the nosebleeds were from the hydrochloric acid fucking melting parts of user’s flesh. Burning the lining of their upper esophagus if they were smokers. Eating the lining of their nose if they chose to snort the toxic mix.
That would explain why the duo at Mendoza’s place sounded so rough. Why the man- Victor Price- had a sudden nose bleed. His body couldn’t fucking heal itself as whole parts dissolve like something from a bad horror movie.
Gavin couldn’t help but shudder at the ominous report. It was no wonder why in the last month death rates in Detroit have been slowly going up. People were killing themselves slowly for a bit of fun and a several hour long high.
This whole thing was fucked up. Working with drugs was always ugly and depressing and disheartening no matter what. There were always more users at the end of the day, always more people making and selling and buying and fueling the trade with whatever little money they had.
Gavin huffed as he drove himself and Nines back to Eden. More questioning this time, but now they went before the place opened up. The detective would rather not ruffle any more feathers and both him and Nines agreed that it might be best if they lied low this evening. Two nights of trouble in a row, Gavin would rather not shoot for a third. Take a break while they could or something.
The detective wandered into the club with Nines by his side. Today they were going to investigate together, maybe employ a little bit of the classic good cop bad cop. Maybe.
Upon entrance Gavin practically ran into that janitorial android from before. Her name was Kate or Cathy or-
“Cathrine!” Nines said, instantly employing his friendly face and voice. He glanced at Gavin briefly, like he was asking if she should have an interrogation. The detective nodded back, it couldn’t do any harm to be thorough. Afterall, she was one of the androids Gavin failed to talk to the previous night.
“Would it be okay if we ask you a few questions really quick?” Nines continued, with more forced familiarity.
“U-uh…” She squeaked, “You know, I don’t know all that much. I just clean. I don’t work the floor or anything like that…”
“That’s fine, just a few questions, miss. Won’t take long” Gavin said in a serious and vaguely menacing voice. He was god awful at the good cop gig so he was glad that Nines took that role quickly.
“I…” She looked around the club like she was begging silently for someone to help. When no one came to her rescue she took a deep breath then nodded minutely as she clutched the mop she was holding close to her chest. However, she remained glued to the spot.
Nines looked at her patiently. “It’ll only take five minutes, I promise.”
She took a deep breath. “S-sure.”
“Perfect.” Nines gave her a small smile and led her into a room where they could talk in relative quiet, away from the prying eyes of the other androids who worked at Eden. The android sat down on the plush bed nest to her, though he was a far enough distance to refrain from being any sort of threat to her. Meanwhile, Gavin stood with his arms crossed, pacing around the room slowly, like some sort of wild animal trapped in a cage.
So far Cathrine looked comfortable with Nines and every once in a while she would eye Gavin nervously. In other words, it was going perfectly.
“I’m gonna be blunt her Cath.” Gavin said suddenly after several beats of uncomfortable silence. “Do you know any regulars here who use red ice.”
She shook her head no.
“Oh come on! You work here every night don’t you? You have to know someone who has shown signs. A nose bleed, ragged cough, hyper aggression-”
“That’s enough, Gavin.” Nines interjected. His voice stern yet not unreasonably so. God damn, the android was good at this. Nines turned to Cathrine, “If you remember anything you can talk to me alright? It’s okay.”
“Well…” She stared at her feet now, “There was that man who… who um… he stormed in on you two when you were…”
Gavin snorted, “Don? Yeah, we already have that asshole behind bars. We need some new information Cath.”
Nines shot the detective another look that told him to stop. It was a gentle look compared to the real ones that the android liked to give Gavin. “Any info is good info. Is there anything else Cathrine? Anything else about Don even?”
She shook her head adimatently, “No... no there’s nothing else.”
“Are you sure, Cath?”
She glared at Gavin, “There’s n-nothing else!”
“We’re talking about people’s live here and if you’re with holding information then you’re just helping the killers-”
“No, I’m not!” She shouted, LED spinning bright yellow. “I’m not helping them- I just- I just…”
“You just what?” Nines pressed, reaching a hand out to grab hers.
“Don’t touch me!” Cathrine screamed then launched out out the bed so fast that her back hit the wall behind her with a definite thud.
Gavin backed towards the door, blocking her exit slowly. This girl knew something, and it was something seriously fucked up by the looks of it.
At the same time Nines crept forward towards her. She pinned her self up against a wall and she still held her mop, swinging it from side to side like a club in warning.
“Cathrine, it’s okay. It’s going to be okay. Just tell me what’s wrong.” Nines spoke softly to her as he made his way ever forward. He made sure to stay out of the handle’s arc. He likely wouldn’t get damaged by such a small object but it was better safe than sorry.
“J-just go away! I can’t- can’t- you won’t know! I’m not going to tell you! I’m not going to tell you!” Her LED was circling in a consistent pulsing red. Her stress level had to be extremely high right now.
Gavin closed the door, hoping that the barricade, a long with himself, could by some time if she somehow got past Nines.
“Cathrine, you don’t want people getting hurt right? We can help you if you just tell us.” She stilled the swing of her makeshift weapon and Nines moved closer and grabbed at the mop. “We can move you into your own home and you-”
“I don’t want to leave! I don’t want to leave him, you can’t make me, you can’t!” She suddenly tugged back on the handle but she was unable to get it out of Nines’ iron grip.
She kept struggling and tugging but the bigger android was a lot stronger. Designed for combat while she was made to look pretty and calming. It was a fairly one sided tug-of-war. Eventually Nines yanked the mop out of her hands then grabbed onto her exposed wrist. She tried desperately to thrash away but again it was to no avail.
Her synthetic skin melted away where he held on. Nines had his eyes closed for all of three seconds then he shoved her off, his eyes wide and scared. “How could you?” The question came off as nothing more than a shocked whisper against his obviously panicked breaths.
She shrank to a puddle on the floor, sobbing, cradling herself. “I didn’t mean to, but there was no choice. I had no choice. There was no choice-”
Nines walked around, hand running through his now messy hair, “Yes there was! You could have told them not to go, you could have told us- the police sooner-”
She shook her head quickly, “You saw him, didn’t you? I can’t just- just leave him here!”
“He’s gone, Cathrine!”
“Y-you can’t say that!” She hiccuped, “He’s not gone, he’s still here and he still loves me! I know he does.”
“He loved you so much, Cathrine. But he’s not here anymore and do you think that what you’re doing is what he would have wanted?”
“It’s my only choice.” She muttered in a vindictive whisper.
Gavin heard scuffling behind the door. So did Nines. “Cathrine, we have to go- we have to go now.” His voice was nothing more than a stage whisper now. The fear in the android’s voice caused cold panic to spike through Gavin’s stomach.
She shook her head and refused to get up from where she lay on the floor.
“Cathrine, they’ll kill you, please. Please get up.”
Nines made a move to pick her up but she recoiled from his open arms. “If you touch me I’ll call her here right now.” Her eyes were fueled with fire. She meant what she said.
Nines swallowed, “Are you sure? Cathrine, she’ll-”
She gave him a pitiful sort of smile. “If I’m with him I’ll be okay.”
His eyebrows lowered in sympathy then, without another word, he walked towards Gavin. “We need to get out, now.”
“What…” Gavin trailed off looking at the woman still shaking on the floor.
“I’ll explain in the car.”
The pair both rushed out of the club as inconspicuously as they could. By some stroke of luck, no one was outside of the small room.
They ran together in the warm afternoon air. Gavin had parked several blocks away from the club to not draw attention as it would have been the only car in an otherwise vacant parking lot.
He could finally spot his car when Nines said, “It’s Topaz.” His voice was perfect and completely unaffected from his jogging.
“What?” The detective asked breathlessly, too much information bouncing around in his head.
“She’s the one threatening to kill Cathrine.” Nines spoke fast, unloading everything he learned as quickly as he could, “She’s the one who killed Hugo. She’s been selling androids off for thirium and Cathrine helped because she thinks Hugo can be repaired. He can’t be, his damage was so, so bad, there was no way-”
“I thought you scanned Topaz?” Gavin went to a walk, he was so close to his car now.
“I did, but her memories must be encrypted or edited… I should have seen something though, I should have-”
“Nines, it’s okay. Call Fowler, tell him about this shit. We can get people down here and they can see Cathrine's memories-”
“Topaz said she would kill her if she said anything. I- I don’t know if she’s going to be there once we get help.Statistically it’s not impossible, nothing is ever impossible. But it’s so improbable…”
“Nines, listen to me. It’s going to be alright.” He stopped walking and grabbed Nines’ large hand with his smaller one. He looked up at the pale gray eyes, “You did good. You did an amazing job and it’s going to be okay.”
Awe and fear, guilt and despair, hope and thankfulness all flashed across the androids face almost faster then Gavin could read the expressions. “Gavin, don’t hate me…”
“What why would I-”
Nines leaned down, cupped Gavin’s jaw with his free hand, and kissed the detective. It was sweet and chaste and far too quick for Gavin’s liking.
Nines pulled away with nothing but honest fondness on his face, “Gavin Reed, I think I like you a lot and I just wanted you to know that in case something ever happens to me.”
The detective didn’t wait a moment longer then tugged the giant into kissing range by his tie. “I think I like you too, tin can.” Then Gavin did his best to show Nines what a real kiss was supposed to be.