Teach me how to feel alive [Connor • DBH]

nine

" all the good girls go to hell. 'cause even God herself has enemies "

✩

Standing beside Connor next to Hank's car, getting soaked by the rain, I pulled my arms closer to my torso as Hank talked to the bus driver that saw the deviant we were after. An AX400 that was reported to have murdered a man the previous night. We didn't know why, what her motives were, but my best guess was she was acting on impulse. Maybe the man scared her, made her make irrational decisions, all we were trying to do was track her down and figure out why.

Hank moved over to us, sending Connor a glare before looking down at his screen.

"Bus driver saw it at two thirty... it was seen at a convenience store..."

My brows furrowed. "What was she doing at a convenience store?" I pondered out loud, making Hank look up at me. "She had no money, so why go in?"

Hank shrugged. "Maybe it was asking for help, it didn't exactly have a plan," he replied, looking back down at his screen.

"It stole wire cutters," Connor spoke up, making us both turn our attention to him. "There must be a reason."

"Wire cutters?" Hank echoed. "The fuck are you talking about?"

"I checked the CCTV while you were questioning the clerk. The Android was caught on camera stealing them," Connor explained. "It had wire cutters... and was looking for a place to hide," he said, pondering for a moment, and Hank extended his arms outwards in a shrug.

"So, what's your conclusion, Sherlock?"

Connor looked around for a moment. Searching for anything that the android would need wire cutters for, and his eyes landed on the big abandoned house behind us. "Maybe it didn't go far," he said, looking back at us, we both nodded and began to follow him towards the fence.

He looked around for a moment, searching the fence for any holes the deviant could've crawled through, when he kneeled down; swiping his fingers across something that was on the fence. When he pressed his fingers to his tongue, I put two and two together, and realised he must've spotted some blue blood. He turned to us.

"Wait here, I'll go check it out."

I wanted to go with him, just in case the android was in there, but he disappeared before I got a chance. So, Hank and I stood near the hole in the fence — waiting for Connor to tell us something. A couple minutes went by and we had heard nothing, Connor hadn't come out yet so we just assumed he was still searching around, but Hank was growing itchy. He was bored. So, he went to see if everything was alright.

As soon as he disappeared into the house, I heard a noise. Looking around, I saw nothing. Then, I was suddenly pushed to the ground and landed on my back with a thud. I looked up to see it was the android standing there with a little girl, holding hands so tight the seemed almost afraid to let go.

Something clicked inside of me as I watched them sprint away from the scene.

I didn't want to capture them. It was clear all they wanted was to escape all of this and be free.

I was pulled to my feet a moment later and snapped out of my trance I was in, looking forward, I saw Connor staring back at me. "Which way did they go?" He asked me, I couldn't think straight, I just pointed in the direction they ran off in. Connor broke out in a sprint, following my vague direction.

Hank ran up to me. "Are you alright?" He asked, patting my shoulder, I looked up to him and his smile fell. "What's wrong?"

A shaky breath escaped my lips. "She had a little girl with her," I said, making his brows raise. "They just want to be happy."

Hank hesitated. We both knew that if Connor caught up to them, they'd be locked up before they knew it. The android would be disassembled, effectively killing her, and none of us could do anything to stop it. "Come on," he said, grabbing my hand, we both set off in a sprint and tried to follow Connor as best as we could. We eventually caught up to see the two girls at the edge of the highway, seriously considering crossing over just to escape, and Connor was latched onto the fence. He watched them, desperate to get to them. "Oh fuck, that's insane," Hank sighed as he tried to catch his breath.

They started to cross, just barely getting across the first half, Connor had tried to climb up the fence but Hank stopped him.

"Hey! Where you going?"

"I can't let them get away!" Connor argued, his face determined.

"They won't! They'll never make it to the other side."

"I can't take that chance!"

Connor had hoisted himself up, but I was quick to grab his coat and pull him back down. "For god's sake, Connor you will get yourself killed if you go out there!" I exclaimed. "Do not go after them!" His hands fell to his sides and he looked to me, his eyes were angry, but I wasn't about to let him risk his life for a deviant. Connor looked back at the girls, who were now heading to get the other side of the highway. They barely managed to get across without getting hit by the oncoming cars. They were a little shaken once they got to the other side, but they were okay.

I couldn't help but feel a little happiness for them.

I smiled absentmindedly as they shared an embrace, the girl wrapped her arms so tightly around the android, and the android's eyes flickered for a moment — as if she wasn't sure what to do — but then she slowly wrapped her arms around the little girl. They were safe. That's all that mattered.

I noticed the android's eyes move up to us again, looking at us watching them, and they didn't show any fear or regret. She was happy they escaped. A smile appeared on her face as she held the little girl, nuzzling her head against the girl's damp hair, the three of us moved away from the scene; ready to head back to the station, when Hank suggested we go somewhere else...