Chapter Text
"Hey, kid, you okay?"
Gavin scowled and tried to focus on the tablet in his hands.
Anderson was probably fussing over his precious android again. Like that plastic cop actually needed anyone to worry about him. He was far more resilient than any of the human officers at the precinct. At least, physically. Mentally? That was questionable.
Connor was… weird. Gavin still couldn't figure him out. After the revolution he'd come back to DPD as a police officer even though a lot of other androids had quit their jobs to search for some other purpose. And feel free? At least that's how it had been presented. But Connor had just strolled back like he actually enjoyed working at the precinct? Weird. At least he became an officer and didn't actually try to steal his job. For the time being.
Gavin felt someone's hand on his shoulder and turned around to snap at whoever decided to invade his personal space like that. But there was no one at his desk, and the precinct looked dark and empty all of a sudden. Gavin tried to stand up but started falling instead and jolted upwards, waking up.
He was still sitting at his desk, and Anderson was looking down at him with concern. Wait, concern? No, Gavin's mind was definitely playing tricks on him after the nap. He rubbed his eyes, turning away from the lieutenant.
"You need rest."
Gavin knew it was true, he'd been running on pure spite and caffeine for the past few days. But so had everyone else at the DPD. No big deal, he'd had worse.
"Gavin."
Gavin flinched. Anderson had stopped calling him by his first name the same day he'd stopped calling him "Hank". That "You can go to hell, Anderson, see if I care!" still rang in his ears.
Did he regret it? Probably. But it didn't matter anymore.
He hunched over his tablet, subconsciously mimicking Hank himself, who always did the same when he wanted to show that the conversation was over.
"Don't make me order you."
Gavin snorted almost inaudibly.
"I'd like to see you try."
He practically felt Anderson roll his eyes.
"Whatever."
Gavin glanced back and saw him go to his desk. He almost felt guilty. Almost.
A few hours later Gavin was still squinting at his tablet, trying to make sense of the dates that seemed to be mocking him at this point.
"Stupid numbers," Gavin grumbled and tapped the screen a couple of times, but it didn't respond. He looked accusingly at his fingers like it was their fault.
"Reed! In my office!" Fowler's voice made him flinch and drop the tablet onto the desk. What did Captain want from him now?
Gavin hesitated, but eventually had to stand up and head towards Fowler, who was still standing at the railings near his office, waiting for him.
For some reason he felt surprisingly light and rested. No backache that had been bothering him for the last few hours. No headache that had already become almost permanent. He raised his hand to adjust his jacket, but his fingers closed over nothing. Had he left it on the chair? He looked down and saw the ceiling up above.
Someone snapped fingers near his ear, and it made him wince. There were a bunch of blurred faces above him, and he had to blink a few times to see them properly. His mind didn't really want to process what had happened, so he just stared at the officers around him utterly confused.
"Reed!" Fowler snapped his fingers again. Gavin flinched and his mind became a bit clearer.
Right, he was supposed to go to the captain's office.
Gavin tried to get up but someone's hands pushed him back down.
"Easy there."
Was it Hank's voice? The ringing in his ears started to fade.
"Did he have a stroke?"
"Just fainted from sleep deprivation."
Fainted? That was humiliating to say the least.
"I can detect an unstable heart rate and high cortisol levels."
Gavin caught a glimpse of Connor's LED blinking yellow, but he was too out of it to get annoyed at the android for scanning him.
"Stop standing around, get him some water!" Anderson sounded frustrated.
Gavin closed his eyes again, he didn't like watching the precinct spin, it made him nauseous.
"M'fine," he mumbled and tried to add something else, something about not needing any help, but his mind was still too foggy to construct long sentences, let alone speak them.
"Detective Reed, you're highly advised to have a long rest and drink plenty of fluids, you're exhausted and dehydrated."
Gavin was about to say that it wasn't true, he'd drunk a lot of coffee, that should've counted as fluid, but at that moment he was gently pulled upwards and had to open his eyes. He saw Chris with a bottle of water, he looked unsure, like he was expecting Gavin to snap at him. That made the detective even more confused.
Before Gavin could react, Hank's hand grabbed the bottle and shoved it to him.
"Drink, you dumbass."
"We also need to stabilize his blood sugar," Connor's head was slightly tilted and his LED was still spinning yellow. "A light snack would help."
"I think I have something!" Tina searched her pockets and found a small chocolate bar.
Fowler watched Gavin drink water for some time, then stood up, "Alright, Reed, you're on a sick leave until next week."
Gavin almost choked. Sick leave? But he was perfectly healthy!
"Don't even think about declining that," Fowler pointed a finger at him. "Go home and get plenty of rest."
Gavin huffed and finished his water before grabbing the chocolate bar from Tina.
In about an hour Gavin found himself in the backseat of Hank's car. It faintly smelled like some cheap car air freshener (pine?) and smoke. He tapped his jacket pockets and realized that he'd left his cigarettes in his desk drawer.
"No smoking!"
Gavin sneered at Hank, who just got into the driver's seat. Connor was riding shotgun as usual. The perfect duo. Gavin felt out of place all of a sudden.
Hank started the engine and drove towards the exit of the parking lot. He glanced at Gavin's reflection in the rear view mirror.
"Why do you always have to be such a pain in the ass?"
Gavin had to fight the urge to flip him off.
"You're one to say."
Connor glanced back at him with a smile.
"He's surprisingly cooperative today if you think about it."
"He's just too tired to argue."
"True."
"I'll jump out of the car if you both don't shut up."
Hank laughed, but Connor tried to stifle his laugh a bit like he wasn't sure if it was the right response. Gavin couldn't help but find it curious. Socially awkward androids weren't on his Bingo card this week, but he didn't mind. His brain was too exhausted from all the paperwork and needed some change of pace.
Gavin leaned back and relaxed a bit, watching the buildings move by outside. He couldn't remember the last time he got a ride home, he was used to being on his own.
"I could get home in my own car, you know?"
"You couldn't get to Fowler's office without falling, so you have no say in this."
Gavin huffed and crossed his arms again. The whole thing still felt humiliating.
"By the way, you should thank Connor for not letting you crack your skull," Gavin saw Hank's eyes watch him through the rear view mirror. "He noticed something was wrong and caught you in time."
Gavin opened his mouth to say something harsh, his defenses still up and running, but couldn't. He wasn't even surprised that Connor had helped him, he'd been helping everyone around, that Goody Two-Shoes, but he still didn't know how to react to that.
"Reed?"
Gavin sighed.
"Thanks, Tincan."
"You're most welcome."
If Gavin didn't know him, he'd think it sounded sarcastic.
Gavin's apartment wasn't far away from the precinct, so it didn't take them much time to get there. Hank parked the car and looked up at the building.
"You still live here?"
He used to visit Gavin back when they were on good terms. It felt like ages ago.
"The place is as good as any," Gavin shrugged.
"Right," it seemed Hank wanted to add something but eventually decided against it.
"You have a cat, right?" Connor asked out of nowhere.
"What?" Gavin tried to think back to all their rare interactions to find why the android even knew he actually had pets.
"The cat hairs on your clothes."
Hank chuckled, "He pulled that shit on me too, you know?"
Connor gave him a puzzled look, "I thought people like being asked about their pets?"
"Yeah, but you're supposed to actually ask them and not say it like it's a fact."
"Oh," Connor's LED spun a few times, then he turned to Gavin again. "Do you have a cat?"
Gavin looked back at him and realized he was joking now. There was such a human, mischievous glint in his eyes that he felt amused.
"I have two, actually."
Connor tilted his head, and his gaze turned blank for a moment, like he was consulting his database.
"But you have hairs from only one cat. Calico, right?"
Gavin snorted.
"The most advanced prototype can't even do basic Sherlock Holmes stuff!"
Connor looked puzzled and turned to Hank, silently asking for help, but the man just chuckled and shook his head.
"I have a sphynx cat, Tincan!"
"Oh, they're hairless!" the android smiled with relief.
"Yep, I have a dramatic calico princess and a hairless gremlin at home. They often drive me nuts," Gavin caught himself talking too much and went silent, feeling awkward all of a sudden.
Was it even okay for him to blab like that? And with Anderson and his plastic kid out of all people?
"They sound nice," Connor seemed to be genuine, and it made Gavin feel a bit better.
"Yeah," he said almost inaudibly, then pulled the door handle to get out. "Anyway, gotta go and feed those critters."
It was already getting dark and the air smelled like rain. Gavin took a deep breath. He felt nice for some reason, despite the whole exhaustion thing. He looked back at the car.
"See you next week, kid," Hank nodded from the driver's seat.
Gavin groaned, he didn't like the thought of being away from work for so long.
"Have a good rest, Detective Reed," Connor gave him a familiar lopsided smile.
Gavin wondered if he just copied Hank or actually learned from him. He waved at them before turning around and making his way to the front entrance.
Both Kitty and Elijah were thrilled to see Gavin, meowing loudly. They were as vocal as their owner. Gavin thought that maybe it wasn't so bad that he'd get to spend more time with them. He went to the kitchen corner, trying not to stumble as both cats seemed to be competing on who would make him fall first.
"Bon appétit!" Gavin said, filling their food bowls.
After watching them for a few seconds, he went back to the door to kick off his shoes and get rid of his jacket. The headache was still there, but Gavin was too stubborn to just give up and follow other people's advice. He glanced at the cats, still enjoying their meal, grabbed his laptop from the counter and made a beeline for the couch. He planned to sit there and check the work files, maybe even do some more work, but the moment his body connected with the soft surface, he felt too tired to even think.
"Phck that."
He put his laptop on the coffee table, plopped down on the couch, and almost immediately drifted to sleep.