Tick Tock Part One - Hickory

Video Feed

"I'm going for a cigarette," Reed groaned as he stood on stiff legs. And I might just kill myself while I'm at it. He didn't look at Nines as he grabbed his jacket and headed up to the rooftop. Once outside, he pulled a cigarette from his packet and lit it with a sigh, breathing deeply and closing his eyes. Holding it in. Phck...He was struggling already. The meeting had ended three hours ago, and he'd been at his desk ever since. Three fucking hours. Usually, he would have gone through at least three coffees and maybe three or four cigarettes in that time. Today? He'd had two cups of coffee and one cigarette. One. He wouldn't know if I had an extra one...Reed walked to the edge of the rooftop, green eyes flicking back and forth deviously. Even thinking about it made him feel bad. He'd agreed to seriously give Nines' regime a try, and he knew he was only trying to help.

"Detective Reed." The silken tone sounded like it was scolding him, as if he could hear his fucking thoughts. Reed tried not to look too guilty as he glanced over his shoulder, currently about halfway through his first cigarette. "I believe it would be prudent if I were to keep your cigarettes for you," Nines said as he walked towards him with his usual even steps. Reed huffed indignantly at the thought. It was almost like he didn't trust him. Smart guy...

"What? You don't trust me?" Reed retorted with mock hurt, watching Nines' LED spin yellow as he averted his eyes for a few moments. His gaze was a little firmer as he stepped closer, crowding into his personal space as he turned and leaned back against the cement ledge. Reed was surprised that he'd gotten so close, leaving barely an inch between them. That was doing things it shouldn't. Why'd they have to build him like a phcking tank?

"Not as far as I can throw you," Nines purred, leaning even closer. Reed didn't know what the fuck he was about to do, but he quickly realised there was nowhere for him to go. One of Nines' hands move to grip the wall beside him while the other snapped out and plucked the cigarette packet from his pocket with almost deadly precision. "Thank you for your cooperation." He smirked as he stepped back and turned smartly on his heel, tucking the packet into his inner pocket as he went.

"Phck..." Reed gasped as he took another drag of his cigarette, finding it had burned right down to the filter. What the phck was that? He could feel his cock stirring with interest and his stomach doing flip-flops. A shudder ran through him, and he ruffled his hair as he leaned against the wall again. Not a chance. Not a phcking chance. Phcking androids! There was no way he was going to do that with that thing. No way. He wasn't even going to think about it. He leaned his head against his wrists as he remembered the trapped feeling of being backed into the wall, the quirk of Nines' lips, and the amusement in his icy gaze as he'd turned on his heel. Phck no!

Returning to his desk, Reed avoided Nines' gaze, easily able to put it down to work. The CCTV footage had finally come through and although he knew Connor and Nines could do this better and faster than he could, he still wanted to review it, to feel like he was actually doing something. He leaned close to his monitor, trying to focus on number plates he had no way of reading and blurred faces he could barely make out. It was really quite pointless, and yet he was entranced by it. He was counting the groups of people, looking for children, discounting females and androids, and staring at every single passing car, wondering if that could be the one.

"Detective Reed, you'll strain your eyes sitting so close to your terminal for so long." Reed wasn't sure how long it had been. He hadn't kept track, but if the ache in his back and neck was anything to go by, it had been at least two or three hours. A tired groan slipped out as he leaned back. His throat felt dry and rough, eyes aching as he closed them, filled with the tired sting of overuse.

"You're nagging, Nines," he complained in a tired grumble as he rested a hand over his eyes and winced. Blocking the light seemed to make the tired burn even worse.