Virus (Yandere Connor x Reader)

Twenty-Two

It's... it's over. Oh my god it's over...

An overwhelming wave of relief washed over, and your knees buckled, making you sink to the kitchen floor. Your body still shook, but it may have been from the anxiety releasing all at once. Hand on your chest to try to keep your heart from bursting, your eyes found your bodyguard in a strange stance. The prototype lay on the floor, motionless. Connor wasn't paying the body much attention, still holding his forearm where he'd been grabbed.

He finally brought himself back to reality, letting his arms back down. Then he was at your side before you could blink, close but mindful of your wounded arm. "Did he injure you?" he asked quietly.

You shook your head, watching the prototype lie there, unable to look away. "No. No, I'm fine. I don't... I don't think he was going to injure me unless it..." Eyes blinking in a slow manner, exhaustion replaced everything else.

"This wasn't the first time." An arm went around your waist as the android sat down properly, instead of crouching. When you finally looked over, he wore a grim expression. "You've been at his mercy for weeks. Maybe months. But he walked away once, and you didn't hesitate to ask for help."

His words sank in, and now the way Connor had held his forearm made sense; memory probe. "Y..." You shook your head again. "I... this is my fault. If I hadn't--"

Like you'd done so often, your bodyguard took your head into his hands, effectively cutting you off mid-sentence. "Don't. You had no way of knowing how he would be affected. The software is your creation but you didn't cause the damage. Your intentions were innocent."

"My intentions weren't to give it to him in the first place," you grumbled back, pulling out of his hold. "I told him about some of the things I did and were doing. But... he took it upon himself to install the software when I was asleep. I had no idea until a week later, when I checked my computer's activity."

Now he was more than perplexed. Connor eyed the prototype with you, trying to piece things together. "You developed the software, but he took it for himself, not knowing if it was ready?"

"When I found out, I confronted him. He... he told me he knew I wasn't enjoying his company, and when I talked about that fucking self-help idea, he wanted to test it. To see if it would help him understand how to work around his personality. So I would be happy to have him around instead of being annoyed and frustrated." With a sigh, you went on. "I told you the remake is never as good as the original. The RK900 was... honestly, he was such a vain, egotistical bastard. And I got so sick of it. Elijah has a big ego, but he knows when to tone it down, and he's got a good heart. The prototype... I don't know what went wrong with the algorithm, but he started out as being kinder. Spoke less about himself, and wanted to make me feel like having him here was a good thing."

Motions slow, he took both of your hands into his own, turning to face you completely. "And then it fell apart," he added for you.

"His attitude came back, worse than before. It was less about himself still, but he was using me as his scapegoat of sorts. Like I was the reason he was operating at all, and I'd be nowhere if it weren't for him. Shit like that. It got more possessive, and the more I refused... the harder he hit," you finished softly.

Eyes closed, he had a hand to his temple for a few moments. "... I've contacted the precinct so they can take the body away. Do you want to keep any of the hardware before it's destroyed? It may help."

It might, but did you really want to keep any piece of the bastard? A tiny glint caught your eye, and you saw it immediately: the prototype's LED was flashing white.

Before you could even think to react, Connor was back on his feet, gun aimed at the face. But he just shot the prototype repeatedly, emptying an entire clip, while you had to cover your ears.

[You will stay down, even if I must pull you apart by hand myself]

The android's expression had shifted without his notice, as he put his weapon away again, leaning down to expose the RK900's chest. It may not have been necessary, since the face was riddled with bullet holes, but Connor found and removed the regulator from the chest. Normally the prototype would have had a little over a minute before he'd shut down... but considering the damage done, the bastard wasn't going anywhere. Still, the regulator was crushed underfoot, and your bodyguard relaxed again. Whatever had made his expression darken so horribly seemed to have passed.

Kneeling in front of you, Connor offered his crooked little smile. "Come," he murmured, holding out a hand. "You still need something to dull the pain, and I will tend to the wound while we wait."

●○●○●

For once, Hank arrived before anyone else, knowing that the prototype had been taken down... but not to the extent. "Holy shit..." he mumbled, letting out a low whistle. He poked the immobile android with a foot. "You think you put enough bullets in his face, Connor?"

"No," was the android's immediate answer. "I was assigned here to guard, and I made certain he would not reactivate again. Ever." Making sure you were settled on the couch, he approached his partner to speak quietly. "While I took him down, he probed my memory, Hank. I was privy to the things he'd done." Connor paused, eyes shifting to the side but not turning his head. "It had been happening for weeks. The call she made days ago was the first chance she'd gotten."

"Ah, fuck... well, good news is this thing's down for the count." Hank grinned and clapped the android on the shoulder. "You did good, son. How do you feel?"

[Like the worst is coming]

With a slight smile, Connor stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Relieved. But..."

"... there's not supposed to be a "but". What's wrong?"

His warm eyes closed. "What now, Hank? What happens to me?"

Eyebrows furrowed tight, the lieutenant watched, unsure as to why his partner looked so pensive. "Now we get on with our fuckin' lives. I know this case was a little different for us, you especially, but it's done. Last thing is to do all that damned paperwork, but that's tomorrow. They'll take the body away and destroy it-- wait, why the hell are you even asking? You know this shit, it's the same procedure after every other case! We do the job and we go home!"

[Home?]

Whatever the prototype had transferred to Connor made him grit his teeth. It wasn't something he could put into words, but many of his initial responses conflicted with what was probably sensible and normal.

What ended up happening was that he frowned, jaw clenched as he glared at Hank. But as quickly as it was shown, it faded, and Connor blinked wildly. "Home. Right. I..." He winced. "I need... sleep, I think."

"You sure you just need sleep? You had a face like you wanted me to drop dead." There was a pause. "You all right?"

"... I don't know," was the android's plea.