don't shoot (a Detroit: Become Human fic)

prologue

point of view: you

The sound of rain mixed with the constant scream of my alarm wakes me up. it's a bittersweet awakening, mainly bitter. rolling out of bed, onto the floor, and nearly suffocating the dog at the foot of my bed makes me a tad bit more awake.

"well, shit dog, where'd you come from?" i ask, petting her roughly in the hopes of forgiveness. she just wags her tail excitedly in response.

sighing and smiling at my good girl, i get to my feet and look through the window. i'm met with the after effects of a thunderstorm from the night before. it had been raining for a few days, and the weather forecast predicted it would rain tonight as well. i trace the rain drops on my window before walking out of my bedroom and down the hall. i open the door to my fathers room, realize he's still asleep, and close the door.

walking downstairs, i appreciate the artwork covering the walls- the same artwork i've seen every day for a while now. i decided to move back in with my elderly father on my twentieth birthday. knowing my older, half brother wouldn't be there for him and assuming his new android wouldn't be able to give him humanlike comfort, i decided to step up. my assumption may have been entirely incorrect, but i tend to take pride in knowing my druggie brother well.

i make it to the end of the stairs, the main floor, and instantly i'm met with a painful thrumming in my ears. more prominent than before, i can't block out the insistent twittering of the animatronic birds. quickly, i go to shut them off.

in the kitchen, i begin preparing my father's favorite meal. all the while i continuously check the time, awaiting the arrival of the "family" android and making sure i have enough time to get ready for work.

i finish up, and soon enough, at exactly 10:00, i hear the automatic front door chime up with an "Alarm Deactivated. Welcome Home Markus." and in he comes.

"hello markus, where were you this morning?" i ask him, walking out of the kitchen and drying my hands on my pajama top.

"good morning, [y/n]. i am returning from picking up carl's paint order." he walks over to the bird cage and turns on the animatronic annoyances. i groan and roll my eyes, but he doesn't seem to notice or care.

"i just turned those stupid things off, markus!" he turns to me, a programmed glint in his eyes.

"i apologize, [y/n], but carl is so very fond of these small creatures." he smiles at me, knowing just how much i hate them. i stick my tongue out at him, childishly. he returns the expression with his own tongue, something he learned after watching me do it so many times.

"oh, go suck an egg." i half expect him to take it as a command and to immediately obey or to come back with an "i do not understand," but i should know by now not to underestimate him.

"i thought you made those for your father, [y/n]." he smiles down at me, and i brush past him in an attempt to ignore how much better he is at comebacks than i am.

"i'm going to go get ready for my job, maybe you should go do yours and see if dad is awake yet." i feel bad for saying it, but markus takes it another way and isn't offended. he walks upstairs ahead of me, obeying the absent-minded request.

i follow behind, headed to my room. my dog meets us at the top of the stairs, and i watch as she licks markus' hand and nudges up to mine. she then walks with me to my room, markus going the opposite direction to my father's room across the hall.

seeing as markus came home later than expected, which most likely had something to do with his roughed up clothes, i estimated that i wouldn't have time to get ready and get to work on time. judging by the conversation i had with my friend last night, right before his daily bar visit, he would be hungover, as always, and wouldn't show up on time either. perhaps we will both be fashionably late.

before i start getting ready, i decide to have breakfast with my dad. this is a rare occurrence considering i am usually very time efficient, as well is markus. my father tends to be busy at night attending parties celebrating his work, while i work during the day, all day. our father-daughter bonding time hasn't improved much since i first decided to help care for him. it makes the both of us sad, but it seems as though it can't be helped.

today is different. once again, i descend the stairs and go to join my father and his android. i grab myself an extra piece of bacon from the kitchen and bring the entire egg pan with me to the dining table, seeing as there are a few leftover eggs.

both my father and markus seem surprised to see me still in my pajamas, as well as downstairs.

"you see, markus?" my dad starts. "i told you one of these days she was bound to get hungry." he chuckles at his own joke and i humor him with a small smile.

"hey, i can't help it if i started to miss my dear old dad." he smiles at this. "and besides, according to your logic, i haven't eaten since i took this job."

"as my daughter or as a detective?"

"both," i tease, taking bites out of the still-warm eggs and bacon.

i turn my attention to markus, who had his attention on the nearby piano. "markus," he looked to me, still playing. "i'm jealous of you, markus. you're so lucky to be able to spend every day in the midst of an artistic genius. simple civilians like us could never compare," i say with a straight face. dad nudges me playfully, shaking his head and laughing.

markus looks from me to my dad, before looking back to his hands on the piano keys, without saying anything. he ends the song at the same time dad and i finish breakfast. he walks to dad to wheel him to his studio, but before he can i give them both quick pecks on their cheeks.

i head upstairs, shower, get dressed, and finish getting ready. before long, i'm all set to finally leave for work. i made sure to call hank so that he would know i'd be arriving late. knowing he'd be late as well, i chose him so i could blame him for not informing anyone else of my absence, instead of getting in trouble myself.

i head out the automatic door, yelling to dad and markus that i was leaving. in the driveway i notice my brother's car, and decide to ignore it.