Save me - [COMPLETE] Connor x Reader

18. LOVE

It was all over.

With a thought, a blink, a breath, the contraction of a muscle, the pull of a trigger - it was all over.

You slowly brought your gaze to Hank, whose eyes were already on you - and you stared at each other for a moment, your arms shaking, his eyes wide in surprise - an unspoken conversation taking place; Are you okay? Are you hurt? Is he dead?

"You saved him." A withered voice croaked from behind. "That's why he lured you here-"

You spun around, searching for the source of the staggered words, finding it - slumped against a cupboard, arms resting on his knees.

"Connor!" You screamed, running and pulling his body close to yours.

"I saw everything when I probed his memories - when you got here, why you came." He leaned into your touch, resting his head against your chest. "Everything he said was the truth."

Connor's breathing hitched as he sat up - the pained look across his face began to dissipate, his fists beginning to unfold.

"Tim kept tabs on you this whole time - making sure you were okay, that you had everything you needed. But, one day he sent you a card - I remember he distinctly made it from construction paper, filling it with sparkles and money. He was positive that if you received it, you would come back to the orphanage."

"He was watching over me?" You questioned, carefully brushing the stray hairs from Connor's eyes. "Why did he wait four years to say anything?"

"He needed you to come back," Connor's gaze moved to the floor, his voice dropping to a whisper. "So that he could ask you to kill him."

Your fingers stopped moving, hovering over the blinking yellow of Connor's LED.

"Androids are not too different from humans." He grabbed your hand, comparing it to his. "In a human brain, the frontal lobe dictates personality, behaviour, emotions - an android has a neural network, with a synthetic cerebrum - synthetic lobes. The red ice affected Tim's so that his..."

Connor hesitated on his next word.

"... emotions became heightened. He hated himself to the point that he saw less and less reason to keep making red ice. He just wanted to die - but everytime he tried, he was overcome with fear."

"And I refused?" Your voice grew shaky, bits and pieces of memories coming back to you.

"No..." Connor hesitated again, his eyes meeting yours. "You didn't say anything - you didn't even recognize him."

With those words, the memory hit you like a lightning bolt.

You instantly remembered it all - how you received the card, how you threw the money in your bag and took a bus to Geneva. You remembered thinking that only Tim knew about the card he gave you, its contents, its drawings - and that this card was identical. You arrived at the orphanage and saw someone - a stranger, a monster. He pleaded for you to kill him, but you tried to run instead, doing everything in your power to escape.

And then the monster caught your leg.

The only thing you could remember after that was waking up in the abandoned apartments, next to to the android that had saved you.

"Tim thought that you didn't remember him. He blamed it on humans and then his self-loathing became rage." Connor watched your face, softening its grave expression as he brushed a thumb across your cheek. "In that moment, he decided that he needed your help to make sure that those who smoke red ice continued to be punished..."