Deviant Behavior (Connor x Reader)

Part IV: Become Human

November 8th, 2038
PM 07:34:34

His eyes were strained, wobbling under a watery sheen that spilled from the cusps of their setting.  His fingers twitched at the knuckles, hands shaking as he peered into the depths of his palms.  His lips shuddered as a tattered breath slipped its way through clicking teeth.

Connor fell apart piece by piece, and instead of catching those fragments in a safety net, you were trained on him with your own form of dismantled trust.

Your hands squeezed the gun's grip like it was trying to run from you, wrangling it in place as the sights rattled almost as violently as the android they watched.

He fell to his knees.  Hissed as a fresh wave of hysteria washed over him.  Cringed when his LED solidified to red; refreshing it's maddened spinning.

"I almost-" He choked on his actions as if he'd transgressed against divine law, "I could've-"

"Is it you?"

You couldn't let your guard down.  Didn't have the luxury of just accepting she'd been purged from his mind and quarantined to the Hell she belonged in...

"Is she gone?"

Because while some injured sharks swam, others sank.  Let predators gain the advantage while they were vulnerable and subdued.  But when he looked at you...

He transferred that tonic immobility.

Flipped your fortifications belly-side-up, stifling your lungs that clawed for air just above a shallow surface.  Paralyzed your muscles in a way that left you vulnerable for insurgence.

"I-I-I'm..." The corners of his mouth pulled back, lost to his sorrow, "I'm sorry."

He reached out for you, and you raised the gun's nose to his heart; sniffing for traces of the program named Amanda.

"Stop-" You begged.

He didn't listen.  He never, listened.

"I said stop-"

The steel brushed against the flap of his jacket, and you squeezed your eyes shut.  His chest blocked out the stark lights overhead.  His arms enveloped you, the tremors from within creating friction against your own.  He hugged you.  Planted his chin over your head, squeezing you tight.

Your finger curled around the trigger.

"Connor-"

And you realized that, even if you'd needed to, you wouldn't be able to pull it.

Your crown collapsed against the side of his neck, his fingertips easing the pressure in your skull as they pressed along the side of your head.  His pulse drummed against your cheek, ear flushed to his throat.

"You're safe now..."

The gun was pinned between the two of you, and he didn't care.  Didn't flinch as you dropped it, letting it skitter across the hard floor.

Two riptides fought for your soul; currents ripping at each other's borders as they tried to suck you in – tried to devour one another until you were composed of one, raging whirlpool.

You slid your hands up his body, thumbs dancing over the buttons of his shirt.  Caught both sides of his collar.  Then you pushed him back, his weight balanced between the sides of your fists.

His eyes shot open as his arms braced behind him, jostled by your sudden attack.

"I wasn't worried about ME!"