Detroit Become Human: Every Breath You Take (Connor x Reader)

Chapter 17: Metal Heart

During my time at the Police Academy I'd been approached by FBI recruiters. They'd said I had the makings of an undercover agent, and all I'd ever wanted was to prove I could be more than an artist who'd failed her Mom by showing compassion for androids when she'd forbidden it, so I accepted the offer immediately. Mom had panicked, saying they'd eventually involve me with CyberLife. What do you know, she was exactly right.

After two years of grueling training that had left me wondering if the discs in my spine had been sent out of alignment permanently, I became an undercover Special Agent. My department gave me the credentials necessary to pose as an ordinary Police Officer at the Detroit Police Station. It was simple enough - my superior informed Jeffrey Fowler's superior, they swapped my badge for a new one, all the while keeping as much of my personal information out of the DPD's files as possible. I worked under the guise of a starry-eyed young woman striving to become a Detective, like some kind of crime soap-opera addict. At first it was easy to live the lie I was instructed to. But by then Carl had taught me to see the world anew, and the cage I'd built for myself had warped the more I'd tried to lock myself inside it. Then that night at the Eden club, when the android had shot herself with my gun, pressing down on my fingers on the trigger, the bars had rent away completely.

"Step away from the android, Officer Phillips," Captain Allen repeated sternly.

Captain Allen was a senior member of the Special Weapons and Tactics Unit, and he was a damn good man for the job. Sporting a jawline that could slice men in two and a voice that bespoke absolute confidence in his skills, the captain lowered his weapon when Connor and I complied with his order. His team fanned out behind him in a semicircle, clad in armored gear shining like oiled sniper rifles in the moonlight. Captain Allen alone faced us without any headgear, the leader of a pack of wolves leashed by state protocol.

"Where's Perkins?" I demanded, in my best annoyed tone. "Too scared to get me himself?"

He sighed. "I'd keep quiet if I were you." His gaze roved over my tangled hair, and his mouth stretched into a thin, unamused line.

I took another step away from Connor, ignoring Hank's blistering glower.

Undercover agents weren't often taken into custody, but in the rare case in which you were, you'd call up your superior and have them get you out of it. My conundrum was stark as the captain's team glinting like weapons around us: Perkins had given express permission to arrest me. The captain's considering glance swept over me, as if I were the last piece of a puzzle he'd finally put together. I'd worked beside his team together with the FBI, so what was I now doing as a mere Police Officer? He wouldn't confirm his suspicions aloud; he didn't need to, judging by the look on his face.

In lieu of alerting my superior to the deviants' location, I'd run off with CyberLife's RK800 prototype, AKA the deviant hunter, to save the androids. Rather than joining Perkins during the massacre on Jericho, I'd blown up the ship to flush out my coworkers and attacked my own colleagues in the process. To top it off, Perkins had been right about how my cover as the Android Sympathizer had become my reality. This really was a great day for him.

Captain Allen's gaze narrowed beneath a heavy brow, and he fixed his attention squarely on the android beside me. "You're Connor, the android from that hostage situation. I knew we'd meet again." He stepped forward, angling his body slightly to one side as if to cover any openings. I may have been imagining it, but his next words sounded a little regretful. "My orders are to detain any androids I find. You're coming with me."

Seeing the two men together like this, I couldn't help but notice their similarities. They were both dedicated to their orders, well-trained, and exuded the same confident air.