Survivor - Connor x OC

Californication

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication

The sun was just peeking over the horizon when the call came in. The thump of the bass and the melody pounding in her ears abruptly segued into the sharp trill of the phone ringing, making the blonde woman wince as she quickly tapped her right earpiece to accept the call. For a moment, all she could hear was the sound of her sneakers hitting the pavement in rhythm and a distant sound of birds chirping in the trees around her.

"Hello?" The word came out in a breathless huff while she focused on keeping her pace steady It was too easy to slow down when you were distracted, and she was almost at the end of her run.

"Hey, it's Alex. Did you get that email I sent over last night? I really need an answer within the next couple of hours."

"You're interrupting my run," she said flatly.

"I know, I know. Listen, this is super important." There was a pause on the line, then he said, "You do know what all that heavy breathing sounds like on my end of the phone, right?"

"Fuck you," she breathed, double tapping her earpiece again to end the call. The sound of her feet was immediately drowned out by the music. She turned the corner of the last block and finally saw her house at the end of the lane.

The trilling came into her ear again and she groaned, tapping her earpiece to answer. "I'm almost done, I'll call you back in fifteen. Don't call again."

She hung up once more and picked up her speed, not giving him any time to respond. At a sprint, she made it down the driveway and to the garage. Placing her hand on the scanner, she waited for the door to roll all the way up while pulling out her wireless earbuds.

Closing the garage from the inside, she made her way into the house. She stepped through the kitchen and down the hallway toward her bedroom, the lights flicking on and off seamlessly as she walked between rooms.

In the bathroom, she turned the hot water on in the shower and pulled off her sweaty activewear, removing the holder of her phone from her upper arm and sighing as she saw Alex's name flashing across the screen. Still vibrating, she tossed the device on the counter and stepped under the stream of now steaming water.

"It's been seventeen minutes, Taylor," Alex complained as soon as he picked up the phone. Taylor rolled her eyes as she started pulling ingredients out of the fridge to make an omelet. Placing them on the counter beside the stove, she turned back to her open laptop on the counter and started pulling up her inbox on the screen.

"I'm trying to make breakfast, Alex. Why can't you just tell me what this is about?"

"It's better if you read it. You're going to like this, I promise." He paused on the other end of the line, she was sure for the dramatic effect, before he said, "It's about the deviants."

Taylor paused over the keyboard as she was typing in her password. She forgot where she was and had to erase it and start over while she responded, trying not to sound too excited, "What about it?"

"See? I knew you'd be like this. Just think of all the time you wasted fucking around."

"I will hang up on you again," she warned, scrolling through her inbox to find the email in question. When she opened it, she realized it was a forward from his own inbox. At the top of the original was the letterhead of CyberLife. "Holy shit."

Alex laughed in her ear while she scrolled, trying to read the text as fast as possible. "They want you as a consultant on the deviant investigation they're conducting in Detroit."

"Yes," she replied immediately, only halfway through the email.

"The contract is attached. You really should read the terms first." Alex was laughing at her again.