Survivor - Connor x OC

Dark Side

Bishop Briggs – Dark Side

Taylor closed her eyes as she pressed closer to Connor's side, trying to absorb his warmth. The reasonable part of her brain knew that she should be sitting on her side of the taxi with a respectable distance between her and said android, but she had drowned that part in six glasses of champagne a while ago. The air had been frigid as they stood waiting for the car to arrive, and even though the inside was already heated when they got in, she was still cold.

The car turned and she leaned away from Connor with the momentum before sliding back, her head resting against his shoulder. She was weightless, floating, adrift in her tipsiness. She knew her head was going to hurt in the morning, but it was only a fleeting concern for now.

"Hey, Connor?" She heard him make a noise of acknowledgment, but her mind was elsewhere. She was thinking of why she had dragged the android all over town with her, knowing he wouldn't complain. She was wondering why he seemed like he cared when he was only programmed to hunt deviants and investigate crimes. At times he acted like he had emotions, like he was a deviant, but she knew that he wasn't.

She opened her eyes and glanced up, only to find he was still staring at her, his head tilted, waiting for whatever question she had been about to ask. She didn't remember what she was about to say anymore.

Why did he come with her to this stupid party? Why did he step in and save her from her stepfather? Why did he say that she shouldn't be on the crime scene and then defend her in front of Hank?

"May I ask you a personal question, Taylor?" The silence must have stretched on longer than she realized. Connor had given up on her saying anything else and decided to ask a question of his own.

"Nothing has stopped you before," she responded, grinning at him. Though the last time he had asked her personal questions, she had practically yelled at him. Her smile faded.

"Why were you afraid?" Her heart skipped a beat. The hazy, pleasant feeling that had coated her from the champagne started to dissipate and she swallowed over the sudden nausea.

"Why did you help me?" She asked, hoping to distract him instead. She watched him through her lashes, his LED flickering to yellow as he considered the question.

"We are partners. You are important to the case." He glanced down at his hands, which were folded in his lap. "I failed to protect you before." He looked back at her, and asked again, "Why were you afraid?"

Taylor stared at her lap, tracing her fingers over the glittering scales of her dress. They were catching the light of the streetlamps that they drove under, throwing off prisms of sparkles in the cab of the taxi. "I've always been afraid of him."

Connor was still watching her, his head slightly tilted, brown eyes searching her face, expectant. He wanted her to say more, he was waiting for an explanation, but she couldn't say it. She was remembering the first time she had met Anthony Jacobsen, when her mother had brought him home and told her and Jake that he was going to be their new father.

"Taylor?" Connor's fingers brushed against her arm and she flinched, pulling away. She looked up, and then glanced around, realizing that the taxi had stopped. They had arrived.

"I'm sorry." His hand was still hovering in the space between them, his LED yellow, as she reached for the handle to the door. "I'll see you in the morning."

Connor was opening his mouth to respond when she closed the door and rushed down the driveway.

______

"Taylor, what the fuck?" The blonde groaned, rubbing a hand across her throbbing forehead. She'd already taken Tylenol and ibuprofen and was considering if aspirin would send her into multi-organ failure when Alex had called. Instead she'd ordered a cappuccino and two muffins to-go from a café near the precinct and was waiting at the counter for them.