Going Numb

-{5}-

3rd Person POV

Obey Hank

Follow Arna     

Connor ignores Hank, too concerned for Arna's safety, and climbs over the fence, sliding down the muddy hill. He climbs over the railing as Arna catches up to Kara and Alice. He grits his teeth as she grabs Kara by the arm, quickly dodging a punch as Kara fights to escape Arna's grip. Connor darts across the lanes of traffic, trying to reach them as fast as he can. Arna looks back at him, and Kara takes the opportunity to kick her in the leg, knocking her onto the ground.

It's then that Connor catches up to them and leaps over the railing like the graceful gazelle he is, Kara quickly grabbing Alice and running down the midway before pulling her over the rail to the oncoming traffic. Connor kneels down to check on Arna as the two attempt to cross the highway.

"Arna, are you-"

"What are you doing?" she asks. "Go!" He nods and runs after them, climbing over the railing and catching up to them almost immediately. She attempts to fight him off and eventually pushes him backward as a car moves between him. He looks back as Arna jumps over the railing behind him, and when they look up, Kara and Alice are gone. They look around, but they're nowhere to be found. Connor sighs.

"Shit," he mutters.

Arna's POV

We sulk back to Hank, who says nothing, but I know he's pissed at both of us. He shakes his head and turns to walk back to the car. I step forward but stop when I feel Connor staring at the back of my head. I look back and he immediately looks away, but he hasn't moved. I frown and look at the ground.

"Connor," I say quietly. He looks up at me. "Why did you follow me?" He frowns. "I know Hank told you not to. He would have told me if he was here fast enough. So why didn't you listen? He gave you an order, but you followed me anyway. Why?" He says nothing for a moment and instead just looks at me. Eventually I nod and start to walk away.

"I don't know." It's so quiet I almost don't hear it. I look back at him. He's staring a hole in the pavement, and his LED is spinning yellow. He looks up at me, and my gaze softens. In that moment, he looks so...lost. "I don't know...but I felt like I needed to make sure...you made it off the highway." I take a deep breath.

"'Felt?'" I ask. His eyes widen, and he shakes his head.

"N-no," he says quickly. "I mean...my programming was telling me to help you." I frown and nod, looking down.

"Right." I chuckle bitterly under my breath. "Of course." I don't look at him as I shake my head and walk away. I feel him looking after me but don't look back and slide into the back of Hank's car silently, despite the looks he gives me in the mirror.

"Everything alright, kid?" he asks. I say nothing and pull my headphones, playing the last thing I had pulled up. It's not overly loud, but it does its job and blocks out the world around me as Connor climbs in the front seat, not looking back at me. I look out the window at the streets passing by and look up when the car stops in front of a food truck. Hank immediately gets out of the car and makes his way across the street, holding his hands out to stop an oncoming car.

"Whoa!" he exclaims. "Hey! Hey! Hey!" Connor follows him after a minute, and I roll my eyes before going after them.

"Hank," the guy in the truck says. "How you doing?" Hank shrugs.

"Eh, you know, same old shit." The guy looks at Connor.

"Plastic with you?"

"Only temporary." A short black man walks up to him