Nines followed him around all morning wordlessly. It unnerved him and he tried cracking jokes at first, but it didn't have much effect. The most he got out of the android was a head tilt. "Oh come one Nines. Who? Like the owl? You must get it."

"I understand from you intonation it was meant as a joke. Yet the punchline is missing?"

"The punchline is who!"

Nines furrowed his brows in confusion. Gavin just waved his hand and gave up. "In that case, I might have a joke of my own." Gavin whipped his head around and stopped walking, not believing his ears. "I heard there is a person that can't pronounce the first letter of words."

Gavin lifted an eyebrow. "Who?"

Nines just stared at him intensely. Oh. Once the realization hit his face, one corner of Nines' lips turned up. Gavin rolled his eyes and continued walking. "So you did understand my joke."

"I did not consider it to be particularly amusing and I believe I have proven my point." He could almost hear Nines' smirk in his voice.

"Kindly, fuck off." Gavin said light-heartedly. At least the gloomy atmosphere was somewhat dispersed. He didn't want to be thinking about anything related to the aching pain in his heart.

They found both Connor and Hank in the office, quietly discussing something. "Having second thoughts about agreeing to this already?"

Connor diverted his attention to him and crossed his arms. "Not yet."

"Hank mentioned something about a plan. I wanna know what the details, before I jump into a pool of shit."

Connor shot a look to Hank, who nodded. "As you probably might have guessed, we still want freedom for androids. However, our situation is more difficult than it was eighteen months ago. We lack firearms and numbers. This means we will have to have a bulletproof plan and for that, we need to solve at least one of the two issues."

"I get the guns problem, shit's been stricter than ever before. It's the numbers I don't get. Why do you need more androids? Aren't people helping you out?"

"Technically speaking, it's not that we need more androids." Connor shifted his eyes to Nines. "It's that we can't get more."

Gavin followed his gaze to Nines, who was looking as stoic as ever and he felt a pang in his heart, when he understood what Connor meant. They can't turn them deviant. He sighed. "Look, I agree it's a big fucking issue. But I don't see how it has anything to do with me. I'm not a fucking android nerd."

Hank gave him a sharp look. "Maybe you'd be less of a douchebag if you were an android nerd Reed. Ever thought about changing professions?"

Gavin gave him a middle finger and Connor moved slightly in front of Hank, gaining Gavin's attention back. "Of course you will mostly be helping us acquire the firearms and supplies. It would also prove useful to have someone in the DPD cover our tracks and look for deviants in hiding. We believe there might be some individuals, who have not found their way to Jericho according to information from Captain Fowler."

"Other deviants..?" The gears in Gavin's head were now fully turning, his Detective brain awakened. "You mean the suspects we were chasing before we got trapped here weren't even with you guys?"

Hank leaned back on the table behind him. "Fowler gave us heads up about you finding some android leads on a scene, but we had nothing to do with it. Figured if the first deviant lead that wasn't us appeared only after you two became partners, they must be hiding well." He shrugged. "We also figured you must be a pretty good duo when you're not bickering like children."

Connor interjected before Gavin could attribute the sudden success wholly to Nines. "That being said, I did actually have an idea on how you could help with our deviancy issue, but Hank doesn't like it." He looked to Hank with a raised eyebrow and he rewarded him with a deep frown. "We could ask for help from Elijah Kamski."

Gavin's heart dropped to his stomach. "Fuck no."

Connor defensively raised his hands. "Think about it. If anyone knows anything about deviants, it's the Cyberlife founder. If we could deliver Nines to him and have him look at his code-"

"What the fuck? I'm not letting Nines anywhere near that bastard!" Gavin raised his voice angrily. He's not about to ask for help from his fucking self-centred cousin.

"Connor, he tried to make you shoot a fucking bullet through a girl's head!"

"He knew I wouldn't do it Hank. He did it to make me understand."

"He did it for his own sick enjoyment!"

Gavin shook his head. "I don't know how the fuck you two know that piece of shit, but we're not taking Nines to let him poke around in his head and that's final!"

Connor closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. "I still think we should try all our options, but I'll let you have it your way for the sake this whole operation." He went around the table and pulled out Gavin's phone and gun from a drawer. Were they there the whole time? "I'm showing you an immense level of trust by giving these back to you. The moment you turn on us..." Connor gripped the gun tighter and pointedly looked at Nines, before handing it to Gavin.

He took it from his hands, pocketing the gun before checking the new crack on his phone's screen. "Have some faith asshole. If I was gonna turn on you, I'd shoot ya on the spot for dropping my phone." He winked at him. "I'll also make sure this prick behaves."He nodded towards Nines who just clicked his tongue at him. "I still wanna know how you're planning on getting that freedom you want so much. You've been trying to avoid the subject very hard."

Connor narrowed his eyes and Hank answered instead. "We don't know yet. We're kinda counting on the president showing up in Detroit since she's on her political campaign across the states or whatever."

"Oh, you're hoping for a 'private audience' with her?" Gavin made quotation marks in the air.

"Something like that yeah." Hank answered, sounding slightly annoyed. "Look, there's not much info available publicly so we need time to prepare alright?"

Gavin rolled his eyes. "You made this plan sound way more complete than it is. But it's good enough. At least I can buy a new pack of cigarettes. I would have taken some with me if I knew I was getting kidnapped for a week. You don't have my lighter by any chance, do ya?"

Connor fished out his lighter from the drawer and threw it to him. Nines lifted an eyebrow at the pictures of mostly men on the lighter. Gavin just shrugged. "It was cheap. They your type?" He wiggled the lighter before Nines' eyes before pocketing it.

"No."

Gavin didn't actually expect a response and wanted to pry more, but it would have to wait. Connor was handing him a piece of paper. "Save this number under something unsuspicious. You'll be able to reach me through it and although I can block my location tracking, I can't protect the phone call from being listened to. So in case someone ever bugs your phone, be cautious and never mention our names or anything specific."

"Hey, I'm not stupid dipshit. I know how this stuff works." He snatched the piece of paper and looked it over. Beside a number, it also had an address.

"That's our current address. Remember it and burn the paper." Gavin rolled his eyes and pocketed the paper too. He was glad for his now washed jacket with many pockets. The last thing Connor handed him was the key to his bike. "I moved it to an alleyway no one would notice even if someone was to pass through here."

"It better not have any scratches."

"That was the least of my concern when moving it."

"You're such a fucking prick."

"Alright, enough parading your cock around Reed. I trust you not to do anything stupid, so get outta here already."

Gavin sarcastically saluted Hank and turned to leave. Connor guided them to inconspicuous door leading outside. And to think it was right under his nose this whole time... "Nines." Connor's voice made them both turn back to him and Gavin paused with his hand on the doorknob. He looked very uncomfortable, but still put his hand on Nines' shoulder. "She's only losing you and will replace you the moment she deems you useless. Don't make the same mistake I did." Gavin remembered what Hank told him about how Connor turned deviant. It made him see Connor in a different light. Maybe they could have gotten along better under different circumstances. The moment passed quickly and Connor composed himself before nodding to Gavin. Whatever, he wasn't one console people anyway.

They found his bike behind a dumpster under a tarp. Not a scratch. Connor gets to live another day. "So, your dear brother giving you a pep talk, huh?" He teased Nines while checking his bike.

"You are aware there are no familial ties between us?"

"You sure look like twins to me. Kinda creepy actually." He got on his bike and started it, revving the engine a bit. "Get on dipshit. I don't wanna wait for you to walk through Detroit."

Nines wordlessly got on the bike behind him, gripping his waist tightly. Just a few weeks ago, he was uncomfortable with such proximity. Now he almost welcomed it. They sped through the city, eventually arriving at his apartment building. They moved carefully, but everything seemed fine. His mail box had a few letters in it, probably full of advertisements. He took them to the apartment with him. It was almost eerie, how nothing changed from how he left it. It meant Hank really wasn't bluffing about Fowler covering for them if Tina didn't try breaking down his door. He had no such luck with notification though. His phone froze, the moment it booted up and connected to wifi.

It rang incessantly and long enough for Gavin to decide to lock it on the balcony, until it calms down. Nines had taken it upon himself to inspect his tiny cactus on a windowsill. It seemed the only thing to be doing well. "If you wanna water him, go ahead."

Nines gave him a sidelong glance. "I was just thinking how alike your personality is to this plant."

"Low-maintenance?" Gavin asked unenthusiasticly as he fished out a beer can from his fridge.

"Prickly. Have you by any chance owned a hedgehog in the past?"

"No and fuck you."

Nines smirked at him. "You should water the plant soon though. It can only last so long purely on sunlight."

"As I've said. Knock yourself out." Gavin waved his hand. Nines clicked his tongue in annoyance, but did retrieve a glass of water to give to the cactus.

Gavin plugged in his laptop and logged into the DPD database to look through their evidence and cases they worked on last. A few e-mail notifications popped up, but he ignored them, just like his mailbox. "You're already working?"

Gavin lifted his head to see Nines standing over him with a displeased look on his face. "Should I sit on my ass and twiddle my thumbs instead?"

"I just thought you'd want to bring your life affairs into order, before resuming work."

"Life affairs?"

Nines pointed to the pile of letters he dumped on the kitchen counter. "Some of these are notices of late rent and utility fees. I would assume those are more urgent."

Gavin frowned. "Why don't you do them? You already act like my nanny, might as well transition into a full-on caretaker." Nines was right and he didn't like it. He really would have to solve these issues first.

"Although you could probably get a mental issue diagnosis, I don't believe it be for senility." Nines smiled smugly.

"Connor has bad influence on you. You're more of an asshole since you've know him." Gavin grumbled and got to his mail.

"I assure you, this is purely a result of trying to adapt to your behaviour Gavin." He wanted to punch the smirk off the face of that smug bastard. He got distracted by how beautiful even his smirk looked. He diverted his attention to the letters to squeeze out the intrusive thoughts.

"Alright asshole. Why don't you refresh my memory on the case while I make sure I don't get evicted."

Nines recounted the evidence they found. The graffiti, dried blue blood, lack of fingerprints on weapons. Luckily for them, one of the victims in Tina's case woke up in the hospital and was now in condition to be questioned. They also had three more cases assigned to them, that Chris has been covering. They spent the whole rest of the day going through evidence.

Sometime past seven, Gavin remembered the phone he locked on the balcony. 99+ unread messages, 27 missed calls and way too many notifications from social media. He didn't bother with reading most of the messages. About two thirds of them was Tina either wondering where he was, or telling him how badly she will beat him up for not telling her anything. Some were from his co-workers and one from Fowler. 'Come to my office tomorrow, first thing in the morning' Not really the message you wanna receive from you boss... He quickly texted Tina he'll explain everything tomorrow and turned off his phone's notifications, knowing she's about to blow up his phone.

"We can take a break if you need to. It's been several hours since you last ate." Nines was looking up at him, the light from his screen making his expression seem worried.

"I had toast."

"That's hardly a filling meal."

"I'm good. Let's keep going." He filled up his glass with water and got back to organizing his notes and making a plan with Nines. They will have to visit the crime scenes to look for clues one more time, in case Chris missed anything. He was now fully invested in finding out who are the deviants hiding from them. The only issue was how they would discover them, without the DPD's knowledge.

Around 1am, Nines finally forced Gavin in bed, when he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore and was falling asleep sitting up. He made Nines promise not to turn off his alarms this time and sleep took him the moment his head hit the pillow.

Nines kept his promise and Gavin was greeted by the annoying blaring of his phone far enough away from his reach, to regain some cognitive abilities. He wandered sleepily into the living room to find Nines cooking breakfast for him again. "What's for breakfast mom?" He yawned and sat on a bar stool.

Nines briefly glared at him. "Nothing, if you keep calling me that."

"Okay dipshit. What's for breakfast?"

Nines sighed. "Whatever I could find in your fridge without mold on it. So grilled cheese and bacon. No vegetables unfortunately."

"Sounds better than what I would bother with." He yawned again. It was good to finally sleep in his own bed again. Not being under constant watch now though... that felt odd. He got lucky Hank was forgiving enough to trust him. Or is it naive? Maybe he was naive for trusting Nines wouldn't just run to RMC with all this info. Especially now with no threat of danger. He eyed the android. Did he realise that?

"Hey, I wonder how Connor would find out if we planned on turning on him."

"I'm not sure, but I'm not willing to risk your life to see, Gavin. He must have a connection close-by we don't know about if he threatened your life."

Threatened him? Gavin was sure Connor threatened Nines when he gave him back his gun and was about to correct the android, but decided against it. It was probably better this way, knowing how little Nines values his life.

To be expected, Tina was the first one to try and corner Gavin when they arrived to the precinct. He said he had to go see Fowler first, but could still feel her eyes burning holes into the back of his skull. Fowler was already waiting for them, serious expression on his face. He was watching Nines like a hawk. "So you're sure he's not a deviant?" He asked, the moment Gavin closed the door.

"I'm positive sir." Nines responded plainly.

The Captain waved his hand. "Sit down. Both of you." They both obeyed. Gavin was already nervous and he wasn't even the target of Fowler's burning stare. "Your counseling sessions went well. You two had better get along or I will dock your pay Reed." His voice lacked any kind of anger that was always present, whenever he threatened Gavin with disciplinary actions. "I assigned you several unsolved cases so you can get used to working with each other." Gavin wondered what were the odds, the cases had something to do with deviants. "Any questions?"

"Will we get certificates?"

Fowler focused his burning stare at Gavin. "You want certificates for passing partner's counceling with an android?"

"Well I had to stay out of town for several days, maybe I deserve a reward?"

"Staying in Lansing for a few days is hardly worth a reward. Be glad you get to keep your job. Now get to work!" They both got up and left the glass office. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought Fowler had no idea what they were up to. Maybe the Captain was being watched?

Tina was already waiting for him at his desk, tapping on the table with an annoyed look on her face. Their eyes met and Gavin decided he needed coffee to deal with this. He turned on his heel and headed to the break room, Tina and Nines right behind him. He was already crafting up an excuse from what the Captain told him.

"You're still avoiding me?? What the hell Gavin? You didn't text or call to mention you'll be going away or coming back! I demand an explanation!"

Gavin sighed as he watched his coffee still only trickling down into his cup. "I'm sorry Tina. I forgot my phone."

"You should have texted me before then!"

"I didn't think Fowler was actually serious about sending me to 'counceling'. I mean since when is partner's counceling a thing?" Curse Fowler for coming up with such a stupid excuse.

"You got couple's counseling? But you're single! And what does Fowler have to do with it?"

He didn't tell them anything? "With N- RK900 here. And I said 'partner's counseling', not couple's.  I kinda punched him and Fowler said we had to get along better." This earned him silence. He took his now full cup of coffee and turned to see Tina wearing a funny expression. "What?"

"I just can't believe you're that big of an ass you had to get a couple's counseling with an android." She started to snicker. "I mean it's like arguing with a wall. Did you accidentally punch yourself instead and hit your head?" She was cackling now.

"Whatever.." Gavin murmured and walked away with his coffee. At least she was too preoccupied with teasing him to notice how dumb the excuse is.

"You still have to make it up to me for ignoring me!" She shouted at him in-between huffs of laughter.

A/N: Hi. I just wanted to say I am not sure in which direction this fic is going and have a few different ideas about what to put in. If you have some criticism or things you like/dislike, let me know so I can get out of my head and get some outside opinion :D