A loud crack of thunder made you flinch, shaking the house with the intensity. All at once you pulled your hands from Connor's, walking away towards your workshop. "Luther?"

"Yes, ma'am?" The TR400 was standing near the table he'd set the body on, hands still behind his back and waiting for further instructions. But at your sudden appearance he tilted his head a tiny bit. "Is something the matter?"

He seemed fine. Outwardly. "N-no, no, I... um..." Shit. "N-never mind. I..." Another crack of thunder outside; you were the only one who flinched, but Luther's LED flashed yellow for half a moment. He was keeping himself collected because of the other human. Swallowing hard, you shot a furvitive glance at the open doorway before you went closer. "Connor is staying the night, I'm sorry."

He knew what that meant, and the android nodded once. "I will be on standby, ma'am."

"Perfect. Thank you," you replied, putting careful emphasis on your words before leaving the workshop. As for the android you'd taken home, you would deal with it tomorrow.

Situated on your sofa, the good lieutenant's warm eyes locked onto your figure as you returned to the living room. "Everything good?"

"Um, yeah. Yeah, I just..." You couldn't finish the sentence, just making a vague gesture with a hand to encourage him to change the subject. If Connor knew, you were fairly sure it wouldn't be an issue, but the less a cop knew, the better.

The male's charming, crooked smile spread across his face. "You worry too much."

"I don't think I have a choice," you replied. You sank into the cushion beside him, relaxing a good deal when an arm went around your shoulders to tug you closer still. Head laid on his chest, you watched the fire burn, seeing that you had plenty of wood beside it, so you wouldn't have to get more for awhile. "Did you sleep last night?"

"Not really," he admitted quietly, enjoying the way you sank against him. "Had to go into Connell's room for something, and I just... blanked out. Can't even fucking remember why I had to go in to begin with."

His voice had gone soft, and you didn't speak any more on the topic. It was always going to be this way, but Connor was healing.

You hoped.

=]|[=

The thunderstorm lasted through the night, but the worst of it had tapered off a bit before four the next morning. Rain still pelted the roof, running down the windows and giving a comforting sense of heaviness as the two of you slept.

You stirred first, like you usually did; it may have been the weekend but your body was used to an alarm being set. As you returned to consciousness, however, the weight pressed against your back suddenly tugged you closer. The arm around your waist was strong, years of chasing and subduing suspects had given Lieutenant Connor Anderson plenty of muscle to back up his often-stupid mouth.

It wasn't always this way. But the older you got, the more dreary the world became.

"It's still early," came the male's gorgeous tones, thick with sleep and sending his warm breath down the back of your neck. "Don't know how you wake up before the sun does..."

"I'm used to it," you replied, eyes barely open. "You're the one not functioning if it's before noon."

"Can't help it," he groaned, burying his face into the side of your neck and sending a tidal wave of chills down your body. "If you wanna wake up, you're gonna have to pay the price."

"You're sleeping in my bed, naked. I'm pretty sure letting you crash here is a price paid, Connor." There was no verbal reply, but the mouth molded to your skin said plenty. "... Connor. Please."

His huff trailed along your neck again, but the arm clasping you finally pulled away. The male rolled onto his back with a groan, blankets just barely covering his lower half. Hell, he barely fit in the bed in the first place, but it wasn't your fault you were friends with a giant. "Any plans for the day...?" he asked, eyes glued to your form while you slid off of the bed.

"Well... shop is closed, and I didn't get anything that needed serious work. So I think I'm gonna check into that android I found." You dressed as you spoke, not really glancing over at him. "You?"

"Considering the weather, not a hell of a lot. Taking Judo out for his walk is a no." Pushing himself to sit up, bedcovers pooled in his lap, the young lieutenant watched your form as you dressed, barely able to contain his smirk at your wincing. "Bruised you?"

"Usually do," you replied, smiling the tiniest amount as you sighed. "I'll shower later. I wanna check on Luther and boot that other one up," came your explanation as you walked out of the bedroom, leaving the human male to scowl to himself.

"It's a fucking machine," Connor mumbled, sliding from your bed and pulling his jeans on, if only to not flash your neighbors while he stepped onto your front porch to smoke.

=]|[=

"Good morning, Luther," your voice trickled into the room before your body. There was a gentle smile on your features that was barely returned. "Once Connor leaves, I can take it off, okay?"

"There's no rush," the TR400 assured you. "You and the good lieutenant should not cut your time together short for my sake, ma'am."

"Maybe, but you know I'm afflicted with that damned disease."

"... I do not understand."

"Empathy," you answered with a wink. Standing in front of the hulking android, you gave him a glance-over. "Status report, TR400."

"All systems operational, no corrections or adjustments needed," Luther replied immediately.

"Perfect, thank you," came the response, eyes turning towards the bare android on your workshop table. It wasn't so much a workshop as it was a computer lab, but most of your equipment had either been built yourself or obtained through less-than-legal means.

Fuck, everything is less-than-legal...

"All right, hon, any ideas as to what model this one is?" Your gaze tore away from the table to your already-functioning giant, who stood across from you. "Besides it being definitely not one of yours?"

Luther's LED flashed yellow as the other android was scanned. His eyebrows shifted and knit closely. "I cannot determine the model number. It's as if... the information has been removed."

"Wait... wait. Removed? That's not possible. I-- ugh, I'll just... plug it in..." You snatched the thick black cord attached to your computer, connecting the mystery model by the back of its head when your partner lifted the body a little.

But as you brushed over the LED and let the android connect to your systems, you frowned at the coding on the screen.

This doesn't make any sense. There's no model number anywhere in here... that's not possible. Even if I somehow hit the fucking jackpot dumpster and found a prototype, they have model numbers!

So what the hell is this one?