Title: An Ordinary Hero

Tags: Genfic, Friendship, MX-43, OFC, some Friendship?Implied?MX-43/Valerie thrown in because what the heck why not, I'm pretty sure this is classified as a crackfic, possibly inaccurately written child behavior and speech, OOC, enough fluff to rot your teeth out, read at your own discretion

Summary: In which an MX helps a child find her doll. Tumblr-message inspired. Crackfic.

Disclaimer/Author's Note: First off, I don't own Almost Human. Second, I like to thank the Anon who sent me this message on Tumblr: 'imagine an MX trying to help a small child find their doll' – although this probably wasn't what you had in mind, haha. I had something else different in mind too, but then it completely changed directions when I wrote this. I blame my malfunctioning muse. x_x I apologize to my readers from my other two Almost Human fanfiction, and thank you for your patience and kindness.

If you recognize the MX-43's unit number, it's because he's Detective Stahl's MX.

By the way, that's totally how my niece pronounces 'police.' I think it's hilarious.

...

There was a child walking on the pavement. Many pedestrians were milling about, rushing to their jobs, or just browsing the stores in the shopping district, but none of them walked within close proximity to the girl. All signs indicated that the girl was by herself.

Unit 700's primary objective was temporarily demoted from priority task as ServeProtect Protocol 1113-08 came into effect. The MX veered toward the girl, parking his motorcycle by the curb. Nearby civilians backed away from him, shooting the android curious glances, but he ignored them, walking over to her.

"Excuse me, ma'am." The child jumped in surprise and turned around when he laid a hand on her shoulder. He lifted his visor with the other hand. Red lights flickered across his right cheek as he identified the girl. Kathryn Hernandez. There were no alerts put out for her yet, so it meant that the girl had only recently left her guardians. "Where are your parents?"

She gazed up at the MX, wide-eyed. "You're poe-leece. Robo-cop."

"Yes. I am a Police Combat-Model Android. Where are your parents?"

Kathryn's lower lip jutted out. "I dunno." She suddenly brightened, and then took 700's hand. "You're poe-leece! You find Serena!"

"Serena?" 700 repeated, but Kathryn was already off, pulling him along with her. Resisting her would have been easy, but the MX's attention was caught by the name she had uttered. Was Serena another lost civilian child? The MX settled into a steady pace beside the girl. Her hand was still wrapped around his. "Who are we looking for?"

"Serena my friend," Kathryn explained, swinging his hand. "Mama give her to me on Christmas."

700 stopped. Kathryn yanked on his hand, and when he did not move, she turned around. "C'mon! We find Serena!"

"Is Serena a doll?"

"Yes!" She pouted. "C'mon! We gotta find her!"

"Your parents will be looking for you. I need to bring you to the station."

Kathryn stomped her foot, letting go of his hand. "We find Serena first!"

"Your parents –"

"No! Serena!"

The MX gazed down at her, head tilted slightly. The child's face was scrunched into a grimace, and whimpers were beginning to come from her throat. Indications of distress, and imminent crying. 700 did not understand her current emotional state, but he knew that it was somehow linked to the doll she insisted they find. Decision made, his processor lights went off when he sent a notice back to the precinct, in case they received a call from the parents.

He offered his hand to her. "Let's find Serena."

Kathryn hiccupped, wiping her eyes. She took his hand and gave him a watery smile. "Let's go!"

They set out again, although at a faster pace with Kathryn in the lead – as if she were afraid the android would change his mind. The MX had to hold her back when she attempted to cross the street when the Stop symbol was still on. She pouted, but listened when he calmly pointed out the button on the street post and explained to her the rules, emphasizing that she was only to cross when the symbol on the other side of the street showed a person walking. When she mentioned that she saw people walking anyway with the red symbol still on and no cars in sight, he replied that was jaywalking and not legal. And then he added that she was never, ever to do that.

"But no poe-leece. I can walk," she said slyly.

700 paused at that. "You can, but I would not recommend it," he said mildly. Then, he pointed to the street post. "Press the button."

Kathryn did as he said and stared intently at the sign across the street. When it didn't change in the next following seconds, she bounced impatiently on her heels. "It take too long!"

700 considered hacking the traffic signs to help speed along the process, but that was a gross misuse of his abilities. So instead, he placed a hand on the girl's head. "Wait for thirty-five seconds."

Finally, the symbol changed. Kathryn practically tore across the street, forcing 700 to jog along to keep up with her.

She led him into a Starbucks. The cashier nearly had a heart attack when he looked up and saw an MX staring at him.

"I swear! I didn't do anything!"

The MX blinked, and then looked down to his left. The man followed his gaze and saw a five year old girl.

"Hello Mister!" she said cheerfully. "Is Serena here?"

"Serena?" he repeated dumbly.

"Her doll," the MX solemnly said.

A look of recognition flickered across the cashier's face. "Oh, a doll? Black hair and blue dress, right?"

Kathryn jumped excitedly. "Yes, yes!"

"Alright, hang on a moment." A moment later, the man returned with the doll. Kathryn squealed giddily when he gave it to her. She hugged it tightly and turned to 700. "Look! I got Serena back! Thanks, Mister Robo-cop!"

The MX didn't smile – his solid carbon fiber and silicon skull was not capable of moving his face into any countenances deviating from his default one – but he reached out and patted the girl's head, conveying what his face could not. "It is not a problem."

Kathryn beamed.

The bemused cashier, who was watching the scene with a flabbergasted expression, jerked in surprise when the MX suddenly turned and leveled him an intent look.

"Mr. Williams. I require your assistance again." The look on the android's face was severe.

He gulped.

The little girl ran into the arms of her anxious father. Her MX stood a little ways away, gazing at the reunion with an expression that looked almost mildly curious.

Valerie was too far away to make out the conversation, so she inconspicuously edged closer to them. She saw the girl raise her doll and excitedly chatter about finding her doll, and then point to 700. The girl's father glanced at the android and got to his feet. He said something and stuck out his hand. 700 looked at the proffered hand for a second before mirroring him, and stiffly shook it.

The little girl tugged on the MX's sleeve, turning the android's attention back to her. This time, now that she was closer to them, Valerie could hear the girl's loud voice ("You too tall! Bend down!") and watched as her MX partner squatted, hands resting on his knees. She stifled a chuckle when the child lunged and wrapped her arms around the android's neck, forcing 700 to bend down further.

700 looked so lost, but he raised his free hand and gingerly pressed it against the child's back, as if he were unsure of his action. But it was still a reciprocated hug, and so the child drew back.

She patted his cheek. "Take care of yourself, Mister Robo-cop!" the girl said seriously.

"You too," she heard 700 say. "Stay with your father next time."

The child went back to her father. She waved at the MX one last time before the two went out through the lobby's doors. 700 lowered his hand and turned to his partner, who had left her spot and was approaching him.

"Detective Stahl," he greeted. "I apologize for the delay. A situation came up."

"Oh, there's no need to apologize." Her lips quirked into a smile. "Looks like you made a little girl very happy today."

"She insisted that we find her doll first." A pause. 700 held out the object he had been holding in his other hand. "This is for you."

Valerie's eyes widened when she saw what it was. She accepted the plastic cup from him. It was a chocolate cookie crumble frappucino. Besides the bourbon she kept in her top drawer, this was a drink she only indulged in when a day was particularly rough.

The thing was, she never sent out 700 to get her a drink. Other officers had their MXs make their coffee for them, but she liked to make her own, not wanting to send out her partner for a menial task she could easily do.

"I thought you were going out to do something important?" Now that she thought about it, he had been strangely vague about the 'priority matter' when he dismissed himself.

"Your work load is unusually high today." His pale blue eyes slid away from hers, suddenly very interested in a point over her shoulder. "I have observed a negative correlation between stress factors and work efficiency. I also remember you saying that this particular drink 'works wonders' on your day."

She couldn't tell whether 700 was trying to improve her work efficiency rate, or if he was trying to make her feel better. "I didn't say anything about having a bad day though."

"You didn't," he agreed, eyes coming back up to meet hers. "But you displayed negative facial expressions more often than normal."

It was such an MX answer, but Valerie smiled, feeling warmness in her chest. In his own way, he was looking out for her. "Oh, 700." She took his hand and squeezed it. "Thanks. Guess we better get back to work now, huh?"

"That would be the best course of action," he deadpanned.

She laughed and withdrew her hand. He fell into step beside her as they walked toward the elevators. Valerie, focused on her bounty, missed the way 700 looked at his hand, his eyes flickering to her and back. It was also the same hand that Kathryn had held when she roped him into finding her doll, the same hand that shook her father's hand, and the same hand that had tentatively returned the child's hug.

It occurred to the MX that this day was probably the most human contact he had ever had since his activation.

The moment passed and 700 returned back to his usual self.

Bonus Scene:

A couple months later when the Ethan Avery fiasco turned up, Rudy was given 700's bullet-ridden body. The MX had not been extensively damaged enough to be sent to the Droidax Industries for recycling, so the Chief Technician worked to bring him back online. When he accessed the android's short-term memory banks, he was surprised to see that there was a compressed video file sequestered in the storage. It wasn't often that an MX kept old video logs on his memory banks since the file sizes were so big, but if he did, it was usually tactical responses that he deemed important enough to keep on board. However, when Rudy saw the tags 700 placed on it, it quickly became clear that was not the case.

'Lost child – Kathryn Hernandez.' 'Child-MX interaction – Positive Outcome.' 'Retrieved Doll and Returned Child – Successful.' 'Starbucks-Detective Valerie Stahl – Positive Response.'

'Observation – Human children are irrational, but respond well when their demands are acceded. Detective Stahl's work efficiency rate increases by 20.39% when given beverage and she exhibits less negative-associated expressions.'

And the last:

'Conclusion – Agree with what the child wants to ensure quicker cooperation. Note – drop by Starbucks once per week to purchase beverage for Detective Stahl.'

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A/N:

Yeah, it's alright. I have no idea what to say either. I kinda still can't believe I wrote this… o_0

This story can also be found on Archive of Our Own and Tumblr under the same user-name (argent_snow and argent-snow, respectively), in case you've come across it before.