Heh, nice to see that all of you were surprised as to how Gavin learned that Katie was an android. Yes, of all reasons, his cat is how he figures out the truth. And now…you get to see the fallout from that.

Special thanks for reviews: lordvaatithewindmage and AnUnorthodoxDecision

Well, you all know what's coming here. Time for the other side of the story…and for the slightly darker truth that lies with it. As much progress as this universe has made, sometimes harsh reminders come along to show just how far you have left to go.

Prompt: This chapter shows the events of Ch21: Red Blood, Blue Blood of Mischief And Me from Gavin and Katie's point of view, and references some Gavin headcanon from that story, namely the subject of Gavin and Hank's fight from Ch30: Break The Wall.

Chapter 6: Partners

He hadn't slept a wink.

Gavin stared up from where he was awkwardly propped on the pillows of his bed, mind racing in dozens of different directions – just as it had been since about twenty minutes after he had last seen his partner. He was honestly surprised it had taken him that long, but until that point, he could swear that shock was all that had stopped him from lashing out.

Well, shock along with complete and utter fucking confusion.

There's no fucking way Katie is an android, I would have been able to tell months ago. Shit, I've been working with her for three months now, could I not fucking tell?!

Except he couldn't. Even after realising that mind bending truth the previous night and spending another hour in her company following it, he was still in doubt. Everything about her was just so…natural. Emotive. Human.

After coming to the shocking conclusion that his partner was actually secretly an android, Gavin had realised very quickly that there had to be a lot more to her story. There was no way that more people in the DPD weren't aware of her identity…which left him with a deep anger. Strangely enough, less against Katie and more towards those who had kept the secret.

In all honesty, he could completely understand why she hadn't said a word. With Gavin's track record regarding androids, the fact that he was partnered with one would have probably made him do something not very stellar for his career.

They'd gone back to watching TV in silence, though even with the revelation spinning in Gavin's mind, it had still be relatively comfortable. Katie had realised that Gavin was processing something and had instantly given him more space, instead curling up on the other side of the sofa. Minna, the insane psychic cat with more deductive skills than her owner, apparently, had nestled into Katie's lap quite happily. Even with that sudden distance between them, the atmosphere been them had still been…warm. Her farewell at the end of the night was concerned and affectionate, and the tight hug she'd given on her way out of the door had just added to his dilemma now.

Gavin growled as he turned too sharply and agitated his neck, clenching a fist to punch the pillow next to him. He'd been cycling through the same damn thoughts for hours now, and he was getting nowhere.

Katie had lied to him for months – but he wasn't naïve enough to believe it was entirely her own call. Someone higher had to know who she was, and that she was deceiving all(?) of the people she worked with. In a profession like theirs, trust counted for a hell of a lot: especially in a partner. Right now, he really didn't know where that left their professional relationship.

Let alone anything fucking else.

And now he had the even worse problem that was flitting through his head: he was attracted to Katie a whole damn lot – and after yesterday, it was even more bloody obvious that the feeling was mutual. Gavin really didn't know what to do with either side of that now that he knew she was an android.

With an agitated sigh, Gavin got up from his bed and stomped through to the kitchen. With the clock on his phone reading 03:47, Gavin was debating between a coffee or something stronger. He wasn't due back into the precinct until 9 tomorrow, so one drink now wasn't going to hurt…unless that drink was a whole fucking bottle. He was half tempted, but the parallel with Anderson chased that thought right out of his head. Well, Anderson Sr. He had to keep reminding himself that there was two of them now: it was still fucking weird to see Connor with Hank's last name.

Strangely enough, thinking about Hank made Gavin's racing mind settle for a moment. It wasn't often that he thought about that…bastarding traitor outside of work, but right now it was merited. Any companionship and respect he'd held for the man was long since dead, it had been since he'd caused Gavin to lose the most fucking important thing in his life, but Hank had hated androids for a long time too. Ever since he'd lost his son. Much as Gavin might hate him, Hank hadn't deserved anything like that. In a strange twist of fate, it seemed like androids had been directly involved in both of them losing the person they'd loved more than anything.

And yet…it had taken not even a week for Hank to be singing a very different tune. From having Connor pinned against a wall on that first morning the android had officially been assigned as the older man's partner, he'd somehow flipped completely around to putting his job on the line in an effort to buy Connor more time when the android was staring at deactivation. Gavin had seen the aftermath of Hank being escorted out after taking a (pretty damn fine, he had to begrudgingly admit) swing at Perkins' face, right before he'd changed his mind about letting Connor go. He remembered well his little confrontation with the android, and how poor an idea it had been.

So, what was it about Connor that made Hank change so drastically? Was it loneliness, a last desperate play by a demented mind to see something that wasn't there? Or had Hank really realised who Connor was before the android himself had.

The answer was evident now, eight months later, but Gavin had to wonder what had been going through Hank's mind at the time – and whether he was going in as many bloody circles in questioning a truth which he'd held for so goddamn long.

Haven't spent so long thinking about that bastard since-

Gavin cut off his own thought, but it was too late. Despite all the walls he'd erected around the memories and the stone which he'd sealed his broken heart inside, he couldn't help but slip occasionally. And with his mind in such turmoil, it was little wonder he'd fallen prey tonight.

His eyes lifted from where he'd been focusing on the counter top to an old photograph which was lying on his shelves. To a face which he missed almost more than he could bear.

With a shaky sigh, Gavin trudged over to the shelf and picked the image up. Unable to help himself, he ran a finger down the captured memory, remembering vividly what his dead boyfriend's skin felt like against it. Even now, six and half years later, he could almost trick himself into thinking that Matt was still there, being the snarky and confident bastard that he'd been.

He could remember the day they'd taken that photograph vividly. Matt's 40th. Gavin had pulled every string he could to make sure he and Matt had a week off together, and that it was a complete surprise for his boyfriend. Hank had actually done a lot of the work in liaising with the fire department to make sure Matt was free once the lieutenant had caught wind of what Gavin was up to. Everything had come together perfectly and they'd spent 5 days together in San Francisco, just getting away from the chaotic dance that was their lives. Gavin smiled sadly at recollecting that Matt had taken this photo of them barely a minute after asking Gavin to move in with him.

Thinking about him now made Gavin's heart ache with regret and grief. He couldn't help but wonder what Matt would have been like now. He'd have been 48, maybe even retired from active duty. Gavin chuckled at the thought. Nah, not that bastard. He was a fucking tank and put me to shame even though I was 11 and half years younger than him. Matt would have still been barking orders and running his unit like clockwork. He'd teased Matt mercilessly about the grey which had been creeping into his jet black hair barely a few weeks before he died, there was no doubt in Gavin's mind that he'd have been completely silver by now.

Silver hair with a gold ring sat on his finger.

Heart leaden with an icy spear through it, Gavin picked up the box which never sat far away from the photo. With a small flick he let his eyes fall on the two rings that lay inside and willed himself to not look at the note. He'd learned the hard way that seeing Matt's handwriting set him off like nothing else – no good reason, but finding the random notes that they used to tease each other with had been one of his biggest triggers in the early days.

Unable to help himself, Gavin pulled out the narrower of the bands and turned it in his hand several times. How often had he done this on drunken nights, wishing for something different? Swearing against the world and its cruel ways, dreaming about burning every single android in existence and giving up everything if he could somehow turn back the clock. The ring slipped on without any resistance but Gavin couldn't find any comfort in it.

That man was long gone – dead and buried with the man that in another world might have been his husband.

Swallowing back on a sob, Gavin pulled it off again and placed the ring back in its haven before replacing the box. His eyes fell back to the photo and he let a tear fall.

"What would you think of me now, Matt?" he asked quietly, almost as if he were afraid someone would answer him. "I know you'd kick my ass for how I've acted since, but what would you tell me to do now? Fucks knows I never thought I'd end up in the situation where one of the plastic fucks that abandoned you would be working as my partner. Thought I'd willingly torch every single one of them.

"But I guess…they're different now too, aren't they? We're all different. You'd scarcely recognise me, I know. I just-Shit." Gavin hissed through a catch in his breath, chuckling bitterly as the emotion which caught in his throat passed. "I remember what you told me years ago, back when we first got serious. We agreed that if one of us ever died in the field that the other had to make them proud. Not get lost in the past, move forward. Fuck, Matt…you were the way stronger one out of the two of us. Even years later I can't forget that stupid snore of yours, the smell of your aftershave or your god awful habit of sleepwalking. You gave me more jumpscares than any shitty horror game I've played.

Sighing through another wave of grief, Gavin put the picture back down and stared at it sorrowfully. "Of all the fucking twists I've had in my life, this is right up there. The first person I've fucking fallen for since I lost you, and she's a goddamn android." It was the first time Gavin had dared to admit out loud that he truly felt something beyond friendship for Katie – the irony of the timing wasn't lost on him.

"How do I forget, Matt? How do I stop myself from wanting to rip apart the plastic bastards that cost me the best damn thing ever to happen to me? How-" He stormed away and slammed his hands on the back of his sofa, growling through gritted teeth.

Can I accept her for what she is? If I even know what being an android truly mean anymore.

The tinkling of a bell interrupted Gavin's thoughts and he looked to his right, seeing Minna staring at him curiously. She was sat perfectly still, save for her tail twirling softly. Gavin looked at her with stormy eyes and was stunned when she meowed at him quietly. Minna was not a vocal cat generally, save for hissing and spitting when she was pissed (which was pretty often). This…was alien and strange.

Yet again this cat making him question his reality. Twice in one fucking night.

Regarding her warily, Gavin held out a hand and found himself smiling slightly when the cat nuzzled it affectionately, even going to far as to lick him. Wondering as to how welcoming she was feeling, Gavin was stunned when Minna purred loudly when he picked her up. Minna didn't do this with people – humans, he corrected himself. Minna's behaviour with Katie earlier that night reminded him of that soberly.

"You really liked her, didn't you?" Gavin asked his cat, laughing to himself when she kept on purring away. She was completely content. "The old git that gave you to me said you were a good judge of character. If you instantly trusted her, well, that's gotta mean something. Right?"

Unsurprisingly, the cat didn't answer him, but that didn't matter. It was more food for thought.

And yet, that little factoid made his rampaging thoughts ease a little. His little psychopath felt safe around Katie, so that had to count for something. Didn't it?

His eyes fell back to his phone and when he tilted it up, Gavin groaned loudly. 04:14.

Can't this night be over, yet?

As it so happened, he fell into a fitful sleep not long after that, but Gavin's position on the sofa did absolutely no favours for his battered body. His alarm blared at 07:15, but Gavin just snoozed it. After getting tossed from a fucking building the day before, Fowler could kiss his ass about turning up on time today. Not to mention he wanted a word with his boss without anyone else knowing….

Finally, 09:20 rolled around and Gavin got the call he'd been waiting for. One Captain Jeffrey Fowler.

"Not like you to be a lazy ass, Reed. Take it your head is like hell?" came the gruff but mildly sympathetic voice on the other end of the phone. As much as Fowler was a hard-ass, he cared about the people under his command. It made him a good man and a fucking stellar captain. No matter how often he disagreed with him, Gavin never forgot that little fact.

Which is why he was just managing to keep his temper under rein.

"No surprise there," Gavin grumped back. "Strange thing though, I think getting my ass thrown off a damn roof made my head spin less than what finding out my fucking partner is an android has done to it."

Silence.

It carried on for what could almost be considered too long before Fowler spoke up again. "She told you then?"

Admission.

"Nope, figured it out myself last night," he snapped in reply. "My goddamn cat only likes androids, so imagine my surprise in finding she couldn't get enough of Katie."

"From how Marshall is looking out for you to appear through the gates this morning, I'm gonna assume you haven't confronted her yet."

Deduction.

"Good guess."

"Well that begs a good question. Why didn't you, Gavin? Not like you to hold your tongue."

Observation.

"'Cause I knew this went way fucking higher than just her. She couldn't pull this off without a whole heap of others being involved. All I want to know is who, and why."

Another sigh. "All right, you deserve that, Reed, though I wish Marshall had actually managed to tell you before you learned it yourself. Before I do that though, I want to make one thing completely clear. None of this was Katie's idea."

Submission.

"I didn't think it was," Gavin said coldly. "Not in her nature."

Fowler chuckled. "Never thought I'd see the day where you weren't automatically blaming an android. You might not want to hear this right now, Reed, but that android's been a good influence on you."

Conjecture.

"You gonna tell me some goddamn truths, Fowler, or are you going to keep spouting shit?"

Any other time, Gavin knew his ass would've been getting slapped with a disciplinary, but he'd get away with it right now. Fowler owed him at this moment. "All right, all right, keep your shirt on. This whole thing was suggested by Anderson and Connor the day you two were partnered up. Knowing your probable reaction, they suggested keeping the fact that Marshall was an android quiet. Connor then spun me some shit about it being a good social experiment, and he got me thinking that it was true. There's no denying that people treat Katie a hell of a lot different than they do Connor cause they think she's human."

Truth.

Gavin hated to admit it, but that little fact was resoundingly true. Katie was treated vastly different to Connor, simply because they felt they understood her better. She wasn't so alien, strange or other-worldly. Fucking wrong.

He shouldn't have been surprised that Hank and Connor were the culprits behind all this, and he was willing to bet that those two intended this as a fucking prank to start with. But he couldn't deny that keeping Katie's android identity quiet was probably a good call to start with.

In all honesty, he couldn't quite believe he was handling it as well as he was now.

I guess actually knowing her counts for something.

Between all his musings, Gavin was sure that Katie hadn't been faking any of their interactions. Or if she had, she was the mostly brilliant liar he'd ever come across – but then another thought dinged into his head. Connor knew, and she seemed exactly the same with him.

That made him feel a little less conflicted. Just a little.

"Look, Reed, I know this gonna fuck with your head. Learning that your partner isn't what she seems is going to mess with anybody. All I need to know is if this is going to have an effect on you two in the workplace, I don't want this causing shit all over. If you can't deal, I'll move her to work with Collins in Android Crimes and give you Miller."

Well, moment of truth. Could he keep working with Katie, knowing that she'd been lying to him for months?

"I'm gonna talk with her, first," he said slowly. "I want some answers out of her. Depending on where that goes, that'll dictate where we go from there."

"Not gonna lie, Gavin, didn't expect that, but I'm glad to hear it. Marshall is already looking antsy, so I'll send her to your place to grab you and bring you back here, all right? Take Room 5 and talk it out. Whatever you want to do after that, I'll stand by it."

That…was pretty fucking reasonable. Fowler must have a fair bit of empathy for Gavin's situation if he was giving him this much power.

"Deal," Gavin told him strongly. "When will you send her over?"

"Right now, I want your asses working as soon as. If you just wanted my damn attention, Reed, you could have just fucking called rather than have me chase you."

That's more like Fowler – asshole in charge of the shit heap that is the DPD.

"Nah, this way was more dramatic, much more my style," he taunted in return.

Despite himself, Fowler snorted. "Less of that, Reed, or I'll stick you on the shittest case I've got. Get your ass ready."

With that, the line clicked dead. After giving the screen one last cursory glance to make sure the call had ended, Gavin sat back with a sigh and looked over to his sleeping cat at the other end of the sofa. If only he could ignore the world like that.

Next life, I want to come back as a house cat. They've got the best of it. Come on, Gavin, get your ass moving. You've got your showdown, so don't fuck it up.

If Katie was aware of what was coming, she was doing a damn good job of not showing anything. She'd greeted Gavin just like any other morning, if maybe a little warmer since it was in a more private setting. Despite himself, Gavin gave a glimmer of a smile in return. He might be pretty pissed, neck aching, sleep deprived and running on nothing more than caffeine, painkillers and stubbornness…but Katie had been a little sparkle in his life for a while now. He relished their snarky banter and her willingness to tell him where to stick his bullshit.

He hated to think that could all be about to change – or rather, it had already. The only thing left to ascertain was the degree. Nothing could be the same now.

It didn't take Katie long to realise that Gavin was lost inside his own head that morning. She was unsurprised after everything that had happened the previous day, but being this inanimate was decidedly unlike Gavin. The ten minutes that they had spent inside their patrol vehicle had been deathly quiet, and Katie may have been cheating with her android skills slightly. She kept one eye focused on the road while casting the other off to her right, staring intently at her partner.

Gavin had done nothing more than stare out the side window and watch the world go by. Now that she thought about it, Gavin hadn't actually said a word at all. Even when she'd picked him up, they'd just shared a small non-verbal greeting. It was jarring. She knew he'd despise the comparison, but Gavin and Connor were similar in that they were almost always doing something: fidgeting, playing with an object while thinking, talking to themselves (outwardly or mentally, depending on who it was)…

So this was very out of character. It made her slightly apprehensive.

"Are you all right, Gavin?" she asked quietly. "You've not said a word."

"Nor had you up until then," he pointed out tonelessly, still staring out of the window.

Katie really didn't like this. "Okay, that's fair, but I'm not the one who almost ended up splattered on a pavement yesterday," she replied softly, wondering if she'd worded it rather indelicately. As it was, Gavin just kept staring out. "Come on, Gavin, this isn't like you. I've never known you be so…lifeless."

He snorted icily. "Now that's ironic given what's spinning through my head."

"What do you mean?"

Now he finally turned to look at her, at the coldness there made Katie's pump seize.

"Is there something you want to tell me about yourself, Katie? Something you hadn't mentioned up until now?"

She was panicking internally, through outwardly she only showed mild confusion. Shit, he knows…

"Gavin, I-"

Screaming from outside the car snatched their attention, and the pair were instantly on high alert. Whatever was going on between them personally, they were both determined police officers, and that screech was nothing short of terrified. The pedestrians on the right side of the street scattered as if fire was chasing them, and it was then that the pair realised a scuffle had broken out. Before they could even get out of their car, however, a shout went up that changed the whole situation.

"We've got cops! Get those fucking pigs!"

Katie screamed when the windshield shattered apart as bullets hailed down on their position, the pair of them ducking down as far as they could. She frantically hit reverse, trying to back out of the dangerous situation, but the shooters targeted their tyres. With flats, she could do nothing more than spin out. The car came to a halt at an angle, and it was Gavin's door which was taking the majority of the fire. Now they had an exit, and some cover.

"Go!" Gavin shouted, to which Katie kicked open her door and scrambled out, laying down covering fire for her partner to clamber out over the added impediment of the gear shift. He came to a stop next to her and had to swiftly duck as the passenger windows began to rain down upon them in jagged shards. "Shit! You okay?" he asked with a concerned hand on her arm.

"I'm good!" Katie confirmed while elbowing out another window, giving her a cleaner line of sight to return fire. Her android aim meant that she was much more accurate, but with the perps so far away, there was enough time for them to duck back into cover. As it was, only half of the group seemed to be focusing on them, while the rest were squabbling with each other. Knuckle dusters, knives…they saved their firearms for the two detectives who had just landed up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Gavin reached up back into the car and grasped for the radio, quickly opening a channel to call for help. "Dispatch, this is 3310 with 6731 in car 19. We're under heavy fire on Broadway Avenue and require immediate backup!" he yelled down the receiver.

"Copy that 3310, sending all available units to your location. Situation update?"

"Looks like a gang brawl which we've stumbled into the middle of! Got the full works with 'em."

"Understood. Hang tight, 3310. Backup is en route."

Knowing that help was on the way, both detectives kept up a steady barrage of gunfire to keep the gang members back. Gavin swore when he ran out of ammo and reached back into his harness for another clip, but it was inside his jacket in the back of the car. Cursing his scatterbrain of that morning, he got his partner's attention. "Katie!" she turned quickly in response to the call, diving back down as two shots got dangerously close. "I'm out, how many clips you got?"

"Two more!" she shouted back while chancing a look up, spying their company closing it. At least the fire fight had scared off any innocent bystanders. A tell-tale click from her handgun was ill timed, to which she pulled one of the reloads from her belt. "Make that one," she said while handing the one final clip to Gavin, who loaded up again.

"Fuck, we can't keep this up! We need to get into shelter!"

"I don't think we're going to be getting out from behind the car, Gavin!" The pair jumped when a Molotov was hurled in their direction, sailing over them to land a few metres past, but it got both of their hearts racing. A burst of heat had Gavin flinching, to which he snarled and leant back up to return fire. The male detective switched sides with his younger partner seamlessly to give him a better angle to fire at when another Molotov landed just in front of the car, but the distraction was deadly.

The onslaught of combustibles allowed two gang members to slip along the side of the street, and it was only when they were all but parallel with the pair that Katie noticed them. Realising that Gavin was right in the line of fire, Katie hauled him back and threw her body in front of him, using herself as a shield while returning fire. "Gavin!"

He shouted in surprise at the quick change of position, but his brief anger was instantly extinguished at hearing the cacophony of exchanging gunfire, and three screams of pain. Two male, and one female. Gavin felt the moment Katie was hit, his stomach souring at not only hearing her agonised shout but seeing the blood which spattered against the side of their patrol car. Katie instantly slumped against him, her legs giving out as she trembled from the shock to her systems. The two perps had been brought down by her infallible aim. "Shit, Katie!"

Without thinking, Gavin grabbed back for the receiver still dangling from the seat of the open driver's door. "Officer down, I repeat, officer down! We need EMT's, stat!" he barked down it, discarding the item before turning his attention to his shivering partner. It was only when he looked down to see the multitude of wounds that it suddenly hit him.

Blue. Katie's blood was blue, as was the spatter against the car.

Despite having already figured it out, it took Gavin's mind a second to catch up, at which he could see how terrified Katie was. He then swore at himself for having gone on autopilot – paramedics weren't going to be able to help her, she needed a technician. "Katie, how bad is your damage?" he asked as calmly as he could, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to pull her back tight to his chest from their cover.

Katie stared up at him in petrified shock, amazed that Gavin was acting like this. Being confronted with her nature like this would have caused him to freak, she'd been so sure of it. Unfortunately, their situation ill afforded the wasted time, and they were dangerously vulnerable with only one of them fit to continue. "Katie, how bad is it?!" he all but screamed. Nothing prepared Gavin for the sheer onslaught of emotions which hit him at her reply.

"I'm-I'm going to shut down in 4 minutes 23 seconds."

His first thoughts were denial and anguish – there was no way Katie could be dying right in front of him. With that little time, there was no way to get help to her fast enough, but then his brain kicked back into gear. Katie was an android: death wasn't necessarily permanent for them. If she could be repaired, she could come back. Fuck, he'd never thought he'd be glad for someone being an android, but it gave her a chance.

In the back of his mind, Gavin had to wonder why Katie had thrown herself in front of him. Why would she risk herself for him – the asshole who had done nothing but curse androids the whole time she had known him?

"Can you be reactivated with your damage?" he asked hoarsely, all but scared to say it any louder, despite the gunfire.

Fuck, please don't let her say she's beyond saving. I can't lose her too.

Katie was again surprised, but swallowed before nodding. "My chance of successful reactivation is 63%. Any more damage will reduce it depending on the severity."

Now knowing what he had to do, Gavin swung her arm over his shoulder and hauled Katie to her feet, shouting when the android couldn't bear her weight. "Fuck! Can't you walk?"

"No, my systems are glitching from the damage," she admitted painfully, and Gavin could now see the scale of it. Six bullets, and he could see her wires and biocomponents sparking from where her skin had fritzed out and her chassis was showing through. Two of the holes were showing red, and even with his limited knowledge of android anatomy, he knew that was bad. Especially when one of them was the red circle of light shining from her abdomen – no wonder she was in such bad shape when her thirium pump regulator had been hit.

"Can you move your legs even if you can't bear your weight?" he asked breathlessly, reaching up to fire a few shots before anyone else got any ideas about getting up close and personal to see they were down for the count.

"Yes," she confirmed while keeping herself aloft with her grip on Gavin's shoulder.

"Then cover us while I get our asses the fuck out of here!"

Gavin span around and dragged them towards a dumpster at the left hand side of the road, barely managing to keep them moving as Katie turned back to lay down covering fire. A few shots whizzed by too close, and Katie yelped as another caught her in the leg. The male detective swore at hearing her scream and set her down gently against the dumpster before turning back to fire once more. Katie passed him her gun when he ran out of ammo, but she knew she was almost out herself. When that was gone, they had no further means of defending themselves.

Blinking way the shutdown timer which was now creeping below the three minute mark, Katie yelled over to her partner. "Gavin, get the hell out of here!" she begged. "You've only got a few more shots before we're sitting ducks!"

"I'm not fucking leaving you!" he barked in reply, growling at the gunfire which was getting closer. More bodies piled in from another alley on the opposite side and Gavin was cursing their shitty luck. These assholes had to have backup of their own, didn't they? "Fuck!"

"Gavin, please, just go! I can be reactivated, but you're human! Get yourself to better cover!"

The screech of sirens further up the street was a welcome relief. Help was finally here and snapped attention away from them. Just in time, as Gavin had run out of ammo. They had nothing left. Maybe the paramedics could do something for Katie with all the advancements in android rights, but not all of them carried supplies for androids readily. Regardless of that, they wouldn't be able to approach until the scene was safe – and this was far from safe.

"I am not abandoning my partner! I'm not leaving you!" he snapped back, but the pained edge was unmissable to both of them.

Katie's eyes widened in horror as she saw one gang member clock their vulnerability from across the street, to which Gavin spun. He too saw the danger, but he wasn't running.

He'd meant every word he said – he was not going to leave her to die.

Gavin stretched over to stop Katie from being hit again as the gangster fired, two of his five shots hitting their mark. The pair of bullets ripped through Gavin's chest, nicking an artery and the other going straight into his right lung to lodge there. "Gavin!" she howled at seeing her partner being thrown back from the impacts, instantly blacking out from the combination of pain and the blow to his head. The gang member had to retreat as he came under fire from the responding officers, but it was too late for them.

Katie sobbed as she collapsed on to her side, hauling herself along the ground to see the horrendous wounds. Gavin was already bleeding profusely, and it she knew the blood loss would kill him if she didn't do something. Drawing her own blue stained hand from her own abdomen, Katie ruthlessly shoved her own fingers into the bullet wound in Gavin's upper chest. Using her android sight, she managed to locate the bleed and lock on to it with her fingers. She prayed it was enough.

"Gavin…why? Why would you do that you stupid bastard!" she wailed through her tears, wishing help would come sooner. The gunfire was barely dying down, it would still be some time before aid could reach them. She glanced up from where she was crumpled on the ground to see the familiar faces of Chris and Ben firing from their own patrol car thirty two metres away. So close but so far.

Unable to do anything but clamp on to the bleed which threatened to kill Gavin, Katie cried silently while watching her own shut down timer creep down. It was no unavoidable, and she was terrified. She could sense Connor trying to get in touch with her, but she didn't have the strength left to respond.

Katie begged within her own mind that she'd see both him and Gavin again. Not waking up again was one nightmare – returning to find out that Gavin had died saving her life was another entirely. Not after lying to him for so long: and yet, somehow, he'd still been willing to sacrifice himself for her.

Please, don't let him die…

The seconds continued to bleed away, and knowing what was coming, Katie pulled out her other hand to take a tight hold of Gavin's own bloodied one. It provided the smallest comfort as she tapped into her systems with all she had left.

MOTOR CONTROL SYSTEMS LOCKED

Now at least she could continue to act a clamp after she shut down. Anything which could help spare Gavin.

Closing her eyes against the mayhem, her auditory systems went offline just as her optics did, and the blaring red numbers did nothing more than cause her to be swallowed by terror. A whimper escaped her everything vanished.

I'm-I'm scared…

-00:00:03

-00:00:02

-00:00:01

FULL SYSTEM SHUTDOWN

I suppose this isn't technically a cliff hanger since you all know the two of them survive, but there is more to this side of the story yet. Remember, you never found out what happened to Katie which left her so traumatised…beyond shutting down, obviously.

So, I hope this was worth the wait! See you all again soon!

*Smooch*