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It wasn�t what she said exactly, but the way she said it. �He�s down in the lab, John.� She sounded sorry, upset, nervous. Ot maybe he just read that into it, because when he crashed into the lab, racing down the steps three at a time, shouting, yelling, begging Rudy not to do it, what he saw wasn�t what he�d expected to see and he had to will his own heart not to explode. Dorian wasn�t lying in a body bag, as still as a corpse, eyes dark and blank. He was sitting up on the workbench, head panel open but his legs swinging, turning to look at John. �It�s all right, Detective,� Rudy said quietly as John reached the bench, sucked in much needed oxygen and reached almost blindly for Dorian�s hand. Immediately, Dorian laced his fingers through John�s, the first intimately physical touch he�d ever initiated in public. �I�m updating his security protocols, strengthening his firewalls, making sure it never happens again.� Making sure he can�t be hacked by unfriendly parties wanting to use him for their malicious intentions, putting his life in danger. �I�m so sorry, John,� Dorian was saying. �You�re the last person I would ever want to hurt.� �It wasn�t your fault.� He hated to see despair and sorrow in Dorian�s bright, blue eyes. �I trust you implicitly, with my life. Always have, always will.� He glared at Rudy who was watching them with undisguised interest and something akin to awe. �Say a word or make a single noise and I�ll shoot you.� Rudy quickly shook his head, but the smile didn�t stop until it was ear to ear across his face. He did say, �You�re going to have to square this with the captain. I was told to decommission him.� John wished he couldn�t believe it but he could. �Sandra asked you to� kill him?� That smile didn�t falter. �She didn�t use that exact term�.� �Only John uses that term,� Dorian pointed out with such warmth in his voice that John had to touch; raised his hand and wrapped long fingers around the curve of Dorian�s neck, bringing them face to face, so close he need only lean forward a couple of inches to close the gap and kiss him. It wouldn�t be their first. �She said she was sorry, but he was a danger to you.� John shook his head, dropped his hand and took a half-step back, out of the way of temptation. �Dorian would never hurt me.� �He tried to shoot you,� Rudy sounded as if the words were being dragged from him. �He pulled the trigger.� �And he missed. Dorian doesn�t miss.� He met his partner�s gaze and wondered what he was going to have to do to rid him of that haunted look, the guilt for what he�d almost done. �I was fighting the override,� Dorian told them quietly, �I knew I was losing. I had to convince you to shoot me, to stop me. I wouldn�t have allowed Rudy to upgrade my security if I�d hurt you in any way.� �But you didn�t.� �I could still be a danger to you. If someone found a way-� He interrupted again. �I�m still here and you�re still here and they�re not going to use you again. You�re you, I told you, nothing is going to change that.� �Someone did, John.� �Someone tried to reprogram you. That�s not the same.� �It is the same.� �Dorian, stop! I trust you, okay? And I� I fucking love you, man. So stop, because I�m not going to let you die. I�ve lost enough, I�m not losing you too.� It was a low shot, making this about him, but it was the only way he knew to make Dorian listen. He already felt guilty as hell, he wouldn�t give up on John if he knew that would make things worse. Dropping in the line about loving him would stop him in his self-destructive tracks too because he�d never said it before. Rudy was looking at them with a blur to his eyes that John thought for a horrified moment might be tears. �Oh, don�t.� He swiped at his eyes with the back of his hand and apologised, went back to carefully unplugging wires from ports inside Dorian�s skull. As he did, Dorian said, �I want you to set a safe phrase.� John didn�t know what that meant. �A phrase only you know that will shut me down if anything happens.� He opened his mouth to protest but Dorian shook his head. �Rudy says he can put it deep enough that it won�t be overridden if someone attacks me like this again. Only you�ll know it John, only you�ll be able to do it and it won�t be killing me, it�ll put me to sleep so that Rudy can do what he does best.� John glanced at Rudy who nodded. �It�s a safeguard. Dorian�s different to the MXs, different to the other DRNs, different to every other bot because he�s him, and he�s yours, so we need to protect him. Right?� �Right.� Rudy beckoned John around to the other side of Dorian and showed him a tiny depression inside the open space of his partner�s head. �Press on that, say the phrase, let it go. That�s it. All the cameras are off, only you and Dorian will know it.� John nodded. �Yell when you�re done.� When they were alone, John gave into temptation and kissed Dorian, just a light touch of his lips to his mouth. �Are you sure about this?� �I am. It would make me feel better, and safer, knowing you had a way to prevent me from hurting you if something goes awry.� He took a deep breath, let it out and nodded. �Okay.� �Do you have a phrase?� �Give me a second, it�s an important thing, I need to get it right.� But the quirk of Dorian�s lips made him smile. �It�s a phrase, John, not a vow.� That�s when it popped into his head, the words he wanted to use. �Okay.� �Got it?� �Got it.� �So do it.� It felt weird and unnatural to put his finger in his partner�s head, but then again he�d done worse. The cameras were off, Rudy had said, but he�d learnt to his cost that someone was always listening and he leaned around anyway to whisper in his ear. �Until death separates us.� He released the pressure sensor and lifted his head to find Dorian wearing an expression he�d never seen before. He expected questions, but maybe they would come later, because when he if asked if that was okay, Dorian just nodded, eyes tracking him but saying nothing. �We�re done,� John called out to Rudy, who reappeared to replace the plate at the side of Dorian�s head. �Now, you�re more secure than the DHS.� �Thank you. Both.� ~ John knew the precinct was going to be as mature as high school about what had happened and decided to face it head on. He stopped on the top step down into the bull pen and shouted, �Listen up!� Seventy-five percent of the cops stopped what they were doing to look in his direction and he considered that a success. �You�re all aware of the recent problems with the bots and the asshole who was reprogramming them. You�re also aware, I�m sure, that my partner, Dorian, and I brought said asshole down in here in cuffs. The case is done and closed. If anyone has anything else they want to say about it please feel free to message me. If anyone has anything to say to my partner, please feel free to say it to his face, although you might want to remember the Ethan Avery case when he flipped a moving truck on its roof with his bare hands. Thank you for your time.� Maldonado calling him into her office wasn�t a surprise. He watched Dorian take a seat at their desk. No one was bothering him, and to be fair he was more than capable of taking care of himself, so he went where he was told but he didn�t take the seat he was offered. �Dorian was supposed to have been decommissioned.� There was a sadness in her tone but it was mostly accusatory. �You�re not killing my partner.� �He�s a DRN, he attacked you, he put your life and the lives of others in danger.� �He didn�t attack me. He pulled a weapon, but he fought the override and he missed deliberately. If I�d been partnered with an MX, I�d be dead now. Rudy�s upgraded his software, improved his security, he�ll be fine.� �You�re protecting him.� �And I will go on protecting him as long as he needs protecting. It was my head he was pointing the gun at. It�s my choice. He�s my partner, he stays my partner. You said it yourself. He�s special. He�s special to me.� Maldonado leaned back in her chair and shook her head. �I know you care about him, John, just� please be careful.� John nodded. �We�re on shift.� He pointed a thumb at the door. �Can I?� She dismissed him with a wave of her hand and a roll of her eyes. Dorian was waiting for him outside her office. �Are we all right, John?� He dropped his hand to Dorian�s shoulder and squeezed. �We�re fine. Let�s roll.� |