Chapter Text
Dad
11:44 AM
Dad. Family emergency. Call me
11:45 AM
We need to talk ASAP
~
“I see you got the invitation.”
Gavin stared at the message on his computer screen like it needed to be decoded. “Yeah, quick question Dad, what the fuck is this about?”
“Michael’s getting married,” Dominick said patiently, like Gavin was five years old. “You know, the cute cousin.”
“Uh, I was the cute cousin Dad.” Gavin scoffed, glancing over the message like he hadn’t already done it five hundred times. He had plenty of shit he had to do, but instead he was just sitting at his work station, the words searing into his brain: We would be pleased if you joined us for our Independence Day Union on Saturday July 4th -
Gavin groaned. “And why the fuck are they getting married on the Fourth of July? What if I was like, barbecuing something?”
“Let’s not be completely ridiculous here Gavin.”
“Dad,” Gavin whined, kicking back in his chair, “I am not fucking going to this shit.”
“Come on, kiddo,” Dominick said encouragingly. “It’s just one night.”
“Yeah, one stimulating night of patriotism at cousin Michael’s second wedding.”
“Yep, a wedding, Gav. You know what that means.”
“Free drinks,” Gavin said miserably.
“Free drinks,” Dom repeated like it was the greatest phrase of all time, which it probably was, to be honest. “And an excuse for us to be together! When was the last time you saw your old man, eh? Margie’s funeral? That was a fucking riot.”
“Yeah, almost literally,” Gavin said, remembering the fight that had broken out on the front yard of the church, because his aunt and one of his cousin’s girlfriends were both wearing the same dress.
“Well, it’s not too far of a drive for you. I’m going to fly in and stay with your aunt Laura for the weekend. You should come out on Friday, we could shoot the shit, get some Taco Bell like old times.”
“Now you’re just trying to bribe me.”
“Who said I was paying? I’m retired, son. I raised you for eighteen years, it’s high time you start paying for my soft tacos.”
“You raised me for twenty four years, don’t get it twisted,” Gavin complained. “And you cried when I moved out.”
“Don’t change the subject. We’re going to the wedding.”
Gavin groaned in defeat. “Fine. We’re going.”
“Good man. You got anyone to bring?”
“Me?” Gavin laughed, then, looking over his desk. Most of the other cops had pictures of their partners and kids, vacations, shit like that. Gavin was thirty six, but he was still waiting for that desire for domestic shit to kick in. All he had was a picture of his cat when he first got her, a little kitten curled up on his shoulder. Was that sad? Gavin didn’t give a shit. “Hell no. You know that. I got enough on my plate right now.”
“How about Tina?” Dom suggested. He had met her a bunch of times over the years, holidays and work parties and birthday celebrations. He had long, long since stopped asking if the two of them were going to get together.
“Tina goes to her folks’ house every fourth,” Gavin said. He had gone with her a couple of times. The beer and hot dogs and shit were nice, Tina was always fun, her family was fine. Gavin always liked the excuse to wear a good pair of American flag shorts. He entertained the idea of skipping the wedding, saying he already had plans and asking to tag along with Tina again. But that would mean missing out on the opportunity to see his dad.
Fuck, going to a wedding alone was kind of depressing. But other than Tina, Gavin couldn’t think of who else to bring. He couldn’t exactly bring his cat to a wedding, so that was out. He doubted Chris would be willing or able to take a long weekend, not with his new baby and all that. He had been alright with Anderson and even Connor, recently, but not that alright.
Just then, a cup of coffee was deposited in front of him. Gavin glanced at his phone; yep, it was exactly noon, though he wasn’t sure why he bothered confirming. His new partner - well, six months now, but still - brought him a fresh cup of coffee every two and a half hours to the minute, unless they were out in the field, of course, and even then, he still sometimes managed to stick to his schedule. Smothering bastard.
RK900 slipped into his seat at the desk opposite Gavin’s, barely acknowledging him as he began working away at his computer, LED spinning a slow and steady yellow. Gavin rolled his eyes and tucked his phone between his ear and shoulder, taking the coffee into his hands. RK900 refused to make it with any cream or sugar, so Gavin had gotten used to taking it black. “Look Dad,” he said, sipping the cup which was always somehow just at the right temperature, “I don’t exactly have a lot of friends, alright? I might as well bring my fuckin’ boss. Hell, you guys would get along, I bet.”
“Come on, Gav. Think about how Michael is. That side of the family is so - traditional.” Dom said it like it was the worst possible thing, but Gavin sort of agreed with that, to be honest. They had always seemd pretty closed-minded, easily offended. Nothing like his dad. Maybe a little like Gavin, but, he was getting better.
Dom continued, “It’ll be boring as all hell, trust me, I grew up with these people. Bring someone who you can stir up a little trouble with. I certainly wouldn’t mind the drama.”
“You’re a devious bastard, you know that right?” Gavin said, shaking his head in admiration. “I dream of being as rude as you are.”
“Just let me know what you decide to do so I can bring enough weed for all of us.”
RK900 was printing something out. Gavin put his cup of coffee down, frowning and listening to his dad chattering about his back problems and recent cruise to Alaska and the political cartoon he saw this morning, absently taking the paper that his partner was handing to him. Maybe it was a new case. Maybe it was important.
It was the department’s cell phone policy. Gavin raised his eyes from the paper up to RK900’s face. The android just looked at him passively, hands folded on the desk, like he was waiting patiently for something.
“Alright Dad, I’ll call you this weekend,” Gavin grumbled into the phone, tossing the paper back at RK900 with a scowl.
“Just RSVP with a plus one, Gavin. You can always figure it out later. I love you, son.”
RK900 was trying to hand him the paper again.
“Yeah, wise words,” Gavin said, batting his hand away. “Love you, Dad.” He tossed his phone onto the desk, focusing his attention on the annoying son of a bitch that was his partner. “Alright, alright, I’m done breakin’ the rules, Robocop.”
“That was your father,” RK900 stated.
“Yep, the one and only,” Gavin said. He leaned back in his chair, raising his coffee to his lips again. “Talking logistics for some family shit I gotta do in a couple of months. Cousin’s wedding. Really important shit, 900. Like, groundbreaking shit.”
“I am sure,” RK900 said, his hands still folded in front of him. “A wedding does not seem work-related.”
“Well, you’ve never been to one, so get off my dick,” Gavin said.
“You do not know that.”
“You’ve been to a wedding?” Gavin was surprised. “No fucking way you have. When?”
“As I said,” RK900 responded, and Gavin could swear he was smirking, that smug bastard, “you do not know.”
“Oh, fuck you,” Gavin muttered into his coffee, hiding his own smile.
He had warmed up to the android in recent months, especially once they started solving cases at the highest rate in the department. Sometimes he didn’t even mind shooting the shit with him, especially if there was nothing better to do. RK900 wasn’t really affected by anything - especially not Gavin’s insults. Gavin barely believed he was deviant sometimes, but there were little things about him. His odd sense of humor (if you could call it that), his interest in music (...if you could call it that). The way he stoically traded barbs with Gavin yet dutifully brought him endless cups of coffee. And yet, he processed the most disgusting, fucked up of crime scenes with no problem, no reaction at all. Gavin kind of envied that, as fucking bizarre as it all was. RK900 was tough as shit.
Gavin hadn’t always been a fan of androids, to put it mildly. While he had moved on and felt a good deal of shame about it, some people he knew certainly hadn’t gone through the same shit. Good old cousin motherfucking Michael was one of them, Gavin figured. Gavin couldn’t imagine Michael associating with androids in any type of way. Some people still looked down on them and probably always would - and there definitely wouldn’t be any of them at the wedding. Just a bunch of stuck up, rich pricks spending their Fourth of July weekend licking each other’s assholes over how blessed they all were. Hell, he cared so little about these people, he hadn’t even known Michael’s relationship was that serious. He wondered if they even knew he had been working with an android for months.
Gavin sat up straight in his chair.
“Hey, asshole,” Gavin said. He leaned forward like he was sharing some important information about a case, and RK900 mimicked him, listening as he always did. “You got plans over the Fourth of July?”
~
RK900 Work
6:30 AM
Good morning Detective. I need to acquire attire for Michael’s wedding as it would be
inappropriate to wear my work uniform. My research shows there is a certain dress code
for weddings but that each event is unique. I need you to tell me any important details.
7:41 AM
Whats with the interrogation god damn
7:42 AM
This shit isnt for like two months you got plenty of time
7:42 AM
Remind me like a week before so we know what the weathers gonna be like
7:42 AM
Your procrastination alarms me, but I will accept your experience on the matter.
7:42 AM
Did you submit our time off request?
7:46 AM
Shit
7:48 AM
I have now submitted it. There is a 70.3% chance that it will be approved.
7:49 AM
Fantastic. Wouldnt even give a shit if it wasn’t
7:53 AM
You make yourself pretty useful sometimes you know
7:53 AM
Thank you. Have a productive day, Detective.
7:53 AM
Eat my ass it’s my day off
7:54 AM
I will add that to my task list.
7:54 AM
Lol you’re so fucking annoying
8:03 AM
See you tomorrow dickhead
~
“You wanted to see me, sir?”
Fowler pinched the bridge of his nose and gestured to the seat in front of him. “Sit down, Reed. Let’s cut to the chase here. I got your time off request. I also got a time off request from Detective RK900 for the exact same two days. Is that a coincidence?”
“Nope, uh, actually it’s not,” Gavin said, sipping at the coffee his partner had just given him. “He’s gonna come with me on a family - thing. Wedding. Thing.”
“A wedding,” Fowler repeated.
“If it makes you feel better, sir, you were my second choice to invite.”
“Thank you Reed, that alleviates all of my fucking concerns,” Fowler said, but he didn’t continue ranting, instead sitting back in his chair. “You know, a couple of months ago I probably would have denied both of your requests. It’s a tight weekend and it’s not too long ago you were both at each other’s throats. However…”
He regarded Gavin thoughtfully, leaving just a long enough pause to make him shift uncomfortably, before continuing, “This will be a decent opportunity for you two to continue building a strong relationship. That leads to better work together out in the field."
“Right, yeah, of course,” Gavin said, a little dumbstruck at Fowler’s easy approval.
“You’ve been putting in good work, Reed, both here and at home. You’re doing good. I see the change. Don’t forget who’s to thank for that.”
“Huh?” Gavin said intelligently.
“God dammit Reed, I’m approving you both. Now get out of my office.”
~
Brave Little Toaster
1:46 PM
Hey Connor, I got a favor to ask. I need someone to watch my cat and my usual girl isn’t available.
Its nothing crazy just stop by a couple of times and feed her. July 4th weekend of my cousin's wedding
1:46 pm
Thoughts?
1:46 pm
Hello Gavin. I am unsure why you’re asking me, but I can do that.
1:47 PM
Thats cool man. Thanks
1:48 PM
That’s when we’re going to the wedding. Me and your bro
1:48 PM
Yes, I’ve already heard all about your cousin’s wedding. RK900 is looking forward to it.
I can tell because he won't stop bringing it up even though I am already aware he is attending.
1:48 PM
See you back at the station, Detective.
~
“So what’s the plan, kiddo? You’re coming down on that Friday or Saturday?”
“No, we just took the weekend off,” Gavin said. He was kicked back on his fire escape, feet up on the railing, a cigarette between his fingers. “Traffic will be a bitch on Friday anyway.”
“Not heading our way, I’d think,” Dom said. Gavin could hear him puffing away at his own cigarette. “I suppose you already looked at the flights.”
“Yeah, it took forever to fuckin’ convince RK900 that flying was stupid. He wouldn’t stop looking up all these cheap ticket deals and sending me coupons and shit. Eventually I steered him towards the light of the self-driving rental car. I wanna be able to snooze in the car when I’m hungover on Sunday.” Gavin paused, admitting, “We’re just gonna split the cost. He actually did find a pretty good deal.”
“That’s nice, then he doesn’t have to worry about driving either.” Dom paused thoughtfully, probably taking a sip of his own drink.
“I bet he can’t even get hungover,” Gavin grumbled. “I’ve never seen him drink before."
“Well, android-friendly liquor is a pretty recent thing. I wonder if it’s any good.”
“I don’t think that’s the problem, he just… doesn’t seem like the type to wanna do it I guess.” He and RK900 had been spending a lot more time together since Gavin invited him to the wedding, but Gavin hadn't learned much more about him, just gotten a bunch of his suspicions about the android confirmed. Particularly that he was a stubborn, sarcastic prick with a stick up his plastic ass who Gavin actually didn't hate being around.
It had just started to feel inevitable that they should be around each other as much as possible, since they always seemed to have paperwork to finish, or someone to interview, or a new case to start investigating. Gavin had even crashed at RK900's place a couple of times when Fowler would kick them out of the office, unsympathetic to their pleas for just one more hour. Gavin felt weird about bringing RK900 to his apartment, for some reason - he hadn't brought anyone there in a long time - so off they would go to the android's surprisingly roomy one bedroom only a few blocks from the station. It worked out pretty good. It wasn't like they were friends or anything, they just had a lot of work to do.
“I suppose I’ll see once you two arrive. You should really try to come out on Friday night,” Dom was saying in a tone that clearly meant, your ass better be here on Friday or you’re missing the fuck out. “Hell, you could even come out on Thursday I bet. I’m flying into Indianapolis that afternoon. Laura’s got that big house she doesn’t know what to do with, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”
“We got work, Dad,” Gavin reminded him. “It’s hard to get time off. But thanks. I guess I’ll let you know,” he added, the best possible way to try to wrap up this particular thread of conversation.
“I’ll make sure two of the rooms are made up for you,” Dom said with a tone of finality. “Just in case.”
“Well, I don’t think RK900 needs a bed or anything. He just… you know. Blobs out in the corner or whatever.”
“Doesn’t that boy have a nickname?” Dom complained. “RK900 is a mouthful.”
“No, I dunno,” Gavin said absently. “That’s what he likes to be called I think.”
“Is that what you call him? Detective RK900?”
“Uh,” Gavin said, “not really. I talk to him like - you know, one of the guys I guess.”
“Well, he is. Androids have done a lot for this country. It’s about time they get some recognition. I like the idea of an android cop, at least they aren’t prejudiced or trigger happy.”
It had been something Gavin had observed over and over again. Even after going deviant androids didn’t commit hate crimes, didn’t abuse their authority. Not that Gavin ever saw or heard of at least. RK900 certainly never did, not with suspects or witnesses or anyone at all really. He could be a huge dick, but only to people who deserved it, at least in Gavin's eyes. It was kind of - nice. Not that RK900 was nice, but he was better at that shit than a lot of people Gavin knew of. Including Gavin himself.
“He’s going to be fine, Gav. Nobody’s gonna say anything offensive. Ignorant, maybe. The worst they’ll do is ignore him.”
“Nobody in their right mind would fuck with him,” Gavin said confidently, but a part of him was relieved to hear his father’s assurance. It would be royally stupid for anyone to start shit with RK900, but Gavin didn’t exactly have that much trust in his family. Other than his dad, of course, who was more likely to try to adopt RK900 than insult him.
“If you change your mind about Friday, shoot me a text. It’d be nice to have the extra night.”
“Sure, Dad. I love you.”
“Love you too kid.” Dom paused, like he wanted to say something else, and then he hung up the phone.
~
RK900 Work
6:30 AM
Good morning Detective. One week remains until your cousin’s wedding.
I need to acquire proper attire for the occasion.
10:11 AM
Alright alright
10:11 AM
I dont have shit to wear either
10:11 AM
Guess we gotta do a little shopping. Where you wanna go
RK900 sent him the list of closest men’s wear stores, then another text:
10:11 AM
I should mention that my research showed me 54% of men conducted their shopping online this past fiscal year.
10:13 AM
Fascinating. Meet me at the center square at 12
10:13 AM
Is there a particular reason you prefer to do this in person?
10:14 AM
There’s a really good cupcake place on that block and I want one
~
Gavin wasn’t exactly sure why he was doing this. He supposed it was for the same reason he had invited RK900 to this stupid wedding in the first place. Maybe he was a little curious about how RK900 spent his days off, how he functioned out in the real world. Maybe he felt a little bad that RK900 just stood in the corner of his depressing apartment every night.
Maybe Gavin was just bored. He didn’t have anything else planned for his day off, so he supposed this wasn’t that terrible. Like Fowler said, it was good for them to hang out, build a stronger relationship or whatever the fuck. Maybe this was what Gavin had been doing wrong with all his previous partners. Not that any of them had been able to stand Gavin for more than five seconds but, whatever.
“Have you ever been to like, some fancy shit?” Gavin asked as they stood outside one of the street displays, looking at the different mannequins posed up in the window. The air was hot and sticky; no doubt it would be even worse at the wedding itself, which was being held outdoors at some dumb park. Gavin hoped it rained just because it would be kind of funny.
“I have been to Roberto’s,” RK900 said.
“The fuck, really? That’s that half-human, half-droid Italian place right? It’s like, fuckin’ impossible to get a table there.”
“Hank took Connor and myself there last month.”
“Well, aren’t you lucky.” He gave RK900 the side-eye, feeling a weird little stab of jealousy or something over the fact that Hank Anderson and Connor and RK900 were palling around and going to fancy restaurants and shit. Not that he wanted to join them or anything, it was just annoying. "And what did you wear then?"
"My work attire," RK900 said, his LED turning briefly yellow as he frowned. "It seemed practical, but Connor and Hank both informed me that was inappropriate. I make an effort to research these things beforehand now."
"Yeah, you need to be rocking like, a nice casual suit or something. But whatever you want is gonna look fine. Your plastic ass could show up in a Hawaiian shirt and still look better than everyone else there."
"Thank you for the suggestion," RK900 said. Still yellow, processing something.
"Come on, let’s get this shit done with so I can get my cupcakes.”
Connor and Hank followed each other around like a pair of dogs, but RK900 took off on his own as soon as they set foot inside the clothing store. He moved with complete purpose, as he always did, plucking a handful of black outfits off of the racks and striding back over to Gavin before he had barely zeroed in on the ties.
“I am going to the dressing room,” RK900 informed him.
“God damn, it’s like you’re a machine or something.”
RK900 stared at him. “You have finally noticed.”
“Whatever, go ahead.” Gavin watched him walking off, realizing RK900 hadn’t picked out a tie. He didn’t usually wear one anyway. Neither did Gavin. Why was he looking at these anyway?
Not even ten minutes later RK900 had reemerged, paid for his clothes, and then he was bearing down on Gavin, his crisp white shopping bag dangling casually from his hand. “Are you done?”
“Does it look like it? No,” Gavin said. “Are you?”
“Yes. I am ready to leave.”
Gavin wasn’t sure what he expected. It wasn’t like he wanted to bop around town shopping all day with RK900; that sounded stressful as fuck. He guessed he should’ve known his partner would finish so quickly, ready to move on to the next task.
“You can go,” Gavin said with a shrug. “I still wanna hit up that cupcake place. You gonna call a cab?”
“Yes.” RK900 frowned. “Suit yourself.”
“Ha.”
“That was not intentional,” RK900 said. His frown twitched to a more neutral position. “I will see you at the station tomorrow.”
“Yeah, see you around asshole,” Gavin said with a nod as his partner left the store. RK900 was so fucking efficient. Gavin sighed. He should probably get his shit together at some point in his life, but here in this department store wasn’t the time or place.
He zoned out flipping through the racks until his phone rang. Gavin was sure it would be work, because of course he would get called in on his one day off, but luckily it was just Tina.
“Hey bud,” Gavin said into his phone. “How’s it goin?”
“I just left the precinct. Fucking overtime. What about you?”
“Shopping for this stupid wedding thing,” Gavin said.
“Ooh, I can’t believe that’s coming up so soon.” Tina began to laugh and wasn’t able to stop. “Sorry Gavin, but everything about this is hilarious.”
“It’s so dumb. So tacky. And on the Fourth of July of all things. So fucking hetero."
“What is 900 wearing?” Tina asked with interest once she calmed down. “Is it black?”
“Obviously.”
“What about you? You get a nice suit?”
“I was thinking I’d just wear those American flag shorts.”
“Cool, love that,” Tina said. “Get him a matching pair, you guys would look so cute.”
“Cute,” Gavin scoffed, instinctively looking towards the entrance to the store as someone walked in and - “The fuck?”
It was RK900, wearing a pair of sleek black sunglasses, obviously just purchased, and holding a small pink box. He approached Gavin purposefully, and for a second Gavin almost felt like a suspect getting apprehended, his mouth going dry for no reason whatsoever.
“I was kidding, don’t wear the shorts you fucking idiot.”
“Uh, gotta go, see you tomorrow,” Gavin said quickly, hanging up the phone before Tina could say anything else. “What’s up asshole?”
“Cupcakes,” RK900 said simply. “To save you time on your trip home.”
“You - these are expensive!” Gavin protested, snatching the box out of his hands all the same. “You didn’t even ask what kind I wanted.”
“You mentioned this particular bakery before,” RK900 said. “Your exact words were, the peanut butter one fucking bangs.”
“Yeah, true,” Gavin agreed with a surprised laugh at his partner’s words, popping open the box like a kid on Christmas.
“I decided to purchase an assortment of flavors,” RK900 said. “In case you were not interested in the peanut butter.”
“Dude, there’s like six of those shits in here!” Gavin said as if RK900 didn’t know. He gazed into the box, packed tight with a half dozen brightly colored, generously frosted cupcakes. “Shit, you didn’t - I mean, thanks asshole, but like, how much was this shit? I’ll transfer it to you.”
“It is a thank you gift, for the wedding invitation,” RK900 said. “You’re welcome.”
“No, RK900, it’s fine - “
“Accept the cupcakes, Detective,” RK900 said. “Now you have plenty of time to shop, which you clearly need as you have made little progress since my departure.”
“Look, this is a big decision, alright?” Gavin handed the box back to RK900, a nice warm feeling in his chest, like a cup of black coffee. He cleared his throat and turned back toward the rack, an odd laugh escaping from him as he held up two shirts. “Blue or green?”
RK900’s LED turned, like he was really considering it. Then he gestured back towards the rack, where in the sea of other colors, a bright shirt peeked out, like a little sliver of sunlight. “Yellow.”
“Buddy, yellow is not my color.”
“I am not sure,” RK900 said. “There is no reason not to try it. I like it,” he added, a rare phrase for him.
“You’re the one who dresses exclusively in black like the vampire you are.” Gavin ignored the yellow one and draped a couple of other colors over his arm, trying not to overthink it. “Whatever, I just wanna get this over with.”
“It appears you need my assistance holding your cupcakes while you complete your shopping.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Gavin said.
Gavin hesitated before stepping away from the rack. On second thought, he reached out and grabbed the shirt RK900 had pointed out. It was actually pretty nice, a loose linen button down with sleeves he could roll up to his elbows. He put it over his arm with the others and moved on to the pants, RK900 following behind.
~
Gavin bought the yellow shirt, but it wasn't because RK900 said he liked it or anything stupid like that.