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"Let me go in and finish this quickly so we can all go home early," Sixty said, urging his captain to make a decision.
To everyone it looked like he had more important things on his mind for the evening, but in truth he was doing this for his captain so he could finally get a decent night's sleep in his own bed. The man had been working too many hours for weeks, sleeping in his office when he collapsed, too tired to go home.
The SWAT team was holed up in a rundown building, watching the warehouse where a hostage was being held.
"We need more intel on the layout of the building first," Allen said, having no time for Sixty's constant impatience.
"Yes," Sixty replied, "I have it in my head, and you know how badly I listen to you."
Captain Allen groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose—Sixty was as impossible as ever. Without the cooperation of New Jericho and the DPD SWAT team, Sixty wouldn't have lasted a day with his lack of obedience. The android always got things done in the quickest and most efficient way possible, but that usually meant disregarding the rules or pushing them too hard.
So when Captain Allen turned to brief the rest of his team, Sixty seized the moment and left their hiding place to disappear into the warehouse.
"That fuckin’ android," Allen muttered. He ordered the rest of his team to follow him and secure the front and back doors of the warehouse.
The moment they were outside, a deafening explosion rocked the area. The blast knocked the SWAT team off their feet as fire and a cloud of smoke and dust billowed from the warehouse.
"SIXTY!" Allen yelled as he scrambled to his feet and ran toward the half-collapsed and burning building, but his team members held him back.
He grabbed his radio and frantically shouted Sixty's name into it, but only static came out of the speaker.
"We've got to get him out of there," Captain Allen ordered, motioning for his team to resume their positions.
"Captain, the building is on the verge of complete collapse, we can't get in there," a team member explained.
Allen wrenched free of the hands that held him. "We're not leaving anyone behind!" He growled and ran to the front door where Sixty had entered the building.
"Captain, wait!" One of his team yelled after him, and when he turned around, they were all following him. Three of them rounded the corner of the building to get to the back door.
The front door had been blown away by the explosions, flames leaping toward them and smoke obscuring their vision. Allen had just stepped over the threshold when his radio came to life.
"Captain, we found him!"
Allen turned without thinking and followed the second team to the other side of the building.
There he was, on the ground, smiling up at his team and the rescued hostage.
"Sixty, you fucking idiot!" yelled Allen, kneeling down to survey his damage. "You lost a leg..." he whispered and needed to sit down when he saw the heavy damage and lots of blood.
"I saved the hostage, but it looks like I set off the trap. No, don't look like that, I'll write the paperwork for you," Sixty said nonchalantly as he stood up to detach the remaining part of his lower leg from his knee joint.
"YOU LOST A FUCKIN' LEG, SIXTY!" he shouted in irritation at Sixty's lack of concern.
"I've got plenty of replacements at home," he shrugged. "Markus got me some, he knows how I am."
"I'll take you to the tower for a checkup." Allen took him in his arms and called for a self-driving taxi.
"NO!" Sixty protested, trying to push away from Allen. "I have everything at home in New Jericho, I don't need to go to the tower!"
"All right, all right," Allen said in a calm voice, trying to calm the agitated android. He had never seen Sixty this close to freaking out, so he accepted his wish.
"Or I'll stay like this if it means you carry me everywhere. I could get used to it, such a strong man," Sixty purred as he held onto his captain.
Allen almost dropped him, his cheeks flushing red. "Your processor must have taken quite a hit, too," he said, waiting for the taxi with a stern expression on his face.
Sixty grinned up at him, but before he could say anything back, they were interrupted.
"Uh, Captain? We need a statement, and we need to wait for the fire department and the other team."
Sixty looked over Allen's shoulder. "I sent you a video recording of everything that happened, and the hostage can give more information too!"
Allen then instructed his team to secure the scene and proceed with the protocol, as he needed to have Sixty examined.
The taxi had arrived by now, and Allen placed Sixty in the back seat. To give the android some space, he tried to get into the driver's seat, but was stopped by a firm hand on his arm.
"Stay," Sixty whispered, and Allen was a weak man who couldn't resist those pleading brown eyes. He climbed into the back seat of the car, and Sixty immediately laid his head on Allen's lap.
"Do you really think this is the right job for you?" asked Allen, his voice full of concern after what had happened.
"What else am I going to do? Do boring political work like Connor? Or even more boring secret agent work like Nines? No, I want action. I need action."
"But that action will kill you if you keep it up!" exclaimed Allen, surprised by his own strong reaction and desire to keep Sixty safe.
"You're worried about me," said Sixty, also surprised by Allen's outburst.
"Of course I care about you!" Allen cupped Sixty's cheek tenderly. "You're—"
"—one of your employees, and it's going to look bad for you if one of them dies, or if I continue to take the protocol a little too lightly, isn't it?" Sixty said, his voice icy cold as he sat up to escape Allen's wonderful touch. Luckily for him, the car stopped in front of New Jericho just then, where North was already waiting.
"Sixty, wait! What's gotten into you?" Allen reached for his arm to steady him, but Sixty shoved him away.
"Let me," Sixty grumbled and opened the door. He almost fell to the ground in his haste, but North caught him. He braced himself against her and limped toward the entrance, no longer dignifying Allen with a glance as he called after him.
"I can carry you," North offered.
"No thanks, I've had enough..."
North looked over her shoulder and caught a glimpse of Allen, who looked rather lost.
"What have you done?"
"Nothing." Sixty would never admit that he was probably just an idiot. He was always flirting and up to no good—until things got serious and he panicked. And especially with Allen it was different, but Sixty couldn't really explain it and he didn't like not understanding his complicated feelings.
North sighed and led him into the house.
"Are Connor and Markus back?" he asked her.
"No."
"Good, I don't want them to see me like this."
"They're worried about you, you know."
"Yes, but I don't want them to mother me," he countered annoyed.
***
A short time later, the new leg was in place and North was wiping away the smeared thirium around the joint.
"So, you like your boss?" North grinned.
"I don't like him!"
"You love him already?" She teased, laughing when she saw his annoyed expression.
"North!" Sixty warned her gruffly through clenched teeth.
"Who loves who?" Markus suddenly spoke up as he poked his head through the door before being pushed inside by Connor, who rushed right at Sixty.
Sixty let out a loud groan of annoyance and fell back onto his bed, hiding his face under a thick pillow.
"Are you all right?" asked Connor, concern in his voice. "We've been informed of the explosion."
Sixty just wiggled his new leg and let North tell him what had happened.
He still had to sort out his thoughts about what exactly had happened in the car, but now he was forced to listen to the unnecessary worry around him. Deep down he knew they all really cared, but it was still unnecessary.
At that moment, Nines burst into the room and looked around frantically before his eyes found Sixty.
"Not you too..." Sixty sighed. Nines grabbed his shoulders and scanned him from head to toe.
"I'm fine, Nines!" he said, trying to free himself from his grip.
"You are not. Your thirium is too low, you have microfractures in your chassis on the right side of your body where the blast must have hit hardest. You need a full stasis cycle to let your self-repair heal everything."
"Yes, yes, I will. Now if you could just leave me alone."
But they just stared at him.
"Please!" he groaned, and North pushed them out of the room, closing the door behind him.
***
Half an hour later there was another knock on his door.
"I'm in stasis," Sixty lied, indicating that he didn't want company, preferring to wallow in self-pity after his stupid behavior in the car.
"Can I watch you while you're in stasis to make sure you're still alive?" Allen's voice came through the door. "Oh god, that sounded much creepier said out loud, I'm sor—"
Sixty yanked the door open and pulled him into his room. "Who let you in?"
"Connor told me to come."
"I'm going to kill him…"
"I asked him about your condition first, since you didn't answer. I wasn't sure if you hadn't taken more damage than you let on, and if you might be unconscious from some undetected internal bleeding—"
"Shh, you're rambling. You never do that." Sixty put his finger on Allen's lips. "I can't have undetected internal bleeding, I'm an android."
"I know! But humans aren't always reasonable when one of their loved ones gets hurt!" Allen blurted out.
"Your... loved... one?" Sixty let the words roll slowly over his tongue.
"Yes! You're important to me, in case you haven't noticed... you're more than just a colleague!"
Sixty pushed away from him and paced the room, agitated. "I don't know how to do this!"
"Oh," Allen took a moment to think. "You mean the emotional part?"
"Yes."
Allen smiled gently at him and pushed him onto the couch. Sixty's first instinct was to push him away, but Allen was quicker and kissed him. Lightly at first, allowing Sixty to pull away, but Sixty was the one who deepened the kiss, brushing his tongue over Allen's lips to encourage him to open his mouth.
Sixty lost himself in the sensation, which felt very different from all his other conquests, and he didn't want it to end—until Allen tapped him urgently on the arm.
"Oh, too bad you have to breathe," Sixty said amusedly as they parted. Allen gave him a playful slap on the arm as he tried to calm his breathing.
"We have three days off," he said smugly out of nowhere.
"How?" Allen was surprised; with the DPD and the SWAT team understaffed, it was almost impossible to get even half a day off these days.
"I contacted the commissioner. She owed me," Sixty said with a devilish grin.
Allen's eyebrows shot up. "Would I like to know why?"
Allen didn't know that was possible, but Sixty's grin became even more wicked. "Oh, I can show you now."
This time it was Sixty who took Allen in his arms to carry him to the bedroom they would barely leave for the next three days.
***