"Li-Ca-" John choked urgently, his eyes watering as strong hands crushed his throat. The RG600 was lost somewhere between rage and terror where he'd sat up and grabbed John. His hands were locked tight, crushing John's throat in a painful grasp. John couldn't breathe, his whole face heating and stinging as his skin flushed with the oxygen deprivation. He made a strangled cry as his back hit the padding, legs kicking, trying to throw the RG600 off. The naked RG600 was pressing John down against the padded table, hiccupping around the thumbs pressing down harder and harder against his soft throat. I can't...Lin...John thought desperately, tears spilling over as he felt his body weaken. He dug his nails into the synthetic skin, forgetting that the RG600 couldn't feel pain in his panic. The RG600 almost seemed to squeeze tighter as he felt John weakening. John's hands slowly slipped from its wrists, eyes unfocused as he gazed up at the workshop ceiling. Lin...

"John!" Lin's voice cried, hard thumps sounding on the floor as he barrelled towards them. The pressure disappeared moments later and a metallic crash sounded as John toppled onto the floor, gagging and choking. He landed hard, wincing at the pain in his hip and forearm as he coughed and whimpered. One of his tool boxes rolled across the room somewhere as the two androids fought. John was shaking and crying as he breathed again, his heart thundering in relief as he finally breathed again. That had been close, far closer than he'd ever been before. He felt gentle hands lifting him up onto the padded bench and gripped the GT300's strong shoulders to ground himself. He could have sworn the GT300 looked worried as he looked down at him, scrutinising him for injuries. Across the room, Lin had finally overpowered the RG600 enough to make it calm down.

"Sir, are you injured?" the GT300 demanded anxiously as he touched and pressed his delicate neck. There were painful looking imprints on his pale skin, already coming out in deep shades of red and purple. The GT300 frowned a little at that as he pressed them gently. John whimpered at the pain, shaking his head stiffly as he looked up at him. His body was trembling. He tried to force a smile as he pushed the gentle hands away. The GT300 could see from John's vitals how shaken he was. His pale hands were cold and trembling.

"I'm fine, just a little tender," John replied insistently as he tried to brush it off, but that dropped when Lin stormed over to stand before him. He avoided Lin's mismatched gaze, looking down at his knees with a wince. It hurt to bend his neck. It hurt even more as Lin took his cheeks and forced him to look up. Lin was furious, forcing his hands to be gentle as he cradled John's face in his hands. His thirium pump was still racing, anxiety clawing at his chest as John winced and whimpered. "Sorry..." John murmured helplessly as he took in Lin's mixture of fear and fury.

"You could have been killed! I told you not to reactivate him until I came back!" Lin scolded, his whole internal system shuddering with strain. He didn't have adrenaline like John, but his body was synthesising a similar reaction to the situation. He was lucky he'd managed to stop himself from tearing the traumatised RG600 apart. Seeing John limp on the table, eyes rolling back, cheeks flushed red as he slowly suffocated, was a sight he never wanted to see again. He sighed out an angry huff as he tugged John against his chest, holding him tightly. He felt John return the embrace hesitantly and leaned into it. His eyes closed in relief as he breathed in John's sweet scent and recorded the heat of his skin.

"I'm sorry," John repeated into the large android's shoulder, feeling guilty as he breathed in Lin's thirium scent. He'd been irresponsible. What would the GT300 do without him? What would happen to the shop? To Lin? How would they have reacted to the RG600 after the fact? Lin hadn't been gentle in putting him down. The RG600 could have been killed. He hadn't thought much of it at the time. He'd just wanted to ask the RG600 to run a diagnostic to see if the memory files were intact, to see how he felt. He shivered. He knew how he felt now. He couldn't get the memory of those terrified blue eyes out of his head. He looked over at the subdued android, who was crouching on the floor with the GT300 in front of him. The GT300 had peeled his skin back and slowly coaxed RG600 into an interface, their white hands held between them.

"Just...think next time," Lin urged softly as he drew back, unable to hold back from kissing John. To hell with the fact the GT300 was watching, and the RG600. He wouldn't care if the whole world was watching. John gasped softly against his lips, almost melting into the kiss. Their lips moved lazily, tongues stroking, hands caressing. "Hold still for me," Lin added as he finally drew back, still gently stroking John's cheeks. John whined and scrunched his face as Lin pressed and teased the tender muscles in his neck. He was relieved to find there was no lasting damage, though John would feel sore for a few days.

"How's the RG600?" John asked in a small voice as Lin stepped back. The GR600 looked up anxiously from his place on the floor, the GT300's gentle hand squeezing his shoulder assuringly. He wasn't in trouble. They knew it had been the shock of his prior deactivation and resulting deviation that had made him attack. His final memories had been those of humans attacking him, of being struck and kicked and abused. Finding another human leaning over his naked, vulnerable body had obviously been terrifying.

"He has calmed down somewhat," the GT300 reported kindly, eventually managing to coax the timid RG600 onto a stool. John decided it was best to let the GT300 and Lin handle things for the time being. He watched as the GT300 probed the RG600 about his internal systems, even getting him to agree to a full interface with him. After the interface, he seemed a little more relaxed, having seen some of the GT300's fondest memories of John and his time in the shop. The transfer had worked. His memories were intact and his new body was in complete working order.

"Your friend, the other RG600, he's the one who gave you to us..." John reported with a small smile, watching the RG600's LED flash between yellow and blue for the first time as he realised his companion was still active. "He'll be happy to see you again," John added with a little warmth. Lin ran a few more checks, testing reflexes and cognitive abilities, but the RG600 was working just fine. He was ready to go back to the park, but they decided to wait until the next day. The RG600 at the park would be waiting for them at two o'clock, and it would give the RG600 at the shop a night to refuel and rest.

John spent the rest of the day out in the main shop, wanting to stay out of the RG600's way. The android had been guided upstairs to clean up and returned wearing a set of the GT300's clothes. He remained in the workshop, drinking thirium and talking to the GT300 on a private connection about what he could do next. John waited behind the store counter, occasionally walking around the small shop to tidy the shelves. He was part way through hanging some new AX300 series components on a hook when he felt someone behind him. His neck prickled as fingers teased his nape.

"Let me see," Lin murmured gently as he turned John's body. John would have pointed out that he'd already examined him once, but Lin looked so anxious that he couldn't bring himself to refuse. He tipped his head back obediently, feeling heat rise across his skin as Lin gently caressed the darkening marks. "It's going to be black and blue for a few days..." he almost sighed as he traced his long fingers over the blotches. There were clear circles where the fingertips had pressed, and a few longer marks where the fingers had rested. "Does it hurt?"

"Only when I move," John replied wryly, wincing as he dropped his head. Lin was warm and sympathetic, despite this being his own fault. He'd had the best intentions when reactivating the RG600, he just hadn't realised the level of trauma that had been carried over from the original attack. It was stupid. I should have predicted it. Of course he'd be terrified!

"Do you need anything? Shall I bring you some painkillers?" Lin offered softly, his consideration making John smile. John bit his lip as he had an idea, but it was a childish thought. He would have shaken his head and moved away; only Lin had already caught that hint of a request in his eye. "Anything," he insisted firmly as he rested his hands on John's smaller shoulders.

"You could...kiss it better..." John suggested innocently, seeing Lin's lips quirk in amusement. He knew the kisses wouldn't actually stop the pain, but he remembered the trick working as a small child. Cut fingers, scraped knees, a bumped forehead. It was always solved with a gentle kiss and a colourful plaster. Lin ran his fingers through John's fluffed hair affectionately, looking at him like he was the purest thing in the world.

"I can do that," he agreed with some amusement, enjoying the way John's eyes fluttered shut in anticipation as he leaned down. He took a moment to appreciate John's soft cheeks and pink lips before pressing a gentle kiss against the first circle. It was just below John's ear, close enough to one of his sensitive spots to make him tremble. Lin swept his tongue over the area gently before pressing his lips more firmly. He felt somewhat smug as John gripped his shirt and stepped closer, a small hum escaping his throat. He moved down a little to the next dark circle, wrapping one arm around John's waist while the other cradled his head.

John tilted back into Lin's supportive touch, losing himself in the sensation of soft lips caressing his sensitive skin. He hummed an objection as teeth nipped the tender flesh, the area quickly soothed by Lin's tongue lathering and caressing the surface. Lin pressed his lips to the spot once more before moving to the next mark. It suddenly felt a lot less innocent than John's original intention. Either way, he'd forgotten the aches in his neck as Lin's lips teased the skin.

"You're aroused," Lin teased lightly as he drew back to lean down to the other side of his throat. John couldn't make any answer besides a whimper, trembling in Lin's arms. He flushed as he met Lin's mismatched gaze, finding a smug and almost impish expression on his face. John bit his lip as Lin closed his eyes and leaned down, kissing and caressing the pale skin once more. The hand on his lower back slipped down, teasing and squeezing his pert rump.

"Lin..." John whined in objection, almost stumbling as Lin drew back. Lin chuckled lightly as he steadied John's shoulders. John's skin was a deep shade of pink as he looked around the shop, particularly out the large front window. Anyone could have seen or come in! he thought, suddenly mortified. He looked up as a gentle hand rested on his head.

"I was running continuous scans of the area. No one saw," Lin assured, though that somehow made John feel worse. It was almost unfair that he could lose himself so completely while Lin ran multiple tasks at once, even while sharing intimacy. Does that mean I'm not...distracting enough? John wondered as he looked up at Lin. "I was also running a simulation of bending you over that counter," Lin purred as he leaned down to John's ear. The twitch in John's crotch at the idea didn't go unnoticed by either of them. "Did the kisses work?" Lin asked curiously as John turned back to the rack, a flood of pink running down his neck and disappearing across his shoulders.

"They did, thank you," John replied in a fluster, not mentioning that he now had a new problem to focus on. Now that Lin had mentioned it, John couldn't help his own mind wandering to it. The focus on his current task was gone as he lost himself in a fantasy of Lin's rough hands and demanding lips, the sharp edge of the counter digging into his hips, his toes barely touching the floor. Lin would hold him down with a hand on his neck as he jerked his hips forward, making him scream and beg for it. A small gasp left his lips as Lin's fingers brushed the back of his neck. He met his gaze. Lin smirked. He knows! "I-I should finish this," John stammered as he grabbed another item to hang on the wall. He almost flinched as Lin's gentle hand covered his on the rack.

"I'll help," Lin murmured, pressing his larger body up against John's. John nodded wordlessly as he bent down to grab another item, their position not lost on him as Lin gripped his hips. He let out a small gasp as Lin gently tugged him back so that his rump bounced against his pelvis. John froze, silently wondering what Lin would do if he remained as he was, bent over the box. He gripped the edge with one hand while reaching inside, going slowly as he looked for another component to hang. Lin pressed closer, one of the hands on his hips moving higher to stroke a path up his back and grip the collar of his top. "You'll hurt your back bending over like that," Lin teased, knowing exactly what he was doing.

"Right..." John squeaked in reply, hearing Lin chuckle lightly before he stepped around to his side and joined him in the box. John met his mismatched gaze, blue eyes somewhat hazy from his earlier thoughts. Lin plucked out the component John had been searching for and held it up.

"Let's get this finished," he said meaningfully, enjoying the way John's heart skipped lightly at the suggestive tone.