December 15, 2038

It took nearly a month before Lucas was finally able to get his old job back. Which all things considered, was rather good. He wasn't living with Percy or Estelle anymore, finding solace in a room that New Jericho had was a good start for independence he was trying for.

That being said, it took nearly a week after before whispers started to spring up from Simon, Josh, and North. The latter of the trio warning Lucas the most that they were planning something.

Something that they didn't seem to want to tell Lucas or Markus, as when Lucas asked Markus about it, the android leader also didn't know what they were talking about. Always stopping when they think either of the two androids were going nearing them.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Lucas muttered to Markus after they both walked in on a meeting about android laws to find the trio muttering together before stopping and looking innocent

"You and me both," Markus muttered back.

While they attempted on the occasion to figure out what the trio was whispering about, they didn't get anyway and decided to just let the situation play out.

That was, until the trio left during the night for unexplained reasons. The only reason Markus and Lucas both figured it out was because they were on night-patrol that night.

It was something they had to do when humans started coming back to Detroit and some were less than pleased with the androids and attempted to do harm to androids in New Jericho.

With the android laws still in progress, the police couldn't do much, much to Connor and his partner's frustration.

"We should follow them," Lucas said as he watched the trio get into a taxi they called.

"Probably," Markus said, alerting one of the receptionists that was also awake to have someone cover his and Lucas' shift.

From there, Lucas and Markus easily got into another taxi and programmed it to go to the previous taxi's set location. It took a bit of hacking and making sure the time stamp was correct, before Markus and Lucas both realized where the trio was going.

"How did they even get Percy's address?" Lucas asked confused, seeing the address blaring at them from the monitor of the taxi.

Markus furrowed his brow before he sighed in exasperation. "They probably wrangled Connor into it. I'll have to tell him next time I see him to not let North stronghold him into giving them another person's address. Who knows what would happen if someone found out. His precinct is still fighting to keep him on their payroll as their is."

"Lovely, so another thing to scold North for. How many is that from the start of this month?" Lucas asked with a sigh.

"I believe the seventh," Markus replied in the same tone as Lucas.

Both exasperated with their friend but ultimately, they were her friends and didn't really fault her.

"I just want to know how she wrangled Simon and Josh into this as well," Markus said thoughtfully.

"They probably wanted to see Percy again, it probably only took a bit of convincing. I'm just surprised Simon hadn't spilt the beans on their operation. You know his guilty conscious."

Markus hummed and the car ride was silent until they arrived outside the apartment. As they made their ways through with a soft wave from the landlord (who knew both androids from previous monthly visits before the revolution) they were in the elevator and Markus had a thought.

"We never told them about Mrs.O'Leary have we?" he asked trying to recall anytime he mentioned the overprotective giant dog that the Jackson's had.

Lucas looked slightly started before looking amused. "No, I don't think we have."

As they finally reached Percy's floor, they noticed his door slightly open and growling emerging from the room. Quickly, before Mrs.O'Leary could cause any damage to the trio, Lucas and Markus opened the door.

Causing Mrs.O'Leary to snarl much louder before stopping altogether and tilted her head curiously.

Her ears were perked, and her mouth was still formed into a snarl, but you could tell she felt much calmer around the two new androids than the three androids spiraled on the ground with the hands up terrified of the dog in front of them.

"Mrs.O'Leary, come," Lucas said softly and patted his leg.

Mrs.O'Leary didn't budge from her spot, instead, her lips curled more as she stood between the androids and the doors that lead to the bedrooms.

"Hey, Mrs.O'Leary," Markus said calmly as he crouched. "Who's a good protective girl," he baby-talked and patted his knee.

Instantly, Mrs.O'Leary's rear end was wagging excitedly as she practically crawled into Markus' lap.

"Yeah, you're a good girl. Protecting Percy and Estelle," Markus said and laughed as the giant dog in his lap suddenly started licking his face.

"Oh sure, listen to him not me," Lucas said with a pout.

"What the hell?" A new voice asked and from one of the bedroom doorways stood a recently awaken Percy.

"What the fuck are you guys doing here? It's like three am! I went to bed two hours ago for god's sake.

"Sorry Percy," Markus said in embarrassment, a blush forming on his cheeks as he continued to pet the giant dog in his lap. Who had now rolled over and exposed her belly for the android to pet.

Percy's eyes zeroed in on the blush and any sort of annoyance left him. "It's uh, it's alright Markus. But really, why are you guys here?" Percy asked with a yawn, moving to the coffee maker.

If they were going to stay awhile, then he's going to need some form of coffee and will totally be forcing Lucas to cover his shift while he slept.

"Simon, Josh, and North wanted to meet you. I think anyway. They didn't really tell Lucas or I their plan until we saw them leave and decided to follow them, "Markus replied, his cheeks still a soft blue but slowly returning to normal.

"Uh huh, it's nice to meet you North. Simon, Josh, what the fuck?" Percy asked with an unimpressed raised eyebrow.

"Sorry, Percy," Simon and Josh muttered, this time a blush on their own cheeks as they felt like scolded children.

"Hmm, sure," Percy mocked, feeling tired even as he started drinking the black coffee which burnt his tongue but Percy didn't care about that right now.

Flopping onto the couch, he indicated for the three androids still frozen in place from Mrs.O'Leary to sit on the adjacent couch.

Markus and Lucas followed them, Markus sitting beside Percy and Mrs.O'Leary flopping over both android and human as they ran their hands through her fur distractedly.

"Percy?" Estelle sleepily asked as she rubbed her eyes with her hands.

"Hey, little star. Some guests decided to not follow the time-zone. You can go back to bed," Percy said softly.

Estelle hummed and sleepily moved to sit between Markus and Percy, Mrs.O'Leary moving like the good girl she was until Estelle sat down and curled into Markus' side.

"Of course, sleeping there is good too," Percy said amused as their family dog laid over the trio, providing warm as her fur made a sort of blanket for Estelle to fall asleep under.

Markus looked down at the human curled into his side, his hand involuntary resting on her head and playing with the long curls there, luring Estelle further into sleep.

The four androids across from the small family shared looks with one another, Simon giving North a look that screamed "told you so"

That night was full discussions as the group got to know each other better. Markus, Lucas, and Percy having the most stories about each other as they've known each other the longest out of everyone there.

It wasn't until Percy could barely keep his eyes open at 5 AM that Markus kicked everyone out, including Lucas after ordering him to cover Percy's shift, and then picked up Estelle to set her back in her own bed before helping Percy to his.

"You're the best, Markus." Percy sleepily drunk said as he stumbled for his bed. Pulling the shirt he'd thrown on when he heard Mrs.O'Leary barking earlier off and throwing it into a corner.

Not noticing Markus' blush, Percy shimmed out of the pants he found as well until he was just in his boxers.

"Get some sleep, Percy," Markus muttered trying to keep his eyes from going below Percy's neck as he retracted Percy's covers before the human would get tangled in them.

"Wish you'd sleep with me at some point," Percy muttered unknowingly as he quickly melted into his bed and quickly fell into slumber.

Surprised and feeling the blush heaten, Markus escaped from the room. He decided to stay for a few more hours, mostly to watch over Estelle, at least until Percy woke up. It was the least he could do for his friends barging into his place and keeping him up.