"He's a machine!"
"I just think he will do you some good. You need to move on. This isn't healthy. You're obsessing over someone who isn't here anymore."
"What right do you have to intervene in my life? What right do you have to impose this… this… bucket of bolts on my doorstep? Humans can't be replaced by machines. You know that!"
David doesn't know what he was supposed to expect when he bought a child android on a whim. Hank had lost his son nearly a year ago and the man had never been the same since. His mourning was affecting his ability to work. It was hard to see Hank like this knowing the potential he had when both he and David went through the police academy together. They had been classmates, partners, and friends. Now? Now David isn't so sure. Hank's relationship with everyone had gone down the drain after his son had died in a tragic accident.
"Just try," David attempts, straining his voice.
David's hand tightens on the shoulder next to him. A boy. An android. A child. He was all of those things. He was a machine cursed to never grow up, a machine that was meant to fill the holes in the hearts of mourners and would-be parents, and David decided to give the forsaken creature the name Connor.
The mach- child- blinks at him owlishly. He looks at Hank with wide eyes and then back at David as they argue back and forth.
David doesn't know how he does it. He doesn't really. All he does is complain that Hank hasn't been himself and the man gives him the evilest glare he can muster. David, having been the receiver of such a glare many times before, had not faltered in his advances on giving Hank his new companion.
"Just try him. Just a week. That's all I'm asking. If you don't like him then I'll return him to Cyberlife. I'm on a trial period anyway."
Yeah. And that so-called trial period was a lie. In truth, his wallet was completely empty because of the money he had spent on the kid, but he'd do it again if it meant that Hank would start to return to his old self. Back to the young father, filled with aspiration, with gleaming potential in his eyes.
Hank looks at his partner and David doesn't mind the spite he sees in his expression. What he does see is something akin to fueling his own hope because he knows the looks that Hank gives him. What he sees is Hank considering his proposition, disguising it with the tightening of his jaw and the gritting of his teeth.
"Fine. Get ready to return itin a week."
Hank snarls and David's shoulders slump in relief. It was hard to deal with Hank especially when he was so hostile.
David smiles weakly as Hank turns sharply, leaving the door open for the android that would live with him for the following week. David finds himself kneeling down to put both hands on Connor's shoulders. He looks the boy straight in the eye and says, "He's a grumpy old man and he needs someone like you to soften him up. Can I trust you to do that?"
The android nods.
David nods back, his lips forming a tight thin line as he gives Hank one last glance.
"Good luck," he says his last words.
You're going to need it.
.
Hank doesn't like it. Not one bit.
He makes sure Connor knows that.
"Let's get two things straight. One, I don't like you." Hank narrows his eyes at Connor. "Two, don't get comfortable, because you're not staying here long." He doesn't care if it seems cruel. Androids were unfeeling anyway. Anyone who had a brain in their head would agree with him and the rest of the populace. Those who formed connections with their androids were fooling themselves and Hank wouldn't be counted among them. He wasn't sure what David thought he could accomplish by having a child android stay with him. He wouldn't replace the hole in his heart. The hole that had formed the day Cole had been announced deceased.
"Not going to say anything?" Hank asks, looking Connor straight in the eyes, but the android is unwavering.
The boy stares up at him innocently.
"Where am I going to sleep, father?"
Hank visibly flinches backward at the seemingly oblivious statement.
"On the couch," he growls. He couldn't even consider letting the android have Cole's old room. That room was sacred. It was a special part of the house that even Hank didn't venture off into in fear that he would break down on the floor in a fit of sorrow. "And that's where you'll sleep until you get the hell out of my house."
Hank stomps off and leaves the child standing where he is. The kid looks lost, Hank can see that when he takes a glance over his shoulder, but he doesn't care. Connor, or whatever the hell the thing calls itself, was an unwanted entity under his roof. He'd just have to wait a week to prove to David that he didn't need assistance in the shape of an android or in the shape of anything. What he needed was time to mourn by himself. What he needed was the companionship of silence and a bottle full of alcohol.
He desires nothing else.
.
Hank ignores him the first day. He pretends he doesn't have some strange android watching his every move and does his own thing around the house. He watches TV, gets ready for work, comes back, and then takes a shower. He doesn't bother asking why Connor is watching him like a hawk. For all he knew, the kid was collecting data on his daily routine and was probably trying to figure out how best to insert himself into Hank's lifestyle.
Well, Hank wasn't having it.
He begins to avoid Connor like the plague.
The next day, he stays in his room for half of it, if only to avoid the child that was in the living room. He doesn't bother trying to wonder why he has this strange guilt build up in the bottom of his stomach or why he feels oddly sympathetic. That was just his emotions acting up because - while Connor may not be human - he sure acted like one. He acted exactly, exactly, like a child. If it were not for the intelligence in his eyes - Hank would have thought him to the exact age he looks - but then Hank sees the LED on the side of his head and the illusions breaks.
When Hank peeks his head out of his room to observe the stranger in his living room, he isn't sure what he expects, but he hears the ring of a child's laughter echo throughout the entire house. His curiosity drives him to take a step out of his room and then look over the couch to see Connor on the floor. He wasn't alone either.
Connor wrestles with Sumo on the ground as the dog tries to reach his face to give him giant sloppy licks. Connor laughs uncontrollably as the dog sticks his snout up to Connor's cheek, sniffing once, and then giving him one large lick.
"Ewww!" Connor says but there's still a giant smile on his face.
The wrestling continues until Hank snorts.
He doesn't know why he does.
He doesn't know why.
Connor stops all of his wrestling to look up at Hank.
"Dad?"
All humor that had stacked up in his chest falls into pieces after he hears the nickname. Hank feels himself grow angry and he looks at Connor with a contempt.
"Don't call me that!" He growls.
His growl must have been too venomous because Connor flinches in his spot. He averts his eyes submissively and Hank hates how it sparks a feeling inside of him akin to guilt. Why should he feel bad for a robot? It wasn't alive. Not like him. It might look human but it wasn't. Hank knew that.
Hank hears the android faintly whisper, "Sorry."
The cheery atmosphere tumbles and grows heavier within seconds.
"Did I do something wrong…?" Connor asks, temporarily breaking the silence.
Hank opens his mouth but closes it just as quickly. Connor, by all means, hadn't done anything except for be there. It wasn't the machine's fault that he was here. It was David's fault for bringing him here.
"I…" Hank wants to explain himself.
Wait, why did he want to explain himself?
Androids didn't understand.
They weren't human-...
They didn't feel - right?
But that didn't explain the raw emotion he heard in Connor's voice. The voice that struck a chord in his heart and made him feel ashamed for raising his voice.
"Forget it," Hank relents, throwing a hand over his face in an exhaustive manner.
Look at him now - yelling at machines that didn't know any better.
.
It's in the middle of the night when Hank realizes he can't get any sleep.
He creeps out of his room and heads for the kitchen where he shuffles in the fridge for a bottle of liquor. Once he grabs hold of a bottle, he flips the cap off with the bottle opener on the table and collapses in a chair to take a swig. He doesn't check on the robot on his couch to see if he was awake. It didn't matter to him if Connor was awake or not. All he knew was that the kid wasn't moving on the couch because he couldn't hear any shuffling. That gave him a bit of peace, knowing Connor wouldn't intervene his want to become drunk out of his mind, and so he throws his head back to take another swig from the bottle in his hand.
Cole.
Hank sometimes fantasize of things had they turned out different.
What if Cole had survived?
What if he could see him now?
The alcohol burns in his throat. It's a familiar feeling but Hank found himself grow numb to it over time. He didn't usually drink as much as he did now. Not when he was an aspiring detective, ready to make the world a better place and make bank while doing it.
Where had those days gone? Why had they gone?
Somewhere in his drunken haze, Hank had tried to get up to his bed, but then he felt something cold hit his cheek. Or maybe it was the other way around. Either way, he couldn't get back up, and his eyelids began to feel heavy.
He doesn't feel someone drape a blanket over his body.
He doesn't feel Sumo curl up next to his side.
Nor did he hear the loving words, words that Cole might have told him, "Good night."
.
Hank knows who put the blanket on him. He couldn't have done it himself. That's why he looks at Connor from the corner of his eye as he munches on a spoonful of cereal. The robot doesn't talk about what had happened the previous night and Hank isn't sure if he appreciates it or not.
It's strange.
Not understanding his own feelings, that is.
"Is something wrong father?"
Hank doesn't flinch this time.
Instead, his heart twists, and he wants to cry.
Don't.
"Uh - no-..." Hank says after swallowing. "No, everything is fine…"
Connor takes a good look at Hank and decides that his answer is satisfactory. He turns away and continues to watch the TV in front of him.
Hank continues to stare.
.
David stands at his partner's door with a reluctant look on his face. His knuckles hover over the wooden door, afraid to find out the outcome of the android that had taken up a month's worth of savings, but he shakes his head to take pick his mind out of the gutter. Hopefully, hopefully, things would turn out alright. Regardless, he was ready to take the battered up parts of the kid back to Cyberlife. Maybe they'd recycle him somewhere and put him to good use. Maybe.
David was ready.
So he knocks.
The one who answers looks up at David gives him a small smile.
David has to rub at his eyes to make sure he's not seeing illusions.
Trickery.
No way.
No way.
"Mr. Jackson!" Connor beams.
He has so much more personality compared to when David had first bought him - it was so strange seeing him like this - could it be?
David wants to hope but -
Hank calls out angrily, "Did I not tell you not to answer the front door!?"
A feature of guilt flashes over Connor's features but he turns to look at Hank stomping their way.
"But I couldn't just let them keep knocking…" Connor frowns.
"He could knock all day and I wouldn't care," Hank furrows his brows at David. David laughs nervously, afraid to ask Hank about his relationship with the boyish android. Luckily Hank answers his hidden question. "Go home, David. You've got no reason to be here."
David's eyes light up.
"Does that mean-..."
"It means I'm not happy with you and I want you to leave," Hank growls.
David finds a big, happy, foolish grin tug at the corner of his lips.
"Are you sure you don't want me to take Connor with me?"
At the sound of that, Connor clutches the fabric of his father's pants, and Hank doesn't bother removing his grip.
David sees this exchange and his grin grows wider.
"You're not taking him anywhere," Hank lays out plainly, sharp eyes stabbing David's own.
"What, so you're not calling him an it, anymore?"
Hank ignores David and rolls his eyes. Having been fed up with the man, Hank tugs Connor backward by the shoulder and then proceeds to shut the door in David's face.
David doesn't mind.
When he walks to his car, the automatic door flies open for him, and he hops in with a giant grin on his face. He feels ten times light, ten times better, and he thinks that Hank just might feel the same.
David's wallet falls out of his pocket when he settles himself in the car, the door closing after him, and he reaches down where it lay near his feet.
One look at the inside was enough to tell him that he was flat out broke.
But he laughs.
He laughs because his spirit is lifted and he feels so much better about his friend.
"Worth it."