Despite profuse apologies on the part of the Lieutenant, Connor could tell that the suspicion had never entirely eased. If Connor was away from Hank for too long, such as when meeting with Markus or following a lead on his own, his return would be met with involuntary distrust.
Hank didn't like it, but found that he couldn't help it. So long as Cyberlife was out there, Hank would never be completely sure that the Connor coming back after an hour away was the same Connor. The company wouldn't waste an opportunity to get their slimy hands on Connor, to investigate his deviancy or use him to infiltrate the higher ups at New Jericho. Not to mention that plenty of folks had been selling deviants back to Cyberlife on the black market, there wasn't enough evidence of it yet, but Hank knew who was behind the multitude of missing androids cases sitting on his desk.
Markus and the others knew too, but they hadn't been tricked by another Connor android like Hank had. It was difficult to recover from that. He wanted to let go of the worry he felt whenever Connor went out for thirty minutes to get coffee for the station, but he couldn't.
In the end, after discussing altering his appearance and using code words, Hank and Connor settled upon an idea Connor called "random acts of deviancy" and Hank called "weird shit".
Hank figured a fake Connor could know code words or imitate appearances with access to the real Connor's memories, but without being a deviant, it couldn't do deviant-y things.
Connor had frowned at this description, but understood the underlying idea. Without any specific instructions, a non-deviant RK800 android wouldn't do certain things. These acts required a certain combination of free will, imagination, and obscure motivation, so even with the knowledge of this discussion, an impersonator wouldn't be able to help but give themselves away.
The first instance was with the dancing, the second instance came a little while later, at the police station.
Connor had made every effort to stay close to Hank since the incident, knowing what a lengthy separation would lead to. But with the new plan to demonstrate deviant behavior in place, Connor was at least somewhat prepared when Fowler called him into his office and demanded he meet with some people from Internal Affairs for an evaluation.
The whole thing made Hank uncomfortable, but he wasn't permitted to come along, forcing Connor away from his partner for an hour and fifteen minutes while he was relentlessly grilled in the interrogation room on his suitability for his position.
It was awful, and Connor left feeling vaguely angered and quite tired, despite not needing sleep.
He re-entered the main floor of the station, seeing Hank bent over his desk on the other side of the room. He began contemplating an action he could take to demonstrate that he was still himself when Detective Gavin Reed appeared suddenly before him.
"Well if it isn't the plastic man himself. They finally going to fire you for assaulting an officer?" Gavin asked, moving into Connor's personal space.
"I didn't assault you, detective, I defended myself, we've been over this." Connor stated, attempting to remain blank but feeling his residual displeasure from the evaluation growing at Gavin's antagonism.
"You've got no life to defend you fucking android." The detective ground out.
Connor sighed and attempted to move past the other man, only for Detective Reed to grab hold of his jacket and yank him over to the partition next to his desk, pressing him against it.
"We'd all be a lot better off if I'd gotten to kill you in that evidence room." He muttered, his face close to Connor's. The android's eyes slid to the side, glancing at Lieutenant Anderson, who had noticed the interaction and was standing up to approach them. Connor could tell he was partly worried about him, and partly suspicious of him.
Gavin grinned cruelly when he saw where Connor was looking. "That includes your precious Lieutenant."
Connor felt anger flare up inside him, his eyes snapping to Detective Reed's. The implication that Hank would be better off if he was dead upset him. He cared about Hank, to suggest he was a detriment to him, it was painful to consider and Connor felt his emotions rising to refuse the notion.
He contemplated two options in a split second, and quickly chose the second one.
Connor lifted his hand, tucking his middle finger under his thumb and positioning them before the confused detective's forehead. Then he flicked Gavin Reed.
As an android, the velocity of his fingers was far greater than any human's, and Gavin's head jolted back from the impact with a satisfying thwack.
"What the-" Gavin started, but Connor was still roiling with the traces of emotion from an overall unpleasant day, so he lifted his hand and flicked the detective again before he could finish.
"Hey!" Reed shouted, stepping away from Connor. The android stepped forward and flicked him again, and again.
Soon Connor was pelting Gavin Reed's face with a barrage of high-strength flicking from both hands. The Detective tried to protect himself, but Connor easily bypassed his defenses to deliver the tiny blows to his cheeks, chin, forehead, and ears. Gavin kept on shouting, trying to make it stop, but he was nearly drowned out by the incessant smacking sound of Connor's fingers connecting with his face.
Hank stood off to the side, grinning maniacally at the altercation, and a few other officers were gaping at the scene.
"What the hell is going on here?" Fowler's voice called from above. Connor stopped flicking for a moment and Gavin turned to address the chief.
"The fucking android is attacking me!" He shouted, and Connor flicked him in the back of the head for good measure. Gavin hissed out an "ow" and turned to glare at Connor.
"That's enough, both of you, go to your desks and do your damn jobs." Fowler commanded, which caused Gavin to angrily splutter.
"But—"
"Now!"
Gavin glowered at Connor as he stalked back to his desk. Connor flipped him off with both hands and a smile.
A hand fell onto Connor's shoulder and he turned to see Hank smiling at him warmly. Connor detected no suspicion or unease in his demeanor, and smiled back, feeling relieved.
"C'mon." He said simply, before tugging Connor back over to their desks to work.
After a few moments, Hank smiled and leaned forward.
"That was pretty nice, I know I'm not the only one who enjoyed seeing Reed get what was coming to him. I'd bet anything Chris and Ben are in the other room laughing their asses off." Hank muttered, and Connor smiled back.
"You know, due to my increased strength, even my weaker attacks are capable of doing damage." Connor stated nonchalantly, purposefully not looking at Hank.
"Oh yeah? What's that mean?" He asked.
"It means that my…interaction, with Detective Reed, will likely leave a mark." Connor replied, looking up at the Lieutenant with a sly smile.
"Are you telling me that Reed's gonna come in here tomorrow with his face covered bruises? Like tiny purple polka dots?" Hank asked with a delighted grin.
"There's a high probability." Connor responded, grinning back. Hank chuckled and leaned back into his chair.
"Fantastic." He muttered, turning toward his terminal.
"Indeed, I think I prefer this outcome to the other course of action I considered." Connor stated absently, also turning to his terminal.
"Other course of action?" Hank asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, I had considered kissing him." Connor said with a shrug, and Hank choked, his eyes going wide.
"You WHAT?" He demanded.
"I considered kissing him, as he was standing very close and I know from past experience that the implication of a 'bromance' between us is very alarming to him."
Hank gazed incredulously at him for a moment before shaking his head and laughing.
"Jesus, I'm glad you didn't do that." He said, but after a long pause he added with a smile "But could you imagine his face if you had?"
