A dangerous pursuit of a purse snatcher, who foolishly committed the crime in front of an unmarked police car, led Connor through an inactive construction site as he attempted to catch the thief on foot. Running along tall, metal, red colored support beams that hung almost twenty feet above the ground the nimble deviant android was able to easily navigate the dangerous terrain while the human thief himself struggled to maintain his balance, and was beginning to exhaust himself from trying to flee.

On the ground below Gavin, Connor's temporary partner while Hank recovered from his pneumonia, watched the chase taking place above his head and only bothered the ascend the structure when he saw that Connor had chased the thief to the edge of the scaffolding and had him trapped. "Fucking show-off."

Sliding to an awkward stop on the scaffolding the thief teetered on the edge of the towering height and threatened to topple over at any second as he desperately tried to elude Connor.

"Don't move!" Connor urged as he grabbed onto the man's arm to pull him back away from the edge and toward safety. Positioning himself behind the thief Connor prepared to pull the thief back from the edge quickly in the event he did in fact fall and keep him from getting hurt. "You're on very unstable footing."

The thief, selfish and determined to get away, proceeded to turn quickly on his feet and ram his shoulder into the center of Connor's abdomen causing the deviant android to stumble backward and fall over the opposite edge of the scaffolding in the process. Grabbing onto the edge of the metal beam with both hands Connor held tight as his gyroscope struggled to recalibrate itself as a wave of dizziness washed over the deviant android from the impact to his abdomen.

Gavin had reached the top of the structure just in time to see Connor fall over the edge, but he was more interested in the purse snatcher than helping his partner. "FREEZE." Gavin shouted as he pulled his gun and aimed at the thief. "Hands in the air!"

Upon seeing the gun pointed at him the thief did as he was instructed and raise his hands. The very sight of the gun was enough to cause his blood to run cold and he realized he wasn't going to escape.

"Hands behind your back." Gavin commanded as he took his pair of handcuffs from his belt to arrest the thief. "You're under arrest, jackass."

Connor tried to pull himself back up over the edge of the scaffolding but his hands lost their grip as his system failed to recalibrate in time from the wave of dizziness. "Shit!" Connor swore as he plummeted nearly twenty feet down into a massive pile of freshly bulldozed earth below the impressive height from which he had fallen as he failed to climb back. "Fuck!"

A loud 'snap' followed by a yelp of pain accompanied Connor as his body landed in the dirt at an uncomfortable, uncontrollable pace. Laying on his back Connor's red L.E.D. flashed yellow as he pushed himself upright on his elbows and ran a scan over his new environment. Running a self-diagnostic Connor found that his biocomponents survived the fall completely intact, but his right leg wasn't so fortunate.

"Damn it." Connor eyed the dark blue stain of blood blossoming into the denim of his jeans just below the knee. Rolling up his pant leg to examine the injury more closely Connor winced and gritted his teeth as his dirt stained palm brushed against the painful break in his leg and his L.E.D. turned red in response to the discomfort. "This is not good."

From the knee down to his ankle a large split in his shin had formed from the high fall and subsequent impact afterward. Thirium oozed through the damaged limb and exposed sparking wires creating a puddle of blue blood beneath Connor's leg atop the dirt pile. It would heal, but it would take an extended period of time to accomplish such a process for the entire length of his lower leg.

Knowing that his leg was too damaged to walk on and knowing that Gavin wouldn't bother to assist him, Connor realized he needed to get a little creative if he was going to help himself get out of the construction site. Scanning the immediate area for anything at his disposal Connor locked onto a small stack of thin wooden boards near the bottom of the dirt pile and got an idea. Using his hands the deviant android pulled himself down the dirt pile until he reached the bottom. His clothing, hands and hair all become caked in the soft dirt in the process as he moved.

Picking up a short board with a thin width Connor snapped the board evenly in half between his hands and pressed the two halves against either side of his damaged leg to create a makeshift splint. Using his tie Connor secured the two boards at the top of his leg, then repeated the process for the lower portions of the boards with his belt.

Carefully shifting all of his weight onto his left leg Connor braced himself against the ground with both hands before he tried to push himself up and balanced awkwardly on his uninjured leg. Connor only tested a fraction of his weight on his bad leg and immediately winced as even the slightest pressure caused intense pain and the damaged limb threatened to give way entirely.

"...Shit."

Connor swore again, an intriguing habit he had picked up after befriending Hank. Grabbing onto anything and everything he could to help support his weight; barricades, beams, construction vehicles, etc., Connor pathetically limped from the construction site back to the car parked on the street where Gavin was, hopefully, still waiting.

Gavin has just pushed the arrested thief into the backseat of the car when Connor finally made his way back to the street, looking dirty and pathetic. The smug Sergeant took one look the disheveled deviant android and arrogantly taunted Connor as he limped to the front passenger door of the car. "You like shit, Connor. Thought you were supposed to be more advanced than any man or machine!"

Connor didn't indulge Gavin by engaging in an argument. Instead he kept his stern silence as to irritate the dangerously impatient Sergeant while they made the tense drive back the precinct. Opening the passenger door Connor sat down in the seat and slammed the door back shut and proceeded to make a show of brushing the dirt off his clothes and from his hair all over the interior of Gavin's car.

"Hey!" Gavin griped as he opened the driver's side door and sat down inside the car. Eyeing the mess on the seats and floor of the car he gave Connor an annoyed stare. "Quite makin' a mess, jackass!"

Closing his eyes Connor initiated his self-healing program to begin repairing the damage to his leg. Despite the efficiency of the program it was still a long and exhausting process that easily drained Connor's systems and his power. His L.E.D. transitioned from red to yellow and remained as such as the pain lessened considerably during the drive.

"Hey 'Tinman'," Gavin snarled as he parked the car outside of the partially rebuilt precinct and looked at the deviant android sitting idle in the front seat. "you comin' or what?"

Connor opened his eyes but kept his silence and he gracelessly climbed out of the car and hobbled into the building to report to the dispensary. Although his leg was still broken his self-healing program had managed to stabilize the break enough for him to limp without having to rely entirely on something else to lean on. As soon as Connor hobbled into the precinct behind Gavin, who was proudly leading the thief to his cell for the time being, everyone turned to look at the deviant android confusedly. Subsequently everyone was absolutely confused by his wildly unkempt appearance, but no one said anything about it.

"Whoa." Chris approached Connor and offered him an arm to lean on as he limped. "Damn Connor, you look like you had a rough shift." Noticing the blue blood and makeshift splint around his right leg Chris needed to know what had happened to him. "What happened to your leg?"

"I fell nineteen point seven-five feet into a mass of thick dirt while in pursuit of a thief. My leg didn't not sustain the impact very well."

"Shit, why don't you get to a technician and get yourself cleaned up?"

"The technician is unnecessary, I can heal-"

Captain Fowler's office door opened quickly as the seasoned Captain took notice of Connor as quickly as everyone else had done. "Connor? Get in here, I need to speak with you."

Connor nodded at Chris to indicate that he was able to walk under his own power. As he ostensibly limped into Captain Fowler's office he closed the door behind himself and took a seat in front of Fowler's desk. "Yes, Captain?"

"What the hell happened out there?"

"While in pursuit of a suspect," Connor began calmly and logically as he adjusted his leg before himself. "I was pushed from a height of-"

"That's not what I mean." Captain Fowler interrupted with a surprisingly level tone as he sat behind his desk and folded his hands neatly before himself atop the desk. "Where was Sergeant Reed during all this?"

"Also in pursuit. Though he took an alternative path."

"Did he see you get injured?"

"Yes. He had apprehended the suspect only three point two yards from where I was hanging from the scaffolding before I fell."

"And he didn't bother to help you? Or even try to help you?"

"No." Connor dismissively shook his head. "He was busy with the suspect."

"Shit..." Captain Fowler leaned back in his chair and put a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Look Connor, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I thought maybe since you saved him from getting shot by that deviant two months ago, and since you pulled his sorry ass out of the fire last week that maybe he'd lighten up on you. That's why I partnered you two up while Hank finishes recovering. But I was wrong. I'm sorry you didn't have a partner out there watching your back."

"My injury is painful but not serious. I will make a full recovery."

"That's not the point, Connor." Captain Fowler sounded more like a disappointed parent than a police captain as he spoke to his lone deviant android detective in a stern tone. "Gavin should've been watching your back and he should've helped you when you became injured; end of story."

Connor was unsure of how to respond so instead he sat in silence as he waited for Captain Fowler to speak again.

"Look, take the rest of the day off. Stay home until Hank is cleared and return to work together."

"What about Gavin?"

"You let me worry about Gavin. For now I want you to go get your leg taken care of in the dispensary and then go home."

"Very well." Connor rose steadily from his chair and proceeded to the door at a slow and clumsy pace. "Do you need anything else from me?"

"Yeah, there's one other thing." Captain Fowler leaned on his elbows against the top of his desk. "Don't let Gavin treat you like that anymore. You're an officer of the law and you deserve the same respect as anyone else."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Chris was waiting for Connor outside of Captain Fowler's office, and as soon as he could he grabbed onto Connor's arm to help him walk again.

"I can walk without assistance, I assure you I'm okay." Connor insisted as the kind officer escorted him down the corridor to the elevator.

"Yeah, but just watching you limp around hurts. Need a ride home?"

"No, I can summon a cab. Thank you, Chris."

It took no more than an hour for the precinct technician, Joel, to secure Connor's leg in a temporary plastimetal cast upstairs and send him on his way. Walking cautiously on a pair of matching plastimetal crutches Connor limped out of the precinct, but not before he passed by Captain Fowler's office in time to see Captain Fowler himself yelling at Gavin about his behavior.

Seeing the smug look on Gavin's face replaced with fear was somehow satisfying to the otherwise humble deviant android, and his L.E.D. shifted from yellow to blue as he took his leave of the partially rebuilt precinct.

After arriving home via autonomous cab Connor limped from the street up to the front door of the house with moderate difficulty. Opening the front door of the house with additional minor difficulty thanks to the crutches Connor was greeted by Sumo who wanted to jump up on Connor but somehow sensed that doing so would be wrong. Sitting down patiently at Connor's feet the dog waited to be pet before he was off to lay down on the floor and nap for the rest of the afternoon.

"Hello, Sumo." Connor greeted as he made his way down the hallway to check on Hank as the senior detective rested. Knocking on the door twice a gruff voice replied hoarsely for Connor to go ahead and enter. Hobbling over to Hank's bedside Connor looked down at the ill detective and scanned him quickly to check his vitals. "How're you feeling?"

"...I feel like shit." Hank opened his eyes and took in Connor's unusually messy appearance. "And you look like shit. What the hell happened?"

"I took a fall and injured my leg."

"What'd you fall into? Garbage?"

"Dirt."

"Oh, that makes all the difference. Who was your partner today?"

"Gavin."

"You gotta' be shittin' me!"

"No. Captain Fowler apologized on Gavin's behalf for his behavior after I returned to the precinct injured." A faint grin appeared on Connor's face as he spoke about his day. "And then Captain Fowler proceeded to suspend Gavin."

"He what? Gavin's out?"

"For two weeks."

"You heard it?"

"I read Captain Fowler's lips as I left, and I could see it on Gavin's face. It was a rather satisfying moment to behold."

"I think I'm feeling better already." Hank smiled a little in return and rubbed his hand over his tired eyes. "You got benched, too though, right?"

"Only until you've recovered from your illness." Connor put his hand to Hank's forehead for another fever check much to Hank's chagrin, but the senior detective didn't try to move away. "Your fever has finally broken. How is your headache?"

"Killing me." Hank sat up in the bed slowly and let out a deep sigh as he swung his legs over the edge to try to stand up, but swayed unbalanced on his feet.

Connor managed to catch Hank's arm before he fell and did so without dropping his crutches in the process. "You need to rest, lay back down."

"After I get some aspirin."

"I'll get it for you."

"No, you've done enough for me already." Hank pushed Connor's supporting hand from his arm and continued on his way. "But if you really want to do something for me go and take a shower. I don't want you tracking dirt all over the house, that's Sumo's job."

Connor watched as Hank slowly made his way out of the bedroom and down the hallway and into the bathroom. Following behind Hank the deviant android watched as the recovering detective took the bottle of aspirin from the medicine cabinet, popped two of the pills in his mouth with a gulp of water from the tap in the sink, then proceeded to slowly walk into the livingroom to sit on the couch.

Sumo ran over to Hank and pressed his head against his recovering master's hands seeking attention.

Satisfied that Hank wasn't too ill to be left alone anymore Connor walked into the bathroom as requested to shower off the remaining dirt and changed into some clean clothes he often borrowed from Hank. Joining Hank on the couch Connor propped his injured leg up on the coffee table between the couch and the television, and thought about what had happened earlier that day and another faint smile appeared on his face.

"What's with the smile Connor?" Hank noticed from the corner of his eye and needed to know why his partner was so amused. "Something else happen to Gavin that I should know about?"

"No, I was just thinking about how Captain Fowler stated that once we're both cleared for active duty we'll be partnered up again. And I realize that I prefer you as my partner than anyone else at the precinct."

"Please don't tell me you're looking forward to going back to work, kid. That's just plain weird!"

"In a way I am. I think it's safe to say being a detective does bring some joy to my existence, and having you as my partner gives me a sense of security."

"Well, the feeling's mutual. I forgot how rewarding it is to help people, but being sobered up and having a partner to kick my ass into shape really helped." Motioning toward his partner's broken leg Hank asked about the injury. "How long until you're healed?"

"Thirty-eight hours, fifty-four minutes and nine seconds."

"We'll both be cleared for work in two days."

...next story...