A/N: Something a little different from what I usually write, since I tend to go for happy endings. I decided to explore an ending I don't see many fics tackle on, and that is the one where Connor is alone at the stage (with Markus and the rest of Jericho dead). Amanda will try control him, so he's left with two choices: suicide or give in to lead a fake revolution.
This is also my first time writing in Hank's POV, so I really hope I did it well. The song I based this fic on might not fit the story 100%, but I listened to it on repeat while writing anyway, lmao.
Enjoy!
WARNINGS - Child death, implied alcoholism, blood and suicide.
Leaves from the vine
Falling so slow
Like fragile, tiny shells
Drifting in the foam.
Little soldier boy
Comes marching home
Brave soldier boy
Comes marching home.
- Leaves from the Vine, Mako Iwamatsu (Avatar: The Last Airbender OST)
Cole was his everything, his whole world. A world that Hank would have done anything for, to see it grow and change. So, for life to take it away from him, must be the cruelest crime, crueler than every other homicide the lieutenant has seen in his career.
Cole had just turned six and had had such a great day at school. They were going home, to watch the most awaited basketball match that year. Even though the weather was far from the best, there was nothing that could have knocked their hopes down.
But life came barging into his door, the moment two lights blinded his view. The moment his son gasped, and Hank instinctively tried to protect him with his arm. To no avail.
There came sirens and snow, and so many voices and rushed footsteps. Yet all Hank saw were big blue eyes almost shutting, the enthusiasm gone within the specks of blood smudging the tiny, small frame. All Hank heard were his boy's breaths, so shallow and quiet, and him trying to talk to his dad.
Over and over, the man could only try to reassure him, I've got you, Cole. You'll be okay. We'll be home soon. He was striving to convince himself of that, too. Neither of their pleas were heard. The android in charge failed. Hank failed.
Hank's world was gone, to the endless, hopeless void. He stayed, for reasons beyond him. Still, he did not leave; instead, he was stuck in his own prison. The bitterness of whisky and beer burnt his throat daily, to the point where he's grown used to it. Faces of all kinds appeared and disappeared. Unlike his son, they always came back.
If anything helps him hold onto this fuckery that is reality, it's Sumo, the dog that worries just as much as his colleagues do. The Saint Bernard asks no questions, simply stays by his side, loving him despite the mess that is the lieutenant. Hank doesn't deserve Sumo. He did not deserve to be a father at all.
That's how Hank punishes himself. It's what he can do. Everything else is fucking hopeless.
Little did he know, a change would come. Maybe, another chance. It doesn't look like it, because it comes in the form of an android of all things. Some plastic asshole that claims to be his partner in cases involving deviants. Fucking great.
The android… cooperates, really. Buys him a drink. CyberLife is truly going lengths with their inventions.
Wait. It doesn't cooperate at all. Apparently, it follows its protocols instead of Hank's orders. Goddammit.
Second, it actually licks the evidence. What the fuck.
… That pays off, though, because it finds the deviant they were looking for. And it gets the confession, without heading to any extremes.
Even then, doesn't mean it's not a prick. It tries to form a bond, even though that must all be its programming.
I like dogs.
I don't really listen to music as such, but I'd like to.
It's almost pathetic, really.
But his heart races when Connor is about to climb the fence and head straight to the highway to catch another deviant. It's almost a familiar sensation, so he decides he's not going to think about it.
Much to his relief, Connor finally listens this time. They let the deviant go.
At Chicken Feed, Hank can for sure conclude he's dealing with a goddamn puppy. Connor still tries to socialize, noting the food, gambling and shit. Curious on why Hank stopped him from running off, getting a half-assed response.
When the lieutenant asks him what he knows, the android is… sincere. Connor even fucking winks at him, proving to focus on their relationship rather than the case only.
(And for a moment, it's almost like Connor isn't a walking supercomputer.)
Connor saves him instead of chasing the pigeon asshole. Hank pretends he's not grateful when they leave.
Then Connor breaks his window and throws fucking water at a drunk Hank, because of some other stupid case with a deviant at some android strip club. Hell, this is how far his life has come to.
Connor looks at the strippers with those stupid big eyes. Hank scolds him, because he did not come here with a hangover to deal with that bullshit.
When they do find the deviants, Hank is not sure what he should think. For starters, Connor also spares them. The blue-haired girl holds her girlfriend's hand with such humanity he hasn't seen in long. Her words remind him of Ortiz's android, of not wanting to die.
They let them flee. It's probably for the best.
… fuck, he needs a drink.
Hank questions Connor later. Why didn't he kill them? Why has he let everyone go?
Connor is honest. He sounds lost.
Are you afraid to die, Connor?
He seems to be.
Nothing. There would be nothing.
Yeah, fuck it. Hank doesn't know shit anymore. Or maybe he does.
Next, after the deviant leader invaded the Stratford Tower, Connor is playing with a coin in the elevator. It gets on the man's goddamn nerves, so he takes it.
(How does he do it? Hank tries to figure it out when no one's looking. Hopefully.)
Everything goes wrong from there. Turns out one of the androids that worked there was a deviant all along, allowing the transmission to happen. It's gone insane and as soon as Hank goes to protect himself, he catches a flash of Connor running towards the deviant, multiple shots filling the room.
There's one final shot and the second after that, Hank runs towards him, relief mixed with desperation twisting in his gut when he spots Connor standing up. He grabs his arm, checks over him; a bullet flew towards his upper, left arm, and there's a freaking hole in his stomach, thirium staining his white shirt. Despite that, all Connor focuses on is that he failed to stop the deviant. Behind them, there are several dead bodies on the floor.
What a shitshow.
In the next morning, before seeing Elijah Kamski, Hank finds out Chris was saved by no one other than Markus, the leader of the androids. Aside from that, Connor shows genuine concern over his colleague.
Kamski is a mysterious piece of shit, coming up with some Kamski Test crap. He straight up gives a gun to Connor to prove he's capable of empathy or not. There's a moment, yet Hank is… not exactly surprised when the RK800 spares the girl. They leave without any other information, though, much to Connor's frustration. When the lieutenant asks him, the android apologizes.
Honestly? Hank is satisfied. Kid does have a heart, after all. Might even be a deviant himself… which, at this point, should not be a bad thing.
But the FBI has to ruin everything, because that's how they are. Hank is back to the same shit, and Connor is going to be disassembled. In better (or worse) words, dead.
That's how Hank is determined (or well, more now that Connor needs help) to kick Perkins' ass. Jeffrey isn't too happy about it, but Hank knows that even the captain dislikes that piece of shit. Who could imagine he'd be putting his career at risk for a fucking android?
Jericho falls. The ship fucking explodes, and Hank freaks out.
He sees Connor again, but something is off. Maybe, the relief of finding out he's fine washes over Hank so much that he doesn't realize it's a trap.
There's a gun to his head, by this sack of shit, and the other, real Connor is stuck with a decision. The two Connors beat the shit out of one another when Hank orders them to stop, now having no idea who is who. One suggests a quiz of some sort.
When they met. Sumo. And finally, Cole, because he knows Connor is dedicated enough to their relationship to know that information. Because the real one is going to answer it not like a machine, but like a decent being.
It wasn't your fault, lieutenant.
At the assumption of his hatred for androids, one thing Connor always questioned, Hank clarifies to him.
Thinking of his little boy, he tells him that humans are terrible beings, knowing jack shit about decency and care. They left his son to die, forcing an innocent android to perform surgery, because their only surgeon was fucking high. Androids may be humanity's creation, but they aren't necessarily like humans, and Connor proved that to him. He could be a stupid robot, but he cares. He has morals, he lets the deviants go, he cares for Hank. That is so much more than what most people have ever given to the fifty-three-year-old lieutenant and the world.
So, he gets rid of the impostor and his past view on androids for good, with a loud, permanent shot.
Hank watches Connor awaken the androids at the warehouse, a choir of 'wake ups' filling the otherwise empty, massive place. They all look up to Connor, and the lieutenant realizes he's doing the same.
When all is said and done, Hank catches him with a hand on the android's shoulder and advises him to call him when he makes it out okay. Connor… smiles and nods. It doesn't look awkward at all.
With a last pat, Hank leaves the tower, while the other leads his army out of there. For the first time in maybe forever, the man is looking forward to something. Someone. Maybe, life isn't as terrible as it seemed.
Now, he feels alive, too.
Life, however, will never be kind to him. It never has.
Watching the TV, Hank discovers that Markus and everyone else from Jericho were brutally murdered by the army. Connor is pretty much the one who saves the revolution, which convinces the president to call everyone else back and to evacuate Detroit. Hank stays, for a good reason: his pride towards Connor, a feeling he only ever felt for his Cole. For his… his son. Remembering those androids looking up to him, Hank knows Connor will do what he can.
And that's when life comes barging in again.
Even from afar, he notices that Connor's head is twitching furiously, but he says nothing.
Sumo is whining in concern. Hank watches, unsure.
Then, Connor is holding something behind him.
His stomach drops. The house grows colder.
It better not be what he thinks it is.
It can't be!
He's wrong.
The gun is lifted.
Hank can't help but yell at the television, crying out for Connor's name.
No!
The world stops, and yet everything is so loud. It's so much like when he was haunted by Cole lying on the hospital bed, pale, bleeding, no longer breathing.
Glass breaks near his feet. Sumo is crying, howling in pain. The helicopter in the TV is deafening, just as the reporter narrates what has just happened in complete shock. Thousands of androids are standing there in the Hart Plaza, not understanding a thing.
Hank sees blue. Blue, blue, blue. Blue scattered on the gray snow.
Even though Connor is so far, he can see his eyes. His deep brown eyes fading into nothing.
It's all so quiet, the noises tuning out of his ears.
Why. Why.
Why did he…
Hank isn't even there.
He should have been there. He should have stopped him; he should have held him and thanked him for everything, and told him that…
…
No. It's too late.
Hank can only be embraced by such a cruel realization. That life is horrible, that kindness will always be eradicated. No matter the good signs, no matter the chances, he's going to lose them.
He's lost another son.