Chapter Twenty-Five: Stay Alive

They hadn't been thorough enough after all. There was someone outside. Hank shouldn't have let his guard down. He shouldn't have thought all would go well just because there was only an hour to go before back-up arrived. Now, he wanted back-up to get there sooner. He wanted it before but now it was a necessity.

"Uh...Hank…?"

Hank didn't respond. He collapsed on his front, his stomach throbbing and aching. Blood already started to pool around him.

"Hank!"

Connor dropped to his knees and carefully rolled Hank onto his back. Hank groaned and rested a hand on his stomach. He managed to open his eyes and saw Connor worrying over him. Kid was shaking like a leaf. He tried to look past him to see who shot him but couldn't see from where he lay.

Connor reached over and grabbed Hank's revolver frantically. He stood and turned to his attacker and pulled the trigger four times, effectively emptying the chamber. Whoever it was collapsed and rushed footsteps started coming in their direction. Connor dropped the gun and went back to Hank's side.

"Hang on, Hank! Please, we're going to save you!" Connor said, his voice trembling. "Y-you'll be okay!"

Hank tried to raise his hand to ruffle Connor's hair but couldn't find the strength to do so. Connor, having noticed Hank's attempt, held his hand and rested it on the top of his head. Hank smiled weakly and ran his fingers through the kid's hair.

"I'm sorry, Connor," Hank managed to say, his voice hoarse.

"You'll be okay! Please, please just hang on," Connor pleaded. "Don't die, Hank...You promised you'd take me home with you!"

Hank chuckled, tired. "Yeah...I've never been good at keepin' promises."

Connor swallowed hard and he looked like he was doing his best not to let his tears spill. Hank lowered his hand from the top of Connor's head and cupped his cheek. Connor bit his lip but Hank could still hear the light sob the kid choked.

"Please, don't leave me, Hank," Connor pleaded again. He held Hank's hand tightly. "Please, I need you."

Hank wanted to be able to sit up and hug Connor. He wanted to embrace him and tell him that he would be okay. He couldn't do that. He wasn't going to be okay. His consciousness was fading fast. He could barely keep his eyes open. He tried to focus on Connor but even he was getting blurry.

He didn't want to break Connor's hopes again, like he did that morning. But things didn't work out like that, did they? He got the kid's hopes up again just to break them. He truly was a terrible person. Of all the promises to break, this was the one he didn't want to break. Although his vision was fading in and out, the despair on Connor's face was clear as day.

He felt Connor's tears drip onto his face. He didn't want to see the kid crying. He wanted Connor to smile and be happy. That's all he wanted for the boy. Hank couldn't give him that. Maybe it was just fate that he couldn't do so.

"Hank...Hank!"

"It'll be alright, kiddo…" Hank mumbled.

"No! Don't do this to me," Connor weeped. His sobs couldn't stop. "Don't leave me alone."

Hank released a long, tired breath. "You're a good kid...I'm gonna miss you, Connor…"

"Hank…" Connor's tears came faster. "I need you! Please, dad!"

He was leaving one son to go see another. It would be alright.

"DAD!"

XXX

The time was 8:30AM.

After back-up arrived, Connor was not taken to the hospital. He was taken to the police station for an interrogation. He didn't know what happened to Hank. The last he saw of him was through blurry vision. The officers, the ones from the DPD, pulled him away from his body despite Connor's pleas. He saw Hank's chest heave up once and then that was it. The man didn't move again. Connor wailed.

Everything that happened after that was a blur. All he thought about was Hank and how he no longer moved. He thought about how Hank promised to take him to his home. He thought of how much he wanted to live and he wanted Hank to live. Now, Connor was alive and Hank was not. He was all alone. He was alone, he was sick, he was tired, and he was sitting in an interrogation room.

"Can I have your name for the record?" Officer Chris Miller asked.

"My name is Connor. I was kidnapped by the Stern Institute last year on August fifteenth. I just turned fifteen."

His voice was rough and scratchy. Officer Miller pushed a glass of water toward him but Connor didn't accept it. He stared down at his hands that were interlaced on the table. They let Connor wash Hank's blood off his hands before bringing him in. Now they were cold.

"Where did you live before you were kidnapped, Connor?" Officer Miller was soft spoken.

Connor sighed deeply. "I lived in a room in Elijah Kamski's building. The one thirty minutes out of town and a few minutes away from his big lab," he replied. "I had no place to stay before he gave me a job. I could finally go to school, too."

"What did you do for Mister Kamski?"

"I was helping with some of his technology tests but I mostly cleaned around the lab," Connor said. "We had no relationship. I didn't care about him or his wife. I just needed off the street and wanted to go to school, like a normal person."

Connor was far from normal, though. And he now realized that if he hadn't taken the job Elijah Kamski offered, he would not have been kidnapped, he would not have been forced to hurt Hank Anderson, and as such the man would still be alive.

He knew Hank wouldn't want him blaming himself but without him around, it was hard not to do so.

"Did the Stern Institute kidnap you, knowing you were a Kamski?"

"I'm not a Kamski," Connor said, sharply. It took all his willpower not to shout that and keep his anger in. He was not a Kamski and he was not a Stern. He was just Connor now.

"My apologies."

Connor sighed deeply. "Anyway, they did...That's why they took me," he said. "I guess they thought I knew all there was to know about Elijah and his technology. The truth is, I didn't know much at all. So, they kept me to try and work for them. They used me for some experiments."

It was mostly the drug Zlatko was making. He lost track of the different variations the man had made. It drained him for days but they still forced him to work, like cleaning up messes Zlatko made. He was also locked in his room a lot. They were neglectful and cruel if he didn't do the exact thing they wanted. The fact he didn't have any remaining scars from his time there was impressive.

"They also used you to confront Lieutenant Anderson?" Officer Miller asked, snapping Connor from his thoughts.

Connor nodded slowly, like the action was hard. "Uh-huh…"

"Do you know why?"

Connor closed his eyes. He didn't want to talk about Hank. It made his heart feel heavy and his stomach churned. He just wanted sleep. He finally drank some of the water offered.

"They said Hank would trust a younger person, so they used me to use him," Connor finally said. "They wanted him to join the Sterns because he was with the police. They said he probably would because his mental state wasn't very good. Something like that…"

Officer Miller was silent, examining Connor closely, like what he said was surprising in some way. Or maybe he was confused. Connor had been confused at the time. Now he understood what they meant by Hank's mental state not being the best. He, himself, was losing a good mental state.

"Can I see him?" Connor whispered. "Please, let me see Hank…"

Officer Miller remained silent. Connor couldn't bring himself to look up at him and meet his eyes. He didn't want to see any sort of pity or discomfort or sadness. Those would only confirm, officially confirm, to Connor that Hank really had died.

"He promised...he promised we would get off the ship alive together," Connor mumbled. His eyelids were getting heavy.

"Connor?" Worry was laced in Officer Miller's voice.

"Just please...let me see him…" Connor's voice was fading. He wasn't sure how much longer he could remain awake. He needed food and sleep. He needed Hank.

"We're...We can't let you do that," Officer Miller replied, almost nervously.

"Why won't you let me see him?" Connor asked. "He…" he sighed. "He really died, didn't he?"

Officer Miller shook his head. "We don't know yet. We're still waiting for the results."

That was just a fancy way of saying that they didn't want Connor to know the truth. That was just cruel. He had the right to know. He rubbed his eyes and instead of arguing he just nodded.

"Can we stop? I told you everything," he said. "I need to go to the hospital. That's what Hank said."

And he trusted Hank.

"We're done," Officer Miller said. He stood and turned the recorder off. "Come on. Just let me talk to the captain for a moment and I'll drive you."

With that, Officer Miller led Connor out of the interrogation room and into the bullpen. He was polite enough to lead Connor to Hank's desk. Connor sat on the chair with dog hair strewn about it. Officer Miller then went into the captain's office. Meanwhile, Connor didn't fail to notice other officers looking at him.

He ignored them and looked at Hank's desk. His badge sat on it, next to the computer's keyboard. Connor reached over and held it gingerly, as if it would break. He held it close to his chest.

He was about to close his eyes when he heard a familiar voice. He looked over near the exit. Luther was there and running up to him was a little girl, a little girl Connor had seen in a photo. She jumped into Luther's arms and he spun around, holding her close. Then a silver-haired woman waited for Luther to put his little girl down before holding the woman close.

Kara and Alice. Luther's precious family. He knew that Luther had gone into interrogation before Connor had. He probably told the police everything that happened to him and what happened with his family. Now they were together again. They were smiling and laughing and crying.

Connor couldn't help but smile. Luther was a good man, even if he did feel a bit betrayed by him for a while. It really wasn't Luther's fault and he wouldn't blame him anymore. It was also nice just to see that Kara and Alice were unharmed. They seemed healthy from what he could see. It must've been nice to see them.

He wondered what a reunion like that was like. What was it like to be happy like that? What were happy tears like? Connor wouldn't know, couldn't know. There was no one who would be that way with him. He didn't plan on being with the Kamskis again. If they wanted him, they would've done what they could to find him. They didn't.

He leaned back against Hank's chair and closed his eyes. He wondered what would happen to him now. He had nowhere. He didn't want to intrude on Luther, who had mostly been his guardian while in the Stern Institute. He couldn't go to Hank's house anymore. He really didn't want to go to some kind of boy's home or orphanage.

He supposed he could go to a shelter. He wasn't sure if he actually liked that idea. Hell, he didn't seem to like anything anymore. He wanted Hank. Hank made everything better, everything. That man gave him hope. But now…

Connor curled in on himself and held Hank's badge tighter. He lost consciousness at long last.

XXX

"How are you feeling, Connor?"

"Why are you here?"

Connor, after having woken up and gotten some medicine and food, was soon visited by Elijah and Chloe Kamski. They didn't seem to have changed much in the past year. He didn't know why they were here. He had specifically told the police that there was no relationship with them. They worked together and that was it. Hell, 'together' was pushing it.

"We wanted to see if you're okay," Chloe replied, frowning.

"Listen, I don't intend to work with you anymore," Connor said, curtly. He wanted them out of his sight. "So you can leave me alone now."

"That's not why we're here," Eljiah said, sighing. "We heard about the things that happened. We just-"

"What? Wanted to see if I told the Sterns anything about your projects?" Connor interrupted. "No, I didn't. I was hurt because of it but eventually they gave up."

Chloe and Elijah glanced at each other. Connor hoped his cold tone would be enough to make them leave, but they still stayed. He was close to calling for the nurse. She would send them away.

"I'm sorry, Connor," Elijah said. For some reason, Connor doubted it.

"Okay, say what makes you feel good," Connor replied, sarcastically and glaring. He sighed again. "I want you to leave now."

"What will you do now?" Chloe asked. She sounded more genuine than Elijah but Connor still didn't care.

Connor shrugged. "That's none of your business. I just know I'm not going to work with you again."

"Connor-"

"If I didn't accept the job you offered, I wouldn't have been kidnapped and if I wasn't kidnapped, Hank Anderson would still be here."

If he couldn't blame himself entirely, he would blame someone else. And so, he blamed the Kamskis and the Sterns. They did both play a part in this, after all. He was included but Hank wouldn't want him to have all the blame. He had no choice but to blame others.

"So they told you then."

Connor looked down, clutching the blanket. He did receive the news regarding Hank Anderson. It took a lot of prying but eventually the nurse relented. He didn't want to believe what they said. But Hank had been shot twice and he knew it took them a while to get him to the hospital. Because of that, his survival rate was low. Very low.

Hank Anderson was now, according to the nurses, unable to wake up despite the apparently successful surgery. The man just didn't wake up, no matter what the doctors did. He was told that Hank Anderson would never wake up again.

Any little hope that Connor had dissipated when he heard the news. It was like his own life was drained out of him. He wondered what the point was. What was the point in being in a world where the only person who cared about you is dead?

The only thing that stopped him was knowing that Hank Anderson would not want him to kill himself. Connor wondered if he would be able to do that. He was still very tired. He didn't know if he would be able to last long on his own.

"Now, get out."

"Our door is still open if you need it," Elijah said.

"Don't need it, don't want it."

Elijah and Chloe said nothing else. They finally left.

Connor lied down again and stared at the ceiling with blank eyes. He took Hank's badge out from his pocket and rubbed it. It was the only thing he had of Hank. However, when he was able to leave the hospital, he intended to go to the police station. Hank's desk was there and if he couldn't go to his house, he would go to his desk.

He closed his eyes and tried to sleep again.

XXX

Connor walked into the station and headed straight for Hank's desk. He casually sat on his chair. He didn't fail to notice the glances officers gave him. He wondered if he was welcome there. He didn't see why he wouldn't be but at the same time, he wasn't actually an officer. He technically didn't belong in the bullpen.

He had been stuck in the hospital for two days and every time Connor asked to see the dying Hank, the doctors denied. Even if Hank was not dying, he still wouldn't be allowed in. He wasn't a registered family member. He felt it was unfair. There was nothing he could do about it, no matter how much he begged.

He thought back to when they were on the ship. Connor had called him dad. He emphasized it was best as he could. His thought process was that if he called him dad, it would keep Hank motivated to stay awake. He hoped it would make him want to stay alive. It didn't work, because if it did, Hank would be sitting at his desk and Connor would be sitting next to it.

Connor knew that Hank probably wanted to see his son, Cole, more than anything. However, he had hoped that Hank would want to live for Connor's sake. Connor did see him as a father. He thought Hank might've felt that way. Hank made it seem that way with his words and actions. Connor knew he was being selfish thinking this way. He wasn't Hank's blood son. And so, why would he be enough motivation for Hank to live?

He took Hank's badge from his pocket and thumbed it again. For some reason, at the moment, he wanted to hold it more than his coin. He never thought something like that would happen but alas. This was all he had of Hank to hold.

XXX

He had seriously considered breaking into Hank's room. He was still lying in the bed, dying. It made his heart hurt and made his stomach churn, but he wanted to see him one last time. He wanted to see him one last time when he was not bleeding. That was all he asked for. Damn the doctors for refusing him.

Connor headed for Hank's desk again. The officers had gotten used to his presence. They wouldn't really talk to him but they did greet him when he came. He was grateful that at least these people didn't kick him out. Because he was around, he also got to hear the scoop of things. By that, he meant that he heard that Amanda and Zlatko had been arrested. He didn't know what kind of punishments they would get, but he hoped serious and long ones.

He twirled in Hank's chair lazily and stared at the ceiling.

XXX

Hank was still dying.

Connor felt like he was dying. He was waiting for the news of Hank's heart to stop beating. It was the longest wait of his life. It seemed like the other officers were waiting too. Connor wanted this over with.

Hank may have not felt the pain, but Connor did.

XXX

"Connor…"

Connor stopped twirling in his chair. It was a slower spin so it didn't make him nauseous. That was something he noticed. He was starting to get sick again.

He didn't answer Officer Miller.

"Hey, maybe you should go home."

He didn't have a home. He couldn't bring himself to say that. His throat hurt.

"You're getting sick."

Obviously.

"Connor…"

Why couldn't Officer Miller leave him alone? The other officers were, even if they did watch the scene. They looked at him with pity.

"Lieutenant Anderson…" Officer Miller's voice shook a bit. He sighed. "He isn't here anymore, Connor."

Connor pulled his knees to his chest and stared off at nothing. His eyes were dull and not the bright brown they once were. They had been developing like that for a while now. He saw it whenever he looked at Hank's black computer screen.

Officer Miller sighed again. He left Connor alone and went to his own desk.

Connor closed his eyes.

Why? Why did Hank have to leave him? Why did he break his promise?

Tears silently slid down his cheeks.

XXX

"This needs to stop."

"Okay, but we can't just force him away. He'll have a panic attack."

"He'll also keep coming back."

"The kid will…" A sigh. "Probably destroy himself in the end…"

That was the idea, Connor thought.

He stopped crying.

XXX

Connor had his arms crossed on Hank's desk, his head resting on them with his eyes closed. His body slowly heaved up and down. He wasn't feeling well but at the same time he wasn't feeling incredibly ill either. He wondered how that was even possible. All the talking regarding him had finally stopped. Him coming to the station was just the norm now.

Currently, he found it hard to stay awake. He hadn't had lunch yet. Maybe that was why. He didn't feel like eating though. He also didn't feel like sleeping, despite his messed up mindset.

"Why the fuck are you sleeping on my desk?"

Connor's eyes snapped open. He shot up in the chair. He didn't turn to where the voice came from. His heartbeat picked up faster than it ever had. He slowly turned and looked across the room. His mouth opened but nothing came out.

Hank Anderson was slowly walking to his desk.

"Lieutenant!"

"Uh...What the fuck?"

"Holy shit, a fucking ghost."

Hank rolled his eyes. "I ain't no ghost," he scoffed. "Fuckin' exhausted but no ghost."

Hank looked back at Connor. Connor found it hard to breathe, barely managing an exhale. Hank smiled and opened his arms.

"Get over here already."

Connor remained where he was, his body trembling. Then he leaped out of the chair and collided with Hank. He wrapped his arms around him and held him tight. He weeped and tears streamed down his face.

"HANK!"

Hank held him back and rubbed his back. "Shh, it's okay."

"I thought you were…! I thought…!"

"Nah, you can't kill me that easy," Hank replied, gently. "I was just comatose. Doctors said it was a miracle I woke up in a week or so."

Connor wailed. "Haank! Haaank!"

"It's okay. It's going to be just fine, kid."

"This kid is stubborn as hell," Detective Reed spoke up. "Came here every day."

"Ah fuck. You're supposed to take care of yourself, Connor."

He was too busy weeping to respond.

This continued for quite a while before Connor slowed his sobbing. Hank pulled back but kept his hands firmly on his shoulders. The tears still came but Connor was silent. Hank gently rubbed his tears away with his thumb.

"Hank…"

"Come on, Connor." Hank pulled back completely now and held his hand out. "Take my hand and I'll lead you."

Connor blinked. "Wh-what?"

Hank smiled. "Just come with me."

Connor hesitantly held Hank's hand, keeping his eyes on him, as if the man would disappear.

"Where are we going?"

"I'm taking you home, son."

Connor blinked again. A soft smile came to his face. It was the first smile he had in a long time.

"Okay!"

With that, they left the station.

Hand in hand, a father and son went home.

THE END

Author's Note: And that's the end of Expect the Unexpected.

Sorry not sorry about Hank's death scare. If Connor gets one in Home Sweet Home (even though he really did die), Hank has to have one too. There's no way I'd keep him dead though. Connor needs him!

There might be some things that didn't get answered, in which case I apologize for that. I tried to get everything but there's still a chance I might've missed something. I'm pretty sure I covered all the main and important points, though.

This will probably be my last chapter fic for a while. I'll probably still post some one-shots but no chapters fics for a while. I will say out of the two fics I did, Home Sweet Home is definitely better by miles (no pun intended ;3) but I still liked writing Expect the Unexpected.

I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing.

That's all for now. I'll see ya'll in the next story.

Thanks for reading!

~Kurosaki