Cross posted on Ao3

It had been years since Hank had been able to say he was a light sleeper. While having a habit of going to bed in a drunken haze likely contributed, he had come to the conclusion that it was due to living alone. Barely one week of living with Connor, and that had already changed.

And Hank was annoyed. It was way too fucking early for him to be awake, yet here he was, roused from sleep by the soft sounds of another person moving around the house. He wasn't bothered that Connor was making enough noise to wake him, he knew the kid was trying to be as quiet as possible. No, what frustrated Hank was that if Connor was moving around, that meant he wasn't sleeping.

Which meant he probably had another nightmare.

Hank was at a loss as to how to help the kid. The very first night he had been there, he had been woken up suddenly by the sound of Connor's terrified screams. It had only happened three other times since then, but Hank was sure that was only due to Connor getting better at being quiet about it.

He pushed the blankets back and sat up, running his hands across his face and through his hair. Hank hated this. He was no stranger to nightmares himself, came with the job, not to mention his personal issues. And yet, all that expertise seemed useless when it came to helping Connor.

But damn it, he was sure as hell gonna try.

Hank made his way out of his room and down the hall. Sure enough, Connor was awake. He was in the kitchen with the broom and dustpan meticulously sweeping the floor to rid it of any speck of dust or dog hair. The kid always seemed to be cleaning.

"You're up early." Hank said in an accusatory tone.

Connor's LED flashed a startled yellow. He spun around to face Hank, an almost guilty expression on his face. "Lieutenant! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

Hank sighed. If the kid being up this early and flashing yellow wasn't enough, his slip back into calling him 'Lieutenant' told him he was distressed. "You know damn well it's not me I'm worried about losing out on sleep."

Connor turned away, LED still yellow. "My battery is sufficiently charged."

"Really," Hank countered skeptically. "So you didn't wake up before you were supposed to? You didn't have a nightmare?"

Connor's only response was to continue sweeping the already clean floor.

"What's your battery at, Connor?" He kept his voice soft, but firm.

Connor continued to avoid his eyes and took a moment to respond, but likely knew Hank would pester him until he answered. "63%."

"That's not 'sufficiently charged', Connor," Hank scolded. He walked around the android so he was facing him and pulled the broom and dustpan from his hands. "You need to sleep. You know that. Connor, you almost fuckin died last week, you need to rest if your gonna recover." God, that had been an ordeal. Hank really wished he could forget how close he had come to losing the kid.

"Technically speaking that is inaccurate," Connor countered. "My replaced biocomponents need to be calibrated frequently to be sure the connections are holding properly. While rest mode allows that to happen more efficiently, I don't actually require it. I don't 'need to sleep'."

"Yeah you do, it's the same damn thing. You need to rest if you're gonna get better." Hank was nothing if not stubborn. Too bad the kid had picked that up from him.

"63% is more than enough power for the day, Hank."

Hank sighed, propping the broom and dustpan against the counter. "I don't fucking care if it is, Connor. You popped a weld just the other day. Simon said it wouldn't have happened if you'd been spending enough time sleeping."

"I…" Connor really didn't have a defense for that. "I know, I just…"

"You're having nightmares, I know," Hank finished for him. Connor kept his head bowed, eyes to the floor to avoid the Lieutenant's stare. The yellow LED spun rapidly. "You know you can talk to me, right kid?" Hank asked.

"I know," Connor responded.

He ran a tired hand across his face. "But you aren't going to, are you?" He concluded.

Connor remained silent once again, the lack of response answering his question.

"Ok," Hank conceded. "You don't need to talk to me, I'm not gonna force you. But you still need to sleep."

"Hank-" Connor started, but the Lieutenant cut him off.

"Nope, not gonna hear it. You know I'm right. Get some more sleep, just a couple of hours and I'll get off your ass about it."

Knowing it was useless to argue, Connor nodded and made his way over to the couch. He was about to lay down when Hank stopped him. "Hey, why don't you take my bed. Maybe being more comfortable will help."

"I don't see how that would make a difference," Connor said, a note of confusion in his voice.

"You never know," Hank shrugged. He steered Connor down the hall to his room with a guiding hand on his back. "If it doesn't help, it doesn't help, at least we gave it a try."

"But where will you sleep?" Connor tilted his head to the side in that way that reminded Hank of a puppy. "You should get at least another hour if you are to be properly rested. You start back at the precinct today, don't you?"

"You don't get to lecture me on sleeping habits, Connor. I'm not the one who almost kicked the bucket. Besides, I've worked on less hours of sleep than this." Admittedly, not recently. His reputation of oversleeping and getting to work whenever he damn well felt like it being the main reason for that. "I'll be fine. Jeffery's gonna be expecting me to kiss his ass for all this bullshit anyway, wouldn't hurt to get there on time for once."

Hank had just thrown the comforter to the side haphazardly when he had gotten up, so it didn't need to be pulled back before he directed Connor to the bed. The android sat, tentatively, but obediently before tucking his legs up onto the bed. He pulled the quilt up, but didn't lay back. His LED flickered red for a moment.

"Hank," his voice was quiet, a very slight frightened waver to it. "I don't want to go to sleep."

He sighed sympathetically, hating that he had to force him into this. But it was what was best for him they both knew that. "I know, son." He gently pushed him back until his head was laying on the pillow. "Nightmares suck, but you need to sleep if you're gonna heal."

"I know," Connor admitted.

Hank pulled the quilt up higher, effectively tucking him in. Laying there, staring up at him with those big brown eyes, he looked more like a scared kid then CyberLife's state of the art killing machine. It made every paternal instinct Hank had bottled up over the years go haywire. He reached over and gently ruffled Connor's hair giving him a warm smile in the process. "It sucks," he reiterated. "But you're gonna be ok, alright?"

Connor nodded, the level of trust in the kid's expression making his heart clench. Without another word, Hank patted the android's shoulder and left him to his rest mode.

He shuffled his way to the living room and glanced at Sumo sleeping on his pillow in the corner. Damn dog hadn't gotten up, content to sleep the morning away. "Wish Connor was that lucky," he mused aloud. Hank settled into his arm chair and turned on the tv, making sure the volume was low. Just because he was awake, didn't mean he had to get ready just yet.

-o-

Hank had been dozing in his chair for a little over an hour when he woke suddenly to the muffled scream. Still half asleep, it took him a moment to realize what he was hearing.

"Shit!" he swore as soon as lucidity found him. He launched himself from the chair, a startled whine from Sumo following him as he rushed down the hall. Hank didn't bother being quiet as he entered the room. Connor was still in rest mode, but it looked far from restful. The LED was flashing red erratically. He was spasming in his sleep, small gasps and cries coming from between his clenched teeth. It almost looked like he was in pain.

Hank wasted no time getting to him. "Hey, Connor, hey," he said, trying to soothe the panicking android. He put both of his hands on his shoulders and shook him gently, trying to coax him out of his nightmare. "Connor, wake up! It's not real. Whatever you're seeing isn't real."

Connor's eyes snapped open as he exited rest mode suddenly. They darted around the room, uncoordinated, for a moment before they settled on Hank. "H-h-ha," Connor's voice had a metallic echo to it as he tried and failed to speak.

"Shhh, it's ok," Hank told him gently. "Don't try to talk. It's ok." He joined Connor on the bed enough to pull him into a tight hug, hoping to ground him and ease his panic. He wrapped his arms around the android, one hand cradling the back of his neck, the other rubbing small circles into his back. "It's ok, you're ok," he assured him.

Connor reciprocated the embrace so tightly he felt his back pop, but it was worth it to calm the kid down. His unsteady breaths began to even out as he came back to himself slowly. "Hank," he said finally.

"Yeah, son. I'm here. You're ok."

Connor didn't say anything more. He never did. Hank had learned very quickly that the kid would go borderline nonverbal after a nightmare this severe. For now, it was enough to focus on bringing his stress down. He'd work on getting him to talk later. Hank continued rubbing his back and muttering soft reassurances.

Connor clung to him as though reality itself would cease to exist if he let go.