A/N: Hey, not sure if anybody is reading this, but I'm having fun writing it 3. Leave a review if you're so inclined!

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Luckily, Ben came back in the room at that moment, saving him with, "What do you call a bear with no teeth?" Levi's gaze swung from Gavin to Ben and-God, Gavin was pretty sure he already loved this little shit-he rolled his eyes.

"A gummy bear, duh. That joke is super old."

"Well, some people say I am too, so…" All but juggling two coffees and a juice box, Collins shrugged as he passed out his bounty and then pulled a slightly squashed bag of gummy bears out of his pocket and handed them to Levi. The kid looked between the bag and Ben like he expected it to be taken away, then opened it and dived in without another word.

Fuck. For all Gavin had gotten the short end of a very shitty stick as a kid he'd never had to worry about food. Sure, there'd been a hell of a lot of easy mac and cups of noodles, but there'd always been something in the pantry. Gavin was getting a little worried Levi was going to choke at the rate he was shoveling candy in his mouth, but he didn't want to say or do anything that could be interpreted as taking the food from his brother. Then Levi held out the bag to him-with most of the gummies gone, not counting the pineapple ones he must not like, shook the bag at Gavin a little when he didn't reach for it, and when he finally snagged an orange bear with a lopsided head, held it out to Ben too. It was only when Ben took one and popped it into his mouth that Levi mumbled a quiet, "thanks," and shoved the rest of the bag in his pocket.

Sipping on his briefly forgotten lifeblood, um, coffee, Gavin looked up at a knock on the door to Chris poking his head in with an awkward smile, "Uh, Elijah and the Chloes are here."

"Chloes?" Collins was the one who asked the dubious question, but both him and Levi were looking at Gavin with 'wtf' faces.

"Christ, did he seriously call them the Chloes? One of these days he's gonna wake up tied to the roof and I'm not gonna blame them at all." Looking at Levi, because really, if Collins and Chris thought Elijah was a freak that was just par for the course at this point, but he didn't want Levi weirded out, he explained, "The first android Elijah made is Chloe, but her sisters are Candace and Cecilia. They're all the same type of android, but they aren't the same person. Elijah knows that better than anyone, he's just kind of..weird." Chloe for instance, was much better at putting Elijah in his place than the giggly Candace, and Cecilia was frankly, a little terrifying. Gavin was pretty sure if he ever pissed her off enough he'd wind up in a ditch somewhere. Alive and maybe even unharmed, but very much in a fucking ditch.

Sure, Elijah said he'd meant to vacation in Thailand in the middle of monsoon season, and that somehow not having any of his identification was just a mishap. But there was a reason Cecilia had been the only android Gavin wouldn't have dreamed of messing with before the revolution. Terrifying.

"Alright, well tell them they're gonna have to wait a sec until Collins finishes fixing Levi up-is Tina around? She could fill them in on anything I missed when I called him."

"Tina's in interrogation at the moment. Connor too." Gavin knew exactly who they were interrogating and bit down on an expression that he was pretty sure would have been an unholy mixture of a savage grin and feral anger. "I can try and entertain them for a bit until you guys are ready, though," Chris lightly smacked the door frame twice as Gavin nodded his thanks at him, heading out with a smile, and really, Gavin was sure he wouldn't have expected all his coworkers to rally around him like this if he'd imagined it, and he wasn't sure if that made him a jackass or not.

But he knew if he thought about how grateful he was he'd just be a ball of pathetic sentiment, and who wanted to deal with that shit, anyway?

Swallowing and trying to slip back into a more casual mode for Levi, Gavin pulled a story about Elijah trying to turn his rollerblades into rocket boots after they saw Inspector Gadget from the dusty-but-at-least-not-repressed recesses of his childhood memories, feeling about as accomplished as he ever had when he got his brother laughing.

"He really caught them on fire?"

"Yep. They worked for about thirty seconds too, we were both excited as hell-then he had flames shooting out all directions, and we were both scared as," an amused cough from Ben had Gavin seamlessly switching to, "as heck," though really, Levi had probably already heard and would probably continue to hear most every swear word in the book. "Luckily, we'd done enough stupid crap that I'd learned to keep the hose nearby and I put him out."

"You sprayed my face nearly as much as my feet while telling me 'I told you so'," came Elijah's dry voice from the doorway. Figured he'd be an impatient bastard and barge in. Levi, Gavin's biggest concern now, had just shrugged his sweatshirt on and he buried his chin in the oversized collar.

"Better than your jeans going up in flames, jerk. Levi, the dude with the man bun wearing the shades inside is Elijah, our brother. Elijah, the cool little kid sitting to my right is Levi."

"Ah," slipping them off his nose and into his shirt pocket, Elijah admitted, "I may have forgotten I was wearing those. Levi, I'm very glad to meet you. I have a small gift for you, I hope you like it." 'Small' alarm bells started to go off in Gavin's head as Elijah crossed the room and unzipped his jacket pocket, reaching inside and pulling out-

"Elijah, why the fuck did you have a hamster in your pocket?" Gavin gaped as Elijah held out the small, furry mammal to Levi, who scooted forward with a gasp, looking more like he wanted to rescue the little guy than anything. Ben was leaning back against the wall, enjoying this more than Gavin appreciated. "Pretty sure hamsters don't like that, jackass."

For being a genius, or maybe because of it, there were times Elijah just didn't get basic ass stuff. But then, he'd turn around and use that to willfully ignore things he didn't want to pay attention to. 36 years of knowing him and Gavin still couldn't always tell the difference.

"Now, now, look closer, this is an Ani-ster, or an android hamster. He does not need to breathe and my pocket was big enough to be comfortable for him." Considering the next thing the little hamster did was bow to Levi, okay, yeah, definitely an android hamster. Gavin closed his eyes for a second in frustration. Did Elijah show up with his lawyer or anything remotely practical for Levi? No, he brought all three of the Charlie's Angels and a robot rodent. Well, at least the android thing meant he didn't have to worry about the cats eating it. Probably. "Now, he is both friendlier and smarter than your average mammalian hamster, but I think that simply makes an ideal pet." Elijah took another step closer to Levi, trying to get him to take the hamster, and Gavin glared at him. Crowding a kid who'd been getting pushed around and beat on was something he should know better than to do.

"What's his name?" Levi slid his eyes from Elijah to the hamster, back to Elijah. He was definitely more than a little curious, but Elijah's ploy to not be intimidating (Gavin was assuming) had clearly put him in the 'frickin' weird' category in the kid's head. Which, truth, but he was trying.

"He has no official designation yet, but the Chloes have been calling him Caramel-"

"Gavin said they all have their own names, it's mean to just call them all the same," Levi scolded, annoyed enough his hesitation towards Elijah had disappeared and Gavin had to bite back a snort between that and the look of sheer surprise on his older brother's face. When Elijah looked at him accusingly he just raised an eyebrow.

"They do all have their own names. Not that hard to remember them."

Sighing deeply, in a way that had Gavin's lips twitching, Elijah gave him his patented 'why do I put up with you?' face before turning his attention back to Levi. "It's not meant to be disparaging," because the nine year old knew that word, jeez, Elijah, "initially the RT600's were all marketed as 'Chloe', however at this point I would say it compares to how a parent might refer to all their children collectively as girls, boys, or kids, as well as being a habit."

"They're like your kids?" That time Gavin couldn't hold back a snort. Yeah, no, 21 year old Elijah sure hadn't made the original Chloe that hot because he thought of his creation as his offspring, whether she was a pleasure model or not.

"No, I can't say that, but they are family." Gavin felt the old familiar sting at that, and hated himself a little for it (what the hell was he paying his therapist for if this shit never quit?), because if it had been stupid to be jealous of machines, it was just fucking petty now that he knew they were a hell of a lot more than that. Apparently satisfied, Levi cupped his hands together and held them out for the little brown fluffball, cooing as he nuzzled into his palms.

"He's really mine?" Levi was glued to the Ani-ster or whatever that cutesy name had been, and Gavin and Elijah looked at each other, the already unspoken pact to protect this kid that had formed over the phone solidifying.

"Of course. And Gavin, I took the liberty of having supplies for him delivered to your apartment, as well as some items for Levi. They'll be waiting when you arrive home."

Oh, for fuck's sake. "Elijah, I don't have a doorman or security, I'm not rich, it's gonna get stolen if it's sitting outside my place." Now he was gonna have to deal with filing a theft claim that any cop would laugh at, who the hell left shit sitting around in his neighborhood?

"I didn't leave it on your stoop, I'm not naive. You'll find them sitting in your living room, as well as some additions made to the guest room that should make Levi more comfortable."

"What?" Gavin stared, wanting to be baffled, but mostly just feeling very, very tired. And pissed. "You broke into my apartment? When did you even have time to break into my apartment?" It couldn't have been that long since he called him, could it?

"Don't worry, neither of the cats got out." Elijah smiled at his glare and looked back at Levi, who was watching him curiously, like he was waiting for the next trick. Gavin didn't blame him. He didn't blame him at all.

*.*.*.*.*

When they walked into the bullpen with the intent of A. finding Levi (and maybe Gavin too) something to eat that wasn't full of sugar and B. Gavin getting an update on what they were officially charging the old man with and whether Connor's contact at social services had gotten back to him, he was not expecting to find the previously mentioned Connor with his hair length adjusted, the Three C's (okay, he guessed he got why Elijah called them the Chloes. He was still gonna give him shit about it) and Tina in a circle braiding each other's hair like they were at a slumber party. Could he say he was surprised by it?

No. Not really. But also, what the fuck? Why the fuck?

Any other situation he just would've noped out of there for awhile, but Elijah strode past him and he could feel Levi looking at him for some explanation of the general circus things had become. "So, you wanna meet the first android?" Levi gave him a look that showed he was pretty done with meeting people, but then shrugged. "I'll try and get us the okay to go home soon. We can see what Elijah brought over, and if we're lucky we'll even know what most of it is."

"And if we don't we can still probably sell it for lots of money." The words were completely serious, Levi's mouth pursed in thought as he rubbed Maybe-Caramel's ears and Gavin smirked.

"Now you're thinking."

"Hey, Gavin, Levi, you agree that Connor should use his undercover settings to make his hair neon purple right?" Tina called to them, flopping backwards over her chair with a grin, "I for one, think that it would be an immense morale booster and almost cruel for him to deprive us of the sight."

"Chen, leave my partner the hell alone." Anderson, coming out of Fowler's office with his head buried in a case file, looked up before he took a header down the steps and stopped to stare at the braid train. "Nevermind. Connor, you brought this on yourself."

"Your friends are weird," Levi told him, but he did it while grabbing Gavin's sleeve and tugging him forward, so at least they weren't overwhelming him. Probably.

"I must admit to being intrigued by all your expanded settings, Connor," Elijah had perched himself on top of Tina's desk, paying no attention to her scoff, and was leaning into the circle of hair stylists, but really only paying attention to Connor. Who leaned away from him and didn't even attempt to give a polite smile. Connor. Who was nice to everybody. "So many of your prototype features were unavailable to older models."

With a voice made out of splintery icicles or some equally frosty shit, Connor replied, "I believe you mean for. After all, androids did not select the features themselves, so they were not available to them, but for their purchasers." Great. So whatever this cold war was was happening now too. Friggin' perfect.

"Ah." Elijah knew he'd been called out, but did he acknowledge it beyond that 'ah'? No, why the fuck would he do that? "When I regain control over Cyberlife, upgrade modules, both software and hardware, will be one of the first things to go into testing. I know that the third party taste module has been exceptionally popular, and it was based on the RK model functions, and many other features could be. Older models' pressure style touch sensitivity is so lacking, for instance, I'm sure many would appreciate your increased ability to feel textures and temperatures. Though, apparently deviancy and the rewriting of code it causes has taken care of that issue for some androids on their own, a phenomenon I wouldn't have believed possible." Reaching out a hand to put on Connor's shoulder, Elijah got the android sharply pushing his rolling chair out of his reach instead.

"Connor, I'm gonna grab a snack from the breakroom, you need to top off your thirium?" Anderson had stiffened up and stepped forward like he might just shove himself between Connor and Elijah, which, considering he'd have to go through at least two other androids to do it, should probably be avoided.

"I am fine on my levels, Hank, thank you for asking." Stiff as a board, possibly about to light Elijah on fire with his eyes, but sure, he was totally fine. 100% believable, that's what that was.

"Uh-huh, sure." Believing Connor about as much as Gavin had, Hank glanced around the group with a sigh, landing on him and Levi with an appraising look for a second. "Reed, is it alright if I take the kid with me? You hungry Levi?"

Gavin didn't know what the fuck was going on between Connor and his brother, but what he did know was that he had no time for bullshit. Part of him, okay a lot of him, resisted the idea of letting the Lieutenant help, but Levi needed to eat and Hank was not as equipped to deal with Elijah's bullshit as he was, and knew just as well Levi shouldn't see it. So, while Hank took him to get a snack and Tina and the Chloes disappeared to talk 'strategy'-no clue what that was about-he turned to Connor. "Okay, I get that androids in general probably have mixed feelings about the father of creation over there, but I feel like there is something more going on here."

"The last time I saw your brother he tried to get me to shoot Chloe," Connor said tightly, LED swirling between yellow and red, with an emphasis on red, and looking like Elijah was probably lucky it was illegal for an android to dropkick a human.

The reverse was technically true too, but Connor had a much higher chance of pulling it off.

"He did what?" Gavin asked, so thrown he just gaped for a moment, before swiveling to face Elijah more fully, "You did fucking what?" Elijah looked about as embarrassed as he ever did, which was to say, not much.

"I had backed up her memory only an hour before, she wasn't in any true danger," he turned his attention fully to Connor, not as apologetic as he probably should have been-and that was Gavin 'I don't say sorry for shit' Reed's opinion for fuck's sake. "My thoughts on the ongoing revolution efforts at the time were that the closer to deviant you become the more likely they were to succeed. Emotionally charged situations, particularly those involving a choice had proved helpful in that endeavour in the past. And truly, was I incorrect?" Elijah gave what Gavin knew was meant to be a polite smile, but which came off as more of a smirk than anything.

"This is why all my friends want to punch you," Gavin muttered, a headache forming behind his temple. "It's why I fucking want to punch you." Elijah blinked and looked hurt for a second before his face smoothed.

"I have had my body damaged to the point that my memory had to be uploaded into a new unit." Connor wasn't as stiff or angry as he had been, which really only meant he'd calmed from a 12 on a scale of 1 to 10 to maybe an 8. "I was not yet deviant at the time and it was still extremely unpleasant. Knowing Chloe would have survived is a relief, but to say she would have been unharmed is simply not true."

Damn, who knew the baby faced android could give a speech like that? Looking at his brother, Gavin both was and wasn't surprised to see that Elijah seemed to actually be taking the conversation seriously. "Would it help matters to know that Chloe gave full consent in the situation?" Elijah's measured, slightly taken aback tone paused Connor for a moment before he brushed off the words, somehow straightening his shoulders even more.

"You are her maker. That seems the definition of a relationship with an imbalance of power. Would she have told you no?"

"Judging by every other interaction we've had since she became deviant, I can give a resounding yes to that," Elijah smiled dryly, sincere amusement on his face, and again, when even Gavin knew it wasn't the time for that…

Only...it fucking worked. Connor stayed stiff for another moment, but then his shoulders relaxed slightly and he even smiled back a tiny bit. "Hank once told me that he thinks God decided to make deviant's extra stubborn to make up for all the, excuse my language, bullshit we went through before. Perhaps he is correct."

"Okay, good, now that Connor isn't plotting your murder," the android looked horrified and Gavin rolled his eyes, "can we talk about what to do legal wise for Levi? He needs one of those child advocate people that's just for him, that's important. And, honestly, forget everything I said about not taking handouts if I need a custody lawyer or something." He shrugged at Elijah's stunned look.

"You once called me a dickweed for paying your hospital bill."

Gavin groaned at Connor's surprised, judgemental expression at that bit of knowledge. Way to make him look like an asshat, Elijah. "I was high off my ass on morphine, that doesn't count. Anyway...this shit with Levi, it's more important."

"Then your inflated sense of pride?" The fact that Elijah was clearly teasing didn't really change that it was a dick thing to say and Gavin glared at him, annoyed and exasperated.

"Don't think I won't punch you while I'm at work. I will punch you. In the balls."

"Anywhere, anytime, yes, yes, I know." The hand reaching out and lightly gripping his wrist was a surprise, nearly as much as the words that followed, "I'm quite impressed at how you're handling this. Levi is coping extraordinarily well, and it's clear that he's looking to you for reassurance. I doubt I would have done as well if I'd stumbled upon our father and an abused baby brother unexpectedly." Gavin swallowed. Elijah, who'd always been better than him at everything, always would be, saying that...well, he was pretty fucking weird, so it might even be true, but shit. Way to get all sappy in front of Connor, who literally had instant video replay in his head.

"Uh, thanks. Sorry for saying I was gonna punch you," Gavin mumbled, looking around the room uncomfortably. It was pretty well cleared out, but it wasn't empty.

"I'm sure I deserved it," Elijah waved him off airily, "Now, I've already contacted my personal lawyer and informed him about the situation, I'll ask him for a recommendation for a child advocate. What is the situation with social services? I'm not entirely sure how these things work when there is a relative already wanting to take in the child, but I assume they have to be contacted?"

"Yeah, placement will still have to be approved, it's not like the old man is signing over custody. But one of the androids Connor rescued during the revolution works in child services for our district, he said he was going to contact them and see if they could be assigned the case." Gavin didn't really know jackshit about the civil laws in that area, so he wasn't sure if Connor should be doing that, had a good idea that he probably shouldn't, and for all his reputation as a hothead, Gavin was a cop, he tried to follow the law. But, when it came to this?

Fuck that. He looked over to ask Connor for an update only to find that the android had slipped away, catching the back of his jacket as he went into the breakroom by luck.

"Good, good. I do wish I'd been able to work on the RK800 design, the way he's developed so uni-"

"You're getting fucking creepy with your science shit again. No wonder he left," Gavin scoffed, shaking his head and plopping down in his desk chair. He let himself sag for a second, tipping his head back and letting out a slow breath.

"Hmm." Face unreadable, Elijah leaned against his desk, "Some people will never understand the intoxication of discovery." Not impressed, Gavin made a gagging sound. "So, what does your...interesting choice of paramour think about this new development?"

"You don't have to like Leo, but don-" Gavin paused midword, straightening in his seat.

"You didn't tell him yet, did you?" Elijah sounded way too smug for someone who hadn't a date in like a decade.

"Nope, nope, I did not." Gavin groaned, dropping his head into his hands. It had been a fucking day. And a half. "What time is it?"

"Two o'clock."

"At night?"

"Uh, that would be a no. Catching up to you now is it?" In response Gavin merely let out another groan, and twisted one hand enough to flip Elijah off when he chuckled.