"Markus, North welcome," Brooke said as she opened the door to her friends. Both androids had come to congratulate Brooke and Connor on their successful trip. They both walked through the door, Connor came out from the kitchen to welcome them. He shook hands with Markus and partly hugged North, though she seemed surprised when he did so.

"Why don't we all go sit down in the dining room?" Brooke suggested. Connor led the way through the main part of the apartment and through the archway to the open up room with the oak table inside. They all sat down, Markus wasted no time in speaking first.

"Congratulations on your successful trip. We were all relieved to find out everything went according to plan." Brooke felt her stomach tighten, it didn't go to plan.

"Charlotte's death was not part of the plan," she coldly added. North looked at Brooke, her brows furrowed as she studied the human. Brooke sat beside Connor, her arms crossed over her chest and her whole body closed off.

"Of course. We were all sad to hear of the news of her death, I am glad she got justice and her killer is now in prison," Markus replied. Connor looked at them both, seeing their eyes locked on each other. He decided to change the subject.

"Is there any news on the red ice issue?" he asked, getting Markus' attention. The android looked at the table with a sigh, it was either there was nothing new or many problems had occurred whilst they were gone.

"Yes, we have found more needles, there are more by the day. Also, graffiti has been found outside most of the Havens. They still haven't found the main Jericho haven, but many androids have reported being followed." Connor and Brooke looked at each other, they both hoped maybe with time and more androids converting the red ice issue might fix itself.

Brooke looked at North, "are there any other androids dating humans?" North's top lip lifted partly, she taped her nails into the table.

"No, just you and Connor." Brooke nodded, it wasn't a surprise there were no other human/android couple, both parties were either scared or hated the other.

"We need to get the investigation moving along. Soon something bad will happen," Brooke announced to them all.

"Agreed," North said. Markus stood up from his seat and walked back and forth, he wanted to protect his people, but he was unsure how to when they had little evidence but some graffiti and needles.

"Connor," he quickly said as he turned on his heel to face the other android, an idea jumping to mind. Connor looked up at him with curiosity, "you mentioned before that you could decipher handwriting? Figure out who it belongs to by just a scan of their own with the evidence."

"Correct, I was able to figure out a prime suspect was an android by the handwriting done in the victim's blood. It was not difficult to conclude that no human would write with such neat and precise wording." Markus clicked his fingers together, the best and possibly easiest way to get a new lead came to mind.

"We found a website, an android hating website. Most are anonymous, but post posters of hate speech they have done themselves. If you come and analyze the graffiti, you might be able to make a match from the website." Connor knew this was the best option they had, he stood up from his seat.

"That might work, we will meet you at your Haven soon. We must first visit Hank." Brooke stood up as well, followed closely by North.

"Please let me know when you are planning to arrive, we can get the other evidence ready for you," Markus said as she shook Connor's hand. They were both seen to the door, Brooke and Connor left not long afterwards to go see Hank. Brooke had missed Nala and was looking forward to seeing her again.

They pulled up Hank's house, the older man's house looked just the same as they left. His car was badly parked outside and the front littered with dog toys. "You think Nala has worn him out?" Brooke asked with a chuckle.

"I'm sure he did just fine. It's Sumo I would worry about," Connor joked back. They got out of the car and knocked at the door. Hank answered, wearing boxers and a DPD jumper with a resting bitch face to accommodate.

"Hi kids," he grumbled as he moved to the side to let them in. Brooke barely got one foot through the door before she was tackled to the ground by her Husky. Nala licked and whined with a happy wagging tail.

"Hello, girl. I've missed you," Brooke said as she scratched and stroked her dog. Nala barely gave her a chance to get up, but she was finally pulled up by Connor. They all walked to the living room and took a seat on the couch. Nala sat next to Brooke and Sumo finally came over to greet them both. The Saint Bearnard climbed over Connor, licking the side of his cheek as his ears were scratched.

"How have they both been?" Brooke asked as Hank sat down in his usual chair, pulling the seatback to rest his aching legs.

"They've been good, they are definitely much closer," he replied with a small smile. He looked at Connor, "what is the next step for you both?"

Connor looked at Brooke before answering, they didn't know if it was too early to tell Hank their plans about moving. Brooke decided Hank deserved to know, she nodded at Connor to tell him. "We have decided to move in together," Connor announced.

Hank stared at them both, brows high in shock, but then they lowered and a wide smile came to his face. "I am happy for you both, it is a big step though."

"We know, Hank. We have talked about it," Brooke replied as she looked at Connor. "We don't really see the point in paying for two homes when we spend most of our time at Connor's."

"So I'm guessing that's where you'll both be moving? What about Nala, you have no garden for her," Hank asked with concern. Nala had grown on him the more time they spent together, he would be happy to have her as his own dog, but he cared for her out of respect for Brooke.

"We are putting her in doggy daycare whilst we both are working and she will be walked multiple times a day to use the bathroom," Brooke explained. One of the first things she taught Nala was to alert her when she needed the bathroom, she would usually stand by the backdoor and whine until someone opened it.

"I see, I'm glad you both thought about this. I am happy for you both," Hank said sincerely.

"Thanks, old man," Brooke giggled in reply, even Connor snorted back a laugh.

"Fuck off, Brooke. I ain't old," Hank argued back. He tried not to laugh, but he wasn't doing a very good job at it.

"And just when I thought you had gone too long without swearing, there is the old Hank," she shouted back with a pointing finger. Hank flipped her off and turned to the TV with a grumble.

They watched TV for a while until Connor noticed the time they had to meet Markus. "Hank, we must leave. There might be a breakthrough in the red ice investigations," Connor said as he and Brooke got up from their seats. Nala was sound asleep to feel Brooke move away from her.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner, I will come with you both," Hank said as he quickly went to his bedroom to change. Brooke and Connor looked at each other, both shrugging off his eagerness to join them. The truth was, Hank had been a loner without Connor at work, the days went by slowly and most days Hank would leave early to spend his day with the dogs.

Five minutes later Hank emerged fully dressed and ready to go. "You clean up well, Hank," Brooke said with a slap to his shoulder.

"The woman would be eating their hearts out," he half-joked as they left the house.

Connor, Brooke and Hank all arrived at one of the main Haven's that was known to have many humans lurking in the shadows. They had all been before, but not for a long time.

Hank drove up the gravel road to the front of the run-down building, it looked much better from their last visit. They had slowly been building it up and making it into an actual home. Markus and North waited outside as Hank swung the car around to park in front of them.

"Brooke, Connor, Hank welcome," Markus said as they all got out of the car. North held back on her own welcomes, not too happy about humans being at the Haven, even if she did trust them both. She hoped their presences wouldn't cause any trouble for the deviants that feared humans.

"So, what exactly has been going on?" Hank asked as Markus led them around the back of the building. Some androids watched in fear at the two humans walking close to them, most walked away and nearly ran into the building.

"Well as you can see," Markus said motioning his head to all the fleeing androids, "many are scared of what the humans will do to them. I've tried to tell them that you are here to help, but they just don't believe it." He led them past the slower sides of the building until they got to a wall that had no windows or doors near it, but had the graffiti writing of: 'all androids must die.' written in blood red.

"Shit," Brooke muttered as she looked at it. Connor instantly started to scan and touch it, he of course licked the paint which made Hank near gag. "Connor, you're gonna give Hank a heart attack," she muttered from behind him.

"I've already nearly had three with this asshole," Hank grumbled as he walked away and looked near the bushes for any sort of clues that could have been left behind by the perpetrators.

Connor ignored everyone around him to concentrate. The lick gave him an ID of what paint was used and the possible shops it could have been bought from. The scans of the actual writing were harder to figure out, the writing itself was poorly done. Whoever it was, was in a rush and didn't care if it wasn't fully readable.

"I've been able to find the ID of the paint and four possible paint stores in Detroit that it could have been bought from," he announced to everyone.

North moved closer, intrigued to know more. "What about the actual writing itself?" she asked. Connor looked at her then back at the wall.

"I've gotten a full scan of the writing, I will need to see this website you mentioned earlier. See if the writing matches any drawn threats." Connor turned around to look at Brooke and Hank, they both had their backs to him.

Brooke seemed to be transfixed on something in the bushes as if she was staring at something that wasn't there. "I can get the website sent-" The words from Markus were cut off when they all heard the rummaging in the bushes, Hank's body shuddered at the same moment.

"Hank?" Connor called in concern. Hank slowly turned around his feet near scraping against the torn-up grass. He looked at each person in front of him before he finally met Connor's fearful eyes.

"Connor..." the words came out cold and lost. Connor scanned his body and instantly stopped when he saw the needle sticking out of the side of Hank's jacket, right by his rib cage. It was a self-injecting, red ice needle.

"Hank!" Connor screamed as he rushed over, Hank's body slumped and he fell to the ground. Everyone rushed over, screaming and shouting, but it was all a blur to Hank. All he could see was Connor, his hands darting across his body. "DAD!" The words were the last he heard before his world went dark.

End of part 1.

A/N: I'm terrible for leaving you all on a cliff-hanger, but seeing that even humans can be harmed with something that is towards androids is the ugly truth of this. Stay tuned for the next chapter.