A/N: I'm sorry for the late chapter, guys. Work-life has been so hectic and finding the time has been difficult. I hope you enjoy the chapter, I needed tissues for this one!
Two days had passed since Hank woke up, he was on the road to recovery, but the red ice had caused extensive damage to his heart. Everyone knew that meant his career as Detroit's Police Lieutenant had not come to an end, he was being forced into retirement.
Connor was yet to tell Hank the news when Fowler finally made the decision for his badge to be handed back in. The whole police department was furious with what had happened and Levi was not treated well when he encountered the officers.
Brooke was assigned the case of finding out how Levi first got the red ice supply and finding others that are involved. Gavin was assigned with her, which she was less than pleased with. He had only returned to work from being suspended with his last altercation with Connor and her.
Brooke sat at her desk, looking through the evidence and statement from Levi, she had very little to go off. The chair across from her desk was pulled across the marble floor, she looked up to see who was trying to bother her.
"Hey," Gavin said as he sat down, ever since news passed about Hank. Gavin's attitude changed and he was much less annoying, but Brooke still didn't like him and knew her patience was going to be tested with this case.
"What do you want?" she asked as she threw the sheets of paper across her terminal. He looked at the paperwork and sighed before replying.
"I want to help you, Hank didn't deserve what happened to him and now his job is gone for good." Brooke didn't care if he was trying to give sympathy, she barely could stand staring at him as it was.
"Well, I am trying to get this solved but you coming over here and interrupting me isn't helping, so do us both a favour and fuck off," she said aggressively as she got more paperwork and started to read, hoping he would leave her alone.
Gavin stared at her for a few moments, before slowly standing up. "Look, I know you hate me, you have every right to. But I want to help you if you find anything... just let me know," he said as he walked away. Brooke waited until he was further away and finally dropped the papers, she sighed heavily as she drank her coffee.
She didn't want or need his help, he would get in the way and just piss her off. Brooke sat back in her chair and looked at the ceiling, she tried to think of some sort of lead that might give them an answer, but her thoughts all came back to nothing. Brooke decided to start from the beginning, hoping to find some sort of lead from the first pieces of evidence all those months ago.
Connor sat by Hank's side, the older man was in a deep sleep. His snoring filled the room along with his heart monitor, Conor kept a close eye on it. The moment it might change he would get help instantly. Telling Hank about his forced retirement ate at him, he was worried about how to tell him. Hank's job was all he had after his son died and his wife left him, his work kept him sane and helping put away drug abusers was one of the biggest joys for his career.
The doctors had come and gone, running tests then sighing with no better news to Hank's struggling heart. He would live, but a life of meds was down the line for him. Connor sat back in his seat, feeling the odd strain in his back, it seemed stress affected his body just like a human.
"Connor?" Hank called in a low tone, he slowly turned himself over to look at him. Connor quickly stood up, ready to ring for help. "No, no," Hank said, waving his hand at him. "I'm fine." Connor sighed but sat back down.
"How do you feel?" Hank sighed heavily before replying, he was constantly tired and could sleep for the next thirty years if he had the choice.
"Tired," he yawned. Connor looked at the floor, he rubbed the back of his neck. Hank caught on, "what's wrong?" he asked with concern. Connor looked at him, a sad smile came to his lips.
"I have to tell you something. It's about work," he started. Hank grumbled, looking away and out of the window to the pouring rain outside.
"Tell Fowler he can shove his reports up his ass. I will be enjoying my sick leave before I come back," Hank said with a small chuckle. Connor coughed back his words, he wasn't sure he could even tell him then.
"You...you are not returning to work Hank," he said the words fast and messy. Hank turned back to him, a humorous smile and furrowed brows.
"Yeah, I know. It's just for a couple of weeks. Jesus, Connor, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Hank started to look at the android up and down, trying to figure out what exactly was the matter with him.
"Hank," Connor said, raising his voice, "you are never returning to work. Fowler has had to force your retirement." Hank sat quiet, his face slowly turned red as the fist of sheets in his hand started to become tighter and tighter.
"What the fuck do you mean... retirement. I still have over ten years of work left before I even think of giving up my work." Connor slumped his shoulders and stared at the floor. "Connor!" Hank's voice boomed, startling him.
"The effects from the red ice has caused permanent damage to your heart, you will get better with time and medication. But work is no longer an option, Fowler signed off your paperwork this morning. You no longer work for the DPD." Connor wasn't sure going into that much detail was actually the best idea, he wanted to give Hank time to process it. But his reddening face was telling Connor that time wasn't going to be enough.
"I am not leaving my job, I feel fine," Hank argued. Connor stood up, leaning into the side of his bed.
"You are sick, Hank. Your heart struggled a lot from the red ice, you need medication for the rest of your life."
"Get out," the words were cold and harsh.
"Hank-"
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE, CONNOR!" Hank screamed as he pointed at the door. He held his other hand over his mouth to hold back the cough. Connor tried to reach for him, but Hank pulled away and turned his back to him. With nothing else he could do, Connor slowly stood up and walked out of the room, feeling his world crashing down on himself as the door shut.
Hank rolled over in his bed, facing the depressing wall as he let the tears fall. He felt his life coming to an end, the day he wanted to leave his job would be the day he'd die for it. The memories of Cole flooded him, he hugged himself tight as he cried himself to sleep.
Brooke spent nearly four hours combing through each word and piece of evidence of their case. Finally, she hit the jackpot, an address for a known red ice dealer had slipped past her and the team. It was filed away and left to collect dust.
Brooke knew she needed backup, but the one person that was available was the one person she didn't want to ask. Swallowing her pride, she left her desk and headed towards Gavins, he looked lost into his turned off terminal. When she stopped in front of him, his eyes lit up with excitement that he might actually be needed for something.
"I've found an address that might be a lead. Could you do some backup, if you wanna come?" Gavin nodded eagerly. He grabbed his jacket and pistol and quickly rose up to follow close behind her. She sighed heavily as they left the building and took one of the station's police cars.
The house was not far from the DPD, the area was known for being a plain shit-hole. Drug deals, murders and assaults happened frequently here. Brooke and Gavin parked the car close to the house, but out of view of the residents that were supposed to be living there.
"The report said two men and one female live there," Brooke said as she leaned into the side of her car door. Gavin nodded as he looked at the other houses, they were all rundown and beat up. Crappy old cars littered the road and smoke filled the air that was enough to make someone cough. "What exactly are you hoping to get from this visit?" he asked as he looked at her.
"Information," she replied. Gavin raised an eyebrow.
"What information?" Brooke sighed as looked at him with bored eyes.
"Information on the local activities, what the fuck do you think?" she shouted in annoyance. Gavin held his hands up in submission.
"Alright, sorry. Red ice information, I got it." Brooke nodded at him and got out of the car. She made sure to hide her badge and walk slowly, not wanting to grab too much attention. Gavin followed by her side, keeping close as men who stood in their gardens judged them both.
They approached the door and Brooke knocked. The old oak door creaked against her closed fist, the house was near falling apart, it was that old. Brooke looked through the small side window next to the door when the handle started to turn.
The door creaked open slightly, showing the shadow of a horribly dressed woman, she looked thin and small. Brooke looked at Gavin before speaking. "Hi, uhh. I'm Detective Brooke Quinn, this is Detective Reed, Detroit Police Department. We have been investigating red ice issues in the area. Could you answer a couple of questions?"
The woman's eyes turned from cold rage to fear in a matter of seconds. She tried to shut the door, but Brooke wedged her foot in the way. "We are here to help. Let us in and I'm sure we can help each other." The woman hesitated, she looked at the floor before nodding and slowly opening the door.
Brooke walked in first, followed by Gavin. The house stunk of cat pee and dampness, Brooke rubbed her hand against her nose to try kill off the line of stench, but it didn't work. The hallway they walked into was a tight fit, the woman led them down to the end of it which led into what seemed to be a mix of a living room, kitchen and dining room. The walls of the house were bleeding in old paint and dyed orange from heavy smoking stains. The floor creaked and was mostly broken or covered in some sort of material that Brooke couldn't even guess what.
The woman sat down at the table, holding a fag to her lips as she lit it. Brooke and Gavin stood by the door, not wanting to sit down. "What do you want to ask?" the woman asked as she let the smoke dance around her face.
"We have been investigating red ice issues in Detroit for a number of weeks now, and one report we received was linked to this address. Could you think of why that is?" Brooke grabbed out her notebook to write down each word spoken, something that could be of some help to them.
"Red ice has been an issue around here for years, why do you care now?" the woman asked back. She scratched the back of her neck, they both could hear the flaking of her unhygienic skin.
"Why don't we start from the beginning. What is your name?" Gavin asked, trying to break the thick building ice.
"Layla," she replied. Layla was a sweet name for a woman who looked as if she never ate and did hard drugs.
"Well, Layla. What red ice issues have you seen around here lately?" Brooke asked. Layla got up from her chair and approached her. Brooke held back her breath at the smell of the cigarette.
"Deals of red ice have been higher and higher each week," she said. Brooke wrote it down.
"Do you know these people who are dealing?" Layla turned back around and sat down in the same seat. Gavin was growing suspicious of why she was being so helpful towards them. She was obviously a drug user herself, and he was becoming worried about the two men who are meant to also live here that they hadn't seen yet.
"Yes, I know all of them. Two of them live here with me," she said coldly with no emotion. Gavin held his hand up, now becoming even more worried.
"Why are you telling us all this? We could arrest them and they might blame you for this." Layla looked at the floor, she seemed upset as her eyes started to water up.
"I've been doing red ice, cocaine and heroin for the last eight years. I've seen things, even you two couldn't comprehend. I have three kids that I have no contact with thanks to CPS. These men who come and go in my home are horrible people and they do horrible things to me." She paused to stand up and approach Gavin. "If this is the chance fate is giving me to get them away from my life and out of my future, then I will take this chance and hand them over to you. I just want my life back."
Brooke and Gavin looked at each other, both in pure shock. They never thought Layla would be one to give up all she had, drugs were her lover for all those years and now she wanted to give it all up. How many would do that?
"I'll make you a deal," Brooke said as she looked back at Layla. "You help us arrest all those that are dealing in the area and I will get your pardon from all this and get you on a course of drug use help and get you clean."
"You would really do that?" she asked in disbelief. Brooke nodded as she held her hand out, Layla looked at it. She thought about the decision, but it didn't take long for her to shake her hand and agree to their terms.
"Let's get to work then."
Connor decided to return to the DPD, he didn't have anywhere else to go. He tried to return to Hank's hospital room, but the nurse kicked him out. Their argument had caused some complications with Hank's heart and he needed more rest.
He had expected to see Brooke when he got there, but one of the officers informed him that she and Gavin left a few hours ago to investigate a red ice lead. He sat at his desk, playing with the end of his tie as he daydreamed about absolutely nothing. He tried to think of something, but his mind was so lost. He was used to being in Amandas Zen garden during times like this, but that world had now gone from his mind. It was destroyed when Amanda got shut down.
The commotion at the front of the building broke him from his blank thoughts. Officers were bringing hoards of men and women in, all trying to fight them for freedom. But the android officers weren't going to allow it. Connor stood up and walked towards the commotion, he found Brooke shouting orders at the officers as the lifts opened up with a new criminal in it. Gavin was helping with leading with putting them in cells.
"Brooke?" Connor called, she turned around, an instant smile came to her lips as she saw him.
"Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be at the hospital." Connor looked at the criminals that were being dragged past them. Most were beaten up and looked rough, there were about nine that Connor had seen and more were coming.
"Hank became angry when I informed him about the forced retirement. He kicked me out so I left and decided to leave him alone." Brooke dropped her smile and put her hand on his arm.
"I'm sorry, Connor. He will come around soon, it's just him being his usual moody self." Connor nodded, he hoped she was right. He turned around to walk into the precinct, she followed at his side.
"What exactly happened today?" he asked as he watched a man try to fight an android officer, another came to help and soon they had him back under control.
"I was able to find a lead in the evidence we had. It was an address to a house that was known to smuggle and sell red ice. Me and Gavin checked it out, met a girl called Layla. It seemed all her years of drugs and abuse had caught up and she'd do anything to help get these people arrested." Brooke pointed her out, she was speaking to Fowler in his office. It seemed the Captain wanted to make sure Layla was true to her word before she was pardoned and helped with her drug problem.
"Once she agreed to our terms, we were able to quickly find all those abusing and selling red ice and we arrested them all." Brooke looked at Connor, she was proud of herself. He smiled at her and chuckled at her big show of proudness.
"You've done a good job, Brooke. We might be able to find the source of the red ice used against androids now." Brooke held her finger up to him, shushing him as she fiddled with her pockets. She pulled out an evidence bag.
"We already have something. This," she said, waving the bag in his face. Connor grabbed it and analyzed it. It was a red ice needle, labelled 'android'. Connor could see fingerprints of three different people on it.
"This is covered in fingerprints," he pointed out. Brooke nodded.
"Exactly. Those prints will lead up to whoever is behind this." Gavin had joined them both, he looked at Connor with some worry before turning to speak to Brooke.
"We have put them all away. They'll need to be transported to another facility soon, we can't keep them here for long." Brooke looked at the floor but nodded in agreement. The DPD was designed to hold those for petty crimes, not drug users and definitely not this many of them.
"We just need to interview some of them, then they'll be sent for sentencing," she replied, looking at Connor. Gavin tried to speak to Connor, but he walked away with the evidence in his hand. Gavin sighed heavily and looked at Brooke.
"He will come around soon, just give him time and space." Gavin shrugged his shoulders depressingly and walked away.
Fowler had finished with Layla and sent her away with some support workers. He descended the stairs to his office and stopped in front of Brooke. "Good work, Brooke. This is a massive breakthrough."
"Thank you, sir. We already have a lead on our android and red ice issue. Connor is examining it now. We should have some answers and names soon enough." Fowler happily nodded and patted her shoulder well.
"Let me know what you find," he said as he walked away. Brooke sighed heavily, the pressure was finally starting to come off them all. Soon enough they will have the answers they need and androids will once again be safe to start their lives.
Brooke had convinced Connor to leave the evidence till the morning, she wanted to stop by to see Hank before they headed home. They were going to stay at his house and look after the dogs whilst he stayed in the hospital.
"Connor you can come in," she called as she stood by the door to Hank's room. The lights were on and visiting hours were ending soon.
"He doesn't want to see me, Brooke," Connor depressingly said as he sat on the chair in the hallway. He slumped in his seat as he stared at the blank wall in front of him.
"Fine, I'll be back in a minute," Brooke said as she walked in. Connor wanted to follow, but he didn't want to upset Hank anymore.
"Fuck off," Hank said the second he heard the door shut. Brooke chuckled at him as she walked closer.
"Lighten up, old man," she said. Hank sat up and looked at her, his facial expression softened when he realised it was her.
"Oh, hey," he said as he watched her approach and sit on the end of his bed. "Where's Connor?"
"Sat in the hallway," she quickly replied. Hank raised an eyebrow at her. "He thinks you don't wanna see him after earlier."
"Fuck sake, I was just upset," he grumbled. Brooke kicked her legs under the bed, nodding in agreement.
"Before I call him back inside, I want to know how you are actually feeling about retirement?" Hank was about to shout, but she held her hand out to him to stop him before he tried.
"How else am I meant to feel, Brooke? Overjoyed? Happy? No, I'm pissed off. I am not ready to retire," he said as he played with the bedsheets between his fingers.
"Your work isn't your life, Hank. You need to remember that. Cole wouldn't want you to be like that." Hank's eyes turned to a cold glare as he stared at her.
"Don't drag Cole into this," he shouted.
"Shut up for a minute," Brooke shouted louder. Hank was taken back but sat quietly as he grumbled under his breath. "You act so tough, when you really aren't, Hank. I couldn't imagine what you feel when you think of your son. But there is a guy out there," she said as she pointed at the door. "That want's a father in his life. He has called you dad so many times and you wanted to see the pure fear he had in his eyes when you collapsed. His whole world came to a stop when we thought you were dead. Your work was your life before, but you now have another person who wants a father, just as much as you want a son."
"Brooke, come on," he said as he held back the tears.
"Stop dwelling on your job and retirement. Be glad of what you have, which is a son called Connor and his girlfriend who calls you an old man," she joked. Hank laughed as he nodded, he finally let the tears fall. He had held back so much, he knew just how much he wanted Connor to be his son, but it was a scary prospect. He always thought he failed as a father with Cole, but he never did. Hank was not at fault for Cole's death, it never had been. He just blamed himself for not being able to save his son.
"Bring Connor in, please," Hank whispered. Brooke jumped off the bed and went to fetch Connor. Hank wiped his face and tried to hide the tears and bloodshot eyes.
"Hank?" Connor called as he came around the corner of the door.
"Hello, son," Hank called back. He held his arms open for Connor, the android didn't waste a second before he threw himself into Hank's arms. "I'm sorry for shouting at you earlier, son."
"It's okay... dad," Connor whispered back. Hank pushed Connor away and steadied him with his hands on his shoulders.
"Did you want a father, Connor?" he asked with seriousness. Connor raised his brows at him, he looked at Brooke. She smiled and nodded at him.
"Yes," he quickly replied.
"Then how do you like the name... Connor Anderson? For real this time." Connor's eyes started to burn as the blue liquid of tears rolled down his cheeks.
"I would love that," he cried as he threw his arms over Hank. The older man laughed as he returned the hug.
"Oh, you guys," Brooke cried as she joined their hug. Connor held them both tightly, he finally had a family. He had the father he wanted for so long and a lover he had longed for. He wasn't sure what else could be perfect for their little family.