It was the small things he enjoyed that surprised him.

With his adult body, Connor's legs reached the floor of the car with ease. He hadn't even thought about it, that's just how he sat in a car. Now, with how short he was, they hung loosely. This resulted in the ability to easily swing them too and fro, which proved to be far more entertaining than he imagined it would be if he were still an adult. But he embraced it, allowing himself to at least attempt to enjoy his brief childhood. Markus and Hank weren't bothered by the change, so he would do his best to follow their lead.

"We missed the turn," Connor observed. He could barely see out the window, but he knew how to get home from New Jericho by heart. They were supposed to take the road they just passed.

"I was thinking we could both do with a little fresh air." Hank shrugged from the driver seat. "Thought we could go to the park for a bit, if that's alright."

"Yeah!" Connor agreed readily. There it was again. The idea of going to the park made him way more excited than it normally would. He hadn't really tried the play structure before, even when they went the other day. He imagined with his aptitude for parkour, he would be good at it. Maybe Hank would even join him. Some exercise would be good for the Lieutenant.

He could see Hank's smile even from his spot in the back seat and was doubly happy that his agreement had pleased the man. He kicked his feet and willed the car to get them there faster.

Connor was practically vibrating in anticipation by the time they parked. "Are you actually in a good mood?" Hank joked as he unbuckled him.

"What's wrong with that?" Connor responded, hopping down as soon as he was free. "I was under the impression that this excursion was intended to be enjoyable."

"Smartass," he mumbled under his breath as he closed the car door behind him.

It wasn't as though the Lieutenant didn't have a point, Connor supposed. It was honestly a bit of a rarity for him to be happy like this, especially since he had been killed. "Markus has convinced me to try to embrace my childhood," he admitted. "I… am going to do my best. I was designed to be adaptable after all. I should be able to excel in this exercise."

Hank took his hand before he could run off, making sure to watch the traffic before they made their way across the street. "Markus is a fuckin' miracle worker," he chuckled. "You know, I don't think anybody but you could make childhood into a challenge."

He held Hank's hand a little tighter. "I believe it helps me cope with the situation." He dropped his voice before continuing. "Markus thinks my mind is regressing to accommodate the child body."

Hank nodded, seeming unsurprised by the revelation. It would stand to reason that the Lieutenant had pieced that together already. He was a detective after all, a brilliant one at that, and it wasn't as though his childlike behaviors were overly subtle. "You know I don't give a shit, right?" He said at last. "Six, twenty-something, I don't care. I'm gonna love you either way."

He knew, he did, but it was still good to hear. Even if something went wrong, if he was stuck like this, he would still have Hank. It was probably the most comforting thing he could have heard, even if the information wasn't new. "Thank you, Hank."

Hank helped him up onto the sidewalk and they made their way into the park. There were other children running around, playing with each other and their guardians. It was intimidating, but he had made up his mind to at least try to enjoy himself and Connor was determined to succeed.

"Alright," Hank announced, letting go of Connor's hand. He gestured towards the playground evidently indicating he should go play. "You wanna have some fun, have at it."

Connor froze.

Deciding to embrace his childhood was one thing, but how to enact it was a different story. Sure, there were things he knew he liked, reading, going for walks, watching tv with Hank, but none of that was applicable here.

Connor stepped closer to him, seeking comfort in his proximity. "Hank, I don't know how to play," he said softly. "It's not part of my programming."

"Well shit, ok." Hank seemed to scan the park as though it would provide him with an answer to Connor's predicament. "It's not… I mean, it's usually pretty intuitive." He ran his hand over his face before meeting Connor's eyes. For a moment, he wondered if it had been too long. If Hank remembered how to play. But even if it had been years since he was a child himself, surely he had played with Cole.

Despite his continued hesitance to compare himself to Hank's late son, he knew that was something he wanted. "Will you play with me?" He asked.

Hank looked surprised, as though he hadn't expected the question. Connor worried that the suggestion was a bad idea, that he had crossed some unforeseen line, but the startled expression turned into a smile. "'Course I will, kiddo."

-o-

Hank should not have suggested tag.

Good lord, he was already feeling winded and they had barely been playing for a minute. Even with his tiny legs the kid was fuckin' fast as hell. He had pointedly been ignoring the other occupants of the park, the children that looked older than Connor calling the men that looked younger than he did 'grandpa'. Yeah, Hank wasn't exactly in peak physical condition, but he should at least be able to play with his kid without having a damn heart attack.

It was Connor's unapologetic shrieks of joy that were the only thing keeping him going.

He had started to adapt the game to Hank's abilities. He would run up close, grinning and giggling, then dart away as soon as he made an attempt to tag him. Later, Hank would insist that he wasn't really trying, that he purposefully let the slippery little bastard through his fingers to keep the round going.

Connor let out another laugh before running to the jungle gym and scaling it like he had been in that little body his whole life. Hank chased after him, but didn't bother trying to climb the damn thing. The last thing he needed right now was a broken neck.

He tracked him as he scrambled around the structure, unable to stop himself from joining in with the kid's infectious laughter despite being short of breath. Connor only stopped running when he reached the top of one of the slides. His laugh turned into a warm and genuine smile as looked down to where Hank was standing.

Hank lifted his arms in invitation and, to his surprise, Connor abandoned their game readily. He slid down, the plastic making static crackles and squeaks as he went. He only pulled back from the offered hug briefly as the charge he had built up one the way down zapped them.

"Ow," he mumbled, glancing at the slide as though offended before completing the hug as he initially intended.

Hank just chuckled, less bothered by the static than the kid was. "Caught you," he teased lightly.

Connor giggled, then melted into the embrace. "Yes, you did."

It sounded distinctly like Connor meant more than him winning their game with how he said that, but he wasn't going to think about it too hard. Hank pulled him close, picking him up off the slide to hold him properly and just relishing in the simple joy of the moment.

God, it felt good to be a father again.

Connor tucked his head under his chin, effectively nuzzling him. Connor had always been affectionate, always wanted far more hugs than he initiated. But there was always a hesitation as well, as though he wasn't sure it was allowed or acceptable. As a child, he seemed to abandon those reservations. Hank hoped this experience would stick with him. He hoped that Connor would understand that he was more than happy to hold the kid if he wanted it, even after he grew up.

"Hank?" Connor said softly. There was a hesitation in his voice that contrasted how comfortably he was set on his shoulder.

"Yeah, kiddo? What is it?" he responded. He didn't move them, not wanting the hug to end just yet, but Connor moved anyway, pushing back so he could look him in the eye.

Damn, he looked so tiny and innocent staring up at him with those big brown eyes. "I'm sorry I was so difficult today," he apologized. "I'm… I really am grateful for how patient you've been with me."

Ah, so there it was. The remorse that always seemed to follow after Connor behaved in a way he deemed 'imperfect'. Hank supposed it really was too much to ask that he could skip that bullshit, even just this once. "I meant it when I said you're an easy kid, Connor," he told him. "You're not hard to deal with, trust me."

He shifted his weight nervously, squirming in Hank's arms like he was afraid it was all a lie and he was going to drop him in disdain. "But today… and yesterday really…"

Hank sighed. "You've been stressed, you're frustrated, and honestly, you have every reason to be," he insisted. "Hell, Cole once threw a temper tantrum once because I wouldn't let him eat an eraser. I think you're entitled to have a few meltdowns for the shit you're going through."

"Yeah, but-"

"But what?" He cut him off. "Connor, you said yourself your mind is switching over to kid-mode. You can't expect to be able to control yourself the way you used to, and honestly, I'm glad of that." He pulled the kid back to him while shifting him a little higher on his hip. The kid was light, but he still couldn't hold him like this forever. "You've always had a habit of shoving down how you're really feeling. It's a damn breath of fresh air seeing you actually react."

"Even if it's over something childish?" Connor asked. He still sounded a bit cowed, but there was more confidence now.

"Especially if it's over childish shit." Hank set him on the ground, arms fatigued, but kept him close, hands still holding him by the shoulders. He crouched so they were still eye level, smiling at him encouragingly. "Freaking out over nothing is part of humanity, Connor."

Yeah, he knew the humanity card was one of Connor's sensitive buttons, but it was true, dammit. If it helped him not freak out over unnecessary shit, then he would use any trick he had.

The kid blinked a few times, processing what he had said before giving him a shy smile. "Ok," he said at last. "I trust you. Thank you, Ha-" he paused briefly, considering his words. "Thank you, dad," he finished.

Goddammit the kid could melt his heart with one sentence.

Hank ruffled his hair to stop himself from crushing his kid in another hug. "Alright," he grinned. "Now that we've got that all cleared up, you wanna keep playing?"

Connor's smile turned cheeky. "I'm not sure you can handle much more," he teased. "You really need to work on your cardio."

Hank gave the kid's head a small push. "Smartass."

Connor giggled then reached out and took the hand that wasn't still on his head. "Why don't we just go for a walk?" He suggested.

Hank rolled his eyes but stood up, giving the kid's hand a squeeze. "Uh huh. Taking me for a walk like you do for Sumo?"

"Of course not, Lieutenant," he said in the most unconvincing tone ever to come out of his snarky little mouth.

"Right, sure," he pretended to agree. "So I haven't been degraded from 'dad' to 'old incompetent dog'."

"No!" Connor insisted immediately, not following the self-deprecating joke. He pressed close, squishing their conjoined hands between them and looking up at him earnestly. "You're still dad. I promise."

"Well good, 'cuz those adoption papers sure as hell don't come with a receipt." Hank gave his hand another small squeeze before leading him over to the trail for their walk. As much fun as it was having an excitable toddler, he was glad that the simple things could entertain him too.

They wandered along the path, stopping only when something caught Connor's interest enough to derail their progress. So far that had been three frogs, a shiny rock, and an old nickel that seemed to be a good enough size adjustment for him to use it like he would his quarter. He made a mental note to clean out the kid's pockets before putting his clothes in the wash.

"A turtle!" He cried excitedly, adding it to the list. Only Hank's hold on his hand prevented him from darting forward towards the animal.

"Careful, kiddo," he warned. "Those fuckers can bite."

Connor, ever the animal lover, wasn't dissuaded, wanting to get closer to the slow-moving creature. Hank was sure to keep hold of his hand and absently wondered if he should be looking into child leashes at this point.

He crouched down watching it, but thankfully had enough of his adult sense not to touch the thing. "Did you know, a turtle's gender is determined by its incubation temperature?" Connor announced unprompted. "This one is female, so she was in a warmer area when she was an egg."

"Is that so?" Hank asked, honestly finding the tidbit interesting. He had so much random trivia knowledge in his head now thanks to Connor's habit of spouting information, he should go on a game show.

Connor nodded enthusiastically and reached out towards the turtle.

"Hey!" He scolded, pulling him back just enough to halt his intention. "I said no touching."

"But Hank!" Connor whined. There were those damn puppy eyes again. "It's just a baby. Can't I at least bring it to the river?"

Admittedly, the thing was small, but so was Connor. "Fine," he sighed, defeated. At least he wasn't asking to take it home. "But be careful. I don't want to bring you back to a technician until your recheck, got it?"

"Got it!" He exclaimed happily, picking up the tiny creature. It didn't seem too thrilled, but made no move to bite Connor, choosing instead to swing its legs wildly as though trying to scrape the kid's fingers from the shell.

The two of them scuttled their way down to the riverbank and Connor set their tiny friend by the water's edge. It slid into the murky water and was out of sight in seconds. Connor watched it go quietly, still holding onto Hank's hand. "I think she's happy," he said finally.

"Yeah, I guess so." Hank shifted his grip from Connor's hand to his shoulder and gave it an affectionate pat. He chose not to comment on how it should be impossible for any living creature to be happy in water as polluted as the Detroit River. Absent-mindedly, he picked a stone from the riverbank and tossed it across the water. It skipped once before sinking out of sight.

"Suffice, tension, right?" Connor asked. "You are utilizing the surface tension of the water to make sure it doesn't sink right away."

It took Hank a moment to realize he was talking about the stone. Of course he would try to figure out how such a silly little thing worked. "I mean, yeah. I guess so. Wanna give it a try?"

Connor smiled, picking up a rock of his own and overhand chucking it as far as his little arm could throw. It hit the water hard, splashing against the surface and sinking immediately. "Oh," he frowned, not having gotten the result he had clearly been anticipating.

Sometimes, Hank forgot there were still simple experiences that were new to the poor kid. While an adult Connor could likely work it out just by observing, he couldn't expect that of a child. "Shit, nah, you gotta throw it right," he said apologetically. "Hear, hold it like this."

Hank selected another rock, flat and smooth as he could find before placing it in his hand properly. "You're gonna want to throw it from the side, a little bit upward to get air under it. Surface tension, like you said."

He guided his little hand showing him the motion before stepping back to let him give it a try. Connor let the stone loose and it skimmed across the surface skipping once, twice, three times before stopping. "I did it!" He exclaimed happily before turning to him. "Hank, did you see? I did it!"

"Yeah, you sure as hell did," Hank praised proudly. "Told ya it wasn't hard."

Connor's grin was downright infectious and Hank couldn't help but let himself bask in the parental pride. It was such a small thing, but his kid being so happy with his menial accomplishment just made the whole damn experience infinitely better.

"Anderson?" A voice called from up the hill. "Is that you and your Talkboy?"

Hank looked up to see Gavin making his way over to them. "Hello, Detective Reed," Connor greeted neutrally, picking up another stone to skip.

"What are you doing here?" Hank asked, noting the uniform he was sporting. "Thought you had the night shift last night."

Gavin nodded, slowing to a stop as he reached the two of them. "Yeah, I did. I'm covering for Chris. His kid had a doctor's appointment or something."

"That's surprisingly helpful of you," Connor said, tossing his stone. It only made it one skip before sinking prompting a frown from the tiny android.

"Hey, watch it Bop-it," he complained. "I'm still your superior, you know."

Connor turned from his disappointing stone throw to give Gavin a bewildered look. "Yes, I am aware," he said, either unaware of the subtle insult he had delivered, or playing innocent.

Honestly, Hank didn't know which one amused him more. "Relax, Reed," he ordered. "You know damn well he'll take you down without even knowing he's doing it."

"Yeah, whatever," Gavin frowned, but didn't push the matter. Instead, he kicked his shoe through the rocks along the shoreline before picking it up and wiping it into the river.

"Wow, that one got five!" Connor declared loudly, his focus instantly back on the skipping stones.

Gavin looked confused by the sudden change, recovering only after a moment of staring at the kid. "Uh, yeah. Gotta have the right shape of stone, you get more skips that way," he instructed.

"Nah," Hank countered. "It's all about how you throw it."

"Bulshit. You can't skip a shitty rock."

"Wanna bet?" He challenged. Why not bring Gavin in on the fun. Maybe it would help him and Connor get along more. "I can skip any of these 'shitty rocks' way more times then you can with any of your perfect ones."

"Oh, bring it old man," he accepted with a barked out laugh.

The next ten or so minutes were filled with heated competition between Detective and Lieutenant with their six-year-old referee giggling and showing blatant favoritism to Hank. Not that he was complaining, obviously.

"Oh come on, that was a full seven!" Gavin argued, sounding more petulant than the toddler.

"I only counted six," Connor insisted. "That last one was a splash from the water, not the stone."

"Screw you, it still counts!"

"No, only splashes from the stones count," Connor held firm.

"Why the hell do you get to make the rules," Gavin glared at him, but there was surprisingly little animosity in the look. Hank was starting to suspect this was a show for the kid's benefit. "You're a baby, you didn't even know how to skip stones before today."

Connor crossed his arms defiantly. "If I'm the baby, why are you the one throwing a tantrum?"

"Don't be a sore loser, Reed," Hank laughed, cutting off any rebuttal before it could turn into an actual argument.

Gavin shot him the dirtiest look he could muster, but thankfully didn't push it. "Whatever," he said as though his ego hadn't been bruised. "I need to get back out on patrol anyway."

"Awww," Connor said dejectedly. "But this is fun."

Gavin actually reached over and ruffled Connor's hair, laughing as he protested loudly to the action. "Yeah, I bet it's fun watching your dad get his ass handed to him."

"But you-"

"Anyway!" Reed interrupted, instead of acknowledging that he lost. "I've got work to do if I'm gonna break your old man's record."

"You mean getting to lieutenant? Ha, why bother?" Hank couldn't help but blurt out. "Connor's gonna shatter that record by a decade at the least."

"That doesn't count, he's an android."

"So?" Connor's tone immediately shifted from amused to guarded as it always did with the threat of his personhood in question.

Hank gave Reed a warning glare.

Gavin rolled his eyes and crossed his arms defiantly. "So, not everyone can start working when they're six months old. Doesn't count."

"Five," Connor corrected almost shyly. "I was five months old."

"Yeah, point still stands," he insisted.

"Alright, alright," Hank put a hand on Connor's shoulder, giving it a squeeze, then looking back up at Gavin. "Get goin already. You can still make for the youngest human lieutenant."

Connor opened his mouth to say something. Probably something about how Hank was much farther along in his career by Gavin's age, but he silenced the kid with another pointed squeeze on the shoulder.

"Yeah, whatever." He turned to leave with a half-hearted wave, apparently having realized his soft side had been showing. He paused after taking the first step though. "Oh, almost forgot. The full autopsy report is in for your man."

"It is?" God, could the kid sound any more excited about a dead body?

"Yeah, I got a look at it before I left the precinct," Gavin nodded. "Apparently COD wasn't drowning. Looks like it was thirium poisoning."

Well that caught Hank's attention. "Shit, seriously?"

"No, I'm screwing with you for shits and giggles," he said sarcastically. "I didn't look at it too thoroughly, but from what I could tell they tested for other shit. You know, in case it was a red ice OD. Nothing else in his system. Someone poisoned the guy intentionally."

"Shit," Connor breathed. Hank had to bite back laughter at the word coming out of his little mouth. "So we have another murder to solve."

"Looks like it, sorry."

Gavin left without another word, trudging up the gradual slope back to his patrol car and on to deal with whatever bullshit his shift would have in store for him. Hank couldn't find it in himself to care. Gavin could handle whatever it would be. His attention turned back to the kid under his hand.

"You ok?" He asked Connor quietly.

The boy was quiet for a long moment, just staring out at the water, lost in thought. "I think I've figured it out," he announced suddenly.

"You… what? Seriously?" Hank knew his kid was a fuckin' genius, child or not, but the idea that he had solved the case just like that was mind-bendng.

Connor nodded, detaching himself from Hank's hand and picking up a handful of stones from the riverbank. "The objective is to create the most ripples with a single toss, correct?" He asked.

Hank blinked at him in confusion. "Wait… the stones? You weren't talking about the case?"

Connor looked up from the pebbles in his hand with a sweetly naïve expression that was so completely Connor it was nearly frustrating. "I thought I wasn't supposed to think about the case until work tomorrow."

Well shit, the one time he actually listened to instructions. "Heh, I guess I did tell you that, didn't I." He shook his head in amusement. "Alright, what about splashes?"

"I think I've figured out the most efficient way to ensure victory in a stone-skipping competition," he declared excitedly.

"Oh yeah?" Hank couldn't help but be intrigued. Whatever Connor had come up with was sure to be interesting. "How is that?"

Connor grinned, then tossed the handful of stones into the river. They hit the water in a less than elegant shotgun scattering of splashes. "The more stones that you toss, the more splashes you make," he announced. "So as long as you throw a bunch all at once, you'll win!"

Hank didn't have the heart to tell him that he missed the point. "Well, can't really argue with that," he admitted, thoroughly amused. "Guess that means you won this round."

He looked so goddamn happy. "Can we tell Detective Reed that I won?"

"First thing tomorrow, I promise." He reached out for Connor's hand which he gave eagerly. "Come on, let's head home. You still want to watch that movie, don't you?"

"Yeah!" He exclaimed, now excited to go home. It was the only driving factor that managed to entice the curious android from the various distractions along the way to the car.

It had been a good day, despite the setback at the beginning. Connor was certainly in a better mood, and that was really what Hank had been trying to accomplish. Maybe he was pretty good at this whole dad thing after all.