"There's still work that needs done but we're all safe, and now all that's needed is for Robo to slowly, but surely get back to full duty, though Charlie's going to be doing this in stages all things considered"

"Probably safer that ways"

"Indeed"

The two go back to the station where there were very visibly less officers around than normal, due to the fact that everyone had been warned that Robo was coming in via the regular door entrance and so several officers suddenly declared they had to either go on patrol or meet with an informant. Once Robo was checked out by Charlie, Parks spoke up

"The officers are obviously doing what they can to ease your transition back onto the force Robo, and not only by giving you less officers to deal with in the area at any given time, but I recently, while you were in protective custody, received a comprehensive plan by one person who says that they're representing everyone that I think will work in re acclimatizing you to not only the force but also working in the city"

"What is their plan sergeant?"

"Patrols with another unit regularly, you rotate between them whenever possible and slowly but surely we also start asking you to come in for incidents where there's going to have to be more than two or three other officers with you on the scene"

"I agree to the plan"

The next two and a half months were spent with Robocop regularly rotating between officers, though Madigan was still his main partner, this was not one of those nights, and the three officers were in a more rundown area when they noticed a disturbance and so all of them got out and one of the officers spoke up in their radio

"Beta 6 to dispatch, possible disturbance near the abandoned factory...beta 6 to dispatch do you copy?...Robocop can you reach dispatch? I can't raise them on my radio"

Robocop also tried and would ultimately fail as well

"I have no response from dispatch"

"Right I think we'd better discuss our options before we do anything else"

Ultimately the three agreed that it was safest to go back to the station and hope that nothing more serious happened that night in the area since it was dangerous to check the area out without the ability to call for more backup if it was needed. When they got back to the station they found out that Parks was not happy with them, but they also weren't nearly in as much trouble as they could have been after they gave their report on the comm blackout that they'd all experienced

"I see, I think we need to officially confirm that area as a dead zone then since this isn't the first time this has happened"

"I apologize for not realizing that potential sergeant, after all it is in the same area I was found in after five years of captivity"

Parks shakes his head though

"No Robo, your comm systems were severely messed up, even if you hadn't been in a dead zone you wouldn't have been able to call for help no matter how hard or often you tried"

"Understood sergaent"

"In the meantime everyone needs to write up reports about what took you to that place originally and then Charlie wants to see you Robo, something about equipment upgrades, though I didn't really understand everything he was saying"

"Understood"

It ultimately turned out that the upgrades were in regards to his thermographic scanning abilities, plus his tag weapons were also upgraded. Two nights later and suddenly Diana appears before him

"Diana, what is wrong?"

"I need your help, and unfortunately you're the only one who has the capabilities to help me in the zone I need help with"

And so Robo leaves to help Diana, not realizing that it would get him in trouble, the next day while Madigan was with him beginning work on a new case someone came in

"Robocop, we need to talk"

"What about?"

"Where were you this morning between 1 and 3 am?"

"Directive one prevents me from answering"

"Directive one..." (sighs) "I see, an inquiry is going to be held tomorrow then, in the meantime I'm going to have to order you under guard for the day"

"Understood"

The next day the inquiry begins with the person repeating the question

"Robocop, I need to know where you were between 1 and 3 am yesterday, this is because of the fact that certain...issues have come up and we need to verify your location, and we can't because your tracker was off"

"Directive one prevents me from answering"

(Sighs) "I see, you're still holding to that?"

"Yes"

"Then I guess I have to go about this another way, Diana, was Robocop with you last night between the hours of 1 am and 3 am?"

Diana suddenly showed up and then answered

"Yes actually, I needed his help with something that only he can do, why?"

"His tracker turned off whenever he was...wherever he was, and this isn't the first time that's happened, though at least last time it happened in an area that we've been noticing most officers go off grid temporarily"

"I see, I didn't realize that it was a dead zone tracking wise, I apologize"

"It's okay, but from now on either you or Robocop, though primarily you I think, will have to let us know whenever you need him in that area again, or in any other possible dead zone's"

"Got it, and I'm assuming that with you calling me out to ask me directly about if Robocop was with me or not that I no longer apply to his Directive one around fellow officers at least?"

"That's correct, the chairman will have to make the modifications as well, but Robocop, we know about Diana, and we've known about her for just over two and a half years now so you don't have to keep her help or presence a secret from us. If you're with her for whatever reason and we have no contact with you during suspicious periods then simply tell us you were with Diana and we'll be fine with that, that is if Diana doesn't tell us herself first"

"Understood"

"For now I bring this inquiry to a close and the guard is no longer needed and you're allowed back on full duty immediately, though I do want your help figuring out who killed five people with a gun that's similar to yours"

"I did give the chairman permission to allow the police access to the same technology I have after a time if I disappeared for whatever reason"

"Right, then I guess that's where we'll start, and also figure out who was on duty and who was off duty at the time and figure out where the on duty officers were during those hours before focusing on the off duty officers"

"I shall start when we get back to the station"

"Okay then, oh by the way something else that needs dealt with in regards to you is apparently people are starting to wonder if what happened to you will be made even slightly public, we already know that police officers know what's happened to you during these past five years thanks to you making those videos available to them, but now the public wants to know what happened to you as well"

"I must discuss this with others first, fortunately I have a meeting with them soon"

"Understood, well I guess someone had best inform the chairman about what happened today in regards to needing to change your directive whenever it comes to Diana"

"I'll do that, since this one was my fault in the first place and I should have thought about this a long time ago, like when Robo got in trouble the first time around when the evangelist was killed and he was with me"

"Wait...what?"

"I'll let Robo fill you guys in for now I have places to be"

With that Diana disappears from the room, though everyone suspected that she was going to the Chairman's office immediately to handle the directive issue

"Well, like I said charges are dropped and you're free to go Robocop, I'll be giving you more information on the case later, and later you can give me the story behind what Diana just stated too"

"I shall tell you now since it is a short story"

And so Alex explained what had happened during the evangelist incident and then went on patrol with Madigan before going to his parent's house where he was truly reunited with his mom, wife and son for the first time since he'd been turned into Robocop in the first place

"And how long have you known about this Russell?"

"Since the incident with Tessa Stark, but Alex asked me not to tell you guys and I agreed to that all things considered"

"Wait...that's why Madigan has been checking up on us so much these past five years, and you the most often Russell, she knew didn't she?"

"Yes, I figured out that Murphy was Robocop and tried to get him to tell you guys but he refused to do so, when Robo was lost...well I felt the only thing I could do for him was keep an eye on his family in his absence, even knowing that Mr. Murphy had figured out his identity didn't keep me from regular check-ins, though at least playing chess with Charlie regularly meant I could keep an easier eye on his mental health"

Nancy and Alex hug and Alex actually takes his helmet off and allows his family to see him, see what he looked like without it now, but his looks didn't bother Nancy and she instinctively went in for a kiss which he reciprocated

"I've missed you Alex"

"I know, however I still don't have many memories of you two and my emotions are...stunted, I now have feelings again but they are rarely if ever strong"

"We'll make this work Alex, you may legally be dead, but you're still Jimmy's father and my husband, even if you're now like you are. We'll figure something out somehow, I promise"

"I now belong to OCP though"

"Doesn't matter, I say we'll figure something out so we'll figure something out"

"Nancy"

"Alex, I already lost you once, technically twice if you count the five years you were believed dead as Robocop, I'm not losing you a third time if I can help it, I know it won't be easy considering the circumstances, but I want to make things work out, no matter how complicated that might be"

"Very well, however we need to discuss something together"

"What?"

"Explaining what happened to him these past five years we've thought him dead to the public, all of the police know what happened to him by his own choice, but the public is beginning to wonder now that he's out on regular patrols again. Together all of you need to decide if the people should know the story of these past five years or not, partially because while his memories don't exactly reveal his true identity, they do reference things that might make the public start to question where Robo actually came from, and while in some ways that might be a good thing, in others, especially in regards to your privacy that might not be such a good thing"

Ultimately the family would decide that the public would not learn about what Alex had been through these past five years, and would instead have to settle with what they had already been told by OCP and also explain that the police knew everything because they had to know everything in order to safely work with Robo after those five years (which was true because while Alex was comfortable around fellow officers again and could also handle being surrounded by people, there were still times when he would be triggered and flashback to an incident during those five years and sometimes his reactions to outside stimulation was...violent to say the least, and all officers had to know how to talk Alex down and back to the present without calling on Diana, which before the inquiry wasn't really an option since they all knew that Robo was unaware of the fact that they all now knew about Diana and worked with her whenever necessary)

"I know the public will have questions, but maybe the chairman can resolve the issue without risking the public figuring out what happened to you Alex"

"Let us hope so"

"Though actually, his five year disappearance, and sudden reappearance is part of an ongoing case so all we really have to do is state that until further notice those memories must be kept from the public so as to not affect any potential future case"

"And when that's no longer the case?"

"We can simply say that Robo doesn't want to share the memories with the public, that should probably work"

"Then why not state that from the start?"

"It's still too raw for the public, Murph here was thought dead for five years, add that to the fact that the last case he worked on is technically still open, even after several weeks to a couple of months of him being back and working with me on it, and people are wondering about the past five years and where he's been all this time"

"Oh, that actually makes sense, it's making people want answers even more than normal, while if you wait while investigating the group they'll accept that Robo doesn't want more of the public than absolutely necessary to see what he went through for those five years if you ever catch the people who held him captive all that time"

"Exactly, and while they won't know it, the jury will be viewing modified recordings of his memories, only seeing what's necessary to see while doing our best to not give away Robo's true identity in that he's actually a human who was made into Robocop after being legally declared dead"

"For now though I think you have to get back"

"Right, that's a good point, hopefully soon though a break in the case will allow us to put Murph's captors away for a long time, meanwhile though we have some explaining to do to the chairman about our decisions that were made tonight"

And so Madigan and Robo visit the chairman and explain that they were going to use the excuse of his memories being involved in an ongoing investigation for the moment and then later if that turned out to no longer be the case then explain that Robo chose to not share his memories with the public. And though it took almost another six months the bombing case and the kidnapping case were ultimately resolved. And then after that things would return to normal for almost three and a half years before an incident would happen that would affect everyone, permanently, during this time period the chairman took steps which allowed Robocop to marry his wife for a second time and adopt his biological son, allowing the family to be together again after so many years apart. By this time everyone on the force was used to Diana regularly showing up to either help with a case or ask for Robo's assistance with something, and new officers were introduced when they first joined and were quickly trained to adjust to Diana's regular presence, and then one day Diana entered the precinct and everyone knew it was serious since she didn't normally burst into view in the center of the precinct and instead interacted via computers or in Park's office, but this time she was in full view of even civilians which told the officers that this was serious

"Guys, I need Robocop in an area that is a dead zone in a way, but I also need at least one officer as backup for him"

"What for?"

"The area I need his help in has radiation that's at lethal levels within fifteen minutes for humans, even with a suite, Charlie and I have done calculations in the past and Robocop can last thirty minutes before being in trouble, but he won't be able to get himself out due to how long he's probably going to have to be in the area"

"Robo, it's your call"

"I will go"

"Then I'll be his backup, let me guess I'm to get him out of the area right?"

"Yes, as soon as I appear in the car you're to go inside and get Robocop out of the area and to Charlie"

"Full protective gear on of course, okay let's go"

And so Lisa and Robocop head to the area and Robocop leaves the safety of the car, and exactly thirty minutes later Diana appears in the drivers seat

"You're up Lisa"

"Right"

"And you might want to hurry I think...I think our calculations were off somehow, though Robo pushed through to the exact thirty minute mark"

"Understood"

Lisa would enter the area to find Robo completely unresponsive, and thus had to drag him to the car and retreat from there. She then had to go to a special decontamination unit, and during this entire time tried to get Alex to respond without success. Once decontaminated Charlie got to work on Robo while Parks asked Madigan how Robo was

"How is he Madigan?"

"It's not good sarge, by now he responds even slightly to my voice normally, this time...this time he never woke up or even moved to indicate he was aware of my presence"

"I see, guess we're in for a long wait huh?"

"Yeah"

Three days later and officers were beginning to wonder what was taking Charlie so long in regards to repairs to Robo, or if Robo was even okay, finally though Charlie enters the precinct, but everyone could tell immediately that Charlie didn't have the greatest news, though they hoped that Robo was at least still alive

"How's Robo Charlie?"

"I...I'm sorry everyone, Robo's gone, I tried, Diana doing what she could to help but...we couldn't bring Robo back, the radiation...it was much stronger than expected and damaged too much, too quickly for his systems to adapt safely. He succeeded in his mission despite the incredible amount of pain he was in, I have the last of his memories and his death...wasn't very nice, it was painful to the end. I don't think the Murphy's should know that part, only knowing that he died succeeding in saving a lot of lives"

"Nancy and Jimmy...they only just got him back into their lives legally two years ago through the Chairman allowing Alex to marry his wife again and adopt Jimmy, this is going to devastate them"

"True but at least...at least Nancy and Jimmy will be allowed to mourn Robo's death like a wife and son should be able to mourn him instead of hiding how they truly feel"

"Yeah, at least there's that I guess"

"I'll inform them Madigan you have other things to attend to"

"Yes sir"

And so Parks informs the Murphy's about Alex's death for the second time and a week later, for the second time Nancy and Jimmy are given a flag at a officer funeral. In time those who had worked with Robocop the longest would retire and new generations would grow up only hearing stories about Robo, though Jimmy would also join the police force, unlike his father he would live long enough to retire from the force. He would also see the fall of OCP and Detroit becoming independent from a corporation, though he and the rest of the family would never reveal that Robocop and Alex Murphy had been one and the same. Jimmy would die surrounded by his wife, children and grandchildren dying due to old age, with those family members never having found out the truth about their father-in-law, grandpa and great-grandpa and eventually Robocop would fade into memory and legend just like Robo would have probably liked to have happened though no one could ever know for sure, what was known though was that Robocop had fought for justice to the end, giving closure to many people over the years after his return to the force