It was a genuine rarity that the entirety of New Jericho's leadership had a day off together. In fact, Markus could easily count the occurrences on one hand and have a few fingers to spare. It was an opportunity that none of them were eager to squander.

Besides, the sheer manic joy Connor was expressing at having his friends there for his birthday was well worth missing a couple of stuffy meetings.

Even Josh had made it back in time for the event. He had always intended to try to be home in time for Connor's birthday, but with his current stature, he had made it a priority. As he had told Markus, he would rather face the revolution again than miss out on this.

And, in all honesty, they probably needed Josh here. Connor's excitement at being with his friends was only overshadowed by the notion of being absolutely surrounded by fish. He happily bounded from room to room, pointing at various sea life and stating obscure facts that you wouldn't find on their little descriptive plaques. He was hard to keep track of, even with five adults making it their top priority.

Poor Hank looked like he was seriously regretting not putting the kid on a leash.

Still, none of them regretted bringing him. Seeing Connor so exuberant melted the anxiety that had clouded Markus's heart when he heard he had gone missing. His little brother was safe. He was well. He was happy.

He was climbing into the touch tank.

"Connor, no!" Hank scolded, picking him up before he could get any farther.

"But the anemone!" Connor protested, arm still outreached as though he could will it closer. "Did you know some are highly toxic even to humans? Not that one, but some are."

"That's great," the Lieutenant sighed, blowing a strand of hair from his face. He set him back on his feet, but kept one hand firmly on his shoulder. "You don't need to go swimming with it."

Oh that pout. Markus was going to miss the raw display of emotions Connor had come to embrace as a child. He sincerely hoped he would retain some of it rather than reverting to the subdued, almost apologetic way he usually expressed himself.

"Look at this, Connor," Markus said, trying to direct his attention to a much closer bit of sea life. He reached into the tank himself, gently caressing the starfish attached to the wall there.

Connor's excited gasp suggested he was successful. Hank relinquished his hold so he could move to where Markus directed. His tiny fingers pet the sea creature with a gentleness that would be abnormal for any other six-year-old.

"You know," Josh supplied, reverting back to his educational programing, "Sea stars eat mussels and clams. They use the suckers on their arms to pry them open."

Connor nodded in enthusiasm, curly hair bobbing as he did. "Yeah! They turn their stomach inside out and digest it while it's still in the shell!"

Hank wrinkled his nose at the tidbit of information. "That's… neat…"

Encouraged by the Lieutenant's apparent interest, Connor took that as his cue to prattle on about the various digestive habits of the touch tank's inhabitants.

Markus watched in somber amusement.

"It's a shame he's growing up today," North said quietly, expressing his own sentiment as she took a seat next to him. "He looks so happy."

He moved, so she had more space on the small ledge, then snaked his arm around her waist. "I think, as long as he has the Lieutenant, he will be happy either way."

"I know." Her head found its way onto his shoulder. "It's cute how much he loves his dad. It just seems that he doesn't let himself be happy when he's an adult."

There was definitely some truth to that. "Perhaps, now that he's had a childhood, that will change."

North didn't say anything in denial or agreement. Instead, they both watched contently as Hank wrangled a giggling Connor away from the water once again. "I think we're ready for this," she said. He could hear her smile in her voice. "Our kid is going to be amazing."

Markus entwined his fingers with hers. They had talked about this already. After Connor finished with the child body and Simon ran some tests to work out any bugs he discovered in the unofficial test run, they were going to utilize it as it was intended. They were going to be parents. It was exciting, but the reality of it was still daunting.

"I think you're right," he agreed anyway. The prospect of having their own kid was enough to numb the silent ache that was the knowledge that Connor would soon be an adult again.

They watched Connor attempt to convince the Lieutenant that it was, in fact, entirely necessary that he pet the bright-colored fish that had just swam out of reach. "I think Hank is ready to have Connor back to full size," North mused.

Markus knew it would be bittersweet for the Lieutenant too. As exhausted as the man was from chasing after the boy, he also enjoyed the toddler's antics. "Perhaps. I know Connor is excited, and that's really all that matters."

Simon helped Hank pull a disappointed Connor from the edge of the tank. "Maybe you should have just taken him to that bookstore," he laughed, handing the boy to his father. "He would probably be less of a handful there."

"Eh, maybe. Depends on the book." Hank bounced Connor on his hip. "What do you think? Would you rather be at the bookstore?"

Connor's little face scrunched and his eyes went wide like the question was a serious matter to consider. "I… like books," he admitted. "But fish…"

"It's ok, bud." Hank kissed the side of his head and set him back on his feet. "You don't need to choose or anything, just teasing you."

"Yeah," North agreed, sitting up with a mischievous smile. "Besides, there's no way Hank is going to stop going to the bookstore. From what I've heard, he's very well acquainted with the owner."

Hank's face turned pink almost instantly. "Where the hell did you hear that?"

"I've got my sources," she laughed. "Bit young for you, isn't he, grandpa?"

"Fuck you!"

"Language, Lieutenant," Markus scolded. "There are children." While it was nothing Connor hadn't heard before, there were other little ones about that probably didn't have a father with quite so colorful a vocabulary. "And North, must you antagonize him?"

"Absolutely." She grinned at him without a shred of remorse, not that he expected it. Markus suspected he would never truly understand the push and pull relationship between the Lieutenant and his fiancé.

"Dad does talk to Mr. Mars a lot," Connor observed, completely missing North's insinuation. "Is that odd?"

"Not at all," North assured him. She got him to come closer so she could lift him onto her lap. "In fact, I'm impressed. Should be good for him. So long as he doesn't break a hip, that is."

Connor opened his mouth, presumably to ask how being 'friends' with Shaun Mars could result in a broken hip, but Josh cut him off, eager to change the subject. "As great as it is, discussing the Lieutenant's personal life, maybe we should move on? I think there's an octopus exhibit up ahead."

"Cephalopods!" Connor blurted with infectious enthusiasm.

All of their attention was pulled from teasing Lieutenant Anderson and back to the birthday boy as he bounded excitedly towards the exhibit, hands still dripping from their time in the touch tank.

The leaders of New Jericho and the head of the DPD's android crimes division had no option besides chasing after the toddler in rather undignified fashion. Not even Markus's preconstruction software could predict the erratic yet efficient path his little brother took through the crowd of other patrons.

"Connor!" He heard Hank call in frustration as they pursued him.

Josh, having been the one closest to that particular exit, was the one to actually catch Connor. He cut him off and grabbed him around the waist, hoisting the kid into the air while his little legs swung in the air like he was still trying to run. "Hey, hey. Not so fast," he scolded. "They aren't going anywhere."

Undeterred, he reached for the glass of the first octopus display. "Did you know their blood is blue, like ours?" he prattled, no remorse for the mad dash he had just made. "They're like androids of the sea!"

"Yeah… sure… ok," Hank panted as he stumbled in to meet with the rest of the group. He waved his hand disconjointedly indicating he wanted Josh to hand Connor over which he did. Instead of holding him, he set him on the ground with a hand firmly on each shoulder. "I told you not to run off like that."

Connor, at least, had the sense to look sheepish under his father's stern glare. "Sorry," he muttered.

Hank took a deep breath, a challenge after his recent sprint, and sighed. "Just don't do it again, alright? We'll see everything, there's no need to give me a heart attack."

"Right, ok," Connor nodded dutifully in agreement, but Markus could tell even from where he was standing he was only just paying attention to the request. Ever focused on his 'mission', he was just eager to get back to looking at the sea life and was ready to agree to any of Hank's terms to make that happen.

The Lieutenant could tell too, if his eye roll was anything to go by.

"Come on then," North laughed, taking Connor's hand firmly and guiding him out from under his father's frustrated grip. "Let's all go and look at the octopuses."

Connor lit up, eagerly agreeing to the suggestion and only pausing to look to Hank for approval. How the Lieutenant could withstand those puppy eyes in any fashion, Markus would never know.

"Yeah, yeah," he gestured at the tank nearest to them. A yellow creature with blue spots used its tentacles to crawl across the floor of its enclosure without any care for the outside observers. "That's why we're here, isn't it?"

Oh, the way Connor's face could light up never failed to warm his systems. He needed no more invitation, rushing to the tanks and prattling on about the different species while North struggled to keep hold of his tiny hand.

"At least he can't climb into these tanks," Markus remarked to Hank as they followed behind his brother and fiancé.

Hank let out an unamused scoff, crossing his arms in front of him as they walked. "Are you actually daring to underestimate Connor?"

"That is… an uncomfortably fair point," he admitted with a slightly nervous chuckle. Honestly, there was no telling what Connor was capable of when he put his mind to it. He 'always completed his mission' after all. And right now, that mission was to see some octopuses.

Or so he thought.

Apparently he had taken North's words to heart and he was now determined that they all needed to be present, or it didn't count. He noticed that they were lagging behind and immediately prompted them to join him. "Come on, you're missing it!"

What exactly they were supposedly missing, Markus had no clue, but they still joined the rest of the group for Connor's detailed lecture on octopus anatomy. Admittedly, it was all good information. Just not anything any of them were particularly eager to learn about. Still, they all loved Connor and were simply pleased to see him so happy.

It was certainly a welcome sight after everything that had happened, and Markus wasn't about to take it for granted.