The morning had gone well so far. Connor didn't try to burn down the kitchen, they got to work on time and without incident, the day had gone smooth. The kid even went down for his nap without complaint. Hank had pulled a well-worn blanket from the back of the car and got him settled in one of the conference rooms before heading to get lunch.

Hank had a bad feeling that the day's ease was about to wear off.

They had a lead, which was good of course, but it involved going to question a witness. Connor playing detective was fine at the precinct, cute even, but the idea of him going out in the field turned his stomach.

What if something happened? What if he got hurt, or worse? He couldn't lose the kid again. There was no way he would be able to handle that again.

"Are you ready to go, Lieutenant?"

"Yeah, gimme a second," he responded. There was really no getting around it. He had no real excuse to keep him there no matter how badly he wanted to.

Connor waited for him by their conjoined desk practically bouncing in anticipation. It didn't help his nerves that he was way too eager to go. Kid had no sense of self preservation. He powered down his monitor and grabbed his keys, ready to get this over with.

Hank followed behind as Connor charged ahead to the car, his nap apparently giving him ample energy. "Slow down will ya, some of us are still old you know," he complained.

"Sorry, Lieutenant," he called back over his shoulder. He waited where he was until Hank caught up to him and they walked the rest of the way to the car together.

Connor pulled out his tablet, glancing over the details of their lead. "So, Mrs. Carter is Mr. Sawyer's older sister," he clarified as Hank strapped him in.

"Yeah, that's right," he answered. The buckle clicked, indicating Connor was secure. He was glad he stopped fighting the child seat.

Connor continued babbling facts and theories about the case, but Hank didn't really pay much attention as he drove. All he could think was that the last time he had gone to question a witness, Connor had died. His lunch wasn't sitting well and it didn't feel any better by the time they arrived. Hank barely had time to unbuckle the kid before he was bounding out of the car, entirely too excited about this. It was a bad idea, he just knew it.

"Wouldja calm down?" Hank demanded as they waited for the elevator to bring them to the correct floor. "We're talking to a witness, not going to Disneyland."

Connor frowned, but at least he stopped bouncing. "Sorry, Lieutenant," he said. "It's just nice to be working again."

"Yeah, I'm sure you are," he sighed. Hank shoved his hands in his pockets as they made their way down the hall. He'd rather take Connor's hand, but figured the kid would protest.

He let Connor knock on the door, and waited anxiously for whatever would follow.

-o-

Connor had been uncharacteristically quiet on the way home. Hank thought, at first, that he had fallen asleep again, but glancing in the rear view mirror revealed otherwise. He tried getting the kid to talk and got nothing but silence in response.

Hank reasoned Connor was likely frustrated by the lack of progress on the case. The witness had been a complete bust.

Mrs. Carter had been understandably surprised to see a six-year-old announce himself as a police officer, and hadn't seemed thrilled when he explained he was an android. Hank had gone on the defensive after that. He did his best to keep things light, and to divert her attention away from the kid. There was no way in hell he was letting the woman's bigotry get Connor killed again.

Connor didn't look at him as he got him unbuckled and pushed past him wordlessly as he made his way to the house. "The hell, kid," he complained. Just because he was pissy didn't give him the right to take it out on him.

He ignored Hank's protest and waited impatiently for him to unlock the door. He rolled his eyes and opened the door anyway. "Ya know, I get today was shit, but you don't get to just be a little bitch about it," he scolded him.

The look Connor gave him had to go in the books as the darkest glare he had ever gotten from a six-year-old. "It wasn't the day that was shit," he snapped at him.

The fuck? "Wait," Hank brushed off Sumo who had lazily come over to greet the pair having just woken up. "Hold up. Are you mad at me?"

"Brilliant deduction, Lieutenant."

He must be mad, Hank realized as Connor ignored Sumo's attempt to get pets from the small android. But he couldn't for the life of him figure out why. "The hell did I do?"

Connor glared at him again. "Seriously? You don't know?"

"Obviously not," he countered, getting angry himself. He hadn't done anything, he concluded. Connor was just being a brat, and he wasn't about to stand for it.

The tiny android stood his ground. He crossed his arms and stared him down defiantly. "Your behavior today was highly unprofessional," he accused.

"The fuck are you talking about?" Hank acknowledged he hadn't exactly followed protocol with the interview, but it didn't warrant this type of attitude. "I wasn't-"

"Yes you were," Connor insisted before he could properly protest. "You spent the entire time either preventing me from asking questions or patronizing me. While you are within your right as ranking officer to take control of the investigation, that is not what you were doing. If anything, you were impeding my efforts."

"Now, hold on," Hank countered. Yeah, maybe he hadn't really focused on the investigation, he was too centered on getting the kid out of there. But that woman didn't know anything anyway. She said herself that she hadn't even talked to her brother in months. "I was just watching your back, making sure you didn't fuck things up!"

"You didn't even give me a chance!" Connor declared angrily. "You undermined my authority!"

"What authority?" Hank barked out with a humorless laugh. "You're six!"

He knew he had fucked up as soon as the words left his mouth. Connor's expression shifted, melting from annoyance, to horrifically betrayed, before sheer anger took over. Connor turned without another word, heading toward the door.

"Connor, shit, that didn't come out right," Hank tried, blocking his path.

"Oh, I think you said exactly what you meant, Lieutenant," he accused.

"Connor," he tried again, grabbing his arm as the kid tried pushing past him. "The hell do you think you're going?"

He pulled, trying to yank his arm free of Hank's grip, but was unsuccessful. "To New Jericho. Let me go," he demanded.

"No, kid, just listen for a second, will ya?"

"Let me go!" Connor shouted it this time, putting all his weight into trying to get free. His feet slipped and fell to the floor, only avoiding injury by the hand still holding him.

The fight seemed to leave him and he sat. His eyes were shiny with unshed tears. Hank crouched next to him, trying to push aside his own frustrations. "Ok, Connor, ok. Let's just calm down, alright?" He moved his hand to his shoulder instead of grabbing his arm. "I get you're upset, today didn't go how you wanted. But why are you going to New Jericho?"

Connor refused to look at him, a tear escaped one of his eyes. "It would be for the best."

"The hell do you mean by that?" Hank's heart twisted in his chest. He couldn't be so mad at him that he wanted to leave, could he?

Another tear rolled down his cheek. "What hope do I have of getting anywhere with this investigation if not even you can take me seriously?"

"Hey, now. That's not, I do-"

But Connor wasn't finished. The dam had broken and there was no stopping the torrent now. "I'm trying, Hank. I'm trying to not let what happened bother me, but it does! I died! I died, and now I'm stuck like this, and I'm trying to act like it's ok but it's not!"

He was crying freely now, tears running down his face in rivers. Hank didn't know what to say, but Connor seemed to have no intention of giving him an opening anyway. "I died," he repeated, softer this time. "It was awful, and it hurt. I'm trying to be happy I'm alive, but this body… it's not mine. It's not compatible with my programs. I feel so… isolated. Like I'm cut off from myself. Blind and deaf and crippled, but I'm trying."

He looked up at him and there was accusation in his watery eyes. It cut Hank through to the core. "And now, when I need you more than ever, all you do is make jokes and stop me from doing the few things I can still do. I may look like a child, but I'm still a detective. I'm still Connor!" He rubbed at his eyes as though trying to stop the tears. "And I do not want to be crying right now," he sobbed. "It does not help my point."

Hank pulled him close, grateful that Connor wasn't mad enough to reject his comfort. "Fuck, I'm sorry, Connor," he said. He rubbed the kid's back affectionately. "I'm a selfish bastard. I was so focused on how I felt about all this, I didn't stop to consider how it was affecting you." Hank pulled him closer, letting Connor's tears soak his shirt. "You seemed fine, I should've… Fuck, I should've known better. I'm so sorry, kid."

Connor just continued to cry, seeming to not have anything more to add.

Hank pressed his cheek to the top of the kid's head. "I'm so sorry," he repeated. "I was so happy to have you back, I didn't think… Fuck. And then that bitch didn't seem too happy to see an android, and all I could think of was getting you out of there. I wanted to protect you."

"I don't need you to protect me, Hank," Connor cried. "I need you to support me."

He maneuvered Connor so that he was seated more comfortably, pulling him onto his lap. "Ok, Connor. I'm sorry, you're right." God, he was an idiot. Of course Connor was mad at him. He was the world's most advanced tactical android, being six didn't change that. He would be pissed too if he was stuck in his situation. "But you are still more vulnerable like this, you know that."

Connor just kept his face planted in his shirt as though he could hide from the truth of the statement.

Hank sighed, more at himself than anything else. "How bout we make a deal, kid?" He asked. "You promise you'll be careful, and I'll try to be better about not treating you like a toddler. That sound fair?"

Connor pulled back a little, wiping at his eyes. The tears had finally begun to ease up. "I suppose those are acceptable parameters," he said.

"Good," he brushed at the kid's face with his thumb. "I want to support you, ok? I'll do my best. I'm probably gonna fuck up and get overprotective some times though, so I'm gonna need you to let me know if I'm being an ass."

He leaned back into Hank, finally having calmed down, but looking exhausted from the emotional downpour. "I think I can manage that," he said, almost as a sigh.

"So," Hank pressed after a moment. "Still planning on going to New Jericho, or are you gonna stick around?"

Connor smiled at him for the first time since this shit went down. It was small, but still warmed Hank's heart. "I'd like to stay, if that's alright."

Hank came back with a smile of his own. "Always."