The next day went better. The two of them were finding a new rhythm that seemed to be working for both of them. While the case hadn't progressed as much as he had hoped, they were finally falling back into sync.
That morning, they had gone to speak to Mr. Sawyer's employer but, apparently, he hadn't been into work for the past couple of weeks. Another dead end in their investigation. Connor was still in relatively high spirits though. Even though the interview hadn't turned up any results, Hank had been great throughout the whole thing. Connor was confident he was going to be true to his word and take him seriously from now on.
"Alright," Hank sighed. "That's about all I can take on an empty stomach. I'm heading to lunch."
"Ok," Connor responded, not looking up from his terminal. "I just have a few more things I want to do here."
"Connor…"
"It'll take at most five minutes, Lieutenant," he assured before Hank could scold him. "I will enter rest mode as soon as I'm done."
Hank made a faint noise of disapproval, but didn't argue. "Ok, but don't even think about trying to skip that nap. I can deal with a lot of shit, but I draw the line at you being sleep deprived."
"I'm not that bad," Connor argued, rolling his eyes. He had to admit though, his rationality went down significantly whenever his battery was low. He didn't blame the Lieutenant for finding it aggravating.
"Sure, whatever you say," Hank agreed sarcastically. He shut off his terminal and stood, getting ready to leave. "I'll be gone about an hour. You better be sleeping when I get back."
Connor just nodded. "I will be counting on you to wake me."
"Need anything before I go?"
"No," he shook his head. "I can get myself settled without issue. Thank you though."
The man couldn't resist ruffling Connor's hair as he went. Connor made a less-than-dignified chirp of annoyance as he did. Hank just smiled and went on his way.
Connor went back to his work, finishing it up rather quickly as he had promised. In all honesty, he felt better when he rested for an hour midday. More clear headed, and less needing to worry about his battery levels.
Final touches complete, he powered down his terminal and hopped down from his chair. Pulling the blanket he had brought from home out of one of his drawers, he began making his way to one of the vacant conference rooms.
He didn't make it too far before he was interrupted.
"Hey, Furby. Come here a sec," Detective Reed called out to him.
He considered ignoring him, his levels of irritation were already high, stressing how badly he actually needed to enter rest mode, but there was a chance that it was work related and Connor was nothing if not professional. "Yes, Detective?"
He turned in his desk chair and leaned down to a semblance of eye level. Connor couldn't help but note that he looked a bit nervous or unsure of himself. "You're going to take a nap, right?" He asked.
"That's right," he confirmed, though he didn't know why that would be relevant. "Captain Fowler has said it's alright that I use one of the conference rooms to recharge."
"Right," he nodded. "Well, uh... here." The Detective handed him a large plastic bag. It was opaque, so the contents weren't visible, but whatever was inside was bulky.
Connor took it tentatively. Anything from Reed had an air of maliciousness to it. It was always best to exercise caution. He peered inside the bag and didn't know what to make of what he saw. It was a green, fluffy mass of… something?
"You gotta take it out of the bag, dipshit," Reed sighed, looking annoyed.
He did, pulling it free of the plastic. It was a large stuffed turtle, he realized, though it was somewhat oddly shaped and not at all accurate to life. The tag read 'pillow pet'. Connor loved it instantly. "This is… for me?"
"You, uh, don't need to keep it or anything," the Detective told him. He sounded almost embarrassed with the transaction. "You can toss it for all I care. I just wanted the thing out of my house."
His enhanced sensors took in the silky, soft material, and Connor hugged it close, feeling the plush fabric squish under his arms. "No, I… I really like it," he assured him. "Thank you, Gavin."
Reed seemed to relax a bit. "Well, good," he said. He leaned back in his chair, making it squeak as it protested being bent too far. "I'm just glad someone can use it."
"Thank you," he said again. He never imagined something like this coming from Gavin. Their interactions had typically been tense at best. Perhaps Hank had been right and he really had missed him.
Gavin waved his thanks away, turning back to his phone, signaling that the conversation was over. Connor wasn't about to argue. He made his way to the conference room without another word. He had a nap he needed to take.
-o-
Hank made his way to where Connor was napping. He had been worried, leaving before the kid went down. Typical six-year-olds didn't take their naps without a fight. Then again, there was never anything typical about Connor.
The sight he walked into made him smile just as it usually did. He always looked so peaceful when he slept. Connor was curled up under the blanket. Hair a mess, thumb in mouth, and breathing soft and evenly. It was a shame he had to wake him.
"Hey, kid. Time to get up," he shook him gently.
Connor's eyes blinked open sleepily. He yawned, which Hank knew was an unnecessary program, but one that ran without prompting. "Hank?"
He smiled warmly. The use of his first name illustrated how he had yet to wake up completely. "Yeah, it's me. You have a good nap?"
"Yes, my battery has charged adequately," he answered with another yawn.
He picked up what he had been laying on and Hank noticed the green mass of fluff for the first time. "The hell is that?" He couldn't resist asking.
Connor held it up proudly. "It's a turtle!"
"Yeah, I guess it is," he admitted. God, how the hell was he supposed to treat the kid as an adult when he was so fuckin' cute. "Where'd you get that?"
He pulled it close, hugging it affectionately. "Detective Reed, surprisingly. He gave it to me just before my rest cycle."
"Reed?" Hank looked at it skeptically. Why the hell would Gavin be giving Connor anything? Much less a pillow pet? He didn't even know they still made those. "It's not full of tacks or something is it?"
"No, I can't detect anything wrong with it," Connor shook his head, giving the turtle a squeeze for emphasis. "I doubt the Detective would try to actually harm me, I believe he has moved past that. I am, however uncertain why he would do something actively nice like this "
Hank reached over and started folding up Connor's blanket. "Eh," he said dismissively, "it's not worth the brain cells trying to make sense of Gavin." He had a hunch, but that was something to bring up with Reed, not worry Connor over.
"I suppose you're right," Connor agreed with a smile. He got up and Hank led him out of the room. He was still asleep enough that he didn't seem to notice him taking his hand.
"I just got an email," Hank told him as they made their way back to their desks. "Forensics are in on the shit we pulled from Sawyer's apartment."
"Really?" That seemed to wake Connor up. Leave it to scientific data to get the kid excited. "What are we waiting for? Let's get down to evidence."
"Hold your horses. Not like it's going anywhere," he chuckled and the kid started pulling on his hand in an attempt to get him to move faster. "Here, tell you what," he took the stuffed turtle from Connor's arms, smiling at the slight pout he gave him once he was no longer holding it, and handed him his key to the evidence locker. "You go on ahead, I'll drop this off at the desk, alright?"
Connor's face brightened and he accepted the key. He had his own clearance at this point, but that was wired into his adult body, not this one. He wasted no time in sprinting off to the evidence locker as fast as his little legs would carry him. Hank shook his head, still smiling before heading to their desks.
He set the bundle he was carrying down, intending to deal with it later. "A pillow pet? Really Reed?" He commented to the Detective.
Gavin glared up at him, but Hank knew him well enough to detect the embarrassment in his expression. "What's it to you?"
"Nothing," Hank shrugged. "Just odd that you'd be giving Connor a gift is all. Almost like you're admitting you missed him."
"Screw you," he retorted, not meeting his eyes. "It was just a piece of crap I had in my closet. Someone gave it to me years ago and I was getting rid of it."
"Right," Hank said skeptically. "So it has nothing to do with you trying not to be a dick to kids and feeling bad about being a dick to Connor?"
"No," he said a little too quickly to be an honest denial. "You… just… screw you. I don't need any psycho-analyzing bullshit. He can trash the thing for all I care."
"Alright, alright," he conceded. "Don't get your panties all knotted." He'd had his fun and the last thing he wanted was to discourage Gavin from being nice to the kid. He pretended not to notice that the receipt for the thing was sitting on the desk in plain view. "In all seriousness, Connor really seems to like it. You made him really happy."
Reed still refused to look at him, but he could see the corner of his mouth twitch in the faintest hint of a smile. "Well, good. I'm glad someone can use it."
Hank turned back to the desk, ready to start putting the bedding away before Gavin spoke up again. "Where is he anyway? Thought he only napped while you were on lunch."
"Yeah, he's down in evidence," He told him, tucking Connor's things in the bottom drawer. He had to shove pretty hard to get the fluffy turtle to fit. "Forensics came in, we're gonna check it out."
He let out a soft whistle. "Damn, that's messed up. I'd never be able to wrap my head around that shit."
"What, doing your job?" Hank scoffed, standing up.
Gavin spun around to look at him finally. "No, being in the same room as my own dead body. That'd mess me up. Don't know how your tamagotchi can do it."
Hank felt his whole body go cold.
Shit. How had he not thought about that? Evidence was the last place Connor should be right now. "Right," he tried not to let his growing panic show. "Well, Connor's stronger than that. He's fine." God he hoped that was true. Without waiting for any response from Gavin, he headed down to the locker. He tried to move quickly but calmly, without betraying his anxiety. He just hoped he was right and Connor was ok.
