"As far as you and me I've never had a choice. You feel like home. You're like the opposite of all of my mistakes. Tear down the biggest walls and put me in my place. I know, that kind of comfortable you cannot replicate. You feel like home."

- Bones by Galantis ft. OneRepublic

"Fucking useless piece of plastic!"

Hank swore under his breath, loud enough for the neighbors to hear when his gaze landed on his nightstand where his electronic clock was resided, displaying a disapproving time.

07:43 AM

"Fuck. We're gonna be late." And we're never late, he thought. Quickly getting up and pulling a random pair of pants on and buttoned shirt on before squiring out of his room and into the kitchen.

The Lieutenant sighed in relief that he didn't need to worry about feeding his dog as he sees Sumo already eating his kibble.

"Connor!"

Hank called his partner but was met with silence. His eyes raked through the living room and saw that everything was neat and tidy. The couch was done and the blanket along with the pillow was neatly folded on the corner of the furniture. Like it always was before the Lieutenant woke up. But this time the android that usually resided in the room was nowhere to be found. "First time we're late because of the kid." Who would have thought?

Hank proceeded to grab his light grey jacket and put his shoes on right before exiting the house and locking the front door with a click.

Hank didn't even have time to dwell on any longer as he quickly made his way to the side of his car. Pulling the door open and sliding onto the driver's seat right before he glanced to his right. "Fuck." He jumped and placed his hand over the fabric of his clothes, right where is beating heart was. "I've told you to stop doin' that shit!"

Hank groaned as he realized Connor was patiently waiting for him in the car.

Hank brushed it off and began to search for his car keys, slowly starting to doubt himself. Don't tell me I forgot them again.

Just when the thought of him having to go run back to the house and go rummaging through the rooms the find the damn things enters his mind, Connor holds up his left hand with a set of metal dangling at him without even taking his attention of his touchpad.

"Keys."

Hank sighs, thankful to not have to exert his old body even further, he takes them from Connor.

"Man, it feels like my brain still thinks it's asleep."

Connor's brow twitches for a moment before grabbing ahold of the plastic cup in the holder.

"Coffee."

Hank shakes his head, almost a year with this kid and he still hasn't gotten used to his tactics.

"Wonder if Fowler's called to-"

"Phone."

"You know, I'm starting to think I wouldn't be able to live without you anymore."

Connor's lip twitched upward into a smile, putting his touchpad away, he turned to face his friend. "Would it sabotage your self-esteem if I responded the same way about you?"

Hank lifted his shoulders. "Dunno. Try and find out."

Connor's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I'm confident I just did."

Hank laughed. "I'm just messin' with you, Connor."

"Oh." The Deviant picked up on the human's true intentions, and he considerably relaxed. "Good. Because that kind of comfortable I have with you would be hard to replicate."

"Never say never." Hank's lip tugged at the thought of Connor actually being more invested in someone else's personal life than his own. "How long you've been waiting?"

"I've been up since 4 AM."

"Jesus. Couldn't sleep?"

"No."

"The nightmare again?" Just as Hank asked, Connor's LED turned yellow at the thought.

"The same exact one." Connor only nodded as his gaze was directed elsewhere. He had been seeing similar dreams for the past three months now. It was always about an investigation, him and Hank were always there, sometimes there were other like Sergeant Reed, but it was always slightly different from the others.

Connor didn't like speaking about them, especially when the dream got so dark where he saw his own or the Lieutenant's death.

"I don't know what is going on with me."

"Nothin's going on with you, Connor. Alright? It's all just in your head." Hank tried to soothe his partner. Since the Leader of the Deviants had gotten rights to CyberLife's headquarters they had full access to maintain and control what they're people received from the updates. But that also didn't mean they always knew what they were doing when it came to making androids feel more humanity in their systems. Hank decided to change the subject. "Nervous about today?"

"A little."

"Have you thought about what you're gonna say at the ceremony?" Hank asked while subconsciously checking the time. He scowled himself for not double checking his old alarm clock last night. The Lieutenant needed to be earlier at work today than usual.

Captain Fowler had asked Connor to finally register a last name for himself, since the president had declared surnames to be an obligation along with the rights that the androids demanded, but the infamous deviant hunter wasn't entirely sure on what to call himself other than what CyberLife had given him. Jeffrey had secretly talked about the issue with Hank and now the Lieutenant though he wouldn't have time to speak with his commanding officer before the event at City Hall in the afternoon.

"I'm not entirely good with speeches, but..." That was true. In all this time that the RK800 has been alive, he has never once considered himself doing public speeches. The Deviant Leader Markus has always been well known in that department with his constant thought-provoking conversations. But Connor didn't see himself that way. He would rather help the Lieutenant to the best of his abilities and have him be the steering wheel. After all, Connor did see the man as more of a paternal figure than he would dare to admit. "I do have something in mind."

"You'll do great."

Connor smiled as Hank's constant words of encouragement over the year as made him feel welcomed.

The deviant pressed the side button on the door, letting the window slide down and letting raises of sunshine in. He leaned his elbow against the door as his head out was out, letting the warm summer breeze brush his untamable brown lock flutter in the wind.

Hank glanced at Connor as he saw that the android had changed considerably throughout the last nine months. The old RK800 Hank remembered was but a distant memory as this Connor was more relaxed and carefree. He would be caught in slipping on a contagious smile that spread across his features every now and then.

The Lieutenant hadn't realized this, but he too had changed a lot since meeting the android. Hank had become more responsible and considered to be more empathetic towards the world around him. To make sure that his Connor would stay caring and companionate, Hank would have to continue to be a good role model for him. And at the end of the day both never admitted the affect they had on each other's lives.

Hank smiled at the view, remembering a scene just like this one, but with a little boy much younger than Connor.

"Hey, Dad?"

Hank blinked for a moment and saw a smaller boy sitting next to him instead of Connor. A five-year-old Cole to be exact.

"Yeah, Son."

Hank's gaze momentarily locked eyes with himself in the rearview mirror, a few wrinkles were missing on his forehead.

"When are we going camping again?" A blue pair of eyes meet his gaze.

"Just as soon as the weather makes up its flipping mind." It was heavy raining and Hank didn't enjoy this kind of weather let alone driving for hours in it, but taking his little boy to school wasn't going to stop him. He just had to be extra careful.

"What does 'flipping' mean?"

Hank swore under his breath. He forgot that the kid was like a sponge, soaking up everything you said and then eventually using it to his own advantage later.

"Never mind. Forget I said it."

"But I can't forget now. Once you say something, I'll remember it." Cole said sweetly yet knowingly, and he was right. Cole Anderson was just starting second grade and he was a straight A student with an impeccable memory. Nothing got past him. "Besides, I'm five. Not stupid."

"Well look at you, talking like a know-it-all android."

"I like androids."

"Mhm. You've mentioned. A couple hundred times."

"Can we get one?"

"No."

"Why not?" The kid whined. "Milly has one, and she's awesome."

"And have another smarta- I mean smart mouth like you running around the house? No thanks."

"I promise I'll be good, and I'll help her or him out with chores, and..." Hank debated on the idea while Cole continued to persuade his father.

Having an android wouldn't be such a bad idea. It would help around the house, take care of Sumo and maybe even be company to Cole whenever Hank was working a late-night sift. These were all good reasons to get one, but the expense of keeping and handling one with a single-father's payroll was in fact costly.

"I'm sorry, son, but you're just gonna have to manage with Sumo for now."

Cole's whole light filled face morphed into a sad frown. He's previous cheery need to chat quickly diminished as he slumped into the car seat, leaning his chin against the window frame. Letting small drops of rain color his face.

Hank exhaled. He never wanted to say no to Cole. The kid always did what his father asked of him, but Hank simply didn't have the time and resources right now to deal with this. Cole's birthday was coming up in a week and he had to think of that beforehand.

Hank finally pulled up in front of Cole's school building and set the car on park. Many children were running and playing in the rain while some teachers tried to tell them to stop.

"Got everything you need, Cole?"

"Yes." Cole being excited was an understatement. He loved the attention and playing with the other kids his age. He literally couldn't wait to open the car door so instead he placed his small hands on the open window frame and pulled himself over it to get out faster.

Hank huffed a laugh as he watched his son do that with a pleased smile on his lips. "Cole, ya know that's not what the windows are for."

"I know." He said while he grabbed his pack back from the car. "But I'm ninja." And defended his action with a seemingly good reason for a five-year-old and run off to go meet his friends. "Bye, Dad! See you later!"

"See ya later." Hank watched as all the other kids where brought here by their parents. His gaze soon landed at the floor and saw that Cole left his blue raincoat behind. He sighed. "Goddammit, kid."

Hank blinked again as the memory faded and his gaze met his partner sitting in the passenger seat while he eyed the scenery.

"Hey, you sure ya don't wanna talk about it?"

"I am."

"Well just so you know you can talk about it anytime."

Connor's head simply lifts and drops as his mind and gaze are focused on something else.

Hank didn't like the weird silence Connor was giving him. The deviant usually was the one who didn't shut up and now it was a strange sight for the older man to bear witness.

"Are you excited about today?"

"I guess."

"You're getting promoted to Sergeant, that's a big thing."

"I don't deserve it."

"Whaddaya mean you don't? That's bullshit! You're the hardest working deviant in the precinct! Hell, you're the most hardworking man I know in the state if not the entire continent."

"You're over exaggerating." Connor turned his head to Hank at the how his partner described him, not being able to hold back the small smile that was demanding to be set free form on his lips.

"No, I'm not. You and me have finished more cases in the past year than any fucking so-called team has in years. You deserve it, Connor."

"People are not going to be happy that an android is getting a title."

"Fuck 'em. Don't let anyone get inside your head." Hank paused just so he could glance at Connor for a second, hating the need he had to lecture him. "One of these days it'll benefit you. So, stop being humble and accept the position. Fuck knows I'm not gonna be around forever and-" He stopped as the corner of his eye saw the reflection of Connor's normal calm blue spike to a red on the window.

Before Hank had a chance to soften the tone of his voice or could even finish his sentence, Connor placed his right hand over the roof top and pulled himself out of the car and instead onto it.

"Goddammit, kid." Hank swore as his partner settled himself above him so he might get away from this conversation. "Not again."

This apparently wasn't the first time the RK800 did something like that. Hank swore the deviant acted like a teenager sometimes. It was a hard to keep up with his mood swings. Who knew deviancy had such an effect on him?

"Connor, c'mon."

The android listened but didn't budge where he now was lying, a hand tucked behind his head and a knee up as he watched the blue sky in front of his view.

Hank slowed down the car slightly just in case the deviant would fall off even though he knew the odds of that were low.

The rode to the downtown Detroit Police Department was weirdly enough peaceful considering the usual weekday morning. The Lieutenant finally found his place where to park the car in front of the precinct and turned off the engine.

Hank patted on the car roof as he opened the car door and got out. Connor sighed; he had calmed down considerably as the breeze of fresh hair always had a relaxing side effect on him.

Just as he was on his feet, the RK800 jumped off the roof, making Hank slightly jump and curse another stop-doin'-that-shit again.

"If you keep this shit up, I'll eventually have to explain to someone again why-" He gestured with finger quotes. "-I tie my android on the roof of my car like some sort of prized dear." Hank said as he and Connor started heading in.

Connor huffed a laugh at Hank's colorful idea. He pictured the scene again where a few months back Hank had to explain to an elderly woman about that last scenario. "Well at least next time you'll have a perfectly good excuse."

"And what would that be?"

"That you're not into shooting dears."

Hank slapped the back of Connor's head slightly at his dark sense of humor, which made the deviant finally lighten up and smile. Hank smirked proudly at his young apprentice and how he was finally learning how not take everything in life so seriously.

"Smartass."

Thank you so much for your encouraging feedback in the last chapter! This one wasn't supposed to be this long but that's the power of supporting your writers.

Things will get interesting in the next chapter as new awaited characters will make an appearance.

As for when the next chapter is going to be posted, I'm not entirely sure but I'll try to post more freguently now. Hopefully once a week or every other week. I might just post sooner depending on the feedback from you guys.

As always,

Love ya!