Exhausted and struggling to keep his bloodshot hazel eyes open Gavin responded to his alarm going off again, and promptly checked on the tiny kitten he was trying to save. The little kitten was still alive and responding normally, but until it was at least a week old Gavin wasn't going to hold his breath or let his guard down. Warming up another dose of formula in a clean bottle Gavin carried the kitten over to the couch to sit on the soft furniture instead of the hard floor, and resumed feeding the tiny kitten and did his best to keep it warm while it nursed from the bottle. Wanting to lay down and sleep for more than one hour at a time Gavin yawned and made sure the kitten didn't drink too fast or lose its grip on the bottle as it nursed.

The apartment door opened very slowly and quietly as Aaron set foot inside to check on Gavin and the kittens. Spotting Gavin sitting on the couch with the kitten in the towel nursing from the bottle Aaron sat down beside Gavin and wrapped his arm around his shoulders to pull him up to his side.

"...The little guy is holding on." Gavin confirmed as he watched the formula slowly disappearing. He could still feel the strong front left paw kneading against the towel under his arm and that was good sign. "It's got a strong appetite and all of its reflexes are normal."

"That's good to know. How about you, how're you feeling?"

"I'm tired but this guy is more important than me."

"I'll say." The dark bags under Gavin's eyes emphasized the fatigue Gavin was experiencing. "Have you been up all night?"

"I... I guess." Turning to face Aaron beside him Gavin yawned again and realized how tired he truly was. "What time is it?"

"It's just after seven in the morning."

"Morning? Shit, I had no idea. I guess I went on autopilot."

"Surprised Lucas isn't out here helping with you."

"Lucas never came back. He's working overtime and trying to crack the case since the news got wind of what's happening."

"About that weird 'Shadow Blade' freak?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"Son of a bitch. Talk about a fucked up situation."

"Yeah, undoubtedly."

Kissing Gavin's cheek Aaron admired his boyfriend using the bionic arm without complaint as he held onto the bottle to feed the newborn kitten. "So, it looks like you're adapting to the prosthetic arm just fine."

"Yeah... It comes in handy. Don't make a pun or joke!"

Resisting the urge to crack such a joke Aaron ran his hand down the bionic arm and then back up to Gavin's shoulder. "Looks good on you, too."

"It'll look better when I activate the skin again."

"Why not do it now?"

"...It feels weird. I'm not used to it yet and I don't want to be scratching at it while I'm dealing with the kitten." Pulling the bottle away as the kitten finished nursing Gavin again gently used the towel to rub the kitten's lower belly to ensure proper digestion was happening, and bundled it back up into the towel to keep it warm. "Lucky bastard gets to eat and sleep all day while other people pamper it. What a life to be born into."

"You're exhausted." Very lightly Aaron took the bundled kitten from Gavin's arms and held it in his own. Immediately falling in love with all the kittens when he saw them Aaron was more than happy to feed the little kitten himself. "Lay down on the couch and I'll take over for a while."

Laughing a little Gavin put the empty bottle down on the coffee table and stretched his sore neck and shoulders. "Well, I guess the good news is if we ever adopt a kid we'll have plenty of practice with feeding schedules."

Agreeing entirely Aaron carried the tiny kitten in the towel over to the recliner and sat down as the kitten fell into a formula induced slumber. "As long as I'm not the one who physically delivers the kid I'll change every poopy diaper and take over every two a.m. feeding when the time comes."

"Good thing neither of us have a womb! That'll stop the 'who carries the kid' argument before it even begins."

"Lay down and sleep." Smirking at Gavin as the sleepy detective rubbed his right palm over his tired face Aaron insisted he get some rest. "I'll keep an eye on things and make sure all of the kittens are taken care of."

"Thanks." Falling to his right side over the length of the couch Gavin yawned again and closed his eyes. "Could ya' almost make sure Lucky has extra food? She needs to keep up the calories while nursing."

"Sure. When I get up to get this little guy fed in an hour I'll fill up her bowl, too."

Closing his eyes Gavin let out a soft sigh as his body began to relax. "You're the best."

"Damn right.

"...Love you."

"I love you, too. Now shut up and go to sleep."

Drifting off fairly quickly Gavin let exhaustion win and let sleep take over. "...Okay."

Watching as Gavin's breaths slowed and evened out a steady rhythm Aaron stared at the bionic arm hanging limp over Gavin's side toward the couch and then smirked again. The way Gavin was using the arm and using it to handle such a delicate task as nursing a helpless kitten was truly a sight to behold.

"You know something?"

Whispering to the kitten Aaron's adoring eyes never left Gavin's person.

"I think after you're out of the woods I'm going to go ahead and do it."

Moving his right hand to his jean pocket Aaron clutched at the tiny object he had been keeping on his person for several weeks now as if it were a lifeline.

"I'm going to propose to that man. Gavin, the love of my life..."

Making very slow but effective progress on their investigation the four detectives struggled to keep their eyes open as exhaustion wore them to the bone. After revisiting the witness statements and noting the exact locations where each disabled camera's view was limited, the quartet determined that their suspect was in fact a human at five foot eleven in height and was wearing a dark jacket at every attack. Unable to see the suspect's face with the surrounding cameras that were still active the quartet could only hope to trail the suspect back to where ever they had come from prior to the attacks, but it was difficult to trail a single unknown person throughout the entire city just to get a glimpse of their face.

Needing a break and a quick minute to stretch out his cramped up back Hank walked out of the interview room alongside Noreen as the two humans sought coffee during that early and exhausting morning. Connor and Lucas hung back in the interview room as they cybernetically scanned through the available footage to the best of their ability while their human counterparts took a break.

"It's surprisingly difficult to monitor the security feed of the entire city through the functioning cameras that surround the disabled cameras." Connor's L.E.D. was flashing in yellow as he actively checked through the footage in an attempt to locate the suspect before they struck again. The yellow color often indicated active processors, but in Connor's case it also indicated his own fatigue. "I may have narrowed down their location, but until we can identify the suspect I cannot say for certain."

"My scan isn't any different than yours." Lucas confirmed that the lack of a definitive answers wasn't a one sided endeavor. "I'm going to speak with Gavin for a moment. I'm certain that Aaron is at the apartment and assisting Gavin with the kittens by now. I'll be outside the rear entrance for just a moment if you need me."

Nodding as he rose from his chair Connor took his leave of the interview room for a moment as well. "I'm going to make certain that Hank and Noreen aren't too tired to continue with the investigation."

Within the breakroom Hank was pouring himself and Noreen fresh cups of coffee and checking through the remaining treats from the previous day's little celebration. Discovering that the sheet cake from the previous day still was inside the refrigerator and still had a small amount left, Hank eyed the sugary treat for a moment then turned away from it. The idea of eating pure sugar on top of the coffee was all it took to make Hank's stomach turn.

Next to the cake was a tray of fresh fruit and vegetables on offer as well, and much more appealing alternative. Grabbing a red delicious apple Hank looked at Noreen over his shoulder and held it up in his right hand for her to see. "Need something to eat?"

Seeing the ripe and fresh fruit Noreen couldn't resist its temptation. "Please."

Giving the apple a simple toss Hank grabbed an orange out of the refrigerator as Noreen easily caught the apple with both hands and then ran it under the cool tap in the community sink to rinse it off. "Glad everyone around here is addicted to sugar. You can always find the healthy shit left behind when you actually want to eat it." Setting the orange aside Hank looked for the large knife to cut through the rind, but didn't see it anywhere. "Guess they used our one knife for the cake. Friggin' sugar addicts also suck at putting shit back when they're done."

"Tell me about it." Drying off the apple with a paper towel Noreen took a big bite and began to feel more alert as the healthy sweetness perked up her taste buds. Locating the knife in the sink Noreen passed it over to Hank to take and use. "At my precinct there is ALWAYS coffee brewing and I have a nasty habit of indulging in it. If it wasn't for the coffee in the breakroom I think my entire paycheck would end up in the coffee house tip jar on my block."

"Connor keeps track of the coffee here, so I can't drink as much as I used to. In a way I'm grateful, but I'll never admit it to the kid."

Hearing his name Connor approached the breakroom to check in with Hank, only to have Tina suddenly cut him off and drag him toward her desk by his right wrist. Following after the young officer without any protest Connor noticed the distressed look on her face and whispered in a discreet manner to address the odd situation.

"Tina? What's wrong?"

"It's that Saxon guy." Motioning toward her desk with her eyes Tina set about typing on her keyboard and brought up a strange image on her terminal screen for Connor to see. "He's been glaring at me all week and last night when you guys went into the interview room last night he got really weird."

"'Weird'?" Having heard no other complaint about the officer Connor was genuinely surprised by the claim. "Weird, how?"

"He started muttering under his breath about 'people sticking their noses where they don't belong' and said something about 'people getting what they deserved for disrespecting' him... It's fuckin' weird!"

"Have you told Captain Fowler of his behavior?"

"Yeah, last night before he left. I carried a tablet into the office and made a show of presenting it to him so I could report that little creepy turd without him noticing."

"That was a wise precaution."

"And there's this vid- Shit!" As she tried to bring up a small surveillance video of interest the file failed to open up properly. "I have to try again with the tablet."

"Tina, what's so important?"

"Just... I think I might be seeing things and I want someone with an objective opinion on the matter." Picking up her tablet screen from the corner of her desk Tina gave Connor a pleading glance. "Could you please meet me in the interview room in a few minutes? I'm just..." Peering at Saxon again as the constantly angry officer sat at his desk with an terse gleam in his hollow eyes as he fumed behind his own terminal screen. "Please?"

"I understand. I will meet you in the interview room in two minutes, I just need to speak to Hank for a moment."

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

Stepping away from Tina's desk as she made her way across the bullpen with the tablet in her hands Connor finally met with Hank and Noreen still inside the breakroom. Scanning over the two humans Connor was relieved to see that neither were physically too exhausted after pulling their all-nighter in the interview room, and were getting something to eat. Hank was finishing off his orange and tossed the peel in the trash while Noreen did the same with the apple core, but despite the coffee and food they both seemed ready to get some sleep.

Approaching the duo Connor addressed his partner in a concerned manner behind a mask of composure. "Do you need to clock-out and rest? Your vitals aren't critical, but you shouldn't push yourself physically to the brink of collapse."

"I'm fine, kid." Motioning to the orange peel sitting in the trashcan Hank reminded the deviant he knew how to take care of himself. "I just need another ten minutes or so, and I'll be good to go." As he spoke Hank noticed Saxon enter the breakroom and scrounge around for something to snack on, only to let out a frustrated growl and take his leave of the breakroom as quickly as he entered. "What's with that prick, now?"

Also aware of Saxon's poor behavior upon his entrance to the breakroom Connor informed Hank of the odd complaint against that particular officer. "Tina stated he's been acting weird since the previous day and night's shifts."

"Yeah? Tough shit, we're all tired. You don't see other detectives slammin' shit around like a pissy toddler." Chuckling a little Hank shook his head and gave Noreen a casual shrug of his shoulders as he brought her up to speed on Saxon's problems. "Besides, the lazy fucker got himself put on mandatory overtime to pick up the slack he dropped on everyone else for the past month."

"I'm going to go speak with Tina in private regarding his manner. As of the moment my cybernetic search through the surveillance footage has yielded no results, which means I have time."

"Take your own break, kid. You earned it."

Noreen chimed in with her own take on the situation. "Tell Lucas to do the same. I don't want to know what a sleep-deprived deviant looks like."

"I will do so. I'll see you in ten minutes."

Stepping back out of the breakroom Connor saw Ben and Chris clocking-in for the morning and, unlike Hank and Noreen, the two detectives actually looked well rested. The duo were ready to take care of the case in the event that active detectives needed to back off for a while, but it didn't look like they'd ever have the chance since the currently investigating detectives were bound and determined to finally crack the case.

The energy was high in the precinct and then suddenly tense as Connor approached the interview room where Tina was waiting for him. Despite knowing that the lights were on when he left the interview room, and he knew Tina would never turn the lights off if she was inside the room. Sliding the door open Connor entered the interview room only to hear and feel something 'crunch' under his shoe.

Looking down Connor saw Tina's tablet screen on the ground with a large crack over the surface of the screen. As Connor's brown eyes locked onto the tablet at his feet the deviant was promptly bombarded with a very distinct and noxious scent hanging thick in the air.

Blood.

Glancing about the dark interview room with his L.E.D. now in red Connor quickly located Tina laying on her side and stomach on the floor on the opposite side of the room, just beyond the table. As his eyes locked onto her wide and fear filled brown eyes Connor made a step toward her as she let out a choked gasp and looked at something, or someone, standing behind the deviant.

Sensing the second presence in the room too late due to the shock of seeing Tina laying in a pool of her own blood, Connor could only let out a shocked gasp of his own as he felt a sharp burning pain enter his abdomen once, twice, a third time and then a fourth time. The person who had attacked Tina had either come back to the interview room to finish her off, or had been laying in wait for someone to come look for Tina, and had now attacked Connor.

As the searing pain tore through his abdomen Connor's vision faltered and was bombarded with red warnings regarding the severe damage to his frame, his biocomponents and severe Thirium loss due to the critically damaged lines running through his torso. Stumbling forward one step Connor tried and failed to support himself upright against the table with his right hand while his left hand pressed to his bleeding abdomen. Too weak, stunned and in too much pain to even call out for help Connor collapsed to the floor on the opposite side of the table of Tina, and too began to bleed out as he laid on his stomach.

Instinctively Connor rolled from his stomach and onto his back as he reached his Thirium covered left hand out toward Tina, his vision clearing just enough to see the dying officer laying inches from himself, as she too reached her blood covered left hand out toward him. Their bloodied fingertips just barely caressed one another as their strength ebbed away and the two detectives lost consciousness while laying in an blossoming puddles of their own blood.

The attacker slipped back out of the interview room, silent as death itself, and out of sight as the two detectives bled to death just inches from where they had attacked and struck from behind.

Stepping out of the breakroom herself feeling more awake and alert Noreen leaned back a little and tried to stretch out her back, neck and shoulder muscles after sitting in the hard chair in the interview room for so long. Letting out a small sigh Noreen glanced down the corridor back toward the breakroom in time to see an officer forcing the backdoor of the precinct open with a forceful jerk, just seconds before Lucas stepped back inside the precinct. From the distance Noreen could see the confused look on her partner's face and knew just witnessed something truly interesting.

Heading back down the corridor to meet with her partner Noreen suddenly stopped as she caught sight of something red staining the door of the interview room to her right. Small drops of the same red substance were on the carpet just outside the door as well. Pressing her fingertips to the red stains Noreen quickly recognized the substance as blood and her eyes went wide as she forced the door open quickly to step inside the room to investigate.

"Lights!" Shouting the command as she entered the dark interview room Noreen was also hit with the blood smell in the air and let out a small started scream as she saw the two bloody bodies laying on the floor. "Oh... Fuck! O-OFFICERS DOWN!" Stepping out of the doorway just long enough to get everyone's attention in the bullpen Noreen was moved aside by Lucas as he came running down the corridor and rushed into the interview room to examine the scene for himself. "WE NEED PARAMEDICS AND TECHNICIANS IN HERE, NOW! OFFICERS DOWN!"

"C-Connor?!" Lucas dropped to his knees beside his unconscious brother and promptly pressed his right palm down over Connor's chest to gauge his waning vitals before he pulled open the Thirium soaked buttons of Connor's blue stained dress shirt. The sight of the four deep, snaking and damaging wounds marring Connor's torso stole Lucas's words for a only moment. "...He's been stabbed."

The first stab wound started at the base of Connor's left 'ribcage', the second was just below it and connected to the first creating a single long wound that stretched toward his navel. The third wound was just below it and at a matching angle, while the fourth stab wound pierced Connor's right side on the other side of the navel in a horizontal manner. All of the wounds were deep, bleeding and the biocomponents beneath had been physically compromised.

"Brother!" Shouting a command to the downed deviant Lucas tried to get a reaction while fighting to keep his emotions in check. "Open your eyes!"

No response.

Noreen managed to get to Tina's side in two quick strides as she too knelt down and checked over the downed officer. Tina had been stabbed at least three times in the abdomen, once in her left side and had a worrisome laceration over her left jugular vein. Pressing her right hand to the side of Tina's bleeding neck while using her left hand to apply as much pressure to Tina's bleeding abdomen without actually moving her Noreen held her breath and kept her nausea courtesy of the egregious amount of blood at bay.

"...Looks like Tina's been stabbed, too. I can't see her stomach and I don't want to move her."

A flurry of activity filled the interview room as Hank stormed into the room to check things over, paused and paled for only a second, then proceeded to grab onto the end of the table in the middle of the room to pulled it back to create more room around the downed officers. As space was created it was filled quickly by the medics from the infirmary on the third floor, and Joel, who had gotten the word of a technician being needed, as he raced down from the dispensary with his emergency satchel over his right shoulder.

"Lucas, Noreen," peering down at Connor's bloody form and then to Tina a few inches away Hank was genuinely shocked at the sight. "what the fuck happened?!"

Speaking up in a level tone Lucas told the senior the detective the grim truth. "They were attacked and stabbed. I believe the attacker left through the backdoor just prior to my return."

"Fucking hell!" Shrugging off his dress shirt Hank chose to assist Tina since both Lucas and Joel were helping Connor, and pressed the waded up shirt against Tina's abdomen to help apply pressure to her bleeding wounds. "How in the fuck did this even happen?!"

"...Unknown."

Captain Fowler peered inside the interview room and swore at the sight of two officers covered in blood laying on the floor with a swarm of medics and other officers trying to keep them as stable as possible. Swearing in aggravation the seasoned Captain took a step back and began barking orders. "Put the whole damn building on lockdown! No in and no one out, unless they're paramedics or E.F.T's! Check every room, lock every door and check every corner for whatever the fuck was used to cut those two up! Check the cameras and lockdown the parking garage! Move your asses!"

With Lucas's help Joel was able to cover the bleeding wounds in Connor's abdomen under thick sterilized towels, and hook him up to a portable Thirial activity monitor. The monitor showed a rapid and weak Thirium pump rate with a critically low Thirium pressure and volume. Due to the rapid and significant Thirium loss Joel had to start an external line of fresh Thirium connecting to the bend of Connor's right arm to try to bring his volume back up to a more stable event.

"Shit, he's in insipid shock and unresponsive." Joel noted as he used his audioscope to listen to Connor's bloody chest. "Rapid beat and normal ventilation rate." Moving the bell of the audioscope away from Connor's chest and toward Connor's abdomen Joel visibly winced as he could actually hear all the bleeding and the damaged biocomponents struggling to repair and reactivate themselves. "Severe internal hemorrhaging. Lucas, connect to his system and try to awaken him. He needs to manually deactivate certain functions in order to power up his self healing program."

Lucas removed the artificial skin from his right palm and pressed it down against Connor's bare chest to establish a firm connection. "...I can connect to his processor but he isn't responding."

"Keep trying to wake him up."

The paramedics arrived before the E.F.T.'s and quickly entered the interview room to tend to Tina. As the gurney was wheeled over to the wall near where Tina was laying the true severity of the situation was coming to a head. Tina hadn't responded to anyone calling her name or applying pressure to her wounds. She was completely pale and limp as she was carefully rolled onto her back to have her injuries examined by the four medics gathered around her.

Hank was still holding his shirt against Tina's abdomen and was watching Connor remaining quiet and unresponsive on the floor. As much as he wanted to grab onto Connor's shoulders and shake him awake Hank knew that the best thing he could do was assist Tina and trust Lucas and Joel to save the stabbed deviant's life.

Focused on Connor only as he wasn't a paramedic of any kind, Joel pulled out his penlight and lifted up Connor's eyelids to check his pupils one at a time. "Both ocular relay units are-"

Connor's head jerk away from the light and Joel's hands as his system was forced back online and he took in deep shuddering breaths as his wide eyes darted about the interview room in a panicked motion. Struggling to regain his bearings and access his most recent recorded memory before being suddenly forced into emergency stasis mode Connor's eyes went wide and his chest rose and fell rapidly with panicked breaths.

"Connor! Connor," Joel leaned over the deviant as he tried to get Connor's full attention. "look at me. I need you to respond to my voice."

Letting out a pained breath Connor was instantly aware of the intense burning pain in his abdomen and tried to lift his shaking hands to press to his bleeding stomach. Connor's heart rate began to pick up as his breathing hastened alongside it as he realized what had happened. "...M-My stomach. S-Stabbed!"

"We know." Joel sympathized as he watched the E.F.T.'s enter the room as Chris directed them to the correct location. "You and-"

A loud yell of absolute pain echoed out of the room as Connor's enhanced software and the new update made the pain he was suffering nearly unbearable. Tears filled his wide soulful brown eyes as he let out the scream and tried to curl around himself on his side. Joel and Lucas's hands kept Connor from moving and continued to hold the bandages to his wounds while the E.F.T.'s proceeded to place the second gurney beside the other wall as they quickly began assessing Connor's condition as well.

Lucas put both hands on Connor's shoulders to hold him down and did his best to keep his brother calm. "Connor, you're going to be okay. Lay still."

Opening his eyes again Connor caught sight of Tina's pale face laying a few feet away as the medics worked to get her stabilized before putting her down on the first gurney for transport. Due to his low power and pain Connor was unable to focus his vision for longer than a few seconds at a time. "...I-Is that Tina?!"

"Yes." Confirming that Connor was seeing Tina laying in her own blood, Lucas helped the E.F.T.'s secure an oxygen mask over Connor's nose and mouth to help his core remain cool due to the damage to his thermal regulator. "Tina's still alive, she's being tended to as of the moment. Lay still."

"...Sh-She was trying to t-tell me something."

"Connor, don't talk."

"...Wanted to sh-show me something."

"Please! Save your energy." Moving to the side Lucas gave the E.F.T.'s all the room they needed to hook Connor up to their own portable Thirium activity monitor and cut away his already destroyed dress shirt to get full clearance to Connor's upper body. As the Thirium pressure cuff was wrapped around Connor's exposed left bicep Lucas watched the digital display show disturbingly low red tinted numbers. "You need to stay calm and let us help you."

"...H-Help Tina!" Unable to focus his vision Connor couldn't see the paramedics working quickly and efficiently to stem the bleeding wounds, stabilize her low blood pressure and secure an oxygen mask over her face as well. Tina's neck and her abdomen were wrapped up under thick bandages that rivaled a mummy but Connor couldn't see them. "Tina needs-"

"Son." Hank could see Connor trying to get up from the floor and being less than cooperative even as the E.F.T.'s, Joel and Lucas tried to hold him down. "Tina is being helped and so are you. You need to lay still and just cooperate this time."

"Sh-She needs..."

With Tina now on the gurney and being wheeled out of the interview room Hank proceeded to help keep Connor still while the E.F.T.'s did everything in their power to keep Connor's condition from degrading during the transport to the Zeta Facility. "You need help, too." Refraining from putting his bloody hands anywhere on Connor's person to try to comfort him Hank just used the 'dad voice' to keep control over the situation. "You'll be okay."

"D-Did you see them?"

"See?" Working with Lucas and Joel beside him Hank helped lift Connor up from the floor and place him on the second gurney for transport. "The person who attacked you?"

"Y-Yes."

"No, son." Watching the security straps being placed and secured over Connor's chest, thighs and shins Hank took in a deep and calming breath. "No one saw a thing. Did you see the attacker's face?"

"No... They attacked me..." Taking in a deep and shuddering breath it was clear Connor was losing strength quickly. "from behind."

"You were both attacked from behind? How did that happen?"

"...T-Tablet." Closing his eyes as he continued to lose strength Connor's teary and glassy eyes began to slowly slip shut. "...Ch-Check the... tablet."

With the two gurneys and the teams of paramedics, medics and technicians now out of the blood soaked room Hank took a step forward to follow after the two gurneys, only to notice the heavily damaged tablet laying on the floor near the doorway. Grabbing the fragile and damaged piece of equipment up from the floor Hank stared at the blank cracked screen, and felt his heart skip a beat.

Whatever was on the tablet may have been lost after sustaining serious damage.

"Lucas." Hank passed the tablet over to him to take before he too left the room. "Salvage this and figure out what makes this thing so damn important."

"I will do so." Accepting the tablet Lucas's L.E.D. cycled in yellow rapidly as he exited the interview room to follow after his brother as he was wheeled out of the precinct, and toward the android unique ambulance parked out front. "...I need to focus on Connor first."

Just as Hank himself was about the leave the interview room he felt a soft hand on his right shoulder holding him back. Turning to see Noreen's worried face staring up at him Hank sighed and stayed back for a moment to speak with her. "...I need to go and be with Connor and Lucas at the facility. Can you handle this investigation?"

"Lieutenant, it'd be my honor to find the sick son of a bitch who did this. You can count on me."

"Thank you."

"What about Tina's family?"

"Her sister and mother live in another city, and her father is deceased."

Noreen's mind immediately went to the next appropriate person. "...Gavin?"

Knowing that Gavin was in fact Tina's primary medical proxy because of him being closer than her family, and because of how much she trusted him, Hank sighed and put his hands to his hips. "Yeah. Gavin needs to know."

"I'll call him."

"No, don't. I'll tell Fowler to call Gavin's boyfriend and pass on the message. Aaron's a firefighter so he can handle this shit, and he'll stay calmer than Gavin. You just work with Chris and Ben to figure out where this fucker went, and then drag his sorry ass back in here so we can kick it."

"Yes, sir. It'll be my pleasure."

Sitting in the recliner soft as he fed the kitten from the bottle right on schedule Aaron couldn't help but make small noises at the kitten as its purely adorable presence was enough to make even a heart of stone turn to fluff. Glancing up at Gavin still sleeping on the couch Aaron gave his tired boyfriend a smile as the kitten continued to nurse from the bottle, and knead on the towel. Everything was peaceful in that moment as the early morning went about seemingly as usual until Aaron's phone began to ring in his pocket, effectively disturbing the peaceful atmosphere.

Readjusting the kitten and the bottle with his left hand to use his right hand to fish his phone from his pocket, Aaron glanced at the display screen. Seeing that it was a call from Captain Fowler, his number being stored shortly after things got serious with Gavin, Aaron readily answered the call as he felt his stomach drop the moment he saw the name.

"Yes, Captain?"

Holding the phone to his right ear Aaron spoke in an even tone as he listened to the information with a nauseating pit forming in his dropped stomach.

"Y-Yes, I understand. I'll tell Gavin and-" Pausing to listen carefully Aaron remained attentive. "No, sir. I won't let him leave the apartment with a gun. Yes, sir. I will take every precaution necessary. I'll do whatever I can do to help."

Ending the call Aaron watched as the kitten finished off the formula and used his shaking hands to make sure it was digesting properly, then rose from the recliner very slowly. Placing the kitten wrapped up in the towel down on the safe and warm piece of furniture Aaron walked over to Gavin and put his right palm down on Gavin's slowly rising and falling chest.

"Gavin?" Slipping his phone into his pocket with his left hand Gavin raised his voice to get Gavin to wake up. "Gavin! It's important."

Snapping his hazel eyes open Gavin sat upright quickly and awkwardly as he dragged his right hand over tired eyes and took in a deep breath. "What? Did something happen to the kitten?"

"No, the kitten's fine. It's just... I got a call from Captain Fowler just now."

"Fowler? What does he-" The worried gleam in Aaron's green eyes told Gavin that the call wasn't a courtesy call, and one of a very serious nature. "What happened?"

"This morning Tina and Connor were attacked."

"Attacked?! What happened?!"

"I wasn't told anything specific, but I do know that Tina is being taken to Saint Mercy for treatment."

"...Hospital?" Shooting to his feet Gavin's face paled and his body began to tremble with a mixture of worry and anger. "Shit! I need to go be with her!"

"I know you do, take a deep breath and let it out slowly. You won't be help to anyone if you're too wound up to think clearly."

"Fuck, fuck, fuck! This is my fa-"

"No!" Grabbing onto both of Gavin's hands Aaron held tight and spoke calmly. "I have no idea what the hell happened this morning, but I do know you're in NO WAY responsible for what happened to Tina. Breathe, change your clothes and hail a cab to take you to the hospital."

"Y-Yeah, okay. You're right..." Staring at Aaron for a moment as he dragged his right hand over his stubble marred chin Gavin breathed slowly and then looked at the bundled up kitten in the chair behind him. "Shit. I can't leave that little guy alone."

"It'll be okay, Gavin. I'll stay here and make sure the little guy is doing okay. You go and do the same for Tina."

"You're the best."

Giving Aaron a quick kiss Gavin turned on his heels to hurry down the hallway to change into clean clothes and grab his own phone to keep on his person. There was a single text message left unread and recently sent from Lucas. Checking over the message Gavin tensed up then let out another calm breath to keep himself from losing his cool.

'Tina will make it. Be strong for her.'

"Strong... Right."

Slipping on a clean pair of jeans, a clean green t-shirt and then a thick black hoodie to cover up the bionic arm. He wasn't ready or knowledgeable enough to remove it without hurting himself or breaking the arm by accident. Able to slip on his shoes and tie the laces for the first time since the car accident Gavin grabbed his wallet and his gun before making his way back into the livingroom to leave.

"Please keep in touch at all times." Holding up his phone for a moment Gavin slipped into his back pocket and gave Aaron a pleading stare. "You're my rock."

"Like you even need to ask."

Giving Aaron another kiss Gavin walked toward the door only to be stopped by Aaron grabbed his right arm to hold him back.

"Hold on."

"Aaron? What're you-"

"Gun." Holding out his right palm Aaron gave Gavin a knowing glance. "You know better."

"Fuckin-" Pulling the gun out of the back of his waistband and handed it over to Aaron to keep. "You're right... Just an instinct, you know?"

"I know. Go on. Go to the hospital and keep Tina company until she's free to go home."

"Yeah, thanks. I love you, Aaron."

"And I love you, Gavin. Now go be a hero to Tina and try not to kill any doctors while you wait."

Pulling open the front door Gavin gave Aaron a terse glance before stepping outside of the apartment. "No promises!"

In the back of the ambulance Connor stared blankly at the ceiling of the large bodied emergency vehicle as the two E.F.T.'s hovered over him, and Joel diligently documented the wounds in Connor's abdomen to do his part in bringing justice to the two assaulted officers. Lucas was sitting on the bench beside Connor and was trying to keep his brother as lucid as possible during transport. The bleeding hadn't slowed despite the pressure being actively applied to the wounds and Connor's Thirium pressure was steadily dropping while his system struggled to compensate for the extreme Thirium loss. Blinking slowly as his soulful brown eyes glazed over Connor was beginning to slip into emergency stasis mode for a second time.

Lucas saw the distant look in his brother's eyes and spoke to him in a firm tone to keep him awake. Shaking Connor's left shoulder to keep the deviant awake for as long as possible the deviant tried to think on his feet on how to properly handle the situation.

"Pressure's dropping and stress level rising." The older of the two male E.F.T.'s reported as he added a second pouch of Thirium to the line to keep up Connor's Thirium pressure for as long as possible. "He needs Thirium and incrassation."

The second E.F.T. responded by opening a large bottle of the orange tinted liquid and lifted up the bandages from Connor's wounds just enough to get a good look at them. Slowly pouring the contents of the incrassation compound into the blue bloody wounds to try to get the bleeding to stop the second E.F.T. replaced the bandages to resume applying pressure.

Connor let out a hiss of pain and began to struggle against the restraints as the stinging cold from the compound brought him out of his fog.

"Connor, stay awake for us, brother." Lucas leaned down so Connor could see his face. Watching the interior of the plastic oxygen mask fog up and clear with Connor's steady breaths reminded Lucas that the breathing was a good sign - it meant his ventilation program was still functioning. "We're twenty-two seconds away from the facility."

Speaking in a low voice somewhat muffled by the plastic mask Connor's mind was only focusing on a single thing. "...T-Tina."

"Tina has just arrived at the emergency entrance of Saint Mercy and is being cared for." Cybernetically Lucas checked in with the deviant receptionists at the hospital for an update on the wounded officer. "Her vitals are still strong."

"...Sh-She is-"

"Please refrain from speaking. You must save your strength." Feeling the ambulance come to a gentle stop and then back up toward the emergency entrance to the Zeta Facility, Lucas spoke to Connor in a calm and understanding tone. "We're at the facility. You'll be treated and afterward you can see Tina."

The rear doors of the ambulance were forced open from the outside as Abby and Barry appeared in the opened doors. Helping the E.F.T.'s to lower the gurney down to the ground outside the emergency vehicle Abby stood on the side of the gurney as it was wheeled through the sliding emergency doors and leaned over her deviant patient worriedly.

"Thirium pressure is down to one-hundred over seventy." Joel stated as he and Lucas walked alongside the gurney, his right hand hold the portable Thirial activity monitor as he walked. "Thirium pump rate is holding at one-seventeen. Ventilation rate is twenty-four. Core temperature is hovering at one-hundred point two degrees, and his stress level is up to eighty-four percent. Four deep penetrating abdominal wounds inflicted by an unknown weapon."

"Connor?" Abby spoke to the deviant directly as she pulled her penlight from the breast pocket of her blue scrubs. Shining the light one at a time into Connor's pupils Abby gauged his alertness and overall responses to the waking world around him. "Connor, hold on. I need you to keep awake for as long as possible. We're taking you right into the emergency repair ward and we're going to take care of you."

Lucas nervously accompanied Connor right into the pre-op section of the facility to be readied for the emergency repairs. "You're in good hands, Connor. I'll stay close by at all times."

Connor blinked slowly as he looked up at Lucas and let out a small breath. "...Hank?"

"He's following in the car. He wasn't cleared to ride in the back of the ambulance with you."

"...T-Tell him that I-"

"You can tell him whatever you want to say to his face." Refusing to let Connor offer final words Lucas fought to drill survival into Connor's head. "You'll see him after you're out of repairs."

Abby and Barry worked quickly to exchange the monitoring equipment attached to Connor from what the E.F.T.'s provided to their own sterilized equipment in the repair ward. While the E.F.T.'s packed up their equipment and transferred Connor from their gurney and onto the repair table Abby withheld her grimace as blood seeped around the pressure bandages wrapped around Connor's torso.

"Barry, get him ready for stasis mode." Taking control over the situation Abby looked at Joel and gave him a nod. "Do you need anything from him before he goes under?"

"No, I have the wounds documented." Replying in a rather glum tone Joel reluctantly took a step back from his friend. "...The precinct is going to need help checking through the cameras to figure out how this happened. Once I'm back in my office I'll send over my report so you can compare notes."

"Right, thanks."

Feeling Joel give his arm a small pat as he took his leave of the pre-op area Lucas stayed beside Connor and helped Barry get the bleeding deviant ready for the impending emergency repairs. "You have no reason to worry about anything, brother. You're going to be fine."

"...Thank you for being here." Lifting up his shaking right hand toward Lucas as if needing to make sure he was really there Connor gave him a frightened stare. Helpless and weak Connor couldn't even flinch when felt Barry using sharp scissors to cut away his remaining clothes, and covering him under a white sheet. "...I don't want to be alone."

"You're not alone, Connor." Grabbing onto his brother's hand with both of his own hands Lucas gave him a forced yet confident smile. "When you wake up your pain will be gone, your damage will be repaired and you'll be able to speak with Tina again."

"...I hope you're right."

Seeing and hearing the fear in his brother's voice as again Connor's breathing hastened Lucas was determined to keep him as calm as possible. "I am right, brother. You will be okay, I promise."

The waiting room of Saint Mercy hospital was packed with worried friends and family members awaiting information on their loves ones, and quickly filled with worried cops as word of the assault spread through all the precincts in the city. Off duty officers who knew and respected Tina had come to the hospital to act as honorary security in case the person who attacked her was bold and dumb enough to try to finish her off, meanwhile Chris, Ben, Noreen and Captain Fowler hung back at the precinct to handle the scene of the assault. Once Joel returned he helped the detectives to check through the surveillance systems, and check the entire precinct for any sign of a weapon that caused the horrific and potentially lethal damage to the two wounded officers.

Despite wanting to see Connor over at the facility as it felt like a member of his family was going under the knife, Hank stayed in the waiting room of the hospital as he knew Gavin was going to show up, and he wanted to head the hot-tempered detective off. Pacing near the entryway of the hospital Hank had to force himself to blink as every time he closed his eyes he saw both Connor and Tina laying in growing pools of their own blue and red blood.

"What the hell happened today? How could this-" Stopping mid pace as Gavin rushed through the doors Hank cut off the headstrong detective and grabbed onto both of his shoulders to hold him still. "She's alive. All right? She IS alive."

"What the fuck happened?!" Grabbing onto Hank's wrists with both hands; one organic and the other bionic, he pushed the Lieutenant back. "Where was she when this shit went down?!"

Paying no mind to Gavin's new arm at the moment Hank led him to a quiet corner of the hospital to speak to him in private. "She was attacked in the precinct's interview room 'A' this morning."

"She was attacked INSIDE the precinct?!"

"Fowler, Chris, Ben and Detective Noreen Kayda are working on the investigation as we speak. Connor was attacked, too. He didn't see the attacker's face."

Gavin began awkwardly shuffling his weight on his feet as he began to tremble with fear. "...How bad?"

Not wanting to lie Hank looked Gavin in the eyes and told him the truth. "Bad. But," returning his right hand to Gavin's left shoulder Hank made sure the detective was grounded as he spoke. "she's strong and the surgeons are optimistic that she'll make a full recovery."

"Tell me how bad it is. Where was she hit?"

"She was stabbed in the stomach. I didn't see how many times and I don't know what got hit or what was missed."

"Shit..."

"Hey, it's hard but take it easy. Tina needs you to be the one to keep her mom and sister calm."

"...Do they know what's going on?"

"No. Fowler figured it'd be easier on them if you called them instead. They love and trust you."

"...What do I say? How do I tell them that Tina was attacked in her own precinct?"

"Tell her sister that Tina's in the hospital having surgery. Keep it vague to prevent panic and then after they both get here tell them both as much as you can."

Letting out a deep breath Gavin all but fought with himself to keep his emotions composed and in check. "Fuck me."

"Hey, you got this. You need to do this for Tina."

"Yeah, yeah... I know." Pushing Hank's hand from his shoulder again Gavin took in a deep calming breath. "Give me a minute to think and then you go and be with Connor. I'll stay with Tina until she's ready to sign the discharge papers."

"Right." Proud of the remark Hank nodded and gave Gavin some space so he could speak on the phone in private. "Good work as usual, Reed."

The emergency repair bay was prepped for the upcoming procedure and Connor was laying on the repair table with only a white sheet to cover his lower body, wireless leads attached to his chest and a Thirium pressure cuff wrapped around his left bicep. Taking in slow deep breaths that made his whole chest heave up and then back down Connor stared up at the ceiling even as Abby pulled the oxygen mask away from his face so she could speak more directly with him before he was put into stasis mode.

Seeing Abby's face behind a surgical mask wasn't the most comforting sight in the world, but in that moment just having a trusted technician standing nearby was more than Connor could hope for. The numerous red warnings in his vision that would go in and out of focus rhythmically told Connor everything he needed to know about severe his condition had truly become.

"Lucas is outside in the waiting room and speaking with Hank. From what I've heard the other officer, Tina, is undergoing emergency surgery and the outcome looks good."

Not responding to the comments Connor seemed less like a patient and more like a cadaver.

"Hey?" Abby could see that Connor was staring off into space and knew that he was preconstructing his odds of survival. "I'm going to do everything in my power to keep you functioning. This world still needs you to be a part of it, and I won't be the one responsible for you being lost."

Barry hung another pouch of Thirium to the I.V. stand beside the table and promptly connected it to the external line running into Connor's right arm. The pouch of sapphire liquid swung gently and caused the five other now empty Thirium pouches behind it to jostle about in an almost taunting manner in Connor's eyes.

Blinking slowly Connor commented on his heavy Thirium loss as he looked down at the bled through pressure bandages still covering his abdomen. "...That's the sixth Thirium pouch I've been given."

Abby put her right palm atop Connor's hair and lightly combed her fingers through the dark locks in a comforting manner as she spoke to him. "You know as much as I do that a small amount of blood can look like a lot with very little effort."

"...Six pints isn't little."

"Well, you were bleeding pretty heavily before you got here. We have it mostly under control right now."

"...Mostly?"

"Your biocomponents and many Thirium lines have been damaged. You're going to bleed no matter how many bandages we give you or how much pressure we apply."

"...That amount of bleeding could be caused by damage to my thoracic Thirial lines."

"Or it could be a loosened line feeding into one of the biocomponents, a combination of a bunch of smaller lines being severed, or even a small nick in your artificial stomach causing any Thirium that your system didn't have time to absorb to leak into your abdomen. Neither of us can say for sure until I get in there and see the damage for myself."

"...It has to be severe."

"Connor, you need to just lay there and let me do all the work, okay? I'm going to find all the damage, mend it and then do a thorough exploratory of your entire abdomen to make sure nothing is overlooked. I won't miss anything, I swear it."

"...I'm glad you're the one who's here."

Barry returned to the table and connected a long black diagnostic cable to Connor's red glowing L.E.D. to use the diagnostic modem to override his state of consciousness, and cause him to enter emergency stasis mode. "Everything is ready for you, Dr. Grayson."

"Okay, Barry. Start putting him under." Keeping her hand in place Abby locked eyes with Connor and didn't look away. "You'll be in emergency stasis mode and you'll have an external air intake line inserted down your throat and connected to an external ventilator to ensure you ventilate proper while unconscious. You won't feel a thing."

Connor's eyes glazed over quickly and his eyelids fluttered shut as his head lolled to the side toward Abby.

"Connor?" Checking on his state of consciousness Abby called his name and made sure he was completely under before walking away. "Connor, you're going to pull through this mess."

Barry confirmed that Connor was in emergency stasis mode and gave Abby an update on his vitals. "The patient is in emergency stasis mode until an override command is delivered. Thirium pump rate is one-hundred and twenty-six, ventilation rate is twenty-six, Thirium pressure is one-ten over seventy, Thirium volume is seventy-one percent, the core temperature is static at one-hundred point three degrees Fahrenheit and his stress level has dropped to seventy-eight percent."

"Okay. Insert the external air intake line and set the ventilator to eighteen, and set the temperature control of the table to sixty degrees." Pulling her long brunette hair back Abby stepped away to find a hair tie and to change into fresh and sterilized scrubs. "I'm going to go wash, gown up and glove up. Stay with him, Barry!"

The precinct was heavy and morose with utter shock and disgust at the idea of two detectives being assaulted and nearly killed just feet away from where everyone else was working. The condition of the tarnished interview room was a nauseating sight to behold as Captain Fowler led the investigation and made sure Ben's C.S.I boys documented every square inch of the room. The door was being photographed inside and out, and the carpeting was being analyzed to confirm the blood samples as their two officers for the sake protocol. Where Tina's red blood blended in with Connor's blue blood had created a macabre stain of purple in the previous gray fibers for everyone to see.

While the interview room was being photographed the precinct's surveillance systems were being examined, and every available person was checking every nook and cranny of the building to try and locate the weapon used on the two officers. They knew that Tina and Connor had been stabbed, but they couldn't be certain of what was used until the weapon itself was found.

Noreen walked down the corridor leading to the back of the precinct as she told Captain Fowler what she had seen just prior to discovering the assault in the interview room. As they reached the backdoor Noreen stopped and made sure no detail was overlooked during her statement.

"So," considering the detective's words carefully Captain Fowler made his own assessment of the situation at hand. "you saw someone leave the precinct through the backdoor in a pissed off manner, but you didn't see who it was, and you didn't see them leaving the interview room?"

"That's correct, sir."

"But Lucas may have seen them when he returned to the precinct through the same door?"

"Yes, sir. Right now Lucas is at the Zeta Facility, and I presume Lieutenant Anderson is there as well."

"All right. I'll get Lucas's statement later. Now, after you saw the unknown person leave through the backdoor you came down the corridor," looking back at the sectioned off interview room Captain Fowler's narrowed with absolute revulsion as he walked through each step with Noreen at his side. "you wanted to ask Lucas about who that person was, but took notice of blood stains on the door of the interview room and became distracted."

"That's correct. I saw the red stains, checked what they were, and immediately opened the door to investigate upon confirming it was blood."

"That's when you saw Officer Chen and Sergeant Wolf laying on the floor."

"Yes, sir. I called for assistance and administered basic emergency first aid to Officer Chen to try to stem the bleeding while Lucas tended to Sergeant Wolf."

"Did anyone else see the person who left through the backdoor besides Lucas and yourself?"

"I can't say for certain, sir."

"All right. Good work, Detective Kayda."

"Where do you need me?"

"Work with our technician, Dr. Joel Forest, and check through the surveillance footage. You might be able to see the suspect leaving or entering the building."

"Yes, sir."

Quickly walking down the corridor Noreen made a noticeable effort to not peer inside the bloodied interview room as she walked past to get to the bullpen. Seeing Joel sitting at Connor's desk as he used the terminal to check through the precinct's recorded surveillance footage, Noreen let out a slow breath to steel her nerves and put on a confident face during the unsettling investigation.

Sensing Noreen walking up to the desk Joel turned to acknowledge the detective and leaned back in the chair so she could see the footage playing on the terminal screen. "I can't explain it, but just before the person you saw exited the backdoor the camera feed cut out."

"...Cut out?" A huge red flag went flying high in Noreen's mind as she had a gut feeling that the suspect they had been trailing after for weeks now had actually been inside the precinct. Their 'Shadow Blade' had attacked two detectives right under their noses. "Dr. Forest, what caused the camera to cut out like that?"

"I don't know. And call me 'Joel'."

"Well, how do we find out, Joel?"

"We need to check out the camera directly and investigate it for any sign of tampering."

"That camera is positioned just above the backdoor and is practically invisible unless you're looking for it."

"Then let's go take a look."

Nodding as Joel rose from the chair Noreen again averted her gaze as she passed by the interview room and reached the end of the corridor. Opening the backdoor she stepped outside into the blazing summer heat first, while Joel followed close behind. Using her left hand to shield her eyes from the intense sunlight overhead Noreen looked for the camera over the door and saw its lens glinting in the light in the middle of the door's frame.

"There." Pointing to the camera with her right hand Noreen directed Joel's eyes to the correct location. "Think the sun melted it?"

"Maybe." Approaching the doorway Joel looked around for a ladder or anything to climb on but saw nothing available. Giving Noreen a slightly puzzled glance Joel motioned upward with his right thumb in an almost casual manner. "Do you mind?"

"No, I can do it."

Crouching down a little Joel interlaced his fingers from both hands together and created a single large fist for Noreen to step on it. Giving her a boost upward with both arms Joel easily held the slender woman's weight, and stood with his own legs and back locked as Noreen peered up at the camera and examined the small electronic device with her naked eyes.

"What am I looking for, Joel?"

"Look at the body of the camera. Is it damaged?"

"It doesn't look like it. A little dirty, but no dents, burn marks or warping."

"Check the lens, is it cracked?"

"No, the lens is good." Moving her hands toward the back of the camera she lightly ran her fingertips over the cables in the back of the device to check for any breaks or loose wires. "The cables are all intact and connected, too."

"Is there anything else up there? Like a magnet or other things that just seem out of the ordinary?"

"Well, it looks like there's an white old rag up here just behind the camera."

"Might've been left behind by the person who installed the camera."

"No... If that were the case the rag would be far more worn out and ragged thanks to age and the weather." Using her left fingers Noreen reached toward the rag and managed to get a weak grip on the material between her index and middle fingertips. "I think I got it."

"Pull it out. It might contain some type of jamming device."

"Hold on, I don't want to lose my grip..."

Giving the rag a slow but firm tug Noreen managed to pull it closer to herself and then gave it a strong yank to pull it off the door frame entirely. Nearing losing her balance because of the sudden motion Noreen wobbled and Joel quickly lowered her back to the ground just as the rag flew off the door frame and hit the parking lot behind them with a metallic 'clink' sound.

"That... didn't sound right." Joel observed as he and Noreen approached the white rag carefully. "Hope that wasn't a part of the camera."

"I doubt it." Holding out her right arm Noreen stopped Joel from getting too close to the rag. Using her left shoe Noreen flipped up the side of the rag to reveal the object it had been wrapped around, only to step back and gasp in shock. "Oh, shit!"

Joel's pale blue eyes went wide as the offensive metal object shone in the bright sunlight like a beacon of destruction. "Is that the knife?!"

"It has to be!" The knife was covered in Thirium and the Thirium itself was fresh. "Go tell Fowler we found the weapon that was used on Connor!"

"I'm on it!"

Crouching down to examine the knife more closely Noreen's heart sank as she realized she actually recognized the bloodied knife. Not touching it, the rag or anything around it, Noreen pressed her right hand to her chin with utter contempt for the weapon and closed her eyes as disappointment set in.

"Detective Kayda?" Captain Fowler rushed outside with Ben right beside him to investigate the discovered weapon. "Where's the knife?"

"Here, sir." Standing back up and backing away Noreen approached the wide eyed Captain and gave him somber information on the weapon while Ben began taking photographs. "Sir," cautiously lowering her voice Noreen told the seasoned Captain her theory on the weapon itself. "I believe it's safe to say that's the knife from the precinct's own breakroom."

It only took minutes for Connor to be prepped for the emergency repair procedure and only seconds for Barry to slip the external air intake line down his throat. Abby was able to open up his abdominal cavity and begin counting the severed lines causing the severe internal hemorrhaging without any difficulty in manually opening the damaged plastimetal frame protecting Connor's torso. The compromised biocomponents within his abdomen were all leaking and struggling to function in any viable capacity. What should've been glowing a bright and healthy blue color was now a dull purple, or a worse, a dark red. The numerous damaged lines, compromised biocomponents and lost Thirium collecting in Connor's abdominal cavity was bad enough, but the way the plastimetal plating over the torso had been warped and heavily damaged was even worse.

The removal of Connor's artificial skin surrounding the wounds only lessened the catastrophic appearance by the slightest of margins. The way the knife tore through his skin causing painful lacerations and bruises. The blade had also compromised the frame beneath and was sure to cause a noticeable physical scarring to the deviant's body.

A rhythmic and rapid beeping of the Thirial activity monitor echoed off the walls of the sterilized room, while the soft hiss of the external ventilator pulsed at a slower rate. The only other sound came from the delicate stainless steel tools clamping off the leaking lines and stabilizing the metallic biocomponents.

"Shit, the left ascending thoracic line has been compromised." Isolating the line Abby began mending it while Barry suctioned out the lost Thirium to make the repairs much easier for Abby to see. "It can be repaired, but it's going to take at least forty-eight hours to fully heal and strengthen. Barry," glancing up at her deviant assistant Abby sought his aid as he acted as a second pair of hands during the procedure. "give me the full list of damaged biocomponents so I can prioritize the repair procedure."

"The thermal regulator has had its exterior shell compromised by a single penetrating blow. Functioning at ninety-two percent capacity." Without any flaws Barry listed off the damaged vital biocomponents to ensure the skilled technician didn't miss a thing. "The Thirium filter has been compromised by two distinct penetrating blows the lower and right sections. Functioning at sixty-three percent capacity. Left ventilation biocomponent had the lower lobe compromised by a single penetrating blow and the emergency internal seal was activated by the self healing program, and effectively sealed off the lower lobe from the upper lobe to prevent air from collecting in the chest cavity. It is functioning at seventy-five percent."

"Great... At least he didn't get struck in the Thirium pump or the Thirium pump regulator. What're his vitals?"

"Pump rate is one-hundred and twenty-two. Thirium pressure is one-hundred and ten over eighty. Ventilation rate holding at eighteen. Core temperature down to ninety-nine point six degrees. Stress levels are down to sixty-two percent."

Noting that Connor's heart rate was still rapid despite being in forced stasis mode Abby made a calculated decision as she focused on the compromised Thirial line, and then the filter. "Attach another pint of Thirium and decrease the temperature of the table down to fifty-eight degrees. We need to get his stress levels below fifty percent."

"Right away, Dr. Grayson."

Through the large window connecting the emergency repair bay to the observation room Hank and Lucas watched the lifesaving procedure with wide eyes and bated breaths. Hank had arrived shortly after Connor was forced into emergency stasis mode and was unable to speak to him before he fell unconscious. As he stared through the window and watched Abby's gloved hands becoming increasingly stained blue with Connor's blood Hank felt his stomach knotting violently while threatening to rebel at any second.

Lucas had preoccupied his mind by checking through the damaged tablet in an attempt to discover what it was that Tina wanted to show Connor before they were both attacked. The screen was cracked and the battery had been loosened when it hit the floor, but other than the aesthetic damage the tablet was still fully functional. Taking notice of Hank's arrival Lucas focused his processors on rebooting the tablet, scanning Hank's vitals and keeping in touch with Noreen back at the precinct.

"...How bad is he hurt?" Asking the question in a hushed whisper Hank stared at the unconscious deviant laying on the repair table with his abdomen opened up and his damaged internal biocomponents and lines being actively repaired. "I... I've never heard him let out a scream of pain like that before."

The memory of Connor screaming in pain when he was forced back into consciousness was absolutely chilling to the bone.

"The Thirium filter, left ventilation biocomponent and thermal regulator were all damaged." Lucas confirmed in an emotionless tone. "One of the two thoracic Thirial lines running through his abdomen has also been damaged alongside fourteen other smaller lines."

"Is that where all the blood came from?"

"Yes. He's in critical condition, but due to how quickly he received technical attention at the precinct his chances of survival and a full recovery sit at a staggering and promising ninety-eight percent."

"That's good. He's... He's in good hands." Knowing that Abby was as skilled as she was kind Hank only felt a modicum of relief as he watched her meticulously working to repair the damage and keep Connor alive. Even though she was wearing a mask Hank knew that she wasn't showing any fear whatsoever as she proceeded to tend to the damage inside Connor's body. "...How about Tina? What do you know?"

Checking in with the deviant receptionist at the hospital Lucas was given an active update on Tina's condition to relay to Hank. "She is still in surgery."

"What kind of damage did she sustain?"

"...The weapon that was used to stab her nicked the left iliac artery connecting to her left kidney. It also nicked the liver, cut through the uterus, perforated the bowel and caused internal bleeding throughout her intestines. The weapon managed to cut through her abdominal muscles but it did not strike the spinal column or the spinal chord."

"What're her odds of recovery?"

Falling silent for a moment Lucas preconstructed the odds and told Hank the truth. "Due to the extensive blood loss and inability to receive blood or fluids until after the paramedics tended to her wounds approximately eight minutes after being attacked... Tina has a seventy-one percent chance at a full recovery."

"That seems kinda' low."

"My calculations also include the chances of post operative complications such as infection or blood clots."

The recovery being just as rough as the actual injury made Hank's stomach tighten in on itself. "...I saw Gavin before I left the hospital. He was freaked out but managed to pull himself together for Tina's sake."

"Did he inform Tina's family of the situation?"

"Yeah, he was calling her sister when I left." Crossing his arms over his chest Hank looked down at his arms as he drummed his right fingers over his left bicep, and remembered that when he bumped into Gavin at the hospital the abrasive detective's missing arm was no longer missing. "...Uh, Gavin had a prosthetic arm on when I saw him, too."

"I'm glad. The more he uses it the sooner he'll adapt and be able to return to the precinct."

"Wait, seriously?"

"Yes." Sounding entirely confident Lucas vouched for Gavin's future return to the precinct. "Provided he can clear the shooting range after being given medical clearance, of course."

"That's good to know. Guess he finally realized being an uncooperative jackass isn't going to get him far in life."

Wanting to inform Hank of Gavin's decision being based around aiding a tiny kitten in need was quickly subdued as Lucas knew that Gavin held a heart of gold just as Hank did, but he was more determined to keep it secret because of his harsh childhood. Lucas instead decided it'd be better to let Gavin keep his reputation of being a hard-ass who didn't give a damn. For the time being anyway.

"How's the investigation going?" Forcing his blue eyes to trail upward again Hank peered through the window and resumed watching the extensive repairs taking place on Connor just on the other side of the glass. "...I don't want to know, but I have to know."

"According to Noreen she and Joel found the knife that was used to stab Connor."

"Where'd they find it?"

"...Behind the surveillance camera of the precinct's backdoor. The camera itself had been disabled just prior to our attacker leaving."

Turning to face Lucas directly Hank's blue eyes studied the deviant very closely as he contemplated what Lucas had just stated. "Are you saying that the sick fucker we've been looking for snuck into the precinct and tried to killed Tina and Connor?"

"That's the working theory."

"Son of a bitch!" Letting out a deep sigh Hank dragged both of his palms over his paling face as he realized what had just happened under his nose and began mentally kicking himself. "That is inexcusable!"

"We will figure this out, Hank. Both Connor and Tina will recover, and we'll find the person who assaulted them."

"Hold up..." Lowering his hands from his face Hank's brow arched a little as a strange thought popped up into his mind. "I can get that asshole going after Connor since he's one of the detectives investigating them, but why attack Tina?"

"Perhaps she walked in on the attack on Connor in progress, and was merely attacked our of a desperate bid to escape the precinct."

"No, she was attacked first. Connor was attacked second."

Trying to piece together the evidence to support such a theory Lucas's yellow L.E.D. cycled rapidly in his right temple. "How do you know that?"

"Because Connor said he needed to go speak with Tina in the interview room, and she was further away from the door than Connor. Whoever attacked those two went after Tina first, and Connor second. And maybe," giving Lucas food for thought Hank began running his own theory in his head. "it was Connor who walked in on Tina being attacked, which is why he's in there right now being patched up. That just leaves one serious question needing to be answered: Who the hell would want to hurt Tina?"

"...Unknown." The disturbing lack of information was proving to be frustrating. "I don't work with Officer Chen and Gavin hadn't mention anything about her being threatened at any point."

"Yeah, and knowing Gavin he wouldn't have let her work without him if he suspected she was in danger."

"I'll inform Noreen of this theory while I boot up the tablet."

"Tablet?"

"Connor said there is something important on here that Tina wanted to show him. Perhaps what's on here," eyeing the electronic device in his hands Lucas felt his own stomach beginning to turn with discomfort. "holds the key to the identity of who attacked her, and why."

The bullpen was eerily quiet as the responding detectives and officers waited for the lab to finish testing the knife to confirm that it was indeed Connor's blue blood all over the weapon. Without either Connor or Lucas in the precinct the luxury of instant results were gone, and the officers now had to wait for the hour long test to conclude up on the fourth floor. Captain Fowler was pacing back and forth in his private office as he spoke on the phone with someone at the hospital and with someone else at the facility as he sought an update on his two wounded officers. Everyone else was sitting silently in the bullpen as they tried to get the grim image of Tina and Connor bleeding to death out of their minds.

Noreen had been texting Lucas to keep him in the loop as she sat at Hank's desk. Ben had been acting in Hank's place as the second in command, and was keeping everything on track. Chris was busy working with Joel to check over the surveillance footage of the backdoor before it had gone out, but their progress was very limited. Unable to find the cause of the camera's failure the duo were getting frustrated with their own lack of progress in the same way the other four detectives had become frustrated with their own case over the past few weeks.

"...Lucas said Connor is undergoing repairs and his vitals are strong." Putting her phone down at last Noreen updated the other officers of the situation in real time. "He's confident he'll make a full recovery."

Joel nodded as he silently acknowledged Noreen and continued to check through the surveillance camera footage on Connor's terminal screen.

Chris offered Noreen a kind smile as he happily accepted the good news and tagged on his own. "From what I've been able to get out of Gavin from the hospital Tina is still in surgery, but she's got really good vitals. She should be in post-op to begin recovery in an hour or so."

From his desk Ben let out a silent sigh of relief just as his phone buzzed with an update from his team up on the fourth floor. Checking over the information Ben informed everyone else of what his C.S.I. team had confirmed. "All right, forensics confirmed that the Thirium on the knife belongs to Connor. They found both Noreen and Hank's fingerprints on the handle, but since we all saw them in the breakroom handling the knife before it was used as a weapon, and the camera in the bullpen," pointing to the camera pointed directly pointing into the center of the breakroom where the duo were standing earlier, Ben made things as clear as possible to understand. "gives them a solid alibi for not being the ones who attacked our people."

"Did they find anything else?" Chris wanted more answers and was getting restless. "Any D.N.A. at all?"

"They're confident it's the knife that was used on Connor during the attack this morning since Connor's D.N.A matches the Thirium."

"Actually..." Joel spoke up in a meek style considering he was a technician sitting among detectives. "I don't think so."

Always willing to listen Ben gave Joel his full attention. "What do you mean?"

"The blade of the knife doesn't match the wound pattern in Connor's abdomen." Bringing up the photos he had taken while tending to Connor's wounds Joel compared them to the photographed knife up on the fourth floor. "A much bigger and stronger knife was used on him to create at least two of the four stab wounds."

"Then how did his blood get on the knife?"

"I suspect the killer stabbed Connor with a different knife during the initial attack, and I can confirm this based on the wound pattern in Connor's body, and then used the second knife to try to disguise it and force the investigation to run cold."

Chris was a little in the dark on the whole thing and needed to ask a few questions of his own. "What about the knife that was used on Tina? Why can't we find it?"

Giving Chris a wary glance Joel offered up his theory on the bizarre case and their even stranger weapons. "I believe that the knife that was found behind that camera outside was the one used on Tina. We have the knife that nearly killed her already in our possession."

"There was no blood on it," Chris responded logically as he tried to understand Joel's thinking. "only Thirium."

"Give the Thirium more time to evaporate." Strongly believing his theory was correct Joel explained how they could find potential proof. "I'm certain that Tina's blood will be found beneath the Thirium."

"Wait... Doesn't Thirium evaporate within an hour? It's had plenty of time to disappear by now."

"Thirium evaporates in an hour if it has the chance to dry. If it's covering up fresh human blood then it'll evaporate only after the blood beneath congeals."

"So, you're saying there's another knife we need to find? One that caused the damage to Connor's torso first."

"According to the wound pattern on Connor's body, and the bodies of the other deviant victims," Joel had refreshed himself on the case as a means of assisting his wounded friend to the best of his ability, and was confident he was on to something important. "there is in fact a second knife we need to find."

Noreen leaned back in the chair and gave Joel a confused stare. "Where do we look?"

"As soon as we can get the footage from the camera restored we can find a trail to follow. I'm certain of it."

"Think you can salvage the footage?"

"It's possible."

Ben contemplated the discussion and put his hands to his hips as he crossed the bullpen get a cup of coffee in the breakroom. "Do what you can. You're the tech wizard down here, not us! We need to find this psycho and fast."

Feeling like garbage mixed with sewage Gavin sat alone in the waiting room as he tried to not think about the worst case scenario regarding Tina's condition. Texting with Aaron as he needed to talk to the one man he loved more than anything any anyone else in the entire world, Gavin found renewed strength in his beloved's words of comfort and confidence. Hiding away from the other officers and their staring eyes in the waiting room Gavin texted Aaron, and held a rather bleak discussion as he bounced back and forth between wanting to stay at Tina's side until she was strong enough to move, and wanting to go on a one man crusade to find the bastard who stabbed her.

'Just remind yourself that Tina wouldn't want you to do anything that would tarnish your career or get your perfect ass locked up in jail.' Using a touch of humor to try to lighten Gavin's heavy mood it was clear that Aaron was truly in love with the abrasive detective. Even through text his love was palpable. 'When she wakes up she'll want to see you right beside her, not on the news for killing a man.'

'I think Tina would be more upset that I went on a crusade without her.'

'Do you need me to do anything else for you? I have tomorrow off but I don't mind calling off the the next day to help out.'

'No, you're doing plenty. Thanks.'

'Want to see how the little guy is doing?'

Never one to say "no" to a kitten picture Gavin of course accepted. 'Yeah. Maybe seeing the little guy will help me calm down.'

After a minute a picture of the little rejected kitten bundled up the towel with a little smear of formula on its nose graced Gavin's phone screen. Grateful that Aaron was there and taking care of the helpless bundle of fur was enough to ease the ache in Gavin's heart to a more bearable degree. Another photo of Lucky nursing the other three kittens helped warm up his cold heart as well.

There were so many people and now animals that relied on Gavin to be their protector, and he wasn't about to let them down.

'Everyone looks good.'

'How about this?'

Another photo popped up on Gavin's phone, this one was a selfie of Aaron holding the little kitten up near his face as he gave a big smile.

'Even better, babe.' Glancing up Gavin caught sight of Tina's sister and mother entering the hospital and walking toward the reception desk to ask about Tina's condition. "Shit." Sending Aaron another text Gavin took in a calming breath as he prepared to speak to them directly. 'Tina's family is here. I need to go talk to them.'

'Right. Call me as soon as you can.'

'I will. Love you.'

'Love you, too. XOXO'

Slipping the phone into his hoodie pocket Gavin quickly rose from the chair to meet with Tina's family and give them the dignity of a direct answer from someone they trusted. "Mrs. Chen? Iris?"

Catching the two women's attention easily Gavin motioned with his right hand to lead them to a quiet spot to sit and speak.

"I have some information on Tina," holding onto Mrs. Chen and Iris's hands in each of his own Gavin looked the two women in the eyes as he spoke. "and I promise you both that she will be okay."

The first hour of repairs turned into two, and then three, as Abby worked diligently to repair the delicate biocomponents and Thirium lines in Connor's abdomen. A total of nine Thirium pouches had been given to Connor to replace the Thirium he had lost at the precinct and was continuing to lose while his abdomen was opened up for the repairs. The strain on his body was beginning to takes it toll, and the destabilizing vital signs being recorded on the Thirial activity monitor confirmed the physical distress Connor was enduring even while subdued in emergency stasis mode.

Abby looked at the Thirial activity monitor and then gave Barry a small nod to confirm she was getting ready to close up Connor's abdomen. While the helpful deviant prepared for sterilizing measures and bandaging Abby checked each coupling of the Thirium lines connected to the biocomponents to ensure there were no leaks needing to be patched.

"Okay. Let's start with the thermal regulator and make sure he doesn't overheat."

"Ready when you are, Dr. Grayson."

"Seriously, just call me Abby..." Grabbing onto the clamp around the Thirium line leading into the vital biocomponent Abby prepared to remove it from the line to check her work. "Stand by."

Barry prepared to take the necessary steps in the event the line leaked and confirmed he was ready to move. "Standing by."

"All right. Nice and slow..."

Releasing the clamp from the line the Thirium flowed swiftly through the line and into the biocomponent without any sign of failure or leaking. What was once an unhealthy purple hue turned to blue, and then brightened up as it resumed functioning to full capacity.

"Thermal regulator is holding strong. Next I'll check the repairs on the artificial stomach."

Repeating her actions from just seconds before, the clamp was removed and the stomach held strong with no sign of weakness or leaks either.

"Two biocomponents down, two to go. Be ready to turn off the external ventilator in the event the repaired vent doesn't hold."

Barry hovered his right hand over the external ventilator's control panel ready to react if necessary. "Standing by on the external ventilator."

"Let's keep your air in your lungs, Connor... That's all I ask."

The third clamp was released and the ventilation biocomponent expanded fully with the external breaths without leaking. The artificial lung began turning blue and matched its healthy counterpart within seconds as the emergency internal seal released itself automatically.

"The hard part is going to be the thoracic line." Abby muttered to herself as she remained focused on her task. "Followed by the main Thirium filter line and the secondary lines running from the Thirium pump to the branching line."

"Two more pouches of Thirium are already stand by."

"Good work, Barry. I hope they won't be needed."

Feeling the eyes watching her every move through the observation window Abby slowly removed the clamp from the main Thirium filter line and waited for any sign of leaks as the filter turned blue and brightened up, while Connor's Thirium pressure began to slowly stabilize. Setting aside the removed clamps Abby hovered her right hand over the clamp at the branching line and slowly removed it as well. Thirium flow was restored to all of the biocomponents without any sign of leaking. Everything was stable and returning to full function.

"Just one more." Nervous about the thoracic line as it could easily cause a deviant to bleed out in five minutes, Abby took hold of the clamp in a firm grip to slowly release it from the line. "Don't let your guard down just yet."

The steel clamp lessened its hold and Thirium began flowing through the line once more. As the blue blood passed by the repaired section of the line a small leak began and soon began to gush.

"Shit!" Returning the clamp as quick as she could Abby ignored the screeching Thirial activity monitor recording Connor's vital signs. "The patch didn't hold, we need something stronger."

"Patient's becoming unstable." Barry reported sharply as he monitored the situation. "Pump rate is one-hundred and thirty-two, Thirium pressure is one-fifteen over eighty and stress level is up to eighty-two."

"All right, all right... I got this!"

With the line re-secured under the clamp Abby managed to clean off the line, find the weakness in the line's structure and knew exactly what she needed to do.

"I need a strip of incrassation compound." Thinking quickly Abby thought of a brilliant solution to the problem. "I'm going to repair the leak again and use the compound to act a pressure bandage that'll dissolve itself while the self healing program finishes its work."

Approving of the method Barry provided the requested material. "Right away, Abby."

Through the observation window Hank had noticed that the Thirial activity monitor had begun to freak out a little, and he saw the glimmer of fear flash across Abby's eyes as she removed the strong clamps one by one from Connor's abdomen. Holding his breath when he saw the spurt of blue blood erupt from the weakened line in Connor's abdomen Hank had to close his eyes, and remind himself that he wasn't reliving the failed operation to save Cole over again like he did countless times in his nightmares. The senior detective had to tell himself that he wasn't watching his partner dying on the table, he was watching his life being saved and that he was going to live.

"She kept working on his belly." Hank mumbled as opened his eyes again and let out his breath. "She never made a move for his heart. He's okay. His heart's still beating, he's still alive."

Lucas made a move to put his hand on Hank's shoulder but was unsure if that would make the senior detective feel better or worse. "...The largest line that runs through the android's torso; the thoracic Thirial line, will bleed heavily when damaged. As a result there will be a strong Thirium pressure through the line that'll cause the blue blood to spurt through the damage. Abby already has it under control."

"Yeah... Yeah, he'll be fine."

Picking up on Hank's physical and emotional stress Lucas offered some words of comfort. "Connor's very strong. You know this better than anyone else."

"Yeah. The kid's got a lot of heart."

Throughout the emergency repair procedure Lucas had been working on salvaging the damaged tablet and finally managed to bring up the video file that Tina had wanted to show to Connor before they were attacked. "Hank, I have the video functioning now. We can now see what was so important."

"Huh?" Looking at the tablet in Lucas's hands as if it was something he had never seen before Hank had no idea what Lucas was talking about. "What video?"

"There is a video file on here that Tina wanted to share with Connor."

Remembering Connor muttering something about a tablet as he was wheeled out of the interview room Hank's mind began to clear. "That's the thing Connor wanted you to see, right?"

"Correct. I believe we'll finally get some answers as to why Tina was attacked and perhaps even discover who attacked her."

Giving Connor one last glance through the observation window Hank's tense shoulders slumped when he saw Abby and Barry cleaning up the residual Thirium, sterilize the opened cavity and then began to close Connor's abdomen back up. The procedure was finally over and a success.

Choosing to focus on the case rather than Connor at the moment Hank gave Lucas his full attention and waved his hand casually to indicate to the deviant to start the video. "Let's take a look at what was so damn important."

Bringing up the video on the tablet Lucas prepared to press 'play' as he cybernetically contacted Noreen at the precinct. "Noreen." Speaking out loud to keep Hank in the loop Lucas informed his partner of what was about to happen. "Are you near a terminal right now? Good, I'll send you a video to Hank's terminal to view. Apparently this video is very important, and Officer Chen wanted to show it to Connor before they were attacked. I managed to salvage it from her damaged tablet."

Hank waited for Lucas to have the video taken care of and sent to the precinct terminal. Watching as the deviant's yellow L.E.D. cycled rapidly then slowed back down to a normal pace Hank knew everything was ready to go. "They got the video?"

"Yes. We're all ready to watch."

Finally playing the video Hank, Lucas; and viewing remotely Noreen, Chris, Joel, Ben and Captain Fowler, all watched the video play out. The video was footage from one of the city cameras that had been recording near where one of the disabled cameras had failed to catch the previous assaults in the act. It hadn't been checked over by the four detectives yet as they had hundreds of other videos to get through first.

"What's this?" Watching the images play out Hank saw a figure matching the height of their unknown suspect lurking in the area just minutes before one of the innocent deviants had been assaulted. The figure slipped something that shone and glistened in the street lamps into the pocket of their dark jacket, and then disappeared into the range of the disabled camera out of sight. "What did they put in their pocket?"

"Unknown."

The video suddenly shifted from a city surveillance camera to that of the precinct's own backdoor security camera from a few days back. On the footage was a familiar face trudging toward the door and slipping something shiny into his pocket before entering the precinct after returning from his break.

"What... the fuck!?" Immediately catching the similar behavior Hank was eager to confirm that Tina had in fact been on to something important. "It's the same fuckin' guy!"

Lucas caught on to what Tina had discovered as well, and quickly compared the two shining objects from the two separate pieces of footage. The deviant managed to zoom in on the shining object of interest to confirm it was the same object. As he zoomed in on the curious object Lucas improved the clarity and quality of the footage with his advanced programs until the object was as easily to see as if Lucas were holding the actual object in his own hand.

"Yes, and he's the one who left abruptly through the backdoor of the precinct. Noreen," still in cybernetic contact with his partner Lucas made sure everyone at the precinct could see everything that he and Hank were seeing. "can you clearly see the object being slipped into the suspect's pocket and identify it?"

Shaking his head as he crossed his arms over his chest, his fingers curling into tight fists against the short sleeves of his t-shirt, Hank growled the answer with a righteous anger. "It's a fucking police shield. Our suspect is a goddamn cop..."

"I strongly suggest that Captain Fowler sends numerous officers to pick up our suspect. I'll meet you at the precinct shortly." Tucking the tablet screen under his arm Lucas gave Hank a stern and focused stare as he prepared to take his leave of the facility. "I want to be there when they bring him in and face him."

"Yeah... I'll stay here with Connor and stay in touch with you."

"What're you going to tell Connor when he wakes up?"

"What I know you're going to tell Gavin." Glancing through the observation window Hank watched as Connor's bandaged up body being gently placed on a gurney to be wheeled out of the repair ward and into the recovery wing. Everything was almost finally over. "...The 'Shadow Blade' is Officer Donovan Saxon."

The air was heavy with new tension as word quickly spread that the 'Shadow Blade' had finally been identified. Arrest warrant in hand Captain Fowler led the charge to Saxon's apartment and kicked in the shoddy apartment door and caught the disgraced officer in the act of trying to leave the city with a plane ticket and dufflebag as proof of his escape attempt. Aiming his gun at Saxon's chest Captain Fowler all but dared the fool to make a move and give him an excuse to pull the trigger. Giving Chris the honor of arresting Saxon and dragging his sorry ass out of the apartment in handcuffs, Captain Fowler motioned for Ben and Noreen to begin sweeping the apartment to look for the second knife and other evidence.

While Saxon was being transported to the precinct for arrest and interrogation the apartment was being torn apart one piece at a time. Knowing that a cop would easily be able to dispose of damning evidence made the search all the more stressful as the sought after second knife could potentially be the key in charging Saxon with every single one of the 'Shadow Blade' assaults.

While Noreen dug around inside the kitchen cabinets Ben tore apart the bathroom as the duo searched for the elusive weapon. Ready to give up on the search entirely Noreen had a flash of brilliance and grabbed her phone to call Lucas at the precinct.

"Lucas," easily reaching her partner Noreen gave the deviant an update. "Detective Collins and I are in Saxon's apartment looking for the second knife, but with no luck so far. We know he used this knife to attack people AND androids, so it had to leave a Thirium trail behind when he carried it. Right?"

'That's correct. You think I should look for trails of Thirium leading from the backdoor of the precinct and toward Saxon's apartment.'

"You got it. How fast can you walk?"

'I have Saxon's address downloaded, give me ten minutes.'

"See you soon." Ending the call Noreen met Ben in the dirty and mostly empty bathroom to give him an update. "Ben, Lucas is going to try to find a Thirium trail from the precinct toward the apartment and see if Saxon ditched the blade somewhere on his way back here."

Giving Noreen a pleading stare as he pulled his left hand out of the exposed toilet tank Ben let the water drip from his fingertips sadly. "Please tell me that means I can stop looking in the bathroom."

"Ooooooh. Yeah." Spotting a somewhat clean hand towel on the sink Noreen tossed it to him to wipe off his hand before washing in the sink. "Be sure to ask for hazard pay for that."

"Wouldn't be the first time..."

Noreen stepped out of the bathroom and resumed searching the apartment in search of other damning evidence. The dufflebag and plane ticket were taken by Captain Fowler, and undoubtedly being sorted through in that very moment. The apartment looked like it had been abandoned for years since Saxon seemingly lived a very simple life, but it was still important to be checked out from top to bottom.

It seemed Saxon had been anticipating a quick escape from the city for some time. The rundown and small bits of furniture, bare bones cupboards and total lack of anything that would give the small living space any form of personality spoke volumes of a recluse ready to make a run for the hills. The few items that were left in the apartment were books that revolved around famous cold cases, serial killers, ancient weapons, medieval methods of torture and execution, and all the more damning; books regarding knives.

Selecting one of the aged and marked books from the small shelf in the livingroom wall Noreen began flipping through the pages, and felt disgusted as she saw numerous passages and words highlighted as if being used for reference. Putting the book back on the shelf with absolute disgust behind the motion Noreen walked away from the shelf feeling like she needed a shower.

"It's never easy when you discover you've been working alongside a demented criminal." Ben had seen the look on Noreen's face and knew what she was thinking without her needing to say a word. "We'll make sure he doesn't hurt anyone else."

"Have you been through this before?"

"Yeah. This is actually the fourth cop I've had to help get convicted for being a little..." seeking the right word Ben gave Noreen a casual shrug of his shoulders. "unhinged."

"That's tragic."

"In the worst way possible."

"How did we miss this?" Feeling as if she were somehow responsible for everything that happened Noreen stepped toward the apartment door. "We were working right alongside the very suspect we were looking for."

"Sometimes we can't see what's happening even when it's right under our noses until it's too late. We just need to remind ourselves that no detective is perfect, and that despite everything Saxon has done, well, at least no one died."

"Yeah... I guess that's our silver lining in this whole mess." Checking her phone Noreen waited for an update from Lucas and decided the best thing she could do was keep chronicling evidence to be leveled against Saxon. "Let's just hope Lucas has more luck than we do."

Locating a faint trail of Thirium leading from the rear parking lot of the precinct and toward the street with his enhanced software, Lucas began his search for the elusive second knife. Accepting Chris's assistance in his search for the missing weapon Lucas moved on foot while Chris used the patrol car to drive the route to Saxon's apartment and back to the precinct ensure back-up was always available to the deviant detective. It was a simple enough task for Lucas to follow the Thirium trail, his analysis program confirming that the Thirium belonged to Connor, but the intense summer heat guaranteed that the Thirium would evaporate almost instantly when the wet drops touched the blazing hot concrete. The trail was fading away quickly.

Moving with long even strides Lucas traversed three blocks within five minutes and managed to pick up on the Thirium trail leading off the sidewalk and to a pawnshop that seemed to specialize in weapons sales. Running the address and the shop's owner through the precinct's database Lucas knew he had found the location where the knife had been taken to be disposed of.

"Officer Miller," cybernetically and verbally Lucas requested assistance at the location. "please meet me at the 'Lady Luck' pawnshop on LaGrange Street. I believe I know where the knife has been hidden."

Entering the pawnshop with a loud 'ding' as the bell over the door chimed Lucas found himself standing among displays of aged technology and goods from time that had long since past before his creation. Nearly overwhelmed with the detailed information his visual processors were feeding him Lucas focused his eyes on the shop's owner standing behind the counter and smiling at the guest.

"Hello there, son. What brings ya' by, today?" The shop owner was a man in his seventies and leaning on a metal cane in his left hand. Balding with only a few strands of short gray hair remaining over his crown, the elderly man's dark brown eyes shined through his thick rimmed glasses as he watched Lucas curiously approaching him. "You look like a man on a mission."

"You are correct." Showing the man his badge Lucas introduced himself and quickly explained why he was there, and what he was looking for. Just as he finished his explanation Chris arrived at the shop and joined Lucas at the counter. "It's very important that we see any and all knives that may have been pawned here within the past fourteen hours."

"I'll tell ya' what, son. You're in luck." Opening up the small door of the counter to give the two officers clearance the shop's back office the shop's owner, Avery Dall, used a hidden switch under his cash register to lock the front door and turn off the 'open' sign as he led the duo into the office. "This very morning my apprentice took in a small collection of hunting knives, antique blades and a few customized blades to be held in the back for a while."

Lucas and Chris gave each other cautious glances as the duo were anxious to close the case, but knew not to get their hopes up too high.

"From what my apprentice told me, a young man had to drop out of school to take care of his dying mother overseas and pawned his knives for some money to renew his passport and buy a plane ticket. I have them all set aside and dated to give that young man his sixty days to pay us back the money he pawned, and in a way I hope he misses the deadline. It's a beautiful collection."

Glancing at the locked glass case sitting on the desk in the backroom sent a chill up Lucas's spine. He could still detect traces of Connor's blood on the case confirming that the weapon of interest is in fact in the knife collection that had been pawned. "Can we see the security footage of the man who pawned the knives?"

"Sure, son." Unlocking the case Avery moved over to the file containing the shop's clientele information, and held it up for Lucas to see. "I also got a physical copy of his information right here if you want it."

"Please."

"Here ya' are."

Lucas accepted the paper with all of the information needed to legally pawn any item, and confirmed that the fingerprint used to seal the document belonged to Saxon. However, the name and address he provided were all false. "Chris, we're in the right location."

Pulling his phone from his pocket Chris went back out into the middle of the shop to make the call. "I'll let the Captain know."

Avery opened up the glass case containing the pawned knives and backed off to give Lucas plenty of room to work. "I sure hope such a weapon didn't find its way into my shop, but if it did... Well, I guess what's done is done."

Scanning over every blade in the box Lucas noted that the knives were either too small, too short or too dull to have been the knife used to cause such critical damage to the plastimetal framing as had been documented. The fingerprints on the handles of the knives all matched Saxon and one other person; most likely the apprentice, but the knife coated in Connor's Thirium was nowhere to be seen.

"Something wrong?" Avery saw the determination and frustration building in Lucas's gray eyes.

"Yes. The offending knife's trail leads to this box, yet the knife itself is not here."

"That can't be. Every knife was accounted for and locked up."

Lucas examined the clientele file a little closer and noticed something odd on the section filled out by the apprentice. "Curious..."

"What's curious, son?"

"There are fourteen knives in this case, fourteen knives on the file as well, but fifteen separate figures totaling up to the pawn's payout." Looking closer at the number fourteen written on the paper Lucas's eyes detected the white-out used to hide the original number beneath, before 'fourteen' was written over top of it. There was one more knife pawned that was hidden away from the rest of the collection. "There is a fifteenth knife that your apprentice tried to hide from your store's records."

"You're sure?"

"Positive." Returning the file to Avery to take Lucas pointed to the white-out and to the figures leading up to the final total. "A fifteenth knife was excluded from the inventory, and yet the shop still accepted it as part of the pawn. The fifteen figures and white-out prove this."

"Ah, damn it..." Putting the file aside Avery locked up the glass case again and shook his head with disappointment. "Grahm, what did you do?"

"Is Grahm your apprentice?"

"That's him, Grahm Weston. The kid is bright and an avid weapons historian."

Lucas was now certain that Grahm not only tried to hide the weapon of interest, but wanted to keep it for himself. "Where is Grahm right now?"

"School. Kid's working on a master's in American history."

"Can you ask him to-"

"Detective Blake?" Chris suddenly reappeared in the office with a puzzled look on his face as he pointed to the shop behind him with his right thumb over his shoulder. "Could you come and check something out for me?"

Following after Chris back into the shop, Avery following after both officers with pure intrigue in his eyes, Lucas let Chris direct him over to a glass display case showing a large collection of hunting knives ready for sale. The collection was impressive and vast to say the least, and yet Chris's trained eye fell onto something amiss in the locked up case.

"That knife right there." Pointing to a six inch long blade with a large steel hilt and black leather wrapped around the hilt, Chris identified the weapon that caught his interest. The blade was visibly sharp through the case and looked as if it had been recently polished. "This doesn't look like it's been in the case as long as the other knives."

"You're right. Mr. Dall?" Turning to face the shop owner Lucas indicated which knife caught their attention. "Could you please unlock this case?"

"Sure thing."

As the older man slipped behind the case with his keys in his right hand Lucas scanned the knife and caught two very faint drops of Connor's Thirium concealed just under the leather wrapping around the hilt. Before the case was even opened Lucas knew that Chris had found the knife, and that they now had their final piece of evidence.

"Just a moment..." Avery wisely slipped on a pair of latex gloves as he slipped open the case's door, picked up the knife by the handle and placed it down slowly on top of the glass case for Lucas to examine. "Since you're an android I know you won't need gloves to handle that thing, but be careful all the same."

"I will do so."

Visually Lucas began recording his analysis process for the sake of collecting evidence, and confirmed that there was Thirium and blood under the leather grip that had escaped being properly cleaned off before being pawned. The blood belonged to four of the human victims and the Thirium belonged to two of the deviant victims - including Connor. All victims of the the 'Shadow Blade' himself.

"This is the weapon that was used on Connor."

Chris swore and prepared to call Captain Fowler back to give him the good news. "Anything else?"

"Yes. There are five other D.N.A. traces that belong to our other victims. The only human fingerprints on the knife belong to Saxon as Grahm, being an avid weapon enthusiast, would know to wear gloves while properly cleaning and polishing the knife itself. He failed to remove the leather grip which preserved both the D.N.A. and the fingerprints before securing it in the case to hide in plain sight so he could purchase it for himself later on."

"It's our knife then. I'm sure Captain Fowler will be pleased to know that."

Lucas scanned the knife to determine its physical composition, and found something truly intriguing about the edge of the blade itself. "...This weapon has been carefully modified to keep it as sharp as possible."

"How so?"

Able to see what humans could not Lucas noted the tiny but lethal additions to the edge of the blade. "There are fragments of diamond running down the edge keeping the blade perpetually sharp and strong. The diamond is what allowed Saxon to easily stab and catastrophically damage the deviant victims as easily as he harmed the humans."

"That jackass weaponized diamonds?"

"Correct."

"Holy shit." Pressing his phone to his ear Chris took a step back and prepared to relay the news to Captain Fowler. "Just when I think people can't get any more clever or sadistic, something like this happens..."

"Mr. Dall, thank you for your cooperation." Confident they had found the missing knife at last Lucas sent Noreen a cybernetic text confirming the knife's discovery, and informed her that he was on his way back to the precinct with the evidence in hand. "Protocol requires the police come in and question your apprentice, and I apologize if it causes any inconvenience."

"I've been in the business for over forty years, son." Unshaken and calm Avery just gave the two officers a kind smile. "I'm used to talk to the cops. You go do you think and I'll hold down the fort. I know the drill. I'll be sure to hand over the security footage, too."

The interrogation room at the precinct was being watched over intently by Noreen as Captain Fowler sat across from the handcuffed and shamed former officer Donovan Saxon. Ben chose to act as the second in command out in the bullpen while Captain Fowler handled the interrogation, and let Joel take care of all the surveillance footage since the younger technician was far more savvy than he was when it came to files and computers. Noreen had been anxiously staring through the observation window while Captain Fowler stared the disgraced officer down.

Only turning away when Chris entered the room Noreen knew that everything was about to be blown wide open. "Welcome back, Chris."

"Good to be back." Tired yet anxious Chris was just as interested in the interrogation as she was. "Let's watch this bastard burn."

Lucas made his way into the interrogation room itself with a tablet containing all of their documented evidence queued up for Captain Fowler to use during questioning. Shooting Saxon a spiteful glare Lucas left the interrogation room to join Noreen and Chris inside the observation room to watch the interrogation without interfering.

Letting out a soft sigh Noreen gave her partner a sympathetic look as the deviant stood before the window to watch the interrogation right beside her. "How're you holding up?"

"I'm doing much better now that the knife has been located. Justice will be had."

"And Connor?" Still worried about the deviant and her partner's mindset Noreen dared to ask the uncomfortable question. "How is he?"

"He has been taken into the facility's recovery room to heal, and Hank is staying with him."

"And Tina?"

"She too is out of surgery and recovering in post-op. Gavin and Tina's mother and sister are with her."

"Thank god..."

Lucas nodded once as he stared intently at the window with an intense gaze. The deviant's eyes shifted from its normal display of gray irises against white sclera to that of glowing bright blue irises against black sclera. 'Hank, Gavin.' Cybernetically connecting to Hank and Gavin's phones Lucas let the two detectives view the interrogation remotely for their own peace of mind. 'It's about to begin.'

Having checked through the evidence, the surveillance footage from the precinct's backdoor - the very footage that had caught Tina's attention, and now the pawnshop's surveillance footage, Captain Fowler felt a heat rising up from the back of his tense neck. The images of the two bloodied knives used against his two officers; the red and blue blood having been spilled for reasons unknown, caused the seasoned Captain to tense up enough that he had to let out a deep breath to prevent himself from attacking the arrested officer sitting across the table from himself. Needing to stay in control for the sake of his officers Captain Fowler showed true professionalism alongside the patience of a saint.

Locking eyes with the cold gaze of the arrested officer across from him Captain Fowler fell back to his training as an officer in the U.S. Army and Air Force to scare the pitiful life out of the shameful man who had attacked a total of sixteen people throughout the city. Sixteen people, including two fellow officers were depending on Captain Fowler's skills as a detective to bring them justice. Sitting upright in his chair and letting his physical build alone intimidate the younger man across from him, Captain Fowler began the interrogation with a deep and level voice.

"We know you're the one who attacked Officer Tina Chen and Sergeant Connor Wolf in interview room 'A' this morning." As he spoke Captain Fowler's voice sounded slightly muffled through the glass for those in the observation room, but was clear and audible all the same. "You were seen entering the breakroom just shortly before the knife that was used on both Officer Chen and Detective Wolf went missing. You were seen exiting through the backdoor by Officer Lucas Blake. The knife from the breakroom was found atop the rear door frame by Detective Kayda this afternoon. You left a trail of Thirium from the backdoor all the way out to the 'Lady Luck' pawnshop where you attempted to dispose of the second knife used in the other 'Shadow Blade' attacks through the rest of the city. We know it was on your person during the assaults in the interview room." Looking at the documented wounds from Connor's body made Captain Fowler's stomach drop. "You used the kitchen knife on Detective Wolf for the final wound to try to use his Thirium to hide Officer Chen's blood. It didn't work."

Sliding the tablet forward Captain Fowler showed Saxon the photographs of the knives, the blood, the wounds and the highlights from the surveillance camera footage.

"We have you on camera. We have your fingerprints on the knife you tried to pawn at the shop; not to mention you filing fraudulent information at the same shop. We have witnesses that place you at the scene of the precinct and the pawnshop. We have everything we need to lock you up for the rest of your miserable life. What we don't have," switching the images on the tablet over to a photograph of Tina from her personnel file to be viewed Captain Fowler watched Saxon's reaction to the image very carefully. "is your motivation. Why did you attack Officer Chen?"

Saxon's body language became hostile as once he saw the photograph. As his shoulders tensed, eyes narrowed and face reddened Saxon gave away that he held contempt against Tina.

"Tell us why you attacked her. You're already going to serve life in prison, if you cooperate you'll be placed in a prison where no one will know you're an ex-cop. It's the only way to keep you from being tortured to death behind bars for being a snitch." Not sugarcoating a single thing Captain Fowler reminded Saxon that he had no one on his side. "Any inmate learns that you were a cop you're a dead man walking. The guards won't help you. They'll turn their backs on you the same way you turned your back on your fellow officers."

Slowly Saxon's eyes rose up and began glaring holes in Captain Fowler's face.

"From your own personnel file it was made pretty clear that you had a problem with your ex-partner. Also a woman." Pressing just the right nerve Captain Fowler was determined to understand what was going through Saxon's demented mind when he targeted Tina. "Seems you couldn't take her getting recognized for her solid work and promotion, and you lashed out."

Mumbling under his breath Saxon spoke through his angered clenched teeth. "...Bitch thought she was better than me."

Letting out a purposefully arrogant laugh Captain Fowler gave Saxon an incredulous stare. "She didn't just think it, she lived it. Officer, correction; DETECTIVE Elaine Green," making sure to rub her recent promotion in Saxon's face as he spoke Captain Fowler knew he was going to crack Saxon's armor. "was far more skilled than you ever were when you worked together. She filed every report, took the lead on every call, took the initiative to work on cases instead of handing them off. Hell, her marksmanship at the range-"

Slamming his cuffed hands down on the top of the table with such force as he shot to his feet in a rage Saxon looked like a rabid dog that had run to the end of its chain. "THAT BITCH GOT WHAT SHE DESERVED!"

"Who? Detective Green or Officer Chen?"

"Elaine needed to be reminded of her place! When I knocked her ass down and dominated her she liked it.' Sneering as he spoke Saxon showed his true and horrifying color. "She pretended to hate it but I knew she-"

"I'm sure Detective Green will appreciate you confessing to the report she filed against you for sexual assault."

Saxon's eyes darkened with fear as he realized what he said, but challenged the claim. "She never said a word! I warned her and she-"

"She in fact did file a report against you. Unlike you, she doesn't cower in a corner. She went to your former Captain, told him the store, gave him the footage from her own body camera when you assaulted her, and even went through with the medical exam to gather evidence. Do you know why you were never charged with the assault?"

Falling silent Saxon admitted he didn't know why he had never been brought up on the charges. He hadn't even known that his former partner was collecting evidence against him to begin with.

"Because she wanted you to get help. THAT'S why you were sent to me to fill in for another detective at another precinct. I of course had to keep a close eye on you and not let you out in the field, but it seems I misjudged you and didn't see you as the sick freak you are. After all, your Captain just said you had a problem working with others, not a sick need to physically assault others to feel normal. He and I will be having words later."

"...I'm not sick." Saxon was practically foaming at the mouth as he spoke. "She is! They all are! She's a woman and can't be trusted!"

"Wrong, she's quite healthy and very courageous. Instead of being afraid of you or even angry at you, Detective Green PITIED you. She saw you as the sick animal you are and wanted you to get better. Your Captain only agreed to not file the charges in the event you actually shaped up, which is now admittedly misplaced faith that he needs to answer for. Now you're going to answer for a crime you should've already been punished for weeks ago. You failed. AGAIN."

"SHUT UP! I didn't fail!"

"Sure you did. I know you failed, that's why you went after Officer Chen." Returning his attention to the tablet screen Captain Fowler brought up the surveillance footage showcasing Saxon slipping his badge back into his pocket, and tapped the image in an accusatory manner. "She saw you make a mistake by showing your badge in front of the camera before you attacked one of your victims at the New Haven train station, and then again out back. A badge you NEVER deserved to carry."

"It's her own fault!" Spitting angrily Saxon's dangerous mindset was becoming all the more prevalent. "If she hadn't been sticking her nose in my business-"

"And that's why you refused to work with her." Everything was falling into place and Captain Fowler finally understood why Saxon tried to murder Tina and then Connor. "She was making progress on the case. She was honing in on you as the 'Shadow Blade' and was getting so damn close that you panicked and-"

"I never panic!"

"Clearly you do." Bringing up the surveillance footage from the bullpen Captain Fowler showed images from earlier that morning before the assaults. "You saw her talking to Detective Wolf and you knew she was going to ask him to confirm her theory. That's why you lost your cool, stormed into the breakroom, grabbed the knife from the kitchen and snuck up on her in the interview room to try to kill her."

Staring at Captain Fowler with a remorseless gaze Saxon seemed completely inhuman and demonic.

"Officer Chen was expecting to see Detective Wolf when she slipped into the interview room." Neatly folding his hands together atop the table Captain Fowler gave Saxon and infuriatingly calm stare. "She didn't know you noticed her talking to him, and never turned around when you snuck up behind her and attacked her like the damn coward you are."

"COWARD?! I fear no one!"

"Is that why you attack innocent and defenseless people from behind? Because you're so damn heroic?"

"Listen to me you arrogant-"

"No, YOU listen." Slamming his own hands down Captain Fowler rose to his feet and towered over the younger and scrawnier man without any difficulty. "You are a disgrace to this uniform, to your badge, and to yourself! You are nothing more than a temperamental, insecure, coward! You attack women who are smaller than you, you attacked people who were unarmed and in no way a threat to you, and you attack from behind. The only reason you got the drop on someone as skilled and logical as Detective Wolf is because he was so shocked at seeing one of his fellow officers bleeding to death that he let his guard down. Unlike you, he has a heart and he nearly lost his life because YOU panicked AGAIN, and went after him, too."

Saxon was shaking with rage as he failed to intimidate Captain Fowler in any capacity.

"I will say this, Officer Chen's progress on the case has guaranteed her promotion when the time comes. She'll set a proud record as one of the youngest detectives in Detroit's history, and you'll just rot away behind bars. You'll be nothing more than a tabloid headline while she'll be making a difference in the world."

"She's a worthless whore! She's like ALL the other women... Getting to the top while laying on her back! Why the fuck else would anyone want to-"

"And that's why you used the knife." With all of his questions answered the interrogation came to an end and Captain Fowler stood up from the chair as he tucked the tablet under his arm. "You're pathetic from head to toe, Saxon. That knife was nothing more than compensation for something you lack."

Enraged beyond any sign of sanity Saxon tried to lunge at Captain Fowler over the table, but the cuffs were too strong and the table itself was bolted to the ground. Unable to attack Captain Fowler as he turned his back and walked away Saxon just fumed, spat, swore and insulted everyone and everything that came to his pitiful mind as he was left alone to seethe in the suffocating interview room.

From within the observation room Lucas, Noreen and Chris all exchanged dumbfounded looks as the tense interrogation came to its end. The crazed former officer continued to seethe on the other side of the glass and Chris promptly muted his deranged ramblings with the press of a single button on the glass. Having ended the cybernetic broadcast to Hank and Gavin's phones Lucas looked down at his palms and noticed they were shaking with fear on behalf of his wounded brother and wounded colleague. Needing to see Connor and needing to let him know that justice would be found Lucas backed away from the window to take his leave.

Noreen saw Lucas's heavy eyes and knew he was hurting on an empathetic level. She had gotten to know the deviant well enough to see his heart, and she knew he was almost too kind for the world.

"Hey, man." Chris extended his right hand out toward Lucas before the deviant left the observation room. "It was good to work with you, but I'd rather not have to do it again anytime soon."

"I understand." Shaking Chris's hand respectfully Lucas shared the sentiment as he forced himself to stop shaking. "You did excellent work in discovering the knife in the pawnshop. You guaranteed the case would be closed properly."

"Thanks. Go say 'hi' to Connor for me. I want to go see Tina and make sure her mom and sister are doing okay, and don't need anything."

"I will do so. I'll be sure to see Tina as well once she's awake and is ready for visitors."

Noreen offered Chris her hand as well as she directed Lucas toward the doorway. "I'll make sure everyone gets flowers and hugs. I'll even make sure Lieutenant Anderson gets some coffee so he doesn't kill anyone."

"You're a saint Noreen." Chuckling a little as he shook her hand Chris showed a smile for the first time in all day. "That alone should get you a medal of valor."

Smirking herself Noreen directed her deviant partner out of the observation room, out of the bullpen, through the front doors and toward the parking garage next door. Once they were out of anyone's direct sight and beside her car Noreen stopped Lucas in his tracks and gave him a stern look. "Are you okay?"

"I am unharmed."

"No, I mean..." Noreen put her hands on Lucas's shoulders as she looked him in the eyes. "Are you okay emotionally? Your own brother was attacked, and you were the one to take care of him."

"I am... coping." Finally admitting that he was shaken by the whole ordeal Lucas's yellow L.E.D. flickered once in red before returning to yellow. "I didn't expect to see... Well, to see that. Especially my own brother."

Without another word Noreen moved her arms to wrap around Lucas to give him a reassuring hug now that the case was finally closed. They had the right man in custody and no one else would be hurt by him. Feeling Lucas let out a single choking breath Noreen knew her partner would need a minute to let out his pent up emotions before they went anywhere else, and in that moment Noreen didn't have anywhere else she wanted or needed to be.

"Take your time, Lucas." Tightening her hug Noreen let out a deep breath to steady her nerves as well. "It's finally over."

The private recovery room of Saint Mercy Hospital was quiet save for the cardiac monitor beeping in tandem with Tina's slow heart rate, as she rested in the large white bed. With a nasal canula under her nose giving her clean oxygen to breathe, a blood pressure cuff wrapped around her left bicep, an oxometer clipped to her right index finger, an I.V. running into the back of her right hand to provide antibiotics, and heavy white bandages wrapped around her torso, Tina seemed to be sleeping well. She was still pale from blood loss and the physical trauma that stemmed from the invasive emergency surgery, and she seemed to be as fragile as a paper doll.

Flowers and balloons already filled up the white recovery room as Gavin, Mrs. Chen and Iris all patiently waited for Tina to show some sign of return to the waking world. Mrs. Chen was sitting in a chair beside Tina's bed and combing her fingers through Tina's raven black hair as she whispered softly to her eldest daughter. Iris was sitting in a chair beside her mother while Gavin went on a coffee run for everyone.

Returning to the room through the sliding door Gavin awkwardly fumbled with the three cups of coffee in his two hands and whispered to the two women as he gave them their drinks. "I have your decaf right here, Mrs. Chen."

"Thank you, dear." Accepting the cup Mrs. Chen noticed Gavin's white bionic left hand and took hold of the appendage after Iris took her cup as well. "I'm so glad you're getting better. Tina told me you were injured but she said I was forbidden from going to your apartment to take care of you."

"Well..." Blushing a little as Mrs. Chen let go of his hand Gavin sipped at his own coffee and pulled up a chair to sit on the other side of the bed next to Tina as he continued to whisper. "These days I sort of have someone else to look after me."

"Did you meet another woman? She's not going to be another slut like that Patricia woman is she?"

Doing his best to not smile, only to fail, Gavin shook his head and confirmed that Aaron wasn't a slut. "No, uh, Aaron is a great and honest guy."

"Aaron, huh?" The masculine name and pronoun held her attention fast. "You finally met a good man?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Does he have a brother for Tina?"

"No, ma'am. Only a sister."

"Damn."

Iris let out a deep sigh and gave her mother a dirty look. "You know as well as I do that any blind date for Tina is going to end with her scaring him away just to spite the person who set her up." Turning the focus back to Gavin on the other side of the bed Iris smirked and spoke to the abrasive detective as if he were her own brother. "So, tell us about Aaron. Is he a cop, too?"

"No. Firefighter."

Taking a sip of her coffee Iris obviously approved. "He already sounds hot."

Fortunately for Gavin he had made peace with the fact that the Chen women all spoke their minds and never shied away from their honest feelings. "He's the best. I think... I think he's the one."

"'Bout damn time you found him. Where is he now? Working?"

"In a way." Pulling out his phone Gavin showed the two women the photo of Aaron with the little kitten and was immediately met with sincere 'awes' at the adorable sight. "That little guy was rejected by the mother and needs twenty-four hour care. We're working in shifts as of the moment."

"You hooked up with a firefighter who spends his time off taking care of helpless little kittens?"

"He's a great cook, too."

"You lucky fucker."

From the bed a weak whisper sounded off and caught everyone's attention. "...Could you guys shut up? I'm still tired."

"Tina!" Gavin grabbed onto her left hand while Mrs. Chen grabbed onto the right hand, and Iris went to go find a doctor or nurse to check on Tina herself. "It's about time you woke up!"

"...Hey, Gav'. Mom and Iris are here, too." Blinking a few times Tina glanced about the recovery room with blurry eyes and tried to figure out how she ended up in the hospital bed. Her memory from that morning was thankfully as blurry as her vision for the moment. "...What did I miss?"

"You, uh... You cracked the case with that 'Shadow Blade' asshole, and you were... uh..."

Tina's mind began to clear and her heart rate started to pick up as the memories came back and settled in with lingering fear. The cardiac monitor betrayed her reaction as it beeped faster in tandem with the adrenaline fueled heartbeat.

"Whoa! Hey, hey, hey..." Standing up from the bed Gavin leaned over her and made her look him in the eyes. "It's okay. The asshole was arrested two hours ago and Fowler got him to crack. You're going to be just fine and he's going to burn."

Dr. Wilson, a friendly and familiar face to the police department, hustled into the room to check on his star patient. "Good evening, Officer Chen. I'm Dr. Wilson, and before you even ask, yes. You're going to make a full recovery."

"...H-How bad was it?" Wanting to push back the blanket to check her bandages Tina felt Gavin and her mom's hands hold her own hands down. At the mercy of the people around her Tina patiently waited to be told the truth. "What's the damage?"

"It's not as bad as we feared." Using his penlight Dr. Wilson checked Tina's pupils to ensure there was no neurological damage, and then checked the I.V. in the back of her right hand for any sign of infection. "We were able to fully repair the damage to your left iliac artery that connects to your left kidney, and we patched the damage to your liver. There's no sign of jaundice which is a fantastic sign." Checking Tina's vitals on the monitor Dr. Wilson picked up the electronic chart at the end of the bed and began making a few notes as he spoke. "The knife passed through the uterus, perforated the bowel and caused mild internal bleeding throughout your intestines. No damage to your spinal column or the spinal chord, thankfully. Every little hole was patched up and after a few blood transfusions your vitals stabilized without any difficulty."

"...I'll be okay?"

"Yes, you're going to be just fine. I want to keep you here for a week since you suffered so much internal trauma, but I have no doubts you'll be back at the precinct within the month. You'll be behind your desk for another four weeks, but you will live to investigate another day."

The good news lifted a weight from her heart as Tina's memories of the assault came flowing forward. "And Connor?"

Gavin spoke up and cleared his throat a little. "Lucas said he's going to be fine. He's still unconscious but like you, he's going to live."

Closing her eyes Tina let out a small sigh and sank back against her pillows. "...Thank fuck."

Dr. Wilson was satisfied that Tina was stable and decided that the best thing for her recovery would be for her to talk with her family for a moment. "You rest for now, Officer Chen. I'll be back in an hour to check your bandages and adjust your medication if necessary. Take it easy and just let your body heal."

"Yeah... Whatever you say, doc."

Mrs. Chen gave Tina a kiss on her forehead and breathed a sigh of relief. "You really must stop scaring me like this."

"I know, I'm sorry." Letting out a small sigh Tina gave her mother a somber stare as she slowly regained all her senses and glanced about the room. "Mama, could you bring me some tea? My stomach hurts."

"Give me ten minutes and I'll bring you a whole pot of tea, Xiǎodòu."

After giving Tina's forehead another kiss Mrs. Chen grabbed onto Iris's hand to coax the youngest of her two daughters to join her. "Come Iris. I'm certain we can find a sensible person who understands the importance of properly steeped tea somewhere in this hospital."

"Please don't harass the nurses, mama." Giving Tina a sarcastic roll of her eyes as she followed their mother out of the room Iris begrudgingly helped with the quest for tea. "Not again!"

With her family now out of the room Tina let out a slow breath as tears formed in her eyes and began to roll down her cheeks. The overwhelming mixture of relief, fear, pain, confusion and shock had broken down Tina's strong emotional walls that she had built up the day she entered the police academy.

"Hey, don't do that." Gavin never wanted to see his best friend and honorary kid sister cry. "It's over, you're still alive and that asshole is going to die alone and miserable in a tiny dark cell."

"...Sorry."

"Don't apologize over this stuff. Just remember it's over and you're safe."

Keeping her voice from shaking Tina gave her best friend a pleading stare. "...C-Can I talk with Connor at all?"

"Uh, I can ask Lucas and see if he's awake." Pulling his phone from his pocket Gavin texted the deviant and was met with an immediate response. "He's still out of it. But he is going to wake up, okay?"

"I-I know. It's just... I want to thank him."

"Thank him? What did he do?"

"...Connor saved my life."

"He did?" Surprised by the revelation since no one had said anything earlier Gavin tried to figure out what he missed during his absence. "I thought he just got shanked in the back, too."

"No, he saved me." Trailing her left fingers numbly up the side of her neck where a thick bandage covered the stitched up cut Tina winced a little. The cut was created by Saxon's knife during the original attack. "...That sick freak was going to slit my throat when something scared him."

Gavin's hazel eyes widened with shock as he didn't even know she had suffered a wound to her neck. "...Connor. Connor approached the room, Saxon panicked when someone got too close and Saxon pushed you away before he had the chance to cut you."

Nodding weakly Tina confirmed everything he said as her memory cleared and the horrible moment of her near death became etched in her mind. "...He hid in corner beside the door and snuck up on Connor when he-" Pausing to stop a voice crack Tina realized how close she came to death that morning. "If Connor hadn't agreed to meet with me I would've..."

Sitting down on the edge of the bed Gavin carefully wrapped both of his arms around Tina to give her a supportive but not crushing hug as she began to cry again. Everything was just so overwhelming and hectic that Tina needed to let it out and cry while her best friend held her close.

"You're okay, Ti'. But if you want I'll sneak into the holding cells at the precinct and kick Saxon's ass for you."

Laughing a little Tina sighed and began calm back down. As she melted into Gavin's hug she took notice of the bionic left arm and patted it lightly with her right palm in a playful manner. "...Nice arm."

"Y-Yeah, uh..." Flexing the artificial fingers a little Gavin acknowledged to use of the prosthetic. "I started to use it."

"Looks good on you." Leaning back Tina grabbed onto his plastimetal left hand and smirked. "Can you feel that?"

"...Yes but no. I can feel pressure on my hand, but if I wasn't looking at your hand directly I'd have no idea what was touching it."

"What changed your mind about using a prosthetic?" Rubbing her left fingers under her eyes Tina removed her tears and sank back against her pillow to try to get some rest. Managing a weak smile Tina put on a brave face for both her friend and her family as she healed. "Please don't tell me it's all for a fashion statement."

"No, nothing quite to shallow." Holding up his phone again Gavin showed Tina the photo of Aaron and the tiny kitten much to her delight. "Makes it easier to feed that little guy with two hands. It's not easy to hold a kitten and a bottle with one hand."

Tina saw the way Gavin's eyes lit up when he brought up the photo and she knew her best friend finally found his true love in Aaron. "...I'm glad you found a reason to keep moving forward. I knew you would."

"Yeah, same." Watching as Mrs. Chen and Iris returned to the room with a mug of steaming tea Gavin slipped his phone back into his pocket, and gave Tina a determined stare. "You just take it easy while I go and pick up the slack at the precinct. By the time you're back in action I'm going to have every single case closed and every single ass kicked."

The recovery wing of the Zeta Facility was as quiet as a library during finals week. As Connor rested in a private room in that very recovery wing Hank and Lucas waited for the healing deviant to wake up at long last. Much like Tina at the hospital, Connor had a Thirial activity monitor recording his vitals, a Thirium pressure cuff wrapped around his left bicep, a nasal canula under his nose to keep cool air flowing into his core, and heavy bandages around his abdomen. Rather than an I.V. in the back of his hand or the bend of his arm, Connor had an external line snaking down his throat and into his repaired artificial stomach to restore his Thirium reserve.

Sitting beside the bed Hank readjusted the blue blanket over Connor's person to make sure he was comfortable, and watched as Lucas pressed his exposed left palm to the center of Connor's chest to track his processor's reboot progress. Mentally drained, emotionally exhausted and physically fatigued to the brink of collapse Hank just sipped at the coffee provided by Noreen before she took her leave of the facility, and waited for Connor to open his eyes.

"Tina is awake." Lucas confirmed as he received Gavin's text and of the request for Tina to speak with him through cybernetic contact. "She's alert and wants to talk to Connor once he's awake."

"That's a good sign. Tina's going to make a full recovery, and our psycho is locked behind bars..." Despite the positive outcomes Hank still seemed rather glum and despondent. "Guess we won."

"Connor will make a full recovery as well." Noticing the way Hank's blue eyes were transfixed on Connor's face and that his shoulders were slumped with worry, Lucas was determined to keep both his brother and their honorary guardian as comfortable as possible. "Please try not to worry. Connor will awaken in less than one minute."

"He's waking up?"

"Yes." Pulling back his palm Lucas let the artificial skin regenerate and gave Hank a confident nod. "His system is stable and his processors have fully rebooted."

"Good. It's about time he woke up."

"Connor will need to remain here overnight to ensure there are no further complications to his Thirium lines or biocomponents."

"He's not gonna' like that..."

"I imagine he will not."

A sudden twitch of Connor's right hand caught Hank's attention. "Son?"

Feeling Hank's left hand resting on his right forearm Connor's brown eyes fluttered open and his yellow L.E.D. pulsed in blue as his self diagnostic reported all damage was mended, and his Thirium volume up to ninety-four percent. Attempting to speak Connor realized there was line in his mouth and down his throat, and made a move to remove the line from his body.

"Whoa, don't do that." Hank warned as Lucas pulled Connor's left hand down and away from the line. "You might hurt yourself."

Lucas cybernetically informed Barry that Connor was awake, and requested that Abby come to the recovery room. "Remain still, the line will be removed soon."

'...Brother.' Speaking to Lucas on a cybernetic level to avoid injuring his vocal processor Connor blinked slowly as his memorybank slowly brought the final recorded memories before he was forced into emergency stasis mode to the surface. 'I am repaired?'

"That's right." Answering verbally so Hank had some idea of what was happening Lucas gave Connor a small grin. "You were on the repair table for three hours, forty-two minutes and thirty-three seconds. None of your biocomponents required replacement and all of your Thirium lines were mended."

'How is Tina?'

"Tina is resting well and has regained consciousness. I will locate a tablet and to give you the chance to 'face time' her without either of you moving."

'Thank you.'

Abby rushed into the room and gave Connor a relieved smile. "Welcome back. I assume you want to the line removed from your throat."

Lucas confirmed the suspicion on Connor's behalf. "Please."

"All right. Your Thirium volume is much better and you're fully responsive." Using her penlight to study Connor's ocular relay units for a moment Abby was confident that he was entirely stable. "Okay." Taking hold of the line Abby removed the plastic clip attaching it to a Thirium pouch hanging from the I.V. stand beside the bed, and then removed the single elastic strap holding the end of the line in place near Connor's teeth. The strap function by stretching around the back of his head like an oxygen mask would do. "I'm going to pull slowly on the line and you need to cough to help it move easier. On three... One, two, three!"

The line was easily pulled from Connor's throat and the deviant coughed even more as the line left his throat feeling raw and irritated. "...Th-Thank you."

"You're welcome." Taking the time to listen to Connor's chest with her audioscope Abby smiled again and gave him the clear. "You're going to be fine. After a twenty-four hour stay you're free to go home and rest for another seventy-two hours before you're on desk duty."

"D-Desk duty?"

Hank spoke up and agreed with her assessment. "It's either you ride a desk or you stay home and do nothing. One or the other."

Accepting his fate Connor nodded a little and agreed. "...Very well."

"Get some rest." Abby encouraged as she gave the recovering deviant a relieved grin. "Your system is rebooting just fine, but you're going to be exhausted from all the excessive power going to your self healing program. I'll be back in an hour."

"Thank you, Abby." Leaning back against his pillow Connor rested his left palm over his repaired abdomen and winced as the weight of his own palm was enough to make his still healing abdomen sore. "...Lucas, I'd like to speak with Tina."

"I understand. I will locate a tablet and inform Gavin so he can help Tina answer the call."

The moment Lucas and Abby were out of the room Connor looked over at Hank and let out a single sob of pain and regret as his L.E.D. flashed to an angry red color. "...This is my fault."

"Whoa, what?" Hank put the coffee aside and leaned forward as he put his left hand on Connor's hair and moved his hand to the back of Connor's right forearm. The way Connor went from totally emotionally blank to crying his eyes out put Hank on immediate guard. "What're you talking about, son?"

"...Karma."

"Karma?"

"You told me that Karma is 'what goes around comes around'. I attacked three men with a knife, and then-"

"Hey! No fuckin' way!" Refusing to let Connor blame himself for what Saxon had done Hank raised his voice and made Connor look him in the eyes. "You didn't do this, kid. That asshole who attacked you and Tina is to blame. You're in no way responsible for the attacks, and this isn't Karmic retribution for what you did!"

"It is, Hank. I used a knife on someone else, and then a knife was used on me!"

"If that's true then why in the fuck did Tina get attacked instead of Markus? Hm? You're not being punished by Karma."

"...How do you know for certain?"

"Because the guy you attacked you was that Saxon asshole who was a royal pain in the ass to the entire precinct. It wasn't one of those hunters, or a friend to one of the hunters, or anyone that has anything to do with the hunters. This is an entirely different incident."

"...Saxon did this?"

"Yeah, son." Patting Connor's hair lightly Hank lowered his voice and told Connor about the investigation, the interrogation, of how they proved that it was Saxon who was the infamous 'Shadow Blade', and of how Captain Fowler broke him. "Turns out he attacked Tina because she had found the proof we needed to bust his sorry ass, and he panicked. He attacked her and then you when you unexpectedly walked in on the attack in progress."

"Knife attacks plagued the city only after-"

"Connor. Stop. You still feel guilty about going after those pricks to get the eight deviant victims justice. That guilt is messin' with your head right now."

"What if this is my punishment for hurting them, Hank? Tina was attacked just for doing the right thing without hurting anyone else in the process! My actions hurt an innocent person!"

"Son, please listen to me. Tina was attacked for doing the right thing because the criminal knew she was going to bust him. You got attacked for being in the right place at the wrong time, that's all."

Struggling to believe the facts Connor looked away from Hank and took in a shuddering breath. "...I just can't accept that."

"Well, too bad. It's the truth and we have the evidence to prove it."

Lucas returned to the room with a tablet as promised and could see that Connor was struggling with his emotions. Sitting the tablet down on the small table beside the bed Lucas put his right hand on Connor's left shoulder and watched his brother's deeply emotional eyes glistening with restrained tears. "Connor, it's okay to feel frightened. I was frightened when you were attacked, and I remained frightened until your repairs were completed."

"...I don't want to feel scared. About anything!"

Hank slowly moved his left thumb through Connor's thick hair as he relied on his paternal instincts to help the deviant through this very strange incident. "Only a fool knows no fear, son. You're one of the most clever people I've ever met, so right now being scared is the most logical reaction you could ever have."

"It doesn't feel logical."

"You were attacked by some lunatic in your own precinct. I don't expect you to feel logical or normal for a while, and that's okay, too."

Turning his head to look at Hank again, his frightened eyes making him look more like a lost teenager more than ever before, Connor had a simple request for his most trusted friend during his time of need. "...Will you stay in the facility with me?" Glancing up at Lucas beside him Connor next gave his little brother the same frightened stare. "I don't want be alone all night."

"Yeah, son. We'll both stay."

Agreeing entirely Lucas sent Captain Rourke a cybernetic message regarding the family emergency and that he'd be taking the following day off. "Of course we will. I'm going to go to the house to take care of Sumo and Baron, then I'm going to stop by the apartment to take care of Lucky and her kittens. I'll be back as soon as I can, brother."

"...Thank you."

Hank appreciated the offer and handed Lucas his car keys from his pocket. "Take the Oldsmobile instead of a cab. It'll make things easier."

Accepting the keys Lucas nodded and made his way toward the door. "I will return, Connor. I promise!"

Wincing a little but not complaining as he took in a deep breath Connor's L.E.D. settled on a cautious yellow as the simple motion of breathing made his still sore abdomen ache again.

The pained reaction didn't go unnoticed by Hank. "Want to see if Abby has any of that Thiri... uh, that android painkiller shit?"

"...Thiricetomol."

"Yeah! That! Want to see if that'll help you rest?"

"No. I'm uncomfortable but the pain isn't unbearable."

"If you think you deserve to be in pain because of what happened, you're wrong."

Turning away from Hank again Connor closed his eyes in an attempt to return to rest mode for a while. "...I'd like to get some sleep."

"Yeah, sure. When you wake up you can talk to Tina, and then by this time tomorrow you'll be able to rest in your own bed. Okay?"

Not answering Connor just kept his eyes closed as he pressed his palm down firmer against his healing abdomen.

"Get some rest, son." Keeping his hand on Connor's hair Hank sank back in his seat and prepared for a long night of watching over the young deviant as he began his steady recovery. "Tomorrow should be much better than today."

-next chapter-

Author's Note: 'Xiaodou' means 'little bean' according to Google translate in regard to Mandarin. I wish I was fluent in other languages...