He had managed to hide it through the entirety of the drive. But once they reached the crime scene, Connor couldn't contain the dry cough from erupting out of him. Immediately Hank, who had walked ahead of him, stopped and turned to face Connor, looking a little more than displeased.

"For fuck's sake Connor!"

"I'm fine Lieutenant, it's just a cough-" Connor tried to argue, despite knowing it was a futile battle.

"Cough my ass," He quickly replied, "You've been saying that all week. Not to mention the last time you said that, before collapsing, might I add, because you had the fucking flu"

Connor felt a little guilty, remembering how worried both he and Markus had been during the hospital trip that day.

"That- It's just a chest cold," He conceded, "I can still work"

"Just a chest cold" Hank repeated incredulously, "Son, you look like shit. I'm calling Markus to come get you."

"Can't really do that.." He mumbled looking at his shoes. Hank looked confused. "He's out of town this week…"

"Explains a lot." Hank sighed, "Fine, here's the deal kid. You're going to sit your ass down in that car while I talk to Chris. Then I'm bringing you straight home."

Connor didn't even bother continuing the fight. He knew, albeit not willing to admit it aloud, he was feeling terrible. His head was pounding, he felt exhausted and burning hot, despite the chilly morning air.

So when Hank unlocked the car, he went without comment, instead just resting his head on the window in the hopes of catching a small nap.

He couldn't stop his thoughts drifting to the latest case though. They had gotten it early that morning, briefed quickly on the way to the scene. It was a double homicide, two women - Christine Wayne and Marianne Sawyer - in their mid-to-late twenties. They were both found in alleys, three blocks apart, with critical head wounds and surrounded with hair, that was visibly not their own. The hair seemed to be belonging to the opposite women's, further supporting a theory that the two murders were related. It was still yet to be seen whether the women knew one another though.

—

Connor wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep, but when he opened his eyes the sun was higher than before and a small crowd had gathered near the yellow tape. They seemed annoyed, considering they had had to bar off the entire three block stretch for the investigation. The uniformed officers were trying to get them calmed down as forensics finished up gathering evidence. The chaos and lack of people on the scene made it quite easy for one nondescript man to slip through.

They wore a black sweater, the hood covering their face, and walked hunched over, hands stuffed in their pockets. Walking past the crime scene they surprisingly reached into the trash bin pulling out something Connor couldn't see before slinking into the alley.

It took Connor's fevered brain way too long to register what he'd just seen, but when it did he sprung into action. Adrenaline starting to flow, he jogged over to the crime scene then slowed his pace to keep up with them unnoticeably. Patting for his phone, he speed-dialled Hank.

"Connor?" The detective responded in a mix of worry disguised as annoyance.

"Pursuing possible suspect down Perivale street-Shit" The suspect suddenly looked behind, spotting Connor and taking off in a run.

"Fucking Connor I swear if-" Connor didn't hear the rest of Hank's comment, electing instead to shove his phone back into his pocket before sprinting after the suspect. He knew that Hank would be able to send backup, but in the meantime he couldn't let them get away.

The chase continued, Connor only barely able to keep up as the exhaustion began to kick in again. His heart was pumping hard and every breath stung, but he kept going. It was a blessing when the suspect took a left into another alley, one Connor knew led to a dead-end.

"Fuck" Connor heard them mutter as they turned around realizing their mistake. He was finally able to get a good look at the suspect, who appeared to be younger man - no more than early twenties - with short brown hair. Their eyes were wide and darting, obviously looking for a way out.

"What is your name?" Connor asked out of breath and hoping to get some information from the man without spooking him.

"…Ian"

"Ian, what were you doing at the scene of a closed police investigation?"

"I-I didn't do it!" Ian proclaimed, voice getting progressively louder as he brought his hands to grip his hair. "It-It was all just a misunderstanding…I-I didn't mean for any of this happen!"

"Any of what to happen, Ian?" Connor asked, trying to draw back their attention. The suspect stopped his frantic words, hands instead reaching into his back pocket. Connor, moving to do the same, finally realized that the familiar weight of his gun at his side was nonexistent.

"I didn't kill them" There was the sound of a gun being cocked as Ian lifted the gun to point at Connor's head.

"No one said you did," Connor spoke slowly and reassuringly as he could, looking Ian dead in the eyes.

Hank was running through the empty blocks, searching everywhere to find Connor. He knew this wasn't going to end well. It never went well when that kid went off alone and that was without being sick. Danger just clings to him no matter, Hank help be damned.

"..Now, put the gun down and let's just talk" Hearing Connor's voice, he immediately picked up his com line to notify the rest of the crew. That's when a loud bang rang through the road. Hank knew immediately that it was a gunshot. Pulling out his own weapon, Hank rounded the corner to the alley, aiming the gun directly at the suspect.

"Put your weapon down and hands up!" He shouted, the man immediately complying with a start. The rest of backup wasn't far behind him, appearing within seconds.

"You have the right to remain silent. Whatever you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…" As soon as Hank was sure the man wouldn't be able to get away, he lowered his gun, and went over to Connor.

"Connor-" He knelt down to Connor who was laying on the ground, breathing in short pained gasps as a medic was taking care of the wound. Hank was relieved when he found that the shot was arguably non fatal, hitting the side of his thigh.

"This is exactly the reason I told you to wait in the car y'know." Hank said dryly, but Connor knew it was out of worry.

"C-Couldn't just let him…get away" Connor spoke through bouts of pain radiating from his leg. It wasn't the worst injury he'd gotten on the job, but it sure as hell hurt.

"Well at least now you have to take time off, but good luck explaining this to your husband" Connor winced at the thought of having to break that news to Markus. But for now he was just glad to be done with the whole case, wanting nothing more than to get home. The world was getting woozier from the pain and blood loss and he desperately hoped the ambulance wasn't too far out.

He really should've just stayed home...

Yay, after a year since I came up with this idea (legit just from the line "for fuck's sake Connor") I finally got this done! Hope y'all liked it, big thanks to my beta b/c it wouldn't be legible without them. Thank you so much for reading and if you have anything to say or constructive criticism I'm all ears, just please be polite.
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