I'm stoked that you guys like Katie, I'll admit I was super nervous about putting an OC in here as they can be so hit and miss. She'll be making the odd cameo, while the arc of keeping her secret from Gavin will go on for a little while in between other chapters. It's going to get…interesting.

Special thanks for reviews: LeapFroggy, lordvaatithewindmage, DyeTheSheep, Minecraft Guardiansaiyan, KaguyaAmaterasu, Subtle Shenanigans, gipsypipsy, xNarielx, SheNoob, Celestic1234, less-sugar, AnUnorthodoxDecision, Neyane, sarahlucylu, Roseheir, FateOfChaos, Ie-maru and one Guest.

It wasn't often in life that Hank went to others and asked for help willingly.

As part of his job? Sure, that was a given, police work required co-operation on all fronts.

Personally? Now that was an entirely different kettle of fish.

His damned pride and stubbornness wouldn't allow him to do it as a general rule, and he couldn't count how many embarrassing situations he would have managed to avoid had he just managed to dislodge his tongue and speak the words. The time when Connor had just chuckled as Hank struggled to get himself out of somehow mummy-wrapping himself in the sheet on his bed still burned vividly in his mind.

As much as he wanted to credit that one to Connor's growing number of pranks, he knew that mess was entirely self-inflicted. His shoulder still ached from when he'd tumbled to the floor in a heap, grumbling as the android pulled him free.

Speaking of his partner's pranks…

Their little prank war was exactly why Hank was standing outside one of the android apartment blocks during the one day of the week where he was working, and Connor was at home. He was already fighting the urge to turn-tail and run, and the agonising minutes hovering outside were doing nothing to stop the dread which was slowly settling in his bones.

Why had he thought it was a good idea to ask North for ideas again?

Oh yes. One, he wouldn't go to Markus. Android-jesus and Connor were way too close, and he still hadn't forgiven Markus for the whole hair dye incident.

Two, North was just twisted enough to come up with some more 'inventive' ideas.

Three, he desperately wanted to catch Connor out properly. The android's natural reflexes and pre-construction software made it difficult for Hank to come up with something effective. He was sure the only reason the book one had worked in the first place was because Connor had been frazzled from the moment he came out of stasis that morning.

As Hank saw the smirking form of North approaching, he fought a groan. He just hoped she wasn't going to ask for anything too humiliating as payment for this. What did surprise him, was that Simon followed only a couple of steps behind.

Interesting.

North's expression only grew as she came to a stop two feet away from him, folding her arms as she cast a lazy look over him. Simon stood next to her, and even he was smiling slightly. Hank's concern and curiosity both grew. "You look nervous," North commented with a knowing grin, glancing over at Simon in glee. The other android just laughed softly, and Hank's worries only increased.

This is so not going to be worth it.

He rolled his eyes before grumbling back. "Kept me waiting long enough. What gives with the two of you being here? I never put you down as one to hang around with the psycho, Simon."

Hank ignored North's mildly pissed glare as Simon answered. "North mentioned your little probe for suggestions, and I can't help but find it amusing how both she and Markus are now getting involved in your game. Her initial suggestions were a little too…vicious for my tastes," Hank just scowled at North, who shrugged as Simon continued, "so I have brought along something I developed."

Simon had become somewhat of a tinkerer following the uprising, trying to create various technologies for both humans and androids. When he held out a small chip for Hank to take, the lieutenant was immediately curious. "This little thing?" Hank questioned while picking the item up, holding it between his finger and thumb. It was barely a centimetre across and deep, while it looked entirely innocuous.

That was reason enough to distrust it.

North's grin was back, and Hank could see she was fighting a laugh. "It's brilliant, I've got to admit. Simon outdid himself with this one. We tested it on Markus and the results were hilarious."

Now Hank was really curious as to what it was. "Do I even want to know how you managed that?" When the two shared a dirty look, Hank shuddered theatrically. Way too much information, thank you. "Never mind. So, what does it do?"

As the pair told him how to use the chip, Hank suddenly realised just why he'd been struggling to come up with ideas. He's been too fixated on the fact that Connor is an android with all these fancy gadgets and skills to see the answer which was staring him in the face.

Connor is an android. That means lots of little pieces of technology to play around and mess with.

Hank was grateful that the pair didn't ask for anything in return for the little gift, their amusement at the test run on Markus having been more than enough apparently. He then eyed the chip with a broad smirk.

I cannot wait to see the look on your face, Connor.

It took another three days for Connor to go into stasis again, and by the time it came to put his plan into action Hank was itching to go. He'd barely managed to keep a straight face since that day, and he knew Connor was aware something was up. Fortunately, he was sure that the android had no idea of North and Simon's involvement.

Which meant he was never going to guess what was coming.

Once Connor was out, Hank deftly flicked open the panel at the back of his neck, trying to be as careful as possible as he found the right connector to insert the chip. It took only two seconds for the light to turn green, signifying the successful install, before Hank withdrew. Grinning widely, he then pulled out the little remote which the pair had given him and flicked it on.

He wouldn't get an answer until morning; so, he went to bed, smiling all the way.

Connor was suspicious when he came out of stasis the next day and Hank was already awake. It was even more disconcerting when it was only 7am, Hank was never up so early – Connor normally had to harass him for around half an hour to wake up, and that was on a good day. Taking a seat in the living room, he watched as Hank stood against the kitchen cabinets, studiously reading from his tablet while waiting for a coffee. Wondering if the man had actually slept at all, Connor called out to him.

Only for his voice to come out in a low bark.

The android yelped and clamped his hands around his throat, face scrunched into a mixture of confusion and horror as he wondered what the hell had happened to his voice box. A muffled laugh from the kitchen snatched Connor's attention and he glared when he saw Hank sniggering from behind his hand, the lieutenant's eyes alight with glee. Safe to say Connor could guess where this 'affliction' had come from.

If looks could kill, Hank would be a pile of ash on the floor.

As it was, Connor growled (which was actually quite menacing with his new 'upgrade') and scanned himself, finding the little chip installed just underneath his voice modulator. It was like nothing he'd ever seen or heard of before, and he had to wonder where on earth the human had come across such a thing. Worse, it was in a place that Connor couldn't remove it on his own without possibly causing himself some notable damage.

Which meant he was stuck with it until he found someone willing to dig around in his neck to retrieve it. The list of people that Connor trusted enough to allow them that access was already small, and the person which would have been top of it had stuck him in this predicament.

"Well, morning to you too, Connor," the older man chirped. Connor resented the man being in such a good mood purely at his expense. This prank was just plain mean. How and when did Hank decide that hacking his voice box would be amusing? "Having fun there?"

When Connor tried to speak again, it just came out as a whine, which had Hank practically falling over in laughter. He sighed in response, glad at least that still sounded normal.

Poor Sumo was beyond confused, his head up and searching for what he presumed was another dog in his house. That left Hank feeling ever so slightly bad.

It didn't come anywhere close to outweighing his amusement though.

"Pretty neat, huh?" Hank continued with the smug grin still on his face. "I'll admit, I thought North and Simon were yanking my chain when they said it would change your voice to that of a dog, but the results speak for themselves; even Sumo is convinced." Connor glared at him again, to which Hank shrugged. "What, I can't involve the Jericho crew as well? You brought them into it, I'm just taking full advantage."

Hank's grin grew when his phone started vibrating madly on the kitchen table, chuckles escaping him as he saw the stream of messages. Most of them were just three dots, with the odd angry emoji in between. "Tell you what, Connor," Hank offered. "I'll not use this little trick again so long as you burn that damn beeper you tormented me with. Deal?" Hank hadn't forgotten Connor's threat from before, and he'd be damned if he went demented again from that stupid little thing.

A single vibrate from the phone signified Hank had his answer.

Fine.

He smiled and nodded happily as another message came through.

Can you deactivate it now?

"Come on, Connor, you really think I'm going to let you off that easy? Nah, I'm going to leave you like this until we head to work. It's too damn amusing."

Connor sat in contemplation for all of two seconds before sending another message.

Fuck you, Hank.

The older man chuckled loudly. "Such language, Connor. Proud to be such a good influence."

Knowing Connor though, Hank had to wonder just how the android was going to get his revenge.