Gavin drove on the highway for several minutes, his thoughts racing. It was supposed to be a simple drug bust tonight. He was going to go there, make the trade, and arrest everyone in the warehouse with the help of a few officers. He had been working this case all month and had more than enough evidence to convict them all. Maybe with a little pressure he could convince them to give up the factory where they had been cooking drugs as well.

Until he saw tinman, and tinman saw him.

And man, if looks could kill….

He parked at the police station and threw off his seat belt. The young detective stormed up to the police chief's office and spoke before Fowler could. "Connor's alive. He was in that warehouse."

Whatever Fowler was about to say soon deflated. Fowler looked as though Gavin had actually punched him in the gut and took a moment to recover. "Are you sure? We've seen other models like him come back before."

"I don't know. I thought all that Cyberlife shit was shut down. How the fuck am I supposed to know?"

Fowler frowned. "And you didn't arrest him?"

Gavin raised an eyebrow. "Well I figure if Connor was there, pretending to be human, his buddies might not be human after all. In that case, we would be walking into a bad situation if we tried to round them up."

"Yeah, good point," Fowler had to admit.

Gavin frowned. "He seemed…angry to see me."

"Why?"

"I don't know," Gavin admitted, and folded his arms. "So what now, boss?"

Fowler shrugged. "We need to bring him in, one way or another."

"Jesus." Gavin said was afraid Fowler would say that. "And just how am I supposed to do that? If Anderson was here-"

"He's not," Fowler snapped. "So you're just going to have to do the best you can. Connor has been MIA for almost seven months. I want to know where he's been, why he's there, and even if he's the right fucking Connor! This now takes priority, Reed. Get him back here, even if you have to use force."

Gavin's eyes narrowed. "And if his buddies don't like me doing that?"

"Then you'd better have a good plan. Get it done."

"Right," Gavin said, releasing a sigh as he left the office. Out of all the places to show up tinman…not to mention you almost made me blow my own fucking cover and cost me a month's work of work. Hope you're not too attached to your drug-smuggling friends, because they're next on my list.

He entered the storage room and studied the dusty desk with a sigh. "Question is, how do I get you away from them?" he asked himself, then lifted up an old newspaper of Connor and Hank together, after an arrest. Connor's badge was clearly visible. "Huh. You ruined my night, tinman. Guess I'll have to ruin yours."

PART TWO

"Are you sure about this?" RK asked as he and Lana walked together on the busy Detroit street.

"Positive. We don't have any optical units for MX100. She's a pretty old design. We should be able to find them in most of the pawnshops lying around," Lana said. She was wearing a light but fashionable dress.

"We could just break into one," RK pointed out.

Lana smirked. "Unlike your case, hers is not a life-or-death emergency. Still, I want her to be able to see as soon as possible. Besides, this is about facing your fear too." She looked around. "How do you feel?"

RK said nothing as he saw all the humans walking around him. It was suffocating, to say the least. "Like I'm about to freeze to death." He noticed her inquisitive glance and shrugged. "I know it doesn't make much sense…but when I'm stressed out I feel cold."

Lana squeezed his hand, and RK could feel the warmth pass between them. "You don't have to worry. It's not that cold," she said.

RK glanced up at the sky, where there were a few light droplets of rain. "The forecast does say a storm is coming," he said. "We should also buy an umbrella for you as well."

After making their purchase without incident, Lana insisted on stopping at a nearby outdoor restaurant and buying two hot dogs. Neither of them could eat, but Lana insisted on the experience. RK watched two teenage human girls laughing and eating ice cream.

"See? They're not all bad," Lana said gently.

"Can I ask you something, now that we are alone?" RK asked abruptly.

Lana blinked. "Of course, RK. You can ask me anything."

"Why does David hate Markus?"

Lana sighed and looked down. "It's a long story," she said. "David used to have a chid. Or rather, a Y500. She became sick. David took her to Jericho, to try and help her. And from what I understand, David barely got out of there with his life."

RK frowned. "And the child?"

Lana sadly shook her head. "I try not to bring it up," she said. "Markus only cares about you if you're a brand new model or have something to offer. If you're defective…then he's only interested in you for parts."

"He says that Markus plans to attack us."

"David believes so, yes."

They both looked up as the rain became more frequent. RK gave her the umbrella.

"I am sorry," Lana said with a laugh. "This wasn't exactly the best weather to go shopping in."

RK smiled. "On the contrary, it was the rain which brought me back. I love this weather."

PART THREE

David said nothing in the warehouse, studying the newspaper clipping Gavin gave him.

"That's why I got so nervous last night, man," Gavin said with a slight accent he normally used with his cover as Louis. "Maybe check your strays a bit more carefully. This one's a plant."

"He's not," David said. "He was heavily damaged when we found him. His memory's been corrupted. I verified it myself."

Gavin blinked. That explained a few things. He kept his face neutral. "Yeah? And what happens when his memory's fixed? I'll tell you. He's going to immediately call the Detroit Police and your operation is gone like smoke." He snapped his fingers. "Just like that."

David was silent.

"Let me take care of this problem. Quietly," Gavin pressed. "I'll make it look like an accident. Wrong time, wrong place. Then we can go back to work without worrying about it."

"No," David said firmly. "RK is my friend. I won't let you do that."

Gavin raised his hands defensively. "It's your call, boss. If you think you can trust him, that's fine. I mean, it's not as if he's already remembering things…right?"

Gavin had gambled, and from David's expression he knew he had struck gold. He mentally grinned and twisted the knife even further. "Even if he did, I'm sure a highly decorated officer of the law would willingly give up everything for you. Right?"

"I'll send him away," David said.

"He knows where you operate from. If you want it to be done, it has to be done right."

David studied the wall, and eventually sighed. A low, deep sigh. "You're right. There are too many others involved. Too many I care for to risk this. Just…make sure he doesn't suffer, all right? Enough humans have made him suffer already."

The comment made Gavin's eyebrow arch, but he nodded. "Just give me a time and a place. I'll let you know when it's done."

PART FOUR

Laughing, RK and Lana engaged in a friendly race back to the house. RK closed the umbrella for her as they entered the house. Lana paused as she noticed someone watching them from the hallway. "Hello, David," she greeted.

RK noticed his tense posture. "What's wrong?"

"We have a problem. One of our bags is missing. I fear it might have been left back in the warehouse in error," David said. "RK, can you get it for us?"

"Of course," RK said, happy to assist. "We found the optical units for MX100. She'll be able to see again shortly."

"Great. That's great," David said, and looked away with a sigh.

"David, is everything all right?" Lana asked.

David didn't respond.

"David?" RK prodded.

"Just watch your back, RK," David said curtly. "That's all."

Before RK could response, he walked out of the room. That way, neither android could see the torment on his face.

PART FIVE

Gavin passed the time by updating Fowler on what he knew so far. He was now certain that this was their Connor, but his memory was too damaged for him to remember much. Fowler agreed with that assessment and made sure a technician was working at the police station.

His radio went off. "Connor just parked," Chris informed him.

"All right. Keep your distance. I'll call you if I need you," Gavin said, and straightened.

The door to the warehouse suddenly opened, and Gavin watched as Connor entered the building. Gavin knew that with Connor's scanning abilities he would be immediately detected and didn't bother to try and hide. The young detective was tempted to shell out a sarcastic greeting, but his intuition told him a lighter touch was needed. "Hey. You're RK…right?"

RK pointed the gun at him. "If you're looking for David, he's not here."

"Well, actually David kind of ratted you out." Gavin smiled. "He thinks I'm here to kill you."

"You're lying," RK stated, ready to shoot him.

"Easy, tinman. I'm not here to fight. Quite the opposite, actually. I want to help you."

RK raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Really," he said.

Gavin smirked, knowing he had caught the android's interest. "Well, I know a few things about you. For starters, I know you're an android. And your name isn't RK, not really. Your serial number is RK800, but that's not your name." He stepped past him. "If you want to know more, let's go for a drive."

RK frowned. If he still had his LED, it would be glowing very yellow at the moment.

PART SIX

A few minutes later Gavin was driving anxiously back to the station, an anxiety that RK no doubt caught onto. It didn't help that the rain was getting worse. He could hear thunder in the distance.

RK also studied the weather. It wasn't too different from what had brought him back to life. "Where are we going?" he eventually demanded.

"To meet with some people who can explain things better to you. I'll be honest here, I'm probably the least qualified person to help you make sense of this." He wasn't an expert on androids, and his relationship with Connor hadn't exactly been the best, even over the recent years.

"What is my actual name?" RK persisted. "I got in the damn car. So what's my name?"

Gavin glanced at him. "It's Connor."

"Connor…" RK echoed, then shook his head. "It doesn't sound right."

"Trust me on this tinman, it is your name."

RK, or rather Connor looked away. "What else?" he demanded. "What else do you know about me?"

Gavin hesitated, then handed over the newspaper article. Connor read it quietly. "You're a detective. So am I. My name isn't Louis. It's Detective Gavin Reed. Is any of this coming back?"

Connor blinked as another memory surfaced.

"Hey. Bring me a coffee, dipshit!" Gavin ordered, getting up in his face. "Get a move on!"

"I'm sorry," Connor said. "But I only take orders from Lieutenant Anderson."

Gavin smirked and looked away. A second later he rammed his fist into Connor's stomach, who fell. "When a human gives you an order, you obey it!"

MEMORY CORRUPTION DETECTED. EIGHTY-FIVE PERCENT.

"I remember you ordered me to give you coffee once," Connor said, looking away. "And what happened to me when I didn't."

He suddenly grabbed the steering wheel and turned it sharply to the left. The car went off the road and right into a ditch. Gavin's head connected to the steering wheel, and for a few seconds he blacked out. When he came too, Connor had left the vehicle, silently watching him. The rain was pounding against him by this point.

"You just had to do this shit the hard way," Gavin muttered, and turned on his radio. "All units, converge on my position, now!" He got out of the car. As a safeguard, three other ghost cars had tailed them from a respectable distance in case he ran into trouble.

"You were trying to arrest my friends in a sting operation," Connor stated, as though realizing it for the first time. "You would have done so, had I not been there."

Thunder rumbled closer to them. "What happened to you, Connor!?" Gavin demanded, stepping closer with his gun drawn. "David said you had a bug up your ass about something humans did. What was it?"

Connor's face was vacant as lightning flashed. "It was enough," he said simply. He stepped forwards. "Let me make something very clear to you, Gavin. Whatever life you think I've had, it's over. I'm not your slave, and I'm not a cop. My place is with my friends."

"Oh yeah. Your friends sure were happy to give you up on a silver platter the moment I told them you who you really were," Gavin snapped, his hair dripping wet from the rain. "But don't worry. We'll deal with them too."

Connor's eyes became cold as three other police cars parked around them. "Then I suppose you've all just become a threat."

Shit, Gavin thought.

"Connor!" Chris snapped, his gun raised. "Put your hands in the air! Now!"

Connor said nothing for a moment, the rain pounding against his ears. He scanned and calculated the best way to kill all of them. At the same time, his left arm was trembling violently. He moved first towards Chris, elbowing him in the gut, disarming him and pointing the gun at the next police officer. One head shot. Easy.

Or rather, it should have been easy.

Instead his left hand slapped his right and the gun fired in the wrong direction. He didn't have time to correct. He simply pushed Chris towards the other officer, knocking him out cold. He then whirled towards the second police car, slamming the door savagely and jamming it before the officer inside could open it. He jumped on top of the roof and punched through the windshield, knocking out the driver. He wanted to snap the man's neck, but his left arm started to violently twitch at the thought.

Connor blinked. Interesting. If he was an indeed a former detective than his body appeared to be literally fighting itself. It was a fault he would have to learn how to correct. But for now, he would have to be content with non-fatally injuring the officers.

Or at least, most of them.

By now the third group had exited their car and fired their guns at Connor. Connor easily calculated the angle of the shots and moved accordingly. He slammed his fist against his chin and threw his gun at the second female officer's head. Within seconds all responding officers were down and unconscious.

That done, Connor approached Gavin, eyes promising murder. No matter what his arm was telling him, Gavin was going to die.

Gavin fired his gun once into Connor's shoulder. Blue blood spattered everywhere.

"Humans. All they do is destroy and ruin everything," Connor stated.

Gavin raised his hand. "Connor-"

Connor gripped Gavin's hand, breaking five bones in the process. Gavin screamed in pain. "My name is RK! Say it!"

Gavin stubbornly shook his head. Neither of them noticed another car slowly parking nearby, or the door opening. "Fucking asshole droid-"

Connor punched him, breaking his ribs as they both fell forwards into the ditch next to the car. The deviant was covered in mud by this point, but it didn't matter. Humans hurt his friends. Humans hurt him! He would never let it happen again! He grabbed Gavin's shirt, lifting up the battered detective. "Say it!"

Gavin spat up blood. "Hank…" he whispered, about to pass out. "Remember Hank…"

Connor's eyes widened as he remembered the first word he said after rebooting. "Hank? Who's that? Another android? Where's he?"

"I'm right here," a calm, steady voice said from above them. Hank Anderson was standing on top of the ditch, one hand casually resting on the butt of his gun. "Hello, Connor."

TBC