"What the hell is taking him so long?" Hank muttered under his breath as they stood outside the smoldering house. By this time the fire department had put out the blaze, but the damage was done. The house couldn't be repaired and would be bulldozed eventually. Connor had been gone for at least ten minutes.

Markus hesitated, and tried to reach out to Connor. The android in question was barely conscious, and automatically fighting back at the intrusion, more out of confusion than anything else. "He's blocking my connection…but I can feel his distress. He was unconscious. Something's wrong."

"Fuck." Hank glanced at a nearby firefighter. "Hey! What's going on in there?" he asked, flashing his badge.

"We're still working through the house. There's one area we can't access, but we've radioed for additional equipment."

Hank frowned. "Which area?"

"The basement. It's sealed up shut. The electronics to the door must be on some kind of generator. We'll need to cut through the metal. It'll take a few hours."

"Hank, let me take a look," Markus said, also sensing the urgency.

Hank nodded, and both of them entered the first floor to the basement. "It's a combination lock," Markus said, and put his hand on it. Seconds later the buttons on it started to flicker.

"What are you doing?" Hank asked.

"I am overloading the pad with every single combination known to man within a matter of seconds," Markus replied.

"You can do that?" Hank asked, and North smirked.

"I once broke into a news tower. I've picked up a few things over the years." He nodded as it blinked in recognition, and the door opened. "Got it."

Hank pushed opened the door and ran down the steps. "Connor!" he shouted, seeing his struggling partner handcuffed to a nearby pole.

Connor tried to speak, but nothing came out. He shook his head, clearly frustrated.

"Here, allow me," Markus said, touching Connor's LED. "Voicebox reinitialized. Give it a minute to reboot."

Suddenly Connor gripped his arm, his face pleading. His hand became white as he lifted it up.

Markus understood what he was asking for. "All right," he said, his own hand becoming white. The two connected and exchanged memories. Markus soon learned everything Connor had gone through and cringed. In turn, Connor learned firsthand what David had done while at Jericho.

The two separated. Connor swallowed a hard lump in his throat as he could finally speak again. "I'm sorry, Markus. I should have never doubted you," he said.

Markus nodded. "No apology necessary. You've been through a lot." He glanced at North. "David plans to blow up Jericho. I have already alerted the others."

"Can he do it?" Hank said, unlocking the handcuffs around Connor. Luckily the Detroit PD had been cheap and the same key every officer carried worked for all handcuffs they had in their possession. Connor flashed him a grateful look.

"The explosives David carries are powerful enough to blow up the entire building, yes," Connor replied, his LED flashing yellow. "I have alerted Detroit PD as well. We need to go there as soon as possible."

Hank nodded. "We'll take my squad car."

PART TWO

The air was tense as Hank drove as fast as he could to Jericho with the lights on. Connor suddenly blinked as his LED flashed.

I sensed your hesitation when you saw David, Markus communicated to him. Will this be an issue?

That was before I knew what he did at Jericho, Connor responded back. Trust me, I know who I am, and what I need to do.

Good, Markus said in relief. I'm glad you're back, Connor. Hank wasn't the only one searching after you disappeared.

Connor hesitated as he lightly scanned Hank. The veteran detective had lost a lot of weight, likely due to his coma, and there were dark circles under his eyes. We were both lost. But not anymore.

"We're here," Hank said, parking the car.

"I'm not sensing anything amiss at the building," Markus said.

"Or the grounds," Connor added. "Where is he? He was ahead of us!"

Hank frowned. "Maybe not. Detroit PD cleared the roads for us," he pointed out.

"We may need to split up and search on foot for him," Markus said, eyeing the snowy landscape.

"Agreed." Hank watched as Markus and North took the northern direction connected to the building.

Connor turned to leave.

"Connor," Hank called out, and took out his spare gun. He handed it to him. "Do you trust me more than David now?"

Without hesitation Connor took it. "I trust you with my life, Hank. Few people have that, including David. He will be brought to justice."

Hearing the determination in his voice, Hank smiled. "Welcome back, kid. Now let's get this creep."

The two of them searched the field, without any success, but there were a lot of trees to the south. Hank and Connor entered the field and passed by a frozen stream. There was a path just ahead of them which branched off. Hank nodded, and Connor split off to the right as he went to the left.

A few minutes later, it felt like things were too quiet. Hank surveyed the area but didn't see anyone. "I know you're here!" he shouted. "Why don't you come out now!"

Suddenly he heard a gunshot to his right. He turned but couldn't see anyone in the snow! "Connor!" he shouted.

There was no response.

Suddenly, there was a dry click behind his head. "Maybe RK was right," David said, holding the gun. "Maybe humans are the problem after all."

"That's not his fucking name," Hank snapped, raising his hands and dropping his gun. "Your days of manipulating him, or anyone else is over. And there's no way we're going to let you be anywhere near Jericho."

"Markus needs to pay for what he did," David stated.

"He didn't do anything. You wanted to take over, and you didn't care who got hurt along the way!" Hank shouted. "Tell me, was it worth it? Lana's dead. Your home is destroyed. Was it worth all that?"

He didn't see David's face soften, then became firm. "I will start over. I will rebuild. Get down on your knees."

Reluctantly, Hank did so. "You're not a messiah. You're not even a leader. You're just a thug."

"Are those your last words?" David asked. And suddenly froze as they heard another click behind them.

Hank couldn't help but grin. "See that your problem, David. You never could understood what happens when androids and humans work together." He dared to turn around slightly.

Connor was standing behind David. His arm was bleeding slightly, but that was the only damage as he pointed his gun at David's head.

"I took care of your friends, David. It's over," Connor said.

David whirled around. "RK, no! Don't do this!" he demanded. "You made a promise!"

Connor's voice was firm. "I swore to help you, but I also swore to protect our community. It's not my fault you made those two objectives incompatible with each other. And my name's not RK. It's Connor. Detective Connor Anderson."

David said nothing for a moment. "Well then, Detective Anderson, I might not be able to blow up Jericho, but I can still fufill your wish and kill a human." He held the detonator in his hands.

"Wait!" Connor demanded, raising his hand. "Please. I don't want humans to die. Not anymore. And I don't want you to die either. What happened at the house was not your fault. You're my friend."

"Even now?" David asked.

"You saved my life, and many others without asking anything in return. You can still be a leader, David, and help others again. After you've paid the price for what you've done." Connor hesitated. "We both ended up hating something, and it brought us to the edge of ruin. You helped me, but I also had friends who pushed me back on the path I needed to be on. They helped me let go of that hate. Maybe next time it could be different for you." He paused. "I know that's what Lana would want."

David shook his head at the mention of her name. "I...don't know if I can." The detonator dropped from his grip and landed in the snow.

"You can, with my help." Connor successfully disarmed and cuffed him. He cybernetically reached out to Markus to let him know that the area was secure as Hank stood and retrieved his gun. "But, no more lies. The first step is being honest."

EPILOGUE

(Two days later)

"Have you got it?" Hank asked.

"Of course, Lieutenant. All of my affected biocomponents have been replaced without any issues. I could actually carry this whole thing by myself if you-"

"Not going to happen. Okay, one…two…three!"

Connor and Hank gritted their teeth as they lifted their desk out of storage and carried it back to the bullpen. Gavin watched as they placed it back in its original spot but said nothing.

"God, look at these case files," Hank said, glancing at the reports. Knowing that Hank would insist on it, Fowler had quickly approved his transfer back to the Detroit station and reopened the branch dedicated to investigating deviant crimes. For once, Hank was greatful for the lack of fuss. Plus it had been a pain in the ass to commute to Cleveland everyday.

"Unfortunately, you may need to tackle some of them with a different partner," Connor said.

Hank's eyes narrowed as Connor cheerfully said this. Why was Connor…happy? "Didn't Fowler clear you of the assault now that David's in a cell?"

"He did," Connor said. "And he has also approved a special assignment. Despite his crimes, David was doing a service for deviants. Now that he is gone someone needs to fill in the gap. I will be working on patrol at nights, working with a liaison from Jericho. We will be observing the junkyards and making sure there are no further deviants who are tossed in there. At least, until we've had more of a chance to tackle the anti-android gangs."

Hank couldn't help but smile. "Huh. So you're working here during the day, and patrolling at night. Let me ask you something. This special assignment of yours…is there room for one more?"

Connor frowned. "Are you sure, Lieutenant? It is a considerable amount of overtime."

Hank snorted. "I slept too much while I was in a coma. And when I woke up…I didn't sleep at all. So what's a few less hours if it saves a life? I mean, if it's all right with you?"

Connor's face was pure joy. "I would like that arrangement very much."

"Good." Hank glanced at the mounting pile of case files. "So. Which one do you want to tackle first?"

THE END.