Connor didn't think that the relationship he shared with Kara was good enough for her to call him out of the blue. It was during the afternoon while the sun still hung high in the sky when she calls him. Her voice had sounds desperate as she says something along the lines of not being able to find someone to take care of Alice. Connor, feeling quite generous, offers his services to babysit once more. The only problem was that - if Kara truly needed someone to watch Alice - then she'd have to bring her over to his place this time. Hank was still on the edge about Connor going out on his own, (he still did anyway, 'grounded' be damned) so he didn't think it was a good idea to leave the house for past two hours.

And that is how Alice came to be on the couch playing with Mercury. The cat was a lot bigger than she was the day Connor had picked her up in the rain. She had the playful tendencies of a kitten but her appearance made her look like a certified adult cat. It was a true surprise that Hank had let him keep the cats for this long, especially after Connor had promised he would find them homes. In all honesty, he didn't want to find them homes, but that was the selfish side of him talking. He had a job now which meant he wouldn't be able to take care of the cats as much as he'd like. He wouldn't be able to walk Sumo as much either because detective work was time-consuming.

"I love her," Alice says with a squeak in her voice. Mercury was not as sensitive as the others and allowed Alice to pet her on the stomach. The cat had made herself comfortable on Alice's lap earlier with her tummy facing the ceiling. "I wish my mom would let me have a cat but we travel too much."

Connor settles himself on the couch, a few inches away from Alice. It was in that minute that he sat down that Earth had spotted the opportunity to jump onto his lap. Just a few minutes ago, the cat was sitting by Alice's ankles. She had been looking enviously at her sister cat. Now she was comfortable in Connor's lap, vibrating with her heavy purrs.

"I thought your family was going to live in Canada?" Connor asks. His hand runs over the top of Earth's head and past her ears. The cat closes her eyes in content.

"We stayed there for a while," Alice says, her fingers running through Mercury's fur, "but then my mom wanted to help others like her. That's why we came back."

Connor must admit that he doesn't remember Alice being this talkative. She was answering all his questions without the quiet shyness that she had displayed for him the last time he was in charge of babysitting her. She didn't seem as tense around him either. He wasn't sure what the cause was unless it had something to do with the aid he had lent her mother. The trust could have been the result of his efforts to return Luther to his family. Maybe. It was all just speculation.

"Well," Connor's gaze is stuck on the cat in his lap. He is reluctant to say what comes out of his mouth next, "once you have a home… you can take Mercury with you… if your mother approves, of course."

Alice's eyes light up.

"Really?" She whispers in childish wonder.

"Really." Connor nods his head. "She needs a home. She can't stay here forever."

Alice tilted her head.

"Why not?"

Connor gives Alice a small smile.

"We already have Sumo to take care of," he says. At the sound of his name, Sumo lifts his heavy body and drags himself across the room. Connor raises a hand to pat him on the head. "And he's a big matter all on his own."

Alice nods in her understanding. Then she questions, "How did you even get three cats?"

Connor recalls the day clearly.

"I saved them from the rain. They were outside in a cardboard box."

Alice's lips turn downward.

"That's horrible!" She exclaims. "Why would anyone do that?"

Connor thinks about it for a moment. He didn't know. How could he answer her? There were so many people out there, humans and androids alike, that had ideas that Connor simply couldn't understand. Why would someone abandon a bunch of animals to die to the cold harsh rain? He found it easy to judge them but he didn't know their circumstances. He didn't know anything. Even so, they still deserted creatures that were dependent and tamed. It was cruel to leave them without a means to defend or care for themselves.

"I don't know," Connor chooses his words carefully, "And even if I did, there is very little I could do about it."

Alice wrinkles her nose in frustration.

"That isn't fair," she huffs.

Connor watches Alice as she puffs out her cheeks in her frustration and continues, "But just like those who made the choice to leave them behind, I used the same free agency to choose to do something about it."

Alice looks up at Connor and blinks owlishly.

"What's free agency?"

Connor tries to find a way to make it simple to understand. He says, slowly, "Free agency is… when… you are able to choose something without being held back. That's something that humans have fought for generations upon generations. It's something we recently fought for too."

"Oh," Alice frowns in thought.

Their conversations continues from there on out. It surprises Connor at how intelligent Alice is for someone who was plainly programmed to imitate a child. Alice, from Connor's knowledge of her model, was not capable of growing like a human child. She couldn't evolve.

Alice was doomed to forever remain the same lest technology push past the barriers it set up for her.

But still-

Kara loved her.

He can see it in her eyes when she comes to retrieve Alice from his hands, three hours later. She gives him a small smile of appreciation and then takes Alice's hand in her own. She gazes at Alice with an unbelievable amount of motherly affection. It was clear from just the look in Kara's eyes that she loved Alice for who she was and did not care for the lack of potential of what she could have become.

"Thank you for taking care of her," Kara tells him. Her smile is genuine and friendly.

"It was my pleasure, Kara," Connor returns kindly.

After she leaves, Connor plops back on the couch and becomes lost in thought.

Mercury hops on his lap, much to the envy of Earth.

His hand floats automatically over Mercury's head and down her neck as he stares at the ceiling.

For now, he was content.