A/N: A new chapter! Enjoy! This chapter has a lot more structure than the others, for something that started as Drabbles, it keeps building up.

After It All

"Jeffery are you fucking joking me!?" Hank's voice could be heard through the glass.

Connor looked up from his terminal with a raised brow. Just what was going on in there? Captain Fowler had requested that Hank 'report to my office', some forty minutes ago. Connor had been told to wait, so he had sat back at his desk and was currently doing just that. Waiting. From how long the meeting had been going for, he wished that he was in the room, especially after Hank's outburst. He wanted to know what could have caused it, though knowing Hank, it could be anything.

"Somebodies not Happy." Connor looked up to see Adrian standing at his desk, a tray of coffee's in his hands.

Connor nodded in response. "Hank once told me that he had known Captain Fowler for, 'A long time', perhaps this is just how they interact?" he watched as Adrian placed a coffee on Hanks desk. Adrian then reached into his pocket and pulled out a little dachshund figurine. Connor gratefully accepted the gift and found a home for it on his desk.

Adrian chuckled. "That does sound like the Lieutenant." He glanced back at Connor, his eyes glittering. "Is he this happy at home?" he quipped.

Connor went to reply. "Is who this happy at home?" Hank's irritated voice cut through.

Adrian and Connor looked over to see Hank leaning against his desk. His arms were crossed and he was watching them with a raised brow. He looked less than pleased. Connor took a quick glance at the office and noted that contrary to Hank, Captain Fowler looked, pleased. This caused him to frown in confusion. After Hank's display, why would the Captain look happy?

Adrian raised his hands defensively. "Nothing sir!" he glanced at Connor and winked before he left to give out some of the other coffee's.

Hank watched his retreating back with narrowed eyes. He then glared at Connor. "You're boyfriends a smart arse."

Connor knew that Hank was trying to bait him so he ignored the 'boyfriend' comment for the moment, and instead decided to enquire about the meeting with Captain Fowler. "How did your meeting with the Captain go?"

Hank let out a grunt and moved to slump onto his chair. He clenched his fist around the arm of his chair and grasped the hot coffee themos with the other. With an almost pouting face, he took a sip of his coffee. His eyes slipped close at the taste of the hot liquid. "He may be a pain in the arse, but he knows where to buy good coffee.." he took another sip before giving a sideways look to Connor. "That cocksucker Perkins filed a complaint."

Images of Hank sucker punching Perkins in the nose flashed through Connor's mind, his lips twitched in amusement. "What is going to happen to you?" he asked, suddenly serious.

Hank gave some attention to his coffee, he closed his eyes and let out a groan. "Asshole wanted me fired, I think I'd prefer it to this." He grumbled.

"What is it Hank?" Connor's LED flashed yellow as he was taken with concern for his friend. What was going to happen to Hank? Was he going to another precinct? Was he going to lose Hank? He started to panic.

Hank watched as the emotions passed over his face. His lips curled into a small smile. "Relax, I'm on traffic control for the next month, we'll be back to solving homicides in no time." Hank let out a chuckle which Connor found himself joining.

XXX

"Ralph.." Came a sniffly voice from the living room. Ralph rose from his chair in the kitchen and hastily walked into the living room. His eyes widened and his LED flashed yellow at the sight of Claire.

The girl in question was standing at the entrance to the hallway which led to the rest of the apartment. She was shivering as though cold, despite the fact that she was wearing track pants, a shirt and was wrapped in a blanket. With worry Ralph looked at her face. She was pale, nearly a shade of grey, her eyes were droopy and he could hear a slight wheeze as she breathed.

"A-are you alright, Claire?" he reached out to her, concern washed over him as she shivered.

"I-I know that I p-promised you," she sniffed, she sounded completely congested. "promised you," she sneezed. "promised you that we would go check out the botanical gardens… but… can we please just lie on the couch and watch T.V?" she smiled at him weakly before she started to cough.

"Of course, Claire." Ralph put an arm around her and led her to the couch. Once he was satisfied that she was seated safely he walked to the kitchen. "Ralph will make you some hot chocolate!" he filled her kettle with some water and placed it on the stovetop.

"R-Ralph!" Claire called out with a cough. "You don't need to make a fuss.. it's just a cold." Her voice was weak and Ralph had trouble understanding it.

Ralph ignored her protests and waited for the shriek of the kettle. Once it started to scream, he took it from the stovetop and went about making the hot chocolate. He made a point to add lots of chocolate to make it smooth, so that it would go down her throat painlessly. Once he had finished he cradled it in his hands. He treated it as though it were a treasure as he carried it into the room.

He saw Claire coughing into her sleeve and he hastily passed her the hot drink. Claire accepted the drink with a weak smile and he watched with his hands clenched together as she drank from the mug. His fingers twitched nervously as she drank, he hoped that she enjoyed the drink. He hoped that it made her feel better, he could not bear to see her in pain.

"How does it taste?" he asked hopeful.

Claire pulled the drink away from her mouth and licked her lips. A light smile formed. "It's wonderful," she looked up at him with grateful eyes. "thank you Ralph." She patted the sofa beside her. "Sit with me."

Ralph hesitantly sat beside her. He had been living with her for nearly two years and he still felt uncomfortable sitting with her on the chair. He always worried that he was going to say or do something wrong. Making her unhappy would kill him. He jumped as he felt a weight rest on his lap.

He looked down to see a head of blonde hair resting in his lap. He glanced up and saw the hot chocolate resting on the table, most of it's contents had been drunk. He glanced back down again and heard Claire sniff and tell the television to turn on. Some game show turned on, but Ralph ignored it. His only focus was the woman in his lap. His companion. His friend.

"How is your cheek doing?" Claire mumbled into his lap.

Ralph touched his cheek. Repairing the damage had taken the longest off all of the repairs that he had needed. The skin was now discoloured and looked different but it still felt the same. It was perfect. He had always been grateful to her. He touched her hair, his fingers ran through her blonde locks.

"Ralph's cheek is fine." He replied, he brushed hair out of her face before continuing to run his fingers through her hair. "I am… Ralph is glad he met you."

Claire let out a soft moan that caused Ralph to freeze. "That feels incredible Ralph…" she closed her eyes and snuggled further into his lap.

At her words Ralph snapped out of his stupor and continued to brush through her hair.

"You're amazing Ralph…" light snoring escaped her lips and even though she was asleep, Ralph did not stop his task.

XXX

"Whoa.. this place is amazing…" Adrian commented as they walked through the Cyberlife building. He was accompanying Connor to meet with Markus. There were still some tensions between the androids and the humans. There were reports of assaults every day, so they were meeting with Markus to discuss ways that the problem could be solved. Fowler had felt that Connor would be better suited to this because of his Android status, and Adrian was to work with him because Hank was still on traffic duty.

"It is impressive." Connor commented glancing around. He had been to the building so many times that he was used to the sight. To hear someone comment on it's beauty made him think about it. Adrian was right, the buildings interior was aesthetically pleasing.

"Oh my gosh!" Adrian exclaimed. "Look at that water feature! It's beautiful." He ran to the large fountain in the foyer. "Connor can you believe this? How many hours went into building this? Look at the structural integrity. It's absolutely astounding!"

Connor walked to stand beside Adrian who reached out to touch the water. "I wanted to be an artist when I was younger." Adrian said softly, pulling his hand back. "I used to draw water all the time. Watching this… reminds me of when I was younger.." he smiled sadly.

"Do you still draw?" Connor asked.

"Yes…" Adrian said softly before his cheeks reddened. "That is to say I'm not that good anymore. I probably wasn't all that good in the first place but I definitely am no where near as good as I used to be." He started on a self-deprecating rant.

"I would like to see your drawings sometime." Connor cut him off, he was used to Adrian's nervous rambling habit by now.

Adrian stilled. His cheeks going brighter and Connor's scanners picked up what seemed to be a small heart palpitation. "Y-You would?" Adrian stammered.

"I would."

X

"Sometimes I envy you. You and Markus." Simon said quietly as he stood beside Connor. The two of them were watching while Adrian quizzed Markus on ways that he could establish trustful relationships with Androids.

Connor glanced at the other Android through the corner of his eyes. "Why is that?" he was genuinely curious.

Simon was quiet for a long time. His eyes transfixed on Markus. Connor noted his behaviour as strange, though watching Markus was not unusual for Simon. No, Connor had noticed Simon watching the Android leader on more than one occasion. There was something different about him today. He seemed more… depressed than usual? Connor glanced at Markus whose eyes seemed to shift to Simon before snapping back to Adrian. Perhaps the two had had some form of disagreement?

"You both have had the gift of wonderful humans in your lives." Simon said simply. There was no malice in his voice, no sadness, he was just stating a fact. He looked over at Connor. "Markus has Carl, a wonderful father who thinks the world of him… and you… you have not only a father in Hank, you have that man too." He gestured to Adrian.

Connor tilted his head his LED flashed yellow. "Hank?" Hank as a father figure? Was that how people viewed he and Hank? He had never thought about it himself. He had always considered Hank a friend, but a father figure? He frowned and scanned over his memories of Hank. Hank defending him. Hank laughing with him. Hank offering him a place to stay, Hank was always there with him and had even given him Cole's room. All of these could be attributed to someone who was a close friend, but Connor found himself agreeing with Simon. If he had a Father, he would want it to be Hank…

He wanted to thank Hank, to show him that he was grateful for having the man in his life. That he appreciated everything that Lieutenant had done for him. What could he do though? As he processed ideas of different ways that he could thank Hank, he noticed Simon watching him.

"I seem to have given you, what do humans say… 'food for thought'?"

X

As he sat in the taxi with Adrian on their way back to the DPD, Connor found himself still pondering on his and Hank's relationship. He felt that he had done lots to thank Hank for his hospitality, he cleaned the house, cooked decent meals, but he hadn't really thanked Hank for being Hank.

"You okay Connor?" Adrian asked with a tilt of his head.

"Hm? Yes." Connor replied.

Adrian raised a brow. "You sure?"

Connor tilted his head. "Adrian, how would you say thank you to someone who may be perceived as your father?"

Adrian paused for a few moments before smiling. "Connor you are something else."

X

Hank opened the door to his house in a foul mood. He hated traffic control. Jeffery knew it too, which was most likely why the asshole had put him on it. Fucking prick. He closed the door behind him and paused at the sound of Jazz. Connor must have been playing it, he was grateful that it wasn't too loud, unlike the last time the android had played Jazz. He walked into the kitchen and was stunned to see a plate with a burger and a six pack.

"Connor, what's going on here?" something was wrong no way had Connor bought him some beer and a burger.

Connor looked up from where he was seated at the opposite side of the table. "I wished to thank you Hank."

Hank frowned. "Connor I think you've thanked me enough, you keep this mess clean for goodness sakes."

Connor shook his head. "I wish to thank you for everything that you do, Hank." Connor hesitated, suddenly feeling unsure of himself. "To thank you for being a… a father."

Hank took a step back as he was hit with the force of the statement. While his brain processed just what had been said to him, his eyes locked onto Connor's. The poor kid looked like a terrified puppy. "Oh Connor.." he walked over to the Android. "Don't give me that fucking puppy look." He pulled the unsure Android out his chair and into a hug.

"You're welcome Son."