A/N: Thank you for your kind words, I appreciate it :)
After It All
"What have we got today?" Hank asked as he walked to the desk. He was chewing a doughnut and had the box in his other hand. He sat in his seat and looked over at Connor expectantly.
Connor removed his finger from the terminal and looked over at his partner. "You need to finish your part of the report on the Vasquez case." He watched as Hank groaned and slumped against his desk.
"Right, the report." He glared at his own terminal. "Thanks for the reminder." He looked over at his desk, seemingly looking for an excuse to procrastinate. He noticed the dead bonsai. He narrowed his eyes at the offending tree and picked it up. He proceeded to throw it into the little bin beside his desk.
"Good morning Connor!" Hank and Connor looked to see Adrian walking towards them, a tray of coffee in his hands. He stood by Connors desk and placed his coffee tray on the desk. He passed Hank a coffee and turned to Connor. He smiled sheepishly. "The shop didn't have any new dog figurines, so I got you this instead." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a packet of bulbs, dahlia, the packet read. "For your garden.." Adrian held the packet.
Connor took the offered item and gave the detective a warm smile. "Thank you, it's thoughtful." He placed the packet on his desk. He knew where he was going to plant them.
Adrian returned the smile. "You're welcome."
Hank sipped his coffee and smiled behind the disposable cup.
"Excuse me, Connor, Lieutenant?" Connor and Hank looked over to see Chris standing at Hank's desk. "We've just had an assault, we were wondering if Connor could try getting some information out of the alleged assailant?"
Connor tilted his head. "I would be happy to assist. What happened?"
Hank leaned forward in his chair to listen and Adrian crossed his arms with a raised brow. It had to be interesting, for them to come and ask Connor to try. "He's allegedly attacked a man, Adam Williams at eight thirty. Adam went to the hospital at nine, we'll get the report on his wounds soon. We have a witness speaking on the assailants behave, says he's name's Ralph. Says that he didn't do anything wrong." Chris shrugged. "I dunno, something about the situation isn't sitting well with me, anyway 'Ralph' isn't talking, he's doing that 'Android stare', so we thought we'd ask you. He's in room one, the witness is in room two."
Connor pulled himself up from his chair. "I can try."
X
Connor walked into the questioning room. He eyed the android who was staring at the table with empty eyes. He frowned. He recognised this android. He had met them before. He scanned his memories. Where had he seen him before? His eyes widened as he remembered. Ralph. He remembered Ralph. Ralph had been that android who had protected Kara and Alice.
He scanned Ralphs face. Ralph had had extensive repairs. It seemed that wherever Ralph had ended up after the war, he had been taken care of and treated well. The white top and his brown slacks furthered Connor's hypothesis. He scanned over Ralph's body for any indication of blood. There were make up smudging's on his shirt and evidence of fluid staining. No indication of blood though. It didn't prove anything though, Ralph could have changed clothes.
"I never thought that I would see you again, Ralph." Connor began, walking to the opposite chair. He pulled it out and sat down.
Ralph looked up. Recognition flashed in his eyes. "Deviant hunter…" he spoke softly.
Connor nodded. "Not anymore though," he leaned his forearms on the table. "nowadays, I am just a regular cop." Connor paused for a few moments before he commented. "You've had repair work." He gestured to Ralph's face.
A smile tugged at Ralph's face. "Claire. She fixed Ralph, she takes care of Ralph and Ralph takes care of her." Ralph eyed Connor for a few moments before he nodded. "Ralph didn't do anything." He said simply.
Connor tilted his head before glancing down at the file on the table. He flipped through the pages and read the report. "At eight thirty, you assaulted Adam Williams with a knife."
"Ralph did not!" Ralph snapped defensively.
Connor eyed the android, his stress levels read 65%. Connor gestured with his hands. "Then tell me what happened."
Ralph looked at the reflective window then back at Connor. "Adam came to the apartment at eight o'clock. Claire didn't want to let him in. They talked, then he started to yell at her." Ralph's fists clenched. "He started screaming at her, said awful things to her about her, and Ralph." Ralph closed his eyes, his hands trembled. Connor noted that his stress levels raised.
"What happened Ralph?" Connor pressed.
"He started to hit Claire. Ralph pushed him away, took Claire inside, then closed the door. Adam hit the door for ten minutes, he left at eight thirty. Ralph wanted to hurt him, but Claire said not to. So Ralph stayed and held Claire while she cried, the police came to take Ralph an hour later."
Connor eyed the make up of Ralph's shirt. That seemed to corroborate with what he had said. He pushed himself up from the chair. "Thank you, Ralph." He stepped closer to the android. "The stain, on your shirt, may I sample it?" he gestured to the other's shirt. When Ralph nodded, Connor bent down and licked the android's shirt.
Even though he physically couldn't, he could hear Hank's. "For fucks sake Connor!"
He stepped away from Ralph as his scanners processed the sample. Saline, tears, and a list of make up brands. The tears had been on the shirt for three hours. It matched Ralphs story. He looked down at the other android and nodded. Before he left the room, he stopped at the door when he heard Ralph's voice.
"Can I see Claire?"
Connor paused. "Soon."
X
"Did you have to taste the fucking shirt Connor?" Hank snapped as Connor walked into the watch room.
"The tears and make up suggest that he was telling the truth." Connor said simply.
"We're still waiting on the report for the hospital." Chris said. "We'll know if he's lying then." He glanced at Ralph through the window. "I agree with you though Connor, something aint settling right with it all."
Hank pushed himself from the wall and walked towards the door. He glanced at Connor. "Well, let's go question the witness."
X
Claire held herself as she cried. She tugged her white jacket tighter around herself. It was cold in the interrogation room. She had been waiting for ages to make a report. She was not leaving until she had though, Ralph deserved her to stick up for him. He had done nothing wrong. Nothing. She looked up at the sound of the door opening, and watched as two police officers walk in.
Hank sat in the chair across from Claire and Connor stood near the wall close to Hank. Hank leaned his forearms on the table and leaned forwards. He looked at Claire with a friendly smile. "Miss, Claire Raines?" when she nodded he continued. "I'm Lieutenant Anderson, this is Detective Connor." He gestured to Connor.
Claire nodded. "Nice to meet you…" she said shakily.
'Would you mind telling us what happened tonight?" Hank prompted.
Claire nodded. "Well… we, that is, Ralph and I. We were watching T.V when the door knocked. I got up, it was Adam." She trembled.
Connor left the room.
"H-He wanted to come in, we had fought the other day, I didn't want to see him. I told him no… we… argued, he accused me of cheating on him with Ralph.." she looked over as Connor walked back in with a mug of coffee. She smiled at him and nodded in thanks as he passed her the warm drink. "He said, awful things…" she shook her head. "called me a whore, said that I was shit… he said that Ralph was a piece of plastic who should have been melted… he said some more awful things that I don't remember."
She took some of her drink before continuing. "He then stared to push me," she pulled her jacket open, then pulled down her shirt to reveal bruising on her collar bone. She then took her jacket off, her short sleeve shirt did nothing to hide the bruising on her arms. "Ralph stepped in, pushed Adam away and took me into the apartment…Adam hit the door for a bit, then left."
She shakily drank more her drink. "Ralph took care of me, he did not hurt Adam…" she looked up at Hank with wet eyes. "Can I see him? Please?"
Hank rose from the chair and walked over to Claire. He extended a hand to her and helped her stand. "Go sit in our break room, have something to eat. I'll get someone to look at your injuries." He led her towards the door. "We'll get you to him as soon as we can."
X
"What do you think, Hank?" Connor asked as they sat at their desk.
"We've got a witness." Hank said simply. "If we don't get the hospital report soon, I'll send them home." He started to type at his terminal when Chris came walking to their desks.
"Sir?" he gained their attention. "We've got the hospital report." He passed Hank a piece of paper.
Hank scanned the paper for a few moments before he leaned back in his chair. A light chuckle escaped his lips. He dropped the paper on his desk and crossed his arms in amusement. "Well, let him out." Chris nodded and walked off to fulfil the order.
Connor tilted his head questioningly. "Asshole did it to himself." Hank said simply.
"Some people are real pieces of work, aren't they Lieutenant?" Adrian asked as he walked to the desk.
Hank went to respond when a loud shriek of "Ralph!" echoed through the DPD. They watched as Claire sprinted out of the break room. Arms open she flung herself at him with enough force to make him take a step back. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his chest.
"I was so worried!" she cried. "Are you alright? You weren't hurt?"
Ralph returned the embrace. "Ralph is fine." He pressed his face into her hair, his hand rose to stroke it. "Is Claire safe?"
Claire nuzzled against him before looking up at him. Her eyes were red from her tears. Her hands moved to hold his face. "I was so scared, I don't want to lose you Ralph…" her next action shocked those around her, including Ralph. She stood on her tip toes and pressed her lips against his.
Ralph stood, frozen in place for a few moments as he registered what was happening. Once his brain had caught up, he sprung into action. One hand clutched at the back of her head, while the other pulled her waist closer to him. He pushed his lips firmly against hers with a passion that some humans did not believe androids of possessing.
"Oh wow." Adrian leaned against Connor's desk as he watched the scene. He placed his hand against his chest and seemed to be swooning. He looked back at Connor. "How beautiful is that?"
Connor's eyes were wide as he watched the scene. He had been given the impression that the two of them cared for each other, but he had not imagined that it was to this degree. It made sense considering what he had observed of the two. He found himself in awe of the clear love between the two. His eyes moved up to Adrian who was watching him with a smile. A smile that seemed to say something to Connor, what he was unsure of.
"It is beautiful.." he replied to Adrian's words quietly.
Hank rose from his chair and walked up to the two. He clapped his hands at the pair. "Sorry to interrupt you to kids," Ralph and Claire pulled apart and looked at him. "Here's probably not the place for this," Hank grinned at them and Claire's face went red. "Do you want to press charges on that asshole who put you through this bullshit?"
Claire looked up at Ralph. "It's up to you, you're the one who was hurt by this."
Ralph placed a hand on Claire's shoulder. "Ralph just wants to go home with Claire."
Claire's eyes watered and she clutched the hand on her shoulder. "Let's go home Ralph."
XXX
"And it is with these images that we are shown that relationships between Androids and Humans are improving…"
"Who the fuck sent these to the news!?" Hank yelled, pointing to the television. Pictures of Ralph and Claire's embrace flashed in front of them. "I'm going to find them and stick their badge up their arse! Fucking asshole!"
"At least the news is reporting it as a good thing, rather than showing it in a negative light?" Connor replied from his spot beside Hank on the sofa. He reached down to pat Sumo who was sitting at his feet.
"Bah!" Hank grumbled, he crossed his arms and pouted. "paparazzi dick heads." He eyed the images on the television. "They really seem to love each other, don't they?"
Connor kept his eyes fixed on the images. "They do. It is… amazing that humans and Androids are developing bonds like this. I find it interesting though, what we saw today was a confession. The start of their relationship. How did they go so long without telling the other?"
Hank let out a laugh. Connor looked at him quizzically. "Sometimes you don't know Connor." Hank explained. "You can be friends with someone for years and never know how much they mean to you until their gone. It's personal, you need to realise how much they mean to you." He eyed Connor who seemed to be staring at nothing, his LED flashing yellow. He chuckled. "You'll work it out son," he rose from the couch and patted Connor's back. "the answer's right there, in front of your face."
XXX
Ralph helped Claire as she pulled off her top. "Are you okay?" he asked as she gasped in pain.
They were standing in Claire's bedroom. It was a fairly simple room, white walls, a queen bed with grey quilt set. Mirrored doors on the sliding wardrobes and some photos hanging on the walls. Claire threw her shirt into the black basket in the corner of her room. She touched the bruising on her shoulder and looked up at Ralph with wet eyes.
"I'm okay." She nodded. "I'm okay." She reached up and touched his cheek. "I love you Ralph. Thank you, for everything."
Ralph shook at her confession. He turned his head and kissed the hand on his cheek. "I love you too Claire."
Claire ran a hand through his hair. She then gripped his hands and led him towards the bed. she sat on the edge and slid back. If Ralph could breathe, the air would have left his lungs at the sight of her. "A-Are you sure?" he asked shakily.
She smiled at him.
XXX
"Hank," Connor began while looking over at Adrian who was standing by his car. "I'll be with you soon." He went off course and started to walk towards Adrian.
Hank eyes Connor and saw where he was going. "Connor, I'll go get the car." he said and walked off to the other side of the carpark.
"Hello Adrian." Connor greeted as he reached the Detective.
Adrian smiled and pushed himself off of his car. "Hey Connor, what's up?"
"Can I ask you a personal question, Adrian?" there was a pensive expression on his face that Adrian instantly took notice of.
Adrian raised a brow. "Sure, anything Connor."
"You told me that you were in love with someone else, and that's why your relationship failed. When did you know that you were in love with someone else?" he waited expectantly.
Adrian sighed and scratched his head. He kicked his cars tyre with his heel. He then pulled on his sleeve and looked up at the sky. He let out a shaky breath. "How long have we known each other Connor?" he asked, he looked down and locked eyes with the android.
Connor frowned. Why would Adrian ask that? "We have known each other for, three years, three months, five hours and three minutes."
Adrian let out a laugh. "Trust you to be exact." He mumbled, he sighed. "I was in love with this person for three years, three months, five hours and three minutes." He did not move his eyes from Connor's. "My relationship, or any that I have from now, won't work because I am completely, utterly, unstoppably in love. With you, Connor."