He put the groceries on the kitchen table. Sumo waited next to his empty bowl. Hank fed him and started to store the food. The only sound was Sumo's smacking, it was a little too quiet. He grabbed the remote control and activated the TV.

A TV host with brilliant white teeth and a blow dry appeared and started to talk. Hank didn't pay attention to him. He stuffed a few old take-away boxes in the garbage bin and took a look around. The kitchen looked nice.

He picked up Cole's picture and looked at him for a moment. He sniffled and grabbed one of the TV dinners he had bought. He did some laundry while the dinner was in the micro wave.

The macaroni with cheese was decent enough. He chewed slowly while watching the recap of the latest NBA match.

They showed Collier's best shoots. "Who care about your points?" said Hank out loud. "You'd rather work on your passing skills, you jerk! Point guard my ass." He fleetingly looked on the spot where Connor had been. Then he finished his meal and shuffled to the entrance. Sumo barked lazily.

"Not today. I have an appointment elsewhere." Hank put his coat and his snow boots on and left.

-0-

The Detroit river was almost black in the darkness. It looked like a stream of liquid tar. Hank wiped snow off one of the swings in the playground and sat down. He used his teeth to pull his right glove off, then he opened the bottle of whiskey he had brought along.

The first sip burned in his throat and he coughed. He shouldn't have bought the cheap stuff. He began to swing a little. Cole had loved this place.

'Faster daddy!' he had screamed on the top of his lungs.

'If you go any faster you'll land in the river,' had Hank always answered.

Cole had insisted that they came here, it had been a very cold day. The river bank had almost been frozen … but Cold still wanted to come. Hank took another gulp. If only he had refused. But how could've he refused? He could still see him – with his tooth space, his cheerful laughter. Hank used to run his hand through Cole's brown hair, wondering how a grumpy 45 year old cop and a cynical 39 year old medic had managed to have a child that was so bright, kind and curious.

He felt tears in his eyes and took another gulp. He shouldn't come here. There was an iron grip around his heart that felt tighter every year. But he simply couldn't stay away.

The weight of his gun in his shoulder holster felt heavier by the minute. A year ago he had been tempted. But he had investigated enough suicides and attempted suicides to know what could go wrong. He scoffed and spit out. And he didn't want to leave Jean alone … of course she had Chris and her friends … but still … she continued with her life, held her head high and kept Cole's memory alive.

She had moved on without forgetting about Cole. Why couldn't he?

It started to snow, Hank watched as the snow began to cover his footprints.

-0-

Days went by; Hank and Connor worked small cases and cleared quite a few open cases or rather filed them.

Hank was just typing a mail when Gavin showed up at Connor's desk.

"Hey dipshit, get me a coffee."

Connor looked up from his work. "I'm sorry, Detective Reed, I have to refuse."

Gavin leaned down. "What the fuck did you say?"

Hank frowned. "Hey!"

"Stay out of it, Hank!" hissed Gavin.

"I said that I refuse to serve you coffee."

Some of the other cops around them stopped working and stared at them. Gavin hesitated for a moment before he raised his voice. "I have to obey me, you stupid plastic asshole!"

Connor tilted its head a little. "I'm not a service droid – I'm a cop. And I don't answer to you."

Hank stared at Connor slack-jawed. What the-

Gavin was equally dumbfounded, then his face screwed up in anger. Just before he could say anything Fowler's voice rang out.

"Show is over, folks. Back to work."

Hank turned in his chair and saw the captain in front of his office. Fowler crossed his arms. "That means you too, Reed!"

Gavin glared once again at Connor, then at Hank. "Assholes!" He stormed away.

Hank laughed. "My god! That was hilarious!"

Connor blinked. "It was you how pointed out that I shouldn't-"

"I know, I know. I just never thought that you would actually do it. Good one!"

Connor gave him a quick smile and continued to work. Hank's gaze lingered a little longer on Connor. Look at him, what an eager smart-ass, Hank thought. He felt oddly proud. Well, it seemed that he could teach this prototype a trick or two.

"Well, that calls for a celebration!" Hank grabbed his coat. "Let's finish early today. I'm in the mood for a visit at Jimmy's."

Connor looked up from the work. "Androids aren't allowed in Jimmy's bar."

"Yes, yes of course," Hank quickly said. "I didn't mean for you to actually come. It- it was only a figure of speech."

"Ah, I see." Connor turned his attention back to the screen.

Hank hastily put the coat on and left. He wasn't in the mood to celebrate anymore.

-0-

The next day they were on the way to interrogate a witness because of android vandalism when the radio in Hank's car came to life: "All units, possible 204 in sector 2532."

Fucking hell. Hank activated the microphone in the car. "This is MI-33, we're in sector 2532. Responding."

"Acknowledged. Be advised: Active shooter or active shooters in Elementary School on 59th. Multiple shots fired."

Hank felt how the colour drained from his face. They were close, just a couple of hundred yards. He accelerated and after what seemed like an eternity they came to halt in front of the School. He had expected to see fleeing children but the yard was empty … of course they would be on lock-down.

He activated the microphone again. "This is MI-33, we're at the school gate. We're going in."

"Roger that MI-33. Patrol cars and SWAT are on their way."

Hank could feel his heart hammering when he exited the car, he took the gun out of his holster and started running. He could hear Connor's footsteps behind him – it was insane to go in with only one armed officer, android cops weren't allowed to carry weapons and Connor was no exception. But it wasn't a choice; he- they had to stop the shooter!

Despite the cold Hank could feel sweat running down his spine as he cautiously entered through the front door. Above them shots fell, accompanied by screams. They made a run for the stairs.

The screams were coming from a room where the doors had been busted open. Hank could hear male voices screaming and swearing. Two shooters?

"Move asshole!" yelled a female voice.

"Please," said a male voice.

"You heard him!" yelled another male voice.

Fuck there were indeed two of them. Hank lifted his gun.

Suddenly he felt Connors hand on his shoulder. "Give me the gun, Lieutenant," it whispered.

"What?"

"My aim is superior, and I won't go down even if I'm hit."

He was right of course. Androids were known for their exceptional aim – one of the reasons the Pentagon had ordered thousands of them for combat. Hank hesitated for a fraction of a second before he exhaled and handed Connor the gun. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Connor crept to the door, Hank followed him closely. Without warning Connor simply got up and walked into the room, the gun drawn. Hank stared at it, there was no muscle moving in its face, it shot two times in quick succession, then he twitched and blue blood splashed on the wall behind him. Connor fired two more shots before he lowered his arm. He spun the gun in his hand and presented the gun's handle to Hank.

Hank grabbed it and stepped into the room. Two bodies were lying on the left and the right, both were wearing cameo clothes with a swastika insignia on their upper arm. In one corner were children and adults huddled, shaking with fear.

"Stay here until reinforcement arrives," said Hank to one slender man in a bright green sweater holding a small girl, "are there any more shooters you're aware of?"

The crying man shook his head. "I saw only two of them."

"Alright, stay here, we'll scour the vicinity just to be sure, okay?"

"Don't leave us alone," said the man said; he was clearly on the verge of panic the children behind him were crying and asking for their mommies.

Flickering blue lights from outside became visible through the windows, screeching tires and crackling radios accompanied the arrived police. Hank exhaled. "Alright, we'll stay here with you."

He went to the two shooters and knelt down. Both had two shots in their forehead, there was no way they were still living.

He turned to face Connor, he was still standing at the exact same spot as before. Its LED was turning from yellow to red and back again. Its- no, his left shoulder had been hit, drops of blue blood ran down his face and the wall behind him.

"Connor, my god – what … what should I do?"

He blinked quickly. "My self-diagnostic is complete. No critical bio components were injured."

-0-

Moments later the SWAT team arrived, escorting everyone outside. About two hours later Fowler arrived and announced that all children and teachers were evacuated safely – it appeared that there had been only two shooters.

Hank had been examined by a medic despite his protests. Fowler joined him.

"Even grumpy after turning out to be a hero, Hank?"

"Fuck you, Bob."

Fowler sighed. "Why are you like this? Nobody got killed and it's thanks to you."

Hank grimaced. "You saw the Thirium on the wall. You know exactly who the hero was. Stupid android suggested it himself."

"'Himself'? Don't pretend that it's human. A machine can't be a hero."

"I don't care, I won't adorn myself with false laurels," growled Hank.

Fowler turned to the medic. "Would you excuse us, please?"

The woman nodded and left. Fowler grabbed Hank by his coat. "Shut the fuck up! Don't you get it? If we admit that an android saved children while a human cop hid behind it we'll lose – we'll all lose. Cyberlife will PR the shit out of this and we'll all be out of a job in six month!"

Hank swatted his hands away. "I didn't hide – you know as well as I do that androids have shooting skills that we can only dream of. It was the right call. If you want to think that I was a coward – fine! But I'm rather branded a yellow-bellied jerk than risking the lives of these children!"

"I know you and I know what these androids are capable of. I know that you're not a coward – but that's beside the point. You'll be the hero of this story, period."

Hank scoffed. "There will be no story, Bob."

Fowler rubbed his temples. "What are you going on about now?"

"Have you seen more than one camera team? There are not dead victims, no reason for politicians to send their prayer and thoughts to the victims. Have you seen the neighbourhood we're in? Nobody gives a damn!"

Fowler just stared at him, turned on his heel and left.

-0-

It took Hank a while to find Connor in the gaggle of cops surrounding the school. His white shirt was drenched in blue Thirium, but he looked unfazed. The LED was blue again.

"How are you?" asked Hank. Damn, he needed a drink.

"I'm fine. There was, as already mentioned, only minimal damage."

"Do you, uh, need Thirium?"

Connor nodded. "I need to replenish some of it. There is a Cyberlife store not far from here."

"Come on, I'll take you there."

"Thank you, Lieutenant."

"Doesn't it hurt … or whatever?" asked Hank as he drove towards the Cyberlife store.

"Androids don't feel pain. But I register the impairment." He paused for a moment. "I don't like it."

Hank cleared his throat. "Listen, what you did today … you saved a lot of lives."

"It's my job, I'm a cop."

Hank felt a lump in his throat and gulped. "Damn right you are." He patted Connor's knee awkwardly.

-0-

It took almost two hours until they had repaired Connor, given him a new shirt and a new jacket and send him on his way.

Hank felt exhausted when they finally arrived back at the car. His hands started to shake. Fuck, if it weren't for Connor … who knows if Hank would've been able to stop the shooters on his own.

"Lieutenant?" Connor sounded worried.

"It's just the adrenalin … I think. Would you mind driving me home?"

"Not at all."