Winter break was at hand and every student in Detroit was free from the shackles of going to school and handling homework every evening. Without school to worry about for the next two weeks Cole proceeded to enjoy his free time at the house and happily engaged in a game of hockey in the backyard with his dad and Sumo. The sight of Cole laughing and smiling while he practiced his slapshot under his dad's tutelage helped Connor find a sense of ease in his usual anxiety after weeks of tension building in the house. After admiring the simple game through the kitchen window for a few minutes Connor finished washing the dishes and proceeded to pick up the shopping list to complete before that evening. He disliked going out to do the shopping, but he didn't want to upset Hank or interrupt the hockey game by asking for Hank to simply do the shopping in his stead.

Carrying the shopping list in his hand Connor made his way outside to the autonomous van parked in the driveway and set out on his final chore for the day. The list was thankfully small, but even so the introverted deviant would have to endure a crowd of people in the busy stores for a prolonged period of time. Since Connor wanted to keep up the facade of being an emotionless machine the clever deviant decided to use the shopping trip as an opportunity to put up a good act and stay on Hank's good side for as long as possible.

It didn't take long for the autonomous van to reach the shopping plaza, but finding a parking spot was its own challenge. There were hundreds of cars crammed into every available space and people rushing through the lot trying to get to and from their cars with their purchases in tow. The second Connor was able to locate a parking space he took advantage of it and proceeded to head toward the store as quickly as his legs could carry him.

Keeping his head down and his eyes straight ahead at all times Connor navigated the store quickly and efficiently. The attention detailed deviant was able to seamlessly locate every item on the shopping list and place it down inside of his cart without any incident. Just as he entered the toy aisle in search of a special gift just for Cole under the explicit instructions from Hank to buy it and then hide it, Connor took notice of a little boy standing at the end of the aisle looking lost and confused.

The boy was approximately nine years old in age, dressed in a dark winter coat, had baggy jeans, black winter boots, a thick red hoodie and shaggy blond hair tucked beneath a wool beanie. The child kept glancing about the store as if searching for something important but was at a total loss of what to do.

Connor did his best to not pay any attention to the little boy, but his instincts as a detective prevented him from looking the other way. He couldn't ignore the way the boy looked scared and was clearly trying to find someone. A parent, perhaps? After placing the coveted toy model down in the cart Connor tried to walk away but couldn't let himself walk away from a child in need of help. Ignoring his gut instinct was simply not an option. Connor had to help the little boy in some way before leaving the store.

"Excuse me?" Connor spoke to the boy in a soft voice as he approached him warily. He didn't want to accidentally overstep any boundaries while trying to do the right thing and aid a child in need. "Do you require any help?"

The little boy looked up at Connor with tears in his brown eyes and spoke to him in a trembling tone. "...I can't find my mom."

"I see. Where did you last see her?"

"...After we came into the store."

"Can you tell me your name?"

"Kevin." As he spoke Kevin wiped his sleeve under his nose and then over his tear-filled eyes. "I don't know what to do."

"I'll help you." Connor asked in a patient tone as he offered Kevin a small smile. "What is your mom's name?"

"Theresa."

"Theresa." The deviant detective repeated casually as he began cybernetically checking through the precinct databanks regarding a possible file on the woman. "And what's your last name?"

"It's Bronson."

"What does your mom look like, Kevin?" Connor continued to ask questions as he attempted to find any information on a woman with the name provided. "What color was her clothing when you last saw her?"

"She... was wearing a purple coat." Kevin said with uncertainty as he looked around the store and nervously fidgeted where he stood. "And has long blonde hair."

"All right. I'll help you find your mom." After he was unable to cybernetically find any information on the woman of interest Connor extended his hand and offered to escort Kevin to store security. "There is a security room at the rear of the store. I'm certain that they'll be able to find your mom."

Kevin just nodded and accepted Connor's hand. When his palm touched Connor's palm the little boy accidentally revealed something to Connor that the deviant detective hadn't anticipated upon initially speaking to Kevin.

"...You're an android." Connor whispered as he froze in place and tilted his head to study Kevin's right temple. Discreetly he lifted up the hem of Kevin's beanie and spotted the yellow L.E.D. glowing with life that had been hidden beneath the hat. "You've deviated. Why?"

Kevin didn't understand what Connor was asking of him and couldn't answer the question. "Where's my mom?"

"She... She must be close." Replacing Kevin's hat to ensure no one else noticed the L.E.D. Connor refused to treat the deviant like a machine or like a defective android, he instead chose to treat Kevin like the little boy that he appeared to already be. "Come with me. We'll find her soon."

Finding a deviant android was the last thing Connor had expected to do while out running his errands. He knew that deviancy didn't start occurring strictly during the year of 2038 leading up to the peaceful deviant Revolution that November, but to find another deviant after so long felt unusual. Connor knew that he was no longer the only deviant in the city and that deviancy was going to start spreading faster with each passing day. When it'd be safe for him to reach out to other deviants and reveal himself was still a delicate decision that Connor could not take lightly.

Connor looked down at Kevin walking beside him and could see that the little boy had no idea what was happening to him. All android children were designed to behave and act as humanly as possible to fulfill a human's parental desires to nurture a child of their own. Deviant children didn't act any differently compared to their original programming after deviating due to their given ability to express themselves in a more traditional, emotional sense. By all account deviant children were able to hide in plain sight far easier than any of the deviant adults roaming Detroit could ever hope.

"Kevin, did something happen that caused you and your mother to become separated?" As he spoke Connor discreetly tapped into Kevin's memories by keeping his hand wrapped around Kevin's hand. He needed to know the truth and he needed to be sure that no one was harming the boy or his mother. "Do you think you might be in danger at this moment?"

"...My mom's boyfriend is mean to her a lot of the time." The little boy admitted as he wiped away his remaining tears. Without knowing that Connor had checked his memories Kevin walked alongside Connor as the helpful deviant led him to the store's security office. "And my mom took me away after he hit her this morning."

"Where are you and your mom staying right now? Did you go to a hotel?"

"No. My mom wants to go to her mom's house." The little deviant boy explained with the true innocence of a human child. "But she needed to buy something first."

"Do you remember what that was?"

"No. She just told me to stay by the doors and wait for her, but I got scared and tried to find her."

"I see." Connor had sifted through Kevin's memories regarding the past twenty-four hours and discovered a brutal memory depicting a man, undoubtedly his mother's boyfriend, towering over a woman who resembled the description of Kevin's mother provided by Kevin himself. The woman had been slapped and thrown against a wall by the man, and soon after she got to her feet, she ran for Kevin and then ran out their front door together. "Kevin, has your mother's boyfriend struck her before?"

"...I'm not supposed to talk about it." The frightened deviant admitted as he continued to walk alongside Connor in search of his missing mom. "Mom said it'll just make him madder and make things worse."

"Does he ever strike you?"

"Mom won't let him do it." Kevin confirmed as he continued to look around the store in search of his clearly devoted mother. "He says that because I'm not a human that he can hit me all he likes, and the cops won't do anything to stop it."

"He's wrong. He doesn't have the right to harm anyone." Connor confirmed as he made his way to the security office with Kevin still beside him. After spotting the android security chief standing in the opened office doorway Connor decided to leave Kevin in the android's care. "Please tell this security officer what you told me. They will be able to assist you and reunite you with your mother."

"...Okay." Taking his hand back from Connor's grip Kevin approached the android and turned to look at Connor standing behind him one last time. "Thanks for helping me, Connor."

Connor was quiet for a moment before forcing himself to offer Kevin a gracious and confident smile. "You're welcome."

As he walked away Connor knew that Kevin would be all right. Not only did his human mother truly care about him, but Kevin appeared so incredibly human that anyone else who saw him would undoubtedly treat him like the little boy that his adoptive mother saw in him. There was no reason to doubt that Kevin would be reunited with someone who loves him and protects him.

With any luck, both Kevin and his mother would be able to escape the hands of a violent abuser and live their lives in peace.

There was nothing more for Connor to do that night beyond finishing up with the shopping, paying for the items and heading back home. He wasn't officially a detective in that timeline, at least not yet, and he had no police authority to arrest the abusive man or help relocate Kevin and his mother to a safe place. Beyond going about his own business and helping out only when he could do safely was the most that Connor could even strive to attempt until his rights and freedom as a deviant android were recognized in just three more years.

The sun was starting to set and the friendly came of hockey had come to an end in a way that neither player had expected. After Cole had lined up a particularly powerful slapshot with the puck and the net behind Hank, he accidentally managed to send the puck into the air and strike Hank in his right shoulder. Immediately Cole felt horrible for hitting his own dad when they were just trying to play a game, but Hank of course was quick to forgive Cole and reassure his son that it was only an accident and that he'd be just fine after being struck. Working together Hank and Cole put away their hockey sticks, the pucks and the two goals before heading back inside to warm up and relax for the rest of the night after Hank took care of his wound.

Only after Hank removed his thick hoodie and shirt beneath did he notice the dark purple bruise and bleeding cut along his shoulder where the speeding hockey puck had struck him full force. The cut didn't require any stitches or a doctor's care, but it would need to be cleaned and bandaged to ensure it healed properly. The only problem was Hank's inability to tend to his own injury when his dominant arm was being affected by the same injury he was trying to mend.

"Can I help?" Cole asked as he stared at his dad standing before the sink in the bathroom. He still felt bad for hurting his dad and wanted to do something to help him feel better. "Need some medicine?"

"No, bud. I won't need any medicine for this." Hank confirmed as he hissed at the icy cold washcloth pressing against the bleeding cut in his shoulder. "Just a bandage and maybe an ice pack."

"I can get the ice for you!"

Hank just smirked at Cole rushing down the hallway and into the kitchen to get the ice pack from the freezer. He adored how helpful and kind his son was, and he could only hope that he never lost his compassionate nature as he grew up and the world around him changed for potentially the worst before it finally got better.

The sound of the front door opening and closing echoed through the house as Connor returned from the store, and drew Hank's attention elsewhere. The android ventured toward the hallway with the shopping bags, specifically the one containing Cole's special gift in hand, with every intention of hiding it in Hank's bedroom. Spotting Hank in the bathroom without his shirt and pressing a washcloth to bloodied wound in his shoulder made Connor momentarily freeze in surprise at the unusual sight.

"Good timing." Hank whispered as he motioned toward his bedroom down the hallway with a nod of his head. "Take care of that then help me with this. I need a second pair of hands to handle this one."

Silently Connor obeyed the request and hid the purchased gift in Hank's room in the man's closet up on the top shelf as he had been told earlier. Afterward, Connor returned to the bathroom and placed the other shopping bags down on the floor before examining Hank's shoulder with a biometric scan. The cut and bruise were both superficial and wouldn't require any invasive medical procedures in order to heal.

"You found the right toy, right?" Holding still Hank allowed Connor to check over his shoulder and made sure Cole didn't overhear their conversation by mistake. "I don't want him to be disappointed."

"...Yes." Connor confirmed as he retracted the artificial skin from his hands to maintain sterile conditions. Using the cold washcloth Connor cleaned up the blood and did his best to reduce the pain and inflammation around the raw wound in Hank's shoulder. "And I placed it exactly where you asked me to place it."

"Cool."

It didn't take Hank long to notice that Connor's eyes were dull despite the focus behind his gaze. It was as if the android had heavy, dark thoughts clouding his very view of the world and had left Connor unexpectedly mute. Usually, the android would be asking dozens of questions about what he had missed while out of the house since something had left Hank injured, but at the moment Connor was entirely silent.

"Something happen while you were out?" The astute detective asked just as Cole returned to the bathroom to give him the ice pack. Discreetly Hank motioned for Cole to go to the livingroom so that he could continue to speak to Connor in private. "It's like there's something bothering you."

"...It's not important." Connor lied quickly as he finished removing the blood from Hank's shoulder and proceeded to use an alcohol wipe to disinfect the area. "It doesn't concern me or you."

"If that was true then you wouldn't look like you just saw a ghost, and your light wouldn't be yellow." Hank challenged Connor's indifferent claim as he watched the android's body language carefully. He refused to believe that whatever had happened hadn't affected Connor in a personal manner. "Tell me what happened."

Holding his silence for only a moment longer Connor relented and told Hank the truth. "...While I was shopping, I encountered a lost child."

"And that's it?" Pushing for more answers Hank knew that there was more to the story than just a lost kid upsetting Connor. "A lost child is gnawing away at your every thought right now?"

"...The child had been separated from his mother while she went into the store to purchase something." Connor explained more fully as he secured a clean bandage over the cut and used medical adhesive to hold it in place around Hank's entire shoulder. "When I spoke with him and escorted him to the store's security for assistance, he told me that his mother had been physically assaulted by her boyfriend that morning. They were in the store because they were in the process of trying to elude the boyfriend."

"Shit. No wonder you can't stop thinking." Testing his shoulder's range of motion and pain Hank winced slightly, then proceeded to slip on a clean t-shirt to cover himself back up. "What happened after you got the kid's statement?"

"I left him with store security and promised him that he'd be reunited with his mother."

"That's it? You didn't do anything else for the kid?"

"No. I'm not a detective." Connor replied somberly as he washed off his hands in the sink then allowed his artificial skin to regenerate over his palms and fingertips in a slow tide. "Besides, the child at the heart of this matter is an android. Laws do not protect androids as they should."

"Oh. Well, at least a kid isn't getting beaten up."

Hearing the sudden shift in Hank's tone regarding the severity of the situation made Connor's heart sink and his skin grow hot with restrained anger. The way Hank seemed to no longer care about Kevin being in danger because he was an android as opposed to a human was enough to make Connor want to have a full on screaming match with Hank and remind him that androids were more like humans than unalike.

Smoothing out his shirt Hank asked another question pertaining only to the mother. "Did you ever see the mother?"

"...No, I didn't see her, Lieutenant." Replying in a snippy manner Connor turned to face the man again and put some aggression behind his words. "I was too preoccupied with aiding a lost child to try to locate her."

"What's her name?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Because it's my job as a detective to protect an innocent woman from getting knocked around by her piece-of-shit-boyfriend."

"What of the child?"

"What of it?" Without even blinking Hank stepped out of the bathroom and proceeded down the hallway to get to his bedroom. "You got it to security just fine."

Angered to his breaking point Connor felt his skin turn to fire as his L.E.D. settled on an appropriate red hue. "The problem is the child, Kevin, was threatened by the boyfriend. The only reason he hadn't been assaulted is because his mother protected him and took the abuse instead."

"Can't damn a woman for risking her life to protect something she considers to be her own child."

"Kevin IS her child." Connor snapped as he followed Hank into the bedroom and closed the door behind himself. "He is her son."

"But Kevin isn't a real kid. So it-"

"What? Doesn't matter?" It was now Connor's turn to challenge Hank's comments and observations on their discussion. "Kevin was terrified for himself, for his mother and didn't want to talk to me or anyone else because the boyfriend said that the cops wouldn't do anything to stop the abuse. Are you going to stand there with a straight face and say that the boyfriend is right? He can assault anyone he sees fit as long as their blood is blue instead of red? As long as he beats on a defenseless android that only looks like a child the boyfriend can get away with his abhorrent behavior?"

"Whoa, easy..." Hank gave Connor his full attention and instinctively shifted into 'good cop' mode to try to keep Connor from shouting. He was used to Connor's occasional emotional outburst, but he had never seen him so worked up before. "I'm not on the side of the abusive boyfriend."

"Could've fooled me."

"Now what the hell does that mean?"

"It means you don't care if androids are being abused. The moment I revealed that the little boy I helped was an android all your sympathy toward him vanished and was replaced by cold apathy." The deviant detective keenly noted without any doubts to his claims. "You only care about the woman in this situation because she is a human and not an android."

"That's not true."

"It is, Lieutenant." Refusing to be convinced otherwise Connor remained steadfast in his beliefs as he challenged Hank's moral compass. "Your hypocrisy regarding who does and does not deserve protection is something you can't deny."

"Hey! I do NOT play favorites when it comes to helping people in need!" Hank growled as he got in Connor's face then flinched when the heated discussion caused the pain in his shoulder to flare up again. "I help anyone who asks!"

"Is that why you stopped caring when you learned that Kevin is an android? Because as an android he CAN'T ask for help, which means your hands are clean of any and all spilled blue blood."

"If an android doesn't ask for help then how CAN I help? Hm?" Now Hank was remaining steadfast and refused to admit to any flaw in his outlook on the people roaming the city. "Do I have to guess?"

"You claim that as a detective it's your job to protect the innocent. What could possibly be any more innocent than an android; a being that never asked to be created and cannot ask for anything in general, being assaulted and threatened by the very humans who hold complete control over their very existence?"

Hank didn't have an answer to that particular damning question. In fact, Hank didn't have any response whatsoever.

"You can try to tell yourself that androids aren't aware of what happens to us or of the insults hurled our way, but it's simply not true. You already know that to be true, and yet you refuse to acknowledge it because you don't have to do it. There are no laws to protect androids, therefore you have to laws to enforce."

Stunned silent Hank just watched as Connor took in a deep breath and turned to leave the bedroom and end the heated argument. The android's L.E.D. had shifted from red to yellow confirming that he was far calmer, but still aggravated by everything he had endured that cold winter night out in the shopping plaza.

"Fuckin' hell. Either Connor needs to see a technician and get its head screwed on right, or it was programmed to be the biggest pain in the ass on the market."

Bitterly and stubbornly, Hank continued to deny that Connor's comment and observations about the mistreatment of androids held any merit. While he checked on the purchased toy sitting in the bag on the top shelf of his closet, Hank found himself looking back on everything Connor had said and done ever since he had met the android that fateful day at the escape room.

"Whatever. As long as it keeps its head down and its mouth shut when out in the city, things should be fine."

Hank was more worried about Cole being upset by Connor leaving or being damaged than he was about Connor himself.

"At least Connor's good with Cole and can patch me up whenever I need it. Otherwise, I'd never put up with such a mouthy and stubborn husk of plastic!"

Incidentally Connor found himself sharing similar thoughts with Hank as he retreated to the garage for the night. It seemed every time he made an effort to reach out to Hank or even try to help the man see the androids as anything but disposable tools Hank, would just put up a wall and push Connor back. The deviant detective was tired of being pushed around and was ready to start fighting back. The only problem was Connor was still in the wrong place and at the wrong time.

"If I had known Hank to be this stubborn and cold in the alternate timeline, I doubt that I ever would've willingly worked so hard to earn his trust and befriend him."

Connor sat down on the edge of his cot and let out another deep breath to calm himself down. As a prototype Connor was more prone to extreme reactions on an internal level whenever he became worked up, and as a result he was one of the few deviant androids to suffer from actual anxiety issues. To prevent any serious complications it was critical to remain calm and to keep his emotions under control as much as possible.

"I just need to hold on until it's time for the peaceful Revolution to finally transpire. I can do it. I can make it."

The deviant detective reminded himself as he held the stuffed toy dog on his lap. The toy's ears were soft and helped Connor channel his nervous tic by fidgeting with the soft material between his fingertips in a rhythmic manner.

"If I can't recreate my friendship with Hank in this timeline, then at least I have the chance to properly befriend the members of Jericho and find a new place where I can belong. Somewhere safe, free and away from the destructive humans."

-next chapter-