It was a relatively quiet evening at the precinct as very few calls or cases of any kind had been reported throughout the day. The tension in the city seemed to be diminishing now that winter was finally thawing and staying thawed allowing more warm days to grace Detroit for longer periods of time. The painful wounds and scars left behind after the Revolution the previous November were only just beginning to heal, and such a recovery would undoubtedly take time that couldn't be measured in minutes or even days. Healing wasn't just limited to the humans and the deviants involved with the events from that fateful snowy night. Hundreds of thousands of people throughout the entire country, if not the entire world, were just beginning to accept what happened and heal as time moved forward and changes progressed with little to no incident.

Seemingly the evening and night were destined to stay quiet. That was of course until Gavin and Chris returned to the precinct with an obnoxious and violent drunken human male in custody. Loud, belligerent and ready for a fight, the drunk man proceeded to yell and struggle against the two officers dragging him through the precinct to sleep it off in the drunk tank adjacent to the standard holding cells.

"Hey, hey?" Chris shouted as he fought to keep a grip on the flailing drunk man's arm alongside Gavin. The scrawny man was proving to be a challenge to wrangle even while in a drunken state. "Calm down, all right? Calm. Down."

"YOU calm down..." The drunk slurred as he continued to resist arrest and violently swing his cuffed arms behind his back. "Sh-Shut up! Pig!"

"Fuck this." Gavin was getting far too annoyed to handle the situation any longer and asked for a little back-up before he did anything regrettable and potentially career ending toward the aggressive drunk. "A little help over here, please!"

From their conjoined desks Connor and Hank had been watching the clumsy escort when Gavin asked for his assistance. Always ready to volunteer and help his fellow officers in a pinch, the deviant detective rose from his chair and walked over to the drunken man with the intent of grabbing on to his arm to usher him over to the appointed cell to finally sleep off his drunken stupor.

"What..." When the drunken and belligerent man saw the blue L.E.D. in Connor's temple he immediately began spouting anti-android hate in Connor's direction. "Fuck you! Plastic freak..." Slurring, stumbling and very angry the man spat alcohol scented drool toward Connor as he continued to be combative and rude. "T-Took my job! My houz'! My ruzpect! FUCK YOU!"

"Sir," always polite and professional Connor attempted to use his skills as a negotiator to calm the situation down. "I can assure you I have done no such thing to-"

"SHUT UP!" The drunk and mouthy man refused to keep walking and began lashing out at Connor with violent swings of his cuffed arms and kicks from his graceless, shaking legs. At an impressive six foot two in height, the man towered over the arrested officers and continued to swing his long arms and legs about like a frightened animal caught in a snare. "GET OUTTA' MY FACE!"

Ready to end the obnoxious ordeal Chris again tried to restrain the disruptive man by standing behind him and wrapping both of his arms around the man's chest to pull him backward on his feet. "Come on, man. Don't make this any harder than it already is!"

Gavin was trying to get a hold of the drunk man's flailing arm again only to receive an elbow to the nose that instantly caused him to shout in pain as his nose 'crunched' and gushed blood. Within seconds Gavin's head began to ache and black dots swarmed his vision from the harsh blow to his nose.

"Fuck!" Swearing loudly as his legs gave out and he fell to his knees Gavin lost his grip on the man's arm as he covered his bleeding nose with both hands. "Fuckin' asshole! Broke my damn nose!"

"Gavin?" The loud yelp of pain prompted Connor to run a biometric scan over the detective's nose. "You require-"

Connor turned his attention to Gavin after he had been wounded and foolishly took his eyes from the drunk man who then kicked Connor in his side with enough force that it caused the deviant detective to stumble backward and fall against the corner of a nearby desk. The back of Connor's head bashed against the sharp corner of the desk and his systems flashed red as an error was detected in his program regarding around his auditory sensors. In response to the damage and pain, Connor's L.E.D. cycled from blue to red as his system recognized his physical distress. The crimson color of the L.E.D. glowed as brightly as Gavin's bloody broken nose.

"Son of a bitch!" Hank took control of the situation by marching up to the drunken man, grabbing him by the lapels of his beige coat and pinning the obnoxious man against the wall beside the cells with a tremendous force, pulling him right out of Chris's grip. "Shut the fuck up!" The senior detective shouted in a very stern loud voice as he caught the man's full attention. "You just assaulted TWO officers, AND you pissed ME off! Either go with Chris, QUIETLY, to your cell, or I can take you out back and sober you up personally!" Pinning his forearm over the man's throat Hank growled right in his ear to ensure the man heard his every word and knew it wasn't a bluff. "What's it going to be, asshole? You have one shot to make the right choice, so choose carefully."

The drunken man was immediately intimidated by Hank and shrunk down against the wall in fear as Hank let up on his grip. Frightened and sobering up fast the man swallowed once and looked at Chris pathetically with an almost pleading look in his bloodshot green eyes. "I-I'll be good..."

"Yeah, sure." Hank stepped back and looked at Gavin kneeling on the floor beside him. It was clear Gavin's nose was broken and still bleeding heavily even under his hands as they applied pressure. "Take care of our 'guest', Chris. I got these two."

"Sure. Thanks for your help, Lieutenant." Chris smiled a little as he escorted the much more cooperative and less drunk man to the holding cells while Hank tended to the two officers with his own unique brand of charm. "You're lucky that you caught the Lieutenant on a good day, I hope you know that."

"Hold still, Reed." Giving the younger detective a simple order Hank pulled open the top drawer of the nearby desk and handed a box of tissues to Gavin as he pocketed a few tissues for himself. Pulling Gavin's hands down from the bloody nose Hank looked at Gavin's face and could see his nose was bent and swollen while his eyes were beginning to blacken into dark purple bruises. "Shit, he got you good. Can you find your way up to the infirmary?"

"Y-Yeah..." Gavin pulled a wad of tissues from the offered box and pressed them to his bleeding nose. His hazel-gray eyes were all watered up and his voice sounded congested as his tried to breathe through his mouth simply because his nose was already too swollen to breathe normally. "Fuck 'dat asshole."

"Don't worry about him, worry about yourself." Grabbing on to Gavin's bicep Hank hauled the bleeding man up to his feet and made sure he didn't stumble from dizziness before letting go. "Go upstairs and I'll make sure Fowler knows you're done for the day. I'll send Chen your way too."

While Gavin silently and slowly made his way to the infirmary on his shaking legs Hank knelt on the floor beside Connor who was sitting up against the side of the desk still stunned by the blow to the back of his head. A small blue stain of Thirium had been smudged against the corner of the desk as a trickle of blue blood ran down from the back of Connor's right ear and onto the collar of his white dress shirt and gray blazer.

"You okay, Connor?"

Making himself eye level Hank asked the deviant about his condition as Connor pressed his palm against the bleeding wound just behind his ear. Waiting for an answer for only a moment Hank tilted his head a little to the side and asked again.

"Kid? You good?"

Connor didn't reply to the questions which in turn worried Hank on an instinctive and almost paternal level.

"Connor?"

Still no response.

"Connor!" Hank shouted as he snapped his fingers beside the deviant's ear. Still no reaction. "What the hell?" Reaching out Hank grabbed on to Connor's shoulder as he tried to get his attention again. "Connor, you-"

Seemingly in a daze Connor jumped violently when Hank's hand touched him. It was as if Connor had been completely unaware of Hank's presence for the past full minute which just alarmed Hank even more.

"Whoa, sorry." Apologizing sincerely Hank tried to check on Connor once again now that he had his attention. "You okay? Talk to me."

Still stunned Connor's soulful brown eyes were fixed on Hank's face and his brow was furrowed with absolute confusion. With his L.E.D. now flashing in yellow Connor began to breathe quicker as if hyperventilating out of a near panic.

"Connor?" Noticing the odd reaction Hank remained calm on his partner's behalf and looked his partner in the eyes as he spoke. "What's wrong?"

"I... I can't hear you." Connor's eyes went wide with fear as he unintentionally shouted his answer since he could barely hear himself talking. Such a response drew the attention of the other officers in the bullpen who had just witnessed the drunken shenanigans seconds before. "I can't hear anything."

Always able to handle a potential problem Hank put a grounding hand on Connor's shoulder and held it there. "But you can understand me, right?"

"Y-Yes. I can read lips." Connor explained, his breathing evening out as it dawned on him that his sensors had been damaged when he had hit his head on the desk. As he calmed down Connor's L.E.D. cycled in yellow in a much slower rate of speed that matched his Thirium pump's beat. "My auditory processors have been damaged and rendered inoperative."

"Shit. Can it be repaired?" Responding to the unexpected situation Hank felt the need to heavily enunciate his words to ensure Connor could fully read his lips while the two continued their unorthodox communication on the floor of the bullpen. "This is temporary, right?"

"Yes." Holding his palm to the wound behind his ear Connor nodded once and flinched as the movement hurt his already bleeding head. "...But it will take at least twelve hours to fully process without a technician's aid."

"Holy shit, that's not going to work out well for you." Shrugging his shoulders Hank gave the wounded deviant a less than reassuring response. "You're benched, kid."

"Benched? If I allow Dr. Forrest to tend to my injury he can remedy my condition in approximately nine hours."

"That's still WAY too long for you to be down one of your critical senses while out in the field. My mind's made up; you're benched."

"But I can still-"

"No." Hank put up his hand to silence Connor as he took the clean tissues from his pocket and pressed them to the back of Connor's head, pushing the deviant's own hand aside in the process. "You're hurt and need time to recover. I'll take you home, we're done for the day."

As much as Connor wanted to argue he knew that Captain Fowler would agree with Hank and send him home anyway.

"Let's go." Standing upright Hank offered Connor his hand and helped the deviant up to his feet. Hank could see the tissue in Connor's palm had been thoroughly stained with the leaking Thirium in a matter of seconds, and in turn he winced sympathetically for his partner. "We'll check in with the technician tomorrow just to be safe after you have time to heal."

"...What?" Too distracted by his pain Connor hadn't been looking at Hank when he was speaking although he knew Hank had been talking a moment ago. "I didn't understand that."

"I said," putting his hand under Connor's chin Hank made sure Connor could see his face before repeating himself. "we'll let Joel check you over tomorrow morning."

"Oh. A wise precaution." Pondering the notion for a moment a single curious question popped into Connor's mind. "Why not tonight?"

"Because you could heal in the twelve hours before our next shift, so why make more paperwork for Joel and ourselves to deal with?"

The way Hank was adamantly against filing paperwork was something that Connor, as a deviant, just couldn't fully comprehend. Even so he decided to humor his friend and remain cooperative for the rest of the bizarre night. "...I think I understand."

"Good." Putting his hand to Connor's shoulder Hank led the wounded deviant through the bullpen and toward the precinct's front door. The neighboring parking garage was their only stop before heading for home to rest. "Let's go."

The ride home from the precinct was disturbingly quiet for Connor as he couldn't hear anything being spoken to him by Hank. He couldn't hear anything at all, but he could feel the beating of his own heart thundering away inside his chest. The deviant detective who had been given exquisite auditory sensors couldn't hear the blaring death metal in the car's radio or hear the random honking of car horns and swearing drivers all around them as Hank drove toward home at a rather swift pace compared to his usual driving habits. Connor couldn't even hear the gentle pattering of the raindrops batting again the windshield as they peppered the car randomly throughout the drive through the streets, or hear the rhythmic swiping of the windshield wipers going back and forth at a steady consistent speed on the same rain dotted windshield.

The silence truly was deafening, and now Connor understood that particular phrase all too well.

As the Oldsmobile pulled into the driveway beside the house Connor waited for Hank to make a move to his door before he did the same toward his own. The deviant could feel that the car had been parked but he couldn't tell if the engine was off or not. Following Hank into the house the moment he was out of the car Connor watched as Sumo ran up to the greet the duo, but he couldn't hear the dog playfully 'boof' or hear Sumo's nails clicking across the bare wood floorboards in the livingroom and over the linoleum floor in the kitchen.

Everything was just silent.

Seeing the sense of loss in Connor's dull eyes, Hank patted Connor's shoulder to get his attention in a gentle way.

"Why don't you go ahead and go into rest mode?" Enunciating his words again Hank made sure Connor could read his lips and understood what he was saying without needing to literally spell everything out for the deviant to understand. "See if you can jumpstart your healing program by getting some sleep."

With nothing else to do Connor obediently walked over to the beige couch in the middle of the livingroom to lay down on his side to go into rest mode just as he did every night. Laying still and with his back presented to the open livingroom space Connor ran a self-diagnostic on his system to get an idea of how long he'd be deafened courtesy of the blow to his head while he rested.

It was that single act of unquestioning obedience, a display Hank rarely saw from the deviant even before he was actually a true deviant, that made him worry all over again. Not wanting his partner to lose hope that he'd recover Hank decided to have a little one-on-one with Connor, so the deviant knew he wasn't alone during his recovery.

"Connor?" Gently Hank grabbed onto the deviant's shoulder to get his attention one more time before he fell into a deep sleep. "Talk to me."

"Talk?" Connor asked as he turned his head to look at Hank directly and read his lips accordingly. "What about?"

"Why you're being so cooperative instead of trying to deny being injured. It's unlike you, kid."

"I am attempting to heal my damaged auditory processors." It wasn't a total lie, but it wasn't a total truth either. "There is no point in hiding my injury as you already know that I've sustained damage."

"Uh-huh." Hank didn't buy it and knew something else was on the deviant's mind. "What's really going on? I know you're hurt but even when you're in pain or damaged you always put up some kind of fight whenever I try to help you recover."

Stubborn and wanting to keep his pain to himself the corner of Connor's mouth twitched a little before he tried to answer.

"Hank, I..." There was a disturbingly human tone of fear in his voice as he spoke, his persistently L.E.D. flashing from yellow to red with distress. "I've never been in a functioning state without one of my basic senses active. It's... I don't- It's difficult to describe."

"Frightening." The senior detective filled in the blank on Connor's behalf. "It's frightening to experience."

Connor nodded weakly at the apt term and agreed with Hank's keen assessment. "Yes. I'm... frightened."

"It's okay to be scared."

"It is?"

"Yeah! I mean, come on, kid." Reaching for another tissue in his coat pocket Hank pressed the clean tissue to the wound behind Connor's ear again to check for any further bleeding as Connor sat upright in the center of the couch for a moment. "You suddenly lost your hearing and now you have to deal with it for a couple of hours. I can't even begin to imagine how messed up that must be to experience."

"I am not accustomed to relying so heavily on my other senses." Connor looked genuinely upset by the entire experience and wanted it to be over. Watching as Hank retracted his hand Connor made sure that there was no additional blue blood on the tissue, and thankfully saw none. The sight of the blue blood back in the precinct made all of his other senses kick into overdrive and cause further confusion as it also seemed to amplify his emotional responses. "This is something I've never experienced before, and I dislike it immensely."

"Tell me what you're feeling." Sitting down on the coffee table Hank gave Connor him his full attention and pushed Sumo away from the deviant to keep Connor from feeling smothered. Sumo whined of course but Hank continued to push the Saint Bernard away. "Aside from the pain in your head, what are you feeling right now? You looked like you were in a trance back at the precinct after you got hit. What was that about?"

"It's very peculiar. I could actually smell the blood when Gavin's nose was broken, it was so abundantly detectable it was like I was tasting it. And when you touched my shoulder at the precinct," Connor's palm rested on his shoulder where Hank's grip had been previously. "I could feel your entire palm in an instant. Your hand was very warm and strong, and I hadn't noticed it until I lost my hearing. It's all very... illuminating."

Hank kept his silence and leaned in a little closer as he listened to Connor's worry with a fatherly concern evident on his face as he silently encouraged Connor to keep talking about his new experiences.

"During the drive home I could see every drop of rain that hit the windshield. One thousand, six hundred and ninety-seven drops. And right now, I can... I can feel my Thirium pump, my heart, beating in my chest." The deviant's palm came to rest over his chest where his Thirium pump was actively beating. "I've never noticed it before either, but it's a constant perfect rhythm and it's somehow unsettling to think about despite it being normal."

"Yeah, it's weird when you notice shit that you hadn't considered all that important." Empathetically Hank tilted his head a little to the side as he understood a little bit of what was happening to Connor. "It's pretty common for a human to have their other senses enhanced when one sense is compromised. I think it's safe to say that the same thing is happening to you. And since you're a deviant with already enhanced senses, it must be happening tenfold."

"How long is this going to last?"

"Pretty sure once your hearing comes back online," Hank pointed to Connor's ear casually as he rose from the coffee table and then sat down beside him on the couch to remain close by and supportive. "your other senses will calm down."

Turning his head to look at Hank sitting beside him Connor admitted that he still felt uncomfortable. "I still don't like this."

"Neither do I. But even if, for whatever reason, your healing program can't undo the damage, we can either get your sensors replaced or..."

The way Hank trailed off was a tad unnerving for the already shaken deviant. "Or what?"

"Or we'll learn to live with it."

Any suggestion to living his life permanently deprived of one of his primary senses made Connor's stomach sink with dread. "I don't think I could-"

"Sure you could." Getting up from the couch Hank patted Connor's shoulder supportively and looked at the already healing cut to Connor's artificial skin just behind his right ear as it ran into his hairline. The deviant's self-healing program was in fact functioning as it should. "To this day, some humans are born deaf and still manage to live full, rich lives without getting any implants or hearing aids. If a human can do it, then so can a smartass deviant. Trust me. You're WAY too stubborn and dedicated to the job to let something like a lost sense slow ya' down."

"Hank, I do trust you." In spite of the reassuring words Connor remained entirely unconvinced of his near future. "I just don't know how I feel about that."

"Try not to worry." In spite of everything Hank insisted that Connor would be okay as he pointed to his own ear while he spoke to let the deviant know that he was still being patient and understanding of Connor's current condition. "Get some rest. If your healing program is as efficient as you say it is, then you'll be back to normal when you wake up in the morning."

"I hope you're right about that."

"So do I, kid."

Laying back down over the length of the couch Connor sighed and closed his eyes, his L.E.D. staying in yellow, as he slipped into rest mode. The deviant could feel Hank's palm back on his shoulder even as he laid down to rest. He had no reason to remain awake and hope for the best when he had no reason to expect his hearing to return to full function any time soon.

From the side of the couch Hank watched worriedly as Connor's palm reached up to his chest and rested atop his beating heart as if he was trying to still the constant motion. Sighing heavily Hank rose from the furniture and slipped off his dark coat and hung it on the hook by the front door before kicking off his shoes. The sight of the deviant so uncertain and worried was enough to make even Hank's stone-cold heart break sympathetically.

Walking around the back of the couch Hank took the dark blue blanket draped over the back of the furniture and lightly placed it over Connor's resting form as the deviant slept on side. The way Connor seemed to settle down a little easier once he was covered up reminded Hank of the way a scared child would always hide under a blanket or heavy coat whenever they were brought into the precinct to be taken care of for a few hours after enduring a horrible trauma.

"Sleep well, kid."

Heading into the kitchen Hank opened up the backdoor and let Sumo outside into the rainy evening for a few hours before he too decided to go to bed. He couldn't bear the idea of watching Connor struggling with his temporary hearing loss.

"If only all of our problems could be fixed after a good night's rest. The world would be a far better place."

The following morning Hank awoke earlier than usual to the sound of another spring storm looming over the city, and the natural ambience reminded Hank that winter had passed by yet again without him celebrating a single holiday. Heavy rain pounded against the glass of his bedroom window and over the roof as powerful thunder in the distance rumbled with a deep echo from miles away. Sharp gusts of powerful wind would occasionally kick up and cause the house to rock on its foundation and the windows to rattle in their frames as the rainstorm bombarded Detroit under a deluge of the impending, warm spring. Despite the active storm outside, the interior of the house was unusually quiet as the senior detective got up and went looking for Connor to check on the wounded deviant's condition after having a night to rest and recover.

Much to Hank's surprise the livingroom was empty. Glancing around Hank quickly located the deviant in the neighboring room as if he was trying to go about his own routine as if nothing had happened.

Connor was standing in the kitchen with his soulful brown eyes closed and his L.E.D. blinking a slow blue as he stood before the opened window over the sink as he remained lost in deep thought. Sumo was sitting beside Connor's leg calmly as if he was keeping Connor company with his tail wagging rhythmically back and forth over the floor in a gentle sweeping motion.

"Connor?" Hank called out to his friend casually from behind, but just as it had happened the night before Connor didn't answer. "Ah, shit... Your system didn't heal your busted senses, did it? I'm sorry, kid."

"I'm fine, Hank." Connor replied softly as he opened his soulful brown eyes and turned his head slightly to look at Hank standing behind him over his shoulder. "I was just listening to the sound of the rain."

"Oh." The somber tone in Connor's voice made Hank a little unsteady even as he breathed a sigh of relief. It was such a human response. "Is something wrong with the rain?"

"No. It's just that I never truly listened to the rain before. I've never listened to the natural rhythm of the raindrops and the steady flow of a passing storm until this morning. It's quite... soothing." Connor gazed out the window again and to the dark clouds heavy with cool falling rain with absolute awe in his much brighter and less stressed eyes. "And it's beautiful. Beauty has a sound, and I didn't know it until today."

"Remember when we were first getting to know each other, and you said that you enjoyed listening to heavy metal?" Hank questioned with a burning curiosity in his mind as he stepped into the kitchen to join Connor. The deviant's positive response to sounds inspired the senior detective to help Connor branch out further to explore even more beautiful sounds, and in time learn how to truly enjoy them. "You said that you liked it because of its energy even though you didn't really listen to the music itself."

"Yes." Reaching down Connor rubbed Sumo's silky soft ears as he spoke and listened to Sumo's even panting breaths and the way the fur of his wagging tail swept over the linoleum floor like the bristles of a broom. "I remember that particular conversation vividly."

"Good. So, why don't you take the opportunity to actually listen to the music now? And I mean really listen to it."

"That's an intriguing idea. But..." Unable to place the cause for such an idea Connor returned his attention to Hank standing just inside the kitchen doorway. Feeling the man's nearby presence was still a comfort even after he regained his hearing. "Why ask me to do this now?"

"I think between your deviancy and your new found appreciation for your sense of hearing that you'll finally understand why I personally prefer to listen to heavy metal. Hell, maybe you'll even like jazz." Shrugging his shoulders with a dismissive passing thought, Hank realized that Connor might find a new appreciation for music as a whole. "Hell, you might even find out why humans in general find music so important to our lives. That could become a new hobby for you if you opened yourself up to the possibility."

"I think you're right." Connor gave Hank a faint, unseen smile before asking for some advice on the intriguing matter. The raging storm outside was still beautiful and entrancing, but there was still so much to experience in the ever changing world that Connor wasn't sure where to begin. "What do you recommend?"

-next chapter-