WARNING: Childbirth depicted in this chapter. Nothing graphic, but if you're squeamish you may want to skip.

A heavy rainstorm soaked the entire city on a cold spring night in Detroit. Connor and Hank had finally finished their shift late in the evening after clocking in six additional hours of unwanted overtime. The mandatory overtime was a means of covering the shifts of the other officers who had called in ill with the flu for the past four days, and the two detectives were ready to return home to get some rest. Exhausted from work and eager to get away from the city, Hank drove through the rainy streets at a steady pace while Connor monitored the weather with his internal Doppler radar and his incredibly accurate G.P.S. through cybernetic updates in the passenger seat beside him.

The storm had come in out of seemingly nowhere and caught everyone off guard. Flash flooding and slick roads practically guaranteed numerous problems for travelers heading for home during the storm as night darkened the city to a smothering blackness.

"Give me some good news, Connor." Hank pleaded as he drove down the partially flooded streets to head back to the house. It was a slow drive that required all of his attention. "Tell me this storm is going to let up and we won't have to worry about blackouts tonight."

"Sorry." Connor shook his head at what his Doppler system had picked up and predicted for the next twenty-four hours. "The storm front is holding its current course, and based on the severity of the deluge there is a high probability of rolling blackouts due to downed powerlines or overloaded circuits from citizens trying to keep warm and dry."

"Damn. That's all we need."

"There is a call for assistance being reported to dispatch." The deviant detective's blue L.E.D. suddenly flashed to yellow as an emergency report was filed. "There is an autonomous taxi broken down two streets away from our current location, with a single stranded passenger requesting assistance."

"Since when did rain strand someone in a car?"

"I'll look into it." There was a pause as Connor cybernetically received more information on the situation at hand. "The taxi engaged emergency shutdown due to an unknown error in the engine and the passenger in question is pregnant. She is also in labor."

"Ah, shit. Okay, yeah, we need to do something to help out." The tense situation made Hank swear as he stopped at the end of the street and prepared to turn in the appropriate direction. "Which way?"

"Turn left."

Wanting to help the stranded passenger Hank followed Connor's directions and located the disabled taxi alongside the dark road, far from anyone else who could possibly help. While autonomous vehicles had proven to be very useful to people who needed a late-night ride home or a designated driver, the autonomous vehicles still had flaws. Such problems as suffering from flat tires without a driver to change them or battery failures with no one driving about to offer a jumpstart, were the most common reported problems. One of those flaws had decided to rear its ugly head at the worst possible time on that rainy night to a woman who was trying to get to the hospital of all places.

"Go ahead and inform dispatch we're at the scene." Calmly and professionally, Hank instructed his partner on their next move as he climbed out of his car parked behind the taxi and went to check on the laboring woman stranded inside the stalled taxi. "I'll see how our mother-to-be is faring."

Obediently Connor relayed the information cybernetically and had received an update regarding the paramedics currently en route to the scene as well. Joining Hank at the stalled taxi Connor watched as the senior detective spoke calmly to the woman and showed her his badge to reassure her that he was there to help. The woman in question was very young - only nineteen years of age - and was deep into active labor. Frightened and alone, the woman was crying in fear, pain, and in near panic from the taxi breaking down and leaving her stranded without any help nearby.

"What's your name?" Hank asked her in his still very calm voice. The way he spoke one would think Hank was a friend or a member of her family. "As you already know, I'm Hank, and this is Connor." Motioning toward the deviant now standing behind him with a thumb over his shoulder Hank made sure she knew they were both there to help her. "He's my partner at the precinct. We're both here to help you."

"I'm..." The woman panted through a painful contraction before she answered nervously. "I'm D-Dana." She let Hank gently move her on the backseat of the taxi so that her back was pressed against the closed cab door and to ensure that she could stretch her legs out over the length of the seat toward Hank's direction. "Dana Parsons."

"How long have you been in labor, Dana?" Hank asked as he took off his heavy coat and draped it over Dana's bare legs to keep her warm. The thin maternity dress that she was wearing wasn't going to do much to keep her warm on that cold, rainy night. "Is this your first baby?"

"Y-Yes, it's my first, and I've been in labor a-all day." Dana again panted and ran her hand through her short cut sweaty blonde hair as she spoke. The conversation was helping to take her mind off her pain in between her contractions. "N-No one came to the apartment to g-get me when it started. My friends aren't the m-most reliable people..."

"Jerks." The insult was muttered under Hank's breath as he tried to keep Dana calm and check on her condition. "Where's your family?"

"F-Foster care." Rubbing her palm over her bump Dana handled the odd situation in experienced stride. "Don't have one. Yet."

"What about the baby's father?"

"My boyfriend was k-killed in a car accident four months ago." Dana suddenly let out a groan of pain as she endured another strong contraction. As she breathed through the contraction Dana grabbed on to Hank's shoulder and squeezed tight. "...W-We're alone now."

"Keep breathing." The seasoned senior detective instructed as he gently lifted Dana's legs up until her knees were bent. Knowing Dana wasn't going to be laboring for much longer, Hank looked about the area for the requested paramedics. "Connor, where's the ambulance?"

"I have an update from dispatch." Wisely Connor pulled on Hank's shoulder to lead him out of the backseat for a moment and away from Dana's earshot to keep her from panicking. "The ambulance is six blocks away and obstructed by a downed power pole. It'll take them approximately sixteen minutes to find an alternative route to our location."

"Great... Guess that means we have to take care of this ourselves." As if it was business as usual Hank rolled the sleeves of his blue and orange dress shirt up to his elbows and knelt down in the backseat again. Pointing over his shoulder back toward the Oldsmobile he gave Connor a new task. "Get the first aid kit and emergency blanket out of the trunk of the car for me. We'll need to be prepared for anything."

The deviant detective wasn't entirely sure of what Hank meant when he said they'd take care of the situation, but he didn't question it and did as he was instructed without a word. Returning to the Oldsmobile just a few feet away Connor popped open the trunk and heard Dana yelling from the backseat in mounting pain as her labor continued to progress quickly.

"Try to take it easy." Hank soothed as he let Dana squeeze his hand during the contraction. Waiting until her grip lessened as the contraction passed Hank took his hand back and resumed tending to her condition. "I need to check your progress, all right? I know what I'm doing and I'm not going to do anything that you don't want me to do."

Dana nodded quickly as she breathed deeply and let it out slowly in a rhythmic pattern to help take the edge off the lingering pain. Despite the breakdown of the taxi it seemed Dana was prepared for just about anything.

Hank carefully pushed back the hem of Dana's dress to check her progress and saw that Dana was ready to deliver. There was no waiting for the ambulance or the paramedics any longer, the baby was going to born whether anyone was ready to admit it or not.

"Okay..." Remaining calm Hank gave Dana a confident nod as he knelt down on the edge of the backseat to ensure he could deliver the newborn without any potential issues. "Everything looks normal and you're ready to begin pushing on the next contraction."

Soaked in the cold rain but protecting the required items under his gray CyberLife blazer, Connor returned to the taxi with the requested first aid kit and the blanket in his hands and spoke to Hank in a calm voice of his own.

"Here's what you asked for."

"Thanks."

Opening the kit Hank used a bottle of sanitizer to clean his hands then slipped on a pair of sterile purple latex gloves. He then opened the plastic wrapped around the blanket before smoothing it down beneath Dana's legs over the backseat. Placing the first aid kit on the top of the backseat near the rear windshield Hank set to work focusing solely on Dana and her unborn child.

"Connor, get in the backseat from the other side and get behind Dana." The Lieutenant knew exactly what to do and knew that Connor would be able to help without panicking in the process. "When she pushes you need to support her and let her push back against you. It'll make things a lot easier during the delivery as long as she has some leverage to brace against."

"Hank?" Such a request seemed a little strange and prompted Connor's L.E.D. to flash to yellow as his brow arched inquisitively. "Shouldn't we-"

"Go on, go." There wasn't any time to argue, and Hank put some bass in his voice when he spoke. "The paramedics aren't going to get here in time."

As Dana let out another cry of pain Connor responded quickly and walked around the other side of the taxi as he had been ordered. Carefully he pulled open the door and pressed his hands against Dana's shoulders as he knelt down behind her just as Hank had instructed. Dana quickly reached her hand back and grabbed on to Connor's hand as she breathed through another contraction and Hank prepared to deliver her child.

Connor allowed Dana to press her back up against his chest while she began to push with her contractions. The deviant detective was strong enough to support Dana as she labored, and he had no reason to question Hank as he took charge of the emergency delivery.

"All right, Dana. This is it; your body already knows what to do." Speaking as if he'd delivered a hundred babies and did so every day of life, Hank remained so calm and collected that it made Dana feel confident as well. "When you feel the need to push, you hold your breath, bring your chin down to your chest and you push for as long and as hard as you can, okay? Try to count to ten with each push, then take ten seconds to relax and breathe. Simple."

"Y-Yeah, yeah..." The laboring woman trusted Hank entirely and Dad panted as she began crushing Connor's hand in her tightening grip courtesy of her pain. "H-Have you done this before?!"

"Yup, this will be the ninth time for me delivery babies. Just like riding a bike." Hank smiled to help Dana remain as calm as possible. "Ready?"

Dana nodded again as another contraction started and she bore down as hard as she could. The frightened but determined woman pushed and panted her breath as she followed her natural instincts and prepared to deliver her first child. Connor watched in silent awe as he had never witnessed childbirth before and his L.E.D. stayed blue in a calm shade while he kept his emotions in check. As Dana squeezed his hand he instinctively squeezed back as the miracle of new life entering the world transpired before him.

"You're doing just fine." Hank stated as he put his hand beneath the newborn's crowning head lightly to help guide the baby out and into the world without the baby tearing Dana open in the process. "Pant your breaths and give very little pushes. Almost there..."

Responding to everything happening Connor braced himself where he was kneeling as Dana pushed again using the deviant detective for support as she finally gave birth in the backseat of the taxi. In a matter of seconds, the deviant watched a brand new life enter the world through screams of pain and blood on that cold, rainy spring night. In spite of the way things looked Connor was in absolute awe.

"Okay, that's it! Baby's here." Proudly Hank announced the successful birth as he held the squirming newborn in his hands. Reaching into the first aid kit he took a small rubber suction pump and used it to clear the newborn's airways and tied off the cord with surgical tubing as he tried to coax the baby into crying. "Just gotta' take care of a few things first."

"Is it... o-okay?" Dana asked in a deeply exhausted voice as she fell back entirely against Connor's chest and let pained tears roll down her face. All of her strength had been used during the delivery. "I... I n-need to see my b-baby."

"You will." Connor supported Dana's entire weight against himself and continued to hold on to her hand in a comforting manner. "Everything will be fine."

"He's right." Hank agreed without taking his eyes from his work. The newborn started to cry as Hank swaddled it in the emergency blanket and held it in his hands. A sincere smirk appeared on his face as the newborn tested their brand new pair of little lungs. "She's just fine, Dana."

"Sh-She?" Dana smiled, then her eyes closed slowly as she lost consciousness. "I have... a daughter."

"Dana?" Connor pressed his fingertips against the lside of Dana's neck and felt her thready, rapid pulse beneath his fingertips causing his L.E.D. to turn yellow in concern. "She's unconscious."

"She's also bleeding heavily." Hank stated sternly as he checked on her once more while keeping the swaddled baby in his arms. "Connor, hold on to the baby and keep her warm while I take care of Dana. I'll need both hands for this."

"How do I-" Cutting him off mid question Hank passed the crying newborn over Dana's head and into Connor's arms as Connor shifted his position. Cradling the small baby in his arms - her head and neck supported against his bicep - Connor remained as still as possible while doing everything he could to keep the baby safe. "...Do I hold her like this?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Very gently Hank put his hand beneath Dana's neck and shoulder to lift her from Connor's chest and pulled her body downward until she was lying flat across the backseat. "Where's the ambulance?" The Lieutenant asked as he began tending to Dana and motioned for Connor to step out of the taxi to give him room to work. "I need a time frame to work with here."

"I've reconnected to dispatch." As Connor's L.E.D. flashed yellow rapidly the deviant detective received an update on the ambulance as he held the newborn against his chest. He pulled the fabric of his gray blazer around the swaddled infant to shield her from the cold rain overhead and used his own body heat to keep her warm as he stepped out of the taxi to give Hank room to assist Dana. "The ambulance is currently two blocks from our location."

In the distance, the sound of blaring sirens began to grow in volume as red and blue flashing lights illuminated the rain soaked streets brightly. The rain muffled the sirens just enough to make the high-pitched noise more bearable to hear.

Keeping the baby in his arms, Connor stepped around to the other side of the taxi near Hank. The deviant detective continued to protect the infant from the biting cold and hold the crying child against his chest. Looking down at the small crying face of the incredibly tiny human Connor felt a strange sense of warmth wash over him. It was as if every single fiber of his consciousness was telling him to keep the baby safe no matter what it took.

"I doubt if you can understand me, but you're going to be okay. Help is coming."

As the baby cried Connor held her a little closer to his chest and gently adjusted the blanket over her body to keep her warm and dry. The thin gray blazer wasn't providing much of a layer between the baby and the cold, but fortunately Connor's own body was warm enough to keep her from getting too chilled as they waited for the paramedics to arrive.

The feeling of cradling the newborn in his arms gave Connor a strange sense of normalcy that he had never felt before. Something about taking care of a helpless infant and taking on the role of a guardian in a new way gave the deviant detective a new experience that he was sure to grow from in only a positive manner.

Gently Connor pulled the blanket up and around the baby's face to protect her from the cold. Peering at the baby through his wet locks of hair hanging down over his eyes only emphasized how vulnerable the newborn was as she trusted the two detectives to aid her and her mother while they waited for help to arrive. The cold rain seeped through his own clothing and Connor knew that if he was feeling cold then the baby would undoubtedly get chilled if he let up on his protective grip for even one second.

"Your mother is going to be okay as well. She wants to meet you, and I suspect that you want to meet her as well."

The ambulance finally pulled up alongside the street in front of the taxi and the two paramedics jumped out the back to tend to Dana who was unconscious in the backseat in front of Hank. As Hank stepped away to give the paramedics the room they needed to work, he checked on the newborn in Connor's arms and waved over one of the paramedics to take charge over the newborn as he removed the dirtied gloves from his hands.

Slinging his dark coat back over his arms Hank watched as the first paramedic managed to revive Dana and stop the bleeding to keep her alive. The medics knew exactly what to do and were able to keep Dana from slipping into hypovolemic shock and stabilize her.

With a slow motion, Connor carefully slipped the infant into the arms of the second paramedic and watched as the baby was placed just as gently in Dana's arms after the new mother was put onto the gurney to be loaded into the back of the ambulance. Dana began to smile and cry tears of joy as she finally met her infant daughter and knew that she'd love her baby until the end of time.

Both the mother and the baby were going to be just fine.

"All right, Connor. The paramedics will take it from here." Hank stated firmly as he walked back to the car parked behind the ambulance. For Hank, delivering the tenth baby of his career was just another story to share in the bullpen next time he clocked in. "You handled that well. Good job."

"Handled what well?" Connor asked sincerely as he followed after Hank and joined him in the car. Their clothing was thoroughly soaked through with the cold rain courtesy of the springtime deluge. "Holding the baby?"

"That, but I was referring to you keeping calm during the birth." Turning up the heat in the car Hank tried to stave off the cold from the rain threatening to chill him to the bone at any moment. The man held up his strong, calloused hands toward the warm vents and flexed his fingers a few times. "Most people tend to freak out when it comes to childbirth, but you kept your cool and helped Dana in the process."

"I wasn't unsettled by the act of childbirth at all. I actually found it... amazing." Enthralled by his chance to witness something new and incredible, Connor was still in awe at his latest experience and continued to replay the moment the baby was delivered in his mind as if needing to analyze the scene for details in a case. "It was like I was witnessing life itself originate from nothingness, and it was truly beautiful."

"Yeah. It really is." Hank gave Connor an approving grin as he pulled the Oldsmobile back along the rainy street to head for home. "The first time I had to deliver a baby, I was as scared as the laboring mother, but I managed to get through it with my partner's help. It was a boy, and he has be sixteen years old by now. Wonder if he's driving yet. Working his first job. Maybe even out on his very first date. I never stop wondering about those babies that I helped bring in to the world."

"I didn't realize humans were so tiny when they are initially born." Connor observed with an inquisitive stare through the windshield to watch the rain dotting the glass in heavy drops. "It's frightening how defenseless human infants truly are. Now I understand why humans are particularly protective and even paranoid after they become parents."

"That's exactly how I felt the first time I held Cole in my arms. It really is a miracle, you know?" The grin never left Hank's face as he drove for home. "If one little thing goes wrong in the womb, then everything will go wrong. And the fact that billions of humans are walking this planet right at this moment without any signs of distress or abnormalities is something truly cosmic and seemingly impossible."

"I'd agree with such mathematical estimations regarding life and the odds stacked against it." Connor's L.E.D. finally transitioned back to blue from yellow as he swept his damp hair back and they neared the house. Discussing what they had just witnessed helped Connor to process everything in seamless stride. "Too bad the creation of androids isn't as miraculous. It's just... routine."

"You and the other androids are a form of intelligent life that have only recently begun walking the streets in the past twenty years. I'd say that's pretty miraculous in itself. Don't sell yourself short, son." Hank encouraged as he turned down the heat and turned the radio up. All in all, it was a good night despite it being unusual and very unexpected. "Your life is just as incredible as any other human life regardless of how routine you think it might be."

The comment about deviants being alive and unique species was unexpectedly heartwarming. It helped Connor see himself as someone truly worthy of life and recognition for all his hard work and efforts in the changing world.

"Thank you." Being seen as a living person and be treated as such was truly a reassuring and grounding feeling. It was a reminder that Connor's life wasn't a fluke, it was a gift. "I appreciate you saying that."

-next chapter-