A seemingly normal morning took an abnormal turn before noon. Chasing after a well known drug dealer on foot through midtown had ended with Connor struggling against the armed human in the depths of a brick alleyway between two towering buildings that housed two small businesses of full of confused customers. Using his right hand to restrain the man's wrist as he clutched at his gun and using his left hand to push the man backward by the collar of his shirt, Connor successfully held the struggling suspect at bay until his cybernetically requested back-up arrived at his current location betwixt two buildings in the heart of the city.

Police drones circled overhead as they tracked Connor and the man to the alley. The sight of the flashing emergency lights prompted the people inside the neighboring two buildings to remain inside and not go near the alleyway until the man had been apprehended.

"Stop resisting." Connor kept his voice level as he easily restrained the man near the back wall of the alley. "You're under arrest."

"Fuck off!" Grabbing onto Connor's arm with his left hand to try to pry the deviant's hand from his shirt, the man took one step forward and tried to run again and escape the police. "You piece of shit, let go!"

"STOP." With authority in his voice Connor repeated his order as he bent both of the man's arms around his back to be cuffed in place. "STOP NOW."

Jerking wildly the man managed to strike Connor in the center of his plastimetal chest with his right elbow, knocking the wind out of the deviant with the swift blow. Stunned and gasping for breath Connor dismissed the red warnings that popped up in his visual processors as his strength lessened just enough for the man to turn back around and ram his right shoulder into Connor's chest right over where the first impact had landed.

The force was enough to slam Connor's back up against the brick wall with a tremendous slam. As the deviant detective gasped for breath a second time his hands began to shake and he dismissed yet another warning as he refused to simply let the man go from his grip.

"Get the fuck off of me!" The man shouted he he rammed his shoulder into Connor's chest for a third strike and jerked back again to break his arms free from the deviant's strong hands. Despite his best efforts he simply couldn't break free from the deviant's immense strength. "Fuckin' pig!"

"FREEZE."

The man turned his attention back to the end of the alley where the authoritative feminine voice had echoed only to see the barrel of gun being pointed toward his face and one pissed off officer holding the weapon.

"I'm pretty sure you already know this," Tina stated sharply as she held her ground and kept the suspect at bay. "but let me say it anyway. You're under arrest. Stop resisting, NOW."

With nowhere to go and now a gun pointed at his head the man wisely surrendered and knelt down on the ground submissively as he lifted his hands into the air to be cuffed. "...Bitch."

Connor's hands tightened painfully around the man's arms as he pinned them behind his back and prepared to cuff him. "Watch your language, or I'll add verbal assault to your list of charges."

"Ow, fuck!" The man whined as the cold metal cuffs were slipped into place and locked tight. "You're hurting me!"

"You're being charged with forty-six separate accounts of drug dealing." Connor stated firmly as he forcefully hoisted the cuffed man up to his feet and pushed against his back to make him walk forward to exit the alleyway. "As well fleeing the police and assaulting a police officer. You have more important things to worry about than a sore wrist."

Tina holstered her gun and grabbed onto the man's right arm while Connor stood at his left side. "Careful, Lieutenant. That wrist might be his girlfriend."

"Fuck you, bitch!" Once again Connor's grip tightened on the suspect's arm enough to cause immense pain to the bone beneath but not enough to bruise the skin or cause notable damage. "AH! FUCK!"

"I warned you before to watch your mouth." The deviant detective sharply quipped as he and Tina escorted the now arrested drug dealer to their squad car three blocks away from where the pursuit initially began. "No more warnings, I strongly insist that you exercise your right to remain silent."

Placing the arrested man into the backseat of the squad car with minor difficulty Connor winced and took in a slow breath to ease the discomfort in his chest.

"You okay?" Tina caught a glimpse of Connor physically flinching as she slammed the door in the man's face. "I saw what this prick did to you."

"I'm all right." Connor insisted in a calm tone as his right hand reached up and pressed near the center of his chest over his heart. The Thirium pump beneath his palm was beating faster than normal due to the physical exertion but would soon calm to a more stable pace. "Merely a bruise and a mild headache. Nothing I can't handle."

"Okay then." Trusting Connor's judgment on his own body Tina didn't ask anymore questions. "Let's head back to the precinct so I can get this asshole out of my sight as soon as possible."

Without further incident after the pursuit the two officers were able to bring the arrested drug dealer into the precinct to press charges and to question him on his illegal activity throughout the city. More than happy to show the suspect to interrogation for a long overdue discussion about his shady business activity, Tina took the initiative on handling the case while Connor processed the casework at his terminal. It was unusual for Connor to want to sit down and handle paperwork over an actual investigation. The way the arrested man had physically assaulted Connor three times in the alleyway didn't go unnoticed and it seemed that the lingering effects of the assault were beginning to slow Connor down.

Gavin was sitting at his desk while Chris and Jack sat behind their own terminals writing reports, leaving the bullpen quiet and professional as their Lieutenant worked diligently at his own desk. Hank was inside his private office speaking with their acting mayor and was unaware of Connor's return to the precinct after the successful arrest.

Tossing a ball of paper at Connor's shoulder Gavin easily got the deviant's attention. "How'd it go out there, 'Tinman'?"

"He put up a fight," Connor replied as he turned to look at Gavin over his left shoulder. "but obviously it wasn't enough."

"Why's Tina with him?"

"She insisted on taking the lead on the interrogation after he called her a few choice names." Turning back around Connor pressed his left palm over his chest as he endured another fleeting bout of sharp pain. "...I believe her presence will enough to rile him up and cause him to inadvertently slip up on any possible lies, and confess to other crimes."

"Or at least piss him off."

"It's a little late for that."

"Trust me on this one, Tina has her own 'charm' that can get right under your skin in the worst way possible." Gavin smirked as he spoke about his partner's talent for getting to the truth. "It's fantastic for getting idiots to admit to even more idiotic shit that they did before they got busted."

"Interesting." Truly intrigued by the notion of Tina being able to get invaluable information from the suspect Connor dropped his hand and continued to focus on the case at hand. "I look forward to reading her report."

"You still going to babysit Aria tomorrow night?" Checking his phone Gavin texted with Abby as he waited for Connor's answer. "Abby needs a night out now that she's in her second trimester and Aria needs someone else to drool on for a while."

"Of course." Replying in the affirmative Connor had no reason to rescind his offer. "I'm looking forward to it, too."

The interrogation took almost two hours but it was well worth it. The drug dealer had been pulled from the streets, his supply had been taken into police custody to be used as evidence and then later destroyed, and there was one less dangerous man threatening innocent lives throughout the city. Eager to lessen his own sentence the drug dealer gave up the names of a few contacts, allies and his customers, which meant that the precinct was busier than usual with all of the additional dealers and customers now behind bars. Enduring one interrogation right after another had left Connor feeling unusually drained and caused the relentless ache in his chest to gnaw at him throughout the remainder of his shift.

Hank, being the single officer at the precinct with the most experience in handling drug dealers, had elected to finish off the rest of the interrogations while the officers under his command went about their usual routines to keep things flowing properly. Relieved of the interrogation flow gave Connor the necessary time to run a self diagnostic and try to find the source of his chronic pain. Sitting at his desk with his posture perfect and his hands folded neatly on his lap while the procedure was underway Connor closed his soulful brown eyes and ran a full self diagnostic to try to isolate the cause of his fatigue and discomfort.

"Ow." A sudden sharp pain through his chest made him wince and grit his teeth as he took in a shallow sucking breath and forced the self diagnostic to continue. "Damn it."

"Hey." Another paper ball bounced off of Connor's left shoulder as Gavin stared at him from his own desk. "What's wrong with you?"

"...A mild setback from sustaining three strong blows to my chest during the earlier arrest."

"What kind of setbacks?" Gavin could see that Connor was in distress even from the distance. "You look like you're about to pass out or have a heart attack or something."

Opening his soulful brown eyes slowly Connor's brow arched in confusion at the statement. "...Heart attack?"

"Your hand is grabbing onto your chest like you're trying to keep something from breaking out or breaking in. That ain't normal for anyone unless they're having chest pain."

Looking down at his chest Connor was suddenly aware of the absentminded reaction to the pain he was suffering and lowered his tense hand slowly from over his heart. "...I admit I am experiencing intense discomfort."

"No shit! You look like shit, too."

The self diagnostic brought up a new warning about his Thirium pressure coming back inconclusive which had never happened before. Loosening his black tie from around his neck Connor pulled open the top two buttons of his shirt with his just enough to peer down at his exposed chest.

The deviant was greeted with a dark blue bruise blossoming over his chest right before his eyes directly over his Thirium pump. "...G-Gavin, I'm going to check in at the dispensary. Take charge until H-Hank or I return."

"Whoa..." Hearing Connor's voice stutter as he admitted to needing to see a technician raised a flag in Gavin's mind. "Fuck, are you dying?"

"U-Unknown. But hopefully not."

"What should I tell Hank?"

"Nothing." The deviant replied with a breathy sigh of pain as he rebuttoned his shirt but kept his tie loose. "...I-I'll tell him about this later."

Standing up from his desk very slowly Connor made his way across the bullpen to reach the far corridor and the elevator within. Pressing the call button Connor stepped aside as two officers exited the elevator car leaving it totally vacant, and clumsily entered the car with a graceless gait. Bracing himself up against the side of the elevator with his left hand Connor pressed the button leading to the second floor with the right and began to pant a little as his breaths became labored.

"I must be hemorrhaging internally."

Another warning popped up in his visual sensors indicating that his ventilation biocomponents were becoming strained from an unknown secondary pressure building up within his chest.

"...Shit."

As soon as the elevator reached its destination Connor practically fell through the parted doors as he fought to walk down the hallway and into the dispensary. Supporting as much of his own weight against the side of the wall as possible Connor called out for help and fought to remain conscious.

"J-Joel..." His voice was strained a weak. "I need help."

From the opposite end of the hallway a young woman, no older than nineteen years of age, had noticed Connor falling to his knee onto the floor as his body began to give out on him. "Sir?!" Rushing over to Connor she knelt down in front of him and pressed her right hand to the left side of his face. "Sir, what's wrong?"

"N-Need to s-see..." Every word Connor struggled to speak sounded more pathetic and strained than the last. "Joel."

"Joel?" Her eyes lit up with recognition the moment she saw Connor's face. "You're the deviant detective!" She suddenly realized who he was as she grabbed on to Connor's left arm and wrapped the limb about her shoulders. "Hold on, I'll help you." Allowing the young woman to practically drag him into the dispensary Connor's eyes began to fall shut and his legs became heavier. "Joel, I need some help here!"

Stepping out from around his desk Joel immediately rushed over to the door and took Connor's right arm to help carry the incapacitated deviant into the dispensary, and over to an exam table. "Connor, what happened?"

"I... I can't... breathe." The deviant admitted as the technician and his intern, Dr. Lily Banner, carried him over to the exam table to lay down. Reaching his weak hand up to his chest Connor exhaled pathetically and gave the technician a frightened stare. "M-My chest hurts. My... heart."

"Your heart?" Once Connor was laying flat on his back on the table Joel pulled open the remaining buttons on the deviant's white dress shirt and saw the growing bruise that had made Connor seek help to begin with. "Internal Thirium line rupture."

Moving quickly Lily rolled over the cart holding the very useful sonar wand and then rolled over the Thirial activity monitor. "How we stop the leak?"

"First we need to find the source." Joel explained the process as his intern placed the wireless leads of the monitor over Connor's chest while he helped Connor to fully remove his shirt entirely. "Then we can stop the leak. Connor," looking down at the deviant's face the calm technician noted the glassy distant gaze forming over Connor's usually alert brown eyes. "what happened to you today? How did this happen?"

"I-I was... struck in the... chest. B-Blunt force... trauma."

"With what? A weapon or a car?"

"N-No. Elbow and... sh-shoulder."

"All right, so nothing that would break your artificial skin or pierce your plastimetal frame." Adjusting the head of the exam table Joel helped Connor to sit upright slightly at a forty-five degree angle to make it easier to breath. "We're going to use the sonar to look inside your chest find the source of the line leak. Don't move and stay awake for as long as possible."

Unable to find his voice as he fought to breathe all the deviant could do was watch as the trusted technician and his intern worked to save his life.

"Lily, what's his current core temperature and Thirium pump rate?"

The young intern looked at the monitor and gave the proper rate. "He's up to one hundred degrees even. Thirium pump is at one-hundred and four beats per minute."

"Thirium volume?"

"According to the monitor it's... unreadable." Lily's dark brown eyes went wide with shock at the unknown number. "How is that possible?"

"Internal leaks can cause external pressure against the surrounding biocomponents causing an incalculable reading through sensory readout alone." Wrapping a Thirium pressure cuff around Connor's left bicep Joel noted the more direct reading from a line in his arm as the cuff automatically tightened around the limb and gave a full digital reading on its small display. "See here? More reliable than a monitor."

Lily checked over the cuff and gave the more accurate number. "His pressure is one-hundred over seventy."

"And his ventilation rate?"

Responding quickly Lily used the audioscope sitting beside the Thirial activity monitor to listen to Connor's chest. Pressing the bell down gently she listened to Connor's struggling breaths intently, moving the bell from right to the left. "Right ventilation biocomponent is faltering." Moving the bell to the other side of his chest, closer to the bruise, she felt Connor physically wince in response but remaining focused on her task. "Left ventilation biocomponent is compromised." Honing in on the bruise Lily listened carefully and looked to the monitor for confirmation. "Irregular pump rate."

Joel turned on the sonar device and pressed the wedge down against Connor's chest lightly. "Turn on the monitor."

Lily did as she was instructed as she draped the audioscope around her neck casually. "What am I looking for?"

"The sonar acts like an echocardiogram in a human. We can see any excess fluid, in this case Thirium, collecting where it should not be."

On the display of the monitor the technicians watched Connor's very human looking heart beating rapidly as a mass of collected fluid applied pressure to the absolutely vital biocomponent.

Joel's blue eyes honed in on the source of Connor's issues and addressed it out loud for his intern. "Thirial effusion."

"What is that?"

"It's when a leak from an internal line of the Thirium pump causes the secondary Thiricardial pouch to swell and fill with blue blood."

Connor felt a twinge of fear as he realized that he had suffered damage to his heart and hadn't even known it until it was almost too late. "...M-My heart was damaged?"

Being a rookie intern, it was clear that Lily was at a loss of the more intricate android anatomy. "What does that pouch do?"

"It holds excess Thirium while Thirium pressure recalibration is in progress." Joel replied coolly. "It's a vital piece of the Thirium pump's structure."

"Okay, I think I understand that. How do we fix it?"

"We need to extract the excess Thirium before his Thirium pump becomes compromised from strain and pressure."

"And how do we do that?"

"Hold the sonar wedge in place and I'll show you."

While Lily did as she was instructed and held the wedge in place over the deviant's heart, Connor closed his eyes and breathed slowly and as deeply as possible as he tried to ease the building pressure in his chest and tried to remain calm.

Joel walked over to a metal cabinet at the far wall and retrieved a massive syringe with a wide hollow point needle at the end. Attached to the syringe was a large cylindrical tube that was designed to hold fifty cubic centimeters of fluid. Grabbing a spare towel from the cabinet as well the technician returned to the exam table gave the injured deviant a reassuring glance.

"It looks much worse than it is, Connor." Draping the towel just under the bruise on the deviant's chest Joel held up the syringe and gave his intern a stern glance. "We have to extract the fluid without opening the chest panel. If we open the panel then the external pressure of the plastimetal frame will lessen and the Thirium collecting in the Thiricardial pouch will increase without any resistance and cause the couplings of the main Thirial lines to rupture."

"...And the building pressure will cause his Thirium pump to arrest."

"Right."

There was a knock on the opened door as Hank made his was into the dispensary. "What the hell's going on? Gavin said Connor came up here and now I overhear some shit about his heart stopping?"

"Captain Anderson." Lily turned around to face the senior officer and was immediately intimidated by his presence. "He's-"

"It's okay, Lily." Joel soothed quickly as he pressed the fingertips of his left hand down over the bruise and placed the tip of the needle between his index and middle fingers. "Hank, it's a little long to explain so I'll sum it up. There's a leak around Connor's heart and I have to drain the excess blood before it stops his heart from beating."

"Ah, fuck..." The answer wasn't nearly as reassuring as Hank hoped as he entered the room to look down at his son's face. "Connor, what happened out there?"

Swallowing once nervously Connor tried to give the senior detective a confident stare as Hank stood at the end of the table. "I-I'll tell you... later. I promise."

"Okay, Connor. Take a deep breath and hold it." Joel felt the deviant's chest tense up as Connor took in a steady breath. Using controlled pressure and the image from the sonar's display, Joel managed to accurately pierce the needle through his artificial skin and through the flexible lining between plastimetal frame that defined Connor's chest cavity beneath to reach the overfilled pouch of blood. "You're going to feel a shift in the pressure in your chest, but that's normal."

Retracting the plunger on the end of the syringe Joel began to drain away the excess blue blood from the deviant's heart at a steady pace. Within a few seconds ten c.c.'s of the leaking Thirium had been extracted and Connor's breathing began to ease slightly.

"The excess blood was building up and pressing against his left ventilation biocomponent's air intake line." Joel explained without needing anyone to ask the obvious question. "Once the blood has been drained his self healing program will be able to repair the damaged line. Lily, take the syringe and trade places with me."

"Wh-What?" Lily looked and sounded petrified at the idea of taking control over the needle. "You want me to-"

"You're here to learn about android anatomy and physical responses on behalf of Digital Sentience. The best way to learn a new concept is by doing it."

"I... I don't want to hurt him."

"You won't. Just switch places with me and draw the syringe back at the same steady pace as I've been doing."

"O-Okay. I'll do it."

Joel took the sonar wedge from Lily's hand he waited for her to move around the other side of the table and take the syringe from his own hands. Once the two had swapped positions Joel pressed his left fingertips to the side of Connor's neck to track his pulse and watched as more of the blue blood was drained away by the syringe. "Fifteen c.c.'s gone. How do you feel?"

"...My chest feels lighter." The deviant detective responded tiredly from where he was laying. "...That's good."

"How's your breathing?"

"Improving." Giving Hank a calm stare Connor decided it was currently the best time to explain to him what happened when he and Tina were on patrol. "The suspect I had brought in earlier... had managed to successfully... strike me in the chest. I didn't... know the extent of my... injury until I ran... a self diagnostic two hours... after the incident."

Crossing his arms over his chest Hank gave the deviant a stern glance. "What did he hit you with?"

"His elbow once." Taking in a slightly deeper breath as thirty c.c.'s of blue blood was drained from his chest, Connor seemed to be regaining his strength at a gradual clip. "Then his shoulder twice. He didn't harm Officer Chen during the arrest."

"Well, there's that at least. So Joel," turning his attention to the technician Hank looked mildly relieved. "how long until he heals?"

"Forty-eight hours. That'll give his system enough time to repair the damaged lines and recalibrate his Thirium pressure."

"Too bad baseball season is over, huh, kid? We could do another weekend in Boston while you heal."

"I doubt Luke would've been fortunate enough to acquire an additional three tickets to a game anyway."

"Who knows? A lot can happen in the three months since then. Maybe he saved the deviant friend of car dealership, and now he can hook us up with another Corvette."

"That is even more doubtful."

Smirking at the comment Hank just watched as Joel nodded at Lily and took the syringe back from her hand.

"Forty-two c.c.'s of blue blood." Joel calculated as he gently pulled the needle of the syringe back out of Connor's chest and placed the mostly full syringe down on the metal tray beside the exam table. As the needle was extracted Connor let out a shocked gasp of pain and relief. "How do you feel?"

"I-I feel a little... lightheaded." Connor's brow furrowed and his right hand went up to his chest again as if trying to quell some form of discomfort. "My chest... feels..." Trailing off quietly Connor's eyes closed and his head lolled limply to the side toward Joel. "...wrong."

"Connor?" Putting his hand under the deviant's cheek Joel patted once and tried to get his attention. "Connor, respond."

The attached Thirial activity monitor began to shriek loudly as the deviant's heart rate suddenly spiked and began racing at a dangerously rapid irregular beat. The shrill sound made Hank take a step back as he observed the resulting procedure designed to treat Connor's condition.

"Irregular Thirial tachycardia." Joel announced loudly as he placed one hand over the other and interlaced his fingers together. Pressing his single fist down over the center of Connor's bruised chest he began to compress the deviant's racing heart in a purposely slow manner to try to change the current heart rate and correct his arrhythmia. "Lily, lower the head of the table, it'll make this easier."

Again Lily did as she was instructed and lowered the head of the table until Connor was laying flat again. "I don't understand, did I aggravate his heart?"

"No, no, you didn't do this. It's not uncommon for the Thirium pump to respond with an irregular rhythm after a pressing weight is removed."

"How can I help?"

"You see the green ambubag next to the activity monitor?" Nodding at the instrument Joel continued to guide his intern along the way. "Use that to help him breathe while I get his Thirium pump under control."

Hank's hand nervously ran over his bearded chin as he watched the technician forcing Connor's heart to beat properly. "C'mon, kid. Don't go down like this because of some punk drug dealer getting in a couple of lucky shots."

Joel stopped compressions long enough to check the activity monitor and outwardly swore. "Shit. The compressions aren't working, I have to shock him."

"Ah, fuck..." Promptly turning his back Hank took a few steps away from the table. "Do what you have to do."

"I hate this as much as you do, Hank." Pulling the paddles from the nearby stimulator attached to the monitor, Joel placed the paddles accordingly over the center of Connor's chest and to the left apex of his heart to ensure the charge went clean through his Thirium pump. The machine reached its charge and Joel addressed his intern firmly. "Lily, step back."

As soon as the intern was free of the area and out of harm's way Joel prepared to send the charge.

"Sending charge."

Connor's body arched up slightly and fell back against the table as the electric shock was sent through his heart and Lily put her hands over her face in stunned shock at the sight. The intern was still learning and had no idea that deviants could react to outside stimuli in such a human manner.

"Come on, Connor." Joel encouraged the deviant under his care. "Come on..." There was a shuddering 'blip' on the monitor as Connor's heart continued to beat irregularly for a few seconds before falling into a steady normal rhythm. "All right, that did it." Returning the paddles to the stimulator Joel pressed his fingertips to the side of Connor's neck again. "Strong pulse."

Lily still looked horrified while Hank just looked relieved.

Joel took the audioscope from Lily and used it to listen to Connor's chest carefully as his Thirium pump continued to thrum with a healthy rhythm. "No faltering in either ventilation biocomponent or his Thirium pump. He's stable and should be waking up in a few minutes."

"Joel?" Hank motioned to the frightened intern with a subtle nod of his head. "You take care of her and I'll watch over him."

Understanding the suggestion Joel just nodded and took care of the scared student. "Lily, come with me for a minute." Laidback as ever Joel escorted Lily out of the dispensary for a private chat. "That was a lot to take in and you did it all very well. Take a minute to breathe while I go over what we just did."

Tentatively Hank stood beside the exam table while Joel took Lily from the dispensary to ensure she was alright and not deterred in her efforts to help androids. "Son, can you hear me?"

The deviant's brow furrowed slightly as his head lolled toward the sound of Hank's voice. Brown irises slowly returned as Connor regained full consciousness and looked up at the senior detective hovering over him. "...Hank."

"You're going to be okay. As soon as Joel determines you don't need any more observation I'm taking you home to rest."

Nodding a little Connor pressed his hand over his bruised chest protectively. "...I feel terrible."

"Yup, I think a needle to the heart will do that for anyone." Staring at the fading bruise on the deviant's chest Hank seemed slightly calmer. "Your bruise is almost gone already, so that has to help you feel a little better."

"I promise you that I didn't know how severely I had been-"

"Stop." Placing his hand down on Connor's shoulder Hank leaned casually against the table and sighed. "I know you didn't ignore your injury, it was even in the report you filed that the asshole got rough with you during the arrest."

"...You just questioned me about the origins of my injury." Connor keenly noted as his strength slowly returned. "Why do so if you already knew what had happened?"

"Reading something in a report is not the same as hearing it in person, and I just needed to be sure."

"Oh." Propping himself up on his elbows Connor lifted his heavy head and blinked a few times. "I suppose I can-"

"No." Hank's hand pressed firmer against Connor's shoulder to hold him back. "Lay still and rest for a while. Everything is being taken care with down in the interrogation rooms, you don't have to worry about it."

Obeying the request Connor laid back down against the table and breathed slowly. "How many drug dealers were taken off the street?"

"In total, seventeen."

"That seems like a good day's work."

"Yeah, not bad, kid." Hank spoke with a small hint of hesitation behind his words. "You did real good."

"...Hank?" Connor could sense there was something else weighing on Hank's mind and needed to know what. "Is there something bothering you?"

"Just one thing." Giving Connor a stern and paternal stare Hank addressed him not as his Lieutenant at the precinct, but as his son. "How long have you been deviant?"

"...I don't understand the relevance of the question."

"Son," Hank almost sounded defeated as he tried to explain things to Connor in a compassionate tone. "you need to stop putting yourself second in this line of work. It isn't selfish to put your own well being over that of a single worthless criminal."

"But this one criminal led to sixteen other arrests. It was crucial that I succeeded-"

"That's not the point. Connor," Hank's hand tightened on the deviant's shoulder as he spoke. "you are alive and your life matters. Anyone who is dangerous enough to be locked up behind bars being arrested isn't more valuable than you just because you're a detective and not a threat to the public. You may have sworn to serve and protect, but that doesn't mean you have to die in order to do your job."

"...I think I understand what you mean." Placing his hand over the center of his chest again Connor let out a weary sigh and ran another self diagnostic. His condition was stable and his heart rate was staying in its proper rhythm. "I will be more careful in the future. I promise you that I'll try harder to put my life above that of a case being solved or a suspect being arrested."

"I certainly hope so." Relieved to hear the affirmation Hank's grip lessened as he gave Connor an appreciative glance. "You never know what or who is going to be waiting for you just around the corner, son."

Sitting up very slowly Connor took in another deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I know. From now on I will take the necessary steps to ensure my own well being is put above that of a criminal."

"It's about damn time, kid." Taking a step back Hank gave his son some space as he waited for Connor regain enough strength to get up and walk under his own power to exit the dispensary. They'd be clocking-out as soon as possible to return home and relax after a hectic shift. "That's all I can ask for."

-next chapter-