After enduring what turned out to be a dangerous foot pursuit through the busy streets in rain soaked downtown Detroit that led to nowhere, Hank ended up limping on a sprained ankle as he leaned heavily on Connor's shoulder for support. A nasty misstep in a dirty gutter had ended with Hank crashing to the street while the suspect, a young and athletic pickpocket who may or may not have snatched the wallet from a patron at a nearby diner, disappeared down the first alleyway he could get to after Hank went down with an embarrassing crash. Relying entirely on Connor's strength to keep himself upright and balanced, Hank and Connor made their way back down the drenched sidewalk toward the Oldsmobile to return to the precinct empty handed after Connor confirmed the injury to Hank's ankle with a simple biometric scan.
Too sore to keep walking on his bad left ankle Hank paused for a moment and braced himself against the brick wall of an apartment complex and let go of Connor's shoulder. It was getting harder and harder for Hank to push through his injuries and ignore pain as age steadily caught up to him. Fortunately, he had Connor to help him out without even needing to ask.
"Lieutenant?" Connor asked as Hank stopped short and breathed through the pain for a moment. The deviant's biometric scan had indicated a severe sprain to Hank's left ankle but fortunately no fractures or breaks. "Are you all right?"
"No, I'm not all right." Hank snipped bitterly as he rubbed his injured ankle under his thumb. "You said so yourself, I sprained my ankle."
"Do you need me to carry you to the car?"
"If you even TRY to pick me up I'm going to rip that L.E.D. out of your damn skull and feed it to Sumo."
That particular threat seemed oddly plausible considering the bark behind Hank's tone. "...Is there any way I can help you?"
"Yeah." Awkwardly Hank reached into his jean pocket and tossed his car keys to the deviant who caught the ring of keys easily. "Bring the car around for me, will ya'? It'll be a hell of a lot easier than walking on one damn leg the rest of the way."
"Very well. I won't be long."
"Sure as Hell hope so. I'll be right here waiting for you."
Keys in hand Connor returned to the car parked two blocks away from their current location at a quicker pace than that of a human even with the poor weather slowing them down. Connor had driven Hank's car once before and it wasn't a difficult task to undertake, but he had driven only because Hank was suffering from a painful hangover and the two needed to investigate a murder at the 'Eden Club'. Fortunately, since that time Connor was given a special permit that allowed him drive; it was essentially the android equivalent of a human's driver's license, which meant he wasn't breaking any laws.
Getting behind the wheel of the large car Connor pulled the vehicle along the rain slicked road and neared the spot where Hank was waiting for him against the brick wall. As Connor legally passed by the first block's intersection an unexpected occurrence took place. A second car sped through the adjacent stop sign of the next intersection and smashed into the driver's side of the Oldsmobile causing it to slide off the road and up against a building where it had been pinned in place as a result. The body of the car had been damaged but the vehicle itself wasn't totaled or in need of a tow. It just needed the second car pulled away to ensure that the large and old vehicle wasn't pinned up on the sidewalk.
Even so, the sudden and frightening accident had shaken everyone involved to the core. It had happened so fast, and no one had the chance to properly react or stop the accident before it even began.
After everything came to a stop and the reality of the situation came crashing down, Hank realized exactly what he had witnessed and began to worry for the safety of his partner still trapped in the pinned Oldsmobile.
"Connor?! Kid?"
Hank had seen and heard the crash from where he stood and was immediately worried for his friend's safety. Grabbing his radio from his coat's pocket Hank called in the accident to dispatch and continued to limp toward the two wrecked vehicles to assess the situation.
"You better be all right..."
From behind the steering wheel Connor's L.E.D. flashed in yellow as he looked about the area confusedly. A trickle of blue blood ran from a cut on his bottom lip and dripped down over the backs of his hands and on to the steering wheel in a sapphire river. Spotting the second car that had crashed into him from the passenger side of the vehicle, Connor's immediate reaction was to check on the other driver, but before he had the chance to do so the driver's side door was pulled open forcefully as Hank grabbed onto his arm and hauled him out of the wrecked vehicle onto his feet out on the rainy street.
"Lieutenant, I'm sorry." Connor instinctively apologized as he locked eyes with Hank and promptly scanned the damage to the car. It was cosmetic damage but didn't help the situation considering that the car was also suffering from advanced age in general from being such an older model. "I should've-"
"Shut up, and just hold this against your lip." Hank insisted sternly as he handed Connor a tissue from his coat pocket. After making sure Connor wasn't about to fall over or pass out, Hank let the deviant's arm go and turned his attention to the human behind the wheel of the second car. "I need to go have a word with the other driver."
In a single aggressive motion Hank managed to get the offending vehicle pulled open the driver's side door as easily as he done to his own car. However, when he pulled the other driver out of their car it wasn't as 'gentle' as it was with Connor. Hank grabbed the driver by his shirt collar and pinned him up against the side of his own wrecked vehicle with tremendous force as a wave of anger washed over him as he smelled the sickly sweet chemical smell on the driver's breath.
"What the FUCK is wrong with you?!"
The other driver began to chuckle dumbly as his state of inebriation made his accident humorous in his eyes.
"Stop laughing, asshole!" Hank was about to wring the man's neck and leave him to dry out in the wet gutter. "Don't make me exercise my right to use excessive force!"
Wisely Connor spoke up and called out to Hank, but he lost his voice almost as quickly as he had found it. "Lieutenant-"
Connor wanted to interject on the moment but decided against it as other police cars converged on the scene. His yellow L.E.D. suddenly flashed to red as his system detected an anomaly within his vital biocomponents and his hand reflexively reached for his artificial stomach as a result as an odd sensation began to settle in his torso.
"Lieutenant?" A steadily building pressure and pain began to ache throughout his abdomen and Connor's visual processors warned him of a sudden influx of his overall Thirium volume and Thirium pressure. "...H-Hank?"
Chris, who had responded to the scene of the accident, jumped out of his squad car and wisely pulled Hank away from the driver and pushed him backward toward Connor. "I got this, Lieutenant."
The deviant instinctively pulled his hand from his stomach and placed it on Hank's shoulder and held tight while Hank calmed himself down and shifted his weight off of his bad ankle entirely onto the good one. Slowly Hank let go of the other driver and limped back over to the Oldsmobile.
"Are you okay?" Connor asked as he pressed the tissue firmly against his bleeding lip as he had been instructed and ignored his own discomfort. "You're very stressed out at the moment."
"Yeah, fine..." Hank pointed to the other driver angrily and swore loudly to make sure the foolish man could hear him. "Asshole was fuckin' high on 'red ice'. Chris is going to take him to the precinct so I don't break his damn neck before he gets charged."
"I'm sorry about your car." Misinterpreting Hank's anger Connor did his best to try to ease his partner's ire. "Perhaps I can-"
"Forget about the fuckin' car, I can get it fixed up."
Against his will Connor inwardly winced as the foreign pressure began to silently build in his torso and his Thirium pump, his heart, began to flutter a little as it pumped. "But you're still angry."
"Yeah, I'm angry! That dumbass got high and decided to go for a fuckin' drive through the fuckin' rain and missed the fuckin' stop sign." Continuing to shout over the rain pounding the streets Hank wanted the consequences of the other man's actions to sink in as heavily as possible. "He could've killed you, Connor!"
"Could've... killed me." The outburst made Connor's yellow L.E.D. to flash to red for a surprised beat before returning its amber hue. "Is that why you're angry?"
"Of course that's why I'm angry!" Returning his full focus to the deviant beside him Hank practically yelled in Connor's face at what he perceived as a very obvious reaction. "Why wouldn't I be!?"
"I... I'm still comprehending emotional reactions." Connor felt a little dumb at his admission. "I apologize if-"
"Shut up, Connor. Just know that if he killed you then I would've killed him in return." Taking in a deep breath Hank tried to calm down and not let his temper get the better of him. Even the cold rain wasn't enough to cool down Hank's burning hot temper. "Then I would've lost my badge and that'd be a whole other mess to clean up. Would've been worth it."
"L-Lieutenant-" Connor suddenly began to sway on his feet before he abruptly turned away from Hank and doubled over on himself in pain. "I... I don't-"
A torrent of Thirium erupted from the deviant's mouth and spilled all over the rainy street and sidewalk all around his feet as his body expelled a massive amount of blue blood. As Connor began suffering from internal bleeding his L.E.D. cycled to red and remained in red confirming that his condition was quite serious regarding his internal damage.
"Holy shit!" Responding to the situation quickly Hank put one hand against Connor's back and the other hand against his chest. Turning to look at Chris who was putting the other driver in the back of the squad car Hank yelled at the younger officer to call in an emergency technician for Connor. "Chris! Connor's hurt! Call for the E.F.T.'s to the scene; officer down!"
"I'm on it, Lieutenant!"
With both arms wrapped protectively over his pained abdomen Connor threw-up more Thirium all over the rain slicked street into a dark puddle that was washed away quickly as his systems switched into low power mode. In an instant his visual sensors were bombarded with red warnings regarding the damaged internal biocomponent in need of immediate repair.
"Easy son, I got you." Hank guided Connor down to the sidewalk away from the Thirium stained street and sat beside him. Keeping his hand on Connor's shoulder he held the unbalanced deviant upright as best as he could. "What happened? What's damaged?"
"My... Thirium pump regulator." The self-diagnostic was both fast and accurate. "It... It controls my... h-heartbeat."
"Shit. How bad is it?"
"It... It can be repaired." Connor managed to get his words out as another trickle of blue blood ran down his chin and dripped onto the front of his rain drenched white dress shirt and black tie. "B-But I will... shutdown in twenty-eight minutes... and thirteen seconds."
"Try to take it easy, Chris summoned emergency technicians." Not wanting to think about his partner possibly dying Hank stayed impressively calm and collected after he had his enraged outburst. "They'll get you to the nearest facility and repaired in no time."
"Hank." Connor's dark brown eyes began to close slowly as exhaustion swarmed his overwhelmed system. "I don't feel-"
"It's okay, I got you. Just breathe."
Without any hesitation Hank supported Connor upright as best as he could as the emergency vehicle raced to the scene of the accident with its siren singing and lights flashing. Brushing Connor's rain soaked rogue lock of hair away from his left eye, Hank held his hand over Connor's forehead as a show of support for his wounded friend as they sat side by side against the side of the Oldsmobile in the cold rain. Dark blue flashing lights illuminated the rainy street as the android unique ambulance arrived at the scene and parked along the street beside the two officers.
"Help's here, kid." Hank confirmed as he felt Connor's heavy body beginning lean against his shoulder. "Hang on."
The emergency field technicians drove large transport vehicles that were refurbished ambulances painted dark blue and equipped specifically to treat damaged androids en route to emergency repair facilities. As the ambulance stopped alongside the sidewalk next to Connor and Hank, two android technicians lowered a gurney down from the back of the ambulance through the opened double doors to help transport their patient. The duo knelt on either side of Connor to lift the damaged deviant up from the sidewalk and lay him down on the gurney to be treated within the back of the ambulance and facility later on.
Unable to do anything else Hank followed close behind the E.F.T.'s as he continued to limp on his bad ankle after his injured partner was placed in the back of the ambulance to be transported for proper treatment.
"Which facility are you taking him to?" Hank asked as he leaned on the back of the ambulance heavily to support his weight. "I can follow in a cab."
The first E.F.T. was scanning over Connor in the back of the ambulance while the second one noted that Hank was also injured. "You may ride in the front of the ambulance to the facility if you wish, sir."
"Uh, thanks."
Slowly Hank hobbled to the front passenger side of the cab and climbed in through the door while the two androids in the back continued to examine Connor. The ambulance sped off to the nearest facility, the Delta Facility, as the E.F.T.'s began assessing Connor's condition and checking his internal biocomponents to isolate the internal damage.
Growing anxious Hank looked through the small compartment window that connected the cab to the back of the ambulance and watched as his partner, his best friend, laid helpless in the back under the care of the unknown android technicians. The man didn't want to look, but he couldn't help himself. The drive to the facility reminded him far too much of the car accident that had stolen Cole's life.
The first E.F.T. opened Connor's white dress shirt and exposed his chest and abdomen for visual examination. Not unlike a human a bruise-like abrasion had formed on Connor's upper abdomen where leaking Thirium that escaped from his torso had collected just under his artificial skin. The collected Thirium was also causing his stomach to slightly distend from the unusual pressure in a very unnatural looking manner. Using the blue tinted bruise to pinpoint the exact location of the trauma the primary E.F.T. began scanning over Connor's internal biocomponents for a more accurate assessment.
"Thirium pump regulator damaged. Currently functioning at sixty-eight percent capacity." Pressing his fingertips against Connor's now red L.E.D. the E.F.T. - a former 'MC-500' - noted Connor's pulse rate, ventilation rate and his Thirium pressure as well. "Thirium pump rate has elevated to one-hundred and eight beats per minute, ventilation is down to twelve and Thirium pressure has declined to one-hundred and two over seventy."
The technician's blue L.E.D. flashed to yellow as he sent the results of their initial examination to the awaiting technicians at the Delta Facility.
"Confirm results."
Hank turned away and leaned his head back against the headrest as he closed his blue eyes and took a deep breath to steady his own racing heart. The entire scenario felt surreal and almost like a cruel mockery of Hank's limitations as both a human and as an aging detective.
Of all things that could've happened to Connor why did it have to be a car accident?
The ambulance pulled into the front drive of the Delta Facility and was met with two additional android technicians who opened the back doors and lowered the gurney down to the ground. As Hank made his way out of the front cab of the ambulance, he caught sight of Connor being rushed inside the facility through the emergency entrance by the two new androids who had met the ambulance outside. Unable to follow Connor all the way into the emergency repair bay, all Hank could do was watch as Connor was wheeled inside for proper treatment by a properly trained technician.
"Holy shit... It's happening all over again."
Slowly and heavily, Hank limped inside the facility and was greeted by a human female intern who was told of Hank accompanying Connor to the facility. She noted Hank's limp and showed him to a chair to sit in while he waited for an answer on Connor's condition.
"Hello. I'm Dr. Ashley Jackson." The intern had to ask the obvious out of professionalism and not naivety. "Are you with the android known as 'Connor'?"
"Y-Yeah." Staring up at the blonde haired, brown eyed woman, Hank acknowledged his connection with Connor. "We work with the Detroit Police Department. He's my partner. My friend."
"Don't worry." Managing a smile Dr. Jackson did her best to give Hank some much needed confidence. "Our best technicians are taking care of him as we speak."
"Connor said the part affected was something that controlled his heartbeat. Is that serious, I mean... it's his heart, it HAS to be serious." Hank didn't want to know the truth, but he knew he needed to know it regardless of his own personal comfort with such knowledge. "Right?"
"I won't lie to you, officer-"
"Lieutenant." Hank corrected harshly out of emotional frustration. "Lieutenant Hank Anderson."
"Lieutenant Anderson." Dr. Jackson corrected herself without losing the sincere smile on her face. "It's a vital biocomponent that has been damaged, but it can still be repaired and if necessary, replaced. We won't let him shutdown, at least not without a fight."
"...That's all I ask."
"The Thirium pump regulator suffered a fracture over the surface and two of the main Thirial lines connecting the device to the rest of Connor's system have been compromised. They were compromised but not destroyed."
"And that's good, right? It's not like he'll need a replacement part of anything."
"That's right." The optimistic woman confirmed in an even tone. "He'll be out of emergency repairs within the hour and just need another hour to rest before you can leave."
"Well, that's the best damn news I've heard all day."
At that comment Dr. Jackson nodded sweetly as she eyed Hank's swollen and slightly bruised left ankle while he rubbed his hand over the affected area again. "I'll bring you some ice while you wait."
"Huh?"
"Your ankle."
"O-Oh." The reaction to rub at the sore joint had been subconscious and Hank hadn't really considered treating his own wound yet. "Thanks."
It was a long boring hour as Hank sat alone in the empty waiting room of the Delta Facility pressing the provided ice pack against his sore ankle. Hank did his best to NOT think about Connor dying, or how much he wanted to break the other driver's neck, but if he wasn't thinking about either of them then he was thinking about Cole instead. There were two things that always brought the most painful memories of his late son back to the surface: Snowy weather and car accidents. If it had been snowing instead of raining that day then Hank would've surely had a complete emotional breakdown.
The seasoned and emotionally exhausted senior detective was never very good at waiting for answers when he was specifically trained to be hands-on and in control of any and all situations. Being told to sit back and wait was the one order that Hank had the most difficulty in following, even when he was still just a rookie. It went against his nature and his instincts to sit on the sideline and let other people take care of things for him.
"Lieutenant?" Dr. Jackson returned to speak with Hank and mercifully pulled him out of his smothering dark thoughts. "You can see Connor now."
Giving Dr. Jackson a hopeful glance Hank dared to ask her the only question he could think of. "He pulled through?"
"Yes." As she handed Hank his icepack Dr. Jackson confirmed the good news. "He's in the recovery wing."
"Thank fuck." Hank stood up slowly, testing his weight on his bad ankle before even attempting to follow the young interning technician to the correct area of the facility to check in on Connor. "Is he awake or... active? I'm not sure what it's call for androids."
"He's not active, or conscious, yet." Explaining things simply Dr. Jackson led Hank to the correct wing and made sure to walk at a slower pace for his sake. "Connor's system was put into emergency stasis mode while the technicians repaired the damage to his biocomponent. Once the Thirium he has lost has been replaced he'll regain consciousness and resume his normal functions. It shouldn't be too much longer."
Hank politely nodded as he followed Dr. Jackson and was shown to the recovery bed where Connor was laying in the middle of the room as the lone patient.
Without his gray blazer, black tie, white dress shirt or jeans and only a pair of dark blue scrubs to wear, Connor looked more human than ever before. Save of course for the blinking yellow L.E.D. in his temple and the plastic tube inserted through his nose and down his throat to replenish the depleted Thirium he lost as a result of his injury. Other than that, the deviant looked impressively human.
Sitting in hard a plastic chair next to the bed Hank watched as the last of the Thirium drained from the tube connected to the hanging pouch on the I.V. stand, and down Connor's throat and into his artificial stomach. Dr. Jackson made a note in Connor's electronic chart before she slowly removed the tube with a gentle pull to extract it from the deviant's throat and left nostril. Using a tissue to wipe away a small trail of Thirium from Connor's face Dr. Jackson finished tending to Connor and decided it'd be best to give the two detectives a moment to themselves.
"He'll be awake soon." Making her way to the door the kind intern decided to leave Hank and Connor alone. "Since his biocomponent just required repairs and not a replacement, you can check him out of the facility after he's been awake and has remained stable for one hour."
"Yeah," as he applied the icepack to his ankle Hank began to feel a little calmer. "thanks for your help."
Curious about the repairs Hank pulled up the deviant's scrub top by the hem and stared at Connor's repaired abdomen. The senior detective noticed that the swelling bruise in Connor's stomach was gone, and that he appeared completely normal save for being still unconscious. There wasn't even a scar left behind on the deviant's pale artificial skin where the injury had been.
"You look pretty good, kid. Nice to see you're still in one piece."
Connor's L.E.D. blinked from yellow back to blue as his system fully stabilized and successfully rebooted. Brown irises gradually reappeared as his eyes opened and focused on Hank sitting beside him as he heard the Lieutenant's familiar gruff voice speaking beside him.
"Welcome back, Connor." Hank greeted as the deviant looked up at him with recognition in his eyes. "You scared the shit out of me. AGAIN. You know that?"
"I'm sorry, Ha- Lieutenant." Speaking with a mild rasp to his voice courtesy of the extracted tube from his throat Connor gave his friend a truly apologetic glance from where he was laying. "That wasn't my intention."
"Yeah, it never is." Unable to stay mad Hank leaned forward in his chair a little more toward the deviant. "How do you feel?"
"Sore." Connor replied honestly as he acknowledged the lingering pain in his abdomen and rested his palm over his torso. "How is your ankle?"
"Same. The ice helped though." The man confirmed as he lifted up the icepack and looked at the swelling bruise wrapping around his ankle. "I can walk on it now."
"Lieutenant, I'm truly sorry about your car." Again, Connor tried to apologize about the accident as if he were at fault. "If you wish, I will help pay-"
"I already told you that I don't care about the damn car, I'll fix it. What I do care about is having to break in a new partner. You're not something I can just replace, kid." As he spoke Hank did his best to not snap at Connor for be unable to see his own life as something valuable and worth getting upset over. "You should know that by now."
A weak grin appeared on Connor's face. His bottom lip was still slightly swollen, but the smile was there all the same. A faint smile that still bore sincerity even if Connor himself was still unsure of exactly how to convey emotions properly as his deviancy slowly developed through time and experience.
"Rest for a while, then we'll head back to the precinct." Leaning back in the chair Hank propped his sore ankle up on his opposite knee to help keep it elevated for a while. "I want to be there when that asshole gets interrogated once he sobers up. I have a few choice questions I want to ask him about being so fucking dumb."
"Understandable." Nodding a little Connor pressed his hand down firmer over his abdomen and felt the healing Thirium pump regulator whirring with a perfect rhythm under his fingertips. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Shoot." Crossing his arms casually over his chest Hank gave the deviant a nonplussed stare as he tried to decompress and stop worrying. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Are you really going to break that man's neck when we arrive at the precinct?"
Bowing his head a little Hank internally laughed at Connor's surprising naivety with human sarcasm and humor. "We'll see. It depends on what kind of mood Fowler's in when we get back."
-next chapter-
