Four days after being released from the the new, state of the art, human/android St. Vevila Hospital for his near drowning in a flooded tunnel and mudslide Connor was getting restless during his recovery. Knowing that the deviant need a distraction Hank suggested that they go and visit Luke in Boston for a few days and Connor readily accepted the proposition just for a change in his routine. After arranging to have Chris stop by the house every so often to check on Sumo and the aquarium during their absence the two detectives set about preparing for their weekend in a brand new city with an old friend and family member who had seemingly come back from the impossible.

Luckily it was a gorgeous day as the two detectives set out from Detroit to visit Luke in his modest apartment on the East Coast. The drive began just after dawn and was a very long trek to drive to the new state. The journey only felt longer for Hank as his back protested over the length of the drive while Connor's mostly healed left leg occasionally ached. The deviant drove the Corvette the seven-hundred and twenty miles through Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island and finally into Massachusetts, all by himself.

"Nice sunset." Hank observed as he leaned back in the front passenger seat as much as possible to ease the strain on his back. "Hard to see 'em back in the city when we're working all the time."

"Yes. It's also fortunate that the sun is setting behind us rather than in front of us."

"Man, how the hell did you stand driving down to Miami all alone? I would've gone crazy from repetition."

"I was able to distract myself with music and internal calculations. But I did miss having verbal conversations."

"What kind of calculations did you make?"

"The approximate age of the universe." Connor stated almost casually as he finally drove into the city of Boston and into rather dense traffic. "How many grains of sand fill the world's shorelines. How many strands of fur I've brushed out of Sumo's pelt during his weekly grooming sessions. How long I could potentially function without an error."

"Remember what I said about thinking too much?"

"...Yes."

"Don't do that anymore." Hearing that Connor was focused on such odd things made Hank worry for the deviant's mental and emotional health. "It's weird."

"I will try to refrain from doing so."

"Cool. Where does Luke live, anyway?"

"On Charter Street at the North End. Fourteen months ago an android exclusive apartment complex was constructed and several deviants had taken shelter inside the complex. Luke moved in after he arrived at the city."

"Please tell me it's a nice apartment and not some rundown shit-shack because of android discrimination."

"It seems nice." Holding out his palm Connor created a hologram image of Luke's apartment for Hank to view for himself. "Luke is residing on the top floor in a studio type apartment. The deviant known as Anne is living one floor beneath him to ensure he isn't alone in the building."

"Yeah? Not bad."

"We're nearly there." Putting his hand back on the wheel Connor located his next turn and made his way toward the apartment complex eight blocks away to finally end their long journey. "Would you like to stop for a moment for a small break or continue on to the apartment?"

"Let's just keep going. We're almost there anyway."

"Thank you for coming with me. I know that it isn't easy for you to take extended leave from the precinct now that you're the Captain."

"Don't forget Luke's my family, too. I'd visit him just as I would visit you, kid. You're both my sons."

"Of course, thank you all the same." Allowing a ghost of grin to appear on his face Connor made his gratitude clear. "I greatly dislike traveling alone."

It didn't take long for Connor to locate the apartment complex and find the private parking lot behind the building. Parking in the spot that was assigned to Luke - the deviant technician not having a car made the spot readily available, Connor cybernetically contacted Luke to let him know that he and Hank had arrived at last and were eager to begin their visit.

"There's a rear entrance we can use." Connor confirmed as he turned off the car's engine and stepped out of the vehicle. Watching Hank do the same and stretch out his tired back, Connor popped open the trunk and retrieved their bags packed with their luggage. "Luke is expecting us."

"Sure as Hell hope so." Hank grinned as he and Connor entered the building through the back entrance and walked down the very nice and very quiet corridor to reach the elevator at the end of the same corridor. "Hate to think we drove all this way just for Luke to not be here."

Reaching the top floor of the complex via the empty elevator Connor and Hank were greeted by Luke as soon as they stepped out of the opened doors and into the expansive studio apartment. It was a large main room with dark hardwood floors and a single massive window that stretched from one side of the wall to the other. Three medium sized skylights adorned the roof and allowed additional natural light down inside the room during the daytime. A small kitchenette was attached to the main room to the East of the apartment, and toward the South of the room was a doorway leading into a modest bedroom and a second doorway leading into an equally modest bathroom.

A small red couch was in the center of the room facing toward the window to give the room some furnishing. Beside the couch was a single wooden table and a red lamp on top. Sitting atop of a second glass table before the window was a flat screen television for the sake of 'normalcy' and to help furnish the room further while also providing white noise to make Luke feel less alone.

"I'm glad you made it." Luke beamed warmly at the arrival of his family. The calm blue of his L.E.D. confirmed that he was in a positive mood and was truly happy to be reunited with his brother and father. "I don't have much here, but please make yourselves comfortable."

Connor dropped his backpack on the floor beside the elevator door and took Hank's dufflebag from the pained senior detective's hand. "I'm glad you invited us to visit, brother. Work has been stressful and time away can do us both some good."

"Well, Hank made a comment about wanting to see a game and I was given three tickets to a baseball game between the Detroit Tigers and the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in two days. It seemed like an opportune time to reunite."

"Wait..." Hank gave Luke an usual glance as he studied the deviant's blue eyes for any sign of a 'tell'. "Why were you just given tickets to a game like that? There's no way you won them in a contest or anything."

"I had aided a deviant in distress after he had been struck by a drunk driver." Luke explained as he showed his family about his apartment. "This deviant was a good friend with the owner of Fenway Park, and the owner wanted to reward me for saving the deviant's life. I accepted the tickets out of politeness and wanted to share them with you."

"Too bad that guy didn't give you the funds to make your own android sanctuary somewhere in the city." The senior detective noted with a keen interest. "You'd be able to help a lot more deviants that way, but the tickets are great, too!"

Connor scanned the apartment and found the studio space to be rather accommodating despite being small. It was perfect for Luke. "Where are you currently employed as a technician?"

"There is a facility two blocks South of here. I don't receive much of a paycheck, but it is enough to live here comfortably."

"I take it there is limited funding being given to the facility."

"Yeah. But we make it work."

Hank pressed his hand to the small of his back and yawned a little. "So, what do you do around here when you're not working?"

"I return here and study."

"That's it? You don't go exploring or try to meet new friends?"

"No. I'd rather focus on mastering my skills as a technician before I do anything else. I also have a neighbor right below me who I associate with from time to time after work since she too works at the facility."

"Man, you and Connor really ARE brothers. One-track obsessive minds..." Laughing a little Hank just shook his head and sighed. "Pick up a hobby, will ya'? Even if it's just as simple as reading at least you won't be working yourself into the ground all the time. Hell, go back to painting! You were really good."

"I'll do that, I promise. I'm also interested in learning to play the saxophone."

"That's what I like to hear! Keep improving yourself and the people in your life, son."

Luke smiled at the comment as his blue L.E.D. flashed to yellow. "I will order something for you for dinner since my kitchen only contains extra Thirium for myself and bottles of water for my potential human guests. Tomorrow I will show you both through the city where I had previously ventured while looking for vacant buildings to potentially house other deviants in need."

"Sounds good." Eager to rest his sore back Hank was ready to take it easy for the rest of the night. "Thanks."


The following morning after a surprisingly restful sleep in the modest apartment Connor and Hank both felt energetic enough to indulge Luke on his offered tour of the impressive and rather large city. It didn't take Luke long to show the two detectives where Fenway Park was located or where his facility was currently situated a few blocks from the apartment, but showing them everything else the city had to offer took much longer than anticipated. Passing by museums of both history and art, beautiful parks and dozens of large restaurants, the deviant technician treated his family to a very enthralling tour of the city just as he had promised.

Being able to do anything beyond work was good in Hank's mind as he wanted Connor to find something to help pull him out of his emotional funk. With any luck spending time with his big brother would do the trick for the despondent deviant.

"Looks like you found yourself a pretty good place to live." Hank complimented as the trio circled the block to head back to the apartment. They had their fill of the tour and were ready to get some rest. "But how's the android discrimination in this city?"

"It's not as severe as I had initially feared." Pressing his exposed palm against the electronic panel beside the front entrance of the apartment complex Luke let himself and his guests back inside the building. After dark the building was locked entirely with only residents able to gain entrance through recognition as tenants to an apartment. "While Detroit has more vocal, and at times physical, confrontations regarding android rights, Boston seems to keep things more low profile. My assumption is the city is wary of a possible second type of revolution taking place, and there's no guarantee that the hypothetical second revolution would end peacefully like it did back in Detroit."

"Smart move on the city's part."

Connor agreed as they set foot inside the elevator together to return to the top floor of the building. "Have you informed Markus about your progress?"

"No, not yet. I didn't really know what to say to him or anyone else at New Jericho. It's a little complicated."

Crossing his arms over his chest Hank smirked and shook his head a little. "Now why is that Luke talks more like a person than you do, Connor?"

"...I do not know. Perhaps my phonetic pattern and overall vernacular being relatively machine-like is simply a part of my personality."

Luke shrugged his shoulders a little as the elevator doors opened. "It's also possible that because I was made a deviant as soon as I woke up my speech pattern was affected immediately."

"Well, whatever the reason," Hank stated as he followed after the two deviants into the apartment. "it's weird. Connor I mean, not you, Luke."

"Connor," turning to face his little brother Luke nervously wrung his hands together before himself. "would you like to see the facility and the equipment we have at our disposal?"

"Yes, I would like to see the facility for myself."

Hank waved his hand a little as he walked slowly over to the couch to relax and rest his back and his feet. "You two do your thing, I'm going to do mine for a while. My back is still bitchin' about that long drive yesterday."

"We won't be long." Luke replied without even the slightest bit of offense to his voice as Hank decided to sit out the second tour. "And afterward we can discuss a possible collaboration between New Jericho and the facilities in Boston."

"That would be a truly beneficial union." Nodding with agreement Connor returned to the elevator with Luke at his side. "At the very least New Jericho might be able to secure financial aid to assist in keeping supplies and equipment functioning at optimal capacity."

As the deviants left the apartment Hank laid down on his side and pressed his hand to his lower back to try to soothe the raw pain that was making it nearly impossible for him to walk about.

"Damn deviants. The kid's supposed to be on vacation and he's still trying to get work done while I'm stuck on the couch until my back loosens the fuck up."


After touring the impressive facility and spending some alone time with his big brother, Connor told Luke about his rather melancholy past few weeks and of how he was we beginning to lose hope in having a prosperous or meaningful future. The frustration of not having the rights to adopt a child and being too incompatible with any elective biocomponents to handle things himself had left Connor feeling like he was in a nonstop battle to just survive with what few privileges he and the other deviants had earned over the past three years. While he didn't necessarily just want to give up and assume everything he fought for was for naught, Connor had to admit he had very little reason to keep fighting in what seemed like a losing battle.

Luke carefully listened to his little brother's words and felt his heart go out toward the deviant detective. The resurrected deviant knew how much Connor appreciated the concept of family and wanted to have one to call his own. It pained him to see his little brother so broken and feeling low, and he wanted to do something to ease Connor's mind.

"I know that it seems like things will continue to be one battle after another," Luke empathized as he and Connor exited the facility to begin walking back to the apartment complex for the night. "but you can't assume that you'll only experience disappointments and setbacks. Things are constantly changing and many of those things are for the better."

"I'm aware of that." Connor admitted in a low tone as he and Luke walked side by side toward the apartment complex just a few blocks away. "And I know that I still have you and Hank as my family, nothing will ever change that, but it seems so cruel to want one thing that most humans are born with and be denied simply because I wasn't born in an organic manner; I was created."

"Whether we are created or born doesn't matter. What we do with the lives we are given is what truly matters." Luke wisely stated as he and Connor passed through the crosswalk together. In the dark of the night Luke's blue L.E.D. continued to glow softly and showed no fear as he ventured about the city. "Just because you can't have an addition to your family tomorrow morning doesn't mean it'll be the same the day after."

"...You're right." Folding his arms behind his back Connor sighed as he and Luke walked along the sidewalk without meeting another person. "It's just becoming increasingly frustrating to see other people with their growing families and not be able to share that wonderful experience."

"How do you mean?"

"Within the past two years Officer Chris Miller welcomed his second child, a daughter, into his family. Four months after that, Detective Ben Collins was introduced with his first grandson, and approximately nine months prior Detective Gavin Reed and his wife, Dr. Abby Grayson, welcomed their daughter into the world. As of the moment Abby is acting as a surrogate for a good friend since they are unable to conceive their child without the added assistance."

"I can understand your emotional upset. I myself have no desire to tend to children, but I can see how you'd feel so upset."

"How's that?"

"Seeing your colleagues and your friends with something you want but have been denied would be... painful to experience."

"It's not so much painful as it's just aggravating. I'm happy that my friends have new additions to their family, but it's frustrating to be denied such a warm and positive change simply because the law is denying me that particular chance. Aria is my goddaughter and I adore being able to spend time with her, but I suspect it doesn't feel the same to spend time with her as it would with my own child."

"With how our rights are progressing I wouldn't be surprised if you were to finally be approved for adoption before the end of the next year."

"That's rather optimistic." Standing before the front entrance to the apartment complex Connor watched as Luke unlocked the door and then stepped inside the building before his big brother. "You also sound very confident in your assessment. Why?"

"Call it a good feeling." Walking with Connor toward the elevator at the end of the corridor Luke flashed his little brother a small smile. "It's as if the necessary changes are already taking place." Entering the elevator Luke engaged the lift and never lost his confidence. "We're just a little too close to the changes happening to see it. That's all."


The next morning was warm, sunny and absolutely gorgeous as the familial trio set off for Fenway Park to watch the baseball game together. It was the first time in many busy years that Hank had seen a major league baseball game in person, and for both Connor and Luke it was the first time ever. The trio was an unorthodox family to say the least, but they weren't the only ones as many different families of all sizes and people converged at the park behind them. To any passersby the small family looked like a typical father and sons group heading out a game, an none batted an eye at the sight of a dad spending the day with his twins sons.

As the group approached the entrance to the large and iconic park Hank looked back at the deviant brothers and smirked. With their baseball caps on over their hair and their black and white hoodies; Connor wearing black and Lucas wearing white, the two looked like the atypical baseball fans.

"Keep your hats on." Hank cautioned as he looked back at the two deviants following after him. "I don't want any drunk asshole seeing Luke's L.E.D. and getting any ideas about fighting him if his team starts to lose or some other shit."

Luke pulled on the bill of his black hat to ensure his L.E.D. was still concealed under the thick fabric as he nodded at Hank to acknowledge he heard the senior detective's comment. Connor did the same for his own hat - one in dark blue despite no longer having his L.E.D., as he walked at Luke's side while the group handed over their tickets and made their way into the ballpark to begin watching the game.

"Holy shit..." Hank had finally read the assigned seats on the tickets and couldn't believe it. "We're right down in front behind first base."

"As I stated," Luke was trying to remain humble but he was smirking too much to fool anyone "the owner of the arena was very grateful for what I did to save his friend."

"I can tell."

After venturing through the rows and down the staircase connecting to the numbered chairs Hank took his seat with Connor to his immediate right and Luke at his immediate right opposite of Connor. Enduring the loud crowd in favor of the massive expanse of the green playing field before them the trio looked and finally felt like a true family. It felt like they could finally let down their guard and just enjoy being in one another's company without fear of repercussions from hate-filled bigots or xenophobes.

It was a fantastic feeling to be sure.

"It's a beautiful day out and I can finally hang out with my kids." Hank smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his seat. "Never thought I'd finally get to have a day like this ever again."

Connor glanced at Hank's face and noted the content smirk that had settled over the usual indifferent frown that usually accompanied the senior detective to the precinct. The idea of Hank finding a sense of peace by just being with his sons made the young deviant again think of how he'd like to return the favor with a child of his own someday, but quickly pushed the thought aside as he didn't want the depressing though to cloud his good mood or effect Hank and Luke in any negative way.

"Dad?"

Turning to look at Connor beside him Hank acknowledged the relatively reserved deviant. "Yeah?"

"I'm glad you mentioned seeing a game like this in person." Connor stated in a low voice. "I think this is the perfect way to spend a vacation."

"Yeah." Patting Connor's shoulder once Hank did the same gesture for Luke's shoulder to ensure the deviant knew he was included in the mutual sentimental feeling. "Me, too. This is just what we needed."


Seven engaging innings into the game and the score was tied. The watching energetic crowd was ecstatic for the thrilling contest as the ideal day continued on without any intrusive emergencies or surprise nasty weather. Just as it seemed like the game couldn't get anymore interesting or intense, a foul ball from their own home team soared behind first base right toward the family of three. Without needing any prompts or coaxing Connor instinctively reached his hand out and managed to catch the ball quite easily from his seat with a perfect wave of his hand sweeping through the air and the crowd cheered at the great catch on the deviant's behalf.

Connor stared at the ball he had caught and seemed shocked to be holding it. He had never considered the odds of himself being someone who would be able to catch a foul ball, and yet he had done just that!

"Nice catch!" Hank stated as he applauded the game and looked over at Connor with a smirk on his face. "That was perfect!"

Holding the ball in his strong hand Connor gave Hank a curious glance. "Should I give it back?"

Almost laughing at the question Hank just shook his head and patted Connor's shoulder again. "No, kid. You can keep it since it's a foul ball. It's yours now and you can do whatever you want with it."

"Oh." As he held the ball with no plans with what to do with it he noticed a small boy from the corner of his eye standing in the aisles with a catcher's mitt on his hand and a small frown on his face. Arching his brow a little Connor nudged Hank lightly with his elbow as he stared at the unknown child. "I believe this child was trying to catch one of these foul balls."

"Yeah?" Turning to look at the kid who was easily seven or eight years old, Hank agreed with the observation. "You're right."

"I'm going to give the ball to him."

Rising from his seat Connor approached the kid and knelt beside him. As he handed the child the foul ball an eruption of applause sounded off from the arena making Connor look about curiously as he had no idea what he had missed.

"Hey, Connor!" Luke shouted to his little brother from the other side of Hank. "You're on the big screen!"

Turning to look at the massive electronic screen Connor realized that the broadcast had witnessed his act of generosity and that the applause was for him. Pulling down the bill of his blue cap to hide his face as the child thanked him, he began to blush a pale blue and nodded at the boy to acknowledge him. Connor then promptly returned to his seat and kept his face hidden as he tried to ignore the sudden hot flush of embarrassment washing over him.

"It's okay, kid." Doing his best to not laugh again Hank covered his mouth under his hand as his casually rested his palm against his chin. "They'll stop paying attention to you as soon as another pitch is thrown."

"...I didn't like that."

"No," Luke looked back into the row of seats behind them and saw the little boy happily showing off the foul ball to his parents and holding it up for the rest of the crowd to see. "but the little boy seemed to like it. "The cameras were now focused on the child instead of Connor. "He seems very happy right now."

"...That's good."

"Next foul ball you catch, you keep." Hank stated firmly as he watched the blue blush on Connor's face begin to lighten and fade. "That way you don't have to worry about being put up on the 'jumbo-tron' anymore."

"I don't think I want to catch anymore foul balls."

"Cool." Hank grinned again as the game continued. "Then that means I have a shot to catch one!"


The game was victory in favor of the Tigers much to Hank's amusement, but he decided to keep it under wraps until after they were out of the public's eye since he wasn't in his hometown at the moment. Walking back to the apartment complex rather than dealing with traffic with the Corvette or even an autonomous taxi, the trio passed by a large bar where the game's highlights were on display over the massive television screen hanging just over the back of the bar. One of those highlights from the game was ironically a 'low-light' for Connor and his shy personality as the media was eating up the sight of someone being kind to a child and making the game special for them.

Even the patrons in the bar seemed to be touched by the sight and were raising their beer glasses to toast the images on the screen. It was as if positive news was more contagious than negative news despite how bleak and nasty the world could appear.

"Hey, Connor." Hank pointed to the television through the window just in time to see the replay of his act of generosity being shown for the dozenth time that night. "You're on T.V. again." Immediately Connor blushed blue and pulled down his cap despite no one looking at him. "Aw, c'mon. I'm just teasing."

"That doesn't ease my mind."

"Man, I forgot how shy you can be. Good thing we met before you became a deviant."

"Do you think our initial meeting would've been that different if I had been a deviant beforehand?"

"The way I snapped at you when you first showed up at the bar, fuck yeah I do. You probably would've fled the city and I wouldn't have blamed you."

Luke smirked as he listened to the conversation and casually tucked his hands into his jean pockets. "I know you two were introduced just prior to the Revolution, but I don't have any memories regarding that night."

"That's right." Hank confirmed as they stepped onto the final block leading back to the apartment complex together. "I had no idea that I was being a prick to the one guy who would end up keeping me from drowning in booze, let alone become my second son. Sorry for being such a prick. I had some serious issues to work through."

"It's okay, we're not offended." The blue eyed deviant answered positively as he pressed for another answer gently as if intimidated by the current subject at hand. "Can I ask you two about that night? It seems surreal to know you were both there and apart of it."

"Shit, Luke." The senior detective looked like he was just thrown for a time loop. "I keep forgetting that you weren't actually there when everything went down. It seems so long ago already."

Connor stopped finally blushing and pushed his cap back up from his eyes as he looked over at his big brother. "Of course. What do you want to know?"

"Everything." Luke replied confidently as he unlocked the electronic door to the complex and let everyone back inside for the night. As per usual the corridor was empty and gave the trio plenty of room to walk and talk. "There's so much I still need to learn about my past so I can prepare for my future."

Smirking at the sincere remark Hank nodded his head in agreement. "Well, that's why you have us around. We're more than happy to help you out." He clapped his hand down on the slightly shorter deviant's shoulder as they entered the elevator again. "There's a lot to go through, but we're more than happy to fill you in."

Connor readily agreed with their father's response as the elevator began its ascent. "It may take some time to explain everything, but we're happy to oblige in your curiosity."

"I have all the time in the world for my family." Luke beamed as he escorted his guests back into his modest apartment up on the very top floor of the quiet and peaceful complex. "After all, you're my brother and my father. I'm happy to have you in my life no matter what may happen."

-next chapter-