A dangerous pursuit of a purse snatcher, one who had foolishly committed the crime in front of an unmarked police car, led Connor through an inactive construction site as he attempted to catch the human thief on foot. Running along tall, metal, red colored support beams that hung almost twenty feet above the vacant, dirt covered ground, the nimble deviant detective was able to easily navigate the dangerous terrain while the human thief himself struggled to maintain his balance. The thief was beginning to exhaust himself from trying to flee and would either become too tired to run or simply run out of places to try to run along as he tried to escape Connor's righteous pursuit.

On the ground below, Gavin, who was Connor's temporary partner while Hank recovered from his pneumonia, watched the chase taking place above his head. Gavin only bothered to ascend the structure when he saw that Connor had chased the thief to the edge of the scaffolding and had him trapped. The man had nowhere left to run and would need to surrender peacefully unless he wanted to take a terrible fall over twenty feet to the ground.

Scoffing at the way Connor swiftly ran about the metal structure Gavin thumbed his nose and put his hands to his hips as he watched the chase taking place above his head as he trailed up to the scene of the action slowly.

"Fucking show-off."

Sliding to an awkward stop on the scaffolding, the thief teetered on the edge of the towering height and threatened to topple over at any second as he desperately tried to elude Connor. Panting heavily and hanging on to his stolen goods the thief looked around desperately and struggled to regain his balance before it was too late to do anything else.

"Don't move!"

Connor urged as he grabbed on to the thief's flailing arm to pull him back away from the edge and toward safety. Instinctively positioning himself behind the thief to prevent the man from becoming harmed Connor prepared to pull the wobbling man back from the edge quickly in the event he did in fact fall to keep him from getting hurt.

"You're on very unstable footing. You're also under arrest."

The thief, selfish and determined to get away, proceeded to turn quickly on his heels and ram his shoulder directly into the center of Connor's abdomen causing the deviant to stumble backward and fall over the opposite edge of the narrow scaffolding in the process. Grabbing onto the edge of the metal beam with both hands Connor held tight as his gyroscope struggled to recalibrate itself as a wave of dizziness washed over him courtesy of the impact to his abdomen and his continuing fear of heights.

"Hey, asshole!"

Gavin had reached the top of the structure just in time to see Connor fall over the edge, but he was more interested in the purse snatcher than helping his partner.

"FREEZE." The abrasive detective shouted as he pulled his gun from the holster on his hip and aimed the weapon at the thief to try and convince him to surrender peacefully before he had the chance to run again. "Hands in the air!"

Upon seeing the gun pointed at him the thief wisely did as he was instructed and raised his hands into the air nice and slowly. Th sight of the gun was enough to cause his blood to run cold and he realize that he wasn't going to escape. "O-Okay man... You got me!"

"Hands behind your back." Gavin commanded in a gruff tone as he took his pair of handcuffs from his belt to arrest the thief. "You're under arrest, jackass."

"Gavin" Against his will Connor's hands began to slip and lose grip. Even as he redirected his Thirium to his limbs to increase his strength, Connor's grip began to fail and fall away from the metallic beam. "I need assistance!"

"I got 'em!" Cuffing the thief's hands behind his back Gavin just sneered at Connor as he hauled the thief back up to his feet to lead him back to the ground to be transported to the precinct. "You can deal with a little fall, can't you? Freak..."

With his grip weakening Connor tried to pull himself back up over the edge of the scaffolding but it was too late. His hands finally lost their grip as his system failed to recalibrate in time from the wave of dizziness that he had suffered from being struck.

"No... Shit!"

Connor loudly swore as he plummeted nearly twenty feet down into a massive pile of freshly bulldozed earth below the impressive height from which he had fallen as he failed to climb back up. A loud 'snap' followed by a yelp of pain accompanied Connor as his body landed in the dirt legs first at an uncomfortable and uncontrollable pace. Laying on his back atop the soft, cushioning pile of dirt Connor's red L.E.D. flashed to yellow as he pushed himself upright on his elbows and ran a scan over his new environment to regain his bearings.

Running a self-diagnostic Connor found that his biocomponents survived the fall completely intact but his right leg wasn't so fortunate. From the knee down to his ankle a large split in his shin had formed from the high fall and subsequent impact afterward. Thirium oozed through the torn artificial skin, damaged limb and exposed sparking wires that ran within his leg. The lost Thirium was creating a puddle of blue blood beneath Connor's leg atop the dirt pile only to be absorbed into the soil at a disturbingly quick pace. The bloody mud was a sickening sight to behold, even to the unflappable deviant.

The break would heal, but it would take an extended period of time to accomplish such a process for the entire length of his lower leg. After all, being a prototype without the option of a replacement limb meant Connor had no choice but to wait for his leg to heal.

"Damn it. I just returned to the precinct, I can't be sidelined again."

Needing to see the damage with his own eyes Connor stared at the dark blue stain of his lost blood blossoming into the denim of his jeans just below the knee. Rolling up his pant leg to examine the injury more closely Connor winced and gritted his teeth as his dirt stained palm brushed against the painful break in his leg and his yellow L.E.D. turned to red in response to the discomfort.

"This is not good..."

Knowing that his leg was too damaged to walk on, and knowing that Gavin wouldn't bother to assist him, Connor realized he needed to get a little creative if he was going to help himself get out of the construction site. Visually scanning the immediate area for anything at his disposal Connor locked on to a small stack of thin wooden boards near the bottom of the dirt pile and got an idea of how he could possibly remedy his current predicament.

Using his hands the deviant turned himself over to lay on his stomach and pulled himself down the dirt pile until he reached the bottom. His clothing, hands and hair all became caked in the soft dirt in the process as he moved about in a less than graceful or dignified style.

Picking up a short wooden board with a thin width in both hands, Connor quickly snapped the board evenly in half between his hands and then pressed the two halves against either side of his damaged leg to create a makeshift splint. Using his own black tie as a binding instrument Connor secured the two boards at the top of his leg, then repeated the process for the lower portions of the boards with his black leather belt. The two garments held hold the makeshift splint in place without any sign of slipping.

Carefully shifting all of his weight on to his left leg Connor braced himself against the ground with both hands before he tried to push himself upward and balance awkwardly only on his uninjured leg. Connor only tested a fraction of his weight on his bad leg and immediately winced as even the slightest pressure caused intense pain and the damaged limb threatened to give way entirely.

"...Sh-Shit. I can't even walk."

Swearing again, an intriguing habit that he had picked up after befriending Hank, Connor continued to help himself as much as he could. Grabbing onto anything and everything he could reach to help support his weight - construction support barricades, metal and wooden beams, construction vehicles, etc. - Connor pathetically limped from the construction site back to the squad car parked on the street where Gavin was, hopefully, still waiting.

Having climbed down the metal structure at a steady pace Gavin has just pushed the arrested thief into the backseat of the car when Connor finally made his way back to the street under his own power. The deviant was looking dirty and pathetic while Gavin didn't have a hair out of place.

The smug detective took one look the disheveled deviant and arrogantly taunted Connor as he limped to the front passenger door of the squad car. "You look like shit, Connor. Thought you were supposed to be better than that!"

Connor didn't indulge Gavin by engaging in an argument or responding to the needless insult. Instead the deviant kept his stern silence as to irritate the dangerously impatient detective while they made the tense drive back the precinct. Opening the passenger door Connor sat down in the seat and slammed the door back shut as he proceeded to make a show of brushing the dirt off his clothes and from his hair all over the interior of Gavin's favorite squad car.

"H-Hey! Hey!" Gavin griped as he opened the driver's side door and sat down inside the car. Eyeing the mess on the seats and floor of the car he gave Connor an annoyed stare. "Quite makin' a mess, jackass! I don't got the time to clean this up!"

Closing his pained eyes Connor initiated his self-healing program to begin repairing the damage to his severely broken right leg. Despite the efficiency of the program it was still a long and exhausting process that easily drained Connor's systems and his remaining power. His L.E.D. glowed in a steady yellow and remained as such even as the pain lessened considerably during the drive.

"Hey 'Tinman'!" Annoyed by the silence Gavin snarled as he parked the car outside of the partially rebuilt Central Precinct and looked at the deviant sitting idle in the front seat. One of Gavin's pet peeves was passive silence, and it seemed Connor knew how to make the most of that particular annoyance. "You comin' or what?"

Slowly Connor opened his eyes but kept his silence and he gracelessly climbed out of the car and hobbled into the building through the front doors to report to the dispensary. Although his leg was still broken his self-healing program had managed to stabilize the break enough for him to limp without having to rely entirely on something else to lean on as he limped and dragged himself through the bullpen.

As soon as Connor hobbled into the precinct behind Gavin, who was proudly leading the thief to his holding cell for the time being, everyone turned to look at the dirt and Thirium deviant confusedly. Subsequently everyone was absolutely stunned by his wildly unkempt appearance, but no one said anything about it since they knew Captain Fowler would handle it.

"Whoa..." Chris approached Connor first and offered him an arm to lean on as he limped. "Damn, Connor. You look like you had a rough shift." Noticing the blue blood and makeshift splint around his right leg Chris needed to know what went wrong during the deviant's patrol with Gavin. "What happened to your leg?"

"I fell nineteen point seven-five feet into a mass of thick dirt while in pursuit of a thief." The explanation was as logical as it was calm. "My leg did not sustain the impact very well."

"Shit, why don't you get to a technician and get yourself cleaned up?"

"I'm on my way up to the dispensary as of the moment. Dr. Forrest should be able to aid me."

"Need some help gettin' up there?"

"No, I can-"

"Connor?" Like a crash of thunder Captain Fowler's office door opened quickly as the seasoned Captain took notice of Connor's appearance as quickly as everyone else had done and needed some answers. As soon as he called out for the deviant Gavin conveniently ducked out of sight and into the breakroom. "Get in here, I need to speak with you."

"Yes, sir." Connor nodded at Chris to indicate that he was able to walk under his own power. As he ostensibly limped into Captain Fowler's office with all of the eyes from the bullpen watching his every move Connor closed the door behind himself and clumsily took a seat in front of Fowler's desk. "Yes, sir?"

Pressing a button on the side of his terminal keyboard Captain Fowler activated the frost over the glass of his office to speak with Connor in full privacy. "What the hell happened out there?"

"While in pursuit of a suspect," Connor began calmly and logically as he adjusted his right leg before himself. "I was pushed from a height of-"

"That's not what I mean." Captain Fowler interrupted with a surprisingly level tone as he sat behind his desk and folded his hands neatly before himself atop that same desk. It seemed he already knew what had happened, but he was more interested in how it happened and why it happened. "Where was Detective Reed during all this today?"

"He was also in pursuit of the suspect. Though he took an alternative path during the pursuit."

"Did he see you get injured?"

"...Yes." Responding honestly Connor answered each question accurately. "He had apprehended the suspect only three point two yards from where I was hanging from the scaffolding before I fell."

"Did you request help?"

"Yes."

"And did he respond and offer you that help?"

"...No." Connor dismissively shook his head as he remained honest with his commanding officer. "He was busy with the suspect."

"Son of a bitch." Captain Fowler leaned back in his chair causing the chair to 'creak' under his weight as put his hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Look Connor, I'm sorry."

"...Sir?" The apology caught Connor completely off guard. He couldn't understand why his Captain was apologizing to him for something that he hadn't been a part of in any capacity. "For what?"

"I thought maybe since you saved him from getting shot by that deviant two months ago, and since you pulled his sorry ass out of the fire last week, that maybe he'd lighten up on you." The admission was one of shame and regret as it passed the commanding officer's lips. "That's why I partnered you two up while Hank finishes recovering. But I was wrong. I'm sorry that you didn't have a partner out there watching your back. I shouldn't have assigned you two to work as partners together."

"My injury is painful but not serious. I will make a full recovery."

"That's not the point." Captain Fowler sounded more like a disappointed parent than a police Captain as he spoke to his lone deviant detective in a stern tone. Lowering his hand Captain Fowler gave Connor a sympathetic glance. "Gavin should've been watching your back and he should've helped you when you asked for help and when you became injured; end of story."

Connor was unsure of how to respond so instead he sat in silence as he waited for Captain Fowler to speak again.

"Look, get your leg taken care of and take the rest of the day off." Turning toward his terminal screen Captain Fowler began typing up a report about the incident and began filling out a disciplinary form. "Stay home until Hank is cleared and then return to work together."

Contemplative for a minute Connor tried to determine how the incident was going to turn out for everyone involved. "What about Gavin?"

"You let me worry about Gavin." The commanding officer loathed disciplinary measures, but he wasn't one to turn a blind eye to wonton ignorance and reckless behavior while out in the field. "For now, I want you to go get your leg taken care of in the dispensary and then go home."

"Very well." Mindful of his broken leg Connor rose steadily from his chair and proceeded to limp toward the door at a slow and clumsy pace. "Do you need anything else from me?"

"Yeah, there is one other thing." Captain Fowler leaned on his elbows against the top of his desk as he gave the deviant a thoughtful look. "Don't let Gavin treat you like that anymore. You're an officer of the law and you deserve the same respect as anyone else in this precinct."

"Yes, sir." Such a suggestion was incredibly logical and somehow freeing to consider. "I'll keep that in mind."

Chris was waiting for Connor outside of Captain Fowler's office and as soon as he could, he grabbed on to Connor's right arm to help him walk. "I gotcha' man."

"I can walk without assistance. I assure you that I'm okay." Connor insisted as the kind officer escorted him down the corridor to the elevator. It seemed as if Chris's past trauma with deviants just prior to the Revolution hadn't dampened his kind heart and compassionate nature. "I've endured far worse."

"Yeah, but just watching you limp around hurts me. Need a ride home after this?"

"No, I can summon a cab. Thank you."

"It's no problem."

Once Connor was up on the second floor and in the dispensary, it took no more than an hour for Joel to properly secure Connor's leg in a temporary plastimetal cast upstairs and send him on his way home. Walking cautiously on a pair of matching plastimetal crutches Connor limped out of the dispensary and the bullpen to leave the precinct. As he passed by Captain Fowler's private office Connor could see Captain Fowler himself yelling at Gavin about his behavior and knew that his commanding officer was sincere about his apology toward Connor for being injured on the job.

Seeing the smug look on Gavin's face replaced with fear was somehow satisfying to the otherwise humble deviant. The unexpected sight caused his L.E.D. to shift from yellow to blue as he took his leave of the partially rebuilt precinct through the front doors and sat down in the back of the autonomous cab he had summoned to pick him up.

Perhaps the crash and fall into a pile of dirt would prove to be worth it in the long run.

After arriving home via autonomous cab Connor carefully limped from the street up to the front door of the house with moderate difficulty as he relied heavily on the crutches to keep his balance. Opening the front door of the with additional minor difficulty thanks to the supportive crutches under his arms, Connor was promptly greeted by Sumo who wanted to jump up for some attention from his favorite deviant, but somehow sensed that doing so would be wrong. Sitting down patiently at Connor's feet instead the loyal dog waited to be pet gently before he was off to lay down on his pillow in the corner of the living and then nap for the rest of the afternoon just as he always did.

Rubbing Sumo's ears with his hand Connor greeted the loyal pet and then closed the door behind himself with a soft 'click'. Managing to lock the door behind himself without any additional problems Connor watched as Sumo accepted his mandatory ear rubs and then retired to his pillow for a well deserved nap.

"Good boy. I hope that Hank is in a good mood as well."

Still using the crutches Connor made his way down the hallway to check on Hank as the senior detective rested and recovered from his lingering lung infection in the privacy of his own bedroom. Knocking on the door twice, a gruff voice replied hoarsely for Connor to go ahead and enter. Hobbling over to Hank's bedside Connor looked down at the ill detective and scanned him quickly to check his vitals.

"How're you feeling?"

"...I feel like shit." Hank opened his blue eyes and took in Connor's unusually messy appearance as he rolled from his back and onto his side to face the deviant standing beside him. "And you look like shit. What the hell happened?"

"Today, I took a fall and injured my leg."

"What'd you fall in to?" The dirt all over Connor's clothing told Hank there was much more to the story. "Garbage?"

"Dirt."

"Oh, that makes all the difference." Propping himself upright on his elbows Hank sat up in the bed and faced Connor more directly. "Who was your partner today?"

"No one special." Hesitating for a moment Connor told Hank the truth. "...It was Gavin."

That name was enough to light a fire in Hank's gut. "Y-You gotta' be shittin' me!"

"No. Captain Fowler has already apologized on Gavin's behalf for his behavior after I returned to the precinct damaged." A faint grin appeared on Connor's face as he spoke about his day and told Hank the only good part about the whole day. "And then Captain Fowler proceeded to suspend Gavin."

"He what?" Such a comment almost sounded too good to be true and drew a righteous follow-up question. "Gavin's out?"

"For two weeks."

"And you heard it?"

"Actually, I read Captain Fowler's lips as I left the bullpen and I could see the confirmation on Gavin's face. It was a rather... satisfying moment to behold."

"I think I'm feeling better already." Hank smiled a little in return and rubbed his hand over his tired eyes. "You got benched, too, right?"

"Only until you've recovered from your illness." Connor put his palm to Hank's forehead for another fever check much to Hank's chagrin, but the senior detective didn't try to move away. After all, Hank did the same for Connor in the past when the deviant was sick. "Your fever has finally broken. How is your headache?"

"Killing me." Hank sat more upright in the bed slowly and let out a deep sigh as he swung his legs over the edge of the mattress to try to stand up. After planting his feet down and standing up Hank swayed mometarily unbalanced as his head unexpectedly began to swim. "Shit..."

Connor managed to catch Hank's arm before he fell and did so without dropping his crutches in the process. "You need to rest, lay back down."

"After I get some aspirin."

"I'll go and get it for you."

"No, you've done enough for me already." Lightly Hank pushed Connor's supporting hand from his arm and continued on his way out of the bedroom and down the hallway toward the bathroom. "But if you really want to do something for me, take a shower. I don't want you tracking dirt all over the house, that's Sumo's job."

Mindful of the senior detective's movements Connor watched as Hank slowly made his way into the bathroom to find some medication. Following behind Hank rather closely the deviant watched as the recovering senior detective took the bottle of aspirin from the medicine cabinet, popped two of the pills in his mouth with a gulp of water from the tap in the sink, then proceeded to slowly walk into the livingroom to sit down on the couch.

Sumo ran over to Hank and pressed his head against his recovering master's hands seeking attention as he hadn't seen Hank too often despite Hank being home all week long.

"Yeah, yeah." Rubbing Sumo's chin Hank sank down in the couch heavily. "I know you're still here, boy. I didn't forget about ya'."

Satisfied that Hank wasn't too ill to be left alone anymore Connor walked into the bathroom as requested to shower off the remaining dirt from his body and to change into some clean clothes that he often borrowed from Hank whenever his uniform was in the laundry. Balancing on his left leg and using the wall to support himself upright, Connor managed to remove his dirt caked uniform and then carefully stepped into the shower.

As the warm water rinsed away the dirt from his hair and skin Connor felt much better and far cleaner. Watching the tea colored water swirling down the drain Connor waited until it ran clear and then turned off the water as he was satisfied that he was finally clean.

Just as awkwardly Connor managed to slip on the pair of black sweatpants and white t-shirt that had been tucked under the sink as emergency clothing, then made his way back down the hallway with his crutches. Joining Hank on the couch Connor propped his injured right leg up on the coffee table between the couch and the television and thought about what had happened earlier that day and another faint smile appeared on his face. The right leg of the sweatpants had been rolled up to ensure that the cast didn't become too constricted by the fabric while Connor healed, and his grin was absolutely mischievous.

"What's with the smile Connor?" Hank noticed the reaction from the corner of his eye and needed to know why his partner was so amused. "Something else happen to Gavin that I should know about?"

"No, I was just thinking about how Captain Fowler stated that once we're both cleared for active duty that we'll be partnered up again. And I recently realize that I greatly prefer having you as my partner than anyone else at the precinct."

"Please don't tell me you're looking forward to going back to work." Hank shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the couch while doing his best to not aggravate himself while he was so close to a full recovery. "That's just plain weird!"

"In a way I am. I think it's safe to say being a detective does bring some joy to my existence, and having you as my partner gives me a sense of security. It's reassuring to know that I have someone watching my back and looking out for me, no matter what happens."

"Well, the feeling's mutual, kid. I forgot how rewarding it is to help people, but being sobered up and having a partner to kick my ass into shape really helped me remember." Motioning toward his partner's broken leg Hank asked about the injury with a genuine worry and intrigue. "How long until you're healed?"

Connor closed his eyes and performed a self-diagnostic to calculate his self-healing program's functionality. "Exactly thirty-eight hours, fifty-four minutes and nine seconds."

"Huh." The time frame seemed fairly perfect in Hank's eyes since they'd recover together. "We'll both be cleared for work again in two days."

"And I'm looking forward to it."

"Really?"

"Yes." Letting out a small huff, Connor ran his hand down Sumo's back after the Saint Bernard heavily pressed his upper body down on Connor's good leg to get some more attention from his favorite deviant. "Gavin won't be there for the next fourteen days, remember? Well, twelve days by the time we return to work."

"Yeah... Good point." Chuckling at the comment Hank took in a deep breath and was relieved that he didn't cough as a result. It seemed like both detectives were on the mend and didn't have to worry about any additional setbacks for a while. "The next few days are going to be nice and quiet in the bullpen. That's going to be a nice change of pace for everyone."

-next chapter-