DBH: Accident Prone - Becoming Human

by WayWardWonderer

Connor struggles to comprehend his newly found emotions and learns what it means to be human as Hank guides him along his journey of self-discovery as his deviancy evolves him into something more than a machine. Connor isn't indestructible and his impulsive, selfless nature to accomplish his mission will be the death of him, or even Hank, as he learns what it means to be alive.

54. Stay With Me

It was a cold, rainy night in Detroit as spring struggled to fully break and thaw the previous winter's relentless cold. A tense standoff with the police facing off against a group of anti-android bigots holding out inside of a defunct six story office building had been filled with gunfire, shouting voices, and dark threats against the lives of the responding police officers and all of the innocent deviants throughout the city. There were at least eleven confirmed members of the hate-group who had devised a violent plan to attack and then blow up as many Android Emergency Care Facilities in the city as possible before ending their onslaught with a devastating attack on New Jericho Tower itself. That was a threat that no one could turn a blind eye toward.

An anonymous tip had warned the police about the group and resulted in immediate response from every available officer in Detroit. While it wasn't uncommon for Hank and Connor to deal with criminals that had threatened androids, dealing with an underground group of domestic terrorists who had taken the liberty of planning numerous attacks with high-grade explosives was a new kind of experience in which they'd have to quickly adapt.

Hank was crouched down behind a squad car with his gun drawn and had Connor at his side. Keeping low and out of the line of sight from the deranged bigots, the two detectives listened carefully as Captain Fowler took charge of the scene and issued his commands to end the standoff as quickly and to do so with the least amount of bloodshed as possible.

"How many idiots are we dealing with?" Hank asked his partner as he peered over the rain dotted hood of the car toward the office building. The police drones circling overhead were making it difficult for the people holed up inside to try to flee now that they had been located. "We can't take any chances and let some jackasses get the drop on us or enact their violent plan."

"My scanner indicates that there are eleven people inside. All armed." Connor's usually blue L.E.D. flashed to yellow during the scan, then flashed to red for a moment as he picked up on something of interest and worry. The deviant combed his fingers through his wet locks to slick his hair back out of his face and into a somewhat more professional style. "...Six of them are wearing bomb vests."

"Shit..." The idea of dealing with walking bombs with nothing left to lose was far from ideal. "Can you isolate the people with the bombs from the others who are just holding guns?"

"Yes. One moment." Again Connor's L.E.D. blinked yellow rapidly as he pinpointed the exact locations of the six individuals with the bomb vest holed up inside of the building. "Four of them are on the top floor. Two are on the second floor. Three men, three women. The four on the top floor are planted at the four corners of the perimeter, and the remaining two are standing against the Eastern and Western load-bearing walls."

"We'll make them the primary targets for now." Hank looked over his shoulder to Chris and motioned him over to where he was crouched down. "We have eleven very dangerous, well-armed, and very unpredictable people inside. All have guns, six have bomb vests. The top floor has four of the bombers and the second floor has the other two."

"Oh, shit..." Chris's kind brown eyes went wide with controlled fear upon hearing the new information. The young officer didn't have any experience with dealing with explosives and was undoubtedly looking to Hank and Captain Fowler for guidance. "How do we take them down, Lieutenant?"

"Tell Fowler to send S.W.A.T. up to the second floor." Hank instructed calmly without drawing attention from the people inside the building as the three officers remained concealed behind the parked squad cars out front. There were far too many cars, drones and personnel in the area to be singled out by the dangerous people huddled inside the building and surely watching everything from the windows. "Take out the bombers nearest the ground first at the East and West walls. Afterward, have S.W.A.T. descend from the roof to disarm the other four bombers in the four corners. Once the bombs have been deactivated, we'll rush the other five members and get them all disarmed then cuffed. No one goes inside until the bombs have been cleared. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good." Turning back to Connor, who was closely monitoring the situation, Hank asked for an update. "Are the android care facilities on lockdown?"

"...Affirmative." Hesitating for a moment Connor's L.E.D. flashed to red then back to a calm blue as he realized that such a lockdown would put innocent deviants at risk in the event they needed emergency technical assistance. "All facilities in the city have been put on emergency lockdown; no one in or out for the next forty-eight hours as protocol mandates."

"Then everything should be under control." The stoic look on Connor's face upset Hank a little and he needed to press for an answer. "Something wrong?"

"Potentially." Connor glanced over at Hank with heavy emotion in his soulful brown eyes as he replied in a low, worried tone. "If the facilities are on lockdown, then that means androids who are in need of emergency repairs cannot be aided. An unknown number of damaged deviants could shut down as a result of this standoff due to a lack of immediate technical care."

"A necessary evil, kid." Understanding his partner's worries Hank could only remind him of what they were dealing with. "It's the only way to ensure that no one dangerous sneaks into the facilities to do something terrible until the police are available again."

"I know, but I still dislike it."

"Just sit tight." Hank encouraged as he watched the S.W.A.T. team enter the building quickly and head up to the second floor. "We'll take care of this as soon as possible. Hey," a new thought suddenly popped into his head as the severity of the situation began to sink in. "did you reach Markus at New Jericho?"

"Yes." Such a confirmation turned Connor's blue L.E.D. yellow for a heartbeat as he kept Hank apprised of everything happening elsewhere in the city. "The entire tower and the entrance drive is on lockdown as well."

"Good." That was a small amount of certainty on what felt like an uncertain night. "As long as we can keep this group contained here and away from android sanctuaries, then we'll be able to keep all of the androids in the city safe."

---

Remaining patiently in place for nearly an hour as S.W.A.T. subdued the suspects who had armed themselves with bomb vests, Hank and Connor were finally given the clear by Captain Fowler to lead the charge inside of the building to locate and disarm the other suspects brandishing numerous guns and other possibly lethal weapons. Leading a group of highly trained officers into the building to end the standoff as efficiently and peacefully as possible, the seasoned Lieutenant took charge of the scene and Connor followed his every command. The tension mounted as the armed officers homed-in on the locations of the remaining members of the repugnant hate-group. People with nothing in their lives but hatred, and nothing left to lose were easily some of the most dangerous people in the world.

Floor by floor the police located and coaxed the five remaining members of the volatile group into surrendering, each one dropping their guns and kneeling on the floor to give themselves up as ordered. However, two of the hate-filled members of the bigoted group weren't going down without a fight. Ducking down behind abandoned pieces of furniture and desks, the responding officers took cover from the incoming barrage of bullets from the two desperate suspects as they opened fire and shouted at the approaching police in a futile attempt to win a firefight.

"BACK THE FUCK OFF!" The leader of the group shouted angrily as he repeatedly squeezed the trigger of his gun. His bullets thankfully missed the officers and became lodged in the walls and furniture all around them as he tried to take down as many innocent people as possible before he was apprehended. "THIS PLACE IS GONNA' BLOW, AND YOU'RE GOING WITH IT!"

"Find a way to get behind them!" Hank shouted as he returned fire and crouched down out of the line of sight again. A head-on encounter with an armed man would only end in blood and chaos, even death. "Don't let them leave the building or get out of your sight!"

Nodding to acknowledge the order Connor cybernetically scanned the interior of the building and located a secondary corridor that looped around the main room where the two gunmen were holding their ground to preconstruct a path to apprehend the violent criminals. Staying as quiet as possible, Connor holstered his gun around his back and under his blazer, then used the corridor to his stealthy advantage. Swiftly the deviant detective snuck up on the nearest of the two gunmen from behind without making a single sound as he graceful approached without anyone taking notice.

Wrapping one arm around the woman's neck as he clamped his opposite hand over her mouth, Connor managed to choke off the woman's air and blood supply to her brain. Within a matter of seconds, the armed woman was rendered unconscious and fell limp in Connor's arm causing the gun to fall harmlessly from her hand and onto the floor at Connor's feet.

The single remaining gunman became suddenly aware of his comrade no longer firing and turned in time to see an android, the very being the hate-group despised more than anything on the planet, successfully bringing their demented plans to an end. Such an act was utterly unforgivable.

"Son of a bitch!" The leader turned to fire at Connor, but Hank stopped him with a bullet to the man's shoulder. As he fell to the ground the man fell next to the now unconscious woman and looked down at her face in disgust before turning his anger back toward the police. "Fuckin' bastards! I'll kill all of you!"

"Shut up, you brought this on yourself." Holstering his weapon on his hip Hank pulled the handcuffs from the back of his belt and made a move to grab to the man's arms while Connor kicked away the man's dropped gun. "You're under arrest."

"Fuck you!"

"Get a new line, pal." Such insults and threats were nothing new to the experienced and decorated Lieutenant. "I've heard it all before."

While the room was being swept for any additional explosives or hidden guns, the woman lying on the floor regained consciousness with a throbbing headache to greet her. Thanks to raw adrenaline coursing through her veins the woman quickly regained her bearings and saw Hank attempting to handcuff her leader to haul him off to jail, which was something she couldn't bear to see.

Despite always keeping his guard up Connor had turned his back to the woman as he performed a cybernetic scan around the room, unaware of the woman's return to the waking world.

Staring up at Hank with a pure anger in her hollow gray eyes, the vile woman reclaimed her weapon and aimed her gun at the right of the senior detective's head and readied her grip to squeeze the trigger. If she was going to go down, she wanted to take at least one cop with her.

"DIE PIG!"

Spotting the danger regarding Hank's life, Connor reacted to the threat immediately and did what he had to do in order to save his partner from imminent death at the hands of a vengeful bigot. Bravely Connor approached the woman from behind to try and restrain her arms behind her back, but as it turned out she was wielding more than just one gun. Turning around quickly the woman revealed a large hunting knife in her grip that had been previously concealed up inside her of long shirt sleeve. Slashing a deep cut into Connor's cheek just below his left eye, the woman managed to stun the deviant detective long enough to gain the upper hand.

"FUCKIN' PLASTIC PIG!" The woman shot to her feet and plunged the long, sharp blade of the intimidating hunting knife down into the center of Connor's chest with a single forceful stab that was meant to kill. "DIE! JUST DIE ALREADY!"

A splash of blue blood erupted into the air while Connor let out a pained, surprised gasp as the blade penetrated his chest and caused his Thirium pump - his heart - to falter mid beat. The wounded deviant's legs suddenly buckled, and he fell backward onto the floor in a limp heap onto the floor. Lying motionless in a blossoming puddle of his own blue blood, Connor barely breathed and his L.E.D. flashed to red in a slow pulse as his system immediately reacted to the catastrophic damage to the vital biocomponent.

"Connor?!"

Hank shouted as he watched his partner collapse defenselessly to the floor covered in his own Thirium with the knife still embedded in the middle of his shuddering chest. It was like everything had happened in slow motion, but Hank still wasn't fast enough to do anything to protect his friend.

"Oh, fuck! Connor..."

As the woman drew her gun to fire at Connor's head to finish him off, Hank swiftly reclaimed his own gun and took his shot. Two burning bullets cut through the air and struck the woman in her right shoulder and in her right bicep. Letting out pained screams the woman fell over onto her side and dropped her gun as she clutched desperately at her fresh wounds beside her handcuffed ally still laying on the floor.

"Take care of them!"

Hank commanded the other officers now storming into the room as he kicked aside the dropped guns and knife from the range of the suspects. The Lieutenant then moved past the violent duo to kneel beside Connor to check on his critically injured friend. Pressing his hand down carefully on Connor's bloody chest Hank tried to take the deviant's pulse, but he couldn't get his hand close enough to the Thirium pump to register an accurate count.

"Connor? Connor, talk to me. How bad is it?"

The damaged deviant was staring with wide eyes up at the ceiling overhead, his bloodied chest slowly rising and falling as Thirium drenched his previously white dress shirt courtesy of the massive stab wound in the center his chest. Connor's L.E.D. was blinking in red, not cycling, as his systems fought to identify and assess the potentially lethal damage to his chest.

Speaking calmly Hank slipped his hand beneath Connor's hair to lift him up from the floor in a comforting gesture.

"Please look at me. I need to know what's going on and how I can help you."

Connor tried to focus through the blaring warning alarms sounding off in his own head and dismissed the visual warnings from his sight to answer, but no words escaped his lips. There was a shutdown timer already ticking down before his very eyes but he couldn't even tell Hank what he was seeing.

00:59:27 until shutdown.

"Come on, kid." Urging in an impressively collected tone Hank kept trying to get Connor to speak while the other officers dragged the two idiotic terrorists out of the building to be arrested and charged for their numerous crimes. The floor was clearing out giving the two detectives some privacy to speak. "Talk to me. I need to know how badly you're injured, son. Tell me anything you can."

"...H-Hank?" Connor's voice sounded shaky and uncertain. A trickle of blue blood ran down from the corner of his mouth down his chin as he lifted his head up from the Hank's palm and looked down at the knife plunged into his own chest. As he put his hand up to his chest Connor pressed down lightly and winced in pain as the knife had effectively caused significant damage. "H-Hank... I..."

"Connor," keeping his hand under the deviant's head Hank held Connor for a moment as he watched the deviant's frightened, glassy brown irises now staring at the hilt of the knife embedded in his chest. "how bad is it?"

"...B-Bad." Connor's soulful brown eyes lifted from the knife and locked onto Hank's concerned blue eyes with a forced focus. Swallowing once as blood collected in the back of his throat Connor's eyes began to glisten with heavy emotions and dread for his own life. "...I-It's very bad. Less than one h-hour until... permanent shutdown."

"Shit, we'll get you to-" Hank suddenly became aware of a horrifying reality; the facilities were still on lockdown with no exceptions for the next forty-eight hours. Even a member of the police department wouldn't be permitted entrance due to safety protocols. "I'll get you to the precinct, okay? Joel can-"

"N-No." Connor reached up with his blue blood covered hand and grabbed onto Hank's shoulder in a weak grip. His palm left a smear of blue blood over the fabric of Hank's dark coat as Connor gripped onto the garment as tightly as he could "...I n-need to go t-to New Jericho. Only technology f-from CyberLife... can aid me. I... I d-don't want to... die."

"Stay with me." Putting his own hand down over top of Connor's hand as it clutched at his shoulder, Hank nodded his head and slipped his hand from beneath Connor's head and down under the deviant's upper back to lift him upward very carefully. "Okay, yeah. I'll get you to New Jericho instead."

Letting go of Connor's hand slowly Hank put his other arm beneath Connor's legs and lifted him up from the floor to carry in his arms and against his chest.

"Hold on. I got you, son."

Connor's reply was a passing whisper as he fell quiet from pure weakness in Hank's arms and his eyes began to slip shut. "...I know."

The deviant's heavy arm was wrapped in a light grip around Hank's neck and shoulders as the senior detective held him in a tight grasp. Unable to support his own body Connor's head rested against Hank's chest and shoulder as he could only watch the countdown timer in his vision continue to tick away the last few fleeting minutes of his too short life.

The other officers who knew of Connor's injury stepped aside and cleared a path as Hank carried Connor's bleeding body out of the office building and over to his own car parked just around the corner. Captain Fowler and Chris watched with worry at the sight of the deviant covered in his own blood being carried away, but neither man said anything as Hank walked pass them. Even Gavin held his tongue at the gruesome sight of the knife still sticking out of Connor's bloodied chest as Hank carried the injured deviant to safety. No one knew what to do or say as one of their own was critically injured in the line of duty and in need of proper care.

Captain Fowler managed to jog after Hank and pulled open the passenger side door to the parked Oldsmobile to allow Hank to gently place Connor down over the backseats to rest. Connor's arm fell heavily away from Hank's shoulders as he was laid down, his eyes refusing to close entirely out of sheer force of will. Removing his blood stained dark coat, Hank draped the warm garment over his bleeding partner, careful not to disturb the knife still stabbed into Connor's chest.

"Hold on, I'll get you to New Jericho as soon as I can." Keeping his voice level Hank refused to let the fear in his words be heard. "I won't let you die; I promise."

Connor nodded weakly and forced a faint smile to his face as he again dismissed the warnings in his visual processors as he watched the countdown clock with a frightening stare: 00:56:48.

With a firm slam of the door Hank rushed over to the driver's side door, practically ripped it off the hinges as he opened it with a single firm jerk, and then sat down behind the wheel. Pulling the car keys from his pocket Hank slipped the key into the ignition and turned over the engine. Pulling away from the scene of the horrific standoff at a high speed, Hank raced through the sprinting rainstorm and toward the deviant sanctuary out on Belle Isle known as New Jericho Tower as quickly as he dared. Speeding on slick roads wasn't something that Hank trusted himself to handle after surviving the car accident that had taken Cole away from him far too soon, but he wasn't going to let his own personal doubts prevent him from doing everything in his power to save Connor's life.

"Hang on for me, son."

Glancing up at Connor's reflection in the rearview mirror Hank tried to ignore how lifeless Connor looked in that moment.

"We're on our way and you'll get some help. You just need to hang on."

Driving as fast as he could through the rain drenched streets Hank focused on getting his dying partner to New Jericho Tower before Connor bled to death. Pulling his phone out of his back pocket Hank dialed Markus's number and put the phone on speaker so he could keep both hands on the wheel. The phone only rang once before Markus replied with a worried greeting.

'Lieutenant, what's going on?' It wasn't often that Hank called him, but Markus had an idea of what was going on thanks to the news reports. 'Is the standoff-'

"Markus, Connor's been stabbed." Reaching one hand into the backseat Hank grabbed onto Connor's bicep briefly to give the deviant a passing, comforting sense of contact before returning his full grip to the steering wheel. "I can't take him to any android facilities because of the emergency lockdown. You need to let me through the drive or else Connor's going to die."

'Shit.' Markus seldom swore, but when he did it was with purpose. 'All right, I'll have security let you through and have a technical team standing by. How bad is it?'

"It's bad. That's all Connor said."

As he drove Hank glanced over his shoulder to the backseat and stared at his partner's bleeding chest while Connor's hand weakly and futilely had tried to stem the bleeding in his chest around the knife's blade. There was blue blood everywhere and it was just seeping out of Connor's chest with every beat of the deviant's heart.

"I think we both know that means it's fucking life or death right now."

'Where was he stabbed?'

"Center of his chest. If he had a sternum the blade would've shattered the bone."

A nerve-racking palpable pause over the line made Hank's own heart grow cold as Markus spoke up again in a hesitating tone. '...Can you give me his vitals?'

Remembering the special app Joel had devised for Hank's phone a few weeks back, Hank picked up his phone and turned the app on. Fortunately, the function was still synchronized with Connor's system, and it produced a reading of Connor's weak but stable vitals.

"Pulse is one-hundred forty-four. Ventilation is at twelve. Thirium volume down to seventy-two percent, Thirium pressure is one-hundred over sixty. And his core temperature has risen to one-hundred point two degrees."

'I'll relay the information to our lead technician.' Remaining calm and in control Markus managed to perfectly mask the fear in his voice. 'And Lieutenant?'

"Yeah?"

'Don't let him fall asleep.'

Somehow those simple words were more threatening than the idea of being blown up or told to literally 'die' by a crazy woman with a gun pointed at his head.

"Yeah... I'll do my best." Ending the call Hank reached his hand back between the front seats into the backseat and grabbed onto Connor's arm once more. "You heard that, stay awake. Stay with me, kid."

"...Hank?" The calmness in Connor's voice was unnerving. His shutdown timer was still counting down and the damaged deviant detective couldn't do anything to delay what seemed to be in the inevitable: 00:51:59. "...Thank you. For everything."

"Hey, hey! Don't talk like that." Hank scolded as he turned to glance at Connor over his shoulder again. "I can hear it in your voice Connor, don't give up now! Not after all this. Don't you dare say 'goodbye' to me."

"...I truly enjoyed our time together." Connor continued somberly as tears began to roll down his face and disappear down his chin. He swallowed once as Thirium began collecting in the back of his throat again and threatened to steal hs voice. "...Y-You helped me in more ways than I c-can ever say. You are a great p-partner to have in the field."

"Stop it!" Hank squeezed down on Connor's arm firmly, not to hurt the deviant, but to get his attention. "We're nearly there! Hold on!"

"...It's okay. I'm n-not scared."

"That's good." Refusing to let go of Connor's arm Hank stared through the windshield with his blue eyes transfixed on the streets before him. "But you're starting to freak me out."

"...You're my best friend. I didn't think it was p-possible for an android to have one, but... h-here you are." As his strength ebbed away Connor blinked slowly and reopened his eyes. A serene smile was resting on his face around his bloodied lips despite the macabre event having taken place and the pain steadily radiating through his chest with every struggling beat of his thundering, damaged heart. "I c-could even say you were l-like my... father."

"Don't you-" Hank's hand remained where it was on Connor's arm, though he felt his grip suddenly weaken at the sentimental words. "...Connor."

"...It s-sounds strange. It's not l-like I know what it's supposed to feel like to h-have a father." Connor's breath suddenly hitched in his chest causing him to wheeze until he found his voice again. "B-B-But I suspect this is... accurate. I'm g-glad you, of all the people in the world, you were m-my... father."

Whispering in an intentionally inaudible voice Hank forced himself to hold back his tears for just a while longer. "...And I'm glad that you're my son."

Speeding down the drive to New Jericho Tower with utter fear in control of the wheel Hank passed through the concrete security barricade as it lowered into the drive and gave him full access to the sanctuary in the distance. Standing outside the tower Markus, Simon and Lucas were all waiting for the car, and more importantly waiting for Connor to arrive. The three deviants had a gurney as well as a Thirial activity monitor waiting with them as they stood in the cold rain silently watching the drive and waiting for the wounded deviant to arrive.

During the time since Connor helped Lucas - the 'RK-900' who had been locked away by CyberLife to be forgotten - deviate and become his own person, Lucas had stepped up to become New Jericho Tower's lead technician. When he was informed that Connor was being brought to the tower for treatment Lucas had to mask his newly found emotions as tending to the damage of someone who was essentially his older brother was oddly unsettling. Such emotions were raw for both deviant detectives as their admiration for one another grew and their bond strengthened over time.

"Okay, kid."

Nearing the tower quickly Hank took his foot off the accelerator just enough to coast to a gentle stop without jostling Connor in the backseat as he finally reached the sanctuary. Forcing the car into park Hank threw open his door and jerked up the front seat as he knelt over Connor laying in the backseat.

"We're here. You're safe now." Pushing aside his coat Hank gave Connor's bloodied chest a grimace before he made a move. "Everything will be okay."

Sliding his arms under Connor's upper back and legs again Hank lifted the deviant out of the car and carried him over to where the other three deviants waiting for their arrival. Connor never said a word to Hank as he was carried out of the car all while he fought to remain conscious. The deviant's heavy arm never returned to Hank's neck and instead hung limp over his bloodied chest from total weakness. Blue blood stained the front of Hank's shirt and his hands as he placed Connor down on the gurney and stepped back to watch the trio work in perfect union to save Connor's life.

"They're going to take care of you, Connor." The senior detective kept trying to give Connor a comforting voice to listen to. Standing over the gurney Hank leaned over the deviant and hoped that he could use his own body to shield Connor's face from the ice raindrops pouring down all around them. "Just a few more minutes..."

Connor never uttered a sound or showed any sign of reaction as his limp body was placed down on the gurney. Carefully Hank removed the black tie from around the deviant's neck and then pulled open the blood soaked buttons on the ruined dress shirt to fully expose the wound to his chest. The process scared Hank further as the lack of reaction from Connor, and the weakened motion of his damaged chest being able to rise or fall, was evident of Connor's waning strength.

"Come on son, stay with me." Hank pleaded as he watched the very life drain from the deviant's soulful brown eyes. The falling rain made Connor appear all the more vulnerable, cold and weak as the raindrops washed his dark blue blood from his chest and dyed the gurney beneath him a pale blue. "Stay with me, Connor. You're going to be okay."

"That's right." Lucas took the lead over Connor's care and tried to sound confident from beginning to end. "We'll take care of him, Lieutenant."

Unlike Markus and Simon, who were wearing normal street clothes, Lucas was wearing an altered CyberLife technician's uniform and white lab coat over his shoulders. In the time since his inclusion to New Jericho as a productive member, Lucas had slightly altered his appearance to give him more of a sense of individuality compared to Connor. Lucas had changed his hair color from dark brown to raven black and altered the style so that it was slicked back in appearance. Exchanging his hollow gray irises for a soft green color, and having removed his L.E.D. entirely, Lucas looked more human than Connor; but his mannerisms were still very machine-like as he gradually became more deviant over time.

"Connor?" Lucas pulled aside the blue dyed fabric of Connor's opened shirt to examine the damage site. The knife was deeply embedded into Connor's chest up to the hilt like a gruesome flag of pain, hatred and death. "What does your system say?"

"...Sh-Shutdown in forty-eight minutes, eleven seconds." Losing strength quickly Connor let out a shuddering breath that became increasingly shallow with each pained inhalation he took. "...So tired. Need to... sl-sleep."

Hank's eyes went understandably wide with abject horror at the revelation of what Connor had just said. "Shutdown?"

Markus heard the fear in Hank's voice and approached the senior detective sympathetically. "Lieu- Hank," the need to be a friend was more important than any rank in the dire moment. "we're going to do everything possible to save him."

Looking past Markus to the gurney where Connor was laying Hank watched as Lucas used an audioscope to listen to Connor's bloodied chest with his attention primarily focused on Connor's struggling Thirium pump - his heart.

"Significant faltering in the Thirium pump." The already skilled technician reported as he assessed his older brother's condition. "It cannot fully expand or contract to cycle Thirium properly. I think the blade is jamming the main internal coupling within the pump keeping it open. There is potentially Thiricardial effusion keeping the pump from completing a full beat."

Simon attached the leads of the Thirial activity monitor to Connor's chest and studied the display intensely. The rhythmic line representing Connor's heartbeat was rapid and thin, and confirmed that the beats weren't full or cycling his blue blood properly. The display for Connor's Thirium volume was shown in red digits next to the heart rate and was low at sixty-five percent.

"He needs Thirium now." A skilled technician in his own right, Simon assisted Lucas as much as he could without overstepping any boundaries. "We'll need to replace it slowly to ensure he doesn't bleed out or cause any further strain to his Thirium pump."

"Agreed." Lucas draped the audioscope around his neck as he confirmed the suggestion. "We need to get him down to sublevel fifty-one for emergency repairs."

Connor's glassy eyes began to shut fully, and his breathing hastened suddenly only to cease altogether after a shallow exhalation that caused his chest to stop moving entirely. The deviant detective's condition was deteriorating rapidly.

"Connor?" Lucas pressed his fingertips to Connor's red tinted L.E.D. and looked at the monitor only to see that Connor's rapid heartbeat had suddenly stopped along with his shallow breathing. "Damn it..."

"What is it?" Simon asked in alarm as he too studied the monitor and quickly deduced the cause for Lucas's worry. "He's fallen into Thirial arrest."

"Beginning compressions." Lucas positioned one hand on the center of Connor's chest just below the knife and began compressing in a perfect rhythm to beat the stopped heart in his brother's stead. "His Thirium pump has failed. We need to get him on artificial external bypass until the pump can be repaired or replaced. We need to go, NOW, he cannot wait any longer."

"Oh, shit..." Hank tried to rush over to the gurney as soon as he saw Lucas pressing down on Connor's chest to perform C.P.R. and saw Simon throw an external ventilation pump over Connor's mouth and nose to breathe on his behalf; but Markus held him back with one arm as the two technicians began resuscitation measures on the dying deviant. "What's happening to him?"

"The knife is preventing his Thirium pump from functioning properly." Markus replied honestly out of his tremendous respect for Hank. There was no point in trying to lie or sugarcoat anything. "It's like cardiac arrest for androids, and his heart is no longer beating."

"Cardiac- Wait... His heart?" Hank asked as he pushed Markus's arm down to get around him and over to the gurney. "You're saying the damage is to his heart?"

"Yes." Markus nodded slowly to confirm the bleak news as he let Hank go. "And it's just like Connor said. It's bad."

Lucas motioned to the tower and gave the next order necessary to save Connor's life. The lead technician was determined to save his brother's life and he wasn't going to let Connor without a proper fight.

"We need to move him inside and into the emergency repair ward." Lucas barked as he kept pushing his hand down on Connor's motionless chest. "His shutdown timer is still active and down to forty-six minutes even."

As Lucas and Simon wheeled the gurney inside the tower Hank watched in a frightened fixation as his partner; his son, was taken away leaving only a faint trail of blue blood on the drive that was quickly being washed away by the cold rain that continued to fall from the dark sky overhead. It was a surreal moment of dread as Hank knew exactly what could go wrong and how he could lose the deviant forever.

"Hank," Markus grabbed lightly onto Hank's bicep to get his attention and prompt him to move forward and follow the gurney inside. "we'll do everything possible to save him. Lucas is the best technician New Jericho has ever seen. If anyone can save Connor, it's him."

Walking silently beside Markus, the rain washing the blue blood from his orange and light blue shirt in massive streaks, Hank just watched in horror as the gurney carrying Connor's body was loaded into the elevator in the center of the tower. Watching the elevator descend deep down to the emergency repair wing only made the moment all the more grim as Hank stared at the image with an unblinking gaze.

Connor was being lowered down into the ground, like a coffin descending into a grave.

"He's strong." To the best of his ability Markus continued to try to reassure Hank, but he too was afraid for the life of the deviant detective to really listen. "You know that. You know how stubborn Connor can be."

Hank turned his head to face Markus directly as cold rain drenched his long gray locks of hair causing the strands to cling to his face. The rain drops running down his face helped hide the tears that he couldn't hold back any longer as he realized how serious everything had become.

"...Yeah, he is strong. But is he strong enough to live without a heart?"

Unable to answer all Markus could do was lead Hank into the tower and out of the rain as they awaited Connor's final outcome. Time was working against Connor, and yet he was still being given every chance he needed to survive the assault and pull through. As Connor himself would say; statistically there's always a chance for unlikely events to take place.

---

Keeping perfect rhythm Lucas pressed his hand down against Connor's chest to maintain compressions as the elevator descended to the necessary floor in the depths of the tower. Lucas's palm was becoming drenched in blue blood as every compression caused more of the vital Thirium to seep around the blade that had struck Connor's heart. The hilt of the knife moved with each compression and the blade was potentially causing more damage to the vital biocomponent beneath as Lucas forced Connor's heart to beat. The compressions were absolutely necessary to keep Connor's system from slipping into permanent shutdown despite the risk of further damage to Connor's stopped heart as the deviant detective's other vital biocomponents were reliant on the Thirium pump's overall function.

Simon continued to force cool air into Connor's ventilation biocomponents with the external ventilation pump - an android ambubag - and keep his system from overheating. The two deviant technicians were watching the Thirium volume on the display of the monitor dwindle away slowly as each passing second threatened to end what remained of Connor's fading life in an instant.

"Simon," Lucas gave the stoic, blond deviant a stern glance. "do we have any spare 'RK' parts in stock?"

"No." The answer came heavily as Simon refused to make eye contact with Lucas out of an unnecessary guilt. "CyberLife disposed of any and all spare parts from their prototype division after being forced into bankruptcy. We were unable to replicate any of the 'RK' biocomponents due to a lack of blueprints and we didn't have any spare parts to reverse engineer extra replacement biocomponents. We've been attempting to create compatible replacement parts, but we can't do it without directly reverse engineering those parts - and that means asking you, Connor or Markus to remove those parts from your own bodies."

"We need to find a way to modify the closest compatible Thirium pump." Lucas fearlessly stated as the elevator reached its destination on sublevel fifty-one. Josh and North were already on the floor and had prepared the area for Connor's emergency repairs. "Do we have anything of an 'AX' model?"

"Maybe, but it'll be an 'AX-700'." Simon elaborated as he and Lucas wheeled the gurney into the center of the room. Neither of the technicians broke their rhythm of keeping Connor's heart beating and his ventilation biocomponents circulating cool air. "It won't be of an advanced enough design to properly function as an effective replacement."

Josh wheeled over the artificial external Thirial bypass machine before he helped Lucas and Simon slide Connor from the gurney and onto the exam table. North had positioned a dozen pouches of Thirium on the small cart beside the exam table and was preparing to insert the long transparent tube for external ventilation down Connor's throat to use the external ventilator in favor of Simon's manual ventilation rhythm. They'd need their hands free in order to give Connor the fighting chance that he needed in order to recover.

Once Connor was on the exam table and surrounded with external supportive measures, Lucas pressed his fingertips against Connor's his red, stuttering L.E.D. to manually deactivate the wounded deviant's artificial skin over his chest and abdomen. With the skin retracted Lucas took hold of the handle of the knife and he gave the three deviants assisting him an uneasy stare with his steadily humanized green eyes.

"As soon as I pull out the knife he's going to bleed heavily." The sight of the blue blood already staining Connor's exposed chest made Lucas take a steadying breath as he mentally prepared for the gruesome task. "His shutdown timer is already at forty-two minutes, twenty-three seconds. If he loses much more Thirium his timer will plummet down to the single digits, and we can't afford to waste a single second of his dwindling time."

Upon hearing those words North looked down at the knife in Connor's chest warily.

"His Thirium volume is going to drop by half its full reserve once the knife is removed." Crossing her arms defensively over her chest North just stared with worry for the horrifically damaged and dying deviant before her. "Can you work that fast?"

"We're about to find out."

Lucas stopped compressing Connor's chest and grabbed onto the handle of the knife with both hands. Using one swift yank he pulled the offending object from his older brother's chest - out of Connor's heart - and dropped it on the floor with an indifferent 'clatter'. Thirium rushed out of the wound like a damn had burst and the surrounding deviants responded quickly.

"Apply pressure to the wound!"

The knife was gone in a flash and blue blood was everywhere as it left a gaping wound in the center of Connor's chest.

While Simon continued to keep Connor breathing, continued to keep the deviant android's core temperature as cool as possible, Josh pressed a wad of gauze down over the gushing wound. The gauze didn't do much to stop the bleeding, but it did keep the blue blood from pouring over Connor's chest in all directions.

Reacting quickly Lucas pressed his hands down on the plastimetal frame in Connor's chest to unlock the panel and gain access to the chest cavity beneath. Exposing Connor's damaged heart had suddenly disabled the use of the Thirial activity monitor and had caused additional Thirium to leak out all over the table onto the floor and over the shoes of the deviants who were fighting to save Connor's life.

"Shit!" North reacted without any hesitation and grabbed a nearby pouch of blue blood to try to replenish what Connor was actively losing. "He's going to bleed to death before we can even get the pump out!"

"Damn, the damage is worse than I had anticipated." Still in charge of saving his older brother's life Lucas pressed his hand down over the stab wound in the pump itself to block the leak with his fingers. "Simon, go find the replacement biocomponent." Taking the ventilation pump from Simon's hand with his free hand Lucas began a morbid cycle of using one hand to pump cooling air into Connor's artificial lungs and using his other hand to force the stopped Thirium pump into a weak, but crucial rhythm between his fingers. "His heart cannot be salvaged as it is, we need a replacement."

A healthy Thirium pump carried a soft blue glow that would darken and brighten in rhythm with the pump's beat. Connor's Thirium pump was a bright purple and beginning to turn red from the damage and stress it had been subjected to. If Lucas didn't have his fingers inside the pump's wound to obstruct the blood loss then Connor would've shutdown within seconds of his chest cavity being opened.

Josh pulled his own hand away as soon as he saw that Lucas was keeping everything under control. Pressing the wireless leads of the Thirial activity monitor down against the sides of Connor's chest rather than over top, he took a look at the new vitals on the display only to shake his head with worry.

"Thirium volume is critically low, core temperature is at one-hundred and two degrees and rising..." Josh observed with a marked worry. "He can't wait much longer."

"Simon doesn't have the replacement part yet." Lucas nearly shouted in frustration as he fought to keep his older brother alive under his hands. Seeing how weak and defenseless Connor was in that moment was enough to shake Lucas to his core. "We can't replace what we don't have."

"Put him on external bypass for now." Josh urged vehemently as he powered on the proper equipment as it sat next to the exam table. "It'll give him a few more hours while we work on locating the proper replacement."

"If I stop compressing his heart he'll go into immediate shutdown." Lucas refused to move his hands from his brother's chest for even a second. "I can't remove the damaged heart and put him on bypass quick enough to keep him alive."

Suddenly North stepped forward and gave Lucas a confident stare. "Yes you can." The encouragement sincere and came from a place of kindness. "You pulled out that knife in less than two milliseconds, you can hook up the bypass just as quickly."

"And if I can't-"

"Here." Lightly North pushed Lucas's hand out of Connor's opened chest and began compressing Connor's heart herself between her own palms. "Josh, help him to breathe so Lucas can get everything set up."

Following North's lead Josh took the air pump from Lucas's other hand and kept up the proper rhythm. Together they worked to keep Connor's systems from shutting down while they waited for Simon to return with the replacement biocomponent necessary to keep Connor alive.

"All right. We'll have to do this FAST."

Lucas stepped aside and wheeled the bypass machine closer to the table to do what was necessary. Taking the two large plastic tubes; one for circulating the Thirium into what would've been the top chambers of Connor's heart and the other tube doing the same for the bottom chambers of the heart, Lucas held the tubes into the position in which they would need to be fitted once the damaged heart was removed.

"North, I'm going to unlock coupling from the top of the pump." The cautious technician stated as he prepared for the delicate task at hand. "When I say pull down, move as quickly as you can and remove the coupling from the top of the Thirium pump."

"Got it."

Working swiftly and precisely Lucas located the connecting valve between the pump and the large ascending Thirial line and unlocked it. Holding his breath Lucas held his hands steady and kept his eyes focused on the task at hand before instructing North on her own task.

"Now!"

Without any hesitation North pulled down on the pump all the while she kept compressing it between her hands to force Connor's heart to beat.

"First line has been secured." The first tube had been properly secured into place with precise motion, and Lucas ushered North to do the same as he unlocked the second valve's coupling. "Again, pull down when I say. Now!"

Once both tubes were secured in place Josh reached over to turn on the bypass machine and watched as it quickly began circulating the remaining Thirium in Connor's system in place of his motionless heart. The damaged heart wasn't beating on its own, but the bypass forced the blue blood to cycle through Connor's body all the same to keep his other biocomponents and intracranial processor fully functional.

Lucas looked at Connor's L.E.D. and sighed in relief as he saw the circular light still glowing. It was red instead of blue or even yellow, but any color was preferable over death gray.

"...His systems are still online." Glancing at the attached monitor recording Connor's vital signs Lucas gave the two assisting deviants a cautious glance as he assessed the situation. "Vitals are stable."

"That's good." North held Connor's damaged heart in her hands, the now useless pump still leaking blue blood all over her palms and through her fingers in a macabre and grotesque fashion. "He's still with us."

Gently Lucas took the heart from North's hands and held it for himself. The design of the pump was far different than the structural design of any of the other models that he had studied while working to become an android technician, but it was something that he'd need to work with regardless of his training. Life itself is a series of lessons with the greatest reserved for the last.

Despite following the same overall design to mirror that of the human heart, the design and overall functional capacity of Connor's heart - that of a prototype - was entirely unique and subsequently rare. It was highly advanced, equipped with far more sensors and relay components to allow Connor's system to work harder for longer periods of time compared to the commercial models of androids that had been on the market, but it had its drawback. As it allowed more Thirium to circulate through his system more quickly and efficiently, it also left Connor far more vulnerable to bleeding out from any damage or wear to the vital biocomponent.

Those very flaws, maybe just an oversight by overzealous CyberLife engineers, were made evident on that dreadful night. Such a unique pump would be far more difficult to repair once damaged and nearly impossible to replace.

Not wanting to add any stress to the already tense situation Josh spoke to North in a low tone. "We should get the manual ventilator hooked up too. It'll do a much better job at keeping Connor's core temperature cool than anything we can do ourselves."

"Right." North didn't wait for Lucas to say anything about the matter. She knew he was too preoccupied with the damage done to Connor's Thirium pump to have an opinion or an objection. "We can also start Thirium I.V.'s in both of his arms to help replenish what he's lost."

Carefully Josh removed the smaller pump covering Connor's nose and mouth as North gently snaked the hollow twin tubes down Connor's throat; one tube to force the cool air in and the second tube to let the warmer air back out. It was a simple process albeit invasive and very uncomfortable.

"Got it." North confirmed as she motioned for Josh to connect the external ventilator to the opposite end of the tubes. Using a rectangular plastimetal support clasp along Connor's lips, North held the two tubes in place as they snaked down Connor's throat to ensure they didn't slip out of place. "Tubes are secured."

Connor never reacted to the extreme measures that were taking place in an effort to save his life as he continued to bleed out. Never before had Connor been so entirely helpless and vulnerable than he was in that very moment. Damaged, bleeding and with his heart physically removed from his chest, Connor had no means of defending himself or communicating with the very deviants attempting to keep him alive.

North turned on the external ventilator and watched as Connor's exposed, bloody chest began to rise and fall with the artificial rhythm of the machine that was forcing him to breathe and ventilate while he was unconscious in emergency low power mode. It was so cold and indifferent, like watching a shell of a former being had been manipulated into false motion to give the illusion of life.

"He's stable." Nervously Lucas cleared his throat a little as he looked down at Connor's surprisingly peaceful face. There was little solace to be taken in such a grim moment, but the idea that Connor at least wasn't in any pain would have to do. "I'm going to see how Simon is doing." The distraction was very necessary in that moment for the sake of the newly developing deviant's sanity. "We might be able to find a way to repair the damage to this pump if we can't find a compatible replacement."

"Right." With her voice low North continued to do her part in keeping Connor alive. "I'll start adding the Thirium to the bypass machine and start the I.V.'s in both of his arms. Hopefully we can get his volume up from critical levels quicker without waking him up in the process."

"Yes, do what you can." Lucas stared at his older brother with mounting worry and deeply seated fear. for what could happen before the night was over. "...It'd be for the best if he remains unconscious until we know what's going to happen to him."

---

Alone with his thoughts and still dripping wet from the icy cold rain, Hank was sitting in a chair in what used to be a CyberLife conference room after going in search of emotional solace. The conference room was now a New Jericho Tower community room that allowed deviants who were still new to their deviancy to speak with other deviants and help each other learn to adapt to their new emotions through open group therapy sessions. The room was surprisingly warm and welcoming with the numerous brightly displayed images of nature on the three walls, a dozen chairs, and the homey touches of clay pottery with artificial flowers on the tables in the middle of the room.

Despite the somewhat comforting atmosphere, it was still a waiting room all the same. Sitting quietly with his hands folded together on his lap and trembling slightly from the rain cold and unspoken fear, Hank just sat and stared at the floor at his feet in silent contemplation. Markus had left Hank alone just long enough to get the man a warm cup of coffee as well as an update on Connor and had returned with a heavy heart as he brought new information to Hank's attention.

"I just received word from North on Connor's condition." Sitting next to Hank with an understanding demeanor Markus took it upon himself to break the tense silence as he tried to offer the man the warm drink. "They removed the connections to his damaged Thirium pump and put him on external bypass. He's still unconscious, but he isn't in any pain and he's stable."

Hank didn't reply as he rubbed his trembling blue blood covered hand over his bearded chin in quiet thought.

"Lucas is trying to repair the damage to the pump itself and Simon is trying to locate a replacement," Markus continued as he put the coffee down on the table well within Hank's reach. "but the odds of either succeeding is-"

"It should've been me."

Markus turned to look at the senior detective, his mismatched eyes flashing with confusion. "Pardon?"

"Tonight. I'm the one that crazy bitch targeted. I'm the one who should be... Connor got stabbed because he stopped that bitch from putting a bullet in my head." Hank took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before he continued with his dark story. "And what does he get for his trouble? A fuckin' knife to the heart."

"That doesn't mean it should be you fighting for your life. One life isn't equal to that of another."

"Yeah." With his head bowed down slightly, his damp gray locks partially concealing his face, Hank spoke in a despondent voice. "That's what Jeffrey told me the night Cole-" Hank stopped himself short and pressed his face down against his palm as the emotional and mental strain of the night was beginning to take its toll on his mind. "It's happening all over again..."

"Your friend was right." Markus remained sympathetic and kind in Hank's time of need. "You can't blame yourself because of what befalls the people that you care about. It isn't-"

"I can't lose him too. He's like... He is-" Hank suddenly lifted his head and crossed his arms over his chest defensively as he forced himself to speak the truth that he had been trying to deny for so long. "...I heard it in his voice. He was ready to just give up, to let himself die. And he wasn't afraid. Damn it, he's never afraid of anything!"

"That doesn't surprise me that even when faced with his own mortality that Connor wasn't afraid." Markus could see that Hank's blue eyes were bloodshot and that tears were still welling up against his irises. "In a few minutes Lucas wants to try a procedure that can save his life. It means either finding a suitable replacement for his damaged Thir-"

"Heart." Without the slightest hesitation Hank interrupted coldly without looking at the deviant leader to his side. "It's not a pump, it's his heart."

"Right. Lucas can either replace his heart, or he can try to repair the original. But with Connor being so advanced and having no other 'RK' models to work with..." Trailing off for a moment Markus tried to deliver the bad news as gently as possible. "It'll be a risk."

"Connor's no stranger to risk."

The flat tone of Hank's voice resonated with Markus deeply. It was like listening to Carl trying to explain away the evils of the world around them while somehow maintaining a completely calm demeanor. The similarities between Carl and Hank were absolutely stunning.

"Before it begins..." Markus spoke up in a delicate voice and waited for a strong reaction to the question that he was about to ask. "Would you like to see him?"

Hank turned briefly to look at Markus, his eyes searching all over the deviant leader's face as if looking for something in particular, before he finally gave his hopeful answer. Nodding 'yes' once, Hank let Markus show him out of the room and escort him to sublevel fifty-one where Connor was waiting to either live or to die.

"Okay." Walking slowly Markus escorted Hank to the repair bay without knowing what to expect from either Connor or from Hank. "I'll take you to see him. I know he'd appreciate knowing that you were there for him even while he was unconscious."

---

Ever vigilant Lucas was sitting in the emergency repair ward next to the table where Connor was still unconscious and being kept alive on the external bypass machine and ventilator. The wounded deviant detective's clothing had been removed and a white sheet was draped over Connor to cover him from the waist down to preserve his modesty. With Connor's chest still wide open, a small suction pump had been inserted to remove the excess leaked Thirium that had pooled in his chest cavity around his other biocomponents to clear out the space and prevent further damage. The sight of so much blue blood being run through the tubes going into and out of Connor's body was grim and nauseating to those who weren't already jaded by such a procedure.

North walked quietly into the room and stood behind Lucas as she too watched over Connor. It was a little to eerie to see Connor, the once infamous 'Deviant Hunter', laying so vulnerable and broken with his heart torn out of his chest. What made it all the more disturbing was seeing the very android that had been designed to replace Connor sitting idle and keeping vigil at his side.

Despite North's silence Lucas knew that she had returned the bay.

"Simon couldn't find a suitable replacement." Lucas stated in a low whisper as he sensed North standing behind him. "He and Josh are currently looking through the manifest of the remaining CyberLife crates stored in warehouses around the city, but the chances of finding a suitable Thirium pump is still incredibly low. They have a less than four percent chance of success."

"What about the original pump?" The fiery deviant asked as she tried to think of an alternative solution to their problem. "Can it be saved?"

"I could only repair so much of it without any compatible replacement circuitry." The examination of the pump had been simultaneously informative and discouraging for the bright technician. "Even if we placed it back inside his chest, his self-healing program still wouldn't be able to repair what I could not."

"What do we do now?"

Lucas bowed his head sadly but didn't answer. The silence itself was all the answer that North needed to hear to know that the outlook was incredibly grim.

"Shit." Wrapping her arms around herself North rubbed her palms up and down her biceps in a self-soothing manner. "I thought he'd-"

The elevator doors on the far side of the room opened as Hank and Markus walked into the emergency repair bay together. It seemed that even while unconscious Connor was still a popular guy that had many friends wanting to see him.

As soon as Lucas saw Hank, he turned his gaze away from the senior detective as if ashamed and stood up from his seat to walk away to give Hank and Connor some space. The newly awoken deviant still felt a modicum of guilt for how he had behaved toward Connor and Hank in the past despite being openly and repeatedly forgiven by the two well in advance.

"I'm going to check in with Josh and Simon." Lucas stated quietly as he walked away from Connor, away from Hank, and disappeared from sight inside the adjacent room. "They'll need all the help they can get."

With Markus still at his side Hank walked over to the table and stared down at Connor's expressionless face. The terrified man stared at the massive hole in Connor's chest where his heart should be and shook his head sadly. The excess blood had been wiped away from Connor's artificial skin and the heavy bleeding had been stemmed off, but the lack of a tangible heartbeat kept the deviant's appearance like that of a corpse rather than an existing being.

"North," Markus whispered respectfully to his lover who was watching everything from afar. "let's give them some privacy."

Remaining silent North agreed and joined Markus as they stepped through the doorway to the adjoined room where their other colleagues were searching for any compatible parts for Connor. The two detectives were left alone together, not that Connor would even know what was happening around him, and Hank had a moment to speak his mind without anyone eavesdropping.

Standing beside the exam table Hank grabbed the top of the sheet covering Connor's legs and pulled it up a little higher over the deviant's torso to try to keep Connor warm for the deviant's own comfort. The sight of the air intake lines running down Connor's throat and the Thirium-filled tubes inserted inside of his opened Thirium pump port in the deviant's chest was almost nauseating.

Resting his hand atop Connor's head Hank ran his fingers lightly through Connor's dark locks of hair before he used his opposite hand to grab onto Connor's limp, cold hand and gave it a tight squeeze.

"It's okay, son."

In a whispering heartbroken tone Hank gave Connor final words of comfort to the dying deviant before him.

"I'm here with you."

Expectedly Connor remained quiet while Hank stayed at his side. There was no sign of consciousness or strength left within the battered deviant's body.

"...You said that you were glad I became a father figure to you in your life."

Again Hank whispered as if not wanting to disturb a sleeping child as he tried to comfort his friend in his time of need.

"Well, the feeling's mutual. I'm glad that you came into my life to become my second son. Don't give up just yet, okay? There's still a lot left that I need to teach you. Things that only a father can teach their child."

Rubbing his hand over Connor's hair in a comforting manner Hank just let out a weary sigh and let his restrained tears finally fall.

"I'll be here when you wake up. I'll be wherever you need me to be whenever you need be to be there."

Closing his eyes Hank took in a deep breath and forced himself to finally say the words he had been trying to avoid ever since Connor said his farewells from the bloodied backseat of the Oldsmobile. The words that Hank knew would absolutely break him if they became the final words he ever spoke to his remaining family.

"Dad is here..."

---

With a worried tone Lucas spoke with Josh and Simon in private regarding their very limited options, and the three of them all agreed that there was no suitable alternate Thirium pump that could be used to replace Connor's damaged heart. The only way for Connor to recover from his potentially fatal injury revolved solely around repairing the damage to his original heart and replacing it within the next four hours before Connor slipped into irreversible shutdown or suffered permanent damage. If Connor's systems remained on bypass for too long then they'd be unable to integrate with another Thirium pump and would reject any type of replacement they tried to use. The drawbacks of being a prototype were rearing their ugly head full force on that chilly spring night.

The dark news left the trio feeling as if they had failed in their quest to save their own people. The tower was supposed to be a safe haven for all deviants when in need of assistance, and it seemed as if the simple promise of keeping their people safe had been broken in a single night with a single tragic incident.

"You've done everything you can." Simon lamented as he looked down at the partially repaired, red tinted Thirium pump safely contained within a protective, transparent, plexiglass box on the nearby desk. The trio had worked together to repair what they could to salvage Connor's heart, but it seemed their talent and work just wasn't going to be good enough. "There's nothing more than can be done. You tried your best, Lucas. Don't be ashamed."

"There still has to be a way to save him!" Lucas stared at the motionless heart with an almost hypnotic gaze as he refused to give up on his older brother. "What if we took the circuitry from an 'AX' model and used it to temporarily replace the damaged circuitry of the Thirium pump until Connor's self-healing program repairs the more critical components and adapts the circuitry to update it to his own model?"

"That's only theoretical." Josh shook his head somberly at the suggestion. "Besides, that can only be done with advanced parts being used to replace obsolete parts. And even if we did have the necessary parts, Connor's still a prototype. There's no guarantee that his system would even accept such a transfer."

Markus and North had entered the room and overheard the tail end of the conversation which in turn made them both stop short. The heavy emotion of the room only confirmed the grim subject being discussed without the duo needing any further context to know what was happening in their absence.

"Lucas," Markus addressed the technician as kindly as he could. "maybe you should go sit with Hank and Connor until..." Too upset to continue Markus trailed off for a moment before finishing his statement. He didn't want to admit that Connor wasn't going to make it, but he knew the odds were too low to not accept the macabre possibility. "You'll need closure. Trust me on this."

"What?" Lucas turned to look at Markus with defiance in his pale green eyes as he refused to accept the odds stacked against Connor. "That's it? We're just giving up on him without a fight?"

"We did everything possible." Not necessarily willing to admit defeat Markus just responded with logic and reason. "There are some things that are just too broken to be fixed. I'm sorry."

"No." Somberly Lucas sank down into a chair beside the desk and pressed his forehead to his palms as he leaned his elbows atop his knees. "Markus... I'll tell Hank what's happening. It's... It's my responsibility. After all, Connor's my..." Pausing for a moment Lucas let the emotional words pass his lips. "He's my brother."

Sighing quietly to himself Markus motioned for Simon and Josh to leave the room before doing the same to North. Standing beside Lucas empathetically Markus put his hand on the deviant's shoulder in a gesture of sincere compassion.

"I know how much it hurts to lose a family member." The deviant leader had gone through the heartbreak of losing Carl only a few months prior, and he knew that the pain was nearly unbearable when it came to the loss of someone considered family. "Take as much time as you need. We'll be upstairs in the office if you need us for anything."

Lucas nodded slowly as Markus let his shoulder go and exited the room with the other deviants to give the skilled technician some space to think. Sitting alone beside the partially repaired ruby red heart of his own brother still tucked inside the protective box, Lucas stared at it with wonder and frustration. The deviant technician then looked down at his own hand still stained in Connor's evaporating blue blood with disgust and inspiration. Closing his fingers into a tight fist an intriguing thought popped into his mind.

A thought that was worth exploring considering the painful lack of alternate solutions to their very critical problem.

"I'm an 'RK' model. I'm more advanced than Connor."

Relaxing his hand Lucas placed it atop the box and stared at the red tinted, motionless heart within laying just centimeters beneath his touch.

"The circuitry doesn't have to be from an identical Thirium pump, it just needs to come from an identical source."

Moving quickly Lucas shrugged off his white lab coat and rolled up the long white sleeve of his uniform shirt from his left arm. Pressing down on his wrist with his two right forefingers, Lucas retracted the artificial skin from his forearm then pressed down again to slide open a panel of the plastimetal frame to reveal the inner components of his forearm that were tucked within.

The small, delicate tools that Lucas had used to repair Connor's heart were still resting nearby, just begging to be used again. Selecting a piece of equipment similar to that of needle-thin forceps Lucas began isolating and removing delicate pieces of his own circuitry from within his forearm with a painstaking accuracy normally reserved only for the greatest marksmen on the planet.

"...If this doesn't work," Lucas told himself as he held a small but powerful piece of circuitry between the tips of the forceps. "then I can at least tell Hank that I actually did everything in my power that I could to save Connor. This is all that I have left to give."

---

Unable to look away from the dying deviant resting on the table, Hank stared at the rhythmically blinking red L.E.D. in Connor's temple and continued to comb his fingers through Connor's dark hair. The Thirial activity monitor was showing no heartbeat, a weak ventilation rate, a slightly elevated core temperature, low Thirium pressure and a lower than average Thirium volume. Hank was watching as the blinking of Connor's L.E.D. began to slow its rate as Connor's systems started to slowly shutdown one by one despite the external support that he was receiving. It wouldn't be long before Connor's red L.E.D. shifted to a colorless gray after his body died and his mind turned off permanently.

That meant that it wouldn't be much longer before Hank had to say goodbye to Connor.

He'd have say goodbye to another partner.

Goodbye to another friend.

...Another son.

Connor's breathing began to slow again as his system started to have a negative reaction to the external ventilator being used to keep him alive. The device was straining his already weakened biocomponents as his system struggled to properly initiate his self-healing program. That particular program wouldn't be able to undo the damage in time even if it could function properly without external support.

"Connor... when you get to the other side, I... I need you to do me a favor."

Hank absentmindedly began to squeeze Connor's hand tighter as he spoke and tried to keep his tears restrained.

"I need you to find Cole and tell him that I'm sorry I couldn't save him, and that I never stopped thinking about him. Tell him that for me, and then... Stay with him until I come to join you, all right? I'll find you both on the other side when my own time comes. I need you to be his big brother until I can be his and your father again. After that, we'll be inseparable and a real family."

The door to the adjoined room slid open and Lucas all but sprinted back over to the table on the opposite side of Hank with the repaired, but still red tinted Thirium pump clutched protectively in his right hand. Beneath the long, baggy sleeve of his white lab coat Lucas's left hand and arm were secured within an external plastimetal cast as if to protect the limb after being damaged, and the cast was being held against his chest courtesy of sling around his shoulders.

"Hank..." Holding up the heart for the senior detective to see Lucas gave Hank a subtle nod. "I found a solution."

"Lucas?" Staring at the heart in Lucas's hand made Hank's blue eyes widen for a moment. "What's-"

"I managed to repair Connor's heart but I need your help."

"M-My help?" Hank shot up from his chair and leaned over the table to look directly into Lucas's eyes as the deviant technician hovered over Connor; hovered over his older brother. "You need me to help?"

"Yes. This needs to be done quickly and we don't have time for the others to rejoin us down here."

"O-Okay." Eager to do what needed to be done Hank threw off his Thirium soaked coat and readily rolled up his long shirt sleeves to his elbows. "What do I have to do? Guide me."

Lucas held out Connor's heart, reaching over the downed deviant's motionless body, to give it to Hank. "I'm going to turn off the bypass machine and once it's off we'll only have two minutes to replace Connor's heart."

"Two minutes?"

"Connor's shutdown timer is down to six minutes, but after everything that's happened I suspect that it might be inaccurate and the number much lower. Here." Lucas pulled back the sheet from Connor's chest and pointed to the hole where his heart needed to be placed. "Put the pump right here. I'll unhook the top bypass tube, and once it's free press the connecting valve on the pump to where the tube wa, and lock it in to place by turning the top bracket off the valve clockwise into the coupling."

"Like this?" Pushing aside his fear Hank leveled his voice and asked for confirmation as he placed both of his shaking hands protectively around the heart and held it over the hole in Connor's chest. "Right here?"

"Yes. Exactly." Lucas reached over to the bypass machine with his functional hand and hovered his finger over the operational switch. "Ready?"

Taking a deep breath and holding it Hank answered in the affirmative. "Ready."

Moving with swift precision Lucas switched off the bypass machine then pressed his fingers around the top bypass tube with the same hand. Swiftly disconnecting the tube from the interior valve of Connor's chest, Lucas pulled back his hand and watched as Hank pressed the pump into position and turned the bracket clockwise until he heard a 'click' confirming a secured connection.

A faint blue glow began to emanate from the replaced heart in Connor's chest as Thirium began to circulate through the top chambers of the biocomponent again.

"Good." Lucas stated as he repeated the motion for the second tube of the machine. And again Hank pressed the pump down against the valve and twisted the bracket until there was another 'click'. "Just like that..."

Slowly Hank pulled his trembling hands away from Connor's heart and watched as the blue glow became brighter and stayed bright. While the pump itself was stable and in position as blue blood began to flow through the absolutely vital biocomponent as normal, the pump itself wasn't moving. Connor's heart still wasn't beating.

Recognizing the change in his system Connor's blinking L.E.D. slowly began to shift into a steadier cycle, though it remained red in color.

"Did it work?" Hank dared to ask as he stared down at the motionless heart worriedly, unsure of what to expect. "Is he...?"

"Yes, but his heart needs to be jumpstarted." Lucas replied confidently as he rolled the bypass machine a little closer to the table. "I can do that too."

Atop the bypass machine were two circular electrode paddles attached via thick black wires. The paddles were of modest size, no bigger than a softball, and had flat metal plates on one side and plastimetal handles on the other side. It was very similar to the android defibrillator that Joel, the precinct technician himself, had for emergency use in his personally dispensary.

"I hate doing this but it's the only way to ensure that the replacement circuitry within the pump will respond correctly." With perfect precision Lucas placed one of the paddles down over the center of Connor's heart and the other at the apex of his chest. "The lowest possible setting should be enough to coax the pump into activity without causing any electrical burns to the pump in the process."

Hank never questioned Lucas or tried to stop him. Stepping away from the table Hank just stared and waited for something, anything to happen. "Do it."

Lucas nodded once as he tightened his grips around the paddles, his left hand struggling somewhat as the plastimetal brace and sling restricted his wrist's movement, and he pressed the release button near the top of the handles. As he pressed the button a controlled flow of electricity surged through Connor's repaired heart causing the deviant's back to arch upward from the table and slam back down again in a single motion.

The L.E.D. in Connor's temple cycled red rapidly three times before transitioning into yellow as his systems began to respond to the controlled shock.

Pulling his hands and paddles back from Connor's opened chest Lucas and Hank looked down at Connor's heart and waited. One second passed, then another, a third, and then at last the pump contracted and relaxed with a single beat causing the pump to turn a bright blue color. The motion repeated to provide a second beat. Then another, and another...

Connor's heart was finally beating.

Feeling as if a crushing weight had been lifted from his shoulders Lucas practically collapsed back against the bypass machine in relief as he watched his older brother come back from the brink of death before his very eyes. In spite of the odds stacked against them Lucas had succeeded and prevented Connor from shutting down.

"He's back."

"You did it." Hank pressed his hands down against the edge of the table to support himself as he let out his breath at last and leaned over the revived deviant who seemed to defy death yet again. "...You saved his life, Lucas."

"It... really worked." Lucas all but huffed as he stood upright again and leaned watched Connor's heart beating again inside of his chest. It was a wonderful sight to behold after such a close call. "It was a successful procedure."

"Lucas." Hank lifted his head and on his shaking legs walked around the other side of the table to stand before the deviant technician. Wrapping his arms around Lucas in a tight hug, Hank felt a sense of lingering resentment he was secretly harboring toward the 'RK-900' finally leave his mind. "You did it, you saved your brother's life."

"No." Lucas lifted his arms up slowly to reciprocate the hug, as his fear of Hank faded away along with Hank's own resentment. "We saved him."

---

Word quickly spread throughout the tower and the precinct that Connor had miraculously survived the attack through clever and resourceful engineering. The repaired deviant detective would need time to fully recover after enduring such a brutal assault, but the fact that he survived at all made the resulting recovery period seem like a walk in the park. Though still unconscious Connor was responding well to the subsequent treatment being provided by both Simon and Josh as they monitored his condition very closely. Hank was sitting vigil beside the deviant with his hand resting atop Connor's forearm just waiting for his friend and his son to open his eyes and return to the waking world.

However, not everything was peaceful within the tower. Markus and North were on the ground floor in the main office reprimanding Lucas for his risking his life in such a dangerous and secretive manner. The 'RK-900' could've gotten himself killed by performing such a risky, experimental procedure on his own body, and that was something that the leaders just couldn't turn a blind eye to.

"You could've crippled your arm permanently or done worse!" Markus shouted at the scolded and newly deviated android as Lucas flexed his substantially weaker left arm and left hand where he sat. It was the first time that Lucas had done something worthy of discipline, and it was clear he wasn't sure how to respond. "What you did was dangerous, reckless and even stupid!"

"I had to do something!" Lucas argued as he stood his ground and stood by his actions without any hint of an apology for what he had done. "I couldn't just let him die. He's my brother!"

Markus didn't know how to respond to the defensive remark and held his silence in turn. North on the other hand has a few thoughts of her own on the matter and wasn't about to hold them back when she had the chance to let them out.

"Lucas," she sounded more frightened than angry as she spoke up. "you're the most advanced android on this entire planet. If you permanently damaged yourself then there would've been absolutely nothing we could've done to help you. Not to mention the fact that you're our lead technician! If something happens to you then all of our people will be affected. We need you to stay as healthy as possible."

"It was the only way to save Connor, and it worked. Besides," Lucas kept his good hand over his damaged forearm as his self-healing program tried to compensate for the now missing circuitry in the limb. "now we know that it is possible to transfer advanced hardware into obsolete models. Think of how many more lives we can save now that we know this can work."

"Don't try to use this breakthrough as some type of excuse for recklessness."

"I'm not." Lucas continued to defend himself sincerely without any form of hostility to his voice. "However, I am saying that while what I did was impulsive and foolish, some good did come of it. Seeing as I am a part of this community, I will accept whatever discipline comes my way without protest to discourage other deviants from being reckless in response to my own behavior. Just don't expect me to apologize for doing whatever it took to save Connor's life."

"Well?" North sighed and crossed her arms over her chest as she looked over at Markus to see how he'd handle the situation. "What are we going to do with him?"

"...First time offense." Markus bit his lower lip for a moment before he spoke up again. "Lucas, you get a verbal warning. But if you ever, and I mean ever, under any circumstances put yourself at risk like that again, there will be consequences. Are we clear?"

"Yes." Wisely Lucas nodded in agreement without any protest as he accepted his very lenient punishment. "I understand completely."

"Good. Go check in with Simon." Motioning toward the closed door Markus effectively dismissed Lucas from the meeting. He didn't want to have to yell at one of his own people longer than absolutely necessary. "Let him examine your arm, I want a full detailed report on your condition before the end of the day tomorrow."

"Very well." Clutching at his left forearm still protected under the plastimetal brace and sling, Lucas respectfully obeyed the order and prepared to take his leave of the office for the rest of the rainy night. "I'll report to Simon immediately."

As Lucas left the office Markus felt a hole being burned in the side of his face from North. Sensing her intense stare, he turned to look at her and dropped his arms at his sides.

"What is it?"

"First offense gets a warning?" The incredibly light sentence seemed too simple for North's taste. "Since when?"

"Since Lucas saved Connor's life. Don't worry though," not showing any sign of weakness Markus made it clear he was still going to be calling the shots. "I wasn't bluffing when I said that there'd be consequences for any further misbehavior or misconduct."

"Let's just hope it doesn't come to that." North uncrossed her arms and wrapped her hand around Markus's hand tightly. The two retracted their artificial skin and affectionately connected to one another through direct contact of their plastimetal frames. "For both of our sakes."

"I never realized how stressful it was for a technician to be faced with limited options in saving another deviant's life." The deviant leader openly empathized. "I can't fault Lucas for taking desperate measures when he had no other means of even trying to save Connor's life."

"Even so, we need to quell that type of reckless behavior. You've seen firsthand how dangerous our own people can be when we're not kept in line or being governed by a level head."

"I've also witnessed firsthand how dangerous our own people can be when desperation takes hold, and no one offers them a helping hand." Markus remarked in a knowing tone as he gave North a terse glance. "I won't stand idly by and just hope that things work out in the end. We're through an era of being passive and are now in an era we have a say in how we live our lives. We're not going to squander that gift over petty grievances or arguments."

"You're right." North leaned against Markus's side and looked at the closed office door with a sense of unease. "We still have a long way to go before our people will be able to roam the streets freely, safely and without constant need of supervision."

---

Within the depths of the tower's emergency repair bay Connor was resting well and showing no negative side effects from his lifesaving procedure. His L.E.D. was now cycling blue in color again as his systems fully rebooted and stabilized while he remained in deep stasis mode on the exam table. The two I.V.'s feeding Thirium into Connor's system through both of his arms had been removed, the tube snaked down his throat that had been forcing external ventilation into his artificial lungs had been extracted, and now he was breathing on his own. As his chest slowly rose and fell in a steady rhythm it was evident to all who passed by that Connor's heart was beating on its own once more.

The deviant detective was still alive.

Hank continued to watch over Connor diligently at the deviant's bedside. Staring at Connor's repaired chest - the panel now closed, his artificial skin regenerated, the blue blood wiped away and only a faint scar left behind - Hank found himself absolutely awestruck by the vitality androids. Despite Connor being alive and well Hank was still worried that it was too good to be true.

Reaching over Hank gently rested his hand down over the center of Connor's chest and felt the repaired heart beating under his palm with a palpable thrum. The beat was strong, consistent and steady. No one would ever assume that the deviant detective's heart had ever been damaged.

"Connor?"

Speaking softly Hank put his free hand atop Connor's head and rested his palm against the deviant's soft, dark locks of hair once more. Lightly Hank's thumb began absentmindedly brushing through the locks in a comforting manner as he spoke to Connor in a low voice. It was an old habit that Hank had developed after Cole was born and in need of parental comfort.

"If you can hear me, I want to let you know that by tomorrow morning I'll be able to take you back home to rest. You're going to be just fine, kid."

Hank praised Connor's prognosis with genuine hope audible in his voice.

"Good thing, too. I can't be a dad again if I don't have a son to take care of anymore."

The recovering deviant remained quiet as he rested peacefully under Hank's watchful eyes. As the senior detective kept his palm over Connor's chest, he managed a weak but sincere smile as he watched and felt Connor's chest rise and fall without breaking rhythm.

"Thanks for staying with me, son."

-next chapter-