Patiently Connor stood in the opened doorway of the backdoor and waited for his new puppy, "Sumo the Second", to return to the house after being let outside for the morning. The fluffy and sweet tempered puppy was already fairly big and looked like he'd be full grown in just a few more weeks, but he was still in fact a puppy and still needed additional training. It didn't take long for the 'new' Sumo to pick up on the basic commands; sit, stay, come, lay down and outside, but he was still a little stubborn about coming back inside after being let outside for a few minutes. Then again, the puppy had been cooped up in a cage for over two months and finally had the space to run around, so Connor really didn't mind.

It was interesting to see that Hank too seemed to have gained some energy after spending time with the new puppy. Having another Sumo, a new addition to the family, made all the difference after such a gloomy day. The man had even volunteered to take Sumo out on walks every now and then.

"Good morning, Hank." Connor replied as he sensed Hank enter the kitchen behind him as he watched Sumo running about the backyard. "Sumo's outside."

"Yeah, g'morning..."

"Sleep well?"

"Well enough." Hank walked over to the counter to get some freshly brewed coffee before he and Connor reported to the precinct for their shift that morning. "It's nice to wake up without a damn kink in my back for once."

"I've been meaning to ask but I've been distracted as of late, how was your date with Rose?"

"Fine." Being a little cryptic Hank answered honestly without offering too much detail. "It was just lunch, nothing too special."

"Are you going to continue to see Rose for additional lunch dates?"

"Uh..." It was then Hank blushed a little and did his best to hide his reaction from Connor discreetly. "I don't know."

"You seem to enjoy her company."

"Yeah, well, we have a lot in common." Clearing his anxious throat Hank tried to keep the mild twinge of embarrassment from his voice. "We're both widowed, we both have bullheaded sons, a similar taste in music, love to cook... It's nothing romantic if that's what you're implying."

"It is what I'm implying, and the fact that you're blushing is indicative-"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Hank held up his hand somewhat defensively as he silenced Connor with the simple gesture. "We're not going to talk about my love-life, no matter what! Please, drop it."

"Okay. If you insist." Connor gave Hank a mischievous smirk as he spoke and kept his amusement somewhat hidden. "I won't mention it again."

Regaining his composure Hank easily changed the subject at hand and away from himself.

"So... Is the new Sumo still running around out there?" Casually Hank joined Connor at the still opened door with his full coffee mug in hand to watch the large puppy romping around happily. "Must be nice to be outside after being cooped in a kennel for so long."

"Yes. Perhaps I should get a chain so Sumo so can stay outside while we're away and not worry about him getting out of the yard."

"Good luck." Hank laughed at the suggestion with a knowing coy smirk of his own and sipped at his coffee. "You'll need one hell of a strong chain to keep him in the backyard all day."

"How so?"

"With large breeds like that, especially when they're young and full of energy, they can easily pull a chain out of the ground or break the clip around their collar. That's why I kept the original Sumo inside all the time. Then as he got older he got used to being inside and never really gave me much of a problem with sneaking out of the yard. You know, unless a squirrel got his attention or something."

Sumo trotted back inside the house between Connor and Hank over to his food bowl on the kitchen floor. The puppy was just as laidback and calm around people as his predecessor had been, making the puppy's arrival all the more comforting to the duo. Even if he was messier and at times far more energetic than his late, mature counterpart.

"He hasn't had any accidents in the past three days." Connor reminded Hank coolly as he retrieved a package of puppy training pads from the top of the cabinet in the kitchen. Placing one on the floor beside the backdoor Connor checked Sumo's water then noted the time. "He's used the training pad while we've been out of the house as well. He's learning fairly quickly."

"Yeah, yeah. I don't care so much about the messes since you clean them up, it's the smell that comes with the messes that bother me." Hank finished off his coffee and pulled the car keys from his coat pocket as he gave the deviant a quick nod. "Come on, let's go before my back tries to stop me."

"Good idea." Petting Sumo's back a little before he followed after Hank toward the front door. "Be good, Sumo. We'll be back this evening."

Arriving at the precinct at their usual morning time Connor and Hank were met with the typical ambience of a busy bullpen and a cascade of nervous voices giving reports to the police officers in charge of their newly assigned investigations. However, there was something rather unusual hanging in the air at that moment that only the two sharp minded detectives seemed to notice. Neither detective could quite place or explain the bizarre feeling hanging heavily in the air, but they both knew something serious was happening at that very moment and it was something that needed to be handled by skilled professionals as soon as possible. Trusting their instincts as detectives the duo new that their intrigue was a mutual reaction to the dread in the air.

Silently Hank and Connor exchanged knowing glances regarding their mutual bad feeling without causing anyone who might be eavesdropping to panic. Maintaining control at all times was key to any successful investigation whether such an investigation was official or personal.

"I have a bad feeling about today." Connor remarked in a low voice as he and Hank sat behind their respective desks in the bullpen and turned on their terminal screens. "It's as if I can physically feel it as well."

"Yeah. I got it, too."

"That's not a positive sign." The deviant's blue L.E.D. flashed to yellow as he performed a cybernetic scan on the precinct's noted cases and reports to get update the day's events. There was nothing that seemed too out of the ordinary to warrant their mutual worry, yet the strange feeling was still abundantly hanging in the air. "I wish I knew what was happening."

"Huh..." Hank looked around the bullpen curiously and noticed Gavin's empty desk but saw that the detective's jacket was still hanging off the back of the chair which meant he was in the precinct somewhere. "Where's Gavin?"

"Interrogation." Chris overhead the question from his own desk and answered calmly. "Some guy wanted to talk to Gavin about an old case he handled a few years back. He's been back there for almost twenty minutes if need to talk to him."

"An old case?" It was then Hank gave Connor a righteously wary look from where he sat. "That sounds pretty weird to me."

"I agree." Connor quickly ran an internal scan over the cases that Gavin had worked on over the past ten years to try find something of interest. There were far too many for the deviant to isolate and narrow down without any further information at his disposal. "...There are too many cases to isolate at this time. Perhaps one of us should check in on him instead. Unless you'd like me to continue to sift through his old cases one at a time."

"Do both. Come on," standing up from his desk Hank motioned for Connor to follow after him. "I don't like this."

"What's going on?" Chris was unsure of what the two detectives were homing in on but he knew he could always trust their judgment. "Lieutenant?"

"Chris, go let Fowler know something's up." Hank instructed in a terse voice as he and Connor made their way to the observation room connected to the interrogation room. "We're going to check in on Gavin."

"What should I tell him?"

"Tell him that we're checking in on a 'hunch'. He'll know what's up."

Without questioning Hank for a second Connor followed after the more seasoned and experienced detective as they discreetly entered the observation room and watched Gavin speaking with the questionable man on the other side of the one-way mirror. Hank turned on the small speaker so they could privately hear what was being said without intruding in on the conversation or alerting the unknown man to the presence in the process. The duo was determined to find the source of their mutual bad feeling and figure out what was happening under their own roof.

Through the one-way glass mirror dividing the interrogation room from the observation room, the two voices of Gavin and the odd man being interrogated were somewhat muffled, yet still completely audible and easily understood as they had a heated discussion with one another. In spite of his infamous and at times obstructive temper, Gavin was able to maintain a professional demeanor while the man appeared for more frazzled and irritable. Whatever reason that had brought the man to the precent was clearly something very important, and yet the man was keeping his guard up and refusing to cooperate with Gavin as the detective attempted to ask his questions and get some proper answers.

The man in question was in his late forties, but he looked much older. With thinning hair that was graying over previously dark locks, heavily bagged eyes and a sickly yellow tint to his skin, the man was obviously in poor health. He was clinging desperately to something pressed against his chest that no one really paid any attention to as he sat across from Gavin in the interrogation room.

"Look man," Gavin was trying to sound completely calm and cool as he spoke to the strange man standing in front of the door but his body language told a different story. Sitting on the edge of the table Gavin had his arms crossed defensively over his chest and his eyes were locked onto the other man's face intensely. "I don't remember what happened to your wife, but I am sorry she-"

"Don't toy with me..." The man pleaded as he fumbled with something unseen between his hands. The object in question was concealed under the dark thick sleeves of his winter coat just out of sight. "I just want answers. Now. RIGHT now."

"Okay, okay..." Moving slowly Gavin picked up a small electronic tablet sitting on the edge of the table next to him as a show of compliance. "It'll take a minute, but I can find her case file for you."

Sensing something was very wrong Hank shook his head as he realized that his and Connor's hunches were correct. The man in question was clearly distressed and was showing all outward signs of emotional, if not mental, instability. The man's scrawny shoulders were tense, his arms were folded defensively over his chest, his eyes were glazed over, and his overall demeanor was aggressive despite being in a non-hostile environment. The way he was clinging to an unknown object so desperately raised numerous red flags. The object wasn't a gun or a knife, which explained why Gavin didn't have the man leave it behind or confiscated. However, the object of interest still couldn't be properly identified as it remained concealed behind the man's protective arms.

"I don't like this." Hank commented in a low voice even though no one would be able to hear him through the glass. "There's something very wrong here."

"I agree." Connor went to step out of the room observation to 'check in' on Gavin more directly in the interrogation room. "I want to get a closer look at what the man's holding."

"Right. Be quick about it and be very discreet."

"Will do."

Connor unlocked the door via electronic panel with his bare plastimetal hand and easily stepped over to the neighboring room to do the same. As he entered the interrogation room he stopped just inside the door and feigned ignorance as he spoke to Gavin in a level voice, all the while he spoke his easily scanned the environment and the man sitting across from Gavin.

"Connor?" Seeing Connor immediately put a scowl on Gavin's face. "What are-"

"Detective Reed, you have a phone call waiting for you at your desk." The clever deviant easily lied as his L.E.D. flickered from blue to yellow as he performed his scan and chronicled details. "Is this a bad time?"

"...No. It's fine." Gavin lied too as he gave Connor an unsure glance and chose his next words very carefully as he picked up on the rouse. "I'm almost done speaking to Mr. Lance right now. It's fine, I'll get the call later, take a message for me if you have to."

Connor performed a quick facial scan over the man's facade from an odd angle, but it was enough to confirm the man as 'Evan Lance' just as Gavin stated. There was also a trace amount of concentrated toxins emanating from Lance's person that Connor's system was unable to properly identify without a direct sample. The data would require further analysis at another time.

"Very well." Quickly Connor took the hint and left Gavin alone with Evan. "I'll ask the caller to hold. Sorry for interrupting."

Backing out of the interview room Connor returned to the observation room where Hank was still waiting, watching and listening to every word being spoken.

"Smooth work, kid." Hank didn't take his eyes from the window as Connor rejoined him in the observation room. "Is there any criminal history with this 'Lance' guy?"

"No." Connor replied honestly as he performed a cybernetic scan on the previous case files under Gavin's name once more, isolating the given name and finally identified the case that he had been seeking. "But he did file a case regarding the disappearance and subsequent murder of his wife."

"Gavin handled her case..." The Lieutenant realized calmly as he slipped his phone from his pocket and texted an update to Captain Fowler without having to leave the observation room. "How long ago?"

"Five years prior. Mrs. Monica Lance was reported missing by her husband after he returned home from work. Her car was found abandoned outside the city and her body was found inside the trunk." The details on file were as grim as they were disconcerting. "She had been bound with her hands behind her back and her ankles were tied in a similar manner. She had been stabbed to death. There were no suspects beyond that of the husband, and the case went cold after six months."

"And now Evan is after Gavin for... something. Answers, questions, revenge maybe?" The odd sense in the air remained steadfast as the two detectives tried to figure out what the hell was going on. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Agreed. Something must've-"

"Okay," Gavin's voice cut in sharply knowing that Connor and Hank were watching on the other side of the one-way mirror. He had found the case file that Connor had just uncovered and reviewed it for himself. "here's the file. Five years ago to the day; son of a bitch. I remember now..." Gavin's voice was level and sincere as he read the file. "We couldn't find any trace of the person who-"

"I don't care about the person who did it... You'll never find them!" Evan blurted angrily as his hands tightened around what was now seen as a metallic cylindrical container in his nervous grip. "I just want to know what happened to her. How she died... Did she suffer?"

"I... The coroner's report is right here." Gavin confirmed with a hesitating tone as he felt uncomfortable about going into the details. "It's... not pretty."

"Neither is having your wife murdered and having your neighbors think you're the killer! J-Just tell me! I want the damn TRUTH."

"Okay, all right..." Clearing his voice a little Gavin began reading the report. "Mrs. Lance-"

"Monica." Evan interrupted harshly. "Her name was MONICA."

"Right, 'Monica'." Gavin corrected him before he continued in a steady tone. "She was found in the trunk of her car. She had her arms bound behind her back with duct tape, and her ankles were bound in the same manner. She had been struck in the back of the head, rendering her unconscious. She... endured seven stab wounds to her chest." Gavin cleared his throat again as he tried to remain as calm and cool as possible. "The first wound was fatal as it severed the aorta, and she bled out within seconds."

"...She didn't suffer?"

"No." The confirmation wasn't as comforting as Gavin had hoped it'd be. "She was unconscious the entire time. She didn't feel anything."

"That's good." Evan's eyes narrowed as he stared at Gavin with a malicious intent. Holding out the metal canister in his hands Evan prepared to unscrew the cap. "Too bad you won't have the same luxury."

"SHIT." Hank swore as he and Connor exited the observation room quickly. "Get Gavin out of there, I'm getting back-up!"

With his L.E.D. now glowing red Connor practically tore open the door to the interrogation room to get back inside as quickly as possible. Before Evan even had the chance to turn around or drop the cylinder Connor wrapped his arms around the deranged man's chest as he tackled him up against the far wall to pin him in place and restrain him away from where Gavin was sitting. The canister was still in Evan's hands, but now that he was pinned against the wall, he couldn't open it up and release its unknown contents.

"Gavin, go!" Connor shouted as he used all of his weight to hold Evan at bay against the wall. "I'll keep him restrained!"

Suddenly the cylinder dropped from Evan's shaking hands and rolled along the floor as an aerosol and transparent liquid dripped from the canister onto the floor at a very slow pace, before hissing into a thin aerosolized white cloud into the air.

"Fuck!"

Gavin bolted from the room and pulled on the fire alarm to contact emergency services while also alerting the rest of the building to evacuate due to the unknown substance leaking into the air.

"Everyone out of here, NOW. Move it! Not a drill here, people!"

Connor dragged Evan back away from the wall and kept Evan's arms pinned against his chest to prevent the dangerous man from lashing out. Enraged and surging with adrenaline, Evan struggled to break free of the deviant's strong grip, but Connor held fast and managed to get the man out of the interrogation room as it filled with the aerosolized chemical that Evan had intended to use on Gavin.

Fortunately, the canister was improperly designed, and the chemical was unable to fully deploy from the metal housing and fill the air with the unidentified substance as Evan had originally intended. The leak was too slow to be of immediate danger to the people in the area outside the room. The only people who were seemingly exposed to the contents within the chemicals were Connor and Evan himself.

Dragging the deranged man through the bullpen, Connor was assisted by Hank who grabbed onto Evan's legs and aided Connor in carrying him out of the evacuating precinct to a designated clearing outside, and away from the chemical.

"What the fuck was that?" Hank shouted at Evan as he and Connor carried him outside. "What was that shit?"

Evan didn't say anything as he began to cough violently, nearly causing Connor and Hank to drop him as the violent tremors physically shook his entire body. A sudden spike in his body temperature and his wheezing breaths indicated respiratory distress that both Connor and Hank noticed instantly.

"Fuck! There's a medic standing by outside." Hank stated as he and Connor made their way over the precinct medic who was standing by to tend to those who had been afflicted by the chemical. "Get him over there before he keels over."

Connor nodded as he and Hank laid the man down on the sidewalk where the precinct medic was standing. Hank slipped the cuffs from his belt and placed them on Evan's wrists behind his back forcing him to lay in an uncomfortable position atop his arms on the sidewalk, and then backed away as the medic assessed the dangerous suspect.

"Where's Gavin?" Connor asked as he looked about the immediate area for any sign of detective, and his red L.E.D. cycled back to yellow. "He was possibly exposed to that unknown chemical as well."

"Decontamination." The experienced Lieutenant replied curtly with a pointed thumb over his shoulder to where the designated are decontamination area had already been set up to treat everyone who came into contact with the potentially toxic substance. "Just following protocol. You're next."

"Y-Yes, of course." Stifling a weak cough of his own Connor made his way over to the quarantined area where the C.D.C. would isolate those who were in close proximity to the chemical while also running a sweep of the building to identify and remove the toxin before anyone became violently ill from unintentional exposure. Joining Gavin at the decontamination area Connor ran a biometric scan over the human and was relieved to note stable vital signs. "You're unharmed."

"...Yeah." Gavin confirmed as he stood completely still with his arms folded defensively over his chest. "Uh, thanks for doing what you did back there. Pinning that guy to the wall so I could get my ass out of there. That took a lot of balls." It was hard to show his gratitude but Gavin forced himself to admit it all the same. "Thanks, I guess."

"You're welcome."

"This whole thing is fuckin' bullshit." The abrasive detective shook his head and scoffed a little as additional C.D.C. personnel pulled up to the precinct and began to section off the area. "Bastard wanted to kill me because I couldn't figure out who killed his wife. What the hell, right?"

"Right." Connor withheld a very faint smile at the attempt to lighten the heavy mood. Another weak cough escaped Connor's lips prompting the deviant to politely put his hand over his mouth as he had seen humans do hundreds of times before. "I-It's very strange."

Such a strangely human reaction didn't elude Gavin's attention. "You good?"

"Yes. I'm m-merely enduring a m-mild ventilation expulsion to rem-move the airborne chem-mical from m-my system."

"Do you know what that shit was?"

"I was u-unable to gain a proper sample for analysis, but-" Another cough cut him off unexpectedly and stole his words. "I... couldn't..."

"Shit, man." Seeing the deviant coughing and his L.E.D. flashing between yellow and red made Gavin feel a tad uncomfortable. "Maybe you should sit down for a minute?"

"I-I'm functioning properly." Connor dismissed the comment casually as his L.E.D. finally settled on yellow. "I'll be o-okay in a moment."

"Sure. Whatever you say, 'Tinman'."

As a team dressed in bright orange hazmat suits converged over the precinct, numerous personnel began assessing the officers who were in the closest range to the chemical for any sign of illness or poisoning. Since Connor wasn't human the C.D.C. was unsure what to look for in an affected android and merely waved off the cursory medical exam in favor of only giving him a decontamination shower. While Gavin and the other nearest officers were actually being medically examined Connor was shown to an emergency shower to have any external chemical residue clinging to his skin and clothes thoroughly rinsed away.

Connor endured the uncomfortable but warm shower without a complaint and patiently waited to be cleared to leave the area to resume his investigation. As he had his person decontaminated Connor received a warning in his visual processors regarding potential ventilation contamination, but he dismissed the warning as easily as he dismissed Gavin's worries a moment before.

With complete indifference to Evan's life Hank watched as the precinct medic and the newly arrived paramedics checked over Evan and reported his condition as serious and was quickly deteriorating into critical. Additional paramedics arrived at the scene to aid the potentially affected officers and to provide emergency first aid to Evan who had fallen unconscious and was in respiratory distress. The man was in need of assistance in order to breathe at all as whatever chemical he had released within the precinct readily damaged his lungs. It was a blur of activity as the numerous teams of medics set to work to take care of the people in need and to keep the dangerous man alive.

While Hank didn't care if Evan lived or died, he did care about learning why Evan attacked Gavin the precinct. Such a desperate act didn't happen every day, even in a place as tense as Detroit.

"Dumb bastard." Hank muttered to himself as Captain Fowler joined him and looked down at the gasping suspect. "What do you think, Jeffrey? I say he was suicidal and wanted to take Gavin down with him."

"I think you're right. Good work, by the way." The commanding officer made sure to give credit was credit was due. "I was able to get all non-essential personnel out of the building before anything serious went down."

"What do we know about this Evan Lance, jackass?"

"He worked as a high school chemistry teacher until his wife was murdered. He spent the last five years of his life living in solitude in his apartment and working from home. I guess he finally went off the deep end when the anniversary of his wife's murder passed by without any progress."

"Being a chemistry teacher explains how he knew how to make that damn canister." The senior detective deduced keenly. "Good thing for us he fucked up at the finish line and didn't unleash the full contents."

"Agreed." Connor rejoined Hank at the sidewalk, his clothing was damp, and his hair was still wet from the decontamination shower, but he still looked surprisingly professional. "How is Mr. Lance doing?"

"Looks like he got the worst dose of whatever the hell that stuff was." Hank replied in a tired, somewhat annoyed manner. "How're you doing?"

Captain Fowler gave Connor a respectful nod before departing to check in with Gavin who was still being medically examined. "Good work, Connor."

"Thank you, Captain." Another weak cough stopped Connor from answering Hank right away as acknowledged his commanding officer. Clearing his throat he finally replied as honestly as he could. "I-I'm okay."

"Really?" Hank was righteously skeptical of such a claim. "You don't sound okay."

"It's my expul-" Against his willConnor began coughing, much harsher than before, causing him to press his hand to his chest and his blue L.E.D. to flicker to yellow in response. "...pro-program."

"Connor?" Cautiously Hank put his hand against Connor's upper back to hold the deviant steady as he coughed and struggled to breathe. Escorting Connor over to an ambulance Hank made sure the deviant didn't trip or fall over as he walked and tried to catch his breath. "Sit down for a minute. Try to catch your breath."

Obediently Connor took a seat on the bumper of the ambulance as he continued to cough into his hand while his system attempted to rid the chemical from his ventilation biocomponents. The coughing was so violent Connor didn't have the chance to breathe in, only out, and his L.E.D. flashed to red and began to blink frantically in his right temple.

"Shit, where's Joel?" Hank asked as he looked around the area worriedly, his hand never leaving Connor's back. "Hey! We need a technician over here!"

Connor continued to cough as his self-healing program fought to isolate and expel the toxin from his system. Leaning forward with uncoordinated weakness the deviant fought to keep his balance, but fortunately Hank kept his hand on Connor's back to prevent him from falling off the bumper and onto the hard sidewalk or street.

"Easy, son. I got you."

Under Captain Fowler's orders Joel had been trying to identify the chemical used in the failed attack when he heard Hank's voice calling out to him loudly. Rushing over to the ambulance with his emergency android care satchel slung over his shoulder as a precautionary reflex, Joel stood beside Connor and visually assessed the deviant quickly. The sound of the brutal coughing was all it took for the trained technician to know that Connor was in trouble.

"He needs oxygen." Joel announced loudly as he helped Hank to hold Connor steady. "What happened to him?"

"He was in the interrogation room when that chemical went off."

"Oh, damn." Pulling his audioscope from his satchel Joel quickly put the ear pieces into place and ran the bell over Connor's back to listen to his coughing more directly while Connor was practically doubled-over. "Shit, his ventilation system has been compromised by the chemical exposure."

Joel slung the audioscope around his neck as he put both of his hands against Connor's back next to Hank's hand.

"Help me get him on a gurney."

"Yeah, right." Hank waved over the paramedics who were rolling a gurney between them and they quickly responded. While Hank worked with Joel to lift Connor up from the bumper and lay him down over the gurney, he turned to the paramedics and motioned for them to go help the other officers. "We'll take care of him, you check on everyone else. "

Joel nodded in approval as he loosened Connor's black tie from around his neck and pulled the oxygen tank from the back of the ambulance where he slipped the oxygen mask over his nose and mouth to ease his struggling breaths. Noticing the oxygen being used to treat Connor's condition, Hank asked the condition what it was going to do to Connor's body.

"Why's he coughing so bad?"

"Whatever that chemical is hasn't been properly identified by Connor's system. I suspect it's coating the inside of his ventilation biocomponents making expulsion difficult, if not impossible."

"What's the oxygen mask going to do?"

"It'll help clear the chemical from his system and help prevent him from overheating." Taking the audioscope from around his neck Joel returned the ear pieces to their proper place and ran the bell directly over Connor's chest, listening carefully to the faltering breaths that the deviant was fighting to take. "It sounds like he's having some kind of asthma attack or an allergic reaction."

"A what? He can do that?"

"Apparently so..." Lightly Joel propped up the head of the gurney so Connor was lying in a somewhat upright position to help him breathe easier still. "I personally haven't seen anything like this before."

"Shit. So what do we do?"

"Hope his self-healing program is able to expel the chemical before his ventilation biocomponents fail him."

"That's it?" Hank wasn't happy with the lack of action that either of them could take to try to help Connor. "We just stand back and hope for the best?"

"I'll monitor him closely, but until we know what the chemical was in the attack I won't be able to do much of anything to help him."

"Yeah, I get it. Do what you can."

"Right." Falling back on his instincts Joel proceeded to pull the portable Thirial activity monitor from his satchel and sat it on the gurney next to the deviant who was watching everything happening around him through blurry brown eyes. "Connor, I'm going to hook you up to the monitor and keep track of your pump rate. Can you speak at all?"

Connor swallowed once but when he tried to speak his voice modulator failed to produce a sound and he just coughed again.

"That's okay, just relax and focus your self-healing program on your ventilation biocomponents."

Nodding slowly Connor acknowledged the order and closed his eyes as he engaged the program to full power. His red tinted L.E.D. began cycling at a rapid clip as his program fought to heal his biocomponents while expelling the toxin from his system.

Patiently Hank stood beside the gurney as Joel opened up Connor's damp white dress shirt and attached the wireless leads to his chest to track the deviant's pump rate - his heartbeat - through the Thirium pump still functioning properly and circulating his blue blood throughout his system. It was the only thing keeping him alive and functioning while his ventilation biocomponents were compromised.

"This will help me figure out how to help you." Calm, collected and professional as ever, Joel counted Connor's pulse and determined he was still stable. "Breathe deeply and try to relax until we know what the chemical crap is."

"Hang in there, kid." Acting as a father rather than a detective, Hank ran his hand over Connor's forehead and brushed back the wet, rogue lock of hair that constantly hung down in the deviant's face, only to have the rogue lock of hair return to its original position. "You'll make it. Then you can go home and spoil that pup rotten."

Connor's eyes opened a sliver as he gave Hank a subtle but reassuring nod.

"Okay, getting some idea of what I'm working with here." Joel noted Connor's consistent vitals on the monitor and looked over at the team working to isolate, identify and remove the dangerous chemical in the precinct. "I'm going to go see if there's been any progress on figuring out exactly what the hell we're dealing with. Can you stay here?"

"Yeah, I'll watch him."

"Okay." Moving quickly Joel made his way from the gurney and over to the hazmat team checking over the confiscated canister. "I'll be back as soon as I have an update."

From the sidewalk a few feet away, the paramedics tending to Evan began to move frantically as the deranged man fell into cardiac arrest and required resuscitation. Hank turned to look at the scene over his shoulder with continued indifference at the man who had endangered the entire precinct over misguided rage and a pointless vendetta against the wrong person. As the paramedics fought to save Evan, a useless endeavor in Hank's eyes, Gavin made his way over to where Connor was laying on the gurney.

The deviant was nearly unconscious but fighting to keep awake as he struggled to breathe.

"What the hell happened to him?" Gavin's hair was dripping wet from the decontamination shower and hung in messy strands in all directions. The younger detective was drenched in warm water and the decontaminating compound left his clothes with a noxious smell and mild discoloration. "He was fine a second ago."

"Bad reaction to the chemical." Hank answered in a cool tone of voice as he watched over Connor protectively. "Joel doesn't know how to help him. YET."

"That shit didn't affect me but it took him down?" Such a revelation left Gavin metaphorically scratching his head in confusion. "That's fucked up."

"Yeah, almost as bad as that." With a casual glance over his shoulder Hank motioned to Evan receiving chest compressions from the paramedics on the sidewalk behind him and tried to ignore the fact that a man was dying just a few feet away. "How was killing you going to get is wife's murder solved?"

"How the fuck should I know?" Gavin blurted while he ran his hand over his wet hair nervously as he watched Connor struggling to breathe even with the oxygen mask over his face. "If I couldn't figure out the case when it was still active how in the fuck would anyone else get any answers on it after it ran cold for five years?"

A high pitched shriek filled the air as the cardiac monitor attached to Evan's chest detected his stopped heart and the paramedics decided to call the time of death and stop their resuscitation efforts. The deranged and ill man was gone. Hank shook his head as he looked back to Connor laying almost motionless on the gurney.

"I don't know whether that idiot's death is a good thing or a bad thing."

"It's a waste of time." The aggravated detective replied darkly as he crossed his arms over his chest. "That's for damn sure."

Connor suddenly let out a weak gasp as his ventilation biocomponents began to falter and spasm despite his self-healing program's effort to rid the toxic substance and the oxygen mask internally clearing the chemical from his system. As Connor's L.E.D. flashed red at a frighteningly fast rate his breathing sounded as strained and painful as it looked. Unable to catch his breath or control his thermal regulator, Connor's chest and abdomen rose and fell frantically as his core temperature steadily began to climb.

"Shit... Joel?!" Hank called out as he placed his hand down against Connor's chest and shoulders to try to hold the deviant steady on the gurney as he gasped and struggled to breathe. "Hang on, son. We're going to get you taken care of."

"Oh, fuck." Gavin helped as well as he grabbed on to Connor's legs to help Hank hold him still but the sight of Connor in near convulsions as he fought to breathe was disturbing. "Holy shit..."

Hearing the call immediately, Joel rushed back to the gurney and replaced his audioscope to Connor's chest to listen to the deviant's struggling ventilation for the third time. What the technician was hearing was far from positive.

"Damn it, his ventilation biocomponents are shutting down."

"What do we do to stop it?" Hank asked determinedly as he kept his hands in place. "He has to breathe!"

"We need to use Lauryl-dimethylamine oxide to strip the chemical from his ventilation biocomponents."

"Need to use... WHAT?"

"It's a type of surfactant used to remove castor oil from-"

"Joel! I'm not a chemist," losing his patience Hank quickly reminded the technician who he was talking with. "what the fuck is going on?!"

"Connor was poisoned with ricin, but unlike humans who suffer respiratory distress, chest pain, coughing, fever, nausea... Androids apparently suffer from ventilation failure. The aerosolized chemical coated the internal structure of the ventilation biocompo-"

"Joel!" Hank snapped as he watched Connor struggling to breathe. "What do you have to do to SAVE him?"

"I need to get a dose of what I just said into his ventilation biocomponents." Getting right to the point Joel confirmed he could effectively treat Connor's condition once he had the correct tool in his hand. "I keep some in my office to keep biocomponent couplings clean and lubricated after suffering physical trauma."

"Great, you don't have any on you?"

"No." Joel shook his head negatively. "There's rarely ever a need to carry any on me."

"Hold up." Gavin's lack of knowledge on androids was really starting to come back and bite him in the ass and he hated feeling useless. "I thought androids being able to breathe was a, uh, an optional feature... or whatever. What happens if he stops breathing?"

"He'll overheat." Joel stated quickly as he pressed his hand down against Connor's chest and checked the monitor that was recording the deviant's current core temperature: One-hundred point two degrees Fahrenheit and rising. "And we can do even less to treat an overheating android without any supplies than we can for a faltering biocomponent."

"Where's the nearest dose of that shit?"

"There should be some in the emergency android first aid kit stored in the supply cabinet of the breakroom. That's the closest dose to our location."

"Fuck me..." The inaction to save Connor's life was pushing Hank to limits regarding his patience. "How do we get it?" He asked urgently as he watched Connor's desperation to building with each shallow breath he tried to take. "The building is on lockdown."

Without a word Gavin suddenly let go of Connor's legs as he turned around and ran back toward the precinct before anyone could try to stop him.

"What the- Reed?!" Hank watched as Gavin bolted back to the quarantined building and ducked through the doors before anyone had the chance to stop him or block his path. "Get your ass back here! REED!"

Captain Fowler heard the commotion and looked to the building just in time to see Gavin slipping back through the doors without any form of clearance or protection against the toxic air. "Damn it, Reed!" Shouting as well, Captain Fowler tried to get the detective back on the streets where it was safe. "Get back here, NOW!"

Once back inside the evacuated precinct Gavin pulled his t-shirt up over his nose and mouth and pinned it into place by burying his face against the crook of his arm. It was an effort to keep himself from accidentally breathing in any lingering poison in the air, and all he could do was hope he moved fast enough to avoid getting sick in the process as he looked for the chemical necessary to keep Connor from shutting down outside.

Rushing over to the breakroom Gavin pulled open the largest supply cabinet with his free hand and pulled down the emergency android first aid kit. Setting it down on the floor he snapped open the lid and began rummaging through the items stored within, but having virtually no knowledge on androids Gavin had no idea what he should be looking for. He couldn't even remember what letter the chemical he was looking for even started with.

"FUCK."

Slamming the lid back down over the case Gavin picked it up and tucked it under his free arm before jogging back out of the precinct through the front doors and over to the gurney where Connor was still laying with Hank and Joel hovering over him warily. It was easier to just give everything to Joel and let the technician sort through it himself.

"Here!" Gavin practically shoved the case into Joel's hands as he dropped his arm from his face and began coughing a little. "Do your thing!"

"REED." Captain Fowler's voice boomed over the area as he singled out the detective. Having seen Gavin take off and having heard Hank calling after him Captain Fowler knew something was up - but seeing Gavin risk himself to help Connor wasn't something he was expecting. "Damn it, Reed. What the hell were you thinking!?"

"I was trying-"

"SAVE IT. You need to be decontaminated, AGAIN. NOW." Pointing to the quarantined area Captain Fowler was evidently not going to wait. "Move it!"

Gavin backed away from the gurney as if someone had pointed a gun at him, and jogged off to the appointed area while Captain Fowler watched him with his hands pressed to his hips. The younger detective knew he had made a mistake, and he didn't want to make things worse.

"That was foolish..." Letting out an annoyed sigh Captain Fowler turned his attention to Connor and watched as Joel opened up the first aid case that Gavin had brought out to him where he immediately located the appropriate powdered chemical secured protectively in a glass vial within a plastic bag. Despite already knowing the answer just by looking at the deviant fighting to breathe, Captain Fowler asked anyway. "How's Connor doing?"

"Not good." Hank replied impatiently as he watched Joel jump into the back of the ambulance to locate some useful supplies to aid his current patient. "If he can't breathe on his own then he's going to risk overheating."

"Is that why Reed ran back inside the building?"

"Yeah, he actually did that to try to save Connor."

"Well then..." Captain Fowler just shook his head and realized how crazy the day truly was. "I don't know whether I should thank Reed or slap him."

"Just make sure he's still alive at the end of the day. That should be thanks enough."

"Yeah, right. You take care of Connor, and I'll keep an eye on Reed."

Joel hopped down out of the ambulance with a nebulizer used to treat human asthma and anaphylaxis in his hand and a look of determination on his face. Slipping the oxygen mask from Connor's face Joel helped Connor to sit upright on the gurney while Hank put his hand against the deviant's shoulder to hold him steady in the process, and then placed the nebulizer in Connor's mouth.

As Joel instructed Connor on how to properly use the nebulizer and explained how the powdered Lauryl-dimethylamine oxide needed to be inhaled to work as intended, Connor's breathing began to slightly ease as the castor oil was gradually absorbed by the powder and stripped from his ventilation biocomponents. Slowly but surely Connor's strained ventilation biocomponents began to respond to the treatment and the deviant no longer had to fight to breathe.

"Is it working?" Hank asked as Connor managed to take in less labored breaths and saw his rapidly blinking L.E.D. begin to slow. "He seems better."

"So far, yeah." Joel was running the bell of the audioscope over Connor's chest and his back to listen to his breathing carefully. "Sounds a lot better."

Pulling the plastic device from his mouth Connor let out a deep painful cough as his self-healing program began to finally expel the suffocating substance from his ventilation system and clear out the affected biocomponents. Just as it seemed the deviant was in the clear his hand reached up to his chest and clutched at his heart as he let out another groan and tried to keep breathing through the sudden discomfort.

"Connor?" Hank felt the deviant's body tense up under his palm as Connor tried to curl around himself protectively. "Talk to me. What's happening?"

"...M-My pump! It h-hurts!" Suddenly Connor wheezed and fell back against the gurney as he took in shuddering painful breaths to try to calm his aching heart. "It feels like it's b-burning!"

"Shit." Joel swore as he checked the monitor and noted Connor's heart rate. "It's a side effect of the chemical. It IS working, it's clearing out his ventilation system, but now his self-healing program is reacting to the antidote and not just the poison."

"Fucking great." Hank put his palm down over Connor's forehead and kept it there to try to keep the deviant as calm as possible and could feel Connor's temperature beginning to steadily rise to a warmer degree. "Now what do we do?"

"He has to ride it out." The kind technician's answer sounded as pitiful as he felt. Reaching back into his satchel he retrieved a small electronic device and pressed it against Connor's red flashing L.E.D. and held it in place for a few minutes. "This will temporarily turn off his pain sensors and let him rest with minimal discomfort. But it'll only last for one hour before his system reboots his sensors automatically."

In far less pain Connor immediately began to relax as Joel removed the device from his L.E.D. as his chronic pain mercifully let up. As he breathed easier his red L.E.D. cycled back to yellow and Connor coughed up more of the castor oil from his ventilation system.

"That's better." Joel sighed with his own relief as he slipped the oxygen mask back over Connor's face and used the audioscope to listen to Connor's more manageable breathing. There was less faltering after each deep cough and his biocomponents were no longer threatening to fail. "Much better."

As the tension lifted from the air Hank let out his own breath as he watched Connor's condition improving exponentially right before his eyes. Turning to look at Gavin over his shoulder in the distance, Hank silently thanked Reed for what he had done with a simple nod. The abrasive detective was enduring another emergency shower and medical examination in the quarantine area sectioned off outside the building, but he noticed Hank looking out at him. The two managed to lock eyes for a brief moment as Hank nodded his head in silent, respectful appreciation to the detective and received the same answer in return.

"How long is he going to be sick like this?" Returning his attention to Connor the senior detective placed his hand down on the deviant's chest lightly. "He already looks miserable."

"Anywhere between twenty-four and seventy-two hours. It's hard to tell with prototypes, especially since I've never seen a reaction like this in person."

"But it does happen?"

"It had always been theorized, but no one tested it." The admission was meant to be a good thing, yet it sounded incredibly negiligent and dour. "I mean, how in the hell do you run an android through a gauntlet of substances known as poisonous to humans and try to justify it?"

"No damn clue."

"Once we get cleared from the area take Connor back home and let him sleep it off. Like I said," sounding entirely confident in his analysis Joel watched as Connor began to drift off to rest mode so that his self-healing program could function at one-hundred percent capacity. "when the hour's up his pain sensors are going to turn back on and he's going to feel that burning pain in his chest again. He'll be miserable, but he'll live through it."

"Damn it. Why can't the kid catch a break?"

"Trust me, Lieutenant, it won't be fun for either of you but at least he's still alive."

"Yeah, you're right." Sighing with a calming breath Hank mentally steeled himself for the aftermath of the day's very unusual and very unavoidable events once they were dismissed. The man wasn't afraid to take on the role of caretaker while his son recovered from his current plight. "Besides, we'll get paid for the full shift even after being sent home early. I guess that's a good thing, too."

After being cleared from the scene and sent home for the day to get some proper rest, Connor had been instructed to keep using the nebulizer every thirty minutes to keep the unorthodox medication in his system until his ventilation biocomponents were fully cleared of the lingering toxic substance. The one hour of pain free mercy had passed by after the precinct was cleared, and Connor's sensors returned to full functionality against his will. Fortunately, the pain receptors rebooted after he and Hank returned home so the recovering deviant could endure his relentless pain in the privacy of his own home without anyone but Hank to see him in a vulnerable agony that he couldn't escape.

Laying on his bed with a bag of ice pressed to his chest, a suggestion by Hank in hopes of easing the intense burning sensation that Connor had been feeling, the deviant patiently ran a self-diagnostic and waited for the pain to subside. While his system was showing signs of a full recovery the self-healing program was still slow and needed time to compensate for both the poison and the antidote.

The sound of paws pattering over hardwood floors filled the house as Sumo trotted down the hallway and made his way into Connor's bedroom. The large puppy jumped up onto Connor's bed and proceeded to cuddle against the deviant's side as his tail wagged happily up and down with audible thumps over the quilt on the bed. The puppy made excited little yips as he tried to entice Connor into petting him and playing.

Happy to have the company Connor put his right hand on the puppy's back and began to pet him gently. "...Good boy."

"He's all right." Hank quietly appeared in the opened doorway of the bedroom and gave Connor a sympathetic glance as he wrapped Sumo's leash around his hand confirming that they had just come home from a walk. "How do you feel, kid?"

"The pain isn't as severe as it had been." Connor sighed a little and pressed his hand on the ice pack over his chest even firmer. "The ice apparently has some capacity to numb the immediate area, even when it's a consistent burning pain."

"Glad it helped." As he stood within the opened door Hank watched as Sumo proceeded to lick at Connor's right hand affectionately. "It's been a while since I've taken the dog out on so many walks. It's kinda' nice. Even if he did pull on the leash, sniff every bush, and flirt with all the ladies who passed us by."

"Thank you for taking Sumo out for me."

"Don't worry about it. By the way," Hank leaned casually against the door frame as spoke to the healing deviant with a smug smile on his face. "Gavin's going to be fine, too. He didn't breathe in any of that ricin shit when he ran back inside the precinct."

"I should thank Gavin for saving my life."

"Honestly, I think the best thing you could for Gavin is to NOT say anything about it. The prick maybe coming around a little when it comes to deviants, but he's still one arrogant bastard." Hank knew Gavin better than Connor, and he knew when to give the younger man some space. "If you say anything to him it might wound his 'oh-so-delicate' pride and make him more insufferable."

"Noted." After a few seconds Connor's brow furrowed slightly as his yellow L.E.D. finally cycled back to blue. "Do they know why Evan Lance chose to attack Gavin after five years?"

"Well, aside from it being the five-year anniversary of his wife's murder, no. We don't know what triggered it."

"And no suspect was identified in Monica's murder beyond Evan himself?"

"No, not that we..." Picking up on something unspoken Hank was intrigued by the tone of Connor's voice and knew the deviant had a theory. "What're you getting at?"

"When a person is assaulted or killed," Connor sat upright on his bed slowly and let out a weak cough in the process. "the person closest to the victim is always the primary suspect during the investigation. Perhaps Gavin was unable to progress the case beyond Evan because Evan was in fact the killer."

"How do you figure?"

"There was no sign of a break-in," using the evidence to his advantage Connor cybernetically uploaded the case to his memorybank and began checking through the collected evidence at the precinct. "Mrs. Lance had no enemies and had no legal inconveniences that could potentially warrant an assault; but Mr. Lance had a temper and a drug problem in the past."

"You're thinking Evan went crazy on his wife and assaulted her?"

"No. I think Evan owed a great sum of money to his drug dealer who took his wife for ransom to pay off his debt." Such a theory was as grim as it was plausible. "He failed to offer payment."

"And he didn't say anything because he didn't want to get busted for drugs. Son of a bitch." Hank sat on the edge of Connor's bed and began to pet Sumo's ears to ease his own mounting annoyance. "All right, so if you're right and Evan is responsible for his wife's death, then why did he go on what was arguably a suicide mission at the precinct today?"

"Externally Evan showed signs of jaundice which is indicative of liver failure."

"His previous drug use must've destroyed his liver, leaving him terminally sick." It didn't take Hank long to begin filling in the blanks about the entire situation without needing much effort. "Having past drug abuse would make it difficult for him to qualify for a liver transplant and even if he found a compatible donor he'd need a clean drug test to receive the transplant."

"Correct."

"He was already dying and the guilt over what happened to his wife pushed him to his breaking point."

"Exactly." Connor coughed again and picked up the nebulizer from the nearby nightstand to help clear out his ventilation biocomponents further. Rubbing Sumo's chin with his free hand helped Connor to feel more at ease as he struggled to breathe. "He wanted to be punished for his wife's death, but he didn't want to just confess and rot in jail while he was already dying. At least, that's my theory."

"I think your theory is right; I'll let Fowler know you cracked the case. Lay down." Hank coaxed as he pushed Connor back gently by the shoulder. "Let your system do its thing and keep healing."

"I'm trying." Weary, frustrated and impatient, Connor admitted that he was doing his best to remain idle as he finished breathing off the nebulizer and placed it aside again. "I just don't like remaining idle for too long."

"Yeah, I know. Tomorrow you can take Sumo for a walk all over the city while I'm out with Rose again."

"Again?" That comment made Connor's eyes light up with genuine enthusiasm at Hank's plans for the future. "I thought you-"

"Yeah, yeah!" Hank dryly commented as he stood up from the bed and walked toward the bedroom door to give Connor some space to sleep. "She called while I was walking Sumo, but it's not what you think it is."

"What is it exactly that I'm thinking?" Connor grinned with a sly reply as he laid back and breathed deeply. "Something... romantic?"

"N-No! It's just-" Hank blushed again and took his leave of the bedroom without explaining his desires to spend another day out with Rose. "Shut up and get some sleep, will ya'?"

"Of course." Unable to keep the final jab at bay, Connor got in one last remark at Hank's expense. "Wouldn't want you to worry about me while you're out with Rose on your second date."

"Go to sleep already." Without raising his voice or looking back, Hank hid his smile and nodded in approval at the way Connor's humor and understanding of human emotions were truly evolving in the most entertaining manner possible. "Smartass..."

-next chapter-