WARNING: Dark Content Within

This chapter deals with child abuse in a physical, emotional, mental and sexual manner. This is NOT to be taken lightly even in a work of fiction. Please exercise caution in the event that you're not in proper mental space to handle such a topic and please skip this chapter and refer to the "TL;DR" down the bottom.

"Breaking the Chains"

Detroit Central Precinct: Bullpen

The rainy spring continued on with the investigation into Martin Jonas's abhorrent activities being the only case anyone wanted to talk about. There was no denying that Martin Jonas was a monster imitating a person, and that he had no excuse for what he had done. The only challenge keeping Jonas from being immediately set for trial was ironically enough the abundance of evidence that still needed to be properly collected and documented before being submitted to the court as the case continued to build traction. As expected, the media began hovering around the precinct as every news outlet wanted to be the first to break the story now that deviant rights and laws were in effect, but Captain Fowler managed to scare the vultures away by threatening them with trespassing and harassment charges. It was all he could do to maintain a sense of peace for his already stressed officers and detectives working on a truly mentally and emotionally taxing investigation.

Connor was taking the investigation on as a personal challenge. The rookie detective had been the one to locate Martin Jonas and he had been the one to witness his last victim dying in his own arms. The horrible ache in his heart persisted as Connor struggled to read over the details being provided thanks to Joel performing the forty-four apportionments on the deviant victims throughout the day. Connor knew that he needed to use the facts to help Hank build a strong case, and yet every detail made the task as brutal as it was necessary.

The secondary case looking into CyberLife's illegal activities felt like it was pulling Connor's heart in half as he had to divide his attention from one heartbreaking investigation to the second investigation. As long as Connor balanced both investigations equally then he'd be able to close the case on Jonas and be one step closer to doing the same with CyberLife.

"I'm going to get some coffee." Hank sighed as he leaned back in his chair and peered around his terminal to look at Connor sitting across from him. There was a notable paleness to Connor's complexion that indicated the younger man was feeling unwell but trying to ignore it to focus on work. "What kind of tea do you want?"

"I'm all right with my water." Connor replied dully as he kept his eyes transfixed on his terminal screen. The bloodshot coloration of his eyes made it appear as if the rookie detective hadn't blinked since he began his work. "Thanks though."

"Sure."

The bullpen was a soft hum as activity while Connor focused on his dual investigations and Hank took a small break to stretch his back and get himself some fresh coffee to help keep alert. The surrounding desks were just as busy as Connor considering everyone was working together to identify the names of every deviant body uncovered on the death farm created by Jonas the previous day. Befittingly enough, Connor being the one who was an expert on deviants and CyberLife's activities meant that he could only assist while his colleagues handled the bulk of the two investigations as a means of keeping any potential bias at bay due Connor's past connection to CyberLife itself.

Connor's mind was entirely fixated on the secrets that CyberLife had gone well out of their way to hide from the public. The way the defunct company continued to sneak its way back into Connor's life made Connor dread the truths that he was sure to uncover.

It was like CyberLife was a cancer: It was nothing more than a dangerous substance that just destroyed everything it touched. An unwelcome presence that sickened everyone it affected, and those who had the misfortune of finding it in their lives worked hard to eliminate. The company was nothing more than a degrading disease that seemed to return whenever someone let their guard down after believing it was finally gone and was no longer a threat.

"CyberLife must have dummy-files that they used to cover their tracks for their illegal activities." Connor deduced as he tried to understand how he could've missed such abysmal activity happening right under his nose. "If Markus hasn't been able to uncover the files yet, then they must have stored them in a server away from the isle to keep the terminal perfectly concealed. Where could they-"

"Hey!" Tina's voice called out as she jogged across the bullpen in pursuit of a little girl running into the precinct covered in Thirium and ragged clothing. The officer wasn't panicked, only concerned at the sad sight charging through the precinct. "Come back here, let me help you!"

"Go away!" The little girl shouted as she made a beeline for Connor's desk and quickly wrapped her arms around the detective's leg causing Connor to nearly jump out of his chair in surprise. It was as if she had been looking for Connor and now that she found him, she wasn't going to let him go. "Leave me alone!"

Connor froze for a moment as he hadn't expected a crying child to rush to him of all people for protection. The sight of the Thirium matting her blonde hair to her face, the fresh Thirium weeping from open lacerations along her face, neck, arms and legs, and the long rips in her clothing revealing her bruises and patches of exposed plastimetal frames beneath her skin projections. It was then Connor realized that the little girl was a deviant android who had clearly just fled for her life to the one place that was supposed to help protect her.

"Markus says only Connor can help me!" Through her tears the little girl screamed for help and then looked up at Connor unaware of how much her very presence was unsettling him. "He has to help!"

"He will." Tina soothed as she knelt down beside the little girl and spoke to her in a calm voice. She knew that kids always needed a delicate touch when it came to cases that they were a part of, and she wasn't about to lose her cool. "It'll be okay. We just want to know what happened."

"I'll tell Connor!" Again, the little girl screamed in fear and frustration as she waited for Connor to do something, anything, to help her. "Only Connor!"

There was too much happening at once for Connor to handle. The rookie detective had very little experience with children both human and deviants alike, and seeing another deviant covered in their own blue blood while begging for his help gave Connor a chilling flashback to Cassie dying in his arms just the day before. It felt like someone just twisted a knife in his heart that couldn't be removed.

"Tina?" Hank returned to the bullpen with a mug of coffee in his hand and gave her a small nod to direct her elsewhere. "Why don't you go and if you can find our guest here some clean clothes to wear. That'll make her feel better."

"Good idea, Lieutenant." Standing up slowly Tina offered the little girl a warm smile before she went on her way. "You stay here with Connor, and I'll be back with some nice, clean and super soft clothes for you to wear."

"Connor." With an expertly maintained calm facade, Hank addressed his suddenly frozen partner and managed to catch Connor's attention with his words alone. "I think you should take her up to the dispensary so you can talk to her in private. She wants to talk to you, so you're who she's going to talk to."

At that promise the little girl's tears stopped falling and her death grip around Connor's leg began to lessen. She was terrified and needed to know she was safe before she could do anything else. Whoever hurt the little deviant had done a thorough job.

"...Let's go up to the dispensary." Connor's suggestion was marked with discomfort as he stood up slowly and waited for the little girl to let go of his leg. Only when she unwrapped her arms from around his leg did Connor even dare to take a step away from his desk and toward the elevator. "We can talk there."

Without an invitation the little girl grabbed Connor's hand and held it like a vice. She didn't notice the way Connor's hand tensed up and even tried to briefly jerk away before he relented and allowed her to hang on to his hand as they walked toward the elevator with the entire bullpen watching them with a morbid fascination. It wasn't everyday an android child ran to the police seeking help, let alone see any child running around covered in their own blood.

Hank stood back and watched as Connor led the little girl over to the elevator and could only wonder what was going through Connor's head. He knew that the young detective didn't remember practically any of his childhood, which meant that Connor would have a harder time relating to the child deviant when trying to assist her with whatever it was that brought her to the precinct to begin with.

"Okay, kid. You can do this."

The older man whispered to himself as he watched Connor lead the little girl into the elevator to meet with Joel on the second floor of the precinct. Connor's tense posture and fixed gaze told Hank that his younger partner was pushing through a massive amount of personal discomfort just to do the right thing.

"Just be patient and try not to lose your cool when she tells you her story."

Rubbing his hand along his bearded chin Hank sighed and gave Tina a worried glance as she rejoined him in the bullpen. The young officer had a soft spot for kids, and shew knew to trust Hank whenever he offered any form of advice on dealing with traumatized kids in general.

"Some little kids get to tell fairy tales, and others tell horror stories." The seasoned Lieutenant and recovery father observed as he and Tina exchanged mutual gazes of worry for the little girl. "I get the feeling that poor kid knows only horror and fear."

Detroit Central Precinct: Dispensary

The tension in the dispensary was nearly smothering as Connor patiently spoke with the little deviant girl and took her statement one grueling word at a time while Joel carefully chronicled and documented the physical damage that she had sustained. During the routine examination Joel discovered physical trauma to the girl's body that he didn't dare to treat himself and had requested the assistance from another technician, specifically a female, to help him handle the cruelly necessary task. The damage to her body had been extensive and much of the trauma could be aged back nearly five years, meaning that she had been suffering at the abusive hands of another person for most of her life. It was difficult to determine exactly when she had deviated and when she gained her sentience, but all the two deviant experts knew for certain was that the little girl who had run to them for help wasn't about to be turned away or forgotten any time soon.

Connor fought to keep his voice steady as he learned about the deviant and reassured her that she'd be okay. The deviant's name was Daisy, and she was one of the typical 'YK' models of androids designed to simulate a child of roughly eight to nine years old. She had long blonde hair, dark blue eyes, a very light complexion and a few other cosmetic alterations to make it appear as if she was always wearing rather mature make-up along her eyes, cheeks and lips. There was another modification done to her body - one that was extremely illegal - and one that needed to be undone as soon as a properly trained technician was available.

"Daisy, can I ask how you knew to come and find me?" Connor asked in a gentle tone as Joel finished bandaging up her arms and checked his phone to see that their requested second technician was on her way up to the dispensary. "You said that Markus said that you could trust me. How do you know this and how did Markus tell you that?"

"Markus told all of us to trust you." Daisy replied in a scared tone while Connor and Joel did their best to tend to her damage. "He talks to us on a special cybernetic link all the time. He said that if any of us were in trouble to go to the police station and find you."

"How did you know which police precinct I worked at?"

"Markus gave us the address and told us what you looked like."

"Okay, that makes sense." The door to the dispensary slid open as Abby herself walked in carrying a satchel on her shoulder. The door slid shut again behind her and gave a soft 'click' to confirm it was now locked. "Daisy, this is my friend Dr. Grayson, but you can call her Abby. She's another technician like Joel is, and she's going to finish taking care of the rest of your damage."

"Hi, Daisy." Abby smiled as she brought the scared little girl a stuffed bunny to cling to during the exam. The toy was enough to make Daisy's eyes light up with a sense of happiness that she hadn't felt in a long time. "Connor told me that you needed help, so that's what I'm here to do. And the best way to start helping you is by introducing you to my little friend here. He needs a good home; do you think you could take care of him for me?"

"Uh-huh." Despite being a deviant android Daisy sounded and behaved as any human little girl would behave in her situation. "I like him."

"And he likes you too." Glancing up at Joel for a minute Abby let the laidback technician know that she understood why he called her in and that she didn't mind lending a hand. "Is there a sheet we can use to cover her legs for a minute? We don't want her to get cold."

"Yeah, I have one in the backroom." Joel confirmed as he quickly caught on to the real reason Abby wanted the sheet but didn't want to scare Daisy in the process of treating her injuries. "I'll go and get it."

Connor could only mentally prepare himself for the damage that Abby was sure to uncover. Anyone who abused children deserved to suffer in the exact same way that they had traumatized and injured those same children. For anyone who took it one level lower and sexually abused them, they deserved to suffer a slow, agonizing death before being burned to ash and have the ashes thrown into the sewers.

"There we go..." Joel was speaking in a gentle tone like Abby as he carefully draped the sheet over Daisy's legs and then stepped to the side to give Abby all the room she needed to work while also respecting Daisy's privacy. "That's better. While Abby is taking care of the rest of your injuries, I'm going to go and sit at my desk. You'll be able to see me and talk to me if you want to talk, okay?"

"'Kay."

Abby did her best to keep her expression neutral as she slipped on her pair of latex gloves and gently repositioned Daisy's legs to allow her to properly examine and then treat her injuries. It didn't matter if the patient was human or deviant, no one should ever have to go through with such an exam in a police precinct.

"I'm going to turn off your pain receptors so you can stay comfortable." Abby explained softly as she pressed her fingertips to Daisy's right temple and deactivated the necessary sensors to keep the little girl from feeling any pain or pressure. "If you get scared just tell me and we'll take a break. We don't want you to do anything you don't feel comfortable doing."

"Okay."

Connor remained silent as he watched Abby open up the discreetly labeled 'rape kit' to begin checking over Daisy's body. Had Daisy never been subjected to the illegal modification to her body, then she never would've been sexually violated by whoever paid for the modification. The need to know who had been abusing Daisy was the only thing keeping Connor from leaving the room to be sick in private.

"Daisy," Connor spoke up in a whisper. "you told Joel and I that you managed to get out of a large van somewhere in the city." Discussing the case was the best way to keep Daisy's mind off of what Abby was currently doing while also cleaning up her wounds. Any and all trace evidence needed to be properly collected with the kit and then later tested to identify the loathsome monster who had hurt Daisy. "Can you tell me where that was?"

"I don't know." Daisy kept looking up at Connor as she hugged the stuffed bunny to her chest. She seemed to truly trust Connor despite only just meeting him. "I never been there before."

"Can you remember anything about how it looked when you got out of the van?" Keeping his eyes locked with Daisy's eyes felt like a personal challenge. He knew that Daisy couldn't feel what Abby was doing to her, and yet he still felt like he was causing her some pain by just doing his job. "Were you and the van surrounded by a lot of buildings? Did you see a park anywhere in the area? Did you see any of the large statues or a body of water anywhere? Anything like that can help us."

"I saw some buildings. They were really tall and really old."

"Why did they look old?"

"They had big holes everywhere and dirty paint on them with weird words. The buildings were all made of bricks and had broken windows too."

"That helps." Connor took down a few notes and kept speaking with Daisy even as the emotional half of his mind begged him to leave the room. He couldn't bear the idea of any children being abused in such a way, and it wasn't until he had to personally handle a child abuse case that he realized how passionately he despised anyone who intentionally harmed a child. "You said before that Markus gave you the address to this police precinct. How far did you run before you got here?"

"A while. I just ran in the direction I was supposed to run."

"When did you first hear Markus tell you to go to the police precinct?"

"A long time ago. But we couldn't talk back to Markus," Daisy confirmed as she messed her new toy bunny's ear while speaking to Connor. "we could only hear him."

"...'We'?" The plural term made Connor's blood run cold. There was more than one victim he needed to help. "Who else was with you?"

"I don't know their names."

"Can you describe them?" If Connor hadn't been pale before then he was absolutely colorless now. "Were they humans or deviants? Were they children like you, or were they adults?"

"Like me. All of them."

Everyone in the room felt their hearts skip a beat as they realized that Daisy was just the first of an unknown number of child deviants who were being illegally modified and then sexually abused. The entire ordeal was about to become all the more complicated and heartbreaking before the day as over.

"Do you know how many more deviants were in the van with you?" There was an uneasiness in Connor's stomach that made it hard to keep speaking. There were no words left to describe the abhorrent crime without needing to shout them from the rooftop in rage. "Even if you don't know the exact number a guess can help us out all the same."

"There were four of us before I got out of the van."

"Good. Why didn't they go with you when you escaped?"

"They were tied up." Daisy explained in such a nonchalant manner that it was clear being bound and captive wasn't new to her. "I got loose and ran when the van stopped moving. The light turned red."

"Do you remember anything else that could help us?"

"The van was blue. It didn't have any windows either." The more Daisy relaxed the easier it was to speak. Her memories weren't as pure and flawless as the adult counterparts of androids, but she still had enough of a memory capacity to help identify the people who hurt her. "That's all I can think of."

"Okay, Daisy. Thank you for telling me everything that you can remember." Slowly Connor turned to the side to face Abby while also keeping his face away from the sheet covering Daisy's legs. He needed to know for certain before he did anything else, otherwise he wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it. "Abby, is the damage only physical?"

"No." Whispering a little Abby packaged up the kit properly and handed it over to Connor before she finally, mercifully set about cleaning up Daisy's injuries and making sure she had proper care in the future. "Whoever did this to her did more than just physical damage. She was ra-"

"Damn it." Connor couldn't bear to let Abby finish the word as he let out a deep breath and looked down at the kit in his hands with disgust. There was crucial evidence in his possession that needed to be properly analyzed. "...I'll have this turned over to forensics, and I'll have them put a rush on the D.N.A. samples. Can you stay with her?"

"Of course." Despite everything Abby managed a warm smile as she looked down at Daisy laying over the table. "It's not every day that I get to spend time with someone who's so great with taking care of my stuffed bunny friends."

Connor looked over at Joel as the laidback technician sat behind his desk and let him know with a small wave that he had no problem letting Daisy stay in the dispensary for as long as she needed a safe place to recover. It was hard to walk away from a little girl who had so desperately pleaded for his help, and yet Connor knew it was important to get the kit to the forensics lab for immediate testing.

"Daisy, I'm going to take this to another room in the precinct, then I'll come back as soon as I can." Connor promised as he watched her momentarily get scared at learning that Connor was going to be leaving her behind. "Both Abby and Joel are going to stay with you. They're my friends, and Markus knows that you and all the other deviants can trust them in the same way you trust me. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I understand."

"Okay." Seeing Daisy's frightened eyes made it all the harder for Connor keep his attention on his current case. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Moving with stilted steps Connor tried to not let it show how much the investigation had shaken him up. The box containing the kit was being practically crushed in Connor's hands as he carried it with him to the elevator as he fought to keep his emotions in check. The samples that Abby collected could very well lead to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for Daisy's malicious assault and the assaults of at least four other deviant children.

Connor stepped inside the elevator, closed his eyes, and tried to imagine anything but a child being abused in such a horrendous and unjustifiable manner.

Detroit Central Precinct: Bullpen

It had been six hours since Daisy rushed into the precinct seeking help. In that time Hank hadn't seen Connor, but he had received updates on Daisy herself. The analysis of the 'rape kit' confirmed that Daisy had in fact been sexually assaulted. The kit also confirmed there were four different samples that had been identified by the lab with numerous re-tests to ensure there was no mistake. The only good news was that all four of the samples were already in the police database for previous counts of sexual assault, which meant they were easy to identify. The four assailants had been registered for their crimes several years ago, and had clearly shifted their focus from humans who could fight back if they didn't consent, to androids who had no choice but to obey and do whatever was told of them regardless of the situation. An immediate arrest warrant was approved for all four men, and Gavin happily volunteered to bring in the disgusting offenders and lock them away.

Through Joel and Abby using specialized memory extraction processes, they were able to get a copy of Daisy's memories without making the little girl feel as if she had been violated all over again. Through her memories they were able to see exactly where she escaped from when the van stopped, the faces of the other deviant children who were being held captive, the faces of the men who assaulted her, and the location in where the men had initially held them captive before moving them to another location deeper into the city.

"A fucking child-android trafficking ring." Hank swore as he paced back and forth in front of Captain Fowler's desk within the private office space. "How in the fuck did no one at CyberLife see this coming?"

"They did." Casually Captain Fowler placed a tablet down on his desk for Hank to see for himself. "One of the terminals found at that fucked up death-farm confirms that Jonas is the one who made the illegal modifications on the 'YK' models. They were all purchased off the books by our four rapists and Jonas personally delivered them to these sick fuckers' homes."

"Fuckin' hell. This is the sickest thing I've seen since I started working on the force." Unable to look at the tablet, Hank turned away and put his hands to his hips and took in a deep, calming breath. "Does Connor know this stuff?"

"He's been made aware. I told him to take the rest of the shift off, but he stayed in the dispensary with Daisy until that Josh deviant from New Jericho came by to take her to the tower and to immediate safety."

"Where is he now?"

"Not sure. I want everyone who's been working on these cases to see the precinct psychiatrist before the end of the month." As always Captain Fowler was the type of person to handle a small problem before it snowballed into a major catastrophe. "I want you, Connor, and the rest of the team who went out to that farm to talk to the psychiatrist for at least one hour, no exceptions."

"Yeah, sure. I'll make a note of that in my calendar." It was time to find Connor and find a way to help him ease through his current predicament regarding the horrifying case. "I'm going to check on everyone, then I'm going to make sure Connor isn't going to lose his mind over everything that just happened."

The bullpen was eerily quiet as everyone who had been working on the active deviant cases had been left disgusted by the recent discovery didn't feel like talking. It was all so much to take in at once. Learning that android children were being used for sexual gratification by deranged predators made it seem like the police hadn't been paying attention to anyone for the past decade or so. The 'Eden Club' was allowed to operate publicly only because the androids for rent appeared as adults, and yet no one even thought about what some people could be doing to the androids who appeared as children behind closed doors.

Hank walked through the bullpen with his eyes sweeping over the area looking for Connor only to see Tina and Abby talking with one another in the community breakroom. The two women had cups of tea in their hands, but the duo seemed less interested in their drinks and more interested in talking about the horrible case that they both had to participate in that day.

"Figured you'd be the one to take care of the little girl." Hank stated openly as he looked to Abby and gave her a gracious nod of respect. It took a particularly strong soul to treat abused children without breaking down and crying in the process. "Did she say anything to you that Connor didn't hear?"

"No, she was more interested in talking to Connor than to me."

"And did she have any issues when Josh came to by to take her to New Jericho for sanctuary?"

"She didn't want to let go of Connor's hand, but she didn't panic or even cry once Connor explained that Josh was Markus's friends and that he'd take her to a place where no one would ever harm her again."

"Where is Connor right now?"

"Haven't seen him." Abby sipped her tea slowly only to discover that it had gone cold after sitting for so long. "If he wants to be alone, I'd leave him alone. He was really shaken up by the whole thing."

"I'll give him some space once I know that he's going to be all right."

"Try the men's room." Tina suggested as she pushed her own tea aside and gave Hank a sympathetic glance. "I saw him heading in that direction after Josh took Daisy to the tower, and I didn't see him go anywhere else after that."

"If he's in there then I'll give him a few more minutes to be by himself." Needing a momentary distraction, Hank swept his hand through his shaggy hair and caught sight of Gavin shoving a man with a blackened eye, bloody nose and swollen lip toward the holding cells. It didn't take Hank more than a heartbeat to know that Gavin had told the pedophile exactly what he thought of him. "The twisted fucker must've tripped or fallen down the stairs when Gavin went to arrest him. Good."

"He's the last one." Unable to look at the arrested man for even a second, Tina sighed and rubbed her fingertips along her temples. "The other three were brought in about an hour ago in similar shape. They're all a klutzy bunch from the look of it."

"Hard to feel sorry for 'em, that's for sure."

"I'm going to go check on Gavin and see if he would like some ice." Tine decided as she put her cold tea on the counter and opened up the nearby freezer door to find an ice pack. "Sometimes his hand just hurts for the strangest reasons, and ice packs help out."

Abby was unsurprisingly unfazed by the crude way in which the arrested men were being handled. She'd worked with firefighters and E.M.T.'s long enough to know that some people were just beyond reasoning with, and sometimes first responders took justice into their own hands. In a way, that type of extreme reaction to the worst of humanity helped her to figure out which of her coworkers were truly authentic people, and who were just in their line of work because they coveted having authority.

"Hank?" Pushing her own tea aside, Abby looked to the older man and gave him a somber glance. "Take care of Connor. He was barely holding it together up there, and I'd hate to see how he is right now considering how brutal the details got."

"I'll take care of him. What about you?" There was no denying that Hank's far more caring and compassionate nature was truly blossoming after he found a reason to quit drinking, to continue working, and to have another friend to look out for. "Are you going to be okay?"

"It wasn't my best day at work; I'll give you that." Abby rose to her feet and gave Hank an awkward glance. "But it's somehow not also the worst. I'll be fine once I have a nice hot shower and good long cry."

"Need a ride home?"

"I have my car." At that thought Abby wrapped her arms around herself and knew that she needed to get home soon before she had her breakdown in the precinct for everyone to see. "But thanks. Make sure Connor knows it's okay to cry and that if he needs to talk about what happened, I'm just a phone call away."

"Yeah, and the same for you." Hank promised as he politely saw Abby through the bullpen and out to the front of the precinct to go about her business. It was a hard day for everyone, and the persistent rain wasn't helping matters. "Thanks for stepping up today. You helped get Daisy and all the other deviants they were hurt some justice."

"Were the other 'YK' deviants found?"

"Yeah. Ben's team managed to find the warehouse the worthless freaks were using downtown, and they found the other deviant children." The nasty details weren't comforting in the slightest, but they were somehow reassuring in knowing that the twisted criminals were off the streets. "They're being taken care of by New Jericho and will be brought here tomorrow one at a time to tell their stories."

"And who's going to chronicle their wounds?"

"Simon will once they're brought here." It'd be best for everyone to have a New Jericho representative present considering the controversial nature of the case being openly investigated. "Markus trusts Simon to handle the process appropriately, and Captain Fowler sees no problem in a trusted, certified technician helping the deviants as long as a detective is present to ensure the chain of process with the evidence remains intact."

"That's good." Despite the good news Abby didn't feel any better. "I think I'm going to call off sick tomorrow, so it's nice to know those children are being taken care of right now and will be taken care of tomorrow."

"Head for home and try to not think about the worst case scenario." Hank urged as he continued to walk with Abby to her car parked in the neighboring parking garage. The rain didn't even matter to Hank since all he cared about was making sure his friends were going to be all right and that the victims of the crimes were going to be placed somewhere safe. "I'll take care of Connor and talk to you later."

"Yeah, okay. Take care of yourself too, Hank." Abby gave him a knowing look as she lightly gripped his upper arm in a grounding manner. "I mean it."

"I will."

Once Abby was safely in her car and on her way, Hank returned to the precinct and made his way to the men's bathroom a few feet down the corridor leading away from the bullpen. The private space was mostly quiet save for a soft weeping sound coming from one of the stalls at the far end of the bathroom. It didn't Hank long to deduce that someone was already crying and he couldn't fault them in the slightest after everything that went down that day.

"Kid?" Hank called out softly as he knocked lightly twice on the stall door. "Hey, can you open the door?"

Slowly the lock on the door turned and Connor stepped out of the stall just long enough to reach the sinks mounted on the wall and grab onto one of the porcelain basins with both hands to keep steady. The rookie detective was shaking, very pale, fairly sweaty, his eyes were entirely bloodshot, and he looked as if he had just witnessed the horrific abuse in person rather than just reading over the details.

Hank didn't say anything as he joined Connor by the sinks and pulled a paper towel out of the dispenser. Without breaking his silence Hank folded up the towel and let it run under the cool tap in the sink before handing it over to Connor to take for himself.

"Josh took Daisy back to New Jericho Tower for the night." Hank explained rather calmly given the circumstances. "Ben found the other deviant children and made sure they all made it to New Jericho Tower for the night too. Chris, Lance and Sarah Lee all worked to document the crime scene and didn't miss a single piece of evidence."

"Were the children all... violated?" Connor managed to ask as he lifted his red eyes long enough to peer at his own reflection in the mirror above the sink. "I need to know."

"Yes." The answer was grotesque enough to make Hank feel terrible for just responding. "They were all illegally modified and then sexually abused."

"Fuck-"

A sudden heave escaped Connor's lips as he doubled over and threw up the meager contents of his stomach into the sink. As he dry-heaved and spit the foulness from his mouth Connor let his tears run freely down his face while Hank patted his back lightly. After the vomiting spell passed Connor slowly lowered himself to the ground to kneel on the floor, then shifted his weight to sit down and press his back up against the cool tile walls behind him.

"It's okay." Hank passed Connor the damp towel as if he knew that Connor was going to be sick. There was no judgement as Hank turned on the tap in the befouled sink to rinse away the sickness while offering Connor comforting words. "Let it out and try to breathe."

"Wh-Why is this affecting me so badly?"

"Remember what I said about you being a compassionate soul? That's why."

"People get hurt and a-abused all the time." Connor countered as he wiped off his mouth and chin before tossing the used towel into the nearby bin. The younger man pulled his legs up toward his chest and let his arms casually drape around his knees so that his hands could hang limply before himself. "Why don't I have such an extreme reaction to their cases?"

"Because it's not every day you run into a child who's been abused like that. And if you did, then this whole world would be more fucked up than it already is."

"Joel and Abby checked Daisy's memories." Sniffing once, Connor used his thumb to remove his remaining tears while Hank walked over to sit down on the floor beside him. "She was supposed to be the daughter to a lonely woman who couldn't have children of her own. Instead, she was taken by that vile monster and taken to a place to have her body illegally modified. That happened four and half years ago."

"Did her memories give you an idea of where she was taken to have the modification done?"

"Take one guess."

"Fuckin' hell." Hank immediately knew who was responsible and felt like finding the man and pulling a page from Gavin's playbook for a couple of hours. "Jonas's fucked up farm."

"And he's the one who modified her. We can charge him with multiple accounts of illegal android modifications on top of everything he's already been charged with, which means he's guaranteed a death sentence." Connor was fighting hard to remain professional despite his heartache making it difficult to focus. "The terminals we found on the property undoubtedly contain the files on every android he has ever modified, as well as a list of the gutted for parts he resold on the black market."

"We'll nail Jonas and those pedo-freaks to the wall, don't worry about that."

"There's more." A massive headache was setting in, and Connor rubbed the heel of his palm against his eye to try to get some form of relief. "There's evidence of Jonas trafficking androids over the Canadian border. He owns a hunting cabin just outside Toronto, which means..."

"Which means we have another property to search and a hell of a lot more missing deviants to help."

"How could this have happened?"

"Wish I knew the answer, kid." Without thinking Hank put his palm down on Connor's shoulder and immediately felt that the younger man was starting to run a fever. Courtesy of the stress from work, getting caught in the rain and his burn scars making it difficult to regulate his body temperature, it was no wonder Connor was getting sick. "If I knew what it was that made good people do bad things, and bad people do even worse things, I'd share that secret with the whole damn world."

"CyberLife knew what Jonas was doing. They were paying him to do his illegal modifications off the books." A somber shake of the head was all Connor could manage as he realized how deep the rabbit hole of CyberLife's corruption truly fell. "They knew he was illegally modifying 'YK' androids for sexual gratification. And I used to work with them."

"Hey, you had NO idea of what CyberLife was doing off the books, which means you have NO reason to feel even the slightest bit guilty for what they've done."

"I still feel absolutely filthy." Connor's hands began to clench into fists and then relax as if they were uncomfortable. "It's like... I don't know how to describe it."

"Like the blood of the innocent is on your hands?"

"Not quite like that, although I do still feel partly responsible for this mess since I was too cowardly to ask questions about CyberLife until it was almost too late."

"Kid, I hate to ask this, but were you..." As a detective Hank knew he needed to trust his gut even if he accidentally made a friend feel uncomfortable. "You know, abused as a child?"

"...What?" Connor looked as stunned as he was nauseated. The way his brow knit, and his body tensed up was indicative of raw confusion and certainty. "Why would you ask me something like that?"

"Having such a visceral reaction to a child being abused isn't super common, even for the most compassionate of people." Hank explained as he kept his hand on Connor's shoulder to ensure that his friend felt grounded at all times. "Usually that's a reaction that stems from an empathetic response rather than sympathetic."

Silence fell over Connor as he tried to think hard and remember any instances of being abused as a child in any capacity, but he simply couldn't bring up any traumatic memories of his life prior to working with CyberLife. It was as if a majority of his childhood had been a dream or even erased.

"Well, it doesn't really matter right now." The older man noted as he just stayed with Connor until he was sure the younger man was going to be all right. "What does matter is that we're going to get those poor kids justice, we're moving Jonas from serving life in prison right to death row, and CyberLife is going to be fully exposed for how fucked up and corrupt they truly were. This case was bad, but the investigation was good."

Connor sighed to himself as he pressed the side of his head to his palm and rested his elbow against his knee. He was exhausted from the work, from the emotional stress, and from being sick in general.

"When you're ready to stand again, we'll clock-out and head for home." Hank knew that it was important for Connor to take it easy since he had a bad habit of pushing himself too hard whenever he became fixated on any kind of investigation. "Fowler also wants us all to talk to the precinct 'shrink' before the month's over, so just know you'll have a professional to vent to and help you feel better."

Slowly Connor's eyes trailed Hank as the man stood up and began walking toward the exit of the restroom. When Hank stopped to wash his hands after sitting on the questionable bathroom floor, Connor decided that he needed to address what was on his mind before he lost his nerve again.

"Hank?"

"Yeah?" Hank turned his head to look back at Connor just as he shook his hands over the sink and used another paper towel to dry them off. "What's up?"

"...If I had been abused as a child, do you think I could find the people responsible for it?"

"Absolutely." That was a topic Hank didn't want to dwell on or ignore since he knew how important it was for people to be able to come to terms with past trauma in order to heal. "Is it possible that you were in fact abused?"

"Anything's possible, especially since my childhood memories are mostly blank."

"I'll see if Ben can take another look into finding info on the car accident that took your parents from you. After that, we'll take a dive through the foster care records and see if we can find any files on twin brothers who match yours and Lucas's description."

"And if I do find out that I had been abused, what then? Do I go on a hunt for the people who tormented me, or do I trust someone else to look for them for me?"

"You do what you think is the best thing for you." Hank offered Connor his hand and helped the younger man up to his feet to head for home. "Just know that no matter what you do, I'll support you."

"...Thanks."

"Let's get outta' here. We can eat some leftovers if your stomach can handle it, then watch the baseball game tonight." It took a few seconds for Connor to get to his feet, and again Hank planted his palm on the younger man's shoulder to hold him steady as they made their way toward the exit. "The Tigers are already doing great this season, and I want to watch them win this year."

Connor wrapped one arm around his sore stomach as he let Hank lead him out of the bathroom and back to the bullpen. The lull of the bullpen itself was welcome since it helped Connor to feel calm despite his mind being chaotic and his heart breaking one little shard at a time. Some days were just too overwhelming to handle alone, but on that bleak, rainy day - despite everything that had happened - Connor knew that he wasn't alone.

Not anymore.

-next chapter-

Author's Note: TL;DR - Connor learns that several deviant children had been physically and sexually abused by creepy humans and that CyberLife covered up the acts by paying the previously mentioned android serial killer Martin Jonas off the books. Connor has a seriously negative reaction to the child abuse and fears that he too had been abused in some way as a child.