#reintroductions

The night before Connor was able to go back to work as an actual detective, everyone celebrated, his desk was covered in gifts and flowers for him, new instalments had been added just to make sure he had everything he would need to continue through the days and Hank had to be the one to begrudgingly go through a lot of annoying smiling face as he helped everyone decorate; even he didn’t know why everyone was going crazy over the idea of Connor working with them again.

Finally, after the excruciating annoyance of his co-workers, Hank was able to go home.

The sky glistened as the heavy droplets of snow fell, covering the houses, the wind around Hank as he walked the footpath toward his bungalow felt like sharp daggers slicing across his skin, the freezing temperatures taking a toll on his aging bones but it didn’t matter as he spotted the one person he was waiting to see, his friend, his co-worker, his son.

The silhouette of the Android danced across the closed curtains as he ran around the living room, the shadow of a big, hairy dog, bouncing after him; the laughter from inside was enough to make him realize just how much he needed Connor, the joy he could hear was enough to remind him why he had kept on living, why he had stopped drinking and why he no longer played a game with his gun.

The man shook himself from his thoughts quickly and stepped up to the door, only realizing it was a bad idea to be so loud when a huge fluff ball blocked his vision, causing the man to stumble and yell in surprise, making the four-legged softie more excited,

“Alright, alright, down you big mutt!” the older man said in frustration, his beard and cheek now covered in slobber. With a bit of hidden strength, he pushed the dog away from him, shuffling around so he could close the door with a soft thud; moving into the living room, Hank felt the edges of his lips curl up as he watched Connor clean up after Sumo, “So, seems you’ve been making the most of the day before you go back to work” the man commented as he placed a neatly wrapped parcel down onto the table just as Connor turned to look at him,

“Well, I suspected that I won’t really be able to spend much time with Sumo as much as I have over the year so I tried to use as much time as I could now to give him all the affection he deserves” the android replied, moving closer to the lieutenant as he deposited the items in his hand into a pile on the floor for a moment, “However, I am very grateful that Captain Fowler has allowed me to return to my position, I think I am going to enjoy being around everyone again” he continued as he wrapped his arms around Hank, “and I’m also so happy to be working along side you again, dad” he whispered, his arms pulling the older man into tighter embrace.

It didn’t really take Hank by surprise too much, Connor had become very affectionate over the year, deviating had caused Connor a lot of struggles, his emotions were all over the place for months but Hank, Markus and few others had quickly helped him through it all. Markus was the one to help Connor find hobbies, things he could do while he wasn’t working, they tried many things; cooking, baking, painting, reading, etc, not many things did interest him but he did enjoy losing himself in the imagination of the books Hank had collected over the years and to everyone’s surprise, cross-stitching; Connor had explained quite calmly to them that he quite enjoyed using the colours to bring an image together, or in Hanks words, ‘stabbing something a thousand times to make a beautiful piece of work’.

Beside all that, it was Hank who had given Connor the help he needed through emotions, Hank was there at every nightmare, Hank was there for every breakdown, Hank was there, always by his side, always holding him close, it was Hank who brought him out of the darkness he had put himself in, given him purpose when he thought he had lost it and without realizing, had given him a reason to live. Connor hadn’t ever told him but through some of the worst times, all he wanted to do was deactivate, he spiralled out of control, but Hank had saved him, just as the Android had saved Hank from himself.

Pulling himself back to the present, Hank kissed the top of Connor head softly, pulling himself back to look down at his son with a playful smirk, his hands resting on the Androids shoulders as spoke,

“Don’t get all emotional on me now, you haven’t even opened your present yet” he chuckled and quickly maneuverer the man to sit on the couch, even as the younger one protested against any presents, “And don’t give me all that crap about not needing any gifts, you’re my son, I’m allowed to and anyway, technically this isn’t from me” he argued cheerfully as he sat beside the Android, grabbing the gift and placing it on the other mans lap, “Open it”

Reluctantly and with a roll of his eyes, Connor slowly pulled the wrapping from the gift, he wanted to argue back but he knew Hank would never take it, the man was stubborn … now he knows where he gets his cocky little attitude from. A moment passed as he pulled the paper away from the present inside and noticed a form inside of what appeared to be a plastic bag. He glanced at Hank confused before reading over the form; realizing it was a complete order form for a new uniform, he quickly pulled it out to examine it,

“Why am I getting this now? I thought I would be getting my uniform as well as my badge tomorrow?” he asked confused as he opened the bag but a hand stopped him, causing the Android to move his gaze to the older man sitting beside him, smiling softly as he explained,

“Fowler wanted me to give you this, it took him a lot to get the uniform to look like this … Connor, you’re special to us but everyone thought this might be more of a Father-Son type thing so … just take it out” he finally said, too impatient to say anything more as he prompted Connor to look at the Uniform.

The Android agreed as he pulled the uniform from the bag, placing them down on the table as he picked up each item, the uniform was the basic Police uniform, not really much difference until he spotted small details, details that normal civilian wouldn’t notice; his shirt was slightly more blue than the normal shirts, his tie had a single blue strip at the bottom and the collar of his shirt had a very thin strip of blue around the edge like his old Cyberlife jacket.

Connor stared for longer than he should have, Fowler had taken time out of his busy schedule to get his uniform design slightly more custom to him. It wasn’t like he was someone important but the fact that they were all doing something like this for him made him feel more than just an android … and that was the moment his emotion decided to run on overdrive. Quickly, he placed the uniform back onto the table and threw himself at Hank, hiding his face in the man’s shirt as he cried, unfortunately for Hank, he was now stuck with a crying Android tightly holding him and no idea what to do,

“Hey kid, it’s okay, you mean a lot to us, Connor, you’re one of the best detectives we have and anyway, if you want to thank anyone for the uniform, thank Reed, he put the idea into Fowlers head … I don’t know how but he did” Hank explained as he slowly ran his hands up and down the Androids back, trying to comfort him. Slowly, the sobs turned into little sniffles as the younger man looked up,

“Detective Reed? H-He did this for me?” he asked as he looked over at his new uniform, his expression becoming one of confusion, “Why? He hated me, he hates me, he hasn’t spoken to me since the incident in the evidence room” he mused, more to himself but loud enough that Hank heard, making the elder sigh softly,

“He’s a disaster, since you left, he hasn’t been the same, we thought it was because he didn’t have you to torment but I think he actually misses you, Connor” Hank stated, trying his hardest not to jump to conclusion but it wasn’t hard to see the very obvious signs, “What do you think about it all, Connor? If Gavin does want a second chance, if he does actual miss you … do you want to try?” he asked, looking down at the Android who had now turned his head away from the brand new clothes, a frown on his face as he shrugged,

“I’m not sure … I …” he struggled to think of the correct words for the situation, he tried to think of the right words that wouldn’t make him look like a heartless monster, “He hurt me deeply, he punched me, he held a gun to my head and tried to kill me … he hated me as well as other Androids, he never liked me and he never will … but if he really wants a second chance, if there is a chance he does miss me … then I will try” he said, looking up to his dad with those big puppy dog eyes that no one could resist, “Was that a good response?” he asked, hoping he had read the situation correctly and when he saw the soft expression of Hank watching him, he knew he had,

“Yeah, it was good, Son, now, get some rest, you have a lot to do tomorrow” he instructed, helped the Android up off the couch, kissing his head softly, “I’m so proud of you” and with that, the older man left the room, heading to his own bedroom to get as much sleep as possible, leaving the android alone with the clothes and his thoughts.

The next day came quicker than expected; Connor, as punctual as ever, had exited sleep mode, fed as well as walked, Sumo, made breakfast for Hank and woken him, all before six in the morning. Hank hadn’t been expecting to wake up to smell of fried eggs and bacon but damn, he knew this was going to be a good morning, even if it was six in the god damn morning. However, what Hank hadn’t been expecting more than the breakfast, was entering the kitchen in nothing but his boxers and a shirt to find Connor completely dressed, uniform neatly on him, his hair styled like normal with a slight curl instead of his usual flick on his forehead but the thing that topped it all off was the large toddler like grin on his face,

“Good Morning Lieutenant, I hope you don’t mind but I took the liberty of making breakfast for you, I also made you some coffee, just how you like it” he cheerfully exclaimed as he placed a mug on the kitchen table for Hank, turning away to plate up the food, “I’ve estimated that we will have enough time for you to eat this as well as pick you up a cup of your favourite coffee from that little café you like” he stated before handing the older man his food.

Hanks smile was reminiscent of a proud parent as he ate, watching Connor almost skip around the place, anyone could see that the Android was happier and it made Hank understand just what it meant to stay alive,

“So, Connor, are you ready to start you’re first day as a fully paid detective?” he asked as he chugged almost half of his coffee and shoved some more of his bacon into his mouth. He could see Connors LED become just a little bit brighter as the Android beamed happily,

“I am so excited, Hank, I get to do the thing I was made to do but this time actually do it with a passion … I’m just a little scared” the androids face slowly turned into one of worry, the light covering his left temple became a soft yellow, “I know that, now I’m deviant, it’ll be a different experience, I can feel and emote unlike before so I’m worried about how cases will affect me, however, I see it as more of a learning curve, it scares me more than I thought but it excites me too …” he explained as his LED slowly turned back to blue as his usual smile appeared on his face, his head turning towards Hank, “I’m just glad I’ll get to work along side you, dad” his voice was soft and his eyes showed adoration.

The older man slowly stood, the faint sound of clicks filled the space as his joints tried to fight the action; he placed the plates in the sink before placing a hand on Connors shoulder, speaking with a smile,

“Connor, you’re going to be just as amazing as before, don’t worry” he encouraged before slapping his shoulder gently, moving around him to finally dress for another days work, “make sure you’ve got everything before we leave” the Lieutenant yelled through the house a moment before a soft click of his bedroom door could be heard, leaving Connor to wait for him on the sofa.

As Connor waited, his mind wandered back to one thing Hank seemed to continuously mention, Gavin Reed, he knew he would have to go back and be in the same building as the man, he knew he would have to either interact with him in the precinct or on a scene and unfortunately, Connor was going to have to think of what to do; he could ignore him and only talk to him when it is absolutely necessary but Connor quickly shook that from his head, if he was being honest, he didn’t want to ignore Gavin, or anyone for that matter, he wanted to restart and make friendships, not cause rifts before he’s even had a chance to try. The only other idea was to try again … he shook that from his head as well, Gavin wouldn’t dare, he wouldn’t look twice at the android and Connor knew that there was only one thing to do, only speak when spoke to when it comes to Gavin.

Soon, Hank and Connor were on their way back to the Precinct, both smiling at the silence of being together in the car once again. Hanks music was quietly playing through the old speakers as the engine rattled against the bumps in the road, neither one of them wanting to ruin their quaint little journey but they knew it would end when Connor spoke up, refusing to turn his head away from the racing world outside the passenger window,

“Hank … I seem to be experiencing a strange feeling I’m not familiar with …” his gaze flicked down to his hands, watching as his fingers picked at the fabric of his recently pressed trousers. After a few moments of deafening silence, the android finally looked up to his partner who’s eyes were still trained on the road but there was an unreadable emotion behind them,

“Son, why don’t you try explaining it as best you can and we’ll see if my old ass can help” the older man finally answered, flicking his gaze towards the other for a second. Both knew of Hanks inability to read emotions and his very bad handle of them but he was also a man who secretly tried to help where he could and had been there for Connor thousands of times but if anyone ever asked, they would be going home with a black eye.

Connor thought for a while, watching as the Detroit community continued with their every day lives, he had trouble explaining his emotions to Markus when he was trying to learn and especially to Hank since the ex-alcoholic had a very bad habit of ignoring his own but he knew he would need to try, problems on a case would be difficult and as Connor had learnt … well, in reality, he had taken the advice of Evie Frye from an old game Hank had shown him, ‘never let emotions compromise a mission’, and well, it was pretty good advice,

“I don’t know how to describe what I’m feeling … It’s almost like … like something is causing my Thirium pump to accelerate in speed” Connor started, trying to think of some of the best ways to describe what he felt, “I also seem to have this overwhelming urge to turn around and go home and never come back, which is confusing as I’m more than ready to restart my work as a detective” the android continued, watching the older man closely, their journey slowly coming closer and closer to its end. Hank sighed, he didn’t need to be good with emotions to know just how Connor felt, he just didn’t know what specific thing was causing it, however, he knew it was one of two things; going back to work after about almost a year or Gavin and he was going to guess it was the latter,

“Connor, listen to me, this feeling you have, the awful drop in your stomach, the excruciating beating of you heart, it’s just nervousness, you’re scared and I’m going to guess it’s not about being a detective again” Hank questioned, amazingly for an android, Connor was pretty damn easy to read and the lieutenant just wanted to help, “Con, I know you’re scared about seeing Gavin again but I know you, I know that you are strong and I know that you’ll make the choices you think are right, even without that little probability thing you have, you can get through this day perfectly fine” the man stated as he pulled the car into his usual spot, turning off the engine so he could turn to look at his son, “Son, you can get through this and I know you can, you don’t need to be nervous” he said before slipping himself out of the car, leaving Connor in thought for a moment.

The Android didn’t realize he was scared, he had never felt this type of scared before, it was so much different from the fear of playing a scary game or watching a horror movie but now that he knew of this emotion, he couldn’t help but feel slightly worried that it would affect him more than it was; at least he had most of the precinct to talk him out of it.

Finally, Connor moved from the car, moving quickly to catch up to Hank who was already stood at the door of the station, watching the android from a distance. They stepped inside together and almost instantly, the receptionists smiled upon seeing him, it was the same Android he had met the first day he came. With a quick hello and a little chatter about both being able to return to what they loved doing, Connor followed Hank with a bit more of a skip in his step and a smile on his face. Rounding the corner, they came face to face with the doors to the bull pen, making the happy little Android freeze and become slightly timid than he’s ever been before.

When Hank couldn’t hear the perfectly rhythmic footsteps behind him, the man turned to see the once smiling Connor stood completely still, for a moment, he was scared the boy had shut down from how motionless he was until he saw the blink of his eyes; He walked back towards his son and placed a gentle hand upon his shoulder, smiling reassuringly,

“Connor, you’re gonna be fine, tell me your stress level” he demanded softly, trying to keep his voice steady and low for him,

“74%” Connor whispered, his eyes moved from the point they were focused on in front of him to gaze at the commotion of the precinct only to receive a squeeze to his shoulder as Hank tried to keep him calm,

“Connor, I know you don’t need them but deep breaths, you can do this, Chris and the others have been excited to see you” he stated happily, trying to coax Connor into going in, “You can do this, Son” Hank slowly took his hand away, moving back towards the bullpen, if Connor was ready, he’d follow and he knew he had the moment he heard everyone around him cheer, the one sentence on their lips,

“WELCOME BACK CONNOR”

And Connor felt more than welcomed, once he had received his badge and gun from Fowler, doing some quick paperwork, Connor was back in the bullpen, surrounded by all his old colleagues and hopefully new friends; the entire day was taken up by talking, laughing, joking, opening the gifts everyone had left for him and questions about the year that passed and Connor couldn’t have been happier.

Chris and Tina were the ones who mainly stayed around Connors desk the entire day, others coming and going as they had some work to do but those two had been curious about everything, their questions consisted of; What is it like living with Hank? What did you do? Did you make friends? Is there anyone special your life? Simple gossipy questions which made Connor smile wider than he had in the past year.

There was only one person in the entire Precinct, one person who hadn’t moved from his desk and hadn’t spoken to Connor once, Gavin Reed. The man hadn’t even gone to get himself a coffee, he didn’t dare move from the position he was in, on the fear he would be stopped by someone; his head was down and a pair of headphones shoved in his ears but the slight movement on his eyes towards Connor would be enough evidence to anyone that he desperately wanted to join them all, join Tina and Chris, celebrate and smile … but after what he did, he couldn’t.

It wasn’t until closer to the end of the day that movement from Gavin was seen by anyone; the man stood suddenly, startling quite a few people around him, silence filled the room as everyone watched the rugged, sleep deprived man make his way through the large space of the bullpen towards the one desk he hadn’t been seen near in a very, very long time. Before anyone could stop him, not even Hank was quick enough, he was stood beside the once empty desk; his hands shoved deep in his pockets as his gaze pointed to the floor, finally, his mouth opened to speak,

“Tin-C … I mean, Connor, listen, I … erm … I want to apologise for everything I d-“ before he could finish, Connor stood, turning to look at the man who had taunted him for weeks with a stone cold expression on his face,

“No, you listen to me, Reed, I don’t want your apologies, I don’t want your ‘I’m deeply sorry’ speech or ‘I regret what I did to you’ because I don’t want to hear any of that” he started, his expression never changing once as everyone stared with their jaws on the floor and their eyes the size of sauce pans, “Detective, you really hurt me, I may not have felt most emotions back when we first met but when I think back, I realize how much of a complete asshole you were to me … Detective, you tried to kill me” he stated, anyone in the room could see the regret and heartbreak on Gavins face as he continued to stare at the floor, “I thought about that the past year I wasn’t here, I thought of the words you said and the glares you sent my way … and I worked through them with Markus and Hanks help, I can identify emotions and get through them better than my first few months as a newly turned Deviant …” Connor explained, his expression softening a little as he took a single stepped towards Gavin, making the detective look up confused, “That’s why I forgave you months ago, I heard about what you did for me, I heard about your suggestion on my uniform, the way you’ve been acting … and this is why I’m restarting it all” he stated, watching as Gavin looked around more than confused.

Hank slowly stood from his desk, even though it was going against what he thought Connor should do to the prick, he watched on with a proud fatherly expression as everyone else watched on in utter disbelief.

Connor smiled softly as he held his hand out in front of him, waiting for Gavin to take, which he slowly did, still utterly confused over everything that was happening, especially the current handshake,

“Hello, my names Connor Anderson and I’ll be working here along side you, I hope that we can be friends” he finally finished, a proper smile gracing his face. The rugged detective in front of him smiled, for the first time in a long time, he smiled, shaking Connors hand properly before he spoke,