Work Text:
Hank noticed that Nines’ bad mood started with a goldfish. Not just any goldfish though. Connor’s goldfish that he won at the Michigan State Fair two weeks ago. A fish that the android had fondly named Judo.
“Sumo is a form of Japanese wrestling so I found it fitting that our animal life be named within the same theme.” Connor had proudly claimed.
Hank grunted and then laughed, “Cole named him Sumo because he’s a big dog, Con.”
Since then, all the RK800 could do was talk about the fish. He even went to the bookstore (the only bookstore selling actual paper books) and bought almost every book about goldfish he could. Then went on to spout random fish facts until Fowler snapped at him.
Nines on the other had seemed to have a perpetual black cloud hovering him. Well, more so than usual. Even Gavin was put off by his darkened mood.
“What the fuck is your problem?” Gavin snapped as he, Nines, Hank, and Connor left the precinct after work.
“What the fuck is your problem?” Nines snapped back, “besides your-”
“ENOUGH!” Hank bellowed and stepped between the two of them. “I have been listening to the two of you bitch at each other for two fucking weeks and I am sick of it.” He jabbed a finger at Gavin, “Take Connor home.” Gavin looked like he was about to protest but quickly shut his mouth when Hank gave him a dangerous look.
Hank turned to Nines, “You and me. Let’s go.”
Even Nines was speechless by Hank’s sudden action. He gave a short nod and left with Hank ignoring the concerned look from his older brother.
Hank drove them to the Simply O’s Diner. In Nines’ opinion it was the most unsanitary diner in all of Detroit but tolerated it for three reasons. One, because their burgers were less calories than Chicken Feed. Two, because they had the best chocolate milkshake. Three, Nines was an android and contrary to popular belief he wasn’t exactly opposed to germs or messes. He’d put the juice of decaying flesh in his mouth, a few unsanitary restaurants weren’t going to put him off. Besides he’d kissed Gavin (quite a lot and too many times in Hank's opinion) and Hank claimed that Gavin’s mouth was filthy and once asked the detective if he ‘kissed his mother with that mouth’.
The server was kind enough to let Hank choose where they sat and so he picked a booth in the back. Nines made sure he was sitting facing the diner patrons so he could keep a watchful eye on any potential threat.
“Can I get you anything to drink?” The server asked politely; though it was obvious she was just about done with her day.
“I’ll take a cheeseburger with fries and a coke.”
“ Diet coke,” Nines corrected sternly then politely to the server, “Can I get a chocolate milkshake?”
The server nodded, “Just the milkshake?”
“Yes, please.”
“I’ll be right back with those.” She left screaming her order at the cook.
Nines was nervous about why Hank had sent Connor home and took him to a diner instead. It was highly unusual behavior- though Nines had learned that humans were, for the most part, unpredictable. But this was unusual on a different level. Hank never took Nines anywhere without Connor.
For some reason Nines’ brain flashed back to a case in which the needlessly cruel owner forced his dog to kill a man. The poor dog had to be put down and it was the first time Nines had ever cried. It was unfair. It wasn’t the dog’s fault.
[^ Stress Levels 22%]
“Alright, kid. We’re gonna have a talk.”
Oh rA9, this was it. Nines had been acting out so much that Hank was going to put him down. Metaphorically, but oh rA9, Nines felt like he royally fucked up.
[^ Stress Levels 30%]
“About what?” Nines answered flatly and trying to keep his stress levels in check.
“About this,” Hank waved a hand indicating all of Nines’ being. “Your recent attitude. Don’t think I haven’t noticed. What’s going on?”
[^ Stress Levels 45%]
For a second Nines LED flashed bright red before it snapped back to blue. “Nothing is going on. I apologize for my behavior, I’ll be in a better mood.”
[^ Stress Levels 50%]
He tried to smile but it came off as awkward and a little bit terrifying which made him look like he’d never smiled in his entire life. Which Hank knew was entirely false. He’d seen Nines smile before. On rare occasions, but he knew what a genuine smile from Nines looked like.
“You can’t fool me, with that light thingy,” Hank decided to inform him, “Something’s wrong and I know it.”
[^ Stress Levels 60%]
“Nothing is wrong.”
[^^ Stress Levels 68%]
“I’m not trying to be nosy- you know what, yeah I am. You’re not happy and you’ve been upset since we got home from the fair.” Nines’ expression changed slightly and Hank knew he was getting closer to the truth.
[^^^ Stress Levels 72%]
As much and Nines liked to believe he was good at lying to Hank, the lieutenant always seemed to know when he was telling the truth. He suspected it was the human’s ‘paternal instinct’ rather than his detective skills. But at this moment, Nines was more angry than anything. He wanted Hank to leave him alone. Not pry into his feelings. Feelings that he didn’t have a name for and it was beyond frustrating.
“Nines,” Hank moved to being gentle, “I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me.”
“Maybe I don’t want your help!” Nines snapped and immediately clammed a hand over his mouth horrified that he’d just yelled at Hank like that.
[^^^^^ Stress Levels 94%]
Hank jumped in surprise and he couldn’t help but peek around the dinner which had gone almost silent. Okay, so maybe this hadn’t been the right place to have this conversation. He should’ve done it at home but Connor was there probably fawning over Judo.
JUDO. Hank mentally slapped himself. How could he have been so blind? Nines wasn’t mad about being dragged to the state fair. He was mad about Judo. Probably. It was a good start.
“Nines,” Hank started slow not wanting to create a bigger scene- or rather, make their scene bigger, “is this about Judo?”
That time, Nines couldn’t hack his red LED fast enough. “No,” he answered softly hyper aware of the eyes that were on him.
Hank noticed Nines shitting uncomfortably in his chair. He pulled a few dollars from his pocket and placed it on the table. “Come on, let’s go somewhere else.”
[vvvv Stress Levels 37%]
Nines nodded numbly and silently followed Hank outside the diner. They got into the car but instead of starting it, Hank turned to face Nines. He was going to finish this conversation and get to the bottom of Nines’ sour attitude.
“No more eyes, kid. Just you and me.”
[^ Stress Levels 45%]
Nines’ eyes shifted to look outside pre-constructing various ways he could get out of the car and avoid talking to Hank. It took less than a second with each and every single one ending with his departure of Detroit in order to never have this conversation. Even a scenario in which he ran away to stay with Elijah Kamski didn’t go so well. That one ended with Hank murdering the billionaire due to “kidnapping”. He concluded there really was no way out of this talk.
The RK900 sucked in his breath and then, “Because you love Connor more than me.” He waited for Hank to tell him the inevitable truth. That he was right and he loved Connor more than he loved Nines.
Fuck, he really was going to have to leave. He couldn’t bear the idea of never being loved enough. Because he wasn’t nice, like Connor. Or kind, like Connor. He didn’t smile enough, like Connor, or talk, or be gentle. In many ways Nines knew he was the inferior model. Stupid CyberLife and their stupid social protocols. Why couldn’t he have gotten that, too. Maybe then, Hank would love him more.
[^^^^ Stress Levels 59%]
Suddenly Hank understood. He’d never grown up with siblings and had never had any other child besides Cole. Then, Connor came along and it was the two of them for awhile. And after that, it was the three of them. Hank had only heard about this from Gavin and various other parenting books. Nines was jealous.
The concept seemed so ridiculous that Hank laughed. It was a horrendously inappropriate time to laugh but he did. CyberLife’s most advanced android had been acting out for two straight weeks because he was having problems with jealousy.
Upon looking at Nines, Hank felt a wall of guilt slam into him. The poor kid looked like he was about to start crying. “Ah fuck, I’m sorry for laughing.” He placed a gentle hand on Nines’ shoulder giving it a small squeeze. “I just- why on earth do you think I love Connor more than I love you.”
Nines looked down to his lap and answered with a very soft, “Because you helped him win Judo and you didn’t help me when I wanted the giant unicorn. You also spend more time with him than you do with me. And whenever we do things together, it’s always Connor’s suggestion.”
[^^^ Stress Levels 60%]
The guilt wall turned into a wrecking ball and obliterated Hank’s heart. He felt like the world’s shittiest dad. Of course Nines was feeling jealous and left out. He wasn’t a vocal person to begin with and so Hank just assumed that he was fine with whatever it was they were doing. In truth, Nines was probably too afraid or too embarrassed to speak up about what he wanted. The giant fluffy unicorn had come as a surprise to Hank.
After helping Connor win Judo (i.e., Hank watched Connor try to calculate the exact mathematics behind the game before failing to get the ping pong ball in because he didn’t realize the game was rigged causing Hank to go in and use his knowledge of cheating carnival games he learned years ago), Nines had wanted to win something of his own.
He didn’t actually ask though. He simply walked over to the next stall, played the game, won on the first try, and told the carnival worker that he wanted the giant unicorn. Very Nines style. But Hank had seen the small smile on Nines face as he hugged the massive stuffed animal for the time so he thought everything was okay.
“I…” Nines spoke again refusing to meet Hank’s eyes and holding back the waterworks, “I pre-constructed various scenarios based on internet searches of families going to fairs and came to the conclusion that…” Nines swallowed hard. His face was burning with humiliation. He wanted this all to be over. “...that I wasn’t supposed to be able to win the game and you were supposed to tell me that everything was going to be alright and then you were supposed to help me win the same way that you helped Connor win. Except I won and all you and Connor could talk about was Judo.”
Hank’s eyes went wide with the confession. He felt like such a clueless idiot. It was times like this that Hank realized just how much of an emotional child Nines was. Sure, the android could handle the most bloody of crime scenes and interrogate suspects no problem, and it was easy to forget that emotions were brand new.
Nines spoke again trying to calm himself down and figure out a strategy. How was he going to leave? Well, he concluded that was simple. Once the conversation was over he would calmly tell Hank that he was going to move out of Detroit and then submit his resignation to Fowler. “I am aware that what I am feeling is… petty-”
[^ Stress Levels 70%]
“No,” Hank interrupted fast, “what you’re feeling is valid. You’re experiencing new emotions and you need to let yourself feel them instead of bottling them up. Let me tell you this. I love you; both of you equally and I don’t favor Connor over you and vice versa. I haven’t raised boys in a long while and certainly not two at the same time. I just need to learn about things that you need, emotionally, and outside of work. You’re not Connor-” Hank didn’t miss the wince and flicker of red, “-and that’s not a bad thing. It’s called individuality. It’s hard being a parent and I know for you emotions aren’t easy. Hell, they’re never easy. But this, talks like this are good. Communication is good, son. That’s what we need. Not so serious like this but smaller things. Like telling me what you want for dinner instead of letting Connor decide. It won’t happen overnight and it’ll get easier with time. It’s still a learning process. For both of us.”
Nines swallowed and nodded. “I… I understand.”
Hank cocked his head slightly knowing that Nines really didn’t. “You don’t have to say you understand if you don’t. It’s okay to be open and honest with how you’re feeling.”
“Is it?” The android’s voice cracked slightly.
[^^ Stress Levels 80%]
“Yeah son, there’s no shame about it.” Hank leaned over the best he could to hug Nines and the RK900 broke. He clung to Hank and cried out his frustrations staining the lieutenant’s shirt with saline. Nines was glad they weren’t in the diner anymore because he was sure he would self destruct.
[vvv Stress Levels 20%]
They finally pulled away and Hank used his sleeve to wipe away Nines’ tears. “I know it can be overwhelming with me and Connor getting to be partners at work. So, how about this. Once a week, we’ll do a father/son activity. Just you and me.”
Hank smiled watching Nines’ slow but satisfied nod, “That… that sounds optimal.”
[v Stress Levels 10%]
“Good,” Hank started the car, “Let start right now. What do you want to do?”
Nines blinked and his LED spun yellow with a flicker of red. He was still nervous but Hank was a man of his word and Nines trusted him. “I… I have an idea of what I want to do.”
Later that night, Judo and Sumo had a new companion. Mr. Bubbles, the chinchilla.