Work Text:
If Hank would describe Connor as anything, it would be as the boot up the ass he’d needed.
For one thing, he started showing up to work on time, much to the bewilderment of his coworkers. As a response, he did what he did best and ignored them completely.
Despite Connor’s deviancy, he was still getting used to appropriate social customs. He didn’t speak in a monotone voice anymore and he’d picked up swearing from him, but there was still a few things he either needed to get used to or understand wasn’t appropriate at certain times.
That included, no, he could not kiss him at work. Not even on the cheek. No matter how much he wanted to, it was inappropriate. He was getting a hard enough time as it was from his deputies. Kissing at work would only make it worse.
Hank couldn’t really explain how or why he and Connor happened. After the androids obtained their freedom, Connor wanted to continue to work for DPD. Fowler took him on, with pay. But Connor didn’t have much of anywhere to go, and he could sense that other androids at Jericho were still wary of him because of his past as the Deviant Hunter.
So Hank offered him to stay with him. He didn’t sleep so he technically didn’t need a room. But Connor still liked going into sleep mode, especially when Hank went to bed. Initially he’d slept on the couch, leading to some mornings where Hank would find him with Sumo on top of him. Hank would stare at them for a few moments before waking him up so they could leave for work.
After a while, Hank felt bad about making him sleep on the couch. Connor assured him it wouldn’t cause him any problems, but Hank still felt some guilt. Which was why he made the offer to sleep in his bed with him.
He didn’t tell him that it was the first time in over a year he’d slept next to someone.
It had started off with them sleeping back to back. Hank being extremely aware of his presence but tuning it out as best he could. It was a welcome presence, but still an unfamiliar one.
Then one night, when they had been in their usual positions, Connor had turned around and wrapped his arms around him. Hank let him, realising it was the closest he’d been to a human like that in a long time.
A month later, when Connor came to cuddle out of habit, Hank had turned to face him in his bed, and like two magnets, their lips had met in a soft kiss.
Falling in love with an android. The version of him before he met Connor would’ve laughed in the face of someone who would admit that. Probably call them a ‘robot fucker’ or something akin to it. Before he realised they weren’t just pieces of plastic. They could indeed love someone back just as much as someone loved them.
There were some issues however. He’d mostly kept his past from Connor. Aside from Cole at least. He’d never asked what had happened to Cole’s other parent. Maybe he could tell he didn’t want to talk about it.
It was easy to hide until Johanna showed up on his doorstep.
“What are you doing here?” He crossed his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes at her, his jaw clenched in a harsh expression.
Johanna looked at him, then over his shoulder. She was staring at what was behind him with a blank expression.
Goddammit. Connor.
He swiftly turned and looked at Connor. It was pretty late on a Saturday night and they’d been in the middle of watching a movie. Connor wanted to see movies from Hank’s youth, so they’d been using his old DVD’s to watch as many as possible. Connor seemed to enjoy a good amount of them and, since he was Connor, was blunt about the ones he didn’t like.
Connor was clutching the blanket they were sharing as he stood, staring at him and Johanna. He was dressed in sweatpants and the Knights of the Black Death shirt he’d stolen from his closet. The movie was still playing, the light of the screen reflecting on his skin. On the couch, Sumo had woken up and had seemed to be wagging his tail at the sight of Johanna.
That was one thing Johanna was still mad at him about, keeping Sumo. She got the house, it was only fair he got Sumo.
Hank wasn’t sure how this looked to Johanna, if she thought he was with someone maybe 20 years his junior or if she saw Connor’s LED spinning yellow. Either way, Johanna would probably find a way to judge him for it.
“Connor, go to our room.”
He stood still for a moment, his eyes shifting from him to Johanna, who was still behind him.
“Connor, please.” His tone was desperate, which was uncharacteristic. The way Connor was going to find out about Johanna shouldn’t be her barging in on a Saturday night.
Connor was still hesitant but he slowly nodded. He turned off the TV and walked to their room, taking the blanket with him.
“And take Sumo with you.”
He wasn’t sure if he did that just to piss Johanna off or just to make her leave quicker than she would’ve if he let Sumo smother her.
Connor called Sumo and he excitedly turned his attention away from Johanna and to Connor. He got off of the couch a walked to Connor’s side.
When he heard the door close, he turned back to Johanna.
“What the hell are you doing here?” This time around, his tone was cold rather than the confusion that had settled in upon seeing his ex-wife.
She was still staring at the spot Connor had stood before turning to meet his eye. “I found some stuff of Cole’s I thought you might want.” Her tone was even, like she was scared she’d set him off. That he’d start yelling at her. The last thing Hank had said to her once the divorce papers were signed was that he never wanted to see her again.
He could see she was clutching a white envelope. The only thing he could think it could be was something like photos or drawings.
Hank hadn’t been inside of Cole’s room since before he died. Before his death, the most prominent memory of his room was always try to get him to fall asleep to slow jazz music. At that point he’d grown a love for it.
He wondered if Johanna hadn’t been inside of it until recently to find what ever she’d found.
“Then give it.” He held out his hand, ready to take it. When Johanna held it out to him, he snatched it from her hand.
“Okay, are you done?” he snapped.
Johanna looked at him, then back to where Connor had stood.
“Well, I’m glad you’re finally moving on.”
He grunted. “Whatever.” They didn’t need to talk about how Johanna seemed immediately ready to date any man who showed himself to her while Hank would rather sneer at a person that looked in his direction than get them into his bed.
She stared at him and sighed as she slumped her shoulders. “Okay, I’ll go.”
Hank watched her as she turned around and walked to her car.
When the car drove off, Hank closed the door and sighed, resting his arm against it.
He walked to sit on the couch and opened the envelope.
As expected, there were drawings. Drawings of him and Cole. Some of Sumo. None of them included Johanna, she must’ve kept her half to herself. All the ones with both of them probably stayed in Cole’s room.
The drawings made him wonder what Cole could’ve been. Maybe an artist, maybe an animator, maybe a comic book artist, maybe a painter. He could’ve been anything but now he’d never know.
Behind him, he heard Connor’s footstep. He didn’t turn to him, and as Connor sat next to him, he let him draw him closer to him.
“Why are you hugging me,” he muttered. “You don’t know what happened.”
“I could tell you were upset. This seemed like the right response.”
He chuckled and snuggled closer to him. “Thanks.”
“You don’t have to tell me who that was. Or why you are upset over these drawings.”
He turned to look at him and sighed. “No, you should know,” he said. “That was my ex-wife. Cole’s mom. I figured you were wondering where exactly his other parent was.”
“I was,” he nodded. “I just didn’t want to force it out of you if you weren’t ready. If you still aren’t we can go back to watching the movie. I liked the part where the man used proteinaceous spider silk to fly through the sky. Though the question to the burly man’s husband had made him his costume was rather… distasteful.”
Hank couldn’t help but snort, deciding to not tell him that legally speaking, the wrestler couldn’t even have had a husband. If he could skip the first Spider-Man movie to get to the sequels, he would. But Connor knew nothing about Spider-Man so they kind of had to watch all of them.
“I think you should know what happened between us,” he sighed. “That marriage was the last good thing in my life.”
He leaned back against the couch and stared at the ceiling. “After Cole died, I had trouble processing it. I just shut everyone out, Johanna as well. I guess she got frustrated with me, and I was angry at her because I thought she wasn’t grieving Cole enough. But it wasn’t like I’d stopped loving her. I did. But it was like she didn’t care how much Cole’s death hurt me.”
He felt Connor’s hand over his own. He turned to look at him to see him looking at him with drooping eyes.
“So,” he continued. “About maybe a year after Cole died we divorced. She asked for it and I guess I never really forgave her.”
“Why not forgive her? Not everyone processes grief the same, I’m sure.”
He knew logically he was right. It wasn’t like it was his fault Cole died. And he couldn’t blame her for no longer wanting to be married to someone who talked to her once a day if she was lucky. But it also felt like she didn’t care how depressed he’d become and that only made him angrier.
“I don’t want to forgive her,” he muttered. “Can we just go back to watching the movie?”
Connor bit his lip and nodded, and they went back to watching the movie in silence.
Connor didn’t ask anymore questions about Johanna or their divorce. At work the next day, he did catch him looking his way and opening his mouth as if he was about to say something, before quickly turning back to his computer when he looked his way.
He knew Connor felt emotions, but he did truely wonder if he knew how humans could and would hold grudges, even when you’ve forgotten why you were angry in the first place. Connor probably wouldn’t understand that even as a deviant. Or whatever they were calling androids who had free will and emotions now.
About half way through the day and some progress on the case they were working on, something was set down next to him. He glanced to his side to see Connor had set down fresh coffee.
“I figured you wanted another one,” he smiled down at him.
He smiled back to him. “Thanks Connor, now get your ass back to work.”
He took a sip and turned back to his computer. Connor sat back at his desk and smiled at him before turning back to his computer.
“Any leads yet, Lieutenant?” Connor asked. He still insisted on calling him ‘Lieutenant’ at work. He said it was because he’d worked hard to earn that title and he wanted to respect it at work. It was fine until he did it around Reed who of course made a lewd comment about it and asked invasive questions about their physical part of their relationship. If it wouldn’t have lead to Fowler being on his ass, he would’ve punched the smug smile off of his face.
“No, but I’ll send you an email of what I’ve figured out.”
They were at it for another hour until Hank decided he needed a piss break. He walked to the bathroom but on his way there a headache decided to follow him.
“How’s your case going, robot fucker?” Reed smirked as he leaned back in his chair. The guy seemed to love riling him up for no real reason. Everyone in the precinct knew quickly enough he and Connor were together, and it wasn’t like he kept his sexuality from them. He didn’t give a fuck if people knew he was bi. He’d had boyfriends before he married Johanna and they knew about them.
What he did give a fuck about however was anyone going for Connor. Other than things HR was still trying to work out under new android laws, his relationship with Connor was his business. Not his colleagues, and especially not Reed’s.
“Focus on your own cases, Reed,” he grunted at him. He wanted to add ‘and not on my fucking personal life’ but Fowler was on his ass enough already. Him and Connor dating wasn’t something he cared about, as long as it didn’t create any distractions on the job. He also didn’t care if coworkers had something to say about it. He was old enough to deal with himself, and he was right. He was just tired of said coworkers acting like high schoolers.
“Actually, I was meaning to ask,” Reed asked, leaning against his desk towards his direction. “Is it true how they say sex with androids is better? I heard they can get the good stuff installed, plus there’s the added bonus of no gag reflex.”
He gave him a sharp look. “If you’re so interested, go find out for yourself at the Eden Club. At least now they can actually choose to consent to whatever gross things you want to do.”
He walked the rest of the way to the bathroom before Reed could make another smartass comment.
He’d been doing his best to focus on work, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Johanna. He hadn’t seen her in over a year, and hadn’t thought about contacting her. She felt more like a stranger than a former lover. He appearance at his house was an anomaly he couldn’t process.
Connor hadn’t brought the topic of her up but from the looks he’d been giving him, he clearly didn’t want to leave the conversation unfinished.
The thing about Johanna was that she’s Hank’s past. He didn’t get a lot of dating opportunities during his earlier years on the force. You don’t become a lieutenant so young when you’re busy dating. But Johanna walked into his life in his early 40s, and they were married a few years later with Cole being born soon enough. She was a big part of his life for a long time but that didn’t mean he had to talk to Connor about it. He didn’t talk about his other past relationships with him, Johanna shouldn’t be any different.
When he got back to his desk, Connor stood up and smiled at him. “I think I have a lead, Lieutenant.”
He smiled at him. He found he was doing more of that when Connor came into his life. “Okay, fill me in.”
Connor had explained android connections to him. If two android hands without their skin touched, there was a way they could access their memories and emotions.
Hank called that taking the hard way out. Unfortunately, humans had to either talk about their feelings and past or bury it until it was unavoidable.
Even without the touch they could share, Connor had taken a liking to exposing the plastic when they held hands or when he stroked his skin. Connor had said it was the closest they’d get to it, and Hank could definitely say it was the most intimate thing he’d ever done with a romantic partner.
Connor was sitting in the living room wrapped in a blanket. He’d stolen yet another one of his articles of clothing. This time it was a DPD hoodie. Hank didn’t understand why he did, they’d bought plenty of clothes for him to wear. Connor said he liked his clothes because they smelt like him and something about his sensors liked it. Hank didn’t understand the technical stuff but he liked the sentiment.
He’d made himself a ready meal, much to Connor’s annoyance. “Hank, those a full of salt. You need to eat healthier.” His horrible eating habits were one thing left unchanged with Connor’s presence.
He set the food on the coffee table, and Connor wrapped the blanket around the two of them. “So, what are we watching tonight?”
“We’re at Avengers: Infinity War,” he said. “Has all the characters from the previous movies in it.”
“Even the one with the android?” he asked, practically lighting up.
He smiled at him and nodded. “Him too.” His excitement over the android remembered himself in his 30’s when he first saw a bisexual character on screen, at least one who actually called themself bi.
About halfway through the movie, Connor turned to him. Hank gave him a curious look and before he could say anything, Connor said, “I think you should make up with Johanna.”
He blinked at him. “What?”
“I think you two should sit down and talk about your feelings. And to end the hostility between the two of you.”
“Connor, it’s not that easy.”
“Why? It shouldn’t be difficult to talk over your feelings and make amends.”
He held back a sigh. “I just can’t, Con. Until Saturday, I hadn’t seen her since the divorce was final.”
He pressed his lips together and looked away. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just saw how upset you were, I thought maybe if you tried to talk things out with her it would make you feel better.”
He took his chin in his hand and gently turned his face back to look at him. “Humans are weird. We avoid talking about those kind of things. We prefer to hold it in and stay mad even when we forget why we’re mad in the first place.”
He frowned. “That doesn’t make a lot of sense, Hank.”
He cupped his jaw in his hand. “I know,” he said as he stroked his thumb along his cheekbone. “But that’s just how humans are.”
His hand placed over his own, the plastic exposed. “I still think you should talk to her.”
Of course he would. “You’re not going to drop this, are you?”
“I only care about your emotional wellbeing. I think talking things out with Ms. Johanna would greatly improve it.”
He sighed. “Okay, fine. If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll go tomorrow night.”
He grinned at him and turned back to the movie, snuggling into him.
Hank hadn’t been to the house he and Johanna shared since she kicked him out.
There was a time Hank was sure he’d never own his own house, much less two. But the economy changed when androids were introduced, and deflation gave them the opportunity to buy a house in the late-20’s when they were still newlyweds.
When he rang her doorbell, a few moments passed before she answered.
She stared at him for a few moments. “Yes, Hank?” she asked, her arms crossed over her chest.
The hostility reminded him why he never wanted to come. But there was no way he would break that promise to Connor.
“I guess I wanted to talk to you.”
She raised a brow at him. “You very much didn’t want to talk a few days ago. What? Too busy with that boy toy of yours?”
Anger flared in his stomach. The thing about Johanna was that she was well aware of him being bi, and she’d never had an issue with it, never asked overly invasive questions about ex-boyfriends, none of that. But the quip about Connor felt too far. Her words implied he was less than what he was. It also made it obvious she wasn’t aware he was an android. And if Johanna thought he was fucking a 30-something then he was going to let her think that simply out of pettiness.
“I wish I was right now,” he crossed his arms over his chest, mirroring her pose. “But I did want to come talk to you.”
A few beats passed before she stepped back, and made room for him to come in. For the first time in over a year, he stepped inside the house.
The house still smelt of cinnamon, probably from those candles Johanna loved so much. The decor was mostly the same, with a few added clutter and pictures. The frilly kind of things Hank hated that Johanna never bought because of him.
She had kept pretty much all of the pictures of Cole. Mostly because most of them were either hung up or uploaded to a digital photo frame that belonged to Johanna.
He’d missed it. All of it. So many good memories were inside this house. He couldn’t bear coming after he and Johanna had separated and he’d been able to forget about it until now.
It was his past, Connor was his now and his future. The house they shared was what he focussed on. But this house would always mean something to him. Cole’s first steps, his first words, the first day they brought him home… those were what this house stood for.
“Okay, was is it then?” she asked, crossing her arms.
He swallowed and glanced at the couch. “Can we sit at least?”
Her eyes shifted to it. “Fine.”
He sat on the couch but Johanna went straight to the armchair. She crossed her leg over the other and crossed her arms again, narrowing her eyes at him. “So talk, if you’re so desperate.”
Her look was cold and maybe he deserved it. It was the same look she’d given him when she asked for the divorce. He took a deep breath. “I know it’s probably too late, but I’m so sorry for completely shutting you out after Cole… after he…” he trailed off. Saying the words could get difficult, and this house only made it harder.
She stared at him, her expression softening. “You did shut me out,” she nodded. She hesitated a moment for continuing, her hands going to her lap. “And I turned my grief into anger at you. I never blamed you for his death but I definitely wasn’t hit as hard as you were. And maybe that was because it was such a shock or because I wasn’t there but,” she trailed off and took a deep breath. “You acted like I didn’t care when I cared. I cared so much it hurt me. It made me so angry you thought I didn’t care, and then you started drinking so it made things so much worse.
“I asked for the divorce because we didn’t have a marriage anymore.” Her voice broke and a sniffling sound came from her. “Maybe I should’ve been there for you more. But I was so tired of you turning into that version of yourself who went to work, got drunk, and never talked to me. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you like I should’ve been. It was a mess.”
He stared at her as tears started to roll down her face. She was in full on hysterics at this point. She was still talking but Hank didn’t understand her.
Maybe if they had this conversation sooner all the resentment wouldn’t have been there.
When she got a hold of herself he asked her what had been on his mind since he stepped inside. “Can I see his room?”
She looked at him with red, puffy eyes and nodded.
They both stood up and went upstairs to his room in silence.
Hank stared at the closed door. It was right across from the room he and Johanna used to share. He had memories, so many memories, of waking him up in the morning and getting him ready for school. He was only in first grade the last time he did it.
Fuck, he couldn’t do this.
“Hank?”
Johanna put a hand on his shoulder. When had he started crying?
He wiped away his tears and took hold of the doorknob. He could do this.
When he opened the door, dust hit him hard. He couched, which was a mixture of snot, tears, and whatever germs he’d just hacked.
“Sorry,” Johanna said. “I hadn’t stepped inside it until the other day. It’s still kind of a mess.”
Hank just nodded and stepped inside the room.
His toys were still on the floor, unmoved from where they had last been. His bed was made. Johanna always refused to leave it unmade and would make it perfectly.
Almost nothing was out of place. It looked exactly the same as when he’d last been inside of it.
On the bed, he saw Cole’s favourite stuffed bear. He stepped toward his bed and picked it up. It was covered in dust but that didn’t stop him from clutching it to his chest. Cole had gone through a phase where he took it everywhere.
“Hank?” Johanna place a hand on his shoulder, which brought him back to reality.
“I think I’m done.” He couldn’t take it in here. It was too hard. It felt like his chest was crushing into itself. He was only a few moments away from breaking down.
They went back downstairs and Johanna asked if he wanted anything to drink. She didn’t have any alcohol, so he settled on coffee.
They sat in silence at the dining table for a few minutes. He could feel her watching him, the sound of fingers lightly tapping on the table.
She was the one to break the silence. “I’m sorry for what I said before— about the guy I saw at your house,” she said, her voice soft. “I don’t know what he means to you and I did mean it when I said I’m happy you’re moving on.”
He turned to look at her and raised a brow. “It’s fine,” he said flatly. Maybe he should draw it out a little longer that he’s an android, for nothing other than his own amusement.
She bit her lip. “No, really, what I said was uncalled for. How did you meet him?”
He let a small smile grow on his lips. “Uh, we’re partners at work. We were assigned on a case. The homiacides associated with androids.”
“He was? He looks like he’s in his early 30’s, that’s a pretty high profile case.”
“Maybe he’s good at his job.” He was designed to do it after all.
She smiled. “You’re smiling,” she noted. “He makes you happy then?”
He nodded. “Really happy. What about you, are you seeing anyone?”
“Yeah, I met this great guy through work. He’d transferred to the firm and we clicked quickly.”
“Good.” And he meant that. Their marriage may had ended terribly but that shouldn’t stop them from finding a partner again.
Maybe they’ll actually be friends again.
“Also, I forgot to mention this but Connor’s an android.”
He stopped himself from laughing when her brows practically rose to her hairline.
“An android?” she asked, an amused look replacing the shock. “Okay, that I didn’t expect.”
“A deviant one, just so we’re clear. I’m not one of those pervs who treat them like living sex dolls.”
She grimaced. “That always creeped me out. I wouldn’t pin you as one of those sorts. Do you love him?”
He bit his lip and nodded. “Crazy, huh?”
“Maybe. I always thought you hated androids.”
He shrugged. “Clearly I changed my mind. I also wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t pushed me to.”
She smiled. “Sounds like you got a good one, android or human.”
He smiled. “Yeah, he is.”
Connor was wrapped up in a blanket, snuggling with Sumo as the 2018 Venom movie played. He smiled and sat next to him. “Hey,” he said and kissed his cheek.
“Hi. How did it go?”
“Good,” he said. “You were right. We talked things over and I think things are at least a little better.”
“So, are things better?”
“As good as they can be right now. I think if we try she and I could be friends.”
He smiled. “I’d love to meet her eventually.”
He laughed. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Con.”