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It was snowing.
Little flakes were drifting in the air, shimmering as they swirled around Connor. He watched the sparkling snowflakes fall towards the ground, and while he liked the snow, it felt different this time. It wasn't like when he had been walking Sumo and it began to snow, with the large St. Bernard trying to catch the snowflakes in his mouth.
It also wasn't like when just the other week, he and Hank had been out shopping and, almost uncharacteristically, the lieutenant persuaded him to try ice skating, telling the android how he used to do it when he was younger and despite him not being too good at it, it was still "pretty fucking fun." Connor had actually accumulated an opinion similar to that, enjoying the different activity as it had started to snow.
No. This time it was different. Different like all those weeks ago when Connor and Hank had been at the Ambassador Bridge.
Like the last time he had been in his mind palace.
Connor nearly felt his whole mood shift as he recognized the all too familiar zen garden, the weather not as thick as the last time he had been here. He could still see his surroundings quite clearly, snow lightly covering the green grass below his feet and the rest of the adorning plants and modern structures in the palace.
The RK800 could practically feel his LED begin to spin as he started to walk forward. A small shiver ran over his body, the man still wearing the short sleeve shirt and sweatpants he had been wearing last night.
Wait, last night? Connor paused, a confused look on his face as he stood. Everything felt so foggy to him. He couldn't even remember what he had just been doing or, more importantly, why he was even in the mind palace.
The brunet looked ahead of him and saw the center of the garden a few feet away, a wall for growing flowers still there yet lonely without its usual roses decorating it. In fact, everything seemed much more bare, though nothing else was really out of place. The changes helped Connor feel a little calmer as he made his way to the center.
He took a deep breath once he reached it, the area nostalgic yet harshly different all at once. Connor stopped walking and stared at the gardening wall. It was almost as if he was expecting to see the bright red flowers, smell their potent, sweet scent. Instead, he was met with nothing but an empty, white wall and the fresh smell of snow.
"Connor!"
Connor flinched as he quickly turned around, hearing his name called out. Part of him was expecting to see his old handler standing in front of him, about to greet him and talk to him about one of his missions. But in her place, all Connor could see was the silhouette of someone in the distance, unable to make out more than that due to the snow becoming to fall harder and thicker.
The android opened his mouth but then closed it, knowing that he couldn't bring himself to say her name aloud. Not yet.
"Connor!" His name was called out again and Connor wrapped his arms around himself, his hair getting covered in snowflakes. He took a step forward as he squinted towards the figure. This time he focused on the voice, knowing that it couldn't be the A.I., despite the voice in his head that said it was.
The more he concentrated, Connor was able to know that the person calling him name was certainly not his handler. It was a deeper voice, gruff and baritone. One that the RK800 couldn't quite place at the moment but gained a warm feeling from.
Connor took another step forward before the silhouette began growing larger, moving towards the android. He could hear the person's heavy footsteps as they came closer to him. After a few more moments, Connor was able to see the person much clearer as they emerged from the snow. And then...
Nothing.
"Connor!"
Connor inhaled sharply through his nose as he opened his eyes, his whole body flinching slightly. He felt a presence to his left and he reached out, his right hand grabbing on to a shoulder.
"Easy, kid," Hank said, placing his left hand on Connor's but not pulling it off of him. The android took a deep breath before looking up at the older man, giving him a questionable look. He still felt somewhat puzzled after what he had seen and nothing except Hank had really set in yet.
"You were talking in your sleep," Hank explained, a knowing look on his face as he spoke. "Thought I should wake you up in case..." He didn't finish the sentence, but Connor knew what he meant, awareness beginning to sink in.
After living with Hank for about a month and a half by now, the man had practically seen Connor at his best and his worst. The same could be said vice versa, but one of the things Hank had learned about Connor was how he frequently had nightmares. They had been much more common after the first week of the revolution's success, with the android having one every time he went into stasis, but the more time that had passed, the less nightmares Connor had.
Hank had greatly helped him with them after finally finding out about them one night when Connor had a particularly bad one, with him shouting and thrashing in his unconscious state on the couch. The human had understood, too, just how painful they could be, with Connor also helping Hank with many of his own bad dreams. It was difficult at first for Connor to be open about them, but soon enough, he had told Hank everything, from twisted visions of his old machine self to darker versions of what had happened when Connor had been on the stage with Markus all those weeks ago.
"Thank you," Connor quietly said, Hank taking his hand off of Connor's before the brunet let go of him and sat up, no longer leaning against Hank. He blinked a few times as he began to finally become aware of his surroundings.
He was sitting on Hank's couch in the living room, the two having been watching an action movie that Hank had referred to as one of the best Christmas movies there was. He must have accidentally slipped into stasis, and it seemed like Hank had done the human equivalent as Connor noticed how it was two in the morning.
Christmas Eve.
The lights on the Christmas tree shone brightly, the various colors being reflected against the wall and the side of the fireplace. The TV, the other source of light in the room, was still on, another movie playing but the device muted. Connor noticed Sumo laying on the ground near his and Hank's feet, the dog snoring softly in his sleep.
"You okay?" Hank gently asked the android. Connor looked over at him and gave him a small smile, the weird feelings from his dream having been almost shaken off all the way by this point.
"Yes. It wasn't... like that. Just different," Connor answered, unsure of how else to explain what he had seen. Though his mind palace carried bad memories, the android for once didn't feel full of fear after seeing it. It had still been uncomfortable, but not particularly scary like usual.
Hank gave him an amused smile at that. "Well, different's better than bad."
Connor hummed in response, the older man letting out a sigh and leaning forward, resting his elbows against his thighs. The android glanced over at him and noticed Hank looking at the tree, a soft and almost sad look in his icy blue eyes. Connor looked away before Hank could notice his stare, placing his attention on the tree, too.
Connor knew what Hank must have been thinking about. He knew that the holidays were a sensitive time for Hank, and after a small discussion with Officer Chen and Officer Miller a week ago, he had found out that Hank hadn't even celebrated Christmas for the past three years. Connor understood that it was difficult and he had tried to tell the lieutenant that they didn't have to do anything, but Hank had ignored his concerns, wanting to make sure Connor had a good first Christmas.
The android still somewhat wished that he had tried harder to persuade Hank. He didn't want to be causing the man any kind of pain.
"We didn't have to get a tree, you know," Connor broke the silence. Hank looked over at him, his eyebrows furrowing at the sudden change in subject, and Connor looked away in response, paying attention to Sumo still asleep on the floor. "It would've been alright if we hadn't."
"What, so I could've fucked up your first Christmas?" Hank joked, sitting back up and ruffling Connor's hair. Connor smiled at the familiar gesture, shaking his head.
"I mean it, Hank," Connor told the man, making eye contact with his blue eyes. "I wouldn't have minded it."
Hank's expression grew a little more serious at Connor's words and the android could tell he wanted to avoid the subject, just like he had been the whole month. "It's okay, Connor, really. I wanted to do this."
Connor knew he was telling the truth, or at least partly. Hank had been the one who came up with the idea to get the tree in the first place. He had been acting much differently, too, willing to help the smallest bit with decorating the bullpen of the station and even wanting him and Connor to attend the Christmas party with the rest of the precinct tomorrow. Or, technically today, since it was already Christmas Eve.
Hank still had his moments here and there, but none of them were close to his worst all that time ago. He was doing good, and Connor was both happy and proud to see his friend come so far.
Well, both friend and father figure, though Connor didn't think he would ever be able to admit that aloud. Even after they had only known each other for a few days, Connor couldn't help but notice how Hank treated him like a son, acting as if he were a father to the android.
It wasn't like Connor needed a parent. Androids weren't designed to have parents, except for YK models, of course. But that didn’t matter anymore after the revolution, with Connor seeing a great example of this through Markus and Carl's relationship, with the RK200 referring to the painter as "Dad" most of the time.
And Connor knew how he felt about Hank. How he saw the older man as almost a parent, how he felt safe in his presence, happy to be with him. He wasn't sure how Hank felt about him, except for the fact that he seemed to like having the android around, calling him "son" quite frequently and causing a swell of pride to appear in Connor's chest at the nickname.
"I just want to make sure you're okay," Connor quietly said, giving Hank a kind smile. Hank looked back at him for a second, a beat passing before he smiled back, a small look of surprise on his face as he huffed out a laugh.
"You don't have to worry so much about me, kid," Hank told the android, shaking his head slightly. "Jeez, how did I end up with the sappiest android?" he joked, causing Connor's smile to grow.
"I suppose you were lucky," Connor smoothly replied.
Hank laughed at that, muttering a small, "Yeah," that Connor could find no sarcasm in. The older man ran a hand through his gray hair before letting out a small sigh.
"Well, it's late as hell," he said, standing up and making sure not to bother Sumo. He quickly turned off the TV, leaving the lights on the tree on since he knew how much Connor liked them. "Better go to sleep before you give me a lecture."
Connor let out a small laugh, knowing that Hank was right. "Of course. Goodnight, Hank."
Hank looked at the younger man, a small smile on his face, and Connor could see something in his eyes, something different and familiar that made the android feel good.
"G'night, son," Hank said before walking away and going into his bedroom.
A small smile was still on Connor's face as he fell back asleep.