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It wasn’t realizing that he had limited time with Connor that had Hank so distraught. It was realizing that it was a lot sooner than he thought- as in that day- that he might never have seen Connor again, and realizing how uncharacteristically attached he found himself to the Android.
Ironic, really, that Hank would be one to form such a bond with an Android, to the point where he was scared to lose the bastard. An Android, for god sake. He hated those things for years, but with the relatively peaceful revolution that was advancing quickly, he had unfortunately begun to realize that he might have been wrong about Androids.
There was something at least slightly nauseating about realizing he’d been on the wrong side the whole time, that they weren’t just machines and that they had emotions. The turning point was the Eden Club when he saw how much emotion those girls felt; he couldn’t imagine what they could have had to go through to make them deviate. And they really seemed… able to love.
Hank wondered if Connor was able to love. He wasn’t even entirely sure that Connor was a deviant, though he definitely felt he was more suspicious of it than Connor himself, who desperately clung to his mission like it was his only chance.
And when Hank thought about it, it was Connor’s only chance. His only purpose, his only reason, so of course he’d cling onto it like mad even if he began to see less and less sense in what he had to do.
When Hank slipped the key to the basement to Connor, it was for many reasons, and one of them was the fear he saw in his partner’s eyes when he spoke of being torn apart and deactivated- though Hank knew Connor was thinking the word killed . He could just see it in that unbelievably expressive face of his.
Hank unsurprisingly found himself back at the same thought of whether Connor could love, and after spinning it around his head for minutes that felt longer and replaying his interactions with Connor to the best of his ability, he put things together that he hadn’t noticed originally.
Like the way that Connor’s eyes would be on his lips a solid half of the time or the way that Connor had checked him out on multiple occasions. The way Connor had winked at him, and the way Connor had frozen in his spot when Hank had gotten close, eyes again on his lips, and Hank, ever the fool, hadn’t noticed and missed an opportunity.
Opportunity to what, though? To kiss him in front of the entire precinct? He’d probably lose his job no matter the turnout, not that he was very happy working for a corrupt and seemingly unfixable system as it was, so maybe he should have taken that opportunity.
Maybe it wasn’t too late.
Hank got up from his chair, quick enough to catch a few pairs of eyes, but those confused gazes soon rested upon something else, likely the news that was being broadcasted. Once he was certain eyes were off of him, he walked quietly but briskly to the evidence room, ideally the same place Connor went and still was. He gave another look around and after seeing no one still, he quickly made his way down the stairs, hoping to catch Connor before he had already put together what he needed to get to Jericho.
Hank opened the door to see not only Connor pacing in front of all of the evidence, mumbling to himself, but Gavin, incapacitated on the floor, face down and looking like Connor kicked his shit in. Hank felt a twinge of pride and affection in his chest. There was something so unbelievably satisfying about seeing Gavin’s unmoving body on the floor, unable to sneer some unfunny remark or shoulder-check Connor at another piss-poor attempt at being funny or cool. Hank laughed quietly at the sight and Connor’s head whipped around, LED flashing red as his arms shot up as if he had to defend himself, but he seemed to be calm as soon as he saw it was just Hank.
“Hank? What are you doing here? It’s already dangerous that I’m down here,” Connor said, looking around as if someone else was going to be in the room. Like he was going to get caught. Hank took a step forward, intending to be comforting, but Connor tensed. Which was weird, because that was a human thing, and Connor was an Android, but Hank had already accepted it as truth that Connor was much more deviant than a machine, even if he hadn’t crossed whatever threshold he needed to cross to realize it.
“You alright, Con?” Hank asked, hardly catching the nickname he gave Connor. He only really noticed it when Connor’s mouth twitched into something that looked a little like a smile.
“I’ve just figured out where Jericho is located and I was ensuring that I had a reliable plan, and a back-up plan in the event that my current plan does not work,” Connor explained, talking with his hands, a very human habit that, as far as Hank could remember, Connor had always done.
“And you couldn’a done that in that supercomputer head of yours?” Hank asked, taking another step forward and luckily Connor didn’t startle at him getting closer. Hank grinned as he stepped over Gavin’s body, overrun with satisfaction to see that piece of shit on the floor.
“It felt more… solid, in a way. I am not sure how to explain it,” Connor answered with a strange-looking shrug, his eyebrows knitted together and his LED spinning deep yellow.
“Nah, I get it, don’ worry,” Hank said, a safe distance from Connor in case he got any wild impulses to do something like kissing those stupidly pretty lips. “Gavin give ya trouble?”
“Yes,” Connor answered through gritted teeth. “He pulled a gun on me.”
“What a fucking prick,” Hank growled, his anger poorly hidden as he glared at the unconscious body of Gavin Reed. He was tempted to kick it around for his own satisfaction, but that was hardly fair, so he decided against it. “Look, I came here for a reason.”
“Oh?” Connor turned to him, his head tilting that cute way it did when he was intrigued. “And what would that be, Hank?” Hank could swear Connor was looking at him like that on purpose, lips barely parted and pretty brown puppy eyes looking into his.
“I just- uh, fuck, I’m no good at this,” Hank stumbled, close to flaking out and chalking it up to wanting him to be safe. Because that was part of it, so he wouldn’t be lying, but there was also a lot he’d be leaving out, like the fact that he felt some form of love for Connor.
“Hank, the longer we spend in here-”
“I know, shit,” Hank said quickly, taking a risky step toward Connor and keeping eye contact. Something flashed in Connor’s eyes but Hank couldn’t identify it before it went away. “It’s just that even though I’ve been your partner for a few days, you’re actually not that bad. Not you, not the other Androids, I was wrong about all of you. But you… you’re different. Not like you’re a prototype, but, uh, I actually like you a lot. And that’s not an easy thing for me to say, so don’t take it lightly, alright?”
Connor seemed stunned into silence. Hank took another step forward and there was absolutely no physical reaction from Connor, who had a frantic look in his eyes that was focused dead ahead, his LED reflecting in the left one. Suddenly Connor came back to life in a sense, taking an unnecessary breath and stepping forward, closing the gap between Hank and him and kissing him.
It was extremely awkward, but Hank didn’t mind, he didn’t give a single damn because he had Connor in his arms and their lips were together and it was unbelievably invigorating. When they parted, Connor let out a rather authentic-sounding breathless laugh with a hint of tinniness and Hank grinned.
“You too, huh?” Hank asked, bringing up a hand to cup Connor’s face in his hand. Connor nodded, then seemed to melt into the touch, and Hank was lost in it too until he realized they were still in a very compromising position. “We’ve gotta go, Connor.”
“Oh. Yes, you’re right,” Connor blinked, moving his head back and fixing his posture, walking briskly out of the room with Hank close behind. Before they opened the door back out into the precinct, Hank pulled Connor back a little and kissed him, longer this time, but not as frantic.
“Be careful, won’t you?” Hank said, not even wanting to think about the things that could go wrong just from Connor going into Jericho.
“There’s hardly a need, Hank,” Connor said sheepishly. “I deviated to kiss you.”
“Fuckin-a, ‘course you did, get outta here so we can get you some different clothes and send you on your way.” Hank rolled his eyes playfully, trying to ignore the nervous energy that was balling inside of him. It was going to be alright. Even as a deviant, Connor knew what he was doing.
“Yes, Lieutenant,” Connor said and they weaved out of the door and instantly out of sight.
When they made it out of the police department from a back exit, Connor turned to Hank, a startling amount of emotion on his face.
“Thank you for… for everything, Hank,” Connor said quietly, a wider version of his previous smile on his face.
“You don’t gotta thank me, Connor,” Hank shrugged, mussing up Connor’s pristine hair. “Thank me by not dying out there, alright?”
“Alright,” Connor nodded, clearly apprehensive as they made their way to Hank’s car. Hank kissed him again, a short kiss that Hank wished could have lasted longer, but Connor had to go to warn Jericho, Hank knew. “You’ve hardly seen half of what I’m capable of, Hank, don’t underestimate me.”
“Okay, tough guy. I trust you.” Hank said as they booked it out of that parking lot and went on their way to the train station. It was a short ride with Hank putting on his siren, a trick he usually thought was crummy but was making an exception for this case. It was for the greater good, he knew, and it wasn’t long before he parked on the curb and ushered Connor out of the car.
Connor had on one of Hank’s old beanies and a few jackets they’d managed to get their hands on from the backseat and he looked startlingly human, but it was definitely a cute look on him.
“How do I look?” Connor asked when he noticed Hank’s eyes on him as they walked together quickly.
“Like a human,” Hank said quietly, snickering. “It’s kind of funny. You look cute though.”
“Oh,” Connor said, smiling widely with a flush to his cheeks. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Hank answered, reaching down and squeezing his hand. “You promise you’ll be alright?”
Hank didn’t need to see Connor’s LED to know it was yellow because he made that same face he always does when he’s analyzing or calculating, focused and scowling a little.
“I promise,” Connor swore, and Hank didn’t know if he believed the chances were really 100%, but he would take it. He just had to remember that it was for the greater good and that Connor could take care of himself. This whole thing was much bigger than the two of them.
Connor pulled him out of his thoughts by kissing him ardently, already having got the hang of it to Hank’s surprise. Full of surprises, the bastard. They were both smiling softly at each other when they pulled away.
It was less than a minute before Connor had to go, and even as they said their reluctant goodbyes, Hank managed a deep breath when he looked into Connor’s eyes, and he knew that it would be okay.