Chapter Text
“Good morning Hank!” She grinned, kissing his cheek and placing down his freshly brewed coffee and four-pack of doughnuts. Whenever Hank came into work before noon, she would always greet him with coffee and baked goods. This week Hank’s heart had been so set on this breakfast that he’d been in before noon every day.
“You know you don’t have to keep doing this Stevie, here lemme give you something for the coffee” He would of no doubt offered money to cover the doughnuts too if her father hadn’t owned the bakery. Just as his hand went to dig into his pockets, she gripped his wrist in protest.
“If you pull out as much as a dime, you will lose that hand, you hear me?” If it weren’t for her expression, he would have thought she was kidding. But those eyes were burning holes into the back of his head, he complied and pulled his hand away slowly. Her bright smile came back and she nodded back at him.
“Oh, before you leave could you sign this? It’s for the Harland case” Without a word she gripped the pen from his hand and scribbled her name and signature on it handing it back to him when she was done.
“I better go, I’ll see you tomorrow Hank” She smirked pecking his cheek once again, leaving him a little red and embarrassed. His vulnerability didn’t last as long as he was greeted by his partner.
“Good morning, Lieutenant” Connor’s eyes glance over to the coffee cup, but Hank didn’t pay any attention to him or his greeting. He pulled his hands out to meet the desk in front of him, sighing and opening up the doughnut box with one hand and typing with the other. Connor’s interested piqued as he tilted his head and raised an eyebrow slightly.
Connor’s eyes glazed over the iPad which was open on the report that Stevie had just signed. “Detective Carmen bought you coffee and doughnuts?” Hank’s glare shifted to Connor, his forehead skin scrunching up.
“Yeah, she brings them every morning. How the hell did you know that?” Connor shrugged, pointing at the coffee cup he was sipping from. Looking down he struggled to find what gave it away.
“The name on the coffee cup” Connor stated as this didn’t clear anything up for Hank. He noticed his name written across the side of the cup in black sharpie.
“Hank :)”
“Oh yeah, it was probably one of those hippie baristas who write shit on your drinks” He continued to nurse his coffee and Connor was grateful that the only drug he was consuming was caffeine. Thought he would have argued that water was a better choice.
“No, she wrote it. It’s in her handwriting.” His eyes glanced over to the small trash can that lived beside Hank’s desk. His hand reached in and grabbed a cup from the previous week. “And it looks like she does it every day” Hank felt a little embarrassed and wasn’t sure what to say in response to Connor’s observation.
“There’s no need to be embarrassed Lieutenant, it’s a nice gesture. I’m glad you have someone in your life who cares for you” The sentiment was genuine and had an effect on Hank. He started to think about Stevie and how sweet she is to him, they’ve known each other for a few years and even worked together on the odd few cases after she convinced him he couldn’t work solo all the time.
She was like the daughter he never had, since Cole died he fell into a pit. Drinking every night, sleeping in till the evening and being grumpier than ever. Stevie couldn’t be there all the time, but she was when it counted. She would never be a replacement for his son, neither of them would have ever wanted that. But she was someone he could always rely on to bring a smile to his face. And for that he was grateful.
“Yeah she’s...pretty great” He replied causally as his fingers tapped away at the keyboard and he tried to find a way to end the conversation between him and Connor and just focus on his work for once.
—
“Good morning H-oh” She stopped in his tracks, one hand clutched to a box of doughnuts and the other to coffee poured into a take-out cup. Stevie was surprised to be greeted not by Hank, but by an Android.
“Lieutenant Anderson, is caught up in morning traffic so he’s running a little late” Connor explained as she just smiled awkwardly, the items still in her grasp as she was unsure what to do.
“It’s okay, you can set them down on the desk. He will be here shortly” She nodded and gently placed them down and stayed stood in her spot, she stared back into his big brown eyes. “You seem on edge, I’m not making you nervous am I?” After a short second and a half, she finally processed that what he said was a question. Her head shook in disagreement, as she smiled trying to snap out of her daze.
“I’m-“ She stuck out her hand to introduce herself as she quickly cut her off. “Detective Stephanie Carmen, I analysed you on your way in” Her eyes widened and a smug grin swiped across her face.
“So you were snooping through my personal information without my consent?” The smile he had quickly faded as his eyes looked fearful as he attempted to think of an excuse to match his upcoming apology. “Relax Connor, I was kidding” She sipped some of Hank’s coffee and stared at him from over the top of the cup.
“How do you know my name?” She sniggered and placed down the coffee cup sitting on top of the desk and crossing her legs.
“I’m a Detective, remember?” He smiled back slightly, unsure what to say back as her grin didn’t fade. It was silent, but it wasn’t that kind of uncomfortableness you would expect. Connor looked up from his lap and back up at Stevie, the faintest bit of a smile crept upon his face.
“Alright off the desk, where’s my breakfast” He half-joked as she grinned widely and hopped off the desk, immediately wrapping her arms around his torso after her feet touched the ground. She cared for Hank a lot, he was truly one of her favourite people.
He’s been through a lot in his life and he hasn’t had a lot of love and affection in it for a long time. He’s stubborn, grumpy and at times rude but he had his reasons. She makes sure she can melt his ice heart every chance she gets and she loves to see how he always gives in to her charm.
Hank’s face resembled a disappointed frown, as he shook the half-empty coffee cup and looked back at her. “You drank my coffee? But I got here early! It was traffic!” With the tone of his voice, you could tell he’d suffered a rough morning. Connor analysed the situation and decided to interject.
“That is exactly why we are heading down to the coffee shop right now to get you a fresh one” Stevie’s eyes darted in his direction as she raised her eyebrows. His eyes told her to play along as she understood and smiled back at Hank. She handed Hank the box of doughnuts and made a beeline for the elevator, Connor following closely behind as they piled in.
It was quiet again. Connor dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a coin, he began flicking it back and forth between his fingers as Stevie just quietly observed. He was, at least for a second, oblivious to her staring until he caught the coin once again and lifted his head to look back at her. They both said nothing, though a smile grew on her lips.
This is the most time he had spent with a human other than Hank. It was rare for him to find Hank around the company, especially that of an attractive young woman. From the initial scan, he found a lot of files on her, she was very good at her job and was climbing ranks faster than Hank was going to finish those doughnuts. He had a lot of questions, but her joke about the consent of his analysis made him feel uneasy about it.
“Thanks for saving me back there, I’d buy you a coffee but I’m pretty sure you can’t drink” The cashier took her order and she paid, moving over to the empty counter as they whipped up her drink. “You know you’re not at all how Hank described you”. Connor tilted her head to the side, before he could ask they called out her order and she nodded thanks before carrying it to the exit.
Connor wondered why she didn’t write Hank’s name on the side of the cup-like she had the other days, maybe she lost her pen. Or maybe she didn’t feel comfortable enough to do it in front of him. For whatever reason they seemed pretty close, it’s rare that Hank ever puts a smile on people’s faces but she always seemed excited to see him.
“Detective, may I ask you a personal question?” Her head lifted to look back at him as she patted his back with a grin.
“It’s Stevie. Call me Stevie.” She insisted and he just nodded and she let out a deep breath. “Go on, do your worst” He took that as a yes but struggled to word his question. They were coming up to the precinct, as she waited for him to ask her.
“Are you and Lieutenant Anderson...romantically involved?” She stopped in her tracks and snorted, holding her chest in laughter. Connor just stood in his spot, his face almost surprised by her response.
“Hank is like my dad or my much older work buddy. He’s one of my favourite people, but I could never think of him like that” It was nice to hear about Hank in a positive light, he knew he wasn’t exactly fond of him but he assumed his behaviour was the same with everyone he met.
“Fresh coffee for my favourite police officer!” Hank huffed and took the drink off the counter without making eye contact, he was still mad at her. “Oh come on Hank, we walked 6 blocks to get you this fucking thing!” His eyes slowly glanced back at her as she noticed that smug smirk growing on his face, that stubborn bastard was teasing.
“Well if you’re done busting my balls I’m gonna go back to my desk, goodbye Hank!” As she made her way to his desk she loosely wrapped her arms around his neck and pecked his cheek before giving him a tight squeeze. He chuckled and shoved her playfully; making her way to her desk.
“Goodbye, Connor!” She grinned, pushing herself up on her toes to peck his cheek. His eyes widened as she disappeared to her work station and Hank huffed to himself. He seemed almost jealous of Connor, him being the only one who receives attention from Stevie. Connor simply shook it off and sat down on the computer opposite him.
“You were right Lieutenant, she is pretty great.”