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It was snowing. And it was snowing hard.
Connor felt like everything was wrong. He couldn't do anything right. Part of him expected the floor inside the house to turn to ice under his feet any minute. But it didn't. He just kept pacing back and forth in the small space like a trapped animal, unaware his LED was flashing red.
On his next circuit through the house, he was startled to a stop at the sight of Hank's door open and the man himself standing in the open doorway. "What is it?" Hank asked, rubbing the grogginess out of one eye.
"What?" Connor sounded alarmed that he didn't know the answer to the question.
"Why have you been walking in front of my door every 30 seconds for the past hour?"
"Oh." The android looked down at the wood floor. Of course Hank would have been able to hear him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you-"
"Connor, I'm not mad. You've clearly got something on your mind. What is it?"
Connor shook his head. "I - I don't-"
"Alright," Hank cut the kid off and sighed. "Come sit on the couch." He walked past his son to the living room, but turned around when he realized Connor hadn't followed. Connor looked stuck, like he couldn't move forward any farther, and his eyes were locked on the snow flooding past the living room window. "Is the snow bothering you?" Hank wondered. "'Cause we can close the blinds."
Connor still didn't move or respond, so Hank just went to do it, hoping that would coax Connor out of the dark hallway. The android came forward a few steps, then stopped again. Hank could see him shaking. Quickly, the lieutenant dashed to get the blinds in the kitchen as well.
"Sorry," Connor whispered as Hank took him by the shoulder and steered him to the couch. The kid was trembling so much he practically collapsed as he sat down, but Hank was there to catch him and hold him close.
"You aren't doing anything wrong, Connor. Is it better with the blinds closed?"
Connor nodded against Hank's shoulder, but Hank pursed his lips. Maybe it was somewhat better but clearly not good enough, since Connor was still shaking and hiding inside Hank's embrace.
"Why is the snow freaking you out so much, kid?"
"I don't like it."
"The snow?"
"Feeling afraid."
Hank hadn't expected that turn in the conversation. "Well, no one likes feeling afraid," Hank tried lamely.
"I never felt afraid before."
"Cut that shit out, you know that's not true." They didn't need to go down this path again. "You just didn't admit it to yourself."
Connor remained sullenly silent.
Hank took a steadying breath and made a second attempt. "Can you put your finger on why the snow is scaring you?"
He felt Connor's breathing quicken as his thirium starter pumping faster to deal with a nonexistent threat. Adrenaline rush was still all Hank could think of it as.
"She-..."
Connor couldn't get any farther, but Hank didn't need to ask who she was. No wonder Connor was all fucked up. "She... used snow?"
Hank's son nodded again, his breath hitching. "To stop me. To freeze me."
Ah, when that bitch had taken over Connor's body and left him trapped in the Garden. Connor had never mentioned being frozen by a blizzard before, just that she'd tried to stop him. "Jesus, Connor..." Hank couldn't help whispering.
"And she- she always made it snow when she was disappointed in my performance."
So snow = punishment in Connor's head. That made sense, and put several previous experiences into context. "Well this isn't her, this is just the weather," Hank tried to assure him.
Connor curled up tightly, shrinking into himself as the wind rose to a howl outside.
"Hey," Hank said urgently, giving Connor a squeeze. "You're not alone this time. You've got me. I'm right here."
Connor turned his head to bury his face in Hank's chest, clinging onto him more tightly and starting to cry quietly.
Hank held Connor closer in turn, murmuring, "Shh, shh, you're okay. You're home and you're safe. You're okay..."