Chapter Text
"So we gotta move fast to find this guy, right?"
"Yes, he's armed and dangerous. He might have already left the warehouse by the time we get there, but we should still check it out."
The suspect they were after was named Casey Stanton, and there were several arrests on his record for violence related to red ice use already. But tonight he'd crossed a line. Instead of attacking a cop or a fellow bar-goer like he usually did, this time he'd attacked his wife and baby. He'd fled the house once his wife called 911, with a hammer still in his hand. His wife knew of an abandoned warehouse Casey frequented, and thought That's probably where he'd gone to hide.
"Connor, you've gotta promise you'll be careful. This bastard has never been more desperate and he's capable of anything." Hank had arrested Casey several times while on the red ice task force, and none of those encounters had gone well.
Connor was quiet for a moment. "I won't let him hurt you."
Hank sighed. "I know you wanna protect me, but just- promise me you'll take care of yourself, too."
The android nodded once. "Okay."
They pulled up to the warehouse as silently as possible. Both officers readied their weapons. "Stay behind me," Hank said, leveling Connor with an unblinking stare.
"Got it," Connor agreed reluctantly.
They went for the nearest entrance, clearing the surrounding yard as they went along. There was no movement anywhere. When they reached the door, they couldn't hear anything from inside. Hank gave Connor a look, and Connor grudgingly took a half step back to give the lieutenant room to go first.
Hank came around the corner of the doorway quickly, the light from his gun illuminating the dark, empty space. Connor was right behind him. They couldn't see Casey anywhere, but that didn't mean he wasn't here. The warehouse was huge, after all, and full of scattered furnishings. Connor strained his superhumanly good hearing, and one of his hands shot out to stop Hank. The man looked at the android questioningly, and Connor flicked his head in the direction he was picking up Casey's heavy breathing and whimpering.
They both approached the corner behind the shelving unit quietly, but they knew their lights would give them away. Hank gave Connor a nod, telling him to go ahead and do his thing.
"Casey?" Connor called out.
There was a rustling sound. He'd been startled, and was so intoxicated he had to be unsteady on his feet.
"Please come out, Casey, we just want to talk to you."
"Stay back, I'm warnin' you!" the criminal slurred.
"You don't want to make this worse for yourself."
"Worse?! I already hurt my kid!! You shoulda heard the crying...."
Connor and Hank continued to creep closer. "If you want to see Stephanie agai-"
"DON'T!!! You don' know her, stop!!"
"Attacking us will only make it harder for you to get any kind of custody or visitation rights. You need to come quietly. For your daughter."
Ignoring what Hank had said, Connor poked his head around the shelf first.
With a roar, Casey burst out of his hiding place. Connor was surprised to feel himself freeze. Reading that Casey Stanton was 6'6" and 668 pounds was one thing. Seeing it was another.
Casey came charging forward, and Hank had to grab Connor's shoulder and drag him out of the way. Both of them dove and managed to avoid the wildly swinging hammer. Hank glared at Connor, but there wasn't time for chastising. They rolled in opposite directions to dodge the hammer again. Connor instantly popped up in a crouch, but it took Hank longer to get up.
"Don't make me use my weapon against you, Casey," Connor said, his eyes only on Hank pushing himself off of the ground.
That's where Casey was looking, too. "I know you," he realized. Then he snickered. "Damn, you got old."
"You're no spring chicken yourself," Hank muttered, slowly getting to his feet. "It's been years. What made you start using again after all this time?"
"What does it matter?"
"I think it matters, considering why we're all here. C'mon, Casey, don't make me have to take you in again."
It was said in a friendly tone of voice, but it set Casey off anyway. The red ice enhanced his movements and strength. Before Connor had time to stop him, he'd lifted Hank fully off the ground and whipped him backwards into the wall. Connor only reached Casey's arm as Hank made the impact. The android heard a cracking sound, and Hank yelled as he slid to the floor, cursing rapidly and unintelligibly.
"Hank, are you alright?!" Connor ducked as Casey took a swing at him.
"Think this son of a bitch just broke my arm," Hank managed through gritted teeth. He was clutching his right arm, which was bent at an unnatural angle, in a death grip.
Connor rounded on the giant man. "You shouldn't have done that."
"What're you gonna do about it??" Casey taunted, eyeing Connor's slim frame.
"Con-" Hank started, but before he could finish Connor has grabbed Casey's neck in a flying leap and used it to swing himself up onto the criminal's shoulders. "Goddammit" Hank swore, staggering to his feet.
Casey roared and began swatting and pulling at Connor, but the android held his ground. "Stand down and I won't have to hurt you!" This statement enraged Casey even more. As Hank was fumbling with his gun in his left hand, Casey finally caught Connor and yanked him off, swinging him around in a wide arc. He let Connor go flying, but Connor just rolled and was almost instantly back on his feet in a crouch.
"Connor, what did I say about stupid bullshit?!"
"You didn't say anything about stupid bullshit!" Connor called back as he charged Casey again.
"Fuck you!!" Hank yelled at his son. He was only able to watch as Connor went toe to toe with the guy again. He didn't trust himself to use his weapon with his non-dominant hand, and his arm hurt so bad he could barely think straight.
Connor and Casey were grappling, and it was hard to tell who would come out on top. Connor was lighter than a human, but also stronger than a human. Casey hadn't been expecting that, and he was clearly starting to sweat. "Get away from me..." he panted.
"Give me the hammer and I will," Connor grunted, also struggling.
"No!!" With a burst of strength, Casey broke away and Connor stumbled back. Before the android regained his footing, Casey swung down with the spiked end of the hammer, gouging a line down the left side of Connor's face. Connor yelled and jerked away, covering his face with his hands.
"CONNOR!!" His own pain disregarded, Hank ran to the kid's side, needing to protect him, needing to-
The next thing Hank knew, he was looking at the ceiling. Casey had knocked him flat like it was nothing. His arm was screaming at the impact, and he might've been screaming, too.
"Hank!!" Connor's voice sounded ragged. The white of his plastic casing was clearly exposed, and thirium was gushing out of the crevice. His left eye was dangling out of its socket, cracked and splitting in the middle. With his focus on Hank and his limiter vision, he didn't notice Casey darting downward. The giant man grabbed him by the foot and yanked him upside-down into the air, leaving him hanging. Connor cried out and more thirium spilled from his face.
"Connor, shit!" Hank wheezed, dragging himself into a sitting position with a sheen of sweat covering his face. His broken arm was shaking uncontrollably, but he sucked in a breath and yelled, "Connor, call for backup!!" That would be much quicker than Hank trying to get to his phone in the middle of all this.
"DON'T!!" Casey shouted frantically, but it was too late. Connor's one remaining eye was blinking and twitching. Casey threw him across the warehouse, still trying to stop him, and this time Connor tumbled limply and came to a stop in a heap at the far end of the space.
"Don't fucking move, Casey," Hank said calmly, his gun leveled at the man. He still wouldn't fire it with his left hand, but Casey didn't know that. And he had it directly aimed at the criminal's head.
"You wouldn't- kill me!"
"I dunno, I'm sure as hell thinking about it."
"I just- I don't wanna lose my kid! I didn't mean to hurt her and I- I- I don't wanna lose her!"
Hank didn't take his eyes off Casey's face, even though all he wanted to do was check on Connor. But he had yet to see any movement from Connor in his periphery. "Casey, I don't wanna lose my kid either." He let his honest emotions bleed through as he said it. Not again. Please.
"What-?" Casey was confused.
Hank nodded towards Connor's still frame, swallowing thickly. "You just took my kid out and-" his voice broke but he kept going, "I don't know how badly he's hurt. I don't wanna lose my kid, either."
"I didn't- I didn't know!" Casey said in horror. "I'm sorry, I-"
"If you drop the hammer and let me cuff you, we'll both get our kids back. I won't charge you with resisting arrest or attacking an officer. Please."
Casey started to sob. He nodded and collapsed to his knees, the hammer falling from his limp fingers. Hank holstered his gun and scrambled to get the cuffs on him with only one hand, kicking the hammer as far away as possible.
"Thank you, Casey," he whispered. Then he sprinted to Connor.
He grabbed his son by the shoulder and turned him over. Oh god. There was so much thirium. "Connor, can you hear me, son?"
Connor's eye weakly fluttered open. "Hank?" His voice sounded weird and wrong. He was losing too much blood.
"How much thirium is left in your systems?"
The android was trying and failing to sit up. "I need- to scan your arm-"
"Fucking stop it! You can't anyway 'cause your eye is hanging out of your head. I'm trying to take care of you here."
Flashing police lights filled the room.
Connor looked up at Hank, his eye dull and heavy-lidded, and that awful gash glaring upward. "But we don' know how bad the break is-"
"Connor, how much thirium is left?!" Hank felt terror electrifying every nerve in his body listening to Connor slurring.
"It's... 39%," he said finally. It took way too long for him to get to the information.
There was talking and shouting from the front of the warehouse now. Hank glanced back and saw paramedics. "Did you call me an ambulance??"
Connor nodded once, blinking slowly.
"But not for yourself?! Fuck, I'm calling 900." Now he did fumble for his phone with one hand, but he was shaking so hard he could barely hold it.
"Shock," Connor murmured. Hank ignored him.
"Lieutenant!!" voices were yelling. Running footsteps approached quickly.
"God fucking-" His fingers wouldn't hit the buttons correctly. "SOMEONE CALL 900!" He felt like he couldn't breathe, he started gasping and panicking.
"Sir," a calm, unknown voice said to him.
"He's in shock!" Connor called in his quiet, broken voice.
"Sir, you need to come with us," the same paramedic said, putting a hand on Hank's shoulder.
"No!!" Hank jerked away from her. "No, C-Connor-" He gasped for air again.
"Hank." Chris was suddenly there. The young man was aware he had a calming affect on the lieutenant, and that Hank trusted him. "Hank, I'll call for Connor. You need to go to the hospital."
Hank was still hyperventilating and shaking. "Y-you'll-?"
"I'll stay with him the whole time. I promise."
"Go," Connor urged, thirium still pouring down in a river.
Reluctantly, Hank stumbled to his feet. The paramedics started to usher him away, but he brushed them off one last time. "Connor- you'll be okay-"
"I will," he assured Hank, his eye swinging as he shifted to a more upright position.
That didn't make Hank feel any better, but seeing Chris already on the phone with 900 did. So he let the ambulance take him away.