Accident Prone - Becoming Human

Heart of Ice

Relentlessly cold rain continued to threaten to drown the city after four consecutive days of a nonstop downpour. Small snowflakes begun to flutter about in the rain as the emotional and untimely November funeral came to an end. The gathered mourners slowly dispersed one by one until the only two occupants of the still somewhat green cemetery behind the renovated church were Connor and Hank. The two detectives wore black suits out of respect for the dead, their aesthetic eerily enough matching the atmosphere of the dreary, somber day around them. Neither said a word as Connor kept is right palm down over the smooth metallic lid of the coffin as it became doused in the pouring rain.

A majority of New Jericho Tower had gone to the funeral to pay their respects while the numerous contacts that Skye had established in her quest to help deviants had also stopped by to give their condolences. Even Rupert had dared to briefly show his face before disappearing back into the shadows and resuming his personal mission to save as many deviant lives as possible by skulking about in darkness.

Silently mourning the loss of his beloved bondmate Connor stood before the freshly engraved headstone at the cemetery where Skye had been laid to rest. With a gentle touch he placed a white lily and a dark red rose atop the stone as he read and reread her name over and over again as if he somehow couldn't or just absolutely refused to accept the bleak reality in which he now found himself. Skye, the deviant Connor had fallen in love with and had bonded with as she laid on her deathbed, was gone.

Shielded under a black umbrella Hank approached the neighboring headstone and placed a lily down out of respect for Lucas before speaking to Connor, who was standing at his side, in a respectfully low tone of voice. "It's good that Skye was placed with Lucas. Now they won't be alone."

Connor remained silent as he rested his left hand atop the headstone and over the stems of the two flowers. The cold rain and building snow drenched through his suit and no matter how many times Hank offered to share the umbrella Connor refused out of a bizarre need to isolate himself from the people who were simply trying to help him.

Turning to look over his shoulder Hank spotted Markus standing beside the renovated church with his arm wrapped around North as she wept against his shoulder. Abby was standing on the other side of the deviant leader with her black coat wrapped around her tightly as she tried to keep warm and protect her steadily growing baby 'bump' from the cold. Gavin hadn't gone to the funeral, but he had given Abby his coat to wear during the cold event as a means of showing his support in his own subtle way without getting involved in the emotional event.

As much as he wanted to ask for Markus's advice in helping to reach out to Connor to keep the deviant from falling into a dark spiral of depression as he had done after losing Lucas, Hank knew that the responsibility was squarely on his shoulders as Connor's father. He wasn't about the back down when his son needed him the most.

"It's already cold and it's only going to get colder." Trying to find some way to coax Connor into either speaking - his sudden muteness was a nasty habit he had developed in the four days since Skye's death or into leaving the cemetery in order to move on with his life, Hank made another comment. "...I know you don't want to deal with this right now, but Fowler wants to speak with us. We can stop by the precinct and then you can hide out in your bedroom for the rest of the day if you want."

Refusing to budge from where he stood Connor was steadfast and silent as he began to tremble from the cold.

"I'll give you some space if you want, but I'm not going to let you push me away."

No reply.

Hank peered up at the sky from under his umbrella and watched as the already dark clouds grew darker, thicker and the rain began to readily transition into larger and larger snowflakes. A snowstorm was well on its way and sooner rather than later they'd have to deal with dangerously low temperatures. Patiently waiting for almost an hour Hank decided to take the initiative and find some way to get Connor to leave the cemetery. As much as Connor would try there would be no way for him to stay at the grave forever.