Accident Prone - Becoming Human

Instincts

As per Hank's orders Connor took an additional week off from the precinct to heal from his traumatic experience during his mission in Miami and to come to terms with everything that he had witnessed during his undercover mission. Unwilling to speak with Josh at the therapy group at New Jericho for the sake of keeping his mission details secret, Connor had little choice but to speak to Lucas in his dreams as a confidante and use his younger brother's guidance to help him accept the horrible truth that he had uncovered. The positive interactions within his own mind were helpful but did very little to sway his guilt over the fate of his fifty previous counterparts.

Preparing for an afternoon shift at the precinct Connor tightened his black tie and looked at his reflection in the mirror with a warm sense of familiarity. It was grounding for Connor see himself in his usual uniform rather than the more casual clothes he had donned during his time while undercover. It was a reminder that he was home and he was safe.

Sumo loudly scratched at the backdoor and drew Connor's attention elsewhere for a brief moment. Walking down the hallway from his bedroom Connor spotted the massive dog pawing at the door needing to go outside for a moment and the deviant happily obliged.

"Good boy." While he waited for Sumo to return to the house from the backdoor Connor received a cybernetic message from Hank asking for a favor. "Hello, Hank. I'll be in soon."

'Don't be too quick. I got a call from Joel. His car broke down on the other side of town, he needs a ride.' Hank explained casually. 'Since you're such an eager beaver and ready to help everyone I figured you'd be willing to give him a lift.'

"I don't mind." The deviant replied quickly as he waited for Sumo to finish his business and come back to the backdoor. "Send me his current location."

As the information was supplied to his processor and G.P.S., Sumo trotted back through the still opened backdoor and licked the side of Connor's hand as he passed by the deviant. Over the past week that Connor had remained home Sumo had been protectively hovering around the deviant more than usual and seemed to be 'finding Connor' all over the house despite Hank not saying anything about the trick that had saved Connor's life once before.

"Got it. I'll pick up Joel and we'll be at the precinct soon."

'Cool. Thanks, son.'

It wasn't uncommon for Sumo to sleep on the foot of Connor's bed, but for him to constantly follow the deviant around was a little new and somewhat strange. Even as a puppy Sumo never followed Connor around all day long. It was nice to have the company, but it was also a strange habit that Connor hoped Sumo would break soon enough.

"I won't be gone as long today, Sumo."

Connor promised the massive dog and he rubbed his ears affectionately.

"Everything will be back to normal soon. You'll see what I mean."

It didn't take Connor long to locate Joel's current position thanks to Hank's directions and his recalibrated G.P.S. unit. The stranded technician was standing outside his broken down truck with his hands on his hips and an annoyed looked plastered on his usually laidback face. As the blue Corvette pulled up along the sidewalk where Joel was standing Connor parked the vehicle behind the malfunctioning red pick-up truck and opened his door to greet him. Connor approached the stranded technician with a confident gait and joined him at the smoking, closed hood of the relatively older vehicle in an attempt to help Joel with his mechanical problem.

In a way Connor was excited to potentially have a new vehicle to work on. He enjoyed fixing up the Corvette alongside Hank, and while the second Oldsmobile was in need of some work the car wasn't nearly as rough as the Corvette had been pre-restoration.