Not Just Machines - Connor X Kara DBH fanfiction

8

Upon the bus' arrival at the stop nearest to Hank's house, it was quite dark outside and it had stopped raining. The ground was sopping wet from the drops of water that fell from the sky, making the light reflect off of it and quite slippery. Connor, sitting on the outside of the bus seat, exited first, followed shortly after by Kara and Alice. Kara and Connor hadn't communicated for about an hour, still quite heated after their argument over Kara's desperation to reach Canada and cross the border. Alice, confused by their mutual silence after they had seemed to have gotten along so well, inquisitively asked her robotic motherly-figure why they had stopped talking.

"Kara, why aren't you and Connor talking? Did you guys fight?"

"A little bit. It's not for you to worry about sweetie, we're going to be just fine."

"But I like Connor. Are you guys still friends?" She innocently replied, looking up at Kara with doe-eyes.

Kara, seemingly tired, glanced over at Connor, who was strolling a few paces in front of them, then back to the small child. "I'm not positive Alice, but I hope so. I like Connor too."
They slowly caught up to Connor and soon were walking to the left of him, heading down a narrow sidewalk that lead to Hank's house.

Upon reaching the area, Connor knocked on the wooden door that lay upon a dark frame, alerting the man of their presence. Footsteps could be heard from inside, followed by a dog barking. Hank opened the door, smiling at the three who stood outside his house. His Saint Bernard, Sumo, padded up to inspect the visitors, defensively shielding Hank from any potential threats. He growled gruffly, slightly frightening Alice. Noticing her brief moment of distress, Hank reassured both Sumo and the trio that nobody was going to hurt anybody, softly grabbing Alice's hand to allow his protective canine to sniff her and acknowledge her lack of danger. Afterwards, he gently licked her hand and allowed her to pet his soft, fluffy head.

"This is my dog, Sumo. Sorry if he frightened you Alice, he just gets anxious around new people. Feel free to come on in!" Hank's words were slightly slurred and his breath smelled like hints of alcohol, insinuating that he had been drinking before their arrival. Connor pulled him aside into his kitchen area to question him, while Alice and Kara played with Sumo and relaxed for a bit.

"Is everything okay Lieutenant? How was your meeting with Captain Fowler?" He asked, genuinely concerned with his well-being.

"Huh? Yeah I'm alright, just a little tipsy.  He wanted me to follow up on our android investigation progress, and send us to look at something tomorrow morning." Hank answered, stumbling over his words and looking around at his surroundings. He looked as if he was in a state of confusion, as if he didn't know where he was, though he was in his own house. 

"Where does he want us to go? Was there another homicide?" Connor questions, trying to determine the following day's routine, and maybe why Hank was acting off.

"There was. At the, uh," He kept pausing, as though he was embarrassed. "Eden Club. It's downtown."

The Eden Club was a club in Detroit that held robots used for sexual mannerisms. The androids there had been specifically engineered to pleasure humans who preferred sex with them rather than other humans. The motto at the club was simply 'Discretion', offering secrecy to anyone who attended the building. Connor couldn't determine why Hank didn't want to go there, he seemed troubled by the thought of simply going into the parking lot.

"Eden Club? You seem troubled by that Lieutenant, are you sure you're alright?" 

"O-of course I am! I just don't understand why you and I have been assigned to the case. Heh, I'm more worried about you going in there, Connor!" Hank protested, insinuating that Connor would for some reason have an odd experience at the club.

Confused, Connor replied. "Why would you be worried?"

The husky man chuckled in his gruff voice. "Because it's a Sex club Connor! More specifically, one filled with androids. Who knows, maybe you've got some deviancy in you!" He added the last comment implying that Connor may have a certain encounter with the androids, along with a wink.

Connor looked somewhat offended by that statement and also very much in denial. "Please, lieutenant, don't belittle me like that. I could never feel that way, it's simply not in my programming." He glanced over at Kara who was sitting on the floor with Alice in her lap, braiding her hair. He looked back at Hank, who was staring at him with a smug grin on his face. "Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked defensively.

"Oh, no reason." Hank laughed quietly to himself. He looked over at his clock that was mounted above his television screen. "It's pretty late, I need to get to bed. You guys can stay here for the night, of course. I have a few spare blankets and pillows inside that closet over there." He pointed to a door near the bathroom. "Goodnight everybody." He stumbled over to his bedroom and whistled for Sumo to follow, though he didn't and just stayed in the living area with the rest of the group. He drunkenly closed the door and you could see the light flicker off.

Connor walked over towards where Kara and Alice were sitting and flashed a smile at them before looking at a photo placed on a table beside Hank's couch. The frame showed a photo of a boy with brunette hair and blue-green eyes. Confused on who the boy in the photograph was, Connor analyzed the picture, determining the boy's biography. His analysis revealed that he was named Cole Anderson, and he was Hank's son. He had apparently died 3 years prior to the current month, November 2038, at age 6, of a car accident.

Hank had a son? And he died? Is that why Hank's been so roughed up in recent years? Connor was thinking to himself, finally beginning to understand why Hank had been in his mental state. Hank must have been close to his son, the death probably really hit him hard. He placed the photo back on the table and turned to look at Alice and Kara, who had begun to watch the news on the TV. He grabbed a blanket and pillow out of the closet Hank had directed them to and laid them out on the couch for Alice to lay on. She hopped up out of Kara's arms and laid underneath the makeshift bed, looking at Connor with tired eyes. 

She raised her tiny arms up, indicating that she wanted a hug. Kara planted a kiss on her forehead and then hugged her before backing up to let Connor do the same. He leaned down to get to her level and only hugged her. She looked up at him with her doe-eyes, almost making him feel guilty for not giving her a kiss. He leaned down again and kissed her forehead as Kara had, prompting her to give a small smile. They both backed away and turned off the lights in the room, sitting down on the floor.

Kara stared at Connor with sympathetic eyes, feeling guilty for the way she had acted previously at the park. "Connor, I'm sorry for how I acted earlier. I didn't mean to be so pushy."

Connor stared back at her with his dark, sorrowful eyes. "It's alright, really. Don't worry about it."

"What were you and Hank talking about earlier?" She asked, changing the subject.

"We've got another homicide to investigate tomorrow. It's at that Android club downtown."

"Oh." She waited a few seconds before continuing. "Be careful then. Where are Alice and I going to be while you guys are gone?"

Connor smiled a bit after realizing her worry for his safety. "I'm not sure, we'll have to figure that out in the morning." 

"Okay." She looked over at Alice, who had already drifted off to sleep on the couch. "Connor?"

"Yeah, Kara?"

"Thank you."

"For what?" Replied Connor, looking at the female android. 

"Not sending me to be deactivated. And taking care of Alice. She really likes you." She sighed.

"I really like her too." He paused. "And you, Kara." A wave of embarrassment flashed over Connor. "I mean, you're really nice! A-and you're a great role model for Alice!" He stuttered, as Kara quietly laughed. 

"I like you too Connor." Her eyes fluttered for a moment, she needed some time to shut down and reprocess. "Goodnight Connor." She shifted more towards Connor and gently laid her head on his shoulder. He smiled a bit as his LED flashed a shade of yellow. He closed his eyes and shut himself down as well for the night, setting it to wake up again in the morning.