summary: Connor is struggling to cope with his newly acquired emotions. Hank, however, is a pro.
warnings: cursing, mentions of death/suicidal thoughts, tickling
In the time that Connor had been living with Hank, post-deviation, he had been warned about dwelling on the past. It was a mistake Hank had made far too many times, one of which nearly resulted in him ending his own life. And Connor knew that Hank spoke the truth.
But there he was, curled up into a ball on Hank's couch, plagued by the memories of his days as a deviant hunter. He was thinking about Daniel. The look of terror and betrayal in his eyes after being shot by the snipers.
"You lied to me, Connor. You lied to me." Those were Daniel's last words, the pitch of his voice gradually deepening as his system shut down. If Connor would have known what would happen to Daniel... he would have done something to stop it. Anything.
Connor could feel himself shaking as his thoughts continued on. Where was Hank? Gone for lunch, I think. It wasn't like Hank to go to the Chicken Feed truck without him. Had Connor done something wrong? Was Hank mad at him?
Just as Connor was starting down that new thought train, he heard Hank fumbling with the key to the front door just outside. Hank finally managed to unlock the door and stumble into the house, half-empty soda cup still in-hand.
Hank was almost startled to see Connor curled up on the couch. "Connor?" No response. "Connor! What happened?" Hank quickly abandoned his soda on the kitchen table and hurried over to the couch, kneeling on the floor next to where Connor was sitting.
"Connor, talk to me. What's going on?" The genuine panic in the lieutenant's voice surprised Connor. He had only heard him speak like that during missions, when Connor's life was in jeopardy. But Connor wasn't in danger now. No, at least not physically.
"Connor!" A firm hand on his shoulder brought Connor back to reality. He looked to Hank, slightly startled. The lieutenant was taken aback by the tears streaming down his android companion's face. His voice softened, the panic fading into genuine concern. "I'm right here, son. Just breathe." Hank paused for a moment to allow Connor to catch his breath. "Can you tell me what happened?"
Connor took a moment to swipe the tears away from his eyes. "Those d-deviants-" his voice wobbled as he spoke. "They just wanted freedom. And I just-" His voice broke into a sob as he tried to continue, hiding his face in his hands, but Hank had already figured out what Connor was trying to say.
"That wasn't you, Connor. I know that, you know that, even all of Jericho knows that now. The real you, the you we all know now, is kind, compassionate, empathetic... and anybody who doesn't see that is a fool."
Connor sniffled, once again looking up at his human friend. Hank's words were genuine, and Connor knew it. "When you used to tell me I was showing empathy, I didn't believe you." Connor choked on some odd mix of a laugh and a sob, remembering his stubborn attitude prior to his deviation.
Hank chuckled at the memory of Connor back at the police station, begging him to help with locating Jericho. "No denying it now, huh?"
Hank stood up from his position on the floor, plopping down on the couch next to Connor. The android now sat upright, legs crossed beneath him.
"I'm starting to, all thanks to you, of course."
"I'll say, I never imagined I would meet an android more empathetic than most humans. Talk about character development, huh?"
"I'm sure you're exaggerating, Lieutenant."
There was a short pause in conversation. A comfortable silence. It didn't last for much longer than ten seconds, but it was there.
"Still the same stubborn wise-ass though." Hank nudged Connor with his elbow, attempting to lighten the mood.
"Hey!" Connor yelped, pushing Hank's arm away. "As if you're not just as mule-headed as me!" Connor shot back with a grin that one could only describe as shit-eating. Oh, he was gonna be like that now.
"Holy shit, now you're giving me attitude? Where the hell did you learn that?"
"You know, Jericho may not be the greatest influence for your sweet innocent android, Lieutenant." Connor's grin grew wider with each passing second.
"Okay, now you're just asking for this." Hank jumped to his feet, grabbing Connor's hands to pull the android down onto the sofa completely, both of his wrists trapped inside one of Hank's large hands. Connor was now laying face up on the couch with his hands pinned above his head. "You knew this was coming, didn't you?"
Hank had learned a lot about Connor over the past couple of months. He learned about his fascination with dogs, heard him laugh for the first time, and discovered the android's true personality. And as sweet as Connor could be, he could also be a little shit.
Hank, however, had discovered a fool proof method of knocking Connor down a few pegs. Oddly enough, the discovery of that method just happened to go hand-in-hand with hearing Connor laugh.
"Connor, how long has it been since you laughed?"
Connor swallowed the nervous lump in the back of his throat. "Approximately 36 hours."
"You know, studies show that laughing on a regular daily basis has a significant positive impact on mental health."
"Of course I knew that, Lieutenant. I am, quite literally, a living database." If smug remarks could kill, Hank would have been six feet under.
"You pretentious motherfucker!"
Connor was about to fire back with another cocky remark, but he was cut off by his own startled yelp as Hank tazed him in the ribs. "Wait! Hank, you don't have to do this-!"
"Of course I do! You were in a shitty mood, you gave me attitude, and when I pinned you down, you continued with the attitude? Come on, Connor, you weren't exactly subtle about wanting this."
Connor attempted to defend himself, despite the fact that Hank had figured out exactly what Connor was after, but he was once again cut off, this time by his own sudden burst of laughter as Hank began repeatedly poking him in the ribs. "Don't you dahahAHAHARE-"
"Oh, I dare." Hank chuckled at the android beneath him, eying the hem of Connor's oversized DPD hoodie."
Hank quickly shoved both of his hands underneath the android's shirt, now leaving Connor with complete control over his arms. Obviously, Connor made no attempt to defend himself from Hank's attacks. He was too caught up in his own wild laughter to do so even if he wanted to.
"You know, I'd never heard any androids laugh before you, Connor. Although I can't quite say I'm complaining. It's kinda fun watching Mr. Look-At-Me-I'm-So-Serious get destroyed, and by something as childish as tickling?"
"No, I don't think I will." Hank's nonchalant yet teasy reply in combination with the feeling of his hoodie riding up gave Connor goosebumps. "Hey Connor? How much air can fit inside the average human's lungs?"
Connor paused for a minute, confused by the odd question. "Well it all depends on a number of factors like age, size, overall health-"
"Too slow!" And with that, Hank took a deep breath and blew a huge raspberry right over Connor's belly button.
Connor all but screamed in response, flailing his arms until he felt one of his hands make firm contact with Hank's face with a pained "Ouf-!" from the older man.
"Hank! Oh my... I didn't mean to, I'm so sorry!"
"Oh relax, will ya? I'm fine! Not really surprised either."
"Why would you do- that- if you knew I might hurt you?" The concern in Connor's voice was genuine.
"Oh my God you can't even say it!" Hank snorted as Connor's face flushed bright blue.
"Hank, I'm serious! Why would you do that?"
"Okay, look. The thing about humans is that, more often than not, they're willing to get hurt for the folks they care about. Even if that means getting smacked in the face after a very well deserved tickle attack- I wanted to cheer you up, not to mention you wanted to get wrecked. Neither of us wanted me to get smacked, but it happened. And it's okay, because you're feeling better now right?"
Connor thought for a moment. "Yes, Lieutenant. I do believe that's true."