Tasha's POV

I hummed as I went through the database, trying to find any more clues. Connor had been interrogating the androids for a while now, which was unlike him.

I feel off about this.

"I'm gonna go check on Connor." I told Hank as I walked towards the secluded room, hearing a faint voice from within calling out to me.

"Connor!" I cried out as I ran to him, the blue thyrium leaking from his body. "What— what—"

"Power core..." Connor could barely make out the words. "Tasha—"

10 seconds until shut down.

I ran through the room, grabbing his power core frantically and shoving it back into his abdomen.

Connor's POV

"Thank... thank you!" Connor gasped as he felt his metal body regain its functions.

Tasha breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately began running out of the room and after the deviant.

"I'm going to catch that son of a bitch."

"Tasha, no!" Connor cried out, running after her as fast as he could.

Connor chased after her, seeing the deviant nearing the elevator. It pulled its gun at them all, and Connor was able to shoot it.

But not before a shot rang out.

Connor immediately ran to Tasha, shielding her body with his as they fell to the ground.

Tasha's POV

I groaned in pain as I sat up, looking around me to see that all of the men were safe, and the deviant had been shot dead by Connor.

"You saved me once again!" My smile faded as I looked down at his body laid on the floor next to me. He didn't move, and his eyes — it was like the light left them.

"Connor?" I shook his body, "Connor get up. You did it!"

Connor's eyes were motionless as his wounds began to leak thirium.

"C-Connor, come on... you have to get up!" My whole body began to shake as I yelled at him. "No! Wake! Up! Please!"

Hank knelt beside me, grabbing my arms. "Tasha—"

"No!" I pushed him away, grabbing onto Connor's shoulders and shaking him vigorously. "Get up!" I screamed, my entire body shaking as I finally understood the truth. "PLEASE CONNOR!"

Connor is dead.

The sobbing was endless as Hank pulled me off of Connor, holding me tight in his arms. "He's gone, kiddo... there's nothing you can do."

"No! No, this wasn't supposed to happen!" I sobbed into Hank. "I love him! He can't be dead, he can't be!"

"Shh, kiddo, it'll be okay... shh"

"He's dead because of me!" I screamed, sobbing uncontrollably.

Then there was nothing.

I went numb, retreating into myself as Hank took me back to his house. He wouldn't let me out of his sight and he was smart to do that. I didn't care anymore.

Sumo ran up to me, sniffing slightly and wagging his tail.

"Hey boy." I spoke quietly, my voice hoarse from screaming and sobbing.

Hank set my jacket on the hanger, "Do you want to order a pizza?"

I didn't reply as I walked over to the couch, sitting down next to Sumo.

"How about ice cream?"

I appreciated Hank's efforts to cheer me up, but in all honesty I couldn't think, let alone say anything.

When I didn't reply again, Hank popped open a beer, taking a long swig before holding it out to me. "You look like you could use it a hell of a lot more than me."

I smiled slightly at his caring nature, taking a long sip of the disgusting drink before passing it back to him. "Thanks. God, beer is still disgusting."

"Yeah, well I'll pick you up some coolers so if you ever want one when you come by I'll have some, alright?"

I nodded in reply, petting Sumo's head gently.

"You know, he's going to come back."

I didn't reply as I stared at the floor, just trying to keep myself together.

"Tasha — He's an Android. CyberLife will fix him—"

"No they'll send a new version of him. It won't be my— our Connor..."

"You don't know that, kiddo."

I shrugged, "I can't, Hank. I can't... pretend like it'll be okay because he'll come back, because even if it turns out he isn't different — I just, I can't..." I trailed off, biting my lip to keep the tears from falling. "Can we please talk about something else?"

Hank nodded. "Yeah, I have something for you anyways." Hank got up, walking over to a closet, bringing me a box.

I couldn't help but smile sadly at him. "Oh my god, I can't believe you still have these!" I picked up the old dvds my parents had gotten me when I was a little kid.

"C'mon, they were your favorite to watch when you were little."

"Sometimes I forget that I didn't just lose my parents that day, you lost your best friends."

Hank smiled sadly, "They'd be proud of you, you know."

I smiled, "I hope so. Do you... do you think mom and dad would've liked Connor?" Saying his name held a weight it hadn't before, the idea that the Connor that comes back might not be ours anymore frightened me.

"Your dad would've given him a hard time, but they would've loved him." Hank admitted, smiling at me.

"C'mon, let's watch this stupid animated thingy and get it over with."

In that moment, I allowed myself to ignore the feelings in my broken heart. I did what I always did when I lost someone I loved, I pushed the feeling away until I was numb to it. I didn't want to feel, so I didn't.

I rolled my eyes impatiently at Hank.

"Uh! I'll have you know it's called Sailor Moon and it's an ANIME not an animated thingy!"

A/N:

Writing this broke my heart, but I had to put some sort of happy times in there 😭😭 please comment any suggestions for scenes you'd like to see me write and add to the story! Since you guys love this story so much I decided to post this chapter early 💜😭 if y'all keep leaving comments I might have to post 2 chapters a day anyways :3