Months have passed since the liberation of the androids gaining their freedom from the humans. There were no more riots, no more camps where the androids would be destroyed, and the city of Detroit didn't have a curfew. The police no longer wandered the streets, watching if an android would attack a human. Things had finally settled down.

Connor still worked for the DPD, even though he was a deviant, he still listened to his base protocol that he was an investigator. Hank kept him as his partner, and they worked on each case they were given, and after they were finished, they would go out to eat. Connor would watch Hank bite into his burgar and sip on his drink, they would talk about work and other mundane topics.

That afternoon, they were at the precinct, and Hank asked him to get more donuts, and a coffee from the coffee shop down the street from the DPD, Connor nodded and went. He didn't have too, but he didn't mind either.

As he was walking, he spotted someone familiar strolling across the street. She wore a simple black dress with a jacket, holding a bag, her long blonde hair was settled past her shoulders.

"Chloe?" he said, and she looked his way. He had last seen her at Kamski's, knelt down before him as he held a gun to her forehead.

It was anxiety inducing as he stared into her eyes, lifeless, but there was something alive as well, a strange mixture on her placated face. He struggled with the trigger, his hand shaking, his resolve becoming feeble before giving the gun back to Kamski.

He gained nothing in keeping her alive, but that is all that really mattered, even though the information could have helped with the case.

She was alive, and seeing her now, he was relieved.

"Connor?" she said, stopping right in front of him, her chin tilted up. "It's been awhile."

He managed a small smile. "It has. How are you?"

She smiled, warmer than his. "I'm fine."

"Are you with—"

She shook her head. "He let me go."

He arched a brow, surprised, "He did?"

"I asked if I could leave," she said, and there was happiness in her eyes, "and he said I could leave if I wanted too. That I didn't have to stay. So after the androids were liberated, and everything calmed down, I left."

Connor didn't expect that. From the way Kamski had touched Chloe, his comments toward her, and yet his dismissal, he didn't seem to want his androids to simply get up and leave. Maybe it was the only ones that gained independence of their programs, becoming deviant.

Chloe is a deviant.

"That's good," he said, unsure of what he was supposed to say, "I'm happy for you."

"Do you still work for the DPD?"

Connor nodded. "I do."

"I have my own place," Chloe said, "Elijah gave me enough money so I can care for myself, but he said I'd eventually need to get a job when the money runs out."

He figured Kamski wouldn't help her all the time, but maybe that was the point of letting her go. She asked to be free of him, and he did help, but he's also giving her a choice to do what she must for her freedom to continue.

"Are you going anywhere?"

Chloe shook her head, and as she tilts her head to the sky, flecks of light shine from her eyes, and her smile widens with amazement. "I sometimes wander around the city, in awe by everything I wasn't meant to see, exploring gives me relief that this is all real."

Connor glanced to the streets around them, all the dark colors that seem hollow from the slush, but the warm temperature brushes against his cheek, and he knows exactly what she means. The clouds have moved away, revealing the blue sky and the sun, colors dance in every crevice, and the city embraces the life it breathes.

His freedom started with Hank, solving cases, opening his eyes to the realization there was more than what was programmed into him, more than what he was created for, a possibility that he was able to grasp thanks to Hank who looked at him and saw what was inside of Connor, the humanity burrowed deep within that was twisting its way out.

"I'm going to the coffee shop," Connor said, tilting his head to the side, "would you like to come with me?"

He was right the moment the gun was placed to Chloe's head, the humanity pulsing inside her empty eyes, the machine beneath her ivory skin. It took some time, but she was alive, and her kindness flourished in her smile, alight in the depths of her eyes.

She is alive.

"Okay," Chloe said.

Notes: Yeah, most of my DBH stories are really short, they just sort of end up like that. Maybe I'll write something longer if I have the chance. :)

Connor x Chloe is one of my ships for Connor. :) Like I always seem to say, I can't write romance, but I wanted to write something light and warm for them, and I can see Connor being awkwardly adorable around Chloe, but she'd be too smitten to care.
There could be some potential for a romance between them, maybe in a different fic. :)

I hope you enjoy.

Reviews are appreciated. No flames or bashing please. :)