Author's Note – Takes place after Episode 39, but no spoilers, really.

Disclaimer – "Brave Police J-Decker" and all related characters, events, and concepts belong to Sunrise, Nagoya TV, and any other related owners/distributors/producers. I get no monetary benefit from this. My benefit is the enjoyment of dealing with beloved characters.

"Out of the Mouths of Babes"
by DragonDancer5150

Toudou straightened from the hunch he'd held for the past forty-five minutes, twisting and leaning backwards in an attempt to work the kinks from his spine. He grinned and sighed at a few satisfying pops, then looked down at the automobile in front of him – a 1959 Austin-Healey Sprite Mark I. His grin widened.

"There you go, old girl. All that's left is a new paintjob, and you'll be all set to go again."

Powder blue wasn't his favorite hue, but it had grown on him, at least in relation to this. It was the car's original color, and he hadn't had the heart to change it when he renewed her paintjob the first time. She had appreciated that – he couldn't have explained how he knew it, and to try would only have made him sound the fool, but that didn't change what he felt. He had restored her once, and had promised to always care for her. Two weeks ago, she'd returned the favor by helping save one of his other "babies".

"Gunmax will be happy to hear that too. He's been asking about you. He wants to go for a drive sometime, the four of us – you, me, him, and Gunbike."

He had moved around to the driver's side, sliding into the seat as he spoke. He turned over the engine and could almost hear the approval and eager agreement in the happy thrum of engine noise.

"Papa, may I come in?"

Toudou looked over his shoulder to the door that led into the house and smiled. His tiny granddaughter Chieko stood on the threshold of the garage, dressed in her nighty but with her shiny black hair still pulled up in pigtails, her favorite doll hugged tightly in both arms. He opened the car door and gestured an invitation. "Yes, Chie-chan, come here." The little girl bounced over to him, bare feet slapping the cement floor, and jumped into his lap. Her elbow bumped the steering wheel, causing the horn to sound and her to flinch. Toudou chuckled and settled her more comfortably. "It's all right. She's just saying hello."

"Eri says hi too!" Chieko flopped her doll through the upper half of the steering wheel and onto the column behind as if it was trying to hug the car, then pulled the doll back to her chest. Only then did she seem to register the engine noise. She gasped and looked up, her eyes bright. "She's growling! Does that mean you've fixed her up? She's okay now?"

Toudou laughed. "It sure does."

"Yay!"

Toudou regarded his granddaughter. The sound of the engine wasn't what had drawn her. "Was there something you wanted to come out here to tell me, Chie-chan?"

The little girl was quiet for a moment, one hand fiddling with the doll's hair. "Mommy and I just watched a cartoon where the toys were alive even though they couldn't let people know they were. They were alive because their boy loved them so much." She twisted to look up at Toudou. "Is that true, Papa? Can toys be alive?"

Toudou grinned. "Do you love Eri?"

"Yes!"

"Does she feel alive to you?"

The answer came slower, but still with a note of certainty. "Yes."

"Then there you are. I guess it is true."

Chieko thought about that for a moment, then pointed at the dashboard of the car. "Is she alive?"

The question took Toudou by surprise, just enough so that he didn't answer right away.

Without waiting for one, Chieko continued. "The Brave Police definitely are! Right? Because you love them so much."

"Chie-chan?" Toudou honestly wasn't sure how to answer that. Especially considering the debate within the board of directors – and really, the public at large – which his granddaughter was too young to understand or pick up on.

Again without waiting for an answer, Chieko went on. "That's what Mommy says. That's why you're gone so much and get home so late a lot. Because your robots got hurt and you and your ennie-eers stay to work on them until they're all better. Because you love them."

Toudou suppressed a chuckle at "ennie-eers" – Chieko hadn't mastered pronouncing "engineer" yet – but the rest made him pause. His own words from a mere moment ago echoed back in his mind.

'Does she feel alive to you?'

Never mind what too many of the directors thought. Every time he spoke to one of the Braves, Toudou knew with every fiber of his being that they weren't just operating on scrambled protocols and faulty programming. They were sentient, feeling people. He didn't just love them. He knew that they loved him in return, knew that they were just as capable of love, or anger, or hurt as any human.

It was a gift that Deckard had gotten from Yuuta, and in turn shared with his fellow Braves.

Toudou shifted his granddaughter around on his lap so that she was sitting sideways and they could see each other better. She easily leaned back into the crook of his arm, grinning up at him.

"It's true, Chie-chan. I do love them, and I hate to see any of them hurt. I can't rest or come home and pretend like everything will be okay until morning when I know one of them needs help. But that's not why they're alive. That they got from Yuuta-kun."

Chieko shook her head. She'd heard the story before. "My teacher teaches me lots of stuff, like colors and numbers, but I'm not alive because of her. Mommy and Daddy made me. Mita-sensei helps a lot, but I'm not just from her. I'm Mommy and Daddy and you and Mita-sensei and all my friends. Yuuta-san talked to Deckard-san, but you made him. You made him like he is first, and then Yuuta-san taught him more."

Toudou thought about that a moment. As Chief Engineer, there had been times that he had stayed behind to finish this or run that test after his staff had gone home for the day. He'd never let himself talk to BP-001 with others around, but he frequently did when he was alone, like he talked to his Aston Martin. Not the same way Yuuta had talked to Deckard, expecting him to answer, but he talked to Deckard all the same. He had noted, about halfway through development, that it had seemed one of his engineers had left the control panel on and Deckard's Fahrzeugronne unit running over the weekend. It had also looked like there might have been a struggle, as some boxes of parts and test equipment had been scattered mysteriously. (It wasn't until much later that Toudou found out from Yuuta what had actually happened.)

Toudou had liked to think before that incident that BP-001 could somehow hear him, about the same as he "knew" his beloved Aston Martin understood him. It was hard not to think it even more so with a robot that had such a human face he could look at as he spoke, with so many human characteristics and capabilities being worked into the robot's very design. But after that incident, Toudou had felt more and more like the impression of being heard and understood was "real", not just him anthropomorphizing the robot.

And there was no doubt in his mind that he had come very quickly not only to take exceptional pride in the unique project that he had accepted for his robotics company and for himself personally, but to care deeply for the robot itself that they were developing for the police and for his long-time friend.

Without question, Deckard had a heart because of the close friendship that Yuuta had developed with him, but maybe . . . maybe Toudou had also had more influence on Deckard than he had let himself take credit for.

"Papa?"

Toudou shook himself from his thoughts and refocused on Chieko.

'Does she feel alive to you?'

He gave his granddaughter a grin. "Thank you, Chie-chan."

"Huh? For what, Papa?"

For too many things that she was too young to understand. "For being so sweet."

Chieko beamed at the compliment. "Papa, will you take me for a ride in your car tomorrow?" She turned to pat the steering wheel.

"Actually, she needs to get her paint redone before I take her out again. Her paint is like your skin – it protects her. Her appointment isn't until Thursday. But - " He continued as Chieko started to look disappointed. "I'll take you for a drive this weekend after I get her back. In the meantime, how about you come in to work with me tomorrow after school and help me do some check-ups on the Brave Police."

Chieko's eyes lit up. "Really! I can come help?"

"Really. I'm sure the guys would appreciate it." Of course, he'd have to get clearance for her first. Due to the potential dangers inherent in heavy machinery and giant robots, insurance dictated that any area of the Brave Police Wing that involved actual contact with the Brave Police – save the second-story platform in the Decker Room – was restricted to authorized personnel only. But being long-time close friends with the police commissioner had its perks.

"Yay!" Chieko tossed her arms up in the air, Eri's limbs flopping bonelessly with the motion. Then she threw herself against Toudou's chest in a hug. "Thank you, Papa! I love you."

Toudou wrapped both arms around his little granddaughter, resting his chin on her head. "I love you too, Chie-chan. Very, very much."

The Sprite's engine was still rumbling throughout the whole exchange. And Toudou didn't believe it was his imagination when he thought he heard the engine noise change slightly, taking on a contented purr.

Yes, old girl. I love you too.