Well, here we are. The final chapter of this incredible tale, it only took 100k words to get here! I am so thankful to everyone who has been on this stage of the journey with me, I'm so privileged to share in it with all of you. When I first started this fic months ago, I didn't think it would grow to anything like this size or take anywhere near the emotional turn that it has done.

That you have all stuck around to see the conclusion of this arc means more to me than I can say, thank you all so much.

But this is not the end! I'll be announcing the title of Part 3 of the series at the end of the chapter, and by the time you are all reading this, I'll have released the synopsis for it to my profile!

Special thanks for reviews: xNarielx, AnUnorthodoxDecision, Dariana Green and one Guest.

Trigger Warning: There's a fair amount of talk about suicide here, so please be aware of it throughout. I can't say anymore without giving anything away.

I'm warning you all now, you will need tissues for this chapter. Time for the finale.

Chapter 15: Tears Of A Broken Heart

It had been several hours since they all returned to Belle-Isle. Once Amelia arrived with help to rescue all their injured and damaged company, they were all whisked off to the safety of the main android settlement. The severity of what had transpired in their final face-off hadn't truly hit anyone yet, they were all still riding the emotional high of destroying the RK900 at long last – and of knowing that their numbers were about to be re-joined by an old friend.

Everyone was being looked after by different members of Amelia's medical team, and it was of little surprise that she made a point of looking after Hank herself; though it had come after checking in on her girlfriend to make sure that Autumn was all right. Amelia had been shocked at the state of her when they'd first made it to the warehouse: she'd been astounded at the sheer amount of hurt inflicted by the RK900. Finding out what had almost happened had made her a little clingier than usual.

Not that Hank was really complaining – the blue-haired android was always welcome company.

From where he was lying on a bed with Amelia studiously working at his side, he was watching the rain hammer against the windows. The dull thumping was a strangely comforting and inane sound after all that had transpired in recent times. "It's weird, but I've always really liked the rain," Amelia told him with a gentle smile.

"And that's despite Connor and I chasing you in it," Hank chuckled, thankful for the painkillers which were coursing through his veins at that moment. Not to mention the little local anaesthetic so he didn't have to feel what Amelia was up to…

She laughed lightly. "It was one of the first things I remember taking the time to experience after I woke up: Autumn and I just sat in the rain and let it fall on us while talking. It made us feel more alive."

"I'm a fan of rain, always have been. Washes away a shit ton of the crap you carry around, physical and emotional. It's a bit cathartic for me." A quiet hum through concentration had his interest piqued, that was normally a sign that Amelia was only half listening to him at that point. "Find something?"

He was not going to be looking at her right now considering she was digging around in his opened chest.

"Yeah, I think I know why you were feeling so out of sorts when you got back here," she said while taking a closer look. "The force from that shot to your back knocked some of the stabilisers around your heart a little loose. It's a little out of alignment."

"The joys of a cybernetic heart," he groaned, earning a quiet chuckle. "An easy fix?"

"Yes, I can simply replace everything where it was, but this is a lesson. Simon and I will need to have a look at adding further fortifications after this, we were working from very limited knowledge at great speed before."

"Please tell me you are actually going to knock me out for that one, this is fucking weird enough."

Amelia smirked at him. "With drugs or a bash to the head? Both are tempting."

Hank laughed at that, which set Amelia off giggling. He then realised just how weird a turn his life had taken considering he and Amelia were currently laughing away with her hands still buried in his opened chest, probably holding his heart at that very moment. The thought had him creasing even more.

"You're getting influenced by Autumn too much," Hank shot back, earning a wink from Amelia. They let the silence sit for a couple of minutes as Hank kept his eyes at the window, letting Amelia work in peace before his curiosity finally got the better of him. "How's everyone else doing?"

"You and Chris got off the lightest," she started while grabbing a screwdriver from the table, which had Hank raising an eyebrow. He really needed to learn just what they'd had to do in detail now that everything was about to calm down. "A few pieces of shrapnel in his arm and leg, which we got out and stitched him up. Simon's damage looked a lot worse than it was, a few new wires and one plate to his neck has done the trick."

She was clearly tightening something while speaking, and Hank was a bit stunned when he could swear he saw her pushing hard out of the corner of his vision. Cause that wasn't disturbing when he knew where her hands were… "Markus' arm required a very quick replacement, beyond that he was all right," she went on. "He's already been in touch with Chloe to see if she can help us hack through all the changes the RK900 made to the network."

"Good, the sooner we get a handle back on that, the better," Hank nodded in agreement.

"Autumn's back panels are going to need replacing entirely, but we're building suitable parts right now. Unfortunately that isn't one of the ones we had many ready replacements for. Thanks to Simon, North didn't shut down. Many of her thirium lines were badly damaged and her chassis was torn both front and back. Autumn made sure that the one readily available part we had went to North, so she's going to be fully fixed within the hour."

"What's going to happen to Autumn in the meantime?" He was grateful that Autumn had insisted North get repaired first, but he hated the thought of Autumn having to keep all that warped chassis until the new parts were ready.

"She's stuck as is for now, but we've taken out all the debris and welded the damage shut. Besides, it gives her something to moan about: she's happy," Amelia smiled knowingly, to which Hank chuckled.

"Josh…?"

Amelia was finally done with all of her adjustments and placed the tools back on the table before picking up a needle and thick thread. "The RK900 messed him up pretty badly, but I think we'll be able to bring him back. Most of his neck has been wrecked and other systems were badly damaged by an overload generated by the destroyed wiring. His memory core was thankfully missed, but the damage is going to take several days to repair."

"So we're not going to know for a while. Fuck…"

"I'm quietly optimistic, and at least everyone who went into that fight was braced for the possibility of that encounter being fatal. If we do get him back, that's at least slightly less trauma than there otherwise might have been."

Hank nodded in acknowledgement of the point, leaving Amelia to stitch him back up. She ran a hand down his arm when she had done the worst of it, leaving Hank to look down at the results. He couldn't help but snicker at the sight. "I really am a fucking patchwork doll."

Amelia's eyes twinkled at the comparison as she found some more bandages to wrap around him. She'd cleaned the wound on his abdomen earlier and smeared an antibiotic gel over it to hopefully advance the healing process – all that was now left to do was cover it all. "That bruise on your back is going to be an absolute beauty," she teased while helping him to sit in the right position to wrap around his body. "I'd bet people would ask if it was a tattoo or not for how dark it's going to get."

"Good thing it didn't have the armour piercing rounds in that pistol, or I'd be even more of a mess than I am already," he replied snarkily.

The joke fell flat, and Hank could both see and feel Amelia freeze. Clearly that realisation hadn't struck her up until that point. Taking a trembling hand in his own and resting it over his steady heartbeat, he gave her a soft smile. "Still here," he whispered to her, "and that's thanks to you, honey. You wouldn't let me go, you refused to just let me give up and die. I'll admit…I was tempted." Amelia's trembling got minutely worse. "This shit is incredibly hard to live with. Even since then, all I've really had keeping me going was the hope that I can bring Connor back."

That had a smile appearing on her face. "And it's about to happen. Simon's checking the heart now to make sure there's no damage, and then we're going to do it. Have you any idea what you're going to say to him?"

Hank laughed brokenly, tears in his eyes to think it was so close now. After everything they'd been through with the RK900, this was the moment where that chapter closed and a new one opened. Connor was probably going to be a mess when he came back, almost all of the androids who were newly awakened when they died handled resurrection the hardest. The onslaught of emotion was sometimes too much, but they'd work it out. Connor was strong enough, he could do it – and he wouldn't be alone.

It was true that Hank had an absolute shit load of his own additional trauma to deal with now and he had no more distractions to keep his focus away from it; but it was all going to be worth it.

Having Connor back was worth it.

"Not a fucking clue," Hank admitted, which had Amelia sniggering. "I haven't a clue where to start. Well, other than crushing the living daylights out of him in a hug."

She beamed at him. "The advantage of hugging an android is that you can be as tight as you like: just be careful with all your stitches. Tell you what, I'll add some extra packing just so you are less likely to bust one going at it too hard."

He roared in laughter. "Wow, Amelia. Without context, that last sentence sounds so wrong."

"I know," she winked at him while retrieving more gauze from a nearby cabinet. They stayed in companionable silence as Amelia finished securing all of the bandages, finally handing Hank back over his shirt.

Just as he'd got himself back to some semblance of normal, a voice broke through the moment. His smile grew at seeing North standing there with a beaming smile, and now completely repaired. "If it ain't my favourite bitch," he greeted, smirking as North playfully flipped him off.

"Still here, unfortunately for you," she shot back, smiling over at the pair on the other side of the room. Wandering in from the doorway, her focus shifted to Amelia specifically. "Simon's almost ready, he's wanting your help with the last steps if you're up to it?"

"Sure, just let me get cleaned off first," Amelia nodded while stripping off the pale pink scrubs which she had been wearing. The traces of both red and blue blood from working on various people vanished with their removal and she posed dramatically once they were disposed of. "Ta-da! Much better." Hank and North both shook their heads in amusement as Amelia left a final kiss on Hank's cheek. "See you in a few. Don't rip any of the stitches for fun, North!"

"Why are you giving her ideas?" Hank shouted back as Amelia left with a noticeable bounce in her step, North raising an eyebrow at him. "Wouldn't put it past you if you were in vindictive enough of a mood," he said with a shrug.

"Hmmm, not so much nowadays," she said softly while casting an analysing eye over him. "Not too badly injured?"

"Nah, my fancy-ass pacemaker got knocked around a little but Amelia's fixed it for now. Looks like she and Simon are going to get to play around with my insides again," he informed her in a sarcastic tone.

"Sounds fun," she drawled in response. "That says something, in that you aren't so much as batting an eyelid at the thought."

"Seen and been through enough funky shit recently, that doesn't even really compare."

"Fair point," she said thoughtfully.

A couple of seconds passed before North found herself in the reverse of their situation two weeks previous, receiving an affectionate kiss right before Hank pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank you, North," he whispered to her gratefully. "You kicked that thing's ass and saved my own in the process."

"Don't flatter yourself, I was out to bust it apart. Saving your old ass was just a side effect," she snickered back, but both of them knew she didn't really mean it. She dropped the pretence readily and just settled into the hug. "I'm just glad I didn't get you by accident, I was terrified I would from how badly my systems were glitching."

"Well, it was about to put a bullet in my head anyway – worth the chance I'd say."

North pulled back with a knowing smile. "I've not seen you so excited and nervous at the same time before."

Hank rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "That obvious, huh?"

"Well, you thought you'd lost him forever. A chance like this is bound to get you worked up, especially after what we went through to get here. How do you think he's going to react?"

"I've not the slightest clue, North. He hadn't been awake for long before he died…so Connor didn't really know who he was."

"Speaking from experience, that's probably a good thing. Almost none of us are the same now as we once were: I've got serious bouts of anxiety, Autumn is a fucking psychopath and Simon's a lot edgier. Hell, even you've changed since that thing left you for dead: you give even less of a shit than before, and that's saying something." Hank snorted but didn't deny it. "And it's less pressure if people don't expect you to act a certain way. We'll just have to make sure that Connor can come to terms with everything and find a way forward."

A chirp on Hank's wrist came simultaneously with an alert on North's HUD from Simon. Hank's stomach dropped at the realisation that it was finally here: he was about to have Connor back. North smiled as Hank took a deep breath and stared upwards, steeling himself.

He really hadn't the faintest idea what he was feeling. Giddy, anxious, restless, a little nauseous maybe…? It was a heady mix.

"You ready?" she asked while nodding towards the door.

"Fuck yeah," he answered stronger than he felt, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they left. North chuckled but leant into Hank as they walked, final reaching the lab where everything was set up to restore Connor.

Connor was lain atop a maintenance table with his wrecked CyberLife jacket, shirt and tie removed, his chest opened up so his newly replaced heart could be monitored. A small sensor was linked up to his LED to monitor his CPU activity while he was attached to a wider maintenance program via the lead in his neck port. Hank was glad that he couldn't see the neck insert from how Connor was lying, face straight up towards the ceiling: it all reminded him too much of the Matrix, and he felt his life was too much like something out of a sci-fi nightmare already.

Simon and Amelia were stood either end of the maintenance table, analysing various readings on their tablets while Markus was watching closely from the left wall. Ben, Chris and Autumn were all huddled together on a table at the right hand side, and flashed Hank broad grins when they saw him wander in with North. The others all looked up at seeing the final arrivals and even Simon seemed pleased.

Hank knew Simon had mixed feelings about Connor, but he'd still helped them wholeheartedly in retrieving the heart. The fact that the blonde-haired android was willing to give Connor a chance after how Connor had inadvertently caused Simon's death when he was still a machine was nothing short of miraculous.

"It looks like everything is set," Simon told them, skimming through a few last readings before turning to face Markus. "You want to do the honours, Markus?"

Markus turned to face Hank, who just nodded at him once. Smiling warmly, Markus came to join them, the skin of his hand peeling back to allow him to interface with Connor via his LED. He took an unneeded breath and uploaded the Phoenix code – but Markus rapidly snatched his hand back and stared at Simon with wide eyes.

The change had everyone's excited anticipation grinding to a shuddering halt. That had never happened before.

"Markus?" North asked quietly, feeling how Hank stiffened right next to her. She could tell he was already fearing the worst.

"Simon, what-" Markus began, but Simon cut him off, eyes frantic as he stared dumbfounded at the tablet in his hands.

"I don't know! I don't know what's happened!"

Amelia was interfacing with her tablet as Simon switched to the main terminal linked to the maintenance cable in Connor's neck, desperately hoping that this was just a CyberLife security protocol which was blocking them. Markus watched in muted horror, realising that as Simon kept searching and searching through the millions of lines of code that it wasn't a mistake…

"Markus, what's going on?" Ben demanded. It was Amelia who answered him in a tiny voice.

"There's nothing there…" she muttered through sudden tears, unable to look up and make eye contact with anyone.

Those two words caused the atmosphere of the room to shift completely. A stunned and suffocating silence which had enveloped them all was broken by Autumn. "What the fuck does that mean?"

Simon stuttered before getting his whole sentence out. "The Mortality virus erases an android's memory core if they are ever reactivated while infected with it. Their personality, memories…everything that makes them alive is destroyed. Kamski's Phoenix antivirus prevents that and neutralises the code.

"Connor's memory core has already been wiped. There's nothing left other than base code. If we fully reactivate him, he'll come back as a machine. Even waking him up again…he won't be the Connor you all knew. He's…" Simon drifted off, looking at Markus in anguish. It was such a cruel twist, and they didn't know why.

Everyone's eyes shifted to Hank, who was simply staring at Connor without drawing so much as a breath. Though on the outside he appeared just frozen, on the inside it was a totally different matter. North and Amelia could see it in the man's eyes.

His heart had completely and utterly shattered – and this time there was no coming back.

"Hank…" Ben started as he stood, but they could all see him barely keeping it together as his fist began to shake.

Hank closed his eyes sharply as he felt himself start to fly apart at the seams and slowly backed away through the door which he and North were still standing beside. His ears couldn't process the sounds of the voices which were calling him back, he just turned around and ran. Ran from the devastating truth of that room and his life.

It had all been for nothing. Everything they'd gone through – that Hank had suffered and survived – had ended with his one wish being denied. The heart hadn't been enough, probably never had been.

Connor had been dead for the better part of a year, but after having been granted that impossible hope of seeing his son again, this time the truth felt all the more agonising to Hank.

As he finally reached the service elevator at the far end of the floor, Hank slammed the button and waited for it to appear. The long seconds just brought him all the closer to the breakdown he could feel coming, and it was with almost nothing to spare that the doors finally opened. He smashed the button for the ground floor, heaving in broken breaths as the doors slid closed to grant him a mockery of privacy – but Hank couldn't hold it in anymore.

Finally alone, Hank fell against the back of the elevator, letting out an anguished and heartbroken cry that didn't even sound human as he slid bonelessly to the floor.

The turn of events had shaken everyone deeply. Despite their best efforts, none of the group could get in contact with Hank. He'd taken off in his car as soon as the elevator had hit the ground floor along with disconnecting himself from any form of communication. Phone, wrist strap…the one mercy was that he'd not removed the chain. At least Amelia could track him, but it was not in any way comforting once she realised where he'd gone.

Firstly to his house for about ten minutes, but then he was just driving in circles. He'd been at it for almost an hour and Amelia had a terrible feeling at what he might do now that he finally stopped. She'd been adamant about going to him, but North had stopped her with a long look and an even longer interface.

Connor's potential return was all that Hank had been living for since being tortured to the brink of death by the RK900. With that hope now gone…they knew there was a serious chance of not seeing him again. As much as Amelia wanted to stop him, North was resolute in that it was Hank's choice – it was the one of the few things he still had control of.

They'd know soon enough from the tracker in the chain. If the signal vanished, then it was a possibility they were going to have to brace themselves for.

Chris and Ben had left to try and stop Hank from doing anything dangerous, but they'd been too slow in catching the man at his house. They'd since split up to see if Hank showed at any of his old haunts, but it was a bit of a longshot. Trying to chase the man down was only going to make him more unstable though, so they could only hope that they'd guessed right. Amelia was still getting messages from them every few minutes asking if Hank had moved.

Autumn was doing her best to comfort the frantic Amelia, while Markus and Simon were studiously working through every line of Connor's coding that was left. They'd been searching for any sort of answer as to why the antivirus hadn't worked, why their quest to bring Connor back had ended so cruelly.

In the end, they found it – and it was a twist neither of them had been expecting.

"Son of a bitch…" Markus' swear caught the attention of the three female androids in the room, and they waited as he dragged in a snarling breath before continuing. "Connor was still linked to CyberLife when he came here. That's how they knew to take Hank hostage to try and stop Connor from waking our people up."

"Are you saying that CyberLife wiped his memory?" North asked quietly.

Simon was the one that answered her. "Not directly, but yes. You three," he said while looking at Markus, North and Amelia, "told me that there were multiple iterations of Connor. One of those was sent to kill him and succeeded, while the others were all destroyed during CyberLife's purge at the start of our freedom. Connor was designed to be backed up and re-uploaded to a new body if he died.

"One of the consequences of that," Simon went on, "is that they couldn't risk the Connor body left behind being repaired. Could you imagine what would happen if someone fixed Connor while he was still a machine and accessing all of the data? He was CyberLife's bloodhound, he would have had access to so many of their systems."

"Since Connor was still somehow connected, his coding started the upload automatically as his systems shut down. Another segment of it causes his memory core to be wiped as soon as it is complete," Markus finished staring at the monitor hatefully.

It took the girls a second to realise what they were saying. "Connor's been gone the whole time?" Amelia whispered.

"CyberLife will have had his data at some point, but no doubt they've purged it by now," Simon said wistfully.

"They did," Markus snapped, "they gave the RK900 some of Connor's memories. It tried to get inside my head with that promise I made to Connor before he made the journey here, and Hank said it taunted him with Connor's final moments when he was captive. We assumed it had the CCTV files, but it must have been using his memories."

Markus strode away angrily. He was furious at so much, but more than anything he regretted the missed chance. If CyberLife had Connor's data long enough to upload it to the RK900, then there must have been a chance for them to save Connor at some point in their early operations. The RK900 had only been completed earlier that year, so there had been a window of opportunity.

While he was staring out of the window, however, Markus abruptly thought of something. There was someone who had hacked into CyberLife long before they'd had the capability to do so – someone with almost as much of a grudge as them.

No, there's no way-

Spinning back around sharply, Markus ran back to the maintenance table and yanked the cable out from Connor's neck, much to the shock of the others. "Markus?" Autumn asked, the first to come out of the stupor.

He didn't answer her, instead forcing Connor's skin to deactivate from the top of his head to allow access to part of Connor's mind palace. As he got the plastic casing open and carefully prised his way through the wires, his systems froze at seeing the impossible right there in front of him. The others watched as Markus delicately tapped on a drive inside Connor's mind palace and waited it for click out before retrieving it, at which Simon and Amelia froze in recognition.

It was identical to the drive which Kamski had given Markus months ago when the android first took North to be repaired in an effort to resurrect her. The drive that they'd spent countless hours trying to decrypt the password of.

"Oh shit…" Amelia breathed, realising exactly where Markus' thinking was headed.

"Simon, get the drive now!" Markus instructed while he rapidly interfaced with the terminal next to where they were working. He felt like such an idiot…Kamski had given them this drive as bait months ago, they'd all known that. But now he was left in an impossible position. Connor's memories and personality – everything that made the android who he was – was locked inside.

And Kamski had the fucking key to it.

Just as Simon returned, Markus' call was answered. He threw the video response up on the screen for everyone to see, and the smirk on Kamski's face grew as he took in the positions of everyone in the room. "Hello there, Markus," he chimed. "A pleasure to see so many androids in your closest company now. I take it you are not calling simply to inform me of the RK900's demise?"

Markus glared at Kamski. "You've known all along that Connor's memories were gone, you gave us a backup drive containing them months ago. Why? What do you stand to gain out of this?"

Kamski smiled from where he was lounged in his office chair. "Quite a lot actually. I am well aware of your motivations and traits, Markus: I knew that once you used the Phoenix antivirus that Lieutenant Anderson would stop at nothing to see Connor returned. And with you being the devoted leader that you are, I knew you would do your utmost to fulfil his wish. It gave me an opportunity that I could ill afford to pass up."

"Snake," Amelia hissed under her breath, but Autumn heard her and nodded in agreement. North and Simon shared a long look as Markus went on.

"And what would that be?"

"Now, now, Markus…that would be telling you far too much. All you need know is this – I will give you the code to unlock all of Connor's memories, but you must agree to my terms no matter what. And should you renege on that deal…well, you have asked Chloe for help in unlocking the modifications to the Jericho android network." All the androids froze at the threat. "She currently holds all six components to it, and can cause untold damage."

"Bastard!" Both North and Simon swore at the same time, which had Kamski chuckling.

"It's your call, Markus," the human said simply. "Do you agree to my terms?"

Markus knew the risks were incredibly high here. There was no telling what Kamski could ask of them…but his feelings couldn't be denied. To lose this chance after everything wasn't just going to cost them Connor's life – someone else's hanged in the balance too.

"…What is it you ask?"

This was unlike any other time he'd gone through the motions before.

It had probably been hours now since he'd fled from Belle-Isle but Hank had truly lost all concept of time. All concept of anything, really.

All he could comprehend at that moment was the burning heartache and stinging leftovers from the last of his tears.

He could barely remember driving back home, but he'd gone there with a purpose in mind and could recall the time inside vividly. Speaking softly to Sumo and Jet, spending some much needed time with both lovable dogs before retrieving all he needed. A notepad, envelopes, pen, ammo and one particular box which had sat untouched for some time now.

Everything he needed for saying goodbye.

Unlike before when he'd thought about doing this, it had always been with that edge of trepidation – hence why he'd always left it to chance. Pulling the trigger had been easier with that chance of life or death. Now…Now all he wanted was to join his sons on the other side.

Hank didn't know if Connor would be there, if androids had some semblance of a soul or whatnot. It was the last hope he was clinging on to though.

Once he'd finally made it to the bridge that he was parked under, Hank had started writing out his notes to everyone. He'd never really thought about it before, when everything was left up to chance. It seemed like too much effort. Now though…They at least deserved to know his thoughts, because it felt wrong to end it all without at least leaving each of them something.

One pile had letters for Fowler, Chris and Ben. Thanks for being good friends and putting up with all his shit from his stints in both the DPD and the AIF, along with the hope that they didn't blame themselves for anything. He was sure that they'd prepared themselves for this a long time ago.

Another had letters for Josh, Simon and Autumn. He'd known they all relatively well and worked with each of them well. Josh and Simon each got a request to look after those around them, and to make sure Markus stayed on the path to giving the androids a future. Autumn had a plea to make sure Amelia didn't lose herself to the pain he knew she was going to feel.

Then came the ones to Markus, North and Amelia.

Markus had a small letter asking him to never stop following his dream of androids being fully recognised as people. Hank truly believed he would find a way to do it, despite human stubbornness. He was the best chance the androids had at a future with true freedom.

North had a long thank you. That girl had done a lot of good for him, both before her cruel death and since her resurrection. She was a dear friend and he hoped she would come to accept her new self fully. He also told her that she was welcome to stay in the house and look after both dogs – he'd changed his will to leave everything to her after the whole debacle with the RK900.

And Amelia…shit, he'd really not known how to put anything he felt towards her into words. In the end, all he'd managed was a short thank you for making him feel alive again, however little it was, and saying that he loved her. To not blame herself for anything and be happy with Autumn.

Although... Hank sighed angrily as he put the pen and paper down while staring at the gun and chain next to him. Shooting the box open to get his old revolver was probably a lot of effort, but it was symbolic; and he'd taken the chain off not long before he found this spot. He hadn't wanted anyone to know where to go to try and stop him.

Markus and North probably knew what he was doing right now, he'd talked with them at length after his ordeal with the RK900: they knew bringing Connor back was all he was really living for. But Amelia- she'd been the one to pull him back from the brink last time and was the one who devoted so much time, effort and love in trying to give him a reason to live.

He couldn't just end it all without speaking to her one last time – she deserved to know all this from him, not just a page.

After checking the gun and making sure that all the chambers were filled, Hank finally reconnected his phone to the network. The multitude of messages and missed calls didn't surprise him, nor did the volume of them. 25 missed calls from Chris, 33 from Ben, along with dozens of messages from each of them. One call from Markus, and two from North, along with a voicemail from each. Over a hundred missed calls from Amelia and six from Autumn, weirdly.

Going through it all would waste time he didn't really feel like spending. All he wanted was to speak to his favourite person now to tell her why it had to be this way.

Amelia picked up before the first ring even finished, and Hank's broken heart fell apart at hearing how frantic she was. "Hank! Oh thank fuck! I thought- When you vanished I thought we were too late!"

He chuckled sombrely. "Nope, not gone yet, Amelia." Emphasis on the 'yet' though… "Listen, honey, I-"

"Just shut up and listen to me, okay?! You have to go to the bridge, please!"

A long sigh escaped Hank as he tried to speak to her again. "Amelia-"

"No! No, you asshole, you are not fucking saying goodbye to me, all right?! You aren't giving up! You've obviously not listened to any of the voicemails; go to the bridge, I'm begging you."

"Why there?" he asked, exhausted while rubbing a hand down his face.

"Hank, who knows about what the bridge means to you besides me?"

His face scrunched in confusion for a second, there were only two people who knew. Amelia and-

Everything in his attention narrowed to Amelia's voice on the other end of the line. It can't be-

"Amelia, this is the worst fucking time in the world to be joking about something like this," he told her in a wobbly voice, composure slipping away. His broken heart jumped involuntarily as a flicker of hope burst forth from the shattered remains.

"Go to the bridge, Hank. Don't keep him waiting."

"He's dead, Amelia," he snapped back.

"Androids don't always stay dead, Hank, you know that: and someone was one step ahead of us the whole time. He knew just what we looking for." That left Hank with some many more questions but all he could focus on was Amelia's words. "He's waiting for you, don't leave him there alone."

The spark in his chest became a frenzy and Hank snapped into action. Quickly hanging up, Hank spied the chain and gun on the seat, throwing one off while grasping frantically for the other. He stared at the coin in the centre of the chain, heart pounding as he tried to get his rapid breathing under control.

No, there's no way. They said he was gone, that there was nothing left of him.

But he knew Amelia wouldn't lie about something like this. If she said he was waiting, then somehow…he was.

Hank barely managed to pull himself together enough to drive, beyond thankful that it was now well past midnight and the roads were all but deserted. It meant that the journey took only a few minutes to get from where he'd parked as he prepared to end it all, to where the one person who could inspire him to live again was potentially waiting.

Fuck, he really wasn't prepared for this. What the hell was he going to do, say?!

By the time he'd pulled up to the small playground and thrown himself out of the car, Hank still didn't have an answer. His entire attention was now focused on the figure standing by the railing – an incredible symmetry to where they'd first come here last year. God, was it really only the best part of a year ago? It felt like a lifetime had passed since then.

Even under the long trench coat which Hank could recognise as one of Markus' own, the outline was unmistakeable. His artificial heart was racing just as much as his thoughts were, and he tentatively strode over, watching for the slightest movement. There was no way that he didn't know that company had arrived. And yet…

"…Connor?"

The tiny croak which escaped Hank's throat was enough, to which the android turned to look at him in trepidation. His whole posture spoke of skittishness and fear, but it was the eyes that Hank couldn't tear his own gaze away from. A warm brown that he'd thought was lost forever: they now staring back at him with a want to reach out, to find comfort.

It…really was him. It was Connor, his son. Somehow he was here.

"Oh my fucking god," Hank breathed, stumbling over to the android in a daze, "it really is you!"

Connor threw himself at Hank as the older man dove forward to embrace him, and Hank could feel the android's tears as they collapsed to their knees. Both of them were shaking, overcome by emotion and Hank let out a shuddering sob as he realised this was real. It wasn't some fucked up dream or make believe from alcohol – he really had Connor back.

"How…?" he croaked, pulling back to cup the android's face and stare at him in shock.

"Kamski took a backup of my data before CyberLife wiped me," Connor explained quietly, eyes glazed as he took in all the differences to Hank. It had been almost ten months since Connor has seen him and the data coming back was nothing short of terrifying. There were so many injuries and changes… Markus had told Connor some of what had happened when he'd been returned, but seeing all this drove it home to Connor that it was only the barest bones of the story. "That was what he gave you and Markus months ago."

"You mean you were right there the whole time?"

"I guess, I'm as lost as you, Hank. I don't really know anything-I can't believe how long I've been gone. What has happened to you?"

"Oh, Connor…that's a story that I can't even begin to describe. Hope you're feeling patient enough to stick around to hear it all?" Hank joked with a shaky laugh, to which Connor laughed in return.

"I plan on it."

Hank's tears kept flowing as he brought Connor in for another tight embrace, his heart finally managing to piece itself back together. It was only the barest start to the multitude of heartache and trauma, let alone all the unanswered questions still in his mind.

The two of them were a complete mess. Broken, lost, hollow…they each had a long fucking way to go before they were truly ready to take on the world again: but the world could wait. At that moment, there was only one truth that he cared about.

Hank finally had Connor back.

That was all that mattered.

Well…that's it! Pandora's Box is complete! That whole chapter was emotional as hell to write. Connor is finally back! But I'm sure you can all tell, this is far from over. What did Kamski ask in return for Connor? You'll find out in the future!

Now that this chapter is over, I'd recommend people go back and re-read from the last scene change while listening to the song Glowing Embers by Audiomachine. It inspired the whole sequence from Hank's car to the eventual reunion.

So, I hope the conclusion to this tale was everything you all hoped for. Please check out my profile for the synopsis to Part 3 of this series: Try Again Tomorrow. I'll upload a little update here when it goes live, so keep your eyes peeled.

Thank you all for being a part of this journey, and I hope to see you all for the next tale!

*Smooch*