"It's Three Musketeer weekend," Willow said, airily.
"Three Musketeer weekend, huh?" Colby repeated, disbelievingly, glancing over at Hannah with laughing eyes. Those same eyes widened when the smile on Hannah's lips reached her eyes. She hadn't smiled much since the shooting, he couldn't remember the last time her smile reached her eyes. Well, Colby thought to himself, if that's what it takes to make Hannah smile, then he'll put up with the other two for the weekend.
"What are we watching?" Hannah's soft voice was asking as the three of them left him standing by the door. He chuckled when Willow slipped an arm around Hannah, and Kayla deftly swiped one crutch away from Hannah.
They were watching Highlander, the series. He didn't even know that Hannah was a fan, but not apparently of Duncan Macleod, the main character. She seemed to perk up whenever some character named Methos came on. It took a while for them to catch him up with the story, but Methos was apparently the oldest living Immortal, some 4000 years old. He was about to make a snarky comment when Hannah said, "Put Timeless on, Kayla."
Both Kayla and Willow giggled. "I wondered how long it would take you to ask for that episode," Willow said, still giggling.
Hannah smiled, it was her favorite Methos episode.
Colby watched Hannah as she watched Methos fall in love with Alexa, only to find out that Alexa was dying and only had a year to live. Alexa tried to talk Methos out of a date, after all, she was dying and why would Methos want to go out with her, a dying woman? Colby watched Hannah as her lips formed the words of Methos' reply, "Because, the alternative is unthinkable."
Hannah drew her legs up on the recliner and rested her chin on her knees. She seemed to be deep in thought. Colby saw Kayla and Willow glance at her, then continue to chat quietly with each other.
Hannah leaned forward at the end of the episode as Methos tries to persuade Alexa to go with him, "You spend what ever time you have left, dying, or you spend it living - with me."
Willow put in the next episode, but Hannah remained silent for it.
"So what kind of pizza do we want?" Colby asked, when it looked like they were going to watch Highlander episodes for the rest of the forseeable future.
"Sausage, pepperoni, and mushrooms," Hannah replied, her eyes still glued to the TV.
Colby looked up, startled. Hannah hadn't been responsive about anything since the shooting. She'd seemed to be in a world of her own, barely rousing herself to do anything. He saw the other two nod. Colby was't sure if it was in agreement or in encouragement. He glanced at Hannah again before leaving to order the pizza.
"Eleanor called," Willow said, when they started in on the pizza.
Hannah looked up in surprise. "Queen Eleanor?"
Kayla giggled, "Yeah. Her majesty, Queen Eleanor called Willow."
"Why?"
Willow shrugged, "I wrote and told her about the shooting."
There was silence at the table. Colby took advantage of it, "Who's Eleanor?"
"Eleanor Hill. She went to our high school for about a year, when her father came over from Britain and worked here in the States," Kayla replied.
"You know how it is in high school, everyone avoided her, and thought she was all high and mighty. Hence the nickname, Queen Eleanor," Willow picked up where Kayla left off.
Colby noticed that they did that a lot. "And?"
"Well, you know what a softy Hannah is. She took Eleanor under her wing and we hung out together while Eleanor was here," Kayla finished.
"I missed her a lot when she left," Hannah mused, "I haven't talked to her in forever though. What did she say?"
"Said you should come over and stay with her for a little while. Change of scenery should do you good, Hannah," Willow told her.
Hannah fell silent again, deep in her own thoughts, and conversation flowed elsewhere. But Colby could tell she was considering it.
He was glad when the girls finally left. It had done Hannah a world of good, her eyes were brighter and she was in better spirits, but all three of them together was just too much for him. He thought he'd rather take down a gang than have to deal with the three of them for a another minute more.
"What do you think, Colby? Can you take some time off? Go with me to Britain?" Hannah asked eagerly.
"I'll find out, sweetheart. I'm sure Don wouldn't mind. I'd love to go," Colby pulled her in for a hug. His heart soared when she snuggled into his embrace. She hadn't done that in what seemed like forever.
-----
"What do you think, Don?" Colby had just asked for his vacation.
Don looked at him and said, "It sounds like Hannah wants to go for a lot longer than the three days of vacation time that you have left."
Colby sighed, he'd taken a lot of time off when Hannah was in the hospital.
"Why don't I check and see if our British Legat Coordinator needs any additional staff. Maybe you could provide some training or something."
"I didn't even know we could do that, Don! That would be fantastic!" Colby cheered up at the possibility.
Don nodded, "The FBI has Legal Attaché offices all over the world. There's one in London. We call them Legats for short. They're our eyes and ears overseas, we share information with our international law enforcement and intelligence partners and assist with international investigations. We'll see what they have open."
-----
Colby watched Hannah maneuver around the room. She'd gone from using the crutches to using just a cane in the few days since the weekend. And he hadn't yet told her about the month long opening at the London Legat Office that he and Don were going to fill. She'd shown more enthusiasm and was more herself than he'd seen in a while. He wasn't sure what sparked the improvement, but he was glad for it.
"What are you up to?" he asked with some amusement, when he saw her pull out several silk scarves and put them in her pocket.
She jumped, "I didn't hear you come in!" Then she giggled, "Just trying to get things together to go to London."
He laughed, "Uh huh. And what are those scarves going to be for?"
"You don't know?" she teased. "Well, you'll just have to wait and see."
He scooped her up in his arms and and swung her around, and before long she was helpless with laughter.
"Put me down, Colby!" she gasped in laughter.
He grinned as he settled her in his lap. "I haven't seen you laugh like that in ages," he said softly, leaning his forehead against hers.
"I know, and I'm sorry." She was quiet for a minute. "Timeless made me think."
"The Highlander episode?" Colby was surprised.
Hannah grinned, "The Methos episode, thank you very little! Yes. Why are you surprised? It was very inspiring."
"It's just a TV show, Hannah."
She shrugged, "One can learn from anything. Methos was right, you know."
"About what?"
"Well, the alternative definitely is unthinkable. He was only talking about going out with Alexa, but I thought about it for myself. The alternative to surviving the shooting, well, lets just say I'm rather happy I'm not dead." She hooked her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. "I wouldn't be able to hug you or kiss you, if I hadn't survived the shooting."
She rested her head against his shoulder, and felt him rest his cheek on the top of her head. "Alexa only had a year to live, and Methos wanted her to live it to the fullest. Here I am, alive, and moping around like an idiot, when I should be embracing life."
"You do realize that you're talking about fictional characters, right?"
She rolled her eyes.
"Just checking, Hannah."
"I know they're fictional characters, Colby, but does it matter? Methos is right, even if he doesn't really exist. I should be glad I'm alive, and doing what I can to get better. Don't you think?"
"Yeah, I agree. Like I said, I'm just doing a reality check here."
She grinned, then said softly, "Weren't you tired of having to drag me out of myself? Tired of me pushing you away?"
Colby was silent for a moment, "I love you, Hannah."
Hannah hugged him tightly. "I know. I've always known. And if I didn't before, I certainly do now. Thanks for sticking with me."
"I'm not exactly sure what to think, frankly. It's been rough going for so many months, and all it took was a tv show?"
She looked at him solemnly. "It was more than that. Those words pulled it together for me, but it was fear of losing you to that blasted trainer that probably provided the impetus."
Colby looked astonished, "What trainer?"
Hannah poked him. "Stop that. Robin told me about that cute little trainer who's had her hands all over you. What's her name?"
"You mean, Lilly? She's just my trainer!"
"Yeah, right. Robin's seen this woman. Says she has her hands all over Don too. Robin's not happy about her. And you never told me your trainer was a woman!"
"I just didn't think anything of it. Does it matter?"
She poked him again.
"You need to stop poking me," Colby said firmly.
"Alright, if you'll poke me instead," Hannah giggled.
"It's a deal," Colby replied, laughing.