Hit The Ground Running
When she first got the news, she was quiet; after all, she never was much of a talker to begin with. She missed being a robot.
It's Toby who first noticed something was off; the questions came rolling in and she confided in the shrink. Happy was cold and guarded, but not much of a liar. She figured life's too short to tell lies, so she ends up talking. She flat out tells him her father is dead and for once, the doctor has no response. His mouth opened and closed, like he was looking for the right words, but nothing comes out. He finally settled on: "I'm so sorry, Hap."
She simply nodded in response, but didn't say anything else. They let the silence hang. It was easier for Happy not to talk, she doesn't like to admit it, but she found comfort in his silent company. Eventually, she found her voice and told the rest of the team the news, but instantly wished she hadn't. She had no time for the sympathy.
Instead, Happy threw herself into her work. After all, the best inventions came from desperation. Barely two weeks later, Sylvester commented that Happy had managed to increased her productivity by nearly 15% and Walter, in turn, warned her not to spiral down the rabbit hole. She ignored him. She found it much easier not to feel anything when she worked. Building was her drug.
"When's the last time you've eaten anything?" Paige asked constantly. She appreciated Paige's concern, but sometimes she just wanted to be left alone. Despite this, Happy still strongly believed she was lucky to have such a great team. None the less, she quickly learned how to distract herself without falling into the rabbit hole.
It wasn't long before another dangerous case came in and in all honesty, she was thankful for another distraction. Happy was the first to volunteer to go, but when she ended up in an unknown location in the middle east with bullets whizzing past her ears, she looked at her team and decided that she was done with the wallowing and decides she wasn't just going to survive, she was going to live. Needless to say, their mission was a success.
By the time she returned home, she felt better. She cracked a small smile when Ralph showed her his first place ribbon from the science fair. She smiled to herself when she saw Toby, Paige, Sylvester and Ralph disco dancing to cheesy 70′s music in the living room. She grinned when she watched Sylvester's proposal to Megan go all according to plan. She laughed when she witnessed Walter dress up in a ridiculous Ben Franklin costume on the 4th of July.
And then her world fell apart.
"Hello? Miss Quinn? This is Cara Taylor. We found you in Mr. O'Brien's emergency contacts. We need you to come to the hospital right away."
She missed being a robot.
"Why didn't you tell us about this mission?" Toby asked as he paced back and forth, running a hand through his hair.
Cabe frowned and shook his head, "I was under a no-disclosure agreement. I didn't mean for any of this to happen, kid."
"Well now, Walter's in a coma and there's nothing we can do, so was that no-disclosure agreement really worth it?" Toby snapped back, angrily, glaring at Cabe.
"Guys, let's take a minute to calm down. We all know it's not your fault Cabe, everybody is just a little tense right now," Paige replied softly as she pulled out her phone to call Sylvester, who was currently with Megan.
"I think I need some fresh air," Toby muttered as he headed towards the door.
Paige looked her her briefly and Happy took that as her cue to follow him.
"You okay?" she asked as she took a seat next to him on the cold bench outside.
Toby shrugged, "I'm just frustrated... I hate not being able to do anything."
"They said he could wake up as soon as tomorrow..." she replied, trying her hand at optimism. She usually preferred pessimism but, she figured Toby could do with an ounce of hope.
"They also said there's an equal chance he could never wake up," he responded, gravely.
"Walter's resilient, he'll be okay."
"You don't know that, Hap. If we were there, we could have prevented this. All of it," he replied, angrily.
"I know I'm probably not in the best position to say this, but you need to calm down, Toby, before you say or do something you regret," she said, her voice lined with ice.
Toby simply looked at her as a gust of chilly air breezes by. In her haste to get to the hospital, she forgot a jacket, now, only in black tank top and jeans and she involuntarily shuddered.
"You should go inside. It's freezing out here," Toby whispered in a far softer tone, "I don't want you to catch a cold."
She glares at him, "I'm fine."
Walter wakes up in three days and returns back to the garage in a less than a month, fully recovered. She doesn't say it, but she knows that she couldn't have handled losing another person close to her. Despite Walter's return, the whole team seemed to be walking on eggshells with one another. Paige and Walter distanced themselves from each other, Sylvester was rarely at the garage, spending most of his time with Megan, and Toby and Cabe barely spoke to each other.
The lack of unity only seemed to become more apparent as time wore on. Walter's near death experience seemed to jar something within the team. Fear.
Happy liked to think she was fearless, but that was far from the truth. She feared losing her people close to her, she feared being judged, she feared public speaking, she feared clowns; after all, she was a genius, but she was still human.
Fear caused Paige and Walter to distance themselves to the wouldn't have to worry about losing one another. Fear caused Sylvester to not want to be in the garage lest, something bad happen. Fear caused Toby and Cabe not to forgive. Fear killed trust.
It took time, but soon the team began to again run like a well-oiled machine. They were different now...older, wiser, but still managed to save the world on a regular basis.
New cases rolled in, time passed and Happy found herself falling into a regular routine, until the team is asked to break into U.S. military fort to save 9 hostages being help captive. They saved all 9 hostages, but Toby was shot. Twice. She missed being a robot.
"Hey, Doc," she said as she walked into his hospital room, "How's the healing going?"
"These doctors don't know anything."
Happy couldn't help but smile, "Glad to see you're feeling better."
"Of course, I'm feeling better...you're here!" he responds.
She rolled her eyes, "What drugs did they put you on?"
"Can't I just be "Happy" to see you?" he replied, making air quotes with his fingers as he gave her devilishly mischievous smile.
"I'm leaving."
He chuckles, "Come on, Hap, I'm just messing with you."
"If you ever bring this up, I'm going to deny saying this but I don't know what I would have done if anything had happened to you. What you did was really brave."
"Well in that case, I should get shot more often if it earns me a smile and compliment," he replied.
"You're an idiot, you know that? A real idiot."
"A brave idiot?" he countered, with an earnest smile, "A brave idiot who deserves a kiss?"
She took a deep a breath, before leaning over the hospital bed and connecting their lips. And for once, she didn't miss being a robot.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! And a big thank you to all my readers 3