(Set before 'Father's Day')
Things were... Silent in the warehouse. It was rare for moments like these to occur. Everyone was present but no one seemed to want to speak. Sylvester was writing on the blackboard, no doubt calculating the odds of their survival on that job. Walter was engrossed in a video game beside Ralph, giving him tips every now and again although it seemed that the boy already knew everything there was to know. Toby... Well, Toby sat leaning back in his chair, staring off into the distance as he fanned himself with his hat.
Happy closed her eyes for a few moments and as soon as she opened them, the former waitress and newest member of the team stood in front of her. She gave the mechanical prodigy a faint smile.
"Hey..." she said with a small wave.
Happy just stared at her blankly for a few moments before nodding to acknowledge her. Now that she thought about it, the pair had never really had a conversation on their own apart from the exchanging of greetings every now and again.
"Happy, about today..."
"Look, don't sweat it. It was no big."
Even though that wasn't entirely true. It almost cost them the job.
Happy had been relying on Paige to help her only to have her let her down.
Tools don't let you down.
People do.
Wise words she had once given to a wiseass and they stuck, naturally.
She respected Paige. She really did. It must've been tough to be a single mum without a father to take of her child. Ralph was lucky to have one parent for him. Happy had none. But her humanity had put everything at risk today. Not cool.
"I'm sorry, Happy. I know it was stupid."
"I know you're being sincere about this and I'm fine with that, but you messed up today and you know it. Just don't let it happen again and we're good."
"Good?"
"Good." Happy gave her a slight smile and watched as the waitress beamed back before walking off towards Walter and her son.
Their conversation was inaudible to her but she could've sworn she saw Walter smile for a second there.
"Now, what's this? Is Happy Quinn going soft? It's a miracle!"
Happy rolled her eyes at the behaviourist. He was lucky she didn't throw a spanner at him.