95 - "Good luck."


Happy was tense and agitated. She didn't clamp her fingers around the bomb in her hands, careful not to jostle it, but she did hold it far enough away from her body to bounce her knee without moving it. She needed to let the stress out somehow. Her jaw clenched, muttering, "C'mon, Toby."

She continued scanning the facility. No success. No surprise.

The alarms blared, beeping like no one with ears was listening. But Happy drowned them out surprisingly easily. Her focus was Toby. Anything else wasn't hard to ignore.

She kept looking, scrutinizing every inch of the area. But it wasn't that big. And it was almost entirely empty. Plus, the facility only had two doorways. If he was there, she would've seen him. Still, she kept looking.

When she turned her head to the left, he sprinted from the opposite direction in her peripheral vision. She jerked towards him, though careful of the bomb.

He ran up, out of breath and panting. "I'm here," he breathed. He leaned over and put his hands on his knees. "I'm here."

Happy furrowed her brows. "You're bleeding."

"What?" Toby frowned, straightening. "Where?"

She pointed as his forehead. "Right there. What happened?"

He raised his fingers. Wiping at his skin, he pulled away and examined the blood with a quick glimpse. "Must've happened when that guy clobbered me and knocked my com out. But we don't have time for that now."

"Toby, it doesn't look good."

"No, injuries never really do, Hap." He wiped the blood on his pants and held out his hands. "Let me take that. Walter needs it."

She hesitated, looking between his outstretched grip and his forehead. "Maybe it'd be better if I do it."

"No. Happy. You have to go do some rewiring in the control room. And there's not enough time for you to run down to one end of this facility and back. That's why I'm taking it." Lowering his chin, he raised his eyebrows, asking her if she really wanted to protest. She pursed her lips, wasting precious time they didn't have. But she recognized that.

So, she reluctantly bit her lip and handed him the bomb. Although, she her fingers on his. "Good luck. Don't blow yourself up. Stay safe."

"I'll try."