Zoo

A/N) Last chapter! Thanks for everyone who read and commented, I hope you enjoyed this as much as I had fun writing it and crying to myself over this oblivious OTP. Let's pretend they get the ending they deserve.

Even now, Katherine can still find herself amazed at Nick's powers of positivity sometimes.

Understandably, everyone had been a little on edge since the whole Mary/nanocloud/threat to humanity incident. Eve was confused as to whether to mourn for her mother or not, and spent a lot of time mulling recent events over in her Replay Mode, even though Nick advised her to stop dwelling on the past. Will was still trying to get used to the idea of the sudden lack of the technology in his blood, that he was suddenly completely human, so was sometimes sullen and silent, even when Eve tried to engage him in her usual bright conversation. Nick knew they would all recover from this, but it would take time.

Meanwhile, once Katherine finally got out of hospital for the second time, of course she wasn't allowed to just go and relax on a beach somewhere. She found herself stressing again over suing Lord Hoffman's company for damage done to her own company, trying to replace the equipment lost in the bombing and reemploying workers who had upped and left after the incident. Also, perhaps justifiably, she was more than a little shaken by the whole event: having almost died in her own office for the third time in as many months.

That's when Nick stepped into his front room, where Katherine had temporarily set up base since she didn't have a real office at present, and announced that they were going to the zoo.

Now Eve is dragging Will around by the shirt sleeve, exclaiming in delight at every new animal she sees in their enclosures – apparently she's never been to a zoo before. Lily and Cain are strolling leisurely after them, standing slightly too close to each other to be just platonic while they're engaged in some kind of detailed conversation about coding and comparing phone screens every so often, not so enraptured by the animals as their two friends.

Even Katherine has to admit this has taken her mind off things for a little while.

They've wandered around most of the enclosures by about mid-afternoon – spending the longest by the meerkats, since Eve fell in love with their antics and wanted to stay there all day – and now they're back by the penguins near the entrance to the zoo. The adults are hanging around by the wall of the enclosure, while Eve is demanding that the others come and watch the penguins being fed. Nick's unconvinced that this experience is really helping fulfil her protocols like she insists it is, but he's glad she's having fun all the same.

"This was a good idea," comments Katherine, keeping her tone casual and non-committal to brush over the fact that she may have just readily paid Nick a compliment.

Her companion looks contented as he watches a cream-bellied penguin catch a fish deftly in its beak. "Sometimes you just need something else to occupy yourself with for a little while instead of work or Mary's usual attempts at world domination. Might as well be the zoo as anything else."

She looks at him, meets his eyes properly. "I mean it, Nick. It was – actually - a good idea."

I just don't know whether this is a good idea as well.

Then Katherine closes the short distance between them and kisses Nick, abruptly cutting off any complaints he may have had about sounding so surprised.

After a moment Katherine pulls away, turns back to watch the penguins, ignoring the fact that she's now standing slightly too close to Nick to just be platonic. Not to mention the fact that her co-worker now looks utterly dazed and actually kind of gormless as he stares at her, his jaw slightly ajar.

They've always been just co-workers.

But maybe it's time to be a little more than that.