Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Happy walked around the junkyard looking for some hex nuts, screws, and sheets of metal. Just a general restock, she used too many items on Scorpion missions lately. So it was ultimately for the greater good but it was really taking a hit on her usual stockpile. With her new paycheck, she could just buy new items, but she liked looking and scavenging for these items, besides there is always a chance you could find something spectacular that an auto shop could never compare to.

She reached into the shattered window of a car and pulled out what looked like an old tool set in the backseat. She opened it up and while it was very picked through, there were some hex nuts and needle nose pillars in there so she grabbed them. She was searching through an old duffle bag when her phone rang, she looked at the caller ID, Annoying Shrink, she sighed and answered the phone.

“This better be important.” She said into the phone.

“Well if you don’t want to be crushed like a pinata get out of the junkyard right now! There is a 6.4 magnitude earthquake happening in 30 seconds!” Toby said, panicking into the phone.

Happy knew she needed to run. With the amount of unstable material here it was likely it would fall and crush her. She dropped everything she collected and ran as fast as she could. She was able to count the time in her head, but that skill didn't matter when she was deep into the scrapyard and she was not an Olympic runner. So when the earthquake hit, she was still in the junkyard and not protected.

The ground shook under her feet and she cursed. She continued to run, as she heard metal creaking and crashing behind her.

“HAPPY!” Toby screamed through the phone.

She ran as fast as she could, but she tripped over a piece of piping and that is when everything came toppling down on top of her. She was barely able to protect her head and her neck until she felt a weight crash down on top of her legs. She groaned in pain as the weight on her ankle felt more like it was stabbing, so she figured it was sprained or broken. She listened to the sounds of more metal crashing and shifting around her. A piece fell close to her face and kicked up dust, she coughed as it went into her lungs.

“Happy! Happy!” Her phone rang out. She looked for it and it was only a few feet in front of her, miraculously not broken or stuck under anything.

“Doc!” She yelled back.

“Thank goodness you’re alive, with all the noise I thought you were trapped underneath a car.” Toby said.

“You are not far off the truth there.” Happy said as she looked around to figure out what she got caught under.

There were a lot of metal bars in a rectangular position, she could also see the underworking's of a car above her. So the metal shelving saved her from getting crushed by the car on top of the shelving. That also explained her ankle, one of the bars must have fallen on it and then the weight provided by the car crushed the fragile bones in that area. She could see the glow of her phone so she reached her arm a bit forward and metal creaked above her. She frowned but reached again and was just able to grab it. She put it on speakerphone.

“What happened Happy?” Toby asked, panic rising up in his voice.

“I tripped over some piping and a metal shelving unit fell on top of me.” Happy explained.

“That doesn't sound so bad.” Toby said, but there was an edge in his voice that let Happy know he wasn’t the least bit reassured.

“You didn’t let me finish, a car fell on top of the unit. So I am pinned.” She finished, flexing her fingers and toes and she was able to move all of them, which was a good sign.

“Are you at your favorite junkyard, the one on 6th and Wallen?” Toby asked.

“Yes.” She said then a question popped into her brain, “Wait, how did you know that it was my favorite one?”

“Not important Hap, finding you is.” Toby replied.

“That is not an answer Doc!”

“Just focus on your breathing, is there any tenderness anywhere?” Toby asked her.

She grumbled about not getting an answer, but followed Toby’s instructions and took a few deep breaths, “No, I’m fine.”

“That’s great, that means there are no injuries impacting your lungs, which means we have some time to get you out safely.” Toby said and Happy could hear him talking in the background, not picking up everything he said. But she could hear Sylvester's panicked voice as he questioned where she was.

Happy craned her neck to see if she could see anything else. She was able to see some sunlight, which meant the team could find her better, but not a lot, which meant there was debris on both sides of her, she had no idea where she was in the yard before she went under, she went pretty deep, trying to find the things that she did. She tried to move her other arm, it was wedged pretty good behind her head but she was able to yank it free. At the movement, the metal creaked and groaned on top of her.

“What was that?” Came Toby’s voice through the phone.

“I just got my arm free relax.” Happy replied.

“No! No moving! There are pounds of unstable material above you that could crush you at any moment! Stop moving!” Toby scolded her.

She scowled, but stopped moving, ultimately knowing the Doc was right. She heard a car engine start and the squeal of tires through the phone.

“Ok Hap, Walt it going to adjust the frequency on the coms in order to match your phone’s so we can talk to you.” Toby explained.

She heard a squeal coming from the phone a few seconds later that hurt her ears.

“Can you hear us Happy?” Came Walter’s voice.

“Yes, it matches up nicely with the ringing.” She grumbled.

“Ok, we’re going to get you out of there, hang tight.” Toby said.

“Where would I go?” Happy sarcastically asked.

“Happy, do you know approximately where you were when you fell?” Sylvester asked.

“Not enough to give you a place to look.” She responded.

“How about where you were when you started running?” Walter asked.

“I was almost at the end, by the construction equipment.” Happy replied.

“Ok, I got her location pulled up, based on her height, weight, and approximate rate of travel, I’d say she is halfway between the middle and the front, most likely between the stack of tires and shelving units.” Sylvester said.

Happy cocked her head, “How do you know my height and weight?”

“I may have read everyone’s government files.” Sylvester said.

“I swear if you tell anyone what you read and my foot meets your face.” Happy threatened.

“Got it!” Sylvester squeaked out.

Happy knew she terrified him, he has said it himself. That wasn’t her intention, but it was nice to have something over the guy with the photographic memory. Came in handy. It’s not that she didn’t trust the team, she didn’t want them to look at her differently. The government had to give them each a polygraph test when they joined, about their background and whether or not they could be trusted. The only one who could fool the polygraph tests was Mr. Tobias Curtis and possibly Walter, but she told the truth. She needed the money and stability. Which led her to share some private details about her life that she would rather not be shared. She needed Sylvester to keep his mouth shut because he was the only one that got a glance at the flies before they were locked away.

“Ok, that gives us a place to start, let’s start there and fan out after that. Happy, what side were you on?” Walter asked.

“Left.” Happy replied.

“Ok, we’ll be there in five.” Walter said.

Happy was starting to get uncomfortably hot by the time the team got there. It was a hot day after all, the high 80s and she was wearing a jacket, a tee-shirt, jeans, boots, and gloves as was her usual attire when she went to the scrapyard to avoid any unwanted chemicals. Yet, trapped under pounds of scrap metal and a car she was starting to sweat.

She took off her gloves and rolled her sleeves up as much as she could, but that did almost nothing.

“How are you hanging in there Hap?” Toby asked.

“Just great.” Happy ground out, feeling the sweat trickle its way down her forehead.

“Ok, Walter was able to pick up a ping from your phone based on the search area Sylvester gave him, so we know where you are Happy, just hang in there.” Toby said.

Happy didn’t respond to this one. Just listened to the team on the comms, a lot of grunts and metal creaking and crushing under people’s feet. It was clear the path to her was blocked by several more obstacles. She started to hear footsteps getting closer to her and when she saw the familiar boots of one Tobias Curtis she said, “I see you.”

“Happy?” Toby called out, the echo in the phone as well as outside.

“Under here!” Happy called out.

She heard some shuffling and then some groans as they moved a piece of metal and more sunlight poured into her vision.

Toby leaned down and smiled at her, “You got yourself in quite the situation.”

She glared at him, “I already know that stupid.”

“Harsh words Quinn.” Toby scolded her as he analyzed her situation.

She glared at him again as Toby stood up. She picked up a few words from their conversation, such as, pinned down, Jenga tower, falling, and certain death. She was not a fan of the last one.

“Ok Hap, we have to move very carefully in order for things not to fall on top of you. So you have to move exactly as we tell you.” Toby said.

“Copy that.” Happy said, getting ready. She was so ready to get out of this situation.

It was Sylvestor’s voice who came through next, “Ok, you are going to move 2 degrees to the left."

There was some creaking as some metal moved and she bit her lip as some of the pressure was released from her ankle the pain flared to life. But she did as she was told. Up until she was able to crawl herself out from underneath the metal. She leaned up against a car on its side.

Toby was immediately by her side. He reached out to touch a hand to her forehead, but she slapped it away.

“No hitting! Let me assess you, I’m a doctor.” Toby said.

“A psychiatrist.” Happy fought back.

“I went to medical school." Toby rebutted.

Happy frowned, but let Toby do his work. She looked around at everyone who was there. Sylvestor, who she knew hated how dirty it was, Walter who could have been doing better things with his time, Toby who was assessing her instead of reading the current book of the week, Paige and Ralph, who could have been on their way home or spending time elsewhere and Cabe who could have been doing some important FBI work. Instead, they all went to save her. And based on their looks, they all did some heavy lifting. Walter’s, Cabe’s, Toby's, and Paige’s shirts were all covered in dirt and dust.

Happy felt a water bottle shoved in her hand and Toby’s judging face. “Drink, you’re dehydrated.”

She sighed, but took a few sips anyways, which she would never admit were pretty refreshing and gave her a clearer head. Happy winced and moved her foot away a tad as Toby got near her ankle. Toby took knowledge of her movement and became softer. He carefully took off her boot and her sock to examine her ankle.

After a minute he said, “Nothing looks broken, probably just a sprain.” He put her sock and boot back on. “I’ll place it back at the garage.”

“We might want to move, there is supposed to be an aftershock in a minute.” Ralph said, looking up from his tablet.

Everyone started to move and Toby helped Happy to her feet.

“Get on my back.” Toby said.

“Never.” Happy said.

“Would you rather have bridal style?” Toby asked, raising an eyebrow.

Happy sighed and with Toby’s help, she got on his back and he ran her out of there, the best he could. The aftershock ended up hitting when they were still in the scrapyard, but he got them out of there safely. When they got to the beginning the rest of the team were giving the duo some curious looks.

“Anyone says a word and they lose their leg." Happy threatens and they all turn away and start to walk back to the car.

Toby lets Happy slide off his back gently then helps her to hobble to the car. On the drive home, Toby keeps telling Happy to drink the water bottle but in little sips. She glares at him, and gets so annoyed with the reminders, and drinks the whole thing in one gulp.

"Happy now?" Happy asks.

Toby helps Happy out of the car and into the garage. The earthquake has knocked several things over and is a mess, but Toby clears a place on the couch for her to sit. The rest of the team gets working on clean up while Toby gets some medical tape to set Happy’s sprained ankle. He carefully takes off Happy’s boot and sock and carefully starts to wrap it up. He looks up when he is done and Happy is looking at him. He smiles gently up at her and puts back on her sock and her boot.

“How are you feeling?” Toby asks her.

“Hey! Sit your pretty butt down!” Toby scolds her.

She raises her eyebrows, “Do not tell me what to do.”

Toby sighs, “Ok, but you can listen to advice. So please sit your pretty butt down.”

Happy frowns, but says, “I will,” she pauses and looks at Toby, “after I clean up my desk.”

Toby nods and says, “I’ll take it.”

Happy puts another water bottle down on her desk (which got shoved in get hand by Toby a minute earlier) and starts the cleanup. She starts around her desk, picking up screws and hex nuts and screwdrivers and wrenches. She also finds her flamethrower under one of the cabinets. She puts them all back in the appropriate places and then starts with papers. She collects reports from their jobs, receipts, and other random pieces of paper she had. She put them in their respective places and then started on the top of her desk. Which had more paper and random scrap metal tools and screws.

She was able to get everything back in its place soon enough.

She took a sip of her water bottle and then moved on to help sweep the floor.

Toby saw her and said, “Happy, that’s not resting.”

“I'll rest later.” Happy said.

“You need to rest now Hap.” Toby said, coming over to her and grabbing the broom out of her hand.

She glared at him, “I’m trying to help.”

“You won’t be able to help if you break your ankle or pass out.” He dug his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her, “If you want to help, order dinner.”

She glared at him again but sat down in her desk chair and got on the internet. Kovelsky’s had a great spread of different pasta and salads and garlic bread. She ordered two different pasta, Chicken Alfredo and Spaghetti and Meatballs. As well as two orders of Cesar Salad and four orders of garlic bread, one order specifically for Cabe. She paid for it with the company card and set down Toby’s phone. As much as she wanted to go through it, that would be an invasion of privacy so she just set it down. She took more sips of her water and was finally starting to feel better. She went to walk around a little bit and found Toby in the kitchen.

“Fine.” Happy responds.

Toby smiles at her and then gets up to help the rest of the group clean up. Happy sits there for another minute before getting up to help and Toby immediately rushes over.

He frowned, “You are not good at following directions.”

She frowned back at him, “Congrats you’re a genius.”

Toby gave her a glass of peachy liquid. She frowned and tilted the glass then smelled it
.
“It’s not going to kill you, it’s just a mix of vitamins and electrolytes to help you in your recovery. Drink it.” Toby said, putting some of the ingredients away.

She drank a little and it didn’t taste bad, just didn’t taste like much. So she kept drinking it. Toby looked back up at her and then led her to the kitchen table. They both sat down and Toby looked at her again.

Happy raised an eyebrow, “Why are you looking at me like that Doc?”

Toby sighed and looked down at his hands before looking back up at her, “Because you could have died today or came out with a lot worse than some dehydration and a sprained ankle. The point is, I didn’t want to lose you.” He looked into her eyes and said, “You mean a lot to me, Happy Quinn.” Then he got up and walked over to his desk to clean it up.

Happy looked over at him and for the first time she saw someone who cared about a lot more than gambling and bets. She saw a friend. She finished the drink and then walked over to his desk. He was fixing some papers and looked up at her.

She tapped his desk and said, “I’m only going to say this once.” Toby gave her a questioning look. “Thank you.”

“Always.” Toby said, not making a joke, knowing how much it actually took for her to say that.

Happy gave him a stiff smile and then walked back to her desk. She sat down and started working on new satellite disks. The old ones were knocked loose, likely causing the slow internet and there was no reason they couldn’t be improved. Walter came into the garage holding a very charred and very destroyed satellite disk in his hand. Well, she might have to finish that satellite disk quicker than expected. He put it down on some cabinets and glanced over at her.

“I got it.” Happy said.

Walter nodded and walked upstairs. She got some wires and a needle nose pillar out of her toolbox and started. She was deep into the interworkings of the satellite disk when the psychiatrist walked up.

“What are you doing?” She asked not looking up from the disk.

“The food’s ready.” Toby said and when Happy didn’t respond he said, “I wanted to see if you would want to come with.”

“Kinda busy here Doc.” Happy said, staying focused.

“I’ll be back then.” Toby walked out of the garage to go retrieve the food.

Happy stopped for a moment and looked at the closed door. She felt like she lost something when he walked out that door although she couldn’t pinpoint what. So instead she focused on fixing the satellite disk. That was something that wasn’t confusing and something she knew she could fix.

“Tada! I’ve got enough food here to feed an army!” Toby said walking in with bags of food on each arm a few minutes later. He dropped them all down on the center table.

“Looks good.” Paige said approaching the table.

Everyone soon joined chatting and conversing around the food. Toby walked over to her and said, “You’re beautiful brain needs food. Come on.”

“I’m almost done and don’t call me beautiful.” Happy said, connecting wires.

“Need any help?” Toby asked.

Happy looked up and asked, “Help me connect this on the roof?” She grabbed a drill before she started to walk.

They went to the stairs and Toby put an arm on her lower back. She stopped dead in her tracks.

“Remove that hand or I will.” Happy deadpanned.

“Removing, but do you need help up the stairs?” Toby asked.

“I don’t need anything.” Happy said.

“Ok, but do you want help?” Toby asked.

Happy took one step and felt pain flare up her leg, “Fine, but only this once.”

“Understood.” Toby then wrapped a hand around Happy’s middle back and Happy wrapped an arm around his shoulders and together they ascended up the stairs. They did the same up the stairs that lead to the roof.

Happy walked towards where the old satellite dish was before Walter removed it. While Toby walked towards the power box on the roof. Happy knelt down biting her lip to hide the pain in her ankle. She messed with the wires that were left by the barbecued satellite dish.

Then when she was ready she yelled, "Hit the power."

He did and she connected the old wires to the new disk and used a drill to drill it into place.

"Ok, turn it back on!" Happy yelled.

"Lumos Maxima!" Toby yelled before turning it back on. Happy cocked her head in question at him. "It's from Harry Potter, do any of you people read?"

"Yes, things that are worth reading." Happy replied, fixing something on the dish. Then she pulled out her phone. "Perfect, we are all set to go."

Happy grabbed her drill and went to walk back but Toby's hand on her chest stopped her.

She raised her eyes to meet Toby's concerned ones and asked, "What are you doing?"

"I want to know when I leave that you are going to take care of yourself?" Toby asked her.

"I'll stay off my ankle tonight, but I am gonna finish that scrapyard trip tomorrow. My supplies are dwindling." Happy said, brushing past Toby's hand, but he caught her wrist.

“No.” Toby stated.

Happy’s eyes narrowed, “What did you just say to me?” She locked eyes with him

“I said, no.” Toby said again, although his gaze faltered a little bit.

She ripped her wrist from Toby’s grasp, “You do not get to tell me what to do.” She turned on her good ankle and started walking towards the steps although it was very much painful for her based on how she was walking and Toby could tell that.
Toby immediately went to put an arm around her back and help her and she punched him.

“Oww!” Toby exclaimed.

“You do not tell me what I can or cannot do and you especially cannot help me without my explicit request! If I don’t ask for your help, I do not need it! Now leave me alone.” Happy yelled.

She opened the steel door and was able to jump down the stairs ok by herself. She went to her welding table, grabbed two pieces of metal, and dropped them on the table with a big clang. She grabbed her apron, gloves, and mask, put them all on like well-worn clothes, grabbed her blowtorch, and started welding. To what she didn’t really know, she just needed to melt something together. It helped calm her mind, get her back on track.

She knew that all Toby was trying to do was help, but help meant that she was weak and weakness lead to her being controlled and her control was about the only thing that she had left. She couldn’t control her younger life, the foster homes the group home, her father up and leaving her. Yet now that she had control, she was not going to let that go. She controlled everything about her life. The only thing she couldn’t control was the assignments from Cabe, but even then she knew that she could control those. By controlling the outcomes. She knew she and her team could control the outcomes, thereby not letting go of the control. Yet, another person, she couldn’t control.

Especially, not the Doc. He was the one out of everybody that confused her the most and she couldn’t get into his head as easily as she could everyone else. She stays silent not because she wants to, it’s because she needs to, to stay in control. So any kind of relationship with Toby was bound to end up in flames. She could work with him, but that was it.

When she fused the metals together, she took off the helmet and gloves then grabbed her mallet and started to hit the metal into a straight piece. It was productive and something to take her frustration out on. Especially, because her ankle was sprained so it’s not like she could go anywhere.

It took a long time to bang out all the bumps in the metal. She could always heat up the metal and it could go faster but faster wasn’t really the point. Once, she had the flat piece of metal she took off the apron and put all the tools and equipment away, feeling a lot better. She came back to her desk and found a to-go container, on top of it was a folded-up note. She unfolded it,

Happy, I’m sorry for making you angry earlier. I didn’t realize I was taking control away from you and I should've. I should've been your knight in shining armor, instead, I was a jerk. You can be mad at me all you want, but please take care of yourself. That ankle won’t heal on its own. Also, since you missed dinner here’s your own plate to take home.
Toby

She opened up the to-go box and inside was spaghetti and meatballs, two pieces of garlic bread, and a side of Cesar salad. He had a 50-50 chance of picking out the type of pasta she liked and he got it. Yet, somehow she knew, he knew and that was all that mattered. She grabbed the note and tucked it into her jeans. Then grabbed her bag, motorcycle keys, helmet, and food.

Chapter Text

A week later…

Happy saw Toby walk in and they made eye contact for a few seconds. Toby dropped his things, made some coffee then settled at his desk and opened two books. Happy took a deep breath and a sip of her coffee then approached his desk. Toby raised her eyes to look at her.

“Hey.” She said.

“Good morning.” Toby said. He closed the books and looked at her.

“I was rushing out of my apartment and I’m not sure if I did my splint right this morning.
Can you check it?” Happy asked.

Toby gave her a small smile then went to the couch and sat down. He spread his arms, “Step into my office.”

Happy rolled her eyes, but sat down on the couch anyway. Toby gently lifted her foot up and undid her boot and removed her sock. Toby checked the brace and it was almost perfect, just a little more loose than he wanted it to be. So he unwrapped her ankle and redid it. When he was done he put her sock back on and redid her boot as well.

He lightly tapped her foot and said, “That is the best-sprained ankle on the planet.”

Happy nodded, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Toby said.

They stared at each other for a moment then Paige walked in with Ralph.

"We got ten minutes." She told him and he ran off to go find Walter. He idolized him.

Happy gave Toby a small smile and then walked off to her desk. Happy grabbed the tablet on her desk and then put her feet up on it.

“What was that with Toby?” Paige came to Happy’s desk and asked her.

Happy looked up at her and said, “He fixed my bandaging on my ankle, that’s it.”

“I’m sure you could have done it flawlessly by yourself. So you must have not done the splint correctly in order to give yourself a reason to talk to him.” Paige said.

Happy moved her eyes back to her tablet effectively ignoring Paige.

Paige sighed and said, “It’s not a bad idea to connect with someone. Take a chance Happy.”

Happy took a sip of her coffee before looking at the Doc again who just happened to be looking at her as well. So she picked up her phone and sent a quick message to, the annoying shrink,

Happy - Roof now

She made her way to the roof, without some challenge and was leaning against the wall, with her elbows on the ledge. Looking over the city when she heard the roof door open and close. Toby walked over to her and joined her, staring over the city. They stared in silence for a while before Happy turned towards him and Toby met her gaze.

“I never thanked you for leaving me food last week." She said.

"You needed to eat and you were kinda immersed, everyone here can get like that sometimes." Toby said.

Happy nodded and overlooked all the people on the street, they all looked like tiny ants.
Like a little shake could knock them all down or a gust of wind could kill them all. It could, theoretically, if that gust of wind was filled with toxic gas. The point was she didn’t know what tomorrow would bring so maybe she should screw the rules a little bit. Try to allow herself some happiness.

She turned to Toby and said, “The drive-in movie theater, at 8. Be there.” She turned on her good heel, ignoring Toby’s shocked expression, and walked out.

Happy walked back to her desk and sat down, she opened up her laptop which was still on the drive-in the movie theater from last night's research (she might have already been researching date ideas) and opened up a new tab to start some research on where to get cheap gear, as her ankle left her not junkyard ready but Paige dropped a file on her desk. She glanced up with a questioning eyebrow.

“It’s a new case, read up, we’re going to need your mechanical mind for this one.” Paige said, tapping the file and then going to give one to everyone else.

Paige handed one to Toby still stunned at the bottom of the stairs, she had to close his hand around it.

“What’s up? Nothing leaves you speechless.” Paige asked.

“The genius and gorgeous mechanic clad in leather asking me out makes me speechless.” Toby responded.

Paige smiled, “I’m happy for you Toby, but get your head in the game we got a case.”

“Oh right.” Toby said flustered and opened up the file with way too much force and all the papers flew out of it. So Toby and Paige went to pick them all up.

Happy was looking at the duo with an amused smile, Walter noticed and came over.
“Why is Toby acting so peculiar?” Walter asked.

Happy looked up at him and said, “Because he is.”

Walter nodded and then walked over to his desk to read over his file.

Happy spared one last glance at the fumbling behaviorist and then opened up her file.
Considering they were going to a mechanic shop she was going to love this case.

“I hated this case.” Happy said, walking back into the garage hours later covered in grease and soot and her hair a little thrown around.

“Agreed, who put a deadly toxin in the tailpipe of a car?” Cabe asked, walking in. His suit needed a dry clean run as well as his face.

“An idiot who has no idea how to deal with an environmental agent.” Toby said, his face, neck, shirt, and hands covered in purple dye from the dye pack exploding in his face as a deterrent for getting to the virus.

“Just be glad that we stopped the virus from going over the border or it could have meant millions of people dead.” Sylvester said, looking still pretty clean, although he did go through half of a bottle of hand sanitizer.

“It was supposed to be a simple find which car has been tampered with not stop a terrorist organization from eradicating a whole section of the country.” Happy grumbled, putting away her tool bag.

“Just be glad it’s over.” Paige said, also needing a new set of clothes, but boy does that girl have a good knock-out punch, she sent a terrorist straight into counting sheep, as Toby put it.

“Paige, let me bandage that up for you.” Toby called her over and she went because with the punch came some bloody knuckles.

Walter came in, his hands purple, but besides that, he was pretty good and said, “Good work team we saved a bunch of people from certain death.”

Happy made quick work of unpacking her tool bag. She took a quick look at her phone and it said 6 pm. So she still had about an hour and a half to get from looking like grease money to something presentable, even if she knew she was going to be looking better than Mr. Cheshire Cat over there.

“Ok, well I’m beat, I'll see you guys tomorrow.” Happy yelled out and a chorus of bye’s followed.

Happy got home and took a shower and instead of dressing up in something fancy, she went as herself. Black cargo jeans, black leather boots, a blue flannel, and a leather jacket thrown over everything that she could take off if she got hot. She ran a brush through her hair, but nothing major as she spent the majority of her time scrubbing grease off of her face and arms. She grabbed a bag and threw in a phone charger, a portable charger, a water bottle, ChapStick, her phone, and her wallet. She also threw in a screwdriver, a wrench, and a pillar just in case. She took a backpack, not being the type for purses. She used her motorcycle, thinking she could just use Toby’s car and leave her motorcycle in the parking lot, not that it could be stolen anyways, not with the extra protections she added in case someone did attempt to steal it.

She drove to the drive-in when she got there, she parked in a nearby parking lot and took off her helmet shaking her hair out of it. She locked up her helmet and her ride before looking around for Toby. She checked her phone, 7:55 pm it read. He should be here soon. She walked closer to the grounds to check, it shouldn’t be that hard he was the only purple one there.

“My lady.”

Happy heard behind her, she turned and there was Toby, wearing clean jeans, a green tee-shirt, tennis shoes, a sweater and of course his hat. Unfortunately, he was still bearing resemblance to the Cheshire Cat, not being able to get all the dye out in one shower. But it was muted, even though he was still very much purple. Happy was able to look past that as he was holding out multi-colored licorice and a bucket of popcorn.

Happy let out a small smile and said, “Thank you.” As she took the items.

“May I lead you to your seat madam?” Toby asked.

“If you drop the 18 hundreds talk.” Happy said.

“Will do.” Toby said and lead Happy to his car which he backed up into his parking space and his truck was open.

Happy was confused but allowed herself to be led in the direction of the trunk. When she saw it, it was hard to hide her smile. The car had the back seats put down and blankets spread out in the trunk of his car and extra on the side. He had several pillows that were resting up against the front seats and a water bottle for each of them.

“Do you like it?” Toby asked after a minute.

Happy nodded because she didn’t know how to respond. Toby helped her into the trunk of the car and get comfy and he did as well, as soon as they both got situated, the movie started to play.

Happy had the snacks between them and they were snacking as they watched the opening scene of Ghostbusters.

"I love this movie." Toby said.

"Me too." Happy agreed, taking another piece of licorice and peeling off the mini strings.

"Hey, Hap?" Toby asked.

"Humm?" Happy muttered, not taking her eyes off the movie.

"Are we on a date?" Toby asked a little of his nerves slipping into his voice.

Happy turned her gaze to him and had a questioning look on her face. She reached down and moved the popcorn and licorice to the other side of Toby's legs then lightly laid her head on his shoulder, still peeling the licorice.

"Does this answer your question Doc?" Happy asked.

"It most certainly does." Toby responded and then put his arm around her and rested his hand on her shoulder.

"You know…" Toby started.

"Don't ruin it." Happy warned him and he quieted down.

Toby and Happy snuggled through the rest of the movie. Trading jokes, laughing, and high-fiving at appropriate times throughout the movie. When the credits started rolling, Happy lifted her head up from his chest.

Toby smiled softly at her, "Hey."

Happy smiled at him, "That was a good movie."

"Yeah, it was." Toby looked away for a moment then back at her, "We didn't really have dinner and popcorn didn't do it. So do you want to grab a quick dinner with me?"

Happy smiled at him and nodded, but then she cocked her head and checked her phone. "What's open, it's 10 at night?"

Toby looked thoughtful and said, "Well fast food or I Hop I guess."

Happy nodded and said, "I'd be down for a burger and fries."

Toby nodded, "Same."

This is how they ended up in the McDonald's drive-thru, in Toby's car, ordering two orders of cheeseburgers and fries while Happy was still snacking on the licorice. They got the food and drove back to where the movie was which was cleared out now. They stayed in the car this time with the heat on because it was starting to become chilly.

Toby handed Happy's burger to her and grabbed his as well. He turned to her and asked, "Do you want music or something on?"

"What are your options?" She asked.

"Well, currently I'm watching Cake masters." Toby said.

Happy laughed and said, "I never knew you were such a baker Doc."

"I'm full of surprises doll." Toby said, pulling out his phone.

"What is with the 1800's talk? Happy asked, unwrapping her burger.

Toby shrugged as he positioned his phone between the windshield and the dashboard, "I've been watching a lot of old movies with Cabe."

Happy hides a smile by biting into her burger. They watch cake masters which Toby is way too into and even Happy has to admit it's actually not that bad. She enjoys watching how they support the cakes to make sure it doesn't topple. She also enjoys it when it does. She is halfway convinced Toby is just watching for the designs.

They get through one episode of cake masters and their dinner before Happy starts yawning.

"I better head home." She says, getting her bag ready.

"I should too. I enjoyed tonight." Toby says.

Happy gives him a quick smile, "I did too." She gets out and closes his door. "See you at work tomorrow." She yells as she walks to her bike which Toby parked next to.

"See you tomorrow doll!" Toby yells out, as he can't help himself.

"The 1800s talk stops otherwise you're getting a kick where the sun doesn't shine." Happy threatens, putting her helmet on.

"Copy that." Toby says.

Happy starts her bike and peels out, Toby following behind her until they turn their separate ways. But before that happened she saw some very energetic dance moves and his mouth moving, indicating his tendency to sing and dance to songs in the car.

"Oh boy." She says as she turns left. She is surely learning a lot of things about Toby tonight.

Chapter Text

A week later…

Happy had her whole welding suit on bright and early in the morning. She held the torch close to the metal and watched the sparks fly as the two pieces molded together. She needed a new part for a bike that she was trying to fix. She was hoping to sell the now-upgraded bike for some extra cash. She bought it at a good price and all it needed was some fixing up.

When she flipped her mask up to check her progress she saw Toby standing quite a distance back with two coffee mugs in his hand.

“Is it safe to approach?” Toby asked.

Happy raised her eyebrows, “Do you want to get your eyebrows burned off?” She gave her torch a very light and quick burst of flame for emphasis.

Toby walked back a couple of steps, “Not particularly.”

“Then back up.” She flipped her mask down again and finished up the part.

She put her blow torch down and took her gloves, mask, and apron off, letting the part cool off and dry. She walked to her desk and on it was a coffee mug and a note. She picked up the note and it read.

I hope this keeps my eyebrows intact…

She smirked, took a quick sip of the coffee. Toby knew exactly how she liked it which was odd, but the coffee was good. She took out her phone and went to Annoying Shrink.

Happy - Your eyebrows are safe

Happy - For now…

Happy took another sip of her coffee watching over her mug as she heard the text tone from Toby’s phone and watched him read it. He read it and his eyes widened a tiny fraction before texting back.

Annoying Shrink - What do you mean FOR NOW!?!

Happy - Calm down, you're not going to lose your eyebrows unless you interrupt me holding a blowtorch again.

Annoying Shrink - Happy Quinn, who knew you could be such a comedian?

Happy - I’ve been hanging around you too much.

Annoying Shrink - Ohh? So you’re saying I’m rubbing off on you??

Happy - Don’t make it weird Doc.

Annoying Shrink - Fine, but it’s nice to see this side of you.

Happy looked up from her phone and saw Toby staring at her from his place across the garage. He looked relaxed, happy. She screwed with her rules a little bit last week by inviting Mr. Perceptive out on a date and it actually ended up being really nice. Maybe, the universe needed a big screw you from her, maybe she could finally be happy. Maybe.

Happy - I picked our last date, now it’s your turn to pick our next one.

She kept her eyes on her phone waiting for the response, but popped her head up when there was a crash in the garage. Walter and Paige came running down the stairs. She was holding papers. It looked like they were going over some numbers.

“Is everyone ok?” Paige asked looking around, trying to account for everyone. “Where’s Toby?”

Toby popped his head up from behind his desk and put his desk chair back upright. “I’m right here, just looking for a pen.”

Happy laughed for a moment, knowing that he fell off his chair after she sent the text message. Toby looked a little embarrassed, but she received a text a minute later.

Annoying Shrink - Sunset dinner on the beach

She rolled her eyes at how romantic he was but secretly smiled to herself.

Happy - Sounds like a plan Doc

She took another couple of sips of her coffee and then turned her attention to the garage door opening.

“Look alive team, we got a big one.” Cabe came walking in.

“How exactly did we get dragged into this?” Toby asked about two hours later.

They were in the middle of the ocean on a research boat with marine biologists, who somehow lost a dolphin.

“Because we’re the only ones who can correctly locate the correct dolphin in a sea of other ones.” Paige explained.

“Technically we're in the ocean.” Sly said.

“Ok then, ocean of other ones.” Paige responded, holding on to the railing of the boat.

Sly was using his tablet to look up migratory and current patterns to locate the dolphin while Walter was inside on the computers looking at the tracking software. Cabe was up by the captain in case something happened with the ship. Toby and Paige were down on the deck with the two marine biologists and Happy was up in the lookout tower, with binoculars, trying to spot any marine life.

"Ok, we should be getting pretty close according to the tracking software. How are we looking up there Happy?" Walter asked.

"Nothing so far." Happy replied.

Toby yelped and Paige gasped. Happy looked down at the deck where Toby kicked a flailing fish that hopped up on board back into the water. Then he got scolded like a child for how he handled the fish. As in you shouldn't kick fish around like soccer balls. Paige was doing her best to mediate the situation so there didn't have to be two rescues today. Happy smiled and got back to the task. A minute later she saw what looked to be a dolphin.

"I got something!" Happy said, trying to make out the shape, yet when it jumped out of the water and did a flip, it was pretty obvious.

"We got our dancer." Toby said and Paige and Toby both ran to go get the humane catching equipment. They brought it up and then let the two marine biologists do their job of catching the dolphin and bringing her back to their facility. She was born in captivity so she had no experience of being out in the wild, so it's unlikely that she would survive.

The marine biologists were in the water swimming up towards the dolphin when the boat tilted sideways. Happy was immediately flung over the side of the railing. She was able to grab the bottom rung with one hand and hold on while the boat righted itself.

"Happy!" Toby yelled as he helped Paige up.

"I'm fine!" She yelled back as she grabbed onto the bottom rung with her other hand then swung her foot up onto the tower and used that to push herself up. She grabbed the upper ring of the tower with both hands and then swung herself back up over the railing to the right side.

"Oh sweet Jesus you almost became shish kabobed." Toby said.

"I'm fine, but my binoculars fell off. So good thing we got the dolphin." Happy said as she made her way back to the deck.

Toby was immediately by her side, "Are you ok?" He was analyzing her.

She gave him an annoyed look and said, "I'm fine Doc. Stop hovering."

She walked over to Paige and asked, "How are they doing?"

"They seem to be almost done." Paige said, seeming very distant.

"What's up?" Happy asked.

Paige looked at her and asked, "What? Nothing's up."

"You're distant. That's not you." Happy said.

Paige sighed, "Ralph's been struggling with bullies at school."

"We can talk to him, we all weren't exactly the popular kids in school." Happy said.

"Yeah, I spent more time running from bullies than in class." Toby said.

"That would be helpful, thank you." Paige said.

"Happy, we need you up here!" Cabe yelled.

"Coming!" Happy yelled running up to the control deck.

When she got up there something was smoking.

"Not good." Happy said.

When they were all safely back on solid land, Happy was able to fix the ship at least temporarily to get them and the dolphin back safe and Toby helped out with the dolphin’s well-being as it was transported. Especially since the boat setting on fire caused a slight delay. But the dolphin was ok and they completed the mission. But they were all exhausted. Especially Sylvester who has been seasick for hours. So they all went back to the garage and went to pack up their things to go home.

While Happy packed up her bag, Toby came over to her.

"Since today was exhausting and I smell like a seafood buffet, do you want to have breakfast tomorrow morning instead of dinner tonight? I’m thinking about Deliah’s Cafe at 7 am." Toby asked.

Happy smiled at him and said, "Sure that'd be great, especially since I think I reinjured my ankle by using it to climb today. It's killing me."

"Let me take a look." Toby offered.

Happy brushed him off and said, "I'll be fine."

Toby put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Happy, let me take a look."

She sighed but sat down in her chair as Toby knelt down. He took off her sock and her shoe and undid the brace. He looked at her ankle and said, "Well you didn't reinjure it badly at least, it probably just didn't heal all the way and you aggravated it by your Captain Hook act. I'll redo the bandaging." Toby went to go find some medical tape.

When he came back he quickly redid the bandaging and then put back on her sock and boot. When he was done he looked back up at her.

"Now stay off of it. Doctor's orders." Toby said.

Happy rolled her eyes and tossed her bag over her shoulder, "When have you ever known me to follow orders."

"Just be gentle." Toby said.

"It's like you don't even know me Doc." Happy said as she put on her helmet and revered up the motorcycle and peeled out of the garage.

Happy sat down on her couch at home. Thinking about everything today. She almost got tossed overboard and Toby saved a dolphin. That man was so good and so smart on so many levels, yet he was still willing to check in with her on something so simple like her ankle hurting. She knew that he cared about her probably to the point of love, but she didn’t know if she could care about him the same way. She could care about him, but love she didn’t know if she had it in her.

She needed to see him, needed to see if this could work, otherwise, this could end in disaster. So she picked up her helmet and her keys and went back out to her motorcycle. She knocked on his apartment door a little later, fiddling with her motorcycle keys. His door opened and Toby was there. He had clearly just finished with his shower, his hair still wet.

“Happy?” Toby asked, “What are you doing here?”

Happy fiddled with her keys, not looking up, and said, “I just wanted to see you.”

Toby cocked his head and gently pulled her inside his apartment and closed his apartment door, “Is something wrong?”

“No.” Happy replied, still not meeting his eyes.

"Hap, will you please look at me?" Toby asked.

Happy looked up slowly and Toby's face immediately morphed from confusion to concern. She knew it would, her eyes always gave her away.

He gently brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "What's wrong?"

Happy averted her eyes again, "I don't know if this…" she motioned between the two of them, "...is a good idea."

Toby’s face morphed into confusion, “What makes you say that?”

“There a too many moving parts and too many feelings, I just.” Happy sighed to stop her rambling, “I don’t want to lose my best friend.” Happy said that last part very softly.

Toby gently grabbed her hands and held them in his. Happy looked up at him and Toby thinks this is the most venerable he has ever seen her. Even though she still has her mask up, she dropped it just enough to let her eyes display worry and sorrow. His voice became soft and he said, “You’re not going to lose me Hap.”

“How do you know that?” Happy asked, her voice having a sharp edge to it.

Toby took another step closer to her and gripped her hands a little tighter. He was letting his mask fall completely down as well and all she saw was care in his eyes. "I know that because no matter what happens between us, I am still going to care about you. And that will never stop.”

Happy took a deep breath, wanting to believe him, but also very unsure. She still didn’t know if this was the right move. If she could really let her last shield down. Her strongest one at that.

Toby rubbed small circles on the backs of her hands, “Do you trust me?” Happy nodded.

“Then let me take you out tomorrow morning. You can decide how you feel afterward and I’ll respect whatever decision you give me.”

Happy looked into Toby’s eyes and all she saw was honesty and kindness. This was not going how she thought it would go.

“What if we stop being friends?” Happy asked, worry seeping into her voice.

“Well, I’m a gambling man and I’m willing to bet that nothing will ruin that. Not even a wrench thrown at my head.” Toby said.

Happy took a breath, her lips turning up at the comment, and said, “Ok fine. Tomorrow.”

“Thank you.” Toby said, "Now come here."

Toby brought her into a big which Happy accepted and returned.

Happy gave him a tight smile and then walked back out. She threw herself onto her motorcycle. She drove home in a blur as was the rest of her night. She was pretty sure she accidentally opened the wrong apartment door and someone screamed, although that’s pretty blurry. She wasn’t sure what tomorrow would bring. It was out of her control and that terrified her.

Chapter Text

Happy was sitting in the parking lot on her motorcycle debating about going into the cafe. It was exactly 7 am, which means Toby should already be in there. She had no idea how this was going to go, but it was just breakfast, how bad could it be? So with her backpack over her back, she locked up her motorcycle and walked inside.

“Good morning, just you today?” The hostess who could’ve been more than 16 asked.

Happy shook her head, “No, I’m actually meeting someone here.” Happy looked around and she didn’t find him, she found his hat. “He’s just over there.”

“Sounds good, I’ll go find your waiter and tell her to swing by soon.” The hostess said.

Happy smiled at her and walked over to where Toby was sitting. She sat down across from him, putting her backpack beside her.

“Good morning.” Toby said, taking a sip of his coffee.

She noticed a cup of her own sitting in front of her. “Good morning.” She took a sip of her own and it was perfect.

“How are you?” Toby asked her.

“Ok.” Happy said, avoiding eye contact so Toby couldn’t read anything from her eyes.

“So that’s a lie, but I won’t push it.” Toby said.

Happy snapped her eyes up to him and Toby raised his hands, “I said I wouldn’t push it.”

She backed down and took another sip of her coffee. She scanned the menu looking for something to eat.

“The pancakes and the hashbrowns are both very good here.” Toby said.

Happy nodded but kept her eyes glued on the menu. The waiter came to take their order and they both got an order of pancakes. The only difference is that Toby got strawberry and Happy got blueberry pancakes. Happy stared down at the table after their menus were taken.

“Happy?” Toby asked in a gentle tone, "Are you having a staring contest with your fork, you won't even look at me. Is this about last night?”

“I don’t want to get involved in something that will not work out.” Happy said.

“You don’t know that for certain. Nothing is absolute.” Toby said.

Happy snapped her head up, “The chances of us working out are near impossible.”

“And what do we deal with everyday?” Toby asked, “We deal with the near impossible every day and we are able to figure out a solution. So what’s to say there isn’t a solution for us?”

"It's a one-in-a-million chance." Happy said.

“And what if we are that one?" Toby asked. Happy didn't respond. "Look, there is a reason you showed up here today, it's because you care. If you didn't you wouldn't be here right now. You'd be fixing an engine or rewiring our garage to run on solar panels.

The point is I think you want this to work out just as much as I do. So will you just take the chance?" He held out his hand.

Happy looked at his hand and then back up at him, her face emotionless. She debated the thought of them over and over in her head for a minute. Eventually, she sighed and looked down at her hands again. Toby pulled his hand back, defeated.

Then Happy looked up with a key in her hand and put it in the center of the table for Toby to take. Toby picked it up and looked at it with a confused expression.

"It's the spare key to my apartment. It's about time you had one." Happy smirked and added, "In case I ever lock myself out."

Toby looked up at her and said, "Come on Happy it was one time." Happy raised her eyebrow. Toby sighed, "Fine it might have been twice."

"Try 12 times." She paused before adding, "This year."

Toby gave her an annoyed look while she just smirked her lips turned up in enjoyment.
His look faded after a minute and he held out his hand. Happy conceded and nodded. She took Toby’s hand across the table. Toby gently ran his thumb over her knuckle and smiled at her. Happy started to feel herself relax a little bit after their talk. She felt more secure then when she walked in.

“Now, time to play my favorite game. GWH.” Toby said, his eyes lighting up.

“What’s GWH?” Happy asked.

“Guess what’s happening. Basically, trying to guess what’s happening in someone’s life.” Toby explained.

“Isn’t that stalkerish?” Happy asked.

“Don’t make it weird Hap.” Toby said and then pointed to the two sitting a table diagonal from him. “I bet that they are a young couple in love, but they both have jobs so this is the only time they get to spend together. Based on their feet hooking underneath the table I’d say it’s still pretty new, but more than a few dates new.”

Happy smiled at his amused smile. “Ok, I’ll give it a shot.” She pointed to a couple across the restaurant. “Ok, I’m guessing retired for a couple years and they have a routine to come here every morning and spend a couple hours here, reading the paper or just talking.”

Toby looked over and came back with an impressed look, “I’m impressed.”

Happy shrugged and had a small smile, “I sometimes pay attention to what you say.”

“Oh, I’m flattered.” Toby said, his hand on his chest.

Happy rolled her eyes and then said, “Ok, your turn.”

The rest of the breakfast went on like that, the game that would sometimes get them talking about something different and trading little jokes here and there. It actually was a pretty fun time and she was enjoying herself. When it came time to pay the bill they both grabbed out their wallets.

Toby raised an eyebrow, “I asked you out, let me pay for you.”

“I can pay for myself.” Happy demanded.

“I know you are very self-reliant it’s one of the things I find attractive, but this is a date that I asked you out on, rules dictate I should pay.” Toby explained.

“What rules?” Happy asked.

“The basic rules of life.” Toby said.

They both stood their ground until Toby conceded, “Fine, we’ll split it.”

Happy smiled smugly and passed Toby her card so he could put it in the bill collector as well as the cash that he had on hand. He put a note explaining to her what was happening and to keep the rest of the cash as a tip. She should get 25% percent based on his calculations.

He looked at her and asked, “Are you happy?”

Happy smirked, “Very.”

Toby checked his watch and asked, “We should have plenty of time to get to the garage before the world ends.”

Just as he said that his phone rang. He grabbed it and looked at the caller ID.

“Apparently, the world is ending right now.” He answered the phone, “Hey Cabe.”

Happy looked at him intently, but couldn’t make out what was happening. Toby sighed and put his phone in his pocket. Happy gave him a prompting look.

“The world clearly has no respect for romance. They need us at the garage asap.” Toby said.

Happy nodded and her phone went off. She picked it up and it was Cabe.

She answered, “Cabe?”

“Happy I need you at the garage as soon as you can. We got a big case.” Cabe said.

“What’s it about?” Happy asked.

“Can’t discuss cases over the phone, just get your butt over her now.” Cabe said then hung up.

Happy pulled the phone back from her ear and looked at it, “He’s in a mood this morning, something big must be up.”

Toby nodded, “I picked up anxiety markers in his voice, it’s something big.”

Happy looked at the check and asked him, “How much was it?”

“18.23” Toby responded.

She nodded and dug into her wallet. She replaced her card with a ten-dollar bill, Toby had his cash already in there, and they got out of there.

Happy entered the building with Toby following very close behind. Walter picked up on the duo and asked, “Did you guys get here together?”

They exchanged a look and then Toby quickly said, “I just pulled in right after her.”

“Oh, ok.” Walter said, going back to the file he was reading.

Happy gave him a small smile as a silent thank you. Toby gave her one back.

“Now that you are all here, we can get started.” Cabe handed a file to Toby and Happy.
Adriana Molina was already there in her suit and ready to start.

“As I’m sure you are aware Homeland has undercover agents in many foreign countries. We just got word from one of those agents that there is a mole in our organization that is about to release some very confidential information about the US tonight.” Adriana said.

“What kind of information?” Walter asked.

“That's classified." Adriana said.

Toby looked in his file and while some of it was redacted he saw some markers. It was three words, all redacted. He looked up and saw that she was showing some nervous behavior.

“What’s been stolen has to be really important to rattle you.” Toby said.

She turned her attention to him, “It is important that we get it back.”

“Why is this so important? Are people in danger?” Toby asked and her eyes darted away.

“Aha! People are in danger. So is it nuclear codes? What about missile launch codes? What about people in the Witness Protection Program?” Toby asked, pausing at each one to look for clues. She pursed her lips on the ending one. “Aha! It is people in Witness Protection! Oh, this is serious!” Toby finished.

“That is one of the most classified lists of all time, how did they get their hands on it?” Sylvester asked.

“We do not know, all we know is that they have it and we need to get it back before any new identities are leaked.” Adriana finished with.

“You can never hide anything with them,” Cabe said and got a smug smile from Toby and Walter.

“Anyways, there will be a handoff today. An enemy agent, Fredrick Bolgala,” His face popped up on the screen and Happy glanced up at him, “will be handing off a flash drive to Damian Gullers,” his face also popped up on the screen, “who has the means to release that list to the world which ultimately ends up in several people dead. This handoff will take place at a charity ball. There are no guest lists and you only need a ticket to get in, because it is a charity ball, they want as many people there as they can. This is a perfect place for a simple dropoff.” Adriana explained.

“So why don’t you guys just go in and get the guy since you have his face?” Walter asked.

“Well, this is a masquerade ball. So everyone will be wearing masks.” Adriana explained, “We also know that if the file is not downloaded into a computer 5 minutes after the handoff, enemy agents planted inside the charity ball will start taking hostages.”

Toby whistled, “This is much worse than a name exchange.”

Happy punched him in the arm.

“Owww!” Toby yelped and grabbed his injured arm with his good hand.

“Now, for your assignments. Sylvester will stay back with me in a nearby room helping identify the enemy agents and helping with hacking into light controls. Walter and Paige will go in disguised as a couple and be responsible for stopping the handoff once it is identified. You guys will pose as an engaged couple excited to help such a worthy cause.” Adriana said.

“What exactly is the cause?” Walter asked.

“Helping to build schools and housing in impoverished areas.” Adriana responded.

Paige and everyone gave an approving nod.

“Toby you will pose as a couple with Happy.” Adriana said. Happy and Toby exchanged a look. “You two will be posing as rich newlyweds, excited for your first donation as a married couple. Toby, you will identify the main enemy agents as well as any others that might be there. Happy you will get us some eyes into the room. Currently, there are no security cameras except for the ones outside, so you will be in charge of planting some other small cameras around the area. Cabe cannot go in because he might be spotted as a government agent, so he will be waiting in a getaway car as soon as you guys are done. There will be a secure government-issued computer in the car for you guys to insert the flash drive into. These are very dangerous people and are likely to be watching that flash drive very closely, so you guys have to get in and get out without having your cover blown. In order to make that a little easier, in your files there are fake names, and fake jobs that you need to stick to, they are tailored to you to make conversions easier.”

Happy looked in her file and saw that she was Flight Engineer. So that was something she knew about, not all the information but enough to get by.

Happy nudged Toby and asked, “What are you?”

“A psychiatrist. I thought these were supposed to be fake jobs?” Toby asked.

“Well, a psychiatrist is one of the highest-earning jobs.” Adriana explained. “Ok, are we all clear on roles?” Everyone said yes or nodded in agreement. “Great. A homeland officer will be here shortly for your guy's disguises and the equipment you guys will need on the job.”

She left with that.

“Hey, Walt?” Toby said. Walter looked up, “What are you and Paige going as.”

“I’m a computer and information systems manager and Paige is a pediatrician.” Walter said.

“What are you Happy?” Paige asked.

“A flight engineer.” She responded.

Paige made an approving nod and then got back to reading her file.

“Toby a word.” Happy said, walking past her desk, towards the ramp for more privacy than her desk provided.

Toby followed her and asked, “What’s up?”

“How are we supposed to pose as a married couple?” Happy asked, crossing her arms.

Toby gave her a questioning look, “Is it a problem or?”

“The problem is I have no idea how.” Happy said angrily.

“Well, first things first, “You need to stop looking at me like I killed your cat.” Toby said.

Happy glared at him. “Ok, that’s more like I murdered your cat in front of you.”

Happy punched Toby.

“Oww! Did it have to be in the same arm?” Toby asked, rubbing his arm up and down.

“You know what I mean. I cannot be spotted.” Happy explained, “So does that psych brain of yours have any idea?”

“It has many ideas, you have to be more specific.” Toby said, cracking a joke.

Happy raised an eyebrow, “Do you want that bruise on your arm to turn purple?”

Toby went to cover up his arm to protect it from any surprise attacks. “No.”

“Then help me.” Happy said.

“Ok, well, couples especially in heightened emotional states like newlyweds, tend to maintain some form of contact with each other. So touching is a necessity. They are also very happy as dopamine is flying high.” Toby looked at Happy, “So turn that scowl into a smile.” Happy glared at him, “They also tend to display eagerness to enjoy their first things as newlyweds, first dance, first hug, first drink, etc. So you will also have to appear eager.” Toby looked at Happy. She had her eyes narrowed, a scowl on her lips and her arms crossed. Toby pointed at her, “So basically the exact opposite of your current position right now.” Happy punched him again, just lighter. “That time was unnecessary and also I know what you are doing. You’re trying to push me away because you’re concerned about the feelings that acting in these roles might reveal.”

“I swear if you psychoanalyze me again, you will get the nearest metal object thrown at your head.” She picked up pliers to her left as emphasis.

Toby raised his hands, “Just trying to help.”

“Well drop the psych act and we'll be fine. I'm not your patient." Happy said, walking back to her desk.

"But you're my friend and I care about you." Toby said before walking back to his desk.

Happy watched him go, she was a little sad to see him go, but she wanted even more not to be picked apart every couple of seconds.

She reread her file and just focused on what her mission was, to plant cameras. She pulled up the building blueprints to get an idea of the area and where planting them might be the most useful. She had a picture of the devices she'd be using. They were just small little circular black cameras no bigger than a quarter. She could hide them pretty much anywhere. She pulled up images of the building online to see if she where the furniture was placed. She figured out some places where she could plant the bugs but it would all depend on where the furniture was tonight. The layout could be completely different. She changed back to the blueprints of the building.

The door of the garage creaked open and they all turned their heads to the noise. In walked a woman in a suit, towing a whole rack of outfits and two bags on her shoulders.

"You must be the glam squad." Toby said deadpan.

"Toby." Paige said, a warning in her voice.

"Well, rather rude, but Mr. Curtis is right. I’m Abigail from homeland and I'm here to make sure everyone looks the part." The agent said.

"Good luck getting her into anything other than her leather boots and leather jacket combo." Toby said, gesturing to Happy.

Happy threw a wrench across the garage. Toby yelped and ducked. It hit a storage container and bounced off the floor. Toby gave Happy a surprised look.

"Next time I won't miss." Happy threatened.

Abigail gave Cabe a stern look, “Please get your team under control.” She set her two bags down on the couch. Toby moved off of the couch like the bags were on fire.

“Ok, who should we start with?” Abigail said, turning around.

She looked around the garage, including Happy who was holding a hammer in her hand this time, and decided to not go that route. Instead, she chose Paige.

Happy was thankful for the extra few minutes of peace, as Paige got inspected and prodded at, she was going to hate that.

“Hey, can we talk?” Toby went and asked Happy.

Happy clenched her hammer harder and asked, “Do we have to?”

“No, but based on my analysis it would be beneficial.” Toby said.

Happy put her hammer down and said, “Fine.”

They both walked up to the roof together. Happy ran a hand through her hair and Toby just stood there with his hands in his jacket pockets a neutral look on his face.

“Aren’t you going to say something?” Happy snapped at him.

Toby shook his head, “I wasn’t unless I was asked.”

“Well, that’s not very helpful moron.” Happy snapped, feeling restless.

“Happy, I know what’s going on, but I won’t say anything unless you want me to.” Toby said, in a calm and gentle tone.

Happy glared at him, “Of course, you know what’s going on. You always know what’s going on in every situation in every single moment in all eternity.” She went to stand by the edge that overlooked the city and Toby followed her.

A few minutes passed by in silence until Happy sighed. “Why do you like me?” She kept her eyes trained on the city below.

Toby cocked his head, “What?”

“Why do you like me?” Happy bite out and then she turned to look at him, “Really, why even bring me up here after I threw a wrench at your head? Why take me out to breakfast this morning after I yelled at you last night?”

Toby reached out and took her hands, “Happy, I love how you are always pushing yourself to do better and to never give up. You motivate me to try harder, to push myself every day. You are so intelligent and bright, your mind fascinates me. You are fearless, always running headfirst into danger and somehow you walk out of it with almost no bruises. I know you care about your friends and you would do anything to save any one of us. No matter what you have to do. Happy, you are the reason that I wake up in the morning. The reason that I have gone home instead of going out to the tables every night. Happy, the way you smile lights up my life is beyond anything I have ever felt before. Happy Quinn, I don’t just like you, I love you, just the way you are.”

Happy was looking at him, an angry look on her face that was slowly fading away into something real. “Do you really mean that?”

“Would I ever lie to you?” Toby asked, rubbing light circles on the backs of her hands.

Toby knew that she was broken, fractured in many ways, but also so strong and resilient to everything that life threw at her. He knew that it was going to take a long time and probably many more fights before they were able to break down some of the walls she had up and start to heal some of the old scars. The brilliant machinist who could fix anything but herself. She needed some help and Toby was going to do that for her.

Happy nodded, “Ok.” She stepped a few feet and hugged him close to her chest. Her arms were strong around his back, like she didn’t want him to leave her, because she didn’t. She felt safe in his arms.

Toby put his head lightly on hers and rubbed her back, “I will never hurt you and I will never leave you. It doesn't matter what situation we are put in, I will never do anything that would cause you any type of harm. I love you.” She tensed just a little bit and Toby ran a soothing hand down her hair and onto her back again, “I don’t expect you to say anything back, I just needed you to hear that. To hear the truth in that statement.”

“Do you trust me?” Toby asked after a minute. Happy nodded against his shirt. “Then trust that I will have your back in every situation and I will never leave you.”

Happy nodded against his shirt and for some reason, she did trust the wise-ass physiatrist. Maybe, that was a bad idea, to trust the one person who knew how to deceive people and get away with it, but something told her it wasn’t. She didn’t know how to control people she probably never would, but she understood enough to know that Toby was telling the truth, his heart rate was steady as he said every word.

She let out a deep breath and pulled away from him, “Thanks Doc.”

“Are you ready to go back down, beautiful?” Toby asked.

Happy nodded, “But don’t call me beautiful.”

Toby nodded, “Your wish is my command, gorgeous.”

“You’re not going to give up, are you?” Happy asked.

“Not now, not ever lovely.” Toby said.

Happy rolled her eyes, and they went back down the stairs together. Abigail had another rack that she rolled into the garage and on it were two long dresses, one was an elegant black one and the other one was a nude sparkly one. Paige wasn’t there and Abigail was measuring Walter. Happy went back to looking at the building specs and Toby went back to read the file and to research the guys on his computer.

“Is all this necessary?” Walter asked as Abigail measured his legs.

“If you want your suit to fit you, yes.” Abigail said.

“Just let her do her thing kid.” Cabe said.

The click-clack of heels raised everyone’s attention to Paige who walked in wearing a long navy blue dress, it had one shoulder and one sleeve, and it also had a leg slit. She had on silver shoes that crisscrossed halfway up her calves. Paige,

“Beautiful.” Abigail said.

“Thank you.” Paige said, smiling.

Abigail ran over and got a few bracelets and a silver bag.

“You do look nice.” Walter said.

Paige smiled at him, “Thank you Walter.”

“Ok, well you are all done and I got Walter’s measurements. So, this shirt, pants, jacket, and shoes should work for you.” She handed the clothes to Walter, “So you try those on and I’ll get…” She looked around the garage and looked between Happy and Toby,
“Toby’s measurements.”

When it was Happy’s turn, she waited patiently as her measurements got taken, and then Abigail pulled out a pink sparkly dress for her.

Happy raised her eyebrows, “Are you kidding me?”

Abigail quickly put the dress back and then grabbed one that was long and black and elegant. It had leather triangles along the sides of the upper part of the dress and a slit in the dress as well.

Happy glared at it but said, “Fine.” She also grabbed the simple black high heels that were offered.

She changed into the dress and went back out.

“Oh la la.” Toby said, staring at her.

Happy gave him a, ‘really’ look and walked back over to Abigail. Abigail smiled at her and then gave her a simple silver necklace and a couple of simple silver bracelets. She took them then put them on the table and then went to go take off the dress. As soon as she changed back into her usual jeans, tank top, leather jacket, and combat boots, she felt a lot better. A lot more like herself.

“Ok, so now that everyone is back. I also have the cameras that you will be using.” Abigail handed the black box to Happy.

She opened it up and inspected the cameras, “Yep, everything looks pretty standard.”

“Great, so the ball is in 5 hours and will be at 11 at night. Make sure your team is ready to go at 4:30 to leave to be at the ball at 5. You will also need these.” Abigail handed a bag to Walter. Walter looked in and pulled out several masks. “They’re are several masks in there, I’m sure you will find one to your liking. Ok, pleasure working with you, and good luck.” Abigail took her dresses, pants, and clothing rack out of the garage.

Happy sighed, “That was exhausting.”

“It wasn’t that bad Happy.” Paige said.

Happy raised an eyebrow at her, “Maybe not for you, but for someone who hates all things dressy, that was terrible.” Happy sat back down at her desk and started to fiddle with a part for the motorcycle she was rebuilding.

Chapter Text

Happy was driving the black car, provided by Homeland, on the way to the gala. Cabe was behind them in the van. She turned left and they were there. Happy looked at Toby and he threw her a reassuring smile. They put on their masks. Paige’s was silver and sparkly with a black edge along the whole mask, it was shaped so it was like wings on either side of her mask. Walter’s was black leather and had accents of silver around the eyes and the edging. His was higher on one eye, shaping a wing on that side. Happy’s was black leather with some crisscross stitching in gold, and it had sharp wings on the side and almost covered her entire nose. Toby’s was black, but to go along with Happy, he had a golden edge around the edge and around the eyes and he had golden feathers that were against his face on both sides of his mask, making the mask extend further up his face.

They exited Walter helping Paige out and Happy handed the keys to the valet and then hooked her arm with Toby’s. There was a woman out front who took their tickets and welcomed them inside.

It was big, the pictures didn’t do it justice how big this building was. The whole room had accents of gold and everything looked polished. There was a chandelier hanging in the entryway and then two staircases on either side leading up to a walkway with spaces on either side. There was a room on either side of them, as well as one in front of them. Happy wondered if there would be enough cameras to cover the inside.

“This place is huge.” Happy said.

“Can you get us some eyes inside?” Adriana asked.

“I will try.” Happy muttered.

She analyzed the room looking for a good vantage point but also one that a camera wouldn’t be spotted. She fell back on the building specs that she looked at before and looked in the far left corner luckily there was a black pot there that housed a ficus.

Happy led Toby over to the plant and then said, “I dropped an earring, can you help me find it?”

“Sure thing darling.” Toby said, picking up on the lie easily.

While they were pretending to look for Happy’s earring, Happy stuck one of the camera’s that was in her purse on the pot.

“I found it.” Toby said.

Happy smiled at him, “Thank you.” She pretended to take it back from Toby and put it back in her ear, which already had earrings in.

She hates earrings, but she pierced her own ears on a dare when she was in the group home and they never closed up.

“Ok, connecting to your camera now.” Sylvester said.

“Only 14 more to go.” Happy muttered, and they went like that to all the other rooms, pretending to drop something or turn away to laugh at a joke or look at something. It was quite easy and soon her job was done.

“Nice work, Happy, we seem to have eyes on the whole building.” Adriana said. “How are we going to figure out who the inside men are, Toby?”

“One of the cocktail servers is definitely one. The short one, with black hair and checking his phone every two minutes. He was sweating like a mule horse and jittery, he offered me a cocktail earlier and almost dropped the whole tray. My guess is he’s brand new or someone’s son.” Toby said, “I also have eyes on who I think is a bodyguard of sorts, the mountain in a suit that’s standing on the overlook between the two staircases. He’s been there for most of the ball so far and is holding himself very rigidly, not loose, making me think that this is not a relaxing place for him. Hence, the job aspect. While the cocktail server might have the drive, I'm not entirely sure. But I'm assuming they wouldn't give it to him if he's new, which it looks like he is.”

There was a big crash and everyone looked over and it was the same cocktail waiter who just dropped an entire tray of drinks. "Well, now I'm 98% sure he doesn't have the drive." Toby said.

“Well keep looking, we don’t know when the handoff is taking place.” Adriana said.

Toby smiled at Happy and asked, “How about we get a drink?”

She nodded and Toby took her hand and led her to the bar. Toby’s hand left her for a moment, but out of the corner of her eye she saw him helping an elderly woman who
had fallen. So she crossed the extra few steps and waited at the bar for him. She took a deep breath to steady herself, she knew how to keep up appearances and pretend that everything was ok but trying to pretend that Toby was her husband while she was still figuring out what they even were. That was going to be hard. Especially since she had no clue about emotions or feelings.

“Hey, beautiful.”

Happy turned in surprise to the voice. There was a man who had black hair, brown eyes and was wearing a suit. He had a smirk on his face and intense eyes staring right at her from behind his mask. He took a sip of his drink as he awaited her response. She just gave him a nod of her head and turned back to the bartender.

“How are you doing?” The man asked her, sliding closer to her.

“Fine, now leave.” Happy said, making her voice sharp.

“Oh, don’t be like that.” The man said Happy glared at him, “I just want to talk to a beautiful woman.”

“I said leave.” Happy said, glaring at him and a fist at her side.

“Come on sweetheart.” The man said, walking a step closer.

Happy then swung at him, but Toby stepped in front of her and caught her punch before it could intercept the guy's face. He knocked into the guy a little bit, but Toby figured that was better than being clocked in the face. Toby gave her a calm and kind smile, the kind to let her know that everything was ok. Then he stepped beside her and put a protective arm around her waist.

The man had an angry look on his face and was using a napkin offered by the bartender to wipe himself off after Toby bumped into him, causing him to spill the drink he was having onto his arm.

“Please excuse my wife, she doesn't like people flirting with her when she’s already taken,” Toby said.

Happy still had a fiery look in her eyes, but Toby was having a good calming effect on her.

“Come on, let’s go darling.” Toby said, leading her away from the bar and into a secluded back hallway.

“Coms out.” Toby said, and both of them took their coms out.

“What happened back there? You almost blew our cover.” Toby asked.

Happy sighed and said, “I was fine until he called me sweetheart that jackass."

“Happy you can’t kick and punch your way out of every situation.” Toby said.

Happy glared at him, “Well, it would have shut him up.”

“Yes, but we would have been kicked out and then hundreds of people would die when that list gets out.” Toby explained.

“I’m not going to just sit by and let someone insult me.” Happy bit out.

“And I’m not saying you have to, there are just better ways.” Toby said.

Happy put her coms back in a sign that they were done talking. Happy was about to leave but then she heard a girl talking. She looked and noticed there were bathrooms in this hallway.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom.” She told Toby and then walked off to the bathroom and the talking got louder.

She pushed open the door and there was a lady on the phone with her back to Happy.

“I know it’s supposed to be with you right now, but he isn’t here yet. I cannot make the handoff if he isn’t here. So figure out where he is.” The lady said and hung up the phone. The lady turned around and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Happy.

Yet, the surprise faded very quickly and she threw a small smile at Happy. “Sorry you had to hear all that, I was just talking to my boyfriend on the phone and unfortunately my car that he was supposed to send isn’t here yet. I already handed over my money and I just kinda want to go now, it’s not really my scene.”

Happy nodded, “I get the feeling, it’s not my scene either, my husband convinced me to come.”

She nodded, “Well very well, have a good rest of your night.”

“You too.” Happy said and she watched as the lady walked out.

“Guys, I figured out who’s doing the handoff, and Toby she’s walking past you right now.” Happy said.

“How do you know that’s her?” Paige asked.

“She was talking on the phone about not being able to do the handoff because he wasn’t here yet. What else could she have been talking about?” Happy asked.

“That means the handoff hasn’t been done yet, we still have time to stop it.” Adriana said.

Happy met up with Toby and it was really simple after that. They just had to wait by the door to see the late arrival. Toby spotted the nervous wreck of a man right away and they waited until the handoff was done. Then while he was leaving Paige distracted him by asking if he knew where the bathrooms were, while Toby pickpocketed the man and then they all made their escapes into Cabe’s van. Where Toby handed Walter the flash drive and while Cabe was driving like Happy, Walter was able to hack in and make sure the people in the Witness Protection program were safe.

When they arrived back at the garage the first thing that Happy did was take off her shoes and then the dress came next. She exited the bathroom and sat down at her desk the day catching up with her.

“Hey.” Toby came up to her, “How’s your ankle feeling?”

Happy smiled at him, “It’s a little sore, but it will heal.”

“How’s your heart?” Toby asked her.

She cocked her head at him in question.

“Earlier you were saying some pretty powerful things that seemed to rattle you a little bit. So how’s your heart?” Toby asked, concern evident in his voice.

Happy smiled at him sadly, “A little hurt, but it will heal.”

Toby gave her a smile and then walked back to his workstation opening up a book. The team all left very quickly all of them being tired which left Happy and Toby there alone. Happy packed up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. She looked over at Toby who was reading his book with a pencil in his mouth and a highlighter in his hand.

“Hey, Doc?” Happy asked him.

He looked up, dropping the pencil in his mouth.

“If you’re not too busy we could head back to my place, maybe watch a show or something before going to sleep.” Happy said.

Toby quickly put the book, highlighter and pencil on his desk, grabbed his backpack and phone, and said, “I’m never too busy for you.”

Happy rolled her eyes and said, “Come on sap, let’s go.”

They drove separately and when they got there Happy opened up her door and let him in. There was a couch and a TV front and center with a coffee table in the middle and a rug underneath it. There were some spare wires and parts on the table as well as something partly put together. There was a direct line of sight to her kitchen which was clean and simple kitchen with all the necessities as well as a little table. Then there were three doors on the right side of her apartment, which he assumed were the master, the spare bedroom, and a bathroom. There wasn’t much decor on the walls, but there were some picture frames on the TV stand that looked hand built by her. He recognized some being there were pictures of the team, but not others. Some looked older, when she was a kid. They kicked off their shoes at the doorway and Happy dropped her bag by the door as did Toby.

They both sat on the couch and had a minute of awkward silence before Happy said, “I’m actually really tired.”

Toby yawned and said, “Same actually.”

She hooked a finger behind her, “Do you want to just go to bed?”

Toby nodded, “Please.”

Happy changed into an oversized tee shirt and shorts while Toby waited for her. They slipped into bed and while they were laying there Happy said to him, but also keeping her eyes locked on the ceiling said, “I know I probably shouldn’t have asked you to come over, especially because there was no reason to, I just didn’t want to be alone tonight I guess.”

“Happy, you wanting some company is always a reason for me to come over.” Toby said.

“I just didn’t like how that guy was flirting with me and all the things that I said to you on the roof today, you were able to calm me down, give me some peace, and after everything today I think I need some peace.” Happy looked over at Toby after she was done talking and he just gave her a gentle smile.

“Well then, let me do that for you.” Toby said.

Happy turned on her side so she was facing Toby’s chest and her arms were curled into herself. Toby slung an arm around her and the other one was supporting her head. He kissed her lightly on the top of the head and said, “Good night beautiful.”

For once Happy didn’t mind the nickname. Just closed her eyes with a smile on her lips as she let her mind relax and calm knowing that Toby would keep her safe from any harm physical or mental, and all she had to do was let him in and she was ready to do that. Ready to see where this relationship with the brilliant and annoying physiatrist would go. Her last thought before falling asleep was that she should change his contact from ‘Annoying Shrink’ to ‘Annoying Boyfriend’ and she just might do that.