Steps

Step 11: Whirlwind Nights

"So does it work?"

"I don't know Adam. The code is still compiling."

Adam hovered over Leah, his head resting lightly on top of hers. She was currently sitting at her kitchen table, working on a new section of code for Project A.T.O.M. After finishing the code for the satellite link between the suit and the server sometime before Christmas, Ray had once again suckered them into writing more code, this time for a new HUD. She had a feeling that this would take a much longer time than a simple satellite link though.

"I still don't get how you know all this stuff Lee. We took the same classes in high school, and I'm pretty sure they didn't teach you this stuff at your ....college." There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice as he spoke. "Heck, they didn't even teach me this stuff at Kennesaw."

"I learned it on my own. Do you really think they taught me Perl at Jefferson State?"

"Not really." He withdrew from his position on her head and moved over to the other side of the table, flopping down in the other chair. "I still don't see why you didn't go to Tech or something. You could have done it. And you would have been close to me."

She looked up from the screen. "Didn't want to."

Adam picked at the corner of the table. "You baffle me Leah Elms. You always have."

"Your face baffles me." She smirked, crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair, begging for him to try and refute her.

"Weak."

There was a sudden knock at the door. Leah suppressed a laugh as she got up and headed for the door. "Who cares? You didn't refute. I win."

"I wasn't finished!"

"Too late. I win." She quickly looked through the peephole and opened the door.

Cisco caught her eye as soon as the door was open and gave her a weak smile. "Te extrañé mucho."

Her brow furrowed, and she blinked a few times in confusion. Spanish? Did he think she spoke Spanish? "What?"

"Te extrañé mucho." Cisco suddenly closed the distance between them, pulling her into a tight hug and burying his head in her shoulder. She tensed. What was his deal with hugging?

In his defense, she hadn't seen him since the end of November. She had spent pretty much all of December running between Starling and Central, and Cisco had that weird bug thing... she didn't really understand. And then she had gone home for Christmas, which had been a huge mistake. But Cisco had texted her every single day, somehow keeping her company when no one else was around, so she couldn't exactly say that she wasn't excited to see him. But still... She gently tried to wiggle out of his arms.

Cisco mumbled something else in Spanish.

She turned to Adam, Cisco's head still resting on her shoulder. "Didn't you take Spanish? What is he saying?"

"Obviously, he didn't want you to understand, so I'm not going to tell you. Who is that by the way?"

"Oh, right. This is Cisco."

"That's Cisco?"

"Yea." She finally managed to get out of Cisco's arms, and took a few steps back. He really didn't seem to notice... he just kind of... stood there....

"Does he always do that?"

"No." She looked Cisco over. He looked like a zombie. The dark circles under his eyes were insanely pronounced, and his eyes were all but lifeless. "I think he's a bit off today." A bit off was an understatement. He looked terrible.