I'm So Glad I Found You : Quintis Fic

What's a Home to You?

When Sage exits the interrogation room a little after Colby left, she seemed mildly distressed over something that had occurred. She avoided eye contact with anyone in the room, and she say a word. She just walked with a bowed head and pursed lips. The rest of the team turned towards her as she rushed over to her backpack lying neatly atop the coffee table, rummaging through it and pulling out random things she had stuffed in there earlier then setting them aside to find what she is really searching for.

Toby exits next, followed by Cabe. Toby seemed somewhat off too, but not as severe as Sage was. He was rubbing the back of his neck while he rolled his neck out, a nervous tick Happy picked up on instantly. She rushed up to him with a frown.

"What happened in there?" she whispered, leaning closer into him so no one could overhear.

"I'll tell you later" he says, placing a gentle hand on the small of her back and leading her back towards the team.

He sees Sage's back turned to him as she rummages through her bag and he knows she was having a rough time with the whole situation and he felt bad for her. She had pulled out her sketchbook then she set it on the table before continuing her frantic search, looking for something else. When she found what she was looking for she sped towards Toby, hiding her face from everyone else behind her curtain of long blonde hair.

"Is there somewhere I can draw? By myself" she asks so quietly that Toby has to bend down to hear her clearly.

"Uh, yeah, over here," he says, pointing out the other side of the garage and leading her towards his desk. He clears all the paper stacks, along with the hat Sage had saw him wearing earlier, so she could sit with her book and give her a little time to herself while she let all the new information sink in.

"Here. Take as much time as you need," he said, pulling the chair out for her and patting her head once in comfort before walking back towards the team.

"So what's the story?" Paige asks, moving to stand beside Toby.

"She's been through so much, and we can't help because she won't tell us anything," he says, discussing all that had they had learned about her in the room. Everything from when and how Colby and Sage met, to the arrangement they had agreed to later on, with Sage picking one of the team members to stay with temporarily, opposed to staying in police custody.

"She'll probably pick Toby" Sylvester observes, nodding his head and turning to look over at Sage concentrating on the picture she was working with at Toby's desk.

"Would you mind if she did stay with us Hap?" Toby asks, looking over at Happy for her approval. Happy nodded and shrugged her shoulders, giving off a barely visible smile.

"I like the kid, she seems well-behaved. Reminds me of Ralph" she answers.

Toby smiled a bit  then looked behind him at Sage sitting comfortably at his desk running the dull pencil repeatedly across the white paper. She was different from almost every kid he had met, and not because she was a genius either. He agreed with Happy, he definitely liked the kid.

***Two hours later***

Cabe approaches Sage who was still drawing at Toby's desk. He looked over her shoulder to see what she was drawing out of curiosity. It was a sketch of the team relaxing and talking on the couch with wide smiles on their faces like they had been for the past couple hours. Toby was sitting in the middle of the couch with a beer in hand and an arm thrown over the back of the couch right above Happy's head, who was enjoying her own drink, both with amused smiles. Paige was sitting on Toby's other side, laughing hysterically at something as she gripped the arm of the couch. Sylvester's back was turned as he sat in the new chair the team had wisely invested in not too long ago. Cabe was standing off to the side with a happy gin on his face, and Walter had pulled up a chair, straddling it and letting his arms rest on the back rest as he laughed along with the others. Of course it wasn't perfect, but every detail could be seen even with the loose sketches and black and white coloring.

Sage maneuvered her arm so he couldn't view the drawing anymore, and he took a step away to respect her personal boundaries.

"That's really good by the way," he notes, but she doesn't respond so he just shrugs and gets to the point. "Have you decided yet?" He asks her, and she looks up at him for a brief second before returning her attention back to the paper.

"Yes," is the only response she gives.

Cabe sighs, he should be used to this type of attitude by now. Almost every genius in the garage gives the same type of answers, even Ralph. Short and to the point, with no bother to elaborate unless it was strictly necessary. Except for Toby, he couldn't give a discrete answer even if he wanted to.

"Okay then, you just might want to inform whoever they are before they leave," Cabe says, walking away from the desk and throwing his hands in his pockets.

Walter went up to the loft after the team dispersed from their short celebratory chat from earlier. Probably working on one of his most recent experiments that has prevented him from getting any real sleep. Paige had moved back to her desk doing paperwork for the short and simple case they had finished up that afternoon. Sylvester was going back and forth every few minutes from his desk to the chalkboard. Happy had onto her desk and began tinkering while talking to Toby, who had followed her with a folding chair.

Sage couldn't hear what they were saying from across the garage, but from the way Happy's cheeks flushed bright pink probably meant she didn't want to know what they were talking about. She still needed to talk to Toby though. She hoped that he would take a hint and come to talk to her on his own.

Happy had looked up and saw Sage staring at them, no longer working at her drawing. Hands folded on the desk while her chin rested neatly on top as she watched them with the smallest of smiles. Just like she's seen Ralph do a thousand times. She nudged Toby with her hip to get his attention then nodded towards Sage watching them from his desk and he seemed to get the message pretty quickly. He stood up from the folding chair and made his way over to his desk.

"Hey kid, made up your mind yet?" He asks, leaning against the side of the desk and bracing himself with his hand. She nodded and turned her head so she was looking up at him.

"Do you think I could go home with you and Happy?" she asked nervously, then flickering her gaze away from him and towards anything on the cluttered desk and Toby nods his head quickly.

"Yeah sure thing sweetie, but may I ask how know about me and Happy" he asked, cocking his head to the side. Sage smiled a little as she looked up at him again.

"Same way you know if people are lying. Plus you guys were really obvious."

"Fair enough" he says with his own smirk. "We'll leave in a couple hours. Do you need anything?" he asks, placing a hand on her arm and he's surprised when she doesn't pull away from him.

"Is it possible to get some food, I haven't eaten all day" she asks, chuckling softly.

"Of course," he said with a grin and while he's walking back over to Happy's desk he calls out to Paige.

"Hey Paige, could you make some food for Sage, she's sorta hungry."

Paige looks up from her work and smiles over at Sage as she gets up and heads towards the kitchen. Grateful for any excuse to not sit at that desk a moment longer.

A few minutes later she comes out with a sandwich, chips and a glass of juice. She places them all on the desk, in front of Sage.

"Here you go sweetheart," she says, combing a hand through her tangled blonde hair.

"Thanks Paige" she says, before biting into her sandwich.