She had that smile again. The little one, the barely there one, the one reserved for that maddening inside joke that somehow Hodges came to share with her. Every night he watched her walk back from the trace lab, results in hand, wearing that pretty pink smirk. Hodges would say something and she would let out her curling laugh and that goddamn smile would appear. There he was, across the hall or passing by, on the outside looking in.

"Hey Greg," she said. "Catch you later at the diner? I've got to drop these off with Russell." She waved the manila folder like a white flag. He had this sinking feeling that she knew about how he looked at her.

"Sure, maybe."

Then she smiled, like she always did, brilliant and white, but it was not reserved for him and it stung. Jesus Christ it stung. Her blonde hair swung behind her as she continued on down the hall, steps light and unbothered.

He was starting to think she was actually an AI. No one could look so good, smile so much, and keep up a conversation with Hodges unless they were quite literally a robot from the future.

"What're you thinking so hard about Greg?"

He jumped and his ears turned pink. He wished his hair was still long enough to hide it. "Um, robots? Robots. Terminator robots. Scary stuff."

Finley gave him a knowing look. "Maybe the robot wouldn't be so scary if you just talked to her instead of staring at her ass."

Greg choked and began to stutter uncontrollably.

"I mean, come on. Everybody knows. You might as well just tell her. She might not be here to prevent the human uprising after all. See you at the diner later, Protector of the Universe." The older blonde sashayed away much like the younger had only a few minutes before.