Miguel O'hara's Second Chance

You need each other

Slowly Elena began to wake up, and could feel she was lying in a bed. Her throat was dry and the rest of her body felt like it had been beat with a stick. She pried her eyes open to see Lyla's holographic image hovering above her. "Ughhhhh" she groaned at the sight of the smart mouthed AI. "Well hello to you too" Lyla remarked condescendingly.

"Why are you always watching me?!" Elena demanded trying not to be too loud so nobody would know she was awake. They would find out eventually of course, more likely they already knew since Lyla had probably alerted them the second she opened her eyes, but for now she just wanted to be alone.

All she wanted was a minute to collect her shattered thoughts, was that too much to ask?

"So have you alerted the warden of my consciousness?" "Not yet, I think you deserve some time to yourself where you're not sobbing or struggling to breathe." Lyla fired off sarcastically but there was a hint of genuine kindness to her tone that wasn't there before.

Elena let out a sigh of relief "thanks Lyla" "don't mention it." A few moments of silence pass before Elena speaks up "Lyla what's wrong with me?" The hologram glitched a bit expressing her confusion at the question. "What do you mean?" "I mean.... Why did I feel the need to get revenge on my dad? So what if he's not perfect, who is? I mean.... he lost Gabby when he broke a cannon event. He didn't want my parents to die, he just didn't want anyone else to suffer losing someone like he did. Which is probably why he took me in the first place."

Lyla smiles softly at Elena's words. "There's nothing wrong with you kid. Except for the fact you're human, but hey that can't be helped." They both laugh at the comment.

"Look Elena, Miguel was a sad man who lost his daughter and you were a sad kid who lost her parents. In a way you just ended up filling those roles for each other. It's not always going to work out exactly right but at the end of the day you need each other."

Elena smiled, not a full smile, just a half hearted small smile but still.... It was a smile. It'd been a while since she'd done that. "Wise words for the artificial intelligence" she chuckled softly.

A figure appeared in the doorway and both beings turned to look. Hobie stood in the doorway wearing a hoodie and some basketball shorts, he looked like he hadn't been getting enough sleep. "Hey spider bite, your dad wanted to see you but didn't know if the feeling was reciprocated. Therefore, I was sent in as a peace offering."

This got Elena to really laugh. It was not lost on her that Hobie continued to refer to Miguel as her dad even when everyone else seemed to switch. Hobie came over and kissed the top of her head "haven't heard that sound in a while." He teased her lovingly "I missed it." She smiled up at him affectionately, his presence, however stomach butterfly inducing, was comforting.

"So what do you say? Will ya let the old man come see you?" He looked at her expectantly.