Work Text:
(1) the rain jacket
Dennis arrives looking far less miserable than everyone else that morning.
Dana catches him as he comes in, swallowed by an oversized navy rain jacket. His curls are damp, but that's about the worst of it.
His curls are damp, but that's about the worst of it.
"Morning."
"Morning." She nods toward the jacket. "Glad somebody dressed for the weather."
Dennis follows her gaze, almost as if he'd forgotten he was wearing it.
"Oh."
"I didn't know you owned a rain jacket."
"I don't."
He slips it off, giving it a quick shake before hanging it over his arm.
"Borrowed it."
Dana hums. "Smart."
A few weeks earlier, Dennis had mentioned, almost in passing, that he'd been stopping by Robby's place every few days while he was away. Picking up the mail. Watering the plants. Making sure everything still worked the way it was supposed to.
If he'd gotten caught in the rain over there, borrowing a jacket before heading to work seemed like the obvious solution.
"Whitaker!"
Both of them look up as Al-Hashimi is already striding toward them from the far end of the hallway.
"I need you in Three."
Dennis doesn't hesitate.
"I'm coming."
He drapes the rain jacket over the back of the nearest chair, flashes Dana a quick smile, and heads after Al-Hashimi.
Dana watches him disappear just as the phone starts ringing again.
Another patient arrives.
The day moves on.
By the end of the shift, she couldn't have told you what jacket he'd been wearing.
(2) the beanie
"You planning on seeing patients like that?"
Dennis doesn't even look up from the board at first.
"Hm?"
McKay gestures vaguely toward his head. "The beanie."
His hand immediately flies up.
"...Fuck." He pulls it off with a laugh. "Forgot."
"I noticed. You've been wearing it for five minutes."
"I got distracted."
She gives him a look as he absently twists the beanie around one hand while scanning the board for new patients.
Only after a second does he try to flatten his curls, but it doesn't work.
McKay bites the inside of her cheek.
"I think the beanie was doing you a favor."
Dennis looks at her, offended.
"Rude."
"But true."
He tries again.
Now one curl is sticking almost straight up.
"...Worse?"
"So much worse."
He sighs dramatically.
"Thanks."
"For what?"
"The confidence boost."
McKay's smile fades for just a second as her eyes drop to the beanie still hanging loosely from his fingers.
Dennis notices.
"What?"
She shakes her head.
"Nothing."
"You made a face."
"Did I?"
"Yeah."
Another shrug.
"I don't know. It just looks... familiar."
Dennis glances down at it himself, like he's trying to see what she sees.
And before either of them can think about it…
"Huckleberry!" Santos leans out of an exam room, one gloved hand still holding the curtain aside. "You got a second? Langdon's driving me insane."
Dennis glances toward her, then back at McKay.
Saved.
He’s already spent twenty freezing minutes waiting for the bus this morning. The last thing he feels like doing now is explaining why he’s wearing someone else’s beanie.
"Yeah," he says, tucking the beanie into the pocket of his scrub pants as he heads her way.
(3) the fleece
Jack and Shen have taken over earlier than usual, and Santos headed out a few minutes ago with Garcia, leaving Dennis behind to finish up the last of his charts.
It only takes him another twenty minutes, with Langdon charting beside him as well.
"Done."
"Miracle."
"Exactly."
Dennis smiles and reaches under the desk for his bag. He opens it, pulling out the dark green fleece he'd left there earlier before slipping it on without much thought.
Langdon only looks up because of the movement.
His eyes catch on the fleece for a moment, and something about it makes him pause.
He can't say why.
Maybe it's the color… maybe it's the way it sits on Dennis's shoulders, but something about it just feels familiar.
Dennis notices him looking.
"What?"
Langdon blinks.
"Hm?"
"You good?"
"Yeah. Just zoning out."
Dennis shakes his head, amused. "See you tomorrow."
"See you."
"Try to rest."
Langdon nods as Whitaker heads toward the exit, pulling the fleece tighter around himself.
He knows now where he's seen it. Or rather, who he's seen wearing it.
But there is no way... That doesn't make sense.
He shakes his head.
Probably just a similar one.
There are a hundred dark green fleeces in Pittsburgh.
He turns back to his charts, and a few seconds later, Mel calls his name from across the department.
Whatever thought had started to form disappears.
(4) the gloves
The gloves are the first thing Mel notices.
Not because they stand out.
They're just gloves… dark, worn, the kind that disappear into the bottom of a bag and get forgotten about.
She only pays attention because Langdon had made some offhand comment about Dennis' fleece looking familiar two weeks ago.
At the time, she hadn't thought much of it. But now?
"Those yours?"
Dennis looks down.
"The gloves?"
"Yeah."
For a second, he looks almost confused, like he has to think about the question.
Then he shrugs.
"Not exactly. I borrowed them."
"Cool. They look soft."
That's all she says.
Because it's not unusual…. not really. People borrow things. They leave things behind. They forget what belongs to who.
Except now, for some reason, her mind goes back.
The fleece, the gloves… small things. The kind of things nobody would notice unless they're paying attention.
Maybe it's nothing.
Probably nothing.
But she has a pretty good idea where they came from.
She doesn't ask him anything else.
Dennis doesn't offer any more of an explanation.
And the moment passes.
(5) the thermos
Jack notices the thermos when Dennis sets it down after coming back from the lockers.
It's nothing remarkable: a worn-out thing with a faded finish, the kind of cup most people wouldn't look twice at.
Jack does.
Because he knows that old thermos.
And for a second, he almost reaches for it, like touching it would somehow confirm what he already knows.
But he stops himself.
Dennis is moving across the room, finishing a conversation with an older patient, completely unaware, while he remembers Robby leaning against the counter with that same thermos in his hand.
Jack's attention stays on the container for another second before shifting back to Dennis.
And something quietly settles.
Of course.
He looks away before Whitaker can notice him staring, already fighting the urge to pull out his phone and send a message.
+1 the hoodie
November 12. Robby's first day back.
Santos knows Robby is coming back today.
The shift starts like any other. Nobody makes a big announcement.
But every now and then, someone looks toward the entrance.
Waiting.
Abbot pulled a double for a reason.
She sees Dennis first.
Which is normal.
Dennis is always somewhere nearby.
Except lately, he hasn't really been.
Not in the way Santos is used to.
Because she lives with him.
She knows when he gets home late.
She knows when he says he's "just going out for a bit" and comes back hours later.
She knows when he walks through the door exhausted but somehow lighter than when he left.
She knows when something is bothering him.
She just doesn't always know what.
And lately, something hasn't been bothering him.
Something has been making him happy.
She just hasn't figured out what.
Not until today.
Robby walks in.
The shift doesn't stop.
But everyone pauses. Robby looks the same and different at the same time.
A little older. A little more careful. A little more… alive and human. Like whatever time away took from him, it also gave something back.
But still Robby.
Then someone calls his name.
Jack gets next to him so fast that Robby doesn't know what to do.
Then Jack pulls him into a hug.
No hesitation.
No awkwardness.
Just relief.
"Good to see you, man."
Robby laughs quietly.
"Yeah."
A pause.
"Good to be back."
And just like that, the moment is over.
Because this is the Pitt.
There is always another patient.
Always another call.
Always something.
But Santos doesn't miss what happens next.
Dennis looks up from the computer.
And there it is.
That tiny change.
The one Santos has been seeing for months without understanding.
Dennis smiles.
Not the polite one.
Not the work one.
The real one.
Robby sees him.
And smiles back.
And Santos looks away because suddenly she feels like she's watching something she wasn't supposed to see.
No way.
*
The problem is that once she starts noticing, she can't stop.
Dennis isn't hovering around Robby.
That would be too obvious.
It's smaller than that.
It's the way he knows where Robby is without looking.
The way Robby walks up to the desk and Dennis already moves out of the way.
The way Robby says something under his breath and Dennis immediately knows what he means.
Little things.
Things that don't happen overnight.
Things that come from time.
Santos hates that.
Because time means this has been happening for a while.
*
The hoodie catches her attention.
She doesn't know how she didn't notice it earlier.
Maybe because she wasn't looking. Maybe because, on some level, she already knew.
It is obviously not Dennis'. It's too big.
Then Robby walks by.
Stops.
Looks down.
"Are those sleeves too long for you?"
Dennis glances down.
"The sleeves?"
Robby nods.
"They're fine."
A small smile pulls at Robby's mouth.
"You were the one complaining they were too big this morning."
"I was not."
"You absolutely were."
Holy shit!
Dennis finally looks up at him.
"Dr. Robby."
The warning is immediate.
Quiet. Automatic. A reminder that they are standing in the middle of the Pitt.
Robby catches himself.
A grin.
"Right."
Santos looks back at her computer.
Because she heard enough.
Fuckleberry, indeed.
*
A few hours later, Dennis sets the thermos down while he charts.
Santos doesn't even think about it.
Not until Robby reaches over, takes it, and drinks from it. Like he's done it a hundred times.
Then his face changes.
"Too much milk."
"You still drank it."
"You made enough for two."
Dennis shakes his head. "I always do."
Santos stops.
There it is.
The thing she couldn't name.
The thing she had been seeing every day when Dennis came home.
A secret life… Well, more like a private one.
One she hadn't been invited into because Dennis wasn't hiding it.
He was just living it.
Robby puts the thermos back, then leans over Dennis's shoulder to look at the chart.
"You're missing something."
"I am not."
"You are."
Dennis sighs.
"Robby."
"Right there."
Dennis looks.
He was right.
Of course he was.
Santos fights the urge to gag.
He's been fucking Robby all along.
"Unbelievable," she mutters.