This story is set during Season 3 between 'Ice Ca-Cabes' and 'Faux Money Maux Problems'. I thought I'd leave all the post-finale drama alone for a while a revisit happier times - of you can call angsty, pre-Waige 'happier times'?
I actually started writing this a year ago so it's about time I posted it. I know Tim was really unpopular and I want to explore Paige's motivations for continuing their relationship as long as she did.
I hope you enjoy it, all reviews are very welcome, thank you kindly!
CHAPTER 1.
"Cabe! What are you doing here?"
"Nice to see you too, Doc," growled Cabe Gallo as he strode into the garage.
"Are you sure you should be up and around already?" Sylvester Dodd asked with concern as he and Toby Curtis walked over to meet him.
"I wouldn't want my handiwork to go to waste," added Toby.
It had been three weeks since Cabe had been injured by a stray piece of shrapnel while the team had been working in the desert. He had only survived thanks to the quick thinking and skills of Walter, Toby and the rest of Team Scorpion.
"Don't worry, guys," grinned Cabe. "I've been declared fit for duty."
"The doctors do realise your duties involve abseiling down cliffs and jumping out of planes, right?" queried Toby.
"Light duties," Cabe clarified.
"It's good to have you back," smiled Sylvester and he suddenly lunged at a startled Cabe , enveloping him in a huge bear hug. Only Cabe's Marine-trained reflexes stopped him from toppling over with the impact.
"It's good to be back," nodded Cabe as Sylvester finally released him.
There had been a time when Cabe had thought it was all over. He'd had some close calls in the Marines, but this had been his closest one yet. He knew he'd been seconds from death when the team had frozen his body and then effected a temporary repair to his punctured aorta. He'd had complete faith in the team - he always did - but his life had flashed before him as he'd wondered if the task was going to be beyond even the combined genius of Scorpion. He realised now that he should never have doubted them, even for a split-second and now he had a newfound lease of life and he owed the team everything.
"Have they given you antibiotics?" asked Sylvester, grabbing Cabe by the arm and leading him towards the sofa to sit down. "He should be on antibiotics to fight infection, shouldn't he, Toby?"
"Two courses," confirmed Cabe before Toby had chance to answer.
"And a blood thinner," added Sylvester, anxiously. "To prevent an aneurysm. Tell him, Toby."
Toby opened his mouth to speak, but Cabe spoke up first. "Don't worry, kid. I've got enough pills to open a drug store."
"You should set up a schedule on your phone," said Sylvester. "With alerts so you don't forget to take anything, or worse, so you don't take a double dose! I'll help you, give me your phone."
Cabe laughed. "I think I can remember to take my meds," he tried to reassure his anxious young friend. "Besides, one of you geniuses can remind me if I forget."
"But what if we're all indisposed?" continued Sylvester. He left Cabe sitting on the sofa and got to his feet. "What if an urgent case comes up and we get separated and our comms fail?" Sylvester paced around in a circle as his mind worked overtime. "And you forget to take your meds and we can't remind you? I'd feel happier if you let me set up alerts on your phone."
"What if he loses his phone?" offered Toby, deliberately playing Devil's Advocate .
Sylvester gasped and looked horrified as Cabe frowned at Toby.
"I'm kidding," grinned Toby. "Sly, take a breath. Cabe's fine and I know he's old, but his memory hasn't started to fail yet... at least not that much."
"Hey!" exclaimed Cabe.
"Maybe you should just check his blood pressure, Toby?" suggested Sylvester. "I'll get your med bag."
"Sly, sit down!" commanded Cabe, authoritatively.
Sylvester stopped dead in his tracks and looked at Cabe, apologetically. "I'm sorry," he said, quietly. "I'm fussing and it's annoying you, I know that, but I can't help it."
" Nice to know you care, kid," replied Cabe with a warm smile. "Now please have a seat. You too, Doc. Where are the others?"
"Happy is out buying parts for something," replied Toby, as he and Sylvester sat either side of Cabe. "And Paige and Walter went to buy groceries."
"Together?" asked Cabe in surprise.
Toby nodded. "Sometimes their behaviour baffles even my genius brain," he replied with a shrug.
"OK, well I guess I'll talk to everyone else later," continued Cabe. "I just wanted to say thank you. Y'know, for saving my life. What you guys did for me, well, it took a lot of guts."
"It did," agreed Toby. "Mostly yours. In fact I think I still have some under my fingernails." He peered closely at the ends of his fingertips.
Sylvester clamped his hand to his mouth as a wave of nausea threatened to overwhelm him.
"I'm being serious," said Cabe, earnestly. "I owe you my life."
"Yeah, well... we couldn't just let you… die," replied Toby, his voice cracking with a rare show of real emotion.
He had replayed the events of that day in his mind so many times and, genius or not, he still couldn't believe their plan had worked. He was a psychiatrist, not a surgeon and he'd never felt a level of panic like it as he'd battled to save Cabe, but with the whole team working together, they had pulled off their greatest achievement yet. Happy had worked her magic to engineer the equipment they needed, Sylvester had overcome one of his greatest fears to pick up a snake and Walter and Paige had… well, they'd gone skinny dipping. Toby would never be entirely certain how that part fitted into their plan, but they'd got what they needed to keep Cabe alive and that was the important thing.
Just then the door to the garage opened and Ralph walked in. "Hey, kiddo," smiled Cabe as the young genius crossed to the couch.
"Hi, Cabe," replied Ralph quietly. He seemed more distracted than usual and it took him a second or two to realise this was the first time he'd seen Cabe back at work since the accident. "Cabe!" he finally exclaimed with delight.
Ralph had had a couple of nightmares about losing Cabe since the accident so he was overjoyed to see him looking so healthy. He slipped the straps of his schoolbag from his shoulders, put it on the floor and gave Cabe a hug.
Cabe held him for as long as he could. Not only had he come to love Ralph like he was his own grandson, Cabe knew how rare it was for Ralph to display his emotions, so to feel the boy's arms around him now meant more to Cabe than Ralph would ever realise.
"Did you have a good day at school?" Cabe asked, eventually releasing his grasp on the boy.
"It was OK," replied Ralph with a shrug.
"You're back early," noted Sylvester. "I thought you were going to stay for basketball practice?"
"Basketball?" queried Cabe, slightly surprised and Ralph nodded a confirmation. "Well, that's great! Team sports are an important part of your education, it's not all about math and science."
"I know, but it was cancelled," Ralph explained. "I called Mom and she said it was OK for Mrs McCrae to give me a ride back here. Do we have any lemonade?" Without waiting for a reply he wandered off towards the kitchen.
"Is everything OK with Ralph?" Cabe asked in a low voice. "I though Paige and Walter were getting along now? Unless that was all a show for my benefit while I was in the hospital?"
"No, everything seems to be fine between them, as long as no-one mentions the T-word," replied Toby.
"Tim," clarified Sylvester.
"I know I'm not a genius, Sly, but I'd figured that one out," replied Cabe.
"I'll go check on Ralph," said Toby and Sylvester and Cabe watched as he followed Ralph into the kitchen. "Hey, pal," he said, finding Ralph squeezing lemons into a jug. "So, you remember how I'm a genius behaviourist," he began, folding his arms and leaning against the fridge.
Ralph turned to look at it him with a frown on his face. "OK, OK, so I lied about basketball being cancelled," he admitted.
Toby leaned forward slightly so he was more on Ralph's level. "Trouble with the other kids?" he asked, gently.
Ralph shook his head. "Just didn't feel like it, that's all," he replied.
Toby could tell he was telling the truth. "You enjoyed it last week," he pointed out.
"I know," agreed Ralph. He couldn't really explain it to Toby, there was no particular reason why he'd wanted to come straight home after school today, but he had so he'd pretended he'd forgotten his kit and got a lift back with one of the other kid's Mom's. Of course he didn't really need to try to explain it to Toby.
"OK, pal," nodded Toby. "It's normal to feel that way sometimes. Maybe next week?"
Ralph nodded. "I'm so happy that Cabe's back," he said, with a much brighter expression on his face.
"Me too," agreed Toby. "Now let me give you a hand with that lemonade. Your Mom and Walter'll be back soon."
XxXxXxXxX
In fact it was less than half an hour before the whole team were back at the garage. Walter, Paige and Happy were delighted to see Cabe back with the team and Paige quickly set about making a celebratory meal.
"Come and eat, geniuses!" she called out as Cabe helped her carry food to the table.
Happy rolled her eyes as Toby raced Ralph to the table.
"Thank you, Paige," said Walter, admiring the spread as he took his seat. "This all looks edible and nutritious."
Paige laughed and shook her head, knowing that was as good a compliment as she was ever likely to receive from him.
"Hello?"
They all spun round at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. The figure of a young woman stood in the doorway. She appeared no older then fifteen or sixteen and was carrying a large rucksack over her shoulder. Her blonde, curly hair was cut in a casual style and looked in need of a wash and her jeans and jacket were crumpled. Cabe got to his feet to greet her. "Can I help you, miss?" he asked.
The girl's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Is this Scorpion?" she asked. She dropped her heavy bag at her feet and slowly surveyed the garage as she spoke. "I was expecting something more, I dunno… impressive, I guess."
Walter stepped forward, his arms folded defensively across his chest. "I'm Walter O'Brien, Scorpion is my company. Can I help you with anything?"
"I know who you are," responded the girl, boldly looking Walter up and down. "I've seen you on TV. You guys do some seriously wild and crazy stuff."
"Wild and crazy, that's us," agreed Toby, studying her behaviour with interest.
Happy stood up and addressed the girl in her usual blunt manner. "Who are you and what do you want?"
The girl's confident demeanour was suddenly gone, making her look younger than she had when she'd arrived. She opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't get any words out.
"Happy didn't mean to scare you," said Paige, with a glancing frown at the genius engineer. "We're just a little confused, that's all."
"I'm... I'm not scared," insisted the girl.
It was obvious even to Walter that Happy's direct approach had made the girl very nervous, despite her protestations to the contrary. She didn't say anything else. Instead she stared silently at each of the team in turn. Toby watched her with interest.
"Maybe we should start with your name?" suggested Paige.
"I'm Marnie," she replied, offering Paige the merest hint of a smile. Then her face fell and she started looking around the room again.
"What have you lost, kiddo?" asked Cabe with a frown.
"I'm not a kid!" she snapped. Then her voice became quieter. "Where is he?" she asked. All of her earlier confidence had completely faded now. "Where's Tim Armstrong?"
Suddenly the atmosphere in the garage completely changed. Happy glanced at Toby, hoping her fiancé was going to make one of his awful jokes to break the silence, but even Toby was uncharacteristically silent.
"The T-word," muttered Sylvester under his breath and he turned away, not wanting to witness whatever was going to happen next.
"Timothy Armstrong no longer works with Scorpion," Walter eventually replied, curtly.
Marnie gasped at Walter's sharp response.
"Walter!" exclaimed Paige. She was sick of Walter's childish attitude towards Tim and had to force herself to stay calm in front of their guest. She'd just about forgiven him for his part in Tim's decision to leave for the Middle East, but it still hurt every time he made a snarky comment about her boyfriend.
"I'm merely stating a fact," retorted Walter. Then he turned his attention back to Marnie. "Tim is working overseas. May I ask why you are enquiring after him? If your knowledge of us comes from TV reports you'll know Tim has not been an integral part of many of our cases."
"You just can't help it, can you!" Paige faced Walter with her hands on her hips. "For once, please…" but she was interrupted by Marnie before she could finish her sentence.
"I need to see him!" exclaimed the girl, her voice hitching and her eyes filling with tears. "I came all this way, I can't believe he's not here!"
Paige glanced at Toby and he took a step closer to them, as concerned about Marnie's behaviour as Paige was. Suddenly, the girl stumbled forward. Paige instinctively reached out and grabbed her arm before her knees completely buckled underneath her.
"Woah, steady," said Toby, rushing forward and taking Marnie's other arm. "You don't have to throw yourself at my feet," he added, with a grin as he and Paige helped her to the sofa.
Marnie's eyes were open, but she was clearly having trouble focussing. Toby pressed two fingers to her wrist to check her pulse. "G… g… get off me!" she half-whispered, trying to push him away, but she didn't have the strength. Paige couldn't help but admire her determination.
"Hey, it's OK," said Toby, releasing her wrist and holding his hands in the air in a gesture of innocence. "I'm a doctor, I just wanna check you over. You zoned out on us there for a minute. Ralph, could you please fetch my med bag?"
Ralph quickly went to get Toby's bag and Marnie reluctantly allowed Toby to examine her.
"You look exhausted," noted Paige, smiling supportively. "Have you travelled far?"
"I'm from Fort Myers," replied Marnie, weakly.
"Florida?" exclaimed Sylvester. "That's two thousand six hundred and ninety three miles away!"
"You're dehydrated," said Toby eventually. "And your blood sugar's a little low. When was the last time you ate something besides a handful of Milk Duds?"
"I'm fine, I think I should go. Coming here was a waste of time," replied Marnie, dismissively.
Her attempt to sound indifferent to her situation didn't fool Toby who could read a whole host of mixed emotions from her. "Oh, so you're fine are you?" he asked, dryly. "My mistake."
Marnie sneered at him and tried to push herself up, but she didn't have the strength and just slumped back down onto the sofa. Toby gave her an 'I-told-you-so' look, before exchanging a concerned glance with Paige. They still had no idea who she was, but already they felt compassion for her and her situation, whatever that might be. Toby could tell that Paige was worried about why the young woman was asking after Tim, but to her credit she had so far resisted questioning Marnie any further.
"I'll fetch some water," said Walter, feeling a little guilty for being so discourteous with her when she first arrived.
"It's important to keep yourself hydrated on a long flight," noted Sylvester. "Another good reason to keep two feet planted firmly on the ground."
"I didn't fly here," explained Marnie. "I've been saving for the bus ride, but… but I couldn't wait that long so I… I... um, I hitched a ride. Several rides, actually."
"All the way from Florida?" exclaimed Paige and Marnie nodded.
"Took me, like, eight days."
"Oh my goodness," said Sylvester, breaking into a light sweat at the mere thought of it. "Don't you know how dangerous that is?"
"I can take care of myself!" retorted Marnie.
"In the last thirty years there have been six hundred and seventy two reported cases of hitch-hikers being killed along interstate highways alone!" Sylvester continued, undeterred.
"Let's just be thankful Marnie here didn't make that six hundred and seventy three," noted Cabe, frowning at Sylvester.
Sylvester mumbled an apology, he couldn't help blurting out statistics and he didn't always consider the effects the information might have on other people.
Walter returned with a glass of water for Marnie and the girl gratefully took a few gulps. "I just can't believe I came all this way and… and he's not here," she said. "I mean, I don't care. It's not like it really matters."
Happy walked over to them, folding her arms across her chest. "You're talking about Tim, right?" she queried. "I'm not the best at figuring out how people feel, but I'd say it matters to you." She was a little suspicious of the new arrival. "So, I'm going to deal with the elephant in the room."
"What elephant?" asked Walter, with a puzzled expression. He looked around the garage as if a huge African mammal was inexplicably going to appear in front of him.
Toby rolled his eyes. "He's got a one ninety seven IQ, but you can write his knowledge of metaphorical idioms on the back of a postage stamp," he said with a wink at Marnie.
"It means to ask the question that everyone's avoiding," Paige explained quietly. She wasn't sure she was going to like the answer to this particular question though.
"Tell us why you want to see Tim Armstrong," demanded Happy.
Marnie gulped some more water, but said nothing.
"Why don't we save the interrogation until she's feeling up to talking?" suggested Toby. "Her blood sugars are still low, she needs to eat and rest. Ralph, can you please grab her an apple from the bowl? We can waterboard her later."
"He's kidding," said Paige at Marnie's slightly startled face.
"Look, I'm feeling a lot better already," insisted Marnie. "I think I should just go. I feel like I screwed this all up."
"You stay right there," said Cabe with a smile as Ralph handed the girl an apple. "At least until you get your strength back."
"Is it a boy-band thing?" asked Toby.
"What are you talking about this time, Doc?" asked Cabe.
"You know," replied Toby. "Boy-bands are manufactured using a very specific psychological profile to attract a wide dynamic of teenage fans, so everyone gets to choose their favourite. There's the talented one, the goofy one, the shy one, the bad boy who gets papped falling out of nightclubs and then completing the line-up there's always a good-looking one. Sometimes he's a good dancer too, but talent's not a requirement if he has great teeth and abs."
"Have you completely lost your mind today, Doc?" asked Happy.
"I think I understand," said Walter, much to everyone's surprise. "Timothy is the one with the teeth and abs. You believe Marnie's favourite member, or former member, of Scorpion is Tim, the one with no talent."
"Walter!" exclaimed Paige, but before an argument could develop, Marnie found her voice.
"It's not like that… you're nuts!" she exclaimed. "I've seen what you guys can do, saving the world and stuff and I thought you'd be like, cool, I guess, but you're just weird."
"You're in the wrong place if you want less weird, kiddo," noted Cabe.
"But… but, I need to see Tim Armstrong. I need to see him because..." she trailed off and stared into her glass of water.
"It's OK, take your time," urged Toby in his most reassuring tone. It was obvious that Marnie was finding it very difficult to say whatever it was she was trying to say. He looked over his shoulder and realised the audience wasn't making it any easier for her. "Why don't you guys back off and give our guest a little air?" he suggested.
Walter, Happy and Sylvester all looked at little guilty and spread themselves out in the garage, pretending to be busy with one thing or another. Ralph went with Walter, but Paige and Cabe stayed with Marnie and Toby.
"So, come on," urged Paige, desperate now to know why Tim was so important to Marnie. "You can tell us. Why did you travel all the way from Florida, alone, to see Tim?"
Marnie nodded and took a deep breath. She sat up a little straighter and looked directly at Paige. "Tim Armstrong is my father."
To be continued...