Title: Be Careful What You Wish

Summary: Paige is dating Tim, but is that what she really wants?

Author's Note: Warning, early chapters will include quite a bit of Paige and Tim. Waige will come eventually, but if the thought of Paige and Tim together makes you squirm, you may want to look elsewhere.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own /scorpion. This story is for entertainment purposes only. I make no profit and no infringement of copyrights is intended.

Chapter 1

She had to admit that she wasn't enjoying herself.

She was a cheerleader in high school. She knew enough about football to understand when a team was doing well and when it wasn't. The LA team was doing well so far, but there was still the second half of play to get through and Paige also knew that anything could happen in a football game, even up until the last minutes – or seconds. In that way, it was a bit like a lot of Scorpion's cases. They so often came down to Walter or one of the others pulling a Hail Mary solution out of their back pocket at the last minute.

The thing is, despite the emotions of the fans around her, the fate of the world did not depend on the outcome of a football game. She found the game allowed her to relax; to get her mind off of the frequent tension at work. Lately, though, that tension was more personal than professional.

Toby and Happy were apparently dealing with their issues. With the identity of Happy's husband revealed (that had been a shock!), and now that Walter's citizenship was assured, Toby wasn't taking jabs at Happy about it anymore. Since Happy revealed her non-pregnant status, Toby wasn't taking jabs at Happy about anything. Sometimes their banter included the old teasing affection, and while both were happy about their now official engagement and also obviously very much in love, there was a tone of sadness about the pair that was difficult to see. Paige understood that, even though the baby had never actually existed, to both the parents-to-be, the loss was real. She ached for Happy, and wished that she could help, but having never lost a child herself, she wasn't sure she could, beyond the most basic offers of comfort.

The situation between herself and Walter was another story. Their former friendliness was gone. Walter avoided virtually all contact or communication with her beyond what was strictly necessary for Scorpion… and for Ralph. It shouldn't surprise her that Walter would dismiss whatever issues he had with her in order to maintain his relationship with her son, but it did. She would always be grateful to him for that, since she hated the idea of their rift affecting Ralph. It did, of course, but not as badly as it might. Thanks to his relationships with all the team as well as his growing socialization at school, he was much more in tune with emotions than any of the adult geniuses. Ralph was acutely aware of the tension between herself and Walter.

"It's half-time. You want something to eat or… or drink?"

Paige turned to answer the man sitting beside her. He was dressed for the early November Los Angeles weather in a light shirt and jeans with a team hoodie that could be removed if it got warm. Paige was glad that Tim wasn't a real fanatic. She would be embarrassed if he sported silly hats or worse, painted his face or chest in team colors.

"Sure," she answered. "I'd love a beer and maybe some cheesy fries?"

"You got it."

Tim stood up and made his way to the steps, turning back as he began his walk up to the mezzanine to wave awkwardly. Paige waved back, then turned to watch the halftime performance on the field. Not that the marching band from the University of… where was it? She couldn't remember what the announcer had said. Walter would remember. Despite the fact that it was information that couldn't possibly be useful, now or in any foreseeable future, Walter would file that small fact away and be able to recall it not just minutes later, but months and years later. The man probably should have looked into research to merge his sister's mind into his, rather than attempting to download her mind to a hard drive. Apparently he had more than enough room, and it would have saved him a fortune in high capacity hardware.

Paige mentally slapped herself. This was her third date with Tim since the Tahoe fiasco. Why was her every thought leading to Walter O'Brien? The man had given her the tickets, insisted she go with Tim and then pulled childish pranks to sidetrack their weekend. Not that she'd wanted to be in an adjoining room, but it would have been nice to have something for dinner besides a Nutsy Cluster bar.

The fact that her dates with Tim lead to her mind wandering wasn't a big mystery. She was bored. On their first two dinner dates pre-Tahoe, Ralph had been along for one, and kept her entertained with tales from his school and his classes at Cal Tech. During the other, they mostly discussed previous Scorpion cases. Tim had so many questions about things they'd done before he joined. It wasn't entertaining; in some ways it was anxiety inducing to relive some things. But at least it kept her mind occupied.

After Tahoe, Tim had pretty much mapped out their itineraries with things he obviously enjoyed. One date was the standard dinner and a movie, the movie being an action-adventure flick featuring a lot of explosions and weaponry. Apparently he didn't realize that Paige got quite enough of that in real life. On their second date, she spent a couple of hours sitting on uncomfortable bleachers while Tim played rugby. Then she waited while he had several minor injuries attended to and took a shower. Finally she was rewarded with a dinner during which she was treated to a blow-by-blow replay of the game. Now she was spending another couple of hours of her life watching a sporting event. At least he had the decency not to take her to a baseball game.

Still, he was very easy on the eyes. He never failed to comment on how nice she looked when he picked her up. And as of just a few nights ago, after the rugby and the dinner, she found out that he was a reasonably satisfying bed partner; although she wasn't too sure her judgment on that score was valid. After many years of drought, even tepid water tastes delicious.

Part of her wondered if she'd gone to bed with Tim simply because of Walter's comment. She could hope that she was more mature than that, but couldn't shake the feeling that she might have cut off her own nose to spite her face. That was probably something she needed to think long and hard about. But not at a football game.

Paige realized she really wasn't good at this dating thing. She couldn't really blame it on lack of experience. For all Drew's faults, when she was dating him, he allowed and even encouraged her to suggest activities for them to share. Sure, she'd spent many hours watching baseball games, but they'd also gone to concerts and dance clubs. He'd balked at the idea of an art gallery, but then she'd said no to paintball and he hadn't been upset about that.

She'd never been with a man who apparently thought it was his prerogative to make all the decisions in the relationship. She supposed it was up to her to let Tim know what she did and did not enjoy, and to make alternative suggestions for their dates.

Paige sighed and slumped down in her seat. The wooden slats were not very forgiving to her backside. She wondered what she might suggest for date activities. It was so long since she went on a date – and never with a man who could afford anything more than free concerts and McDonald's – she wasn't even sure she knew what she might like to do. Could she convince Tim to take her to a movie with fewer explosions and more emotions? Maybe a comedy? She knew he liked music and there were many small concert venues around Los Angeles. Maybe he would be okay with something like that? It was unfair of her to think he was being controlling when she hadn't provided any input. Perhaps he was simply waiting for her to make suggestions. She would do some Internet searching and find something for their next free weekend.

"Here you go, sweetheart."

Tim sat in his seat and passed over one of those folding cardboard boxes with a drink stuck in one corner and a tray full of French fries, smothered in cheese sauce. Paige took the box and slowly picked out one of the gooey fries. She smiled at Tim, then put the fry in her mouth and began to chew. Tim had never used any sort of pet name for her before. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. She supposed it was a direct result of the intimacy they'd shared the prior weekend. Tim might also be expecting a repeat, and that was something else she wasn't sure about. Although the first experience had been satisfactory, not only was she not sure about her own motivations; there was something missing. Her experience was limited, but she didn't think the something was due to first time jitters. It wouldn't improve if they got more comfortable with each other. So just how was she supposed to gracefully decline sleeping with a man whom she'd already slept with?

She glanced again at the man sitting next to her. There was absolutely nothing wrong with him. But there wasn't anything really right about him either.

"Jeez, Tim. I'm just not feelin' it so – no, not tonight and probably not ever again."

Yep, that would go over well.

October 8 – November 14, 2016