Am I stealing this plot from a thousand other TV shows? Definitely. Is it going to be angsty as heck? Yep. Are you all going to think Walter is in idiot? Probably. But hopefully you'll stick with me anyway. This will probably only be 3-4 chapters. Let me know what you think!

"She's dying for your mistakes." Paige winced as the man drove his gun harder against her temple, the other hand tightening painfully around her shoulder. She wanted to close her eyes. Walter could tell. Close her eyes, shut out the world, pretend none of this was happening. But she kept her gaze firmly on his, waiting for him to think up a way out of this, or, barring that, making sure that he and the young boy next to him were the last thing she would see. "I hope you remember every day for the rest of your life, just like I did."

Paige glanced between the two geniuses, offering a weak smile of reassurance and a whisper of it'll be okay, I love you, before the shot rang out and she crumpled to the ground.

"Mom!" Ralph's blood-curdling scream spiked through the warehouse, shaking Walter out of his shock. He had to…Ralph…he strained against the grip of the two guards restraining him, to no avail. Walter was dizzy and weak, the injuries from his beating having taken him to the edge of unconsciousness but not over, and he slumped onto his knees, watching as the men holding back a struggling Ralph picked him up and carried him through an open doorway.

It was only when his throat started to burn that Walter realized he'd been shouting. Paige was…gone…she needed him to…to protect Ralph. "Where are you taking him?" he demanded frantically.

The man shrugged. "It would be a shame to waste his intellect. Ralph is going to work for me. And you'll have the burden of knowing that you couldn't save either of them." He crouched to meet the genius's eyes, a twisted smirk on his face. "See you in hell, Walter."

Everything went black.

Walter felt another shiver wrack his body and leaned over the toilet again, emptying what little was left of his stomach contents. He'd barely made it to the bathroom after waking up, sweating and gasping for air, scrambling to distinguish reality from fantasy.

The dreams usually ended before…before the shot. Walter swayed unsteadily and gripped the edge of the sink to stabilize himself. Paige had commented a few times in the past week that he seemed tired, ill, distracted. He could barely look at her lately without conjuring the image of her in that bastard's hands, her face stained with tears. He'd even been pulling back every time she initiated physical contact, hampered by an irrational sense of guilt over not being strong enough to save Ralph. Not being strong enough to save her.

It was still early, just before six. Plenty of time before the team would arrive. The genius brushed his teeth and dressed hurriedly, making the twenty-block drive to Cabe's in record time.

"Morning, kid." The agent stepped aside to let Walter in, looking less than surprised at the early visit. He was still clad in a white shirt and a pair of pajama pants, the scent of coffee in his apartment more than enough to stir Walter's stomach. "Another rough night?"

The younger man swallowed. "Yeah. It's worse." He waited until Cabe shut the door behind them to unclasp the manila envelope, sliding a stack of photos out into his hand. "I got these last night. They're copies. I already handed the originals over to Detective Lamentea."

Cabe took the proffered photos and flipped through them, his eyebrow arching. "Damn."

There wasn't much else to say. Paige and Ralph had been featured in the pictures before, when they were with him, at the diner or outside Ralph's school. But Walter was always the focus, until this latest crop, taken through Paige's uncovered apartment window. She and her son were eating pasta and laughing. That much was evident, although the rest of the photos were heavily defaced.

"Are those—?"

"The original photos were slashed. Um, with a knife. Lamentea said he'd test them, but…" Walter blew out a tense breath. "But he's come up empty on the other messages. There's nothing to suggest this will be different."

Cabe dropped the stack onto his kitchen table and motioned for the genius to sit on the couch. Walter complied willingly, feeling drained after six days with little sleep or food. "He's just messing with your mind, son."

The genius shook his head. "No, he isn't. He's coming after them. I should have anticipated that." Walter stared down at his hands, twisting his fingers in his lap. "He wants to take away my family like he thinks I took away his."

"I don't follow."

"Because I didn't tell you the whole story." He rested his elbows on his legs, clasping his hands behind his neck. The younger man was quiet for a long moment, organizing his thoughts, before he sighed and said, "You know that it started before Scorpion. When I was working for the bank. Forensic accounting. I stumbled on a network of illegal transactions and shell companies that had been covered up by bank employees. I was able to connect all the money to an international arms dealer named Malia Routh, and gather enough evidence to send her to prison. Her organization scattered and her husband, the second in command, was never caught."

Walter paused and Cabe furrowed his eyebrows. "You've explained all this."

"Malia committed suicide in prison," he said bluntly, glancing up to catch Cabe's expression of surprise. "Three months into a life sentence. Two weeks later, her sixteen-year-old son Mason was killed by a rival dealer. With Malia's empire crumbling, he didn't have access to his usual security. He was vulnerable." Walter pressed his lips together. "Jackson Routh holds me responsible for the deaths of his wife and child. It's a logical assumption that he wants to harm Paige and Ralph."

"You and Paige aren't married. And Ralph isn't your child, at least not biologically."

Walter didn't take offense. Perhaps the three of them weren't a family in the traditional sense, but they were a family. And if it was obvious to Walter, to Cabe, to Paige, and to the rest of their friends, then it would be clear enough to Jackson too. "He knows details about our routines and cases that no one outside the team should. I've found some of the bugs in the garage, but there may be more. He could have bugged Paige's apartment as well. Her phone. I don't know. Part of Malia's success was because of her extensive surveillance. She was always able to be one step ahead."

Cabe lowered into the recliner across from him. The smell of coffee in the air had diminished and Walter realized absently that the pot was probably ice cold by now. "So what is he waiting for? Why has it taken Routh this long to come after you?"

"Their assets were frozen and every high-ranking lieutenant was burned. It was a huge blow. Jackson has probably been spending this time rebuilding their ranks and resources. Besides," his voice dropped, "I didn't have anything to lose. There was Megan, but…nothing equivalent to what he lost. Not until now."

Silence fell between them. Cabe stood up and disappeared into the kitchen, the sound of a microwave beeping before he returned with two cups of reheated coffee. Walter accepted one, his exhaustion outweighing his desire to avoid further digestive irritation.

"I didn't just come here to show you the photos. I know some of your colleagues from Homeland have moved into private security. I need you to recommend someone you trust to watch over Paige and Ralph. Discreetly. I'll pay whatever it costs."

Cabe set his mug down, shooting Walter a concerned look. "Does 'discreetly' mean what I think it means? Because, kid, I don't know if—."

"I can't tell her," Walter said firmly, his fingers flexing agitatedly around his own cup. "Routh has a close eye on us and we don't know where he is, or what he has planned. If he thinks he's losing his window, he'll move up his timetable and it'll only give me less time to find him. Even a tiny slip could put them in more danger."

"Paige is smart. Ralph is smarter. They'll want to help."

"I know." Walter dropped his head, eyes squeezing shut as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "She and Ralph will insist on getting involved and I won't be able to convince them to keep their distance. I never can." He sighed, the affection in his tone fading into something more serious. "The police have been searching for Routh for years and gotten nowhere. Even with everything I've given them, there are no leads. I can't afford to underestimate him. I need to get Paige and Ralph as far away from me as possible without rousing suspicion. Routh has to lose interest in them as a target and come directly after me."

"Lose interest?"

"He won't stop targeting them unless I can convince him that they don't have the same meaning to me that his family did to him. And if he's surveilling all of us as closely as I think he is, then I can't see a way to fake it. Not without putting them at risk. It needs to be real."

Cabe straightened up in his seat, frowning as he grasped the genius's meaning. "Oh." Walter shifted uncomfortably under the full weight of Cabe's scrutiny as the agent studied him. "You think she'll buy it? Out of the blue like this? I mean you've been together a year. Seems like you've gotten pretty serious."

He'd considered that. Paige knew him better than anyone, and their courtship—while certainly not traditional—was largely happy and stable. But she had noticed his recent strange behavior, and Walter hoped it would be enough to convince her that their relationship was ending. "I'll figure it out. Besides, it's only temporary. Until I can find Jackson or he finds me."

"Don't be so sure," Cabe pushed back. "You don't know how long it's gonna take to neutralize the threat. If you insist on keeping Paige in the dark, there's a chance she won't be waiting for you at the end of it. Not to mention that she might not forgive you for what you're about to do. Her or Ralph."

Walter dragged his hand over his mouth. Losing them, now that he had them, was an unfathomable thought. But losing them permanently when he had a chance to stop it was even more devastating. "Maybe. But at least they'd be alive to hate me."

"Hey, ready for breakfast?"

Walter jumped at the liaison's voice, too deep in thought to notice her approach. The genius chastised himself. He had a bullseye on his back and he would need to be much more cognizant of his surroundings. "Uh, n-no," he muttered. "I'm in the middle of something."

Paige paused, taken back by his clipped tone. He could see her in his peripheral vision but pretended to carry on with the code he was typing as she leaned against the doorframe of the loft. "Okay. If you want, Ralph and I can just go get breakfast and bring it back?"

This was part of their normal routine, now, three or four days a week. Sitting in a booth at Kovelsky's or the diner three streets down when there was a special on pancakes, relishing a few minutes of peace before Ralph went to school and Walter and Paige dove headfirst into some insane case or another. He loved those mornings. He loved every moment he spent with them.

"There's no need. I'm not hungry."

Walter didn't have to look at Paige to imagine the hurt in her expression. He could hear it in her voice. "You've been acting weird all week. Can you at least tell me why you're angry? Did I do something?"

The genius paused his typing and pushed away from his desk. Their brief second of eye contact as he stood was too overwhelming and he stared down at his shoes, crossing his arms over his chest to create more distance between them. "I'm not angry," Walter said, funneling all of his energy into making his voice as firm and emotionless as possible. "But I am unhappy. I would like to terminate our relationship."

Paige didn't respond for what felt like an eternity to Walter, and his resolve nearly crumbled when she whispered, "What?"

It's only temporary. She'll understand later. But you have to make her believe. "Lately, I have been…assessing certain aspects of my life. And I've reached the conclusion that my accomplishments are only a fraction of what I'd planned. What I'm capable of. My time and attention has been diverted by you and Ralph. You know I care about you both." He shifted his weight, barely able to hear his own words over the pounding in his ears. "But I've pursued the wrong course. It is imperative that I refocus on what is truly significant in my life."

"And that's not us?" Paige said sharply. When he didn't answer, she took a few hesitant steps forward and touched his shoulder, her eyes and voice softening. "I know things have been moving fast for us, Walter. If you're overwhelmed, we can slow down. I can give you space."

He swallowed the lump in his throat and met her gaze, schooling his features. The genius never thought he would have to lie to her like this, but he'd lied on plenty of missions, and gotten passably good at it, especially when he was motivated. "I don't need space. I told you that I'm unhappy. Time will make that worse, not better."

The liaison moved away from him. She was blinking rapidly and Walter found the behavior odd until he noticed the tears collecting in her eyes that she was barely holding back. "I don't understand. I thought things were good. I thought you were happy."

Happy was not a strong enough word for what he felt. Sometimes it seemed like he couldn't remember anything before they were together. He wasn't sure he wanted to. Nothing compared to having them in his life.

And she loved him. He'd never believed in the existence of love partly because he never felt the kind of love she and Ralph gave him. But that love had always made her cling stubbornly to his side in the past, even when he warned her of the danger, and if she knew the truth, it wasn't hard to anticipate that she would willingly put herself at risk for him. He couldn't allow that.

He was sure the bug under his desk was advanced enough to pick up the conversation, but he leaned toward it anyway, making sure that Routh or whatever lackey he had on duty could hear every word. "Please understand that you didn't do anything wrong, Paige. I've just realized that my efforts to become more human…more normal…have created too much of a strain and are not producing the results I expected. I never should have attempted a romantic relationship. It clearly does not benefit me in the way that it does others."

Paige was biting her lip so hard that Walter was concerned she might draw blood. She shook her head, as if she didn't believe a word he'd said. "Don't do this to me. Hell, forget about me, don't do this to Ralph." Her voice shook and she cleared her damp eyes with the heel of her hand. "You swore this would never happen. That nothing would ever be more important than us. I trusted that you meant that. And now you won't even give us a chance to try to fix this?"

Deep down, he knew Paige wouldn't accept the breakup without a fight. But he wished she would just leave so he could stop hurting her. "We both knew this wasn't going to be successful long-term. We're poorly matched. I'm trying to follow the rules of social etiquette and tell you now instead of stringing you along."

Paige sniffed, quietly, showing impressive emotional restraint. Walter supposed she had faced enough failed relationships to handle herself with grace, even if she was grieving inside half as much as he was. "And Scorpion?"

"Will be fine. Your role on the team will not change, nor will Ralph's welcome at the garage. Although I imagine that a certain measure of distance will be in order, for a while."

Paige inhaled a deep breath and when he looked at her again, her face nearly reflected his own impassive expression. She was strong. Walter had always been drawn to that. But Cabe was right. There was nothing to stop Paige from leaving Scorpion of her own accord, from refusing the apology he was already aching to give her.

"Ralph and I are going to breakfast," the liaison said slowly. "Tell Cabe to call me when we have a case."

He nodded, his mouth too dry to force out more words. Paige lingered for a second, preparing to say something, and then thought better of it, not sparing him another glance as she turned around and walked out of the loft.

Walter headed for the bathroom—the only place he calculated that Routh was unlikely to conduct surveillance—and shut the door, waiting until he heard Paige and Ralph leave the garage together before he let himself fall apart.