The Time When Walter Was Wrong
Happy hovered outside the Walter's office that was slightly ajar. He had sequestered himself in the office ever since this morning after receiving the phone call from Paige. She had called in sick and everyone watched as he threw his phone across the room. The cell phone collided with the brick wall and then crashed to the floor breaking into pieces. Sylvester had jumped at the outwardly display of hostility and Toby's eyebrow raised fractionally and Happy continued to pound away on the engine she was rebuilding. Hostile Walter was nothing new to her, and his random outbursts were a walk in the park. She had the same level of emotional quotient as Walter so she knew that he needed to be left alone while he processed the situation.
The situation had been the fight between Walter and Paige.
"Paige and Walter are just experiencing a common fight that happens in the second level of a relationship. They are in the power-struggle level. They are trying to find where each belong in this new semblance of a cohabitant relationship." Toby explained. There was another crash as a book when flying across the room toward the white board. "Walter's megalomaniac tendencies and Paige's abandonment issues, we have two severely independent people that don't bend to compromise."
"But Paige was right." Sylvester surmised and pulled his glasses off his face. He worriedly rubbed the frames against his sweater vest. He heard the heated exchange between the two last night. It had been about various things. Surface minutia that had been boiling for the past few months. The only deep seeded issue was the issue that Walter had with Paige's ex coming to visit next week. Walter took the stance that Ralph should not see his biological father because it would cause an emotional and psychological impact on Ralph. He had overstepped the mark when he accused Paige of being an unfit mother. Not in those direct words, but he had remarked stating that her mind probably did not properly develop at getting pregnant at such a young age, abandoning her college career and becoming a mother. Then ditching the familiarity of home to follow her heart with the father of her unborn child to become stranded in an unknown city. So she had a pattern of making poor decisions concerning her ex. Paige had stopped talking, walked to her desk and packed up her bag. She had used the excuse of needing to pick Ralph up from school but Toby had heard the distinct wavering of tears in her voice as she said good bye to the everyone on the team but Walter.
Walter had stalked off into his office, trying to ignore the slamming of the garage's door at Paige's hasty exit. He then began to work on his singular project. Sylvester had gone in to talk to Walter about Paige, stating that he had plans to pick up Ralph and take him to the aquarium that afternoon. Walter had snapped at Sylvester to leave him alone, and that he should talk to Paige about her inability to stick with plans. Just another way she was proving his theory. Sylvester shuffled from the room, tears beginning to silently fall. He squirreled away to the kitchen faking the need of a snack to adjust his glucose level. After that, Toby had given Walter an hour to cool down, but when he gone into confront the genius, he was met with a shouting match. Toby stormed out of the room, slamming the door as he left the office. Happy tried to grab the psychologist on his way out but he already had slammed his hat on his head and left the building.
Happy sighed, trying to decide which genius needed to be addressed first. She wanted to go down to the lower level of the garage to work on the motorcycle she had pulled from a junk pile. She was working on the restoration project, but there had not been time for her to work. Happy took a deep breath, and went to the direction of the sobs in the kitchen. She had learned this simple lesson from Paige, 'Focus on the simplest of projects and work from there.'
It took an hour to calm the overly anxious mathematician from the edge of eating his weight in fruity pebbles. She had to explain to him that that was the back-up box that Paige kept for emergencies. Happy got Sylvester to join her in leaving the garage to help her find Toby. They found him around the corner at the casino. He was mindlessly plugging quarter after quarter to play Keno. It only took one look from Toby that Happy knew she did not need to worry about him. She squeezed his shoulder, and left Toby and Sylvester to their devices playing the slot machines. She returned to the garage and spent the entire night on her restoration project.
Happy understood Walter's need for space. It was how she handled disagreements. So the next morning, when the team had reassembled in the kitchen focusing on their morning habits. Happy drowning her all nighter with a tumbler of coffee, buttered toast with cinnamon and sugar for Toby and a bowl of marsh mallow cereal for Sylvester. Walter came into the room, shuffling on his feet, Toby read his apology in his shuffle. He called out that all was forgiven and Walter joined the team for breakfast. It was halfway through when the call came to Walter's phone.
And so the day began again.
Happy hovered outside the door. She knew that he was working on mod-ing a game that Ralph had taken a liking to playing, and Walter was working on the graphics and animation. He also was adjusting the time lag, and modifying the schematics. He was trying to heighten the experience but also include some valuable lessons on quantum mechanics and statistics. She did not bother knocking and just stormed into the room.
"You need to go apologize." Happy snapped at the genius who slouched in his chair tapping away at the tablet. He did not bother to look in her direction. "You were wrong, and you need to go apologize to Paige."
"Happy." Walter seethed placing his tablet on the desk that was littered with different scrapes of paper. Happy pulled on the pieces to look at, it was list.
"Did you create a list of decisions Paige makes that are wrong?" Happy asked picking up another piece. It was a diagram showing an incline pattern. There was another that showed a different graph but this was declining. "Is this a flow chart of her decisions?"
"Yes, one that shows that since she joined Scorpion her decisions has sky-rocketed. Look at the outcomes, a proper school for Ralph, enrolled in a program of different college classes, and health insurance. She was able to buy a car that is safe for Ralph and she is two months away from being able to afford a better place to live." Walter explained the first graph. "If she lets that man back in her life, that is a graph that will show the steadily decline of progress she is making with Ralph. Which could include losing her car, not being able to afford health care, and potentially forcing her to move in with him, which could cause her to leave me."
"Leaving you?"
"I meant Ralph. She could leave and take Ralph away from the best thing for him. We are the best thing for him." Walter sighed rubbing his hand against his face. He had been on a downward spiral all night. Reeling from the emotions running through his mind, and he did not have the tools to use to help sort each foreign feeling. Paige usually helped him sift through the chaos that emotions pushed him to, typically by taking his hand and forcing him to breathe. She would talk him through each need, distracting him with rubbing her fingers against his knuckles.
"So you spent the entire night working on proving you are point?" Happy said placing the diagrams back on the desk. He rolled his eyes. "Okay, not the entire night, but most of it. What did you plan on doing with this research?"
"I thought I would show Paige when she came to work." Walter started with his plan but was stopped short when he looked at Happy's face.
"I know I am not the typical girl like Paige.-"
"She is not a typical gir-"
"Not my point, but I know that your plan is a stupid idea." Happy moved to the wall. He had written out a fifteen point plan on how Paige's life was better since joining the Scorpion Team. "You grossly overstepped her boundaries last night, Walter. She trusts and respects your opinion and you essentially called her an idiot. Plus a bad parent."
"If you look at number seven-" He was cut off by her hand.
"She is the most important thing to that boy, Walter. You and I both know that Ralph is going to turn out alright because he has something none of us had, a loving parent that is trying to better his life. The trappings our job provide her is nothing to that. Now you need to go over to her apartment and apologize." Happy pointed to the door.
"But she called in sick. I should respect her wishes and leave her alone." Walter said turning back to his tablet. He was mad that his friend had put him in his place. He understood where she was coming from, and that she was looking out for his well-being. Walter just did not want to admit that she was right. He looked up at her erasing the white board.
"You were going to point out that if she was to get back with him she would likely gain twenty pounds?" Happy said more to herself then to Walter. "For a genius, you are such an idiot." Walter rolled his eyes.
"Are you going to stand there all day, critiquing my thought process?" Walter asked not looking up from his tablet. He was writing the last bit of code. The game was massive and he needed to make sure that all was perfect because if he missed one thing. There was a large chance of destroying the game, and wasting sixty dollars.
"Sounds like a good plan." Happy smiled smartly at the head genius. "Poking at everything, like number fourteen. Did you really think that pointing out Toby would be better suited to marry then getting back together then her ex. Deflect much?"
He put his tablet back down and loaded up the software. It took all of three seconds, and the noise the game cut through the room. His update was successful. Walter let out a whoop of happiness and pumped his fist into the air.
"You hacked the game successfully?" Happy interpreted his ebullient dance. "Maybe you should return the tablet to Ralph and show him the updates?"
"That is an excellent idea, Happy." Walter agreed, and shrugged on his jacket. Happy did not want to point out that he was still wearing his clothes from last night, or that his hair looked like he had stood in a wind turbine from running his hands through her hair from his worrying habits. He was propelled out the door, toting the tablet in his satchel and none of his fifteen point plan. Happy made sure to look before he left the garage. The door slammed shut as he left, and she let out her breath. Men are such idiots.
"Are you quite done figuring out Walter and Paige?" Toby asked standing behind her and wrapping an arm around her waist. She turned in his embrace wrapping her arms around his neck.
"I have come to a conclusion." Happy said bringing his lips towards her own. "Men are idiots."
"Without a doubt." He smiled into her lips.
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The drive over to Paige's apartment was short and spent in silence. He kept his thoughts focused on the surrounding traffic, and the pedestrians as they darted across the streets. He wanted to remain safe, and keep the tablet from harm because he was excited to show his success to Ralph. He completely forgot the fight with Paige up to the point he was knocking on the apartment door. Walter faltered when wrapping his knuckles against the wood. After waiting a minute, he started to shuffle on his feet becoming hesitant on his action plan.
He figured that Ralph would serve as a distraction for Paige. She would see his happiness at the modified game, and her heart would soften. Then when she seemed to calm down, he would approach the subject a second time. Hopefully, she would mollify to his side of the argument and open up the idea that he only wanted the best for her and Ralph. He was about to turn away when he heard the footsteps against the floor opposite the door.
"Paige?" He knocked again. "It's me, Walter." He heard the dead bolt shift to the side, and the door peak open. She opened the door slightly to look at his face. Walter felt like he was having premature ventricular contractions, when he saw the look on her face. The hurt was still there, and he took a step back. "I'm. I'm here."
"I can see that?" She said letting the door fall open more, and he saw she was still in her pajamas. She was dressed in boxer shorts, a tank top and a thin robe left to hang open. Paige was leaning against the jam on one foot, while rubbing the other against the back of her leg. Walter had spent many moments, enjoying the beauty of Paige, but at this moment he could not formulate a sentence. Her legs seemed longer, her eyes more bright, and her lips more kissable. He reached his hand out but she leaned away from his touch.
He deserved that.
"Why are you here, Walter?" Paige asked, she had to remain in control of the conversation. Walter was very adept at scientific thought, but he lacked the communication skills of understanding when he was wrong. She knew that he knew that was a tactile person. Paige constantly initiated most hand holding, grazes, and hugs. She was like with all of the team, high fiving Happy, hugging Sylvester when his emotions got away from him, and fist bumping Toby. The touching between Walter and Paige, had been hesitant in the beginning. The casual hand being held, and when she passed behind him she would run her hand against his back. Like he was a horse, and she wanted to make her presence known, to keep from spoking him. Before the gala, it had been one-sided and Walter did not reciprocate most jabs. Then after dancing with her in his arms, seeing her being led about the floor by another man, something primal switched in his genetic code, and he had this need to be near her. He began offering his hand, at all times. He playfully messed with her hair when they were in the car on stake outs, and sat next to her at the movies when the team went to Captain America. He let her use his arm to hide into when she got frighten. She remained pressed against him for most of the movie.
So he had become accustomed to her touch and needing to be touched. Depriving him of that was her way of forcing him to acknowledge that she was hurt and how she could control the situation. He often beguiled her with his knowledge and cunning smarts so she needed to stand her ground.
He nodded understanding her boundaries. Walter lifted up his bag, "I came to bring Ralph his tablet. I finished modifying the game." He looked at his feet, not knowing how to handle the disappointment. "I came to show him."
"I am sorry you came all this way-" Paige began before a cough cut off her sentence. She moved to cover her mouth, bending over to help get oxygen into her lungs. Walter moved forwards into the apartment, setting the bag down, and began to tap softly on her back. He propelled her from the door while sliding it shut, and moved her to the small living room. He deposited her to the couch where he found a nest of blankets, a mug of cooled tea and a mountain of kleenex.
"You are sick." Walter deduced taking in the surroundings, and stated the obvious. He put his hand to her forehead feeling the sweat at her brow. "You have a fever."
"I told you I was." Paige managed once she finished her coughing fit. "Did you not believe me?"She fixed him with a cold stare and he blushed.
"I thought it was convenient after last night." Walter muttered and stood up while Paige began to wrap herself in the fleece blanket. He picked up the cup, sniffing the chamomile tea. "You should drink green tea. The vitamins in it will help your recovery." Walter started rolling up his long sleeves and set about cleaning up the room. "I figured you did not want to see me."
"It was a bit of an added bonus." Paige lied and reached out her hand for his. "You don't need to clean that up. I just need a quick nap, and I will be better."
Walter rolled his eyes and put his hand to her brow once more, then took put his fingers to her pulse. "Paige, you are running a fever, and your blood pressure is a little elevated. You need to stay elevated as long as possible. I will clean this up, make you some more tea, and then we will see about soup."
"Walter, no." Paige tried to stop but another coughing fit began to attack her, and Walter moved quickly to the kitchen, throwing the kleenex in the trash, starting the kettle, and getting a glass of water. He raided her medicine cabinet, pulling out some nyquil tabs, and went back to her side on the couch. He handed her the cough suppressant and water. She glared at him while she took the pills. "I am still mad at you." She managed once swallowing the entire glass. He chuckled and went back to the kitchen and started prepping a can of chicken noodle soup. Walter wrinkled his nose at the condensed soup, but he knew that she needed to replenish her energy. He put the tray together. He was just pouring the water into the mugs when the soup began to boil, so he prepared a bowl with utensils and carried it over to the couch.
"Here, eat some soup." He said holding the bowl in his hand, and bringing a spoon her mouth. She tried to not smile at the image of Walter mothering. She took a bite relishing in the soup. "The carrots will help speed along-
"If you tell me the detail of each ingredient and how it will help me, I swear Walter." Paige threatened, and his hand stalled bringing the second bite to her mouth. "You know I can feed myself." He nodded and handed the bowl to her which she took and began to devour the contents. "Thank you."
He leaned back against the couch. "You are welcome." He waited till she finished her bowl and drank a good portion of her tea before running a hand through his hair. "So where is Ralph?"
"School." Paige responded. "It's a Tuesday." She set the mug back on the coffee table and she focused her attention back on Walter. She noticed he was still wearing his clothes from yesterday. She recalled this fact because it was one of her favorite ensembles, dark pants with a royal blue shirt. It brought out the color in his eyes. The curls on his head were disheveled and she reached out to smooth them out of habit. "For a genius you are quite dense."
"You are the second person to tell me that today." Walter lamented and leaned his head into her touch. Her fingers trailed down his face to rub the stubble that had grown in over night.
"Happy?" Paige guessed and he nodded. He reached up to hold her hand against his face, then turning his mouth to her fingers and pressed a few kisses to her palm. Her thumb moved against his lip. "Walter." She sighed, pained at the emotions he was pulling from her, conflicting with her angered feelings from last night.
"Paige." He countered.
"What are you doing here?" She asked. Walter stayed silent for two full minutes; composing his thoughts in his head, and Paige let him sit and stew knowing that he would speak when he was ready.
"I spent the entire night thinking." Walter started, "After you left yesterday, I made Sylvester cry, and yelled at Toby to the point he walked out. I then locked myself in my office working on diagrams and spreadsheets to prove how I was right. I made lists supporting my hypothesis, and well I came up with a few theories. Fifteen to be exact. Fifteen reason why you should not let this guy back into Ralph's life. Into your life. The first fourteen were horrible. It was the last that forced me to understand why I fought with you." Paige sat back but kept her hand in his, Walter was speaking about his emotions and she was not going to break that contact.
"You make me, Paige, feel so much emotions." He spit out the words as if they left a bad taste or were hard to say. "All night I struggled with these different feelings. After you left, I wanted to chase after you. To tell you, I am afraid that he might take you away. That it scares me I might lose you and Ralph. I am jealous of this guy, and I don't know how to handle these feelings. I think I want to punch him if I ever see him. I was wrong, which is also hard for me to handle, but it is how I react to things. I wanted to circumvent the possibility of you hurting me by hurting you first. I am so sorry, Paige."
Tears were running down her face when he finally looked into her eyes. She smiled at her genius man, knowing that all would be forgiven. She squeezed his hand and brought his to return a kiss to hand.
"You really are an idiot." Paige sighed pulling him to her, and let him capture her face with his hand. He briefly rubbed his thumb against her cheek, wiping the remnant of tears. "Kiss me before I start coughing again."
He pulled back and chuckled. Instead of kissing her lips, he pressed his lips against her forehead. "I rather not get sick. Am I forgiven?"
"I just asked you to kiss me." Paige pouted. She yawned, and Walter kissed her nose. They spread out along the length of the couch. Walter successfully wrapped her into his arms and then chuckled as she began to drift into sleep. "Yes, I forgive you." She said falling asleep to the sound of his heart beat.
Walter spent the afternoon with sleeping Paige. He learned that she talks and snuggles in her sleep, then when he tried to extract himself she whined. He was able to get away from her, kissing her forehead and whispering that he was going to pick up Ralph from school and get some dinner. He texted his co-workers about his whereabouts and his plans for the rest of the night. He got a response from Toby saying that the team will bring dinner over in an hour with a movie. It took all of five seconds for Ralph to find Walter, the genius pair started talking rapidly in their code language the whole walk back to the apartment. When they returned, Walter found Paige no longer asleep on the couch, and heard the shower running in the back of the apartment. He went about setting Ralph at the table, stating that he had to finish his homework before he could play on the tablet. He then spent the next half hour deciphering fourth grade math, and understanding the semantics of basic English and social studies.
"I think they want us to draw a diagram," Walter said while writing out the sentence. "Put a star over the dangling participle, and point to the outlier with the long A. What sort of hell is this?"
Paige chose that moment to walk into the living area of the apartment. She had changed into yoga pants, and a long sleeve jersey knit shirt that once belonged to Walter. Paige had borrowed it after an assignment left her top ruined by grease. She was drying her hair with a towel and smiled at the two geniuses.
"Hey, language." Paige laughed and went to take a seat next to Ralph running her hand through his hair. "Hi honey. Did you have a good day?"
The pair was soon joined by the rest of the Scorpion team. Toby carrying bags of Thai take out, Happy had brought drinks and more nyquil, and Sylvester had brought his collection of Lord of the Rings and Hobbit.
It was not until an hour later, when Toby, Sylvester and Ralph were situated in front of the television, and Paige was back wrapped up on the couch did Walter pull Happy aside.
"I will only say this once." Walter whispered to the petite mechanic. "You were right." She smirked, punched his shoulder and they moved back to join the group. Walter settling in with Paige, and Happy sitting on the opposite chair, using Toby as a foot rest.
This is what made Happy happy.
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The End...
This is my first and possibly only Scorpion fiction. This was hard. Typically words flow, but this was difficult because I don't understand the characters and well, writing about geniuses is daunting. But I am intrigued with the story-lines that are developing in the television show. I do not own any of these characters. I just simply wanted to put my spin on it.
Hope it brought you some joy.
Ema