Hi all! This story was a prompt from ismile83. It's more Cabe and Walter centric with a bit of the others in. It's my take on how Cabe would tell Walter that he wasn't with Homeland anymore and how Walter might react. I hope you like it!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Scorpion, but I wish I did!

Cabe parked outside the garage with a bag of bagels in his front seat from Kavelski's around the corner. It was the first day Walter was going to be back from the hospital and he wanted to make sure that the team had everything they needed when their fearless leader returned to restricted duty.

The doctors had been very clear when they explained that Walter was not to engage in any work activities beyond a desk for the next few weeks. The injury to his side, due to the guardrail impaling his spleen, was extensive and would need time to heal fully. Everyone, Cabe included, knew that keeping Walter static would be difficult.

Stepping through the door, Cabe recognized the fact that he hadn't been back to the garage since before the team practically imploded due to him finally revealing what he knew about the Bagdad incident to Walter. It had been the third worst day of his life, behind losing his daughter and having to lie to Walter the first time about the bombings. Computers, desks, the video game cabinet and Walter's rocket were all still in place, yet it felt different somehow.

He knew that he was different.

Taking a quick glance at his attire, he felt out of place. In lieu of his tradition black suit, he wore a black tshirt, jeans and boots. Something he would wear at home, off-duty, but never to the garage and never during the traditional work week. He knew he would be called out on it, but no one, aside from Sylvester, knew that Homeland was no longer calling the shots for the former agent.

He had initially been shocked that Sly had kept the secret, since the human calculator wasn't a fan of deception. But due to everyone focusing on saving Walter from the cliff that day followed by the new focus of Walter's recovery, the topic never came up. Anytime the subject of work was mentioned, everyone's mentality was to deal with it later, when Walter returned to Scorpion.

So an impromptu week of 'vacation' was enacted for the team. Each genius had been working on their own pet projects while Paige and Ralph stopped by everyday to make sure they were all eating, taking breaks, etc. Cabe's daily phone calls to Paige were to ensure the same things, but from a distance. He didn't feel comfortable coming back to the garage, not yet.

He didn't know where he stood with 197 and today would make or break their relationship. Cabe's deception was certainly not forgotten, but words were exchanged cliffside that gave him hope of redemption. Walter mentioned that he didn't want any more secrets between the two.

Cabe had one more secret to tell.

He could hear the commotion caused by Happy and Toby back in her shop area of the garage. From what Cabe could tell, the behaviorist was dodging flying tools again. Some things never change. He headed for the kitchen and dropped off the bag of bagels before pulling a mug from the cabinet and filling it with coffee from the half-full pot.

He braced himself for the cinnamon flavor that seemed to have permeated the pot in the last month or so but it wasn't there. Thank God. It had been awful but caffeine was caffeine in his book, disgusting or not.

"Good, isn't it? You can thank me anytime."

Toby's voice called over his shoulder.

"It's decent. No cinnamon anymore? Not that I'm complaining," Cabe said, taking another sip.

"Walter hasn't been here to make the coffee."

"Walter?"

"Oh yeah, didn't you know? He was the one poisoning the coffee supply with the elf spice."

"Do I want to know why?"

"I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count."

Cabe only grunted as he sipped from his mug. He could only imagine that it had to do with Walter's fascination with Paige, whether the genius admitted that or not. She seemed to be the only one who enjoyed the coffee, so it was now starting to make sense that she was his reasoning behind the decision. Remembering Walter's defiance on the cliff in regards to Paige only solidified his thoughts. Well I'll be damned.

"No monkey suit today?" Toby's voice interrupted his thoughts again.

"Huh?"

"You seem to be going for a casual dress day today," the behaviorist said as he gestured to Cabe's attire.

"Yeah. What of it?"

"Nothing. Just stating my observations."

Before Cabe could respond, the door to the garage opened and Ralph stepped through.

"Hey Ralphy-boy!"

"Hi Toby. Mom is helping Walter out of the car. She told me to make sure you were here in case Walter needs medical assistance. They are currently arguing."

"Arguing? About what, son?" Cabe's ears perked up.

"Mom wants Walter in bed."

Toby spit out the coffee he had just poured for himself.

"Paige said she wanted Walter in bed? Interesting…" Toby's comment was cut short by a slap to the back of the head.

"Zip it, Doc." Happy had joined the boys club just in time to see Toby nearly wet himself with Ralph's comment.

"But he said he wanted to stay downstairs. He was tired of laying down." Ralph continued, not picking up on the adult conversation happening around him.

"I'm sure she could make it more interesting for him," Toby said under his breath.

"Toby!" This time it was Cabe that stopped the genius.

The door to the garage opened again and in stumbled Walter, looking a little worse for wear, being half-carried by Paige, who was under his right arm.

"Hey guys. A little help."

Cabe hustled over to the two.

"So, did Ralph tell you about the difference of opinions between Walter and myself?"

"Yeah, that you want Walter in bed but he's rejecting you…or your idea, rather." Toby was always blunt.

Paige froze briefly at the comment but regained her composure as Cabe came to her aid with Walter. Walter, not picking up on Toby's innuendo, tried to explain his side.

"Toby, I've been in a hospital bed for the last week. I just want to be in a different position."

"Don't even think about it," Happy hissed under her breath. Toby would have had a field day with that one.

"Anyway, I want to stay downstairs, sit at my desk, anything but lay down again. It can't do me any harm, right?"

"Well, it could but I seriously doubt it would," Toby assessed. "Paige, Walt should be good down here, as long as someone is keeping an eye on him and he doesn't try to do anything that would pull at his side."

Paige wanted to argue, but she saw the way Walter's eye lit up and couldn't refuse him.

"Fine. But if you start to do something that will jeopardize your health, we're going upstairs. Got it?"

"Copy that."

Cabe couldn't help smiling at the interaction between the two. He had told Walter that having a family could be a good thing and he felt that the family dynamic between the genius, young mom and little boy was going to start changing soon.

The three shifted over to the leather couch and gingerly got 197 to sit down. Paige continued to check on Walter while Cabe looked on.

"Sylvester's not with you?" Happy was looking at the door.

"No, he's with Megan," Paige said smiling. "He came with me this morning to pick up Walter but stayed behind to spend time with her."

Walter huffed a little and Paige just smiled at him.

"I think it's sweet. Don't be jealous."

"I'm not. It's just…my side."

"Mmm hmmm. Sure it is."

"Walter?" Ralph came up to his mentor. "Is it alright if I play Proton Arnold? I haven't played it since you've been in the hospital in case you wanted to play when you got home."

"Of course you can. I'll watch you from here."

Ralph's smile stretched from ear to ear, which made everyone smile.

"I'm going to have a word with Toby then I'll grab you a water to take your meds, ok?"

Walter nodded and watched her walk away. Paige lightly hit Toby on the shoulder before gesturing to the kitchen. Happy just smiled and shook her head as she followed the two. Once Paige was out of site, Walter's focused briefly to Ralph at the game cabinet before shifting to Cabe, who was still standing in front of him.

They both wanted to talk and, at the same time, began to.

"Listen, kid…

"Cabe, about last week…"

"Walter, I know I screwed up. I get that you will probably hold it against me for the rest of my life and I can accept that."

"Cabe, I wanted to…apologize."

"For what?" Cabe sat down next to Walter on the couch, unsure of what the young man could be sorry for.

"For kicking you off the team. Paige was right. I was making unilateral decisions that were based on betrayal and not logical reasons. I was mad and I took it out on you. I'm sorry."

"You did what you thought you needed to do. And I'm sorry too."

"I want to move forward from this and the trust will need to be rebuilt, but I don't think it's a lost cause. I'd like to try, if you would be willing to come back to Scorpion."

Cabe shifted on the couch. This is what he needed to tell Walter. The final secret between the two men.

"Ah, Walt…about that."

"What? You don't want to come back?" Walter's tone was steady but his face was showing confusion.

"Son, I would be back in a heartbeat, but there is something you need to know."

"I'm listening."

"I not only resigned from Scorpion but from Homeland as well."

"What?" Walter couldn't quite comprehend that statement.

"Merrick reassigned me the morning of your accident, basically demoting me to Pamona Airport. He was ragging on the team, so I told him to shove it and turned in my badge."

"You left Homeland."

"Yes." Cabe's voice was drawn out as he watched Walter's eyes started shifting quickly as if he was running equations in his head.

"Because of us."

"Not just because of you guys, but let's just say that Merrick and I were coming to a head anyway."

"This is my fault." Walter began trying to get up from the couch before Cabe put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Walter, it's not your fault. Merrick was probably looking for a way to get me out for a while. I didn't exactly play by the rules once I got involved with this team, no matter how much I tried to."

"But if I hadn't insisted you be out of Scorpion, you wouldn't have been demoted and you wouldn't have felt the need to resign."

Walter was trying to get up out of his seat again, fighting harder. Cabe could see the pain on Walter's face and he could tell that it was from his injury. His body wasn't going to be able to handle much more if he kept pushing.

"Kid, calm down. I would do it again if I had to. He had always felt threatened by this team and I will always protect you and the others. It's what I've always tried to do with you misfits."

"No, you shouldn't have had to. I can fix this."

Cabe knew he needed help to get the genius calmed down.

"PAIGE!"

"I need to talk to Merrick. If I can get to my computer, I can fix this." Walter was beginning to mumble to himself.

"What's going on?" Paige came from the kitchen with the promised bottle of water and saw the two men struggling.

"I need your help in calming him down. He's not listening to me at the moment." Cabe was trying not to hurt the genius more than he was no doubt hurting himself.

"Walter?"

Nothing. He still struggled against Cabe. She placed the bottle on the coffee table and walked right up to Walter.

"Walter? What did I tell you earlier? I will take you upstairs if you don't calm down right now!"

Walter stopped fighting and stood up as straight as he could with his injured side. Cabe was stunned at how quickly the liaison could get through to Walter. Paige placed a hand gingerly on his face.

"Ok, now, talk to me."

"I can fix this. I need to fix this." His eyes kept shifting from hers to Cabe behind her. She didn't understand what needed fixing.

"Cabe? Clarification."

"I told him I resigned from Homeland the day of the accident."

"What?" Paige whipped her head around to face the now former-agent. This was news to her too.

"Walter thinks this is his fault, which it's not," Cabe said.

"It is. I kicked you off the team. Merrick demoted you. You resigned. I started the chain of events that lead us to where we are now, which is you being currently unemployed."

Walter was starting to lean to his left, favoring his injury, which caught Paige's attention. She moved to his right side and tried to guide him back to the couch.

"Ok, Walter. Let's get you to sit down."

"The desk. I can work from there." He leaned into Paige but was able to turn both of them towards his workspace.

"No, Walter. You aren't supposed to be working."

"I'll be on the computer, not doing anything strenuous. Let me do this."

Paige gave Cabe a look who just nodded in return.

"Fine. But you better get Cabe or me to help you out of your chair when you are done."

"Understood."

Paige was able to get Walter situated at his desk. She turned to Cabe and pulled him away from the team leader.

"You aren't with Homeland?"

"Nope."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"We had enough going on with 197 over there."

"Are you ok? I know this can't be an easy change for you."

"It's been taking some getting used to, but I don't regret my decision."

"You've been sticking up for this team since day one. That's a big deal."

"So have you."

"It's worth it. They are worth it."

"That they are, kid."

They both looked over to Walter who was focused on his computer screen.

"Do you think he really can get you back into Homeland?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure if he can or not and I'm not sure that I care. The fact that he's fighting for me instead of against me is what gives me hope that no matter the outcome, he and I will be ok. That's all that matters in my book."

Paige wrapped her arm around Cabe to give him a friendly hug. She believed in Scorpion and she believed that everyone would work out the way it needed to.

As the two normal chatted, Walter was busy. He remembered Cabe mentioning that Merrick was the one who let Cabe know of the plans about the bombs three days before they were dropped. This meant that Merrick had known long before the intended outcome of Walter's software. He likely used Cabe to use Walter, leaving the two men in the dark about the real mission.

Walter just needed to prove it. To use a civilian in such a way and not tell of them of their intended use, when it could have saved lives instead of destroyed them, was wrong. Walter just needed to prove that Merrick withheld information that lead to the loss of life that could have been prevented, therefore ordering the murder of innocents.

Hacking into the federal database wasn't legal and he could get caught, hindering the help he was trying to achieve, but it was worth it. But they'd have to catch him. He started first with the file dump Merrick ordered a week ago. If he could sift through the data there, he would have a starting point in which to start digging.

This continued for almost half an hour. Paige had come by to give Walter his water and pills, which Walter refused to take.

"Walter, you need to take your pills."

"I will, as soon as I get this file sent."

"Walter…"

"Please."

"Ok, as soon as you finish. Deal?"

"Deal."

And Walter was back to work. He had collected all of the offended data and needing to finish compiling it into his anonymous drop. It couldn't lead back to him, the team or more importantly, Cabe. Walter knew that if he could remove Merrick, he would have more sway getting Cabe back into Homeland and back with Scorpion.

A few more keystrokes and Walter sent his file. He caught Paige's eye and automatically reached over to get his meds, popped them into his mouth and chugged half of his water bottle. She smiled back at him, pleased he held up his end of the bargain.

Walter glanced back over at the couch, where Cabe had taken up residency with a magazine. He looked relaxed and Walter appreciated the fact that his father figure was actually getting a break for once. He didn't know if he could really fix this, but he was going to try like hell to get everything back the way it was.

The way it was supposed to be.

So, what did you think?! I'm going off of the fact that Merrick is leaving Homeland and the new Director will be in place. I would love if Walter was a reason for that swap. ;-)