DISCLAIMER: I do not own the character or the show.

This is my first Fanfiction so please be kind. My mother toungue is not english and if you find some errors please report them so I can fix them. It will be much appreciate!
Enjoy it!

Chapter 1

Cliffhanger

Never before he thought this would have been the day his world ended up crushing underneath his feet. Walter felt like someone punch him right in the stomach, like he couldn't breath.

'Did Agent Gallo told you how HIS operation in Bagdad relly went?'

First thing he noticed about the agent standing in front of him with a smirk on his face and hands on waist holding up the belt, was the way he said HIS operation

'Are you implying that Cabe knew about the operation?'

'Knew it? He was at the head of that operation'.

He replayed few times that exchange in his mind, still not believing Cabe could lie to him about that very thing. He just told him a little lie to cover up the bigger one.

Not only the elder man made him built that software, he also knew the purpose since the beginning. HE LIED. How could he ever forgive him?

It was early morning and Walter was staring at the monitors in front of him. Files opened everywhere, on four computers he could barely see the desktops underneath. He was alone, fortunately, he thought.

'There must be mistake. Agent Gallo told me everything about Bagdad and even if I didn't like to hear the outcome I-'

'Sorry he lied to you but,' he took a pen drive out of his pocket and handed it toward the genius 'Here it is. Everything you need to know is in this pen drive'.

Walter didn't know what to say but he kept staring at the small object in the hand of the agent. He took it and put in his pocket so fast that it seemed like he feared it could burn his skin.

The files he kept staring at were from that usb drive.
Unfortunately that wasn't even the worst part of the day just passed. He screwed up with Paige... and Ralph almost got killed by a psychopath because he wanted to help Team Scorpion. She yelled at him but he couldn't blame her, after all she was Ralph mother. He didn't expected any other reaction from the woman.
The genius was conflicted. This was the first time he'd been overwhelmed by emotions. He wasn't ready, he didn't want them and basically he didn't have a clue on what to do next.

He approached the kitchen to grab a glass of water when he suddenly feel the presence of someone behind him.

'Walter' she placed a hand on his shoulder but he quickly get rid of the sudden touch with a rough movement. Paige kept talking 'Walter, we need to talk' she said softly. She didn't sound angry or aggressive. Still he was giving his back to her and decided to not turn around at that statement. Not after what happened in the last few days, it was getting difficult for him to make eye contact with anyone.

Then all he could think about it was the night he ran to her apartment to confess that he truly had feeling for her, like Toby advised him to do because he was finally admitting he had feelings at all. It was a big step, a fact that he would have never imagined it could have happened anytime soon. Beside his low EQ he could actually feel something, Walter was slowly admitting to himself that he was in love. Unfortunately before he decided to went in, he sees through the window Paige and Ralph getting ready for dinner and Drew was there too, and they were happy, they looked really happy together. It did hurt. He felt... broken. His emotional quotient was constantly pushed over the edge in the last few weeks to the point it came to be unbearable. He felt like crying but he also was angry because he couldn't process the emotional state he was going through.

Paige tried to hold his arm but stopped midair. She feared another rejection. He'd been like this from the moment she raised her voice the morning before. Paige had motive to be furious, she almost lost his son. And what she was going to do now wasn't exactly pleasant as well. Anyway she had to, the sooner the better. 'Listen, I-… I wanted to tell you something important about Ralph… and…well, about what happened yesterday.'.

Yes, Ralph. He fast forwarded every single thing that happened, once again. If things couldn't get worse thought Walter. Paige stepped closer to him. The genius finally turn to face her and crossed his arms. He posed defensive even if he tried to hide it.

'What about it' he said coldly. She saw him distant and she hesitated a little. 'Come on Paige, I still have few thing to do and...I-I already apologized for what happened to Ralph. So if-'

'I'm taking Ralph to Portland'. That it's. She did it, not that Walter was surprised. He knew he was late, that he already lost her over Drew and the current situation didn't help, but that feeling of anger became rage he couldn't content anymore. He just could not imagine she was taking the little boy away from his new found family.

She could said, as he froze, that he didn't expect it, but it didn't last long. She wanted to tell him it wasn't all his fault, but she also needed a fresh start… she DID almost lost her son because of her job and the influence the group of geniuses had on him.

When he started walking away from her, Paige was still talking 'I know that you care about Ralph, but I've been thinking about it - wait', she was following him toward the garage. The others just arrived. Sly was occupied with his stuff, so was Happy while Toby was staring at her shamelessly, maybe he said something embarrassing, none of them noticed. Even Cabe was there and he looked up as Walter and Paige made their way to the stairs. 'It's safer this way... Walter, wait, I'm sorry.' She said as they both reach the stairs to the loft. She had to run to catch up with him.

'Not good'. Happy stated. She was totally on point.

'I bet that-' Toby didn't have the chance to finished his sentence because Happy firmly set her elbow in his stomach.

'Stop that crap Doc' she said giving his her angry look. But he was more preoccupied about his organ than to look at her expression. 'Now it's not the time'.

Cabe and Silvester just stood there watching Walter slamming the door right in front of Paige. She almost lost balance. 'I told you guys… this is not good' said Happy more preoccupied while picking up a wrench.

'Maybe you're exaggerating. And there's nothing to be afraid of'.

'Sly is that you?' Toby raised his eyebrows ' Did you used 'nothing' and 'be afraid' in the same sentence?'

Sly glared at his statement but didn't add anything else.

'Well, I thought she would have been the one angry here. Not the other way around' Cabe mumbled.

'Why keep following me?!' Walter almost yelled when he heard Paige open the door. She close it slowly taking time to think about what to say next to not aggravate the situation. She was sure he might get angry, but she kept telling herself she was doing the right thing, it was for her son safety. It should have been her to be enraged not him.

Paige turn around to see Walter staring at her. She was taken aback by the intensity of his look. His expression was a mix of emotions she never expected to see on the genius face, the man who declare to not have any kind of feelings. She decided that he looked mostly exhausted.

'I have nothing against you, but-'

'Nothing? You basically yelled at me that it was all my fault' he was the one yelling now 'that it'd be better if you never knew me in the first place! And now you're telling me that it's not... just-just made up your mind!'. He could feel the rage growing inside more and more every minute. He wanted to smash something, everything. And yet he couldn't explain that amount of anger burning in his flesh. 'And you're running away'.

'Walter, I'm not running... you need to understand that I feared for my son's life. I'm sorry I yelled at you, but now you need to calm down. It might seems selfish, but the truth is that Drew really wants to start over and I see he's changing in a better person. I'm giving him a chance'.

It was that, like another punch. Walter feared that. And THAT was his fault.

'I want to give us a chance.' she paused but the genius didn't reply 'I promise I will call, Ralph will talk to you guys through skype… we can even get here sometimes in the weekends' she tried.

'You knew the risks and yet you're blaming everyone but yourself about what happened!' Walter snapped. 'I didn't force you to accept the job, did I?'

'Really?! I AM his mother, for God's sake!'

'Well, a really bad one then!' Walter didn't really mean it but he split it out before he could even realize it. He saw her tearing eyes and he immediately regret his own words.

'Why are you so angry at me... really?' she almost whispered. As much as she needed go away, after his last statement ,she didn't want to leave and she was afraid that whatever he would add could make it worse. In the last few month she'd never been so happy. Paige finally connected with her son and Walter was behind that beautiful progression. She came to realize she was falling for him and for a moment she wanted to believe that he was in love with her too. But when he claimed that love was a junk science something broke inside of her and didn't forget about it. She was conflicted.

Walter by the other hand didn't know what to say. He would have like to tell her everything, things he never said to anyone else. He tried to open his mouth… twice. But no worlds came out of it. Watching Paige was calming him down, he almost forgot about Bagdad. People either didn't understand him or betraying or leaving him, as she was about to do. He realized she was giving him a chance to come clear about his reaction. He stared down at the pavement afraid. It was now or never.

'You know what? Never mind. Just… forget it.' Right when he looked up to open his heart to her, if he even had one emotionally speaking, she cut him out. The genius didn't like her look of disappointment.

'Paige, wait.' The woman stopped right when she was about to open the door and walk out. Her eyes found Walters. How was it possible that every time he tried to speak to Paige he just froze like an idiot?

'I-..' He started.

She was so stunning… he imagined to touch her, thing he would never do with anybody else, yet she felt so distant. He noticed a little tear forming under her eyes.

He never got the chance to formulate his sentence. 'I knew it.' She sighed. 'Don't worry. As I said it's not your fault. Goodbye Walter' She gave him a half smile and left.

'… love you'. He finally whispered out of his lungs, but no one were there to listen.

Several minutes passed. Walter was still staring at the open door, slowly putting his hands in the pockets. He heard voices downstairs but he couldn't move. He pushed away the thoughts about Paige and the fact that he should have run after her, or at least, he realize, it is what Toby would have told him to do. The genius walked up to his set of computers.

He stared to the screens once again.

He didn't bother to close the files on the various desktops. He simply left the loft just like a zombie would walk. He descended the stairs in autopilot to find Cabe ready to leave, all his friends already left. 'Oh Walt, you came here just in time... we've got a new case, let's go.' Cabe stated.
Walter walked up to him and before he could react Walter punch him right in the nose making it bleed.

Cabe covered his nose with one hand 'What the hell, Walt?!'

'You lied' the young genius said with low and calm voice.

The old agent didn't understand at first 'I don't know what you're talking about, son'. Now he was using a napkin as pressure to stop the bleed.

'STOP CALLING ME THAT!' he shouted.

'Walter…' eyes wide, Cabe finally realize 'I can explain'.

'You liars always says the same thing. You USED me. And you knew it….' He started walk up and down the garage 'I trusted you, for a moment I even thought I was overreacting years ago for blaming you… for-for using my software to destroy so many lives… how could I be so STUPID!?'

'Walter, please, listen to me. Even if I wanted I couldn't tell you the whole truth….' The agent throw the napkin in the trash. 'not at the time, it was strictly classified by the american government. I was waiting for the right moment, I almost did it. I was about to tell you everything when you got bitten by that rare snake few weeks ago. Remember? The night we brought Paige to-'

'SHUT UP!' Walter was livid. As Cabe mentioned Paige, his brain stopped functioning. He hated her for having such an impact on his EQ. He was overwhelmed by emotion. He didn't want to hear her name anymore, nor he want to see him. His father figure, the one he always reach out whenever he felt alone. 'I don't want to hear your bunch of crap anymore!'.

A pair of eyes were watching them in the shadow on the other side of the garage. Happy was furious to see his friend in such a state. She came back in time to hear the entire conversation and she wanted to step in, but she also wanted to give Walter his space. Suddenly the genius walked toward her but he past her with any sign of knowledge of her presence. The behaviorist was coming back in that very moment.

'Hey Walt! Listen I talked to Paig-' Walter smashed onto his shoulder trying to get out of that place as soon as possible. 'Hey, you're not going anywhere with that attitude, let me tell you…' Happy held firmly his arm. Toby looked at her 'I'm trying to tell Mr. 197 something important' added with soft voice.

'He's upset. Don't. Don't mention Paige name in any sentence. Ok?'.

'Hap, as an observer of human nature I can see when someone is upset, don't you think?' Toby said pointing out to Walter who was about to climb into the Camaro that Richard Elia just gave him as a gift. For a split second the geniuses thought Walter might have accepted the work the rich man offered him. But he turned it down twice as far as they knew, because they're family and family always comes first.
Happy rolled her eyes.

Walter took place in the driver seat, closed the door but didn't move. He was suffocating and he was shaking. He was getting crazy as he didn't understand any of the 'feelings' he was experiencing, he wanted to get rid of them but he didn't know how. He almost jumped when Toby knocked on the car window and leaned down to take a better look at him. Walter found his friend eyes but didn't lower the car window, instead he locked the doors and closed his eyes leaning the head back on his seat.

'Listen, I know how you're going to react… but I'm going to tell you anyway. She IS in love with you'. As Walter heard that words he shout an angry look at Toby. 'Don't look at me like that! I'm just trying to help you figuring out…'

'She doesn't.' He finally said as he lowered the car window. 'If she did… she would have listen to what I had to say.'

'Perhaps you took too much time to speak it out loud?' Toby encourage him leaning on the door.

Behind the two geniuses Cabe appeared and he stood right next to Happy.

'If she cared… she wouldn't left.' Walter saw Cabe in the rear window. He was reluctantly approaching the geniuses.

'Toby, I need to fully occupy my mind' said starting the engine. 'You know what I mean'.

'I don't think this is a good idea, Walt'. Cabe was almost there. 'We have a case to solve!'

Walter looked away from Toby. The behaviorist saw pain and anger in his eyes but said nothing. The fourth smartest person on the planet push his feet onto the accelerator and ran away. Toby didn't fully expected it and almost stumbled on his own feet. He shot a look at Happy and she nodded. In seconds they were in Toby's car trying to reach Walters tracks. Cabe however stayed behind. If they needed him he knew they'd call him. It was better this way. Walter deserved space and he was will to give it to him as much as he needed.

Sly suddenly appeared from the van 'Did I missed something? What just happened?'.

'I screwed up.' Sly was clueless.

'That's all.' agent Gallo added. He put on his sunglasses 'In the meantime, get back in the van. We have work to do. We'll update the others later'.

Walter was driving fast out of LA and up on the hills. He usually used high speed to keep his mind occupied, but it wasn't working as he expected to. Not today at least. His mind kept jumping from Paige to Cabe, back and forward with no stop. Why? He kept asking why all this was happening to him, but as emotion cannot be calculated he wasn't able to find a solution. He however came to the conclusion that it was far better before the events of the LA airport, even if he improved his EQ. Now that will always remind him of Paige, he could barely accept it. I don't have emotions, he repeated to himself. But he didn't trust it anymore. He suddenly felt tired of everything. All he believed in was a lie that it couldn't be undone. Paige. Oh. She was beautiful. And now he lost her forever because he was stupid enough to let her slip away, he was driving all alone while she was with Drew. He hated her as much as he hated himself. A tear fell on his cheek, he didn't realize it at all he just felt something warm on his skin. Few things started flashing before his eyes. Her smile. He closed his eyes for a second. Her perfume. He reached the hills. Cabe calling him son. Toby was right, he wanted to prove him to be good, always. First curve, he didn't slow down that much. Then Paige again and Ralph. The little boy… he almost felt to be a father figure to him. He was wrong. It was over.
Lost in his though he didn't notice the curve and the fact that he speeded up too much. When he tried to slow down it was too late. As much as everything else in his life at this point. He pulled the handbrake with his right hand as with the left turned the wheel on the opposite side of the cliff to slow the car a bit more then he just closed his eyes. The climb was right ahead.

Tell me if you want me to continue. Thanks for reading!