So...this was literally the dream I had last night. (Or at least the basic premise of this was how the dream I had last night started. That dream got really random and weird. But I digress.) I was debating between making this a little oneshot or expanding it into a multi – chap, and felt it fit better as a short oneshot.

Walter would never forget the look on Paige's face when he told her she no longer had a job with Team Scorpion. The confusion, the hurt, the anger. Such an opposite from the smiling, blushing, gentle woman he had danced with only days before. The way her eyes flashed and closed off from him, when his fondest recent memory of them had them warm and open and looking at him in a way that he could get used to. It had all been so different. So final.

Walter pulled into the parking lot and headed for the stairs leading to her door.

So. Incredibly. Convincing.

He knocked at her door. He knew that she had to leave, had to storm out like that, had to all but say she never wanted to see him again. But it still hurt to hear. Despite everything.

She opened the door, just a crack. When she saw him, a mischievous smirk came over her face. "Come on in."

Walter slipped into the apartment, trying to keep the grin off his own face. "Ralph's asleep?"

"Yep." Paige's expression grew serious. "Were you followed?"

Walter blinked. "They all have better things to do. If they weren't going to stay behind to make sure I was okay, they certainly weren't going to wait around and see if I'd leave."

Paige shrugged, the smirk returning. "Yeah, I know. I just wanted to say that. Makes this sound extra sneaky."

"I mean, it is pretty...sneaky...as it is." Walter cocked his head. "Isn't it?"

She shrugged. "I suppose." She gestured to the glasses on the counter next to them. "Wine?"

Walter still wasn't a big drinker. But, "I suppose."

She poured him a glass, then took one for herself, standing close to him as she took a sip, one of her hands resting on the counter. "You did good today. I almost believed it myself."

"I almost didn't come over," Walter joked. "Thought maybe you were actually mad at me."

"Pssssh," Paige said with a smile. "I think we're still in that honeymoon phase."

"Paige, I love you." His eyes widened. He had actively decided to say it, but as soon as the words were out of his mouth he wondered if it'd been a mistake. They'd been getting close again. They were moving toward something. He could have just asked her out. Less pressure. Less risk with his heart. But no. She spent five minutes in his arms tonight, dancing to a remix of a Halloween favorite, and now he was blurting everything out. Showing his hand.

Her eyes widened, and he felt a swelling of hope in his chest when she didn't pull away.

"I'm sure you'll get mad at me again soon enough," he said.

"Oh," Paige said, nodding and putting on an extra serious face. "Definitely." She giggled. "This is kind of fun."

"Deception?" Walter asked.

"I prefer to call it faking a fall out so we can start our relationship out privately and decide when we trot it out to the rest of them."

"That is only a more wordy way of saying deception."

Paige tapped his chest. "Yes, but it sounds better." "You know," she added after a moment, "one thing we didn't think through. Our friends and associates are all over this city. We won't be able to go anywhere. Not even under the guise of friends since, you know, they all think I want nothing to do with you right now."

"Hmmm, well," Walter said, straightening up, "Happy once told me that...that it's more about spending time together than anything else." He brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear, stepping even closer. "And we can spend time together here."

"Mmmm. That sounds nice." Paige closed her eyes and kissed him. Walter tasted the wine on her lips and realized he hadn't drank any of his. He set his glass down on the counter without breaking the kiss, and put his arms around her. Paige sighed as their bodies came against each other, sliding a hand into his hair and deepening the kiss.

"But how will we convince the team that we aren't together?" Paige seemed so sure of the plan, so Walter knew there must be a dot he wasn't connecting. "Toby is a behaviorist. And we work together, he'll...he'll know that something is different even if we are pretend fighting."

"You will work with Toby. But I won't be there."

"I don't follow."

"You're going to fire me."

Walter always told people that even normals were brilliant in their own way. It turned out Paige, for all her other strengths, was also brilliant at crafting convincing falsehoods. That was the Veronica in her.

"When do we tell Ralph?"

She tapped her fingers against her knees. "I'll tell him the day before. As long as you can commit to figuring out a way for any case we have to convincingly trigger the memories. He'll keep the secret."

Walter slid a hand up to the side of her face as they continued to kiss, hearing her set her glass down on the counter. "Walter," she said in a low voice. "Let's make love tonight."

He planted a couple brief kisses to her lips before replying, his voice just as low and intimate as hers. "I want to."

She kissed him. "Good." Their lips separated, and they opened their eyes, looking at each other. Paige smiled. "Schrodinger was right," she said softly. "This really does make perfect sense."