This idea came to me the other day and wouldn't leave me alone in peace so I sat down at my computer and decided to play with it. This will be a three-part story.

I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I am not a psychologist by any means.

WARNING:

The beginning of the first chapter is pretty dark and includes some suggestive suicidal thoughts.

Isn't It Enough?

Written by WriterFreak001

Part 1

~ SCORPION ~

He never told the team how depressed he had been these past few months and how his depression had worsened because he couldn't stand any more scrutiny from his friends as he quietly dealt with his unrequited feelings for Paige.

Nobody seemed to be on his side as of lately, and the isolation he continued to feel had been depressing him, eating him alive and chewing him back out in a crumpled mess. He would never admit it to anyone, but whenever he felt the loneliest, he would find himself crumbling to the ground and slamming his fists against the floor in a rage meant to be directed at Timothy Armstrong. He hated that man more than he hated anybody, but in his self-despair, he had begun to loath himself the most. Had he not been an idiot, had he been more courageous and more forthcoming about his feelings for Paige Dineen, she wouldn't have chosen Tim.

But he had screwed up so much since Tim invaded Scorpion, that there was no way Paige would ever look at him the way she used to.

It had been months since he'd seen her smile. Months since she laughed. Months since she purposely touched his arm to assure him things were going to be all right. She hated him now. She couldn't stand to be in the same room with him if she could avoid it, and she was always so quick to leave after she was finished with her Scorpion duties.

In spite of her anger towards him, what hurt him the most was her decision to stop bringing Ralph to the garage on the days she didn't work. He missed spending time with her son, and unless it was in passing before the carpool picked him up, Walter hardly ever saw him anymore, and that made him entirely jealous at everybody else because Paige let them hang out with her son.

But not him.

She didn't trust him anymore, and he was beginning to wonder if anybody cared about him at all.

If Cabe cared, he wouldn't have stopped him from telling Paige he loved her.

If Toby cared, he would have stopped rubbing Tim's presence in his face and would have kept his trap shut about him moving on. Walter couldn't move on. He loved her. He loved Paige.

If Happy cared, she would have said something, anything to encourage him to fight for the one he loved. She did so before the Tahoe disaster, but she, too, seemed to have given up on him.

If Sylvester cared, wouldn't he have offered him a hug or let him see Ralph for five seconds before whisking him away for their weekend outing? Sylvester knew how much Walter loved the boy, so why would he keep Ralph all to himself?

If… If Ralph cared… If Paige cared….

Walter could never finish those thoughts in his head. Those two were the most important people to him, but maybe he wasn't as important to them as he thought.

Walter O'Brien was a failure to everybody, and he hated himself for it.

…

"So, tell me, Walter," Dr. Cecil Rizzuto leaned forward, spreading his legs further open, "do you regret not telling Paige you love her?"

"Every day," came Walter's brief answer. He didn't feel the need to elaborate.

"You've mentioned, several times, that you've tried to tell her, but people are constantly telling you to back off. We never discussed it in full depth, but, how does that make you feel?"

Walter shrugged. "At first, depressed, because I couldn't understand why a friend would stop me from telling her when, for almost a year, all of them had been rooting and cheering for us to admit our feelings and establish a relationship. They were subtle about it, for the most part, but now that I know I love her, I can reflect upon and remember all of the instances my friends have tried pushing us together." Walter clenched his fists as his voice darkened. "And then that depression started to turn into anger. I was angry, mostly at Toby and at Cabe, even though I didn't reveal my anger to them."

Dr. Cecil hummed to himself and jotted a few things down. "You say you're angry at your friends, but… what about yourself? You're the one who initially held yourself back from a real chance of being with Paige when you – as you said last week – presented her with tickets to a festival in Tahoe. Are you really angry at your friends, or, are you just angry at yourself and need a target to displace what you feel on the inside?"

Walter swallowed hard. "I never thought about it that way."

"Enlighten me, Walter," Dr. Cecil mused as he gave the genius a small smile, "do you think – with as many insecurities you have – a relationship with Paige would have been successful if you had tried dating when the two of you kissed for the first time?"

Walter was silent for a moment before answering honestly. "No."

"And why not?"

"Because back then, I was an idiot. I refused to acknowledge my feelings for her, and because my love for her was so strong, even then, the prospect of establishing a relationship with her in that current moment frightened me. I have worked so hard to establish a strong company, and I couldn't afford any distractions, and she claimed she understood my reasons for not wanting a relationship at that time. But even when we decided to remain professional, we slowly started growing closer in spite of our boundaries, and I was reconsidering our decision for weeks, but… as usual, I screwed up big time and pushed her away so much, she started dating the interloper." Walter clenched his fists again. "And I keep screwing up, and she blames me for Tim's departure. It's been a month since Tim left for Jordan, and she can hardly look at me."

"Interesting." Dr. Cecil noted, and Walter's curiosity bested him.

"What's interesting?"

"Based on your monologue, it seems you didn't feel as threatened when Tim was around, and I wonder if it's because you were able to observe Paige and Tim's relationship more closely and gauge whether or not you still had a chance with her. With Tim gone, you don't know how much closer he and Paige have become, and that's more problematic to you than anything. At least when he was here, you had a little more control within your court." Dr. Cecil licked his pen and tapped it against the paper before writing again, but he noticed Walter's tense form. "You have a different theory."

"I won't lie. I hated Tim and will forever hate him for sweeping Paige off of her feet when he knew we had a thing between us. At least, he should have suspected we had a thing since he claimed to be much more adept in romance than I'll ever be," Walter inhaled a deep breath, "but the reason I tolerated him, the reason I put up with him for so long, was because of Paige. She liked him, maybe even started to love him, I don't know, and I don't want to think about it, but despite how much hatred I reserve for the man, Paige was happy, and her happiness matters most to me over any hatred I have for her boyfriend. Like I said, when he left, I thought the dynamic would return back to the way it was before his interference, but it's worse. I could handle Paige being happy and always smiling and sometimes being friendly towards me, but," he scratched the back of his neck and gazed at the floor, "her constant anger and avoidance scares me because as every day passes by, my fear of her leaving Scorpion and taking Ralph away grows stronger, and I hate it!"

Walter's nose flared as he blinked back his tears. "I love her, and I will forever love her, but if she's happier when she's not around me, then I guess that's how it's going to be." He gritted his teeth. "Maybe I should terminate her involvement in Scorpion; that's the only way I'll ever be able to move past this. Then she wouldn't feel tied down here and would be able to reunite with Tim in Amman."

"But what of Ralph?" Dr. Cecil questioned, cocking an eyebrow. "If you fire her, and she moves to Jordan and takes Ralph away from you, the one person he gets more than anybody else in the world, how would that affect him."

Walter sighed. "It wouldn't be good." He inhaled a deep breath and released it slowly as he leaned backwards and crossed his arms. "Ralph's involvement in my life has been strictly limited, but his mom lets him hang out with the other members of my team. I wouldn't dare threaten to take his friends away from him. I'm not Drew."

"I'm assuming Drew is Ralph's father?"

Walter only nodded.

Dr. Cecil stood up and stretched his back before sitting back down. "We're almost out of time, but humor me for a second. You said you could tolerate it more if Tim was still in the US, yes?"

"That would be correct."

"All because his presence makes Paige happy."

"Also correct."

"So, that means, it's enough for you to see Paige and Tim get married one day as long as the woman you love is happy, yes?"

"If it meant she would still be talking to me, then yes. It would be enough."

"And would your love for her be fulfilled if she ever had more kids with Tim?"

Walter blanched at the thought but quickly recovered. "Yes, if that ever happened, then yes. Seeing Paige happy is all I need to function."

Dr. Cecil smiled, and Walter knew he was leading him into some sort of trap. "Now let's turn the question around. Consider yourself in a relationship with Miss Dineen. How would you feel if you two married and had kids together instead?"

Walter closed his eyes at the pleasant thought of Paige becoming his wife and one day bearing his children. "I would be the happiest man alive if I was the one she was happiest with."

"And how would you treat her as your wife?"

Walter's eye lashes fluttered as he slowly smiled. "I'd worship the ground she walked on and give her everything she'd would ever want. I'd make her feel like the most treasured woman in the world simply because of how much I love her."

"And now Tim's gone, and you have every opportunity to tell her without his interference," Dr. Cecil muttered in a hypnotic tone.

"Yes, and now that Tim's gone, I could tell her any time I want." Walter repeated with a little smile his lips. And then his heart jumped, his love for Paige reviving itself throughout his body, and he jumped up from his seat and grabbed his phone from between the seat cushions. "I… I gotta go!"

Dr. Cecil laughed as Walter scrambled out of his office, his renewed love for Paige leading him the way to the woman he loved. The shrink clapped his hands together and beamed widely. Walter's come a long way since he started therapy, and he hoped – as much as he enjoyed the kid's company – he would never have to see him again.

He checked his watch when he eventually heard a soft knock on the door, and he grinned. "Miss Dineen," he said as he opened the door to his office, "you're right on time."

~ SCORPION ~

WriterFreak001:

This story should be updated quickly. ;)

I hope you enjoyed this first part and don't forget to let me know how you liked it! :D