This story is set on Christmas Day, the day after the events of 'A Christmas Car-roll'. I'm struggling, like a lot of fans, to make sense of the end of that episode and trying to get into Walter's head has not been easy, but this interpretation feels like it might fit. I hope you enjoy it, all comments welcome, thank you kindly!

SHE ALWAYS DID

"Hey, boss."

Walter slowly opened his eyes and took a moment to focus. "Oh, hello, Happy," he croaked.

"Er, sorry, did I wake you?" asked Happy, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. The intrusive beeping of the monitors echoed around his hospital room and she wondered how Walter was able to sleep at all. Then she remembered the amount of medication he was on.

"No, I was just resting my eyes," replied Walter. It wasn't strictly true, but he hadn't been sleeping either. Medication helped, but it wasn't a restful sleep by any means. "Where's Paige?" He missed her already.

"She's talking to your doctor," replied Happy. "She wanted Toby with her to translate the medical jargon."

"Ah." Walter tried to push himself further up onto his pillows, but he didn't really have the strength. Happy reached out and supported his forearm, allowing him to make himself more comfortable. "Thanks," mumbled Walter, frustrated at feeling so incapable.

Happy carefully perched herself on the edge of Walter's bed. Her feet didn't touch the ground, but she was used to that and positioned her legs to counterbalance her weight. "How does your head feel this morning?" she asked.

"Like someone drilled a hole in it yesterday," replied Walter with a wry smile.

"You know how I love using power tools," Happy responded, dryly.

"I can't imagine you were particularly comfortable with it," noted Walter. He was feeling a little more awake now and there was just a hint of a twinkle in his eye.

"No, I was not comfortable," confirmed Happy. "But Toby said it was the only way to keep you alive, so I didn't hesitate… even though I nearly puked."

Walter smiled warmly at her. "I know how you are with blood."

"You were already lying in a pool of blood when we got there, Walt," Happy pointed out. "I couldn't really avoid it. Lucky for you it turns out if my hands are already covered in your blood, a little gunky brain fluid doesn't make too much difference."

Walter's smile faded. "I'm sorry I put you through that," he said, humbly.

"It was an accident, not your fault."

Walter let out a slow breath. "I shouldn't have been at the garage," he said. "If I hadn't insisted on staying there to work alone it… it would never have happened."

Happy folded her arms across her chest. "You were being a Grade A Jackass about Christmas," she said. "You're lucky I didn't punch you in the mouth."

She expected Walter to at least make an attempt to defend his actions, but instead, to her surprise, he snickered.

"I'm not kidding, O'Brien!" she stated.

"I know," Walter replied, grinning broadly now. "You're being blunt, it's part of your charm."

Happy screwed up her face in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh… oh, you said that in my dream," he said, smirking again.

"Your dream sound nuts," retorted Happy. "I would never say that. Is there anything else I should know about the version of me that lives in your head?"

"You make it sound weird," Walter pointed out, feeling a little uncomfortable all of a sudden. He reached across to his glass of water and lifted it to his lips. He took a sip before speaking again. "Toby said my psyche was showing me how much I need all of you, that we're better together."

"Copy that," nodded Happy.

Walter placed the glass back on the table and tried to relax against the pillows. His head felt strange. He knew it was to be expected after the serious head injury he'd suffered, but there was more to it than just the physical symptoms. His mind was full of images from his dream and he was finding some of them very disturbing. This had been unlike any dream he'd ever had before and he did not know what to do with the vivid memory of it all.

"Walt? You OK?" Happy's voice broke into his thoughts. "You look kinda pale."

"Do I? No, I'm OK," he tried to reassure her. He blinked hard, trying to focus on his visitor.

"Come on, O'Brien, this is me you're talking to," frowned Happy. "Do I need to get a nurse?"

"No," insisted Walter. "I was just… just thinking about…" he trailed off. Suddenly he wondered if talking to Happy about the more perplexing aspects of his dream would help him straighten it out in his mind. He knew he couldn't talk to Paige about it, not yet anyway, but Happy would be sure to give him an honest opinion and blunt advice, it was part of her charm after all.

"Thinking about what?" prompted Happy, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "Not that dumb dream again?"

"No?" replied Walter, quickly. He was immediately annoyed with himself for his thinly veiled denial. He trusted Happy, he knew she wouldn't make judgements based on anything other than the facts.

"Because I know you and I know when you're keeping something back," Happy responded.

"Oh." Walter looked away and thought for a moment before responding. "Well, perhaps there is something I could run by you."

"Spill," urged Happy. She folded her arms across her chest and waited.

Eventually Walter attempted to speak. "In my dream, I… I was… I was…" He paused, trying to decide if he should keep his explanation vague, but he finally decided that he needed to be very clear about the details in order for Happy to be able to provide him with a fully informed opinion. "I was married… in my dream… to Florence."

Happy was momentarily speechless. She stared silently at Walter while she considered her response. "Flo?" she said eventually. "Well if your subconscious was trying to show you how crappy your life could be if you didn't have Scorpion then I guess it doesn't get much crappier than being married to Little Miss Sunshine."

"Little Miss… oh, I see, you were being sarcastic."

"Yes, I was," confirmed Happy, rolling her eyes. "I take it you omitted this particular detail when you told Paige about your little fantasy world?"

Walter nodded slowly, trying not to send his head into a spin.

"OK, O'Brien, listen up," said Happy. She got to her feet and Walter knew she was serious. "Never, ever, keep anything from Paige. You need to tell her. You need to tell her that it was just a dumbass dream and it didn't mean anything. Got it?"

"Yes, yes," agreed Walter. "But…" he trailed off, already regretting that one, three-letter word.

"But what?" Happy asked immediately. She put her hands on her hips and frowned. "There's no buts, no excuses, unless…" she hesitated, not entirely sure that she was interpreting his body language correctly. She had learnt a lot from Toby, but it was still a struggle for her sometimes to understand the markers he spoke about constantly. Especially Walter's, because Walter was unlike anyone else either of them had ever met.

"It's nothing," insisted Walter. "It's just the head injury, I'm sure, but… well, there was a moment yesterday when Florence was here when I… well, I thought that… that maybe Florence was looking at me… in a, in a… I don't know."

Happy's mouth fell open. "You think Flo has the hots for you? Seriously?"

"Well, my mind must have got the idea from somewhere," insisted Walter. "I can only assume that she has… well, feelings for… for me and I hadn't, consciously, acknowledged it before, but my subconscious had and that's why this particular scenario played out when my brain was…when I was… um…"

"Trying not to die?" Happy finished, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes, indeed," agreed Walter. She was being blunt again, he acknowledged to himself with an inward smile.

"O'Brien, listen to me," began Happy. "Flo is weird. She makes us look normal. Toby is starting to warm to her, but I'm reserving judgement for now. He thinks we can bring her out of her shell, make her less… y'know… Flo-like and get her to lighten up a little. But I'm pretty sure she does NOT have a thing for you."

"Oh, I mean… no, I mean… of course not," stammered Walter. "But… but it is plausible, isn't it?" he asked. "She could very well be attracted to me. Paige is attracted to me so I must have something... I mean, logically, that suggests there must be something, er, about me that women... some women... find attractive. I can't say I understand it, but the facts speak for themselves."

Happy couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. "Can you actually hear yourself? I think I should get the doc back in here to take another look at your brain."

"We share common interests, science and suchlike," continued Walter, undeterred. "It's not inconceivable that Florence, a single, possibly lonely woman, would seek companionship with someone like me."

"Relationships aren't based on whether you both read the same science journals!" Happy exclaimed. "It goes deeper than that, but don't ask me to explain it because I can't. Like me and Toby. The only things we really have in common are our IQ scores and place of work, but we love each other. And why are we even talking about you and Flo and relationships in the same sentence here? Unless… wait, you don't have a thing for Flo, do you?"

"No!" Walter exclaimed. "I love Paige, I'm with Paige, I love her, I've loved her almost since the day I met her!"

"I know," agreed Happy, satisfied that the ferocity of his denial conveyed the truth. "Look, maybe you should run this by Toby?"

"No!" insisted Walter. "And you can't tell Toby about this either. Or Paige. Especially not Paige. I think… I think this experience has affected me more than I realised and… and until I'm fully recovered I'm aware that my cognitive processes are affected which I find rather uncomfortable, but I absolutely do not have a thing, whatever a 'thing' is, for Florence. That's absurd."

"OK," nodded Happy. "But you're flattered because you think she likes you." She watched his silent reaction to her words and let out a slow breath as she realised she was right. Maybe she'd learnt more from Toby than she'd realised. "You want my advice? Get your huge, inflated ego in check right now, O'Brien, before it gets you into a whole heap of trouble."

"I would never do anything to hurt Paige," insisted Walter.

"Like sending her to Tahoe with Tim Armstrong? Or firing her from Scorpion?" retorted Happy. She knew that would sting, but it was the only way to get through to him.

Walter visibly retreated back into his pillows. He knew she had a very good point.

"Face it, Walt," continued Happy. "We all know that you can be a total jerk when it comes to doing the right thing by Paige sometimes. You've come close to screwing things up forever too many times already and I know you didn't mean to do that, but you did it anyway. You've come a long way these last few months, but that doesn't mean you're totally cured of the ability to screw up your life."

"Well, thank you for your wonderful words of encouragement. Merry Christmas," responded Walter. He wasn't incapable of sarcasm himself. Deep down he had expected her to react this way though. It was why he'd decided to tell her about it all, he realised. He needed her to tell it to him straight. He didn't need Toby's psychobabble, he needed Happy to clear his head with some home truths.

Walter knew he was the luckiest man in the world to have Paige. He knew he could have lost her so many times over the past three years, but the fact that she'd understood, eventually, that on all of those occasions he'd made huge mistakes and she'd forgiven him for them only made him love her more.

"I'm not going to apologise, Walt," said Happy. "I know you're not the kind of guy to cheat, even if you did have genuine feelings for Flo, which in my opinion you don't beyond the fact that she's stroking your ego by flirting with you. Not that I've seen any evidence of this flirting so it could all be in your medicated head, the one with the hole in it."

"I hope you're right," said Walter. "I don't know how to process any of this. It's the kind of thing I would normally turn to Paige for help with, but..."

"If you think there's any possibility that Florence has her eye on you then I think you should tell Paige," said Happy. "Because if she has and Paige sees it too and you haven't told her when you already know about it then it doesn't matter how innocent you are, it won't look good."

"I can see how that situation could become… messy," admitted Walter. "OK, OK, I'll tell Paige."

"Tell Paige what?" It was Toby's voice.

He and Paige walked into the hospital room and Paige walked straight over to Walter. She leaned in and kissed him, tenderly.

"Nothing," replied Walter. He glanced at Paige and smiled. "I'll tell you later," he said.

"Doesn't look like nothing to me," noted Toby, wrapping his arms around Happy from behind.

Happy elbowed him in the ribs. "Drop it," she hissed. Then she turned her head and kissed him. "So, what's the verdict? How long do we get to enjoy some peace and quiet until they kick Walter out of here?" she asked.

"They want to keep him in for a few more days for observation," Paige explained with a disappointed look on her face.

"The neurosurgeon was impressed with your handiwork, my sweet," said Toby, kissing Happy on the temple. "He said if you ever want to retrain..."

"No way!" insisted Happy.

"I'd rather keep you at Scorpion," added Walter. "I can't thank the both of you enough, you saved my life. I'm so sorry… it shouldn't have happened, it was all my fault."

"That's another Christmas movie you owe me, honey!" exclaimed Toby with glee.

Paige looked puzzled until Happy explained. "I have to watch one dumb Christmas movie with him for every time Walt apologises for what happened yesterday."

Walter couldn't hide the embarrassment on his face. "Well, I'm sorry, Happy, but I don't think I'll ever stop apologising." Paige gently placed a loving arm around him and snuggled into his shoulder.

"You keep 'em coming," urged Toby. "I have a long list of movies!"

Walter glanced at Paige and tried to think how he was going to bring up the subject of Florence. He was worried that he might not be able to explain himself properly, but then he remembered this was Paige. He knew she would understand, she always did.

THE END.