WriterFreak001:

This story popped into my head when I was thinking about the finale. I'm hoping it'll only be a one-shot, but I have a feeling it'll be a few chapters long.

Title | Reverse Psychology

Fandom | Scorpion (CBS)

Description | Sometimes a twist of fate as all we need to set things right.

Rating| T

Disclaimer | I don't own Scorpion, but if I did, we'd still have a show on the air.

Reverse Psychology

Written by WriterFreak001

CHAPTER ONE

~ SCORPION ~

"So I hear that the Portland Sea Dogs are in town…" Toby mused as he took a seat next to Paige in the small company breakroom to eat his lunch.

"I know," Paige replied before taking a swig of her water. "Drew called two nights ago and said he would be in town… Wanted to spend an afternoon with Ralph if he could."

"And is he?"

Paige shrugged. "I don't see the harm in it. Ralph has visited Drew in Maine in the past, so if Ralph wants to, I'm not going to stop him from spending time with his father."

"And does Ralph want to?" Toby couldn't help his naturally curious self, and he noticed Paige twitch a little.

"Surprisingly, yes. It's weird because he complained the last time he visited Drew about how dull it is in Maine, but for whatever reason, he agreed to meet up with him." Paige reached for her dinner roll and took a gentle bite from it. "I think he's avoiding me and is using Drew as the perfect excuse."

"Or," Toby shrugged casually, "Ralph just might want to spend time with Drew… He's getting older now…, and sometimes, no offense, a teen talking to his mom about sensitive topics can get super weird. So maybe he just wants to talk to Drew… about guy stuff."

"Not likely," Paige frowned, taking offense. "Ralph is a smart boy and knows that any advice Drew might offer would be awful. If Ralph wants advice on certain things, there's only one person he'll go to, and we both know who that is."

"True," Toby nodded, agreeing that Paige had a point. He picked up his coffee cup and took a sip. "But maybe there's something Ralph is curious about that Walter might not have any experience in… since, you know, he seems to lack that certain charm when it comes to the ladies."

Paige bit her cheek, wishing she had never said what she said to Walter in front of the whole team. "I'll have you know that… you know… did have charm. And lots of it, since he was a constant babe magnet to a lot of Scorpion's previous clients and associates, but I'm not going into that now because we're talking about my son. Not him. And so help me God, if Ralph asks Drew about those kinds of questions, I swear, I'll never let him out of the apartment until he's 25."

"He's considered an adult at 18…" Toby noted, receiving a glare from the mother for mocking her. "Relax," he held his hands up in defeat. "I'm sure Ralph won't ask Drew those kinds of things… He already knows what they are based on all the textbooks he's had to read in school, and besides… after the whole Patty bombshell, I don't think Ralph is interested in dating anytime soon."

Paige's brow arched. "Why do you say that?"

"Because," Toby sank into his chair, "Patty was his first crush, and that blew up in his face. We both know Ralph has always looked up to… you know… because they're so much alike, and when a hot chick like yourself – my words, not Ralph's – dates a nerdy weirdo like197, Ralph probably felt like there was a chance he could find someone normal too. But since you and you know broke up, there's a strong possibility that Ralph doesn't feel like that anymore… that there's no hope in romantic love…."

Paige never thought about that… She knew breaking up with him would have unseen repercussions like Ralph closing himself off again… The only time he ever seemed truly himself was whenever she let him visit her ex… She knew that even a breakup couldn't separate the two, and though she would never take Ralph's best friend away from him, she couldn't help but feel jealous at times.

"Anyway," Toby continued, "Regardless of why Ralph wants to meet with Drew, is Baker coming over here? Or, are you dropping Ralph off somewhere?"

"I don't want Drew to know where Ralph and I live at this point, so I've arranged for Drew to pick up Ralph here this afternoon. Ralph will be home in about an hour, and Drew plans to stop by around four. They're going to have dinner together – just the two of them…, and then maybe go to the planetarium or something. Drew said he'd drop Ralph back off around ten."

"And do you trust him?"

Paige thought for a moment. "You know, ever since we've had minimal contact with each other, Drew hasn't seemed all that bad. He's more responsible now… he has a stable career and makes a lot more money than he did in the minor league. He does travel a lot though considering his profession. But since he's spent time with Ralph in Maine unsupervised and ended up bring my son back to me safely, I think I can trust him more with Ralph than I ever did before…"

"Please tell me you're not falling for him again," Toby cringed at the very thought, and Paige laughed lightly.

"No. Of course not. Drew is a good dad with Ralph whenever the two are together, but when Drew left for Maine several years ago, when I chose to stay in LA, I made a promise that I would never let his charm overcome me again. I'm not the same girl I was back then." Paige plopped a grape into her mouth and hummed.

Toby couldn't help himself. "Do you ever wonder what life would be like if you and Drew had stayed together, gotten married, and even had more kids?"

Paige pursed her lips before nodding slowly. "I used to… for several years when Ralph was a little boy… wonder about those kinds of things…, but shortly after meeting W—I mean, joining Scorpion, those sorts of fantasies faded. They came back a few times when Drew was visiting the first time, but after he left again, they stopped… and I haven't thought about a potential life with Drew ever since."

Toby nodded with understanding. But he had to go a little further. "What about with Tim. Ever thought you two could be more than what you were?"

Paige shrugged as she plopped another grape into her mouth. "I never considered a future with Tim… It was unfair to him, but to me, he was more like a means to an end… At least, that's how I felt when we started dating… And when he left for Turkey, even though we promised to attempt a long-distance relationship, I knew in my heart it wouldn't work. Drew and I tried one, and that failed miserably. And to be honest, I doubt Tim thought of me as more than a fling as well. Sure, we cared about each other, but our feelings never blossomed into anything more than physical attraction."

Toby reached over the table and plucked one of Paige's grapes off of its stem before popping it into his own mouth. "And with him? Did you ever have those sorts of fantasies about him?"

Paige was silent for several minutes as tears welled up in her eyes. She blinked them back, but one managed to slip from her control and fell down her cheek. "They haven't stopped."

Toby felt sorry for his friend… He had known all along that both Paige and Walter still have the hots for each other, but neither one of them will admit it, and perhaps they never will. He couldn't help himself as he leaned over the table and reached for Paige's shoulder, giving her a small but sad smile. "In time, if it's meant to be, they will eventually fade."

Paige shook her head as more tears fell. "That's the thing," she sniffed loudly and wiped her cheeks. "I don't want them to."

It took almost an hour to console Paige, but when he reminded her that Ralph was going to be home soon, she was quick to pick herself back up as if the past fifty-five minutes never happened. While she disappeared to wash her face in the bathroom and freshen up a bit, Ralph came into the small Centipede office space and dropped his backpack off on the couch before lounging on it.

Toby took an opportunity to talk to the teen while his mother was washing up. Casually, the shrink dropped into the chair next to Ralph and said, "So, you're meeting up with your dad?"

"Yeah," Ralph replied simply and quickly as he pulled out his laptop.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but what the heck can you possibly accomplish by hanging out with your deadbeat dad? You're not going to ask him anything related to the birds and bees, are you? Because other than that sort of conversation, I can't imagine what you might enjoy while hanging out with that jock." Toby sat back into the chair and patiently waited for Ralph to respond.

"… I've got things to say to him," Ralph said slowly. "Things I would rather keep to myself for now because if I say it all before I see him, I might not have the courage to say them to him. And no, I'm not asking him about the birds and bees… I already know all that stuff, and if I did need to know something about that, I wouldn't talk to my dad; I'd talk to Walter."

"I see," Toby nodded as he propped his ankle on top of his knee. "But you know… Walter doesn't really know anything about that sort of thing… His experience is limited."

"He knows enough," was all Ralph would say on the topic, and it was clear he didn't want to talk about it anymore. "Anyway, I've got homework to complete before Dad shows up. Since I can't work at home, I need to focus here."

Toby feigned defeat as he rose his hands before standing up. "Okay, okay. I can take a hint. Your mom's in the bathroom and will be out in a moment. Let her know I had to bounce; the wife needs me to pick up a jar of dill pickle wholes for her more recent craving… If history repeats itself, then let Paige know I might not be in until mid-morning tomorrow. There'll be other cravings she'll want me to help with."

"Gross," Ralph grimaced as he threw his plastic pencil case at the shrink but missed, it landing somewhere near his mom's desk.

"Thanks, kid." Toby winked with a smirk, chuckling from Ralph's expression. "I knew I could count on you."

Ralph sighed and rolled eyes as he returned to his homework, deciding to pick up his pencil case later.

Ralph did eventually tell his mother about what Toby said, and he could have sworn she said she was going to have a talk with the shrink about his lack of tact, but other than relaying that message, he didn't say much else. It wasn't because he didn't want to talk to her; he just wasn't sure if he knew how to talk to her anymore. At least about anything he was feeling.

Since the breakup, Ralph experienced a lot of different feelings throughout the last several months. First, he was angry with his mother because she lost faith in Walter even when Ralph understood that his mentor wasn't cheating on her. Then, for weeks, all he felt was sorrow. Immense sorrow for both Walter and Paige for completely misunderstanding the other. If only they had been more honest with each other would they still be together today. After hearing both sides of the story on multiple occasions, he couldn't pinpoint blame on either one of them. Both were to blame for different reasons, and he couldn't be upset with either one of them because those reasons stemmed from bigger parts of their lives, ones that were – for most of the part – out of their control. They, themselves, might not be able to realize it, but Ralph could, and at least where he stood, he knew at least one person who was at fault for his mother's insecurities. Drew.

And so, when the opportunity came about, he agreed to meet with his dad because he knew he would never have another chance to say the things he wanted to say to Drew's face. Though Ralph knew that his mother's lack of trust didn't completely stem from Drew alone, he knew – at least – that his biological father was the main reason and leading cause to why his mother lost faith in men altogether.

For all Drew knew, they were going to have a nice meal together and perhaps go to some spectator event, but Ralph had other plans. Drew was on his turf, and he was going to put him in his proper place whatever it takes.

So here they are, at dinner together, eating quietly. Occasionally, Drew would throw out a question or two, and Ralph would politely answer, but when his dad asked him why he was being so quiet, Ralph couldn't stay silent any longer.

"It's your fault they've broken up."

Drew's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Ralph frowned. "Because of you, mom's insecurities about men come to a head every time things get rough. There have been several occasions as to when Mom almost left Walter because of a dumb mistake, but because of one lie, she broke things off with Walter, and now they're both miserable. I can see it in their eyes. I'm not as emotionally stunted as they think I am. The reason I agreed to meet with you is not because I wanted to hang out, dad. I wanted to let you know that because of the way you treated Mom way back then, she lets one dumb lie get under her skin and accuses Walter of cheating on her."

Drew's eyes widened. "Wait, Walter cheated on her? That emotionally-constipated nerd turd cheated on her?" He couldn't help but smirk. "Well I'll be damned."

"NO!" Ralph shouted, slamming his fists on top of the table. "You're not listening! You never listen!" His outburst shut Drew up pretty quickly, and Ralph continued. "It's YOUR fault, don't you get it!? Because you just had to cheat on Mom all those years ago, she can't seem to let go of the past."

"My involvement with your mother has nothing to do with her relationship with Walter," Drew replied with a frown. "I know I was a messed-up piece of shit back then and took the both of you for granted, but Walter and I are totally different dudes. I could tell from the moment I saw him admiring your mother that she was the only one for him. Even a jerk like me, as your friends often call me, could see that even if I didn't want to. Why would Paige ever think he would cheat on her?"

"Because he overheard us talking about a lecture she didn't want to go to. Walter lied and told her it was canceled to spare her feelings but instead of missing the lecture, he decided to go, except he didn't want to waste the ticket, so he asked a female friend to go with him. The only reason Mom thinks he cheated on her was because he neglected to tell her about it… If she has any chance of breaking this cycle… of learning how to trust good men again, then you have to do something about it."

"Me?" Drew pointed to himself as if he wasn't the only other option. "Why me?"

"Because you're the one who broke her heart the first time," Ralph glowered at his dad before letting out a huff of air. "You need to tell her she needs to move on from the past and realize that not all men are jerks like you."

Drew sat still for a moment before sighing. "I really did a number on her, didn't I?"

"You have no idea."

Paige couldn't believe the amount of paperwork she still had left to sort through but had planned to go tackle it while Ralph was out with Drew. Stacked in three tall piles was the paperwork from the last three months, and since she was sort of the new leader of the team, she hadn't had much time to file anything. And heaven forbid if any of the others decide to pitch in.

Carefully, she carried one stack in her arms and maneuvered around the office until she was at her desk. Gently, she placed the stack on top of her desk and walked away to grab the second one. With some success, she managed to carry the second stack to her desk except for two sheets flying off the top. She moved to pick up those two sheets of paper, but as she took a step forward, her foot slid on something slippery, causing her to lose her balance. Sliding on the object forced her forward, sending her flying several feet until something incredibly sharp on her desk smacked hard into her forehead.

She doubled over in pain as she coddled her right eyebrow, and when she tried to stand up, a wave of dizziness washed over her, and she fumbled forward until she was flat on the ground, motionless.

Ralph's small pencil case was the last thing she saw before everything went dark.

~ SCORPION ~

WriterFreak001:

So this is definitely going to be a multi-chapter fic. I hope I won't go over 5 chapters for this story. Please let me know what you think!