Hey #TeamScorpion! I have to warn you that this story is going to be a bit angsty. Even though I'm super glad that things aren't angsty on the show right now. But I'm excited to write it. Eight chapters or less, I believe. Thank you guys for reading and all the comments and emails I've gotten from you; it's been such an absolute pleasure being on here and it's really restored my love of writing. So thank you. And enjoy. :)

"It's not your fault, Walter."

Paige's words made him cringe. He'd heard them before. From Cabe, mostly, about the loss of two thousand innocent lives. And now from Paige, even though he could be responsible for a thousand more deaths. "I made the decision. Whose fault do you think it is?" he snapped, turning away from her to stare out the loft window. She shouldn't have followed him up there.

The liaison sighed as she pulled his bedroom door closed and flipped the lock. No need for the rest of the team to get involved. "It was mine. I got distracted, I left myself open—."

"Paige, stop," he interrupted, holding up his left hand. Her voice died out abruptly. "It wasn't your fault. You had no way of knowing that Ford was working with the bomber."

"We were all blindsided," she said quietly, feeling an equal mixture of guilt and relief at the events of the day. "Look, nobody is hurt. We can still find him, we just need to regroup and figure out his next target."

Walter shook his head fervently, maintaining his gaze on the traffic outside and refusing to look at her. "No, I need to regroup and figure out his next target. You're going to go home and stay with Ralph," he said in a voice that left no room for argument.

But Paige was never one to back down from a fight. "That's absurd, Walter. I'm part of this team and there are dangerous men on the loose. Let me help."

The genius glanced at her briefly, and the coldness in his eyes sent a chill down her spine. "I said go home, Paige. We'll handle this."

Paige stared at him, jaw dropped slightly in shock. She wished he would turn around, but he kept his back to her. "Are you…punishing me? Because of what happened with Ford? I thought we agreed that wasn't either of our faults."

Walter finally stepped away from the window and headed in the direction of his desk, flipping through loose papers stuffed inside a file folder. "I'm not punishing you," he said matter-of-factly. "Ford tied you to a chair and put you in a room with a bomb. Logic dictates that you're going to feel aftereffects from that type of trauma. You'll be too emotionally unstable during this case to be helpful, so go home and be with your son."

Paige took a deep breath, trying to fight the way his statement cut her. It had been a long and difficult struggle to gain acceptance from the team and find her place at Scorpion, and being pushed aside like this dredged up a ton of old insecurities. "I am not unstable," she said defiantly, taking a step toward him and pulling the folder out of his hands. He looked at her in surprise. "You and Cabe found me. We had plenty of time. I've been in danger before, Walter. It's nothing I can't handle."

The genius stared at her blankly for a minute before shaking his head again. "Cabe and I didn't find you," he rebutted, distancing himself from her and searching his bag until he produced a black laptop. He cracked it open and stared intently at the screen as he spoke. "Ford gave us your location in exchange for his freedom. We would never have found you or the bomb in time."

This wasn't new information to Paige, but she felt a pit growing in her stomach as the real problem dawned on her. "You're punishing me because he got away. Him and the other bomber. They're out there putting hundreds of lives at risk, and you blame me."

"Thousands of lives, and no, I don't," Walter argued, bringing up a satellite map with a few keystrokes. "I already told you that this is my fault, and it's up to me to fix it. And I can't think if I'm worried about you being in trouble, so please, just listen to me for once and go home."

"Walter," the liaison said gently, biting back a small smile. His protectiveness frustrated her sometimes, but she had an equal amount of appreciation for it. "You don't need to worry about me. I'm fine. I'll even stay at the garage if you want, but I want to help on this case."

The genius paused his typing and straightened his arms, pressing his palms against the edge of his desk. When he didn't respond, Paige approached him carefully and placed her hand on his shoulder, rubbing a small circle with her thumb. He didn't move.

"You're going to find them, Walter," she assured him in a near-whisper. "Scorpion never fails. It's going to be okay. Tell me what you need me to do."

Walter stayed rigid under her touch until he finally ducked away from her, reaching for a marker and scribbling a numerical sequence on his whiteboard while Paige tried to ignore the tingling in her hand. "Walter?" she prompted.

The marker ran out of ink and he threw it on the ground, pausing as he reached for the next one. He turned partially to face her, but his eyes still wouldn't meet hers. "I need you…not to be here," Walter replied before continuing his work on the board.

Her stomach dropped. Paige wasn't unstable, but she was shaken up, and—although she pretended it was all about the case—she needed to be where she felt safe. She needed to be near him. And he couldn't stand to be around her. He couldn't even look at her.

"I don't understand, Walter. Do you…do you regret saving me?" she asked, her voice cracking on the last words.

There was no sound except a squeak on the board as Walter halted his frantic scribbling. "Of course not."

Paige pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled, trying to keep her emotions under control. "Then why are you so desperate for me to leave?"

"It's better for Scorpion," he answered after a period of silence, and Paige hated how robotic he sounded. She thought he'd moved beyond that. "This case proves that my emotions are getting in the way of our work. I can't have these…distractions."

The bid to reign in her own feelings was rapidly becoming useless, and the liaison clenched her fists, feeling the sting as her nails dug into her palms. "I'm not a distraction, Walter, I'm your friend. And I'm usually pretty understanding when you're under stress, but this is rude, even for you."

After what felt like an eternity but was probably only seconds, Walter rested his marker against the board and met her eyes, crossing his arms in front of him. "Saving you at the expense of two domestic terrorists does not factor into the greater good theory. It was an emotional decision, and I don't regret it, but I need you to excuse yourself from this case so I don't have to make that choice again."

Paige pressed her lips together and nodded bitterly. "So that makes me a liability? Because at some unidentified time, you might have to deign to save my life again?"

"You are a liability…to me." Though they were only feet apart, Paige felt like there was a million miles between them. She hardly recognized the man in front of her, and she winced at the way he seemed to look straight through her. "I jeopardized Scorpion's success for your benefit today. I cannot continue to do that."

The liaison swallowed hard, pushing back tears that threatened to overwhelm her. "I can't believe you would say that," she murmured, her eyes wandering aimlessly around the room. "After everything we've been through, your company is still more important to you than I am."

"It has to be." The genius cleared his throat, dropping his arms to his sides and resting his hand on the back of a chair. "Greater good. What I want is…not a factor. Today has shown me that."

He picked up his laptop and took three steps toward the door before Paige held him in place with a hand on his chest. "Walter," she said quietly, causing him to stare down at her. "Please think about what you're doing. I really need to know where you stand, and if you're telling me that you don't want this—that you are never going to want this—we're not going to recover from that."

"You're an important member of Scorpion," he answered without hesitation. "Please go home, Paige. I need my head to be clear."

Paige's hand shook as she dropped it from his chest and stepped aside to let him pass. She stood immobile, holding out hope until the door swung shut and it was gone with him.