WriterFreak001:

I originally did not plan on writing a one-shot spin-off of 1x17 "Going South," but as strange as it sounds, my mind decided to create one in my sleep so this is me, putting that dream into writing form. It's just how my brain works, I guess. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one-shot. Mind Games will be resumed as soon as this puppy is finished.

Title | Super Nanny

Fandom | Scorpion (CBS)

Description | A one-shot spin-off of "Going South."

Rating| This fanfiction will be rated M for suggested themes.

POV | Limited Third Person

Disclaimer | While CBS owns Scorpion, I am the owner of this masterpiece.

Claimer | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something should be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

Readers' Discretion is advised.

Super Nanny

Written by WriterFreak001

One-Shot

~ SCORPION ~

Paige tossed another piece of popcorn into her mouth and missed miserably; she watched it bounce towards Toby and laughed as she watched him act like a total goofball. Even Happy was enjoying herself as she threw popcorn at the shrink. For the past several months, Paige was feeling more and more accepted by the intelligent members of Scorpion, and she was internally grateful for their interaction with her son. Since Paige started working for Scorpion, Ralph started engaging with his classmates more; he even had a few friends at school. When he had brought home that science fair trophy and begged Paige to let him go to a birthday party, she almost cried; Ralph was the happiest she had ever seen him, and from that moment on, she knew she had made the right choice by staying in Los Angeles. She couldn't take Ralph away from the people who had helped coax him out of his shell. She just couldn't bring herself to do it.

Not only would it have broken her son's heart had she removed from Scorpion, but she knew his absence wouldn't have sat well with the team either – especially Walter. Just as Ralph had grown attached to the 197 IQ genius, but Walter had made it perfectly clear that he didn't want Ralph to go to Portland, Maine. Her heart fell when he admitted how much he cared for her son and for her. While Paige's decision to stay in LA was mainly because of Ralph, she knew, deep down, that a small part of her decision was due to the feelings she had started to feel for Walter. Ever since their first case, she had felt a strong connection with him, but she assumed it was because of his desire to help Ralph connect with her. As she spent more time with Walter, she was beginning to realize that the connection she had with the man was much more than his bond with her son.

Paige glanced at the clock and noticed how late it was getting; even though she didn't want to leave, she had to pick Ralph up from aftercare before they closed for the night. As she hopped off of the table, she noticed Walter working on his rocket and decided to ask him if he wanted to accompany her as she picked up her son. She circled around Toby (who still had a strainer on his head and was singing into a ladle) and slowly walked up to Walter. "How's the rocket coming?"

Walter slightly jumped to the sound of Paige's voice but continued working. "It's…a work in progress."

"I can see that." Paige chuckled as Walter stepped off of the ladder and wiped oil off of his hands with a used rag.

"Do you n-need something?" Walter asked as he tossed the cloth onto the workbench, turned around and folded his arms against his chest. She couldn't help but grin when she saw the smeared oil stretching across his forehead.

"Come here," she grabbed his hand and pulled him away from his rocket and towards the kitchen. Without a word, she ripped a sheet off of the paper towel rack, damped it with water and then dabbed his forehead with the warm towel. Walter froze under her touch, and she couldn't help but feel a sense of pride, knowing she had such a strong power over him. She knew Walter didn't like physical contact, but there was just something different to the way he responded whenever she intentionally or accidentally touched him. "There. All better." When the oil grease was gone, she retracted her hand from his face and tossed the towel into the trash.

"I-it would have been more efficient if you had simply told me to wipe my forehead off. I had a rag at my station." Walter quietly spoke as Paige rinsed off her hands in the sink.

"That rag was dirty," Paige shrugged and then dried her hands off with another paper towel.

"I had clean ones over there too." Walter lifted an eyebrow as he leaned back against the counter.

Paige smiled and lightly smacked Walter's cheek. "I know." She could feel his eyes trail after her as she headed for her desk. She collected her things and slung her purse over her shoulder, knowing Walter was standing closely behind her.

"Are you, um, are you picking up Ralph?" Walter inquired, causing her to turn around and meet his gaze.

"Yeah," she nodded with a smile. Even though she had thought about asking him to tagalong, she decided to see if he would offer instead. Call it another social experiment. "Well…. I'll see you and the rest of the team tomorrow."

"Okay," Walter muttered. Her smile faded a little as she turned to leave for the door. Just as she pushed the door open, Walter hustled up to her. "Paige, wait!"

"Yeah?" Her eyes lit up as she spun around to find him standing dangerously close to her. "What is it, Walter?"

"You, uh, you had, um, you had quite a crazy day…," Walter lowered his voice and turned to see Happy and Toby still at their crazy shenanigans, "You know…, getting shot at and stuff…." He closed his eyes and inhaled a deep breath before letting it out quickly. "P-perhaps it would, um, it would be suitable f-for someone e-else to dr-drive so that, um, so that you can properly recover."

"Are you offering?" Paige raised an eyebrow as she unknowingly took a step forward.

Walter swallowed the lump in his throat. "Y-yes."

"Okay." She smirked and tossed him the keys to her car. "One condition, though."

"What?" Walter asked as they left the garage and headed for her car that was parked in the alley.

"You stay the night."

~ SCORPION ~

Walter agreed to Paige's condition when she elaborated on the details, telling him he could sleep on the couch; she had used his favorite term, efficient, against him, convincing him that there wasn't a point for him to take a cab back to the garage when they were going to go to the same place in the morning anyway. On their way from aftercare to Paige's apartment, Ralph had fallen asleep so Walter carried him up to Paige's apartment for her; it was the least he could do after the eventful day his liaison had had.

"Thanks for helping me with Ralph," Paige muttered as he sat down next to her on the couch. "I didn't realize how tired I was until we left the garage."

"You've had a long day; it's no surprise." Walter shrugged and leaned back against the sofa.

"We've all had a long day," Paige reminded him as she stretched her arms and arched her back like a cat. She turned to face him, "So, enlighten me, Walter O'Brien. What's going on in that head of yours?"

Walter opted not to divulge, but he knew Paige would continue to press him if he didn't answer her query. "Just things."

"I'm going to need more context then that, Walter." Paige chuckled as she propped her feet on the coffee table.

"Trust me," he ran his hand through his hair, "it'll bore you."

She lightly smacked his shoulder. "Nothing you ever say bores me."

"Okay," Walter sighed and complied. "First. I am still very uncomfortable with the idea that Sylvester is involved with my sister." Paige laughed, capturing Walter's attention. "I-is something funny?"

"No," she shook her head. "It's just…. It's perfectly normal for brothers to be uncomfortable with their sisters' boyfriends – especially if the boyfriend is the brother's best friend. But just because you're uncomfortable with it, Walter, it doesn't mean you can't support them. You want your sister to be happy, right?"

Walter nodded. "Of course."

"Then support your sister's relationship with Sylvester. They obviously adore each other, and Sylvester could make Megan feel less lonely at the hospital. If it's hard for you to process the fact that they are dating, then…," Paige hummed, "consider them more as companions who enjoy spending time with each other."

Walter sighed. "I'll give that a try."

"Good." Paige gently squeezed his arm. "Next train of thought?"

Walter lifted his eyebrow. "You're really not going to let it go, are you?"

"Nope." Paige laughed as she bumped her shoulder against his.

Walter inhaled a deep sigh and let it out slowly. "Okay…. The other thing that's on my mind… is that Richard Elia offered me a job and asked me to join his Think Tank."

"Oh?" Paige sat up and turned to look at him; her eyebrows were slightly raised. "Did, um, did you accept?"

"What?!" He realized his error for not elaborating, "No. I turned him down; I'm content, and I see no reason to leave LA. Plus," he looked towards the hallway as if he could see a sleeping Ralph through the walls and then found Paige's eyes again, "I have a family here…. I couldn't leave my family behind. Also, I, uh, I already made one reckless decision by excluding the rest of the team from the interview. I don't want to make another one."

"You know," Paige pulled her knees to her chest, wrapped her arms around her legs and leaned against Walter's shoulder. Walter didn't pull away or freeze like he half expected himself to. He didn't know why he didn't have a strange reaction to her sudden tactility, and he decided to repress his concerns and focus on Paige's voice – a soothing remedy that often helped him escape his thoughts. "When Drew asked me to leave LA, not only did I have to ask myself what Ralph would want, but I also had to consider my thoughts and feelings about Drew's request too. He tried to make everything about Ralph – which, I understand, since his only intention was to continue trying to connect with Ralph and only Ralph – but somewhere down the road I realized it shouldn't be just about Ralph. My life would be impacted too. I had to evaluate the things I wanted on top of Ralph's best interest. So, Walter," Paige finally met Walter's gaze, "before you throw in the towel and make a huge decision – whether your answer is yes or no – I think you should really consider what you want…. Because only what you want will make you the most content."

What he wanted was right in front of him; there was no inward denial for the feelings he had for Paige; she had a strange effect over him, and even though he didn't quite understand the feelings she often stirred inside of him, they always left him feeling euphoric. Walter recalled the conversation he had with his ex-girlfriend, Janice. She told him he needed to establish a connection with Paige if he ever hoped of someday starting a relationship with her. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to start working towards that goal. He swallowed the lump in his throat and verbalized his response. He looked away from her. "What I want is for Scorpion to thrive…. And for Ralph to meet his potential…. Um… Th-that Think Tank c-can't, um, c-can't offer me what I want…." He finally returned her gaze, "And, um," he exhaled a deep breath and gulped, "Um, i-it, um, well i-it – th-things – w-wouldn't be th-the s-same w-without you."

Paige released a small, inaudible gasp and then smiled as her lips parted. He looked away and scratched his ear. "Walter?"

"Y-yeah?" He glanced in her direction and grew rigid when she casually laced her fingers with his. He didn't retract though.

"Scorpion wouldn't be the same without you either." Paige squeezed his hand, leaned back against his shoulder and then she added in a low whisper, "at least not for me."

Walter's ears burned as her last statement danced into his ears. He wondered what she meant; he didn't think his absence would significantly affect her life – Ralph, sure, but Paige? Did she see him as something more than just her employer or her son's translator? He noted the way she held his hand and pressed her cheek against his shoulder; he had been secretly observing Paige's mannerisms ever since he had hired her and based on his research, she wasn't nearly as tactile with Toby, Sylvester or Cabe as she was with him. He had to wonder if her subtle touches were purely platonic, or if they had meant something more.

They sat in a comfortable silence for several minutes and simply enjoyed each other's company. Whenever Paige was around, Walter felt at ease. He understood Sylvester when he said that Megan made him feel calm because Paige had the same effect on Walter. She didn't even have to be near for Walter to feel placid; all he had to do was focus on a memory and calculate the curve of her smile. Whenever he was frustrated (dare he ever admit it to Toby), thinking about Paige helped him focus on his work; he didn't understand why Paige had such a calming effect over him or how she held so much physical power over him, but he had faith in the facts, and the fact that he couldn't fathom any sort of future without Paige proved to him that he needed to – no – he wanted to do things right. No matter how long it would take.

Paige was worth something he couldn't measure, and he would be an idiot if he denied himself the fact that this immeasurable quality she possessed frightened him to no end. While she did bring him peace, she was also the author of his torment. His EQ usually presented itself in his dreams where his subconscious dwells, and Paige Dineen was often a key character in his dreams. Sometimes Ralph, but his dreams mostly revolved around Paige – especially the most provocative ones (ones that would give Toby a field day if they were ever discovered).

Ninety-nine percent of the time, he remembered them in full detail.

Suddenly, a small voice shook him from his thoughts when his ears picked up on Ralph calling for his mother. Paige sighed and started to rise, but something possessed Walter to pull her back to the couch. "May I?"

Paige smiled. "Go ahead."

"Thanks," Walter grinned and pushed himself off of the couch; he was reluctant to release Paige's fingers, but he pulled them out of her grasp anyway and headed to Ralph's bedroom. "Hey, buddy." Walter made his way to the boy after entering the bedroom. "Trouble sleeping?"

"Yeah," Ralph nodded as he turned his head towards Walter.

Walter crouched beside Ralph's bed and placed his arm on top of the mattress to support his weight. "Is it a dream? A, uh, a problem you can't solve? Trouble at school?"

"Hey, Walter?" Ralph avoided answering Walter's inquiry.

"Hm?"

"You like my mom, right?"

Walter's eyes widened to the boy's query; of all of the things the boy could have asked, that question was certainly not something Walter expected. He swallowed the lump in his throat. He scratched his ear and opted to skirt over the boy's question, but decided against it when his curiosity bested him. "In simplest terms, yes."

"So you think about her a lot? Or even have dreams about her?" Ralph's eyes flicked towards the ceiling as the hallway's light shined on him.

Walter gulped again. A lot would be an understatement. Perhaps it would be best to skirt around the truth a little bit. "Sometimes, yes." He shook his head and closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them. "I'm sorry, Ralph, but is there a purpose to your, um, your inquiries?"

Ralph nodded. "How do you, um," Ralph glanced at Walter and then returned his gaze towards the ceiling. "How do you turn them on and off?"

Walter recalled the little story Toby had told him and Paige about the fireworks display he and Happy had helped Ralph create for a female classmate named Sloan. He wondered if Ralph's series of questions had something to do with the girl he liked. "Is, um, does this have anything to do with Sloan?"

"Yeah…."

Walter struggled to answer Ralph's question. He couldn't very well tell the boy his personal reasons as to why he didn't turn off his thoughts whenever Paige crept into his mind. He also couldn't tell Ralph that his dreams of Paige had often sent him into a state of sexual euphoria either. Frankly, Walter hardly ever turned away from his thoughts or dreams of Paige, but he could understand why a 10 year old boy would rather sleep than stay up thinking or dreaming about a silly, childish crush. "Well," he pressed his lips together, "usually," he paused for a moment and remembered the journal he keeps in his bedroom, "if I have trouble pushing something EQ-related out of my mind, I write those thoughts down in either a list of observations, a pros and cons list or a bullets list depending on the content. By doing that, it helped me push the EQ out of my mind and consider them for analysis at a later time. Writing them down would help you see your EQ-related thoughts in a diagnostic form; thus, it would might help you understand them better too."

"And what if you don't have a journal?" Ralph folded his arms in front of him.

Walter chuckled and then, with a serious face, he said, "Sleeping pills are the other option."

Before Walter could continue, a soft rap on the door interrupted their conversation. "Is everything all right?"

"Mom," Ralph glanced at his mother, "do we have any sleeping pills?"

Paige lifted an eyebrow. "Nothing for children under twelve. Why?"

"He's having trouble sleeping," Walter replied and then added, "I first suggested writing his reeling thoughts into a journal, but since he doesn't have one, I told him another option was a sleeping agent. Before I was able to explain to him that most sleeping agents are not suitable for children under twelve, you walked in inquiring if everything was all right."

Paige walked to the other side of Ralph and felt his forehead. "You're not running a fever, so that's good."

"His insomnia isn't stemming from a medical problem, Paige." Walter lightly chuckled, but when she glared at him, his laughter faded. "It's, um, it's all mental."

Paige ruffled Ralph's hair and then turned to Walter. "Could you go to the kitchen and fill up a glass of water; it might help."

"Okay," Walter nodded without arguing with her and left Ralph's bedroom. He sauntered towards the kitchen, searched the cabinets for a small glass and then filled it with water from the fridge. As he started making his way back to Ralph's room, a soft, soothing melody swirled into his ears. He leaned against the frame of the door and found himself closing his eyes as he listened to Paige singing to her son. He didn't recognize the song, but he did find the lyrical composition quite relaxing. If he wasn't too careful, even Walter could fall asleep listening to Paige's mellifluous voice. He shook himself out of his reverie and approached her as her voice faded. She bent down and kissed Ralph's forehead. "Here," he whispered, handing her the water. Paige smiled and took the water from him before placing it on Ralph's bedside table. She rose to her feet, pointed towards the door. He nodded, understanding her silent message, and then he gently ruffled Ralph's hair, knowing the boy's mother was watching him. When he turned to face her, she casually grabbed his hand and pulled him out of Ralph's bedroom, leading him back towards the couch. She was the first to sit down; he naturally sat down next to her.

Their hands were still conjoined.

"What?" Paige caught him looking at her.

He loosened his tie and scratched his neck. "How, um, what compelled y-you to sing to Ralph?"

Her cheeks reddened. "You heard that?"

It was kind of hard not to. "Yeah."

He knew Paige wasn't one who usually sang whenever she wanted; sometimes, in the garage, he would catch her humming to herself while she was cooking or sing an unrecognizable song as she worked on the paperwork. She usually never caught him listening to her from the shadows, but when she did, she always clammed up and stopped singing.

"Sometimes, the solution isn't logical, Walter. Sometimes, it's emotional." Paige shrugged.

"I guess so," Walter mused as he stared at their conjoined hands.

Besides," Walter glanced at Paige and noticed how her lips curled to a smirk. Uh oh. That expression usually meant entrapment – it was the same smirk she wore when she challenged him to a flirting lesson several weeks back. She suddenly crawled across the sofa, straddled him and lost her fingers within his curly hair. He froze and noted how dangerously close she was to him. He had nearly forgotten how to breathe when he felt her breath brushing along his jawline as she brought her lips to his ear. "You're not the only one who loves the sound of my voice." Walter tried to say something, but his thoughts were all jumbled in response to Paige's proximity. A faint sound escaped his lips as she started trailing kisses along his neck. As her fingers tantalized Walter's scalp, he found his arms wrapping around her form and pulling her closer to him. And then she asked him a very bold and dangerous question – a question he had never thought she would ever ask him. "What else, Walter, do you love about me?"

"Everything," Walter absentmindedly muttered as he leaned his head against the back of the sofa. And before he could process his response to her inquiry, she grabbed his face and kissed him hard on the mouth.

~ SCORPION ~

Hours later, they had migrated to Paige's bedroom where clothes were eventually strewn everywhere, and they slowly made love under the bed sheets, careful not to wake Ralph from the room across the hall.

Walter was on top of Paige, trapping her beneath him; her legs clung to his hips, and her fingers were weaving through his unruly hair. Throughout the night, both of them professed feelings to one another, disclosing things for each other's ears only. The first time Paige's tongue had lolled into his mouth, Walter nearly lost his composure when they were on the couch.

As he rocked his body with hers, he was beginning to see the depth of his feelings for Paige and knew turning down Richard Elia's offer was the right thing to do. Richard's Think Tank wouldn't have Paige; while he didn't know it at the time he turned down the billionaire's offer, he realized that the absence of Paige (and Ralph) would always be a deal breaker for him. Especially now.

"On second thought," Paige suddenly tore her raw lips away from his and smirked. "Maybe my voice wasn't what helped Ralph get to sleep." Walter raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out what she was getting at. "Maybe, it's because I'm the so-called Super Nanny that I was able to put my son to sleep."

"You're never going to let that one go, are you?" Walter inquired as he pulled off of her and laid next to her on the bed.

She laughed and rolled over to kiss him. "Nope." She started drawing imaginary shapes along his chest. "But you know what?"

"What?"

"The more I think about it, perhaps singing is just one of my awesome Super Nanny abilities you failed to mention in your interview." Paige poked his nose and then pulled him in for another kiss.

"Remind me to set them straight the next time they want to interview Scorpion." Walter mumbled between kisses.

"Oh, I will," she kissed him again and then grinned as he anxiously rolled back on top of her. Paige wrapped her legs around his hips and cupped his face. "And who knows," she kissed him, "maybe, if you misbehave, I might just give you private spanking sessions."

"Huh?" Walter gave her a strange look. "Is that, uh, is that a code or something?"

"Or something." She laughed and pulled him in for a searing kiss that was messy, wet and involved a lot of tongue. Her palms found his rear and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Who would have thought being called 'Super Nanny' would have turned out to be such a turn on?"

"Hm?"

"Never mind," Paige muttered and gave him a passionate kiss.

…

Neither Walter nor Paige fell asleep that night.

~ SCORPION ~

The next morning, Walter and Paige mutually decided to keep their newfound relationship a secret from the rest of the team for the time being. When Paige's alarm clock sounded off, she convinced him to join her in the shower, claiming it would be more efficient than taking separate ones. Once they were both dressed, Paige helped Ralph get ready for school as Walter brewed himself some coffee. To drive, he was certainly going to need it. Instead of heading to the garage first, they dropped Ralph off at school and then headed towards Scorpion Headquarters.

The moment they reached the front door of the garage, Paige quickly pulled Walter around the corner and kissed him hard on the mouth. Walter trapped her against the wall and pushed her clothed breasts upward as they made out.

A gravelly voice cleared his throat, forcing both Paige and Walter to jump from each other. They turned to see Cabe gawking at them. Cabe tried to hide his smirk as Walter scratched his head, and Paige blushed.

"Seems like you two had fun last night." Cabe chuckled and then walked inside the garage.

When he disappeared, Paige sighed. "Well, the secrecy was fun while it lasted, I guess."

"Not necessarily," Walter muttered quietly, "Cabe's good at secrets."

"Let's hope," Paige whispered as she gave Walter a quick kiss and then headed for the garage door. Walter followed quickly behind. While Paige made a beeline to her desk, Walter walked quickly to the stairs, hoping no one would stop him.

"Hold it there, Mr. 197!" Toby exclaimed.

Damn.

Walter turned around and forced a smile as Toby walked up to him. "You were gone all night, last night, Mister."

"And?"

"You're usually back by midnight when you're not at a convention." Toby noted.

Walter folded his arms in front of him. "So?"

"Getting defensive are we? Not only did you leave with Paige last night, you also walked in with Paige this morning with clothes you wore yesterday slightly disheveled, lipstick smeared all over your lips and your eyes are dilated, indicating you walked into this garage, slightly aroused from something. Walter," Toby smirked, "Have you been experiencing any sexual activities recently?"

"No." Walter lied.

"I don't believe you." Toby looked at him skeptically.

Paige suddenly walked up to Walter, whispered various things into his ear (things that made him grow rigid) and muttered, "Don't keep me waiting." Paige kissed his cheek and then ascended the stairs. Walter tried to collect himself.

Toby noticed his stiff stance, and he furrowed his brows. "The hell did she say to you?"

Without a word, Walter bolted up the stairs and found Paige around the corner of the loft, waiting for him on his bed. She stood up and leaned up to kiss him. "I thought we agreed to keep our relationship a secret."

Paige shrugged. "Yeah," she laughed and pulled him into a passionate, mouthwatering kiss, "But then I realized how much this Super Nanny really enjoys kissing you."

~ SCORPION ~

WriterFreak001:

And there's another one-shot for you! It's almost three in the morning soooo I'm going to make the cover image when I wake up. Enjoy regardless!

I was kinda sleepy when I worked on the last section so it might be a little out of whack. Let me know if things do not add up in this story.

Please review! :D