I originally wrote this for Cheryl [RomanceAddiction (AO3) / cherchersketch (Tumblr)] during the Fic Exchange and realized a month later that it wasn't posted to FFN yet. I am currently fixing that. Heh. (As always, reviews are appreciated) ^_^

FOREVER & ALWAYS

"A soul mate is… someone whose way of viewing life is not necessarily the same as yours but complements yours… there is not a compromise, there is a complement." – Paul Robear

Only two people in Walter's life had ever known about the little box he hid upstairs underneath his bed, and it was only because they had found it by accident. Walter never willingly shared it with anybody, but tonight, that was going to change. He and Paige had been dating for a year, and though he had always trusted her with everything in his life, this little box contained special mementos collected over the years, and he decided it was time she knew about it too. Perhaps it could someday be their box instead of just his; in fact, he hoped she would use it. He wanted to give her everything.

For years, he claimed he didn't have any feelings, and he denied the significance of talismans and material attachments, but despite his misunderstanding of the sentimentality, he, too, collected such charms to remind him of the important people in his life. Perhaps it was because he craved emotional attachment even though he couldn't relate to it. Or, perhaps he was creating milestones in his life and needed small reminders of the past even though he had an eidetic memory. There really wasn't a solid answer as to why Walter started his collection, but every item inside his wooden box was extremely important to him.

The night Megan discovered his little box of secrets, she had tossed away the one trinket he had to protect their memories. Though he had promised to be a better brother and spend more time with her, he spent all night, after dropping Megan off at the hospital, looking for that damn bracelet. He had eventually given up, not being able to find it, but that morning, Paige had dangled the very bracelet he had been searching for in front of him, asking if he knew whose it was. He had been so exuberant that he almost grabbed her and kissed her fully on the mouth right then and there, but he stilled himself and nodded swiftly before snatching the bracelet out of her hand. He'd run so fast up the steps, he almost tripped while shouting a rushed but earnest "THANK YOU!" towards the beautiful woman downstairs. To this day, he regretted not kissing her when in that almost fearless moment.

All afternoon, Walter had been carrying around a new addition to his box, but he wanted Paige to be with him when he added it. Part of him felt as though the reason he started collecting trinkets was because he always felt alone. Sure, he had friends and he had a sister who adored him, but until he met Mark Collins, and then Ralph, for most of his life, he still felt like an outsider within his own company. He was in a league of his own. Sylvester, Toby and Happy are all highly intelligent, but he'd always been infinitely smarter.

Until Ralph.

In some ways, his little box of mementoes served as a mausoleum for his most important memories. With each token, he could continue keeping those memories alive even though they've long since passed. His small box also helped him remember he wasn't alone; that there were people in his life who cared for him just as much as he cared for them.

He doubted he would ever stop filling it. It's apart of him just as much as his IQ is, if not more…

"Hey… are you okay?"

Walter's fingers flexed against his girlfriend's hip as she snuggled closer to him, and he gave her a small smile as his fingers slowly relaxed. He then nodded. "Yes." He absentmindedly tugged her closer. "I'm just thinking…"

Paige took his hand in hers and squeezed his fingers lightly as her hazel eyes met his brown ones. "Care to share?"

Walter nodded, his grin growing to his ears. "Wait here, love." He rose to his feed suddenly and before Paige could respond, he vanished upstairs, and surprisingly, he was back not even five minutes later. In his arms was a wooden box about the size of a standard shoebox. He took a seat back down on the couch and placed the box on his lap, prompting Paige to sit up a little bit.

"What is this?"

Paige cocked her head and watched as he opened the box. Glancing with curiosity, Paige spotted a lot of random stuff… things she didn't think Walter would have an interest in. He pulled out a little bracelet and dangled it in front of her.

He was smiling. "Remember this?"

"That…," Paige moved closer to examine the small jewelry. "That looks like the bracelet I found a few years ago…." Paige blinked as her eyes found Walter's. "I've always wondered what happened to it after you grabbed it so quickly and ran up the stairs…" She reached out to touch it but stopped herself and glanced at Walter for permission. He slowly nodded and released it as she hooked her index finger around the tiny beads. "I can tell this bracelet means a lot to you," Paige deduced as she held it in front of her. "What is its story?"

Walter didn't respond right away…. "It… It belonged to Megan."

"Oh," was the only response that fell from Paige's thoughts. Her smile and bright eyes waned, and she lightly squeezed his palm again. "Did she… give it to you? You know… to remember her by?"

Another silent moment passed between them before Walter could respond. Even though it's been a little over two and a half years since Megan's passing, the topic of her death was still hard for Walter to discuss without feeling overly emotional. Paige understood this, and ever since his breakdown a few months later, she never pushed him to speak before he was ready; she always gave him as much time as he needed to process his thoughts. Eventually, he spoke. "I took it when she was twelve. Shortly after receiving her diagnosis, her fever had worsened, and I was scared… My parents asked me to watch her while they spoke with the doctor, and while she was sleeping, something, I don't know what, possessed me to take it…, and I've kept it ever since."

Paige nodded quietly as she gently placed the bracelet back into Walter's palm. As she folded his fingers over it, she caressed his knuckles. "Did Megan ever find out you had it?"

"Yes… the day we went to Bosnia, when Sly was watching her…," he smiled at the memory, realizing how grateful he was for introducing his sister to his best friend. If not for giving in to Megan's pleas after he had to pick her up from the police station, she most likely would have never met Sly, and they would have never gotten married. He shook his head when he realized he had momentarily spaced out. "Anyway, she found this box in my room… Guess she was bored to death and wanted to go exploring, I don't, but she found it and looked inside. She then confronted me that evening after we returned from Bosnia and threw it out, wanting me to focus on creating memories with her instead of pining an item of the past. After taking her to the beach that evening and then dropping her off at the hospital, I didn't mind the idea of making more memories with my sister, but I also needed that bracelet back. It was the only thing I had of hers…"

"So that's why you were so happy when I found it." Paige mumbled more to herself than to him, but he nodded with a grin.

"Yeah, and if I wasn't initially too stunned to move, I probably would have kissed you right then and there…." Walter admitted as he leaned over slightly, neatly placing the bracelet on the short coffee table in front of them. "I knew I wanted to, but as you know, I chickened out and then grabbed the bracelet before racing upstairs."

"Too bad," Paige laughed as she snuggled closer to Walter and pressed a tickling kiss to his neck. He immediately clamped his ear down to his shoulder, causing her to laugh even more before she pecked his noggin. "Cuz I would've been totally down for it." She reached behind him and threaded her free hand's fingers through his thick curls before pointing to a poker chip. "What about that one?"

Walter picked up the item in question and handed it to Paige. "It's from the Coronet Room – where I met Toby. He was about to get beaten by a pit boss, so I intervened and helped clean out his debt. Because I was impressed with his behavioral skills, I offered him a job with Scorpion."

Paige matched Walter's grin as she played with his hair. He placed the chip down onto the table and picked up a hotel keycard.

"This is the keycard to the hotel where I found Sly. I used to work as a tech analyst for a local bank and was ordered to find him and bring him in. I can't tell you the details of why Sly was there or why I found him because it's something Sly doesn't want people knowing, but after offering him a place to stay and a position in Scorpion, his life turned upside down and for the better." Walter watched as Paige glided her fingers along the card's gloss. "I'm glad I found Sylvester when I did," he continued, "Scorpion wouldn't be the same without him."

Paige nodded in agreement and smiled sweetly. "Definitely not..." She waited a beat. "Sylvester told me what was going on when you found him… After the case we had with his father, I could tell he was still on edge about the whole thing. I didn't say anything to him, though…. One evening, he called me and asked if we could catch breakfast together…, and before I knew it, I was holding him as he cried in my arms. He told me everything… what he was thinking… what he was doing… how scared he was of his own shadow… Everything." Paige had to blink her own tears back. "It was a very emotional morning for us both."

Walter turned slightly and kissed her forehead softly. "He's very lucky to have you as a friend…," He then kissed her cheek. "All of us are."

Paige flushed a little and playfully pushed on Walter's shoulder. "You're only saying that because I'm your girlfriend."

"No," Walter shook his head earnestly. "Don't sell yourself short, Paige. I mean it completely. Scorpion is 100% better because of you."

Warmed by Walter's sweet words, Paige tugged him towards her for a slow and deep kiss. "I love you," she mumbled against his bottom lip, and he grinned, and if it wasn't for the box almost sliding off of his lap, he would have climbed on top of his girlfriend and really showed her just how much he loved her (as he did every other night). He pulled away carefully, and she snuggled against him as they brought their attentions back to the box. Paige moved her hand that had been stroking Walter's scalp down to his palm that was resting on her knee, and she laced their fingers together as she pointed to a small, silver tie clip. "I thought this was destroyed during the case Scorpion had on Toby and Happy's wedding."

"The original one was, yes. But," Walter inspected the tie clip, "I replaced it. Even though the original tie clip could not be salvaged, the memory it represented," he pointed to his temple after placing the clip on the table with the other trinkets, "is still up here so… I, uh, I like tangible things… It might sound stupid, but like retrieving Megan's bracelet, I felt compelled to replace the tie clip."

Paige shook her head and squeezed his hand. "It's not stupid, babe. I think it's sweet that you want tangible things to represent the love you feel for the people in your life." She brought his hand up to her lips and kissed it. "You always told me how much you appreciate facts and truth. Materials are concrete like facts. Things you know are there and touchable. Things you can reach out and hold and understand its bond to the memory. Collecting these things… They've been your way of processing strong connections when you couldn't understand them." Paige nuzzled her nose against his jaw. "It makes perfect sense."

"Hm…," Walter pursed his lips as he reflected upon his girlfriend's response. "I never thought about it like that…. I never really understood why I collected these items… Only that I felt a dire need to hold onto them."

Paige grinned, happy she could help Walter understand a deeper part of himself. She leaned slightly over his shoulder and spotted aviator sunglasses. "Let me guess," she chuckled softly. "Cabe?"

"Yeah," Walter's smile grew wide. "He gave those to me when I was young…. Told me they would make me look tough. Unfortunately, they were too big for me at the time and kept sliding off my face."

Paige took them from the box and unfolded the arms of the glasses before carefully sliding them over the bridge of Walter's nose. He closed his eyes to avoid being poked by them, and when he was looking at her again through the dark lenses, he smirked, loving the way she was looking at him. The glasses drooped down his nose and flopped off his face before landing in his lap. "Seems like they still don't fit," Paige giggled. "But damn, were they sexy as hell." She purred lightly and pawed him. "Mama likes," she whispered into his ear, causing him to shiver. Perhaps he would need to go by the convenience store today and buy himself a cheap pair…

Walter quickly folded the glasses arms back inward and placed them as far away on the table as possible, causing Paige to laugh. "You're too easy," she nudged his arm playfully as he adjusted himself so he was a little more comfortable. Moving away from the aviators, Walter picked up a small bag with a dead worm inside. "I preserved this with chemicals… Ray picked it off the ground the first day we met."

"I thought you didn't like Ray when you first met him…," Paige cocked an eyebrow, and Walter shrugged.

"I thought he was annoying at first, but he did say something that day that impacted me," Walter replied simply, not going into any details. Paige only smiled and didn't push him to explain.

Paige spotted her old waitress nametag and a salt packet inside the box as well, and she smiled with adoration as she remembered the way they all had met. "I see you stole my nametag," she teased as she poked at the plastic tag. "I could have sworn I turned it in to Nemos, though."

"You did," Walter answered way too quickly.

Paige immediately shot up her eyebrows. "Oh?"

"Yeah, I, uh…," the genius flushed and scratched the back of his head as he struggled to explain. "After my initial government check was cashed in, I went to the restaurant and paid your old boss two hundred dollars for the nametag and the salt packet… I know I overpaid, but I knew a couple hundred dollars would let me retrieve what I wanted without any questions."

Paige was indeed surprised that Walter would spend so much for something so little, but she was curious… "Why my nametag?"

Walter's cheeks were now the color of Paige's burgundy shirt. "Uh… Other than the fact that it was easy to carry and would fit inside my box, I… I was infatuated with your name… because it's a beautiful word that describes you perfectly. To me," he picked up the nametag and carefully held it in his grasp, "this nametag was the best representation of you… because it had your name…"

Paige's heart swelled for the man next to her. She didn't think it was possible, but she fell harder and deeper in love with him. No one had ever said anything like that about her name before, and the way he cherished her namesake made her feel incredibly special. Walter never ceased to amaze her, and little by little, she was learning more things about him, and she was happy – extremely and exuberantly happy – that he wanted to share with her the delicate intricacies of his life.

Suddenly, Walter remembered the whole reason why he wanted to show Paige his box in the first place. Prompting her to sit up fully, he placed the box on his lap again. "I have a new addition…"

"Oh?" Paige's eyes lit up, and then she smiled. She didn't even have to ask who the addition was going to symbolize; she only wondered what token he would use.

Carefully, as if on cue, Walter pulled out a small, white cloth from his pocket and gently placed it inside. "There," he grinned. "Now the box feels more complete."

"Is that a strip of the blanket the nurses used to wrap around Charles Quinn Curtis after he was born yesterday?" Paige grinned widely as he nodded.

"The very one," Walter smirked. "I paid the nurse ten bucks for cut square of it…"

Paige pressed a kiss to his cheek. "That's super sweet of you, Walter." As she slid her left arm around his back and pressed her cheek to his collarbone, she spotted something in his box that was vaguely familiar. Quietly, she picked it up, unraveled the silky, red hair ribbon and examined it. There was a little bleached mark on the left end and golden embroidered initials on the other. She raised it above her and held it out to the light. What was once sparkly was dull and singed… but from what? She knew this item; she recognized it…, but where had she seen it? Why was it so familiar?

Suddenly, a brief memory flashed in her mind, and immediately she clamped her hand over it and whipped around to find Walter watching her curiously. Her eyes were big with so many questions, but first thing's first…. "W-Where did you find this?"

Walter cocked an eyebrow, wondering why Paige looked as though she had seen a ghost. "I've had it… since I was twenty-two or so…. Why?"

Paige was silent at first, but then her heart began to pound. So all this time… Eventually, she spoke, but her eyes were lost in a daze as more memories surfaced. "The fire fighters hadn't arrived yet… An apartment complex caught fire, and there were people, lots of people, gathered around the building, but no one was doing anything. Some were dumping water in places, but a woman was calling out for her child who was trapped inside…, and no one was doing anything…."

Walter realized Paige wasn't talking to him anymore. Her mind was somewhere else, somewhere far away yet familiar to him. How does she know all this? "Paige?" he patiently waited for her response, but he received none. So, he picked up the box and placed it on the table in front of them before turning towards her to shake her slightly. He called out her name again. "Paige? Is everything… Is everything okay?"

She blinked once, then twice before her eyes found his. Both her hands were clutching the ribbon as if it was her own life source. "This… This ribbon is mine… My dad gave it to me when I was twelve, and I wore it almost every day… But then..." She blinked back the tears in her eyes and let out a shaky breath. "How do you have this?"

"Wait…," he blinked with surprise, "You're saying this ribbon belonged to you?"

Paige nodded slowly and pointed to the initials. "My dad had my initials embroidered on my ribbon so that if I ever lost it at school, I had a better chance of having it returned to me…. See?" She pointed to the golden letters. "PND. Paige… Nichole… Dineen." She then touched the bleached mark. "When I was fourteen, while I was cleaning the bathroom, my ribbon had fallen out of my hair, and so when I went to pick it up, I forgot I was wearing gloves covered in bleach and lifted it off the floor. A-and the b-burn marks," she flattened the ribbon and raised it, so Walter could see what she was talking about, "The last day I wore it was the day I found out I was pregnant with Ralph… I remember wearing it in the morning… going to and leaving school with it in my hair… I know I was wearing it when I…, but then it…," she stopped talking suddenly as more memories flashed into her mind.

She dumped a bucket of water on herself and screamed "COWARDS! ALL OF YOU!" as she raced inside the burning building. She called for the little girl, shouting the name the mother had been crying. She kept running, never stopping, not even for a second until she heard the faintest of sounds coming from the far back of the building. Her legs picked up their speed, and she dodged falling debris as she sprinted down the hallway. She had cringed a few times as flames licked her skin, but she wouldn't let that pain keep her from finding the girl. And then she found her tucked into the corner of a room, surrounded by flames. The little girl was crying and coughing and screaming, and Paige was moving towards her, and before she knew it, the girl was in her arms, and she was racing back towards the entrance. She had the child cradled to her chest, protecting her with her jacket as best as she could, but her adrenaline was staring to wear off. She was beginning to feel dizzy, and her movements were getting slower and slower. The girl was starting to feel heavy… Her head was hurting… it was getting harder to breathe.

But then there was someone next to her… someone taking the girl out of her arms and into their own. A male voice called out to her, shouting over the deafening flames, yelling at her to start moving. Her vision was getting blurry, but somehow the voice had comforted her… she felt safe… and felt as though she could trust the young man in front of her. She had found her second wind again and began moving, began running, began following out a different way than from where she came in. He kept telling her to hurry, and she moved as fast as she could, but she was almost sent backwards when her ribbon – her favorite ribbon – got caught on a wooden splinter, ripping it violently from her hair. Her tears stung, and her head throbbed, and she tried to run back and get it, but fire fighters had arrived and were escorting her out of there… She never had a chance to go back…

"All this time," she muttered to herself, "I thought it had burned with the rest of the building…." Realization forced her to turn abruptly towards Walter. "You! You were there! You were in the crowd surrounding the burning building! I remember now! I saw you there!"

Walter blinked slowly. So… he had met Paige… before? She was the one who… He straightened his back. "So… So, you were the young woman who ran into the burning building to rescue that child? You were the one I," he stopped as the memories returned, his head spiraling in multiple directions. He shook his head to unjumble his scrambled thoughts. "That can't be," he scrunched his face, his head actually hurting. He caught her gaze and spoke slowly. "You told me that when you and Drew were together, the two of you would hop from place to place each time he changed minor league teams… I was twenty-two when the fire happened… making you twenty-one…. You were with Drew at that time."

"Yes, I was with Drew, but he hadn't graduated college yet… We both attended UCLA… I'm originally from LA, I thought I told you this." Paige lifted her eyebrows. "Didn't I tell you this?"

Walter nodded. "Yes, you did. I just… I just momentarily forgot, I guess."

Paige bit her bottom lip, but her eyes never left his. "Were you the one… the one who helped me in fire?"

Walter slowly nodded again. "I kept wanting to help, wanting to rush in as you did and find that child, but something held me back… perhaps it was the fact that the structure of the building had been compromised and was doomed to fall at any moment… perhaps it was fear… I don't know, but I just couldn't get myself to rush in….

"But then… then I saw her… you… You didn't think twice before you raced inside, regardless of the danger. That… That inspired me… What you did gave me the conviction I needed to follow in after you… And I'm glad I did, too." His palms cupped her face, and he smiled. "I can't believe that young woman was you…"

Her eyes glistened with threatening tears. "You saved me... and Ralph."

"Ralph?" Now Walter was confused as ever.

Paige dropped the ribbon onto the table before entwining her fingers with Walter's. She leaned against him once more and kissed his shoulder. "I was taken to the hospital after rescuing the girl… I inhaled a little too much smoke and had a few burns…" She absentmindedly touched her lower belly. "I found out I was pregnant that day…."

"So… because I ran in after you… because I helped rescue you and the girl, I ended up rescuing Ralph too? Walter couldn't help but smile as he squeezed Paige's hand. "What are the odds?"

Paige shrugged and kissed his shoulder. "Maybe it was fate."

Walter shook his head. "I don't believe in fate."

Paige let the rest of her thoughts drift to silence as she lifted his arm and wrapped it around herself. "Thank you," she mumbled, "Thank you for finding my ribbon… You don't know how distraught I was when I thought I would never see it again."

Walter began to sit up, "Do you want it back?"

Paige shook her head slowly. "No," she pecked his lips, "You keep it safe for me in your box, okay?"

He nodded. "Okay."

"But I still want to know how you found it," Paige's curious expression gazed into his eyes.

"Oh… After the firefighters took the girl from my hands, and after you were carted away by an ambulance, I raced back inside against my better judgement and searched for whatever you had lost. I didn't know it was a ribbon until I found one draping over a piece of burning wood. Surprisingly, it was in decent condition. I had tried to find a way to contact you… to let you know it was with me…, but I didn't even know your name… Much less what you looked like." Walter pursed his lips. "So, when I couldn't find you… I decided I would keep it with me and have it serve as a reminder to be fearless… to help people…. That incident was my main inspiration for establishing Scorpion. It shaped the company's ideals. I wanted to help people… to give them another chance at life… to protect them…"

"And you do," Paige grinned widely as she combed her fingers through his dark curls. "You help a lot of people, Walter."

The genius grinned slowly to his ears, realizing just how damn lucky he was to have Paige in his life. "Yeah," he nodded, agreeing completely. "I do, don't I?"

Paige gave him the sweetest smile before leaning forward to kiss his lips lightly. They resituated themselves where Walter's head was resting in Paige's lap, his exhaustion swiftly taking over. As her fingers delved deeper into his thick locks and began scratching his scalp gently, Walter purred softly, causing the young mother to giggle. "Does that feel good?"

"Mhmm," came his only reply, the words in his mind a jumbled mess. They were quiet for a long while, just sitting together and enjoying each other's company. It was nice. It was wonderfully pleasant. It was them. Moments like these where they could take advantage of the reticence in the garage and not worry about unwanted company were the best, and the most desired.

Eventually, however, Paige broke the silence. "Walter?"

"Hm?" The man's voice was groggy from the light slumber he had woken up from.

Paige was just about to ask Walter if he believed in soulmates, but before she could, she stopped herself and then smiled, shaking her head. "Never mind, love. Go back to sleep. It's not important."

He popped an eye open as if he could read her mind. "You sure?"

A rosy smile colored her lips as she smoothed her thumb over his beautiful lips. "I'm positive."

Walter then shrugged and closed his eye as her fingers started working their magic again. His breathing slowed to an even breath, and his whole body relaxed. She hummed quietly, letting him sleep in her lap for as long as he wanted.

She decided she didn't need to know if Walter believed in soulmates. She knew in her heart that Walter Patrick O'Brien was hers, and she was his. They were soulmates; they had to be because there would be no others. However, it didn't matter if they had found each other by fate or by coincidence. None of it did. None of it ever will.

What mattered… what really mattered the most was that they were together now. That they found each other. They had their whole lives ahead of them, and Paige was determined to spend every second of them with the man she loved. And though she couldn't read his thoughts, Walter was thinking the exact same thing.

Paige was his soulmate, and he was hers.

Forever and always.

"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break." – An ancient Chinese belief

~ FIN.~

Thank you for reading. ^_^