Title: Fly Trap

Summary: Sly and Florence aren't comfortable with the team break-up – or their growing feelings for each other.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own /scorpion. This story is for entertainment purposes only. I make no profit and no infringement of copyrights is intended.

Author's Note: I started this right after the finale, but I wasn't sure exactly where I wanted to take it until we knew if there was going to be a Season 5. Now we know :( So this will be my effort to fix what's broken.

Chapter 1 – Conspiracy Theory

Sly set his water back down on the napkin, carefully adjusting the scrap of paper so that it was perfectly parallel to the table edge.

"You seem… anxious."

At her dinner companion's look, Florence added, "Well, more anxious than usual. Is something bothering you? I mean… more than usual?"

Sly raised his eyes. "The whole… Centipede Partners thing."

Flo smiled, encouraging him to continue.

"At first it was… kind of exciting. Starting our own company; bidding for contracts; setting up our offices in this pristine, brand-new store front. Oh, Florence, it's so clean, and there's so much light. If there was a speck of dust on the desk you could see it from across the room. But there never is any dust because the rent includes a cleaning service. It's…" he sighed, "it's wonderful."

"Buuuut?"

"But it's… boring."

Flo nearly choked on her soda. "Boring?" She sputtered. "I would think that boring is exactly what you're looking for, after all the crazy cases Walter put you through."

Sly was unable to suppress a chuckle. "I know. I always thought I hated that stuff. Facing down tornados and sandstorms; fighting fires, floods and explosions; dealing with potential world-ending catastrophes. It seems I… I miss all that excitement. I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I miss flying off to the far corners of the world, even if it does mean traveling in flying deathtraps. Centipedes is getting plenty of work, but all our contracts are… safe. Corporate America just doesn't have the pizazz of Homeland Security."

"But don't you enjoy being your own boss; being a full partner?"

"You know, that's not all it's cracked up to be either. Paige insists that we vote on absolutely every company decision, no matter how trivial. Last week at the weekly board meeting – which should be spelled b – o – r – e – d – we voted on what sort of toilet paper to order for the office restrooms – soft or strong. It was a split decision, two for soft and two for strong. Toby suggested we compromise so now we have dual roll paper holders." Sly shrugged.

Florence picked up a French fry and dragged it through the small puddle of ketchup on her plate. Sly, as usual, was not eating. He was only willing to drink water because it came in a bottle. They were very careful to meet in out of the way places, usually across town, so that they wouldn't be found out by other members of their respective teams. They avoided going to the same place twice, which required a good deal of Internet research on Sly's part, since the locations needed to be out of the way, but also convenient to bus routes. Still, Sly wasn't comfortable with anything prepared in an unknown kitchen, so he stuck to bottled water.

When they first started meeting, Florence felt guilty and wouldn't eat anything either. Except that she found she enjoyed their time together and didn't want to have it end when her stomach would grumble and she would be forced to call the evening short so she could get home to her dinner. She still felt guilty but she ate anyway. The only way around it would be for them to meet at each other's homes. That was simply impossible. Florence still lived next to the garage and Sly couldn't risk being seen in the neighborhood. Sly didn't live that close to either company's headquarters, but they still couldn't risk the possibility that someone might see Florence entering his building.

She chewed thoughtfully, swallowed, then blew out a breath. "It's a bit of the opposite problem at Scorpion two-point-oh." She made air quotes. "We're still working for Homeland, but with just the three of us, it's difficult… and more dangerous. I don't think Cabe's superiors are too happy with us right now, but that's about the only work we're getting. Every time we lose out on a corporate job, Walter sort of… falls into a hole somewhere. I almost wish he would get angry; yell and scream. But he just gets quieter and quieter. The atmosphere around the garage is… ominous."

Sly placed a hand on her wrist. "I don't like the idea of you being in danger. If Walter's not at a hundred percent… that makes it even worse. You still have your own business, why do you stick around? Is it because…"

"… because of my feelings for Walter?" She finished for him. "No. That's… not an issue anymore. I don't think it ever was, except that me blurting it out that day precipitated this whole break up fiasco. I will never forgive myself for that. I don't know what possessed me."

"You can't blame yourself for Scorpion splitting up, Florence. That was… well… there was a LOT of stuff that led up to that. Stuff that happened before you even moved in next door. And you were only being honest; something some folks at Scorpion could learn from."

"Don't be too hard on him."

"I'm sorry… I know you… you like him."

Florence cocked her head to one side then looked to where Sly's hand was lightly holding her wrist. She reached over, intending to set her own hand on top, but Sly pulled his away.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean…"

"It's okay, Sylvester," she insisted. "We're friends. Friends can… comfort each other… hold hands if they want to. We're both free… and available… right? I know I am. Totally free and... totally available." Florence smiled ruefully.

"But…"

"The thing that I feel worst about is that as soon as I said that about… my feelings… for Walter, I realized it wasn't true. I had fun working with him; we're intellectually compatible. But for one thing, he's just not my type. You may not believe this, but I enjoy having a bit of fun now and then that has nothing to do with chemistry and Walter… he is like ALL work ALL the time; and when work isn't going right..."

"You shouldn't be too hard on him either. For a long time, Scorpion was all he really had."

Florence pushed her plate to the side and clasped her hands on the table in front of her. "You're a pretty special guy, Sylvester Dodd. I mean, you were so angry with Walter; you stormed out and quit, and you had good reason to; but you can still have sympathy for him."

"I wish I hadn't done that."

When Florence was about to protest he held up a hand. "No… I know, it was… that I needed to do that at the time. I needed to take a stand. We all did. I just wish we didn't have to, you know? Walter has always been like a big brother to me… even before we were officially brothers. I hate that we're not speaking anymore. I miss him. It helps being able to talk to you, Florence. I'm so glad we ran into each other like we did."

"I am too," she beamed. "But… I should probably get going. We just finished a case yesterday and I'm sure there will be something crazy waiting for me tomorrow, so…" She began to gather up her things. "Are you sure I can't give you a ride?"

"No," Sly insisted. "We agreed we can't risk anyone on either team finding out about us. That means you can't be seen anywhere near my apartment. I'll be fine on the bus. I have a large, clean towel to put down on the seat and a full bottle of Purell. I come to our meetings prepared for a longer than usual bus ride."

"Sly…" Florence began, not sure if she should bring up the subject, this late in their evening. But the thought had been weighing on her mind lately. "Do you think the two teams will ever… get back together?"

Sly, who had been standing up, sat back down in his seat suddenly. "I wish I knew. If I knew that everything would eventually get back to normal… normal but… better… I wouldn't worry so much. But I don't see how. No one on either side will even look at each other. When we've met with potential clients and you guys are there to make your own pitch, there's all this tension. Paige won't even say Walter's name. If she has to mention him she'll say something like 'the owner of the Scorpion company'. She always puts emphasis on that word – owner." Sly fiddled a moment with the empty water bottle, laying it on its side and setting it spinning on the tabletop. "Everyone seems to be going out of their way to keep us apart."

"Maybe… maybe we could find a way to… to bring them together?"

Sly brightened a bit. "If we could… that would be… well that would be greater than being elected Alderman and winning Cabe's case put together! But I don't see how…"

Florence leaned back in her seat, her light jacket over one arm and the small cross-body bag she used to hold her wallet, phone and keys tucked against her side. "We just have to keep our eyes and ears open and an opportunity will present itself." She reached a hand across the table, palm up, inviting him to take it. "You have a very big heart, Sly. You can't let yourself lose heart. We'll figure out something. Now, walk me out to my car at least. We're clear on the other side of town, no one will see us way out here."

Sly grinned brightly, loosely taking her hand in his as he scooted back out of the booth. "It would be my great pleasure!"

The spinning bottle came to a stop, the bottle top pointing directly at Florence's heart.

May 13, 2018 1,603 words