Was sent home from work again today for dizziness, but I slept an hour or so and I'm feeling better – at least, when I'm sitting down, I'm not dizzy, so I figured hey, good time to edit this chapter! Glad to see that people seem interested in this fic!
Paige had left her son with a sitter countless times, but aside from the first time she'd gone somewhere without him, nine weeks after he was born, she'd never been so apprehensive about it. He had mental and emotional challenges, and moving him to a new city was bound to be stressful enough on him. Leaving him in the hotel room with a sitter he wasn't familiar with would make things worse.
"He will not actually talk to you," Paige told the girl, a college student named Elissa, for what was the tenth time if it was the first. "But he should be low maintenance. We had lunch already, and he brought back a bunch of sugar packets and stuff, which he plays with. So he will probably do that until I get home." She hoped. She hoped he wouldn't throw a fit.
"We'll be fine," Elissa said easily. The hotel's night auditor had recommended her. She said the girl was studying child development and had babysat her own kids. "I promise. And I'll call you if there's any issues."
"Good. Thank you."
"Okay, sweetie," Paige said, walking over to the far bed and bending down to look at her son. "Will you be okay while I go check out this new job?"
Ralph looked over at Elissa, then back to Paige. He bit his lip.
"I know, sweetie," Paige said, lifting a hand to run through his hair. "Things are really different today. But Elissa is just going to watch you for a few hours like Jamie and Rachel and Cory used to. Okay?"
Ralph looked back down and lifted a Splenda packet, moving it a few rows over and one up. Paige sighed internally. "Okay, Ralph, I love you and I'll see you later."
She hesitated another moment before leaving. She wished she could take Ralph with her. But that had only hurt her at past jobs. She blew a kiss to her son and exited the room.
Paige knocked hesitantly on the run – down metal door. When she had been told that Team Scorpion operated out of a garage, she thought it would be something more like a car repair shop. This building was at least two stories, had no signage outside, and if Drew hadn't been the reason she and Ralph were now in Los Angeles she would suspect that she'd been set up.
And actually, of all the people in her life, Drew wasn't exactly the most trustworthy.
Have some confidence in yourself, she chided silently. She'd always kind of wanted this, right? Adventure? New people and new places? Sure, she'd always expected her first taste of this to come with some sort of fame, but if this was how it initially happened…why not?
Because this building looks so damn shady.
She jumped when the door opened and she found herself face to face with a dark haired man. "People don't usually knock."
People don't usually knock? Shaking off her surprise, Paige smiled and held out her hand. "Hello. I'm Paige Dineen. How are you this afternoon?"
He looked down at her hand, then lifted his eyes back to hers, giving a thoughtful nod. "Ah. You prefer a different greeting." He cleared his throat. "Hello. I'm Walter O'Brien. Leader of Team Scorpion." He looked around. "Where is your son?"
"He's with a sitter." Paige cocked her head. "Why?"
"Oh, I just would really, very much like to meet him. Come on in."
Paige narrowed her eyes as she followed him into the garage, which was, once again, nothing like she had expected. But she was too focused on what he was saying to take in too many details of the building. "What's your interest in my son?"
"I'm very interested in your son," he said.
Paige felt anger and disgust boiling up in her, and she took a step back, her eyes flashing. "Is that right? That's why you wanted me to work for you? To get to my son? You sick son of…" she trailed off at the look on his face. She could read people. She was very good at reading people. And this man had a completely dumbfounded look on his face. In fact, the expression was just like Ralph's when she was completely misinterpreting him, which happened far more often than she'd like. "You're not a creep."
He blinked. "N – no. I fear we have had a misunderstanding. The man I spoke with did not explain why I hired you?"
"He said…he said you thought I'd be a good fit for this company…"
"Exactly."
"I'm confused."
"I hired you because a month ago, your son logged onto a web site that is generally only known to the best hackers in the world. We post security systems that we have designed and the others try to hack them."
"…why?" Paige couldn't decide if she was more baffled by the notion of this web site or angry at her son for going on the internet without her permission.
"It's…it's an ego thing, to put it…simply. At least, that's what Toby says. And Ralph managed to get through one of my top projects. He's the only one that was able to get through."
"What?" Paige cocked her head suspiciously. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, he was smarter than all of us. Even me. And I've been the fourth smartest person ever in recorded history for most of my life. And I figure, that must come with social challenges. So if you and him have a bond, then you…you must know how to talk to him. How to get through to him. And if you can do that with him, then maybe you can do that with us."
Paige stared in confusion. "I'm…I'm sorry. What?"
He blinked. "Oh. You didn't know."
"I didn't know what?"
He shifted his weight. "Well, I suppose I must apologize for being the bearer of bad news. But your son is a genius."
Paige stared at him, unsure how to respond. He – she wasn't sure what she should call him. Walter? Mr. O'Brien? O'Brien? Sir? – he had never even met her son. But based on his interactions with Ralph on some web site that was apparently secret, Lord did she need to have a conversation with that boy when she got back, he was convinced that her son was like him. Like…the others. Paige had almost forgotten that there were others.
"So," he continued, "I would, providing you are comfortable with it, like to meet your son in person. I suspect he has some difficulties connecting with people. They call him different. They make him think he doesn't belong…"
Paige suddenly felt tears welling up in her eyes. She blinked a few times to push them down. She'd come in here so damn furious with this man and now… "Yeah," she admitted quietly. "Yeah, he gets…he gets that a lot."
He nodded. "We've all been through that on some level. We understand it. And that's why I think you would work well with us. You clearly have patience and compassion for us. The majority of the world doesn't. So you can help us. Help us speak to the general public. If you translate the world for us, we can help you in return. Help you understand your son."
Paige was almost annoyed at herself for how quickly she had softened to this idea.
"I suppose you will want to meet the team."
"I would…what should I call you?" She asked.
He looked confused. "My name is Walter O'Brien."
"S…so…"
"Oh. You can call me Walter. We're all on a first name basis." He turned toward the stairs and rolled his lips under his teeth, whistling loudly.
Paige blinked as an entourage of adults made their way down the stairs. First in line was a short woman, then came a tall man wearing a hat. Behind him was another tall man in glasses, and then came an older man. None of them looked amused.
"Team," Walter said, "this is Paige Dineen. She's going to be an incredible asset to our team."
"He wanted us to stay upstairs until he called for us so we wouldn't make a bad impression," said the man with the hat. "But from what I overheard, he managed to convince you that he's a pedophile in the first ten seconds, so I feel like us being downstairs from the time you got here wouldn't have been so bad."
"Be quiet," Walter snapped. He turned to Paige. "That's Toby Curtis."
"Dr. Toby Curtis," Toby clarified.
"He is mostly the reason why I wanted them to stay upstairs."
Paige cleared her throat for no reason but wanting an additional moment before she would be expected to speak again. "Hello, Dr. Curtis."
"Hi. Pleasure's all mine. We don't need a translator. I am a master of human behavior." Toby was glaring at Walter.
"Yes, and yesterday Cabe had to save your ass from being beaten by a handful of the guys you owe money to, and last week he had to step in when you smart mouthed a secretary and lost us a job."
"Do you not realize how many jobs you've caused us to lose?" Said the woman.
"Which is why we need someone like Paige here," Walter said. He turned to her. "She's Happy. She's the most brilliant mechanic in the world."
"Uh, Walt," the youngest of them said, "I don't mean to cause more of a divide here, but, uh…what do we need a new person for? Sure, we're piggy backing off of the neighbor's electric, but all we need to do is really buckle down on our work, and…"
Walter crossed his arms. "Sylvester. When was the last time you ate?"
Sylvester looked confused by the question. "You mean like food?"
Paige didn't think her eyebrows could go up any farther.
