I want to keep this short since all the things are happening in my life (and frankly, the world) right now, so there will be one chapter after this that I'll get out as soon as I can. And I promise I'll make up for the angst! Thank you for the reviews so far, they were really sweet.

The first few days were hell.

He had to wash his sheets three times to get out the scent of Paige's shampoo and body lotion. It still hit him some nights, though he was sure that was just his imagination, his eidetic memory working against him. Everything in the garage and loft, every project Ralph helped him on, every place he made love to Paige, it all reminded him.

Walter never realized how deeply he'd let them infiltrate his life. But he was accustomed to spending his personal time alone before, and eventually settled back into that pattern, ignoring the small voice in his mind that suggested this might be permanent.

Work hours were different. The atmosphere was strained and tense, even more so than he anticipated. Walter turned down all private jobs, wanting to minimize the team's exposure out in the open, and spent the majority of his day in the loft, poring over the Routh family's records. On government cases, Paige usually accompanied Happy, while Walter stuck almost exclusively with Cabe. He didn't want to involve anyone else. He hadn't really wanted to involve the agent, but he needed Cabe's resources, and he was secretly relieved to have one person that didn't look at him with disdain.

Walter wasn't upset that the team quite obviously sided with Paige. Judging by their questions, she hadn't given them any details. She needed their support more than he did, and he was grateful to see how thoroughly the geniuses had embraced Paige and Ralph as family. Toby and Happy tried every approach to gather information—empathetic, demanding, indirect—but Walter simply shut them down. Keeping up the pretense was exhausting enough with the liaison, and spinning a story to pacify everyone else was a waste of energy. Better just to keep them in the dark until it was all over.

But there was one person he wasn't sure he could fool. Walter was glad Paige hadn't brought Ralph around to the garage much. They held entire conversations without speaking, and he was convinced that if the young genius looked hard enough, he would know the truth. As difficult as it was to be cold and harsh toward Paige, it would be downright impossible to do the same to Ralph.

He'd forgotten, temporarily, one morning when he came downstairs for coffee and found Paige already at the machine, her back to him. Walter debated heading back up to the loft, but he had stayed awake all night improving his facial recognition software and needed the caffeine desperately. He could feel the weight of the team's attention on him from the other side of the garage and figured he could muscle through a three-second interaction with her for the sake of efficiency.

Paige turned around and started, clearly surprised by his presence, before hastily ducking her head and wiping her eyes with her palm. But Walter had already noticed the unmistakable stains on her cheeks and something about seeing the liaison cry bypassed his logical programming. He stepped forward instinctively and rested his hand on her hip, almost as if he was shielding her. "Paige?"

She jerked away like she'd been shocked, holding up her palm between them. "Can you just get away from me, please?" she snapped shakily before stepping around him back to her desk.

Walter didn't forget again.

Paige knew it was immature to react the way she had. Walter was trying to comfort her and she supposed she could have been civil, at least. Kept it together in front of the team.

But after the conversation she had with Ralph that morning, she could hardly lay eyes on the genius, let alone accept his touch. She already had that terrible sensation of being pricked by pins and needles under her skin. The more she tried to calm her racing thoughts, the worse it became. And then Walter was right there, his hands on her, his heat and scent surrounding her, and it was too much to handle. She just wanted to escape.

If anyone could understand that, it was probably Walter.

Not that she owed him any kind of explanation. Her blood boiled as she remembered the sadness in Ralph's eyes as he stirred his oatmeal halfheartedly, his typical excitement over the start of a new day all but extinguished. Paige didn't have to ask why.

"It doesn't make sense," he said quietly. "I know I'm too young to get everything about adults, or adult relationships, but I've analyzed all of our interactions and I'm no closer to understanding why Walter doesn't want to be around us anymore."

Paige suppressed the sob that bubbled up in her chest, leaning her elbows on the counter so she could stroke Ralph's hair. "You did not do anything wrong," she insisted, running her thumb over his temple. "And Walter loves you. Whatever happens between me and him, I know that he loves you and wants you in his life. I promise things will get better."

She couldn't promise that, of course. A few weeks earlier, Paige would have sworn that Walter loved Ralph like a son, was as devoted to him as any father, connected with him on an almost unfathomable level. But she wasn't really even sure about that now. Because she would have said that Walter loved her, too, and clearly she was wrong.

Maybe she didn't know anything about Walter. Maybe she had only seen the front he put on, or worse, only what she hoped to see.

Paige didn't plan on leaving Scorpion—she loved her job and wanted Ralph to be in the best environment for him—but it was getting increasingly difficult to cope with her heartbreak there. If she'd known it would hurt this much, being around him, deflecting the scrutiny of the other geniuses, reassuring her son, Paige might have agreed with Walter's initial assessment that romantic relationships among the team were best avoided.

Happy, Toby, and Sylvester were supportive in their own strange way, though she didn't see any point in gossiping about the man who had rescued all of them from bad situations and given them a place to feel safe. They were as clueless as she was about the cause of Walter's erratic behavior. The only person Walter had been interacting with regularly was Cabe, and Paige stopped the agent impulsively one night as they were both leaving the garage to ask if they could get dinner together. They made small talk all the way through their burgers and fell into a heavy silence during dessert.

"Why don't you tell me what's really on your mind, kid?" Cabe said finally.

Paige grazed her fork over the crust of her cherry pie. "I think you already know."

"Yeah." He sighed. "I'm sorry, Paige. I know you and Walt are going through a rough patch."

"It's not a rough patch. He ended it. Just like that." The liaison dropped her eyes, fiddling with the corner of her napkin on the table. "He refuses to talk about it anymore. He gave me an explanation, but…it doesn't sit right with me and I don't…" Her voice thickened. "I don't know if I can't accept it because it wasn't true or b-because I just don't want it to be."

Paige let out a shuddering breath and wiped her face, cursing herself for tearing up again. She could cry in private, but she didn't want everyone else to see her like this. Cabe leaned forward and rested his hand over hers.

"Hey, it's okay," he soothed. "You just need time. You'll make it through this."

She bit her lip. "I don't even know why I'm surprised. I couldn't give Drew what he wanted. I couldn't give Tim what he wanted. Why did I think I could do it for Walter?" Paige crumpled the napkin up in her hand. "He said we both knew it would never work out in the long run. But I didn't know that. I thought…was I just blind, not to see this coming?"

Cabe was quiet for a long moment, his strong grip on her hand providing some comfort. He cleared his throat and leaned back into his seat. "I can't speak for Walter. But don't put this all on yourself, kid. He's dealing with something and the best thing you can do is give him space."

"But if he's struggling, I should be there—."

"There's nothing you can do," Cabe interrupted gently. "I'm sure Walter will tell you in his own time. Until then, he just needs to be left alone."

Paige dropped her head into her hands and exhaled jaggedly, trying to bring herself back under control. She felt like she was missing a piece of the puzzle, and she was almost certain that Cabe knew something he had no intention of telling her. But maybe that was all in her mind, too, part of her aching need to make this about something other than Walter rejecting her.

She was better than this. Stronger than this. But deep down, she knew one of the reasons she had been terrified to start a relationship with the genius was that her feelings gave him power over her. Power to hurt her. And it burned now.

"So what, am I supposed to wait for him? Am I supposed to move on?" Paige shrugged helplessly. "I don't know what to do, Cabe."

The agent watched her sympathetically, pressing his lips into a tight line, and said nothing.

The photographs kept coming. Paige and Ralph were still in them, but only in shots of the whole team, typically on missions. None from their apartment or Ralph's school, which was encouraging. He hoped this meant Jackson had backed off from them and the thought strengthened his resolve.

Walter needed a win. A month and a half of searching had taken its toll and he wasn't eating or sleeping nearly enough. It required all of his strength just to shower and get dressed every morning, especially after pulling so many all-nighters, but he forced himself through the daily routine. Routh couldn't see him fall apart. Couldn't know how much the distance from Paige and Ralph was tearing at him.

He glanced around the loft for his phone, cursing under his breath when he realized he'd left it on his desk. Sylvester was still down there but if he was quick enough, Walter could get down and back with minimal conversation. The mathematician was easiest to handle, never pressing, but he just didn't have it in him tonight.

"Walter?"

The genius froze at the small voice. Abruptly, he recalled that Ralph was spending the night with Sylvester and surmised that Paige was handing him off. Walter braced himself and twisted around, settling for a nod of acknowledgement because he wasn't sure what it would sound like if he spoke. He didn't miss the flash of uncertainty in Ralph's eyes or the way Paige tensed, once again unprepared for his presence, which was admittedly sporadic and unpredictable as of late.

It had been several weeks since he'd caught more than a passing glimpse of Ralph and a rush of affection, relief, anxiety, and panic barreled into him. The younger genius shifted to redistribute the weight of his backpack and looked up at Walter through dark eyelashes. "Sylvester and I are going to dinner, i-if you want to come," he said, sounding timid but hopeful. "We can talk about your projects. Then it would be an efficient use of your time."

There were few things Walter respected more than efficiency, but hearing the word from Ralph was like poison. The silence in the garage became deafening and Walter swallowed, his mind blank, his palms sweating, his chest tightening painfully.

Paige coughed and swooped in, bringing Walter back to reality. She ducked down and patted Ralph's head before offering him a consoling smile. "I bet Walter's really busy tonight. Why don't you just go and have fun with Sylvester, okay? And I'll see you in the morning."

Ralph's eyes swung to Walter, and he forced out another nod, too overwhelmed to speak even if he'd known what to say. The boy's face fell. "Okay," he muttered in disappointment before embracing his mother and motioning for Sylvester to lead the way. Even without looking at Paige, Walter could feel the heat from her glare. He knew she didn't understand, she had no idea that all he'd wanted was to embrace and reassure Ralph, to take back everything he'd given up. Walter suddenly felt like he was suffocating and mumbled a barely audible "excuse me" before heading toward the back door of the garage.

He only meant to step outside briefly, but a glance at his watch confirmed that he'd been walking for fifteen minutes. The fresh air was a relief and it was warm enough, fortunately, not to need a coat. They hadn't locked up the garage, unless Paige took care of it on her way out. He supposed it didn't matter. Routh had proved quite capable of getting in undetected anyway.

How much longer could he do this? Working around the clock, lying to his friends, missing out on watching Ralph grow up? Hurting the two people he loved more than anything? How long could he do it until there was too much damage to repair?

Walter dragged his nails over his forearm, which was itching more and more as it healed. He'd been tugging down his shirt sleeves, concerned that someone might notice the emerging scar, but no one—not even Toby—seemed to catch that minute detail. After a few more blocks, Walter realized it was getting dark and decided to start the trip back. He laughed humorlessly when he lifted his head and saw that he'd ended up around the corner from Edna's, the diner with the pancake specials.

Even in his subconscious, he was pushed toward Paige and Ralph.

There was the quietest sound—like someone stomping out a cigarette—and then Walter felt two sets of hands grab him from behind before his vision went dark.

"Oh God, Walter." Paige scrambled to pull her phone out of her purse, frustrated that her fingers were failing to respond to commands from her brain.

She knew it was wrong to follow him. Insane, even. Either party in a relationship had the right to terminate it at any time and for any reason. But something wasn't right, she sensed it in her bones, and his reaction tonight had confirmed it. He was rattled by Ralph's question. Walter, her Walter, was still in there, and she needed to understand what was happening to him.

What if she saw him with another woman? She'd never pegged Walter as the cheating type, but who was she to say anymore? She hardly recognized him lately, and if he had admitted there was someone else, it might have hurt less than just telling her she wasn't important enough. But it wouldn't explain why he was practically unable to look at Ralph.

The two men behind Walter seemed to appear out of nowhere from behind a corner and her heart skipped when she thought they were planning to mug him. And then they'd yanked a bag over his head and pushed him into a black SUV, and Paige knew it was worse than that.

"Hey, kid." She was so relieved to hear Cabe's voice that the words got tangled up on her tongue as she tried to relay what she'd seen, including the license plate numbers that were visible in the dark. "Good, that's good, Paige," he murmured. "That will help if the tracker fails. Did anyone see you?"

"N-No, I was too far down the street. What tracker?"

The agent ignored her question. "Can you get somewhere safe?"

"Uh…" Paige glanced around and saw the familiar diner sign. "Yeah. I can go to Edna's. Cabe, what is going on? D-Did you know Walter was in danger? Do you know who took him?"

She choked on air as a single thought slammed into her. Did Walter know this was going to happen? Was that why…?

"I can explain everything, kid. I promise. Right now, I need you to go to the diner and wait for Sam Kirby. I'll send you a picture so you know it's him. Don't talk to anyone or leave with anyone but him. For any reason. Where is Ralph?"

"With Sylvester. Who the hell is Sam Kirby?"

"I'll make sure Ralph is safe. If anyone tries to lure you out by threatening him, don't listen. Okay?"

"Yeah. Okay." Paige's head was spinning, but she took a deep breath and tried to focus as she climbed out of the car and crossed the street. "Who is Sam Kirby? Will he know who I am?"

"He'll know you. He's been guarding you and Ralph for over a month."

She stopped in her tracks. "What?"