A/N: Thanks to the lovely and talented WriterFreak001 for pointing out few facts I missed about hangovers. This is why I decided to correct the previous chapter, adjusting and rewriting few things about Paige and our beloved geniuses. They obviously know she's wasted.
However, these corrections don't take away anything from the story or change it in any way, and if you've already read it you didn't missed much. But if you want to go back, (and I'll be tremendous grateful if you do) the changes starts from the paragraph in which Paige arrives at the garage and so on.
I also correct few typos I missed the first time. Well, enjoy!


Chapter 4

Walter wanted to be anywhere but there. If Cabe didn't called him for this new case, he would certainly be who knows where, one thing was sure: as far as possible from her. When he drove back home he didn't expected to see Paige standing there, in the middle of the garage. There was something in her look that made him freeze. She looked scared; eyes wide open, lips parted. Not that his reaction was much better.

Sylvester brought him back to reality asking for support on his theory. "We can do that" he buried that little side of EQ he had left and started talking like a robot "Do we know why he's in there? What is his request?". The mad hacker took four hostages in the building in front of them.

"No, he hasn't made a call yet" he peeked briefly in Paige's direction while Cabe continued "We don't know if this is the only building he detonated or there are others".

"There are for sure." The genius explained his theory knowing that the situation could have been far worse than the SWAT team estimated. Then the human calculator asked him if he was certain.

"Yes. It's exactly what I would do". He felt her eyes on him, but he didn't flinch. However a flood of emotion strangled him from the inside. Images flashed in front of his eyes. Paige was smiling as she put her arms around Drew's neck. He immediately pushed away that memory shaking himself awake. He wanted to yell, but an invisible force prevented him from doing anything stupid. That wasn't the right moment to be childish and selfish, so he took a deep and silent breath.

"Do we know the identity of the hacker?" Walter turned completely toward Cabe leaving Paige out of his sight. Apparently, the name of this hacker was Pyro.
Suddenly he found a solution to his problems and, as he quote himself, he decided it was better to go and "meditate". Meaning: blow off some steam doing some dangerous stuff. In that moment he could have cared less of rules or safety.

Walter walked fast toward the building, aware that the team didn't notice him slipping away, and only when he reached the door he finally heard Happy shouting his name. He caught the SWAT team out of guard too; in fact they hadn't the time to react and stop him before it was too late. However he was already inside and with no turning back allowed.
Quickly he downloaded on his phone the blueprints of the edifice and found the server room where the hacker locked himself up with the hostages in a matter of seconds.
Walter knocked on the cold surface of the door and quickly raised his arms, waiting for the man on the other side to open it.

"Who's this? Go away... or I swear I'll kill all of them" the genius heard cries coming from inside. And he urged to smarten the situation so he opted to go straight to the point.

"My name is Walter O'Brien and I work for Homeland as an independent contractor. I don't know exactly what you want, but I can help you".

"Help me, really?! You know nothing about this cause". Pyro clearly suppressed a laugh.

"No, but I know few things about hacking... Probably already heard of me. I'm Scorpion". He replied, then the door slid open. The genius pushed the right bottom and was proud of this right move. The man in front of him, however, was holding tight a Glock aiming for his torso. He hated those guns since the trigger puller was usually lighter than other firearms.

"I know someone with that name. Prove it's really you" he moved his fingers beside the trill. Obviously he wasn't a cheerful person.

"I hacked into NASA when I was eleven and the FBI arrested me". Walter smirked at the man excitement and he gave the young genius a sign to walk inside.

While ago Walter came to know that his nickname was way more famous, among certain hackers, that he could ever expect. It was a long shot, but fortunately it worked out fine.

"Hey man" the hacker stepped in front of a computer, always keeping with his gun pointed at his chest. "I guess we can help each other out, then". He paused and looked straight into the genius eyes. "You know, they're everywhere, they want to take control on us, on our brain" he tapped his temple while his eyes shot wide open "And the only way to stop their plan is destroying them all."

"Them… who are them, exactly?" Walter was utterly confused.

"You need to know that there are different kind of life among us, they're everywhere and they need to be eliminate". He looked around like he feared someone could hear his words.

Perfect, he was totally crazy. Walter analyzed the situation and made some of his calculation fast. "Listen, I think I can help, but…" he leaned forward lowering his voice "you really need to let these people go. They're not aliens."

"You don't know that" he shook violently his head. "They're not going anywhere".

Damned. The genius had never been able to gave good speeches to people, and, if he said something wrong, he could probably let the crazy man snap and kill them all. So he sought for another approach.

"Hey, are you really willing to blow yourself up just for… this?" Walter lowered his arms a few couple of inches.

"Yes, we are motivated". We? He wasn't alone? How could a group of people be ready to sacrificed themselves for something so irrational? Things were turning more difficult than he anticipated. At least his mind was fully occupied now.
Walter never excluded the possibility of a possible existence of different form of life outside the Earth, but that was just… crazy. And Pyro was delusional.

"Well... if you said so, the first thing to do is cut off the cameras. They're probably watching us right now" he proposed with firm voice. If he went along with his action, probably he could control him and then stop him.

"You're absolutely right! Why didn't I think about it before?... See? You're a genius" the hacker exclaimed and leaned forward to digit on the keyboard.

Walter controlled the flashing red light of the camera going off to move around the table at his right, far from the hostages. If something had happened to him or, if he had to take extreme measures, he didn't want his friend to see him. Surely they were already upset by his whim, that was a fact, and also recognized it now that it was a stubborn move. Anyway, the genius would have handled that problem later.

"Did you placed bombs anywhere else? In other buildings, I mean." Walter carefully questioned.

"Not me, my fellows did." Unfortunately he grew suspicious. "Why are you so interested?... No.. no, no. You have a microphone!" he exclaimed aloud waking up to him fast. It was now or never.

Walter grabbed his gun and twisted it aside, like he saw once in a video tutorial for self-defense. However he didn't predicted that the man would have kicked him the stomach leaving him breathless. He fell on his knees watching the mad hacker reach again for the weapon. So, from the floor, Walter jumped right on the firearm, trying with all his efforts to grab it first. Both of them managed to grasp the gun and it was then, when the first shot went off. The bullet went straight in a wall few inches from an head of a hostage and the woman started screaming in horror.

Then a second shot went off scratching Walter shirt and causing his arm to start bleeding. However that didn't kept him from struggling again with Pyro. As a consequence of the great amount of adrenaline running through his veins Walter didn't feel pain in his arm and tried his best to turn the gun in the opposite side. The hacker managed to trip Walter and they both fell on the floor. The young genius could hear heavy steps coming closer in the hall. The agents were arriving fast.

The third and final shot went off too. He opened his eyes wider, trying to understand if he was the one hit by the bullet. They were inches from each other and the gun hidden between their bodies. Walter waited what it seemed an eternity.

The pain never came. Instead, a thin line of red blood started stream down the mouth of the man on top of him and he quickly pushed him aside shocked.

"Tell me who are the others? What are their names?" he demanded desperate, shaking madly the man's shoulder, but all he got in response was a choked laugh. Then life slowly left his eyes.

Walter was trembling and a special agent had to pull him away from the dead body with some effort.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Paige calmed down, just enough to fool Cabe and managed to let escape from his grip. She literally flied inside the building while the others were following far behind.

When he got a glimpse of Walter 's head she literally jumped on him causing both of them to lose balance, but they didn't fall. His left arm where soaked with blood, his blood. "Oh, my God!" new tears ran on her cheeks and she hugged him tight. However Walter didn't reciprocated the embrace, too shaken up, unable to respond neither verbally than physically. Paige didn't want to let go like she was afraid to lose him over again and enjoyed that moment burying her face into his chest. She could hear his heart beat fast, but it could have been either for her or just for the adrenaline still in his body.
Happy was the one who reached them first, then Cabe, Toby and finally Sylvester. And their looks relaxed once they saw Walter was fine… kind of.

The young woman leaned back to face him and scolded him. "What's wrong with you?!". She yelled.

Walter was taken aback by her scream and lashed out "What's wrong with you!" his tone was even higher than hers. He pushed her away and with no other words he walked out.

"Did I missed something?" Sly speak lowering his voice in his friends direction. They were all pretty boggled or shocked.

"I sensed something was off. I didn't predicted it would have been this bad" Toby whispered back.

Paige's lip trembled a little and ran out too. Her headache increased because of her cry and now she wanted literally throwing up.
After few minutes she found Walter walking up and down beside the wall behind the edifice, far from indiscrete eyes. She noticed that his left upper arm was now wrapped in a white cotton lint. There was still some blood on his shirt, but at least he took the time to let someone medicate it. Paige didn't approached him immediately, she waited a moment to regain some energy, to chose the right words to clarify everything that happened once for all.

Walter's mind kept running and running fast down on memory lane. He was in front of her apartment, he looked up. Again… why did that happened again? Paige was beautiful, but then he saw her ex, stepping dangerously closer. She was laughing and grabbed his hands, just she did with him that night too, and then Paige pulled Drew closer. The expression on the ex's face was everything but confused. He looked intrigued and let her kiss him hard on the mouth. Then he embraced her, touching her in ways he could stand and that point Walter couldn't watch anymore. As he realize that a tear was streaming on his right cheek he furiously dry it away. Trying to erase the pain. After that, angrier than ever, he ran away.
His hands were shaking and he stopped walking to observe them, trying to bring his brain to stop the tremor in vain. A flood of water in his eyes obstructed him to see anything more than a confused blur. Why couldn't all this just stop? He punched the wall.

"Walter. Stop it, please." that voice was a warm whisper to his ear, but he couldn't contain himself.

"Go away". He said staring at the wall.

"No, I won't" Paige said quietly upsetting him even more. He gave her a look full of hate, but she continued, getting closer. "Tell me, what's going on?" she gave him a small smile.

"Why did you do that?" he asked with his voice cracked; it wouldn't be long before he completely exploded.

"Why did you sent me home?" she asked him back. Walter clenched his fists and took a step back putting some distance between them. Then he shook his head pushing but the tears formed in his eyes.

"I shouldn't have… but looks like you didn't mind that much" he replied bitter.

"I was drunk, Walter!" she shouted. He saw truth in her eyes and she looked wasted. Anyway, he felt so hurt that not one explanation would have ever healed that deep cut inside of him. He always considered the heart a mere organ, fundamental for the body to function of course, but nothing more than that. Now he could literally feel it bleeding out.

"Is that so? It just happened that your lips fell on Drew's? ...You were wasted, nice excuse." He chuckled and took a step away from her. She slammed him back, pushing him hard on the chest.
Walter was shocked by her sudden reaction.

"Don't you dare to accuse me of things I wasn't even aware of. Don't you even dare to think of telling me those things". She pointed a finger in front of his, threatening.

"Do I need to remind you that you called me an awful person, once?" Walter stepped closer furious.

"No, Walter... I never said those words" she lashed out.

"But you didn't denied them either! It the same damned thing".

"You know I was angry and I didn't mean it.".

"Well, now I am angry and I don't care about what explanation you'll pull out the cylinder next.". Walter opened his arms exhausted.

"So what now? Every time I screw up you go and try to kill yourself?" She had a point. "Whatever happened between me and Drew doesn't matter, you have to trust me."

"I'm not your toy!". Walter finally admitted how he felt in that moment. A toy. An object she used when she was okay with that and nothing more. He couldn't see over it.

Walter didn't move this time, so she try carefully to put a hand on his shoulder. He was avoiding her glance and the look on his face destroyed her. The last time he saw him that emotional was the first fight they had. They were talking about Ralph, but subtle there was something referred to both of them. When Walter asked her if he was an awful person, if it was so bad to stay around him, she knew he was talking for her. It was his silent way to tell her that he loved her. And in return, Paige just broke his heart. That tension that grew in the next months was a result of that. And they were just throwing everything away once again.

"I would have never consider you a toy... Because I really care about you, Walter".

Suddenly an echo taunted his mind. It was like he already heard those words but he couldn't place them anywhere.

"What I saw..." Walter decided to say how things were for him."Well... It hurts" he caught her attention. Walter was now looking into her eyes and only after few seconds she realized he was crying.


Next: Cabe proposed the trio of geniuses a solution to "force" Walter and Paige to make peace (No, sorry, but it doesn't involved a bed, sorry. Too OOC) while they are occupied tracing down the other partner in crimes of Pyro.

A/N: things will get better in the next chapter, I promise. In the meantime, if you have something you feel odd or out of place let me know and I'll see what I can do! And tell me if you like the little glimpse of what will happen in next chapters or you prefer to be completely blind on that front. Remember to leave a review! Thank you.