"Megan, you're a genius...", Toby said and helped her back to her seat.

"I try.", Megan shrugged.

"Rabbit Hole?", Sylvester laughed nervously, his eyes wide as he read the words Megan had just written, "You think Mark Collins is working with Drew?"

"Well, 'Rabbit Hole' isn't a term you come across often, is it?", Megan asked.

"No, I know that, it's just...it's Mark Collins...", Sylvester replied, wringing his hands.

Walter understood Sylvester's anxiety completely and didn't blame him for it at all.

Mark Collins had always hated Sylvester for being Walter's closest friend out of the group and had, on many occasions, found humor in making Sly anxious and watching the statistical theoretician second guess himself.

Mark Collins tormented Sylvester like a cat torments a mouse before killing it.

Megan noticed Sylvester's anxiety and nodded.

"I get why you're upset and skeptical about this, really, I do... Walter told me about Collins, namely how that psycho tried to kill him...", Megan replied as she went back to her spot on the sofa.

"He was close to succeeding too...", Toby added as he placed his index and middle fingers on Happy's carotid artery and looked at his watch, measuring her pulse, "Happy saved his life..."

"Um... I know this kind of sounds like a really stupid question but who is Mark Collins?", Paige asked.

Walter replied.

"Well, when I founded Scorpion, my plan was to only employ the best and the brightest, which I have. Mark Collins is a full-blooded, born vampire who is a direct descendent of one of the founding members of the Vecchio Ordine, which is the first Old World vampire coven and it doubles as the vampire government. Anyway, Collins was brilliant. He was insane and only preyed on live humans, but he was smart. He had the ability to control minds, that's how he sent me down the Rabbit Hole."

"Now what's the Rabbit Hole?", Paige asked.

"It's like sleepwalking in a coma. The mind and body are awake and functioning, but that's about it. When one is in such a state, they don't eat, drink, sleep, or take care of their personal hygiene, all they care about is whatever task has been set to them.", Toby explained, "It can happen to anyone really, but it happens more frequently to vampires and those who have high IQ's."

"Collins was jealous of my ties with the rest of the team, and wanted my genius all to himself, so he took full control of my mind, sent me down the Rabbit Hole, and nearly killed me in the process.", Walter stated.

"How did you snap out of it?", Paige asked.

"Well, it was Happy who broke Collins's concentration... You saw what she did to Drew today? Well she did basically the same thing to Collins, only she was less powerful back then, so she beat him with a wrench to break his control. Walter had just been fed on fresh human blood, so he was strong enough to help us force Collins out of the garage.", Sylvester replied.

"We became a coven that night so that we would have the right to act with lethal force if he returned.", Walter added.

"So the Vecchio Ordine has laws put down that allows a coven to kill another vampire if said vampire threatens them?", Paige asked.

"Correct.", Toby replied.

"I have a lot of questions about this whole coven system, and the Vecchio Ordine, and just a lot about vampires in general... I'm raising one, so I want to be informed..."

"And you have every right to be informed... We'll answer any question you could possibly have about this whole situation.", Cabe replied as the rest of the coven nodded in agreement.

"Okay thanks... I guess my first question is why is it so important for a fledgling to have a vampire parent? Can't a normal parent do the job just fine?", She asked, gazing down at Ralph.

Walter's heart went out to the young mother and he could feel her despair.

"I'm sure that a normal can raise a vampire just fine. None of us have really good things to say when it comes to our own parents. I was alienated and seen as a curse by my parents, first for my genius and then for being a vampire.", Walter replied, "If it hadn't been for Cabe, I wouldn't have known how to face my changes with a clear head."

"I was cast aside by two Old World style vampire parents because I couldn't hunt normally without having a panic attack due to my germaphobia.", Sylvester stated.

"My father was a Halfling with a gambling addiction. He used to take me to the races and casinos because he knew I had a gift for reading people. My mother was technically a vampire, only she was an example of what happens when a Halfling changes someone. Now a mature vampire's venom takes on average three hours to fully change a normal. A Halfling has weaker venom, and they can change normals to vampires, only it takes about a week and the transformation is always painful. The pain from her transformation drove her insane and she killed herself when I was fifteen.", Toby stated.

"Happy told me that her foster parents tried to kill her.", Paige said slowly.

"My parents were expecting me to be a Halfling, but I kind of disappointed them when I became mature because I didn't want to join the coven and become a mercenary, as most Halflings are in Old World style covens...So I left and went off on my own.", Cabe explained.

"I want to be the best parent I possibly can be... for his sake... I know I may not have a genius level IQ like he does, but I still want to connect with him, no matter what it takes...", Paige said softly.

"We're all here to help you in whatever way you need us to...", Walter said.

"I need to protect him and help him through his changes like any good mother would..."

"And you will, you'll have lots of help from us...", Toby added.

"Thanks..."

The room was quiet for a little while until Paige spoke again.

"So what is the Vecchio Ordine, besides the vampire government?", she asked.

"Well, they're a group of old, wealthy families from Italy and the surrounding European and Mediterranean countries who joined together and formed a coven that in some way, big or small, governs the world's civilized vampire population. They are like a bunch of royal families who organize themselves into a parliamentary system to form decisions. They have their own Doctrine, most of it is in Latin, but it fully explains everything about them, their laws and the punishments for breaking the laws.", Cabe explained, "There are the ruling families, then the gifted ones, the enforcers, the benefactors, and then the normals who have been born into the families. Those normals are later changed in a mass ceremony."

"So what's the deal with the gifted ones... is it possible that Drew may be gifted?", Paige asked.

"The gifted ones are the most valued out of all the vampires in the eyes of the Vecchio Ordine and there are many gifts out there that science cannot fully explain.", Walter replied.

Paige nodded.

"The main benefactor family for the Vecchio Ordine happens to be headed up by a man named Richard Elia, who is wealthy, like, filthy, stinking, rolling in the piles of money type of wealthy...", Toby said , "He's got a lot of power and works directly with the core ruling family, the Moretti's."

"Is Collins related to them?", Paige asked.

"No, thank God, then we'd never be rid of him... He's related to the Coletto family, which is still one of the original families but Collins's ancestors were connected through a bonded mate, not bloodlines. When his ancestors immigrated, they probably changed their name and their accents to something less Italian and more Anglo-Saxon or British, that way they wouldn't face quite as much discrimination as most European immigrants did during that time.", Toby replied.

"Wait... did you say that there was a bonded mate that led to the family unity? Is that some vampire thing or was it like an arranged marriage?", Paige asked, "And does it still happen like that?"

A tense silence fell over the room and all eyes were on Walter, after all, Paige was the woman everyone thought was his mate (hell, he was starting to believe them, even being as stubborn as he was).

"Walter?", Paige asked.

Walter faltered for a second and quickly recovered.

He had been dreading this talk for a while now because the concept of mates to him was more fantasy than fact. He also didn't want her to know that he could smell her emotions because that could lead to her being embarrassed and potentially forcing her to repress her emotions and, according to Toby, repression was unhealthy.

"Um, mates aren't really something I believe in.", he replied, hoping to dodge the subject, but Megan sent him one of her 'oh really now?' looks and he continued, "But they all start out with a scent. Vampires and Halflings have heightened senses of smell."

"How heightened?", Paige asked.

"I can tell when you're afraid of something just by inhaling.", Walter replied.

"Oh...", she nodded, "anyway, back to the mates..."

"Um, you should probably step away from Ralph for this discussion. We don't want him waking up, catching part of this chat, and then asking about the birds and the bees...", Toby suggested.

"Oh, good idea...", Paige said.

"I'm pretty sure he already knows that babies come from two haploid gametes with 23 chromosomes, one male and one female, fusing together and making a diploid zygote with 46 chromosomes that divides to form a fetus and then is born in about 40 weeks ...", Walter said and watched as Paige carefully removed herself from Ralph.

"And I plan to keep it that way for now, if you don't mind.", Paige replied.

She looked at Megan.

"Can you watch him for me?", she asked and Megan nodded.

"Thanks.", Paige smiled.

"I'll hack into surveillance cameras and try to find Drew. If we can track his whereabouts and observe his movements, we might be able to find out who he's working with and what his next move will be.", Sylvester said before hurrying off to his computer.

"An old colleague of mine lives in Rome and owns a cafe that a lot of vampires from the Vecchio Ordine frequent. He might have heard or seen something that could help us out.", Cabe said.

"And I'll keep monitoring Happy...", Toby said before shifting his attention back onto Happy.

Walter and Paige nodded before going up into the loft and sitting on the sofa.

"Okay, now where were we?", she asked after a beat of silence.

Walter took a deep breath and pressed onward as he sat down across from her.

"Like I said, scent drives everything for vampires and Halflings. Normals have their own scents too. The only thing that matters is who can smell it and what their intentions are. For example, I can smell a deer on a hunt and determine how far away it is.", Walter said, gesturing as he spoke, "Scent is linked to hormones and pheromones."

"So emotions are really the driving force here...", Paige stated.

"It's a bit more in depth than that, but that's it in a nutshell.", he replied.

"And I have a scent?"

"All living things do...Normals can't even smell theirs.", Walter replied.

"Are they bad?", she asked, "Is mine bad?"

Walter shook his head.

"Your scent isn't repulsive to someone unless you want it to be."

"How are mates related to scent then?"

"Well, the scent that someone gives off when they are uh, aroused, is really what matters."

Paige's eyebrows shot up and Walter began to get nervous, so he stood up and went to his kitchen.

"Can I get you anything?", he asked.

"Water is fine, thanks...", Paige replied, "Uh, you were saying..."

Walter paused in the kitchen.

It was easier to tell her about this without looking at her and reminding himself of how much he would like for her to be able to have heightened senses, that way he could reciprocate for her.

"The way it works for vampires and Halflings is like this: a potential mate will release their scent, hoping to spark interest in another vampire or Halfling. If the scent is pleasing to and reciprocated by the other party, the initiating potential mate will either find that the reciprocating scent is nice but not quite what they were looking for, not what they wanted at all, or they could find that the scent overwhelms them and becomes an instant and very potent aphrodisiac. Once that happens, there is a chance that, if the scent is an aphrodisiac, the initiating party will release a new scent that is best described as euphoria by those who have experienced it."

Walter paused and went out to give Paige her water.

"So then I guess the other one would release their euphoria...", she said and nodded her thanks.

"Yes and then, well, you get the idea...", Walter gestured vaguely.

"And you're telling me that some covens still use this method to make matches?", she asked before taking a sip.

"Yes.", Walter replied, "But a life partner or spouse doesn't necessarily have to be a mate."

Paige nodded.

"I see...just like how some people settle down with the first person they meet, even though they have a feeling that someone better could be out there, if I'm not mistaken?"

"Exactly... Cabe married and had a child with a Halfling that wasn't his mate."

Paige looked shocked.

"Really?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, their daughter died years ago and then Cabe and his wife got a divorce. His former wife remarried to her true mate and they have two children of their own now.", Walter said quietly.

"Oh...I'm sorry to hear that...", Paige said.

"Cabe is fine now, their divorce was more of a mutual agreement...", Walter replied.

Paige was silent and her fingertip circled the rim of her glass before she spoke again.

"Do you think that the only reason why Drew wants me turned is so that he can see if we're mates? Like is it possible to hate someone that happens to be your mate, even if you were in love with them and had a connection in the past?", She asked her eyes connecting with his and making Walter experience a fleeting wave of self-consciousness.

"It's possible, yes, but not probable...", Walter replied, sipping his water, "Remember, almost all vampires and Halflings can control their scent to be inhibitory or excitatory..."

"Right, right...", she sighed and looked away, massaging her temples, "I'm sorry about dragging you all into this..."

"I don't-We don't want you and Ralph in this situation by yourselves...", Walter replied.

There was a few moments of silence between them and Walter could tell that Paige was absorbed in her own thoughts.

"Paige?", He asked, and she snapped out of her reflective state with her eyes wide and her eyebrows raised.

"Yes?"

"May I ask what you're thinking about?", he asked.

Paige nodded.

"Yes of course...I'm wondering how it would be if I were- well, you know...", Paige said, gesturing vaguely in Walter's direction.

"If you were what? A vampire? Or a genius?", He supplied.

"A vampire... I'm not a genius like the rest of you are but maybe I could still connect with him if I was a vampire. I mean, do you think it would help Ralph?", She asked, "I want to connect with him...be a good mom...", Paige sniffed a little and wiped her eyes, "He's a good kid, he deserves a good mom..."

Walter knew Paige was upset, he didn't even have to inhale or have a higher EQ level to figure that one out.

"Paige, this is a big decision. Please don't rush yourself..."

"I know we already discussed this with everyone else, bit I want to know what you think so please hear me out... I think I would be a good vampire.", she stated, "I could defend Ralph and myself. I would be a true member of the coven. Ralph would have the perfect family.", she paused, "What do you think?"

Walter didn't know what to say.

The tricky part was reassuring Paige that her current state of being as a normal human was good enough for Ralph, when in fact, he wanted to tell her that Ralph would most likely benefit from having his mother turned, even though there was no substantial evidence to support or refute that claim.

He didn't want her to turn under the pretense that she would be helping Ralph when it was really just to feed his selfish curiosity that had been sparked by his 'reciprocation'.

He was changing and beginning to notice that emotions were now being factored into his decision-making process.

He cleared his throat and decided to be honest with her.

"Paige. I have never been a normal human, I've been close to it when I was a child, and from what I've seen, human life can be a wonderful thing. I personally think that Ralph could and most likely will connect with you whether you're a normal or a vampire. I have met people who were normal and none of them really chose to be turned. Most of them were turned by accident or because they were dying. It really is your choice to be turned or not, I won't stop you or force you to do anything, but I'd rather keep things the way they are...", Walter replied.

Paige nodded.

"Maybe you're right... maybe being turned should be my last option... Thanks for this.", Paige replied.

"No problem...".

"I have another question though-", Paige began.

"Walter, Paige, get down here... we found something that you'll want to see!", Toby called, cutting Paige off.

Paige was on her feet in no time and Walter was following close behind, both of them rushing down the stairs and heading over to Toby's desk, where everyone seemed to be crowding around a monitor where surveillance footage played.

"Hey, that's my apartment...", Paige said, noticing the number on the building, "But who are those people? I've never seen them before..."

"What people?", Walter asked.

"They just went around back...", she said, pointing.

"I can zoom in and rewind...", Toby said, before doing just that and freezing the footage.

"Them?", Walter asked, pointing at two men.

"Yeah... it's shame I can't tell who they are...", Paige replied.

"Their faces are pretty blurry but it's the best I can do...", Toby said.

"There's a camera in the back by the parking lot... check that...", Paige said.

"On it...", Toby said.

Walter's computer dinged and he went to check it as Cabe came back and hung up the phone.

"Find anything?", Walter asked the agent.

"Well, Santino says that he never saw Drew, but then again he gets a lot of people who come through his place, so Drew might have been there.", Cabe replied.

Walter shook his head and cursed under his breath as he raked his fingers through his messy curls.

"It's not enough...", Walter replied quietly, glancing back at the rest of the team, "We need more information and we need it fast."

"Son, I know this means a lot to you, but you need to take it easy...", Cabe said, "We want to keep them safe as much as you do, Hell, Happy is still passed out on an air mattress from trying to kill Drew, if that isn't proof of how much we care then I don't know what is."

"Motivational speeches don't work on me and you know it.", Walter said.

"I'm not trying to motivate you, I'm telling you the truth, so you can take it or leave it,", Cabe said and Walter nodded before the older man continued, "The point is that we're all trying here and it won't do anyone any good if you lose your temper, that's all I'm going to say.''

Walter nodded and took a deep breath before looking over at Ralph. The boy was sleeping peacefully, oblivious to the world around him.

"Okay", Walter replied.

Paige gasped from behind them.

Walter spun on his heel and saw her face thrown into sharp relief from the light of the monitor.

"That's Drew... but why is he with Mr. Ray?", she asked.

"Who is Mr. Ray?", Megan asked, "And how can you tell it's him? The video is so grainy..."

"Mr. Ray was one of the regulars from the diner... He was always so nice though. He never said anything cruel to anyone and he always tipped well. I can tell it's him by the way he walks with a limp."

Walter was walking over when Toby announced that he would try to make the video clearer.

"Do you think Drew knows that I live there?", Paige asked Walter.

"Maybe... Was Mr. Ray there in the afternoons?"

"Yeah. In fact, he'd still be there when my shift was over and I went to get Ralph from school.", Paige replied, "Why do you ask?"

"Well, this guy could have left shortly after you did and he could've followed you to Ralph's school and to your apartment."

"Creepy.", Paige stated.

"Okay guys it's clearer now... Hello Mr. Ray...", Toby said and zoomed in on Mr. Ray's face.

"That's him all right. That's Mr. Ray...", Paige said.

Walter had to do a double take.

"No way...", Toby said, leaning in to the monitor.

"Uh isn't he supposed to not be here?", Sylvester asked.

Walter couldn't believe his eyes.

"No... It's not possible...", he breathed before rage flared inside of him.

"What's the matter?", Paige asked.

"That man is not Mr. Ray, that man's name is Mark Collins. He is dangerous and he's a murderer.", Walter spat.

Paige looked blankly at the screen and sighed.

"And he's working with Drew so that is bad news for us.", Toby said.

Walter was pacing when Toby spoke to him

"Walter, beating yourself up and trying to figure out how this happened isn't going to help us. It has happened and there isn't much we can do about it except try to figure out their next move."

"Do we have audio?", Paige asked.

"No, just visual.", Toby replied as he scribbled down words on a napkin, "But I'm reading their lips right now..."

"Is this in real time?", Megan asked, "Because if it is then we can just call the cops on them and say that they are armed and dangerous..."

Walter shook his head.

"Collins is a master of manipulation. He'll be two steps ahead of us...", Sylvester said, "Besides, they're both vampires... they're too fast for them to catch on foot and the LAPD has a pretty slow response time for this time of day and in that area..."

Walter stopped pacing.

"Hang on, he's a master of manipulation...", Walter said.

"Well, yeah, that's what he is...", Sylvester repeated, slightly confused.

"No, no... He could be going through Drew to get to me, you know, manipulating him...", Walter replied.

"But why Drew?", Paige asked.

"Because Drew wants to get to you and Ralph and because Collins wants to get to me.", Walter replied.

"But why didn't Collins just do the dirty work himself?", Paige asked, "Why is Drew suddenly a middleman?"

"Because we have the legal means to kill Collins if he returns to threaten our coven in our territory. We have no such thing with Drew. Besides, Drew is the key player here yet at the same time he is disposable.", Toby replied.

"It's simple, Drew surrenders control to Collins who would use him to get to me. Once I'm out of the way, the coven will be leaderless and since coven leadership is handed down to the next of kin, whether biological, adoptive, or married, we would be forced to disband and our powers of protection would be gone, leaving you and Ralph open for Drew as easy prey.", Walter explained.

"With Walter out of the way, Drew gets you and Ralph. With the rest of us out of the way, Collins will get Walter. It's a win-win situation for them...", Sylvester explained.

"I think we're on to something here...", Toby said, "They're meeting at a place called Escape... I just googled it... aaannnddd it's a club... sounds like a dive too...only three and a half stars..."

"Logically, it's the perfect meeting place. It's dark, loud, and nobody will be paying attention to them. It's also, as you said, a dive... there are probably a lot of single people there with lowered inhibitions and dulled responses. It's easy prey for Collins and Drew, especially if they are only drinking small amounts of blood and not putting any venom into their prey...", Walter mused aloud.

"They can address work, pleasure, and their feeding necessities, all at once... it's pretty efficient if you ask me.", Megan stated.

"So what now?", Cabe asked, "We gonna go in there, guns blazing?"

"No, no... we can't do that...", Walter said, pacing and thinking about what to do next.

"Why don't we just use the surveillance cameras to spy on them while they're at Escape?", Sylvester asked.

"That's a great idea...", Walter said.

"I'll get on it...", Sylvester replied.

Walter's watch beeped, causing Paige to look at her watch.

"Guys, it's really late and Ralph has school tomorrow.", She said, "I don't really feel safe going back there with only Ralph and myself, but we really have to go..."

"No you don't...", Walter found himself saying.

"I'm sorry?", Paige asked, looking at the genius, "I didn't catch that, it was kinda fast..."

"You don't have to stay there alone. In fact, you don't have to go back at all...I have a sofa bed upstairs that I can sleep on. You can take my bed, Ralph can have the spare bedroom.", Walter said, nervous for openly inviting Paige into his home, "Collins knows we're all here at the garage, so he wouldn't try to rush in and attack us unless he really wanted to be dismembered..."

"I'll go and get your stuff, and I'll drop Megan off at the hospital on the way.", Cabe offered, "You can give me a key and talk me through it."

Paige sighed and closed her eyes. Relief permeated the air and Walter was instantly calmed, only to tense a moment later when the young mother gave him a hug.

She was warm and her heart was beating fast, a stark contrast to his own cool body and slow, steady heartbeat.

Time slowed for them.

He eventually raised his own arms to hold her and Walter found that, to his surprise (or was it pleasure?) that Paige was able to place her chin on his shoulder.

They fit together perfectly, a fact that made Walter's stomach twist in a confusing way and made his heart beat faster.

Her scent was overwhelming him and it was quickly becoming too much to handle.

It was a bittersweet sensation to have Paige pull away because on one hand, Walter wanted to keep holding her yet on the other hand, he didn't think he could hold onto his self-control for much longer.

It was all so confusing.

Toby shot Walter this look that said, "She likes you, Walt, now just tell her!", and Walter just ignored him.

"Thank you guys so much...I'd like to stay very much.", she said before glancing over to where Ralph shifted in his sleep, "Ralph loves it here... I think he'll like it too..."

"Well, I-We'll be happy to have you...", Walter said.

"Thanks..."

"Well, let's get going...", Cabe said and Walter didn't miss the way that Sylvester rushed over to help Megan to her feet, that soft look returning to his eyes and the way Megan's smile made her glow.

A nagging voice in the back of Walter's head told him that something was going on between those two, but he ignored it and said goodbye to his sister.

While Cabe was gone, Happy woke up for a little while and then fell back asleep with Toby watching over her and Sylvester kept monitoring the cameras as Walter cleared out the spare bedroom for Ralph.

While he was upstairs, he heard a crash and then Paige yelped.

The sweet, metallic scent of Paige's blood cut through the air like the crack of a whip and Walter staggered back.

He wanted to comfort her but he didn't want to put her in harm's way by being there.

He walked to his personal kitchen and grabbed a unit of deer blood out of the fridge before draining it to take off the edge.

Walter looked down out of the loft and saw Toby bandaging her wounds from the glass shards of a broken wine glass, and he sighed, now reminded of how fragile Paige was in her current state.

That night, when Walter went to sleep on the sofa, he dreamed of Paige.

She wasn't human.

She was a vampire and she was beautiful.

She was singing and as she sung higher, the lights began flickering and the room began shaking. Then, on the loudest note, glass broke, lights blew out, and Paige fell to the ground.

Walter woke with a start in a cold sweat, wondering if it had been a dream or a taste of what was coming.