Chapter 4

When Florence left, finally convinced that he wouldn't change his mind and that he would in fact terminate Scorpion, Walter let out a long sigh. The conversation had been a difficult one. Speaking of Scorpion as a mere company had nearly caused his carefully maintained mask to crumble. He looked around the empty garage, his eidetic memory filling it once again with those who had once lived and worked there. He could see Happy working out her anger on a piece of metal, Sly trying to keep his anxieties at bay by tidying his desk or solving an elaborate algebraic formula. The memory of the Doc indulging, without saying so, in his game addiction by acting like a living bowling ball brought a half smile to his face. The picture of his sister laugh, the first time he brought her here sobered him up quickly and he shook his head, amazed when he remembered how angry he had been when Cabe had shown up in the garage, demanding his help to solve LAX problem. So much good had come from this visit. It had brought to the garage his two favorite dwellers, those without whom Scorpion was meaningless: Ralph and Paige.

He suddenly realized that despite the number of lives Scorpion had managed to save in four year, despite the number of disasters they had successfully avoided, the feat he was proudest of was that he had managed to build a family out of a somewhat motley collection of social misfits. Even Paige, the most normal of them all, had struggled to fit in the world before meeting the team. In his eyes, she was the most beautiful woman and the most wonderful human being on the day they met, but there was no question that Scorpion had helped her to reach her full potential. No, Scorpion has never been a mere commercial venture, it was his family and, for this family, he was ready to fight.

With a renewed determination, he sat down at his desk, woke up his computer and started typing a few lines of text. He added a few pictures, checked his work and stopped for a minute, looking at a picture on his desk. Paige was looking back at him, a cheerful smile on her lips. He had taken this picture on Kowalski's parking lot. When she had protested that someone with photographic memory didn't need pictures, he had answered very seriously that he might want someday to show someone what she looked like when she told him that "the dream he didn't know he had was becoming true".

Judging by the look she was sending him in the picture, he had, for once, managed to tell exactly the right thing. He muttered under his breath "Soon, my love. It won't be long now...", and he pressed the enter key. He contemplated the result of his work: that would do nicely. Phase 3 had just begun.

When Ralph arrived home from school, that afternoon, he found his mother sitting on the sofa, in tears, a few sheets of papers scattered around her. Alarmed, he rushed to her.

- "Mum! What's the matter? Are you all right? Is it your appointment?…

- No, Baby, no … Everything's all right. No, it's your father. I just got a letter from him. He's the sweetest man..." Startled, Ralph was opening his mouth to answer when he suddenly recognized Walter's strong handwriting on the paper his mother was clutching to her heart. He bit down the answer that was coming to his lips and managed a feeble:

- "How?

- Cabe brought it to me. There's one for you too. Here you are !"

Mother and son then spent a few minutes in silence, each of them engrossed in the reading of their letter. Paige finished her reading first and got up, smiling to her son.

- "Time to make dinner. What would you like, Ralph? I didn't have time to do a lot of shopping but I could make us mac and cheese. Or would you prefer to order pizza?

- Can we have mac and cheese, please? I'm starving!

- Starving? That means dying of not having enough food. You don't look like dying to me.

- Listen to you! You're actually beginning to sound like Walter."

Paige burst out laughing.

- "I did, didn't I? So Mister, mac and cheese it is."

Still smiling, she went to the kitchen corner and started cooking. A few moments later, Ralph quietly whipped his eyes with the back of his hand, stood up and started to set the table. The pasta was in the oven and Paige was seasoning a salad. They worked side by side for a while, in companionable silence, and soon dinner was ready. Ralph helped himself to a large serving of pasta, but contrary to his usual eating habits refrained from wolfing it down. Conscious of his mother inquiring expression, he explained:

- "It's Walter favorite dish…

- Yes, it is. At least for a family meal. It's also the only one he knows how to cook on his own.

- Muum! You should trust him more.

- I do! I trust him. I would trust him with an H-Bomb, just not with a chicken casserole…"

Paige voice broke and Ralph eyed carefully his mother. Her eyes were suspiciously bright and instead of digging in her pasta, she was toying with the ring on her right hand.

- "Mum?

- What? Do you want more pasta?

- Mum, I haven't finished my first helping yet. Are you crying?

- No, I'm not" lied Paige, just as a tear found her way down her cheek.

- "Mum, you should finish diner and go to sleep early. You're exhausted. You've been running yourself ragged those last weeks. That can't be healthy. Look at you and all those mood swings. You're laughing and a minute later you're crying buckets. In a way, it's lucky that Walter isn't there. He would felt responsible for your state...

- He is...

- Muum! Anyway, you need to slow down a little.

- Ralph! I'm not ill.

- No, you're not but you will be if you don't take care. If you don't promise to take it easy, I'll tell on you to Toby.

- You wouldn't dare!

- For your own good, I would! Now eat your pasta, like a good girl!

- Ralph Dineen! Don't push it!"

Half an hour later, dinner was eaten and the dishwasher filled. Paige came back in the living area and find Ralph rereading his letter. She sit by his side, brushing his hair with her hand. Her son looked at her and uttered:

- "I miss him, Mum! I miss him so much. It has been 3 weeks, 4 days and 20 hours…

- I know, Baby, I know. I miss him too, terribly."

Ralph followed his mother gaze and realized it was fixed on a picture of Walter, the one taken during their first Christmas together. Walter, wearing his silly jumper, was directing towards the camera an awkward half smile. It was one of his mother favorite picture. He suddenly took a decision. He jumped to his room, grabbed his laptop and declared to his startled mother.

- "Mum! I've got something to show you. We have to go to Centipede's Headquarter."