AN: I am updating today because there will be no update tomorrow, on account of me being otherwise occupied with something fairly pressing in the real world. Enjoy!

Teaser- titles of coming chapters, in order: 'My Job', 'Right', 'Defining Fatherhood', 'Little Things', 'Blame it on the Brussels sprouts', 'Family Portrait, and 'Snapshots'. They are mostly fluff, but 'My Job' and 'Right' are a bit more serious.

He knew that they needed someone like her. Or he wouldn't have hired her, simple as that. (It would have been illogical to hire her if they did not need her, after all.) He knew they could not do it without her.

That didn't mean he always liked having her around. There were moments when he felt annoyed by her. But there were moments where he felt annoyed by Toby, Happy, and Sylvester. There were a large number of moments where he felt annoyed (and worse) by Cabe.

It didn't change the fact that they needed her around, that he needed her around.

He might insist that he had no emotions, but he did know that wasn't really true (he was far too intelligent to believe otherwise), as Toby had long insisted.

She once told him that she was sure he felt the same things that she did, that normals did, but couldn't quite process it, deal with it. He acknowledged that she was right, even if he hated admitting any sort of weakness on his part, even if he hated being wrong. She was right, and it would be stupid to continue insisting otherwise.

He needed her around to help him learn how to process those feelings.

And it had to be Paige. Not just any normal, specifically Paige.

She was the parent of a genius. There were not that many parents of geniuses out there.

She was the parent of a genius who genuinely cared for and wanted to understand her child. Who might at times be frustrated by them, but were in it for the long haul and determined to do right by their offspring.

By having her around, he, they were able to mentor Ralph far more often than if she was not in their team. They did not have to travel significantly or specifically set aside time to do so. By paying her a wage, employing her, he was able to ensure that Ralph was well provided for without any extra cost. It was efficient.

She was of a similar age to them, hence would likely live for a similar period of time, be capable of keeping up with them, be slightly more similar to them compared to individuals of a different age group, and would almost always be in a similar stage of life to them. Therefore, she was particularly compatible with them.

Paige did not have a better job, and was unlikely to receive any offers for better employment. Therefore, she would likely have taken the job. She would also likely be here to stay. (They did not cope well with change, particularly Sylvester.)

Paige was unusually kind, patient and strong. She was kind enough to accept them for what they were. Patient and tolerant enough to put up with their behaviour. Strong enough to stand up to him. (He knew he needed someone to do that. He didn't like it, but he knew he needed it.)

She was an American citizen. (Necessary for their line of work.)

She spoke English fluently. She lived in the same city as they did. (Necessary for her work.)

The probability of him encountering another individual with such qualifications, in such a situation, was extremely small. So small that it was completely insignificant.

It could only be Paige.

Only she could do this job.

He is aware, now, that there is something else to it. Something he can't quite process or understand or put a finger on. (It disturbs him a little. But with the newfound openness, the newfound willingness to perhaps start to try and process, acknowledge and voice these strange sensations, that she has been encouraging, he resists the urge to lock them away completely.)

He did not need Hetty or Toby's hints to realize this. He is not completely, totally ignorant of human interaction and relationships. He has had several girlfriends, regardless of how unfavourable the outcomes were. He did pick up on Toby's defence of Happy's honour, and he did know the implications of that. Perhaps he did not quite understand it himself (couldn't process it properly) but he'd seen enough television and enough movies to know what it meant.

He realizes, to use the vernacular, that there is something going on between them. He realizes that there is some sort of connection. (One of those elusive precious connections that he has always wanted, but never really been able to grasp. Or maybe never been willing to try hard enough to.)

He had odd...sensations...feelings around her – not just the biological reactions to aesthetically pleasing and physically attractive women that he'd experienced for quite some time now (he was a young, healthy, heterosexual male after all. And he was a genius, not a monk), but other reactions.

For example, an increased desire to smile around her, or to demonstrate some kind of affection. Or to make jokes, just to see her smile or laugh. Occasional symptoms of nervousness- slight tremors in the hands, increased sweat secretion in his palms, slightly elevated heart rate.

He found himself doing strange, illogical things. Those disconcerting moments where his emotions overrode his logic and analytical abilities were becoming more frequent and were distinctly correlated with Paige. He was near-certain that there was causation there.

(He has an IQ of 197. Of course he realized that resetting the device was equivalent to Ralph painting her nails. He is not as certain about his desire, need, to know how much longer there was before the cloning was complete, or the desire to cause physical harm to Lebeau, or to return the painting to the Muellers, or to assign himself the surname of Gauguin. But he believes they are similar to Toby's desire to defend Happy's honour.)

He finds himself cataloguing more of their interactions for analysis at a later date, when he has the time to focus on them with all his attention. (He believes that they warrant it.)

He finds one specific type of these interactions particularly intriguing. (And he revisits them in his mind with far greater frequency than he does any of the other types.)

Every time he goes down the rabbit hole after Mark Collins' return, food and drink, appeared in his hands at seemingly random intervals. (Keeping track of time was near impossible in that state.) He never really recalled what it was, specifically, or how it got there, or who gave it to him. He never really recalled eating it, or drinking it, but he knew it happened. Whenever he emerged from the rabbit hole, he looked healthier than he'd ever been before when he'd returned to the real world.

When he goes down, he goes deep. He can be gone for days and days on end. (Ten day bender with Collins). He knows it's not good for him, knows that while he's down there, lost in pure thought, the world is moving around him, lives are being lived, things are happening. Someone has to pull him out eventually.

In the past, that was Happy, who dragged him kicking and screaming out of Wonderland with sheer force of will and personality.

Now?

'Walter?'

Lost, drowning, in thoughts, in ideas, in numbers and words and patterns, completely consumed by them, he hears a voice. (A very nice and familiar voice, one that he likes very much, some tiny part of his subconscious tells him.)

And then somehow, he finds himself being led, gently but firmly (like her) out of the rabbit hole. She clasps his hand and guides him, pulling him back up.

Emerging back into the garage, he blinks. Once, twice. Then he smiles up at her.

Paige smiles back.

'Welcome home, Walter.'