-Cabe has some news about the case as the team prepare to leave for Florida, but Paige is struggling to come to a big decision.-

I know some of you might wonder why Paige is still with Tim through all this, but my intention has always been for this story to fit in with the established canon and I'm sticking with it. We already know what happens by the end of Season 3 anyway. :)

I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you for all your reviews so far, I really appreciate all feedback.

CHAPTER 7.

"Hi, Tim."

Toby immediately put down both of the medical textbooks he was reading at the sound of Sylvester's chirpy greeting. "Why is Sly Skyping Tim?" he asked, spinning round in his chair to address Walter.

"I asked Sly to make contact with Timothy," explained Walter. "To determine whether he was compromised during the execution of the cyber attack."

Sylvester covered the microphone on his headset with his right hand and put his left thumb over the lens of his webcam. "And I would like it noted in the record that I'm very uncomfortable with this," he hissed, glaring at Walter.

"Noted," replied Walter, haughtily. "But we need remote access to his devices in order to scan for surreptitious activity and it would be... inadvisable for me to engage with... with... with him at this time."

"Agreed," nodded Toby. "But you could've just hacked into his accounts, couldn't you? He'd never have known."

"Yes, yes we could've done that," agreed Walter. "But... but..."

"Oh I get it!" exclaimed Toby, leaping to his feet. "You're taking the moral high ground! He's being a lowlife scumbag over Marnie so you're doing everything by the book to prove that you're the better man!"

"I... I don't know what you mean," insisted Walter. "I'm not concerned with such trivialities. When will Happy and Marnie be back?" he asked. "We have a flight to catch."

"And now we witness the Great O'Brien Subject Change in action," said Toby, rolling his eyes. "OK, OK, I'll drop it... for now. My beautiful wife-to-be and our current ward are at Kovelsky's buying bagels for the journey. They won't be long. And you didn't ask, but Paige texted five minutes ago, she's making a detour on the way, but she won't be long."

Walter nodded and walked off, leaving Toby to enjoy the sight of Sylvester squirming in his seat as he made small talk with Tim, desperately trying to avoid any mention of Paige, Walter and especially Marnie.

It wasn't long before Happy and Marnie returned armed with delicious smelling supplies. Toby persuaded Marnie to call her mum's friend, Lydia, to tell her about Tim and to let her know their travel plans and Lydia arranged to meet them at the airport. Marnie seemed quiet after the phone call.

"You OK?" asked Happy, sitting beside her. "Not looking forward to going home? Y'know, I could ask Cabe to pull some strings, get you moved to a better place for a while until your Mom gets outta the hospital?"

"You don't need to do that," answered the girl. "The group home's OK, really it is. They're nice people, you don't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself."

Happy couldn't help but smile. "I know you can," she agreed. "So what is it?" she pushed.

Marnie sighed. "Lydia said my Mom's in a bad way, worse than she's seen her in a long time," she began. "And that sucks and I guess still not getting to meet my Dad yet sucks more. I get what Toby said about him working in Qatar, but it still sucks."

Happy and Toby had been forced to deflect Marnie's questions the previous evening and being eight thousand miles away seemed as good an excuse as any for why Tim couldn't come back to meet his daughter. Marnie had seemed satisfied with the explanation anyway and while they both felt bad about deceiving her they'd promised Paige they wouldn't tell her what the ex-Navy SEAL's true reaction had been to the news of her existence.

Just then Paige's car pulled into the garage. She got out, opened the back door and lifted her overnight bag from the seat.

"Sorry I'm late," she said looking flustered. "I went to the school to see Ralph before class. Thank you for looking after him last night, Sly," she added, smiling at Sylvester. "And you're sure you're OK for him to stay again tonight? If I'd known we were going away I wouldn't have left him with you last night."

"You needed to be alone, I understand," replied Sylvester. "Besides, it's my pleasure, he's no trouble."

Paige smiled gratefully and walked over to Walter. "Um, Ralph told me you had a little talk with him yesterday," she said. "He didn't tell me what it was about so I guess it was genius stuff, but whatever you said it worked because he seems a lot happier this morning. Thank you, Walter."

"Glad I could help," replied Walter.

She looked exhausted, he thought to himself. She was still beautiful though, even with dark circles under her eyes. She was always beautiful. He wanted her so badly, he loved her so much… why was she with another man?

Why...? How did I get it all so badly wrong…?

Before Walter got completely lost in his thoughts Cabe strode into the garage.

"Listen up!" he called out authoritatively and everyone quickly gathered around him. "There's been a development." Then he realised Marnie was standing with Happy and he hesitated. "Um, hey, I'd love a coffee, kiddo," he said, nodding towards the coffee machine.

Marnie folded her arms across her chest defiantly. "I'm not dumb, Agent Gallo," she said. "You just want me out of the way. So I guess this is about my dad, right?"

"No, actually it isn't, young lady," insisted Cabe, frowning at her insolence. "But it's nothing for you to worry about. So, I'd love a coffee. Please."

Marnie scowled and stormed off.

"Nice, Cabe," noted Toby, as he perched on the corner of the table and folded his arms across his chest.

"I didn't mean to upset her," replied Cabe, lowering his voice. "But she doesn't need to hear what I've got to say. I just got off the phone with the Black Hawk County Sheriff's office. They found a truck late last night just outside of Cedar Falls. It had flipped over and rolled down an embankment. Driver was still at the wheel, confirmed deceased. Truck matches the description Marnie gave of the one she hitched a ride in. Y'know, the guy who supposedly got lost."

"The one we believe planted the device in Marnie's bag?" asked Paige and Cabe nodded.

"And you figure it wasn't an accident," said Toby.

"Oh, it was no accident, Doc," confirmed Cabe. "Guy had a bullet in his skull." Cabe demonstrated by jabbing his forefinger between Sylvester's eyebrows.

Sylvester yelped.

"Sniper?" offered Walter with concern.

"Sure looks that way," agreed Cabe and Sylvester shuddered.

"So our hackers are eliminating witnesses," said Happy seriously. She glanced over towards the coffee machine where Marnie was deliberately taking her time to pour Cabe's coffee.

"I think we should cancel your trip," said Cabe. "We're dealing with dangerous people and I can't be there to protect you. Damn punctured aorta."

"No," insisted Walter. "I won't be thwarted by terrorists."

"Way to get us all killed, One Ninety Seven," said Toby, dryly. "But I would just like to take a moment to admire your use of the word 'thwarted'."

"Shut it, Doc!" said Happy with a scowl. She took a deep breath. "Look, I'm with Walt. I'm not going to sit here and hide when we could be out there hunting down whoever did this to us. Homeland have come up blank so far so it looks like it's down to us. And, as much as it's been no trouble having Marnie to stay, I'd rather not have to share my apartment with a teenager forever. She needs to go home."

Toby leaned over and surprised her with a kiss.

"What the hell was that for?" she asked.

"Because you're gonna be the most amazing Mom to our kids," he said with a smile. "All six of 'em."

"Six!"

"Maybe seven?"

"Sorry to break up your procreation discussion," said Walter, as he headed back over to his desk to gather up his things. "But we need to get to the airport."

The team collected their bags and equipment while Cabe sipped the coffee Marnie had made him. He knew he could find a way to prevent them going to Florida if he tried hard enough, but Happy was right, sitting around doing nothing would drive then all crazy. He knew he had to let them go, he just hoped Walter wouldn't take any stupid risks. Usually he'd trust Paige to keep him in check, but the way things were at the moment he knew he couldn't rely on that happening and that scared him.

Toby made sure his medical bag was fully stocked for the trip – just in case – and then wondered over to Paige's desk where she was rummaging through her desk drawer.

"Lost something?" he asked.

"Laptop charger," she replied. She sat back in her chair and sighed. "I guess Walter'll have a spare."

Toby nodded. "You look like hell this morning," he noted.

"Gee, thanks," she said, sarcastically. "You really know how to make a girl feel special."

"That was a diagnosis not a put down," he replied. "I guess you didn't sleep much last night."

"Nope."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Nope."

"And that's the wrong answer!" he said, pulling up a chair and sitting himself down beside her.

Paige sighed, she knew he wouldn't let this one go. The truth was she actually wanted his opinion on something, but she'd planned on waiting until they were in Florida. It seemed her plans had changed.

"OK, OK..." she began not quite sure where to start.

She'd had no more than three hours of broken sleep and her head was spinning.

"So, um… I guess every time I closed my eyes I heard his voice," she continued, relaxing just a little as she started to voice her thoughts. "Those things he said about Marnie and her Mom... the things he said about me. I can't be with a man who doesn't want anything to do with his own child, Toby. I can't. Not after Drew, not after everything I've been through. I just lay there in bed trying to find the courage to call him and tell him to go to hell. I ran through a million different ways in my head to say it, but then... then..." she paused and picked up her phone. "Then this came through."

She opened her emails, scrolled a little way down the screen and handed her phone to Toby.

"I want you to read that and tell me if he really means what he says," she asked him. "But you have to promise me this stays between us. Promise me, Toby."

Toby was about to make a smart remark when he saw how serious Paige's expression was. "I promise," he said, earnestly. Then he began to read the email. "My darling Paige. I'm so sorry, I hate myself for the things I said to you... blah blah blah... I love you... blah blah blah... I'm not proud of what I did...oh, this is interesting..."

"What?" Paige interrupted. "Is he being sincere?"

"The part about how he's changed in the last fifteen years? I particularly like that part… I used to be an asshole…"

"Yes, that!"

"Hmmm..." Toby pondered. "Well, he's told you he loves you five times, said sorry six times and he's used the word 'regrets' three times. Now, Tim is kinda old fashioned and he's ex-military - like Cabe, but with more hair. Guys like him don't spill out their emotions easily. I'd say he means every word... on the other hand he might be better at emotional manipulation than I thought."

"That's not helpful, Toby!" exclaimed Paige. "Which is it?"

Toby just shrugged. "Writing can be interpreted in so many different ways," he began, but at Paige's distressed look he scanned through the email again. "OK, here's something, it's littered with typos which suggests he wrote it in a hurry."

Paige's brow furrowed. "And what does that mean?" she asked.

"One of two things," Toby answered. "Either the words just tumbled out because they're true and he means everything he says, or..."

"Or...?"

"Or his typing skills are up there with my darling fiancée's cooking skills."

"Toby! I need to know!"

"And I wish I could give you a straight answer," replied Toby. "Y'know, if I talked to him myself…"

"No!" exclaimed Paige. "No way!"

"Then you call him and let me have eyes and ears on the conversation."

"No... no, I can't," she said. "I can't talk to him, not now, I need to think first."

Even the thought of seeing his face on a grainy video screen made her stomach churn. Hearing his voice would be too much, hearing him begging for her forgiveness and understanding... hearing him say those three little words... knowing she couldn't honestly say them back to him...

"You need to make a decision, Paige. I can't make it for you."

"I know, but..." Her voice was barely louder than a whisper.

She looked at him with sad eyes. Sad, exhausted eyes. Toby could see the turmoil she was going through and he wished he could help her, but he could only advise her. He knew he couldn't force her into making a choice because she'd end up resenting him for it.

"If you're afraid your feelings for Walter will..."

"I don't have those feelings for Walter anymore, Toby. You know that!"

"I do?"

Paige let out an exasperated sigh. "Why has this always got to come back to Walter?" she asked. Her eyes pleaded for an explanation.

"Hey, hey," said Toby soothingly. "OK. Like I said the other day, you're trying cope with too much at once. Let's put your feelings for Walter to one side for now and deal with Timmy Boy."

Toby let out a long, slow sigh as his genius mind worked overtime. Paige was a master of self control when she wanted to be, but when she lost that control she lost it in a big way. The last thing Toby wanted to see was for her explosive temper to come to the fore and for her to blow any chance she might have - no matter how slim – of one day being with Walter.

Watching his two friends screw things up for the last couple of years had been desperately frustrating. He knew he couldn't interfere, as much as he wanted to – and he was well aware that he'd overstepped the mark on more than one occasion - because it just wasn't fair on either of them. They'd just have to figure it all out for themselves one day.

Somehow.

Then suddenly Paige appeared to gather her strength. "Right, this is what I'm going to do," she said. "This isn't as bad as it sounds… but I'm going to do nothing."

"Great," Toby responded, rolling his eyes. "Well I guess that ends our session, Miss Dineen. I'll send you my bill."

"Toby, hear me out, please," she begged. "The reason I didn't end things with Tim last night is because I'm not the kind of person who ends a relationship by text, or email."

"And he's not the type of person who feels nothing for his own daughter... oh, wait a minute..."

"Toby!" Paige scolded. "I just... I need to talk to him face to face. I have to be sure. People can change, fifteen years is a long time. Maybe I'll fly out to Qatar as soon as this hacking case is solved, but until then I have to trust that he'll figure it all out. I owe him that much."

"Do you?"

Paige scowled, then without giving him an answer she strode off purposely towards the monitor tree.

"Where's Marnie?" she asked as Cabe, Sylvester, Walter and Happy all looked up at her with puzzled expressions.

"Bathroom," replied Happy, crossing the garage with Sylvester close behind her as she spoke.

"Good, because I have something to say to you. All of you," said Paige. "Walter, I need you to listen to this too."

Walter walked over to join the assembled group. For reasons he couldn't explain he broke into a light sweat.

"Paige," began Toby. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Absolutely certain," she answered. She looked at her friends. Her family. Everyone she cared about was here apart from Ralph and her son didn't need to hear this, but she would talk to him too as soon as she could.

And then there was Tim, of course. She still cared for Tim, despite everything - that was the problem.

"OK," she continued. "As you all know – because there's no privacy around here – Tim and I are going through a tough time right now. He's just discovered he has a daughter he knew nothing about and it's not easy for him."

"Poor Timmy," muttered Happy sarcastically.

Paige glared at her, before continuing. "I appreciate that you're all worried about me, but... but for now I'm OK. Tim and I are going to try to work things out."

Walter had to sit down before his legs completely buckled beneath him. When Paige had started to speak he'd assumed she was going to announce that her relationship with Tim had finally ended. He had been ready to support her – as a friend – but he couldn't support this. How could he support her if she stayed with a man who treated her the way Timothy did?

"And if it doesn't work out," Paige continued. "Then you guys will be the first to know. I know this may be difficult for you to understand, especially those of you with low EQ..." She paused, glancing from Walter to Happy, then back to Walter before continuing. "But even if you can't support me on this, I'm asking you to respect my choices. Please."

There was a moment of silence. Toby considered jumping in with a smart-alec comment, but then he thought better of it. He had a huge amount of respect for Paige and right now he couldn't be more proud of her strength, even though he disagreed with her decision.

Even though he could see her heart shattering into pieces.

The sooner she ended things with Tim the better, but she was desperately clinging onto the tatters of their relationship because she was scared, he realised, of being free to pursue a relationship with… someone else.

Toby knew a relationship between Paige and Walter wouldn't be easy, but he trusted that they could make it work. If only they weren't both so goddamn stubborn.

"That's all," said Paige, finally. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. We have a mission to track down the source of the cyber-attack and I really want to keep Marnie safe and help her get her life sorted out, so let's go to Florida and do both of those things. Agreed?"

Nothing.

"Agreed?" Paige was more assertive this time.

Without saying a word Cabe walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. "You're gonna miss your flight if you don't shake a tail feather," he said. "I'll take your bag to the car."

Marnie reappeared and Sylvester smiled at her. "For a moment I thought you'd locked yourself in the bathroom," he said.

She shot him a puzzled look.

"Only because that's what I do to avoid flying in commercial planes," he explained and Marnie laughed and followed him to Cabe's car.

"C'mon, Sugarplum," said Toby. "First one to the Cabe-mobile gets the front seat!"

Walter still hadn't said a word. He sat and stared straight ahead, seemingly oblivious to the activity around him.

"Walter?" said Paige when the others were on the other side of the garage. "We have to go."

Walter nodded, but didn't move otherwise.

"Walter," repeated Paige. "Look, I know what you think about Tim – you've made your feelings quite clear – but this is something I have to do. But please, Walter, I still want us to be friends. Please."

She hadn't meant to beg, but she was desperate. The thought of losing Walter as a friend broke her heart. She needed him in her life. She needed him for Ralph, but she needed him for her too. She couldn't let him go, she couldn't.

"Friends," said Walter.

His response so was devoid of emotion that for a moment Paige thought he was angry with her and she felt a wave of panic. She desperately wanted his support, she couldn't do this without him. She wasn't stupid, she knew her and Tim were unravelling and she was starting to prepare herself for the inevitable, but she couldn't bear to lose Walter too.

Then Walter got to his feet and smiled at her. "I… I admit that I'm… I'm confused by your decision," he began. "But I do respect it and… and I respect you, Paige."

I love you…

"I'll always be your friend," he added. "If… if you'll have me."

Paige stepped forward and threw her arms around him, hoping he wouldn't notice the tears in her eyes. "Always," she whispered in his ear.

She looked up and spotted Toby watching them from across the garage.

Damn…

To be continued...