Thanks for all the reviews. Sorry for the lateness of this chapter. I have been distracted by the dazzling eyes of Captain America.
I am doing away with the dates of the journal entries because it has been a pain to keep track which day I am on. Let's just pretend these are excerpts from Walter's journal.
Hope you enjoy.
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Toby talked Sylvester and I to go to the gym today. I think he got the idea from Happy who in words would be described as "gym rat". Just not to her face as Toby explained. Sylvester barely made it past the front desk, and stated the entire gym area was a germ sess pool. I ran for two miles, felt winded and said I was done. Toby strained a muscle in his back lifting weights. Worked late at the garage with Paige. Drove her home, since she let Drew borrow her car.
Shared a kiss with Paige in the rain.
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The boys of Scorpion minus Agent Gallo returned to the garage smelling of sweat and aching in muscles they did not know could hurt. Paige had arrived just as the group was setting forth on their adventure; she gave each a curious look at the sudden interest in working out at the gym. Toby had gesticulated with his arms, flexing the non-existent muscles. Paige had even pulled Walter aside, a hand wrapped about his forearm, to force his attention to her and asked "Are you sure?"
Walter responded with a shrug, gave her a sweet smile, and then rejoined Sylvester and Toby at the door.
"Don't worry, mom." Toby playfully teased. "We will return Walter in the condition he is leaving." Walter rolled his eyes, flashed his pearly whites and the group left. Paige went about tidying up the different work stations and making herself some tea. She had had a late start that day, preparing for Ralph to go on an away weekend with his father. The pair was going on a father/son camping trip with the Boy Scout group. Ralph had asked her if Walter would be disappointed in him for wanting to go with Drew, but Paige just kissed her son's forehead stating that Walter was busy that weekend. It was an innocent lie, but Walter agreed that it was the best response. Paige had checked the company email account, looking to see if they had any private requests for the team's expertise. There were just a few things to sift through before she was completely finished with that needed to be done.
Two hours later, the garage was still completely empty. The boys were at the gym, and Happy was assisting Agent Gallo with a job that only required her skills. So she leaned back in her chair, bored. What did the team do all day when they did not have a mission. Usually Ralph was there to distract her, with his homework requests, or helping with his projects. She was there for moral support and adult supervision. Walter and the rest of the group was what assisted Ralph in his mental endeavors.
She decided to watch a movie.
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Walter and the boys returned to the garage. They had stopped to grab a burger after their training session. At the insistence of Sylvester.
"Paige?" Sylvester called into the darkened garage. He had an issue with the dark. The lights dimmed as the group moved into the garage, and found Paige asleep on the couch.
"Is this what we pay her for?" Toby smartly joked, and Walter went to her side touching her cheek. "Is she alive?"
Paige rolled her eyes. "Yes." She reached out stretching and brushing Walter's hand from the side of her face. It landed back to his lap and she looked around the room. "Well, it looks like you guys survived."
"Not without injury." Toby said walking forward and winced as he dropped into chair. Paige looked to Walter and Sylvester giving them a once over to make sure they were intact. "Just me, thanks for caring."
Walter chuckled and turned to the frozen screen. It was a one of the old movies that Paige loved to watch. Singing in the Rain. Walter knew the movie on sight now because of the multiple times he watched it with Paige. The first time they watched it was a few months ago at her apartment when she had called in sick. Even though she was running a temperature, and barely had a voice left, she warbled along with the various musical numbers. He noticed how her heart beat would hasten when Gene Kelly sang while dancing about the city streets with water pouring onto his character.
Walter thought the tap dancing was a bit much.
"Gene Kelly, what a ponce." Toby muttered from his seat. Sylvester was returning with a few tablets and a water bottle for his friend. "Thanks Sylvester. It is good to know someone cares about my health." Sylvester smiled and returned to the kitchen. He was still hungry from working up his appetite from all the worrying while at the gym.
"So how was the gym?" Paige asked mostly to Walter. The Scorpion Team did not scream fitness. Well routine and physical fitness. Mental fitness, the team was off the charts. So when they announced their plans as she arrived, Paige had to ask if they were dressed for the library when she looked at their attire.
"It was fine." Walter said not noticing the wince that the words caused Paige. He leaned back into the couch next to Paige. His fingers were playing with her wrist.
"What did you do?" Paige sighed looking to Toby who was surveying the pair. He had been watching the interactions between the team leader and the team liaison. Toby knew that the pair had reached a pivotal point in their relationship. The point if it was going to continue to something of substance or fizzle into a void of nothing. Toby's money was on the first outcome.
"Well, I had a weight training session with Bianca." Toby explained, and motioned to his back. "Pushed it a tad farther then I should. Hence the strained muscle. Nothing serious just needs a few days to let it relax." Paige forced the smirk to halt as it formed.
"Ah Toby, I am sorry." She responded lightly trying to keep the tone in her voice sympathetic. She felt the direct glare from the therapist. "I have a heating pad at my house. I could go get it for you. That should help relax your muscle."
"That would be nice." Toby accepted her offer. "So Walter, you should go change so you can take Paige home, and retrieve the heating pad."
"Wait, what?" Walter asked looking up from Paige's wrist that he was still palpating with this fingers. Paige withdrew her wrist, smiling at the distracted genius.
"Toby wants you to drive me home so he can have the heating pad for his aching muscle." Paige said standing from the couch. She fixed him with a look that made Walter need to remind himself to breathe. "But, you stink."
"He did run on the treadmill." Toby explained. "So shower, boy!" Toby pointed to the stairs, and Walter complied with the order, because he truly had no clue what was happening in the garage or with his team. Twenty minutes later he descended down the steps to find Paige waiting patiently in the kitchen talking with Sylvester about the different germs he could have contracted. He entered silently but knew by Paige's body language she was attuned to him in her surroundings. Walter watched as her stance seemed to open up as if giving him an entrance into the conversation. Her head angled to his direction but her face remained focused on the human calculator droning on about the variations of athlete's foot Her arm that had been previously positioned across her body, seemed to relax and fall to her side, as if her palm was willing him to take her hand.
He didn't, but he catalogued her responses to his memory.
"Walter," Sylvester announced and Paige turned her doe eyes to his, they smiled at his presence and he swiftly moved to the little group. Paige was leaning against the counter, while Sylvester had been pacing throughout to the room while readying himself a snack. "I was just educating Paige about the different germs found at a gym. Such as Candida or norovirus."
"That's interesting." Walter nodded his head. Paige shot him a look, one that did not agree with his assessment. She needed to be rescued, and Walter smiled back. "But, I am here to take Paige home."
"Where's her car?" Sylvester asked as he filled up his mug with tea.
"Drew borrowed it." Paige explained. "He is taking Ralph on a camping trip with the Boy Scouts. I wanted Ralph to get to and from the campground safely."
"That was a good decision." Sylvester agreed and then started to think of all the times he did not spend with his father. All the failed bonding moments. "Ah, well you guys might want to take an umbrella, it looks like it might rain."
Paige smiled at the worrier, and made her exit. "I think we will chance it." Walter said and followed the lady out of the garage.
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It was five minutes into the drive home that the clouds opened up with a clap of thunder and a downpour of rain. It continued to be a steady drizzle the remainder of the drive, which the pair rode in silence. It was not an awkward silence, just a comfortable silence. They parked in the marked spot for Paige's apartment. Neither making a move to get out of the car. This had become a recent development in the relationship. Each wanted to remain in their companionable silence, not wanting to break the tension with another disappointing good bye.
"Well, thanks for the ride." Paige stated her hand on the door. Walter smiled at her thankfulness. "You did not have to."
"Of course I did." Walter said and Paige turned to look at him. There was something in his voice that sounded possessive. As if, there was no way else she would have gotten home, or no other way he would have allowed her to go home. "The heating pad, remember?"
There it was.
The statement the broke the tension.
Of course.
Because there was no other reason for Walter to drive her home from work, during a thunder storm.
"Right." Paige responded and opened the door. She did not want to show the disappointment on her face to the man. She was only ten steps away from the car when she heard the driver's side door shut. She heard him call her name, but Paige was rushing, wanting to distance herself from the genius.
"Paige, wait!" Walter shouted over the din of the storm. He caught her hand and tugged it so she would turn to face him. He saw a multitude of emotions run through her face, mixed with stray drops of rain, and the way her hair danced with the wind. "What's wrong?" He brought his hand to her face. Paige turned her cheek and rejected his touch.
"It's nothing, Walter." Paige said the emotion in her voice barely in check. It had been weeks since the girl's night when the pair had slept next to each other. The awkward tension from that situation had been brushed aside as if nothing happened for the genius, but for Paige, she had taken it as rejection. That he had been uncomfortable in her forwardness, and then laughed it off due to the alcohol in her blood stream. Toby had tried to reason with Walter that her subconscious was not drunk, and that both their actions that night had been deeper.
"Tell me." Walter implored her with urgency. "I don't understand."
But Paige bit her lip and let out a strangled noise as if she was caught. "Neither do I." She explained and this time Walter put her hand on her cheek she did not flinch from his touch. He directed her face so he could look in her eyes. He felt her breath hasten as he moved forward, and felt her hands rise up to take hold of his arms. He watched as her eyes danced between his and his lips as he moved closer until her eyes closed just as his lips were a hair's breath away from her and said.
"I know Gene Kelly said something smart about the sun shining. But to me, it feels like torrential downpour." He murmured and chuckled at the reaction he got. Paige's eyes shot open distracted by his audacity. He captured her lips just as she was about the respond. His hand moving from her cheek to the back of her head. Walter pulled her close deepening the kiss for another second before pulling his head back. "Nope, stills feels like rain."
Paige was left breathless by his statement. Word lost due to the final release of tension, the kiss and his inane comment. A chuckle escaped her mouth and danced across his lips.
"You are ridiculous." She whispered and his lips danced across her once more.
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Fin
Hope you enjoyed,
Ema