Fic has…been a struggle lately. Partly because I'm writing so much at work, and partly because no new episodes = no new inspiration. That said, if I write literally nothing else, I'm determined to finish this story eventually because I have too many plot points in mind to rush toward the ending. Thanks as always for your continued support.

"Walt."

The genius blinked, recognizing both Happy's voice and the tone that suggested it wasn't the first time she'd called his name. He stopped typing, shifting his laptop to the side and looking up. "What are you still doing here?"

He'd thought everyone was gone hours earlier. Paige was having dinner with friends, closer to her apartment than the garage, so Walter had somewhat reluctantly accepted her not staying over for the first time in nearly a week. Ralph was helping Sylvester prepare for an alderman presentation and when Toby had slipped out, blathering on about some ridiculous film he couldn't wait to see, Walter had naturally assumed Happy was right behind him.

"I have a strict No Nicholas Cage rule," she explained, a small frown appearing on her face. "Did you really not hear me banging on metal for the last fifty-seven minutes?"

"No. Sorry. I guess I was wrapped up with, uh…" He tilted his head toward the screen.

Happy glanced over his shoulder, frowning more deeply. "You're making mistakes. You're tired." She gave him a knowing look. "Go to bed, Walt. You look like hell."

Walter exhaled, rubbing his face with his palm. He had no concept of his appearance, but she probably wasn't far off. When the team was apart, he'd stayed awake at night out of frustration and guilt and the pain of wanting something he wasn't sure he would ever have again. Those feelings were at least mostly resolved, but Scorpion's reunion hadn't given him many more opportunities for rest. His priority was spending every possible moment with Paige and Ralph, making up for the time they'd lost together. But when that wasn't possible, or after Paige fell asleep next to him, Walter had been fighting his drowsiness. There was too much to do.

"I will. I just need to get this done in…" Walter glanced at his watch. "The next three hours."

"Get what done?" He kicked himself, knowing he'd let too much slip. Happy tugged the closest chair over to his desk, dropping down and raising an eyebrow. "You're freelancing, aren't you?"

He nodded.

The mechanic pressed her lips together. "I thought Scorpion 2.0 did okay."

"W-We did. Considering." Walter shrugged. "I don't have the, uh…the t-talent that Paige does for booking jobs. Or for maintaining relationships. And Centipede is….w-was a force to be reckoned with."

"But you had Homeland."

"Carson keeps finding new and innovative ways to avoid paying us, if he hires us on at all."

He could recognize the discomfort in Happy's expression, though he hadn't said it to inspire guilt on her part. "How bad is it?"

"N-Not, not bad. Just…more than our upcoming jobs will cover. Freelance corporate work pays fairly well. I'll be out of the crunch soon enough." They sat in silence for a minute, and then Walter shook his head, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. "Forget I said anything. This isn't something that should concern you."

"Yeah. It is," she rebutted, rubbing her fingers nervously over the knuckles on her other hand. It was rare that he saw Happy this unsettled and he wasn't sure what to say. "We asked for a stake in Scorpion. That means something. I've always pushed for more say, but I wasn't always willing to sacrifice for the company the way you do. I get that now."

"You can't—."

"Not done." Walter stopped, amused that he'd missed her bossiness so much. "We're all owners in Scorpion now, which means we share the burden. If you want to freelance, fine, we all will."

"It's not fair for you to shoulder the consequences of my poor business acumen."

"You're only in this position because we left," Happy said with a scowl. "I'd say there's plenty of not fair to go around but I'm not really interested in rehashing that. Will you, for once, stop being such a stubborn idiot and let us help you?"

He'd promised things would be different if they came back. Ignoring Happy's advice had rarely produced a good outcome. Not to mention that the fatigue of working around the clock was starting to catch up to him. "Fine. We can discuss it further in the morning."

"There you go." Happy stood back up, slapping his shoulder a little harder than seemed strictly necessary. "Toby and I won't get here til ten. As a favor to you, of course."

He opened his mouth to protest, but the door was already clanging shut behind her.

Paige toed off her boots, padding quietly over to Walter's bed. She'd checked her phone three times, surprised that he could actually sleep as late as eight in the morning, but happy to find him that way. He hadn't been sleeping much and she couldn't always talk him out of working on his coding projects until three a.m.

What if he was sleeping soundly because she hadn't spent the night? Was her presence making him so anxious he couldn't relax? In his song, she was a safe place, a haven for his chaotic brain. It was hard to see how she could still fill that role after everything she'd put him through.

Paige halted her negative train of thought and slid beside him, propping herself on her elbow. She didn't always get to watch him sleep, since he was typically awake much earlier than her. But she'd always found the slow rise and fall of his body soothing. Even more so now, after all the mornings she had woken up alone and incredibly lonely.

Her fingers drifted lightly through his hair, and her momentary doubt evaporated when he smiled in response, his eyes still closed. "Hey."

"Hey." Paige scooted closer, resting her head on his shoulder. Their bodies were still separated by the comforter—her above it, him under it—but it didn't seem to matter as he shifted to his side, wrapping his arm around her waist. "You're sleeping late."

"Mm. Yeah. I had trouble falling asleep without you here." She felt herself grow warm, unsure if he'd intended to be romantic or if he was simply stating a fact. "How was dinner?"

"Good. I didn't love coming home to an empty apartment, though," she confessed. It reminded her too much of the weeks after she left, when her bed felt cold and Ralph was treating her like she'd set an orphanage on fire.

Walter didn't say anything, just tightened his grip and kissed the top of her head. They stayed like that for a few minutes, until voices downstairs signaled that Cabe and Allie had arrived and Paige sighed, reluctantly extricating herself. "Time to get up."

"I'd rather not."

"I know," Paige said with a smirk, swinging her legs over the edge of the mattress and smoothing her shirt. "But I have a surprise I think you can get excited about."

She wasn't planning on telling him until later, but knowing Scorpion, later could involve any number of unpredictable events and besides, she didn't want to wait. Paige rummaged through her purse, plucking out an envelope and bending the flap open.

"It's been sold out for months, but Jackie and her husband can't make it, so she gave me the tickets," she explained, handing them to Walter as he sat up against the headboard. "There's a meet and greet with the panel afterwards. At least, for people with VIP tickets, which we have."

He stared at them, his expression blank, before handing them back. "No. T-Thank you."

That…wasn't the answer she expected. "No?"

"You'll be bored."

It wasn't meant to be a stab, but it felt like one anyway. She replaced the tickets, debating for a few seconds in her head before she decided that the only good option was honesty. "Okay. Yes. Probably." Paige reached out, wrapping her fingers around his palm to reassure him. "Look, I know what I said last time. And I'm sorry that you overheard that. But I knew I was going to be bored then, and I didn't care. I still would have rather gone and been bored out of my mind than watch you go with someone else."

Guilt shadowed his expression, and she kept on, not interested in hearing him fumble through another apology about his deception with Florence. "Walter, what I'm saying is that doing something you don't enjoy because it makes someone you love happy is its own reward. Especially if it's mutual. I love when you're excited about something, even when I don't get it. And I don't want to avoid doing things together because we're constantly worried the other person is miserable. Then neither of us will enjoy anything."

Walter considered her proposal, finally nodding. "What do you want to do?"

"What?"

"If w-we're going to the panel discussion, we need to do something you want to do."

"Oh. Um…" Paige shrugged. "There's a comedy festival next Friday?"

"I won't understand any of the jokes."

She leaned over, grinning as she gave him a quick peck. "Great. Then we'll be even."