WriterFreak001:
1x18 "Once Bitten, Twice Die" was beautiful! X') I loved every second of it and have seen the episode six times already!
Title | Mind Games
Fandom | Scorpion (CBS)
Description | Post-Deception. Four months passed since the ending of "Deception," and it seemed as though life, for the most part, returned to normal for Team Scorpion. Walter and Paige were given a chance to focus on their relationship in the midst of all of the cases that were assigned to the team. However, eventually, all great things must end, and once again, Team Scorpion will have to deal with an even bigger opponent than the Leviathan Mafia. Mark Collins is back for revenge and will have something big in store for Walter – something even the 197 IQ genius might not be able to see coming. And Collins's return just might cause a rift within the Scorpion family in the process, making it next to impossible for them to beat his ultimate game.
Rating| This fanfiction will be rated T for violence, obscene language, sexual themes as well as brain stuff and fluff.
POV | Limited Third Person
Disclaimer | While CBS owns Scorpion, I am the owner of this masterpiece.
Claimer | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something should be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!
Mind Games
Sequel to Deception
Written by WriterFreak001
Chapter 28
~ SCORPION ~
Shortly after breakfast, Walter and Paige left Callan and made their way to Kilkenny, promising Angus and Caitríona that they would return before leaving for Dublin. The trip to Kilkenny was quiet but comfortable; Paige had fallen asleep, and Walter found the pattern of her slow breaths soothing to his ears. When they arrived in the city, Walter spent the next fifteen minutes driving through traffic on his way to the MacDonagh Junction in Kilkenny; he wondered if Toadal IT was still in business since he last lived in Ireland. Once he parked in the parking garage, he gently shook Paige awake and informed her that they were where they needed to be.
"How long was I asleep?" Paige yawned as she stretched her arms and arched her back as if she was a cat.
"Half an hour, give or take." Walter shrugged as he grabbed his briefcase and opened the car door. Paige reached for her purse, unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out of the car as he circled around the vehicle to meet her. Once the car was locked, Paige laced her fingers with his, and he pulled her towards the parking meter, inserting two euros for three hours of parking. He knew their trip to the IT store would take less than three hours, but the meter did not accept anything under the provided time limit. On their way inside the shopping center, he was intrigued with Paige's reaction; she made several remarks regarding the building's architecture, and they hadn't even been inside the building for more than five minutes. As they walked up to the shopping center's map display, Walter swallowed the lump in his throat and asked, "While we're, um, while we're here, is there any other store you'd want to go to?"
Paige glanced at the map and skimmed over the different stores in which MacDonagh Junction offered. "Well, if we have time," Paige smiled and squeezed his hand, "I'd really like to check out Art It and O'Brien's Gourmet Coffee. I could definitely use some more coffee."
"Okay," Walter glanced at the map and committed the layout to memory. "Let's head over to O'Brien's Gourmet Coffee first, then work our way around by going to Toadal IT next and then Art It last. Does that sound good?"
"Sounds perfect," Paige muttered as she leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. They walked in silence towards the coffee house, and when they arrived, they walked up to the end of the line and patiently waited. Paige's arm had migrated from his hand to the middle of Walter's back, and she leaned against him with her cheek pressing against his side; his arm was comfortably draped over her shoulders.
"Well, I'll be damned," an unfamiliar voice caught their attention as they stood in line, and its owner slowly approached them. "It's NASA Nerd!"
Walter swallowed; while he didn't recognize the voice, there was only one person from his past who had ever called him NASA Nerd. Kieran MacDougall. He was the student who gave Walter the hardest time in school; Megan punched him in the nose once before she fell ill, but Kieran was persistent. If nothing, but. "I'm sorry," Walter faked a smile, "but do I know you?"
"Do you know me?" Kieran's eyes lit up in shock; he quickly started laughing and punched Walter lightly on the shoulder. "That's a good one, O'Brien. Can't believe it took yeh over ten years to face y'fears and come back home after the fallout y'had with y'parents." Kieran looked at Paige and gave her a good onceover. "Quite th'lash, that one. And y'got quingled, I see." Kieran pointed to Walter's wedding ring and then eyed Paige's baby bump, "Havin' a wee babby, are we now?"
Walter mindlessly pulled Paige closer to him. "I'm sorry. You are mistaken." Walter took a few steps forward as the line moved along, but Kieran followed.
"And how's y'sister? She still kickin'?" Kieran pressed, but Walter ignored him. If it weren't for Paige's proximity, he would have slugged the man. He was certainly tempted. "Oh wait," Kieran chuckled, "she can't, can she? Must be a damper on your life." Walter inhaled a slow breath of air; Paige's palm was rubbing small circles on his back. "Can't say I blame you, though; she certainly deserved what she got."
Just as Walter turned to aim for Kieran's nose, Paige whipped around and smacked the man hard on the jaw. Walter winced; he knew how hard his wife's slaps were. "I don't know what gives you the right to speak to my husband that way," Paige crossed her arms in front of her as people turned to watch the commotion. "But if you don't shut up and leave us alone, I will find you online and will permanently delete you from cyberspace. Just so you know," Paige grabbed Kieran's tie and yanked him down to her level, "you're right about one thing. My husband is Walter O'Brien, and if you know anything about what he is capable of," a sly grin formed on Paige's lips, "I am infinitely better. I suggest you leave us alone if you still want to be using all of your credit cards tomorrow." She released his tie and pushed him upwards. He muttered a curse under his breath and stormed away as a few people clapped. Paige turned back around and resumed her position with Walter by wrapping her arm around his back and leaning her head against his side. He slid his arm around her shoulders again. They took another step forward.
Walter leaned towards Paige and whispered, "I thank you for that, but, um…, you don't even know how to erase someone from Cyberspace, let alone code."
"But he doesn't know that," Paige laughed and quickly kissed his cheek. They moved forward in the line, and when they ordered their coffee, the cashier told them their drinks were on the house for telling off Kieran. They sat down at a booth and spent a few minutes drinking their hot beverages; once they left O'Brien's Gourmet Coffee, they slowly made their way to Toadal IT. "I'm sorry if I, uh, overstepped some boundaries back there…." Paige spoke quietly as they sauntered down the concourse. "I don't know what your history was with that guy, but he was ticking me off, and I knew that if I didn't say anything, you would have struck him, and he could have pressed charges."
"He could press charges against you, too." Walter glanced at her as they walked into the store.
"And what?" Paige grinned, "Tell the authorities that a pregnant woman smacked him in the face?" She let out a small laugh, "I think not…. If you don't mind me asking," Paige paused for a moment as they passed an elderly man in the aisle, "what was your beef with that guy, anyway?"
Walter sighed and raked his hair, "He was the jock; I was the nerd." He turned towards his wife and forced a smile, "You know how that dichotomy usually goes."
"He called you NASA Nerd," Paige lifted an eyebrow as they stopped walking when they reached the Wi-Fi section.
"He did," Walter nodded. "It's a name I received after my peers found out about my three-day arrest; it does not bear the best of memories."
Paige hooked her arms around Walter's neck. "I'm sorry you had such a rough time growing up, Walter. It's not fair."
"No," Walter shrugged. "It isn't, but it is what it is." The thought of Ralph suddenly brought a smile to his lips. "But had I not had those experiences, I would have been ill-equipped in helping Ralph deal with unfavorable normals."
"That is very true," Paige smiled before pulling him into a quick kiss. "Now," she lightly smacked his face, "Wi-Fi, right?"
~ SCORPION ~
When they returned to Walter's old house after spending a few hours at the shopping center, Walter spent the next half hour disconnecting his parents' old Wi-Fi and connecting the new one. Once the new one was configured, he tested the connection with both his phone and his Surface Pro, and it worked flawlessly. "Now that your Wi-Fi connection has been updated, there's no chance of it failing; I made sure of it." Walter said to his parents as he walked away from his father's desktop. He pulled out a notepad from his briefcase and quickly scrawled a few things down. "If you two should ever decide to buy a DVR, these are codes you can input into the system and have free movies for life. The top one is everything about farming, the second one is anything and everything Irish and the third one," he looked at his mother, "is all of the Romance movies you like, Mam."
His mother gave him a tight hug. "Must you leave already?"
"In order to get to Dublin Airport before our plane departs, we need to leave with enough cushion time to account for things like traffic, car wrecks and any other unpredictable occurrence that may happen on our way to Dublin." Walter explained as his mother continued hugging him.
"But your plane leaves at 3 PM, and it only takes an hour and a half to get to Dublin from here; it's only 11 in the morning. Why leave so early?" His mother asked as she pulled away from him. "You can stay for a little while longer, can't you? At least stay for lunch."
"I don't know…," Walter scratched his neck and looked at his wife as she walked into the family room. "What do you think, Paige?"
"Sorry, about what?" Paige's eyebrows lifted as she walked over to him and then leaned against his shoulder.
"Mam wants to know if we can stay for lunch."
"As long as we're on the road by 12:30 PM, I think we should be all right to stay for lunch." Paige smiled as Caitríona's eyes lit up. Angus was expressionless. "The car needs to be packed, though. I've brought everything down to the foyer so it shouldn't take long."
"Okay," Walter nodded as he combed his hand through his hair. "I'll do that now." He pulled the keys out of his pocket and headed for the foyer when his father followed him, saying he would help. As Paige had predicted, it didn't take long to pack everything into the rental, and Walter was grateful for the silence between him and his father as they loaded the car. The silence didn't feel paper-thin like it did so many times in the past; it was actually a comfortable silence – one Walter wouldn't mind in the future if his parents decide to be involved in the baby's life.
As the last bag was loaded, his father finally spoke. "I know you and me have, erm, have had our differences, boy," Angus said as he wiped his brow, "but the last sixteen years have shown me what an ass I've been to ya; I was the one who drove you and Megan away instead of tryin' to find ways to better connect with ya, me boy." Walter stood still and kept quiet. "Seein' ya yesterday and today with a wife and a babby on the way made me also realize that had I been a better father to ya, I wouldn't have been so surprised to find out how much you've grown since your mam and me've last seen ya. For the way I've treated ya in the past, I don't expect ya t'forgive me, nor your sister. But," Angus walked up to Walter and put a hand on his shoulder, "your mam and me have been doin' some talkin' this morn, and we do want to be involved in your family's life."
Walter inhaled a deep breath and released it slowly. "My, uh, my future adopted son, Ralph, is a genius, Dad. And there's a good ch-chance that my future s-son or d-daughter will be mentally enabled too."
"I understand," Angus nodded. "I can't promise success in connectin' with y'family, but I want me a second chance, Walter. I can see your wife has had a great effect on ya, me boy. I can see the bond your share; if you and your wife can connect, I don't see why your mam and me can't try to connect with your boy and your unborn babby."
"It isn't easy," Walter said, remembering all of the frustrations he had when he and Paige first started establishing a connection. There were times when he had wanted to say things but didn't know how, and there were other times where he had said some things and knew he shouldn't have.
"I ain't lookin' for easy, boy. Just lookin' for a way." Angus said as he took off his hat.
Walter raked his hand through his hair. "Okay…, but I have one condition."
"Name your wager." Angus placed his hat back on his head.
Walter nodded and couldn't believe what he was about to suggest. "Cut ties with Ireland and move to Los Angeles."
~ SCORPION ~
WriterFreak001:
I was planning a different plot for this part of the story but decided against it. Do you think his parents will take his deal? Do you think Walter's being too harsh?
Tell me your feels! :D
