WriterFreak001:

Nothing really new other than jumpstarting The Scorpion. I had originally planned to wait until either Model Behavior or Poaching was done to work on TS, but I was recently asked for another chapter so I updated the story and just couldn't stop updating it! I forced myself to put a pause to the story so that I could update Poaching.

If you haven't checked out The Scorpion, give it a whirl! It's a Titanic AU fic, featuring Waige. :)


I think, by now, you know the story information, lol.


Poaching

Masterminds of Deceit Vol. 3

Written by WriterFreak001

Chapter 28

~ SCORPION ~

"Please, Mom? Let me go with Cabe and talk to him." Ralph, who had never really groveled for anything, was on his knees next to his mother's desk, with fingers folded together, visibly begging his mother to let him help exonerate his step-father.

"Absolutely not," Paige shook her head vigorously. "That man is dangerous, and you know it."

"Mom," Ralph inhaled a deep breath and pushed himself off of the floor, "I understand how dangerous Mark Collins is, but someone who understands him needs to go with Cabe to Hawaii. Mark would rile Happy's, Toby's, and Sylvester's feathers, but he doesn't know me like he knows them. I have the best advantage of getting him to talk. Plus," Ralph turned towards Cabe who was in the kitchen pouring himself some coffee, "Cabe would be with me the whole time."

Paige frowned and violently shook her head again. "I don't care; you're not going. I don't want you anywhere near that man, and frankly, I think Hawaii isn't far enough! He should have been stripped of everything and sent straight to Cambodia!" Paige leaned back against her chair and folded her arms across her chest. "You're not going, and that's final."

But, Mom!"

"No buts, Ralph!" Paige exclaimed much louder than she wanted. "You are going to school, and then you're going to help Sylvester, Toby, and Happy exonerate Walter while I take care of Léana and make sure this company doesn't plummet from all of the bills we still have to pay."

"Sylvester and I have already gone through the code, twice!" Ralph threw his hands up, desperately wanting to break something. "We haven't found anything that'll help free Walter. We need to go to the source!"

"We don't need to do anything," Paige gave her son a pointed look. "Cabe has this under control, and all you need to worry about is getting yourself to school on time. Mr. Goldberg is picking you up in thirty minutes so finish your breakfast, brush your teeth, and get your backpack ready."

"I'm not going to school."

"Yes, you are."

"No. I'm not." Ralph clenched his fists and frowned. "I'm going with Cabe."

Paige closed her eyes and let out a deep breath of air as she rubbed her temples. She didn't have the patience for this. "Ralph, your suspension ended a few weeks ago, and I can't afford you to miss another day of class. You're going to go to school, and if I find out you've skipped your classes, then you'll be grounded for a month this time."

"But that's not fair!"

"I don't care if it's not fair, Ralph! You don't make the rules around here, I do! Now finish your breakfast," she pointed to the kitchen. "Now!"

"You don't want to save Dad at all." Ralph muttered under his breath as he started to walk away.

"What was that?!"

"You heard me," the preteen scoffed.

"Give me your phone," Paige held out her hand in front of her son.

Ralph refused to obey her and started walking towards the now-empty kitchen.

"Don't you dare walk away from me, Raphael Matthias Dineen!" Paige barked as she rose from her desk chair and marched up to her son. She circled around him and blocked his path with arms folded in front of her, prepared to counter him again if necessary. "You have absolutely no right to speak to me like that. You know better. Why are you so moody?! I thought we were past all of this tension!"

"Why are you so against saving Dad!?" Ralph yelled as he smacked his hand against the counter. "While we're working our asses off, reading through billions of lines of code, all you do is take care of Léana, pay the bills, and make day trips to the penitentiary! NOTHING you do contributes to saving Dad, and I'm beginning to think you don't even want him saved!"

"How dare you?!" Paige, with hands on her hips, glowered at her son. "I want Walter back more than anybody!"

Ralph – completely and absolutely fed up with his mother - opened and slammed a cabinet door shut. "THEN WHY WON'T YOU LET ME TALK TO COLLINS?!"

"BECAUSE I CAN'T RISK LOSING YOU, TOO!" Paige screamed loudly with a hint of fear in her voice as she gripped her son's shoulders. Before he could whisk himself away from her, she tightly wrapped her arms around him, pinning Ralph as close to her as she could. She had a hand on the back of his head and she frantically combed her fingers through his thick hair as she hoarsely and quietly repeated herself. "I can't lose you."

"Mom," Ralph's anger suddenly dissipated, "I can save Dad." His voice cracked as she tightened her arms around him. "Please let me save Dad."

She inhaled a long, deep breath and closed her eyes as she exhaled slowly. "And what if you don't?"

"I at least have to try."

Paige swallowed thickly and nodded as she withdrew her arms from around Ralph. "Okay. Fine."

"Really?!"

"Really," Paige whispered as she brought her palms to her son's shoulders and gave him a stern, teary look. "But Cabe is in charge, and everything he says, goes. Got it?"

Ralph nodded. "Got it."

"Okay," Paige sighed and pushed herself to her feet. "I'll get your bag ready. Call Mr. Goldberg and tell him you're not going to need a ride today. When your bag is packed, I'll call your school."

Ralph smiled appreciatively. "Thanks Mom."

"You're welcome." Paige replied emotionlessly as she turned for the stairs.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry about what I said…. I didn't mean it."

Paige forced a smile and blinked back her tears. "We both know you don't say what you don't mean, Ralph. But," her voice quivered, "thank you…. I forgive you." Unable to say another word, the liaison climbed the stairs swiftly to check on Léana and then pack Ralph's suitcase, praying, just praying, her son would be safe.

~ SCORPION ~

Ralph looked up from the sequences of code Sylvester had given him to glance over and smiled as Cabe approached him. "Mom is letting me go with you to talk to Mark Collins."

"I heard," Cabe quietly answered as he sat down across from Ralph. "I also heard that pretty nasty fight you had with your mother, too."

"You did?"

Cabe nodded. "Yes, I did, and your mother has a right to worry, Ralph. Mark Collins almost killed her last year, and I don't blame her for wanting you to stay here."

"But she said I could go," Ralph frowned.

"I know," Cabe covered the genius's small hand gently. "I know she did, but that doesn't mean she wants you to go. Letting you go and wanting you to go are two different concepts, and while she agreed to let you come with me, I'm sure she's scared out of her mind about what could happen if anything went wrong."

Ralph pursed his lips and crossed his arms. "It'll all be fine."

Cabe, not wanting to argue with the boy, sighed. "That's what Walter says every time we take a crazy ass case." Before Ralph could reply, Cabe decided to tackle a different subject. "You're wrong, you know."

"About what?"

"What you said to your mother about her not wanting Walter back." Cabe said softly and inhaled a deep breath before continuing. "Paige, like she said, wants her husband back more than anyone. I know this situation is hard on everybody, but she's trying to stay strong about it all. She has you and an infant to take care of in your father's absence, and whether you know it or not, she probably contributes the most to the cause than anybody else."

Ralph, perplexed, lifted an eyebrow. "How so?"

"She gives Walter hope."

Ralph frowned. "I don't understand."

Cabe sighed and rubbed his temples slowly. "Before your mother started visiting the penitentiary, Walter was convinced he wasn't getting out of there. He started to doubt the team and lose faith in everything that was Scorpion. Your mother keeps him on his toes, continuously encouraging him not to give up on the company he started. Without Paige, Walter would have been in a very dark place, and I'm telling you, kid, losing hope in everything is a nasty state of mind, and your mother has saved Walter from that fate."

Ralph suddenly felt very guilty. "I didn't know."

"I know, and she knows that too, but before we leave for Hawaii, you need to apologize to your mother." Cabe gestured towards the stairs, giving Ralph a stern, fatherly expression. "The sooner, the better."

"O-okay…" Ralph swallowed thickly and hopped off of his chair before making his way to the loft.

~ SCORPION ~

Paige had finished packing Ralph's bag a while ago, but she couldn't find herself to go back downstairs. She knew Ralph didn't know about Walter's fears of never being exonerated, and she knew she should have told him, but… how could she? Her son had unwavering faith in the team, and it would be earthshattering for Ralph to find out his father, his role-model and mentor, was on the verge of losing hope in Scorpion. She couldn't bring herself to tell him, but she should have told him something. If he had known, he wouldn't have said those hurtful things to her, but… in a way, she knew he was right.

Other than holding her husband's hand and reassuring him everything would eventually be all right, she really didn't contribute much to exonerating her husband. Ralph, Happy, Sylvester, and Toby were all cranking down on that goddamn code, trying to find any flaws in its design, and Cabe was constantly in contact with Homeland, in case anybody had news on either Mark Collins or Richard Elia. After Cabe had found out about Elia's secret trip to Hawaii, he decided it was best to confront Collins himself. Just in case he could get him to crack.

But then Ralph had to suggest going with him, and though she hated the very idea of Ralph being anywhere near that monster, she ultimately couldn't bring herself to keep him from helping Walter. She knew how much Walter hated feeling handcuffed, and it often brought him to his wit's end whenever he couldn't help a situation, so who was she to stand in the way of Ralph when he truly believed he could help Walter? If she prevented him from going with Cabe to question Collins, then she would only stress him out and inhibit him from feeling useful.

Worst of all, he would resent her.

And she couldn't deal with that.

It would absolutely break her heart.

"Shhh, shhhh," Paige whispered against Léana's soft head as she slowly rocked the fussy infant to sleep, "Mommy's here, baby. Mommy's right here." Léana's quiet sobs turned into hiccups, and Paige closed her eyes, praying her daughter wouldn't grow up so fast like her brother did. "Mommy's nog going anywhere."

"Mom?"

Paige slowly fluttered her eyes open and found her son, with fidgety fingers, gradually approaching her. "Hm?"

Ralph folded his hands behind his back and sheepishly stared at the floor. "I'm sorry."

"Ralph…"

"No, let me finish." Ralph immediately cut her off, prompting her to nod him to continue. "I shouldn't have said what I said downstairs. That was unfair of me…. Cabe told me how you were helping Dad cope with this… change… in his life, and what I said was cruel. I know you want Dad back; I hear you crying a lot at night, and I know how stressed you are, having to take care of both me and Léana by yourself. It's a lot to deal with…. C-Can you forgive me?"

Paige inhaled a deep breath and wiped away a fallen tear. "Of course, sweetie." Ralph ran up to his mother and hugged her carefully as she wrapped an arm around him and kissed his hair. "Do you really think you can help exonerate your dad by talking to Collins?"

Ralph nodded slowly.

Paige smiled and held him tighter to her chest. "Good. Make him squirm."

~ SCORPION ~


WriterFreak001: Things are heating up! I suspect about 4 more chapters. ;)