Here we are. The second part. This first chapter is shorter and just a little filler. The next couple chapters are more standalone before getting into the longer plot of this section.

Thanks for everyone who has been reviewing! I too was skeptical regarding this plot line, but it seemed to develop very nicely (in my opinion). A brief forshadowing: Part II will be more action, Part III will be more emotional.

Part II: I, Vampire

Chapter 18

Vampire Theory

In a little over twenty-four hours, the team's world had been turned upside-down, sideways, and inside-out. Even so, if any group of people was going to adapt to extremely weird and unexpected phenomena, it would be Scorpion.

Damon departed back to Mystic Falls the next day after a few more in depth conversations with Walter about what he now was, but he told Walter that he could call if he needed anything. The team was left to move forward.

Cabe was still out of a job with Homeland Security, so he spent more time with the team as he looked for his next step. He had a job interview as a tv police consultant coming up, but everyone could tell he missed his old role as liaison for Scorpion.

Paige had been given more responsibility by Walter, and started doing a large amount of research in how to manage the team from a business perspective. She felt honored by the promotion, and above all it was the most normal thing that happened to her recently. She read as much as she could about business and team management.

That by no means meant things were boring around the garage. Despite Damon's information, the geniuses weren't completely satisfied with his abstract explanations for Walter's new abilities and limits.

Their solution? Experimentation, of course.

Walter was as eager as anyone to find out what is body was now capable of, and the team was more than happy to participate. Almost giddy, even. That should have been a red flag to Paige.

Most of the experiments were benign.

Most of them.

Toby started with basic physicals. Most of the legends were false as Walter still had a heartbeat, and he still needed to breath, albeit both much more slowly than a human. His blood pressure and body temperature were also much lower. It seemed overall, his body processed energy differently and more efficiently. He still could eat human food, but it did nothing for his hunger.

They recorded intervals between feedings before Walter became hungry.

Happy built a system to measure Walter's strength before vs. after he ate.

Toby and Walter performed very brief and controlled experiments involving sunlight exposure. Happy even built specialized UV lamps to make things safer.

Walter and Happy tried examining the ring Damon gave him to walk in daylight. This was perhaps the most frustrating investigation, as they couldn't scientifically determine what made it effective. They told Paige they detected something being emitted from the ring. Some kind of faint, harmless radiation, but they had never seen anything like it before.

Paige suggested it was because it was indeed magic that made it work, she received annoyed looks and the "magic is just science that hasn't been understood yet" speech. She didn't necessarily disagree, but one of her closest friends was now a vampire. She felt being open to magic wasn't a crazy notion.

On the other hand, if anyone was going to uncover a scientific explanation for magic, it would be Scorpion.

Some experiments were more bothersome, such as when she was almost flattened by Walter outside the garage door, after Happy, well, happily pushed him off the roof. They said it was a test of his durability, but Paige had her doubts. Later she would learn Walter lost a bet.

Some of the experiments caused her more concern, such as when she returned from a coffee run to find Toby doing the chicken dance around the garage, with a bunch of geniuses laughing at his expense. Toby had wanted to know if Walter could hypnotize someone to perform skills they didn't know, such as a complex dance routine.

Paige was pretty sure Toby already knew the chicken dance, and therefor likely not the routine he had in mind. Walter rectified the situation after a glare from her across the room.

Other experiments tried to quantify his speed, agility, and durability (the later involving the roof again and occasionally a projectile more than once).

They all had a scare when Walter had tried to observe the effects of the vervain plant once the seeds had grown. He drank an extremely diluted mixture, but even that had left him collapsed and practically choking for several minutes. They all agreed not to perform any more tests involving the plant, although Walter insisted they keep it on hand.

The experiments everyone saw coming involved the healing properties of Walter's blood. Walter kept several vials available for testing. With Toby's aid, they started keeping detailed studies.

Paige couldn't claim to understand completely what they were doing. She knew they were predominantly mixing his blood with human blood and tissue while microscopically examining the results. She also knew many of the tests involved the blood and tissue from humans with various diseases.

Cabe had told them all about his daughter and what Damon theorized about the blood and MS. She remembered looking at Walter when Cabe told them the disappointing information. Walter's expression had been blank and emotionless. He only replied to the information with a short "we'll see". Paige suspected Walter would not be satisfied with that answer until he investigated himself.

Her suspicions were proven when she saw several slides of blood and tissue samples on the lab desk labeled "multiple sclerosis". The whole team agreed it would be best to let Walter proceed until he got the conclusions he needed.

The group's vampire experiments kept her on her toes over the next couple of weeks. The final straw though was when she walked in, and an honest-to-God cow was standing in the garage, right next to her desk.

"Walter!" she yelled.

"Yeah?" He appeared abruptly in front of her, startling her, which did not help her annoyed mood.

"Why is there a cow in the garage, next to my desk?" she asked him very slowly, trying to stay calm.

He turned around to look at it, as if he had forgotten it was there.

"Oh, sorry, we were going to move her outside but, well, forgot. We're going to try and supplement my diet with cow blood and see if it has any measurable effect on my abilities. Getting a renewable source seemed the most efficient means."

At that moment the cow did what cows do best, right next to her chair.

The look Paige gave Walter was as deadly as the sun.

Walter, sensing danger to even his immortal self, offered to take the ruminant outside.

"Please. Do." Paige answered, each word said very shortly and separately, "and you are cleaning that up."

"Understood."

At that Walter walked over to the animal, and instead of leading it, picked it up, and walked across the garage and out the back door.

Paige stared wide eyed after them for a few seconds, blinked, and then turned on her heel and left out the front door without another word. She decided she was going to leave and try again for a slightly more normal day tomorrow.