Hello again!

First off, good news, no trolls here. It's all good and worked out :).

Lucy Conan: I think you'll like this chapter. And as always thank you for your feedback :)

ScorplingInTraining: It's so good hearing from you, as always! Thank you for your support. Hearing an established writer here is enjoying my story and likes my writing is simply awesome.

Franxine Bobo: No worries! And repeat readings- that's awesome! I hope it was just as good!

Marie: Thank you!

I hope/think everyone is going to like this chapter.


Chapter 40

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes


Things started to go back to normal, although Tim's manner towards Walter remained hesitant and slightly cold. It seemed even though he was accepting what Walter was, he was going to remain wary of him.

Walter was having a problem, though. For weeks, he was not sleeping well at all. He kept having dreams that would wake him in the middle of the night. Actually, it was the same dream, or variations thereof.

It would always start with him sitting at his desk in the garage. The team would each be sitting at their desks at well. Everything would be bright, happy, and normal. Then, one by one, each member of his team would slowly fade, and disappear from where they sat, living only Walter, sitting alone in a darkened garage.

Each time he had the dream, it would last a little longer. Each time he would wake up when it ended, feeling despair of impending loneliness. Impending eternity.

He told no one of his dream, choosing to try and endure the problem on his own, as usual.

Then, one night, the dream continued and something different happened.

Like every instance before, everyone slowly disappeared. He was sitting in the middle of the large, empty, dark, lifeless garage. Once again, he was alone. Until he wasn't.

"Hey there, bro."

Walter looked up. Sitting across the desk from him, was Megan. She was sitting across a backwards facing chair. Her arms were folded and resting atop its back. Her chin rested on her hands, and she was looking straight at him with a carefree smile.

"Megan?" he asked with surprise. He looked around at the garage, still empty of anyone else. "What are you doing her?" Her presence surprised him, since she hadn't appeared before, but he accepted it, as one often does within the confines of a dream.

She didn't answer his question. Instead, she appeared annoyed with him. "You're very lousy at keeping your promises, you know that?" she accused.

"What do you mean?"

"You promised me you wouldn't be afraid. You promised me you would be true to who you are."

He felt the familiar sadness of the dream return. He looked at the empty garage around them. "You were the first one I lost. Someday, I'll lose everyone else, too. How can I get close to people if I know someday I'll feel all that pain?"

Suddenly, Megan was no longer in front of him, but standing beside him. In the next instant she gave him a firm smack to the back of the head. Interestingly, when she hit him, he became more lucid within his dream and his thoughts were no longer trapped within its repeated scenario.

Megan wasn't done with him yet. "Life is pain bro. Everyone goes through loss. What you don't have to go through is regret. Whether you live thirty years or three hundred, if you aim to live without regret, you'll be surprised how much life is worth living." She glanced at the wedding bandage on her finger.

"You made me a promise, Walter. Don't be afraid to get close to someone. You don't know how much time anyone, even you, has. No one knows what the future of your story holds. You can do your best to try though, by living everyday to make your story a good one."

With Megan's words, the garage around him seemed to lighten with his outlook. When she was done speaking, his surroundings suddenly changed drastically.

In an instant, his team was back in the garage around him. The atmosphere had lightened, and everything seemed okay. It also seemed like everything was going to be okay from here on.

There was still one person missing from the scene, though. Walter looked at Paige's desk, still empty, and everything suddenly became clear to him. He turned back to his sister.

Walter took Megan's hand and smiled at her. "Thank you, Megan. Thank you for being here for me once again and guiding me, even if you are just a manifestation of my subconscious."

Megan then gave him a slow, cheeky smile. "Now, Walter. What ever made you think I'm just a manifestation?"

Walter's smile slowly faded as he absorbed her words.

No way…

She just kept smiling, and gave him a wink.

He awoke from his dream.

He was no longer in his garage, but back in his bed.

"Don't be afraid…" he heard echo in his mind one more time.

He got out of his bed and quickly got dressed.

He knew what he had to do.

****SVD****

It was late, and Paige was about to get ready for bed. It had been a long day, and she was ready for a warm bath and a good night's sleep. Ralph was sound asleep in his bedroom, and she would be too shortly.

At least, she hoped she would be shortly. She had been having trouble sleeping lately. She told herself it was just stress from work, but deep down, she knew if was conflicted feelings and not stress keeping her away at night. She just had no idea what to do about it.

She stepped into her bedroom and was about to undress when she heard a small tapping at her bedroom window.

She jumped and turned towards the sound.

There, kneeling on the fourth floor windowsill of her apartment window, was Walter. He gave her a small wave and a sheepish smile.

Once her heart rate had slowed, she marched over and opened the window.

"Walter!" she loudly whispered, trying not to wake Ralph. "What are you doing here? Why are you at my window?"

"Sorry," he answered. "I thought this would be less likely to wake Ralph. Also, this method of entry seems oddly popular for vampires in many of the stories. I was curious." Walter took a moment to study the window itself. "I admit though, it only seems impractical, and now I realize a little invasive. I'll use the door next time."

With a sigh she held out her hand, motioning for him to come inside.

"Uhh…" he said, again looking sheepish.

Oh, right, she thought.

"Oh, uh, you can come in, Walter," she said aloud.

With a nod he jumped through, and she closed the window behind him.

"Ok, now please explain to me what you're doing here in the middle of the night," she asked, crossing her arms in front of her.

Walter looked nervous, but determined. It wasn't long before he took a deep breath and started explaining.

"Paige, a lot has happened to me in the last couple of years. Scorpion has become a reputable, cohesive team. I've starting learning how to express my emotions. I've suffered loss with Megan's death. Not to mention, I've died, and gained immortality."

Walter started pacing back and forth in front of Paige as he spoke. She was standing patiently watching him, her arms still crossed in front of her. Walter kept talking.

"All of that, I've processed, or am processing. There's one thing, though, that I've spent the last two years trying to process. I was trying to figure out how it should be handled, but maybe it's not something that's supposed to be 'handled'. Maybe it just is."

Walter stopped pacing and stood directly in front of Paige. He looked her directly in the eye, and continued.

"I've been led to the realization that I shouldn't be afraid and overthink things. I should try and live every day as if it were my last, and focus on what I know now, and not leave anything to regret. You probably don't feel the same way about me, and I understand, but I figured I should be completely honest with you. You deserve that because, well, whether genius or vampire, I never feel more human than when I'm with you."

Paige's eyes were slowly widening and her lips were slowly parting the more he spoke. Then he said it.

"What I know now, is that I love you Paige. I've been in love with you since shortly after we met."

As Walter said those words, he looked like the world itself had been lifted from his shoulders. He was clearly waiting for her to say something, good or bad.

The thing was, Paige didn't know what to say. She just stood there, the same expression on her face. She couldn't figure out how to respond.

So instead of trying to figure out what to say, she simply said what she felt.

"I'm in love with you too, Walter."

She expected Walter may have been hopeful for those words, but she didn't think he actually had been expecting them.

"I, uh, I don't know what to do with that information," he responded. He actually did look like a computer that was glitching for a moment.

She stepped towards him until her face was inches from his.

"I have an idea," she offered.

Then, she kissed him.

And he kissed her back.

With that one kiss they seemed to exchange the passion they had missed out on for the last couple of years. All of the pent up feelings, repressed emotions, and regrets were released between them.

They likely would have exchanged even more that night if they hadn't been interrupted.

"Finally!"

They quickly stopped and turned towards the door.

Ralph stood at her bedroom door with the biggest, most joyful smile she had ever seen on her son's face.

"Ralph, uh, you're supposed to be in bed." She and Walter stood next to each other, looking embarrassed at being discovered.

Ralph just kept beaming at the two of them.

"Ok, pal, your mom and I have just a little more talking to do. It's way past your bedtime, I think."

Ralph pouted, looking a little disappointed. "Ok, but only if you promise you'll still be together tomorrow when I wake up. This had better not be a dream."

Paige and Walter looked at each other and they exchanged knowing looks.

"We promise," Paige said, turning back to her son.

Ralph nodded, apparently satisfied with his answer, and walked back to his bedroom.

Paige gave a small laugh as he left.

"I think we'll have to settle with just this, for now," Walter observed.

"I agree," she said. "But I hope we won't have to settle for long."

Walter, standing there with her, felt like he was standing at the edge of eternity. This time, he wasn't feeling the weight of endless time, but the freedom of limitless possibilities.


I think we all echo Ralph's opinion here. Lol. Only a handful of chapters left. There's still a small plotline to explore after this. It will follow an altered plotline of the series.

Look forward to hearing from you guys!