Franxine Bobo: Thank you for all the reviews! I do want to keep writing I just need to see what plots pop up, lol.

Marti: Glad it made you smile!

Marie: I was definitely going for romantic. Thank you!

Grykon: Hello! Thank you so much for reading and I'm honored that you're enjoying it! Yes, the dialogue was just already too perfect to alter.

Lucy Conan: You're welcome!

Carol Ballinger Searls: Always glad to hear from you! Thank you again for your guidance at the beginning.

This again is a detour in a canon episode. I thought about splitting this chapter up, but I could not choose a spot I was happy with. So as a big thank you for reading this far and all the support, enjoy the extra long chapter!


Chapter 41:
Spider vs. Scorpion

"You're actually worried about a man's life? That's not the Walter O'Brien I remember."

-Mark Collins


Tim understood. Paige extended the respect he deserved the next day and told him how she felt about Walter and what had happened. Luckily, Walter had expressed his feelings before things got serious between her and Tim.

Tim was disappointed, to say the least, but being the amazing guy she still knew he was, he understood. He offered her some subtle words of warning to be careful, however. She knew he wasn't only referring to her heart. She assured him it would be okay, and she meant every word. They exchanged a heartfelt hug and a promise to remain friends. She meant every word.

The rest of the team had predictable responses when they revealed their newly kindled relationship.

"Well, it's about damn time," Cabe said, speaking for the whole group.

Paige and Walter were not the only ones who had been kindling a relationship. Toby and Happy had become a lot more serious recently.

A few days passed, and Walter and Paige found their newfound relationship growing stronger. They looked forward to some time alone together in the near future.

One morning, Happy was in a foul mood. Toby hadn't answered her calls yet that day. They all could tell she was worried about some kind of gambling relapse. Paige had advised her to give it more time. Most likely he had simply overslept.

Walter was at his computer when Paige came up behind him and put her arms around him, glancing at what he was doing over his shoulder.

He was watching the video from the warehouse. The one that had been taken on the camera he had worn. She hadn't realized it had been recording at the time.

"Why are you watching this?" she asked.

Walter let out a sigh. "Honestly, I'm not sure. I suppose I was curious how the camera perceived events."

In other words, he was wondering how they might have viewed what he was able to do that night, and what he had to do.

"What you did was incredible, Walter. You saved all those kids and brought Ralph home safe."

"It was a team effort," Walter argued quickly. "I just did the more, unseemly contribution." Walter paused the video suddenly. It stopped on a single frame, depicting the man he had been forced to kill.

Paige might have said something along the lines of Walter doing what he had to do, and he hadn't had a choice, but she didn't. Instead she kept staring at the picture on Walter's computer screen, not really understanding what she was seeing.

She hadn't realized it that night. Most likely a combination of her state of mind and worry for Walter. Now, though, she really saw that man's face, and she recognized it.

"Walter," she said pointing at the screen. "I know him."

"What do you mean?"

"The client. The one I met with that morning. The one that I thought was odd since he only met with me a few minutes before saying he didn't want to hire us. That was him."

Walter looked back at the screen. He didn't respond to her, at first. He was trying to figure out what this information meant. Walter spoke first, but they came to the same conclusion at the same time.

"Ralph. They wanted him to be on that bus that day. They lured you to that meeting so you couldn't pick him up that day."

The problem was, realizing this didn't alleviate her confusion.

"But why would they want Ralph on that bus? How could those men have been connected to him, or us?"

She thought that terrifying night had been behind them, but it seemed there was still a deeper mystery.

And that meant there was a possible remaining threat to worry about.

****SVD****

Walter sat with Paige over his shoulder, looking at the image from the video that had suddenly confused them both.

That group had planned for Ralph to be on that bus, but why?

Walter searched his brain for any other clues from those events.

After searching, he thought about the feed of the bus that had been provided to them- the live feed that had led to the cell's location.

At the time, Walter bragged how he had cracked it without an issue, but the truth was, the feed had been well encrypted. Whoever had coded it had been talented, indeed. No one he had encountered in that warehouse that night showed the intelligence needed to pull that off.

Which meant, there was someone else. Someone else who had been pulling the strings. Someone who must have a vendetta against Scorpion.

Then, almost as if the universe was confirming his suspicions. Cabe walked up to Walter and Paige after getting off the phone. He had a somber expression on his face.

"Guys, I was just informed Mark Collins escaped his mental health hospital."

Suddenly, it all snapped into place in Walter's head. The complicated signal, Ralph being targeted, now Happy not being able to ahold of Toby. Suddenly everything came into clear, horrifying focus.

Not a day before, Toby had testified that Mark Collins was still mentally unstable and unfit for release, sending him back to the mental health hospital.

Mark Collins used to be one of them. He had been a member of Scorpion over four years before. He had been brilliant. A mind second only to Walter's own. The problem was, the more time went on, the more clear it became how unstable he was.

Walter connected with him most. The two would disappear in their thoughts for weeks on end sometimes, deeper down the Rabbit Hole. The time with Collins had been some of the most liberating experiences of Walter's life. When they focused on a problem together, it was as if both their minds could reach their full potential. It had been exhilarating, like driving a high performance sports car down a highway at top speed.

But it also had been terrifying, and there were times he couldn't stop heading down that rabbit hole deeper and deeper. More-so, the rest of the team had hated how Collins' always seemed to make them doubt themselves and each other. They hated more the effect Collins' had on Walter.

Then, one day, he was just gone. It happened after Happy pulled Walter out of a state of dehydration and near insanity after almost two weeks straight of nonstop theorizing and mental computing with Collins. After Happy basically nursed him back to health, Collins was nowhere to be found.

It was two years later that they learned Walter had committed Collins to an insane asylum. Then Collins almost allowed a nuclear plant to explode to express his feelings of betrayal. He likely would have succeeded, too, if Scorpion hadn't discovered what he was doing and stopped him.

Now, it seemed, Collins' manipulations had not stopped, nor his vendetta against Scorpion. Somehow, Collins had found a way to influence a sleeper cell of terrorists, of all things, to strike out at them. It had ultimately failed, thankfully, but Walter imaged that Toby's testimony put Collins over some kind of edge, and he had broken out to exact revenge.

A swelling of anger rose up within Walter, and he started breathing faster in response. He felt Paige's hand rest upon his shoulder, and he took it and held it tight.

Collins had almost gotten Ralph killed, and now he had Toby.

His family was being threatened, and he doubted Collins realized exactly what he now was dealing with.

Collins was a radio-wave expert, or "hacker" as he proudly labeled himself.

It wasn't long until he reached out to the team, confirming that he had taken Toby.

They are were tense as the insane genius started talking, but none more than Happy, who looked like she wanted nothing more than to leap through the phone and choke the life out of him.

As the whole team listened to the sound of his voice, he demanded research he and Walter had worked on many years before, but Walter knew that wasn't his endgame. This wasn't about research. Walter knew Collins' motives were far more personal.

Even if Collins would deny it until the end of time, this was about revenge. This was emotional.

And if things weren't tense enough, Collins then revealed a secret Toby had been keeping. He boastfully announced the ring he found in the doctor's belongings, revealing Toby's intent to propose to Happy.

That only served to piss Happy off more.

There was no group more driven. They used Collins' own radio signals against him to track him down.

As they did, Walter got the same off feeling he did when he tracked the warehouse signal. It had been too easy.

I didn't matter, though. They were going to find Toby.

****SVD****

Toby slowly awoke to the sound of a man softly muttering to himself. He felt an injury to the back of his head that no doubt was the cause of his blackout. After focusing his eyes he saw who had taken him.

Before him was a disheveled looking man. His brown hair looked like it was cut only often enough to keep from getting in his way. He wore a short beard that had been growing for at least a few days. Bright, but unstable eyes peered from behind large, dated eyeglasses.

Collins wasn't looking at him, but was focused on an array of interconnected radio units laying on a bench before him.

"What have you got there, some kind of science project?" Toby asked. He couldn't help throwing inappropriate humor in response to his anxiety.

Collins didn't miss a beat responding. "You're not going to joke your way out of this one, Tobias. No, today is a very serious day."

Collins turned to Toby, aiming his insane gaze at him. "When my work is done. No one will be laughing."

"What work is that, Mark?" Toby was almost afraid to know the answer.

"To help Walter."

"Crazy man says what now?" Toby spurt out. He couldn't help himself.

Collins seemed to ignore his jab.

"There was so much we were achieving. Do you know how close we came to creating a working theory for actual brain-to-brain interface before he turned on me? Before you and the others made him turn on me? Walter and I went to places you could not even imagine. We would have accomplished so much together, for the greater good."

Even the psychologist in Toby was struggling on how to respond to the delusional mind before him. He decided it wiser to say nothing as Collins continued.

"I maintained hope that our work, our partnership, would one day continue. That he would realize the sentiment he had for the rest of you could only be fleeting. Did you know he started visiting me once a week after our…reconnection, at the power plant?"

Toby hadn't known that. He doubted any of the rest of Scorpion knew that either.

"But then, he suddenly stopped, and I no longer heard from him. I mean, I knew about the accident and his recovery. I was understanding, but after, he didn't come back."

Toby was understanding what had happened. So much had changed after Walter's accident, and at first he couldn't visit Collins. Most likely he then decided it was unhealthy, and stayed away.

"I feared the potential of his mind was being lost further, so I tried to teach him a lesson. I tried to show him how vulnerable sentiment was making him."

Now Toby was lost. He wasn't following where this was going yet.

"You'd be amazed how easy it is to gain access to the signals in a mental hospital. There's just things lying everywhere in everyday items. The dark web was laughably simple to reach. So many pliable minds looking for ways to express their purpose. Misguided and distasteful ideas, I absolutely agree, but their enthusiasm wasn't hard to point in the right direction."

Toby felt cold and sick as he understood what Collins was referring to. The warehouse. Ralph's kidnapping. The bombs. The bus. Collins was saying he had orchestrated it. He had found a sleeper cell of terrorists and gotten in their heads to provide them with a plan. As Toby put the pieces together, the monologue continued.

"I only asked in return they ensure a specific young member of Walter's cyclone was involved. To be clear I wished him no harm, but it was the most efficient way to make my point. I suppose, ultimately, I was glad you were able to rescue the children, but I was hoping my point still would have been made. I was hoping Walter would realize how vulnerable caring made him. I'm curious, though, how did you manage it? I'll set aside my pride and admit I haven't been able to figure it out."

Of course, Collins didn't know about Walter's supernatural advantage that day. If Walter hadn't been able to do what he did…Toby couldn't bear the thought.

Toby could only stare at the incredibly sick man in front of him. Even his behaviorist mind was having trouble processing Collins' twisted logic, but with a wave of nausea, process it he did. He came to a simple conclusion. Again.

"Collins. You're insane."

"Correction. I'm focused. I can see the world in a way you could never hope to understand, so I see the bigger picture. There's something different about Walter now, Tobias. I can feel it. I aim to know what so I can help him."

Collins dumped out a large sack of supplies. Most of it was rolls of standard dental floss.

"But first," Collins added, "I need to lay out the web."

Toby took some comfort knowing that Collins had no idea what really had been happening with Walter recently, and what was now coming for him. Even so, somehow Toby felt Collins was about to pose a threat where even a vampire might not be enough to bring him, and Scorpion home unscathed.

****SVD****

The team worked hard to find Toby, and find him they did. They tracked him to a group of abandoned buildings. It wasn't long before they found the correct one and made their way towards it.

Then Walter spotted Collins running towards an adjacent building, and went after him without hesitation, and before the rest of the team could stop him.

The rest of them entered the building that held Toby, and initially they didn't understand what they were seeing. Toby attempted to explain.

"Hey, guys. Welcome to the inside of Collins' brain," Toby said with a sick note.

They stood before a literal web woven in a large, mostly bare room. Large windows lined the top of the walls on either side, flooding the room with bright sunlight. There were several pillars along either side, around which was wrapped what must have been thousands of feet of dental floss, creating a multi-layer barrier between them and the room's other single occupant. In the center sat Toby, tied to a chair with his head restrained backward against the pillar behind him. Above him hung what looked to be a mason jar, precariously held up by one of the strands of floss.

"Oh, what's happening here?" Sylvester asked.

"The mason jar is held by floss, the acid is in the jar," Toby quickly responded.

Sylvester reached out to touch one of the strands.

"Don't touch anything!" Toby yelled with panic in his voice. "One of these threads leads to the jar. You jostle it, the acid eats through my septum, then back through my trachea. I'll suffocate in seconds."

"That's a problem."

"It gets worse. He shaved down the floss right over my head. It won't hold more than a few minutes."

"Collins is calling us to outthink him, and if we can't, Toby dies."

"Happy, Sly, I need you to figure this one out fast! Guys, I'm running out of time here!"

"Okay, you're the math guy. Figure out the pattern here," Happy ordered Sylvester.

Sylvester looked at her wide-eyed. "What do I look like, a dentist?! I have no clue how to solve this!"

Paige knew they needed Walter's help. She called to him over their comms. "Walter, we cannot crack what Collins set up. We could really use your mind over here."

She received nothing but static.

"Walter, answer me!"

****SVD****

Walter entered the building Collins fled to, and entered a room full of piles of neatly stacked wooden pallets. Initially, Walter didn't know where his target went. He closed his eyes and listened.

There.

His eyes snapped open. A heartbeat. The sound wasn't panicked or exerted, but calm, and confident. Walter's anger rose at the thought of Collins' hubris. If he only knew what now stalked him.

Honed in on Collins' heartbeat, Walter could almost see his target weaving through the forest of pallets. He made his way swiftly and silently, closing in on him.

Collins came into sight, and Walter saw him standing behind one of the tall stacks of pallets. His back was towards him, and he seemed to be looking around to see if the path in front of him was clear.

Seeing Collins now, knowing what he had done, and was doing to the people he loved, made Walter feel an anger that caused him to see literal red. A deep instinct in Walter wanted him to pounce right there, and end the threat to his family once and for all.

Walter honestly didn't know if he would have acted on it. His thoughts were interrupted as he took a single step forward onto a piece of amorphous trash that broke with a very loud snap. Not very supernaturally stealthy of him.

At the sharp sound, Collins whipped around and saw Walter. He tried to make a run for it but Walter was obviously faster. Walter closed the gap in an instant and grabbed Collins behind his shirt collar before he had even taken a step. Walter slammed him against one of the pallet stacks, resisting the urge to reveal what he was, and what he was truly capable of. Walter was holding things together, but he wanted to end this quickly. He didn't trust himself to be alone with Collins for too long.

"I have Collins!" he snarled over his comm.

"Well, who cares, get over here! Toby's in trouble!" Happy responded.

"But I can't just leave him here!" Walter yelled back.

At first, Collins looked shocked and puzzled at Walter's aggressive attack, but it was replaced with amusement at Walter's dilemma. "I clearly don't care, Walter. But you do. That's why you'll let me go to save your friend."

Walter struggled with what to do. His former friend had become dangerous. If he let him go, he could harm more people. But Toby needed his help.

"Look at how weak they've made you. The old Walter never would have struggled with this," Collins said, disappointment evident in his voice. Walter also heard the faintest hint of a stutter. Even with all of his confidence, part of Collins must have been sensing the danger he was in, like a prey animal sensing the presence of a predator.

Walter tried a solution with a middle ground.

Walter looked in Collins' eyes and spoke very clearly. "Tell them how to save Toby. Now." He saw Collins' eyes dilate ever so slightly, but then only narrow at him in contention.

"The greater good clearly dictates that you do not let me go, because I can do harm to many more people than Tobias could ever help," Collins taunted.

Walter blinked in surprise. It hadn't worked. He tried again. "Tell me how to save Toby."

It still didn't have any effect, but Collin's realized Walter was trying to do something to him.

"What was that, Walter?" Collins looked intrigued as he tried to study him. "It was like a tickle in my brain. What were you trying to do? I was right, wasn't I? Something is very different about you. What is it, I wonder?"

Why wasn't it working? Walter asked himself. After a moment, he got his answer as he looked into the unhinged eyes before him.

He couldn't compel Collins because he was genuinely, truly insane. He was so far down the Rabbit Hole even the telepathic abilities of a vampire couldn't reach him.

Walter was so unnerved by his realization that he didn't notice Collins reach and grab a large metal rod resting on the pallet behind him. He swung it around and with all his strength hit Walter squarely on the back of the head, breaking his hold and forcing him to his knees.

Vampire or not, a blow like that hurt and the concussive force stunned his brain. Unfortunately, it only took a moment for another section of his brain to take over in its absence. The blow likely would have killed him if he'd been human. In his moment of pain, surprise, and disorientation, he didn't notice his vampiric features present themselves. Walter was on the ground on his hands and knees, so his change wasn't immediately visible to Collins.

Collins stood over him, the pipe still in hand.

"Oh, my. Apologies, Walter. I didn't mean to hit you that hard. To be fair, physical violence really isn't my style. For what it's worth, I'm very glad I didn't kill you."

Walter still was disoriented. He got one foot under him but his head was still bent down as he knelt on the floor.

Collins apparently wasn't done explaining himself to Walter, launching into some kind of villainous monologue.

"Walter, do you know why the Wolf Spider is a Darwinian marvel? Because it lives alone. That's what makes it superior. It depends on nobody. Does that remind you of somebody? Kicking me off Scorpion, it was a deep betrayal, but it served me well."

Walter was able to hear and comprehend what Collins was saying, but his body was still stunned. It was improving as his injury healed, and he just needed a few more seconds.

Collins knelt down in front of him, only about a foot from his still hidden face. "You know, I never considered myself a killer before, but I am what you made me. And you are what Scorpion made you. A weak and feeble man who cares more about feelings and sentiment and friends than about a logical course of action."

Walter lifted his head to look at Collins, his brain still slightly scrambled. Unfortunately, he still hadn't realize his features were no longer human.

He painfully became aware of it, though, with a sudden sinking feeling in his abdomen. He saw it as he watched Collins' expression when their gazes once again met, and he saw himself in the reflection of Collins' glasses.

Collins' jaw dropped, his eyes widened, and he, ever so subtly, started to shake. A smile stretched across his face which reflected pure, unadulterated glee. Then, Collins started to laugh.

Walter quickly changed his features back to normal, but the damage had been done. Collins had seen him. Walter's strength was nearly fully returned and he started standing up.

Even though Collins seemed ecstatic by what he just saw, he still seemed to understand there was much more to Walter now than even he imagined, and therefore more dangerous. He jumped up quickly and backed away as Walter slowly stood up.

Neither genius said anything for a few seconds.

Collins broke the silence. "Thank you, Walter. No one has ever challenged my mind, or surprised me like you do. Just when I think I have you figured out…I thought Scorpion made you weak, more human, but now I see it's far more complicated. What have you become, Walter? Was I wrong? Do you actually have more humanity than you used to? Or far less? Oh, this is going to be fun."

Walter, however, was not amused. With nothing left to hide, his fangs lengthened and he pounced at Collins, slamming him against the wall behind him.

"There's one flaw with your metaphor, Mark, about the spider," Walter hissed. Walter's fangs were bared mere inches from Collins' face. Walter didn't move as he finished his point with three short, crystal clear words.

"Scorpions. Hunt. Spiders."

There was only silence following Walter's chilling threat, but Walter could tell by the scent in the air that the insane genius finally had the good sense to be very, very afraid.

"Walter! We need you! Toby doesn't have much time left and we can't figure this out!" Happy yelled desperately over the comms.

The desperation in Happy's voice broke Walter out of his predatory trance. Despite the corner Walter now had Collins trapped in, both literally and figuratively, Walter knew in that moment he had to let Collins go. Having no time to waste, he sped away full view of Collins, releasing him, for now, to help save his friend.

****SVD****

Walter found them quickly. He sped in and stopped abruptly by Tim's side, startling him. Tim clearly was still uncomfortable around him, but like the true SEAL he was, he didn't let it distract him from his mission.

Walter took in the scene as the team had minutes before. He focused on the jar hanging above Toby's head. Inside the jar was a clear, water-like liquid, but Walter could smell the bitter, caustic scent of a very strong acid.

"Woah, this is bad," he said.

"I've been running this through my head at top speed, and I can't figure it out," Happy explained quickly, looking nearly panicked.

"You don't have to," Walter answered. "We figure it out. Collins said it's our team that makes us weak, but it's the opposite, so we solve this together." He silently cursed the time he had lost when he was stunned, and the further time when Collins discovered his secret. Otherwise he may have gotten here sooner. They would need to make every millisecond count. "Now what do you know?" he asked. He quickly realized none of his vampiric abilities would be useful in this situation.

Paige was beside him. She didn't need to say her question out loud.

"I had to let him go," Walter said to her.

She took his hand and nodded. "You did the right thing. Don't worry, we'll get him. Now let's rescue Toby."

Walter gave all his attention to the puzzle in front of them. "Looks like standard dental floss. Seems like it's covered in per-fluorinated polymer, similar to what they use to coat frying pans or guitar strings."

Guitar strings…

"It's like a guitar! The floss is just coated strings pulled tight, so they'll give off a sound."

"But one of the strings would sound different, the one with more force pulling on it."

"Right, the one weighted down by the mason jar will make a sharper note," Tim clarified.

"You're the jazz master, give it one pluck."

"Do not give one of them a pluck!" Toby yelled.

"Look, I will be careful, ok? I promise."

Tim reached out and very gently plucked one of the strings. A light, clear note rang out. He pointed at the string, "That's a pure 'B'". He plucked another string. The same note rang out. "Also a 'B'. Cut them both," he instructed.

They all held their breath as the two strings were cut. Nothing happened.

"Ok, guys. We have to cut every piece of floss that's a 'B' note," Walter ordered.

They quickly continued their strategy. They found a strand that sounded different. "No, don't cut that one. I'm not sure about that one yet," Tim said.

They continued to systematically make their way through the netting of floss, slowly getting closer to Toby.

"Happy, listen, we both know the question I was going to ask you today."

"Ok, shut up, Doc."

As they made their way through more strands, Toby told Happy about the ring, and Happy kept yelling at him to stop talking, telling him he was not going to propose to her while tied up to a chair.

"Toby, we'll be to you in ten seconds!" She yelled, trying again to shut him up. They only had one barrier of floss left between them and Toby.

"I don't think I have ten seconds…Happy, I love you."

The mason jar above Toby's head twitched slightly as the second to last fiber of the floss snapped. It was going to fall any second.

"Screw this!" Happy yelled. She threw down her cutting tool and charged forward through the last web. The mason jar fell as Happy sprung forward, tackling Toby in the chair to push him out of the way. She was fast, but was she fast enough to get them both clear in time?

As a combination of Walter's enhanced reflexes and his mind's processing power, he could watch and process the scene before him in a kind of slow motion. He saw Happy charge at Toby as the mason jar started to fall. Happy collided with the behaviorist and they both began to sprawl down towards the floor. The mason jar just passed their heads as it fell, but the liquid inside…

As the jar fell Walter noted and quantified the acid's viscosity and movement. He measured the angle of the couple's fall and calculated the location in relation to where the jar fell. The equations he performed in his head, once completed, confirmed his suspicions. It was going to be too close. When the jar hit the ground, the liquid inside was going to splash as it broke, hitting Happy and Toby.

Walter didn't hesitate as he sped as fast as he could towards them. He doubted any human would have even seen him move, but even with his speed he was barely going to make it there in time as the events he predicted unfolded.

Instinctually he reached out his left arm to shield the two as he too fell to the ground, the jar breaking right in front of him. Luckily, the spray of the acid was narrow, and it all hit his left arm and open left hand instead of the faces of Happy and Toby. He had succeeded. They were safe.

They had done it, all of Scorpion, together. They all had worked together to get them close to Toby, Happy had tackled him out of the way, and Walter had shielded them from the acid.

With Walter's relief came the pain. The acid had eaten through a large amount of the skin and tissue of his forearm and hand. Walter knew it would heal, but that didn't stop it from hurting like hell. With a pained yell he quickly snapped his arm back.

Clink…

A small, metallic noise echoed from the far wall of the room. With that small noise, Walter's feeling of relief and triumph violently switched to despair.

With a sickening realization he noted the acid had eaten through the band of his daylight ring. When he had snapped his arm back in response to the pain, it dislodged and was thrown into the far wall.

Walter was laying completely unprotected in the middle of a brightly sunlit room. There was no cover he could get to fast enough. There was nowhere to hide.

At least they were safe, he thought.

Walter closed his eyes, having no choice but to accept his fate as his skin started to burn.