A/N: So, another update but no set update schedule. I'll say depression and hyper fixation is a real load to have, especially since I've loved this show since it premiered in 2014 and it feels like I'm entering the cyclone a bit late but hey, we're still here right? After 3 years we're still loyal. I have to say I'm really happy, overjoyed really, to have found the fandom because better late than, never right? I'll be honest I've found safety and security in writing and in different fandoms but none has ever impacted me like Scorpion. Probably because, like Walter, I have trouble with my own EQ, and writing characters that I kind of understand and see myself in is not only fun but therapeutic. Anyways that is my spiel

A/N update on 04/20/2021: I meant to input quotes from the show at the top to give what kind of vibe, a problem that chapter will have but I forgot to put them in chapters 3-5 so the updated chapters will reflect the quotes.

Enjoy!

Little Girl Lost

Chapter 3

"That was painful. This whole experience has been painful." Paige Dineen Season 2 episode 4 Robots

"Ralph how about we order a pizza tonight? There's the lecture about the black holes and satellites on tonight, I know you wanted to watch that." Paige called as she went to her son's room as he sat at his desk, quietly working on various equations, his head bent down in concentration.

"No thanks" he quietly responded as Paige kept her smile on and swallowed a sigh. The one-word and two-word responses were getting far more frequent and usually, she would be stern and correct disrespectful behavior but, in this case…she felt as if she earned it.

It was her, after all, that caused the regression in her son.

"Well, if you're not feeling pizza how about Chinese or burgers? Anything you want, you pick" Paige said quickly as she tried hard not to show her desperation and Ralph remained unresponsive.

"Ralph," Paige said quietly as she walked towards him and put a gentle hand on his back as he shrugged it away. She blinked and pushed down the hurt and got to eye level as he continued to ignore her. "I know the last few months have been…difficult." She searched for the right word as her breath hitched. "I'm sorry for the recent changes that happened, okay I'm sorry for how things were left with Walter," She said quietly as she controlled her breathing, his very name painful on her lips. "That's not how I wanted to end things and I know that's not how he would have wanted to end things either." She whispered as her son's eyebrows scrunched and he stiffened.

"Mom," He said as he turned in his chair and stared at her blankly, his face impassive. "You're lying." He said factually as she stifled a gasp.

"Ralph, I know that this hasn't been easy but that is still not a way to talk to me. I'm your mother." She said sternly as he raised an eyebrow.

"and I'm your son. I'm a genius. My IQ is 200 and you are also lying in an attempt to connect with me emotionally. Those are all facts. I apologize that my tone is curt but mom…. I only list facts." He said quietly as she felt her eyes water as those very words were uttered on more than one occasion by another genius.

"And mom I appreciate what you're trying to do but lying is not the way to do it. You said something that wasn't factual. You said and I quote 'that's not how he would have wanted to end things either.' Mom, I remember very clearly that you were the one who ended the relationship. You were the one who was crying when I came home from Billy's. When I asked you what was wrong and you told me that it was nothing, which was also another lie, and I had to call Cabe to understand and get the full facts of the situation.

Since I'm a scientist I called every single member of our family to see if I could get their perspective on what happened. I even called Florence. Through their retellings I was able to get a good understanding of what happened and mom, from my data, I can conclude that Walter did not want to end things. You did, however, want to terminate your relationship with Walter and you did so in front of everyone." Ralph said as Paige stared with jaw slightly open as this was the most her son had said to her in months.

This was the most he had ever said to her since it all happened.

"Ralph…I, things, I mean they were complicated, sweetheart. No relationship is ever perfect, and Walter and I's relationship was an…. an experiment to see if we were compatible. Experiments sometimes fail honey." She whispered as his stare never wavered.

"Yes mom, experiments can fail but experiments can also be sabotaged if a partner doesn't fully believe in it, to begin with." He said quietly as his mouth set into a thin line as he turned away and started to gather his work. "I expected that you were going to talk to me tonight and as a fact mom, I really don't want to talk to you right now. When you want to have an honest conversation, I'll be at Tyler Goldberg's house. I autogenerated your voice into the phone call to set up a last-minute sleepover and Ms. Goldberg just arrived." Ralph said factually but each word felt like a stab to her heart.

"Ralph," Paige said brokenly as he swung his backpack over his shoulder, and he gave her an empty stare until his eyes softened just a little.

"Mom, I don't mean to make you cry. I hate seeing you cry but I hate this situation even more and from my data mom…. You were the one who caused it. You hurt my dad." Ralph said quietly as Paige's breath hitched and she stared at the door before she heard the quiet click.

What had just happened?

She stayed in that position for what felt like hours, but when she finally had the strength to stand, she glanced at the clock and it only read 7:30. She's been kneeling for only ten minutes and she walked in a daze to Ralph's bed and truly looked at her son's room.

His wall was covered in various blueprints and worksheets covered in his messy handwriting. She felt a tear run down her face when she softly touched the blueprint of the rocket he and Walter worked on before Walter had sent it to space carrying his sister.

Everywhere she looked in his room the influence of Walter, of the whole team, was everywhere. From the rocket's blueprints to the toolset Happy gave him, the comics Sly let him have and Toby's copy of the updated DSM. Even in the far corner of the room, clothes piled on top of it to camouflage from her eye was a chemistry set hurriedly put away that she just knew came from that woman – from Florence.

Finally, she bit her lip as she slowly picked up the framed photograph of the team. It was when they returned from the baseball game and Ralph wanted to try a camera that he had borrowed from Patty. Everyone was smiling, Walter's arm around her and her son in-between them as the team stood smiling around them, even Florence who stood awkwardly to the side and had a smile.

Her tears were falling and splashed onto the glass as she carefully wiped them away and rubbed her face. They were so happy, so whole…together. What had happened to them?

You came in dummy and wrecked everything.

Ralph was right…she was the one who caused it. How could she be so surprised? Ralph was so much like, like – she shut her eyes and took a ragged deep breath. A quiet sob wracked her body as she felt her knees go weak and she couldn't be in his room any longer. She stumbled down the short hallway to the living room and grabbed her phone, desperately looking at the screen, almost willing the number to show.

She didn't know why she was so desperate to see it. It wasn't as if they hadn't made the deal, to begin with. She hasn't heard anything in three years. The only time she did get something was to, to "Oh God!" She sobbed as she covered her face and collapsed onto the couch.

The room was spinning out of control, she couldn't catch her breath; she knew, logically, that this was panic. She was having a panic attack. She's helped Sylvester enough times to know what this was yet at the same time. She felt as if she was dying. She was collapsing. She was alone. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think and before another thought entered her head she had the phone in her hands and dialed the number.

She didn't care what he would think, she didn't care what kind of perception he would have of her. She knew, deep down he would come. He always came through for her. They had a special kind of relationship that was built over four years. He wouldn't judge her and maybe…. maybe he could make sense of this senseless situation.

She bit her lip as the ringing came in consistently until he heard his hello and she meant to say hello, she meant to calmly talk to him over the phone but as soon as she opened her mouth a giant sob came in and the tears started to fall even more loudly.

There was nothing but silence on the other end before he very quietly whispered that he was on his way.

The car pulled up on the quiet street as he eyed the apartment building. He sighed and steeled himself for whatever mess he would find and checked his phone again. He knew that as soon as he climbed those stairs and knocked on the door he was going to be dealt with a shitstorm of emotional duress.

He would be the first to admit that he didn't do well with emotions. Not these types of emotions anyway but Paige called him. This means there was a good reason as to why she would call him of all people. He didn't have a genius IQ or even the slightest bit of psychological know-how but he did have a heart and a badge and right now…he used both to get her as quickly as possible.

Through Cabe Gallo's long life he knew there were only two jobs he was really any good at. Being a good agent and being an even better father.

So, when he received a call from sobbing and distressed Paige he sighed and said that he was going to be right over. He kissed Allie goodbye as she packed his pockets with tissues and advised him, as best as she could, that whatever happened to cause Paige to lose it he should bring lots of ice cream and to just let her talk. To not ask too many questions and most importantly not to leave her by herself unless he was sure she had her head back.

He kept all these thoughts in mind as he descended the stairs and saw Paige's apartment door, he took a deep breath and steeled his nerves. He only knocked once before Paige swung open the door and he revisited the urge to gasp.

Paige, who was usually so composed and had the best control over her emotions was nothing short of a mess. Her eyes were red and filled with tears, her cheeks were red, splotchy, and had dried tear tracks and even some snot running out of her nose. She hiccupped his name as she stepped aside and before he could think he wrapped her in his arms in the best protective dad hug he could, and she immediately fell apart in his arms.

He never wanted to be in this position again.

He had to do it the first time when Rebecca and he got the news that Amanda was gone. His ex-wife cried in his arms all night. Then he did it again with Happy as he sadly had to deliver the news that Patrick was going away, and he refused to follow along with Happy's desperate escape plan. He felt such guilt over what he had to do but he could do what he could when Happy hugged him so fiercely he swore he felt a rib bruise, but he didn't dare let go.

After those two experiences he wished desperately that he would never have to hug, never had to protect anyone from the world as he did when he held Becca and Happy. He prayed he would never have to do it with Allie, and he prayed that he would never have to be there for someone who was so strong and controlled like Paige.

Yet here was holding her and allowing her tears and sobs to go into his shirt, he took a deep breath as Paige squeezed with all her might, almost as if she held on tight enough everything would be held together. She would be held together. He squeezed her back just as fiercely to make sure she wouldn't fall apart.

He rubbed her back and shushed her as best as he could. He did the same thing to all his kids, a universal trick one does when they are trying to calm and comfort. Soon her sobs quieted and her ragged breathing calmed to something like a hiccup and he slowly led them to the couch as Paige tried to catch her breath and sat gingerly down and stared at nothing.

"Okay kid, here's what going to happen." Cabe started as Paige turned her panicked eyes on him "I'm going to go into the kitchen and make you some tea. You're going to go into that bag and eat a big spoonful of that salted caramel ben and Jerrys I gotcha and sit back on the couch. Then once you had your tea you're going to tell me what happened… and I'm guessing it has a lot to do with why Ralph hasn't come out of his room to comfort his mother when she was crying." Cabe said frowning as he eyed the closed door to Ralph's room.

"Ralph isn't here," Paige whispered hollowly as Cabe's eyebrows shot up, and instantly he was on alert. "He – he was here and then we had a – a c, conversation about the last two months, and he l-left. He left because he couldn't be around me. He always states facts." Paige whispered brokenly as Cabe took in a deep breath and tried to process the information.

"I see and you know where Ralph is? He didn't run away?" Cabe asked gently as Paige's head snapped to him and she nodded her head although she didn't look too sure.

"Yes, he told me he was spending the night at Tyler's house but I didn't confirm with his mother. He made it by himself with that voice changing software and – and oh god what if he ran away! I can't lose him too Cabe!" Paige panicked her breathing picked up and she started to hyperventilate as she made a move to run from the couch before Cabe gently put a stern hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down.

"Now it's okay. Ralph's a smart boy, he knows better than to run away. I'll call Tyler's parents and check in with them. Just relax and dig into that salty-sweet ice cream I gotcha. Allie said you would like it." Cabe instructed as Paige looked wildly around but with one look from Cabe, Paige slowly nodded her head as he walked to the kitchen and saw the list of numbers Paige had kept attached to the fridge and he quickly dialed the number next to the name 'Tyler'.

One slightly awkward conversation later from Ms. Goldberg let Cabe know that Ralph had indeed come to the house and the boys were playing video games in Tyler's room. Saying a quick goodnight, he hung up the phone and prepared Paige's tea as he gave the couch one more glance. Paige had calmed down, although not by much, her crying had stopped. That was an improvement.

Lightly tapping her on the shoulder, she jumped and gave him a watery smile as she whispered a thank you before she took a light sip from the cup. "So, I called Tyler's mom. Ralph is safe and playing video games with her boy. Said they were talking quietly, and she wanted to know if you were okay." Cabe started as he sunk down and Paige dropped her eyes as she took in a shaky breath.

"Yes, I'm okay, did you say that?" She asked quickly as he nodded his head. "Good, I mean thank you. Sara, Tyler's mom, has been calling every few weeks. Apparently, Ralph has gotten closer to Tyler over the few weeks since Tyler's parents… well they divorced a few years ago, and apparently" Paige sucked in a breath as she gave Cabe a sad look "Ralph asked Tyler questions on how he dealt with his parents falling out. Sara mentioned that Ralph was asking questions and just wanted to check in with me. She uh, well she knows how it feels to co-parent and sees his father. It's nowhere near the same type of situation but I appreciated her trying." Paige said quietly as Cabe nodded his head.

Truthfully, he was painfully aware of Ralph's feelings. Over the past two months, he's had weekly calls with the boy. Paige had allowed the boy to talk to both Cabe and Walter, but Ralph has made it clear to Cabe that he didn't want to speak to either of his parents. At least that's the verbiage Ralph used with Cabe when he took the boy out for milkshakes. Ralph still considered Drew to be his father but, well, Ralph made it clear who he considered his dad.

Just as Cabe did with Walter at that age he took Ralph out for walks and games of chess, giving time and a safe space for the boy to talk in his own time until eventually Ralph broke down and asked why his mom and Walter would want to hurt each other so much. Cabe remained speechless as Ralph talked to him about his anger and fear about what Paige and Walter did. He was angry with both of them, pissed actually. He retreated so much into himself Cabe was worried that he wouldn't snap out of it until Ralph had his blow up. He told Cabe that he was so angry with Walter. He had never been more angry or disappointed in Walter than when he learned that he took out Florence and lied to Paige about it. Then Ralph changed gears and ranted about his mother.

How she could have the capacity to assault Walter's character and emotional intelligence the way she did. How she could blame Walter for something she taught him how to do. Granted it still wasn't right, which caused Ralph a lot of strife and confusion. He blamed both of them for what happened, but he blamed his mom even more because she was supposed to be smarter than everyone about emotional stuff. She was supposed to lead them out of it and instead she gave up. She just threw in the towel and left without even trying to communicate with him. Ralph knew how much his mother treasured communication; she's drilled in the concept of talking since he was in the womb. He should know since he remembers practically all of it – so of course, he was so angry and hurt that the one-time communication was needed most, she just abandoned her golden rule.

That was why Ralph was so angry with Paige at the heart of it, Ralph was angry that his mom would just give up without a fight.

So, when Cabe looked into Paige's tear-stained face after her admission of this Sara character, he wanted so badly to ease some of the misunderstandings on her face, but he wisely kept quiet. With the knowledge that Ralph shared with him, Cabe promised the boy he would never say a word of it to Paige or Walter. And he was a man who kept his word.

"I know the last couple of months have been hard. Hell, I knew Ralph was taking it the hardest but what else could I do? I mean I didn't take away any communication between him and the team. I gave him space, I tried to talk to him – I even offered to bring him by the garage if Ralph wanted to spend time with W-Walter!" Paige's lip trembled as she struggled to say his name and Cabe's heart broke even more at seeing Paige so unhinged.

"I don't know what else to do Cabe." She whispered quietly as she eyed her phone. "Sometimes…sometimes I wish I had her here. I wish she was still here so I wouldn't be flying blind." Paige choked as he nodded in understanding, knowing immediately who the 'she' Paige was referencing. Cabe also knew that Paige was more emotionally damaged than she let on if Paige mentioned her.

"Listen, kid, you don't know how much I wanted to just wave a wand and make all this hurt go away. I never wanted to be here comforting another friend of mine. I already spent one night doing just that as their heart was breaking and there was nothing, I could do about it" Cabe said honestly as Paige sniffled and few more tears came down her face.

"Oh God, Cabe, I – I…..I really fucked up, didn't I? I mean I knew I made a mistake the second I walked out that door but I, I was so hurt! Cabe, he hurt me and I just wanted him to know how much and explain how I was feeling but everything I wanted to say…everything came out so wrong! Ralph was right. He certainly didn't get his intelligence from me because I'm a huge moron!" Paige cried as Cabe once again hugged her tight and rubbed calming circles on her back.

"Kid, c'mon. Don't talk down about yourself. Now Walter may not be my son by blood, but I know that boy better than himself sometimes. For better worse that kid is mine." Cabe chuckled sadly thinking of the stubborn man. "I know relationships can be challenging at times and I'm not going to lecture you about what went down that night. It's obvious you feel bad about it already and as your friend kid, it's my job to point out things you may have missed but not to kick you when you're down" Cabe said gently as Paige turned her red eyes onto him. "Kid, it takes two to tango. Things are not all your fault, there also not all Walter's fault. They also aren't all Florence's fault." Cabe said gruffly as Paige scrunched her eyebrows together before shaking her head furiously.

"Yes, I know it's not all Walter's fault. It's not even Florence's fault. I'm pissed as all hell at her but I'm not so vindictive as to blame all our problems on her. I'm still pissed though" Paige clarified as Cabe smiled sadly.

"Yeah, and you also forgot to mention you in that little ramble of yours. All things have balance kiddo and you shouldering all the blame by yourself will put that smart brain of yours out of balance." Cabe smiled as Paige sighed and bit her lip.

"That seems to be what Ralph thinks though. I don't care what anyone else thinks about that night. Well, everyone else but Walter but I can barely keep it together right now Cabe and I have no one to blame for myself on that. I don't care if everyone hates me, but I care that my son, he h-hates me. He blames me for what happened. He told me before he left that – that experiments fail for a lot of reasons, but they can also be sabotaged if both partners don't try. Ralph thinks that I just gave it up because I didn't want to try anymore. That isn't true Cabe." Paige whispered as he handed her a tissue from his pocket.

"It's not that I just gave up, I didn't want to end up like last time. It was so quick. Once I saw those tickets memories appeared of every bimbo Drew fucked, or that shifty partner of Tim's that he was so eager to return to in Jordan and then….then I saw those tickets and the image of Walter – of Walter doing that too!" Paige gasped as she rocked back and forth and wrapped her arms around her body. "I didn't want to be left again. I couldn't handle it. I couldn't, I wouldn't have been able to handle him doing that too because – it hurts so much more. So, I had to leave first. Is that really giving up? When I'm saying it out loud it sounds like it doesn't it? I didn't want to hurt him like that!" Paige wailed as she started to ramble, and he rubbed more soothing circles into her back as she tried to calm herself.

"Cabe…. I know I fucked up. I know I did. But what you said about balance? Do you believe that it was all my fault too?" Paige asked quietly, almost preparing herself for his judgment as he shook his head.

"Kid, I'm old enough to know that the fiasco that happened that night wasn't caused by one person's insecurities. You and Walter struggled a lot with communication in the past and cracks started to form. It happens to even the strongest of couples, cracks form when pressure builds on the foundation. It's up to the couple to keep the foundation strong, fix any cracks that may start to form before they get so big that they break the whole foundation." Cabe sighed as Paige slowly nodded her head.

"You know…. when I offered to bring Ralph to the garage, pushed him to see Walter I was hoping, well, I was hoping that Ralph would want to because then maybe, well… I guess I was being childish." Paige smirked before more tears made themselves known. "I've been acting like a child and I had the nerve to tell Walter – " She chocked as Cabe shushed her and she slowly relaxed. "God, what is wrong with me Cabe? I used to be so strong, I was the one that the team came to for emotional support and now I can't even bring myself to call him. I can't bring myself to talk to him." She whispered as Cabe nodded.

"It's never too late you know. Just because the foundation is cracked doesn't mean it can't be fixed." Cabe mentioned softly as Paige sadly shook her head.

"I want to Cabe, God I want too but… I wouldn't even know what to say. I don't even know if he would even want to see me. I don't want to make things worse" Paige said quietly as Cabe shrugged his shoulders.

"I get it, I really do. It's hard to face mistakes. Hard to face the part of you that is less than stellar. When Amanda passed." Cabe swallowed as he remembered his little girl's face. "I wasn't there for Rebecca. I took every opportunity I had to get away because I failed. I failed Amanda because I couldn't make her better and I failed Becca because I couldn't be the man she needed me to be. I couldn't face her and then….faster than I thought. I lost her." Cabe said quietly as he looked down at Paige's brown carpet. Memories flying in his head of the long nights of fighting, the yelling, the tears until finally….it was just quiet. "I should have never let the fear of me facing her deter me from trying to fix the broken foundation," Cabe mumbled as he looked back to Paige.

"I have Allie now, and I am grateful every day that I found her but it took so many quiet nights and even longer nights for me to find her. It took a lot of pain until that old scar finally started to heal and right now Paige." He said gruffly "Your scars are still bleeding wounds. They are healing but you decide if they're gonna get infected or not." Cabe said as Paige bit her lip and looked down at the phone.

"I'll – I'll think about it. I don't want the wound to get infected but….first I have to fix the wound with my son. I'll talk to him when he comes home. Apologize for lying and…" Paige sighed as she straightened her shoulders "Have an honest conversation with my son. He is so much smarter than me, so mature. He doesn't know but…." Paige closed her eyes and stared at Cabe with a watery smile. "He takes after her so much. I wish they could have met. Maybe if they had…things could have been different." Paige sighed as her own memories came flooding back.

Cabe smiled and patted her shoulder. He didn't need to pry into those emotions. Paige had her own demons and the fact she trusted him so much with her secret was an honor. "It would have been an honor to meet her." Cabe smiled gently as Paige sighed and nodded her head.

"She was something else….she did it her own way. She always seemed to be in her own world, I wish I knew more. Wished I learned what I did now back then." Paige sighed as she bit her lip.

"One thing about the past kid….it has ways of catching up to you. Try not to mull over what can't be changed." Cabe said gently as Paige nodded her head.

"Your right, I can't ponder that now. I may not have been able to help her but…but I can help my son. Starting with a long, honest conversation." Paige smiled as she got up and smiled as Cabe dusted off his pants.

"Now that's the Paige Dineen I know" He smiled as she gave him a fierce hug and whispered quietly "Thank you, Cabe. For coming tonight."

"Anytime kid" He whispered

A/N: So….a lot to unpack here! Paige has a secret, a big one, and one that only Cabe knows. Also, a big reason why Cabe is here and not Toby. Don't get me wrong Cabe is mad, really angry at everyone for letting this whole thing get out of hand but in this case, Cabe saw more of himself in Paige than Walter and he really does see the whole group as his own misfit kids. Any good parent doesn't turn their back on crying and hurting child – no matter how mad or disappointed they are. Don't forget to review and tell me what you think!