A/N: So, I'm a liar. A big, fat liar who lies about updating. I'm so sorry y'all about the extremely late update but life, and work and yada yada stuff got in the way of writing time. I don't want to make this habit but hey, stuff happens. This week it just so happened that my workday tripled (more calls for my day job and more chapters for this story and another I'm writing) all in the week where I couldn't refill my ADHD medicine and top it off – a doctors appointment about my fertility that I may or may not be completely worried over. Then again that's probably more info that anyone cared to know. On to the story and happy early update!

Quick re-cap – Paige and Diana, whose real name is Tessa, have it out in the back ally of the garage where it's revealed that not only Drew Baker is dead but Paige's mother, Veronica, has been kidnapped by the 86ers, and as it turns out Tessa is the younger sister to Paige who is not too happy and goes back into the garage guns blazing. Below this chapter details how the team handled the walkout of Paige and Diana (Tessa) as they make plans of their own.

Enjoy!

Chapter 11: Cyclone Watch

Summary: After Paige and Goldman (Tessa) leave Scorpion and Centipede partners in a shocking stoop as they discuss matters outside, Ralph takes matters into his own hands, doing what he can to fill in the missing pieces and makes a shocking discovery.

"Be determined to have a great day and you will" Paige Dineen Season 1 episode 3

A Cyclone

The door slammed shut with a reverberating bang as Walter flinched at the sound and he continued to stare as Paige walked away and left all of them standing there, silent.

There was an awkward silence until Happy, very loudly yelled "What the hell was that?"

"That, my love nugget was what we doctors describe as, a psychological break," Toby whispered as Walter pinched his nose and turned to Toby who pursed his lips and faced all of the confused geniuses.

"Phycological break? Are you serious? That was Paige, who we have all known all these years leave with…. leave us to be – to be with that mean woman!" Sly yelled as Ralph glared at the floor and stayed silent.

"Believe it or not Sly what just transpired here was may more than a woman leaving high and dry to talk to her mysterious friend. They're hiding something and I love Paige, but I need to know what's happening." Toby declared as he dashed to the window and let out his high pitch girlish scream as he was shocked back.

"What the hell Walt you got electric fences in here now?!" Toby yelled as Walter sighed and all eyes turned to him.

"I had them installed a week ago, the garage is filled with up-to-date security; to prevent anyone from listening in, looking out, eavesdropping – ugh everything that Goldman required but I can't believe…" Walter sighed again and shook his head. "I didn't know who Goldman was or how she had a relation to Paige but….I had my suspicions so even though we can't see or hear anything from the window I had an antenna installed to listen in on a radio frequency." Walter explained as he dashed upstairs and heard running footsteps behind him as he quickly gathered his laptop.

"Walter!" Ralph asked as he turned on the stairs as Ralph pushed his wah through, a determined look on his face. "I snuck a com piece in mom's pocket. We can hack our way into the frequency with the device you locked on to the ceiling." Ralph said as he gathered his own laptop and started typing furiously away.

"A com piece? How did you do that, you never grabbed it?" Sly asked rushed as he quickly got equipment out; despite the previous months' transgressions the two teams were acting like, well, a team.

"I snuck it off Walter's desk when I walked by it when I heard mom waking up and snuck it into her pocket with a pickpocket trick Toby taught me," Ralph stated as Happy turned to stare at her husband as Toby's eyes winded and he pursed his lips.

"Yeah, and I believe Toby also told you to keep that a secret!" Toby uttered as Happy shook her head as each genius tried to hack their way to the antenna but a roadblock was met by each one.

"I don't understand! I designed these myself!" Walter groaned as he tried to make sense of the virtual wall and block of code as he continued to type.

"Uh….Walt, I mean Walter, I mean…um you" Sly finished lamely as there was a brief pause followed the slow shuffle of keys being typed as the Freudian slip as Walter blinked and nodded over to Sylvester. "I'm doing my best to try and get through but the patterns here, someone altered your code, Walter," Sly said hesitantly as Walter shook his head.

"Impossible. I modified it myself, it took weeks for me to finish it, there was no single point of failure for anyone to get through the first firewall much less to the code itself." Walter said as Sly sighed and frowned.

"Be that as it may someone still managed to change it. I am familiar with your coding style Walter but these bookmarks… aren't yours." Sly asked as Walter scrunched his eyebrows together as he looked through the code and realized that, indeed, Sly was right.

"Your right. Someone changed my code." Walter mumbled as he started to try to undo it as Ralph yelled "Cone of silence!"

"What?" Walter asked as everyone turned to look at the teenage genius. "These patterns are scrambling waves and whoever changed the code had a modifier, the more that we try to break in the more it learns. It's embedded deep in the code structure, it was done purposely." Ralph said as he balled his fists as everyone looked towards each other.

"What the hell does that mean?" Cabe asked suddenly as Walter turned and opened his mouth to explain before Happy beat him to the punch.

"It means that whoever did this, must have known whatever is happening outside is secret and wants to keep it that way. The cone of silence that entrapped area 51 that disrupted signal; someone copied the same tech, shrunk it, and had it specialized to one section outside." Happy grumbled as she cast a look at Walter and quickly turned her head as Walter looked back to the screen.

"How is that possible? No one could pinpoint that kind of accuracy, that kind of technology would be too advanced." Flo interrupted as Happy glared and was about to retort before Toby shook his head.

"Actually it can; if it reports from Cassi with the code structure and if you use satellite imagery along with a silencer it could be possible but I don't know how they could do this in this small of a timeframe." Happy stated as Ralph clapped and all eyes turned on him as he typed furiously on the computer.

"Goldman!" Toby shouted as he paced "I don't know how she would have the know-how but it has to be her. She's been on that stupid phone of hers for hours now and then right before Paige woke up she crushed it. She's involved in this – whatever she's hiding, whatever they are both hiding – Goldman is trying her best to keep us out." Toby glared as he got out his own laptop and booted it up. "I may not have the hacking skills to burst through a cone of silence but I can find out what I can on Goldman," Toby announced.

"Okay Toby, stay on that; Sly, Ralph we're gonna need three coders on Cassi to break through the barriers, we need to synchronize so it recognizes one wall instead of three that way we can lock onto the signal. Happy, see what you can find on Paige – I did a preliminary search on her three years ago but -but….I don't know maybe I missed something." Walter stuttered as Happy gave him a stony stare before sitting down and uttered, "on it".

"You're not going to find anything on Goldman I looked," Ralph muttered as Toby quirked his eyebrow. "When we were in the van and my walk from the condo I did a brief search and there was nothing for a 'Diana Goldman'; she doesn't exist. You'll have better luck with my mom. Her life before Scorpion….well…..um she doesn't like to talk about it. At least not with me." Ralph admitted as all typing stopped.

"What are you talking about Ralph?" Sly asked shakily as Flo darted her eyes over to Walter and Walter and Cabe exchanged glances as Ralph continued to work.

"I mean my mom is the best mother I could ever ask for because she did whatever she could to secure a good life for me. Every month from the time I could hack into her bank statements, which is when I was 8, mom has received a $1000 wire transfer into her account up to the month she joined Scorpion. I asked her about it once and she told me that it was something from a friend. I couldn't find anything else on it." Ralph grumbled as he stopped and gave each adult a very angry expression.

"Don't think she is some kind of criminal either. We all met my grandma. You all knew her. Walt" Ralph stated as he turned in his chair and gave him the same look from a year ago when he confronted Walter in the trailer "You know my mother. Remember your promise from 4 years ago. We're a cyclone….unless that only applies to geniuses." Ralph snarked as Walter blinked and felt as if he was emotionally smacked.

"N-no, no I remember my word. Your mother is one of…if not the most honest person I know." Walter stumbled as Ralph nodded his head and turned back to his laptop as all the adults awkwardly got back to work. "I don't mean to sound harsh, but that's my mom and no one can ever block out a genius when she's concerned. Not a cone of silence or adults who think they know better." Ralph mumbled loudly enough that the whole garage could hear it.

Toby and Happy exchanged a silent look of awkwardness as Flo looked down to the floor and Sly and Walter both looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes when they thought the other wasn't looking.

A mess, all of this is one big mess; it seems the only one who was still emotionally stable was Cabe who was looking at the garage at a fractured family and saw a big ol' mess.

"Your right Ralph there is nothing on a Diana Goldman, it's like she doesn't even exist. Not even a back or skip trace to other aliases." Happy shouted to break the awkward silence. "I don't even know how someone could undo all of this without a backtrace." Happy grumbled.

"Um, guys!" Toby soon followed with a panicked edge as Walter looked up from his screen. "Happy check my coding, please tell me I did something wrong here," Toby asked as Happy walked over and her eyes widened.

"No, unfortunately, you did everything correct." Happy uttered as Walter turned to Ralph who was too busy undoing code to pay attention. "Not good" Happy shouted.

"What? What did you find?" Cabe asked as he walked over and Happy stood straight.

"It's not what we found pops, it's what we didn't find. There is nothing on a Paige Dineen anywhere. No records, no trace, nothing! Paige Dineen doesn't exist!"

"That's not possible!" Walter interrupted as he looked up "I did a background check when she first came on the team, her high school records, college courses, bank info everything." Walter said as Happy shook her head.

"I know I did one on her too and I remember seeing her records but now….its like they never existed, to begin with. There's literally nothing here. Paige Dineen doesn't exist – there's no birth certificate or legal name change. Only records on Ralpf but his only state that his father was never listed and his mother is under a fake alias. Paige isn't here." Happy stated through gritted teeth as Walter felt bile rise in his throat and his stomach drop. Just as he was about to get up and check himself Ralph shouted

"I'm in! I'm locked onto the signal!"

"Ralph, you're on?" Walter asked astonished as both pride and tribulation filled in as he stared at the laptop.

"Yeah, but it's shaky, whoever put the system in place was careful about strength. I'm only able to lock onto a few words. Listen" Ralph said as he turned up the volume as he was crowded by the adults.

"…..be so stupid Paige!" Walter heard Goldman yell through the static as he knitted his eyebrows together "….Consequences!" Goldman said as her voice came in and out as Walter tried to adjust the angle of the antenna from his laptop until the conversation was clear.

"Nesscitty! No that was not out of necessity if you would have told them what happened anyways! Do you even realize what I had to do to make sure your cover wasn't blown?" Goldman grumbled as Paige's voice could be heard but was too low to distinguish until Goldman laughed loudly. "If they caught me, Paige, they would have come for you and you wouldn't be alive right now."

"I know that! I know that Tessa!" Paige screamed as Walter remained baffled over the woman he thought he knew so well. Paige…. what did you do?

"Tessa? What happened to Goldman?" Toby latched on as he started clicking away.

"I'm guessing that's her real name genius" Happy snarked as she grumbled as she was searching for a Tessa Dineen and shook her head as her search came up empty.

"Guys!" Walter said tensely as he strained to listen as Toby glared and Happy shot him a stony stare as Walter pretended not to notice.

"Look I'm sorry for lying to you, but with how brilliant Walter was he was going to look into me. …..I wasn't lying then…..They weren't looking for a Paige Dineen. Then Drew came back." Paige admitted softly over the static and Walter pursed his lips.

Drew Baker? Did Ralphs's father had something in this? Walter looked quickly to the young genius who had a stony look and an unreadable expression. On impulse, Walter and Toby exchanged a look that said it all: Not good.

"Is he really gone, Tessa?" Paige asked and Walter turned his head quickly to the laptop as his eyes widened and Ralph took in a gust of air.

"I confirmed it myself….after they took Veronica….Drew told them" Goldman/Tessa explained and Walter continued to stare at the laptop.

Florence's soft voice however broke Walter from his reverie when she asked "Who's Drew? How is he important in this?" As Walter subtly shook his head, signally in their classes that whenever he did so Florence should stop and wait for an explanation. A class that Walter was grateful for with her nod of understanding and Walter smiled in gratitude.

"Legally Ralph isn't your son but theirs" Goldman/Tessa explained as Walter turned his attention back to the screen and something she said caught his attention. Theirs? Who is she mentioning?

"Happy do me a favor and look up records of us. I'll start with mine, Cabe and Florence's but check yours." Walter instructed as he started to hack his way into the government files as Happy raised an eyebrow.

"Why would we need to look up our own records? Goldman never knew us" Toby said as Walter shot him an annoyed look.

"Their Toby. Goldman said 'theirs' who else would Paige entrust her son too? She doesn't have too many friends she has to entrust his guardianship to…at least that's what she told me when we talked about that game night. Who else would it be?" Walter explained as he looked at Ralph who looked panicked and confused but kept his eye on the signal. Ralph swallowed and clenched his jaw as he turned sharply to the screen, holding judgment.

"Tessa things are strained right now between me and Walter" Paige's voice was clear over the laptop and Walter blushed as he looked away from the prying eyes of his team and former teammates who looked to the floor.

"My fault Tessa!" Paige yelled over the static. "Complicated right now," Paige said as Tessa/Goldman laughed, and clear as day both teams heard:

"You slept with the behaviorist didn't you?" Goldman laughed as Toby blushed hard and all eyes turned to him.

"Well first off I'm a psychiatrist" He quickly raised his hands in defense before Paige yelled "I did not sleep with Toby! That's gross!"

"Hey!" Toby said slightly insulted "I'm foxy"

"Shut it doc, now is not the time" Happy grumped as she rolled her eyes as Walter grew more concerned at the hysteria in Paige's voice.

"Already discussed this. We're not involving them, not anymore anyways….we can't afford to have them dragging us down!" Goldman/Tessa yelled as Walter frowned deeply and returned to the record search.

"Find anything yet?" Walter asked as he still had a few lines of code to go through before he found anything concrete.

"Holy Bambini Ralph's our kid!" Toby shouted as he looked over Happy's shoulder and they stared back at Walter. "and his name is Maximillian? What kind of name is that?"

"What!" Walter yelped as he started to code faster, his head pounding from the intake of information and when he finally broke through the firewalls he sat back in his chair stunned at what he found.

"Ralph isn't showing under Florence's record but Cabe…. Ralph is showing under a different last name with Cabe too. Cabe, legally Ralph is listed as your grandson under Robert Cloverfield. Same birthdate, and there's a picture from Halloween 2014 here." Walter explained as Toby rushed over and chuckled.

"Oh yeah, the brain costume….I had 14 papercuts from that" Toby harped as Walter sighed.

"Not the time Toby" Walter rushed out as he looked up his own record and gasped. "oh my god."

"Whoa" Happy murmured as Sly hyperventilated and Toby's eyebrows shot up.

"What is it, son?" Cabe asked as he blinked out of his own stupor over Ralph as his legal grandson and walked over and soon gave a low whistle. "Well, I guess Paige had plans for everything."

"Congratulations Walter it's a boy," Toby said as Walter was too shocked to smack him.

"Well, it appears Walter has legal custody over Ralph Dineen or more appropriate reasoning…. Ralph O' Brian. Um, congratulations Walter?" Florence asked as Walter shook his head, his own conflicting emotions going into overdrive.

He wasn't an emotional person, not by a long shot. He was barely qualified to teach Florence anything, but this….this may well be the first time anything felt above his paygrade. He loved Ralph; he knew it since the first time he knew what love truly meant. Since he first formed a bond with the young genius and ever since he developed feelings with his mother, he often found himself wondering what he would feel, what he would experience, if he ever saw his last name attached to Ralph's. Elation? Wonderment? He was certain that when, or if that day would ever occur the feelings he would have border lined joy….but this?

He was happy nonetheless; in some deep, underground crevice of his mind he was happy seeing formal attachment of his bond to Ralph…..but not like this.

"What does this mean?" Walter whispered, mainly to himself, but the whole garage might as well have heard him because Cabe cleared his throat and murmured "We have to talk to Paige."

"The records for Happy, Toby, Sly, and Cabe are all on the back end. The only thing legal standing here is that, technically, legally….Walter is my father." Ralph said quietly as his hands stalled over the keys as all eyes shifted to one another's. The new development shifting the atmosphere quickly.

"It was Goldman," Ralph said finally as Walter slowly turned to him.

"Ralph…although she is highly suspect and needs to be questioned….how do we know she was even capable of work like this?" Walter questioned as Ralph pursed his lips.

"Because Tessa, or Goldman….she marked her code. I see it here. Every three lines there's her age. Every three lines there's a 'T' and every four lines it's followed by a 'D' all followed by a date: October 14, 2005. 13 years ago." Ralph simplified as Walter wrapped his head around this new data.

"That still doesn't point to Goldman," Toby said as Ralph sighed.

"Yes, it does….the date. October 14, 2005. That was the day that mom and Tessa never saw each other in person again." Ralph said with a stunned look on his face.

"What?" Florence asked, confusion plain on her face.

"What does that even mean?" Toby asked before the door suddenly swung open and an angry-looking Tessa marched and glared at all of them, the glint of the gun in her hand shined in the light.

"It means we didn't want any nosy putos (Assholes) in our business!" Tessa yelled before pointing the gun at them and Walter gasped before springing to action, covering Ralph's body with his as they both hit the ground right at the moment Paige yelled "Tessa no!" as the gun went off and the explosion of plastic and metal hit Walt's ears as Florence screamed.

"Hey! Put the gun down!" Cab screamed drawing his own weapon as Tessa pointed her own at Cabe.

"What did you hear?" Tessa demanded as Paige came running in, her eyes immediately going to Ralph as she made sure of his safetly before running over to Tessa, her own hand gripping Tessa's hand and forcing the gun down as they both wrestled for control.

"Are you crazy Tessa! My son is in here!" Paige screamed as Tessa growled and forced Paige away aiming again at Cabe as Paige hit the ground.

"I wasn't aiming at Ralph; I shot the connection. Who the hell broke into my code?" Tessa yelled again, cool and straight as her eyes levled the room as Paige breathed hard and got off her hands and knees, lunged, forcing herself in front of Tessa, and brought the gun to her chest as Walter sucked in a deep breath.

"Paige, what are you doing?" Walter called as Paige glanced at him and shook her head.

"Yes, what Paige, are you doing?" Tessa gritted out as Tessa tried to move but Paige held firm.

"Making a confirmation," Paige answered as Tessa glared. "Oh, what, your gonna shoot them, Tess? Like always you're going to let a gun do your dirty work!?" Paige called as Tessa kept glaring as Paige didn't back down. "Well, I got news for you; it's not just you and me anymore. You shoot them, you put a bullet in me too. So, what are you going to do Tessa? Are you going to trust me, trust them….or make my son an orphan?" Paige asked with tears brimming her eyes as Tessa rolled back her shoulders.

"Well, he wouldn't technically be an orphan, would he?" Tessa said lowly with a raised eyebrow as Ralph's breathing hitched underneath him and Walter kept a steady hand on his head, not daring to let Ralph see the scene in front of him.

"C'mon Tess, enough with the drama. You won't shoot me. You couldn't if you wanted to." Paige mumbled as she gripped the gun tighter and braced her back foot firmly on the ground. "Especially since I put the safety on for you." Paige smiled as Tessa scrunched her eyebrows together.

"Huh?" Tessa asked and in a moment of confusion, Paige braced her back leg out and whipped her body up against Tessa and forcibly removed the gun from her hand pushing Tessa to the floor as Paige stood above her, gun in her hand as she easily removed the chamber.

"What the hell Paige!" Tessa shouted as Cabe relaxed and smirked. Aiming the gun to the floor as he ran up and rolled Tessa over, cuffing her as she groaned muttering "Am I seriously getting arrested by a gramps here?"

"Shut up!" Cabe muttered as he sat her up and Paige shook her head.

"Where did you learn that Paige? I didn't teach you that!" Tessa scowled, looking more like a petulant child than a hardened criminal as Paige sighed once more.

"I know you didn't. Cabe did." Paige answered easily as she looked around the room as various members started to come out of their hiding spots and Walter moved when Ralph started to squirm, and he ran to his mother.

"Nice angle kid" Cabe smiled as he lifted Tessa up and placed her on the bench as she rolled her eyes.

"Thanks" Paige half heartily smiled as she turned to Tessa who sat glaring. "Please….I know that scene looked really bad….but, well, uh she wouldn't have hurt anyone." Paige said as she grimaced as Toby choked out –

"Uh, the gun she had begged to differ Paige!" Toby said as Happy nodded.

"I know but….only the first bullet was real. Look at the marks on the window….all the other bullets were blanks." Paige explained as she emptied the chamber and tossed one to Happy.

"She's right…all the boom none of the death." Happy said amazed. "This is fine work." Happy muttered as Toby scowled.

"Well, craftsmanship aside…. Paige uh, maybe you can explain why a crazy lady with a fake gun threatened you? You know, before we lose track of what's important here? Like the crazy lady with a gun?" Toby rationed as Tessa glared at him.

"I'm not crazy….I'm a highly functioning sociopath" Tessa said as she smiled and Toby gasped.

"That's a line from Sherlock! You can't take that!" Toby yelled as Paige walked over and placed a calming hand on Toby's shoulder.

"She's kidding…..don't mind her too much." Paige sighed as she bowed her head before turning to Tessa. "and you….be quiet, you are in enough trouble as it is." Paige abolished as Tessa gasped out and laughed heartily.

"Me!? In trouble! No, no Paige….WE'RE in trouble! You're in trouble! I was avoiding trouble until you stepped in and put on the noble act!" Tessa grumbled as Paige pursed her lips.

"Tessa con midland wasn't going to work on these guys, their geniuses!" Paige explained as Tessa rolled her eyes.

"Con midland?" Florence repeated as Paige turned and bit her lip.

"A light show…a con made up by my mother," Paige admitted squeezing her eyes shut, her face taut.

"Mother made a con?" Florence repeated as Walter gave a signal again and Florence looked back at him as he mouthed "Let it go" and she slowly nodded as Paige explained.

"Someone would come in and 'light' the place up with fake bullets. The bullets would prove a distraction while person B, or me…..would take what we needed and leave out another entrance." Paige explained reluctantly as Tessa grinned.

"Person A would be the brains while Person B would be the brawn. Plus I never meant for it to work….I meant for it to be a distraction. Now that worked….you were supposed to stay outside." Tessa smiled as Paige took in a deep breath.

"Seriously…Tess, shut up." Paige glared as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I am so sorry everyone. There's been….a lot that happened today." Paige said as everyone nodded and Walter was still trying to keep with the emotionally charged astrosphere.

"Yes well, that still doesn't change the fact that everyone here is now a liability. So you either tell me what you heard or I can find a way out of these handcuffs and find out myself." Tessa said breaking the silence as Paige balled her fists.

"You're not taking mom away!" Ralph yelled, still standing in front of Paige as Tessa raised her eyebrow.

"And again I ask who would stop me? You all proved that even with this whole geek squad fellowship you got here, it still doesn't change the circumstances." Tessa said as Paige shook her head.

"And what per se are these circumstances? We know parts of the story, no use trying to keep us in the dark" Cabe growled out as Tessa lolled her head and smirked.

"Oh yeah, I'll get right on that" Tessa said sarcastically as Paige smacked her arm. "Ow! Paige!" she turned as Paige gave her a look and she shrunk down grumbling.

"What she means to say is….there are moving pieces right now. Danger. More danger than I'm not willing to put anyone through especially all of you. This is our mess, we just have to clean it up." Paige said softly Raplh glared.

"No mom, I know you're trying to protect us but you're the one who needs protection. You and Aunt Tessa."

"Aunt!" Sly gasped out as Happy turned sharply to an unhappy Tessa.

"Your Paige's sister?" Cabe asked shocked as Walter turned quickly to Cabe who shrugged his shoulders and waved his hand.

"You knew Paige had a sister?" Walter called out as Cabe looked back towards Paige, avoiding Walter's question altogether.

"Holy plot twist you two are sisters! No wonder you looked so familiar! The fake gap and the crappy wig!" Toby yelled as Tessa turned sharply and Paige smacked her forehead.

"Crappy wig? Fooled all of you well enough." Tessa rolled her eyes as she started to squirm and soon enough the handcuffs dropped to the floor and she stood with a flourish.

"Hey! You can't break out of the cuffs!" Cabe yelled as Tessa hung the cuffs from her hand and tossed them as she rubbed her wrists and brought out a small tool with a smirk.

"Well…..I can,...and I did. So, you may want to get better handcuffs." Tessa said as Paige shook her head.

"Tess stop antagonizing them! Whatever you're trying to achieve here, knock it off!" She said harshly as Walter was wrapping his head around this unraveling situation.

"Wait a minute hold on! Cabe, you knew Paige had a sister? And Paige what the hell is going on!" Walter yelled as Paige looked away and Cabe held a guilty expression.

"Well, which is it genius? Cabe or Paige?" Tessa smirked as Paige sucked in a deep breath and balled her fists.

"Tessa I've had enough of your antics for right now! I told you to stop so you need to stop! Tessa these guys have no idea what's going on! We're screwed, my son is still in danger, moms missing and you are not helping anyone here. You said you came back because you need my help. Well, you want my help, that means respecting and being nice to my team, damn it!" Paige yelled as Tessa raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips.

"I'll be nice when they butt out. It's none of their business; we don't need them. I don't want them. You don't even want them involved! You didn't even mean to tell Cabe judging from his surprised expression! We. Don't. Need. Them." Tessa said as Paige gasped and smiled, chuckling with a wild look in her eye.

Uh oh.

Walter has seen that look, only a handful of times in the time he's known her. Most often than not that they were directed at him. Like when he pulled the stunt with the runaway train. That was right before she slapped him. Then again when he argued with Tim. Then once more when she confronted him on the sidewalk, right before she walked away…. followed by an earful from Tim. The only other time he saw it directed at someone else was at Toby when he wouldn't shut up on the island.

Walter was very familiar with the look and on instinct he took a step back, pulling Ralph to him; while the others took a step back too. Toby falling behind Happy as Happy hid a smirk.

Miss Tessa had no idea what she's done.

"Tessa you either shut your mouth right now or I'll shut it for you. I've had enough of your games and the drama. Regardless of your feelings, you are crossing a boundary. I know you don't like change but Tessa, and I'm only saying this once. Stop harassing my team!" Paige said slowly in a calm voice as she took steps closer as Tessa held her ground.

"Or what Paige? You don't want our dirty laundry hanging around? Finding out miss perfect isn't so perfect after all? Whatever happened to you! You had a kid and now your soft! This isn't the Paige I need, or what Veronica needs! We need a bitch, the woman who did anything in her power to get the job done, and now your…. this" Tessa said scornfully as Paige got angrier by the second.

"I don't care what you think of me now Tess, we can discuss it later, but you leave my son out of this!" Paige warned as Tessa's face turned red.

"Without me, you wouldn't have a son, to begin with!" Tessa yelled as Paige's eyes widened and Paige's hand flew up so fast that the smack was heard all around the garage, a reddened handprint the only remaining feature on Tessa's shocked face.

Paige stood there agape as she breathed hard and Tessa brought her hand up to her cheek and winced before she dropped it and pursed her lips. "Well at least I know your still a bitch" Tessa said quietly as Paige took a step back.

"Tessa…..I'm" Paige started as Tessa took a deep breath and held up her hand. Walter stood there stunned seeing the scene play out and he looked to Cabe as he shook his head. Don't get involved, son. Everyone just stood, watching the family drama play out as Paige looked around, shame on features.

"I'm…. sorry, everyone. For what you just saw….for everything today." Paige's shoulders slumped as she looked back to Tessa who was massaging her cheek. "I'm sorry Tess, I didn't mean to hit you so hard." Paige apologized as Tessa smirked and gaped

"Well, I see you still meant to hit me." She grumbled as Paige looked back up.

"Yes. Yes, I did." Paige said robotically as Tessa nodded.

"Well, I don't blame you. I probably would have hit me too" Tessa admitted as Walter turned to raise his eyebrows at Tessa as she caught his eye.

"Oh, wipe the surprised look off your face 195; I know it can be hard keeping up with us," Tessa grumbled as Walter scowled.

"My IQ is 197," Walter stated as Tessa rolled her eyes.

"Ohhhh, impressive. You're qualified to work at Chucky burger." Tessa responded as Paige groaned.

"Tessa what did I just say?!" Paige said stressed as Tessa bit her lip.

"Fine! Fine, sorry….Walter. I can be….rough, around the edges when stressed." Tessa said half-heartedly as Paige raised her eyebrows and Tessa grumbled more. "Oh alright fine! Just stop looking at me like that! I'm sorry to all of you. For yelling and pointing a gun at all of you and calling you old" Tessa went on looking at Cabe "To calling you a nerdier, more boring version of Ellen" Tessa explained looking to Florence as Florence just stood there with her mouth hanging open.

"You never said that to me." Florence said as Tessa looked away and muttered "Well I'm sorry for thinking it. Listen I'm sorry okay. From here on out….I'll behave myself. Starting from getting rid of this stupid disguise." Tessa said as she ripped off her wig, her light brown hair falling free, and Walter was surprised by how short it was. Short in the back, almost shaven with longer hair in the front. Exactly the same color as Paige's. She then took a plastic piece out of her mouth and nose as her cheeks rounded and her nose became 1/3 inch crooked, looking similar to Paige and Raplhs' features. At a distance, she and Paige looked exactly alike….except when you got closer then the small differences became more exposed but even then….they look like twins.

"Whoa….can you say family resemblance," Toby muttered as Tessa simply gave him a look as she shook her head.

"Alright, this is me. So let's get reacquainted, shall we? Hello. My name is Tessa and side note; that's not my real name either but that's as close as your gonna get. You know my older sister Paige and my nephew, Ralph. My sister, mother, and I all ran a successful…shall we say family business together some 12 or 13 years ago that went sideways. Now….some of our earlier clients want something of us. What that is…well I have my theories." Tessa concluded as she walked to stand beside Paige as Raplh looked up to her as she smirked at him.

"You grew up well kid. Sorry to drag you into this…but that's why I'm here. To keep you out of it." Tessa explained as Paige sighed and shifted.

"You're forgetting something Tess," Paige said quietly as Tessa looked away, her body stiffening. "Tess, you can trust them. You can understand them too."

"Come again? Understand us?" Sly asked shakily as Tessa looked at Paige and gave a small nod.

"Tessa can understand you all. She's like you. She's a genius." Paige smiled softly as Tessa shrugged and smiled uncomfortably.

"Ta-da" She mumbled as everyone stood shocked, not knowing what else to say. "I'm a genius…. just like you. Just like Ralph. How did you think Paige was so good at her job? She had some practice." Tessa smiled.

A/N: So the next update will arrive next Tuesday! No more delays for that chapter! What do you all think of Tessa? An interesting character isn't she? Tell me what you think and I'll see you all next Tuesday!