Flashback

Years later she was right where he wanted her to be. The promise of stardom dragging her back to LA like the publicity whore she was, and just like he planned she brought the boy with her. His dark eyes so much like his father's and his IQ as wonderfully high as Mark had needed it to be.

If he was any more human he would've felt guilty about the way he tricked her. Sending her multiple letters and emails promising her a music contract and a beautiful apartment only for her to discover there was no contract and the apartment was a shithole with much higher rent then it was worth.

He laughed so hard he could barely breathe as he watched Lucky the King's security team violently throw the confused girl from the building. He could almost see the hope die in her eyes. Her dreams of fame and fortune crushed.

His next stop was a diner near the garage. He always enjoyed mentally torturing 'lessers'. It was a favourite pastime of his. But his latest victim he'd picked for a reason. The whore needed a job and for his plan to work the diner needed a vacancy. It took him less then a week.

Paige had never questioned why a 'help wanted' flyer made it way into her mailbox. She had just thanked God her prayers had been answered. She had no idea that it was the devil- the monster that haunted her nightmares was behind it.

Mark wasn't finished by a long shot. He kept a watchful eye on the Cheerleader-turned-Waitress making sure she had no plans to leave. But for the next phase of his plan he needed Scorpion broke and desperate.

Suprise suprise the 'behaviourist' was the easiest of the Cyclone to manipulate. Signing his number up on a few gambling sites- making sure he got regular texts and emails tempting him further and further into addiction. Flyers for private casinos and games with seemingly fantastic odds but scary sounding names soon had the Doctor so deep in debt he was almost drowning. The icing on the cake was when his fiancee could no longer cope with the repercussions of living with a addict and left him for another man. Collins couldn't have predicted it all falling apart for the man he hated the most so beautifully. He underestimated Walter's patience with the man however. Toby had gambled away the companies profit from a job more than once but Walter remained convinced that it was just a temporary setback and Scorpion would persevere regardless of a missing payday here and there.

Next came Slyvester. He took some work but if its one thing Mark had in spades it was patience. He always resented Slyvester being brought into the fold. Even more so when the child like man (who was terrified of his own shadow) was the one to stay while the only person he could ever love had him carted away in a ambulance- thrown away like trash. HE was the numbers guy HIM! Not that walking pile of hand sanitizer! He took pride in the insidious way he eventually managed to lock the man in his own mind for days. Picking the perfect moments so important things were missed- like the bills. Dispite Marks desire for Walter to get angry at the man-child Walter would smile and shake his head, Almost like he was amused by the younger man's antics. He'd make sure he ate and never berated him like a boss should've.

Walter's wife required no manipulation. Though she was beautiful she knew that gave strange men no right to comment on or touch her body (like they tried to frequently) and she had no problems letting them know that their attentions weren't wanted with either threats of violence or actual violence.

As tough as nails as she was Collins knew that Walter's long term relationship with one Doctor Janice bothered her (though not as much as it bothered Mark). Not because they were married- it wasn't a wedding of love after all. But Happy had frequently commented on how bad she thought the Doctor was for Walter and how he shouldn't feel obligated to change himself for a woman he couldn't even bare to touch.

Happy had Sappy dreams of being a family. She kept it to herself as best she could but Collins knew. Just seeing families in the street holding hands upset her. But she didn't just want it for herself. Walter had brought her into his family- his Cyclone and she wanted him to have something that dispite their marriage they'd never have together. A true family with a loving spouse and children.

It bothered Happy that Walter was trying to fill the hole in his heart left by the Cheerleader with the first person to come along and show interest. She'd often told Toby that If she ever met the Cheerleader (not that she knew what she looked like or even her name) she'd punch her right in the throat for destroying her friend.

He used to be so much more happier (or as happy as one could be with low EQ) and so much more tactile. Yet not long after the Cheerleader disappeared Walter developed a aversion -fear even- of being touched seemingly out of the blue. Happy never said anything to Walter himself but she'd frequently tell the others in secret that she blamed the Cheerleader for ruining her friend.

Logically in the back of his mind Collins knew the true reason Walter couldnt tolerate touch. Yet he lied to himself constantly and convinced himself that it was because Walter's body would only ever want him, and not that though Walter's mind was unaware of the abuse he'd recieved from Mark, his body remembered.

Collins deliberately ran into the controlling man-stealing Janice outside her job at Whitehull where she'd been caring for Walter's beloved sister Megan. It hadn't taken much to sew the idea of her meeting her beau at the very spot the Cheerleader worked. Spinning her a tall tale of connecting with his previously emotionally accessible love that the doctor just lapped up like the dog she was. It wasnt long before their dates at the diner became a regular thing. The doctor and the geniuses desperate attempt to connect with each other.

Yet it didn't take long for Walter's attention to be focused elsewhere. Though she'd changed her name and altered her appearance slightly he still felt himself hopelessly and desperately drawn to her like Collins knew he would be. Even though he didn't know it was the Cheerleader he'd fallen for years ago. A little sabotage on Mark's side and Walter found himself offering to fix the restruant's WiFi at a reduced rate just for a logical excuse to see the Waitress more.

The next bit of sabotage came from Walter himself. Deliberately splitting up with his girlfriend on a job in the hope that Janice would make more of a scene then she did so that the pretty Waitress would know he was single without him coming out with it himself. Janice was right about Walter- he was still a million miles from normal. The stunt shocked Collins but pleased him immensely.

As anticipated Walter discovered the boy and his intelligence. Though later then Collins would've liked. Collins smirked at the thought that Walter had no idea the boy was his. He'd spent less than a minute with the young boy but it was enough that Collins knew that Walter O'Brien 'the Pied Piper of Geniuses' would seek him out again.

Mark had wasted enough time. He had to move quickly if he wanted the next phase of his plane to work. He knew Agent Cabe Gallo at Homeland had been keeping tabs on Walter for years. He'd even moved to LA in the hope of reconnecting with the young man he'd thought of as a Son. Cabe had been waiting on the right moment to encourage Walter to be a part of his life once more. He had no idea that Mark was going to give him that moment.

LAX was the perfect target.