By the time Cabe got them back to the Garage after the Gettleman pitch Walter had re-lived most of his life since meeting Happy to everyone walking out on him. And he was shocked by the difference in how everyone had always treated him compared to how they expected to be treated. Most of them always acknowledged how badly he'd been treated by his parents and neighbors but he was always held to a higher standard by them. But they always expected to be absolved of wrongdoing when it came to their relationship while he happily took the blame. So many things clicked in his head. He looked at Florence standing there on the sidewalk waiting with Cabe as Walter slowly got out of the SUV.
"Florence, I want to thank you for your assistance to Scorpion these past five months. But as I have been reviewing things with Scorpion, I believe the company is going to have to go in a new direction. At this time, I don't see a place for you. While the company funds are severely depleted, I have some personal savings. It will probably take me a couple of days but I will make a transfer to the company funds and get you some compensation for having to end your employment. I'm sorry." Walter told her with true emotion.
Florence and Cabe were both shocked at his words and expression.
"I fully understand Walter. You don't have to do that, but thank you. If things turn around and you think you can use my expertise, don't hesitate to call." Florence told him as she reached a hand out and touched his arm.
Cabe's eyebrow rose watching Walter as he stood there not flinching from her touch.
Walter just nodded.
"Cabe, it has been nice getting to know you. Please keep in touch." Florence told him.
"You too." Cabe nodded as he passed up the chance to shake her hand and hugged her instead.
Cabe followed Walter into the Garage and he watched him put his briefcase on the desk before he sat down.
"Did you have a stroke?" Cabe asked worriedly as he pointed out the door.
Walter's head shook no even as he grinned at him. The humor of Cabe's words tickled him. It shocked him that he actually found it funny. Normally humor like that would pass by unnoticed.
"Just had a revelation, Cabe." Walter said with a laugh as his hand drifted over and pressed the answering machine button since it was flashing. As he pulled his laptop out of the briefcase Richard Elia's voice came over the phone.
"Walter, I'm in a bit of a bind and I hope you can help me out. Please call me back at your earliest chance." Richard said.
"What's our play then kid?" Cabe asked as he walked over to Walter's desk.
Walter looked up at Cabe as he pulled his phone out.
"I'm going to turn Scorpion around and build a real company. I'm not going to sit and wait for Paige to finally realize that what happened wasn't as bad as she thinks and that I love only her." Walter said as he saw he had a message. He checked the message and found it from Beauchamp, and he sighed seeing that CP had gotten the bid. He pulled up his contacts and pressed on Richard's name.
"Uh, kid, Paige has had two weeks. I'm thinking that the ship has sailed on that.
Walter shook his head.
"I don't mean it that way. I'm not sure I want her back now. But I've got a sixty three point seven percent chance that Paige and Happy will come back for their jobs, after growing frustrated with Toby. But they will be in for a rude awakening. Though I admit part of me kind of wants to give them a chance too, I do miss them. But in the end, this is one Scorpion that a centipede won't win against."
Cabe ticked his head.
"Richard, how are you?" Walter said as Richard answered. "Really? No, that sounds intriguing. I think I would love to help get you back on track for that." Walter grinned as he had a thought. "But the problem is, well I am in the middle of another contract." Walter looked at Cabe even as Cabe rolled his eyes and walked to the kitchen. "How much?" Walter said not quite believing how much he offered him. "Well I can use the money." Walter licked his lips. "I'll look over this contract for this other client and see if I can get a few days to help you and I'll be right over." Walter smiled. "Thanks Richard, I hope to see you shortly." Walter hung up while grinning.
"You know, there is actually some value in white lies." Walter said as he stood up.
"That sounded more like a whopper." Cabe called out of the kitchen as Walter began walking to the kitchen.
"Not exactly. This contract for Beauchamp I was hoping to get, I was in the middle of working it out. But since Beauchamp just confirmed they have it, it doesn't matter. So I just let him believe I already had a job." Walter smiled as he pulled a cup out of the dish drainer.
Cabe eyed him for a moment.
"I got to say kid, you don't seem yourself. Are you feeling okay?" Cabe asked as he poured creamer into his cup while waiting on the water to finish draining through the coffee grinds.
"Honestly, I couldn't feel better, Cabe. Other than if all of this never happened and Paige and Ralph were back here. But that would be a…different better." Walter said as he pulled the pot out and filled both of their cups.
Walter found a whole new world in white lies. And he used them to manipulate Richard quite effectively. But Richard was desperate to keep Walter working for him, he never really questioned what Walter said. By the end of April he had finished three projects for Richard and Scorpion was back in the black. The debt on the Garage was paid off and Walter had just over two hundred thousand in the company account. He regretfully had to delay the next job for Richard as a Homeland job came up.
He felt Carlson was trying to figure out a way to end the contract with Scorpion by giving him a really crappy assignment. But just like with Richard and his people, Walter worked flawlessly with the people involved and got the problem solved and without the normal clean up bill for Homeland.
After Walter got back from that assignment he sent a letter to the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the House Ethics committee about Director Carlson and his forcing Scorpion to participate in the baseball game.
Director Carlson found himself defending his position for about five minutes when he was shown other evidence of misbehaviors. He quickly took their advice and resigned from his position. Walter traveled to DC with Cabe so they could attend Katherine Cooper's appointment as the new head of Homeland.
One of Richard's friends needed help on a project and Richard reluctantly recommended Walter. At first they couldn't get together on compensation. Walter had been charging five times what Scorpion had been charging and he wasn't backing down from that point. His new insight didn't fail him this time either. He quickly saw a solution. LA had a program for companies and individuals who helped to rehabilitate areas that were falling into disrepair. Walter offered to help them for what used to be Scorpion's fee plus they'd come in and clean up the area to make up the difference. Richard's friend saw the upside to the savings and tax break he'd get and he quickly agreed.
May had been a tough one for Walter. Business wise he couldn't have been happier, even with his higher rates he was beating Centipede Partners on nearly every job he went after. Scorpion now had in excess of three million in the bank. He hired a few people for the missing positions in his company. They weren't geniuses but they were competent in their fields and once he explained what they had to do for each job they were on, they were able to get it done, and reasonably within the time we wanted.
But the hardest was hiring a law firm to deal with other matters. He still maintained a now fifty one point four percent chance Paige or maybe Paige and Happy would finally come to him. As hard as it was going to be, part of him was actually looking forward to rubbing their noses in how well he was doing.
In June Walter also received patents on two of his processes he'd been waiting on. Richard had been wanting to branch his empire out into production. When Walter was telling him about it he was quick to snatch up the option on them. It came with a cushy side job for Walter in helping to train and guide people in using them. And required him to help with issues.
Toby was the most frustrated at the few bids when they were there around the same time. He tried every trick he knew to get under Walter's skin. Walter simply ignored all four of them. If it got to be too much he simply got up and moved to another area.
Paige knew things were drastically different with Walter. She tried a few times to talk with him but he gave her the silence she'd given him right back, since she always approached him professionally. She had missed just how very powerful he looked now. Walter had hired a stylist for his image. She put him in dark navy blue Italian made suits for anything business including bids. She replaced his tech watch with a masterful gold wristwatch. On the opposing wrist he wore an elegant Irish bracelet. His cufflinks that he wore bespoke of success. He even wore a pinky ring denoting his Irish ancestry on his right hand.
By the end of June, Walter by himself had completed a couple of jobs for Richard that he traded his services for some upgrades to the Garage as well as using Richard's clout to buy a new EC135 helicopter. With the upgrades to the Garage Walter hired an HR manager to ensure that his employees were taken care of. Even now that he had three people filling Happy's role their combined compensation wasn't much more than hers had been. When compared to the fact that he could take three different engineering jobs at the same time. He hired a separate doctor and psychologist as well. For all the wage compensation spent he was still saving a bit over his previous employees since he hadn't replaced Paige and Sylvester.
Walter sat down with Cabe and Allie at the end of June and pitched his plan to them. Cabe had more than enough time between his military service, his time with the Secret Service and then with Homeland to retire easily. Walter asked him to retire and to come work for him as his security. And since Allie's contract was coming to an end on the 30th of June he offered her a position in Scorpion.
He reviewed his profit margin at the end of June and he ended up starting a quarterly profit sharing with his employees.
Florence had long since moved from that other part of the building and on July 2nd Walter closed on that part of the lot and had demolition come in and removed the joined building. They transformed it into an employee parking lot.
Walter spent the first two weeks in July training and got his license to fly the helicopter. When he got his license he began using it to get around a lot more when appropriate. Cabe was always a little uneasy that first month they went to different cases in the helicopter. But Walter was having a good time with it. It wasn't big enough for everyone but close. He could take Cabe, a doctor and depending on the job two of the engineers and Allie.
Walter's thoughts returned to the present. Walter sighed and left the computer to work on other things.
"Well Paige, Ralph it is so good to see you both." Allie smiled and greeted them as she opened the door and let them in.
"Thanks Allie." Paige smiled.
"Thanks for inviting us over." Ralph hugged her quickly and moved in to find Cabe.
Paige stepped up and hugged Allie.
"He's still a tornado." Allie laughed. "How are you doing?" Allie asked before they separated.
"Not good to be honest Allie. Ralph and I keep getting into fights over everything. He's been trying to be better about it since last night and he makes good points. But still." Paige sighed.
"But still you need a bit more support?" Allie asked as she closed the door.
"Yeah, but the truth is, so does he. And it really is unfair like he said. I get to mouth off and moan and complain about it but I expect him to just be supportive without voicing how he feels." Paige sighed again as they walked up the steps to the kitchen.
"Grandpa." Ralph said happily as he moved into the front room and saw Cabe getting up from his easy chair.
"How are you doing kid?" Cabe grinned as Ralph rushed into his arms.
"Terrible." Ralph told him. "But I can't say that." Ralph finished.
"You can say whatever you need to say to me." Cabe told him as he hugged him.
"I just want this over Grandpa. I want to be back with Dad. I want us to be a family again. I want to be able to scream my head off because I can't have any of that. I did nothing wrong and I'm punished anyway." Ralph cried.
"I know you do, son. I wish things were different too. I miss you guys terribly." Cabe told him. "I was half tempted to invite Walter over for dinner too but Allie put her foot up my butt over it." Cabe smiled.
Ralph chuckled.
"That's my boy." Cabe ruffled his hair.
"Dad told me he wants me to be the man he knows I am and to support Mom so she isn't as stressed out." Ralph told him.
"Yeah, that isn't bad advice but it isn't good either." Cabe nodded.
"How is Dad really doing? He tells me fine and he's got a lot of work but…I worry he's just saying that to keep me from worrying." Ralph asked.
Cabe smiled as he put his arm around Ralph's back and they began walking towards the kitchen upon hearing Allie call them for dinner.
"He's really doing well. You'll be amazed at how well and all he is doing. He misses you and your Mom so much. But he's got a bigger crew and he's doing a massive amount of jobs. He hired me full time as security and he hired Allie too." Cabe told him.
"Cabe." Paige said softly with a little fear to her voice.
Cabe stared at her for a moment and then lifted his arm and Paige rushed in and they hugged tightly.
Following Monday at Centipede Partners:
Paige and the gang sat around their conference table going over what was left for them to do and what they'd be doing going forward. The accountant was already coming by to keep Walter in the loop of what was planned.
"Paige." Happy cleared her throat after looking at the accountant. "Look, this situation isn't a good one. And the three of us know the hardship of this is going to be hardest on you if we can't either increase the number of cases and decrease the turnaround time for them or successfully keep the same number of clients we win now but at a higher rate."
Paige frowned but nodded.
"Sly's lease is up on his apartment at the end of the month and the three of us discussed it over the weekend. We're going to move Sly into our spare bedroom and the amount of money he'll save on the rent is going to be paid to you. At least until we get the jobs turned around." Happy told her.
"Guys, that is very generous of you and I'm grateful." Paige started.
"No buts." Toby stopped her. "Centipedes might not have cyclones, but we're still family. This isn't easy, but you took a big risk coming to help us with this. And we want to repay that faith you had in us. You could have easily said no, then when you calmed down you could have gone back to Walter. We're not easy to deal with. You have to hand hold and stand between us and the clients. That is worth a pay bump as it is." Toby finished with a grin.
Paige sighed as she looked down at her lap even as everyone else kind of sighed at the term family. They were supposed to have been a family with Walter.
"Thank you. I wish there was more that I could do." Paige told them while choosing to ignore the term for now.
"You could always make some chicken piccata for us." Sylvester grinned as everyone chuckled nervously over their feelings.
They turned back to the job sheets of companies needing help with things and began to formulate their plan of attack.
Suddenly they heard the door chime and Toby stepped out into the hallway and saw the same man that had come last week.
"Just great, we're back here." Toby said as he stepped back into the conference room.
"Toby?" Paige frowned.
Toby pointed and just then the process server stepped into the conference room.
"Sorry guys, I'm just doing my job. You have been served, Ms Dineen." The man said as he handed her a packet.
"Wait, just me?" Paige frowned as she took it.
The man nodded as he left.
Paige sighed and tore into the packet and her eyes drifted across the top sheet.
"What the hell?" Paige yelled.
"What is it? Who's suing you?" Happy asked.
"I can't believe this. How could he even think of doing such a thing?" Paige ranted while not registering Happy's questions.
"Paige." Toby said loudly.
"What?" Paige looked up.
"What's going on? What's Walter done now?" Happy asked.
"Drew." Paige shook her head, unable to articulate it.
"He's suing you for custody? For Ralph?" Happy frowned.
Paige shook her head as she held the packet out to Sylvester.
"By the staff of Ravenswood. He's claiming he isn't Ralph's biological Father. He's suing for repayment of double the support payments for emotional distress. He wants to have his name removed from Ralph's birth certificate and to be removed from any future responsibility for Ralph." Sylvester said as he read over the complaint.
"What? Is that even possible?" Happy asked.
"Of course it's possible, you can bring a lawsuit for just about anything against anyone. I'm just wondering why now? What happened to make him even question it?" Sylvester asked.
"No dummy, that Drew isn't Ralph's Dad." Happy told him.
"No, it is preposterous. I'm not sure why he'd question it now, you don't think this is something to do with…him…do you?" Paige started to look at the accountant and then her eyes slowly stopped.
"No, 197 would never do something like that." Toby told her while trying not to give the accountant an idea of who they were discussing.
"So you are saying Drew is the only one who could be Ralph's Dad, right?" Happy asked.
"Of course he's the only one. We'd been living together for about three months when I found out I was pregnant." Paige told her. Paige's eyes darted back and forth a few times as she slowly remembered something from back in 2005. "I've got to use the restroom." Paige said as she nearly ran from the room.
Greetings! Hope this finds you well! So glad you guys enjoyed "Aftermath". I wasn't sure about it at all, but figured I had spent the time writing it so...why not share it. lol I haven't decided if I will post chapter 5 tomorrow or Wednesday. I'm leaning toward posting tomorrow. The temps this week are going to be very dangerous and having to go back to the VA, it would be better to just not worry about it.
Guest 1 - Thank you! So glad you are enjoying it!
Railman - Thank you! He did indeed. lol I guess we'll have to wait to see if he goes through with the emancipation or not. But this might throw a wrinkle into it. lol
Marti - Thank you! Yes, I miss that Paige so much. Hopefully soon? Seems she started to peek out there with Allie and Cabe...but Drew. Yeah, that guy would mess up a free meal. lol
Supergirl - I am so sorry to hear that. I truly hope you are feeling better! So many of my friends have been coming down with it in the last month or so. Thankfully other than it being a sufferable time, all of you so far are recovering.
Guest 2 - hehe Sorry the story has made her so horrible in it. Hopefully she's finally come to see how she's been acting and will begin to turn things around.
Margaret - Ralph really let loose for sure! And it looks like Paige is trying to see his side.
To the Adventure! -Tim