Part 3

News crews were scrambling to get interviews. The Fire Chief of course was letting everyone he talked to know how he was in charge and was happy to announce that everyone had been rescued and there were only minor injuries. Amanda Greene had several reporters talking with her as well. But she was telling a different story. Thanking Centipede Partners for the roll they played and especially Paige for the way she handled everything. But when she started talking about Walter O'Brien she fell apart. She called him a special human being, who always displayed kindness towards the kids, and they were all very lucky that he was there for them, not only today but always.

Walter found himself surrounded first by all the campers that he helped to pull out of the building. They were chanting his name. Chants of "Walter, Walter, Boom. Walter, Walter, Boom." He looked embarrassed by the display from them, but he kept his composure. After they settled down, hordes of reporters swamped him.

"He bring his own cheering section?" Toby shook his head speaking to anyone who would listen.

"Mr. O'Brien, tell us how you were able to rescue all those campers." Came the first question.

"This was a team effort. Every single person here helped in the rescue today. All the Paramedics and EMT's deserve credit for caring for the kids as they got out. All the firemen risked their lives getting them to safety. Team Centipede deserves most of the credit for coordinating the rescue, especially Paige Dineen. She was the person in charge of the entire rescue. She is who you need to be talking to, not me. I only played a small part in what happened today. And without Happy Quinn, Sylvester Dodd and Dr. Toby Curtis, there would have been much different results. They are who you need to be talking to."

"Mr. O'Brien, how many kids did you pull out today?"

"I believe we rescued a total of 107 campers and counselors."

"Mr. O'Brien, tell us about the last two people you pulled out."

"Again, this was a team effort. All I will say is about four years ago, someone who is much braver and wiser than me once told me, you should always try to save everybody. I think those words resonate in what happened here today. No one was going to leave here today without trying to save everybody."

Paige flashed back to the first day she met Walter at the diner. And the memory of her telling him you should always try to save everybody. Her heart skipped a beat or two.

Walter bowed his head at this time and walked away from the crowd of reporters. The members of Centipede Partners stood there in disbelief. Well, all of them other than Paige. She had tears in her eyes listening to what Walter had been saying. She was realizing how much of an effect Walter had had on her life, and she on his. How different would everything be if they never met.

Would Ralph still be on medication? Struggling through life. Would she be waiting tables? Struggling through life. Would either of them be happy? Walter changed all of that for them. Singlehandedly since the first day they met, he made their lives better. Took them both under his wing and changed everything about their lives. A secure job for Paige, a mentor for Ralph. But most importantly, someone they could both count on, rely on, someone who would never let them fail. Someone who would always look out for them. Would always be there for them when they needed him. And even after all that, he was willing to beg and grovel for her to give him a second chance. She should have been the one groveling and begging. Doing everything she could to get him back. They almost lost each other once, she was not going to let it happen again. Not ever again.

"Ms. Dineen, what can you tell us about today, that we don't yet know."

"All I want to say is I'm grateful that everybody is safe. That was our biggest concern. We want to thank all the brave men and women that helped today."

"Ms. Dineen, what can you tell us about Walter O'Brien?"

Paige had to take a pause to calm herself. She knew if she said too much, she would get emotional. She loved the man. She had never stopped loving him.

"Walter, um Mr. O'Brien, is a great man. We were all very fortunate to have him here with us today. His bravery helped to save a lot of people today."

She lowered her head trying not to start to cry. There was so much more she wanted to say about him. That needed to be said about him. So much more she would say about him. She just wanted to say it directly to him. But for now, there were other questions she as well as all of Centipede Partners had for him. Before she was able to get away from the reporters, Happy and Toby found Walter.

"Hey O'Brien, when did you learn to talk like that?" Happy asked him.

"Yeah 197, that was really nice what you said about us." Toby added.

"Look, just because we no longer work together, that doesn't mean I don't still care about you guys. My opinion of your job performances hasn't changed either. You guys have always been the best in your fields. It was nice to work with you guys again."

"Thanks Walt, I think I speak for both of us, it was good working with you again too." Toby said.

Paige was bringing Amanda Greene with her as she approached the group.

"Walter O'Brien." Both Paige and Amanda said at the same time smiling.

"Go ahead Amanda, you first." Paige told her.

"Thank you sweetie, for all you did today." Amanda said to Walter.

"Sweetie?" They all said in unison.

"Any time Ms. Greene." Walter said back to her.

"For the hundredth time, its Amanda."

"So, Amanda, how do you know ol' 197?" Toby asked.

"Ms. Greene to you, Toby, is it? I've heard plenty about you." Amanda said back to him causing everyone to laugh.

"And just what has Walter said about me?"

"Not Walter, Cabe Gallo had plenty to say about your psycho-babble dollar store information you like to give people."

After some more back and forth, they were all told about how Walter and Cabe volunteered their time at the museum. She told them about Dr. Boom; the name the kids gave Walter after some of the fun experiments he did with them. Paige couldn't wait to tell Ralph.

It was early afternoon, and everyone was leaving the scene of the explosions. The museum building would need to be demolished. Team Centipede had decided to call it a day. But Paige stuck around with Amanda, Walter and Cabe and they discussed more about Dr. Boom and how much the kids adored Walter. Paige couldn't get enough of it. She was also glad to catch up with Cabe a little. As they were getting ready to leave, Paige and Walter decided to tell Cabe that they had been seeing each other again for the past few months.

"Well, it's about damn time." He told them with a smile. "I knew these kids were helping Walter, but I should have known there was more to it. I couldn't be happier for you two."

"Thanks Cabe." They both said.

"And I can guess you guys are keeping this new romance a little discreet from the others."

"We have been, and I know you haven't had any contact with them, but we would appreciate the privacy for now." Walter told him.

"Understood. Ralph must be a happy boy. Tell him I sure do miss seeing him around."

"I'm sorry I haven't brought him by to see you Cabe. Let's set up a time for lunch next week." Paige told him.

Walter left to wheel Ms. Greene to her car.

"I had an idea something was up with you two. He was a wreck around the garage for a few weeks, then I brought him by here to get his mind off things. Not much changed at first, then after a while he seemed more like his old self when he was happy and with you. I'm guessing that's about when you guys reconnected. That's what me and Allie were hoping at least."

"Not bad for a non-genius. Things have been going really well. No one trying to give advice on every single part of our lives. If you know what, or who I mean. Although now that he isn't around Walter all day, he started doing it to me. I don't know how much more of it I can take."

"Between you and me, Walt would take you back to Scorpion in a heartbeat. I don't want to overstep, and you guys may have discussed it already. But if you haven't, at least now you know."

"Thanks Cabe. We honestly haven't talked much about work. He did tell me he let Florence go the day after the fight."

"He did. He was pretty messed up that first morning after the fight. Fired her the second she got to work that next morning. That afternoon he took himself to a therapist, he started to get a little better each day. He was there every day for weeks. I want to say it was about a week or so after that Getterman guy, or whatever his name was when I could see a little change in him. When we first saw Centipede though, it hurt him. Another week or so and he stopped seeing the shrink. But I think that last week with her was more talking about the four of you forming a business to compete against him."

"Mr. Gettleman. I felt so bad when he saw us in the lobby that day. We still need to discuss that at some point soon."

"You know, he wanted to talk to you that day. About you two. He had told me earlier that morning after the presentation he wanted to go by your condo and try to make things right, then you guys sure surprised him being there."

"I heard him ask me to wait as the door was closing, oh Cabe."

"He was in a fog the rest of the day. That's when I knew I had to do something for him. I wasn't sure if you would ever talk to him again or not after that. That's when I brought him here, to the museum. This stays between you and me. I'm still not happy at any of you guys at what you did to him when you guys walked out. I can forgive you and your reaction, because you were hurt by what Walt did to you. But the other three, I still don't care much for them. I didn't go out of my way today to see them either, other than getting to tell Toby to get his head out of his ass. And none of them said a word to me."

"Thank you for telling me the truth. I still regret walking out. Every day I do. And I know Walter and I have a lot more to discuss. We need to talk about all of it. We have been concentrating on ourselves and our issues in our personal lives when we have been together. I hope we can survive all of this."

"You always have me and Allie. We will be there for both of you. You are just as much my daughter as Walt is my son, I hope you know that."

"Thank you Cabe, that means a lot."

"All right kid. I'm gonna take off. I assume you can get Walt a ride home?" Cabe said as he hugged her and wiped the tears off her face for her.

Walter got back just in time to see Cabe driving off.

"Well, there goes my ride."

"Come on Dr. Boom, you are coming with me." Paige said with a smile. Still so excited to tell Ralph about Walter's nickname.

"I'm never going to live this down, am I?"

"Here, you drive." Paige told him throwing him the keys which he fumbled but managed to catch without dropping them.

Walter started driving, to where he wasn't quite sure. Paige had a slightly different look about her.

"Hey Walter, could you um maybe pull off into that rest area over there." She said somewhat suggestively.

"Is um everything okay? Paige are you okay?" Walter said, not picking up on anything yet.

Walter did as he was asked and pulled the car over to the side of the road. There was nothing scenic at the rest stop. He still wasn't sure why she wanted to pull over here.

"Walter." She said a little more seductive than the last time.

"Um yes."

"I need you, Walter."

"Need me, um nn-need me for wh-what?"

"Now!"

"Now, wh…"

Paige lunged herself at Walter kissing him heavy on the mouth. He was surprised at first but recovered quickly and returned the kiss with just as much passion.

"Walter, I know we are taking things slow this time. But can we maybe forget about that for today. After watching you out there today. Let's just say I'm a um little, worked up. And I might need a check-up from Dr. Boom. Do you understand?"

Walter knew damn well what she was saying now. He couldn't get to her condo fast enough. They had about two hours before Ralph would be home and he planned on using up both of them.

"Wow." Paige exhaled.

"That was um, yeah wow."

"Walter, thank you for that. I hope this won't mess anything up."

"Me too. It was just um a one-time reprieve. Right?" Walter asked.

"Unless, you know, we probably have time for one mo.."

OK. So, it was a two-time reprieve. But they both agreed, after today, it was back to taking it slow.

Showered, fine a three-time reprieve, and cleaned up, they were now fully in agreement as they waited for Ralph to get home.