A/N Thanks reviewers!
Marti - Thank you! These types of stories are the way I wished the story would have played out. I think eventually the show runners would have gotten here. You know after they teased everyone for another couple of years. Walter and Paige could have been a couple from episode one and the show could still have worked.
Railman - A proposal in the future you say? We shall see. Wink, wink.
Grykon - Queen Dineen! She may make a return at a later date! Hope you enjoy the cotton candy, more where that came from.
On to chapter 10, we will be 1/3 of the way finished after this chapter. Read! Enjoy! Review! Thank you!!
Part 10 Saturday May 31, 2018
Centipede Partners continued to keep their heads above water; barely. The three geniuses struggled to win any significant bids. They could only manage a few smaller jobs that barely paid more than their expenses. All the major programming and coding bids they submitted seemed to always get turned down. They knew it was going to be hard to compete with Scorpion, but they assumed they would at least capture some of the jobs out there. Even most of the engineering jobs went to Scorpion as well.
"Guys, do you think we should go over to see Paige and ask for our old jobs back at Scorpion, I mean maybe she could talk Walter into hiring us again." Sylvester asked nervously.
"I don't know Sly. She can probably hire us without even asking him. Seems to me, the liaison just needs to sleep with the guy, and she gets half of his company. We worked our asses off for him for years and he wanted to give us next to nothing of his company. How is that fair?" Toby whined.
"Listen to yourself Toby. We worked for him, key words: for him. At his company, he didn't have to give us anything. Him offering us anything should have been enough for us, but we made fun of his offer. Who he wants to share his company with is his decision." Happy told him.
"Yeah, but we did all the hard work while we were there, not her. She never even finished school and I graduated from Harvard."
"Hey dumbass, give it a rest. I didn't graduate from anywhere either. What the hell does that matter anyway. You never worked hard there. All you ever did there was sit back and make life as uncomfortable as you could for Walt. Like it was all just a big game to you. Maybe if you were nicer to him, you would realize it wasn't that bad there. And not that it matters, but she got twenty five percent. Walt put twenty five percent of Scorpion in Ralph's name for after he turns 18."
"So wait, he even trusts a 13 year old more than us? Unbelievable. So even he gets to own part of the company too. And how do you know this?" Toby complained.
"Why shouldn't he trust the kid, he is way smarter than you are. Walt thinks of him like his own son. And I talk to them and not just when they have called and met with us.. They are my friends." Happy told him.
"Wait, you talk with them. Why would you want to talk to them anymore than you have to? They are the enemy, remember." Toby asked.
"Aren't we the ones who left Scorpion, I think that makes us the enemy right now. And I for one don't want to turn my back on them any more. We have done enough of that. What did they do to us? Nothing when you think about it. We walked out on Walter and kept things from Paige. Walt was always there for me when I needed him. For all of us. He saved all of us from our past. He built Scorpion for all of us to have a place to be together. I can't believe I ever left. It was the first real family I ever had." Happy reminded them.
"Pfft. What about you Sly? You're with me , right?" Toby asked wanting a different answer.
"They are the closest thing he has ever had to a family, and especially after we left him they are his only family. I mean we all know how much he loves Paige and Ralph. And Scorpion is his company. He didn't have to offer us anything if he didn't want to. He may be hard to work with sometimes, but he was always there for us when we needed him. And it's not like he hasn't been generous either. He put up the garage for Cabe, and he did give you guys a lot of money to help when you were trying to get pregnant. Plus, the garage was a pretty cool space to work out of. I'm just saying, we should at least think about our options. Centipede is not taking off like you said it would." Sly told them.
"I agree Sly, we do need to consider it. Going back and asking for our old jobs back is not gonna be easy for all of us. I can always open up my dad's auto shop and try to make some extra money for us that way too. And before you open your mouth dear, you are not going to start gambling again. Not unless you want to become physically involved with my new wrench set and spend another couple of weeks sleeping on the couch. You should be pretty well acquainted with the couch after the way you acted towards them when they got back together."
"Yeah, I think I'll pass. But I am not groveling to 197 for my old job back either."
"Just so you guys know, if it comes to it and we have to shut down Centipede, the first place I am going to try to get a job is back with them. And I don't think Walt or Paige would make us grovel for our jobs." Happy stated.
"Me too." Sylvester added.
"What am I supposed to do then?" Toby asked.
"Look, we probably have at least another month here before we would have to consider shutting down. I'm just saying, maybe you need to find a way to bury the hatchet with Walt. And sooner rather than later." Happy told him.
After Walter and Paige had gotten back from their workcation, they got right back to winning most of the jobs they were bidding on. They had stockpiled several weeks' worth of jobs for Walter and Ralph to get through.
"Walter, I can't believe how many jobs we have lined up. And all at really favorable rates." Paige told him.
"Having Ralph help and having all the jobs lined out on a spreadsheet again that you designed makes it so much easier to know how to schedule them out." Walter said.
"I just figured it would be a more efficient way of doing things." Paige told him with a wink.
"Look at you, Ms. Efficient. Taking a break from all the Homeland jobs was a great idea too. I'm glad you brought up the idea of doing that and I know Cabe was too. And it has freed up a lot of time to go after more of these private sector jobs." Walter told her with a smile.
"I'm glad Cabe was able to get a little break too. I know he wanted to spend some time with Allie and take her on a real vacation."
"He has definitely earned it."
"Hey, can I ask you something else?"
"Yes, of course. What is it?" Walter responded.
"I know you probably don't want to talk about Centipede, but do you think they are doing okay?"
"I honestly don't have a problem talking about them. They are all still my friends. Or at least that's how I think of them. I feel like with Happy especially and Sly I have made some real progress restoring my relationships with them. Toby, I knew would be more challenging. But I still care for all of them. Was there something specific with them you wanted to discuss?"
"Nothing specific, but I want to make sure you know I would help you in any way I can to re-establish any kind of relationships with them that you wanted. And I'm proud of you for calling them your friends." Paige told him.
"I know you would. And I am grateful for you for it as well. Having us meet with them a few times already has helped me. Can I ask you a question about um when you were still with them?"
"Of course you can. Anytime you want to."
"What was it like? I mean, I know we've talked about most of this already, but did they really just bad mouth me all the time?"
"No Walter, of course not. I'm not going to say they were always singing your graces either."
"Singing my graces?"
"Being nice about you." Paige said with a smile. She always forgot how some sayings went right over his head. She always thought it was so cute.
"Oh."
"Here's what I will tell you. Toby was the one who definitely pushed this on everyone. Happy told me if they weren't trying to adopt right now, she would have been against it. But Toby never said anything malicious against you, he almost wanted to prove to either us or himself that he could do this without you, if that makes sense. Probably to himself. He didn't have anything nice to say about you either. The week I was there preparing for the Gettleman account, Toby kind of hovered around me the whole time. Any time I tried to talk with Happy he was always right there. He kept trying to reassure me I made the right decision joining them. But honestly, I knew I didn't. After a couple of days there, I knew it was a huge mistake. I should have come running back to you. But I was also still upset about what had happened to us at that time. I had worked through some parts of it, but part of me was still hoping to see you come after me too. And from reading your notes I know you seemed to be in the same kind of mind set."
"I know I should have handled a lot of things differently. I should have fought harder for you that night, without question; like we have talked about. I was a fool to not run after you right away. I couldn't get out of my head after watching everyone leave."
"I know, and all I can say is I am much happier now that we have worked through all of that. And what I was going to try to get to earlier when we started talking was, do you think at some point you would be open to everyone working here again if it came to that?"
"Right now, today, I would have no problem with Happy if she walked through the door and asked about coming back to work here. Not only is she a hard worker and a very skilled worker, but she has also made the most effort with us any time we have talked. She would also allow us to go after a few more jobs as well where her engineering skills would be highly beneficial." Walter told her.
"I agree. I know that Happy was not thrilled with the whole concept of Centipede to start with and she has also been the most apologetic about what happened. Sylvester seems to be coming around too." Paige said.
"Yes. He has. I know I upset him when I called him names, and we have gotten past that. And I am happy for him if he is still trying to remain friends with Florence, and if it progresses further, I would be happy for them both. We aren't back to where we were, but it seems we will get back there someday. But I think I would be fine with Sylvester here as well. He is an excellent coder and programmer. He would make our team that much more formidable if he were to come back."
"And Toby?" Paige asked cautiously.
"I respect Toby, I do. He is brilliant at what he does. But it is going to take a lot of work for me and for him before I would feel comfortable with him working here again. Paige, I really don't know if I trust him. I'm not saying I would never trust him, but he messed with me for years. Whether he will ever admit to that or not, I can't say. But when I went back through all our interactions over the last several years, it was rather unnerving. I'm not saying he hates me or wants to see me fail, but he purposely tried to keep us apart and I don't know why he did it. And nothing he says will make me feel differently about that."
"Thank you for telling me the truth about your feelings and not hiding anything. And I do agree with you. Toby was very deceitful with how he gave advice to both of us." Paige said as she placed a hand on top of Walter's.
"Well look who it is. How did the call go with TechXPress?" Walter asked Ralph as he appeared from the workstation they had set up for him. Most days he sat right next to Walter and his mom but sometimes Ralph liked to give them some privacy as well, so they put up a second work area for him. "Did you get everything figured out with them?"
"It took a little work with them, but I think they understand how to do the reports now, so they shouldn't need any other help from us. Mom, do I need to get you the paperwork for the job report?"
Paige smiled at her son, so proud of how he was turning out. She knew a few years ago there was no way he would have ever grown into who he was now. "Yes, just stick it on top of the papers over there and we will get to them before we finish today. Are you caught up on the two other jobs Walter had set aside for you?"
"I almost finished the Gibson job; I just need dad to check on a few parts I wasn't sure on. And the Wixton job was straight forward. I finished it before I called TechXPress. But I do need to go over everything one more time to make sure it's right and I don't miss anything."
"Thanks buddy! I am really impressed with how fast you have been finishing all these jobs. You have helped me and your mom a bunch. I'll go over the Gibson job with you when me and your mom finish up here, and then I think we can get some lunch. You guys getting hungry?
"You know me, I'm always up for some food." Ralph told them while Paige dragged him into her seat and gave him a big hug.
"I'm so proud of you. What sounds good to you?" She asked while squeezing him tight.
"Pizza sounds really good." He exclaimed.
"Pizza sounds good to me, what do you say dad?" Paige asked Walter with a pretty smile.
Paige had gotten used to Ralph calling Walter dad for weeks and recently she found herself saying it more often as well. Walter had picked up on it too. And he loved the sound of it.
"Pizza it is. Let's go to NYC Pizza. They have the best pepperoni and meatball pizza around." Walter told them. "Let me and your mom have about ten more minutes and then we can look at the Gibson job before we go to lunch."
Ralph retreated to Proton Arnold to give them a few more minutes to talk.
"I always knew he would do amazing things but seeing him handle all this stuff, he truly is incredible. You should be very proud of what you did for him." Walter told Paige as they watched Ralph walk to the video game.
"Walter thank you, but you deserve a lot of the credit too. More than I do." Paige told him honestly.
"Not true. You are an amazing mom to him; you always have been. And I know for a fact you always will be. Most parents of geniuses give up on their kids because they can't relate to them. You never gave up. Ralph is who he is today solely because of you and all the love and support you have given him. Me and the guys just helped to broaden his horizons and get him out of his shell a little."
"Well, you may see it that way, but I know the truth Walter O'Brien." Paige told him as she ran her fingers through his hair and watched him as she made him shiver at her touch. "So, thank you; dad."
"I always liked it when Ralph called me his dad, but hearing you say it is um rather nice. Thank you for allowing me to be such a big part of his life. Which reminds me, I need to talk to you about something tonight when we are back home after Ralph goes to bed."
"OK. I'm getting hungry, so finish up the Gibson stuff and we can go. I love you." Paige told him before giving him a kiss.
Walter and Ralph made quick work of the Gibson report. Walter showed him a few shortcuts he could implement to avoid the minor hiccup he was experiencing and once that was done, Ralph flew through the rest of it. The three of them locked up for a few hours and headed to have a nice family lunch.
The rest of the day at work Walter and Ralph worked on a bigger programming job that turned out going a lot faster than they expected. Paige finished up all the paperwork from the previous few days and lined up a few more meetings for next week. And by four o'clock they were ready to call it a day.
On the way home to Paige's condo Ralph got a text from a friend asking if he wanted to spend the night with him. He asked his mom and she of course said he could. Paige still smiled every time Ralph talked about his friends. He had five friends who he usually talked with and hung out with the most. Ralph slept over at their houses all the time.
"You think you would ever want your friends to spend the night at our house sometime?" Paige asked him as they were almost home.
"My friends all have bigger houses then we do, and my room is kind of small." Ralph told her.
Paige's face looked sad. Walter caught a glimpse of her frowning as he made the last turn before the complex. She loved her condo, but hearing Ralph say what he did made her start to think.
"I'm sorry sweetie. Maybe you can invite one of them over sometime instead of all of them." Paige told him halfheartedly.
"Maybe. Billy said his mom can pick me up at 5:30. He said Kyle's parents are getting us pizza for dinner."
"Lucky you, pizza for lunch and dinner." Walter said before Paige could say anything. He grabbed hold of her hand after the comment about the condo and now he gave it a slight squeeze knowing she was worried that he had pizza for lunch.
"I know. Double pizza." Ralph said with happiness.
She placed her other hand on top of his thanking him for knowing what to do. They pulled into the condo and Ralph packed up his overnight bag so it would be ready to go when they got there to pick him up.
"Looks like your stuck with me for dinner." Walter told Paige before giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I don't suppose I can talk you into pizza?" He said with a smile.
"You could probably talk me into just about anything if you tried hard enough." Paige whispered back to him after making sure Ralph wasn't anywhere too close to hear.
"I like the sound of that." Walter told her before kissing her several times as they made their way to the couch. "I do want to talk to you about a few things tonight at some point."
"OK. What should we do about dinner?" Paige asked as she cuddled up next to Walter, bringing her mouth up to the side of his face and breathing on his neck.
"Mmmhmm, th-that f-f-eels nice. We co-could ju-just skip dinner." Walter told her starting to get a glimpse of what she had in store for him tonight.
After Ralph left for his sleep over, Walter and Paige decided to order in some Chinese food. They relaxed on the couch while they ate and enjoyed each other's company.
"What does your fortune say Walter?"
"As if a cookie would know someone's fortune."
"Come on just read it to me. Mine says Your kindness will bring you fortune. Ohh that's a good one." Paige smiled as she told him.
"Huh, You will get lucky tonight." Walter told her with a big smile.
"It does not say that, let me see it." Paige told him.
"Fine, it says Live life to the fullest, order more food."
"Lame." Paige told him with a smile as she scooted closer to him and whispered, "I think maybe you will get lucky tonight after all."
Walter was puddy in her hands.
