"I don't get it, why was Walter so mad at me?" Sylvester whined after Happy pulled out onto the road to go back to the Garage.
"Seriously?" Happy glared over at him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sylvester frowned.
Happy sighed.
"You know, for a genius you are incredibly dense sometimes." Happy shook her head. "Think about it. Walter has never had a good relationship with his parents. Yet because you were married to their golden child they welcomed you deeper into their lives than they ever did Walter."
"That isn't my fault." Sylvester whined.
"No, but you defending them to Walter is, you moron. Walter studied and worked on a design for a water condenser to help his family's farm. It was brilliant, he came to me and I helped him a little here and there on it. But what did his Father do? Remember how you were bragging after coming back from Ireland? How they had taken the article you sent them and got a condenser to help the farm. When Walter questioned it, his Dad acted like he never saw Walter's design. If I had been Walter back then while you were bragging to me and Toby I'd have slapped you in the head." Happy told him while almost growling.
"Well I didn't know that. I had no idea what was going on over that." Sylvester continued whining.
"Well, Walt didn't know Florence had developed some feelings for him but you still blamed him. So quit whining, suck it up and stop being stupid." Happy told him.
"Stop bringing that up, I've apologized over it." Sylvester told her.
"I haven't brought that up in months, you are the one trying to act like somehow you are innocent in this. Stop bringing up his parents or joining into a conversation about them. Especially if it seems like something good. Walter doesn't need you rubbing your relationship with them into his face." Happy swore.
"Sly, Happy's right. Don't defend Walter's parents anymore with him. He didn't get the relationship with them you did. And you trying to tell him what they meant was hugely insensitive on your part." Florence told him.
"But." Sylvester started.
"No." Florence told him. "Not to Walter, he doesn't need to be reminded where he is in his parents' lives and how you out rank him there. You wouldn't appreciate it at all if it was reversed."
"I don't care if my parents want to treat someone else better than me." Sylvester said hurt.
"Sure you wouldn't." Happy rolled her eyes as Florence pointed to Happy and nodded.
"I'll tell you what Sly, since you don't think something like this would bother you. How about we have Happy take us over to the Joint." Florence eyed him hard.
Happy saw sweat bead up instantly on Sylvester's forehead.
"What's the Joint?" Happy asked curiously.
"It's a place one of my old boyfriends hangs out at, a lot." Florence grinned seeing Sylvester's skin tone actually turning a bit green. "Exactly. That's why you don't defend Walter's parents anymore."
Sylvester nodded quickly as Happy began laughing.
After they returned to the Garage, Walter took a nap but after he woke up he talked to Paige and Toby. They agreed an outing to the beach might be a good thing for him. Today had been the first day outside, coherently, for Walter in over a year. While his skin still had a bit of an olive cast to it, it was nonetheless whiter than normal.
Toby used it as a way to gauge his long term memory as he steered their conversation, once they were there, to what happened with the young boy getting caught in that sinkhole.
Cabe and Happy had gone along with them as well. People eyed the small group as they were the only ones not in swimwear. Cabe ended up using his Homeland badge to chase away one guy who seemed more offended than anyone else since he came over to question them.
"Can you and I just go for a walk?" Walter whispered into Paige's ear.
Paige smiled and nodded.
"We'll be back guys, we're going to go for a walk." Paige told them as she stood up with Walter.
They held hands as they walked away.
"A lot has happened on this stretch of beach, even just with me." Walter said as they walked. "It was Megan's favorite of all the spots we'd gone to since we moved to LA." Walter paused as he thought. "She always tried to make me see life from her perspective. She'd probably be mad that I don't want to see Mother and Father."
"I don't think she would be mad about that Walter. She'd probably be sad, but she would know it was because of what they had done, not you. She wanted you to embrace your emotions, how you feel, not shut them out as if they didn't exist. She'd be mad if you did. She'd have hope too. Hope that one day you'd be able to forgive them. She always believed you could reach your emotional potential. She might have been impressed and even proud of your mental acuity but as she said, you are your heart." Paige told him before she pulled his hand up and kissed it.
"Am I just being a baby over my parents?" Walter asked softly as they reached the shoreline.
The wet sand compacted around their bare feet and the footprints created by them were mostly erased as the waves broke and the water rushed over them.
"I wouldn't say you are being a baby over it." Paige told him.
"But emotionally immature?" Walter asked.
Paige blushed a little at that memory.
"No, Walter, you have a complex history with your parents. Not everyone has a good relationship with their family. As with anyone, not just family, some mistakes or actions are simple slights that can be overlooked. Some need a discussion about them and how they aren't right. Some need the offender to apologize for and show true repentance. Some are plain unforgivable." Paige told him as she thought.
"While my Mom has apologized, she hasn't shown true repentance and I'm not holding my breath." Paige told him.
Walter grinned.
"Good, I like watching you breathe." Walter told her.
Paige grinned and they paused for a moment to kiss and then a larger wave crashed and splashed on them soaking them fairly well from the waist down. They both laughed and moved up the beach a few feet.
"You think when we get back we can move that hospital bed out of the bedroom and then move the other bed over so we can sleep a bit more like normal together?" Walter asked.
"I'd be agreeable with that." Paige grinned as they started walking again. "Though maybe we can just swap the beds? I doubt they'll come pick it up today."
"That would work." Walter nodded. "What are we going to do about my parents?" Walter asked.
"Well I am sure they'll be hurt that you don't want to see them, but that is on them. Cabe said he'd pick them up and let them know you don't want to see them. I can take Ralph to their hotel so they can meet him." Paige told him.
"That doesn't seem fair to you and Cabe. Nor does it seem right to make Ralph see them without me." Walter sighed.
Paige stopped and pulled against his hand. She stared up into his eyes as he settled in front of her.
"Walter, it isn't a matter of it being fair or not. You are our family and we'll gladly do that for you. You deserve our support and protection. As for Ralph meeting them, he'll have me there. They need to understand that just because now they might have some feeling of concern for you, that it doesn't change what they've done to you in the past. You aren't a raincoat someone puts on to protect them from the elements when the weather goes bad and then forget all about you when the weather is good. You are a person with feelings, even if your feelings have always been subdued. You deserved to be treated better by them." Paige told him.
"Still, I suppose if we set a firm time frame they can be at the Garage or maybe we should meet somewhere else?" Walter asked.
"Well you need to make up your mind Walter, of what you want. I am supporting you either way." Paige smiled.
"How did I get so lucky?" Walter smiled.
"You want to call yourself lucky after the year you had?" Paige kind of laughed at the thought.
"It was a small price to pay to have you back with me." Walter said softly. "I'd endure anything to have you with me."
"Walter…" Paige said softly and pulled him down as she kissed him.
A number of people sitting around on the beach were smiling seeing the couple kiss and then one person yelled.
"Hey, get a room!" The guy screamed.
Paige, knowing Walter's propensity of getting embarrassed, tried to break off the kiss but Walter held her tight until she quit trying to step back. Once he was sure she wouldn't move his arm rose up from around her and his fist closed as he flipped the guy off.
Happy and Cabe both saw his gesture and took off running in their direction.
"Hey asshole." The man said as he jumped up and moved over towards them.
Walter broke the kiss and pushed his arm back at Paige a bit as he stepped out towards the man.
"How I kiss the woman I love is none of your business. You don't like it, then don't look." Walter told the man angrily.
"I'm going to kick your ass." The man said as he moved on up.
"Walter, don't." Paige told him but Walter stepped on up as he brought his fists up.
The man threw a punch that Walter blocked but before he could throw a punch the guy hit him in the gut.
"Walter, your ribs!" Paige said worriedly.
The guy hearing her took a shot and landed a solid hit into his right ribs and Walter groaned as his right arm dropped to cover them.
The guy threw a right hook towards Walter's left ribs, but Walter was able to step back a half step and the blow missed. Walter countered with a left cross. The fight was relatively short and if asked, Cabe and Happy would have said it would have been one sided, but Walter surprised them all. He had taken some serious shots from the guy.
But Happy reached the two men first and grabbed the guy's arm as he swung again and half twisted and using her karate, threw the guy down away from Walter. The man's wife tried to attack Happy and Happy unleashed her karate on the woman quickly ending anything further with her even as Cabe pulled his badge out and got in between everyone.
After Toby examined Walter he had to clean the cut over his left eye and put in three small stitches. He checked Walter's ribs next and while there was going to be more bruising he didn't feel any of the breaks had separated. His knuckles and chin needed some cleaning and a couple of band aids but otherwise Walter was in good shape.
"You got lucky Walt." Toby told him seriously.
The lifeguards attended the man, even as his wife was complaining and talking about pressing charges. Cabe pulled his Homeland badge again and ended the problem easily. Especially since everyone else around said the man had attacked Walter first and Walter had only defended himself. They also stood up for Happy saying she'd only separated the two men when the man's wife attacked her.
Walter explained he didn't want to press charges but Beach Patrol took the man and his wife into custody anyway.
Paige smiled at Walter all the way home.
"What was that doc?" Happy asked as she drove the pair of them in her truck.
"Well my first guess is it was Walter trying to show Paige he can stand up for her. He's been worried she wouldn't see him as able to protect her anymore. But I am sure a lot of his frustrations helped to motivate his response. It would have been better if he'd waited until he healed a good bit more first." Toby sighed. "But at least I don't believe he did anything worse to himself. I'm encouraged by his response to be honest."
Just to be safe, in case Walter had any more irrational moments like the other day, they kept the hospital bed in his bedroom area but swapped it with the regular bed.
While they enjoyed their evening meal together as an extended family Cabe received word that Walter's belongings along with a satchel with three hundred nine thousand dollars in it had been retrieved from the storage facility. Luckily Walter had kept all his winning receipts in the bag as well so they knew it was legally obtained.
Walter breathed a sigh of relief.
There were a number of questions about the money but Walter explained it had all been part of his winnings before he'd been taken. Walter felt comfortable about it until Paige reminded him he hadn't filed taxes. Thankfully taxes had been withheld so it wasn't like he could be fined for not paying it on the money and with what happened, he could surely get a waiver to file now.
Walter, Paige and Ralph saw everyone out that evening before locking up the Garage for the night. They sat for a while in the Loft and played Jenga for a while before Ralph went to take a shower for bed.
Walter sat on the bed watching Paige as she got ready for bed after taking her shower.
"When is your lease up on your condo?" Walter asked finally.
Paige frowned as she stopped brushing her hair.
"Oh, umm, I'm currently on a month to month contract because I didn't know if I would have to move if we ever failed without you. I had planned to let it go to help pay for your care once we found you, but with everything Richard is doing, I don't have too. Why?" Paige asked as she began brushing her hair again.
"Well, I thought if you guys were going to keep running your company out of here maybe we can use my money to rehab the Loft a bit and the three of us can live here." Walter told her.
"Walter, Scorpion is still your company." Paige smiled at him even as she quit brushing her hair.
"No, not anymore. You guys have done what I wanted of all of you. You've all grown and found new skills and developed your talents. You've discovered just what you are capable of doing. The guys can now function closer to normal than I ever thought possible. And you are now exactly who I saw all those years ago. You have so much potential. You corralled those guys and whipped them into shape. I couldn't be happier or prouder of anyone than you." Walter told her sincerely.
"Walter, thank you. But I was only able to do this because of you." Paige said as she sat her brush down and walked over and sat on his lap. "Please don't talk like there isn't a future here for you too. I need you."
Walter smiled.
"I'm just not sure if there is a place in Scorpion for me anymore though. I'm not as relevant as I used to be. If you guys have kept the company going all this time without me here, then you can keep it going without me at one hundred percent." Walter said as he hugged her tightly to him.
"No!" Paige said loudly. "I did this because of what you mean to me. Because of what I did to you. You have to be part of this. It doesn't matter if you are 197 or 107. You are still smarter and faster in coming up with ideas than anyone else here. Walter please don't talk like this. You have got to be part of this, I need you working side by side with me."
Walter sighed.
"But I'm not sure I can do it as well as I could before." Walter explained.
"Walter, I have so much faith in you. Just like you had in me, please, you've got to do it so you know you can as well." Paige told him before she frowned. "Wait…did you say you wanted me and Ralph to move in here with you?"
Walter smiled and nodded.
"Only if you promise to rejoin Scorpion. And as our leader." Paige told him.
Walter fell backwards taking Paige with him. Paige giggled as Walter half rolled and began kissing her neck. Exactly like how he remembered she liked.
"Walter…" Paige said dreamily.
Greetings! I hope this finds you all well! Funny thing when I woke up yesterday. I had thought this story was done with chapter 16, but it spoke again and now there are 17 chapters. lol Oh I had commissioned some new artwork last month for Knight's Tale. Lord Walter and Lady Paige dressed up pretending to be Morticia and Gomez Addams for Halloween. Even though they don't celebrate Halloween like we do and they don't know who the Addam's family is. lol I put a link on my profile page once the site officially adds it you can click it to be taken to Twitter to see it. You shouldn't need an account there to see it.
Railman - Yep, as the song says "It's all coming back to me now" kind of applies to Walter as some of his memories return. Poor guy, really put him through it in this story. Part of it is what the drugs have done to him. While suppressing his IQ it seems to have helped him emotionally, but he'll have to work with that to get it all straightened out. lol
Lucy - hehe Maybe...just maybe.
JerBr23 - I'm glad you enjoyed it! Well was this enough for your need for her to inflict some violence? hehe
Pearliegirl - Welcome back! Well thank you! hehe I hope you find this and the remaining chapters every bit of those words! hehe He might regain it...not sure the story hasn't really said but it is hopeful he'll recover the few points he dropped. Yep, Toby has definitely been stepping up in maturity himself. He's still childish at times as you'll see, next chapter. hehe
Margaret - hehe Toby has really been working hard all this time to help everyone legitimately. It has forced him to grow up a bit more so I am trusting him with helping Ralph.
LouBe - hehe Thank you if that was meant as a compliment! hehe There was a lot to write in last chapter. Sometimes the 2500-3000 words I use don't seem like enough. I know it is an arbitrary number I try to impose myself but that's what I am comfortable in reading per chapter so that's where I try to stay. Hopefully it is never too short to full explain though. I would say I captured what I wanted with Walter's simple question very well then if that is what you felt! Yes, losing some IQ I'm icky with, but it has opened the development of his emotions beyond what he had before. Now he'll have to learn to cope with them more as well. hehe His comment about Sly's intellect wasn't exactly a jealousy thing...more about how limited Sly is, mostly math and numbers. Where Walter has always used his intellect to study multiple sciences and processes. Yep, Cabe got his garlic bread and no one tried to help themselves to it. LOL As for his parents...all I can say is, buckle up and hang on. Sparks are going to fly. hehe Thank you, yesterday and today (bad sleep) were a joy writing wise. Been a week I think since I last wrote. I need to get back to Callan.
Susan - Yep, Ralph didn't need to see that confirmed and here is to hoping the drugs helped ensure that Walter doesn't really remember what happened there. Happy, got to love her! Well thank you! I appreciate how much you enjoy my writing!
To the Adventure! -Tim