Day two could have gone better.

But, Paige reasoned, it could have gone way worse. She was very confident in her feeling that Steven Royce was probably out of the running now.

That left Scorpion, Thomas Beek and his team, Marcie Lucas, and Chana Wolowitz.

Walter was in the shower, and Paige went to the desk, checking the charge on her phone. Still too low. She sat at the desk chair, pulling her feet up to her chest. She and Walter had spent way too long on the phone with Cabe and Allie earlier.

At least from a phone battery perspective. From an "I miss my daughter so much there's a physical ache in my chest" perspective, Paige thought the call had been way too short.

But Amber wasn't the only person she missed. Paige dialed. She got an answer on the second ring.

"Hi, Mom."

"Hey Ralph."

There was a long silence that Ralph broke. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, I just…" Paige put her hand up to her forehead. "Scorpion is busy playing politics to get some money, and there's just a lot going on, and I wanted to hear your voice."

"Okay. I have a class in a few minutes."

"Oh. I can…call back."

"No. If I have class in a few minutes, that means I have a few minutes before I'm busy." She could hear a shifting sound and knew Ralph was tucking his phone. "I'll always have a few minutes for you, Mom. Tell me about this benefactor."

Paige realized by the use of benefactor that Ralph already had heard about it. "I don't want to repeat anything Walter may have told you."

"He just told me what it was. I haven't talked to him since you guys got out there."

"Okay." Paige explained the events of the past few days. "We're leaving tomorrow and we won't know the decision for weeks, maybe. It's going to be so nerve wracking. One of our competitors says her assistant is going to be doing a real world experiment of her drones in the next few days, which apparently will prove she's capable of saving the entirety of humanity with one launch or something like that. She's grinding our gears. But anyway, what's going on in your life, baby? How are things with Mia?"

"Oh. We broke up a couple weeks ago."

Paige was surprised. Last time she'd asked about Mia, Ralph had gushed about her. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's fine. We're still friends. We just realized we were better that way. I think both of us were a little upset about it at first, but we just hung out day before yesterday and nothing felt weird."

"That's good. And Patty? Are she and Daisy still together?"

"Still as together and disgustingly in love as ever."

Paige gave a little laugh. "That's good."

"Patty says they're still too young, but I wouldn't be surprise if Daisy proposes this year."

"Wow."

"Yeah." Ralph was silent a moment. "How's Walter?"

"He's good. Are…are you asking for a particular reason?"

"No. He just mentioned he had a bad headache, and I know he's gotten them more frequently lately."

"He's stressed. You know how he gets when he feels like he needs to solve a problem and he can't." Paige picked at a loose string on her jeans. It was going to cause a run when she pulled it out, she knew that. But she also knew it was bothering her, so she was going to pull it out. "And I know later this year is going to be hard on him too, with it being ten years since his sister died. Don't worry about him, baby. I'll take care of him."

"You do a good job with that."

"Not to toot my own horn or anything," she joked, "but I know. Well, I'm sure you need to get to class."

"It's okay."

"No, you don't want to be marked late."

Ralph laughed. "No mom, I'm the TA."

"Oh." Paige laughed. "Well, still, if you're fifteen minutes late, they're allowed to leave."

"Ha, yeah. I'll talk to you in a few days, okay?"

"Sounds good. I'm looking forward to it already."

"Because I'll always be your baby."

"You knew what I was going to say next." Paige was smiling. "Love you, sweetheart."

"Love you too, Mom."


"Our friendly copilot is not joining us on the return trip, so unfortunately you'll have to deal without a second season of Simon Says," Happy said.

"Can I sit in the cockpit with you?" Toby asked.

"You may. Just keep your hands to yourself. I'm going to be flying through some turbulence again and I don't need your games."

"I'm insulted that you think I wouldn't be professional," Toby said, throwing a wink Walter and Paige's way.

Paige rolled her eyes. So did Happy, but she had a smirk on her face. "Come with me, pervert."

Toby grinned as he followed her into the cockpit.

"Yay, turbulence again," Florence said. "Just what I was hoping for."

"Well, not to worry," Sylvester said. "I have extra motion sickness bags."

"Aw, you take care of me." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Seriously though, I hope you brought a lot. Oh, check it out." She tapped her belly, and Sylvester put his hand over the spot, grinning.

"Ah, we're feeling kicks now, huh?" Paige asked.

"We were pretty sure we could feel them starting two weeks ago, but it's definitely what's going on now," Florence said. Sylvester kept his hand on her belly, looking down at it, and Florence kept her eyes on him, a smile on her face.

The adoring way in which she was looking at him made Paige's heart flutter. She disguised it with a grunt as she looked at Walter. "Mushy stuff, right?"

"You saying you want me to stop looking at you like that?"

She shifted her weight, resting her head on his shoulder. "Absolutely not."


Paige yawned and stretched. Her and Walter's fingers were threaded together, and she straightened hers, stretching them before curling them back around her husband's. She sat up, craning her neck around to look out the window. There were clouds below, but she could make out mountains.

Second glass of wine, just over the Rockies. She didn't see the signs, but it was plain as plain can be. Buckle up, here comes love, looks like cupid just showed up. Let him on, let him by…

The plane jostled slightly. Paige glanced over to where the Tipton – Dodds sat. Sylvester was asleep, his head tipped back against the wall. Florence was laying against him, legs tucked up, head on his chest. She was awake, but didn't appear to be nauseous. Their eyes met, and she gave Paige a small smile.

Paige stretched her hand again, then tightened it around Walter's. He opened his eyes and squeezed her hand back, shifting his weight and grunting quietly. "These seats aren't comfortable anymore," he mumbled.

"Yes they are, you just haven't moved a muscle in two hours."

"Fair."

I'm calling it off, I'm taking the dog, and don't try to follow. She thinks she's a big star now…

"What?"

"Hmm?"

Walter gave her an amused look. "You were mumbling something."

"Oh. Song stuck in my head. When I saw the mountains."

"Rocky Mountain High?" Florence asked, her eyes half closed.

"No," Paige said, "though that's much less obscure than where my brain went."

She thinks she's a big star now; she made the Hollywood round of American Idol. Thirty minutes later she felt sorry for him a little; she moved from her seat on the aisle to the middle. Buckle up…

A loud metallic sound accompanied the plane lurching to the side, one of the suitcases dropping from the overhead and smashing open. Paige yelped in surprise. Sylvester's eyes flew open. "What – "

The plane corrected, shuddering and dipping but leveling out. Then there was another loud crashing sound, and it tipped dramatically to the side again. Paige held onto the back of the seat in an effort to not go flying. "Walter, don't!" She shouted when he used one of his arms to wrap around her, the hand on the seat back slipping. "I've got it, you hang on!"

"Happy, Toby, what the Hell?" Florence shouted. She and Sylvester were on the side of the plane that the lean was toward, so their concern was the luggage flying out of the compartments on Walter and Paige's side.

"We're being attacked!" Happy shouted. "Something's out there!"

"Maybe it'a a bird?" Paige suggested. "Birds collide with planes."

"It's too big to be a bird," Walter said. "And birds usually aren't made of metal."

"Then what is it? Happy!"

"We don't know!" came Toby's voice. "Let her fly!"

Happy's voice came over the speaker. "Just call me Harmon Rabb."

There was a third collision. The plane careened forward, seemingly in a nose dive. Slightly more secure in her seat, Paige's mind immediately went to her husband. He'd had multiple major head injuries in the time she'd known him. He'd been having headaches recently. What if…

"We're going down!" Happy shouted.

"I'm coming!" Walter yelled, getting to his feet just as there was another jostling,

"No you're not!" Paige shouted, her eyes widening in horror as the masks descended from the ceiling. "We're depressurizing!" She grabbed one mask, a fistful of Walter's shirt in her other hand. She knew the protocol. Secure your own mask before helping someone else. She didn't care. She shoved the mask into Walter's hand before grabbing her own and slipping the strap over her head.

"Get in your seats and buckle up!" Toby shouted. "She's going to try to land it in a clearing that's supposed to be up…"

He didn't get a chance to finish. Something else hit the plane, causing a light and roaring sound from the tail end. Oh, God, Paige thought. Whatever was attacking them, it had torn the plane open."

Amber, Amber, Amber…

She looked over at the Tipton – Dodds. Their masks were on, and they were staring at each other, wide – eyed. His arms were wrapped around her, and hers were curled protectively around her belly.

The plane dropped lower, the incline going up toward the front so steep the fallen luggage was sliding toward the door to the cockpit. The first suitcase hit the door with a loud thud just as there was another impact to the plane.

Paige looked out the window. The mountains were close. Too close. Rushing toward them.

She pulled Walter to her, wrapping her arms around his head, swearing she'd sacrifice herself before she'd allow him to take that kind of impact again.

The ground rushed toward them. There was one, two, three, four large bumps, then a combination of metallic screeches, debris falling, and a loud, long scream from Sylvester.

Then everything went black.