"We're all in the same game; just different levels. Dealing with the same hell; just different devils." – Unknown
Fading
Chapter Seven
~ SCORPION ~
"This is your loft?" Ralph's eyes were wide open after he and Walter climbed the stairs of the barn to view the older genius's old study space. It wasn't a terribly large room, but it comfortably fit a double bed, a few trunks and book cases as well as a telescope facing outside of the window. There were posters decorating the walls – most of them rocket blueprints – and a vintage computer in the corner.
Walter nodded with a small smirk. "I spent a lot of my summer nights here… I'd stay up really to chart the stars, and because my mom didn't want me wondering from the barn to the house after dark, she and my dad installed a second bed up here for convenience. I'm surprised this place hasn't changed since I was last here." He swiped his finger along the computer desk and smudged the dust away with his thumb and forefinger. "It definitely could use some cleaning."
"When were you here last?" Ralph asked as he mindlessly made his way over to the telescope.
"Oh, I was probably sixteen… maybe seventeen." Walter replied as he turned on one of the lamp lights.
Ralph nodded distantly as he moved over from the telescope to one of the blueprints on the wall. "Was this the one you—"
"Hack into NASA to download?" Walter finished the boy's sentence with a smirk and then nodded. "The very one."
"Cool," Ralph grinned as he picked up a book off of the bookcase nearby and thumbed through it. "Are you sure I can't stay here?"
"I'm sure." Walter nodded as he tossed one of his bags onto the bed. A plume of dust and dirt filled the air, causing both geniuses to cough. "It's too dusty right now," Walter added between coughs. "Perhaps once I clean it up a bit we can re-discuss the issue, but for right now, it might be best if I stay out here. Okay?"
Ralph signed in understanding. "Okay."
Before the boys could continue their conversation (wherever it was leading), they jumped to a squeak coming from downstairs. Walter overlooked the loft's railing and spotted Paige walking inside with a pile of sheets bundled in her arms. Immediately, Walter pretended he was busy rummaging through his bag, acting like he didn't notice her approaching the stairs.
Ralph chose not to say anything and made his way back to the telescope. He glanced through the lens, knowing it was better to stay out of any conversation that might happen between his mother and Walter.
When she made it to the top of the stairs, Walter glanced at her when her foot creaked on the top step before returning to his empty task. Paige neatly placed the folded sheets and blankets on top of the trunk near the stairs. When neither genius would look her way, she chose that moment to interrupt the awkward silence.
"Louise asked me to bring these sheets to the loft in the barn. She figured the current ones would need washing." Paige said quietly after clearing her throat to capture anyone's attention.
Ralph suddenly realized he wanted to be anywhere else and said, "Cool loft, Walter. I'm going to… check my email." Without much effort, Ralph wormed his way around his mother and swiftly left the barn, leaving the awkward silence to the adults.
Paige dared to take a few more steps away from the stairs and crossed her arms. "I can see where you got your inspiration to call your apartment in the garage the loft…"
"Hn," was all Walter said in response before he mindlessly began stripping the bed. He was willing to do anything to keep himself busy as long as he didn't have to directly speak to her.
A brief but deafening silence filled the air between them before Paige curled a strand of hair behind her ear and stammered, "W-well goodnight…" She whirled around to make her way back down the stairs, but Walter's response stopped her dead in her tracks.
"How long are you staying?"
Paige didn't turn around as she absentmindedly placed her right hand over her lower belly. "I don't know…"
"So you and Ralph aren't leaving tomorrow?" Walter's voice sounded a tad hopeful, but he tried his best to mask it with disinterest.
"If I bring Ralph back to LA tomorrow, he'll regress again; I just know it. He's… happier here for obvious reasons… I don't think I should ruin that for him so soon." Paige replied softly, unable to tell Walter the truth behind their extended stay. "I don't know what he's told you, but this afternoon was the first real conversation we've had in weeks. I'm not ready to say goodbye to that just yet."
Walter nodded slowly, relieved the boy wasn't leaving just yet. But then he had to ask, "Won't they miss you?"
Paige spun around at this and frowned. "They?"
"You know, Team 'Centipede,'" he replied, giving the last word in his response air quotes. "I'm surprised they didn't follow you here since they happen to follow you everywhere else."
"What's that supposed to mean," Paige arched her brow, stepping closer to Walter. "I'll have you know, Team Centipede is an equal partnership. I'm not the leader; we all make equal decisions for how to operate, so even though you think your old teammates are too immature to act on their own, they'll be completely fine while I'm gone. And besides, Cabe's there; he said he'd help out with translating while I'm away."
The last comment was a sore spot for Walter; the idea of Cabe leaving Scorpion was still a fresh wound he hadn't recovered from yet. Not really wanting to get into another verbal battle with Paige, he grumbled, "Whatever," and turned his back to her as he took the pillows off of the bed.
Paige inhaled deeply before poising herself. She turned around again and started for the stairs. "For what it's worth," Paige's voice wavered a little, "they all miss you… especially Cabe."
Walter swallowed thickly and paused briefly before turning to fetch the clean sheets. "If that's your way of asking me to go back to the states and work on your team, then stop. I'm not going back, and nothing will change my mind."
Paige inhaled and exhaled deeply as his words cut her like a knife. "I see…" She walked down a few steps and paused before turning back towards him. "You know, Cabe had such high hopes for you; he believed you would come back to LA if you knew how much everyone still cares for you…."
Walter scoffed. "Yeah right. Friends don't stab other friends in the back."
"Oh, you mean, just like boyfriends don't cheat on girlfriends?" Paige couldn't help herself; even if she came to terms that Walter didn't actually cheat on her, the pain of finding out that he went to that stupid lecture with another woman still really got under her skin.
"I didn't cheat!" Walter exclaimed almost too loudly, throwing his hands out in exaggeration.
"But you still went!" Paige matched his tone, marching back up the stairs towards him. "But what's worse is that you lied about it! You told me the convention was cancelled; next thing I know, I find out the conv
ention wasn't canceled, and you've taken a different girl! Did you honestly think I would be okay with that?!"
"The only reason I asked Florence is because I didn't want to waste the tickets, and I knew she had a general interest in the topic; that's all!" Walter defended himself as he crossed his arms in front of him and frowned deeply. His nostrils flared before adding.
"Then why did you tell me it was canceled?! If you didn't want to waste the ticket, then why bother lying to me? I would have gone! We planned to go already!" Paige fumed, not backing down for an instant. "I should have known that the moment you dreamt about her, we would fade into nothing."
Walter heaved an aggravated sigh as he clenched his fists together. "First of all, that dream was just a stupid dream, and I've blocked it out of my mind for months. Second, the reason we didn't go together is because I overheard you talking to Ralph, telling him how much you really didn't want to go to the lecture. Ralph didn't even seem all too interested either, which made me feel like I was burdening you. That's why I lied about the convention. I was trying to spare your feelings since you obviously didn't want to go."
Paige felt a small twinge in her gut as she remembered telling her son how much she wasn't looking forward to that night. "I would have gone," she defended herself. "Even if I wasn't ecstatic about it, I still would have gone."
"Yes, but you would have wished you were somewhere else, having the time of your life." Walter snapped, not buying her response. "I never forgot what you said that night… how much you hated the life we had… how you wished I was more normal… how you hated how obsessive I am about facts… At first, I thought you were crazy for being so irrational, and maybe you were, and I thought about the many different ways I could attempt going after you, to prove you wrong, but," Walter turned away from Paige and walked towards the window, "when I noticed Scorpion's funds were continuously slipping, that all of my business clients were being taken away, I realized that Mark Collins was right. You and I… we're just way too different. Oil and water. It'll never work."
"Well, in some way, it's going to have to." Paige clucked her tongue, and the genius glanced at her, cocking his eyebrow. Without a word from him, she continued as she mindlessly placed her right hand over her lower belly. "Otherwise, I'll be raising another fatherless child by myself."
~ SCORPION ~
WriterFreak001: DUN DUN DUNNNNN
