Seeing Red

AN: I threw this story together in a hurry, so I didn't do a lot of editing. Excuse any abuse to the English language, please.

It couldn't be true. No way. Not really.

But, heaven help her, it felt true. If one of her deepest fears was losing Walter to another woman, then the most pressing problem was why was she still in an increasingly distant long-distance relationship? One that should have been perfect. One that looked perfect on the surface. But underneath it was, well …kind of boring. Like something very important was missing. She just didn't want to think too hard about what that something might be.

The ergot must have affected her differently. That's all. Either that or her amygdala was being very disloyal to her incredibly nice boyfriend.

Paige flipped through a magazine at the salon waiting for her usual hair dresser to finish with his previous appointment, the acidic smell of dyes and other chemicals assailing her nose and making it twitch. She felt like she needed a change, wanted a different look for some reason, but she couldn't find a style that appealed to her in the glossy pages of the magazine in her lap. And it didn't help that all her focus was elsewhere.

It was uncomfortably warm in the room making her shirt stick to her back where she came in contact with the vinyl and chrome chair. Or was it her thoughts making her too warm?

What woman in her right mind would choose Walter over Tim? She'd have to be crazy, wouldn't she? Walter was difficult, weird, arrogant, rude, and he always felt the need to be right all the time. Except now she understood his motives.

And he was focusing so hard trying to improve himself. She was finding it way too… cute. He was growing by leaps and bounds lately. He was so much happier. People were starting to like him. Soon any woman would adore him and be lucky to have him. Because he would be able to love completely in return. He wouldn't need Paige anymore. She wouldn't be the only 'normal' who was different toward him. Why did that thought fill her with such loneliness and dread? Surely it was just because she'd be working herself out of a job.

"Ms. Dineen? Antoine is ready for you now."

Paige dropped the magazine on the cheap IKEA coffee table amongst the stack of others and followed the girl with the bright pink, spiky hair; she thought her name was Pixie or something, listening with half an ear as she smacked her gum and asked if Paige was just there for a trim or if she wanted a shampoo and blow dry too. They wended their way between the sinks and past the bank of dryers currently occupied by gossipy old ladies sporting heads liberally dotted with aluminum foil squares and finally they meandered toward the back corner and Antoine's station. The liaison still couldn't decide exactly what she wanted to do with her hair. She just knew she wanted something different. Something that would lift her spirits a bit. Make her feel gorgeous.

Giving Pixie a distracted smile, she answered a bit belatedly, "I'm not entirely sure what I want yet, but I have time to do the works today. I'll start with a wash if you don't mind."

Paige actually had plenty of time.

It was Saturday and her son and his lab partner were at the garage with Walter. They were all working on a science project together. The boys decided they wanted to design and build a pair of stunt flying drones that could dog fight in the air. When Ralph informed her they needed to work on them at the garage, he spared her most of the technical jargon, but explained to her they didn't have the essential materials or tools at home and they didn't have the room to do test flights either.

She'd had to prompt Ralph to ask permission first. She reminded him that he couldn't just assume that Walter was free or that he wouldn't mind both of the boys hanging around his home over the course of several evenings and on one whole Saturday. What if he was busy? Or he wanted some time alone? Or had a date? Why did that thought make her a little sick?

But Paige should have known better. Walter not only agreed immediately, but with much enthusiasm. And she knew he'd thrown in way too much money on the project while assuring her the boys were mostly using spare parts.

The last few evenings after work while the kids tinkered with their drones under Walter's supervision, Paige had volunteered to provide dinner for them. It was the least she could do when the man was spending so much of his time and his own money on her child. And she would be lying if she said she wasn't enjoying the time spent with her boss after hours. It felt solid. And safe. And intimate… like a family. They were together even more now than when she was helping him to apologize to everyone he might have offended at one time or other. Recently she'd been missing more and more Skype calls with Tim trying to convince herself it was because of Ralph's assignment.

She tried to relax as the warm spray massaged her scalp. Ralph did his best to respect her decision to be with Tim. He really did. He made an effort to relate to the former SEAL for her sake. But he was a twelve year-old and she could read him like a book, at least regarding this subject. And he couldn't be more obvious if he wrote his preference on his forehead. He never said it out loud directly to her, but it was no secret the boy really wanted Walter to be his dad.

The previous night, she'd been cleaning up after dinner and Walter went upstairs to look for his fusion splicer. The boys were standing over by Happy's workstation when Paige overheard Lukas gush to Ralph, "Your dad is SO cool! He knows everything about the fiber optics we want to use!"

It really hurt her feelings to hear her son answer in a small voice, "Oh, uh, Walter's not my father."

The other boy looked confused. "Oh, it seems like it. I thought…"

Before he could finish, Ralph interrupted, "My biological father lives in Maine. But I wish Walter was my dad."

Using the logic of tween-age boys, Lukas shrugged and said, trying in his own way to be reassuring, "Maybe your mom will marry Walter. Then he could be your stepdad."

Her son was quiet for a few seconds then he mumbled dejectedly, "My mom doesn't like Walter like that. She's with someone else. My Uncle Toby says they're better off as friends."

If her heart wasn't twisting from the sad note in Ralph's tone, she might have called Toby and grilled him. When exactly had the shrink said that to her son? And why was she so upset by it? It was the truth. She agreed with his assessment, didn't she? Paige had firmly friend zoned Walter a few weeks ago. Sure, they were 'special friends', but that's all she wanted, right?

Pixie had to tap her shoulder to get her attention. "Earth to Ms. Dineen!" She said grinning as she squeezed Paige's hair out and wrapped it in a turban. "Are you in there?"

Paige huffed out a little laugh. "Sorry. I was miles away."

The girl led her to Antoine's chair. She sat and was twirled around to face the mirror.

"How can I make you beautiful today, Paige?" Antoine said in lieu of a normal greeting, as he smiled warmly at her. He deftly undid the towel around her head and he snapped a cape and draped it about her shoulders. As he began combing her hair out with a wide toothed comb, he met the liaison's gaze in the mirror eyebrows raised, waiting.

The crimson color of the cape was the same hue as the shirt Walter had been wearing in the seed vault that day. She loved that particular color on him. He was wearing that shirt when she was hallucinating. When she saw him kiss…

"I want to keep the length. But I think I'd like to go red. Could we maybe try soft, red waves?"