Disclaimer: Scorpion and all its characters belong to someone else. Any similarities to other stories are unintentional.

Chapter Two- Baby Steps.

Paige was sitting at Centipede headquarters. They'd just got back from a job- the Beauchamp one in which she'd out bid Walter to get. She now wished she hadn't.

'Everyone!' she called softly. No one moved from their respective spot. Sylvester was almost furtively texting someone- she had no idea who, and Toby was bandaging Happy's arm where she'd received a bad burn during the job. 'Everyone!' she said louder. They all looked up. 'Can you come here, please?' she continued.

The others looked at each other. They were shattered and hungry after all the work they'd just put in on this job for the corporate company. They slowly meandered over to Paige's desk.

'Guys,' she began 'that was a complete disaster!'

'It wasn't that bad.' Toby retorted. 'Well, if you don't count the burn on Happy's arm...'

'As well as the fire in the building? It was completely gutted!' Paige interrupted.

'Yeah I suppose you could count that too, but to be fair, it wasn't our fault!'

'Yes, I'll give you that, it was sabotage...'

'Yeah- funny how that always seems to happen to us!'

'... then there's the fact we couldn't hack the system to reboot...'

'Well, it was obviously Walter's work. Walter installed his security overlay last year when we were with Scorpion. We couldn't possibly hack that- none of us could. It's too complex...' Sylvester broke in.

'You can't hack your own work?'

'No, it's Walter's software. We could follow the steps, but it's millions of lines of code.' Toby added.

'... and no one could think of a plan to get everyone out safely. It was pure luck we escaped with our lives...' Paige continued.

'Yeah. Shame, really. It was a nice building...'

'Was being the operative word. Toby- it's not nice now is it!'

'It only needs a bit of a rebuild, and decorating. Maybe a bit of...'

'Enough! It was an absolute disaster. We can't do this! We can't do it alone- without Walter and Homeland's backing.'

'Paige, Sly can hack nearly as well as Walter- and he's a human calculator. We've got a mechanical genius... and me! Remember we've got Ralph too! We don't need anyone else!' Toby stated.

'Let's face it, Toby.' said Happy. 'Walter's the brains... was the brain's... he usually came up with the plans. We all looked to him for the solution when there was none- creating a tsunami- stopping a hurricane- disarming nuclear weapons...'

'Well, OK there's that, but come on guys, we can do this... I need us to do this- well, my bank balance does!'

'No. Paige's right' Sylvester joined in. 'This is just hopeless. What shall we do, Paige?'

Paige looked at the group standing in front of her, three pairs of worried eyes looking to her to solve all their problems. The truth was, although Sly had asked her if she was the 'new Walter', she knew now that she had taken on too much. She could do the pitches but she just didn't think like them- or Walter. She couldn't solve the problems that came up on the job. The guys worked well, but they weren't as daring as Walter- Toby called it suicidal, but it was usually either Walter or Cabe that did the dangerous, crazy stuff- jumping onto a moving train, climbing down a dam. She sighed.

'Toby, Ralph's just a child- he is not part of this team! No, I'm sorry, guys. I don't know why I ever thought I could do this. I'm... I'm considering going back to waitressing. It's not much money but at least it's steady and Nemos said he'd have me back...'

'So that's it?' Happy raged 'You come here and mess with Walter's head. Dump him and start Centipede, but as soon as it gets tough you leave... again. You just gonna walk away from Centipede and us?'

'I'm sorry, but I've got Ralph to think of...'

'And us? What are we supposed to do now? We were blind to follow you! To trust you! You messed with Walt's head and ours too! You know what... you do what you gotta do but I'm outta here. I'm going to look for a new gig.' Happy stormed to the door. She looked back at her husband. 'You coming?'

Toby looked from Paige and Sylvester to Happy. 'You know, you do have a habit of that- running away. We never should have left Scorpion. It was the only home... family... most of us have ever had. I'm sorry, Paige. It's all over now.'

Happy and Toby left and Sylvester looked stricken. 'Paige?' He stuttered. 'It's all happening again...'

'It's OK, Sylvester. You go home. I understand.'

Sylvester scuttled out of Centipede head quarters as quickly as he could. He hated conflict, and this seemed to be a regular occurrence now- first with Walter, then Centipede. He didn't know what was going to happen, but he had to leave. Arguing hurt his head. He picked up his 'phone. 'F... Florence.. ' he said, leaving a message when there was no answer. 'This is Sylvester. Just er... calling you to confirm you received my er... text about our er... date tonight?...'

He took a deep breath, trying to get himself back in control. At least he had Florence to think about, she was like Megan in one respect- she calmed him, and boy, did he need that right now! His phone rang almost immediately. It was Florence! He felt his breath slowing down to an almost normal rate apart from a small flutter in his stomach, not caused by the conflict, but by anticipation of seeing Florence again. When she confirmed the date, and even said she was looking forward to it, he felt much better.

He would put his problems aside for the moment and enjoy thinking about his date. He just couldn't wait... oh but now he had to think about what he should wear! He may be a genius, but this dating game was hard. He wished Ralph were here to help him- he'd been a great wingman, for all that he was just a kid. He thought carefully. Should he wear a red or green vest over his shirt? Well, red is the colour of strength and confidence but he thought back- Ralph had told him from observing Florence's style preferences, as well as the paint colour of her lab that red wasn't the right choice. No, it's all about the lilac. Lilac it is!

He rushed to get the bus home to get ready, he couldn't wait, but a part of him remained melancholy. However much he tried to put it to one side, it was always there, hovering in the background- he wanted his family back together, Walter, Ralph- all of them. It was his fault. All of it, and now that he'd got what he wanted- Florence, it just seemed to make his heart soar with joy one minute and sadness the next. Well, one thing at a time... Florence first- he hadn't actually even seen how they'd really get on together yet. He had to give it a chance and time to find out, which was very exciting and thrilling. Baby steps, Sly, he thought. Baby steps!

To be continued...