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

Chapter Four- The Wrong Path

'Walter?' Cabe called as he entered the garage, carrying three cups of coffee. 'Are you here?'

'Over here!' Florence's voice called back.

Cabe followed the sound, handed her a cup and looked at the pair of legs protruding from underneath some sort of contraption.

'What's he doing?' he queried. 'Walter! Coffee's up!'

Walter slowly appeared from underneath the machine he was working on, and wiped his hands on a towel before taking the coffee.

'Thanks!' he said 'That's good coffee!' he added as he walked over to his desk and started typing on his laptop.

Cabe and Florence exchanged a look of slight exasperation. Florence left the garage with a slight nod of her head, not saying anything except a quiet 'goodnight.'

'Now Where's she off to in such a hurry?' Cabe wondered but turned back to Walter. 'Walter, can you explain to me exactly how we're supposed to take on this job you've booked us to do, when we don't have Happy's winch to use? Are we supposed to move those rocks by hand?'

Walter continued to type, muttering numbers as he pressed on the keys, seemingly not hearing Cabe's words or even acknowledging his presence any further. Cabe grabbed the laptop, and jerked it out of Walter's hands.

'Hey!' Walter cried, trying to grab back the machine. 'What the...'

Cabe moved the laptop so that he could see what was on the screen, but couldn't make any sense of it. 'Walter, what are you doing, and how the heck are we going to complete this job?' he repeated.

Walter sighed, and scrubbed at his face as if waking up from a dream. 'It's all in hand!' he said, reaching out for the laptop.

'Explain!' Cabe demanded, still keeping hold of the laptop.

'Fine!' Walter said, taking a swig of his coffee and finally became more alert to his surroundings. 'But you're not gonna like it!'

'Try me.'

'Alright. Well, I've been in contact with a few... people who are going to help me build my own winch, and help with Scorpion.'

'Well, that's good, isn't it? Who exactly are these people?'

Walter evaded Cabe's eyes as he said 'One of them's a mechanic. A genius like us- maybe with an IQ equal to Happy's of 184. She's helping me design my winch. It's very similar to Happy's, but has some improvements, for example...'

Cabe cut Walter off. 'Who is this mechanic? Is she coming here?'

'Well, no. She can't. She has a disability and can't travel. We've been communicating by internet.'

'How do you know she's legit? Could be anyone!'

Walter scoffed. 'No, Cabe. I've hacked her details. She's good.'

'Well, where did you find this mechanic...?' Cabe waved his hand as if waiting for a name.

'Her name's Grace, and er... she actually found me. Emailed me- doesn't have face time.' Walter had the grace to look a bit sheepish. 'But she's OK! Trust me, Cabe! Her profile didn't show much, but my research into her told me that she doesn't pose a threat to either Scorpion or Homeland! She's shown me how to build this winch. I actually think it's better than Happy's. Her idea is...'

'At what price?' Cabe interjected.

Walter sighed. 'She just wants a cut of the job, which is fair enough. Actually, I've asked her to join Scorpion. She's one of us, and will be an asset to the team, you'll see!'

Cabe opened his mouth to retort, but just then looked down at the laptop. He looked from the screen to Walter, and then back again, then pushed the laptop towards Walter with a scowl on his face.

'You gotta be kidding me!' he exclaimed. 'What the hell, Walter! Have you completely lost your mind?'

'I er... ' Walter began, taking back the laptop with a jerk. 'It's not what it seems...'

'I think it's clear enough. Not only have you employed some... person you've found who knows where, you're also communicating with Mark Collins- again! Don't you ever learn, Walter? That guy is poison!'

'Look, it's not like that. He's just been communicating from jail now that he's not in high security any more. He's done some brilliant work, Cabe! We're not discussing the work Scorpion or Homeland's doing, just throwing some research around. He's been looking into an interesting study. His theory is fascinating...'

'I can't believe this! He has you completely hoodwinked. You're totally blindsided by this guy! He just wants to harm you- us, Walter! Can't you see that?'

'Cabe...'

'No, Walter. This is wrong.' Cabe stated angrily, 'Collins can't be trusted. He tried to kill Toby!'

'I know but... I...' Walter looked at Cabe, but didn't know what to say. He'd known Cabe wouldn't be happy with him reconnecting with Collins, which was why he hadn't told Cabe when Collins had reached out to him.

Cabe cut him off, distressed and furious. 'He tried to put me away, Walter! If it wasn't for Sly...' Cabe was too angry to notice Walter flinch at the name. 'Is that all the respect you have for me! After I stuck by you all this time!'

Walter understood that Mark had done bad things, but he had been mentally... impaired... at the time. He was improving now and wanted to help mankind to make up for his indiscretions- for the greater good. Of course Walter wouldn't trust him implicitly, but the research Collins was doing was truly remarkable.

'Cabe! Please, trust me. I can't... I can't lose you too. I'm not strong enough to lose all my family in one year. Please!'

Walter looked almost desperate, and annoyed and as upset as Cabe was, he had to stick by him no matter what. He couldn't leave the boy to fend for himself, he just wasn't 'human' enough to understand. He'd just have to closely monitor this situation, and make sure Walter was alright. He sighed, taking a deep breath. How he wished the others were here. They kept Walter on an even keel. He hoped Walter wasn't going down the wrong path...

To be continued...