Aftermath

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

Hi- thanks for visiting! This is my first fic for Scorpion, so I hope you like my take on what happened after series 4. I have watched the last episode only once and will not watch that one again unless we get a series 5! I watch all the other episodes on repeat though, and love this series very much. We've had such an awful ending, but I'm hopeful the writers will find a way to tell us what they had planned for a decent resolution.

Please enjoy my story- and be kind!

Chapter One- 'Pain is the price you pay for love.' (Quote from S4 E10)

Walter was working on his computer reviewing a project he was completing for Mr Elia- Richard. He really had to get used to calling him that, but truthfully he just called him Elia in his head and it seemed to stick in his brain for some reason. The project was complicated and interesting but Walter's heart just wasn't in it today. He kept noticing the silence- no hammering or welding coming from Happy's section of the garage- no scraping of chalk on the board from Sly or tomfoolery from Toby, but the sound he missed most was Paige's soft voice talking to her son.

He missed them all so much- it was almost like a physical pain stabbing at his heart every time something reminded him of them.

A mosquito humming... stab... he'd think of Sly screaming and reaching for his bug spray.

The phone ringing... stab... Paige talking to a client negotiating a good deal.

'You've got it bad, stop mooning over Paige, 197'... stab...Toby goading him trying to make him turn red when he was caught admiring Paige.

Happy too- all of them, but worst of all was the stab he felt thinking of Ralph. That was more like a physical blow, he missed that boy more than anything. He'd always pronounced that he didn't feel emotions, so why did he feel like this? Paige had changed him more than he'd realised, and now he really wished she hadn't, almost wishing his EQ would drop so low he could forget them all and immerse himself into his work, but that didn't seem to be happening, even invading his dreams when he slept fitfully now and again.

That was the reason he'd put the garage up for sale and taken a job with Elia. He had to leave that vast property where memories lurked at every corner. He truly wasn't pleased about it- working for Elia meant every day contact with humans- it wasn't going to be easy, but Elia promised him he'd only have a handful of people to work with... the best minds he could find- just not geniuses of course. He'd have an apartment too, white and sterile with just a small space for his personal computers. It was very displeasing, but he had to do this not just because of being alone, but also for Paige and Ralph. If he kept Scorpion going, they'd share the work available and Paige needed all the money she could earn for Ralph's education. Jobs were hard to find and money short enough when they had been just one team, so Walter had to let Centipede win. He knew he'd never save enough lives to feel like he'd repaid his debt regarding Baghdad, but at least Paige and Ralph- the others too- would be fine.

The silence was deafening tonight and he slammed down his papers and went to get a coffee. He seemed to drink bucket loads of the stuff lately, he was sure it was the only thing keeping him going- he'd lost interest in food, even though Cabe and Allie tried hard to get him to eat regularly.
They were out tonight at a theatre, in actual fact Walter had bought them the tickets. He found it hard to see the pity and concern in their eyes every time they looked at him and just wanted to wallow in his loneliness for once, but in reality it was just too hard to bear. With them there, without them, it was all the same. Loneliness. Silence. He smiled wryly, imagining Know-It-All Toby saying 'Boy, you're so messed up 197!'

~OooO~

Ralph was sitting at his desk at Centipede HQ. 'Stupid name' he thought morosely.

He looked around, sighing, then quietly opened his laptop, typing quickly. He kept looking around as he typed- he didn't want anyone to know what he was doing. He'd done the same action several times these past weeks and luckily no one had found out what he'd been up to. He'd get in a whole heap of trouble if anyone- especially his mom- found out. He couldn't help it. He missed Walter so much. The others tried to keep him engaged but it just wasn't the same. They were great, spending a lot of time with him but he missed Walter's brain and to be totally honest, he thought of him more like a father than a friend. Heck, (sorry mom) he understood Ralph better than anyone else ever had. They were alike and Walter had been through a lot of stuff that Ralph faced at school every day. OK, he admitted it. He loved Walter and knew Walter loved him. He just needed to...

Just then Toby walked past the desk where he was sitting.
'Hey what are you doing, pal? Anything interesting?'

Ralph quickly minimised the page he'd been looking at. 'No, just homework.' he said with what he hoped was an innocent look- you couldn't fool Toby. He was lucky this time though as Happy dropped the wrench she was using and a choice word flew out of her mouth as it crashed onto her foot.

Toby quickly covered Ralph's ears with his hands and sang (à la Ricky Ricardo): 'Sweetheart, you have some 'splaining to do. Indmay ouyay anguagelay' tossing his head towards Ralph and back.

'Stupid wrench hit my toe- sorry, Ralph' she continued weakly with a thunderous look on her face.

Ralph breathed easier as Toby walked off to Happy and reopened his computer. On the screen, he saw Walter striding over to the coffee machine. He'd hacked into the CCTV at the garage. He wiped away a tear- he had to see what Walter was doing and how he was holding up, even if he couldn't talk to him. He'd been watching a little whenever the feeling of sadness came over him. Just to see Walter working comforted him, even if just for a minute or two- he wasn't a stalker! Just checking Walt was OK ... He saw a man enter the garage, and saw him talking to Walter.

No! He hit Walter! The man just punched Walter in the stomach and Walter went down! Ralph looked around at the rest of the team, and his mum in a panic. Walter needed help! What should he do? The man hit Walter again and drew blood. Ralph knew he'd have a lot of explaining to do, and that he'd be in big trouble but Walter was in a worse fix. He had to do something.

'Guys' he cried 'Walter's in trouble! ...'

To be continued...