Ray cooks, Toby discovers something about Allie and Walter has an epiphany.

(Thank you kindly for all the reviews so far, I hope you enjoy this chapter!)

CHAPTER 4.

"Come and get your Ray Burgers!"

It was a warm evening and most of the team were gathered out on the roof, enjoying a barbecue. Sylvester and Patty had gone to a council meeting and Ralph had gone with them for moral support. Ray, who had not been able to join them at the beach the day before, had insisted on being in charge of the cooking this evening.

"You do know that beef burgers are made of beef, right?" said Toby, crossing the rooftop towards Ray as smoke billowed out from the barbecue. "And chicken burgers are made of chicken."

"Of course I do, my medical friend," replied Ray, brandishing a spatula as Walter joined Toby. "And I get what you're saying, but you don't have to chow down on the finest cuts of my beautiful booty. The Ray Burger is a thing. Y'know, a brand. I'm just waiting for the patent to come through now."

"Don't hold your breath," grumbled Walter. "I'm still waiting for a response about the Walter O'Brien Centre Cut Meat Tube. It's been eighteen months."

Toby raised his eyebrows. "Wow," he said, sarcastically. "The Patent Office clearly don't know a processed meat revolution when they see one."

"Indeed," responded Walter, missing the sarcasm as usual as Ray flipped burgers onto their plates.

Toby was the first to take a bite, but his face fell into a frown as he chewed. He lifted his burger to eye level and peered closely at it. "I kinda feel I should be suturing this, not eating it," he said.

Ray turned to look at him with a questioning gaze. Toby held up his plate and Ray and Walter inspected the burger. There was clearly a large section of raw meat in the centre and Walter immediately put down his own plate before silently walking away to sit with Paige.

Ray simply skewered Toby's burger with a fork and put it back onto the hot cooking surface, just as Cabe appeared at his shoulder. "Geniuses," he began with a roll of his eyes. "They don't appreciate good food. Gimme one of those burgers. I prefer mine a little pink inside."

Ray grinned and handed a burger to Cabe, slapping him affectionately on the back with a little more force than was necessary.

Happy and Allie watched the scene with amusement as the sun began to set over Los Angeles. "I guess you still haven't persuaded Cabe to turn vegetarian?" asked Happy with a smirk.

Allie shook her head. "Not even close. I'm pescatarian now, though, after Toby told me about the benefits of fish oil for women of my age."

"I hope you punched him," responded Happy.

"But he's right, I'm not getting any younger," Allie replied. She glanced down at Happy's abdomen with a smile. She was starting to show now and the way the engineer was sitting in the canvas chair was accentuating her new curves. "How's your appetite today?" Allie asked her.

Happy screwed up her nose. "Better than when I was throwing up every day, I guess," she replied. "But I sure as hell ain't going anywhere near a Ray Burger. I can't believe I was so desperate to get pregnant, it totally sucks."

Allie smiled and patted her arm warmly. She knew that Happy was being flippant. She may not be enjoying every aspect of her pregnancy, but Allie knew she wouldn't change it for the world.

Just then Paige walked over with two burger-free plates of food. Neither of the other two women looked that impressed. "Um, I can see if we have anything else?" Paige said, with an apologetic smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Paige," replied Allie. "It looks delicious, I just… I guess I don't have much of an appetite today. I can't stop thinking about that poor man."

Paige sat beside her and gave her a sympathetic smile. "We all gave our statements to the police this afternoon," she said. "That's all we can do."

They knew very little about the circumstances of the murder. All Cabe had found out from his contact at the police department was that the veteran lifeguard had been pulled from the sea with a bullet wound to the chest. Cabe told them that, as far as he knew, there were no suspects yet.

Allie looked over to where Cabe and Patrick were starting on their second Ray Burgers of the evening and Paige and Happy exchanged a concerned glance. It was out of character for Allie to be so despondent.

"I know, ice cream!" announced Paige, suddenly. "Happy, when I was pregnant, my biggest craving was mint choc flavour."

Happy shook her head. "Can't stomach chocolate," she replied. "Do we have any strawberry fro-yo?"

"I think so," replied Paige. "I'll go check. Allie?"

"Fro-yo would be nice," agreed Allie and Paige got to her feet, exchanging another glance and an almost unnoticeable nod with Happy before walking off towards the door.

Happy kept Allie talking to prevent her from seeing Paige taking a quick detour to where Toby and Walter were sitting eating hot dogs, having both decided to give Ray Burgers a miss.

"Is something wrong, my love?" asked Walter as Paige approached.

Paige leaned forward slightly to avoid being overheard. "Possibly," she replied. "With Allie," she clarified. "Toby, Happy and I thought maybe you could talk to her? She seems really down today."

"Sure," replied Toby and Paige resumed her mission to find frozen yoghurt.

Happy glanced up as her husband walked over to them and the spouses exchanged a knowing look.

"I need to pee again," she announced, suddenly standing up and turning towards the door. "Stupid hormones," she added as she walked away.

Toby glanced at Allie's untouched plate of food. "Not hungry?" he asked with his eyebrows raised.

"Not really," replied Allie. She managed a small smile at Toby's enquiring expression. "I'm OK," she insisted. "I'm just thinking about what happened yesterday."

"The kid we pulled from the water, or the murdered lifeguard?" asked Toby.

"Both, I guess," replied Allie. "I don't know why. I mean, it's not the first murder to happen in LA."

Toby considered her response for a moment. "I think I know why," he replied, gently. "The lifeguard was about the same age as Cabe. When something like this happens it's only natural to draw parallels with our own lives."

Allie nodded slowly. "I guess," she agreed. "I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to Cabe." Tears suddenly sprung to her eyes.

Toby reached out and covered her hand with his. "Hey, Cabe's not going anywhere just yet," he tried to reassure her. "He's indestructible. He's survived five years of risking his life to save our asses, so he can survive anything."

Allie smiled weakly at him and Toby mentally noted her expression and every tiny gesture she made.

"Oh, that's not the only reason you're feeling a little introspective today, is it," he said, a little surprised at what he'd just observed. "You're throwing out a whole load of maternal markers," he explained. "You're broody!"

Allie drew a sharp breath. "No!" she insisted.

"Normal when someone you're close to is pregnant," Toby pointed out.

Allie shook her head. "Toby, you know it's far too late for me to be getting broody," she said. "Besides, my nieces and nephew are all I've ever wanted."

"They were," answered Toby, knowingly. "Before you met Cabe."

Allie blushed slightly.

"Now you're all loved up and living in domestic bliss," Toby winked. "And you've never been so happy, but you're starting to think there's something missing."

"Cabe lost his daughter years ago. I know he still thinks about her all the time, but we're too old for a baby now, even if my body was willing and able, which it isn't," replied Allie. "But… I guess I saw that poor boy, Josh, almost drown yesterday and…" she trailed off, not quite able to put her thoughts into words.

"Have you talked to Cabe about this?" asked Toby. Allie shook her head. "Maybe you should?" he suggested.

"We already have you guys, we don't need any more kids," Allie pointed out with a warm smile. "But I… I did start to look into fostering a few years ago. I decided I couldn't do it on my own and I haven't really thought about it since. Until very recently. I know Happy has some terrible stories to tell. If we could save just one child from going through what she did…" she trailed off and was encouraged by Toby's approving nod.

"Plenty of teenagers out there in need of a good home, with good parents," he pointed out. He paused to gauge her reaction before continuing. "Take it from me, that old guy you hang out with is a pretty good dad."

Allie blinked away tears again and let out a long, slow sigh. "Thank you," she said. "Maybe…. maybe I'll mention it to Cabe when we get home."

Toby nodded and smiled. "I think you might be surprised at his answer," he said, knowingly.

"Hey, guys, we have visitors."

Everyone turned at the sound of Paige's voice as she stepped back out onto the roof.

"Anthea?" Happy leapt to her feet in a panic as she recognised one of the women standing with Paige. "Is it the girls? Is something wrong?"

"No, no, they're fine," insisted Anthea and Happy breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to the younger woman beside her. "This is Kimberley, my sister. She wanted to meet you all."

Kimberley smiled weakly at the assembled crowd. "I was a lifeguard with Charlie Snyder. Anthea told me you were the last people to see him alive, before he… before he…"

"Charles Snyder? The murdered lifeguard?" queried Walter, stepping forward.

Paige frowned at his tactless response, acknowledging to herself that, despite his EQ advances in recent months, Walter still had a lot to learn about interacting with people. "We're so sorry about your friend," she said. "But we only met him very briefly yesterday."

Kimberley nodded sadly. "He was a good man," she said, quietly. "He didn't deserve this."

"If we can be of any assistance…" said Walter, trailing off because he wasn't really sure how to complete the sentence.

Cabe pulled him aside. "You know the cops are handling this investigation, son," he reminded Walter as Paige led Kimberley towards a chair to sit down.

"Yes, of course," replied Walter. "But… but…"

Seeing Kimberley's raw grief had hit him hard and Walter suddenly had an overwhelming urge to help her.

"But, we've assisted with homicide investigations before," he continued. "And Scorpion are obviously far better equipped than the police – mentally speaking, apart from anything else – to find the culprit and bring them to justice," he added with determination.

Cabe rolled his eyes. He knew that look all too well, there was no stopping Walter when he was in this mood. "I'll see what strings I can pull, son," he said, somewhat reluctantly. "But our involvement has to stay strictly unofficial, understood? This isn't a Homeland case."

"Of course, Cabe," replied Walter. "Don't worry, we won't cause any trouble."

xXxXxXxXxX

"Smell you later, One Ninety Seven!"

"Toby, wait," Walter called out and darted across the garage to catch his friend before he disappeared for the night. Walter was aware that Happy was already waiting in the truck for her husband, but he really needed to talk to Toby. "May I… may I ask your advice?"

"Excuse me? I think I need my ears syringed," replied Toby with a grin. "For a minute there I thought you were actually asking for my advice."

Walter frowned at him. "I'm being serious," he said, pulling out a chair for Toby to sit on. "It's about Paige. I… I'm confused."

Toby's expression softened. "OK, pal, I'm in," he said. "How can I help?"

"Paige wants to reorganise the furniture," Walter explained. "In… in the loft. There's no logical reason for it, b… but I agreed to it anyway. I just don't understand why she wants to do it."

"Did you ask her why?"

Walter shook his head. "No," he admitted. "I… I guess I should have asked her to explain."

"She probably wanted you to ask," Toby explained. "She wanted to explain, but she didn't feel she could just come out with it."

Walter frowned. "Why not? Do you have any idea what this is all about?"

"I think so," Toby replied. "She's still struggling with a few demons from last year and the loft holds a lot of memories for her. Most of them, I'm guessing, are pretty good memories," he added with a wink. "Am I right, Mister O'Love-God?"

Walter's face flushed and he cleared his throat in embarrassment.

"But it still looks exactly the same as it did a year ago," continued Toby, his face more serious now. "The same as it did two years ago and three years ago."

"The current layout is efficient and suits my needs," replied Walter with a confused frown. "Why would I change it?"

"Because some of those memories are not so good and the current layout is triggering the bad ones," Toby explained. "It's like seeing your old PE teacher in the grocery store and you suddenly get a flashback of being in gym class."

"Climbing rope in your underwear because Tommy Byrne stole your gym kit," added Walter.

Toby stared at him. "We really need to talk about that one day," he said. "But do you see what I mean about Paige."

"Hmmm," pondered Walter. "I think so."

"You need to talk to her about it," urged Toby. "You could just move the furniture around and that would be an immediate fix, but it won't resolve the issue long term."

"There are still s… some things from before… before, you know, that we haven't talked about," admitted Walter.

Toby patted his shoulder with affection. He was so proud of the way Walter had opened himself to Paige's needs and of how he tried so hard to consider her thoughts and feelings. "You're gonna have to push her a little on this one," replied Toby. "Reassure her that you believe her opinions are valid."

"Right," nodded Walter.

Just then, Paige walked in carrying the last of the plates from the roof. She stopped when she saw Toby and Walter talking. She just knew they were talking about her and she could feel her heartrate increase. Walter leapt to his feet and ran over to help her with the plates.

"Well, I really shouldn't keep my beautiful wife waiting any longer," said Toby. "It's not good for my gooty."

"Leave the plates," said Walter as the door closed behind Toby.

Paige allowed him to walk her towards the couch and they sat together. "I need to pick up Ralph from Sylvester's," she reminded him, with a glance at her watch.

"I know," replied Walter. "This won't take long. I… I just wanted to… to ask you about the loft."

"Oh," Paige answered. "Look, I'm sorry I mentioned it. You don't have to reorganise anything at all."

"I do," insisted Walter, reaching out and taking her hands in his. "B… because it's bothering you."

Paige looked away. "It's only some silly memories," she said.

"Ah, so Toby was correct," noted Walter.

"I knew you guys were talking about me," responded Paige. She didn't mind really, she trusted Toby to give Walter good advice, but it still made her feel a little uncomfortable. She made a mental note to ask Toby about it in their next therapy session.

"Look, Walter, it's your loft," she continued. "You can put the furniture wherever you want."

Walter's eyes widened as a sudden idea struck him. "Yes, it is," he said. His genius mind began to work overtime as he desperately tried to figure out all the details of his new plan plus a way to explain it to Paige, all in less than two seconds.

"You… you don't have to be quite so blunt about it," replied Paige, with mild annoyance.

"Oh… oh, I'm sorry," said Walter. "I… I didn't m… mean…" he stopped to take a breath and gather his thoughts. "I… I meant that you are correct. The loft is mine, my home. But it's not our home. We… we should… we could…. if you wanted to, that is…"

"Walter!" Paige's heart skipped a beat as she suddenly realised what he was trying to say. "Are you suggesting that we… that we move in together?"

"Yes, I am!" exclaimed Walter. An enormous sense of relief washed over him as he realised not only that she had understood his unintelligible ramblings, but also that she was smiling. The most wonderful smile he'd ever seen. "Paige, I love you. I want to be with you, all the time. B… but not here. I want to make new memories with you. A… and with Ralph, of course. As a family. In a family home. A… a place of our own. Is that… is that what you want too?"

Paige fell into his arms. She never wanted this moment to end. She wanted to hold onto this feeling forever. "Of course I do!" she replied, as tears of joy began to run down her cheeks. "I've never wanted anything more in my life. Walter, I love you so much."

To be continued...