A/N: Here's Chapter 2. The story is entirely from Walter's perspective, which is fun to write. With his low EQ, he's only a partially-reliable narrator, but I try at the same time to make him as relatable as I can, like the show writers tried to do. I think I do a better job of striking the right balance between relatability and hot mess of social ineptitude as we go along. It's difficult to build momentum in a narrative with a character who struggles with communication, so I apologize if he feels perhaps a little too evolved early on.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: See the one in the previous chapter.

Chapter 2: The Beginning

A week after Ralph's visit, Walter sat in Nemos's diner, in the exact spot where Ralph had been sitting when they first met. He held a salt shaker in one hand and a pepper shaker in the other, and his mind relived the chess match that had been the first indication of the boy's genius.

That had been the start of everything. If Walter hadn't seen a younger version of himself in the boy, he never would have invited Paige to become part of Scorpion, and he never would have fallen in love with her.

Throughout every phase of his relationship with Paige, his relationship with Ralph had been constant. He had tried hard to be a father-figure for the boy, and he saw Ralph's visit last week as evidence of his success at that. Now he was beginning to realize that, as much as his interest in Paige had helped drive his relationship with her son, his interest in Ralph had helped drive his relationship with her.

"About time, O'Brien." Walter spun around and saw Toby sitting at the table behind him, drinking a coffee. Once he was spotted, Toby grabbed his coffee and stood up, moving over to the bar beside Walter.

"Hello, Toby." Walter had no idea what to think. This had to be a coincidence, right? But since when did Toby stop at Nemos's for coffee?

"When I heard Ralph visited you last week, I had a feeling you'd wind up here. I'll admit, though, it took you longer than I predicted, especially since Scorpion 2.0 isn't getting that much work these days."

Walter chose to ignore the dig at his company. "You were waiting for me?"

"It's a good thing you finally showed up. Nemos was starting to think I was becoming a regular here."

"If you wanted to talk, why didn't you just call?"

"Well, you know, making a phone call ain't always the easiest thing to do. Takes a certain amount of… swallowing of the pride."

"Was that the beginning of an apology?"

Toby stayed silent for a moment. "And they say I'm the behaviorist." He took a sip of his coffee, and clearly didn't enjoy it.

"How did you know I would come here?"

"Because I know how you think. After Ralph visited you, you had what felt like an epiphany about your relationship with you-know-who. You're unable to get over her, and that proud genius mind of yours is desperate to figure out a way. Ergo, attribute everything to the boyo." He gestured to the salt and pepper shakers that Walter was still holding. "But you couldn't be sure, so you did what every confused mind does when it's trying to solve a problem: You began by retracing your steps."

Walter took a second or two to consider Toby's words. "And do think the… epiphany… is correct? Do you think the whole thing was about Ralph all along?"

"That's between you, the mother, and the son."

"You're an expert behaviorist. I'm asking for your professional opinion."

"And I'm not giving it to you. Some things you have to figure out for yourself, 197."

Walter looked at the salt and pepper shakers for a moment, before placing them back on the bar. Then he quickly returned them to their proper locations, recalling that Nemos was a stickler about it. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Happy and I are finalizing the adoption. We want you and Cabe to be there."

Walter smiled at this. He had wondered how the adoption process had been going, but hadn't felt like he was able to call and ask. This was… moving. "We?"

"Yes, the missus wants you there, too. And we've already told Sly and you-know-who that the two of you are coming."

"They're okay with it?"

"Sly is. But it's not their decision, it's ours." Toby placed a hand on Walter's shoulder. "You're still family, O'Brien. And lord knows Cabe is still going to be like a grandfather to our little girl, regardless of who's working for what company."

"It's a girl?"

"It's a girl. Her name's Maria. She's fourteen months old, and from the Philippines. The most beautiful little angel you'll ever meet."

"Congratulations."

"Thanks, man."

"I'll definitely be there. And you know Cabe wouldn't miss it for the world." It occurred to Walter that the other person in his life would probably have to skip this happy occasion. "I… I'm… Florence and I are dating now."

"I'm happy for you. She can't come."

"Yeah, I know."


The little girl's gaze was fixed on her new mother. Walter wondered what thoughts might be going through her tiny brain, and to what extent she might understand that the man whose lap she was seated on, and the woman whom she was staring at, were the people who would take care of her from now on, and whom she would look to for all of the critical lessons that she would need in life.

Toby and Happy, for their parts, were alternating looks between the judge and the little girl who was about to be their daughter. The judge was going through the formalities, but everyone in the room knew that he wasn't the center of attention right now.

Sylvester, Paige, and Ralph sat in the front row behind Happy and Toby, until Ralph got up and walked two rows back to where Walter and Cabe were sitting. Paige watched him get up and walk away, but never looked towards his destination. Walter smiled a little as Ralph sat down beside him.

"I'm glad you came," the boy said quietly.

"I couldn't miss this," Walter replied.

"She's incredibly lucky, isn't she? She gets to have two genius parents who are always going to be there for her."

Walter didn't miss the oddity in Ralph's tone as he said this. Was that… jealousy? "Have you heard from your father lately?"

"He called this week. He wants to come and visit, but… I don't think it's a good time right now."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think he should visit while Mom is… vulnerable."

Walter frowned. That wasn't clarifying at all, at least not to him. Paige was the strongest woman he knew. In what way was she vulnerable?

"I hear you, kid," Cabe said quietly from Walter's other side. "Just remember, he's still your old man. You should see him at some point."

Ralph gave a sort of half-shrug and looked up at Walter. Walter, for his part, was perfectly content with Ralph not wanting to see the inept man who had no idea how to relate to or be a role model for his son.

That was Walter's job. And as he watched Toby look down dotingly at his new daughter, he realized just how much he relished the role.

The judge banged his gavel and stood, and the clerk and bailiff smiled widely as they stood with him. Toby leaned down and kissed the top of Maria Quinn-Curtis's head, while Happy wiped at her eyes. Sylvester and Paige stood, and Walter, Cabe and Ralph followed suit.

Then everyone moved towards the new family, gathering in the center of the courtroom. The clerk took a picture of the judge with the new parents and their daughter, and then the judge took the camera himself and gestured for everyone to get together. Sylvester, Paige, and Ralph gathered around the family, while Walter and Cabe hesitated.

"Come on," said Toby, beckoning.

Cabe moved, but Walter stayed still. "Uh, are you sure?"

Surprisingly, it was Paige who responded, although she kept her gaze fixed on the camera. "Get over here, O'Brien."

Walter stepped up beside Ralph, who reached an arm up across his shoulders. When he smiled at the camera, it felt like the most genuine smile he had ever given in a picture.

Afterwards, Toby passed Maria to Happy and went over to the judge. "Thank you very much, Your Honor."

"Oh, it was my pleasure. I love finalizing adoptions. It's the only thing that ever happens in this courtroom where no one is losing something."

"Well, it's certainly the best reason I've ever had to be in one of these."

"Congratulations, Mr. Quinn-Curtis. Take great care of her."

"Oh, believe me, I will."


It had been a long time since Walter had last been at Toby and Happy's apartment, and everything looked wildly different. Happy had baby-proofed everything, and every room looked safer than a padded cell. Maria was placed in what was clearly a custom-made highchair, and sat in the center of the kitchen as all of the adults doted on her.

Walter stood off to the side, watching his former teammates celebrate like a family. This was what he had missed the most, even more than the lucrative jobs that they had been able to complete so efficiently when all together. They were a family.

And, according to Toby, he was still part of that family. He stepped towards the group, and saw Paige tense up a little bit, so he instead walked over to Sylvester. "Sylvester, how have you been?"

Sylvester had been in the middle of eating a cookie, and his eyes widened as he gestured to his mouth and held up his index finger. Walter waited, finding that this was not the most awkward of the possible responses to the question.

When Sylvester could speak again, he struggled. "I… I'm… Um." He fell silent for a moment, simply looking at Walter, then held out his hand for Walter to shake. Walter smiled, nodding appreciatively as he shook Sylvester's hand.

On instinct, he looked towards Paige, and found her watching the handshake. When she realized that she was caught, she immediately looked back at Maria, leaning down and giving a wide, fake smile.

That was the first time that Walter had caught her looking at him, but perhaps it hadn't been the first time she had looked.

Ralph came up on the far side of Paige and said something to her, and she turned to look at her son. While she was looking the other way, Sylvester leaned down close to Walter and spoke quietly. "Happy has something for you."

Walter looked up at him in surprise, then looked over at where Happy was standing at the counter with Toby. They were having a quiet, clearly intimate conversation, and Walter decided not to interrupt, eager as he was to find out what Sylvester was referring to.

By the time Paige looked away from Ralph, Sylvester was fully upright again and looking as though he hadn't said anything at all. Walter felt his spirits lift even higher as he realized that the rest of Centipede was going behind Paige's back for him. This must have meant that they were on his side. It also meant that Sylvester had come to his senses about Walter not having done anything at all to win Florence's attraction, even if he wasn't yet ready to apologize aloud for his outburst on that awful day.

As Paige steadfastly avoided him, he engaged happily with the rest of the team, until he finally got the chance to talk privately with Happy. They were having a normal conversation until Walter saw Paige look the other direction. "I hear you have something for me?"

Happy quickly looked over towards Paige. "Come with me." She led him into her workshop, which was the only room that looked the same as it had before.

"You didn't baby-proof in here?"

"Maria isn't coming in here until she's old enough. I still need my private space."

"Understandable."

"Walter, I'm giving you a job. Obviously, Paige can't find out about this." She walked over to her desk and picked up a dossier, handing it to him.

He quickly scanned it. "The Hudson Tunnel. They read our report?"

"Some of them. Unfortunately, and predictably, not most of them."

"This is mostly engineering work. Your area of expertise."

"Well, I'm not about to go spend a few days in New Jersey. My priorities are different now. Anyway, the resources will be very limited, so this will be efficiency over perfection."

"As always. Another temporary quick-fix to stave off the next great recession."

"As long as half of Congress continues to think of New York as the enemy, Superstorm Sandy will continue to be the gift that keeps on giving. A round-trip flight for three to Newark is already booked."

"They paid… wait, three?" Walter quickly did the math and looked up from the dossier. "Happy, tell me you didn't use Team Centipede funds to—"

"No, Toby and I paid for it ourselves. Our own income is probably higher than your entire company's right now, so it was only fair."

Again, Walter ignored the well-meaning dig, swallowing his pride. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Leave that in here so Paige doesn't see it, and I'll email you a copy. When we leave here, make sure it looks like I was just showing you some normal, everyday projects."

"Got it."

"And Walter, let me be clear. I still think you were an idiot for hiding the truth from her. But nobody acted completely rationally on that day, and we all had our own failings which contributed to… this."

"You and Toby didn't do anything wrong. I mean, you chose the wrong team in the end, but before that you tried to help. And I really appreciate that you and he and even Sylvester are trying to help now. It makes me think that, eventually, we can…"

"Maybe. But you and Paige need to have one hell of a conversation before that happens, and she's definitely not ready to have that conversation yet."

"I don't think I am, either." Walter felt that he still had to figure out his new line of thinking regarding Ralph's role before he could talk to Paige about it.

"It also probably can't happen while you're dating Florence. Just saying."

"Toby told you?"

"He's my husband. No one else knows."

"Alright." Walter still had some figuring out to do on that front as well.

"It's not fair to her, you know. You're still in love with Paige."

"She knows that." But Walter wasn't even sure he knew it himself anymore. Perhaps he had never been as in love with Paige as he thought he was.

"Well, then she's more open-minded than I am. Or… patient."


Walter climbed the stairs in the garage to find Florence sitting on the couch, reading a book. She was wearing a sweatshirt and leggings, her bare feet pulled up as she lounged comfortably. "Hey," she said brightly, not looking up. "How was it?"

"It was very pleasant. You didn't go back to your place?"

She shrugged. "No, I figured I'd wait for you."

He sat down beside her, his hand gently finding her leg as he glanced at the book she was reading. "I thought you finished that."

"I did. I'm just reading back through some of the good parts." She put the book down and rubbed his back, just below his shoulders.

"Mm, that feels nice. We have a job, by the way. Happy gave it to us."

"That was nice of her. I guess she wants to spend time with her new baby."

"Yeah. Sylvester and Toby were also in on it. They're going behind Paige's back."

"Really?" Florence stopped rubbing and looked at him. "That's… different. But… good different, I think. Sylvester's helping?"

"Yes."

"Good." Florence smiled, then leaned over and kissed him. "I think everything's going to work out in the end."

"I hope so." Walter pulled her into a hug, mostly to hide his face from her view. Maybe things were going to work out in the end. The hard part, though, would be getting things to work out while she was still in the picture. Or… the alternative.