A/N: Hey all. We've finally made it! Here's the final chapter, although I will be adding a brief epilogue scene tomorrow. Thank you so much to everyone who has come this far with me, and I hope you have enjoyed reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Of course, I'm not quite ready to leave our cyclone behind yet, so I'm toying with ideas for a sequel that would star Ralph.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: CBS owns Scorpion.

Chapter 16: System Update

"What are you all doing here?" Walter demanded. The rest of Team Scorpion was standing outside of a hotel at an address that Ralph had texted to Zoe. Also present were Ralph, Cecilia, Tyler, and Michael. The students were all wearing comms, and Walter guessed that Ada was listening in.

"I told Zoe to wait until we had time to get up here before telling you what I found," Ralph explained. "We're a team, Walter. We're finishing this together." Walter had never heard Ralph speak so sternly before, and he realized just how angry the boy was at him.

He turned to Zoe. "You hid that from me all day?" He felt a little betrayed, but also a little impressed by the aggressiveness of Ralph's decision.

She nodded. "I didn't enjoy hiding something from you, but in my opinion, he made the right call." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her comm and put it on. "Hi, Ada."

Walter looked back at Ralph for a moment, then at Cecilia. "Are you okay with this? With working with me?"

Cecilia grimaced. "What I want is for you to turn yourself in after this is over, but Government Man here tells me that can't happen." She briefly glanced at Cabe.

"I'm leaving after this is over," said Walter. "You'll never see me again."

"But you'll still be free, and you don't deserve to be."

"We'll talk about that when this is done," said Paige. "And yes, we will talk about it," she added, giving Walter a defiant look. Walter didn't want to have that conversation, but he knew that she would force the issue.

And Cecilia was wrong. Walter was never going to truly be free. He was never going to feel free.

Toby looked at Ralph. "Why don't you explain how you deduced that the hacker was in Tahoe? Otherwise this conversation is never going to get anywhere."

Ralph gestured to the hotel behind them. "I noticed some strange cyber-traffic fluctuations coming from the hotel. The reason I decided to look here is because…" He trailed off, looking at his mother. "Because I was surprised that the hacker hadn't yet included a reminder of you-know-who among the various means of taunting you."

"You can say his name," Walter and Paige said in unison.

"Tim."

"I don't think it's so much about the reminder of Tim," said Walter. "I think it's about the reminder of how stupidly I acted when I…" Now he trailed off and looked at Paige.

Her expression softened at his admission.

"That's something else you guys should talk about after this is over," said Toby. "But first, let's shut this person down, once and for all."

"Finally," Happy muttered, turning towards the hotel. The other members of the team turned as well, except for Sylvester. Walter glanced at him, catching the lingering anger in his expression just before he turned away.

They entered the hotel and approached the front desk. A man behind the desk looked up at them, and a look of apprehension crossed his face. "Team Scorpion?"

"Are we expected?" Cabe asked.

"Yes," the man replied, his head nodding jerkily. "I am to ask you to wait in room 629." He passed a key to them across the desk.

Paige sighed. "Of course."

"That's the room you stayed in?" Ralph asked.

"Yes."

Walter inwardly cringed. He had long been over his jealousy of Tim, but he still didn't want to think about that night they had been here while he had been driving through the night to reach her.

"The elevators are that way." The man pointed stiffly.

"I remember," said Paige.

Walter shook away his thoughts and focused on the more pressing issue. The hacker knew they were here, and was expecting them. What were they walking into?

They reached the room and entered. Walter glanced at the door to the adjoining room, the one that Tim had been supposed to stay in before he changed it. He was suddenly attacked by the memory of Paige's anger when she had learned what he did, and the lump in his gut hardened. He hadn't deserved her then, and he definitely didn't deserve her now.

There didn't seem to be anything strange about the room. "I don't see any cameras," said Happy, looking around. "Look for any cameras or microphones."

Walter barely had the heart to follow her direction as the guilt weighed on him more and more. He looked at the bed, then quickly looked away from it.

"It's hot in here," said Tyler. He went over to the A/C and opened the panel. "What is this?" Walter looked over as he held up a small device.

"That's a miniature bluetooth speaker," said Cecilia. "It's tiny."

"It's probably connected to wherever the hacker is. But it's just a speaker. There's no microphone." Tyler turned the device over in his hand.

"So, we're going to get further instructions at some point," said Cabe.

"Well, there's no way we're just going to sit tight until that happens," said Cecilia. She turned to Ralph. "Is there any way for you to divert the signal on the bluetooth, so that the hacker has to come here and give us the instructions in person?"

"Yes." Ralph removed his backpack and opened it, pulling out his laptop.

Walter looked at Cecilia, impressed by her idea. When she caught his look, however, she sent him a glare, and he quickly looked away.

Suddenly, the television turned on, and the white noise screen appeared, blasting the annoying noise across the room. Toby quickly grabbed the remote and tried to lower the volume, but it didn't work. Frowning, he turned the remote over and opened the battery slots. The batteries had been removed.

Paige went to the television to manually lower the volume, but those buttons weren't working either. Frowning, Cecilia turned the television and looked at the back of it. She said something, but couldn't be heard over the noise.

Finally, Sylvester unplugged the machine, and it went dead.

"Someone did a number to this thing," Cecilia repeated, now that she was audible.

"And what's the point of that?" Paige asked. "Just to annoy us?"

"A lot of what the hacker's done so far is just nuisance," Happy pointed out. She walked over beside Cecilia to see what she was looking at. "Yeah, this machine's never going to work properly again."

Walter felt the noise echoing in his ears. He clenched his jaw, trying to get rid of it.

"Alright, I've got a hold of the connection to the speaker," said Ralph. He had sat down on the bed with his laptop, and Zoe had sat down beside him and was peering over his shoulder. "Um, wait…"

"That's too easy," said Zoe. "It has to be a trap."

"Yeah, probably."

"What is it?" Walter asked impatiently.

"It's made pretty obvious here that the signal to the speaker is originating in the basement."

"I agree, that's probably a trap," said Cabe.

"Unless that's just what the hacker wants us to think," said Tyler. "I mean, if we think it's a trap, we're going to stay away from there. This person knows how smart we are, and knows that we would find this far too obvious."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," said Toby.

"Alright, some of us will check it out," said Cabe. "You kids should stay up here."

"Hey." Tyler frowned. "Not cool."

"Cecilia and I should both go," said Happy, "just in case there are traps that we need to take care of."

"I'll stay up here," said Sylvester. He frowned at Walter, making it clear that he didn't want to go anywhere with him.

"Me too," said Ralph. "I have another idea. But put your comms in."

Paige put in her comm, then walked over and handed Walter his own, which he had left in LA. He frowned at it for a moment, but took it from her and put it in.

"Hi, everyone," said Ada.

"Hi, Ada," Toby replied.

Zoe, of course, refused to be left behind, so she joined Tyler and Cecilia in coming down to the basement with the team. Sylvester waited upstairs with Ralph and Michael, who still hadn't said anything.

Only one elevator went down to the basement, and that was a service elevator at the back of the hotel. It moved slowly and grumpily, not nearly as smooth as the elevators at the front of the building that the guests were supposed to use. When they finally reached the basement, they emerged in a plain, white hallway that stretched out on either side of them.

Walter looked up at a security camera attached to the ceiling. The hacker was probably watching them, and he gave the camera a defiant look.

"Which way?" Zoe asked.

"Let's try left," said Cecilia. "More of the building is this way."

They went left and passed a large laundry room full of industrial-sized washers for linens. Heat pulsed out through the open doorway, and Walter tried to pass the room as quickly as possible. He was frustrated enough as is without the temperature needing to become bothersome.

A maid passed by and glanced at them warily, but didn't try to intercept them. She had the same nervous look on her face that the man behind the check-in desk had.

They passed another door, which appeared to be locked, but the lock buzzed as they passed. They stopped and turned to the door.

"That sounds like an invitation," said Zoe.

"I think the word you used before is more appropriate," said Happy. "Trap." Leaning down, she and Cecilia both began examining the lock closely, trying to determine a way to discern any traps.

"Oh, just come in," said a voice from the other side of the door. "There aren't any traps."

Walter froze at the voice. Then, from deep within his body, some inexplicable force drove him into action. Pushing past Happy, he opened the door and surged into the room. "You!"

"Finally!" said Mark Collins. His face was badly scarred, but he was very much alive.

"You son of a bitch," said Happy as she entered the room behind Walter.

Walter simply stared at him. Then he wobbled as he was suddenly struck by a wave of several emotions at once. Cabe, who was next into the room, grabbed a hold of him as he doubled over, feeling nauseous.

"Who is this?" Tyler asked.

"Mark Collins," Toby replied.

"The guy Walter killed?"

"Or thought he killed, apparently."

"Pleased to meet you all," said Collins. Walter shut his eyes, feeling the need to block out the voice and all other senses as he fought to regain control of his gut.

"You look good, Mark," said Toby. "The face suits you."

"I suppose so," Collins replied. "I must say, it was almost worth it for all of the entertainment that it led to. You, Walter, were an even more theatrical star than I thought you would be."

Walter finally managed to push away the nausea and stand upright again. He glared at Collins.

"Agent Johnson saw your body," said Cabe.

"She glanced quickly at a body, a decoy," Collins explained. "She had no reason to doubt what the good doctor was telling her. He was remarkably easy to bribe. He seemed to enjoy pulling the wool over the government's eyes."

"And that decoy was in the coffin that was taken to South Carolina?"

"Precisely."

"You asshole," Walter muttered.

"What was that?"

Walter repeated it, more loudly.

"Now, now, Walter, let's get our emotions under control, shall we?" Collins stepped up to him, and Walter clenched his fists. "We've seen just what can happen when you lose it. Or do you want to take another swing?" He gestured to his face.

"No," Walter bit back, unclenching his hands.

"Good boy. Although, honestly, the thought that you could kill me with a few punches was rather narcistic, wasn't it? You're not nearly as strong as you must think you are."

Walter raised his eyebrows. That thought had never occurred to him.

"Well, he certainly gave you a nice little jigsaw there, didn't he?" Tyler remarked.

"True."

"And now you're hiding in the basement of a hotel," said Toby.

"Hiding? I've got nothing to hide from anymore." Collins gestured to the several computers around the large room, each of which was connected to several screens. "I can control anything I want to from here. And I get to enjoy all the beauty of Tahoe, whenever I want to. This really could have been a great little romantic getaway for you two, if things had gone differently." He glanced at Walter and Paige in turn.

"Does Anna know you're alive?" Toby asked.

Collins's face fell, and he looked away.

"That's a no. Why?" Toby pressed, taking a step towards Collins.

The scarred face curled itself into a lopsided scowl as Collins looked back at him. "It would be a little complicated now, wouldn't it?"

"I got news for you, Mark: You were never exactly George Clooney. I don't think she was with you for your looks."

Collins looked away again.

"You two clearly clicked on some psychotic-genius level of mutual understanding. I think she would look right past the scars. And I think that you think that, too. That's not the real reason why you're afraid to tell her, is it?"

Walter looked at Toby in surprise, having no idea what he was getting at. Maybe his mind was still working too slowly from the shock.

"It's complicated," Collins muttered.

"That phrase is always a cop-out," said Paige.

Collins looked at her, the rest of his face orienting more slowly than his eyes did. Once he was fully turned towards her, he paused for a moment, simply staring. "I never… Anna and I weren't supposed to… It was never supposed to happen that way."

"What do you mean?" she asked quietly, as though he were speaking solely to her.

"I admired her… from afar, the way… the way that guys like us always admire attractive women. I watched her like you would watch a meteor shower, or a sunset… an untouchable force of nature, as perfect in its indifference as in its beauty. A sunset is never supposed to admire you back. It's just not supposed to actually work out that way."

"Did you just quote River Song?" Cecilia asked.

"Did I… what?"

"That line about the sunset. That's a line from Doctor Who, sort of."

"I really don't think so," said Walter, annoyed that she had ruined Mark's emotional moment with a pop culture reference. He recalled himself thinking along similar lines as he had watched the sunset from the coast south of Monterey the other night.

"The point is that guys like us aren't actually supposed to get the girls, at least not the ones that we truly admire," said Mark. "It's not supposed to work out that way."

"Sometimes it does," said Walter. He couldn't help glancing at Paige, and she glanced back at him, giving him a small smile.

"Cute," Mark muttered.

"You should tell Anna the truth," said Toby. "Maybe we can even have you booked in the same prison that she's in."

"Oh, I'm not going to prison." Collins walked over to one of the computers. "You finally finding me doesn't put you in a position of any power here." He pressed a button, and each of the screens attached to that computer lit up with an image of an air-traffic control tower. Walter recognized several of the towers from airports around California. "Paige, do you remember the very first job you worked with Team Scorpion on? If I press this button, each of these towers loses communication with all of the planes in the sky around them. You remember what happens then, right?"

"Yes," Paige replied.

"Good."

"What about the hotel staff?" Toby asked. "Why do they all seem so nervous?"

"Because they all have families, and don't want anything bad happening to them."

"You're threatening all of their families?" Cecilia asked.

Collins smiled at her. "You make it sound difficult." He walked over to one of the other computers and pressed a button, and the screens showed the interiors of several hotel rooms. "I arranged for the hotel to have a staff appreciation weekend, during which everyone's families were invited to come and stay, free of charge. And, like any good Hotel California, you can check in, but you can't leave."

"You're an Eagles fan?" Tyler asked. "Figures."

"It's been fascinating to watch all of the little emotional reactions from the people out there." He gestured vaguely upwards as he walked back towards the team. "Though not nearly as fascinating, of course, as watching you has been." He stopped in front of Walter. "You, Walter, are the star of my show, and somebody get this man an Emmy."

Walter felt his stomach start to turn again as he thought of all of the fallout from him thinking that he had killed Collins. He had made a spectacular mess of things, again.

"And while I must say that I'm disappointed by just how persistent your emotions have been in sticking around and hampering your brilliance, I'm also flattered by just how much anguish you felt over my supposed death. I always knew you would miss me."

"I wasn't missing you, but I felt guilty."

"Right, guilty. Well, you did lose control in spectacular fashion, and show just how destructive you can be. It's a good thing you just had me beneath your hands, and not a keyboard, or people really could have died."

"I would never do that."

"Oh, never say never. After all, you have one very obvious vulnerability, don't you?" He walked over to Paige. "You could never let anything happen to her. And if anything did happen to her, well, God help the world."

Walter looked at her, and she looked back at him. He wasn't sure he could honestly say that Collins was wrong.

Even if he hadn't killed anyone, he was still dangerous.

"Hey, Collins." Everyone looked over at Zoe, who was now standing in front of the screens with the air-traffic control towers. She held up the keyboard, showing that she had disconnected it. "You lose."

Collins stared at her, a smirk slowly crossing his damaged face. Then he started clapping. "Well, bravo, Miss Elia. You just killed a lot of people."

Zoe faltered, and the keyboard fell from her hand, clattering on the floor. "I… what?"

"Did you really think that me pressing that button was the only way to cut off the towers? That wouldn't give me much freedom to walk around, now, would it? And I certainly wouldn't start walking around immediately after telling you about the button if it was the only way. Give me some credit here."

"It was programmed as a failsafe," said Walter.

"Yes. In all of the computers. Hundreds of planes are about to fall out of the sky, Miss Elia. Congratulations, you're officially the greatest mass-murderer since Bin Laden."

"Except that those planes will be just fine," said Walter.

Collins turned to him slowly. "What?"

Walter had been paying partial attention to the chatter between Ralph and Ada over the comms. "Remember the bubble that you put around my apartment building months ago to keep us from calling the police? Well, Ralph put a bubble around the entire hotel. Your signal never made it to any of those airports."

Collins stared at him. "That boy… He just won't get out of my way, will he?"

"Mark Collins, you're under arrest," said Cabe, stepping forward with his pair of handcuffs.

Walter's satisfaction was short-lived as he saw Zoe fall out of the corner of his eye. She was trembling, and there were tears in her eyes. "Thank God," she muttered.

He immediately went to her, kneeling down. "Everything's okay."

"I could have killed all of those people."

"But you didn't."

She hugged him, hiding her face in his shoulder as she sobbed.

"How touching," Collins muttered. He flexed his wrists against the handcuffs. "You know this isn't over. I always find a way to escape. Every time."

"Then we'll stop you," said Cecilia. "Every time."

Walter raised his eyebrows at her. Then Zoe lifted her head from his shoulder, and he looked back at her. "Are you okay?"

She took a shaky breath, then nodded. "I will be. I'm sorry for being so reckless."

"It's okay. You'll learn."

She looked at him for a moment, then nodded again. He stood and extended his hand for her, helping her up.

They took two shifts in the service elevator this time, since it would be too crowded with Collins. Toby and Happy went up first with Cabe and his prisoner, while Walter and Paige waited with the three students.

Cecilia turned to Walter. "I owe you an apology."

"No, you don't. You thought I really had killed him, just like I did. Your reaction was perfectly justified, especially considering… what you've been through." He shuddered a little at the thought. "And the fact is that I did lose control. I may not have actually killed him, but I still…" He trailed off, then looked at Paige. "Collins has a point. If anything were to happen to you, or if there were a chance of anything happening to you, I don't know that I could…" He turned and looked back towards the elevator. "And that goes for everyone on the team."

"That's not unusual," said Cecilia.

"Everyone has vulnerabilities," Tyler added. "We all have people that we would kill for. Well, not literally kill, but, you get the point."

"If someone were to hurt Russell, they would sure as hell need to run away from me," said Zoe. "Really fast." There was still some hurt in her voice.

Walter was comforted by their words, and even more comforted by Paige's hand coming up to the back of his shoulder. "We'll work on controlling your emotions," she said quietly. "Just like we worked on you recognizing them."

He looked back at her and nodded. The elevator arrived, and they all got in.

When the doors opened again and Zoe saw Ralph, she suddenly ran to him, hugging him tightly. "Thank you so much for blocking the signal in time."

"Uh, you're welcome." Ralph's eyes were as wide as saucers as he awkwardly brought his arms up to hug her back. As the hug lasted, he started to turn pink.


Paige stuck close to Walter's side as they waited for Agent Johnson to arrive and take custody of Collins.

"Yesterday, he taunted me on my laptop." Walter was only half speaking to her as he stared at Collins, who was sitting in the back of Cabe's car. "He said that the old me would have figured it out months ago. I think he meant that the old me would have wanted to see his body for myself, and wouldn't have been so quick to take Agent Johnson's word that he was dead."

"Well, it's true that you weren't always so trusting," Paige said quietly.

"But I don't think it's a negative development. I mean, maybe this time it was, but in general… I like being able to trust you. And the others."

"You know that you always can."

"I know." He finally pulled his eyes away from Collins and looked at her. She looked back at him, and he found himself getting lost in her eyes for a moment before he pulled himself back. There were things that needed to be said. "I… um…"

She turned, orienting herself towards him, and waited.

"I should tell you, I went to see Florence today."

That was clearly not what she had been expecting, and she reeled backwards a little. "Why?"

"Nothing happened, we just talked." Walter felt the need to begin with that assurance, but he wasn't sure where to go from there. "I just… I couldn't stop thinking about you, and I needed… I needed to be able to."

"So you went to Florence."

"Nothing happened," Walter repeated. "She's seeing someone."

Paige's eyes narrowed. "Good for her. And if she weren't?"

Walter turned himself so that he was fully facing her. "The truth is that I don't think it would have kept me from thinking about you at all. She pointed out that while we were in the house in Maryland, it was obvious to her that I was still in love with you."

"Really? It was less obvious to me. You seemed very fond of her."

"I did come to love her, but the truth is that I was still in love with you. The whole time."

"Okay." She looked away from him, still looking upset. "Well, thank you for being honest with me. I need to… I need to check on Ralph."

Walter raised his eyebrows and looked over at Ralph, who was sitting with the other students. He looked perfectly fine.

He watched as Paige walked over to her son, her shoulders tense. He felt bad about upsetting her, but he didn't think that he had made a mistake. She had insisted on full disclosure between them. No more secrets. It wouldn't have been good for him to keep this from her.

He sighed, deciding that he would try to talk to her again later. In the meantime, he looked over at Sylvester, who was standing with the rest of the team, and walked over.

Sylvester noticed him when he was about halfway there, and frowned.

"Can I talk to you?" Walter asked.

Sylvester made a face. "Fine." He walked away from the others, and Walter followed.

"You seem more angry at me than the others do," Walter observed when Sylvester stopped walking and turned to face him.

"Really? You managed to suss that out?" The sarcasm was evident. Sylvester glanced back towards the others. "They all have their own lives now. They don't need Scorpion as much anymore."

That was an entirely different conversation. "And you?"

"I bared my heart to you last week. I told you how important Scorpion was to me, and how important you were to me. And then you went and abandoned us again."

"You were perceiving yourself as similar to Phantom, which really isn't true. Believe me, you are far better adjusted than he is." That was even more evident after the past few days.

"Walter, that is not the important part. The important part is that you abandoned the team. You abandoned our friendship, right after I told you how important it was to me."

"I did it to keep you safe. I thought I had killed someone." It still felt a little bothersome to say those words out loud.

"No, you did it because you were afraid of your emotions. Again."

"That's true."

Sylvester had started to say something else, and he quickly shut his mouth, surprised by Walter agreeing with him.

"And the truth is that I'm still a little afraid of losing control again. But I didn't kill anyone, and I don't think… I don't think I ever really could, unless it were absolutely necessary to save someone I care about. Such as you."

Sylvester's eyes widened a little at the confession.

"And Paige says we're going to work on controlling my emotions." Walter hoped that was still true after he had upset her again.

"You don't get to keep leaving and coming back."

"I'm never leaving again. I promise."

Sylvester pursed his lips, but his gaze slowly softened. "I'm holding you to that," he finally said.

Walter smiled. "Good."

They returned to the others, and Toby looked up. "Are you two good?"

Walter glanced at Sylvester, who gave a small nod. "Yes."

"Good," said Happy, "but you still have to apologize to the rest of us."

"I know. I'm sorry. I realized that if I had killed once just because I had lost control of my emotions, it could happen again. I care about all of you… a lot. If anything happened to any of you, I could…" He trailed off. "But I didn't kill anyone, and I'm done suppressing my emotions. Paige says we're going to work on control, and I think… I think I'm going to be better."

Toby and Happy exchanged a glance, and then both nodded. Cabe reached out and put a hand on Walter's shoulder, and Walter resisted the instinct to pull away. Instead, he closed in and hugged Cabe, much to the agent's surprise.

"Cute, Agent Gallo." Everyone turned to see Agent Johnson approach, followed by three other agents. Walter hadn't noticed as they parked their van behind his car.

"Agent Johnson." Cabe walked over and conferred with her briefly, and then they went to his car, opening the door so Collins could get out.

Collins looked over at the students. "Ralph." He waited as Ralph stood. "I'm impressed. Twice over now. But next time, I'll know who I'm really up against."

Ralph gave him a defiant look. "I'll be waiting."

Collins smiled, then looked at Walter. "Don't be a stranger, Walt. Come and visit me before I get out."

Walter noticed Agent Johnson roll her eyes as she started to lead him away. "We'll see."

She placed him in the back of the van, and two of her agents climbed in with him. Then she walked back over to Cabe, and they spoke quietly.

Walter knitted his eyebrows together as he watched them, noticing how close they were standing to each other. He saw her chuckle softly at something that Cabe said. "Um, are they…"

"Are you just noticing that now, 197?" asked Toby.

Walter raised his eyebrows and looked at him, then back at Cabe and Agent Johnson… or perhaps he should start thinking of her as Candace. He was happy for Cabe. They seemed very similar, and the commonalities among their past experiences would likely prevent the problem that had arisen with Allie from repeating.

After a minute or two, the two agents walked over to the students, and the team followed suit. "How are you getting back to Berkeley?" Cabe asked Zoe. "It's a little late to catch a bus."

"I was hoping for a ride." She looked at Walter.

"You wouldn't be getting there until close to midnight," said Toby. He glanced at the hotel behind them. "They might let us stay here for free tonight, after what we did for them."

"No," Paige replied. "I'm done with Tahoe, at least for now. And let the staff take the night to reunite with their families." She looked at Zoe. "We'll all take you back to Berkeley, and stay the night in San Francisco."

Zoe smiled. "I appreciate that."

"If we're all going to stay at a hotel, could you cover us?" asked Tyler. "I mean, money-wise."

"Sure."

"Thank you," said Cecilia. Walter noticed that she still had her comm in, so Ada could still listen in.

"Travel safely," said Agent Johnson. She looked at Cabe. "Stop by the department after you get back to LA tomorrow."

"Yes, M'am." His eyes followed her as she walked away. Walter watched him, feeling a little amused now that he knew what was going on.

The black van quickly disappeared into the night. It wouldn't arrive in LA until well into the early morning. Walter recalled his own drive through the night in the opposite direction, then quickly shook away the memory. He was also done with Tahoe for the time being.

Turning back to the group, he looked at Paige, and found her looking back at him.

"We should get going," said Sylvester. "We don't want to be getting to bed too late."

"For us, it isn't late," said Tyler.

"Right. College."


It was indeed nearly midnight by the time they arrived at Berkeley. Zoe thanked all of them for coming along.

"Hold on to your comm," said Cecilia. "You never know what might come up."

Zoe smiled and pulled out her comm. "Goodnight, Ada."

Walter glanced at Cecilia. He hadn't envisioned the students' cooperation with Scorpion becoming a long-term situation, but that would be a conversation for the daylight hours.

Zoe turned to Ralph. "Thanks again for blocking the signal." Leaning over, she kissed his cheek.

"You're welcome." The color-change on his face was visible even in the darkness.

Now Zoe turned to Walter. "And as for you…" She looked around at everyone else. "Could you guys give us a minute?"

They all said goodnight and returned to the cars they had travelled in. Walter waited, wondering what Zoe was going to say.

Zoe gestured around herself. "What do you see?"

Walter looked around. Despite the hour, many students were still out and about. Some were walking purposefully, others were standing around and talking in small groups. One couple was partially-hidden in the shadow of a nearby building, wrapped up in each other's affections.

He thought about what Zoe said yesterday. They were all dreaming, all envisioning where they wanted to go and how they would get there.

"Students, friends, lovers…" He trailed off, and looked at her. "Dreamers."

"Don't you ever leave that team again. They're your family. Your dream."

"I won't," he assured her.

"Good. And you better invite me to the wedding."

The word sent his mind spinning off down avenues of possibilities, but he quickly reeled it back to the present. "One step at a time."

She smiled. "Of course. Goodnight, Walter."

"Goodnight."

She departed, and he looked around again. The students around him proceeded with their night, each of them pursuing their chosen paths with the people they chose to accompany them.

"You coming, Walt?" That was Toby, sticking his head out of his wife's car.

He turned and looked at them. "Yes, I'm coming."


Despite the hour and everything that happened that day, Walter didn't think he could fall asleep immediately. There was too much to think about. He had seen a peaceful-looking courtyard behind the lobby of their hotel, and that felt like the perfect place to go and take some time to process.

He shut the door as quietly as he could so as not to disturb Cabe, then started walking down the hall. He stopped when he saw Paige and Ralph talking quietly.

He was about to turn in the other direction, but Ralph spotted him. Walter hesitated, waiting to see what Ralph would do, and after a moment, the boy beckoned him over.

"What are you doing?" Ralph asked when he reached them.

"Just going downstairs to think for a bit."

"Me too. Mom doesn't want me walking around the hotel on my own."

Walter glanced at Paige, and then back at Ralph. "Then how about we go together?"

The boy pursed his lips for a moment. "I'm still a little angry at you for leaving."

Walter knelt down as he had used to when talking to Ralph, then realized that this didn't bring him to eye-level with the boy anymore. Ralph was getting taller. "I'm sorry I left. I was afraid of losing control of my emotions again, and afraid of who I might hurt if something happened to any of you."

Ralph nodded. "I know. I understand why you left. I just wish you hadn't."

"Well, I'm not leaving again. I promise."

"You better not." Ralph leaned over and hugged Walter, holding onto him tightly.

Walter shut his eyes, feeling the familiar rush of emotion.

When Ralph pulled away, he looked at his mother. "I'm going to go inside. You two should talk." He looked back at Walter. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight. Sleep well."

Ralph stepped past his mother and unlocked the door to their room, disappearing behind it. Walter stood and looked at Paige.

"Let's go," she said, turning and walking down the hall. He followed her, and no further words were exchanged as they traveled down to the lobby.

The courtyard had a small, gentle fountain at the center, with a cherub spitting water out into the bowl that surrounded him. On each side of the fountain were stone benches with backrests, and Paige sat on one of them. Walter joined her.

She brought her knees up and stared at the cherub, appearing to quickly lose herself in her thoughts. Just as Walter was about to say something, however, she spoke. "I'm sorry for getting upset about Florence earlier."

He raised his eyebrows, not expecting that to be the first thing she would say.

"It just caught me off guard, and reopened an old wound."

"I'm sorry. I thought I should tell you about it. We agreed on no more secrets."

"I know. I'm glad you told me. And I understand why you went to her."

She kept her gaze fixed on the fountain, and he wished that she would look at him. He leaned forward, looking down. "Paige, I'm sorry for leaving."

"You don't have to reiterate to me what you just said to Ralph."

"But I do have to say it to you, too. I'm sorry. And I promise I won't leave again."

Finally, she looked at him, and the tears in her eyes caught the light from the building behind them.

He looked back at her, waiting to see what she would do.

Abruptly, she surged towards him, throwing her arms around him. He brought his hands up to hold her as she sobbed into his shoulder.

As he held her, he was hammered by a mixture of emotions. He was determined to sympathize with her tears, but part of him was so delighted to be holding her again that he wasn't sure he could feel the necessary sadness. An even less appropriate part of his mind wanted to fixate on the feel of her body pressed against his, while still another part was confused as to whether all these tears were over his departure, or whether there was something more.

After a few minutes, she lifted her head, but didn't loosen her grip on him. Her mouth rose until it was near his ear. "I was still in love with you, too," she whispered. "The whole time."

He was confused for a moment, then realized that she was responding to what he said earlier, before she walked away.

Then he began to understand. Through everything that had happened over the past year, her love for him had remained, just as his love for her had. He relived it all through her eyes, from the beginning of his relationship with Florence to the moment he told her that his love for her was the reason Collins was dead. He had done so much that would hurt her.

In making his promise to her, he was implicitly asking her to trust him again, after he had already hurt her so many times over. Was that fair?

She lowered her head back to his shoulder, still holding on tightly, and he tightened his hold to match hers, unwilling to let go.


"Walter?" He felt prodding on his shoulder, and slowly lifted his head.

There was too much light on the other side of his eyelids, and he declined to open his eyes for the moment. "What?" His body was hurting, due to the hard stone surface beneath him, and the weight against his shoulder.

Suddenly, he realized where he was, and opened his eyes wide, despite the light. As he jerked, Paige sprang back from him, waking up abruptly.

They had fallen asleep in their embrace on the bench.

"Ow." Paige rubbed her shoulder, and looked ruefully at the stone backrest that it had been pressed against.

"You two are really cute." Walter blinked up at Tyler, who was standing in front of them. Cecilia was also there.

Paige looked around. "Did we really fall asleep here?"

"Apparently," Walter muttered. He rubbed his eyes, his body resisting every minor movement.

"I got a super cute pic of you." Tyler showed them his phone, which featured a picture of them still holding each other as they slept. "Do either of you have insta?"

"No." Walter and Paige both looked up at the voice. Ralph appeared on the far side of Cecilia. Walter watched the boy carefully, but couldn't read anything in his face.

"Ralph…"

"How did you sleep, Mom?"

Paige looked thoroughly embarrassed.

Ralph looked from her to Walter, and then back. "I'll see if the hotel has any advil." He walked away.

He was almost immediately replaced by Cabe. "There you are. What the hell happened?" When neither Walter nor Paige responded, Tyler showed him the picture. "Oh. I see."

Walter largely ignored him, following Ralph with his eyes. Then he got up, groaning a little as his nerves complained, and went after the boy. "Ralph?"

Ralph stopped and turned. "What?"

Walter still wasn't sure what to make of the reaction. "Are you… Um… Is something wrong?"

"No." Ralph glanced back towards his mother, then up at him. "What happened last night?"

"We were talking, and she started crying."

Ralph's face immediately fell into a frown. "What did you do?"

"I didn't—" The defensiveness was the immediate instinct, but Walter caught himself. "I just… It's going to be hard. There's a lot to… I have a lot to make up for."

"You can say that again."

"But I'm going to try my hardest. I love her."

Ralph's face softened. "I know you do. That makes it hurt even more every time you screw it up."

The statement made Walter want to fall through the floor.

"If you two get back together, I'll be happy about it. But if you hurt her again, I'll ruin your life." Ralph turned and continued on towards the front desk. Walter watched him go, suddenly feeling like his feet were glued down.


Walter and Paige both felt too sore to comfortably drive, so Michael and Cecilia, the only two of the students who had learned to drive yet, took over behind the wheel. Walter watched warily as Michael directed his car through the traffic exiting San Francisco. "Have you ever driven in traffic like this before?"

"Yes."

"Have you ever driven for seven hours in a day before?"

"No."

"Have you ever driven someone's car other than your own before?"

"Yes."

"Have you ever—" The car hit a small bump, which Walter felt in every patch of soreness on his body. He let out a groan.

"Walter, relax. Please."

"That's difficult."

"I know. But your anxiousness is making me more anxious." That was the longest sentence that Walter had heard the boy say outside of the Warlock's Chest.

Walter blinked, restraining himself from further comment. He winced as another small bump was struck, and considered writing a complaint letter to the city of San Francisco about the state of their roads.

"Just try to get some sleep," Michael suggested. "You're probably pretty tired after spending the night on that stone bench."

That was true. Walter shut his eyes, trying to push his anxiety aside and silence his mind.

He must have succeeded, because the next thing he knew, they were stopping for lunch somewhere along I-5. As they entered the restaurant, he was relieved to see Paige, Ralph, and Cecilia waiting at a table.

Cecilia waved them over. "Made it here in one piece?"

"Of course," Michael replied, taking the seat beside her. Walter sat down at the end of the table.

"Was he also as nervous as a cat surrounded by rocking chairs?"

Walter glanced at Paige, who grimaced at the comment.

"At first. Then he fell asleep."

"Lucky you. Want to trade?"

"Hey," said Ralph.

"No offense to either of you, of course. But your mother was making me more nervous than the driving was."

Michael shrugged. "If you want to." He looked at Paige. "I'm a good driver."

"At least you don't drive as fast as she does," said Ralph, "judging from how much longer it took you to get here."

Cecilia shrugged. "I'm efficient."

Walter generally favored efficiency, but in this case, he might make an exception.

"That said, you still beat them here." Ralph pointed towards the door, and everyone looked as Toby and Happy entered. They were closely followed by Cabe, Sylvester, and Tyler.

Lunch seemed to pass by too quickly, because it was all too soon that Walter was tightly gripping his seat as Cecilia swiftly navigated his car the rest of the way to LA. "You really do drive too fast."

"Oh, relax."

Walter shut his mouth and tried to relax his mind, the way he had managed to do while Michael was driving. But he didn't feel as tired as he had then.

"How old were you when you formed Scorpion?"

"Twenty-five. Why?"

"To have a team of geniuses solve problems?"

"Right."

"And Paige came along later, right? It was just the rest of you at first?"

"At first it was me, Happy, Toby, Sylvester, and Collins."

"Collins?" She looked at him, and the car trembled a little.

"Please keep your eyes on the road. Yes, Collins was a member of the team. But it didn't last."

"I can't imagine why." She changed lanes and accelerated, entirely unnecessarily.

"Why are you asking about the formation of Scorpion?"

It was a moment before she shrugged. "Just curious."

Walter caught the hesitation before the response. He had a feeling he knew why she had asked, but he decided not to bring it up while she was driving.


They were slowed down by traffic as they closed in on LA, and didn't arrive at the university as far ahead of the others as Walter would have thought, given Cecilia's pace. When everyone was there, they gathered with Ariel outside of the building that housed the students' garage.

Paige turned to Ralph. "Will you be able to focus on your schoolwork now that this case is solved?"

"Yes, Mom. Not that I couldn't focus on it before. You know how quickly I can get it done."

"I know." She kissed his forehead.

"Mom…" Ralph grimaced and pulled away from her, quickly glancing at his friends.

Cecilia placed her hand on his shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with a little affection from your mother, Boy Wonder."

"Boy Wonder?" Toby looked at Tyler. "I'm guessing that was your idea, you being the comic book fan?"

"Yeah. Maybe it's a little overused, but it fits him."

"That it does."

Ralph smiled and stepped back so that he was standing between Cecilia and Michael, with Tyler and Ariel on the flanks. Walter looked at the group, feeling like he was looking at a younger version of his own team. "Take care of him."

"We will, Walter," said Cecilia, her hand still on Ralph's shoulder. "We all take care of each other, whenever necessary."

Walter smiled, but then paused. He thought of everything that had happened over the past year, and the four years before that. He thought of the conversations, the confusion, the lessons that had needed to be learned. He thought of Miss Wallace, and Phantom, and all of the evidence he had encountered over the years of the importance of learning to communicate with normal people. "But also, make sure that he integrates. Not just with you, but with other people. People who are less like him."

"I'm standing right here, you know," said Ralph.

Cecilia nodded. "We will."

Walter turned to his own team, all of whom were looking at him with some degree of surprise. His eyes caught on Paige's face for a moment, noticing her small smile. "That goes for us, too. I'm making it a company policy. One night each week, we each do something that's outside our comfort zones. Something that forces us to engage with the rest of society."

"Seriously?" Cabe asked, making a face.

"Well, it's more for the four of us." He gestured to the other geniuses.

"Hey, I've got a huge comfort zone," said Toby. "I don't think I need to do this either."

"Yes, you do, Doc."

Toby looked at his wife. "Really? You're in favor of this idea?"

"As long as we get to step outside our comfort zones together each week." She took hold of his hand.

"That's fine," said Walter. He looked at Sylvester.

Sylvester was looking at him as though he were holding a handful of earthworms plucked straight from the dirt. "Who are you and what have you done with Walter O'Brien?" he muttered.

"I'm still me. I've just…" Walter gave a small shrug. "…learned."

Sylvester lowered his eyes. "You should know that I hate this idea. Scorpion is more than just a team. Its also more than just a family. It's a safe haven for people like us."

"It still is. But it can't be a place for us to hide from the world. I'm just asking that one night a week, we go out and engage with the general population. We all need to."

Sylvester sighed. "I know. I still hate it."

"You're the one who used to be an Alderman," Cabe reminded him.

"That was different. There was always a purpose to that, something that needed to be talked about. What Walter's suggesting is just… social."

"You'll get the hang of it," said Paige. "If you want, I'll go with you the first couple of times."

"I would appreciate that."

"It's settled then," said Walter.

Farewells were said, and the group parted, and Walter started walking back towards his car. Paige caught up to him. "Walter." The sound gave him only a moment's notice before her hands were on his arm, and she was pulling him around to face her.

"What?"

"That was impressive."

The way she was looking at him made his heart pound. "Thank you."

She leaned up and kissed him soundly.

He was stunned, and his insides started to float for a moment, until his better judgment pulled them back down, and he pulled away from her. "Paige…"

She was surprised for a moment, and then her face fell, as did her gaze. "I know, that was too hasty. I just… You really have learned."

"I have, but… I've hurt you so many times, and I need to…"

"Walter, you don't need to put yourself through some kind of penance. I plan to give you many chances to make up for everything."

"I can't ask you to trust me again. Even when I'm promising you…"

"I've always trusted you. That was never the problem."

"But last night, when you started crying…"

"It's true that you've hurt me many times, and it was all fresh last night, after you mentioned Florence. And I know that I've hurt you several times as well. Maybe neither of us was ready for this. But now…"

"What if we're still not ready?"

"What are your emotions telling you?"

"That I love you. That I want to be with you more than anything. But that I'm afraid of hurting you again."

"And mine are saying that I love you too, and that I also want to be with you more than anything. And yes, part of me is afraid to be hurt by you again. But the fact that we recognize that fear is as good a starting point as any, isn't it?"

"I promise that I'm going to do whatever I can to avoid hurting you."

"Walter, stop promising me things and just kiss me."

He hesitated for only a moment longer, then complied with her request.

She brought her arms up around his neck, deepening the kiss. He brought his hands to her waist and pulled her against him.

He didn't know how much time passed as they lost themselves in the long-awaited moment, but eventually they were brought back to reality by a voice. "Get a room, you two." The broke apart and both turned to frown at the interrupting student, but realized that he wasn't alone. There were several students watching them.

"I think we should continue this conversation elsewhere," Paige suggested.

"I agree." They continued walking. He looked down as he felt her hand reach for his, and their fingers laced together.

They walked right past his car, neither wanting to end the moment just yet. He was relishing her presence, and the feeling of her hand in his. It had been far, far too long.

"I think I should also partake in this new comfort zone rule of yours. Although, in my case, it would be less about engaging with the general population and more about… well, engaging with your subset of it."

He frowned, confused. "You talk to geniuses every day."

"I talk to the five of you every day. That's different than talking to… I'm talking about getting to know your world, Walter. Getting comfortable in the world that you love. That doesn't just go one way. If you can devote one night each week to engaging with people that you never would have spoken to five years ago, then I can devote one night each week to the same. I was thinking maybe we could start by attending a lecture."

He sucked in a breath and stopped walking, immediately knowing that her suggestion was not coincidental. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm not saying that I would be interested in the material, and I probably wouldn't have any idea about it after the fact, but I want to go with you."

He studied her face, not entirely sure that this wasn't some kind of test. But she seemed completely genuine. "Okay."


Walter took a moment to study the window with the chairs and telephones on either side of it. It felt like he had walked into a movie or television version of a prison, but this was real. He sat in the chair, waiting for the prisoner to be brought out opposite him.

There was a handprint on the glass. Walter stared at it, realizing that it was probably left by someone visiting a loved one, reaching out to get as close as they could to the person they were forbidden from touching. Even criminals still had people that loved them, and people that they loved.

Anna sat down opposite him. She looked a little bit the worse for wear, but she was still very attractive… very conventionally attractive. She looked confused for a moment, as if she couldn't quite believe that he was actually there, then picked up the telephone on her side.

Walter did the same. "Hi."

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm assuming you heard the news?"

She merely stared at him for a moment. Then she gave the faintest of nods. "Mark's alive."

"Yes."

Her gaze lowered. "He couldn't tell me so himself."

"We offered to have the two of you placed in the same prison. He declined."

She grimaced. "He never really knew how to love me. I was always second to his goals, and his obsessions. Including you."

Walter frowned at the comment. "You deserved better."

"Thank you for saying that."

"You know, I had nightmares about you over the past several months. Many of them. You would kill everyone on my team. Everyone that I care about."

"I dreamt about the same thing."

"Do you still feel that hatred towards me?"

"No. Well, maybe there's a residual… imprint. But you didn't take from me what I thought you took."

"Likewise. I look at you and I remember my nightmares, my fear of you, but I know that there's no reason for it anymore."

She looked down for a moment, then back up at him. "You know that the problem we were trying to solve still exists. Our society is still going to destroy itself, if we don't stop it."

"Killing everyone who isn't like us is not the solution."

"You haven't presented a better idea."

"I'll work on that."

"Until you do, we're still enemies. I will never stop trying to save the world."

"Me too. And all of the people in it."

She studied him for a moment. "I hope that you can prove there is a better way. I look forward to you proving me wrong."

He studied her back, surprised by the comment. "I'll do my best."

"And I'm sorry about the nightmares. In the end, you didn't deserve them."

He gave a small shrug. "It's okay. They turned out to be helpful, in a way."


"Are you ready?" Walter asked.

"I should be asking you that," Ralph replied as he laid out the chess board between them and began setting up the pieces.

"Bold words."

"Our record against each other supports my confidence far more than it does yours."

"Touché. En garde."

The game unfolded at what to an outside observer would have been a remarkable pace. To Walter's chagrin, it quickly devolved in Ralph's favor.

"I'm thinking about joining the Chess Club at school."

"I think that would be a good idea. Although I doubt they would be competitive against you."

"I know. I think I would go easy on them, at least at first. I want them to like me." He hesitated for a moment, then gave a small shrug. "Especially the girls."

"The girls?"

"The Chess Club attracts people like us. Maybe it would be a good opportunity to meet girls who are more like me."

"What about Zoe?"

"Zoe has hinted that she would be amenable to dating when I'm older, but… she and I are pretty different. What if I'm better off being with someone who has more similar interests and social habits?"

"Well, you can meet girls and see what happens. But… falling in love isn't voluntary. You don't get to choose who you fall in love with, and you can't force it to happen."

Ralph looked up at him. Then his gaze passed over Walter's shoulder. "What are they doing here?"

Walter looked over as Paige and Toby entered the diner. "I invited them."

"I thought we were just here to play for old time's sake." Ralph glanced over at the bar where they had played their first match with the condiments.

"We are. But they can be a part of that, can't they? Maybe if we were more of a part of each other's lives, it would improve communication."

"I thought you guys would be playing with the condiments again," Toby remarked as he sat down beside Ralph. Paige had gone over to greet Nemos.

"No, we decided to use real pieces this time," Ralph replied. "For one thing, the condiments don't provide a full set, even with all the different kinds of jam they have."

"That never stopped you before. Need I ask who's winning?"

"No, you needn't," Walter replied. He looked over and watched as Paige talked to Nemos. She was being her automatically friendly and social self, and it was thrilling to watch. How did he deserve her?

Finally, she hugged Nemos and then walked over to the table. Her smile widened as her gaze fell on Walter, and he was lost to the world for a moment, unable to do anything but stare at her.

"Shove over a little," she said quietly as she scooted in beside him. He immediately complied. "Hi, Ralph."

"Hi, Mom."

"Are you winning?"

"Yes."

She gave Walter a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine." He was pretty used to it by now. And Ralph was the only person he could ever lose to without feeling displeased about it.

"So, can I take a guess at why I was invited to this little family get-together?" Toby asked. "I mean, other than the fact that my wife is spending all day with Sylvester and Richard Elia."

"Only their skills were needed for the job. It was efficient."

"I know. Anyway, my guess is that it has something to do with it being a year to the day since you and I had a certain conversation in this very diner."

Paige and Ralph both looked at each of them in turn, confused.

"That's correct," said Walter.

"What conversation?" Paige asked.

"Walter developed a certain theory last year. I think he should be the one to tell you about it."

"I was attempting to get over you." He watched as her eyebrows rose, and a look of apprehension crossed her face. "I theorized that Ralph was the entire foundation of our relationship, and that my interest in you had manifested as an extension of my interest in him."

"Really?"

"It was a perversion of the scientific process. Hypotheses can never be intentionally driven towards a particular conclusion like that, or the results get tainted."

"As if that doesn't happen all the time," said Toby.

"Not by us."

"So, what did you conclude?" Paige asked, her voice a little tentative.

"That I fell in love with you, independent of my interest in Ralph. It's true that I engaged more with you because of my interest in him, and also vice versa. But the love developed separately. For both of you."

Both Dineens turned a little pink.

"Well put, 197," said Toby.

"Thanks." Walter looked at Paige and Ralph in turn.

Ralph looked down at the board, moving one of his pieces. "Checkmate. I should get back to school." He glanced at Toby. "May I?"

"Of course." Toby quickly got out of the way so Ralph could slide out of the booth.

Ralph stood, then leaned over to hug his mother. "See you next weekend." When he pulled away, he looked at Walter. "I… um… Thank you for saying that."

"You're welcome. Enjoy your classes. And everything else there."

"Thanks."

"Hey, do you want a ride?" Toby offered. "It'd save you some money, and I don't feel like third-wheeling right now."

"I'd appreciate that."

Toby glanced at Walter and Paige. "See you later." He followed Ralph out of the diner.

"He was my ride over here," said Paige.

"I guess I'm your ride back, then," said Walter.

"I guess so." She turned her face towards him. "What you said was very sweet."

"You asked what my conclusion was."

"I did. But no more theories intended to distance yourself from people, okay? Promise me."

"I thought you wanted me to stop promising you things."

"There will be some exceptions."

"Okay, then I promise."

"Good. Now I want you to do something else."

He was smart enough to know what she was referring to. Leaning in, he kissed her.