Author's note: And here's where I'm going to start really breaking away from canon. No green card marriage and definitely no pregnancy in this fic. I haven't figured out who Happy will be married to, but it probably won't be Walter. I may just leave it as a loose end. We'll see.

CHAPTER THREE

Walter lifted his duffel bag off the floor and onto his lap. A move made mostly to restrain himself from whisking Paige away somewhere so no one else could see her, but also to hide the effect her new outfit had on him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Happy smirking at him across the empty chair between them.

Several men wandered into the room. Three of them, including a tall man with long blond hair, approached the manager. The rest headed to where Walter and Happy were seated.

One of the guys sat down between them. "Hey, you guys the new roadies?"

"Uh, yeah," Walter replied as Happy grunted.

"These chicks are pretty hot, eh?" The man elbowed Walter's upper arm.

"Uh, yeah." He surreptitiously scooted a few inches away before staring at Paige again. She was sitting in the front row, nervously fidgeting.

Darby walked to the front of the room, holding a clipboard, waved his free hand as the other men sat down. "Okay, let's get started," he announced. One by one, the manager read out a name and one of the women would get up and sing.

He was no musical expert, but in his opinion, the first two singers were mediocre at best. The third one had a good vocal range, but Walter didn't think she was better than Paige. He'd only heard the liaison sing twice before, but both those occasions were burned into his brain in amazing detail.

His breathing grew harsh when Paige's name was finally called out. She stood up and took her place behind the microphone. He could tell her face was pale underneath the heavier-than-normal make-up she wore and she was visibly shaking.

The tall blond man said something to the other men sitting on either side before shouting, "Come on, sweetheart, show us what you've got."

"Yeah, besides a smokin' hot bod," one of the others said.

By the expression on her face, Walter thought either Paige was going to be sick or run out of the room, perhaps both. She surprised him, though, when she opened her mouth and started singing.

At first, he was mesmerized by her voice, but then the lyrics penetrated his brain.

" . . .every time you need me. . .all my buttons come undone," she sang, smiling the flirtatious grin she'd flashed him at the airport before continuing.

"You make me lick my lips

You're my favorite flavor

When we kiss I just wanna savor

Every drop of it, I can't get enough

You make me lick my lips, my lips."

All the air seemed to be sucked out of the room as he gasped for breath and his heart began to pound. Glad his duffel still rested across his lap, he watched in fascination as she ran her pink tongue over her red lips as she stared right at him. Even on the verge of embarrassing himself in a room full of strangers, he couldn't tear his eyes away from her performance.

Just when he thought he had reached his breaking point, Paige finished singing, giving the audience a little bow before returning to her chair. The manager motioned for the woman who hadn't yet auditioned to come join him and the trio of men as they stepped out into the hallway.

Walter glanced over at Happy, who grinned back at him. Oh great, she'd no doubt noticed the effect Paige's singing had on him. Was still having an effect, he thought as he shifted painfully in his chair.

Her stomach churning, Paige tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Darby and the others whom she guessed were members of the band to come back with their decision. She seriously doubted she'd get the job, no matter how much Cabe and Fitzsimmons had reassured her the audition would be rigged in her favor.

The others vying for the spot were so much younger than she was. At least one of them could sing as well or better than she did. But then it had been hard to do her best when she'd felt like she was on the verge of vomiting the whole time. The butterflies had only disappeared, allowing her to turn in a halfway decent audition, after she had focused all her attention on Walter.

She wanted to take Ray's advice, realizing the former firefighter was right. She needed to go to Walter. He would never make the first move now, not after what she'd said to him after what he'd done in Tahoe. And especially since he thought she'd picked Tim over him, not comprehending he'd helped push her into the former SEAL's arms.

But she was scared, too. She didn't think she could bear being rejected by him yet again. Her history of being attracted to men who wouldn't or couldn't put her first was a pattern she needed to break. She didn't know if she could handle another one-sided relationship, where she was shoved to the side at the first opportunity. Like Drew with baseball, Tim with his military career, Walter with Scorpion. . .

"Miss Dineen?" Darby's voice, mispronouncing her last name so it sounded like it 'dine in', interrupted her wayward thoughts.

"Yes?" Taking a deep breath, she braced herself for the bad news.

"You get job." The manager smiled broadly. "This is Yuri, leader singer," he said, indicating the tall blond man she'd noticed earlier. She was so overwhelmed, she didn't catch the names of the drummer and the bass player when Darby introduced the two men.

She'd won the audition. She'd gotten the job. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw both Walter and Happy were smiling at her.

"This is Anya, she is backup singer like you." The other woman was dressed like a stereotypical Emo Goth, with a short black bob haircut, black leather studded choker, and all black clothing.

"Hey," the woman said, snapping her gum.

"We all go to dinner now," said Darby. "Then over to venue to set up and rehearse."

Yuri threw his arm around Paige's shoulders. "Come with me, baby, you can eat me. Oh, sorry, I mean eat with me." His deliberate mangling of the language was obvious, as he winked at the bass player as he said it.

Sneaking a peek toward the back of the room, she noticed Walter had risen to his feet before being knocked back into his chair by Happy as she passed in front of him in what Paige realized was not an accidental move. Sighing, she knew she was going to have to have a conversation with him about keeping his temper in check before he blew their whole operation. And probably sooner than later as Yuri slipped his arm off her back, his hand grazing her ass on the way down.

Not daring to turn around, she just smiled at the singer. "Okay, sure. I'm starving," she smiled, pretending to misunderstand his insinuation. God, she hoped they caught the arms smuggler soon. She didn't know how long she could keep up the charade of being a ditzy starlet. She'd just begun and was already tired of it.

But then she thought of all the women and children whose lives she would hopefully save and sighed. "For the greater good," she murmured under her breath as she followed the others out of the conference room.

ooooo

"Hey, Zalina." Anya was unnecessarily (in Paige's opinion anyway) adding more eyeliner as she stood in front of their dressing room mirror when another woman waltzed into the room. "Where have you been?"

"Hey, bitch." Zalina, a tall blonde with breasts that even impressed Paige, threw her bag onto the counter next to the other woman. "Out. Who's this?"

"Paige. She's the new backup singer."

"Hello." Reaching out her hand, Paige immediately snatched it back when the other woman curled her lip.

"Hey." The blonde looked the liaison up and down, a sneer on her beautiful face.

"Guess what else? Two new roadies," said Anya excitedly. "One for each of us. The girl's a real cutie, just my type."

"Good for you," Zalina replied. "What about the guy? Does he have a nice ass?"

Paige's eyes widened. Oh, dear, she had no idea if Happy would even be interested. She was with Toby now anyway. True, their relationship was rocky but. . . But obviously fidelity was something the mechanic didn't seem to care much about, since she had been cheating on a husband with Toby.

And, oh, God. . .Walter. Glancing at Zalina, she looked past the other woman's stunning looks which seemed to conceal a heartless interior. She'd chew up the socially awkward genius and spit him out, not caring how her cruelness would affect him once she'd gotten what she wanted. He'd be devastated. She needed to warn both of them of her fellow singers' intentions.

"He's got dark curly hair, tall, but not as tall as Yuri," Anya replied. "I didn't get a good look at his butt. You'll have to check it out for yourself."

"Don't worry, I will." Zalina opened a compact and dusted some powder on her nose. "What color are his eyes?"

"They're brown." Without thinking, Paige answered a little breathlessly, "a dark, deep, chocolate brown."

Both women stopped applying makeup to stare at her. "How you know this?" Zalina asked.

"Oh, uh. . .Darby introduced me to them when he was showing me around earlier." Damn, she'd almost slipped up, blowing their cover. And all over Walter's eyes. The ones that revealed the emotions he claimed he didn't have. The ones in which she'd found herself drowning in their dark brown depths on more than one occasion.

The dressing room door flew open, shaking Paige from her disturbing thoughts. "Hey, ladies," drawled Yuri as he strode inside. "Are you making yourselves all pretty for me?"

"Kiss my ass," snapped Zalina, throwing a wadded up tissue at him.

"Already have," he fired back. "But I'll do it again. . ." He pretended to lunge for the blonde, who aimed her foot at his crotch, missing by a few inches. Although Paige wasn't sure how. The band's leader was wearing skin tight black leather pants which displayed a bulge that had to be anatomically impossible.

The other three bantered back and forth, swapping insults and innuendo, while Paige tried to ignore them. Her dinner wasn't settling well, her head was starting to ache, and she missed her son. Pushing aside her own problems, she wondered how Walter and Happy were dealing with their new jobs.

ooooo

"What the hell did you do?"

Walter looked up from the amplifier he was modifying. "I fixed the audio feedback. It was distorting the sound."

"But that's how we want it." The head roadie, a man named Akim, shook his head. Glancing over his shoulder, he added, "You're in trouble now, noob."

The tall blond man who had been molesting Paige earlier approached, snarling. "Dammit, Akim, did we blow another amp? That sounded like shit."

Frowning, Walter thought it had been much better than before, although the screeching had drowned out the appalling lyrics the band had been singing.

"This idiot screwed with it, Yuri," Akim said, pointing at Walter. "First day on job, all ready fucking up."

"I'm sorry," he said automatically. "I didn't know."

"Yeah, well, don't fuck up again, noob." Yuri sneered at him. "Get it fixed. Now!"

The singer then stormed off, leaving a confused Walter in his wake. He glanced around, seeing the disgusted expressions on the other roadies' faces. Happy, who was setting up flash pots on the other side of the stage, even rolled her eyes at him.

With a sigh, he crouched down behind the amp, and started to undo all his hard work, hoping they would catch the arms smuggler soon. He didn't know how long he could endure the horrific noise the band called music. His head hurt, his ears were ringing. . . Sighing, he thought of all the lives they were saving. "For the greater good," he muttered as he twisted two wires together. He did have one question though.

What the hell was a 'noob'?

ooooo

Author's note: The lyrics (as probably most of you know) are from the Katharine McPhee song, "Lick My Lips", written by Isabella Summers, Marcus Miller, Sam Sparro, and Luther Vandross. Used without permission but please don't sue me, I just wanted to torture Walter a little and this song seemed like the perfect way to do it.