WriterFreak001:
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Title | Mind Games
Fandom | Scorpion (CBS)
Description | Post-Deception. Four months passed since the ending of "Deception," and it seemed as though life, for the most part, returned to normal for Team Scorpion. Walter and Paige were given a chance to focus on their relationship in the midst of all of the cases that were assigned to the team. However, eventually, all great things must end, and once again, Team Scorpion will have to deal with an even bigger opponent than the Leviathan Mafia. Mark Collins is back for revenge and will have something big in store for Walter – something even the 197 IQ genius might not be able to see coming. And Collins's return just might cause a rift within the Scorpion family in the process, making it next to impossible for them to beat his ultimate game.
Rating| This fanfiction will be rated T for violence, obscene language, sexual themes as well as brain stuff and fluff.
POV | Limited Third Person
Disclaimer | While CBS owns Scorpion, I am the owner of this masterpiece.
Claimer | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something should be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!
Mind Games
Sequel to Deception
Written by WriterFreak001
Chapter 12
~ SCORPION ~
Walter woke up early the next morning and gazed at Paige as she slept soundly in his arms. Throughout the night, Mark's words played over and over and over again inside Walter's mind as he analyzed each statement, word for word. While Mark believed Walter's IQ was dropping due to his relationship with Paige, Walter believed it was the exact opposite. Because of Paige, Walter's mind was able to function adequately. Since his EQ levels were improving, he was able to help people with both sides of his brain (moderately, of course), which, in turn, enabled him to connect with his clients. Paige, in many ways, was an incredible asset to the team, and Walter believed, with her help, he would eventually be able to overcome his lack of Emotional Quotient. Before meeting Paige, Walter believed EQ was a weakness, but the woman sleeping next to him gradually helped him realize that emotions were strengths – not weaknesses.
Friendships had always been important to Walter. Even though he wasn't capable of establishing emotional connections with people, he still valued what very few friends he had made over the years. Because of his lonely adolescent years, he knew how hard it was to make friends – some people were able to connect with him on an intellectual level, but those who could only make emotional connections never panned out. And since Walter wanted Ralph to meet his full potential in every area, the boy needed to be able to make emotional connections with people at a young age; if he didn't, he would end up like Walter and would find it nearly impossible to make friends. Walter was lucky to have met Happy, Toby and Sylvester over the years; even if he found it very difficult to establish emotional connections with people, he was still able to make friends who were capable of understanding him from an intellectual level.
Paige, Cabe and his sister, Megan, were the only exceptions.
Paige, for obvious reasons, would most likely be the only woman in the world (excluding Happy) who would be able to stimulate Walter's intellect and still find ways to connect with him. She knew how difficult he was on an emotional basis, and yet, she was still capable of connecting with him.
To this day, his relationship with Paige was beyond his understanding, but he certainly wasn't complaining.
Cabe, unlike Walter's father, was able to connect with him at a very young age. Even though Cabe wasn't a genius, he helped guide Walter throughout his teenage years and taught him everything he needed to know on how to be a young man. Cabe would bestow computers and visit frequently – sometimes, his visits were random and had nothing to do with the government cases he would often send to Walter. Until the incident in Baghdad, Cabe made sure Walter didn't feel utilized or exploited. While the agent made Walter understand that he was an important asset to the US government, Cabe also treated him like family – not a tool. For those reasons alone, Walter would always be grateful for Cabe's involvement in his life – even if their relationship was still on the mend.
Despite the fact that Megan was Walter's sister, she was the only member of his family who had found a way to connect with him. For years, Walter idolized her; she was everything he wanted to be. She wasn't afraid of authority and always wanted what was best for Walter – even if it meant breaking a few rules along the way. Walter still owes her a Lamborghini, and one day, he was going to repay her like he promised. When she contracted MS, Walter felt useless. Every day, he asked himself why he was born with such a high IQ if he couldn't even use his intellect to cure his sister's disease. Someday, he believed he was going to cure MS, but at this point, he was still grasping at straws.
As much as he valued his intellectual connections with Sylvester, Happy and Toby, he believed his emotional connections with Paige, Cabe and Megan were as vitally important as anything else. In ways, having both kinds of connections made him feel balanced and well-nurtured.
Walter's relationship with Ralph, on the other hand, was very different than his relationships with everyone else. With Ralph, while Walter did have an intellectual connection with the boy, he also believed there was an underlining emotional connection shared between them too. Ralph was the juxtaposition of intellect and emotion for Walter, and with the boy's help, Walter believed his relationships with his girlfriend and all of his friends would improve as well.
His connections – intellectual and emotional – were what separated him from Mark Collins…, and Walter believed valuing friends would be his trump card against Mark. He was determined to use whatever resource he could in order to defeat Mark Collins once and for all. It was only a matter of time before the two of them faced off, and Walter was going to be ready. He had to be ready. He needed to be ready.
Walter's thoughts disappeared when Paige stretched her arms against him. "Good morning," she smiled and then greeted him with a long, hard kiss. "Sleep well?"
"Mhmm," he nodded as she kissed him again. Then, the smell of bacon filled the room, and before he could do or say anything, Paige jumped off of him and bolted for the bathroom. When he heard a painful wretch beyond the bathroom door, he slid out of bed, slipped on his boxers and pushed the bathroom door open to find Paige hovering over the toilet. He frowned and walked up to her, remembering a time when his mother had held Megan's hair up and rubbed her back as she threw up into the toilet shortly after she contracted MS. Walter figured Paige would want the same thing so he knelt down behind her, collected her hair into his palm and then gently rubbed the back of her shoulders as she continued heaving into the toilet. Minutes later, she lifted her head up and flushed the contents down the drain. He handed her a towel to wipe her mouth and then found a hair clip on the counter. He messily clipped her hair back and then helped her to the counter where she rinsed her mouth out with mouthwash before she brushed her teeth. "Are you okay?"
She nodded slowly. "Probably just caught a bug."
"Okay," Walter muttered, not questioning the matter any further. He followed her as she started for the bedroom, but when she reached the door, she stopped dead in her tracks before turning back around and mad-dashing for the toilet again. Luckily her hair was pinned to the back of her head. Walter returned to her and rubbed her shoulders again, repeating the last five minutes once more. After she brushed her teeth once again, Walter walked into the bedroom and picked up her silky blue nightgown. He slipped the gown over her head and then helped her back into the bed. "Wait here; I'll grab a bucket."
"Walter," Paige reached for his hand, "I feel fine now."
"You repetitively regurgitated for almost eight minutes; clearly, you're unwell." Walter stated as he walked away from Paige's touch and slipped on his bathrobe. "I'll be right back." Before Paige could argue with him, he disappeared and reappeared a minute later with a rusty spittoon. "This was all I could find on short notice. It was once my dad's. Don't worry," he placed it in her arms, "it's been sterilized."
"If you think I'm going to," she looked inside the spittoon and grew very pale. She shoved the spittoon away from her and bolted for the bathroom again. Walter sighed, placed the spittoon on the bedside table and then remembered the buckets Happy had purchased a few months back; she only used three of the four of them so he raced down to the lower level of the garage, frantically searched for the unused bucket, and when he found it, he hustled back up to his room, ignoring all of the stares he was receiving in the process. Walter placed the clean bucket next to the bed and checked on Paige. She was still hovering over the toilet.
"Do you still think you're fine?" Walter lifted an eyebrow as she flushed the commode.
"Shut up," she snapped as she wiped her mouth. She started to rise but groaned and sank back to the floor. "I suddenly feel very dizzy…."
"Do you need me to get Toby?" Walter inquired as he wondered what he should do to help his girlfriend feel better. Once again, he felt handcuffed.
"No," she shook her head. "I think I just have some stomach bug; it'll pass after a day." Paige inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I need to get to the sink."
"Okay." Walter nodded and helped her rise to her feet. For the third time in the morning, she washed her mouth out with mouthwash and brushed her teeth. He helped her back to the bed, tucked her in and showed her the clean, unused bucket. "If you have issues with this one, then I'm going to take you back to the bathroom where you can sit next to the toilet for the next 24 hours."
Paige gave him a tiresome smile as she leaned back into the pillows. "This one will be fine."
"Okay." Walter raked a hand through his hair. "Is there something you need? Water? Food? Maybe not food, but I do know you need to stay hydrated. Are you too weak to drink water? Wait…," Walter paused, "You'll need electrolytes in your system too. Perhaps Gatorade or Ginger Ale? I think we have some Ginger Ale. Wait…, do you even like Ginger Ale?"
"Walter," Paige squeezed his hand, "It's just a bug; I'll be fine." She closed her eyes, inhaled a sharp breath and then let it out slowly. "On second thought, Ginger Ale sounds good right now."
"Okay," Walter nodded as he headed for the door.
"Walter?"
"Yeah?"
"Perhaps you should get dressed first. It might help calm your nerves."
She knew him too well. "That's…probably a likely scenario." Walter headed for his closet, changed into a pair of jeans, a light blue shirt and a dark blue tie and then raced for the door only to scramble back into the room to give Paige a quick kiss on the forehead.
"You're such a dork," she quietly laughed as he retreated his bedroom and made his way down to the lower level of the garage again.
He went straight to the kitchen, pulled out a tall glass and placed it onto the counter before he went searching for the Ginger Ale. After a minute of opening and closing cabinets, he found an unopened bottle on one of the shelves in front of the kitchen. After he poured the ale into the glass, he walked back up the stairs and delivered the drink to Paige, telling her to call him on his cell phone if she needed anything. When he returned to the lower level of the garage, he walked to his desk and fidgeted with one of his Rubik's Cubes.
Cabe headed for Walter's desk and placed a plate of eggs and bacon in front of him as everyone else approached him too. "Have some breakfast, Walt. Can't work on an empty stomach."
"Thanks," Walter forced a smile before shoveling the food into his mouth.
"What's eating you?" Toby inquired as everyone gathered in front of his desk.
Walter knew there was no point in hiding things; they would find out eventually. "Paige is a bit under the weather. She caught a bug somewhere – probably from Ralph's school when she went over there to pick up Ralph's homework the other day – and is in no condition to work."
"What kind of bug?" Happy frowned.
"Will my mom be okay?" Ralph asked with wide, concerned eyes.
"She'll be fine," Walter nodded and then answered Happy. "She has some sort of stomach virus. I don't know if she's running a fever, though; I was too busy comforting her as she vomited into the toilet."
Happy's face contorted, and Sylvester discreetly handed Walter a Clorox wipe, while Cabe escorted Ralph towards Proton Arnold. Toby, on the other hand, smirked. "You want me to go up and check on her?" Toby asked as he took off his hat and combed his hair with his fingers. "I am a doctor, after all; I can make sure there's nothing serious going on."
"You think it could be something serious?" Walter folded his arms in front of him and pressed his lips to a fine line as he gave his friend a concerned expression.
"It probably isn't, but it's always a good idea to make sure nothing's wrong in case there is. Vomiting could be a symptom to anything. I don't mind checking on her." Toby put his hat back on. "I can even take her temperature and make sure she's not running a fever too."
"She told me not to ask you to go up there." Walter frowned as he leaned into his chair and heaved a sigh.
As he closed his eyes, Toby chuckled. "That may be so, Walter, but you didn't ask me; I'm offering."
Walter's right eye popped open, and he smiled, approving of Toby's loophole. "Okay. Keep me posted."
~ SCORPION ~
Toby had a faint idea what might be going on with Paige, but he wouldn't be certain until he spoke with her. If his theory was correct, then the team was going to have a lot more on their hands than just worrying about Mark Collins. Even though he had a slight idea as to what might be the cause of Paige's so-called bug, he didn't want to say anything in front of Walter in case he had been wrong. Also, if he had been right, it wasn't his place to tell Walter.
When Toby reached Walter's room, he knocked on the door and heard a faint voice telling him to come in. Paige frowned upon his arrival. "I told Walter not to send you up here."
"I know," Toby smirked, "He was actually against it; I volunteered."
"I'm fine, Toby. Walter's probably overreacting. It's just a bug; that's all." Paige replied as she folded her arms in front of her chest. "Tomorrow, I'll be good as new; you'll see."
"Did you feel sick at all yesterday?" Toby lifted an eyebrow as he took a seat in one of the chairs next to the bed.
"No." Paige shook her head but avoided eye contact with Toby.
"What caused your first little episode?"
Paige shrugged. "I smelled bacon." Her nose wrinkled; Toby could tell another wave of nausea had passed over her. She reached over for the bucket, but nothing happened. The wave had disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
"Interesting," Toby mused. He took off his hat and placed it on the foot of the bed. "Any stomach pain?"
"Cramps," Paige answered him monotonously. "What are you trying to get at, Toby?"
"I don't think you have a bug, Paige." Toby answered slowly, catching the woman's attention. "And I have a feeling you know I'm right."
"Right about what?" Her voice wavered slightly.
"I think you know." Toby gave his friend a small smile. "After all; I have a pretty damn good feeling you've experienced this sort of sickness before, am I right?"
"Toby," Paige closed her eyes and pinched her nose, "It's nothing but a bug."
"Deny it all you want, Paige, but I think, somewhere inside, you know you're not sick with a bug." Toby rose to his feet and folded his arms in front of him. "Not to overstep any boundaries, but when was your last menstrual cycle?"
"That's none of your business!" Paige snapped as she threw a pillow at the shrink.
"You don't have to answer me, Paige! Yeesh!" Toby cowered in his seat as the pillow smacked him in the arms, "Just answer it in your mind!"
Paige froze; Toby could tell her mind was calculating something. "Oh God. No, no, no, no, no!" She clamped her hands over her head, "I can't be…."
"Are you sure about that?" Toby lifted his eyebrow and chuckled. "I'm not here to judge you, Paige. With as much unprotected sex as you and Walter have, it was bound to happen sooner or later." He placed his hand over her shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, there's no way in knowing unless you take a test. I could be wrong."
Paige shot a glance at Toby. "I can't leave the garage with Mark Collins out there; he's made it very clear he wants to kill me."
"Don't worry about it. One of the good things about being a street rat is that you know how to slip away unnoticed. I'll go to the pharmacy and pick up a box for you. You just rest and drink lots of fluids. If you are pregnant, Paige, you're going to need your strength." Toby retracted his palm and gave Paige a thumb's up. "I've got your back." He started to leave, but Paige called out his name. "Hm?"
"What do I do if I am? Mark Collins is still out there, and if he finds out…." Paige couldn't bring herself to finish her statement. Toby could tell she was trying very hard not to let her tears fall. She covered her head with her hands. "This is such a mess."
"Hey," Toby walked back to her and touched her shoulder again. "You need to stop worrying over what-ifs and unknowns. If you're pregnant, the last thing you want is stress on your mind. I know Mark Collins is a very stressful topic, but you can't let that bastard get inside your mind. You are safe in Scorpion, and the security – thanks to Happy and Walter – has been upgraded exponentially since the Mafia incident last year. Whether or not you want to tell everyone about your possible pregnancy is your business; no one will hear a single word from me. I'll keep our little discussion a secret from everybody – including Walter. And if you decide to keep your possible condition a secret, we're all here for you regardless. Ralph too."
Paige gave Toby a weary smile. "Okay."
"First thing's first; confirmation. I'll help you get a testing kit; what you decide to do with it is your decision." Toby squeezed her shoulder and then moved his palm to his side.
"Thanks, Toby." Paige took a sip of her Ginger Ale and then sank into the pillows. "You're a good friend."
He shrugged and chuckled. "I try to be."
~ SCORPION ~
As Toby descended the stairs, Walter circled around his desk and made his way to the shrink. "Well? Is it something serious?"
"Nope!" Toby grinned. "Just a bug. She needs lots of rest and plenty of fluids; I suggest you leave her be for a while and check up on her in a few hours."
"Copy that." Walter nodded and then left the shrink; he didn't even notice Toby grab his wallet and sneak to the back entrance. He walked over to Ralph and ruffled his hair. "Toby says your mom's going to be fine."
"Can I see her?" Ralph turned to look at Walter with pleading eyes.
"Maybe later," Walter knelt down and patted the boy on the shoulder. "She needs her rest."
"Okay," Ralph nodded before resuming Proton Arnold. Walter stood up, ruffled Ralph's hair a little bit more and then returned to his desk to continue searching for Mark Collins.
~ SCORPION ~
About an hour after her consultation with Toby, he returned with a box of pregnancy tests, telling her that buying lottery tickets, scratch cards and itching cream was his cover story. He informed her that Walter might be checking in on her soon so if she wanted to get the test done and over with, she would either need to do it right away or wait until Walter left. After his friendly warning, he left, leaving Paige to decide whether or not she wanted to find out the truth.
She knew that if she was going to find out, she needed to take the test right away; otherwise, she wouldn't do it. She would be too afraid to take the test – especially with what's going on with Mark Collins. She was feeling slightly better; the nausea was gone, but her headache wasn't. She slowly walked to the bathroom and closed the door, taking the box of pregnancy tests with her.
~ SCORPION ~
"I'll be right back," Walter said to whomever was listening. "I'm going to check on Paige." All pairs of eyes stared at him as he made his ascent, and he remained oblivious to them. He walked to his room and pushed the door open; Paige was getting dressed for the day. "Are you feeling better?"
She jumped to his voice but quickly recovered. "Yes. Much better."
"Are you hungry?"
"A little," Paige nodded as she slipped her feet into her boots.
"I think there's a batch of cookies in the kitchen; Cabe mentioned something about Homeland delivering a bunch of them this morning. Perhaps you'd be able to stomach one." Walter said as he walked towards Paige. She turned towards him and leaned against him. She closed her eyes. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah," she answered quickly. "I just have a headache."
"Okay," Walter was unconvinced, but he didn't say anything. He reached for her hand and gently tugged her towards the stairs of the loft. When they reached the kitchen, Paige glanced at the cookies once before pushing Walter to the side only to sprint to the bathroom on the lower level of the garage. He frowned and debated whether or not to follow her. Inhaling a deep breath, Walter walked towards the bathroom and found Paige hovering over the toilet once more. She told him to go away, not wanting to be disturbed. Walter respected her wishes and left for his desk.
He sat down in front of his computer and remembered he had an unread email waiting for him. He didn't recognize the sender, but he opened the email anyway. Sequences of numbers, Greek letters and mathematical symbols blared on the screen. As much as he knew he should look away, his mind compelled him to solve the intense algorithm he received via email. He mindlessly pulled out a steno notepad, grabbed a pencil and started jotting down the algorithm, letter by letter by number.
The numbers and the letters drew him in; they begged him to solve their algorithm – to complete their sequence. He was being sucked into a void where only thought existed. Everything around him faded into darkness as the algorithm splayed across his mind and permeated his every thought.
Walter O'Brien was back inside the Rabbit Hole.
~ SCORPION ~
WriterFreak001:
Didn't expect that one, did you!?
What do you think will happen now that Walt has been submerged into the Rabbit Hole? Will Collins strike or will he wait and see how things pan out.
Also, do you think Paige is pregnant or do you think it was just a false alarm?"
Let me know via review! I love them, and they keep me going! :D