WriterFreak001:

So I am currently on my way home from Florida and am typing this puppy in the car while my dad is driving. I didn't have time to post last night because I was busy catching up with some of my CW shows. Hee Hee. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I will enjoy writing it! :D

Also, a reader was worried that I will have Mark Collins kill off Walter, Paige and/or unborn baby. I promise you that will not happen. I hate reading stories regarding major character deaths so I will never write them. It wouldn't make sense to kill off a character that's still alive on the show (well at least a "good guy" character). With villains, hee hee, it's free reign. MUAHAHAHA.

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!

WARNING:

Readers' Discretion is advised. Obscene language in this chapter.

Mind Games

Sequel to Deception

Written by WriterFreak001

Chapter 15

~ SCORPION ~

"I know you're pregnant with Walter's child, Paige Dineen."

...

Paige froze as Mark Collins's words slithered into her ear. "I d-don't know," her heart dropped, "I don't know what you're t-talking about."

"Oh, I think you do." Mark snickered and then lowered his voice as if he was standing right next to her and didn't want others to hear him speak. "And if you don't comply, I will find you and then I will drive my favorite switchblade into your stomach, giving your infant an immediate death and you a slow one."

Paige closed her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat. "F-Fine," she wanted to cry but couldn't, "W-what do you w-want?" Anything to protect the baby growing in her belly.

She could imagine a menacing grin forming on Mark Collins's face as she agreed to comply with whatever terms he had in store for her. "You are going to leave Scorpion effectively and immediately. I don't care what excuse you have to tell the other members of the team, but if I don't see you leaving the garage in ten minutes," he chuckled, "Well, you don't have to be a genius to figure that one out."

She placed her palm protectively over her lower abdomen. "I'll do whatever you want; just not that," she begged. "I can't leave my son." Or Walter.

"You will leave your son, and you will leave permanently. Intellectual inferiors are all the same; they can't stimulate their superiors for too long. It'll only be a matter of time before you leave Scorpion so spare your son and your lover the misery and leave. You're only hindering their potentials. You're like a festering wound that won't go away. So do them the favor and disappear. Even if you don't grow tired of them, they'll certainly grow tired of you. How many times has Walter cut you off or heave a loud and an obnoxious sigh whenever you ask him to explain something more thoroughly? How many times has he cut you off or choose to spend more time with your son than with you?"

Paige knew Walter did those things sometimes, but that was just whom he was. She couldn't change the way he thought or the way he functioned, but – even though she would never admit it to Mark Collins – there were times she did feel a little left out. However, those times were short-lived and didn't happen very often. They never really bothered her, but what if Mark Collins was right? What if those feelings of loneliness she had at times were just the beginning? What if – No! She shook her head. She was letting Mark Collins get to her, and she couldn't let that happen. Not again. Walter and Ralph both loved her; they loved her in their own way. She had once accepted the fact that she wasn't like Walter and Ralph, and that acceptation came with highs and lows. What relationship didn't? "You're wrong," Paige muttered as she sat down at the foot of the bed, "Walter and Ralph and the rest of the team have accepted me for who I am…. Sure, there are issues sometimes, but what family doesn't have issues?"

"Do you honestly think they see you as family? With Ralph, sure. He is one of them – one of us. You're just a tagalong. They can't mentor Ralph without your involvement – you are the boy's mother after all. But trust me, if you weren't a factor in the boy's life, they would mentor him without you in a heartbeat. You think Ralph needs school; they don't. They all hated school, and they all know Ralph is far above his peers. You are hurting the boy's chances of success by forcing him to go to a school that doesn't nurture his intellect. You are doing far worse by the boy than any good. So why stay? Why not spare your son the luxury of putting up with your inferiority? The only reason Walter really keeps you around is so he can fuck you whenever he wants. How many nights have the two of you gone without having sex? Why else would he climb out of the Rabbit Hole just long enough to use your body as a means to satisfy his sexual frustration? You are nothing but a sexual tool for Walter O'Brien – that's all you'll ever be useful for. He needs his sexual release, and you're a willing candidate. Don't believe me?" Mark laughed, "Then how many times does he actually appreciate your body? Does he do anything to you other than fuck you senselessly?"

Paige wasn't going to let Mark Collins tell her what her sex life is like. Sure, Walter wasn't one for kinky sexual acts, but that had nothing to do with him not loving her. Walter was a very practical man, and while he had gotten more romantic over the last several months since they started sleeping together, she knew he wasn't sexually stimulated in the same way as most men were. Walter O'Brien was a very different man, and she had accepted all of whom he was. So no! She wasn't going to let Mark Collins twist the relationship she had with Walter merely to scare her into leaving her family. "You have no right to speak to me like that," Paige was growing angry; she was not going to put up with this man any longer. "Your mind games have no effect over me. I know what my relationship with my son and Walter is like, and I'm not going to let you define my life for me! I won't leave!"

"Are you going to risk the life of your unborn child for the sake of family? And what about your son? What if I told you I know exactly where he's going with that impudent agent from Homeland? What is more important to you, Paige Dineen? The safety of your family? Your son? Your unborn child? Or, your desires to stay with your baby daddy and continue saving the world from absolute damnation? Because, let me share with you some facts. If you decide to stay and continue festering within the walls of Scorpion, I will return with a vengeance, and I will start with your son, Ralph. You and Walter can watch him die by my hands, and when I'm done with him, I will go after your unborn child; thus killing two birds with – well, you know how that saying usually goes. And then Walter O'Brien will suffer for the rest of his life, knowing he couldn't save you when you, his unborn child and Ralph needed him the most. So, tell me, Paige Dineen. On what, are you willing to gamble?"

Paige blinked back the tears threatening to spill from her eyes; her bottom lip quivered as Mark Collins's words pierced her heart; he knew she would do anything to keep the people she loved safe from harm, and she knew he knew she wouldn't be able to call Mark Collins on his bluff. She couldn't make those risks. She closed her eyes and felt a single tear fall down her cheek. "Pr-promise me," she felt nauseous, "pr-promise me no harm will come to m-my son…n-nor to Walter o-or the rest of the t-team."

"If you leave Scorpion," Collins's voice was radiating with success, "I promise to refrain from harming your so-called family. However, if you return or give anyone any indication as to why you left, I won't hesitate to go back on my word."

Paige inhaled a slow, shallow breath and let it out slowly as she tried to keep herself from having an emotional breakdown. "And what about m-my baby?"

"Fiiiine," Mark scoffed. By the tone of his voice, she could imagine Mark Collins rolling his eyes in response to her request, "I guess I can promise that too."

"S-so I have your w-word?"

"Yes. Yes. You have my word."

"O-okay," Paige whimpered; she felt as though her heart had just shattered into a million of pieces. "Th-then you have m-mine."

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Collins laughed; his icy words smacked her in the face. "You have ten minutes to comply."

When the call ended, Paige buried her face into her hands, wanting to scream until her throat burned. She wanted to grab the nearest breakable object and smash it against a hardened surface; emanating Walter didn't seem like such a bad idea to her. She slowly pushed herself to her feet. She didn't know how Mark Collins found out about her pregnancy, and it scared her, knowing that he was somehow watching her every move. She couldn't leave a note without fearing the possibility that Mark would find out about it. This was such a mess. She knew that the moment she left the garage, everything was fair game for Mark Collins; for all she knew, he would kill her right then and there. Regardless of what Mark Collins wanted, she had to say goodbye to Walter. She wouldn't leave unless she could tell someone goodbye. She first needed to text Ralph, though. Someday, she hoped he would understand her sacrifice.

With shaky hands, she sent her son a message in shorthand, saying how much she loved him and hoped he was having a good time with Cabe. If Mark Collins was monitoring her phone, she couldn't send out a direct SOS, but she hoped Ralph would be able to figure things out and find a way to help her. If Walter couldn't wake up from the Rabbit Hole, her son was her only saving grace.

Then she received a text from an unknown number. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Paige tossed her phone towards the door of the bathroom out of frustration, and it shattered upon impact. She didn't even try to see if it could be salvaged. Slowly, she walked out of the bedroom and found Walter still writing at his whiteboard. "W-Walter." Her voice cracked as she spoke his name. She hugged him tightly from behind, and he froze in response to her sudden touch. "Walter," she muttered his name, She couldn't bring herself to tell him she loved him; she didn't want it to be the last time she would ever see him, and so she couldn't tell him. She couldn't say goodbye either. She turned away from him and headed for the stairs, when he grabbed her wrist, yanked her back to him and kissed her hard on the mouth. Even though she knew he was still down the Rabbit Hole, she kissed him as hard as he kissed her. As much as she tried keeping her tears from falling, they fell in rivers down her cheeks while she desperately clung her lips to Walter's. When he started to pull at her shirt and glide it off of her body, it broke her heart to rip herself away from him, but she couldn't let things go too far; her ten minutes were almost up. "I'm s-sorry," she apologized and kissed him once more before stepping away from him. She turned towards the stairs and dried her tears as she descended them. She headed for the door, hoping no one would notice. Because Happy, Toby and Sylvester were so focused on tracking Mark Collin's whereabouts, she was grateful they didn't notice her leaving the building. She didn't think she could bring herself to speak if either one of them asked her where she was going.

She hated every cell in her body for agreeing to Mark Collins's terms, but what choice did she have? That man was a psycho; he would be willing to do anything to get what he wanted – even if that meant more bloodshed.

As she turned the corner, she stopped dead in her tracks as a figure stood in front of her with a menacing grin on his face. "Hello Paige Dineen. Long time, no see." Paige pivoted on her toes and darted for the other direction, but Mark grabbed her hair and yanked her backwards. She fell and smacked her head against the cement, and before she could cry out in pain, her world faded into darkness.

~ SCORPION ~

"What is it, Ralph?" Cabe asked as the boy stopped walking and stared at his phone. "Is something wrong?"

"My mom…," Ralph felt sick to his stomach. "She sent me a weird message."

"What does it say?"

"It's shorthand…. Mom never texts in shorthand." Ralph swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "I can't interpret shorthand; my brain's not wired like that."

"Then why do you think she sent you something you can't read?" Cabe asked as he read Paige's text message over Ralph's shoulder. Luv u so much. Hv fun w/ Cabe. "'Love you so much,'" Cabe read aloud, "'Have fun with Cabe.' Nothing seems out of the ordinary, Ralph." Cabe shrugged.

Ralph pressed his lips together and gulped loudly. "I think it's an SOS."

"Say no more kid." Cabe picked the boy up into his arms, turned around and darted for the squad car. "Call Toby from the car; ask him if he's noticed anything strange."

"Okay."

~ SCORPION ~

Walter didn't understand what was going on. He was down the Rabbit Hole again, but it was different. Unlike his previous visits down the Rabbit Hole, he wasn't submerged into an entire world of thought. At least not completely. There would be long minutes where he was trying to decipher an encryption, and those moments of pure intellect brought Walter solitude – a sense of comfort. And yet, he would find himself being guided away from the mathematical sequence by a heavenly voice; the more he heard her voice, he craved more for her and not for the algorithms and encryptions. There were times where he fantasized about her, longing to touch her, kiss her, hold her. And in his dreams, he never wanted to let her go.

Fantasy or Reality, he knew Paige was his guided light; she kept him from losing sight of himself, and while the heavily encrypted data sometimes drew him away from her, he always found his way back. He was aware that the Rabbit Hole was different this time – much more different because of Paige. Because of her influence, he was able to grasp onto her and emerge from the darkness long enough to breathe some fresh air. And in his dream, as she made love to him, he desperately wanted to speak, but the pull of the Rabbit Hole wouldn't let him.

But the most recent dream he had of Paige was the weirdest of all; she was reluctant instead of willing. He wanted to show her how much he wanted to escape – how much he wanted to be free of the Rabbit Hole's lure – but she refused him. She was crying. And she kissed him again before running away. He didn't understand, but he wanted to. He wanted to know why she was crying, but he couldn't reach her. He couldn't chase after her.

"Walter!" A voice called out to him. It wasn't Paige's. "Walter O'Brien, snap out of it right now!" He recognized the owner of that voice; he recognized the owner's face, but he couldn't put a name to him. "Paige needs you, for crying out loud!"

He heard his voice mutter her name, but he didn't realize he was the one speaking.

"Yes. Paige. Now come on!" A hand grabbed his wrist and started pulling him away from his whiteboard. "Come on!" The voice grew more frustrated; he struggled to free himself from the voice's grasp. He was being dragged away from his whiteboard; the marker was knocked out of his hand. He heard grunting – harsh grunting. "Paige is in trouble, Walt!"

Walter froze.

Paige….

Trouble….

The voice pulled his arm harder, yanking him towards his bedroom. This dream was getting weirder by the minute. He continued to struggle, but the voice wouldn't give up. The voice pointed to a broken phone. Walter recognized that phone…. It was the phone he had given Paige when she started working for his company. Why was it broken? He looked at it; he reached down to pick it up. It wasn't dropped; it was thrown. But who threw it? Paige? Someone else? "There's something you need to see…." The voice shook him away from this thoughts and pulled him into the bathroom.

The light was turned on. The voice gestured towards the sink. He looked down into the sink. He saw four odd devices with plus signs on them. He studied those devices and tried to make meaning of them. They weren't thermometers, but they were shaped like one. He didn't understand what the voice was trying to show him. Was someone sick? Sick…. He remembered Paige was sick…. She was vomiting. A lot. Was that why the voice said she was in trouble?

The voice picked a cardboard box out of the trash and shoved it in front of him. Walter read the first word. Pregnancy. He found himself scrutinizing the box, reading every single detail on it. He flipped the box over and read through the directions. He spotted the diagram for results. He glanced at the four devices in the sink; they resembled the image of the device on the box. He determined they were one and the same. He read the logo on the box again. Pregnancy Tests. Those devices in the sink were pregnancy tests? He looked at the four tests again. Positive. Positive. Positive. Positive. He scanned the diagram again. Positive = Pregnant. Negative = Not Pregnant.

He recalled reading a passage from a medical book….

Symptoms of pregnancy include tender, swollen breasts…, nausea with or without vomiting…, increased urination…, fatigue…, food aversions or cravings…, slight bleeding…, cramping…, mood swings…, dizziness… and constipation.

Paige had experienced nausea, and if he remembered correctly, she had been dizzy too. He looked at the tests again; aside from him, Paige was the only person who used his bathroom. Happy wouldn't dare leave something personal inside his sink. Walter saw the positive symbols again. He glanced at Toby and then at the tests again. He blinked a few times. "P-Paige…," he mumbled, "Paige is pr-pregnant…." He looked at Toby again. "Paige is pregnant?"

~ SCORPION ~

WriterFreak001:

Yes…. Another cliffhanger. MUAHAHAHAHA

Now that Walt is out of the Rabbit Hole, what do you think will happen next? Will Collins keep his promise to Paige?

Again, I apologize to those of you who are sensitive to curse words. I'm not comfortable with them either, but I find them crucial to Collins's character.

Let me know what you think!