WriterFreak001:
Another great episode of SCORPION! :)
While I didn't think the episode was the best by far, it was certainly a great one; it had excellent strength in character development for practically ALL characters. While there wasn't much character development for Paige, we did learn something new about her – SHE KNOWS SPANISH! :D Anyway, I loved that this episode focused on Melvester more than anything; I still think Quintis has some issues to resolve – and the V-Day's episode where they almost kissed was more of a spur of the moment kind of thing…. Cute Waige interaction too! Over all, it was a great episode! (I think I already said that). Anyway, I'll shut up now and let you read the seventeenth installment.
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 17
~ SCORPION ~
"Never thought we'd have a reason to come back here again," Toby muttered as the team hopped out of the van and headed for Mark's house. "Sly might be right, Walt. Mark's gone cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs; there's no telling what sort of traps he could have placed inside his home. He's one paranoid son of a bitch; I'll tell you that much."
"Since he's been arrested," Walter glanced over towards the satellite dish, "he hasn't had an adequate amount of time to set up any booby-traps; he's not an idiot, Toby. You of all people should know that Mark Collins wouldn't rig his place. For one, it would prove that he was in the area. If anything, Mark doesn't want to be found. Setting up booby-traps would be an amateur mistake. Two, he would only have time to make short visits to his house to migrate his equipment over to his new location. If he placed rigged his house, he would be susceptible to the traps too."
"Unless they were remote-controlled." Happy muttered from behind the two men. "But Walt's right on this one, Doc. Collins wouldn't waste his time setting up booby-traps – he may be a psychopath, but he's a focused one at that. His main focus is Walter; why else would he nab Paige? It would be one thing if he knew Walter would be the only one checking out his old place – but not even Mark Collins can predict the future. He's very well aware that his house is constantly monitored." Happy circled around Walter and Toby to stop them from walking further. "Rigging his place could alert the feds if an officer happened to stumble upon a trap while keeping tabs on Marks' house. That would be careless; everything he's done up until now has been personal for Walter – visiting Ralph's school, killing that waitress, kidnapping Paige. He wouldn't dare change his tactics for the sake of something that might not happen." Happy folded her arms across her chest and glanced at Toby with a lifted eyebrow.
"Happy, I'm impressed. Have you been taking notes from me?" Toby lifted his eyebrows and smirked.
"No. It's something I'd like to call Common Sense." Happy pursed her lips. "You surprise me, Doc. With your Harvard degree, it shouldn't have been too hard to figure that one out."
"Well excuse me for having an off day." Toby rested his hands on his hips and frowned. "I blame Walter."
Walter snapped his head in Toby's direction. "That's an impossible accusation. I have no control over your deductive skills."
"Au contraire, mon frère," Toby rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You were in the Rabbit Hole for more than half a day. Your trip to Wonderland inadvertently slowed us down, forcing us to think a lot harder than we usually do. My brain is wiped! Not all of us are designed to think 24/7, Walter."
"Well, maybe if you didn't have to wisecrack all of the time, your brain could be working at full capacity!" Walter growled and towered over Toby as he balled up his fists, ready to punch something.
"Hey!" Happy exclaimed as she pushed Walter away from Toby.
"Don't 'hey' me! What were you doing when Paige walked out of the garage?!" Walter barked at Happy.
"Don't you dare turn the situation around on me, Walt!" Happy snapped.
"Yeah!" Toby frowned. "Why don't you ask yourself that question, Walter?!"
"If you hadn't noticed," Walter's brows furrowed, "I was a bit preoccupied!"
"Exactly!" Toby and Happy exclaimed in unison. "We're not the blame," Happy continued, "for your inability to delete strange emails! The subject header of the email Collins sent you should have been a red flag – especially since the email was sent from an unknown sender. Just because we were busy trying to save your ass by locating Collins, it doesn't mean we're the ones at fault here! You promised you wouldn't go back down the Rabbit Hole, Walter! And you're damn lucky I stayed around to help the team out because I was on the verge of leaving." Happy clenched her wrench. "The only reason I'm on this case is because of Paige. Right now," Happy breathed in a quick breath and released it.
Before she could finish her rampage, Cabe finally intervened. "Shut it! All of you! I'm fed up with the way you three are acting, and if you continue to bite off each other's heads, then you'll have to explain to Ralph why you three couldn't save his mother. You can bark at each other all you want once this case is finished, but from now until the time we bring Paige home, the three of you are going to push your anger aside and work like a damn team." He glanced at Walter. "If you want to point fingers at someone, then point them at Mark Collins; if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be in this mess. Now get your acts together because we're not going home to the garage until Paige is with us."
"Copy that." Walter inhaled a deep breath and released it slowly as he looked towards the door of Mark's house.
"Fine," Happy sighed and took a step back from the group.
"You're right Cabe." Toby nodded. "Paige should be our main priority."
"It's our only priority." Cabe frowned. "Now, step back. All of you. Even if Mark Collins didn't rig his house, I'm not taking any risks." Walter, Happy and Toby took several steps back before Cabe kicked the door open. Nothing happened. Cabe took a few steps into the house. Still nothing. He turned back towards the group, "Unless you have an irrational fear sticky notes, you're clear to go in."
"Is it just me, or is anybody else getting a Hansel and Gretel vibe right now?" Toby muttered as the three geniuses stepped inside the house.
"Grow a pair," Happy rolled her eyes and took the lead.
They descended to the basement where Mark Collins kept all of his equipment. Mostly everything was still there so Walter assumed Mark only collected the most important devices he could migrate without causing suspicion or raising red flags. "Happy," Walter acted as though the last few minutes of arguing didn't happen, "Connect th—"
"I know. I know." Happy snapped as she pulled out her equipment from her bag, "I've got this." Happy found the transistor to Mark's feed and started rerouting the wires. Toby and Cabe looked through Mark's files in hopes that they would find any leads as to where he might be holding Paige hostage. Walter, on the other hand, stared at the floor; he couldn't afford to take another trip down the Rabbit Hole. Mark's basement could easily send Walter into a Rabbit Hole spiral. "Done." Happy smirked at her work.
Walter pulled up his computer. Not only did Happy reverse Mark's feed, but she also installed a microchip into the transistor not only to bypass Mark's personal wireless connection to his device but also to act as a wireless conduit for Walter's computer, enabling him to hack into the system that was externally controlling the transistor. Hopefully, it would lead him directly to the IP address of Mark's laptop.
"Anything?" Cabe inquired as he looked over Walter's shoulder.
Walter sighed. "Unfortunately…not. I'm able to access the information to the computer used to control the transistor such as IP address, type of computer, et cetera, but without Mark connecting his laptop to a Wi-Fi zone, we can't pinpoint his location." Walter ran his hands through his hair and released a frustrated groan. "And even if Mark's computer was connected to Wi-Fi, I wouldn't be surprised if it's also connected to a proxy server by now. Since he's rigged our garage with that baby monitor, he could have easily found out about the IP address that slipped underneath his nose."
"Can't you just hack into the proxy server then?" Cabe lifted an eyebrow.
"Not blindly; there needs to be an internet connection, and since he's reluctant to connect to one, there's nothing we can do until he does." Walter closed his eyes and pressed his lips together as he tried to think of another plan.
"You're one of the smartest tech guys in the world, and that's all you've got?!" Cabe threw his hands up into the air. "There's gotta be something cooking in your mind!"
"Just give me a minute," Walter's nose flared.
"Paige might not have a minute." Happy deadpanned.
Walter shot a look at her and was ready to snap, but Cabe placed his hand firmly on Walter's shoulder. "Easy there, cowboy."
"You don't have to remind me what's at stake, Happy." Walter spoke in a low voice.
"Happy," Toby jumped off of the table he had been sitting on and approached her. "Take a beat. I know you're still pissed at Walt, but considering the circumstances, Walter may need an extra minute or two to think of an alternative plan." Toby glanced at Walter and then mumbled loud enough for the 197 genius to hear him, "I don't like the guy right now, myself, but like Cabe said earlier, Paige is our priority – especially Walter's. If anything, Walter is more affected by Paige's abduction than he's letting on."
Suddenly, Walter's eyes popped open and he started tapping on the table his laptop was sitting on before typing on his keyboard. "Aha!" He exclaimed. "In one second, my computer will be a conduit for the radio frequency Mark hacked into. I just need to," he slowly turned a virtual dial on his screen with his mouse, "tune the radio program on my computer just right and then," They started hearing mumblings from a very familiar voice, "Got it! We're tuned into the frequency Mark has been using and can now hear what's going on at his end."
"So?" Happy shrugged. "That's what we were planning to do, wasn't it?"
"Yes, but," he paused and looked at Happy, "Mark would want the best frequency available in this area, correct? He would want to hack into a frequency that would never fail and would ensure him that his house was empty when he needed to collect his things."
"I see where you're going, Walter, but Collins wouldn't want to hack into the strongest signal," Toby said before Happy could say anything. "The strongest signals in this area are city-wide; it would be easy for a radio nerd to stumble on Mark's feed. That's too risky – even for Mark. If I was a freakin' psychopath, I would want to be far enough away from my house so that I can't be seen by my neighbors, but close enough to for an easy getaway. If I had money to bet on Mark, I would say that he would want to hack into a strong, less-popular frequency with no chance of failure."
Walter inhaled a slow breath. He briefly covered his mouth as he stared at his computer. "Toby might be right."
"Gee. I'm so glad you've finally recognized my genius." Toby rolled his eyes.
"Knock it off!" Cabe snapped.
"If we can get our hands on schematics of all of the radio frequencies in this neighborhood and then isolate the one Walter's tune into, we might be able to pinpoint a general location as to where Collins might be hiding." Happy folded her arms and approached Walter. "And if we can do that, we might be able to narrow the search even further by accessing all of the radio devices tuned into that one frequency."
"And if there's only one device being used," Cabe smirked, "we can assume it's Collins's."
"Exactly," Happy nodded. "But that means we'll have to reverse the connection again; otherwise, we will be pinged instead of Collins's."
Suddenly, Walter's cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and knew exactly who it was. "Mark," he spoke as he answered the phone.
"Is it just me, Walter, or are you telepathic now, too?" Mark chuckled into Walter's ear as the 197 IQ genius leaned against the table next to him.
"Where's Paige?" Walter spat, ignoring Mark's comment.
"Is that the first thing you think of after all we've done together? Clearly that woman has poisoned you, Walter."
"I'm not going to ask again." Walter gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. Toby kept urging him to put the phone on speaker, but Walter ignored the shrink's gestures.
"Fiiiine. If you must know, O'Brien, she is alive and well. A little roughened up, but she's breathing." Walter could imagine Mark rolling his eyes as he gave his response. "If you need proof, you can turn on the monitor next to the transistor – oh, and by the way, I know what you did to my wirings. If you even try to pinpoint my location, and believe me, I will find out, I won't hesitate to drive my switchblade into Miss Dineen's abdomen." Walter's whole body shook with a mixture of anger and fear; he didn't understand what he was feeling, but it wasn't good – for Mark's sake. "Anyway, where was I? Oh, that's right. Turn on that monitor; there's a camera above it so it'll be like we're FaceTiming each other."
Walter scrambled to the monitor and turned it on. Mark wasn't lying; once the monitor booted up, Walter, Cabe, Toby and Happy could see Mark Collins staring into the screen; the room he was in was dark, only lit with a small amount of natural light from the windows. Walter assumed they were in a basement based on the fact that the windows were installed only inches from the ceiling. Walter still didn't see Paige. He finally put his phone on speaker. "Where's Paige?"
"What do they say about patience and virtues?!" Mark slammed his hands against a counter.
"He's more aggressive than the last time we encountered him," Toby muttered. "Tread carefully, Walter."
"Copy that," Walter mumbled under his breath. "Mark. Where is Paige?" Mark sighed and slightly moved the camera's angle towards a figure behind him. Walter couldn't see a face, but he recognized the figure's outline against a chair and instantly knew it was Paige. But the dark silhouette did not prove anything. "Move in closer. I need to see her face."
"Well, aren't you demanding today?" Mark scoffed but heeded Walter's request. "See? I told you she was fine."
Walter repressed the anger, guilt and sympathy he felt when he first saw Paige as her figure illuminated on the screen. Her left eye and cheek were black and swollen, her lip was busted and she had a dark bruise on her right cheek. The corners of her mouth were also swollen; Walter deduced that Mark had gagged her with cloth for a long amount of time. Cabe's assessment was wrong earlier; it wasn't Mark's fault that Paige had been captured. It was Walter's. He should have been able to prevent Mark from reaching out to Paige, but because of his own stupidity, he sent himself down the Rabbit Hole only to wake up to this mess. If anything happened to Paige or their child as a result to Walter's idiocy, he would never be able to forgive himself.
After a minute, Mark moved away from Paige and placed the camera back on the counter. "By the way, in case you were wondering, she can't see you. She can hear you, though. The video feed only works one way. Ingenious, isn't it? Pull up a chair and pop some popcorn, Walter; you can watch your baby momma suffer all you want, and you won't be able to do a damn thing about it because you won't risk Paige's nor your child's lives for the sake of putting me behind bars again. And that reason alone is why we are different, Walter. I am willing to risk everything to achieve greatness and obtain the optimal goal. You, however, are a disgrace. If you had to choose between Paige and the lives of a hundred people, you would choose Paige in a heartbeat. After all, what's a hundred lives anyway? You already have two thousand deaths on your ledger. Adding to the list shouldn't be a problem to you as long as the result – saving Paige – pleases you in the end."
"Don't listen to that bastard, Walter." Cabe squeezed Walter's shoulder. "He's only trying to rile you up."
"I know," Walter noted and frowned as he looked at Mark as he spoke into the speaker on his phone. "I don't need to choose."
"Because you knowI'm right." Mark smirked. "It's okay. You can admit it; I won't boast."
"You're wrong." Walter's conviction caught Mark's attention. "I wouldn't choose Paige." Everyone looked at him. "I wouldn't choose the people either." Cabe and Toby were taken aback. Happy simply lifted an eyebrow. "I'd save everyone. I might not be Superman, and I could never promise perfect results, but a wise person once told me to save everyone involved - so that's the premise I will always strive for." Walter remembered his first case with Paige; when he and Cabe were discussing the Greater Good theory, Paige deliberately told Walter that normal people save everybody. Walter had reminded her that he was far from normal, but she refused to accept his response as an excuse. From that moment on, Walter made it a personal goal to always opt to save everyone – even if success couldn't always be guaranteed.
Walter's response angered Mark; the psychotic genius had not expected such an answer from him. It through him off a little bit. Mark inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly. "All right," he frowned, "Take your phone off of speaker, Walter. I want to speak with you alone."
Walter looked at Cabe, and Cabe nodded. "Come on Happy. Toby. Let's go outside for a bit."
When the three left, Walter did as Mark requested and placed his phone to his ear. "What do you want?"
"I can tell how desperate you are, Walter. You'll do anything to ensure Paige and your little parasite's safety. Am I wrong?" Mark wasn't playing games anymore.
"I'll do whatever it takes." It was a no-brainer.
"If you want Paige, I'll return her to you."
"When?" Walter inquired.
"Tomorrow morning. 0200 hours. Supersymmetry. Come alone. Do you understand me, Walter?"
"Yes." Walter nodded; he understood Mark perfectly.
"If you tell anyone what we've discussed after your fledglings walked outside, I will kill Miss Dineen and will deliver her body to you instead." Mark's eyes glared into the camera, proving to Walter he was serious.
"How do I know you'll hold your end of the bargain?" Walter didn't know if he could trust Mark.
"Paige Dineen is still alive, is she not?" The camera zoomed in on her before returning to Mark.
"Point taken." Walter swallowed the lump in his throat. "You have a deal. No one from my end will know about this."
"That's what I like to h—"
"Walter!" Paige shouted from behind Mark. "Don't come! It's a trap! He's going to k—"
"SHUT UP!" Mark bellowed as he marched over to Paige and smacked her hard on the face. Twice. Walter's whole body froze with anger as she cried in pain. Mark grabbed her hair and yanked her head backwards as he pulled out his switchblade. "You see this!? One more fucking word out of you, and you'll wish you miscarried!" Walter repetitively called out her name as he watched everything unfold on the screen; he felt handcuffed and grew frustrated. Mark pushed Paige's face forward. She was shaking with fear as he pressed the dull side of the switchblade against her cheek. The blade traveled down her neck and towards her chest. "You know what I like about this blade, Paige?"
Walter inhaled quick, shallow breaths, and his nose flared as Paige quivered.
"ANSWER ME!" Mark flailed his blade and slashed Paige's arm.
Walter balled his fists as Paige's eyes began to water. "N-no." she stammered in quick breaths. "I don't kn-know."
Mark smirked; no doubt it was because he knew Walter was watching everything. "Well, you're just about to find out." Mark pulled out a firearm and aimed it at the camera. Walter froze as he saw Mark press the cold blade against Paige's abdomen. "We'll be seeing you soon, Walter." Mark chuckled before he fired the bullet.
And as the feed cut off, Walter flared with anger as he heard Paige's voice on his phone beg Mark not to hurt the baby. "Please! Please, no!" Her voice quivered. "Please! I'll do any – I'll do anything!"
Walter couldn't bring himself to speak; for the first time in a very long time, he was tongue-tied, and anything he wanted to say got caught in his throat. He felt sick to his stomach; he heard a struggle. Mark demanded Paige to sit still as she continued to plead him to spare the baby's life. "Fine. Have it your way!" Mark spat, and just before Walter's phone died, he heard a curdling scream.
~ SCORPION ~
"Paige! Paige!" Cabe heard Walter shout from beyond the basement door. He screamed her name again; convincing Cabe it was go-time. He rushed down the stairs, followed by Toby and Happy. He stopped in his tracks when Walter threw his phone against the wall; it shattered to hundreds of pieces.
"What happened!?" Cabe barked as he approached Walter. He tried grabbing the kid's shoulders, forcing him to face him, but Walter ripped himself away from Cabe and started smashing and throwing things. "Walter!" Cabe yelled. "Answer me, dammit!"
"Uh, Cabe?" Toby blinked, capturing the agent's attention. "You've gotta do something quickly; if Walt keeps this tantrum up, he'll spiral into a Rabbit Hole he's not equipped to handle. And if that happens, it's game over for Walter, game over for Paige and game over for the baby."
"No one – except maybe Paige – would be able to drag Walter out of that kind of dark place. It's nasty – brutally nasty. So think fast." Happy added as Cabe turned around and looked at Walter; the genius wasn't throwing things anymore. He was on his knees, hands clamped to his hair and staring at the floor with widened eyes. Walter was hyperventilating, and it pained Cabe to see him in such a desolate state.
"What part of 'act quickly' do you not understand, Cabe!" Toby shouted. "If you don't shake him out of Gloomsville, Mr. 197 is as good as gone. He might as well be a vegetable."
Walter started mumbling Paige's name over and over and over again; the sight was too much for Cabe to watch anymore. "Say no more." Cabe muttered as he walked up to Walter, knelt down beside him and rammed his fist into the genius's temple. Walter was out cold.
"Of all the things I'd thought you'd do, that was not one of them." Toby's eyes popped open. Then he nodded. "But Cognitive Recalibration works too."
Happy was grinning. "Well, if you wanted that to happen, I could have lent you my wrench."
"I just wanted to knock him out; not give him stitches." Cabe frowned as he heaved Walter's limp body over his shoulders. "Let's go. Walter's no good here anymore. We need to get him back to the garage until he wakes up."
"But you said we're not returning til we have Paige." Toby lifted his eyebrows as he and Happy started following Cabe up the stairs.
"You're right. I did say that. Once I shed this growth off my back," Cabe gestured towards Walter, "the three of us will be going on a field trip."
~ SCORPION ~
WriterFreak001:
Aaaaand the suspense continues! I opted on including the ending section as part of the next chapter but decided against it, thinking I should end this chappie on a humorous (well, semi-humorous) note instead of a "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME" note.
Anyway, please let me know at any time if the characters seem OOC.
What do you think will happen next?
Let me know what you think, regardless! I can take the heat! 8^D (That's me, wearing sunglasses).