WriterFreak001:
Nothing new other than the fact that I have a mental condition called Scorpionitis.
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 29
~ SCORPION ~
Before Angus could give Walter his reply, the genius heard his wife calling him from the house. "Hold that thought," Walter muttered before he scrambled up to Paige, wondering if there was something wrong. "Is everything all right?"
"Walter," she spoke in a hushed tone, "I overheard you speaking with your father a few seconds ago. I know you mean well, but you can't ask your family to up and leave their home and expect them to abandon everything they have ever known about Ireland."
"I know it might seem harsh," Walter raked his hand through his hair and then placed his palms on Paige's shoulders, "but them moving to Los Angeles is the most efficient solution; they want to have a second chance and be involved with the family. Living in Los Angeles will give them that opportunity in doing so. They can't afford multiple trips to the states, and we don't have the time to visit Ireland. Asking my parents to move to LA is a win-win situation. Everybody saves money, too."
Paige peeled his palms off of her shoulders and squeezed his hands with hers. "Walter," she gave him a small smile, "Yes, it might seem like the most efficient solution, but again," she kissed his knuckles, "it's not the most ethical solution. Your parents have a life in Callan; they have friends, the farm, comfort and history. It wouldn't be fair for them to leave their home in order to be involved with our family. Take it from their perspective," Paige said as she released his hands and hooked her arms around his neck, "they've been living in a farming community for most of their lives if not more. They would feel very uncomfortable moving to a large city; it would be overwhelming for them, and they would experience a serious case of culture shock."
"Culture shock can be overcome over time." Walter deadpanned.
"You're not listening to me," Paige shook her head. She paused for a few seconds and then her eyes lit up; matching Walter's expression whenever he had an epiphany. "What if someone asked you to leave everything behind in Los Angeles and move somewhere miles away to join a think tank or something; would you be able to do it? Abandon Scorpion and leave your friends for the sake of a job opportunity? I know I wouldn't; I wouldn't be able to bring myself to leave the once place I have ever felt a home."
Walter pursed his lips and considered his wife's inquiry; could he really leave Los Angeles behind and be contented somewhere else in a company that wasn't Scorpion? Starting Scorpion was his dream, and now that it was a reality, could he really give it up? And if he did abandon Scorpion, what would become of Toby, Happy and Sylvester? While Happy had already moved out and is living in her own apartments, Sylvester and Toby were still living at the garage. But Sly and Toby were planning on moving out so eventually, they'll have their own places to live as well. Yet, if Walter and his family left them, they wouldn't have the garage anymore because Walter would have to sell it. And selling the garage was something Walter could never do; it not only was his home, but it was his fortress, and he had friends who worked there too. The garage held a lot of histor—Oh. That was what Paige had meant. "You're right," he finally spoke. "I should…probably…redefine my terms."
"Or, have no terms at all," Paige cupped his face. "When they want to visit, we can pay for their trip. And for someone who is the world's smartest tech guy, I'm surprised you didn't even think of Skype," Paige laughed and gently smooshed his face inward like a fish. "If they're more comfortable staying in Ireland, then it's okay if they stay. We'll make it work. One way or another, we'll make it work. Okay?"
"Okay," he mumbled as his mouth flapped like a fish lips. Paige smoothed out his face and pulled him in for a brief kiss. "Now that I think about it," Walter scratched the back of his neck, "My parents have a desktop without an embedded video camera; they also don't have smartphones nor do they have tablets."
"I'm sure you think of something before we have to leave." Paige smiled and kissed him once more. "All right," she gave him a gentle push, "go back to your father and change your terms."
"Kay," Walter nodded as he spun around on his heels and started his way back to his father. He spent the next ten minutes taking back his condition and giving his father new ones. He basically repeated everything his wife had told him, but he paused when his father claimed he didn't even know what Skype was. When Walter tried explaining the mechanics of Skype, his father acted as though Walter was speaking a different language. "Hang on…. I'll be right back."
Walter scrambled towards the house and sifted through his briefcase he had left by his parents' disgraceful computer.
"What are you doing, Walter?" Paige asked him as she walked into the room.
"I'm going to show both me Mam and me Dhaid how Skype works." Walter replied as a hint of his repressed Irish accent snuck into his statement.
"Who are you going to call?" Paige folded her arms as he rose to his feet and turned on his tablet.
"I'll call Ralph," Walter shrugged.
"It's about 3:30 AM in Los Angeles, right now. Ralph is asleep." Paige lifted an eyebrow and walked towards him.
"You wanna bet?" Walter chuckled and then added, "LA is approaching Saturday morning, and we are in Ireland. Two factors which would keep Ralph from staying up are absent, and the only two adults staying at the garage at night during our honeymoon are Sylvester and Toby. I can guarantee you that neither one of them every pays attention to the clock when they're busy working on their projects. Ergo, the odds of Ralph sleeping during this time are slim."
Paige playfully rolled her eyes and sighed. "All right, give him a call. If he's cranky when we return, it's all on you."
"I'm willing to risk it." Walter smirked as he pulled up Skype on his tablet. He led Paige to the kitchen where both of his parents were working on lunch. Walter assumed his father came inside while he was fetching his tablet. He called them to attention and showed them the wonderful invention known as Skype; he first explained to them what Skype was and showed them where the camera was on the tablet. Then he called Ralph, and just as he assumed, the boy was still awake. The conversation was short, and Walter was able to introduce his son-to-be to his parents. Ralph was very polite and towards the end of the conversation, the boy's question threw Walter and his parents off guard.
"Hey, Dad?" Ralph yawned and stretched his arms; Walter could tell the boy was going in and out and knew it was time to cut the conversation short.
"Yeah?" Walter blinked as he waited for Ralph to speak.
"When the adoption papers are filed and processed, will your parents be my new grandparents too?" Ralph yawned again and shook himself awake. Walter really didn't know how to answer his query; if he said no, he might offend his parents, but if he said yes, his parents might not be interested – but they claimed they were interested in being involved in the family more so maybe it was a yes? Walter glanced at his parents, hoping he could gather some clue as to what they would say. His mother shook herself out of her own reverie and nodded as his father shrugged. "Dad?"
"Hm? Oh, right. Yeah…. Yeah, they would, buddy." Walter grinned and was caught by surprise when Paige leaned up to kiss his cheek.
"Ralph, honey," Paige redirected her attention towards the tablet, "You should be in bed now."
"I'm not tired," he yawned in response.
"Uh-huh. Sure." Paige laughed. "Just promise me you'll get some sleep before the sun rises in LA."
"Okay," Ralph nodded with another yawn.
"He's barely awake," Paige muttered into Walter's ear. "We need to let him go so he can get some sleep."
"Okay," Walter whispered with a nod and then said to Ralph, "We gotta get going, buddy. The plane leaves in a few hours, and we still haven't gotten to the airport yet."
"Mhmm. Okay." Ralph rubbed his eyes. "Bye."
"Bye. / Bye, sweetie." Walter and Paige said in unison. The boy ended the call and then Walter closed out of the app. "And that is what Skype is." Walter looked at his parents as he locked the screen of his tablet.
"That's all fine and good," his father crossed his arms, "but we don't have any money to buy that sort of contraption."
Walter pressed his lips together and released a slow breath. "I got an idea," Walter said as he left his tablet on the counter and disappeared to his briefcase. He pulled out the tablet's charger and scrambled back into the kitchen. "Everything I have on this tablet is uploaded to a cloud server at home."
"What's a cloud server?" Both his parents asked in unison.
"Doesn't matter; what matters is that I can erase everything on this hard-drive and re-download everything to a new tablet when I get home," Walter explained as he started pressing buttons on the tablet. "You guys can keep this tablet and use it solely for Skype if you want. You can use it for other things, obviously, but that's up to you. The cord," he gestured towards the charger he had brought, "is the charger. You charge the tablet's battery when it's depleted by plugging it into a wall," he paused, "but I'm sure you know how to use outlets. Anyway," he placed the tablet down, "the hard-drive has been reset; nothing I had on there is there anymore. It has all of the rudimentary applications, including Skype, pre-downloaded onto the device." Walter said as he showed his parents where to find Skype on the tablet. He quickly created a Skype account for his parents and then added himself as a contact. "Now, as long as you don't log out of Skype, you don't have to worry about signing in and out of the application. It will remember your information for you. I've inputted my Skype contact information, and when Paige and I arrive home, I can give you a call on Skype to see if you've got the hang of things."
Walter used his phone to call the tablet via Skype and showed them how to answer video calls; that's all they really needed to know.
"Are you sure we can take this?" His mother raised an eyebrow and glanced at the tablet. "That's an awfully expensive device for you t'leave in our hands."
"It's fine," Walter nodded, "I can easily get a new one once I get home."
"You can also use that tablet for emails too." Paige smiled, joining in on the conversation. "So if Walter and I recorded a video of the baby after he or she is born, we can send you the video through email."
Walter turned towards his wife. "And why would we make videos of our baby? Seems like a waste of time."
"For memories, Walter. Not everyone has photographic memory," Paige rolled her eyes.
"Right," Walter clamped his mouth shut, not wanting to say anything else offensive.
"Anyway," Paige took the tablet and pulled up the email server. "Do you guys have an email account; it can be synced to this tablet, and you can receive it on here as well as on your computer."
Angus nodded. He told Walter his email account, and in seconds, the email was synced to the tablet. "Looks like it's good to go." Walter said as he handed the tablet to his dad. "Any questions?"
They shook their heads. "Seems easy enough," Angus shrugged as he started fiddling with the tablet.
"Kay. Cool." Walter raked his hand through his hair.
As his mother returned to working on lunch, Paige hooked her arm around his and said, "And when the next time we visit, Walter would have no problem upgrading your computer to something that can use Skype too. And one that takes up less space."
"We never asked you to do all of this," Angus looked at Paige and then at Walter.
"I know," Walter swallowed. "It's, um, it's the least I can do after making life a little difficult for the family – especially after I hacked into NASA and agreed to help the US government with certain projects. After observing Paige interact with Ralph when I first met them, I came to realize that I was most likely not an easy child to raise – given my intellect and inability to connect."
"Well, we are very grateful," His mother smiled and gave both Walter and Paige hugs. "Aren't we, Angus?"
Angus nodded as he scratched his neck.
"And because I was such a difficult child to raise, I owe it to the two of you to help make your lives a little bit easier; Skype will not only enable you to converse with me, Paige, Ralph and our future child, but you can also speak with Megan. She also has a Skype account, and once we return to LA, I'll tell Megan to add your account as a contact." Walter felt a sense of pride being able to share a small part of his world with his parents. They never understood technology; at least, they never understood Walter's fascination with it. Being able to use technology to literally bridge the divide between him and his parents was a step up from the relationship he had had with his parents for the last sixteen years. And like Paige said earlier; all of them will find a way to make it work. Whether it's through Skype or through visits to each other's countries, it will somehow work.
His mother shook him out of his reverie when she told him there was going to be another half hour before lunch. His dad had disappeared while he was submerged into his thoughts, but Paige was still clinging to his arm. He checked his phone for the time. 11:45 PM. They'll have to eat quickly once lunch was made and then hit the road at 12:30 PM in order to get to Dublin in time for the flight.
"Let's go upstairs and leave your mother be while she works," Paige whispered into Walter's ear. He nodded and followed her as she pulled him towards the stairs.
~ SCORPION ~
"What are we doing up here again?" Walter asked as his wife closed his old bedroom door.
"Well, your mother said there was going to be another thirty minutes until lunch, so...," Paige's voice faded as she pushed him down onto the bed, grabbed his cheeks and drew him in for a slow, heated kiss. As the tip of her tongue found his, he released a small, guttural moan, aching for her wanton desires. When his left palm crept underneath her blouse, she pulled away from him and shook her head. "I told you last night," Paige kissed him again; then, she muttered the rest of her response against his lips. "It'll be too weird in your parents' home, and besides," she smirked and looked into his eyes, "Thirty minutes isn't long enough for what I want to do to you right now."
Before he had a chance to say anything, she kissed him hard on the mouth and started grinding his pelvis. Minutes passed, and what she was doing to him was pure torture; if he didn't stop things between them soon, he was going to explode in his pants, and that was the last thing he needed before traveling. "Paige," he gently pushed her off of him, "if, um, if things escalate any further," he gestured below, "I won't have any pants to wear." His wardrobe was packed in the car with Paige's."
Paige bit her lip and then grabbed his hand before yanking him off of the bed. "I've got an idea."
"What?"
"We have about twenty-five minutes left, yes?" Paige lifted an eyebrow as she turned to face him. Walter pulled out his phone and checked the time. He nodded. "Okay," she replied with a wicked grin as she opened the door and tugged him along.
"Where are we going?" Walter inquired, but as she kicked open the bathroom door and yanked him inside, the grin forming on his lips matched hers, and he knew exactly what was going on in her mind. "I like how you think, Mrs. O'Brien."
"I thought you would," she laughed before tugging him down for a searing kiss.
They made use of every second they could in that shower.
And it was absolute bliss.
~ SCORPION ~
WriterFreak001:
I think the next chapter will be the epilogue for Mind Games. The third installment to this series will not be written for some time as I have mentioned before that I will be taking a hiatus from this series and focus on shorter works of WAIGE magic. :)
I personally thought it was a bit harsh for Walt to demand his father to leave everything behind and start anew in LA. I mean, we can all understand his reasons, but he doesn't always think about the feelings of others in regards to efficiency. So… that's why I inserted Paige's little spiel as to why Walter should take back his ultimatum. I hope that was well played.
What did you think of this chapter?