Title: Be Careful What You Wish

Summary: Paige is dating Tim, but is that what she really wants?

DISCLAIMER: I do not own /scorpion. This story is for entertainment purposes only. I make no profit and no infringement of copyrights is intended.

Chapter 2

Walter glanced at the clock, closed his laptop and headed for the stairs. It was nine-thirty and he could hear Paige's voice downstairs. Happy and Toby were downstairs as well, so he could safely make his way down, knowing he wouldn't have to interact with Paige alone. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to Paige. There was a hole in his soul where their friendship had been, but the only way he could think of to keep his promise not to interfere with her and Tim was to maintain distance.

It wasn't long after the Tahoe disaster that Walter began his new habit of waiting until everyone else arrived at the garage before he made an appearance. During the weeks that he had two unwelcome roommates, all he needed to do was wait until Toby and Happy made it downstairs. Toby unfailingly greeted Paige in a loud voice if she was already there or soon after she arrived. Walter suspected his friend did that on purpose. Now Walter needed to listen carefully for their voices each morning, or make his way downstairs before anyone arrived to turn on the intercom. It wasn't just because he didn't want to be alone with Paige in the garage. There was something he dreaded even more than that. It was the possibility of seeing Paige and Tim arrive together. He supposed it was cowardly, and Cabe would counsel him that avoiding reality was not the way to grow into the better self he needed to be.

He overheard enough in the garage in recent weeks to realize that Tim and Paige were dating regularly now. Walter assumed it was only a matter of time before their relationship became intimate. There was an excellent chance it already was, although he'd gotten no real clues from Paige's reaction to his comment. He knew it was inappropriate – and probably childish. But there was a masochistic side of him that needed to know. In the past few days Tim displayed greater possessive tendencies. He hovered around Paige and frequently planted his Navy Seal paws on her back whenever they left the garage together. If Walter had Toby's gambling habit, he'd wager that the event took place sometime in the last week. Walter shuddered.

Much as it made him ill to think of it, he found himself paradoxically wishing they had become sexually active. He recently read studies showing that early sex between couples – especially in the first month of dating – had adverse long-term implications for relationship quality. If that was true, there was a part of him that fervently wished they'd been doing it like bunnies for a while; and that it would ultimately take its toll and result in an irreconcilable split.

Walter scolded himself. Those thoughts were as petty as his sabotage of their Tahoe weekend had been. He would never become "fully baked" at this rate. He should probably wish Paige happiness, no matter whom she wound up with. To his chagrin, he realized that was simply not something he was able to honestly do – not yet. He wondered, though, if that was something any man – or any person really – was able to do. How could you love someone so much, and yet honestly wish them happiness with another person? Certainly he wanted Paige to be happy. But he just didn't want her to be with Tim. Did that mean it was really the being with Tim part that he didn't like? But that was just a rationalization, wasn't it?

Not for the first time, Walter wondered how he was supposed to even know when he was fully baked. He'd read enough – both fiction and pseudo-scientific studies – about love and relationships to realize that being a genius was not a prerequisite to making serious mistakes when it came to love. How was he supposed to know when his impulses were due to his low EQ and when they were the same sorts of things that anyone else might think or do?

"Hey, Walter!" Toby gestured from the coffee station, motioning Walter to join him. He dropped his laptop off on his desk and made his way over to join his friend – and one-time unwilling roommate.

"Toby, if you're going to complain about me marrying Happy again…"

"No, no. I get it," Toby cut in. "You needed a friend, she was there for you. Many folks may not realize that underneath that badass exterior is the heart of a caring woman who will kick my butt if I ever bring up the subject of your ersatz marriage again. And since she is now officially my fiancée, that's all water under the bridge. This is about…" Toby dropped his voice to a whisper. "…Scorpion's power couple – Paige and Tim."

Walter stopped in the middle of pouring his coffee. "What… what are you talking about?"

"Me thinks all is not well in paradise, that's what. There are distinct signs that something is amiss. You may not be aware of this, my friend, but Tim usually gets here before Paige and makes a beeline for the coffee machine as soon as she gets here. He has that cup of coffee on her desk before she even sets her bag down. This morning – he got his own coffee, but none for her. Poor woman had to come over here and POUR… HER... OWN."

Walter shrugged and finished pouring his coffee. "So… he missed a day. So what?"

"After the coffee delivery, Tim-bo generally hovers around her and engages in witty chit chat until Cabe gets here or he has to get over to the Homeland offices. Our Mr. Armstrong tries to be sort of touchy-feely but I don't think Paige cares too much for PDA – she deflects. But this morning – Woo boy! He goes over after she gets her coffee, they said maybe three words, she gives him a look and then he's out of here."

Walter set his mug down and put the pot back on the hot plate. "Wait a minute. What kind of look? Wait… never mind. I don't want to know. Why are you telling me all this, Toby?"

It was some sort of exquisite torture. So what if Paige and Tim had a little spat? Walter did not need to hear about it. It made no difference. He wondered if this was how Toby was taking the events and revelations of the past few weeks out on him. He'd had to sleep in the same bed with Happy to legitimize their marriage. Walter now knew all too well what Toby must have felt knowing another man – any other man – was in his girl's bed. Except that Toby also knew that nothing happened. After all, he was right I the same room with them. Where Paige and Tim were concerned, Walter, unfortunately, had to assume that something very likely was happening. Whatever their rift was, it would blow over and Tim would be back to…

He couldn't bring himself to even think the words.

"Because….." Toby drew out the word, apparently preparing for some big revelation. "… you need to know if those two are headed to Splitsville so you can swoop in and pick up the pieces."

"If Paige and Tim split up I'm the last person she'll want to be bothering her! I was married and I never told her. I repeatedly insisted that I had no feelings for her, or if I did, that I had to suppress them for the good of the team. I played tricks to keep her and Tim apart. If she doesn't actually hate me, she certainly doesn't like me anymore."

"I wouldn't bet on that, my friend. And I'll bet on just about anything."

Paige tried to concentrate on the flood of e-mails that invariably packed her inbox on Monday mornings. It was times like these that she really envied her co-worker's unusual abilities. All of them, even Sly, had the ability to compartmentalize things in order to focus on the task at hand. They routinely set aside their emotional reactions – and she knew they all had them, despite their claims – in order to do the work.

She glanced over her shoulder towards the kitchen where Toby and Walter were whispering. Given the scene that Toby just witnessed, it didn't take much to figure out what they were talking about. Paige was confused as to why Toby would run to Walter with the news of her and Tim's argument. He'd talked to her after Walter's space adventure; advised her basically to back away and avoid stirring up those memories. Why would he now be fanning the flames?

The liaison sighed and turned back to her e-mails. Her laptop pinged and a new message appeared at the top of the list.

From: Armstrong.T Subject: I'm Sorry

Crap! Now he was apologizing and the argument wasn't even his fault. She'd copped out, and that's all there was to it.

On the drive home from the game, Tim suggested that they go to his place for a little "private time". Paige knew what that probably meant. As she feared, he was thinking that since they'd had sex, he could try for a repeat. She should have simply been honest with him right away but for some reason, she just didn't want to deal with what could turn into a confrontation. She told Tim that she needed to get back home because the sitter who was watching Ralph couldn't stay much longer.

She wasn't surprised when he calmly turned the car towards her home and said he understood – there would be another time. He was a nice guy, after all, considerate and kind. He even made an effort to connect with Ralph – despite Ralph's obvious rebuffs.

During the rest of the short drive, she wasn't sure what bothered her more – lying to Tim, or chickening out. This was the twenty-first century. Women didn't have to come up with excuses to avoid sex. If she didn't want to, she didn't want to and that should be all she needed to say. She felt like she was setting the world back a hundred years. As Tim parked the car and prepared to walk her to her door, she stopped him.

"Tim, I… Ralph's sitter doesn't have any place to go. I was just… I don't know how to say this without making it sound worse than it is, but the truth is I thought you wanted to go to your place because you want to have sex and I… I just don't want to."

"O… kay. Aren't you… are you not feeling well?"

"No. I'm fine. I just. Look, Tim, you're wonderful and I really like you but… I think it might still be too soon for me. I probably should have realized that last week when we… But I didn't and now I…"

"You're trying to tell me that you regret taking that step?"

"Yes. I guess I am."

Although they'd only been dating a few months, Paige recognized the look on Tim's face. It was barely controlled anger.

"Look, Paige," he began, his hands gripping the steering wheel as he looked straight ahead. "I'm a big boy. If you don't think this is… us… if we're not going anywhere, you can tell me. You don't have to lie. What were you going to do, develop a sudden tendency towards headaches? If you… you don't want to see me anymore, just say so."

"Tim, it's not that!" she protested. Paige reached out and placed a hand on his arm, hoping he would at least look at her. He kept his eyes fixed firmly out the windshield of the car. "I just… you know it's been a really long time since I've done this and the only other guy… Ralph's father, Drew… he's the only other serious relationship I've had. I was barely into my twenties when Drew left and I've been alone all that time."

"Is that it? You think once I get what I want I'm going to leave?"

"Well, it could happen. You've been saying all along that you want to return to the Navy Seals. Are you telling me that if you get your medical clearance you won't drop everything you have here to go back?"

Thinking back on the argument, Paige realized that was probably the worst thing she could have said. It was true that thought had crossed her mind, but it was also true that it didn't bother her. It also had nothing to do with her misgivings about deepening her relationship with Tim. Try as she might, she couldn't muster any feelings beyond just liking the man. He didn't make her heart thump or flutter. He didn't invade her dreams at night. He wasn't the first person she thought of in the morning or the last person she thought of at night.

That person was Walter O'Brien. Now that he'd said he loved her, even if he didn't remember it, it was becoming more and more impossible for her to keep up even the pretense of a relationship with Tim.

But according to Toby, the worst thing that could happen would be for Walter to remember what he'd said. Or what she'd said in return. Toby assumed she was over Walter and had moved on with Tim. She was no more over Walter than he was over her. But she had to put that behind her, for the good of the team, and for the good of Walter. Maybe if she could patch things up with Tim… get him to understand that she just needed more time… maybe in time those feelings would develop.

October 28 – November 15, 2016