This might be a little different layout then you are all used to reading. I have to get a shout out to CupCakes24(sp) for the review to make me act on this idea of creativity, and also to Scorpion for setting up the foundation and putting the little nugget of an idea to percolate in my mind. Have you ever had an idea that just bubbles and won't leave you alone?

I hope you enjoy.

E

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Walter sat stiffly on the grey couch. The fabric was something fine and coarse that rubbed his skin in an unfavorable way. It was like a rough linen shirt that he was forced to wear during his years of private school, the feeling was unwelcome, starchy and made his skin crawl. Walter tried to push the memory into the recesses of his mind, and focus on the doctor sitting opposite in a leather chair. He would opt for that piece of furniture the next time or if he would return for a second session of therapy. The woman was middle aged, he would describe her as Agent Cabe's type. Conservative in her navy blue power suit, with a flair in her scarf. Her hair was cut into a motherly bob, which was slightly outgrown. Her heels gave her a bit of edge, he knew from the familiar red bottom that it was showed a mark of wealth, which would reflect she either was good at her job with a thriving practice, or her family had money.

From the research he did before booking the meeting, he knew that it was the first option. He read up on the multiple articles she had published, a few books, and did a background search for her education. Her Ala Mater was not two but three of the Ivy Leagues, and Cambridge, with a brief teaching history at Trinity College. So he reached out for a consultation, and the correspondence began with the good Doctor Bench. It began with an email, discussing her idea on Jungian psychology or analytical psychology. It was an exchange of emails, getting to understand ideas, an open forum of different psychology approaches and techniques. After a few weeks, and an unfortunate moment that fractured the team led to Walter contacting Dr. Bench's office requesting for an hour session.

The doctor cleared her afternoon.

At the moment, Dr. Bench was reading through his journal. He had offered up the information a few emails back, and when he had explained the urgency of session she asked for him to bring his notebook. She had been thumbing through the pages, silently reading the passages as the fall fell to winter. It ended on the journal entry,

November 24th

Fury. Fought with Paige. I feel this rage I cannot express.

I hate.

"I would like to discuss the feelings that caused this journal entry." Dr. Bench asked, and Walter noticed the Irish influences in her speech patterns.

"How long were you in Ireland?" Walter ask, deflecting the question with his own. He knew that the doctor was not dissuaded by the diversion. She shrugged and starting counting with her fingers.

"I would say about two years, and three months?" Dr. Bench responded. "I met a man, followed him to Dublin, and taught a couple classes. I fell in love with more of the country side as I fell out of love with him." Walter stared at the information. He rubbed his hands on his legs as if trying to dry the sweat from his palm. "Do feelings make you uncomfortable?"

"What do you mean?" Walter asked.

"You just shifted as if what I told you caused you to feel awkward. Rubbing your legs, to distract yourself." Dr. Bench explained. "I wonder what causes you the discomfort. The feeling of these feelings, or the inability to know the proper way to express feelings, or simply how to react?"

"Aren't they all the same?" Walter asked crossing his legs, mirroring the doctor's posture. He tried to look disinterested. This was a bad idea.

"Technically, I guess yes." Dr. Bench smiled at the frustration that displayed across her patience's face. "You asked to come here to have a conversation, Walter. So please, let us talk. What caused you to feel this way in your journal?"

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Walter thought to the day prior, it has been a good day. A mission completed with a nice payout for the team to play with for the upcoming weekend. Paige had talked about going shopping for the holidays, to prepare for the rush. Happy was excited to replenish some spare parts for her muscle car project, Sylvester was talking about a new particle inverter and buying the new Super Fun Guy comic. Toby had already thought out the various bets he would be placing. Walter was going to deposit his, pay some bills and put a bit away into his savings. So the team disbanded, Toby to the casino down the street, Paige and Sylvester to the mall, and Happy to the junk yard. Walter had offered up to pick up Ralph from school so there was no rush for Paige to hurry back.

Walter and Ralph were playing another round of Proton Arnold, that Happy had just finished fixing from when the garage had been vandalized. Ralph was playing well, which made sense since he was a genius, but his mind did not seem completely in the game.

"Ralph, buddy, what is going on?" Walter asked pulling up a stool next to the boy. His hand went to his shoulder but Ralph shrugged at the touch. Walter's head shifted to the side, trying to decipher the rebuke of his touch. "Does this have to do with your dad?"

"My dad went to a try out." The boy said starting another game, and the garage echoed to the sounds of the game's intro music and the sounds of the joystick and clicking of buttons. Walter knew about the try out because Drew told him, but he got the impression that Drew was keeping it to himself.

"How do you know that?" Walter asked trying to ascertain the begotten information. Ralph took his eyes off the screen to give his mentor a disbelieving look. Walter shrugged his shoulder as if to say, 'enlighten me.'

"I heard him on the phone last night. Mom stayed late, so he stayed until she came home. He had a phone call with his agent. He pretended to be in the bathroom." Ralph described as he listened to the conversation, overhearing the possibility of Drew going to Dallas or Memphis to play baseball in the major leagues.

"I'm sorry buddy." Walter said trying again to put his run his hand through Ralph's hair that he had watched Paige do numerous times, and knew it was a physical response that comforted Ralph. Ralph danced away from his fingers. He turned from the game and he met Walter's questioning glance with a glare.

"This is your fault." Ralph spite out the words with a venom that shocked the genius.

"What makes you say that?" Walter asked rubbing a hand to his face. He could read the boy's logic. He was pushed by Paige's forlorn expression and gave Drew the idea during the baseball outing, which prompted in turn the baseball experiment, which helped Drew pick up three more miles per hour on his pitch. That impacted his performance, allowing him to catch the attention of the major leagues and the chance to advance. Hence the try outs. Ralph said just as much. Walter could see the tears in the boy's eyes, and when the boy turned away to face the game cabinet shielding himself from Walter and from the vulnerability of his expression. Walter gave him space, retreating a safe distance to the kitchen, where he could keep an eye on Ralph but yet not be a smothering presence.

And he remained there for two more hours, stewing with the emotions until Paige texted that Drew returned to town early, and would be picking up Ralph in about fifteen minutes. The message was short and to the point. Walter responded with a short.

K.

Walter knew that Paige being an emotional being that messages with just one letter was a pet peeve. She would read into the lack of words. But she did not respond, so it was also safe to say that his response was waiting at the bottom of her giant bag she used as a purse. Drew was prompt and amiable, as always. He buddy-ed up to Walter, thanking him by clapping him on the back as if they were old friends. Drew called to Ralph, took his child's backpack and ran his fingers through his son's hair. A touch that Ralph did not shirk from, and Walter thought the boy leaned into his father's touch. Drew thanked Walter for picking up Ralph from school and the pair exited to go find some dinner. Yet another request that Walter waved off by stating he was not hungry. The moment the garage door closed he moved to the kitchen to find some left over pizza but only found a bottle of whiskey.

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Paige and Sylvester returned from the mall two hours later. The sales had been ridiculous that Paige was nearly finished with shopping for the holiday, and then there was the line outside Barnes and Noble that wrapped nearly twice around one wing of the mall. There was a comic book signing, that Sylvester practically hyperventilated when he found out. Paige had set about texting Drew to pick Ralph up from the garage, relieving Walter from child duty. So they entered the darkened garage close a little after nine in the evening. Sylvester had requested Paige to accompany him into the garage, due to his fear of the dark and that she could hide the presents for Ralph in the office.

"Anyone home?" She called out flipping on the lights, there was a faint hum of Proton Arnold indicating it was recently played. Sylvester's face lit up and he went over to the cabinet to start up a game. "Toby, Happy, Walter?" Paige moved further into the garage taking the steps up to the second floor to put the packages in the upstairs closet. It was a storage room that was rarely used by the team, and had never been frequented by Ralph.

Paige was stowing the last bag when she felt his eyes. "What are you doing?" His voice was deep yet cold. Almost distant.

Paige turned warily looking at the genius that looked nothing like Walter. It reminded her of the time when Collins came into the picture, that moment when Walter had 'fallen down the rabbit hole' as Toby called it. It was frightening to think, this man could get lost in his own mind. She offered him a warm smile, which he did not return.

"I am hiding the presents I got Ralph for Christmas." Paige explained and motioned to the few bags stacked on the top shelf. "There is no place in the apartment that I could keep from Ralph." Walter looked at the bags stepping further into the room. It could be described as a room, but it was only a little bigger than a closet. With two grown adults, and shelves flanking on each wall brought the pair close together.

"Why bother?" Walter asked, his tone caused Paige to rear her head back. She figured he was stepping in to see the purchases, and offer some insight at the different objects. His tone was sharp like a knife.

"Excuse me?" Paige asked her head cocking to one side taking in Walter's profile. He was reaching a hand up and pulling a box from the bag. It was a rubic cube with Sudoku puzzles still in the plastic but able to be shifted a bit. Walter's fingers set about to shift the sides. He was distracted by the puzzle that Paige set her hand on Walter's fingers to still the movement. "Walter, what do you mean?"

"Why bother?" He stated again with each word dripping with malice. "Are you even going to be here with Drew's career development?" Paige stepped away from Walter, as the words he threw at her stung like a bee sting. Walter moved forward and she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"Are you drunk?" Paige asked her eyes wide with accusation. Walter shook his head, and lifted his hand to show he had three drinks. "How did you know about, Drew?" Walter moved forward again, his hands coming to rest on the wall on each side of her body. Paige reached her arms up, body on autopilot to his touches. She went to grip his collar. "Walter?" His eye darkened.

"Because he told me." Walter straightened leaning away and her fingers fell from his shirt. "That bastard had the audacity to tell me all about these tryouts, and that it was because of me." He put his hands to his face rubbing his skin and then into his hair. "Are you going with him?"

"What?"

"Are you going to follow him to where ever he gets picked up?" Walter demanded. "I would like to know so I can prepare for your replacement." Paige's eyes widened.

"Are you sure you only have had three drinks?" Her voice was low and cutting. Walter shrugged and stepped out of the closet but was followed closely by Paige. She followed his long gait to the stairs and hurried to chase after him as he got to the first floor. In the meantime of their closet discussion, Toby and Happy had returned from their endeavors. "Walter, will you stop?"

"No, you stop." Walter said turning back on her in an offensive stance. The team that had been surrounding the cabinet turned to look at the raised voices. "He comes back for two months, and you are willing to drop everything you have built to follow him? What the hell, Paige?"

"One, I never said I would follow him." Paige tried to respond but Walter was not finished attacking.

"Wow, Paige. Way to be a redundant cliché. Could you have a bit originality?" Walter sighed, his words cutting her to the quick, "Do you ever care about the repercussions that will effect Ralph?" Paige raised her head to meet his darkened glance. There was a voice from Toby and Happy calling their names, but neither seemed to burst the bubble of this fight.

"Don't you dare, Walter." Paige yelled. His eyes blinked at the volume, "You have no right to use Ralph against me. No right. You are not his father. He is mine and Drew's child. Not yours. Do you get that?"

Walter looked thoroughly shocked at her outburst.

"I don't know what has gotten into your head, but Drew has not even been offered a new position for a different team. We haven't had that discussion. Not that it is your business what I do with my family." Paige said glaring at him.

"Not my business?" Walter retaliated. He stepped closer and practically whispered, "Does Drew know about the kiss we shared?" Paige rolled her eyes at his petulant attack so he went on the offensive once more, "Being the only one with the same IQ level as Ralph, I think it is more my business then yours. You don't know how to interact with him. You don't understand him. You thought he was developmentally delayed when I first met you at that diner. Just because he isn't my blood doesn't mean that I don't love him any less. And you are just going to take him away, from me and the team?"

"I am not taking him away!" Paige screamed back. The fury in her words reverberated against the steel walls. "I may not be as smart as you all but I offer him a stability that you all could not provide."

"But you have thought about it, right?" Walter asked his eyes noticed that she quaking. Tears filled her eyes, but he knew they were not from sadness but anger. "Can you deny it?" Her silence answered his question that he stepped away.

"You. Are. Not. His. Father." Paige gritted through clenched teeth. The tension between the pair rippled as if a boulder was dropped into a lake from a cliff. It was palpable. Walter moved back into her immediate space again to drop his voice so she can only hear.

"I have done more for that boy then, Drew will ever do." He spat the words. "More than anyone will ever do." Paige pushed his sneer from her face. She knew that the alcohol had tempered his words, but it did not take the sting away from bite. He stumbled back a few steps and Paige went about collecting her keys, bag and jacket. She ignored the team's looks of complete confusion and avoided their calls once their found their voices. Walter was halfway up the stairs when the door slammed close to the garage.

Toby was the first to speak, "What the hell was that?"

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"So you got into a fight with Paige." Dr. Bench asked crossing her legs and opened the notebook back to focus on the journal entries. Walter had just finished the memories of yesterday. After he had gone up to his room and poured himself another drink in his locked bedroom. He placed noise canceling headphones and spent the night programming, avoiding the multiple knocks of his team.

"Yes." Walter answered.

"So you wrote down fury." Dr. Bench focused on the words in his journal. "When did you feel fury?"

"What?" Walter asked.

"You wrote fury before the statement about fighting with Paige. So what caused you to feel the fury? I want you to focus on that feeling." Dr. Bench asked sliding her head to the left, her chin resting in her palm. "Think about what caused the fury."

"I felt the fury from the fight." Walter explained. "It is the only logical explanation."

"But yet you wrote it before the fight statement." Dr. Bench challenged. "I think the fury happened before the fight."

"You do?" Walter asked sarcastic tone evident as it was laced in the five letters of his question.

"Yes, Walter." The doctor responded with equal parts sarcasm. "I think you have been feeling fury for days prior to the fight. I think you have been feeling this fury since the night of the kiss you shared with Paige." Walter shook his head, not wanting to listen to her words.

"I don't see-"

"You opened yourself to her. This is your first relationship that you are on equal footing as your partner, am I right?" The doctor continued speaking over the interruption of the patient. His silence was his answer. "You have an emotional invested interest in this relationship. I am guessing you have never had this type of connection before, am I right?"

She waited for him to respond, "No."

"Walter, you are a man with a brilliant mind." Dr. Bench said. "Try to think why you wrote the word fury."

Walter focused his eyes at the bookshelf behind the doctor. A look of disdainful indifference crept across his face while his mind thought about the question. Fury. It was a constant emotion that he knew well. As a child, he felt it by not having the proper avenue to release his genius, ignored by every adult until Agent Gallo appeared to cart him off to jail. As a teen, he felt an unbridled tension due to the inability to express himself and the hormones coursing through his blood stream. As a young adult, the fury was close to the surface at having to deal with the inane masses that surrounded him on a daily basis. It was there until that fateful day in the diner, when he happened upon a genius playing chess with ketchup packets and salt shakers. The emotion dissipated for the past few months, completely gone and Walter felt as if he surfaced and could breathe without strain.

"It came back when I kissed, Paige." Walter whispered as he focused on the moment it all came crashing down. Dr. Bench nodded encouraging Walter to explore that clarity. "But why did it all come crashing back?"

"It never left, Walter." Dr. Bench explained, "You simply had pushed it aside. It came back the moment you changed the parameters of your relationship with-"

"Paige." Walter finished and he watched as the doctor nod her head. "Again, why?"

"You understood your reality when they joined the team. But the moment you started feeling more and exploring more of a relationship did it allow for the fury to begin to build. Your fight was not about the possibility of losing Ralph." Dr. Bench stated and Walter defensively shook his head.

"Pretty sure it was." He said.

"No, it was your outlet for the fury. The fight was about the change in your relationship with Paige. You put yourself out there with the kiss." She said gesturing to the notebook. "You put it right here, you kissed her, and the next entry was fury. Walter, you have been compartmentalizing all of your relationships into specific categories your entire adult life. They are either like you, a genius, or everyone else."

Walter shuffled in his seat, again whipping his hand on his pant legs, "It keeps it simple that way."

"It is also an effective way of keeping emotional people at arm's length. These two new individuals in your life has rocked your reality. You have a genius like you that you have a deep emotional attachment to, as well as an emotional being that you want to have a different sort of relationship that you have not had before in your life. So the fury, which had been simmering like a volcano, lying dormant for the past few months with just enough seismic activity to keep it active. Then the kiss caused you to erupt." Dr. Bench gave the example multiple times to different patients but it seemed to hit home with the genius. His eyes widened as if it all fit into place.

"What do I do?" Walter asked realizing that his actions from the previous night. The doctor pinned with a knowing stare. "I need to apologize." The doctor nodded her head and wrote down a brief note folding it in half.

"Give this to Paige." The doctor said while raising from her chair, and went to her desk and put it in an envelope to secure the content. Walter took the proffered item, and stuffed it in his pocket. He was waved from the room, with a request the he contact the doctor via email. Walter left the therapeutic office.

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Walter did not go immediately to the Paige, as he was reeling from his therapy session. He drove up, and lost himself in the hypothetical conversation he would wave with Paige. He went to the garage, but remained in his car, not wanting to face his roommates. Their looks of dislike would send him on a tailspin and he would possibly lash out.

Walter wasted no time in pulling up his phone to track the location of Paige's cellphone. He noticed that she was at the apartment, and saw that Ralph was not. He thought to the day, it was Wednesday about mid-day. Ralph was in school before he was let out for the remainder of the week for Thanksgiving break. He programmed the GPS to take him directly to the apartment.

But before heading he sent her a message.

Paige are you home?-W

He watched as the message's status went from sent, to delivered and then to read at 1:45 pm. Walter watched as the familiar typing dots began as Paige started to type her response but it stopped after a moment. He waited five minutes waiting for her answer.

Paige, I know you have seen the message.-W. He wanted to instigate a response. The dots of conversation reappeared and her response was rapid.

How do you know that?-P

Does it matter?-W He bit back the grin that was forming, Walter did not want to get his hopes up with these exchanges. Walter did not have the right to try and tease the situation away. As much as he would love to do exactly that, he knew it would not solve this issue. Walter owed it to Paige and to himself. Especially, Ralph.

Yes.-P He smirked at her one worded response.

There is a setting on your phone that tells me when my message was has been read.-W

Basically another stalker tool, right?-P

Yep. So are you alone-W

Yes.-P

Walter put the car in gear and started driving to her destination. The feeling of dread was weighing heavy on his soul the moment parked the car in the parking lot. It only grew heavier as he go to her front door, and nearly weighed his arm down when he went to raise his knuckles against the door.

Paige answered the door, and nearly slammed it the moment she registered her eyes on the man standing in her doorway. Walter had to place his hand on the large wooden plank to prevent it from closing. Paige glanced at his fingers and stepped away from the door.

"Yes?" Paige asked.

Walter shuffled. "Can I come in?"

"Why?" Was the only response. Walter rubbed his hands against his sweater.

"To apologize, and discuss our future."

Paige relented removing herself the doorway and moved back into the living room allowing Walter follow her trail. He closed the door and followed closely behind taking in the outfit. Paige was still dressed in lounge clothes of leggings and a dove grey short sleeve tunic. She wasn't wearing any makeup so he was able to see the bags underneath her eyes. Her eyes looked a bit swollen to do with the fight. Walter followed her to the sofa, taking a seat nearby but with a distance that kept her comfortable.

"Well?" Paige asked after a moment of silence. Her eye brow arched as Walter's hand reached forward to touch her wrist but he stilled his movement. "No." she denied him the physical touch. Her lips trembled another wave of tears threatening to drop.

"I am sorry." Walter strained the words, and when Paige's face remained impassive. "Listen, I talked it over with a therapist."

Paige wondered aloud, "What?"

"About the fight. Look Paige, I am a broken man." Walter tried to explain the doctor's logic. Her bewildered expression twisted more, "No, damn it, not a broken man. Look I am like a volcano. Always about to blow, with fire and brimstone. Ready to erupt and cause massive amount of destruction. That is what happened last night."

"So you are Mount Saint Helens?" Paige asked not understanding the metaphor. "Am I supposed to know what you are trying to say?"

Walter groaned and ran his hand through his hair. Scrunching the brown locks into fingers and let it relax. It caused his hair to stand on end and Paige, out of habit, reached out to flatten the piece of hair. Walter captured his hand in his, squeezing it before lacing his fingers through her own. "No," Walter said bringing her fingers to his lips placing a soft kiss to her knuckles. "My life is full of this constant rage and fury. Mostly to do with my emotional ineptitude, not having a proper channel or the tools to express myself. Until I met you." He professed and he felt her pressure point speed up. "I lashed out at things as my way of communication."

"What does this have to do with me, Walter?" Paige asked, a tear escaping her left eyes, and trailing down to her chin. He reached his other hand up to stroke her cheek. The emotional response caused Walter to quake.

"I felt this rage, until I meant you and Ralph." He said brushing his thumb across her cheek. "I created the emotional connection between the pair, and for a moment, felt happiness. That was until we kissed." Walter watched as Paige's nose flare and a flash of uncertainty. Walter squeezed her hand as Paige turned her head away from his eyes. "I did not know where we stood. Before the kiss, I was able to understand our tenuous reality without the worry of what we are, or where we are going. When I kissed you, I was changing the parameters of our reality."

Paige was shocked.

Walter took her silence as a good sign, "I want so much, Paige. But I do not know how to handle these emotions. So when the possibility of Drew taking you away, it gave me an outlet to release the buildup."

"You exploded." Paige said moving closer to the man that was still caressing her hand. Treating it like a lifeline tethering the pair. "Like a volcano." Walter nodded and he gave her a sad look that it shattered her heart. "Walter, you could have asked me."

"I know that," Walter lamented. "I just am afraid of what could be, that I imploded my happiness. I am so sorry for all that I said. I know things that I said were out of line, and there are not excuse, but I hope to one day win back your trust, and get us back on track." Walter said kissing her knuckles again. A tear fell from his face and it was Paige's turn to reciprocate his previous action. Walter leaned into her touch as her hand slide across his cheek. "I know it is none of my business for what you decide to do with your future and Drew. I just wanted to explain, apologize and just tell you that I support anything you do."

His sincerity broke her heart.

Paige offered him a smile. Accepting his apology, kissing his knuckle in return. "Want to stay and watch a movie."

Walter nodded, and the pair settled together on the couch, offering each other a silent apology and support while losing themselves in the imaginative world of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Fin

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NOTE:

I replaced the chapter and added a bit more. I am a bit happier with this exchange. I am thinking of creating a part two, to this journal entry.

Ema.