Almost a month and a half had passed since that night, when Scorpion fractured apart. Centipede Partners seemed to be doing okay. Scorpion 2.0 was, by Walter's estimation, doing a good bit better. At least that is what he told Cabe. While CP had pulled a few jobs away from him, they were jobs not directly in Walter's expertise. While he could figure out things like mechanical work he knew having an actual engineer for such work gave them the upper hand. He sometimes beat them out on the programming and system analyst jobs as well as he could get the jobs that required a chemist since Florence was still working with him. But those jobs were few and far between. He never thought it would be this tough.

Walter kept trying to keep the lines of communication open with them. To that end he kept electronically depositing Paige's salary into her account. He wanted to be sure that Paige and Ralph had enough. As he explained to Cabe.

Cabe wasn't completely buying it. If he was doing so many jobs why weren't they ever going to the places? Why did so many interviewers seem to turn them down before they left the bid office?

Florence and Allie freaked out when Cabe finally questioned him about everything, especially paying Paige, in front of them. They both were convinced they were going to come to blows over it. Florence began having a panic attack as she thought she was watching the group fracture apart again. She wasn't sure she could take being the only one around Walter.

Walter had accused Cabe of snooping and prying into matters that weren't any of his concern.

Cabe glared at him as he roared. "It was right out in the open on your desk when we walked in here." He struggled to get his anger under control. "After all she's done to you? You are rewarding her with your hard earned money? What are you thinking kid?"

Walter looked into Cabe's eyes as he was right, it had been out in the open. He nodded. "You're right. It was out in the open. I'm sorry for my accusation. But Cabe, I can't turn my feelings off. No matter what she did in the end, I still benefited from all of her lessons on how to be a better person. Sure I'm still struggling, but look how much better I am. I'm not alienating clients like I used too. I'm still rough and a bit short but I'm pulling jobs down almost faster than I can complete them."

"No you aren't." Cabe rolled his eyes even as he reached out his hand and waited until Walter took it in his and they shook. "I don't see how you can think you've been doing a lot better Walter. I have to give you credit for some things. But I just don't think you should be paying her. She made the bed, let her lie in it. If they come up short at some point, let them come crawling back to you for help."

Walter smiled and shook his head. "I can't do that to her pride, or to Ralph, Cabe."

The oven timer went off and Allie smiled. "Okay guys, that's the final bell. Drop this and let's have dinner."

Walter and Cabe both smiled and nodded as they turned to walk into the kitchen. "I will admit Walt." Cabe began as they walked. "You have begun to show you understand and are capable of showing empathy to others since the break up."

Allie had been surprised at how well Walter seemed to be handling everything. She constantly remarked to Cabe about it. She had been sure that the dark cloud over Walter the first few weeks would exist for the rest of his life. But a week after seeing the gang at a job bid when he found out about Centipede Partners he pushed through the gloom and began ramping up his endeavors to make positive impacts on people and had even been meeting with possible replacement team members.

"The biggest problem I am facing." he explained to Cabe one day. "In trying to hire people, is the fact that I'm not past the friendships I still feel towards everyone." As he told Cabe he kept hoping they'd finally come back and they could all apologize and return to being one group again.

Walter frowned as he heard the door of the Garage open and he looked up and his eyes opened wide seeing Paige stroll into the Garage as if she owned the place. He jumped up out of his chair like his pants were on fire. And just as quickly he shoved his hands down into the pockets of his pants. "Paige, what are you doing here? Have you come to belittle me some more?"

Paige smiled as she shook her head. "I came to see you." With such grace she almost glided across the floor of the Garage towards him.

Walter's eyes drank in the bare legs that rose up out of her heeled ankle boots. The ones with the zipper and the cute little bell tassels he loved so much. The melody the bells made as she walked, while beautiful, sounded like a klaxon inciting his hormones. His eyes were always drawn to those tassels, and then they followed every curve of the smooth skin of her legs up to where the short miniskirt started. He gulped several times.

Paige knew how her skirts always drove Walter to distraction. He was like putty in her hands when she wore them. His higher brain functions seemed to collide and collapse in upon themselves rather like a horrific snow induced highway accident.

Walter moved out from behind his desk. Surprise and desire struggled for control to be the expression written all over his face. He gulped again as he drew in a nervous breath as he stuttered to speak. "W-well, I'm, uh, I'm not, no, I'm, umm not interested." He blinked several times. "Uh, in whatever it is you are here about." He finally finished even as his eyes shifted into a probing gaze as he looked her over as she came right up to him and stopped in front of him with barely an inch to spare between them.

Paige's smile turned into a grin as she showed off her pearly white teeth. Her grin grew bigger as Walter's hastily constructed bravado collapsed as he stared at her mouth. She had no problems seeing the thoughts he was having.

Walter could see and feel in his memory as her lips kissed along the flesh of his face and her teeth biting into his skin with a mild pressure that always elicited a groan of pleasure.

Paige smiled as she saw him shiver a bit and she wondered which particular memory he was reliving. She was hesitant to speak, she didn't want to break his recollection and she was enjoying the expressions on his face as she continued to watch him.

Finally she licked her lips before she spoke. "Of course you are Walter. Or you would have ordered me out of the Garage the moment I came in. And let us not forget the fact that you are continuing to pay me my salary. That means you still care." Paige told him as one of her fingers touched his shirt collar and ran about half way down his chest and stopped.

Walter shook his head trying to clear the memories and thoughts that were bombarding his conscious mind. He felt himself wavering a bit and so as he kept his hands in his pockets he pumped his fingers, making and releasing his fists several times. "I just wanted to be sure you and Ralph were taken care of."

Paige's breath came out in a deep and husky voice as she spoke. "Come on Walter. Can't we put everything behind us? I really miss you. I need you back in my life again." She reached out with her other hand and grabbed his shirt with both hands even as he tried to step back. She pulled against him and they both crashed into each other as their heads came to rest next to each other.

Walter gasped at the sudden action as well as the enticement of feeling her body pressed into his. "Paige."

"Shh, my Love, just experience it." Paige whispered to him with her eyes closed and her mouth next to his ear.

Walter felt her body press harder against him. His brain was being overloaded by the scent of her shampoo and her lavender lotion alone. His hands rose up out of his pockets. Pressing his hands in, against the flesh of her back. He felt the familiar flesh of her body that was hidden under her blouse. It had been much too long since they had last touched physically and Walter was about ready to rip her clothes off right there. "Oh how I have missed you." He whispered as his lips grazed her ear. His tongue lashed out and caressed her earlobe.

Paige's smile curled up even more at his words even as his hands pressed harder into her back. She pulled against him feeling the pressure squeezing her breasts tighter between them. "Walter, we don't have a lot of time. We need to go." She whispered as her breathing was increasing in frequency but became shallower.

Walter shuddered as he tried to regain control. Pulling back slightly, his eyes opened as his left eye looked into her right eye. "Go? Go where?" He whispered, confusion written across his face.

"Walter, we have to stop this. I need you back in my life. Things have changed and I can't do it without you. Collins be damned, our plan doesn't seem to be working anyway." She whispered.

Walter frowned as he pulled back even more to look into her eyes fully. He whispered back. "What happened? Please tell me that you and Ralph are okay."

Paige grinned and blinked twice.

Walter let out a breath of relief as he pulled her back against him. "What is going on then, my Love?" He whispered into her ear as he smiled and surrendered once again to sensations starting with her scent and then the feeling of her body against his.

Paige gripped him tightly to her. "I think I'm pregnant Walter. The home test says I am but I have an appointment to go get the results from my Dr. I want you to go with me." Paige whispered back as she inhaled the scent of his aftershave and shampoo while her lips brushed tenderly along his ear as she spoke quietly. Her head swam a bit from all the stimuli as the last memory of them in bed together surfaced. She began aching for him.

Walter raised his voice back up to a normal level as he reluctantly pulled his head back away from her again. "Well, I might be able to forgive what you did Paige, but we're still going to have to talk about it more before we can try going back to who we used to be. And I do not want the others coming around. Just because I am willing to discuss welcoming you back into my life that doesn't mean I am ready to forgive them."

Paige nodded. "I understand and we can discuss that in more detail later. I just need you to come with me right now. We can talk all you want about how to repair things between us later as well."

Walter nodded. "I can accept that, for now."

Paige smiled as she grabbed his left hand and turned and led him out of the Garage pausing until he set the alarm and locked the door.

Walter froze as the fresh air outside of the Garage cleared the scent of her from him. His eyes opened wide as he spun around staring at her. "Did you say that you think you are pregnant?"

Paige grinned. "Did it finally register?"

Walter grinned as he nodded and he pulled her to him and hugged and kissed her deeply.

As they broke their kiss Paige smiled at Walter. "You certainly get high marks for that kiss."

Walter grinned as he kissed her again but tenderly. "Whose car did you want to take?" Walter asked as they left the door behind them.

Paige smiled. "Yours, I don't feel like driving."

Walter nodded as he opened the passenger door for her. He walked around and climbed in after shutting her door. A few minutes later they were driving down the street.

Paige gave him the directions to her Dr's office.

"How is everyone else doing?" Walter asked quietly as he drove.

"Everyone is feeling the strain of the separation. Collins needs to be caught but clearly this plan isn't working. So we really need to end it and come back together completely. Even Toby is beginning to struggle with it." Paige told him as her hand rested on his right thigh.

Walter pursed his lips. "Why would this be bothering him? He's got Happy with him."

Paige smiled. "You are still his friend Walter. He hates pretending to be so mad at you and acting indifferent towards you. And of course the separation affects Happy so much more than she will admit and how it affects her in turn affects him too."

Walter nodded slowly. "How's Ralph dealing with it?"

Paige sighed. "He claims he is fine, but he has become more withdrawn. Maybe I could probably handle being pregnant without you for a bit longer but Ralph needs you back in his life."

Walter nodded. "You told me we should have worked out a visitation type arrangement for him. I should have listened and realized it would bother him more. It's been tearing me up inside so it has to be bothering him. What about Sylvester?"

Paige leaned her head over against his shoulder. "He's been a bundle of emotions. Toby's been working overtime with him trying to keep him sane. Which reminds me, Toby said he is demanding a raise when we're all back under the same roof."

Walter grinned as he looked down at her face for a moment. "Okay, tell him that's fine. We just won't let him come back to Scorpion."

Paige laughed as she raised her head and looked at him. "Walter, you made a joke."

Walter grinned. "I've been trying to practice what you left in the loft for me."

Paige shook her head as she settled back against his shoulder. "What about going out and socializing? Have you been doing that? Have any problems?"

Walter coughed nervously. "Some, I found it too difficult without you. I have no interest being with other normals, at least without you with me. You always make me feel safe, like I won't burn the place down with my observations. Speaking of that, how are your friends? I'm sure they have expressed their happiness that we 'broke up'."

Paige nodded. "Well, we'll work on it some more then. Yea, we got into it a few times over it. It would have been a lot easier if I could have just told them what was going on. Some of the things they said really irritated me. I may have to end a few of the friendships over it to be honest. It is one thing to be disapproving but their words went too far."

Walter nodded. "Well, I was playing my role, so if they really felt that way I must have really sold the role. Hopefully once we can explain it to them they will change."

Paige shrugged. "To be honest, I don't care. It was all I could do to not scratch their eyes out."

Greetings! I hope this finds you all well! Welcome back to another fix-it! *sigh* Truly as an older story finally finished I hope it is the last fix it, other than finishing to fix AU-74's break up. I just noticed today, they don't have Mark Collins in the list of characters to select from to say who is in the story...how weird.

To the Adventure! -Tim