Next day:

Paige was studying the printed sheets she'd hung up last night even as she wrote mathematical formulas on the white board. Cabe and Sean had worked together to move some lights around and got the area lit up better that morning. And now Cabe, Veronica and Walter's parents stood watching as Paige stood before the mammoth collection of pages.

In their left hand was a marker to write on the white board with. But right now she was constantly rotating it around in their hand and then pushing it against their leg before rotating it again to endlessly repeat.

So far she had paused twice to eat the small meals Louise prepared for her so she wasn't eating so much at one meal or getting as hungry in between meals.

"Hey guys." Toby said as he moved into the Garage followed by Happy and Sylvester.

"Welcome back kids." Cabe said as he looked back at them.

"What is all of that?" Toby asked as he stopped next to Cabe and the parents.

Sylvester didn't stop as he moved forward to look at the first sheet and then the white board.

"These are the print outs of all the processes that Richard is wanting help with." Cabe told Toby and Happy as she stopped next to Toby.

"How's Paige handling it?" Toby asked as he noticed the writing style didn't match Walter's.

Cabe's head tilted as his eyes opened a bit wider.

"So far she's acting like Walter." Cabe told them honestly.

"No, she's not." Sylvester spoke up quickly as he was going through the math.

"Is she making mistakes?" Veronica asked.

"Quite the opposite. She's performing at a skill level I'm in awe of." Sylvester answered. "I don't mean in awe of who Paige was before this, I mean in awe as in, I'm struggling to keep up with her math on this board."

"What? How is that possible?" Cabe kind of laughed.

"I don't know." Sylvester turned to look at him. "It's scary and amazing though. I can't wait for Ralph to get here."

"Oh shoot, I need to go get Ralph." Cabe said and moved towards the door to leave the Garage.

"What do you think of that sweetheart?" Veronica asked.

Paige seemed not to have heard her Mom as she kept working.

"Paige." Happy called out.

"Okay, this is weird." Sean said.

"No, she's entering the rabbit hole." Toby said softly.

"Rabbit hole?" Veronica asked.

"It's a mental space where those with really high IQs can sometimes get lost in their thoughts." Happy told her. "Walter went into it once years ago. I had to sit with him for days, forcing food and water into him to keep him alive. Until he could find his way back out."

"Was this while you were married?" Sean asked.

"It was." Happy nodded.

"You were a great wife for our boy." Louise smiled.

"Not really." Happy sighed. "I was just being a friend, in all honesty."

"Well, however you want to define it, we're grateful you were there for him." Sean told her.

"How can we help her to come out of it?" Veronica asked.

"That's an excellent question. One we have no idea on how to answer. It can be different every time." Toby told her.

"She's safe for right now, we let her be and see if she can come out herself. When we get closer to dinner, we can try a few things if we need to." Happy explained.

"That really isn't too far off." Louise told them.

"Look at this algorithm she's created here." Sylvester said, the excitement on his face and in his voice made everyone smile. "It's brilliant! And if we can figure out how to implement it into a working machine, I'm confident we'll be able to identify what within Walter is him and what is Paige."

"So…she's figured out how to separate them?" Veronica asked hopefully.

"No, not that yet. This is a crucial step though. If we don't know what is inside, we can't separate them." Sylvester told her.


Ralph walked into the Garage with Cabe. He moved over quickly where everyone was standing watching his Mom working.

"Ralph." Everyone said before his Grandparents began hugging him.

"What's going on?" Ralph asked as he turned back towards Walter.

"Your Mom is really tearing this up." Happy told him as she bumped him.

Ralph grinned at Happy before walking up to Sylvester to look at the whiteboard.

"Isn't this amazing?" Sylvester asked him.

"It is." Ralph nodded while he was running the math. "Mom, what's this variable?" Ralph asked.

"She's in the rabbit hole." Toby told him. "We were going to give her a short bit before trying to bring her out of it."

"No." Ralph said as he turned around. "We need to get her out of it now. If it was just one of them, that would be okay. But we don't know what it could do to both of them."

"How do we bring her out of it?" Veronica asked.

"Well, Toby's hypnotic suggestion is still there, right? He should be able to help her out of it that way." Ralph told them.

"I guess I can try…" Toby said but not with much confidence. Toby gestured at Cabe before he walked up and stepped in front of Walter.

Cabe stepped up behind Walter.

"Paige, sleep." Toby told her.

Their head drooped even as their hands dropped to their side and Cabe reached up to grab their body but they stood there.

"W-what's going on?" Walter thought.

"Walter?" Paige thought. "It's so good to hear your thoughts." Paige said.

Walter felt her smile and it made him smile too.

"Paige, it is wonderful hearing you. I've missed you so much." Walter told her. "Are you in control again?" Walter asked.

"I was…but I found myself in a swirling barrage of mathematical expressions and then everything seemed to go away." Paige replied.

"Sounds like you were in a rabbit hole." Walter smiled. "What were you working on?"

Paige began explaining what had happened since she woke up that morning.

"Okay, you made her sleep…Now what?" Cabe asked, standing there behind their body.

"We're kind of making this up as we go Cabe." Toby told him. "Paige, Walter? Can you hear me? One of you needs to wake up."

"And there is Toby…" Paige sighed.

"As annoying as he is, I guess we should be grateful, without his efforts we might not have made this connection between us." Walter sighed.

"You're right." Paige smiled.

"Yes, I can hear you." Paige said as their eyes opened. "I was just talking to Walter. And thank you for showering and getting that stench off of you."

Toby coughed and blushed a bit.

"You're welcome. But you were in the rabbit hole and Ralph was worried about it, what with both yours and Walter's minds in there." Toby told her.

Paige looked and smiled at Ralph.

"Ralphy." Paige held out their arms.

Ralph moved in quickly and they hugged and Walter smiled as he felt their love and embrace.

"Is Dad okay?" Ralph asked.

"He seems to be fine as well. He says he loves you." Paige told him.

"I love you too Dad." Ralph said. "You should see the great work Mom has been doing. This algorithm she's created, it's amazing."

Paige blushed.

"Well, I can't take the credit for that. That's Walter's skill and talent." Paige told him.

"I don't know, it's very creative in a different way than what Dad might have done." Ralph smiled.

"Thank you Ralph. Umm, guys, I'm going to go upstairs and talk with Walter." Paige told them.

"We'll call you when dinner is ready." Louise smiled.

"Thank you Louise." Paige smiled. "Walter said to tell you he loves you. And so do I."

Louise smiled and squeezed Paige's arm as she moved to the stairs of the Loft.

Ralph looked at Toby after his parents disappeared in the Loft.

"What about your cologne was bothering Mom and Dad?" Ralph asked him.

"Well just the smell as far as I know." Toby shrugged. "That's what they both complained about."

"Walter was complaining yesterday about the smell of methane when we went out to talk to Detective Lorenbrance at the explosion site. But neither I nor the Detective smelled it." Cabe told him.

"Huh…" Ralph said as his mind whirled. His eyes saw the bowl on Walter's desk and he stepped over to it and saw a few kernels of popcorn and chocolate chips laying in it. "What's this?" Ralph looked at his Grandma Louise.

"Oh, Walter said he was hungry for something salty-sweet yesterday. Looks like Paige finally finished it." She smiled.

"Smell sensitivities and a craving?" Ralph said as his brain began calculating.

"Ralph?" Cabe asked as they all looked at him standing there.

"If they weren't merged like this, I'd bet that Mom is pregnant." Ralph answered.

"What?" Cabe laughed as he looked around. "How could she be pregnant?"

"Paige said the test result right before this happened was negative." Louise told him.

"It might be a vitamin deficiency." Sylvester offered. "Even though they are eating more, they might not be getting all the nutrients they need. Maybe we need to get them on a vitamin supplement."

Toby snapped his fingers.

"Excellent point Sly. Okay, I'm going to run over to the pharmacy and I'll be back." Toby told them and left.


"What's this for?" Paige asked as Toby got ready to draw blood from their body.

"Well, one thing we hadn't thought about is whether the food you've been consuming has been meeting your combined dietary needs. So, I want to do some blood work to check that. I've got you a vitamin to start taking in the morning and based on the results we'll go from there." Toby told her.

Paige grabbed the bottle as Toby inserted the small needle into their right arm.

"Prenatal vitamins Toby? Seriously?" Paige asked.

"Hey, we're dealing with a combined life form here. And prenatal vitamins have a slightly higher count than normal. It can't hurt either of you, okay?" Toby asked.

"Fine." Paige rolled their eyes.

"I'm curious, how do you feel now compared to how you felt, after first waking up from the rabbit hole?" Toby asked.

"Well, a little more tired I guess. Why?" Paige asked.

"Well, it's just that Walter is conscious inside of you right now. So I was wondering if there was a difference in how your body responded when both of you were conscious. Like if your energy was used up quicker or anything." Toby explained.

"Oh." Paige said as she nodded. "That makes a kind of sense. But if there is a change, it isn't noticeable so far. And whoever isn't in control experiences things kind of like they are underwater."

Toby nodded as he put the tubes of blood he drew into a bag.

"Are you hanging around any longer, Cabe?" Toby asked.

"I'll be leaving shortly." Cabe answered.

"Great, if I give you an address do you mind dropping this blood off for testing?" Toby asked.

Cabe shook his head.

Two days later:

"Good morning." Toby said as they came up the stairs from the Garage.

"Morning guys." Walter replied as he sat at the table eating.

"Paige or 197?" Toby asked.

"Paige is asleep." Walter told him.

Toby nodded as he sat down next to Walter and began checking his vitals.

"Have you guys been taking the vitamin supplements as I requested?" Toby asked as he slipped on his stethoscope.

"Yes, per directions." Walter told him as he paused eating so Toby could listen to his heart.

"Good, according to the blood test we're going to need you to take one extra tablet each day. We're still waiting on a few of the deficiency tests. They'll take up to two weeks to get back." Toby told him. "Take a deep breath."


"Well you are sounding good, your vitals are all where we'd like them so I think overall you both are pretty healthy." Toby told him.

"Good." Walter said.

"That wasn't your normal voice." Toby told him. "What's wrong?"

Walter looked at his parents, Ralph, Veronica and everyone else looking at him. He sighed.

"I've been going over Paige's math for Richard. It's frustrating because I'm struggling to understand all of it." Walter admitted.

"Wow, that's a serious improvement." Happy said as Toby nodded.

"For you to admit that so easily, I'm impressed." Toby told him. "But not concerning. Even Sylvester was having issues with it. We're dealing with something we have no experience in. Paige had her own ways of doing things and while they didn't always mesh with us, they were still effective. This most likely is an offshoot of that ability while drawing on your skills and talent."

"So why can't I draw on hers and accomplish the same?" Walter asked.

"Not sure to be honest. But you are drawing on her emotional side. So clearly you can draw something from her." Toby smiled.

"I've got to get going Dad, I'll see you guys this evening." Ralph said as he got up from the table.

"Okay buddy. I love you." Walter told him.

"Love you and Mom too." Ralph smiled as he grabbed his books. He paused to hug both of his Grandmothers and then his Dad before leaving with Cabe.

"I should get downstairs and get to work on the Owens job." Walter sighed as he pushed his plate back.

"Did you have pickles with your breakfast?" Happy asked, noting the bit of green juice on his plate.

"Yes." Walter told her as he stood up. "For some reason I really wanted them."

Happy looked at Toby as Walter walked down the steps.

"Smell sensitivities, and several different food cravings." She mouthed to him.

Toby shrugged as he realized what she was trying to hint at.

"Hey Walt, let me run some more blood tests to double check some things." Toby said as he came down the stairs with Happy.

Walter sighed but nodded as he began rolling up his sleeve.

"I'm starting to feel like a pin cushion." Walter joked as Toby sat down next to him. "Paige had a question last night. She was wondering how functional her body is…like this."

"What do you mean?" Toby asked.

"Well, she said she is sure that if everything was normal, she should be in her cycle right now or within a few days at most. She wondered if she'd start bleeding and how that would affect me." Walter told him.

"Oh, wow." Toby paused after securing the rubber tourniquet around his arm. "I'm not sure." Toby looked at Happy.

"Don't look at me." Happy exclaimed. "You're the doctor."

Toby rolled his eyes.

"Well you know how a body deals with a bruise. If her body functions enough in this state to cause that, I'd assume the blood would be trapped in your combined form. And then the blood would be broken down and reabsorbed." Toby explained as he began drawing blood. "Best thing to do is double check yourself each morning and evening. See if you see any bruises anywhere. If you feel discomfort, pain or significant bruising for no apparent reason, we should investigate that as well."

Walter sighed as he nodded.

"We'll take this blood to the lab and swing by and grab Sylvester. He should have his stuff ready to move over here by now." Toby told him even as his eyes looked at Happy's old work bench. They'd spent the last evening moving her tools over.

"Paige talked to your other two contracts and explained you guys were now working back in Scorpion as well." Walter told them.

"Speaking of that." Happy said as she stepped up to his desk. "Thank you, seriously, thank you for taking us back."

Walter nodded before turning back to his laptop.


Greetings! I hope this finds you all well!

LouBe - LOL Walter dressed like that would have been funny! Wouldn't that be amazing if they did? Makes me think back to the 60s, there was a Batman movie made using the TV series style and actors. The bad guys had disintegrated all these world leaders as they were arguing and then the "powder" that was left over got all mixed together. Batman built a machine that separated all the "powders" and then basically added water and reconstituted them and they were still arguing with each other, unaware of what had transpired. But then Batman and everyone else noticed that the leaders were all speaking a different language than what they spoke before. lol Poor Walter, he really is feeling like a gold fish! lol Glad you enjoyed his EQ driven note! Now would I suggest such a thing as that about Ralphy? hehe So glad you are still enjoying it. I need to get back to writing it...*yikes*

Railman - Yup, it was in the guest section, sorry the computer went belly up on ya. That's never fun. Eau de Snake! lol Yes, Paige won't listen to reason, she keeps saying she'd rather die than burden Walter. Wonder what Walter will think about his parents moving there? lol Sean would probably make a good zoo keeper! Yep, Richard seems to be a good friend to have! lol Hope you found it worth the wait.

DaToad - Definitely something colossally big is going to be needed in the scientific world for this to work! I agree, Walter was more selfless than selfish. Paige even felt he needed to be more selfish. We saw how much he cared for others on many occasions when he risked his life to save even 1 person.

Pearliegiel - LOL Well, we're working on separating them...we'll see. As for if they are pregnant or not, no clue...well there are clues of something...but are they symptoms of pregnancy or dietary deficiency? Oh and as for "Prison" there are still 2 chapters to go. By your comment I thought I hadn't made it very clear there was still more chapters to come. The last 2 chapters will leave us on more familiar ground!

Marie Mac - Thank you! I do love Chinese food, I wish we had Japanese take out like Chinese, I really miss it too. Prior to 2016 my wife always asked what I wanted for my birthday and every year it was the same, her fried chicken. lol I'd buy 1 of those giant packs of chicken legs and she'd cook them up. Gave me fried chicken for a week. lol I just posted the 1st chapter of "A Knight Among Monsters" to AO3 last night.

Lucy - Yes, Sean at the zoo would be very interesting to me as well! Lots of speculation on-going with Walter and Paige for sure. hehe Names can be tricky...if there is a ethnic background to them, I'll do searches based on popular names from the time period they could have been born, most common surnames and what not. Lorenbrance was just something that sounded right and of course he is the doppelganger of the detective from "Dark Walter".

James - Glad you and LouBe enjoyed the note! She was definitely irritated at them over that. She definitely paid a heavy price for what they did. There will probably always be a part of Toby where it seems things are an experiment with him, but he's pretty genuine about this, he's caused enough damage and he doesn't want to rush anything and cause more. If it was a matter of Walter would die if they didn't separate Paige would absolutely leap into the fire so to speak. Happy, Sylvester and even Toby wouldn't go along with it, if Walter wasn't onboard with it. Well, don't tell anyone else, but we'll find out about that, one way or another next chapter! lol Glad you like the idea of Walter's parents moving to the States! Glad you enjoyed it, I'll, you do the same and yes, it is Sunday! hehe

To the Adventure! -Tim