Walter sat down after getting a bottle of water. He was tempted to begin to go through the corporate account and transfer money to settle debts that Scorpion 2.0 owed. But he thought he best read Paige's letter first. He had been too scared of what she had possibly said in it. But after her words and actions earlier…he knew he had to.

"She really wants to fix things?" Walter said as he reached up and brushed the solitary tear that escaped his eyelid.

Ferret Bueller began chattering up a storm and Walter looked up and over, annoyed by the small creature's noise.

"Look, I gave you five minutes in your playhouse and now I have work to do." Walter admonished the animal.

Ferret chittered at him and then looked to the door and just then the door opened and Paige entered the Garage.

Walter frowned but stood up instantly.

"Paige? Is something wrong?" Walter asked.

"What is this?" Paige asked as she waved the envelope as she walked over.

"I'm assuming you are not asking the obvious. Did you not read the letter?" Walter asked, puzzled.

"I was going to, until Happy asked if there was a cashier's check with it." Paige said exasperatedly. "When I saw the amount I had to come find out what was going on. Now what is this?" Paige placed the envelope on Walter's desk.

"It's all in the letter." Walter gestured.

"Walter…" Paige said.

Walter felt she was being a bit testy over it.

"Fine, explain it to me since I'm here now. You could have just explained it while we had coffee together." Paige told him.

"No I couldn't, because you would have gotten upset like you are now." Walter told her. "Had you just read it like you were supposed to, this wouldn't have been a problem. Leave it to one of them to screw this up." Walter sighed. "Fine, sit down."

Paige stood there staring at him so Walter gestured to the chair she had sat in the day before. Slowly she moved around and sat down.

"Would you like some coffee or water?" Walter asked softly.

"Sure, water please." Paige said. She silently berated herself over her attitude as she thought back over her words to Cabe the day before.

Walter walked into the kitchen and got her a bottle of water from the fridge. As he passed by Ferret on his way back, he grabbed the handle on the cage and carried it back to his desk. He sat the cage on his desk next to Paige before he twisted the top and they heard the seal break.

Ferret immediately began chittering at Paige and then running around in a circle then stopped close to her again.

"Thank you." Paige said as she took the bottle from him. She smiled at Ferret and squeezed her finger between the bars of the cage and rubbed his head. "Hello to you too." She smiled.

Ferret's eyes closed and he began making a noise almost like he was purring.

"At least someone is happy." Walter said as he sat down.

"I'm sorry for my attitude." Paige told him. "And I will do my best not to get upset at what you tell me." Paige reached over and put her hand on his.

Walter nodded and sat there for a moment.

"I did some research last night, averaging out costs and fees on what it would have cost you to live and care for yourself when you were pregnant. I figured in the cost of delivery for birth. What it would cost to raise a child, diagnosed as Ralph was. Then I split that average cost in half and had a cashier's check made out to you for my share of it." Walter explained as simply as he could.

Paige struggled to hold back some of the things she wanted to say. But she had a definite smile in her mind as she sat there, getting her mind around what Walter had said.

"Walter…" Paige said after a few moments and a couple of sips of water. "We don't know if you are Ralph's Father yet. Why did you do this?"

"You said you didn't have sex with Drew for over three weeks after that day. And you said that you were sure you weren't pregnant before that day. Therefore, I have to be Ralph's Father." Walter told her. "I trust you and your judgment. So I wanted to reimburse you for what I should have paid all along."

"Walter…" Paige said as she shook her head. All of her negative thoughts faded from her as she spoke again. "Only you would think like that."

"I don't…understand?" Walter said as his head twisted on his neck. He was puzzled by her statement. "Should I not live up to my responsibilities?"

"No…" Paige paused in her frustration of trying to think this through. "Of course you should, that isn't what I mean." Paige tried to breathe for a moment. "Do you know what the odds are that I wasn't already pregnant on that day?"

"I don't have enough information to calculate that." Walter offered quickly.

Paige smiled.

"I don't know the answer either, but I would have to believe it is more likely that I was already pregnant. Just not far enough along to notice any signs." Paige sighed.

"Then, why?" Walter frowned. "Wait, so you're telling me you were playing on my feelings?" He was beginning to feel anger.

"No Walter…" He could see pain in her face. "God, I would love for this to be true. Regardless of the embarrassment I would feel over having to explain how it happened. But we need to make sure you are Ralph's Father first. Not to mention, you didn't choose to have sex with me. Intentionally or not, I did basically rape you."

She held up her hand as Walter started to interrupt her.

"I had sex with you, without your consent, Walter… That's rape." Paige told him.

"But you don't understand…" Walter frowned.

"What do you think there is to understand?" Paige asked.

"Don't you remember? I told you, I have been in love with you since shortly after meeting you. Just because I was unconscious at the time, doesn't mean I would have rejected you back then. As far as I'm concerned, you didn't rape me." Walter told her. Something about this was beginning to irritate him.

"Walter, that's sweet." Paige smiled at what he was trying to say. "But hardly the point…Consent after the fact is not consent."

"It might not be your point, but it is my point!" Walter said fiercely. "Damn it Paige, I love you. I am sorry about not telling you I took Florence to that lecture."

"Walter, I'm not talking about that." Paige told him softly.

"But I am…because of what you said that night. You said you don't satisfy all of my needs, but you do. They are my needs, I should know." Walter told her.

"You pushed for me to include her in Scorpion, remember?" He refused to say her name again. "For five months she worked off and on around us. And in that time, she went to one lecture with me that you absolutely were dreading and on top of that, exhausted from your ordeal in the swamp. And one evening she worked with me on a project on the whiteboard. That's it, nothing about her satisfied anything in me, she might as well have been Sylvester or Toby for that matter. And in one accident-inspired dream she gave me a typical, two second, closed lip kiss, that weirded me out more than anything else. There was absolutely no joy or pleasure in that kiss. And after that, she wasn't in that dream. I was saved by getting the guys to come to the accident and then convincing you to come with me and make them focus to save me."

Walter's memory flashed back to that night and he kept going.

"And then you had to broadcast to everyone that you were exhausted from trying to convince yourself that I satisfied you." Walter said as Paige watched a tear run down his face. He began realizing something far deeper. "You never, not once, spoke to me about that. Knowing how hard emotions are for me, how things I like, don't interest other people. How things others like, don't interest me. You were my life…and I failed miserably, because you couldn't be honest with me about how you felt. I would have happily not only cut back on lectures to spend more time with you, but I wouldn't ask you to go to them knowing they were so boring to you. But you led me to believe you enjoyed going to them, so I was excited to take you with me."

Walter's eyes were closed and Paige watched as his pain etched out across his face.

"Our seven months together was a complete lie." Walter proclaimed as he stood up abruptly and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I was giving you everything, I thought we were happy…I thought you were happy. But you lied to me the whole time."

"Walter, no, stop this. I was happy." Paige told him.

Walter's eyes popped open and he stared at her, his eyes looking around her face, about her body positioning. "Is she telling me the truth?" Walter thought.

"Damn it, I must be really stupid…" Walter sighed.

"What are you talking about?" Paige asked.

"I-I, I almost completely fell for it again, for you. I…s-started to believe you were serious, but it was just another l-lie." Walter began stuttering as his overworked emotions were firing in all directions.

"Walter, I'm not lying to you. I was happy." Paige pleaded.

"No!" Walter yelled. "You weren't. You were exhausted from trying to convince yourself that I satisfied you, remember? Do you remember after you first met Mark? You asked me…to let you know if I was just trying you out, and that I would discard you one day. I told you the truth that day. I told you, you were one of us. That we couldn't do this without you. And I told you the truth, on the dance floor at the wedding."

"And I told you the truth then too." Paige told him.

"No, you weren't in love with me, that's painfully obvious now. You were in love with some romanticized version of me. I should have seen it on the island, you were obviously distressed about how my feelings for you were manifesting. But I had never been in a relationship that long before, I didn't know any better. I trusted you to help me, to guide me along our path of romance and life together. Because I thought I was the person you wanted." Walter said as tears ran down his face. "But, I-I, I couldn't be that person, because you weren't trying to help me. That romantic person you thought of…" Sweat beaded up on his forehead as the horrific thought solidified to him. "Every…every time I made love…to you…It wasn't me that you were…" Walter failed to contain it and grabbed up his waste can and began puking into it.

"Walter!" Paige jumped up and moved around to try and comfort him.

Walter was doubled over, clutching the trash can as he continued puking. His right hand trying to wave her away from him.

On one particular strong heave, Paige heard something pop and then Walter cried out.

"Walter, what was that?" Paige asked.

Walter's right hand moved in and grabbed at the lower right side of his sternum.

"Did a rib pop?" Paige asked as she moved up to try and help him. "Walter, let me help you." Paige pleaded as he stayed doubled over but tried to move away.

"Just take Ferret…" Walter gasped. "Take the check." Walter was only able to retch as his stomach was just about empty. "If I'm Ralph's Father, keep it as my obligation to him." Walter gasped. "And I'll make up the rest until he's eighteen as we go. If I'm not, keep it as compensation for your pain and suffering of being with me." Walter wheezed.

"Walter, no!" Paige told him angrily. "Let me take you to the clinic to get looked after."

"No." Walter's wheezing was getting worse. "You've done enough, you are not going to subject yourself to me any further. We're done." Walter gasped at her.

"Walter!" Paige said as he became very white and she stepped up just in time to catch him as he began to fall. She managed to keep him somewhat vertical as he slid down to the floor. She managed to get the trash can with her other hand and pushed it off to the side.

She opened his shirt after laying him back on the Garage floor. She gasped seeing the swelling and the discoloration already forming around the right side of his sternum. She turned him on his side should he have to throw up again.

"Nine-one-one, what's your emergency?" The Operator's voice came on the line.

"I need an ambulance." Paige said as she held on to Walter.


"Kid?" Cabe said after rushing into the ER and seeing Paige sitting in the lobby.

"Oh Cabe." Paige said.

He could see she'd been crying…a lot.

"What happened?" Cabe asked as he hugged her.

"It started out…okay…Even better when you take in that Walter had come to see me at CP. Then took me to have a coffee, but got awful so quickly." Paige cried as they sat down. "And he got into that night, the break up…and he just started going off. Accusing me of lying to him the whole time we were together. It was so awful."

"Okay, I get that, but why the rush to the ER?" Cabe asked as his hand rubbed her upper back.

"He thought of the times we had been intimate and that I hadn't been thinking of being with him, but some fantasy, a romanticized version of him in my head…And he began throwing up." Paige sobbed. "And then on one particularly strong heave I heard a popping sound, he slowly passed out. I opened his shirt and saw his chest. It was horrible looking."

"Have they said anything yet?" Cabe asked.

"No." Paige shook her head.


"Walter O'Brien." A male voice called out.

Paige and Cabe stood up as Cabe raised his hand.

"I'm Dr. Oric, are you Ms Dineen?" Dr. Oric asked.

"And this is Agent Cabe Gallo with Homeland." Paige nodded.

"Well, I can tell you that Walter is going to be okay. He's conscious and we've got him on an anti-vomiting drug right now. We're going to keep him overnight as a precaution. Three of his lower right ribs separated from his sternum." Dr. Oric told her.

"Can I see him?" Paige asked quickly.

"I'm afraid not. He said under no circumstances were you to be allowed to see him." Dr. Oric explained.

"That jackass." Cabe swore.

"No, Cabe, it's fine." Paige touched his shoulder. "Dr. would you see if he'd at least let Cabe come back and see him?" Paige asked softly. "He really shouldn't be alone."

"I can do that." Dr. Oric nodded. "Well, I'll have the nurse do it and she can come to advise you either way."

"Thank you." Paige gave him a half hearted smile.

"I can't believe him." Cabe growled as the Dr. walked through the doors back into the ER.

"Cabe, I didn't mean those words to Walter. I swear to you I didn't." Paige pleaded.

"I know you didn't kid." Cabe tried to comfort her.

"But it won't matter now, because Walter will never believe me. Because as he said, there were times I lied during our time together. I just wasn't lying the whole time like he thinks." Paige cried. "I just didn't know how to explain it, I was afraid I would hurt him. And then he'd shut down over it. Cabe, I really screwed this up."

"I wish you guys had come to me and told me what you guys were going through." Cabe sighed. "I could have helped you tell him what you needed him to know and I could have made him tell you about that stupid lecture."

"Agent Gallo?" A nurse stood at the door waving for him.

"One second." Cabe waved. "Are you going to stay?"

"No." Paige shook her head. "If Walter won't see me, there is no point in it. And I need to get Ralph."

"I'll call you later." Cabe said after kissing her forehead.


Greetings! I hope this finds you all well!

ScoR32Fan - So glad you are enjoying the story! While there is no story tie in with "When It Rains" It did have some influence as to why Paige said "less than stellar". And speaking of that story, for those interested, there will be an update to it after this story is concluded.

Marti - Thank you, so glad you are loving it! Hope this chapter continues the love! LOL Yes, I hate how the writers had Toby go down that path, becoming an antagonist to Walter instead of the brotherly entity we saw in S1. Sometimes Happy's slaps are enough for me either, but I try to remember it is really the writers I'm mad at for writing him that way.

Marie France - You're welcome! I hope you enjoyed today's chapter!

DaToad - Hrmm...well from how Paige responded and what Walter said, it must be hefty amount! Maybe we'll find out next chapter? (No, no we won't...LOL Maybe in a couple of chapters.) But you are absolutely right in my view, Walter would do whatever he could to reimburse her.

LouBe - Last call for the Waige-Coaster! I've had whiplash, here's to you not getting it! lol Looks like we're in a holding pattern for any enlightenment about Walter and Richard...Poor Paige can't catch a break Ralph either. lol Yes, she definitely was in protective mode! You'd think with as little time as Toby is getting he'd be better behaved...but nope. lol

Ms Natural - LOL Well, I have been accused of being evil in my cliffhangers so...That's a heck of something to live up too! lol

Pearliegirl - Looks like we go to the ER...LOL Definitely not where I was expecting this chapter to go, but there we are. She said, "You're welcome."

Guest - Thank you! Hope you still feel the same now...lol Oh, "they" will get nosier! lol This chapter wasn't too encouraging about it working out...let's hope next chapter is better.

Masikka - hehe Sorry and this chapter didn't help with that too much!

To the Adventure! -Tim