Just wanted to reiterate that this story deals with human trafficking in a loose way. Since January is human trafficking awareness month I am glad I was able to have it finished to start before the end of the month. So if the topic can be a trigger for you, please be aware of this, most of it is told about in chapters 2 & 3. And it comes back up in chapter 17.

Paige walked into the diner's kitchen to pick up the order that was ready. When she turned with the plate in her hand her head came up as she turned and naturally looked out the cutout in the wall. She saw Nemos standing close to the door speaking to some man. He had a briefcase of some kind with him. She watched as Nemos pointed over to the waitress station and she figured the guy must be there to get the wifi working again. Then the man turned and began walking towards it and her mouth dropped open.

"What is he doing here?" Paige fretted even as the shock of seeing him caused her to drop the plate she held.

Everyone looked at the sound and Paige blushed as she ducked down to begin cleaning the mess. She'd never dropped a plate before and she was quietly cursing herself.

Nemos was furious about it, but quickly calmed down when he found out it had been Paige who had dropped it. He was used to the other employees breaking dishes and finding out it was Paige, really threw him.

"How did he find me? After all this time. Well, he's in for a shock!" Paige thought as she made her way to the table of the patron who's plate she dropped. She apologized profusely about the accident and now the delay in getting his lunch.

The patron had understood and told her not to worry. He wasn't in that big of a hurry.

Paige moved over to another table and spoke with them for a minute and got their order. Paige turned to go get them ice water and confront the man when her eyes saw her son sitting there at the counter. At the moment he was twisting back and forth on the stool, deriving sensory pleasure from the action. Paige smiled at him and stepped over to him.

"You okay baby?" Paige asked softly as she squatted down next to him.

The young boy stopped and his eyes tracked to her face and for a brief moment she felt a small click but then he looked up at the clock on the wall. Paige smiled weakly at him as she felt their connection vanish.

The man working at the router had watched the short exchange and as the woman stood up straight her body language suggested to him she'd look his way and he quickly looked at what he was doing.

Paige's eyes sought out the man and she saw him studiously working. She sighed as she began walking towards the waitress station. Paige failed as she tried to speak with him and she quickly left after grabbing the water.

The man's eyes looked back at her as he saw her coming his way in his peripheral vision. She intrigued him. Something about her called to him in a way he wasn't familiar with. His eyes left her and looked at the young boy, obviously he was her son. He was impressed with her compassion for her son. He wished his Mother had been more like her…even if she had been more like his sister it would have been a major improvement. He wasn't in a hurry to finish the job. He'd planned to have lunch with his girlfriend there.

His eyes kept the young Mother under surveillance the entire time, when she didn't look his way. At one point she'd stopped as she got water for another table and looked at him.

"Would you like some water?" She asked him, failing again to ask why he was really there. She wasn't sure why he hadn't spoken to her, was this a game for him? She hoped that by asking a question that he'd open up to her and explain why he was there.

"Oh, no, thank you. I'll be stopping in a moment for lunch anyway." The man told her.

Paige just nodded and then walked away. "So much for that idea. And he is acting nice, not creepy." Like she'd feared he would.

Paige frowned when a woman about her age came in and the man moved over and greeted her. They stepped over to the table he'd sat down at a few minutes ago. "Is this some kind of sick joke? Is he trying to rub his relationship with this woman in her face?"

Paige brought them both some water and got their order and walked back to the kitchen. She had gotten some strange vibes from them. The woman had seemed okay but what was coming from him was anxiety and maybe some trepidation. Maybe he hadn't known she was working there and now he was worried she'd bring up their past and embarrass him in front of his girlfriend.

She shook her head, she wasn't about to do that. She just didn't want her past coming up to haunt her. As long as he kept his mouth shut then so would she.

Paige was a couple of tables over but she was still keeping an eye and ear on the couple. And she almost couldn't believe what she saw and heard. It seemed as if he was breaking up with her. And then Nemos jumped over to them telling the man that he was paying him to fix the wireless and not to talk. Nemos was such an ass, it didn't matter if it took the man an hour or five. He was just paying for the job to be done, regardless of how long it took. He was currently spending money which would help offset the cost of the repair. Paige shook her head, Nemos was so stupid sometimes.

"You may be trying Walter, but you're still a million miles from normal." The woman said a bit louder, grabbing Paige's attention. The woman got up and left the diner, clearly upset.

"Walter?" The look of pain on Walter's face nearly broke Paige's heart. He seemed to be kicking himself, but she watched as he climbed out of the booth and made his way resolutely to the waitress station and began working again.

Walter's eyes kept the waitress and her son in his view as often as he could. And then he saw Nemos step over and raise his voice to the young boy and then turned on Paige about him making a mess on the counter. Paige appealed to the man trying to calm him down even as she tried to assure him that Ralph was just having a hard time. He watched as Paige squatted down again and talked softly to Ralph. Her hand seemed to move up to touch Ralph's head and Walter's eyes widened as he watched Ralph shy away from her touch. His heart broke seeing the pain on Paige's face from that simple act. He wondered then if that had caused the problem between him and his own Mother. He'd never thought about that before.

Walter quickly finished with the wireless and closed up his briefcase. He walked with purpose over to Ralph and he turned and looked down at him and the so-called mess on the counter. Walter took it all in with a single glance and then his hand shot out quickly and moved one of the packs. He watched with a smile in his mind as Ralph quickly responded to that and moved another pack. They had a flurry of movements between them as they moved packs and pulled other packs off out of the way.

Paige frowned watching. "What is he doing? Is he now trying to move in on my son?" Paige thought and then finally she stepped over.

"Can I help you?" Paige asked as the action stopped and Ralph sat there trying to understand how the man had beaten him.

"No, but you should help him." Walter told her.

"Was that some kind of pain in his face? Fear?" Paige thought. She wanted to yell at him she was doing the best she could as a SINGLE Mother but she froze as he quickly told Nemos off.

"Wireless is up and DON'T yell at that boy." Walter told Nemos and then he was gone.

Paige was so confused now, it didn't seem possible. Was he playing a game with her now? He tracked her down and now he's playing like he doesn't know her?

Paige hadn't really had time to think about it as more customers came in and she was swamped.

As the lunch crowd thinned out some, an older man came in demanding to see the owner. Paige just stared at the thick packet of one hundred dollar bills the man threw on the counter and then told everyone to get out. She turned to grab Ralph and then she saw him enter the diner along with a number of others.

"What is he doing back here?" Paige thought as she paused for a moment. She shook her head and was in the act of getting Ralph off the stool when one of the newcomers was wiping down one of her counters furiously. "What the hell is his problem?" Paige wondered but before she could voice it, the older man who threw down the money asked him.

"Any idea, the bacteria on countertops? Just from chicken alone, there are over 20 diseases you can get from exposure. This is wildly upsetting." Sylvester complained.

Paige couldn't take it and turned again to grab Ralph when Nemos stopped her.

"No, no, no, no, you stay." Nemos stopped Paige.

"Uh, Nemos, no customers, no tips, And I cannot leave Ralph here with…" Paige tried telling him.

"Listen, my immigration status makes me not so comfortable around Federal agents. You lock up." Nemos told her and then left with the packet of money.

Paige growled but she knew she would be fired if she didn't stay.

Paige watched as they all were working on something to do with the airport and she stepped up to the guy who had worried about the counter.

"Is there something wrong at LAX?" Paige asked.

"It's top-secret." The guy replied to her nervously.

"How can it be top-secret if the guy who set up our wireless is working on it?"

"I really can't say." The guy told her.

Paige stared at three of the people as they talked about planes crashing and burning and body parts and she saw her son sitting there staring at them as they talked.

"Hey, please check your language around my nine year old. Be decent in my place of work. Thank you." Paige told them. She watched them all look shocked at her outburst.

Paige sat tiredly in the front room of her apartment. Ralph was changing into his pajamas. She kept thinking back over the whole day. It had all seemed surreal. She'd finally come to accept that this Walter must be someone who just looks like Bobby Dankworth. She'd asked a time or two when she heard them call him Walter, or Walt but they all said his name was Walter O'Brien. She was sure she knew him, but she had to accept since he hadn't shown any sign he knew her that he wasn't who she thought.

Suddenly there was a knock on her door and she frowned as she got up.

"Bob-Walter?" Paige said shocked as she opened the door. "Come in."

"I know it's, uh, late. I'm sorry. I just wanted to, um, say thank you for your help today." Walter told her after stepping inside.

"You're welcome. You came all the way over here to tell me that?" Paige asked in surprise.

"No, I also wanted to offer you a job. Government funded problem solvers." Walter told her a bit more confidently.

"Uh…why? I'm-I'm not a genius." Paige said as she took the paper he handed her.

"No, but you are raising one. That takes, uh, someone smart, brave…Now, our work requires, uh, interaction with people. It's not our strength. You want to know about your son, I can translate him for you. You translate the world for us. It's, um, salary…plus benefits. You're worried about not being able to connect with Ralph. That is a second chance." Walter explained.

"For you, too. With you and Cabe." Paige insinuated.

"When I was 16, Cabe asked me to develop tracking software to drop military aid packages. So months later, I, uh, I turned on the TV, and I saw bombs falling on Baghdad. They were using my system, and I designed it for speed over accuracy. So 2,000 civilians died." Walter explained his pain.

"Walter, you…you were just a kid." Paige told him warmly.

"Yeah, so is Ralph. So tell him to ignore any sentence that starts with "normally." Make sure that he's not scared of anything that he's capable of. And he'll find it difficult to make friends, and sometimes he'll feel like no one else in the world likes him. Yeah. You just got to make sure that he knows it's not his fault." Walter expressed it all with such passion, it really touched Paige.

"Hi, Walter." Ralph said as he walked out in his pajamas.

"Hey, Ralph." Walter told him with a smile.

"He-he doesn't talk to anyone but me." Paige said now shocked as well.

"He recognizes one of his own." Walter told her with an amused lilt to his voice.

Paige was walking with Walter to the front door after Ralph had to go to bed.

"Walter, thank you for this opportunity." Paige said as she turned from the door to look at him instead of opening it.

"You're welcome Paige." Walter smiled.

"I'd like to apologize to you." Paige said softly.

Walter frowned as his head ticked on his neck as he instantly reviewed their interactions throughout the day but couldn't find a reason she needed to apologize for.

"For what?" Walter said, clearly puzzled.

Paige blushed. She'd hoped he would just accept it.

"When I first saw you, I was shocked. I thought you were someone from my past and all day I had thought horrible things about you. The funny thing is I never really talked to him, but you looked identical to him the one time I met him." Paige said blushing.

Walter smiled.

"Not to be insulting but normal human memory for facial recognition is at best about 70% accurate. But with my eidetic memory, I can promise you, if we had met, even if just once and for four seconds, I'd remember it." Walter explained with a smile.

Paige laughed as she smiled.

"Okay I'll see you tomorrow, have a good night Bobby Dankworth." Paige said as she opened the door.

Walter hadn't budged and Paige frowned as she looked at him.

"H-how do you know that name?" Walter asked.

Paige smiled.

"That's the name of your twin." Paige laughed. "Why?"

"I knew a guy named Bobby Dankworth. He was a competitor of mine a number of years back. We were both going for the same client in San Francisco. I actually lost that job because of him." Walter told her. "Just odd that you knew someone that looked like me with that name. Well thank you for your time and for agreeing to work with me. Have a good night Paige." Walter said as he walked out the door.

Paige stood there watching him leave and she kept frowning. Her lower lip tucked between her teeth and she quickly ran after him.

"Walter!" Paige called out as he opened his car door.

Walter looked up and frowned.

"Paige? Is something wrong?" Walter asked as he closed his door.

"Walter, there is something I need to talk to you about before I begin working for you. Umm, look I do accept this job but we need to have a conversation before we get too involved in work tomorrow. But I can't do it tonight. Umm, would you…would you mind picking me up in the morning? Maybe we can go have breakfast? My treat? We can sit somewhere alone, quiet and we can talk?" Paige asked. Her arms tight across her chest.

"I'm picking up some weird emotions I don't really recognize from you Paige, are you scared or anxious maybe?" Walter asked.

"A little." Paige nodded.

Walter slowly nodded.

"What time do you want me to pick you up?" Walter asked.

"8:15? Ralph's carpool should leave a little before that." Paige almost whispered.

"Paige, whatever it is, it is okay. I'll see you at 8:15." Walter smiled.

Paige nodded as she turned and left Walter there.

Walter stood watching and waited for her to get back in her apartment and shut the door. He wasn't sure what the problem was, but…clearly she needed help. And he was going to do everything in his power to help her.

As he drove down the street he remembered seeing Paige's pain as Ralph pulled away from her. Walter stopped at a red light and slipped his bluetooth earpiece in his ear.

"Call Mother." Walter said and his phone pulled up his Mother's name and dialed.

"Hello?" Louise O'Brien said into the phone.

"Good morning Mother." Walter said as he drove.

"Walter? My boy, how are you? This is a surprise. Is everything okay?" Louise asked quickly.

"Yes, everything is okay." Walter told her but she could hear stress in his voice.

"Walter, clearly something isn't quite right. What's wrong? Is Megan okay?" Louise asked.

"Yes, she is fine, Mother. Sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry, everything really is okay here. I just. I experienced something today that made me think back when I was growing up. And I just needed to tell you, I'm sorry for the pain I caused you." Walter said softly.

"What do you mean?" Louise asked, confused.

"I never understood from your perspective how much my actions might have hurt you. And today, I met an amazing Mother with a child who is a lot like I was. I saw her try to touch him as a loved one would and he shied from her touch, much as I did yours growing up. And I saw the pain on her face and it really touched me. I never thought about it from your perspective and I am sorry for any of that pain, I never meant to cause you pain Mom." Walter said.

"Oh Walter. I never understood that, but yes it did hurt. I hope what I felt never reflected in my actions with you. I love you so much Walter. I've always wanted the best for you." Louise told him.

Walter pulled to the side of the road as he was having a hard time seeing through the tears in his eyes.

Greetings! I hope this finds you well! I also wanted to let you know, when I post chapter 2 this story will be moved into the M for mature rating. As I said it doesn't get too involved but because of the nature of the story, I think it best for it not to just be out in the open. So make sure you book mark it or whatever to find it come Tuesday! I'm so glad you guys enjoyed Dark Walter enough to want me to continue it. I do have bits of story ideas for their Christmas trip to Ireland.

LouBe - I just wanted to tell you I was pleased you loved my little "joke" of the I love you more in the last chapter of Dark Walter! It had tickled me so much when I wrote it that I actually choked laughing, hence Walter's response in it. lol I can't say for sure if domestic help gets much paid holidays or not. I would like to think they do...but knowing the nature of man...probably not. I was a big fan of the car ZZ Top (rock band) had and it was a 1933 Ford Coupe and it certainly influenced my decision for it as Paige's car. lol

To the Adventure! -Tim