Chapter 3 - Hide and Seek with Geniuses

Nathan walked into the Garage on his second morning as a member of Team Scorpion to find he was the last one there. It wasn't a situation he was used to finding himself in, either as an officer or as a member of a submarine crew who ate, breathed, slept, worked, and played in the workplace. But an appointment with his physical therapist had run longer than anticipated and there wasn't much he could do about it if he wanted to get back to his first love, the sea, anytime soon.

Toby and Happy were crowded around Sylvester at his desk, after having spent the time before the young man arrived for work rearranging his meticulously organized personal office supplies, a game that was not being particularly enjoyed by the object of the diversion.

"Come on, guys. You know that when there's an odd number of staples in the stapler's loading chamber it gives me a rash. Why would you do that and then hide the box of extra staples?" Sylvester moaned. "If the stapler is off balance, I can't even begin to think about the blue and black pens being mixed together…" Sylvester picked up a yellow marker from the midst of the pens. "You put a highlighter in the pen cup? Seriously, guys?" Sylvester sounded as if he were near tears while Toby and Happy congratulated each other on 'winning' the game.

Nathan easily recognized the symptoms of boredom in brilliant minds with nothing better to occupy them. It was a common enough occurrence on submarine missions. He could hear Cabe on the phone with Deputy Director Cooper from Homeland, Paige arguing with her son, Ralph, about getting ready for carpool, and Walter was nowhere to be seen. If anything was to be done for Sylvester, it appeared it was up to him. He hadn't joined Scorpion to rock the boat, but when something needed to be done, Nathan strongly believed in the submarine saying "The power goes to he who knows." If he saw a problem he could solve, he intended to solve it, even if it meant stepping on Walter's toes, although that wasn't his intention. With that thought in mind, he decided to redirect Toby and Happy's boredom into something, if not productive, at least not destructive to Sylvester and his self-esteem.

Nathan approached the trio, his eyes wide, studying the expanse of the Garage. "This place is amazing. So much room to move, I almost feel agoraphobic in here after weeks in the close quarters of a sub." He looked at his fellow team members as if just noticing them. "One of the ways we would pass the time on those long boring days and nights underwater was with a rousing game of Hide and Seek in the corridors of the sub, but that would be child's play compared to playing here. Have you guys ever played?"

"Hide and Seek in the Garage?" Toby clarified, wondering if the new guy was suffering from too much oxygen to the brain.

"Yeah, I bet it would be a blast. Tons of great hiding places, I'm sure." Nathan turned to Sylvester. "What do you think? Would you be up for a game of Hide and Seek? There doesn't seem to be too much going on right now."

Sylvester looked nervously up at the loft. "I'm not sure if Walter would like…"

"Come on, do you really need Walter's permission for everything, Sly?" Toby asked with a chuckle. Toby looked over the Navy Ensign critically. "I wasn't too sure about you at first. You seemed all by the book and rule follow-y. But this initiative to screw around and not actually do any work behind the boss man's back, I kind of like it. You're all right."

"Who's all right?" Paige asked as she joined the group after seeing Ralph picked up for his carpool ride to school.

"This guy, Nate, our newest team member." Toby jerked a thumb in Nathan's direction. Paige nodded her agreement with Toby's assessment. "You don't mind if I call you Nate, do you?"

Nathan grinned, feeling as if he'd passed some kind of initiation he hadn't known he was being subjected to. "Nate is fine. As long as I can call you Tobe."

Toby grimaced. "Nathan it is."

Cabe ended his call with Homeland and slipped his phone into the breast pocket of his suit jacket as he joined the group as well. He noticed the grins on the faces around him. "This looks like a good time. What trouble do you have cooking, Toby?" Cabe asked sharply. He truly liked the behaviorist, he just worried that he didn't always know when enough was enough.

"No trouble, sir," Nathan interjected, "I just suggested a game of Hide and Seek during the team's downtime. It's a popular pastime on a sub and with all this space, I couldn't help but want to stretch my legs, so to speak, and play a game. Unless there's something more pressing."

Cabe grinned. "Nope, nothing that can't wait. And as for that game, count me in. Not It!"

A chorus of Not Its went up from the group, leaving Nathan stuck as It for the first round.

"Better luck next time," Paige patted him on the shoulder compassionately. "These guys are competitive with a capital C."

Nathan laughed good-naturedly. 'I'll remember that."

"You better get counting, before Toby calls a penalty," Paige warned him, "He's a real stickler for rules when he can use them as a weapon against someone else."

Nathan nodded and sat at his desk, covering his face with his hands. "1… 2…. 3…" he began counting as the team scattered throughout the cavernous space, trying to make as little noise as possible.

Walter, who had been drawn from his work by the commotion below, stood at the top of the stairs watching and listening to his team interact below him without realizing they were being observed.

"...98… 99… 100! Ready or not, here I come!" Nathan's gaze swept his immediate environment. Of course, none of them would be so foolish as to hide in plain sight, but still, it paid to be thorough. Nathan spied Walter watching him immediately. Walter tried to act nonchalantly like he hadn't seen Nathan, when he called his name, "Walter! Hey, come join us! It's too late to hide on this round, but you can help me find where everyone is hiding. Two Its are better than one, or something like that."

Walter stood for a few moments, indecisively. He still had work he could do, but there was something about the other man, like he actually wanted Walter's company, something that occurred so rarely in Walter's interactions with humans, it was positively irresistible. Without even realizing he'd made a decision, Walter walked down the stairs toward the ground floor where Nathan waited for him. "I heard you call this game Hide and Seek. Please explain the objective and the parameters of this activity."

Nathan chuckled as he clapped Walter on the shoulder. "I'll explain it to you, I promise, while we play." Walter slowed his step to match the other man's slower pace as he maneuvered through the space with his injured knee and crutch as Nathan searched for places the team members could be hiding. "Hide and Seek is a fairly straightforward game for almost any size group of people. You start with choosing one person to be It…"