WriterFreak001:

This idea came to me randomly so I thought I'd write it out and share it.

Title | His Lucky Charm

Fandom | Scorpion (CBS)

Description | It's finally time for Walter O'Brien to present his jet propulsion theory to the board of the Karman Line Prize, and for the first time in his life, he's nervous as hell. But somehow, after a short conversation with Ralph and a little pep talk from Paige (among other things), Walter regains his confidence before he steps onto the stage.

Rating| This fanfiction will be rated T for romantic themes. Enough said.

POV | Omniscient Third Person

Disclaimer | While CBS owns Scorpion, I am the owner of this masterpiece.

Claimer | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something should be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

His Lucky Charm

Written by WriterFreak001

Chapter 1

~ SCORPION ~

Walter stood backstage of the De Neve Commons Lecture Auditorium at UCLA and stared at the rocket he had spent many months building and remodifying. Though the rocket in all its glory was right in front of him, he had a hard time believing it was finished and ready to be presented to the executive board – including the anonymous benefactor – of the Kármán Line Prize. Five great minds of aerospace development were sitting within the audience, and two of them, from what Walter had heard, were former engineers for NASA. He hoped (really, reallyhoped) his past history with NASA wouldn't come back to haunt him; the last thing Walter O'Brien needed was for someone to remember his name from the time he had stolen blueprints from NASA. And if someone did, he sincerely hoped they wouldn't call him out on it.

The contestant before him didn't stand a chance in the competition; his theory wasn't sound, and it, based on a quick analysis of a partial demonstration – was completely flawed. He didn't even seem to know what he was talking about. Walter assumed he was nothing more than a gold digger wanting the monetary reward. (Though, while money was a big incentive on Walter's part, he actually enjoyed the thrill of improving jet propulsion of aerospace development.)

Walter spun around as a pair of feet scuttled toward him, ready to protect his rocket if needed, but stilled his protective stance as an excited Ralph and a smiling Paige approached him. Ralph stopped short of the rocket and beamed. "Hi Walter."

"Hey!" Walter bent down and gave Ralph two high fives before sharing a quick look with the boy's mother as he rose to his feet. "What are you two doing back here?"

"Ralph wanted to see the rocket first hand before you share it with the rest of the world," Paige laughed as she came up behind her son and draped her arms over his shoulders. "I didn't think you'd mind."

"No, not at all." Walter grinned and then dropped back down to the boy's level. "Better yet," Walter straightened Ralph's dark blue tie and smoothed out the boy's black sports coat collar, "how would you like to help me wheel this thing," he pointed to the rocket, "onto the stage when it's time for my demonstration? In fact… I'd like you to be my assistant. Would you like that?"

"Really?!" Ralph's eyebrows lifted, and he immediately bent his neck back and looked at his mom. "Can I, Mom?!"

Paige, who was trying so hard not to cry (as she swore to herself she wouldn't), smiled and combed her manicured fingers through her son's hair. "Of course, baby. I think that would be great."

"Wow! Cool!" Ralph exclaimed in a loud whisper and then smiled ear to ear. "Can I inspect the rocket, Walter?"

"Sure, buddy." Walter nodded and stepped aside from the table. "Just… keep your hands away so you don't accidentally touch it before the presentation."

"Okay. I will." Ralph said as he shoved his hands into his pockets and bristly walked over to the rocket.

Walter chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm and turned to find a smiling Paige strolling up to him. "You know," she locked in on his eyes and stopped a few inches in front of him, "letting Ralph help you with your presentation just made his entire day." She glanced over at her son and added with an appreciative smile: "That was very sweet of you."

"Oh, well, uh, you know," Walter shrugged with a small smirk, "I figured it was the least I could do for him helping me with the rocket while I was recovering from my accident."

"Still," Paige curled her fingers around the loops of his bow-tie and straightened it, "I know you, Walter O'Brien. You wouldn't have needed Ralph's help at all, but you asked him anyway, and that," she smoothed down his collar, "was very thoughtful and generous and," she inched closer, "very, very considerate."

"I was, uh," Walter swallowed the lump in his throat and looked down towards her fingertips, "um, well, I thought he'd like it."

"Oh, he will," Paige glided her hands along the middle of his sports coat and stopped at the buttons. "You forgot one," she giggled warmly as she slowly looped the button hole around the golden button. "There."

"Th-thanks." Walter ignored the shivers running up his spine as she continued smoothing out the folds along his jacket. He was slightly disappointed they weren't in the loft doing things in reverse. To have her soft hands running over his torso while fully clothed was doing crazy things to his insides; he was sure some of his dreams started out this way. Little did he know, the woman sweetly torturing him was having similar fantasies running though her mind.

And when she dropped her hands to her side, their reveries ended.

"I, uh, I should be getting back to my seat," Paige threw her thumb behind her and pointed to the door but didn't move an inch. "The guy who's talking sounds like he might be almost done."

"Where are you sitting?" Walter asked, making a note to look in her direction every once in a while.

"Oh, um, close to the front… third row, center, I think." Paige took a second to dig through her purse and search for her ticket. "Yep!" She waved it in the air. "C53."

"And the rest of the Cyclone?" Walter really didn't care where the others were sitting, but he asked anyway. Perhaps it was because he didn't want her to think he was only thinking of her. Or, perhaps he wanted her to think he was being considerate of the others and not just her. He didn't exactly know. The question was out before he could stop himself.

"Oh, um," Paige secured her purse over her shoulder and bit her lip, "Unfortunately, the rest of the team got called in for a case right as we were leaving so Ralph and I volunteered to represent everyone. They wish you good luck… er science… or whatever."

"Oh," Walter wasn't too terribly upset, "That's too bad."

"At least that's four less people you'd have to worry about," Paige shrugged with a smile.

"Why would I have to worry about anybody?" Walter blinked.

"You may be a genius, Mr. O'Brien," Paige playfully poked him in the chest, "but even a great mind like you would get nervous at a big event like this."

"I'm n-not nervous." Walter pursed his lips to hide the fact that he was, in fact, extremely nervous.

"Oh?" Paige cocked a brow and folded her arms in front of her. She smiled. "Is that so?"

Walter thought about the ways he could spin his façade and feign courage (which he was usually pretty good at), but he found it was pretty pointless around Paige. She, in many strange ways, knew him like a book. "Okay. Fine. I'm slightly nervous."

"I knew it," Paige laughed melodiously and tried summoning her inner Toby. "And what about the presentation makes you slightly nervous, Walter?" She was tempted to touch him… to console him somehow, but she settled for the closeness between them. Walter, however, wished she had touched him (but he didn't have to tell her that). As awkward as he felt under her touch, she had a unique way of calming him.

"I don't know," Walter shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged, taking a step away from Paige. "Perhaps it's the ramifications if I don't win."

"If you don't win, Walter," Paige caught his hand in hers to keep him from walking away from her, "nothing changes. While you won't be gaining anything other than the fun times you had building your rocket, you won't be losing things either." She gently squeezed his fingers, "You can only go forward."

Walter inhaled a deep breath and released it slowly as he raked his hand through his curly hair. "I guess you're right. But," he paused and glanced towards the dark, thick curtains, "not winning isn't the only thing I'm anxious about." Paige stayed quiet, and he took her silence as permission to continue. "I'm, uh, I'm presenting in front of five important people, and they will be scattered among the audience. I won't know who they are nor where they'll be sitting. I don't like unknown variables. Not being in control of the situation… not knowing who to impress… is frustrating."

"Then don't impress them," Paige spoke quietly as she dropped his hand and latched her palms behind his neck, drawing him closer to her.

"I'm… not following," Walter composed himself and tried not to think about the things he wanted to do to close the small distance between them. The way her fingers twisted through his hair and how her warm breath tickled the short hairs of his chin did not go unnoticed. Walter inhaled a slow, deep breath as he waited for the beautiful woman in front of him to elaborate.

A sweet smile painted her lips as her palms found his cheeks. "Forget about the judges and focus on what you do know." Her thumbs smoothed over the skin underneath his eyes, and she secretly enjoyed the sort of power she held over Walter O'Brien – especially when she teased him. When he didn't say anything, she continued. "You know your presentation; I've seen you practice it in front of the team and in front of Ralph. You know it backwards and forwards. You also know where I'm going to be sitting in the audience. So, focus on me." she paused and moved dangerously closer to Walter until she could feel his breath brush against her skin, "Act as though you are giving me your presentation for the first time. Don't worry about anybody else out there. Just," she bit her lip and met his dark brown eyes, "focus on talking to me." She smiled. "In that scenario, there are no unknown factors. The more you focus everything on what you know, the more control you will have and the less frustration you'll face."

"I think," Walter cleared his throat, "I think I can manage to, um, to do that."

"Good," Paige grinned ear to ear and playfully smacked his cheek before springing away from him towards her son. Walter took a second to compose himself, secretly wishing she didn't have to leave so soon, and little did he know, she didn't want to leave either. "Now," Paige bent down to the floor and cupped her son's cheeks, "do exactly what Walter tells you to do. Mommy's gotta go sit down now so behave for me. Okay?"

Ralph nodded. "Okay."

"Good." Paige mumbled before kissing her son's forehead. "I'll be out in the audience, and when the presentation is done, Ralph, I want you to stay with Walter wherever he goes. Are we clear?"

"Okay, Mom." Ralph answered quietly. She poked his nose and kissed his forehead one more time before giving him a short, sweet hug. She could have sworn her son reciprocated her hug, but the movement he made was so quick that she decided to dismiss it.

Paige rose to her feet and wheeled backwards towards Walter. "I know you've made it pretty clear you don't believe in luck, but…," she bravely stepped up onto her tiptoes and pressed a light kiss to the man's cheek. He froze, and she smiled. "Good luck anyway, Walter." She straightened his bow-tie again, cupped his cheek and winked, "Now go rock it, Rocket boy."

Before Walter could find the will to move or say something, she spun around and swaggered her way out the door. Once his name was announced to the audience, he shook himself out of his reverie and swiftly made his way to his rocket with a big smile spreading across his face.

Walter O'Brien might not believe in the power of luck or good fortune, but he did have faith in one thing: Paige.

And she gave him all the luck in the world.

~ SCORPION ~

WriterFreak001:

Don't worry, I plan on giving this puppy a follow-up chapter! :)

Let me know what you think.