Denial Chapter 3, a scorpion fanfic

Hi, I'm sure a lot of you are still depressed about the current Wiage situation on the show, but after last night's episode I do feel more positive. I do think they showrunners have a plan even if their execution could be better lol! Anyway, in the meantime I hope you continue to read and enjoy this story!

"I love you too Walter."

He'd lost count of the number of times he had replayed the video, and those words specifically. He had been going back to them for the last few hours, unable to focus on anything else. After Tim had left the garage the night before Walter's suspicions had gotten the better of him, and he'd hacked Elia's rocket research database, and located the video of his disastrous trip to space.

He was wondering what all the fuss was about until the moment he opened that hatch. It took him a few moments to realise the person he was imagining emerging from it was Paige, and when that realisation hit his demeanour soon changed to mortified. The dancing, and oh my god, kissing her, but not really her ... kissing his own hand! His only comfort was that the only voices he could hear were those of Toby, Sly and Elia, so Paige hadn't been a witness to it. But then, the situation had obviously gotten critical as he was drifting into unconsciousness. And it was then that his mortification turned to shock ... Paige was there, and not just in his imagination. In his reality, and she was talking to him, just her.

His mind was in overdrive as he watched the scene play out, as he told Paige he loved her, that he wasn't yet the man he needed to be for her, and then ... she said it back! "I love you too Walter." She was trying to get him to pull the lever he knew that, to save his life, and she'd say anything to achieve that aim, but just those 4 words coming from her lips hit him hard, like nothing else. He didn't want to believe it, give himself any hope, but what if there was a chance she'd meant it?

"I love you too Walter, and we can be together. You just have to pull that lever, and it'll be just you and me ... and we'll be together, forever."

No it was impossible. She clearly didn't mean it. If she had then why hadn't she said anything to him. She was still with Tim wasn't she? He shook his head furiously, as if doing so could somehow shake all these thoughts from his head. But it wasn't working. He thought back to that day. Waking up in the hospital, severely bruised and with numerous crack ribs. Paige was by his bedside when he'd woken, even though she was with Tim, and in the days after she'd been ever-present in the garage, tending to his injuries. He'd grumbled to the team that he didn't want or need the attention, but he secretly craved the additional time he'd gotten to spend with Paige. Maybe she just felt sorry for him. He recalled her asking him about what he remembered from his time in the rocket. Was she worried he would remember and destabilise her new relationship with Tim, or was it more than that? Toby had arrived at that moment, and since then, well she'd backed off a bit. Had Toby said something to her?

"Toby!" he groaned loudly in frustration.

"What's he done this time?!"

He jumped in surprise at the voice behind him, and slammed his laptop shut before spinning round to see Paige hovering by the door of the loft.

"Sorry Walter. I didn't mean to disturb you, we were calling your name. Cabe's arrived, we have an urgent case. Ummm, is everything okay? You look like you've seen a ghost. What were you looking at?" she added suspiciously, her eyes fixing onto the laptop Walter had so abruptly slammed shut.

"Oh ummm nothing, it's nothing. I'm coming" Walter mumbled, before hurriedly following Paige back down the stairs.

"You okay Dineen?" Happy asked, as they drove silently towards the Hillstone Inc. chemical factory. They'd been called for to give their urgent assistance with a malfunction at the factory that had led to the lockdown system trapping some of the workers, and with temperatures rising in the core processing unit, there was a danger of explosions. Paige had decided to drive in her car so she could head off afterwards to pick Ralph up from school and Happy had hopped in with her.

"I wanted some peace from Toby and his incessant Toby-ness but some words would be nice." They'd been driving a good 10 minutes and to Happy's surprise Paige hadn't yet uttered a word.

Paige laughed quietly. "Sorry Happy, I'm fine. I've just got some things on my mind that's all."

"Spill."

"Happy the last thing you want is to listen to my tales of woe believe me."

"Look, I'm not one for the heart to hearts you know that. I don't make friends easily, but I consider you a good friend Paige, there I said it, and if there's anything you need to talk about, well, you can speak to me. I can't promise my advice is going to be anything other than a blunt kick up the backside though."

"Well when you put it like that!" Paige laughed. "It's nothing really. It's just ... I've just been thinking about how different things might be now if they'd played out another way a few months back. Do you ever wish you could go back?"

"I spent my whole life wishing things could have been different, and look where that got me, nowhere. Just years of repressed anger and isolation. I'm starting to see that all that really matters is what you do going forward ... is this about Tim?"

"What? Ummm no, not really. Well kind of. It's well, more about Walter ... I miss our friendship that's all."

Paige immediately looked straight ahead, embarrassed by her sudden desire to open her heart, and to Happy of all people, but she needed to talk to someone.

"He's just, well such an important person in my life" she continued, "and not just Ralph's, and recently, well ... ugh it doesn't matter, nevermind. We've got to concentrate on this case, forget I said anything."

"Well it clearly does matter because you're meant to be the happy one Dineen and yet you've been moping around the garage for weeks and Walter is doing that thing he does when he doesn't know how to handle his emotions ... acting like a jerk, and the two of those things combined, I gotta tell you, are NOT GOOD!"

Paige couldn't help but smile. "Oh well, if they're not good I'm definitely in trouble!"

"Look Dineen. Here's what I think. And none of this Toby psycho-babble. He always over complicates things! The way I see it it's pretty simple. Walter loves you but he's an idiot who doesn't know how to act on those emotions, and you love Walter, but you refuse to admit it to yourself because you're scared to take a chance on said idiot who won't act on his emotions. I get it Paige. We're not so different you know. We've both been abandoned our entire lives by the people we love. We just dealt with it differently. I closed off from people completely because I thought that way no one could hurt me, and you, well you overcompensated by picking the nice guy who will look after you and keep you safe, even if you don't love him. But here's the thing, however idiotic Walter is being, and however much you feel he's driven you away, intentionally or not, I don't know anyone who would do more to keep you safe than him. But you're never going to get there until you're just honest with each other ... Am I close?"

"Happy I, I don't think ..." Paige was scrambling around for the right response, but was failing miserably. "I, I just can't deal with this now" she protested. "Whatever there was between Walter and me, it's in the past. It's better for both of us if we just move forward ... as friends."

"Okay" Happy muttered. "I guess I just never had you down for being a coward, that's all." She let her words linger, knowing that Paige would react.

"It's not about being a coward Happy" Paige snapped. "It's self-preservation. I can't take the risk of being with someone who won't ever take a chance on me."

"So instead you'd rather be with someone you don't even love?"

"This isn't about Tim Happy" Paige retorted angrily. "Oh look, we're here" said Paige with relief, as she screeched into the carpark of the factory, shutting down the engine and making a hasty exit, leaving Happy alone in the car. At that moment Happy received a text from Toby, and she couldn't help but smile as she read his words.

Paige couldn't get out of the car quick enough. In future I suggest you leave it to the experts my love ;) x

She quickly typed backed the only 2 words that made any sense right now.

"Not good!"