Five Times Walter & Paige Almost Kissed (And One Time They Did) #4
WriterFreak001

Summary: Part 4. Paige is bothered by the way Walter willingly traded his life for hers, and she's trying to understand why. Takes place during and after the events of the deleted scene from 1.16 Love Boat. A "5 Things" Fic collaboration by WeBuiltThePyramids, WriterFreak001 and FoxPhile. Cover art designed by WriterFreak001.

Author's Note: This fic is part of a collaboration between WeBuiltThePyramids, WriterFreak001 and FoxPhile, inspired by discussions on the Scorpion FanFiction thread on FanForum. Each Author has written two stories that, together, make up the collection. The stories are best read in order. You can find information on the next story in the series at the end of this chapter. Links to all the stories can be found on my profile page.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Scorpion (CBS). (Though, I wish I did).

Chapter 4 – Love Boat

"Walter… Don't." – Paige Dineen

Today was extra dicey. A lot of things – a lot of horrible, unimaginable things – could have easily gone differently with one wrong move…, one wrong word…, one wrong course of action. She could have been killed. She could have been taken. She could have been home, crying her eyes out because they could have taken him instead.

A lot had happened today, and Paige Dineen was still jittery. Her heart was still beating fast, and she was sure she wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight, but despite the things that could have happened, despite the things that did happen, she was grateful for everything working out in the end.

But… there were things that had happened which puzzled her greatly, and she needed Walter O'Brien to explain them to her. The sooner, the better. Otherwise, he may never tell her. Having – more like forcing – Walter to explain anything potentially EQ related was like pulling teeth…, but it certainly wasn't impossible.

At least, not for her.

Paige leaned against the side of the boat and watched the other passengers file off, one by one. She was on her way to give her statement, but something about the view… something about watching people hugging and kissing and interacting with their loved ones after the ordeal today made her stop for a moment and observe the power love had over people.

It was an amazing sight to behold, and she just wished a certain genius could see it for himself.

Love is real, and she hoped, one day, he would see that it does exist… that it does affect people… that it isn't just junk science….

Off in the distance, a young boy – probably close to Ralph's age – was looking at the stars through a small telescope with his father (presumably) kneeling behind him and pointing in various directions. She couldn't help but smile at the pair; they reminded her so much of her two favorite geniuses. Though the rest of the team was oblivious to it, Walter and Ralph often spent many nights on the roof, studying the stars. Paige would usually lounge on a chair and read a book or routinely guard the abandoned chess game while secretly watching the two geniuses interact. It was always a very pleasant sight, and she always, always looked forward to their next planned astronomy meeting.

(Because those were the nights her son smiled and laughed the most.)

(And those nights made parenting worth everything.)

But today, she could have lost all of that…, and her son – her precious, baby boy – could have also lost his mentor, as well (because she was certain they would have killed her anyway – despite Walter's heroics).

(And that deeply bothered her.)

As she slowly descended from the cruise, she saw Walter O'Brien standing still, in his own little world, and staring off into space. She quietly giggled and approached him, one step at a time, and smiled when he noticed her. "I thought cruise ships were supposed to be relaxing," she said casually, in no hurry for him to answer.

"They are," Walter nodded swiftly. "I'll just call it the, uh, Neptune Effect. Its repetitive rhythmic audio patterns and reduced visual stimuli on the ocean," he yawned deeply, "allow the brain to, um…," he smacked his lips together and sloppily waved his hand in circles as though he could magically summon the words he was trying to use. "You know what, I'm… I'm ju—," he quietly laughed, "I'm too tired to be smart right now."

Paige smiled warmly and chuckled softly. "Good." She leaned towards him and tilted her face slightly. "But I do have one question for you. I promise it's simple." She paused for a moment and gazed into his tired eyes, hoping he wouldn't stop her. When he didn't say anything, she continued and took another step towards him. "Why did you trade places with me today?"

Walter grinned softly. "… I don't understand."

Paige gave him a pointed look, knowing he was lying. "You understand the Neptune effect, so you absolutely understand my question." She paused again as his smile faded, and watched him carefully, wondering how a man smarter than Albert Einstein could be so easy to read sometimes. "Your greater-good analysis would never approve of you swapping your life for a waitress's… So…," Paige softly bit her lip, "why?"

Walter glanced down at his feet and loudly cleared his throat before answering. "I thought it would be a good idea to slow, um, Christoph's escape if I was with him."

Paige cocked an eyebrow and eyed him suspiciously. "You had a plan?"

"No," he shook his head slowly and laughed quietly. "But… But I'm pretty good at coming up with things on the fly."

"Clearly," Paige sighed and flashed a frown before forcing a soft grin. "Well…," she pinned her lower lip under her teeth and, ever so slightly, leaned closer to him. "Thank you for saving my life."

As a slow grin colored Walter's lips, she angled herself towards him and opened her mouth to say something else when her cellphone blasted loudly from her purse. She inhaled sharply and took a step backwards as she fished through her purse for her phone. "It's Ralph," she waved her phone at him, and he gave her a slight nod before she spun around and stepped away. "Hi Ralph."

…

"They would have killed you, you know?"

"Hm?"

Paige inhaled a deep breath and angled herself towards Walter as he parked her car outside the garage. She took off her seatbelt and tucked an ankle underneath her leg as she flipped her hair away from her face. "They would have killed you… Once they were where they needed to be, you would have been a liability. A thorn on their side. They would have killed you."

Walter was silent for a moment but eventually spoke. "I know."

"Then why?" Paige frowned, "Why knowingly risk your life for mine?"

Walter pursed his lips as he turned towards her. "Because I knew they would have killed you once they were given the chance, and I couldn't let that happen."

"But they probably would have killed me anyway… As soon as they were far enough, they would have tested one of those rockets on the boat." Paige paused as she tried to read his piercing eyes. "Your heroics would have been in vain."

"A-Actually," Walter smirked, "they already tested a rocket while we were on the boat. There would have been no need to test another. It would've been wasteful."

"Walter," she frowned with cutting eyes.

"Okay. I see your point, but they weren't in vain, and e-everything worked out," Walter crossed his arms and angled himself towards her. "Nothing bad happened."

"Yes, you're right," Paige nodded in agreement. "Everything did work out, and nothing bad technically happened, but…," she let her thought trail, unsure if she should continue.

"But what?"

She remained silent and inhaled a deep breath and then released it slowly.

"But what, Paige?"

"But," she swallowed thickly, "that doesn't negate the fact that we could have died today."

Walter straightened his back and cocked his brow as he looked at her. "We've been in dangerous situations before, Paige. Life-threatening situations. Where is all of this coming fro—"

"I had a gun to my head, Walter. A gun." she released a shaky breath and blinked back the tears in her eyes.

Walter frowned with a hint of guilt, and she could tell he was just as troubled by the horrible memory as she was. "I know…."

"He could have killed me. He would have killed me."

"I know."

"How… How do I get past something like that?" Paige nearly choked on her words as she tried not to break down in front of Walter. "H-How can I act as though it didn't happen? O-or look into Ralph's eyes and pretend that it didn't?"

"I…," Walter looked away from her and stared at the steering wheel. "I don't know."

"Of course you wouldn't know. How could you know?" Paige muttered under her breath, and she could tell she inadvertently made him feel even guiltier. "I'm sorry," she pinned her bottom lip inward and ached to cover his hand with hers. "That wasn't fair."

The genius was silent for many minutes. Then, eventually, he spoke. "I was scared too, Paige." The woman snapped her attention to his as he slowly turned to face her. "I almost lost it when I heard how scared you were…, and I would have lost it too, if it wasn't for Cabe. I was prepared to blow this entire operation for you, and Cabe knew it too…. Not being near you and hearing you plead for your life made me feel like I was being handcuffed all over again, and I panicked. My hand was shaking, and I wanted to break something because of how angry I was at myself for not being there to protect you."

Paige's lips parted in response to his admission, and she inhaled another deep breath. "Walter…."

He looked away from her as though he was guilty for feeling so weak. "Being scared like that… that's… that's never happened to me before…," his hand started to visibly shake, "and I don't like how it felt."

"Hey," Paige instinctively enclosed his shaking hand inside her palms and gently tugged him towards her, encouraging him to look into her eyes again. "It's okay," she whispered softly, trying to soothe him, her worries suddenly forgotten. "I'm okay now. Because of you," she smiled warmly as she brought her palms to his face and caressed his cheeks, "I'm okay."

She itched to kiss him… to thank him fully for saving her life… to hold him in her arms and tell him, repeatedly, that she was okay and safe. She wanted so much to assure him… in some way… that it wasn't his fault for what almost happened… for what could have happened. He needed to know she didn't blame him, either. She could never blame him.

"Walter?" Paige muttered his name softly as her fingers grazed over his hairline. He closed his eyes as though he was welcoming her ministrations and then mumbled an incoherent response. "You know it's not your fault, right?"

"I know," he nodded slowly as he opened his eyes and gazed deeply into hers.

"Good," she muttered quietly as a colorful smile reached her eyes. In spite of her strong desire to kiss him and hold him and weave her fingers into his wild, crazy curls, she playfully smacked the man's cheeks instead and then gently pushed herself away from him. She propped the car door open and smiled warmly. "I'm glad." And as she left the man sitting in her vehicle, she sauntered towards the garage and happily greeted her son, excited for tomorrow night's dinner with her boss.

End Note: Be sure to check out the next story in this series, written by the talented FoxPhile. Links to all the stories can be found on my profile page. Enjoy! :D

(PS. Reviews are welcome! :D)