Chapter Twenty-Three
"You be okay," Paige said as she clung tightly to Walter. He was dressed
in Army fatigues as were Happy and Toby, preparing for their insane task of
breaking into Fort Knox.
She knew why he'd taken the assignment and she wasn't thrilled he was putting
his life on the line to prove a point. Yes, Tim had manipulated them into
it, but just because he had stepped on their massive egos was no reason to
think he had an ulterior motive. He was even going along, he'd be in as much
trouble as the rest of them if they got caught.
"I will," said the man in her arms, interrupting her worrying. "I don't
like being away from you."
"I don't like it either," she replied, kissing his nose. "You can still
back out of this."
He shook his head. "I know it doesn't feel right, but. . ."
"You think you can uncover Tim's supposed misdeeds." Pulling away a little,
she added, "I love you, Walter. But you need to trust me."
"I do trust you." He drew her closer. "I just don't trust him."
"O'Brien, we needed to leave five minutes ago." Cabe's annoyed shout echoed
through the garage. "Kiss her goodbye already and then move your ass."
He smiled guiltily at her. "I love you," he said before doing as the Homeland
agent suggested. Placing his hand on her belly, he added, "Take care of Genius
6.0."
Paige bit her lip at the nickname Ralph had come up for the baby. The youngster
had explained he, Walter, and the others were geniuses one through five, so
of course, the baby would be number six. She just hoped they weren't all disappointed
if the child turned out to be ‘normal'. It was a discussion for another day,
however.
"I will." She pressed her lips to his one more time. "You better go. I think
I see steam starting to come out of Cabe's ears."
"Okay. Bye." He awkwardly let go of her and headed toward the door, looking
over his shoulder at her every few steps.
"It doesn't get any easier." Gallo let the door shut behind them as he and
Walter stepped outside.
"What doesn't?"
"Leaving your family behind," the Homeland agent replied. "I use to worry
about Rebecca even before Amanda came along."
"So it's normal to be scared to death something will happen to her or the
baby or Ralph while I'm away?
"Son, you'd be heartless bastard if you weren't." The older man patted Walter
on the shoulder as they reached the SUV. "And I know you're not. She's just
as worried about you."
Stuffing his duffel into the cargo hold, Walter grumbled, "Knowing that
does not help."
"Hopefully it will make you think twice before you do something stupid,
like unnecessarily risking your life for the greater good," Cabe said. "It's
not just about you anymore, Walter."
"I am aware of that." Flinging himself into the front passenger seat, he
buckled himself in. Glancing out the window as they pulled out into the alley,
Walter saw Paige waving from the doorway, one hand resting on her stomach.
He let that image burn into his mind.
What Cabe said was true. It wasn't just him anymore. He had a family. One
he wanted to come back to in one piece.
Walter's phone rang as they were crawling through a water pipe he was sure
would provide them with an escape route. The mission had its share of ups
and downs, and after barely surviving the vault filling with water, he hoped
it would be the last obstacle they would encounter.
He pulled his cell from his pocket and stared at the screen. Linda? Why
the hell was she calling him? He hit the ignore button before jamming back
inside his fatigues.
"Who the hell was that?" asked Toby, nearly echoing his own question.
"Linda," he replied tersely.
"You gave her your number?" The shrink sounded incredulous as he came to
an abrupt halt.
Almost smacking his face into the other man's behind, Walter sighed. "Keep
going, those guards are going to be on us any minute." When the psychiatrist
didn't comply, he added, "I had to put it on my speed dating application.
That's how she contacted me in the first place."
"But that doesn't explain why she's calling now." Toby remained firmly rooted.
With a groan, Walter realized he was going to have to confess everything
in order to get the other man moving again. "We ran into her a couple of weeks
ago at Kovelski's and she's been calling me ever since."
"What?"
He winced at the fury in Paige's voice over his com. "I haven't spoken to
her," he stated. "I have no idea what she wants."
"She wants your hot booty," Happy deadpanned. "And she's welcome to it.
Personally, I'm tired of staring at it. Quit with the fifth degree, Doc,
and get your ass in gear."
"Okay, okay." Toby started forward.
"You want me to talk to her the next time she calls?" Paige offered. "You
know, a little woman to woman, heart to heart talk?"
"Uh, no," he declined, grimacing at the thought of the two women and the
conversation they might have about him. "I'll deal with it the next time she
calls."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive." The shrink had halted again, this time because the pipe curved
upward at roughly a 90 degree angle. "Listen, we've reached an outlet. We
should be out of here in a few minutes."
"Okay. Be careful."
"I will."
He wasn't.
"I hate to admit it, but I think you guys might be right," Paige said to
Walter as they dished up their plates later that evening. She and Sylvester
had gone out to Papa Carpini's and had brought back a selection of Italian
food. They'd hauled it up to the roof before the rest of the team had returned
to the garage. She'd thought Walter, Happy, and Toby might appreciate being
out in the open air after spending most of the day underground.
"We're right about a lot of things.' Walter glanced at her with a cocky
grin. "You're going have to be more specific."
Bumping him with her hip, she rolled her eyes. "Tim," she explained. The
intern wasn't there. He and Cabe were being debriefed at Homeland. Paige just
hoped Molina wouldn't use this incident as a way to cut ties with Scorpion.
It had hardly been their fault the mission had been bogus from the start.
"It is awful suspicious he's the one who brought Cook to us. He's the one
who manipulated you into taking this case. He's not really a member of the
team, he's only temporarily assigned. . ."
"That's what we've been saying all along," Walter said as he held out a
chair for her before sitting down beside her.
"Who's been saying what all along?" asked Toby.
"That Tim's behind the string of bad luck we've been having," Paige replied
before stabbing a forkful of her chicken Parmesan.
"And I keep telling you he's not."
"Even after what happened today?" Sly asked. "You guys could be on your
way to Leavenworth right now because of him." He shuddered, no doubt thinking
of his own time spent behind bars.
"Yeah, and Tim would be there right alongside us." The shrink adjusted his
hat. "He's not the bad guy. Trust me."
"No." Walter rose to his feet. "No, I can't trust you if I don't know why.
You keep saying he's not the one, but you won't offer any proof. Sylvester's
right." He paused to draw a deep breath. "W-We all could be in a federal prison
right now. I need to know if he's a threat to my team or not. I cannot allow
what happened today to ever happen again. There's to-too much at stake." He
glanced down at Paige's protruding belly before glaring at the psychiatrist
again.
"So I need to you to tell me why I should trust him. Because until you do,
he's off the team."
"I. . . It's not my. . ."
"It's all right, Toby."
Everyone turned to watch as Tim stepped out onto the roof. Paige felt sick,
wondering just how much of Walter's tirade the trainee had heard. Not that
she disagreed with anything he had said, but. . . But it had been pretty blunt.
"I know you won't believe me when I say I had no idea Cook's real objective
was the polonium." His gaze flicked around the table. "I know you don't trust
me. I'm an outsider, an interloper. . ."
"Why did you ask to be assigned to us?" Sylvester cut in. "It's suspicious.
. ."
"I asked for Scorpion because I wanted to work with people who use their
brains instead of just their brawn." He touched his hand to his back. "I'm
undergoing the knife next week to remove the shrapnel lodged near my spine,
and there's a 45% chance I could end up paralyzed."
Paige covered her mouth as she gasped. A quick look around the table told
her Toby and Sly were as shocked as she was, Happy appeared to be slightly
concerned, and Walter. . . Well, he seemed perplexed by the risk the other
man was taking.
"I'd read about you guys, saw all the good you've done, and wanted to be
a part of it," he continued. "You're all amazing in your own ways. . . Paige,
Happy, Sylvester, Toby. . .Walter. . ."
The intern's bright blue eyes rested on the curly haired genius, and Paige
had to smother another sharp intake of breath. Oh, God, Tim had a crush on
Walter. Glancing over at Toby, who met her gaze for a second before turning
away, she realized the shrink knew of the trainee's infatuation. That's what
he had been hiding from them.
"But if you want me out, just say so and I'll go. I'm going to be on leave
for the next few weeks or so anyway, depending on how my surgery goes."
"You can stay." Walter sat back down after making his pronouncement. "And.
. .uh. . .um. . ."
"I think he's trying to say good luck with your surgery," Paige said, interpreting
Walter's stammering.
"Yes, although I don't believe in lu. . ." The rest of his sentence remained
unfinished as she squeezed his leg.
"So that's it? We're all good now?" Happy's words were dripping with sarcasm.
"He flatters our abilities then plays on our sympathies and we're just supposed
to accept him? I still don't trust him."
"You don't trust anybody," Sylvester pointed out.
The mechanic glared at him. "He's just like every other normal who's tried
to use us for their own gain. Why should I believe he's different?"
"Happy. . ." Toby's admonishment was cut short by Tim.
"You want the real reason why I wanted to work with Scorpion?" the intern
asked. Happy and Sly both nodded. Walter just stared at the other man. Paige
wondered if he had figured it out on his own or if it was something which
would never cross his mind.
"No." Walter stood up again. "I've already said he could stay. This discussion
is over." He glanced at Paige, who smiled uncertainly at him. He turned his
attention back to Tim. "Do you think Molina could be behind this?"
The trainee shrugged. "No idea. I've only met her once in passing."
"Behind what?" Once again, everyone's attention was drawn to the doorway,
where a pissed off Cabe was standing. "What the hell has been going on behind
my back? I want answers and I want them now."
"Ugh." Paige rolled over and smacked the alarm. "Only one more week."
Walter's head emerged from under the blanket. "One more week of what?" he
said as he yawned.
"School." Paige leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Then we wake up at six
thirty anyway but without the alarm."
"And how is that different?"
"It just is." Sitting up, she swung her legs so her feet rested on the floor.
"Ugh, I really gotta go pee."
"It's the weight of your uterine contents - fetus, amniotic fluid, placenta
- pressing against. . .".
"I've done this before, Mister Smarty-Pants," she interrupted with a chuckle
as she made her way to the bathroom. "I know what it feels like to have someone
tap-dancing on my bladder."
"Hey," she said as she came back into the bedroom to see him still lying
in bed. "You know you never did tell me why you changed your mind about Tim."
Walter sprang up to a sitting position. "I just did," he said a bit too
quickly. "And why are you asking me this now?"
"I don't know, I was just thinking about it." She sat down on the mattress
beside him.
"You were thinking about Tim while using the. . .the . . ."
"Toilet. You can say toilet, Walter." She rolled her eyes. "After all we've
done together, we can talk about bodily functions. . ."
"I know." He let out a defeated sigh. "I changed my mind about Tim because.
. .he, uh. . .he. . ."
"He has a major crush on you?"
"Yeah, that," the genius replied sheepishly. "I didn't even realize he was.
. ."
"Gay? It's not like he wears a neon sign on his forehead, Walter," she said
with a laugh.
His eyes narrowed as he recognized his own words quoted back at him. "It's
just. . . I don't. . ."
"I know, and it's all right." Standing up, she glanced at the clock. "I
need to take a shower or we'll be. . ."
The ringing of his phone cut her off. He reached for it, thinking it had
to be Cabe with a case. Who else would be calling them so early in the morning?
"Uh, hello?"
"Walter?"
"Linda? What the hell do you want?"