Chapter Nine
Walter frowned when he saw Happy's truck parked outside the garage on Monday
morning. If the mechanic was there, then so was Toby. And he imagined the
shrink would have plenty to say about the two of them showing up at work
together. Glancing over at Paige, he noticed she didn't look too thrilled
at the prospect of dealing with the other man's shenanigans either.
His fear manifested almost immediately. "Wooo, what do we have here?" asked
Toby, practically skipping up to them.
"Just shut up," snarled Walter.
"You'd think you'd be in a better mood."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means most people are more relaxed and less uptight after they've. .
." Toby smiled mischievously as he made a crude hand gesture. His grin disappeared
as Walter stepped up to him, his hands coiled into fists. "Cabe said no more
fighting," the psychiatrist warned, moving back.
"Cabe isn't the one having to deal with your bullshit."
"Language, 197, we have some virgin ears around here. . . Oh wait. . ."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Dammit, how would Toby,
or anyone else for that matter, know he'd never had sex until a month ago?
Paige was the only one who knew, and he was positive she had told no one
else.
The garage door creaked open, prematurely ending the childish conversation
as Cabe and another man strolled inside.
"This is Federal Drug Agent Sanchez from Mexico," the Homeland agent announced.
"He needs our help."
The rest of the day was spent building a pulse gun which would fry the circuitry
of drones carrying bricks of heroin across the border from Mexico. The team
spent most of the morning scrounging the garage for the parts they needed
to construct the prototype
Walter was digging through a box of miscellaneous parts. Beside him, Paige
was waving her hands and coughing as a cloud of dust rose from the box she
was sorting through.
"Will this work?" she asked, holding up an old rifle stock.
"Yes, it's exactly what I need. Thanks."
"Tell me why you have so much junk just lying around," Paige said as she
handed him the stripped down gun.
"In case I might need it someday." He smiled at her. "Most of it came with
the building. The landlord said I could use whatever I wanted." Shrugging,
he added, "It's one of the reasons I chose the garage for Scorpion's headquarters.
That and I could afford the rent."
Paige laughed. "Most people would pass on a place full of garbage, even if
the rent was cheap. You are definitely one of a kind, Walter O'Brien." She
aimed a kiss at his cheek, but he turned his head at the same time, and caught
her lips with his.
Within seconds, he had her pressed up against the nearest wall, not caring
he was breaking his own rule of no fraternization during work hours. She
was so soft and sweet, and the moans she was making as he kissed her throat
were driving him mad. He didn't realize he was still holding the rifle stock
until it fell out of his hand as he tried to cup her bottom.
The clatter it made startled him back to reality and the fact he had just
been ravishing a co-worker. The fact he loved her and she might be carrying
his child were not sufficient excuses for his lapse.
"I'm sorry," he said as he bent down to pick up the gun stock. "That was
unprofessional. I-I. . ."
"Walter, it's okay." Paige bit her lip. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have
tried to kiss you." She turned away as her cheeks glowed pink. "I should
let you get back to work. And I need to make arrangements for a sitter for
Ralph."
"It wasn't your fault. It was. . ."
"Hey, what's going on over there?" Toby's voice carried across the garage.
"Happy's almost done with the generator."
With one more guilty glance at Paige, Walter hurried over to his workbench
to finish his end of the project.
Later that evening, as the team was getting ready to fly to Arizona to test
the pulse gun the next morning, Walter approached Toby as the shrink was
sitting next to Happy on the couch. Their packed duffels were on the floor
next to their feet.
"Toby, you're not coming with us to Yuma." Crossing his arms over his chest
, he continued, "There's nothing in the desert for you to profile, so you're
staying here and manning the uplink for the radar and coms."
The shrink shot to his feet. "Is Paige going?"
"Yes."
"Why? There's nothing in the desert for her to translate for you but lizards
and cacti." Toby inched closer. "If she goes, I go. If she stays, I'll stay."
"You don't get to make decisions for the team, that's my job." Walter's breathing
grew harsh at the thought of leaving Paige behind while he and the others
went out of state. To have so much distance between them. . . What if something
happened to her. . . or the baby. . . He felt sick.
"And if I thought for one second you were being objective, I'd agree with
you," said the shrink. "You're having a panic attack at the mere suggestion
of going without her. She's not necessary to the mission and you know it."
"Dammit." Walter closed his eyes in frustration. Toby was right. . .again.
. .and it pissed him off to admit it. "Fine, have it your way. You and Paige
both stay. And if it blows up in our faces, it will be your fault, not mine."
He heard a gasp and spun around. Paige was standing behind him, a terror-stricken
expression on her face. "Walter. . ."
Hurrying over to her, he put his hands on her shoulders, sliding them downward
until they rested on her waist. "I don't like this anymore than you do,"
he said. "But it's the only way to get him to stay behind," he added as her
eyes filled with tears. "I'll be back by this time tomorrow. Okay?"
She nodded, wiping at her face before replying. "Okay. Be careful." She kissed
him on the cheek.
"I will."
He had no idea how long they stood there, staring into each other's eyes,
but it must have been longer than he thought as he heard the irritation in
Cabe's voice as the agent called out, "O'Brien. Let's move out."
Reluctantly letting her go, Walter followed the rest of the team out of the
garage, resisting the urge to throw one final glance over his shoulder.
"Don't even start with me, Toby," Paige said as the door closed behind Walter
and the others. She'd had enough of him and his constant meddling. "I'm going
home to my son and I'll be back in the morning to help out."
"Ralph came to me, you know," said the shrink.
"What? What are you talking about?"
"About going to the therapist. Ralph came to me. He's worried about you.
Walter, too. You two are the most important people in his life."
"You think I don't know that?" Paige gathered up her belongings. "I need
to go."
"Running away from your problems isn't the answer," said Toby. "I should
know, I've been doing it most of my life."
"I'm not running away from anything," she replied. "Walter and I are just
fine."
"No, you're not. I'm concerned about both of you. We all are."
"You have an odd way of showing it," she said with an exasperated sigh. "Listen,
Toby, I'm tired and I'm going home. Good night."
He stepped into her path. "I'm not just being a jerk, you know. I really
do care. You're my friends. And I've never had many of those until Scorpion."
She crossed her arms over her chest and studied him. "You've been antagonizing
Walter on purpose, haven't you?"
"I plead the fifth," Toby said with an air of false innocence. "But I will
say it's the only way to get through that thick head of his. He's never let
a situation affect him like this before. Ever."
"You don't know that," she said, feeling the need to defend Walter. "Maybe
other cases have bothered him and you just didn't. . ."
"They haven't, trust me." Toby sighed. "Even with his heightened sense of
EQ, thanks to you, he's never displayed this much emotion. You were there
when his sister died; you know he kept her ashes in a coffee can in his glove
box. It took him six weeks to admit her death devastated him. And it was
only because we kept on him about it."
"Well, that was different, it was his sister, not a mission."
"He's exhibiting the same stunted emotional reactions. Only with you, he
has something living and breathing to cling to instead of a coffee can. He's
overprotective, possessive, has fits of irrational anger, prone to violence.
. . Something is bothering him, something he's buried so deep, he doesn't
even know it's what's causing his behavior."
"So what do you want me to do about it?" Paige adjusted her purse strap on
her shoulder. "Listen, Toby, I need to go home and tell the sitter she can
go. Every minute I waste here arguing with you about stuff that's none of
your business is a minute I could be spending with my son. So get out of
my way."
The psychiatrist held up his hands as he stepped out of her way. "Just think
about what I've said."
"Good night, Toby," she said as she stalked past him and out of the garage.
Paige's phone buzzed a little after two a.m. She couldn't sleep, even tired
as she was. Glancing at the identity of her caller, she smiled as she touched
the answer icon.
"Hello."
"Paige? Hi, uh, this is Walter, um. . . I, we made it to Yuma without incident.
Oh, damn, uh, sorry. I didn't wake you up, did I?"
"No, I can't sleep."
"I can't either. I'm sharing a room with Sylvester."
She chuckled. The human calculator was notorious for his snoring. She heard
noises in the background that didn't sound like their wheezing friend. "Are
you outside?"
"Yeah, it's actually quite warm here."
"You called me at two in the morning to tell me that?"
"Uh, well, no," he said. He was silent for a couple of moments.
"This is where you ask what I'm wearing," she teased, knowing he would never
get the reference.
"It's the middle of the night," he stated, and she swore she could hear him
frown. "It would be logical to assume you're wearing your pajamas."
"What if I wasn't?"
"What if you. . .? Oh. Um. . ." Paige smiled as he finally caught on. "I,
uh. . .I. . ."
"I'm sorry, I am wearing pjs," she said. "I shouldn't tease. . ."
"No, uh, it's okay. Like I said, I can't sleep anyway." She heard him sigh.
"I shouldn't have listened to Toby. I should have. . . I need you to be here."
"Walter, it's okay. I wish I could be there, too," she said, her anxiety
at being so far away from him threatening to overwhelm her. "But you'll be
back tomorrow, I mean later today," she added as she glanced at her alarm
clock as she tried to calm both herself and him. "You need to sleep."
"I can't. I can't sleep. I can't stop thinking. . . I should have insisted.
. . Damn Toby, anyway." His voice grew louder with each word, an edge of
panic in his tone.
"Get your ass back to bed, O'Brien." Happy's pissed off voice rang out in
the background. "Some of us are trying to sleep."
"Sorry," Walter replied tersely as a window was slammed shut. "I should go."
"She's right though. You really should get some rest," she said, feeling
like she was about to cry. "I love you, Walter."
"I-I, uh, you, too."
"Good night."
"G-Good night."
Paige ended the call then rolled over onto her side, clutching her pillow.
Biting her lip, she let her tears flow down her face.