This is my first Scorpion fanfic, and it's pretty angsty, so please do bear with me!

He grabbed his dinner from the microwave and sat down heavily on the couch, turning on the TV. The last viewed channel, the local news, was airing live the victory parade celebrating five years of defeating one of the largest terror threats the world had faced, and he found himself staring blankly at the screen.

"What's wrong?" A voice came from beside the coffee table, its owner sitting crossed legged on the floor with various electrical pieces littering the surrounding area.

"What do you mean?"

"You visibly tensed, your grip on the plate tightened and you're breathing harder and more rapidly. Clearly something changed, something not good."

His only reaction was to sigh and turn his attention back to the TV, and the two of them watched the unfolding celebration in silence, two wide brown eyes intently capturing everything and trying to piece together what was missed prior to that moment.

Finally, she got up from the mess of wires and metal and went to curl up on the couch next to him. "Is it about..." She let her voice trail off, he'd know well enough what she meant.

He turned to face her with tears in his eyes, before his gaze moved past her to the picture on the wall. It was carefully and lovingly framed, but had faded slightly over five years of facing the morning sun.

Ralph had tweeted it when the team touched down in Iraq, beyond ecstatic to finally be on a major case as an official member of Scorpion.

It was almost as if the teenager had known.

Patrick focused back on his granddaughter's face, his fingers trying to detangle the 6 year old's unruly hair- the perfect combination of Happy and Toby's curls.

"It's long story baby, I'll tell you one day."

I know it's crazy short, just came up with it in chem lecture the other day… Please review, any constructive criticism would be much appreciated!

(Also posted on my Scorpion tumblr, /wrenchbouquet)