Hey guys. I adore Scorpion, and I'm a huge fanfiction lover, but I haven't had the time to post any fics yet. This was my first Scorpion attempt that I was willing to post. Please review and if you have any suggestions for other fics I can write, or for this one, please let me know :)

On the day when Walter's world collapsed, he had no idea it was coming.

He woke up, as usual, ate breakfast, as usual, and went straight downstairs to work on whatever project he was supposed to be working on – as usual. When Paige arrived, he glanced her way and tried to stifle the small part of himself that made his heart leap when she smiled at him. Toby and Happy arrived shortly afterwards, still bickering about something or other, possibly Happy's new boyfriend, although Walter found himself struggling to care about it; he was used to their arguing by now, it didn't really matter what the topic was anymore. Business continued as usual for the next hour or so and he eventually turned to his rocket, time shuffling slowly on as he prayed that Cabe would arrive with a case.

"Hey." Her soft voice was right behind his ear and he scolded himself for not preparing for her approach.

"Hey." He turned, wrench still in hand, grease on his forearms. Her eyes quickly darted down and took in the dirt on his muscled arms before flicking back up to his face.

"Uh, have you seen Sylvester?" She murmured softly, leaning in conspiratorially, not even realising she was doing it.

"Uh, no, but I presume he was staying the night with Meghan at the hospital, so." Walter shrugged and smiled awkwardly.

"Well that's… nice." Paige said, trying to banish the image which had sprung up from the gutter residing in her mind.

"Yeah, I suppose so." Walter acknowledged as he turned back towards his project. He tried to seem nonchalant as he noticed her hand had been resting on his arm until he'd turned. She slowly withdrew her fingers and he shook his head, rubbing his face to regain his concentration. He became dimly aware of Paige wandering away to answer the phone as he slipped back into the zone of focus he'd been in before she arrived. He didn't notice as the phone stopped ringing, or as Happy and Toby fell quiet. He didn't notice as Paige started to cry softly, or that all three of his friends were now staring at his back, wondering how to tell him that he'd failed.

"Ma'am? Are you still there? Have you located Mr O'Brien?" Paige suddenly remembered that the phone was still in her hand and she stared at it in horror. Much as she couldn't imagine telling Walter herself, she couldn't fathom how this random woman telling him would make it any better, but somehow she made her feet carry her to his side.

"Yeah, Paige, w-what do you want?"

"Uh… Walter… I'm…" Paige's eyes filled with tears again and she swallowed, "Walter the hospital is on the phone."

"What!?" He turned suddenly, almost knocking the device out of her hand. She locked eyes with him and he shook his head, but she pressed the phone into his hand and took a small step back. He lifted the phone to his ear.

Paige couldn't do it. She wanted so badly to be there for Walter, but she couldn't stand by his side while he was informed of his sister's death. She couldn't watch the light in his eyes die, the focus completely fall from his being. She couldn't watch his heart break. She just wasn't strong enough.

Before she knew it she was on her knees beside her desk, collapsed and unable to breath, trying to block out the sounds of Walter's bellowed denial. She saw Toby's feet disappear from view but Happy's were coming closer and then her arms were enveloped by the other woman's and both of them sat together in silence punctured only by Paige's sobs and Happy's ragged breaths. They didn't know where Toby took Walter. They didn't care. They knew Walter was not okay, but they also knew that Toby was the ONLY person who could talk Walter down right now, what with Paige out of commission, unable to even move.

She wasn't sure how long they sat there, sorrow pouring out of Paige in waves, Happy struggling with her feelings as pain, as it always did, manifested itself in rage. After what seemed like years, Happy's arm retracted from her shoulder and she nodded.

"It's okay Happy. Go." She whispered.

Happy went.

##SHUTDOWN##

Toby took the stairs two at a time. When he arrived at the bottom, Happy was nowhere to be found and Paige was hiccoughing through her tears. He hesitated but decided to press on anyway.

"Paige? Paige, can you hear me?"

Paige nodded slowly, eyes squeezed shut.

"Okay, so Walter's upstairs. He's, uh, he's not okay, I think we all know that, but he's… uh… look, he's in a lot of pain and he's coping with it the only way he knows how – to shut off his EQ. Now, I think you and I both know that is not a healthy way of dealing with things. I know you're upset as well but you're the one who brings out his EQ, you do it better than anything else. It would really help if you stayed here tonight."

"And do what? Cry at him, make him hurt more?"

"No. Paige, no, you're stronger than that. You don't even have to go up there unless he refuses to eat, or starts breaking things – you've seen his guilt in action Paige; last time it drove him off a literal cliff, and I don't want to wait around for what will happen this time. You can ground him, make him acknowledge his feelings when he's ready to. You can do it, Paige, because you're amazing." Toby finished, inwardly quite proud of his little speech despite the pain that was gnawing at his insides. He could cry later, but right now his friends needed his psychological expertise, so for now, he needed to be strong.

"What… What about Ralph?" Paige's breathing slowed.

"How long would it take Drew to get here by plane?"

"Four hours, why?"

"Perfect, that's just enough time. By the time Drew gets here, Ralph will nearly be finished school. Drew can pick Ralph up and they can spend the night together." Toby smiled reassuringly.

Paige wiped the way the last of her tears, "Okay," she said, sitting up drawing in a huge breath, "where's my cell?"

##SHUTDOWN##

Four hours later, Drew walked into the Garage with Ralph in tow, mildly annoyed and silently lamenting the game he was missing in Portland. Ralph ran out from behind him and Paige wrapped him in a tentative hug. Her eyes were slightly red and her cheeks were blotchy, but other than that, there was no sign that she had been crying – she may as well have a hangover. It didn't go unnoticed by Ralph but he decided to ignore it if she didn't bring it up and turned his head as his dad approached.

"I was gonna just take him straight to my hotel room, but he said he left his favourite microscope here, and I figured maybe I could borrow your apartment key to get him some spare clothes."

"No need, Ralph's got clothes here, don't you baby?" She said and Ralph sped off towards the back.

"Do you two spend a lot of nights here?" Drew inquired.

Paige raised an eyebrow, "I'm really not in the mood for questions like that today Drew, so tread lightly."

Happy and Toby walked in from the side, leaning heavily on each other, and froze behind Paige.

"Well, all I'm saying is, you call me down here to take care of Ralph for the night, for some kind of emergency, but you won't tell me what it is –"

"Because it's none of your business." Paige interrupted, her tone hardening.

"And then I find out that Ralph could have stayed here the night, as he has done so in the past, so I can't help thinking…"

Toby and Happy looked at each other, "Don't be an idiot Drew. Don't say it." Toby whispered.

Paige wasn't having it. She turned and started to walk away, but Drew raised his voice, "Are you and Walter dating?"

Paige froze.

"Is that why you called me to babysit Ralph? Because you wanted a date night with Walter?"

"Oh no he didn't." Toby and Happy breathed in unison.

"Oh yes he did." Paige growled. Her hands balled into fists and her eyes narrowed, but she didn't turn around. She gathered her thoughts as Ralph came skipping back into view. Happy and Toby speedily grabbed Ralph, making up some excuse about new equipment. It didn't matter. She knew they'd just be watching from somewhere else in the Garage; they walked off to protect Ralph from the supernova that was about to explode.

She spun around to face Drew, hair whipping across her face as she did so, arms crossed tightly in front of herself as she slowly and deliberately took a step towards the father of her child.

"Okay. You want to do this? This is how it's going to go down. You're going to just listen. And at the end, you can take Ralph and spend the night doing whatever you want. But first, I'm going to speak, and you're going to keep your mouth closed, okay?"

Her tone was icy and there was no smile behind her usually cheerful eyes, so Drew shut his mouth and nodded.

"Firstly," Paige glowered, "Walter is not my boyfriend. He never has been, despite your fixation on him. Maybe one day he will be, but that will still be, as it has always been, NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS."

She took another step forward.

"Secondly, if I WAS dating Walter, and I wanted to leave Ralph with someone for the night, I wouldn't call my ex who lives in Portland. I'd ask Happy or Toby or Sylvester or…" Her voice trailed off. She had been going to say Meghan, "Point is, I wouldn't have called you. I called you first tonight, because Ralph is going to need someone, and I can't be there for him, and neither can anyone else on the team."

"Why not?" Drew asked.

"Shut your mouth Drew." Another step.

"Thirdly, I cannot believe you're being so ungrateful about getting to spend the night with your son, who, if I remember correctly, you were absent from for over seven years. Pardon me for assuming you might want a little extra time with your child."

"But –"

"Shut. Up." She took a final step closer and Drew was forced to move backwards to create space between them.

"The real reason I am staying here tonight is because this morning, Walter's sister Meghan, who we all love very much, succumbed to MS. Walter was crushed. And he wasn't the only one. I've spent two hours crying, Happy broke her hand punching out her anger, Toby sat with Walter through his grief when I couldn't, and Sylvester… Sylvester is… beyond devastated. I don't even know how to DESCRIBE the kind of agony that Sylvester and Walter are feeling right now. Last time Walter was this emotional, he drove off a cliff and nearly died. I'm staying the night to make sure he survives."

Drew was overcome with guilt and sorrow and opened his mouth to take back everything he'd said when Paige spoke again, "Did I miss anything?" The question was not for Drew, but her eyes never strayed from his face.

"No sweetheart, I don't think you did." Cabe said, standing beside Happy and Toby who had all re-emerged behind her. He walked forward but Ralph arrived at her first.

"Mom," His eyes were wide, "is it true? Is Meghan really gone?"

"Oh baby," Paige knelt down, tears falling again, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for you to hear it that way."

"But is it true?"

"Yeah it is baby, I'm sorry. She died this morning."

Ralph nodded slowly and leaned in to hug his mother. She kissed his forehead and then stood up. "If you want to take care of your son tonight, I suggest you make up your mind."

Drew nodded, "Paige, I –"

"No, I don't want apologies or excuses. I just want you to take care of my son because he needs you. Because Walter needs me and I can't leave tonight."

Drew nodded again and grabbed Ralph's hand, "Come on buddy, you got what you need? Good. Let's go get some ice-cream, okay?" The two of them walked back the way they had come, and suddenly Ralph broke away and ran back to Paige.

"Take care of Walter, okay?"

"I will, I promise." Paige ruffled her son's hair and watched as he sprinted back to his dad. As soon as they were outside she slouched into a nearby pillar, exhausted. Her friends were at her side in seconds, but she waved them away, "Sylvester needs you guys."

Happy and Toby nodded and grabbed their things, "You sure you'll be okay here?"

"Yeah, guys, I'll be fine."

Cabe sighed, "Pass my condolences onto Walter, will you?"

"Yeah. Sorry we couldn't help with your case."

"It's not important. Are you sure I can't stay and help Walter?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Apologise to the director for us."

She closed her eyes, and flinched as Cabe brought her into his arms, but she soon relaxed and hugged him back. He kissed the top of her head, like he would have when his daughter was alive, "Sorry kiddo. I really am."

Paige just nodded into his shoulder. When Cabe finally left, she found herself staring at Walter's closed door. She considered climbing the stairs, but she was just too tired. If he needed her, he would call, Toby had told him she was staying. Right now, Paige needed to sleep.

So there it is - the first chapter. A bit sad, but that was the mood I was in. I'm thinking 3 to 4 chapters at most, but please review and let me know :)