Five Times Walter and Paige Almost Kissed (And One Time They Did) #5

FoxPhile

Summary: Part 5. Walter tries to explain away actions taken in the moment. Takes place during the events of Episode 1.19 Young Hearts Spark Fire. 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. This story is for entertainment purposes only. I make no profit and no infringement of copyrights is intended.

Chapter 5 – Young Hearts Spark Fire

"The heart is a circulatory muscle." – Walter O'Brien

Walter agreed with Toby on one point – he didn't like Drew either. But he did not see that as a reason to entertain the behaviorist's so-called theory that Walter had feelings for Paige. The idea was not only preposterous, it was potentially damaging to the team. The genius was aware of Toby's persistent, but so far unsuccessful, pursuit of Happy Quinn. He would have to speak to his friend about that issue soon. Even if – perhaps especially if - feelings were present, workplace relationships had the potential to wreak havoc, and he was not about to tolerate that sort of disruption – not from Toby, and not from himself.

Toby's assertion that Walter gave Paige special treatment in the helicopter due to those hypothetical feelings was equally preposterous. Paige had a young child who depended on her. Walter was unencumbered by such responsibilities. It was simple logic to give Paige the greater chance of survival. It had nothing to do with his feelings for her.

Looking at Paige, though, after their plume of green smoke began to fade along with their last hope of rescue, Walter found himself questioning his convictions. In that moment, he knew he needed to reach out to her, to let her know how he felt. He couldn't put his arm around her, as the young, nearly engaged couple did. Neither could he manage to make a dramatic declaration as Toby had. In that moment, though, he was sure she knew. As he lightly touched her hand with his, she reciprocated, enfolding her fingers around his own. Walter would never know for sure, but he believed that had they been left out there, with deadly fire surrounding them, he would have found the courage to take her in his arms, whisper his love, and kiss her softly.

He'd come perilously close to disaster. And he wasn't thinking of the fire.

"Ridiculous…" he told Cabe later. "…one man's belief in romantic love destroys a helicopter, 400 acres of forest, nearly kills a dozen people."

"Spoken like someone who's never been in love. I hope that changes for you one day, pal," was the agent's response.

In this particular chess game, Walter O'Brien renewed his determination to never tip his king.

"Good Morning, Paige." Walter greeted his liaison when she entered the garage. He had called her the previous evening and asked her to come in a bit early. "Wou... would you join me on the roof? I..I think we need to have a... um… a private conversation."

Not waiting for her agreement, Walter bounded up the stairway two steps at a time.

Walter nervously tinkered with the telescope while he waited for Paige. There was nothing to see in the daytime, of course. When they first got the instrument, Toby sometimes came up in the early morning or late evening and directed it towards the converted loft apartments in the neighborhood. Walter wasn't sure what his interest was, but apparently it had waned in recent months. Other than the occasional team party, these days Toby only came up to the roof occasionally, usually with Happy.

Glancing at his watch, the genius wondered how long he'd been waiting. It seemed like several minutes, although he supposed the actual time was less and it was only his anxiety making it seem longer. He wasn't sure if the wait was to his advantage or not. He began to pace.

Despite his long conviction to the contrary, Walter wondered if there might be something to this business of romantic love. He knew he'd felt something for Paige out in the middle of that conflagration. But was it really so very different from the concern he had for Megan, or for his other friends? He cocked his head and grinned to himself. It certainly wasn't Toby that he'd linked fingers with in the face of impending doom. He'd also been unable to bring himself to erase the stick figure representations of Paige and himself or the stylized heart that surrounded them.

"You ran up here so fast, I figured you might want a cup of coffee."

Walter turned, surprised that he hadn't heard the door or the sound of heels clicking across the bare concrete of the roof. "Thank you, yes I..I haven't had any yet today." He took the steaming cup and took a grateful sip. He was used to the cinnamon now, although it was a taste he'd had to acquire.

"I figured as much, since the pot was empty and cold. Are you okay, Walter? I've never known you not to have coffee made by this time in the morning."

Although there was a scatter of tables and chairs around the roof, Walter took his coffee over to the railing and set it down there. He looked out at the traffic in the street below while he tried to come up with an appropriate way to say what he wanted to say.

"I..um.. I wanted to make sure you were all right… I mean, after everything… everything that happened."

Paige chuckled and joined him. "Well, I'd prefer not to spend another day trying to escape a major forest fire, if it's all the same to you; and it might be another week or so before I get the smell of smoke out of my hair; but I think I'm all right."

"I..um.. that's not… I mean things got really intense out there." Walter turned. Staring at the traffic wasn't working, but he didn't think he could do this and look into her beautiful eyes, so he stared off to one side, and began counting the rows of vinyl strapping on the chairs.

"It was a big fire. I may be a little bit crazy, but I think I'm getting used to a bit of danger in my life. I might even like it."

In his peripheral vision, Walter noted that she was looking at him with a note of concern that belied her joking comments. This wasn't going well at all.

"I'm not talking about the fire so much as…well… people… people sometimes do stupid things in… in the heat of battle you might say. Things happen… people do things they might not ever do if… if the situation weren't so… so charged."

Paige set her coffee cup down beside Walter's and reached out to lay a soft hand on his arm. "I'm sorry, I'm not following you. Are you sure you're okay?"

Walter stared at the slender fingers on his arm. The nail polish was still a little streaky, but he knew now it was more because it had become a little ritual with Paige and Ralph. Ralph no longer had any issues being affectionate with his mother. But he still had no skill with a brush. Stealing himself, he raised his eyes to look into hers while moving his arm out from under her hand. To cover the awkwardness of the move, he reached out and retrieved his cup, cradling the base in one hand while the forefingers of the other curled through the small handle.

"People do stupid things. Like what Toby said to Happy, or that kid proposing to his girlfriend even though they nearly died."

"Don't you think he might have done that because they nearly died?" Her eyes flashed with a mixture of confusion, frustration and budding anger.

"Albert Einstein was married twice, you know." Walter absently scraped the edge of his coffee cup with his thumbnail. "But he was in love with someone else through most of his first marriage. He was unhappy with his wife, but they'd been good friends before they married. Maybe if he'd just stayed friends with her, he would have been happier."

"Walter, you are making zero sense."

"I'm… I'm just saying that… that people sometimes do stupid things and… and things can sometimes be… be misinterpreted. I wouldn't want anything that happened in… in the moment… to be misinterpreted." He looked in vain for understanding in those eyes, but saw none. "I'm just saying that friendship is a solid thing. And it would be natural for friends to… to reach out to each other… in certain situations."

Paige nodded and Walter took a moment to take a calming breath. Perhaps she was beginning to understand. Then she reached out and took the coffee cup from his hand and set it back down on the railing next to hers. She stepped close, closer than he was normally comfortable with, even with her. He noticed she was wearing one of those short, flirty skirts that emphasized the length of her legs, together with a pair of spike-heeled boots. He was standing with his back to the railing, with no way to step back and widen the distance between them. Still, it wasn't as if she was really in his personal space… not yet. She stood for a moment, then reached a hand up very slowly, placing a it lightly behind his neck.

"So if I reach out to you… like this…" she whispered.

He felt her finger the collar of his shirt. He guessed it must have turned up in the light breeze, because she folded it down and stroked it with her fingers, smoothing the fabric along his shoulder blade. He shivered.

"… that's just a… friendly gesture…right?"

A ghost of a smile was playing on her lips. He knew this because he'd been staring at her lips from the moment she took the first step toward him. They were less than an arm's length from his own. With her heels, she was only about an inch or two shorter than he. All he would have to do is lean over and their lips would meet. He realized he was shaking with the effort not to move.

A strand of her soft, blond hair strayed across her mouth, but apparently she was unaware of it. Walter was not. His fingers itched to reach over and tuck the strand behind her ear, leaving her lips once more free for the taking.

He was so occupied with staring at that strand of hair that he failed to notice her other hand lift up to his forehead where her fingers combed through the curls blown there, smoothing them back along his temple.

"And that is just one friend, reaching out to another, right?"

Walter gulped and nodded. "Ru… ru… right."

She dropped both hands to her sides and took a step back. "Well then, I guess we both know how friends can reach out to each other, don't we?"

With a quick turn of her heel, she pivoted and made her way to the door. Within seconds, she was out of sight. A lingering scent of lavender was all that let Walter know she'd even been there. His nostrils flared as he breathed it in.

End Note: Make sure you check out the next story in this series, written by the amazing WeBuiltThePyramids. Links to all the stories can be found on my profile page. I hope you enjoy reading the entire series! If so – let us know. Reviews are welcome.

April 4, 2016