DUMB IT DOWN

AN: I'm still working on Invasion. I've just had a helluva week and it takes way more research and thought. Besides, I was in the mood for some fluff. You're welcome. ;-D

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It only took a few short weeks for the team to figure out being apart wasn't working. They're geniuses, after all. And, as the saying goes, a house divided against itself cannot stand.

It took a few more weeks to work out the particulars. Apologies and promises were made. Agreements were struck.

By June, Centipede was no more and Scorpion was up and running again at full strength. Everything went back to normal.

Well, almost everything.

Paige and Walter had talked, of course. They'd mutually decided being friends and colleagues had always worked best for them. And everyone else involved. Which everyone was. Involved, that is. In every aspect of their relationship.

The two of them concluded they'd been right in the first place. Acting on their feelings had brought about the demise of Scorpion, just as they'd feared it would. They agreed any residual feelings would have to be tabled indefinitely.

Their oh, so very logical discussion left Paige feeling strangely restless and dissatisfied.

Nevertheless, though Walter was a bit quieter and more distant than before, they managed to work together fairly well. It wasn't like he was singling her out either. He was quiet and distant with everyone, pretty much. With one exception. That exception being Ralph.

Unless a case called for him to be more assertive or decisive, Walter kept his opinions himself. Mostly. In fact, he kept his mouth shut so much, Paige was surprised the words didn't whistle out of his ears.

The team began gathering for the occasional cookout or celebration on the roof like they used to. Walter always hung back a little and would escape to his loft the minute he was done eating, slipping away before anyone had time to notice.

Paige noticed.

And if the whole gang went out somewhere, he would always opt out. It was rather annoying.

Figuring she was way too concerned with Walter and his odder-than-was-typical-for-him behavior, bordering on obsessing about it, Paige decided it was time to get back out there and find someone else. Perhaps it would occupy her mind in a more positive way.

Yes. That was the ticket. The very thing she needed. It was not so she could try to get a reaction out of her ex. That would be immature. That wasn't how a good friend should act.

She 'accidentally' let it slip in front of Toby that she was considering throwing her hat back in the ring. He teased her about it mercilessly. Relentlessly. Until Walter told him to grow up and leave her alone. But that was all he said about the matter.

About a month later, Amy set Paige up with a nice, normal, non-nerdy guy with a nice, normal, non-nerdy name. David. Dave to his friends. He had lots of them. Quite the popular guy was Dave. He was into music and sports and couldn't care less what the atomic number of palladium is.

Forty-six, by the way. One cannot be around geniuses for four years and miss picking up a few stray bits of knowledge here and there.

They went to the movies and to an outdoor concert and to get ice cream and she didn't have to hear about the implausibility of the plot, the mathematical properties of four-four time or the lack of superior nutritional value in frozen yogurt versus regular ice cream.

She found it… boring.

But Paige figured Dave deserved a shot anyway.

So, she told her new man to pick her up at the garage one night. A case had run late and the restaurant was on the same side of town as work.

Paige was becoming an expert at rationalizing.

A tiny thrill of anticipation joggled down her spine at the thought of his imminent arrival. Maybe she was a little into Dave, after all?

She made sure to ask Walter's permission to get ready for her date in his loft. It might push some friendship boundaries to assume it was okay. Even though she'd spent plenty of nights there. That was all in the past.

Her boss shrugged and said, "Uh, sure. Help yourself," before returning his focus to whatever project had him engrossed.

Ignoring the distinct feeling of disappointment, Paige stomped up the stairs rather louder than usual. She glanced back over her shoulder. Still nothing.

She fussed and primped for over an hour hoping Wal… Dave's eyes would pop out of his head when he saw her. She put on her slinky, siren red dress with matching shoes and lipstick. Toby said the color red screams sex. Plus, the one time she'd worn the same outfit on a date with Walter, he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Then when they'd gotten home he peeled her out of it before they could even make it up the stairs. They'd ended up making love on the couch by the door. Twice.

Paige shook her head trying to clear out the memory, but the soft, satisfied smile stubbornly stayed in place.

When she was finally ready, she listened for the front door. Hearing it open and shut, she held her breath and counted to twenty, then fifty, then one hundred, not letting herself acknowledge the reason she was stalling. She wasn't purposely waiting to see if Walter acted jealous and petty. She wasn't worried his feelings for her had faded. Nope. Not worried. At. All.

She peered over the railing and saw Walter walk over and shake hands with Dave. They exchanged a few cordial words before Walter returned to his desk and resumed working.

Paige cleared her throat and began her slow descent. Dave looked up. His jaw dropped and he whispered an awe-struck "Woah".

She barely noticed. Her eyes were on her ex. He didn't even give her a second glance. Or a first one.

"Hello, Dave," she purred, standing on tiptoe to brush a kiss across his cheek. "Thanks for coming by here to get me. I know it was out of your way. Maybe I can make it up to you later?" She flirted outrageously, giggling and rubbing against him. In the end, she was nearly mauling her date.

Walter didn't bat an eyelash. He only sighed and shifted in his seat as if impatient for them to end the interruption and go.

The couple exchanged a compliment or two. Then taking her date's elbow, she turned back to Walter and said, "Hey, boss. See you later."

His eyes met hers for a fleeting instant. "Okay. Have fun," he replied dismissively before returning to his work. "Oh, uh, nice to have met you, Dave." It sounded like a distracted afterthought.

She was not crushed. No way.

The date went great. Dave was attentive and funny and courteous. More importantly, no one had cancelled their reservations and the health department didn't shut down the restaurant.

Paige broke up with Dull Dave over dessert.

And grabbed a Lyft to the garage.

She stormed through the door in a huff.

Walter appeared mildly irritated. "Did you forget something?"

"Yes," Paige snapped, "I forgot I'm in love with you."

Oh, now he was staring. "I thought we agreed…"

"I don't care. Do you?"

"Yes." His brows were drawn together in a stubborn scowl, but his eyes looked haunted. Finally. He was reacting in a predictable way.

They studied one another for a few long moments until Paige finally broke the silence. "I don't get it. Are you seeing Florence now or something? Is that what this is about?"

Walter rolled his eyes. "I am not and never was with Florence. I didn't even like her until you encouraged me. We have science in common. So what? I have science in common with Ralph. You don't see me wanting to date him or Happy or Toby or Sly. As for your other question, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're indifferent. You're withdrawn. Walter, I practically made out with a guy in front of you earlier and you didn't do squat. No snide remarks, no mocking him, no belittling him, no pointing out his obvious flaws, no sabotaging the restaurant."

"You hated me when I did those things, remember? Besides, you deserve to be happy. To-to be with someone who can be a-a satisfactory partner for you. We both know that wasn't me." The last part trailed off into a whisper.

Paige stood across the desk from Walter, her heart sinking all the way down to somewhere in the vicinity of her red patent leather pumps. "What if I'm not happy with anyone else? For that matter, what about you? Don't you deserve to be happy too?" She propped a hip on his desk and searched his face, anticipating his reply.

Walter scoffed. "Paige, I… I don't think it's fair of me to try, do you? C'mon. I have to be realistic. It took me over thirty years to truly connect with a woman, but I'm so inept… I can't even have a normal conversation, let alone be romantic. And-and you said it yourself. I've gone about as far as I can go with my EQ. Is it right for me to pursue a relationship with someone when I know I can't satisfy her emotional needs? I mean, I was happy. With-with… Very happy. I've never felt that way before. That part was really good. But when it ended… Well, let's just say I'm not eager to repeat the experience. I also don't want to destroy my friendships or my company again. So, I'm keeping my distance. From everyone. I don't want to do something to screw it all up again."

Walter's face blurred as her eyes filled. Wow. She'd really done a number on him, hadn't she? "What if it was my fault?" She choked around the knot in her throat.

"I'm confused. What if what was your fault?"

"The break up. The team splitting up. All of it."

"But I lied about…"

"I know. I was there. And that was wrong of you. It sucked. But I taught you to lie to spare my feelings. That was me. And I'm the one who is so insecure I couldn't stand the thought of you having a friendship with an unmarried woman. I was afraid you would cheat on me. Or leave me. Or you'd get bored with me and realize you were better off with someone more like yourself. I didn't trust you even after all the times you've proven to me I can trust you. I didn't even let you explain." She was crying openly, the tears rolling unchecked down her face, wreaking havoc on the make up she'd so carefully applied.

Walter stood and gathered her in his arms. "I don't understand. I wasn't a good boyfriend. I neglected your interests. I see that clearly now."

Paige sniffled into his shoulder. "You did. But did I confront the problem and talk to you about how it made me feel? Or did I expect you to know then get mad when you didn't?"

He rubbed her back soothingly. It felt so incredibly good to be in his arms again. She never wanted to be anywhere else. She didn't realize she'd been walking around incomplete for months until she was once again close to her other half.

"But... You said you were tired of my science lectures on dates. You didn't like how I acted around your friends. You said I couldn't satisfy you. That I was incapable of growing any more. That I'll always be stuck at the emotional level of a teenager."

She burrowed into the embrace for a few seconds before pulling away to look him in the eyes. "But did you do your best to destroy everything important in my life out of some sick need for revenge? Did you ruin my company and walk away with my friends who I considered family? The only people I've ever felt close with? Encourage them to stay angry with you? No. You didn't. That was me. I'd say that makes me the immature one, wouldn't you. I can tell you why I said those things, but it might make you hate me. I don't think I could stand it, but you deserve the truth. I said those things with the specific reason of striking back and hurting you. You told me you were afraid I would get bored with you, so I played on that fear. Because I was jealous and hurt. If those things I brought up got on my nerves, I should have talked to you about it. We could've worked on them together. But I threw them in your face to hurt you. I can't tell you how much I regret it now. I can never express how sorry I am."

Walter pulled her in again. "I could never hate you. All the good you've done for me? All the times you've forgiven me? Helped me? I can forgive you anything. It's an irrefutable fact. I'm still in love with you."

"I know it's probably dumb. But could we try again. Maybe promise to talk to each other this time? No more secrets? No more expecting you to read my mind?"

"Yes. Okay. I think I can do dumb. This once."

They both chuckled.

She had no idea how long they stayed wrapped up in each other, swaying on the spot. Paige only knew she felt complete for the first time in a long time.

Would they ever be perfect? No. But she could live with good. And this was damn good.

She began to nuzzle his neck. Walter kissed her temple. Things quickly escalated into kissing. Long, deep kisses that made her ache in the best possible way.

They didn't even make it up the stairs. They ended up making love on the couch by the door.

Twice.