The genius

Chapter 2- Coming Home

Walter and Reagan were the only two in the room. They'd been in there for nearly two hours and hadn't spoken more than sad greetings. Walter paced around the room, she sat with her back to the door which Happy had locked. They were completely trapped. Both of them had so much to say, but didn't know how to say it. That's the bad part of being a genius. High IQ, low EQ.

"She won't let us out unless we talk." Walter said, sitting down.

She walked over and sat near him.

"So talk. I saw the way they looked at you, it was your idea." She leaned back against the couch.

"Im not good at this...we know that." He said.

"Don't say we." She responded.

"Don't do that." He said.

"I have every right to do this." She said with tears filling her eyes.

She was always the most emotional member of Scorpion. Toby chalked it up to her lower IQ.

"Walter..." She mumbled, not really knowing what she was going to say.

"I know." He said.

She smiled a little and rolled her eyes. That was what made them such good partners, they could read the other like a book. It was also what killed them, they turned on each other easily.

"Look, I know I hurt you...I just can't understand you. You're emotional, more than all of us." He said.

"Thanks for the callout." She said as she stood up and started pacing.

"You know I didn't mean it like that."

"Walter, this isn't going to work. You said it yourself, I'm too emotional for the team. I see it in your eyes, you don't want me back."

Saying that hurt her. She didn't really know why considering they were just friends, but the way she watched him suffer stung more than 'just friends.'

"I can't just forgive you...after you were better you didn't even bother to say thank you. I know you don't understand, I'm not trying to make you understand..."

She was crying now.

"Walter...you can't fix this." She said, wiping her tears.

"Every problem has a solution, even this one." He said, turning to look at her for the first time.

"The solution is unattainable." She said, avoiding his eyes.

"I talked to Toby...he's trying to put it into terms I can understand. Nobody does that better than you. Make me understand." He rambled.

It was an odd thing for Walter to ramble...even more so to admit she was good at something. They had what some would call a co-worker/rival relationship. They were rivals forced to help each other. Reagan thought they were friends, but she was apparently wrong.

"Imagine someone gave you a simple equation, but each time you solved it they change the entire equation and claim you were wrong to begin with. Then on top of that, you have 20 pages of work that's due in an hour, but you can't start on that until you get the equation correct." She said, "Oh and while you're trying to work, there's a marching band playing in your ear."

Walter's eyes went wide for a second.

"Oh..." He paused as he looked at her in disbelief, "So when you were helping me...I was the equation, the person changing it, and the marching band? No wonder you're mad." He said with a small smile as he finally understood.

"You know you hold the team together, right? We haven't been the same since you left." He said as his smile faded.

"You have to keep everything serious, don't you?" She asked as she buried her head in her hands.

She wanted to come back, but her feelings were always wrong. She needed to be logical about this.

"You remembered our knock." She smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

"Of course I did. Photographic memory, remember?"

She sighed at his response. She wanted something in him that he wasn't...something he couldn't be.

"Look, I'm fine being normal. It's how I was raised. I wasn't meant for this. I'm just a smart person."

Walter physically cringed as she said this.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you aren't normal. You're special! If you say, 'in what way' I'm gonna break down that door." He said as she opened her mouth to speak.

"Reagan...accept it. You deserve this."

She was tearing up, this time for a different reason.

"But I don't feel like I do." She admitted. It was always easy for her to admit things to Walter.

"Nobody deserves this...we deal with so much more because we see more. You're even more special though, because you feel more than anyone. You can read me better than Toby, and he went to school to be a behaviorist! You deserve this more than all of us." Walter said.

She didn't believe people often. She'd had her fair share of liars, but Walter didn't do opinion. He did fact. The fact of the matter was that she did deserve this, and much, much more.

"Logically it's your best bet." Walter said as his usual confident manor returned.

"How so?" She asked quizically.

"Nobody knows you here, there's a 75% chance you'll give your real identity away, your anxiety couldn't handle it, and no job gives you the satisfaction we give you." Walter smirked.

"I can find another job to keep me happy. I don't need you for that." She said as she sat back down.

"Wait, how far behind are you guys on the bills?" She said as she stood back up.

"That doesn't matter, we want you to come back." Walter said as he stood up as well. A typical panic response, she called him out.

She looked like a rabbit caught in a trap. She looked like a wounded puppy.

"You don't want me back, you want the money. I should've known." She burst into angry tears.

Her tears burned her skin as she cried. How could she be so naive?

"No, its not like that!" He tried to console her.

"Yes it is, O'Brien. You don't feel, you did this logically. You need my money." She said as she forced herself to stop crying.

"Reagan, I believed in you when I invited you to the team twenty years ago. I wanted you by my side because you're reliable. When you're dad did what he did when we were kids, you were the only one that apologized. You were the only one that cared! When I saw how badly I broke you, do you think I could bring myself to relate to your feelings? I had to sit and watch knowing that I made you feel how your father made me feel, and this time I had nobody by my side. Toby tried, Happy tried, Slyvester tried, but they aren't you! I don't really know how to do the whole 'family thing,' but you made me feel like I did. You were it, and you left because of me. So if all you want is an apology, then I am so, so sorry."

"Fine, you got me. I'll come back." She was crying for the third time.

She didn't want to push any unwanted physical contact on him, so she just put her hand on his. This lasted for a few seconds before the door burst open and she pulled away. Slyvester looked happier than ever, Toby was giving Walter a thumbs up, and Happy gave Reagan a reassuring nod. They all packed up her things as they reminisced about the past. After a while they were finally ready to head home. As they all walked into the crowded apartment they shared, she heard Toby whisper, "Welcome home," and she knew she made the right decision.