A/N: I recently got into Scorpion (I adore it) and I end up writing many angsty drabbles since there's just so much potential (despite having other fics to write -oops) so here's the only one I currently deem acceptable :)

Special Agent Cabe Gallo is a lot of things and protective over his more or less son is one of them.

Said son, namely the one and only Walter O'Brien, had willingly allowed a venomous snake to bite him earlier that day and nothing about that was okay.

Granted, he'd factored in the chances of his team successfully making an antidote and he'd brilliantly prevented a world war but that didn't mean he was okay.

Who would be, though, after falling into a box of venomous snakes and having to make the choice of being poisoned?

So, when Paige smiles gratefully and disappears to take her exam, Cabe's attention is solely focused on Walter.

"Hey, kid, you doing okay?" Cabe asks as gently as he can.

Walter turns back to him and nods.

Then promptly collapses.

Cabe vaguely hears himself call out Walter's name as he watches the genius' eyes flutter shut before, along with the rest of him, disappearing from view.

He's out of the car in record time, as if they'd just tempered with his brain again, forgetting everything in favour of trying to help the man he considers his son.

He's too late to stop Walter from hitting the ground with a painful thud but he kneels beside him, practically cradling him as he gestures to the policeman currently pulling out his phone.

"Don't call an ambulance, he'll be long gone by the time it gets anywhere," he orders, then taking Walter's temperature.

Walter shifts in his arms and mutters something about codes before slumping again, and Cabe's heart almost misses a beat before he can identify a pulse.

Dialling the Garage, he starts talking as soon as he hears the click of the phone being picked up. "Get your best medical equipment ready, Walter's just collapsed and his fever is through the roof."

Tired swearing echoes down the phone and then Tony's firing questions at him that he tries his best to answer as he manoeuvres Walter into the passenger seat of his car but how on earth is he meant to provide a rough estimate of just how high Walter's blood pressure is currently reaching?

"Uh, you've got roughly ten minutes before it'll be too late for us to cook up an antidote in time, especially since we have no idea which snake bit him, so get moving right now!" Sylvester softly yells down the phone.

Walter groans suddenly and Cabe freezes, glancing over him and noticing the way his hands are slowly clenching.

"Hold on, kid, it won't take long."

"G'llo?" Walter mumbles, struggling to sit up properly.

"Stay still, Walter!" Cabe all but orders, not meaning to shout but unable to help it in his concern.

Still, regret stings in his heart when Walter flinches, seemingly resigning himself to whatever situation he believes he's currently undergoing.

"Hey, Cabe, how red are his eyes?" Tony's voice rings out from the car's speakers even though Cabe definitely hadn't reconnected them; that's just how it is when he practically fathers a gang of geniuses.

"Hang on," Cabe mutters before reaching towards Walter, who flinches again but stares directly at Cabe in unneeded defiance.

"I wasn't going to hurt you, son," Cabe whispers, then turns his attention to Toby. "His eyes are perfectly fine, aside from them leaning towards closed most of the time."

He hears Sylvester's voice in the background and decides to turn back to Walter, noticing the way he's still staring in anticipation.

"What's your favourite colour, kid?"

Walter blinks. "Colours are a product of sensitive cones and rods in our eyes and mostly serve to identify the surroundings around us. We cannot experience one colour without knowledge of each other option and a typically favoured colour is usually just symbolic to the absence of any others so I can't really answer that question."

Of course, he slurs half his words and Cabe has to make some educated guesses for them but the general idea is perfectly clear and this may be the only time he's truly happy about that.

"You just don't give up, do you?"

Walter shakes his head but his skin seems to be paling at an alarming rate and there's only so long the two of them can pretend he's fine.

"Cabe, does he have a rash?" Happy's voice this time.

"Negative. But he's slowly losing consciousness, you guys had better be ready for when we get there," he warns as nicely as he can.

"Hurts," Walter mumbles almost too quietly. "Burns worse than coffee..."

"Don't you dare!"

"'M sorry, 'm sorry," Walter slurs, then repeats that for just over a solid minute in which Cabe breaks at least six traffic laws.

As soon as he's pulling up to the garage, Toby and Happy are opening the door and pulling Walter out, Toby supporting him and rambling to Happy, who runs ahead and starts yelling at Sylvester.

Cabe takes only a brief moment to appreciate how loyal the team is before sprinting into action as well, locking the car door and following the others.

Within seconds, everything is shoved off the countertop in favour of Walter being placed there. He winces at the harsh landing but Cabe's here to stop him falling off, gently steadying him as he clenches his fists, clearly in pain.

"Pupils are still dilating, cross off the options I told you!" Toby yells to nobody in particular but Sly hums affirmatively anyway.

"Where's the homogeniser?" Happy asks from upstairs.

"Second grey cabinet!" Cabe calls back, unsure of how he knows that.

He stands next to Walter and takes his hand, unfurling his fist and squeezing gently. "Come on, son, don't be taken out by a snake..."

Walter groans, his eyelids fluttering. "Ankle," he rasps shakily.

Toby gasps. He rolls back Walter's trousers, allowing them to see two small puncture marks and a purple hue creeping up the surrounding veins.

Cabe curses to himself as Toby pokes the area next to the bite and Walter hisses in pain, his limbs circling inwards.

"It's okay, we'll fix this, you know that," Cabe reassures him, simultaneously reassuring himself as well.

"I don't-" Walter cuts himself off, coughing, and Toby jumps back in alarm, crashing into Happy, who just about avoids dropping the machine in her hands.

"Toby!" she glares at him, then grimaces at the sight of Walter. "That does not look good."

"He'll be fine," Cabe says firmly, clenching his jaw.

As if on cue, Walter moans in pain and starts shaking, his eyebrows furrowing as he squeezes his eyes shut.

"Sly!" Toby yells, running off to his desk and rooting through a drawer.

"Got it! Happy, here!"

His voice sounds so urgent, even Happy can't linger any longer, but at least that means they're getting somewhere.

"My fault...." Walter mumbles softly, his eyes opening ever so slightly and meeting Cabe's concerned gaze.

"What? Son, this isn't your fault," Cabe whispers, the quietness of his voice surprising him.

"Should- Should've known..."

Cabe lets his eyes shut for a second before shaking his head, pushing Walter's hair back even though it's not nearly long enough to be in the way. "We'll fix this."

"I'm not-" Walter cries out suddenly, his back arching off the counter and his muscles going taut.

"Guys!" Cabe doesn't take his eyes off Walter for a second, watching him carefully even as Happy declares that she needs a minute, hoping that his visible difficulty breathing doesn't take a turn for the worse any time soon.

"Stay with me, son," Cabe says, slightly desperate.

Walter stills so abruptly it seems surreal.

"O'Brien?" Cabe asks, then places two fingers on his neck to take his pulse. Except that his pulse isn't there and his skin feels as warm as embers.

"Breathe, kid!" Cabe shouts.

Walter does not.

Cabe's about to start chest compressions when Toby crashes into him, breathless. He pauses for a split second before plunging a syringe into Walter's thigh, emptying the contents into Walter's bloodstream before actually taking a breath.

"C'mon, c'mon!"

Walter's breath hitches and he splutters, coughing violently.

"Oh my- Walter!" Happy catches him just as he rolls sideways, narrowly avoiding him toppling onto the floor and giving himself a concussion.

Cabe's there in an instant, ignoring his galloping heart in favour of steadying Walter and giving Sylvester, who looks too hesitant to come any closer than a metre away, a grateful nod.

"I- I ha- hate snakes," Walter manages, groaning.

Toby lets out a nervous laugh and pulls the empty syringe out, placing a comically bright plaster over the tiny wound. "Well, for the right fee, I can help fix that for you."

"Seriously?" Cabe asks, but everyone knows a small comment like that was well-needed to relieve the tension.

"No more stupid plans," Cabe orders, mock-glaring at Walter because he knows the genius will never change, no matter how many times his life hangs on the line.

Walter nods anyway and with the support of Cabe and Toby, he just about manages to sit up, his breathing evening out a little.

"Well, uh, on the good side, your chances of surviving another snake bite are statistically higher than the average person now," Sylvester mutters.

Walter smiles weakly. "Good... to know. Thank you."

As if gratitude had tired him out, Walter then all but collapses backwards onto Cabe, his eyelids fluttering rapidly again.

Toby holds up a hand before anyone can express concern. "It's fine, he should be knocked out 'til morning. Perfectly normal."

"Nothing about this is perfectly normal," Happy mutters, either bemused or irked; nobody can quite tell.

"Right, well, I'm taking him upstairs. Thank you all," Cabe says, nodding at the three of them in turn before frowning at Walter and choosing to simply scoop him up bridal style because one or two compromising pictures are worth quicker comfort for someone who'd essentially just died.

He can hear a camera shutter click as Walter's head falls against his shoulder but he just ignores it, carrying the idiotic genius up the stairs and placing him on the bed, exhaling slowly.

"That was too close, kid. You've got to stop risking your life like that..." Cabe finds himself whispering again, glancing over Walter in both regret and relief.

Walter's too unconscious to care but he does stir slightly, curling toward Cabe. He might not even know he's doing it but that brings a genuine smile to Cabe's face and so he chooses to settle beside Walter, knowing he's not about to leave before morning.

"Sleep well," Cabe murmurs gently.

It's the closest he's felt to being a father in a very long time.

Too many fandoms... this was me joining another one :p Hopefully I can write something a little more concrete in future, we'll see! Feel free to point out mistakes btw <3 And thanks for reading <3