Set loosely in Season 5 when Walt was still seeing Donna. Not canon. Also, Vic is not pregnant in this story.

Side note: I know very little about weather in Wyoming so just go with it if it's not realistic. Blame climate change.

Ch. 1

The Bronco was quiet. He hated this particular silence. He missed the days when she would fiddle with the radio and then complain when he refused to listen to static filled songs. He longed for the days when she would rattle on about anything really. Vic sat in her normal seat but things were far from normal. Her head was bent over the notes in her lap from their current case. She wore her sunglasses which kept her eyes from him. When she did speak to him, it was concise and to the point. There was no teasing or cajoling. She rarely cracked jokes with him anymore. The closeness he had once shared with her had been severed. He knew it was his own fault.

She knew he was watching her. For all his attempts at subtly, she knew him too well. Everything about him gave him away. The way he sat stiffly. The way his hand gripped the steering wheel. It was all unnatural. They weren't on a serious call. His posture should be relaxed. Once up on a time, it would have been. He had always been comfortable with her and she with him. Now, the air between them was tense and quiet. It was easier just to concentrate on the case. Every time she tried to address it with him, he shut down and became distant. A person could only take that so many times before it became pointless to even try.

"Walter?"

They both jumped slightly when the radio crackled and Ruby's voice broke through the silence.

"Yes, Ruby?"

"Where are you?"

"Headed back from the Dixon ranch."

"We just got a report of an accident over at Powder Creek. Looks like a single car."

He nodded even though Ruby couldn't see him.

"We're headed that way."

He turned on his lights and floored it.

When they arrived on the scene, they quickly located a single car precariously perched close to the water down an embankment. Walt surveyed the scene as they got out.

"Not much holding that car up."

Vic nodded, her eyes scoping out the vehicle.

"Driver looks unconscious."

Creek didn't seem appropriate for the body of water rushing by. Rain had been heavier than normal this year. They were in a purgatory caught between late winter and early spring and the weather had been pretty unpredictable. He opened the door. The driver was a woman who looked younger than Vic. There was blood seeping from a cut at her hairline.

"Must've hit her head."

He carefully felt for her seat belt, relieved when he heard the click of release. He began to ease the woman from the car. The car had left the road and headed for the creek. The only things that seemed to have stopped it was a fallen dead tree that extended out over the swiftly moving water. The angle lent itself to the idea that the car might fall the rest of the way into the water was a very real possibility.

"Shit!"

The urgency in her voice commanded his attention. Vic was scrambling around the car.

"What?"

"There's a kid in there. A toddler. He's on the far side."

Walt laid the woman out on the ground and headed back towards the wrecked vehicle. It looked as though it had already shifted steeper down the bank.

"Be careful, Vic."

She opened the door farthest from the water and lowered herself inside carefully. Her unexpected weight caused the car to rock slightly. She froze momentarily until the car stilled. Slowly she reached for the buckle on the child's car seat.

"Fuck. It's jammed."

Walt's hand slid to his pocket and pulled out his pocket knife.

"Here. Just cut the straps."

He leaned down and gently tossed the knife towards Vic. His stomach lurched a little when it landed in her hand securely. Turning back to the car, she eased herself closer.

"Careful."

"Okay."

He could hear the irritation mixed with fear in her voice.

"Got it!"

She tucked the knife into her back pocket and began to lift the child up from his seat. The car shifted again. Vic muttered a curse and braced herself against the backseat. She moved slowly and carefully towards Walt and the far door.

"I'm gonna pass him to you."

The young boy was also unconscious. Walt stretched his arms as Vic lifted the boy up. Again the car rocked, this time losing ground. Walt's hands closed around the boy just as Vic lost her balance and fell against the seat. The sudden impact along with the already unstable ground caused the car to lean farther down.

"Dammit!"

She moved to hoist herself up as Walt pulled the child free from the wrecked car and laid him safely away. He turned back to help Vic when he heard the sound of metal wrenching and wood snapping. The flimsy tree holding the car place splintered and the weight of the car pushed down towards the rushing creek. Vic scrambled to get clear but again lost her foothold as the car lurched downwards towards the water.

It happened faster than he could react. He reached for her but the open car door smacked his arm as it fell away, rocking with the motion of the car. Then car wasn't there anymore. It was gone and so was Vic.