Chapter 1: Even More Precious
"Bonesteel...Alyssa." The words rang out inside the ship's casino, stopping Paige's heart as she stared at the man known as Christoph and his men. In the distance, she heard Sylvester trying to calm her down and telling her to stay where she was in the hopes that she wouldn't get herself hurt. Yet her eyes remained trained on the gunmen who had taken the passengers of the luxury cruise hostage. "Alyssa Bonesteel." The way the leader said it this time was angrier, more insistent, and she remained rooted to her spot. She was not a genius like the others on her team, but her mind still kicked into overdrive as she thought of the possibilities and likelihood of her getting out of this alive. The chances were growing slimmer by the moment.
"No!" She snapped back to attention when she saw the leader grab an innocent woman and put a gun to her head. In that instant, she knew what she had to do. Ignoring Sylvester's worried whispers, she pushed past him to save the life of the red-headed woman.
"I...I'm Alyssa...Alyssa Bonesteel..." she replied with a tremor in her voice. Christoph stared at her for a long moment, watching the beautiful and terrified woman walk towards him, and a dangerous smile flickered across his hard face. He spoke to her, asking if she was deaf, and she replied with a fearful excuse, which confirmed his suspicions that something was not right with her. She knew something, and he would find out. His eyes roamed across her body, taking her in. She was such a beauty that she would actually make this quite fun for him.
Christoph's hand with the gun reached out, snaked around her waist, and pulled her flush against him, and he relished the feel of the woman undoubtedly shaking in his arms. This was his favorite part, seeing and feeling people falling apart because of him. The power he felt with these people's lives in his hands. He swayed ever so softly with her in a slow and teasing dance in front of everyone, holding her hand with his free one and placing his cheek against hers. His lips were pressed against her ear, and he lowered his voice so only she could hear him. He could have sworn he felt her shaking increase, and his eyes flashed in anger. Good. He wanted her to fear for her life, because if he didn't get what he wanted, he would make sure she paid dearly with it.
"You have my rockets...or you know where they are..." The dark-haired man guessed as he stopped moving, and Paige felt his hand around her waist tightening slightly. Her lip quivered, and her eyes closed for a split second before popping back open.
"N-no..." she whispered in a half-lie. "Please...I don't...I don't know..." With a growl of frustration, he pushed her back hard and immediately raised the gun level to her face. He heard her beg for her life and raised a brow when she told him of her son. The man she was with looked panicked as he stared at the scene in front of him, and the criminal lowered the gun only long enough to cock it and aim it back at the woman in front of him.
"Tell me where my cargo is, or your child will be an orphan...and then I'll find him...and there won't be a son anymore," he promised. "You have three seconds before I pull this trigger." Tears fell from Paige's eyes as she shook her head and once again began to tell him not to shoot her, not to hurt her child. His eyes narrowed as he readied his finger to fire.
Paige...what are you doing? Walter listened in his earpiece as she spoke out to the terrorists and gave herself up. His heart slammed against his chest as he looked up into Cabe's anxious face. When Cabe was anxious, that was not a good sign. He attempted to connect the wires through an empty beer can so that he could hack into the intercom. He had to negotiate the rockets for the hostages before it was too late. The men would kill Paige and then go after Sylvester, and it would be Walter's fault if he could not get the intercom to work. He would lose them both.
"Walter..." He heard Sylvester talking in his ear, and he glared at the wires grimly.
"Hang on, Sly...we're so close..." he spoke encouragingly.
"Paige doesn't have time for close!" Sylvester whispered fiercely, turning back to watch as Christoph took his friend in his arms. "He grabbed her. He is holding her." Walter's hands faltered for a quick moment, his eyes darting up to Cabe before he sped up his now desperate mission. He heard Paige's terrified whispers in his ear and wanted to throw his earpiece away. If he never heard her in pain or fear again, he would be only too happy. That man was touching Paige, and he felt a rising urge to find and punch the crap out of him. She was telling them that she didn't know anything. His heart ached for her. If he hadn't asked her to be part of the team in the first place, she'd never have been placed in this kind of position. She still refused to give them up even when faced with death, and normally, he would feel incredibly proud of her. Yet now, as he listened to the absolute fright in her voice, he only felt panic and the instant need to keep her safe.
"Done," he managed to tell the older agent standing next to him as he moved his head over the makeshift mouthpiece.
"Stay calm...for them..." Cabe warned him as he stepped closer. Walter nodded but had to hold back the urge to go running off to the casino to give himself up when he heard the cock of a gun and Paige's whimpering pleas for her life...and for Ralph's. Christoph was threatening Ralph, and the genius wanted to kill him.
"No...no no no..." he growled out before taking the can and raising it to his mouth. "If you want your rockets returned, you will let her go. As well as the rest of the hostages. If you do not, your rockets go into the water." His anger was barely contained as he threatened the men with their cargo, and he waited on bated breath for a reply.
"You stole from me..." A hardened voice came over the speaker moments later, and he scowled, his fists tightening over the can. "And who is the thief I'm speaking to?"
"That doesn't matter. I have your cargo. That is what matters."
"You are right about that...but I have something...or should I say, someone, who matters more...someone who is precious to you." Once more, Walter had to listen to a gun being pointed at Paige, and he resisted the urge to yell or say anything that would assure her death. He could tell that she was on the verge of a panic attack, and he wished that he could say something to calm her down. "And if I do not get my cargo back, she will be the first. You'll listen to her die. And then, one by one, I will put a bullet in every hostage until I do." Walter felt Cabe's hands close over his on the device, both for emotional support and to make sure the terrorist didn't hear their conversation.
"Walter..."
"She is here because of me...She..." Cabe's eyes widened when he saw Walter's eyes fill with tears. He looked both lost and terrified for his friends. This was not the Walter he was used to.
"Don't. Keep calm and use that 197 IQ. We will lose more than just hostages if they get those rockets." The genius nodded once and called on Happy for help, keeping rational thought to the front of his mind and pushing back the emotions in order to save both the innocent civilians and the chopper headed their way.
"Five seconds before I lodge a bullet in Ms. Bonesteel's pretty little head..." Walter continued working with Happy, his voice growing desperate as he heard the man counting down the seconds left in Paige's life.
"Happy...please...he is about to kill Paige..."
"I know...I'm trying, Walter! Wait...I found a vessel we can use! Japanese!" To say Walter was relieved was a gross understatement as he instructed her on what to do and opened communications back up with the captors just as the countdown reached the last number, and Paige's hopes for staying alive diminished. She closed her eyes to accept her fate, praying that the team would take good care of Ralph after she was gone, yet hearing Walter's voice again brought her back.
"You have yourself a deal." Christoph smirked in dark triumph at the response as he stared at this woman who obviously meant so much to these "heroes." "Meet me at the lido deck in five, and you'll have your rockets." The leader of the group leaned towards Paige and patted her cheek, and she immediately tensed up.
"Take the captain. I'm taking Tennille with us...just for added protection," he ordered his men as he grabbed Paige in his arms and shoved her in front of him, holding his gun against her back.
"He's taking her...Cabe...he's taking Paige..." Walter grabbed up his bag as quickly as he could and dropped the can without a thought.
"He's going to use her as leverage to get what he wants from us," Cabe stated reasonably as he observed Walter shoving a hand through his black curls. He followed close behind the younger man, wanting to get this over with as quickly and safely as possible with no casualties. As they jogged together towards their destination, Sylvester's voice echoed in their ears with a fearful and yet determined tone.
"No no...wait! Please!" Christoph turned to see Sylvester weaving through the crowd and raised a brow at the heavier man, who looked like a nervous wreck as he put up his hands. "You don't need to take her...let me take her place." Paige shook her head pleadingly and tried her best not to fall apart and start sobbing like she wanted to. This day had gone downhill so fast. She just wanted to hold Ralph in her arms and never let him go. She wanted to tell Walter so much...
"Not a chance. The girl comes with me. Keep him here, Raoul. Make sure these hostages don't move. If they move, shoot." And with that, he tugged Paige back around and began to move with her out the door.
"Same goes for you, Ms. Bonesteel. If you try to get away...I will kill you. And I'm sure your son doesn't want that." She nodded in understanding, trying to remember how to breathe properly in the process, and allowed him to steer her wherever they were going. "Obviously that isn't your name...so what is it?" Paige was silent as she tried to think of another false name to give him.
"P-Paige...my name is Paige..." she finally answered honestly when she felt the weapon dig into her back.
"Good...now that wasn't so hard. Was it, Paige?" She shuddered at the sound of his voice saying her name. He was pushing her buttons, and she had never been so frightened for her life.
"Paige...I know you can hear me..." She felt her knees grow weak at the sound of Walter's voice in her ear. And to think, he had told her once that he loved her voice in his ear...how things had flipped since then. There was no better sound in that moment than his soothing, logical voice, and she prayed that Christoph couldn't hear him. She couldn't reply without giving herself away, so she gave a soft exhale of breath to let him know that she was there. "I know that I said I have little to no EQ...I know you are the expert with emotions...but I know you're scared. I will admit that I am at fault here. I am the reason you are mixed up in this, and I am truly sorry. I never meant to put you in harm's way, and as leader of this team...and your friend...it was and is my duty to keep you safe. I promise Ralph will not lose his mother. I promise...I will get you off this boat."
Walter knew making promises was irrational, especially in cases like this. He could not 100% promise her safety and survival, so he shouldn't have promised it. Yet as his ears detected her heavy breaths and his mind registered her anxiety, the rare emotions he felt bubbled over, and he knew he had to say something to relax her nerves. Her lower lip quivered as she stumbled back against her captor, and he held her up as he prodded her along at a fast walk.
Walter... Paige heard nothing but silence in her ear and decided to tell Walter something, though she had to speak generally. "P-please...I need my son to know...I love him...I need...I need him to know..." Christoph narrowed his eyes as he moved his head against her ear again.
"If you do exactly what I say and your friends cooperate, you can tell him yourself," he whispered vehemently before increasing his pace and shoving her ahead, using the gun to keep her in check.
"Paige...Paige, listen to me...you will tell Ralph everything, okay? Don't think or talk like that. For once, I'll counsel you. Remember what I told you the first day we met?"
You're going to have to trust me now...I will not let anything happen to you...Paige remembered in vivid detail how he asked her to ride in the sportscar and help him save the plane, how he told her how she would be using the sunroof to help hook up the computer while he drove at a breakneck pace, and how he helped her stay as calm as she could by being realistic and logical. They had balanced each other out and ended up saving many lives. It was from then on that they knew they worked well together. They were the Yin and Yang of the team, and it worked so well because they trusted each other.
"O-okay..." It was all Paige could really say in reply. The same word he had told her so many times.
"I promised you that you would not die. And I'm keeping that promise now. You are not dying today." Christoph forced her up a staircase and then wrapped one arm around her to secure her as they got closer to the lido deck.
"We are about to go see your friends. Try anything, and I'll riddle you with bullets."