When Walter looked across the room he saw her. All of a sudden, she was there. And a rush of emotions overcame him, with a kind of intensity he had barely ever felt before.
This day had been shatteringly hard for him. The moment he saw the woman he loved and whom he had failed to tell this yet, being endangered by a force, whom he had no control over in that moment, made his knees buckle. Now his breathing picked up, he felt his hands turn limb and his eyes slightly widen.
He had been captured in that cabin and all he could do was watch and trust Toby to help out his one and only love that he had failed that day.
Paige looked at him, with dark eyes. Tears brimming on the edge. A cut on her left cheek, blue bruises forming underneath the right eye. It was like someone strapped a rope around his chest and pulled it tight out of nowhere.
Walter was not used to handling these kind of emotions.
He had found love where it wasn´t supposed to be. Right in front of him. And when the first tear found its way down the woman´s cheek, it took him 3 big strides to cross the distance between them, pull her close to him and leave her struggling for air in the first minute – not from pressure but from emotions rushing in.
He knew she was hurting – also physically so he tried to mind her wounds but he just couldn´t let go. He let out a panting breath and some irregular ones after that. His body was overwhelmed. He felt her hands on his back, clinging onto him for dear life and his heart broke into pieces. How could this have happened? How had he failed to foresee today´s events and had not been able to protect her how he had vowed not only to Ralph but to himself he would?
He loosened his grip a little bit and tilted back is upper body, looking down to her face. She kept her eyes down and was avoiding his gaze – almost ashamed of her gashes, knowing what they did to him.
He lifted his hand and carefully cradled her face. He let out a shaky breath and while looking at what had been done to her, he grimaced in agony and Paige saw the most suffering look out of the corner of her eye, she had ever seen on his face.
He lightly, barely touching her skin, ran his thumb over her cut. It was not deep enough to leave a permanent, very visible scar but someone who knew would probably always be able to detect a small bright line when looking at her closely even after everything had healed.
Walter carefully lifted her chin so that she had to look him in the eye. He could see she did everything in that moment to pull herself together and look strong for him. To not cause him more pain than this experience already had.
His other arm, held her as close as he could to himself without causing her distress.
All they did was look at each other and looks said enough in this moment.
Walter lowered his head and brushed her forehead with a kiss. Then her left cheek, careful to not hurt her in the process.
Paiges whole body went on overdrive. Her emotions of vulnerability and emotional pain, of inner discomfort and cold were in a matter of seconds mixed with a rush of warmth and tingles. A toxic cocktail, hard for her to handle. One that barely left her able to think. Her facial features were not able to cover up the storm of emotions taking her over and the pit in her stomach which would probably not vanish in the near future. But she clawed her nails into the back of the man holding her, the only one she had ever felt these kind of emotions for.
As his lips brushed over her brow she tilted back her head, looking Walter in the eye and seeing his sorrow and his inner torment. She closed the distance between their faces carefully and laid her lips on his. Just barely touching and at the same time causing her mind to collapse and her bodies instincts take over. She pulled herself as close as humanly possible to the man she loved and whom she had admitted this to long ago. She started feeling safe the closer he held her and now her lips betrayed any charade she had tried to put up over the last months when things had unraveled in a way that made being together seem impossible.
She noticed him reacting to her lips and they started to move in sync. Hungrily and yet carefully exploring each other in unison. Both their hearts seemed to explode from the sensation.
Her life would never be the same again after this day and this moment, she knew.
And he knew too.
She felt a tear of his landing on her cheek. As he pulled her even closer she subconsciously flinched since her wounds were fresh and the adrenalin and pain killers had worn off. He let her go as if he got burned and she immediately felt the pit in her stomach widen again. So she pulled herself close to him again. He carefully brought his hand up to her head and brushed over her hair and held her head close.
She let out a shaky breath. He opened his mouth to say something but failed at first. On his second try he succeeded. „I don´t know when I have ever in my life felt as scared… as I did today. And never... never in million years... Do I want to feel this way again." She closed her eyes and her thoughts flickered back to the previous events.
How she had looked for Walts face and found it high up behind a glass wall. Displaying the emotions, he had just described to her. She had looked up at him, a certain calmness mixed with resignation overcoming her. She had assembled all her strength, and screamed up to him to look away. She ordered him to look away not knowing what would happen now but knowing it would hurt him to watch. But he had shaken his head and desperately pressed his fingers against the window. He had stopped fighting it only seconds before.
She saw that he screamed but could barely make out what he was saying, her mind had shut down to security mode. He had realised that his screaming would not do any good so all he did was not lose eye contact. He was going to be there for her, whatever was going to happen.
She had already been in bad shape at this point and taken several hits. A strong punch had torn the skin on her face and now, that the beast who had taken her was trying to unbuckle her belt and shoving up her blouse, she knew she would lose this fight if no one would be able to help her. Walter had followed Toby via the comms and out of the corner of his eye but his focus was on never letting go of Paige´s gaze since he knew she was hanging on for him and Ralph.
Her stomach had churned in that moment, a feeling of losing control sickening her so much she felt like she was going to heave.
As she held onto Walter with her eyes, the abuser had secured his grip on her, moving forward with his plan.
In that second, Toby had managed to crawl over the electricity fence that Happy had disabled seconds before. He had jumped down, and tackled the perpetrator.
He knocked him out, still punching him when he had already been out as a light for 10 seconds. Happy had screamed for Toby and asked about Paige since she had no sight on the team members. In that moment the doctor had collected himself again. His eyes found Paige hunched on the dirty floor and in fetal position in an apathetic state. He didn´t say anything, he just kneeled town, turned her face to look at him. He looked pained when his eyes quickly examined her. He got up, ran over and pushed the button that enabled Walter to get out of his prison and down to the station where Toby would be able to bring Paige and reunite with the others. The doctor went back to his friend lying on the floor and quickly stroked her cheek and her face, before putting his arms underneath her legs and her back to carefully pick her up.
He pressed a kiss to her hair while he scrambled to get to the big steel gate, which could only be opened from the inside of the pit. Once this happened he found Water dashing down the stairs and running towards him, taking the woman he loved out of the arms of his friend in an instant. He looked at her, she had her eyes closed with a pained look on her face and he turned on his heel to walk fast towards the EMTs arriving at the street this minute. "I´ve got you Paige." he whispered to her. He laid her on a gurney, not wanting to let her go but knowing he had to, to let the paramedics and Toby tend to her wounds. The usually tough woman had retreated her mind to another place and seemed to be in shock. Toby gave stern instructions while always keeping a hand on his friend currently not being able to communicate which part of her body hurt and which didn´t. Sly was heard breathing via the comms. Cabe and Happy arrived at the scene just seconds after and out of breath.
It was over but it had rarely happened that a case had left them this shaken up. Certain rules had been broken. The usually effective and serious group had been different this time. So much had been on the line for them – not the whole country or world but for one of their own and by that, for all of them.
They rode to the hospital in dead silence. Cape had tried to reassure Walter that everything would be alright with a squeeze of his shoulder.
Now, 12 hours later, Paige had somewhat regained her physical abilities and made her way back to the garage even though she was supposed to still be at the hospital, where Walter had wanted to return to just minutes later.
He assumed she had discharged herself against doctor´s orders. It would be like her to do this. Act contradictory to the caring advice she gave her friends when it came to her own well-being. Ralph had been picked up by Happy and Toby and would stay with them for the next couple of days until the situation had calmed down.
Walter spoke up again "I am not normally good at expressing emotions but I can describe this one easily. I felt as if someone ripped out my intestines, Paige. And I have no idea how to handle this. How to handle my feelings for you but one thing I know is that I cannot be without you anymore."
Paige lifted her head and looked Walter in the eyes and he returned her look with sincerity.
His hand lifted to the back of her head again and he stroked her hair and brushed her cheek carefully. The young woman´s stomach turned into a giant knot and heat rushed through her, creeping up her face. "You don´t have to be." She replied. He looked at her with a desperate look on his face "I love you Paige. With every fiber of my being, with every cell of my body and even that screwed up brain of mine. It took me long enough to realize this and I need to apologize for it. I am sorry." He sounded confident but spoke quietly. She felt his grip on her tightening, as if he was afraid that losing contact with her would take her away from him. "And I will never be able to forgive myself for what I let happen to you. And I don´t even know how you could. But yet you are here and you are not pushing me away. So I am grasping this straw." he continued.
She raised her hand to cup his cheek. "Walter I did not blame you for a split of a second, please know that." She looked at him and wanted to make sure he saw her sincerity in these words. "And you already know that I love you, so I am not going anywhere anymore. I need you." And with that she kissed him again. He grasped her head to pull her close. Tears made their way down Paige´s cheek. The events from the last days and the built up emotions starting to claw its way out of her shell.
Walter broke the kiss and pulled away slightly to take a look at her. She was wearing a loose Shirt, training pants and sneakers. He scanned her again for bruises and bandages, even though he had been at the hospital with her earlier.
He looked at her face again. "How is the pain? Where does it hurt? What can I do?".
She looked down to her feet and very carefully rolled her head and shoulders a little bit.
"I´m okay but I think I will need to lie down soon. I still feel rather…weak."
"If you refuse to go back to the hospital please stay with me tonight. Let me take care of you, how you have taken care of me hundreds of times." Walter said and looked at her pleadingly, trying to get her to look at him. She eventually lifted her head and nodded.
He made a move to carefully pick her up but she retreated and held up her hand. "Please no carrying. I can walk." She said. She had enough pride in her.
He hesitantly let go of Paige and instead supported her by putting one arm around her waist and stabilizing her, while nudging her to walk towards his bed. She slowly complied and when they reached his bed she carefully sat down.
She had her eyes closed and a slightly pained look on her face but he knew she was trying to look as indifferent as possible.
He kneeled down and carefully took off her shoes and she lifted her feet to support him in doing so. He saw some slight bruises on her ankle and her lower legs and his jaw clenched.
Seeing the people he loved hurt had always been the hardest thing for him to handle, it had been the same with Meghan.
Paige opened her eyes and laid her hands on his shoulder. Looking at him tiredly she started stroking his hair on both sides of his head. He closed his eyes briefly and gave into her touch, enjoying it and not getting enough of this feeling he had when he was around her, especially this close. He then reached up to take her hands into his and pressed a delicate kiss on the back of her hands.
Walter then stood up and carefully kept her hand in his as he motioned for her to lie down.
She closed her eyes and complied since her strength started to fade again. She was not in best shape right now. The young woman cautiously laid back while clinging to Walters hand. She opened her eyes and just this one look told the genius with the usually low EQ that she wanted him to lie with her. So he went around the bed, pulled off his jeans and shirt in a swift motion before getting into bed with his love.
He had never imagined this to be the situation where he would first share his bed with Paige.
He sat up and looked worriedly in her direction. "What can I do? Do you need any pain meds or anything else?" she sleepily opened her eyes and shook her head before she carefully scooted a little closer, grabbed his hand tight and leaned her head against his shoulder.
He felt as if his heart contracted when he looked down at her weak form and her bruised face. Usually she was the optimistic, energetic and strong force in their team´s home. But now he could sense her vulnerability and lack of energy. He would do anything to help her recover – mentally and physically. If she wasn´t monitored at the hospital tonight he would not close his eyes for a second.
He pressed a kiss on her forehead and stroked her hair. "I´ve got you, Paige. Go to sleep". She barely noticeably nodded and her breathing deepened and evened out within minutes.