A/N: Giving this a try. Paige/Walter kind of. It's probably a bit OOC, but I don't know exactly how the reaction would be. I wanted to give Walter a nice helping of EQ, since I think he had a lot of it shining through in the last episode. I was thinking about this after watching last night's episode (Talismans). So yeah, I don't really know what else there is to say. Enjoy I guess :)
They finally reached the edge of the minefield, and no one had been blown up. Relieved, the group took the last few steps. Just before they were clear of the mines, Paige tripped. A clump of dirt caught the toe of her boot, and she stumbled to keep from falling. As her foot went down, their was an audible click. Everyone froze.
Walter turned around to see Paige standing pale-faced in the chemical ridden dirt. Tears were welling up in her eyes, and they began to pour down her face. "Paige, don't move." Walter instructed her. Paige stayed still, but continued crying.
"I-I'm s-sorry. I t-rip-ped." She choked out. Walter shook his head.
"Hey, it's okay. Just stay still. I'm going to get you out of this." He promised, not realizing how much EQ he was showing. Slowly he walked forward and knelt next to where Paige stood, pulling out his knife. Quickly, he dug through the dirt and pulled open the hatch of the small device. "I might be able to disable the detonator." He told Paige. Looking in at the wires, he winced. "This isn't good." He said, poking the wires. "There's a timer to set of the detonator if the pressure doesn't release." Picking through the wires he began to saw at one of the wires. "We have about 30 seconds." Walter didn't need to look up to see that Paige was still crying or that everyone else looked grim.
"Walter. You need to get out of here. I-I don't want you to get hurt." Paige said, now able to keep her voice steady. Walter shook his head and continued sawing, not allowing her to give up.
"Nope. Ralph needs you, and I'm not going to let you die." He told her, sawing faster. "I just need to cut the right wire..." He concentrating, going faster than he knew was safe.
"It's ticking faster!" One of the soldiers said. Walter just continued sawing. The mine was about to detonate, and he knew he could never cut the wire in time. So he dropped his knife and did the first thing that came to his mind. Reaching up, he grabbed Paige around the waist and threw her to the ground next to him, putting his own body between her and the mine. There was a "pop" and a little bit of smoke, but no explosion. Letting go of Paige, Walter rolled over and knelt next to the mine. A small smile ghosted his face.
"The mine, it's so old that it's worn down. Became a dud." He told them. Everyone looked relieved, and Paige was no longer crying. She stood up and walked over to Walter, lazily throwing her arms around his neck.
"Thank you, so much." She told him before letting go, not wanting to make him uncomfortable. The group quickly began walking again, heading toward the rebel base. Walter glanced at Paige a few times, and was pleased to know she was okay. He didn't think he would have gotten over it had Paige gotten hurt or worse. Ignoring the looks Cabe was throwing his way, Walter focused on the mission.