Disclaimer- I do not own Scorpion, unfortunately.

"Hey, Walt! It's Cabe. We've got another one." Toby yelled up the stairs before walking away. Things had been getting boring, they hadn't had a mission in over a week and without the rocket to work on or Megan's project, Walter had been starting to get impatient. As soon as Walter reached the bottom step Cabe walked in and headed over to the screens, it wasn't long before the whole team had gathered.

"Oh this is bad." Toby started staring at Cabe worriedly. "Just look at his posture and clothes. This must be really serious."

"You're right, we have another terrorist plot to deal with." Cabe said grimly, "a group of terrorists who have named themselves 'Kira', have developed a software that has been hacking government computers for the last few hours. They've been downloading top secret information, planting bugs in our computers and who knows what else. We can't do anything about it," before he could say anything else Walter had walked over to a computer and started hacking in to find the problem.

"You're right, this is bad. This program is even more advanced than the one we encountered with the supercomputer. I don't think they are using a supercomputer though, but they might as well be. Each time I try to remove it and fix the problem it slips out of my grasp. It is impossible to get from here. Had you contacted us soon we might have stood a chance but with the access it has, it sees us coming from a mile away. It's like playing cat and mouse, well except with a clairvoyant mouse." Walter said without looking up, clicking away on his keyboard.

"So can you do something about it?"

"Maybe," Walter said. He looked up "Do you have any idea where they are? I have a thought but you are not going to like it."

"We have a few ideas but they would see us coming so we wouldn't be able to go in and stop them with force. We would have to narrow it down because if we need to go in, we will only have one shot. What's your idea son?" Cabe said starting to look hopeful.

"If I place a firewall around the already infected servers and the servers that are about to be infected, a firewall that I design, then we could trap it inside so it can't spread. However, this may be more risky as once it gets through the wall, which it will, it will know how to protect itself in future. We can't shut it down from the outside so I will have to place the firewall then we have approximately..." Walter said typing again so Sylvester took over

"3 hours and 21 minutes to find them and shut it down before they get through. If we can work out where they are, and if you can place the firewall, then there is only a 47.6% likely hood that we will succeed. I don't like this Walter." Sylvester said his breathing increasing.

"We have faced worse odds. Okay, plant that firewall and we can get to work." Cabe said then turned to the rest of the team and started handing out folders with information regarding the mission.

"Okay, so considering the equipment they need to do this, it can't be these first three." Happy said gesturing to the first three.

"No, you're right. And they are hiding from the Government, usually criminals would go for out of the way places so it can't be these either." Toby said narrowing the choices down to three.

"Well, if they need good computers to do this then they would have spent all their money on it so they can't be in a very expensive place. More likely to be run down." Paige said trying to help.

"That narrows it down to the warehouse." Toby said showing Cabe.

"Okay, that's good, that's good. Now we are making progress. How are you doing Walter?" Cave asked turning back to Walter.

"Almost there... okay, the firewall is in place. Coms in and lets go. We can think of a plan on the way." Walter said quickly grabbing his things and heading out to the van with everyone following behind. The ride was too quick for everyone's liking but they managed to get a plan in place.

"Okay, so one last time." Cabe said trying to clarify things from the front.

"We need to get in undetected. Most likely there will be a lot of them so we need to cause some kind of distraction. Happy and Toby will do that from the north, Paige and Sylvester from the south. They will split up leaving only a few inside. Cabe, you and me will go in. You will sort out the remaining guys while I hack their computer. We will get out as soon as possible and leave. Then we can call for backup to arrest everyone." Walter briefly clarified. The distraction was the easy bit. It was the getting in and out that everyone was worried about.

"Walter, I estimate a 19.4% chance that we will all get out of this unharmed, only a 11% chance that we will succeed. And only a 7% chance that we will both succeed and all get out of here. I do not like those odds!" Sylvester said starting to sweat.

"We will be fine. Now, come on, we don't have much time." Cabe said before getting out the car. Paige gave Sylvester's arm a comforting squeeze then got out of the car. Everyone left in the directions they would be starting from and 10 minutes later everyone was in place.

"We only have an hour left." Sylvester said over the coms jarring everyone into action. The moment the people starting leaving Walter and Cabe headed to the building careful to stay out of sight. Toby's assessment had been right, only three people from what they could see where left inside. Cabe quickly dealt with them and Walter found the computer.

"This is far more complex than I imagined it being." Walter said as he typed away at the computer.

"Hurry up, we have to leave. They are firing at us. If you don't get that done now then we're dead." Happy yelled over the coms.

"I'm trying, I'm trying." Walter typed away at the computer but he knew he would never be able fix the problem in the time he had. There was only one thing for it. Very quickly, Walter secured the firewall he had put in place making it impossible for the software to break then proceeded to try and get rid of the virus. "Almost there, almost..."

The door flung open. Walter heard Cabe yelling and shooting but he was so close. He couldn't stop now. Then everything went black.

-line break-

"Walter! Walter!"

Slowly Walter opened his eyes. Quickly, he took in his surroundings. He was in a grey, concrete room with no windows, there was a single bulb above the door on the wall opposite him to the left. He tried to walk towards it but it was only then that he realised his position. Chains hung from the ceiling suspending him from it by his wrists so his feet hung about an inch off the floor. Not that he could have done anything even without the chains around his wrists because cold silver shackles adjourned his ankles as well connecting him to the floor. He didn't have much time to ponder this before he heard his name again in one of his ears.

"Walter!" It was Paige. Whoever had captured him had forgotten to remove his earpiece.

"Paige?" He asked but winced at the sound of his own voice. It was only then he noticed he had a headache. Typical.

"Oh, thank god. You're alive." She said sounding close to tears.

"Is Cabe there? What happened?" Walter asked quickly. He needed to know that everyone else was safe.

"I'm here. You're the only one who is missing. Happy and Toby had picked up Paige and Sylvester then came for us. The terrorists found us. I called for you to leave the computer and follow me but I couldn't check to see if you were. It was only when I got to the van that I realised you weren't with me. By then it was too late. Where are you? Did you escape? Are you alright son?" Cabe asked sounding concerned.

"I have a headache, probably caused from a blow to the head. I just woke up. I am suspended by my wrists from the ceiling and it looks like I am in a basement of some kind. They caught me." Walter said offhandedly as if he were talking about Sunday lunch. "I didn't have time to destroy the virus completely. If I could escape and get back to the computer it would only take a few seconds to destroy. As a precaution I secured the firewall. They can't fix the damage I have done and the virus can't affect anymore servers but unless I get out of here and get to the computer there will be the risk of the virus still doing damage."

"Walter, you did a good job but your life is more important. Now, look around. Can you see anything that will help us find you? From what I saw of the place, there wasn't a basement. Do you remember anything." Cabe said sounding panicked but with a false calm.

"No, no I don't." Walter said then paused. "I don't want you risking your lives for me. That is illogical; you will only get yourself killed. Don't worry about me. Leave and go back to base. Go back to base and if you insist on finding me, come up with a proper plan. There is no time limit this time. The wall I put up can only be taken down by me and there is no way I'm doing that."

"No! WALTER!" Paige cried but Walter interrupted her.

"It is your best bet. I will not tell them anything. Even if..." Walter said trying to sound logical.

"You have not been trained to withstand it Walt! You won't last. If it were me then yes, but you have never been in a situation like this. We are coming to get you out!" Cabe said sounding angry but defeated.

"No, go back to the garage. Come up with a plan then get me out. I can do this. I'm no stranger to pain." Walter said stoically.

"Walt, you do realise we are talking about torture here. Even if you can withstand the physical pain, it isn't a question of if you will break but when. There will be no going back to how you were before. You know the impacts torture can have on the mind. Even a mind like yours." Toby said pleadingly but Walter knew he had won. Each of his teammates work through logic and calculations, well except Paige and Cabe, and they all knew that it was more logical to leave and come back.

"Happy, Sylvester, do you have anything to say about this?" Walter asked wanting to hear from everyone. Even though he was told everyone was fine, he still needed to hear it for himself.

"I don't like it Walter. We'll come back for you. We will get you out. When they come, don't talk to us. You don't want them to know about the earpiece but we will be here with you every step of the way." Happy said. The caring tone in her voice sounded unnatural but Walter knew it was to be expected. This was by far the worst anything had come down to.

"Sylvester?" Walter asked needing to hear him.

"There is a 3% chance you will come out of this completely sane Walter. But if we come in to get you now there is only 4% chance we will get you out. We are willing to risk it Walter. We have faced worse odds. We can't lose you. I... we have already lost Megan. I can't lose my brother too. Please?" Sylvester pleaded sounding close to tears.

"No, leave." Walter said with a finality no one could argue with. He wasn't just their friend, he was there boss, their commander, who had just given, quite possibly, his last order. Now knowing everyone was safe, Walter looked around again assessing everything. Now he was no longer worrying about his friends he felt more pain than just what was in his head. Looking up at the manacles he saw them cutting into his wrist. All is weight was being supported by his wrists and the manacles were digging in painfully. Any movement from Walter would cause the skin to break. Knowing this Walter kept himself as still as possible. Walter also noticed something he hadn't noticed before. On the wall to his right was a long desk stretching the length of the wall. Various tools of all sorts decorated the table and immediately Walter knew what they were for. Before he could stop himself he sucked in a breath and felt himself go slightly cold. He wasn't afraid. Fear was illogical. He was just... shocked.

"That didn't sound good. What are you seeing Walt?" Toby asked concerned. More concerned than Walter had ever heard him. His voice even sounded slightly shaky.

"There is a desk to my right. You don't want to know what is on it." Walter said. He knew if he went into detail he might not be able to stop his team turning around and getting him. Walter heard intakes of breath and Paige said something but Walter blocked it out. Looking to his left he noticed something new again. A chair, with metal electronic cuffs to hold him at the wrists and ankles. Where the terrorist had found the money to get such a thing, Walter did not know but he knew one thing for sure. These people were professionals.

"Don't turn back guys. I mean it. What ever you hear... ignore it. There is nothing you can do." Walter said before looking at the door. Almost counting the seconds until they came. He knew what was about to happen. He heard a sob from over the coms but chose to ignore it. He knew it was Paige but if he thought about it too much it would break him far more than the torture would. Walter shut his eyes and concentrated on locking everything inside his mind away. What ever emotions he did have were locked away, they would only provide weakness. The one thing that wouldn't go away was the cold and the feeling of dread in his stomach, instead he just chose to ignore it. Suddenly he heard footsteps, his whole body tensed but he remained stoic as ever. The door swung open and in came the looming form of a person. Walter blinked a few times but eventually he managed to make out what the guy looked like. He was big but seeing as Walter wasn't touching the ground he couldn't gauge an accurate size. The guy was bald and had a scar going across from his right eye to his left side jaw. Walter remained silent as he regarded the man who shut the door and without looking at Walter walked over to the table, picking up a knife. Walters body, if possible went even more rigid but his facial expression didn't change.

"Hello, my name is Walter. I highly doubt you have the mental capacity to speak because it looks like you have not evolved that far but if you can, what is your name? I like to think a lot and it would be nice to call you something other than 'the man'." Walter said deciding to go for cocky. He just wanted it to start. The sooner it starts the sooner it would be over.

"What are you doing Walter! Don't antagonist him." Cabe said in his ear sounding close to panic.

"You can call me Master, I know your type. You don't break easily, but you always have so much pride that the first step should always be removing it. I am your master and you will address me as such. If you don't, well lets just say that I will go harder on you until you get it right." The guy said with a deep baritone voice with an evil smile. He walked over to Walter and his smile never wavered. "I am going to make you regret what you said boy; and I'm going to enjoy it." The man walked in front of Walter and brought his knife to the top of his shirt. He dragged it down lightly cutting the fabric and pushing hard enough for Walter to feel the cold of the knife but not enough to cut him. The man walked around Walter cutting off his clothes until all he was wearing were his boxer shorts, shoes, and socks. The man walked back to the table and deposited the knife, instead replacing it with a whip. A shiver went down Walter's spine but he wasn't going to give the man any satisfaction.

"I guess that people with such low intelligence don't need names. They won't get anywhere in life." Walter said. He didn't even know why he said it. He just needed to say something.

"You will call me Master." The man said walking behind Walter out of his eyesight. Walter knew what was coming and clenched his mouth shut. He wasn't going to scream. He heard the whip before he felt it. He heard the mini sonic boom the whip caused when the end broke the speed barrier before it hit his back. The whip cut through his skin down his back and Walter knew it had drawn blood. Walter let out a grunt but otherwise remained silent. He blocked out his friends voices on the other side of the line and just concentrated on controlling the pain, the agony that spread across his back. He heard the whip in the air again just before it connected with the tender skin covering his back. Once again, Walter let out a grunt, slightly louder this time and his face scrunched up in pain. Already he felt a few tears escape his eyes and tumble down his cheeks as he tried to hold back the screams he didn't want his friends to hear. Screaming was illogical. Screaming is a reflex in the body, much like crying, to alert others to your distress in order to get you help. But Walter knew that no help was coming. There was no point in screaming because there was no one in the area who could hear and help him. Screaming and crying was illogical and... The whip hit its mark again, cutting into his back. Walter cried out in pain. After the initial shock he managed to clamp his jaw shut again. He tried to relax his body knowing it would only hurt more if he were tense. The whip hit his back again and once more he cried out. The time between each hit seemed to get shorter and Walter didn't have enough time to recover. The whip whooshed though the air each time hitting Walters exposed back and each time Walter cried out in pain. He couldn't hold it back. He knew he couldn't hold back his cries of pain for long but he would not give into his torturer. He would remain vigilant. The whip hit his back for the twentieth time. Walter cried out in pain, it was getting close to a scream, and his head drooped to rest on his chest. He had to save his strength.

"I think it is time to kick it up a few notches. Don't worry, we will come back to the whip. It is my favourite." The man walked away from Walter and went back to the table. He put down his whip and instead picked up a rod with metal tips, a grip at the end that connected to a long lead and to the mains. He also carried a dial attached to it in the same hand. Walter could only just see this but didn't have to strain to look because a moment later the man came up in front of him, grabbed a fist full of Walters curly hair with his free hand and used that to lift Walter's head up so he could see clearly. "Do you know what this is?" The man said with a raised eyebrow showing off the metal rod

"That..." Walter started but his voice came out scratchy and broke. "That is a picana... It is used predominately for human torture. It is either attached to a car battery or through a transformer to the mains. This means that you can have many times as much voltage and pain for less current and therefore have it on a lower amplitude reducing the risk of death, it is also connected to a rheostat so you can adjust how much pain it gives." Walter stated his voice only shaking and going slightly higher at the start. Walter heard his friends talking to him but he ignored them. He had to focus on what was right in front of him.

"Very good. You know, they key to torturing people like you is to never stop. Alternate how much pain you give to let the victim recover from the intense pain while still suffering only to bring back the agony. This isn't going to stop Walter until you give me what you want. At the moment it is just that you call me master. I'm sure you can guess what I will want later. What do you say to that boy?" The man sneered getting closer and closer to Walter until they were only inches apart.

"Well, you want a challenge. I'm not giving in anytime soon so you might as well either get on with what you were doing or leave." Walter said with a blank emotionless face right up until the end when he gave a small smile. It was hard and Walter didn't know why he did it. As soon as the man saw the small smile his fist connected with Walters face dislocating his nose and cutting his face. Blood gushed from his nose and he let out a gasp.

"You will learn your manners boy." The man said lifting the hand that had just let go of Walters hair to punch him to Walter face and clicked his nose back into position. Once again Walter gasped from the pain but otherwise remained silent. The man then turned around and grabbed a bucket of water from the side of the room by the bench, putting down the picana, and walked back over to Walter. Before he could even react the man had chucked half the bucket of water at him drenching Walters front. The man wasted no time walking behind Walter to repeat the process to his back. Once Walter was completely soaked the man walked back to the table, put down the bucket and continued to pick up the picana again. The now wet Walter, for the first time, felt actual fear run through him. Everyone knew water and electricity doesn't mix, he knew that is would increase the pain so much more than if he were dry. He didn't let his face display his fear but he felt his heart rate speed up as the man neared. He felt the cold dread settle in even more. He felt his skin go even colder and a shiver ran slowly down his spine. Walter didn't even realise he was shaking slightly until the man turned on the picana and moved in so it hovered just above the skin and water covering Walters stomach. The man looked at Walter and grinned. Walter could keep the fear off his face but he knew his eyes had betrayed him. Walter only had time to notice the mans yellow teeth grinning evilly at him before the metal touched Walter's body.

"Aghhhhhh!" Walter screamed. He couldn't help himself. The pain was agony. All Walter could think about was the pain. His body convulsed as Walter lost control and he struggled against the restraints holding him in place. The metal surrounding his wrists and ankles broke through the skin but Walter did not care. The pain from that was so minuscule compared to that of the Picana that it did not even register in Walters mind. Seconds stretched into minutes, hours, days, although Walter would chastise himself at that thought later. It couldn't have lasted days, but at that moment the logic part of Walter's mind wasn't working. Pain was overriding all thoughts and feelings. There was only pain. After what felt like years the pain finally receded leaving Walter crying, panting for breath, and shaking all over. He didn't know what way was up or what way was down, only that the pain had stopped for now. After a minute the pain receded enough for Walter to become aware of his surroundings again. He was chained to both the floor and ceiling, there was something wet running down Walters arms, feet, and back, he ached all over, there was someone yelling in his ear, and his torturer still stood in front of him smiling wickedly. Finding strength Walter didn't realise he possessed he looked up into the mans eyes, his top lip moved in the imitation of a smile, and he said with a broken, cracking, but defiant voice, "Is that the best you've got?" before his head became too heavy and it drooped back to his chest again.

"Ha, ha!" The man laughed, "I like you Walter O'Brien. Don't know when you've been beaten. Don't worry though, you will soon learn and you will know your place." The man said ending with a sneer before walking out of Walters sight. Walter only had a second to contemplate what this might mean before he felt the cold metal touch his back and electricity rushed though his body yet again. Walter's back arched away from the Picana, away from the pain but when that didn't work yet again he started to convulse, screaming and crying loudly.

The man smiled and watched as the genius writhed and screamed under his hand, thrashing under the bite of his Picana completely at his mercy. The man pulled away after a few seconds but didn't give the genius time to recover before plunging it into his side.

Walter screamed as the pain tore though him. The longer it went on the more he could think and was aware while it was happening. The man did it at regular intervals. Holding it on Walter for 5 seconds then giving him 10 seconds to recover before starting again. It got into a pattern where although each time Walter screamed and thrashed from the pain, he could prepare his body for it, making it easier to bare. The pain came once again causing Walter to scream but he counted in his head 1...2...3...4...5... and the pain stopped. Walter caught his breath and prepared for the next. 10 seconds came... then went. Walter felt his body relax a bit thinking it was over before the pain struck again this time catching Walter off guard. He screamed and cried all the louder louder and his body shook even more violently. Somewhere in the back of Walter's mind he noted what was happening but it was only with hindsight that he realised that was when he lost control of his bladder. This time the pain seemed to last longer. Walter couldn't be sure, he was still writhing and screaming in pain but it definitely seemed to last longer. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. The pain stopped but once again Walter wasn't given much of a respite before the pain was back. This time it was different however. The brief gap allowed Walter's mind to come up with an explanation which was only conferment by the next blast of pain. It only seemed like longer because the voltage had increased. It was more painful so it seemed to last longer and Walter cried and screamed all the more but his torturer wouldn't relent. Just as he felt he was starting to get control of how things happened his torturer would change things up somehow; never giving Walter long enough to recover even slightly.

"Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Walter screamed before he finally gave in. "Please!" Walter begged crying and hoarse.

"You can stop this at any point. You know what to do." The man said in his ear. Before plunging the picana back in Walter's side.

"Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Please Master!" Walter begged his pride gone out the door, his head thrown back in pain.

"What do you want from me? I want you to beg for it." The man said quietly after removing the picana and Walters head dropped to his chest once more.

"Please, Master. May I have a break? I'm begging you." Walter said quietly with a croaky voice, no strength left to speak up.

"Well, seeing as you asked so nicely, yes. Understand this boy, I'm only giving you a break because I feel merciful and I want to reward you. You have done well." The man said before putting the picana down on the side and leaving the room shutting the light off on his way out. Walter didn't care though. He hung his head down partly in shame, and partly because he didn't have the strength to lift it. He felt sleep threaten to take him but he resisted and tuned in momentarily to his friends.

"Walt? Are you there buddy?" he heard Toby ask as if from a distance.

"'m here. 'm fine. Need sleep." Walter managed to get out now that all his strength had left him.

"You do that bud. Go to sleep. We will get you outta there." Toby said and that was the last Walter heard before sleep consumed him.