Paige walked out with Walter and she saw Cabe standing outside waiting on them. "Walt, please, let me apologize."
"I don't have time now Cabe, I got to put together the stuff we need to rescue Beth," Walter told him.
Paige stepped up to Cabe after Walter walked off, "Cabe, I want you to know, I really appreciate everything you have done for Walter and I since he was injured, I really do, but I wasn't kidding, you better pray he comes out of this fine. And the next time someone is in danger, don't call on my man to risk his life and our happiness to save them. You or one of your agent buddies can take the damn risk. And don't you ever, ever, call him a coward or yellow, when you know damn well he isn't."
"Paige, I-", Paige threw her hands up and walked off.
Paige walked up as Walter was explaining to Happy and Sylvester what he needed to do and what he needed Happy to build.
"Okay, I can build that, but how are you going to build immersion suits for that stuff?" Happy asked while pointing at the tar pit.
"I need to find a dive store that has dry suits and preferably diving helms," Walter told her.
"There's a dive shop a block down the road, I can get one of the officers to take you down there and get you in," the chief told him.
"I'll need a hardware store," Happy told him.
The chief nodded and took them over and got officers to escort them.
Paige walked up to Sylvester, "Sly, you know Walter's plan, what are your odds he will come out of this uninjured?"
Sylvester swallowed hard, "Almost fifty-fifty."
A tear slid down her cheek, "That's a little better than what Walter said. What are the odds he could be die?"
Sylvester closed his eyes, "If he has to come off the crane line and gets stuck, it's over ninety three percent chance of dying down there."
Paige closed her eyes.
"Sly, is there anything you can think of that we can do to ensure he doesn't have to come off that line or get stuck?" Cabe asked.
Paige glared at Cabe and turned and walked away.
Sylvester shook his head, "Other than not going down there. This just isn't something anyone has ever made contingencies for."
"Happy," Walter called over the coms, "This is just a hobby store, they don't have any diving helms. Have you got any ideas?"
"Yea, let's go back to the Garage before one of us comes up with any more bad ideas and gets you killed." Happy answered him as she paid for the supplies she needed.
"Hey guys, Sylvester here, there are some brass sconces here. Maybe they would work?"
Cabe ran over and examined one, "Hey, they have glass panes so they should work."
Paige glared at Cabe and Sylvester.
"Like I said, before one of us comes up with any more bad ideas and gets you killed, I'm on my way back, I'll take a look at them when I get there," Happy told them.
"Yep, I'm on my way too," Walter replied.
The cruiser that was bringing Happy back ran into the generator that was powering the Spoon and Grain ice cream truck and took out its power when a kid ran across the street in front of them to get some ice cream. With its lights out most of the people who would have bought ice cream from them walked past them. When Happy got back she ran over and examined the sconces, as Walter laid out the items he picked up and began making a suit for Beth.
"Walter, when you get down there, you can't get off that crane line. You have to keep your feet out of the tar at the bottom of the pit. Sylvester said it is more than a ninety three percent chance you will die down there if you don't." Paige told him as she stood watching him with her arms across her chest.
Walter nodded as he continued with his work, "That would match up with my calculations."
Walter had already slipped out of his EQ, to distance himself from the emotions that would interfere with what he had to do. Paige could hear it in his voice.
Paige stood there and watched as he began suiting up after the fire chief brought over two air tanks. Happy came over and dropped off the two helms she'd fashioned, "I've rigged up regulators for them so you should be okay, at least until the tar eats through something. Walt, I'm nowhere even close to liking this idea of yours. Let's forget this idea and go back to the Garage."
Walter shook his head without looking up.
"Walt, no one else with experience is willing to try this, scratch that, no one else period is willing to try this, take a hint and forget it." Happy grabbed him by the shoulders, "We got a great thing going on with Scorpion, and you've got a great life going on with Paige. Don't risk it all trying to save one person."
"We're losing valuable time Happy, please get the box ready," Walter told her.
As Happy passed by Cabe on her way to construct the box she stopped and pulled her coms out and Cabe did the same. "I just want you to know, if anything bad happens to Walt, Paige is going to have to get in line behind me because I will kill you." She put her coms in and turned away from him.
Sylvester came running up, "Hey guys, I got a gallon of hand soap, we can coat the outside of your suits with it, it will add a layer of protection."
"Good thinking Sylvester," Walter told him.
Happy walked over and began working on the box, and as it came together she frowned, "You'll have to apply some pressure to make sure it seals tight enough to the door to keep the tar out of the car so she can get the suit out."
"Understood," Walter told her as he looked at Paige.
"What?" Paige asked looking at him.
"Hey Walt, here, let me put this in your helm. It'll help with claustrophobia," Toby told him as he came out of the command center.
Walter nodded, "Aren't you suppose to be helping Beth?"
"Her husband is in there right now," Toby told him as he began to secure the phone inside of the helm.
Walter took Paige into his arms, "Happy wasn't able to make the box exactly how I wanted, in order to apply enough pressure to form a seal I'm going to have to step down into the tar."
"Walter, no," tears began to run down Paige's cheeks.
"I won't go, if you tell me not too," Walter told her.
Paige hit him in his shoulder, "Damn it Walter, you better get back up here and be okay because if you aren't, I'll be in jail for murdering Cabe."
Sylvester stared at Paige and took several steps backwards quickly.
Walter kissed her and pulled up the helm and put it on. Cabe stepped up and using the duct tape he secured the helm to the suit along with his gloves and boots.
Paige took two steps back and pulled her jacket tight around her body as she watched Walter wave and then walk over to Happy and picked up the box.
"I'll get the crane down to you," Happy told him.
"We have a crane operator on site," the chief told her.
Happy looked at him, "Can he calculate the drop zone coordinates to a hundredth of a centimeter?"
"Uh," the chief replied
"That's what I thought. Get him out of my rig," Happy demanded.
Paige ran back up to Walter, "I know tonight was suppose to be movie night, but I was wondering, next movie night sci-fi or horror?"
Walter smiled, "Sci-fi."
"Good, I love you," Paige told him.
Walter was struggling to contain his emotions and he looked into her eyes and knew he couldn't say it back, "Ditto."
They hooked Walter up and gestured and Happy raised him up about three feet and extended the boom and swung it over the pit calculating the car's position from the crane. "Hold your breath folks, here we go," Happy said as she began lowering him down into the tar.
"Beth, he's being lowered in now," Toby told her as he watched from the window of the command center.
"Please let him know I think he's very brave for doing this," Beth replied.
"You can tell him yourself when you get out of that muck, or maybe not, his head is already big enough." Toby teased.
"Okay," Beth said faintly.
"Man, descending is taking longer than I thought and it is harder to see in, does Beth have a flashlight?" Walter asked.
"I have one in my glove compartment," Beth replied hearing Walter's question over the phone Toby had set up to help Walter to resist claustrophobia.
"Good, turn it on and aim it out of the driver's window." Walter replied.
Beth turned it on and the light quickly shone out of the car, "Happy, you're almost dead on the money, adjust my position five degrees left and out another six feet." Walter told her.
As Happy adjusted the crane, "Oh, I see him. Thank God." Beth became excited.
Walter closed his eyes as his feet sunk down into the tar until he felt firmer earth beneath. He aligned the box over the window and pushed hard against it. His back muscles flared at the strain, and his feet moved backwards a bit from the pressure, "Okay Beth, roll your window down slowly. You'll get a little tar that is trapped between the car and the box but nothing should pour in. Once your window is down open the box and get everything out and then close your window again, I can't hold this box long."
"Walter? Are you okay?" Paige asked desperately.
"I am for now," Walter told her.
Beth quickly got everything out and rolled the window back up, "Okay, window is sealed."
Walter breathed out a sigh of relief as he relaxed and pushed the box out over the top of the car.
Beth quickly put everything on and taped it up as best she could before rubbing the soap all over. "Okay Beth, this is it. You'll have to lower your window and let the tar water flood the car and then you can come out and I'll hook you up to the cable and Happy can pull us up."
Beth lowered the window and Walter watched as the fluid poured into the car and then he saw Beth push out of the car. Walter hooked the other cable around her waist, "Okay Happy, pull us up."
"Roger that," Happy replied as she pulled the lever and Walter instantly screamed out in pain and Happy stopped and lowered the crane again.
"Walter? Walter, what happened?" Paige asked desperately.
"My feet, my feet are stuck in the tar," Walter responded.
"Oh, oh no, I'm getting burned," Beth cried.
"Damn it, Happy, I'm going off cable so you can get Beth out of here," Walter told her.
"No, Walter if you do that you could be stuck down there forever." Paige exclaimed.
He could hear Beth crying louder and he unclipped the hook, "Sorry Paige, she must not have gotten the suit sealed right, she's being burned by the tar, Happy, pull her up."
"Pulling her up, don't worry, we'll have the hook down to you shortly and get you out of there next boss." Happy told him.
Walter didn't respond and Toby looked at him through the phone, "Walt, you okay buddy?"
"Walter? Walter, answer me," Paige called out.
"Not good," Happy said as she got Beth out of the pit.
"What? What isn't good?" Paige demanded as she looked at Happy.
"Is that Walt's air tank?" Sylvester asked looking at Beth.
Paige turned and looked in horror. "His hook must have caught it on the way up," Happy answered him.
Paige ran into the command center and saw Walter on the phone, "Walter, I know you are trying to conserve air, but I need to hear your voice."
Walter nodded, "Some of the tar and fumes entered my suit before I could pinch it off."
"Walter, you got to try and twist your feet to see if you can loosen the tar's grip on you," Sylvester told him. He watched as the firefighters got Beth off the hook and out of the immersion suit and her husband Michael ran out to her.
Walter tried to move his feet from side to side and found them quite firmly stuck. Walter closed his eyes, "That's a no go Sylvester, my feet aren't moving."
Cabe stood there with tears in his eyes, "Happy, help me put on Beth's suit, I'll go down and help Walter."
"There's nothing down here you can do Cabe, it would be a worthless gesture. If dinosaurs couldn't free themselves, there is nothing we can do to free my feet. Short of amputation, but I'll pass out from oxygen depletion and drown in this tar water before we could even try." Walter told him calmly.
Veronica looked down at Ralph as he sold the last of the ice cream sandwiches, "Ralph, Walter's in trouble."
Ralph looked up, "What's wrong?"
"He's down inside the tar pit and he is stuck," Veronica told him.
He frowned, "How do you know this?"
Veronica pulled her hair back, "I may have borrowed one of the coms and muted it to keep track of them."
Paige watched as a tear ran down his face as her worst nightmare was realized. "Guys, go off coms please, I need to talk to Paige alone."
Everyone quickly removed their coms, "I'm sorry love. I had already made up my mind not to do this and I shouldn't have changed it."
Paige's phone rang and she looked down and saw "Veronica" on the screen. She pressed ignore.
"My Mother, I love you Walter, it's not your fault, I never should have changed my mind. I should have found another way to help you regain your pride, after what Cabe said to you," Paige told him.
Sylvester's phone rang and he answered it, "Sylvester, there's a way to save my Dad."
"Ralph?" Sylvester asked in surprise.
Ralph went on to quickly explain his plan.
"These past months have been the happiest of my life. Everything I have ever gone through was worth it to meet you and share my life with you." Walter told her as he saw tears run down her face.
"You mean the world to me Walter, I don't want to do this without you. God, I wish I could touch your face right now." Paige told him.
Everyone put their coms back in.
Walter smiled, "Don't be too hard on Cabe, he made a bad decision based on faulty data."
Paige shook her head, "Cabe is dead to me now."
"Paige, Walter, Ralph's on the phone and he has a plan to save Walter." Sylvester said out of breath.
Sylvester quickly relayed the information, "First problem is, I don't have much air left, combine that with the fumes of the tar and I might not be able to stay conscious long enough. Second problem, where am I going to get fire down here? Not to mention the methane could explode." Walter asked.
"Oh, Beth had a road flair, it should be on the front seat," Toby told him.
"Okay, that's two of the three things you need to start a fire, where is he going to get air for it to start?" Cabe asked.
Walter looked down, "I got an idea." He tied a knot in the hose line before he bent over and reached into the car and grabbed the flare. He pulled the cap off and reached down and grabbed the air stem in the front tire and carefully worked it around until it popped out and air began escaping. He put the flare into the path of the air flow and struck the flare and it ignited. Walter thrust the flare into the tar by his feet, "Yep, I can feel the tar warming and weakening now."
"Walter, be careful, if one of those methane pockets intersect," Toby left it hanging.
"Slow or fast, if it doesn't work he's dead anyway," Happy told them.
Suddenly the tar pits erupted into flames with a small explosion and Paige ran out of the command center and stared out over the tar pit in horror. "Walter," she screamed.
Beth was sitting on a gurney breathing oxygen and Michael stood next to her watching.
"Oh God, where is he?" Cabe asked.
Suddenly the surface broke again and they saw Walter bob in the water as he struggled to get to shore.
"There he is," Cabe yelled.
"Yea but he's not going to make it," Toby yelled back.
Happy ran over and grabbed a pole and ran down to the small dock and laid down on it and reached the pole out, "Walter, grab the pole."
Walter's vision was blurry, his brain slow to respond, his body even slower and he struggled to grab the pole. Several times he knocked it away and then finally he was able to grab it and Happy pulled with slow even pressure.
"Hurry up Happy," Cabe yelled.
"I can't, the pole could pull free from his hand if I exhort too much pressure." Happy told him.
Cabe ran down and stood over Happy and bent down and when Walter's hand slipped off the pole, Cabe reached down and grabbed Walter's arm and pulled as Happy scurried back and then grabbed Cabe's belt and helped pull Walter up onto the dock. They quickly pulled his helmet off, "Get some oxygen down here now." Cabe yelled as they continued to drag him up onto shore.
Paige stood next to the gurney they put Walter on after putting the oxygen mask on him. She held his hand as they assessed his condition. Cabe stepped up behind her and put his arm around her. "We need to get him to the hospital," the paramedic told them. Paige nodded as she released his hand.
She looked back and saw Cabe standing there and she turned and hugged him as she began crying in relief and fear. "Come on kid, I'll get you to the hospital," Cabe told her.
Walter woke up in the ER, Paige sat there dozing as she held his hand. He smiled, "Hey love."
Paige's head came up, "Walter?" She smiled as she jumped up and hugged him.
"How bad is it?" Walter asked with dread.
Paige smiled, "You're fine, they were just waiting on you to wake up to evaluate your cognitive functions before releasing you."
Walter let out a breath in relief.
Cabe stepped through the door way with Ralph, "Hey kid, your Mom just got here with Ralph."
Walter smiled, "Hey Ralph, Cabe."
"Dad," Ralph ran over and Walter hugged him.
As they broke their hug, "Ralph, let's give your Dad and Cabe a moment to talk privately."
Cabe stopped her, "No, I said some pretty awful and untrue things in front of a lot of people about Walter, the least I can do is apologize in front of you guys."
Paige smiled and stepped back as Cabe stepped up. "Walter, I should have known better, I should have known that you wouldn't turn away from someone in need without a good reason and what I said to you was inexcusable and way out of line. Please, if you can find it in you, forgive me."
Walter nodded, "Things are going to have to change though Cabe. I got a family depending on me. I hope you can understand that."
Cabe nodded, "I don't only understand, I fully support that."
Greetings my friends, I hope you have enjoyed this re-imagining and that Cabe's portrayal in this wasn't too big of a disappointment. A bit out of character for him I'll admit. But I needed someone with whom those words would carry the most weight in the story and Cabe was the logical choice. To the Adventure! -Tim