Chapter 22

Through the Fire and the Flames

"Seriously, even now, you've never seen it?" Toby's words of disbelief the latest in his ongoing conversation with Walter. They sat at their respective desks in the garage. Walter was trying to work and Toby, well, wasn't.

Walter shook his head, looking barely interested in Toby's judgement of him as he worked at his computer. "I don't see the point."

"Don't see the-? Walter! It's, like, a cinematic requirement! Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas. It's an all-star cast!"

Walter met his statement with a blank stare.

Toby made a conclusion based on his knowledge of the genius and his continued silence. "You don't know who those actors are, do you?" Toby asked with defeated, hooded eyes.

"Uhhh…"

"I give up. I don't understand you." Toby concluded as he threw his hands up in defeat and slouched in his desk chair.

"Well, it's just that, I made a decision not watch any more vampire themed movies," Walter explained.

Toby perked up and sat up in his seat. "Any more? So you have watched at least one?"

Walter nodded. "I didn't enjoy them, and made an assumption I wouldn't enjoy any others."

"Well? Which ones?"

Walter stopped typing and looked up. He suddenly had a haunted look, like he was reliving a painful memory. He met Toby's eyes and said with a strained voice, "Megan and Paige made me watch the 'Twilight' movies."

Toby stared at him, motionless for a moment, then slowly stood up and walked over to Walter's desk. He placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Forgive me for my judgement, Walter, for I did not know."

Walter gave a small nod, which Toby returned in understanding.

"Please, friend, if you'll allow me someday, let me show you that there are better things out there. What you went through, that's not all there is," Toby assured solemnly.

"Seriously?" Paige interjected, walking up to them, having just returned to the garage from her client meeting and hearing the end of their conversation.

Both men looked up. "Why would you do that to him?" Toby asked of her.

"What? They're sweet," she said, defending her theatrical choices.

"If I started breaking down the main characters of those movies psychoanalytically, I would make you cry," Toby threatened.

Paige rolled her eyes at him and set her bag down before sitting at her own desk.

Their conversation was interrupted when they heard the garage door open, and a young woman walked through. She was petite and blonde, but she had a severe air of strength about her. She approached Cabe and started speaking with him.

Toby immediately guessed long lost daughter, but with a quick sniff Walter could tell that wasn't the case. Their blood smelled too different. She revealed she was a young girl Cabe had saved many years ago from the genocidal killings of a warlord in Croatia. Cabe had found a family in Italy to adopt her after her parents were murdered, and gave her his Silver Star for her bravery. Her name was Sonia Balasevic, and she needed Cabe's help.

She was in pursuit of the war criminal who massacred her village and displaced her twenty years ago. The criminal's name was Stanislav Zoric. Her aim was to positively identify him, capture him, and get the information he carried about the location of the twenty-three other war criminals he protected in his group. She believed Zoric was currently hiding in Cuba, so already getting to him provided a challenge.

Walter could clearly see she was completely driven by her emotion. There was a fire in her eyes when she spoke about Zoric. If they accepted the job, that could be a problem for the mission. Being emotionally compromised could over-ride logic, and create an unstable variable. He wasn't pleased at the possibility.

In the end, he accepted the task on behalf of Scorpion. It was logical, he told himself. The numbers favored the greater good- one war criminal and his twenty-three associates to get justice for thousands.

He had to admit Sonia's passion stirred something within him, enforcing his desire to help. Not to mention it was important to Cabe.

Was this sentiment he was feeling?

Their plan was to get a sample of Zoric's blood to compare to one they already had, to confirm his identity. Walter and Sylvester took only a couple hours to program the DNA analyzing software while Cabe spoke with Homeland Director Molina to secure their passage and obtain contacts once in Cuba.

A former drug runner's plane was the team's means to get in the isolated country. Only when they were almost there was it revealed they were not landing, but dropping out the back of the plane into the ocean. Everyone seemed game, except for Sylvester.

Walter himself gave a short "whoot!" before jumping into the ocean below.

As he made it to shore, he took stock of everyone. They were all accounted for, although very soaked. Sylvester immediately began lamenting about the sand in his pants.

Walter's eyes found Paige as she walked out of the ocean. He couldn't help but notice the lines of her body under her wet clothes.

He turned away before she noticed him looking, and made his way to the bag with their changes of clothes.

An SUV sped up to their position on the beach, and several men emerged from it. One man took the lead from the group and approached them. He wore a suit, identifying him most likely as law enforcement.

"By the authority of the National Revolutionary Police Force, you are hereby all under arrest!"

Everyone on the beach stilled. This wasn't good. Being arrested in Cuba and put in a Cuban prison was about as bad as their situation could get.

Walter felt a familiar itching around his gums and change in his vision. He wasn't about to let that happen.

He felt a gentle hand rest on his arm. He looked over and saw Paige. She looked at him while she gave his arm a comforting squeeze. "Wait," she whispered. "Let Cabe talk to them."

Walter felt his features return to normal. He heard someone's heartbeat suddenly beat even faster. He looked over and saw Sonia. Her eyes were wide and were looking right at him. She had seen him.

"We're just lost, friend," Cabe explained to the Cuban lawman, keeping his voice even and calm.

"Lost, or infiltrating my motherland without permission?"

There was a moment where everyone held their breath. Suddenly the lawman and his companions started laughing.

"Relax! We're the contact Agent Molina set up. I'm Alfonso. I'm just messing with you. Welcome to Cuba, amigos."

"Great," Sylvester said. "Now I have more than sand in my pants."

Cabe didn't find amusement in the situation like the Cubans did. "I hope you plan on taking the rest of this mission more seriously."

Alfonso dismissed his concerns. "Relax, relax. We have been trailing Zoric ever since Molina called."

"And do you have a plan for extracting his blood?"

Alfonso nodded. "We follow him, bump him with a cane that has a small needle in it. Zoric just thinks the cane hit his foot. You take the DNA, you test it while we keep him in sight. Call the Hague and we'll get an immediate warrant, we'll grab him, take him to a plane, you're on your way home. And with the time difference, you'll be back for supper."

It seemed like a sound plan. Simple, straightforward.

Walter really hoped it was that easy.

He glanced at Sonia, who was still looking at him.

But when were any of their missions that easy?

****SVD****

On the way to their room, Sonia would give Walter the occasional sidelong glance. She didn't say anything about what she saw, however. It seemed for the time being, her drive to catch Zoric and get the information he protected remained her main focus.

It could still prove to be a problem, Walter feared. He could compel her to forget what she saw, but he had only used that ability a few times. Damon had warned that things could go wrong if he wasn't careful, and he was hesitant to practice upon her, especially when they were in the middle of an assignment. He concluded if it was necessary to make her forget about what she saw, it would have to wait until they were safely back home.

Once they were in their room Cabe and Walter set out to where they suspected Zoric frequented, along with their Cuban contacts. The rest of the team stood by in the room.

Sylvester would be working to get their comms online any minute, so Walter took the opportunity to talk to Cabe about Sonia.

"I think Sonia saw me, Cabe, at the beach, when I became agitated over the Cuban's arrival."

Cabe looked at him, understanding what he meant. "Well…shit."

"I'm also worried her emotions will jeopardize our mission. I understand why, but she's volatile, Cabe. I'm worried she might act rashly when the time comes."

Cabe didn't have a chance to answer, as they heard Sylvester's voice in their ears.

"Ok, we've got the comms set up, do you copy?"

Alfonso and his men were in a car across the street while Cabe and Walter were in their own vehicle next to a small chain of shops. It was scorchingly hot outside with the sun blazing overhead. Walter briefly was glad there was no limit to the sunlight his daylight ring could protect him from, because if there was anywhere that would have broken through it, it would have been here.

"Any sign of Zoric?" Sonia's voice came over their coms.

"Not yet, but the Cuban's intel puts him in the area."

Cabe tried to reassure Sonia. "Sonia, I know you're anxious, but I want you to know I want this guy almost as much as you do."

Walter couldn't directly understand emotion driving someone to the extent it seemed to drive Sonia, but he had to admit, what he saw in those pictures and videos were beyond horrific. With what he'd learned about humanity, he concluded she was actually keeping herself amazingly calm and focused.

Even so, they had a mission to complete. He hoped emotion wouldn't be its downfall.

"Is that him?" Cabe said.

Walter looked, his enhanced eyesight giving him a slight advantage. The wind also turned in their direction at that point. The man-in-question's scent matched the blood spots on the shirt Sonia provided them. It was him. Now they had to get a DNA match for evidence that would hold up in an international court of law, which was not the enhanced sense of smell of a vampire.

"Yes," Walter answered. "It's definitely him."

"No security or guards?"

"War criminals on the run, they travel light. They don't want to draw attention."

"It doesn't mean he's completely alone, though."

Walter then picked up on a strange scent brought by the breeze. When he tried to locate it, he concluded it was coming from their contacts' van. When he focused on the vehicle he also heard a very faint clicking noise.

There was a bomb in the Cubans' car.

"Cabe, there's a bomb in their car!" Walter exclaimed as he quickly exited their own vehicle. Cabe quickly exited as well.

Walter couldn't vamp-speed across the road out in the open like this, especially not in the possible eye-line of an international war criminal. It was still very risky running towards the doomed vehicle, as it would likely blow their cover.

Walter and Cabe didn't hesitate. They were on the same page. They couldn't just let the men die.

Walter still was very fast even running normally, and Cabe was close behind. It was only seconds before they were within earshot of the men inside. They started yelling at the Cubans to get out and run.

It was too late. The car exploded, and Walter and Cabe were well within the blast radius.

****SVD****

"Cabe, there's a bomb in their car!"

Cabe didn't hesitate at Walter's words. He wouldn't have said them if he wasn't sure. Both of them got out of their vehicle and ran, yelling at the Cubans to get out and run.

It only took seconds to reach them. Walter was a few feet ahead of him, and he could see the men in the car look at them in confusion when their time ran out. The car exploded, killing the occupants instantly, and a wall of fire was about to engulf Walter and him. There was no escape.

Cabe felt himself thrown violently on the asphalt below him, and he waited for the pain of his skin being seared from the bone, then hopefully a quick, minimally painful death.

But it didn't come. He didn't know how long he laid there, stunned by the explosion and the force of the impact with the ground. It could have been seconds or minutes, but after a short while he realized he was alive. Besides probably a broken rib and several cuts and bruises from the fall, he seemed to be relatively unharmed. He put this miracle aside when he remembered who had been with him running towards the car.

Walter!

His next priority became clear in his mind, and he tried to get up, and found he couldn't. As he became more aware of himself and tried to move again he realized there was something heavy, and motionless on top of him.

Cabe opened his eyes and reached out to identify what was keeping him on the ground, and with a heart sinking realization, figured out what kept him alive from the impact and fire of the explosion.

It was Walter.

He was lying on top of Cabe. He must have sped over and shielded him from the blast as the car exploded. Walter was unmoving, which meant he was unconscious.

Or dead.

People were screaming and running around him as Cabe used all of his remaining strength to push Walter off of him. Walter fell limply onto his back and Cabe knelt beside him, putting two fingers on his neck to try and find a pulse.

There! Very slow, even for a vampire, and faint, but it was there. Cabe saw a shallow breath.

Walter was alive. For now.

His injuries were extensive from both the shrapnel and fire from the explosion. Cabe looked quickly at Walter's left hand. Walter's ring appeared undamaged and firmly still in place. Cabe gave silent thanks at least for that, but he had to get the kid out of here and get help. He didn't know if Walter would last without blood from what he saw.

As Cabe started to stand and call the team, there was a sharp blow to the back of his head, knocking him unconscious.

I had to include a Twilight reference somewhere in here. I did enjoy the books when I read them for what they were, but I thought how I used them at the beginning of the chapter was all too perfect.

Back to some action. Things are going to get little more harrowing, I won't lie. As always, I crave reviews!