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Now it was requested I don't blow them up. Well...ok ;)
Chapter 36:
The Dust Settles
After Walter requested they not watch what he had to do, Paige honestly didn't know which of the team did as he asked.
She didn't close her eyes, and she didn't cover her ears.
The camera honestly didn't show much, but they could hear what was happening very well. Her worry for Ralph, and Walter for that matter, overshadowed any unsettling feeling she might have felt.
She knew they all looked at the monitor when the shooting started again. Walter jumped away from the man who was now likely dead. At first she didn't understand what she was seeing through the camera.
"Sylvester, is the camera malfunctioning?" she asked, leaning forward of Sylvester's shoulder, towards the screen. The image kept blurring, like when a photo was exposed too long and there was streaking from the subject's movement.
He startled at her words, as if coming out of a short trance. It seemed he hadn't closed his eyes either. He quickly checked the feed. After a moment he answered, sounding awed. "No. He's just…moving that fast."
Oh…
But that meant they couldn't initially tell what was going on. All they saw was a choppy, blurry image and the sound of automatic gunfire.
They saw the image clear when Walter threw one of the men off the catwalk, and blur again followed by the image of another man flying into the wall far in front of the camera.
"Damn," Toby commented. "He's pissed."
The camera turned again and saw the man who was in the bus reach the box.
"No!" Paige audibly yelled out. She knew if that man triggered the explosives, her son and Walter were dead.
But that didn't happen. The next image was of Walter's hand firmly around the man's throat. They could hear Walter snarling, and they saw panic in the terrorist's eyes. It looked like Walter was about to kill him.
For a brief moment Paige felt satisfaction at the thought. These men were monsters. They had planned to kill her son. They deserved to die.
Once the moment was over she felt ashamed. Most of all, she didn't want them to die by Walter's hand if it could be helped. He would already be uncomfortable about the man he killed to survive. She didn't want him to be burdened any further.
Before she could say something to try and prevent it, the camera suddenly turned towards the bus and she could see her son through the rear window at the front of the bus. He was calmly looking at Walter. Almost immediately the growling ceased and they watched as Walter dropped his captive and punched him out.
Paige smiled, knowing exactly what just happened.
All of them let out figurative and literal sighs of relief. Walter had done it. It seemed to be over.
Then the camera lurched several times and Walter roared.
He was being shot at again.
They also heard the metallic pings of bullets hitting the drums.
"Ralph! Drive!" they heard Walter yell.
"They're going to break through the wall!" Happy yelled, running towards the entrance to the yard so they could now see what was going to unfold in person. Everyone else followed close behind.
Just as they rounded the corner they saw the wall explode outward and the bus emerge through the debris. It didn't slow down as it continued to move away from the warehouse as fast as it was able.
The warehouse exploded.
A fireball erupted within it and escaped through any windows, doors, and the new gaping hole just made by the escaping bus.
Luckily, the bus had cleared the building enough to be only briefly jolted forward before it came to a complete stop.
The team couldn't help but let out several cries of triumph as the bus safely came to a stop, apparently in one piece.
Paige immediately started running towards the bus at full speed.
She saw the bus door open and a small figure jumped from it onto the ground.
Ralph.
She ran even faster.
She reached her son and fell down onto her knees in front of him. She pulled him into the biggest hug she could manage, and started crying.
"I'm okay, Mom," he said, hugging her back.
She heard commotion from several of the children inside the bus, now having recovered from the shock of the explosion.
Toby ran past her and jumped into the bus, no doubt to assess if the rest of the children were okay. Only a few seconds later he yelled out confirmation that the children were rattled, but unharmed.
But wait…where was Walter?
It was difficult to let her son go after what happened, but her concern for Walter was now her new focus. She gently released Ralph and stood up, still with a hand on his shoulder and started looking around.
She backed up and started searching. She couldn't see him on the roof or under the bus.
Please no, don't let him have been inside the warehouse, she thought.
Having only one last place to look, she and Ralph ran to the back of the bus.
They turned the corner and looked down.
There, sitting on the ground, legs splayed out with his back resting against the back bumper, was Walter. He was breathing heavily and looked utterly exhausted. He was full of soot from the explosion and his clothes had far more holes in them versus when he first entered the warehouse.
"Hey, buddy," Walter said, smiling at Ralph.
Ralph ran up and gave his friend a hug, which Walter returned.
"You did great, Ralph," Walter said. "You got us to safety."
"You did more," Ralph argued, stepping back. Paige nodded her agreement.
Cabe then arrived behind them and took in the sight. He gave Walter a smile of paternal pride. "Well done, kid," Cabe said.
"Thank you, Walter," Paige said, kneeling down and giving him her own hug. "Thank you for bringing him back safely."
"Anytime," he answered in her ear.
He let out several rather violent coughs.
Paige turned back to the fact he was in rough shape. He should be okay. She had seen him look far worse, but they needed to get him out of here and back to the garage.
Of course that was the moment several black SUV's sped into the property and agents emerged from within them. Apparently Director Molina had decided their hour was up. Molina, never one to miss being in the spotlight, was the first one out of her car.
This was partly a good thing. The children needed to be cared for and returned to their families as soon as possible.
The problem was Walter was in no shape to be seen. It was clear he had endured injuries no human should have been able to survive. In addition, the realization of Homeland's arrival, and the stress of looming discovery added more to Walter's stress. Paige watched as he started breathing faster. Dark veins appeared beneath his eyes until they caused them to turn dark, vampiric red.
Not good.
She kneeled back down next to Walter. They were still hidden, being at the back of the bus, but that wouldn't last long.
"Walter, your face, you have to change back," she whispered to him urgently.
He looked at her, red and black eyes wide. There was no brown to be seen, as his pupils were dilated wide in panic. "I…I can't," he hissed through his fangs.
What a time for him to have trouble controlling his emotions.
Paige glanced around the side of the bus. Cabe had moved and intercepted Molina. He was speaking with her, keeping her from advancing past the front of the vehicle. Paige heard him give her an amended version of events, basically saying they had found a way to sneak in and drive the bus out, with the terrorists detonating the explosives only after they escaped with the bus. Not long after Cabe finished his explanation, Molina motioned for several agents to start helping the children.
Paige turned her attention back to Walter.
"Ok, Walter. Take deep breaths. We will get you back home safely, but you need to relax, and change back."
Paige took him by the shoulders and placed her forehead against his. She started taking long, slow, even breaths, which after a few seconds, he started matching.
She held that position with him until the tension she felt in his shoulders started relaxing. She knelt back and saw only brown, human eyes looking back at her.
"Thanks," he said.
"Anytime," she answered with a small smile.
They still needed to get him back to the garage, though, past Molina and the Homeland agents. Not only that, they had to explain what happened.
Things were becoming more and more complicated for them as she started to think things through.
"Bring her over here," she heard Walter say.
Paige didn't understand what he meant at first.
"We can't afford scrutiny, so we need to make it so no one is wanting to scrutinize us."
Paige suddenly understood his plan.
"Are you strong enough?" she asked him.
Walter nodded, and with a grimace, used the bus behind him to help himself to his feet.
"I'll be strong enough. Besides, I'm still displeased with what she did to Sylvester," he answered, referring to when she left Sylvester alone to fend for himself inside a prison. "Don't worry," Walter reassured her, "she won't be harmed."
Almost as if on cue, they heard Molina's voice from around the bus. "Where's O'Brien?" she yelled out with authority.
Walter leaned against the bus, and nodded at Paige.
"Um, over here, Director Molina!" Paige answered, moving from behind the bus.
Cabe turned around in alarm at her words, not understanding why she wold be calling Molina over. He relaxed after quick eye contact with her. He must have understood she had a plan of some kind.
"I have some questions for him," Molina explained as she marched over to Paige. She turned the corner around the bus and took in the sight of a bloody, soot covered, bullet-ridden Walter O'Brien as he leaned heavily against the school bus.
Her eyes widened. "What the hell-" she started.
Walter jumped forward and met her gaze. "Scorpion saved these children tonight. We snuck in, and got them out. There's nothing more to it than that. You see nothing abnormal here, and will not think anything strange happened here tonight. You will help us go home without another question."
Molina slowly nodded with a blank look on her face. Paige became momentarily worried his efforts had failed when her usually authoritative look returned quickly, and she looked Walter up and down.
"Well done, O'Brien. Your team is to be commended for what it accomplished here. Go home. Get some rest. We'll debrief at a later time."
Molina turned to her agents. "Someone get these guys a car!" she ordered.
Soon after an agent drove an SUV up to their position. Paige quickly helped Walter into the back seat. Ralph jumped in after them. Cabe got in the front and drove away, towards the garage. The rest of the team returned to their workstation outside the yard and packed up to follow shortly behind.
So they did it! I enjoyed writing this it was challenging coming up with an original problem and I liked how it turned out.
We still have some fun chapters coming up. As a little teaser, I'll say Tim is going to be prominent in the next couple. I promise it's going to be fun and interesting ;).
