12 Dominoes
"Walter!"
He turned at the sound of his name only to find Toby running full speed towards him.
"We got it! I got the jack! Got it!"
He was on his feet before his brain had even finished processing the information, meeting the man half-way to grab the tool from his hands before rushing back to the opening in the sand.
"You're about to risk your life again, when the likelihood that Owen's still alive after almost five minutes underwater" Cabe snapped.
He yanked off his jacket, hope and relief and promises rattling around in his heart.
"We've seen worse odds".
"No, we have not!" Slyvester shouted.
"It's not possible!"
"Cabe's right. The water isn't nearly cold enough to put that kid in a full hypothermic state where he might survive that long".
"I know" Walter said simply, continuing to dig in the sand.
"And the brain without oxygen begins to die after five minutes"
"I know!" He snapped.
Paige stepped closer, "I really don't want you to do this".
"... I know".
He pulled the jack from the bag and began examining it.
"The last rock slide completely compromised the tunnel" the worker said, "Anyone who goes down there risks being buried alive".
"He knows!"
Walter knelt down to dive back into the murky water.
"Son, why are you doing this?"
"I made a promise I'd come back for him" He admitted, sliding backwards into the hole.
"Are you scared?"
"... Yes".
"Good" Cabe shot back, "That means you'll be careful".
Walter grabbed the headlamp, pulled it on, and gave his team one last look. He knew he could die. Knew that the likelihood of him surviving was just as low as Owen's, and there were a million and one things he wanted to say to the team before his inevitable demise. But time was not on his side, and every second he spent above ground increased the risk of the boy drowning. So he kept his mouth shut, branded the image of his family to memory, and then jumped.
The water was just as cold as he remembered but he clung onto that familiarity like a lifeline. If the water was the same, then maybe Owen would be the same too, unconscious, yes, but alive. He swam with every ounce of strength he had, using the dim light of the torch to light his way. When he reached the boy, floating lifelessly in the grey ocean, his heart almost stopped.
But he didn't have time to pause.
Kicking around him, he shoved the jack underneath the rock trapping the boy here, and started twisting the dial. Happy's work was as perfect as ever, and the ground started rising. As soon as he had enough room, he ignored his burning lungs, ignored his pounding headache, ignored the black spots forming at the edge of his vision, and he grabbed Owen and kicked back to the tunnel.
Bursting up, he gasped for oxygen, but refused to pause, instead hauling the boy up with him and beginning the very difficult and painstaking climb back to the surface. It was a frighteningly slow process, the tunnel by no means big enough to pick up the boy in, so he had to awkwardly pull himself forward with one hand and drag Owen after him with the other.
They were halfway there when the tunnel started to collapse.
No, no, no! Walter swore, his panic making his movements quicker but also more frantic. They weren't out yet, they weren't even close, and if the tunnel collapsed now then it'd crush both of them.
"Hold on!" He panted, "Collapsing!"
Sand went into his eyes, his ears, his mouth, and Owen's pale and limp body was starting to get covered. The rumbling seemed to last a lifetime, the entire ground shaking all around them, and when it finally settled, Walter felt like he was breathing in glass.
He coughed, painfully and desperately, even as he continued to shove his arm forwards, frantically trying to dig a hole in the sand surrounding them in order to find the way out. He'd promised the boy that he'd come back for him, promised that he'd save him, and he'd be fucking damned if he didn't keep his promises on Christmas Eve.
He almost cried when a familiar hand burst through the sand in front of him.
"Walter?"
"Cabe!"
"Grab my hand!"
He reached and caught hold, allowing the man to pull him through the pile of sand, his other arm wrapped firmly around Owen. The group on the beach pulled on the rope, dragging Cabe back to the surface, and by extension, Walter and the boy as well.
"We got him!"
As soon as Cabe climbed back up on the beach, Walter hauled Owen out ahead of him and handed him to the paramedics, making sure that he was taken care of before slowly and stiffly lifting himself out of the hole as well.
"Clear the way!"
The boy was placed on a stretcher, and Walter half stumbled half staggered over, putting both hands on the rail for balance as the paramedics started CPR.
Come on, Owen.
It was a one-in-a-million shot, but he did not almost die getting that kid back to the surface just to give up now. He felt his energy failing him, and leant more heavily against the stretcher, water and sand and half the fucking ocean sticking to his skin and clinging to his clothes and burning his lungs.
Come on, damnit!
The paramedic pulled the oxygen mask back from the boy's mouth, and split second later, he coughed up water. Walter almost collapsed in relief. The crowd went wild, cheering and clapping and laughing and hugging and he couldn't help but grin at the so-called miracle in front of him.
Half an hour later, he was standing next to Owen's bed.
Cabe had forced him to go to hospital, but he refused to go by ambulance, so they'd compromised. The entire team squished into one vehicle, a blanket was wrapped around his shoulders, and they followed the paramedics the entire way there with Toby asking him annoying questions non-stop. He'd been immediately hauled off by a nurse through those double doors that no guests were allowed past, but he'd drawn the line at getting a full checkup. It was probably a stupid idea; he'd been in the water almost as long as the kid had been, after all, but asides from a dry throat and the occasional shiver, he felt fine.
So instead, he reluctantly accepted the hospital scrubs to wear instead of his own soaking clothes, and tried his best to dry his hair with a handtowel. The others hadn't asked what the doctor's had told them, so chances were, they knew he'd refused treatment anyway.
He had to admit that he was glad he came here, though, if only to see the talking breathing living blond boy in front of him.
"You came back for me".
"Oh, I told you, I only state facts" He replied, smiling.
Owen laughed and he couldn't help but laugh back in response.
"We should let these folks get some rest" Cabe said quietly, "Come on, guys".
Walter paused for a moment, just taking in the pure existence of the smiling happy living child, before stepping back and following Cabe to the door.
"I've got an entire press corp calling for you to explain how this little boy lived" He said, "Do you want to talk to them or not?"
Walter looked at him, then at Paige, and then behind them to where Megan stood laughing at something that Toby had said. He was tired and cold and weary and his head hurt and his throat hurt and his chest still fucking hurt, and the only thing that he really wanted right now was to go home and be with his family.
"Uh, they already have their answer" He replied, rubbing his chest, "It was a miracle".
Paige followed his gaze and smiled, and Cabe put his hand on his shoulder and nodded.
"Alright, son. Let's go home".
He was bundled into the passenger seat by a worried Cabe and a teasing Toby, and a second blanket was wrapped around his shoulders while the others piled into the back. He's not sure where they got the second blanket from, but Walter had a sneaking suspicion that Happy had stolen it from the hospital. Either way, he's surprisingly not complaining, and he rested his pounding head against the warm window next to him as they took off.
There was a tightness in his chest that was starting to get worse, but he was sure it was nothing. There were bound to be some side effects from almost drowning, after all, his exhaustion and sore throat some of them. He just needed to sleep for a while, down a few painkillers and hot drinks, and he'd be fine.
The others bickered back and forth behind him, Cabe for once not joining in or telling them to shut up instead. Walter was eighty percent sure that he was more focused on him than he was on the road, but he found himself too tired to care.
He sluggishly raised a hand to his mouth as he started coughing again. His entire frame rattled with the force of it, and after a few seconds, tears came to his eyes as he struggled to breathe.
The backseat went silent.
"You, uh… You okay there, 197?" Toby asked, as the fit finally subsided.
"Fine" He mumbled, throat burning, "Just swallowed a bit of sand or something".
He sensed rather than saw the looks they gave each other behind his back, and even Cabe's hands tightened on the steering wheel.
"You sure about that, kid?"
"I'm fine, Toby" He bit out, "Just… Just wake me when we get back to the warehouse, yea?"
He was unconscious before he heard the man's answer.
"Holy shit" Toby said, leaning forwards, "Is he asleep?"
Cabe pulled to a stop at a red light and glanced over.
"Looks that way".
"Wow" Happy agreed, "You know, I can't remember the last time he fell asleep in front of us".
"Me neither" Sly agreed.
Paige looked between them all and frowned as Cabe started driving once more.
"Wait, Walter has never fallen asleep in front of you guys?"
"Well, not never" Happy replied, "Just… very, very rarely. It's been a few years".
"Why?"
"For starters, the kid never sleeps enough anyway" Toby explained, "Asides from that, from what I can tell, it's pretty much run of the mill trust issue stuff".
"Trust issues? But he trusts you. He trusts all of you!"
He winced, "Well, sometimes things run deep. A recovered alcoholic of ten years still won't want to be near a bottle. It's not a case of having trust now, it's a case of not having trust back then. No matter how much a person changes or bounces back, there's always that little voice in the subconscious part of the brain that says what if?"
"Like you and gambling".
"Why thank you, Happy, for pointing that out".
"Here to serve, doc".
Paige looked between them and shook her head in exasperation before turning back to the sleeping genius in the front seat.
"But this is an improvement, right? It means that he really does trust us, so… so isn't it a good sign that he's asleep?"
Toby studied the younger man for a moment, before suddenly jerking forwards, half climbing over Happy's lap, and pressing two fingers to Walter's throat. After a beat, he frowned.
"Well it would be" He finally answered, "If he was actually asleep. Cabe, stop the car".
A screech of tires and a stream of angry honking later, they pulled over into an abandoned parking lot and the doctor wasted no time in scrabbling over the others to shove open the door.
"Ow! Hey!"
"Toby!"
"What are you-"
"Sorry, sorry! I gotta get out" He quickly apologised, almost falling flat on his face as he finally got outside. Cabe had already leapt out the driver's door, not even pausing to turn off the engine as he rushed around to the passenger side and yanked open the door.
"Walt?" Toby asked, shaking his shoulder, "Hey, 197, I need you to wake up now, alright? Walter!"
The man remained motionless.
He tapped his face instead, and none-too-gently at that, but he still didn't move. Sharing a look with Cabe, he reached around the younger man and undid his seatbelt.
Walter immediately fell to the side.
Cursing, Cabe and Toby managed to catch him before he hit the ground, and between them they managed to carefully lower him to the concrete. By now, the others had gotten out as well, and they all crowded around the unconscious genius in panic.
"What's happening? Why won't he wake up?"
"Toby, what's going on?"
"Oh no, you do not get to do this to us, it's Christmas!"
"Quiet!" Cabe snapped, "Doctor, what's happening here?"
Toby knelt down next to the genius and turned his head to the side above his mouth. There was a beat of silence before-
"He's breathing. He's still breathing. Okay. That's- That's good, that's- wet. It's wet. Why would his breathing be wet?"
He straightened up with a frown before realisation suddenly dawned on him.
"Oh" He whispered, before looking back down at him, "Oh, you bastard!"
"What? Toby, what's happening?!"
"There's no time, I'll explain on the way!" He rushed, jumping back to his feet and hauling Walter up by the shoulders.
"On the way to where?!" Paige exclaimed.
"The hospital, obviously!" He snapped, kicking open the back door of the jeep even further, "Happy, you drive, Sly, get in the passenger seat, Paige, I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to sit on his lap".
She paused, blinked, and then turned to Sylvester with a somewhat awkward smile.
"Do you mind?"
He climbed into the front seat.
"I'll mind it more if Walter dies".
Cabe grabbed the genius' legs and helped Toby lie him down in the back seat of the car, climbing in after them and shutting the door. Happy slammed shut the driver's side, and revved the engine.
"Everybody in?"
"Go!" Cabe ordered, maneuvering so he could sit down properly before hauling Walter's legs back onto his lap, "You wanna fill us in here, doc?"
"He lied" Toby explained, "Walter lied. He didn't get checked out at the hospital because this is the first thing they would have looked for".
"Why am I not surprised..." He muttered, beyond exasperated, "Okay, what can I do?"
"Turn him. One leg out straight, the other at a ninety-degree angle, and then try to keep him steady" He replied, awkwardly shuffling so that his back was to the door and the younger man was leaning back against his chest, "As long as he keeps breathing, we're good".
Tilting back his head, Toby kept one hand around his neck to ensure a clear airway, and wrapped around his shoulders to steady him. In the front seat, Paige winced as she hit her head on the jeep ceiling going around a particularly sharp bend.
"Not that I don't love sitting on Sylvester's lap clinging on for dear life because you told Happy to drive" She began, "But why, exactly, am I doing this?"
"We need the room. The recovery position should stop him from choking on any water he throws up".
"Water?" Cabe exclaimed, "How the hell did he drown in the jeep?!"
"It's not drowning, it's dry drowning. It's… it's hard to explain".
"Well you better start explaining, doc!"
Toby sighed and adjusted his hold on the unconscious man as they sped around another bend.
"Sometimes, with little kids especially, you can inhale water without realising it. Small amounts of water over a long time frame, and your body doesn't even know it's happening. It goes into your airway, causes your throat to spasm, and this creates pressure. Eventually, the pressure builds up, and your lungs can don't their job anymore. Carbon dioxide doesn't get replaced with oxygen, it leads to coughing, difficulty breathing and slowly, you begin to drown".
"On dry land?!"
"The symptoms of dry drowning don't appear until at least an hour after you've left the pool. For secondary drowning, it can be entire days later… Given how often 197 jumped into that tunnel today, I'm not surprised he swallowed some water".
The jeep fell silent.
Pulling up outside the hospital's main entrance, Happy slammed on the breaks.
"We're here".
Walter groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. His head was killing him, his throat was burning, and there was something very dry about the air he was breathing. Sluggishly blinking, he stared up at the white ceiling about him and frowned.
"You fucking idiot".
His frown deepend.
"'abe?"
There was a sigh, the scrape of a chair on tiled flooring, and then a warm hand sliding into his own.
"Yea, son, it's me".
"... Where 'm I?"
"Where d'ya think?" He shot back, "You're in the hospital, you idiot. Suffering the consequences of not being checked out the first time!"
Oh. Well that certainly explained the annoying beeping next to him.
Slowly turning his head, he felt something tighten around his nose and mouth and reached up with an uncoordinated hand to remove it. Cab immediately slapped his hand away.
"It's an oxygen mask. You need it. Leave it be".
"... Ox'gen?"
"Yes, Walter, oxygen. It's usually given to idiots like you after they almost drown without telling anyone!"
Things were finally starting to click into place.
Lowering his hand, he continued to turn despite the uncomfortable band around his face. Cabe sat in a chair next to him, worry in his eyes and anger in the downturn of his mouth. Asides from him, the room was empty.
"'eam?"
"I sent them home for the night. No doubt they'll be in later, but… well, they had this whole meal planned and it seemed stupid to let it go to waste".
Meal? Walter frowned. Oh. Of course. It was still Christmas Eve.
"You gotta stop scaring me like this, kid" Cab said quietly, running a hand over his exhausted face, "I don't know how many more Walter-suprises I can take".
"... 'm sorry".
"You should be" He shot back, "You really scared me today, son. Even before all this secondary dry drowning thing… I know you wanted to save that boy, and believe me, Walt, I am incredibly thankful that you did… But you need to start looking after yourself as well, you hear me? You almost died rescuing that kid, and then where would we be? Sending drills and- and excavators down to retrieve two bodies… You need to start taking better care of yourself, okay?"
"M'kay".
Cabe gave a fond if exasperated sigh.
"You won't even remember all this in the morning, will you?"
"Prob'ly no'"
He patted his hand, warm and sure.
"That's alright, son. I'll just have to lecture you then, too… Go back to sleep, Walt. I'll still be here when you wake up".
He slowly nodded in agreement, head still fuzzy and heavy and oh-so-sleepy. Except-
"'abe?"
"Yea, son?"
"...'m sorry for ruinin' chris'ms".
The man looked at him and smiled, genuine and reassuring.
"That's alright too, son. You're my only family, after all, so at least I get to spend it with you… There's no place I'd rather be".