Part 5 - 4:30 AM Friday Morning

"Hello, who is this?" Walter had just fallen asleep about an hour ago. He knew Paige was scheduled back Friday evening and he was anxiously awaiting to see her again. He had been seeing her every couple of days, but the way things had been going, and now with Ralph knowing, he was really missing her.

"Walter O'Brien?" The voice was emotionless. He knew the area code and that was the only reason he even answered.

"Speaking, and who is this?"

"You've got five minutes." But it didn't sound like that was spoken into the telephone to him. Was this a weird dream, he cleared his head, and almost hung up.

"Walter!" Now this voice he knew. This was a voice he would never forget as long as he was alive. But it sounded so different, so broken and afraid.

"Paige, are you ok?"

"She was crying. She was relieved that Walter answered but she sounded so scared while she spoke. He tried to calm her down, but she was too emotional. After several attempts to console her, she was finally able to speak.

"Walter, I need you."

"What happened? Paige are you ok?"

"No, please help me. I need your help."

"Where are you, Paige? What happened?"

"Walter I'm scared. I'm in jail. Please help me."

Walter froze. Did she say jail? No, he must have understood. Jail? Why? How?

"Paige, di-did yo-you say ja-jail?"

"One minute"

Walter went into full on crisis mode. He was going to get all the info he needed and fast. He would get to the bottom of it and find out what needed to be done.

"Paige, I know you're scared, but listen okay. Where are you exactly, if you don't know they will tell you. Why are you there? Is everyone else there too, are they ok?"

"Walter, please help me, please, what have I done?"

Walter was worried something big had happened. Was one of his friends in serious danger? He had to get Paige to calm down.

"Paige, think of how your voice soothes me, let my voice now soothe you now. Why are you in jail? I have the phone number to get all the other information I need, but wat happened?"

"They, they, yelled and they had me taken to jail and they left me."

"Paige, I'm on my way."

Click.

Ten seconds later, Walter was on the phone with the deputy in charge. He was livid. He let them have it. He got the info he needed and told them he would be there to raise hell.

Another 30 minutes and he had booked two one-way flights out of LAX leaving in under two hours. All that was left was business class, and they weren't cheap. But right now, money meant absolutely nothing to him. He would mortgage everything he had for her. Wouldn't think twice either.

There were no return flights available from New Orleans. There was a huge event planned and travel in and out was booked solid for the whole weekend. He also rented a car to get to the jail as quick as he could.

He told Ralph they had an unexpected flight he needed to take. But not to worry. He didn't want to scare him. And the less he knew right now the better.

He Ubered to the airport and with no bags to check they were through security in no time. Good thing Walter was still listed as Ralph's guardian and had his full Homeland clearance.

The flight left on time and no matter how hard Walter tried to make the plane get there quicker, it still took close to three hours to land in New Orleans. He picked up his prepaid rental and drove like a lunatic over to the local jail. He parked half a block away, not letting Ralph see where he was going. Ralph was still in and out of sleep. When he slept, he slept hard. This was no exception. Walter told him he would be back in a few minutes; he would lock the door and leave the car running.

Ten minutes earlier, Paige got an unexpected visitor. After going through security and thinking she was about to get released, she walked out of her cell, into another processing room and was greeted by him.

"What the hell are you doing here" Paige asked, irate.

"I got a text saying you were in trouble."

"Who the hell sent you a text?"

"It was um Toby. Said you got yourself in some trouble and needed someone to bail you out. I don't have the money to bail you out yet, but I'm trying to figure something out. This that pompous asshole Walter's fault?"

The doors from the outside of the building flung open and all you could hear was him.

"Where is she?" He started to make his way through the second set of doors without passing through security. The situation caused a slight panic. Then when the inner door swung open, and Walter saw Drew standing there he kind of went bananas. He started up again yelling and screaming and was not holding anything back. Then he saw a glimpse of Paige behind the set of doors, and he instantly ran towards her. Drew tried to step in his way, but he surprised him and literally plowed him over and knocked him to the ground. Man, he had wanted to do that for a long time. Paige looked relieved to see him. But before they could talk, he ran back out the front doors without saying a word.

About five minutes past before he walked back inside. Calm and under control. He apologized for his earlier outbursts; he handed the clerk his credit card telling them he was there to pay bail for Paige Dineen. He then walked over to Paige, who was visibly crying again.

"Walter, what's going on?"

"Paige are you ok? Tell me you're ok."

"Why did you leave me when you got here? Walter, you frightened me. I thought you left me. Why would you do that?" She spoke through tears.

Walter looked over at Drew who was still having trouble breathing, a small smirk on his face, and then looked back over to Paige once he removed said smirk.

He whispered, "I had to make sure Ralph was made aware of what might transpire. When I saw Drew, I didn't know what else to do. He only knows both of you are in here right now, nothing else. What happens moving forward, we can figure out together. I didn't know what else to say to him."

In all the chaos from last night, Paige had forgotten Ralph was with Walter. And now he was waiting outside of a jail in Louisianna. What had she done?

"I forgot he was with you. I'm a horrible mother. Walter, what have I done?"

"I know you didn't have him show up, so how did Drew um get here?"

"Somehow, Toby texted him to bail me out. But of course, he didn't have the money to do it. Why would Toby…"

"I bet his team had a game in New Orleans this weekend and Toby saw it in the sportsbook. I assume he then contacted Drew to bail you out. Which leads me to believe Toby did this to you. I'm going to kill him."

"Walter, you are in a jail building, you can't threaten to kill someone."

"To hell I can't."

"Walter please, calm down, for me, you're here and I'm ok now."

She knew all she had to say was, "for me" and he would stop. He always responded to her when it was "for me".

"Mr. O'Brien, I need some signatures. Bail was set at $10,000."

Walter calmly walked over to the clerk and signed the papers. Again, money meant nothing when it came to helping Paige.

The rest of the process took about ten more minutes. When everything was finished and Drew was fully recovered, he lunged towards Walter, but again he was able to avoid him, and watched him fall to the ground again, this time because of his own uncoordination. Walter smiled, hoping he would be able to hack into the camera footage later and get the videos from him getting the better of Drew twice.

"You through being a jerk Drew?" Paige asked him.

"Me, he's the one who hit me and got you locked up in jail. I ought to take him outside and teach him a lesson."

"As much as I would love to see you make an ass out of yourself for the third time today, you need to man up and drop it. Understood?"

Walter knew what that last "understood" meant. Ralph knew it too. Especially when it was accompanied by those eyes. That was Paige's go to when she was done, and you didn't want to push it any further.

Walter stepped back and fell into line. Drew thought about saying something and then thought better of it, he must have remembered it too.

"For Ralph's sake we need to walk out of here calmly, ok?"

"Wait, this asshole brought Ralph to bail you out. Dude, I thought you were supposed to be smart."

Walter half smiled at the comment, knowing full well he wouldn't need to say a word.

"I warned you, but you won't listen. One more word out of you and you will never see Ralph again. Un..der..stood? Drop it."

They walked out of the building and as they approached the rental car with Ralph patiently waiting inside, Paige started to cry again.

Walter tried to console her while Drew looked at him with disdain. He turned towards Ralph to give him a hug.

"Dad, what are you doing here with mom?"

Not thinking before he spoke, "I got a message that your mom got herself thrown in jail last night and needed someone to bail her out. Not setting a very good example for our son, now are you, Paige?"

Walter lost it as Paige had tears in her eyes. Ralph's eyes had gotten as big as saucers when he heard that his mom had spent the night in jail.

"Drew, you are such an idiot, how dare you talk to Paige like that. I promised her I would never disrespect you in front of her son."

"He's my son too."

"He is not your son. Maybe on a piece of paper he's your son. But Ralph is Paige's son. She raised him by herself and never once gave up on him. Cared for him. Loved him. Provided for him. When she couldn't take care of herself, she still found a way to protect him. So, take your f'ing piece of paper and shove it up your ass. You ever talk to her like that again and I won't hold back. I would give up everything I have to have met her before you and given her Ralph. I can promise you that. If it was up to me, I would tell you to walk away and never turn back. But that is not my decision to make. But do not ever treat her with disrespect again. Do you understand."

"You heard him. Do what you do best Drew. Walk away and leave, and don't ever come back." Paige added still crying. She was a little turned on by the forcefulness of Walter defending her though.

Drew turned towards Ralph, but before he could say anything, Ralph pushed past him and grabbed hold of Paige and Walter. They embraced as Drew slowly walked away.

"I'm sorry Paige. I couldn't keep my promise to you. He shouldn't have talked to you like that."

"Walter, it's okay. Thank you. You defended me. Don't be sorry."

"Ralph, I am sorry to you as well, I kept some truth from you, I wanted to have time to discuss with your mom what we were going to do."

"It's ok. Thanks for fighting for my mom."

"Always. I don't know about you guys, but I could use something to eat. Anyone else?"

"I'm starving." They both said.

Lunch in New Orleans Friday around noon

Walter, Paige, and Ralph found a diner to go to and get some lunch. It had been a long day already for all of them. And some comfort food sounded pretty good.

Walter knew it wasn't the time to get into what happened during the past week. They would have time to discuss all of it on their trip back home.

"Just so you know, I made sure they knew Ralph wouldn't be at school today. I told them we had an important trip he needed to attend with me. At least they bought it."

"How did you remember to do that? With everything else going on."

"I had a mental list of everything, it wasn't that hard." Walter said not being rude, just factual.

"And how on earth did you guys get here so fast?"

"Well, after I talked to you, I called the um, place, back there and found out the address. So, I got on to the LAX flight board and found the next flight to New Orleans, and it left in about 90 minutes. I secured the last two seats that were available. I got Ralph up and we headed to the airport. With my Homeland clearance and still being listed as a guardian for Ralph we got through security fast and made it to the gate with about twenty minutes to spare. There weren't any return tickets available until next week, I looked for three seats first, then tried two and even singles, but there was nothing. I was going to fly you guys back and I would drive the car back if I had too. So, it looks like you are stuck with me for a few days driving back to LA."

"That sounds fine with me, I could use a couple of days before I get back there anyway. Paige said, her head still spinning trying to figure out how he made it almost 2000 miles in under 5 hours to rescue her.

"Ralph, you ok with taking a road trip back home? I could get us tickets from another city to fly back if you want to get back sooner, so you wouldn't miss any more school."

"I think a road trip sounds fun. What about you mom?"

"I agree, a couple days in a car with you guys sounds good to me." She was able to smile seeing Walter looking at her and Ralph.

"Or if we take an extra day or two, I have a couple of stops I thought you guys might like."

Ralph liked the idea of missing a day or two of school too.

"When did you have time to plan that?"

"On the plane. I needed something to pass the time. It was torture knowing you were um in trouble, and we couldn't get there any faster."

Ralph laughed, "Walter tried to make the pilots go faster on the plane, but they wouldn't listen to him."

"Is that so?" Paige said with a sultry smile while she played with her hair.

Walter knew that look. He liked that look.

"Um, if we um, head w-west towards Houston, we can stop at the NASA Space Center for a tour. And then if we go north, and west we can go to Santa Fe and see some art and pottery at the local businesses and then our last stop would be the Grand Canyon. Then on back to Los Angeles. Does that sound ok?"

"Mom, is it ok? I would like to see NASA and the Grand Canyon."

"I would love to see the Grand Canyon too, and Santa Fe, I've always loved art and pottery."

"Sounds like a plan then. Houston isn't too far; we can drive there this evening and see NASA tomorrow. I may still have a few contacts there, and we could possibly get some extra access for you, sound good Ralph?"

Ralph nodded yes in between bites of his plate of food.

"Walter, how do I thank you? This is, I'm a mess, aren't I? And I don't even have any clothes or anything. I left my bags at the casino hotel. But I never want to go back there again. All I have is my driver's license and my phone."

Walter held her hand and smiled at her while she ate.

"I think we all need to take a shopping trip. And you still look stunningly beautiful. I didn't have time to grab anything for us either. We had to leave without packing."

After they ate, Walter took them to a mall and they all found a few outfits to wear, some toiletries and other accessories they would need over the next several days. Paige told him she was reimbursing him for everything when they got back to LA, but he wouldn't accept any of it. He refused to take a dime from her.

They arrived in Houston that evening and Walter had found two rooms for them at a hotel near the Johnson Space Center. But when they went to check in, there was only a single room left in the entire hotel. One room, with two double beds. Walter blushed not wanting Paige to think he was anticipating them sharing a single room.

"One room is all we'll need, thank you." Paige told the person at the front desk.

Walter's mind started to race. Hopefully, she was going to share a bed with Ralph. Or he could. He wasn't sure he could make it through the night with Paige Dineen in bed next to him without doing something he would regret with Ralph in the next bed over. He turned towards Paige to explain.

"It's ok, I know. We'll figure it out." Paige told him before he had to say anything else.

Paige and Ralph climbed into one bed and Walter took the other one. Walter was thankful she decided to make this the sleeping arrangement for the night. He wanted to be in the same bed with Paige again. Dreamt about it quite often actually. But with Ralph there, he couldn't risk it. He closed his eyes hoping he would be able to get some sleep, knowing Paige was only a few feet away from him. Until she wasn't.

Ralph was out cold in under five minutes. And once he drifted off Paige got out of her bed and crawled under the sheets of Walter's bed. His eyes were wide awake and full of excitement and fear all at once.

She would be sure to wake up before Ralph in the morning and be back in her bed with him.

"I missed you, Walter."

"Paige? What are you um doing? Ralph is um he's um right there."

"Shh, I know where he is silly. He's also a heavy sleeper, you know that."

"Paige? I-I um I thought w-we were going t-to take it um slow.?"

"Come here Walter, turn towards me. I won't bite."

Did she purr when she said that? If any part of her lower body came into contact with his he was going to embarrass himself. He slowly turned making sure not to let his, get too close to her.

"Paige, I-I can't do-do this with um Ralph…"

"Walter, I'm not going to do anything either okay. I just want to talk to you for a little."

"Uh, um, ok."

She thanked him again for coming out to rescue her. She also thanked him for telling off Drew and how it made her feel. She wanted to talk about what CP did to her, but she didn't want to get emotional. She promised tomorrow she would tell him all about it.

"Walter, do you mind if we cuddle for a little? I miss that."

"Paige, I may be um, a um, a little too um, not able to cuddle for a-a um few more minutes."

She knew she was pushing him out of his comfort zone right now, but she cuddled right up next to him anyway, not saying anything about the problem he was dealing with at the moment. She didn't seem to mind it one bit. She told him goodnight and drifted off to sleep cuddled up next to him. It took Walter a little while longer to control himself and then he too fell asleep.