Author's note: I hope to lighten this up a bit over the next few chapters. I think Walter, Paige, and I all need a little break from all the angsty drama before we dive into the really dark heavy stuff ahead.

CHAPTER TEN

The bucket began to tip, threatening to send the liaison and the girls tumbling to the ground.

"Paige!" Her name tore its way out of Walter's throat, even though common sense dictated he shouldn't distract her. But he couldn't stop himself. She was millimeters away from plunging to her death. Something he didn't want to witness as it would be etched into his memory forever. But he couldn't tear his eyes away.

He could hear Happy shouting from what seemed far away. "Lower it! Just do it!" the mechanic yelled as she frantically waved her arms. The lift operator hesitated a moment before complying. The bucket tipped backward, causing Paige to fall back as well, allowing her to pull Sarah off the ride.

Relief swept over him like a wave. But it was short-lived as the hydraulics on the lift began to whine as the bucket was lowered. "Slow it down!" Happy hollered over the wind and rain.

Minutes felt like hours before Paige and the girls arrived safely on the ground. The girls' mother ran over to hug her daughters. Walter was right behind her, reaching Paige just as the liaison's legs buckled beneath her.

"Oh, God," she breathed as he crushed her against his body. She was sopping wet, her teeth chattering as she shivered.

"Are you okay?" he asked, wishing he could offer her his jacket. But he had no idea of its current location, having ditched it somewhere in the courthouse earlier in the day.

"Fine, I'm fine." She hugged him a little tighter before loosening her hold, rubbing her hand on her belly. "He's okay, too," she said. "Kicking up a storm." Her laugh had a slightly hysterical edge to it.

"As much as I hate to break up this touching reunion," Toby said as he approached accompanied by the fair manager. "You two need to get inside."

As if to punctuate his remark, a streak of lightning struck what remained of the Ferris wheel. Sparks flew in the air as the hair lifted off the back of Walter's neck. He helped guide Paige into the main exhibition hall, which was filled with people seeking shelter from the intense weather, crowding around the displays of jams and embroidery.

Someone threw blankets over their shoulders. Toby grabbed Paige's wrist. "Everything okay?" he asked. "No, uh. . ." He slid a glance in Walter's direction then back at the liaison. The genius narrowed his eyes at both of them.

"I'm fine," she snapped. "Everything's fine." Walter wondered if she was lying, if she was experiencing contractions again but didn't want him to know.

"Well, your pulse is a little elevated," said the shrink. "You should probably sit down and put your feet up while I rustle up my medical kit." He stared pointedly at Walter.

"Oh, yeah," he replied, searching the area for a couple of chairs. Spotting several behind what appeared to be a judges' table, he hurried over and snatched a pair of them. In a matter of minutes, Paige was seated with her legs propped up on a damp blanket with Toby fussing over her.

Walter scanned the building as he held her hand. People were huddled together in small groups; families, friends. . . One man stood out though. He was standing by himself near a table of baked goods, an odd smirk on his face. "Who is that?" Walter asked the fair manager who stopped by to see how Paige was faring.

"Oh, that's Adrian Hughes," replied Mr Harris. "He's the developer of the Ferris wheel's software. I called him in to help." He glanced over at the man. "Looks like we don't need him now."

Walter had stopped listening. His mind focused on the hack, mentally scrolling through the lines of code. "He did it," he murmured, raising his eyes to glare at Hughes, who twitched guiltly. "Excuse me," Walter said, pushing the blanket off his shoulders as he headed toward the other man.

As expected, the man turned his head from side to side then darted to his right, toward the nearest exit. Walter anticipated the move, cutting him off before he could reached the door. Hughes then spun on his heel and headed in the opposite direction. "Stop him!" Walter shouted. "He's the hacker!"

Fifteen minutes later, Hughes was in custody and Walter was rubbing his jaw where the man had punched him. Any pain he felt was numbed by the gratification he received from knocking the other man on his ass.

"I can't believe he'd put people's lives at stake," said Paige as she put her hand on Walter's shoulder. "Just because he thought he hadn't been compensated enough for his program. There were little kids on that Ferris wheel. . ." Her words were interrupted by a sob.

"Greed drives some people to do irrational things," Toby declared. "Like unnecessarily putting others at risk."

"Well, I'm just glad it's over and we can go home." Paige pushed Walter's hand away from his face, replacing it with her own gentle touch. "It's not broken, is it?"

Now the adrenalin was wearing off, his jaw began to throb uncomfortably. "No, it's fine. I'm fine. Let's go home." He kissed her on the forehead. Going home with Paige sounded like a wonderful end to one hell of a day.

ooooo

Two uniformed men standing on either side of a nondescript black sedan parked on the tarmac were waiting for them at LAX . Walter recognized them as the pair of bailiffs who had led him out of the courtroom earlier in the day. Oh, shit.

Paige must have realized who they were as well because she gasped when she saw them. "Oh, God," she murmured. "Why are they. . .?" He grasped her hand, giving it a squeeze of what he hoped felt like reassurance.

"Walter O'Brien," one of them said as he advanced toward them. "You are hereby remanded to the custody of the US Federal Court."

"Hold on," growled Cabe, flashing his badge. "He's been released to my. . ."

"Been rescinded," said the other bailiff, unhooking a pair of handcuffs from his belt. "By order of Judge Greer."

"Wait. . ." said Toby, coming up to stand next to Walter and Paige. "He's under arrest? For what?"

"Obstruction of justice and destruction of evidence," the officer answered.

"I thought he was a witness, not one of the defendants," said Happy, who looked like she was about to punch somebody.

"It's okay," Walter said before she could. He held out his arms, allowing himself to be cuffed for the second time in the past twelve hours.

"They can't do this." Paige gripped his shoulder. "Can they?"

"It's a court order, Ma'am." The bailiff shrugged indifferently. "I'm going to need you to step away."

With a shake of her head, she defied the man's request and threw her arms around Walter. "This isn't fair," she whispered between covering his face with kisses.

"Ma'am, I said step away. You're looking at a contempt charge. . ."

"Paige." He half-heartedly tried to push her away, reveling in her touch, yet anxious she would get herself into trouble. His fear materialized as the bailiff grabbed her by the forearm.

"Take your hands off her," Walter snarled as Paige clung to him.

"Or what?" The officer placed his free hand on his holster.

"Okay, let's everyone take a beat," said Cabe as he stepped into the fray. "Paige, do as the nice man asks, sweetheart."

"I'll be okay," Walter murmured as she kissed him one last time before letting him go. He tossed a glance over his shoulder as he led to the waiting vehicle.

The sight of her clutching at her abdomen tore him up inside. Once again, he hadn't had a chance find out why she hadn't told him about the contractions. . .or tell her about the video feed. The lack of privacy plus the fact Paige had slept most of the way back to Los Angeles had prevented any meaningful dialogue between them.

Walter closed his eyes as he plopped down on the back seat of the sedan. It was going to be another long sleepless night.

ooooo

Paige knew her anger couldn't be good for the baby but. . . She was pissed off. She'd been prevented from seeing Walter the previous evening after he'd been hauled back to his cell in the courthouse basement. The security guard had told her to come back the next morning.

Well, now it was the next morning and they still weren't letting her see him. Technically Walter wasn't done with his testimony so the sequester was still in place. She was about to tell the bailiff where he could technically stick his sequester when Ms Lee appeared beside her.

"Ms Dineen. Good. You're already here," said the attorney. "We have a meeting in the judge's chambers in five minutes." She raked her eyes over Paige's swollen belly. "So if you have use the facilities. . ."

"I'm good," Paige cut in, even though she knew she wouldn't be able to hold out for long. "I want to see Walter."

"You will." The prosecutor smirked as she indicated her assistant. "Jason will show you the way. I'll be there shortly."

Paige followed the man down a narrow side corridor until he stopped in front of a door. With a preemptive knock, he opened it.

"Oh, God, Walter." He rose out of his chair, a lopsided grin on his tired face. Guessing he slept about as well as she had, she took in his rumpled appearance, his wrinkled shirt, his unshaven bruised jaw, his riotous curls. . . Damn if he didn't look even hotter than he had the day before when he'd been looking so sharp. She waddled toward him, sliding her hand up his chest then around his neck. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you, too." He lowered his mouth to hers. She could hear someone clearing their throat in the background, but ignored it. Thankfully, Walter did as well as he kept kissing her, sending shivers up and down her spine.

"I hate to interrupt," came a male voice full of sarcasm, "but we have a schedule to keep so. . ."

Startled, they jumped guiltily away from each other. Heat burned her cheeks as she saw the judge, Ms Lee, Mr McKenzie, and a couple of bailiffs. Walter's face was bright red as well, she noticed, but there was also something else in his eyes.

"If you will all be seated, we can get underway," announced Judge Greer. Paige sat next to Walter in one of the chairs arranged in a semi-circle in front of the judge's desk. She had no idea what was going on, but had a hunch she was soon going to find out.

"You're in luck, Mr O'Brien," Greer continued. "Ms Merrick did indeed retain her copy of the drive. Now I've viewed the contents and. . ."

His words faded as Paige's head snapped around to glare at the man sitting tensely beside her. He was staring at the floor, his hands tightly gripping his legs. "I'm sorry," he mumbled so softly she could barely heard him.

The next hour was the most embarrassing she'd ever had to endure. Several portions of the video were fast forwarded, the parts where she and Walter had been talking or sleeping. The rest of it, however. . . She was too mortified to even watch.

"I think we can all agree there's nothing relevant here," said the judge after he closed the lid of his laptop. "Ms Lee? Mr McKenzie?"

Both attorneys nodded. "Good," said Greer. "Mr O'Brien, the charges against you will be dropped. And if defense and prosecution are satisfied with your testimony. . ." Again, the two lawyers nodded. "Then you are hereby free to go."

Everyone got to their feet then, shaking hands and patting each other on the back. Paige stayed where she was, as did Walter, until the others had cleared the room. McKenzie had glanced over his shoulder at her as he walked out the door, leering in a way which made her stomach turn.

Neither her or Walter said a word as a bailiff escorted them from the judge's chambers out into the main corridor where Cabe stood waiting for them, a broad smile on his face along with their phones they'd had to leave behind the day before. The agent relayed his relief Walter had been exonerated as he drove them back to the garage.

Paige groaned as she saw Toby, Happy, and Sylvester at their work stations, their curiosity obviously piqued. She. . .She just couldn't deal with them at the moment. "I need to lie down," she stated before heading up the ramp to the loft.

Hearing footsteps behind her once she reached the top, she spun around to face Walter. "Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded.

"I didn't have a chance," he countered, guiltily stuffing his clenched fists in his pockets. "It's not much of an excuse, but it's the only one I can offer. I seriously doubt you wanted me to blurt it out in front of the rest of the team."

"No," she replied, "I'd rather a copy of that surveillance feed didn't exist at all."

"I've apologized for my error in judgement. I promised to never do it again. I don't know what else you want me to say." His voice grew louder with each sentence.

The baby chose that moment to give her a hard kick. She rubbed her belly where pain from the short, sharp jab still lingered. "I don't know either," she said.

"You could tell me why you didn't inform me you've been having contractions."

Oh, crap. How had he found out. . .? Reminding herself to kick the shrink's ass later, she said, "It's just false labor. Toby told me to wait until you'd recovered from your rocket ride before I. . ."

"You've been having them for over a month? And you didn't think I would want to know? He raked a hand through his hair. "I have a right to know. If your health is being threatened, you need to. . ."

"My health? What about the baby's? Isn't his important too?" she cut in.

"Yes, of course, but. . ." The rest of his sentence was left unspoken as her phone rang.

"It's the school," she announced as she answered it. "Yes, this is Paige Dineen," she said to the woman on the phone. She glanced up to see the concern on Walter's face, realizing nothing else mattered as long as he cared about her and her children.

"Ms Dineen, there is a woman here claiming to be Ralph's grandmother," the woman said. "We don't see her listed here as one of your alternates. . ."

"Oh, God." Paige's cell slid out of her hand and onto the floor.

"What's wrong?" asked Walter, helping her to the nearest chair as her legs gave out.

"Yesterday. . . At the courthouse. . ." Her breath was coming in panicked gasps as she told him about the woman confronting her in the bathroom.

The room began to spin as her vision grew blurry. "What did she say?" Walter asked, his voice rough with fury and fear as he held on to her shoulders.

"She said if her husband wasn't acquitted, I'd better pray nothing happens to the baby. . .and Ralph," she said, a sob welling up in her throat as she grasped her swollen abdomen. "And I think she's carrying out her threat."