o0o o0o o0o

"Serious complications arose and the baby didn't survive the surgery meant to save them both. We did all we could do, Deputy Moretti pulled through but is still fighting infection, we are hopeful that she will fully recover. She is lucky you found her when you did or we would have lost both of them." The doctor's words stuck to Walt like a nervous sweat and he could only nod to let the Doc know that he heard him. "You can go in and see her, she will be asleep for a little while longer. Sheriff?" Walt looked intently at the doctor, "did you want to tell her, because I can definitely do that, but I wanted to ask." Walt nodded.

"I will, thank you for all that you and the staff did for her," Walt gave a half smile, then the man in the white coat shook his head, turned and left. Walt was quivering and he hadn't noticed until now. When he went into that flaming shed all he could think about was Branch and how he got to him too late. Now all he could do was stand there wondering how in the world he was going to tell Vic that they weren't able to save the baby.

"Hey Sheriff," A startled Walt, turned to see Mathias looking back at him. "You never told me what you prefer to eat so I just brought you something." He handed him a paper bag, it's contents a mystery. "How is she doing," Mathias glanced toward Vic.

"Better, they weren't able to save the baby, but she is okay and the Doc left it up to me whether I wanted to tell her or let him do it." Walt shook his head "I don't know what to say, I am sick about it. She has been here twelve hours, she has been asleep this whole time." Mathias lifted a hand to Walt's shoulder, which he welcomed. He was glad to have found a friend in Mathias, they had fought each other for so long and it all seemed pointless now. "Thank you for being here," Walt's sincerety was clear and Mathias patted his shoulder and nodded.

"I appreciate you letting me help you find Henry, I am just glad to help Walt." He and Mathias had been up all hours of the night brainstorming on the possible whereabouts of Malachi. Walt was beyond grateful for the help, all he wanted to do was find his best friend and take care of the snake who had him.

"You should get some sleep, you are no good to Henry if you can't function ... neither am I." Mathias nodded and left, Walt had to get some sleep to, it was going to have to wait though. She stirred and her eyes fluttered open, instantly landing on Walt, "Hey Vic, welcome back."

o0o o0o o0o

"Can you see the reason behind it Henry? It is all part of my plan, I will be the most powerful man in Wyoming. Everyone will be under my thumb. No more Walt Longmire to deal with. Of course it will be made to look like a shoot out gone wrong. He finds you here, ... but he is too late. He will be murdered by a gunman who is never identified. Also, that pretty little deputy isn't going to survive her hospital stay, an accidental morphine overdose, poor thing was in so much pain. Then there is that pathetic Mathias sitting pretty on the Res, he will meet an unfortunate end also. Is there anyone I am forgetting Henry?" Malachi's sneer was frightening and Henry did his best to play it off.

"So that is the master plan, kill all of the people who know you are a mad man? Hardly seems clean to me, you'll slip up and get caught." Henry's confidence faltered. He was helpless to warn anyone, tied to a large pillar in what appeared to be a warehouse, dust covered every surface, agitating his eyes and throat. "Bad men like you don't get away with murder for long, you will get yours Malachi, mark my words." His captor starred down at him, leaned in closer and cracked a gun across his already mangled face. The pain vibrated through his skull and causes his vision to blur. Henry took a deep breath, "You coward, untie me and get rid of the gun I'll show you what it means to hurt!" A low bellow of laughter rose from Malachi's chest.

"That's where your wrong Standing Bear, I am going to show you."

o0o o0o o0o

She did her best to focus on Walt but her head felt like it was in a meat grinder. She kept blinking until finally her blurred vision began to fade. He was the only person she wanted at her side right now. " Walt, I am so sorry I put you through that, it went wrong so fast I had no int ..." Walt shook his hand to stop her apology from continuing. She sat there confused for a moment. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears. She knew what the look on his face meant, she had seen it a thousand times before.Vic inhaled sharpely, "what is it?"

"Vic, I um, I am sorry, the uh, the staff weren't able to save the baby, the little one didn't make it through the surgery." Vic felt intense pressure on her chest as if she was being suffocated. Her head set to spinning again and she just started to cry, tears only, no words or sound escaped from her lips, just a flood of hot tears. "I am so sorry," Walt's words were meant to comfort but they only intensified the knot in her throat. Then a sobering thought came to her, 'she?'

"I know I had a daughter." Walt looked at her speechless, he was taken off guard by her response. " Can I see her?" Walt wasn't sure how to respond, but he did any way.

"I am not sure Vic we can page the doctor and see about it, there is a chance that you could see her." He was overwhelmed by her request and simply reached up to grab her hand as she finally let go and cried, her loud sobs rang through the halls and corridor. "It isn't your fault Vic, please know that. You faught so hard for her, and she faught for you too." Vic sobered up and starred at him.

"What do you mean by that," Vic asked, "my baby is gone." Walt looked at her and took a deep breath.

"I mean she helped you survive, if you had been alone you would have died, but the doctors said that the baby's red blood cells from the placenta went to you as a result of the trauma, which

saved you Vic, she faught for you." Vic smiled through tears that would not stop, her heart was broken, she had never meant for any of this to happen. Walt's voice sounded through her grief, "I am here if you need me, doc said eating and drinking plenty of fluids will get you back on you feet again in a few days." Vic nodded, let go of Walt's hand and wiped away her tears, inhaling deeply she looked at the man she loved, her heart began pounding in her chest and the frantic look on her face startled Walt.

"Henry?" Her question hung in the air as they both simply sat and starred at each other.Then finally Walt answered.

"Nothing yet, we will find him, trust me." Vic's eyes flew downward and she looked at her hands.

"It's Malachi I don't trust, we have to find him Walt, before it's to late." Walt looked at her shaking his head.

"We, is out of the question, you need to stay here and get better Vic." She looked at him intently, her worry obvious on her face.

"He is ready for you Walt, he is going to do everything in his power to kill you, you need back up." He looked at her and then stood.

I have Mathias to help me, the fewer people who know about Malachi's plans the better, I will not endanger more people than I have to." Vic shook her head.

"Walt he has an entire arsenal and army at his disposal, it is dangerous going after him like this." Her face was lined with concern. He turned to her once more before leaving.

"He is gonna need a lot more then that to stop me."