The Other Side: Cataclysm
August 23, 2017
Another day another need to save the world. Just a normal day for the members of Scorpion.
Cabe was leading a Homeland tactical team, rounding up a group of terrorists who had devised a sophisticated plan to throw the US government into chaos, using harmonics-generating machines placed at strategic weak points along the San Andreas fault line of Southern California. If this mission failed, more than thirty million people along the Pacific coast would find the very ground beneath their feet crumbling with no warning at all. California, Oregon, and Washington state all would quickly fall into chaos, to say nothing of the entire country.
Walter, Happy, Toby, and Paige were delivered via military helicopter to the terrorists' headquarters where the team would remotely disarm several dozen devices scattered throughout the foothills. Sly stayed behind in the Garage to monitor the US Geographic Survey's topological information to help the team disarm the devices in the safest order to avoid further catastrophe and loss of life.
"Shake a leg, Walt!" Happy called as the pair rushed from the helicopter toward the bunker, Toby and Paige several steps behind them. The rotors re-engaged and the helo prepared for takeoff as soon as the team was clear.
Happy already had her slim pick set out and was making her way past the rudimentary locking systems that the terrorists had used. They hadn't expected anyone to find out about their plans before it was too late, let alone that they would need to keep anyone out before the nefarious deed was done. They hadn't counted on the genius of Walter O'Brien and the entire Scorpion team or Sly's unhealthy but ultimately helpful obsession due to his fear of earthquakes. He had placed alerts on his computer several months before informing him of seismic activity in Southern California. Without Sly's paranoia, even the geniuses might have missed the early warning signs that allowed them to discover the terrorists' plans and even trace the cell.
It was only a few moments before Happy had the team inside the bunker and descending the rickety metal stairs to an underground facility that the terrorists had used to both fabricate and monitor their earthquake machines. Toby slipped on a lower step as a low rumbling rattled his brain. He grabbed onto the hand railing and watched helplessly as Walter and Paige, who had been ahead of him on the stairs tumbled down the last few steps and landed in a painful heap at the bottom. Happy, who had been the last to enter the bunker because she had been slowed by collecting her lockpicking tools, was ten steps above him, juggling her equipment, and no hand available to grab the handrail. Toby called out to Happy to hold on, as soon as he realized that a quake or aftershock was rumbling through the facility, but he was too late, Happy was already plunging down the stairs in a free fall. He put a hand out to stop her but she slipped past his frantic grasp. "Happy, no!" Toby screamed as he watched his love slip past him and fall the final few steps. Fortunately, Paige and Walter had managed to survive their short, unplanned descent with only a few bumps and bruises and had been able to pull themselves up in time to catch Happy as she landed unceremoniously on the bunker floor, saving her from a likely serious head wound. "Happy!" Toby screamed again as he held onto the hand railing, unable to move as the stairs continued to roll and buck with the seismic waves.
"It's all right!" Paige managed to yell above the din of the quake and twisting metal. "We have her. She's okay!" Walter and Paige slowly lowered the disoriented Happy to the floor, the safest place in the chaos and Walter covered her with his body as Paige slumped down next to her, holding the engineer's hand.
As soon as the quake quieted and the earth ceased moving, Toby hurried down the twisted stairs, he pushed Walter out of the way and gathered Happy into his arms, kissing her face over and over as his hands ran over her arms and legs searching for broken bones and lacerations. Walter limped over to Paige and pulled her into his arms as well. She smiled weakly as he brushed dust and debris from her hair, then kissed her.
Paige kissed him back, then pulled away. "I'm okay, Walter. We don't have time to mess around. You need to start disabling more of those earthquake devices or this little tremor is going to look like a day at the park when Los Angeles crumbles into the ocean."
Walter took a final moment to press his forehead to Paige's looking deeply into her eyes, communicating his love to her in their secret language before releasing her and moving back to pick up his backpack and carry his equipment toward the bank of computers along the back wall. Thankfully the ground floor of the bunker was earthquake-proofed and the computers commanding the quake devices were safe and secure and more importantly still functional so that Walter could hack in and begin disarming them.
Paige hurried along behind Walter, carrying out his every order as he delivered them in clipped tones. If they were going to get this done in time, there was no time for niceties. Paige couldn't help herself but grin as she heard Toby and Happy arguing. Happy had pulled herself painfully to her feet and was attempting to retrieve her equipment from where it had spilled out of her backpack in a mess on the floor at her feet, but she was slowed down by what appeared to be a torn ACL.
"Happy, I'm not done examining you. You may have a head injury!" Toby clucked at Happy like a mother hen.
"You're the one who's going to have a head injury in a minute if you don't let me do my work! It's just my knee, not my brain. I'll be fine, which is more than we can say about the entire coastline if I can't help Walt shut these damn things down."
"All right, all right, will you at least let me gather up your equipment and carry it? Moving with that knee is going to take precious minutes we don't have."
"Fine, put everything back into my pack, but I'll carry it."
Toby reluctantly acquiesced and loaded Happy's pack. She attempted to swing it onto her shoulder so that Toby could help her hobble across the room, but she shrieked briefly in pain as her wrist momentarily took the full weight of the loaded pack. Toby and Happy locked eyes. "Don't," she commanded, "don't say it."
"I can't say for certain, but you may have broken your wrist."
"I told you not to say it."
"I had to, I'm a medical professional. I am bound by my Hippocratic Oath to diagnose all disease and injury as swiftly as possible."
"That's not how that works and you know it."
"Oh, so now you're a doctor?"
"Will the two of you cut it out?" Walter called out in frustration. "Toby, help Happy get over here. I need her help or I won't be able to disable all of these devices before they all engage and all hell will break loose."
"You got it, Boss." Toby mock saluted as he gathered Happy's pack onto his shoulder and with her arm wrapped around his shoulders he helped her limp towards Walter and Paige. Paige found a still serviceable stool in the debris from the tremor and set it near the control panel that Walter needed Happy to access. Toby settled the engineer on the stool, before running his fingers expertly over her wrist, manipulating it expertly and feeling the fracture in the distal radius. "Yep, broken wrist," he told Happy smugly.
"Great, as soon as I finish saving the world, maybe you can drive me to the local urgent care and I can get it taken care of when I have a minute." Happy rolled her eyes at the Doc.
"Got it, got it. Hands off for now. You just do your engineering magic with your genius brain and I'll be the hands you can't currently use. I've got the hands of a surgeon. I could have been a surgeon, you know."
"We know!" the other three team members yelled as one.
"Enough. I can't think with all of this chatter." Walter's voice sliced through the din.
Toby finally fell quiet for a few moments and the silence was cut only by the occasional direction softly given to Toby or Paige to help Walter and Happy remove another panel or reconnect another cable to the terrorists' computer system from one of Scorpion's laptops.
But Toby, being Toby, couldn't stay quietly focused for long. "I can't believe these guys figured out a way to create earthquakes. That's really next-level technology. They must have at least one genius on their team." Walter gave Toby a look but said nothing.
Sly's voice came over the comm system, putting an end to Toby's musings. "Uh, guys, we have a problem. I've been monitoring the earthquakes and aftershocks, watching them decrease in size and frequency as the devices were deactivated one by one. But somehow my calculations were off. There is an earthquake developing near a device that you showed being deactivated ten minutes ago. That earthquake should not be possible."
Happy quickly started running a diagnostic on the active device. She slapped her injured arm down on the desk. "Damn, ow! It's a faulty sensor. That device won't disengage remotely, even though the sensors showed it as disabled. I'm going to run a full diagnostic of the entire system." Minutes they didn't have ticked by as the computer ran through its algorithm. Walter and Happy ceased remotely disabling the devices since they weren't even sure their efforts were successful. Once Happy's laptop chimed the completion of the diagnostic, she studied the readout for a few moments before raising her eyes to the group with a ghost of a smile. "Fortunately, that appears to be the only one whose remote command relay is faulty. But that one is not enough to cause real problems along the fault line. We have more devices to disengage, there's no time to spare. But we should be okay if only one remains active."
Sly cleared his throat. "I see the same thing on my end. If you can get the rest of the devices disengaged, that final device won't cause a quake large enough to destabilize the entire San Andreas fault, but it will cause significant damage to a small ranching community several miles from the active device."
Walter studied the readout from Sly's computer, then turned to look at the rest of the team. "I need to go deactivate that device. Scorpion saves everyone, remember? Happy, you, Paige, and Toby keep disengaging the devices remotely, make sure to keep running diagnostics. I don't want another faulty remote sensor to slip past us. I noticed several ATVs at the back of the bunker on the surface. I'll take one and disarm the active device manually."
Happy and Toby nodded and continued working, but Paige, with a fire in her eyes that Walter recognized all too well, set her hands on her hips and said one word. "No."
"Paige–" Walter started.
"Don't even bother, 197." Toby told him, "You two have had this argument a million times and it always ends the same way."
"They've had the argument forty-three times." Sly piped up unhelpfully from the comm system.
"Not helping," Toby told him before he slapped a button on Happy's computer, effectively putting Sly on mute.
Paige grinned slyly. "As Toby and Sly have so accurately pointed out. We've had this argument several times and it always ends the same way. I'm going with you. You don't know what you're going to run into out there and where you might need a second pair of hands. So buckle up nerd."
Walter knew Sly, Toby, and Paige were telling the truth. He looked over at Happy and she just shrugged as if to say, what can you do? As much as Walter always wanted to keep Paige out of harm's way, he knew that he had a better chance of succeeding if he didn't go alone and he always felt more confident in his abilities with her by his side. So he returned her grin, held out his hand to her and as she put her hand in his, he pulled her close. "The sooner we go, the sooner we get back and finish saving the world."
Paige smiled up at him and kissed the tip of his nose. "Agreed. Let's go."
As Walter had said, there were ATVs parked at the back of the compound, keys already in the ignition. Paige quickly located two helmets and handed one to Walter as he climbed on the closest vehicle and started the engine. Paige put on her helmet and then hopped on behind Walter and wrapped her arms around his waist. Walter opened the machine's throttle and the pair raced across the sand of the desert foothills.
The terrain quickly grew steeper and more treacherous as they traveled. Soon Paige was hopelessly turned around by steep slopes appearing out of nowhere and sheer drops into the canyon below. Despite the danger, Walter kept the ATV barrelling forward as fast as he dared. "Come on, come on." Walter coaxed the machine, checking the countdown on his watch almost constantly. If they didn't make it to the device in the next few minutes, it would fully trigger another mini-quake. Paige didn't want to be out in the open when that happened, not to mention the destruction to the nearby community, living their lives blissfully unaware of the danger they were in.
At last, Walter's GPS readout showed that they had reached the device. He skidded to a stop only a few yards away. Paige unhooked the pack of tools that she had been wearing on her back and started unpacking the wrenches, pliers, and screwdrivers from inside so that she could quickly hand them to Walter. He knelt in the dirt next to the device and called out to Paige for the required tools to remove the device's protective outer casing.
Paige's hands only hesitated slightly a few times as Walter called out the name of each tool. Walter shaded his eyes against the desert sun and looked over at Paige for just a moment as she searched for the screwdriver he had just requested. "You've gotten quite good at that. Almost no hesitation. You know what each tool is and what it is used for, almost as well as I do."
"I should," Paige smiled as she handed him the small screwdriver. "I've been doing this for quite some time now. And speed is almost always as important as accuracy. We're always trying to beat the clock somehow."
"True." Walter accepted it and used it to remove the final screw from the device's outer casing, exposing the mechanism within. It only took Walter a few seconds to remove the device's ignition switch with a pair of pliers and render it useless with only seconds to spare until the harmonics reached their full capacity and the small quake was inevitable.
Walter quickly rocked back on his heels in relief, lost his balance, and landed hard on his backside. He easily caught himself with his hands placed behind him on the ground and leaned further back, smiling at the knowledge of another crisis successfully averted. "That was a little closer than I like these things to go."
Paige laughed and tumbled down onto the dirt beside him, carefully avoiding any rocks, she leaned her head on his shoulder for a moment, nodding. "I won't deny I was a little nervous there for a minute."
Walter climbed to his feet, pulling Paige up along with him. "Come on, let's get back to the bunker, gather up the team and go home." Walter activated his comm device and spoke. "The device has been neutralized. Paige and I are on our way back to your position now."
Happy's voice came over the channel as well. "Toby and I were able to deactivate the rest of the devices remotely. And I can't wait to get out of here, my wrist and knee hurt like you wouldn't believe. Hurry back!" she commanded.
"I can confirm that seismic activity has decreased and is falling sharply. We are in the clear." Sly's voice spoke with a huge note of relief. "I just received word from Cabe that the terrorists have been apprehended and he is on his way back to the Garage as well."
"That sounds like our cue, Walter. Let's go." Paige held out Walter's helmet to him and the two of them climbed onto the ATV to make their way back to the bunker at a more sedate pace this time. Walter was enjoying the feeling of Paige's arms wrapped around him and her body pressed against his back when their ATV's tires lost their grip on the steep terrain as they were buffeted by an unexpected aftershock. They had been descending a steep incline and, surprised by the sudden shift, Walter lost control of the vehicle. It began to slide further down the incline, and suddenly the solid ground that they had been on only moments before began a treacherous plunge down the side of a sheer drop, and Walter, Paige, their ATV, and a large chunk of what had been, until recently, pieces of a mountain fell in a landslide. The ATV tumbled end over end, throwing Walter and Paige off the back of it. The fuel tank cracked and sprayed fuel on the scrub around them. A spark from the wheel rim ramming against a rock lit and found fuel to fan its growth into a small fire.
"Paige!" Walter screamed, reaching desperately for her. He couldn't see her past the rocks and debris tumbling around him. He thought he heard a muffled cry, but couldn't be sure. It felt as if he had fallen forever. Suddenly he felt his body slam into the ground, then the ATV landed upside down on top of him, pinning him to the earth. As he lay there blinking for a moment, trying to sort out what just happened, he heard Paige's voice calling weakly. Relief flooded his chest at the sound, proof that she was still alive. The avalanche of debris that had sailed down the side of the mountain with them had piled up around him and it was almost impossible to see anything through the darkness. There were a few cracks between the boulders letting in just enough light for Walter to see how dire the situation was. He attempted to extricate himself from his position pinned under the ATV and quickly realized that his legs were trapped under the weight of the vehicle and at least one boulder that had landed directly on top of it. He tried pulling himself with his arms, but he could only feel one arm. He couldn't see the other one, so he reached across his torso and ran his other hand down the opposite shoulder hoping to find the arm by touch. His fingers skimmed down his biceps muscle but were stopped by the metal of the ATV. Both legs and one arm were pinned underneath. He wasn't going anywhere.
"Walter! Walter!" he heard Paige's voice sounding weak, but he could hear her moving and that was a hopeful sign. However, he was trapped, he did the only thing he could, called her name over and over with every ounce of strength he possessed. Paige coughed and called his name again, this time her voice sounded stronger, She moved slowly to a seated position, feeling woozy and disoriented.
Walter called to her again. Paige heard Walter's voice, but she didn't know where he was, she couldn't see him. All she could see in front of her was their mangled ATV. But none of that mattered. He was alive! They would be all right! Walter would figure out a way out and back to the team. Where was he? He couldn't be that far from her, in the darkness she could tell they were surrounded by boulders, but nothing else. Paige called out once again.
Walter heard her call his name again. He saw her attempt to stand, but she was unable to do so. She slumped down again, holding her left arm at an odd angle and he noticed her shallow and ragged breathing. She was having trouble getting enough air. And that was cause for concern.
As the dust began to settle, Paige could see more clearly in the gloom. She could still see the ATV, but now her gaze focused on the figure beneath it, Walter. She moved to her hands and knees and crawled across the few inches that separated, barely registering the pain that shot down her arm as she did, eager to find comfort in his embrace. But for some reason, he didn't pull her close to him, she couldn't even get near him. Something was blocking her way. It didn't make any sense. She knew she should be able to figure it out, but it was so difficult to think clearly. It felt as if her heart was going to explode with each contraction of the muscle and her thoughts felt like they were fighting their way through piles of cotton for her to even think them. She smelled smoke and something burning. A scent that should be comforting, reminding her of cozy mountain getaways and Christmas, but it only filled her with dread. Why? Think, Paige, think! She and Walter had just fallen down a side of the mountain caught in a landslide caused by a tremor. One minute they had been on their way back to the team and the next they were here and under the remains of an avalanche. Paige inhaled the sharp smoke of a wildfire, making its way to her through cracks in the piles of rocks and boulders surrounding them.
Walter sighed with relief as Paige collapsed next to him. She was alive, they were alive, for now. There were no obvious solutions, even to Walter and his 197 IQ. Walter was pinned by the ATV, he couldn't even feel his legs. The fact that he felt no pain at all was cause for concern. Crushed legs and pelvis, most likely. He wasn't even certain if his other arm was still attached. He couldn't feel anything past his left shoulder. But that wasn't even the most concerning part, his chest felt like it was going to explode. He was no Harvard-trained doctor, but he suspected he was suffering from a massive hemothorax. Walter turned his attention to Paige and her injuries. As she sat beside him, he studied her carefully in the gloom. He guessed from the angle she held her left arm that she had a fractured shoulder, likely the proximal humerus. Even in the dim light, he could see the greyish tinge to Paige's lips and her difficulty breathing. He was certain she had severe internal injuries and there was absolutely nothing he could do about them.
"Walter," Paige wheezed as she grabbed his hand with her damaged arm. "Walter, what are we going to do? How are we going to get out of here?"
With effort, Walter spoke. "Try not to move your arm."
Paige looked over and touched the appendage, her arm radiating pain and looking unnatural as it hung down from her shoulder socket at a strange angle, noticing it for the first time. "Not good." They sat silent for a few moments, letting the reality of their situation sink in. Without warning, Paige struggled to her feet and grabbed the rim of the ATV with both hands and using every ounce of strength she had, attempted to lift it off of him. She screamed in pain as her damaged shoulder protested, but she refused to stop.
After several long and painful seconds of effort, Paige ceased her struggle when she heard Walter's voice begging her to stop, not to injure herself further. "I don't think either of us are going anywhere. I'm stuck under at least two tons of rock and machine. I can't feel my arm and I'm pretty sure my pelvis and legs are crushed."
"What about calling for help? What about our comms?"
"I hate to tell you this, Paige, but I think I felt the comm device get knocked out of my ear on the way down during the landslide. If it even still worked, it's buried under several tons of debris and the chances of us finding it are effectively zero."
"Let me take your helmet off, that will make you a little more comfortable and we can see if your comm is still there before we go to the worst-case scenario." Paige carefully worked the helmet off Walter's head, trying not to injure him any further. It was a struggle with one good arm and not being able to move his head more than a couple of inches off the ground. Once Walter's helmet had been removed, Walter's fears were realized, his comm was long gone. "I can take my helmet off. I didn't feel my comm get knocked loose in the tumble, maybe it's still there, maybe it's still functional."
Walter doubted that Paige's comm had faired any better than his had, but he didn't have the heart to crush her optimism. Paige pulled her helmet off and with it her shattered comm device clattered to the ground at her feet. She picked it up and studied it for a moment. "Guess we're not getting out that way. Walter, can you sit up?"
"No, I don't think I can, I'm pinned by the ATV"
"I should have known that."
"You're in shock."
"I think you're right." Paige fell silent feeling her heart painfully struggle to contract in her chest. "It's kind of hard to breathe. What's going on, what happened to us, Walter?" Paige's features were marred by confusion and a layer of dirt from the landslide.
He was concerned about her inability to focus, but there was nothing he could do. Walter considered how much to tell her.
Rescue seemed unlikely.
That aftershock created a landslide that took us with it and the fall cracked the fuel tank.
The falling ATV sparked that leaking fuel and lit a small wildfire around us.
The boulders that fell down the cliff with us have us trapped, giving us enough airflow to breathe for now, at least until the wildfire grows sufficiently to suffocate us with its smoke.
Your shoulder is injured and I'm afraid you have massive internal injuries, likely fluid is surrounding your heart. With the pressure unchecked, soon your heart will no longer be able to beat.
"We were caught in a landslide caused by an aftershock from an earthquake that the earthquake harmonics generating machines we were deactivating created. Cabe arrested the terrorists behind it all and the team succeeded in disabling the devices. I'm not sure how we're going to get out of here though."
"Toby will know where we lost contact. He can come and get us out of here or send help, right?" Paige felt unsure and was looking to Walter for reassurance.
Walter felt tired. It was difficult enough to deal with his assessment of the situation, he didn't want to explain it to Paige. It was as if saying the words out loud made them more real, their situation more dire. "Yes, I'm sure Toby already knows where they lost contact with us. He can't come to us, there's no way he would leave Happy, injured as she is, even if he thought he could get to us, which he can't. There's a wildfire raging out there all around us. It's the same problem that Search and Rescue would have. They can't get through the fire to get to us. They would have to wait hours for the flames to be extinguished and for the ground to be cool enough for them to get here. And even then, who knows how long it would take for them to move enough of these boulders to reach us, assuming they didn't accidentally shift and crush us immediately. We just don't have that kind of time, between our injuries and the smoke we're inhaling with every breath. I'm sorry, Paige, I don't see a way out of this."
Walter's words managed to penetrate the cotton that was wrapped around her thoughts. Paige felt the pain radiating down from her shoulder and the slow painful thump of her heart. She already knew all this. How had she forgotten? This wasn't good news, but it wasn't like she was expecting any. With no way to contact the team several dozen miles away, their severe injuries, and the wildfire that they had started tumbling down the side of the mountain raging around them their future seemed bleak.
Paige scooted painfully closer to Walter and gently placed his head on her lap. She inhaled tremulously at the exertion. When she had enough breath to speak again, her thoughts just came tumbling out. "This doesn't seem like it's one we're going to get out of. We've beaten the odds so many times, I started to think we were invincible. But I think somewhere in the back of my mind I always knew it was going to be something like this someday. You can't live the way we do and take the retirement plan. But I wouldn't have it any other way." Paige rambled as she stroked Walter's hair, his head resting in her lap, her other hand holding his hand. "How long do you think we have? No, don't tell me, I don't want to know. I just want to be here with you."
They lapsed into silence until a thought occurred to Paige. "What will happen to Scorpion without you?"
Walter felt grateful for any thought to hold onto, any distraction from the pain that was slowly growing throughout his body, as he answered. "Sly, Happy, and Toby will be just fine, Cabe will make sure of that. I know he came to Scorpion because of me, but the past three years have changed us, changed him. He thinks of the entire team as his own now. And before you say it, Ralph will be all right too. He has his mom, he has the team, and he has Cabe. Losing the big sister he idolizes will be tough, but he'll be okay too. I promise." He squeezed Paige's hand in reassurance.
"He's already lost so much, losing our Dad when he was only seven years old. I wish he wasn't losing me too."
"He'll be okay, Cabe and the team will make sure that he and Elizabeth are taken care of."
Paige relaxed. "You're right, I just really wanted to see him grow up, see the kind of man he would become, see all the amazing things he will do in the world."
"Me too, Love. Me too." They fell silent once again, thinking of the people they would be leaving behind. Walter had never believed in having regrets, just evaluate the outcome, make adjustments as necessary, and keep moving forward. This philosophy had always served him well, but something about the knowledge that he would miss seeing Ralph grow up, grow into his potential changed that somehow. There was nothing he could do about that now.
Walter closed his eyes, reveling in the touch of Paige's fingers on his scalp. "It's getting hard to breathe."
They held onto each other's hand in silence for a time, focusing on breathing, on not panicking.
Eventually, Paige spoke. "I was thinking about the day that we met."
"The best day of my life." Walter coughed and felt a dribble of blood drip down his cheek.
"Me, too, but later that night, after you left my condo, after I fell asleep, I had the strangest dream. I dreamed of you all night. It was so vivid and the most realistic dream I've ever had, but it was also completely surreal and unreal and the strangest experience of my life. I have never forgotten a moment of it, not a word or a look of the entire experience. It was like having a conversation with you, but not you."
"What do you mean 'me, but not me'?"
Paige attempted to make it make sense, but it didn't, even without the injuries and smoke inhalation. "The Walter in my dream was you, but at the same time, he wasn't you. I don't know how to explain it any other way. His eyes were haunted. It was like there was this incredible weight on his shoulders and aura of sadness around him. He seemed so lost and alone. It was like I was the only person in the world who cared about him. We just sat in a booth at Nemos' and talked for hours. He laughed at all my bad jokes and he was riveted by stories of Ralph. My heart just broke for him. I could feel how much he loved me already... I mean you and I had just met a few hours earlier… but I had never seen him before… it's all so confusing…" Paige knew she was rambling and not making any sense. And trying to figure it out made her head hurt worse than it already did. "I wonder why I never told you that before. And strange that I'm thinking about it now, right before we…"
Out of force of habit, Walter tried to pull himself to a more upright position as he tried to say something to comfort Paige, but the pain of any type of movement caused him to groan in agony. "No, no, Walter, don't move, you'll just make it worse. I'm okay, I'm here, I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere."
Walter relaxed and the pain lessened and he let Paige's voice rush over him like a balm. "Probably kind of a strange thing to happen after a first meeting. Strange, even for us. But let's not focus on the future or-or the past. We are here, right now, together. I don't need anything else." Walter squeezed her hand, wishing for the millionth time since that quake disturbed the earth underneath them that he could touch more of her, that he could pull her into his arms and hold her. He longed to hold her and calm her fears. He knew that she was terrified and she wasn't letting it show because she didn't want him to feel powerless to comfort her. He longed to touch her, touch all of her, feel her touch in return. But this terrible, out-of-control situation dictated that the best he could do was to hold her hand in his. He couldn't even kiss her properly and that broke his heart.
"I know that I should hurt more than I do, but strangely it's kind of comforting and makes it less scary." Paige sighed, "This may be weird but I'm glad it's something like this. You and me together, knowing that we lived, we really lived, we did things that mattered, we made a difference. If anyone ever finds us, I want them to find us here like this, the same way we lived – together."
Walter considered her words, Paige mistook his silence and shook him gently, "Hey are you still with me?"
"Yes," he coughed, the smoke was getting thicker, and he was starting to feel the heat from the wildfire. Walter turned to look at Paige's face, even though it made it harder to breathe at that angle. "I know exactly what you mean. It doesn't sound strange to me at all. I've been grateful for every minute of our lives together. I was just thinking about how I have always loved dancing with you, after that first time trying to recover that painting, and I was so bad at it." Paige smiled at the memory. Walter continued. "I'm so glad that I pushed past my discomfort with dancing after that night and that we took every chance we had to dance, even when it was just in the Garage with the radio playing. If I could, I would dance with you now. I would rather it all ends like this with you, having had our amazing and strange life together, than to live to be an old man, alone, without you…" Walter trailed off, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I know that's not a thing that a normal person would say."
Paige squeezed Walter's hand, wishing she could pull him close and press her forehead to his, looking deep into his eyes so he could see that she truly meant what she was about to say. "Walter, have I ever made you think that I've been interested in normal? I don't want to be loved by a normal person. I've been there, done that. Not interested. Since the day that you and I met three short years ago, I've never wanted to be loved by anyone but you, Walter O'Brien, in all of your glorious 'million miles from normal'. I have the love of a lifetime and an adventure to match it. You are more than I could ever have dreamed of." Feeling drained from the effort of saying so many words, Paige fell silent and then attempted to settle herself more comfortably. She felt the comforting weight of Walter's head on her lap as she stroked his hair and held his hand, remembering the beautiful life they had shared. Paige rested her head against the side of the mountain behind her and closed her eyes, hoping she would get the chance to open them again.
She had no idea how much time had passed, she might have dozed off for a few moments or much much longer when she was brought back to the reality of their situation by Walter's voice. "Paige," Walter spoke weakly, "Please, Love, please sing for me. I want to hear your beautiful voice."
"Of course, my Love." She knew she could deny him nothing, though she wasn't sure how beautiful her voice would be. She sang their song, the one they sang together at the African dictator's compound when they were trying to find the Nazi Sun Gun technology, 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart.' Walter attempted to sing along until his voice trailed off and he groaned in pain as the ATV shifted. "Walter," she squeezed his hand frantically, "Walter, are you all right?"
Walter didn't answer for a few moments, he just lay there, panting, trying to catch his breath. Finally, he answered her, "Don't stop."
Refusing to let fear at their situation creep in, Paige comforted Walter the only way that she could, she began to sing, 'Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You.' Her voice cracked.
"That was the first song I ever heard you sing, the first time I heard your voice. It was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard."
"I can't believe you remembered that."
"I remember every moment I've ever spent with you."
Paige felt overwhelmed by a rush of feeling at Walter's words. She tried and failed to swallow past the lump in her throat from unshed tears.
They fell silent again, lost in their own thoughts. Walter spoke again. "I'm so glad we went all those nights and did karaoke. Watching the audience marvel at the beauty of your voice, knowing you were singing all those songs for me, made me feel like the luckiest man in the world, and I don't even believe in luck."
Paige laughed briefly, even though the pain in her chest was intense. "The best nights were when we convinced the team to come with us too. Cabe singing 'Tight Fittin' Jeans' by Conway Twitty, Toby gleefully singing 'Islands in the Stream' with a reluctant Happy, Sly singing 'Gangnam Style' complete with dance moves, and you, you and your fascination with the Spice Girls. That one I never would have guessed in a million years."
"I guess there was always something about Posh that both intrigued and frightened me," Walter admitted.
"If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give, taking is too easy, but that's the way it is…" Paige sang, even as the pressure in her chest increased and taking a breath grew more difficult.
"We saved a lot of people today." Walter managed a smile at the thought.
Paige leaned over carefully and kissed his temple despite her pain at the change in position. "That we did, Love." Walter memorized the feeling of Paige's lips pressed to his forehead. "Thanks to you."
Walter squeezed her hand. "Thanks to us." Suddenly he jolted as if hit with a thousand volts of electricity. He squeezed her hand harder, panting. Even in the gloom that surrounded them, Paige could see his eyes roll into the back of his head. And she couldn't do a damn thing about it.
Paige screamed in fear and frustration, "Walter? Walter, are you all right? Talk to me! Walter!"
Author's Note:
If you aren't familiar with the songs mentioned for Scorpion karaoke nights, please do check them out. "Tight Fittin' Jeans" by Conway Twitty, "Islands in the Stream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, "Gangnam Style" by Psy, "Wannabe" by Spice Girls.
If Walter's situation trapped under the ATV feels familiar, I used Lexie's injuries from being trapped under part of an airplane after their plane crashed in the season finale of season 8 of ABC's Grey's Anatomy as my inspiration.