A/N: My loves! The time has come! First off, I apologize for how long you had to wait on this! I hope it's worthy of the wait. Grab your tissues. This may not be what you wanted, but maybe it's what is needed sometimes. It's a VERY long chapter (14k words) as I struggled to find a way to break it up with how I formatted it, so I apologize in advance for that. This was a journey, and I hope you at least somewhat enjoyed it! I have a bunch of ideas lurking for some new things, so while I'm always sad to say goodbye to a story, it's conclusion simply means the beginning of something new. I've noticed a lot of new readers to my stories over the last few weeks and that is seriously so exciting! Welcome, and I hope you enjoy my attempts at keeping our favorite characters alive (or not… sorry).

Hope you are all doing well!

Xoxo

--

As he stood there, staring at that grim, ominous and oh so final etching in the cold, carved stone, a marker of the beginning and the end, a stark reminder of his failures, the cranks turned, and the casket lowered her body back into the very ground he tried so valiantly to free her from. This was the first time he'd ever been a pall bearer. He hadnt known what to do. Very few times in his life had he not known what to do. This, and what led to him being here, were the most notable. He watched the elegant wooden box lower with each click of the cranks, and calculated how many turns it would take to reach its final resting place. Anything to distract from his real thoughts.

He blamed himself.

It was his fault.

It was all his fault.

She was dead because of him.

The last nine days had passed him by so slowly, and yet, so unbelievably fast with images of her death dancing around his brain nonstop. Toby had tried to tell him there was nothing he could have done, made repeated attempts to Toby him, crack the 197 code as he put it. Cabe had followed suit, and had been like a shadow to him, watching him, preparing for him to break down. Happy hadn't said much of anything, just always there. Doing tasks. Simple, but meaningful things like stocking his fridge with easy to heat up meals for Ralph and him. No words beyond necessity, and ever so friendly remarks like "you need to eat jackass" or "you planning to shave soon, or are we going for the Brawny paper towel guy look?" She understood him in that way. He didn't want to talk about it. He appreciated her so much for that. He'd missed her silent, but caring, ways. Sly had tried to speak to him, but his words had failed, the tears had formed, and he had ultimately just hugged him in a sappy brotherhood embrace that had made him want to crawl out of his skin, even though he could recognize how much he had longed for an awkward hug from his friend for so long. Being ready to receive affection when he felt he didn't deserve anything, was difficult. Even Ray had been surprisingly unRay like, lending a hand wherever he could - which he took with a grain of salt, as Ray seldom did any task in a way that Walter would consider helpful, but the thought was there.

But none of it mattered, ultimately. He had been so rushed to save her, he hadn't been thinking logically, and because of that, here he stood, with her son, as the cranks clicked in the most ominous sound, lowering her to rest. So many faces surrounded him that he didn't recognize, most of them taking the time to study him, each with solemn expressions, tears in earnest. Several had hugged him, which he was wholly unprepared for. So many tears. Everyone had tears. Lots and lots of tears. Not him though. In that hole he had let his emotions run rampant and get the better of him, but no more. He'd erected his shell in preparation for today, not letting anyone in. Not letting anyone see just how affected he was by her death. The looks he had been receiving all week had been entirely too much. Handling that today, he would end up doing something, or saying something, he knew he would regret later.

He felt the others all standing behind him, watching him, monitoring him, felt Cabe's hand grasp his shoulder lightly.

"For as much as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear sister here departed, we therefore commit her body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust..."

He saw Ralph in his peripheral vision, staring stoically as the casket was lowered with each click. Surely, he thought, Ralph was calculating things too.

Telling her son what happened, a boy so wise he understood everything Walter spoke so well, but still so young that he didn't understand the implications at all as it pertained to his mother, watching him crumble to his knees, had broken a part of him that he was sure he would never fully recover from. A part of him hated that Paige had opened his world to feeling, caring, loving. He missed being able to turn a blind eye to anything, to erect his stoic shell of robotic armor and be unphased by life's harsher side. Had she not weasled into his life, and bestowed him with a heart, he wouldn't be feeling any of this pain. But she had. And now he felt it all. Ten fold.

He hated her for it.

Then he hated himself for hating her for it.

The recovery teams had been slow in retrieving the bodies of the dead, taking three days to retrieve them all, but they were delicate in doing so, something he hadn't really ever considered as a gesture he could admire until he watched them load her body onto the metal framed stretcher and hoist her into the early morning sun above. Before Paige, he would have seen their actions as irrational and inefficient, they were dead, they weren't going to get any deader if they just worked quickly to retrieve the bodies, weren't going to feel pain if they moved a body hastily. But again, Paige flipped his world upside down, and now, he had nothing but respect and appreciation for the way the bodies were so gingerly cared for in the recovery process.

Despite his complete failures, the news all over the world was hailing him as a national hero for what he had done to try and save people, the time he took to identify the dead. He had found all of them. Every single person. The recovery teams had been unable to locate anyone else. He was a hero. A savior. A brave, selfless man. The city wanted to award him a medal and a big check for his 'heroism'. Homeland wanted to recognize him with an award, and another financial reward. Someone had started a GoFundMe for him and Scorpion, which was raking in donations like crazy. His answering machine was full of messages from reporters wanting to speak with him. That first survivor, Katharine Foster, had been interviewed. Said he had saved her life. But he was plagued by the ones he didn't.

He didn't want the money.

He didn't want the recognition.

He didn't feel like a hero.

He didn't feel like a savior.

He felt like a fraud.

Every moment of being in that hole ran on repeat non stop in his mind, like one of her old horror movies, over and over and over. Only this horror was real, the dead bodies weren't actors, the sounds weren't simulated, the darkness wasn't special effects. And there was no turning it off. No popcorn with chocolate covered peanuts would make it less scary. Closing his eyes didn't make it stop.

Just the screams echoing non stop in his ears.

--

"Paige… Oh God, no. No, no, no!" His feet moved without his mind even suggesting it, rushing to the sight before him. "Toby! Toby! She's alive!"

"Oh god. Get medics ready! Now!!! We have another survivor!" Toby shouted, a sob strangled in his words.

"I want this rig done up now! We have a high value asset alive in there! We need a way to get her out!... I don't care what you need to do! Get it done now, damnit!" Cabe screamed, other voices playing off of his in the background.

"Sly. You and me are going to figure out a rig. I'm not waiting for these jackasses to figure their crap out." Happy's voice rebounded through his ears, followed by an affirmative comment from Sylvester. But all he cared about was getting across the obstacle course to get to her. Detaching his makeshift rope harness, which was only hindering his movements, he made quick work of mapping out a path.

"Paige! Paige! I'm here! I'm here honey! I'm here! You're going to be okay. You hear me? Just hang on! Hang on, Paige! I'm coming!" She didn't respond, and with how he needed to climb and move under things, slipping and sliding on the water coated, muddy way to get to her, he lost visual of her. "Paige! Come on! Make some noise for me!" Nothing. "PAIGE!" Nothing. "Paige! Come on!! Remember when you wanted me to believe in the possibility of ghosts on that ship and I didn't? How mad you were? Well, if you die right now, it's going to be really hard to haunt me, and that's just going to really make you mad! So I need you to stay awake and make some noise so you can spend the rest of your long life convincing me that ghosts are real!"

Clang.

"That's it! Good job, Paige!" He was about a hundred feet away, closing the distance, and caught sight of her again. Well, a fragment of her.

From this angle, all he could see was her leg.

Her leg being pinned by a section of a stone wall.

"So, uh, you blame the giant people swallowing hole you're in, or uh, the adrenaline, or just the simple fact that you're alive when the odds were not in favor of that, for saying this to, but, uh, I don't care. You're alive, and so I'm just going to tell you that I've missed you, and I love you, Paige. I haven't gone a single day not regretting everything I did, and wishing I could just see you again... So, uh, if you don't like that, well, uh, you're just gonna need to stay awake so you can yell at me for it, okay?" The way that the sounds, his own voice, echoed around him was disorienting, but if talking to her kept her with him, he'd keep doing it. He should have talked to her more when they were together. Should have told her all the things she deserved to hear.

Clang.

"That's it, Walt. Keep talking to her, it will keep her brain stimulated." Toby advised, panic in his soul he was trying to supress.

"Uh, Paige… I never told you this, I probably should have, but, I came to your apartment once, about six months or so after you started at Scorpion, to ask you out. I got there and saw Drew with you, so I left. I chickened out." He climbed up a steep inclined telephone phone, like a ramp, balancing like an Olympic gymnast, or Spiderman, but finally able to take sight of her fully. Catching her eyes, from about fifteen feet above her, he released the tears from his eyes, overcome with unbridled emotion at seeing her, alive, a tortured smile gracing his face, as her weary, scared face peered up at him. "I knew you were the best thing to ever happen to me, even then. I knew… knew you were the one." A tear slipped from her fear stricken eyes, as her face twisted lost in her own emotional overload. The way her eyes locked on his, a wash of relief, hope, fear… but most of all, love. So much love. "I will get you out of here, Paige, and when I do, I am going to spend every day of my life showing you how much I love you. I'll even eat that awful waffle. If you'll have me."

He watched her body shake on the dark, wet, muddy ground, tears falling down into her hair, and the almost imperceptible nod, her mouth voicing his name without sound.

"Okay. That's good. That's uh, that's really good. So we have something to live for." Climbing down the last bit to get to her, he rushed to her side, sobs taking over him, eyes fraught with wetness, despair and relief. Her body shook, both in shock and fear, but also from the sobs that overtook her. "Oh god. I can't believe you're alive." Breathing ragged, hands shaking, brows pulled together, he assessed the damage, as he gingerly stroked her hair. "It's okay. It's going to be okay. I'm here. We're going to figure this out."

Instantly at his touch, she began to hyperventilate, crying in hysterics, the fear she would die alone weighted in her soul. Sharp, gasping noises escaped her as she cried, reaching for him in shock.

Half sitting, half laying, her leg was pinned, but there was also a long metal rebar pole sticking straight through the center of her abdomen, coming out of a boulder of asphalt beneath her, and sticking several feet out from her. Her face, arms, and chest, all things he dreamed of frequently, were covered in deep cuts and abrasions, plenty of fresh bruises littering her flesh, and muddy markings of the terror she'd experienced. Resting beside her left hand was a broken off piece of metal pipe that she had been using to bang the wall pinning her leg to alert him. Her eyes were pleading into him in a way that was so desperate, and unlike anything he'd ever seen in her. Her hands shaking involuntarily, bloodied, and weak. Her body tired, pale stained red with blood, wet, cold, dirty, displaying the pain she felt, and operating as a stark reminder of her ordeal. The pain and anguish she felt loud enough on her features that he felt it all himself. The way she appeared so small and fragile, when he knew her to be the strongest force to be reckoned with cemented just how scared he was for her.

When her mouth opened, but only the breath of a whisper came out, her chest struggling to breathe steadily with the rebar penetrating just below her ribs, he felt his on chest crack.

"Y-you… c-came." She swallowed hard as a body racking sob released, her body and mind in shock, her chest and voice shaking rapidly with each attempt to speak, and a hand lightly reached up to grasp at him, before she winced painfully and her brows pulled tightly together, tear tracks down her cheeks, and brought it back down. "I kn-new… you'd c-come." Carefully taking her hand in his, cognizant to avoid the rebar, he smiled through a strangled sob at her, so grateful she was still alive.

"Hey… of course I came." Taking a moment just to take her in, the feel of her skin, he had an overwhelming panic deep in his bones. He couldn't lose her. He couldn't fail her. The fact that she was still alive, he couldn't now lose her. He lost her once, and he would not lose her again. He couldn't. "There's no one else I'd venture to the center of the Earth for, you know. I was having a great day with Ray. But, you know, you got yourself swallowed by the road…" She smiled weakly. He knew he wasn't funny, but he always loved trying for her. She'd always smile. Always laugh.

Walter O'Brien! That was a joke! More of that please!

He loved her laugh.

She wasn't laughing now.

"I'm.. so… sorry… Wal…"

"Me too." Leaning over, he kissed her forehead, letting his tears drop into her already damp hair, as he ran every possibility of getting her out through his mind. "But that's for later, okay? Once we get you out of this mess, we can all apologize and… uh… make picatta, okay? Right now, well, right now, all that matters is that you are alive and we just need to get you out."

She nodded frantically, her lips turned down in a pained frown, the fear radiating off of her in waves. Suddenly the massive sinkhole felt like a closing in cave with each passing second. Perhaps getting caved in would be easier to survive from.

"I can't… move… my… leg…" She attempted to shift her leg to show him, and a deranged part of him almost wanted to laugh that her concern was her leg being trapped and not the fact that she was impaled, but he refrained. The way her attempts at breathing pulled her skin in by her ribs and abdomen and her throat make a croaking sound with each struggling word, had him too concerned to tease her. Once she got out and was safe and not critical, he would be sure to point out the absurdity. But not now.

Taking the phone off of his chest, he propped it up on a pile of rubble nearby, allowing Toby and the others to have a full visual of the dark, frightening scene.

"Hey Paige, looking good down there. But you know, if you had wanted me to shut up about your sweet parking spot, there were definitely less dramatic ways you could have done so… I mean, come on, digging your way to China is a little 3rd grade cliché…" Toby called out, pure relief and deep fear, in his joking tone.

Paige feebly smiled at the screen, lifting her hand just an inch as if to reach into the screen itself, eyes fluttering.

"Ra-Ralph?" Paige inquired, her words hitching in pain, as she groaned and put her arm back down.

"They have him up there. He's safe, but scared." Walter answered. "He was ready to jump in with me."

She nodded tiredly, her eyes fighting to stay open.

"Toby, what am I looking at here? I'm seeing crush injuries to both legs, what appears to be a very badly broken arm… I can see the bone, multiple deep lacerations, lots of swelling, possibly a fracture to the other arm, she doesn't seem able to lift it, and of course there's the whole being impaled thing. Where do I start? How do I move her? We need to free her so I can get her out!" The image of moving Carly played on repeat in his mind. His attempts to save her had killed her. Perhaps if he had just left her be, waited for the rescue teams, she'd still be alive.

"Alright, alright. Um, show me the injuries." Walter took the camera phone and displayed each injury one by one, Toby growing more frustrated with each one. "Damnit. It's too dark. I can't… Walt, I'm coming down. There's too many injuries to assess like this. You're going to need more hands if she's going to get out of there alive. There's just no other way." Toby was quick to announce, to which Walter simply nodded, before Cabe came back, now able to be viewed.

"Oh Sweetheart…" he rubbed his face in grief.

"C-Cabe… Get… Ralph… please…" Paige looked to the small screen as Walter surveyed the damage to her body, the structures surrounding and pinning her, and all his possible means of saving her life. A puzzle needing to be solved. He could do that. He just needed to stop seeing her while trying to think. Every risk he'd normally take now came with the possibility that she would die because of his choices. She was clouding his judgment, confusing his normally sharp as a tack brain. There had to be a way. If he removed the rebar, she'd bleed out. If he moved the wall crushing her leg, it could make everything fall. And with all of her limbs broken, her legs shattered, it would be next to impossible for her to assist in her own escape.

He had no idea how he would be able to save her.

"You sure you want him to see you like this, kiddo?" Her eyes pooled with fresh tears, her body shaking with a fearful sob, and she shook her head no. Her hand quickly moved to where the rebar was piercing her in pain.

"I… have… to… say… goodbye…" She paused, staring at Walter whose grave uncertainty was written all over his face. "I'm not… getting… out of… this."

Walter's head snapped up to look at her.

"You will get out of this, Paige! You will. I will get you out. No matter what. You hear me?" He hated how angry he sounded. Reminded him of the night she left him. The yelling. The anger. The hostility. He hated that night. He hated them speaking to each other like that.

But he needed her to not give up.

She couldn't give up.

She nodded, placating him, he was sure of it. Truth was, though, that he had no idea how to get her out, not without killing her in the process. She knew. She could always read him like a book. They would placate each other, carefully dancing around the truth, like they always had. Their time apart and the grim situation at hand hadn't changed that.

Sighing, he spoke.

"Cabe… get Ralph for her. So he can see that she's alive, and so she will have every reason to not give up while we figure this out." He never broke his eyes from her while speaking to her, silently pleading with her to not give up on him.

"You got it, son." Cabe told them, before walking off, leaving them in silence as Happy strapped Toby up for descent, and Sly spoke with the rescue crews.

"Walter…" She breathed out, painfully. He looked up from her leg, to catch her eyes, staring so intently at him, with so much fear swirling in them, and he stopped his movements to run his hand through her hair. She told him once how she always felt so safe when he would hold her and stroke her hair. "I knew then too." She used all her strength to string the words together seamlessly, holding her hand up some to take his, despite the pain. Tears slipped past his defenses and he kissed her hand. "I'm… so… scared."

"I know. I know you are. I'm scared too. But we're going to figure this out. We just need to get your leg out, and then Toby and I can figure out this rebar. Happy, Cabe and Sly are working with the rescue teams up top to get you out. We will figure it out. We always do."

She nodded.

"How… many… sur-survivors?"

"Including you… three." She looked relieved for just a flash of a second.

"And… dead?"

He could lie to her. Lord knows he'd done it before. But, he couldn't. He would never lie to her again.

"Eleven that we know of so far."

Her face scrunched in emotional anguish, and her hand tightened on his as she clenched her eyes shut.

"It… just… opened…" she started, as Walter dug through his backpack for tools and first aid. "I was… talking… to Toby… and then… it… just… opened." Her face pinched so tightly as she remembered the horrifying moment, her body trembling. Despite all the things in his bag, none of it was useful to save her. He wouldn't be able to get her out if he couldn't save her from her current captivity first. "Everything… went… dark. Then pain… and… couldn't… breathe… I tried… to move… It hurts… everywhere… Walter… Please… it hurts. Why? Why… did… this… happen?"

"Just breathe. Just breathe. I know you're scared, but you need to breathe. That's it, Paige. There was nothing you could have done to stop it. Sinkholes happen very rapidly. A combination of natural processes and human activities that alter the underground water system. Pockets of water form, just below the surface, and eventually, the ground surface just collapses. It's very quick when that happens. One of this size, well, it's a statistical improbability that you are even alive and talking right now." He had to turn on Science-Walter, Emotional-Walter was getting to be too much for him to handle.

"M-mom?" Ralph's terrified face appeared on the screen beside them, his voice strangled, squeaky, eyes wide in horror.

"Ralphie… Oh… sweetie." Paige cried, her abdomen shaking around the rebar with a grimace and some fresh blood pooling from the wound, reaching her hand out painfully toward the phone.

Walter noted that the pole was likely sealing off the bleeding, given the surprisingly small amount of blood present around her with such an extreme wound. Any movement of the rebar, and she would definitely bleed out. Just one of the many challenges to face with trying to get her out.

"Mom, it's going to be okay. You're going to be okay. You have to be." She nodded wearily to him, but her eyes showed the truth. She didn't believe it. "Don't cry, Mom. Please don't cry."

"I'm… just… so… happy… to… see… you…" Her words choked with another sob as fresh salty tears fell down her face.

"I'm happy to see you too, Mom." Ralph cried, tears falling unchecked down his face. "I love you."

"I love… you… more than… anything… Ralph. I'm so… proud… of you."

"You have to get out, Mom. Okay? Just, get out of there? We have to finish our scrabble game!" Paige squeezed her eyes closed as another tear slipped down, and her body trembled violently with raw emotion. She would never see her boy grow up. She would miss it all. Every amazing, beautiful, sad, and wonderful thing in his life. He would experience it without her there to witness it. Her son, that had been her entire world for 13 years, would no longer have a mother. Her breathing became concerningly fast and ragged, as she got worked up, hyperventilating again, panic setting in, concerning Walter. "Mom!!!"

"Hey, breathe. Paige, you're bleeding. I need you to take a breath. You need to calm down and breathe." As she cried, more blood seeped past the confines of the rebar.

"Ralph, bud, I think it's best if we keep this short right now. It's imperative that your mom stay calm, and still, so we can make a plan and get her out." Grabbing gauze pads from his bag, he quickly tried to pack around the rebar, while running his fingers over her forehead to try and calm her.

"I… I understand." He hadn't heard Ralph's voice sound so small and youthful as it did in years. With his intellect, it was easy to forget that he was just a child still. A child who loved his mom more than anything in the world. "Will you just… please keep me updated, Walter?"

Walter hung his head, the tension in his neck and shoulders from the weight of the situation becoming unbearable. Sniffing back his pain, and rubbing his face, cleansing it from his overloaded emotional state, he nodded to Ralph.

"Yeah. Yes. Of course, Ralph."

"I'll give you updates, kiddo. You have my word." Cabe's smooth voice was such a welcome interference. "But listen Ralphie, your mom and Walt need to focus on stabilizing her and getting her out of that mess, and they can't do that if they're worrying about you. So let's give them some room to work, and no doing anything crazy, alright? Lets let the adult geniuses handle this one."

"Alright." Ralph answered, nodding through his tears. "Mom, just hang on okay? Walter will save you. I know it. He won't let you die."

Walter felt a surge of feelings course through his veins at Ralph's words. He let Carly die. He couldn't let Paige die, too. But what if she did? Ralph would not recover from that betrayal.

"I'm… okay… Ralph…" She lied, forcing a smile just for him, albeit calmer than she had been. "I'll see… you… soon." Squeezing Walter's hand for support, suppressing the need to cry, she spoke again. "I love… you."

Walter's jaw clenched, as his chin twisted and eyes grew wet again in anger at the situation. It wasn't fair. It shouldn't be her. Not her.

"I love you, Mom."

"Alright come on, Ralph. Why don't we go get everyone some coffee? Do our part to help them out, yeah?" Ray's voice, using correct names, no sarcasm, and being genuinely kind and empathetic made both Walter and Paige feel the gravity of the situation.

Everyone, even Ray, knew the unlikelihood of her surviving this. It was coating them all like a weighted blanket they couldn't escape from.

"Alright. Toby's strapped up. We hooked him up to a wench off one of the trucks. Should be a little smoother than the rope and a hydrant." Happy's voice echoed in the small chamber they were in, distracting them from the heaviness of the moment. "Uh, Paige… you uh, don't go doing anything stupid, alright? Like dying. Dying would be very, very stupid. Besides, I don't know where you order the office supplies from and I really hate paperwork. So like, selfishly, I need you to not die. Do it for me." Her words were light, but her eyes, even on the tiny glowing rectangle, betrayed her.

"I'll do… my… best, Hap." Paige breathed out with a subtle smile.

"Happy… Your micro jack. Think it would work on this?" Walter asked, moving the phone around to give her full view of the structure positioned on Paige's mangled leg.

"I was thinking the same thing. It should, in theory, yes. I put it in Toby's bag. But simply lifting it to get her leg out is only issue one, Walt. You lift that wall, and everything settled atop of it shifts. You went down, you saw how much is teetering on it. You lift it even a hair too much, and the house of cards falls, and you're all dead."

"Understood. Sly? Can you run some numbers?"

"On it, boss." Sylvester answered, his use of boss not lost on Walter. Habit, he supposed. A habit he missed dearly.

"Walter… no…" Paige gasped out, grabbing his arm. "You have… to… get out… go… leave me. Please." The way she frantically pleaded for his life only furthered his resolve to save her however, because with it, it also gave him hope, that their love was still there just beneath the surface, that they could be together again.

"Not a chance. I'm not leaving without you. We will get you out. We will both be okay. You will hug Ralph again, Paige." She shook her head violently in opposition.

"No!... You'll… die!" She winced painfully with an audible groan, as her excitement made her shift and the wound around the rebar oozes fresh crimson into the fresh gauze. Forcefully, Walter took hold of her shoulders, pinning her still, trying to calm her down, terrified she'd bleed out if she didn't stop moving.

"Paige! Paige! Look at me! Look. At. Me!" Slowly, her chest rising and falling in rapid succession, she turned to capture his eyes, her alarm, pain and pure fear swirling deep in the depths of her dark eyes.

"Walter…" she whimpered, clutching his shirt with all her force, her eyes locked into his with such desperation. Walter stroked her cheek and her hair, her skin so cold beneath his touch.

"You have to stay calm! I know you're scared, but you can't get worked up like that… Or there's going to be no you left to save! Do you hear me?" He motioned to her bleeding abdomen, and she nodded through her scared, shaky movements. "I asked you once to have faith in me, and together we jumped off of an exploding building with nothing but an extension cord. I know I don't deserve it now, but I'm asking you, Paige, please… have faith that I'm right. I will save you. I will not let you die." He would save her, if it was the last thing he did.

She knew it.

Pulling him to her, pain searing hot waves through her hands and arms as she did, she kissed him. Soft, gentle, brief.

Pulling back, his eyes fluttered, and his lips tingled. It had been too long since he'd last felt the taste of her lips, had been so close to her he could feel her breath on his skin. It was dizzying, and extraordinary that she still after so many years had such an effect on him.

He missed her even more than he had even realized.

"So you… have… something… to live… for… too." Resting his forehead against hers, he smiled and released a light humored sound from his throat. She always did have a way of motivating him. "I've… missed… you."

"I've missed you, too. We'll fix everything when we get out of this hole. You have my word."

"Mine… too." Wiping away the wetness from his cheeks, he let his lips crash a bit fervently to her forehead, before rushing back to surveying her injuries and her entrapment.

It took Toby twenty-three minutes to reach them. It scared Walter. If it took him, able bodied, uninjured, twenty three minutes to descend the hole to where she was trapped, it would take easily twice that to get out with all of the climbing for he and Toby, but that didn't factor in Paige being seriously injured and unable to climb, walk, or even move without significant bleeding.

"Cabe. Tell Ralph that Toby made it down and we're stabilizing her injuries, please. And that once assessed, we will be attempting to free her leg." Walter instructed in his classic Walter, no nonsense, no emotion tone.

"You got it, kiddo."

"Walter, when you're ready, my best calculations, which I am reminding you again is based off of very dark video footage and rough estimates of size so is not the most accurate…" Sly started, his anxiety, and his fear of killing them all, loud and clear.

"I understand the risks, Sly. Just give me the numbers."

"Okay, you're going to want to place the jack 4.2 inches to the right of Paige's leg, and position it at an approximate 13.4 degree angle. Then you can only open it to a maximum height of 0.7 inches, or it is guaranteed that the house of cards will in fact fall on all of you." The way his voice rose with each word, both in volume and octave, had Walter and Toby locking eyes in a silent question of whether they're both on board. Toby nodded to Walter, and Walter nodded back.

Whatever it took.

"We got it, Sly. Thanks buddy. You did great. Look, if what we don't want to happen does happen, it's not your fault, pal. You hear that?" Toby took a deep breath, suddenly being hit with the possible sacrifice he was making.

"That does not calm me, Toby." Sly responded so dryly, as Happy patted his shoulder.

Together, Walter and Toby splinted Paige's left arm, which was clearly broken, mindful of the boy of bone looking through her flesh, set her right shoulder which was dislocated, bandaged her lacerations, and stabilized her left leg which had multiple crush injuries with a long splint, before turning their focus to her right leg which was pinned, and the giant penetrating wound being plugged by a rusty pole. Paige, stayed still at Walter's insistence, but screamed as they addressed her wounds, Walter holding her down and pleading with her to breathe when Toby set her shoulder.

He knew that was hardly the worst she would experience trying to get her out.

It killed him.

He would trade places with her in an instant if he could. Not a single part of her body wasn't badly injured, he knew, scientifically, the amount of pain she must be in. And he had once seen her cry when she got a papercut.

"Can't you give her something?!" Walter had cried to Toby seeing her writhe in pain.

"Not if you want her to be conscious and alert enough to get her out. You saw how challenging it's going to be, Walt. Even if she can't walk, we're going to need her to function."

He had begrudgingly agreed. Again, his emotions were getting the better of his logic.

Finally, the majority of her wounds stabilized, they were able to start on the major events.

"Here's the thing, Walt. If we free her leg before freeing her from this…" He motioned to the rebar. "...and the engagement tower does start to crumble, there's no chance of moving her in time. We'll have to leave her or die with her."

Paige began to tense again, her breathing erratic once more at Toby's comment. She couldn't allow them to die for her

"Calm. Remember? Calm, Paige. Just breathe." Taking a moment to settle her, as Toby added more gauze to her abdomen, and shined his flashlight behind her back to see the blood releasing on the other end, he eventually turned his attention back to Toby. "What are you suggesting we do? Just shifting in the slightest has her bleeding. Field surgery?"

"Well, as much as I love a good field surgery in the dark, in two inches of middy water, on an awake and unanesthetized patient who also happens to be one of my best friends, while the guy she loves assists and her son would be able to hear her screams as I gut her… judging by the location of the entry and exit points of the rebar, I'm going to assume that several organs and arteries, possibly even the aorta, are compromised. The rebar… It's literally holding everything together, Walt. Sealing off any damage. Tampanading the wound. There's no chance she would survive down here doing surgery. There's way too much at play. She needs an OR, with experienced surgeons, and anesthesia, and blood transfusion… sterile equipment."

"So I'm… going… to… die." Paige mused in, quietly, contemplative. Not freaking out. How Walter suddenly wanted her to go hack to freaking out.

"No, Paige. I just think we need to cut the rebar around you. Keep it in place to keep all your… guts… in place. You'll have to leave the hole with it still… uh, well, still… impaling you."

"Oh."

"I may be out of my league here, but how are you supposed to move her with a metal bar cutting through her? That was pretty treacherous to escape from before, and Walter wasn't even close to how deep you guys are now. If it shifts again…" Cabe asked, and without saying it, reminded everyone of what had transpired with Carly.

"Walt. It's the only way. We're just going to need to be very careful. And there's two of us this time." Toby advised, his soft calming voice at the ready.

Paige looked on confused by his 'this time' remark, and Cabe's 'again'.

"This… time?" She asked Walter, and saw the pain, regret, anger flash in his eyes. He didn't need to say anything. She knew instantly, he had tried to save someone just like her. Knew he had lost someone while trying to get to her.

"It's going to be okay, Paige. Toby's right. It's our only option."

"There's something I never thought I'd hear from 197…" Toby muttered to himself, lightening the suddenly very tense moment. Pulling out a battery powered reciprocating saw, he turned to Walter, a worried, solemn expression dancing on his features. "Walter… We're going to need to lift her up the rebar just high enough to get the saw in to cut it."

Fear immediately struck Paige's features. The pain was already unbearable.

"Walter… no… please…" Paige squeezed his hand, felt how weak she was already becoming, and felt the hot burning surges of pain through her abdomen, her chest, her legs, her arms. There wasn't a single spot on her body that wasn't in excruciating pain. Just Toby wrapping her leg and arm, setting her shoulder had made her want to die. Terror marked her breathing, and she began to tremble again. Toby froze. Walter was quick to stroke her cheek, kiss her head.

"Shh. Hey, it's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. I will not let anything happen, Paige. I won't lie to you, this is going to hurt. A lot. But that's the price to pay to get you up there to hug Ralph, to sleep in your bed, to eat that awful frozen yogurt you love so much, to have dinner with Mrs Ferguson down the road again. You have too much to live for to not fight, okay? I will do everything to make this as easy and pain-free as I can, but you have to fight for it, Paige."

"...and be… with… you."

"Yes, and me. So, you need to fight for us, okay?"

Turning to Toby, she nodded, and he in return kissed her head, like a brother worried for his sister. The guilt, worry and hesitance tattooed to his face.

"We'll go as quick as we can, okay?"

She nodded. What else was she to do?

"You ready?" Walter asked her when Toby motioned he was ready, stroking her hair which had become damp with sweat.

With trembling breath, heavy through her nostrils, and even shakier hands, she clenched her eyes tightly closed to mentally prepare herself for the onslaught of torturous pain to come, before opening them back up again, glassy and wet, and boring into his.

"Okay. I'm going to shift your body down the rebar, just a couple inches so Toby can get the saw in behind you." He advised, his eyes pooling with the guilt he felt, and she nodded anxiously. Moving to straddle her thighs, slightly to the side to avoid also being impaled, he took her arms and, very carefully, through her wincing in pain, placed them over his shoulders, an attempt to keep her from blocking Toby on instinct with her arms. Pressing his forehead to hers, he whispered. "Hold onto me, I won't let you go. I am not letting you go." Placing his hands around her torso, to settle on her back just around the entry wound of the rebar, he eyed Toby who gave an affirmative nod, and in one fell swoop, Walter pulled Paige's body several inches up the rebar.

"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!" She screamed out in agony, her hands clutching for relief on Walter's shoulders. His tears fell in earnest, as he whispered sweet nothings to her and rubbed at her back. She could feel her flesh being ripped and shredded by the rebar, could feel every single fiber of her muscles and skin as they burned. "AHHHHHHH!!!!" From her screams, they turned to tortured sobs. "STOP! PLEASE! STOP!!! I can't! Stop!" Toby immediately jumped in cutting through the rebar behind her as Walter supported all of her weight, trying desperately to keep her still.

"If you won, what would you buy?" He asked her, lounging on the couch as she waited for the lottery numbers to be announced.

"A big house on the water. Not some crazy mansion, but just big enough that all of the kids can have their own rooms…"

"You want more kids?"

"Yeah, if you do, of course. I always wanted a big family. Lots of little feet running around."

"Kids you shall have, then. So tell me about this house. I didn't picture you as a lakefront living type.

"No, not a lake. The ocean!" She closed her eyes to picture it, and he committed every word and the way she smiled at the images in her head, to memory. "With more windows than I'd ever want to clean, a beautiful deck, and a nice green lawn for the kids to play. A big garden where we can grow our own vegetables. And a tire swing! And there would be a room bathed in natural light, overlooking the ocean, that I could do my art in. And then every Sunday, we could host a team dinner with everyone, and invite Mrs Ferguson of course, because the dining room would be big enough to fit everyone with a ten foot long table. It would be the kind of house that no one knocks, they just know they're welcome at. That's what I would buy… if I won."

"Sounds like you'd be buying more than just a house."

"Absolutely. How about you? What would you buy?"

"I'd buy you your house."

"Shh, sweetheart. I got you. I got you. I got you. I won't let you go. Almost over. Almost. You can't move. Don't move. Please don't move. You have too much living to do, Paige. Cause when we get out of here… well, uh, well, I'm going to marry you. Yup. That's right. We're going to get married. And we're going to have babies. As many as you want, lots and lots of little feet. And we'll buy that big house overlooking the water, just like you always wanted, like that one you saw last summer. Ralph and I will mow the lawn and trim the hedges while you and… and our daughter - we're going to have a daughter with your smile - pick fresh produce from the garden for dinner--"

"No, stop! Please let me die! Ahhh!!!! I can't take anymore!!!" He swallowed a sob, holding her tighter than he thought could be possible, kissing her head closer to his chest.

"And we'll host big family dinners every Sunday. Everyone will be there. Ralph, Cabe and Ally, Sly, Happy and Toby, the Quintis baby, Mrs Ferguson. Everyone we love. And we can set fireworks off by the water, and watch the way it reflects. You love the way fireworks look over the water. And you can have an art room, with the best light. And we'll take a trip to Ireland. All of us. Go see my parents, do the tourist things you love so much. No working, just you getting to see the beauty of it all. Beauty I never noticed before I met you. I want to see it with you. I want to see all of it with you by my side. You're doing so great, Paige. I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. If i could take all of your pain away, I would." Walter cried, openly, showing such extreme vulnerability, as Paige continued to loudly cry out in pure, unendurable pain.

She felt a sudden jerking as her body shifted, followed by Toby shutting off the saw.

"Done!" Toby announced, rapidly moving to Paige's aid. "You okay?! Is she okay?!" He inquired so panicked, as he helped Walter to lay her back against her perch, a few inches away from where she was previously.

She turned her sweaty, pale face, coated in salty tears, a mess from ragged breathing, only to look directly at her blood coating the steel, rusty rebar she had just been cut away from sticking out beside her. The other half of it still taking up residence in her body - Walter holding it steady now that it wasn't attached to the cement anymore. She could feel every single nerve ending in her body. Could feel the hot, searing piercing of her flesh and bones. Could feel the metal shift each millimeter, like a fresh new stabbing in every movement. Could feel her crushed bones in her leg and her arm. Could feel how her muscles had torn away from the bones. Could feel the throbbing of her shoulder and her head. Could feel the burning of her skin down her back. She wanted to live, to have everything Walter was telling her, but the pain made her want to die. Just to end her suffering.

"Not a lot of bleeding. That's great, Paige. You are one serious rockstar." Toby assessed, looking at the wound. "Alright, I'm going to cut off the rebar on this side now, so it's just a small piece… uh… we're working with." Inside of you. She oddly appreciated his mindful word selections, however. "Then we need to stabilize it, so it hopefully can't and won't move when we move you out of here."

Tiredly, she nodded, but her eyes were on Walter. Only on him. Her eyes were barely open, so heavy and tired, but she could see him still. He was wetting a cloth one handed, and placing it to her head, trying so hard to soothe her, as he held the bar in place with the steadiest hand. Made sense, he was the steadiest person she'd ever known. She wished she'd come to realize that sooner.

"Hap, alert the medics to her condition please. She's going to need an O.R. with a trauma surgeon, a cardiothoracic surgeon, neuro surgeon, a general surgeon, an orthopedic surgeon… I mean, just… everyone. Just have them have everyone at the ready. Every body system she has is affected here." Toby called out to the phone, the terrified faces of Happy, Sly and Cabe visible.

"On it."

"I'll go update Ralphie-Boy." Cabe offered. "Paige, sweetheart. You are the most remarkable person I know. Keep it up, kiddo."

"Paige, I have no adequate words to describe what I am feeling. I'm just thankful that you are still here so that I can feel them." Sly added, his face white as a ghost, and no attempts at hiding his crying.

She didn't respond. Didn't really acknowledge anything. She was tired. So, so tired.

"Walt, shield her face." Toby instructed, and Walter used the damp cloth to drape over her face.

"Alright, Paige. Some more cutting. Just try not to move." Walter offered, before holding tightly to the rebar on either side of where Toby was to cut to keep it steady. He could feel the wetness of her blood coating his hand closest to her.

Toby powered on the saw, and began to cut, sparks of metal flying up as he did, and Walter turned his face away. Coming just to the end of the cutting, Toby took the length of the rebar in his free hand, so Walter could support Paige's weight and ensure she didn't fall flat, where the remaining rebar would shift. She still had about three inches coming out on her front and back that they needed to be mindful of. Cutting the last thread of metal, Toby tossed it behind them, as Walter assisted Paige to sit without moving the rebar, and removed the cloth from her face. Her skin lacked pigment, her eyes draining of the life she held.

"Walt, she's not looking so good. We need to speed this along, pal." Toby scurried, digging through their bags, finding medical tape, pads and gauze, and with Walter's help, they wrapped the rebar and packed her wounds, taping everything as securely as possible to avoid anything moving when they attempted to transport her.

"Paige. Come on, honey. We made it this far. Don't give up now!" Walter pleaded, patting her cheeks to rouse her.

"I'm… here… I'm… cold… and hurts." Weakly, she coughed out.

"I know, Paige. I know. You have to stay awake, though, alright? Stay with us. It's pretty chilly down here, and you're very wet, and have lost quite a bit of blood, plus you're in shock. You'll feel better when we get you out of here and can warm you up, get you some good drugs." Toby sighed in relief. "You know, Paige, the good news here is that the reason you're in so much pain is likely because you miraculously avoided a spinal resection. So, while it sucks now, at least you're not paralyzed. I suspect that your aorta is compromised, which is concerning, but thanks to scientific advances, the odds are good. Once we get you to the hospital, they'll likely use two PTA balloon catheters and stent implantations. Enter one from the axillary artery and the other from the femoral artery, to block the aortic injuries from above and below. Following that, they would have controllable bleeding--"

"I'll stay… awake… if you… stop… talking…" Paige interrupted, making both men laugh. Walter smirked at her, giving her a sip of water.

"Medflight is ready, Doc. Hospital is prepped and holding an O.R. with a full surgical team. They've been following the news." Happy came over the line. "And, Toby… I'm with the Waitress. Stop your squawking about blood balloons. It's creepy."

"Thanks Hap."

"Alright. We're ready, Walt. What do you say we free the princess and get us all the hell out of… well, Hell." Toby snarked out, looking around their underground prison. "This place is starting to give me the heebie jeebies."

"Yeah. Uh, sounds good… Paige? You ready? We need to free your leg now. And things may become unstable, so this will likely all happen very fast."

"I'm… scared." She wept, her chest rising and falling with great vigor as the nerves set in on what was about to occur.

"It's the only way, Paige. It's going to be fine."

"You guys… should… go…"

"Now, Paige, you know that 197 has already cornered the market on being a martyr. No room for you. Besides, look at this schmuck, you really think you're going to convince him to leave you behind? Please. You're getting out of this mess."

Walter gave her a slightly humored, and innocent smile.

"Cabe… tell Ralph…" She paused. She didn't even know what to say.

That she loved him?

That leaving him was the worst thing to consider?

"What is it, sweetheart?"

"Tell him… that I… tried."

Walter tensed.

They all froze.

"And tell him that I tried."

Carly.

She had tried.

"You're gonna tell him yourself when you get up here, kiddo." Cabe gruffly answered her, the memory of Carly dying in Walter's arms too fresh to remain composed. "...but I love you." He added, softening his tone.

Again, Paige was left confused by the reaction, but also recognized that Walter and the team had surely faced a lot just to find her.

"Wal-walter…"

"Yeah?"

"Don't… die. I want… that… house." The dopey smile on her face as her eyes closed made him smile.

He would get her out. He would get her that house.

Everything was going to be just fine.

"Noted." Kissing her head, he moved back to her leg. "Alright, Sly, confirm placement of the jack please." Toby held up the phone.

"Looks as right as it can look in a dark hole of death and destruction."

"Deep breaths big fella." Toby chided as Sly's voice squeaked.

"Alright. Jack is good to go. Everyone ready?" Walter asked.

"We're ready up here. Sly and I have a rig to help you guys get out, but you need to get to the top of the carnage. Medics are here and on standby." Happy answered.

"Ralphie was just updated. He's anxious to see ya, sweetheart. Just heard from Katherine Cooper, she worked her magic. Let's just say you're gonna be in the best surgical hands that the federal government can buy." Cabe added, so thankful to Katherine for pulling some favors. Or possibly making threats. He wasn't going to ask.

"Rescue teams are also on standby should anything… unfavorable, occur."

"Sylvester!" Several voices echoed.

"Sorry, I mean, we're as ready as we can be, boss."

"I'm ready to pull the leg as soon as you crank the jack, Walt. Just uh, try not to kill us all, okay? Happy raising a kid on her own wasn't exactly the deal." Toby nervously responded. He always cracked jokes when he was nervous. Walter had missed it.

"Appreciate that, doc."

"I will try not to kill us." The three occupants of the dark hole took a deep breath, sending silent prayers to the universe for a successful outcome. "Okay, three… two… one." Quickly he cranked the jack and they felt the stability of everything around them weaken, begin to shake, dust and debris trickling down. Paige screamed in pain as the structure crushing her leg moved.

"AHHHHH!!"

As soon as the cranks reached the maximum height per Sylvester, Walter yelled.

"Now! Now! Now! Now! Now!"

Toby, with a frightening force, yanked Paige's shattered leg from its confines as she screamed loud enough for the others up top to hear without the phone call, pulling it away from danger, as Walter very methodically lowered the structure back down. The feel of her broken bones being tossed around made her feel lightheaded.

"This is bad. The tibia is shattered. Her leg is like jello. And we need to get the hell out of here now Walt!" Tobia screeched, rushing to splint her leg with the first thing he could find, as the eerie sounds of creaking metal echoed around them, and a tree fell a few yards away. Walter jumped in, wrapping gauze around the makeshift splint made from the pipe she had used to alert him with.

"Let's go!" Grabbing the phone, he quickly and haphazardly taped it back to his chest, grabbed his bag, as did Toby, and swiftly, but carefully, they lifted Paige up, each to one side of her, supporting her upper body as her legs dragged along, and she wailed in pain. "Careful! Careful!"

"Watch out!" Toby yelled, halting them all back, as a metal beam shifted and fell in front of them. "I think it's safe to say that the house of cards is definitely falling!"

"Get your assessment put od there, now!!" Cabe yelled.

"Go, through there! Here, you go first. We'll have to pull her through." Walter pointed to where he had had to climb through a small opening to get to her, and together Toby and Walter maneuvered Paige's broken and battered body through.

"Ahhhh!"

Every step they made, every jostling of her body, she felt the burning pain, felt her body weaken, felt less alert. Walter's voice grew distant despite being right next to him, and her vision started fading.

"Up there!"

"Quick, on that!"

"Here, try this!"

"There! There!"

One particular movement and she felt a sharp pain, followed by popping sensation in her torso, before a severe dizziness wracked through her.

"Toby!!! Toby! She's not looking so good!"

"Paige! Paige! Come on! Stay with us! We're almost there!!!"

They made it forty seven minutes of vigorous climbing and maneuvering, ducking, turning, lifting and lowering.

Forty seven minutes of pure, debilitating torture.

"Walter… I can't… please" She coughed.

"Yes, you can. Come on, we're so close."

She coughed again, only this time, she splattered blood at them both.

"TOBY!"

"This is not good. Not good at all." Toby ran his hand over his face, as they lowered Paige down to lean against an overturned car, and Toby made quick work of examining her, taking her vitals, listening to her lungs. "All the movement, Walt. She's bleeding internally. We need to move now. There's no time."

"No…" Paige sighed. "No more… Please… no more." She was begging. So tired. So cold. So weak. So in need of being released from the pain. Desperate for reprieve. Could feel herself dying. Could feel her body shutting down.

"Paige…"

"I need… to… talk… to Ralph…"

"No. Not yet."

"Walter… I'm… dying… please… I need… to see… my son."

Her eyes bore into him, but he refused to accept this. She was going to be fine. They were so close.

"Walt. Let her talk to Ralph." Toby advised, a solemn, pained look, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Turning him away from Paige, dropping his voice to a mere whisper, he spoke again. "Her pulse is fading. Her breathing is erratic. She's bleeding into the pleural space. Her O2 levels are low. We're uh, we're not talking hours here, Walt. We're talking… well, she's not going to make it the rest of the way. Not like this. I'm so sorry."

Walter shed a tear, and scrunched his face in anguish, his fists balled in anger.

Anger at himself.

He had failed her.

He had promised to save her and he failed.

Again.

He couldn't deny her this last request and fail her with that too.

"Damnit. Cabe! Go!"

"He um, he's already running to get him, Walt." Happy quietly responded, the emotional toll evident in her tone.

They all knew. It had taken too long.

If he hadn't taken so long to find her.

If he had answered Toby's call the first time.

If he hadn't thrown away his life with her over a stupid lie, she wouldn't have even been here.

It was his fault.

She was going to die, and it was all his fault. He took a step away, wanting to give Paige whatever semblance of privacy he could with Ralph, when her voice stopped him.

"Walter… don't… leave… me…" Abandoning all thoughts, he rushed to her side, taking her hand in his.

"I'm not going to leave your side. I'm right here. I'm right here." Walter whispered to her, kissing her forehead, and trying to not feel as mentally destroyed as he was.

"M-Mommy?" Ralph cried, and Walter removed the phone from his chest, and turned it so Paige could see him. "Mom, no. Please. No. You have to fight. You can't give up!" The squeaking, broken voice of his psuedo-son, the way his lip quivered, and eyes pooled, undid them all, and Walter ducked his head into his arm to hide his turmoil.

"I'm so… sorry… Ralph… I wanted… to get… to you…"

"I know. I know, Mom. You tried so hard." Ralph's body shook with sobs. "But I'm not ready to say goodbye. Please don't say goodbye."

"Not… goodbye… just… see you… later." Walter choked back a sob at that. She had told him of how when Ralph was still just misunderstood, before they had met, she would bring him to school and he wouldn't leave her side, would beg her to not leave him. She would tell him it wasn't a goodbye, just a see you later. Because she would always come back to get him later. But this time, he wouldn't see her later. "I love you… more than… anything. You are… my… everything. You're… gonna… do… great… things… but… most… import… ant… just… be… happy. Find… happiness."

"I will. I will, Mom. I promise. I love you. More than everything. I couldn't ask for a better mom than you." Walter wiped the tear from her eye, as his own poured down his cheeks. "But, what's going to happen to me now? You're all I have. You can't go. You're all I have."

Paige froze, and shook with overwhelmed emotions, guilt, fears.

"Me. You have me. I'll take you, Ralph." Walter spoke up, rubbing his hand over Paige's cheek. She shed another tear, overcome with pride in this man she had taken for granted.

"But… Drew…"

"No, Mom. Please. I can't go there. He doesn't even like me."

"Paige. I'll fight for him. Whatever it takes. Drew never understood Ralph. He never even sees or talks to him. He doesn't know him at all. I'll take him. I'll see to it that he has a full and meaningful life, that he's happy, just like you'd want him to be. You have my word." Walter declared, pleading with her.

"We'll all be there, Paige. All of us. He won't be alone." Cabe declared, wrapping his arm around Ralph's shoulders. Happy nodded in agreement, as did Toby, who was trying and failing to hide his tears.

Ralph and Paige both cried at the finality of it all.

"I don't mean to ruin the moment, but legally, you can't, Walter." Sylvester chimed in, breaking the moment. "You're not married. You wouldn't have any grounds in court. Social services… a judge… they will send Ralph to live with Drew. I will do everything in my legal power, but I just don't see any avenue legally without a legal tie between the two you."

Ray stepped into the frame.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing that I stuck around today, eh? No need to commiseRAYte, my friends. What do you say, we have a little virtually hosted Scorpion wedding for our dear friends Wally and Penny?" Ray chimed in, offering some joy.

"Marriage certificates require a waiting period…" Sylvester added again, to which Happy smacked him. "Sorry, but it's true."

"We're hackers, nimrod. I think we can figure something out."

"Right."

Paige felt herself fading fast, this was too much to process.

"What do you say? Not exactly what I had in mind, but uh…" Walter pulled some loose wires from the car she rested against, twisting them into two perfect circles. "Will you marry me, Paige Dineen?"

Her body shook again, and they watched as blood soaked through the gauze around the rebar.

"Y-yes."

"Alright. And for the record, I'm still not giving up." Walter celebrated, taking her hands. "Ralph, you okay with this?"

"Yes… And the not giving up."

"Well alrighty then." Ray clapped his hands. '

"Friends, loved ones, we are gathered here around this giant hole in downtown Los Angeles to unite Walter and Paige - hey, I got it right!--" They all laughed, as Paige and Walter stared deep into each other's eyes. "--in holy matrimony."

"My mother will not be happy she wasn't invited." Walter whispered to Paige, trying to make her smile, making her struggle through a chuckle instead.

"Would you care to recite your own vows?" Questioning glances exchanged, Walter nodded, followed by Paige. "Alright. Walter, you have the floo-- uh, hole."

"Um, right. Okay. Well, Paige. Um… Meeting you, was the equivalent to one of the rarest scientific things to ever occur in Earth's history. The irony of us being here now, merging our lives legally, only furthers my consideration of this analogy as being the most suitable. You see, the first time this event happened, it gave rise to all complex life. The second, gave life to plants. Um, what I'm referring to was two separate, independent and unique organisms merging to become one single life form." She smiled, in a way that always made him feel weak.

"--One organism effectively swallowed another, the first giving the second protection and nutrients it didn't even realize it needed for survival, and in return the second gave the first a useful function. I don't know whom swallowed whom in our scenario, or how to make that sound more eloquent. I just know that in meeting you, my life became irrefutably entwined with yours in what could only be described as a rare phenomena." He stopped to wipe at her eyes, and give her a sip of water as she coughed up some more blood.

"--I knew I was no longer a lone organism the moment I first laid eyes on you. That I was meant to be with you. That everything I had previously believed of the world and of my life had been wrong. You gave my life function, much like the organisms do each other. In the case of plants, that crucial function was photosynthesis. For animals, a billion years before that, it was the introduction of mitochondria. And most recently, scientists have actually seen marine algae swallow up bacteria that can convert nitrogen from the atmosphere into ammonia, a crucial nutrient to plants, which they normally obtain through a symbiotic but separate relationship with bacteria. Truly fascinating. That's, uh, to say, like me trying to interact with the world, to make sense of it. I can do it, it's necessary, in my own mostly unsuccessful way. I make do."

"You do… great." She smirked.

"But by being with you, merging like the algae and bacteria, I can face the world, form a new life, be truly successful in all avenues of it. You make my world, the whole world, a better place. You've given me reason to evolve, to grow, to adapt to a harsh world. My life was made infinitely better when I met you, and I apologize if I haven't always done a great job of explaining that. I love you, Paige Dineen. And for as long as this universe allows me, I won't stop trying to protect and nourish you."

They both sobbed, and Happy slung onto Sylvester, as Toby tried to offer some semblance of intimacy to the pair. Cabe kept his arm firmly around Ralph, so worried for the boy as Ray held the tablet.

"That's… so… Walter…" Paige laughed. Her breathing becoming very difficult, raspy, with coughs strangling her.

"Sorry." He answered sheepishly.

"Wal… Walter… I love… you. I have… never… felt as… safe… and seen… as I do… when I'm… with you. You gave… my life… meaning… gave me… a purpose… showed me… so much… advent--ure. Made me… a better… mother… Gave us… a home… a family. You… still… give me… butter--flies… when you… look at… me. And it's… not just… the rebar… stabbing… through me…" Toby covered his mouth in laughter as Walter shot her a horrorstruck look at her dark humor. "I was… so wrong… about… every--thing. I'm so… sorry… I have so… many… regrets--" She flew into a bloody coughing fit, and Walter was quick to her aid, giving her another sip of water. "Thanks. I've missed… you… every… single… day. And I… will miss… you… forever… I will love… you… forever. In… every… lifetime. You've… always… been… the one. You… are… my… better… half." Again, she started coughing up blood, and Walter tried so hard to focus on her life, rather than how short she had left. "Promise… me… you'll keep… evolving… don't shut… down. Or… put me… in a… coffee… can."

Holding his forehead to hers, his mouth and jaw trembling with silent pain.

"I promise, Paige. I promise."

Ray, cleared his throat, no hiding his turmoil.

"Well, um. Do you, Walter, take Paige to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this moment forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do you part?"

A sob escaped his throat as he held so tightly to Paige, matched by her own, and a pooling of blood.

"I do. Indefinitely."

"Don't cry…" She pleaded with him as she slipped the wire ring onto his finger, but it was of no use. The flood gates were wide open. The dam had broken, and there was no quick concrete to fix this one.

With everyone.

"And do you, Paige, take Walter to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this moment forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do you part?"

She lifted, painfully, her hand to his face, using her thumb to wipe at his tears. The pain in her abdomen was lessoning, despite the fresh blood coming out from her movement. While it was a relief, she knew it wasn't a good sign.

"I do. Forever." Walter kissed the heel of her hand, before slipping her twisted wire band up the length of her trembling finger, to which she instantly intertwined them. She felt her breathing grow erratic and unpredictable. Her lungs hitch, filling with fluid - blood she presumed. Felt things growing darker, her vision changing, and smells around her change into something she didn't quite recognize. It frightened her. Felt her fingers and toes going cold.

But she could see his eyes, Walter's beautiful eyes. She would hold onto that sight.

"Then by the power vested in me, by the state of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Wally… kiss your bride!"

"I love you." Walter whispered.

"I love you." Both their faces coated in tears, a wash of pain, grief, joy and love.

Gently, Walter kissed his bride.

"Please don't leave me now." He begged her, as he felt her limbs go limp.

"I love… you… all…" She squeaked quietly, slowly looking around to Toby and the phone to see the others.

"I don't accept this." Happy muttered, before leaving the frame of the video call.

"Ralph… my best… life… is… you…" Her breathing slowing exponentially, her eyes grew heavier and heavier. "Take… care… of… each… oth--"

And just like that, her eyes slipped closed, her breath stopped, and her head rolled back.

"No, no, no! No. Come on. Come back. Come back to me! We're just getting started, Paige!" Walter begged hysterically, shaking her as blood oozed from the gauze around the rebar, and put her mouth.

"Mom! Mom!!!!! Wake up!!! Mom, please wake up! You always come back later, that was the deal!!!! You always come back! You promised me!" Ralph screamed, so loud it echoed from the top of the hole where he stood, and from the phone.

Not one sound was heard over their cries. Time stood still.

"It's not enough!! It's not enough!!!"

--

Funeral guests began to filter out, walking the grassy hills back to the caravan of cars. But he couldn't move. Felt frozen. Other than twirling that wire ring round and round his finger. Round and round and round it went, for days. It was beginning to leave a callous.

It was all his fault. He'd run through it all a million times in his head. Everything he could have done differently. Had studied the video footage to see where he had gone wrong. Had agonized over his decisions.

"It's not your fault, Walter." Ralph spoke so softly, he almost didn't hear him. "I know you're blaming yourself. But you're not at fault. You did everything you could to get her out. She knew that." Walter briefed a quick questioning glance at him. "I, uh, may have watched the video Toby recorded."

"Ahh." He really wished he hadn't done that, but he couldn't fault him for it either. He would have done the same thing. He had done the same thing.

"There's nothing you could have done differently, Walter. You did everything you could."

"Yeah." He didn't believe it. He stared at the casket, deep within the ground, dirt and flowers covering its lid from the ceremony. He had rushed. Had he not rushed, she would be alive right now.

"Yeah."

Standing for several long minutes, Walter, desperate for distraction, turned back to Ralph.

"You ready?" Ralph stared ahead for a moment, before nodding.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Okay. I want to make a pit stop on the way home if you're up for it."

"Sure."

Patting Ralph's shoulders, they both took one last solemn glance at the grave, the casket, the headstone, before turning and following the path the rest of the group had taken back to the cars.

Twenty minutes later, they pulled up outside of a large, beautiful house, a 'For Sale' sign out front, and a beautiful view of the ocean as it's backdrop.

"Why are we here?" Ralph asked from the passenger seat, taking in the sights, as Walter parked the car.

Walter just sat for a moment, looking at the house, the green lawn, the sunny day on the water which would no doubt turn into a perfect night to set off fireworks. He smiled, an expression that was nearly unreadable.

"I made a promise. Come on. You can pick out your room."

"But Walter… we can't afford this."

It was expensive. Way too expensive. But Cabe had made it clear to him that the rewards he was being offered for his heroics were not going away. Maybe something good could come from it. Honoring her dream. The rest he'd donate to a charity she loved.

"Let me worry about that. You worry about how I promised your mom that you'd mow this lawn at the house she always dreamed of. Come on."

Ralph tried to hide his face as he wiped at his eye, but Walter saw it. He wouldn't make a big deal of it, though. So, together, a kaleidoscope of emotions between them, they exited the car and walked toward the future.

"Hi, I'm Walter O'Brien, this is my son, Ralph. I believe you were expecting me?" Walter introduced himself to the realtor, as they made their way to the front door.

--

"I think the service was really nice. Not something I had ever given much mind to before, but I think it was done well. Umm, tasteful. I wasn't prepared for everything I felt. Finality, death, it never really bothered me before. Not like this. I missed Megan when she died, but it was different. This was just so… I don't know. Megan was sick. It was expected. This… I can't help but feel responsible." Walter declared, a bit ashamed of having been so emotional. "I just can't stop the images in my head. How she's not here because I failed. Try as I may, they won't get out of my head. Logic and reason have ceased to exist, and I just keep seeing her face."

"That's understandable, Walter. Even if it's not logical, it is valid. It's real. You went through a major trauma. You don't handle not being able to solve a problem well. You've always been able to fix things, save the day, usually by the skin of your teeth. But not saving everyone doesn't make you a failure. It makes you human. You tried, did everything to save her. She knew that. But you're not God. Some injuries are too great. Some events are just too much to be saved from."

"Maybe… I don't know. I'm sorry for bringing it up. I don't really want to talk about it anymore." He sighed, rubbing his hand over his face.

"Okay. What would you like to talk about?"

"This." He pulled out the realtor's brochure for the house he had gone to see.

"What is this?"

"It's the promise." Flipping it open, he thumbed through until he saw one particular photo, before turning it to be seen. "This is the room Ralph picked. Solid selection. And this…" Pointing to another photo, a room bathed in stunning sunlight, and lots of windows overlooking the ocean… "Well, this is the art room."

With a gasp, she took the proffered booklet, a tear slipping down her cheek.

"Walter…" With casted hands, she covered her mouth, pure awestruck.

"Paige, standing there today at Carly's funeral with Ralph, watching her son throw dirt on her casket, watching the rescue teams pull out all of those bodies last week, those people, seeing all the families… Telling Carly's son her final moments… I just kept thinking how it was almost you. It was you. You died down there, Paige. I lost you. Had Happy not rigged her already haphazard rig with that backboard and came down when she did… you'd be dead. The permanent kind. Fourteen people fell into that sinkhole, and only three survived. It could have been you."

"Oh Walter."

He hadn't spoken about anything heavy since she had woken up in the ICU, battered, bruised, casted, and a lot of sutures holding her together, but alive. He had cried, held her, kissed her when she awoke. She could tell he had carried the weight of the world, and all of the deaths on his shoulders, but she knew he was trying to make sure she didn't also carry it, worried about her recovery. The others had filled her in some, about what he had experienced in trying to get to her, but she hadn't wanted to push him, was waiting for him to come to her. He always did… eventually.

When he and Ralph had arrived at the hospital that morning to see her, wearing their black suits, he had told her. Told her about everything. Told her about Carly. Told her about how he had rushed to get Carly out, not thinking through the possible consequences, not assessing the situation logically, because he had had tunnel vision in finding her. Told her how he blamed himself. How he had promised to check in on her son, make sure he was okay. Told her of the parallels between the two women. That he would attend the services, he had to, he needed to.

She had been so proud of him. And had deeply regretted leaving him, finally seeing all the progress he had made, but had been blind to at the time.

Not dying had been a nice treat, but not dying, and being witness to Walter being the man she loved so much, and always knew he could be, was something pretty remarkable. Waking up and having a twisted wire ring encircling her ring finger had also been a nice alternative to dying.

Plus, the pain meds were top notch.

"Look, Paige… I know we haven't really discussed it. I'm not so naive that I'm not aware that getting married was so that I could stand a chance in taking custody of Ralph, that you were dying and not in any state…"

"Walter, no…"

"It's okay, and if you don't want to go through with it, I would understand. It was, um, sudden, and under uh, duress. I didn't want to stress you out while you were in the ICU, so I haven't filed the certificate, wanting to talk with you first. I'm just thankful that you're alive. Nothing else matters." He wouldn't make eye contact with her, and she knew this must have been one of the many things breaking his spirit this past week. Not knowing if what they had was real, or crisis born.

"Walter, I didn't marry you just so you could take in Ralph, or because I was scared and dying." He looked up, surprised by her declaration. "I married you because I wanted the rest of my life to be spent as your wife, loving you, being loved by you. Being one life form. However long that was going to be… I love you. Yes, it was rushed on account of the dying thing, but that doesn't mean it wasn't real."

"So, you, uh, want to um, be married… to me?"

Nearly her entire body was in a cast, all of her limbs, her abdomen thickly bandaged, with drains coming from it. Her skin was yellowing from the deep purple bruising everywhere. She still had another week or two in the hospital, and then a stint in a rehab, which was slated to be long and challenging. But overall, her medical team was very optimistic about her recovery. Short of being able to go through metal detectors with the amount of screws, plates, and metal mesh in her, she would be able to lead a normal life once she was, quite literally, back on her feet.

Walter came every day with Ralph, and the others, to visit her. He assisted in feeding her, something she was struggling with given her bilateral broken arms, checked on her care, read her her favorite book, Treasure Island, adjusted her pillows. But conversation was always light. When visiting hours were over, he would take Ralph home and care for him as promised.

He had changed since she walked out on him. Or perhaps she had changed. Perhaps they both had. Maybe, neither had changed beyond being able to see each other better. Regardless of what the change was, she was thankful for it. It was a good change.

And while nearly dying had been a miserable experience, and she had months ahead of her of painful recovery, she was so grateful she fell into that sinkhole, because it brought them to each other, and while physically painful it may be, the future together held hope, promise and was so bright.

"I have always wanted to be married to you, Walter O'Brien. I meant every word I said to you in that sinkhole. I'm just sorry it took nearly dying for us to figure it out."

"Yeah, me too. Perhaps, we could work on being able to communicate better, without anyone dying." She smirked, as he ran his thumb over her ring. "I love you, Paige. And I want to file the certificate. I want to be a husband to you, a father to Ralph. And I want to buy us this house and give you everything you have ever dreamed of, just like I promised you."

"It's beautiful, Walter. But isn't it a bit much?" The look he gave made it clear he didn't think so.

"You said you wanted a big family. And the dining room can fit a big table for Sunday dinners."

"And fireworks on the water."

"Precisely."

"This is insane." She watched him spin her wedding wire in circles and smiled. "You're insane."

"Insanely in love with you, my dear."

"Well, I may have fallen into a sinkhole, but I have also fallen in love with you, all over again, Walter O'Brien. Thanks for sinking with me."

"I'll follow you to the center of the Earth, Paige. Always."

THE END.