"The password. Now."
Walter shook his head.
SMACK
That was the fourth time that Walter had been slapped, and he was close to just giving his kidnappers the damn password, just to save his skin from sloughing off.
But if he did, he knew millions could die, and he most definitely wasn't going to let that happen.
Besides, Walter knew the team, minus Sylvester, were in the building, probably looking for him.
There were 30 levels, so Happy and Toby were searching 1-10, Cabe was searching 11-20, and Paige and Walter had been searching the 21-30 floors.
Walter had been snatched on 27, but Paige had thankfully been in the elevator, and got away.
He hoped that she had found the others.
Walter knew that they were aware of his capture, anyway.
(Thank goodness for coms.)
Unfortunately, Walter's had been knocked out while he struggled, so they had no idea what floor he was on (the 30th), and there were no security cameras, so they would have to find him the old fashioned way.
Walter sighed.
Could this day get any worse?
He silently cursed himself for speaking (or thinking) too soon, because almost as soon as the thought had crossed his mind, the door burst open, and two other goons filed in.
The one in the back threw a woman onto the floor in front of Walter's feet.
"Look what we found," one of them sneered in disgust, almost as if she was covered in fleas.
But she was quite the opposite.
She was the most beautiful woman Walter had ever laid eyes on, with big doe eyes of chocolate brown, and chestnut brown waves that put the shiniest silk to shame.
It was Paige.
~
"Walter," she croaked, propping herself up on her elbows so she could look at the genius.
The men in the room raised their eyebrows.
"You know each other?" the ringleader said, not really a question.
His lips curled into an evil smile, and turned to face the others.
"I think I have a way to make our friend put in the password."
He calmly strode toward the woman crumpled on the floor, and Walter started to struggle in the chair he was bound to, hating to see such an awful man near his precious Paige.
He crouched down and started to lift her chin, but she jerked away, and gave him the fiercest scowl she could muster.
"What's your name, sweetheart?" he asked, pretending to sound concerned with the state she was in.
"None of your business," she spat, sounding meaner than she felt.
The man frowned at her attitude, and stood up.
Suddenly, Walter could hear Paige's screaming, and saw that the man had yanked her up by her hair, and was forcing her to a pole in the middle of the room.
He roughly forced her to put her arms behind her back, and around it.
After some struggling, he managed to tie her up, and turned to smirk at Walter.
"Your little lady friend will be okay unless you don't put in that password."
Walter was stuck.
He knew the greater good would be to not put the password in, killing himself and Paige, but saving a great deal of people.
But he still hesitated.
He made up his mind.
He would not let Paige die, but he wasn't exactly going to give the kidnappers what they wanted, either.
"I'm not giving you the password," Walter said calmly, glancing at Paige.
Her eyes were wild with fear, and she had a gash on her forehead, but other than that, she appeared fine.
For now.
The man's frown grew darker, and he swiveled on his heel to face Paige.
She immediately tried to back up as far as she could, fully knowing that she wasn't going anywhere.
Paige heard her face being smacked before she actually felt it.
But soon, the stinging sensation spread all down the side of her face, and she bit her lip to keep from crying out.
"Paige!" Walter exclaimed.
The man turned to face Walter again.
"The password."
But still, Walter refused.
That is, until the man reached out for Paige again.
"Walter," she whispered.
Walter had a choice here.
Watch Paige get tortured, and eventually get killed, or put in the password.
Either way was scary.
Who knew if the goons would keep their promise and release them as soon as they were given what they wanted.
"Wait!" Walter called.
"I'll do it!"
Paige started shaking her head.
"No, Walter! Don't!"
But he was already untied, and he had already started typing.
Paige struggled, yelling "No!" every few seconds, some with "Don't do it!"
And then there was a boom, and there were nine gunshots, and Walter immediately stopped typing and dropped to the floor.
Walter looked up to find that Cabe, Happy, and Toby were now standing in the middle of the room, and all the men were lying on the floor, dead.
Walter leaped up and raced to Paige to untie her.
"Hey," he said gently, cupping her face, and staring into her eyes.
"Are you alright?"
She just shook her head and started to cry, leaning into the genius.
The two sank down to the floor, and Walter held the woman as she tried (and failed) to stop sobbing.
The other three just stood there and watched, in awe of how much EQ Walter was showing.
But it was Paige, after all.
And they knew when it came to her, everything else was thrown out the window.
~
