CAN I GET A WITNESS?

CHAPTER ONE: MIDNIGHT FLIGHT

AN: Welp, here I am again. I thought I might be done. Silly me.

oxoxoxoxoxo

"Do you think we've made it out of the city yet?"

The whispered question startled him out of his thoughts as did the sound of her fingers scrabbling across the blanket searching for his hand through the suffocating darkness. He curled his own fingers around her slim wrist, automatically finding her pulse and reassuring himself by calculating the number of steady beats per minute.

"You should be sleeping," He whispered back.

The thin mattress creaked in protest as she turned toward him. "I can't. At least not until I know for sure we've made it out of LA safely."

He sighed. He knew she wouldn't rest until he gave her an answer. Even someone with a seriously underdeveloped EQ could understand why she would be anxious.

At first, he considered lying. Just a little white lie to give her some peace, but being untruthful hadn't served him well in the past. In fact, in a round-about way, this whole awful situation began with a stupid lie. So, he chose the truth, whether or not it was the most human thing to do.

"Not yet. Judging by the traffic noise and the number of regular stops we're still making. Try not to worry. Happy and I mapped a circuitous route to make sure we aren't followed. And she's taking her time because she doesn't want to draw unnecessary attention to the truck by speeding or careening around corners like she normally does. Now, please lay back down. You've only been out of the hospital for a few hours."

She hesitated for a moment as if to argue, then she withdrew her hand. He could hear the covers rustling as she did as he'd suggested.

"Is there any chance…? Would you lie down with me?" Paige asked weakly once she was settled.

Walter nodded even though she couldn't see him. "Oh… Of-of course. If it would help you to relax."

Feeling around for the edge of the blanket, he lifted it and scooted underneath next to her. He took a second to shut his eyes and breathe in her familiar scent. Mixed as it was with the antiseptic odor of the hospital that lingered on her skin, it still brought him a measure of comfort. She snuggled against him, curling close around him, sharing her warmth. It felt so right. He'd been so homesick for her a clot of useless tears lodged in his throat. Walter clutched her against his heart, once foolishly believed to be only an efficient circulatory muscle, holding tightly to what he'd nearly lost for good.

It's strange how grief and fear have the ability to help with focus. The extraneous nonsense falls away and one is able to see clearly what is truly important. When Paige had been shot, the entire team immediately dropped all of their petty grievances and worked together as if nothing wrong had ever happened between them.

Sure, they'd all eventually said their 'sorry's, but it was background noise compared with the urgency of helping Paige and Ralph stay safe. There'd simply been no room for blame or anger anymore.

The threat started as a result of one of Centipede's cases. A shady one they shouldn't have taken on without Walter or Homeland backing them up. Ralph got involved because, without Walter's hacking skills, they'd had to rely on the boy's superior abilities and intellect.

How ever it went down didn't really matter. What ultimately mattered was the information Ralph had stumbled upon in the process. Even after the hard-drive was stolen and destroyed by the criminal enterprise, the evidence was retained in the teen's perfect memory. His testimony became absolutely essential to the state's case against the ring leaders.

Thus putting him in imminent peril.

The US Marshals snatched them up and put mother and son in a 'safe' house. It turned out to be a not-so-safe-house when they were ambushed not thirty-six hours later.

Paige had been injured acting as a human shield for Ralph, but she'd survived. The officer assigned to guard duty wasn't so lucky, but his demise had bought the little family the extra seconds they'd needed to escape. They'd barely gotten away with their lives when they'd burst from a side door. She'd cleverly shoved her son into the killer's running car, ensuring they wouldn't be followed, and sped to the nearest hospital. She'd been shot twice, but adrenaline, sheer will and her protective instincts gave her the strength to find help before she'd collapsed from blood loss.

Walter had come within a hair's breadth of a devastating loss of his own that terrible day. The weight of the guilt was onerous. If only he'd been there. If only he'd never taken the most important relationships of his life for granted. If only he hadn't lied… None of it would've happened.

If Walter's sense of responsibility was heavy, Ralph's was crushing. His mother had almost died protecting him and the police officer did die. Right in front of him. The boy had seen everything. Living with those facts became unbearable at times. So Toby sat at Paige's bedside spending countless hours quietly counseling the young genius through it all. Ralph still had some issues, but Walter thought perhaps he'd turned a corner. He and Toby agreed, removing him from the city for a while would be the most helpful thing they could do.

As usual, Walter hadn't been able to make himself sit still watching a pale, listless Paige fighting to recover. He simply wasn't built that way. So while she was in the hospital, he busied himself plotting to get her and Ralph out of harm's way and making all of the arrangements instead. The next attempt to get them away from those seeking to eliminate them would not include the US Marshals. That department obviously had a serious leak. They couldn't be trusted to keep Walter's newly reunited family safe.

Oh, they'd pretended to cooperate, but in reality they Scorpion-ed the hell out of the entire situation. Cabe risked his badge by feeding the Feds false information. He'd sent the Marshals in their unmarked vehicles to escort an empty van to another of their unsafe houses, while Happy drove the huddled trio out of the city concealed in the back a U-Haul full of furniture.

As the truck trundled in a vaguely northeastern direction, Walter shuddered as he calculated the odds of being discovered. The plan was solid, but he wouldn't feel totally confident until they arrived at their destination in one piece.

"I can't believe Ralph's asleep." There was a smile in the tired mom's tone.

As if on cue, the boy stirred and snorted somewhere on the other side of Walter.

"He's always had an uncanny ability to sleep in the oddest of circumstances. And you need to get used to calling him 'Julian'. I know it's not easy, but it's for his safety."

"I know. I'll try. Why did Happy pick 'Julian' for his new ID anyway? He doesn't look like a 'Julian'. And just so you know, Ralph aka 'Julian' hasn't slept well at all these past months. Not since… Well, having you back around has made him feel secure again in spite of the circumstances." Paige shifted and nuzzled her face against Walter's neck. Her sleepy voice contained a hint of sadness as she'd murmured that admission in his ear, "I wanted you to know that. You being back in his life has made all the difference. I'm grateful for everything you're doing for him. And-and for me."

Ralph's total confidence in him was both blessing and curse at times. Walter absolutely could not fail them like he very much feared he might.

"How could I do anything else? What good is my intelligence if I don't use it to help the ones I love? I would never forgive myself if-if anything happened to either of you and I hadn't done everything in my power to prevent it." He wasn't certain he would survive it. He couldn't bring himself to say those words aloud, but he could admit it to himself. Even losing the two of them for the short time after the break-up had been difficult enough to hinder his cognitive abilities and rob him of both appetite and sleep. If he lost either of them permanently… Well, it was unproductive to dwell on it.

Walter kissed her forehead softly. To lighten the mood, he changed the subject. "What have you got against 'Julian'? It's not so bad. At least Happy didn't saddle him with Josiah. I don't know what a Josiah is supposed to look like, but I'm pretty sure I don't resemble one, whatever it is."

She muffled a little laugh against his shoulder. "I think I'll start calling you Joe. You don't look much like a Joe either, but it's a little bit better fit for you than Josiah."

"I believe I can live with that."

They both fell quiet. To Walter's relief, it wasn't long before Paige's breathing grew calm, deep and even. He'd distracted her from her worries long enough for her to fall asleep. It was the least he could do.

He lay there, still as a statue, afraid to disturb her as he listened for a sign they'd made it out of Los Angeles undetected and alive.

He must've fallen asleep eventually, because the next thing he heard was a loud, metallic clatter as Happy opened the retractable door. Her rudely bright flashlight beam flooded the trailer and pierced his eyes as Walter squinted to focus.

"Up and at 'em, slackers," Happy whisper yelled, "We made it to the first rendezvous point."

Paige groaned and shielded her eyes as she and Walter wriggled out of each other's embrace and struggled to sit up.

In contrast, Ralph nearly bounded up and asked agitatedly, "So, no issues then? No one tailing us, I guess?" When Happy flashed him the okay sign, he scrambled toward the open door and down the ramp, his eyes darting back and forth, taking in as much of the surroundings as he could see with only moon and starlight to illuminate them. "Will Cabe, I mean, um, 'Grandpa', be here soon?" It was clear he was also counting on the older man to protect him and his mother from danger. Walter was the brain and Cabe was the brawn and Ralph placed all his faith in both of them.

Happy offered him a crooked smile. "He won't meet you until the final leg of the trip, but last time I checked, Toby and Allie were about twenty minutes out. Give or take."

Walter emerged from the stuffy interior of the U-Haul and inhaled a deep lungful of fresh air. It appeared they'd made it to the abandoned gas station. The one in the desert they'd chosen as the initial meeting point.

Paige stepped onto the truck's exit ramp and wobbled slightly. Walter grabbed her elbow to help her regain her balance. "Careful," he ordered, concern for her making his tone more curt than intended. "We can't afford for you to reinjure yourself."

She reeled again briefly and pressed the heel of her hand to her temple. "I'm okay. I think I just stood up too fast. That's all."

"You lost a lot of blood. Toby said you can expect to be dizzy. What you can't expect is to be at full capacity yet. You need to remember to take it slowly and ask for help."

Paige gave him a mocking two-fingered salute.

Walter chose to ignore the sarcastic gesture. He jumped to the ground, turned and reached up for her. Careful to avoid her injuries, he grasped her around the waist and gently helped her down beside him.

"As soon as Toby gets here, we'll need to change your dressings." He tapped his watch to illuminate the face. "Oh, and it's time for your antibiotic. Are you in any pain? Do you need to take something?"

"I'm fine for now." Paige replied patiently as Walter guided her to sit on the truck's rear bumper.

When he stalked off purposefully to get her medicine, Happy looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Is his fussing making you crazy yet?" She asked.

Paige's lips twitched into a wry smile. "I'm trying to remind myself why he's fussing instead of focusing on the fussing itself."

"I'm afraid I'd hafta kick the crap outta him. You're a much better woman than me. And if you tell anyone I said any of that, I'll call you a dirty liar."

As Walter was returning with Paige's medication and a bottle of water in hand, the group saw two pinpricks of headlights up a hill in the distance. There was a tense few moments when the older genius hustled Ralph and Paige inside the derelict building to hide until the approaching vehicle could be identified.

"It's them," Happy hissed through a boarded-up window after she'd verified the coast was clear. "You guys come on out."

oxoxoxoxoxo

"That restroom was disgusting."

"We're fleeing dangerous criminals who are influential enough to have someone at the US Marshals' office on their payroll and that's what bothers you?" Walter smirked at the boy who was his son in every way but biologically. The interior of the van was dim, but they could just make out each other's facial features.

Ralph gave him a caustic look in return. "Don't be absurd. I've run the odds. I'm trusting we have a better than average chance your plans to get us to safety will succeed. We weren't working with geniuses before. When we work together, Scorpion always wins." The kid shrugged as if the matter was settled. However, Walter knew Ralph was anxiously trying to convince himself. "I'm just stating a fact. That restroom was disgusting."

"Agreed. But we didn't have much of a choice. We couldn't run the risk of meeting the others somewhere that's still open for business. We could've been recognized or caught on camera. Don't forget the prosecution's office and the Marshals are looking for us now as well."

"I know," Ralph's gaze flitted across the carpeted floor to his sleeping mother. "Do you think the environment was clean enough to… you know, tend to Mom's wounds, though?"

Ah, that explained the comment about the lack of cleanliness. Ralph and Walter had to observe while Toby changed Paige's dressings. It would be their responsibility to see to her medical needs from that point forward. Every time she'd given the slightest indication of pain, the boy had shown signs of distress. Walter couldn't blame him. It wasn't easy for him to watch either.

He reached over and patted Ralph's shoulder bracingly. "I know it looked bad, but Toby assures me she's healing nicely and the surroundings don't need to be sterile as long as the gauze and saline are. It's just going to take some time for her to get completely better. Okay? I think our biggest challenge is going to be keeping her from trying to do too much once we're settled."

Ralph lapsed into distracted silence for quite a while until Walter began to wonder if he'd nodded off again.

"I'm going to miss everyone." The youngster whispered forlornly after a while. "When do we meet up with 'Grandpa', anyway?"

"Oh, we, uh, decided we needed an additional diversion. I haven't had a chance to tell you this part of the plan, have I? After he lied to the authorities, we figured Cabe is going to be watched closely even though he had a handy excuse waiting when they questioned him. He will join us as soon as he can 'shake his tail'. His words, not mine. So we figure he'll be able to meet with us later today at the next rendezvous spot. For this part of our elaborate shell game, I sent Sly, Toby and Allie under false names on different bus routes to Las Vegas. Sly rented this van with a fake ID and credit card. Then he drove…" At Ralph's shocked look, Walter responded with, "I know. He amazes me sometimes. There really is no limit to what he would do for you and your mom. I hope you realize that. Anyway, he drove to a nearby casino and left it in the lot. Toby and Allie were waiting for him. They changed the license plates to Utah ones Happy found in a junk yard and put magnetic signs for a fake catering company out of Provo on the sides. Sly grabbed a cab to the bus station and is taking a long, winding journey back to LA under his fake name. Happy gave Toby a remote jammer for the cameras in the parking garage so none of our crew would be seen with the vehicle after Sylvester parked it initially." The long explanation seemed to do the trick and calmed Ralph's mind for that moment as he sat there considering the convoluted plan instead of dwelling on his mother's injuries or being separated from their extended family for an undetermined amount of time.

There had been quite a few tears when Toby and Happy hopped into the cab of the U-Haul and headed back to LA together. None of them knew for sure when they'd see each other again. Even though time was precious, Walter couldn't seem to stop thanking the couple. Their assistance had been vital.

However, the fleeing fugitives still had many miles to go. So with assurances they would contact the rest of the team when it was safe, Paige, Ralph and Walter climbed into the back of the van and let Allie shut the doors, blocking what might be the last view they'd have of their friends for a long while before they drove away in opposite directions.