Darien paced around the Keep, waiting for Maggie. She'd skipped the Official's morning meeting in favor of some extra sleep and promised him she'd be in by eleven. It was almost noon.
"She probably just slept through the alarm Darien." Claire tried to reassure him. "Now sit down before you wear a hole in the floor. You're making me nervous."
"What if she got in a car accident? Or fell down the stairs?" He asked as she led him to an extra chair.
Claire sighed exasperatedly. "Did you call her?"
"Yeah. She wasn't home."
"She probably stopped to eat. If she doesn't show in a half hour, we'll be worried. Okay?" She looked at Darien. When he nodded, she turned back to her computer.
As Claire was reassuring Darien, Maggie stalked down the hallway of the Agency. Hobbes headed toward her from the other direction.
"There you are, Kitten. Fawkes' been worried sick. Where ya been?"
"None of your business."
"You okay Maggie? What's with the glasses?" He tried to reach for her sunglasses but she evaded his hand.
"Get out of my way Bobby." Maggie tried to go around him but he moved to cut her off. She hit him across the jaw hard and he went down unconscious. Maggie continued walking toward the Keep.
The door to the Keep opened with a shushing noise and Maggie sauntered inside.
"Hey Princess. Where you been? I was getting worried about you." Darien hopped off the chair and started toward her.
"Around." She turned to the Keeper. "We have a problem."
Claire turned from the fridge to look at Maggie. "Problem? What problem?"
She pulled off her sunglasses, reveling silver eyes. "Me."
They gasped. Claire turned back to the fridge, frantically looking for the Stage 5 counteragent. Darien approached Maggie carefully.
She stepped just out of his reach. "Dary, I've got a real tenuous hold on my sanity and my powers right now. You might want to keep away."
"Maggie, baby, we can help you." He reached for her again.
"Darien, I mean it. Don't touch me-ungh." She groaned when his hand connected with her wrist. He slipped an arm around her waist and tried to maneuver her to the exam chair while Claire got the counteragent ready. Maggie wouldn't have any of it though, and shoved Darien up against the wall, hard.
"Uh, uh, uh." She shook her head, her hand on the buttons of his shirt. "I warned you not to touch me." She turned her silver eyes up to him and tore open his shirt, running her hand over his bare chest. "Now look what you made me do."
Maggie gave Darien a wicked smile and kissed him. He held her tightly as Claire crept up behind her. She plunged the needle into the back of Maggie's neck. Maggie slumped heavily in Darien's arms and he carried her over to the exam chair.
"God, she's heavy." He grunted as he set her in the chair.
Claire was busy looking for a vein. "Darien, she's carrying around another person inside of her." She muttered as she slid a needle into
Maggie's arm and drew a blood sample. "Of course she's heavy. There's a scrub top in that drawer over there." She nodded with her chin and Darien went in search of a new shirt.
The lab door opened and Hobbes stepped inside, his eye already rapidly swelling. He looked at the unconscious woman on the chair and turned to Claire. "What the hell happened? She hit me. It was like she'd gone red-eye on us."
"Worse, silver eye." Darien said as he pulled on a blue v-neck scrub top. "She did a number on you."
"Yeah, well, all in the line of duty. Hey Keepie, can I get some ice?"
Claire set the blood sample down next to the microscope. "Oh, Bobby. Are you all right? Sit down, let me make sure she didn't hurt you."
"Nah, I'll be okay. Just need some ice for it." He protested her fussing but was secretly pleased by it.
"Let me look anyway." Claire made him sit down while she shone a light in his eyes. She grabbed an instant ice pack and slammed it down on the counter to activate it. "Here. Put this on it. It'll make the swelling go down."
"How'd the kitten go wacko?" Bobby asked holding the ice pack to his swollen eye.
"I don't know Bobby." Claire told him grimly. "But I'm going to find out."
They moved Maggie to Lab 3 and Darien refused to leave her side. Claire came in after a few hours to check on them.
"I don't understand why Maggie went stage 5. The mutation is in the quicksilver not the gland. Even if your child is born with the ability to quicksilver, the madness shouldn't affect either one of them."
Claire remarked, slumping into the chair next to Maggie's bed. "I can't even figure out how the baby's producing quicksilver, let alone the tainted kind. The gland isn't a part of your genetic structure so you shouldn't be able to pass it on."
Darien looked up, his hand absently stroking Maggie's arm. "Could Arnaud have done something else to me we don't know about?"
"I didn't think so. I can run some tests." Claire suggested gingerly. She knew how Darien felt about tests.
"Whatever you have to do to make her better." Darien said seriously.
Claire nodded. "Okay. Let's go to the lab."
Darien followed her solemnly to the lab and climbed up on his chair. He rolled up his sleeve so Claire could draw a blood sample.
She handed him a cup. "I'm going to need a sample of, well," She made a few vague hand gestures and Darien got the gist of what she wanted.
"Yeah, yeah. I get the idea." He grabbed the cup from her and headed for the lab bathroom.
Claire rushed into lab 3. Darien was seated next to Maggie, holding her hand while she slept.
"There was some sort of alteration in your genetic composition. The gland is such a part of you now that you can pass on the ability to quicksilver to your children." Claire sounded amazed when she said it. "The child inside Maggie is producing quicksilver that's saturating her blood. Even though it doesn't have the same mutation that the quicksilver you produce does, its still sending Maggie into quicksilver madness. She's going to need counteragent."
"Is that going to hurt the baby?" Maggie asked softly.
Darien leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "Hey, I thought you were asleep."
"I don't know Maggie." Claire admitted. "You heard what I was telling Darien?" Maggie nodded. "Then you know it's necessary. If we don't, you'll go into stage 5 again. You could die."
"What about the baby?" Maggie held her hands over her stomach protectively.
"I had to give you the stage 5 counteragent before. I can run some more tests. We can do an amniocentesis, see what it says. But you're staying here until then." Claire said sternly. "I want you where I can monitor you."
Maggie nodded resolutely. She hated staying at the Agency but she knew it was necessary. "Is it going to hurt?"
"I'll give you a local first." Claire tossed a hospital gown on the bed and went to get the necessary equipment.
Claire ran the ultrasound over Maggie's stomach. "There it is."
Maggie craned her neck around. "Can I see her?"
"Her?" Darien looked at Maggie.
She nodded. "I can hear her in my head."
"That's amazing. What do you hear?" Claire asked as she turned the monitor so Maggie and Darien could see the image on the screen.
"Mostly feelings right now. Sometimes though, its like she's trying to speak." Maggie explained.
Claire pointed to the image on the screen. "There's the head. And that's an arm."
Maggie smiled, "Hello little one."
The baby on the screen moved, turning away from them. Claire laughed. "I think she's shy." She picked up a bottle of antiseptic wash and spread it over Maggie's belly. "Ready?" Maggie nodded. Claire gave her a local and waited a few minutes for it to kick in.
"Look at me Princess." Darien told Maggie as Claire came forward with the amnio needle. "Just concentrate on me."
"You shouldn't feel much of anything." Claire told her as she inserted the needle into Maggie's abdomen.
Maggie squeezed Darien's hand as she drew a sample of the fluid. "It's almost done baby." He told her, watching Claire.
"There you go. All done." Claire set the needle aside and wiped off
Maggie's stomach. "I just want another blood sample and then you're finished." She dutifully held out her arm to let Claire take her blood.
"When can I take her home?" Darien asked, still squeezing Maggie's hand.
"A couple days Darien." Claire told him and left the lab with her samples. Darien wet a paper towel and cleaned off Maggie's stomach. When he was done, he kicked off his shoes and climbed into bed with her, stretching out his long frame against her little one.
"I'll stay here with you." He told her, his breath ruffling the hair by her ear.
Maggie turned her head so she could see him. "You don't have to. I know how you feel about the labs."
He shook his head firmly. "I'm staying right here."
She snuggled closer to him. "Good."
Claire found them asleep, still curled up with each other, Maggie nearly hidden by Darien's larger form. She stood in the doorway, debating if she should wake them up.
"Are you going to stand there or come in?" Maggie asked in a hushed voice. Her emerald eyes opened and looked at Claire.
Claire came in and sat down in the chair by the bed. "I thought you were asleep. Didn't want to wake you up." She whispered.
"Did you find anything?"
Claire nodded. "The baby is fine. The counteragent didn't hurt her."
Maggie looked relieved. "You'll need to come in for a shot every week, just like Darien, until you give birth."
"She has a gland?"
"No. There's no sign of a gland. I'm still not sure how she's producing quicksilver." Claire looked down at the folder in her hands. "I'm going to keep an eye on her but she's healthy. You guys are very lucky."
Maggie ran her hand over her still flat stomach. "I know. I'll tell Darien when he wakes up."
Claire nodded. "You can go home tomorrow."
"Okay. Thanks Claire."
"You're welcome Maggie."