Fan Fic:
Author: invisiblescaper
Email: sunshine917_32@yahoo.com
Title: The Hidden Enemy (Gosh, I love how that sounds! It's like the real enemy and then the conflict in his head . . . Thanks a lot, Serenthia!!)
Spoilers: Not really any. Actually, this doesn't have much to do with what's going on in the series right now. It mentions a little something from MFN1, but it's no major plot point.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, except a few. All of the agents in suits. And the bad guy. The
main bad guy. There's another bad guy in here that I don't own, but he's only there for a little bit.
Chapter 1:
Hobbes watched as Darien walked outside and got into the van that early morning. He'd never been a "morning" person, but things still weren't right with him. Even with his usual sleepiness, there was something wrong.
"So, partner, how's things?" Bobby asked. Darien grunted, but didn't actually answer. Oh, crap, Bobby thought. This was how he was acting before he pulled that job on the casino. Why would he be depressed again?
They drove to the Agency in silence. Bobby looked over at Darien repeatedly. Darien kept gazing out of the window. The silence was at last broken by Darien.
"Had that dream again."
"The one where you're past stage 5?"
"That's the one."
Of course he'd be depressed. Quicksilver Madness frightens him to no end. He lives in fear of going insane and killing someone. He'd almost killed Hobbes before. It scared Hobbes, too. They drove the rest of the way in silence.
When they arrived at the Agency, Darien split. Bobby started to follow, but changed his mind. The Keeper needed to know about how Darien was. Bobby was worried like he usually was when the subject of QSM comes up.
"Hey, Keep! You in here?"
"Yes, Bobby. What's wrong?"
"Why do you think something's wrong?"
"Because, Bobby, I know you. Now what is it?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Darien walked down the corridor. He wasn't particularly going anywhere, but he knew what was on the end of this hallway. That room. He'd spent some of his worst moments in that room. He despised it. Why was he going there again? He wanted to turn around, but his legs wouldn't let him. He finally reached it. And for some reason, entered.
He sat on the "bed" in the center of the room. He looked at the walls. Those padded walls. He remembered it well. Why was he here again?
Eberts walked briskly by the room. He stopped, backed up, and watched Darien in the room. Darien was crying with his face buried in his hands. He made some noise so that Darien knew he was there. Darien composed himself. He pretended to walk by again and pretended to just "notice" that Darien was sitting there.
"Ah, there you are. The Official wants to see you and Hobbes," Eberts said without the slightest word as to what he had seen. He kept walking.
Darien met up with Hobbes on the way to the Official's office. "You know what this is about, Fawkes?" Bobby asked. He knew he wouldn't answer. He wasn't even listening. He was just walking with his head low and dragging his feet on the floor. Bobby hated to see his friend like this.
"Yeah, Chief?" Bobby asked as he walked into the Official's office.
"Got a job for you, Bobby. No, Darien, you can't go," the Official said before Darien could respond.
"Why can't he go?" Bobby asked.
"Yeah, why can't I go?" Darien woke up from his trance. "What do you mean?"
"Well, first, it's pretty far away. Second, you'd be away for longer than 6 days. Third, you'd need to bring along your counteragent. Fourth, you'd have to have the Keeper. And fifth, in case you did manage to go crazy, you'd have to bring along some . . . protection for you and others. We can't afford it. But we need Hobbes on the case."
"Of course," Darien said, "Isn't that always the way it goes?"
"No," Hobbes said plainly. "I won't go without Fawkes."
"I said you'll go. That's an order."
Darien sighed, "I'll leave so Hobbes can talk to you in private. That's all you wanted me to do in the first place. I don't even know why I bother." Darien left. Hobbes eyes watched him carefully until he left the room.
"Eberts."
"Right, sir."
Eberts followed Darien out of the room.
"Well?" the Official prodded.
"I'm worried about him."
"He'll be fine. I'll get the Keeper to watch him. But I need you on this mission. He's probably just after something."
Yeah, like an early grave, Hobbes thought to himself, but said nothing. "Look," Bobby said, "I don't know what he'll try if I leave. We're friends and the thought of me leaving him alone is too much for me."
"ROBERT HOBBES!!" the Official barked, "I ORDER YOU TO GO ON THE MISSION I AM ASSIGNING TO YOU!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND??"
"Fine," Bobby said reluctantly, "But I don't want anything to happen to him. He's obviously not himself and if I find that you let anything happen to him, so help me . . . " Bobby let the end trail off.
"I said we'll watch him. Now, I need you to go to this address to be briefed. You'll leave first thing in the morning," the Official informed. Bobby left the room frustrated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Everything's set. With Hobbes gone, it'll be easy to get to Darien, especially the way he's acting now," said a voice from behind the "Official."
Chapter 2:
Robert Hobbes arrived at the meeting place. There were a bunch of unmarked black vehicles out front.
"Oh, great. I *love* the official type," Bobby said to himself. He bounded up the steps to the building. He was met at the door by the other agents.
"Mr. Hobbes, I presume," a man with dark glasses said. Actually, as he looked around, he noticed that they were ALL wearing dark glasses. Oh, yeah. The FUN guys.
"That's correct, my friend. Now what's this all about?"
"We are investigating a possible counterfeiting operation. We have people from almost every agency. We needed the top agent from Fish and Game."
"Yup, that'd be me. Robert Hobbes, F&G," he said proudly. The man rolled his eyes. Then Bobby
thought about what exactly was said.
"Why do you need the top agent from Fish and Game for a counterfeiting operation?"
"Because we were told that we needed you. We do what we're told."
"Who told you?"
"Need to know."
"The ol' 'Need to know.' Guess what. I need to know."
"Whatever. Come on in and we'll tell you what you actually do need to know."
Bobby followed the men inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Darien found himself walking again. He must have been in a half-sleep mode because he didn't realize where he was at first. Then he noticed the same corridor. The same one this morning. If he hadn't woken up, he would have walked right back into that room. Something was drawing him there. He stopped himself, turned, and found his way to the Keep.
"Hello, Darien," the Keeper said cheerfully.
"Claire, I'll be needing my shot."
"Why? You've still got another day, maybe two if you don't use your gland. Why only 4 days after your last one?" Claire noticed that Bobby was right. There was something really wrong with him, more-so than last time.
Darien paused. "I, um, I don't exactly know. But I want it now."
"You know that the longer you are exposed to it, the sooner you will adapt to it. Then you won't respond to it. You could go irreversibly mad. Even if I were able to make a newer counteragent, there isn't any guarantee that you won't be at stage 5. I mean, I don't even know where to BEGIN making a counteragent for stage 5. And the longer you are in stage 5, the more likely that even if I had the counteragent, it would no longer work. You need to remember the long-term side effects."
"What is it? Did the Fat Man take away my counteragent again?"
"Darien, I've explained it to you. You can have it in 2 days," the Keeper said gently. "Do you know where Bobby went? There was something I wanted to talk to him about."
"Fat Man sent him on some secret mission."
"Without you? Why would he do that?"
"Ask him yourself."
"Darien!"
Darien left the room leaving the Keeper even more worried than she was before. She decided that it would be best to go see the Official.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Claire walked into the Official's office. "Ah, just the woman I wanted to see," he said. "Eberts, belay that last order."
"Yes, sir."
"What did you want to see me about, Keeper?"
"Darien."
"Stop right there. I heard it all from Bobby."
"The other thing I wanted to talk about."
"Need-to-Know only."
"Need-to-Know," Eberts repeated.
"Shut up, Eberts. Now, I needed to see you about something. I'm afraid that I will have to . . . keep Fawkes from counteragent for a while."
"You can't do that! You know what happened last time!"
"Actually, I'm counting on it. I figure that if he reaches stage 5 again, you can study it and learn how to make the antidote."
"But I don't have any."
"That's the whole point."
"You don't understand. If I don't figure it out in time, he won't come back. Even if I were to get it, it may be too late. You can't afford to risk it."
"Do I have to pull rank on you like I did on Bobby to get him to go on the mission?"
Claire hesitated. "No," she said finally. She started for the door.
"Oh, one more thing," she said, turning around. "Why couldn't you send him on the mission with Bobby?"
"We couldn't afford it. You'd have to go and counteragent would have to go, not to mention some guns and sedatives and other agents would have to go to protect my men from Darien if things go to far. And, I wouldn't be able to get you to study his stage 5 to create the counteragent."
"Did you tell Darien all of this?"
"Not the last part. He doesn't need to know."
"Doesn't need to know? He's the one you'd be experimenting on, possibly sending him into a living hell by making him irreversibly mad. You're playing with his life here! And you are seriously trying to tell me that he doesn't need to know?"
"Yes."
Claire was about to say something, but stopped herself and simply stormed out of the room. She bumped into Eberts on the way out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Eberts?" the Official asked.
"Sir, I watched Fawkes to see where he went. He seemed to be going back to the padded room until he suddenly stopped and turned around and went to the Keep."
"What do you mean 'back' to the padded room?"
"I found him there this morning. He was sitting in the room under some . . . emotional distress. Do you really think that this is the best time to experiment with the stage 5
Quicksilver Madness?"
"Eberts," the Official said firmly.
"Right."
"Well, this will work out just fine. With him continuously going back to that room, we can trap him in there very easily."
"Trap, sir?"
"Well, if he's going to fall into the QSM, we will have to trap him."
"Right, sir. Getting onto another subject, I thought you were going on some unauthorized vacation this week."
"Well, I was, but it was canceled. I needed to be here. This is a perfect way to get rid of Hobbes so we could get to Fawkes. It's that simple."
"Right. Well, sir, I'm sorry you didn't get to enjoy a nice vacation. I'm sure it was what you'd need. Any word on how Hobbes is doing?"
"You don't need to worry about Hobbes," someone said.
"Sir?"
"Eberts?"
"I think there's someone in here with us."
"What makes you say that, Eberts?"
"I just heard something. It was like someone said that I didn't need to worry about . . . something . . . it
was hard to make out."
"Maybe you should take the rest of the day off, Eberts. You seem to be hearing things."
"I'd rather stay, sir. A lot of work needs to be done with finances."
"Then what are you doing in here talking to me? Go."
"Yes, sir."
Eberts left the room very quickly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You know where he'll go," the Official said.
"So what? She can't do anything about what we have planned. As far as she knows, you are really the Official. As much as she likes Darien, she won't undermine your authority."
A form showed up against the wall.
"That's a really neat trick," the Official said. "Too bad Fish and Game doesn't have one of those, too."
"Darien Fawkes can turn invisible. I can only change the colour of my skin to match that of my surroundings. And I can't change fast enough to walk across the room. I also still cast a shadow. There's also the fact that I can't change the colour of clothes. I mean, sure, special cells in my skin to change the colour, but I don't secrete anything that could cover clothes like the quicksilver does. I have to be nude. That gets cold. If I stay in a colour for too long, I won't go crazy. That I can deal with. I get stuck in that colour. Why do you think I want Fawkes so much? What can I really do with this? Do what ever you need to, but get me that gland."
"Yes, sir."
Chapter 3:
It two days later.
"Look, it's all really simple," Bobby said, flipping through some pictures of possible suspects. "It's these three right here," he said while removing 3 pictures. Singling one out, he said, "This one is obviously the leader. Come on, you guys. I mean really."
"You can't be sure of any of this," Kimenski said.
McCloony started, "This is all . . . " and Goodman finished, " . . . speculation."
"You guys got some Huey, Dewey, and Louie thing goin' on here. Do you practice this or something because it's not natural."
"Will you focus . . . " " . . . on the mission?"
"Okay, that's getting really old really fast. Stop it. Finish your own sentences, people."
Bobby remembered how Darien would sometimes finish his sentences for him. Not as annoying as these people did it. They more reminded him of the Official and Eberts. The Official. His mind immediately filled with anger at the slightest thought of the man. He didn't have a good feeling about this. He was so far away from Darien. There was no telling what he would do.
"MISTER Hobbes?!" Kimenski interrupted his thoughts. "Where do we go from here?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Darien walked into the Keep early that morning.
"Okay, I'm ready for my shot now."
"Darien, I can't."
"I understand. I'll develop an immunity. Whatever. If and when I get to that point, you can just put a bullet in me and use the gland for someone who doesn't mind the trade here. Come on, Claire. I *need* my shot."
"Do you remember two days ago when you asked if the Official took away your counteragent?"
"He didn't . . ." Darien said, something clicking in his mind.
"He told me when I went to 'ask him myself' as you so politely put it," the Keeper said sarcastically.
Darien really couldn't take that right then. He didn't need anyone making him feel worse than he already did. He left the Keep.
"Darien, I'm sorry!" the Keeper shouted behind him. He didn't stop. He went to see the Fat Man.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What is it, Fawkes?" the Official said as Darien entered.
"What do you think you are doing?"
"Sitting."
"Damn it! You know what I'm talking about!"
"No, I'm not sure I know."
"Sir . . . " Eberts started.
"What, Eberts?" the Official asked sternly.
"Nothing."
"No, Eberts. What is it you have to say?" Darien prodded.
Eberts looked at the Official pleadingly. After a clear "NO" from him, Eberts said, "It's nothing. Nothing at all."
"Right. Well," Darien said, turning back to the Official, "would you tell me why you are doing this to me again?"
"Doing what?"
"Are you going to make me say it?? Fine. Why'd you take away my counteragent again? I didn't do anything! It's not like last time!"
"I didn't take away your counteragent," the Official lied. "It was all the Keeper's doing. She wants to examine your stage 5. I don't really know anything about it. You should ask her."
The conversation they had a few days ago popped into Darien's head. Claire didn't have the stage 5 counteragent. She wanted some. To save him. But it could take a long time like she said. Would she really risk his sanity for the rest of his life so she could make something to save him of that fate? It didn't make any sense. But right now, he didn't really know who he could trust. Yes, I do, he thought to himself. I can trust Bobby.
"Fine. I will," Darien replied. He left the office.
"Why did you lie to him?" Eberts asked.
"We need him to trust us. He doesn't need to trust the Keeper. If we're going to get what we need, he needs to know he can trust us."
"So, why can't he trust the Keeper?"
"Because if he needs anything, he'll go to her. We need him to come to us. You could see his mind working. He's suspicious of her, but more of us. See if you can't tip the scales."
"I'll go see the Keeper, then."
"Good boy." Eberts left the room.
"Good job," the man said, re-appearing. "You know, you're very convincing."
"Well, I have been working on it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kimenski and Hobbes were arguing. Again.
"Look, I'm telling you, this is their HQ!" Hobbes yelled, pointing at the map.
"There's no way to know that."
"We caught one of the counterfeiters! He said it himself!"
"How do you know he's not lying?"
"Because he has NO BACKBONE!!"
Two guys looked at each other and nodded. They did that a lot.
"You two! Stop it! If you want to say something, then say it!"
"If we are thinking the same thing . . . " " . . . then why must we waste energy by saying it out loud?"
"They were simply thinking how much fun the van ride home will be," Kimenski interrupted.
"Oh, wise guys, eh?"
They backed off.
"All we have to do," Hobbes started again, "is go in there and arrest the other two guys. Then we can all go home before you force me to KILL ALL OF YOU!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was starting. Darien's hand flew instinctively to the back of his neck where the gland lay. He could feel his nightmare slowly come true. He was back in the padded room, so it didn't hurt when he fell to the floor. Or if it did, he didn't notice it. He was in too much pain from the QSM.
Darien got up and looked at the mirror. He saw his red eyes staring back at him. Somewhere in there he was afraid, but on the surface he was glad to be BACK!
Suddenly, the door closed, locking him in the cell. He ran to it. He screamed and slammed himself into the door, trying to get it open. A voice, a new voice, spoke into the microphone behind the mirror.
"Be careful, Darien. You're liable to break something."
*"Let me out of here!"* Darien yelled.
"And what, allow you to hurt someone? Oh, I don't think so. The only person I want you to hurt is you,"
the voice laughed.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Keeper?" Eberts asked, walking into the Keep.
"What do you want? Come to tell me something else I have to do that would harm Darien? You're nothing but the Official's little trained dog."
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about the Official."
"What about him?"
"He doesn't seem like himself. I spend a lot of time with him and I know that he wouldn't just stop Darien's counteragent for no real reason. I also know that he'd be a little more agitated if his vacation was canceled."
"What vacation?" the Keeper asked slowly.
"Well, I wasn't supposed to say anything, but he was planning on taking a vacation for this week. It's funny. I remember seeing him off to the airport, but he showed up for work the next day. I asked him about it a little later. He said it was canceled. I expected him to be complaining a lot more."
A light bulb flashed in the Keeper's mind. "Where's Darien?"
Chapter 4:
Darien had been trapped in the room for hours. Maybe days. He couldn't tell without a clock or window. He couldn't believe that no one even cared enough to look for him. Eberts had seen him in here a few days ago and watched as he almost came here again. Surely it would come to his attention.
It already had. Darien knew this. Obviously, he wanted him in there. Or possibly, it wasn't Eberts's doing. That trained poodle did exactly what the Official told him to.
He could feel the stage 5 creeping up on him. When he's below stage 5, he at least has *some* little bit of control. But when he's there . . .
"What are you thinking about, my Darien?" The voice cut through his thoughts.
*"I'm not yours. I belong to no man."* Darien kept his eyes low. He didn't want to see himself in the mirror.
"Think again. You belong to me." Suddenly, it was the Official's voice on the other end. But it didn't sound right. Not like it usually did over the microphone in the padded cell. Darien figured that it was his QSM making him think like this.
"Do you feel the stage 5 yet, my Darien?" the original voice asked.
*"Stop calling me that!"* Darien answered, avoiding the question.
"Look, no one cares. No one's going to be looking for you. Actually, they're probably glad they don't have to deal with you. They don't have to be afraid that some raving lunatic will kill them."
"I can vouch for that." The Official chuckled.
*"Hobbes cares. I know he does."*
"You think he cares now? Now that you're insane again?" the voice asked. "You've tried to kill him before when you were suffering QSM. Suffering. I like the sound of that word."
*"You sick--"*
"I think it would be better if you DIDN'T insult your captor."
Darien realized that maybe Hobbes didn't care. This mystery man was right. Why should Hobbes care what happens to him? Sure, they were friends. He'd had friends before. They always ended up betraying him.
"What's going through your mind, little monkey?"
*"Shut the hell up!"*
"Ohh, a little attitude. We'll fix that. In the meantime, how is your QSM progressing?"
To answer his question, Darien shot a look toward the mirror. With silver eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay, so can we go home now?" Hobbes was anxious to get out of the company of these guys.
"Why are you so eager to get home? The Department of Fish and Game said that you'd be a willing party to take with us," Kimenski shot.
"Oh, they did, did they? I've got someone at home who I need to be there for. He needs me. We've already solved the case. How long did you guys think we'd be out here? I mean, it's been, what, 3, 4 days? We've got the counterfeiters."
"Ah, Mr. Hobbes. You forget. We have paperwork. Files need to be made. A report of our activities has to be recorded. How can we go home now? How can you say that this case is closed? We won't be leaving for a while, yet."
"Screw this," Hobbes snapped as he turned around and left.
"How will you get back?"
"The magical world of public transportation."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Claire was getting worried. She hadn't seen Darien for a few days. She knew he was already in QSM. She prayed he wasn't to stage 5 yet.
Eberts and Claire searched in all of Darien's usual haunts, but to no avail. They also couldn't find the Official to tell him about Darien's disappearance. Eberts figured he went on his vacation after all.
Claire didn't know what to do. If she couldn't find him, then she couldn't administer the shot that he so desperately needed. So what if the Official said he couldn't have it? A year ago she would have listened to him. But as her friendships grew, she realized when to listen to the Official and when to ignore him. She needed Hobbes here. Everything could be fixed if only . . .
Her prayer was answered. Who should walk into the Keep? None other than Bobby Hobbes himself.
Claire rushed over to him and threw herself in his arms.
"Whoa, Keep, what is it? Is it Darien?"
"We can't find him anywhere," she managed to choke out through sobs. "I know he's already gone QSM. It's been 3 days since I've seen him." Claire looked at him with tearful eyes. "It's been 9 days since his last shot."
Bobby knew something was up. He could feel it. Damn Official sent him off at the wrong time. The Official. The man still filled him with anger.
"So what's the Official got to say about all this?" Hobbes asked.
"We can't find him, either."
"That fat bastard. He's got something to do with this. I know it."
"Something to do with it?" Claire's voice suddenly filled with anger. "He's got *everything* to do with it! He was the one who restricted his counteragent in the first place!"
"HE DID WHAT???" Bobby was furious. "Why?! Why would he do that to him again?!"
"He said he wanted me to examine him and come up with a counteragent for stage 5. He was willing to let him go all the way to 5, Bobby."
"But what if he's got Darien?"
"Obviously, he knew that the first thing that Darien would do would be to come to me asking for a shot. When I said that the Official confiscated it, Darien went to see him. That's the last time I saw him. Either of them."
"The Official . . . oh, he's dead," Bobby said with malice.
"Now, Eberts thinks that the Official went on a vacation that was supposedly canceled."
"Eberts. He's probably behind this."
"No, I doubt it. He helped me look for them."
"But . . . it's Eberts."
"Bobby, I know you don't like the man, but that doesn't mean that he's behind everything that goes wrong."
"Sure it does," Bobby said quietly.
"Now, Eberts is still out there looking. I was supposed to stay in here and come up with a stage 5 counteragent, but without Darien to examine I can't do a thing."
"I bet that's the whole idea."
Chapter 5:
Eberts was on his way back to the Agency when the thought struck him. Darien had gone to or at least toward the padded cell many times before he disappeared. The Official's words came back to him.
"Well, this will work out just fine. With him continuously going back to that room, we can trap him in there very easily."
"Trap, sir?"
"Well, if he's going to fall into the QSM, we will have to trap him."
Suddenly Eberts knew. That's where he was! Of course! How he didn't see it before was beyond him. But now Eberts was faced with a problem. He'd always been loyal to the Official. He'd never go against his wishes. He knew that Darien was there and it was the Official who held him. But what did he do now??
Eberts had to make his decision. The Official didn't seem to be himself. There was something different about him . . . Eberts knew it couldn't be the real Official. Maybe it was in body, but not mentally. Eberts made the hard choice: Darien.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ah, Eberts! Wonderful!" Claire exclaimed as he came into the Keep. "We've been wondering where you were. We need your help."
"Hello, *Eberts*," Bobby spat.
"Did you find anything about where Darien is?" Claire asked hopefully.
"Not out there, but a thought did occur to me," Eberts replied.
"Quickly, what? We only have a certain amount of time, here," Bobby hurried.
"Well, I didn't tell anyone this but the Official for the sake of Darien's pride. I didn't even tell the Official everything. All I told him was that he continued to go to the padded cell. I didn't tell him what he was doing in there, but I do believe that if the Official has him, he's in there. I also believe that there is someone controlling the Official because he's not acting like himself and I heard a voice at one point telling me not to worry about Hobbes. I had convinced myself that I must have been hearing things, but now I'm not so sure."
"When is the Official ever *himself*? He changes so often; I mean, how can you keep track of him?"
"With as much time as I spend with him, I know."
"What do you mean ' . . . what he was doing in there'?" Claire asked.
"Well, he was . . . he was crying. Sobbing, actually. He doesn't know I saw him."
"Dammit," Hobbes said quietly.
"Excuse me," Claire interrupted, "but don't you think we should go and see if Darien is there before something happens to him?"
"Abso-friggin'-lutely," was Hobbes reply. He removed his gun.
"But what about the stage 5?" Eberts shattered Hobbes's dream of going in and killing that MF who had his friend hostage. He put his gun back.
"What about it, you pip-squeak?"
"He'll be gone by now. He'll be in stage 5. How can you handle that?"
"We need the counteragent, somehow," Claire said.
"I know just where to get it." Hobbes had his own light bulb flash inside his head. "And I know just how we can find that Swiss Miss Mother."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, Fawkes." It was the Official. "I see that you're already feeling the effects of stage 5."
It was true. Darien had no rational thinking, but he was calm. Unnaturally calm. It scared the people behind the glass. As mean and cruel as they were, they knew at this moment that he was meaner and crueler. They didn't know when he would snap, but they were sure he would.
**"You couldn't imagine the peace I'm feeling right now,"** Darien said very monotone.
"Do you want to get it over with?" the Official asked the man.
"I suppose it would be fine. I like to see him suffering. The problem is, he doesn't know he's suffering so it doesn't really do me any good. Release the gas."
Darien couldn't hear any of this, but he knew something was up when he saw a white smoke coming out of the air vents.
**"Aww crap. . . " ** Darien was able to say before the gas rendered him unconscious.
"This is perfect. Prep him for surgery," the man said.
"Yes, sir," the Official said happily.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arnaud was there. At the Agency. They knew he would be. After all, news that someone has created another gland travels fast.
Bobby and Eberts had to put on a good show. They had to fight him for the empty box like there actually was something in it. They could get hurt. "It would make it look more realistic," Claire had said.
Bobby and Eberts had seen Arnaud enter the building. Arnaud knew that they had seen him. He's a smart guy.
Arnaud carried his own protection. Those bumbling fools at this sorry agency couldn't touch him. Or so he thought.
Arnaud had the box in his hands and was on his way out when he was stopped by Bobby and Eberts.
"Goin' somewhere?" Hobbes asked, moving in his way.
"I was planning on taking this, actually, and having my own gland implanted. This way, I don't have to go through the mess of getting mine out of your partner's head."
"I don't think we can let you do that," Eberts said, blocking the other way out of the room.
"Oh, look at who I have to fight. A secretary and someone who's ass I have kicked before. Fellas, please, just get out of my way and let me leave before I have to hurt you."
"I don't think that's going to happen," Eberts said. Arnaud's attention was drawn to him, so he didn't see Bobby jump him from behind. Bobby wrestled Arnaud to the ground.
"You didn't want to do that," Arnaud said. He kicked Bobby off of him and then landed on top of him to keep him down. Eberts ran over and gave Arnaud a quick kick to the ribs making him fall off of Bobby.
Arnaud's attention was now directed at Eberts. "Ah, the secretary has come to the rescue of the idiot. How sweet." Eberts hit Arnaud in the face, knocking him onto the floor.
"I am *not* a secretary."
Arnaud got up and removed his weapon. Just then, he felt something stab his side. He looked down to see a tranq dart. He looked up at the Keeper who had appeared in the doorway.
"Well, you didn't have to do that," he said before he collapsed.
Chapter 6:
Arnaud awoke with a jolt. He sat up quickly, then realized that was a mistake.
"Ah, my head . . . "
"Sorry to see you're up, Arnie," Hobbes said.
"What do you want?" Arnaud asked drowsily.
"We're going to need the stage 5 counteragent."
"Oh," Arnaud chuckled, then grimaced realizing he shouldn't do that, "Darien get himself into a fix again, did he?"
"No, his boss did and we are in the process of trying to rectify this situation."
"Oh, Mr. Hobbes, it sounds like you've learned a new word. Good for you."
"Just shut up and tell me where your stage 5 counteragent is."
"Why should I give it to you?"
"Because I won't hesitate to kill you like Darien does."
"You make a good argument, Mr. Hobbes. You let me go and I'll get it for you."
"Oh, yeah. I'll fall for that. Good idea. Why should I trust you? You're a cheating, murderous scoundrel."
"I may be a cheating, murderous scoundrel, Mr. Hobbes, but I always keep my word."
"How about this: You go get the stage 5 counteragent and I will go with you."
"And let you know where I live? I don't think so."
"You're choice." Bobby turned his head to the doorway. "Hey, Keep! Arnie says he's ready to die, now!"
"Wait, wait." Arnaud paused. "All right, fine. You can come with me to get the counteragent."
"Now you're talking."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Darien awoke to find himself strapped face down on an operating table.
**"Let me go!!"**
"I'm sorry, Darien. I can't do that."
Darien sensed a man behind him. It wasn't the Official. It was the other man from behind the glass.
**"Who are you?"**
"I'm sorry. That information I cannot disclose. But soon, it won't matter. No one will be able to see me anyway."
**"Obviously, you know about the QSM. Why would you want this thing in your head?"**
"Oh, Darien. Such a thing wouldn't bother me."
Darien felt a sharp blow to the back of his head. Everything went black. The last thing he remembered was the feeling of a scalpel on his neck.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bobby returned with a small vile. In it was a liquid.
"The counteragent! Oh, bless you, Bobby!"
"I'm not doing it for you, Keep. I'm doing it for Darien."
"May I interrupt?" Eberts interrupted.
"Well, seeing as how you already did . . . "
"I was just wondering where Arnaud was."
"I let him go. That was the deal. I got the counteragent, he got to live. I think it was a fair trade. But now, it's time to go to the room." Bobby, once again, removed his gun.
They arrived at the padded room. The door to the room itself was locked, but the door to the watching room was wide open. They went in to see the Official standing by himself while a scalpel was on Darien's neck.
"Oh, hell no," Bobby said quietly. They ran out of the watching room and shot off the lock to the padded room. The went in and found the Official looking very shocked and a scalpel on the floor. Not to mention an unconscious Darien with a gash on his neck lying on an operating table.
"All right, Fat Man. You're gone," Hobbes said. He shot the Official in the stomach.
"BOBBY!" Claire and Eberts screamed in unison.
"Well done," they heard a voice say. They looked up and saw a human shape the colour of the wall walking toward them. He started to turn darker until they realized that it was a person. Then they realized what he was wearing.
"Aw, put that away, there," Bobby said disgustedly.
"Sorry, but I am unable to hide myself if I am wearing garments. I'm afraid I'll need your friend's gland."
"I don't think so." Bobby squeezed the trigger of his gun, but it just clicked.
"It would seem like someone forgot to reload their firearm," the man chuckled. There was a gunshot. The man slumped over and died. Everyone turned to see a surprised Official staring at the other Official on the floor. "What the hell . . . ? Okay, who killed me?" he asked confusedly.
"Whoa, what's that about?" Bobby asked in surprise.
"I just came back from a wonderful vacation and I heard a gunshot so I came over here and . . . well, it looks as though you've had a busy few days.
**"Ohh**," they heard Darien moan.
"Darien!" the Keeper reminded everybody of the person lying on the operating table. Bobby rushed over to his partner.
"Keep, his eyes. They're silver."
"Don't worry, I've got it." She filled a syringe with the stage 5 counteragent and injected it into his bloodstream.
"All right, now just watch out. First he'll start convulsing and the stuff won't start working for maybe 5 to 10 minutes," Bobby informed.
Just as Bobby said, Darien started convulsing. When that was over, they watched him until they noticed his eyes were red. He turned his head to where he could see Bobby. *"Now see, I knew you cared."* Darien passed out.
"Of course, partner. I'll always care."
--Fin
invisible-s