Week 11/End of Third month---- Disclaimers and all such falderal in Chap 1
Warning!!!: Near the end of this chapter, there's a couple of PG-13 words. Youngsters, the faint of heart and Kevin Fawkes Fan-club members beware!
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"You can't keep holdin' out forever, Fawkes. Eventually, Claire's gonna come runnin' over here an' drag you back to her place. Half your stuff is there already, and the other half's in the van. Fawkes. Darien. Time to go. Like now?" Bobby Hobbes exhorted his partner, who was stubbornly refusing to lift his butt off the couch and get on with the process of changing living quarters.
"The fat-man didn't say I had to live there. He just said be there, right? That means I can stay here during the day and sleep there. Right?"
Grim-faced, Hobbes moved away from the door and joined his partner, sinking onto the sofa beside him.
"Wrong. Look, this won't be easy. I get that. This baby means a lotta big changes for all of us, but...."
"I'm comfortable here. I know this place. Bobbi already thinks of this as home. I don't wanna confuse her..."
"You still hearin' her?"
"Not all the time. Just once in a while. It isn't really words. When you got hurt, she knew I was freaked..... and she knew it was about you. It shook her up. She kinda..... sent me a picture question, askin' if you were okay. I sent one back, showin' you just fine, and she calmed down."
"Picture question? I don't get that. What's it mean?" Bobby asked, his curiosity warring with his usual habit of disbelieving anything he couldn't prove.
"I don't really know. I think.... she uses images and words from my head to tell me what she wants to tell me, and to ask questions. I got a picture of you, then a pool of blood, then a question mark."
"Translation: Is dad still breathin'? Pretty cool."
"Yeah. Yeah, it is. It's her language I guess. For the moment, at least."
"Hopefully she'll grow outta that. If she doesn't..... this is gonna be one weird kid, Fawkes. I can't wait to meet her."
"Comin' from the two of us? What else could she possibly be, Hobbes?" Darien laughed lightly.
"Way too true. You ready to go?"
"Yeah. I guess so. I'm sorry about bein' Mister clingy-needy. I'm so scared.... all this is still sinkin' in. Havin' to live in a new place, a new neighborhood.... it makes it harder to adjust."
"I know, man. I'm havin' to do my own adjustin', too, remember. I'm gonna be a dad. That's meant doin' a major reshuffle of the cards in my deck."
"All forty-six of 'em? What a chore..." Fawkes chortled as he rose and made a swift escape out the apartment door.
"Hey! We said no talkin' about that in front of the kid!" Bobby shouted as he shuffled after his best friend, his speed hampered significantly by his still healing left leg.
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"Yeah. Yeah, I understand, Keepie. We'll be there. Who says I let him whine his way out of anything? Fine, I promise to be tough-love guy. Right. See you there after we drop this last load of stuff off at your place. Bye."
"Whine? She thinks I whine?!"
"What else would you call what you were doin' when she gave you your flu shot back a couple weeks ago, hmm? Was that surrendering with grace and dignity? I don't think so, my friend."
"Whatever." Darien grumped, slouching in his seat. "So what has she decided I need now?"
"Nothin' to get all huffy about. She's set up regular ultrasound appointments at the hospital, is all. Your first one's in twenty minutes."
"At least ultrasound doesn't hurt."
"Yeah, well it's not for your benefit. It's so she can keep an eye on how the baby's growin' an all that." Bobby reminded him as he pulled over and parked in front of Claire's townhouse. As he got out and strode around to begin unloading his partner's few remaining personal items from the van, he found Darien was already there with a box in his arms and a plastic bag slung over the fingers of one hand.
"Put it down, Fawkes. Right now."
"Hobbes, for God's sake..."
"Down! Count of three, then I go for my gun, Inviso-geek. One.."
Admirably restraining his anger, Darien lowered the box gently to the ground, then leaned the bag against it.
"Bobby. I am not a freaking piece of Waterford crystal." he forced through tightly clenched teeth. "I will not break, and I will not lose this baby because I carried a box of underwear and a bag with my pillow in it up a flight of stairs and into the house. Alright? Can we please find our way back to sanity before I punch the father of my child right in the nose?"
The momentary tension broken, Hobbes breathed deeply for a moment, then moved forward the step or two that separated him from his partner. Staring at the van instead of Darien, Bobby spoke quietly, desperate to maintain the facade of strength and aloof, un-phaseable, impenetrable composure he was so comfortable hiding behind, but knowing that, when it came to this subject, his emotions made that impossible
"Look.... I'm just tryin'..... to be careful. Claire keeps remindin' me that she can't know what's gonna happen, that a million an' one things could go wrong..... If I get overprotective, or suffocatin', just go with it, wouldja? This kid means as much to me as she does to you, Fawkes. I won't lose her.... before I even get to know her."
"You won't, Bobby. We won't. I'm not stupid, man. I picked the two lightest things in there, and I wasn't plannin' on doin' anymore than that. I just need.... not to feel like I'm paralyzed from the neck down and can't do anything for myself. The time when I'm stuck in bed will come around fast enough. Too fast. Let me do some things now.... while I still can."
Aware that Fawkes was far more right than he wanted to admit, Hobbes sighed and shook himself mentally.
"I know. I know I get a little.... over-the-top sometimes. Thank God they stuck me with a partner who's willin' to go over with me." Bobby said, chuckling as he hefted one or two of the heavier, more bulky items off the floor of the van.
"As long as I have some idea where we're headed, I really don't care. Can I take these in now?" he asked melodramatically, knowing it would either raise Bobby's ire again or make him laugh. It did both.
"Yeah, yeah, but then I want you back in the van and buckled up. You hear me?"
"I can hear. I'm not deaf."
"Just dumb as a telephone pole sometimes."
"Excuse me? You wanna repeat that...."
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"This is amazing. It looks like the umbilical is growing in two parts. One section is Quicksilver.... the other flesh and blood. Hmmm. I can't see where the second one's connected, but I have to assume your body know what it's doing. She seems fine, so she must be getting nutrition alright. Everything looks good so far. The QS placenta appears stable, it's growing at a nice steady rate, and your vital signs are all well within acceptable limits. Even your blood pressure is near normal, which is surprising, considering what you've had to go through these past weeks. Anything going on that I should know about, but don't?"
"Not really. Bobby's protective streak has had a catfight or two with my independence, but we worked it out."
"You're all moved in then?"
"Yeah. Nothing's out of the boxes yet, but..... I didn't bring a whole lot of stuff, so don't worry. I just threw together what I really needed. Clothes, stuff like that."
Gazing down at Darien, Hobbes gave him a confused look, then voiced his confusion quietly.
"I thought you said you wanted to ask her about.... you know."
"I changed my mind. I'm allowed. Drop it." Darien responded just as softly.
"Can I ask her then? I really wanna know the answer."
"No! The woman has the power to put me in a straight-jacket and toss me in a rubber room, Bobby! I'm damn sure not tellin' her...."
"Boys. I have excellent hearing. Tell me what?"
Ignoring Darien's fears, Bobby spoke up almost immediately.
"The baby talks to him. Well, not *talks* talks, you know, but she communicates with him. I was just really curious if you've ever heard about that before."
"No, but then who's ever heard of an invisible man getting pregnant before? As far as this situation goes, anything and everything is possible. Tell me more, Darien."
"There isn't much to it, really. I'm not even sure if it's me doin' it, and I just don't realize...."
"Darien. Just tell me, would you please? I promise, no straight-jackets."
"She.... picks images from my mind..... and puts 'em together so I can figure out what she wants to say, or what question she wants answered."
"Really? Can you give me an example?"
For a second or two, Darien's gaze lowered and his attention seemed to turn inward, as if he were daydreaming, then he turned his eyes up to meet Claire's again.
"You may not want to hear this message."
"Whyever not?"
"I remember you tellin' me once that bad, painful memories tend to stick longer and stronger than good ones, and you have to admit, you and me have made a lot of painful memories.... mostly involving a needle in my neck and me being held down on the floor. That bein' all she could really find in my head about you.... let's put it this way, okay? She just showed me a picture of Medusa from that "Clash of the Titans" movie, then a picture *after* her head was cut off..... and I swear I could hear laughing."
"That doesn't bode well for our future relationship as pediatrician and patient, does it?"
"Don't get too worried about it, okay? She doesn't really know you yet, and she doesn't understand the what's and why's of all the needles....."
Letting his sentence hang unfinished, Darien suddenly paled, every drop of color fading from his face. Realizing his hands were shaking, he clasped them together and stared down at them.
"Darien? What is it? Are you feeling alright?"
"What happened, Fawkes? You were fine just a minute..... ago." Bobby stumbled, his own skin whitening as he realized what had upset the younger man so badly. "Oh God. You can't be thinkin' like that, my friend. You have to be positive, ya know...."
"Bobby." Darien almost whispered, without bothering to look up. Hobbes cringed, never having heard his name spoken in such a tone of despair before.
"No. No, Fawkes."
Struggling fiercely to keep his heart in one piece within his chest, Bobby walked around the table Darien lay on and dropped onto a chair, facing the opposite direction from his partner.
"Darien!" Claire said again, raising her voice, demanding his attention. "What is going on? I told you everything is fine...."
"Arnaud, Claire.... the genetic anomaly..... the counteragent..... I can't do that to an innocent child....."
"Wait a minute, sweetheart. There's absolutely no guarantee that you'll pass that on to your little girl. None."
"Don't try to snow me, Keep. You told me nothing about this is for sure, so you can't know she *won't* get it. I'm outta here." he announced, swiftly going see-through and running out of the room past a still stunned Bobby.
"Darien! Damn it! Bobby, go make sure he doesn't take the van. Bobby!"
Pulling out of his stupor, Hobbes looked up at the Keeper.
"He won't. He knows I'll check there. I've got the keys too. 'Course he could break in and hot-wire it...."
"Then go after him, for God's sake!"
"On this bum leg, I might catch up to him in about three weeks."
"Yes... I'm sorry." Claire said, falling defeated onto the table where Darien had been only a moment before. "We have to find him, Bobby. In his state of mind.... he could do something to himself.... or the baby."
"Never. Not in a million years. He'll come home. Just give him time. He was right, wasn't he? We both were."
"Bobby..... "
"Forget it. You go on home, just in case he shows up. I'll check his place and his favorite haunts. I'll call the fat-man and update him."
"What will you tell him?"
"That everything's fine. All he needs is one excuse to mess this up for me and Fawkes. I won't give him that, don't you either." Hobbes warned her, getting stiffly to his feet.
"Alright. Let's get going. The sooner we can find him, the better." Claire replied, gathering her things and following Bobby out the door and toward the elevators, her mind racing with thousands of explanations and rationalizations, none of which, she knew, would soothe Darien's fears. As they were stepping into the elevator, an idea struck Claire. "Bobby, wait. Let's not split up just yet. There's one spot we should try together first. If it doesn't pan out, then we can separate, but...."
"What? Where?"
"The cemetery."
"I thought a'that, but I don't know, Keep. Why?"
"He's dealing with things beyond the pregnancy, Bobby. Difficult emotional things. I can't say more than that without his permission. Maybe you can get him to talk about it. It certainly couldn't do any harm, and might even help."
"Not likely he'll talk to me about anything." Bobby grumbled.
"What? Did something happen before you arrived at the hospital today?"
"Nothin' major. He tried to carry some stuff into the house, I got worried an' over-reacted. We had a little blow-out."
"That was what he meant by your protectiveness warring with his independence."
"Yeah."
"You can tell me all about it on the way...."
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"There he is! Thank God I was right."
"Take it slow and easy, okay Claire? We don't want him jumpin' ship again."
"I don't think he will."
"Just in case..."
"I understand." she replied as they stopped within a few yards of Kevin Fawkes grave-site. "Darien? Please don't run. I won't come any closer. I just wanted to talk, to try and convince you to come back to my house, or the Agency....."
Hunkered before his brother's headstone, one hand lightly tracing the carvings and words in the marble, Darien responded as if his keeper hadn't spoken. His words were pure fury and indignation, his tone, by contrast, was flat and utterly unemotional, which frightened both Claire and Bobby.
"My brother..... was a manipulating, conniving son of a bitch. He sweet-talked me, and charmed me, and guilted me..... until I didn't know which way was up anymore. Before I had time to realize how blind he was to everything but his research.... it was over. He had the glory, I had the gland... plus Arnaud's little gift, of course. How could someone so smart..... not see the traitor sitting right next to him? He was probably clueless right up to the moment the bullets hit.... Good old Kevin. My bastard big bro. Look what he's done to me, Claire; done to me..... and to an innocent baby. In the name of saving my soul, he's condemned us both......"
Before Bobby could stop her, Claire, trusting to her instincts, and how well she thought she knew her kept, moved swiftly to Darien's side, crouched close to him and dropped one arm gently over his shoulders.
"I don't agree with most of that, but I'm not going to argue right now. We'll discuss it later. You know I'm working my ass off to solve the riddle Arnaud left us, Darien. I will find a cure. This may be the last thing you want to hear at the moment, but you need to be patient a little while longer. I'm so close. I could have the answer to Quicksilver madness before your little girl is born. Nothing is absolutely certain.... but I could. Will you trust me a few more months? Please?"
Abruptly, Darien pulled away from Claire's attempts at comfort, stood, and stalked a few steps away.
"You keep saying that. No guarantee, Darien..... Nothing's for sure, Darien..... I can't know what will happen, Darien..... Well who the hell does?! Get 'em down here, right now, damn it, cause I want answers! I want somebody to tell me what's going on!"
Just as Claire stepped forward to try and calm a furious, sobbing Darien, Bobby brushed past her on the left and she halted, confused. Her confusion turned to shock when Hobbes embraced his young partner and drew him down until both were sitting on the ground.
"It's okay, kid. We'll figure this out. Shhh. Take it easy. You'll be okay. Let it go, Fawkes, just for now. We can work it all out later, but for now ya gotta just let go.... Relax. That's it. Shhh. Breathe deep....."
After several minutes, both men made their way back to their feet, Bobby graciously accepting Darien's offer of assistance. "You ready to go home?"
"Nah. I need to work. Claire's place would be too lonely.... too quiet. All I'd do is think. Let's go catch some bad guys and empty out my mind for a while."
"I can get with that. Back to the Agency it is. You coming, Claire?"
"Absolutely, if you'll drop me off at the hospital so I can retrieve my car."
"You got it. Wagons ho. The big tan bus is now departing from the curb...."
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TBC.......
Warning!!!: Near the end of this chapter, there's a couple of PG-13 words. Youngsters, the faint of heart and Kevin Fawkes Fan-club members beware!
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"You can't keep holdin' out forever, Fawkes. Eventually, Claire's gonna come runnin' over here an' drag you back to her place. Half your stuff is there already, and the other half's in the van. Fawkes. Darien. Time to go. Like now?" Bobby Hobbes exhorted his partner, who was stubbornly refusing to lift his butt off the couch and get on with the process of changing living quarters.
"The fat-man didn't say I had to live there. He just said be there, right? That means I can stay here during the day and sleep there. Right?"
Grim-faced, Hobbes moved away from the door and joined his partner, sinking onto the sofa beside him.
"Wrong. Look, this won't be easy. I get that. This baby means a lotta big changes for all of us, but...."
"I'm comfortable here. I know this place. Bobbi already thinks of this as home. I don't wanna confuse her..."
"You still hearin' her?"
"Not all the time. Just once in a while. It isn't really words. When you got hurt, she knew I was freaked..... and she knew it was about you. It shook her up. She kinda..... sent me a picture question, askin' if you were okay. I sent one back, showin' you just fine, and she calmed down."
"Picture question? I don't get that. What's it mean?" Bobby asked, his curiosity warring with his usual habit of disbelieving anything he couldn't prove.
"I don't really know. I think.... she uses images and words from my head to tell me what she wants to tell me, and to ask questions. I got a picture of you, then a pool of blood, then a question mark."
"Translation: Is dad still breathin'? Pretty cool."
"Yeah. Yeah, it is. It's her language I guess. For the moment, at least."
"Hopefully she'll grow outta that. If she doesn't..... this is gonna be one weird kid, Fawkes. I can't wait to meet her."
"Comin' from the two of us? What else could she possibly be, Hobbes?" Darien laughed lightly.
"Way too true. You ready to go?"
"Yeah. I guess so. I'm sorry about bein' Mister clingy-needy. I'm so scared.... all this is still sinkin' in. Havin' to live in a new place, a new neighborhood.... it makes it harder to adjust."
"I know, man. I'm havin' to do my own adjustin', too, remember. I'm gonna be a dad. That's meant doin' a major reshuffle of the cards in my deck."
"All forty-six of 'em? What a chore..." Fawkes chortled as he rose and made a swift escape out the apartment door.
"Hey! We said no talkin' about that in front of the kid!" Bobby shouted as he shuffled after his best friend, his speed hampered significantly by his still healing left leg.
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"Yeah. Yeah, I understand, Keepie. We'll be there. Who says I let him whine his way out of anything? Fine, I promise to be tough-love guy. Right. See you there after we drop this last load of stuff off at your place. Bye."
"Whine? She thinks I whine?!"
"What else would you call what you were doin' when she gave you your flu shot back a couple weeks ago, hmm? Was that surrendering with grace and dignity? I don't think so, my friend."
"Whatever." Darien grumped, slouching in his seat. "So what has she decided I need now?"
"Nothin' to get all huffy about. She's set up regular ultrasound appointments at the hospital, is all. Your first one's in twenty minutes."
"At least ultrasound doesn't hurt."
"Yeah, well it's not for your benefit. It's so she can keep an eye on how the baby's growin' an all that." Bobby reminded him as he pulled over and parked in front of Claire's townhouse. As he got out and strode around to begin unloading his partner's few remaining personal items from the van, he found Darien was already there with a box in his arms and a plastic bag slung over the fingers of one hand.
"Put it down, Fawkes. Right now."
"Hobbes, for God's sake..."
"Down! Count of three, then I go for my gun, Inviso-geek. One.."
Admirably restraining his anger, Darien lowered the box gently to the ground, then leaned the bag against it.
"Bobby. I am not a freaking piece of Waterford crystal." he forced through tightly clenched teeth. "I will not break, and I will not lose this baby because I carried a box of underwear and a bag with my pillow in it up a flight of stairs and into the house. Alright? Can we please find our way back to sanity before I punch the father of my child right in the nose?"
The momentary tension broken, Hobbes breathed deeply for a moment, then moved forward the step or two that separated him from his partner. Staring at the van instead of Darien, Bobby spoke quietly, desperate to maintain the facade of strength and aloof, un-phaseable, impenetrable composure he was so comfortable hiding behind, but knowing that, when it came to this subject, his emotions made that impossible
"Look.... I'm just tryin'..... to be careful. Claire keeps remindin' me that she can't know what's gonna happen, that a million an' one things could go wrong..... If I get overprotective, or suffocatin', just go with it, wouldja? This kid means as much to me as she does to you, Fawkes. I won't lose her.... before I even get to know her."
"You won't, Bobby. We won't. I'm not stupid, man. I picked the two lightest things in there, and I wasn't plannin' on doin' anymore than that. I just need.... not to feel like I'm paralyzed from the neck down and can't do anything for myself. The time when I'm stuck in bed will come around fast enough. Too fast. Let me do some things now.... while I still can."
Aware that Fawkes was far more right than he wanted to admit, Hobbes sighed and shook himself mentally.
"I know. I know I get a little.... over-the-top sometimes. Thank God they stuck me with a partner who's willin' to go over with me." Bobby said, chuckling as he hefted one or two of the heavier, more bulky items off the floor of the van.
"As long as I have some idea where we're headed, I really don't care. Can I take these in now?" he asked melodramatically, knowing it would either raise Bobby's ire again or make him laugh. It did both.
"Yeah, yeah, but then I want you back in the van and buckled up. You hear me?"
"I can hear. I'm not deaf."
"Just dumb as a telephone pole sometimes."
"Excuse me? You wanna repeat that...."
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"This is amazing. It looks like the umbilical is growing in two parts. One section is Quicksilver.... the other flesh and blood. Hmmm. I can't see where the second one's connected, but I have to assume your body know what it's doing. She seems fine, so she must be getting nutrition alright. Everything looks good so far. The QS placenta appears stable, it's growing at a nice steady rate, and your vital signs are all well within acceptable limits. Even your blood pressure is near normal, which is surprising, considering what you've had to go through these past weeks. Anything going on that I should know about, but don't?"
"Not really. Bobby's protective streak has had a catfight or two with my independence, but we worked it out."
"You're all moved in then?"
"Yeah. Nothing's out of the boxes yet, but..... I didn't bring a whole lot of stuff, so don't worry. I just threw together what I really needed. Clothes, stuff like that."
Gazing down at Darien, Hobbes gave him a confused look, then voiced his confusion quietly.
"I thought you said you wanted to ask her about.... you know."
"I changed my mind. I'm allowed. Drop it." Darien responded just as softly.
"Can I ask her then? I really wanna know the answer."
"No! The woman has the power to put me in a straight-jacket and toss me in a rubber room, Bobby! I'm damn sure not tellin' her...."
"Boys. I have excellent hearing. Tell me what?"
Ignoring Darien's fears, Bobby spoke up almost immediately.
"The baby talks to him. Well, not *talks* talks, you know, but she communicates with him. I was just really curious if you've ever heard about that before."
"No, but then who's ever heard of an invisible man getting pregnant before? As far as this situation goes, anything and everything is possible. Tell me more, Darien."
"There isn't much to it, really. I'm not even sure if it's me doin' it, and I just don't realize...."
"Darien. Just tell me, would you please? I promise, no straight-jackets."
"She.... picks images from my mind..... and puts 'em together so I can figure out what she wants to say, or what question she wants answered."
"Really? Can you give me an example?"
For a second or two, Darien's gaze lowered and his attention seemed to turn inward, as if he were daydreaming, then he turned his eyes up to meet Claire's again.
"You may not want to hear this message."
"Whyever not?"
"I remember you tellin' me once that bad, painful memories tend to stick longer and stronger than good ones, and you have to admit, you and me have made a lot of painful memories.... mostly involving a needle in my neck and me being held down on the floor. That bein' all she could really find in my head about you.... let's put it this way, okay? She just showed me a picture of Medusa from that "Clash of the Titans" movie, then a picture *after* her head was cut off..... and I swear I could hear laughing."
"That doesn't bode well for our future relationship as pediatrician and patient, does it?"
"Don't get too worried about it, okay? She doesn't really know you yet, and she doesn't understand the what's and why's of all the needles....."
Letting his sentence hang unfinished, Darien suddenly paled, every drop of color fading from his face. Realizing his hands were shaking, he clasped them together and stared down at them.
"Darien? What is it? Are you feeling alright?"
"What happened, Fawkes? You were fine just a minute..... ago." Bobby stumbled, his own skin whitening as he realized what had upset the younger man so badly. "Oh God. You can't be thinkin' like that, my friend. You have to be positive, ya know...."
"Bobby." Darien almost whispered, without bothering to look up. Hobbes cringed, never having heard his name spoken in such a tone of despair before.
"No. No, Fawkes."
Struggling fiercely to keep his heart in one piece within his chest, Bobby walked around the table Darien lay on and dropped onto a chair, facing the opposite direction from his partner.
"Darien!" Claire said again, raising her voice, demanding his attention. "What is going on? I told you everything is fine...."
"Arnaud, Claire.... the genetic anomaly..... the counteragent..... I can't do that to an innocent child....."
"Wait a minute, sweetheart. There's absolutely no guarantee that you'll pass that on to your little girl. None."
"Don't try to snow me, Keep. You told me nothing about this is for sure, so you can't know she *won't* get it. I'm outta here." he announced, swiftly going see-through and running out of the room past a still stunned Bobby.
"Darien! Damn it! Bobby, go make sure he doesn't take the van. Bobby!"
Pulling out of his stupor, Hobbes looked up at the Keeper.
"He won't. He knows I'll check there. I've got the keys too. 'Course he could break in and hot-wire it...."
"Then go after him, for God's sake!"
"On this bum leg, I might catch up to him in about three weeks."
"Yes... I'm sorry." Claire said, falling defeated onto the table where Darien had been only a moment before. "We have to find him, Bobby. In his state of mind.... he could do something to himself.... or the baby."
"Never. Not in a million years. He'll come home. Just give him time. He was right, wasn't he? We both were."
"Bobby..... "
"Forget it. You go on home, just in case he shows up. I'll check his place and his favorite haunts. I'll call the fat-man and update him."
"What will you tell him?"
"That everything's fine. All he needs is one excuse to mess this up for me and Fawkes. I won't give him that, don't you either." Hobbes warned her, getting stiffly to his feet.
"Alright. Let's get going. The sooner we can find him, the better." Claire replied, gathering her things and following Bobby out the door and toward the elevators, her mind racing with thousands of explanations and rationalizations, none of which, she knew, would soothe Darien's fears. As they were stepping into the elevator, an idea struck Claire. "Bobby, wait. Let's not split up just yet. There's one spot we should try together first. If it doesn't pan out, then we can separate, but...."
"What? Where?"
"The cemetery."
"I thought a'that, but I don't know, Keep. Why?"
"He's dealing with things beyond the pregnancy, Bobby. Difficult emotional things. I can't say more than that without his permission. Maybe you can get him to talk about it. It certainly couldn't do any harm, and might even help."
"Not likely he'll talk to me about anything." Bobby grumbled.
"What? Did something happen before you arrived at the hospital today?"
"Nothin' major. He tried to carry some stuff into the house, I got worried an' over-reacted. We had a little blow-out."
"That was what he meant by your protectiveness warring with his independence."
"Yeah."
"You can tell me all about it on the way...."
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"There he is! Thank God I was right."
"Take it slow and easy, okay Claire? We don't want him jumpin' ship again."
"I don't think he will."
"Just in case..."
"I understand." she replied as they stopped within a few yards of Kevin Fawkes grave-site. "Darien? Please don't run. I won't come any closer. I just wanted to talk, to try and convince you to come back to my house, or the Agency....."
Hunkered before his brother's headstone, one hand lightly tracing the carvings and words in the marble, Darien responded as if his keeper hadn't spoken. His words were pure fury and indignation, his tone, by contrast, was flat and utterly unemotional, which frightened both Claire and Bobby.
"My brother..... was a manipulating, conniving son of a bitch. He sweet-talked me, and charmed me, and guilted me..... until I didn't know which way was up anymore. Before I had time to realize how blind he was to everything but his research.... it was over. He had the glory, I had the gland... plus Arnaud's little gift, of course. How could someone so smart..... not see the traitor sitting right next to him? He was probably clueless right up to the moment the bullets hit.... Good old Kevin. My bastard big bro. Look what he's done to me, Claire; done to me..... and to an innocent baby. In the name of saving my soul, he's condemned us both......"
Before Bobby could stop her, Claire, trusting to her instincts, and how well she thought she knew her kept, moved swiftly to Darien's side, crouched close to him and dropped one arm gently over his shoulders.
"I don't agree with most of that, but I'm not going to argue right now. We'll discuss it later. You know I'm working my ass off to solve the riddle Arnaud left us, Darien. I will find a cure. This may be the last thing you want to hear at the moment, but you need to be patient a little while longer. I'm so close. I could have the answer to Quicksilver madness before your little girl is born. Nothing is absolutely certain.... but I could. Will you trust me a few more months? Please?"
Abruptly, Darien pulled away from Claire's attempts at comfort, stood, and stalked a few steps away.
"You keep saying that. No guarantee, Darien..... Nothing's for sure, Darien..... I can't know what will happen, Darien..... Well who the hell does?! Get 'em down here, right now, damn it, cause I want answers! I want somebody to tell me what's going on!"
Just as Claire stepped forward to try and calm a furious, sobbing Darien, Bobby brushed past her on the left and she halted, confused. Her confusion turned to shock when Hobbes embraced his young partner and drew him down until both were sitting on the ground.
"It's okay, kid. We'll figure this out. Shhh. Take it easy. You'll be okay. Let it go, Fawkes, just for now. We can work it all out later, but for now ya gotta just let go.... Relax. That's it. Shhh. Breathe deep....."
After several minutes, both men made their way back to their feet, Bobby graciously accepting Darien's offer of assistance. "You ready to go home?"
"Nah. I need to work. Claire's place would be too lonely.... too quiet. All I'd do is think. Let's go catch some bad guys and empty out my mind for a while."
"I can get with that. Back to the Agency it is. You coming, Claire?"
"Absolutely, if you'll drop me off at the hospital so I can retrieve my car."
"You got it. Wagons ho. The big tan bus is now departing from the curb...."
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TBC.......
