Part 2
The Keeper looked up from her work. Her mind kept drifting back to the night it happened. She didn't know him well, and he didn't even know her name, but there was a patient-doctor closeness she felt. Actually, it was more like lab rat-doctor type of relationship. Her eyes fell to the quarantine where she kept the counteragent.
"Hello." The Official said from the door. She turned around. "Maybe you should go home." He said.
"I don't know. Maybe I should." She said, turning off a light. She took her coat off the back of the chair and left him standing in the lab.
"Hey." Hobbes said as The Keeper walked past him. "Are you all right?"
She shook her head. "Not really."
"I have a feeling that he's here." Hobbes said. "That he really isn't gone, he's here. Floating around, probably stealing wallets." He attempted to laugh but stopped when he realized he couldn't.
"I feel like he's here too. Like he'll just walk through the door and it'll be another normal day." She said. "It's funny. I never thought I'd care this much."
Hobbes shook his head. "Neither did I. Or anyone else for that matter."
Darien could not believe it. "Guys? I'm not dead!" He exclaimed. "What's the use? They can't see or hear me." His face suddenly showed deep thought. 'Wait a minute. Back at the apartment, Hobbes could see me. He saw me. I was sleeping and-" Then it dawned on him.
Darien raced down to the lab and sat down. "Okay." He said out loud. "I'm not dead. But they think I am. Hobbes went into my apartment to find me. But why did he do that if I was dead?" He squinted in confusion. His mind went back to that morning, when he woke up in the lab chair and he found that he passed through everything. He went to the office and it was then that he discovered that he was dead. Or that was what everyone thought. Then he went back to the apartment and Hobbes came in, looking for him.
"And he actually saw me." Darien said. "He saw me sleeping. Which means that…he can see me when I'm sleeping." He shook his head. "This doesn't make well for communication." Darien groaned in frustration and left.
"It's not stress." Hobbes said.
"Are you sure? You have been pretty stressed lately." The Keeper said. "I suggest you take a break."
Hobbes began to pace. She shot him a disapproving look and he stopped. "It's not stress. I'm telling you, I saw him. I was in the room and he was sleeping. I saw him. I turned back around and he was gone."
"Maybe he quick silvered." She said.
He shook his head. "Why would he do that?"
"I don't know. Are you positive that you saw him? Did Eberts see him?" She asked.
"No, he wasn't looking."
"Look. Maybe it was just stress. He hasn't been here the whole day; you're probably just worried. Get some sleep."
"Bobby Hobbes, worried? I don't think so." Hobbes kept his bravado up. "But what if Fawkes is really in trouble?"
"I'm sure he isn't. He just needed a break. A small vacation. He's probably holed up in some bar hitting on the waitresses." She smiled.
Hobbes laughed silently to himself. He left the lab and decided to go home. The Keeper was right about one thing though, he did need some sleep. As he shuffled away, Darien Fawkes walked with him, his expression thoughtful and concentrated.
Darien sat up and rubbed his eyes. He had seen Hobbes. Walking down the hall, his face was grim and tired. His eyes were dark and they seemed old. Darien shook his head as if to clear the fog. He put his shoes on and silently walked out of his room.
Part 3
Darien Fawkes had been worried for his life many times. When he was in jail. When he was in court. When he was robbing a house and he knew that there could be a gun pointed at him at any time. But he had never been more fearful for his life than now. Or rather, his lack of a life since he was either dead or missing.
"I sleep and I have dreams that I'm dead." He said. He paced in the lab, the only place that he wanted to go to. If there was any chance that he could communicate, he'd go to the blonde. As much as Bobby Hobbes was his friend, Darien didn't need a friend right now. Well, actually he did, but The Keeper was a friend too, right? And he needed a logical deductive mind. Someone who would be able to think on their feet and come to a conclusion without brushing it off as crazy talk.
"I'm awake, I'm missing." He said, continuing to pace. "So the million-dollar question is, would you rather be dead or missing?"
The answer of course, was "neither". But Darien didn't have that choice right now. In fact, he was both.
"What is going on here?" He shook his head. "Okay, Darien. Think. Uh, what could cause this? Maybe it's one of those government experiments. Sure, I've been taken into another dimension outside of space and time by white coats."
Darien sighed in frustration. He closed his eyes to try to clear his head. As he was about to, his eyes fell on The Keeper's briefcase. He frowned. She would never leave her briefcase here, he thought. And further more, it was open. And there was a sheet of paper lying in it. The surface had been hastily scribbled on, a jumble of handwriting and tearstains.
Darien smiled. "I knew she was smart." He read to himself the letter she had written.
Dear Darien,
I know you're there. I know you're reading this right now. I know that you're not missing. I know exactly where you are and I'm determined to get you out of your present state. No one else believes me. Not even Hobbes. And to think, I'm the doctor who told him it was just stress and that you'd turn up. What I do to save him from a bit more insanity. What happened to you, I cant really explain. Lets just say something happened in the lab one morning. Since you were the only one in the lab when it happened, the government has done what it has done best for over 50 years: cover it up. Everyone was told that you had made a decision to leave the agency and that someone like you would never care about anyone else. The details don't matter. The point is, nothing fit together right. And I started to suspect something. Obviously, I was thought of as a nutcase. But deep down, I knew you weren't missing. I knew that you were out there. So I did a little digging. As many times as I have told you to stop being so ego-centric, this time, you have a right to be. Not everyone enjoys the company of the invisible man. The CIA apparently thinks of you as a risk to national security. They don't see you as a good thing. So they decided to set up their little accident in my lab. They've been working on a project for months to keep you out of their way. I don't know exactly how they did it, but it had something to do with your counteragent. I'm sure you think I'm a nutcase too. I knew you would come here. That's why I left the note here. You have to find a way to contact me. I don't know what you can do or can't do. Please, try to find a way to contact me. Get rid of this message if you can….
The Keeper
Ps: my name is Claire….just thought you'd like to know.
Darien blinked, as if realizing for the first time that he hadn't since he found the letter. Two words escaped his mouth. It was all that he could manage.
"Oh crap."
Part 4
Darien had suddenly widened his perspective. Now that he had more than one option, he set his mind on contacting the doctor. He sat on the lab chair, pondering the letter. From what he understood of his present, apparently government-induced condition, his only method in contact laid in sleep.
"I will never complain about the lack of sleep again." He promised. Hoping that the keeper would return soon, he settled down in the chair and dozed off.
In his dreams, Darien could see everyone. It was as vivid as if he were awake. And that was what scared him the most. Not knowing whether he was dreaming or if he was in the real world, it frightened him. In his dreams, he saw everyone. They were all together in a small clearing, their faces grim and stony.
Darien sat down and watched them. He watched them look at each other and then down at a small slab of marble. Darien's eyes widened at the scene that laid before him. His name was carved into the white marble slab, a simple pattern of grief. Colorful wildflowers surrounded the grave where he was supposedly buried.
Darien looked away. "Damn." He muttered. Even if it wasn't real, it was him buried 6 feet under dirt and muck. It was him they thought was dead. 'So what did they really think of me?' He pondered. He wondered if any of them had liked him at all. He could call Hobbes a friend and maybe the Keeper too, but in the end, he felt alone. He wondered if that was what would really happen if he were to die? How would they move forward? Would they be as sad to see me go or more sad to see the gland go?
Hobbes stepped up to the grave. "Goodbye, Buddy." He said. His eyes were weary and tired. 'He hasn't slept' noted Darien. The Keeper wiped away a stray tear and left a bouquet of flowers.
"This is touching, really." Darien said. Instead of sadness, anger was beginning to fill up inside him. He could not and would not accept that he was dead.
Darien grunted in frustration as he kicked the dirt off the grave. He looked up to see the stunned and scared expressions on his friends' faces as they saw the unseen force rip layer after layer of earth. He dug until he came to a wood coffin.
"At least it's nice." He said when he saw the shiny maple. He ripped it open, blinking in surprised confusion as he suddenly realized that his hands didn't pass through the wood. He laughed when he saw that the coffin was empty. It was a bed of white satin. No body.
A hand tapped him on the shoulder. Darien turned and saw himself staring down at him.
"Who's the one standing 6 feet under?" His double said. He smiled and Darien stumbled back. His foot hit the coffin and he fell into it. His double laughed and slammed the coffin shut. Darien pounded on the lid with no effect.
"Who are you?" He shouted.
"I'm you. That's obvious." His own voice replied. Darien felt the weight of mud and earth being shoveled down onto the coffin. His fists pounded until they were red. Darien tried to kick it open. It was like the coffin was air-sealed.
"Have a nice night." His double said. Darien gasped for air. It was running out at an fast rate. Darien had a thought of his own tombstone, shining in the sun. Then everything went black.
The Keeper looked up from her work. Her mind kept drifting back to the night it happened. She didn't know him well, and he didn't even know her name, but there was a patient-doctor closeness she felt. Actually, it was more like lab rat-doctor type of relationship. Her eyes fell to the quarantine where she kept the counteragent.
"Hello." The Official said from the door. She turned around. "Maybe you should go home." He said.
"I don't know. Maybe I should." She said, turning off a light. She took her coat off the back of the chair and left him standing in the lab.
"Hey." Hobbes said as The Keeper walked past him. "Are you all right?"
She shook her head. "Not really."
"I have a feeling that he's here." Hobbes said. "That he really isn't gone, he's here. Floating around, probably stealing wallets." He attempted to laugh but stopped when he realized he couldn't.
"I feel like he's here too. Like he'll just walk through the door and it'll be another normal day." She said. "It's funny. I never thought I'd care this much."
Hobbes shook his head. "Neither did I. Or anyone else for that matter."
Darien could not believe it. "Guys? I'm not dead!" He exclaimed. "What's the use? They can't see or hear me." His face suddenly showed deep thought. 'Wait a minute. Back at the apartment, Hobbes could see me. He saw me. I was sleeping and-" Then it dawned on him.
Darien raced down to the lab and sat down. "Okay." He said out loud. "I'm not dead. But they think I am. Hobbes went into my apartment to find me. But why did he do that if I was dead?" He squinted in confusion. His mind went back to that morning, when he woke up in the lab chair and he found that he passed through everything. He went to the office and it was then that he discovered that he was dead. Or that was what everyone thought. Then he went back to the apartment and Hobbes came in, looking for him.
"And he actually saw me." Darien said. "He saw me sleeping. Which means that…he can see me when I'm sleeping." He shook his head. "This doesn't make well for communication." Darien groaned in frustration and left.
"It's not stress." Hobbes said.
"Are you sure? You have been pretty stressed lately." The Keeper said. "I suggest you take a break."
Hobbes began to pace. She shot him a disapproving look and he stopped. "It's not stress. I'm telling you, I saw him. I was in the room and he was sleeping. I saw him. I turned back around and he was gone."
"Maybe he quick silvered." She said.
He shook his head. "Why would he do that?"
"I don't know. Are you positive that you saw him? Did Eberts see him?" She asked.
"No, he wasn't looking."
"Look. Maybe it was just stress. He hasn't been here the whole day; you're probably just worried. Get some sleep."
"Bobby Hobbes, worried? I don't think so." Hobbes kept his bravado up. "But what if Fawkes is really in trouble?"
"I'm sure he isn't. He just needed a break. A small vacation. He's probably holed up in some bar hitting on the waitresses." She smiled.
Hobbes laughed silently to himself. He left the lab and decided to go home. The Keeper was right about one thing though, he did need some sleep. As he shuffled away, Darien Fawkes walked with him, his expression thoughtful and concentrated.
Darien sat up and rubbed his eyes. He had seen Hobbes. Walking down the hall, his face was grim and tired. His eyes were dark and they seemed old. Darien shook his head as if to clear the fog. He put his shoes on and silently walked out of his room.
Part 3
Darien Fawkes had been worried for his life many times. When he was in jail. When he was in court. When he was robbing a house and he knew that there could be a gun pointed at him at any time. But he had never been more fearful for his life than now. Or rather, his lack of a life since he was either dead or missing.
"I sleep and I have dreams that I'm dead." He said. He paced in the lab, the only place that he wanted to go to. If there was any chance that he could communicate, he'd go to the blonde. As much as Bobby Hobbes was his friend, Darien didn't need a friend right now. Well, actually he did, but The Keeper was a friend too, right? And he needed a logical deductive mind. Someone who would be able to think on their feet and come to a conclusion without brushing it off as crazy talk.
"I'm awake, I'm missing." He said, continuing to pace. "So the million-dollar question is, would you rather be dead or missing?"
The answer of course, was "neither". But Darien didn't have that choice right now. In fact, he was both.
"What is going on here?" He shook his head. "Okay, Darien. Think. Uh, what could cause this? Maybe it's one of those government experiments. Sure, I've been taken into another dimension outside of space and time by white coats."
Darien sighed in frustration. He closed his eyes to try to clear his head. As he was about to, his eyes fell on The Keeper's briefcase. He frowned. She would never leave her briefcase here, he thought. And further more, it was open. And there was a sheet of paper lying in it. The surface had been hastily scribbled on, a jumble of handwriting and tearstains.
Darien smiled. "I knew she was smart." He read to himself the letter she had written.
Dear Darien,
I know you're there. I know you're reading this right now. I know that you're not missing. I know exactly where you are and I'm determined to get you out of your present state. No one else believes me. Not even Hobbes. And to think, I'm the doctor who told him it was just stress and that you'd turn up. What I do to save him from a bit more insanity. What happened to you, I cant really explain. Lets just say something happened in the lab one morning. Since you were the only one in the lab when it happened, the government has done what it has done best for over 50 years: cover it up. Everyone was told that you had made a decision to leave the agency and that someone like you would never care about anyone else. The details don't matter. The point is, nothing fit together right. And I started to suspect something. Obviously, I was thought of as a nutcase. But deep down, I knew you weren't missing. I knew that you were out there. So I did a little digging. As many times as I have told you to stop being so ego-centric, this time, you have a right to be. Not everyone enjoys the company of the invisible man. The CIA apparently thinks of you as a risk to national security. They don't see you as a good thing. So they decided to set up their little accident in my lab. They've been working on a project for months to keep you out of their way. I don't know exactly how they did it, but it had something to do with your counteragent. I'm sure you think I'm a nutcase too. I knew you would come here. That's why I left the note here. You have to find a way to contact me. I don't know what you can do or can't do. Please, try to find a way to contact me. Get rid of this message if you can….
The Keeper
Ps: my name is Claire….just thought you'd like to know.
Darien blinked, as if realizing for the first time that he hadn't since he found the letter. Two words escaped his mouth. It was all that he could manage.
"Oh crap."
Part 4
Darien had suddenly widened his perspective. Now that he had more than one option, he set his mind on contacting the doctor. He sat on the lab chair, pondering the letter. From what he understood of his present, apparently government-induced condition, his only method in contact laid in sleep.
"I will never complain about the lack of sleep again." He promised. Hoping that the keeper would return soon, he settled down in the chair and dozed off.
In his dreams, Darien could see everyone. It was as vivid as if he were awake. And that was what scared him the most. Not knowing whether he was dreaming or if he was in the real world, it frightened him. In his dreams, he saw everyone. They were all together in a small clearing, their faces grim and stony.
Darien sat down and watched them. He watched them look at each other and then down at a small slab of marble. Darien's eyes widened at the scene that laid before him. His name was carved into the white marble slab, a simple pattern of grief. Colorful wildflowers surrounded the grave where he was supposedly buried.
Darien looked away. "Damn." He muttered. Even if it wasn't real, it was him buried 6 feet under dirt and muck. It was him they thought was dead. 'So what did they really think of me?' He pondered. He wondered if any of them had liked him at all. He could call Hobbes a friend and maybe the Keeper too, but in the end, he felt alone. He wondered if that was what would really happen if he were to die? How would they move forward? Would they be as sad to see me go or more sad to see the gland go?
Hobbes stepped up to the grave. "Goodbye, Buddy." He said. His eyes were weary and tired. 'He hasn't slept' noted Darien. The Keeper wiped away a stray tear and left a bouquet of flowers.
"This is touching, really." Darien said. Instead of sadness, anger was beginning to fill up inside him. He could not and would not accept that he was dead.
Darien grunted in frustration as he kicked the dirt off the grave. He looked up to see the stunned and scared expressions on his friends' faces as they saw the unseen force rip layer after layer of earth. He dug until he came to a wood coffin.
"At least it's nice." He said when he saw the shiny maple. He ripped it open, blinking in surprised confusion as he suddenly realized that his hands didn't pass through the wood. He laughed when he saw that the coffin was empty. It was a bed of white satin. No body.
A hand tapped him on the shoulder. Darien turned and saw himself staring down at him.
"Who's the one standing 6 feet under?" His double said. He smiled and Darien stumbled back. His foot hit the coffin and he fell into it. His double laughed and slammed the coffin shut. Darien pounded on the lid with no effect.
"Who are you?" He shouted.
"I'm you. That's obvious." His own voice replied. Darien felt the weight of mud and earth being shoveled down onto the coffin. His fists pounded until they were red. Darien tried to kick it open. It was like the coffin was air-sealed.
"Have a nice night." His double said. Darien gasped for air. It was running out at an fast rate. Darien had a thought of his own tombstone, shining in the sun. Then everything went black.