Follow the Breadcrumbs Part 5

Follow the Breadcrumbs Part 5

By Carol M.

Summary: Arnaud spoils the fun

Spoilers: All of the back nine

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just play with em.

Darien laid on the floor of the cabin in a daze. Blood was slowly leaking out of his wound.

Claire struggled with all of her power to loosen the ropes Michael had tied her down with. "Hold on, Darien, just hold on," she said with panic.

She moved her hands wildly, trying to loosen the ropes. Finally, she managed to slide one of her hands through. She reached behind and undid the other hand. She got up and ran to Darien.

Tears fell freely down her face. "Oh Darien," she said as she lifted up his blood soaked shirt to examine the wound. It was a stomach wound, which meant that if they didn't get help soon, he would bleed to death.

She went into the cabinet and found a glass. She filled it with water from the sink. She poured a little on the gunshot wound. Then she tore a sleeve off her sweater and cleaned the wound with the water. Darien moaned slightly. When she was done, she pressed the sleeve firmly against the wound.

She looked Darien in the eyes. "You're not going to die on me, you hear me," she said firmly.

Darien looked up at her and his mind cleared a little. He nodded and smiled slightly.

He looked at her now blood soaked sweater. "I'm sorry I ruined your new sweater," he said softly. "I'll buy you a new one when we get out of this mess."

Claire smiled. She leaned down and gave Darien a small hug. She then started to stroke his hair lightly. "Thank you, Darien," she said softly.

Darien looked at her. "For what?" he asked.

"For saving me. For risking your life. For caring," she said with a smile.

Darien returned the smile. "Ah, Keepie, you would have done the same for me," he said.

Claire nodded. "Yes I would have," she said.

He reached for her hand and held it. "So Claire, how was your birthday? Putting aside the fact of course that you were kidnapped by a psychotic terrorist," Darien asked.

"Best one I ever had," she said with a blush.

They both looked at one another. They knew there was something between the two of them now. This whole situation had just intensified it.

Darien shut his eyes for a few moments. He reopened them when a wave of pain flashed through his head, making him scream.

"Oh, god," said Claire in fear. She checked his tattoo. Two segments left.

Darien let go of her hand and reached for her shirt. "Claire, you have to go to the car and get the counteragent," he said firmly.

Claire looked at him helplessly. "I don't want to leave you," she said.

Darien shook his head. "Claire, you have to. You just go out the door and walk straight ahead down the path. The car's about 2 miles away. The counteragent is under the driver's seat." He looked at her with pleading eyes. "Please," he said.

Claire nodded slowly. "All right," she said. She ran her hand along his face and then got up. "I'll be back as soon as I can, just hold on for me, okay?"

Darien nodded. "I will, Claire,"

Somehow, she believed him. She walked hesitantly out the door, leaving Darien to fight the demon on his own.

Bobby put his hands over his eyes and sighed. "This is getting nowhere," he said with annoyance.

They had been searching through Arnaud's properties for hours. They had tried every alias that Bobby knew, but they had found nothing.

Alex put her hand on Bobby's shoulder. "We'll find them, I promise, okay. You just have to have a little patience," she said.

"Patience is not a virtue that Bobby Hobbes possesses," he said sarcastically.

Alex felt bad for Bobby. She could tell that this was really tearing him apart.

"Okay, okay. What about friends, family, anything like that," said Alex as she looked at Bobby.

Bobby got an idea. "Try Huiclos. That's Arnaud's brother," he said.

Alex typed in Huiclos into the computer. Four records popped up. Alex examined them. "Okay, we got a property near the Alps, a property in Los Angeles, a property in Paris and, bingo…" Alex beamed widely. "A property about two hours from here. Some kind of cabin."

Bobby nodded with excitement. "That's got to be them. It's close to that exit that Fawkesy turned off on," he said as he put on his jacket.

"Let's go bring them home," he said as they exited the room.

Claire jogged as fast as she could through the woods. She knew he was suffering, whether it be from the gunshot wound or the onslaught of quicksilver madness.

Normally, she had a small fear of the woods, but not now. A bear could come on to the trail and Claire would have no problem kicking its ass. She had to get back there. He was all alone and he needed her.

She could see his car ahead. She breathed a sigh of relief. Then she saw the tires. All shot out. No way for them to get out of here. She now put all her faith in Bobby. She hoped Bobby would figure out what was going on and somehow find them. She just hoped that Darien could last that long.

She opened the door and reached under the seat. Her hands grasped a small shot. Thank god, she thought. She climbed further into the car, searching for a phone. No phone. She was going to have to scold for that.

She got out of the car and started jogging back to the cabin. Her jog turned into a full on sprint. She never knew she could be this powerful. The adrenaline in her body was working overtime.

She ran for what felt like an eternity before she spotted the cabin. She reached the door and opened it quickly.

"Darien, I got it," she yelled as she entered the cabin. She froze. Darien wasn't on the floor.

"Hello Claire," he said from the back corner of the cabin.

She looked at him in horror. The red eyed monster had returned. The extra adrenaline from the madness was making him strong, letting him escape the pain of his injuries. He walked towards her slowly.

"No, Darien, not again," she said as she stepped closer to him with the counteragent in her hand.

Darien saw the counteragent and shook his head sharply. "I don't need that, Claire," he said with a horrible smile.

He walked towards her and slapped her. This wasn't happening again, she thought. She backed away. He came at her and started to attack her. "No Darien," she screamed as he tried to pry the needle away from her.

She quickly lashed out at his midsection. Darien howled in pain, but it didn't stop the attack. "That wasn't very nice, Claire," he said as he pushed her to the ground.

Claire shook her head. She wasn't going to let him do this again. Not to her and not to himself. They had already been through too much together. She kicked him in the knee, making him lose balance. She quickly got up and pushed him to the ground. She got on top of him and started to push the needle into his neck. He grabbed her hand to stop it. "Darien," she screamed. She looked him the eyes. For a split second, he loosened his grip, the real Darien emerging from the animal. "Claire," he moaned in a struggle between his good and evil side. Claire took the needle and jammed it into his neck.

"Ahhh," he screamed wildly as the counteragent went into his system. He thrashed around for a few seconds and then slowly calmed down. His eyes closed and he passed out.

Claire breathed a sigh of relief. She checked his tattoo and saw it was returning to all green.

She straightened his body so he was lying on his back. She ripped another sleeve of her sweater and pushed it against Darien's wound, which had started to bleed again.

She picked up his head and put it in her lap. She hugged him and stroked his hair. She prayed to god that Bobby would find them. Darien was running out of time.

Bobby drove the van like a wild man. They had been on this dirt road for what seemed like years. He could make out a car up ahead. He held his breath as the van neared it. Fawkes' car. They were close.

Alex pointed to the woods. "There's a path," she said.

Bobby noticed the shot out tires. He hoped they weren't too late. Alex started to get out of the car. "No," Bobby said suddenly.

"Bobby, it's right down this path," she said.

"We're taking the van," he said firmly.

Alex looked at the path. "Bobby, the van is never going to make it through that," she said.

Bobby nodded. "Oh yeah she will," he said with no doubt.

Alex shook her head in disbelief. "All right, if you say so," she said.

Bobby drove the van down the path. He had been right, the van could make it through the path. They drove for about 15 minutes when they saw the cabin. Bobby stopped the van. He didn't want to announce his presence in case the bad guys were still there.

Bobby and Alex both jumped out of then van, guns drawn. They walked quickly and quietly towards the cabin. "I'll go in the front, you go in the back," Alex whispered.

Bobby shook his head. "No, you go in the back, I'll go in the front," he said.

"Bobby…" Alex started to protest, but she saw the determined look in Bobby's eyes.

"Fine," she said. She made her way around the cabin.

Bobby crept up to the window and peaked through. Nothing. Okay, hopefully the coast was clear. He walked to the front door and kicked it open, pointing his gun.

"Bobby!" Claire shouted in relief from her position on the floor. Bobby immediately put down his gun and ran to Claire and Darien. Darien looked bad, really bad.

Alex had heard the commotion and had decided to come in the front. She walked in and saw Claire cradling a badly injured Darien and Bobby holding his partner's hand. She felt out of place. She wasn't close to any of them, not yet anyway. "I'll pull the van closer, Bobby," she said softly.

Bobby and Claire looked at her. "Thanks, Alex," Bobby said as he continued to hold Darien's hand. Claire smiled at her.

Alex went to the van and pulled it closer to the cabin. "It's ready," she said as she entered the cabin again. Bobby carefully picked Darien up with Claire's help and they put him the van.

Alex got in the driver's seat and started the car, while Bobby and Claire kept their fallen friend company.

2 days later

Darien's eyes fluttered softly. He could her a soft, annoying beeping sound. "Five more minutes, mom," he mumbled softly.

He heard a small giggle. Reluctantly, he opened his heavy eyes. He could see a blurry head of blonde hair. He blinked a few times and his vision cleared. Claire sat at his side, holding his hand. He looked around and realized he was in a hospital room. The beep he had heard was the sound of a monitor. "Aw crap," he said with a raspy voice.

Claire smiled. Darien tried to move but found that his entire body was numb. Claire put her hand against his chest. "Don't try and move, Darien. You'll rip out your stitches," she said.

Stitches. What the hell did he need stitches for? Knife wound, bullet wound? Bullet wound. It all came back. Arnaud, the disk, the madness. He suddenly looked up at Claire with concern. "Did I hurt you?" he asked urgently.

She smiled and gently shook her head. "No, you didn't Darien. You weren't too nice, but you didn't hurt me," she said softly.

Darien sighed in relief. "Thank god," he said.

He felt her hand rubbing his hand. He looked up at her tenderly. She returned the look.

She slowly got up and leaned in towards his face. She brushed her lips against his softly. She felt him accepting her and she kissed him harder. He returned the kiss with just as much strength. He reached up with his hand and gently stroked her hair as they continued to kiss.

She slowly pulled back, a dreamy look on her face. Darien looked much the same way. Wow, they both thought. That was the best kiss that either of them had ever had.

Claire looked at Darien. "Spencer," she said.

Darien gave her a confused look. "Huh?" he muttered.

"Claire Marie Spencer. Spencer is my last name," she said.

Darien stared intensely at her. "Thank you," he said softly after a few moments.

Claire smiled through unshed tears. "No, thank you. Thank you for saving me," she said.

"Not a problem," he said.

Bobby entered his hospital room. He smiled when he saw that Darien was awake. "Welcome back, my friend," he said as he walked over to Darien.

Darien looked at him with apprehension. "Hey man, I'm sorry about hitting you. I just kind of panicked you know. But, anyway, I'm really sorry," Darien said sincerely.

Bobby nodded. "It's okay kid. I'll get you back," he said with a smile as he gave Darien a high five.

Claire looked at Bobby. "Does he know?" Claire asked Bobby with concern.

"Yeah, he knows. They don't know where he is though. Alex is down there trying to stall him," said Bobby.

Darien looked at both of them with confusion. "Does who know what?" he asked.

"The Official," Claire responded. "The Agency is after you Darien. They don't know you're here. We're 200 hundred miles away from San Diego."

Darien shook his head in disbelief. "What the hell I am going to do now?"

Claire smiled at him and took his hand. "We're going to get you out of this Darien. We're going to get the files back and we're going to get the Official off your back," Claire said firmly.

Bobby nodded. "That's right Fawkesy."

Darien nodded, suddenly growing very tired. All of this was too much to take. "Thank guys," he mumbled as he drifted off to sleep.

Claire and Bobby looked at one another awkwardly. "You want some coffee or something, Claire?" Bobby asked.

Claire nodded. "That would be great, Bobby," she said.

"Okay, I'll be back in a few minutes," he said as he started to walk out of the room.

He stepped back in. "Claire," he said softly. She turned to look at him. "Yeah," she said.

"I'm glad you're all right," he said. Then he walked out of the room.

Claire smiled. She looked down at Darien, sleeping. He had risked his life to save hers, now she was going to risk her life to save his. Bobby and Claire were not going to let the Official take down Darien without a fight.

The End

TBC in my next story Brother to Brother. I don't mean to leave you with a cliffhanger, but that's just the way it worked out. I will post the next story soon, I promise. Thanks for reading!