Disclaimer:
(okay, so maybe diving into the fire is a little much, afterall, if you're smart, you would have saved them on your computer)
Author's Note:
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"Yo Claire." said Fawkes as he walked into Claire's 'office.' "I'm runnin' low, mind helpin' me out?"
"Just a minute." said Claire, checking the counteragent in the needle.
She went over to where Darien was sitting and readied him. Darien started thinking about Hobbes. "You got a boyfriend Keep?" he asked, starting up to what he hoped was a casual conversation. Afterall, he didn't want to say anything that might make Bobby uncomfortable . . .ah screw it.
"In my line of work, I don't have time for relationships." she replied simply, concentrating on the shot.
"You sound like you've practiced that answer." said Fawkes grinning.
"I have." she said, not looking him in the eye, while Fawkes' smile faded away.
Hobbes came through the door, breaking their silence. "Hey Fawkes, the Fat Man wants us in his office pronto."
"I'm comin'." he said, getting up, and they left the room.
~~~~~~~~~\\\\\\\\\\\\********
"We got a killer." the Official said, dropping the file of papers onto his desk. "A good one at that. Hasn't been caught. Got a thing for doctors. He's killed 52 of 'em."
Fawkes whistled. "That's a large sum my friend." said Hobbes.
"We need to stop him." said the Official with demandance in his voice.
"Why us?" asked Fawkes. "I mean, I know it's a lot of murders, but doesn't the Feds usually take care of this kinda' stuff?"
"Not when it gets personal." replied the Official seriously.
Hobbes' and Fawkes' eyes grew big as they looked at each other. "You mean . . .the Keeper?" asked Hobbes.
The Official nodded. "Does she know?" asked Darien.
"No, and we prefer not to tell her." he said, giving them a look of warning.
"But sir, don't you think she has a right to know if her life's in danger?" asked Hobbes.
"Yeah, really." said Darien. "I mean, if I had a killer after me, I'd want to know."
"We don't want her to know for safety reasons. She could panic." Eberts replied.
"Shut up Eberts." growled the Official.
"It's the Keep." said Fawkes. "I think we all know she won't panic."
"Do not tell her!" the Official replied menacingly.
~~~~~~~~~\\\\\\\\\\\\********
"We got to tell you something." said Fawkes as him and Bobby marched into Claire's house.
"What on Earth? You can't just barge into my house. Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" The two men dragged Claire over to a seat, not responding. "Let go of me!" They did, and she landed on the couch in a huff. "Now what's this all about?!"
"There's a murderer after you." said Darien.
"Oh, great job breakin' it easy to her, Fawkes." said Hobbes sarcastically.
"What? You're the one that said, 'Let's not beat around the bush!'"
"Hey, Bobby Hobbes does not say, 'Let's not beat around the bush.'" he replied, pointing his finger at Fawkes.
"Well ya' know what . . ."
"Hey!" yelled Claire, cutting Darien off. "Settle down! Geesh, I feel like I'm teaching Kindergarten again." she said, rubbing her forehead.
"You taught Kindergarten?" asked Fawkes.
"I feel sorry for the students." mumbled Hobbes.
"For your information, I was a good teacher!" protested Claire.
"I bet."
"Can we get back on the subject here?" asked Darien.
"Right," said Claire. "Let me get this straight. There is someone out there that wants me dead?"
"Yep, that's pretty much it." said Darien.
"Do you know why? How much information do you have on the guy anyway?" she asked.
"Not much." replied Hobbes.
"Except he's killed 52 doctors already."
"That's true."
"52?" Claire repeated unbelieving. She slumped back on the couch.
"The Feds can't catch him . . ." said Hobbes.
" . . . and the Official wants us to do the job that they couldn't do." finished Darien.
There was a pause, then, "What's the plan?" asked Claire.
"Well . . ." began Darien. "We weren't exactly supposed to tell you."
"Yeah, the Official wanted to keep it a secret . . ."
"What?" she exclaimed, cutting off Hobbes.
" . . .so we'd appreciate it if you let on like you didn't know anything about this." continued Bobby.
"Oh boy." she sighed.
~~~~~~~~~\\\\\\\\\\\\********
"So what are we gonna' do about this guy, Hobbes?" asked Darien when they had gotten back into the van.
"I don't know. We need some kind of lead."
"I kinda' guessed that."
"Well, the Fat Man doesn't have anything for us except he's going after doctors . . ."
" . . .and his next victim is Claire."
"Right. Now all we need to do is found out where this guy is; what his next move is." replied Hobbes.
"His next move is Claire."
"That's not what I meant."
"What did you mean?" asked Fawkes impatiently.
"What I meant was we need to see if he needs to get any supplies . . ."
" . . .murder weapons." Fawkes cut off Hobbes.
"Exactly. So, we go check out the data and evidence on this guy - what he used for the murder weapon - what kind it was . . ."
" . . .then we go see some kind of shop that sells the same type of murder weapon." Darien finished.
"That's what I was thinking pal."
~~~~~~~~~\\\\\\\\\\\\********
"This doctor was murdered right here in California." said whoever was head of this investigation. Darien and Fawkes didn't really pay attention to the guy's name. "There's reason to believe that this murder is linked with the others."
"Why? Because she's a doctor?" Hobbes asked cynically.
"No," he answered - agitated. "Because the bullets are from the same type of hand gun. 32 Caliber. Not very fancy, but I guess if it gets the job done, then it really doesn't matter to the killer. Also, all of the bullets we've found are gold."
Bobby picked up the small bullet in the plastic bag. He observed it, turning the bag around so he could get a good look at it. "Hey Fawkes, come here and look at this." he said. Something had caught his eye.
Darien quickly put down the objects he had turned invisible. The Quicksilver broke off of the objects as he walked over to Bobby.
"Check this out." Hobbes said, pointing to an engraving on the bullet.
Fawkes noticed an 'F' trapped in a circle on the bullet. "Fairview Guns." Darien said, still looking at the bullet intently.
"You know it?" asked Hobbes.
"Yeah, that's where I used to get a pick-me-up before I went to work." he replied.
