Stark was suddenly knocked over by the invisible force that was Darien. Even with out seeing him you could tell Darien was knocking the crap out of Stark.

Bobby ran for his gun and came back over to find Darien had reappeard. He was still hitting Stark and, satisfied that he was unconsious, he stood and faced them. His hands were still cuffed and he was bleeding profusely. The gland sent another shooting pain through him and he doubled over crying out.

Claire rushed foreward and administered his shot.

Darien's tattoo changed back to green and his eyes returned to their normal white. He looked at them both, his eyes full of gratitude, then Bobby caught him when he passed out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A week later, Darien was sitting up in bed reading a magizine with difficulty. His arm was in a sling, and both of his wrists were heavily bandaged. The cuts on his face were starting to heal although his eyes were still bruised.

Darien hadn't talked since he had regained conciousness two days after Claire had found him. He wasn't not talking because of the "emotional and physical strain he had been through" as Claire had told the official. He just didn't feel like talking. At least not to them anyway. All they ever wanted to know was how he was feeling.

The one person he would talk to hadn't come to see him yet, which hurt Darien more than any of his injuries. Darien didn't understand why Bobby hadn't visited him and he assumed it was something he had done while he was QSM.

He wished Bobby would come because he wanted to talk to someone. He knew Bobby woudn't bother him with stupid questions. Darien missed their mindless banter.

"Hello Darien, how are you feeling?" Claire asked.

He rolled his eyes and swore to himself that the next time someone asked him that, he was going to quicksilver for thirty minutes and kill everyone.

"You have a visitor."

Darien's head perked up thinking it might be Bobby. He watched the door and tried not to look too disapointed when Eberts walked in.

"Hello Darien, how are you feeling?"

'Ok that's it,' he thought. He threw his magizine to the floor and began to quicksilver.

Eberts looked at him surprized, and Claire scolded him. "Darien! No quicksivering!"

The quicksilver stopped crawling, leaving Darien's upper torso invisible, then it flaked off.

So he had to sit and listen to Eberts talk, thinking only how much he wanted to reach out and strangle him.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hobbes, I am ordering you to go see him." The Official said.

"But sir he hates me," Bobby pleaded.

"What? No he doesn't."

"You weren't there. He blames me for letting him get kiddnapped. And it is my fault."

"Hobbes he's your partner. Go see him. Now."

"If he's not talking to you guys there is no way he'll talk to me."

The Official sighed. "Fine, but you should think of his sanity. At this very moment Eberts is talking to him."

"Eberts sir? I'll be right back."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Darien was using all his will power not to scream. Eberts was going on and on about computers.

Darien was conssidering tearing up the place so Claire would give him a seditive.

"Shut up Eberts. You're boring him to tears," came a voice that Darien knew to well.

"Hey Hobbes," he said.

Everyone in the room stopped. Claire turned from her work, her mouth hanging open, Eberts sat and gaped at him, and Bobby raised his eyebrows.

"What?" Darien asked, looking at them all.

"Darien you haven't talked for five days and Bobby walks into the room and out of the blue you say 'Hey Hobbes'." Claire said.

"So?"

"So why haven't you talked before this?"

"Well no offense but you guys are boring. With you it's always the gland this and quicksilver that, and with Eberts it's always something about computers, and then there's the Official who talks about nothing but the current case."

Eberts stood up and walked out of the Keep, no doubt to report Darien's sudden onset of speech to the Official. Claire looked at Darien for a moment then threw up her hands in exasperation. She too left muttering something about how important the gland is.

Bobby stood in the center of the room looking uneasily at Darien.

Darien looked at him expectantly. "So are you going to sit down?"

"Oh, uh, yeah." Bobby said, pulling up the chair Eberts had been sitting in. After an awkward silence Bobby said, "Man you look like crap."

Darien smiled, he had know Bobby wouldn't ask him stupid questions. He just tells it like it is. "I could say the same for you."

"I don't know what you mean. Bobby Hobbes has never looked better."

Darien didn't really want to bring it up but Bobby had hurt him by not coming and he needed to know why. "Where've you been man?"

Bobby looked at the floor.

"Did I do something Hobbes? Because I'm sorry if I did," Darien said.

Bobby looked up quickly. "No, you didn't do anything. I just figured you didn't want to see me."

"What? Why?"

"Well you blame me for letting you get kidnapped. And it is my fault..."

"Wait, back up. When did I say this?"

"When we found you."

"Hobbes, there's a reason they call it Quicksilver Madness. Because I'm crazy during it. I don't mean what I say."

"I dunno Fawkes. Sometimes it think you are more sane when you're crazy."

Darien raised his eyebrows. "Do you know what a paradox is?"

"No I'm serious. You pick up on things. Maybe there things you already knew, like subconciously, but when you're not afraid to say them."

"Bobby, I don't blame you. I know you. You would die for me. I trust you with my life," Darien reasurred him.

They sat in silence until Darien changed the subject. "You know the movie The Lion King? I always wanted to know why Zazu, a native African bird, had a British accent."

"I hate movies like that, animals don't talk."

"Well yes they do, just not in our language."

"Well they shouldn't have movies about animals talking in our language."

"Why not?"

"Because it's weird."

They stopped upon hearing the door slide open. The Official walked in. "So is it true?"

Bobby looked at him. "Is what true sir?"

"Fawkes is talking?"

Darien and Bobby exchanged sly glances. "No sir he hasn't said a words."

At this Darien pretended to look at Bobby with dislike.

"Eberts said he was."

"Well sir, Darien has been under a lot of physical and emotional strain. He might not talk for awhile."

The Official looked at both of them and shook his head. He turned to leave. "Make sure you tell Darien if he isn't talking by Monday, he wont be recieving any more sick pay."

Darien opened his mouth to argue but Bobby silenced him with a look.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"A wise man once said, the best friendship is one where the silence is comfortable. I could sit in silence for hours with Hobbes. And on the days when the pain was bad, I think it was just his being there, even in silence, that helped me get through it."