(Part 3 tidbit. St Mary's Church and school do exist in Newport, RI, however, I have fudged
the details on the school to suit my fic. Interesting Info: John F. Kennedy married Jackie Bouvier
at St. Mary's church.)
Alyx made the trip in three days, then chose a nice hotel that overlooked the ocean. She stood at
the window watching the deep gray Atlantic for a time, remembering. Of all the places in the world
she had ever lived, this place, this town, was the one that her soul called home. Achingly tired,
Alyx decided to shower before trying to sleep. Once clean, she collapsed onto the bed and after a
few minutes of restless shifting she fell asleep. It was the first time in months she had truly
slept.
In the morning she went hunting. Some things had indeed changed in the years she had been away, but
the places, the buildings that made this town what it was, had remained the same. The first place
she went was the one she recognized in the background from several of the photos that had been
taken. Actually, it was the uniform the child had been wearing that told her exactly where it was.
St. Mary's Catholic School. Hard to believe her kids going to a Catholic school, but she knew the
reputation of the place and had no real complaints. The kids would get an excellent education there.
Once she found the spot the picture had been taken of, it became a matter of finding out where the
picture had been taken from. Much more challenging; if a telephoto had been used, the photographer
could have been a half mile away when he snapped the picture.
It took an hour, but she was pretty sure she had the location. Then she went to work on the
location of the next photo. She methodically worked her way through all the pictures until she had
a good idea of the photographer's pattern. This took an entire day.
The following day she was at it again, only this time she was looking for the photographers. It
took three days, but eventually she figured out who the watchers were. It wasn't like she had a
whole lot of experience at this spying game, so she faked her way through it and was impressed that
she found them at all.
She even caught them taking more photos of her youngest as she was dropped off at school. The child
was so tiny and so sad looking that it made Alyx's heart ache. She wanted to run to her, hold her
and tell her it would be all right, but she didn't. She couldn't. And she hated the whole world for
it.
Alyx had followed one of the photographers back to an old building down on the wharfs, one that had
originally housed a fish processing plant. Nothing unusual for this town. Sneaking inside, she
discovered in the building some rather advanced medical facilities, x-ray machines, CAT scan
machine, MRI machine, all kinds of diagnostic equipment, and, most terrifying of all, toys. Toys
appropriate for a small child.
Anger and despair warred within her for a long moment and she was sorely tempted to destroy the
place, but she suspected that wouldn't stop whoever these people were. They would simply set up
shop again and return to whatever they were trying to do. Alyx still couldn't figure out what the
hell they wanted with her kids. Between going through the facility and watching the photographers,
she knew they were watching all of her kids, not just her youngest. Although her youngest was
probably the most accessible because she was so young. The others were almost always with a group
of friends, but the littlest one tended to keep to herself.
At the hotel that night, she sat on the balcony watching the waves below, once again wishing that
things were different. She could still be at home trying to deal with Jess and making sure the kids
were happy and safe. Which had both its good points and bad. Dealing with Jess had been difficult
at best, but the kids... the kids had been her life and she missed them terribly.
She was still hiding from the world and some of the reasons were even still the same. This would
have been so much easier if her 'accident' had been real. Of course, then she wouldn't be here
arguing with herself about it, now would she?
She couldn't go back, didn't want to go forward, and couldn't stay stuck in the middle for much
longer without going completely off the deep end, or perhaps self-destructing. Which left her
running around in that same circle of thoughts again. What was she going to do?
The following morning she was outside the warehouse, watching, waiting. Adjusting the focus of her
eyes she could just see through the cloudy windows. They were getting ready for something, no one
had left to take up their usual posts for the day. With only the slightest hint of regret for what
she was going to do, she walked up to the warehouse door and rang the buzzer.
The door was yanked open by a huge man with a "Yeah."
It took him a moment to notice her, way down below him like she was. "Waddayawant?" was his barely
intelligible question.
"Take me to your leader." Alyx said. Okay, she knew it was corny, but she was on the verge of
despair and was desperately trying to lift her own spirits.
"Getouttahere kid," he said, starting to close the door.
"I really think he'll want to see me," Alyx said, reaching forward to touch the door. Quicksilver
spread rapidly across its surface, turning it invisible. "Well?" Alyx asked.
The big guy's mouth opened and closed like a fish. Alyx pushed past him and into the building. "Are
you going to take me to him or do I find him myself?"
The lunk swung the door shut with a bang, causing the quicksilver to burst off of it. "Yeah. The
boss is gonna be thrilled to see you, kid."
He escorted her across the floor and up towards some offices on the second floor. As hefty man
opened the door a voice said, "What was it this time, Bob?"
"Bob?" Alyx said. The guy seemed more like a Guido or Luigi to her.
"Who is this?" The man said when he spotted her, a scowl appearing on his face. He was wearing a
lab coat over a suit.
"You're gonna want to talk to her boss," Bob said, this time managing not to string all his words
together.
The man really looked at her then, and his expression changed radically. The scowl vanished and a
pleasant smile took its place. Coming out from behind the desk, he put out his hand in greeting. "I
never thought... I had hoped but I truly never thought I would get to meet you Mrs....."
"Miss. Silver." Alyx corrected, ignoring his outstretched hand.
"Of course, I understand. Please sit," he said. "Bob, you can go. I believe I can handle it from
here."
Bob grunted. "If you're sure, boss."
"I'm quite sure. Miss Silver and I are going to have a little talk," he said in a voice that made
Alyx's skin crawl.
Bob left, closing the door quietly behind him.
"Please sit," he repeated as he walked back behind he desk and reclaimed his own seat. "You can
call Mr. Smith."
"As opposed to Jones or Doe," Alyx said, not moving. This guy, this Mr. Smith, just screamed 'big
nasty' to her senses.
"Actually, my name is indeed Smith." He said. "Others have found it somewhat amusing as well. Now
what can I do for you?
"I'm here to make a deal with you," Alyx said walking forward to lean her hands against his desk.
Leaning back in his chair and steepling his hands together over his chest, he asked, "Deal? What
could you possibly have that I might be interested in?"
Alyx shook her head. "Mr. Smith, if you know who I am, then you know what I am. And you know who I
work for." She moved and sat on the edge of his desk. "Now, if you're real lucky my boss hasn't
sent anyone looking for me yet and they aren't outside this building preparing to come in and get
me as we speak. However, if your karma is running in the red...." She shrugged. "Do you want to
hear my offer or not?"
He leaned forward hands coming to rest on the desktop. "If it's worth my time, I'll listen."
"I think it will be." She paused. "First you call off the dogs; none of the kids get touched, ever.
By you, whoever you work for, or anyone else. Even if that means you have to protect them. They get
left 'alone'. To grow up without interference."
"And if I say I don't know what you're talking about?" He asked eyebrows raising slightly.
"Then I go to plan B and make sure you can't hurt them. By any means necessary." Alyx replied her
voice flat.
"I see. And what do we get out of this 'deal'?" Mr. Smith asked his voice gone tight with anger.
"Didn't I mention...? Silly me," Alyx said her voice filled with a false lightness. "You get me."
Mr. Smith looked surprised.
"For two weeks," Alyx said. "You can run any reasonable tests you want. I've seen the equipment
you have; there's not much you can't handle. I decide what's reasonable, and believe me when I say
I know what is reasonable." She slid off the desk and backed up a few steps. "Do we have a deal?"
"Two weeks, to check out your gift. I'm not sure that will be enough," he said with the voice of a
snake oil salesman.
Alyx decided to up the ante. "You mean gifts, don't you?"
With a deep breath she lifted every piece of furniture in the room three feet off the ground
including the chair Smith was sitting in. "Deal?"
With a voice that sounded almost gleeful, he answered. "Oh, yes, Miss Silver. We most definitely
have a deal."
It had taken another week, this time with nothing but paperwork to do, before the Official asked to
see them for a new assignment. All three of them, Claire included, were being sent to retrieve Alyx.
"You knew where she was all along, didn't you?" Darien said with irritation creeping into his
voice.
"Fawkes, I've given you an assignment. I expect you to do it, not give me back-talk," the Official
snapped at him.
"He's not getting enough sleep again, sir," Hobbes tossed out, trying to cover for his friend.
Darien got to his feet, not really giving a damn about whether or not the Official was pissed at
him. As was usually the case, he felt like he was being used. But this time, he had a feeling Alyx
was as well. "If it turns out you've set her up for something, I'd worry. I'm pretty sure she'll
figure it out, and then she's very likely to come after you."
"Fawkes, I wouldn't push your luck right now," the Official said, glaring up at him.
"Fawkes, lets just go get her. You can fight with the boss about it when we get back," Hobbes said
coming up beside Darien and resting a hand on his arm.
Darien turned to him. "Yeah. You're right, Hobbes." He turned away from the desk and the two of
them started across the room. "This isn't over," he said to the Official as he paused in the open
doorway.
"Come on, Fawkes," Hobbes complained.
The Official glared at Darien until he finally left the room, shutting the door behind him.
"Well, sir, it looks like part of your plan is working." Eberts commented from beside the desk.
"Perhaps a bit too well?"
"We'll have to wait and see. Even if he becomes a bit more loyal to her than the Agency, he can't
go anywhere. We have the counteragent, and we have her." The Official said with no concern in his
voice.
"For now anyway." Eberts said quietly.
If Darien had learned only one thing from his time with the Agency it was that spying involved vast
amounts of hurry up and wait. If he wasn't bored to tears on a stake-out, he was being shot at by
some perp who wanted no part of going in peacefully. For the third day in a row they were
sitting in a cheap rental car watching a building. And Hobbes wouldn't let him sleep.
"Gotta admit, the kid's pretty good. If we didn't know where she was staying I don't think we would
have found her." Hobbes said lowering his binoculars. "I'd love to know how she managed to access
her bank account without leaving a record."
Darien sat slumped in the passenger seat, head tipped back, staring at the ceiling. "If she can
hack into computer with her mind, why not an ATM?" he said drowsily. "I still say she'd make a
great thief."
"Nah." Hobbes commented. "Too honest."
"You may be right about that," Darien chuckled sitting up straighter in his seat. "So what are we
doing here?"
"Watching that building." Hobbes answered.
"Got that. Why?" Darien wasn't in the mood to think right now.
"'Cause her car's parked around the back, as you would know if you had been awake this morning."
Hobbes said dryly.
"Well, what are we waiting for? I thought we were supposed to be bringing her back?" Darien asked.
"We will," Hobbes answered, distracted. "Someone's coming out."
It wasn't Alyx, just some guy who got into a dark green Taurus and drove off.
"Something's up." Hobbes said.
"How can you tell?" He looked in the direction of the building, seeing nothing unusual.
"Trust me, I know. Something's about to go down."
"We have a problem." Mr. Smith said to Alyx.
She sat looking at him, waiting.
"I'm afraid the two weeks you've offered us will not be enough. We are going to need quite a bit
more time to understand everything." He moved to stand in front of her. "We're making arrangements
for you to stay as our guest at a more advanced facility."
"How stupid do you think I am?" she asked in a flat tone of voice.
He slapped her across the face. "Very." His voice sounded different and she had a memory flash
through her mind.
She remembered being strapped down to a bed back in the original facility, having just woken up for
the first time since she'd been kidnapped. She'd been so confused by the voices and emotions running
through her head, but she still remembered.
A voice had cut through the roaring in her head. "Use the inhibitor."
She played the words over and over in her mind. The tone, the inflection, they were the same. She
took care not to reveal that she had made the connection. "How did you find out about me?"
Thrown by her abrupt change, of topic he answered. "A certain list came into our possession in
regards to a project named Quicksilver. It was suggested that if the adults weren't available, that
their children might be acceptable."
Alyx thought for a moment. "So what exactly are you looking for?"
"We want to know how you got your abilities. These examinations just aren't going to answer that
question." Smith was no longer trying to be the sweet but oily person he'd been for the last
several days. He wasn't getting what he wanted, so his true self was coming out.
"Wrong project. The info on me was correct, obviously, but the rest...sorry, not me." Alyx
shrugged. "You should have checked your source out better." She got to her feet, but he hit her
again, knocking her back into the chair. With a calmness that belied the anger she felt, she wiped
the blood away with the back of her hand. "But you already know that. I may not recognize your
face, but I do recognize the voice. Guess I should thank you for improving my memory, among other
things."
Smith raised his hand to hit her again, but this time she blocked his arm and grabbed a hold of
him. At the contact she caught a flash of what was in his mind. Not only had he never planned on
letting her leave, he had sent 'Bob' to capture the prize that would keep her cooperation in his
little endeavor.
"You bastard. I warned you in the beginning." Alyx lashed out with her mind and pinned him to the
wall. "I have a few other talents you seem to have forgotten about." She said with a dangerous
smile on her face. Without finesse she entered his mind to find out what was going on and who he
worked for. There was the Agency of course; he'd been the one to get her abilities working. Now,
though, it was the CIA. They were tired of having to 'borrow' Darien when they needed him. They
didn't like having to play 'Oliver' and say 'please sir can we have some more' to an Agency so much
lower on the totem pole than themselves.
Alyx tried to probe a bit deeper and came up with a name, Marcus Heilburg. It meant nothing to her,
except that it was a wall. A rather impressive wall that she simply could not get past. She went
rummaging about a bit more in the information and memories she could access, but didn't really find
too much more of value. Mr. Heilburg here was a brilliant scientist, but he was also rather
unscrupulous and would hire himself out to anyone who could use his talents. A year ago it was the
Agency. Three months ago--the CIA, in hope of duplicating one of the quicksilver projects. He'd
chosen hers because he had worked on her. It was the CIA who had discovered the information on the
project that created her, not Heilburg himself, but he did not know where they found it.
With a snarl, she pulled out of his mind and let him drop to the floor, where he lay moaning in
pain. She had not been gentle with her intrusion or her exit, and part of her really didn't care if
he survived the experience.
"Be glad I let you live," she said in disgust.
Ripping open the door with her mind, she let her tight control on her powers go, allowed her anger
to take over. She was going to stop this here and now even if it meant she had to destroy both this
place and herself to do it. Reaching out with her mind, she shut down the power to the entire
building. She felt a backup generator try to kick on and she shut that down as well. Letting the
quicksilver slide across her body, she disappeared and made her way through the various offices up
on this level. She made sure to overload every computer she found using her electric discharges.
The sounds of destruction were wonderful.
Outside Hobbes listened to the sounds of destruction with a smug look on his face. "I told ya
Fawkes. Didn't I tell ya?"
He was placing the binoculars to his eyes when the green Taurus returned. The driver got out and
went to the trunk. Opening it he lifted out a small child of about six. She was tied hand and foot
and gagged but she immediately began to struggle and try to scream through the gag.
Darien looked at the kid in consternation. She looked so familiar, but he wasn't quite sure why.
"Aw, crap. He's got a kid."
"Go," Hobbes said.
And he was gone, literally, in a heartbeat. The only evidence of his leaving was the opening of the
car door. Hobbes followed a moment later.
The thug holding the kid heard the footsteps but saw no one before being hit. He dropped the kid as
he went down. Reaching for his gun, he was shocked to see the kid apparently floating in the air.
Darien, holding the terrified girl, kicked the gun out of the guy's hand. Bobby arrived then with
his own gun drawn, ordering the goon to freeze. Darien set the little girl down and shook off the
quicksilver as he squatted. As he removed the gag and began to untie her, she began to struggle.
"It's okay, we're the good guys," he said, hoping to calm her.
She stopped struggling but looked wary. "R... really?" she asked in a shaking voice which gave
Darien the shivers. She sounded just like Alyx, just a couple of octaves higher.
"Really, honey," he answered.
"You know, my Mommy's just like you," she piped up.
"What do you mean?" Darien asked.
"Everyone said she died, but she didn't. She's just invisdible like you." She answered,
mispronouncing the word.
Hobbes had handcuffed the goon to the car and was looking towards the building where the sounds of
destruction were on the increase.
Darien scooped the girl up and looked at his partner. "Should we check it out?"
"I think we better," Hobbes commented as alarms began to go off.
Darien didn't want to leave the girl behind, so he carried her along, staying well behind Hobbes in
case of trouble. The kid had already seen him invisible once, so he really didn't think it would
matter all that much if he did it again. Hobbes was about to try the door when it burst open and a
number of people ran out with looks of sheer terror on their faces.
The little girl suddenly whispered to him. "She's really angry."
Alyx made her way down stairs to where the testing equipment was set up. The goons that Heilburg
had hired had their guns out and were looking for her. How convenient that they couldn't see her.
Taking out those she had to and dodging the rest, she proceeded to annihilate the medical area.
Within minutes there was nothing left worth salvaging. She made sure the alarms for the building
came on; she wanted to attract as much attention as possible to this little operation of theirs
and, if not shut them down, at least discourage them from ever trying something like this again.
She was finished here. The place was completely destroyed; no information in the building had
survived her wrath. Some information would have been sent elsewhere, she assumed, but she'd deal
with that at another time. She was heading towards the main door when it opened and Hobbes and
Darien walked inside. Darien was carrying a young child for some reason, and after a second Alyx
recognized the girl.
With a gasp of astonishment, Alyx felt the quicksilver drop from her body. The little girl began to
squirm in Darien's arms and he set her down, only to watch her run across the floor of the warehouse
to where Alyx had suddenly appeared.
The girl stopped just a few feet in front of her, eyeing her critically.
"Mommy?" she asked in a hushed voice. "Mommy is that you?" Reaching a decision she ran the last
few steps and threw her arms about Alyx. "Oh Mommy! I told them you weren't dead. I told them you'd
just gone invisdible. But they didn't believe me."
Alyx stood there stunned. This had not been part of the plan. She had never intended for any of the
kids to see her. For a minute she allowed herself to hug the child back and then gently pushed her
away. She crouched down before the girl and looked at her. "I'm sorry, honey," Alyx said in a soft
voice, trying to smile for the girl. "I'm not your Mommy."
The little girl took a step back. "But you look like her. And you feel the same in my head. Well...
almost. My Mommy wasn't so sad and angry."
Alyx paused. Felt the same in her head? She probed a bit, and discovered the girl was indeed
already mildly empathic. No wonder people were after her and the other kids.
She had no choice; the only way to insure that they would remain safe would be to return to San
Diego and hope the Official would continue his offer of protection for them.
It took all her strength but she said to the girl. "I'm not honey, really."
Tears began to well up in the girls eyes. "But, I miss my Mommy."
"I know honey, believe me I know." Alyx wiped the tears from the girls cheeks. "There's something
else I know."
The girl raised her head and looked into Alyx's eyes. "What?" she sniffed.
"Your Mommy will always be with you." Alyx placed her hand over the little one's heart. "In here."
Then over her head. "And in here. And I promise you she loves you very much."
"Really?" she asked a smile sneaking back across her face.
"Really. I don't lie about things like that." Alyx stood. "How about we get you home?"
"Yes, please." She answered. "You should be with Darien," she suddenly said, to everyone's
surprise. "He disappears, just like you."
Alyx laughed lightly and scooped up the girl and carried her over to her partners. "I'd ask why you
guys are here, but I have the feeling I know the answer."
"Like you'd have to guess, kid. The boss wants you back home," Hobbes said, not sounding nearly as
gruff as he usually did. Alyx wondered what had happened.
Sirens could be heard approaching in response to the alarms she had set off.
"Can you handle this?" Alyx asked. "I just can't..."
She was on the verge of tears, but it was Hobbes who answered. "Get out of here. We'll handle it."
he said. "And we'll make sure she gets home safe and sound." he said forestalling her next question.
"Thank you." Alyx said choking back tears. She handed the little girl over to Darien and then ran
from the building.
Once she was gone, the little girl spoke up again. "Mr. Darien?" the girl said.
"Yes?" Darien asked as he turned to look at her.
"Could you tell the nice lady that it's gonna be okay? She just needs to open her own heart again.
Could you tell her that for me? Please?" The little girl spoke with such earnestness and such
honesty that Darien promised he would.
The next several hours were busy. The local police arrived, questions were asked and answered,
arrests made, and the little girl was safely delivered to the arms of her father, who Darien made a
point of not seeing other than to make sure the little one was safe.
It wasn't until much later that Darien realized that he had never actually told the girl his name.