Chapter Six
"This is not good, this is definitely not good," Bobby muttered to himself, while pacing back and forth in his room. His hands clasped together behind his back and he nervously fidgeted with his fingers. He stopped pacing for a minute and threw his brown jacket off of his body and onto the bed. Then he unbuttoned the top button on his no-longer crisp, white shirt and continued his pacing across the rug.
"So you keep saying," Claire noted with a sympathetic hint to her voice. She felt bad for Bobby as well as Darien, but she had no idea how to help either of them. She crossed her legs onto the bed and followed her friend with her eyes. "Stop pacing, Bobby, you're making me nervous."
Hobbes stopped and sat down next to her. "We've got to do something, Keeps. Sitting around here isn't doing Fawkes any good, and God knows what that sick bastard Arnaud's doing to him right now while we waste time sitting around." He anxiously tapped his foot against the floor and grimaced at the thought of what could be happening at that very moment. He envisioned so many things, but before they could finish, he pushed them out of his mind.
Claire gently placed an arm around his shoulder and pulled him a little closer. "Don't worry, Bobby- we'll think of something. Darien will be okay."
Bobby didn't look convinced, but he returned her reassuring smile anyway while thinking of a way to get his friend back home.
~*~*~
Darien woke up in a small, white padded room. His face contorted as he thought back to what had happened previous to his passing out. Arnaud was trying to make him go Quicksilver mad, but that wasn't going to happen. Darien refused to let it happen. He would fight as long as he could, and when he couldn't fight anymore, he would just have to think of something before Arnaud got his greedy hands on that information.
He stood up slowly and felt his body collapse beneath him and he fell onto the floor, which was, lucky for him, padded like the walls. As his face hit the soft padding, he cried out in frustration. Something in that drug Arnaud had given him was making him too weak, and it was keeping him invisible.
After gathering his strength enough to stand, Darien paused. He knew that somehow Arnaud was watching him from another room, but he couldn't find any camera anywhere. He dug his nails into the padding on the walls, and he searched the place as thoroughly as he could, and after about fifteen minutes, he found it. It was to high for him to reach, but he could definitely see it. The camera was a tiny, black box that Darien assumed to be infra-red and it sat smugly in the top right hand corner of the room, mocking the prisoner who wanted so badly to tear it down, but it was just out of reach.
He looked into it and stopped grabbing for it. "Damn you, Arnaud!" he screamed at his nemesis. Then he cried out again and pounded his fist into the opposite wall, trying to drive out his anger. But he could feel the beginning of QSM coursing through his veins, driving him crazy, and he had no cure for it. If only he could get a hold of The Keeper…
No, that's not going to work, he told himself. Think of something you can actually do, Darien. You can't let this asshole get the information from you. He'll be nearly unstoppable. With no side effects, he could turn invisible as much as he wants and do whatever he wants without being detected. And I won't let that happen.
He grabbed his head and bit back a cry as he felt pain jolt through his brain. Think quick, dammit. Think…
The pain subsided very slowly and he breathed in and out heavily, then straightened his back until he was standing erect. He sighed, and then, very cautiously, sat down on the white padded bench provided for him in the room. His mind was a blank, as it usually was in tight situations. And this certainly qualified as a tight situation.
"Ok, there has to be a way out," Darien murmured aloud. "The question is, how do you get there?" He looked around, trying to place his discomfort out of his head. He bit his lip in concentration. But before the answer came to him, the wall opened. Looking up in confusion, Darien was surprised to find it being a door. Arnaud walked in proudly, and literally waltzed straight up to his hostage. The dance was a strange one, and the man did it with a pompous smile on his face, as if the dance somehow made him superior. Darien just thought him mad, as usual.
"And how are we doing, my invisible friend?" Arnaud wore black infra-red goggles on his head as a precaution, and Darien wondered silently why he didn't just turn invisible as well.
Although his head ached worse than he had felt in a while, and he wanted to curl up and die, Darien put on a sardonic smile. "Just fine, thanks. You know, aside from the whole being-held-captive-by-my-arch-nemesis thing. But thanks for asking."
Arnaud shook his head slightly. "You know, Darien, you are far too sarcastic for your own good." With that, he raised his knee and slammed it into Darien's stomach.
The invisible man doubled over and fell to the ground clutching his stomach in pain. "Screw you, Arnaud. You'll never get what you want," he gasped through shallow breaths.
That's what you think," he replied, angry now. He drew his leg back and kicked Darien in the head, and then left without checking to make sure that man was even conscious still.
Fawkes lay on the ground, stagnant, until his enemy left the room heatedly. Then he slowly rolled over onto his back, still grasping himself weakly where a bruise was already forming. A small river of blood trickled from his head, but he paid it no attention. Focusing all his attention on getting out, he sat up as delicately as he could in his condition and rested his head against the padded walls with a small whimper. There had to be a way to get out without Arnaud finding out, and Darien was determined to find it.
~*~*~
Bobby looked around the town as he walked around it, trying to find some sort of clue as to where his partner was being held. He knew that Darien had gone willingly, but that was only because Arnaud had a hostage. Now that Oz was no longer in his grasp, there was no immediate danger to anyone, although Hobbes suspected that the malevolent man had some sort of backup plan. They always did. He just needed a counter attack ready for that backup plan.
Claire walked next to him, dressed casually in a brown sweatshirt and jeans. Bobby couldn't remember seeing her so casual. He liked it, and said so.
"Why, thank you, Bobby," she replied with a pleased smile. Bobby's face turned bright red as she kissed him lightly on the cheek. Her grin broadened at his discomfort, but she changed the subject. "So, where should we look?"
Hobbes shrugged, grateful for the new subject. It brought him back to reality, and he really needed to focus on finding his partner and best friend. "I have no idea, but I'll bet someone in town will."
"Well, they might, but who's going to tell? They assume that as long as Darien is not in Arnaud's hands, he won't leave. And while that may or may not be true, they're not going to help us get him back if it means he's going to stay longer," Claire pointed out honestly.
Bobby had to agree, but once that idea was shot down, he had no others. The people of the town were his last hope if he wanted to find Arnaud and his friend.
"I don't care, I'm going to try. Someone has to have compassion in this town," Bobby decided. "I mean, what's the worst that can happen? They say no and we go ask someone else. Come on, Claire, we have to help Darien."
"I know, I know… You're right. Let's go." She stood up confidently and with a false hope that betrayed her feelings, but Bobby gave her a reassuring smile and her hopes began to raise. After all, they had found Darien before in what seemed to be hopeless situations, so why not now? Of course, once that thought crossed her mind she realized how far-fetched that sounded. Their luck had to run out soon, and Claire had a feeling it was going to be this time.
"Claire?" Hobbes gave her a concerned look. "You okay? You look… sick." He put his palm over her forehead, but she gently pushed it away.
"I'm fine, Bobby. I'm just concerned for Darien, that's all." Claire spoke with assurance, but Bobby's look didn't waver. He remained unconvinced.
"No, maybe you should stay here…"
Claire sighed in frustration. "Look, just because I'm a woman and am worried about my friend does not mean that I have to sit here and wait around to find out if everything is okay!"
Bobby was taken aback by her outburst, but consented. "Fine, I was just worried about ya, that's all."
She breathed out slowly. "I'm sorry, I'm just scared. We have no idea what Arnaud is capable of, or what his intentions are. God, I just… I feel so helpless, and I hate that feeling."
"I know, Keeps, I know. But we will find him. Just keep positive and think hard, and we'll find him." He spoke assertively so that she wouldn't find any doubt in his voice, because if he didn't sound confident, she would lose heart. Besides, he truly believed that they would find his partner. No matter what.
Claire smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Bobby."
Hobbes tucked a piece of her messy blonde hair behind her ear and shot her a goofy grin. "You're welcome. Now let's go find Darien."
~*~*~
Arnaud entered his room down the hall from where Darien was being held. The deteriorating inside of his head was becoming unbearable, and Darien hadn't cracked yet. He cursed under his breath as his legs gave way beneath him, bringing him to his knees. As he fell, a distressing thought occurred to him.
"I'm beginning to lose control of my body…" he whispered to himself. He gasped at the realization. It was a strange concept to grasp, being unable to control his own body. Soon he would basically be paralyzed, and Darien would be completely overtaken by Quicksilver madness. The combination in itself caused Arnaud to flinch as he placed his hands on the bed next to him. His arch-nemesis would be unstoppable, bent on revenge, and not to mention crazy, while he would be useless and unable to move to fight him off.
There was only one solution: rethink the original plan. There were two options left to do, and neither were great. He could sit around and wait for Darien to go completely mad, meanwhile hoping that he had enough time to observe Darien's brain before he became paralyzed, but that was a big risk. The other option was to give Darien counteragent, which would keep him sane and hopefully far away. However, he would still be paralyzed and Fawkes would still pine for his revenge. The only difference would be Darien's state of mind. He would be a much more dangerous enemy without his desired counteragent.
Still, neither option seemed a good idea. The whole plan was to find the cure for his own brain malfunctioning. If Darien were cured, he would be safer, granted, but it would be harder to get a hold of him again in time to save his own life.
"Why can't there be a simple explanation for all this?" he muttered to himself. Then he laughed silently remembering how Darien had chided him for being "ridiculous" in always having a complicated process to get what he wanted. And it was true. He had basically held an entire town hostage just to get Darien. It had, however, worked, no matter how intricate it was. So far, at least. It would only make sense that things got screwed up now. After all, nothing could ever go his way.
Coming up with no solution, he strode angrily to the door and stormed into the room were Darien was being held, thermal glasses placed on his face, unfortunately for Darien hiding his sadistic eyes. Before Darien could mutter a smug "hello", Arnaud had his fingers curled around the collar of the weaker man's shirt while pinning him against the wall.
"Look, you pretentious bastard, I don't have time for your juvenile games," he cried furiously, tightening his grip on Darien. "I'm dying, do you understand that? And normally I realize that this would be good news for you, but how's this for a challenge, eh? If I die, or even end up as a cripple my entire life, my men will execute your friends, one by one, and I'll make sure that they do it slowly and painfully." He drew out the last three words to get his point across. Apparently Darien understood.
Fawkes snarled at Arnaud and tried to escape his grasp, but to no avail. "You are sick, you know that? No, I mean, really. Because of your own stupid mistake, you're going to kill my friends just to get me to be your lab rat, as well as theirs."
"Precisely. At least we're on the same level now. So what will it be, Fawkesy? Huh? Are you really willing to sacrifice your friends to watch me die?"
Darien paused for a moment. "Fine. Just remember this: in the end, I will get you, and it won't be pretty."
Arnaud chuckled lightly. "Of course. But you see, there is a slight problem," he began as he dropped Darien on the ground roughly. He rubbed his eyes in frustration and walked in circles around Darien as if he were prey. "I don't have time to sit around and wait for you to go….well, for lack of a better term, insane, although I see you're almost there," he said, grabbing and looking at Darien's wrist. Two more full segments left. "So I am going to have to speed things up. I'm sure you won't mind."
"Wait a minute, Dr. Jekyl. You can't speed this up any more." Darien was panicking. If he sped up the time, then there would be less for Bobby and Claire to find him in, although he doubted they would find him easily anyway. Granted, he had complete faith in his friends, but he also knew how much Arnaud needed to keep him hidden. And Arnaud was good at playing hide-and-seek with The Agency, which worried him, possibly more than Arnaud recovering. Once he was completely restored to perfect health, he would simply terminate his enemy, without any doubt.
"You seem to underestimate my resources, Fawkes," Arnaud chided as he turned around to his chemical table. He picked up two test tubes, one a light blue color and the other a greenish color, and mixed them together. He swirled them around once the two liquids were in the same tube and turned to give Darien a menacing grin. "Don't worry, this won't hurt… much."
Darien stood up and backed against the cushioned wall. "There is no way you're getting that thing in me."
"Oh really?" Arnaud lunged at Darien and a fight ensued. Darien lifted his leg up in defense. It collided with Arnaud's chest, throwing him back to the other side of the room. Staggering to his feet, he growled in anger.
"Yeah, really," Darien snapped back, cold fingers colliding with Arnaud's nose. A look of surprise came over his face as blood trickled from his right nostril. He dabbed at it with the back of his hand, then looked up at his aggressor with a tinge of lunacy apparent on his face. Darien was undaunted, the effects of quicksilver madness nudging at his being, trying to overtake him, but already staring to take a toll on his state of mind. Arnaud no longer intimidated him.
Arnaud saw this, and a grin slowly crept up on face, blood falling onto his curved lips. "Perhaps I won't need this serum after all…"
"Yeah? Good for you. No, really." Darien crept closer to Arnaud, his mouth forming a straight line, dark eyes focused on his adversary. "But I think you should be worried about yourself before you get all excited. I can tell what condition you're in, even if you try to hide it, and I'm your last hope." He held his hands out so his body formed a cross. "You can't kill me. Do you realize what that means? I can do anything I want to you, and what are you gonna do? Huh?"
Arnaud raised an eyebrow. "You're arrogance is tiring, Fawkes. Just because I can't kill you doesn't mean I can't… play around a little." He kicked Darien in the chest.
Fawkes fell down hard. He couldn't breathe until he landed on the hard floor, and on impact he breathed in sharply though wet teeth, grimacing.
Arnaud dropped down next to him, squatting at his side. "Painful, I know. But the pain won't last for long."
A confused look came over Darien's face, then it was replaced with shock as he felt a sharp prick in his neck. His hand flew to the tingling spot, and he felt a drop of blood. Arnaud looked at him with the smug grin that Darien hated so much, holding an empty syringe in his hand. He patted Darien's head. "See you when you wake up."
Darien moaned and fell backwards, closing his eyes regretfully as Arnaud left the room and locked the door, straightening his dark blue suit as he left, and wiping his nose one more time.