Disclaimer and Warning in Chapter 1.
A/N: This story is written on the basis that 'Money for Nothing' parts 1 and 2 never happened.
Hobbes walked into the Official's office. He was surprised not to see Darien already sitting in his chair. It was Monday morning and he always came in early on Mondays.
"Where's Fawkes?" Hobbes asked the concern apparent in his voice.
"He's not here yet?" the Official countered.
"I figured he'd be in here by now. I'll go down to the Keep. He's probably getting his shot," and he left the office before Eberts or the Official could comment.
Hobbes was worried. He and Darien were going to go out last night and Darien never called to cancel and hadn't answered his phone. The only reason he hadn't gone over to Darien's place to check was the small fight they'd had on Saturday.
He figured Darien still needed some cooling off and he didn't want to hear Darien's nagging about his paranoia and joking about his pills again. He sighed knowing that Darien probably didn't realize how much it hurt him every time he made a crack about those damn pills.
He went into the Keep and saw Claire typing on her computer. "Where's Fawkes?"
Claire was chewing absently on a fingernail, eyes fixed firmly on the computer screen. Her face whipped around at the sound of Hobbes' voice. "Why--Bobby--I--I--isn't he with the Official? I mean--last I heard--is something wrong?" Her mind immediately began to whirl with horrid possibilities. "Have you called his home?"
She stood and began to pace like a cagey tiger. "I don't know what could've happened. I mean--" she stopped herself forcibly and brushed a lock of honey-streaked hair out of her face. "I'm babbling. Explain the situation, please, Bobby.."
Hobbes' paranoia went into overdrive mode. "I talked to him on Saturday, you know, right before he went to visit Adam, and that was the last time I heard from him. I tried calling him yesterday, but I didn't get an answer, we kinda had a disagreement and I..."he trailed off not wanting to go into detail about the fight or reveal to Claire his and Darien's relationship.
"Well, I just decided I'd wait until today to talk to him. Try his number again," he suggested to Claire.
"That's the best thing to do," Claire said decisively, picking up her phone and punching in Darien's number. The phone rang--once--twice--and Claire's heart was pounding at the apprehension she'd seen in Bobby's face.
A third rang, a click like the phone being picked up and a "Yo?"
"Oh thank god Darien, where the hell are you, Bobby and I are--"
"Hey it's Fawkes, I'm not at home right now. Leave a message, okay? See ya."
She slammed the phone down with almost agression. "He's not home."
Hobbes stared at her for a moment. 'Why didn't I go over there last night? The one time I decide not to follow my instints and...' his thoughts were interupted as the Official and Eberts rushed into the Keep.
"We have a problem," the Official stated grimly.
"What's wrong?" Hobbes asked.
"The lab where they are keeping Adam was broken into this weekend. The Monday morning--"
"Shut up,Eberts," the Official barked. "The staff came in today for work to find the weekend staff murdered and the pod missing."
"Oh my. Oh my." Clare put a hand over her mouth and her eyes widened. "But--Darien--" she took a deep breath. "Do we have any idea where Darien is?"
"No. We can only assume right now that he was there when the pod was taken. Hobbes, I want you and Claire to go out there right now and see if you can find any clues," the Official sighed.
"Right chief. Come on, Claire," Hobbes tried to keep his fear in check. "Don't forget the counteragent. He's gonna need it when we find him," he reminded her knowing that today being counteragent day meant that he needed a shot even if he hadn't needed to use the gland.
As soon as they were out of the office, Claire pulled Bobby over by the arm and said in a quiet, calm voice with an odd set to her jaw, "Is something I don't know going on between you and Darien?" Stepping back, she crossed her arms. Her eyes had a cold, determined light to them.
Hobbes' cheeks flushed and he tried to think of something to say. "I'm just worried about my partner," he said as calmly as he could muster. He opened the passenger side door of the van and walked around to the other side.
Claire's blue eyes narrowed. She climbed in the van. "Don't think you're going to get off feeding me that line. I'd like the truth, Bobby." She sighed. "Unless you're not willing to consider me a friend."
Hobbes started the van and pulled into traffic. "Claire, I do consider you a friend, but this information could be very damaging if the Official ever got wind of it," he told her in a very serious tone.
"Bobby," Claire said, a hint of hurt showing through her smooth voice, "you really think I'd betray you to the Official? Really?" She put a hand on Bobby's arm, careful not to hinder his driving. "I won't tell anyone."
Hobbes nodded. "You know that I've always said that I never fish off the company pier. Well, after I got infected with that virus that made me smart, Fawkes and I realized something. I mean, I'd had feelings for him way before then, but I never figured, you know, you know..." he paused for a moment.
"After he risked his life to save me, I knew that he had feelings for me too. We went out after I was feeling better and talked and then well..." the blush returned to his cheeks as his mind flashed on the first time he and Darien had made love.
Claire chewed on her lip. "I think I understand what you're saying. And it won't do anything to our friendship. Oh Bobby," she said, tears glimmering at the corners of her eyes, barely visible, "I'm so happy for you and Darien--I mean, it's good that you two, at least, are happy--and I'm so sorry that he's been--" she stopped and smiled, a slightly wan smile. "I'm babbling." And then she was silent.
"Yeah. I just hope that he's all right. I think it was probably Chrysalis that took him. Who else even knew about Adam?" Bobby frowned and then a shiver ran through him as another thought crossed his mind. "Last time he was kidnapped he almost died..." he trailed off recalling when Arnaud had taken him after infecting him with the virus.
"There's no way we can really tell who else knew about Adam," Claire said, pulling a minicomputer out of her purse. "Unless I can find some way to see who else accessed Adam's case file." She began searching desperately.
After a few minutes she held up a finger. "Ah-hah! Here are the IP addresses of everyone who accessed it. Unfortunately," she frowned, "Eberts didn't yet teach me how to decode those...so I can't do anything but save these." She looked at Bobby apprehensively.
"That at least gives us somewhere to start. Call Eberts and see if he can decifer them if you read them to him over the phone," he told her quickly. "The quicker we can figure this out, the sooner we get Darien and Adam back."
---
...drifting...drifting like a flitting butterfly on the wind and flying over a frozen Eden...
...who am I? ...memories...where?...gone...memories...what were they anyway?...
...what was he anymore but a floating wisp of essence?...there might be a body somewhere he was tied to but now it was only a heavy, leaden chain keeping him from soaring...somewhere, he thought he could see others of his kind flying, but he was not sure...
...a beautiful, frozen, white, silver-ice butterfly ...no! a boy!... The boy who was sitting in the snow below suddenly jerked alert, eyes flashing open. 'I can't let that happen again,' he thought. 'it's dangerous.'
TBC...
A/N: This story is written on the basis that 'Money for Nothing' parts 1 and 2 never happened.
Hobbes walked into the Official's office. He was surprised not to see Darien already sitting in his chair. It was Monday morning and he always came in early on Mondays.
"Where's Fawkes?" Hobbes asked the concern apparent in his voice.
"He's not here yet?" the Official countered.
"I figured he'd be in here by now. I'll go down to the Keep. He's probably getting his shot," and he left the office before Eberts or the Official could comment.
Hobbes was worried. He and Darien were going to go out last night and Darien never called to cancel and hadn't answered his phone. The only reason he hadn't gone over to Darien's place to check was the small fight they'd had on Saturday.
He figured Darien still needed some cooling off and he didn't want to hear Darien's nagging about his paranoia and joking about his pills again. He sighed knowing that Darien probably didn't realize how much it hurt him every time he made a crack about those damn pills.
He went into the Keep and saw Claire typing on her computer. "Where's Fawkes?"
Claire was chewing absently on a fingernail, eyes fixed firmly on the computer screen. Her face whipped around at the sound of Hobbes' voice. "Why--Bobby--I--I--isn't he with the Official? I mean--last I heard--is something wrong?" Her mind immediately began to whirl with horrid possibilities. "Have you called his home?"
She stood and began to pace like a cagey tiger. "I don't know what could've happened. I mean--" she stopped herself forcibly and brushed a lock of honey-streaked hair out of her face. "I'm babbling. Explain the situation, please, Bobby.."
Hobbes' paranoia went into overdrive mode. "I talked to him on Saturday, you know, right before he went to visit Adam, and that was the last time I heard from him. I tried calling him yesterday, but I didn't get an answer, we kinda had a disagreement and I..."he trailed off not wanting to go into detail about the fight or reveal to Claire his and Darien's relationship.
"Well, I just decided I'd wait until today to talk to him. Try his number again," he suggested to Claire.
"That's the best thing to do," Claire said decisively, picking up her phone and punching in Darien's number. The phone rang--once--twice--and Claire's heart was pounding at the apprehension she'd seen in Bobby's face.
A third rang, a click like the phone being picked up and a "Yo?"
"Oh thank god Darien, where the hell are you, Bobby and I are--"
"Hey it's Fawkes, I'm not at home right now. Leave a message, okay? See ya."
She slammed the phone down with almost agression. "He's not home."
Hobbes stared at her for a moment. 'Why didn't I go over there last night? The one time I decide not to follow my instints and...' his thoughts were interupted as the Official and Eberts rushed into the Keep.
"We have a problem," the Official stated grimly.
"What's wrong?" Hobbes asked.
"The lab where they are keeping Adam was broken into this weekend. The Monday morning--"
"Shut up,Eberts," the Official barked. "The staff came in today for work to find the weekend staff murdered and the pod missing."
"Oh my. Oh my." Clare put a hand over her mouth and her eyes widened. "But--Darien--" she took a deep breath. "Do we have any idea where Darien is?"
"No. We can only assume right now that he was there when the pod was taken. Hobbes, I want you and Claire to go out there right now and see if you can find any clues," the Official sighed.
"Right chief. Come on, Claire," Hobbes tried to keep his fear in check. "Don't forget the counteragent. He's gonna need it when we find him," he reminded her knowing that today being counteragent day meant that he needed a shot even if he hadn't needed to use the gland.
As soon as they were out of the office, Claire pulled Bobby over by the arm and said in a quiet, calm voice with an odd set to her jaw, "Is something I don't know going on between you and Darien?" Stepping back, she crossed her arms. Her eyes had a cold, determined light to them.
Hobbes' cheeks flushed and he tried to think of something to say. "I'm just worried about my partner," he said as calmly as he could muster. He opened the passenger side door of the van and walked around to the other side.
Claire's blue eyes narrowed. She climbed in the van. "Don't think you're going to get off feeding me that line. I'd like the truth, Bobby." She sighed. "Unless you're not willing to consider me a friend."
Hobbes started the van and pulled into traffic. "Claire, I do consider you a friend, but this information could be very damaging if the Official ever got wind of it," he told her in a very serious tone.
"Bobby," Claire said, a hint of hurt showing through her smooth voice, "you really think I'd betray you to the Official? Really?" She put a hand on Bobby's arm, careful not to hinder his driving. "I won't tell anyone."
Hobbes nodded. "You know that I've always said that I never fish off the company pier. Well, after I got infected with that virus that made me smart, Fawkes and I realized something. I mean, I'd had feelings for him way before then, but I never figured, you know, you know..." he paused for a moment.
"After he risked his life to save me, I knew that he had feelings for me too. We went out after I was feeling better and talked and then well..." the blush returned to his cheeks as his mind flashed on the first time he and Darien had made love.
Claire chewed on her lip. "I think I understand what you're saying. And it won't do anything to our friendship. Oh Bobby," she said, tears glimmering at the corners of her eyes, barely visible, "I'm so happy for you and Darien--I mean, it's good that you two, at least, are happy--and I'm so sorry that he's been--" she stopped and smiled, a slightly wan smile. "I'm babbling." And then she was silent.
"Yeah. I just hope that he's all right. I think it was probably Chrysalis that took him. Who else even knew about Adam?" Bobby frowned and then a shiver ran through him as another thought crossed his mind. "Last time he was kidnapped he almost died..." he trailed off recalling when Arnaud had taken him after infecting him with the virus.
"There's no way we can really tell who else knew about Adam," Claire said, pulling a minicomputer out of her purse. "Unless I can find some way to see who else accessed Adam's case file." She began searching desperately.
After a few minutes she held up a finger. "Ah-hah! Here are the IP addresses of everyone who accessed it. Unfortunately," she frowned, "Eberts didn't yet teach me how to decode those...so I can't do anything but save these." She looked at Bobby apprehensively.
"That at least gives us somewhere to start. Call Eberts and see if he can decifer them if you read them to him over the phone," he told her quickly. "The quicker we can figure this out, the sooner we get Darien and Adam back."
---
...drifting...drifting like a flitting butterfly on the wind and flying over a frozen Eden...
...who am I? ...memories...where?...gone...memories...what were they anyway?...
...what was he anymore but a floating wisp of essence?...there might be a body somewhere he was tied to but now it was only a heavy, leaden chain keeping him from soaring...somewhere, he thought he could see others of his kind flying, but he was not sure...
...a beautiful, frozen, white, silver-ice butterfly ...no! a boy!... The boy who was sitting in the snow below suddenly jerked alert, eyes flashing open. 'I can't let that happen again,' he thought. 'it's dangerous.'
TBC...