Dr. Jonathan Graver sat in front of his new entertainment center, trying to figure out exactly how to hook it up. The entertainment center was one of the many things purchased with the $50,000 given to him by Chrysalis for "mixing up" some dental records. Easiest money he had ever made. But of course every time he thought of Chrysalis, a chill went down his spine.
He was about to hook his VCR to the television when his door burst open.
"Hey, buddy," said Darien as he and Bobby walked into the room.
Jonathan recognized both of them as employees of Charlie from the Agency. He instantly stood up, heart racing.
"Sit," said Bobby as he waved his gun towards a couch.
Jonathan did as he was told. "What do you want?" he asked in a panic.
Darien sat down in a chair across from Jonathan and leaned in towards him. "Well, that's real simple. We wanna know where Claire Spencer is," said Darien.
"Claire Spencer?" said Jonathan innocently.
"Don't play dumb, doc," said Darien with irritation. "Claire Spencer, the person who's dental records you mixed up with a dead woman."
Jonathan only stared back, trying to keep calm.
"Okay, okay, so you're not gonna talk. Tough guy, huh?" said Darien as he looked over at Bobby. "Kill him."
Bobby nodded. "Sure thing, Fawkesy," said Bobby as he walked to Jonathan and put the gun to his head.
Jonathan panicked, putting his hands up in the air. "Please, please, I don't want to die," he yelled.
"Where is she?" asked Darien. "We know Chrysalis paid you off. We got bank records of money going from a Chrysalis front account into your account."
"I don't know," said Jonathan.
Darien leaned farther forward, searching Jonathan's eyes. "You do know, don't you? You're just afraid to say it. Well, my friend, I wouldn't be worried about Chrysalis coming after you because by this time tomorrow they won't exist."
Jonathan hesitated. Darien looked at Bobby. Bobby pushed his gun firmly against Jonathan's head.
"Ahh, okay, okay," screamed Jonathan. "When they first approached me, I was scared and didn't want to do it. So one day they jumped me after work and took me to this huge lab out in the desert. The lab was filled with all kinds of weapons and torture devices. They said they would use them on me if I didn't help them," said Jonathan, tears streaming down his face.
"Where in the desert?" asked Darien urgently.
"About 50 miles east of here. It's the only thing out there," sniffled Jonathan.
Darien looked at Bobby, eyes wide. " Out of the way, isolated, filled with equipment, nice. Perfect place to keep Claire," said Darien with hope shining in his eyes for the first time in a week.
Jonathan continued to sniffle in the chair. Bobby patted him on the back. "You did good, my friend," he said.
Bobby took out his handcuffs and threw them to Darien.
Darien gently cuffed Jonathan. "Don't worry, baby. We'll tell the judge you cooperated and he'll go easy on you," said Darien.
Bobby pulled out his cell phone and dialed up the Official. "Yeah chief, we got it," said Bobby. "Okay, we'll be right there."
Bobby hung up the phone and looked at Darien. "Let's go," he said as he helped Darien drag Jonathan out the door, leaving the brand new entertainment center deserted on the floor.
Darien stared out the window of Bobby's van, seeing nothing but the barren landscape of the desert under the moonlight.
His heart was jumping nervously in his chest and he was shaking. He wanted to see Claire so bad. He needed to hold her in his arms. Darien just hoped they weren't too late.
He looked in the side mirror and saw four black Agency vans behind them. The Agency was going to raid the lab in the desert and take down Chrysalis. Darien was going to personally arrest or kill Stark, whichever turned out to be necessary.
The vans stopped about two miles from the Chrysalis lab, the agents not wanting to get any closer and tip Chrysalis off to their impending arrival.
All the agents got out of their vans and crowded around the Official. "Okay people, listen up. We're sending Fawkes in under the radar along with Hobbes. Their going to do a little surveillance and then radio when there ready for us," said the Official as he looked around at his agents. "We walk the rest of the way and wait about a half a mile away. When they give us the signal, go," said the Official firmly.
The agents started the 20 minute walk to their position. When they got there, they all started loading up their weapons.
The Official stepped towards Darien and Bobby, who were busy loading their own guns. "Good luck, you two," said the Official.
Alex stepped up behind the trio and handed Darien and Bobby earpieces and mikes. "Take em' down guys," she said with a smile.
"Thanks Monroe," said Bobby.
Darien and Bobby looked at one another nervously. "You ready for this partner?" said Darien.
Bobby nodded and smiled. "You're damn straight I am, my friend," said Bobby as he extended his hand.
The partners slapped hands and started walking quickly towards the lab. When they were about 200 hundred feet away, Bobby felt a cold substance coating his body. He shivered slightly.
"Wuss," he heard Darien say softly.
They crept up, noticing guards in small booths located in front of the lab. They made their way around the back and went in through a back door.
They were met with hallways and corridors, all looking pretty much the same.
"Okay, we got two guard posts in the front, filled with 2 guys each, armed with automatic weapons, said Bobby softly into his mike.
The partners started to walk down a long hallway. Each room on the sides of the hallway appeared to be some kind of lab. Darien opened up the doors to one of the labs and stepped inside. Alarms instantly started to go off. "Aw crap," said Darien.
Bobby pulled Darien out of the room and the two started running down the hall. Men in suits, armed with guns and equipped with thermal, started to fill up the hallway.
"Now, go now!" yelled Bobby into his mike.
He pushed Darien down another hall. The armed men started shooting at them. Bobby and Darien turned around and shot back at them, taking out five guys. The partners continued running through the halls, stopping every few seconds and ducking into a room to avoid gunfire.
They came to a fork in the hallway. Bobby pointed to the left. "Split up, partner," he said as he headed to the right, the quicksilver flaking from his body.
Darien ran rapidly down the hall with armed men on his trail. He could feel bullets whizzing by him. The men almost caught up with him, but Darien dived into a lab and returned fire, taking care of the guys after him.
He could hear the sounds of explosions and gunfire all over the building. The Agency must be in, he thought. Now all he had to do was find Claire.
Claire looked around nervously at the walls of her room, a picture of Darien bleeding and unconscious, lying on the bed beside her. She could hear the gunshots and explosions coming from outside.
She walked to the door, picking up the chair along her way. This was her chance to get out of here.
The door slid open, but nobody entered. "Claire," she heard someone say softly.
Claire dropped the chair to the ground, as Darien shed quicksilver from his body.
"Claire," he said again, breathlessly. He stared at her, tears falling down his cheeks. He was afraid to touch her, afraid she might not be real.
Claire didn't have such a problem. She ran to him and practically jumped on top of him, kissing him passionately, tears falling down her own face. "They showed me a picture of you lying unconscious on the ground, I thought they really hurt you," she sobbed in between kisses.
"Yeah, well I thought you were dead," he said breathlessly. He pulled away from her and took her face in his hands. "Don't you ever do that to me again, okay," he said.
Claire smiled. "Promise. I love you so much," she said as she pulled him close and hugged him.
"I love you too," he said.
"Well isn't that sweet," said Stark, who had entered the room without them realizing. A gun was pointed at Claire. Darien instantly pointed his own gun at Stark. "Don't even try it. Drop it," said Stark firmly.
Darien dropped it and pulled Claire close to him.
"You think you won today, Darien? You didn't win. We got people all over the U.S. and the rest of the world. This is but a tiny piece of the pie," said Stark.
"Yeah, well it seems like it's a pretty important piece," said Darien sarcastically.
Stark moved his gun from Claire to Darien. "I should have done this a long time ago," said Stark as he pulled the trigger.
"No!" cried Claire as she jumped in front of Darien.
"Claire!" yelled Darien.
Claire fell to the floor, blood leaking from her chest.
"Claire," said Darien in a panic as he sat down on the floor and picked her up, cradling her unconscious body in his arms.
"This is touching," said Stark as he stepped close to Darien. He put the gun to his head. Darien closed his eyes and waited for it to be over. He heard a gun shot and a loud crash. He opened his eyes and saw Stark lying on the ground, eyes open, blood flowing from his head. Bobby stood over him, his gun still smoking.
Darien looked up at him in shock. "Thanks," he said softly. He turned his attention back to Claire. He felt her neck for a pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found one. "We got to get her out of here, Bobby," said Darien as he gently picked Claire up and ran out of the room, with Bobby following close behind.
A Day Later
Claire was trying to figure out where she was. It didn't sound like her room at the lab. She opened her eyes slowly, taking in her surroundings. A hospital room. She saw she was hooked up to various machines, the beeps annoying her to no end.
She looked down at her lap and saw a familiar head of hair. Darien had pulled a chair up to her bed and had fallen asleep with his head laying next to her on the bed so he wouldn't hurt her. His left arm was draped across her middle and his right hand was locked onto hers.
Claire smiled, taking her left hand and stroking his hair gently. He jumped awake. "Are you okay?" he asked, panic in his eyes.
She almost laughed when she saw his face. Lines from the bed sheets had etched a design on his cheek and a line of crusted drool extended from his mouth. She took his hand and rubbed it. "I'm fine," she said softly.
He visibly relaxed when she said that. He reached out and gently caressed her cheek. He was instantly met with a smile.
He stood up and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll be right back, Keepie," he said slyly.
Claire looked at him oddly. "What tricks are you hiding in your slippery little sleeves, Darien."
He grinned and shrugged mysteriously. "You'll see," he said as he walked out the door.
Darien walked out of her room and went down to the men's room at the end of the hall. He went in and checked himself out in the mirror. He noticed the drool line and wiped it off with his hand. Then he took some water from the faucet and poured it over his face with his hands. He took a deep breath and looked at himself again. Not bad, but not great either. Oh well, it would have to do. "You're the man, D. You can do this," he said to himself nervously.
He reached down and tapped his pocket, feeling the ring box. After another deep breath, he left the men's room and walked back into Claire's room.
She eyed him. "What are you doing?" she asked.
He flipped off the light and reached under the bed, pulling out a basket. He took out two candles and lit them with a match. Then he pulled out a rose and walked over to her.
He kneeled down next to her bed, setting the rose across her chest and took her hand. "I love you, so much Claire. When I thought you were dead, I didn't have anything. You're my life, Keepie," said Darien as he reached into his pocket, pulled out the ring box and opened it. "So I was kind of wondering if you would marry me?" he said softly, tears glistening in his eyes.
Claire's face lit up and a huge tearful smiled appeared on her face. "Yes, I would love to marry you, Darien Fawkes," she said.
Darien smiled. "Oh good, I guess that means I don't have to return this ring to the person I stole it from," he said teasingly. He took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger.
Claire looked down at it and smiled. Darien leaned in and they kissed tenderly. After a good five minutes, he pulled away and picked two champagne glasses out of the basket, along with a bottle of apple cider. He poured them each a glass and handed one to her. "I figured, what with all the medications you're on, that you probably shouldn't have alcohol at this point," he said with a smile. He looked at her awkwardly. "I'm sorry if this isn't the way you pictured getting engaged. I had it all planned out the night you...died," he said slowly. "I would have waited 'til you were out of here, but I didn't want the opportunity to slip by me again," he said, looking her in the eyes.
Claire set down her glass and gently took his hands and pulled him down so his face was inches away from hers. "It was better than anything I could have ever dreamed," she said, a tear falling down her cheek.
He took his finger and brushed the tear away. Then he set down his own glass and crawled into bed next to her, wrapping his arms around her, wanting to hold her forever.
TBC