Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, I'm just playing with them for a bit. I'm not making money by writing this, so no point in suing me!
When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.
Albert Einstein said that, and I can't really say I disagree with him. Flights of fancy, or fantasy, can become that much more important to anyone than everyday reality. It can do so much more for you, or cause that much more damage. Like with me.
Claire and I had had a talk of sorts on the roof. She told me there were things that happened that I wasn't supposed to know about. Stuff she knew. And I had a feeling it wasn't something I would like since she was nervous about telling me.
But since she went no further than telling me that, my fantasies of what happened started to go in to overdrive. I had all this time off right now, since the Official insisted on it, so I had nothing better to do. And with so little to go on, my curiosity, once again, was getting the better of me.
***
Darien slipped invisibly in to the video surveillance room of the Agency, closing the door behind him. He shook off the Quicksilver when he saw that no one was in there.
"You'd think they'd have a camera on the surveillance room, in case someone decided to break in to it," he commented to himself as he hunted through the old cassettes. Lucky for him they were all well-labelled and he found the tapes with the days and room he wanted.
He turned his head as he heard the door start to open. The former thief Quicksilvered just before the guard entered, keeping hold of the tapes. As the other man cleared the door, he slipped past and out, taking off through the corridors and then out of the building.
When he got to his apartment he turned on his tv and vcr, then slipped the first tape in.
After ten minutes of mind-numbingly boring non-events, he started to fast forward the tape, hoping that something might catch his eye.
A couple of hours later, there was still nothing. He had watched himself go through with the shot that injected Kevin's RNA, various conversations in the Keep with Hobbes and Claire..nothing of consequence that would get him uptight.
There was a knock on the door and he looked over to it. He wasn't expecting anyone, but that never stopped people from dropping by.
He got up and walked to the door, looking through the peephole. He was surprised to see Claire standing out there, looking around nervously. Darien opened the door quickly and she rushed in before he had the chance to invite her in.
"Lovely neighborhood, Darien," she commented sardonically.
He closed the door and leaned against it. "Well, it's home." He watched her for a moment before asking, "Do you need something?"
"I..well, I thought I might take you up on that drink. Assuming it's still offered?"
Darien grinned. "I thought I crashed and burned on that one." He walked toward the kitchen in search of what alcohol he may have hiding in the cupboards. "Make yourself at home," he called out.
There was no sounds coming from the living room, and it took a couple of seconds until he realized why. Darien ran in there to see Claire holding the vcr remote, eyes wide at what was on the screen.
"Aw crap! Claire, I'm sorry, I..well, I couldn't help it. I wanted to know what was going on..."
"So you went in and *stole* Agency property to feed your insatiable curiosity!?"
The former thief moved from foot to foot, his expression guilty, yet penitent. "Well, yeah."
"I..I can't believe you! You couldn't be patient, could you!? God, why did I think you had grown up?" she ranted. Claire threw down the remote and stormed out of the apartment.
Darien went to go after her, but was hampered by the slammed door, and by the time he opened it, she had disappeared down the hall.
He walked back in to the apartment, swearing to himself, "Crap, crap, crappity crap.."
He knew he hadn't done exactly great, but he hadn't figured she would get so pissed off if she found out. He leaned down and picked up the remote, planning on stopping the latest tape and just taking them all back to video surveillance. He didn't deserve to know the whole truth.
Darien looked at the screen and his jaw dropped. The picture was frozen on an image he never thought he'd see, but there it was, plain as day.
He and Claire were kissing.
***
Okay, I take back what I said earlier. I am a country bumpkin.
I don't know what happened between Claire and I..I mean, Kevin. No wonder she was so nervous. But now I wanted to know more, and I wanted it from her, not some tape.
***
Darien tossed the remote aside and grabbed his keys. He quickly left and locked up, then headed for where he figured she would be.
He got out of his car in front of the Agency and walked swiftly inside.
"Darien! Wait up, the Official wants to.." Hobbes began when he saw his partner enter the building.
"No time!" Fawkes replied, headed in the direction of the Keep.
Bobby watched him walk away, concerned for his friend's well-being. The only time he went to the Keep was when something was wrong with him.
"Why were you kissing me?" the former thief questioned as he entered the lab. He realized his foolishness when Claire was nowhere in sight.
***
I am definitely not the brightest bulb in the package. Everyday I seem to prove how much more of the smarts Kevin got.
***
Darien slipped on to a stool to wait. He sat there whistling a tune and swinging his legs.
After a while, Claire finally appeared at the door to the Keep and he hopped up. She promptly turned around and headed back where she came from.
He caught up with her at the isolation room and turned her until her back was to the wall. He put his arms on either side of her to keep her in place.
"Why did you kiss me?"
Her eyes flashed angrily. "I didn't.." She paused, looking over his shoulder. He followed her gaze and saw the camera carefully watching them.
"In here," he suggested, indicating the isolation room with a nod of his head, and she nodded in agreement.
Once they were both in the room, Darien went to speak, but Claire beat him to the punch. Literally.
He held his gut where she had placed her right fist only moments before.
"God.." he gasped out in pain.
"How *dare* you question *me*!" she yelled. She began pacing back and forth while he caught his breath. He had never seen her this agitated.
"Claire, I want to know," he pleaded, giving her his best 'please-don't-hurt-me' look.
"It was..I don't know why I was going to tell you in the first place. Maybe some silly attack of conscience.." She stopped pacing, took a deep breath to calm herself, then spoke again, facing Darien. "Kevin and I had a relationship back when we were in college. It lasted a year, and not long after, we never saw each other again. When he had control of you..well, all the old feelings came back so strong. I wasn't thinking straight, and neither was he."
"So you kissed me."
Claire rolled her eyes. "No, I kissed *him*."
"In my body!"
"Darien!" She moved closer to him. "It was him I was kissing, you just happened to be the..conduit."
He snorted. "Great. First a lab rat and now a conduit."
The scientist placed a hand on his left arm. "Don't think of yourself like that."
Darien looked stunned. "Claire, you said it yourself. And don't deny that you see me as one of your experiments," he stated, his tone getting angry.
She sighed. "I admit, there are times that I let my scientific side take over and I think of you like that, but for the most part, you are my friend. Don't think I don't feel terrible for thinking of you in such a way."
The former thief was pleasantly surprised, but said nothing. Claire moved to the door.
"I think we're done here..?"
"One more question."
She stopped, her hand resting on the doorknob. "Yes?"
"What was it like?"
A huge smile stretched across her face. "Like old times."
"That good, eh?"
A flush of embarrassment colored her cheeks. "Yes," she replied quietly.
Darien walked over and took hold of the doorknob, covering Claire's hand. "You loved him?"
She nodded this time, looking away from him. Next thing she knew, he drew her to him, holding her in his embrace. She felt a bit uncomfortable, but the hug didn't last long and once he pulled back, she opened the door, thus ending any other possible current conversation on this topic.
The Keeper walked out of the room and back toward her lab, leaving Darien to run their discussion through his mind.
The End
When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.
Albert Einstein said that, and I can't really say I disagree with him. Flights of fancy, or fantasy, can become that much more important to anyone than everyday reality. It can do so much more for you, or cause that much more damage. Like with me.
Claire and I had had a talk of sorts on the roof. She told me there were things that happened that I wasn't supposed to know about. Stuff she knew. And I had a feeling it wasn't something I would like since she was nervous about telling me.
But since she went no further than telling me that, my fantasies of what happened started to go in to overdrive. I had all this time off right now, since the Official insisted on it, so I had nothing better to do. And with so little to go on, my curiosity, once again, was getting the better of me.
***
Darien slipped invisibly in to the video surveillance room of the Agency, closing the door behind him. He shook off the Quicksilver when he saw that no one was in there.
"You'd think they'd have a camera on the surveillance room, in case someone decided to break in to it," he commented to himself as he hunted through the old cassettes. Lucky for him they were all well-labelled and he found the tapes with the days and room he wanted.
He turned his head as he heard the door start to open. The former thief Quicksilvered just before the guard entered, keeping hold of the tapes. As the other man cleared the door, he slipped past and out, taking off through the corridors and then out of the building.
When he got to his apartment he turned on his tv and vcr, then slipped the first tape in.
After ten minutes of mind-numbingly boring non-events, he started to fast forward the tape, hoping that something might catch his eye.
A couple of hours later, there was still nothing. He had watched himself go through with the shot that injected Kevin's RNA, various conversations in the Keep with Hobbes and Claire..nothing of consequence that would get him uptight.
There was a knock on the door and he looked over to it. He wasn't expecting anyone, but that never stopped people from dropping by.
He got up and walked to the door, looking through the peephole. He was surprised to see Claire standing out there, looking around nervously. Darien opened the door quickly and she rushed in before he had the chance to invite her in.
"Lovely neighborhood, Darien," she commented sardonically.
He closed the door and leaned against it. "Well, it's home." He watched her for a moment before asking, "Do you need something?"
"I..well, I thought I might take you up on that drink. Assuming it's still offered?"
Darien grinned. "I thought I crashed and burned on that one." He walked toward the kitchen in search of what alcohol he may have hiding in the cupboards. "Make yourself at home," he called out.
There was no sounds coming from the living room, and it took a couple of seconds until he realized why. Darien ran in there to see Claire holding the vcr remote, eyes wide at what was on the screen.
"Aw crap! Claire, I'm sorry, I..well, I couldn't help it. I wanted to know what was going on..."
"So you went in and *stole* Agency property to feed your insatiable curiosity!?"
The former thief moved from foot to foot, his expression guilty, yet penitent. "Well, yeah."
"I..I can't believe you! You couldn't be patient, could you!? God, why did I think you had grown up?" she ranted. Claire threw down the remote and stormed out of the apartment.
Darien went to go after her, but was hampered by the slammed door, and by the time he opened it, she had disappeared down the hall.
He walked back in to the apartment, swearing to himself, "Crap, crap, crappity crap.."
He knew he hadn't done exactly great, but he hadn't figured she would get so pissed off if she found out. He leaned down and picked up the remote, planning on stopping the latest tape and just taking them all back to video surveillance. He didn't deserve to know the whole truth.
Darien looked at the screen and his jaw dropped. The picture was frozen on an image he never thought he'd see, but there it was, plain as day.
He and Claire were kissing.
***
Okay, I take back what I said earlier. I am a country bumpkin.
I don't know what happened between Claire and I..I mean, Kevin. No wonder she was so nervous. But now I wanted to know more, and I wanted it from her, not some tape.
***
Darien tossed the remote aside and grabbed his keys. He quickly left and locked up, then headed for where he figured she would be.
He got out of his car in front of the Agency and walked swiftly inside.
"Darien! Wait up, the Official wants to.." Hobbes began when he saw his partner enter the building.
"No time!" Fawkes replied, headed in the direction of the Keep.
Bobby watched him walk away, concerned for his friend's well-being. The only time he went to the Keep was when something was wrong with him.
"Why were you kissing me?" the former thief questioned as he entered the lab. He realized his foolishness when Claire was nowhere in sight.
***
I am definitely not the brightest bulb in the package. Everyday I seem to prove how much more of the smarts Kevin got.
***
Darien slipped on to a stool to wait. He sat there whistling a tune and swinging his legs.
After a while, Claire finally appeared at the door to the Keep and he hopped up. She promptly turned around and headed back where she came from.
He caught up with her at the isolation room and turned her until her back was to the wall. He put his arms on either side of her to keep her in place.
"Why did you kiss me?"
Her eyes flashed angrily. "I didn't.." She paused, looking over his shoulder. He followed her gaze and saw the camera carefully watching them.
"In here," he suggested, indicating the isolation room with a nod of his head, and she nodded in agreement.
Once they were both in the room, Darien went to speak, but Claire beat him to the punch. Literally.
He held his gut where she had placed her right fist only moments before.
"God.." he gasped out in pain.
"How *dare* you question *me*!" she yelled. She began pacing back and forth while he caught his breath. He had never seen her this agitated.
"Claire, I want to know," he pleaded, giving her his best 'please-don't-hurt-me' look.
"It was..I don't know why I was going to tell you in the first place. Maybe some silly attack of conscience.." She stopped pacing, took a deep breath to calm herself, then spoke again, facing Darien. "Kevin and I had a relationship back when we were in college. It lasted a year, and not long after, we never saw each other again. When he had control of you..well, all the old feelings came back so strong. I wasn't thinking straight, and neither was he."
"So you kissed me."
Claire rolled her eyes. "No, I kissed *him*."
"In my body!"
"Darien!" She moved closer to him. "It was him I was kissing, you just happened to be the..conduit."
He snorted. "Great. First a lab rat and now a conduit."
The scientist placed a hand on his left arm. "Don't think of yourself like that."
Darien looked stunned. "Claire, you said it yourself. And don't deny that you see me as one of your experiments," he stated, his tone getting angry.
She sighed. "I admit, there are times that I let my scientific side take over and I think of you like that, but for the most part, you are my friend. Don't think I don't feel terrible for thinking of you in such a way."
The former thief was pleasantly surprised, but said nothing. Claire moved to the door.
"I think we're done here..?"
"One more question."
She stopped, her hand resting on the doorknob. "Yes?"
"What was it like?"
A huge smile stretched across her face. "Like old times."
"That good, eh?"
A flush of embarrassment colored her cheeks. "Yes," she replied quietly.
Darien walked over and took hold of the doorknob, covering Claire's hand. "You loved him?"
She nodded this time, looking away from him. Next thing she knew, he drew her to him, holding her in his embrace. She felt a bit uncomfortable, but the hug didn't last long and once he pulled back, she opened the door, thus ending any other possible current conversation on this topic.
The Keeper walked out of the room and back toward her lab, leaving Darien to run their discussion through his mind.
The End