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Part 10
Alyx was sitting uncomfortably in a tree, waiting for Hobbes to appear, hopefully with a couple of
mooks on his trail. They had gotten Darien and Claire as secure as possible and had been doing
their best to lead any hounds who came too close away from their hiding place. Hobbes had nearly
gotten caught once already, and Alyx had waded in to rescue him with little hesitation. She was
getting very tired by this point and Hobbes wasn't doing much better. Twenty more minutes, then
Claire and Darien could head for the Lodge and end this damn thing.
She felt Hobbes long before she saw him; he was coming at a dead run straight along the path as
planned. Scooting out a bit father along the branch, she took a deep breath and centered herself,
watching the ground below her carefully. Hobbes went tearing by right underneath her, not even
glancing up to make sure she was there. She could sense the three men chasing him and intended to
stop them. Reaching out with her mind, she built one of her 'walls' across Hobbes' trail and held
it steady. Two of the guys ran face first into it, stopping dead in surprise. The third pulled up
short and looked about in suspicion. Alyx was too tired to play games any more, so she shoved him
to the ground and held him there.
Hobbes stepped out from behind the tree she was in -- he had circled around to join her -- and
walked to the other two, taking them out with a couple of well-placed punches. The third guy was
snoozing peacefully, thanks to a buried log that had connected with his head when he fell. Glancing
up in the tree, he tried to figure out where she was and failed. "All right kid, you can show
yourself now."
Alyx slipped down the branches as she allowed the quicksilver to flake away. Without comment, she
moved to help Hobbes drag the guys out of sight and then hide a large portion of the trail they had
made. When they were done she took a moment to lean against a tree and pretend to rest.
"Yeah, I'm tired too." Hobbes set a hand on her shoulder. "Any others nearby?"
She closed her eyes and opened her shields. She was so tired she didn't even flinch at all the
voices and emotions that were suddenly in her head. She simply slid down the trunk of the tree to
sit in the snow without even realizing it. So many of them, the vast majority of them getting angry
and frustrated at their continuing inability to catch the hinds, the injured hinds. They were all
heading back towards the lodge, and were working together, to a degree anyway, to prevent the hinds
from winning the game.
"Kid, focus. We need to know where they are." Hobbes kept his voice steady. He could see the pain
etched on her face as she tried to do what he still saw as the impossible. He was running out of
energy himself, and his arm was nothing but a huge ache. He'd been using it far more than he
should, and knew if he wasn't careful it would start bleeding again, but so far the fix-it job the
Keep and the kid had done on it was holding.
Alyx forced herself to concentrate. "They're all coming this way. They're really pissed off at this
point." She shook her head, trying to get at least a direction for the nearer hounds, but without
success. She was too tired, there were too many, and all seemed to be demanding her attention since
they were focused on finding her. Her hands came up to her head and she whimpered.
It didn't take Hobbes more than a second to figure out something was wrong, and he went to his
knees in the snow beside her. "Don't do this, kid." He tried to think of what the Keeper would
say. "Get your shields up." He reached out and set a hand on her shoulder. Her hand came up to
grasp his wrist, and for an instant he was sure she was going to shock the hell out of him like
she'd done to Fawkes, but instead she sighed and opened her eyes to look at him.
"No need to worry Bobby. I knew it was you." With his help, she got to her feet. "Thanks."
He gave her an odd look, seeing, for the first time in weeks, that the hint of sadness and anger
that always seemed to be about her was gone. "You found it, kid. Didn't you?"
She nodded. "More or less, but it won't do much good if we don't get out of this."
"This is us, kid. We'll make it just fine," Hobbes said as they headed towards the Lodge. They
still had to provide cover for Claire and Darien when they headed in.
"Keep, how much longer?" Darien knew he was asking this way more then necessary, and probably
irritating the hell out of her by doing so, but it was the only thing he could think of to say that
didn't involve how much he hurt.
"Five minutes less than the last time you asked," Claire answered with a sigh.
"Sorry," he muttered, not sure what else to do. Waiting sucked, and he had never been known for his
patience in situations like this. "Claire..."
She turned to him expecting another series of complaints. "What now, Darien?"
"I.... Thanks. This has got to be hard on you." He knew she was tough, but this was nothing like
what she was used to. The other occasions she'd been out with them on missions usually involved her
being in the background. Administering counteragent, maybe doing a little scientific investigation.
Not running through a snowstorm to lure bad guys into traps.
She shook her head. "No harder than an average day in the Keep."
"Right. This is just like making a batch of counteragent." He grinned at her, or tried to. His
left cheek complained loudly and he stifled the grunt of pain that threatened to escape.
She caught the wince, but made no comment. There was good chance he was going to end up in more
pain before this was over. Hell, there was a good chance they wouldn't get out of this one at all.
"Darien, in a way it is. Since coming to the Agency, every day has been interesting for one reason
or another." She shifted slightly, trying to get a bit warmer, and checked her watch again. If
everything had gone well with Bobby and Alyx, they should be hearing from them soon. If not, they
would still have to make the attempt to get back to the Lodge and end this. At the very least to
treat Darien's injuries and get warm. "How are you doing?"
"Not so good, Claire." He saw no point in lying to her. He was dead tired, he hurt all over, and
he had a headache building in the back of his skull that boded ill for the amount of time he had
left before getting really irritable. Just knowing that he was going to have to quicksilver to get
them in wasn't helping much. He could only hope Claire would be able to get him the counteragent
quickly once they had arrived. Seizures to go along with his current injuries would not be fun, he
suspected.
Claire got to her feet and checked the area carefully. When she was as certain as she could be that
no one was nearby, she put out a hand to help Darien to his feet. He got up with an audible groan of
pain. They'd been sitting long enough for him to stiffen up as well, and he was getting really tired
of being cold.
*Dare?* he suddenly heard in his mind.
Concentrating, the way she'd been trying to teach him, he answered, *Go ahead.*
*We'll draw off the hounds. Head to the Lodge.* Alyx sounded exhausted, something he hadn't
realized you could tell mind-to-mind.
"Claire, Alyx says to go." She nodded, wrapping an arm about his waist to help support him, and
they moved off through the trees and falling snow to the Lodge.
They reached the tree line and looked across the open expanse with dismay. It might be midmorning,
but you'd never guess it based on the light level. The snow was so thick, they could just barely
make out the lights of the Lodge a couple hundred yards away.
"Ready?" Claire asked him, not entirely sure she was.
"As I can be." As they started to move, he was thankful the snow was so heavy. It wasn't likely
that anyone could see them, unless they were really observant or standing practically on top of
them. It was like wading through a heavy fog, the snow was falling so thickly.
It took them long minutes before they could even make out the building itself and not just aim for
the lights that shone dimly. As they neared the huge covered porch that was the front of the
building, they discovered the worst. Both around and on the porch were two teams of the hounds,
blocking their way inside. They ducked around the side of the building to discuss the matter. Not
that there was much to discuss.
"We're going to have to use quicksilver," Darien said without any enthusiasm.
"Darien, I'll get you the counteragent as fast as I can." Claire could sympathize -- she knew he
hated falling into the madness -- but they were out of options, and everything they needed to help
him was inside that building.
"I know. We need to do this fast. I don't have much time." He was already cringing in anticipation
of the pain he knew was going to come. The ache was already there, and it wouldn't take much for it
to blossom into a full blown attack that would put him on the floor, or perhaps worse.
"Darien, if there were another way..."
He shook his head. "Come on." He tossed and arm around her shoulder and, after a moment to focus,
he let the quicksilver flow to cover both of them. Moving as swiftly as they could -- they were
visible to a degree as the snow slid across them -- they headed to the front of the Lodge. They
avoided those waiting for them, trying to ignore the angry commentary as the men complained to
each other about the lack of success on this year's hunt. They ran into trouble with the guy pacing
back and forth on the stairway. He was pacing just fast enough to keep them from getting past.
A shout from out of the snow got his attention, and both Claire and Darien recognized it as Hobbes.
The guy in their way, as well as others, took off after him, clearing the way for them. Darien could
feel his demon clawing its way up from the depths of his mind, even as they rushed up the short
flight of stairs, across the porch, and burst through the doors into the lobby itself.
The back of Darien's head exploded with pain and he went to his knees, the quicksilver falling
away, dragging the Keeper with him. She managed to escape his convulsive hold and tried to give
what comfort she could until the pain and seizure had passed. When he finally relaxed and opened
his eyes, they were streaked with red, showing he was well into Stage Three. A voice from nearby
got her attention.
"Impressive. You actually survived. Shame though, now we'll have to take care of you ourselves."
Claire lifted her head to see a round dozen of the Lodge's 'personnel' standing in an arc about
them, at least half with weapons. "Usually the others take care of our problems for us."
Darien snarled wordlessly and tried to get to his feet. Claire held him in place and he turned to
glare at her. His hold on sanity was iffy at best.
"Take them to their room," the leader of the group was saying. "We'll catch the other two and deal
with them all later."
That's when the entrance doors blew off their hinges, smashing into and shattering the decorative
glass panels on either side.
A rather windblown Alyx stepped in, followed by Hobbes, who was holding his arm and bleeding from a
shallow cut above one eyebrow. They moved to join their friends in facing down the members of the
resort staff. Alyx noticed that no one from any of the attendee groups was here. You'd figure, with
them still not captured, that there would be an audience waiting to see if they were going to make
it back. They'd surely been monitoring the situation by radio the entire time.
"You never had any intention of letting us live," Hobbes said with carefully restrained anger. "Do
you set up someone every year, or only when they threaten you?" He'd noticed the same lack of
witnesses that Alyx had.
"Oh, we've found this necessary a few times. You are the first to actually survive the experience,
however." He took a step towards them. "Surprising, considering how we made sure the odds were
anything but in your favor."
"Oh, really?" A new voice said, and Alyx turned to see Jinx, Mister Rapist himself, step out from
behind a large potted plant. Alyx was so pain-blind that she hadn't recognized him. "I'm sure my
employer would be very interested to know the games were rigged. We know how he hates to be
deceived."
The guy in charge actually paled. Whoever Jinx worked for obviously had a lot of power. Enough to
scare even these guys, but he didn't back down. "We have our reasons. If they live, they put even
your 'employer' at risk."
Jinx shook his head and chuckled. "Then I guess you aren't interested in his business this year, or
for the next decade."
That worked, and the guy backed away, conceding the game. "You win," he said to Hobbes. "You get to
live."
"Bobby, Claire, go get the counteragent," Alyx said, watching Jinx warily. She gave him a slight
nod, acknowledging the fact that they were now even. She moved to Darien, who was now standing,
with his fists balled at his sides, fighting with himself.
"Kid...." Hobbes could tell Darien was one short step away from full-blown madness, and was
unwilling to leave her alone with him. Darien had this tendency to beat the crap out of her when
things got bad.
"Go," she said quietly, her back to Darien. "I'll be fine."
Claire tugged on Hobbes' uninjured arm and got him moving. By the time they hit the stairs, they
were running.
"Fine? That's what you think," Darien said from right next to her. He'd moved with a silence that
could prove deadly if one was totally unaware of him. Alyx was anything but unaware. In fact, she
knew far more than she wished about what he was feeling and even, to a degree, what he was thinking
at the moment.
"Dare, don't do this." Alyx had turned to face him, noting that his eyes were heavily streaked
with blood-swollen veins. He was damn close, and it wouldn't take much to drive him over, to let
his darker side, his demon, as he called it, take over. Once again he was angry at her, but this
time she wanted to keep his focus there. If he were to go after someone else, they would be less
likely to survive. She stood a chance of fighting him off. Of creating a stalemate, if nothing
else. She only needed to gain a few minutes until the Keeper and Hobbes got back with the
counteragent.
"You're really beginning to piss me off, you know that?" he snarled at her. That's when he hit her.
A backhand with his right arm that connected with the side of her head and knocked her to the floor.
It left her head spinning, her ears ringing, and triggered memories that imposed themselves on
reality. This wasn't the first time she been knocked to the floor by a blow to her head, and
somehow she knew it wouldn't be the last. Her hand came up to rub where the blow had connected. A
gesture that had become familiar to everyone in the last couple of weeks, and even more so in the
last few days.
Looking up, it was no longer Darien that she saw, but 'him.' When he bent down and grabbed her by
the front of the sweater to drag her upright, she found herself unable to do anything. This was
what she was supposed to do -- stand there, head bowed, until 'he' decided she'd either learned her
lesson or, more often than not, needed a further reminder of where she belonged in the grand scheme
of things.
"Darien, leave her alone," Claire shouted from somewhere nearby.
Alyx's head snapped up, and she did what she had occasionally done before -- challenged him. She
stared him in the eyes and refused to look away, to be frightened. The hand holding her dropped
away, and he shook his head as if trying to clear it. It was that act that brought her back to
reality. 'He' would never have backed down when she challenged him. Her fear, her old trained
reactions, drained away, and she saw who was really before her. Yeah, Darien was dangerous,
terrifying in some ways, but she had no fear of him, or even of what he had become.
"I'm not afraid of you," she said quietly to him, though in many ways it was more to herself.
Anger, red rage, raced across his features at her words, but it frightened her no more than before.
This was Darien before her, and even like this she could not find it in herself to fear or hate him.
For all that he could remind her of things from her past, she would not allow it to control her
anymore.
So when he snarled, "Bitch," at her and swung again, she simply grabbed the arm and twisted her
body, swinging around behind him and bending the arm painfully up behind his back. He was
outrageously strong; the adrenaline in his system giving him extra strength and the ability to
ignore the pain to a degree. Shoving with her knees, she got him to go to his. From there, she was
able to shift forward and drive him to the floor, where he began to struggle.
"Claire, hurry up, I can't hold him forever."
Both Bobby and Claire rushed over and, with Bobby helping to hold him still, Claire was able to
administer the shot. Darien relaxed completely as the drug hit his system, and Alyx released him.
She slid off his back to sit beside him, with a hand resting gently on his head.
"Alyx?" Claire said, looking at her in concern. She'd seen the momentary terror in Alyx's eyes, the
completely subservient reaction, however short-lived, and had a good idea what it meant given their
earlier conversation.
"When we're home, Claire." Alyx found herself unable to meet Claire's eyes, but was actually
somewhat relieved to have someone she could talk to about it. Maybe she'd finally be able to put it
behind her.
Claire nodded, and beneath them Darien stirred into awareness with a groan.
Jinx stepped into Alyx's line of sight and she met his eyes. "Thank you."
He shook his head. "You will be out of here by nightfall, and your safety is guaranteed." He
glanced over at the resort people, who had returned to their places, not wanting to get involved in
the battle between Alyx and Darien. They didn't want to know. A couple had moved to try and fix the
doors, to cover the shattered glass with whatever was handy, and to help the various hound teams
that began to arrive since it had been announced that the hinds had successfully returned. Some
were carried in, their injuries not allowing them to walk.
"Why are you doing this?" Alyx asked Jinx. She didn't want to read him, for multiple reasons; she
had gotten more than she wanted from him already, and she was too damn tired to do it with any
competence right now, anyway.
"Let's just say my employer has a vested interested in keeping you alive." He gave her a wry grin.
"I would suggest you remain in your room until your transportation arrives."
Alyx nodded, and she and Bobby helped Darien to his feet. The four of them hung off each other --
all of them tired, all of them in pain -- as they made their slow way to their room. Jinx followed,
he and two others from his group taking up guard positions in the hallway outside the door.
Darien collapsed onto the sofa with muttered curse. "I need a vacation."
Hobbes snorted. "I've needed one for years. Let's get cleaned up and pack before we can't."
They pretty much groaned in agreement and staggered through it. After showering, Darien fell asleep
while Claire was patching him up with Alyx's help. Given all his injuries, as well as the
aftereffects of a near-full-blown madness episode, Claire wasn't surprised. They had all been awake
for nearly sixteen hours at that point, and the night had been long and arduous. She wanted to sleep
herself, but she still had things to do first.
Once she had patched up Bobby's arm and the cut over his eye, she helped him pack Darien's gear
while Alyx got cleaned up. Then she hit the shower herself. She found a stunning collection of
bruises she hadn't known she'd collected, and was so sore it wasn't funny. When she came out, she
found comfortable clothes laid out for her, both guys sound asleep, and Alyx in the sitting area
watching the television. Once she was dressed and brushing out her hair, she debated sleeping
versus talking to Alyx for a few minutes. She decided to split the difference and examine Alyx for
any injuries and maybe get in some conversation as well.
She walked into the sitting area with her medical bag. "Your turn."
Alyx didn't move. "You should get some sleep, Claire. I'm fine."
"And when did you get your medical degree?" Claire said, in an attempt at humor that fell flat.
"Let me be the judge, all right?"
Alyx nodded and submitted to being examined. As the routine exam went on, Alyx found her courage to
speak. "Claire, I..." She paused, trying to sort out what she wanted to say. "You have to promise
to tell no one, including the 'Fish."
"Alyx, I'm not sure I can do that," Claire told her honestly. The Official was very specific in
what he required in her reports about Alyx.
"If there is an overriding reason to tell him, then you can, but I won't talk to anyone else about
it. I... I don't trust..." She found the word itself very difficult to say, and found she couldn't
continue the sentence. It was true as it was. She didn't trust, except in her own warped way.
"Please, Claire."
Claire put away the examination equipment before coming to a
decision. How many times had she chosen Darien's side over the Official's in the last eighteen
months? She'd done what was necessary to help him to survive the situation, to give him some chance
at a reasonably normal existence. Could she do any less for Alyx? "All right, but if it becomes an
issue, I will have to go to him."
Alyx nodded, realizing that, in this situation, this new version of her life, she had very little
control and would have to bargain to gain what little she would be allowed. "I won't ask for more."
She managed a tired smile "Get some sleep. Everything is packed, and I'll play guard dog till
we're out of here."
"Alyx, you... Never mind. Rest, at least, all right?" Claire patted her on the shoulder and then
wandered into the bedroom, trying to fight a yawn. Sleep stole her away mere moments after she lay
down.
Alyx sighed and focused back on the television. Her head ached, but for the first time in weeks she
didn't care. For the first time, the pain didn't bring up the memories, the fears, the heartache.
Instead she was calm, relaxed, and finally warm.
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