Chapter One -- Past Perfect

Chapter One -- Past Perfect

A young British chick named Jane Austen once wrote, "The younger brother must help to pay for the pleasures of the elder." Believe me, I could be the poster boy for that sentiment. My brother's work was his pleasure and I've paid for it in spades. Slavery, madness, nobility, self-sacrifice -- you name it and I've given it.

Of course, I've gotten something out of it too - like a partner and a purpose and a Keeper. Now my Keeper, who happened to be another young British chick, once asked me to trust her. To which I cite Mason Cooley, a world-class wiseguy from the roaring Twenties: "Trust, but look for exits."

Darien wasn't quite sure when the idea had first occurred to him. Surely it had been after that fiasco with Kevin's mRNA, but who knows? Perhaps it had been rattling around his brain before then, half-baked as so many of his plans had been at that time.

His first clear memory of its inception, though, was of standing before Kevin's grave, trying to make sense out of his brother's senseless decision. He'd realized then how long it would take to find a solution, an answer to steal the sting from the scorpion that lived inside his head. He'd felt the crushing weight of the years -- the years -- of waiting ahead of him. The years of toiling away as a slave for the Agency. The years of being hunted down by one madman or another every other day of the week. And he'd known that he wouldn't make it that long. He'd either be dead or insane, if not from the gland then surely from the monotony, before the Keeper found an answer.

Hobbes had chosen that moment to interrupt his thoughts. Bobby had only wanted to comfort him, to let him know that Kevin had made his decision out of love. But Bobby hadn't known Kevin, hadn't grown up with the daily arrogance of Kevin's genius or the selfishness of his love. Oh, Darien knew that Kevin had loved him, but he'd loved the gland more.

That's when Darien had known he could do it. He could cross all the boundaries, betray all their trust. He wouldn't even have to be Quicksilver Mad to do it. He'd finally remembered the key: Anything done out of love is beyond good and evil. And he did love his life, his freedom, his soul so very, very much.