Four days later

DS #8 Uninvited Part 3

By Carol M.

See first parts for details

Two days later

Arnaud tapped his fingers against the table in the visitor's room in the prison, eagerly awaiting the arrival of Jason Sullivan. After Elizabeth had told him that Jason wanted to have the formula to the counteragent, Arnaud had come up with plan. A plan that would make him a free man once again.

His head shot up as the door to the small room opened. He saw a young man with brown hair and blue eyes enter the room with a look of slight fear on his face.

"Ten minutes," Arnaud heard the guard mutter. The guard closed the door and Jason sat down in a chair opposite Arnaud.

Arnaud smiled. "So we finally meet. It is a pleasure, I assure you," said Arnaud coolly.

Jason shoved his hands in his pockets. "I didn't come here to meet you, I came here to deal. If anyone finds out I was here it could blow my whole cover."

"No worries, Monsieur, no one will find out," said Arnaud as he cleared his throat. "I have a business proposition for you."

Jason's eyes went wide. "What kind of proposition?"

"Something that will get us both what we want," said Arnaud.

"I'm listening," said Jason impatiently.

Arnaud leaned forward towards Jason's ear. "What do you say you break me out of here and in return, I give you the formula for the counteragent," he whispered.

"And exactly how do you propose I do that?" asked Jason angrily.

Arnaud leaned back and smiled. "Now, now. We both know that you're connected to the top guys at Chrysalis. I'm sure you're friends over there would be happy to help a comrade in trouble."

"You're insane," said Jason coldly.

"That may be true, but you'll join me in a few short days if I decide to, oh I don't know, withhold the counteragent," said Arnaud.

Jason stood up fuming. "You son of a bitch. That wasn't the deal and you know it."

Arnaud grinned. "That's the thing about the gland, friend. I'm the only one who has it, so that means I can do anything I damn well please," said Arnaud as he pulled a syringe out of his pocket.

Jason eyed the blue liquid and licked his lips.

"Just to show you how serious I am about this, I'm willing to give you a little sanity boost right now," said Arnaud as he caressed the needle.

Jason took a deep breath and sat back down in the chair. He held out his arm.

Arnaud raised his eyebrows. "I take it that means we have a deal?"

Jason nodded silently as Arnaud plunged the needle into his arm. His body went limp for a second and he had to struggle not to pass out.

"It goes down tomorrow at noon. You get your Chrysalis buddies to get me and my brother the hell out here," said Arnaud firmly. "When me and my brother are both safe, Elizabeth will give you the formula."

Jason nodded and slowly stood up. "It's a deal, Mr. De Phon."

"I'm glad to hear it," said Arnaud.

Jason quickly walked out of the room, leaving Arnaud to sigh happily in his chair.

When Jason got outside the prison, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed Troy Roberts' number.

"Hello?" he heard Troy say.

"Troy, it's Sullivan. Look, I got a favor to ask you, amigo," said Jason as he made his way to the car.

"Anything for my best friend of 20 years," replied Troy.

Jason smiled and got into his car. "I was hoping you would say that."

The Next Day

Darien sat in a chair in front of the Official's desk, his head in his hands. Bobby sat next to him with his leg crossed, a pissed off expression on his face. Jason and Alex hovered near the door, both trying to make themselves invisible.

"All right, people, this is ridiculous," said the Official, fuming. "It's been four days since the little rendezvous with Rendell and you still haven't found her. I want to know why."

Darien looked up. "That 's a very good question, sir. I'd like to know the answer to that myself," said Darien as he looked at Bobby and then at Jason and Alex. "I thought you spooks had more than enough informants to go around. How come none of them have given us any info."

Bobby cleared his throat. "Perhaps dear Fawkesy, Rendell has gone underground for real this time. Hobbesnet cannot penetrate the center of the earth you know." He turned around and looked at Alex and Jason. "What about you two? Anything?"

Jason shook his head. "Nope, it's like she disappeared off the face of the earth."

"Yeah, none of my people have seen here either," said Alex.

The Official looked at Darien. "What about the bodyguards? Did you find out anything from them?"

"Nope, Hans and Frans were very unhelpful. They didn't know a thing about Rendell or Arnaud, they were just hired mooks. Surprise, surprise," he said sarcastically.

The Official slammed his hand against the desk. "This is unacceptable, people!"

"Well what the hell do you want us to do, huh? You think I don't want to find that woman with every pore of quicksilver in my body, sir," said Darien, in a very upset tone. He sighed heavily and sank down in his chair.

Bobby put a supporting hand on his shoulder. "Easy, Fawkes, we're gonna find her. We just have to try a new angle."

Darien gave Bobby a hopeful look. "Angles. Angles are always good."

"That's what I'm talking about, buddy," said Bobby as he stuck out his hand. Darien slapped it and gave him a small smile.

"Just what angles are you going to pursue?" asked the Official.

Before Bobby could answer, his cell phone rang. He stuck his finger up in the air. "One minute, sir, this could be important."

The Official grumbled, but didn't say a word.

Bobby took his cell phone out of his jacket and answered it. "Bobby Hobbes…yeah…who is this?"

Darien started to open his mouth to talk but Bobby waved his hand for him to be quiet.

"What…ah man…okay, we'll be right there," said Bobby, hanging up his phone.

"What, what?" asked Darien anxiously.

"De Phon's making a break for it," said Bobby as he quickly stood up.

Jason convulsively swallowed, but made no other sign that he was inwardly panicking.

"Who was that?" asked Darien.

"I have no clue. They just said they were a concerned citizen," said Bobby.

Darien quickly got out of his chair and ran to the door. He pushed Alex and Jason out the door and followed behind them. Bobby was in tow.

"Don't let him escape!" they heard the Official call after them.

The foursome reached the van and quickly piled inside. Bobby put the key in the ignition and turned it, but there was no sound.

Darien slammed his hand against the seat in frustration. "Damn it Golda, this is not the time to act up, sugar!"

Bobby caressed the wheel. "Start baby, please start!"

Darien leaned his head towards the wheel and joined in. "Come on honey, start for us. Start for Hobbesy, come on baby."

Alex sighed angrily from her position in the back of the van. "Guys we don't have time for this!"

"Just one more try," said Bobby, eyeing Darien. Without a word, Darien joined Bobby in simultaneously kissed the stirring wheel. Bobby tried the key again, and the engine roared to life.

"Thank god," said Darien with relief.

Bobby drove the van out of the parking lot and quickly made his way to the highway.

******************************

When the van pulled into the parking lot of the prison, Darien quickly realized that they were not too late. He saw men in expensive suits engaged in a firefight with armed prison guards wearing thermals.

He quickly got out of the van and quicksilvered, ready to hunt for Arnaud.

Bobby, Alex and Jason also got out of the van. Jason quickly ran over to the far side of the prison, saying something to the effect that he was going to see if Arnaud had found another way out.

Bobby and Alex were too busy shooting at the men in black to argue.

Darien quickly made his way into the prison and expertly made his way to Arnaud's cell. It was empty, no sign of Arnaud or Huiclos.

"Damn it!" yelled Darien in frustration. He methodically started to make his way through the prison, to see if Arnaud was laying low somewhere.

Jason made his way around a corner in the back of the prison and quicksilvered himself. He was shocked when he saw a blue and orange glow coming off the black and white bodies of Arnaud and Huiclos. Arnaud was clutching his side, blood pouring out of it from a bullet wound.

"You stupid idiot! Is this what you call help?" yelped Arnaud.

Jason grabbed on to Huiclos and quicksilvered him. He led the two of them towards the front, hoping to slip them past Alex and Bobby.

Bobby and Alex continued to fire at the men in black. They had split up a bit from one another and had managed to take down three of their men. The prison guards had all backed off and retreated back into the prison, not willing to risk their lives to keep Arnaud locked up.

Darien was quickly making his way out of the prison, realizing that Arnaud must be outside somewhere. He ran past the prison guards, knocking a few of them down in his rush to get out the door. As he finally surfaced out the front door, he could make out Bobby and Alex still firing. He stayed where he was, not wanting to get hit by a stray bullet.

Jason had almost gotten Arnaud and Huiclos safely out of harms way when a stray bullet found it's way over to the trio. Huiclos fell to the ground, moaning in pain. Arnaud muttered a curse and continued to run towards the exit. Jason knelt down over Huiclos, who was gradually becoming visible. Jason quickly let the quicksilver flake off of himself now that he was out in the open so Darien would not accidentally spot him.

Bobby paused in firing for a second and casually looked around, seeing if there were any other bad guys trying to sneak up on them from behind. He looked to his far right and gasped at the sight of Jason shedding quicksilver. "What the hell," he said to himself in shock. He stood up from the metal sign he had been using as cover, momentarily forgetting he was engaged in a gunfight.

This was all the opportunity the men in black needed. The remaining two opened fire on Bobby, shooting him over and over again. The pain tore through Bobby, sending him into unconsciousness almost immediately. He fell like a limp rag doll to the floor, blood leaking out from his wounds.

Alex responded by standing up from her crouched position and shooting her gun furiously. She nailed the two shooters, and they were dead in an instant.

Darien stood in horror from his position near the entrance of the prison as he watched his partner get shot and fall to the ground. "Hobbes!" he yelled at the top of his lungs as he ran to his fallen friend.

He saw Alex already kneeling over him and he saw Jason kneeling over another injured person farther away. He couldn't make out who it was and at that point, he didn't really care. All he wanted to do was to get to Bobby. All Darien's breath left him when he saw Bobby lying in a pool of blood, his eyes closed and his face pale. Alex was on her cell calling for an ambulance and Jason was slowly making his way over to the trio.

Darien knelt down next to his partner and took his pulse. When he found a faint one, he nearly leapt with joy. He quickly took off his jacket and shirt and pressed them against the many holes in Bobby's body. "You're gonna be okay, you're gonna be okay, you're gonna be okay," he kept whispering, as much for Bobby as for himself. He grabbed Bobby's hand and started to rub it. "You will not die on me. I can't lose someone else," he said with a choked whisper. "You're not gonna be like Kevin you bald son of a bitch. You will not die, you hear me."

He jumped when he felt a hand on his back. He turned around and saw Alex trying to encourage him to release Bobby. He realized that the paramedics had arrived and were ready to work on his partner. Darien stepped aside but didn't let go of Bobby's hand as the paramedics worked on him. He wanted to cry, he wanted to cry so badly, but he wouldn't let himself.

He held on to Bobby as he was loaded into the ambulance, fearing if he stopped touching his partner, he would lose him. His mind hardly registered the sound of the siren starting up as the ambulance tore out of the parking lot. All he could focus on, was his partner, his best friend, bleeding all over the ambulance. He said a silent prayer, begging God to let Bobby live.

TBC