DS#8 Uninvited Part 8

DS#8 Uninvited Part 8

By Carol M.

See first parts for details

Rating: R for violence. No offense intended with content.

Note: Thanks for the feedback guys! Enjoy the next part!

Darien was swimming in a river of pain. Every muscle burned, every bone ached, and every inch of his skin was on fire. He wanted nothing more than to pass out and end the agony, but something was stopping him. He could vaguely hear someone yelling at him, and something told him that whatever they were yelling was important. He cleared his mind and tried to focus all of his energy on the voice he heard.

"Darien! Darien you have to get up, please!" he heard yelled in a desperate manner.

He knew that voice. Claire. His wife. His lover. His other best friend. She wouldn't be yelling at him when he was hurting this badly unless it was absolutely necessary. He moaned and opened his eyes. He made out the blurry image of several people sitting a few feet away from him. The muffled sounds of yelling became clearer. The steady tick of something beside him grew much louder and more impatient.

He swallowed hard and attempted to push himself off the ground. He made the mistake of using his broken arm to aid him and white-hot pain lanced through his whole body. He whimpered pitifully and fell back to the floor.

"Get up, you have to get up, Darien," he heard someone else yell with fear evident in their tone. This time it was a man's voice. The Official.

Okay, things had to be pretty bad if the Official sounded afraid. He managed to push himself half way off the ground and had to stop and rest from the effort. He looked to his side and saw the bomb ticking off. 3:50, 3:49.

He lifted his head and looked at his friends. He remembered where he was now. He knew they were minutes away from becoming a permanent part of the Keep. With super human effort, he dragged his broken body towards the ticking device. He flipped himself so his restrained hands were facing the bomb. His hand caressed the top of the bomb as quicksilver flowed out of his fingers. He turned his head to see if his quicksilvering had worked. He saw that the device was frozen, but it had not stopped ticking.

"It's not working," he heard a tiny voice say. His own, he realized after a few seconds.

He looked towards his friends with desperate eyes.

"Pull the wires out," he heard Alex say.

He turned his attention back to the bomb and pulled out all the wires. Still the bomb continued to tick. 3:40, 3:39.

"Damn, the wires are just a decoy," he heard Alex yell in frustration.

Darien's head drooped towards the floor, his body sagging in defeat.

"Darien, Darien look at me, focus on me," he heard a voice yell.

He looked up and saw Claire staring intently at him.

"Can you pick the lock of your cuffs?" she asked.

Darien shook his head. "Not without looking at them," he murmured weakly.

"Then try quicksilvering the cuffs," she said.

Darien did what he was told. He felt a searing flash of cold pain grip his wrist. The quicksilver was freezing the cuffs and giving his wrists frostbite. He realized the metal of the cuffs was too solid and would not break apart. He looked up at Claire again, unsure of what to do next.

"Darien, quicksilver your hand and try to slip it out of the cuffs. The quicksilver might be slippery enough to let you get your hand out," said Claire.

He could do that. He quicksilvered his right hand and pulled at the cuffs. He could feel the handcuffs cutting his wrist in tatters, but it seemed to be working. He pulled with all of his strength and sighed in relief when he felt his hand emerge from the handcuffs.

He looked towards his friends. "Pen," he muttered hoarsely.

Eberts looked down at the pens displayed in his pocket pen protector. He bowed his head down and pulled one out of the holder with his mouth. Then he swung his head out and threw the pen at Darien.

Darien quickly grabbed it and painfully made his way over to Claire. His ribs and back were screaming and he could feel the salt from tears of pain burning the cuts on his face and neck. He tried to ignore it. He reached her and with shaky hands, began to pick the lock. Ten seconds later, Claire's hands were free.

She immediately stepped behind the chair and helped Darien's toward Alex. Darien struggled with her handcuffs as the pain caught up with him and threatened to put him into darkness. After about thirty seconds, she was free as well.

Alex quickly ran over to the bomb to try and disarm it.

Darien crawled towards Eberts next, all the while feeling Claire rubbing him gently on the back. He fumbled with the pen and dropped it, his arm barely having enough strength to hold his hand upright. Claire picked up the pen and put it in his hand. Then she reached for his arm and supported it, while Darien picked Eberts cuffs. Twenty seconds later they were off.

Darien sagged in exhaustion, not wanting to move anymore. But he needed to do this one more thing before he could sleep. He crawled with all of his willpower to the Official and began to fumble with the cuffs. Claire supported his body as he started to quiver in pain and exhaustion.

After what felt like an eternity, he got the cuffs off of the Official. His body slumped and he fell to the floor in exhaustion. Claire was at his side, cradling his body and stroking his forehead gently.

The Official stepped out of his chair and looked down at Darien, sorrow shining in his eyes.

"I can't stop it!" yelled Alex from her position next to the bomb. "30 seconds."

Claire immediately tried to help Darien off the floor, but stopped when the movement made him moan in agony. "Darien, we have to get out of here," she said through tears of desperation.

He couldn't move and he didn't want to. "Just leave me here," Darien whimpered.

He felt strong hands lifting him off the ground and couldn't stifle the groan that escaped his lips. "We're not leaving you behind, son," said the Official as he hoisted Darien off the ground. He put Darien's good arm around his shoulder. Eberts joined him on the other side and gently supported Darien's broken arm with one hand and used his other hand to support Darien's lower back. Darien moaned in pain and nearly lost consciousness again.

Together, the Official and Eberts half carried, half dragged Darien out of the Keep. Claire and Alex followed behind.

"10 seconds," Alex yelled as she encouraged them to pick up the pace.

The group ran as fast as they could, but the Official and Eberts were not getting far with the near dead weight of Darien between them. Claire and Alex came up behind them and pushed at their backs, giving them a little bit of propelled forward motion.

All Darien could feel was pain. His stomach was doing flip-flops and his vision was swimming in and out. Every step down the hallway was agony and he cried out nearly the whole way.

The last thing Darien remembered was the sound of a large explosion followed by hot air pushing his mangled body through the air. He gratefully welcomed the darkness that followed.

Three days later

"That's it, that's it, open you're eyes," Darien heard a female voice say.

He felt someone softly caressing his face from his forehead all the way to his jaw. There was only one person who did that to him and her name was Claire. His eyes fluttered open and he was greeted with the sight of Claire's face only inches from his. A smile appeared on her face.

Darien moaned softly as his senses became aware of everything around him. An uncomfortable bed. Lots of white. Annoying little beeps.

He looked at Claire in confusion. "Am I dead?" he rasped, barely able to talk.

Claire laughed gently and wiped a stray piece of hair off his forehead. "Well if you are, then I've been holding the hand of a corpse for the last three days."

Darien managed a weak smile. He attempted to move and was rewarded with sharp pain coming from seemingly every part of his body. His forehead crinkled in pain.

Claire rubbed his cheek softly. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

Darien snorted. "Like my body was used as a human wrecking ball," he whispered as he looked down and saw the many bandages covering his body and the cast on his arm. "How's everyone else?"

"Everyone's fine. Minor cuts and bruises, that's all. The Keep's gone, but he rest of the building wasn't damaged. The Official has promised me money for a new and improved Keep," she said with a sly smile. "Oh and don't worry about the counteragent. The formula isn't even kept in the Keep. The Official has it locked up somewhere in his office."

Darien nodded in relief. "Hobbes?"

"He's recovering nicely. He should be out of the hospital by the end of the week. He wanted to come and see you, but he's just too weak right now. He sends his love," she said.

Darien nodded and looked up at the ceiling. His eyes clouded for a second. "Sull…Stark?"

Claire took a deep breath. "They got him. After he left us, he apparently went after a few innocent civilians and killed them. Police finally caught up with him and shot him. They sent him upstate to a psychiatric facility. He's under heavy guard and sedation. He'll never get out," she said gently.

Darien nodded slowly. His eyes drifted towards hers and then a flash of remembrance went through his eyes. "Tests, what about the tests you were running on yourself?" he whispered quickly.

Claire's face broke out into a nervous smile.

"What, what is it? Is it some terrible disease?" asked Darien urgently.

"No, no, nothing like that," said Claire reassuringly. She grabbed one of hands and started to rub it. "I have some news. Good news, I hope."

"What is it?" said Darien with wide eyes.

Claire took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant," she said simply.

"You're pregnant?" repeated Darien.

Claire nodded. "Pregnant."

Darien's eyes started to well up with tears. "I'm going to be a daddy?" he whispered softly.

"Yeah, you sure are," she said gently.

A huge smile appeared on Darien's face and soundless tears slowly trickled down his cheeks. "Wow…that's…that's…that's really cool, Keep," he said softly.

Claire's own eyes welled with tears. "I was hoping you would say that," she said as she leaned down and delicately kissed his lips.

Darien melted into the kiss and ran his good hand through her hair. Claire ran her hands down his chest gently, not wanting to hurt him anymore. "Love you," she murmured into his ear.

"Love you too, Claire," he whispered.

She pulled away with hesitation and ran her hand down his face once more. "You need to get some sleep," she whispered.

Darien nodded in exhaustion and his eyes drifted shut. A small smile appeared on his face. "Thanks, Keep," he muttered as he fell asleep.

Claire picked his hand up again and kissed it. "Thank you, Darien."

TBC