Chapter 8: Fawkes Hunting
After securing Claire, The Official, and Eberts, (and discovering that their counteragent vials had somehow gone missing), Hobbes made his way back to the Keep. He hadn't told them exactly what he was going to do, but for some reason, that seemed odd to the rest of him, he had disconnected the ceiling sprinklers in the office. After reaching the Keep, Hobbes searched around in the cabinets.
"Let's see. I'll need this, one of those, and oh yeah! Can't forget this one. Now, I think that's all I need. And there all in glass bottles too. Perfect. Don't worry Fawkes, we're gonna get you back real soon or my name's Jimmy Hoffa, and it's not."
Before leaving the basement Hobbes carefully checked all the basement rooms and locked each one before leaving, except for the archive room. After those checks were complete, Hobbes made his way to the main boiler room of the building. Darien, meanwhile, was pacing around on some of the higher up floors of the building; going to certain places he had never been.
"Hmm, what's in here? Ahhh, just more junk. I'm sure they don't need this," said Darien, who then proceeded to destroy anything that he deemed not important, which, basically, was everything in every room.
All of a sudden smoke started pouring out of the sprinklers in the room Darien was occupying.
"Holy crap!" 'Cough, hack, cough' "What the hell is that??"
Darien ran out of the room to try and get some fresh air, but the hall was filled with smoke also. Coughing and tripping, he started stumbling down floor to floor, trying to breathe as he went. Unfortunately for him, it seemed like every room on every floor was filled with smoke. In what seemed like only a matter of minutes, Darien found himself in the basement.
'The smoke's not as thick down here,' Darien thought. 'Now, to try and get in one of these rooms.'
Darien started to desperately pound on every door, however all the doors were locked.
"Dammit! Open up you, you, you frelling door! Ughhhhhhhh!"
Finally, Darien reached an unlocked door. He threw himself in the room and started gasping in the fresh, untainted air.
"Ahhhh, that's more like it."
"How's it going partner?"
Darien turned quickly around to see a tranquilizer gun staring him in the face.
"Hey, partner. And how are you doing?"
"A lot better than you. Now let me see your hands. Come on, put'em up."
"Do you mean these hands? Oh sure, I'll put them up."
Darien started to raise his hands slowly. At the very last second, Fawkes grabbed Hobbes' extended arm and twisted it around. Then he quicksilvered and punched Hobbes in the stomach. Bobby shot off a tranq dart and managed to scratch Darien's arm.
"Ahhh!" Fawkes screamed and then he started to run down one of the aisles.
"That invisibility trick can't help you now, my friend. Bobby Hobbes' glasses are securely attached and there is not a single way you are getting out of this room until your little case of pink eye goes away."
Hobbes wasn't lying. His glasses were attached securely. He had tied them to his head.
"No one underestimates Bobby Hobbes."
"Okay, then. Tell Bobby Hobbes to come and find me!"
Hobbes noticed a glowing figure hiding behind some boxes.
"I told you you couldn't hide from me partner."
Bobby aimed carefully and shot off his last tranq dart. The figure twitched a little and slouched over. Meticulously making his way over to the broken down figure, Hobbes set down his empty tranq gun and went to check for a pulse. As soon as he did, the quicksilver fell from the image. Confused, Hobbes lifted his glasses slightly.
"Monroe?"
"Surprise, partner!" yelled Darien, before smacking Hobbes upside the head with a large book. Bobby was sent sprawling out on the floor.
"Ohh, Bobby. This is a very bad time to take a nap. Ha ha. Alrighty now! Let's tie you up next to Ms. Super-agent over there.
Darien took some rope out of his and went over to tie up his "ever careful partner". Just then Darien was socked in the face and went sliding on the into some shelves.
"Your not the only who play a little game, partner. I was a champion possum-player all throughout my childhood."
Trying to regain his composure, Darien started to get up off the floor, but was knocked down once again by Hobbes. Fawkes was completely dazed. Not wanting to waste this oppurtunity, Bobby took out the counteragent, removed the cap, and plunged it into Darien's neck. Whatever composure, Fawkes had had at the moment was once again lost.
"Night-night, Fawkes."
After a few minutes, Darien began to wake up. He looked up at Hobbes, with his normal, brown eyes.
"Hey Hobbes. Whoa, I feel like I have the most massive hangover of my entire life. Hey, where the hell am I?" Slowly, Darien's memories of the morning's events began to return.
"Aw crap."
Epilogue to follow...
