Almost Paradise (5/?)
By Carol M.
See first parts for details
On with the story…
Charlie Borden had discovered in the past two days that he really, really hated rain. It was a revelation that came as a great shock due to the fact that as a child his primary hobby had been splashing around in puddles and making himself dirty.
This rain meant delay. This rain meant that Darien, Bobby and Claire could be dead or dying. This rain meant he wouldn't find anything out until it stopped. Charlie was a man who was used to having what he wanted exactly when he wanted it. But there wasn't a damn thing he could do about the rain and that was enough to drive him mad.
He sat in a chair in his temporary office on the aircraft carrier staring out the window, wishing like hell that the raindrops would stop and the sun would come out. Sun would mean the planes would start searching again. Sun would mean they had a chance to find them. Sun would mean life.
He looked over at Eberts who was sitting at a table looking at radar images of the plane in its last few seconds in the air. Every couple of minutes, Eberts would look up at the Official and give him a nervous smile. He was glad Eberts was with him. Eberts was his details man, taking care of all the crap that he didn't want to deal with. It freed him up to think.
Thinking. That's something the Official had been doing a lot of the past couple of days. He had come to a startling conclusion during those moments of reflection: he cared about Darien Fawkes. Hell, he even cared about Bobby and Claire. He realized they were his family, his kids. He wanted them back safe and alive. He didn't care if they all wanted to quit their jobs and move on with their lives when this nightmare had ended. As long as he got them back, Charlie Borden would be a happy man.
***
"Rain sucks," said Bobby from his position next to Darien on the cold, puddling ground. Even though they were lying under a large tree, he was soaked from head to toe and had been that way for the past two days.
He looked at his partner who was similarly drenched, but was not currently conscious. Darien was sick as a dog. His body quaked with shivers even worse then before and every couple of seconds he whimpered in agony. Claire was holding him tightly against her body, trying to give him some comfort, but there wasn't much she could do for him at the moment.
"How's he doing?" asked Bobby as he wiped at his water-filled eyes.
Claire shook her head sadly. "Not good. He's freezing, he's got a high fever, his head wound is infected, his stomach is a mess, the list goes on," she said as she clutched Darien tighter. "God this rain just needs to stop!" she yelled up towards the sky.
"Maybe I could do a rain dance to get the rain to stop?" offered Bobby.
"Hey look at the bright side guys, at this rate maybe I won't have to worry about going insane and killing you because I think I'm probably going to freeze to death anyway," said Darien weakly.
"You're awake!" said Claire.
Darien shivered and curled farther into Claire's arms. "Uh huh. Went it rains, it pours."
Bobby moved closer to Darien and Claire, trying to give them both some of what was left of his body heat. "The rain's got to stop eventually, Fawkes."
"Yeah, well if it doesn't stop in the next," Darien glanced at his tattoo, " oh I don't know, two days, I think we're pretty much screwed."
"So much for building another fire," said Claire.
"Yeah, even if it stops raining, everything's going to be wet for a few days," said Bobby.
"Things just keep getting better and better," whispered Darien. "You know what I would love right now?"
"What?" asked Claire.
"A mug of hot chocolate. Just me and my hot chocolate in my nice cozy bed, the remote control dangling from my fingers," he said dreamily.
"Settle for some coconut juice, my friend?" asked Bobby.
"Sure why not, I'm getting sick of water anyway," said Darien.
Bobby smashed open a coconut with Claire's shoe and then handed it to Claire. She brought Darien's head up and then tilted it so the juice would flow into his mouth. Darien drank all of the juice out of the coconut and wiped his mouth when he was done. "Man, I gotta tell you, if we do get off this freakin place, I'm never eating a coconut again," he said closing his eyes. A second later, his eyes popped open and a sick and panicky expression filled his face. "Gonna puke," he said urgently.
Claire hoisted him off of her and turned him around just in time. Darien vomited all of the coconut juice up and then sank back down to the ground, holding his stomach. "That hurt," he said through clenched teeth.
Claire rubbed his back and kneaded the muscles in his neck. Then she pulled him tightly into her arms and kissed the top of his head. "We're going to make it out of here, I promise," she said.
"Yeah, in body bags," he said. "However weak I am now ain't gonna matter when I go quicksilver wacko, okay."
"Well maybe I'll just knock you out then," said Bobby.
"Yeah, knock me out, knock me out. How long is that gonna last Hobbes? A day, tops? I'm just going to keep coming and coming until you guys are dead and you know it," said Darien. "I think you should just throw me in the ocean and let me drown," he said softly.
"Stop it, Darien! You're our friend, okay. We're going to help you through this," said Claire, nearly crying.
"This isn't some sabbatical on an island, Claire. They might not find us. You guys seemed to be convinced that some magic hand is just going to pop out of the ocean and take us home. And maybe it will," said Darien. "But it might not too. And if it doesn't, you're going to have me running around here. It could happen. Actually, it probably will happen, and you need to be prepared."
"All right, enough Fawkes. We got two days until you reach the beginnings of quicksilver madness. So here's the plan for right now. As soon as the rain stops we bust our asses trying to get off this island. We make signs, we run around naked, anything that's going to be spotted from a plane. We'll worry about two days from now two days from now, okay?" said Bobby sternly.
"Whatever you say, partner," said Darien dryly.
***
Three hours later, the rain stopped and the sun came out, shining brightly across the Pacific Ocean. It was the most beautiful sight the Official had ever seen. Five planes were immediately dispatched to search for the missing trio.
The Official was looking at a map in his office, when a soft knock on the door interrupted him. "Yes?" he said, looking up.
A young woman of about 25 walked into his office, carrying two vials. She handed them to the Official. "Excuse me for asking, sir, but I don't understand why you would need something like this to give to your missing agent. There's enough toxic chemicals in these vials to kill twenty men," she said.
"You sure you followed those recipes to perfection?" he asked.
"Yes, sir, I just don't under…"
"You don't have to understand, it's classified. That will be all," he said, looking back down at the map.
The woman paused in the doorway for a second and then turned to leave. "Thank you, sir," she said softly as she left the room.
"No, thank you," whispered the Official to himself as he eyed the blue and black vials of counteragent.
***
"I can help you know," said Darien from his position in the sand.
Claire firmly shook her head. "Nope, you need to rest," she said as she carried more palm fronds out of the forest to replace their sign, which had floated away in the rain.
Darien sighed and looked up at the sky, cupping his ears to try and make out the sound of an airplane. Nothing echoed back except for the sound of a few squawking birds.
Bobby returned from the woods with a handful of colorful flowers.
"Are we decorating now?" asked Darien.
"No genius. I figure the bright colors might help a plane see our sign better," he said as he set the flowers next to the branches.
"Nice," said Darien. He curled onto his side and continued to watch Bobby and Claire build their sign. After a few minutes, his vision became blurry and he realized that his eyes were filled with tears. "Hey guys," he said softly.
Bobby and Claire both looked towards him.
"Thanks for everything, you know. I love you," said Darien softly, swallowing a hard lump in his throat.
Bobby smiled. "Not a problem, kid."
Claire smiled as well. "We love you too, Darien."
Darien nodded and turned his head away from them, not wanting them to see the lone tear that trickled down his cheek.
***
It was with shocking detachment that Darien watched himself strangle Bobby Hobbes. He squeezed his friend's neck as hard as he could, feeling the muscles in Bobby's throat struggling against him.
He could hear Claire's shouts in the background, but couldn't make out what she was saying. He didn't really care. All he wanted was to kill this man that was in front of him. He tightened his grip on Bobby's neck, turning the older man's face a lovely shade of blue. Bobby had stopped struggling long ago and was now looking up at him with eyes that were slowly being drained of life. Darien pushed on with his goal and when Bobby's eyes rolled back into his head, Darien let out a loud cackle. He dropped Bobby's body to the ground and turned around.
Claire's was standing behind him, a look of terror, pity and shock all wrapped into one horrendous expression on her face. He stalked towards her, closing the distance between them with long strides. She made no attempt to move and seemed to be frozen in her position. He reached her and roughly caressed her cheek. She cringed and then hit him squarely in the stomach.
He was pissed now. He instantly grabbed her throat and started to squeeze. She kicked out at him, but her blows didn't effect him. He lifted her in the air by her neck and then threw her back to the ground. He heard the sickening sound of bones cracking and realized that he had snapped her neck. He bent down towards her body and kissed her lips, marveling at how warm they still felt.
"Oh God!" screamed Darien as he suddenly came awake and bolted upward.
"Fawkes?" said Bobby in a sleepy voice.
"Darien, easy, it's okay," said Claire as she sat up and rubbed the back of Darien's neck.
"No, no, it's not okay, it's not okay, you're dead, you're dead," muttered Darien as he rocked back and forth. He was having trouble catching his breath.
"Fawkes… Darien, we're not dead, we're right here, pal, okay," said Bobby, squeezing his friend's shoulder.
Darien shook his head violently. "I killed you both, I killed you both," he whispered in a terrified voice.
Claire picked up Darien's hand and ran it across her face. "You didn't kill us, Darien. See, we're right here, it was just a dream," she said soothingly.
"No," whispered Darien as tears started pouring down his face.
Claire took a hold him and pulled him firmly against her chest. His sobs were loud and harsh, bordering on hysterical. His body quivered against Claire's from the terrible onslaught.
"Calm down, buddy, just calm down," whispered Bobby as he traced reassuring circles on Darien's back.
After a few minutes, Darien seemed to calm down, but didn't have the energy to move out of Claire's embrace.
"You okay?" she whispered in his ear.
He nodded against her chest.
"Go back to sleep," she said.
He nodded once again.
He lay in her arms for several minutes, waiting for sleep to take him again, but his mind wouldn't let him. He listened to the soft even breathing of Claire and Bobby as they both returned into a deep sleep.
Several hours went by and he continued to lay there, listening to their soft breathing. When he was sure that neither would wake up easily, he gently pulled himself out of Claire's grasp. He sat in the sand between his two friends, eyeing them both intensely. After several long minutes, he leaned down and kissed Claire on the forehead. He leaned in the other direction and did the same thing to Bobby.
He then carefully stood up and groaned softly at his many aches. He was feeling dizzy and nauseous and had to fight the urge to fall down on the ground and go back sleep. But he wouldn't let himself do it. He gave his friends one last look and blew them a kiss. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his friendship shell, staring at it longingly. He kissed it as well and placed it in the empty space between Bobby and Claire. Then he slowly started walking down the beach, all the while staring at the tall cliff in the distance. He knew what he had to do.
TBC either tomorrow or Wed.
