Almost Paradise (8/8)
By Carol M.
See first part for details
Note: And so the sun sets on Almost Paradise. I think this has been one my favorite stories to write, and I hope you enjoyed reading it! Devil's Silver #9 will be out in the next month or so and maybe another standalone in the meantime. Also look for a really mushy D/C fic this weekend if you're into that kind of thing. Other than that, grab a coconut cocktail and enjoy the last part!
"Claire, god, make it stop, make it stop, do something please!" moaned Darien as he shook with pain against her chest. The attacks were occurring with more frequency now, and Darien was only about an hour away from the ninth segment turning red.
"Shh, it's okay, it's okay," whispered Claire as she rubbed his back and pulled him tightly into her arms. She gave Bobby a helpless glance.
Bobby threw up his hands in disgust. "I don't know what to do for him," he said. "That freakin fat bastard better get his fat ass on this damn island!" he yelled in frustration. He looked over at his partner and watched him shiver with pain and fear. "God, look at him, Keep, he's barely holding it together, and I can't say that I blame him."
"Guys, knock me out, please. Whack me over the head as hard as you have to, just as long as I don't wake up before tomorrow morning," Darien pleaded.
"Partner, you already got one concussion. I think two might be pushing it," replied Bobby.
"Well great, then I'll just kill you then," said Darien sarcastically as he rolled over and beat his hands against the sand in frustration.
Claire gently pushed Darien aside and stood up. "I'm going to see if there's anything we can use to tie him up," she said as she dashed into the woods. "Watch him, Bobby!"
Bobby moved closer to Darien and brought him into his own arms. "Easy partner, I got you, I got you."
"So this is the way it's gonna end, huh? Me in your arms," said Darien with a crooked, pain-filled grin.
"You should be so lucky, my friend," said Bobby with his own smile.
***
The Official was giving Clyde such an evil stare that he was sure the man would melt into one big puddle of fear. "The morning?" The morning? Are you crazy? Time is of the essence here!"
"We can't risk a chopper out in the dark. We're having the base send out a special rescue helicopter first thing in the morning," replied Clyde.
The Official glanced over at a small black chopper sitting on a landing pad. "What about that one?" he asked.
Clyde shook his head. "No, no, no, that's my own personal helicopter. It barely fits me in there, let alone three other people."
"I see," said the Official with a curt nod of his head. "Morning it is then. Thank you for working so diligently to find my men."
Clyde smiled. "My pleasure, sir," he said as he stepped out of the office.
Several seconds later, Eberts appeared. "Any news, sir?"
The Official smiled. "Want to go on a helicopter ride, Eberts?"
***
Darien forced himself out of Bobby's arms and started to run down the beach. "It's close, it's so close," he screamed, holding the back of his head.
Bobby jumped up and ran after Darien, tackling him roughly to the ground. "You're not running away again, damn you!"
"Hobbes, god please, get the hell away from me," cried Darien as he rolled back and forth in the sand in pain.
"Claire!" yelled Bobby into the woods as he forced his knee down on Darien's back.
"Owww," cried Darien. His body convulsed in a spectacular spasm and when the pain ended, Darien's eyes were sparkling with red veins. "Get off of me you bald son of a bitch!" he screamed as he struggled against Bobby's weight.
Claire emerged from the woods, carrying several strings of flexible branches. She sprinted over to Bobby and Darien. "I don't know if they'll hold, but they're all I could find," she said.
Bobby put his other knee on Darien's back and grabbed both of Darien's arms, wrenching them behind his back.
"I hate you, both!" cried out Darien.
"Tie him down," said Bobby as he struggled to hold his partner who was flailing wildly against him.
Claire began knotting the branches tightly around Darien's hands. She was pleasantly surprised that they actually held. Then she went to work on his feet. He kicked out at her several times, but Bobby managed to sit on his upper legs so he didn't have any strength to power the kicks. She quickly and tightly tied up his feet. When she was done, Bobby continued to lay on top of Darien, desperately trying to hold him in place until help arrived. Hopefully very soon.
***
"Sir, I don't think this helicopter was made to go this fast," said Eberts in a nauseous panic from the passenger's seat of the chopper.
"Don't worry, Eberts. This is just like the old days when I used to fly choppers for the navy. Haven't lost my touch!" screamed the Official in joy as he flew the helicopter over the ocean towards the coordinates Eberts had lifted out of Clyde's office. "You got the stuff?"
Eberts held out the two vials of counteragent and a dart gun. "Yes, sir. Um if I could just a make a suggestion…"
"Shut up, Eberts and enjoy the ride!" screamed the Official as he pulled up the throttle and increased the speed. "Heeeeee hawwwwww!"
***
"I'm going to kill you!" cried Darien from underneath Bobby. His eyes were fully red now and it was getting harder and harder for Bobby to hold him down.
"Yeah, I'd like to see you try, pal," screamed Bobby.
"Fine with me!" said Darien as he quicksilvered his hands and feet and broke free of the branches he had been tied down with. He lurched up and knocked Bobby off his back. Bobby fell roughly into the sand, looking up at the blood red eyes of Darien in shock.
"You should have let me die, Bobby," whispered Darien in a menacing voice.
"Darien," he heard a female voice say from behind him.
He turned around and looked at Claire. "What do you want?"
Claire cocked her head to one side coyly. "You, what else?" she said, eyeing Bobby in the background.
Darien smiled a toothy grin. "Yeah, I'm sure."
"Oh really. Come on Darien, you know how much I like it. Oooh, I want you so bad," she said seductively as she sauntered towards him.
Bobby took his opening with the distraction and quickly got to his feet. He let Claire get about two feet away from Darien, then he ran up and jumped on his back.
"Get off of me!" screamed Darien as he tried to throw Bobby off him.
Bobby responded by kicking Darien repeatedly in his sides. "Not 'til you go down, my friend."
"It's not going to happen," said Darien as he ignored the kicks and ran towards the water. He flipped Bobby over his body, causing Bobby to land flat on his back. "Sorry it had to end like this, my friend," said Darien before he reached down and started to choke Bobby with all of his strength.
"Darien no!" cried Claire as she tried to pull him off Bobby, but he was just too
strong. Darien slapped her across the face with one hand, causing her to fall hard into the sand.
She heard a harsh noise in the distance and glanced up in the sky. She saw a helicopter with a bright searchlight heading straight for the island. She stood up and started waving frantically.
Bobby could make out the sound of the helicopter as well. "Fawkes, they're here," he choked out.
Darien smiled and squeezed harder. "Yeah, well they're a little too late," he said. Bobby brought his leg up and kneed Darien sharply in the groin.
"Owwww, you little bastard," said Darien in a fury. He tightened his grip, squeezing off Bobby's last drop of air.
Bobby could feel the end coming. His vision was floating and his ears were ringing. His only regret was that he never got to see Claire in a coconut bra. He was making his final peace with earth when something heavy fell on top of his body. He realized after a few seconds that air was returning to his oxygen-starved lungs. "Fawkes?" he said in confusion as he recognized the brown head of hair sitting only inches from his eyes. He saw a face over him, a face that looked so sweet he could kiss it. "Eberts!"
Eberts set down the tranq gun and gently rolled Darien off of Bobby. He extended his hand in Bobby's direction. "Robert," he said with a small smile.
Bobby let Eberts help him off the ground and then pulled him into a hug. "Boy, am I glad to see you."
They parted from the hug and then stared at each other awkwardly. "Took you long enough," said Bobby sarcastically.
"Excuse me, Robert, but…"
"Shut up, Eberts," said the Official as he handed Claire a syringe of counteragent. Claire knelt down next to Darien and carefully removed the tranq dart from his back. Then she picked up his arm and injected him with the counteragent.
Bobby looked towards the small helicopter sitting on top of their help sign. "Couldn't you have gotten anything fancier. You know, something with a stretcher or something?"
The Official stepped towards him "Well I would have, but I figured you wouldn't want that much taken out of your salary."
"Hahahha," said Bobby. "You're kidding right?"
The Official ignored him. He and Eberts gently picked up Darien and headed towards the small helicopter.
"Sir," said Bobby running after them.
Claire took once last glance around the island and followed her friends and coworkers towards the helicopter.
A week later
"Well everything seems to be in order, Darien. You're ribs and stomach are healing nicely, and you should be fully recovered in another two weeks," she said as she stood next to his bed in Lab 3.
"That's good," said Darien softly. "I guess I really do have nine lives, huh?"
Claire smiled. "You certainly do."
Darien looked up at her sheepishly. "Hey Claire, I'm sorry for everything on the island. You know, trying to kill you, kill Bobby, kill myself," he said with puppy dog eyes.
Claire leaned forward and caressed his cheek. "Everything is fine, Darien. We all survived. It wasn't so bad, was it? I mean I did get to see you and Bobby naked after all," she said with a sly smile.
Darien laughed. "Don't remind me."
"And Darien, about the whole Japan trip, I know it wasn't successful, but I promise you that one day I will find a way to take the gland out. You have my word," she said, grasping his hand.
He leaned down and kissed her hand. "I know," he said softly. "Thanks for everything, Claire."
"Ditto," she said.
"Well isn't this cozy," said Bobby as he walked into the lab. He rolled his shoulder and stepped next to Darien's bed.
"Jealous, Hobbesy?" asked Darien.
"Never," he replied. "Ready to go home?"
Darien nodded. "Hell yes, I can't wait to get in my own freakin bed. No offense, but sleeping with sand up my ass isn't really my idea of fun and this contraption ain't much better," he said as he pointed at his bed.
"You boys take it easy now. I don't want to see either of you working for at least another week and then it will only be paperwork," said Claire sternly.
Darien and Bobby eyed one another. "Oh goody, paperwork."
Darien climbed off the bed and stared at his two friends for a few seconds. "Group hug?"
Bobby and Claire both nodded and stepped in towards Darien. The three friends embraced for several minutes, all taking comfort in each other.
When they broke apart, they were all smiling.
Darien cleared his throat. "Ummm, I just have one request."
"What's that, Darien?" asked Claire curiously.
"Everything that was said and done on the island, stays on the island," he said.
"Sure," said Claire nodding.
"Definitely," said Bobby.
"Good. All right Hobbes, let's get the hell out of here," said Darien as he walked towards the door. "See ya Monday for my shot, Keep."
"Bye and be careful," she shouted after him.
"Be right there, Fawkes," yelled Bobby,
Darien nodded and headed out the door.
Bobby looked at Claire awkwardly. "So umm, Claire, I just wanted to say, you know, all that stuff we said in the plane about loving one another. Well I just wanted you to know that I meant it," he said in a slightly scared tone.
Claire smiled. " I meant it too," she said. She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, causing Bobby to blush. "Take care, Bobby. I'll see you in a few days," she said.
"You can count on it," said Bobby with a smile as he walked out the door.
Darien was waiting in the van with a smile on his face when Bobby opened the door. "So, did you confess your undying love?" he asked Bobby in amusement.
Bobby smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know," he said as he started up Golda's engines.
"I would actually," said Darien.
"No freakin way, partner, no freakin way," said Bobby.
"Fine if you don't want to share with your best friend then…"
Bobby looked over at Darien with a serious expression. "Fawkes, I love you man."
Darien smiled and nodded "I love you too. Thank you for everything and sorry I tried to, you know, kill you again."
"Please Fawkes, you didn't even get close," said Bobbby.
"Whatever you say, partner," said Darien as he leaned back in his seat.
Several minutes later, they reached Darien's apartment. "You wanna come in for a few?" asked Darien as he started to get out of the van.
Bobby shook his head. "No, I got a date."
Darien raised his eyebrows. "With who?"
Bobby grumbled. "The Official wanted me to go to lunch with him and the head rescue mook, Clyde. Said I could teach the man a few things."
"Hmm, sounds like fun," said Darien as he held out his hand. "I'll catch ya later, buddy," he said as they slapped hands.
"Hey, aren't you forgetting something Fawkes?" said Bobby as he reached into his pocket and handed Darien his friendship shell.
Darien stared intensely at Bobby, a suspicious lump forming in the back of his throat. "Thanks, buddy," he said softly.
"No problem, my friend. I'll see you later, Fawkes," said Bobby as he drove off in his van.
Darien watched Bobby drive off and then slowly made his way into his apartment building, holding the small shell tightly in his hand. He carefully walked up the stairs, taking care not to hurt himself and then made it to his door. He unlocked it and stepped into his apartment, smelling the smells of home as if they were heaven on earth. He threw his keys on the table and headed for his dresser. He pulled out his favorite pair of pajamas and quickly changed into them.
Then Darien Fawkes, still gripping his shell, did what he had wanted to do since the start of their disastrous trip home from Japan. He crawled into his bed, curled into a tiny ball and cried like a baby. But he wasn't crying for the gland or for the quicksilver madness or even for his brother. No, Darien Fawkes was crying for his two best friends, because maybe, just maybe, all the crap that had happened to him over the last year was worth their friendship. And maybe, because of them, his life wasn't so bad after all.
That's All Folks
