She was not out cold for long. When she opened her eyes ten minutes later, she found that her hands and legs had been tied together. From the feel of the restraint on her wrists, she realized that her captor had used the belt from her terry cloth robe. 'I liked that robe,' she thought to herself.

Claire's thoughts were broken as a knife floated into her path of sight. Literally. Suspended by air, the tip of the knife pointed right at her. A slight chuckle escaped from the emptiness before her.

"Good morning, Claire," the accented voice spoke.

"Arnaud. What in the bloody hell do you want?" Claire could not hide her anger.

"Blunt and to the point. I admire that in a woman." The knife floated back and forth as he tossed it from hand to hand. "I just realized that instead of working so hard to steal the information about the gland, I could just torture it out of you. It's easy, a little messy, and I get to have fun with it too. And as a little added bonus, in case you decide to stay tight lipped, a dead Keeper would definitely hurt a certain prick that I know and despise." Arnaud's voice took a dangerous edge as he spoke that last part.

The knife stopped being tossed from hand to hand, and Claire watched as it moved closer to her.

"Shall we start with the interrogation?" The voice seemed to come from the levitating weapon. "Now, why don't you start talking about everything you know and I'll just..." the knife slashed to the side, making a slight noise as it cut the air. "...steer the conversation."

Claire steeled her jaw and closed her eyes. She imagined the look on his face as he spoke again. "No?" The sarcastic questionable tone was more than apparent in his voice. Then, his vocals lowered to a harsh growl. "Then I guess I get to play."

She kept her eyes shut but was able to sense her attacker step sloser to her. The knife was merely centimeters away from her face. Anticipating the pain, she instinctively flinched when her front door banged against the wall as someone kicked it open.

"Claire!" Hobbes' frantic voice was a wonderful sound to her ears. She snapped open her eyes in time to see him enter her living room, gun drawn and thermal glasses covering his eyes. He immediately aimed at the air in front of her, but his aim moved as his intended target shifted. Finally, Hobbes fired, but Claire assumed that Arnaud had jumped behind the couch, because the bullet merely tore into the cushion. Another shot fired, and this time it lodged itself into the wall. Suddenly, the window in Claire's kitchen shattered outward as Arnaud crashed through to safety. Hobbes ran to the window and peered into the darkness, but his target was gone.

Bobby picked up the knife from the floor where Arnaud had dropped it and walked over to Claire. Carefully, he cut the ropes that were holding her down.

"Claire, are you ok?"

"Yeah Bobby, I'm fine. Just a little shaken up."

"Come on, let's get you out of here for a little bit."

"Bobby, it's not like I'm ungrateful for the rescue, but why were you still here? How did you know I was in trouble?"

"Golda's got the hiccups. Saw someone pull an invisible breaking-and-entering, so I grabbed the thermals and headed in."

"Oh."

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

It was four days later before they let Claire return to her home from the animal friendly motel that they put her in. During that time, the Agency found some way to install a new security system in her place and thermal sensors in the hallways of the headquarters. Darien was less than pleased with this at first, because they put a damper on the fun he could have while at work, but he knew that it was for the best, so he did not complain--much.

When she finally returned home, Claire put Pavlov down on the floor and locked her door. Entering the security code, she felt a little safer.

Exhaustion hit as she climbed the stairs to her room. She entered through the door, intent on crashing onto her bed, but a surprise stopped her. Lying on her pillow was a wilted rose and a CD. The rose looked as though it had been without water for days.

Realization hit her and she smiled. 'That's why he had been here that night. He must have been waiting in his van to see how I reacted.'

Claire went over to her stereo and inserted the CD. Hobbes' voice came from it first.

"Um, hi Claire, it's me. I, uh, I just wanted to let you know that this song pretty much sums up everything I feel. And I know that you're a punk music fan, so I think you'll like this song at any rate. So, enjoy."

The CD switched to track two and an electric guitar filled the air. As Claire listened to the words, her smile grew. This was worth it all. She would have to thank Bobby properly tomorrow.

The Glory of Love

By A New Found Glory

Tonight it's very clear
As we're both lying here
There's so many things I wanna say
I will always love you
I will never leave you alone

Sometimes I just forget, say things I might regret
It breaks my heart to see you crying
I don't want to lose you
I could never make it alone

'Coz I am a man who will fight for your honor
I'll be the hero that you're dreaming of
Gonna live forever knowing together
That we did it all for the glory of love

You keep me standing tall
You help me through it all
I'm always strong when you're beside me
I have always needed you
I could never make it alone

'Coz I am a man who will fight for your honor
I'll be the hero that you're dreaming of
Gonna live forever knowing together
That we did it all for the glory of love

It's like a knight in shining armor
From a long time ago
Just in time I'll save the day
Take you to my castle far away

I am the man who will fight for your honor
I'll be the hero that you're dreaming of
Gonna live forever knowing together
That we did it all for the glory of love