Sacrifices (10/?)
By Carol M.
See prologue for details
On with this angsty tale…
"Hobbes…Bobby," yelled Darien into the phone. He looked up at Claire with a haunted expression in his eyes. "I think he hung up," he said as he hung up his own phone and dialed Bobby's number. He sat anxiously waiting for his partner to pick up. One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Four rings. Five rings.
After twenty rings, Darien finally hung up the phone. "Something's wrong, Keep. He sounded strange. He sounded really strange," he said, glancing back up at Claire.
"Do you want me to go over there and check on him?" asked Claire.
Darien thought for a moment and then shook his head. "No. We're both going over there," he said firmly as he struggled to get off the couch.
Claire instantly tried to stop him. "Whoa! Darien you're in no condition…" she stopped talking when she saw the determined look in his eye.
"He's my partner and he needs me right now," whispered Darien.
Claire slowly nodded her head. "Alright," she said as she took both of Darien's arms and helped haul him off the couch. She wrapped his arm around her shoulders, picked up her purse and carefully lead him out the apartment. They slowly made their way down the stairway of Darien's apartment and then finally, after ten agonizingly slow minutes, made it to Claire's SUV. Claire pushed Darien into the car and then quickly tore off towards Bobby's apartment.
They were there in less than fifteen minutes. Claire ran around to the passenger's side to let Darien out and noticed, much to her chagrin, that he was looking pretty green. "What's wrong?" she asked as she pulled him out of the SUV.
Darien closed his eyes for a few moments and took a deep breath. "All this activity is sort of catching up to me," he said as he slammed the door to the car and began walking towards the foyer of Bobby's apartment.
"Why don't you wait in the car?" suggested Claire.
"Uh huh, no way," said Darien as he pressed on, even though he felt like he was seconds away from passing out.
They got into the building after catching the door from behind some drunken teenagers and then carefully staggered up the steps. When they got to Bobby's apartment, Darien gave Claire a frightened glance and then knocked on the door. "Hobbes?" he yelled. No answer.
"Hobbes, come on, man, we know you're in there. It's Fawkes and the Keep, buddy, open up," he said as he knocked again. "Fine, have it your way," said Darien as he turned to Claire. "You got a pen or something?" he asked, eyeing her purse.
Claire nodded and rooted around in her purse, finally locating a cheap Bic pen. She handed it to Darien, who immediately proceeded to tear it apart. Less then 30 seconds later, he had the door unlocked. "We're coming in, Hobbes. And by the way, I'm not paying for a new lock," said Darien as he and Claire cautiously stepped through the door, eyeing the booze bottles laying all over the floor.
Darien inhaled sharply and stepped back when he finally saw Bobby. He was sitting on the couch amongst a dozen beer cans, tears streaming down his face and a gun pressed firmly against his temple. "What are you doing, Hobbes?" asked Darien as he cautiously stepped towards his partner with Claire's assistance.
Bobby stared up at Darien with a terrified look in his eye. "Get out," he said coldly through the tears.
Darien shook his head. "Nope, no way. Not until you put the gun down and talk to me, man."
"We got nothing to talk about," said Bobby.
Darien snorted. "Oh, I'd say we got plenty to talk about. Like why you're being such a selfish bastard."
"It doesn't concern you," said Bobby as he pressed the gun harder against his head and closed his eyes.
Darien suddenly stepped forward, letting go of Claire's hand. "Like hell it doesn't."
Bobby opened his eyes and shook his head. "I let you down," he said softly.
Darien nodded. "Yeah, you did."
Claire nudged Darien and gave him a look.
Darien ignored her and went on. "You almost let me die, buddy. Hell, I almost did die. But it wasn't your fault."
A twisted smile appeared on Bobby's face. "Oh yeah, then who's fault is it there genius?"
Darien shrugged. "No one's, everyone's, who knows? It was a bad deal, Hobbes. No matter how it played out, someone was gonna get screwed."
"Yeah well, it ended up being you and Alex, my friend," whispered Bobby. "I should have broke. I should have told him. I should have told him," he cried out as the tears started falling from his eyes.
"Bobby," whispered Claire as she stepped towards him.
"Stay back!" yelled Bobby suddenly as he took the gun away from his head and pointed it at Claire. "Just stay the hell back!"
"What are you gonna do Hobbes? You gonna kill us both? Then what, huh? Oh, yeah you'll just kill yourself and all your problems will be over," said Darien.
Bobby pointed the gun at Darien. "You got any other suggestions?"
Darien nodded. "Yeah, how bout you put down the gun and talk to me about this like we should have done a week ago."
Bobby smiled and then quickly put the gun back against his head. "Talk is cheap, Fawkes. Besides, I got plenty of voices to talk to inside my head. They tell me all I need to know."
"Like what?" asked Darien.
"Like I let down my partner and my best friend. That I let Monroe get turned into Swiss cheese. That I don't deserve to live. What good an agent am I if I can't protect the people I care about most in this world?" cried Bobby.
"The kind who risks the lives of a few to save the lives of many. And Bobby, that's not such a bad thing, man. Yeah, I'm pissed off at what you did to me. It hurt like hell, man. But you had a good reason for what you did and I understand that. And Monroe… that wasn't your fault, buddy, it was just bad luck," said Darien.
Tears started to flow down Bobby's face at a rapid pace. "I can't do this, Fawkes. I can't live with this pain. I let you down, I her down, I let everyone down."
A lump started to form in Darien's throat and he realized with some surprise, that his tear ducts had not yet run out of tears as his vision started to blur. "You do this, and you really will let me down, Bobby. Don't do this to me. I can't lose someone else I love," whispered Darien.
"You don't love me! You hate me! How can you love me after what I did to you?" yelled Bobby, the gun tightening against his head. "I'm so sorry, Fawkes," he said, staring intensely at Darien. His gaze shifted to Claire. "Take care of him, Keep," he whispered softly as his finger tightened against the trigger, ready to blow his brains out.
"No!" cried Darien and Claire as they both dived towards Bobby. Darien managed to push the gun out of his hand just as Bobby's finger pressed down on the trigger. The gun went flying across the room and the bullet harmlessly impacted the ceiling. Darien, Claire and Bobby all went crashing to the floor, tangled in one another's arms. Bobby stared at Darien in shock and then a look of realization hit his face.
"I'm sorry," whispered Bobby as he grabbed a hold of Darien. "I'm so sorry, Darien…Claire… for everything. I'm sorry."
Darien pulled Bobby against his body and hugged his partner, who had started sobbing like a baby. Claire got up and gave Bobby a gentle pat on the back. Then she disappeared into his bedroom to give the partners some privacy.
Bobby held on to Darien for the better part of an hour, sobbing and apologizing and just taking comfort in the warm body of his partner that was still amongst the land of the living. When he finally managed to calm himself down, he pulled away from Darien and gasped when he realized that Darien was unconscious. "Keep," yelled Bobby. "Something's wrong with Fawkes!" he yelled in terror.
Claire ran out of the bedroom and immediately went to Darien, confirming that he was indeed unconscious. She checked his pulse and his breathing and then gave Bobby a calm smile. "He's okay. He just passed out. He's exhausted. He'll be just fine," she said gently.
"We can put him in my bed," offered Bobby as he continued to sniffle.
Claire nodded and picked up Darien's feet, while Bobby grabbed his shoulders. Together, they hauled him into Bobby's bedroom and tucked him into bed. When they were done, they both walked into the living room and stared awkwardly at one another. Claire was the first to speak. "Look…Bobby…I'm sorry for saying all that stuff I said before. I was just really angry, and I wanted to hurt you and make you realize what you were doing. I didn't mean for you to do," she pointed at the bullet hole in ceiling, "this."
Bobby shook his head. "I didn't do that because of what you said. I did it because I was so terrified of dealing with Fawkes and everything else. I handled everything wrong and if I could go back in time, I would change everything I did, Claire, believe me."
Claire nodded. "Yeah, me too," she said, looking down at her feet. "Are you going to be okay?"
Bobby thought for a minute and nodded. "I will be," he answered softly as he leaned forward with his arms outstretched, wanting a hug.
Claire obliged and gave him a tight squeeze, burying her head into his neck. "What a week, huh?" she said.
"No kidding, Keep," said Bobby.
They parted from the hug and Bobby pointed towards the couch. "If you clear off the beer cans, there's actually a pretty comfortable fold out bed right there," he said. He nodded towards the bedroom. "I'm gonna go in there and watch Fawkesy, make sure he's okay."
Claire's face broke out into a big smile. "It's about time, Bobby."
Bobby cracked a smile and nodded. "Yeah." Bobby disappeared into his bedroom to watch over his partner, while Claire waded through a pile of beer cans to locate the soft bed and then once again, fell into a blissfully deep sleep.
**
Darien awoke the next morning with a muffled groan. He smacked his lips and reached his hand on the other side of the bed, trying to find Claire. "Keep," he murmured when he felt a warm body and gently moved his hand up her back and into her hair. But suddenly, Claire was bald. "Ah!" screamed Darien in surprise as he turned his head to see the face of Bobby Hobbes looking back at him. "Hobbes, what the hell are you doing?"
"Sleeping in my bed, just like you," he answered in a slightly irritated tone.
Darien groaned and turned on his side, his back facing Bobby. "Where's Claire?"
"She went home to freshen up and get some more stuff to bring to your place. She'll be back in a little while," said Bobby as he stared up at the ceiling. He snuck a glance at Darien and then looked back up. "You and the Keep got something going on the side that I should know about?" he asked in a slightly jealous tone.
"Just shut up, Hobbes," said Darien.
Bobby smiled for a moment and then a serious expression spread across his face. "So I guess you're mad at me, huh?" he said.
Darien smiled slightly. "Yeah, a little."
"Suppose you want a new partner now, since this once pretty much screwed you over," said Bobby hesitantly, afraid of what the answer might be.
"Now why would I want to do something like that?" asked Darien.
"Because I let you down. Nearly got you killed," said Bobby.
"Yeah well, I'm alive. I guess that's all that matters. Besides, I fully intend on milking this for all it's worth. You're gonna be buying my lunches and dinners for the next year, my friend," said Darien.
"Yeah, let me guess, you're gonna acquire a sudden taste for lobster tails and steak," said Bobby.
"You know me so well," said Darien. He closed his eyes for a minute and then opened them, clearing his throat slightly. "Hey Hobbes," he whispered.
"Yes Fawkes?" responded Bobby.
"Did Monroe…did Monroe go quick?" asked Darien.
"No," replied Bobby, his voice sounding stiff and reserved.
"Was she in a lot of pain?" asked Darien, sounding a little choked up.
"I don't think so, man. She was pretty much out of it. She did have something she wanted me to tell you though," said Bobby.
"What?" asked Darien.
"She said that you're worth more than you know," said Bobby.
"Wow," said Darien.
"That's not the best part though. She also confessed to having a crush on Eberts," said Bobby.
Darien laughed slightly. "Eberts? As in Albert Eberts?"
"The one and only," replied Bobby.
"God, just when you think you know somebody," said Darien.
"No, kidding, right," said Bobby. "She was a tough broad. I'm gonna miss her like hell."
"Yeah, me too," answered Darien. "She never let us get away with any crap."
"She was the best," said Bobby.
"Definitely," said Darien.
"A class act," said Bobby.
"The Mata Hari, herself," offered Darien.
Bobby smiled. "If she was here right now, she would be rolling her eyes in that pissed off way she used to do."
"You got that right," said Darien.
They were both silent for a few minutes, listening to the sounds of one another's breathing. Finally, Bobby spoke up. "So are we okay?"
Darien thought for a moment. "Yeah, we're okay. What about you? Are you going to make it through all of this?
Bobby sighed. "Yeah. I just gotta pop a few more pills and make a few appointments with the shrink, and I think Bobby Hobbes will be good as new. What about you, man? You gonna survive?"
Darien buried his face into the pillow. "I think I need to sleep for about a month and then I'll be on the road to recovery."
Bobby nodded, staring at Darien's back. "Yeah," he said with a heavy sigh. "Fawkes…Darien…I really am sorry man."
Darien slowly turned around and looked Bobby in the eyes. "I am too, man. Partners?" he asked as he stuck out his hand.
A large smile spread across Bobby's face. "Partners" he said as he slapped Darien's hand. He studied Darien's pale, stubble-covered face and pushed him back against the pillow. "Get some sleep, kid. You look like hell."
Darien rolled his eyes and pressed his head into the pillow. "Yeah well, you're no beauty queen yourself, Hobbesy," he said as his eyes drifted shut.
"Why you…" Bobby stopped when he realized Darien was sound asleep again. He tucked the blankets tighter around Darien's body and then got out of the bed. "Sleep well, partner," he said as he gave Darien a gentle pat on the arm and then walked out of the room to go wait for Claire.
TBC (yes, there's more, maybe another part and an epilogue)