Author's Note: The seventh (Seventh!) chapter arrives. Sorry it took so long. I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Typos are fixed! Thank you for your reviews and support. Now, on with the story!
Chapter Seven: Deliverance
Williams watched as Stark's men loaded Claire and the other woman into the back of the van. He hadn't planned on there being more than one person at the house but he made do. He climbed into the front of the van and told the driver to go. The van pulled away from Claire's house and onto the freeway, heading towards the Chrysalis compound.
Bobby had kept a careful eye on Darien in his unconscious state. He wasn't sure what had caused the prolonged unconsciousness, but he was more worried about the impending QSM. Bobby was mulling over what to do if Darien slipped into QSM when Darien stirred.
Bobby hurried over to Darien's side, keeping him from sitting up.
"Whoa partner, you've been out for quite some time. What did they do to you?" he asked as Darien regained consciousness.
Darien blinked trying to clear his vision, he had a headache that would stun an elephant. He carefully turned his head towards Bobby, seeing the concern on his face.
Darien wasn't sure exactly what had happened but he knew Stark had acquired quicksilver from him somehow, and he was pretty sure it hadn't been voluntarily.
"I don't know what happened Hobbes. I think I'm Stark's quicksilver tap." He said as his hands found the bandage at the base of his skull. He carefully sat up with Hobbes' help, looking at his wrist and seeing the one green segment.
"You wouldn't happen to have that dose of counteragent on you?" he asked Bobby.
"Sorry Fawkes, they took everything."
Darien's face was grim, he knew he was close to QSM. The killer headache was probably partially from the beginning of the symptoms and not just the previous quicksilver extraction.
"Any idea where we are?" Darien asked.
"I'm not completely sure, but the room is off of a busy hallway. I've been listening to people walk by since I've been here."
"Huh."
Both Darien and Bobby jumped up when the door opened and Williams entered.
"Well if it isn't our favorite double agent." Spat Darien.
"Careful Fawkes, I have something you might just want."
"And that would be what you son of a bitch?"
Williams slowly drew out the syringe of counteragent from his jacket pocket.
Darien drew in a sharp breath; Williams held his only hope to preventing QSM.
"Do you need this Agent Fawkes?"
Darien refused to give him an answer.
"Answer me Fawkes!" barked Williams.
"Why should I?" seethed Darien.
"Well I have something else you might find even more valuable." Williams smirked as he pulled Claire into the room. Her mouth was taped and her hands were tied. Darien could see the fear in her eyes.
Darien shot towards Williams, ready to dismember him, when Hobbes pulled him back when he saw Williams produce a gun.
"You touch her you God damn fucking son of a bitch and I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" screamed Darien.
"Well then, answer me. Do you need the counteragent or not?"
"Yes." Said Darien darkly.
"Well, then it's really quite simple. You tell Claire that she needs to help us develop a better way to collect quicksilver and we'll give you the counteragent. She helps us, we help you."
"God damn you Williams. Why the hell aren't you dead?" asked Bobby, his voice think with anger.
"Oh well, that's also quite simple Agent Hobbes. The CIA needed someone they could send anywhere and what would be better than a dead person?"
"Let her speak." Commanded Darien.
"Hey, I'm making the rules here inviso-boy." Said Williams tauntingly.
"I said, let her speak. You let her talk and I'll tell her it's all right to help you." Said Darien through clenched teeth.
Williams was silent. He reached up and ripped the tape from Claire's mouth. A small shriek of pain escaped her mouth.
Darien flinched at the sound. He hated not being able to protect her. God damn it hadn't she been through enough already?
"Claire, sweetheart are you all right?" he asked.
"I'm ok. Darien what they want me to do will kill you. I can't do it. I can't." Claire said tearfully.
"You have to Claire. I'll be fine as long as I get the counteragent." He said showing her his tattoo.
"Darien you don't understand. They want me to make the gland over-produce quicksilver so they can collect it, and that's the last dose of counteragent. You will go into quicksilver madness and I won't be able to bring you back."
Darien looked at Williams.
"Let her make more counteragent. She won't do it otherwise."
"No Darien, no. Don't deal with him." sobbed Claire.
Darien made a brave move and walked to Claire, Williams' gun on him the whole time. He placed his hand on her cheek, using his thumb to wipe away tears.
"Claire, honey, I'll be fine. It takes a lot to kill me."
"Williams," Bobby spoke up, "the Keep will do it only if you also let her produce and administer more counteragent."
As if Bobby had said the magic words Darien was hit by the first convulsions of QSM. It dropped him to his knees, his hands grabbing at the back on his head.
"You have to give it to him, you have to! He'll die, please don't let him die." begged Claire.
"Here." Said Williams, holding the syringe out towards Bobby. Bobby carefully stepped forward as Darien yelled out in pain. Bobby took the syringe from Williams and removed the cover. He knelt next to Darien and pinned him down with his neck exposed. He gently but firmly injected to counteragent into the bulging vein in his neck.
Darien tensed and then collapsed as the counteragent took effect. Claire dropped to her knees next to him crying. She couldn't touch him because her hands were tied but she managed to bend over and place her face next to his.
"I love you Darien, I love you, I love you." She sobbed.
Darien turned towards her and wrapped his arms around her.
"I love you too Claire. We'll get through this." He whispered in her ear.
"Ok, that's enough." Said Williams jerking Claire up and propelled her out the door.
"Do whatever you they want you to." Darien yelled after her.
Bobby walked over and helped Darien up.
"You hurt her and I'll kill you before he gets a chance." Said Bobby gesturing towards Darien.
"You already killed me once Hobbes. Maybe you'll have more luck this time." He sneered. "Oh, and you might be interested in this." Added Williams as he gestured to guards in the hallway. The guards came in carrying a still unconscious Nina.
They dumped her on they floor in the same manner they had dropped Fawkes earlier and left.
"Have a good day gentlemen." Said Williams as he left the room.
Bobby dropped to Nina's side. He checked her pulse. It was strong, stronger than Darien's had been.
"Nina, Nina, can you hear me?" said Hobbes urgently.
Darien had joined Bobby next to Nina and helped moved her so she wasn't in a heap.
Nina jerked and moaned at their touch as she opened her eyes. She thrashed to get away from them.
"Nina, Nina, it's us, Darien and Bobby." Said Bobby soothingly.
"Claire, where's Claire?" she mumbled.
"Williams has her. What happened?"
"I…I don't know what happened. I was in the bathroom and when I went to tell Claire she was gone and then there were men in the living room. They already had Claire, I tried to get away, I tried." Reported Nina, who was still in shock. "Where are we?"
"At a Chrysalis compound, in New Mexico." Answered Bobby.
"Tell Claire what?" asked Darien.
"What's Chrysalis? Claire wouldn't tell me."
"Not nice people to start off with." Answered Bobby. "They're a group of genetically engineered bastards whose leader wants quicksilver."
Confusion registered on Nina's face.
"What's quicksilver?"
"I guess she'll find out eventually." Said Darien, shrugging.
Darien proceeded to stand up and give a quicksilver demonstration. Nina was silent in her awe.
"How in the world did you do that?"
"I have a biosynthetic gland micro-graphed to my cerebral cortex." Darien said, as if he explained it everyday.
"Wow. I'm working towards a Ph.D. in microbiology and genetics but I've never seen or even heard of anything like this." Said Nina.
"Yeah, that's one of draw backs of being the government's invisible man, no fan clubs."
"So what do these people want with Claire?"
"They want her to make my gland over-produce quicksilver so they can collect it. Problem is I'll go into permanent quicksilver madness if there's too much quicksilver in my bloodstream."
"Quicksilver madness?"
"Yeah, this little guy here," Darien said showing her his tattoo, "is a dermal indicator. As the quicksilver in my blood builds up it changes from green to red. When it's full red the quicksilver acts a stimulant becoming a neural disinhibitor, turning me into a raving lunatic, or at least that's what they tell me." Said Darien.
Nina looked thoughtful. "I can see how that would work. If the quicksilver acts as an agonist it would increase the excitatory post-synaptic potentials which would increase the release of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, and acetylcholine."
Darien and Bobby both awarded her with a blank stare, the same one they tended to give Claire after one of her explanations.
"You really are just like your sister, do you know that?" questioned Bobby.
Nina looked at him, a half smile on her face.
Claire was in a lab guarded by Stark's men. She had been told she had 24 hours to design a procedure to increase quicksilver production. She told Stark she would work on that only after she started a batch of counteragent. Stark had given her two hours to start the counteragent then she had to start on the quicksilver production or he promised to destroy the counteragent.
Claire was busy combining ingredients to formulate the counteragent. It was a good thing she knew how to do it by heart because her mind was else where. All she could think about was Darien, Bobby and Nina. She hadn't known they had taken Nina as well until she saw her being carried down the hall by guards as she was being taken away to the lab.
Claire set the tubes of counteragent mix into the centrifuge, closed the lid and turned it on. She walked over to a computer, which held all the data she had on the QS-9300 project. She had been informed of Williams little data retrieval mission. The thought of a double agent was sickening. Literally. She was just about to sit down when she was hit with a wave of nausea. She ran for the sink in the corner of the room.
'I thought it was supposed to be morning sickness.' She thought. She assumed she was pregnant, she never found out what the test had indicated, but she was pretty sure. She just hoped Nina wouldn't tell Darien because that was the last thing he needed on his mind right now.
Bobby, Nina, and Darien were sitting along the wall opposite the door when Darien remembered his unanswered question.
"Nina, earlier you said you were leaving the bathroom to tell Claire something. What were you going to tell her?"
Nina was unsure whether or not to tell him. First it was really Claire's place to do so, and second these Chrysalis people were holding them captive.
"Umm, well, yesterday morning Claire was sick. I happen to call, just to say hi, and she was a wreck because she had just found out about you and Bobby being taken hostage. I told her I was coming down and when I got there the next morning she vomited again. I was all set to put her into bed when she went to the kitchen and handed me a box. Surprised the hell out of me that's for sure."
"Box, what box?" asked Darien.
"Claire's…Claire's pregnant." Nina whispered.
Darien couldn't believe his ears. 'Pregnant? Really truly pregnant?' he thought.
"Are you sure?"
"Well the home tests are about 97.9% accurate."
"We have got to get her out of here Fawkes." Said Bobby.
Darien nodded.
Just then the door opened and Williams entered again.
"Well I see the doctor's lovely sister has awoken. Claire is requesting your help in the lab."
Nina looked at Bobby and Darien for reassurance and slowly got up. Williams gestured to a guard who escorted Nina down the hall.
"And as for you Agent Fawkes, Stark would like to make another withdrawal."
Darien looked at Williams darkly and stood up.
"Where's Claire?" he asked.
"She's in the lab, working away, and apparently from what I've heard, she's sick, threw-up in the sink."
Darien fought to keep his panic at bay. He was so worried about Claire and the baby. The baby. Images of Laria crossed his mind. Her tiny fingers and toes, her funeral, her gravestone. Darien blinked rapidly to clear his eyes of tears.
"Come on Agent Fawkes, time to die." Williams said with a sneer.
"Bobby, take care of Claire and… you know, if anything happens to me." Darien said nodding, not wanting Williams to know Claire's condition.
"Hey partner, you're not going anywhere. You will come back and take care of it yourself, don't worry." Said Bobby as Darien was led out of the room.
The Official was still receiving reports from Alex who was still watching the compound. He had been surprised to learn that Williams was working with Chrysalis. He must be slipping, he used to be able to spot a double agent a mile away. He knew that they had Hobbes and Fawkes, and that Martinez and Taylor were dead. He had called in any other agent that wasn't on a critical assignment. Most were flying in now. He hoped that with Monroe's intelligence reports they would be able to rescue Fawkes and Hobbes.
"Eberts! Try calling Claire again." He hadn't gotten an answer from her all morning. He was ready to send an agent to her house if she didn't answer this call.
Nina entered the lab to see Claire looking at a print out from the computer. Claire turned around at the sound of her footsteps.
"Oh God. Nina I am so sorry." Claire said shakily.
"Sorry for what? It's not your fault we're here." Said Nina trying to reassure her older sister.
Claire nodded as tears slipped down her cheeks. Nina embraced her.
"It's ok Claire, it's ok. Darien's strong. He has to be." She whispered.
"Nina was I…" asked Claire, her question fading.
"Yes, you're pregnant."
Fresh tears fell from Claire's eyes.
"Did you tell Darien?"
"Yes. I thought he should know." She said helplessly.
Claire nodded, hoping Darien wouldn't do anything crazy.
"I was… I was hoping you could help me. I'm still getting sick. Umm, how do I explain this?" Claire said, preparing an explanation for Nina.
"They told me." Said Nina.
"They?"
"Yeah, Darien and Bobby, the whole QS-9300 project thing. It's fascinating."
"Well fascinating as it may be it's going to be fatal for Darien if I can't produce enough counteragent. I can give Stark what he wants, but Darien's going to need counteragent almost every hour at the rate quicksilver will be produced."
Nina nodded. "What needs to be done?" she asked.
"Here, I wrote down the steps to making the counteragent. It's fairly simple but it need to be exact."
"Ok." Said Nina looking over the directions. It was a simple mixture of adrenergic neuronal blockers and stimulant inhibitors, plus a few other things she was less familiar with.
Bobby was alone again in the inescapable room. He was worried about Darien, and even more worried about Claire. Damn, she was pregnant again. He was happy but talk about bad timing. He hoped that this experience wasn't going to upset this pregnancy. There never had been a complete diagnosis to why Claire had gone into labor early with Laria.
He was pacing when the door flew open again and Fawkes was dumped on the floor.
"When he wakes tell him Stark's getting restless, Claire needs to work faster. He wants the quicksilver now." Commanded Williams as he left.
Bobby ignored him and went over to Darien who was starting to come to.
"Hey, Fawkesy, easy there buddy." Said Bobby helping him sit up. He caught a glance of the tattoo, it was almost full again, and he had received that shot of counteragent barely an hour ago.
"What are they doing to you?" asked Bobby.
"They kindly strap me down and withdraw the quicksilver from the gland the same way when you give blood. Hurts like hell, guess I keep passing out." Said Darien, rubbing the back of his head. As he brought his hands down he saw the tattoo.
"Hope Claire is working on the counteragent. Apparently this withdrawal process dumps a lot of quicksilver into my bloodstream."
Bobby nodded and helped Darien sit down against the wall.
When Eberts couldn't reach Claire at home, the Official sent two agents to her house. They reported back that the house was empty and that there was evidence that the door had been forced open and of a struggle in the living room. The Official called Alex and let her know that it was quite possible that Claire had been kidnapped also. Alex had told him that she hadn't seen any activity for a couple of hours. The Official told her that he would be there soon and to prepare the other agents for an offensive.
Back at the compound the door to Bobby and Darien's room opened and Nina was pushed inside by a guard. The guard stood inside the door ready to take Nina back to the lab.
"That guy, the one who came to Claire's house said you were going to need this." She said holding up a syringe of counteragent.
Darien's sigh of relief was audible.
"How's Claire?" Darien whispered to Nina who had kneeled in front of the pair.
"She's…she's ok." Answered Nina, removing the needle cover and reaching for Darien's arm. "I'll warn you I haven't had much practice at doing this on people." She said with a weak smile.
Darien gave his own weak smile back as she carefully inserted the needle in to his vein and injected the counteragent.
"Here Bobby." Said Nina discreetly slipping him a half dose of counteragent. "I'm making more. This was the extra from the first batch. I wasn't supposed to bring it, but I snuck it out anyways. You never know."
Bobby nodded and carefully concealed the syringe in his had. He had noticed earlier that Nina wasn't guarded closely. He figured she wasn't considered as big of a risk because she wasn't part of the Agency.
"Nina," said Bobby, "where does this hallway lead?" he asked in a whisper.
"Umm, I only know the way between here and the lab, go left out this door, down one level, third door to the right from the bottom of the stairs."
"Any exits that you've noticed?" asked Bobby; any information he could get on the building might prove to be helpful later.
"There are no windows and I haven't seen anything that looks like it goes outdoors. I think we might be underground."
Bobby considered this; it would make it harder to escape.
"Ok, umm, I don't want you to risk yourself in anyway, but any info on the building you can get will help." Said Bobby.
"Nina, give Claire a hug for me and tell her I'm alright." Said Darien, as the guard walked over, effectively ending their clandestine conversation.
The guard pulled Nina up and led her out of the room. When they were gone Bobby took the secreted counteragent and placed it in his jacket pocket. Darien sighed and then sniffed.
"You ok Fawkes?" asked Bobby.
Darien didn't answer him, he just let the tears run down his face in silent frustration.
"Hey, look at me." Commanded Bobby.
Darien looked up, roughly wiping tears from his eyes.
"She'll be fine. Claire is the strongest woman I know. You two have been through hell, I think she can handle a little kidnapping situation."
"Hobbes, I didn't even know she was pregnant. I should have noticed." Said Darien guiltily.
"Fawkes, she probably didn't know herself. Hey, we'll get out of here and you'll get to be the best father any kid's ever had." Bobby continued as Darien's crying intensified.
Claire had been working on the alteration for the gland for almost 13 hours. Her head hurt, her eyes hurt, her feet hurt, hell she just plain hurt. She had managed to convince Stark that it was pointless for him to try to withdraw large amounts of quicksilver from Darien before she administered the alteration so they had left him alone.
Nina was sleep at the other table in the lab, the massive supply of counteragent spread out in front of her. She had produced it non-stop for 10 hours, Claire hoped it would be enough to get Darien through this.
Claire looked at her computer monitor. She entered two more equations and hit enter. She had just created the program which could effectively end her husband's life. Claire sat back in her chair and looked at the screen, tears clouding her vision. What in the hell had she done? What if the counteragent wasn't enough? What if the procedure pushed his body into shock? What if. There were too many what ifs.
Claire moved away from the computer. They had been given food about six hours ago and at the time she hadn't been able to eat. Now she was starving. She picked up an apple and bit into it. She quietly ate the fruit, hoping her stomach wouldn't protest.
Alex and the other agents the Official had sent out to the compound had their attack planned. They weren't going to strike until false dawn, when they could see but they still had semi-darkness as cover.
Claire realized she too had fallen asleep when she was woken by Stark's entrance.
"Well, Ms. Rose, sleeping on the job are we?" he sneered.
Claire favored him with a disgusted stare and gestured to the computer.
"The program's there." She said, her voice filled with hate and anger.
"Ah, so it is. You four," Stark said pointing to his underlings, "go get our invisible man."
The perpetual 25 year olds nodded and took off down the hallway.
Nina had woken at Stark's entrance and listened to the conversation. She knew how dangerous this was going to be. She was scared for Darien, and for Claire. She knew how much they wanted this baby.
Bobby heard footsteps outside the door. He looked at Darien who had heard them also. The door opened and the men stepped inside. One pointed at Darien.
"You." He said.
"Only if Hobbes comes." Countered Darien.
"Just you." Stated the man again.
Darien shook his head.
"Look, I'm not going anywhere without Hobbes." Said Darien firmly.
The men conferred for a moment.
"Fine." Said the same one who spoke before.
Darien and Bobby stood up and the four men quickly surrounded the pair and escorted them down the hall. Bobby noticed every detail he could. They took the exact route Nina had described earlier. He agreed with her assumption that they were underground.
When they reached the lab they saw Claire preparing instruments on a tray and Nina sitting at a counter topped by cooler's full of counteragent.
"Claire!" gasped Darien as he entered. She turned around at his voice, the guilt and fear shown on her face. Darien walked to her and hugged her. She pressed herself into him, never wanting to let go.
"Darien I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." She whispered.
"Ok, that's enough." said Stark and pulled Darien away, sitting him on the all too familiar front facing chair.
Bobby had gone directly over to Nina, who looked scared but determined.
"Hey how are you holding up?" he asked, wrapping her in a hug also.
"I'm fine. I'm scared Bobby. He might not make it." She said tears collecting in her eyes.
"Ok, Ms. Rose, please begin." Said Stark.
Claire arranged a few more instruments and gestured to Nina, who removed herself from Bobby's embrace and came to Claire's side. Claire had started an IV line in Darien's arm.
"Ok, Nina, just like a said, we need to keep the counteragent injections coming as soon as the tattoo reaches seven segments, starting now." Said Claire, handing her the first syringe.
Nina injected the counteragent into the IV and watched the tattoo turn full green.
"Darien, sweetheart," Claire began, "I'm going to sedate you." She told him quietly. Darien nodded and felt the brief sting on his upper left arm. He drifted away, knowing Claire was close by.
Claire took a deep breath and directly injected the first solution she had prepared into the gland. She looked at Nina, who had turned pale, and then looked at Darien's tattoo and watched three segments turn red.
Bobby watched Claire inject Darien with assorted substances. He saw how her hands were shaking. He wanted to rescue them all but it was hard to do that when you had guards with automatic weapons at the ready. He looked around the room and realized Williams wasn't there.
Williams was locked in his own little windowless room. He had been afraid of this. It seemed as though he was starting to wear out his welcome with the Chrysalis leader.
Claire had completed phase I of the procedure, which caused the gland to start generating more quicksilver than usual. Most of this was going to be withdrawn through a shunt that she was preparing to insert into Darien's head, but because Darien's body had accepted the gland it had made direct vascular connections to it. A good portion of this mass produced quicksilver was going to be fed directly to his brain. Three segments more had turned red.
"Nina, get the next dose ready." Claire said.
Nina nodded and retrieved the next does from the cooler and filled the syringe.
As the seventh segment turned red she injected the counteragent. The segments slowly turned green again as the counteragent spread through Darien's body.
Claire gently made the incision that would allow the shunt to be inserted. She carefully placed the shunt into the opening and the quicksilver began to flow from it, turning it invisible. The first of the quicksilver landed on her hands, causing portions to vanish.
Claire looked at her hands as if they weren't hers. How could she do this to someone she loved? She shook the quicksilver off her hands and connected one of the liquid helium cooled containers to the shunt. They were cold enough that theoretically they wouldn't disappear also.
Bobby watched as the quicksilver flowed form his partner's head. He knew the pain this was causing Claire. He saw Nina check Darien's wrist once more. He saw six green segments. Nina moved towards the cooler but before she could reach it Bobby had retrieved the bottle for her. He handed it to her and she made eye contact, thanking him wordlessly.
Stark watched the women work on Agent Fawkes. He was finally getting his quicksilver. His thoughts were interrupted by a small cough from his lieutenant.
"What?" he questioned.
"Williams wants to see you sir."
"Williams? He's still alive?"
"Yes sir."
"Kill him." Stark said without emotion. Williams had served his purpose.
Claire changed the containers just as Nina injected the seventh dose. The tattoo was changing faster and faster. Claire looked at the counteragent supply. She just hoped that Stark would take these five containers like he wanted and that the reversal serum she had prepared worked.
Williams heard footsteps and saw his door open. They first thing he saw was a automatic weapon pointed directly at him.
"Shit." He said as the man holding the gun proceeded to pull the trigger.
Bobby heard the sound of gunfire and looked at Stark, who hadn't even flinched. Claire had heard it too, but kept herself focused. Nina jumped at the sound looking around panicked but Bobby calmly placed the next dose in her hand indicated Darien's tattoo.
Alex and the other agents were ready. They knew where they were going in, how they were going in and which guards were going to be killed when. Alex gave the signal and the raid began.
Stark heard the sound of running footsteps outside the lab and his lieutenant burst through the door.
"Sir, we're under attack." He announced.
Claire looked up and then back down at the unconscious Darien. Nina stood ready with the counteragent and Bobby looked honestly relieved for a moment.
"How many containers are full?" demanded Stark.
"Four." Claire said quietly.
"Damn! You," Stark said angrily, pointing to four guards, "grab the quicksilver. You, destroy those coolers and you two," he said addressing the others, "take care of them." He said gesturing to the occupants of the room.
Stark left and the one guard started to smash the coolers, the other two guards moved towards Claire and Nina. Bobby sprung away from the wall, knocking one guard down and pouncing on the other. The second guard threw Bobby off and grabbed Claire, tearing her away from Darien. Bobby reacted with more strength then he even realized and grabbed the guard who had Claire by the throat and ripped him off Claire, he then proceeded to smash his head against the wall, knocking him unconscious. The first guard had gotten up and was joined by the third one who had smashed the counteragent supply.
"Nina! Watch out!" shouted Claire. Nina turned in time to see a guard coming at her. She ducked and knocked his legs out. Those Kempo lessons she took last summer were finally coming in handy. Bobby had punched out the other and joined Nina in her assault of the one who attacked her.
"Nina, counteragent, he needs a shot." Gasped Claire, who gagged and ran to the sink and vomited again.
Nina shakily administered the counteragent she was holding, watching the tattoo, only six segments turned back to green. She waited, the one red on remained.
"Claire?" She whispered.
Claire looked at her sister questioningly from the sink.
"Claire, it didn't turn all green."
Bobby saw the panic flash across Claire's face as she walked back to Darien. Claire nodded and removed the last container. She carefully removed the still invisible shunt, she then began to stitch the small incision closed.
"Keep, his tattoo isn't changing back." Said Bobby.
"I know, I expected that. Using so much counteragent at once has produced an immunity. Don't worry the reversal serum will counteract the effect. Until then, see if there are any bottles left in that mess over there." Said Claire, indicating the remnants of the coolers.
Bobby and Nina carefully picked through the glass, looking for unbroken bottles. The found three and brought them back to Claire.
"These are the only ones Keep." Said Bobby, "Oh, and this half dose Nina smuggled out earlier." He said producing the syringe from his pocket.
Claire knew it wasn't enough. He was going to continue to need high doses of counteragent for at least the next five hours. The reversal serum would take effect in two but the quicksilver would take at least three more to purge his system. Claire carefully injected the reversal serum into the gland.
"Ok, Nina I want you to give him half a dose. We're going to have to keep at least four segments green. It's risky but we don't have enough counteragent to keep him at full green."
Nina nodded and began to ask a question when the door burst open. Bobby pushed her down and was prepared to attack when the intruder turned out to be Alex.
"Good Lord Monroe, you scared the hell out of us!" shouted Bobby.
"Yeah, well, almost every other door has harbored Chrysali. Just being careful. How is he?" she asked indicating Darien.
"Fairly stable right now. We need to get him out of here and back to the Agency, he's going to need counteragent." Explained Claire.
"I thought of that Claire." Said Alex as she produced three more doses.
"Oh thank God. That should get us back to the Agency safely." Said Claire relieved.
"Let's get out of here." Said Bobby.
Nina nodded and helped Claire up. Bobby and Alex draped a still unconscious Darien between them and maneuvered out of the lab.
"How do we go about getting out of here Alex?" asked Bobby.
"Down this hall, and up eight freakin' flights of stairs. You guys were really buried out here." She said.
"Williams is dead." Bobby informed Alex.
Alex nodded and continued heaving Darien down the hall.
When the group made it to the surface Darien had started to regain consciousness a bit.
"Nina, how's his tattoo?" asked Claire.
"Eight red." She reported.
"Ok, he needs a shot." Said Claire, preparing a dose.
Alex and Bobby carefully set him down and Claire injected the counteragent into Darien's arm. Four of the red segments turned green.
"That's going to have to do for now. We'll never make it back without him slipping into QSM." Claire said.
The others nodded. Darien began to mumble something.
"Darien, sweetheart, it's Claire. How do you feel?" asked Claire concerned.
"Are…are you alright?" he asked groggily.
"I'm fine, sweetie, I'm fine. So are Bobby and Alex."
Darien nodded and drifted off again.
Alex and Bobby picked him back up and started out of the complex. When they reached the exit Agency agents were loading Chrysalis agents into vans.
"Hey, a little help over here!" shouted Alex.
Two agents came running over and took over carrying Darien. Alex turned to Claire.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
Claire nodded and turned to Nina who was once again encased by Bobby's arms.
"Nina…Nina, I'm so sorry you were dragged into this." Claire said remorsefully.
"It's ok Claire. We're alive."
Claire nodded and watched as Darien was loaded into the waiting van that would take them back to the Agency.
Bobby and Nina walked towards the van and Alex placed a arm around Claire's shoulders and led her to the van too.
****
Darien had made is safely back to the Agency. He had just started to slip into QSM when they arrived. Luckily Claire had counteragent on hand in the lab and all was well.
It had been three days since their ordeal. They were back home, recuperating. Nina was flopped on the couch watching TV, Claire was asleep and Darien was in the nursery.
Baby. Another baby. It was all he could think about. The whole time he had been at Chrysalis that one thought kept his courage up. Darien replaced the white teddy bear on it's shelf and went into their bedroom where Claire was sleeping. He stood at the side of the bed and watched her breathing. She was beautiful, she was safe, she was pregnant. Darien's excitement threatened to bubble over except he didn't have the strength to celebrate. He sat down on the bed and laid out next to Claire. He gently, so as not to wake her, placed his hand on her abdomen. There was life in there. Their life. Part of himself and part of Claire. Darien was still fascinated with the idea. He was going to be a father again.