A dude named Robert Andersen once said, "In every marriage more than a week old, there are grounds for divorce. The trick is to find, and continue to find, grounds for marriage." Now, that's just lovely. Sometimes, I think, though, some people should just keep trying those reasons to get divorced.

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

"Hon, I'm home," Ray shouted into the house. He was a fairly muscular man, dressed in a blue construction t-shirt over a wife-beater and jeans. He set his lunch pail and hardhat down on the kitchen counter and searched for his wife. "Veri, where are you, hon?"

Ray began to walk through the house and came across Darien and Lillianne, who had just walked in, embracing in the living room. "What the hell?" he said angrily.

Darien looked over at the disgruntled man. He raised his eyebrow. Lillianne quickly drew away.

"Raymond," she said formally, "It's good to hear you."

"What the hell are you doing here?" he responded through his teeth.

"I'm just here to-"

"You're endangering all of us. Get out."

Lillianne frowned. "Hey , now," Darien interjected, "there's no need to be rude. We're just-"

"You selfish bitch," he sneered ignoring Darien. He walked up to Lillianne and slapped her, knocking her into a table and unconsciousness. A small drop of blood formed in the corner of her forehead and trickled down her cheek. "You have no right to bring trouble into this house. I agreed to take Violette in if you kept things safe! You're jeopardizing everyone!"

Darien clenched his fists and lunged at Ray, grabbing him by the collar and raising him into the air. Who was this guy? And what crawled up his butt and died? "You have no right to treat her that way. She only came to see her kid!"

"Well, she should have thought of Violette before coming here!" Ray shouted.

Claire and Veronique came in, followed by Bobby with Violette in his arms. Violette screamed and jumped out of Bobby's arms. She ran up to her mother who was struggling to get up.

"Maman, are you alright? You have a boo boo!" she said tearfully, hugging her mother's head.

Claire quickly ran to Lillianne's side and began to check her over. She glared at Raymond. She knew he obviously did it from the look on Darien's face.

"Put my 'uzsband down," Veri ordered. Darien lowered Ray to the ground, unhappily. Veri slapped her husband. "What were you zinking? She iz my sister!"

Ray rubbed his cheek and lowered his head. He couldn't even look his wife in the eye. Veri grabbed his ear and dragged him to the kitchen where she proceeded to chew her husband out some more.

Lillianne felt around her; she was completely disoriented. Violette sat on her lap, with tears in her eyes. Claire was bandaging her wound. Hobbes and Darien stood over her with looks of concern on their faces.

"Agent Hobbes, would mind taking Violette to her room? It's her nap time." She asked as though nothing had happened.

Hobbes nodded and picked Violette up off her lap. "Come on, kiddo," he said to Violette wiping her tears away. "Show Uncle Bobby where your room is."

Violette nodded and pointed out the direction. Lillianne held her hand out. Darien grabbed it and helped her up.

"Thank you very much, Claire. I feel much better," she said politely. "Darien, would you mind taking me to my room here? It's just up the stairs, first door on the right."

Darien led her up the stairs and into the room.

"There's blood on my shirt, isn't there?" Lillianne asked.

"Ya," Darien said in a monotone voice. He was still in shock of what had just happened. What had just happened?

"Shut the door and get me another shirt from the closet, would you?"

Darien did as he was told.

"Now turn around, would you? I need to change." Darien turned around, but found that there was a mirror there. He could still see Lillianne completely. She removed her shirt. Darien's eyes widened. His right arm quicksilvered.

"You know, he's right," Lillianne began.

"Huh?" Darien said, distracted by his sudden adrenalin surge.

"I am endangering everyone here…I just had to see Violette." Lillianne began to wipe the blood off her body with a handkerchief on her dresser.

Darien's abdomen quicksilvered. "Because of her birthday…" he said, desperately trying to look away from the mirror.

"It's not just that…I…I want to be honest with you, Darien," she paused.

Darien's left leg quicksilvered. "Huh?" he said again.

"I came because Violette's ill…She has tumor at the base of her brain."

"What?" His leg became visible again.

"That's why I've been doing my research. I needed to perform the surgery myself. I don't trust anyone else. I have the whole procedure mapped out…without it, Violette only has one more year to live. And even with the surgery, there's no guarantee that she'll full recover… That's why every birthday counts. I had to be here."

Darien turned around. Lillianne was still half naked with tears in her eyes. His leg requicksilvered. He took a deep breath and walked over to her and hugged her tightly. Then he leaned down and kissed her deeply. She could feel the cold on the surface of Darien's body, but felt a strange warmth all around her. She kissed back. They began to feel the moment and soon the both were covered with quicksilvered. Their clothing reappeared on the ground as they headed towards the bed. They lay down caught up in the moment. Lillianne cried and Darien could taste the tears on her face; cold, but not frozen in the quicksilver. They melted into each other finding comfort in each other's embrace. The world drifted away.

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

"Uncle Bobby?" Violette sniffled.

"Yes, kiddo?" Bobby said wiping the last of her tears away from her long lashes.

"Is Maman going to be okay?"

Hobbes smiled kindly and kissed her cheek. "Of course she is."

Violette sighed in relief and smiled. "Good."

Hobbes picked her up and put her in her bed. "It is time for you, my little friend, to go to bed."

"Okay," Violette agreed, reluctantly. "Um, Uncle Bobby?"

"Yes?"

"Would you tell me a story?" she asked meekly. "Maman always tells me a story."

Bobby smiled. "Sure, kid, what would you like to hear? I've got some great stories about secret agent Bobby Hobbes and the FBI."

"Um, could you read the story Maman sent to me in the mail?" Violette pointed over to her desk in the corner. "Auntie Veri hasn't read it to me yet."

Hobbes, a little disappointed in the choice of story, got up and picked a letter up off the desk. He opened it. "Your ma wrote this for you?" he said holding up the letter.

Violette nodded excitedly. "She always tells me stories made just for me." She grinned.

Hobbes looked over the letter and smiled. He cleared his throat and began.

"Once upon a time, there was a lovely kingdom in the middle of a golden country. It was ruled by a kind and gentle King who did nothing but look for ways to help his people. That king had a daughter who wanted to help the people as much as her father did. They were working on a project that would hopefully benefit all of mankind, and called upon all the greatest thinkers in the golden country to work for them. One man who came to the land was very smart and handsome. He quickly won the princess' heart. They married and the princess thought they would live happily ever after.

"However, the man was not what he seemed. It turned out that this man was actually a horrible ogre from the foreign country of the Swiss. He betrayed the princess and killed the king and stole the project, leaving the kingdom in ruin. He also took the princess' sight. When he left, the princess mourned her father, but found a new joy. She was blessed with a beautiful baby. Her child was the most beautiful every seen in any kingdom. Afraid that the evil ogre would return, the princess hid her daughter away, only letting the most trusted people see her.

"As the years past, the princess ran from place to place, hiding from the ogre. She never thought she'd be free, until she met two strangers. One was a great knight, strong and bold, though short in stature. The other was a great magician who could make things disappear. The magician fell in love with the princess. Unfortunately, the ogre found out and became mad with jealousy. He kidnapped the princess and tried to steal the magician's magic. The great knight came to their rescue and freed both of them. The magician made the ogre disappear forever. The princess was so happy. She was finally free. The princess returned to her daughter and lived happily ever after with the magician in a great kingdom of love and prosperity. The End."

Hobbes looked up from the letter at Violette. She was fast asleep. "Sleep tight, kid." He quietly got up and tucked her in. As Bobby shut the door of the room behind him, he thought of the story he read. The very thought of Arnaud now made him sick to the stomach.

I swear, Bobby thought, I'll keep you safe, kid. Don't worry. Bobby Hobbes in a man of his word.

Hobbes headed back to the living room where Claire, Veri, and Ray sat.

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

Darien stood in front of the mirror, a new man. He felt as though a great weight had been lifted off his chest. As he buttoned his shirt, he looked at Lillianne behind him, who was also dressing. She looked so beautiful and serene. He turned around and smiled at her. She could his warm gaze upon her; she smiled back.

"So," Darien started jokingly, "How does Arnaud rate?"

"I'd have to say that he receives a D-."

"He passes?"

"Well, he did help to create my daughter," she laughed.

Darien laughed, then grimaced. That wasn't as funny as he thought. Lillianne wasn't smiling either. Darien grabbed her hand and led her back down the stairs.

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

Ray and Veri stared at each other in silence. Claire looked at the both of them, trying to start some sort of dialog. Veri sighed heavily and shook her head.

" 'ow could you?" she began sadly, "You knew she might come 'ere to see Violette…She would not 'ave missed it."

Ray rubbed his hands all over his face. "I know, baby, I know…It's just that….she just sparks something inside me…I just can't help myself."

"Hitting her was completely uncalled for," Claire interjected. She had been silently stewing over what had happened, but had tried to keep her wits and logic about her. Ray looked down at his feet. She recomposed herself and started again.

"Now, I understand your position, Mr. Stanley," Claire said calmly. "However, as I explained earlier, we are here to protect you and your family. There's no need to worry."

"No need to worry?!" Ray exclaimed, agitated once again. "You've got to be kidding me! This guy who wants Lili is a terrorist, and obviously, he's smart and dangerous. Hell, you people haven't even managed to catch him! How can I not worry?!"

Just then, Hobbes entered. Ray had just stood up. It was obvious that this guy had a short fuse. Bobby didn't like the fact that he was yelling at Claire. He marched straight up to Ray and looked him straight in the eye.

"Listen, pal," he said sternly, "Dr. Keeply here's only trying to fix this mess you've created. Now, sit down and listen to reason." Bobby's eyes narrowed.

Ray threw his arms into the air and started to march out.

"Where are you going?" Veri asked concerned.

"Out!" Ray shouted back.

"Where?"

"None of your damn business!"

Hobbes didn't like this guy at all. He would be surprised if this guy was a wife beater. Veri looked overly concerned at her husband. Hobbes looked down at her.

"Don't worry, ma'am. I'll follow him. Make sure he doesn't get into trouble."

Hobbes headed out the door after Ray.

Darien and Lillianne came down the stairs to find Claire and Veri looking very distraught.

"Where're Hobbes and Ray?" Darien said looking at Claire and Veri. Claire just shook her head. "Aw, crap."