DS#10 Storms of Quicksilver (2/?)
By Carol M.
See prologue for details. Let the games begin…
"Nelson has been tried and convicted, sentenced to live out the rest of his days in prison," said the Official proudly the next morning. "Nice job, boys. Case closed," he said as he gazed at Darien and Bobby, who were sitting in chairs opposite his desk.
Darien stretched out his hand in Bobby's direction and the partners slapped hands. "Nice," whispered Darien.
"So what's next, chief?" asked Bobby curiously.
"Well, Monroe's working on a small time drug operation, but other than that, we have no cases pending. So as far as I can tell, you two are on vacation," said the Official.
Darien's mouth dropped to the floor. "Vacation?" He glanced at Bobby in confusion. "Did he just say vacation?"
Bobby nodded happily. "Vacation," he confirmed.
Darien glanced back at the Official. "Can we get that in writing?"
The Official was about to respond when a sudden knock on the door interrupted him. "Come in," he said loudly.
Eberts stepped through the door, accompanied by a nervous looking young man dressed in a preppy white shirt and crisp khakis. "Sir, this is Tom Wellborn. He said it was urgent that he talk with you."
Darien and Bobby exchanged curious glances.
"Mr. Wellborn, have a seat," said the Official.
"Thank you, sir," said Tom as he took the empty chair next to Bobby.
"What's this about?" asked the Official.
Tom took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "What I'm doing could possibly jeopardize my career, but I thought this Agency had a right to know."
"Know what?" asked Darien curiously.
"I'm an employee at Fairbridge Psychiatric Hospital in Oaks Crossing," started Tom.
Darien's mind suddenly flashed. "Fairbridge? Wait a minute, isn't that where they stuck Sullivan?" he asked, his stomach doing flip-flops.
"Yes, Jason Sullivan. That's why I'm here actually. He…um…he escaped from the hospital three weeks ago," said Tom.
Darien audibly gasped and squeezed his eyes shut, willing the burrito he had eaten for breakfast to stay down.
"What do you mean, escaped?" asked Bobby urgently.
"He faked a seizure and then got a hold of one of the guards guns. He killed six people before he made it out of the building," said Tom.
"Why weren't we told about this?" asked the Official furiously.
"The reputation of the hospital," stated Tom "I'm sure you've all heard about the number of guards and doctors Sullivan has murdered through out the years. The government has threatened on more than one occasion to shut down the hospital," said Tom. "Plus there was the actual nature of the escape," he added.
"What do you mean?" asked the Official.
Tom threw up his hands. "We're not really sure how it happened or why it happened, but Mr. Sullivan's quicksilver is capable of turning him completely invisible for about a minute after certain instances of access quicksilver use."
"That's kind of the point there, my friend," said Bobby.
"When I say invisible, I mean completely invisible. Meaning no thermal goggles can detect him. Something about the thickness or its ability to adapt to room temperature…I don't know, we never really figured it out," said Tom.
"So he could be here right now?" said Darien in a slightly quivering tone as he quicksilvered his eyes and glanced around the room, not spotting anything.
"No," said Tom in a distracted tone as he watched Darien's eyes disappear momentarily. "We've seen it happen twice, both times after he's been heavily quicksilvered for about approximately four weeks. There's no way he could retain the thermal invisibility long enough to get up to this office from the ground floor," answered Tom.
Darien didn't look too comforted. In fact, he looked even more freaked out than before.
"Back to my original question, why the hell weren't we informed about this?" asked the Official, his face red with anger.
"Once Sullivan escaped, there wasn't much anyone could do about it, so they figured they would just let it slide. I wanted to report it, but my superiors threatened me," said Tom.
"So why are you here now?" asked Darien.
"I couldn't live with myself. If I could have done something to save someone's life and I didn't then what good a doctor would I be? They trashed all the files on Sullivan almost immediately, but I was able to backlog on the cached storage buffer to pull up bits of his file. I found your names a few days ago and got here as soon as I could," said Tom.
"I appreciate what you did, Mr. Wellborn," said the Official. "Believe me, we will look into this matter and trust me when I say you don't have to worry about threats to your career. The president is going to hear about you, son."
"Thank you, sir. I'll see myself out," said Tom as he stood up. He nodded at Eberts, who was hovering in the back of the room, as he walked out the door.
"So let me get this straight, Sullivan's back," breathed Darien. "What do we do?" he asked in a panic, his breath coming in short gasps.
"First thing you got to do is ease down, man. Just relax, we're going to get through this," said Bobby as he put a comforting hand on Darien's shoulder.
"Maybe he won't even come after you," offered Eberts from the back.
"Shut up, Eberts," said Darien in irritation. He leaned down with his face in his hands and then quickly shot up, "Oh god, Katie. Katie, Claire, I have to get them," he said as he stood up too quickly. He started to sway on his feet and would have fallen flat on his face if Bobby hadn't have grabbed hold of him and forced him back down in the chair.
"Easy, just slow down," said Bobby. "Lean down and take some deep breaths," he said as he noticed Darien's face turning a ghostly shade of white.
Darien complied and put his head between his legs, breathing slowly and deeply. Bobby rubbed his back and murmured words of encouragement.
"You two ever been to Pine's Peak?" asked the Official.
Darien leaned back up, his face still too pale. "Pine's Peak? It's in the Sierras, isn't it?"
The Official nodded. "The Agency has a cabin out there. It's out in the middle of nowhere with one road and nothing but forest for fifty miles. If you want to hide out, it's yours," said the Official.
"I don't know, sir. What if Sullivan has this place bugged or something? What if he knows what we're up to?" asked Darien as he looked around the room nervously.
The Official shook his head. "No, no that's impossible. Eberts."
Eberts stepped next to the Official desk. "Ever since Mr. Sullivan broke in, I have conducted daily bug checks in this Agency. We also had cameras installed equipped with thermal sensors. Since Mr. Sullivan is not capable of masking himself for longer than a minute, there's no way he's been in this building without us knowing about it," he answered.
"See partner. You've got nothing to worry about," said Bobby sympathetically. "What do you say we get Katie and the Keep and go on a little sabbatical for a few weeks until Sullivan's caught."
Darien shook his head in protest. "Hobbes, man, I don't want you in danger. This is my battle, not yours. If he's gonna come after me and find us…"
"Don't even say it, Fawkes," interrupted Bobby. "You're my best friend and my partner, okay. Besides, your family is my family, bro. I love Katie just as much as you do. Same thing goes for Claire," he said. "We can help protect each other. All of us. With any luck, Sullivan will go nutso on someone and get caught before he even has a chance to take revenge."
"I don't think we're that lucky, my friend," said Darien.
Bobby stood up and pulled at Darien's arm. "Come on, let's go get the ladies and get out of here."
Darien reluctantly stood up and gave the Official a frightened stare. "Wish us luck," he said as he headed for the door.
"Fawkes, I'm putting every available agent on this case. We'll find Sullivan, don't worry about a thing. Just take care of your family," said the Official firmly.
Darien nodded. "Thank you, sir," he said. He glanced at Bobby. "Let's go," he said as he walked out the door.
Bobby gave the Official a look of reassurance and then followed his partner out the door.
**
"We have to get to Katie," said Darien urgently as he, Bobby and Claire finished loading the rest of their luggage into Claire's SUV.
Darien and Bobby had found Claire immediately after leaving the Official's office and informed her of Jason's escape. Needless to say, she had been absolutely terrified. They had all quickly collected some counteragent and medical supplies from the Keep and then gone home to collect some personal items, all in record time.
Darien was paranoid as hell. He continuously quicksilvered his eyes, searching for the invisible form of Jason Sullivan, but so far had been greeted with nothing but the dull, black and white spectrum of his own quicksilver vision.
"Okay, we're set," said Bobby a couple of seconds later as he closed the back of Claire's SUV. "Wanna drive, partner?" he asked as he gave Darien a small grin.
Darien shook his head. "Naw," he said quietly as he got into the back seat of the vehicle.
Bobby shrugged and got in the driver's seat, leaving Claire to ride shot gun. Bobby quickly started the car and tore off eagerly down the street.
The five minute drive to Katie's school was filled with a strange kind of silence as Bobby sped down the road. Darien was staring out the window at the scenery, but his eyes weren't seeing any of it. Claire had her own eyes squeezed shut, trying to escape any way she could from their current situation. Bobby was deceptively calm on the outside, but on the inside he was just as worried as the rest of them.
After what seemed like an eternity, but in reality was only three minutes, they arrived at Stewart Elementary.
"I'll get her," said Darien quickly as he got out of the car before Bobby even had it in park. Darien dashed through the front door of the building, colliding head on with a slightly obese older woman. "I'm sorry," he said apologetically.
"What's the rush, sir?" asked the woman curiously.
"I need to find my daughter," answered Darien as he started down a long corridor filled with classrooms.
The woman ran to catch up. "What's her name? I'm a teacher's aid. I might be able to help you."
"Katie. Katie Fawkes. I'm her dad, Darien Fawkes," said Darien hopefully.
The woman smiled. "Allison Wiles, nice to meet you Mr. Fawkes. Katie's one of our best students and such a nice little girl. I believe she's in Ms. Elwood's class," she said as she glanced down at her watch. "They should be out at recess right about now. Follow me," she said as she led him towards an exit door in the opposite direction he had been running.
Darien turned around and followed her, nonchalantly quicksilvering his eyes as they walked down the hallway. They reached the door and walked through it, revealing a playground filled with children swinging, sliding and climbing. Darien immediately spotted Katie on a swing set. "Thanks a lot, ma'am," he said to Allison as he ran to over to Katie.
Katie looked up in surprise and excitement as she saw Darien approaching her. "Daddy, what are you doing here?" she asked as she slowed her swing down.
Darien lifted her off the swing into his arms. "We've gotta go, shorty."
"What? Where are we going?" she asked as he carried her off the playground.
"A little vacation, Kates," said Darien as he walked around the side of the school towards the parking lot.
"What about my backpack?" asked Katie as she stared back at the schoolhouse.
"No time. Your mommy and I already packed you some stuff," said Darien as he once again quicksilvered his eyes.
Katie noticed immediately. "Why are you doing that scary trick with your eyes, daddy?" she asked, her voice sounding nervous and afraid.
"I'm just checking something out, nothing to worry about," he said as he dashed up to the waiting SUV and opened the back door.
"Mommy! Uncle Bobby!" said Katie excitedly as she spotted the car's passengers. As soon as Darien put her in the SUV, she crawled up to the front and gave Claire a kiss on the cheek. Then she wrapped her arms around Bobby's neck.
"How's it going, kiddo?" asked Bobby as he kissed the top of Katie's head.
"Hobbes, let's get out of here, man," said Darien impatiently as he once again scanned the area with quicksilverd eyes.
Bobby nodded and gave Katie a pat on the back. "Sit in the back with your pa, Katesy."
Katie complied and sat down next to Darien, leaning against his shoulder. Darien buckled her seatbelt and then secured his own as well.
"Where are we going?" asked Katie as Bobby tore out of the parking lot and headed for the highway.
"We've rented a little cabin in the mountains, sweetie," answered Claire. "The weather report said it should be very cold the next couple of days. You might even get to see snow," she continued, trying to sound as casual and nonchalant as possible to avoid scaring Katie.
"Cool," said Katie in awe. She tapped Darien on the leg. "Daddy, will you show me how to ski?"
"We'll see, honey," he said as he gave Claire a hopeless glance. "Hey, Kates, what do you say we all play the silent game for awhile. Whoever wins gets a cool prize."
Katie nodded, looking somewhat hurt. "Okay," she said softly.
Darien shook his head with regret and then put his fingers under her chin, lifting it up so she was looking him in the eyes. "Hey shorty, I bet I can beat you," he said with a forced smile.
Katie's face perked up. She zipped her mouth shut with her finger and shook her head.
Darien mimicked the motion and then settled back against the seat, trying to stretch out his legs for the four hour journey that loomed ahead.
**
Five and a half hours and a several wrong turns later, they were finally pulling up to the cabin.
"Clearly Eberts need some lessons on how to give proper directions," said Bobby with irritation as he slowed to a stop and put the SUV in park.
"Either that or you could use some lessons on how to follow directions, take your pick," said Darien sarcastically as he out of the car and stretched his arms and legs.
Bobby glared at Darien, but let the comment slide. He followed Darien out of the SUV along with Katie and Claire.
"Wow, it really is beautiful, isn't it?" said Claire as she took in the small log cabin standing before them. The cabin was surrounded by thick pine trees on the sides and a huge icy lake peaked out from the back. In the distance loomed several large mountains, all snowcapped and covered in trees at the bottoms.
Darien took in the scenery and breathed in the fresh air, glancing at the lake. "Ice fishing, anyone?" he said as neared the front door of the cabin. Bobby followed behind him and Katie and Claire tagged behind, still checking out the scenery.
Darien took out the key the Official had given him and put it in the lock, opening the door slowly. He was half-way through the door when something solid and metal connected harshly with his ribs. He gasped in pain and surprise and fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. "Hobbes," he croaked out as he quicksilvered his eyes and spotted a purple silhouette hovering over him. "It's Sullivan," he breathed in a panic.
Bobby pushed Claire and Katie back and then busted through the door with his gun drawn and cocked. "Fawkes, where is he?"
Darien pointed towards to the right as the figure ran towards a corner by the door. "He's right there in the corner, I can see him, I can see him," he said in a panic as he started to sit up.
Bobby aimed his gun at the corner, his finger poised on the trigger. "Freeze, psycho!" he yelled.
"Don't shoot, friend," came a slightly frightened voice from the direction of the corner
"Drop the see-through juice now!" yelled Bobby, moving closer to the corner.
"Right," came the voice as a stream of sparkling quicksilver cascaded off the slender body of none other than Arnaud De Phon. He put his hands in the air and then glanced down at Darien, giving him a pleasant smile. "Hello, Fawkes."
Darien stared with disbelief from Arnaud to Bobby. "Aw crap," he said as he sank back to the floor, holding his aching ribs.
TBC