DS #10 Storms of Quicksilver (6/?)
By Carol M.
See prologue for details
Note: Several ramblings actually. First, the Vinny note. I don't know about you, but I took it as a very good sign. Me thinks Vinny might know something that we don't. I just found it interesting that the star of the show was still encouraging us, despite the pilot he shot for ABC. Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but for this late in the game I seriously doubt it. Something is up. Or maybe I'm just a fool (which is entirely possible.) Second, all the stuff that's been going between VS3 and the fan fic list. I say, let's just continue to write, no matter in what form. We're all friends here and I'd hate to see something like this come between us. And P.S., Alyx, if you don't post part 9 of Divided Loyalties soon, I'm going to send Jason Sullivan after you! Last but not least, I graduate from college tomorrow and spent the whole day cleaning up and packing my crap (and there was a lot of crap!) So right now, I'm tired, my back hurts and I have to get up early and strut my stuff on stage in front of thousands of people (ahhhhhh!). So to take my mind off all the madness of late, I watched MFN and then finished up this part. And it helped. I think that's what it all comes down to. For me, I-man was always about escape. No matter what happened, it was always there for me and it still is. This is supposed to be fun and great and all that stuff. I think at the end of the day that's all the matters. We all love the show and we always will. No one can ever take that away from us, no matter what happens. Okay, wow, I've gotten deep on this Friday evening. I'll shut up now so you can get on to the Darien torture (eg!) Enjoy!
Darien fought himself awake and when he finally opened his eyes, he really wished he hadn't. He was lying on his stomach on the floor of Jason's cabin, his hands secured with handcuffs behind his back. To his left, sat his daughter, still gagged and tied to the chair. When she saw that he was awake, she immediately tried to speak.
"Daddy," she said in a muffled voice that was hard to understand.
"Swe…" Darien tried to talk, but all that would come out was a scatchy whisper. That was when he noticed the ache in his throat and the wetness that had soaked the collar of his shirt. He looked down and saw that the top of his shirt was dripped with dots of blood.
"Hurts, doesn't it, Fawkes," came a voice out of thin air. Darien quicksilvered his eyes and saw the blue sparkling form of Jason standing over him.
"Let her go," said Darien, putting as much menace into the shallow whisper as possible.
Jason responded by kicking Darien in the side, forcing him over onto his back. "I'm sorry, what was that?"
Darien gritted his teeth against the pain. "Let her go," he breathed.
Jason unquicksilvered his lips for a moment and curled them into a smile. "I don't think so," he said as they disappeared once again.
Darien sighed. "Look, would just pick a side. Either you're invisible or your not," he whispered sarcastically.
"What do you care?" asked Jason as he stomped his foot down on Darien's chest.
"Daddy," shrieked Katie from her chair.
"Shut up," said Jason as he stepped over to her and whacked her upside the head.
"You son of a bitch," croaked Darien as he quicksilvered the rest of his body and picked himself off the ground. He threw himself at Jason, causing them both to crash harshly against the floor.
"Daddy," whispered Katie as she thumbed for the razor in her pajamas. She got a firm hold on it and worked it out of her pants, bringing it up flush against the ropes. She slowly started to saw her way through the ropes.
Meanwhile, Jason had gained the upper hand on Darien. He pushed the weaker man off of him and started to pummel him with his foot, kicking him repeatedly in the stomach, groin and back. Darien flipped himself to try and get away, but it was useless with his hands secured behind his back.
"I'm gonna kill you, you bastard. And then I'm gonna kill your whole family!" yelled Jason as he kicked Darien in the throat.
Darien groaned and fought to remain conscious as waves of intense white-hot pain lanced through his throat into his chest. He started to pull at the handcuffs, hoping to freeze them off his hands, but they wouldn't budge. He began kicking out at Jason, placing a particularly powerful blow to Jason's groin.
Jason howled and backed away for a moment, giving Darien time to use the quicksilver to slip his hands out of the cuffs.
This time as Jason dived towards him, Darien was ready. He put his hands out and captured Jason's neck in a chokehold, trying to knock him out.
Jason was too quick for him, however, and kicked at Darien's knee, forcing Darien to let go of his neck. Jason then pushed Darien against the wall and began pummeling him with his fists without giving Darien a chance to recover.
In the chair, Katie had almost gotten herself loose from the ropes. She could hear the struggle the men were having but couldn't actually see it. Just a few more seconds and she would be loose.
"I hate you!" screamed Jason as he put Darien in a chokehold of his own.
Darien wheezed, unable to get any air into his lungs, his body weak and aching. "Screw you," he coughed as he whacked Jason in the kidneys with his fist. Jason went down for a moment and Darien looked to his side and saw Katie free from the chair. Darien reached out to her and spread quicksilver over her body. "Run!" he choked out just as Jason surprised him with a series of punches that nearly succeeded in breaking his jaw.
"Don't hurt my daddy!" yelled Katie as she scooted behind Jason and stabbed her razor into his back.
Jason turned around in a fury and tried to go after her, but Katie began running around in circles, the sparkling red glow of her own quicksilver coating making it hard for Jason to see her.
Darien, however, could see them both and nearly had a heart attack when he saw Katie trip and fall to the ground. Jason was right behind her and about to clobber her with his fists. Pure adrenaline took over and Darien was off his feet. He dived with enough force into Jason to smash them both through a large window behind them. They both landed harshly on the cold ground outside surrounded by glass and Darien's quicksilver, which hadn't survived the fall.
Darien had taken the brunt of the damage and was covered in bloody cuts and harsh scrapes. He had also managed to break several bones in the fall. Coupled with his injuries from before, Darien was done for and Jason quickly realized it.
"Looks like I won, Fawkes," said Jason, standing over Darien's panting and moaning form.
Darien tried to lunge up at Jason, but he lacked the strength to move.
Jason kneeled down next to Darien and unquicksilvered his eyes, staring Darien in the face. "What do you say I leave you here while I go kill you're wife, you're partner and that Swiss bastard. Let you lay here and wonder what I'm doing to them. Then I'll come back here and do you and the kid. Sound like a plan?" asked Jason as he placed a hard kick to Darien' ribs.
Darien coughed blood and moaned. "No," he groaned out.
"Too bad," said Jason as his eyes disappeared. "I'll be back soon. Don't stay out here too long, you'll freeze to death," he cackled as he quickly ran away.
"Daddy," Darien heard Katie shout from inside the cabin.
Darien tried to get his voice to work, but his throat refused to cooperate. As it turned out, he didn't need to shout to her because she was at his side seconds later. "Daddy, are you okay?" she asked fearfully as tears starting flowing down her cheeks.
"Kates," croaked Darien.
"You have to get inside, it's too cold out here," said Katie as she picked up Darien's leg to try and move him.
Darien firmly shook his head. "Can't," he choked out.
"I'm going to find mommy and Uncle Bobby then," said Katie.
"No, no, the bad guy is after them too," Darien managed to whisper.
"Maybe I can beat him there. I know how to get back. I remember the way from when he took me," said Katie.
"Katie no, you can't, it's too dangerous," moaned Darien as he struggled to move once again, but his body still wasn't having it.
"I'm going anyway," said Katie firmly as she ran back inside the cabin. She returned several seconds later with a blanket. "It'll keep you warm," she said as she draped it over him.
"Kates, please don't leave," cried Darien, fighting tears of pain and fear.
"I have to, daddy. There's no one else to help you," she said as she leaned down and placed a big kiss against Darien's bloody cheek. "I'll be back soon," she said as she started to run towards the forest.
"Katie," croaked Darien after her, but it was no use, she was already gone. He was about to lay his back against the ground and try to regain the strength to move when a sudden sharp lancing pain tore through the back of his neck. "Aw crap," he muttered as the pain ripped through his body. He started to pant and nearly passed out from the effort of fighting off the madness. When the wave passed, Darien held up his wrist and silently cursed. Three segments red, seven segments green. Darien let out a hoarse sob and then fell back against the ground, shivering with pain, cold, and nail biting fear.
**
"I'm taking you back," said Bobby firmly as he noticed Claire's own shivering form.
Claire firmly shook her head. "No Bobby, no way. I'm not leaving Darien and Katie out there by themselves."
"Keep, I know what you're trying to do here, but you're being stupid," said Bobby in a gentle tone. "I can find them and I'll bring them back on my own. It's going to get dark soon, not to mention the fact that it looks like it's going to snow any second."
"Bobby," countered Claire.
"Excuse me, may I say something here?" interrupted Arnaud.
Bobby eyed him in irritation. "No."
"Well too bad, I'm going to say it anyway. Sullivan is after all of us, not just Fawkes and the girl. That includes you and the good doctor. Once he finishes up with Fawkes, he'll come after us. " said Arnaud.
"What makes you so sure?" said Bobby.
"Wouldn't you if you were him?" asked Arnaud.
"Bobby, I hate to say this, but I think he's right," said Claire.
"So what are you suggesting here?" asked Bobby.
"We go back to the cabin and set a trap for the crazy bastard," answered Arnaud.
"Just leave Fawkes and Katie out to dry, is that what you're saying?" asked Bobby incredulously. "I won't do that. I refuse to do that. I'd rather die trying to find them then live and know that I could've helped them and didn't."
Arnaud shrugged. "Fine, have it your way. The doctor and I will go back to the cabin and you can keep looking."
"No," said Claire firmly. "We have to stick together and find them."
"We've been searching for hours and turned up nothing," said Arnaud. "We would have found them by now if they were still alive."
"Shut up," said Bobby as he jerked Arnaud to the ground.
Seconds later, a voice sounded from out in the distance. "Mommy?"
"Katie?" called Claire in surprise.
"Where are you kid?" asked Bobby.
"Over here," yelled Katie.
"Stay where you are, we'll come get you," said Bobby as he jerked Arnaud to his feet and quickly followed Claire in the direction Katie's voice had come from. A few trees and whole lot of scrubs later, they located her. She was sitting on a tree stump rubbing her feet, which were bloody from running through the woods barefoot.
"Katie!" shouted Claire as she ran to her and picked her up in her arms, cuddling her against her face. She broke out into tears and started running her hands through Katie's hair. "Are you all right, sweetheart? What happened to your feet?" she asked with concern as she saw Katie's bloody soles.
"I was running through the forest," said Katie. "Daddy needs you."
"Wait, you're dad found you?" asked Bobby.
"Yeah, yeah, at the cabin with the scary silver guy. He hurt daddy and left us there. He's after you now," answered Katie.
At that statement, Arnaud instantly quicksilvered his eyes, looking for any signs of Jason. When he didn't see any, he breathed a sigh of relief and dropped it.
"Where's your daddy now, kid?" asked Bobby urgently.
"Still at the cabin," answered Katie.
"How far is it?" asked Claire.
Katie shrugged. "I don't know. A while I guess. I can show you."
Bobby nodded. "Let's go," he said as he started dragging Arnaud in the direction Katie had come from.
"Katie, was your daddy invisible?" asked Claire as she carried Katie through the woods.
"Yeah, for awhile," said Katie.
"He might be going into the madness," said Claire. "I don't have any counteragent on me. Bloody hell, I didn't even think," she said in frustration.
"Fortunately, I did," said Arnaud as he took his free hand and stuck it in his pocket, pulling out a small black case. He opened it up and revealed two vials of chemicals, one light blue and one black,
along with a syringe. "I always like to be prepared," he said as he shoved the stuff back into his pocket.
"Thank goodness," she said as she started walking deeper into the woods. Bobby and Arnaud followed behind, Bobby with his thermal goggles and Arnaud with his eyes quicksilvered.
**
"Son of a bitch!" yelled Jason as he stormed into the Agency cabin and found it empty. He started throwing everything around, tearing everything to shreds. To the casual observer, it would look like the cabin was destroying itself. But Jason wasn't done with his destruction. He took a deep breath and headed out of the cabin, taking in a deep breath of the cold mountain air. "Time to finish this, Fawkesy," he said out loud as he started to sprint back towards his own cabin.
**
Meanwhile, Alex and Eberts were about an hour away from the Agency cabin. Alex, who had been driving the hummer, was trying to keep up with all the twists and turns in the road.
"Eberts are you sure we're going the right way?" asked Alex.
Eberts looked at the Agency map and nodded. "According to this map, Ms. Monroe, we stay on this road for another fifty miles and then we should run straight into the cabin." Eberts rooted around in a bag and located a stash of candy bars. "Milky Way?" he offered.
Alex glanced at the candy and shrugged. "Sure, why the hell not," she said as she continued to steer the Hummer down the road. She snuck a glance at the bag Eberts had taken the candy bar from and raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Eberts, why do you have twenty candy bars?"
"Energy, why else? We might have to do some hiking, and I want to be prepared," answered Eberts.
"Did you read that in the field agents handbook?" said Alex under her breath.
"What was that?" asked Eberts.
"Nothing," said Alex as she continued down the road.
**
"Oh god," groaned Darien as another excruciating slice of pain tore through the back of his neck. His monitor was at nine segments red, one segment green and he expected to hit madness within minutes. He clawed at the back of his neck, trying to tear the gland out of his head, but it was no use. He was dangerously close to passing out, but the intense pain coursing throughout his whole body didn't give him that luxury.
"Please, please let them all be okay," whispered Darien as he felt the madness slowly seep into his brain. One last burst of agony tore through his head, and then suddenly, he was insane and free from all the pain. And then, he realized how he could beat Jason Sullivan once and for all.
TBC