* * *
December Continued
One minute Alyx was enjoying the fact she was no longer being tickled by Kirkland and trying to figure out how to derail him off his current track before she unavoidably freaked completely when the door to the apartment was smashed in. Four black suited agents along with her partners swept into the room and towards them. She wasn't overly surprised she hadn't sensed them coming, she'd been more than distracted enough to miss the subtle warnings of familiar minds being nearby.
Geofferies slipped off her and stood in a gallant effort to protect her, a failing effort as he was swiftly shoved to the floor with the weight of one of the larger agents pressed firmly into his back. Alyx got the same treatment, though a bit gentler. Good idea as she knew where Montague worked and could flatten him with a thought, and he knew it.
She played along perfectly. Crying out in pain and fear, asking what was going on, pleading for them to stop. The whole nine yards. The rage and fear running through Geofferies was astonishing as was his commentary about their various animal related lineage's and his demands that she be left out of it. It was just another reminder of how carefully she would need to tread when this came to a head. Geofferies was going to be hurt one way or another.
Hobbes was patting down Geofferies when he barked, "Deal with the chick, Fawkes."
"Yeah. Sounds like a good idea to me." Darien's voice was a low growl that forced her to pay attention to him. She watched him storm over to her, his look dark as she slowly got to her feet. She yelped in surprise when he grabbed her free hand, the other busy trying to keep her shirt shut, and forced her out of the living room. He didn't stop until he had slammed her into the wall near the kitchen.
"Well, you been enjoying yourself ... Maddy?" he snarled in her ear, his hand coming up and twisting the collar of her shirt until he was applying pressure on her throat. Her hands came up to rest on his, hoping her touch would be enough to calm him down a bit, without success. If anything his anger cranked up a notch and he drew her back and shoved her into the wall again hard enough to make her see stars.
"Agent Fawkes..." one of the other agents spoke up, trying to intervene on her behalf, only to be shut down by a glare from Darien.
"I will deal with her." Darien focused back on Alyx. "Won't I?"
Alyx's heart had lodged firmly in her throat. She had heard "you" instead of "her" and that phrase was burned into her mind from countless previous experiences and the voice ... The voice was one she'd hoped to never hear again in her lifetime.
She blinked hoping the sight before her would change, but it failed to. Darien was gone, to be replaced with ... She tried to convince herself it wasn't true, that it was impossible, but the image she saw didn't change. He was suddenly holding her pinned to the wall. The same pale blue eyes, the same perfect blonde hair, the same cold hatred and disgust on that, oh so, perfect face. His lips curled into a sneer and panic crawled through her, leaving her unable to react beyond staring at him wide-eyed and shaking in terror.
Hobbes caught the nasty tone in Fawkes' voice and shoved Geofferies towards Harmon. "Get him downstairs, nice and quiet. Get him back to the Agency and put im on ice. Got it?"
"Yes, sir." Harmon answered and moments later he and his partner were out of the apartment leaving Hobbes and two other agents to deal with Maddy.' He was staring at Fawkes and the kid, trying to figure out what was bugging him about the picture, aside from the fact that Fawkes hadn't backed down even though Geofferies was out of sight. "Fawkes?"
Alyx whimpered then and Hobbes realized what was so odd, she was, for lack of a better term, sweating quicksilver. Instead of coating her like it was supposed to, it was simply running down her face and neck in rivulets to drip off onto the wood floor where they finally shattered, crystallizing and scattering like fine dust.
The kid must be freaking over something and unconsciously trying to go see-thru out of fear he concluded. He wasn't quite sure why she wasn't just disappearing, though he figured it was simply because she and Fawkes were wired different. Where sometimes Fawkes couldn't prevent himself disappearing, the kid had to actually make it happen, or something like that. Hobbes wasn't really up on the technical aspects of the pair; that was Claire's job.
Hobbes cautiously walked over to the couple, hoping to draw Fawkes' attention away from her. He had a nasty habit of taking his bad moods out on her lately. "Fawkes, back off." He set a hand on Fawkes' forearm and found him warm to the touch making it a good bet Fawkes was in Stage One already. "Damn it!" He physically removed Fawkes' hand from where it was still twisting her shirt and nearly choking her.
"Back off, little man." Darien snapped yanking his arm away and backing off a step. "I'll handle the little sl..."
"Shut up, Fawkes!" Hobbes ordered shoving Fawkes away from the kid and making him stumble. He instinctively reached for his gun, but managed to not draw it, though he left his hand resting atop it as a warning. "You're red-lining it again, my friend. Just back down." Hobbes turned back to Alyx who was still staring at Darien in pure fear, the quicksilver still pouring off her uselessly. "Kid, you okay?"
It took a couple seconds, but she was finally able to focus on the person standing before her and see him. "Bobby, get him away from me." she said at a harsh whisper, her fear only backing down the tiniest amount. Enough of her knew that Bobby wouldn't let him hurt her, so she allowed Bobby to do what came naturally, and protect her.
"You heard her, Fawkes, get out. Go sit in the van with Eberts until I can get you back to the Keep." Hobbes stepped between Fawkes and the kid and pointed at the door.
"Hobbes," Darien grouched, his temper fading now that Hobbes was blocking his view of her. Lifting a hand to run through his hair he caught sight of the monitor, noticing there was far more red than green. So maybe that headache hadn't been just because he'd been stuck in the van playing mediator for Hobbes and Eberts. It was looking like maybe he should have paid a visit to the Keep before heading out here tonight. "Let me..."
"No, Fawkes. Just get out. Baker, escort Agent Fawkes to the van and make sure he stays there." Hobbes didn't miss the look of hurt in his partner's eyes, but didn't back down. Alyx was still staring at Fawkes in complete shock and the quicksilver pouring off her had yet to lessen. "Look at her, Fawkes."
Hobbes' softly spoken words had the desired effect. Darien nodded and left the apartment with Baker trailing along to make sure he went where Agent Hobbes had told him. As soon the door had been swung shut Hobbes released the breath he'd been unintentionally holding and turned back to Alyx.
"All right, kid, he's gone. Care to tell me what the hell is going on?"
Alyx shook her head. Bobby would think she'd gone completely off her rocker if she told him the truth, plus it would open up one huge honking kettle of fish she had no interest in dealing with right now, especially not with Bobby.
"Then you think you could cut the quicksilver show?" Hobbes requested with some concern as he stepped back towards her. It was damn good thing this had gone down inside the apartment and not somewhere more public. The kid attracted enough attention without showing off her little talent by accident.
"Wha... What?" Alyx blinked in confusion, not having any idea what Bobby was talking about.
"Kid..." Tugging her shirt closed, he ran a hand along her cheek and showed her that it was covered in quicksilver. "This, kid. I take it you don't do the involuntary thing the same way Fawkes does."
Alyx looked down at his hand, then at herself. "Ah, hell." Closing her eyes she took a couple minutes to get control back, convincing the unexpected flight reaction to end, the quicksilver stopping and flaking away. "No, I'm not tied to the adrenal response the way he is. However, it looks like under extreme conditions I'll go into a similar reaction. Probably some primitive self-preservation response." She buttoned up her shirt, but left it hanging loose as she still had a role to play. "The Keep'll probably find it fascinating and want to run tests. Goody."
Hobbes chuckled knowing she was probably right, but he was still curious as to what had set her off. "What extreme conditions'?"
But she expertly deflected the question. Holding out her wrists, she dropped her voice to a sultry tone. "Cuff me, Hobbesy." When his jaw dropped open in surprise she added, "Come on, ya know you want to."
Hobbes snorted, but pulled out his cuffs from his pocket knowing they had to keep up the pretense for the time being. He snapped them on her wrists while she smirked up at him. "I still wanna know what happened here," he said softly and she nodded to acknowledge it.
"Maybe later." She turned to the other agent in the room. "All right, Hill, looks like I'll be riding with you and Baker."
Hill looked over at Hobbes who nodded and turned Alyx over to him. It was probably best that she not ride in the van, first off it would look odd and second it was safer to keep her and Fawkes separated for the time being. "I'll call ahead and try and arrange it so Geofferies sees her being brought it, might make a useful bargaining point."
"Oh, that it will, Bobby. That I can guarantee." She paused next to the door, Hill having grabbed her jacket and purse for her, and turned back to Hobbes. "Thanks, Bobby."
"You got it kid."
They worked it perfectly. As Alyx was brought in Geofferies was being moved from a mostly empty office to the padded room for his interrogation and he got a good look at her. He struggled and tried to break away to go to her, but was stopped and got the chance to get acquainted with the paint on the wall up close and personal. She did the whole teary-eyed confused and scared routine as she was escorted to the very room Geofferies had just been taken from while he was marched away shouting that she had nothing to do with the situation and to let her go.
Once in the office with Hobbes and Baker the cuffs were removed and she set about putting herself back together. The crocodile tears and fake hysteria having done a good job of making her look like the wreck she felt. She caught the odd look Hobbes was giving her. "What? Did I overdo it or something?"
"Nah, it was perfect. You take the acting class already?" Hobbes leaned back against the wall killing time. He wanted Geofferies good and worked up before he started questioning him.
"Nope. I grew up with three brothers; I learned real fast how to get them into the most trouble possible with the least risk to myself. Luckily when I was finally caught my parents found it amusing and encouraged me to keep in practice." Alyx told him as she arched back to stretch a bit. The night was going to a long and uncomfortable one for all of them. "Let me guess, Ebes is off sorting through the data on the disks and Darien is down on the Keep being told he's a bad boy for using too much quicksilver again."
Hobbes smiled. "Yeah. You gonna come watch the show?"
She nodded, getting to her feet. "I can feed you info, if you're willing."
Hobbes seriously considered it as she walked towards him. "Let me have a go at him first, but watch him. See how he reacts." Baker opened the door and they headed for the stairwell, heading downstairs to the white room that Geofferies was currently the sole resident of.
"We need a real interrogation room, Bobby. The white room is only intimidating for those who fear it. For the rest it's just a great place to catch a nap." She glanced over at him with a sly grin and he coughed into his hand.
"You know about that, huh?" He caught her smile and shook his head. "What can I say, the chief won't even spring for a cheap sofa in the so-called coffee room and it's not like it gets used all that often these days."
"Thank god for that." Alyx muttered under her breath as they strolled down the hallway to the viewing room. A couple agents stood on either side of the door to the padded room who nodded to the three of them.
"He stopped yelling, finally, but he's real pissed. Keeps screaming for a lawyer." Lowell said and his partner, Harmon, rolled his eyes in agreement.
"Perfect." Hobbes commented as he opened the door and waved Alyx in ahead of him.
The Official was waiting for them. "Good work, Miss Silver." Alyx ignored him and moved over to the glass to look at Geofferies who was pacing the small room like a caged lion. "Hobbes, get what we need."
"Yes, sir."
"Without breaking him. He's to be returned unharmed." The Official admonished at the look of glee in Hobbes' eyes.
"Me, sir?" Hobbes tried for innocent, but didn't quite succeed.
The Official chuckled. "I want answers on my desk first thing in the morning."
"You'll have them." Alyx said quietly. "Even if they're not the ones you want." She didn't even bother looking over at him. One hand came up to rub her cheek as he left the room, the door closing softly behind him.
"Well, kid, he ready for me?" Hobbes asked, betting she'd been assessing Geofferies state of mind.
"Yes," she answered softly, focused on the man in the room before her. "But he won't cooperate easily." She turned to face Bobby. "When the time is right use me — Maddy — to get him to break."
"Kid?" Hobbes moved beside her and watched the guy for himself.
"He's good Bobby, good at keeping the secrets secret. When the time comes give him what he's asking for. I'll do my part." Alyx managed to keep her voice steady and calm, not giving away the fact that she didn't care for playing this role very much and probably never would though there was little chance she'd never be called to do something like this again.
It took nearly three hours for Alyx to come up with the key that would get Geofferies to break, not that Hobbes hadn't done his best, but even with printouts off his very own disks waved in front of his face, Geofferies just sat there silent and glowering. Doing nothing more than occasionally demanding that he and Maddy be released or requesting an attorney.
Alyx scribbled a note on a piece a paper and shoved it into a file with a stack of blanks and had Hill deliver it to Hobbes as if it had come from Eberts. Hobbes looked slightly confused at the short sentence ... at first, but when understanding dawned he got this hard look in his eyes and his lips pressed together into a thin line. Hobbes glanced at the mirror as if to confirm this is how Alyx wanted to play it.
*Do it, Bobby.* Alyx sent to him and he closed the file and rubbed his forehead, giving her a slight nod in acknowledgment.
"All right, Geofferies, maybe it wasn't you alone. Maybe your new girlfriend was in on it." He waved the file at Geofferies. "Maybe she's a lot more like her daddy than you were led to believe. Maybe your employers should've looked a bit deeper into her background."
Geofferies blinked on confusion. "I met Maddy a week after the accident."
"Publicly, yeah. For all we know you two have been in cahoots for months. Thanks to her daddy, she has the connections to get the explosives used in the accident and you had access to the lab." Hobbes began to pace as he warmed up to this new tack. "Who were you planning on selling the data to? Not her, obviously, though I'm not surprised you kept her around. Sweet little thing like that. That victory screw musta been real nice."
That did it. Geofferies was up off the padded bed and on Hobbes in a flash. Had him by the collar of his jacket and slammed into the nearest wall. "You leave her out of this."
Baker and Hill opened the door to the room and stepped inside, shock sticks drawn and on. Hobbes held up a hand to prevent them from acting too soon.
Geofferies turned to the two agents and snarled, "I want to see Maddy. Now."
Baker and Hill looked at Hobbes who clearly remembered what Alyx had said to do without her having to prompt him. "Do it."
Once the agents left the room, ostensibly to fetch Maddy, Geofferies released Hobbes and backed away a step. "Why are you doing this?" he hissed.
Hobbes shrugged. "My job." He watched as Geofferies ran his hands through his hair and then scrubbed his face. He was looking more than a bit tired and stressed out by this point, but Hobbes had to admit he was good. On his own Geofferies would probably keep the secret till the day he died. The kid was right; she was going to be the piece that got him to break.
It was almost ten minutes before Alyx was escorted into the room, an agent to either side of her, and looking frightened.
"Leave us alone." Geofferies all but ordered. "Its not like you won't hear everything." He jerked a thumb in the direction of the mirror.
Hobbes nodded. "Out." he told the agents and followed them, then headed straight for the viewing room where he found both Eberts, with his laptop, and Fawkes, who looked like hell warmed over. "Come to watch the show or looking for more fuel?" Hobbes asked him.
"Huh?" Darien asked as he watched Geofferies go to a stunned Maddy and try and comfort her.
"Hell Fawkes, every time you hit red lately you go right after her. Why?" Hobbes ignored the look Eberts flashed at him and kept his eye on his partner.
Darien shrugged, not about to explain the truth about that right now. Besides, he had other concerns. "What happened tonight? I mean, she doesn't usually freeze up like that."
"She was playing a part, remember?" Hobbes answered as if it should be obvious, but Darien shook his head in disagreement.
He turned away from the sight on the far side of the glass and looked at Hobbes. "Hobbes, why didn't she flatten me once Geofferies was gone? She freaked, completely, and I don't think it had anything to do with me and my crappy behavior."
Hobbes snorted. "Crappy behavior is putting it mildly. You were just about choking her again, my friend." But Hobbes realized that Fawkes had a point, just few weeks back she had easily fought off Fawkes with only minor effort, but this time ... This time she had indeed freaked, complete with an attempted disappearing act. "You thinking something else is going on with her?"
"I don't know." Darien admitted a bit ruefully. Since this job had started they'd not spent all that much time together, partially because he'd been unable to curb his jealousy. "She's been having some trouble sleeping and some ... uh, dizzy spells, I'd guess you call them."
"Fawkes..."
"I heard her tell the Keep, okay? Sheesh, can you stay out of Naughtyville for one second?" Darien grumbled and then realized the effect his words had on the company pier Nazi standing beside him. "Don't start."
"Damn it. You're the one trying to jump her every time you get on the train to nutsoville, not me." Hobbes eyed Darien warily. "You've been messing around ain'tcha?"
"No."
"Ha! One-word answers give you away every time, Fawkes. How many times..." Eberts loudly clearing his throat ended Hobbes' rant. "What?" Hobbes snapped.
"I think you should be paying attention, Robert." Eberts nodded at the glass and the pair talking quietly beyond it.
"Crap." Hobbes muttered and turned up the volume on the speaker.