Author Notes: This part was beta read by my sister





"Who would do this?" Claire asked as she sat on the edge of the counteragent chair, while Darien continued looking at the note, and Bobby paced around the keep.

"Had to be someone Monroe knew," Hobbes commented.

"How do you know that?" Darien asked, turning around to look at his partner while he leaned back against the counter.

"Because, she was shot four times in the chest at close range. Whoever it was, she trusted them to come into her office, *and* get close enough to her that they could shoot her without her even having the chance of putting up a defense," Hobbes explained.

"Right.....so who do we start investigating?" Darien asked.

"Anyone who she knows well enough to trust, the list can't be that long," Hobbes replied. "We can get a list of people who were admitted into the building yesterday too."

"Hobbes, half the time they don't keep track of who's in the building," Darien replied. "Anyone could have probably just walked in as long as they didn't try to get into the keep or the Official's office."

"It's still worth a try. You want to catch the guy who did this right?" Hobbes said as he stopped pacing.

"Of course, I'm just trying....never mind lets just go," Darien said as he stood up.

"Can I come with you?" Claire asked standing up.

"I guess you can come if you want to," Hobbes said as he turned to look at her. "But we aren't going to be doing much but asking some questions, you probably have better things to do here."

"I know....but I don't want to be alone right now, especially after seeing that note," she replied.

"Okay then, let's go," Darien said as he pushed off from the counter and followed the other two out of the keep.

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"What do you mean he's missing?" Darien asked as he stood in front of The Official's desk.

"I mean what I said. He was in the Archives, he didn't come back for an hour. I sent security, and they couldn't find him," The Official replied.

"Where would he have gone? I don't think Eberts would just leave the building in the middle of the day," Claire said, hugging herself as she spoke, dreading what more than likely had happened.

"Did they find anything down there? Any clues?" Hobbes asked.

"Yes, they found his tie...." The Official paused to take a deep breath. "And a great deal of blood, though it hasn't yet been determined if it was his. I was going to ask if you could test it doctor."

Claire looked up and just nodded numbly. She couldn't believe this was happening. First Alex Monroe, and then Albert Eberts? Why? She couldn't think of a reason for this, and like Bobby had pointed out before, it had to be someone that knew Alex, which could very well mean the killer was someone in the building.

"I'll do the test in the morning, I need some rest first, I think we all need some. It's already past normal hours," Claire said, looking around the room.

"Good idea Doctor, your all dismissed until tomorrow morning," The Official said. Claire nodded and walked out after Bobby opened the door for her, and he and Darien followed her out. They all walked down the hallway and out to the parking lot in silence. None of them were sure what to say at the moment.

Claire started to put her keys in the lock of her car as both Darien and Hobbes head for the van when she stopped.

"Bobby, Darien," she called getting there attention while still facing away from them. They both stopped and turned around to look at her. She turned around slowly, and opened her mouth to talk, then stopped. Now looking at the two of them the idea didn't sound as well as it had a minute before.

"What?" Darien asked.

"Nothing...never mind," she said.

"Come on Claire, what is it?" Hobbes asked as he walked closer to her.

"I...it sounds silly now...but...I don't want to be alone tonight...and I thought maybe...you two could maybe come with me.....I don't feel safe," she finished, blushing slightly.

"Claire that's alright, it's fine. We can stay with you tonight, we'll make sure your okay," Hobbes said putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"We were planning on camping out in front of your place in the van anyway....or Hobbes was," Darien added.

"Fawkes," Hobbes said in a half warning, half what were you thinking tone of voice.

"Bobby, that's sweet, thank you," Claire told him. He just shrugged and nodded, not really saying anything.

"Well then, shall we be going?" Darien asked in a sort of mock voice.

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Darien had long ago fell asleep in one of Claire's chairs with the TV left on, stretched out with his feet on the table, and his arms over either side of the chair. His head was leaned back, and he had already started snoring.

Hobbes had no idea how he slept that way, but he snatched the remote out of Darien's hand, he was about to drop it anyway, and laid back down on the couch to watch TV. He had just turned the channel to a re-run of 'Cops' when he heard Claire walking down the stairs and into the kitchen. He sat up and looked behind the couch.

"Claire?"

She jumped slightly at his voice, then walked back of the kitchen.

"Bobby, I didn't think you would still be up," she said.

"I could say the same for you, it's two am," he said sitting up straight and leaning over the back of the couch to talk to her.

"I can't sleep," she told him as she walked over.

"Wanna watch some TV?" he asked. She just nodded and walked around to sit on the couch, still hugging herself.

"Claire...are you alright?" Hobbes asked looking at her concerned.

"No, I'm not. Not after what's happened....after Alex, and now Eberts is dead too...."

"He's missing, not dead," Hobbes reminded her.

"Bobby, he's dead. They found a large pool of blood in the room, the same day they found another Agent dead in her office....who's next? You or Darien? I don't think I could deal with that....and what if they come after me next?" she asked in an almost hysterical voice.

"Claire, shhh," Hobbes said as he moved down the couch so he could hug her to him. "It's gonna be okay, I won't let anything happen to you or Fawkes. I promise. They'll have to get through me to get to you two."

"What if they do?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"What, someone get the jump on Bobby Hobbes? I think not," he replied as he let her go so he could look at her while he talked.

"They managed to get Alex," Claire said, swallowing and taking deep breath to try and calm herself.

"They aren't going to get me, or Fawkes, or you Claire, alright?" he said, she didn't respond at first, so he repeated himself. "Alright?"

"Alright," she finally said. She looked at him again, then hugged him. "Thank you Bobby."

"No problem Claire," he replied.