Part III

When Bobby strolled into Darien's room just after ten AM, he was followed by two armed agents who took up positions on either side of the door. A lot had happened in the last thirty-six hours. He found Fawkes lying on his side, facing away from the door, with the remains of a monstrous breakfast on the rolling table near the bed. Alyx was sitting in the corner, reading, and gave him a quick nod when he looked over at her.

He'd been hoping the two of them would work something out while she was here, hoped that maybe he'd find her curled up next to him, or perhaps sitting next to the bed holding his hand, something other than what he found. There might be only a dozen feet separating them, but to him it looked to be a gulf greater than the Grand Canyon itself. He knew there was very little he could do to resolve this. They had to do it themselves, no matter how difficult it was for him to sit back and do nothing.

Walking around the bed, he got a good look at Darien. He was staring off into the distance and playing idly with the ring, sliding it back and forth on the chain with an odd twist in the middle. It had come as a major shock to learn that Fawkes had taken the ring back; he'd been so elated when she'd finally agreed to wear it, even if she still refused to get married. Bobby had backed her into a corner one day and demanded an explanation of that from her. She'd told him why, simply and concisely, and he'd found himself unable to argue with her. He did try, though. Even pointing out the fact that Fawkes wasn't likely to go elsewhere didn't sway her, so he let the matter drop.

If Alyx felt she didn't need a piece of paper to show how she felt, and Fawkes was reasonably happy with the arrangement, then who was he to try and change her mind? Hell, from her perspective it would be her third marriage, and considering how damaging her first had been to her, and her second having been arranged by the government -- a job -- it might very well have made her unwilling to risk it again.

The having-kids issue... well there had been a time when Bobby would have been the happiest man alive to have kids -- with Vivian -- but now he was just as glad it hadn't happened. He had to agree with Alyx on one thing; Darien would make a great father. So he could understand, though not necessarily agree, but understand why she felt the need to leave him uncommitted, to give him the appearance of being able to go elsewhere if he so chose.

Bobby had become convinced it would take an act of God himself to separate the two of them. Instead, it was this situation and Fawkes' stubborn nobility. It was amazing how someone so intelligent could be so stupid.

"Hey, partner. Feeling better today?"

Darien refocused his eyes, to see Bobby almost bouncing in place with barely suppressed energy. A few hours of sleep had obviously made a difference. "I'm alive. Well, half of me anyway."

"Fawkes, a little optimism wouldn't hurt ya. Keepy said it might take a few days." Bobby hated hearing the tone of utter defeat in his partner's voice.

"Realism, Hobbes. Realism." Darien felt the sudden need to move, to get the hell out of there, and instead closed his eyes and tried to relax.

Bobby looked over at Alyx, who shook her head slightly. She had no more idea what was going on in Fawkes' head than Bobby did. "Well, Fawkes, I'm afraid I have to steal the kid away. We have work to do."

"Big surprise." Darien didn't even bother to open his eyes. "I'm amazed it didn't happen sooner." Already they were moving on with their lives, leaving him alone.

"Claire will be here in an hour. You're safe, Fawkes." Bobby set his hand on Darien's shoulder. The gesture was meant to reassure the man lying on the bed, but instead Darien stiffened and tried to draw away. Bobby removed his hand, giving up for now. He turned to look at Alyx, who had closed the book and gotten to her feet.

"Let me grab my stuff and I'll be ready to go." When Hobbes nodded, she walked out the door without even glancing over at Fawkes. Bobby wondered just what the hell had happened.

"All right, what the hell did you do this time?" Bobby had trouble keeping the anger out of his voice. Yeah, he felt bad for Fawkes, would do anything he could to help him, but this...this bullshit he was pulling was really starting to piss him off.

"Me, Bobby? What could I have possibly done?" Darien's eyes flew open and he made a slight gesture to remind his 'friend' of his current state of near-immobility. "Keep her away from me," he hissed.

Bobby just stood there, too angry, too stunned, too confused to even put two thoughts together, much less come up with an appropriate and non-pejorative-laden comment. For an instant he was tempted to tell Fawkes where to go and to describe, in detail, the hand basket that would take him there. But he didn't. Instead, he released a ragged sigh. "When you run into my partner, tell him I said 'Hi'." With that, Bobby turned away from the stranger lying on the bed before him and left the room to find Alyx. He hated that he was starting to think it might have been better if the bullet had hit Fawkes in the head instead of his back.

"Shit," he muttered as he walked into the lab.

"Tell me about it." Alyx was holding a cloth bag and running a shaky hand through her now-loose hair. "I need to stop at home before we head into the office."

"Uh, sure kid. Why?" Bobby still had Fawkes on his mind and wasn't giving her quite the amount of attention he probably should.

"I think I'd rather go to work wearing my own clothes." He heard the touch of humor in her voice and realized she was still wearing the scrubs from yesterday afternoon.

"Sorry. Let's get you home. The Official can wait." Bobby escorted her to the van, and they were silent for the entire drive to her place. He kept glancing over at her as she leaned against the passenger window and stared off at nothing. Somehow, he knew better than to even try to start a conversation with her or even ask simply 'how ya doing?' He could tell she was holding it together by will alone. It was looking like things had gone from bad to worse in the hours she'd been sitting with Fawkes.

He keyed the code in for her parking garage security gate and pulled into the spot next to her car. "Do you want to just drive in on your own?"

"Actually, if you don't mind, I'd rather not drive." She sounded exceptionally worn out, and Bobby wondered if she had gotten any rest at all.

"Sure, kid." He slid out of the van and followed her up to her place.

Standing in front of the door, he could hear her grumbling to herself and realized she'd forgotten her keys when they'd left yesterday. Not that it was that big a deal -- he watched her set her hand on the door, and seconds later he could hear the locks disengaging. She slid the door open.

"Have a seat. I'll be just a few minutes." She wandered off to her oversized bathroom, which also contained her walk-in closet, and shut the door behind her.

Bobby entered her kitchen and peeked in her fridge; as usual, it was not only well-stocked with stuff that she and Fawkes liked, but also with some of the goodies and drinks he favored. Grabbing one of the bottles of iced coffee that she kept around for him, he twisted it open as he moved over to the windows. Her view was halfway decent if you ignored the roof of the ugly building across the street and focused on the water with the occasional sailboat that drifted by. He wasn't sure how long he stood there waiting before he realized something was wrong.

He knocked on the door to the bathroom and, when there was no response, opened it up and stuck his head in. He found Alyx huddled on the floor by her closet door. "Aw, crap. Kid, don't do this." He moved over and crouched down beside her.

She lifted her head and looked so pitiful it nearly broke his heart. "Sorry, Bobby. Just give me a minute, would you. Please?"

He had a thought then. "When did you last sleep?"

"Aside from drug-induced unconsciousness? Ummm..." When he realized she had to actually think about it, he knew it had been too long.

"Damn it, kid, even you have to sleep sometime." He pulled out his cell phone, intending to call the Official and let him know Alyx was not going to be in for a few hours, but her hand on his arm stopped him.

"I'll sleep later. Promise. I...I don't really want to right now anyway." She had pulled herself back together, her momentary joining of the rest of humanity almost gone. "I just didn't think it would hurt this much."

"Neither did I." He knew what she was going through. Losing Viv had been one of the most painful experiences of his life, and it had taken him a long time to get over it...over her. Now she was remarried and, surprisingly, that part hadn't hurt as much as he thought it would. "You sure? I can manage without you for a few hours."

Her back still against the wall she slid up until she was standing. "I'm sure. Just let me grab my sneakers."

Bobby got to his feet, shaking his head. Damn, the kid did a good job imitating being as tough as old shoe leather. After all this time, he knew it was a cover, much like the Keeper's sometimes cold and indifferent attitude. Last night he'd spent several hours holding one very teary-eyed and upset Keeper in his arms until she'd finally fallen asleep in exhaustion. She'd been awake for almost twenty-four hours at that point and, even though everything had gone well, she was out of energy and needed the cathartic release that tears could bring. When he'd left her place in the wee hours of the morning, she'd been sleeping calmly, with a look of peace on her countenance that hadn't been there since Fawkes had been hurt.

About twenty minutes later they were walking into the Official's office. Alyx had a huge cup of coffee that Bobby had bought for her, insisting that she needed it. In truth she hadn't argued all that hard and drank half of it before they had even arrived. Not that it seemed to help all that much, but she wasn't swaying as she walked anymore. She slid into her usual spot on the end of the long conference table, much to the dismay of the steel-gray-haired woman standing next to the Official.

"Miss Silver, could you possibly use a chair like the rest of humanity?" Ms. Pritchard said with an air of condescension.

Much to Bobby's surprise, all Alyx did was lift one eyebrow and look at the woman over the cup as she took another sip of her drink.

"Ms. Prickly..." The Official stopped, realizing what he had called the woman. Obviously he'd listened to Fawkes and Hobbes call her that behind her back once too often. "Ms. Pritchard, get used to it. When you can do what Miss Silver does, then you can complain about where she chooses to sit."

The woman huffed and glared, but wisely made no commentary.

"Chief, I haven't filled in the kid yet." Hobbes sat down in one of the chairs before the desk and realized he missed not having Fawkes sitting next to him.

"So what does she know?" Ms. Pritchard asked her tone still condescending.

"Do you want alphabetical order, or in the order by which I learned it?" Alyx had this glint in her eye, which boded ill for the woman if she didn't ease up a bit.

"Ahh, that won't be necessary," the Official hurriedly said. He turned to Ms. Pritchard. "Just fill her in on the current situation."

"Yes, sir." If her voice were any colder, they could use her to distract thermals from Fawkes and the kid. Bobby was liking the woman less and less with every encounter. That made Bobby think for a moment of some creative ways of getting rid of her accidental-like. Damn, he hadn't disliked Eberts that much.

"Miss Silver, as you know, the bullet removed from Mr. Fawkes does not match those fired from Agent Hobbes' gun. In fact, it is of no known make, either public or governmental. We believe it to be homemade; part of the shooters signature, if you will." She paused, watching Alyx, who seemed to not be paying attention. Hobbes, who had turned slightly to look at her, knew she was simply focusing, processing the information she was being given.

"Keep going," Alyx said quietly. "Did you analyze the material?"

Ms. Pritchard seemed surprised. "Yes, we did. It is a unique formula, one which alters the damage done to the bullet upon impact."

"Which is why it was nearly undamaged." Alyx nodded. "Who has access to the materials?"

"Kid, anyone can make their own bullets," Bobby said to her.

"Actually, Hobbes, one of the ingredients is unavailable to the general public, and is difficult to gain access to even for most government agencies," the Official commented, much to Hobbes' surprise.

"So the shooter either works for or worked for the government, and for an agency with access to the material." Bobby frowned, not liking what this could mean. "So we were set up from the start? By who?"

"That's what you need to find out, Hobbes." The Official did not look the least bit happy about this.

"I'll need a copy of the analysis and a list of those agencies that have access," Alyx was saying as she slid off the table. "E-mail it to my home address."

"Miss Silver, I'm not sure..." Ms. Pritchard began, but the Official interrupted her.

"Get her whatever she needs." The woman frowned, but nodded stiffly. "Where will you start looking?"

"Where it went down, Chief. Start at the scene of the crime." Hobbes got to his feet and turned towards the door.

* * *

"You know, I've driven past this thing dozens of times and I've never done more than glance at it. Why the hell were you guys here?" They were standing just in front of the Maritime Museum, trying to blend in with the locals and tourists, and failing miserably. Maybe it was the dark glasses and far too serious looks for such a beautiful day. Maybe it was the obvious weaponry worn in full view. Whichever, everyone was giving them as wide a berth as possible on the overcrowded sidewalk.

"Not here, the cruise ship dock. The warehouse, to be exact." He led the way down the street to the dock in question. "The boss got handed his orders from F&G. Supposedly there was going to be a sale of sea turtle eggs or some such crap. Fawkes was supposed to go see-through, watch the exchange, and then break it up."

"But the cruise ships only stop for day trips here; why use this for the meet, especially after the boat had left?" The schedule for cruise ships coming in was pretty regular and known by all the locals. It was best to avoid the area when the boat was in. Tourists were annoying, but cruise ship tourists were the worst. Not that either of them had a lot of time to hang out around here.

"Kid, you're as bad as Fawkes. His 'spidey-sense' went off almost immediately, but we had orders." Alyx nodded. She might be able to tell the Official 'no' on occasion, but he rarely put up with it from Bobby and Darien. Hobbes walked her through the events of that morning, at least from his perspective, and she paid close attention.

"So there were no shots until out here?" Bobby nodded. "And they tried to capture Darien, or seemed to anyway."

"Yeah, they got a hold of him and tried to restrain him. He tried to break away from one guy by quicksilvering, using the cold to his advantage I guess, and ended up fighting with a guy shooting at me. Wish I had realized it at the time. Would have done things differently." Even knowing he hadn't shot Fawkes didn't ease the discomfort of the memory. He'd still screwed up by not realizing Fawkes was wrestling with the guy.

"Where were you, Bobby?" Alyx was staring off into the distance, working on something.

"Uh, over by the gangplank. Not much cover out here." Ignoring the people hovering around, he moved over to the position he'd held that morning.

"And Fawkes?"

"Over there." He pointed and Alyx moved until she had the spot. He had to wonder what she was doing.

"Here?" Bobby nodded and walked over to her.

"What kid?" He knew she was onto something and he could just about see it for himself.

She was muttering to herself. "Slight downward angle, entered his back at a twenty degree angle off of perpendicular. Adjust for height differential."

Bobby spun about after listening to her. "Hell kid, the shot came from across the street at least. Maybe from even over on the PCH."

"We have a window to work with. He couldn't have been too close, though, or that bullet wouldn't have stopped." She had refocused on the world now that Bobby had caught on. "Why not kill him, though? When it was obvious capture wouldn't work, why just shoot to injure?"

"For the gland?" Bobby suggested. It wouldn't be the first time after all and they all knew it was safer to harvest from a living host as opposed to a dead one.

"Maybe. Maybe Fawkes wasn't the specific target, just a bonus." Alyx had started moving and was preparing to cross the street with Bobby following. They wanted to check the shooting angles from the other direction.

"What do you mean?" They were walking along the sidewalk to the next corner so that they could get across the Pacific Coast Highway and find the area where the shooter had most likely been.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I know there would be a major war behind the scenes if Fawkes were taken out of the game permanently. You would not believe the backroom fighting that goes on to use my services. Because I'm available, the 'Fish can justify not letting Fawkes get borrowed anymore. He was forced into a major compromise with me." She paused and Bobby watched the emotions flash across her face. "If I were the only one left, the Official would probably not be able to hold onto me. I'd be reassigned and he would not be able to stop it."

"So Fawkes being taken out of the game would make you a free agent. Who wants you that bad?" They had crossed the street and were walking side by side to the area they wanted. They turned around to look back at the ship. "Crappy angle, but a good shooter could do it. The height angle isn't quite right though."

"If he were in an SUV it would be. Or in the parking lot. Everything slopes up from here." Alyx pointed out and he nodded in agreement. "Bobby, Ebes..." Her voice caught and she had to take a moment before continuing. "Eberts once showed me one week's worth of requests for me. There were one hundred and fifty-three of them. He said it was a slow week. The record topped five hundred."

Bobby was only a little surprised by the number. Her range of abilities made her useful for any number of tasks, from espionage to assassination. What she would do was not the same as what she could do, though. So he knew many requests got denied. "Kid, could there be someone who's been turned down a lot who'd get pissed off enough to try something like this?"

Alyx shrugged. "I have very little say in where I'm sent. Occasionally the Official will talk to me about a mission if he's unsure about my...my cooperation, but usually I get a minimal briefing and leave." Bobby gave her an odd look; that she got even a slight say in the matter made him wonder what she'd been doing on some of her trips. "I might be able to break into the files if you think it's worth checking out."

"I think it is, kid. Cover all the angles, ya know." He ran a hand over the top of his head, thinking. "Now, how do we find an SUV that we don't have a description of and may not have even been here?"

"Video, how else?" Alyx said with a grin. "Half these places must have some sort of security cameras. Especially the admin buildings just down the street. Hell, if he drove past an ATM we might get a pic."

Bobby smiled; it was a good idea, but would take a lot of work. He needed to call the Official and arrange for some more agents to come out and help. It would take days for him and the kid to collect them all on their own. "All right. We have a place to start. I'll drop you at home." When she tried to protest, he silenced her. "You need to sleep, and I need you able to work. I'll get started on the video angle." He checked his watch. "I'll be at your place at six. I'll bring the food, and we'll hunt through those files and see what we can come up with."

For a moment, it looked like she was going to argue, but instead she nodded. "Yeah, that might be a good idea. 'Ms. Prickly' should have downloaded the data by then as well." She chuckled then. "I can't believe the 'Fish called her that."

"Kid, that woman could out-freeze a glacier." He gave her a nudge to get her moving back to where they had parked the van.

"I... Will you stop by and check on..." She stopped and swallowed hard.

"We both will," Bobby said in a soft voice. Fawkes was being an idiot. Thinking that shoving them away and being downright nasty to them would erase their feelings. Make them abandon him all that much faster. Instead, all it did was hurt them as well. "He'll come to his senses, you'll see."

"I hope so Bobby." She kept a tight rein on her emotions, but Bobby could tell she was still upset. He knew her too well by now.

"Kid, he has to. He can't go that much lower; I'd be forced to hurt him." Bobby tried to keep it light and was rewarded with a weak smile from her. "Stick with me, kid. Bobby Hobbes knows these things."

"Oh yes, master of all things." Alyx poured all the sarcasm she could into her voice and Bobby grinned.

"Smartass."