Part XIII
The soft hum of the piranha tank pump was the only real sound in the room. Claire had left a couple of hours ago to catch a nap in her own bed, but she would return soon, to make sure the world hadn't fallen apart in her absence, or to check that her two Kepts were still in intact -- for the most part, anyway. Bobby had been in and out of the Keep a couple times to check on the two of them. At one point, he'd taken the time to chew off a portion of Darien's ass, first for being so stupid as to not get a shot when he knew he needed one and then for going to confront the Director, just out of some pissy need to get revenge.
Bobby had reminded him, once again, about the uselessness of going after someone while quicksilver mad. It was one of the rare occasions when Bobby expressly mentioned the fact that Darien had a brain, when he remembered to use it. Which hadn't been all that often lately.
Claire had done the poke and prod routine to Darien and decreed him reasonably well, considering he'd gone into full blown madness, been knocked unconscious by an electric shock, was still learning how to walk again, and was realizing, finally, how important all the people here were to him. And maybe the most important of them all was the sleeping woman on the demented dentist's chair next to him.
Darien was propped across two chairs, situated so that he could watch her and the monitors that she was still hooked to. She'd been sitting in the damn thing for a good three hours now, as her body tried to figure out what the hell it was doing. The power in the building had gone flaky two more times, before things settled into something vaguely resembling normal. Darien had been dozing, on and off, trying to get the rest Claire had ordered him to, but without much success. He'd been more concerned about Alyx. Especially when, about an hour ago, her readings had bottomed back out, suggesting that the drug had kicked back in, once again blocking her abilities. She was apparently sleeping through the entire thing.
Well, she had been, anyway.
Her eyes came open and she shifted, only to wince as the assorted bruises she'd collected in the last twelve or so hours made themselves known. When she focused on Darien, he couldn't help but smile. Her eyes were once again that glorious silver that he'd fallen into so very long ago. "Hey, you." Her voice was scratchy and raw, most likely from all the drugs, or maybe she was simply thirsty. "What happened?"
Darien didn't move from his spot, mainly because he didn't know if she would want him to. "Oh, fun times were had by all." He was pleased to see the slight smile cross her features.
"Liar." She sat up a bit more and started peeling off the electrodes. Not that he was the least bit surprised. She hated being poked and prodded as much as he did, even when they both knew it was necessary. Once everything was removed and set neatly away, she turned back to him. "How are you doing?"
"Me? Good enough. We were a bit more worried about you." He met her eyes for a second and then looked down at his hands, which were laced together on his lap. He wasn't sure what else to say. Things had not gone as he had planned, had hoped, and now he had no idea what to do.
"Ah." He heard her move and lifted his head enough to watch her slide off the chair. She moved over to the fridge and opened it. After a moment of hunting around, she pulled out a bottle of water and hurriedly opened it. Leaning against the cool metal surface, she drank the entire bottle with barely a pause for breath. Tossing the bottle in a nearby trash can, she sighed. "Dare.... Darien, what are you doing here? You should be home resting or something." She ran a shaky hand through her hair and hissed in pain. Her arms were covered in bruises from the various shots and efforts to restrain her. "Gods, I feel like crap."
"I can imagine." Darien kept his voice soft, betting that she'd go back to the heightened levels of sensitivity soon, if she hadn't already, and he had no idea whether or not she'd have any control. He'd done enough damage in the last day, hell in the last couple of weeks, that he didn't want to cause any more. He noticed she had gone back to using his full name and wondered why he no longer rated his nickname from her, but was afraid to ask. "Alyx, I..."
"So, where's our friend from the SWRB?" She interrupted his question before he even had a chance to ask it.
"Gone." Darien lowered his feet to the floor and slowly stood up. He'd way overdone it yesterday and his little adventure with madness and a shock stick hadn't helped all that much either. He also knew the Keep wasn't going to go easy on him because of it. When she showed later, she'd run him right back through that ringer he'd been going through daily. "He, uh, got out when you killed the power to the building."
She nodded, almost as if she were expecting it, but then said, "Huh?" She had begun to shiver again and slid in a controlled manner down the cooler doors to sit on the floor. "Killed the power?"
"You don't remember?" He walked over to her, unsure what to do to help her. Claire had warned him this might happen. In fact, she pretty much expected it. She was basing her assumptions on how Alyx's body had adapted to the catalyst. Towards the end, she'd cycled through periods of normalcy and periods where the altered quicksilver returned. The periods of normalcy grew longer through each cycle, until everything was back to normal and she was safe to be around again. Claire was expecting something similar to happen this time, as well.
"Last thing I remember is curling up on the floor with you to catch a nap. Why?" She had closed her eyes and was trying not to fight what was happening, but he could tell it was not easy.
"Not important," Darien said quietly as he stood before her. "Alyx, will you let me help?"
She opened her eyes and looked up at him. He wasn't sure what she saw, but she pushed herself slowly to her feet. "Do you actually want to, or are you just feeling guilty?"
Darien never got the chance to answer.
"Fawkes, you awake? The boss needs to see you." Bobby came around the glass divider and stopped dead when he saw Alyx standing there. He grinned, pleased to see her up and about. "Hey, kid. You're welcome to tag along, as it concerns you." He moved closer and Darien backed away to retrieve the crutches. "Nice seeing you mobile."
"Thanks, Bobby. I'm still not back to normal..." She stopped when Bobby shook his head.
"Doesn't matter. You will be." It was one of the few things he had confidence in: that she would get better. "Come on, you two. There's stuff you need to know."
The three of them made their slow way up to the Official's office. The slow pace wasn't because they were dawdling, or trying to avoid talking to the Official; it was that Darien wasn't exactly up to speed walking yet, even with the crutches. Alyx kept having to stop and lean against the wall, or be supported by Bobby, as yet another wave of disorientation hit. Bobby was almost afraid to touch her, given how easily she bruised at the moment and, in truth, she wasn't looking too good.
Entering the office, they were greeted by a face they had never seen before; both Bobby and Darien were instantly suspicious. The guy was tall, though not as tall as Darien (even if you didn't count the hair), about six foot. He had light brown hair, with blonde streaks through it, like he was the type whose hair bleached out during the summer. He had pale green eyes, which stood out brightly against his California tanned skin. He was wearing a dark suit that he did not look comfortable in, and he was handsome in a quiet way, instead of having stunning looks like Darien.
Alyx ignored him completely, even though he attempted to be a gentleman and help the obviously ill woman to a chair. She sat in what had become her usual spot on the end of the conference table, facing the Official's desk.
"Who's the mook?" Bobby hooked a thumb over his shoulder at the guy, as he too settled into his usual chair.
"Agent Drake, meet Agents Hobbes, Fawkes, and Silver." The Official pointed to each, so their names would be associated with their faces. "Agent Drake is Ms. Prick... ahem, Pritchard's permanent replacement. He was formerly employed by the CIA."
Alyx's reaction to that was expected by both her partners. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she observed the man with a level of wariness that only she could manage. "Goody," she muttered.
They watched as Drake moved to stand behind the Official, much as Eberts had once done, and Ms. Pritchard had never lowered herself to do. The look on Drake's face spoke volumes -- while he hadn't expected a party with balloons and streamers on his arrival, he also hadn't expected the instant distrust from all three of the top agents working here. These were the ones he'd be working with most closely, according to the Official; he had received basic dossiers on all three of the them once he had signed on the dotted line. He'd heard rumors about these three, but the stories were nothing compared to the truth. Duke Montgomery and his unit were lucky to be able to work with them on occasion and, even though this job change was looked upon as a step down by his former colleagues, he knew better.
"Miss Silver, how are you feeling?" the Official asked.
"Oh, just great boss." She swung her feet and shifted her shoulders.
Bobby chuckled. "She's a mess, but still stubborn as hell." He turned his chair slightly to watch her, and she gave him a grin.
"Any word?" Darien was pretty sure the 'Fish would know what he was asking, without going into details.
"Nothing. And it has me concerned." The Official's voice was tight and controlled.
"He's waiting for you to call," Alyx said in a shaky voice.
"Kid?" Bobby saw the way she'd gone even paler than before and had a bad feeling about it.
"Sorry, I still don't feel so good." With those words she lay back on the table with a groan. "Go on." She waved one hand in the air before lowering it back to the wood surface.
"The Director still thinks she'll be given the counter, or has been already." Darien filled in when Drake looked at them blankly. "He's the only source for more, as far as we know. We'd have to call him."
The Official nodded. "But we won't be calling, and they will know she's still alive."
Bobby tapped one finger on the arm of the chair in which he sat. "Boss, won't he get curious as to why we haven't?"
"Crap," Darien muttered. "Can he find out about her project? Who she was?"
"He hasn't yet," Drake answered. "Thanks to Miss Silver, we have copies of both her file and yours," he nodded to Darien. "Most of what they have is based on observation and a few reports from their field agents. We think someone leaked her abilities to them, though it was an incomplete report as opposed to the truth."
"Which is why they think she's only a telepath," Bobby commented. "And I don't think we want him to find out she's more. His requests wouldn't be any longer."
The Official nodded curtly. "Exactly. We've taken steps to make sure her background information is secure and that it cannot be traced back to who she was before coming here."
"Mikey," Alyx got out through the discomfort and confusion her mind had fallen into.
"What about him?" the Official asked.
It was Darien who made the connection. "He was her Keeper, is her brother...hell, they probably know he was here and they could find out who -- what -- she is by tracing his past." This was more than a little frustrating; for all they had done to erase her past life, there were still too many connections still in existence. Too many trails that led to places better left untouched, such as Alyx's kids, and Rachel and Jason.
"Damn," the Official muttered. "Too many loose ends that we can't tie up. We could fake your death again," he suggested in a semi-serious tone.
"Uh, no thanks. Three times is plenty for one lifetime. The next time I 'die', it will be for real and I don't plan on that happening for quite a few years." Alyx groaned and sat back up.
"Alyx, you okay?" Darien saw her eyes, the silver already being leached away as the chemicals in her bloodstream altered the color. It was not a permanent effect, according to Claire, but looked very odd. It looked like she was cycling through the different effects fairly swiftly. At this point, she would not even be able to quicksilver.
"No, but that's nothing new. Boss, why was he after Darien?" Alyx shuddered and closed her eyes, her body relaxing as she attempted to maintain control over both her senses and her sanity.
"Fawkes," the Official said with a slight head motion. Darien got to his feet and sat beside her, gently wrapping an arm about her.
She shuddered harder and then curled against him, using him as a focus for her confused mind.
Bobby watched all this with a small smile. Even when they were standing far apart, having to deal with personal conflicts and problems, they still relied on and trusted one another. Amazing. "They had to have been after the gland. Fawkes doesn't have anything else." He saw Darien raise his eyebrows at him. "No offense, partner, but they weren't after your stunning wit, or your hair."
"But why?" Alyx reiterated. "They went to some effort to get me out of the way so they could go after him. Could it have something to do with why the SWRB wants me?"
The Official's look went blank, the perfect poker face. "Drop it, Miss Silver. It is a dead issue. They will not touch Fawkes."
"So they are related." Bobby met the Official's glare with one of his own.
"Just once, could the three of you follow an order? Leave it alone!" he roared, getting to his feet.
Alyx flinched at the volume, but held it together. Pulling out of Darien's hold, she stood. "Dare we?" she asked in a restrained voice. The anger was just in the background. "When you haven't called to bargain by tomorrow, what do you think he's going to do? Do you think he's just going to 'leave it'? Or do you think he might very well try and break in here to kidnap me instead? I can almost guarantee the next step for these drugs involved a long bout of unconsciousness."
"Sir," Drake broke in.
"Shut up, Eb...Drake," the Official shouted at the man in frustration. "Miss Silver, I am doing everything I can."
"Will it be enough, though?" Darien asked, setting a hand on Alyx's shoulder as she began to sway in place.
"Boss, we need something on them," Bobby added. He was sure the Official was going to explode at them for arguing with him, but instead he sighed and sat back down.
"Or we just give them what they want," Alyx suggested.
"Miss Silver, that is not a viable option. I know what this 'job' would entail." He rubbed his forehead with one hand before continuing with some reluctance. "You refused to go into the mind of de Fohn, because of his mindset. The person they want you to get the information from is worse than Arnaud, by far, as well as being insane. I will not allow it, understand?"
Alyx stood still for a moment and then nodded. "Then what?" She sat back down on the table.
"I'm working on it," was all the Official could tell her. They were all quiet for several minutes, no one quite sure what to say or suggest. "Drake, escort Miss Silver back to the Keep. I need to speak to Fawkes and Hobbes."
Alyx shook her head. "No, thank you. I can make it on my own." It was obvious that she wanted no part of this 'former CIA agent', no matter how personable he seemed. Neither Bobby nor Darien could fault her. They'd both had some rather rough times dealing with the CIA, and trusted them about as far as pigs flew unaided.
She took a deep breath and headed for the office door, where she paused to look back at the Official. "Charlie, get this dealt with, or I will." Then she was gone, the door shutting quietly behind her.
"Charlie? How come she can get away with that and not us?" Bobby asked of Darien, who had moved to sit beside him once again.
"Umm, maybe because she could steal every secret he knows out of his mind if he pisses her off?" Darien answered in a serious tone.
"How about because we have an understanding," the Official commented to get their attention. "Drake, Miss Silver managed to get into the SWRB system. You have a reputation for being able to get into anywhere; let's see what you can really do."
Drake nodded, moving to the computer set up in the corner of the room where he started pressing keys. "What am I looking for?"
"The solution," the Official answered.
"Blackmail would work," Darien added, knowing it was true.
"How about a bigger stick?" Bobby suggested. When Darien looked at him oddly, he said, "You know, 'walk softly and carry a big stick.' We just need one bigger than the SWRB's."
"Hobbes, sometimes you amaze me," Darien said to him with a headshake. "Blackmail material may not be in their own system. You may have to look under other people's rugs to find the dirt."
"Good point, Fawkes. And one thing they generate is large quantities of dirt." The Official was nodding in agreement. "Drake...."
"On it, sir. I'll do my best," Drake answered as he turned his focus back to the computer.
"You'll do better than that, Drake," Bobby growled in a soft voice. "Or you'll be answering to me."
Darien chuckled quietly. When Bobby went into protective mode, he ran roughshod over anyone and everyone to get what he wanted done, done. "What about us?"
"Fawkes, you'll get well for the moment. If I have a specific need for you, I'll inform you, but seeing as you can barely walk, I think we'll go easy on your talents for now. Hobbes, I want you to find out what they've been doing. If they have been following Fawkes and Silver, they've left a trail. Find it." Bobby nodded and got to his feet. "I need everything I can get. Don't fail me."
"I won't, sir." Darien watched as Bobby got to his feet. "I'll call you later, partner."
"Go, Bobby. I know you have this sudden urge to check 'Hobbes-net'." Darien waved his hand at Bobby, who hesitated a moment before bolting from the room. He already had an idea of where to start.
"Darien, I mean it. I want you well." The Official was able to surprise him yet again by actually sounding sincere.
"Sure, boss. Give me a couple of weeks and I'll be back to my old self and finding new ways to annoy you." He got to his feet and shoved the crutches under his arms.
"Good. Now get out of here. We have work to do," the Official grouched. The moment of awkward fake bonding over, Darien walked out of the office and could already hear the Official shouting at someone on the phone.
Since it was a good bet Alyx had not gone back to the Keep, Darien headed to her office and found her there. She was looking out the window, staring at the cars passing by on the road below. She'd changed clothes and her hair was damp; at a guess, she'd co-opted the shower and cleaned up a bit. Understandable, considering everything she'd been through. Poking his head inside, he asked, "Can I come in?"
She didn't turn. "There was a time, not all that long ago, you wouldn't have felt the need to ask." She opened the window allowing the cool breeze coming in off the Pacific to sneak inside, lifting a few stray curls of hair. She wrinkled her nose at some scent she'd picked up and sighed. "Is it over, Darien? Do you really think I'm just like all the rest?"
"Ah, hell, Alyx." He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He leaned the crutches against the wall and moved over towards her, but as soon as he got near she slid away, putting distance between them. Now it was his turn to lean against the window and look out at the traffic below. "No, and I'm sorry I did. I..." He stopped, slumping his shoulders he turned to look at her. "Sometimes, some days, I still feel trapped here."
Alyx just stared at him, and somehow he knew what she was thinking; it was an interesting perspective. "But not anymore."
She shook her head, not understanding him, but also not asking him to explain. "Darien, you made your decision, for whatever reason, but it has nothing to do with us or with why you're upset with me." She raised a hand to temporarily forestall any comments. "And right now, I'm not feeling well enough to deal with it." She stumbled, the raised hand going to her head in reaction.
Darien was at her side, supporting her, even as her legs gave out. "Damn it, Alyx." With some help from her, he got her seated on her sofa. "I was, and am, a fool."
"You just figuring this out?" she mumbled as she tipped over, lying with her head in his lap.
"Gee, nice to know you care." But he was smiling at her.
"Always. Can't help it," she whimpered. "I hate this. I'd rather be blind."
"Hmmm, I seem to recall a time when you would have given all this up in a heartbeat to go home." Darien wasn't saying this to be mean or to hurt her. He knew it was true.
"I am home, Darien." She tried to sit up, but he held her in place. "Damn it, let me go," she snapped at him.
"No. Not till we talk." He didn't want to hurt her, and suspected the hold he currently had on her was causing more than enough pain already. "Please?"
"Why? What can I possibly say to convince you that I'm here as long as you want me?" she closed her eyes and shivered. "You haven't believed me in weeks, and right now I can't show you."
He didn't know what to do, what to say. For some reason he'd once again lost the ability to speak and part of him wished she could feel what was going on inside of him. There were times he got tongue-tied simply because he felt too damn much to even try and put it into words, but right now he was still confused on several levels. He wanted her to stay, with him, but still wasn't sure he felt worthy of it, or whether she even wanted to at this point. "I'm sorry, Alyx."
"I know," she mumbled as her eyes drifted shut.
His hands traced gently along her face and she relaxed further even as she shook all the harder. "Easy. I'm here." She shifted suddenly, surprising him with how fast she moved, and ended up on her knees facing him, his hand held in hers. "Ummm, shouldn't you be resting?"
"No, I should be trying to deal with this. I should be trying to learn not to panic just because I'm suddenly normal, because I'm suddenly just like every other person on this planet and can't feel every damn thing around me." She leaned in closer to him. "Why should I miss these... these abilities, when all they do is isolate me from the rest of humanity?"
"I don't know, why?" Darien wasn't entirely sure of her point, or if it was even her talking. Her eyes were still only tinted with the vaguest hint of blue, so he was pretty sure she hadn't cycled into the hallucination portion of this experiment. She moved his hand so that it was resting on her shoulder. When he tried to move it away, she held it in place. "Alyx, I don't want to hurt you."
"Doesn't hurt, feels wonderful," she murmured, her eyes closing.
That was not the reaction he was expecting. Her hand dropped, freeing him to move his away, but he found he couldn't. He wanted to touch her without the crazed urging of his id egging him on, realizing that he had missed her, that he needed this contact almost as much as she appeared to. His fingers just brushing against her skin, he slowly trailed them along her arm. Even this light contact left momentary marks on her skin, but they faded quickly and didn't seem to bother her in the least. In fact, it seemed to be doing the opposite -- calming the shivering that she otherwise had very little control over.
"So, you really can't 'feel' anything?"
"I can feel what you're doing just fine," she said, sounding breathless. He realized that there was definitely an unplanned reaction going on. Unplanned by him, anyway. She might very well have had every intention of having this occur, and he found himself wanting to be drawn along with it, with her.
Damn it, this wasn't fair, but he wouldn't take advantage of the situation no matter how much he wanted to, or how much she seemed to want him to. "Alyx, I meant you can't read me anymore."
Her eyes snapped open. "Darien, you are the one person I make every effort not to read."
Darien blinked at her. Given what she had admitted to over a week ago -- had it really been that long since they had been alone together? -- she had once again managed to throw him into confusion. "Umm, what do you mean? You said before you pretty much always knew where I was, how I was feeling?"
"Until you started actively blocking me, yeah, but it was always unintentional. In fact, I do my best to either block or ignore it." She sighed and slumped a bit. "I rely on you too much as it is; I don't need you, your emotions, in the background all the time. It's bad enough that I can't walk into a place without knowing exactly where everyone and everything is. I... I..." Her voice was sounding panicky again, as she focused on what she had lost. She even jerked away from him with a sob, climbed off the couch, and backed away until her desk was between them.
"Alyx, calm down. You're fine." He wondered if this was what claustrophobes went through. He could remember his own long-standing fear of spiders, due to an incident when he was a kid. Heck, Kev had been smart enough to use that phobia on him to trigger the quicksilver the first time. He had used it a lot in those early days until the fear became dulled, till he no longer reacted with instant terror at the sight of a spider even on a TV screen. He'd acclimatized, and Kev had eventually moved on to other ways of increasing his heart rate and adrenaline. He would never be fond of the little buggers, but they no longer gave him screaming heebie-jeebies.
Which gave him a sudden burst of inspiration. "Alyx, I have an idea."
"Great, marvelous. I'm so happy for you," Alyx got out through clenched teeth.
He could see that her fight to hold it together was swiftly becoming a losing one, and it was looking like she was going to need to be sedated again just to get her through it, but if he was right, that was the last thing they wanted to do. Glancing at his watch, he wondered how long it would be before Claire got back; he wanted to bounce the idea off her before suggesting it to a mostly-incoherent Alyx. "Do you want something to help?"
She stood there shaking for a long moment, her eyes losing their focus as the panic returned. He watched her spiral out of control, whimpering softly as she fought the urge to run and slowly lowered herself to the floor. He cautiously walked over to her, not wanting to make her flee or otherwise freak and injure herself. Or him, for that matter.
"I want the counter. I want this over, now. I want my mind back," she pleaded.
"Alyx, we can't do that. We don't want to lose you to them." Darien held his position, shocked almost speechless at her request. That had to be the last thing he would ever have expected from her. From day one, she had been sickened and disgusted by the way the Official and sometimes the Keep had held the counteragent over his head to control him, to make him behave. There was no way she could want to suffer through that hell; she had no way of knowing what it was like.
He stopped that train of thought. She did know, from her association with him. Had done everything in her power to get him off of the counteragent, first with the inhibitor and later with new versions that reduced some of the nastier side effects. And both she and the Keep continued to look for ways to make it easier, maybe even finding a way alter the extra so it no longer functioned, though he doubted that would happen. Arnaud and his little group of mad scientists had done their job very well. So, she did know what she was getting into.
"They would control you, whoever you ended up with, even if it's the 'Fish."
She laughed, with more than a touch of hysteria. "They already do. Can't you see that?" She held out her wrists, bare except for the bruises. "They already do." She got to her feet suddenly. "If you won't help, I'll do it myself."
Before Darien could even hope to react, she bolted for the room. "Shit." Instead of trying to follow her -- much too slowly, given that running was out of the question -- he picked up the phone and dialed the Official. "Boss, we have a problem."