((As I stated before, this is a rewrite... finally got around to reworking this fic... ENJOY the angst!!!))

Nothing is What it Seems

Fanfic by: NekoSama (aka Chris) and Doretta (aka Desiree)

Email: nekosama@ix.netcom.com and dstreeter78@yahoo.com

Status:Part 2

Catagory:Angst

Spoilers: none

Season: after Beholder

Rating:PG for Violence

Summary:A bad day turns worse, and keeps going sour.

Standard disclaimer: The Invisible Man and all the characters are not ours and are used without permission. We are not getting paid for this.

It was so quiet.  There was a beeping coming from somewhere, but as he tried to open his eyes, a piercing pain smashed through his head.  Hobbes raised his hands and rubbed his face trying to wake himself.  

Forcing his lids open, he slowly took his surroundings.  He immediately located the source of the beeping and watched as his heartbeat rose and fell on the monitor.  

Swinging his eyes to the foot of the bed, he saw nothing but an old television set and a chart that hung from his footboard.  Turning his head even further, Hobbes took in the left side of the room.

The door was closed and the window shade was pulled down.  It was so dark. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a shape.  Someone was in the room with him, sitting in the chair that skirted his bed.  

Everything in his mind went on full alert, ready to fight this person if he had to. Bobby had no idea what had happened, in his confusion. The last thing he remembered was sitting in Darien's room, keeping a eye on his partner.

He cocked his head, raising it so he could see straight.  It was clear now who it was...Darien had fallen asleep in that hospital chair, his head kinked to one side as he had tried to get comfortable in the pint sized piece of furniture.

He was covered in a light blanket that had obviously been placed there after he had fallen asleep.  His arms were tucked securely under the cover.  He seemed content.  It broke Hobbes' heart to wake him, but he also knew he needed to clue his partner in as to what went down.  And the sooner the better.

"Pssst...Fawkes," he said quietly as to not startle his wounded friend.

Darien opened his eyes after a moment. "Hobbes?"

"Yeah, buddy," Hobbes replied. He thought for a moment and then realized that Darien was not wearing a hospital gown.  He was wearing his normal clothes.  Last time he'd seen Darien he was hurt pretty badly. What had happened to him?

"How ya feeling'?" Darien asked not quite awake yet.

"I feel great," he answered with a grin.  "You're looking better."

"I feel better.  And we're gonna get you out of here too."  Darien got up and walked over to Hobbes' bed very slowly.  He pushed the button to call the nurse and sat himself on the edge of the bed.

"Still don't got your feet, huh?" his partner asked as Darien yawned and slouched over.  A shake of the head was all he could muster as a response.

The door opened quickly and as Casey walked into the room, all smiles.  "Good evening, Mr. Hobbes..so glad to see..." she stopped as she saw Darien sitting there beside him.

Darien cringed as he looked down at his partner.  "Crap," he mouthed as he turned his head and smiled sheepishly. "Hey, Casey."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" she angrily asked as she hurried worried over to the two wounded agents.  "Why are you up?  And dressed?!"  She gaped as the men just stared not answering.

"You are NOT ready to leave yet, Darien!" Casey fumed.  "Are you trying to kill yourself?"

"But Case, I can't just sit here while Arnaud is out there," Darien responded putting on his 'hurt puppy' look.

Casey had always melted before when he used that gaze, and she was pissed that he was trying it now. She was positive he didn't know how bad off he really was!

"Did you ever think that maybe he wants you come after him, especially while you're still injured?  And YOU," she said turning to Hobbes, "I told you to take care of yourself.  I did not expect to find you lying on the floor in cardiac arrest. You died for short period of time!" she shouted trying to prove her point.

"Case, come on..." Darien started pulling himself up off the bed and making his way over to her.  "We kinda got some stuff to take care of,"  He did his best to plead to her with his eyes and it seemed to be working as she looked up at him sorrowfully.

"I just don't want you to get worse, Darien."  She looked away, down to Hobbes, trying to take her eyes off of Darien.  His eyes always got to her.

Hobbes looked up at Dr. O'Claire.  "Were you able to analyze the sample in that vial I gave you?" he asked trying to change the subject.

"We were.  It seems to be a form of sodium pentothal, possibly used for memory alteration," Casey answered, annoyed that they were avoiding the problem at hand.

"Memory alteration...wait a minute..I mean...they were trying to erase my memory?"  Darien looked painfully down at Casey.

"Seems to be," she answered.  "But it doesn't seem to have quite the effect they expected.  Darien..." she started placing her hand on his arm, "please..let's go back to your room.  You need to be in bed."

"No, Case, I gotta take care of this," he tried to convince her. "Especially since Eberts and Claire were taken from custody, probably by Arnaud."

An awkward silence fell as they stood there staring each other down, neither one wanting to give in first.

Bobby feared thinking about Claire in Arnaud's hands, since he'd seen then together. He still had deep feelings for her and didn't want Arnaud hurting her, or worse.

"Well, I think that DOES explain what happened to the Keeper," Hobbes interjected trying to ease the tension.

"And Eberts, too," Darien reminded him.

"Hmrph.  I don't think it took much to work on Eberts," Hobbes grumbled the animosity clear in his voice.      

"Hobbes, you've always had a gripe with him...maybe THIS time he wasn't thinking straight. So, can we get him out of here Case?" Darien motioned with his head at his partner as he continued his stare down with the doctor. 

With a heavy sigh, she looked down at the floor.  "Fine...but I want him under supervision," she said. "And you need to sign out as leaving A.M.A," she huffed.

"Yeah, no problem," Darien answered.

"I meant you," she quickly interjected as she raised her gaze and met his firmly. 

"You," she said poking her finger into his shoulder, "need medical attention. And if you're going to leave here, I need to know you're going to be looked after."

"I got his back, doc," Hobbes said as he started to sit up in bed.

"Not good enough." With that she took a step closer to Darien and tried to make herself taller to meet his eyes.  "I want you to check in with me every hour on the hour, you understand?"

"Case..."

"No," she said immediately, "this is not up for debate."

All he could do was divert his eyes as he looked down at the floor and nodded his head in surrender.

"Good," she said as she walked over to Hobbes to check his vitals one last time.

"I shouldn't be letting either of you leave, but since you are so intent on doing this," she said writing something on Hobbes' chart.  She whipped a small pad out of her pocket and scribbled something quickly. 

"And here," she started, giving the prescription to Hobbes. "This is for nitro‑glycerin pills. If you start having any chest pain what so ever take one of these and make it back here pronto."

"Thanks, doc," Hobbes said folding up the piece of paper.

"Now I mean it, any problems with either of you, and you come back here."

"We WILL. So are we done now?" Darien asked.

"For now," she said annoyed walking from the room. "Every hour on the hour!" she yelled as she closed the door behind her."

"I'm seeing how you two got along so well," Hobbes smirked as he got up.  Shuffling across the tile floor, he made his way to the closet and rummaged for his clothes.  "You two..you two.." he said laughing, "are the two most stubborn people I know."

"Tell me about it," Darien said eyes still on the door.  "Hurry up, Hobbes.  I'll meet you outside."

"Hey! I'm supposed to be supervising you!" he yelled as his partner flew from the room.  With a shake of his head, Hobbes continued dressing.

Darien went out to the van and sat down.  His side still ached some, but he tried not to think of that.  They had already lost 2 days while Hobbes was recovering. 

Arnaud could literally be anywhere.  He still wondered how Arnaud had been able to get Claire, Eberts and the Official.

Hobbes made it out to the van after 15 minutes.  "I have never had to sign so many forms before in my life and grabbed that prescription from the pharmacy in there," he sighed putting the new bottle in his pocket. "So, where to now, buddy?"

"My place," he answered shortly.  "I gotta get something."

Hobbes pulled the van out of the parking lot and headed east.  The drive was a quiet one.  Neither of them knew what to say about the events that had unraveled around them.

They pulled up outside of Darien's building and sat there for a moment.  Darien's head rested against the back of the seat as he contemplated. 

"I'm coming up with you," Hobbes said reading his mind.  His partner just glared at him as he unbuckled his belt. 

Both men stepped gingerly from the van as they watched each other.  A smile passed over both their faces as they inwardly laughed at their misfortune.

They walked up to Darien's apartment cautiously.  The door was slightly ajar.  Hobbes pulled his gun out and stepped in front of Darien.  He moved slowly taking everything in stride.  He pushed the door open with his foot and edged inside.  He quickly checked the bathroom and bedroom and found no intruders.

"Hobbes, come here!" Darien shouted.  Darien was pointing to a note tacked onto his refrigerator. 

The note read:

Hello, Fawkes. 

Sorry to have missed you.  If you would like your co‑workers to be restored to normal I would like something in return.  Give me the encryption codes for the disks I have and I will give you the substance you need to de‑program your co‑workers.  I will be awaiting your reply. 

Au Revoir, Arnaud

Arnaud had jotted down a location and a time.  He had it set for 2 days from now.

"We can't give that bastard what he wants," Hobbes snarled.

"I know that, but we have to at least make him think we are.  I'm gonna need a shot of counteragent the day after that, and the only ones who know the formula are Claire....and Arnaud.  Besides, we can't leave her and Eberts," Hobbes frowned at the mention of Eberts name, "the way they are.  That's worse than being in the padded room."

Darien eyed his partner and slowly turned his back to him as he quicksilvered. 

"What you doin', Fawkes?" Hobbes asked wearily. 

Darien didn't answer.  Instead he made his way across the room and quietly opened the drawer of his nightstand so as not to alert Hobbes to his whereabouts. Grasping the paper he kept safely tucked under a worn out copy of "Catcher in the Rye", he made his way back to his position in the kitchen and shook the quicksilver to the floor. "Here ya go," he said as he produced the paper and handed it to his partner.

Hobbes stood gaping at the page filled with numbers and symbols...clearly the encryption Arnaud had written about.

"So what's the plan?" Hobbes asked.

Darien was about to answer when his phone rang.  "Hello?" Darien said picking up the phone.

"Well, Fawkes, have you decided?" Arnaud inquired.

"All right.  We'll do it." Darien replied.

"Very wise," he replied wickedly over the line.  "How you feeling Fawkes?"   It took Darien by utter shock, the precision of Arnaud's judgement.  Pain smashed through his head, making him drop the phone and fall to his knees.

Hobbes ran over to him picking up the receiver. "Where do you want us, you sorry son of a bitch?" he asked angrily into the phone as he laid a reassuring hand on his partner's shoulder.

"Hello again, Agent Hobbes," Arnaud spoke in a sweet tone.

"Didn't you hear me?  Where do you what to do this?" Hobbes fumed, as Darien started to recover.

"Patience, patience...by the way...do you know that Claire makes the cutest little sounds when she..."

"Stop. Right NOW!" Hobbes growled.  "Let's finish this." Hobbes stated.  He didn't want to know what Arnaud had done to Claire, that just hurt too much. 

Worse than that he didn't want Darien to find out.  He knew they both had feelings for her and the thought of that bastard even touching her turned his stomach.

As Darien sat crouched over on the floor, he heard Hobbes scratch something onto the pad of paper by the phone and hang up noisily.

"Fawkes?  Can you get up?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered rising to his feet.

"I got the location.  Let's do this."

It took them two hours to get to the gate of the mansion that boasted the address Hobbes had taken down.  It was a sprawling villa with stables at the base of it's hill.  The sound of horses echoed up at them as the ascended the drive.

The guards opened the gate and let them pass.  Darien and Bobby walked up to the front door cautiously.  They were shown inside to a large office.

Arnaud walked in and sat down at the desk. "Please, sit down gentlemen," Arnaud smiled motioning to the chairs.  He was going to enjoy tormenting these two.

"Where is it?" he asked smiling meekly at the two men who sat across from him, folding his hands in front of him.

"We have it," Darien said coldly staring at the man who had killed his brother and caused him so much grief with the quicksilver madness.  "Let us see Claire."

Arnaud motioned to the back of the room and instantly the door swung open producing a haggard looking Claire.

She gazed around and walked over to Arnaud as if under a spell. 

"What did you do to her?" Darien asked slamming his fist down onto the desk.

"Temper, temper, Fawkes.  I've held up my end of the bargain.  Now, where are the codes?" Arnaud asked putting his arm around Claire's waist.

She smiled at Arnaud and sat down on his lap.

"Claire, can you hear me?" Darien asked with concern in his voice.  She barely glanced up at the sound of his voice.  "Damn you Arnaud!" he yelled as started to round the desk.

"Fawkes, cool it!"  Hobbes caught him before he could get far.  "We've got the codes right here," he said producing the paper from his pocket.  "Fair trade...give her to me."

"I didn't know you cared so much Agent Hobbes," Arnaud laughed.  "That's so sweet." Arnaud pulled a vial out of the desk.  "The paper for the vial.  And you'll have her back more or less intact."

Hobbes glowered at Arnaud.  He wanted to pound his face in.  He hurt Claire and was trying to bait both of them into attacking. 

Darien let the last comment Arnaud said sink in. He glared at Arnaud as he let the quicksilver over take him.  Before Arnaud could rise from his chair, he was across the desk, hands around his throat. 

Claire fell to the ground as Darien's weight knocked into her.  He grabbed hold of the vile with one hand before Arnaud could drop it, loosening his grip on the man's neck.  Darien tossed the vile across the desk to Hobbes.

Arnaud broke free from Darien's loosened grip and fell back.  He pulled a gun out of his coat and pointed it at Hobbes.  "Claire, come over to me," he commanded and Claire got up shakily and started to walk towards Arnaud.

Darien, still quicksilvered grabbed her and pulled her back.  Claire fought with Darien and pounded against his chest. Darien winced as she hit his incision.  He lost his hold on her and stepped back shedding the quicksilver coating.

Hobbes had his own gun out and pointed it at Arnaud.  "Leave her alone, Arnaud." He said stepping between Claire and Arnaud trying to hold her back.

Claire stopped as Hobbes blocked her path.  Dazed, she turned around to face Darien and an instant look of shock washed over her face.  She held up a hand weakly to touch the drop of blood that came through his shirt.  "Are you ok?" she barely whispered.

Darien, taken aback by hearing her speak, took his eyes off of Arnaud.  "I'm fine, Claire," he answered her trying to get her to look up at him.  He put his hand on the back of her head and tilted her face upward. 

"Shoot him," he forcefully told his armed partner.  "Shoot him now."  So much anger filled Darien's voice that Hobbes did a double take. 

He looked down to Claire quickly to see what had captured Darien's attention.  "What did you do to her?!" he screamed.

"Hobbes..." 

Hobbes took a step back toward Darien and the Keeper keeping his eye on the gun pointed at him.  Holding her head still, Darien pointed at a small two inch scar at the base of Claire's neck.

Hobbes leveled his gun aiming at Arnaud's head.  "Tell me what you did, or I shoot you," Hobbes snarled.

"Now, you wouldn't want to do that Agent Hobbes.  If you kill me she'll never be able to help Darien again.  And I am the only one who can reverse the process.  So again, give me the codes." Arnaud smiled.

Darien pulled Claire close to him as Hobbes stood off with Arnaud.  A small twinge of pain crept up behind his eye but he warded it off.  There were other things to worry about right now. 

"Here," Hobbes said as he handed Arnaud the piece of paper he still grasped in his hand.  "Give me the vile."

"Gladly," Arnaud answered smugly as he uncocked his gun and lowered it.  Hobbes followed his lead.  Both men took a weary step toward each other, items held out in front of them.  Quickly, they each snatched the item from each other. 

"Now, how do we reverse what you did to her?" Hobbes snapped holding the vial in his hand.

Arnaud gave Hobbes and Darien the instructions of how to reverse the mental conditioning.  "...as for her physical state," Arnaud continued, "well, you have to figure that one out on your own."

Darien held Claire tightly to him as Bobby raised his gun once again.

"You're under arrest," Hobbes started.  "You have the right..."

Arnaud chuckled ominously as he began to walk from the room.  "You have a nice day, Mr. Hobbes," he said as he moved toward the door, motioning his men in to surround the agents.  "I will miss you, Claire, mon amour," he smiled as he eyed her one last time.  He left the room as six men with weapons entered and encircled the trio.

A rage overtook Darien as Arnaud left the room.  He quicksilvered and knocked three of the guards down as he left the room chasing after Arnaud.  He would NOT let him escape again.

Hobbes wounded the other three guards, since they were stunned at Darien's disappearance.  "Just so we're clear, everyone is under arrest!" Hobbes shouted and then called the police on his cell phone.

Darien's footsteps were loud as they pounded behind Arnaud.  The two men fled down the corridor toward the back room of the house.  Immediately slamming the door behind him, Arnaud spun around to his desk, hearing Darien slam into the barrier and begin pounding on the door. 

"Give it up, Fawkes....it's useless."

The quicksilver madness started to take hold in Darien's brain. Darien didn't try to fight it.  He wanted to get Arnaud so badly he just didn't care right now. He used his full strength fueled by the madness and kicked the door as hard as he could.  He shattered the frame and the door fell in.  Arnaud just stood there staring at the red eyed demon that faced him.

Quickly, Arnaud dodged behind the desk, whipping open a drawer.  He pulled a long syringe out, pulling the cap off with his teeth.  Holding it up in clear view for Darien to see, the blue liquid of the counteragent sloshed back and forth in the vile.

"Screw you," Darien said through clenched teeth.  "I'd rather die than see anything happen to Claire.  And since I've let you get this far..." he whispered edging closer to his nemesis, "I need to make up for lost time."

Arnaud backed into the wall and realized he had no where left to go.  Darien grinned maliciously and pushed the desk out of his way.  Nothing and no one was going to stop him now. 

Arnaud finally realized that the addiction to the counteragent had been overridden by a more primal need, revenge for someone he cared about.  Arnaud set the vial down on the desk and tried to back away to the door. 

Darien was on him in a second.  His hands gripped around Arnaud's throat cutting off his air supply.

"Fawkes!  Stop!  We need to take him alive." Hobbes shouted entering the room gun drawn.

"No..no..no..no.. Hobbes. This ends right now.  All of the pain he caused, he deserves this." Darien hissed not lightening his grip on Arnaud.

Hobbes rushed to the back of the room where Arnaud lay sprawled out on the floor. He grabbed the vile that had been knocked to the floor and checked it for air.  Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his partners red eyes glaring a warning at him.

"Don't you do it, Hobbes," Darien growled as he clenched harder around Arnaud's throat.

"Sorry, buddy." And with that, Hobbes leapt over a pile of strewn papers and jabbed the needle into the back of Darien's neck.  "Jeez...I hope I did that right," he said to himself as Darien bucked back in pain.

Hobbes lifted Arnaud, who was now unconscious, handcuffed him and gave him to the police who had finally arrived.

Claire walked into the room shakily. "Is... he all right..." she stuttered.

"No he need to go to the hospital," Hobbes said as he rolled Darien over.  "He's starting to bleed again."  Hobbes groaned and pulled a breath in tightly gripping his chest. "I need to go too..." and he collapsed on top of his wounded partner, passing out before he could take the pill Casey had given him.

"Wake up, Darien!" Casey yelled as she hovered over his bead.  "Open your eyes."

Darien cracked his eyes open and watched as the doctor moved away from the bed to check his monitors.

"You wake all your patients like that Case?" he asked mockingly.

She moved back to his bed and glared down at him.  "You didn't check in."  The stare she gave him quieted any response he may have had ready.  "I can't help you like this, Darien.  You're hopeless."

He knew this.  So he kept quiet about it.  "Where's Hobbes?"

"Being taken care of.  He'll be fine.  He's in better shape than you are."

"You taking care of him?"

"No.  A dear friend of mine is, though.  Her name is Lori.  She's a nurse here and I trust her completely."

"Thanks, Case," he said as he tried to move and get comfortable in the bed.  A burning pain seared through his chest as he tried to roll a little, twisting his features in a pained wince.

"Sit still, Darien," Casey said coldly. 

"Yeah, no problem," he replied laying his head back down.

"You opened up your stitches for the second time," she snapped as she checked his pulse and then pulled out the thermometer to check his temperature.  She stuck it in his mouth to keep him silent for another minute. 

"You also have an infection.  Your body needs time to heal and nothing you say is going to get me to let you leave early this time."  She checked the reading on the thermometer and shook her head.  "You still have a fever."

Darien nodded and tried to relax.  "Where's Claire?" he asked remembering what had happened at Arnaud's house.

"That woman who came in with you?" Casey inquired and Darien nodded again.  "She's in the waiting room.  I don't trust her Darien.  Isn't she one of the people who hurt you?"

"Yes and no.  That wasn't her fault," Darien started trying to sit up and wincing again when he moved.

"Darien, you have to try not to move too much.  I'll send in nurse Lori with some pain meds."

"But, what about Claire?"

Casey sighed. "If you REALLY want to see her, I'll send her in.  But I'm going to check back in on you after 10 minutes," she rolled her eyes and left the room.

Claire opened the door to Darien's room moments later, a glazed over look still lingering on her face.

"You awake?" she spoke softly into the room as she entered.

"Yeah, Claire, I'm awake," Darien answered trying not to startle her.

"How do you feel?"

"Claire, I'll feel a hell of a lot better knowing you're ok.  What the hell happened?  Do you remember anything?"

"Not a lot.  But I'm assuming some of it will come back to me.  Darien...I'm so sorry I got..."

"Claire, don't," he cut her off.  "This obviously wasn't your fault."

"I'm still sorry," she said sadly as she hung her head.

Darien reached out and took her hand gently, holding onto it as she tried to hold back her tears.

Nurse Lori cleared her throat as she entered the room.  "Dr. O'Claire sent me in with some meds for you Mr.Fawkes."

"How's Hobbes?" Darien asked as the nurse injected the demerol into the I.V.

"Mr. Hobbes is doing fine.  They should be releasing him in about 4 days."

"Wow...that's a long time.  You gonna be able to stand him for that long?" he asked her with a smirk on his face.

"We'll see..." she replied as she pushed the rest of the fluid into the tube.  "Nice to see you again, Claire.  Are you doing ok?"

"I'm fine, Lori, thank you."

With that and a quick smile to the Keeper, Lori made her way from the room.

"You know her?"

"Um..yeah...sort of.  We went to medical school together ages ago."

Darien's eyes started to flutter as the pain med kicked in. Clarie put her hand on his shoulder and sat down as he started to doze off.

Casey came back into the room, true to her word, after 10 minutes.  "I'm sorry.  You're going to have to leave now.  He needs his rest and I'm going to make sure she gets it," Casey said harshly pointing to the door.

Claire made her way down the hallway to check on Bobby.  He was sound asleep in his bed as she rounded the corner of his door.  Lori hovered over him checking his pulse.

"Oh hi, Claire."

"Hello Lori.  How is he?"

"He's doing much better," she answered with a smile on her lips.  "He's a strong man."

"Yes...indeed.  Strong headed."  Claire let out a little sigh as she folded herself into a chair.

"Listen,Lori, how would you feel about leaving the hospital and coming to work with me?"

"Doing what?  I like my job here at the hospital."  Lori asked standing next to Claire.

"I work for a government agency, and I really need some help now," Claire sighed the terror and exhaustion of the last few days showing on her face.

"OK, Claire," Lori started, "you need some rest too.  Here's my phone number.  Give me a call with the details after you've had some sleep.  We can talk then and I'll think it over." Lori smiled helping her friend up and out the door. 

Claire took a few steps down the hall and leaned against the wall tears welling up in her eyes.

****

There was a slight drizzle of rain beginning to cover the sidewalk in front of the agency as Darien pulled his car up to the building.  Stepping out, he paused briefly, placing his hands in his back pockets and glanced down at the cement where he had lain only two weeks earlier.  Silently counting his blessings, he pushed through the glass doors and walked down the hallway.

"Keep?" he called as the door to the lab slid open for him.

"Oh...Darien..."  Lori scrambled up from the desk and walked over to the agent, hand extended. 

"Nurse Lori...what...?"

"Claire hired me.  We'll be working together."

"Ok. When did this happen?" Darien asked looking very confused.

"She talked to me shortly after you were re‑admitted to the hospital."

"Wow. Well, welcome to the madhouse then." Darien smiled shaking her hand.

The door slid open as the two locked hands, revealing a happy and refreshed Bobby Hobbes. 

"Buddy!" he yelled walking over to Darien and grabbing his hand.  "How's the wound, pal?"

"It's just great, Hobbes, thank you for asking."

"And who do we have here?  Nurse Lori?  It's a pleasure.  Keep filled me in on everything.  Glad to have you aboard."

"Why is it I'm always the last one to know these things?" Darien asked a bit perturbed. 

"Lori!" Claire called from the doorway.  "You got here early."

"Well I wanted to get a look around.  Hope that's ok," she replied a bit worried as the three looked down on her.

"No, it's fine.  Oh...Darien," Claire said sheepishly as she smiled up at him and back to Lori.  "I assume Lori told you she'll be working her now."

"Yeah, she sure did."

"Great.  Then there are a few things left to go over." Claire walked to the back of the lab, pulling off her coat and throwing it over her desk chair.

"So, Lori, Claire here tells me you two went to school together." He tried his hardest to make small talk.  She was going to be his co‑worker but he was still a man and was not blind to the fact that she was beautiful. 

"Yeah...for a while," she smiled up at him as his eyes darted to the floor.  She giggled lightly as she saw the little boy in him come out.

"Let me see your hand, Darien," Claire said as she rejoined the group.

He extended his arm as he looked back over to Lori and smiled.  "Don't be a dork," he told himself.  "Just be cool..." 

"Here you go," Claire sang as she dropped his present onto the palm of his hand.

The last thing he expected was for it to move! "Ah crap!" he yelled, jumping back five feet, dropping the tarantula onto the floor, and immediately quicksilvering.  "Claire!  Not nice!"

Claire smiled and scooped up the tarantula in her hands.  She put him back in his cage.  She turned back around and her smiled faded.

"Uhhh...Claire..."

Lori had collapsed in a heap on the floor. Hobbes had run to her side and propped her head up.  "Jesus, Keep!"

"You didn't tell her about me, did you?" Darien asked.

"Oooops..."

to be continued....

Any feedback would be appreciated.