This part is rated R for a minor adult situation.

Chapter 5

Ed grudgingly agreed. He thought of the drug used on him from Lewis and going through something like that again was not on his agenda. But perhaps he could use this to his advantage. Ed thought that he could send a cryptic message to Walter. He didn't know where he was but he knew who was holding him. He was counting on Darien and Hobbes. They knew more about Chrysalis and this man, Stark. At least they would know where to start looking for him.

"What is it that you want me to do? You seem to have everything already." Ed queried.

"Like I said, my scientists would help with your gene therapy and would find a way to distribute it to the new species. In return, I need for you to hack into Walter Attwood's computer." Stark looked intently at Ed.

"Walter.why?"

"Dr. Tate, how much do you really know about your boss?" Stark asked.

Ed knew that Walter worked for the government but other than that nothing, he remained silent. Stark smiled, "I see." Stark moved closer to Ed, "What would you say if I told you that Walter has hidden agendas for your work?"

"I'd say you're lying and you would say anything to get me to help you," Ed said contemptibly. "You haven't given me any reason to trust you. I'm nothing but a bargaining chip for Darien. It's him you really want."

"Dr. Tate," Stark laughed, "I don't bargain with anybody. True, I do want Darien Fawkes and I will use you to get him.but I'm not about to give you up. I have plans for you and the gland." Stark got up from the chair, "You're not going anywhere and if I don't see Attwood's files." he motioned towards Connor.

Connor pulled out a stun gun and touched Ed's shoulder. Ed's back arched as 625,000 volts went through his body. He fell to the floor. Every muscle in his body felt like they were paralyzed. He could barely move. Stunned, he looked up at both Stark and Connor, "Wha's that for?"

"Just a little foretaste of what will happen if you disappoint me," Stark knelt down on the floor and looked into Ed's fearful eyes, "Do I have your full cooperation, Dr. Tate? Or should you and Connor become buddies?"

"You 'ave my coop'ration," Ed didn't hesitate. The pain in his body was still very fresh.

"I knew you would see it my way." Stark stood up and motioned for Connor to help Ed back in the chair.

Ed was seated back in the chair and the keyboard pulled out so he can start to work. Stark motioned for two guards to stay in the room at all times, "Keep an eye on him." Stark then turned to Ed, "I'll be back to check up on you and I had better see some progress." Stark walked out with Connor right behind him.

Ed glanced quickly at the two guards and then turned his attention to the computer, "Whatever happened to not being mistreated?" Ed complained to himself. He rolled his shoulder to get the kink out, "Damn, that hurt."

****

Darien watched Hobbes get in the driver seat. Hobbes pulled out his bottle and dried swallowed two pills. Darien shot Hobbes a concerned look, "Hey, man, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, couldn't be better," Hobbes lied. He was angry at Ed, at Claire, at everyone. He was full of jealousy.

"I know you too well, my friend. You're not fine and I don't have to read your mind to know that. Talk to me." Darien said.

Hobbes looked at Darien, "Guess there's no fooling ya is there?"

"Nope, I've seen this before, like with Viv. This has to do with Claire and Ed doesn't it?"

"And what if it does?" Hobbes said in a harsh tone that spoke volumes. His hands gripped the wheel like he had his hands around someone's neck, like Ed's neck.

"Look, man, they're two adults. Claire made her choice; you have this 'no fishing off the company pier' thing. Did you think she was going to wait around for you to start fishing? You've got to let her go and let her find out if this is right or not." Darien said. He didn't like telling Hobbes that, but he had to snap Hobbes back into thinking clearly before he did something that he would regret.

"Fawkes, you don't even know. The only reason why she slept with the nerd bean pole is because Mr. Ed reminds her of Kevin!" Hobbes stared at Darien for a moment.

"Kevin? What does Kevin have to do with this?" Darien glared at Hobbes, "Don't lie to me, man, I'll know it." Darien said sternly.

"Kevin and Claire dated; they knew each other, okay! You happy?" Hobbes quickly realized what he said and stared at Darien, an apologetic looked engraved on his face. "Fawkes..." Hobbes said but he was too late. Darien's face turned red and his nostrils flared with the heavy breathing.

"Why didn't you tell me.I thought we were partners, friends.?" Darien ran his hand through his hair. "Anything happen while Kevin's memory RNA was in me?"

"I don't know." Hobbes never had a chance to finish. Darien got out of the van and ran back upstairs to confront Claire.

"Oh crap." Hobbes said, "I'm sorry, Claire." The secret was out and now Claire was going to be even more upset with him now.
Darien burst through the door and found Claire putting Ed's surfboard away, "Darien? I thought you left."

Darien interrupted Claire, "Tell me about you and Kevin! And don't leave anything out."

Claire stood there in total shock. "You know?" She said in a voice that sounded horrified, "Bobby told you?"

"In not so many words. He's down there pissed off, he thinks you slept with Ed cause he reminds you of Kevin. Is that true?" Darien approached Claire.

"Oh bum," Claire sounded quilty. She paused and thought for a moment. How could she tell Darien about her and Kevin? "Look, Darien, Kevin and I did know each other. We dated when we were both at Cal Tech. But after that we lost contact with each other, we never saw each other again."

"Until his memory RNA.what happened Claire?" Darien asked. He watched as Claire closed her eyes and Darien not only saw the kiss from Claire's memory, but felt it on his lips. He touched his lips lightly and sat down, "Oh crap.Claire, you could have told me."

"And told you what, Darien? That I loved Kevin? That I kissed him.you!" Claire sat down next to him.

"You could have told me that you knew him at least. Do you know how weird this is? First, you kiss Kevin when his memory was in me, which means essentially you kissed me too and now you slept with a guy that could be my twin." Darien looked at Claire, his brow creased, "Doesn't any of this freak you out in any way?" Darien sighed, "You've got to be honest with yourself about Ed." Darien got up, "Don't hurt him too." He turned and left Ed's apartment.

Claire sat there on the couch taking in Darien's words. It wasn't about Kevin or did Hobbes tap into something that she didn't know was there? "Oh bloody hell!"

****

Darien and Hobbes arrived in San Diego two hours later. Most of the ride was spent in silence. Darien was not going to push the subject on Hobbes. If Hobbes wanted to talk, he would listen.

Hobbes parked down the street from the Chrysalis building. The two men sat in the back of the van. Darien put on his ear piece, he looked at Hobbes with worry about the mental condition he was in. "You gonna be okay, Hobbes? Cause, I'm going in there and I need you man, you know what I'm saying? "

"Yeah, I got your back." Hobbes put his hand to low five his partner.

"Glad to hear it, bro." Darien slapped Hobbes' hand and quicksilvered.

"Go get 'em, I-Man." Hobbes said as the door opened then closed. He sat for a moment contemplating his thoughts about Ed and Claire. Darien was right. Claire needs to find out if Ed is the right one for her and he shouldn't interfere with that. All that mattered to him was for Claire to be happy. It was time for him to put his feelings aside and help find Ed before it was too late.
Darien quietly walked through the halls of the main Chrysalis building. He remembered where Stark's office was. When he reached the double doors he used his dominant senses to make sure Stark was alone or at least the office was empty. Stark wasn't there but a woman was, a young beautiful woman in fact. "Interesting," Darien said under his breath. He knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

Darien didn't answer, he knocked again instead. "Come on, answer the door.oh that's right.my bad, I forgot." He took a deep breath and focused on the young woman behind the door. "Bleh.bleh.come to me my darling," Darien said in his best Bella Legosi impersonation, he even used the hand motions to draw the young woman towards him.

"Fawkes, knock it off," Hobbes irritated voice came over the ear piece.

"Hey, you know, I think I can really get used to this. Sure would make my spy days easier. And the bonus prize.I won't get my butt kicked as much." Darien whispered.

Hobbes rolled his eyes, "Great, now you'll be an even bigger show off."

Darien watched the door slowly opened and the young woman stepped aside. He walked right in and closed the door. Darien let the control down and the young woman shook her head.

"Que.Que faisais-je?" She started to walk back towards her desk when something caught her eye. She stared at her couch and saw an indent in the cushion. The young woman frantically looked around, "Qu'est-ce que c'est ?"

"I am the ghost of Christmas Past or Present or even Future but he didn't talk so you can have your pick."

The young woman jumped and ran to pick up her phone.

"Uhmm.I wouldn't do that."

"Who.what are you?" She asked nervously. She looked around again, a smile suddenly came across her face. She squared her shoulders, "I know who you are. I have heard of you, oui. You are the man with the gland." Sharon glared at the couch, "Show yourself."

"Your wish is my command oh great one," A burst of silvery flakes appeared around Darien. He was sitting back with his legs crossed and his arms outstretched on top of the back rest.

Sharon gasped at what she saw, "Vous êtes magnificent!."

"Yeah, I get that a lot. I'm Darien Fawkes and you are?"

"My name is Sharon. Vous parlez français, monsieur Fawkes?" She crossed her arms in front of her.

"Un peu, je l'ai pris dans le Lycée. Je suis le troisième Canadien de français de génération. C'est une chose de famille." Darien said. (A little, I took it in High School. I'm third generation French Canadian. It's a family thing.)

"Fawkes, since when do you speak French?" Hobbes asked. He knew that Fawkes was third generation French Canadian but he didn't know the kid could speak the language. "Dominant mind is like a freakin' human computer," Hobbes said out loud.

"Ahh, oui, famille. But Fawkes is not French." Sharon was truly interested in this man.

"Not that spelling, it was originally F-A-U-X then my grandfather changed it to F-A-W-K-E-S." Darien smiled at her. She was stunning with her long black hair hanging over her shoulders. "So, where is Stark?" He studied her mind and read the information he needed. Darien tilted his head back and smiled, "Oh I get it, Stark got canned. Now that's funny.what'd he do, buy stock in Enron?" Darien chuckled.

"Stark was right about one thing, you are.comment dites-vous ?...witty," Sharon said. She kept her eye on the man that sat on her couch. 'La honte, il n'est pas avec la Chrysalide,' she thought to herself. (Shame, he's not with Chrysalis.)

Darien smiled. The thought hit him and it triggered something inside of him. He looked around the room, "So, guess I couldn't have been that lucky and Stark was sent to Siberia, huh?"

"No, he's still around and very angry with you."

"Well, that's not news to me, sister." Darien patted the couch for her to sit down next to him. He felt her hesitation, "Don't worry, I won't bite." Darien grinned like the Cheshire cat. There was a new instinct he was feeling in his body, it was almost primal, a need that was welling up inside of him and it was hard to put a lid on it.

Sharon felt herself pulled towards Darien. She saw him get up and slowly walk over to her. That's what it seemed like anyway, slow motion. Darien moved on her like a cat pouncing on a mouse. She felt his strong arms wrap around her. Her heart pounded behind her sternum. Those chocolate brown eyes pierced her soul with a lustful hunger. She lifted her hands to touch his biceps. She purred when she felt the solid muscle underneath his shirt. Neither of them breathed normally. Darien lowered his head to her neck to sniff her scent. His warm breath hit her skin that caused it to respond, her skin pimpled up like a plucked bird. She arched her back and pushed herself closer to his body heat.

Darien moaned and started to kiss her neck. He worked his way up to her ear and gave the ear lope with the studded earring a little nip. Sharon nearly fell and he held her up. He rubbed his cheek against hers to leave his scent on her before he moved to her mouth.

Hobbes sat in the van and wondered what had happened. He heard them talk and now he heard moans, "Moans? Do I hear moans?.Ah Fawkes, what the hell are you doing up there?" Hobbes yelled into the earpiece. Actually he knew, Darien had lost control of his dominant instincts once again. "Tom didn't cover this in class," he said as he threw down the earpiece. "Okay, Hobbes.you gotta get the kid out of there. But how do you stop a hormone induced rampaging bull?"

Hobbes pulled out his cell phone and called Tom. "The guy better have some answers," Hobbes hissed as he looked up Tom's number.

"Daniels."

"Tom, its Hobbes. I have a hypothetical question for you. What do I do if Fawkes gets.you know.?" Hobbes wasn't quite sure how to ask.

"I know what?"

"Horny."

"Horny?" Tom didn't really understand the term.

"Yeah, you know, frisky, get the hots for say.a French chick."

Tom glanced at Sloan who smiled. She whispered in his ear. He raised a brow at Sloan's explanation. "Well, where's Darien now?"

"He's in the Chrysalis building. He was talking to some French chick and then they started.uhmm.moaning." Hobbes covered the phone to listen to more moans on the other end of the earpiece, "Bobby Hobbes doesn't need to deal with this right now." He said away from the phone, "What do I do, bust in on him or what?"

"No, don't bust in on him, he'll see you as a threat." Tom informed Hobbes. Sloan was listening intently. This was something that they never really talked about.

"A threat? A threat to what?"

"His territory," Tom looked at Sloan. She had a puzzled look on her face. "Dominant males are territorial when it comes to women. If you rush him while he's." Tom paused to look at Sloan who had her arms crossed in front of her.

"While he's what, Tom?" Hobbes yelled.

Tom cleared his throat, "Mating.uhmm.while he's mating. He must have sensed the attraction."

"Sense the attraction? Oh, you mean like pheromones?"

"Uhmm.yes that would be it. Dominants have a higher awareness to chemical changes in the body, especially pheromones."

Sloan thought for a moment. She and Ed had discussed this one time before and she tried to remember what Ed had said about female pheromones. She thought back to what started the conversation; Ed had wanted to know why if Tom was supposed to kill her why the sudden change in him.

Sloan took the phone from Tom, "Hobbes, the Vemeronasal Organ in our noses is the sensory apparatus that detects pheromones. Now pheromones are consciously undetectable to the human nose, but men can subconsciously pick up women human pheromones right away and become instantly sexually attracted. The vemeronasal organ stimulates the hypothalamus in the center of the brain which is the center of our emotions, like attraction, sexual desire and lust. Darien probably unconsciously picked up on the pheromone and it sent a signal to the hypothalamus and chances are he has no idea why he's doing whatever it is he's doing."

"So this chick saw him, got the hots for him and released her pheromones in the air and his nose picked up on it?" Hobbes shook his head, this wasn't his day.

"Essentially, yes. But Hobbes, there's something else.she might be at the fertile part of her reproductive cycle. That's when women release another pheromone called copulin. He may have picked up on her readiness to propagate. If he does.uhmmm.mate with her and gets her pregnant, she will have a dominant child. I know it's dangerous like Tom said, but you have to find a way to distract him."

"I don't friggin' believe this. It's Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom here." Hobbes rolled his eyes, "So what you're saying is I need an elephant gun to take him down so I can cool him off with a hose?" Hobbes took a deep breath, "Thanks Sloan, maybe next time, Tom can cover this in class." He put his phone down and put the earpiece back on and turned off the tape. No sense in recording this part. The best thing he could do was to let the kid ride out his emotions and hope that he would come to his senses before it was too late.

"Where does Stark have Dr. Ed Tate?" Darien whispered in Sharon's ear.

"Qui est cela ?" Sharon answered in between gasps.

Darien's hand moved up her bare thigh and he reached the hem of her skirt, "In English, bien-aimé."

"I don't know who you are talking about," Sharon's hand went to Darien's and she encouraged him to continue.

While Hobbes had talked to Tom, Darien had pushed Sharon over to the desk. She had been half sitting half standing. Darien pulled up her skirt and had her sit down. She leaned back and grabbed him by his shirt. He moved between her legs and placed kisses down the center of her chest. She moaned as her hips arched upward. Darien smiled and looked into her eyes.

Hobbes took the earpiece off, he couldn't take it anymore. He sat and waited for his partner to return. "Fawkes, I hope you know what you're doing."

"Ed Tate.he looks.just like.me," Darien broke his sentence up to place soft kisses on Sharon's now exposed flesh.

Sharon wrapped her legs around Darien's waist and held him closer to her body. Her fingers joyfully played with the thick main of hair on top of Darien's head, "No, monsieur Fawkes, I.ohhh.do not know.ahhh.who you speak of."

Darien moved down a little further south. His hand reached under her skirt to her laced panties. Sharon moaned and arched upward to give him better access. "Darien.you are fabulous." She felt his fingers messaging her at the source of her heat. Sharon's mind spiraled into ecstasy. 'Now I understand why Allianora loved you,' she thought to herself.

Darien stopped when the thought pounded him like a jackhammer. He looked up at her, 'Allianora?' the name clear in his mind, "What the h*ll am I doing?" Darien backed away and looked at the half naked woman, "What am I doing?" he repeated to himself.

Sharon observed Darien, "Qu'est-ce qui ne va pas mon amour ?" She slowly got off the desk. (What is wrong my love?)

"I can't do this, not with you.you're Chrysalis." Darien quicksilvered and ran from the room.

Sharon smiled; she buttoned her shirt and sat down behind the desk. She could still smell Darien on her and she took in a deep breath, "Je vous aurai, ce n'est pas si facile pour un homme de résister à la tentation." Sharon leaned back in the chair and day dreamed of her next encounter with the invisible man. (I will have you; it is not so easy for a man to resist temptation.)

Darien opened the door to the van and sat on the seat. He dropped the quicksilver. Darien's body shook and his skin was pale.

Hobbes didn't see his state of distress right away. "Done with your quickie there, Romeo?"

"Hobbes, what happened to me in there?" Darien turned to face Hobbes. His eyes were wide with fear.

"Whoa.what happened.I'd say that her pheromones sent you into hyper drive?" Hobbes snickered.

"Huh? What? Her pheromones?" Darien asked surprised.

"Yeah, pheromones.like the time when Bigfoot wanted to mate with you. Apparently, my friend, you can pick up on female pheromones."

Darien looked disgusted and gestured to Hobbes to start the van, "Let's just get out of here."

"Back to Pasadena?" Hobbes wasn't really looking forward to the two hour drive.

Darien shook his head in response, "No, we'll stay here. Stark has Ed, I know it. Sharon didn't know who he was." Darien thought back to what he almost did and he rubbed his face with his hands, "Aughh.I can't believe what I almost did."

"So, you didn't nookie?" Hobbes asked with the hand gesture included.

Darien had a unpleasant look on his face at the gesture, "No, I didn't." his words trailed off. Darien stared out the window until Hobbes asked another question.

"And since when did you speak French? It would have come in handy when we first met in Mexico with those Canadian Nationals, if they spoke French of course."

Darien looked bewildered, "Hobbes, I don't know, I mean I did take it in school, but I haven't spoken it since. It was just a way for me to meet chicks. I don't know where all that came from.it just came out."

"Well, you're freakin' me out with all this stuff. Did you get any information out of her?" Hobbes quickly changed the subject.

"She really doesn't know if Stark has Ed. But I did find out that she's high up in the chain of command for Chrysalis." Darien said.

"Hey, that's good." Hobbes reacted with enthusiasm.

"How is that good?" Darien looked at Hobbes agitated.

"Well, you can seduce her and get some info from her," Hobbes pointed to his head, "You know, read her mind."

"Hobbes, are you telling me to use my body like some male prostitute?" Now Darien was really disgusted at the thought.

"That's what corruption, temptation and seduction are all about my friend," Hobbes said.

"Oh this is just great," Darien huffed. He leaned his head back and stared at the van's roof, "I need to talk to Tom about this."

"I called him, he said not to interrupt while you were.you know.mating. He said that you would see it as a threat to your territory."

Darien shot Hobbes a questionable look, "My what? Territory? Mating? This is gettin' outta hand."

Hobbes took Darien back to his apartment. Darien decided to treat himself to a shower, not that he needed it because of his close encounter with Sharon. Her thinking of Allianora took the wind out of his sail anyway. He needed the shower to clear his mind.

Hobbes was going to call the official but thought that wouldn't be such a good idea. He fixed a snack for both of them and waited for Darien to finish in the shower.

Darien didn't eat right away; he wanted to speak with Tom to find out what happened to him earlier and to see if he had any luck with the Lewis angle. They talked for a while and Tom told Darien everything about the sexual practices of male dominants.

"Dominants don't have the capacity to love; we find it a weak human emotion as you already know. Mating is part of the fight for our survival. Dominant women can give birth to four babies at a time." Tom said over the phone.

"Sounds like a litter.makes sense, the more you have the better chances of survival." Darien added.

"That's right. Procreation for dominants is vital for our existence. A male dominant who mates with a human female will still father a dominant child. Sloan and Ed discovered that one some time ago." Tom paused, "Darien, you have to learn to control your instinct to procreate."

"Instinct? Man, don't you people have sex other than to increase the population?" Darien scoffed. He hung up the phone and looked at Hobbes. "I feel like a special for Animal Planet. He said that it's an instinct to procreate.to build up the species. Crap, if the Fat Man catches wind of this he'll turn me into a eunuch."

"I'll be sure not to tell him," Hobbes answered with a shutter. "Anything about Ed?" Hobbes wasn't sure how he felt about Ed. But still, they needed to find him.

"Nah, Tom doesn't think that Lewis has him, but he's still checking."

****

Stark walked in his office. He paused when he saw a dark haired woman sitting in his chair, a hint of surprise was in his voice, "Sharon? What are you doing here?"

"Bonjour, Jared. I came to offer you a second chance."

Stark smiled. He walked over towards his desk, "Well, I'm pleased to hear that. I have another report for you." He handed her a stack of papers.

Sharon looked at them, "Oiu, I have already read it. Tell me, have you found anything more on these.Dominants?"

"As a matter of fact I was going to make an addendum to my report. I have working for us right now one of the lead scientists who has been working on a way to eradicate the new species." Stark was smug in his demeanor.

Sharon took note of it and smiled at him, "I would like to meet this scientist, take me to him." Sharon stood up and retrieved her coat. She followed Stark out the door and to the waiting limo. "You have him off site?" she asked.

"Yes, I prefer to take extra precaution in this situation." Stark held the door open for Sharon and she sat down on the leather seat. He felt that Tate would be his ticket back into the graces of his boss and Sector G would remain in his control.

****

Ed had sent a message to Walter's email. He hoped that his odd S.O.S. would be understood by someone. Now he searched through the Chrysalis files. Ed eyed the two guards and saw that they were occupied in a game of chess. Ironic, Ed found himself in a different kind of chess game. He just hoped he could check mate his opponent before they realize what he was doing.

"Okay, Stark, you got into my computer, now lets see if I can hack into yours," Ed punched in a few keys and waited. The only reward he got was the default sound from the computer. The two guards took a moment from their game and looked at Ed suspiciously. He matched their stare and shrugged his shoulders, "Access Denied," Ed said to them and watched as they went back to their game. "Morons," he said under his breath.

"Okay, let see.if you where important files where would you be.it was easier hacking into the phone company." Ed paused and chuckled, "Great, now I'm talking to myself." He checked his watch, Stark would be returning soon and he needed to work fast.

Ed typed in a sequence and a default sound echoed in the room. Ed smiled at the two guards, "Sorry." Ed leaned back in his chair, "Chrysalis.come on Ed think.they are a genetically enhanced group of people." Ed smiled, "Science terms.okay.let's try this," Ed typed in the word *chrysaliskris´elis*. He waited. Default sound announced his failed attempt. "Okay...hmmm.how about this one," he typed in the word * pupapyoo´pe*. Another irritating sound greeted Ed.

"Okay, it's not the resting state or the cocoon itself.maybe." Ed typed in the word, *lepidoptera*. It worked. "Third times the charm.now let's see what we got here."

**** Darien sat down to eat. "I'm so hungry I could eat a." he paused in mid sentence.

Hobbes bit into his sandwhich, "Horse., I know that's what." Hobbes noticed the trance like stare on Darien's face, "Fawkes? Are you."

"Shhhh.Hobbes.we need to get out of here," Darien's voice sounded urgent. He leapt off the bar stool and grabbed his coat. "Come on, Hobbes!" He seized Hobbes by his arm and hauled him off the bar stool.

"Geezz.Fawkes," Hobbes said with a slight irritation in his voice. "Your grip is like a vice!" Hobbes rubbed his arm.

Darien looked at the smaller man, "Sorry, partner." Darien put up his shield to cover them both. Hobbes felt Darien's hand on his shoulder and then the coolness of the quicksilver. Hobbes vision went from color to monochrome in an instant, "Fawkes."

"Hobbes, quiet.someone's coming and it's not FTD." Darien opened the door and led them out of his apartment. They followed the wall towards the stairs. Darien stopped, "We can't go this way...lets try the elevator..." They ran to the elevator and pushed the button. It didn't light up. Darien pushed it again. Still nothing happened, not even the sound of the old elevator movements, "Oh crap, they got the thing turned off or something." Darien sensed their electrical impulses as they came up the stairs, "They're getting closer."

"You got a fire escape or something here?" Hobbes asked quietly.

"Yeah, this way." Darien nearly dragged Hobbes down the hall by his arm. They reached the window and climbed outside. There was no quiet way of going down the metal steps. Darien saw some more of the men as they came around the corner. "Crap, come on!" Darien leaped off the stairs and waited for Hobbes, "Hurry, man, jump will ya!"

Hobbes looked down, he knew he had very little time left before the quicksilver flaked off, so he jumped and landed on his two feet. He felt the gruff tug at his shirt again and he was pulled down the alley by Darien. Hobbes heard the footsteps and looked behind him, "Are they human?"

"Yeah," Darien answered. They stopped at the corner and Darien peeked around the corner. Darien slowly moved out onto the sidewalk. Hobbes nearly ran into him when Darien made a sudden stop.

"Whoa.watch it.I nearly rammed into you!" Hobbes protested.

Darien was looking around, surveying his surroundings. He shifted his body to shield Hobbes. "Whadja doin', Fawkes?" Hobbes asked. His answer came quickly.

Darien's body vibrated, his free hand went to his head, "Uhhhh." Darien hunched over.

"Fawkes!" Hobbes yelled.

Darien straightened back up and grabbed Hobbes again, "Come on." He became confused and the quicksilver flaked away. Darien seemed to be off balance as he ran. He knocked over a garbage can and stumbled sideways as he nearly tripped over his own feet.

"Fawkes?" Hobbes became concerned. Darien acted strange as they ran down another alley. Hobbes had to pull him back when he almost ran into the side of the building. "What's wrong with you?" He looked into Darien's eyes and what he saw made him take a step back, "Fawkes?"

Darien's eyes weren't focused. They looked distant, like he was comatose. Darien swayed like a drunk. "Wha.ja.huh." Darien tried to speak to Hobbes but couldn't form anything coherent. He knew what he wanted to say, but he couldn't express it.

"Fawkes, you're not making any sense," Hobbes said. He grabbed Darien's shoulders, "What's wrong?"

Darien shook his head from side to side. His legs nearly gave out and he grabbed onto Hobbes for support.

*POP*

Hobbes turned his head to the sound and saw a canister hit the ground. "Oh crap," Hobbes said as a strange gas leaked from the can.

This time Hobbes hunched over, grabbing Darien. "Get outta 'ere," Hobbes said to Darien before he collapsed on the ground.

Darien erratically bent down to pick up Hobbes. No way was he going to leave him there. He fought against his scrambled mind and desperately tried to focus. Darien hoisted the smaller man over his shoulder and wobbled precariously as he tried to straighten to his full height. He tried to peer through the smoke to see where he was going. His senses were confusing him. Darien was successful in only turning around in a circle and even that motion was erratic. The gas was had started to take its toll. But Darien pressed on, the instinct to survive was too great for him to lie down and give up.

*POP*

Anther canister landed at Darien's feet. The gas emitted from the can went straight up and into his lungs. Darien walked unsteadily a few more feet before his legs went numb. He fell to his knees and then sideways. Hobbes lay on top of him. Darien could hear the footsteps get closer. He turned his head with what little control he had left and gazed up at one of the men, "Guess you win."

Hobbes was roughly rolled off of Darien and left in the alley. A dark van quickly drove down the alley and the door opened. Darien was lifted off the ground and placed inside.

A dark limo waited by the side of the road. The window came down when one of the men approached it. "Successful test?" the lady asked.

"Yes, ma'am, the frequency was just enough to confuse him; the gas took care of the rest. We left the other one there. He won't be harmed, just wake up with a killer headache."

"Very good," the lady rolled up her window and headed in the opposite direction from the vans. She turned to her assistant who sat next to her, "It appears that the sensory disrupter works. Remind me to thank Walter later. The information he gathered from Lynch and what I got from Tom proved to be valuable in the development of this new weapon against the dominants." As she spoke, she didn't notice another car pull out and follow the vans.

TBC..