Disclaimer and such in chapter one.

Sea of Glass 2/?

Darien wanted to ask where he was, but something was stopping him. There was something in his mouth. A tube. He could feel it tickling his throat. By instinct he tried to move his hand to pull it out. But his hand was dead weight. He couldn't feel it at all, he couldn't move it. In fact, he realized, he couldn't feel anything below his head. What was wrong with him? He heard a voice. Hobbes.

"He's awake! Claire, look! He's awake!"

Darien heard a chair move from the left corner of the room -which he guessed was the Keep- and tried to turned his head but found he didn't have enough strength. Claire appeared in his line of sight.

"Darien, I am going to take this tube out, okay?"

He tried nodding his head, but wasn't sure if it had even moved at all. It must have, because Claire reached toward the tube.

"Now, I want you to breath deeply."

He did, and he felt the tube being removed from his throat as it tickled its way out. Immediately he started coughing, gasping for air.

"It's a normal reaction." Claire said to him in a reassuring tone.

Darien noticed movement from the left side of the room and then saw Hobbes, now also in his line of sight. He tried to talk but nothing came out.

"Darien, don't try to speak. You need to give it time."

Darien nodded his head again.

"How you feeling, buddy?" Hobbes asked, and in return Claire shot him a fiery glance.

Like crap', Darien thought.

"Darien," Claire said, making it sound more like Dar-e-un', "I need you to do something for me, okay?

Blink twice for yes and once for no. You understand?"

He blinked twice.

"Good. Now, can you please move your legs?" Claire watched as nothing happened. "Are you moving them?"

He blinked twice.

"Okay, what about your hands?" She said, noting Hobbes' concerned stare. Nothing happened again. "What about your fingers?" Still nothing. It was just what she had thought. The bullet had hit his spinal cord. At first she had hoped that the non-responsive actions were due to swelling around the spinal cord, or maybe even spinal shock, which of course as procedure she had treated him for, But now she confirmed the worst. Darien was paralyzed, from the neck down.

"Are you thirsty?" She asked.

He blinked once.

Claire was shocked. He should've been thirsty. "Well, I'm going to get you something to drink anyway." She walked out of his line of sight again, then came back with a small cup that had a straw in it. "Drink up."

Claire placed the straw to Darien's lips and he gratefully drank, realizing that he was thirsty after all.

"Enough?" Claire asked.

He blinked twice.

"Darien," Claire said, sounding as if she was struggling with something. "Do you remember what happened?"

He thought about it for a moment, but everything seemed foggy. He blinked once.

Hobbes was the one to speak up. "Six days ago you and I went on a mission. The info I received from one of my informants ended up being a trap. Chrysalis was waiting for us. We had a shoot-out and you ended up getting caught in the crossfire." Hobbes said, feeling as guilty as hell.

"The bullet was lodged between the first and second vertebrae. I was lucky to even get it out at all..." She paused and then said, "You're paralyzed, Darien."

He wanted to cry out, wanted to scream... Wanted to throw something. But there was nothing he could do. He was paralyzed. That explained why he couldn't move. This had to be a dream. All of it, all of it was a dream. A nightmare. "How bad?" He mouthed.

"Pretty bad, Darien. From the neck down."

A tear rolled down Darien cheek and he felt Claire wipe it away with a tissue a moment later.

"I'm sorry, Darien."

"Not your fault." He mouthed. Then he tilted his head to the right, ever so slightly and looked his partner in the eyes. "Not your fault either."

"Fawkes..." Hobbes began, looking at the floor in shame. "I should've known... I should've done something..." He glanced back up and saw the look on Darien's face. "I'm sorry." He could feel the beginning of tears stinging his eyes. Without saying anything, Hobbes left the room.

"I'll be right back," Claire said, taking off out the door in search of Hobbes.

Darien's eyes felt heavy. He wasn't just physically drained, he was emotionally exhausted too. There was nothing more he'd like to do than close his eyes and sleep for a few days. Hell, a few weeks would be more like it. He could hear Claire and Hobbes arguing in the hall. It sounded like she was telling him it wasn't his fault. And in all truth it wasn't.

Darien remembered going into the building. He had made the choice even after Hobbes had said it didn't feel right. And by making the choice to go in, Hobbes went in also. Truth be told, if Hobbes had been the one that had been shot Darien knew it would have been himself to blame. And, if Hobbes had been the one who was now paralyzed... He didn't even want to think about. The guilt he'd have had to live with.

Darien knew Hobbes was blaming himself, it was obvious. He wondered if there was anything he could do to ease his partner's pain. Yeah, walk again.' he thought. But he knew he wouldn't be doing that any time soon. In fact, not at all. Not if it really was as bad as Claire had said it was, and he had no reason to doubt her. The doors whooshed open and Claire walked in. Alone.

"Darien, try to get some sleep. I'll wake you in a few hours and we can talk. By then your voice should be back, okay?"

He closed his eyes in response and let the dreams take back over.

TBC