A Wedding Song 13: Mad Season -- Part 3
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THE FOLLOWING THURSDAY
I didn't want to believe it either, sir, but the tests are conclusive. The boy that Darien was forced to shoot was Alex's son James."
"How can that be possible? He was, what... a year old when we last saw him?"
"Just about. Apparently, Chrysalis has developed a super-speed growth formula *and* worked out a way around most of the skeletal and genetic mutations that should reasonably come with such an... experiment."
Claire spat the last word in obvious distaste.
"Why? Why would he do this to his own child?"
"I have a theory. It turns my stomach, but it's the only logical reason I could come up with."
"Go on. "
"I think he's been anticipating Alex kicking over the traces and beginning a search for James. He administered the chemical to the boy so Alex wouldn't know her child, even if she did eventually find him."
"She'd be out looking for a two year old, not an eight year old. Dear God... Well, did the autopsy show any reason at all why James would have been placed in this suicide scenario?"
"As I said, they'd solved *most* of the mutations.... When Darien confronted him in that warehouse, James was already dying. If left alone, he would have been gone within another week or two at most. Perhaps in some twisted, sick way... Stark thought he was being kind. At the rate James was deteriorating, a natural death would have been intolerable."
"Have you contacted Alex yet?"
"No. I've been agonizing over how I'm going to tell her. She's so close to the edge as it is...."
"It won't be easy. The loss of a child... It's so difficult to know what to say...."
"Oh, you mean you didn't have a speech prepared for Darien and Bobby? You were just going to improvise? How spontaneous and free-spirited of you." Claire remarked acidly as she rose and moved away.
"Damn it, Claire.... don't expect me to crawl and kiss your feet when I did what I thought was right. I made a command decision. Just because I was blackmailed into changing my mind doesn't mean that decision was a mistake."
"You hypocrite." Claire forced out, her throat full of sour, burning fluid. "I thought you were simply agreeing with me.... but you understand Jared Stark. I see it now. You haven't just been fighting Chrysalis all these years. You've been learning from Stark... studying to become just like him. Congratulations. You've succeeded."
Claire turned back and slowly walked out of the office, leaving the Official immobile at his desk, stunned and unable to speak.
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"Alex, please... this really is vital. We need to talk."
"Vital to who? You? As if I care. I still have a week to go on my suspension and I'm spending every minute of it in my apartment, alone."
"I have information for you. Something's come up you have to know about... but I don't feel right telling you over the phone."
"Sounds like bad news and I've had enough of that in the past two years to last until I'm dead and buried. Keep it."
"It's about James."
Alex now took a keen interest. The conversation she'd heard Claire having with one of her assistants a week before suddenly replayed in her head. She realized some part of her had been waiting for this call to come.
"They've found him. He was with the children Hobbes and Fawkes rescued."
"Yes, in a manner of speaking... Alex, please say you'll meet me after work for an early dinner. Ma Maison? Five o'clock?"
"Alright. I'll be there."
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By five-thirty, Claire was starting work on a second margarita and waiting anxiously for Alex to show up. When she saw her colleague enter she stood and Alex found her way to the table quickly.
"Alex. It's good to see you. How have you been?"
"I've been suspended for exercising my right to free speech. How should I be doing?"
"Of course. Please, sit. Would you like a drink?"
"A beer."
Claire summoned a waitress, orders were placed and the young woman hurried away, her expression broadcasting that whatever she saw in Alex's gaze, she desired to stay a safe distance from it.
"I'm sorry, Alex. I can't imagine...."
"Forget it. I'm dealing with it."
"Everything that's happened.... it isn't Darien's fault, you know. It certainly isn't the responsibility of an innocent child..."
"Do you really want to go there? Hmmm? Do you *really* want to hear my opinion, Claire?"
"I won't apologize for being able to see both sides of this issue, Alex. I also won't confess to being a traitor for staying close to Eberts and the boys. This pregnancy wasn't planned, not by any stretch of the imagination, but the child has been born and she's not going away. Have you allowed yourself to become so cold and so bitter that you can hate a tiny baby who did nothing to deserve it?"
"That's enough, Claire. Either give me the information on my son or I'll pull out my weapon and shoot you in the heart and I don't care what happens afterward."
Claire paled dramatically and dropped her eyes for a few seconds, struggling to compose herself. In response, Alex blanched as well. "Claire? What is it? Tell me, now, or I swear..."
"This is so difficult.... I wish I didn't have to do this.... I wish it with all my heart. James... he was among the children Bobby and the others went after... but he.... he was one of the three boys that we couldn't save.... I'm so sorry, Alex."
"No.... that's a lie.... you're a liar...."
"I'd give anything for it not to be, true, you have to believe that. I'd bring him back if I could...."
"How did he...."
"Shot, like the others."
Again, Claire's eyes dipped momentarily. Alex caught the guilty body language and suddenly knew the truth the scientist was trying to hide from her.
"Oh.... oh God, no... the one Fawkes murdered.... son of a bitch... it can't be...God, please no...."
"Darien wouldn't murder anyone, least of all a child! You read the case file, Alex. It was self-defense, pure and simple....."
Her color moving swiftly from sickly white to brilliant crimson, Alex tottered to her feet. Before Claire could react, the other woman punched her in the jaw, knocking the blonde backwards onto the floor. Moving to stand over Claire, Alex glared down at her, delivered a vicious kick to the ribs and another blow to the face and stalked out of the restaurant.
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TWO HOURS LATER: OUTSIDE THE MERCY HOSPITAL ER
"Claire?! What the hell..."
"I'm alright, Bobby. It might not look it, but I am...."
Leaping out of the SUV, Hobbes ran to where Claire stood and held out his arms. She fell into his embrace, sniffling and valiantly holding back her tears. After a few minutes of comfort, Bobby finally pulled back a little and took a good look at her.
"Damn... who did this to you? I'll smack 'em so hard they'll be eatin' nothin' but Farina for a month..."
"It doesn't matter. Just take me home."
"It does matter, Claire. Talk to me."
"In the truck. I'll tell you everything.... I just want to go. Please?"
"Okay."
Bobby helped her step up into the vehicle and carefully buckled her in. On the way, she laid out the story for him, condensing it in places, leaving out only the fact that it was James Darien had shot. Her heart told her he wasn't ready to handle it anymore than Alex had been. By the time they stopped, the pain medication the hospital had pressed on her was starting to take effect and it took her a few beats to realize they weren't parked in front of her house.
"Bobby, no..."
"Darien would kill me if I left you alone in that huge house tonight. You're stayin' here."
"But...."
"Forget it, okay? For once, you're the one who's banged up. Let us take care of you this time. You need help gettin' inside?"
Groggy, Claire nodded sadly. When Bobby actually lifted her out of the passenger's side of the truck and proceeded to carry her into the apartment, she protested sleepily, but he ignored it. He put her down only for a moment while he unlocked and opened the door. Laying her gently on the couch, he went back to close and lock the door and shouted for his fiancée. "Darien! I need an ice-bag on the double. And some tea when you get a chance."
"What did you do to yourself now... Claire! Holy..."
"I know. Who and why later. Ice-bag?" Bobby repeated.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'll be right back."
Once Darien had gone, Bobby perched on the edge of the couch, stroking Claire's blonde locks and speaking quietly, as she was almost asleep.
"We're gonna find her, Claire, I promise. I'll tear the bitch's head off for this."
"No.... James... she's grieving...."
"That don't give her the right to take it out on you. I won't hurt her, okay? But she's gotta be found. She still has her gun. She could hurt somebody.... or herself."
Claire tried to speak, but the meds pulled her under. Hobbes rose slowly and moved into the kitchen where Darien was working. "Forget the tea for now. The ice-bag should go in the freezer. She'll need it when she wakes up."
"How bad is she hurt?"
"Bumps and bruises mostly. Her ribs'll be sore for a while. Alex tried to cave 'em in."
"Alex?"
"Yeah. Come sit down at the table. It's a story an' a half..."
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TBC........
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THE FOLLOWING THURSDAY
I didn't want to believe it either, sir, but the tests are conclusive. The boy that Darien was forced to shoot was Alex's son James."
"How can that be possible? He was, what... a year old when we last saw him?"
"Just about. Apparently, Chrysalis has developed a super-speed growth formula *and* worked out a way around most of the skeletal and genetic mutations that should reasonably come with such an... experiment."
Claire spat the last word in obvious distaste.
"Why? Why would he do this to his own child?"
"I have a theory. It turns my stomach, but it's the only logical reason I could come up with."
"Go on. "
"I think he's been anticipating Alex kicking over the traces and beginning a search for James. He administered the chemical to the boy so Alex wouldn't know her child, even if she did eventually find him."
"She'd be out looking for a two year old, not an eight year old. Dear God... Well, did the autopsy show any reason at all why James would have been placed in this suicide scenario?"
"As I said, they'd solved *most* of the mutations.... When Darien confronted him in that warehouse, James was already dying. If left alone, he would have been gone within another week or two at most. Perhaps in some twisted, sick way... Stark thought he was being kind. At the rate James was deteriorating, a natural death would have been intolerable."
"Have you contacted Alex yet?"
"No. I've been agonizing over how I'm going to tell her. She's so close to the edge as it is...."
"It won't be easy. The loss of a child... It's so difficult to know what to say...."
"Oh, you mean you didn't have a speech prepared for Darien and Bobby? You were just going to improvise? How spontaneous and free-spirited of you." Claire remarked acidly as she rose and moved away.
"Damn it, Claire.... don't expect me to crawl and kiss your feet when I did what I thought was right. I made a command decision. Just because I was blackmailed into changing my mind doesn't mean that decision was a mistake."
"You hypocrite." Claire forced out, her throat full of sour, burning fluid. "I thought you were simply agreeing with me.... but you understand Jared Stark. I see it now. You haven't just been fighting Chrysalis all these years. You've been learning from Stark... studying to become just like him. Congratulations. You've succeeded."
Claire turned back and slowly walked out of the office, leaving the Official immobile at his desk, stunned and unable to speak.
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"Alex, please... this really is vital. We need to talk."
"Vital to who? You? As if I care. I still have a week to go on my suspension and I'm spending every minute of it in my apartment, alone."
"I have information for you. Something's come up you have to know about... but I don't feel right telling you over the phone."
"Sounds like bad news and I've had enough of that in the past two years to last until I'm dead and buried. Keep it."
"It's about James."
Alex now took a keen interest. The conversation she'd heard Claire having with one of her assistants a week before suddenly replayed in her head. She realized some part of her had been waiting for this call to come.
"They've found him. He was with the children Hobbes and Fawkes rescued."
"Yes, in a manner of speaking... Alex, please say you'll meet me after work for an early dinner. Ma Maison? Five o'clock?"
"Alright. I'll be there."
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By five-thirty, Claire was starting work on a second margarita and waiting anxiously for Alex to show up. When she saw her colleague enter she stood and Alex found her way to the table quickly.
"Alex. It's good to see you. How have you been?"
"I've been suspended for exercising my right to free speech. How should I be doing?"
"Of course. Please, sit. Would you like a drink?"
"A beer."
Claire summoned a waitress, orders were placed and the young woman hurried away, her expression broadcasting that whatever she saw in Alex's gaze, she desired to stay a safe distance from it.
"I'm sorry, Alex. I can't imagine...."
"Forget it. I'm dealing with it."
"Everything that's happened.... it isn't Darien's fault, you know. It certainly isn't the responsibility of an innocent child..."
"Do you really want to go there? Hmmm? Do you *really* want to hear my opinion, Claire?"
"I won't apologize for being able to see both sides of this issue, Alex. I also won't confess to being a traitor for staying close to Eberts and the boys. This pregnancy wasn't planned, not by any stretch of the imagination, but the child has been born and she's not going away. Have you allowed yourself to become so cold and so bitter that you can hate a tiny baby who did nothing to deserve it?"
"That's enough, Claire. Either give me the information on my son or I'll pull out my weapon and shoot you in the heart and I don't care what happens afterward."
Claire paled dramatically and dropped her eyes for a few seconds, struggling to compose herself. In response, Alex blanched as well. "Claire? What is it? Tell me, now, or I swear..."
"This is so difficult.... I wish I didn't have to do this.... I wish it with all my heart. James... he was among the children Bobby and the others went after... but he.... he was one of the three boys that we couldn't save.... I'm so sorry, Alex."
"No.... that's a lie.... you're a liar...."
"I'd give anything for it not to be, true, you have to believe that. I'd bring him back if I could...."
"How did he...."
"Shot, like the others."
Again, Claire's eyes dipped momentarily. Alex caught the guilty body language and suddenly knew the truth the scientist was trying to hide from her.
"Oh.... oh God, no... the one Fawkes murdered.... son of a bitch... it can't be...God, please no...."
"Darien wouldn't murder anyone, least of all a child! You read the case file, Alex. It was self-defense, pure and simple....."
Her color moving swiftly from sickly white to brilliant crimson, Alex tottered to her feet. Before Claire could react, the other woman punched her in the jaw, knocking the blonde backwards onto the floor. Moving to stand over Claire, Alex glared down at her, delivered a vicious kick to the ribs and another blow to the face and stalked out of the restaurant.
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TWO HOURS LATER: OUTSIDE THE MERCY HOSPITAL ER
"Claire?! What the hell..."
"I'm alright, Bobby. It might not look it, but I am...."
Leaping out of the SUV, Hobbes ran to where Claire stood and held out his arms. She fell into his embrace, sniffling and valiantly holding back her tears. After a few minutes of comfort, Bobby finally pulled back a little and took a good look at her.
"Damn... who did this to you? I'll smack 'em so hard they'll be eatin' nothin' but Farina for a month..."
"It doesn't matter. Just take me home."
"It does matter, Claire. Talk to me."
"In the truck. I'll tell you everything.... I just want to go. Please?"
"Okay."
Bobby helped her step up into the vehicle and carefully buckled her in. On the way, she laid out the story for him, condensing it in places, leaving out only the fact that it was James Darien had shot. Her heart told her he wasn't ready to handle it anymore than Alex had been. By the time they stopped, the pain medication the hospital had pressed on her was starting to take effect and it took her a few beats to realize they weren't parked in front of her house.
"Bobby, no..."
"Darien would kill me if I left you alone in that huge house tonight. You're stayin' here."
"But...."
"Forget it, okay? For once, you're the one who's banged up. Let us take care of you this time. You need help gettin' inside?"
Groggy, Claire nodded sadly. When Bobby actually lifted her out of the passenger's side of the truck and proceeded to carry her into the apartment, she protested sleepily, but he ignored it. He put her down only for a moment while he unlocked and opened the door. Laying her gently on the couch, he went back to close and lock the door and shouted for his fiancée. "Darien! I need an ice-bag on the double. And some tea when you get a chance."
"What did you do to yourself now... Claire! Holy..."
"I know. Who and why later. Ice-bag?" Bobby repeated.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'll be right back."
Once Darien had gone, Bobby perched on the edge of the couch, stroking Claire's blonde locks and speaking quietly, as she was almost asleep.
"We're gonna find her, Claire, I promise. I'll tear the bitch's head off for this."
"No.... James... she's grieving...."
"That don't give her the right to take it out on you. I won't hurt her, okay? But she's gotta be found. She still has her gun. She could hurt somebody.... or herself."
Claire tried to speak, but the meds pulled her under. Hobbes rose slowly and moved into the kitchen where Darien was working. "Forget the tea for now. The ice-bag should go in the freezer. She'll need it when she wakes up."
"How bad is she hurt?"
"Bumps and bruises mostly. Her ribs'll be sore for a while. Alex tried to cave 'em in."
"Alex?"
"Yeah. Come sit down at the table. It's a story an' a half..."
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TBC........