Chapter 10
"Remember, we don't kill anybody, just put them out for awhile," Claire reiterated as she and Tom made their way towards the padded room.
Claire stopped and peeked around the corner, she then turned back to Tom, "Okay, there are two guards outside the room. "I'll get the one on my right, Tom you get the one on the left, but don't shoot me in the process."
"Don't worry, Claire, I'll hit the right one."
"I trust you, Tom." Claire squared her shoulders, fixed her hair and her lab coat, "Okay, here goes." She walked around the corner and headed towards the guards as Tom stayed out of sight. The hypo gun was hidden in the pocket of her lab coat; she held it firmly in her hand. She walked in between the two guards and glared at the one on her right. "I'm sure I have permission to at least spend his last moments with him?"
The guard on her right bent down to push in the numbers to release the locking mechanism on the door. 'This is it, no turning back,' Claire thought to herself as she pulled the hypo gun quickly from her pocket and pressed it up against the man's neck. He clutched his neck and fell to the ground. The second guard turned to face Claire, "What are…" he fell to the ground. Claire noticed the dart in his back.
Claire pushed the door open and Tom came from around the corner. Ray took care of the guard in the observation room when he saw Claire enter the room. He left that room to take his position outside the padded room.
Tom came out seconds later with Ed draped over his shoulder. Claire had knocked Ed out as well so his moans wouldn't bring attention to them. Tom handed Ray the tranq gun and they ran as quickly as they could down the hall towards the exit.
The Official and Eberts came around the corner and saw the men lying on the ground. They rushed to the padded room and found it empty. "Should I call in more agents?"
"No, Eberts, they did exactly what I had hoped they would do," the Official turned and walked back towards his office. Eberts smiled, "Good luck, doctor." He left and followed his boss.
Walter came around the corner with a gurney being pushed behind him by another agent. He met the Official in the hallway, "I'm surprised you're not going to watch this, Charlie."
"There's nothing to watch."
Walter eyed the Official suspiciously, "What do you mean? Darien is here already?"
"No, I mean that Claire and the others have taken Dr. Tate. Let me assure you, they will be found," as he walked by Walter, he patted him on the shoulder and kept going.
Walter turned and watched the Official disappear around the corner, he smiled. "There's hope for you after all."
Claire led them outside and held the door opened for Tom. They reached Sloan who was waiting in the car. Tom put Ed in the back and Claire came in on the other side to sit with him. Tom sat up front and Ray got into his own car. Sloan sped off but was trapped by another car, a white van.
Claire looked panic stricken, they were trapped. Tom turned to her and Sloan, "Stay here and get your heads down, this is the address, when you get the chance you leave with Ed."
"I'm not leaving you," Sloan said in despair.
"You have to get Ed out of here," Tom said insistently. He and Ray got out and took their positions.
The doors to the van opened and four men got and raised their guns, "Turn over Dr. Ed Tate!"
"To hell we will," Ray replied under his breath.
Tom smiled at him, "You ready?"
"We won't ask you again, turn over Dr. Ed Tate!"
Ray took the first shot and hit the window of the van shattering it, the men raced for cover as Ray and Tom open fired on them. They gained ground on the scattering men. Tom hit one in the leg.
Sloan and Claire both kept their heads down and Claire covered Ed's sleeping form. All Sloan needed was for the men to get the van out of their way and she would have a clear get-a-way. Provided that was the only van.
The Official and Eberts looked at each other. "Did you order men to stop them?" The Official asked.
Eberts vehemently shook his head, "No, sir, I didn't."
"Well, someone did," the Official stood up, "Let's go talk with Walter." They were almost out the door when Walter burst in the office.
"You just couldn't let them escape could you?" Walter asked with anger.
"This is not my doing," the Official glared at Walter.
Walter stared him down for a moment, "My people better not get killed." He turned on his heels and left the office with the Official and Eberts behind him.
Outside, Tom and Ray found themselves bogged down and the firing ceased. One of the men from the van yelled out, "You can't escape. Give up now while everyone is still alive! All we want is Dr. Tate!"
Tom looked over at Ray, "Ray, you have Gracie and Matt, give up so you can go home to them."
"And let them take Ed, no, I can't do that, not without a fight."
From the corner of his eye, Tom saw one of the men sail through the air and land hard against the pavement. He and Ray were in shock at first, but Tom sensed who it was and he smiled. He rose to his feet.
The other men looked around dumbfounded. Another one was lifted high in the air and thrown over the front of the van. Ray smiled, "It's about time the Calvary got here."
Hobbes came around the corner and rushed to the car. Claire had looked up when the shooting had stopped. She had seen the two men tossed around. She had hoped against all odds that Darien and Hobbes had arrived in time. When she saw Hobbes running towards her, it was a wish come true. She opened the door, jumped out of the car and hugged him, "Where is it?"
Hobbes held up the syringe, "Here it is and it's the right one."
Claire hopped back in the car and injected Ed with the counteragent. Darien tossed the last man and let the quicksilver flake off. He walked past Tom and Ray and they both stared at him.
"I guess that's what Hobbes was talking about before," Ray commented. They watched as Darien approached the car. Sloan got out and stood away from Darien. Claire looked at him in fear; there was no emotion in Darien's face at all. He obviously had one thing on his mind. Ed.
Hobbes walked around and stood next to Claire, "He won't hurt any of us, but if I were the Fat Man, I'd stay away from him right now."
"Is this what happened before?" Claire asked.
"Yep, the ol' 'Bruce' impersonation." They watched as Darien pulled Ed out of the car and held him in his arms. He glared at everyone, almost like he was daring someone to take Ed from him. No one moved. Satisfied that no one would challenge him, he carried Ed back inside the Agency. The others followed Darien. The van and its occupants had left with their injured in a hurry.
Claire ran up to Darien and lightly touched his arm. He stopped and glared at her. She was taken back by the anger on his face, "I'm not going to harm him, I just want to help. Let me check his eyes to make sure the counteragent worked."
"I'm watching you."
Claire nodded respectfully and slowly lifted an eyelid under the watchful eye of Darien. She checked both of Ed's eyes and they were once again brown. She sighed in relief, "Please, Darien, take Ed to the Keep so I can examine him and make sure he's okay. He's been through a lot."
Darien didn't say a word and headed for the Keep. Claire widened her eyes as Darien walked by her. Sloan came up to her, "Is he okay?"
"Which one?" Claire asked sullenly. "Ed is fine, so far, he's eyes are back to normal and he doesn't have the look of torment on his face. As far as Darien, I have no idea. I want to run tests, but I need to check Ed first."
"He's exhibiting an intense territorial instinct. He's not going to be very trustful of anyone around Ed," Tom noted as they continued to follow Darien.
The Official and Eberts came up from behind them followed by Walter and a few agents. "Where are you taking Dr. Tate?" The Official barked.
Everyone stopped and turned around, Hobbes walked over to the Official. "We gave Ed the counteragent and it worked," he said scornfully.
"You have to understand, I was only following orders from my superiors," the Official stated. He didn't notice Darien coming towards him.
Tom stood in front of Darien, "Darien, listen to me, this isn't the time. Claire needs to check Ed to make sure he's going to be okay. You can trust Claire, you know you can. It was her idea to take Ed away from here in the first place."
The Official looked at Darien; he'd never seen anything like this. Darien in the grip of quicksilver madness was never like this. Walter stared at Darien, "If I were you, I'd stay away from Darien until this passes. From what Hobbes said, he can't stay like this for long. And that you should be thankful for." Walter walked away, deciding it best for him to stay away himself. Ed was in good hands and he would be able to see him later.
Darien glared at the Official threateningly and turned his back on him. He continued his trek to the Keep. Eberts gulped hard and looked away.
Claire swiped her card through and the door slid open. Darien carried Ed to the counteragent chair and set him down. He began to take the straightjacket off. Claire and Sloan filled some containers up with water and grabbed some cloths that Claire had hanging around. Claire looked at Darien, "We're just going to wash him down a bit, to help him feel better. Later when he wakes up, you can take him to the shower, okay?"
Darien nodded in agreement and watched the ladies carefully as they took off Ed's shirt. "When will he wake up?" Sloan asked being careful not to upset Darien.
"In a couple of hours, I had wanted to make sure that Ed was comfortable if we had to move around a lot at first. But normally after receiving counteragent he would have come around by now," Claire stated as she ran the cool cloth over Ed's chest.
Sloan looked at her and then at Tom. He motioned for her to come to him. Hobbes watched the intimate contact and he stared down at the floor. Sloan signaled for them to leave and they did, quietly. They leaned up against the wall outside the Keep and waited.
Claire hadn't noticed that everyone had left. "Okay, lets…" she looked around, apart from Darien, there was no one else around, "Where did everyone go?"
"Outside in the hall, they wanted to give you some time alone with Ed," Darien stated.
"But you stayed," Claire said as the picked up some electrodes to attach to Ed.
"I need to watch him, protect him from the fat man," Darien stated coldly without emotion.
Claire put her hand on his shoulder, "It's okay now, Darien, he's safe, please come back to us." She didn't want to study this new state that Darien was in. No more tests, her main concern was Ed at moment.
Outside, Sloan was thinking about Darien. Oddly, she felt safe with Darien like this, this was not quicksilver madness but more like an instinct to protect, an overly aggressive instinct, but it was certainly there.
Tom nudged her, "What is going through that head of yours, Sloan?"
She smiled, Tom knew her so well, "I was thinking about Darien and the aggressive characteristic he's showing, the way he was protecting Ed. What do you sense from him? Sloan asked.
"Well, strong emotions, like compassion mainly."
"I thought that was a trait that dominants try to restrain?" Ray said.
"It is normally, but remember Darien was human. Those emotions and the memories of them are still there. For some reason it's amplified to a higher degree in Darien." Tom answered.
"It had to be the mind control drug that Lewis gave him. Or this may have just evolved and is now showing itself when Darien gets to a certain emotional level. When did Darien become like this?" Sloan asked.
"When I was speaking with Claire, I didn't have to say anything to him. He cursed the Fat Man, I told him to take the counteragent and do his thing. When he looked at me, that's when his eyes were all black again."
"He was upset," Tom said.
"Upset isn't the word, my friend," Hobbes retorted.
"But you had the counteragent," Sloan added.
"Yes, when we turned the corner, we could hear the gunfire and saw the van. Darien knew what was going on and he jumped out of the van. He attacked those goons and I figured that I would just go ahead and get the counteragent to Claire myself. He was doing a pretty good job of taking care of business on his own."
The door swung open and Claire appeared at the doorway, "You can come back in now."
"How is he?" Sloan asked.
Claire smiled, "Ed is fine, his vitals are strong and there appears to be no damage. I'll need to take some scans and it appears that the gland is okay as far as I can tell. Darien is still, well, Darien. But I think he's calming down a bit."
"He doesn't see you as a threat, he should return to normal," Tom stated.
"Normal for Fawkes that is," Hobbes retorted as he entered the Keep. Claire noticed the cuts and scrapes on him.
"Bobby, with all the commotion I didn't notice, are you alright?" Claire asked as she started to check his wounds.
"Yeah, I'm okay, Keep, nothing that Bobby Hobbes can't handle." Hobbes blushed as he sat down and told them the whole story.
~*~
A few hours later, Darien was fast asleep and had been for about an hour and a half. He had returned back to normal and ate enough food for three people. After that, he fell asleep on a bed that Claire had brought in for Ed, but Darien collapsed on it instead. She didn't have the heart to move him and left him to sprawl out on it.
Claire had finished her tests on Ed and was going over them with Sloan when they heard a moan from the chair.
Ed stirred. He opened his eyes and saw Claire, "What happened?" Ed groaned, "God, I ache…" He looked around with blurred vision at all the faces staring at him; the memories from earlier rushed at him like a tidal wave. "Oh…OH…oh God…tell me I didn't really do those things and it was all a bad dream?"
"Welcome to my world," said a very groggy Darien as he sat up on the bed. The Official came in with Eberts trailing behind him.
"Ed, why didn't you call?" Claire asked as she rubbed his shoulder.
Ed scratched the back of his neck, "That's the weird thing, I wanted to call, but I just had this feeling that Arnaud had every phone bugged."
"Paranoia…one of the symptoms of the early stages of quicksilver madness," Claire stated. "Wait, I also talked to you every night."
Ed thought for a moment and then shook his head slightly, "It wasn't me, Claire."
Claire and Ed looked at each other confused. "I know," Darien said as he slid off the bed, "Arnaud used the same thing on me to make me believe I was talking to Kevin. He used a voice digitizer thing he has. All he needed was your voice and bam…instinct Ed Tate on the phone."
"Clever," Ed said as he stared off in the distance. Ed suddenly sat up and Claire straightened up too, "What did you and Arnaud talk about?"
"Nothing really, I couldn't talk to you…or him long. Our conversations were always kept short because you…" she shook her head in minor frustration, "…he had studying to do. But he knows about Darien, but nothing about the project or anything that we're working on."
Ed sighed in relief that no information was leaked to Arnaud, "He really had this planned out didn't he?"
"Claire, can you put a monitor in Dr. Tate like you did with Darien?" The Official asked.
Claire looked at Ed, "I've already started redesigning it to detect the new toxin. Ed, how much do you know about the mutation?"
"Well, I uhmm…" Ed rubbed his head where he hit the one way mirror; he looked at his hand and furrowed his brow in skepticism, "Did I really run straight into that window?"
Everyone shook their heads and let out a collective 'yes' to answer Ed. "Terrific," Ed let out a deep sigh and then continued, "The mutation is similar to Darien's except that I crave the counteragent more than Darien did, as you already know. Apparently, the toxin in Darien's blood didn't act like a narcotic to the extent that Arnaud had planned. See, every time Darien went into quicksilver madness he was supposed to return for his fix, like a junkie would do. The desire was supposed to build up to the point where Darien couldn't resist."
"Like a true addict," Hobbes commented.
"Clever," Sloan stated.
"I don't completely understand," said the Official.
"Darien was supposed to be addicted to the counteragent, like a junkie to a drug, but only when the toxin built up in his bloodstream. The junkie needs their fix when the drug is out of their system, but this is the opposite, the fix is needed when the toxin has built up in the body's system." Sloan was doing her best to explain.
"That's what Arnaud told me in Mexico when he explained his scam to me. I was supposed to return here to get my fix to flush out the toxin," Darien said as he thought back to the day which now seems like ages ago.
"And not beat up mimes."
"Or a bicyclist."
"Or a doorman."
"Or an orderly.
"Or toast O'Ryan…well, that was a good thing."
"Enough!" The Official said in his usual gruff tone.
Ed stared at Hobbes and Darien perplexed for a moment and then he continued, "Ah yeah, that's it. When you were in quicksilver madness your body was supposed to crave the counteragent as badly as I did," Ed said weakly.
"But you came here, knowing that Claire didn't have the counteragent," Hobbes said.
"Yes, but I was in the early stages. The craving was there, it just hadn't reached the peek until later," Ed said as he thought back to the battle in his mind, "It was hard though, to fight the urge to go back. But I did it. If I had waited and escaped later, I would've gone back."
"So the gland was supposed to turn Fawkes into a junkie," Hobbes stated again as a comment rather than a question.
"Well, that was his plan," Ed said as he sighed. "Arnaud designed this new gland because of what happened to Darien. His body built up a resistance to the counteragent, this should pretty much fix that problem," Ed looked at Claire, "This is what was supposed to happen to you, Darien. Lucky me, huh?"
"How is that?" Claire asked.
"Well, with the initial tests I ran for Arnaud, I shouldn't build up a resistance per se like Darien did. I'll continue to crave it, just not sure if down the road that means I'll need more of the counteragent or a new stronger one. I've turned into a true junkie now that I've had my first shot of counteragent. Next time the craving maybe stronger. I'll still be violent in the early stages, the craving will take over and then at some point the craving will cease if I don't get the counteragent." Ed was still tired and it showed. All he wanted to do was to go back to sleep and hopefully wake up from this nightmare.
"That's what Claire was thinking. It'll be like when a junkie quits cold-turkey." Sloan said.
"Yeah, that's pretty much it. The question is when will the counteragent not be enough and or will that ever happen? I could go many years and be fine with the current counteragent or it may not be enough at any point," Ed replied with uncertainty in his voice.
There was a morose silence in the room for a few minutes as Ed's news sank in. Claire decided it was time to break the silence, "I'm almost done with the new monitor so it could recognize the new toxin. I did take some blood for tests when Ed knocked himself out," Claire watched as Ed rolled his eyes, she smiled, "The toxin levels were high at that point. I've identified it and I'm making the proper adjustments."
"Do it as soon as possible," the Official turned his gaze to Ed, "I don't want him leaving here without a monitor being implanted."
Ed let out a sigh, leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
"Hey, bro, looks like you're getting a tattoo after all," Darien smirked.
"Keepie, you gonna give him the same one as Fawkes here?" Hobbes asked.
Claire looked at Ed, "I have something a little different in mind for him."
"Oh great," Ed said miserably.
"Oh come on, it won't be that bad." Claire said.
Hobbes thought back to when Darien got his, "Just let me know when you implant it so I won't be around."
Ed looked at Hobbes with a slight look of fear, "Why? What's going to happen?"
"Don't mind him, he doesn't want to see me cutting your wrist open," Claire said as she patted Ed on his shoulder.
"I can't wait," Ed said sarcastically.
"One other thing, doctor," the Official looked at Claire, "There's a Keeper coming in tomorrow morning for Dr. Tate."
Ed looked up, "Whoa…wait, I can make my own counteragent and administer the shots myself."
"Sorry, can't have that. What if you go quicksilver mad, will you be able to give yourself a shot or will you even want to?" The Official answered back.
"But why can't Claire be my Keeper?"
"Because, you and Claire are too close, emotionally, and I can't have that either," the Official turned to Eberts, "I want all of the information pertaining to the new counteragent confiscated. Only the new Keeper is to see this information."
Eberts looked at Claire then at the Official and nodded.
Darien stepped up, "Whoa, hold on. You can't do that."
"This isn't about you, Darien," the Official glared at him.
"Where have I heard that one before? You can't treat him like this," Darien said sternly.
"Watch me," the Official turned his attention to Claire, "If you don't hand everything over, I will have you replaced." He looked at Darien, "And if you get in the way, I will order the removal of the gland. I have a team that will do it without hesitation."
Darien and Claire erupted in defiance.
Ed hollered and the room went quiet. Ed took a hard swallow, "Just give him what he wants."
"No, Ed, I won't do that," Claire protested.
"You're needed here, for Darien," Ed looked at Darien, "And you need to stay alive." Ed looked at Claire, "Please."
Walter walked up to the Official, "Let's talk in private, Charlie."
Everyone watched as the two men walked out. Claire had given everything to Eberts, he looked at it in his hands and gave Ed an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, Dr. Tate."
"Not your fault, Eberts." Ed watched as Eberts left with all the notes.
"Well, so much for me doing that research," Ed said sullenly.
"What just happened here?" Sloan asked.
"The Fat Man just put a leash on Ed," Hobbes said.
"What? I don't understand?" Sloan said confusingly.
"Simple, he has another gland under his nose and he wants to make sure it stays put. He knows that Ed is smart enough to come up with the counteragent or a cure all on his own. He doesn't want that," Darien said.
"He wants a new invisible agent and he's got it, lock, stock and barrel. The best part is, the government didn't pay for it," Hobbes added.
Claire looked at Ed who just stared off into space, "Sweetheart, you okay?"
"Ahh, I'm just…uhmm, still tired," Ed blinked crazily as he tried to hide his emotion, "I uhmm, really would like to go back to sleep."
Claire looked at Darien, she suspected he knew the emotional state Ed was truly in, "You should get some sleep, you went though a lot earlier and your body took a beating. I'll give you a sedative if you want."
Ed looked at her with distant eyes, "Yeah, I think I could use it."
Sloan and Tom came over to Ed. Sloan kissed his cheek and Tom patted him on the shoulder. They both said that they would see Ed in the morning. Ed shook his head, "Okay."
"If it's okay with you, I want to stay," Darien said.
Ed looked at him and forced a half smile, "I would like that."
Claire gave Ed some medication and he took it. Ed handed Claire the glass of water back. "I'll adjust the monitor while you sleep and I'll just go ahead and implant it, okay?"
Ed only nodded his head. He looked away and closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to overtake him.
"I'll stick around too, you guys want anything cause it looks like its going to be a long night?" Hobbes said.
Claire and Darien gave Hobbes an order for a late dinner. Hobbes glared at his partner, "You just ate. You still hungry after eating all that food?"
"It's for Ed when he wakes up, he might be hungry later and well, some of it is for me." Darien said with a smirk. Claire and Hobbes stared at him. "What?"
"Where does he put it?" Claire asked.
"High metabolism," Darien said, "Hey, come on, give me a break here."
Hobbes stuffed the paper in his pocket and left the Keep. Darien and Claire remained silent as Ed finally drifted off to sleep.
TBC…
"Remember, we don't kill anybody, just put them out for awhile," Claire reiterated as she and Tom made their way towards the padded room.
Claire stopped and peeked around the corner, she then turned back to Tom, "Okay, there are two guards outside the room. "I'll get the one on my right, Tom you get the one on the left, but don't shoot me in the process."
"Don't worry, Claire, I'll hit the right one."
"I trust you, Tom." Claire squared her shoulders, fixed her hair and her lab coat, "Okay, here goes." She walked around the corner and headed towards the guards as Tom stayed out of sight. The hypo gun was hidden in the pocket of her lab coat; she held it firmly in her hand. She walked in between the two guards and glared at the one on her right. "I'm sure I have permission to at least spend his last moments with him?"
The guard on her right bent down to push in the numbers to release the locking mechanism on the door. 'This is it, no turning back,' Claire thought to herself as she pulled the hypo gun quickly from her pocket and pressed it up against the man's neck. He clutched his neck and fell to the ground. The second guard turned to face Claire, "What are…" he fell to the ground. Claire noticed the dart in his back.
Claire pushed the door open and Tom came from around the corner. Ray took care of the guard in the observation room when he saw Claire enter the room. He left that room to take his position outside the padded room.
Tom came out seconds later with Ed draped over his shoulder. Claire had knocked Ed out as well so his moans wouldn't bring attention to them. Tom handed Ray the tranq gun and they ran as quickly as they could down the hall towards the exit.
The Official and Eberts came around the corner and saw the men lying on the ground. They rushed to the padded room and found it empty. "Should I call in more agents?"
"No, Eberts, they did exactly what I had hoped they would do," the Official turned and walked back towards his office. Eberts smiled, "Good luck, doctor." He left and followed his boss.
Walter came around the corner with a gurney being pushed behind him by another agent. He met the Official in the hallway, "I'm surprised you're not going to watch this, Charlie."
"There's nothing to watch."
Walter eyed the Official suspiciously, "What do you mean? Darien is here already?"
"No, I mean that Claire and the others have taken Dr. Tate. Let me assure you, they will be found," as he walked by Walter, he patted him on the shoulder and kept going.
Walter turned and watched the Official disappear around the corner, he smiled. "There's hope for you after all."
Claire led them outside and held the door opened for Tom. They reached Sloan who was waiting in the car. Tom put Ed in the back and Claire came in on the other side to sit with him. Tom sat up front and Ray got into his own car. Sloan sped off but was trapped by another car, a white van.
Claire looked panic stricken, they were trapped. Tom turned to her and Sloan, "Stay here and get your heads down, this is the address, when you get the chance you leave with Ed."
"I'm not leaving you," Sloan said in despair.
"You have to get Ed out of here," Tom said insistently. He and Ray got out and took their positions.
The doors to the van opened and four men got and raised their guns, "Turn over Dr. Ed Tate!"
"To hell we will," Ray replied under his breath.
Tom smiled at him, "You ready?"
"We won't ask you again, turn over Dr. Ed Tate!"
Ray took the first shot and hit the window of the van shattering it, the men raced for cover as Ray and Tom open fired on them. They gained ground on the scattering men. Tom hit one in the leg.
Sloan and Claire both kept their heads down and Claire covered Ed's sleeping form. All Sloan needed was for the men to get the van out of their way and she would have a clear get-a-way. Provided that was the only van.
The Official and Eberts looked at each other. "Did you order men to stop them?" The Official asked.
Eberts vehemently shook his head, "No, sir, I didn't."
"Well, someone did," the Official stood up, "Let's go talk with Walter." They were almost out the door when Walter burst in the office.
"You just couldn't let them escape could you?" Walter asked with anger.
"This is not my doing," the Official glared at Walter.
Walter stared him down for a moment, "My people better not get killed." He turned on his heels and left the office with the Official and Eberts behind him.
Outside, Tom and Ray found themselves bogged down and the firing ceased. One of the men from the van yelled out, "You can't escape. Give up now while everyone is still alive! All we want is Dr. Tate!"
Tom looked over at Ray, "Ray, you have Gracie and Matt, give up so you can go home to them."
"And let them take Ed, no, I can't do that, not without a fight."
From the corner of his eye, Tom saw one of the men sail through the air and land hard against the pavement. He and Ray were in shock at first, but Tom sensed who it was and he smiled. He rose to his feet.
The other men looked around dumbfounded. Another one was lifted high in the air and thrown over the front of the van. Ray smiled, "It's about time the Calvary got here."
Hobbes came around the corner and rushed to the car. Claire had looked up when the shooting had stopped. She had seen the two men tossed around. She had hoped against all odds that Darien and Hobbes had arrived in time. When she saw Hobbes running towards her, it was a wish come true. She opened the door, jumped out of the car and hugged him, "Where is it?"
Hobbes held up the syringe, "Here it is and it's the right one."
Claire hopped back in the car and injected Ed with the counteragent. Darien tossed the last man and let the quicksilver flake off. He walked past Tom and Ray and they both stared at him.
"I guess that's what Hobbes was talking about before," Ray commented. They watched as Darien approached the car. Sloan got out and stood away from Darien. Claire looked at him in fear; there was no emotion in Darien's face at all. He obviously had one thing on his mind. Ed.
Hobbes walked around and stood next to Claire, "He won't hurt any of us, but if I were the Fat Man, I'd stay away from him right now."
"Is this what happened before?" Claire asked.
"Yep, the ol' 'Bruce' impersonation." They watched as Darien pulled Ed out of the car and held him in his arms. He glared at everyone, almost like he was daring someone to take Ed from him. No one moved. Satisfied that no one would challenge him, he carried Ed back inside the Agency. The others followed Darien. The van and its occupants had left with their injured in a hurry.
Claire ran up to Darien and lightly touched his arm. He stopped and glared at her. She was taken back by the anger on his face, "I'm not going to harm him, I just want to help. Let me check his eyes to make sure the counteragent worked."
"I'm watching you."
Claire nodded respectfully and slowly lifted an eyelid under the watchful eye of Darien. She checked both of Ed's eyes and they were once again brown. She sighed in relief, "Please, Darien, take Ed to the Keep so I can examine him and make sure he's okay. He's been through a lot."
Darien didn't say a word and headed for the Keep. Claire widened her eyes as Darien walked by her. Sloan came up to her, "Is he okay?"
"Which one?" Claire asked sullenly. "Ed is fine, so far, he's eyes are back to normal and he doesn't have the look of torment on his face. As far as Darien, I have no idea. I want to run tests, but I need to check Ed first."
"He's exhibiting an intense territorial instinct. He's not going to be very trustful of anyone around Ed," Tom noted as they continued to follow Darien.
The Official and Eberts came up from behind them followed by Walter and a few agents. "Where are you taking Dr. Tate?" The Official barked.
Everyone stopped and turned around, Hobbes walked over to the Official. "We gave Ed the counteragent and it worked," he said scornfully.
"You have to understand, I was only following orders from my superiors," the Official stated. He didn't notice Darien coming towards him.
Tom stood in front of Darien, "Darien, listen to me, this isn't the time. Claire needs to check Ed to make sure he's going to be okay. You can trust Claire, you know you can. It was her idea to take Ed away from here in the first place."
The Official looked at Darien; he'd never seen anything like this. Darien in the grip of quicksilver madness was never like this. Walter stared at Darien, "If I were you, I'd stay away from Darien until this passes. From what Hobbes said, he can't stay like this for long. And that you should be thankful for." Walter walked away, deciding it best for him to stay away himself. Ed was in good hands and he would be able to see him later.
Darien glared at the Official threateningly and turned his back on him. He continued his trek to the Keep. Eberts gulped hard and looked away.
Claire swiped her card through and the door slid open. Darien carried Ed to the counteragent chair and set him down. He began to take the straightjacket off. Claire and Sloan filled some containers up with water and grabbed some cloths that Claire had hanging around. Claire looked at Darien, "We're just going to wash him down a bit, to help him feel better. Later when he wakes up, you can take him to the shower, okay?"
Darien nodded in agreement and watched the ladies carefully as they took off Ed's shirt. "When will he wake up?" Sloan asked being careful not to upset Darien.
"In a couple of hours, I had wanted to make sure that Ed was comfortable if we had to move around a lot at first. But normally after receiving counteragent he would have come around by now," Claire stated as she ran the cool cloth over Ed's chest.
Sloan looked at her and then at Tom. He motioned for her to come to him. Hobbes watched the intimate contact and he stared down at the floor. Sloan signaled for them to leave and they did, quietly. They leaned up against the wall outside the Keep and waited.
Claire hadn't noticed that everyone had left. "Okay, lets…" she looked around, apart from Darien, there was no one else around, "Where did everyone go?"
"Outside in the hall, they wanted to give you some time alone with Ed," Darien stated.
"But you stayed," Claire said as the picked up some electrodes to attach to Ed.
"I need to watch him, protect him from the fat man," Darien stated coldly without emotion.
Claire put her hand on his shoulder, "It's okay now, Darien, he's safe, please come back to us." She didn't want to study this new state that Darien was in. No more tests, her main concern was Ed at moment.
Outside, Sloan was thinking about Darien. Oddly, she felt safe with Darien like this, this was not quicksilver madness but more like an instinct to protect, an overly aggressive instinct, but it was certainly there.
Tom nudged her, "What is going through that head of yours, Sloan?"
She smiled, Tom knew her so well, "I was thinking about Darien and the aggressive characteristic he's showing, the way he was protecting Ed. What do you sense from him? Sloan asked.
"Well, strong emotions, like compassion mainly."
"I thought that was a trait that dominants try to restrain?" Ray said.
"It is normally, but remember Darien was human. Those emotions and the memories of them are still there. For some reason it's amplified to a higher degree in Darien." Tom answered.
"It had to be the mind control drug that Lewis gave him. Or this may have just evolved and is now showing itself when Darien gets to a certain emotional level. When did Darien become like this?" Sloan asked.
"When I was speaking with Claire, I didn't have to say anything to him. He cursed the Fat Man, I told him to take the counteragent and do his thing. When he looked at me, that's when his eyes were all black again."
"He was upset," Tom said.
"Upset isn't the word, my friend," Hobbes retorted.
"But you had the counteragent," Sloan added.
"Yes, when we turned the corner, we could hear the gunfire and saw the van. Darien knew what was going on and he jumped out of the van. He attacked those goons and I figured that I would just go ahead and get the counteragent to Claire myself. He was doing a pretty good job of taking care of business on his own."
The door swung open and Claire appeared at the doorway, "You can come back in now."
"How is he?" Sloan asked.
Claire smiled, "Ed is fine, his vitals are strong and there appears to be no damage. I'll need to take some scans and it appears that the gland is okay as far as I can tell. Darien is still, well, Darien. But I think he's calming down a bit."
"He doesn't see you as a threat, he should return to normal," Tom stated.
"Normal for Fawkes that is," Hobbes retorted as he entered the Keep. Claire noticed the cuts and scrapes on him.
"Bobby, with all the commotion I didn't notice, are you alright?" Claire asked as she started to check his wounds.
"Yeah, I'm okay, Keep, nothing that Bobby Hobbes can't handle." Hobbes blushed as he sat down and told them the whole story.
~*~
A few hours later, Darien was fast asleep and had been for about an hour and a half. He had returned back to normal and ate enough food for three people. After that, he fell asleep on a bed that Claire had brought in for Ed, but Darien collapsed on it instead. She didn't have the heart to move him and left him to sprawl out on it.
Claire had finished her tests on Ed and was going over them with Sloan when they heard a moan from the chair.
Ed stirred. He opened his eyes and saw Claire, "What happened?" Ed groaned, "God, I ache…" He looked around with blurred vision at all the faces staring at him; the memories from earlier rushed at him like a tidal wave. "Oh…OH…oh God…tell me I didn't really do those things and it was all a bad dream?"
"Welcome to my world," said a very groggy Darien as he sat up on the bed. The Official came in with Eberts trailing behind him.
"Ed, why didn't you call?" Claire asked as she rubbed his shoulder.
Ed scratched the back of his neck, "That's the weird thing, I wanted to call, but I just had this feeling that Arnaud had every phone bugged."
"Paranoia…one of the symptoms of the early stages of quicksilver madness," Claire stated. "Wait, I also talked to you every night."
Ed thought for a moment and then shook his head slightly, "It wasn't me, Claire."
Claire and Ed looked at each other confused. "I know," Darien said as he slid off the bed, "Arnaud used the same thing on me to make me believe I was talking to Kevin. He used a voice digitizer thing he has. All he needed was your voice and bam…instinct Ed Tate on the phone."
"Clever," Ed said as he stared off in the distance. Ed suddenly sat up and Claire straightened up too, "What did you and Arnaud talk about?"
"Nothing really, I couldn't talk to you…or him long. Our conversations were always kept short because you…" she shook her head in minor frustration, "…he had studying to do. But he knows about Darien, but nothing about the project or anything that we're working on."
Ed sighed in relief that no information was leaked to Arnaud, "He really had this planned out didn't he?"
"Claire, can you put a monitor in Dr. Tate like you did with Darien?" The Official asked.
Claire looked at Ed, "I've already started redesigning it to detect the new toxin. Ed, how much do you know about the mutation?"
"Well, I uhmm…" Ed rubbed his head where he hit the one way mirror; he looked at his hand and furrowed his brow in skepticism, "Did I really run straight into that window?"
Everyone shook their heads and let out a collective 'yes' to answer Ed. "Terrific," Ed let out a deep sigh and then continued, "The mutation is similar to Darien's except that I crave the counteragent more than Darien did, as you already know. Apparently, the toxin in Darien's blood didn't act like a narcotic to the extent that Arnaud had planned. See, every time Darien went into quicksilver madness he was supposed to return for his fix, like a junkie would do. The desire was supposed to build up to the point where Darien couldn't resist."
"Like a true addict," Hobbes commented.
"Clever," Sloan stated.
"I don't completely understand," said the Official.
"Darien was supposed to be addicted to the counteragent, like a junkie to a drug, but only when the toxin built up in his bloodstream. The junkie needs their fix when the drug is out of their system, but this is the opposite, the fix is needed when the toxin has built up in the body's system." Sloan was doing her best to explain.
"That's what Arnaud told me in Mexico when he explained his scam to me. I was supposed to return here to get my fix to flush out the toxin," Darien said as he thought back to the day which now seems like ages ago.
"And not beat up mimes."
"Or a bicyclist."
"Or a doorman."
"Or an orderly.
"Or toast O'Ryan…well, that was a good thing."
"Enough!" The Official said in his usual gruff tone.
Ed stared at Hobbes and Darien perplexed for a moment and then he continued, "Ah yeah, that's it. When you were in quicksilver madness your body was supposed to crave the counteragent as badly as I did," Ed said weakly.
"But you came here, knowing that Claire didn't have the counteragent," Hobbes said.
"Yes, but I was in the early stages. The craving was there, it just hadn't reached the peek until later," Ed said as he thought back to the battle in his mind, "It was hard though, to fight the urge to go back. But I did it. If I had waited and escaped later, I would've gone back."
"So the gland was supposed to turn Fawkes into a junkie," Hobbes stated again as a comment rather than a question.
"Well, that was his plan," Ed said as he sighed. "Arnaud designed this new gland because of what happened to Darien. His body built up a resistance to the counteragent, this should pretty much fix that problem," Ed looked at Claire, "This is what was supposed to happen to you, Darien. Lucky me, huh?"
"How is that?" Claire asked.
"Well, with the initial tests I ran for Arnaud, I shouldn't build up a resistance per se like Darien did. I'll continue to crave it, just not sure if down the road that means I'll need more of the counteragent or a new stronger one. I've turned into a true junkie now that I've had my first shot of counteragent. Next time the craving maybe stronger. I'll still be violent in the early stages, the craving will take over and then at some point the craving will cease if I don't get the counteragent." Ed was still tired and it showed. All he wanted to do was to go back to sleep and hopefully wake up from this nightmare.
"That's what Claire was thinking. It'll be like when a junkie quits cold-turkey." Sloan said.
"Yeah, that's pretty much it. The question is when will the counteragent not be enough and or will that ever happen? I could go many years and be fine with the current counteragent or it may not be enough at any point," Ed replied with uncertainty in his voice.
There was a morose silence in the room for a few minutes as Ed's news sank in. Claire decided it was time to break the silence, "I'm almost done with the new monitor so it could recognize the new toxin. I did take some blood for tests when Ed knocked himself out," Claire watched as Ed rolled his eyes, she smiled, "The toxin levels were high at that point. I've identified it and I'm making the proper adjustments."
"Do it as soon as possible," the Official turned his gaze to Ed, "I don't want him leaving here without a monitor being implanted."
Ed let out a sigh, leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
"Hey, bro, looks like you're getting a tattoo after all," Darien smirked.
"Keepie, you gonna give him the same one as Fawkes here?" Hobbes asked.
Claire looked at Ed, "I have something a little different in mind for him."
"Oh great," Ed said miserably.
"Oh come on, it won't be that bad." Claire said.
Hobbes thought back to when Darien got his, "Just let me know when you implant it so I won't be around."
Ed looked at Hobbes with a slight look of fear, "Why? What's going to happen?"
"Don't mind him, he doesn't want to see me cutting your wrist open," Claire said as she patted Ed on his shoulder.
"I can't wait," Ed said sarcastically.
"One other thing, doctor," the Official looked at Claire, "There's a Keeper coming in tomorrow morning for Dr. Tate."
Ed looked up, "Whoa…wait, I can make my own counteragent and administer the shots myself."
"Sorry, can't have that. What if you go quicksilver mad, will you be able to give yourself a shot or will you even want to?" The Official answered back.
"But why can't Claire be my Keeper?"
"Because, you and Claire are too close, emotionally, and I can't have that either," the Official turned to Eberts, "I want all of the information pertaining to the new counteragent confiscated. Only the new Keeper is to see this information."
Eberts looked at Claire then at the Official and nodded.
Darien stepped up, "Whoa, hold on. You can't do that."
"This isn't about you, Darien," the Official glared at him.
"Where have I heard that one before? You can't treat him like this," Darien said sternly.
"Watch me," the Official turned his attention to Claire, "If you don't hand everything over, I will have you replaced." He looked at Darien, "And if you get in the way, I will order the removal of the gland. I have a team that will do it without hesitation."
Darien and Claire erupted in defiance.
Ed hollered and the room went quiet. Ed took a hard swallow, "Just give him what he wants."
"No, Ed, I won't do that," Claire protested.
"You're needed here, for Darien," Ed looked at Darien, "And you need to stay alive." Ed looked at Claire, "Please."
Walter walked up to the Official, "Let's talk in private, Charlie."
Everyone watched as the two men walked out. Claire had given everything to Eberts, he looked at it in his hands and gave Ed an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, Dr. Tate."
"Not your fault, Eberts." Ed watched as Eberts left with all the notes.
"Well, so much for me doing that research," Ed said sullenly.
"What just happened here?" Sloan asked.
"The Fat Man just put a leash on Ed," Hobbes said.
"What? I don't understand?" Sloan said confusingly.
"Simple, he has another gland under his nose and he wants to make sure it stays put. He knows that Ed is smart enough to come up with the counteragent or a cure all on his own. He doesn't want that," Darien said.
"He wants a new invisible agent and he's got it, lock, stock and barrel. The best part is, the government didn't pay for it," Hobbes added.
Claire looked at Ed who just stared off into space, "Sweetheart, you okay?"
"Ahh, I'm just…uhmm, still tired," Ed blinked crazily as he tried to hide his emotion, "I uhmm, really would like to go back to sleep."
Claire looked at Darien, she suspected he knew the emotional state Ed was truly in, "You should get some sleep, you went though a lot earlier and your body took a beating. I'll give you a sedative if you want."
Ed looked at her with distant eyes, "Yeah, I think I could use it."
Sloan and Tom came over to Ed. Sloan kissed his cheek and Tom patted him on the shoulder. They both said that they would see Ed in the morning. Ed shook his head, "Okay."
"If it's okay with you, I want to stay," Darien said.
Ed looked at him and forced a half smile, "I would like that."
Claire gave Ed some medication and he took it. Ed handed Claire the glass of water back. "I'll adjust the monitor while you sleep and I'll just go ahead and implant it, okay?"
Ed only nodded his head. He looked away and closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to overtake him.
"I'll stick around too, you guys want anything cause it looks like its going to be a long night?" Hobbes said.
Claire and Darien gave Hobbes an order for a late dinner. Hobbes glared at his partner, "You just ate. You still hungry after eating all that food?"
"It's for Ed when he wakes up, he might be hungry later and well, some of it is for me." Darien said with a smirk. Claire and Hobbes stared at him. "What?"
"Where does he put it?" Claire asked.
"High metabolism," Darien said, "Hey, come on, give me a break here."
Hobbes stuffed the paper in his pocket and left the Keep. Darien and Claire remained silent as Ed finally drifted off to sleep.
TBC…