Chapter 23
Ed had the chance to talk to his mom and Claire as he rode in the second van to the airport. When Ed heard Claire's voice he had to make sure he wasn't dreaming. That he still wasn't strapped down to that table or lying on that dreaded mattress on the floor. It was a voice that he thought he'd never hear again. Claire had cried and so did he. He didn't know the full extent as to what happened and why, but he wasn't going to waste any time talking to Claire about it. All he wanted to do was to tell her how much he loved her and wanted to see her again.
Irene Morgan on the other hand was shocked to hear about her son. First it was denial, then anger that she would be put through another false report concerning her son. This was getting way out of hand and she had enough. She wanted a meeting with Senator Allen as soon as possible to get the answers she wanted. If her ex-husband was out in Washington, D.C. lobbying for this bill then she could smack Senator Allen over the head with it, after she held her son in her arms. Walter had informed her that Ed was on his way to the Capital and that he could provide her a plane ticket to meet her son there. Ed had called her a few moments later. His voice was low and sounded distraught, it concerned her greatly. When she got off the phone with Ed, she asked Walter, "What did they do to him?" Walter merely said, "It's classified." Irene became understandably upset. She had replied in a not so nice tone, "Classified my ass, this is my son we're talking about. He works for the government, shouldn't they be protecting him?"
Walter smiled and heard a lot of Ed in her tone. She may be a church going woman, but like with any mother who loves her child, she still protected him and was fierce about it. When he was done talking with her, he said to no one particular, "I feel for anyone who gets in that woman's way." That someone would be Senator Allen and she had her sights set on him.
To Ed, the steps leading up to the waiting aircraft was like climbing a mountain. Every joint, muscle and nerve screamed at him. All he wanted to do was to lie down, but he knew that sleep would only bring the nightmares and the images of what he had done, of what he had become. Darien walked behind him to give him support if need be, but he still kept a few steps behind him.
He had remembered going in and out of quicksilver madness and how his body tensed up with each rush of pain. How he was strapped down and unable to curl up and ride out the headaches. His wrists hurt from having parts of his flesh torn away by the demon straps that held him so the so-called men of science could do their thing. Even part of his tattoo was gone, rubbed away by the constant struggling his body went through during his seizures. He would not only have the mental scars, but the physical ones as well.
He made it inside the plane and looked around. It reminded him of the plane that he and Sloan flew back in after their excursion into Central Mexico. "Courtesy of the…University?" Ed muttered to himself as his flashback faded back into the deep recesses of his mind. He walked to the back of the plane and plopped himself down on the comfortable seat. How long has it been since he sat on anything that wasn't cold or worn out?
Darien came on board followed by Hobbes and he caught sight of the plush plane, "Definitely not Agency issue." Darien shook his head, "Hobbes, the Agency can't even afford a model airplane," he retorted and planted his body in a seat near Ed.
Ed leaned his head back and stared out the window. Four days. That's how long he was dead. It was thoughts of Claire that kept him going, wanting to fight the madness. But over time, his will to fight faded as the madness took control over and over again. The time spent in agonizing pain, time spent with very little food or water had broken him. The time he spent alone took his hopes away that he would be rescued. It was a long, lonely time that went by excruciating slow. Could he be the same man he was before his rampage? Only time would tell.
'Claire, will you still want to be around me when you hear about the things I did? I need you more than ever. God, I wish this had been a dream,' Ed thought to himself as the engines with a loud roar came to life. The pilot announced to the group of misfits that they were going to taxi out to the runway. Time to put on the seatbelts, it was going to be a bumping ride and it wouldn't be turbulence outside the plane but from inside it.
Walter, Sloan and Claire sat on the plane waiting. Claire kept looking out the window impatiently, "Isn't this thing ever going to take off?"
Walter put his hand on top of hers, "It will, Claire, just be patient. We have a long flight."
Claire whipped her head around, "Walter, four days ago I was told that my fiancé died, I went through hell and now I find out that he's alive. Patience is something that I don't have right now."
Walter could sympathize with her. He did feel the same way five years ago after learning that Ed had survived the sedative injection. The wait to see his colleague again was unbearable, even if he was angry at Ed for breaking protocol with the genogenesis serum. It would be a long flight and they weren't expected to land until morning with the time zone difference. By the time he, Sloan and Claire landed at Dulles, Ed and Darien should be in the Oval Office greeting a very surprised President. If anybody can get them into the White House safely, it would be Darien.
Once they were up in the air, Ed had gone into the restroom to clean up. Darien had given him a pair of clothes to change into, but had opted to wait until he had a chance to freshen up. Luckily they were the same build and height. Ed had taken a good glance at himself in the mirror, his eyes turned away at the sight before him. Days of pain, wear and tear showed on his normally tanned, smooth skin. He looked like he aged about twenty years. Dark circles had made an appearance under his eyes which had sunken just a bit into the sockets. "Mild dehydration…maybe," Ed murmured as he inspected his eyes and skin. There was also four days worth of facial hair growth on his face, "Man, the gland really makes the hair grow." Ed frowned when he spotted a few gray hairs mixed in with his natural brown coloring. "I earned each and every one of those," he said to at least give himself something to smile about.
Slowly and carefully, he took his shirt off. His torso hadn't faired any better. Marred with bruises from God's know what were still purplish in color. Ed groaned when he pressed a finger on one of the bruises, "Okay, that hurt." He inspected his ribs, none were broken but he suspected they were bruised. "Must have been from the first day I was there," Ed remembered some of the treatment he had received. When he first awoke, he was strapped down on what would become his bed most of the time. He was nowhere near quicksilver madness at that point. He remembered the pain as they forced him to quicksilver by torturing him with devices he had never seen before.
Ed quickly pushed those memories back as best he could. Now was the time to concentrate on the task at hand, making himself as presentable as possible. He decided to wait on shaving. The last thing he wanted to do was to shave on an airplane. Hitting air turbulence while holding a blade to his face wasn't on top of his 'to do' list at the moment. Ed would need to soften his beard anyway and he was just too tired for that right now. He bent down over the sink and washed his face first
Hobbes came up and sat down next to Darien, "How's the kid doing?"
Darien had the expression of concern on his face. "He's pretty messed up, inside and out." Darien replied gazing at the bathroom door.
"They really did a number on him," Hobbes commented sullenly. During the race to get out, he hadn't had the chance to get a good look at Ed. It was only when they had switched vans did he see the physical signs of what Ed had endured. He genuinely felt sorry for Ed. "If anyone can help him, it'll be you and Claire."
Darien looked at Hobbes in surprise, "You mean that too, don't you?"
"Look, I know I can be somewhat possessive…"
"'Somewhat' is not the word I would use."
Hobbes shook his head, "Yeah, okay, so I'm possessive, sue me. But Bobby Hobbes knows true love when he sees it. I had it for Viv one time. The last thing I would want to do is to hurt Claire and I saw how much this affected her. I just have to face the fact that they love each other, you know, they're both smart, double D kinda smart so they have that lingo and all." Hobbes paused and let out a sigh as he stared down at the floor, "I'll always have a special place in my heart for Claire."
"I'm proud of you, Hobbes," Darien patted Hobbes on his back.
Hobbes leaned in to whisper to Darien, "What do you know about the dominant chick?"
Darien looked at Hobbes with an odd expression, "What? You mean Tara?"
"Yeah, does she like humans?"
A wide smile spread across Darien's face, "You little tiger. You got the hots for her don't you?"
"Fawkes, what kind of language is that?" Hobbes said in a phony disgusted tone.
Darien finger punched Hobbes' chest, "Aahh, don't fake it buddy."
"Sshhh…not so loud, Fawkes." Hobbes went about fixing his hair, "Do I look okay?"
Darien's smile never faded, "You look fine. Go get her tiger." Darien watched as Hobbes shot him a wink and left. The smile faded to concern as he felt Ed's emotional presence in the bathroom. "Here I go again," Darien replied soulfully to himself as the bathroom door opened.
Ed wore Darien's faded blue jeans, a white barfly t-shirt and converse sneakers when he stepped from the bathroom. He sat himself down again and stared at nothing in particular. His memories were back now and they fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, piece by piece he remembered everything. And Darien was right about one thing, he wished he hadn't. Like that night he jumped in the ocean, he wanted to do nothing more than to wash away the things he had done and wanted to do. He sat close to the bathroom because he was still feeling sick to his stomach. He had already vomited before cleaning himself up and felt his stomach churning as the scene with Dr. Alvarez played repeatedly in his mind. How he almost raped the Lady was repulsive to him, Ed respected women, and the thought of what he *wanted* to do made him sick. How could he face Claire now?
Darien sat down across from him. The pale sicken face of his scientist twin continued to look the other way, "I don't want to talk right now."
"You need to."
Ed swallowed the hard lump in his throat. "Go away."
"Okay, then lets talk about something else…hey I know…how 'bout them Marlins winning the World Series!?" Darien said with a small hint of excitement in his voice in the hopes of getting Ed to talk.
"I don't watch baseball, it's boring," Ed returned sharply still keeping his face glued at the window.
Darien pursed his lips together. "Can't see too much when it's dark outside."
"I see enough."
"Ed, you can't shut yourself off like this."
Ed turned to glare at Darien, "Why?"
"'Why' what?" Darien noticed that the sparkle in Ed's eyes were gone. Ed was certainly someone who had gone through hell and it showed.
"Why didn't you do what you promised to do?" The pain in Ed's voice was evident.
Darien looked down at the floor of the plush aircraft that zipped its way to Washington, D.C., "Because I knew that we could save you. But if you had gone permanent, I would have fulfilled my promise."
"Too late, Darien, I killed those people," Ed's face reddened with sadness and remorse, "Damn it, Darien! I…I…was brutal…like an animal." Ed turned his head away to look out the window again, "I want to be alone."
"Nope, can't do that. We're on an airplane," Darien said.
Ed shook his head and chuckled out of annoyance, "Screw you," Ed got up and Darien pushed him down on the chair again. Ed looked up at Darien with anger, "You weren't supposed to save me, Darien! You were supposed to put a bullet in me like you promised!" Ed yelled back.
Darien looked at Ed with sympathy, "I know what you're going through…"
Ed stood up and glared at Darien. The two men were eye to eye. "NO, you don't! Did you put someone's head through glass doors? Did you try to rape your boss only to snap her neck instead? I did those things and more, Darien. I don't want to hear, 'It wasn't the real you'…f*ck that! It was the real me, the one that's caged deep down inside!" Ed pounded on his chest to accentuate his point. "Where were you!?! You were supposed to kill me!!"
Darien gripped Ed's shoulders, "Damn you! What about Claire? Huh? What about the promise to love and to cherish in sickness and in health?"
"I haven't made that promise yet." Ed said with a sneer.
"You did when you put the ring on her finger and asked her to marry you."
"I have to live with the fact that I killed five people, Darien. How can I even trust myself around her? Would you?" Ed waited for Darien's reply. There was none. "See, even you have doubts. I'll never trust myself and you of all people should understand that."
"I said this once to Claire, Hobbes and the Official and it's true for you too. What happened to Simon Cole, the first invisible man, will not happen to you or me cause we both have something that he didn't."
"Yeah, and what's that?"
"Friends."
Ed looked off to the side. Darien was right. He had friends and plenty of them. They had risked their own lives to come and rescue him. Tears flowed down his cheeks. Darien let Ed slide down the closed door to the floor. Darien knelt down and put his arms around Ed, "You're gonna be okay."
"I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry…" Ed said repeatedly through the tears and the gasps as he tried to wash his pain away in the tears that flowed from him.
Hobbes turned his attention to Tara as Ed and Darien continued to talk, "Okay, you were there, what did they do to Ed?"
Tara paused and let out a long cleansing sigh, "They ran every possible test they could think of. At first, they were going to remove the gland and have me clone it but when they went over Arnaud's notes, they didn't find the cure for quicksilver madness…"
"So, they were going to fix the gland and then have a harvesting party?" Hobbes asked as he kept one ear on the conversation with Tara and the other one on Darien and Ed.
"Yes, that's correct. But that all changed when they couldn't fix it right away. So I took a tissue sample of the gland to clone it in the hopes of having a prototype to work with outside of Ed. But I soon discovered that it needs to be in a host's body in order for it to activate the quicksilver. It needs elements of the host's blood to produce the quicksilver and they need the quicksilver to find the toxin to find the mutation. So, it was better to keep Ed alive in the hopes of finding a cure."
"And when they did, what was going to happen to Ed?" Tom asked.
"Well, the first option was to cure the gland and then harvest it. But I think they realized that Ed was too valuable for them to do that. Even under the influence of quicksilver madness he still possessed his scientific knowledge and skills. They could train him to be an assassin or work on experiments since he was no longer controlled by his conscious. He would do anything without hesitation."
"A predator," Tom said with an expression of seriousness on his face. He held one hand up to his mouth as he spoke.
Tara shook her head, "Yeah, you might say that."
"But you can't train a wild animal…eventually it bites you back," Hobbes replied. Tom shook his head in agreement. Training or even brainwashing Ed might not have worked if they couldn't even control him in the first place.
"We heard something mentioned about back packs. What was that all about?" Mark asked.
"They extracted some quicksilver from Ed…"
"How?" Darcy asked.
"They went through the small hole that I had drilled to get the tissue sample…"
"Fawkes came across a Chinese scientist who had invented a back pack to work like a gland. Quicksilver was stored in it…this is all making sense now. They were going to use back packs instead of mass producing glands," Hobbes said.
"What's the advantage in that?" Mark asked.
"According to what I learned, you would have to make the gland and the host compatible. That means altering the DNA of hundreds of glands. Not all implantations are successful, so would you risk losing a number of men and possible glands in the process?" Tara stated and then continued, "After surgery there's a three week period were the host is in a medically induced coma and then maybe a couple of weeks of rehab and training."
"And that would take too long to assemble an army. They wanted something quick and more dependable without the surgical risks." Hobbes looked around the dominants with a grave expression on his face.
"So, they wouldn't have to find a cure then would they?" Darcy asked.
"No, the cure still needed to be found. The toxin is still in the quicksilver whether they take it from Ed or from a gland cloned from his." Tara said.
"So, the toxin would affect anybody whether they had a gland in them or not." Tom stated.
"That's affirmative," Hobbes said. "I went stage five nutso just having a small amount of Fawkes' quicksilver go into my system. It was loaded with the toxin and the new counteragent Keepie was playing with. Not a pretty sight, my friend."
"Agent Hobbes, you do understand all this." Tara stated surprised.
"Oh I'm smart, no doubt about that, never underestimate Bobby Hobbes." He said as he leaned back in the seat. His arm stretched out above his head to lay across the back of the seat as he crossed his legs.
Tara smiled at him, "I'll have to remember that." There was something about Hobbes that intrigued her and she sensed the feelings from him. She definitely wanted to get to know him more. Maybe humans were not as bad as her father had taught her. After what she witnessed, she realized that there was good and bad in each species. With Tom's help, she would have a better understanding of her own feelings that she was taught to repress.
"Do you think we should put Ed on a suicide watch? I mean, what he went through, it's bound to mess him up." Darcy asked. The group fell silent for a moment waiting for someone else to speak up. They knew how upset Ed was and his outburst with Darien was only the beginning.
"As much as I hate to say it, but yeah. It was hard enough on Fawkes, but he didn't go as far as Ed did." Hobbes paused for a moment. "He's lucky to have Fawkes to talk to," Hobbes said as he glanced back to Darien and Ed, "I would definitely keep an eye on him."
"I agree, I saw what Ed went through, he'll probably start showing signs of post traumatic stress disorder at some point," Tara noted.
Darcy let out a sigh for her friend, "Good thing he has Claire."
Hobbes looked down at his boot while his hand skimmed across the surface as if to brush something off of it, "Yeah. Claire has plenty experience dealing with post quicksilver madness depression. She had'da deal with hair ball over there for two years."
"SHE…DID…WHAT!?!"
Hobbes and the others jumped from the outburst. Hobbes turned his head to see Ed standing tall with one hand on his hip and the other running through his hair. He didn't look happy at all. They watched as Darien said something to Ed.
"I can't believe it! Ahh man, I loved that van!" Ed's tone was both aggravated and mournful.
Hobbes spat out a chuckle and covered his mouth. Tom smiled. Darcy giggled and Mark turned his head away to stifle his own laugh. Tara had no idea what was going on. "Can someone explain to me what that was all about," she said watching Hobbes face turn red from laughter.
"Ed had this van…" Hobbes started to say.
"A classic…" Darcy added with a snicker.
"Yeah, a real classic. It was and old VW model from the sixties. The Lady put a cadaver in it and pushed it off the cliff so we would think that it was an accident," Hobbes said trying to suppress his laughter.
"Ed really did love that van," Tom stated.
"I got laid in that van."
Darien looked at Ed surprised, "Really!?!"
"Oh yeah, one day after surfing…"
Darien put his hand up, "As much as I would love to hear about your sexual exploits in the Tatemobile, I do have to ask. Does Claire know?"
"I hope so, she was one of them," Ed wiggled his brows.
Darien smiled mischievously, "Oh, bro…You are a wild man."
"Why do you think I had sleeping bags, pillows, blankets in the back and curtains on the windows?" Ed said with the tone of a mischief teenager in his voice. "Sloan and I even nearly spent the night together in my van."
Darien's eyes lit up, "You did!? Whoa…what was that like?"
Ed half smiled in embarrassment, "It's not what you think. She was going to show me the cave that Tom had showed her earlier. That's the night Kelly and Darcy were rescued from Lynch."
"Oh."
Ed paused for a moment and let out a deep sigh as his mind went back to events of the past week, "I still see and hear them you know, before I killed them. The pleas for mercy, the looks on their faces, I don't think I'll ever forget it. Will I ever be forgiven for what I did?"
"Look, you have to ask yourself, without the quicksilver madness are you capable of doing those things?"
Ed looked down at the floor of the plane, "No," came the soft reply.
"That's Arnaud's scam with the counteragent. That's why the Official played the madness card the way he did with me. I had no choice but to stay with the Agency." Darien paused and then continued, "No one can tell you how you're supposed to feel, not even me. But I do know one thing, it wasn't your fault. The way I see it, they should have known what they were getting themselves into, especially the Leopard Queen," Darien said.
"Leopard Queen?"
"Yeah, that's one of Hobbes' nicknames for her."
Ed forced a half hearted smile, "That fits. But it doesn't make what I did right or any easier to accept," Ed said sadly as his head lowered.
"No…but you didn't choose this, Ed. You didn't go into quicksilver madness because you were bored and didn't have anything better to do. You were forced into it. There's no way for you to control what happens. It was their choice, not yours." Darien studied Ed for a moment. He was still torn up inside over what happened. Darien leaned forward resting his forearms on his knees, "In my book all you did was kill terrorists, that's what they were, glorified terrorists who had the license to kill from the government. Ed, she had an agenda and you were going to play a key role in that. If that doc had been successful in brainwashing you they would have used you against humans too."
Ed's face turned to shock at Darien's words. He had remembered how Walter had told him that according to her they were all expendable. Would she use him as her own personal hit man?
"Senator Allen is a very popular man right now. People believe that he's the only one in Washington with enough guts to stand up to the dominants. People also feel that the President has failed on key issues lately, the economy, war on terrorism and especially the dominants. His approval rating has dropped dramatically while Senator Allen is gaining supporters. Believe it or not, we're lookin' at another Holocaust here if the President signs that bill."
"This is a big friggin' mess," Ed said with an exasperated sigh. "She would have sent me to kill the President and then blame it on the dominants," he said in a tone of sudden realization.
Darien pointed to him, "I think you're right."
"Well, I certainly wouldn't put it past her."
"See, you may have saved the day by stopping her. Ed, the military was involved in this also. Tara said there was a General overseeing the whole project, but she didn't think he was there when the walls fell."
"Darmok and Jilad at Tanagra."
"Sucat, his eyes uncovered," Darien responded with elation.
Ed shook his head as he let out a chuckle. "Lets not start talking in metaphors, especially Star Trek ones." Ed looked around for a moment and then turned his attention back to Darien, "Does she know who this General was?"
"No, she never heard his name, but she said she could pick him out of a crowd."
"Great, it could be anybody. Does she know which branch of service he was with?"
"Army."
"Special Forces maybe?"
"That's what I'm thinking. But don't you worry about that. Hobbes and I will take care of it. You just concentrate on yourself."
Ed shook his head with trepidation as he ran his hand over his bandaged wrist. Claire had told him about the new and improved monitor. He wasn't sure how to take it. "You thinking about what Claire did to you?" Darien, with a creased brow asked.
Ed let out grunt, "Yeah…Why didn't she tell me?"
"That, you'll have to ask her yourself."
Ed shook his head, "I don't know what to think about this, I have mixed feelings on it. I mean on the one hand I'm angry that now my every move can be traced, but on the other hand I'm grateful cause I know I can be stopped."
"Well, there are pros and cons to everything, bro. She loves you and I think she did it to protect you. With as many times as I went cuckoo for cocoa puffs or got captured, that little device may have come in handy. Claire you can trust, and I mean that, not because she loves you, but because she does care. She may not have always shown it with me, but deep down inside, she did care about what happened to me." Darien paused and then continued, "Talk about me not having a chance, you do. You can find a cure."
"I'm not sure if the information I got from Claire will be enough," Ed said dejectedly.
"Hmm…maybe, but I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for on these," Darien handed Ed the disks.
Ed took them in his hand and looked at them with curiosity, "What's this?"
"All the information that those mooks got on the gland including what was taken from Arnaud's computer."
Ed's face lit up like a Christmas tree, "You're shittin' me!?!" Ed looked at the number of disks in shock. He glanced up at Darien with the same look on his face.
"Is that a scientific response?"
"Huh?"
"Never mind. Tara downloaded all the info…ah Ed, there's something you need to know about Tara."
"She's a dominant, I know." Ed looked at the disks in his hands again, "I can't believe this," he said under his breath.
"Well, that's not all of it exactly…her father is uhm…well, her father is Lewis."
Ed paused, he looked as if the carpet had been ripped from underneath him, "What?"
"But don't worry, she's cool, she helped us get you out." Darien watched Ed's face turned from shock to concern and then to worry. "She can be trusted, Ed." Darien glanced in Tara's direction, "She's confused right now and Tom is helping her sort out her feelings." He turned his attention back to Ed, "I think it was you that changed her."
"What? Me?" Ed thought back and didn't recall having any meaningful conversations with her.
"I think you caught her eye, if you know what I mean," Darien wiggled his eye brows.
"Oh great," Ed rolled his eyes.
"Ah, don't worry, she knows about Claire and she won't get in the way of that. Besides, I think she's caught the attention of someone else."
"Mark?"
"No."
"Shane?"
"No."
"Who?"
"Hobbes."
Ed nearly broke out in laughter, "I'm sorry, but…does she know?"
"Yeah, I think she does."
"Oh man, now this is funny, I mean not Hobbes having a thing for her but…"
"Lewis will flip his lid."
"Blow a head gasket."
"I'd love to be there when he finds out that not only his daughter has switched sides but that she's seeing a human," Darien pictured Lewis turning as red as his shirt. Ed couldn't help but chuckle, "That would finish him off for good as far as the Council goes."
Darien patted Ed on his back, "C'mon, we need to plan our field trip to the White House." Ed nodded and he followed Darien to the front of the plane to rejoin the others. "Hey, you know, we're like the 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'," Ed mused.
"Oh yeah, and you would be…Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?" Darien asked.
"Not funny," Ed said mockingly. "Probably more like Dorian Gray…I appear to be an immortal."
Darien chuckled as he pondered Ed's observations about his uncanny ability to survive deadly situations. "Okay, so what about Hobbes?"
"Allan Quatermain, for sure."
Darien put his arm around Ed, "You know, I think you've got something there."
Ed stopped, "Did I really sing 'Ding Dong the Witch is Dead'?"
Darien scratched the back of his neck, "Ah…yeah, you did."
Ed covered his face with his hands, "My God."
"Ed..."
"Yeah…"
"Stick to the double D stuff and the surfing."
Ed smirked. "Don't worry about that. I don't think I'll ever be able to watch 'The Wizard of OZ' again."
Darien and Ed sat down and the rag tag team of renegades planned their entry into one of the country's most guarded buildings, the White House.
TBC…
Ed had the chance to talk to his mom and Claire as he rode in the second van to the airport. When Ed heard Claire's voice he had to make sure he wasn't dreaming. That he still wasn't strapped down to that table or lying on that dreaded mattress on the floor. It was a voice that he thought he'd never hear again. Claire had cried and so did he. He didn't know the full extent as to what happened and why, but he wasn't going to waste any time talking to Claire about it. All he wanted to do was to tell her how much he loved her and wanted to see her again.
Irene Morgan on the other hand was shocked to hear about her son. First it was denial, then anger that she would be put through another false report concerning her son. This was getting way out of hand and she had enough. She wanted a meeting with Senator Allen as soon as possible to get the answers she wanted. If her ex-husband was out in Washington, D.C. lobbying for this bill then she could smack Senator Allen over the head with it, after she held her son in her arms. Walter had informed her that Ed was on his way to the Capital and that he could provide her a plane ticket to meet her son there. Ed had called her a few moments later. His voice was low and sounded distraught, it concerned her greatly. When she got off the phone with Ed, she asked Walter, "What did they do to him?" Walter merely said, "It's classified." Irene became understandably upset. She had replied in a not so nice tone, "Classified my ass, this is my son we're talking about. He works for the government, shouldn't they be protecting him?"
Walter smiled and heard a lot of Ed in her tone. She may be a church going woman, but like with any mother who loves her child, she still protected him and was fierce about it. When he was done talking with her, he said to no one particular, "I feel for anyone who gets in that woman's way." That someone would be Senator Allen and she had her sights set on him.
To Ed, the steps leading up to the waiting aircraft was like climbing a mountain. Every joint, muscle and nerve screamed at him. All he wanted to do was to lie down, but he knew that sleep would only bring the nightmares and the images of what he had done, of what he had become. Darien walked behind him to give him support if need be, but he still kept a few steps behind him.
He had remembered going in and out of quicksilver madness and how his body tensed up with each rush of pain. How he was strapped down and unable to curl up and ride out the headaches. His wrists hurt from having parts of his flesh torn away by the demon straps that held him so the so-called men of science could do their thing. Even part of his tattoo was gone, rubbed away by the constant struggling his body went through during his seizures. He would not only have the mental scars, but the physical ones as well.
He made it inside the plane and looked around. It reminded him of the plane that he and Sloan flew back in after their excursion into Central Mexico. "Courtesy of the…University?" Ed muttered to himself as his flashback faded back into the deep recesses of his mind. He walked to the back of the plane and plopped himself down on the comfortable seat. How long has it been since he sat on anything that wasn't cold or worn out?
Darien came on board followed by Hobbes and he caught sight of the plush plane, "Definitely not Agency issue." Darien shook his head, "Hobbes, the Agency can't even afford a model airplane," he retorted and planted his body in a seat near Ed.
Ed leaned his head back and stared out the window. Four days. That's how long he was dead. It was thoughts of Claire that kept him going, wanting to fight the madness. But over time, his will to fight faded as the madness took control over and over again. The time spent in agonizing pain, time spent with very little food or water had broken him. The time he spent alone took his hopes away that he would be rescued. It was a long, lonely time that went by excruciating slow. Could he be the same man he was before his rampage? Only time would tell.
'Claire, will you still want to be around me when you hear about the things I did? I need you more than ever. God, I wish this had been a dream,' Ed thought to himself as the engines with a loud roar came to life. The pilot announced to the group of misfits that they were going to taxi out to the runway. Time to put on the seatbelts, it was going to be a bumping ride and it wouldn't be turbulence outside the plane but from inside it.
Walter, Sloan and Claire sat on the plane waiting. Claire kept looking out the window impatiently, "Isn't this thing ever going to take off?"
Walter put his hand on top of hers, "It will, Claire, just be patient. We have a long flight."
Claire whipped her head around, "Walter, four days ago I was told that my fiancé died, I went through hell and now I find out that he's alive. Patience is something that I don't have right now."
Walter could sympathize with her. He did feel the same way five years ago after learning that Ed had survived the sedative injection. The wait to see his colleague again was unbearable, even if he was angry at Ed for breaking protocol with the genogenesis serum. It would be a long flight and they weren't expected to land until morning with the time zone difference. By the time he, Sloan and Claire landed at Dulles, Ed and Darien should be in the Oval Office greeting a very surprised President. If anybody can get them into the White House safely, it would be Darien.
Once they were up in the air, Ed had gone into the restroom to clean up. Darien had given him a pair of clothes to change into, but had opted to wait until he had a chance to freshen up. Luckily they were the same build and height. Ed had taken a good glance at himself in the mirror, his eyes turned away at the sight before him. Days of pain, wear and tear showed on his normally tanned, smooth skin. He looked like he aged about twenty years. Dark circles had made an appearance under his eyes which had sunken just a bit into the sockets. "Mild dehydration…maybe," Ed murmured as he inspected his eyes and skin. There was also four days worth of facial hair growth on his face, "Man, the gland really makes the hair grow." Ed frowned when he spotted a few gray hairs mixed in with his natural brown coloring. "I earned each and every one of those," he said to at least give himself something to smile about.
Slowly and carefully, he took his shirt off. His torso hadn't faired any better. Marred with bruises from God's know what were still purplish in color. Ed groaned when he pressed a finger on one of the bruises, "Okay, that hurt." He inspected his ribs, none were broken but he suspected they were bruised. "Must have been from the first day I was there," Ed remembered some of the treatment he had received. When he first awoke, he was strapped down on what would become his bed most of the time. He was nowhere near quicksilver madness at that point. He remembered the pain as they forced him to quicksilver by torturing him with devices he had never seen before.
Ed quickly pushed those memories back as best he could. Now was the time to concentrate on the task at hand, making himself as presentable as possible. He decided to wait on shaving. The last thing he wanted to do was to shave on an airplane. Hitting air turbulence while holding a blade to his face wasn't on top of his 'to do' list at the moment. Ed would need to soften his beard anyway and he was just too tired for that right now. He bent down over the sink and washed his face first
Hobbes came up and sat down next to Darien, "How's the kid doing?"
Darien had the expression of concern on his face. "He's pretty messed up, inside and out." Darien replied gazing at the bathroom door.
"They really did a number on him," Hobbes commented sullenly. During the race to get out, he hadn't had the chance to get a good look at Ed. It was only when they had switched vans did he see the physical signs of what Ed had endured. He genuinely felt sorry for Ed. "If anyone can help him, it'll be you and Claire."
Darien looked at Hobbes in surprise, "You mean that too, don't you?"
"Look, I know I can be somewhat possessive…"
"'Somewhat' is not the word I would use."
Hobbes shook his head, "Yeah, okay, so I'm possessive, sue me. But Bobby Hobbes knows true love when he sees it. I had it for Viv one time. The last thing I would want to do is to hurt Claire and I saw how much this affected her. I just have to face the fact that they love each other, you know, they're both smart, double D kinda smart so they have that lingo and all." Hobbes paused and let out a sigh as he stared down at the floor, "I'll always have a special place in my heart for Claire."
"I'm proud of you, Hobbes," Darien patted Hobbes on his back.
Hobbes leaned in to whisper to Darien, "What do you know about the dominant chick?"
Darien looked at Hobbes with an odd expression, "What? You mean Tara?"
"Yeah, does she like humans?"
A wide smile spread across Darien's face, "You little tiger. You got the hots for her don't you?"
"Fawkes, what kind of language is that?" Hobbes said in a phony disgusted tone.
Darien finger punched Hobbes' chest, "Aahh, don't fake it buddy."
"Sshhh…not so loud, Fawkes." Hobbes went about fixing his hair, "Do I look okay?"
Darien's smile never faded, "You look fine. Go get her tiger." Darien watched as Hobbes shot him a wink and left. The smile faded to concern as he felt Ed's emotional presence in the bathroom. "Here I go again," Darien replied soulfully to himself as the bathroom door opened.
Ed wore Darien's faded blue jeans, a white barfly t-shirt and converse sneakers when he stepped from the bathroom. He sat himself down again and stared at nothing in particular. His memories were back now and they fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, piece by piece he remembered everything. And Darien was right about one thing, he wished he hadn't. Like that night he jumped in the ocean, he wanted to do nothing more than to wash away the things he had done and wanted to do. He sat close to the bathroom because he was still feeling sick to his stomach. He had already vomited before cleaning himself up and felt his stomach churning as the scene with Dr. Alvarez played repeatedly in his mind. How he almost raped the Lady was repulsive to him, Ed respected women, and the thought of what he *wanted* to do made him sick. How could he face Claire now?
Darien sat down across from him. The pale sicken face of his scientist twin continued to look the other way, "I don't want to talk right now."
"You need to."
Ed swallowed the hard lump in his throat. "Go away."
"Okay, then lets talk about something else…hey I know…how 'bout them Marlins winning the World Series!?" Darien said with a small hint of excitement in his voice in the hopes of getting Ed to talk.
"I don't watch baseball, it's boring," Ed returned sharply still keeping his face glued at the window.
Darien pursed his lips together. "Can't see too much when it's dark outside."
"I see enough."
"Ed, you can't shut yourself off like this."
Ed turned to glare at Darien, "Why?"
"'Why' what?" Darien noticed that the sparkle in Ed's eyes were gone. Ed was certainly someone who had gone through hell and it showed.
"Why didn't you do what you promised to do?" The pain in Ed's voice was evident.
Darien looked down at the floor of the plush aircraft that zipped its way to Washington, D.C., "Because I knew that we could save you. But if you had gone permanent, I would have fulfilled my promise."
"Too late, Darien, I killed those people," Ed's face reddened with sadness and remorse, "Damn it, Darien! I…I…was brutal…like an animal." Ed turned his head away to look out the window again, "I want to be alone."
"Nope, can't do that. We're on an airplane," Darien said.
Ed shook his head and chuckled out of annoyance, "Screw you," Ed got up and Darien pushed him down on the chair again. Ed looked up at Darien with anger, "You weren't supposed to save me, Darien! You were supposed to put a bullet in me like you promised!" Ed yelled back.
Darien looked at Ed with sympathy, "I know what you're going through…"
Ed stood up and glared at Darien. The two men were eye to eye. "NO, you don't! Did you put someone's head through glass doors? Did you try to rape your boss only to snap her neck instead? I did those things and more, Darien. I don't want to hear, 'It wasn't the real you'…f*ck that! It was the real me, the one that's caged deep down inside!" Ed pounded on his chest to accentuate his point. "Where were you!?! You were supposed to kill me!!"
Darien gripped Ed's shoulders, "Damn you! What about Claire? Huh? What about the promise to love and to cherish in sickness and in health?"
"I haven't made that promise yet." Ed said with a sneer.
"You did when you put the ring on her finger and asked her to marry you."
"I have to live with the fact that I killed five people, Darien. How can I even trust myself around her? Would you?" Ed waited for Darien's reply. There was none. "See, even you have doubts. I'll never trust myself and you of all people should understand that."
"I said this once to Claire, Hobbes and the Official and it's true for you too. What happened to Simon Cole, the first invisible man, will not happen to you or me cause we both have something that he didn't."
"Yeah, and what's that?"
"Friends."
Ed looked off to the side. Darien was right. He had friends and plenty of them. They had risked their own lives to come and rescue him. Tears flowed down his cheeks. Darien let Ed slide down the closed door to the floor. Darien knelt down and put his arms around Ed, "You're gonna be okay."
"I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry…" Ed said repeatedly through the tears and the gasps as he tried to wash his pain away in the tears that flowed from him.
Hobbes turned his attention to Tara as Ed and Darien continued to talk, "Okay, you were there, what did they do to Ed?"
Tara paused and let out a long cleansing sigh, "They ran every possible test they could think of. At first, they were going to remove the gland and have me clone it but when they went over Arnaud's notes, they didn't find the cure for quicksilver madness…"
"So, they were going to fix the gland and then have a harvesting party?" Hobbes asked as he kept one ear on the conversation with Tara and the other one on Darien and Ed.
"Yes, that's correct. But that all changed when they couldn't fix it right away. So I took a tissue sample of the gland to clone it in the hopes of having a prototype to work with outside of Ed. But I soon discovered that it needs to be in a host's body in order for it to activate the quicksilver. It needs elements of the host's blood to produce the quicksilver and they need the quicksilver to find the toxin to find the mutation. So, it was better to keep Ed alive in the hopes of finding a cure."
"And when they did, what was going to happen to Ed?" Tom asked.
"Well, the first option was to cure the gland and then harvest it. But I think they realized that Ed was too valuable for them to do that. Even under the influence of quicksilver madness he still possessed his scientific knowledge and skills. They could train him to be an assassin or work on experiments since he was no longer controlled by his conscious. He would do anything without hesitation."
"A predator," Tom said with an expression of seriousness on his face. He held one hand up to his mouth as he spoke.
Tara shook her head, "Yeah, you might say that."
"But you can't train a wild animal…eventually it bites you back," Hobbes replied. Tom shook his head in agreement. Training or even brainwashing Ed might not have worked if they couldn't even control him in the first place.
"We heard something mentioned about back packs. What was that all about?" Mark asked.
"They extracted some quicksilver from Ed…"
"How?" Darcy asked.
"They went through the small hole that I had drilled to get the tissue sample…"
"Fawkes came across a Chinese scientist who had invented a back pack to work like a gland. Quicksilver was stored in it…this is all making sense now. They were going to use back packs instead of mass producing glands," Hobbes said.
"What's the advantage in that?" Mark asked.
"According to what I learned, you would have to make the gland and the host compatible. That means altering the DNA of hundreds of glands. Not all implantations are successful, so would you risk losing a number of men and possible glands in the process?" Tara stated and then continued, "After surgery there's a three week period were the host is in a medically induced coma and then maybe a couple of weeks of rehab and training."
"And that would take too long to assemble an army. They wanted something quick and more dependable without the surgical risks." Hobbes looked around the dominants with a grave expression on his face.
"So, they wouldn't have to find a cure then would they?" Darcy asked.
"No, the cure still needed to be found. The toxin is still in the quicksilver whether they take it from Ed or from a gland cloned from his." Tara said.
"So, the toxin would affect anybody whether they had a gland in them or not." Tom stated.
"That's affirmative," Hobbes said. "I went stage five nutso just having a small amount of Fawkes' quicksilver go into my system. It was loaded with the toxin and the new counteragent Keepie was playing with. Not a pretty sight, my friend."
"Agent Hobbes, you do understand all this." Tara stated surprised.
"Oh I'm smart, no doubt about that, never underestimate Bobby Hobbes." He said as he leaned back in the seat. His arm stretched out above his head to lay across the back of the seat as he crossed his legs.
Tara smiled at him, "I'll have to remember that." There was something about Hobbes that intrigued her and she sensed the feelings from him. She definitely wanted to get to know him more. Maybe humans were not as bad as her father had taught her. After what she witnessed, she realized that there was good and bad in each species. With Tom's help, she would have a better understanding of her own feelings that she was taught to repress.
"Do you think we should put Ed on a suicide watch? I mean, what he went through, it's bound to mess him up." Darcy asked. The group fell silent for a moment waiting for someone else to speak up. They knew how upset Ed was and his outburst with Darien was only the beginning.
"As much as I hate to say it, but yeah. It was hard enough on Fawkes, but he didn't go as far as Ed did." Hobbes paused for a moment. "He's lucky to have Fawkes to talk to," Hobbes said as he glanced back to Darien and Ed, "I would definitely keep an eye on him."
"I agree, I saw what Ed went through, he'll probably start showing signs of post traumatic stress disorder at some point," Tara noted.
Darcy let out a sigh for her friend, "Good thing he has Claire."
Hobbes looked down at his boot while his hand skimmed across the surface as if to brush something off of it, "Yeah. Claire has plenty experience dealing with post quicksilver madness depression. She had'da deal with hair ball over there for two years."
"SHE…DID…WHAT!?!"
Hobbes and the others jumped from the outburst. Hobbes turned his head to see Ed standing tall with one hand on his hip and the other running through his hair. He didn't look happy at all. They watched as Darien said something to Ed.
"I can't believe it! Ahh man, I loved that van!" Ed's tone was both aggravated and mournful.
Hobbes spat out a chuckle and covered his mouth. Tom smiled. Darcy giggled and Mark turned his head away to stifle his own laugh. Tara had no idea what was going on. "Can someone explain to me what that was all about," she said watching Hobbes face turn red from laughter.
"Ed had this van…" Hobbes started to say.
"A classic…" Darcy added with a snicker.
"Yeah, a real classic. It was and old VW model from the sixties. The Lady put a cadaver in it and pushed it off the cliff so we would think that it was an accident," Hobbes said trying to suppress his laughter.
"Ed really did love that van," Tom stated.
"I got laid in that van."
Darien looked at Ed surprised, "Really!?!"
"Oh yeah, one day after surfing…"
Darien put his hand up, "As much as I would love to hear about your sexual exploits in the Tatemobile, I do have to ask. Does Claire know?"
"I hope so, she was one of them," Ed wiggled his brows.
Darien smiled mischievously, "Oh, bro…You are a wild man."
"Why do you think I had sleeping bags, pillows, blankets in the back and curtains on the windows?" Ed said with the tone of a mischief teenager in his voice. "Sloan and I even nearly spent the night together in my van."
Darien's eyes lit up, "You did!? Whoa…what was that like?"
Ed half smiled in embarrassment, "It's not what you think. She was going to show me the cave that Tom had showed her earlier. That's the night Kelly and Darcy were rescued from Lynch."
"Oh."
Ed paused for a moment and let out a deep sigh as his mind went back to events of the past week, "I still see and hear them you know, before I killed them. The pleas for mercy, the looks on their faces, I don't think I'll ever forget it. Will I ever be forgiven for what I did?"
"Look, you have to ask yourself, without the quicksilver madness are you capable of doing those things?"
Ed looked down at the floor of the plane, "No," came the soft reply.
"That's Arnaud's scam with the counteragent. That's why the Official played the madness card the way he did with me. I had no choice but to stay with the Agency." Darien paused and then continued, "No one can tell you how you're supposed to feel, not even me. But I do know one thing, it wasn't your fault. The way I see it, they should have known what they were getting themselves into, especially the Leopard Queen," Darien said.
"Leopard Queen?"
"Yeah, that's one of Hobbes' nicknames for her."
Ed forced a half hearted smile, "That fits. But it doesn't make what I did right or any easier to accept," Ed said sadly as his head lowered.
"No…but you didn't choose this, Ed. You didn't go into quicksilver madness because you were bored and didn't have anything better to do. You were forced into it. There's no way for you to control what happens. It was their choice, not yours." Darien studied Ed for a moment. He was still torn up inside over what happened. Darien leaned forward resting his forearms on his knees, "In my book all you did was kill terrorists, that's what they were, glorified terrorists who had the license to kill from the government. Ed, she had an agenda and you were going to play a key role in that. If that doc had been successful in brainwashing you they would have used you against humans too."
Ed's face turned to shock at Darien's words. He had remembered how Walter had told him that according to her they were all expendable. Would she use him as her own personal hit man?
"Senator Allen is a very popular man right now. People believe that he's the only one in Washington with enough guts to stand up to the dominants. People also feel that the President has failed on key issues lately, the economy, war on terrorism and especially the dominants. His approval rating has dropped dramatically while Senator Allen is gaining supporters. Believe it or not, we're lookin' at another Holocaust here if the President signs that bill."
"This is a big friggin' mess," Ed said with an exasperated sigh. "She would have sent me to kill the President and then blame it on the dominants," he said in a tone of sudden realization.
Darien pointed to him, "I think you're right."
"Well, I certainly wouldn't put it past her."
"See, you may have saved the day by stopping her. Ed, the military was involved in this also. Tara said there was a General overseeing the whole project, but she didn't think he was there when the walls fell."
"Darmok and Jilad at Tanagra."
"Sucat, his eyes uncovered," Darien responded with elation.
Ed shook his head as he let out a chuckle. "Lets not start talking in metaphors, especially Star Trek ones." Ed looked around for a moment and then turned his attention back to Darien, "Does she know who this General was?"
"No, she never heard his name, but she said she could pick him out of a crowd."
"Great, it could be anybody. Does she know which branch of service he was with?"
"Army."
"Special Forces maybe?"
"That's what I'm thinking. But don't you worry about that. Hobbes and I will take care of it. You just concentrate on yourself."
Ed shook his head with trepidation as he ran his hand over his bandaged wrist. Claire had told him about the new and improved monitor. He wasn't sure how to take it. "You thinking about what Claire did to you?" Darien, with a creased brow asked.
Ed let out grunt, "Yeah…Why didn't she tell me?"
"That, you'll have to ask her yourself."
Ed shook his head, "I don't know what to think about this, I have mixed feelings on it. I mean on the one hand I'm angry that now my every move can be traced, but on the other hand I'm grateful cause I know I can be stopped."
"Well, there are pros and cons to everything, bro. She loves you and I think she did it to protect you. With as many times as I went cuckoo for cocoa puffs or got captured, that little device may have come in handy. Claire you can trust, and I mean that, not because she loves you, but because she does care. She may not have always shown it with me, but deep down inside, she did care about what happened to me." Darien paused and then continued, "Talk about me not having a chance, you do. You can find a cure."
"I'm not sure if the information I got from Claire will be enough," Ed said dejectedly.
"Hmm…maybe, but I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for on these," Darien handed Ed the disks.
Ed took them in his hand and looked at them with curiosity, "What's this?"
"All the information that those mooks got on the gland including what was taken from Arnaud's computer."
Ed's face lit up like a Christmas tree, "You're shittin' me!?!" Ed looked at the number of disks in shock. He glanced up at Darien with the same look on his face.
"Is that a scientific response?"
"Huh?"
"Never mind. Tara downloaded all the info…ah Ed, there's something you need to know about Tara."
"She's a dominant, I know." Ed looked at the disks in his hands again, "I can't believe this," he said under his breath.
"Well, that's not all of it exactly…her father is uhm…well, her father is Lewis."
Ed paused, he looked as if the carpet had been ripped from underneath him, "What?"
"But don't worry, she's cool, she helped us get you out." Darien watched Ed's face turned from shock to concern and then to worry. "She can be trusted, Ed." Darien glanced in Tara's direction, "She's confused right now and Tom is helping her sort out her feelings." He turned his attention back to Ed, "I think it was you that changed her."
"What? Me?" Ed thought back and didn't recall having any meaningful conversations with her.
"I think you caught her eye, if you know what I mean," Darien wiggled his eye brows.
"Oh great," Ed rolled his eyes.
"Ah, don't worry, she knows about Claire and she won't get in the way of that. Besides, I think she's caught the attention of someone else."
"Mark?"
"No."
"Shane?"
"No."
"Who?"
"Hobbes."
Ed nearly broke out in laughter, "I'm sorry, but…does she know?"
"Yeah, I think she does."
"Oh man, now this is funny, I mean not Hobbes having a thing for her but…"
"Lewis will flip his lid."
"Blow a head gasket."
"I'd love to be there when he finds out that not only his daughter has switched sides but that she's seeing a human," Darien pictured Lewis turning as red as his shirt. Ed couldn't help but chuckle, "That would finish him off for good as far as the Council goes."
Darien patted Ed on his back, "C'mon, we need to plan our field trip to the White House." Ed nodded and he followed Darien to the front of the plane to rejoin the others. "Hey, you know, we're like the 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'," Ed mused.
"Oh yeah, and you would be…Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?" Darien asked.
"Not funny," Ed said mockingly. "Probably more like Dorian Gray…I appear to be an immortal."
Darien chuckled as he pondered Ed's observations about his uncanny ability to survive deadly situations. "Okay, so what about Hobbes?"
"Allan Quatermain, for sure."
Darien put his arm around Ed, "You know, I think you've got something there."
Ed stopped, "Did I really sing 'Ding Dong the Witch is Dead'?"
Darien scratched the back of his neck, "Ah…yeah, you did."
Ed covered his face with his hands, "My God."
"Ed..."
"Yeah…"
"Stick to the double D stuff and the surfing."
Ed smirked. "Don't worry about that. I don't think I'll ever be able to watch 'The Wizard of OZ' again."
Darien and Ed sat down and the rag tag team of renegades planned their entry into one of the country's most guarded buildings, the White House.
TBC…