Chapter 5
Marek stood in the observation room watching the shorter agent pace, then sit down, get up and pace again only to sit down after a few laps around the small room. The reason for the Agency to hire this man to watch over Darien Fawkes was beyond him. And speaking of, how the Agency could agree to have a 17 million dollar government experiment implanted into the head of a thief was another mystery to the experienced ex-CIA agent. Marek was definitely cut from the same mold as Simon Cole and was more deserving of this unique opportunity than this Darien Fawkes person.
No Name stood next to Marek in the small room. His plan was to show that the choice to use Darien Fawkes was a mistake and continues to be a mistake made by the Official. No Name had learned about Charlie Borden's connection to the Fawkes family and it all made sense. What Borden did was to show loyalty to his long time friend Dr. Peter Donovan by saving his pathetic excuse for a nephew. Then there was the brilliant older brother, Dr. Kevin Fawkes who pleaded with Borden to help his prison bound younger brother. How loyal was Borden to Darien Fawkes remained to be seen. He had read the files and it seemed to be an odd relationship. Borden had ordered Fawkes' Keeper not to give him the cure for quicksilver madness. Did he believe the Keeper would come up with new counteragent to keep Fawkes on the leash? Probably not. He needed, no, wanted a gland that he could control no matter whose head it was in. Fawkes was just a victim of circumstance and a successful experiment. Borden was probably going to harvest the gland and re-implant it into someone more desirable.
To No Name, putting the gland into the head of someone like Darien was a waste of money and time. But then again, after the failure with Simon Cole maybe that was the reason Borden chose the younger Fawkes. If the gland had failed again, who would care about the loss of Darien's life? Kevin would of course, but he must have known it would succeed or else he wouldn't have risked his brother's life no matter how useless he had turned out. Kevin must have promised Borden that he could remove it if the experiment was a success.
No Name's scientists had worked overnight for months to develop their own gland based on the information Darien was able to obtain. Sure they had setbacks in development and testing, but then again, you can't make an omelet without cracking a few eggs. And the mental hospital they had Agent Hobbes in was full of those cracked eggs.
Some test subjects didn't even survive the surgical procedure and others just simply rejected the gland. In one case when the subject tried to quicksilver it flowed from the man's ears instead and killed him instantly. The autopsy revealed that the macroganglias had not been fused properly and quicksilver leaked into the subject's cranium. The leak resulted in the instant freezing of the brain. The test subjects were mainly homeless or people that society deemed unacceptable and not really contributing to the community anyway. No one would miss them.
Fawkes and Hobbes' investigation of the dentist had put a stop to one avenue of getting healthy test subjects, but No Name had other means, other options and he had used them all. The result was getting the gland to work properly and the final implantation into Marek's head, but with one added feature. Marek can only go invisible if he's given a shot. Sort of like jumper cables when the car battery dies. No Name wanted a way to control *his* invisible man. He didn't want any unauthorized invisibility. Unlike Darien Fawkes, Marek couldn't go invisible whenever he wanted to. That meant no spying or eaves dropping in on private conversations. Marek could only remain invisible for a short period of time, thirty minutes to be exact. That was fine by No Name's standards, thirty minutes was plenty of time for his invisible man to assassinate someone or plant a bomb.
No Name turned to face Marek, "Let's get started shall we?"
"I can't wait."
No Name walked out into the hallway and met with Dr. Bruckner. "What is your clinical diagnosis of this patient, doctor?"
The psychiatrist looked No Name right in the eyes, "I'd say that this patient is suffering from psychizophrenia. He seems to be out of touch with reality. He claims that he's an agent and his partner can turn invisible."
"And what can be done for him?"
"Well, I'm going to start him on Thorazine and see if we can get him under control."
No Name smiled. "Keep me informed of his progress." No Name walked away with Marek beside him, "This is what I want you to do."
~*~
Hobbes sat in a room surveying his surroundings. The room looked like an activity center that you would find in a mental hospital and he would know what one looked like. He spent a fair amount of time in one. There were other *patients* sitting at the various tables that were strategically placed around the room. Each table sat four but most of the tables were occupied by only one person. Everyone wore white scrubs including Hobbes. The only door into and out of the room was heavily guarded by two large men with batons. Hobbes suspected that they were cattle prods of some kind. He was not going to get out this place, at least not without getting the day lights shocked out of him. He would have to wait for a more ample opportunity to come his way. For now, he watched and waited.
At one table a man sat in a wheel chair with his head tilted to one side and a bib wrapped around his neck to soak up his own drool. Hobbes crinkled his nose in disgust at the sight before him. At first one might think that he was an overgrown baby, but the only thing that was different was his eyes. Instead of his eyes being filled with wonder and curiosity like a baby, his eyes were blank. The man's hands rested on a tray attached to his wheelchair.
Except for a few gurgling sounds and the head jerk reaction to having too much saliva in his mouth, the man didn't move an inch. Hobbes noted that he barely blinked his eyes. "Oh yeah, not only are the lights off and no one's home, but the electricity's been cut," he said quietly to himself as he continued to study the other people in the room.
He saw another man sitting alone at a table with a game of checkers in front of him. The man just sat staring at the board and then at the empty chair in front of him. He would motion to the empty chair as if he was telling the person to make the next move. Hobbes shook his head, "I'm not so nutso after all."
Off in the corner was a ping pong table occupied by two men. One would hit the small plastic ball to the other. The second man would watch the ball go by and then slowly swing his paddle. This of course upset the other man to no end. He would throw down his paddle in disgust and fetch the ball to start the whole process all over again.
At another table a man leaned up against the wall with terrified eyes. He sat continuously banging the back of his head against the wall. Another man sat next to him trying to slash his wrists with an invisible knife or blade. "I'm in the SWRB nut house," Hobbes mused to himself.
Every now and then a brutish looking orderly would come in carrying a tray full of little white cups. Hobbes knew that some of those cups contained medicine and others were filled with water. The orderly would walk up to each person and call them by name in a tone like he was talking to a child. In some cases he probably was Hobbes thought as he looked on intently. The only one who didn't receive pills orally was the one Hobbes dubbed 'the drool bucket'. His medication was inserted into the IV port that was on his hand.
The orderly bypassed Hobbes all together. In fact, he didn't even look at Hobbes as he walked by. He looked at the chess game that was before him and shrugged his shoulders, "Oh well, when in Rome do as the Romans do." As he was about to move a piece and play a game of Hobbes vs. Hobbes, a piece moved by itself, he looked around quickly. A smile spread across his face, "I knew you'd find me."
Hobbes leaned in closer towards the table, "I need for you to take out those two mooks over there." He moved his eyes to point in the direction of the two guards. He made a move on the chess board to give the illusion that he was playing. He waited for Darien to take out the two guards, but it never happened.
Hobbes heard a shout of joy when the checker man leaped for joy out of his chair. He pointed to the board, "He finally made a move!" The checker man clapped his hands and sat back down. No one in the room other than Hobbes even bothered to look at the man's display of delight. They were all too doped up on medication to care.
"Fawkes, what are you doing?" Hobbes said in a slightly raised aggravated tone.
"Who are you talking to Mr. Hobbes?" Dr. Bruckner said as he moved from behind Hobbes to stand in front of him.
Hobbes stood up, "You can't keep me here."
"And why is that?" Dr. Bruckner asked as he folded his arms in front of him. That jester was a signal to the two large guards. They started to approach Hobbes from behind slowly. "Is it because you still think you're a special agent for the United States Government?"
Hobbes stepped aside from the table. "I *am* a government agent and you're committing an act of kidnapping."
Dr. Bruckner shook his head in dismay, "I see that we still have a long way to go." With a slight nod to his head the two guards reached for Hobbes.
Hobbes managed to get a back kick into the gut area of one before the other shocked him with the baton. Hobbes laid on the ground grunting in pain as he clutched his kidney area. Dr. Bruckner pulled out a syringe and injected Hobbes with the contents inside.
"Now, Mr. Hobbes, we can have a talk." The two guards lifted Hobbes up roughly and dragged him out of the room. As they left the doctor turned around and smiled at the other patients. They all smiled back except for the drooling man.
Hobbes sat on the chair feeling a bit fatigued. Dr. Bruckner came in and sat down on a chair across from him. "Now, Mr. Hobbes, let's talk for a little while. Why do you believe you're an agent?"
"Cause I am." Hobbes could barely sit up straight.
"Tell me you're full name."
"Robert Albert Hobbes."
"Very good. And where were you born?"
"Brooklyn, New York."
"Very good. And what is your occupation?"
"Government agent."
"Actually, you're in textiles."
Hobbes looked at him with crinkled brows, "No, that's one of my covers."
"Do you have a partner?"
"Yes."
"And what's his name?"
"Darien Fawkes." Hobbes was finding it increasingly difficult to fight the drug he was given.
"Mr. Hobbes, we checked on Darien Fawkes, he's in prison for molesting an elderly man during a break-in. There's no possible way he could be your partner."
Hobbes had an irritated expression on his face now, "No, they let him out."
"I doubt that, Mr. Hobbes, he was sentenced to life with no hope of parole. He's already served a little over three years of his life sentence." Dr. Bruckner pulled out a file and showed it to Hobbes. "Here, I want you to look at these pictures," he showed Hobbes a picture of Darien's mug shot, "Is this the man you think is your partner?"
Hobbes looked at it, "I don't think, I know." His tone was harsh.
"Mr. Hobbes look at these other pictures," he handed Hobbes the stack of pictures. They were of Darien in prison uniform at Bakersfield.
"No, no, this can't be." Hobbes tossed the pictures to the floor. "I know what you're doing to me and it won't work!" He shouted as he pointed to the doctor.
"And what are we trying to do to you?"
"You're trying to make me believe that the past three years of my life have been an illusion…well let me tell you something, it wasn't. I know who I am and I know who my partner is!" Hobbes was visibly angry and his adrenaline was helping him fight the drug at the moment. "Bobby Hobbes maybe crazy but I'm not that crazy."
"Yes, let's talk about that."
"I've got nothing more to say to you."
"Why did your wife leave you?"
"I said I've got nothing more to say to you." Hobbes was ready to belt the doctor right in the mouth until he stopped when he heard Vivian's name.
"You still love Vivian don't you? She remarried didn't she?"
Hobbes searched his thoughts about Vivian, "I don't want to talk about it." Hobbes regained his composure, "Where is Fawkes!?!"
"I told you…he's at the maximum security penitentiary at Bakersfield. Oh but of course, even a maximum security prison can't hold an invisible man."
Hobbes glared at the man before him. He was about to say something but pulled his unspoken words back into his mouth. He wanted to see how much this doctor knew.
"Mr. Hobbes, that's the reason why you're here, "When you divorced from Vivian, she said that you stalked her and that you acted strangely."
"What?"
"Yes, she's very concerned about you. She said that you attacked her fiancé."
"Wait, how did you know that?"
"Mr. Hobbes, you told us that."
"No I didn't."
"Yes, you did. How else would we know about Vivian and Darien Fawkes your partner who can turn invisible? I think that would be top secret information wouldn't it?"
Hobbes grabbed his head, "You're trying to confuse me. Put words in my mouth. Vivian and I divorced, she remarried and my partner is Darien Fawkes!"
"Can he turn invisible?"
"What do you think?"
"I ask the questions here, Mr. Hobbes. Why do you think the government would hire a man like Darien Fawkes?"
Hobbes smiled, "Ahhh…you are trying to mess with my mind. No Name put you up to this didn't he? I already know, I've seen him so don't try to say you don't know him cause you do know him."
"Who is No Name?"
"The guy that runs the SWRB…Secret Weapons Research Branch."
"And what would a man like that be doing in a mental hospital?"
"Cause this is where all his failed experiments go."
"And what experiments would that be?"
"How should I know…that's why they're called the Secret Weapons Research Branch…it's a secret branch that researches weapons."
"So you think all these people here are the result of botched experiments by this No Name person?"
Hobbes leaned forward on his seat, "My name is Robert Hobbes, I'm an agent of the Untied States of America."
Dr. Bruckner stood up and walked over to the door and opened it. "You can take Mr. Hobbes back to the activity room now. I think we'll talk again later."
Hobbes grinned at the doctor as he was escorted out still repeating his name and who he worked for. During the walk back to the room he expected Fawkes to show up again, but like before it didn't happen. This was frustrating to Hobbes. He knew he saw that piece move.
Once inside the room he sat at the table trying to piece things together in his mind. What was No Name doing this time? Did Fawkes move that chess piece? How about the other's guys checker piece? Did he move it himself or did Fawkes and why? Why didn't Fawkes help him to escape? How did that doc get those pics of Fawkes at Bakersfield? Why would they try to make him believe that the past three years was an illusion? Was he really still stalking Vivian and was Fawkes actually spending a life sentence in prison? Why would he think that Fawkes was his partner?
Hobbes shook off those last questions. He wasn't stalking Vivian and Fawkes was his partner. He suddenly thought about Fawkes and what they could be doing to him. He looked at his chess pieces. "This is nothing but a mind game," he picked up one of the pawn pieces and held it in his hand, "…and my sanity is the pawn. Don't let them get to you or it's check mate…game over." He looked around, "Okay, I'll play your little game." He put the pawn back on the game board, "Let's see who gets a check mate first."
~*~
Darien sat in front of Alex's desk in her new office. She was hired back by the FBI. "Just one thing I don't get, Monroe."
"What's that?"
"Why Hobbes? I mean if I'm the one they want, why take Hobbes?"
"Headgames, Fawkes."
"Headgames?"
"Yeah, only I think it's meant for the Official and not you."
Darien thought for a moment. An expression of understanding came across his face as if a light bulb turned on in his head. "Oh you mean like revenge kind of headgames?"
"Exactly."
"Then who's next? Me?"
"Yeah, I think so. Next to you, No Name doesn't care about anybody else but the Official. Claire and Eberts mean nothing to him. He has scientists and pencil pushers already. But the Official is the one who he sees as stealing the QS-9300 Project away from the SWRB in the first place. Hobbes and you escaped from them before and well, it's probably an ego thing with him."
"So what else is new." Darien commented more as a statement in a tone that showed he knew what was going to happen. He got up and walked around her desk to see what see was doing. "What'd we do next?"
Alex leaned back in her chair, "I've been trying to track any leads as to where the new SWRB headquarters are at, but they do know how to cover up their tracks. And no one at the FBI, CIA or even the NSA are saying anything."
"Afraid?" Darien questioned as he leaned on the desk.
"Yeah, I guess so." Alex sounded like she didn't know what to do next.
"I think I might know where to look," Darien said as he straightened to his full height. "Come on, let's go find Hobbes."
TBC….
Marek stood in the observation room watching the shorter agent pace, then sit down, get up and pace again only to sit down after a few laps around the small room. The reason for the Agency to hire this man to watch over Darien Fawkes was beyond him. And speaking of, how the Agency could agree to have a 17 million dollar government experiment implanted into the head of a thief was another mystery to the experienced ex-CIA agent. Marek was definitely cut from the same mold as Simon Cole and was more deserving of this unique opportunity than this Darien Fawkes person.
No Name stood next to Marek in the small room. His plan was to show that the choice to use Darien Fawkes was a mistake and continues to be a mistake made by the Official. No Name had learned about Charlie Borden's connection to the Fawkes family and it all made sense. What Borden did was to show loyalty to his long time friend Dr. Peter Donovan by saving his pathetic excuse for a nephew. Then there was the brilliant older brother, Dr. Kevin Fawkes who pleaded with Borden to help his prison bound younger brother. How loyal was Borden to Darien Fawkes remained to be seen. He had read the files and it seemed to be an odd relationship. Borden had ordered Fawkes' Keeper not to give him the cure for quicksilver madness. Did he believe the Keeper would come up with new counteragent to keep Fawkes on the leash? Probably not. He needed, no, wanted a gland that he could control no matter whose head it was in. Fawkes was just a victim of circumstance and a successful experiment. Borden was probably going to harvest the gland and re-implant it into someone more desirable.
To No Name, putting the gland into the head of someone like Darien was a waste of money and time. But then again, after the failure with Simon Cole maybe that was the reason Borden chose the younger Fawkes. If the gland had failed again, who would care about the loss of Darien's life? Kevin would of course, but he must have known it would succeed or else he wouldn't have risked his brother's life no matter how useless he had turned out. Kevin must have promised Borden that he could remove it if the experiment was a success.
No Name's scientists had worked overnight for months to develop their own gland based on the information Darien was able to obtain. Sure they had setbacks in development and testing, but then again, you can't make an omelet without cracking a few eggs. And the mental hospital they had Agent Hobbes in was full of those cracked eggs.
Some test subjects didn't even survive the surgical procedure and others just simply rejected the gland. In one case when the subject tried to quicksilver it flowed from the man's ears instead and killed him instantly. The autopsy revealed that the macroganglias had not been fused properly and quicksilver leaked into the subject's cranium. The leak resulted in the instant freezing of the brain. The test subjects were mainly homeless or people that society deemed unacceptable and not really contributing to the community anyway. No one would miss them.
Fawkes and Hobbes' investigation of the dentist had put a stop to one avenue of getting healthy test subjects, but No Name had other means, other options and he had used them all. The result was getting the gland to work properly and the final implantation into Marek's head, but with one added feature. Marek can only go invisible if he's given a shot. Sort of like jumper cables when the car battery dies. No Name wanted a way to control *his* invisible man. He didn't want any unauthorized invisibility. Unlike Darien Fawkes, Marek couldn't go invisible whenever he wanted to. That meant no spying or eaves dropping in on private conversations. Marek could only remain invisible for a short period of time, thirty minutes to be exact. That was fine by No Name's standards, thirty minutes was plenty of time for his invisible man to assassinate someone or plant a bomb.
No Name turned to face Marek, "Let's get started shall we?"
"I can't wait."
No Name walked out into the hallway and met with Dr. Bruckner. "What is your clinical diagnosis of this patient, doctor?"
The psychiatrist looked No Name right in the eyes, "I'd say that this patient is suffering from psychizophrenia. He seems to be out of touch with reality. He claims that he's an agent and his partner can turn invisible."
"And what can be done for him?"
"Well, I'm going to start him on Thorazine and see if we can get him under control."
No Name smiled. "Keep me informed of his progress." No Name walked away with Marek beside him, "This is what I want you to do."
~*~
Hobbes sat in a room surveying his surroundings. The room looked like an activity center that you would find in a mental hospital and he would know what one looked like. He spent a fair amount of time in one. There were other *patients* sitting at the various tables that were strategically placed around the room. Each table sat four but most of the tables were occupied by only one person. Everyone wore white scrubs including Hobbes. The only door into and out of the room was heavily guarded by two large men with batons. Hobbes suspected that they were cattle prods of some kind. He was not going to get out this place, at least not without getting the day lights shocked out of him. He would have to wait for a more ample opportunity to come his way. For now, he watched and waited.
At one table a man sat in a wheel chair with his head tilted to one side and a bib wrapped around his neck to soak up his own drool. Hobbes crinkled his nose in disgust at the sight before him. At first one might think that he was an overgrown baby, but the only thing that was different was his eyes. Instead of his eyes being filled with wonder and curiosity like a baby, his eyes were blank. The man's hands rested on a tray attached to his wheelchair.
Except for a few gurgling sounds and the head jerk reaction to having too much saliva in his mouth, the man didn't move an inch. Hobbes noted that he barely blinked his eyes. "Oh yeah, not only are the lights off and no one's home, but the electricity's been cut," he said quietly to himself as he continued to study the other people in the room.
He saw another man sitting alone at a table with a game of checkers in front of him. The man just sat staring at the board and then at the empty chair in front of him. He would motion to the empty chair as if he was telling the person to make the next move. Hobbes shook his head, "I'm not so nutso after all."
Off in the corner was a ping pong table occupied by two men. One would hit the small plastic ball to the other. The second man would watch the ball go by and then slowly swing his paddle. This of course upset the other man to no end. He would throw down his paddle in disgust and fetch the ball to start the whole process all over again.
At another table a man leaned up against the wall with terrified eyes. He sat continuously banging the back of his head against the wall. Another man sat next to him trying to slash his wrists with an invisible knife or blade. "I'm in the SWRB nut house," Hobbes mused to himself.
Every now and then a brutish looking orderly would come in carrying a tray full of little white cups. Hobbes knew that some of those cups contained medicine and others were filled with water. The orderly would walk up to each person and call them by name in a tone like he was talking to a child. In some cases he probably was Hobbes thought as he looked on intently. The only one who didn't receive pills orally was the one Hobbes dubbed 'the drool bucket'. His medication was inserted into the IV port that was on his hand.
The orderly bypassed Hobbes all together. In fact, he didn't even look at Hobbes as he walked by. He looked at the chess game that was before him and shrugged his shoulders, "Oh well, when in Rome do as the Romans do." As he was about to move a piece and play a game of Hobbes vs. Hobbes, a piece moved by itself, he looked around quickly. A smile spread across his face, "I knew you'd find me."
Hobbes leaned in closer towards the table, "I need for you to take out those two mooks over there." He moved his eyes to point in the direction of the two guards. He made a move on the chess board to give the illusion that he was playing. He waited for Darien to take out the two guards, but it never happened.
Hobbes heard a shout of joy when the checker man leaped for joy out of his chair. He pointed to the board, "He finally made a move!" The checker man clapped his hands and sat back down. No one in the room other than Hobbes even bothered to look at the man's display of delight. They were all too doped up on medication to care.
"Fawkes, what are you doing?" Hobbes said in a slightly raised aggravated tone.
"Who are you talking to Mr. Hobbes?" Dr. Bruckner said as he moved from behind Hobbes to stand in front of him.
Hobbes stood up, "You can't keep me here."
"And why is that?" Dr. Bruckner asked as he folded his arms in front of him. That jester was a signal to the two large guards. They started to approach Hobbes from behind slowly. "Is it because you still think you're a special agent for the United States Government?"
Hobbes stepped aside from the table. "I *am* a government agent and you're committing an act of kidnapping."
Dr. Bruckner shook his head in dismay, "I see that we still have a long way to go." With a slight nod to his head the two guards reached for Hobbes.
Hobbes managed to get a back kick into the gut area of one before the other shocked him with the baton. Hobbes laid on the ground grunting in pain as he clutched his kidney area. Dr. Bruckner pulled out a syringe and injected Hobbes with the contents inside.
"Now, Mr. Hobbes, we can have a talk." The two guards lifted Hobbes up roughly and dragged him out of the room. As they left the doctor turned around and smiled at the other patients. They all smiled back except for the drooling man.
Hobbes sat on the chair feeling a bit fatigued. Dr. Bruckner came in and sat down on a chair across from him. "Now, Mr. Hobbes, let's talk for a little while. Why do you believe you're an agent?"
"Cause I am." Hobbes could barely sit up straight.
"Tell me you're full name."
"Robert Albert Hobbes."
"Very good. And where were you born?"
"Brooklyn, New York."
"Very good. And what is your occupation?"
"Government agent."
"Actually, you're in textiles."
Hobbes looked at him with crinkled brows, "No, that's one of my covers."
"Do you have a partner?"
"Yes."
"And what's his name?"
"Darien Fawkes." Hobbes was finding it increasingly difficult to fight the drug he was given.
"Mr. Hobbes, we checked on Darien Fawkes, he's in prison for molesting an elderly man during a break-in. There's no possible way he could be your partner."
Hobbes had an irritated expression on his face now, "No, they let him out."
"I doubt that, Mr. Hobbes, he was sentenced to life with no hope of parole. He's already served a little over three years of his life sentence." Dr. Bruckner pulled out a file and showed it to Hobbes. "Here, I want you to look at these pictures," he showed Hobbes a picture of Darien's mug shot, "Is this the man you think is your partner?"
Hobbes looked at it, "I don't think, I know." His tone was harsh.
"Mr. Hobbes look at these other pictures," he handed Hobbes the stack of pictures. They were of Darien in prison uniform at Bakersfield.
"No, no, this can't be." Hobbes tossed the pictures to the floor. "I know what you're doing to me and it won't work!" He shouted as he pointed to the doctor.
"And what are we trying to do to you?"
"You're trying to make me believe that the past three years of my life have been an illusion…well let me tell you something, it wasn't. I know who I am and I know who my partner is!" Hobbes was visibly angry and his adrenaline was helping him fight the drug at the moment. "Bobby Hobbes maybe crazy but I'm not that crazy."
"Yes, let's talk about that."
"I've got nothing more to say to you."
"Why did your wife leave you?"
"I said I've got nothing more to say to you." Hobbes was ready to belt the doctor right in the mouth until he stopped when he heard Vivian's name.
"You still love Vivian don't you? She remarried didn't she?"
Hobbes searched his thoughts about Vivian, "I don't want to talk about it." Hobbes regained his composure, "Where is Fawkes!?!"
"I told you…he's at the maximum security penitentiary at Bakersfield. Oh but of course, even a maximum security prison can't hold an invisible man."
Hobbes glared at the man before him. He was about to say something but pulled his unspoken words back into his mouth. He wanted to see how much this doctor knew.
"Mr. Hobbes, that's the reason why you're here, "When you divorced from Vivian, she said that you stalked her and that you acted strangely."
"What?"
"Yes, she's very concerned about you. She said that you attacked her fiancé."
"Wait, how did you know that?"
"Mr. Hobbes, you told us that."
"No I didn't."
"Yes, you did. How else would we know about Vivian and Darien Fawkes your partner who can turn invisible? I think that would be top secret information wouldn't it?"
Hobbes grabbed his head, "You're trying to confuse me. Put words in my mouth. Vivian and I divorced, she remarried and my partner is Darien Fawkes!"
"Can he turn invisible?"
"What do you think?"
"I ask the questions here, Mr. Hobbes. Why do you think the government would hire a man like Darien Fawkes?"
Hobbes smiled, "Ahhh…you are trying to mess with my mind. No Name put you up to this didn't he? I already know, I've seen him so don't try to say you don't know him cause you do know him."
"Who is No Name?"
"The guy that runs the SWRB…Secret Weapons Research Branch."
"And what would a man like that be doing in a mental hospital?"
"Cause this is where all his failed experiments go."
"And what experiments would that be?"
"How should I know…that's why they're called the Secret Weapons Research Branch…it's a secret branch that researches weapons."
"So you think all these people here are the result of botched experiments by this No Name person?"
Hobbes leaned forward on his seat, "My name is Robert Hobbes, I'm an agent of the Untied States of America."
Dr. Bruckner stood up and walked over to the door and opened it. "You can take Mr. Hobbes back to the activity room now. I think we'll talk again later."
Hobbes grinned at the doctor as he was escorted out still repeating his name and who he worked for. During the walk back to the room he expected Fawkes to show up again, but like before it didn't happen. This was frustrating to Hobbes. He knew he saw that piece move.
Once inside the room he sat at the table trying to piece things together in his mind. What was No Name doing this time? Did Fawkes move that chess piece? How about the other's guys checker piece? Did he move it himself or did Fawkes and why? Why didn't Fawkes help him to escape? How did that doc get those pics of Fawkes at Bakersfield? Why would they try to make him believe that the past three years was an illusion? Was he really still stalking Vivian and was Fawkes actually spending a life sentence in prison? Why would he think that Fawkes was his partner?
Hobbes shook off those last questions. He wasn't stalking Vivian and Fawkes was his partner. He suddenly thought about Fawkes and what they could be doing to him. He looked at his chess pieces. "This is nothing but a mind game," he picked up one of the pawn pieces and held it in his hand, "…and my sanity is the pawn. Don't let them get to you or it's check mate…game over." He looked around, "Okay, I'll play your little game." He put the pawn back on the game board, "Let's see who gets a check mate first."
~*~
Darien sat in front of Alex's desk in her new office. She was hired back by the FBI. "Just one thing I don't get, Monroe."
"What's that?"
"Why Hobbes? I mean if I'm the one they want, why take Hobbes?"
"Headgames, Fawkes."
"Headgames?"
"Yeah, only I think it's meant for the Official and not you."
Darien thought for a moment. An expression of understanding came across his face as if a light bulb turned on in his head. "Oh you mean like revenge kind of headgames?"
"Exactly."
"Then who's next? Me?"
"Yeah, I think so. Next to you, No Name doesn't care about anybody else but the Official. Claire and Eberts mean nothing to him. He has scientists and pencil pushers already. But the Official is the one who he sees as stealing the QS-9300 Project away from the SWRB in the first place. Hobbes and you escaped from them before and well, it's probably an ego thing with him."
"So what else is new." Darien commented more as a statement in a tone that showed he knew what was going to happen. He got up and walked around her desk to see what see was doing. "What'd we do next?"
Alex leaned back in her chair, "I've been trying to track any leads as to where the new SWRB headquarters are at, but they do know how to cover up their tracks. And no one at the FBI, CIA or even the NSA are saying anything."
"Afraid?" Darien questioned as he leaned on the desk.
"Yeah, I guess so." Alex sounded like she didn't know what to do next.
"I think I might know where to look," Darien said as he straightened to his full height. "Come on, let's go find Hobbes."
TBC….