A/N: Bad Moon Rising was written by J.C. Fogerty and performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival…yes, I'm showing my age J. Good ol' CCR.

Chapter 9

I see the bad moon arising.
I see trouble on the way.
I see earthquakes and lightnin'.
I see bad times today.

Don't go around tonight,
Well, it's bound to take your life,
There's a bad moon on the rise.

Hobbes rushed to the Agency as quickly as he could. He entered the lab and saw the mess. Hobbes had instructed the agents not to clean up until he got there. The first thing that caught his attention was the broken glass partition and the trail of blood leading to the back of the Keep. Hobbes went over to Claire who was busy with some printouts, "Are you okay?" He asked putting a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Claire looked up at him with red swollen eyes, "Yeah, he…they didn't hurt me really. I was more scared than anything."

"So, what happened?" Hobbes asked as he glanced over at Tara who was questioning Tom.

"I was in here doing some work for Ed's cure when Darien rushed in and overpowered me. Before I knew it I was tied to a chair and gagged. Tara and Sloan were here to do some work for Walter. He called them in and easily handled them. I don't think Tara was expecting it. The last one he called was Ed…" Claire put her hand to her mouth, "Oh God, Bobby, when Ed came in Darien grabbed him from behind and threw him through the glass partition. I thought Darien was going to kill him." She leaned on his shoulder.

Hobbes patted her back, "It's gonna be okay, Claire, tell me, what happened next."

"Darien dragged Ed and just dropped him at my feet. He barely moved. I was relieved when he groaned, but then Darien injected him with something. I'm running an analysis on what it was now. Darien left the syringe and there was some residue from the chemical in it." Claire paused as the memory of what happened flashed through her mind again. She looked at Hobbes in dismay, "Darien just stood there, eating popcorn like he was at the movies…"

Tara and Tom came over to listen to what Claire was saying.

"Ed was in pain, he screamed…" Claire took in a deep breath and continued, "He stopped suddenly, I didn't know what to think. Then Darien said something like, 'That wasn't what I was expecting'," Claire looked at Hobbes through distraught eyes, "I think he knew…"

"Knew what?" Hobbes asked.

"That Ed was in stage five madness. Whatever it was, it pushed him straight into madness, like that new counteragent I was working on for Darien. Bobby…" Claire motioned for Hobbes to look in the silver bowl, "…Ed cut out his monitor…we have no way of tracking him."

Hobbes turned and looked inside. There was the monitor that had been implanted in Ed at the bottom of bowl. A shudder went through Hobbes as he thought about Ed cutting himself to remove it. "Now that's gross," Hobbes said to no one in particular.

Claire handed the papers to Tara, "Do you recognize this?"

Tara studied it for a moment and then she sat down, "Yeah, I do. It's my father's serum he uses when he programs Chameleons."

The atmosphere in the room became heavy with despair. "Wait, that means that Lewis has control of Darien again and now he's got Ed?" Claire said exasperated.

Tara shook her head, "I don't think Ed was the one that was supposed to get this injection."

"If not Ed then who?" Sloan asked.

Tara looked at Tom. He raised a brow and a stern look came over his face, "Me."

"Okay, if it was meant for Tom, then why would Darien give it to Ed?" Claire asked grasping to make sense of all this.

"Because Lewis doesn't really have Fawkes under control," Hobbes stated.

"What do you mean?" Sloan asked.

"Look we all know that Lewis wants you all dead. Fawkes obviously had his chance and he didn't," Hobbes remarked.

"Wait, at the base, Ed had made an offer to Darien to go with him…" Tara remarked.

"Of course, now Fawkes is taking Tate up on his offer. This isn't the first time the kid wanted to take off." Hobbes said.

"But I doubt that Darien knew what reaction Ed would have to this serum. I think he felt that he could control Ed like Lewis controls Chameleons," Tom added.

"This is one big friggin' mess," Hobbes retorted.

"And what are you going to do about it?" The Official asked as he stormed into the Keep and surveyed the mess. "Tell me that blood belongs to Fawkes," he shouted.

"Ah, negative, sir, it belongs to Tate." Hobbes answered.

Claire sat down, "How? How did this happen?"

Everyone glanced at Tom. "We checked on the tip that we got about the serial killer hanging out at a bar. We stayed there and saw the suspect enter. We waited until he made his move but nothing happened until a woman, a dominant woman walked in. She played pool with Darien and when she left the bar sometime later, she noticed that her tires were flat. Darien offered to take her home. Our suspect followed them and I followed behind him. He must have rammed Darien's car and forced him to stop. They were fighting by the time I got there. I told them to stop and announced that I was with the FBI. That's the last thing I remember. I must have been hit with a dart or something. When I woke up, I was in the trunk of my car tied up. I can only suspect that it was Darien, or the woman or both. I was eventually able to loosen the rope to get my hands free. I reached the release for the backseat, pushed it down and crawled through. I hot wired the car and called Ray as I drove here."

"You have an ID on this chick?" Hobbes asked.

"No, I suspected that she was an accomplice and so did Darien." Tom noted.

Ray walked in holding a small pad of paper. He flipped through it as he spoke, "I spoke with the bartender and he remembers seeing Darien leave with the woman. She never came back for the car. As it turns out, it was stolen and there are no fingerprints. The car is clean. I got a description of the woman and the man that was the suspected serial killer, but I doubt we'll get any identification on them."

The Official looked at Hobbes sternly, "Find them. The last thing we need is for Lewis to get his hands on two quicksilver glands," the Official turned on his heels and then as a second thought he turned around, "What about Dr. Tate's monitor? Did anyone think of tracking him down with that?"

Hobbes picked up the bowl, "Ah yes, sir, we did think of the monitor," he showed the contents to the Official, "But it appears that the good doc did some surgery on himself."

"Ah, excuse me, sir…" Eberts stepped from behind the Official, "If Lewis did contact Agent Fawkes by phone; we could still track them down by triangulating his cell phone…as long as he still has it on of course."

"And if he don't, Eeeberts, what do you suggest we do?" Hobbes noted with an irritated tone.

"Well, then the next logical course of action would be to enlist the help of Dr. Attwood and his resources. As I recall he was able to track down Agent Daniels and Drs. Parker and Tate in the Mexican desert."

The Official grunted and looked sternly at Hobbes, "I don't care how you do it, just bring them back here and I'll deal with them accordingly."

Claire stood up, "Sir, you wouldn't?"

The Official glared at her. "I will do what I have to do to ensure the safety of this project, with or without Fawkes and Dr. Tate. Do I make myself clear?" Before Claire could protest, the Official left with Eberts following behind him.

Sloan approached Claire, "Did he mean what I thought he meant?"

"Yes," Claire looked down at the floor. "He'll kill them both if he has to."

"Which means he'll have other agents looking for them," Hobbes looked at Tom, "If you where an out of control dominant, where would you go?"

"There are two possibilities, either they went after Lewis or the High Council," Tom said.

"Why's that?" Sloan asked.

"Other than us, they'd be looking for him too. Darien would want to send a message not to mess with him and what better message than Lewis or the High Council." Tara added.

"Right, and it would have to be a high profile kill…" Tom looked up, "The High Council."

"Let's go and see if Eberts can track them down," Hobbes said.

Sloan went to follow Tom. He turned around and stopped her, "No, you stay here. Claire needs you right now and if we confront Lewis or the Council, I don't want you in harms way. Darien and Ed are both dangerous. I saw what Ed did at the base, he won't think twice about hurting you or worse, killing you."

Sloan shook her head. She remembered how Ed was that day when he came to the Agency. From what she was told what Ed did at the base, he was worse than what she confronted. "Okay, I'll stay here with Claire."

"Bobby…" Claire called out to Hobbes. He stopped and turned around. "Here are a couple of tranq guns with some darts. Ed has only twelve hours before he goes permanent and that's without quicksilver use…if he uses it. I'll have counteragent ready. Please, bring them back alive."

Hobbes looked at her troubled. Before, he was either going out to rescue Darien or Ed and now it was both. But the difference now is he was facing two nut cases who could turn invisible. "I'll do my best, Claire. I promise."

"I guess I'll have to settle for that," Claire said and then sighed heavily.

"That's not our only problem," Tara said with a hint of foreboding in her voice.

Hobbes turned and shot her an inquiring glance, "What now?"

"The serum…" Tara paused and looked at Claire, "…it's not made for the chemical balance in the human mind."

Claire's shoulders slumped at Tara's words. She hadn't thought about that.

"What will happen to Ed?" Sloan asked.

"Not sure, it's never been used on a human before. But obviously even for Darien, it doesn't work. That may have to do with the gland and how the quicksilver secretions in his blood stream interact with the chemical make-up of the serum. With Ed, who knows what will happen."

"Well, we do know that it put him straight to stage five madness," Sloan answered. "What could happen?"

"Like I said, I don't know. Darien and Ed's glands are different and Ed is still receiving counteragent. Anything could happen?"

Hobbes handed one of the dart guns to Tom. "Then why are we standing around wasting valuable time? Let's find the demented double-mint twins and bring them back so Claire can fix 'em."

"I'll stay with Claire and Sloan so we can try and figure out how this might affect Ed." Tara said looking at Claire who acknowledged her agreement with a worried nod.

"Call Darcy, we made need her to help us with Darien," Tom said as he placed his hands on Sloan's shoulders.

"Like I helped you," Sloan answered.

"Yes." Tom looked deep into her eyes and felt her fear. "We'll find them and bring them back safely."

"Tom, be careful."

"I will." He placed a kiss on her cheek and left the lab. She turned and faced Claire. "Let's get to work."

I hear hurricanes a blowing.
I know the end is coming soon.
I fear rivers over flowing.
I hear the voice of rage and ruin.

Don't go around tonight,
Well, it's bound to take your life,
There's a bad moon on the rise.
All right!

Darien opened the trunk. Ed's eyes squinted from the sudden flash of bright light. "Hmm…that reminds me. Your eyes aren't exactly…normal…" Darien reached down and tore off a piece of Ed's lab coat. "Lift your head for a sec, I need to put a blindfold on you so they won't see your eyes."

"They?" Ed asked quizzically.

"Yeah, Ed, we're at the High Council." Darien finished with the blindfold.

"The High Council! You double-crossed me!" Ed said furiously. He tried to leap from the trunk and attack Darien, but since he was tied up it was to no avail. Darien quickly got the upper hand and pushed his scientist twin back to the floor of the trunk.

"No, no, look, we're here to take of business. I promise. If we're going to go on the run, we need to make sure that certain people don't try to hunt us down." Darien released Ed. "Trust me, bro. You're going to enjoy this as much as I am. They don't even know what's comin'." He took the ropes off of Ed's feet and helped him from the trunk. "Ready?"

"Oh yeah," Ed answered passionately.

"Good, now act like I've beaten the crap outta you. I'm gonna treat you rough too, so don't take it personally."

"I've got no problem with that."

Darien gripped Ed roughly by his arm and dragged him along to the front of the building. Two men were standing guard outside. They stopped Darien. "I'm here to see the High Council, I've got a present for them." Darien pointed to Ed's ID card. The guards studied the state Ed was in and smiled. They motioned for Darien to enter. They followed behind Darien and the doors closed behind them. Darien pushed Ed down the hall and he fell to the ground with a groan. The two guards shook their heads in approval at the rough handling of the human. Darien yelled at Ed.

"Get up!"

"Darien, please…don't do this…" Ed was cut off by Darien grabbing him by his hair and forcing him to his feet. Ed groaned in pain as he stood to his feet.

In a whinny tone, Darien mimicked Ed's plea, "Darien, please…don't do this…"He sneered at Ed, "I told you to get up…shut-up and move it!" Darien pushed Ed down the hall again. Ed used the wall for support as he stumbled down the hall. When they reached the double doors to the main room, the two guards opened them and Darien pushed Ed inside.

The High Council watched as Ed Tate fell to the floor. Darien sauntered in and glared at Ed. "Get to your feet."

Ed struggled on weak legs but managed to stand. The High Council leaned forward in their chairs to get a good look. The right side of Ed's lab coat was stained in blood. His hair was matted in blood on the right side. There was a visible sign that at one point blood had flowed from the wound and streaked down his face to his clothes. The tall man could barely stand straight. The sight of him delighted the unsuspecting members of the High Council.

John Barrette smiled, "Well done, Darien. Lewis had told us that you had rejoined us and by bringing us Dr. Ed Tate you've proven it. Now, take his blindfold off so that we can see the fear in his eyes."

A big grin spread across Darien's face, "Thought you'd never ask." He removed the blindfold, but Ed kept his eyes closed. "You heard the man, he wants to see fear…show them fear, Ed."

Ed raised his head and opened his eyes slowly. Darien snickered, "Now, isn't that the scariest thing you've ever seen or is this?" Darien's eyes became black as coal.

It's not often dominants show fear. They're taught that fear reveals weakness and vulnerability. But as they stared into the abnormal eyes in front of them, it was an emotion that couldn't be suppressed. Ed's eyes were filled with a hunger for blood that they've never seen before even with trained predators. And Darien's…Darien's eyes were as cold as a moonless night in winter. John and the other members froze where they were behind the table. "What is…" John didn't finish as the two men standing before him suddenly disappeared.

Hope you got your things together.
Hope you are quite prepared to die.
Looks like we're in for nasty weather.
One eye is taken for an eye.

Don't go around tonight,
Well, it's bound to take your life,
There's a bad moon on the rise.

It didn't take long for the Council to realize what was happening. John watched in a state of shock as two members' heads seemed to twist violently by themselves. The sound of bones snapping echoed in the room and the two bodies fell in a dead heap to the floor. The others tried to make their escape but Darien and Ed had effectively cut them off and broke their necks at lightning speed. John looked on unbelievably as one by one bodies fell to the floor. He stood stoically to accept his fate; he knew there was no escape and would be the last to die. The thought that lingered in his mind was that Lewis might be behind this. He knew that Lewis despised the High Council and had conspired against them on more than one occasion. Whatever Lewis did to Darien and Dr. Tate, he had turned them into efficient predators. If Lewis was the master mind, he had won. If not, then John could only hope that he would fall to the same fate as he. But in any case, he cursed Lewis with his last breath.

"Damn you, Lewis".

John Barrette, the leader of the High Council, quickly joined his dead comrades.

Mark and Shane had joined Tom, Hobbes and Ray on the hunt for Darien and Ed. After receiving the location from Eberts, they arrived at the new location of the High Council. But nothing could prepare them for what they were about to see. The two guards at the front door were dead and the doors were left wide opened. Tom and Hobbes slowly walked in with guns drawn. They walked slowly down the hall to the main chamber. It was quiet, way too quiet. Hobbes noticed the troubled look on Tom's face.

"What is it?" Hobbes asked.

"I don't sense anybody, human or dominant," Tom replied.

"Mmm…I'm guessing that's not a good thing," Hobbes retorted.

"No." Tom answered quickly.

Mark came up from behind them and opened the door. They walked in. "Holy…crap," Hobbes replied as he surveyed the damage. "I'd say they were here alright," he bent down and found the rope that loosely bound Ed's wrists next to a bloodied lab coat. "Climbing rope…probably Tate's."

Ray, Tom, Mark and Shane had split up to investigate the area. The bodies of the High Council were found lying on the floor at the back of the room. The table was in pieces along with the chairs and even the wall ornaments were destroyed. If Darien had wanted to leave a message that he didn't want anything to do with the dominants and their efforts for world domination, he left it loud and clear. He also made it clear not to get in his way.

Ray bent down to examine one of the bodies, "Neck is broken."

"So is this one." Mark added

"And this one," Shane said.

"They all had their necks broken," Tom said with certainty, "It's the dominant way of sending messages." He looked around the chamber and surveyed the damage. He had seen other dominants cause destruction but this was something they weren't used to. This time the damage was aimed at them.

Mark stood up, "Regardless of how we felt about the High Council, our people don't have leadership now." He shot Tom a concerned look. Shane looked at Tom for guidance. This would certainly cause chaos among them. There was no one to lead them.

Tom looked at them with a curved brow that highlighted the serious look on his face. He knew what they were thinking; he would have to claim his birthright as a Chosen and become the leader of his people.

Hobbes looked on in confusion. "I think we should concentrate on finding Fawkes and Tate right now," Hobbes interrupted as he walked around the room unaware of the grave situation they were in.

"Right," Tom said as he looked around trying to redirect his thoughts.

"Okay, so I take it then they're next target might be Lewis…not that I mind." Hobbes retorted.

"That would be my next guess." Tom bent down to pick up what remained of a wall decoration depicting the tattoo that was placed on the back of his right shoulder. "He was able to track him down one time, but I'm sure Lewis has moved on. He usually does after his whereabouts are known." Tom added still studying the broken design trying to figure out what it meant to his destiny.

The sound of a phone ringing gave them the much needed distraction. Hobbes pulled his phone from his pocket. Hobbes pulled his phone out of his pocket when it rang. "Hobbes…" He listened as Eberts informed him of what was going on. He wrote some information down and after a few moments Hobbes hung up with all eyes staring at him. "Okay, Fawkes' phone is off, which I'm not surprised. He must of turned it off shortly before arriving here. Walter tracked them down using his toys. I've got the coordinates, so let's get moving before they get too far ahead of us."

"What do we do? I mean, shouldn't we have a plan or something?" Shane asked.

Hobbes thought for a moment as a plan began to formulate in his mind. "When we do catch up to them, no matter what our plan is it may not work. So, here's the deal," Hobbes looked at Tom, "What ever happens make sure you shoot Tate. Fawkes will be expecting you to take him out, so this should confuse him," he handed Tom one of the tranq guns as he spoke. "This way it'll only leave Fawkes for us to contend with. You three can distract him and I'll do what I have to do to take him down. Between the five of us, we should be able to handle Fawkes. And remember don't think of nuthin' we're doin'. That'll tip him off and this whole thing is blown. Keep the goggles on so if they do their disappearing act we'll be able to see 'em."

They all looked at each other for a moment each trying to figure out a different plan. Ray broke the silence, "Let's do it."

"And if we fail?" Mark asked.

"Then the other Agency mooks will get 'em and the Fat Man will have a gland harvesting party. And I'm not 'bout to let that happen." Hobbes stated sternly as he started for the door. They had less than twelve hours to find Ed or else no matter what they do won't matter. The quicksilver gland would be harvested and so would the one in Darien.

Don't go around tonight,
Well, it's bound to take your life,
There's a bad moon on the rise.

TBC…