Chapter 13

Darcy stared off in the waiting room at nothing in particular. The paintings on the wall had already bored her beyond belief. 'I thought these things were supposed to be interesting,' she mused to herself. She had flipped through some of the typically outdated magazines but they didn't offer any real intellectual relief or distraction for that matter.

The really odd thing about all this was the fact that her husband, an ex-thief working for the government had become…a brain surgeon. Who would have thought? But actually it was the remnants of something called memory RNA that had resurfaced. Claire had explained to her exactly what had happened years ago. She couldn't make sense of what Kevin had done or why, but in a way, he could redeem himself even if it wasn't the gland being removed from Darien. At least, thankfully, it was Kevin that came back and not Simon Cole.

All she could do was hope that Kevin could control the body of his younger brother long enough to help Ed. Claire told her she wasn't sure how long Kevin's memory RNA would last. This was something that she didn't tell anyone else. They all had enough to worry about, but Claire had to tell someone and she figured that Darcy was her best choice. Maybe Claire felt that there was still some connection she had to Darien that she could tell him to hold off a little while longer and let Kevin do what needs to be done.

Sloan resigned herself to using Tom's lap as a pillow. A sense of déjà vu came to her. She and Tom were in the exact same position as Ed lay in a semi-coma from the Spanish Flu. They had given him the vaccine but they weren't sure how effective it would be. That's when her long vigil by her best friend side started. This time however, he was in a different room because of a strange twist of circumstances.

Dr. Kevin Fawkes, the dead scientist brother of Darien, who developed the gland and put one in Darien, was trying to take one out of a stranger who happens to bare a remarkable resemblance to Darien. The gland in Ed was developed by the very man who had Kevin murdered. And the strangest thing of all was that Kevin was performing this race against time operation in the body of his younger brother. Sloan had seen and heard some strange things since joining the Agency, but this one takes the cake.

She let out a disappointing sigh. Only ten minutes had passed since they were asked to leave the O.R. area and wait in the special room that was set up for them. Claire had stated that the operation could last as long as six hours. 'Another five hours and fifty minutes to go,'she thought to herself as the minutes didn't tick away like hours, but more like years.

Kevin put down the clippers and Tara handed him the scalpel. He glanced around the room and without saying a word, started his incision line. Tara began to suction as Claire readied the drill that would cut into Ed's skull.

Walter monitored the operation and kept a close eye on Ed's DNA. Every so often he would take a blood sample to run tests. Ed was now at 1.4% differential. Tara with her eyes, would motion to Walter when Ed would go through another conversion cycle. His heart rate would rise and his body would become tense. In order to keep him as still as possible, he was strapped down tightly to the table. The last thing they wanted was for Ed to have a seizure while Kevin was doing some intricate work on his brain.

What they were doing was unheard of and life threatening. Normally, the patient would be stable before doing surgery of this kind, but they had no choice. With Ed's brain becoming more compact, the macroganglias of the gland would pull away even more thus giving Kevin the best possible chance of disconnecting the nerves and blood vessels with the least amount of damage. The only drawback was the fact the gland itself could do permanent damage as it pulls away. It was a chance Kevin had to take to give him a better opportunity to successfully remove the dying gland, but he had to work quickly.

Kevin handed the scalpel back to Tara. He glanced at Claire and nodded. Claire handed him the drill with the circular drill at the end. It resembled the kind of drill bit that someone would use to drill a good size hole in the wall to put in a pipe either for water or for drainage. Kevin carefully and expertly started the next part of the procedure. This was the easy part, the hard part and most critical was right around the corner.

Hobbes waited in the outdoor café for his contact to show up. He checked his watch. He was becoming increasingly impatient. Time was of the importance. The longer he had to wait the quicker Arnaud could slip through his fingers, if the Swiss Miss Mother was still alive.

In a way, he hoped that he was alive that way he could end the life of this miserable excuse for a human being. Had he snapped? Possibly yes…well, more like definitely. He was angry, very angry, quicksilver mad kind of angry. He wasn't going to sit by and let Arnaud ruin two more lives. He never thought that he would have reacted this way where Ed was concerned, but here he was. The last straw that broke his resolve was seeing Claire in so much pain again. She found someone to be her soul mate, then in a flash lost him. He remembered what she had gone through, how Ed's death had affected her. Her mourning had turned into joy when they found out that Ed hadn't died. In an odd twist, he ended up finding someone to share his life with because of that. Just like that old saying goes; things happen for a reason. And the last thing he wanted to see was for Claire to go through all that again. Even if he did find Arnaud, there was nothing he could do; too little too late, it was all in Kevin's hands.

If Ed were to die, he wanted the satisfaction of bringing Arnaud's dead cold body into the Agency. It wouldn't bring Ed back, but it would feel good. Hobbes wanted revenge, revenge for Darien, for Kevin, for Ed and most importantly…for Claire.

A silhouette stepped from the shadows. 'It's about frickin' time, my friend,' Hobbes noted irritably to himself as he watched the younger man come towards him. The young man kept looking over his shoulder nervously as if he expected someone to come up to him and kill him. Hobbes shook his head, 'Late and nervous…not good traits to have in the spook business.'

"Carlos," Hobbes said gleefully as he put his hand out. "Como esta?"

"Muy bien," the young man replied. "E tu?"

"Bein, bien…but, I'll be even better if you have the shipment I want."

"Arrepentido, Senor Hobbes, the shipment is lost."

"Cuando?"

"Yo no se."

Hobbes, scratching his head, looked around dismayed; this was not going as he planned. "Do you know the condition of the shipment when it was lost?"

"Si. What I hear is, muy malo. But shipment disappeared. Yo le digo la verdad."

The young man was visibly nervous. Hobbes decided to let him go. He patted him on the back, "I know you are, Carlos. Thanks." He watched the young man scurry away quickly. 'Something has this guy ready to piss his pants,' he thought to himself. He was right back at square one. With one last quick glance around the café, he walked away. As he approached the van he saw a note on the windshield of his van. At first he thought it was a ticket.

"Oh c'mon!" Hobbes said agitated as he pulled it free from the wiper. He opened it up to read it. Inspecting his surroundings he read the note scribbled in Spanish again, Tenga cuidado hombre con pelo blanco.

"Beware of man with white hair…" Hobbes slapped the note with his free hand. "Lewis." He crumpled up the note and stuck it in his pocket. "What does Lewis have to do with all this?" he paused as he opened the door. "I need Fawkes with me on this one."

A few hours later, Mark came into the room where the vigil for Ed was kept. He could sense the very strong tense emotion as all eyes turned to him expecting to see Walter with another report. He took a seat next to Tom as Sloan sat up. "Any word yet?"

Sloan shook her head, "No. Walter came out a few minutes ago and said that Ed was hanging in there. He's at 1.5%. Kevin and Claire were working on getting to the gland. That's all we know."

Mark tapped her on the knee, "He's a strong human and being a dominant will help him be even stronger. I know it's hard, but this was the best way."

"It's just so strange, we've been fighting for our survival as humans and now the only way for Ed to survive is to be a dominant."

"Sloan…"

"It's okay, I know. It's only temporary until he gets his strength back."

"Tom, I need to speak with you." Mark said changing the subject quickly.

Sloan's eyes widened, "What you have to say to Tom you can say in front of me."

Mark noted the strong conviction behind her words. She was right though, this did concern her. "I'm sorry, Sloan, my apologies." He turned his attention to Tom, "I need you to come with me."

"What? Now? I need him." Sloan became upset and it showed in her voice as well as in her body language.

"Again, I'm sorry, Sloan. I understand the situation here but you have to understand the dire situation that Darien and Ed put us in…the world in fact."

"It wasn't their fault!" Sloan quickly added in a tone filled with defiance. "They didn't know what they were doing. It was all Lewis' fault, not theirs. I won't sit here and let you blame Darien and Ed for something they couldn't control. Darien was used by Lewis and we all know that!"

Tom's brow curved upward at Sloan's outburst. She was just as fierce defending Ed as he would be defending her. This was a friendship that was deeply seeded in loyalty for one another. And he believed her; Darien and Ed were not at fault. "She's right, Mark. Lewis was behind this and he wanted to use Darien as a weapon, but he couldn't control him. The serum was meant for me, not for Ed. The blood is upon Lewis' hands not Darien and Ed's."

"Maybe so, and if it's true, than we have an even bigger problem. Tom, the other Chosen are on their way to Los Angels and will be there soon."

"Los Angeles?" Sloan asked.

"Yes. Our people need leadership if we are to live in peace. This is our opportunity but if Lewis' intent was to use Darien to gain power in the High Council then…"

"We'll have division among our people," Tom completed Mark's statement. "Some will rally behind Lewis saying that it was the humans that eliminated the Council. Lewis will use his resources to promote his agenda."

"And what agenda would that be?" Sloan asked intently looking at Tom and Mark.

"War," announced the voice from the other side of the room. Darcy stood up and walked over to them. "It's been his plan for a long time. We all know that he's wanted to discredit the co-existence faction for a long time. He may even say that it was them that eliminated the High Council just so that the Council of the Chosen would form knowing that you, Tom, want peace. He could easily say you used the peace movement for your own agenda, to gain control. Lewis can accuse you of betraying your own people."

"That makes sense. If Lewis can persuade the dominants who want war or who are having doubts either way that it was the co-existence behind the assassinations, then they would want Lewis to lead them against peaceful co-existence. Talk about bad press." Sloan leaned back on the couch.

"That's why you've got to come with me, Tom. You need to stand for peace before Lewis can pollute the minds of our people."

Tom let out a long breath. He knew this day was coming, but he had been trained not to bring attention to himself and he was being asked to do so. He was trained as a Chameleon, a killer, he wasn't trained to be a leader. His childhood wasn't spent being primed and prepared to be a future President. But now, he had no choice, like Ed is so fond of saying from time to time, he's going to have to 'wing it'. He always found human sayings to be odd and confusing especially when they came from Ed.

"Let's go," Tom said in resignation. He looked at Sloan apologetically, "This is something I have to do."

"I know. Ed would want you to."

Tom smiled lovingly at Sloan for understanding. "I'll be back as soon as I can." He kissed her gently on the lips then left with Mark. Darcy took Tom's place next to Sloan. Neither one could find the words to say. They just held hands trying to find strength from each other. Sometimes a lot can be said in silence. They were both worried and it showed.

"Okay, I see it…I need to detach the secondary macroganglia from the blood vessels first," Kevin stated calmly as he worked with the necessary instruments carefully.

Walter came up to Tara. "1.6," he stated then walked away.

Kevin glanced up at Tara, 'I'm behind, I should have been at the primary macroganglia by now, I have to hurry,' he thought to himself and then returned to his work. Claire was too involved in the procedure to hear Walter or even to see the concerned expression on Kevin's face. All of her attention was on Ed and what Kevin was doing.

Kevin peered through the microscope as he prepared to separate the gland from the blood vessels. Claire held up the needle and the suture attached to it was nearly invisible. After an intense half hour, the secondary macroganglia was detached. Kevin held a bloodied gloved hand out. Claire instinctively put the hemostat holding the hair thin needle onto his hand. She assisted in the complex suturing process that would take a nerve racking long time.

Shane met with Hobbes with the information he was able to gather, which unfortunately wasn't much. "Agent Hobbes…"

"I know, kid," Hobbes patted the younger man on the shoulder, "I can see it on your face. I didn't have much luck either, but I do know one thing."

"What's that?"

"Lewis is looking for Arnie or he's up to something."

"This can't be good."

"Nope, it isn't, my friend. C'mon, I have few more angles to work on."

Kevin looked at Claire, "Here goes." With steady hands he began the complex and dangerous procedure of detaching the primary macroganglia from the brain stem. A wrong cut and Ed could die, end up in a vegetative state and or paralyzed from the 3rd vertebrae down. He also needed to make sure that he didn't cut the gland in any way releasing quicksilver into Ed's brain. If that were to happen, the surgery would be over. This was a critical part of the whole operation and the air in the sterile room became thin as everyone sucked in a breath as Kevin began the arduous task of removing the rest of the gland.

Walter had left the O.R. to give another update. As he walked into the room, he noticed that Tom was missing. Sloan stood up and walked up to him, "How's Ed?"

"He reached the 1.6% differential. His vitals are pretty strong as is expected. As much as I hate to admit this, Tara made a good call. I don't think Ed would have survived the procedure this far. Kevin has already detached the secondary macroganglia and was able to suture the blood vessels back to together with no difficulty. He's detaching the primary one now."

"The most critical," Sloan added wearily.

Darcy got up to join them in the conversation. "How's Darien…I mean…Kevin holding up?"

"He's doing well."

"And Claire?" Sloan was worried about her. She understood why she wanted to be in there with Ed, she would do the same if it was Tom.

"She's a strong woman. She's working along side Kevin and giving him the much needed help." After a moment's pause, Walter continued, "I'm going to go back in. I'll keep you up to date as often as I can."

The two ladies shook their heads and watched Walter leave. Darcy looked at Sloan, "You want some coffee?"

"Yeah, I could use some." Sloan went back to her seat and curled her legs underneath her. Her thoughts were focused on Ed as she thought back to the reception and how happy he and Claire looked. When he knelt down in front of her to remove the garter she could see how his eyes sparkled as he looked into Claire's eyes. The love that they have for each other was evident in their eyes and their smiles as they looked at each other. She'd had never seen Ed as happy as he was that day.

The two couples had decided not to smash the cake into each other faces but to show symbolically how they would care and treat the ones they loved. Lovingly and reverently, they fed the pieces of cake to each other. It was as if they were demonstrating how they would care for one other if the other became so ill they couldn't even perform the simplest of tasks for themselves.

And it was this memory that Sloan started to cry. She knew what the side affects of this surgery was. Paralysis was very high on the list of the things that could go wrong. She knew that it would just kill Ed if he could never walk again or even hold Claire in his arms. "No, no…" Sloan vehemently shook her head, "I won't think that way, everything will be fine." She looked up at the ceiling, "Please, let everything be okay."

Mark and Tom used the helicopter to get to Los Angeles. They landed on the roof of what was once the High Council. They stepped off with a dominant waiting for them. "Tom Daniels, we've been expecting you, please, follow me."

Mark and Tom glanced at each other and followed the young man. They walked down a flight of stairs and out into one of the back hallways leading to the main chamber. The young man opened the door. Tom was about to walk in first, but Mark stopped him, he could sense dominants present in the chamber, "Could be a trap."

"It's not a trap," the young man said.

Mark looked down on the man with determined eyes, "I'll be the judge of that." Mark walked in first. He glanced around at the eyes staring at him. He sensed no hostile intent in them; he turned and motioned for Tom to enter. The first thing that Tom noticed was that the chamber had been cleaned up and prepared to be the home of the Council of the Chosen. The wall designs were back up and fixed. A half circle shaped table made from mahogany wood replaced the rectangular one used by the High Council. The seven chairs were made from the same wood and each one had ornate carvings decorating the backs of them.

The young man walked to the center of the room. "The time of the Chosen is upon us."

Mark whispered in Tom's ear, "Dramatic."

The other Chosen began to take their seats. Tom watched with curiosity as they all obviously knew where to sit but him. He waited until they were all seated to see where he was supposed to sit. There were seven chairs but counting Tom, there were only six Chosen present. The young man came up to Tom, "Your seat is in the center."

Tom's brows curved in bewilderment. Did that mean he was the leader of the Chosen? Tom took his seat with Mark standing behind him.

"You're place is over here," the man said to Mark motioning to a position in the front of the room.

"My place is right here…for now," Mark replied sternly as he stood with his arms folded in a defiant manner.

'…Go ahead, make my day…' Tom amusingly thought as he compared Mark's behavior to Dirty Harry. The long nights of movie marathons he shared with Sloan and Ed certainly allowed him to catch up on human entertainment. Tom was shaken from his random thought when he suddenly felt all eyes on him. They were waiting for him to say something on the matter. "He stands were he wants to," he finally announced and the tension in the room eased.

"The Chosen will now introduce themselves," the man announced.

"I am Faraji Lumumba from the continent of Africa."

"I am Hogitaro Kobayashi from the continent of Asia."

"I am Veronica Doyle from the continent of Australia."

"I am Lukas Wendelken from the continent of Europe."

"I am Alphonso de la Cosa from the continent of South America."

Tom realized why there were only six, the other continent was Antarctica and no one lives there but scientists who visit for a short while. Mark gave him a gentle shove to pull him from his thoughts. It was his turn to introduce himself. "I am Tom Daniels from the continent of North America." He felt silly, but he wanted to follow protocol. Tom noticed the one empty seat at the end of the table. He wanted to ask who that seat was meant for but he didn't know if he should or not. He didn't have to wait long for his answer.

"I am Lloyd Adler. I will be your assistant if you will. The seventh seat is set for someone whom you will choose. Tom Daniels, you have been picked from the beginning to be the leader of the Chosen. I turn it over to you. What would you have us do?"

All eyes turned to Tom once again. He knew what he had to do, what he had to say. He stood up. "We are in a time when the decisions we make affect all of us, dominants and humans alike. We have a choice here to make and I hope it's the right one. We have seen what happens when a species is wiped out that plays an important role in nature, it becomes unbalanced. The destruction of the rain forests is an important example of how nature and the earth as a whole are affected. Therefore, I implore that peace be sought with our human ancestors."

There was audible murmuring in the room, but Tom ignored it and continued. "Homo sapiens and Neanderthals are two complete different species of man. But they lived together in peace for thousands of years before the inevitable happened. They learned from each other, how to cope with climate changes, how to hunt effectively…how to survive. I believe the same can happen here. If we set out to destroy the humans we will only cause an imbalance in nature that would lead to our own extinction. If we choose war, we choose death for millions of humans and our own people. It's a war that can not be won…by either side. As your leader, I ask that we find a better way to live without threat of war." Tom sat down and hoped for the best.

"All in favor of seeking peace raise your hand."

With thin surgical like tongs, Kevin removed the gland. Tara held out the specimen jar for him. He carefully placed it inside the jar and handed the tongs to Claire. She then handed him the hemostat with the needle and the suture. Kevin began the intricate work of suturing the nerves back together. No one had said a word. No one wanted to disrupt Kevin's concentration. Ed's vitals were still strong but the real test would come later when they checked his reflexes.

After about a good hour, Kevin was finished. "I'll suture him back up," Claire stated. Kevin nodded, he was tired, very tired. But he didn't want to sleep yet. Walter came up to him as Claire and Tara prepared to replace the bone and suture the incision area closed.

"Well?" Walter asked.

Kevin tore his gloves off and held up the jar with the gland. "The next 24 hours are critical. There's a chance that Ed could still die from the procedure. We'll need to continue the gene therapy so he's not dependent on the gland. As for paralysis, I don't know if any damage was done to the nerves before or during the operation. We'll know that when he wakes up." He twirled the jar around in his hands, "I'm going to study Arnaud's baby. I want to know what went wrong…" he glanced up at Walter, "…then I'm going to destroy it."

Walter nodded in agreement, "Agreed. But make it quick. I get the feeling that Charlie will want you to fix it."

Kevin shook his head, "No, one gland is enough. Besides, this one has already caused too much pain."

When Claire and Tara were done, Ed was placed on his back and taken to the recovery room. There Claire started a long vigil as she waited for Ed to wake up.

TBC…