Chapter 14

Lewis sat in his car waiting. It had been a long couple of days with all the chaos. The High Council was gone and the Council of the Chosen had just formed. Things were sort of going as planned, but somehow he knew he could still make use of this. He just needed to find somewhere quiet for him to work this out.

The facts he did know was that Darien had been caught and was back in the care of the humans. Where they were caring for him was still unknown, but he didn't matter anymore. Darien was beyond their control, he had other plans for him anyway. No, he wanted Sloan to pay for taking Tom away from him. He wanted Tom to pay for his betrayal. As usual he had been working on a plan. Executing it would take a world wide coordinated effort and his people in place, he just needed the right time.

Lewis stepped from his car when he felt his contact coming near. He waited a few seconds and the figure emerged from the car he rode in. A malicious smile spread across his face, "Kevin, so good you could make it."

"Well, your invitation was too good to pass up. What is this special job you have for me?"

Lewis shook his head, "So young yet so eager…I like that. Let's take a ride and I'll explain it all to you." His arm wrapped around the shoulder of the fifteen year old. They got inside Lewis' car and the other followed behind them.

The sun was starting to set now and the first star of the evening came into the view. The birds rushed off for their nightly slumber as the night creatures began to stir. Shane stared at the vase array of colors as the sun dipped beyond the Pacific. Hobbes had been quiet since their last inquiry had fallen just as flat as the others.

It seems that Arnaud had disappeared from the face of the earth. But one thing Hobbes and Shane did find out, Lewis doesn't want Arnaud. There's something else brewing with the white haired, crystal blue-eyed dominant. But like Arnaud, he had disappeared as well. Walter and his toys easily tracked down Darien and Ed, but Lewis has proven to be elusive time and time again. Unlike Arnaud, Lewis had a network of helpers and people that would die to protect him.

"What do we do now?"

"Go back to Fort Leavitt," Hobbes said dolefully as he drove towards the military facility. He had wanted to find Arnaud or at least get some information on where he was at. Actually he not only wanted to find him, but to feel his hands grip tightly around the Swiss Miss muther's scrawny neck.

Tom watched impassively as hands went up slowly around the room. Internally he let out a sigh of relief. He looked down at the table to plan his next move. "Okay, then I guess the next thing we should do is have open communication with the U.N. If no one objects, since Mark Ward is the leader of the Co-Existence Faction, I nominate him to be our liaison to the U.N."

After an agreement was made and voted on, Mark took the seventh seat that had been reserved.

In another lab, Kevin worked to find the answer he was looking for: Why did the gland fail? He had removed a piece of the bio part and studied it meticulously under a microscope when the door opened. He didn't even bother to turn around; he already knew who it was.

"Why'd you do it, Charlie?" Kevin asked while keeping his concentration on the task at hand.

The Official let out a sigh. "Tell me what you mean and then I'll see if I can give you an answer."

Kevin turned around on the seat, "Why'd you order Claire to keep the cure from Darien?"

"Because I thought he would bolt."

Kevin slightly shook his head as if in heavy thought, "I see. Did it ever occur to you to ask?"

"Why should I trust an ex-thief, a con?"

"I trusted him enough to choose him for the project…"

"No, you choose him so he could get out of prison and not soil the Fawkes name."

Kevin rose to his feet slowly like a predator that had just spotted its victim. "Don't presume to know how I think, Charlie. I choose Darien because I knew he was innocent, because I knew he got the shaft." Kevin moved closer to the Official, "And because I knew him better than anyone, even himself. I knew he was more than what he was and he proved it! You should've given him the same chance. He didn't have to suffer like that. We both know he would've stayed."

"I know that now."

"Yeah, well…" Kevin looked back at the gland in the jar and then back at the Official. "You want me to fix it don't you?"

"I see you've figured out how to use your brother's newly acquired abilities."

"I don't really have to use them, I know you too well. I'm working on what happened. I have to find the cause first before I can fix it."

The Official eyed him doubtfully. "Well, just to make sure, these two agents are going to watch to make sure nothing inadvertently happens to the gland."

"Okay, fair enough." Kevin watched the Official leave and then glanced at the agents. He forced a polite smile, "Hi."

The agents merely nodded their heads and took their position inside the lab. Kevin raised both brows, "Okay, well…" he turned to sit back down. He checked his watch and decided that he would visit Ed in about thirty minutes. In the meantime he would continue his work. He began by comparing the notes that were retrieved from Arnaud's computer and Area 51.

Ed's hand was motionless as Claire held it in hers, squeezing it every so often. Her other hand gently brushed his cheek as she whispered in his ear. "Honey, I'm here. Please wake up." His scent filled her nostrils and she laid her head on the pillow to snuggle closer to him.

She closed her eyes. The smell of the ocean was strong on him, always was no matter how many times he showered, the scent was engrained in his pores. Along with the hint of the ocean there were the moisturizers to prevent leather skin and the cologne that he used on a regular basis. All these were mixed together to create Ed's unique scent, one that she could smell on his pillows at home. Hobbes had told her that on more than one occasion that even if Darien and Ed brushed their hair the same way, he could always tell them apart, Ed smelled like a walking ad for Tropicana Suntan Lotion. He had made that comment when Ed escaped from Arnaud and was quicksilver mad. But it was true, although Ed didn't use Tropicana; he used Banana Boat Sport Sun Block. Claire smiled as a soft giggle vibrated in her throat at the thought.

"Hon, can you move your hand for me?" She watched his hand and she sighed when she saw no movement. She closed her eyes again and just rested for a few moments completely lost in her thoughts. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Claire, I didn't mean to scare you."

Clutching her chest, Claire nodded, "It's okay. I'll be fine."

Sloan pulled up a chair and set it down on the other side of Ed's bed. She sat down and placed her hand on his other arm. "Anything?"

Claire looked at Ed with tired eyes, "No, nothing."

"Why don't you rest? I'll watch him and tell you if anything happens. Tara is here, so she can help me if anything…" Sloan stopped herself.

Claire knew what she was about to say and made no comment about it. "It's okay, Sloan. But, I don't think I'll be able to sleep or get much rest. Not until he wakes up anyway. He's my…was my kept and my place is here at his side."

Sloan smiled. "I understand. Boy, talk about crossing that doctor/patient line."

Claire giggled, "Well, we didn't actually have a choice in that. Walter was not about to bring in someone else to be his Keeper."

"I don't think Ed would have trusted anybody else." Sloan said with a smile as she gazed down at her colleague. "Hey, Ed…it's me, Sloan. I would really love to see those brown eyes of yours."

No movement. Claire glanced down at the hand in her hand. She knew it could be days for him to wake up and if she has to, she'll have a bed brought in to sleep by his side. Her next concern however was what to do with Kevin and if she gave him the peptide, which Darien would emerge? The regular Darien or the dominant crazed one.

Hobbes returned with Shane and met with Darcy in the hallway. She was coming back from the cafeteria to get some food. "Any luck?" she asked as Shane helped her with some of the containers.

"No…" Hobbes answered tired and with a hint of dejection in his voice. "I really wanted to get my hands on Arnie." Hobbes paused for a moment before continuing, "How's doc doing?"

"He's out of surgery and Kevin was able to remove the gland, but he won't know how all this has affected Ed until he wakes up. So far we do have a good sign; he's breathing on his own."

"That's good," Hobbes commented.

"I was going to see Claire. I bought some food for her…she must be hungry by now." Darcy said.

"I take it then the serum worked?" Shane asked suddenly.

"Yes."

"Then you may have more to deal with when Ed wakes up," he added.

Darcy thought for a moment and then the realization of what Shane was saying hit her, "Oh shi…sh…nik…"

Hobbes raised a brow. Darcy shrugged her shoulders, "Don't want to swear in front of the kids," she patted her belly as she spoke.

"Of course," Hobbes commented bewildered. "But what is Shane talking about?"

"Ed is not human; we don't know how the conversion process affected him. Most of the humans that were used in the testing had different responses. Ed maybe like sweet Ed but then he might be like…"

"Dominant nutso Ed," Hobbes finished.

"We have to find Tara." The three of them went off to find Tara.

Tara walked down the hall towards the room that was set up as a private recovery room for Ed. It would also serve as private room once Ed was out of the recovery stage of his post-surgery. She heard the clatter of feet coming down the hall and felt the presence of one human and two dominants. She was about to go into an aggressive stance when she recognized who it was. A smile spread across her face as she turned to meet Hobbes.

"Bobby!" She called out, but the smile quickly faded when she sensed the urgency in her friends and her lover. "What's wrong?"

"It's Ed…but he's okay, I mean, but now that he's a dominant, do we know how this affected him?" Darcy asked.

Tara though deeply for a moment and then sudden understanding crept across her face, "Damn, how could I be so stupid…I forgot…" She looked down at Darcy's belly. Her lips curled into a smile, "That's it! Okay, studies have proven that when parents talk to their babies in utero they do respond to the voices after birth…that's what we need to do for Ed." She looked at Shane and Darcy, "We have to talk to him, dominant to dominant. Tell him that his instincts tell him one thing but that there is a better way. We'll imprint in his mind that it's okay to have human emotions and that we can co-exist peacefully with humans."

"What a great idea. Guess I should be doing that with my babies too."

"Then what are you waiting for, start talkin' to him before he wakes up," Hobbes said as he grabbed Tara by her arm to pull her towards Ed's room.

Kevin checked his watch; it had been nearly an hour. So far he had kept everything in his head. He didn't want to chance the Official confiscating his research so he faked typing on the laptop he had been given. As he said before one gland is enough. He got up from his seat to check on the gland under the watchful eyes of the agents. He carried the jar to his table and pulled out a syringe.

"I'm going to attempt gene splicing in the DNA by injecting a retroviral agent. I think the cause of the gland's deterioration was from a beta agent reactant in Dr. Tate's bloodstream from a component of the DNA altering serum that Darien gave him." Kevin studied the befuddled expressions and internally claimed victory, "Never mind, I'm just going to do my work." Kevin placed the needle into a small vial and filled its contents into the syringe. 'Dazzled them with BS…' he thought as he gave the syringe a few taps to get the air bubbles out and then proceeded to inject the contents into the gland. He filled up another syringe and held it up to the agents, "This is the gene therapy for Dr. Tate." The two agents nodded their approval. The syringe wasn't for Ed, it was for himself. Secretly he had worked on an anti-peptide solution, his equivalent to a cyanide pill. He thought back to the conversation he and Claire had in the Keep long ago. He was surprised that she even knew how make it. He realized then that Darien was in good hands and now so is Ed. It was time for him to go.

He picked up some other supplies and placed the syringe in his pocket. "Okay, well, while I'm waiting for the retroviral agent to work on the gland, I'm going to see how Dr. Tate is doing." They nodded and he left the lab. Well, that takes care of that gland, Kevin thought to himself. He still wasn't completely finished with his research but he didn't want to take any chances, he knew what he had to do. He also knew that he was going to hurt some people again, mainly Darien. But he had no choice.

Darcy sat next to Ed as did Tara and Shane. Claire, Sloan and Hobbes looked on from a distance. No one knew if Ed would wake up paralyzed or not, but they didn't want to take any chances.

Kevin walked in and saw them. Claire walked up to him, "What did you find?"

"It wasn't Darien's fault. There was a flaw in Arnaud's design to begin with. This would have happened sooner or later, it was just a matter of time. Whatever Arnaud had Ed do to it caused a breakdown in the bio part. Something that Ed would not have known about. The constant doses of counteragent over a short period of time at Area 51…going in and out of quicksilver madness…then what Darien gave him and then going into stage five madness caused a premature chemical overload in the gland. In other words, the gland got stressed out."

"The quicksilver gland version of a heart attack," Sloan noted.

Kevin shook his head, "Yeah, you might say that." He looked over towards Ed, "They're talking to him, huh?"

"They figured better to be safe than sorry. He may wake up kicking." Claire scratched the back of her neck.

"I'm gonna go check on his vitals. I'll be back." Kevin walked over to Ed. Tara, Darcy and Shane decided to let Kevin do what he needed to do and then they would go back to talking to Ed. Kevin pulled out his stethoscope and proceeded to examine Ed.

'You know, I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm gonna try this out anyway. I know you may not understand what I have to do…what I'm going to do, but I have no choice. The Official wanted me to fix the gland. I'm pretty sure he wasn't going to put it back in your head, but save it for someone else. Probably another Simon Cole…either way, I can't let that happen. I injected a retrovirus that will destroy the gland if it hasn't already and I'm going to give myself the peptide shot. I've done all I could for you, you're in good hands with Claire. We injected nano-scaffolds that will help rebuild the damaged nerve cells. I know it's a radical new procedure, but I'm sure it'll work on you. You're breathing on your own and that's a very good sign. And ah, the scaffolds are biodegradable so no need to worry." Kevin paused for a moment, wondering if Ed could hear him before he continued. "I wish we could get to know each other better, but time is against me. I don't know what Charlie will do if he finds out what I've done, but I figure it's best if I just go. No sense in putting Darien in the path of his fury. Besides, this isn't fair to Darien or to Darcy. I'm dead and it's time I stay that way. Some coincidence, huh? I came back just in time to remove the gland from you. Maybe we do have someone looking out for us…wonder where my someone was that day at the facility. Guess it was just my time. Listen, take care of Darien and Claire. I'm sure they'll both be mad at me again, but this is the right thing to do. I can only hope that one day he'll understand.' Kevin jotted some notes down. He turned and walked back towards Claire.

"Everything seems to be fine. His vitals are strong. It may take time for any movement to occur. If anything I'd say that any paralysis he may have should be temporary. Remember, we just did major brain surgery on him. You'll have to give the nano-scaffolds time to work."

Claire glanced at Tara and then back to Kevin. She shook her head as she folded her arms in front of her. "If this works, do you realize that the three of us may have pushed this research to a new level?"

"Claire, we tried this on someone after removing a top secret invisibility gland. We can't exactly go around writing up articles for medical journals." Tara noted.

Claire pursed her lips together. "True. I've been in this situation before."

"Really?" Tara asked with interest in her tone.

"Look, I've got some tests waiting for me…"

"Kevin, you need to sleep." Claire stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"I know, but…" he looked into her eyes, "Okay, just one more test and then I'll get some rest. I promise."

As Kevin walked down the long hall he took a detour into one of the restrooms. He pulled a piece of paper and pen to scribble his note. When that was done, he pulled out the syringe from his pocket. "I'm sorry…" he uncapped the needle.

He could hear the faint tone of voices…too many of them. The sound was like that of bugs buzzing around his ear. He tried to shut them out, but one voice was louder than all of them. He recognized it…Darien…but not Darien. The pain in his head hurt when he tried to concentrate on the voice. 'What did he say? Something about doing what he has to do…the gland…fix it…Simon Cole…Claire and Darien…Claire.' He could feel her presence…how? And there were others with him. 'What's going on?'

There was another noise mixed in the voices…beep…beep…beep…and then pressure on his arm…tight pressure like someone was squeezing him…then another sound…different from the other…the sound of something deflating was next followed by the pressure around his arm easing, 'A heart monitor and a blood pressure cuff…what the hell happened to me?'

What else did the voice say to him? 'Oh yeah, Darien and Claire being mad…My God! Kevin! NOOOO!'

Tara, Shane and Darcy turned their attention immediately to Ed. "He's waking up…I think…" Tara noted as she rushed to Ed's side followed by Claire.

They watched as Ed's upper body twitched. His mouth opened slightly, "Don't…not…yet…" The words came out raspy and barely audible.

"Ed, what are you saying? Can you open your eyes?" Claire asked as she held his hand. She noticed how his body had twitched. Another good sign.

"Kevin…gland…Darien…"

"Ed, we don't understand. What are you trying to say?" Claire asked again as she leaned down closer to his lips to hear him clearer.

"Maybe he's dreaming," Darcy added.

"Could be," Tara answered. "He's pretty agitated."

"…pep…tide…don't…how…gland…Darien…"

"He's not making a lot of sense," Shane said.

Claire slowly rose to her full height. "Peptide…" Fear spread across her face, "Kevin…it's Kevin." Claire grabbed Darcy by her arm, "Come on, we have to find Kevin. Tara and Shane, stay with Ed in case he wakes up."

Tara and Shane shrugged their shoulders as Claire and Darcy ran from the room. "What was that about?" Shane asked.

"I have no idea, but Claire does and that's all that's important right now." Tara glanced back at Ed who was still clearly agitated and mumbling inaudibly now. "And obviously he knows too."

"Another progeny?" Shane asked.

Tara shook her head, "That's possible, but I don't think so. Maybe Kevin told him something during the examination. But, if he is a progeny like Darien, it'll be a shame to turn him back. We could use him on our side."

Darien stared at himself in the mirror of a strange bathroom wearing scrubs and a white lab coat. If he looked up confusion in the dictionary he'd find his picture. He spotted the visitor's tag and held it up to read it. "Fort Leavitt Hospital? What the hell is going here?" He looked down and found the note. Cautiously he opened it up and started to read it.

Dear Darien,

You don't know this yet, but I came back. Something had happened to you to cause my memory RNA to kick back in. I know you're not going to understand why I left again, but I had no choice…

"Kevin?" Darien's tone was full of disbelief. He went back to reading.

…I was ordered to repair the gland…

"Gland? My gland?" Darien wondered out loud as he read. He checked the back of his head in the mirror but there were no visible signs of any surgery. He shrugged his shoulders and went back to reading the note.

…that I removed from Ed…

"ED!?!" His hand clenched tightly around the note like a boa constrictor as he rushed from the bathroom. He ran down the hall as fast as he could to find someone to give him answers.

He turned the corner and stopped. His eyes searched the hall as he felt the presence of three dominants. He let the quicksilver flow and walked slowly down the hall to the room. Cautiously he pushed the door open. To his surprise, he saw Tara and Shane sitting next to…Ed. "Oh crap," he said in disbelief as the quicksilver flaked off.

Tara and Shane turned suddenly in the direction of the door and saw Darien appear in a burst of silver rain. They could sense the shock and confusion. Tara knew at once, "Darien?"

"What is going on here?" Darien said as he approached them. He kept his eyes on Ed. He pointed to his twin as he spoke, "What happened to him? Why is he…"

"A dominant?" Tara finished for him.

"Yeah." Darien stood at the foot of the bed staring down at the sleeping lanky form of his friend. A white bandage was wrapped around his head, the right side of his face painted with the dark colors of fresh bruises and a few cuts with stitches in one that looked particularly nasty.

"Darien, I think you need to sit down." Tara rose to her feet and pulled up a chair for Darien to sit. "What do you remember?"

Darien was silent for a moment as he searched his thoughts. "I remember Ed and Hobbes going to Scotland. Tom and I were at a bar…this dominant chic walked in…her name was…ah…Tabitha…her tires were slashed…I was driving her home…another dominant…a male, rammed my car. I got out…confronted him…everything went black…that's all I remember." He looked at the crumbled up note still in his hand and then back to Ed.

Tara and Shane traded glances and then Tara began to fill in the blanks for Darien. As she spoke Darien would react to a few words that struck him as shocking, but actually his attention was more on Ed. Every now and then he would look at Tara with a blank expression; he was quickly realizing that what had happened in the last two days and to Ed was his fault. He had thrown Ed through the glass partition, he had injected Ed with the serum meant for dominants and which more than likely caused the breakdown of the gland. And it was because the gland was dying, that Ed was now a dominant.

No matter how often Tara would reassure him that he didn't know, he couldn't control himself and that it wasn't his fault, Darien still believed it was.

"I should have known. I should've been able to stop her," Darien hissed.

"Darien, you're not Superman…" Tara began.

"If I could turn back time I would." The words flew out of Darien's mouth. He started to rise to his feet when Shane put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't run out now." Shane motioned towards Ed, "He needs you. You need him."

"You want to rephrase that," Darien said looking at Shane oddly.

"You know what I meant. He needs you to talk to him, to tell him how you feel so he can say you're forgiven. Look, Ed already knows it's not your fault. He did things too that were out of his control. We think he killed Tabitha and some of the members of the High Council…"

"Yeah, he wouldn't 'uv if I hadn't given him the shot…"

Shane let out a long sigh. "All I'm asking you to do is to stay…talk to him…be here when he wakes up."

Claire and Darcy rushed into the room. "Kevin!" Claire yelled out. Darien slowly turned around and by the look on his face, Claire already knew.

Kevin was gone.

TBC…