Eventually, the demon began to gain the upper hand. Darien had begun to pace the interior of the padded room, eyes blazing with hate and fury. Hobbes had retreated to a safe position near the door to the room, he was not ready to leave just yet. He wanted to show Darien, and he knew that his partner was still in there somewhere, that he was as good as his word. He would not leave him unless he absolutely had too.

Then that time came as well, when common sense ruled out comaraderie and Hobbes knew that he could no longer remain in the padded room. To do so would only put his life in danger. He had quickly and quietly retreated into the observation room where he would still be able to keep a constant eye on his friend. His partner.

"Hobbes!" Darien screamed, "Hobbes get in here! Hobbes!"

Bobby Hobbes stood on the opposite side of the one-way mirror, watching quietly as the man he had come to consider a friend slowly slipped beyond the realm of humanity and transformed into … well, a monster seemed the only appropriate word. He watched as Darien paced the padded room frantically, blood-red eyes searching every conceivable corner before coming to rest on the one-way mirror. A terrible smile came to his face, there was pure malice behind it, there was nothing of Darien Fawkes in that smile.

"I know you're in there, Hobbes. I know you're watching me," his partner's voice was low, almost a growl, "Why don't you come on in here and get a closer look?"

Darien backed away from the glass and spat onto the padded floor, "Come on Hobbes! What are you waiting for?" He struggled against the straitjacket for a moment before turning those horrible eyes back to the glass, "This is your big chance, Bobby," he hissed, "I can't fight back, come and prove what a big man you are. Hobbes!"

Hobbes sighed and rubbed his hands over his tired, gritty eyes. It had been nearly a day since he and Fawkes had arrived at the destroyed lab. Claire had finally managed to piece together enough equipment to help her make up some new counteragent. She was working as fast as she could, but where Darien's sanity was concerned she couldn't afford to cut any corners.

Hobbes glanced into the white room, noticing that it had grown eerily quiet. He saw Darien standing against the opposite wall, those inhuman eyes staring unblinkingly at the glass. Hobbes had the distinct impression that he was staring right through the glass directly at him, the thought was unnerving and it sent a tiny ripple of uneasiness down his spine.

Moving suddenly, Hobbes watched in horror as Darien ran the short distance and threw himself against the glass, impacting it with a sickening crack!

"Jesus!" Hobbes whispered in surprise as Darien stumbled back a few steps. Then he ran again, charging like an out-of-control bull to run headlong into the one-way mirror. There was another sickening crack and Hobbes saw a red smear left behind as Darien once again stumbled backwards. He watched in numbed surprise as Darien once again retreated to the back wall before charging forward again to impact the glass, leaving another crimson stain behind.

Realizing that Darien was not going to stop, Hobbes bolted from his position and threw open the door to the holding cell as his partner charged at the mirror for a fourth time. Leaving yet another bloody smear.

"Fawkes!" He shouted, getting his partner's attention, watching as Darien stayed unsteadily on his feet. The earlier wound the Keeper had carefully tended had been reopened and was leaving a crimson trail down the side of Darien's head. Droplets of blood landed with a soft sound on the padded floor, tiny rosebuds on white.

"Fawkes what the hell are you trying to do?" Hobbes continued, moving so that he was standing inside the room, his hand resting warily on the butt of his pistol.

Darien cocked his head to the side as he gazed icily at his partner, staring into those demonic eyes sent shivers of dread along Hobbes' arms. He searched for any sign of Darien in those eyes, searched for the tiny spark of humanity that was his friend. He was surprised when he found it.

"Hobbes?" Darien whispered hoarsely, finally falling heavily to his knees.

Hobbes ran the few steps forward and grabbed his partner by the shoulders, looking Hell right in the face.

"Hobbes," Darien whispered again and the smaller man could see the monumentous effort it was taking for his partner to just say his name. "Kill me," Darien pleaded, those red eyes boring into Hobbes' brown ones. "Please Hobbes, just kill me."

The agony in his partner's voice wrenched at his gut, but Hobbes shook his head and he tightened his grip on Darien's shoulders, "No way, partner, you don't get out of this so easily. You gotta fight it."

Darien uttered a choked sob as he leaned against Hobbes' supporting hands, "Partners do for each other," he whispered. "You said once that you wouldn't bail on me." Darien glanced up at him, "Please Bobby, I can't live like this."

Hobbes moved to speak when Darien suddenly tore out of his grip and jumped menacingly to his feet. Hobbes scrambled quickly to his own, backing up a few steps as the last trace of Darien Fawkes faded out of those inhuman eyes.

"You're a little man," the figure of Darien spat, sneering at him.

Hobbes managed to shrug as he walked in a slow circle around his partner, "This coming from the man that stands nearly a head taller than me."

"How does it feel to be the Agency's dog?" the demon before him hissed, the sneer turning into an evil grin, "You like being treated like a pet, don't you Hobbes?"

"Fat man's been good to both of us," Hobbes replied evenly, knowing that it was not Darien who was talking but the evil that now lived inside him.

The demon roared and charged, Hobbes managed to jump out of the way, landing a well placed blow to the back of his partner's head. Darien went down in a heap, leaving a bright red trail on the padded floor.

"Fawkes, I know you're still in there," Hobbes called out, making sure that he didn't back himself into a corner. Even though Darien was in a straitjacket, Hobbes had not doubt that the man could inflict serious damage in his current state. "I know you can hear me, partner! Just hang on! Fight it!"

The figure of Darien rolled to its side and got almost effortlessly to its feet before charging at Hobbes again. The smaller agent again jumped out of the way, a part of his brain screamed at him to get out of the room. To go back to the observation area where it was safe. However, another part of him didn't want to abandon his partner, no matter how grave the danger to himself. He didn't want to leave his friend in here to battle this monster alone.

"You can't have him," Hobbes snarled at the red-eyed monster, "Fawkes is stronger than you think."

The demon laughed wickedly, the entire left side of its face covered in blood. The site was horrific. "I've already won," the creature hissed, "the Darien you knew is gone. Forever."

Hobbes kept his eyes on the thing before him, a hand still resting on his weapon, "I don't think so, my friend"

"I'm not your friend," the image before him replied angrily, then it charged with such sudden speed and ferocity that Hobbes was momentarily caught off-guard.

Darien slammed into him, knocking the breath from his lungs and causing him to slam into a far wall. Darien came at him again, using his entire body at a battering ram, effectively pinning Hobbes against the wall in a crushing blow. The smaller man grunted at the pain of the impact as stars danced before his eyes.

Hobbes slid to the padded ground, dazed. His mind screamed at him to get up, to gain his footing and protect himself. He saw his partner coming to stand over him and he quickly whipped out his pistol, taking careful aim. He shut down that part of him that would later regret his course of action, this thing before him was not his partner, not his friend. Darien was gone and a monster had taken his place.

As Hobbes squeezed the trigger, the demon lashed out with a ferocious kick, catching the gun and sending it flying across the room. The bullet impacted the glass mirror, shattering it with a sparkle of sound.

The demon came to stand over Hobbes, a look of pure evil on its distorted face. "You should've killed him when you had the chance," it whispered savagely.

A figure suddenly came bursting in through the open door, "Darien!" Claire shouted, a hypodermic filled with counteragent held tightly in one hand.

The demon howled in rage and ran to attack the Keeper. Jumping quickly to his feet, Hobbes tackled his partner and brought him roughly to the ground, holding on for dear life as Darien struggled with the strength of a madman.

"Now!" Hobbes shouted and Claire wasted no time, she ran over and plunged the needle into Darien's neck, releasing the counteragent into his system.

Darien gasped as the serum burned through his system, effectively attacking the quicksilver buildup. As his partner slumped into unconsciousness, Hobbes glanced up at the woman, "Did anyone ever tell you that you have an amazing sense of timing?"


Darien sat quietly as Claire once again gently tended to his head wound. No one said a word, everyone was lost in their own world. Their own thoughts. The counteragent had not been up to its usual strength, it had only given him a few days, but given the circumstances and the alternative, Darien would take what little he could get.

He still hated the lab, everything it stood for, everything it held over him. He wasn't sure what he hated more, though, the fact that it controlled his life or the fact that it had saved his life. The ultimate paradox, loving the thing that causes you the most pain.

Will I ever feel safe again? He suddenly wondered. Will others ever feel safe around me?

He had become so accustomed to living his life in constant fear of what might happen that he had forgotten what it was like to simply … live. He closed his eyes as a tide of emotions threatened to break through his neatly constructed barrier. He could feel the supportive closeness of his partner beside him, could feel the expert hands of the Keeper tending to his wound, yet Darien was so ultimately lonely in that one moment that he suddenly felt like he didn't even want to be around himself anymore.

He opened his eyes and watched Claire gently nod and smile at him, felt the soft touch of his partner resting a hand on his shoulder. As Darien looked from one and then to the other, a sudden thought drifted into his mind, I just want to feel safe in my own skin, I just want to be happy again.

He wondered if he would ever be able to achieve that simple task.

the end