Author: Dorothy Lee aka. Dee Lee aka. Baptist06@aol.com

Summary: Darien, Hobbes and The Keeper embark on a cruise to protect the daughter of a former syndicate member, who is scheduled to testify against his former bosses. They soon find themselves trapped in a nightmare that threatens to destroy them all!

"You're all going on a cruise."

Darien, Claire and Hobbes sat in the Officials office. They had been called there as soon as they arrived that morning. All three agents looked at each other in bewilderment at the Official's announcement. It was Darien that asked the question everyone was thinking.

"You've lost your mind, right? Did you say, a cruise, as in out on the open sea, cruise, or are we talking,, down the road cruise?"

The Official grinned, leaning back in his seat. Looking at Eberts who stood at his side he nodded.

Eberts picked up three folders from the desk and proceeded to hand them to the three agents as he began to explain.

"The man that you see in the first picture is Ted Koss. He was formely a part of the syndicate. He was apprehended a week ago. Since then he has made a deal with the government to turn states evidence on several crime bosses. In return he gets a pardon and a new identity for himself ..and his daughter."

Darien had already turned the page and saw the young lady in the next picture. She was a pretty blonded headed girl around 17 years old. "Is this her?" he asked, ignoring the silent rebuke he was getting from Hobbes for interrupting.

"Yes." Eberts answered promptly, turning his own page. "Regina Koss. Just turned 18. She is a model and will be traveling to the Haiwaiien Islands for a magazine layout. She doesn't know about her father's 'business',and he wants to keep it that way. Unfortunately, his former associates do know about her. He is afraid that they will try to get to her in order to force him not to testify in a hearing scehduled for next week."

"Let me guess. We're supposed to be her bodyguards until her father can testify." Darien interrupted again, looking over at Hobbes. "I knew there was a catch to this 'cruise' thing!"

Bobby rolled his eyes at Darien's remarks, looking at the Official as if to say, 'this guy never learns!'.

"Darien is right." The Official said standing up and coming around the desk to lean against it. "The state can't afford for anything to go wrong with this case. Therefore you two are assigned to make sure Koss's daughter stays safe and sound until after the trial."

"Excuse me Sir, But why do I have to go on this assignment?" Claire asked.

"The cruise will be a five day tour. You're going along to keep and eye on Fawkes. And to administer the counteragent if he needs it."

"When do we leave?" Hobbes asked , standing up.

"Tomorrow morning. Eberts has your tickets and special accommodations have been taken care of. I'm counting on you two to see this through without any problems.

"Don't worry Sir. I'll make sure the kid stays in line." Hobbes answered, glancing at Darien who glared back defiantly.

"I'm sure you will." The Official grinned , watching them leave.

Darien took a deep breath and held it a second before exhaling loudly. "Isn't this great!' He said to Claire beside him. "You know, I always dreamed of going on a cruise when I was a kid!" They were walking up the ramp that led to the deck of the ship. Darien had decided to wear a pair of sweats and a white t-shirt,along with his swim trunks which he wore underneath . Claire wore a light green blouse and a pair of khaki shorts. She carried a small purse on her shoulder, that among other things carried a vial of the counteragent and the syringe to administer it. She was anxious to get on board and put it in the small refridgerator that should have been delivered to her cabin per Eberts instructions to the ships crew.

"Remember Darien, we're here on assignment, not a dream vacation." She whispered to him, pointing toward the deck. "Look, there's Hobbes!"

They hurried onto the ship and joined Hobbes who had preceded them to do a quick security check of the vessel. He gestured toward the crowd of people that had gathered at the rails to wave goodbye to their families. "There's our girl."

Darien followed his gaze and found her standing about five yards away from them. She wore a bathing suit with a wrap-a-round skirt, and a wide brimed hat and sunglasses. She stood at the rail looking out over the crowd below, her long hair blowing in the breeze. Darien sighed, thinking how beautiful she was. If he had been a few years younger..

"Hey. You can breath again anytime Fawkes.!"

Darien inhaled, looking at Hobbes. "Very funny." He replied, feeling his face turning red as he took in Claire's amused look.

"I thought it was!" Hobbes replied turning to look at the ships' horn as it sounded, "Well, here we go!"

On the other side of the deck, another group watched as the ship slowly moved away from the dock. They appeared to be just another group of tourists . But in reality they had been hired by the syndicate to take over the ship and hold its passengers,especially one in particular, hostage.

There were eight men and one woman. She was apparently the one in charge.

"No one is to make a move until I give the signal..is that clear?" She said to them, her voice low, but commanding. Seeing the nods from her men, she smiled. "Alright then. Let's have a little fun!"

Darien and Hobbes room had been placed right beside Regina's. Hobbes had already planted a camera and mic in her room and was on the bed setting up his survallence equipment when Darien came in.

"Hey, what are you doing?" He asked coming over to stare at the small monitor Hobbes had set up on the nightstand. Seeing the room pictured on the small screen he glanced up at Hobbes who was checking the sound level on a small reciever he held on his lap.

"You know this is invasion of privacy."

"Yeah, well what she don't know won't hurt her ..and it might even save her life!" Hobbes replied, finishing with his adjustments. Setting the reciever and it's headphones beside the monitor he looked at Darien. "So who's going to take first watch?"

Darien winced at his use of words. This part of the job always bothered him. He didn't like spying on other people. You'd think that after 12 years of being a thief something like this wouldn't bother him. But as someone once told him, that was his one downfall...he had too big of a conscience.

"You take it. She'll probably spend most of the day out of her room anyway. I'll keep an eye on her up top." He said finally.

` "Just make sure you don't blow your cover. Remember she's not supposed to know that we're here." Hobbes told him, turning the monitor around so he could lay on the bed while he watched it.

"Hey, I know how to do my job..you just make sure you stay awake..okay!" Darien told him grabbing up a towel from the bottom of his bed and leaving the room.

He met Claire coming out of her room next to theirs. She was dressed in a bathing that was more than a little revealing in spots. Darien caught himself taking a closer look than he'd planned and the resulting quicksilvering of his hands as they broke out in a sweat didn't go unnoticed by his Keeper."Oh crap!"he exclaimed under his breath. Looking down and quickly regaining control of his emotions, the quicksilver silently fell to the floor and vanished.

"Sorry." He almost whispered, looking up at her sheepishly.

"You don't have to apoligize, Darien. Actually I appreciate the compliment, even if it was a silent one." She told him looking at the towel he had slung over his shoulder. "I take it you're going to the pool?"

"Yeah, I figured that was where she'd be spending most of her time." He told her, refering to Regina. He had started up the hallway, glancing back at her as he walked..

"Of course." Claire replied, smiling in spite of herself as she followed him. "Just try to contol your emotions up there. We wouldn't want parts of your anatomy doing a disappearing act in front of the passengers!"

The upper deck of the ship was bustling with a flurry of actvity. Even though they had only been under way for an hour the crew had several activities well under way. People were dancing in an aroebics class of some kind just past the pool and a group of elderly couples were playing shuffle board further down. Darien nodded at Claire as they parted ways at the pool. She found a lounge chair empty and settled into it, taking out a bottle of suntan lotion and proceeding to rub it into her skin. Tearing his eyes away from her unnerving figure, Darien searched the area for Regina. He found her in the pool swimming . Pulling his sweat pants off he revealed a pair of swim trunks beneath. His shirt coming off next, he threw them down on a nearby chair and dived into the pool. Coming up beside her he introduced himself, as they swam side by side.

"Hi. My names Darien, what's yours?"

"Regina." She answered, smiling at him as she pulled away and beat him to the pools edge. Catching up with her he watched as she pulled her self out of the pool and sat on the side her feet dangling in the water. "So, Darien. Are you here on vacation, or business?"

Getting out of the pool and sitting beside her, Darien swallowed hard before answering. He also had found that he disliked lying to people, especially pretty young girls."Vacation." He said pushing that big conscience back into the recesses of his mind. "What's your story?"

"I'm on my way to a photo shoot in Honolulu. So I guess I'm kind've on business, mixed with a little pleasure."

"So you're a model?"

"No I take the pictures!" She replied laughing as she smacked him on the arm. "Of course I'm a model. Don't I look like one?"

"Yeah! Of course you do..I didn't mean.." Darien started shrugging his head to one side, a smile breaking on his face.

"I know what you meant! I was just joking!" Regina interrupted, smacking him again.

He looked down at his reddening arm. He'd hate to see her in a bad mood, she could hurt a guy!

"Well, gotta go!" She announced, getting to her feet and grabbing a towel from a chair behind them. "Join me for dinner later?"

Darien was esasperated. "Uh.." She was also very bold!

"Hey thats okay..I mean if you have other plans and all."She said, seeing the look on his face.

Getting to his feet, he ran his hands through his wet hair. "No. I don't have any plans.. I'd be delighted to join you..for diinner."

"Great! Then I'll see you around 8:00." Regina replied smiling as she turned and walked away.

(If not sooner!) Darien thought as he watched her disappear down the stairs to the lower deck.

"Be careful Darien. You don't want to get too involved."

Turning he stared at Claire who'd come up behind him. "I,m not getting involved! I,m just doing my job! Besides..shes young enough to be my kid sister..what do you take me for?"

"A man." Claire whispered as he turned and hurried to catch up with Regina.

After following Regina back to her cabin, being careful not to let her see him, Darien slipped into his own cabin. Hobbes was laying across his bed, asleep! Quietly Darien stole across the room and tapped him smartly on the shoulder. Hobbes was awake instantly, his gun appearing in his hand from who knows where, the barrel pointed straight at Dariens heart!

"Whoa!" Darien exclaimed stumbling back against his own bed. "Easy partner, it's just me!"

Relaxing his arm Hobbes dropped his hand down to the bed. "You could've gottened yourself killed..don't do that again!"

Sighing, Darien sat down heavily on his bed. "And I thought I was the one with the bad attitude problem!"

Sitting up Hobbes put his gun away and stood up, stretching as he glanced at the monitor. "I see our little bird has returned to the nest."

Darien looked at the monitor at Regina who appeared to be getting ready to take a shower. She was gathering clothes and bath items from her suitcase which lay on her bed.He swallowed hard when she pulled her bathing suit top off, even though she had her back to the camera, feeling his face flush slightly. Reaching out he switched the monitor off. Walking over to the other side of the room he took a deep breath, holding it a minute before exhaling.

"You okay Fawkes?"

"What?" He looked up at Hobbes who had moved around the bed and was standing in front of him a concerned look on his face.

"Yeah..I'm fine." Darien told him, "Go get some fresh air. I'll stay here and ..keep and eye on things." He had stopped short of saying the word watch. Right now he didn't want to look at Regina face to face, rather alone spy on her from another room!

"I'll be back in a bit. I've got my radio if you need me." Hobbes told him holding up the two-way he held in his hand before fastening it to his belt. Going back over to the monitor he switched it back on. "You know, I don't like this part of the job either, but that's the way it is. We spy on people, we listen in on their private conversations, but..we also save alot of lives doing 'our job', so get a grip on your emotions kid, or you'll never make it in this business!"

And he was gone leaving Darien alone with a conscience that threatened to crush him.

Having decided to consentrate on listening to Regina's movements instead of watching them, Darien had put on the pair of headphones Hobbes had included in his survailence equipment and stretched out on his bed. After twenty minutes of listening to Regina sing tunes from the latest Backstreet Boys album, he dozed off.

He woke with a start at the sound of Regina's door slamming behind her. "Oh crap!" He muttered, jumping up and almost strangling himself on the wires from the headphones in the process. Untangling himself, he headed for the door and opened it a crack. Peering out he saw Regina disappearing around the corner. He started to go after her when two men dressed in black walked by his door from the opposite direction and stopped at Regina's cabin. He watched as one of the men expertly opened the locked door using tools he was all too familiar with! Closing the door quickly he turned and headed back to watch the monitor. The two men wasted no time in beginning a thorough search of Regina's stuff. Anger welled up inside him as he watched them going through the girls personal things.

It only took them a few minutes to find the microphone Hobbes had planted. Darien swore as they pulled the bug from its hiding place and crushed it beneath their feet. Deciding he'd seen enough he got up from the side of the bed and headed once more for the door, quicksilvering as he pulled it open and shut it behind him. The door to Regina's room was ajar and he opened it slowly, hoping they were too busy searching the room to see the door open and close by itself.

"There's nothing else in here! Come on let get out of here before she comes back!" One of the men said, straightening a lamp he'd moved in his search. They left the room unaware that Darien was following

them and headed down to the third class section of cabins.

Darien stayed right behind them as they stopped at a cabin and knocked on the door. The door opened a crack and he could see a woman peering out at them. She opened the door. "Come on."

The two men entered the cabin, along with Darien. He stopped just inside the room and leaned against the wall as he listened to their conversation.

"What do you have for me?" The woman asked the two men as she sat down on the bed.

"Well, you were right about the F.B.I. . We found a bug in her room." One of the men told her, his voice etched with excitement.

"But we destroyed it so you don't have to worry!" The other guy piped in.

The woman looked at both of them, shaking her head as if to say why do I get stuck with the idiots. "You destroyed it." She said quietly. "Did you ever stop to think that by destroying that bug you would tip the FBI to the fact that we're here!"She said her voice rising to a yell..

Darien shook his head trying to supress a chuckle as he watched the two men squirm under the womans rebuke. If this was the group they were protecting Regina from they didn't have a problem!

"Alright. We can't worry about the FBI right now." The woman said getting up from the bed and going to the phone in her room. "The rest of the team has already gotten everything set up. By the time Ms. Koss's protectors realise whats going on it'll be two late for them to do anything!"

Picking up the reciever she dialed a number. "We've finished phase one of the plan. I'll call you as soon as phase two has been implimented."

She hung up the phone and looked at the two men standing by her bed. "By tomorrow, we'll have Ted Koss right where we want him!"

Darien had moved closer to hear what she had said on the phone. Maybe these guys were more dangerous than he'd first thought. And she'd said something about the rest of the team. How many more was involved ? And what was phase two? Looking toward the closed door he began to worry about something else. He'd been in the room for at least ten minutes and he'd already been invisible for a few minutes before that. If he didn't get out of here and soon, he was going to be in big trouble!

"Do you want us to look around and see if we can spot any G-men? One of the men asked her.

"No. Just keep a close eye on Regina Koss. We wouldn't want her leaving the ship before our little party gets started..would we?" The woman told them. Both men nodded and headed for the door.

Darien sighed in relief. 'Finally!' He thought following them as they exited the room.

Moving past them in the hallway he took off running, hitting the stairs two at a time up to the next level. As soon as he was out of their sight he shed the quicksilver. Stopping for a minute to catch his breath he looked at the snake tattoo on his right wrist. It was over half full. "Crap!" He said aloud, ignoring the look he got from an old couple who passed by at that moment. He had planned on conserving his quicksilver use on this mission for obvious reasons. They were in the middle of the ocean and Claire only had one dose of the counteragent on her..thanks to the Official's new rule on its limited use! He couldn't afford to get a shot too soon, because then if he had to use the gland alot afterward he'd risk the chance of going quicksilver mad ! Even thinking about it was causing his head to hurt, he thought grimly, massaging the back of his neck. The two men coming up the stairs interrupted his train of thought. Hurrying on up the next set of stairs to the deck he sighed wearyly. This dream vacation could easily turn into a nightmare cruise..real quick!

Hobbes had gotten something to eat and then joined Claire by the pool. She smiled as she looked at his haiwaiin shirt and khaki shorts. "I'm impressed Hobbes. You actually look relaxed."

Bobby sat down on the lounge chair beside her, looking around. "Its all a part of the job. Look like a tourist and they'll think you are one!"

"Who's they?" She answered, amusement in her voice.

"You know...'Them'" He replied in a low voice, his eyebrows going up for emphasis.

"Oh..them" Claire repeated, nodding her head as she lay her head back and closed her eyes. "So, where did you leave Darien?"

"He's back in the cabin, keeping an eye on our girl." Hobbes replied, looking at his watch. "Which reminds me, I'd better check in with him. "

Pulling his radio from his belt he thumbed the switch. "Fawkes..come in."

"Yeah, what do you want?" Darien's voice came back, sounding way too close.

Hobbes Turned to find Darien standing directly behind them. "Dammit Fawkes, You've got to stop doing that!" Hobbes spat out, returning his radio to its clip. "What are you doing up here? You're supposed to be watching Regina."

"Well, for one thing, she's not in her room anymore, she's right over there." Darien told him, his head nodding inthe direction of the areobics class at the other end of the deck. Regina was right in the middle of the group. Darien quickly adverted his eyes from her lithe form as she danced, turning back to Hobbes. "Listen. We've got to talk!" He told his partner grabbing his arm and heading for the stairs.

Claire frowned as she watched them disappear down the steps. She had stole a glance at Darien while he was looking at Regina. She could have sworn that his eyes were slightly bloodshot. She thought about following them and taking a look at his arm, but somebody needed to keep an eye on the girl, so she sighed deeply and relaxed back in her chair watching the areobics class.

"What's up!" Hobbes asked when they had reached the bottom of the stairs.

Leaning back against the wall and massaging the back of his neck trying to ease the throbbing in his head, Darien quickly filled him in on the events of the past half-hour. Hobbes listened carefully, frowning slightly as Darien paused, wincing in pain at one point.

"How long were you transparent?"

"No more than fifteen minutes. " Darien replied, rubbing his eyes. "I still have a little time left, don,t worry. Right now the only thing we need to worry about is getting Regina off this ship! Can't you call the agency and have them fly a helicopter in here or something?"

"They could. But you're forgetting one thing my friend, she's not even supposed to know that we're here to protect her, remember?"

"Yeah, well, I don't think big daddy would want his daughter to get hurt, just because he didn't want her to know he's a crook!" Darien exclaimed his voice edged with anger this time.

"Okay! I'll contact the Official!" Hobbes said,shaking his head. "It won't do any good , but I'll call him." He added murmuring loudly enough for Darien to hear.

"Just do it! I'll go get Regina!" Darien said pushing away from the wall.

Hobbes stepped in front of him laying one hand on his chest. "I'll get the girl! You're going back to the cabin!" He told him grabbing up his arm to look at the snake tattoo. It was almost three-fourths red.

"I told you, I'm fine!" Darien growled, jerking his wrist out of Hobbes grasp.

"Like hell you are! Listen to yourself!"

Hobbes words finally got through to him. Falling back against the wall he sighed, running his hand through his hair as he dropped his head slightly. "Okay, maybe you're right..just..just be careful.... these guys are armed..and they're watching Regina too."

"I will. We'll meet you back in the room." Hobbes replied, turning to head up the stairs. Hesitating he looked back at Darien, who had started down the hall holding on the side of the wall for support. " You sure you can make by yourself. I can get Claire..."

"Will you go!" Darien told him exasperated

Fifteen minutes later they all sat in Hobbes and Darien's room. Regina sat on the bed beside Darien who was lying back on his pillow his arm crossed over his eyes. Hobbes stood up in front of them and Claire was leaning against the dresser by the door. She had returned to her cabin as soon as Bobby told her about Darien and had given him a shot right before Hobbes showed up with the girl. Hobbes was now trying to explain to Regina what was going on.

"So you're telling me that my father sent you three here to bodyguard me because he'd recieved a kidnapping threat against me. Why didn't he tell me about this?" She asked when he was finished.

Bobby had decided not to tell her the complete truth, just part of it. He sighed, gesturing with his hands. "I already told you..he didn't wnt you to know about it. He didn't want to spoil your trip!"

Darien removed his arm from his eyes and raised up on one elbow to look at her. "Regina..there are men out there that want to hurt you to get to your father." He glanced at Bobby who was shaking his head as if to say shut up before you say too much. Ignoring him, he continued turning his gaze back to Regina. "We're here to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Okay, say I believe you. What now?" Regina said looking into Dariens eyes .

"Well, I'm going to make a phone call first. And then we'll figure out a game plan." Hobbes said moving over to the phone.

Regina looked at Darien her hand coming up to touch his cheek. "Are you feeling better now?"

Hobbes had told her that Darien was suffering from a bout of sea-sickness when he first introduced himself to her up top. That's the only reason she had come with him , to see if Darien was okay.

Darien moved away from her electrifying touch inhaling more sharpely than he meant too.Letting out his breath slowly he ran his tongue across his top lip. "Yeah, I'm feeling alot better." He answered her rolling over the other way and getting up from the bed. He stole a glance at Claire who was watching him like a hawke. "I think I'll go freshen up a bit..if you'll excuse me." He quickly exited the room going into the bathroom and closing the door. Gripping the sides of the sink with both hands he hung his head over the sink his eyes closed. "This was getting rediculous. He was feeling like a schoolboy who'd just had his first kiss! Turning on the water he leaned down and threw the cold water on his face. Raising up he grabbed a towel off the rack and wiped his face. He started to open the door when he heard gun shot and then angry voices in the other room!

Instantly going transparent he opened the door just a crack. In the other room he could see the two

men that he'd followed earlier, holding guns on Claire, and a very frightened Regina. He couldn't see Hobbes and opened the door a little more.

One of the men saw the door move and yelled at his partner. "There's another one in the bathroom!" Pointing his gun at the door he yelled at Darien. "Come out with your hands in the air or I'll kill one of these pretty women!"

Darien didn't move. He still couldn't see Hobbes and the fact that he'd heard gunfire momemnts before had him worried that Hobbes might be down. He moved back into the bathroom as the man who had yelled moved slowly toward him. The man opened the door all the way looking around inside. "There's nobody here!"

"Alright. Come on , we've got to get these two up stairs with the others!" The other man said. Darien waited until he heard the door close to the outer room, then he shed his quicksilver coating and moved into the other room. His heart stopped for a split second when he saw Hobbes lying on the floor as still as death. He was at the older mans' side in an instant, dropping to his knees and feeling for a pulse. "Don't be dead..please don't be dead!" He whispered his voice revealing the panic that was building inside him. Finding a heartbeat he sagged in relief, his hands shaking as he turned Hobbes over gently. The bullet had entered through his right shoulder blade just below the clavicle bone, and had exited straight through the back. Darien jumped to his feet and ran to the bathroom to get a clean towel. Coming back he tore the ripped shirt away from the wound and wrapped it tightly with the towel to stanch the blood flowing from the dime sized holes. Hobbes came to as he pulled tight on the towel, trying to raise up. "Ahh! " He groaned aloud looking at Darien with pain-glazed eyes. "Fawkes..what happened!" He croaked weakly, his voice strained with effort.

Pushing him back to the floor easily, Darien answered, his voice low. "You've been shot. Try not to talk. I've got to see where those guys took Claire and Regina..I'll be right back!"

"Fawkes!" Hobbes cried after him as he took off out the door, quicksilvering as he went. Falling back weakly Hobbes gasped in pain. He had no choice but to lay there and let Darien handle the situation his way. Closing his eyes he wondered how things had gone so quickly and horribly out of control!

Darien ran down the hall and took the steps two at a time. He stopped short when he reached the top. It appeared that every passenger had been brought to the recreation deck. Looking around he counted six men and the woman he'd seen with those first two goons. They all carried automatic weapons . A man was positioned at every corner of the deck covering the passengers and crew being held there. Some of the children were crying and he could see at least two crewmen who were lying on the ground hurt.

"Oh crap!" He whispered.

Claire held Regina as she sobbed quietly. They sat by the pool , beside one of the men with guns.

"Why are they doing this?" Regina cried , her tear satined eyes searching Claires, for an answer.

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