A New Side of You
Darien woke up to the sound of his alarm clock. He opened his eyes, reached out his hand, and knocked it to the floor. Then he rolled over and tried to get in a more comfortable position. It was his day off, and the first item on his list of things to do was sleep in.
He got out of bed at ten thirty, took a shower and got dressed. Then he fed DarienTheRat, walked back into his room, and flopped onto his bed again. He looked at the books he had borrowed from the library the day before; a book of quotes of course, a science fiction novel, and a couple of literary classics.
He decided to have some fun and picked up the Sci-fi novel. It was 'Enders Game' by Orson Scott Card. Darien had read it a million times, but he still loved it. Just as he was finishing the first chapter he heard a knock on the door. Hurriedly shoving his books under his bed, he walked over and opened it. He was surprised to see Claire framed in the doorway.
"Hello Darien," she said, "I need to ask you a favor."
"Sure, come on in," Darien said, stepping back to let her into the room. "You want something to drink?" He walked over to the fridge. "I've got milk or water or-" Darien sniffed at the contents of a jug and grimaced, "or orange juice, but don't pick that, I think its gone bad."
"Water will be fine." Darien grabbed a couple of glasses out of a cabinet and filled them with water, then handed one of them to Claire.
"So whaddaya want me to do? Steal government files? Maybe punch out your ex-boyfriend?"
"Actually, I'm going out of town for a few days and I was wondering if you'd take care of Pavlov while I'm gone."
"Sure thing, I'd be happy to watch the little guy for a few days."
"Thank you Darien. Just so you know, he has to take a pill each day. I keep them on the kitchen counter. Here's the key to my apartment." Claire handed it to him and Darien put it in his pocket. Claire stood up. "Well, I have to go now. Thanks again," she said, waving goodbye as she walked out the door. Darien waved back, then pulled the key out of his pocket and grinned. He was going to have fun tonight.
Darien pulled his car up at the entrance to Claire's apartment, whistling tunelessly. He unlocked the door and walked in. He was immediately greeted by Pavlov, who ran up to him, jumping up and down in a frenzy.
"Hey Pavlov, you happy to see me?" Darien picked up the little dog, which immediately began licking his face. Darien laughed and put the dog down, wiping the dog drool off his face. Then he went about getting Pavlov something to eat. After he had put some food in Pavlov's dish he took off his jacket and threw it on the couch.
"Might as well keep you company for a while," he said, pulling Pavlov onto his lap and petting him absently as he turned on the television. He flipped through channels for a minute, finally stopping on an old Lassie rerun. "Look Pavlov, its Lassie." Pavlov's ears perked up and he began watching the television attentively.
Darien walked into Claire's kitchen, helping himself to a large glass of coke. He glanced absently at her refrigerator door, noticing a couple of pictures of her with Gloria's family and a few more of her with some people he didn't know. Probably relatives, he mused. He walked over to the counter and picked up the bottle that was on it, shaking out a pill.
He walked back into the living room and looked over at Pavlov, only to discover that the little dog was no longer there! Darien glanced around worriedly; had he left the door open? He rushed over to check, but it was closed. He began calling Pavlov's name but was rewarded only with silence.
"Pavlov, come here boy!" Darien looked around frantically. "Pavlov, c'mere!" He sighed in frustration, then his eyes lit up. He had heard something from upstairs...
"Where are you, you little rascal?" Darien began scaling the stairs, grinning. "I have something for you..." He walked into Claire's bedroom and was momentarily distracted by the memory of what had happened the last time he'd walked in. He smiled.
Darien looked over the room just in time to see Pavlov diving under the bed. "There you are." Darien got down on his hands and knees and stuck his head under the bed, groping for Pavlov. The dog barked suddenly, causing Darien to jump, hitting his head on the bed. He climbed out from under it quickly, bumping the nightstand on his way out.
"I'm beginning to have second thoughts about this," Darien mumbled, rubbing his head and glaring at the bed. He looked at the nightstand, afraid he had knocked something over. Sure enough, a book had fallen off and lay open on the floor. It looked like a journal. Darien picked it up and was about to put it back where it belonged when he spotted his name among the writing. The sight immediately sparked his curiosity.
He sat down on the bed and looked at the journal, but hesitated before reading it. This was an invasion of Claire's privacy, but then again she knew everything about him… Darien's curiosity overpowered his conscience and he began to read. Pavlov came out of his hiding place under the bed and jumped up beside Darien, who gave him his pill and then started stroking him absentmindedly, everything but the journal forgotten.
Darien flipped through the pages, paying no attention to the dates. He was thoroughly engrossed in his reading. This was much more fun than reading any science fiction novel. After a while he began talking back to the journal, answering questions and making comments on some of the passages.
*Dear Journal, why is life such a pain sometimes?*
"I dunno Claire, I've been trying to figure that out myself."
*I mean, sometimes I would just like to scream about the unfairness of it all.*
"Hey, me too sister."
*For instance, Darien Fawkes-* Darien perked up at the mention of his name- *-came into the lab today in one of the worst moods I have ever seen him in.*
"Now hold on a second, when was this?" Darien glanced at the date and discovered it had happened a couple of months ago. "Oh, I remember that. That was the day when I had the hairspray incident."
*He slumped down into the chair-*
"I didn't slump!"
*-looking for all the world like a two year old throwing a tantrum. It was all I could do not to laugh.*
"Hey, I'll have you know I was having a pretty bad day that morning, and the hairspray was just the start of it. There was the breakfast incident, the parking ticket I got for no good reason, and of course, the hot coffee spill! I had to change my pants three times before the day was out!"
*Then he proceeded to complain about everything I said or did. By the time he left after getting his shot, I was in almost as bad a mood as he had been!*
"Sorry about that," Darien said, shaking his head.
*I went home this evening and stormed up the stairs, hurling myself onto the bed. I checked my messages and was surprised to find one from Darien there. In it he apologized for being so temperamental with me this morning, and said he owed me one. That lightened up my mood quite a bit.*
"Huh! Didn't know it was that big a deal, I'd been apologizing to everyone all afternoon."
*And then I got to thinking. Darien's been through a lot lately, what with the gland and everything that comes with it. And I realized that maybe he needs a shoulder to cry on sometimes...*
"Whoa, you're reading into that a bit too much!" Darien exclaimed, slamming the journal shut. But he couldn't help himself, and a few minutes later he resumed reading.
Darien continued to read well into the night, and awakened in the morning sprawled on Claire's bed, the journal lying open faced beside him. He grabbed the journal, hurriedly rushed down the stairs, and pulled his jacket on; he was supposed to go into work today.
Darien rushed through the halls of the Agency, barely stopping himself from crashing into Hobbes. "Where have you been? You're late!"
"I know," Darien said, trying to catch his breath, "I slept in."
"Yeah, in your clothes," Hobbes said, laughing. Darien looked down. In his haste to make it to the Agency on time he'd had no time to stop by his apartment and change.
"Shut up, Hobbes." Hobbes continued to laugh. "What's so funny?"
"Have you looked at yourself in a mirror lately?" Darien shook his head. "I'd suggest that you do, and quick. The Official wants you in his office," Hobbes checked his watch, "five minutes ago. Oh, and you'll want this," Hobbes added, thrusting a baseball cap into Darien's hands.
Darien headed to the nearest bathroom. He was mortified when he looked in the mirror. He had the worst bed head he had ever seen, his face had a day's stubble on it and his clothes didn't help his case much either.
"Oh crap, I look like a homeless man." Darien quickly tried to do the best that he could to make himself halfway presentable, but all his efforts came to naught. Finally he gave up and put on the hat Hobbes had given him earlier.
Darien rushed toward the Official's office, skidding to a stop right before he went into the door. He took a moment to catch his breath and walked through the door.
"You're late." The Official stopped looking over a large stack of papers just long enough to glance up at Darien, then continuing with his work. As always, Eberts stood beside him reading over his shoulder.
"Sorry." Darien sat down in his chair and looked over at Hobbes, asking him a question with his eyes. Hobbes shrugged, which Darien took to mean that Hobbes had no idea what this meeting was about. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, figuring he might as well relax until the Official decided to tell them what all was going on.
"I need the two of you to go on surveillance duty. Here's the file." The Official handed it over the desk to Hobbes, who had a big smile on his face. Darien on the other hand had a deep frown on his.
"What happened to the terrorists and escaped experiments? I mean, even catching a couple of monkey smugglers is better than this crappy assignment!" Darien said, looking very upset. The Official merely glared at him, giving Darien the look that always made him want to crawl under his seat.
"All of our other agents are out on assignment. And besides, with the Keeper out of town we can't risk sending you on a mission where you might need to quicksilver." Darien slumped in his chair, arms folded across his chest in the proverbial pout. Hobbes looked at his partner in surprise.
"Aw come on Fawkes, its not that bad. Besides, it'll give you a chance to relax. It doesn't look like you've been doing much of that lately." Darien glared at his partner, who for some reason was struggling to stifle a laugh.
"I'm fine thanks," Darien hissed through his teeth, which only seemed to amuse Hobbes more. By this time Eberts was stifling some laughter of his own. Even the Official cracked a small smile. "What's so funny?" Darien asked harshly. Hobbes immediately assumed a poker face, as did Eberts and the Official.
"Nothing. Just get to work," the Official said, his stern expression threatening to collapse any moment. He waved the two agents out the door. As soon as they left both he and Eberts began howling with laughter.
"Should we tell him his hat fell off?" Eberts asked as soon as he was able to breathe again.
"No," the Official said, still laughing hard, "Let him be. The other agents deserve a few laughs."
As he finished speaking the office door was flung open and Darien skidded into the room, snatched the baseball cap up from where it lay on the floor and hurriedly placed it on his head. He took just enough time to glare angrily at Eberts and the Official, then exited the room, trying to catch up to Hobbes. The Official and Eberts looked at each other and began laughing again, practically falling on the floor in their mirth.
Darien sat in the passenger seat of the van. He looked utterly bored. Hobbes on the other hand was fully enjoying the chance to try out his new surveillance equipment. He was holding a sound amplifier dish in one hand and a sandwich in the other, and he was sampling both in turn.
Darien started to squirm in his seat from boredom, then his eyes lit up as he remembered that he had brought Claire's journal with him when he had left for work that morning. He pulled it out and started to read. Hobbes raised an eyebrow at him, but said nothing and returned to his work. After a while though, his curiosity got the better of him and he pulled off his headphones.
"Hey Fawkes, what're you reading?" Darien ignored his partner, by now fully engrossed in the journal. "Fawkes... Hey, Fawkes!" Darien looked up from the journal with a bewildered expression on his face.
"What?"
"What. Are. You. Reading," Hobbes said angrily, carefully enunciating each word.
"Nothing," Darien replied, and turned back to the journal. Hobbes grumbled to himself and put his headphones back on, but he couldn't concentrate on his work. What was it his partner was reading that had him so interested?
Hobbes glanced at his partner, a calculating look in his eye. A plan was starting to formulate in his brain. After a few minutes he put down his sandwich and discretely moved his hand a little closer to Darien, then suddenly reached out and snatched the journal, eliciting a yelp of surprise from Darien, who had completely forgotten Hobbes was in the van.
"Give that back!" Darien demanded, reaching for the journal in dismay. Hobbes kept his partner at bay with one hand, holding the journal at arm's length outside of his open window. He began to read, raising his eyebrows as he realized just what it was that he was reading.
"Is this Claire's journal?" He asked, his voice taking on a teasing tone.
"Yes it is," Darien said in an angry voice, "now give it back."
"Oh, no no no no. This is too good to pass up. You stole the Keeper's journal?"
"I didn't steal it, I just borrowed it for a few days. And besides, she left it out in plain sight."
"And where was your big conscience when you saw it lying there, huh?"
"It went on vacation. What does it matter anyway? Just give me back the journal and everything will be fine."
"And what's to keep me from accidentally slipping and telling Claire about your little lapse of conscience?"
"Oh, come on Hobbes," Darien groaned, "I'll do anything."
"Anything?" Darien nodded fervently, then grabbed for the journal, snatching it out of Hobbes' hands and hurriedly pocketing it before anything else happened. He looked at Hobbes, who had a self-satisfied grin on his face. Darien rolled his eyes. It was going to be a long day.
That night Darien fed Pavlov hurriedly, then went home for a meal and a shower. When he was done he put on his pajamas and flopped onto his bed, eagerly pulling out the journal. He flipped through it for a while, then stopped at a spot near the end. He began reading, wondering what was in store for him tonight.
*Dear Journal, I have a bit of a dilemma. I have become attracted to Darien Fawkes.* Darien's mouth fell open. He had not expected that. He read on, a grin slowly spreading across his face. *My favorite part of his face is his eyes. They're brown, sort of a chocolate color with a bit of caramel thrown in. When he's happy they light up like a little boy on Christmas. And when he's sad they look so mournful that I want to cry myself.*
Darien lowered the journal, at a loss for words. This was a side of Claire he'd certainly never seen before. He read on. *His hair is also brown, luscious and thick. Its rather large, but I've gotten used to it.* Darien's eyebrows lifted at the comment.
"Come on Claire, give me a break. I like my hair!" Nevertheless, he kept on reading. *He has a nice smile, although I haven't seen it much. He is very tall; he could have been a basketball player if he wanted to. I wonder if he ever was?*
"If only she knew." Darien said with a smile. *On the whole, he is a very attractive person. However, our business relationship would make any kind of personal relationship extremely risky. Hence the dilemma.*
Darien had a confused look on his face. He had long thought Claire was attractive, but he had muffled those thoughts on the grounds that Claire couldn't possibly fall for him. He had always thought she leaned more toward the intellectual type than the smart-aleck ex-thief with a conscience the size of New Jersey. However, this changed everything...
The next morning when Darien came in to work he was feeling restless, so he went down to the lab. However, when he arrived he saw that Claire was also there! His mouth dropped open in surprise. Claire smiled at the expression on his face.
"I-I thought..."
"You thought I wouldn't be back until tomorrow? So did I."
"So why are you here?"
"Well, I finished my business out of town early and I thought I'd come into work real quick to check on some things before I went home." Claire looked at Darien, a worried expression appearing on her face. "Is something wrong?"
"Nope," Darien said, "I've still got a couple of days until I need a shot. See?" He thrust out his wrist to show her. Claire nodded, her expression turning to one of curiosity.
"Then why did you come here?"
"I dunno, habit I guess." Darien looked around nervously, desperately trying to think of a way to change the subject. The truth was, he had been missing Claire, and he wasn't sure he wanted to tell her that. "Look, I gotta go, so umm, why don't you stay here and I'll just go."
"All right, now I know something is wrong. Come on Darien, cough it up." Claire moved in front of the door and crossed her arms, giving Darien a look that told him he wasn't leaving the room until he told her what she wanted to know.
"Oh come on Claire, I don't have time for this!" Darien whined, desperately trying to think of something that would distract Claire just long enough for him to get out of the door. Fortunately for him, at that moment Hobbes stuck his head through the door.
"Hey Fawkes, the fat man wants you."
"See? I have to go," Darien said with a smug grin on his face. Claire didn't look very happy, but she moved far enough away from the door to let Darien through. Darien left the room, letting out a deep sigh of relief after doing so.
"Hobbes, you are a lifesaver," Darien said, grabbing Hobbes and lifting him off of the ground in a big bear hug. Hobbes immediately began struggling, and Darien put him down sheepishly. Hobbes glared at him angrily as he brushed off some imaginary dirt, trying to regain his composure.
"What was that for?"
"You just saved my butt in there!"
"Well, come on! The fat man wants to talk to you!" Darien nodded, then paused as he remembered exactly what Claire had said. She was going home in just a few minutes! Darien's face paled at the thought of what would happen if Claire found out that he had her journal.
"Wait, I can't. There's something I have to do. Cover for me, will ya?" Darien ran off down the hall before Hobbes had time to protest. Hobbes shook his head in disgust, then walked off toward the Official's office.
"Fawkes, you owe me big time."
Darien drove recklessly through the streets of San Diego, taking the shortest route he knew of to get to Claire's apartment. He parked his car at a far enough distance away that Claire wouldn't notice it, then ran the rest of the way to her apartment, skidding abruptly to a stop as he saw her car coming down the street.
Darien looked around frantically, then dove behind a trash can and quicksilvered, doing his best to remain unnoticeable. Claire walked up the driveway and unlocked her door, walking into the house. Darien slipped through just before the door closed. Claire was laughing at Pavlov, who was running around the room barking at the top of his lungs in joy. Darien stifled a laugh of his own.
He slipped past Claire, quietly heading up the stairs. He pulled the journal out from under his jacket, but before he could place it on the table beside the bed Claire entered the room. Darien jumped in surprise and dropped the journal to the floor. Claire looked at it nervously, clearly confused at how it had ended up on her floor.
"Darien didn't come up here while I was gone, did he?" Claire shook her head, saying, "No, he would have had no reason to unless-" she paused and looked at Pavlov, an annoyed expression on her face. "You weren't playing hide and seek again, were you?" Pavlov looked down at the ground with such a forlorn expression on his face Darien was tempted to believe that the little dog had understood every word Claire had said.
"Well, it's alright. I'm sure Darien wouldn't have been snooping around in my things." Darien immediately felt guilty; after all, Claire had apparently trusted him enough to give him the key to her house, even if it was just for a couple of days, and Darien had immediately gone and proved that he was unworthy of that trust. He felt like a worthless piece of crap. He made a decision. He shook the quicksilver off of his body, eliciting a startled cry from Claire.
"Claire, I-"
"What are you doing here??"
"Well-"
"I can't believe it! I let you borrow a key to my apartment for a few days so you can take care of Pavlov and you think you can just walk in here whenever you like? How dare you!"
"Look, Claire, I can explain-"
"I don't want to hear it!"
"But-" Darien was cut off abruptly as Claire slapped him soundly in the face. "I guess I deserved that," he said as he rubbed his sore cheek. "Look, I'm sorry, but I read your journal. Parts of it, anyway."
"Which parts?" Claire asked, her voice filled with a cold anger that made Darien very uncomfortable.
"Well, umm... Kind of all of it."
"What do you mean, 'kind of all of it'? That was my *journal*, my private property. No one else was supposed to read that!"
"I know, and I'm sorry-"
"Just shut up and get out of my house." Darien opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it. Instead he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked out of the room, then out of the front door, his shoulders slumped in defeat. He climbed in his car and drove away, not really paying much attention to where he was going. He was too upset to care.
After a while he drove into the parking lot of his apartment complex. But instead of getting out of the car and going in he just sat in the driver's seat, wondering what he had been thinking the other day. How could he have been so stupid? Why had he just picked up Claire's journal and begun to read, with no thought of what the consequences might be? He had probably lost her friendship, and definitely her trust, because of it.
After a while Darien got out of his car and walked inside, reluctantly producing the key to his apartment. He opened the door and walked inside, throwing his jacket on the table. He slumped down in a chair, thinking more dark thoughts about himself. After a while he walked over to the refrigerator to get something to eat, but the shelves were bare. He decided to get something to drink instead.
Darien took a glass out of the cupboard and pulled one of the jugs out of the refrigerator. He wasn't really paying attention and had filled the glass nearly to the brim when he realized that it was not milk, but the rotten orange juice, that he had poured into his glass. He threw the glass into the sink in disgust, and then threw the jug into the garbage. He got himself another glass and filled it with milk, then placed his rat cage onto the table and sat down on.
"Well, I've really done it this time. I've made the Keeper mad and I don't think she'll ever forgive me. And even if she does forgive me she'll never trust me again." Darien paused for a second, then continued. "And the worst part of it is that she's one of the only friends I have right now."
Darien lifted his glass and took a big gulp of milk. It wasn't exactly the type of drink he would have usually chosen to drown his sorrows in, but since it was the only thing in the house besides water it would have to do. He lowered the glass and looked at his rat with a sorrowful expression. The rat looked back, its steady gaze slightly unnerving.
"And now I'm talking to a rat. It can't get much worse than this." Suddenly Darien remembered that he hadn't returned the keys to Claire's apartment. Plus, with his little invisibility splurge he needed a shot, and soon. His face paled at the thought of having to talk to Claire again. "Then again, maybe it could."
Darien stuck his head tentatively through the lab door, ready to duck back out in a moments notice. But a minute later when no angry voices assaulted him and no projectiles were hurled at the door he opened it and walked in. Claire was standing with her back to the door, doing something with a couple of test tubes. She turned around as Darien walked through the door. Her face took on a stony expression as she saw who it was.
"Hello Darien," she said in a voice that completely lacked warmth, "I figured you'd need a shot today thanks to your little visit earlier today."
"Yeah." Darien sat down in the chair where he always received his shots, looking very uncomfortable. After all, he and Claire were not exactly on friendly terms right now and he was expecting his shot to be a lot more painful than usual. When Claire stuck the needle in his arm he knew he had been right. "Ahh!" Darien hissed in pain and jerked his arm away, glaring angrily at Claire.
"Oh, did I hurt you?" Claire's voice practically dripped with sarcasm. Darien sighed in frustration.
"Look, about what happened earlier-"
"I don't want to hear it."
"I don't care whether you want to hear it or not! I'm going to tell you anyway!"
"Then TELL ME," Claire practically shouted, crossing her arms and looking up at Darien angrily.
"THANK YOU!" Darien paused for a second to summon his last remaining threads of self-control. "I'm sorry I snuck into your house, and I'm sorry I read your journal. It was really stupid and juvenile of me and I'll never do anything like that again."
"And how am I supposed to believe a word you're saying? For all I know you could be lying through your teeth!"
"I'M NOT LYING!"
"PROVE IT!!!"
"HOW?" Darien's question threw Claire off track; she wasn't sure how to answer it. When she said nothing Darien continued. "Tell me how to prove that you can trust me and I'll do it."
"I-" Claire turned away, a sorrowful expression on her face- "I don't think you can." Darien sighed, massaging his temples in frustration.
"Well, then I guess I'd better leave now." He walked past Claire and headed for the door. He placed his hand on the doorknob.
"Wait!" Darien turned around and gave Claire a questioning look. Claire paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts, then continued. "Come here." Darien did as she asked, wondering what was about to happen. "Now look me in the eye and tell me that you aren't lying to me."
Darien looked deep into Claire's eyes and said, "Claire, I would never lie to you." He continued to look at her, realizing as if for the first time just how beautiful she was. Claire had to look away at the intensity in his gaze.
"I believe you," she said with a bewildered expression on her face, as if surprised at her own words. She looked back up at Darien, who was looking a little surprised, and very relieved. Darien continued to study Claire's face; her eyes, the way her hair fell just so, her mouth... Before he knew it he was leaning in to kiss her, and to his surprise Claire did the same. Their lips met, tentatively at first, then passionately as the two of them released feelings that had been bottled up inside of them for months.
The lab door opened and Hobbes walked in. "Hey Fawkes, you in here-" His eyes widened at the sight of Claire and Darien, who were completely oblivious to his presence. He watched in silence for a minute, but when neither of them showed any signs of coming up for air he cleared his throat loudly, causing Claire and Darien to jump in surprise, hurriedly stepping away from each other and attempting to regain their composure.
"Hobbes, when did you come in?" Darien asked nervously, stuffing his hands in his pockets and shuffling his feet a little.
"Just in time to see you two lip-locked," Hobbes said with a grin. Darien blushed bright red, as did Claire, who was looking at Hobbes with a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance.
"You won't tell anybody, will you?" Darien asked. "I mean, its not like we did anything wrong, and-"
"And its not like it means we're getting romantically involved or anything, we both know that's against regulations," Claire added, her voice carrying a hint of anxiety. If this were to get out, it could mean big trouble for both her and Darien.
Hobbes just stood there for a moment, watching Claire and Darien's faces. He let the tension build up for a few seconds, then said, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. To tell you the truth, I've been expecting this for months." Darien and Claire both sighed in relief.
"I knew we could trust you, Bobby," Claire said gratefully. Hobbes blushed, suddenly finding something very interesting to look at on the floor.
"Yeah, well..." All of a sudden a thought hit him and he looked up, his expression a little worried. "Umm, I need to talk to Darien for a minute."
"Sure," Darien said cheerfully. Hobbes immediately grabbed his arm and dragged him into the hall.
"Does Claire know?"
"About what?"
"About the journal, of course!"
"Oh, yeah. That. Don't worry, she knows."
"And she didn't mind?"
"Nope. At least, not now."
Hobbes sighed in relief. "Good. I'd hate to see your relationship finish before it got started." Suddenly Hobbes snapped his fingers and said, "Darn."
"What?" Darien asked, a worried expression appearing on his face.
"Well, if I had held this over your heads I could have had a lot of fun with you two."
Darien's eyes narrowed. "What sort of fun?"
"Oh, you know, having you guys fetch my coffee, open doors for me, do my laundry, that sort of thing."
"Hobbes..." Darien said, his voice taking on a warning tone.
Hobbes raised his hands in defense, saying, "Aw, come on, I'm just kidding. Where's your sense of humor?"
"It went on vacation about the same time as my conscience. Listen, I want to talk to Claire for a minute."
"Don't worry, I won't bother you. I'll just stand out here and wait."
"Alright, I'll be back in just a sec." Darien walked back into the lab and walked up to Claire, a shy smile playing on his lips. "Look, I just wanted to say... Thanks, for giving me a second chance I mean."
"No problem," Claire said, giving him a smile of her own.
"And I wanted to give you your key." Darien pulled it out of his pocket and held it out. Claire took it, smiling warmly at him.
"Thank you Darien, I appreciate that."
"Yeah, well, I figured it was the right thing to do," Darien said, then looked in the direction of the door. "I have to go. I'm pretty sure that Hobbes was coming in here to tell me the Official wanted me, or something like that." He walked over to the door and opened it, causing Hobbes to come tumbling into the room.
"Hey, I never said I wouldn't listen," he said sheepishly. Both Claire and Darien glared at him, causing Hobbes to flinch visibly at the double attack. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. But I don't promise not to do it again."
"Come on Hobbes, we've got to go now," Darien said, sending Claire a parting smile as he walked out of the lab. After he left Claire smiled, thinking dreamily about what Darien had said and all that it meant. True, in their present situation it was impossible to have a real relationship. But maybe someday, if the situation changed... Claire cleared her thoughts and returned to work, but the smile lingered a long time after.
The End
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