Darien Fawkes flopped into the chair in front of the Official?s desk, his partner Hobbes taking the seat next to him.

"You wanted to see us?" Darien asked, staring out the window.

"I have an assignment for you." The Official leaned forward, putting his elbows on the desk. "I need you for a rescue."

"Rescue?" Hobbes perked up. "What kind of rescue?"

Eberts opened a folder and handed them a picture of an attractive young woman. "This is Magdalena Rourke, Maggie. She works for us. Or she did until she was kidnapped almost a month ago." He handed them another picture. This one was of a non-descript suburban house. "We?re tracked her to this house where she?s being held by a group called Cobalt. 112 Sycamore Lane in Paradise Hills."

"So why do you need us? If you know where she is, just go in and get her." Darien asked.

The Official spoke up. "She was kidnapped by a terrorist organization interested in using her unique abilities for their own gain. However, they wouldn't hesitate to dispose of her if they lose control of the situation. We want to do this as low key as possible. I don?t want to risk something happening to my agents if we raid the house. The two of you or more specifically you, Fawkes, can slip in and out without harm to Rourke. She?s being held in the basement. Hobbes, you?re going to create a distraction so Fawkes and Rourke can get out." Hobbes nodded, busy reading the file. Darien peered over his shoulder, looking at the file. "You?ll have some back up from the anti-terrorist unit but you?re objective is to get Rourke out. Not to take these guys down. Leave that to the professionals."

"He says that like we're not professionals." Darien remarked to Hobbes.

The Official gave him a look. "I'm serious about this. I don't want any of you getting hurt."

"When is this going down?" Hobbes asked the Official.

"This afternoon."

"Right. I?d better get my shot." Darien left the office.

Hobbes followed him. "Yeah, you better. I don?t want you going wacky in the middle of this thing.

Darien gave him a look that said, ?who me?? as he swiped his ID card through the lock. The door slid open and they walked into the lab. Claire, also known as The Keeper, was typing furiously on her laptop.

"Hey Keep. Time for a shot." He hopped into the lab chair in the center of the room.

She shut the laptop and turned to face him. "Are you sure?" She came over to check the snake tattoo that served as a monitor for the level of quicksilver in his blood. Four of the segments on the snake were green. "Darien, you could go at two more days with this. Just don?t use the quicksilver."

Hobbes spoke up. "We?ve got an assignment."

"I?m probably going to have to quicksilver someone else too." Darien explained.

Sighing, Claire went to the cooler for the Counteragent that kept Darien from going insane from the level of quicksilver in his blood. "All right. But you?ll have to take it easy until it?s time for the next one." She told him as she prepared the needle.

"Yes, mom."

"You promise?"

"Scouts honor." He held up his hand in a Boy Scout salute.

She slid the needle into his arm. "Somehow, I doubt you were a boy scout Darien." He bent his elbow up after she pulled out the needle and placed cotton over the spot.

"Sure he was. Got merit badges for lock picking and breaking and entering." Hobbes said sarcastically.

"Hey!" Darien exclaimed indignantly as he put on his coat. "Thanks, Claire."

"You?re welcome. You boys be careful."

"We will." They told her and left the lab.

Maggie Rourke sat in the middle of the padded room wearing a straight jacket, staring aimlessly at the television on the wall. The door opened and two men stepped inside. One was hired muscle, big and brawny. He wore a taser gun on his belt and watched her with an evil grin. She surpassed a shudder when she caught a stray thought about what he wanted to do to her.

The other was a doctor. He was thinner and always wore a white lab coat over his well-made suits. "Good afternoon, Miss Rourke. Hungry?" The tray he carried held her lunch. She stood up, using the padded wall to help her balance.

"Not particularly."

"Miss Rourke, if you don?t eat, I will be forced to feed you myself. You really wouldn?t enjoy that." He stepped closer to her. "Or I could have Wynn feed you. I think he would enjoy that."

"You don?t scare me." She lashed out with her mind, knocking the tray across the room where it hit the metal door with a clatter. She gave the doctor a mental shove and he flew back against the wall. Wynn rushed her and she found herself pinned between him and the wall.

"That wasn?t smart." He said. His voice was deceptively quiet.

She could see the doctor approaching, carrying a syringe. Maggie began a futile struggle against Wynn. He wrapped his massive arms around her and turned around. The doctor jabbed the needle into the back of her neck pushing the sedative into her body. Wynn let go of her and she dropped to the floor unconscious.

"This is the place?" Darien asked, peering out his window at the plain cape cod style house down the street.

"That?s what the Official said."

"And I?m supposed to go in there and get this girl?"

"Yup."

"Think there's a lot of guards?"

"Probably."

"Think we can pull this off?"

"Fawkes, buddy, you broke into that FBI office. I have complete faith that you can pull this off." Hobbes watched the house through binoculars.

"You're only saying that cause you don't have to go inside."

"Think about it this way, the anti-terrorist unit is standing by. I say the word and the house is swarmed."

"Alright, I?m going, I?m going." Darien checked his earpiece before letting himself become invisible. "I better get some time off after this." He muttered as he slipped out of the van.

"Keep in touch pal."

"I will." Darien walked up to the back door. There was a man inside sitting at the kitchen table, a semi-automatic weapon in plain sight on the table. He knocked on the back door and waited until the man got up to see who was there. The door opened and the man looked around. When he didn?t see anyone, the guard stepped outside to investigate.

Darien took the opportunity and slipped inside the house. He found the stairs to the basement. The lock on the door was the kind that needed a key card to get in. He looked back at the guard who was coming inside. Darien could see his ID card hanging from his belt. When he opened the fridge and leaned inside Darien carefully lifted the card, detaching it from his belt.

He slid the card through the reader and waited for the light to turn green. The lock clicked and he pulled the door open enough for him to slip through. Stairs led down into a gray basement hallway. He looked both ways down the hall and headed toward voices. A door next to him opened and a man in a lab coat and a bigger, bodyguard type came out of a room. The lab coat was speaking quietly to the guard. Darien caught the door before it closed, pushing it back open and slipping inside. Both men looked back at the door, peering inside to see what might have caused the strange occurrence.

Darien let the quicksilver fall away from his body once the door closed and looked around the room. A feeling of d�j� vu came over him. The room was set up like mental hospital padded room. There was no furniture, only a small television attached high up on the wall. The walls and floor were covered in soft white padding. A person was slumped on the floor wearing a straight jacket.

"Hobbes, I found her." He said quietly.

"Let me know when you need me." The response was equally quiet in his ear.

"Okay." Softly, Darien padded over to her and helped her sit up. She was very thin and pale. Baby fine red-gold hair stood out brightly against the whiteness of her face. "Maggie?" He shook her lightly and called to her. There was no response. Reaching up, he touched her face. "Maggie?" Her eyes half-opened, not focusing. "Maggie? I?m here to get you out." She turned her head to follow his voice, green eyes focused on him for a moment.

"Nick?" She slurred inaudibly.

"I?m Darien Fawkes." He unfastened the straight jacket. "Can you walk?"

She leaned heavily against him and shook her head. "Drugs."

"Okay. Just hold on to me and don?t make a sound." He swept her into his arms. "Hobbes? I?m ready for that distraction."

"Roger. Coming right up."

Darien quicksilvered them both and banged on the door. Wynn opened it and looked around. He stepped inside when he noticed it was empty. Darien hit him, connecting with his jaw. Wynn fell back and Darien hurried to the door, pulling it shut behind him. He carried Maggie up the stairs. Halfway up the alarm went off.

"Oh crap." Darien muttered. Praying no one would try to come down the stairs, he pulled the door open. Quickly, he went into the kitchen and out the back door.

Out front, Hobbes heard the alarm and was slowly backing away from the house. "Okay, thanks for your help." He said nervously. The doctor nodded exasperatedly and slammed the door shut. Turning away from the house, he sprinted back to the van. "Fawkes, pal. Talk to me." There was no answer so Hobbes gave the signal for them to move in. Agents dressed in black swat gear swarmed the house.

The guard in the kitchen jumped up when the basement and then the back doors flew open. He ran outside just as the agents came into the backyard and he opened fire on them. Darien dropped to the ground, Maggie underneath him.

"Hobbes? What the hell?s going on?" He yelled, trying to contact his partner.

"Fawkes? Is that you?" Hobbes? voice sounded in his ear.

"Yeah."

"I didn?t think you got out. So I sent in the cavalry." There was a pause. "Where are you?"

"In the back-" He was cut off when a bullet ripped through his arm. He lost concentration and they became visible again.

"Fawkes? What happened?" He sounded worried.

One of the agents grabbed Darien and helped him up. "I?m alright. We?re coming around." Darien picked Maggie back up and quicksilvered her again before the three of them ran around to the front of the house.

"Thanks." He shouted to the agent as he carried Maggie across the street to the van.

Darien climbed into the back. "Get us out of here Hobbes."

"I?m goin?." He pulled away from the curb and drove off. "Is Rourke okay?"

Darien let go of Maggie and the quicksilver fell away. "I?m not sure." He touched her face. "Maggie? Can you hear me? Darien pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around her. She was shivering, her lips tinged light blue.

"Nick-" She began but trailed off. Her hand came up and touched his arm. "You?re hit."

"Yeah. Don?t worry about it." He pulled her closer to his warmth. "We?re taking you back to the Agency." He told her. "Hobbes, give me your coat."

"Huh? What?"

"Just let me have it."

He tossed his coat in the back as he pulled onto the highway. "We?ll be there soon." Darien just wrapped Hobbes? coat around Maggie and didn?t say anything.

Hobbes pulled into a space in front of the building. Darien threw open the door and carried Maggie inside. Hobbes flashed his badge at the security guard, who waved them through.

"I?ll call The Keeper and let her know you?re coming." He told them as they rushed down the hall.

Darien could feel the wound in his arm was starting to protest. Hobbes held the door to Basement 5 open and Claire met them on the other side.

"We?ll put her in lab 3." She told him. He carried her into the lab, setting her down on the bed. Claire looked at him and ordered him into her lab. "I?ll be there in a minute."

Darien wandered back down the hall and into the lab. He tossed his jacket on a chair, hissing in pain at the movement and climbed into the chair. "Is she going to be alright?" Darien asked when Claire came into the lab.

"As soon as she warms up and the drugs wear off. They had her on some very powerful sedatives. She?s going to sleep most of today and probably tomorrow." She turned to look at him, seeing the blood on his white t-shirt. "My God, Darien. Were you shot?"

"Yeah."

Gathering some supplies, she ordered him to take off his shirt. "It just grazed you. I think you?ll live."

Oh, good. Oww! That hurts." Claire smiled at him in apology as she cleaned the still oozing wound. "How come she was so cold?"

"The quicksilver has such a low temperature, anyone, except you who is in contact with it for a long enough period of time will develop a kind of hypothermia. This is just a local, so I can stitch you up." Claire stuck the needle in his arm.

"So what?s so special about Maggie Rourke? The Official ony said that she has uinque abilities." He asked as she waited for the local to kick in.

"Maggie?s a psychic."

"What?"

"Psychic. Among other things, she?s a tactile empath. She can read emotions and surface thoughts of a person by touching them. She?s also telekinetic. She can move things with her mind. While she was here, she received a shot every two weeks that helped her control her gift while she learned how to on her own." She started stitching up the bullet wound on his arm.

"A girl after my own heart." He watched her draw the thin thread through his arm.

Claire smiled. "In a way, she is. If she doesn?t get her shot, touching other people would drive her slowly insane before becoming catatonic. She looses total control of her telekinesis and things start to move around." She wrapped his arm with white gauze as a buzzing sound made her look up. She went back out of the lab. Curious, Darien followed her pulling his shirt back on.

Claire went back to lab 3. Maggie was awake, staring at the ceiling through half-closed eyes.

"You?re awake!" Claire exclaimed and checked Maggie?s vitals.

"Not really." The response was soft. "Thirsty."

Claire helped Maggie drink some water. "Better?" She nodded. "Good. Now back to sleep. You need to let the drugs wear off, give the inhibitor time to work." Maggie nodded. "If you need anything else, just press the call button.

"Kay."

Claire left but Darien stayed in a darkened corner of the room. He felt a deep connection with her and there were questions he wanted to ask. But they would have to wait. He could see her green eyes softly glowing and they drew him to her bedside. He brushed a lock of hair from her forehead, their eyes still locked. She finally drifted off and he left the lab, heading back to the Keeper's lab.

"Hey Keep." He called out, letting her know he was there.

She peered out from behind a glass divider. "What can I do for you Darien?"

"Who?s Nick?"

"Nick?"

"Maggie kept calling me Nick."

After a moment, she responded. "Nick was Maggie?s Keeper." She set down her pen and turned to face him.

"Maggie?s an experiment?" He leaned against the lab chair. "These powers she has, she wasn?t born with them was she? That?s why she?s here instead of a hospital."

"It was a long time ago, a joint project with the army. I don't know much else about it."

"This Agency just loves wrecking people's lives, doesn't it?"

"Darien, the men involved in her project haven't worked here since the mid-seventies. The vast majority of the project was done by the army."

"Why is she here?"

Claire pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose. "I think you should ask her these questions."

"How come I haven?t seen her around before? Where?s her keeper?"

"He was killed when she was kidnapped." She said softly. "You should really ask her these questions. It?s not my place to tell you." Claire told him and went back to her report. "The Official wants to speak with you, by the way." She added. Darien sighed and left the lab.

Hobbes was already in the Official?s office when Darien entered. He took his usual seat.

"What happened boys?" The Official looked grim.

"The guard at her door set off the alarm before I could get out." Darien told him.

"Fawkes wasn?t answering me so I gave the signal." Hobbes said.

"My headset wasn?t working right." Darien added. "Hey, we got her out, didn?t we?"

"And you were shot." The Official pointed out.

"I think it was friendly fire. They couldn?t see me."

Shaking his head, the Official leaned back in his chair. "The anti-terrorist unit arrested everyone in the house. There are only a few members still free and we have agents tracking them down. Go on home, boys. I?ll see you tomorrow."

Hobbes got up but Darien stopped him. "How come you didn't tell us we were going to save another of your experiments?"

"Maggie has not been an experiment for almost twenty years. She is an active member of this Agency and was an agent in trouble. That is all you need to know." He opened a file and started reading, indicating the conversation was over. Darien got to his feet and followed Hobbes out of the office.

The next day Maggie spent most of it sleeping. It was late afternoon when she woke up fully. She pushed the call button Claire had set up by the bedside.

A moment later Claire came in, smiling. "You look better already." She told her before popping a thermometer into Maggie?s mouth. She tried to say something but it came out garbled. "No talking." Claire admonished. The thermometer beeped and she read it. "Okay, now what did you have to say?"

"I feel better. How long have I been out?" She adjusted the bed so she was sitting up.

"Almost two days. It?s past six in the evening." She held up a syringe. "I?m going to give you another dose of the inhibitor. You been without it for so long I?ll need to build your levels up again before I can cut the dose."

Sighing, Maggie held out her arm. "I didn?t miss this." She winced as Claire pushed the needle into her arm. "Can?t you make that into a pill or something? I can take it every morning with my vitamins and allergy medicine."

"It doesn?t work like that and you know it." Claire smiled at her.

She shrugged. "Hey, a girl can hope, can?t she? So where?s Nick anyway?" Claire looked away, not saying anything. "Claire? He rescued me from those terrorists and then disappeared. Where?d he go?"

"Maggie love, Nick was killed when you were kidnapped. They shot him when he tried to stop them from taking you." Claire put her hand on Maggie?s.

Maggie just sat there, stunned before shaking her head. "No. Claire, that?s not possible. He saved me. I saw him. He carried me out of that house."

Claire pulled Maggie into a hug. "That wasn?t Nick. That was another agent, Darien Fawkes."

"Nick?s dead?" Tears ran freely down Maggie?s face, leaving a wet spot on Claire?s lab coat.

She nodded. "I?m sorry hon. I know what he meant to you. He was a good friend to me also." There was a knock on the door and Claire looked over her shoulder. Darien stood in the doorway, looking uncertain. She motioned for him to come inside. "Maggie, this is Darien. He?s the one who rescued you."

She looked up, sniffling. "Hi."

"Hi." He leaned against the wall near her bed.

Claire looked from one to the other before standing up. "I?m going to find you some real clothes."

"Thanks." Darien handed her the box of tissues from the nightstand. "Thank you."

"Welcome." He leaned back, watching her as she wiped her eyes and blew her nose. She looked small in the hospital bed but he figured she was probably 5?5". Her ordeal caused her to lose weight and she was thin. Her hair came to just above her shoulders and stuck out at odd angles from sleep. Her eyes, the color of frozen oak leaves, stood out brightly against her pale skin.

"Thanks for rescuing me." She said quietly.

He nodded. "You miss him."

"He was like a brother." She snorted softly. "I didn?t even know he was dead until Claire told me." She started crying again.

"Oh, hey. I didn?t mean," He trailed off and sat down next to her on the bed, letting her cry on his shoulder.

After a while, she sat up, a little embarrassed. "Sorry, I got your shirt wet."

He grinned. "That?s alright. Feel better?"

She nodded. "I guess." Her stomach growled and she giggled.

"Hungry?"

"Yeah."

Claire came back in, carrying some clothing. "I couldn?t find your things. They were packed away with Nick?s when they cleaned up the house. These are mine. Do you want to shower?"

Maggie took the clothes. "That?d be wonderful."

"I could go get dinner while your changing." Darien offered.

Maggie looked at Claire, who nodded. "That sounds lovely. Go ahead."

"Chinese okay?"

"Sure. Um, Darien?" Maggie called.

"Yeah?" He turned back to her.

"Thanks."

When she had finished her shower and changed, Maggie wandered down the hall and found Darien and Claire in her lab. "Mmm, smells good." She said as she poked through the various boxes to see what Darien had brought. "General Tso?s Chicken, my favorite." She picked up the carton and took the offered chopsticks before settling down on top of Claire?s desk.

"How come I?ve never seen you around here before?" Darien asked, once he had his own food.

"I lived with my keeper and we mostly worked from home." She explained.

"Darien, you met Nick once. He was dark-haired Irishman who was in my office a few months back. You wanted to know if we were dating, remember?" Claire leaned back against the counter, enjoying her lo mien.

Darien tipped his head to the side, trying to remember. "That was Nick? I was expecting someone who looked more like me."

"You were? Why?" Maggie asked, curious.

"The whole I time I was carrying you out of the house, you were calling me Nick. I thought maybe you had us confused or something."

"Oh." Maggie said quietly before going back to her food.

"Why don?t you show him what you do?" Claire suggested.

Maggie shrugged. "Sure." She set down her food. Closing her eyes, she took several deep breaths. Reaching out, she felt for the medical instruments sitting on a tray on the counter. She opened her eyes and started spinning and juggling the items in the air.

"Wow." Darien watched as the metal equipment spun in increasingly tighter and faster circles.

Maggie grinned as she slowly brought each item to a stop and set them back in their places on the tray. "Neat trick huh?"

"Nick and Maggie were working to see what Maggie?s limit is."

She closed her eyes and reached out again. When she heard Darien?s surprised yell, she opened them. He was floating six inches off the chair. "So far, Nick?s weight was my limit."

Hobbes chose that moment to come into the lab. "Fine thing, getting dinner and not inviting me."

Maggie was startled and lost her concentration. Darien fell back to the chair and tumbled off losing his balance.

"Darien!" She called and reached out to him. He stopped a few inches off the floor. Maggie righted him and gently set him on the floor. "Sorry." She chewed on her lower lip.

He rolled his shoulders. "Felt like a carnival ride." He turned to his partner. "Have some dinner Hobbes."

"Oh sure, now you remember ol? Bobby Hobbes." Hobbes muttered as he went to investigate the remaining cartons. Choosing one, he sat down in the chair in front of Claire?s desk. "How ya doin? Rourke?"

"All right Bobby. How have you been?

"Getting along. Good to have you back." He patted her leg.

Darien watched them. "You two know each other?"

Maggie nodded. "Sure. Bobby and I worked together once or twice."

The Official entered the lab. He approached the four agents who were eating dinner. "Good to see you up and around, Magdalena."

She sighed at the sound of her full name. "Thank you sir. It?s good to be back."

"What?s up boss man?" Hobbes asked. It was unusual for him to come down to the labs.

"Where are you staying tonight Magdalena?"

"I?m not sure sir."

The Official looked at Claire. She shook her head. "I?m staying in a hotel. My house is being fumigated."

"She could stay with me." Darien offered.

"Good. Hobbes, you?ll stay with them tonight at Fawkes? place. We?ll figure out something more permanent tomorrow."

"Yes, sir."

"Is this it?" Maggie peered out of the van window.

Hobbes turned off the van and opened the door. "Yup."

"It?s not the Ritz but it?s comfortable." Darien unlocked his door and let them in. "I?ll find you something to sleep in."

She sat on the bed and watched him dig through his dresser. He tossed a few items on the bed and slammed the drawers shut.

"Here you go. Bathroom?s in there."

Maggie took the offered clothes and went into the bathroom. She came out wearing striped pajama pants rolled up around her waist and a baggy gray t-shirt. She giggled when she caught sight of herself in the mirror. "I feel silly. Hey, where?s Hobbes?"

"He ran over to his place to get some stuff." Darien was slouched on the couch reading a book. Maggie curled up on the other end of the couch.

"You haven?t been working for the Agency very long, have you?" She said after a while.

He shook his head. "Six months maybe. What about you?" He put his book down and turned so he was looking at her.

"Twenty years."

"Twenty years? How old are you?" He asked in shock.

She smiled. "Twenty-five." She could see him trying to work it out in his head. "It?s a long story if you want to hear it."

"We?ve got all night."

"Just warning you. My father was an army scientist working on a project with the Agency. They needed a child subject for their tests."

"What kind of tests?"

"You know how they say humans only use ten percent of their brain? Well, they had a theory that if you could somehow turn on more of the brain, they would develop psychic abilities. But they hadn?t been able to recreate the idea in life. They kept trying the surgery and drugs on adults but the adult brain couldn?t handle it and usually had a meltdown or got put in a madhouse."

Darien nodded. "Yeah. A lot of Agency experiments end up in the nut house."

"Someone decided that they should try the procedure on a child. So my dad volunteered me."

"How old were you?"

"Four. A year later mom and dad were killed in a car accident. I had been thrown from the car and hit my head. We found out later that a tiny part of my brain was damaged. The part that controlled the telekinesis. Nick told me that when he and Charlie arrived at the hospital they found out the doctors had put me in a padded cell in the mental ward. I had telekinetically ripped the padding from the walls and shredded it. Nick said I looked like a snow princess through all the bits of white stuffing." She smiled sadly at the memory. "He used to call me that. Princess."

"The Agency took you in?"

"They had to. The army decided they didn?t want me anymore. I had this power I couldn?t control and I thought I was going crazy. So the Agency adopted me like one of their own and developed a drug that acts like the part of my brain that was damaged, letting me control my powers. Nick became my Keeper."

"That?s why you lived with him."

"Yeah." She stretched out and put her feet up. "What about you? Claire?s your Keeper right?"

He nodded. "Ever hear of quicksilver?" She shook her head no. "It?s this stuff that bends light so that whatever it covers appears invisible. They made it into a gland and stuck that into my head."

"You can go invisible?"

"That?s how I got you out." He reached out and quicksilvered her hand. "See?"

"Cool." She held up her hand. Giving it a shake, the quicksilver fell away with a tinkly sound.

"I used to be a thief and I got caught. My brother, Kevin was on the team that developed the gland. He got me out of prison in return for being his human test subject. Unfortunately, if I don?t get a shot of counteragent every six days, the stuff builds up in my bloodstream and I go quicksilver mad. My eyes go all red and I get kinda nuts."

"But we love him anyway." A voice from the doorway startled them and made them both look up. Hobbes leaned against the doorframe.

"What can I say, I?m a lovable guy." Darien grinned at Maggie. "Nice of you to knock, Hobbes."

"Should have locked your door. Any Cobalt nut could have come in here and grabbed both of you." Hobbes shut and locked the door, tossing his bag on the floor. Maggie moved closer to Darien to make room for him on the couch. He flopped down next to her. "Oh, hey, the Official wanted me to bring you these." He opened his hand and let a set of military tags fall into her open palm.

"My tags! Where did you find them?" She slipped them over her head and tucked them under the t-shirt.

"The recovery team found them under a table. The chain was broken but I got it replaced."

"Thanks. I kinda feel naked without them."

"You?re in the army?" Darien asked.

She shook her head. "Not really. It?s how the Agency keeps track of me. I trained with them and sometimes we use their equipment. But I?m not in the active service." She punctuated the sentence with a huge yawn.

Darien looked over at the clock. "It?s past your bedtime."

Maggie giggled. "Ok Dad." She looked around the room. "So who?s sleeping where?"

"You can have the bed." Both men answered at once.

"Yeah, I?ll fight Fawkes for the couch." Hobbes added as she headed to the bed.

Darien looked at him incredulously. "You will not. This is my apartment. I get the couch."

"But I?m the guest."

"Right. So you get the floor."

Maggie shook her head as she crawled under the covers. The argument took on a hushed tone and she fell asleep half listening to them.

First thing Darien noticed when he woke was a new smell in his apartment. He opened his eyes and looked around. Hobbes was still asleep on the floor, snoring loudly and his bed was empty. He could hear a soft humming coming from the kitchen and headed in that direction.

Maggie was bent over something on the stove. She straightened up and added sugar to the pan in front of her.

"Whatcha doin??" He asked, looking over her shoulder.

She jumped and turned. "I?m making breakfast."

"I have food?"

"Barely. I ran down to the market and got some bananas and strawberries. But the rest of it?s yours." She opened the oven and pulled out a plate piled with crepes.

"Don't tell Hobbes you left unescorted." He told her, peering over her shoulder. "What's that?"

She stirred the contents of the pan once more and turned off the heat. She set out three plates and placed two crepes on each plate. Onto each one she spooned some of the fruit from the pan and rolled the thin pancake up. "Go wake up Hobbes. You?re in my way."

The three of them finally settled down to have breakfast, Darien sitting on the counter, Maggie leaning back against the sink and Hobbes sitting at the small table.

"This is really good, Rourke." Hobbes dug into the food. "Who taught you to cook?"

"Nick." She said around a mouthful of food.

He looked at her in disbelief. "He was Irish."

"So?"

"Have you ever tasted Irish food?"

She shot him a glare. "I happen to like Irish food. Now finish your breakfast." She dropped her empty plate in the sink. "I cooked. You two clean. I?m going for a shower."

They drove into work and Maggie was ordered down to the Keeper?s lab. She spent most of the day having tests run on her. When she finally got away, Maggie headed up to the Official?s office and knocked.

"Come in."

She opened the door and stuck her head inside. "Hi Charlie, Eberts."

"Magdalena, come in." He smiled and set aside the papers he had in front of him.

She slouched into the chair in front of his desk. "I want to move back into Nick?s house."

"Why?"

"Because I lived there for 17 years. If I hadn?t been missing when Nick died, the house would have been mine anyway."

"True." He looked at Eberts who handed her a stack of forms.

"Fill these out and we should be able to have you move in by the end of next week." Eberts explained.

She sighed and took the forms. "Great. Forms. Thanks Charlie." She stood up. "I?d better get to work on these."

"Just slid them under the door when you?re done." Eberts told her as left. She waved as she shut the door and went to find an empty room.

"Wanna go to dinner?" Darien leaned against the doorframe. Maggie was bent over some paperwork.

She lifted her head to look at him. "Sure. Just let me finish this."

He perched on the edge of the desk. "They?ve got you doing paperwork already?"

"I asked if I could move back into Nick?s house. Charlie handed me some forms and told me to fill them out." She signed the last one and put them all in an envelope. "There."

"All this for a house?" He asked as she pulled on her jacket.

"All of this for the rent free home I grew up in." She slid the envelope under the Official?s door. "So where are we going?"

He shrugged. "Someplace nice?"

"Marcel?s?" She said, suggested a popular local bistro.

He put his arm around her waist and steered her out of the building to his car. "Sounds good."

Halfway there, Darien noticed the black van following them. "We?ve got a tail." He said quietly.

Maggie looked in her side mirror and caught sight of the van. "Cobalt?"

"Probably. What do you want to do?"

"Head out of town. And give me your cell phone." She directed him toward Nick?s house on the outskirts of the city. They had a huge yard and their neighbors weren?t close by so no civilians would be in danger. "Sir? It?s Maggie. Darien and I were on our way to dinner and we picked up a tail. We think its Cobalt." She listened for a moment. "No, to Nick?s. Less people to hurt there. OK. Yes, sir." She hung up and slipped the phone back into Darien?s inside pocket. "He said he?s sending help. And to hold them off until it gets there."

They drove through winding suburban streets slowly, buying time until help arrived. Finally, Darien pulled the car into a long driveway. The house was an old Victorian house.

"This is where you live?" He asked as they got out.

"Lived, yeah. Come on, let?s get inside before they decide to pull into the driveway." She went around to the side garage door. One of the panes of glass was loose and Maggie wiggled it free so she could unlock the door.

Darien raised his eyebrow at her. "Old trick?"

"I learned how to do it when I locked myself out one day." Once she opened the door, she slid the glass back into place. She locked the door behind them and they entered the house from the garage.

"What?s the plan?"

"Just get them into the front room." Maggie told him, her voice steely.

Darien looked out the front window. The black van pulled into the driveway and three men in black suits got out. One of them caught sight of him in the window and pointed. He let the curtain fall back into place and joined Maggie in the front room. "Ready?"

She nodded. "You keep them disoriented and I?ll take care of the rest."

"Okay."

The door flew open and Darien quicksilvered. He hit the first one, which caused the other two to look around in confusion.

"Were you looking for me?" Maggie asked innocently. The second man rushed toward her but was stopped by an unseen force. The floorboards under him creaked before ripping upwards causing him to fall. Darien was busy keeping the first man occupied and she turned to the third man. The window shattered and a piece of glass flew at him. He ducked and was only nicked by it. She aimed the broken floorboards at him and again he just barely escaped being hit. He started for her but suddenly fell to the floor unconscious when he was hit in the back of the head with a chair Darien found in the hall.

More rubble began flying around the room as Maggie became angrier and angrier. She was essentially destroying the front room of the house. Darien reappeared just as their back up arrived.

"Federal agents! Freeze!"

Everyone and everything in the room froze. The agents looked around in confusion at the pieces of glass, wood and plaster hanging motionless in the air. Maggie took a deep breath and everything fell to the ground.

The agents began rounding up the three men, taking them out of the house in handcuffs. Hobbes stepped inside and approached Maggie.

"Hey Rourke, are you all right?" He touched her shoulder. She turned and looked at him, her eyes glowing an eerie green. "You look a little pale."

She shook her head, trying to clear the dizziness. "Give me a minute. I?ll be fine." She told him and collapsed.

When she woke, she was in the lab chair where Darien normally got his shots. Darien was sitting on the desk nearby watching his feet and Claire was checking her pulse. She looked up and saw Maggie was awake.

"How do you feel?"

"Tired. What happened?" She tried to get up but Claire pushed her back down.

"You over exerted yourself. You?ve only been out of out of Cobalt?s grasp for a few days. Your body wasn?t ready for that kind of strain."

She nodded and let herself relax back into the chair. That was when she noticed Darien watching her. "Hey Darien."

He came over to the chair. "You scared us Maggie."

"Yeah Rourke. You know, you stopped breathing for a minute. Scared the hell out of me." Hobbes said from his spot in the doorway.

Claire spoke up. "You never told me who got her breathing again."

"Fawkes did. Apparently he?s perfected his CPR techniques since prison." Hobbes smirked and left the lab.

"Hey!" Darien started toward his partner but Maggie?s voice stopped him.

I guess I owe you another thank you." Her jewel green eyes turned to him. "At this rate my children?s children are going to end up owing you a Wookie life debt."

He smiled. "Maybe just your children."

"Deal."

He perched on the edge of the chair. "You know, we never did get that dinner."

"Where did you want to go?"

"No way. You are going home and getting some rest. No going out." Claire told her in a firm voice. When Maggie opened her mouth to protest, she held up a hand. "No arguments. If your hungry, get take out."

She sulked, her mouth turning up in a petulant little pout. "Fine. Can I go?"

Claire nodded. "Go on. I?ll see you both tomorrow."

Darien helped Maggie down from the chair and put an arm around her shoulder as they walked out of the lab.

"So do you think Marcel?s has takeout?" He asked.

Maggie shrugged. "I don?t know. But I think we should find out."