Connor Hawke’s fever was continuing to climb while his pulse continued to fall. He had spent most of his time in Mia’s bed, his body soaked in sweat, mumbling incoherently. Whatever the poison that was killing him was working its way slowly through his body - a torturous way to die.
Mia Dearden came out of her bedroom with another cold cloth, to see her newfound father, Eddie Fyers, pacing the small hotel room with a cell phone pushed to his left ear. He was cursing into the phone, demanding that someone on the other end pay up on the debt that was owed him; to no avail, by the sounds of the four letter words that were coming from her father’s mouth. If the situation hadn’t been so dire, she would have found the entire thing humorous. Having been on the streets for the last year or so, Mia was able to pick up the ability to read people pretty quickly, and Eddie, she had concluded early on, was a man who wanted what he wanted,
when he wanted it.
Eddie gave her an inquiring look as she passed by him. She only shook her head in response, their eyes locking in understanding. For Eddie, now on the phone with an old CIA buddy, this situation was unacceptable. This was the son of his oldest, and, truth be told, best friend. Sure they hadn’t spoken to each other in years, before he had sought Ollie out, but what they had been through before – a whole life time ago, had been enough to cement their friendship forever. With Ollie back in Vegas on an emergency mission, it was up to him to make sure Connor survived.
“I’m begging ya, man,” Eddie said, allowing the desperation to come out in his voice. “You’ve got to get me into the branch headquarters. I know we’ve got an antidote in there, somewhere. Okay… okay… they, not we. Whatever. I saved your ass in Prague and you remember what you told me then?” There was a pause, “Uh huh, and I’m telling you, this is it. This is where you ante up.”
There was another pause, this one longer as Eddie began pacing again. He took off his glasses and tried to wipe the exhaustion from his eyes. “You think I don’t know that! I spent months dodging them, and in the end, I ruined their plans. So yeah, I’m aware. Now get me in there…
now!”
Eddie slammed the phone so hard that the a leg to the table it sat on snapped off, causing the contents on top of it to spill onto the floor. He spit out several curse words and kicked the broken table across the room.
“I hope that made you feel better, ‘cause it did nothing for Connor,” Mia said from doorway to the bedroom.
He turned on her, but her crossed arm posture made his stop before he spoke. She could tell he was biting his tongue, wanting to spit out some kind of nasty retort, but choosing not to.
“Have you been able to get a hold of Ollie?” she asked.
“No. He left for Las Vegas and then disappeared. Him and that team of his; haven’t been able to reach any of them.”
“You really think you can find an antidote?”
He saw the fear hiding behind that tough expression. She may have lived on the streets and did God only knew what to survive. She may have went through hell and back being sold into white slavery and shipped to the Middle East. But she was still a teenage girl, and she was obviously frightened. Both he and Ollie had noticed how quickly her and Connor had bonded both abroad and on the trip back to the States.
Eddie took a deep breath to calm him rage, walked over to her and brought her into an embrace. Although there was awkwardness to it, he couldn’t deny that it also felt right.
“I swear to you honey, I’ll save him.”
They stood in the hug for a minute or two before Mia pulled away. “Well then go do it, already,” she said, turning away quickly so he could not see the tears that were welling up in her eyes. Father or not, she didn’t know him
that well, yet.
“Alright. Sit tight and do what you can for him. I’ve left a couple of numbers for you, numbers that Ollie gave me. Keep trying to get a hold of him.”
“Yeah, okay, fine.” She saw him heading towards the door and the words spilled out of her mouth before she could stop them. “Be careful, Dad.”
Eddie stopped and glanced back. “What did you say?”
“I said… be careful y’ cad.”
“Oh,” Eddie gave her a curious look, shrugged it off and walked out the door.
After the door shut, Mia let out her breath. She walked back into the bedroom and felt the young blond man’s pulse. It was steady, but faint. “Hang in there, Connor. My old man is going to save you. Who’d have thought it, ya know? You and I finding our fathers at the same time. It’s like fate for somethin’. Not that I have much stock in that crap, cause I don’t. Not with my life. You know, on the plane back to the States, you told me all about your life: your mom, the monastery. You opened up so quickly to me that I thought you were a patient of Dr. Phil’s or somethin’, but that’s just who you are, ain’t it?”
Her left hand reached up and touched his forehead, feeling the heat that radiated from it. She hadn’t even been aware that her right hand had been holding his, until he felt the slight squeeze that came from it.
“Connor?” she whispered anxiously, gripping his hand tighter; but there was nothing more. She stared at his face for a while, lost in her own thoughts, refusing to let go of his hand…
* * * * *
“The Fero Corporation does not tolerate failure, Mr. Dart,” the man sitting behind the large desk said in a menacing tone. He was the President of Star City’s branch of the conglomerate; a man who did not accept disappointment well.
“Not my fault some bratty kid with a mask got involved. I guarantee you though, I’ll find Dalton and I’ll eliminate him. It’s what you paid me for, after all.
“You don’t need to bother,” the man said with a wave of his hand. “Mr. Dalton has already been eliminated by one of my associates.”
*“What? Where did you find him? I’ve been searching the city all night.”
“You were wasting your time, then. Mr. Dalton had left town and made it clear across the country, to Metropolis.”
The Dart found himself uncomfortable for the first time. He had all ready spent the money that Fero had given him on rent and a broad he had met at the bar he frequented. If they wanted it back, he might be in some big trouble. Still, he stayed calm, giving the man his best poker face.
“Huh… well it wasn’t a total loss. I did take care of that pesky kid for you. Seems that him being in the area wasn’t a coincidence. So I guess we’re even.”
President Cortez shook his head sadly, “Actually, that was your second mistake. You see, the head of Fero has a very
special interest in all things that relate to his
family, and that includes the young man who you murdered.”
Now Dart’s heart began to race. “Aw crap! Wait a minute, how the hell was I supposed to know that the kid was related to your boss?! You can’t blame me for that one! I was just defending myself… doing what I had to do.”
Cortez rose from his desk and made his way around it, to the paid assassin. “My boss is aware of this, but he’s also a man who doesn’t forgive very easily. However, I have been told that you may still be of some use to us. There is a woman on her way to Star City from Metropolis. She’s been nosing around our company. My boss wants her eliminated.”
“Hey, then I’m your man. Seems like it’s the least I can do.”
“The very least.”
“You have a name – even a photo, maybe?”
Cortez nodded and handed him a photo of the dark-haired lady. The Dart looked at it, the face seeming to be vaguely familiar. Then it hit him, and he looked up with his eyebrow arched. “Lois Lane? The reporter from The Daily Planet?”
“Is that a problem?”
“No! No, not at all.”
“Good. She’ll be arriving at the airport this evening, flight two twenty-nine at gate four. I suggest you eliminate her before she leaves the airport.”
“Sure, you got it, boss.” He smirked, nodded, and walked out the door. When it was closed securely behind him, he let out a deep breath. What the hell had he gotten himself into?
Inside the office, Cortez’s Vice President, Jack Ruby, walked in from the other room. “Once she’s dead, you know who this is going to bring after us.”
“Oh, we know. The others are preparing as we speak. By the way, Elizabeth phoned me a little while ago. She said everything in Las Vegas is going according to plan. The Starfish Hotel and Casino will be ours in twenty-four hours.”
Jack couldn’t help but grin as he buttoned his expensive suit coat. “After all this time, who would have thought that we’d finally win?”
“The boss did, that’s who?” Cortez replied with a smirk.
* * * * *
His fever was now at one hundred and four. There was nothing else she could do for him. Still no answer from any of the phone numbers that her father had left her, and she was just hanging up the phone when the door flew open and Eddie staggered in. A large bruise was already forming on the side of his face, and there was a rather deep gash above his right eye that was still bubbling a little bit of blood to the surface. His glasses were gone.
“Oh my God, are you alright?” she asked as she went to him and helped him to the kitchen table.
“Fine. You know how it is when you run into an old employer that you left on bad terms with.”
“No, tell me,” she replied sardonically.
“Well, let’s just say that I’m pretty sure I’ve no longer got my pension plan. Here,” he said as he reached into his pocket and handed her a small vile and syringe. “Give him half a dose now, and another half in an hour.”
Mia cried out in relief as she grabbed the antidote and ran into the bedroom. Pulling his bare arm from underneath the sheet, she carefully filled the syringe with half the medication and quickly found a vein. She injected the yellow looking liquid into Connor Hawke’s arm.
She heard Eddie come into the room. “How long before we know if it’ll work?” she asked him without turning around. Her eyes were focused on Connor and him alone.
“Should take effect rather quickly, if it does at all.”
“What do you mean, if at all?” She jumped up from the bed to confront him.
He put his hands out in front of him. “Mia, sweetheart, I told you, I can’t promise you that this is going to work. The CIA created this as a universal antidote, but that doesn’t mean it works on every poison known to man. If we’re lucky, this should give him a fighting chance.”
Mia said nothing, just turned around and sat back down on the bed. “You really should clean yourself up, you look horrible.”
“Geez, thanks,” Eddie replied.
“Anytime,” she murmured as she watched intently for any change in her young friend.
* * * * *
After an hour had went by, Mia gave the rest of the antidote to Connor and continued her vigil. She heard Eddie moving around in the small kitchen area of the suite, recognizing the sounds of food being prepared. When he came into the room with a plate that contained a grilled cheese sandwich, potato chips, and a dill pickle, she thanked him, but informed him that she wasn’t hungry.
“You need to eat, Mia,” Eddie said sternly.
She turned to him, a look of defiance on her face that was so fierce, Eddie realized she looked just like her mother. That thought made him shudder.
“I said I don’t want it,” she snapped.
“Then, do you mind if I eat it?” Connor’s weak voice asked from the bed.
They both turned to see him awake, a sheepish little smile on his wet face.
“Connor! Oh thank God!” Mia exclaimed as she leaned down and gave him a hug. “We though we'd lost you.”
“No, I’m still here. I guess…” He coughed for a second. “I guess it wasn’t my time. I thank you both for your help.”
Eddie shrugged. “Well to be honest, you’re old man would have probably been a little pissed if he came back to find his son dead. He kind of asked me to watch you while he was gone. So, if you don’t mind, could we maybe not mention this whole being poisoned thing to him?”
Mia slapped him on the arm, “What the hell? You think maybe you can think of somebody else but yourself, for once.”
“I was just askin’! And don’t you swear, young lady.”
The blond teenager rolled her eyes as she focused back on their patient. “Don’t worry about a thing, Connor. You’re going to be fine, now. You just need some rest.”
Connor shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t have time for rest at the moment. There’s a man and his daughter out there that’s been targeted for murder. He killed the man’s wife, already.”
“Who’s he?” Eddie asked.
“He calls himself the Dart.” Connor said, then filled them in on the entire battle while he had been staking out Fero.
“Any idea why he was after this Dalton fellow?” Eddie asked him after the story was finished.
“Sounds like he was trying to leave Fero, but I have no idea why. I never got his first name, but his daughter’s name was Amber and his wife’s was Nancy. I was also able to injure Dart before he poisoned me.”
“Then there’s a dead woman out there, somewhere. I’ll check with some of my contacts, see if anything has hit the morgues matching her description. You stay here and rest until I get some information. There’s not much you can do at this point, anyway.” Eddie walked out of the room, leaving the two youngsters alone.
“You scared the hell out of me!” Mia admonished after Eddie had left the room.
“I am sorry about that,” Connor said, his eyes unable to meet hers.
“Yeah, well, just don’t let it happen again,” she mumbled.
“I shall endeavor to do my best, you can be assured of that,” he replied sincerely. “Would you like to split a grilled cheese with me?” he asked with a smile.
“I’d love to,” she answered.
Forty five minutes later, Eddie returned to find Connor trying to get out of bed; Mia was no longer in the room.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, pal.”
“What did you find out?” Connor asked politely, but brushing aside the comment.
“Adam Dalton is his name, and he
does work for Fero. His wife was found murdered last night. Him and his daughter are missing. The police are keeping a tight lid on it for now, but I can’t get anyone to tell me why.”
“It all leads back to the Fero Corporation, doesn’t it?” Connor mused as he began to suit up. “I think perhaps it’s time that I check the place out, now that the sun is going down and I feel a bit stronger.”
“Not a good idea,” Eddie admonished. “You’re still white as a sheet, well – kind of, and you’re swaying. You need to rest.”
“I’m fine. I’ve centered myself, so I will be alright.”
“I’m coming with you then,” Eddie stated.
“You mean, we,” Mia said from the doorway behind them. “If nothing else, I can act as look out.”
“No way, it’s too dangerous…”
Mia cut him off. “You have no idea the danger I’ve been in, Pops. I think I can handle a little corporate espionage.”
Eddie saw that look again. That same look that his ex-wife would give him. He had learned that it was all over when that look appeared. “All right,” he gave in. “But you’re not going to do this without a disguise. We’re dealing with killers.”
“What kind of disguise? Oh, hey, I’ve got a George W. Bush mask that I bought at a Halloween shop last year!”
“Uh, no.” Eddie said. “Connor, you happen to have an extra one of those?” He asked as he motioned to the mask that the young man was putting on.
Connor nodded as he reached into his belt and brought out another one. “I thought it would be wise to carry two, in case something happened to the first one.” He handed it to Mia, who rolled her eyes.
“Oh yeah, this little mask is going to disguise me. Why don’t I just put on a fake pair of glasses? It’d accomplish the same thing.”
“Don’t sass me, just do it.” Eddie demanded impatiently.
“And don’t you tell me what to do,” Mia bristled.
They stopped when Connor cleared his throat loudly. “At least one of us is centered,” he said with a look of chastisement at both of them. “Shall we go?”
“Alright! Finally, some fun,” Mia said as she put her hair in a ponytail and followed the two men out the hotel door.
* * * * *
The mysterious Dart was leaving from the rear entrance of the Fero building when he saw a shadow move out of the corner of his eye. It had come from inside – the third floor. His eyebrow rose as he made his way back inside. Lois Lane’s plane was not due in for three more hours, so he had time to investigate, and at this point, if he caught someone trying to infiltrate the place, it might help him with his client. He hated to admit it, but the Fero people put him on edge. They weren’t his usual clientele.
He made his way back into the building and up the back staircase, his back against the wall as he ascended to the third floor. He raised his hand in front of him, prepared to summon a dart when needed.
When he got to the third floor landing, he opened the security door and looked quickly down the hallway. There was nobody there, so he slipped in, making sure that the door closed softly behind him. He squinted, adjusting his eyes to the semi-darkness that surrounded him. That was when he heard a small noise coming from around the right corner. If he remembered correctly, and he usually did, it was in the direction of the Human Resources office.
The Dart made his way down the hall, continuing to keep his back against the south wall as he approached the corner. He peeked around and saw two beams from what could only be flashlights, in the records room. His first thought was to call Cortez, but he decided against it. No, this was his job, and he was going to prove to them that he was an asset to the organization.
Seeing nobody outside of the office door, he made his way to it as quiet as even the most professional of cat burglars. Suddenly a dart seemed to appear out of thin air, and he held it for a second, measuring its weight, before throwing the door to the office open and leaping through. The beams of light vanished, but not before he saw the shadow of at least one figure. He threw his weapon, pleased when he heard the soft thump that the small knife made when it penetrated flesh. He couldn’t help but smile when he heard the soft groan of someone in pain.
Another dart appeared from no where and at a blinding rate of speed he had thrown it towards the other light, but cursed to himself when he heard it hit the wall.
He felt a breeze pass by him and suddenly he was kicked in the back. He felt his body fly forwards as pain shot down his leg. He nearly collapsed, but was able to grab a hold of the corner of a desk in time. He swung around, this time the dart seemed to propel itself right from the palm of the glove. This time it hit the wall nearest the doorway. He saw a shadow dive out of the way at the last second.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” he demanded, irritated that it was taking him so long to dispose of this intruder.
The silence he was met with irritated him even more. Just one sound was all he needed. He moved sideways cautiously, both hands held out by his waist. Another rush of wind, this time to his left. He moved on instinct alone, bringing his left arm out to fire one of his weapons, only to feel his arm being grabbed, and his body being flipped in midair. He came down hard, his breath knocked out of him.
Dart caught the movement on the floor out of the corner of his eye and reached out frantically, catching an ankle out of pure luck. He gripped it hard and pulled with all his strength. He felt the person suddenly fall.
A break! It was all he needed as he rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up. Before the shadowed figure could move, Dart had grabbed him by the back of his clothes and picked him up far enough off the ground to run the body into the front of the desk – hard.
There was a soft moan from the mysterious intruder, but Dart didn’t stop there. This time, he picked the man up and roughly threw him on top of the desk, putting his right hand onto the side of the figure's head, preparing to fire a dart right into the temple of the intruder. The light from the dimly lit hallway shown on his face, and Dart recognized him as the young man he had fought with the day before. The kid who was somehow related to his boss! He hesitated. This wasn’t good at all, he thought.
It was at that moment that he was struck in the back of the head and felt a small piercing pain. He heard the click as well and realized that he had just had a staple shoved into his skull. He let go of the young man and struck out behind him, hitting flesh. He turned to see a teenage blond girl lying on the floor, stapler still in her hand.
“Who the hell are you?” he bellowed confusion apparent in his voice.
“I’m the little bitch who’s going to put you down, you bastard.” the blond girl screamed as she kicked out in front of her, striking him right in the kneecap. He fell backwards in pain.
“Hey, what did I tell you about your language,” groaned a third voice. It had come from the spot where Dart had hit one of the shadowy targets.
His knee began to throb as the girl spoke, “Get off my back! I was swearing before you ever came into the picture.”
“Doesn’t make it right,” came the third voice, although ragged in breath. The poison was acting fast with that one, and Dart took a little satisfaction with that. “It makes you sound stupid, actually.”
Dart raised both hands and fired two darts, but the girl was much quicker than he would have thought, as she rolled out of the way of the oncoming attack.
“Bite me.” she said simply, but Dart wasn’t sure if she was talking to him or the poisoned man.
“I’m not going to bite you, but I’m pretty sure
you I can kill,” the Dart retorted.
“Hey, this is a family discussion, Bozo,” she snapped back as she took the rolling desk chair that was next to her and flung it at him.
He was able to block it easily enough, but the diversion had been enough for the young man he had thought he’d killed, to hit him in the neck. It was as if somebody had flicked a switch on his body, and it shut down as quickly as a table lamp. He dropped to the ground, paralyzed.
“Are you okay?” the man/child asked the girl as he went to her. He helped her up, even though she protested that she didn’t need help.
He felt them both rush by him as they tended to their fallen friend. They were whispering but he caught a few words: “came prepared”, “give him the shot now.”
Suddenly the young man in the mask and hood was back and lifting him up and onto the desk where only seconds ago their roles had been reversed.
“What did you do with Adam Dalton?” he demanded.
Dart found that if he focused hard enough, he could form a couple of words, enough to tell the guy that Dalton had fled to Metropolis. He didn’t, however, inform him that the man was already dead. A little information was enough.
“Help me tie him up and then we’ll call the police.” the guy said as he roughly dragged Dart over to a chair, using rope that he had pulled out of a pouch on his belt, he began wrapping it around Dart and the chair.
“Won’t get away with it,” Dart muttered, the idea that he might be paralyzed from the neck down, forever, was beginning to seep into the back of his mind.
The young man and teenage girl said nothing as they finished wrapping him up before the girl called the police. Then he watched as they lifted the third man from the floor, and with both of them supporting him from either side, the three of them left the room and disappeared around the corner of the hallway.
The Dart sat there, pondering his choices. Try and free himself, or wait for the police to show up. Neither sounded like great choices, but compared to what Cortez would do when he found out that he had botched another job, and now drew attention to the Fero Company by having the police coming over, made his more nervous than the other two choices he had in front of him. In the end, The Dart grabbed a hold of part of the rope, twisting his body in a painful manner to do so, and then began to fire darts right and left on to thin rope. It began to fray…
* * * * *
An hour later, Eddie and Mia were standing at the front of Star City's major airport, helping Connor get his bag out of the trunk.
“Are you sure you’re going to be alright?” Connor asked his friend Eddie, who was still sweating and white as a sheet.
“Oh yeah, I’m great,” Eddie answered with a false smile.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Connor said. “If Ollie comes back before I do, make sure to tell him what happened, and that I went to Metropolis to find Adam Dalton and check into the Fero branch, while I’m there.
“You got it. Be safe kid,” Eddie said as he slapped him on the arm.
Mia’s face was grim, but she walked up to Connor and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. “Just be careful, will ya.”
Connor smiled at her. “I’m nothing but…”
He knew they were watching him walk into the airport, but he did not turn to wave. He would not say goodbye since the word always felt a little too final for Connor. As he walked through the airport doors, he didn’t see the woman who clipped his arm as she went barreling through.
“Geez, kid, watch where you’re going,” she snapped as she continued on out the door. She began to scream for a taxi and Connor Hawke watched her for a moment… wondering where he had seen her at; she had looked familiar.
Finally he gave up and headed towards his plane as Lois Lane safely got into a taxi and headed towards her destiny with the Fero Corporation…
