shadow (Closed to Darren)

"Usually, I kill people." He said, lowering his head with downcast eyes. He was happy that he took acting classes when he was younger, always helped. He chuckled slightly at her comment about missing band practice. "So, you drive or something? Besides, you sure that Dylan will accept me? He doesn't even know me…"

Darren got up, the intimacy overwhelming him. It was just as embarrassing for him to have gotten up than to have stayed in the same place. It was getting late, he yawned for a long period of time, sitting back down in his previous position, his head lolling to one side and his eyes shutting close.

"Its getting pretty late. Do you maybe wanna stay here tonight?" What was she doing? She just invited someone who told her he kills people for a sleepover. But she couldnt help herself. Something about Darren called out to her. She kinda sorta maybe liked him... but she couldn't tell anyone. "I mean i could take the couch and you can have my bed. If you want that is..."

Darren's eyes fluttered open for a moment. "Uh…I will have couch…you have bed…" He yawned and got up, stretched for a moment.

He stared out of the window, it was a full moon tonight, and for some reason, he found it beautiful. Maybe it was the fact that he had never really stared at the moon before or because he was at ease with the world. Content, for now.

He snapped out of it, staring at the empty chair. It reminded him of his family chair that his grandpa used to sit on, memories threatened to overflow but he kept it in check and sat back on the sofa, fatigue once again settling in.

"Tell me about this Dylan chap…" His voice drifted in and out, trailing out as he wondered where his old self had gone...

"Dylan is my cousin. He owns Pandemonium in downtown London. Its near Leicester square so its totally posh and hip." She realized how preppy she sounded and cleared her throat, "You're going to be a bouncer .Control who gets into the club, break up fights. Dylan would do it, but he's too busy. He's about 3 years older than me and already a business man." She laughed and flipped her hair out of her face. "Come with me." She grabbed his hand and ran upstairs to her room.

Darren allowed himself to be dragged up the stairs to her room, did she really expect a killer to sleep in someone's bed…well, some of them do, but not him. He would gladly take the couch and nothing else.

"Haha, I will try my best…" He chuckled at the thought of him breaking up mad bar fights, getting included in one. "What are we doing up here? Isn't it better…for me to stay downstairs? In case anything happens. They are still expecting me to kill you, you know?"

Darren rocked on his heals. Half of him wanted to kill Sydney whilst the other, and the part that was winning, was wanting to protect her. He was curious of these emotions, never really experienced them before.

"Why are they called Bouncers, if they don't bounce?" He asked, filling in on the silence that was held in the room.

"They bounce people back if they try to sneak in. And we're up her so i can show you something." She opened her closet and took out a short, skin tight black dress. "I wanna wear this tomorrow night. What do you think?" She lied the dress down on her bed and waited for a repsonse

"Right."Darren looked at the dress she was holding, unsure of what he was expected to say. "Yes, I think that looks very…nice."

Okay, maybe nice was not the right word but it would do. Now, does he wear the same clothes as before? What do bouncers usually wear? "Bouncers…should I keep the same clothes on?" He had watched many movies as a child, most of the bouncers reminded him of the CIA guys that he saw on telly.

It was also maybe why he liked to target bouncers, it was a fantasy of destroying the government. He still needed to sleep, but did she want him to sleep in her bed? If so, he could not. He wanted to sleep downstairs in order to keep her safe.

"Am I still sleeping downstair? On the couch, I think it best as they would send other agents to finish you off, if I do not. And that would be…in a few hours." He gave a small smile, nodding his head and started to walk downstairs.

Sydney nodded and said, "Im gonna go try it on." She went into the bathroom and closed the door. "Bouncers usually wear all black. What you're wearing now is fine." She slipped out of her pjs and pulled the dress on. "What do you mean finish me off? Aren't i safe as long as I'm with you?" She stepped out of the bathroom and slipped on a pair of black heels and fluffed up her hair, "Well? What do you think?"

"You look…lovely." Darren turned around, smiling. His smile faltered when she mentioned being safe. How could he explain it to her in the least threatening way possible?

"I work for a secret branch of Torchwood. There is a group of us…killers, all 'trained' to kill killers. But if one of us fails, there is always another on standby." Darren sat down on the end of the bed, a sudden crash was heard from down stairs.

"DARREN!"

Darren growled. It was Phoenix 'Flash' Herz. He got up, looked at Sydney, indicating for her to stay put. He started downstairs, making eye contact with Phoenix. They held each other's gaze for a while before she made the first move, brandishing a knife in her hand, making Z-motions.

Darren ducked most of them, only to be badly hurt in the shoulder, blood pouring out. "Get away from here, Phoenix. She's mine." Darren clasped his shoulder, grunting in pain.

"Why then, haven't you done it?" She sneered, only to be knocked downstairs with a quick kick from Darren. She lay still for a moment, before rolling on to her side and advancing on Darren.

He was headed for the kitchen, where he pulled out a knife. A knife fight. Why wasn't it more interesting but he had been cut and the energy was fading fast, vision was blurry.

He tackled Phoenix, stabbing her in her stomach as he tackled her. He got off his knees, dropping the knife and standing in a brief silence, seeing a dead colleague. "I thought you would be more of a fight…" Darren quickly sunk down on his knees, blacking out before he got to the ground.

SYdney heard the crash and jumped. "Darren wait..." She saw him run out of room and heard voices downstairs. She heard Darren say she was his. That made her smile but she was getting worried. She quietly snuck down the stairs and saw a girl, she assumed it was Phoenix. She gasped as Darren stabbed her and watched them both fall to the ground. She scrambled over to darren and sunk to her knees beside him, "Darren? DARREN!" She shook him in hopes to wake him up. "Please wake up Darren. Please! I need you..."

Darren rolled on to his side, grunting as the pain returned to him. "Private…hospital, 22 Prince's street. Ask for Dr Jim." He tried to get back up, but his senses were failing him again.

Darren managed to give Sydney a weak smile. "I'll…be fine for tomorrow morning…" He was hoping to reassure her, that he wasn't dead. But he needed to dispose of the body, if anyone came back to check on why she had a broken door, they would see Phoenix dead. Would they even know who Phoenix was, did she have a record of some sort of being the worst killer in history?

He chuckled painfully to himself. "Dispose…of body…first."

"Darren..." Sydney was so relieved when he woke up she threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. "Thank god you're ok." She was so happy she didnt even think about it when she leaned down and kissed him right on the mouth. "Yes of course. be right back." She picked up the dead, bleeding body and got rid of it. She went back over to Darren and helped him sit up, "Come on lets get you to the hospital." She lead him outside tom her car and helped him get in. "What happened?"

Both of Darren's eyebrow's rose. He sat in the car, his breathing heavy. It was really an odd gesture to show appreciation of someone's life. Maybe there was one for someone's death? No…

"Phoenix, as you know, is another killer. She was coming to kill you and most likely kill me. I suffered from temporarily from blood loss. Both of us held knives, a sure indication that one of us would die." He allowed for the information to sink in before he said any more. "Her technique was rather sloppy…but she's dead now, meaning more of them will come for us. You may want to repair the door."

Darren chuckled, still holding his arm. He was still wondering about kissing, how would one respond to that gesture? He was alienated from all types of affection apart from the fact that he was doing 'surgery' on the world, taking the bad away from the world.

"Darren... Im sorry. I shouldnt have kissed you." She bit her lip nervously as she drove down Prince's street. "It was innapropriate. Im really sorry." She pulled into the parking lot of the Hospital and ran over to the over side of the car to help him out. "Lets get you all patched up, yeah?"

Simple blood transfusion. He had no idea how long he had been in hospital for but was deeply grateful for them doing a good job on patching up his wound. He could see the crude stitches and asked the doctors whether he was fit to go in which the answer was that he was.

"Thanks." He grumbled, making it out of the room his senses returning to him at last. "Sydney, sorry for the delay. Lets get going to the panda...pandonium..." He gave a small laugh at the fact that he could not pronounce the name of the place he had been hired to work at.

He wondered whether he would meet his boss, Dylan. He didnt ask, only to recall that the last time he went to the private hospital was to get the tracking device removed from his ankle, in which it was inserted only a few days later.

"How are you?" He asked. Darren forgot to ask how Sydney was holding up, she had witnessed a murder and she seemed not too fazed, but he decided to ask anyway.

"Are you crazy!? I already called Dylan and told him we couldn't come into tonight. We got jumped and you got hurt. He said feel better soon and you still have a job when you're healed. And I'm ok. A little shaken up...." What sydney really needed was a hug. But she couldn't ask that of Darren, and she kinda hoped he could tell she wasn't ok. She was still shaking. She was planning on stabbing whoever was down there with her heel or something. Then she realized she was still in her black dress and heels.

Darren nodded his head, he could understand that much…but what were they going to do now? It was unsafe for them to return to her house and he needed to prove her innocence…wait--when did he ever become a lawyer? He could tell that she was upset and was trying to put on a brave face. Could he take her out to a restaurant? Would that make things alright?

He was trapped in an awkward situation, too many thoughts and emotions flying around between them. He was formally discharged from the hospital and he glanced both ways, making sure there wasn't going to be a surprise attack from anywhere.

"So…I'm treating…to a meal at La Gertrude's?" He hoped he phrased it correctly, not giving her the hint that he was 'dating' her. He also was half weary that another attack could happen very soon and he was prepared for it.

"They do a really lovely steak…salmon and scallops…They are a quaint little joint…a few minutes away from here. Leave your car and we can walk over?"

SYdney giggled, "You almost died.... and you're asking me out on a dtae?" She quickly regretted asking. He wasn't asking her out, he was trying to make it up to her for almost getting her killed. "Yeah, lets go." She reached out a hand to help him up and smiled. "By the way, if you're paying Im covering the tip."

Darren raised an eyebrow, an outrageous statement. "Let me get the tip…by the way, could we go…shopping? I was hoping for some decent suit for the bouncer job, I might as well…might impress boss man." He hobbled and walked over to the restaurant, struggling to hold the door open for Sydney.

He had forgotten that things needed to be paid for but he would soon have that sorted out. Could he avoid killing again? The urge was coming back…and stronger.

"Sydney, I need to withdraw some cash. I will be right back." He then made his way to the nearest ATM machine and took out £300, he knew the restaurant was pricey but it was his new way of apologizing without actually saying that he was sorry about what had happened at home.

"Anyway, have you found anything you like?" Darren slid into the seat, carefully placing the crutches on the side.

Sydney smiled and said, "Yeah! I love shopping." She sat down and started looking at the menu. She smiled when Darren returned. He asked her what looked good, "Beside you. the burger looks really good." She stuck out her tongue so he would know she was just kidding. "What about you? Anything catching your fancy?" She watched him and realized how much she had grown fond of him since their first encounter when he tried to kill her. Since then, he had saved her life and was now treating her to dinner. "Darren, I just wanna say thank you for saving me."

"Burger, right…I'll be having the fish…" He smiled. Darren's features quickly snapped back to his normal face when the waiter arrived, a low growl welling up in his chest. He couldn't trust anybody, especially if a person had already attacked them.

He had destroyed his comms in the fight between him and Phoenix. He had fought to save Sydney, was this making him a big softie? No…it was something that he enjoyed about her, possibly the way she kept him grounded to reality and made him feel like a proper human being.

"No…worries, I want to thank you for being so…kind? To me, being who I am and all."

Darren sat back, scanning the restaurant. The people all seemed like threats to him, his senses were going haywire, he couldn't tell and ordinary person from a trained killer.

"So..what is a good shop to go shopping in, I'm not the best person when it does to fashion." He said, looking away and back to Sydney.

Sydney saw him tense up and look around the room, "Darren relax. No one is going to hurt us. I trust you with my life. And of course I'm gonna be kind to you. We're friends." She smiled and ordered her burger, "This is gonna be fun. Darren, would you be willing to trust me to find the perfect outfits for you?" She imagined him trying on suits and amazing outfits chosen by herself. "I promise not to make you look foolish."

He chuckled, bowing his head as the waiter returned with the food. He immediately tucked in, mouthful after mouthful. He couldn't remember the last time he was properly hungry…

"I know…it's just that last time, it was unexpected…and I trust you."

Darren continued to eat, keeping a watchful eye of his part of the restaurant. A pain shot up his neck, he immediately knew that it was a poisonous dart.

"Syd…get out of here…poisoned."

A figure got up from the other side of the restaurant, a smirk upon his shadowed face. None of the waiters seemed to see the impending destruction.
Luckily, Darren's training consisted of being slightly immune to some poisons. But not this one.

"Darren…how nice…you have a date. I know how hard it can be, knowing you and your last date." the man tutted.

Sydney gasped as Darren told her to get out and mentioned something about poison. But instead of leaving, as she was told to, she ran over to him and saw a dart sticking out of his neck. "Darren, what happened?" She saw a man approach them and sighed, she thought someone had come to help. Then, the man spoke, and she knew he was not going to help Darren. "What did you do to him?" She asked. Her jaw clenched and she glared at the man. She did not break eye contact with the stranger as she slowly reached over to the table and grabbed a knife. She would protect Darren with her life, as he had done for her back at her house. "Who are you?"

"I'm soo scared…she's going to kill me with a butter knife…" The man mocked.

Darren got the dart out, speeding up the process but was able to get up and tackle the large man.
They grappled for a moment, everyone around them screamed. Some already on their phones to the police.

"You're growing weaker by the second, soon the poison will kill you."

Darren began to punch, each time he did, grew weaker. His arms were failing but he still had the knife, in which he quickly grabbed and stabbed it with the last of his strength into the man's chest before collapsing.