shadow (Closed to Darren)

Darren leant against the far wall, he had been silent for a while now and as he was given dinner, he hadn't touched it. The manic gleam was still visible in his eyes as Sydney approached. His job would have been taken away, his house and all his kill tools. But that didn't matter. He was back to square one, Darren would need to climb that darn ladder if he was to gain any more trust from anyone.

He watched, emotionless as Sydney began to break down. Tears were falling from her but he could not form that connection anymore. He smirked, looking out of the small barred window he had in the cell.

Darren moved himself so he sat on the edge of his bed. He didn't even want to call it a bed, it was the most uncomfortable thing that he had ever encountered.

"Look…here…you don't understand me." He said, monotone, staring at the opposite blank wall. "I'm a killer, once a killer…always a killer. That can't change."

A psychiatrist appeared at his cells door, Darren immediately shut up and turned his back on the woman. "Now, Darren. I'm coming in." Darren scoffed, hearing the voice and stood up. The straightjacket was getting annoying, he wished to be freed from it but he had to bide his time and put up with this stupid person.

"Right. I know that you lost your temper and I do know who you are. Your parents and I were…close friends. They had informed me over the years before their death." She said.

Darren scoffed again, walking over to the cell door, facing the woman. She didn't shrink back as he would have liked but his eyes fell on Sydney's form. A smug smile on his face, he turned back to face the woman. "No, you don't."

The session lasted an hour, no progress was being made and soon, he overheard the conversation between the chief police and her that they should move him to a padded cell and have minimal contact with others but they would allow Sydney to visit, knowing she knew about Darren before he had snapped.

They organized an interview with Sydney after they had moved him to the new cell.

Sydney waited for the psychiatrist to leave before she ran up to the cell door and sank down to her knees. “Darren… that wasn’t you earlier with the knife. It was you when we were at my house. Joking around and laughing. That was you. You are not a killer. I couldn’t possible love a killer.” She felt the sobs rack through her body, then she went silent. She had just realized what she had said. She had said she loved him.

Darren pretended to ignore her, the word bouncing around in his head. His eyes widened and returned to normal when she had mentioned that she was in love with him. Slowly turning around, he looked at Sydney, shaking his head, his head was held low. The gleam in his eyes had died, "You have an interview to attend to."

He wanted to be alone. Something he felt like he had not had for decades, always pretending to be someone else and someone who wasn't a killer. Darren had to admit that being with her made him a better person but…an idea sprung to his mind. He needed to get out and if he admitted to her that he had feeling for her and he had simply had a mental breakdown, she could get him out of there.

"You're right. It wasn't me…I'm…sorry, Sydney…" He hung his head, attempting to gain a tear. A tear fell, dropping to the fabric. "Get me out of here…I don't like this place."

Sydney gasped when he said that it wasn’t him. “I knew it wasn’t you…” She cringed when he asked her to help him get out. “Darren… I want you out of there too. I wanna go home…” She ran to the officer on duty and explained the situation to him. He surprisingly said that if Darren made a public apology and paid $500 he could leave. She excitedly ran back to the cell and told Darren the good news. “I can use the money you gave me earlier. We can go home.” She smiled and reached through the bars and cupped his face. “Ready to go home?”

When Sydney went away, a grin spread on his face. It was way too easy to trick her…but…the other half of him was fighting back, wanting to have a normal lifestyle. Maybe it would even suit him. The officer raised an eyebrow at Darren, he knew what he was like but decided not to say anything.

"M'am. We will be visiting you every week, just to have a small check up, is that alright with you?"

The straightjacket was off and Darren was free to stretch his muscles, cramps had formed. "A public apology when?"

"Next week, s--Darren."

Darren nodded and walked out the door.

Sydney agreed to the officers terms and grabbed Darrens hand, “Lets go home.” She squeezed his hand and walked out of the station with him beside her. “How are you feeling?” She asked gently. She didn’t want to set him off again. But she knew that wasn’t him earlier. She just thought about them going home, climbing into bed and going to sleep. “Do you till wanna stay at mine tonight?”

((Should we try to wrap it up soon?))

"Sure." Darren simply replied. He held her hand gently, mentally kicking himself. "I'm…feeling alright."

When they reached the front door, he waited for Sydney to open the door. He walked in, waiting for Sydney to go to sleep. Darren sat down on the couch, sighing. There was very little options for him to do now; make the public apology, kill Sydney and complete what he was assigned for or simply run off.

Darren got up, stretching and headed outside. He had the blade up his sleeve, in case he met anyone that he didn't want to. He walked in a steady pace on the street, stopping at a park. A couple were having an argument, the man was riled up. Darren could see where this was heading and dropped the knife in a nearby bin, ran over and stopped the man. He managed to get the man into a headlock. Of course the man protested and yelled, but since the park was slightly isolated, it would sound as if they were only arguing.

The woman was scared for her life, Darren tightened his grip. She screamed and Darren staggered back, allowing the man to live. He looked around, the woman came over to him and instead of assaulting him, gave him a hug of appreciation before fleeing back to her home.

The man and him were left alone, Darren tugged him to the nearest bench, propping him up. "I reckon you should stay away from her a while. You need a…break. I could and would have killed you, be lucky."

The man left a few minutes later after gaining enough breath back and Darren brought out his phone, dialing in Sydney's number.

Sydney was asleep early that night. Darren insisted on sleeping on the couch, against her protests. She had a dream that involved a bunch of screaming and yelling. She had no idea where it came from though. The suddenly, she was rudely woken from her slumber by the sound of her phone ringing. She groggily reached over to her desk and saw it was an unknown number. What the hell is someone doing calling her at this time of night? She answered the phone and cleared her throat, “Hello?”

"Sydney…could you meet at the park? Please?" Darren said, sighing slightly. Adrenaline had just kicked in and was making his heart beat faster. He ended the call, walked over to the bin and looked for his knife, which handily lay on top of the rubbish.

Darren sat on the bench, the knife in his hands. He had turned it around in his hand a few times, thinking about what he could have done differently, he had saved someone's life but he could not carry on like this.

Spending much of his life under Torchwood's rule, he grew tired of killing bad guys and wanted a change in pace. But apparently, he wasn't getting one. Maybe Sydney could help him change? Darren shook his head, it wasn't going to happen. He was prone to large mood changes and could bring harm to her any point even if slightly irritated. She was taking a large risk of keeping him around and he knew he had to tell her that.

Goodbye freedom, hello eternal hiding. He thought to himself, he would be on the run from Torchwood and any other organizations that he encountered for a while.

(( Yeah we can wrap up soon.))

When she heard the voice on the other end, she knew it immediately, “Darren? Is that you?” Instead of a response, he just told her to meet him at the park. God, it was 3 am. Why wasn’t he asleep downstairs? She put on a sweater and her sneakers and walked down to the park. She saw him sitting on the park bench, just sitting. She walked over to him and sat beside him, “Hey. What are you doing here? I didn’t even know you left the house.” She reached out and rested her hand on his shoulder. She could tell by his posture that something was wrong. “Darren… what is it?”

"I nearly killed a man. The couple were arguing and…I stepped in, the woman gave me a hug but I don't deserve it, neither do you. I could snap on you at any point, you saw what happened to many of the attackers…" Darren ran a hand through his hair, in thought.

Without even thinking, he leant close and went to kiss Sydney. She did, in fact, make a huge impact on how he had seen things and he had dealt with any threats, making him the target now, not Sydney. Darren had sneaked into her pocket and found a microchip and placed it into his own, so they would have thought that he was Sydney and leave her alone. In peace. She deserved it.

"I'm…sorry, Sydney. But it's true, I'm not better and was using you to get me out of jail. But I hope to see you around?"

Darren was getting ready to leave, the knife tucked up his sleeve. He turned around to face Sydney, "Thanks…for everything."

Sydney was surprised by what he had said. But she was more surprised when he kissed her. “Darren…. Please don’t go. Please… I need you.” She cried out as he walked away. “Please…” She stood up, half wanting to chase after him. But decided against it. Instead she turned around and walked home.

Sydney looked into Darrens eyes and felt like she was drowning in them. “Darren… Please come back. I miss you. I’m not safe. I’m safe when you’re with me. Please, understand that.” She wanted to say so much more. She wanted to say how she felt lost without him by her side, how she ached for him to hold her, how she loved him more than anything. But she kept that all to herself and instead just said, “Please come back home.” She slowly reached out and grabbed his hand before taking a step towards him. “I miss you so much.” She hoped he understood how incomplete she felt without him with her.