Breaking Point. Rating: R Author:suzyh Disclaimer: I own Annie no-one else. I'm not getting paid. Claire looked through the glass on the door. How did you go about taking a little piece of happiness away from someone? Annie had suffered a second miscarriage, this time she had been thirteen weeks pregnant before it happened. Eberts had found her passed out in the archives, sheet white and bleeding. They had done everything to save the baby but to no avail. Darien had been devastated but he stuck to Annie like glue through the whole thing. Claire sighed, well, she might as well get on with it. She opened the door and went into the small room. "Hey you two." Claire smiled gently at the couple. Darien managed a weak one back, Annie stayed stoney faced. Claire continued anyway. "I think I've found the cause of the miscarriage. Annie? You and Darien weren't having sex from about eight weeks right?" Silence. Darien answered for her. "Yeah, we didn't want to overdo the quicksilver in case it harmed the baby." "Hmm, Darien, when I examined Annie when it happened, her levels were at zero. From the state of her at the time I would say her body went into shock at not having quicksilver in her system, this is traumatic and I believe the cause of the miscarriage." "English please Claire." "Okay, put simply, Annie has a dependancy on quicksilver. For the last two years she has had it in her system, the sudden removal of it caused her body to go into shock." Darien's eyes went wide. "So if we put the quicksilver back in her body we can try again?" Claire hesitated. "No. Being pregnant increases certain levels, Annie would need a very high level of quicksilver to sustain a baby, a level that would put her in a constant stage five and I can't recommend that." "So basically, I can't have a baby without quicksilver and I can't have one with it either." Annie stated in a flat voice. "Not without endangering your life no." There was a heavy silence, Darien spoke first. "Claire? Are you sure about this?" Claire nodded. "I'm afraid so. I'm..." "Don't say it!!" Annie hissed at her." Don't you dare say you're sorry, don't you dare! Ever since I met Darien that's all I hear. I'm sick of sorry, I want things to be normal." "Normal's not an option Annie, you married me." Darien's voice was soft as he anxiously looked at his wife. He wanted to hold her for him as much as her but he Knew she would reject him in her present mood. Annie glared at Darien and Claire then her shoulders slumped in defeat. "Look, I'm tired, just go away okay? Both of you." She turned onto her side and closed her eyes shutting out her pain. Darien didn't move, he looked uncertain about what to do. Claire took his arm and led him from the room. They met Bobby and Nicole coming towards them. "How is she? I was just coming to see her." Bobby's face held a concerned look. Nicole gurgled at Darien holding her arms out to be cuddled. Darien took the little girl from her Daddy and held her close. "Do yourself a favour Bobby, don't. She's not taking it very well, not that I blame her it's been one thing after another. I'm suprised she's stuck around for as long as she has." Bobby sighed. He hated to see his friends so unhappy. Darien gave Nicole to Claire. "I'm going for a walk, if Annie asks, I'll be back in an hour." "Hold up partner, I'll come with you." Bobby walked after Darien, leaving Claire holding Nicole and wondering where Eberts was. Three days later Annie was back at work much to everyones suprise. Darien hadn't even bothered to talk her out of it as Annie was ignoring him at every opportunity, she couldn't seem to bear him near her. The last two mornings he had found her asleep on the couch curled up tightly as if to keep the world away. He ached for her, just to feel her arms around him or for her to stroke his hair the way he liked, but she had withdrawn herself from him and he missed her. For the next week, Annie was on auto pilot. She did her job, spoke when spoken to and went home, where she went to bed as soon as she got back. Claire had insisted that the quicksilver was reintroduced to her system as Annie was beginning to have withdrawal symptoms. Darien was spending more and more time at Bobby and Claire's which suited her. She knew that Darien hated her for losing the baby. The whole sympathy thing was a cover to fool their friends. How would he react when he learned the truth? Darien sat miserably on Bobby's couch. He really didn't want to go home, even though Annie was there in body she wasn't there mentally. Bobby came and sat down next to his friend. "You're gonna have to go home eventually you know." "I know. It's just, well, Bobby, you've seen what she's like. I can't reach her. It's like she blames me or something." "No, she's just hurting Fawkes. Look at the last year, all that emotion has got to go somewhere. She's bottled it up and now she's at breaking point." "You a shrink now?" "Nah, but I've seen enough of them to know what I'm talking about." Darien smiled at his partner. Bobby was right of course, a thought formed in his brain. Annie could be a volatile person at the best of times, maybe he could get a reaction out of her if he pushed the right buttons. The next day, Darien was in work bright and early. Bobby was in on the plan and had taken position as far away from Annie as he could. Darien walked up to his wife and stood right in front of her. "Annie? We have a ten o'clock appointment with the marriage guidence people. I think we need to discuss your unreasonable behaviour." Annie looked up, a spark of anger in her eyes. "Something wrong with our marriage apart from the usual crap?" Encouraged, Darien stepped up a level. "Well, I was beginning to wonder if our marriage was a huge mistake." Bobby stepped back a little further. Annie threw the files she was holding onto the floor. She lost whatever control she had left in a matter of seconds. "I'll tell you what was a huge mistake, me having sex with you on the first date. I should have known you were weird then. All the secrets all the lies, god what a fool I've been. Maybe you're right Darien, our marriage is a mistake. Why would you want to be stuck with someone who can't give you children? Or for that matter doesn't want to have them anyway. You want the truth? I'm glad it happened. There! What kind of person does that make me?" Annie was crying now, unable to stop herself. Darien went to touch her but she angrily slapped his hand away. "NO! Just leave me alone. I'm sorry I ever met you, I'm sorry I ever married you and I'm sorry that I'm such a failure." Annie turned and ran out the room towards the bathrooms. Once inside, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She hated herself and Darien. She looked in the stalls and found a plunger that had been left after the toilets had blocked for the hundredth time. Annie proceeded to smash all the mirrors, swinging wildly and putting her whole body weight behind each blow. She dropped her weapon and started to use her fists, ignoring the pain and blood that started to flow from her hands. Finally, she sank to the floor exhausted. She hid her head in her knees and just cried. Darien quietly entered the bathroom and took in the damage. He gingerly walked over the glass and bent down, picking Annie up in one smooth motion. Annie sobbed and buried her head in his chest, curling up around him as he carried her to the Keep. Claire looked horrified when she saw the state of Annie. Darien sat in the chair with her on his lap rocking Annie gently. Claire managed to start cleaning Annie's wounds trying not to hurt her. Annie just stayed huddled against Darien, content to let his strength surround her. Finally, Claire was done. "I'll leave you two to it." Claire squeezed her kept's arm and went in search of Bobby and information. Darien lightly stroked Annie's hair. "Hey baby, I love you you know." Annie sniffled. "I love you too. You don't really think we're a mistake do you?" "Well, it's the best mistake I've ever made Annie. What's going on? Talk to me." Annie put her head down again. "Darien, I don't know how to tell you this but, well, I don't think children are a good idea." Darien nodded. "Me neither, I mean, I'm forever being hounded by someone, not to mention the small fact that we both might go QSM and I would kill myself if I hurt you or our baby. How long have you felt this way?" "A while, the clincher was Arnaud capturing us. Our lives are too unpredictable, it wouldn't be fair on the child. I was going to tell you, but then we found out I was pregnant and you seemed so happy. I felt so guilty about not wanting the baby." Darien blinked. "I thought you wanted kids. I didn't want to upset you by saying I didn't think it was a good idea." "Oh, god. When did we stop talking to each other?" Annie buried her head again. A sense of relief began to flood through her system. Her brain began to register her hands discomfort. "Ouch, my hands hurt." Darien smiled. "So, we're agreed? This quicksilver situation is a blessing in disguise?" "Agreed." came Annie's voice. "I guess I should get my injection then double quick?" Darien tried not to laugh. "How about a few days holiday? I'm sure the Fatman can spare us for a while. We need to be together away from this place. Maybe we can talk properly." Annie craned her neck up to give Darien a kiss. It felt good for him to be in control, she wasn't up to being the strong one right at that moment. "I didn't mean it you know, all the things I said, I was just lashing out." Darien put his finger over her mouth to quieten her. He pushed her head to his chest. "Sometimes Annie, you don't know when to shut up." He leaned back, smelling her hair and closing his eyes enjoying the silence. The End.