Disclaimers in Pt. 1.

Liam opened his eyes and squinted at the bright sunlight pouring in through the window. He felt more relaxed - contented, even - than he had in days; since long before Sandoval's first aborted vacation, in fact.

Well, that's not surprising, he reflected. Even before McKenna came on the scene, Renee was stirring up trouble. And then there was McKenna himself, he repressed a shiver, and my shoulder, and the vaile, and my shaqarava, and Sandoval...

He shook his head, careful not to jar his shoulder as he did so. Stop it... don't dwell on all that. All you'll do is give yourself a headache.

Besides, McKenna's on the mothership in a cell, Renee's out of my hair (and is probably going to be annoying the hell out of Augur) for the next two weeks, my shoulder and arm are healing, my shaqarava are fine... and I'm on vacation with my father.

Liam suspected that it was the last item on the list that was mostly responsible for the contentment he was feeling at the moment. From the time he'd been born, Sandoval had been an adversary. It had only been recently - since Sandoval's stay in the hospital, and the way he'd opened up to Liam there - that Liam had allowed himself to even consider the possibility of having a father/son relationship with Sandoval. And he definitely hadn't looked for it to be this soon!

In fact, he was still having a bit of a hard time getting his mind wrapped around the entire concept of them being here together; after all, it had only been yesterday that he'd been terrified Sandoval would be disgusted by his existence - or hand him over to Zo'or. Liam wasn't sure which would have been worse, or hurt him more: rejection, or betrayal.

But he didn't. Liam couldn't keep himself from grinning in delight, and didn't even bother to try. He wants me as his son.

Sitting up, he leaned slowly and carefully against the headboard. His shoulder wasn't hurting much - just a dull, throbbing ache that was almost pleasant when compared with the agony he'd been experiencing Sunday night and Tuesday.

Glancing around the room, he smiled. The sun coming in through the window reflected brilliantly off the polished hardwood floor, lending the room a feeling of light and warmth.

Looking out the window, he noticed - with a certain amount of surprise - that the sun was fairly high up in the sky - which meant that it had to be fairly close to noon. He'd slept the clock round and then some.

I'm on vacation - I could lie in bed all day and do nothing if I wanted to. Not that he'd do any such thing, of course. But he couldn't think of any other time when he'd actually been able to enjoy the luxury of being able to sleep in. The few days Da'an had given him off during the past year had been spent occupied with Resistance matters. Well, that wasn't going to happen today, or for the next two weeks. He could sleep in whenever he wanted.

But I don't want to sleep any more today - I think I've slept more than enough already.

Carefully getting out of bed, Liam wandered over to the chest of drawers where he'd unpacked his duffle last night. Taking out a loose green shirt and a pair of jeans, he got dressed and headed downstairs in his bare feet.

The main floor was deserted - Sandoval was nowhere to be seen - but there was a plate of eggs and bacon sitting in the oven keeping warm. A pleasant surprise - Sandoval must have cooked earlier and left some for him. Taking the plate out, Liam wandered into the small but cozy dining room that was just off the kitchen.

There was a note on the table, in Sandoval's handwriting.

Liam,

Just gone for a walk. If you haven't gotten it already, there's breakfast in the oven for you.

The weather looks good for that hike down to Piney River this afternoon, if you're feeling up to it.

There's a small library in the basement if you'd like to take a look.

I'll be back sometime between eleven-thirty and twelve.

- Sandoval

According to his watch, it was just past eleven now.

Liam dug into his breakfast. He was famished - he felt as though he hadn't eaten in days - and the food was prepared just the way he liked it. When it came to food, he shared a lot of his father's tastes.

By the time he finished eating it was about twenty to twelve. Sandoval hadn't arrived back yet, so Liam decided to take the suggestion mentioned in the note and, after giving his plate and cutlery a quick rinse and leaving them in the sink, he headed down to the cellar.

It was divided into two sections - a laundry room, and a library. And while the library wasn't the biggest he'd ever seen, it had a very diverse collection.

After skimming through the shelves, Liam finally settled on David Eddings' The Belgariad. Sandoval had started reading it several years ago, before the Taelons had come, but he'd never gotten past the second book, Queen of Sorcery, and Liam was curious as to how the series turned out. Carefully taking the books off the shelf and holding them with his left arm, he headed back up to the den and curled up on the couch.

By the time Sandoval arrived back from his walk at about five after twelve, Liam was deeply engrossed in Garion and Ce'Nedra's adventures.

Sandoval took a bottle of water out of the fridge and wandered over to the den. Leaning against the doorframe, he fixed his gaze on Liam.

His son was curled up on the long blue couch, holding a book in his left hand, the expression on his face one of rapt fascination as he read.

Sandoval hesitated for a few minutes, not wanting to disturb Liam; but he knew that they had to talk, and that the longer he put it off, the harder it would be. And it was going to be hard enough as it was.

Finally he shifted, pushing himself away from the door, but before he could say anything, Liam looked up from the book and gave him a hesitant smile. "Thanks for breakfast," he said quietly. "How was your walk?"

"You're welcome, and it was quite pleasant. It's a lovely day out," Sandoval replied. Then, with a curious glance at the book, "What are you reading?" he inquired. Yes, they needed to talk - but there was no rule that said he couldn't try to ease his way into it.

"Castle of Wizardry," Liam said, holding the book up so that Sandoval could see it. "It's the fourth book of David Eddings' The Belgariad. They had the entire series downstairs, as well as The Mallorean."

Sandoval nodded absently as he walked in and sat down in the comfortable leather chair that faced the couch. "How are you feeling?"

"Not too bad," Liam answered, sounding quite pleased. "Much better than Tuesday, and even a bit better than yesterday. My arm's starting to itch, though."

"Good - I'm glad to hear that. Itching's a good sign - it means that you're starting to heal," Sandoval said. He leaned back in the chair, studying his son for a moment. He'd come up with an idea on how to talk to Liam during his ramble this morning, and it was time to get started. "I was thinking," he began carefully, "that we could eat lunch, and then take that hike down to Piney River this afternoon. If you want to go, of course."

"Yes!" Liam declared eagerly. Then he paused. "But... you already went for a walk," he pointed out, sounding vaguely disappointed.

"Not a very long one, much less an actual hike," Sandoval replied quickly. "This morning - I was just wandering around, familiarizing myself with the area. Besides, I promised you yesterday that if you were feeling up to it, we'd hike down there today. I'm told it's a beautiful trail - I believe 'absolutely spectacular' were the words Andrew used.

"Anyway, it's due to rain for much of tonight and tomorrow, which would mean that if we don't go this afternoon, we'd have to put it off until Sunday at the earliest, in order to give the trail time to dry off."

"All right," Liam agreed, grinning, as the hint of disappointment vanished from his expression, leaving only the excitement. "What are we going to have for lunch?" he asked a moment later, putting his book down on the table beside the couch.

"I'll make sandwiches," Sandoval said. "What would you like? We've got roast beef, ham, turkey, chicken, mozzarella, Swiss and cheddar."

"Grilled cheddar cheese with roast beef," Liam answered instantly. "Two of them, please," he added, giving Sandoval a hopeful, almost pleading look. "They're one of my favourites, and I'm hungry."

Sandoval felt a faint smile cross his face. A real smile. It was an expression that had become unfamiliar to him over the past four years - but it felt good to smile. It felt even better to have a reason to smile. "Two grilled cheese and roast beef sandwiches, coming right up!" he called over his shoulder as he headed into the kitchen and started pulling out what he would need.

As he buttered the bread and heated up the frying pan, it suddenly occurred to Sandoval to wonder about Liam's choice of lunch.

Grilled cheese and roast beef sandwiches had always been one of his personal favourites for fast, easy to make lunches. He'd never known anyone else - with the exception of his mother, who had introduced him to them - who liked them. Even DeeDee had always had either plain grilled cheese or plain roast beef sandwiches - she'd never tried combining the tastes.

So... was it merely a coincidence that Liam liked them as well? Or, Sandoval wondered - remembering the omelette Liam had prepared for him, exactly the way he liked it, Sunday morning - was there something about Liam that he wasn't seeing?

Well, there'd be time later to figure it out. Or, at least, he hoped that there would be. If Liam wasn't so angry with him about what had been done - What I did, Sandoval corrected himself bitterly - to Captain Marquette that he wouldn't want anything to do with Sandoval.

The walk down to Piney River had taken them two and a half hours; Sandoval had kept their pace leisurely, ostensibly to make sure they had a chance to take in the scenery - which was, as Andrew had claimed, absolutely spectacular - but in reality to make sure that Liam didn't tire himself out. Despite the fact that Liam was getting better, he definitely wasn't one hundred percent yet; and Sandoval was well aware of the fact that the upcoming discussion would place a great deal of stress on him.

They'd chatted a bit during the walk, about this and that - nothing very important, just the weather, and the books that Liam had noticed down in the library. Nothing about the Taelons or the Resistance.

Liam sat down at the base of a tree right on the bank of the river and grinned up at Sandoval. "You were right - it is a lovely trail."

Sandoval nodded in agreement, taking a deep breath and then letting it out slowly. It's time... "Liam... we need to talk."

Liam's grin vanished, and a look of apprehension crossed his face. "Talk?" he repeated warily.

Sandoval nodded. "I... I need to tell you some things. Explain some of what I've been doing over the past year."

The apprehension on Liam's face faded, though it didn't disappear completely, to be replaced by an intense, burning curiosity - a need to know.

Sandoval winced inwardly. This was going to be even harder than he'd feared. "Liam... you're not going to like this - most of it isn't good," he warned. "There are some things I'm proud of, yes, but most... Not all of the things that you won't like were done on Zo'or's orders."

"I'm listening..." Liam murmured, his gaze fixed on Sandoval's face.

Sandoval took another deep breath. "Liam... It's..." He hesitated for a moment, and then finished, "Captain Marquette... is alive."

Liam stared at Sandoval in absolute shock. He must have been hearing things - Sandoval couldn't have said what it sounded like he had.

"Liam?" Sandoval asked, hesitantly.

"I... Did you just say that Lili's alive?" Liam blurted out.

Sandoval's mouth was set in a tight line as he nodded. "Yes."

"But... but I... I saw her! I saw her body - you were there!"

Sandoval sighed softly and looked away from him, leaning against a neighbouring tree. "It was a bio-surrogate - a non-living clone. I did try to stop you from looking, Liam. I'd had to make it appear as though she'd died of injuries suffered when she sabotaged the engines." Unspoken words lingered in the air between them... 'I didn't want you to see her like that.'

Liam blinked. "A... bio-surrogate?" he repeated slowly. "Lili's really alive?"

"Yes," his father replied. "But I had to convince the Taelons - especially Zo'or - that she had died of her injuries. I... This is going to sound harsh, Liam, but I couldn't afford to let her fall into Zo'or's hands. She knew too much. And in order to convince the Taelons completely, I had to convince everyone else as well."

"So you saved her," Liam prompted.

Sandoval shifted uneasily at that. "It... There's more to this, Liam."

He looks uncomfortable, Liam thought, and then frowned as something else occurred to him. "Wait a minute... if everyone thinks she's dead, then where is she?"

Sandoval pushed himself away from the tree and began pacing, walking to the edge of the river's bank and then back to the end of the trail... back and forth, back and forth.

"Sandoval?" Liam repeated, a bit more forcefully. He had the feeling that he was about to find out what his father had figured he wouldn't like.

"She's... on Jaridia," Sandoval replied finally. He stopped on the bank, staring out over the river. Liam could see his shoulders tense under his shirt. "I... sent her there, as a... peace offering."

Once again, Liam could only stare at Sandoval, shocked speechless. A... 'peace offering'? What does he mean? What kind of peace offering?

As the silence lengthened, Sandoval turned around to look at him, but still wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Liam?" he questioned finally.

Liam swallowed. "What... what do you mean by... 'peace offering'?" he asked.

Sandoval looked away again. "Two things," he replied softly. "Firstly... I doubt Da'an has told you this, but the Jaridians sent a message to us that should have arrived a year before the Taelons did. The Taelons intercepted it and made sure that it never reached Earth, but the Jaridians don't know that.

"The message contained a warning about the Taelons - a description of what they'd done to other worlds. It also contained a warning for us; that if we aided the Taelons, we would be seen as being no better than them, and would be destroyed.

"Captain Marquette knows that we never received any message from the Jaridians - and she's a member of the Resistance. The combination of those two factors should - hopefully - convince the Jaridians that our 'alliance' with the Taelons was made in ignorance."

Liam stared.

Oh, he'd known since he was a few months old that Sandoval had his own agenda, and that it didn't march entirely in step with that of the Taelons - but what Sandoval had just told him, and the tone of voice he'd used... Liam had never realized just how much his father hated the Taelons. It was something to think about... later. Much later. Like the message Sandoval had just mentioned - that, as he had said, Da'an had never told Liam about.

"What about the second thing?" he asked.

Sandoval's shoulders tensed even more. "The Jaridians are dying - just like the Taelons, but in a different way. Taelons are long-lived and have become sterile; Jaridians are short-lived, their bodies quite often burning up - literally - before they reach thirty. And now they too are becoming sterile.

"Ma'el apparently thought that humans were the key, the missing link that could be used to reunite the Taelons and the Jaridians, solving both races' problems. Da'an agreed with that, and even Zo'or is beginning to come around to that point of view - though his focus is only on the Taelons, not the Jaridians.

"In order to save their races, they need to join with humans. That was what the hybrid program that produced the Hartley twins was all about."

Liam nodded slowly. "But what does this have to do with Lil-" The words suddenly stuck in his throat as he realized what Sandoval was leading up to. "You... you..."

"I sent her to play Mother-Saviour to the Jaridian race," Sandoval said flatly.

"But... but... why?"

"I told you, Liam - as a peace offering." Sandoval turned back to face him, and this time he did meet Liam's eyes. "I don't want to see Earth destroyed, either in a battle between the Taelons and the Jaridians, or by the Jaridians because they thought we received their message and chose to ignore it. I made the decision that one life, measured against the lives of everyone and everything on Earth, was worth the risk.

"And to be quite frank, Liam, what Captain Marquette has now is a far better fate than she would have had if I hadn't sent her. She's alive, she hasn't betrayed the Resistance, and the Jaridians will treat her well. If she'd stayed here, she'd definitely be dead by now - Taelon and Volunteer interrogation techniques aren't easy on the 'subjects' - and she would most likely not have been able to prevent herself from betraying the Resistance - and you.

"I'm not trying to justify anything of what I did to her," Sandoval continued, as Liam watched him. "There's no point - you'll either accept it or not. I'm simply telling you what went into making the decision."

Liam took a deep breath. "I... Is that everything?"

"About Captain Marquette, yes. There are other things I wa- need to tell you... but they can wait. This was... personal - the rest isn't."

"I... Sandoval, I need to... think about this," Liam said after a moment, biting at his lower lip. He was still somewhat numb from the revelations of the last several minutes, but he could feel a whole torrent of emotions building up, and he knew that he would need to be alone when the shock wore off.

"All right," Sandoval replied. "I'm going to head back to the cabin. Come back when you're ready."

"Okay," Liam said softly, staring down at the river.

Sandoval started to reach one hand out to him, to touch his shoulder, and then stopped himself and pulled back. "Don't stay out too long - remember, it's due to start raining later," he said quietly, and then walked slowly over to the trail and started along it.

Liam continued to stare silently at the rushing water. What do I do now?

FBI Special Agent Andrew Patterson leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought.

It had been a very long week, starting late last Thursday afternoon when Ron had called him and told him to check into Major Kincaid. Since then, so many things had happened so fast that Andrew was starting to lose track.

One thing stood out above all the others, however.

For whatever reason, despite the fact that Andrew hadn't been able to find anything on the man who was impersonating Liam Neville Kincaid, Ron had decided that he could be trusted.

Since his MI had broken down and he'd regained his free will, Ron had become almost fanatically careful about whom he chose to trust. It was an attitude that Andrew approved of wholeheartedly - and one that made Ron's sudden decision to trust 'Major Kincaid' very strange - almost suspicious - and quite possibly dangerous. Added to that the fact that Ron had told him to stop his investigation into the truth about 'Major Kincaid'... well, it painted quite a worrisome picture.

It was a puzzle - one that could potentially mean danger to Ron if it wasn't solved - and, his determination to keep his old friend safe aside, Andrew had never been able to resist a puzzle.

"Okay... what have we got so far?" he muttered out loud. It was four o'clock Thursday afternoon, and the small Computer Intelligence office was deserted except for Andrew - only three of them came in on Thursdays, and the other two were currently in a meeting with the assistant director about one of their ongoing cases. Which was good, because he did his best work when he could think out loud - something that always drove Ron crazy - and this situation needed his very best.

"Let's see. The real Kincaid disappeared four years ago, just after the S.I. War - which was presumably when he was promoted up to colonel and became the field commander for Operation Dark Knight," Andrew mused, flicking his gaze over the small holes in the pasteboard ceiling. There was an average of 348 holes in each tile - he'd counted them, more than once. "Then, a little over a year ago, someone claiming to be Major Liam Kincaid shows up at the funeral of Companion-Protector Commander William Boone - Kincaid's CO during the War - and saves Da'an from a Jaridian replicant. Within a few days, he becomes Da'an's Protector, taking Boone's place, but doesn't receive an implant.

"Only," Andrew continued to himself, absently swinging his chair around in an arc, back and forth, "it turns out that 'Major Kincaid' is an impostor. Not only that, but all his personal files - including his medical information - have been faked by one of the most skilled hackers around, a hacker who's been tentatively associated with the Resistance; and who, for some reason, chose to replace the imposter's real brainwaves with those of Jonathan Doors in his medical records. Wonder how he was able to pull that off?" Andrew added thoughtfully. "He must have had the cooperation of the Major's doctor, or else this imposture would have been over toute suite...

"And then Ron changed his mind about having me do a DNA-based search to find out who this guy really is..."

He continued to stare up at the ceiling for another minute or two, and then gave a sharp nod as he made his decision. Straightening back up in his chair, he moved back over to his desk and began typing rapidly on the keyboard. Time to try some old-fashioned detective work, he thought, as he instructed the computer to download everything it could find that mentioned 'Major Liam Kincaid' to his secure drive.

Liam's attention was caught by a quick movement just visible out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head to follow the movement, he saw a bird alight on a branch of one of the trees on the other side of the river. Watching it flutter and preen, Liam sighed heavily. He wasn't sure how long it had been since Sandoval had left - he'd just been staring at the water rushing past as he tried to work things out.

He had no idea what he should be feeling about Sandoval's revelation. Oh, he was glad that Lili was still alive - there was no doubt about that - but still...

"I sent her to play Mother-Saviour to the Jaridian race."

Sandoval would have had to blue-tank her, change her physiology, to enable her to survive on Jaridia, Liam knew. He didn't want to think about what she must have undergone.

But she's still alive. And you know Sandoval's right about the fact that she wouldn't have been able to hold out against the Volunteers and Zo'or 'interrogating' her if he hadn't faked her death.

"Only he didn't give her a choice," Liam said out loud, talking to himself - or maybe to the bird. "She deserved to have a choice."

But just because someone deserves something doesn't necessarily mean that they will get it. Life's not always fair, or just.

Liam worried at his lower lip, uncertain. So what should I do?

Sandoval looked at his watch, and then glanced worriedly out the window. It was almost seven-thirty, and Liam still wasn't back yet. And to make it worse, it had just begun to rain - and while it had started out fairly gently, it was very rapidly on its way to becoming a downpour.

Kneeling down in front of the fireplace, he laid a log on top of the old paper he'd piled there earlier, and, taking one of the long matches from the box on the mantle, lit the fire.

Sitting back on his haunches, he watched the small flame flicker for a moment, before it caught the log. Once he was certain that the fire was going to keep going, he stood back up and looked out the window again.

If he isn't back within the next five minutes, I'll take an umbrella and go lo- The noise of the outside front door opening broke into Sandoval's musings, and he hurried out into the hall in time to see the inside door open and Liam walk in.

He looks like a soggy kitten, was Sandoval's first thought. Curly golden-brown hair was plastered to Liam's forehead, making him appear absurdly young, and his shirt and jeans were soaked through, sticking to his skin. Sandoval couldn't help but think that Liam looked as though he'd been standing under a waterfall. Under other circumstances, he would have found Liam's current appearance quite amusing.

However, circumstances being what they were, Sandoval was more intent on finding out how Liam felt about him, now that he knew the truth about Marquette. Liam's expression was no help - for once, his feelings weren't written all over his face for anyone to read - and Sandoval felt unaccountably helpless.

They stayed frozen like that, looking at each other, for a long moment - and then Liam sneezed.

The sound broke Sandoval's paralysis, and he moved into action.

"Go upstairs and get changed into some dry clothes, Liam," he ordered firmly, gesturing toward the stairs. "Once you've done that, come back down and sit next to the fire. I'll get dinner heated up, and we'll sit and eat it in the den."

Liam looked at him blankly for a moment, then nodded and drifted toward the stairs.

Sandoval watched long enough to make sure that Liam was obeying, and then headed into the kitchen. He'd put the meat sauce on to simmer as soon as he'd gotten back to the cabin, almost two and a half hours ago; all he needed to do now was get the pasta ready.

Twenty minutes later, Sandoval came back into the den, carrying two full plates and cutlery. He'd heard Liam come down a few minutes ago, and had quickly put the finishing touches on their meal.

Liam had taken the cushions off the blue couch and piled them on the floor right in front of the fireplace. He was sitting on one of them, hugging his legs to his chest with his good arm.

"Here you go," Sandoval said quietly, holding one of the plates out to him.

Liam uncurled and took the plate with his left hand. "Thank you," he murmured.

Sandoval sat down on one of the other cushions, and several minutes passed in an uncomfortable silence as they both concentrated on their food.

Finally, Sandoval couldn't take it any longer. He'd spent the past day worrying about how Liam would react to the revelation of what had really happened to Captain Marquette; but now that he'd said it all, Liam wasn't reacting.

"Liam, did you... settle anything this afternoon?" he asked. How do you feel about what I did? What do you feel about me, now that you know?

Liam looked up from his spaghetti and met Sandoval's eyes. "Yes," he replied quietly.

"And?" Sandoval prompted, although he wasn't sure that he really wanted to know. If Liam had decided that he didn't want anything to do with Sandoval, what would happen? How would he deal with it? After finally finding his son, he honestly wasn't certain that he could handle a rejection.

Liam took a deep breath and glanced away for a moment - he was obviously nervous about this. Sandoval's tension increased. Then, "I don't like it - I don't like what you did to Lili," Liam said. "It wasn't right, and you know that. And I'm angry and upset about it; but at the same time, I know there wasn't really any easy or good answer to the situation you were both in.

"I know that you're right about what would have happened to her if you hadn't faked her death. I don't know what I would have done in your place." He met Sandoval's eyes again, his own eyes stormy grey, conflicted. "I... What's done is done. We can't change the past, no matter how much we might wish to at times. There are certainly a lot of things that I would want to change if I could." For an instant, the expression in Liam's eyes made him look old and weary, and Sandoval flinched inwardly. His son should never have had any reason to look like that.

"So... where do we stand?" he asked after a long moment, his tone blunt. He could deal with Liam being angry with him, or upset with him - both of which were justified, as far as he was concerned - just as long as Liam was still willing to make an effort at building their relationship.

Liam blinked, looking surprised, as though the question had never even occurred to him. "What do you mean?"

Sandoval felt a momentary surge of relief, but pushed it back down quickly. "I was wondering if what I told you made you change your mind about... this trip," he finished after a slight pause. He felt uncomfortable enough about his insecurity without broadcasting it.

"No!" Liam exclaimed, his expression stunned. "Sandoval... just because I'm upset about what you did to Lili doesn't mean that I don't want to be here." He hesitated for a moment. "It is all right for parents and children to be upset with each other sometimes, isn't it?" he asked uncertainly.

Surprised by the absolutely serious tone of the question, Sandoval searched Liam's face for a moment, and finding only honest curiosity, mingled with a touch of apprehension, he nodded. "Of course it is," he replied firmly, remembering a number of arguments between his father and himself. "It happens all the time."

"So it's all right that I'm upset with you?" Liam questioned.

He sounded very much like a young, uncertain child - which he was, Sandoval reminded himself. Young, and a child, even if not physically. A child who'd never had his parents there for him, until now. A child seeking reassurance that he wasn't going to be punished for what he was feeling.

"Yes, it's all right, Liam. You're perfectly entitled. To tell you the truth, I'd be quite surprised if you weren't upset with me over this. And a bit worried - you've often gotten angry with me before."

"But... that was different," Liam said hesitantly as he looked away from Sandoval again.

"No, Liam, it's not," Sandoval said, his words firm but his tone as gentle as he could make it. "We're still the same people we were two weeks ago. I know more now, and the situation has changed - but we haven't. Besides, I used to get angry with my father all the time. Very angry."

Liam tilted his head slightly to one side as his gaze became unfocused.

Sandoval frowned, wondering what was going through his son's mind. "Liam?"

Liam blinked, his expression dazed for a moment before he refocused on Sandoval. He shook his head - as if to clear it - and then winced.

Probably jarred his shoulder, Sandoval thought with a touch of concern. "Are you all right?"

"Tired," Liam muttered, putting his plate down on the floor next to him. Then he met Sandoval's eyes. "I don't like it," he repeated quietly. "But I... I appreciate your willingness to tell me about it; and I do understand why you did it, even though I don't agree with it."

"Captain Marquette is well, Liam," Sandoval hastened to reassure him. "I've been in... occasional contact with the Jaridians, and apparently she's fine and starting to adapt to life on Jaridia."

Liam nodded, then yawned.

"All right, bedtime," Sandoval declared. Putting his own - empty - plate to one side, he stood up and held out his hand.

Liam just looked up at him for a long moment - making Sandoval nervous that he'd been too optimistic about their chances too soon - and then extended his left arm so that Sandoval could grasp it and pull him to his feet.

"I'll clean up in here," Sandoval continued, gently steering Liam toward the door into the hall. "You go to bed. We'll talk some more tomorrow."

Liam nodded again and slipped his arm out of Sandoval's grasp before heading for the stairs. Sandoval watched him walk slowly up to the landing, and then returned to the den.

Picking up the plates, he grimaced as he noticed that Liam had only eaten about half of what Sandoval had prepared for him.

He's injured, Ron. And it's been a very long day for him.

I should have waited until he was better physically before springing all this on him, Sandoval thought then, irritated with himself. Hindsight was, as always, 20/20, but Sandoval knew that he really should have considered Liam's physical condition before bringing up the matter of Captain Marquette - or, at least, before bringing it up during their hike.

Maybe it would have been better if we'd stayed in this afternoon and I'd told him here. But as Liam said, what's past is past, and there's no changing it now.

With a sigh, he headed for the kitchen.

It took him only about ten minutes to wash the plates and cutlery and put them away. Once that was done, he glanced at his watch - and was vaguely surprised to see that it was only just past nine o'clock. It had been a very long day, and he felt almost as tired as Liam appeared to have been.

He headed upstairs, but rather than going straight to his own room, he stopped just outside Liam's. The door had been left slightly ajar, and he peered in.

Liam was, as he'd expected, already fast asleep.

This is fast starting to become a habit, Sandoval thought, a touch ruefully, as he slipped inside and walked over to the bed. Maybe it was something about being a father. Certainly when he was a kid, he'd woken up a few times in the middle of the night to find his father dozing in the chair by his bed, having fallen asleep while watching over him.

Looking down at his son, he frowned as he noticed that Liam's face looked flushed. Placing the back of his hand against Liam's forehead, he felt the frown deepen. Liam was slightly feverish, much as he had been Monday night - and Sunday night, according to Dr. Park.

It could be due to overexertion or stress - both of which Liam had experienced Sunday, Monday and today - but Sandoval's gut instinct insisted otherwise.

There's nothing much I can do at the moment. I'll just have to make sure to keep a close watch on him. But at the moment, it's mild - and we both need our sleep. I'll check to make sure that the cut on his arm isn't infected tomorrow.

"Goodnight, Liam," he murmured, before heading for his own room and well-deserved rest.