CandyDawn: Thank you! :)

Dark Topaz: Here ya go. ;)

Sabrina: I'm trying to keep in mind all the ways he has been portrayed by the EFC writers. I think they made him a bit schizo, which is what's making this so hard. *silly* And I'm not trying to do anything to you – I'm succeeding. ;) And thank you.

jnp: I'm bad about cliffies. ;) But for the most part, I'm trying to keep each part the same length, roughly, though I might lengthen the posts gradually. Anyway, thank you. :)

Sammy: Thank you – I'm glad I've got Sandoval down. I'll always try to not make you wait – but I do have to wait on my beta. ;)

sil: Here ya go. ;)

Huge, massive thanks to Jamieson Z for beta'ing. :)

~*~*~

They let Liam into the room easily, since he was listed as one of Renee's emergency contacts. Sandoval just glared at the doctor. For a moment, Liam had mused Sandoval hadn't lost any of his menace since becoming a private citizen once again.

All that and other considerations faded away when Liam saw her. It was a high-quality hospital, with each patient practically having their own suite, and the room was disguised, hardly recognizable as being in a hospital. But none of that could disguise her condition.

Beneath a healthy tan she was horribly pale. She was also very still, unnervingly so – it wasn't the stillness of readiness, that Renee had always gotten before a mission or some important, dangerous meeting, but stillness almost like that of death. Flashes from Sandoval's memories of war and death came into his mind, washing over him like a blanket of fear, and then he pushed them away, blinking.

Never taking his eyes off Renee, he said quietly to the doctor in the room, "What's her condition?"

"Still critical, but stable," the doctor began matter-of-factly, gazing down at Renee with a look of simple analysis. "The energy blast got her abdomen, and it caused internal injuries that led to some organ failure. We've managed to repair most of that, but only time will tell if she's able to recover. We'll be watching her closely for the next forty-eight hours."

Liam nodded, and moved over to sit by the chair next to her bed. He distantly heard Sandoval dismissing the doctor.

"I would be surprised if she didn't make it, Major. She's been through worse," Sandoval said at last. "It would be unfitting irony for her to die this way."

Liam looked over at him, surprised. He neither saw nor heard any cruelty or mockery in Sandoval's voice or expression, just a quiet reading of the situation. "Thank you," he said.

There was about twenty minutes of silence before Sandoval spoke again. "I didn't know the two of you were involved. It certainly explains some things, however."

"What?" Liam said, startled, turning away from Renee's pale face. "We're not – I mean – we're not involved," he finished awkwardly.

"My apologies, then, Major. I do not usually read such things wrong," he said, not looking embarrassed by the misunderstanding at all. Liam could feel himself flushing.

"Well, you didn't, not exactly," Liam admitted awkwardly. "We were friends, that much is true, and we tried to never let on to the fact." He shrugged, and looked at Renee again. "For obvious reasons."

"You worked together in the Resistence."

"Yes, we did," Liam said simply.

He heard Sandoval shift, and then his father spoke. "Forgive my curiosity, but I was always curious exactly in what role you served within the Resistance. I suspected, even then, that it was more than a simple spy. I know that was the case with Ms. Palmer."

Liam looked at him, leaning back in his chair and gazing up at Sandoval, who stood leaning against the wall opposite him. It was difficult even looking at Renee. Sandoval looked at him calmly with dark eyes, and the steady sound of Renee's heartbeat on the monitor was the only thing that split the silence.

"I was a spy at first," Liam said finally, fairly sure Sandoval was looking for answers now because Liam was in a state where maneuvering was the farthest thing from his mind. "But later . . . no. You were correct in your assumption that I was a high-ranking member."

Sandoval nodded silently.

Neither spoke after that. Quiet fell in the way it always does, sneaking in unobserved. Liam struggled to remember things he didn't entirely understand, things he had done without knowing how. And how he could do them now. Sandoval thought about who knew what, and it hardly mattered to Liam right then.

The silence didn't feel like an uncomfortable silence, and when Sandoval finally left to go and get something to eat, both were calm about the fact.

Liam, in the meantime, watched Renee and thought.

*~*~*

When Sandoval walked into the room, Kincaid didn't even twitch from his position by Ms. Palmer's side. He wasn't even sure the man had moved since he left.

"What did you find out?" Kincaid asked.

"Excuse me?"

Kincaid sat up straight, stretching slightly, keeping his eyes on Ms. Palmer's still face. "I'm sure you went and investigated what happened to Renee. Out of simple habit if nothing else." He looked calm, in control. Apparently the time Sandoval had been gone had been enough for him to come to grips with the situation.

Sandoval didn't even feel like glaring at the Major. He just raised an eyebrow and sighed. "Yes, I did. They've already caught her attacker, and believe they know who is behind it. Her security team seems fairly competent. I expect they'll find out who was behind it and take action relatively soon."

Kincaid nodded. "They told me I should leave soon, let her get uninterrupted rest."

Sandoval snorted. "They always say that."

Kincaid shot him a small, grateful smile. "That's true. I think she'll be okay, though, and there's nothing more I can do here."

"You find it unnerving," Sandoval said quietly.

"Yes," Kincaid replied, looking startled. He glanced at Sandoval, who was expressionless.

"Come on," Sandoval said. He wanted to talk to Kincaid. The Major wasn't the only one who had had time to think. "Let's get something to eat. And I want to talk to you." He glanced at Ms. Palmer again. She looked considerably better than she had two hours ago.

Kincaid nodded slowly, and they left, the steady beeping slowly fading away.

~*~*~

Liam followed Sandoval, musing it was a good thing he had come along when he did – the doctors were about ready to throw him out. Liam had had to pretend innocence and stupidity about cutting diagnostic readings from Renee's monitors to their central nurse station. He had to do it, though – he didn't want them realizing what he was doing. His shaquarava had helped Renee's recovery along tremendously, but he didn't want them realizing it was him who had done it to her.

Regardless, he was fairly sure she was safe now. He had experienced a period of dormancy with his shaquarava, but that had ended even before the Taelons and Jaridians united. He was gaining more and more control over his abilities, and felt fairly secure in helping Renee's healing along.

The rest – that Sandoval had found out on his own – had been largely inconsequential in immediate terms until Liam knew Renee would make it, and Sandoval's discoveries led Liam to believe that the assassin and related parties would be dealt with. He itched to do something, but more likely than not he would be in the way. He didn't have the resources he used to have.

Besides, Liam knew Sandoval wanted to talk, again, about his son. Liam was as unsure as ever what to say – he'd have to wing it.

Sandoval made Liam sit and wait in the hospital cafeteria, quickly returning from the counter with a sandwich and soda. He hadn't bought anything for himself, and Liam distantly remembered he had already gotten something to eat. His mind kept fuzzing out and returning to how Renee had looked when he first saw her, and with Sandoval, that was never a good thing. He had to keep his wits.

After Liam had picked at his food for a few moments – after, of course, getting the idea that it might have been poisoned and then immediately discarding the notion – Sandoval broke the quiet between them.

"I was always curious," Sandoval began, "what role you played, exactly."

Of course, Liam thought. He wants to pick my brains. And this is the time to do it.

"What role in what?" Liam asked.

"Don't be deliberately obtuse, Major," Sandoval said with forced patience, the intensity of his gaze proportional to how much he narrowed his eyes.

Wing it, Liam thought. "I had my hand in a lot of things, Sandoval," he said calmly, picking at the bread of sandwich. Little seeds were being collected on his napkin.

Sandoval folded his hands in front of him. "Why did you save my life?"

Liam looked up, startled, dropping a seed.

"With my son's blood," Sandoval added. "The other times – it's easy to understand, because it would have looked suspicious otherwise, as it was your duty, but the blood . . . you could have killed me, your enemy, by doing nothing." He paused, raising an eyebrow. "It was your decision to make, was it not?"

"Yes," Liam said reluctantly, trying to figure out how to not lie and not tell the truth either. "I believed you had further use."

Sandoval looked skeptical. "To the Resistance? You had no way of knowing what I was trying to do –"

"In a less ethical way than the Resistance, but still the same thing?" Liam interrupted. "With added benefits for yourself, of course. I didn't know, but I had – suspicions, shall we say," Liam interrupted, leaning forward, the seed pile growing rapidly. He could see Sandoval struggling to repress his first response, which would probably be something acidly sarcastic.

"Added benefits? I –" Sandoval began angrily, then stopped, taking a calming breath.

Liam paused his picking of seeds. "You just didn't trust anyone else, did you?" he asked, looking into Sandoval's dark eyes. "To do what needed to be done."

"How could you have guessed anything at that point, Major?" Sandoval asked, not answering.

"I had my sources," Liam said breezily. Which was true, from a certain point of view.

Sandoval looked at him, and said laconically, "I see."

 "Tell me," Liam said, and resumed the picking seeds from the bread. He was quickly running out on one side, and flipped the sandwich over. "Was that the reason?"

"Why do you ask?"

Liam shrugged. "It speaks towards your motivations for your actions, which speaks for –"

"I get the idea, Major," Sandoval cut him off. "That was part of it," he said after a few moments.

Liam nodded slowly, and picked a seed.

"May I ask a question now?" Sandoval said, with clear, limited patience.

"About your son?"

Sandoval nodded. "Does he . . . know of me?"

That made Liam pause, go completely still. How to answer that question? Sandoval saw it, and Liam saw him tense. "Yes, he does," Liam said at last.

"How much?" Sandoval asked quietly.

Liam met his eyes. "Pretty much everything the Resistance ever knew," he said, with equal quiet. Oh yes, Liam thought, I know of your crimes, done for yourself and humanity.

Sandoval closed his eyes briefly, and Liam could almost feel his controlled anguish.

"He's – a mature kid. Hybrids grow fast," Liam said impulsively. "He – I don't think he always understands, but he doesn't hate you."

"You know him that well?" Sandoval said fiercely, eyes wide open now and searching Liam's face.

Oops, Liam thought. "I get reports."

Sandoval looked ready to ask another question. Liam picked a seed.

"Would you stop that?" Sandoval burst out in frustration, totally unexpectedly from Liam's point of view, glaring at Liam's pile of seeds. "Picking at your food like that – I used to do that as a child, and I grew out of it."

Liam looked at the pile of rye seeds with new eyes. Dammit. "I think I'm going to go see Renee," he said simply.

Sandoval sighed. "Major –"

"I have to know Renee is all right first, before we can continue with this," Liam pressed. That was true, as far as it went. He had to be absolutely certain. Right now he was only pretty sure. And he thought the both of them needed a break.

Sandoval gave reluctant acquiescence. "Very well. I have other business to attend to, if you don't mind."

"I don't," Liam said, shaking his head and rising to his feet. Sandoval did the same. Liam trusted Sandoval enough to let him out of his sight, after all. Sandoval, for that matter, could have just wandered off without telling Liam. They were both dedicated to following this through, it seemed to Liam. Where the end would be . . . who knew?

Sandoval nodded briskly. "You know how to contact me."