Augur
I left Kary yelling at Boone for upsetting Liam. She sure did take to the kid. `Must be that whole bird with a broken wing routine.' As always Liam hadn't noticed her attentions. I sighed. Liam. With the help of Boone I was able to get Liam into the med-bay. The monitors showed that Liam had just suffered from a lack of energy and fainted. I slight smile played on my lips. The great Resistance Leader/Companion Protector had fainted. Then I thought about all his injuries and how bad off he had to be to faint. It made me face once again what terrible shape Liam was in. How fragile he really was. I couldn't leave him; I didn't want to leave him. I held onto his hand, making sure he wouldn't disappear. Even in the shape he was in he had come to my rescue. He' got to be the most selfless person I ever met. I looked down on my friend's peaceful face and thought about the friend in the next room. Part of me wanted to grab Boone up in big hug and another part was wary of his sudden
return. My memories of Lazarus still haunt me sometimes. Yet this time he seemed to be the genuine article, no Taleon energy left to run another clone.
The noise had quieted down and I knew without turning that Boone hadn't waited for me to come out he had come in. I felt a mixture of relief and anger; relief that I wouldn't have to leave Liam and anger at Boone for coming where he wasn't invited. It was irrational since I was still thanking God that he was alive but I felt defensive with Boone here. I worked hard to get past what had happened to me and I had worked hard to help Liam. Now Boone comes along and he's threatening everything I've worked for. I feel selfish but there it was. I didn't know why he had come but I knew that it wasn't for a social call. Or maybe it was. My mind racing I considered the world today. Everyone that Boone knew was dead or gone. Lili was dead, Belman was missing she'd reportedly disappeared into the woodwork, a lot of the last of the Liberation people had been rounded up when the Taelons declared Martial Law, and even Doors had kicked the bucket. The original members of the Liberation were
gone and I was the only one left that still remembered his world. Maybe Boone just didn't want to feel alone. I understand that feeling. One of my reasons for joining the Liberation in the first place was not wanting to feel alone. Hackers are usually alone because of the nature of their work. We can't trust easily. My try at partnership hadn't worked out well and I saw the Liberation as a way to relieve my loneliness and as a way to make up for the things I had done. So maybe my fears were unfounded, maybe he wasn't here to drag the both of us back into that world that I thought had disappeared with the Taelons deaths. But then if there was no new threat to fight how was he standing behind me? There was no way he had been underground all these years. Where had he been and what had brought him back?
Boone was still silent. He was like that. He was waiting for me to open up the conversation. I knew I was being petty but I didn't want to be the one to give in first.
Boone
I know Augur. Or at least I knew him. Still in all my memories of the master hacker he never acted protective of anything other than his own hide. Yet I can see in the way he watches the Major. The way he holds onto him trying to reassure himself that his friend wasn't going to disappear that he would do anything to protect him. I can't help but think of all of the men I have cared for similarly. The boys who grew into men under gunfire and my command. I remember sitting at the side of so many hospital beds waiting for my men to open their eyes and say something, anything, just so I would know that they were still with me. That I hadn't let down another one.
Augur still hasn't said anything. I know he knows I'm here. I didn't want to be the first one to talk. Too much time has gone by and I had no idea what to say. So instead I turned my attention on the man I had heard all about but never really met.
The Major...I couldn't help but follow the Resistance's lead. I couldn't call him Liam, I don't know him, and I couldn't call him Kincaid, not when I had known the real McCoy. He looks young, so young. Young and gaunt like he has been stretched too thin. There were dark purple smudges under his eyes and basically he looked like death warmed over. Which I suppose in a way he is.
The questions were starting to build up and the silence was getting more and more heavy. Finally I knew I had no choice I had to break the ice. I wracked my brain trying to come up with something to say, something that wouldn't sound trite or stupid. Nothing came to mind. "How are you Augur?" Mentally I grimaced. `Oh now those were heart warming words.'
Augur shook his head not turning around. "According to some I look like hell." I could hear the affection in his voice and I would bet my life that the Major was the one that had said those words. He sighed. "Why are you here Boone?"
"I'm here because you're here Augur." Augur finally turned around. The openness in his face surprised me. Augur was flashy and outspoken, never letting anyone see how he really felt. At least he used to be that way but not anymore. He had changed. Life had changed him. I could see it in his eyes. The fact that even the familiar things from my life had changed was a blow. It was like the last leg had been kicked out from under me. Rationally I knew that time changes people but I never expected Augur to change. I expected to find him exactly as I remembered. Clearly I was wrong. I felt heavy like the weight of the world had settled back on my shoulders. I had been expecting it to be like old times and instead once again the fact that I had missed out on the last few years was thrown back in my face.
"Don't snowball me Boone."
I sighed. "I'm not snowballing you Augur." I glanced at the still sleeping Major. "Why don't we talk in the other room?"
Augur glanced back at him also hesitating but he nodded. He dropped the Major's hand and stiffly rose. He gestured to the door. "After you Boone." As I walked through the threshold I glanced once more back at the Major lying in his bed and Augur standing beside him. In my heart I had been expecting to find my friend and pick up exactly where I'd left off. Everything I knew was gone. My sister, my allies, even my enemies and now... Well at least Augur wasn't dead. The dead definitely don't change and while that may have been in a way what I wanted, my friend unchanged, I would really rather have a live Augur than a dead one. After all even if he wasn't the old Augur I remembered he was still Augur. We had become friends once, we could do it again.
I left Kary yelling at Boone for upsetting Liam. She sure did take to the kid. `Must be that whole bird with a broken wing routine.' As always Liam hadn't noticed her attentions. I sighed. Liam. With the help of Boone I was able to get Liam into the med-bay. The monitors showed that Liam had just suffered from a lack of energy and fainted. I slight smile played on my lips. The great Resistance Leader/Companion Protector had fainted. Then I thought about all his injuries and how bad off he had to be to faint. It made me face once again what terrible shape Liam was in. How fragile he really was. I couldn't leave him; I didn't want to leave him. I held onto his hand, making sure he wouldn't disappear. Even in the shape he was in he had come to my rescue. He' got to be the most selfless person I ever met. I looked down on my friend's peaceful face and thought about the friend in the next room. Part of me wanted to grab Boone up in big hug and another part was wary of his sudden
return. My memories of Lazarus still haunt me sometimes. Yet this time he seemed to be the genuine article, no Taleon energy left to run another clone.
The noise had quieted down and I knew without turning that Boone hadn't waited for me to come out he had come in. I felt a mixture of relief and anger; relief that I wouldn't have to leave Liam and anger at Boone for coming where he wasn't invited. It was irrational since I was still thanking God that he was alive but I felt defensive with Boone here. I worked hard to get past what had happened to me and I had worked hard to help Liam. Now Boone comes along and he's threatening everything I've worked for. I feel selfish but there it was. I didn't know why he had come but I knew that it wasn't for a social call. Or maybe it was. My mind racing I considered the world today. Everyone that Boone knew was dead or gone. Lili was dead, Belman was missing she'd reportedly disappeared into the woodwork, a lot of the last of the Liberation people had been rounded up when the Taelons declared Martial Law, and even Doors had kicked the bucket. The original members of the Liberation were
gone and I was the only one left that still remembered his world. Maybe Boone just didn't want to feel alone. I understand that feeling. One of my reasons for joining the Liberation in the first place was not wanting to feel alone. Hackers are usually alone because of the nature of their work. We can't trust easily. My try at partnership hadn't worked out well and I saw the Liberation as a way to relieve my loneliness and as a way to make up for the things I had done. So maybe my fears were unfounded, maybe he wasn't here to drag the both of us back into that world that I thought had disappeared with the Taelons deaths. But then if there was no new threat to fight how was he standing behind me? There was no way he had been underground all these years. Where had he been and what had brought him back?
Boone was still silent. He was like that. He was waiting for me to open up the conversation. I knew I was being petty but I didn't want to be the one to give in first.
Boone
I know Augur. Or at least I knew him. Still in all my memories of the master hacker he never acted protective of anything other than his own hide. Yet I can see in the way he watches the Major. The way he holds onto him trying to reassure himself that his friend wasn't going to disappear that he would do anything to protect him. I can't help but think of all of the men I have cared for similarly. The boys who grew into men under gunfire and my command. I remember sitting at the side of so many hospital beds waiting for my men to open their eyes and say something, anything, just so I would know that they were still with me. That I hadn't let down another one.
Augur still hasn't said anything. I know he knows I'm here. I didn't want to be the first one to talk. Too much time has gone by and I had no idea what to say. So instead I turned my attention on the man I had heard all about but never really met.
The Major...I couldn't help but follow the Resistance's lead. I couldn't call him Liam, I don't know him, and I couldn't call him Kincaid, not when I had known the real McCoy. He looks young, so young. Young and gaunt like he has been stretched too thin. There were dark purple smudges under his eyes and basically he looked like death warmed over. Which I suppose in a way he is.
The questions were starting to build up and the silence was getting more and more heavy. Finally I knew I had no choice I had to break the ice. I wracked my brain trying to come up with something to say, something that wouldn't sound trite or stupid. Nothing came to mind. "How are you Augur?" Mentally I grimaced. `Oh now those were heart warming words.'
Augur shook his head not turning around. "According to some I look like hell." I could hear the affection in his voice and I would bet my life that the Major was the one that had said those words. He sighed. "Why are you here Boone?"
"I'm here because you're here Augur." Augur finally turned around. The openness in his face surprised me. Augur was flashy and outspoken, never letting anyone see how he really felt. At least he used to be that way but not anymore. He had changed. Life had changed him. I could see it in his eyes. The fact that even the familiar things from my life had changed was a blow. It was like the last leg had been kicked out from under me. Rationally I knew that time changes people but I never expected Augur to change. I expected to find him exactly as I remembered. Clearly I was wrong. I felt heavy like the weight of the world had settled back on my shoulders. I had been expecting it to be like old times and instead once again the fact that I had missed out on the last few years was thrown back in my face.
"Don't snowball me Boone."
I sighed. "I'm not snowballing you Augur." I glanced at the still sleeping Major. "Why don't we talk in the other room?"
Augur glanced back at him also hesitating but he nodded. He dropped the Major's hand and stiffly rose. He gestured to the door. "After you Boone." As I walked through the threshold I glanced once more back at the Major lying in his bed and Augur standing beside him. In my heart I had been expecting to find my friend and pick up exactly where I'd left off. Everything I knew was gone. My sister, my allies, even my enemies and now... Well at least Augur wasn't dead. The dead definitely don't change and while that may have been in a way what I wanted, my friend unchanged, I would really rather have a live Augur than a dead one. After all even if he wasn't the old Augur I remembered he was still Augur. We had become friends once, we could do it again.