(And yes, I'm well aware that I am an evil, evil person. evil grin)
Disclaimers in Pt. 1.
Augur leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes with one hand. It was 4am, and he'd been working fairly steadily for the past three days on various projects - most of them involving Liam and the Resistance in some form or another. He needed sleep - but even more than that, he really needed to talk to Liam about the results he had been getting.
The first thing that had happened had been a message from Bettis concerning FBI Special Agent Andrew Patterson. It had been waiting for him Wednesday afternoon when he'd got home after his meeting with Renee. The message had essentially said that according to Colonel Kincaid, Patterson posed no threat whatsoever to Operation Dark Knight.
That had been strange enough - how could Patterson's discovery and hacking of Dark Knight's files be anything but a threat to them? - but what had been even stranger had been the fact that Bettis hadn't provided any explanations. There had been absolutely no reasons given for why Patterson wasn't a threat, and it had Augur completely, utterly flummoxed. It simply made no sense!
So he'd decided to do a bit more digging into Patterson, and had quickly hit an adamantine wall, one he hadn't been able to get past, though he'd tried for several hours. He'd finally left a probe running, and gone on to some of the other puzzles he needed to investigate.
The next puzzle had been looking into some of the projects Doors International was running, as Liam had requested in his message, and the results of that investigation were definitely something he had to discuss with the kid.
So far, he'd found three other projects - aside from the vaile - that had to do directly with Resistance matters, and that he knew Liam hadn't been told about: Project Lambda, Project Illusion, and Project Luna. He'd also discovered that the details of the projects were being moved off the main Doors International server - most likely they were being moved to a secure, isolated server, probably at Renee's instigation. If there were any other projects - which there could quite easily be - they'd already been moved over.
Then yesterday morning, during his routine scan of the Taelon mothership computers, Augur had discovered that Sandoval had brought in an outside interrogator - a Dr. Bacon - to assist in the interrogation of Lt. Col. McKenna. He'd then researched Bacon, and found out that he was a CIA trained specialist in psychotropic drugs and truth serums. This was the one thing from the past three days he saw no need to tell Liam; the kid really didn't need to know that Sandoval planned to use drugs in the questioning of the man who'd tried to assassinate him. In Augur's opinion, McKenna deserved everything he was about to get.
He'd debated telling Renee about it, however, and had even gone so far as to call her, only to discover that she wouldn't be available for the next four days. It had - naturally enough, considering what had happened just recently with the vaile - made him suspicious, and he'd only just finished hacking into her personal computer to find out why.
What he'd found - after all this time spent - was two things. First of all, despite what he'd told her, Renee had gone ahead and tried to investigate Liam's whereabouts. All she'd managed to discover so far, apparently, was that Liam wasn't in Ireland - which Augur had already suspected. He'd never have suggested it if he'd thought Liam was actually there - Liam only went to Ireland to visit his mother's grave. He'd never have gone there on vacation.
The second thing he'd found out was that Renee was in France for the next few days with Doors and a certain Henri Reynaud, CEO of Exports Bordeaux Limitée and a good friend of Doors'. He wasn't sure exactly what Doors and Renee were up to, but he had the feeling it didn't bode well.
He really, really needed to talk to Liam.
Sandoval opened his eyes and glanced around. According to the small clock on the dresser, it was just after dawn; however, his room was as dark as it had been at midnight. Looking out the window, he saw that the rain was still pouring down.
More rain, he thought, with a sigh of resignation. Not that he'd intended to go out today; he still wasn't convinced Liam's fever - whatever the original cause had been - hadn't been made worse by his getting soaked. However, he'd been looking forward to going on a hike tomorrow. Unfortunately, after the storms of last night and this morning, it would take at least a day of sunlight for the ground to dry sufficiently.
He didn't feel like getting up yet; if the past two days were any indication, Liam would sleep in until at least nine, and Sandoval wanted to think a bit more about the revelations from yesterday.
There were four revelations in particular that he wanted to consider in greater detail.
The first - and most important in the present political state of things - was Liam's position as leader of the Resistance.
That revelation - while admittedly somewhat stunning - didn't change Sandoval's plans with regard to inviting Liam to join the elite. In fact, that plan now made even more sense; what better contact with the Resistance than its leader?
On the other hand, there was also a somewhat greater possibility that he would refuse to actually join, though Sandoval suspected he'd be happy enough to consider the elite as allies.
Nonetheless, Sandoval knew he would really prefer it if he could convince Liam to join. Even before he'd found out Liam was his son, he'd begun feeling protective of the younger man - Although that may have been partially due to those dreams, he admitted to himself, which were a whole other issue in and of themselves - and that protectiveness had only grown stronger since he'd discovered the truth. If Liam became part of the elite, he would have a great deal more control over what his son did in terms of missions against the Taelons.
Not that he'd be able to wrap Liam up in a cotton blanket, of course; the simple fact was that Liam's chosen life involved risk, and there was nothing Sandoval could do to completely eliminate those risks, no matter how much he might want to. And even if he could, Liam wouldn't thank him for it.
No, he couldn't eliminate - or even greatly reduce - the risks Liam faced every day; but if Liam joined the elite, they could provide him with added support and backup. Even that much would help make his son's life both easier and safer.
He would just, Sandoval decided, have to be extremely persuasive in his efforts to convince Liam to join them.
The second issue was that of Dr. Park. Sandoval wasn't sure that Liam realized he'd given away the fact that she was in the Resistance - or, at least, had been in the Liberation - when he'd commented that she had been the one to explain to Doors about his inherited memories. Sandoval had already suspected it, of course - partially because of her knowledge of Liam, and partially for other reasons - but that had been the final confirmation.
Sandoval had no intentions of using that knowledge against her, however. He had simply felt the need to know where he stood with his son's doctor. Once he'd told Liam about the elite - which would hopefully, in turn, make it obvious that he wouldn't punish anyone Liam revealed to him as being a member of the Resistance - he would ask how best to approach Dr. Park as Liam's father, rather than as Companion-Protector Agent Sandoval.
The third revelation he needed to think about - the most important personally speaking - was that concerning Liam's genetic memories.
Sandoval couldn't deny that the thought of Liam - either as 'Major Kincaid' or as his son - knowing everything about his life up until Ha'gel made him somewhat uncomfortable; though he'd been careful not to let Liam pick up on that discomfort last night. After all, he was a very private person to begin with, even with respect to his 'external' life; but if Liam had access to his memories, it meant that he also had access to the thoughts within the memories. It was very much a gross violation of privacy - even greater, in some ways, than the violation Ha'gel had committed by taking him as a host to create Liam.
It was no fault of Liam's, however, and Sandoval knew he would have to keep that in the forefront of his mind. None of it had been Liam's fault; if anyone was to blame for either violation, it was Ha'gel.
It was also something he was going to have to come to terms with quickly. Liam was very obviously having problems dealing with his Kimera heritage; and any negative reaction from him, Sandoval knew, would only make the entire situation worse - which was exactly the opposite of what he wanted to do.
At some point while we're here, I'm going to have to sit Liam down, and we'll have a long talk about the Kimera and what abilities Liam has inherited from them; and another long talk about exactly why he's so ashamed and frightened about that part of his heritage, Sandoval decided. I definitely shouldn't leave it too long... but when will have to depend on what happens.
As for the issue of Liam's genetic memories... It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to ask Liam for a bit more information about them... some time when he's fairly relaxed and open. All I know so far is that Liam has my memories, but can't 'access' all of them. I have no idea how that access is accomplished, or which memories he has that access to; nor do I know how he sees them. Better to find out before I decide how I'm going to react in the end. After all, it might not be as bad as I think.
That decision made, Sandoval turned his attention to the last issue he was worrying over from yesterday - Jonathan Doors.
When Liam had given him the explanation for how Doors knew about him, Sandoval's first reaction had been one of surprise, then of shock. His first thoughts had been about Siobhan, how she'd felt about Liam's birth, and the news that his son's 'childhood' had lasted no longer than an hour.
Later, after he'd moved past that first, immediate reaction, Sandoval had been surprised to realize that he felt jealous of Doors. The leader of the Liberation had been where he should have; had watched his son being born and been there afterwards, when Liam had changed, grown to physical adulthood. Doors should not have been there; that had been his - Sandoval's - right.
Added to that, the information about what had been done to Siobhan's CVI and his suspicion that Doors had been at least partially responsible for Liam's problems with his heritage...
A sudden hiss - felt more than heard - pulled Sandoval's attention out of his thoughts. For his emotions to be affecting his skrill to that extent, he had to be more angry with Doors than he'd ever been with anyone else, even Da'an or Zo'or.
Definitely not the best state of mind to be in while I'm here, Sandoval told himself firmly, as he finally got out of bed. Stroking Raven in an effort to calm him, he took out his clothes and started getting dressed. Liam isn't fragile, per se, but he is somewhat vulnerable at the moment - and he has that regrettable tendency to sometimes react without thinking. Better not to let him know I'm angry at all, rather than allow him to jump to conclusions.
Walking out of his room, Sandoval started for the stairs, only to stop at the door to Liam's room. He could hear something...
Pushing the door open, he peered in - and then hurried over to the bed.
Liam was lying twisted up in his blankets, thrashing around and muttering in what sounded to Sandoval like the bit of Irish Gaelic he'd heard once from Siobhan. He wasn't flushed at all, but he was sweating heavily, and looked as though he was trapped in a nightmare.
"Liam!" Sandoval called, reaching down to grab his son's uninjured shoulder.
Something - Sandoval wasn't sure whether it was the sound or the touch - woke Liam up, and he sat bolt upright, then moaned softly, his hand going involuntarily to his right shoulder.
"Liam? Are you all right?" Sandoval asked anxiously.
His son blinked in evident confusion, then focused on his face. "Sandoval?" Liam frowned and glanced around, then rubbed his face with his left hand. "I'm sorry - did I wake you up?"
"No," Sandoval replied, forcing himself to calm down. "I was already awake and just heading down to start mixing the batter for you to make pancakes. I heard something from in here, and came in to see if you were up." He paused for a moment. "It looked as though you were having a rather nasty nightmare, there. Do you want to talk about it?"
Liam hesitated, studying Sandoval's expression carefully. His father was right - it had been a nasty nightmare.
He'd thought once McKenna was imprisoned on the mothership, this particular dream would have stopped, and certainly the fact that he hadn't had it again - until just now - had supported that hypothesis. He'd thought that without the need to worry about McKenna's next move, or about Sandoval's reaction to his true identity, he'd be free of the nightmares that had plagued him last week.
Obviously he'd been wrong.
"Liam?" his father prompted. "Telling someone else about a nightmare often helps chase it away."
Not mine, Liam thought grimly; but then again, what would be the harm? McKenna was securely imprisoned on the mothership, and very unlikely to get free - so it was doubtful it was a precognitive dream, feeling or not.
"It... seems simple, I guess," he said slowly, "but it's all the more terrifying because of that.
"I'm standing somewhere - I don't really know where. McKenna's in front of me, facing me, and behind him is a large, shadowy human figure. There's nothing else, except a feeling of menace - and malice."
His father frowned thoughtfully. "To be honest, that sounds as though it might simply be a reaction to the stress of last week," he said. "Despite the fact that the past two days have been... somewhat eventful, you've still had more of a chance to relax than you have in a while, and nightmares tend to be part of the process of 'de-stressing'."
Liam hesitated again. Should he?
Then, remembering Sandoval's calm reaction to yesterday's revelations, he decided to go ahead. "It's not the first time I've had this dream," he admitted. "It started last Wednesday night, after the first attempt - though I didn't see McKenna's face until we'd identified him."
Sandoval's thoughtful frown deepened, and then he shrugged. "I don't know what you want me to say," he replied. "I still think it's more de-stressing than anything else.
"Now," he continued, the frown being replaced with a faint smile, "I am declaring today to be a stress and excitement-free day - except when I win Monopoly, of course. I'm allowed to be excited then. I'll just go down and start getting the batter ready; you follow when you're ready." With that, he turned and headed out of Liam's room.
Liam watched him leave, then stood up and carefully got dressed. His shoulder was hurting quite a bit again; undoubtedly because of the way he'd jerked awake when his father had called him. Better the sore shoulder than to stay in the dream any longer than he had, however. The pain could be dealt with - by the painkillers Dr. Park had prescribed, if nothing else; the menace in the dream was a different matter altogether.
As he started to head downstairs, Liam found himself thinking again about his father's reactions yesterday.
After a good night's sleep - nightmares excepted - he'd found himself a great deal more at ease with his father's calm acceptance of his genetic memories and rapid birth and growth to adulthood. After all, Sandoval had accepted from the beginning that he was part-Kimera.
What amazed him was the revelation that Sandoval had known he was a member of the Resistance for months, yet had done nothing about it. As far as he'd known at the time, they'd been adversaries; yet Sandoval had never said word one to Zo'or about it.
He would ask, Liam decided, as he reached the kitchen. Not today - his father was right in saying they needed a day without any further revelations - but perhaps tomorrow, or Monday.
"Come on in," Sandoval ordered, looking up from the mixing bowl. "What type of pancakes today?"
Liam thought for a minute, then asked, "Do we have any more blueberries?" as he sat down.
"Plenty," his father replied. "So blueberry pancakes again today?"
Liam nodded, a smile crossing his face.
"Blueberry it is." His father pulled the bowl of blueberries out of the fridge, then dumped a great many into the mixing bowl. "Why don't you put the pan on? Turn the burner to medium heat, then get a bit of butter, and melt it in the pan."
"Me?" Liam asked, even as he stood up to obey.
"I did say a few minutes ago that you were going to be making the pancakes this morning," his father pointed out calmly. "I don't want you mixing the batter until your shoulder is better, but the actual cooking of the pancakes is all yours."
Liam blinked, then his smile widened in delight. His father knew that his shoulder wouldn't be usable at all until after they returned to work, and the implication was that Sandoval intended to continue these impromptu cooking lessons.
"All right," he murmured out loud. "Burner on to medium, butter in the pan..."
Most of the pancakes - at least, the first several - had been rather unusually shaped - Liam had experienced a bit more trouble getting the batter from the full bowl into the pan than he'd expected, not to mention flipping them; but they all tasted delicious, and Liam felt even prouder of himself than he had yesterday.
It didn't exactly make that much sense, he knew - after all, they were only pancakes, and he'd cooked things before - but it didn't seem to matter. Maybe it was the fact that his father had commented that they were, "Delicious, and done just right," without Liam having asked. That was most probably it.
His father pushed away from the table and started moving their plates to the sink, then stopped and frowned at him. "Liam, have you taken your painkillers?" he demanded.
Liam blinked in surprise. "No," he replied carefully.
"Get them."
Liam blinked again, surprised by the order. Yes, his shoulder was hurting, but... "They make me drowsy," he protested.
His father's frown deepened. "You're in pain, Liam," he pointed out. "It's quite clear on your face. There's nothing we have to do today aside from relax, so go get the pills."
Under other circumstances, Liam might have protested further, but as he stood up, his right arm hit the edge of the table, and another flare of pain went through him. With a wince, he nodded obediently, and headed up to get them.
Once again, Sandoval cleaned up, and after Liam had taken the painkillers, they retired to the living room to light a fire and finish their second game of Monopoly.
Liam managed to remain in the lead, despite the drowsiness induced by his pills, and after a grueling hour and a half of play, he had won. His father then suggested they have the tie-breaker later in the afternoon - after Liam had a nap.
"A nap?" Liam repeated, feeling indignant. "I don't need a nap!"
His protest was made much less effective, however, by the yawn he couldn't avoid in the middle of it.
His father simply looked at him, and Liam resignedly curled up on the couch. He had no desire to go to sleep, but quickly found his eyelids getting heavy...
Dr. Julianne Belman looked up as her friend slid into the booth opposite her.
"Good afternoon, Melissa," Belman said, handing her a menu.
"Thanks," Dr. Melissa Park replied. "Sorry I'm late - got held up waiting for some test results to come in."
"It's no bother," Belman assured her. "Now, what did you want to talk about?"
Park glanced around, then fixed her eyes on the menu. "Let's order first, shall we?"
Ah, one of those problems, Belman realized.
The bistro they were lunching in was, in fact, a Resistance contact point, and most of its patrons tended to be Resistance members or sympathizers. Today, everyone here was associated with the Resistance - there were certain signals used when there were strangers around, and none of them were currently being displayed.
Nonetheless, there were still some subjects that the two of them dared not discuss openly even here - one of which, and the most likely topic of concern, was Liam.
"Sounds like an excellent suggestion to me," Belman agreed out loud, beckoning for their waiter.
Once they'd placed their orders, they settled in for a bit of idle chit-chat while waiting for their food, discussing mutual colleagues and some of the latest medical advances.
Being well known here, they tended to get served quickly, so it wasn't much more than five minutes from the time they placed their orders until they were served.
Belman waited until she was sure their waiter was out of earshot, and then said pointedly, "Well?"
Park's response was a heavy sigh. "I'm worried about Liam."
Remembering the 'request' Liam had made concerning the information to be given to Alice Curzon, Belman nodded in agreement. "So am I."
At that, Park looked shocked. "You haven't even seen his medical report!" she exclaimed. "Have you noticed anything wrong?"
Medical report? Belman wondered, puzzled. Is there something wrong with his health, aside from his injuries? "I wasn't speaking medically," she explained. "I've been more worried about certain things he's been up to lately."
"How do you mean?" Park asked.
Belman quickly told her about the sample from Alice, her results, and Liam's response.
Park frowned. "I have to admit, Sandoval was acting unusually concerned when Liam was in the hospital last week," she commented. "However, other than that, I saw no sign that he knew - and Liam certainly didn't mention anything to me."
Belman nodded slowly. "Nonetheless, I suspect Liam is trying to work his way up to telling him. I can't think of any other reason for him to have wanted Alice to know the sample came from a hybrid."
"I suspect you're right," Park agreed. "Liam has an appointment with me after he comes back from his vacation, before he returns to duty; how about I broach the subject with him then?"
"Good idea. Now," Belman continued, "what's this about medical concerns?"
Park sighed again. "I can't figure out what's going on with him. I'm hoping that together we can come up with some sort of answers." Reaching into the bag on the seat next to her, Park pulled out a familiar folder of medical reports labeled 'LBS' and passed it over to her. "Take a look at everything for the past week and a half - from Wednesday onwards."
As she started in on her smoked salmon, Belman did just that.
First of all she skimmed through the contents; then she went back and gave several items a closer look. The results of the injury body scans for both Wednesday and Sunday, the records of his injuries, the notation that his shaqarava were back...
"His shaqarava are back?" Belman exclaimed, keeping her voice down with an effort.
Park nodded. "Since just after the first assassination attempt, Liam's shaqarava were becoming itchy and turning a dark red. They kept getting redder and itchier until the explosion in the Embassy on Tuesday. Apparently Liam was actually in Da'an's office when it blew, and it was only the fact that he was able to activate his shaqarava that saved him. He told me Wednesday morning before he left."
Hmm... "You know, I never really believed that his shaqarava were actually gone in the first place," Belman said thoughtfully. "Dormant, perhaps, but not gone." She pulled out the scans again, and studied them. "Did you do a scan of him last Wednesday before he left?"
"No - I didn't have a chance, I'm afraid. He was in a bit of a hurry."
Absently tapping the scan from last Sunday with one finger, Belman asked, "Did he give any details about how his shaqarava started working again?"
"No. All he said was that he would have died if they hadn't activated," Park replied. "Why?"
"I was wondering... perhaps this," Belman tapped the scan again, "is indicating a build-up of energy that re-activated his shaqarava when he was threatened. Or there is another possibility; we have been seeing those changes in the last few bi-monthly tests," she added. "Perhaps what we're seeing on this scan is a completed intermediate step in a gradual change."
"That last is pretty much what I was thinking," her friend concurred. "The question is, what change - and how natural is it for Liam? We don't have any of that information, and at the moment, I'm not entirely certain of the wisdom of asking Da'an if he has more."
Belman frowned thoughtfully. "All I can suggest is that when Liam gets back, you do another body scan. If it turns out white again, then quite likely the first hypothesis is correct and the blue was the energy to reactivate his shaqarava building up in his body. If it's still blue, then there's something else going on - and I suspect the best bet would be to ask Liam if there's anything about this in Ha'gel's memories. That may be able to answer most of our questions." Putting the scans back in the folder, she returned it to Park.
"He's not going to like that," Park commented, slipping the folder back into her bag.
Belman's response was a shrug. "I didn't like being placed on the spot about the blood sample," she countered. "I think we could consider ourselves even at that point."
"I'll be sure to mention that to him," Park responded with a wicked grin. Then, turning her attention back to her lunch, she continued, "So, how is Peter Richards doing these days?"
"Oh, he's well enough. Just opened a clinic outside of Roanoke," Belman replied, going along with the change of subject and digging into her own lunch. "Nancy's pregnant again, and they're hoping for a girl this time..."
Liam opened his eyes slowly, taking in his surroundings.
He was still lying on the couch, though his father had evidently found an afghan somewhere and draped it over him. He could hear drops of rain still hitting the windows and the fire crackling in the fireplace over to the right. His father was sitting in the leather chair, reading what looked to be Magician's Gambit, which made Liam smile in amusement.
"Feeling better?" his father inquired dryly, without looking up from the book.
"Yeah," Liam admitted, a bit reluctantly. He didn't mention the fact that his shoulder was now itching so fiercely that it felt almost like it had been bitten by a whole swarm of mosquitoes.
His father's smile was half-smug, half-teasing. "I thought so." He gestured to the table. "I went ahead and made sandwiches for lunch - turkey and Swiss. Why don't you eat, and then feel free to do whatever you want - as long as you stay inside. I was thinking we could play our tie-breaker game during and after dinner, if you don't mind."
"Sounds fine to me," Liam agreed, hiding a smile of his own. His father hadn't looked up once from the book as he'd said that, and Liam recognized the signs that said Sandoval was completely absorbed in the story.
Standing up, he stretched, careful of his shoulder as he did so - and headed downstairs to the library.
He skimmed through the books, and while there were a number that looked interesting, Liam found his attention caught by a group of picture puzzles. He'd never actually done any before; Augur had always said that since he could solve Taelon puzzles in a matter of minutes - if that - he wouldn't be challenged by ordinary human puzzles.
Still, they looked rather interesting; and even if he could solve them immediately - which he wasn't that sure of, despite Augur's beliefs - he could at least have the fun of putting the picture together, seeing it take shape.
Picking a 5,000 piece puzzle with what looked to be a picture of Irish countryside, Liam headed back up to the living room. He removed everything except the plate of sandwiches his father had made from the table, then opened the box and carefully dumped the pieces out. They were rather small, which would add to the challenge.
"Make sure you eat," his father commented mildly, glancing up from his book long enough to give the puzzle a curious look.
"I will," Liam promised, and was about to start putting the puzzle together when something caught his attention.
With his CVI, Sandoval could read at about the same speed Liam could when he was concentrating. However, it appeared as though his father hadn't got through more than a few pages during the time it had taken Liam to get the puzzle.
"Do you mind if I ask you something?" Liam asked a bit hesitantly. "It isn't a big question," he added hastily as his father put the book down to look at him. "It's just something I'm curious about."
"All right, go ahead," Sandoval replied. His voice was neutral, and Liam understood that to mean that he reserved the right to decide not to answer.
"I was just wondering why you aren't using your CVI to read."
Sandoval looked mildly surprised at that, and then shrugged. "For the past little while, I've found that if I'm reading something just for the sake of reading it - as opposed to reports and paperwork, that is - I enjoy it more if I read it at a normal pace." He shrugged again. "They just seem more 'real' that way."
When Liam thought about it, he found it actually made sense. He'd always read very fast - right from the first - but Sandoval's ability to do so was given to him by the CVI. Before the Taelons had come and he'd been implanted, his father had read at something around the speed most humans considered normal. It seemed quite reasonable, actually, that when Sandoval's MI had failed, and he'd started to read for pleasure again, he'd consciously chosen to do something to make the separation clear.
"Okay, I think I understand," Liam said out loud.
"Why were you wondering about that?" Sandoval inquired.
Liam tilted his head in a shrug. "I just noticed that you hadn't got much farther in the book," he replied. "And since I know how fast the CVI lets you read, I was curious."
His father nodded in understanding, then picked up his book again. "By the way, if you want or need any help with the puzzle, let me know," he added, before diving right back into the story.
Liam nodded, picked up a sandwich, and began studying the pieces as he ate.
He'd been right about the differences between human and Taelon puzzles. Taelon puzzles were three-dimensional, with the pieces already attached; it was a matter of figuring out how they combined to form a specific shape - more like the descendants of the Rubix Cube and related toys than human picture puzzles. The puzzles were two-dimensional (even the '3-D' picture puzzles were really nothing more than two-dimensional puzzles put together at angles to form a three-dimensional shape), and were very much about matching not only exact shape, but colour as well. And with this particular puzzle having so many different shades - which Liam found harder to match than shapes, for some reason - it was bound to be an interesting challenge.
Sandoval put down Castle of Wizardry as his CVI informed him it was time to get started on dinner, and looked around the living room.
Liam was completely absorbed in the puzzle he was working on; it was mostly done, and Sandoval guessed that his son would probably get it finished while he was making dinner.
The rain had stopped an hour or two ago - he wasn't exactly sure when - and now the sun was shining in the big picture windows. Sandoval was pleased to see it was fairly bright. If it keeps up like this, some of the trails may be dry by tomorrow afternoon, he reflected. It would be nice to get out; as pleasant as the cabin itself was, it could still get rather stifling when you were shut in for two days.
In fact, Sandoval had to admit, he was surprised Liam hadn't been more agitated. His son tended to be antsy at the best of times, which this was not.
Perhaps it's his shoulder, Sandoval thought absently as he stood up. After all, pain can drain the energy right out of you...
Or perhaps, came another thought, it's simply that he's not really that antsy - maybe it's a trait only of his 'Major Kincaid' persona.
Liam looked up from the puzzle as he started to walk out of the room, and Sandoval gestured toward the kitchen with one hand. "I'm going to make dinner. If you finish the puzzle before it's prepared, why don't you then set up the Monopoly board? Otherwise, we'll simply wait until you're finished."
"'Kay," Liam replied absently, his attention returning immediately to the puzzle as he spotted the correct place for another piece.
Sandoval found himself smiling as he walked into the kitchen.
By the time dinner was made, Liam had indeed finished the puzzle. He'd even set the Monopoly board up on the floor, as opposed to the table, so that the completed puzzle was fully visible.
Sandoval put the tray down on the floor next to the gameboard and obeyed the rather unsubtle hint. "Very nicely done," he admired the puzzle. Liam smiled in response, obviously proud of himself - another reminder that no matter how old Liam looked, he was still less than two years old.
"Perhaps if there's a larger one down there," Sandoval continued, "we could do it together at some point?" He loved puzzles of all kinds, always had; it was one of the reasons he'd gone into the FBI. He'd also seen Liam's reaction this morning, when he'd said - if only by implication - that he intended to continue the cooking lessons.
Just as had happened earlier, Liam brightened visibly at the suggestion. "I saw a couple of 10,000 piece puzzles down there - two or three, I think," he said eagerly, sitting down on one of the cushions he had obviously taken from the couch.
"Well then, we have something to do later on this week," Sandoval answered, joining his son on the floor. "Now, dinner first, and then we'll play the tie-breaker game."
Liam dug in, and Sandoval was unsurprised to find that he enjoyed the meal a great deal. Judging from Liam's choices of meals, he appeared to have inherited Sandoval's taste in food wholesale.
Once dinner was cleared away, they rolled for their turns - Liam got to go first - and started play on the tie-breaker.
"Winner and champion!" Liam cheered, as his father landed on Pennsylvania Railroad and had to surrender the last of his funds.
"Indeed," his father replied, the dry tone marred somewhat by the chuckle which followed. "Consider me in awe of your skills at Monopoly. Is there anything in particular you want to do now?"
"Actually..." Liam flushed slightly as he yawned. "I hate to admit it, but I'm exhausted. I really think the pills are making me this sleepy."
Sandoval gave him another look. "It's much harder for your body to heal if you're in pain," he said firmly, and Liam winced slightly at the implied scolding.
"Now, would you like some green tea?" his father continued, standing up and then holding out his hand to help Liam.
"Yes, please," Liam replied immediately, taking the offered hand. He'd really enjoyed the green tea last night, and it had relaxed him enough to help him sleep. He hadn't known about it before his father had mentioned it - those particular memories were not ones he had access to, for some unknown reason or another - but now that he did know, he thought it would be a good habit to get into.
"All right - you get up to bed, and I'll be up in a few minutes with the tea."
Liam obediently headed upstairs to his room and got changed for bed. The itching pain in his shoulder - which had died down once he got started on the puzzle - was back again, and it was in an effort not to dwell on it that he started thinking about something he'd only just noticed this afternoon.
When he'd first agreed to accompany his father on this vacation, he'd expected there to be a great deal of awkwardness between them. And while there'd been quite a bit Wednesday, on the drive down, and Thursday, after Sandoval had told him about Lili, there hadn't been nearly as much as he expected. And yesterday and today had been almost free of that awkwardness, even with all he'd told his father yesterday.
Part of the lack of awkwardness might be due to the fact that they both wanted to ensure that this worked; but it couldn't explain everything. It certainly couldn't explain - not to Liam's satisfaction, at least - why Sandoval had been so comfortable sitting around and playing Monopoly with him all yesterday afternoon.
Yesterday... perhaps the fever had something to do with it.
Now that would make sense, Liam figured. His father had been very obviously concerned for him - perhaps that had helped cut through the awkwardness they felt.
Before he could ponder it further, however, a knock came at the bedroom door, and then Sandoval came in carrying a cup of tea.
"Here you go," he said, handing the cup to Liam. "Green tea with honey."
"Thanks," Liam replied, taking a sip. It tasted just as soothing and sweet as last night.
"You're welcome. Good night!" his father added, heading back into the hall.
"'Night!" Liam called after him, and then resumed sipping his tea and thinking about the ease between the two of them.
Once it was finished - and he'd reached no new conclusions - he put the cup on the bedside table and curled up under the covers. Despite the fact that he was tired, Liam didn't really expect to go to sleep for a while. However, almost the very minute his head touched the pillow, he felt darkness pulling him down into its depths.
The last thing he knew before consciousness fled was the feeling of a lance of fire piercing his wounded shoulder.