***

Something had made Sandoval turn his head at the exact moment Kincaid walked in, so he had been in a perfect position to watch the Major’s reaction as he first took in the scene on the Mothership’s bridge. As soon as he caught sight of the people around Zo’or’s chair, Kincaid’s eyes grew wide and he froze for a moment, staring at his former superior and the others in stunned disbelief. Clearly, the Major had not been aware of the Synod Leader’s plans.

Sandoval did not know why that knowledge brought him such a sense of relief, but somehow it did, and a weight the former Protector hadn’t even been aware of seemed to leave his shoulders. Kincaid was arrogant and judgmental, and he never even pretended to be Sandoval’s friend, but, for some reason the former Agent did not understand, the thought that the Major might be involved in Zo’or’s plot to destroy him had hurt even more than Tate’s betrayal.

Sandoval was suddenly very aware of how he must look to his former subordinate – his face must still be tearstained, and his normally immaculate suit had clearly been ruined almost beyond all recognition by the two Volunteers who were still gripping him from behind. Suddenly self-conscious, he relaxed as much as he could in the hands of the Volunteers, showing by his posture that he was back in control of his emotions, and that he would not try to attack anybody again. His guards let him go, but he could still feel their eyes boring into his back, and he knew that is he made any move that was at all suspicious they would grab him again. Moving slowly and carefully, so as not to startle his two watchdogs, Sandoval straightened out his suit as much as he could and wiped his face, glaring at the Major as he did so, daring him to make any comment on his appearance.

Whatever else could be said about Da’an’s Protector, however, he was nothing if not fast on his feet. After just one more incredulous glance around the room, Kincaid schooled his expression into an impassive mask that had become so familiar to Sandoval in their years of working together. The Major then moved further onto the bridge, determinedly ignoring his former superior and the other humans present, and concentrating on the two Taelons instead.

“Ah, Major, I am glad you are here,” Zo’or said as soon as he caught sight of Kincaid. “Please take Mr. Sandoval into custody and escort him to cell block C.”

Despite the fact that he must have been expecting such orders after seeing the two Volunteers guarding his former superior, the Major’s eyes widened, his impassive mask slipping once again. He cast another quick glance at Sandoval, turning back to Zo’or before his former colleague could see anything other than disbelief and what almost looked like fear – fear?! It could not be. What could Kincaid possibly be afraid of? – in his expression.

“You are arresting Agent Sandoval? On what charge?” Major Kincaid’s tone was cautious, as though he was not sure how to react – a far cry from the relief and approval Sandoval expected from the Major at the thought of imprisoning the man he must have thought of as his enemy.

"Mister Sandoval has been arrested for charges too numerous to mention, Major, including betraying his oath as a Protector. Surely you have noticed that he has been acting a little differently lately? I seem to remember hearing you mention this fact,” was Zo'or's immediate self-satisfied reply.

“But…” There really wasn’t anything to say to that. As a Companion Protector himself, Kincaid knew the seriousness of the charge. Every potential Protector was explained the consequences of breaking their oath before they were allowed to begin their service. It was clear from the Major’s expression, too, that Zo’or’s refusal to call Sandoval by his former rank in the FBI had finally registered, and that Kincaid had understood the implications of that deliberate slight. And yet, to Sandoval’s surprise, the Major still looked reluctant to follow Zo’or’s orders.

“Your loyalty to your former colleague is commendable, Major,” Zo’or said, making it sound like anything but. “But your duty is clear. Take Mr. Sandoval to his cell immediately.”

And still the Major looked like he was trying to think of a way to delay the inevitable. He looked at Tate, Dee Dee and Da’an in turn, as if hoping that one of them would provide them with the support he needed to convince Zo’or to abandon his new plans. Seeing no reaction from them – Da’an’s hands might have moved a little faster and he might have blushed a little bluer as he looked back at his protector, but it was hard to tell for sure, and Tate and Dee Dee gave no response at all – Kincaid drew his breath as if to speak, but clearly he could think of nothing to say.

Watching the Major’s weak attempts to put off the moment of his arrest, the former Agent felt a wave of bitter anger come over him. How could Kincaid, who had always been his enemy, feel any doubt at arresting him when the two people in the world that Sandoval had almost allowed himself to trust, one of whom was his own wife, had felt no hesitation at betraying him? No, it was more likely that the Major was just pretending that he did not want to follow Zo’or’s orders, so that he could rub the change in their relative positions in Sandoval’s face.

Look at him, standing there, completely free, when his former superior is under such heavy guard. How he must be enjoying himself, watching his enemy’s pain from underneath that pathetic uncertain expression he’s feigned for the benefit of his audience! The bitter thoughts fanned the former Agent’s anger, until it was hard for him to keep still, even with the knowledge that the two Volunteers behind him were watching his every move.

How dare he! He could at least show some respect!

“Oh stop pretending, Major!” Sandoval finally burst out, unable to keep his anger at bay. “You are not fooling anybody! We all know that this is what you’ve always wanted. Isn’t this the justice you keep talking about?”

Startled by the obvious outrage in Sandoval’s voice, Kincaid swung back to face his former superior, and, for the first time that night, the former Agent found himself truly looking into the Major’s eyes.

For a moment, everything else seemed to fade as Sandoval struggled to understand what he saw in the other man’s gaze. There was no gloating victory in Kincaid’s eyes, no happiness at the fall of a hated enemy. Instead, Sandoval saw anger at being put in a position the Major seemed to find extremely unpleasant, a painful confusion, a surprising amount of fear, as though it was taking every ounce of Kincaid’s willpower not to run out of the room… And something else, some emotion lurking in the back of the Major’s eyes that the former Agent felt he should recognize, but could not quite comprehend.

He wasn’t pretending, Sandoval realized with a start. He really doesn’t want to be doing this. Why? What can he possibly be afraid of?

“Is there something wrong, Major?” Zo’or’s smooth voice broke into his former protector’s thoughts, and Sandoval saw the impassive mask fall back over Kincaid’s face, an icy determination replacing the complex swirl of emotions in the Major’s eyes.

“No, Zo’or. No problem.” Kincaid looked back at the Synod Leader, a perfect protector once again.

For just a second longer, the Major’s eyes lingered on Zo’or, and on Da’an, still standing silent by the Synod Leader’s chair, looking more agitated than ever. Then Kincaid turned and faced Sandoval once again, his face cold and unreadable.

“I assume he has been searched?” he asked the two Volunteers, nodding absently at their answering “Yes, Sir.”

“Well then, let’s go,” he snapped, suddenly seeming impatient to leave.

For a moment, it almost looked like the Major was going to grab Sandoval’s arm, and the former Agent tensed himself for the inevitable humiliation. At the very last second, however, Kincaid changed his mind and gestured for his prisoner to precede him off the bridge, as if he was unwilling to come too close to his former superior.

For what was probably the last time in his life, the former Companion Protector looked around the room in which he had spent so much of the last seven years of his life. Then he followed his new captor’s unspoken orders and left the bridge and his old life behind.

The last memory Sandoval had of the group remaining on the Mothership’s bridge was of his wife’s smiling face as she watched Kincaid and the Volunteers force her former husband out of the room.

***

***

Even seen through the filter his CVI provided, most of that morning’s walk through the Mothership was a blur to the former Agent. The events on the bridge had been so sudden and so unexpected that they had knocked Sandoval completely off balance. Memories of Dee Dee’s smiling face, so happy from the thought of hurting him, of Zo’or’s cold contemptuous smile, of the amused look on Tate’s face as he admitted that he had betrayed him, and even of the unexpected uncertainty in Kincaid’s gaze in that moment when their eyes had met, were all jumbled up inside his head, making it hard for him to concentrate on anything else. At times, he had difficulty just putting one foot ahead of the other without falling.

It seemed to Sandoval that time had slowed down, so that each step he made seemed to take much longer than it usually did. He was sure that their little group was moving fairly fast, and yet Sandoval felt as if they had been walking for hours without getting anywhere, as though his whole life had consisted of walking down the dark corridors of the Mothership with Kincaid by his side and the two Volunteers behind him, and everything else was just a distant memory.

I must be going into shock, that small analytical part of his mind that always seemed to be working decided, and he knew he was far gone when even that thought failed to frighten him.

Even in his distracted state, however, the former Agent eventually began to notice that Kincaid was walking slower than he was, lagging slightly behind as though determined to make their walk as long as possible. Discovering that he could still be irritated even through the dark cloud of despair that seemed to envelop him, the former Companion Protector looked to see what was taking the Major so long, turning his head around more fully when he saw what Kincaid was doing.

The Major seemed to be playing with the weapon on his left side, loosening it in its holster and rotating the hilt slightly away from his body, so that it ended up turned at a strange angle, in a position from which it would be difficult for Kincaid to draw it quickly.

What the hell is he doing? Sandoval wondered, the surprise clearing his mind somewhat. One of the first rules he had always been taught about escorting prisoners to their cells was never to allow them any access to any weapon, especially his own. Sandoval had had many problems with the way Da’an’s Protector had performed his duties in the past, but the Major had never been this incompetent.

Long habit made the former Companion Protector open his mouth to begin what he later realized would have been a completely ridiculous tirade against his former colleague’s stupidity, forgetting for a moment that he himself was the prisoner in question, but the words froze in Sandoval’s throat as he looked up and saw the expression on Kincaid’s face.

The Major was watching him, an urgent, almost desperate message in his eyes. Seeing that Sandoval had finally looked back at him, Kincaid’s then moved his gaze to a point beyond his former employer’s left shoulder, where, the former Agent suddenly realized, a sudden burst of adrenaline clearing his thought processes completely, there was a corridor leading to one of the many portals from the Mothership.

He wants me to escape, Sandoval realized, a sudden surge of hope and excitement going through him.

With his mind now clear, Sandoval remembered the way Kincaid had carefully masked his manipulation of his gun with that long coat he always wore, so that the motion would only be visible to his prisoner and no one else. And, the former Agent realized as he thought about the final position of the gun, although the new angle of the hilt would make it awkward for Kincaid to draw his weapon, it was now in a perfect position for Sandoval to grab it from the Major. This was no incompetence – it was a deliberate message.

It didn’t matter why the Major had decided to help the man he had always referred to as his enemy – Sandoval could figure that out later. All that mattered at that moment was that there was now a chance that the former Agent now had a hope to escape the terrible fate that Zo’or promised him. Any chance, however small, had to be seized.

Sandoval waited until Kincaid looked back at him, and willed his eyes to tell the Major that he had understood the message. He saw a brief look of relief flash in Kincaid’s eyes, and he realized that although the uncertainty and fear were almost gone from the Major’s gaze, that other emotion he had not recognized on the bridge was still there, as strong as ever. Somehow, even though he still could not quite identify what the emotion was, seeing it made Sandoval feel warmer inside.

The whole silent exchange between the two former colleagues had not lasted long – they had not even had time to stop moving, although they had slowed down a bit as they looked at each other, but Sandoval felt like his world had been turned upside down again in those few short moments. Gone was the listless resignation he had felt during the first part of his walk. Now, he felt like he could not wait to get to his destination. It took considerable effort on his part to keep walking at the same pace without speeding up.

Kincaid moved up to walk on Sandoval’s right side, his face once again completely unreadable. The impassive look on the Major’s face was so convincing that, for a moment, it even seemed to the former Companion Protector that he had imagined what he had seen in his jailer’s eyes, desperation making him see a hope that was not really there. But then Kincaid made a seemingly casual movement with his arm, revealing his weapon for a second, and the former Agent saw that it was still in a perfect position to be grabbed from the side.

So, as they finally moved up to the turn for the portal, Sandoval roughly pushed Kincaid aside, drawing the Major’s gun as he did so. Even as he grabbed the gun, he noticed that it had been locked on Stun. Kincaid might have decided to help Sandoval escape for some reason, but he still clearly did not want to take the chance of the former Agent killing anyone.

Without pausing to consider the thought, Sandoval shot Kincaid point blank, and then turned his weapon on the two Volunteers behind him. The two guards might have been surprised by the suddenness of the attack on the Major, but they were two of the best, and they were already bringing their guns to bear on him as he turned to them.

Sandoval rolled to avoid their shots, hitting his side painfully in one awkward move, his body still not completely recovered from his earlier shocked state, even though his mind was now completely clear. He ignored the pain, however, shooting both guards in the necks, where he knew their armor was the weakest, in two perfect fast shots, and making a run for the corridor leading to the portal even before he saw them fall.

It took him only a little while to program the location he wanted into the portal, and only slightly longer to make sure the coordinates would be completely scrambled after he left, but it was enough time for the guards to recover. Cursing the loss of his Scrill for perhaps the thousandth time since it happened, Sandoval sprinted for the center of the portal, but his short run was still enough time for one of the Volunteers to shoot him in the shoulder, and the former Agent could not avoid a cry of pain at the burning sensation in his arm.

As the portal finally started working, Kincaid ran into the portal room, having taken a slightly longer time to recover than the guards because he had not been wearing any armor. The Major’s eyes were wide with alarm, but Sandoval had just enough time to see the relief in his gaze before the scene on the Mothership disappeared in a flash of light and the former Agent found himself at the abandoned warehouse he had chosen as his destination.

The former Agent had kept that look of relief on Kincaid’s face in his mind all through his desperate flight through the city. It was that look that made him choose his former subordinate’s apartment as the destination of his flight. Thinking back on it now, from the relative safety of the Major’s home, Sandoval could see that he had made the right decision. Whatever the reason Kincaid had chosen to help him, it was clear that the Major at least wanted to keep him alive, and the former Companion Protector needed help very badly. Perhaps Kincaid would agree to remain the former Agent’s ally for at least a little while longer. After all, despite the many disagreements the two former colleagues had had, and the many bad words that were exchanged, the Major had never hesitated in backing him up in a fight.

Feeling better after his short rest, and having gotten used to the darkness, Sandoval decided to get up and take a look around the room. His side and shoulder still hurt, but there was no time to concentrate on the pain. Kincaid might be back any moment, and the former Protector wanted to at least get a feeling for the apartment he was in before facing the Major.

Although Sandoval had worked with Da’an’s Protector for several years, he had never been to Kincaid’s apartment before. He had never seen the need. And, the former Agent suddenly realized, the Major had avoided going to his apartment when he’d been implanted with the surveillance CVI after Da’an had gone missing, having gone to the Flat Planet Café downstairs to drown his sorrows in beer instead. That in itself was interesting, and Sandoval was suddenly eager to see if there was anything in the apartment to show his former colleague might be hiding.

Kincaid’s home was sparsely furnished, as though the Major did not spend that much time there. With its slightly futuristic look, it looked more like the sort of place Kincaid’s hacker friend Augur might prefer than the kind of apartment Sandoval would expect the Major to live in. But then, the former Agent remembered, it had been Augur who had rented the apartment to the Major in the first place.

There was some sort of painting behind the chair Sandoval had sat in, but the former Companion Protector could not examine it very carefully because of the darkness in the room and he did not dare turn on the lights. It was a pity Sandoval could not see the painting, since people’s choice in art often could reveal much about them. Then again, it was most likely that the painting had belonged to Augur as well, which would mean that it would not show anything about Kincaid’s tastes.

On the other side of the room, by a Computer and Communication screen in the wall, there was what seemed to be a fully-stocked bar, with a small barely-used kitchen behind it. Sandoval looked longingly at the bottles lined up in the back of the bar, but he knew that in the state he was in, hungry and in the final stages of fatigue, he could not afford any alcohol in his system. He needed his mind to be as clear as possible when the Major came home, and he could no longer rely on his CVI to prevent him from getting drunk.

There were two bookcases full of books standing in the back of the room, but the former Companion Protector could not see enough to read any titles. There was what appeared to be a Taelon puzzle lying on one of the shelves, fully assembled. Sandoval briefly picked it up, trying to examine it in the low light of the room. If it was the Major that had solved the puzzle, that was definitely an impressive display of skill. The former Agent had tried to figure out one of those things in the short time after the Taelons arrived and before he had been implanted with a CVI, but he had been unable to solve it. Of course, with his CVI fully functioning, he would probably be able to solve it in seconds, but Kincaid had no access to a CVI.

Finally, the former Agent came across a closed door on the opposite wall from the front door of the apartment, half hidden by the bookcases, that had to be the entrance to the Major’s bedroom. Looking inside, Sandoval saw that Kincaid’s sleeping place was almost as bare as the other parts of the apartment. A large bed, clearly a leftover from the days when Augur owned the apartment, took up most of the room, with a chair standing to one side of it. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a dresser standing on the far side of the bed, with some pictures upon it. There was a window right by the dresser that lit up the pictures a little bit, but it was still too dark to see anything other than the vague outlines of faces, even when Sandoval came closer to look.

Other than a small closet in the bedroom and a bathroom on the other side of the bookcases in the main room, there did not seem to be anything else in the apartment. It was strange – even when there had been a need to maintain the illusion that his CVI was still functioning, Sandoval’s own apartment had had more personal touches than this one. But then again, what with all the plots Kincaid seemed to be involved in, it was possible that the Major had simply had no time in the past few years to personalize his apartment.

After hesitating for a moment, Sandoval decided to wait for Kincaid in his bedroom. Knowing Zo’or’s likely reaction to his former Protector’s escape, the Major was probably going to be extremely tired when he came home, and Sandoval did not want to startle him by being somewhere Kincaid could stumble over him immediately upon getting home. Besides, staying hidden for a little while would give the former Agent some time to observe Da’an’s protector and see what mood the other man was in. If he was going to convince Kincaid to help him, he needed all the information he could get.

Realizing that he was too weak to stand for any length of time, Sandoval moved the chair that had been by the bed in the Major’s bedroom to stand by the door and sat down, leaving the door slightly ajar, so that he could have a good view of the entrance to the apartment and of the corner of the front room with the Computer and Communications screen, but he himself would be extremely hard to see.

He had obtained all the facts he could get out of Kincaid’s apartment in the dark. Now, all he could do was wait for the Major to come home.
***

***

For a long time, the apartment was dark and quiet. The sounds of the city seemed far away, as though coming from a completely different world. Sandoval knew that he should keep alert, sitting as he was in his enemy’s home, but somehow, the very atmosphere of the room he was in seemed almost welcoming, as though some part of him could sense that its usual occupant would never hurt him. Unwilling to probe that unsettling certainty further, and deciding to simply accept it for the moment, the former Agent soon found himself almost dozing off in the relative silence of the room.

Finally, as Sandoval was beginning to wonder if Kincaid had found a different place to sleep for the night, he began to hear the sounds of someone moving outside the door. For a few seconds, all he could hear was someone putting in the security code on the outside door, and he felt himself tensing up in preparation for the Major’s arrival. Ready as he was for Kincaid to appear, however, he was not prepared for the raw fury on the Major’s face, as the other man literally swept into the room.

The bang of the door being slammed shut with a vicious kick covered the sound of the security code being entered inside the room and the quiet voice of the security system acknowledging Kincaid’s presence. Hidden in the darkness of the bedroom, Sandoval cringed at the sound, the crash seeming even louder in the previously peaceful silence of the apartment, but Kincaid didn’t even seem to notice the noise. The Major turned on the light and glared around his living room, as though he was wishing for somebody to be there so that he could release at least some of his anger, and the former Agent found himself grateful that he had had the foresight to hide in the bedroom and assess the Major’s mood before confronting him.

Sandoval had seen Kincaid angry before. The dangerously flashing green eyes and the stubborn set of the mouth had become familiar to him over the course of many confrontations. Even at the worst of times, however – even when the Major had threatened to kill him after he had found what had been done to Captain Lili Marquette, he had never seen Da’an’s Protector this openly furious. There had always been another emotion that seemed to prevent Kincaid from showing all of his anger, no matter how much he had been provoked, and Sandoval had to admit to himself that sometimes he had tried to aggravate the Major just to see how angry he would become.

Safely inside his own apartment and believing himself alone, Kincaid seemed to feel free to show the full extent of his fury, and the former Agent had to fight against the insane urge to move his chair farther into the shadows, knowing that the danger of making a sound at such a moment far outweighed the apparent benefits of the deeper darkness of the bedroom. Clearly, the Major’s day had only gotten worse after Sandoval had escaped. Then again, considering how angry Zo’or must have been when he had heard of his former Protector’s escape, perhaps that fact was not too surprising.

The Major tore off his long leather jacket and threw it on the armchair in the corner in one angry move, starting to pace around the room before the jacket even hit its target, apparently having too much energy to stay still.

“Damnit!” Sandoval heard the Major say angrily, his voice echoing strangely in the otherwise quiet room. “Bastard! Who does he think he is?!”

The former Agent followed Kincaid’s progress around the room – those parts of it that he could see – with growing bemusement, finding it strange to see the Major this angry at someone other than himself, even though he still had no idea as to the cause of such fury.

Several minutes passed, and the Major did not seem to be getting any calmer. If anything, Kincaid’s temper seemed to be getting worse and worse, as if he was deliberately trying to talk himself into getting more angry. Sandoval even began to fear that if he remained hidden much longer, the Major might get angry enough to kill him on sight. Just as the former Agent began to think that he might have to make his presence known despite the fact that Kincaid did not look like he was ready to hear anybody’s pleas for help, the Computer and Communications screen in the corner of the room beeped, signaling that someone was trying to get a call through, and the former Agent decided to stay silent for a while longer, to see what he would be able to learn.

The Major flinched at the sound of the beeping, stopping his pacing and turning to glare at the offending object as if trying to silence it through will power alone. He made no move to answer the call as the beeping continued, waiting for his answering machine to do it for him.

Kincaid began pacing again as the computer answered the call, as though trying to ignore the sound and convince himself that he did not have to acknowledge it, but he could not prevent himself from stopping in the center of the room and listening as the message from the caller on the other end was transmitted.

“Liam, I know you are there! I called the embassy, and they told me you went home half an hour ago. Stop avoiding me and answer the call!” The voice of Renee Palmer rang through the apartment, and the Major made a face – clearly, he had expected the Doors International executive to be the one calling, and was not happy to be right.

“Damnit, Liam, answer me!” Palmer sounded almost more exasperated than angry, but there was no mistaking the determination in her voice. “I am not going to stop calling until you do.”

For a moment, it seemed as if Kincaid was going to ignore the call anyway, but then he sighed and, crossing the room to the C&C screen in two angry steps, pressed the button to connect the call.

Sandoval leaned forward to listen, never taking his eyes off Kincaid and the C&C screen in front of him, blessing the lucky chance that had put him in such a good position to observe both. Kincaid’s relationship with Ms. Palmer was something the former Agent could never understand. They seemed to work well together, and these days, it seemed like there was no way to do anything with the Doors executive without the Major also getting involved. Kincaid had seemed very concerned about the Doors’ executive when she had been hurt, before that strange former Companion Protector, Malley, kidnapped her on the Mothership. And he seemed to be willing to help Palmer guard him, before the ANA trial, for no other obvious reason than that she asked him to.

Yet, in the few conversations the former Agent had overheard when the two had taken him in protective custody before that same disastrous ANA trial, it sounded as if there were still many subjects in which they disagreed with each other. Kincaid seemed somewhat ambiguous about the ANA, and still stalwart in his loyalty to Da’an, if not the other Taelons, while Ms. Palmer made no effort to conceal her ANA contacts, and was more than willing to admit to her hatred of Taelons on more than one occasion. Remembering the disagreement the two had had after Sandoval had been hurt by the assassin after resigning from his post as Companion Protector because of his deal with the ANA, and the way the Major had implied that he was one of the people who wanted Sandoval dead, the former Agent could not figure out how Ms. Palmer had convinced Kincaid to help them.

In his last few months as a Companion Protector, as the connection between Kincaid and the Doors executive became more apparent, Sandoval had wanted to look into this strange relationship between Ms. Palmer and the Major more closely, hoping to find some proof that Kincaid was not completely faithful to the Taelons. With his problems with Zo’or increasing, and his grip on his network of contacts slipping, however, he had simply had no time to think about anything else, and he’d never had the opportunity to follow up on his curiosity about Kincaid and Renee Palmer. It seemed like he would get his chance to learn more now.

***