***

As soon as Palmer’s face appeared on the C&C screen, Kincaid crossed his arms defensively and glared at her, as if daring her to speak.

“Don’t start with me, Renee! I don’t want to hear it!” he snapped angrily, before the Doors executive could even open her mouth.

“Liam, you can’t just speak to someone like Hubble Urick this way! He’s too powerful to alienate like this!” Ms. Palmer sounded like she was trying to stay angry, but Sandoval could hear the concern behind the exasperation in her voice.

“He ordered me to kill Sandoval. Ordered me, Renee! Actually looked me in the eye and made it an official order. He had no right to do that! I thought I made it clear at the ANA trial that I would not follow any illegal orders, from anyone.” The Major was staring at Renee Palmer with a stubborn defiance that Sandoval had once thought was reserved for him alone. “And it’s not like I was that rude to him. I just told him that I couldn’t follow his orders. Damnit, who does he think I am?! His pet assassin?”

“Ronald Sandoval is a convicted criminal…” Ms. Palmer started, and Kincaid’s eyes widened with disbelief.

“Convicted by whom? I didn’t hear anyone convict him!”

“Well, they were going to convict him, and you know it! It was only Zo’or’s call from the Mothership that stopped them.”

“That whole trial was a farce, Renee!” The Major almost shouted, seeming, if anything, even more angry than before. “That man they had defending him asked me one reasonably good question. One! And he never really asked anybody else anything at all! Look at how he mishandled Tate! What happened to giving everyone a fair trial? I could have defended him better than that, and I was one of the star witnesses for the prosecution!”

Sandoval stared at his former subordinate in disbelief, trying to wrap his mind around what he was hearing. It did not surprise him that Hubble Urick had ordered his death. It was nothing he hadn’t done before, after all, although the fact that Urick believed that he had enough authority over Kincaid to make such an order seemed to imply that the Major was more deeply involved with the ANA than Sandoval had previously thought. That revelation, however, paled in comparison to the amazement the former Agent felt at seeing Kincaid’s anger over the events at the ANA trial and over receiving the order to kill his former employer.

Sandoval had tried to have Kincaid killed or exposed as a traitor more times than he could count. He had hurt Kincaid’s friends on more than one occasion. He had tortured the Major himself for pretty much no other reason than to prove that he could. These days, it seemed like every conversation they had dissolved into a heated argument, with both sides trying to hurt the other with sharp words as much as possible. Kincaid had called his former boss everything from a rat to an inhuman monster to his face. And yet here the Major stood, fiercely defending Sandoval’s right to survive.

For a moment, the former Agent considered the possibility that the Major knew that he was here, and was only pretending to defend him in an attempt to win his trust, but he dismissed the idea as soon as he had thought of it. There was no way for the Major to know that his former employer was within hearing range. Sandoval knew he had not been followed from the warehouse he had portalled into, and nobody could ever guess that the former Agent would try to hide in the home of the man who had in all probability been the one assigned to lead the search for him.

Besides, even if Kincaid somehow knew that Sandoval was in his apartment, there was no reason for the Major to go through such an elaborate charade to win the former Agent’s trust. Kincaid knew just how desperate Sandoval’s situation was. The way things stood at the moment, all the Major had to do was offer to help his former employer, and Sandoval would have no choice but to jump at the chance.

No, unbelievable as it might sound, Kincaid had to be sincere in his anger.

Sandoval noticed that even Ms. Palmer, who had clearly been expecting Kincaid to be angry when she called him, was looking a little surprised by the force of the Major’s fury.

“Why are you so angry at Hubble for ordering Sandoval’s death, anyway?” She asked, and the former Agent could clearly hear the puzzlement in her voice. “You know he hates Sandoval. And it’s not like he hasn’t mentioned the possibility before.”

The Major looked away from the C&C screen for a moment, suddenly seeming uncomfortable, and Palmer’s eyes narrowed, surprised realization showing on her face.

“You are actually worried about Sandoval, aren’t you?” The question sounded like an accusation, and Kincaid winced, suddenly unable to meet Ms. Palmer’s eyes.

The Major hesitated for just a moment too long before giving his answer, looking unhappy and uncertain, and Sandoval felt a chill go through him. The Doors’ executive was right, he suddenly realized. Kincaid really was worried about him. The earlier anger the former Agent had witnessed had just been a way to try and keep the worry at bay.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Renee,” Kincaid said finally, but there was a new doubt in his voice, as if he was trying to convince himself, as well as Ms. Palmer. The Major turned his head slightly to avoid looking at the C&C screen, ending up almost facing the door behind which Sandoval was hiding, and the former Agent could see the worry the Major was trying so hard to deny showing clearly on the other man’s face.

Where in the world is this concern coming from? Why should he care about what happens to me? the former Agent wondered, a strange feeling of discomfort going through him at the thought of all the things he had done to the Major. It was one thing to hurt Kincaid when he believed that the Major hated him. It was quite another to know he had done all those things to someone who actually cared about him.

Ms. Palmer also saw the worry on Kincaid’s face, and Sandoval saw her face on the C&C screen grow still, as another thought occurred to her.

“Liam,” she began slowly, almost as though she was afraid to have her question answered. “Please tell me you didn’t help Sandoval escape.”

***

***

The Major’s eyes widened, and he looked back at the screen, finally meeting Ms. Palmer’s gaze in surprise.

“What makes you think I had anything to do with Sandoval’s escape?” He asked, his voice carefully neutral.

“Look, I may not know exactly what happened on the Mothership, but I do know Zo’or’s flair for the dramatics. He would not have been able to resist the opportunity to rub Sandoval’s face in his defeat, and the best way to do that would have been to arrange for you to escort him to his cell. Why, I bet he called you to the Mothership on some flimsy excuse, and ordered you to arrest Sandoval when you got there, just so he could see the look on your face when he did. That seems to be the way he likes to do things.”

The way Kincaid refused to meet her eyes, and the quick grimace the Major couldn’t quite suppress was all the confirmation Ms. Palmer needed to prove that she was right.

“And I bet that whoever else Zo’or assigned to guard him, they were very good. Zo’or would not have wanted to take the chance of Sandoval escaping.” The Doors executive continued, watching Kincaid’s reactions carefully, speaking slowly, as if she was trying to work out what happened even as she was speaking. “Even someone like Sandoval would not have been able to escape and get off the Mothership without some help from the inside. And knowing the way Zo’or’s mind works, you were probably in the best position to give that help.”

Sandoval couldn’t help but be impressed by how quickly Palmer figured things out, although he did wonder what she knew about Kincaid that made her so sure that the Major would even want to help him. He watched, fascinated, as Palmer’s eyes widened and she stared at Kincaid accusingly as the details of what happened became clear in her head.

“My, God, it’s so obvious, I can’t believe I didn’t see it earlier,” Palmer exclaimed angrily. “Except that I couldn’t imagine that even you would be insane enough to actually help him like that!”

The corners of Kincaid’s mouth moved up in a slightly bitter ironic smile as he heard Palmer’s assessment of his mental capabilities.

“Gee, thanks for your vote of confidence, Palmer,” he replied dryly, but his indignation sounded false, as though he was trying to avoid answering Ms. Palmer’s question by concentrating on a slight that did not really upset him. “It’s nice to know that you have such faith in my decisions.”

“Don’t try to change the subject, Liam!” Ms. Palmer almost shouted, refusing to be sidetracked by Kincaid’s ploy. “You did help him, didn’t you?”

The Major looked away again, looking slightly uncomfortable for a moment, but then he looked back at the screen, and his face took on a stubborn and determined expression that Sandoval knew very well from arguments he had had with his former subordinate in the past. Kincaid may still not be completely willing to admit to Ms. Palmer that he helped Sandoval escape and thus risk increasing Palmer’s anger, but he was not denying it either. And his expression now showed that he was more than willing to defend his actions if his colleague (and Sandoval was now more certain than ever that Ms. Palmer and Major Kincaid were not just friends – that they worked together for the ANA on a regular basis) decided to press the issue further.

There was a short pause as Ms. Palmer waited for the Major to answer her question, but it quickly became clear that no answer was forthcoming.

“Damn it, Liam,” the Doors International executive finally snapped, taking Kincaid’s silence and his stubborn expression as further proof of his guilt. “This is Sandoval we are talking about. How could you even think about helping him?! Think of all the things he’s done to everybody in the Resistance! Think of what he did to Lili! And to Street! Hell, Liam, think of all the things he’s done to you!”

“Well, did you expect me to just stand back and let Zo’or do whatever he wants with him?!” The Major demanded incredulously, apparently forgetting his resolve not to admit to his involvement with his former superior’s escape from the Mothership. “You know what Zo’or can do to people, especially if he believes that no one will stop him. I wouldn’t leave my worst enemy in a situation like that!”

Sandoval shifted slightly in his chair, feeling a surprising amount of discomfort at being called Kincaid’s “worst enemy”, however indirectly. It was strange – only a day ago, he would have been almost proud to call himself Kincaid’s adversary. While he had never actually considered himself to be Kincaid’s worst enemy, he had often taken pleasure in causing trouble for the Major. And yet now, after seeing the emotions in Kincaid’s eyes on the Mothership’s bridge and hearing the concern in the Major’s voice when the other man had spoken about him to Renee Palmer, after considering the possibility of becoming friends with his former subordinate, the idea of the two of them remaining enemies was almost physically painful.

“Yes, well, I know all the things Sandoval has done, too. This is not some saint we are talking about, Liam! That man is just as much a monster as Zo’or is. As far as I am concerned, he and Zo’or deserve each other!”

“He’s still a human being, Renee.” The Major still sounded angry, but there was a growing desperation in his voice. It was as though the Major was pleading with Ms. Palmer on his former superior’s behalf, and Sandoval was surprised at the raw pain he could hear in the other man’s voice. “We may forget that at times, but he is. And he’s had the CVI in his head for longer than most people. By the time it started to break down, he had been serving the Taelons for so long that he had nowhere else to turn. Serving Zo’or was the only way he knew to survive.”

Sandoval stared at Kincaid in complete amazement, feeling like someone had just hit him with a two-by-four. Never in a million years would he have imagined that his former subordinate would defend him like this. Even the anger Kincaid had shown earlier on Sandoval’s behalf was not as surprising as the sympathy and understanding the Major had just shown toward him. From his previous encounters with Da’an’s protector, he had thought that the other man would never be willing to consider things from anyone else’s point of view, let alone the point of view of the man he had always clashed with so much. Looking at the sincere expression on Kincaid’s face, Sandoval wondered what else he might have misjudged about the Major.

“And that makes it all right for him to do the sort of things he’s done for the past year?!” Palmer asked with disbelief.

“No.” Kincaid answered quietly, the anger leaving his voice, making him suddenly sound bone-tired and almost lost. “No, of course it doesn’t. But it makes it understandable.”

“Understandable?! Liam…”

“He’s not really an evil man, Renee,” Kincaid said, and again Sandoval heard that note of pleading in the Major’s voice. “He just didn’t really have any other choice.”

For a second, it looked as if the Doors executive started to waver under the Major’s pleas, but then her eyed narrowed and her face hardened again.

“Stop defending him, Liam! We both know that you are not even close to being objective when it comes to Sandoval, no matter how hard you try.” Palmer’s voice was strident and angry, but Sandoval could still hear the concern behind the anger. Clearly, the Doors executive did not approve of Kincaid’s concern for his former employer, and, thinking back on their history together, Sandoval could not bring himself to disagree with her.

Why does she think that Kincaid can’t be objective when it comes to me, though? Sandoval wondered uneasily. Nothing that he could remember from the numerous arguments he had had with the Major before the other man had saved him from Zo’or seemed to support that opinion.

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you always jump to protect him, Liam!” Ms. Palmer continued her rant on the screen in the other room. “You’ve convinced me to help him once, when he came to me and offered to testify before the ANA, but you are not going to convince me this time.”

Sandoval had thought himself unable to be surprised by anything to do with Kincaid anymore, but once again he found himself completely stunned by what he heard. Kincaid had convinced Palmer to help him?! He thought back to the argument he had witnessed between the two after he had been wounded, soon after he had made the deal with Ms. Palmer. It had certainly looked as though Palmer was trying to convince Kincaid to help him, not the other way around. But then again, Sandoval had not exactly given the Major any reason to think that he would be in any way responsive to any overtures of friendship.

An image of Kincaid fighting desperately in a narrow train car, barehanded and unarmed, against an opponent with an automatic weapon, risking his life to keep Sandoval from being hurt, flashed through the former Protector’s mind, only to be replaced by another image – that of himself pointing a gun at the Major, threatening to kill him, soon after the other man had defeated that same opponent, having almost been thrown off a speeding train in the process. And this was after Kincaid had entrusted his former employer with that gun so that he could defend himself, the former Protector remembered, a sudden unexpected feeling of shame going through him. And that was hardly the first time Kincaid had helped him, only to have Sandoval use it against him. It is no wonder the Major wanted to keep his feelings a secret. If, for some incomprehensible reason, Kincaid did feel some sort of sympathy towards him, and it was beginning to look like he did, the Major would be more likely to try and hide that fact, rather than allow Sandoval to use it to his advantage.

But that still did not explain how Kincaid could feel anything other than hatred towards his former superior, in the first place. Sandoval certainly hadn’t given him any reason to do so. The former Protector shook his head, pushing away his confusion in his attempt to concentrate on the conversation that was going on in the other room.

“It’s not like I’m asking you to help him, Renee,” the Major was saying, a hint of exasperation showing in his voice.

“Good. You’d better not be,” Palmer answered, scowling back at him, but she sounded slightly less certain, and Sandoval had a sneaking suspicion that if the Major did ask for Palmer to help his former superior, she would eventually agree, no matter what her own feelings on the subject were.

For a moment, the two of them were quiet, staring at each other, as if trying to convince each other that they were right with their eyes alone.

“Damn it, Liam, how can you still care about him so much?!” Ms. Palmer finally burst out, unable to keep silent any longer, and making her question sound almost like an accusation. Kincaid looked away from her when he heard the question, but did not attempt to respond. Palmer paused for a few seconds, waiting for Kincaid to answer, and then sighed, her face going hard, as though she was preparing herself

“I saw his face when he tortured you, Liam,” she affirmed, her voice hard, as if she was trying to shock the Major into seeing things her way. “He really enjoyed it. He was getting off on causing you pain. How can you defend someone like that?!”

Kincaid flinched as if he’d been punched when he heard Palmer’s words, shutting his eyes for a moment, and Sandoval could see his whole body go tense, raw pain clear on the Major’s face, even from the angle at which Sandoval was watching. Then Kincaid opened his eyes, and the former Protector saw an expression of such hurt betrayal pass on the other man’s face that Sandoval had to look away, even though the expression wasn’t really aimed at him.

But it is aimed at me, isn’t it, he realized suddenly, surprised by how much that idea hurt to even contemplate. I am the one who caused this pain. All Palmer did was remind him of what happened. Sandoval had known that he had hurt the Major, but he had never realized how much, until now.

Sandoval remembered how, after the incident when he had tortured his former subordinate, Da’an’s Protector had avoided him for weeks, making up excuses to get out of talking with him, and refusing to look at him when they did end up in the same room together, leaving the room as quickly as possible whenever it looked like he could get away with it. At the time, Sandoval had been completely satisfied with these reactions, hoping that they meant that the Major had finally learned his place. After a while, when the Major’s behavior seemed to return to normal – the Major’s arguments with Sandoval might have been a little harsher than before, and there might have been a little more anger in his gaze when he looked at his superior, but otherwise Sandoval could not detect any long-term effects from the torture – Sandoval had simply filed the torture in his mind as a failed experiment and had barely thought about it since. He had not had that much time to worry about Kincaid’s feelings about him, in any case. With the Dark Matter incident, as he thought of it, and Dee Dee’s reappearance coming soon afterwards, Sandoval had had plenty of other things to occupy his mind.

Now, however, after hearing Kincaid defend him so fiercely, it was almost painful to think about all the suffering he must have caused for the Major. Sandoval had long decided that guilt was a useless emotion and a waste of time, preferring to concentrate on the future instead of dwelling on the past, but seeing the hurt and betrayal on Kincaid’s face brought him closer to feeling the pain that came with guilt than he had felt since beginning his work for the Taelons. It was even worse than when he realized what he had done to Dee Dee after his CVI had failed that first time. He had felt guilty about hurting Dee Dee, but the guilt had quickly turned to anger, since he had done it under the influence of the Motivational Imperative, so it was technically the Taelons’ fault. He had no such excuse with Kincaid, so there was nothing to prevent the guilt from coming.

Ms. Palmer also saw the hurt on Kincaid’s face, and her eyes grew wide, even as her expression softened. She had obviously expected a reaction from the Major, but she clearly hadn’t expected it to be this strong. Perhaps she had failed to take into account just how tired the Major must have been.

“I am sorry, Liam,” she said, the anger gone from her voice. “I know that was a low blow.”

“That’s all right, Renee,” the Major answered quietly, refusing to look her in the eyes. “I probably had that coming.”

Sandoval noticed, however, that Kincaid did not in any way retract any of the statements he had made about his former employer. It seemed that, no matter how much pain Sandoval had caused him, the Major still believed that he had been right in helping him, and he still seemed willing to defend his right to do so.

Good. That means that I still have a chance to make up for what I did.

As soon as the thought passed through his mind, Sandoval froze in shock, almost unable to believe that he could ever think anything like that. Companion Protector Ronald Sandoval did not have to “make up” for anything he did, or had done at any time in the past. He forced other people to make things up to him! But, the former Agent realized, he wanted to make things up to his former subordinate. He wanted to become friends with the man, to understand why the Major still cared so much about him, even after all that he had done to him.

And it’s not like I’m “Companion Protector Ronald Sandoval” anymore, Sandoval thought to himself. Maybe it’s time to start thinking a little bit differently.

In the other room, Kincaid and Palmer were silent again, uncomfortable with where their conversation had taken them.

***

***

“Anyway,” Kincaid finally said, clearly trying to change the subject. “Since you called anyway, there was a favor I wanted to ask from you.”

“A favor?” Palmer echoed, looking at Kincaid suspiciously, as though expecting him to ask her to help Sandoval, even after she had made her feelings on that subject clear to him.

“Yes. Zo’or is probably going to keep me busy all day tomorrow, maybe even longer than that, and I was wondering if you could look into some things for me.”

“What things?” The DI Executive asked, still looking suspicious.

“I’d like you to find out as much as you can about what Tate has been up to in the past few months.” Kincaid said, a sudden intensity in his voice. “And,” He added, looking a little uncomfortable, the slight frown on his face showing that he was not completely happy with the request he was about to make. “I also want you to find out exactly what happened to Dee Dee Sandoval after Boone told Sandoval that she had died.”

The former Companion Protector stiffened unconsciously upon hearing his wife’s name. Even after everything Dee Dee had done to him these past few months, even after the way she had rejected him on the Mothership’s bridge that morning, he still cared about her. He might have tried to strike out at her right after she’d hurt him, as an instinctive reaction to the pain she had caused, but now that he had had a chance to calm down a little bit, now that his pain had faded from the nearly unbearable level it was at before, becoming more like a constant weight in the back of his mind – impossible to ignore for long, but easier to endure, he couldn’t imagine trying to hurt Dee Dee back.

Old habits died hard, Sandoval found, and, even after everything, the idea of someone checking up on his wife like this made him want to jump immediately to her defense. And yet, looking at the frown on Kincaid’s face, Sandoval realized that the Major seemed almost as unhappy with having to make the request as the former Agent was with hearing it. Whatever information Kincaid would find, it was unlikely that the Major would use it lightly. And it would be good to find out why Dee Dee’s behavior towards him had changed so drastically.

“Both Tate and Dee Dee Sandoval were on the Mothership’s bridge when Zo’or ordered me to arrest Sandoval,” Kincaid continued in the other room. “And it looked like they were both pretty deeply involved in whatever plot Zo’or used to get rid of Sandoval. They certainly seemed very comfortable being in Zo’or’s presence. I didn’t know that Dee Dee had even met Zo’or before. And I’ve always thought that Tate was pretty much as anti-Taelon as they come. There’s just something that feels wrong about the whole situation.”

“Well, I wouldn’t put anything past Tate,” Palmer replied dryly, drawing reluctant smiles of agreement from both the Major and the former Agent hidden in the other room. “But isn’t it possible that Dee Dee just wants to get back at Sandoval, and doesn’t care who she has to deal with to do it? She seemed pretty mad at Sandy the last time we saw them together.”

Sandoval stiffened again, barely noticing the annoying nickname Palmer used for him in his pain at even considering the possibility that Dee Dee might hate him that much. So many of the things he had done in the last few years had been for the sake of avenging what had been done to Dee Dee – either trying to maneuver himself in a position where he would be able hurt the Taelons, or making alliances to try and weaken them whenever possible. It had almost become a mantra for him, a way to be able to survive what felt like an eternity as a glorified slave to Zo’or – as long as he could use his experiences to find a way to hurt Zo’or, as long as he would eventually be able to make Zo’or and all the other Taelons pay for what they did to his wife, it would all the worth it, in the end.

He had lost count of how many times he had repeated that to himself during the long sleepless nights when the ghosts of all the people he had killed came back to haunt him, filling his dreams, no matter how much he tried to avoid them. Often, the thought that Dee Dee would be able to rest easier in her grave because of what he was trying to accomplish was the only thing that helped get him through the day. To have her come back from the dead like this, after everything he had gone through to preserve her memory, to see her so intent on causing him pain, was a blow he didn't think he would ever be able to recover from.

It’s no wonder I reacted so strongly to Kincaid’s concern for me, Sandoval thought to himself. Dee Dee’s treatment of me has really thrown me for a loop. The warm feeling he had gotten from watching Kincaid defend him the way he did earlier refused to go away, however, and so did the guilt from causing the Major pain. Whatever the reason Kincaid had been able to slip through Sandoval’s defenses and make the former Agent care about how he felt, Sandoval was no longer able to prevent it.

In the other room, Kincaid frowned unhappily in response to Ms. Palmer’s question and shook his head, almost physically rejecting her suggestion.

“There is just something really strange in the way she is acting, Renee,” he answered. “She and Sandoval really loved each other.”

Sandoval was amazed at the conviction in Kincaid’s voice when he made that statement. It was spoken with what almost seemed like the certainty of a child, as if the Major didn’t even consider the possibility that he could be wrong, and the former Protector felt something grow warm inside him at hearing another man describe his relationship with Dee Dee like that. But how could the Major be so sure about the love Sandoval and Dee Dee had shared? He was certain they had never met Kincaid when they were together – he had never even heard of the Major before the other man had saved Da’an’s life at Boone’s funeral. It was just one of the increasingly large list of questions Sandoval had about his former subordinate. He had never realized how much of a mystery Kincaid really was, until the other man had helped him escape from the Mothership.

“And even if she’s still mad at Sandoval for putting her in that hospital, why would she lie during the trial like that?!” Kincaid continued, his voice becoming more and more vehement as he went on. “You know as well as I do that Sandoval did everything he could to save Dee Dee when he found out that she’d been kidnapped. It just feels like there is something more going on here.”

Again, Sandoval was surprised at the extent of the Major’s knowledge. Come to think of it, he never did find out how Kincaid and Ms. Palmer were able to show up at the site of those frozen astronauts, so soon after he himself had come there to help Dee Dee. Now was not the time to consider where Kincaid had gotten his information, however. He would have to think about it later.

“Not everyone is as forgiving as you are, Liam!” Palmer bit out, apparently unable to resist the opportunity to bring up Kincaid’s feelings for his former superior, again. The Major flinched at her tone, and looked away from her again, but he made no reply to her statement.

Damn it, what is she hinting at? This statement, and the one she made earlier, when she said that Kincaid cannot be objective when it comes to me. What does she know about the Major that makes her so confident that he cares about me? And why is Kincaid all but admitting that she’s right?!

No matter how much he tried to figure it out, Sandoval could come up with no explanation for the Major’s behavior.

I guess this is another thing that I will have to figure out later, Sandoval thought, concentrating on the conversation in the other room again.

“Okay, Liam, I’ll see what I can find out,” The DI executive was saying, her expression softening when she saw the Major’s reaction to her statement.

“Thanks, Renee, I really appreciate it,” Kincaid answered, finally looking back at her and giving her a real, if slightly tired smile for the first time that night.

“Is Zo’or really getting on your case, Liam? Do you think he might suspect that you helped Sandoval escape?” Palmer sounded concerned, and Sandoval could not help but agree with her. After hearing Kincaid defend him the way he did, the idea that the Major might be hurt for helping him made him surprisingly uncomfortable, as well.

“No, I don’t think he does.” Kincaid replied. “Everybody knows Sandoval and I don’t really get along.” The Major’s tone was slightly ironic as he said that, but there was enough truth in that statement to make Sandoval flinch.

“Besides, I tried to be really careful,” the Major added. “I don’t think even the guards realized exactly what happened. And I made sure that if there were any surveillance cameras around, they wouldn’t pick anything up, either.”

Thinking back on the circumstances surrounding his escape, Sandoval decided that Kincaid was right. The Major had been very careful. His movements were so carefully hidden that Sandoval doubted anyone other than the former Agent would have been able to see them. The former Companion Protector doubted that even he would have been able to find fault with Kincaid’s actions, if he had been the one trying to investigate the escape after it had happened and not the one who had escaped in the first place.

“No, Zo’or is angry about Sandoval’s escape, but I don’t think he’s found a way to blame me for it. Besides, he’s so busy rubbing Da’an’s face in the fact that his Protector failed at something again that he isn’t looking at the details that carefully. I swear, if I didn’t know that Zo’or was at least several hundred years old, I would say he’s acting just like a spoiled child, and that we are his designated babysitters. I can just see Zo’or with a pacifier in his mouth, sitting in his command chair, all buckled in like it’s one of those baby car-seats, with the rest of us rushing around trying to satisfy his every whim, so that he wouldn’t scream so loud.” Both Kincaid and Sandoval had to smile reluctantly at that image, but the words were true enough that the idea wasn’t really all that funny.

“Da’an might suspect something – he knows me a lot better than Zo’or does. But I doubt he would call me on it. It would open a whole can of worms that I don’t think Da’an would want to deal with.” The way Kincaid said that made Sandoval wonder what it was that Da’an knew about his Protector that he didn’t want to deal with. Did it have anything to do with the way Da’an was often so protective of the Major?

“Has Zo’or told you who his Protector is going to be, now that he’s fired Sandoval?” Ms. Palmer asked, distracting Sandoval from his questions about Da’an’s relationship with Kincaid. He wanted to know the answer to that question, as well.

Kincaid looked at the DI executive knowingly, indicating with his expression that he knew very well why Ms. Palmer was asking. Hidden in the darkness of the other room. Sandoval smiled knowingly, as well. As ANA agents, and Sandoval was now completely convinced that they were, in fact, ANA agents, both Kincaid and Ms. Palmer would be understandably interested in finding out who would become Sandoval’s successor as quickly as possible.

“No, he hasn’t said anything yet. We’ve all been too busy trying to figure out where Sandoval has disappeared to. I almost hope that it’s not me, though. I don’t know if I’d be able to handle dealing with Zo’or almost twenty-four hours a day. I don’t know how Sandoval did it for so long.” Sandoval allowed himself a bitter smile at that. Kincaid had no idea how hard it had been for him to restrain himself in Zo’or’s presence.

“Well, let me know the moment you find out, Liam,” Palmer answered in a business-like tone, clearly indicating that the conversation was drawing to a halt.

“Okay, Renee. I’ll do that,” Kincaid replied, giving her a tired smile. “I’ll talk to you later,” he added, moving to disconnect the call.

Palmer’s voice stopped him before he could do so.

“And don’t worry about Sandoval, Liam,” she said, sounding reluctantly sympathetic despite her disapproval of the Major’s actions. “He’s a survivor. He’ll be all right.”

Startled by her sudden understanding, Kincaid drew back to look at her, and Sandoval could see the surprised gratitude on his face.

“Yeah, I know, Renee,” The Major replied quietly, not sounding very convinced, but appreciating her gesture, nonetheless. “Thanks.”

The Doors executive disconnected the call, and the screen went blank. The Major stared at the screen for a long time, lost in thought, wrapping his arms around himself, his expression tired and sad. Standing there in front of the screen, alone in the fairly large room, the Major suddenly seemed very lonely and frightened, and the former Agent was surprised to feel a strong protective urge sweep over him. It was insane – Kincaid was a trained Protector, who was more than able to defend himself from anyone else, but seeing him like this touched something in Sandoval’s heart that he had long thought to be lost, and it was all the former Protector could do to remain in his seat, and not to go and comfort the other man.

It was time for him to announce his presence, Sandoval realized. The anger that had been so clear in Kincaid’s face and actions before his conversation with Ms. Palmer had all but disappeared, and after hearing what the Major said about him earlier, the former Agent doubted that Kincaid would attack him on sight. Still, he was grateful that the door he was hiding behind did not squeak as he opened it, and that Kincaid was so lost in his own thoughts that he did not notice the movement as Sandoval carefully got up from his chair, trying hard not to jar his wounds too much, and moved slowly through the doorway into the brightly-lit living room. It allowed the former Protector to choose the moment he could reveal his presence.

Unsure of how to address the other man, Sandoval paused for a moment, right outside the door to Kincaid’s bedroom, glad that the Major still hadn’t noticed him. He was just opening his mouth to speak, when Kincaid spoke instead.

“Wherever you are Sandoval, I hope you stay there,” the Major said, staring straight ahead, seeming to address the air around him, still unaware that his former superior was so close. “It’s not safe for you to come back right now.” Sandoval’s eyes widened at this new expression of concern from the other man. He still could not get over the fact that the other man could be so worried about him, after all the things he’d done.

Now was not the time to worry about that, however. It was time for him to speak up. He would not get an opening like that again.

“Thank you for your advice, Major,” he said, stepping forward and making his voice dry, despite the confusion he was feeling inside. It would not do for Kincaid to see how much the Major’s earlier defense of him had affected him. “I will make sure to give it all the consideration it deserves.”

***