"Look out!" screamed Liam in utter horror.
At the tone of his fellow Protector's voice, Sandoval looked at him in confusion. The energy blast caught him full in the chest. The rifle the sniper was using was one of the batch stolen from the Volunteer facility last month; the deadliest in its class.
Sandoval collapsed back, he was dying and he knew it. He caught sight of Kincaid's pale face and the absolute horror in the other man's eyes. That was strange; they weren't really friends. Why was he so upset? He tried to ask him but no sound would come from his lips so he smiled a gentle smile of reassurance at Kincaid, trying to explain that it was all right, that he was ready to go.
The Volunteers accompanying the Protectors were in a state of shock, Agent Sandoval was supposed to be invulnerable, he was their commander, and he wasn't supposed to die!
Liam saw his father breathe his last and then he was still, Liam shut his eyes for a second and his mind cried out, No! Not you too! Pushing his feelings aside for now, Liam issued some orders that snapped the Volunteers back to thinking about the business at hand.
This warehouse had been identified as the place where the stolen rifles were being stockpiled. This was a clean up mission and it was urgent. The distributors were to be dealt with. One was already in custody on the mothership revealing the entire pipeline to his interrogators.
The supply chain was to be stopped by any means necessary and the warehouse was to be destroyed. All the Volunteers except for two began laying charges; those other two accompanied Major Kincaid as they swept the warehouse for the sniper.
They were relentless in their search and came close to apprehending the sniper on a couple of occasions but he knew the warehouse layout well and did his best to lose his pursuers. Liam was not about to admit failure though, not now, and he stuck to his task with grim determination.
The sniper appeared across a gantry as he ran towards a fire escape at the rear of the warehouse. Liam raised his arm and fired his own weapon - one single shot was discharged. The blast knocked the sniper off balance and he fell over the railing of the gantry, desperately reaching out for a handhold to stop his fall. He hit the ground with a sickening thud and was still.
Liam gestured for the Volunteers to head back down to their colleagues and followed at their heels. His face was absolutely expressionless and he said absolutely nothing. They reached the ground floor and went back to where the rest of the squad was waiting.
Liam said his first words in almost ten minutes. "Two of you pick him up."
Quietly, almost reverently, two of the Volunteers did so.
When they were clear, the major gave the order for the warehouse to be destroyed. The explosion was deafening, the destruction absolute.
The somber team returned to their shuttles and made their way back to the Washington Embassy. In transit, the major called the mothership and informed Zo'or that the mission had been completed but with one fatality; Sandoval. The Synod leader actually appeared shocked at the news.
The Embassy personnel had been informed of the sad news, as had Da'an, and there was a crowd present to witness Sandoval's body being stretchered to the infirmary where it would remain while they contacted the FBI about the protocols for his funeral.
Da'an tried to assess his Protector's feelings about the loss of Sandoval but found that Liam's usually expressive eyes were absolutely unreadable. He knew that the two American Protectors had had their differences but he also knew that Liam had - on more than one occasion - risked his life to save the other man.
In the emotionless tone that Sandoval had often favoured, Liam gave his report to Da'an before saying, "Request permission to leave, Da'an."
Hands wringing demonstrating his concern for his Protector, Da'an agreed.
Liam's apartment
Liam heard the door close shut behind him. He walked forward and dropped his jacket on one of the chairs. Next, he pulled out his global and punched in a few commands; no messages to be put through till the morning.
Almost on autopilot, Liam navigated his apartment and headed to the small kitchen. He poured himself a glass of juice and downed it in one go; he stared at the empty glass in his hand with a vague sense of detachment. Whirling, he flung the glass at one of the walls and watched it shatter into a thousand pieces.
As if that was the signal his mind had been waiting for, Liam crumpled to the floor, sobbing. He sat there; back against the kitchen cupboards and his body literally shook with his cries of grief.
He had no idea how long he sat there, only that when his sobs eventually calmed, his throat felt like fire, his eyes felt heavy from the tears he had shed and his head pounded with a drumming pain. It couldn't match the pain in his heart though; it felt like a knife had been plunged through it.
Sighing, he placed his forehead on his knees, thoughts chaotic. Two thoughts in particular rang out through his mind. He had never told his father the truth and now he never could, and he was completely alone now. No family.
I'm an orphan.
His mind replayed the sight of Sandoval being shot over and over again and, once again, the tears fell freely.
At some point - though he was unaware of it - he fell asleep where he sat, curled up in a small ball.
Two figures eyed each other with concern as they pounded on Liam's apartment door. They'd been knocking for over five minutes without an answer. Renee didn't even hesitate; she punched in the emergency code to deactivate Liam's security system.
She and Augur walked into the apartment, eyes radiating concern. The news had been released about Sandoval's death less than an hour before. Both had immediately tried to call Liam but kept getting a message saying that Major Kincaid was not accepting any calls at this time.
Augur had called Renee, one thought in mind. She had quickly agreed, she had been about to suggest the same thing, and they headed off to Liam's apartment.
She heard Augur's quiet, "Oh, kid, I am so sorry."
Renee followed his gaze and her heart wept at what she saw. Liam, curled up in a ball on the floor, face marked with the tracks of his tears. Right now they weren't seeing the man, they were seeing the little boy bereft of his last living parent.
A tear made its way down her cheek and Augur's eyes were over-bright themselves. Liam's reaction to Sandoval's death was more severe than even they had expected. After the incident with the blood donation, they both knew that he had cared about his father. They now realised that it had gone far deeper than that. Liam had loved Sandoval easily as much as he had loved Beckett.
Renee went to Liam's side and dropped to her knees. Augur moved to stand beside her. She placed a gentle hand on Liam's cheek and he began to stir. He opened red-rimmed eyes to see the pair staring at him - compassion in their eyes - and his eyes filled with tears again.
Renee adjusted her position so that she was sitting; Liam's head cradled in her lap, Augur knelt opposite the pair, a reassuring hand on Liam's shoulder. Quietly, the hacker said, "We're here for you, Liam. We're so sorry about your father. Let us help if we can."
For a long while, the young hybrid wept in the cradle of his friends' care. Finally, he raised a hand to wipe away his latest tears, saying, "He's gone and I never got to tell him the truth. I never got to tell him that I loved him."
Renee placed a soothing hand over Liam's, saying, "He knows now, Liam. Wherever his spirit has gone, he knows now."