Let It Be Done With Love

by Loui

Earth: Final Conflict is copyright © Tribune Entertainment and Roddenberry/Kirschner. No infringement of that copyright is intended by this story.
"Let It Be Done With Love" is copyright © 2001, Loui.

Wandering down the corridor of the White House that led to Hubble Urick's office, Liam ignored the surreptitious stares being sent his way. In the past year and a half he had become accustomed to them.

He nodded a greeting to the Secret Service agent stationed outside the door of the office, she nodded imperceptibly as she returned his greeting, and said in a calm voice, "Go right in, sir. He's expecting you."

Face wearing the impassive look that his father had mastered, Liam did so.


Hubble Urick looked at the man that stood at parade rest in front of his desk and sighed inwardly. This was not easy. Not for anybody. The young man in front of him - very young, as the world had discovered all those months ago - was a genuine hero, to his country... to his entire planet.

He had led the Resistance when it was only the Resistance that would act. He had constantly striven for peace, he had become the greatest asset that the ANA had, and their best operative.

Then, he had gone to ground when his cover had been blown by an ODK screw-up that had resulted in the capture of Colonel Liam Kincaid. He had lost Renee Palmer, his partner and closest friend, when she had died in a bomb blast in his apartment meant for him.

He had weathered the constant scrutiny and apprehension that the revelation of his heritage had caused, successfully evading all efforts by the Taelons to 'acquire' him.

He had led the assault on the Taelon's embassy in Washington DC and co-ordinated the simultaneous world-wide operation that had finally rested the planet back from the Taelons.

And finally, as if all the rest were not enough, he had led the forces that captured the mothership and arrested Zo'or, the surviving members of the Synod and Agent Ronald Sandoval.

In the six years that had followed the creation of the ANA he had gone from being the most approachable of the Companion Protectors to Humanity's talisman of hope and courage. To the world, he had simply become 'Liam'.

In all that time he had never asked for anything for himself. He shrugged aside the accolades heaped on him, saying that all he did was do his job. He sought out no glory for himself; in fact, he preferred to stay in the background.

The only time he ever acted against his own best interests was when he defended his father. On more than one occasion, he had managed to accomplish the tasks assigned to him by manoeuvring round Sandoval, rather than having to face him directly... until the order had come to arrest Sandoval. He had done his duty. He had brought the agent in, though it had nearly broke his heart to do so.

Hubble Urick sighed and said, "Sit down, Liam. I need to talk to you."

"Yes, Mr. President."

Hubble bit back another sigh, wishing somehow that Renee Palmer could be here. The empty tone in Liam's voice clearly indicated that he had a good idea why he was here... she would have soothed the hurt, made it more bearable...

There was one thing that Liam wanted, and it was the one thing that his country, his President, couldn't give him.

"I wanted to be the one to tell you, Liam. The order has been signed. He will die. There is no other option. I'm sorry."

He watched as Liam nodded and said, "When?"

"The execution is scheduled to take place in two days."

"May I visit him, Mr. President?"

Hubble frowned. "Do you really think that that is a wise..."

"Please, Mr. President... If nothing else, I need to say goodbye."

"Very well," sighed the President. "I'll arrange the necessary authorisations."


The next day

Since his arrest, Agent Ronald Sandoval had been held in a top secret holding facility in New York. His skrill had been gently removed by a surgical team and placed with the others that had been 'liberated' from the Taelons. Studies were underway to see if they could adapt to the climate of the Amazon, as the skrill queen had done all those many years before.

To the surprise of his jailers, Ronald Sandoval had been a model prisoner. He had shown no hostility to any, and had shown no emotion at all when told he was to die. The one time he did express any outward sign of feeling had been that morning - that was when he had been informed that his son was coming to visit him.

The two guards stationed outside the 'bubble' as it was affectionately referred to, shifted uneasily on their feet. Liam and his father had been in the escape proof capsule for over an hour, and so far, neither had said a word. They just sat cross-legged on the floor of the capsule and stared at each other.

The sound of a voice talking after the intense silence made the guards jump.

"Don't you have anything to say to me at all?" asked Liam.

Betraying some of the emotion he was feeling, Ronald Sandoval lowered his gaze away from Liam's intense green eyes as he said, "What is the point?

"In a little over twenty-four hours I will be gone for good. It is for the best if you just learn to forget about me."

"Forget? I have your memories in my head! You're my father! How am I supposed to just forget?!"

Sighing wearily, Ronald Sandoval scrubbed hands over his tired face, and said, "I'm the bad guy. I've been the bad guy since the day my first CVI went in my head. The things I did..."

"The things you did saved the human race. Do you think we don't know that? Do you think I don't know that?"

Sandoval looked up at his son with blazing eyes. "I perpetrated atrocities!"

"And through guile, deceit and @#%$ human stubbornness, you stopped countless others! The Taelons had a viper in their inner circle. One that protected humanity far more than he hurt it."

Sandoval smiled wearily. "But still, it is right that I die. Even I think so.

"I am too visible a reminder of the mistakes of the past... I need to be swept away from memory. Humanity needs to be allowed to look toward the future. It's for the best."

The guards flinched at the anger in Liam's voice as he said, "I swear, if you sit there and tell me it's for the greater good..."

Something in his son's tone caused Sandoval to get to his feet and move so that he was crouching in front of the younger man. In an almost gentle tone, he said, "It is, Liam. You know it is."

"But I don't want you to die."

The simple admission from such a strong man had the guards wishing that they could leave these two to their privacy. This should not be for public scrutiny. Whatever way you looked at it, this was a son saying goodbye to his father.

Sandoval closed his eyes. That simple sentence caused more pain for him than any thought of his own death. He had harmed this man so many times... hurt him so many times... his own child. How could Liam possibly have forgiven him for his crimes?

Almost groaning, Sandoval said, "Liam, I..." and never got the chance to say anything else.

Liam's right hand reached out to grab his own, and his son said, "No words, father. Now is not the time for words. Just show me..."

Eyes widening in astonishment as he felt himself 'connecting' with his son, Sandoval did so. His shame, his anger, his remorse... His soul-deep weariness and yearning for the silence of death...

As he saw the single tear running down his son's cheek, Sandoval threw aside his own determination to remain isolated from his son. Maybe that decision had been wrong...

He showed his son his humble thanks and appreciation for the unexpected forgiveness and understanding that he had been offered. The pride and joy that he felt at the type of man that his child was, and his sorrow that he would miss the years that were to follow.

By the time they were done, they both had tears in their eyes, and, for the first time, Sandoval held his son in his arms. He murmured, "A quick injection from a faceless stranger. No fuss. It is a better death than I had hoped for..."

He loosened his arms as he felt his son's resigned nod against his shoulder.

Moving back, he looked into his son's eyes. "I have to die, Liam. I am too dangerous to be left alive."

He watched Liam flinch at that. Knowing he shouldn't ask, but at the same time desperately needing to, Sandoval said, "Will you come tomorrow? If I am to die amongst strangers, I would like you to be there."

Into the stunned silence that followed, Sandoval said, "No, I take that back. I have no right to ask you to be there, just to make me feel less alone."

"I will if you want me to."

Sandoval sighed, "This could have been so much simpler if I had just died on the mothership. If I had just been willing to take the shot at you, then one of your team could have shot me down...

"But I couldn't."

"And I couldn't kill you either... then."

Frowning, Sandoval said, "What do you mean, 'then'?"

Liam's voice dropped to a faint murmur so that they would not be overheard. "I mean that, if you want, I can end your life now."

"What?" breathed Sandoval. "How? What makes you think I'd want that?! That I'd want you to live with my death on your conscience?"

"It would be simple and painless. A hand on yours telling your CVI to stop all autonomic function. You'd be gone in seconds and it would be painless... it would be like you just went to sleep."

"You think I could ask you to put yourself through that?!" demanded an irate Sandoval.

Eyes blazing, Liam looked at him and said, "The thought of you dying and leaving me finally and completely alone terrifies me.

"The thought that you have to die at all angers me. The thought that I can't do a damn thing to save you infuriates me.

"The thought that it is a stranger that is going to coldly and efficiently give you a lethal injection--"

Sandoval gave a slight smile. "I get the point, Liam. I thank you for your feelings on this matter, but..."

"But what? Father, if you are to die, let it be done with love."

Sandoval opened his mouth, but found that no words would come. In the eighteen months since Liam's heritage had been revealed, they had danced around that one issue. His leading the Taelon manhunt for the capture of the hybrid hadn't helped for any form of communication to be established, for any link to be made.

The best he had been able to do was sabotage the hunt so it never got near Liam - no mean feat considering Zo'or had carefully scrutinised his every action in that matter. Sandoval had considered it a justified act of revenge considering the Taelons had specifically ordered him - and no other Companion Protector with no personal bias - to be the one to lead the manhunt.

Now the word had been spoken, and under what circumstances! He knew Liam was serious, and he didn't delude himself into thinking that it hadn't cost his son a great deal to make the offer. The courage and sacrifice that Liam was showing had to be met in kind.

Would it help his son to be 'allowed' to do this for his father? He looked deeply into the green eyes of his son and found his answer. It would. He repeated Liam's words.

"Let it be done with love."

Liam took a deep breath and moved to take his father's hand in his own. In a shaky voice, Liam said, "Ready?"

Sandoval looked at his son, serenity appearing on his face. "Set me free, my son."

Liam nodded and, before doing what he must, he placed a gentle kiss on his father's palm and said, "I love you. I always loved you."

Sandoval smiled, "I'm afraid I'd be lying if I said the same thing. I do love you, though, and I am so very proud of you."

Their gazes locked and, as one, they said, "Let it be done with love."


It wasn't till he lowered his father's body to the floor that the guards realised that something was wrong. They lowered the forcefield and tried to take Sandoval from his son's arms, but the blazing green eyes that stared at them told them not to try.

It was a good twenty minutes before Liam let go, placing a final kiss of farewell on his father's brow. He walked past the guards without a word and left the facility - nobody made a move to stop him.

He walked out into the world and vanished. For two weeks there was no trace of him, the frantic search that was set in place found nothing.


Exactly fourteen days later, a furor erupted at the White House when Liam arrived for his scheduled appointment with the President. Questions about 'where in the name of God had he been' died unspoken on people's lips.

The stillness with which he carried himself and the grief in his eyes showed that he had not yet fully gotten past the death of his father... and that perhaps he never would.


In the Oval Office, President Urick greeted Liam with no reference to the previous two weeks or the reason for his disappearance. He knew the young man before him well enough to know how to proceed.

"Are you ready to get back to work, Liam?"

"Yes, Mr. President. What do you need me to do?"


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Last modified May 21st, 2001.
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