Liam Kincaid sat at his desk in the Embassy and watched Sandoval stalk away from his audience with Da'an. The Implant was quietly furious; it was obvious to him, if not to the Taelon. Liam sighed; he'd been expecting this. It had happened last year too, but he'd caught it too late then.
Liam closed his eyes for a moment and tried to quell his rising feelings of concern. This had been building all week but it was the worst time possible for Sandoval to be 'off his game'. Two Taelon projects had been exposed in the last fortnight for the less than beneficent gestures that they were and it hadn't been the Resistance that had done it. Workers within the projects had gone public at great personal risk to themselves in order to let the public know what was going on. Zo'or was furious but there wasn't a damn thing that he could do about it. Normally, he would have ordered Sandoval and the Volunteers to initiate a crackdown on suspected Resistance sympathizers; this time he had nobody to blame.
Yesterday, Sandoval had barely hidden his smile as the fuming Synod leader watched the second breaking news report. Liam had been there too and had to bite the inside of his lip to keep from yelling at Sandoval to show some restraint before he drew too much attention to himself. Now was not the time.
Before he could change his mind, Liam got out of his seat, nodded a goodbye to Da'an and headed off to catch up with Sandoval. He caught up with the Implant just as he was exiting the main entrance of the Embassy. He fell into step beside the Implant and ignored the look that told him to 'go away'. Quietly but firmly, Liam said, "We need to talk, Sandoval. Now."
Ronald Sandoval blinked at the determination in Kincaid's tone. The look on the Major's face finally penetrated the red haze of helpless anger that he had been feeling all week. Kincaid wasn't going to take no for an answer. In a monotone, Sandoval said, "If we must, Major. I was just about to head to lunch."
Echoing Sandoval's tone, Liam replied, "Fine. I'll join you."
The meal was eaten in silence; both men had noticed the curious gazes of some of the restaurant's patrons. There faces were well known here in DC and it wasn't often that they were spotted together when not on duty. Liam was the first to break the silence.
"Do you have a death wish, Sandoval?" he asked quietly.
"What are you talking about, Kincaid?" hissed Sandoval, equally as quietly.
Liam gave the other man a look of irritation. "Oh, I don't know. Let's see, how about the attitude that you've been displaying this past week. Yesterday on the mothership, I mean did you even care what you were doing? Zo'or was furious and what did you do? You grinned!
"I thought you had more sense than that. Maybe I was wrong."
Sandoval turned his gaze away from the other man. It was a wasted effort, not that he knew that, of course. Liam could read the emotion in his father's eyes with effortless ease.
"I appreciate the concern, Major. However, I'd appreciate it if you'd mind your own business."
Kincaid almost growled. Sandoval brought his gaze back to the other man in astonishment. This behaviour - this concern - was out of character.
"Sandoval, shut up and listen to me. You're letting emotion cloud your judgment, and we both know it. I watched you be reprimanded for your actions last year; I'm not about to do it again.
"This year, things are too unstable. You can't act the way you are and not suffer severe repercussions. You know that. Tomorrow's the anniversary of her death; I know that, I appreciate that. What I'm concerned about is the next day."
Sandoval flinched as Liam mentioned the anniversary of DeeDee's death. He should have realised Kincaid knew what was going on. The man might be irritating and exasperating, but he wasn't stupid.
"Maj--"
Liam interrupted his next statement with a single glare.
"Don't, Sandoval. I know we've had our differences and I'm sure we will in future. For tomorrow, I'm suggesting a truce.
"You need to keep your mind on other things and I'm volunteering to help. Neither of us has any duties scheduled other than to be 'on call'. What I'm suggesting is that we, for lack of a better term, hang out.
"We are due for routine re-certifications at Quantico, we can do that. We can go for a long walk in the park for all I care! Just as long as we are away from prying eyes while you get your emotions back under their normal airtight control. If you have to take out your anger on anyone, you take it out on me.
"The day after tomorrow, we act as though nothing has happened. This is a unique situation, we treat it as such."
Sandoval - for once in his life - truly astonished, gazed at the calm face of Liam Kincaid. "Why would you want to do that, Major? I've made no real effort to hide my dislike of your methods with regard to the way you do your job. You've made no secret of your own feelings, why would you want to do this?"
Liam shrugged. "You're a colleague, had things have been different, you might even have been a friend. I can't watch you throw away everything. This once, accept help. Please."
Reluctantly, almost shyly, Sandoval nodded his agreement.
The next day was quite possibly the strangest ever in the acquaintanceship of the pair. They had met up that morning at the Embassy, reported in and informed the Taelons that they were heading out for their bi-annual re-certifications but that they would be available if needed.
Then, with Liam piloting, they headed off for Quantico. The instructors were quite surprised to see them both at once. Up till then, the two North American Protectors had always managed to schedule these tests so that they were never there at the same time.
Surprising the pair, they turned out to actually have some fun. Some regular FBI cadets were running the assault course and there was the usual mix of stars and stragglers. The instructors decided not to send the cadets away. They asked the two Protectors if they minded an audience for the morning. Kincaid and Sandoval had looked at each other and shrugged before saying it was fine with them.
Instructor Brennan said, "All right, gentlemen. We're going to run this a bit different to normal. You go together and you race the clock. Ready? Go!"
Grinning, the pair set off. It was a standard assault course with the usual mix of obstacles to test stamina, endurance, courage and intelligence. Kincaid and Sandoval navigated each obstacle with studied ease. They didn't seem to talk much but they seemed to know what each other was doing. The crossed the line in sync to be informed by a stunned John Brennan that they had just shaved a minute off the course record. The cadets just looked on in awe.
Amiably agreeing that the cadets could watch the rest of the tests, Liam and Sandoval continued. Unarmed combat was an eye opener. Both Protectors were good, but Kincaid was the best the cadets had ever seen.
The weapons certification would go down in history. Kincaid was lethal whether it was with gun or rifle, or right or left handed. When he was finished, knowing full well what was coming, he gave a bow to Sandoval and waved him forward. Sandoval rolled his eyes but playing along, he regally inclined his head in recognition of the gesture.
Left-handed first, Sandoval proved to be equally as competent as Kincaid. Then, he raised his right arm and demonstrated the true effectiveness of a Skrill. Seconds after he began, the targets were smoking ruins; the cadets stood there disbelief etched on their faces, while the instructors just smiled.
The final test was a mock-up of a warehouse. The Protectors went in blind. The only information they were given was that there were three hostages being held by an unknown number of assailants. They were each provided with lasers that would activate sensors on any targets they hit. They were also provided with vests to wear that identified them as FBI. The vests also had sensors on them. They could be 'killed' on this exercise.
They went in, the cadets and instructors monitored their progress from the control booth. It was an education to watch the pair. They moved quickly and quietly, operating by hand signals, never a wasted movement. They quickly neutralised their targets and secured the hostages. They were heading out when one final assailant made himself known. This instructor's task was to lay in wait and not attack until those being tested thought that they had accomplished their objective. Only one in ten of those he attacked usually reacted quickly enough to save themselves.
Kincaid had a feeling that something wasn't right, his tenseness telegraphed itself clearly to Sandoval and he too kept himself ready. In a pre-arranged move, one of the hostages stumbled and pretended to lose his footing, Sandoval moving to assist, saw the last assailant but knew he couldn't move in time. That was when Kincaid crashed into him and knocked him out of the line of fire. Liam continued his forward momentum and rolled out of the way, as soon as he was clear, Sandoval fired and hit the last instructor.
The entire group exited the building and, spontaneously, the cadets burst into applause. They recognised that they had just spent the morning watching two men whose abilities were the ideals to which they should aspire.
Leaving Quantico, the pair did indeed 'hang out'. They had a late lunch; where, surprising himself, Sandoval made a suggestion about what to do next. Kincaid had smiled and nodded, secretly amazed that Sandoval seemed to be relaxing in his company.
They went to an art gallery. It had been one of DeeDee Sandoval's favourite places and Sandoval admitted that he hadn't been able to set foot in the place since he had been informed of her death. Standing at the entrance, he'd taken a deep breath; Kincaid's steady presence at his side more reassuring than he had believed possible.
Together, they went in and wandered round the galleries. DeeDee had loved modern art; he had always been drawn to the Impressionists. He turned round to mention something to the Major but had fallen silent. Kincaid was staring in wonder at one of the huge canvases. Sandoval thought back to the first time his father had explained the Impressionist movement to him. He could clearly recall his dismissive, 'how can dots be art?' God, he had been a brat.
Leaving the gallery, they headed off for dinner, another quiet meal. Leaving the restaurant, Kincaid turned to look at Sandoval with a question in his eyes. The other man smiled and nodded. Yes, he'd be all right now. Nothing further was said; they just went their separate ways.
The next day, Liam had to fly Da'an up to the mothership for a meeting of the Synod. Passing Sandoval in the corridor, the Implant barely acknowledged him; back to normal indeed.
However, later on the bridge, Liam was working at a console retrieving some information for Da'an. He looked up and found that Sandoval was staring at him. For just a second, their eyes met; Liam read the gratitude expressed there. He gave a shy smile and lowered his gaze to the console.
Looking up again, he saw that Sandoval's impassive expression was back. Silently though, Liam said, 'You're welcome, father.'