Augur looked up from the Taelon files that he was studying - files that had just happened to appear in his system by sheer accident - honest!
They were back.
Augur covertly monitored the pair from his perch at the other end of the sanctuary. Over the last couple of months he'd noticed some peculiar moods buried in the eyes of Liam Kincaid. He and Renee Palmer had been kept busy recently. They'd had several Taelon projects to scupper while at the same time having to maintain the fiction that they were fully involved in and supported those self-same projects. Just thinking about the double lives they led was enough to give him a headache.
Augur's eyes narrowed speculatively. Something was up with the kid. Renee was getting to know her partner's moods - and there was no denying it, they were partners now - they'd come through too many tight spots together for the bond not to form. In a crisis, they instinctively looked to each other for aid and support; expecting the other to be there - and they always were.
Even so, he'd known Liam since the day he was born and sometimes he caught signs that Renee still didn't know to look for. The kid was becoming more centred, more intense. Over the past two months he'd witnessed Liam run the gamut from joy to despair and back again - all from subtle signals in body language and the emotions that were banked in his eyes.
Up until ten minutes ago when they had returned, he'd been worried. Liam had left with a shadow of sadness hanging over him but now that they were back, his expression was one of serenity and damn it, he wanted to know why.
Augur watched a laughing Renee take her leave with a wave. She was heading back to Doors International to once again assume the mantle of corporate executive dedicated to promoting and developing Taelon co-ventures.
Augur watched as Liam stretched his arms and eased the tension in his shoulders. The Resistance leader dropped onto one of the couches, stretching out, he snagged a cushion for a pillow; he was asleep in seconds.
Augur sighed. He'd have to wait till tomorrow to ask the kid what was going on.
The Next Day Liam's Apartment
Liam blinked in astonishment at the sight that greeted him when he opened the door to his apartment. Augur! What was he doing here? He hadn't been out of the sanctuary in over a month!
"How do you feel about a walk in the park, Liam?" asked Augur.
"I'm always ready to spend time with a friend, Augur. Particularly you. You know that.
"Just let me grab a jacket."
They walked through the park in companionable silence. Liam smiled softly. He'd missed this. Augur's partial withdrawal from his life had been a source of great pain. Oh, they were still friends and as far as he was concerned, they always would be. Augur was the brother / friend / counsellor that he would always turn to.
The autumn leaves blanketed the paths through the park and Liam had to fight the urge to scuff through them like the toddlers that he could see walking ahead of them, exasperated parents trailing along behind. He glanced at Augur and saw that the hacker too seemed to be smiling in fond indulgence.
"Is there anything wrong, Augur?" asked Liam.
Augur tugged at the gloves he was wearing before looking down at his jacket and smoothing out some invisible wrinkles that only he could see. He murmured, "You tell me, kid.
"What's going on with you? Palmer may not have known you long enough to recognise the moods that you've been in for the last couple of months. I have.
"You've gone from one extreme to the other recently. Yesterday, you left unhappy and you came back 'at peace' for lack of a better term. What's going on?"
Liam smiled. He should have known that he couldn't get anything past Augur. Well, it wasn't that big a deal. He placed a friendly arm around the other man's shoulders and said, "Everything's fine, Augur.
"This 'kid' has been thinking about his future and weighing up the possibilities and I'm happy with the conclusions I've reached. That's all."
Augur gazed into the green eyes of his friend and saw the truth there and the peace. A sense of relief passed through him; relief from a worry that he hadn't realised he'd been carrying. The kid - no - the man in front of him was focused, happy and at peace.
"Tell me about it?" he asked, softly.
"Of course, Augur. If you want me to. It's nothing that profound really."
At his friend's perplexed expression, Liam elaborated.
"You know I've had my doubts about the path my life has been taking, doubts about how much use I'm doing the Resistance as it's leader; doubts about my role in humanity's future or if I should even have a role.
"Not any more. I've made my peace with what I do and what I have yet to do and I've decided that the promises of tomorrow are worth everything I have to do."
"What 'promises of tomorrow', Liam?"
Liam moved his arm from Augur's shoulders, shrugged and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. He looked ahead and Augur realised that he wasn't seeing the path below his feet but the path that lay ahead of him in the months - and possibly - years to come.
"Friends. Family. Happiness. Peace. Renee...
"Oh, I know I may not get all of them but the promise is there.
"I know too that these promises are dependent on surviving the coming confrontation with the Taelons, the possible confrontation with the Jaridians and a host of other things. All it takes for one person to betray the truth of my heritage and I'll never live to see any of those promises - I know all that - but the fight is still worth the risk. The possibility of those promises is reason enough to try.
"I've made friends helping people and God knows there are more people out there that we need to help. The Taelons are getting worse not better. Until we stop them there will always be more people to help. That means that there are always going to be more people out there that I will get the opportunity to call friend."
Augur watched as Liam smiled sadly and his eyes grew wistful.
"Then there's Sandoval. I know the odds are stacked against it ever happening but there's always the possibility that Sandoval will learn the truth about me and not reject me. I know who he is and what he's done and still I don't care. I want to shout to the world that we are connected. That he is my father and that I am his son. I know it's emotional, irrational and highly improbable. I can hope, though.
"Peace and happiness are the promise if we can free humanity from the stranglehold of the Taelons. You know, I honestly don't know if I want the Taelons destroyed, gone, or just an equal and honest partnership. I do know that things cannot remain as they are."
Liam smiled an enigmatic smile as he said, "Then, of course, there's Renee.
"You know I can't honestly tell you when my feelings for her went beyond friendship; I just know that they did. At first I was horrified, I mean, how could I work with her feeling the way I did?!
"In fact - and you have to promise not to tell her I told you - we actually talked about this months ago. I went to her to tell her that I thought that we shouldn't work together any more - other than what was absolutely necessary. Turned out she had wanted to tell me the same thing.
"We talked and we both acknowledged that the feelings were there. We both agreed that we weren't going to act on them though. We have too much work we need to do - we know that. So, we agreed to do nothing till the fight is over.
"If we're both still alive at that point, and we both still share the same feelings, then we're going to give it a go. Till then, we're friends and partners; nothing more.
"In all honesty, things are better now between us than they ever were before. Acknowledging the attraction and putting it aside, we've come to know each other better as simple friends and she continually astounds me with her wit and wisdom. With her compassion, loyalty and courage.
"She is a phenomenal human being and I am blessed to call her friend. The promise that I might one day call her more than that is another thing that inspires me to action.
"I know that our present situation is bleak but the promises of tomorrow are - for me - worth fighting for and, if necessary, worth dying for."
For a long moment Augur was silent and then he stopped. Heart almost bursting with pride, he turned on the leaf scattered park path, looked at his companion and said, "Liam, you never cease to amaze me.
"I've never been more proud to call anyone friend than now - at this moment. If Lili and Jonathan were here they'd say the same thing.
"You are developing into an extraordinary man and I hope and pray that you get each and every one of your promises that you hope for. Wherever your mother's soul is; I guarantee you that she's smiling and wishing the same thing."
Liam lowered his gaze for a moment before bringing up his over-bright eyes to meet those of his friend. Quietly, he said, "Thank you, Augur. Your opinion means a lot to me."
Augur gave him a shy smile before he decided to ease the emotional tension of the moment by saying, "Okay. Enough profound thoughts. What do you say to beer and pizza at my place and I introduce you to the wonders of cartoons?
"You know I still can't believe the fact that neither Beckett or Sandoval were ever allowed to watch cartoons as kids. Talk about a stilted upbringing..."