Prologue
Liam Kincaid shifted in his sleep, lying comfortably on his side upon the narrow hospital bed, oblivious to the lone figure watching him from the shadows of the doorway.
The young man's youthful appearance was so unlike that of the emotionless facade so many were used to seeing on that handsome face that he seemed an entirely different person to Ronald Sandoval. More like the child he supposedly was. Despite all the evidence Doctor Curzon had presented to him, Ron found it extremely difficult to believe that Liam Kincaid, a thirty-three-year old Army Ranger, was in fact his biological son. Half Human, half something else, Allison had said.
And yet the Implant refused to believe it. The young man lying in the darkened room before him was no child of Ronald Sandoval's. It was impossible. They despised each other, how could they possibly share a bond so strong as that of father and son?! It was unthinkable, undesirable.
His son was an infant. A fully HUMAN infant no more than ten years old. Not a fully grown alien hybrid with mixed loyalties and a tendency to antagonize everyone around him at the worst possible moments. There had to be some kind of mistake. The DNA scans HAD to be wrong! And yet, somewhere deep inside, Ron knew that the results were not wrong.
He just couldn't admit it to himself that this young man was indeed a part of him, had been created without his knowledge or against his will. For to admit the truth to himself after what he had done to Liam would force him to face all the pain of the actions he had committed against his own son, all the guilt and remorse which he was already beginning to feel gnaw at his soul. He had hated Kincaid so much, even to the point of reveling in his torture and trying to have him eliminated on more than one occasion. It was just too unbearable to think that he had inflicted not only physical but surely emotional pain upon his own son.
The young man shifted again, turning over onto his back as he murmured something unintelligible in his sleep.
Fighting the urge to shake the Major awake and demand answers, Ronald turned away from the younger man and silently retreated back to Erin's room. As much as he wanted those answers, he didn't wish to be present when the hybrid awoke. Right now, Erin and the baby were his main priority and he had very little time remaining to be with them. If Kincaid was indeed his son, he would deal with it when he had more time to think on it.
***
One hour later, Liam awoke to find himself in an unfamiliar room, sprawled out on a hard bed, wearing nothing but his boxers and a thin T-shirt. The dizzy haze in his slightly throbbing head and unsettled stomach at first caused him to suspect that Ren�e had gotten him drunk and seduced him again. But as his eyes searched his surroundings, he began to recall what had happened the night before and realized where he was.
Arhh. I can't believe I fainted. In Sandoval's arms no less, he groaned to himself with a touch of mortification, rubbing a hand over his eyes.
The door opened then, letting in a burst of light from the corridor beyond.
"Good morning, Major," Doctor Curzon announced with a smile. "Feeling better?"
"Apart from the cringing embarrassment, much better," Liam replied wryly, sitting himself up against the wall.
The doctor's smile widened at that as she handed him a large glass of fresh orange juice. "I wouldn't worry about that. Lots of first-time blood donors faint afterwards. I'm sure Agent Sandoval was too grateful to you to be amused by it."
Liam uttered a low groan, pulling the thin, gray covers up to his waist. "How's Erin?" he inquired, eager to change the subject.
"She's doing surprisingly well considering her injuries. Her vitals are growing stronger by the hour, thanks to that healthy part-Kimeran blood of yours."
Liam smiled into the glass as he took a mouthful of the juice, he was glad his young friend was going to be okay. As he finished off the cool, sour beverage, he listened to the doctor relaying Sandoval's instructions to stay with Erin throughout the day until he returned that evening.
As Sandoval's doctor and some-time friend, Allison had been eager to tell the Agent that she had at last found his son. But as Liam's doctor also, she now felt that she might have made the wrong decision. At the time, she had been too shocked and happy for Sandoval that she hadn't considered Liam's feelings or the danger she might have been putting the young man in by revealing the truth about his heritage to a very dangerous man.
When, almost three years ago, she had been approached by her colleague Doctor Park to become involved in the treatment and care of a unique Human-Kimera hybrid, she had not, however, been entrusted with the identity of Liam's Human parents. And in spite of the oddities in Liam's blood, whenever Curzon had given him a blood test the equipment used had always been programed to his specific physiology, identifying the anomalies present as a third, non-Human strand in his DNA structure, therefore it had not detected anything unusual for him.
But the equipment at Bethesda had not been programed with such parameters, and so when the blood that had saved Sandoval's life had been analyzed, it was not familiar with the results. In retrospect, however, Allison was surprised that she hadn't made the connection. After all, Liam had been the only one to visit the sick agent, and had appeared genuinely concerned for his colleague. But she did not know that Liam's Human parents were both Companion Protectors, and she had thought that Sandoval's son was a mere child, conceived years prior to the Agent's marriage - or perhaps even during - with someone who feared for her child's safety and had chosen to keep his existence a secret, until that day. And so she had not even minutely suspected that the child was Liam.
She knew that she should tell Liam what she had done, but she thought perhaps it would be for the best if he didn't know for the moment. At least until she could be certain of Ronald's motives. She doubted that the Agent would turn his son over to the Taelons - not even he was that cruel - but if he chose not to accept Liam as his true son because he couldn't see past the younger man's DNA or the method in which he had been conceived, she didn't want Liam to have to deal with yet more emotional pain inflicted by his sole remaining parent.
I'll deal with his anger at my audacity when the times comes. But for now, for his sake, I won't say anything about it, she decided silently, hoping that she wasn't placing Liam's like in jeopardy.
"Well, I'll leave you to get dressed. Ron had some of your things sent over so I put them in the closet over there," the doctor explained, gesturing to the door across from the bed. "Erin's room is across the hall and the cafeteria is on the next floor if you get hungry..."
***
22:00
On his way back to the hospital after yet another agonizing day of dealing with Zo'or, Sandoval stopped by the local mall to pick up a gift for the baby and some pink roses for Erin. Trying to find an appropriate toy proved more of a challenge than he'd thought. Thankfully, though, one of the female shop assistants was at hand to aid him in his quest and he came away with a soft plush blue teddy-bear with the words My First Bear embossed on its torso.
A fond smile touched Ronald's lips as he thought of his first gift to his new son, safely hidden in the bag which hung from eager fingers at his side. It reminded him of his own first bear. It hadn't been made of the same suck-able fabric as this one, but that hadn't stopped little Ronnie Sandoval from shoving the thing in his mouth the first chance he could get, soaking the brown fur in his saliva, which in turn stuck to his tongue. By the time he was two, the old bear had been washed so many times it was almost hairless.
When the elevator finally reached its destination, opening onto the maternity ward, Ron stepped out and slowly but eagerly made his way down the hall towards Erin's room. Doctor Curzon had called earlier that day to notify the Agent that his young lover was steadily growing stronger and had been transferred to the Maternity Ward in case she went into premature labor, but had yet to regain consciousness.
She will. I just have to be patient, he told himself. She and our baby will be fine. I can't let myself think otherwise.
Suddenly, before he could form another thought or take another step, the sweet sound of a very familiar voice traveled down the hall and hit him like an energy beam. Behind him, he could almost feel her presence, just like he had always been able to, even without hearing or seeing her in the flesh. She was asking a passing nurse for Erin's room number, claiming to be a friend of the younger woman's.
His heart began to beat wildly against his chest as the rational part of him argued that it couldn't possibly be her. She had died over three years ago. But he had to know for certain. Slowly, tentatively, Ronald turned towards the voice he could never forget.
At that same instant, Sophie Webber gave her thanks to the kind nurse and turned to go on her way up the corridor. The sight that greeted her, however, made her breath catch in a gasp, her sky-blue eyes widening in horror and disbelief.
Sandoval's own expression paled a few shades as his suspicion was confirmed. Staring back at him with wide, too-blue eyes that mirrored only Erin's, was the one woman that had possessed the other half of his soul for the better part of his existence. Finding his voice after a long silence, he parted his dark lips and breathed a name he had not dared to speak for so long. "DeeDee..."
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