"What the Hell is this, Tate?" Ronald Sandoval demanded, disgusted. "I'm in no mood for your sick jokes."
"It's no joke, boss. That footage is 100 per cent genuine, I swear," Tate assured, hoping that his tone was sufficiently convincing.
Sandoval angrily slammed the Global shut and threw it down on the desk, fully intending to have the footage analyzed by his best experts to determine whether or not it had been altered in any way.
"Look, I was hoping not to have to show you that, but I think it's time you knew the truth about her. She's not only a distraction - a liability- she's a threat, too," Tate continued. "I mean, she is the daughter of one of the ANA's most influential members. And she's friends with Kincaid and Palmer, both suspected Resistance sympathizers and probably members of the ANA themselves. What better way to get inside information on us and the Taelons than to get into your bed? When she thought you weren't interested, she turned to me instead."
As much he didn't want to believe that it could be true, despite all the seemingly sincere emotions Erin had displayed for him over the past few months, Ron knew it was indeed possible that his relationship with Urick's daughter was nothing more than a plot to gain knowledge from him. Or, at least it had been to begin with, anyway. He had only ever known one woman who could pull off such a deception for so long and to such an extent that those around her believed it as much as the man she was seducing. And that woman had been trained to seduce, manipulate and even kill. Erin was far too young to have undergone such extensive training to be so convincing and she didn't seem the killer type.
No, it couldn't all be a lie. If Urick had persuaded Erin to get close to Sandoval, it had certainly developed into something much more than any of them had anticipated. It just seemed too real to be false. It felt too real.
"Boss? You okay?" Tate's voice intruded into his thoughts.
"When was that taken?" Ron asked, looking up at his aide.
"About seven months ago. It was about a week after that night I walked in on you two," Tate replied with a slight smirk at the memory.
Seven months...
"Tate."
"Yeah, boss?"
"Get out. Before I do something you'll regret," Sandoval hissed coldly, feeling the rage steadily building within him barely contained.
Not daring to ask for his Global back, Frank Tate turned away from the scathing look Sandoval was giving him and wordlessly left the office...
***
Bethesda Naval Hospital
"Snap!" Liam declared, slapping his last remaining card down on the top of the pile.
"Geez, Liam, is there anything you don't excel at?" Erin asked with a smile, amazed at her friend's exceptional talent. They'd played a hand of every card game they could think of - with the exception of strip poker - as well a few games of 3-D chess and a made-up game to test Liam's almost perfect memory. And the young Protector had beaten her at over 90 per cent of them all.
Liam's boyish, almost gleeful expression turned pensive for a moment. "Dating?" he answered with a smile.
Erin chuckled. "Very funny. A kind, decent, incredibly hot guy like you? That's hard to believe."
Liam shrugged. "Well, I'm not married or attached to anyone, am I? So that should tell you something."
"What, you mean that you and Ren�e are not...?"
"Romantically involved with each other? No, we're not," Liam informed, with a slight shake of his head. "Unlike me, Ren�e still has some semblance of a personal life left. In fact, I think she's got a date tonight. She said she couldn't meet us for lunch this afternoon because she has to go shopping for a new dress and another item she wouldn't tell me about."
"One dress? That'll be the day. The last time I went shopping with Ren�e, we ended up with an entire trunk full of clothing. And my father thinks I have a problem..."
"Must be in the genes. I haven't bought a new shirt or pants in months."
"Well that's because you look sexy in anything, even a torn, ripped shirt and faded, too-tight jeans," Erin noted with an impish, almost dreamy smile.
"Careful, I just might fall in love with you if you keep flattering like this," Liam grinned.
"Sorry, already taken. Would ya settle for a best friend kind of love?"
Liam graced her with a warm smile. "Sure. One can never have too many good friends.
"That's certainly true," Erin agreed. "So, who's the lucky guy?"
"Excuse me?"
"Ren�e's boyfriend."
"Oh, er, his name's Jeff Marlowe, he's a Volunteer Weapons Specialist aboard the Mothership, and a very good friend of mine."
"Marlowe," Erin echoed thoughtfully. "Tall, dark, ruggedly handsome, doesn't shave very often?"
Liam smiled at the accurate description. "That sounds like him."
"I think I met him once, as he was coming out of my father's office a few months before I left D.C. Is he ANA?"
"Er, I don't know," Liam lied, uncertain whether or not he could trust Erin to keep the knowledge from his father.
"Oh, I see. Well it's okay, I won't tell," Erin assured. "There are plenty of things Ron doesn't tell me and I have my own fair share of secrets. Jeff seemed like a nice guy."
"He is. I'm happy for them, they make a good couple."
The pair sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, while Liam packed away the playing cards and moved back the padded chair beneath the window. Sitting back, he moved his head from side to side slightly to get rid of the kinks in his neck muscles.
As Erin soothingly ran her fingers over her swollen abdomen, she noticed a nasty-looking, greenish-brown bruise on Liam's neck, to the side of his Adam's Apple. "Ouch. That looks like it must've hurt," she grimaced. "Is that from the CVI?"
"The bruise? Yeah," Liam confirmed, trying not to wince at that particular memory. "There's nothing quite like having a long, probing needle inserted into your brain, that's for sure."
Erin grimaced again, shuddering. "I'll take your word for it. But I think having a baby coming out of something a whole lot smaller than it's head probably beats that sensation."
Liam made a face at that thought, remembering his mother's first experience of delivering a baby during her time with the Belfast Militia. Those were the inherited memories he tried not to recall with too much detail. Along with a certain activity my father often partook in with Dee Dee...
Erin giggled at the expression on his handsome face, which made him appear much younger than his apparent age yet again. "And you're sure they took it out?" she asked, trying to take his mind of the unwanted images she had just given him.
"Well, I didn't detect a CVI frequency in the bio-scan I run after the extraction," Liam replied, before a yawn escaped him.
"Somebody needs a nap," Erin observed, with a wide smile. Why does he look so adorable lately? she wondered to herself. First the blushing, then the strange, grossed-out expression, now the yawning...
"Hmm. I've been feeling really drained lately," Liam murmured, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "No matter how much sleep I get, sometimes I wake up feeling as though I barely have enough energy to even walk."
"Maybe you're getting the flu, or some kind of virus," Erin suggested. "I do hope it's not because of the transfusion, though."
Liam shook his head tiredly. "No, I don't think so, it started before that." Right after Ha'gel helped me expel the dark matter two weeks ago... "It's probably nothing serious. I've been busy lately, stressed, neglecting to take my vitamins..."
"And inconvenienced baby-sitting me," Erin added.
"Hey, I already told you, I really don't mind staying here with you," Liam promised her. "It beats staying at home alone with nothing to do but read."
"Well, I still feel bad about taking up your time on your days off, even if it is only twice a week. So, why don't you go home and get some sleep? I'll be fine by myself."
"You're sure? I know how tedious it can be laying in bed with nothing to do."
"I'm sure. I've been catching up on my reading, and my sleep. So, go home, get into bed, snuggle under the covers and have sweet, sweet dreams."
Liam smiled. "If you insist."
"I do. Otherwise, you'll end up falling asleep in that chair and I just might be tempted to, oh, I don't know, shave something," Erin teased with a mischievous grin.
"Like what?" Liam asked, frowning warily.
"Now that would be telling, wouldn't it?"
"Well there aren't that many places to choose from. I've been blessed with very little body hair," Liam revealed, returning the smile.
Erin couldn't help herself. She burst out into giggles, holding a hand to her abdomen. "I don't think you want me to have that particular mental image," she laughed.
Liam rolled his eyes, shaking his head in mock-disapproval. "You sure you and Street are not related?" he muttered.
"Dirty minds think alike, I guess. And J does have good taste."
Liam simply smiled and made a mental note never to get in the same room with those two alone. One hormonally-charged young woman was hard enough to deal with, but the two of them in close proximity to each other, with him in the middle, was asking for trouble.
A sudden knocking on the door startled Erin and Liam's hand instinctively went for his sidearm. Just because they knocked first didn't eliminate the possibility that whoever was on the other side of the door was there to harm Erin or her baby...
***
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