Author: R2 (mailto:stacey_meyer@hotmail.com)

Spoilers: Beholder and Liberty and Larceny

Eugene Cloutier once said "To know the value of generosity, it is necessary to have suffered from the cold indifference of others". Now, I had been on the receiving end of that indifference my whole life. It's why I turned to a life of crime. Imagine my surprise when a total stranger actually took the time to care. About me. How do you even begin to say thank you to that?

The sea-spray coming off the ocean landed gently on my face, leaving a salty taste on my lips. Hungry waves lapped up at the rocks, wet fingers reached for my sneakers before being pulled back once again into the ocean's embrace. The sun was beginning to set, so everything around me was cast in muted shadows while brilliant shades of purple and red streaked across the sky in a race for the horizon.

I had been coming to this particular spot off and on for several weeks now, ever since I had to tell Laila goodbye. The memory of her face and laugh caused my heart to ache and I quickly banished the memory before it could do any more harm. The parting had been mutual, she had her career to think of and I … had the Agency. Not much chance of a social life when you're a top secret government experiment.

I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, letting the last rays of sunshine land on my face, enjoying the warm feel of the dying embers of the day. Even though I didn't want to, I began to think about Laila again. After I had lost Casey, I had never really expected another woman to touch me as deeply. I guess I had always supposed that I would never let that happen again. Once bitten twice shy and all that, but Laila had been different. She had taught me to see again.

I opened my eyes and gazed out onto the slowly blackening ocean, the waves looked like little snow-capped mountains as they broke against the base of the rocks. In the month that I had been blind, I had learned to see, really see, myself and the world around me. How was that for a paradox? I had come to some startling revelations. With a grudging conscience, I had realized that, all things considered, I really had a lot to be grateful for. For instance, I had been given a second chance at life, not many people get lucky enough to say that. Oh sure, I was paying a hefty price for that chance, and I most likely would be for the rest of my life .. but at least I had the rest of my life to pay it.

I gazed down at the rocks I was sitting on, watching the last of the sunshine throw odd shadows across its surface. I had Kevin to thank for that, my second chance. When I had first realized what he had done to me, I was furious. I had felt betrayed, and in that instant, I had hated him. Then he had died and I was stuck in a nightmare. I had been so caught up in my anger and self-pity that I hadn't been able to see the good that had come from the bad. Isn't that what Laila had said to me once? Try to see the good in every bad thing, to look for that ever-present silver lining? The good was, I had a decent job and was making a difference. I mattered, to a small group of people I was important. I was never able to admit it to myself before because I had been so wrapped up in my own little pity-party, but knowing the Agency needed me felt good. For the first time in my life, people actually wanted me around.

There was a small scraping noise behind me and I turned my head slightly and caught sight of my partner, Bobby Hobbes, slowly making his way up the rocks. I smiled slightly to myself as I watched him stumble across the uneven ground. I am not surprised to see him. I have no idea how he does it, but he seems to always know right where I am, and I have simply accepted it. I like to think of him as my surreal guardian angel. Hell, maybe he really is! Lord knows he's saved my life on more than one occasion.

There was another good, right there I realize, not ten feet away from me. In my previous life, I had never had a friend before, not someone I could count on in a pinch. I never had someone that would watch my back and be there for me when things got rough. I had once thought of Liz as a friend, but friends don't leave you, not say goodbye and then suddenly reappear years later as if nothing had happened, only to leave again just as suddenly.

This life I had now, the one I had once thought of with malice and loathing, had given me a friend. A partner. Someone I could count on. Hobbes' shadow fell across me and I glanced up and watched him carefully take a seat next to me. He said nothing, just gave me a small grin and a nod before he turning his gaze out to the ocean.

That's the thing about Hobbes, he knows exactly when to talk and just when to keep quiet. He's giving me my moment, but, in his own way, letting me know that he's there for me. If I should need him. I had never had that before, in that life I had once thought of as "good", and when I did finally have it, I had been too blinded by anger and resentment to see it.

Then the Chameleon had taken my sight away, and Laila had come along to teach me to see again, from a new perspective. To not be afraid of the dark, but to rejoice in it, see the beauty in it and look for the lining.

Thank you, Laila, I think to myself as I turn my eyes out to the horizon where the sun is beginning to disappear in an explosion of color, my partner sitting silently beside me until I decided I was ready to leave. Thank you for giving me the best day of my life and for helping me not to be afraid of the dark.

The End