Remember The Good Times

by Seven


Disclaimer:  Earth: Final Conflict and its characters are copyrighted by Tribune Entertainment Company.  All rights reserved.



Note from Author:      I decided to finish what was started in "I Will Remember You" and "Weep Not For The Memory" and make it a trilogy, that goes in a twisted circle to the situation in "Remember".



**********



Susan Armstrong tossed her file folders into a cardboard box, labeled "Memory Alpha." She sighed, feeling the hollow in her chest expand painfully.

She felt better, though, than when Liam had left the treatment facility. He had remembered nothing of her or how the two of them had felt, any more than he had remembered who he was when he had arrived at the facility. It had been like nothing Susan had ever felt before.

At least this time, he knew who she was.

His green eyes had glimmered with sympathy as he had stated that he could not love her, but that he could remember. Susan had thought she was resigned to living the rest of her life without him, but she still hurt.

She pulled the flaps of the box shut and taped them in place. A pair of Volunteers entered and picked up the heavy box, one of them backing out the door. Susan watched them impassively, then pulled on her jacket and walked out the door. She wanted to sleep.

****

Liam stood on the hill and watched Susan walk to her car, humming to herself. Her blond hair flapped around her face as she opened the door, singing softly,

"Remember the good times

That we had

We let them slip away from us

When things got bad

Clearly I first saw you

Smiling in the sun..."

"Susan!" Liam called softly. He was making a huge leap into the dark, but he had to make it. He knew that he wasn't going to have peace until he did.

Susan felt her insides twist as she saw Liam standing up on the hill, his dark curly hair stirred by the breeze, his green eyes shining. And he had called her "Susan," not "Doctor Armstrong." She cleared her throat and prayed that her voice wouldn't waver. "Yes, Major Kincaid?" she called back.

Liam jogged down the hill, until he was looking her right in the eye. He bit his lip, trying to conceal his nervousness. "Please... call me Liam."

Susan nodded awkwardly. "Liam... what can I do for you?"

Liam took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. "I, er... um... I was helping move all the data from Memory Alpha, so I was in the area and... um... I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me, tomorrow night."

Susan banished all thoughts of anything but dinner, the next day. "I'd love to," she said quietly, her eyes shining.

****

Susan drifted through the next day in a cloud. *Liam asked me out,* her mind sang over and

over. *Liam asked me out, Liam asked me out...*

There was a thumping on one of the doors. Susan stopped and pulled open the tiny window, and a haggard, unshaven face stared out at her. Then a crooked smile creased the features. "Hi, pretty lady."

Susan tried to smile back, but the persistant images of what this psychotic man had done lingered in her mind. He was Bob Lawrence, a convicted murderer who had been proven criminally insane and was chosen for a Taelon experiment in anti-psychotic drugs. He was the only one in his group of twenty who had not responded favorably to the drugs. In fact, he hadn't responded at all. "Hi, Bob," she said quietly. "How are you?"

Bob shrugged in his straitjacket. "Can't complain. 'Cept, of course, for the coat." He grinned at her with yellowed teeth. "I have a great idea. Why don't you let me go, and you won't get hurt?"

Susan shrugged. "Sorry, Bob. But after what you did to Doctor LaBarre's cheek, I can't even consider it."

Bob grimaced. "Bit him bad, huh?"

Susan nodded. Bob widened his eyes in a Bambi-style. She only smiled apologetically and began to slip the window shut, but Bob jammed his face against it with a fierce shriek, gray hair wild, eyes glaring like twin coals. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" he screamed.

Susan slammed the window shut and walked away briskly. She didn't take the threat seriously; the only time Bob could present a threat was if you opened the door.

****

Liam had never felt more nervous in his life as he sat in the fancy restaurant, awaiting Susan. There was a faint sound of spirit-bells, and she came in, glowing in the candelight. Her blond hair had tiny flowers woven in a braid going to her shoulder, and her red sequined dress was laced with tiny pictures of Chinese dragons. "Hi," she said.

Liam realized that his mouth was hanging open. He snapped it shut. "Hi," he said, wishing his mouth weren't so dry. "You look... uh, you look really-"

BEEEZERP!

No, Liam prayed. Please, not now. He pulled his global out and snapped, "Yes?"

Sandoval stared at Liam, and the top of his his formal suit. "Where are you?"

"I'm on a date, Sandoval." My first, Liam thought. "Can it wait?"

"No," Sandoval replied. "It can't wait. I need you to excuse yourself and find Doctor Susan Armstrong, the woman who finished Project MA. Bring her to the mothership immediately."

"My date IS Doctor Armstrong," Liam said, watching Sandoval's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "Why do I need to bring her to the mothership?"

"We have reason to believe that her life is in danger," Sandoval said grimly. "Bring her, now."

Liam slapped his global shut and looked at Susan, who was staring at him, wide-eyed. "I don't understand," she said, confused.

Liam smiled a little, embarrassed. "Sorry our date has to end before it even begin..." His voice dropped off as Susan looked at him. For a moment, their eyes met. "You're going to kiss me, aren't you?" Liam asked quietly.

Susan stood up on her toes and touched her lips to his. It was brief, cool, and left Liam with a pleasant tingle on his chin and lips. For a brief moment, Liam Kincaid was not certain of anything in his life except Susan, beautiful Susan. "Just because our date never began," Susan whispered in a voice sweeter than any music he had heard, "doesn't mean we can't end it properly."

Liam smiled at her, ignoring the stares from the other restaurant patrons. He put his arm around her shoulders and led her out into the night. His shuttle was parked in a nearby park.

BANG!

Liam yanked the gun from under his jacket and spun, shooting the one who had fired the shot. He jerked, and fell to the ground, his orange jumpsuit showing that he was a dangerous mental patient. Hearing a horrible gasp, he turned, and almost fainted.

Susan was standing in the street, her eyes wide and surprised. A dark smear soiled her blond hair. She fell to the ground like a cut sapling, and Liam realized that the scream he heard was his own.

****

Sandoval entered the ER waiting room, where Liam was pacing restlessly, his jacket thrown onto one of the vinyl chairs. "What happened?" the FBI agent asked.

Liam stared at Sandoval with haunted eyes. "What happened?" he asked hoarsely. "What happened is, some psycho with a CVI shot Susan!" He stepped forward menacingly, and Sandoval took an involuntary step back. "Why does he have a CVI?"

Sandoval sighed. "It was an experiment, from two years back. It was thought that Robert Lawrence's insanity could be cured by the stabilizing effects of a CVI, but we were wrong."

"You were wrong," Liam said, his voice quaking with anger. "You were wrong, and now Susan may die for it!" He was almost screaming now.

"Liam." Doctor Belman had emerged from the OR, wearing an operating gown. "Liam, I need to speak with you."

Sandoval turned around and left the room, shaking his head. Liam looked at the doctor almost pleadingly. "Is she going to live?" he asked.

Belman bit her lip. "Liam, if we operate now, we can save her, but... the operation will destroy a small amount of memory engrams. No more than the last six months-"

"She'd forget me," Liam said, shocked. "Everything about me..."

Belman nodded, lowering her head. "She's asking for you."

****

Susan, half her head shaved to reveal an ugly wound, was lying on an operating table. As Liam approached, she smiled a little. He sat down beside her, taking her hand. "Hi," she whispered.

"Hi," Liam replied quietly, feeling tears welling up in his eyes.

Susan winced a little, her pale face looking almost corpselike in the harsh light. "I can't feel my legs," she whispered.

Liam smiled in what he hoped was an encouraging manner. "They're there, believe me. You wanted to see me before the surgery?"

"I'm not having surgery, Liam," Susan rasped, curling her fingers tightly around his. "I won't remember you if I do... I can't."

Liam shook his head frantically. "You have to!" he whispered.

Susan seemed to be having more and more difficulty getting the words out. "Liam, my life... my life was so empty before I met you... and it was empty when you left. Now... now that we have something... I won't let it go.... and go back to the way things were... I can't..."

"You have to," Liam whispered, feeling the tears trickling down his cheeks. "Please... I love you... and I can't let you go... not like this. What we had existed, and the knowledge that we had that and that we can have it again, someday, is enough for me to go with. You can't throw away your life for something that can't be helped," he whispered, kissing her. "Even if you can't remember me, live for us. For what we had. Live for what you will know mattered."

She was crying openly now. Liam kissed her.

They were still kissing, without passion but only with love, as Doctor Belman and the other doctors came in.

****

*Two days later*

Liam stood at Da'an's window, staring out at Washington. His tears were dried, but a tiny spray of white flowers was tucked between his fingers. The faint scent of a woman's perfume emanated from them, as he smiled a little.

****

Doctor Susan Armstrong passed a hand over the deep scar on her scalp, wincing a little. She was deeply irritated to find that apparently, six months of her life was gone. One of the patients with a Taelon CVI had apparently attacked her--no one would say where or how or with who--and the resulting injury had deprived her of six months of memory. Her mentor had passed away and the project she was working on was ended.

A nurse came in with a bouquet of red roses. "These just arrived."

Susan took the roses and flipped the tag over, curious. On the other side was the simple message, "For love forgotten."