Visions Of What Could Have Been

by Seven


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



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Would you like this life?

The question rang through Liam Kincaid's mind as he stood in the meadow, the gentle breeze ruffling his curly hair. The deep green grass was long and lush, the morning dew soaking his socks. In the distance, trees waved as if in greeting.

He caught his breath as he saw the collection of ancient, weathered stones. They had stood there for millennia, bent but unbroken. Their strange circle seemed mystical to Liam.

And in its center was Siobhan Beckett.

A lump rose in his throat as he watched his mother kneel in the middle of the circle, smiling broadly and typing something into a global. She looked a little older than when he had seen her last, when she had died, but she was still the most beautiful sight he could imagine. He caught a glimpse of her wrist. No skrill.

"Mommy!"

Beckett put down her global and craned her neck, then smiled. Liam glanced to the side. "Come on, acushla!" Beckett called. "What is it?"

A boy was running through the grass, about four years old. He wore a gray T-shirt and jeans. His wavy dark hair was cut a little long, and there was a scratch on his left arm. But Liam recognized the boy as he recognized his own face.

Me, thought Liam. That's me.

The boy ran into Beckett's lap. She encircled her arms around him and kissed the top of his dark head. "Now what is it, Liam?"

Liam's stomach knotted up at the tone of pure love he heard in Beckett's voice. Now he knew... he had heard it only once in his short life, as she had died in his arms. But then her voice had been tinged with pain, regret, sorrow. Here there was nothing to regret.

"I found a shell inside a rock!" the child exclaimed, holding out a small white object. "How'd it get there, Mom?"

Beckett surveyed the rock and grinned. "That's a shell fossil, Liam. You found a bit of limestone."

She launched into a simple explanation of how limestone was made, but Liam didn't hear a word. Scant yards from the pair, he felt the distance that existed. They were what could have been; he was what was.

If fate had played out differently, might the same spirit have been born in a fully-human body? Did he want the life that he saw here? More than anything.

Liam felt tears sliding down his cheeks as he watched the pair. Beckett hugged her little son again, and the boy turned his head. Two pairs of green eyes locked, one awash in tears, one wise and calm.

...

Do you want this life?

...

And Liam awoke in the back of the Flat Planet. Not with a jolt, but peacefully. Without the disorientation that was usually experienced when waking from a vivid dream.

Did he want that life? Yes. Was it his life? No...

Liam smiled a little into the darkness. He would carry within his heart the loving image of himself and his mother, together and happy. He knew that somewhere, Siobhan Beckett cradled her son.

Will this life be yours?