The Midnight Vigil

Rating: T

Summery: Sequel to "Aftermath" Liam takes the late night watch over the youngest and newest member of the Rainsworth family. And the night it not a peaceful one.

Characters: Minimal Liam/Break, Liam, Sharon, Break.

Comments: In the spirit of continuing universes I've put a lot of thought into (cough, cough, HP fusion-verse) I wanted to do another blind Liam story. I've been working on so many blind Break fics it's nice to switch to the other side for a while. Besides, Liam has pretty much established himself as the least likely to be violent character in the serious and that makes it so much more fun when he is.

Through many nights holding vigil at this exact place Liam had memorized all the little creaks and rustles of the sleeping Rainsworth mansion but tonight sounded different, the distant murmurs of the ball being held downstairs permeated all way up to the nursery were he sat.

Thankfully they weren't loud enough to wake the five month old baby, who snored softly in his cradle, blissfully unaware that the ball being held downstairs was in his honor. Then again, at his age little Tyco probably wouldn't have cared much even if he had known. He would have just been irritated that it took his mother away from him and left him under the watchful eye of his 'Uncle' Liam.

Liam smiled at the idea and traced the letters on the page of the book he held on his lap. Of all the books he had once owned this rather new one was his favorite, Break had given it to him the same day he had sworn loyalty and service to the Rainsworth household with (he hadn't been able to see it but he knew Break well enough to know it was there) a wicked smiled and a light press of lips to his temple.

Even if he couldn't see the words on the page now the feel of the indents of the letters was oddly comforting, almost as reassuring as the steady snoring of the baby not too far away. Tyco was a very important child, and not just because he was the next in line for head of the Rainsworth family after his mother, but also because it was likely that he would be the only child Lady Sharon had.

The pregnancy and birth had been so dangerous to her health -she was, after all, trapped in a body much younger than her mind- that her husband (a kindly man from the Barma family who was almost as crafty as Lady Sharon in his own ways) and she had decided that it would not be a good idea to risk her life a second time. And thus Tyco was probably going to be an only child, which put him in some amount of danger himself. Despite the fact that he had yet to utter a single word Tyco had powerful and threatening enemies which he had inherited with the Rainsworth name.

It was a tradition among the noble households to never leave a a child alone for the first year of his life, even while he slept. Considering how often infants died in their sleep during their first months of life it was practical in most cases and for Tyco there was a special need to have a watcher, since there was always the chance someone with malicious intent might try to make sure the boy never woke up in the morning.

That was doubly as likely with a ball downstairs and dozens of guests. Unfortunately even with the Abyss sealed for four years Dukedom politics remained as vicious as ever and there were plenty to reasons to worry about Tyco's safety.

The creak of the squeaky floorboard and the rustle of multiple layers of petticoat warned him that someone had paused on the threshold of the nursery. The delicate sent of pomegranate perfume game him some hint as to their identity and he smiled. "Sneaking away from the party you are supposed to be hosting." he said. "That's quite wicked, Lady Sharon."

There was a delicate chuckle from the doorway. "For someone who is blind you do an admirable job of managing to see anyway. The ball downstairs is in full swing, they aren't likely to miss me if I slip away for a few moments. Besides, I wanted to see Tyco." The click of her shoes on the floor told him that she had walked forward, and a softer whisper of fabric must have been her leaning against rail of the crib. "It's good of you to watch him at night like this, Liam; but it must be hard, staying up all night."

"Not particularly, it's always night for my eyes," Liam waved toward his blind eye and the patch over the other empty socket, "I never have been able to get back into the habit of setting aside a certain time of the day for sleep anyway. Besides, this is the least I can do, as a servant of the Rainsworth household."

A smile touched her lips, that kind of dedication was rather touching. Glancing around the room she asked. "Where is Break?"

"Asleep in there," Liam gestured to the left, where a door led to an adjoining room where the nursemaid slept.

She tilted her head to the side thoughtfully, "I thought he usually slept in here, in case you needed anything."

A tiny expression passed over Liam's face, too fast to really be read. "No, there's an extra pallet in the nurse's room. I convinced him to take it, since the alternative his having him dozing off in one of the chairs here. And you know how light a sleeper Tyco is, Break falling out of his chair would be more than enough to wake him."

"We wouldn't want that." she said. Then she noticed the book that he held on his lap. "A book? Surely you can't have been reading to him?"

He shook his head. "No, of course not, I was telling him stories until he fell asleep, I just didn't want him to get the impression everyone knew so many by heart. And so," he tapped the book on his lap, "A farce to keep the young Lord from growing up rather confused."

"How did you learn so many stories by heart?" she asked curiously.

"Don't you remember?" Liam frowned and then shook his head. "Well, it was some time ago. I used to tell you them when we were little when it was raining and we couldn't go outside or you were sick." his hand was moving under the book, slipping under the pages.

"Yes, now I remember, how odd of me too forget." She turned back to the crib and gazed down at the sleeping infant, whose tiny fists were clenched, his tuft of brown hair tousled. With a smile on her lips she reached down to him.

He must have heard the rustle of her dress because he said quietly, "Wait." Her hand froze mere inches from the baby. "You'll wake him."

"How careless of me." She said, not withdrawing her hand. "I didn't think… it's just… with the party downstairs being so about him I couldn't help wanting to… well, surely it won't hurt if I hold him, just for a bit."

"You, know," He had stood and moved behind her, sometime in the last few seconds. How could a blind man move that quietly? "It's odd."

She didn't turn to him, still looking down at the baby. "What exactly?"

"You think you've gotten away with it."

"…what do you mean?"

"You aren't Lady Sharon."

The laugh she gave was only a trifle strained. "Liam, what are you talking about? To suggest such a thing; are you sure you're feeling well?"

He spoke as if she hadn't. "You have the voice right, that must have been very hard, and even the way she speaks too, but you made the same mistake all the others before you have made."

"And what would that be?" the assassin snapped. The poison needle she held was so close to the child, it would take just a second…

"You assumed a blind watcher couldn't also be a bodyguard." She jerked, starting to move, but froze as the cold steel of a gun barrel touched her back. Liam dropped the book to the floor, it was hollow, containing only a few actually pages, the box hidden underneath them was where he had drawn the gun from.

A sigh came from the assassin and her shoulders slumped. "How did you even tell?"

"The perfume."

"Lady Sharon wears pomegranate scent."

"Not tonight. It was a special occasion so she wore lily-of-the-valley." It was her husband's favorite on her and she'd mentioned it in an offhand way over tea that afternoon, knowing he'd notice the difference and comment.

Instead of replying the assassin whipped around, her elbow lashing out. It caught the gun and sent it spinning out of Liam's hand. He reached out to grab her, catching her by the shoulders, whirling her away from the crib and the sleeping infant.

He didn't think she fell, but from her staggering steps he had thrown her off balance. Right now his priority was to protect Tyco, which was why he leant over the cradle to scoop the baby up instead of looking for the discarded gun.

There was the sound of a rush forward followed by a tiny pinprick in his back; which made his blood go cold. She'd stabbed him with something and whatever is was, it was poisoned, it was already making his skin hot around the wound. Clutching the baby to him with one arm he tried to ignore the strange feeling of heat radiating from that point and kicked backwards with all the force he could put behind it. There was a crunching sound and the assassin yelped -he was wearing boots and layers of petticoats only absorbed so much force.

Using the momentum from his turn Liam aimed a blow that should have impacted with the assassin's chin, had the assassin not moved back. Liam put his back to the crib, trying to listen for any telltale sign that would give him the location of the assassin.

Unfortunately Tyco had woken the moment he'd grabbed him and was now proceeding to bawl as if he thought the world was ending. It was a good indication that he was still in perfect health but he was drowning out all the sounds Liam needed to hear where the assassin was.

Just in case the crying wasn't enough to do the trick Liam shouted, "Xerxes! Trouble!" knowing that the door to the adjoining room was easily thin enough that his voice would carry through.

He shifted as he heard a snarl of tearing cloth -was the assassin trying to get to another weapon?- and in the movement one of the bars of the cradle hit the thing in his back, sending a jolt of pain right up his spine. With the hand that was not cradling Tyco Liam reached to his back and found the center of the pain. It felt like a long needle and when he pulled it out a wave of dizziness made him stagger, something whistled past him to thud into the far wall at that same moment. Since it sounded like a throwing knife he wasn't complaining.

He dropped the needle on the floor, trying to shake the dizziness from his head; it was very much not fair for it to be possible to feel dizzy when one couldn't see a thing.

So that was how she had meant to do it, a poison needle? How very efficient. Well, now he just had to hope that a dosage made to kill a baby wouldn't be fatal for him too.

She slammed into him as he staggered again, sending him back into the cradle which was a heavy thing and refused to budge. The poison was spreading, he could tell on account of the sudden weakness in his legs, which had decided that was the perfect moment to give out from under him. Because the assassin had him pinned against the crib he hit his head on the rail on the way down, a much duller pain than that on his back.

The assassin was apparently sitting on him, prying at the arm he was using to hold the bawling baby, trying to get to the child. He would have tried to strike her away with his other hand but he wasn't paying much attention to what she was doing at the moment; mostly because his other hand had landed on something very interesting when he had fallen. It was cold and metal and very familiar.

The gun was in his hand just as the assassin suggested in prying his arm away from the child. At this close a distance even a blind man would have had a hard time missing but he emptied all bullets in the gun just to be sure.

Apparently the sound of a gunshot was enough to frighten little Tyco into silence, though the weight of the assassin collapsing on both of them might have had just as much to do with it.

He was pretty sure it was only a few moments later that someone shifted the body off of him but his head felt rather fuzzy so he couldn't be sure.

"Liam? Liam! Are you alright?" Break had worry in his voice, but considering the situation Liam didn't blame him.

Instead of answering he offered the crying baby to Break, who took him and, said, "Here, Mistress Gabrielle." The nursemaid, who must have come in right after Break was handed Tyco, "Take him over there, just don't leave the room. She might have had backup."

"Of course." said Mistress Gabrielle, who was, thankfully, not easily flustered. Tyco's cries receded somewhat as she moved away and were mixed with her comforting murmurs.

Break's hand was very cold on his forehead. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Poison needle." Liam explained, shortly.

The hand on his forehead twitched and Liam could only imagine the expression on Break's face. "Where?" he asked his voice flat.

"My back." It was probably fortunate that the assassin was already dead because the way Break's hand curled into his skin was distinctly protective and Liam happened to remember that the expression that went with that as murderous. "Calm down. It was probably meant to kill instantly, that would be the most practical way to do things… and as I'm still alive that means… the dosage was too small… to…" he shook his head, hoping that that would clear the encroaching cobwebs. Little success.

"What's wrong?" Break asked, his other hand was on the side of Liam's face, which was fortunate because it was a terrible effort to keep his head up.

"…tired." he murmured. "Think… I'll be… taking a nap…"

With a shake of his shoulder Break tried to rouse him, "No, no, don't fall asleep. Not now, that would be very bad. Do you hear me, Liam? I said no falling asleep."

"S'okay… Xerc." he told him. "M'… just a… little tired. No… worrying." The fog in his head wasn't so bad, he decided. He would just close his eyes, only for a little bit of course, and then everything would be alright.

Liam woke, clawing at the darkness that obscured his eyes.

Hands grabbed his own firmly, keeping them in their grip when all Liam wanted to do was move whatever was covering his eyes. A familiar voice said, "Liam, it's alright!"

"Break?" He was really starting the panic now, whatever the thing over his eyes was he couldn't see anything through it at all. "I-I can't see."

The hands on his squeezed them gently. "Liam… don't you remember? You… you're blind. You've been blind for a couple of years."

"I-" Liam cut himself off, pulling one hand free to touch his eyes with it. That was when memory returned in a sudden rush. "Oh. Of course. I forgot." The bed he was lying on was familiar, a second's thought identified it as his and Break's, which meant he was in their rooms. "What happened after I… is Tyco alright?"

"Tyco is fine." Break said. "You on the other hand have been passed out for full day, fighting a rather nasty fever while you burned off the poison." The tone was distinctly accusatory, as if Break thought Liam had deliberately planned to whole thing.

"I'm sorry I worried you, Xerc."

"Worried me? You think you 'worried' me?"

"… I didn't?"

"You terrified me!"

Liam meant to reach out and put a hand on Break's cheek but a minor miscalculation on his part -or perhaps some small movement on Break's part- meant he ended up smacking him in the face.

"Ow!" Break said, withdrawing so his voice came from farther away. "What was that for?"

Feeling his way through empty space Liam found his face at last and tapped him on the forehead. "For being an insufferable worrywart."

"I am not a…"

As best as he could without being exactly able to quite tell where the target was he aimed a glower at him.

"Alright." Break admitted. "Just a little bit of one."

He laughed. "Right, of course. Did anyone find out who sent that assassin? She was a professional, she almost had me fooled."

"She almost fooled your ears?" there was the tone of surprise in Break's voice which made Liam laugh again.

"I know. I didn't expect that they'd prepare for a blind guardian."

"The one three months ago certainly didn't. But I suppose it was inevitable that they would eventually adapt." Break sat on the edge of the bed, Liam felt the mattress dip. "I suppose you'd take it a bit badly if I took this as another opportunity to suggest finding another way too help the household?"

The annoyed look Liam shot in his general direction made him sigh. "Thought not. In that case I'll be moving that cot into the nursery. If you insist on fielding all of Tyco's assassin's then I would like to at least be near enough to lend a hand in a timely matter."

"Whatever makes you happy, Xerc."

"How do you feel about being shut up in a padded room then?"

Liam located Break's face and gave it a pat. "Don't even think about it." he said.

End.