Disclaimer: They're not mine, this is not for profit, please don't sue me, I just love the show.

Rating: G

Spoilers: None

Setting: Late S1

Authors Notes: This is my first fic, please give me feedback, I need to know whether to write a sequel or not!! Huge hugs and thanks to my beta Minh, she is wonderful, without her I would never have posted this, thank you again!! On to the fic!!

Watching

I watch him across command, poring over maps and star charts, moving to the console to check some readings, then doing some calculations on this "paper" of his. He knows I'm here, but is so deep in his work he doesn't notice me watching him. We are so utterly different, he and I: Human and Alien, Sebacean and Unclassified Life Form. 

I have never known anyone like him before. He is always so confident.  He always knows just what to say, always has the words; he always knows just what to do, always has a plan.  He always knows just what is right, he always does the right thing.  Our childhoods were so different - his so full of love and laughter, mine non-existent - but now our lives are so similar, irreversibly entwined.  He has changed so much already, in the short time I have known him.  He had to change to survive, but deep inside, he is still the same person…I am drawn to him, attracted to him.  

He looks up and sees me watching him.  He smiles and something inside me gives, it reminds me he is different, different from anyone I have ever known.  He is so kind, so caring, so patient. In spite of everything he has been through, he still looks for the good in people and never prejudges them, not like I do.  When I first met him I thought he was a deficient, lesser life-form, not worth my time or attention.  But then slowly, I began to realise that it was the Peacekeeper in me talking - my upbringing, my training, my 'programming' - all of which had been thrown into doubt by this human… all of which had to be questioned now.  And then, when I felt totally alone, betrayed by everything I had ever known, lost in the Uncharted Territories, with no points for reference, no log books, no routine, no drills, no structure, no supervisors, no rule books to tell me what to think, how to act, what to say and do… then I realised the gift he was holding out to me. The gift of friendship.  He held out his hand and I took it. 

~*~

I watch her across command, working on a console, checking Moya's electrolyte levels and gas pressures. She is intent on her work, though she knows I'm here, she doesn't realise that I am passing the time in my favourite way - watching her.  She is so beautiful and she doesn't even realise it.  She is so strong, more so than any woman I have ever known, strong in the face of diversity, danger, even death. But still she carries so much baggage, so much grief and so much pain. She has so much to learn and so much to teach, so much to give and so much need. She has changed so much but is still the same. She has so much to gain and so much to lose. 

Each step forward is accompanied by half a step back, but we do go forward, slowly, in a kind of dance. We change each other a little each day, learning, giving, receiving, losing, hurting, laughing crying, existing. Together. 

So we work in command with no need for words, just being together. And I watch her, watching me, watching her.