DISCLAIMER: Don't own them.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Mentions the events described in 'Just A Kludge'. Think of it as a sequel of sorts. I am working on a fic that explains in more detail what happened in Trance's future.
What Might Have Been
By Rommie
"Harper?" Trance called as she crawled through the conduits trying to find her friend.
"I'm here, oh Golden Goddess!" Harper replied.
Trance smiled and found the opening Harper was seated in. She crawled in and sat down next to him. "What are you working on?"
"Nothing much. Just a few things I don't want anyone to know about," he said, gesturing at the cloth that was covering several lumpy objects.
Trance smiled reached for the edge of the cloth, but stopped when Harper swatted at her hand. "Hey!" Trance said in indignation.
"There's something for you, too, so no peeking," Harper scolded with a smile.
"What's the occasion?"
"Christmas. Beka and I forgot the last two years, with everything that was going on. But this year I remembered," Harper explained.
"After... what happened... Beka told me about Christmas. When we left on the Maru, we found a box with some round balls with hooks in them. She told me they were Chistmas ornaments, and then she told me about Chistmases with you," Trance said. "Then she started smashing them all."
"Why?" Harper asked, wanting to know more about the future that might have been.
"I asked her that and she said she only got the ornaments for you, and that she didn't want them anymore. It would just remind her of you."
Harper nodded. For a long moment they were both quiet, then Harper spoke again. "What happened? When I died, I mean?"
Trance sighed, and for a moment Harper thought she wouldn't answer. But finally she started talking.
"When it came down to it, Tyr kept his promise. He took you to Obs deck, and you two looked at the stars for awhile, and then... he kept his promise. He shot and killed you."
"I didn't think he would."
"Well, he did. We found him on Obs with your body probably a half hour or an hour later. Tyr was cradling your body in his arms, and he was crying," Trance shook her head sadly. "Beka started screaming that he was a murderer, and she tried to shoot him, but Rommie stopped her and said it was what you had wanted. Beka just started sobbing, and even when she stopped she wouldn't talk to Tyr. She blamed him for everything that went wrong after that."
"Wow."
"Tyr left a few months later," Trance continued, unable to stop now that she had started. "He said goodbye to me and Rommie, but not to anyone else. By that time Rommie was starting to malfunction, but we hadn't been able to find a reliable new engineer yet, so there was nothing we could do. Rommie failed first, the Andromeda managed to hold on longer, but we were attacked again and again, and slowly the ship began to fall apart. And I had started to... change. Beka was seriously hurt in one of those attacks, and I couldn't fix her, so we took her to a clinic on El Dorado Drift, but all they could do was make her part mechanical. Dylan took the Maru out of the Hangar, docked it with the drift, then took the Andromeda and left. He attacked the Magog World Ship on his own, and he died, the Andromeda self destructed. It was so horrible when we heard it on the newscast," Trance said, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Harper wrapped and arm around her and held her close. "It's okay, Trance, that's not gonna happen this time. You changed things."
"A little while before I came back, I saw Tyr. He was... he'd gone back to being a mercenary, and he had lost an arm, and burns scars covered half his face. He didn't recognize me at first, and when he did, he smiled at me. He asked how everyone was, and when I told him he just looked so sad. And then he asked if he made the right choice. If maybe he shouldn't have killed you. I didn't know what to tell him."
"I would have died anyway, but you guys would have had baby Magog swarming around," Harper said with a shrug. "He did the right thing."
"That's what I finally told him. Then I told him that I saw a way to make things different. He told me to do what I had to in order to save everyone. He didn't care if he ceased to exist, as long as things were set right. I told Beka about talking to him, and they finally started talking. Beka still hated him, but she knew that we might need his help to make things go right. And we did, because the Kalderans attacked just before the Tesseracts were going to bring us back. Tyr was going to try and keep them away long enough for us to fix things. Your Trance should be okay. My Beka and Tyr will take care of her."
"Hey," Harper said, squeezing Trance's shoulder. "Purple Pixie or Golden Goddess, it doesn't matter. You ARE my Trance," he said with a small smile.
Trance returned the smile and rested her head on Harper's shoulder. "I won't let things go so wrong this time. I'll make things right."
"You all ready started fixing things, you saved my butt, didn't you?"
Trance laughed. "Yes, I did. And now Tyr won't leave, Rommie won't die, Beka won't get hurt, and Dylan won't kill himself and Andromeda."
"What a difference a little Harper makes."
"Your are more important to this crew that just as an engineer, Harper. You are..."
"Your comedian? Your clown?" Harper suggested.
Trance laughed. "Yes, exactly," she replied. "I've missed you so much, Harper. You were my best friend. And then you died. And now... you're alive again, but you treat me like I'm a stranger."
Harper put his hand under Trance's chin and tilted her face up. "It's just weird for me. My Innocent Purple Pixie is gone, replaced by my Warrior Golden Goddess. But you're still my Trance. And you're still my friend."
Trance smiled. "Thank you."
"Thank you," Harper replied. "You saved my life, remember?"
"Yes, I did." Trance impulsively leaned forward and lightly pressed her lips to Harper's. Then she stood and went to crawl out of the conduit. She paused at the threshhold and turned back. "It's good to be home," she said before disappearing.
Harper stared after her in mild shock. "Wow," he finally whispered.
THE END
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Mentions the events described in 'Just A Kludge'. Think of it as a sequel of sorts. I am working on a fic that explains in more detail what happened in Trance's future.
What Might Have Been
By Rommie
"Harper?" Trance called as she crawled through the conduits trying to find her friend.
"I'm here, oh Golden Goddess!" Harper replied.
Trance smiled and found the opening Harper was seated in. She crawled in and sat down next to him. "What are you working on?"
"Nothing much. Just a few things I don't want anyone to know about," he said, gesturing at the cloth that was covering several lumpy objects.
Trance smiled reached for the edge of the cloth, but stopped when Harper swatted at her hand. "Hey!" Trance said in indignation.
"There's something for you, too, so no peeking," Harper scolded with a smile.
"What's the occasion?"
"Christmas. Beka and I forgot the last two years, with everything that was going on. But this year I remembered," Harper explained.
"After... what happened... Beka told me about Christmas. When we left on the Maru, we found a box with some round balls with hooks in them. She told me they were Chistmas ornaments, and then she told me about Chistmases with you," Trance said. "Then she started smashing them all."
"Why?" Harper asked, wanting to know more about the future that might have been.
"I asked her that and she said she only got the ornaments for you, and that she didn't want them anymore. It would just remind her of you."
Harper nodded. For a long moment they were both quiet, then Harper spoke again. "What happened? When I died, I mean?"
Trance sighed, and for a moment Harper thought she wouldn't answer. But finally she started talking.
"When it came down to it, Tyr kept his promise. He took you to Obs deck, and you two looked at the stars for awhile, and then... he kept his promise. He shot and killed you."
"I didn't think he would."
"Well, he did. We found him on Obs with your body probably a half hour or an hour later. Tyr was cradling your body in his arms, and he was crying," Trance shook her head sadly. "Beka started screaming that he was a murderer, and she tried to shoot him, but Rommie stopped her and said it was what you had wanted. Beka just started sobbing, and even when she stopped she wouldn't talk to Tyr. She blamed him for everything that went wrong after that."
"Wow."
"Tyr left a few months later," Trance continued, unable to stop now that she had started. "He said goodbye to me and Rommie, but not to anyone else. By that time Rommie was starting to malfunction, but we hadn't been able to find a reliable new engineer yet, so there was nothing we could do. Rommie failed first, the Andromeda managed to hold on longer, but we were attacked again and again, and slowly the ship began to fall apart. And I had started to... change. Beka was seriously hurt in one of those attacks, and I couldn't fix her, so we took her to a clinic on El Dorado Drift, but all they could do was make her part mechanical. Dylan took the Maru out of the Hangar, docked it with the drift, then took the Andromeda and left. He attacked the Magog World Ship on his own, and he died, the Andromeda self destructed. It was so horrible when we heard it on the newscast," Trance said, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Harper wrapped and arm around her and held her close. "It's okay, Trance, that's not gonna happen this time. You changed things."
"A little while before I came back, I saw Tyr. He was... he'd gone back to being a mercenary, and he had lost an arm, and burns scars covered half his face. He didn't recognize me at first, and when he did, he smiled at me. He asked how everyone was, and when I told him he just looked so sad. And then he asked if he made the right choice. If maybe he shouldn't have killed you. I didn't know what to tell him."
"I would have died anyway, but you guys would have had baby Magog swarming around," Harper said with a shrug. "He did the right thing."
"That's what I finally told him. Then I told him that I saw a way to make things different. He told me to do what I had to in order to save everyone. He didn't care if he ceased to exist, as long as things were set right. I told Beka about talking to him, and they finally started talking. Beka still hated him, but she knew that we might need his help to make things go right. And we did, because the Kalderans attacked just before the Tesseracts were going to bring us back. Tyr was going to try and keep them away long enough for us to fix things. Your Trance should be okay. My Beka and Tyr will take care of her."
"Hey," Harper said, squeezing Trance's shoulder. "Purple Pixie or Golden Goddess, it doesn't matter. You ARE my Trance," he said with a small smile.
Trance returned the smile and rested her head on Harper's shoulder. "I won't let things go so wrong this time. I'll make things right."
"You all ready started fixing things, you saved my butt, didn't you?"
Trance laughed. "Yes, I did. And now Tyr won't leave, Rommie won't die, Beka won't get hurt, and Dylan won't kill himself and Andromeda."
"What a difference a little Harper makes."
"Your are more important to this crew that just as an engineer, Harper. You are..."
"Your comedian? Your clown?" Harper suggested.
Trance laughed. "Yes, exactly," she replied. "I've missed you so much, Harper. You were my best friend. And then you died. And now... you're alive again, but you treat me like I'm a stranger."
Harper put his hand under Trance's chin and tilted her face up. "It's just weird for me. My Innocent Purple Pixie is gone, replaced by my Warrior Golden Goddess. But you're still my Trance. And you're still my friend."
Trance smiled. "Thank you."
"Thank you," Harper replied. "You saved my life, remember?"
"Yes, I did." Trance impulsively leaned forward and lightly pressed her lips to Harper's. Then she stood and went to crawl out of the conduit. She paused at the threshhold and turned back. "It's good to be home," she said before disappearing.
Harper stared after her in mild shock. "Wow," he finally whispered.
THE END