Title: Extending the Olive Branch
Summery: After my story Remembering (Beka remembers what she did on Flash)
Beka goes to apologize to Harper.
Disclaimer: I still own nothing; I am still poor, are we
noticing a trend?
A/N: I had such a request for a sequel I figured I'd do it. I hadn't actually thought Remembering lended
itself to a sequel when I wrote it, but I tried with this. I hope you like it.
She watched him from the doorway to
the machine shop. He was in there. Diligently fiddling with some thing she
couldn't identify. A faceless droid
suddenly pushed past her carrying a glass and a little paper cup. It stopped in front of Harper and demanded
the kid stand up in Andromeda's voice.
"Med time Harper"
"Yes dear" he whined playfully
emptying the paper cup into his hand
Harper glanced at the pills in his
hand for a moment, a big red vitamin, two little round green antibiotics, and a
white capsule whose purpose he could never remember. He knocked them back and took the glass of water offered by the
droid. Everyday, twice a day he did
this. "Thank you kindly" he told the
bot and sat back down on the floor to continue his tinkering.
He took these pills because of his
tattered immune system. His life before
he met her was cruel and unforgiving. Years of combating plagues and infections
left him with virtually no antibodies swimming about his blood. So everyday he took antibiotics and vitamins
in an attempt to stay well another day.
She took a deep breath. She had to talk to him. "Hi Harper" She announced, making her
presence known. He jumped a little in
surprise. The look that crossed his
face for a mere moment caused her to suddenly remember back to his first weeks
on the Maru again. He had been so
jumpy; always looking over his shoulder when he thought she wasn't
looking. He had a paranoia that she was
going to dump him the first chance she got.
That would be better than what she
had just threatened to do to him. If
she just dumped him on a random station he might get lucky and find another
ship in need of a cocky engineer. But
the garbage heap she found him on; it was a miracle he ever got off. There, it was worse than kill or be killed. She'd been just as lucky to find a decent
person like Harper, as he'd been to team up with her. They'd actually met when the scrawny mudfoot had stopped her
mugger. If it hadn't been such a
serious place and situation she would have had to laugh, this little
malnourished guy leveling a blaster at a big bruiser who could easily break him
in half. But the mudfoot had been quite
convincing. The mugger left to find
easier prey.
"How ya doing?"
"Fine" he nodded, "Anything I can
help ya with boss?"
"No Harper, I just wanted to, well,
to apologize for last week."
"Oh, it's okay boss, you weren't
yourself"
"But still, what I said, you know I
would never take you back to that hell-hole."
"I know". Did he know? Did he ever worry he'd wind up back in the
dump where she found him, or maybe worse, sent back to Earth? It would be over her dead body that they
take her friend back to that misery.
"Seriously Seamus, you're safe
here."
"It was the Flash Beka. You stay
off the eye juice and we'll call you forgiven."
"It's a deal". She nodded and left
him alone again.
They'd been together so long she
understood. Harper was still the same
Harper he always was, not gooey inside.
He just rolled with the punches, ready to move on. Not to say he was uncaring or dead
inside. She knew what their friendship
meant without some hug fest or deep unburdening of souls. What else could you expect from someone
who'd taken so many punches from fate?
She glanced back at him one more
time before turning down the hall. She
hoped he understood how important he was, and knew to be proud of himself. Sure, he had a huge ego, was always joking
about what a god he was, but he did have reason. He'd overcome a lot, and no one could take that away from
him. Sure she had found malnourished
and scratching out a living just above living on the streets. But even then, he'd already survived 20
years in a place even worse. She
couldn't say for sure in his place she wouldn't have reached for a gun. He was a survivor and he'd made something of
himself.
