Death of Innocence
By: Jason Leisemann
In response to Ivy's challenge on the "TranceHaper" mailing list.
Factors used: Trance getting drunk, "This is not what it looks like," Harper topless, Tyr singing, Kissing in Hydroponics
Time Frame: Roughly one month after "Fade to Black" for those of you who like continuity.
Warning: Story rated R, tripping into the NC-17 range. VERY serious story - if you're looking for humor or a light-hearted piece, read "When Trance Gets Drunk," or some other contribution. Also, if you are seriously offended by the concept of rape and/or torture, read elsewhere. Okay - fair warning's as good as a promise, so let's get going!
Trance Gemini was drunk. Very drunk. She wasn't sure what she had just had to drink, besides that it was green, but the man sitting next to her seemed to want to be helpful. Which was good - she had a date with Harper coming up tonight, and she had to get back to the ship soon.
"Come on now, missy - must be getting you back home. You're friends'll be worried about you, that's for sure." He tossed a handful of thrones on the bar, and stood up, holding his hand out for Trance.
"Thanks - I don't know what just happened - I was feeling fine a moment ago."
"No problem, missy - happens to most folks. 'Specially when they drink what you just did. That's mighty strong stuff you had there - now, let's just get you back to your ship." Trance leaned heavily on the man's shoulder, thankful for his help, and started out of the bar with him. The bartender shook his head and picked up the money, letting the overly- generous change that he pocketed comfort his niggling conscience.
Meanwhile, Trance and her mysterious companion were working their way through the station. Trance wasn't certain that they were headed towards the Andromeda - but, then, she wasn't entirely sure where she was. She stumbled, only to be helped back to her feet by the man from the bar. He opened a door into a room for her, and ushered her in.
"Woah, missy. You're in no shape to be walking about too much, I'd wager. Let's get you sat down, let you sober up a bit."
"But - I have to - to get back to the ship."
"What ship are you from, missy? I'll tell your friends where you are." He helped her to a bed, where she laid back and tried to straighten out her scrambled thoughts.
"The Andromeda - thank you so much." The man closed the door - and something told Trance that there was something wrong. She tried to get to her feet, but could barely move a muscle. Seeing her difficulty, the man from the bar smiled.
"I was wondering how long that sedative would take to kick in. Now, missy - it's time you thanked me for my kind assistance. As Trance's vision blurred, dimmed, and finally blacked out, the last semi-coherent thought in her mind was regret for missing her date with Harper..
Harper was running back towards the ship from one of the bars on the station, when he was nearly run down by somebody coming from the opposite direction. He staggered back, indignant.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!"
"Get outta my way, kid!" The stranger continued running, and Harper shrugged. He didn't have time to get into a fight - he was supposed to meet Trance back at the ship in a couple minutes! He started to run back to the ship again, when he noticed a familiar form through an open door. He turned around, and looked back in - then dropped to his knees as the full impact of what he saw sank into his mind. Trance was lying on a bed, unconscious, tied down - and horribly bloodied. Harper had seen similar scenes too often back on Earth, and he knew what it meant. His Trance had just been raped.
"Oh God, Trance!" Harper jumped to his feet and tore off his shirt. He covered her up as well as he could, and tried to get the tie-downs undone, when he heard a familiar voice near the door. It was the sound of Tyr, singing an old war song to himself. He turned around just as the Nietzchian looked into the room, presumably for the same reason Harper had.
"What happened in here?"
"Tyr, this is not what it looks like - okay, it is, but I didn't have anything - oh, to hell with it, just get in here and help me with her, please?" There was a pleading tone in Harper's voice that cut through Tyr's gut-reaction and made him come to help. Together, the two of them picked up Trance, and started carrying her carefully back to the Andromeda, both amazed at how much the she weighed when she wasn't helping out - and both shocked by what had happened to her.
Later, onboard the Andromeda, everybody was gathered around the unconscious girl in the Med Bay. Rev was checking every scan he could to try and figure out how she was doing, and everybody else was simply too shocked to do much of anything. Dylan cleared his throat, and tried to regain a semblance of control.
"Harper, report!"
"I don't know what happened - I was coming back to the ship, some guy almost ran me down, and I found Trance in a room. Tyr walked in while I was untying her." "Tyr?"
"Every word is true, to the best of my knowledge. I was coming back from re-stocking my armory, saw the open door, and Harper with his shirt off. I didn't know Trance was in the room until I looked more closely." Harper answered the questioning glance before a word was spoken.
"I covered her up with my shirt - I couldn't just leave her like that while I untied her. Listen, I've seen too many people end up like that back on Earth - I couldn't stand to look at her like that."
"Rev, how is she?"
"She should be as well as can be expected - whoever did this to her was far from gentle." Harper glared at the Magog priest.
"Nobody's gentle when they rape somebody, Rev. That sort of defeats the purpose."
"Master Harper, I know how you feel -"
"How the hell do you know how I feel, huh? Trance was just raped by some bastard who didn't have the guts to even make sure she was still alive when he was done with her. If I hadn't come by when I had, she could've bled to death." Dylan put his hand on Harper's shoulder.
"Stand down, Harper. Save it for the right man."
"Damned right I'll save it for the right man - I'm going to go find him now."
"But you don't know who it -"
"Earth to Dylan - it was the guy who ran into me. Or at least he knows about it. Now, if you'll excuse me," Harper opened the door to the Med Bay, and stepped out. "I'm going hunting." He turned and ran off as the door closed. Dylan and Tyr looked at each other. Tyr nodded quietly.
"I'll go after him. Make sure he doesn't do anything rash." Tyr followed after Harper, stopping only long enough to make sure he had his force lance before he left the ship. Dylan sighed, and turned back to Rev.
"Rev - now that we won't be interrupted - how is she?"
"She'll live - I've stopped the internal bleeding, her physical injuries are not severe, and should heal quickly. But her mind - her soul - that could take years to heal." Dylan nodded.
"I know." Beka spoke up for the first time since she had heard what had happened.
"Rev - one more question. Is she.?"
"Pregnant? No - it would be highly unlikely, if possible, that she could have become pregnant from this. It would only be a concern if her attacker had been of her people, and I can't imagine not hearing about it by now if there was another one of them on the station."
"Rev, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but why didn't you flip out when you heard about this? You've done things like that before."
"Trance needs my help more than her attacker needs punishment. But I hope, for his sake, that Tyr finds and kills him first. Because I would not be as gentle with him as Tyr would be - and Harper will put us both to shame, I fear."
Meanwhile, half-way across the station, Harper was tracing the steps of his target, trying to remember what he'd heard Tyr say about tracking people - and remembering his youth on Earth, when things like this happened too often. He remembered his sister - she'd died the same way Trance almost had. He wasn't going to let this bastard get away like that one did. And when he caught up with him.. Harper put one hand on his force lance as he debated just how long he'd take killing him. He looked into a bar he passed by - and saw the man who'd run into him. Harper walked in and sat down next to the guy.
"Hey - didn't I run into you earlier? Sorry about that - the name's Harper. Lemme buy you a drink."
"Hey - thanks, kid. Sorry about being so rude - I was in a bit of a hurry. Had an appointment to get to. Name's Tom."
"Nice to meet you, Tom. And hey, no problem. Happens to all of us. I was running late to - date with my girl."
"Oh yeah? What you doing down here if you've got your own girl?"
"Eh, looking around. She's kind of tied up right now - doesn't mind when I come down to the bars, get my caffeine fix, maybe come back in the mood for a little fun.."
"Sounds like the perfect girl."
"Oh, yeah - she is. Real good looker too. Not many like her. I've seen girls with tails before, but never one that looked as good as she did." Tom stiffened, and his hand dropped to his hip - only to stop when he felt the tip of a force lance pressed against his back.
"Go right ahead and pull that blaster, pal - give me one more excuse to leave your carcass in the nearest trash can." Tom gulped.
"What do you want with me?"
"Just a little talk - let's go." Harper tossed a few thrones on the table to cover Tom's tab, and started out with him. The bartender pocketed the money, not even bothering to put any in the register, a smile on his face. Tom had picked the wrong girl to drug earlier. When they found his body, he wouldn't be in any shape to deny stiffing the bartender.
Harper led Tom to the same room where he'd taken Trance, and shoved Tom in roughly.
"You know, Tom - I'm glad I found you so soon. I've been hoping for a chance to brush up on my techniques."
"What are you going to do to me?" Tyr's voice came from behind the door as it closed, revealing him.
"Oh, I don't know - maybe introduce you to a few of his friends?" Harper turned, and Tom tried to get out - only to be reminded of Harper's force lance as it poked into his stomach.
"How'd you know where to find me?"
"Rule number one of tracking someone, young Harper. If you know where they will be, you have already found them - as long as you can beat them there."
"I suppose you're going to make me turn him in or something, aren't you?"
"No. Dylan thought that I would, but no. I was thinking that maybe we'd call down to the ship, see if Rev Bem wants to join us - he's a Magog," Tyr explained to the perplexed - and then terrified - Tom, "and then give him a taste of his own medicine."
"I don't want to give him what he gave Trance - I want to do this my own way."
"You could do that afterwards, if you wanted. Or we could turn him in. Then again, describe your way - it might be more enjoyable." Harper smiled at the mildly disinterested expression on Tyr's face. He knew that the Nietzchian wanted to kill Tom almost as badly as he did - but was letting Harper play with the mind of the bastard he'd come after.
"Actually, it might be." Harper pulled a tool from his belt with his free hand. "I was thinking we'd peel him like an egg with a welder." Harper turned to Tom, grinning wickedly as he started the laser and tuned it.
"Starting by making sure you can never do that to anybody, ever again." Tom's eyes grew as wide as saucers as Harper slowly lowered the welder towards his legs. He looked over at Tyr, a pleading look in his eyes.
"Look - I'm sorry - I did it - I'll confess - I'll do anything! Just stop this lunatic!" Tyr took two steps, came up behind Harper, and put a sleeper hold on him just as the laster welder singed Tom's pants. Harper dropped, as did the welder. Tyr gripped Tom by the neck, and picked up the welder.
"I should kill you for what you did to my ship-mate. But I know what the penalty is here for rape - I believe you will find yourself wishing I had killed you, roughly twenty minutes into the psychological stage of the punishment." Tyr turned off the welder, and threw Tom up against the wall. Tom slumped down, unconscious, as Tyr opened the door and went for the guards of the station.
Later that night, Harper was sitting next to Trance, who was still comatose. The sedative had worn off, but she seemed to be in a coma since then. Harper squeezed her hand, and looked at her peaceful face.
"God, Trance, I'm sorry. I should've been there for you - I shouldn't have gone off on my own. If I'd just been with you, this wouldn't have happened." Andromeda's holographic form popped up next to him.
"And it would have happened to somebody else - you can't blame yourself, Harper."
"I couldn't even get the bastard who did this to her - Tyr stopped me and turned him in."
"If you had killed him, then you would have been put to the death penalty, Harper. Or worse - you could have to go through his punishment. I believe he is currently reliving the attack on Brandenburg Tor for the third time - the second time as one of the infested victims."
"It's good - but I wish I'd had a chance to do him like I wanted to."
"What would Trance have wanted?" Harper shot to his feet, knocking over his chair, and whirling to face her.
"Damn it, Rommie, don't talk about her like she's dead, okay? She's not - she'll get better!"
"Harper - she might not wake up any time soon - the damage to her mind -"
"Harper?" A weak voice came from behind the two, and Harper spun around to Trance, grabbing her hand.
"I'm here, Trance-baby - I'm here for you. And I'm never going to let anything happen to you again.."
Several weeks later, the Andromeda was in an entirely different part of the galaxy. The damage that had been done to the members of the crew was healing - for the most part. Trance had almost stopped having nightmares about what she remembered - thankfully, the drug had managed to knock her out for the most part, so there were only a few subconscious memories of the attack. Unfortunately, as Rev explained, those scars are often the hardest to heal. Harper came in behind her, and gently put a hand on her shoulder, withdrawing it as she tensed up and squeezed her eyes shut.
"Trance - I'm sorry. I'll go." He turned to leave, but Trance spun around and grabbed his arm.
"No - Harper, it's not your fault. I just - I don't know why, but I keep feeling it when somebody touches me. Nobody's touched me since then because of it - I guess I just can't get over it. Harper? Would you do something for me?"
"Anything, Trance-baby."
"Stay with me through this - please."
"You couldn't make me leave you with a pack of Magog - unless you want me to."
"Never, Harper - please, just stay with me, help me through this." She took hold of his face and pulled it near hers, fighting down the feelings of revulsion and shame as she felt his breath on her face.
"Through this, and anything you want, Trance-baby. Anything you want." She pulled his face to hers, and the two locked in a fierce kiss- but only for a moment, before Trance pulled back. She was almost surprised - she hadn't felt anything wrong, hadn't had to fight down her last meal, like she'd thought she might have to. It hadn't felt as good as usual, but it felt better. As Harper slowly backed out, he blew a kiss to her, and she mouthed her response to him.
"Thank you." As the door closed behind him, she turned and went back to her plants - looking forward to the future, hoping to overcome the past.
In response to Ivy's challenge on the "TranceHaper" mailing list.
Factors used: Trance getting drunk, "This is not what it looks like," Harper topless, Tyr singing, Kissing in Hydroponics
Time Frame: Roughly one month after "Fade to Black" for those of you who like continuity.
Warning: Story rated R, tripping into the NC-17 range. VERY serious story - if you're looking for humor or a light-hearted piece, read "When Trance Gets Drunk," or some other contribution. Also, if you are seriously offended by the concept of rape and/or torture, read elsewhere. Okay - fair warning's as good as a promise, so let's get going!
Trance Gemini was drunk. Very drunk. She wasn't sure what she had just had to drink, besides that it was green, but the man sitting next to her seemed to want to be helpful. Which was good - she had a date with Harper coming up tonight, and she had to get back to the ship soon.
"Come on now, missy - must be getting you back home. You're friends'll be worried about you, that's for sure." He tossed a handful of thrones on the bar, and stood up, holding his hand out for Trance.
"Thanks - I don't know what just happened - I was feeling fine a moment ago."
"No problem, missy - happens to most folks. 'Specially when they drink what you just did. That's mighty strong stuff you had there - now, let's just get you back to your ship." Trance leaned heavily on the man's shoulder, thankful for his help, and started out of the bar with him. The bartender shook his head and picked up the money, letting the overly- generous change that he pocketed comfort his niggling conscience.
Meanwhile, Trance and her mysterious companion were working their way through the station. Trance wasn't certain that they were headed towards the Andromeda - but, then, she wasn't entirely sure where she was. She stumbled, only to be helped back to her feet by the man from the bar. He opened a door into a room for her, and ushered her in.
"Woah, missy. You're in no shape to be walking about too much, I'd wager. Let's get you sat down, let you sober up a bit."
"But - I have to - to get back to the ship."
"What ship are you from, missy? I'll tell your friends where you are." He helped her to a bed, where she laid back and tried to straighten out her scrambled thoughts.
"The Andromeda - thank you so much." The man closed the door - and something told Trance that there was something wrong. She tried to get to her feet, but could barely move a muscle. Seeing her difficulty, the man from the bar smiled.
"I was wondering how long that sedative would take to kick in. Now, missy - it's time you thanked me for my kind assistance. As Trance's vision blurred, dimmed, and finally blacked out, the last semi-coherent thought in her mind was regret for missing her date with Harper..
Harper was running back towards the ship from one of the bars on the station, when he was nearly run down by somebody coming from the opposite direction. He staggered back, indignant.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!"
"Get outta my way, kid!" The stranger continued running, and Harper shrugged. He didn't have time to get into a fight - he was supposed to meet Trance back at the ship in a couple minutes! He started to run back to the ship again, when he noticed a familiar form through an open door. He turned around, and looked back in - then dropped to his knees as the full impact of what he saw sank into his mind. Trance was lying on a bed, unconscious, tied down - and horribly bloodied. Harper had seen similar scenes too often back on Earth, and he knew what it meant. His Trance had just been raped.
"Oh God, Trance!" Harper jumped to his feet and tore off his shirt. He covered her up as well as he could, and tried to get the tie-downs undone, when he heard a familiar voice near the door. It was the sound of Tyr, singing an old war song to himself. He turned around just as the Nietzchian looked into the room, presumably for the same reason Harper had.
"What happened in here?"
"Tyr, this is not what it looks like - okay, it is, but I didn't have anything - oh, to hell with it, just get in here and help me with her, please?" There was a pleading tone in Harper's voice that cut through Tyr's gut-reaction and made him come to help. Together, the two of them picked up Trance, and started carrying her carefully back to the Andromeda, both amazed at how much the she weighed when she wasn't helping out - and both shocked by what had happened to her.
Later, onboard the Andromeda, everybody was gathered around the unconscious girl in the Med Bay. Rev was checking every scan he could to try and figure out how she was doing, and everybody else was simply too shocked to do much of anything. Dylan cleared his throat, and tried to regain a semblance of control.
"Harper, report!"
"I don't know what happened - I was coming back to the ship, some guy almost ran me down, and I found Trance in a room. Tyr walked in while I was untying her." "Tyr?"
"Every word is true, to the best of my knowledge. I was coming back from re-stocking my armory, saw the open door, and Harper with his shirt off. I didn't know Trance was in the room until I looked more closely." Harper answered the questioning glance before a word was spoken.
"I covered her up with my shirt - I couldn't just leave her like that while I untied her. Listen, I've seen too many people end up like that back on Earth - I couldn't stand to look at her like that."
"Rev, how is she?"
"She should be as well as can be expected - whoever did this to her was far from gentle." Harper glared at the Magog priest.
"Nobody's gentle when they rape somebody, Rev. That sort of defeats the purpose."
"Master Harper, I know how you feel -"
"How the hell do you know how I feel, huh? Trance was just raped by some bastard who didn't have the guts to even make sure she was still alive when he was done with her. If I hadn't come by when I had, she could've bled to death." Dylan put his hand on Harper's shoulder.
"Stand down, Harper. Save it for the right man."
"Damned right I'll save it for the right man - I'm going to go find him now."
"But you don't know who it -"
"Earth to Dylan - it was the guy who ran into me. Or at least he knows about it. Now, if you'll excuse me," Harper opened the door to the Med Bay, and stepped out. "I'm going hunting." He turned and ran off as the door closed. Dylan and Tyr looked at each other. Tyr nodded quietly.
"I'll go after him. Make sure he doesn't do anything rash." Tyr followed after Harper, stopping only long enough to make sure he had his force lance before he left the ship. Dylan sighed, and turned back to Rev.
"Rev - now that we won't be interrupted - how is she?"
"She'll live - I've stopped the internal bleeding, her physical injuries are not severe, and should heal quickly. But her mind - her soul - that could take years to heal." Dylan nodded.
"I know." Beka spoke up for the first time since she had heard what had happened.
"Rev - one more question. Is she.?"
"Pregnant? No - it would be highly unlikely, if possible, that she could have become pregnant from this. It would only be a concern if her attacker had been of her people, and I can't imagine not hearing about it by now if there was another one of them on the station."
"Rev, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but why didn't you flip out when you heard about this? You've done things like that before."
"Trance needs my help more than her attacker needs punishment. But I hope, for his sake, that Tyr finds and kills him first. Because I would not be as gentle with him as Tyr would be - and Harper will put us both to shame, I fear."
Meanwhile, half-way across the station, Harper was tracing the steps of his target, trying to remember what he'd heard Tyr say about tracking people - and remembering his youth on Earth, when things like this happened too often. He remembered his sister - she'd died the same way Trance almost had. He wasn't going to let this bastard get away like that one did. And when he caught up with him.. Harper put one hand on his force lance as he debated just how long he'd take killing him. He looked into a bar he passed by - and saw the man who'd run into him. Harper walked in and sat down next to the guy.
"Hey - didn't I run into you earlier? Sorry about that - the name's Harper. Lemme buy you a drink."
"Hey - thanks, kid. Sorry about being so rude - I was in a bit of a hurry. Had an appointment to get to. Name's Tom."
"Nice to meet you, Tom. And hey, no problem. Happens to all of us. I was running late to - date with my girl."
"Oh yeah? What you doing down here if you've got your own girl?"
"Eh, looking around. She's kind of tied up right now - doesn't mind when I come down to the bars, get my caffeine fix, maybe come back in the mood for a little fun.."
"Sounds like the perfect girl."
"Oh, yeah - she is. Real good looker too. Not many like her. I've seen girls with tails before, but never one that looked as good as she did." Tom stiffened, and his hand dropped to his hip - only to stop when he felt the tip of a force lance pressed against his back.
"Go right ahead and pull that blaster, pal - give me one more excuse to leave your carcass in the nearest trash can." Tom gulped.
"What do you want with me?"
"Just a little talk - let's go." Harper tossed a few thrones on the table to cover Tom's tab, and started out with him. The bartender pocketed the money, not even bothering to put any in the register, a smile on his face. Tom had picked the wrong girl to drug earlier. When they found his body, he wouldn't be in any shape to deny stiffing the bartender.
Harper led Tom to the same room where he'd taken Trance, and shoved Tom in roughly.
"You know, Tom - I'm glad I found you so soon. I've been hoping for a chance to brush up on my techniques."
"What are you going to do to me?" Tyr's voice came from behind the door as it closed, revealing him.
"Oh, I don't know - maybe introduce you to a few of his friends?" Harper turned, and Tom tried to get out - only to be reminded of Harper's force lance as it poked into his stomach.
"How'd you know where to find me?"
"Rule number one of tracking someone, young Harper. If you know where they will be, you have already found them - as long as you can beat them there."
"I suppose you're going to make me turn him in or something, aren't you?"
"No. Dylan thought that I would, but no. I was thinking that maybe we'd call down to the ship, see if Rev Bem wants to join us - he's a Magog," Tyr explained to the perplexed - and then terrified - Tom, "and then give him a taste of his own medicine."
"I don't want to give him what he gave Trance - I want to do this my own way."
"You could do that afterwards, if you wanted. Or we could turn him in. Then again, describe your way - it might be more enjoyable." Harper smiled at the mildly disinterested expression on Tyr's face. He knew that the Nietzchian wanted to kill Tom almost as badly as he did - but was letting Harper play with the mind of the bastard he'd come after.
"Actually, it might be." Harper pulled a tool from his belt with his free hand. "I was thinking we'd peel him like an egg with a welder." Harper turned to Tom, grinning wickedly as he started the laser and tuned it.
"Starting by making sure you can never do that to anybody, ever again." Tom's eyes grew as wide as saucers as Harper slowly lowered the welder towards his legs. He looked over at Tyr, a pleading look in his eyes.
"Look - I'm sorry - I did it - I'll confess - I'll do anything! Just stop this lunatic!" Tyr took two steps, came up behind Harper, and put a sleeper hold on him just as the laster welder singed Tom's pants. Harper dropped, as did the welder. Tyr gripped Tom by the neck, and picked up the welder.
"I should kill you for what you did to my ship-mate. But I know what the penalty is here for rape - I believe you will find yourself wishing I had killed you, roughly twenty minutes into the psychological stage of the punishment." Tyr turned off the welder, and threw Tom up against the wall. Tom slumped down, unconscious, as Tyr opened the door and went for the guards of the station.
Later that night, Harper was sitting next to Trance, who was still comatose. The sedative had worn off, but she seemed to be in a coma since then. Harper squeezed her hand, and looked at her peaceful face.
"God, Trance, I'm sorry. I should've been there for you - I shouldn't have gone off on my own. If I'd just been with you, this wouldn't have happened." Andromeda's holographic form popped up next to him.
"And it would have happened to somebody else - you can't blame yourself, Harper."
"I couldn't even get the bastard who did this to her - Tyr stopped me and turned him in."
"If you had killed him, then you would have been put to the death penalty, Harper. Or worse - you could have to go through his punishment. I believe he is currently reliving the attack on Brandenburg Tor for the third time - the second time as one of the infested victims."
"It's good - but I wish I'd had a chance to do him like I wanted to."
"What would Trance have wanted?" Harper shot to his feet, knocking over his chair, and whirling to face her.
"Damn it, Rommie, don't talk about her like she's dead, okay? She's not - she'll get better!"
"Harper - she might not wake up any time soon - the damage to her mind -"
"Harper?" A weak voice came from behind the two, and Harper spun around to Trance, grabbing her hand.
"I'm here, Trance-baby - I'm here for you. And I'm never going to let anything happen to you again.."
Several weeks later, the Andromeda was in an entirely different part of the galaxy. The damage that had been done to the members of the crew was healing - for the most part. Trance had almost stopped having nightmares about what she remembered - thankfully, the drug had managed to knock her out for the most part, so there were only a few subconscious memories of the attack. Unfortunately, as Rev explained, those scars are often the hardest to heal. Harper came in behind her, and gently put a hand on her shoulder, withdrawing it as she tensed up and squeezed her eyes shut.
"Trance - I'm sorry. I'll go." He turned to leave, but Trance spun around and grabbed his arm.
"No - Harper, it's not your fault. I just - I don't know why, but I keep feeling it when somebody touches me. Nobody's touched me since then because of it - I guess I just can't get over it. Harper? Would you do something for me?"
"Anything, Trance-baby."
"Stay with me through this - please."
"You couldn't make me leave you with a pack of Magog - unless you want me to."
"Never, Harper - please, just stay with me, help me through this." She took hold of his face and pulled it near hers, fighting down the feelings of revulsion and shame as she felt his breath on her face.
"Through this, and anything you want, Trance-baby. Anything you want." She pulled his face to hers, and the two locked in a fierce kiss- but only for a moment, before Trance pulled back. She was almost surprised - she hadn't felt anything wrong, hadn't had to fight down her last meal, like she'd thought she might have to. It hadn't felt as good as usual, but it felt better. As Harper slowly backed out, he blew a kiss to her, and she mouthed her response to him.
"Thank you." As the door closed behind him, she turned and went back to her plants - looking forward to the future, hoping to overcome the past.