"ShIt! Shit! Shit! And have I mentioned, Shit!"

Beka Valentine was not happy. The Andromeda had received a distress call and naturally Dylan had had to go and answer it. Of course, it wasn't really a distress call; it had been a trap. They had been caught in a battle and taken heavy damage.

Power was out and although, Harper was a genius and would surely have things fixed and working, it would be awhile. In the meantime, she and an injured Rhade were trapped in this lift.

"Just don't die on me. Whatever you do, don't die on me."

"I'll try not to." He groaned.

She was tending to the wound as best she could but Rhade really needed to be in Medical. "When the hell is Harper going to get things fixed?"

"He'll manage. He always does. It's just going to take some time."

'Time that you may not have.' She didn't say this aloud, just continued doing the best she could for her patient. Well, she wasn't a medical professional like, Rommie and Trance but for lack of better circumstances that was what she was.

"Stupid Dylan and his do gooder inclinations."

"Well, you've been with him longer than I have. Why do you stay?"

That was a good question. Why did she stay? It could have just been about the luxurious Andromeda and how her crew was more comfortable there than on the Maru, which despite being a great ship paled in comparison to the Andromeda. Or maybe it was something else. Who the hell knew? She sure didn't.

"In any case, it doesn't matter right now. What matters is that you do not die on me before we get you to Medical."

"Oh, so it's fine to die once I get there. I'll try to remember that," he quipped.

"Shut up." Beka fought the urge to slap him upside the head but remembering that he was injured decided against it. It was probably not a good idea and wouldn't help anything.

"Just stay awake, all right."

"I'll try to but it's hard." As if to emphasize that point, he lost consciousness.

"No, no, no. Don't you die on me. Not here, not now. Come on, Harper, fix the power. You're a freaking genius as you are always telling everyone. I know you can do it. So, do it."

But nothing changed. Harper had to be working on it, though, right?

"Come on, don't die. Don't die. Wake the f*ck up!"

But he just lay there, not responding. "Please. I know I haven't always been very nice to you. I haven't had a good track record with men and with Neitzscheans, well, you know how that goes. But I think you're different. I think I've come to care about you. So, if you could please not die, that would be very appreciated. "

"Care for me, how?"

"You're awake?" She was rapidly going from scared to pissed off. "Were you just faking to get me to say sh*t I don't want to say?"

"No. I did black out but it was only briefly and I came to in time to hear most of what you said. Isn't that lucky?"

"Yeah, it's great. Look, Rhade can we not get into this just now? We have more pressing matters to attend to, such as the fact that you could die here."

But as if to really conspire against her, the power chose that moment to come back on and the lift started up again. But at least with the rush of getting Rhade to Medical things were forgotten.

Or so it seemed. Should have known that he wouldn't forget about it. He was Neitzschean, of course he wouldn't.

He came to her quarters not long after being released. "Beka, we have to talk."

"No, we don't. You're fine. That's great. End of story."

No, it's not. I want to explore with you."

"Explore what?"

"The possibilities. I think you care for me as I do you but are afraid. Not surprising. So, I'll say it first. I think I love you."

"You think?"

"O.K. I do. Do you?"

""Um, well."

"Just say it."

"All right. I do."

At that he swept her up and planted a kiss on her. "Then let's see where it goes."

"O.K. I guess I've got nothing better to do at that."

The End