His CommonWealth
Dylan Hunt was tired.
He headed back to his quarters with his shoulders slumped and his head drooping. Another day, another long and enduring battle. Sometimes, he even dared to wonder why he did it at all. But those thoughts were quickly shoved away followed by a hard kick to his mind for even pondering such a thing.
He knew why he did it.
It was for the Commonwealth. For Civilization. For Peace. But sometimes, in the heat of battle, when all he wanted was to be snuggled up in bed (perhaps next to his darling Sara) his priorities would become mixed up. Then he'd remember that if he was snuggled up in bed (most likely next to his long lost lover) that somewhere out there, people would still be dying.
He could not let that happen.
As the doors to his quarters slid open and then shut again, he saw a very angry-looking blonde woman stomp past him. Dylan didn't have the slightest idea why she was upset. It was probably because of something their cunning engineer had done to the Maru.
Dylan smirked at the thought of Beka and Harper and their relationship. They'd been through so much together, Dylan doubted that not even death could separate them. Or perhaps it could, what with Harper growing weaker each day with the Magog larva in his stomache. A great wave of sadness washed over Dylan at the thought of that. The medicine that Harper wore around his neck has preserved his life till now, but Dylan knew that it would not last forever. But at the same time, he could not bear the thought of losing Harper.
But he knew that he might have to face it some day.
He lay down on his bed and closed his eyes. He remembered the happier times. Times when he could just romp around with his friends, occaisionally "borrowing" a slip fighter from the Academy for a cautious joyride. If joyrides could be called cautious.
And then one specific memory rolled into his head, bringing great comfort and loss all at the same time.
Sara.
Dylan turned his head and looked at their picture, her pretty face and even prettier smile. And for a second he hated it all. Hated this being in this time. Hated how he'd lost three hundred years of his life. Hated how there always was a whole mountain of problems for him to sort through before he could rebuild the Commonwealth.
It all seemed so unfair.
And in a way it probably was unfair. How could one man possibly bring peace to the entire universe? He saw that question in the eyes of the unbelievers. The ones who had no faith in "That Commonwealth of yours" as they had called it.
And by "yours" they meant Dylan's. It was his responsiblity. His goal. His dream. His entire life was defined by his mission to restore what had fallen three hundred years ago.
"Dylan?"
A soft voice brought him out of his thoughts.
"Yes Trance?" Dylan mumbled, sitting up in his bed and straightening his posture, "What is it?"
She smiled and shook her head.
"Nothing," she whispered and then turned and left.
He stared at the doors as they swished close behind her and wondered what sort of point it was that she had been trying to make. Apparently, she'd made it, considering the way she'd looked at him and then had smiled.
Suddenly, Andromeda's alarm sequence went off.
"Dylan," his ship's hologram appeared, "Intruders in the Maru's Hangar."
He nodded and the hologram was gone.
Dylan heaved himself from his bed, his entire body aching due to previous battles which he'd had very little time to heal from. His eyelids were heavy from his lack of sleep and they stung when he closed them. But he left the room anyways, and as he jogged down the hall he caught sight of Rommie who gave him a knowing look.
She understood.
Dylan travelled to Command with her, where the rest of his crew was waiting, each one of them with that familiar look on their faces.
They all understood.
Beka. Harper. Tyr. Trance. Rommie. They were all family. Each one willing to lay down their life for the next. They were not alone. They all knew what they were fighting for.
The Commonwealth. Not just Dylan's Commonwealth. Their Commonwealth. Determination and purpose filled their eyes with roaring flames.
Suddenly, Dylan didn't feel so tired anymore.
fin