Glass Shards

Chapter 10: Hiding

I want you to know that I am hiding something from you, that is the active paradox I must resolve: at one and the same time it must be known and not known

-Roland Barthes, Ancient Earth

Telemachus sighed and looked at Harper. The human was out of breath and still leaning against Andromeda's bulkhead where he had shoved him. It was a bit odd and unusual his relationship with Harper, the earth human had every right to be terrified of him but they spent most of their time arguing back and forth, light barbs traded here and there. It probably had something to do with their first meeting; Telemachus had been the first Nietzschean to ever show Harper respect, the human had been gob-smacked, and that had been the start of the transition. But even at their first meeting, Harper had run his mouth off; it was who he was, and over years Telemachus continued to be impressed.

"I know."

"What? You know? What do you mean you know?"

"Beka did tell me why her brother left," he said. "And what she let them think happened."

Harper winced. "I, uh, I'm sorry about that. You know you're a, not all that bad considering."

Telmachus smirked and clapped Harper on the shoulder, nearly sending him sprawling on the floor. "Careful. That was almost a compliment."

"No! No it wasn't."

"I didn't know you cared."

"Hey all I'm saying is that Beka has the worst taste in men, and don't roll your eyes, okay? You didn't meet the bastard she was with before. And I didn't ever think I'd like a Nietzschean better than a human. You could have been just like the rest of your pride, but somehow you're really not. You notice that right?"

Telemachus glared. He wasn't going to bother asking himself if it was that obvious because it was obvious. He was different and ever now and then if he thought about it long enough, it bothered him that he didn't fit. And accepting that fact because it gave him Beka and Emily only cemented it even more. That he cared more about his half-breed daughter and the kludge that spawned her than his Pride made the unease he had been repressing try and break through the surface.

"…yeah well, I just don't want to see your head blown off," Harper was saying. "For Beka and Emily's sake, of course."

"Of course."

"Right so…man, this sucks."

"I can't stay out of the way forever, and he's going to be here a while. I have a feeling."

"And Tyr. Ignatius is going to have to deal with two Nietzscheans and your issues with each other… Hey, maybe you can pretend to be like, a Jaguar or something?"

Telemachus made a face. "That's just insulting."

"Oh come on. Nietzschean is one thing, Drago-Kazov is another thing, Drago-Kazov Niezschean who just happens to be his granddaughter's father that's just…an ironic fluke is what it is, and let me tell you…"

"Harper. No matter what sort of crazy ideas are running through your head, you know Tyr is just going to open his mouth sooner or later."

"Yeah…there is always that," Harper sighed. "This is all screwed up."

Things had been said and things had been done, but in the end it was all just going to come out anyway. There was going to be a lot of explaining on Beka's side. Obviously Rafe hadn't taken the truth well, but who would? Given what he knew about his people, he couldn't blame Beka's family for assuming the worst. If he'd been in their position he might have thought the exact same thing.

It would all come out in the open eventually.

The Maru was old, she'd never thought otherwise. Even when Sid and her father had first built it, it had never looked new. It was old junkers and cable wiring, scrapped metal plating and siphoned ducts. It was misty from open steam valves, valves which had to remain open in order to keep the pressure down. Sometimes they leaked; the steam turning to water and dripping off pipes into the corridors. The doors hissed open and closed, her feet always echoed on the decks, it may have been called shoddy and strewn together – but it was home.

And even if the Maru's shower wasn't the greatest it still felt like home. Somewhere she belonged. And standing underneath the hot spray of the shower felt like bliss.

Beka ran her hands through her wet hair, rinsing the shampoo off and watching it run down the drain. Showers were supposed to be relaxing, and even though she was more relaxed now than she was before, the knots in her shoulders still would not budge.

She was beyond thankful when Emily pulled and tugged at her grandfather, intent on taking him to the hydroponics bay on Andromeda. She wanted him to see her own little section, the garden Trance had been helping her to cultivate. At his granddaughter's enthusiastic insistence, Ignatius had gone with her, promising Beka he'd be back later, so they could talk about everything that had been happening. She inwardly cringed. There was so much she wanted to talk to him about, and yet so much she couldn't. She didn't want another family member to walk away from her.

Watching Talia decide to up and leave had been painful. It had hurt. To know that her mother wanted nothing to do with her, that Talia didn't want her anymore. How could the woman have been so cold? Beka knew that the only thing that could keep herself away from her own child would be death itself. And she wasn't planning on that route for a very, very long time. Not until her grandkids had grandkids. At least she could hope.

And Rafe. Rafe had come and gone over the years; being there for her at one point, and then taking off at the next. And now…now she didn't know if he'd ever come back. Would she see him on and off again like dad, some point in the future? Or had he completely left her like Talia had? Rafe had asked her to go with him though, get away from the Andromeda, from Telemachus…so maybe some day, there might be hope.

But her father. What would her father say? What would he do? Well she could guess, and once again, just like with Rafe, she could imagine Telemachus with his head shot off. Brain and blood spattering on the wall behind him.

Things had gotten so fucked up. Fears and half truths rose up to choke her even before Emily was more than a tiny clump of cells dividing inside of her.

Hell, if the twice damned Dragans hadn't attacked Avilan in the first place, the only clue to who Emily's father had been would have been the immature boneblades Emily had been born with.

If it had been the first time with Telemachus that had gotten Beka pregnant.

She let out a sigh, closing her eyes she tilted her head back and let the hot water fall down all around her. It was a fine mess she was in, and it was coming back to bite her in the ass. She had been angry and reckless, and then everything happened too fast, too soon, conclusions drawn that she hadn't argued with, was too scared to.

And now…

She huffed out a laugh when she heard the door to the bathroom slide open, hard footfalls stopping in front of her shower, Telemachus ripping the curtain away, already stripped and bare.

"Someone's confident."

"I have to be."

Stepping into the shower, he crowded Beka against him and pulled her to his chest. Hands wandered up and down her wet back.

"Harper found out why your brother left."

Beka groaned. "That's just what I need."

She sighed as Telemachus's hands came up to frame her face. She leaned into his palm and ran her hand down his arm.

His forearms were bare. That took Beka's attention away, as she raised her hand back up to run her fingers over the soft skin surrounding his boneblades. He was sensitive there, the blades were interesting, fascinating almost, the way they came up straight out of the skin and arm, how they moved and twitched. Emily's were far from a matured set.

A soft tug on her hair had her shaking her head. Blonde strands shifted back to red. Telemachus pulled her closer and crushed his lips to hers; she let her thoughts melt away.

"And these are Hydrangea Glories."

Ignatius crouched down on his knees to inspect the flowers Emily happily showed him. They were about three feet in height and varying shades of purple and green. Buds and fledgling leaves of the flowers planted right next to them. Some were even starting to climb up the bulkhead they were situated against, like creeping vines almost; a small flower blossom blooming here and there along the tangled green foliage.

"They're real pretty."

Emily nodded. "Trance picked them up just for me. She said she likes the purple."

Ignatius smiled. Of course she would. A purple flower from a purple skinned woman; he'd never met anyone like her. But whatever species she was, and wherever she came from, Trance had shown up when they needed her most. And now here she was again, watching out for Beka and Emily. He didn't know why that thought comforted him, given how young Trance looked, how young she still looked. She hadn't changed at all in the last decade, he'd meant that when he said it to her. A strange girl, but a welcome oddity all the same, he had the feeling things would be much different without her.

"…and it's really growing."

"What is?"

Emily gave him a look. And stars, did he recognize that look. It was the same one Beka always wore when she knew he wasn't listening to her.

"Trance's bonsai tree. She dotes on it the most, and it's looking real pretty."

"Whatever she touches seems to blossom doesn't it?"

Looking around the hydroponics bay, it looked to be true. Everything was in full bloom, vibrant, and alive. He knew ships could keep good plants with the artificial lights, but living on Infinity he knew there was still no comparing it to natural sunlight. But the fauna around him, it was really something to see. Jenna would have loved it.

He really had to convince Beka to take a trip home one of these days. Have a rest, some vacation time. He'd heard rumours about Captain Hunt's crusade to bring the Commonwealth back to life, but to reshape an entire galaxy's foundations… There would be resistance and with resistance came danger. But salvaging wasn't 100 safe either, nothing was. And this ship looked like it could stand a lot of damage. But there were rumours, always rumours that the Drago-Kazov had ships that could rival something like Andromeda.

He shuddered, thankful Emily's back was to him as she explained all about a Narceptia Botannica…or something.

All he had were rumours. He didn't want any more run-ins with Nietzscheans; one fear filled, disastrous day was enough. He couldn't do that again. Just letting Beka start doing salvage runs again had been one of the most trying times in his life. Rafe had been with her then, she'd had a good crew, and she was in love with space. To be a pilot was in her blood, hell it was in his too. It was why he built the Piper.

"Grandpa?"

"You were talking about that um…" He indicated to the large stocky plant they had walked over to. Emily smiled and turned back to point out its more interesting features.

The light glinted off of something metal.

Ignatius blinked. "Is that a new bracelet?"

Emily looked down at her wrist where her grandfather was watching, and pulled back the slit in her jacket.

"No, they're bracers," she said. "They're really comfortable. Not so sensitive anymore." Emily smiled brightly, tapping the solid metal that covered the skin between her boneblades and gave a comfortable balance to the bony protrusions.

"They're…they're nice."

And they were. The bracers looked pure. Silver and decorative…like jewellery. Ignatius knew enough about trade to know that Nietzschean bracers weren't just sold anywhere. Or sold at all. One couldn't get them anywhere; and these were specific enough to fit Emily's wrists, maybe hand made?

When she had been growing up, and her bone blades started to grow as well, Emily had taken to wrapping her wrists in cloth bindings. The skin around her blades was sensitive enough to warrant some sort of guard around them… And now she had what looked like appropriate bracers made for Nietzscheans. Where they hell could Beka have gotten those for her?

Emily tugged at his wrist to lead him across the hydroponics bay, undoubtedly there was something else he needed to see. But curiosity was something that never let go. He wasn't going to ask Emily, she didn't need any of his baggage to worry about, and he knew she would worry. It was something he was going to have to talk to his daughter about, and he had an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach that a lot had happened since they'd last seen each other.

Thank you SomeoneElsesDream for the beta. And thanks for still reading everyone!