Chapter Thirty Five: A second future vision

AN: This chapter is dedicated to my good friend, Asha McKay, from Ex-Isle, the original Trance/Dylan 'shipper. The following is all her fault. If she hadn't made me such a rampant 'shipper, I swear I'd still be sane... ;) Seriousely, this one's for you, Asha! Enjoy it while it lasts, 'cause there wont be time for it after this!

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Dylan covered his eyes as he walked back into his quarters. Over a week since Lieutenant Thompson had died, and he hadn't gotten a decent night of sleep since. His head was pounding, no matter what Trance gave him, and he hadn't been able to bring himself to eat properly lately.

He gave a low moan of pain, opened his eyes…

And realised he was no longer standing in his quarters.

Well, he was, just… well, they wouldn't be his quarters for several more years.

Someone was in the shower, the familiar sound of pattering water emanating from the steamy open door of the bathroom at one end. The room was much lighter. Dylan blinked in surprise. He could see green grass, a forest, water, the morning sun, outside of his window. He was still on the Andromeda, but the Andromeda was… on a planet.

A lot of the furniture had been replaced or rearranged, and the place was crawling with plants, including, he realised, with an oddly unsettled feeling in his stomach, Trance's bonsai, in splendid isolation on a table in one corner of the room, a candle burning next to it. He frowned. Okay, this was… weird.

Curious, but careful not to make any noise, he went to a table, and picked up one of the photographs that sat there, in it's holoframe.

Trance, and him, and three children, all of whom he instantly recognised. Trance was dressed in the same clothes she had been when he had encountered her and the younger Khayos on the Obs deck. They were standing under a tree in a meadow somewhere. He was holding a little girl in a pink summer dress, her hair a cascade of copper curls, her skin a bubble gum pink. Destiny, he realised, at about seven or eight years old. She had her arms wrapped round his neck.

Trance leaned against Dylan's other side, one arm around his waist, the other around Hope's shoulders. Hope, his skin a dusty shade of blue, was dressed in an odd sort of green tunic, under which was a white shirt, with a pair of dark red baggy cargo trousers. He looked about twelve.

Khayos, in his sailor suit, stood in front of and between Trance and Dylan. He looked a little shy and self conscious, his tail wrapped around his mother's ankle, one hand clutching the hem of Dylan's coat. Dylan's hand wrested on the boy's shoulder.

They looked… like a family.

Suddenly the sound of someone humming tunefully could be heard from the sitting room. Dylan swiftly placed the photo down, and just had time to duck out of sight behind a particularly precocious shrub, before Trance entered from the next room, carrying what looked like a multicoloured daisy in a pot.

Her hair was loose again, hanging freely around her waist, with only a pair of delicate silver clasps in the front to keep stray strands from getting in her eyes. Clothed in a simple white summer dress, she looked… radiant.

He'd never seen her quite so… content looking.

She carried her plant across to the window sill and held it to the light as if the get a better look at it, inspecting it with a critical eye. Then she stopped, frowning suddenly, and looked straight at the plant behind which Dylan was hiding.

Dylan froze, convinced he had been spotted.

Trance opened her mouth, as if to say something, then changed her mind, and called instead, "Dylan?"

Before Dylan could answer, a second voice echoed from the bathroom, "yeah?"

Trance shook herself, as if dispelling a dream, and smiled, before calling back, "nothing!"

Dylan watched as she set the plant on the window sill, stroking it's petals, then went over to examine the bonsai, picking up a pair of clippers and snipping off a few leaves, before investigating the soil in another shrub. Apparently finding it too dry for her liking, she picked up the plant and carried it into the bathroom.

Curiosity got the better of him, and he edged around the plant to an angle where he could see into the bathroom.

Trance was standing at the sink, sprinkling water over her plant.

"Hey!" An indignant voice from within the shower, just out of sight, "can't a guy get a little privacy round here?"

Trance rolled her eyes, "you left the door open!"

"That's not an invitation to just walk in!"

Trance laughed, "then what is, exactly?"

"Privacy is tantamount to a good relationship, Trance!" The voice retorted.

"I thought that was honesty?" Trance made a face in the direction of the voice, something Dylan guessed the showerer couldn't see.

"And privacy!"

Trance shook her head, lifting her plant out of the sink. A mischievous grin suddenly curled up the corners of her lips, and she glanced slyly over her shoulder, before swiftly turning on the hot tap full blast.

There was a slight delay, then a satisfying yelp from the shower. "Aargh!"

Trance bent double with silent laughter. Dylan flinched. Anyone in the shower would just have been given an ice bath.

"Trance!"

Trance shrieked and dived out of the bathroom, skidding across the room, followed by… Dylan. Several years older, beginning to grey a little, not in quite as good shape, dripping, and barely covered by a towel, but Dylan none the less.

"You devious, nasty, conniving little sun-demon!" He cried, pointing an accusatory finger at her.

Trance looked overly shocked, placing a hand on her chest, "me?"

Dylan beckoned, "come here…"

Trance shook her head and backed off, her innocent look replaced by the old mischievous one. They were either side of the bed, and every time one made to go one way, the other would lurch the other way, effectively bringing them to a stale mate. After a few seconds of this, the future Dylan got fed up and leapt across the bed, making Trance shriek again and jump out of the way. She very nearly made it into the sitting room, but Dylan grabbed her before she could clear his range and hauled her off her feet.

Trance struggled weekly, but it was clear she wasn't particularly interested in escape.

"Put me down, you deluded star ship captain!"

"Oh no!" Dylan grinned wickedly, "you're not going anywhere! Now… what are we going to do with you?"

Trance gave him an indignant look, "you're not doing anything with me, captain!"

"Oh is that a fact?" Dylan raised an eyebrow, "even though you dunked me with ice water?"

Trance managed to look prim, despite her position, "I blame Ruby."
Dylan glanced back at the plant, still in the bathroom, "it's always the plant, isn't it?"

"They're more powerful than you think," Trance told him, seriously.

"Well then," Dylan swung her round suddenly, making Trance laugh with indignant delight, "why are there so many in my bedroom?"

"Our bedroom," Trance corrected, poking him the chest.

"Our bedroom," he agreed, more gently.

He had leaned down to kiss her, and got as far as her top lip, before Beka suddenly appeared, striding through the room with a hand over her eyes. She was older, again, and her hair was fiery auburn, hanging in thick waves just past her shoulders, a scar on her cheek where it hadn't been before.

"Don't mind me! Just moving through! Left my flexi in the other room! Continue with the kinky wet towel making-out-ness! I'm fine!"

Trance and Dylan exchanged looks.

Beka reappeared with the flexi, still covering her eyes, "and leaving now! Hannah and Hope have gone missing again, think you should know Destiny is planning to steal Hope's journal tonight; going to dinner with Telemachus, watch the kids for us! See you later, hopefully with clothes on!"

"We should really put a lock on that door," Dylan sighed.

Trance laughed, putting her arms around her neck, "it's nice to have so many people around again."

"Yeah, but not when they come charging through our bedroom at a time like this!" Dylan cried.

Trance looked coy, "a time like what?"

"Mmmm…" Dylan kissed her gently, and the younger Dylan was preparing to make a break for the door and hope another teseract swallowed him, when Trance suddenly yelped and jumped out of her lovers arms, "Ruby!"

She rushed back to the bathroom and rescued the plant from it's steamy doom, "high temperatures are not good for you!"
Dylan groaned and covered his eyes, "plants before sex. Always, plants before sex. Why, oh why, did I marry this woman?"

"Aah! Naked Dylan! Oh God, my therapy bills are gonna be so high after this…!" A girl, about ten years old, with long strawberry blond hair and Nietzschean bone blades, came charging through the apartment with her eyes closed, dragged by Hope.

"I'd second that but we have no time!" Hope cried.

They both disappeared into the sitting room, and much scuffling could be heard. It sounded like they were trying to move the furniture around.

Hope's voice echoed out of the sitting room, "you may also find it interesting to know, that there is a second, younger version of Dylan hiding in that awful over-grown shrub in the corner!"

But before he could be seen, Dylan felt the world shiver away from him, and he was back, in exactly the same place as he had been, in the entrance to his quarters, with a splitting head ache.