All other information and disclaimers can be found in Part 1.
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Dylan was holding a virtual bomb in his hands. He had found the photo-sized piece of paper when it fluttered to the floor out of his bag. Naturally, he picked it up to see what it was. Unfolding the paper filled him with a certain sense of dread, as if he already knew what was on that paper and knew that it wasn't good.
The problem was, it was too good.
Dylan knew that he had drawn the subject, already recognizing his personal touches in the drawing, as well as the small DH drawn into the lower right corner. The subject was a sleeping Beka, completely naked, save for a sheet pulled over her, leaving one beautiful leg bare up to her hip. Trailing a finger over the curve of her body, Dylan had to wonder when he had drawn this, because several things were not adding up. He had never asked Beka to pose for him, and even if she didn't hand his head back to him on a silver platter, she would never pose like that. Also, her reaction upon seeing the drawing of his brother had been genuine. She didn't know before that point that he could draw well. So how did this picture come into being? It wasn't there before he left the Andromeda, but it was there after he came back from Dalla...
His eyes closed in sudden realization. The night of the reception, the only night he couldn't account for in full detail. Of course, that still didn't explain why Beka hadn't said anything. Unless she couldn't remember either. But why couldn't they remember? They'd both consumed the same things. And he couldn't believe that Ambassador Greyan drugged them, because there was nothing to gain from it.
Looking back down at the picture, he wondered how he would ever be able to look at Beka the same way again. Of course, he wouldn't be looking at her for long if she found the drawing. Walking over to his desk, he picked up the photo frame, the one that used to house Sara's picture, but had been replaced with a picture of he and his crew out on shore leave about a year ago. Opening the frame, he slipped the drawing behind the picture, making sure that it was completely flat and that none of the edges were visible behind the picture, then snapped the frame closed. Sagging down into his seat, he dropped his head onto his folded arms and gave serious thought to praying for his sanity, because serenity where Beka was concerned had flown out of his mind when they had kissed on the Maru.
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Trance sat on a crate in one of the cargo bays, watching Harper work on a sensor board. She folded her legs under her, while her tail hung loosely to the floor, and took another sip of her coffee. Harper, as usual, was riding on a caffeine high and was talking a mile a minute.
She paid very little mind to what he was saying, choosing instead to reflect on what had happened earlier while she and Beka went running.
"Hello, control to your Purpleness."
Trance jerked slightly as Harper succeeded in grabbing her attention. "Did you say something?" she asked innocently.
Harper rolled his eyes and reached inside the bulkhead trying to reach a sensor. "I asked if you knew what was up with them."
"Them who?" Tyr asked as he silently entered the cargo bay.
Harper jerked and rapped his head sharply against the top of the bulkhead. He slowly backed out, cursing under his breath.
"Do you have to do that?" Tyr just looked at him impassively while he rubbed the sore spot on his head. "Anyways I was talking about Beka and Dylan. Something is up between them."
"You've noticed it as well?"
Harper snorted. "Noticed it? I feel like a voyeur if I'm even in the same room with them. What clued you in?"
"Andromeda?"
The ship's avatar popped up on a viewscreen. "Yes, Tyr?"
"Do you have the sensor footage from deck eight, at the corner to sections twelve and thirteen from earlier this morning?"
The image blinked a few times. "Yes." Rommie's image was changed to a camera angle on deck eight. The time stamp moved forward rapidly until Beka could be seen approaching from one side, while Tyr and Dylan ran towards her.
"Slow down, normal speed," Tyr said.
Harper watched in fascination as Beka rebounded off Dylan and pulled him down with her. From the angle of the camera, their faces were shot directly in profile, allowing the camera to capture the repressed desire on both of their faces.
"Stop recording." The viewscreen obediently blanked, replaced with the normal 'wait' screen.
"Whoa," Harper commented. "What the hell happened with them in the Dalaien Empire?"
"Neither one will talk about it. They simply ask what the other has said."
"Weird."
Trance merely smiled. She didn't know what had happened either, but the possibilities were growing more distinct in her mind, and those that she could see were very interesting.
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It was one of those blissfully quiet days aboard Andromeda, where no one was in danger of dying, or being shot at. At present, Andromeda was drifting through a patch of empty space between systems. Beka had the afternoon watch in Command by herself, reading a collection of Earth poetry. She hooked a leg over the edge of the pilot's seat as she flipped the page, then yawned. For the past two weeks, she had been prone to dozing off anytime she sat still for too long. Blinking her eyes furiously, she slammed the book shut when the words wouldn't come into focus. She wished that Dylan would hurry up and get to Command so she could go take a nap. Leaning her head back against the seat with a sigh, she shut her eyes and let her mind drift off.
Thinking about Dylan, Beka was glad that they had recovered their normal friendly flirtatious banter, even though it took a little over two weeks of avoiding each other at all costs after their little 'run-in' in the hall, and another couple of weeks of being uncomfortable around each other. But even the balancing out of their friendship didn't stop those erotic dreams from haunting her at least once a week. Her mind had started superimposing Dylan's face onto that of her mystery lover, and she had to stop herself more than once from seeking him out while she was operating on more hormones than sense. Letting her mind drift off further, she slipped easily into a light doze.
Dylan was about to apologize for being late, when he saw that Beka was fast asleep in the slipstream chair. One of her long legs was hooked invitingly over the side, while her hands rested on her stomach. He closed his eyes as the expected wave of arousal washed over him, along with the logical arguments his mind had created to counter it. Opening his eyes, he made his way over to her to wake her up.
Beka's eyes opened slowly to blearily focus on Dylan standing beside her. "Hey," she sleepily said, before closing her eyes and stretching.
Dylan couldn't help but look at her body as it arched up off of the chair, and as Beka opened her eyes again, he couldn't fully mask the naked desire held in them.
Beka felt her heart skip a beat and a warm rush of desire went through her. After a long moment of staring at each other, they mutually broke the stare, wondering where their friendship was going.
"So, what's going on?" he finally asked.
Beka wondered what he was talking about for a second, and then realized he wanted a report. "Not much. Harper went down for a nap a few hours ago, and he should be getting up soon. He's gotten all of the critical systems fixed, and he's started on non-critical ones that have been down for months. The others are just doing whatever."
Dylan had to smile. "Yeah, I just left Tyr on the basketball court. He's been practicing."
"You're still beating him?" she asked with a smile.
He looked smug about it. "Yep. It kills him that he can't beat me."
She smirked. "Good. Well, it's been boring all through my watch, so I'll leave you to take over."
"You're too kind," he sarcastically drawled.
She smiled fully at him and swung her leg over the edge of the chair as she stood up. Her smile faded away as her vision swam. Shutting her eyes tightly, she willed the brief spell of vertigo to go away.
Dylan frowned. "Are you okay?"
She opened her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, I just got up too fast."
"If you say so," he muttered under his breath. "See you for breakfast?"
"Yeah. See if you can make sure Harper gets to the coffee pot first, will you? I think tomorrow's going to be another boring day and I'll need all the caffeine I can get."
He smiled. "All right. Harper's cure-all coffee, check."
She waved as she got to the door. "Good night, Dylan."
"Night Beka."
Beka strolled through the decks, yawning. She didn't feel like she had the energy to make it back to the Maru, so she made the turn towards her sparse quarters on the Officer's Deck. She just passed Harper's quarters when the door opened and Harper exited.
"Hey Boss," he greeted.
"Hey Harper." She leaned against the wall at the entrance of her quarters, cursing as another attack of vertigo hit.
"Whoa, you okay?"
"I'm fine, I just need to lay down."
Harper's agile fingers quickly punched in an override code to her door, and he helped her into her room, despite the black look she sent him.
"Dammit, Harper go away. If I'm sick I don't want you to catch it." She shut her eyes almost desperately to keep the room from spinning, trusting Harper not to let her bump into anything. But that didn't stop her from feeling like her brain was spinning with the room. Beka felt her stomach lurch in response.
"Hate to tell you Beka, but if you're sick, I've already caught it."
"Perfect," she muttered as she saw the brightening behind her closed lids.
"You're looking green, Boss. Maybe we should be seeing Trance."
"No, I'm fine, I just need to lay down," she repeated.
Harper shook his head, but acquiesced to her wishes. Letting her slide down onto her bed, he unsnapped her boots and pulled them off. He frowned as she pulled her knees up to her chest. "Okay, I'm calling Trance."
"No. Harper, I promise that if I'm not better in a couple of days, I'll go see her. Okay?"
He knew better than to argue with her, since she had let him slide by several times when he was sick. "All right. Get some sleep."
She smiled. "I will, but take some of your own advice."
He waved in acknowledgement as he speeded out the door. Now that she was horizontal, that sickening vertigo was passing, and she could actually breathe without feeling like she was going to get sick at any second. Unzipping her vest, she peeled it off while lying down, and pulled off her pants as well, dropping them both beside her bed. Curling under the covers, she had no trouble dropping back off into sleep.
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Two days later, Beka stumbled into the Medical bay, leaning heavily against one of the beds there. Bowing her head, she swallowed convulsively to keep her breakfast where it was supposed to be. The door opened once again to admit Trance.
"Beka, are you all right?"
"I think I'm sick."
"Oh," Trance said as she went over to one of the scanners. Beka laid down on the bed and waited for Trance to finish the scan.
"What's making you sick?"
"Vertigo."
"Anything else?"
Beka shrugged. "Just being tired lately."
The scan finished, and Trance blinked. "According to the scan, there's nothing wrong with you."
"What?"
Trance shrugged. "No inner ear imbalances, which would cause the vertigo, and no viruses were detected, either."
"Trance, there's got to be something wrong with me. I've never gotten vertigo before."
"All right. Lay back down, I'll run some more scans."
Beka laid back down, and listened to Trance moving around. Her eyes slipped shut until she heard Trance's little "Oh" of discovery.
Trance's eyes were as wide as china plates, making her look even more child-like.
"Well?" Beka asked expectantly.
Trance bit her lip, trying to decide how to phrase her news. Beka likes blunt, she told herself. "Your body hasn't adjusted to the presence of the baby yet, and since you're both using the same blood, you aren't getting as much oxygen as you're used to, giving you the vertigo. It should be going away in a couple of months."
Beka sat there with her mouth open for a second before regaining her wits. "What?"
"You're about six weeks pregnant," Trance quietly said.
"That's impossible. I mean, I haven't done anything to get pregnant!"
Beka was worked up enough about her supposed pregnancy, she didn't hear the doors to Medical open, or see Trance's glance over her shoulder.
Trance narrowed her eyes slightly. Like a map laid out before her, the possibilities appeared, as well as the knowledge of what to do to achieve those possibilities. She could see Dylan opening his mouth to speak, and knew she had to act fast. Grasping onto the possibility she wanted in her mind, her eyes blurred for a nanosecond as the knowledge expanded into a well-drawn course of action.
She frowned at Beka, cutting Dylan off before he could voice a word. "You need to calm down, Beka. Upsetting yourself isn't healthy for you or the baby."
Trance! I cannot be pregnant! For God's sake, I haven't even had sex in four years!" Beka was shouting now, guaranteeing that Dylan, as well as anyone passing in the hall, could hear her.
"Please calm down, Beka," she begged, using her most innocent look. When Beka closed her eyes and took a deep breath, she continued. "The scans say six weeks. All you have to do is remember what happened six weeks ago." Trance kept a careful watch on Dylan out of the corner of her eyes. Since her peripheral vision was much greater than a human's, she could see him clearly, watching them open-mouthed.
"Easy for you to say," Beka groused. Thinking back six weeks, she seemed to come to her conclusion at the same time as Dylan. "Oh my God."
"What?"
"Six weeks ago Dylan and I went to Dalla."
Trance frowned. "So?"
"So, I can't remember one of the nights I was there."
"Couldn't you just ask Dylan what he remembers?"
Beka snorted. "Sure. And when he asks why I want to know, what am I supposed to say? 'Gee, Dylan, I don't quite remember what happened, and call me crazy, but I would like to know who the father of my child is.' He would just get this 'Beka, how could you?' look on his face. And then there would come the recriminations of being drunk, which I wasn't, and sleeping with a complete stranger. And to top it all off, now I'm pregnant." She sighed.
Trance saw Dylan move silently up behind Beka. Her eyes widened in the best surprised look she could do. "Dylan!"
Beka turned around quickly on the bed. A blush ran up her neck and flooded her cheeks with color when she saw his carefully schooled expression. Surprise quickly faded into curious dread, but before she could speak, he did.
"Walk with me," was all he said before turning and walking out of Medical. Glancing at Trance, who looked slightly hopeful, Beka walked carefully out of Medical, completely missing the triumphant smile that crossed Trance's face, and the high-spirited jumping that followed.
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Dylan stayed silent as they walked through the halls, and all the way into his office, where he immediately went for the picture frame that sat on his desk. Beka was fed up with his silence and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"Look, Dylan, it's fairly obvious that you heard a great deal of our conversation, so why don't you..." she trailed off when Dylan suddenly thrust a piece of paper into one of her hands. Unfolding her arms, she looked at the paper, and was halfway back to looking at Dylan, when what was on the paper registered. Doing a classic double take, she stared at the paper for a long time, seeing herself drawn sleeping and naked, with barely a sheet covering her body.
"Where did you get this?" Her voice was as calm and cool as a glacier lake.
"That's a good question, considering I don't remember drawing it."
"You drew this?"
"I drew it," he confirmed. "And since I highly doubt that you sleep naked every night, it's doubtful that I snuck in on you while you were sleeping to draw it."
That seemed to fizzle some of her anger. "So when did you find this?" she asked as she held up the paper.
"About six weeks ago."
Anger turned to absolute, blinding shock. Beka grabbed a chair and sank into it.
"You know, I can't remember one of our nights on Dalla, either. More specifically, the night of the reception." Beka's eyes widened. "That's what I thought. So what did we do?"
Beka snorted. "I think we both know what we did. But this is my problem, Dylan. You don't have to get involved just because you feel responsible."
"What makes you think that?"
Rolling her eyes, she got out of the chair. "Because you've made it clear that you just want to be friends."
Grabbing both of her arms, his eyes burned as they glared into hers. "Friends? Beka, if I just wanted to be friends with you, I wouldn't be taking a cold shower every night. You-"
"Want to be much more than friends," she said, cutting him off.
His hands left her arms and cupped her face between them. Bringing his lips to hers, they immediately parted. He didn't feel bad about practically devouring her like a starving man, since she was giving back exactly what she got and a little bit more. Her hands were locked in his hair and their bodies were pressed close together when they broke the kiss for a need of air.
"Beka..." he breathed, trying desperately to control his arousal.
"We can go slow later," she replied to his unasked question, trying to unsnap the fasteners for his uniform.
"Thank God."
Her lips curved into an inviting smile as he recaptured them in another desperate kiss. When they next came up for air, his naked body was pressing her equally naked body against the wall next to the door. Neither knew exactly how they got each other undressed, but it didn't seem to matter. He kissed his way down her neck to her breasts, and lovingly worshipped them with his mouth. One of his hands ghosted down to rest lightly against where their child was. Her body arched away from the wall with a strangled cry as his other found her center, already damp. He lightly stroked her, working her into a frenzy of need.
She was just about to scald him with curses when he stopped those lovely movements of his hand, when he plunged inside her. She exploded around him, and he captured her soft scream with his mouth. Her nails dug into his shoulders as he thrust in and out once, almost lazily.
"Dylan." The breathy moan of his name sorely tested his control, and her movement against him was enough to break it. Wrapping her legs around his waist, he thrust in and out of her, sending them both over the edge with their twin cries of release echoing off the walls.
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Trance bounced into Command, a smile firmly on her face. Rommie turned to look at her curiously.
"Why so happy?"
Trance smiled mysteriously. "No reason in particular. Just... helping the coming dawn along a little."
Rommie shrugged, knowing that sooner or later, Trance's statement would be explained.
-End Part 2
