Okay, I tried. Sorry it took so long, and sorry it's not my best work ever. I'll do better chapter three, you'll see. Hope you'll stick around that long.

I don't own 'em. Frig!

Bonds Made, Bonds Broken

"Another planet saved and signed. Not bad." Dylan commented to Beka as they awaited the Eureka Maru's return. They had stopped a meteor which had been on a collision course with a planet that was uncapable of destroying it. They had changed the meteor's course easily enough and in doing so the the Frelic's had been quick to sign the Commonwealth Charter.

"Well, if Harper and Tyr would get back soon, I'd be even happier. They've been gone too long." Beka said, as if on cue the sensors began flashing and the screen showed the Maru dropping out of Slipstream.

"Some wishes do come true," Dylan noted, "Rommie, hail them. Let's find out how they did."

Dylan waited patiently for the screen to flicker and was greeted with the always serious face of Tyr, sitting in the pilot's chair, and Harper leaning against the back wall, rubbing at his temples.

"Welcome back. How did the supply run go?" Dylan asked, thinking that perhaps for just once the Andromeda crew had, had a peaceful and successful mission.

"Interesting to say the least. The flight home may have been a bit more enjoyable if Harper could have stopped complaining about his headache for two minutes or more." Tyr commented, half growling in his annoyance.

Harper stopped rubbing his temples and glared at Tyr, "Oh, bite me. Just cause you didn't get affected by that knock-out gas."

"Knock-out gas?" Beka questioned, confused and concerned.

"Long story." Harper replied curtly. It was clear neither man was in a very good mood.

"We shall go into full details once we board." Tyr added.

"And after a trip to medical." Harper clutched his temples again to emphasis his point.

"I think this is a story I want to hear. See you when you've docked, Hunt out." Dylan said then closed the comm.

"This should be interesting." Beka remarked as they both made their way to the hangar.

~~~~~~~~~

"Oh geez, when did the lights on this ship get so bright?" Harper asked as he stepped onto the deck of the Andromeda. Of course the lighting was the same as it had always been which in itself was much brighter than the Maru, causing Harper's headache to escalate even more.

"Do you never stop complaining?" Tyr snapped angrily as they made their way onto the ship. His temper had been raging the entire trip home, causing him to snap at the tiniest annoyance. He stormed out of the hangar and barrelled past Dylan and Beka without so much as a hello.

Beka and Dylan swiftly moved out of the way when they saw the steamed Nietzschean heading towards them and watched as he left the deck and moved out of sight.

"Well, he's a happy camper." Beka said sarcastically.

"What exactly is wrong with him?" Dylan asked Harper as they approached the engineer.

Harper gave them an exasperated look. "I have no idea, but I wish I did. He's been ready to bite my head off the entire trip home. Only four hours of which I was actually conscious for. But I went by one of the unused crew quarters on the Maru and there was a bunch of stuff all smashed up. I tell you there is something seriously wrong with him. Probably a Nietzschean thing." He commented.

"Hmm, you mentioned something about knock-out gas." Dylan raised an eyebrow, indicating he wanted the full story.

"Right." Harper smiled sheepishly, "Let's walk and talk shall we? I gotta get my butt to Medbay for some stronger painkillers."



As the trio made their way through the corridors of the Andromeda, Harper filled them in on all that had transpired onboard the station. As they reached the doors to the Medical bay he had almost finished regailing them with his tale.

"I mean, these guys came from nowhere. So we fought them off and got on the Maru and headed out. Then I kinda started to not feel so hot and may have passed out slightly."

"How slightly?" Beka inquired.

"Five hours maybe." Harper answered uncertainly. They all looked up and saw Trance, wagging her purple tail behind her gleefully.

"Harper, you're back." She stated with a huge smile. She always missed her friend when he left.

"You know, I thought I was back, but I wasn't sure. Thanks for clearing that up." Harper replied sarcastically, but in a tone that offered no insult. "You got anything for a major headache? May be a side effect of a knock-out gas."

Trance cocked her head to the side slightly, "What happened?"

"Oh, long story. I tell it better without the little man with the nanowelder in my head." Harper replied, indicating he was clearly in pain.

"Okay, I'll get you something." She walked over to a cabinet and looked through her various medicines.

"Just one thing I want to clear up. Why did the men attack you in the first place?" Dylan asked curiously.

Harper thought about it a moment. He had neglected to mention the fact that he and Tyr were keeping and splitting twelve thousand thrones of Dylan's money. Actually Harper was greatly considering keeping Tyr's share for himself with the way the big man had been acting earlier.

"Well, I may have mentioned that we had twenty-five thousand thrones to spend, while we were walking through a pretty busy part of the station. Tyr thinks someone heard me and thought we still had it. But we spent most of it." Harper hadn't lied outright in a long time. Still got it. He thought to himself.

"Makes sense. Those stations are full of thieves and swindlers. Where do you think I met Harper?" Beka commented with a smirk.

Harper was slightly irritated by that comment but couldn't think of a very witty reply, he settled for, "You know, I'm not gonna waste a perfectly good comeback on that remark, but trust me, it does exist."

They were saved from further argument when Trance came back in, medicine in hand.

"Here, try this." Trance handed the hypo over to Harper who took it graciously. His features relaxed into a painless expression almost immediately.

"That's better. Thanks Trance." Harper jumped off the examining table. "So, there anything else or am I free to go where no man has dared go before?"

"Where's that?" Dylan asked.

"My quarters. Even I've been scared to go in there lately. I gotta rig up a cleaning bot or something." Harper replied, schematics and blueprints immediately forming in his mind at the thought of a new project to work on.

Dylan chuckled slightly, "Sure thing. The core processors have been acting up a bit lately, but it can wait until you get some rest."

"Sweet. See you in a couple hours then." Harper happily strode away from the Medbay and headed to what he shamefully called his quarters.

~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, in the onboard gym, a punching bag was getting the pummeling of its life. Sweat trickled down Tyr's face as he went through his unrelenting work out. He attacked the bag as if it was his worst enemy, every punch stronger and more devestating than the last. His frustration and, what could only be described as rage, had been building the entire flight back to the Andromeda. He just had an unquenchable rage building within him. The gym seemed the best place to go. It now seemed as though it wouldn't be a long term solution. The punching bag didn't look as though it would last much longer.

"Aargh!" Tyr grunted as his final blow landed with so much force that it dislodged the bag from its position in the ceiling. As it landed at his feet he tried futilely to expell his anger by kicking it as it rolled away. As he pulled his leg back for a second kick he suddenly jerked back into reality. The realization that he had no idea why he was so angry, hit him like a ton of bricks.

"What in the galaxies am I doing?" He asked himself as he looked down at the broken punching bag.

"I was just thinking the same thing." Tyr turned sharply, all his senses alert for attack for some reason. He relaxed only slightly when he realized it was the holographic AI that had joined him.

"Hope you're proud of yourself." Rommie commented, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Tyr looked down once more and grimaced slightly, "Not really. It took far longer than it should have." He replied, still trying to figure out exactly why he had been so angry.

"Great. It's still broken and you haven't even gained a sense of accomplishment. What a waste." Rommie said sarcastically.

Tyr felt his blood begin to boil as his temper flared once more, "You can fix it in minutes, so please stop complaining."

"You're in a bad mood." Rommie stated, matter-of-factly.

"Well perhaps if everything on this relic of a ship was not falling apart at the seams, I would be in a better mood." Tyr replied. He grabbed a towel off the rack and stormed out of the gym. His footsteps echoed down the hall as he tried fiercely to stomp out his anger.

"Point proven." Rommie said to herself, quirking an eyebrow at his response. Then her hologram disappeared and she set to work fixing the punching bag along with the thousands of other duties she was doing at the same time.

~~~~~~~~~~

Yeah, I know, nothing important happened and it wasn't thrilling at all. I'm sorry. I've been going through so much right now that I haven't had time to write and totally lost the flow I had with this story. I'll see if I can get a better chapter next time. Chapter three is where all the action takes place so I hope you'll all stay tuned. Diana ^_^