*I dunno what to say . . .*

After a few minutes of consultation with Tyr and Rommie, the two of them came to the same conclusion as Harper and the device was quickly taken out. The procedure took no more than about 10 minutes and when it was over, all I wanted to do what scream, but I restrained myself. Tyr and Rommie left after the proceedure was done. Trance and Harper went to find Rev and tell him the good news and Harper was going on about getting one more free meal and Sparky. I didn't say anything, I just walked over to her and found a chair. I had every intention of sitting beside her and waiting until she woke up and then we'd do all the things I had told her we would, bath, food, and . .

"Hey." Dylan.

"Hey," I said as I stood and walked over to him.

"How is she?" he asked.

"Good. Terrified and won't leave my side when she's awake."

"Back to the beginning," he said as we walked back over to the side of her bed.

"Pretty much. Only this time she talks and has a name." We sat in silence for a few minutes. I could tell he wanted to tell me all the things he already had again and I wanted to go back on everything I had told him. That thought alone scared me simply because I had never had a feeling like that before about any guy I had left. I looked over at him and was simply starting at Cassie. I reached over and took his hand in mine and just left it there. He looked down at it, then at me and simply smiled and squeezed back. Well, there was one bridge gapped.

"Would you be totally opposed to the idea of us coming back, I mean, if they want to?" I asked slowly.

"I think we could swing it. We might be a little tight on space though," he said with a small smile.

"I'm gonna go and talk to a couple of them. Will you stay with her? Let me know when she's up?"

"Sure," he said as he let go of my hand. This time when I left, I looked back at him, just for a minute.

*As much as it pains me to say this, Tyr, I need your help.*

I knew she was in the room before she came over. I heard the doors open and knew by the sound of her foot steps, A little louder than the Purple Girl's, but not much.

"Captain Valentine," I said simply.

"Hi," she said as she came over and sat in the chair in front of me. "As much as it pains me to say this, Tyr, I need your help." I sighed and put my book down.

"With what?" I asked.

"Would it be a sign of weakness if I stayed here?"

"What, in the obs deck?" I asked, I knew what she meant, but I felt the need to make her sweat about it.

"No, I mean bringing the Maru back on the Andromeda and staying."

"I don't know, you seemed quite happy to leave the last time we talked. In fact, I believe you called me Uber before you left." I watched as she smiled and blushed at that.

"Sorry about that. Thanks for not making a Kludge comment though. I did notice that."

"I'm so glad." I paused for a moment and looked at her. "I cannot make your decisions for you Rebeka."

"I know that, I just wanted a little advice from Mr. Survival himself."

"Well, you know what life was like before comming on to the Andromeda and you know what it was like on the Andromeda, so, all you have to do is decide which is in you best interest. The others will follow you at this point in time, but you have to consider that there may come a time when they have an

oportunity to return to the Andromeda and they might take it. Leaving you and the child, possibly alone on the ship. I have heard the stories of people you have recruited as crew members from a drunken Harper and I must admit that I have a feeling that you would all be better off on the Andromeda." I finished. She paused and looked at me for a minute before a smile spread across her face.

"Oh Tyr, I always knew you cared!" she said as stood.

"Simply becuase I feel that my survival on this ship is in danger simply because Dylan is distracted most of the time now that all of you are no longer on board."

"Yeah, I love you too Big Guy," she said as she left. I simply watched her leave then returned to my book.

*So, are we staying?*

"So, are we staying?" Harper asked as soon as he saw me entered the mess hall.

"Why would you ask something like that?" I said as I got a cup of coffee and sat down with him, Rev and Trance.

"Because you got friendly with Dylan again and had a conversation with Tyr before coming to find us and the only reason you would go and talk to Tyr for that long is to ask his advice about staying," Harper said with confidence.

"Actually, I was talking to him about entering a contract for strictly physical pleasure, but thanks for playing," I said. The others just kind of stared at me.

"You're kidding right?" he asked.

"Of course I am!" I said with a smile "I just didn't want to say the sentence 'you're right Harper'. Is that such a crime?"

"I guess not. But that was a scary thought," he said as he went back to his second can of sparky.

"As you see, once again the Divine works in mysterious ways," Rev said calmly.

"What do you mean?" asked Trance.

"Had we not been in such termoil with Dylan and the others, we never would have left and had we not left, we may never have gotten Cassidie back. Perhaps we should return to the Andromeda."

"Right, about that. So, would you guys like to stay here?" I asked straight out.

"Dylan's not going to pull another gun on me is he?" Harper asked.

"No."

"Okay, I'm in. I better go and check on Rommie," he said as he eagerly got up and left.

"Rev, you're already for staying," Rev nodded. "So Trance, you gonna stick around with us some more?"

"Of course! I'd never leave Beka!" she said as she jumped up and gave me a hug before scampering of to the hydroponics bay. Well, that was easier than I expected. I looked around the empty mess, sighed and made my way to the med bay.

"Back already?" he asked as he heard the doors open.

"Yup," I said as I came back over and sat by him. "I had an interesting talk with Tyr," I said.

"Really?" he asked, not sounding too surprised.

"Yeah, I also talked to Trance, Harper and Rev and we have all agreed that it might be a good idea to stick around with you a little longer." I heard him sigh.

"Oh good. I had this little fear that you weren't going to come back."

"So is that offer to start from scratch still available?" I asked.

"For you, always," he said as we looked back at Cassie. I knew in the pit of my stomach that simply becuase of the fact that she was here, things would be very quickly go back to the way they were before all of this happened. I was also glad for the first time in a long time that I had come back to a guy I had loved and left so to speak. For some reason, it felt right.