Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or ships portrayed in the show 'Andromeda'. They belong to Tribune and Gene Roddenberry and a bunch of other rich-and-smart people. I do own Bianca/Maggie, (It'll become clear later), any other characters that aren't on the show, and this story. Any similarities to people or situations, real or imagined, are entirely and completely accidental.

The same legend still applies, ' ' still denotes thoughts, etc.

Constant Reminders
Chapter 3: Moving Glass

Beka stared at Harper like he had grown an finger from his forehead. 'What does he think he's doing. Dylan's gonna kill him for inviting this girl onto Andromeda. Hell, I'm gonna kill him for inviting her onto Andromeda.'

Beka was about to drag Harper away before he got in too deep, but the girl beat her to it by answering.

Smiling kindly at Harper the girl answered softly "I can't go with you Harper. Thank you anyway. But going anywhere with you, let alone onto your ship, is impossible."

"Why not?" Harper queried. Beka could tell that he was confused, and disappointed.

'Why is this girl so important to him? Is she…from his past? From Earth?'

************

Bianca could see the hurt on Shay's face, but she knew there was nothing she could say to explain her refusal. 'If I tell him and Gar finds out, Shay will be dead faster that you could teach a Nietzschean to shoot a gun.'

"I just can go with you, and I can't explain why not. Please leave it alone?" Bianca stared into his eyes, hoping to get her message through. Finally Shay nodded silently and then turned back to the woman beside him.

"Uh…Boss, would you mind giving us a few moments? Just to…umm…finish up our conversation" Bianca quickly turned to face the bar, not able to stand Shay's pained expression. After a few words Bianca heard the woman leave, and then Shay turned to face the bar again. A heavy silence descended over them, broken only by the soft sounds of Shay drinking his cola.

'I hate this…discomfort. I wish I could tell him what was wrong, share my troubles. But I did that once, and look what happened.' Bianca grabbed her mug with both hands and took a sip, hoping the feeling of the toxic fluid burning her esophagus and stomach would distract her. It didn't.

Bianca swallowed heavily and then stared into the mirror across the back of the bar. Fixing her eyes on Shay's reflection she began. "I wish I could explain. But it's…complicated."

Shay lifted his head and stared into the mirror, so that their gazes met. "Bianca…if I can help, let me. Let me help you out of your mess and put you into a better place. "

Bianca almost started to cry at this. Carefully schooling her expression, so as to not betray her feelings, she scanned the room through the mirror, looking everywhere…except at Shay. She was almost ready to face him again when her gaze fell on the reflection from the door. And on the 3 men that had just entered.

'Shit…Gar. I've got to get Shay out of here. Hell, I've got to get out of here. ' Quickly looking away from the mirror she hunched over, and tried to look inconspicuous.

"Shay…" Bianca said, thinking quickly "I don't want to talk about this. You're ship's called Andromeda, right?" At Shay's affirmative nod she continued "Well, I'll get in touch with you as soon as my little…misunderstanding is cleared up, okay?"

"No Bianca, that is not okay." Bianca was startled by the vehemence in Shay's voice. "I want to help you. I feel…responsible for you."

'Oh God Shay, please, just leave!' Bianca was about to voice her thought when she felt a hand fall on her shoulder. Slowly siting upright Bianca swiveled to face her enemy, her nemesis. He looked to be about 25, was around 6 feet tall, and had brown hair and green eyes. He was coldly handsome, but it was marred by the obvious cruelty in his eyes. He was dressed similarly to her, with black pants, a black shirt, and a long black trench coat. His hand was resting almost negligently on his gun. Gar's two musclemen were dressed like him, except without guns. Bianca felt her blood run cold as Gar spoke.

"Well, well, well…what have we here? It wouldn't be a certain traitor, would it? No, not our Mags. She wouldn't do something like betray us, would she? And what have we here? " Bianca's eyes widened as Gar's attention was suddenly focused on Shay.

"That's no-one Gar. Just a guy in a bar, ya know? C'mon Gar, you gotta believe that I'd never sell you out to anyone. Ever!"

Gar slowly turned to face her. 'C'mon Gar, believe me so that I can get Shay the hell outta here!' She smiled slightly as Gar looked her over. She was starting to relax when Gar smiled.

'He looks so…inhuman. This is not good' Bianca slowly got off the stool and faced him. "Gar…?" Bianca queried with a hint of nervousness in her voice. She was about to continue when Gar stepped forward, so that they stood mere inches from each other.

Gar smirked evilly and spoke. "No, you wouldn't, not you…you lying bitch!!!" Gar screamed the last three words and grabbed the front of her shirt, heaving her up and throwing her into the mirror.

************

Harper had been getting gradually more nervous throughout this confrontation, but when the guy had heaved Bianca into the mirror, he shot off his stool and leapt over the counter quickly. Kneeling beside her prostrate form Harper say that her eyes were open and that she was fine, except for a myriad of small cuts.

"Are…are you okay?" Harper stammered. 'I'll kill that guy…Gar or whatever. I'll kill him for this.' Harper's thoughts were stopped suddenly when Bianca put her hand on his arm.

"Shay, I'm fine. But you gotta get out of here quick. Before…" Harper was about to ask what she was going to say, when he was lifted off his feat and pushed away from Bianca. One of Gar's musclemen had come behind the bar and was proceeding to rudely pull Bianca to her feet, before pushing her towards Harper. Shards of glass fell off Bianca and to the ground as she stumbled backwards, catching the light until falling to glisten on the floor. Harper caught her before she could fall and helped steady her.

Bianca nodded to him and then swiveled and nimbly leaped over the counter, landing crouched, a few feet from Gar. Harper could only watch as she made to leap over the bar again, except this time her legs were completely extended and she hit Gar in the stomach. Gracefully she landed behind the bar and twirled to face the stunned muscleman. Nimbly evading his punches she drew back a step and kicked him in the stomach. As he reeled back she quickly grabbed him by the shirt and slammed her head against his. Letting go of him she again leapt over the bar, leaving the man to fall, stunned, to the floor.

'Wow. She wasn't kidding when she said that I didn't want to know.' Harper continued to watch the dramatic scene unfold, one slender girl versus three fully-grown and heavily muscled men, and she was kicking their asses.

Facing the other muscleman Bianca again dodged a few punches. As he attempted to punch her again Bianca sidestepped it and grabbed his wrist. Using his own momentum against him she threw him into a table. She then twirled, fists up to face Gar, who was now standing upright and, of all things, clapping"

"Well done Mags. I should have known you'd make short work of them. That's why I made sure to have a few extra…helpers. " Harper could only look on as 5 men stepped out from the crowd that had quickly surrounded the bar, and smiled evilly at Bianca.

'Well, now's the time to show Bianca that I can help her out of her problems.' Looking around Harper noticed a door a few feet away, leading towards the back "Bianca!" Harper hissed at her. "Come here!" At his urgent summons Bianca again leaped over the bar and stood in front of Harper. "Trust me. " Harper whispered, and then grabbed Bianca's arm and ran through the door and into a hallway.

"Shay, what are you doing?" Bianca asked him as they dashed down the hallway, past various doors. "I'm saving you…ah-ha! " Harper exclaimed gleefully. Stopping in front of a door he opened in and leapt inside. Bianca looked down the hallway at the mob that was slowly advancing, Gar at the head. Ducking a bullet she leapt into the dark room after Harper and slammed the door shut, bolting it from the inside.

"It won't hold them for long." Harper barely heard her speak. He was busy fiddling with a strange looking device that he'd pulled from the pocket of his trench coat. 'Just a few more adjustments and…voila! I am a freaking genius'.

"Shay…" Bianca sounded slightly angry, so he got off the floor and showed her the gadget. "What is that? And shouldn't we be worried about a more…pressing matter?" Bianca's words were emphasized by a large thump as someone outside tried to break down the door.

Harper smiled confidently. "Don't worry. I so know what I'm doing. This baby " Harper waved the gizmo in a circle "is gonna get us out of here. And they aren't gonna be able to tell where we went. "

Harper could tell that Bianca was not exactly as enthusiastic as he was, but he chose to ignore the look on her face. He waited until she gave into her curiosity.

"Ok then Shay, what does it do?" Smiling Harper turned around to face the window on the far wall.

"Let me show you…okay!" With that Harper pressed a button and a strange green light enveloped the room.

As the light began to fade Harper heard Bianca gasp. Where the window had been was now…nothing. An empty window frame.

"Where is the glass Shay?" Harper began to smirk. "Behind you, leaning against the wall. I made this puppy" Harper patted his gizmo "off a design for a molecular transporter. I simply made the design portable. I am a freaking genius, you know."

Bianca winced as another thump shook the door. "We'd better got outta here. Walking over to the window Bianca leaned out, holding onto the frame for support.

"Good thing that this place is on the ground floor, eh Bianca?" Ignoring the glare that she sent his way Harper nimbly jumped out of the window and landed on the ground. Jumping down beside him Bianca looked back into the room.

"Watch it Bianca. I'm gonna replace the glass now. " Pressing a second button the green light flashed again, and as soon as Harper cleared his eyes he reached over and touched the glass. Smirking again he put his gadget back into his pocket, and turned to face Bianca.

"Now what?" She asked candidly. "It's up to you. My offer is still open, and if you're as popular as that " Harper nodded back towards the room, where the door was beginning to splinter "you probably should accept. "

Bianca started to walk towards the end of the alley where they had emerged, and Harper quickly followed. Turning right at the end they walked away from the bar. Harper tried to read the expression on her face, but couldn't. Suddenly she stopped and turned to face Harper.

"Won't your captain and crewmates be…upset?" Harper smiled at the thought of the various reactions he would get when he told them.

"Oh yeah…but I think that you can handle anything that they throw at you. Literally. And it would be nice to have another full time fighter aboard. "

Bianca suddenly looked suspicious. "What do you mean 'another'? "

Harper cringed slightly. 'Oh man, what about Tyr? What's he going to think about a human that could probably kick his ass? And how will she handle a Nietzschean? Oh well' "Well…we have a Nietzschean crewmember. He's our weapons officer."

Harper stood still, waiting for some response from her, but was totally surprised when she smiled. "A Nietzschean? That's great. I can actually spar with someone properly trained. And I'm sure he won't mind the opportunity to practice either. It's hard to do some of the moves without someone to spar with."

Harper realized that at the moment he probably vaguely resembled a fish, so he closed his mouth, the smiled back. "I knew that there wouldn't be a problem. After all." "You're a freaking genius." Bianca finished for him. "I catch on quick Shay. I just need to stop by my hotel to grab my stuff, and then we can head to your ship.

Harper was ecstatic. "You're coming. That's great! Let's go get your stuff. Oh, and Bianca?" She turned to face him again, and Harper couldn't help but smile. "It's Harper now."

"Okay then, Harper, shall we?" Bianca motioned to the sidewalk in front of her, and they headed off towards her hotel.

************

And if you were a fly in the alley, you would have seen Gar bust into the room, gun in hand, only to be confronted with an empty room with a window that was, for some reason, slightly bent inwards.

"I'll find you Mags, and when I do…" Gar hissed under his breath, before twirling around and marching out of the room, leaving his men dumfounded.

Authors Note: A big thank you to everyone who has reviewed my story. I hope you like it so far!

Coming up…More danger, an angry crew, and some plotting.