Disclaimer: See previous chapters
Legend: See previous chapters
Time: Set some time after Ouroboros.

Chapter 4
Kit and Kin

Bianca and Harper walked down the street, not hurrying but not dawdling either.

'If Gar has found out where I'm staying, there will be a guard there…I think that I can safely assume that Herlon is out of the picture…damn, why did this have to backfire on me?' Bianca glanced around, before grabbing Harper's arm and pulling him into an alley.

"What the…?" he stammered. Bianca smiled slightly and gestured at the fire escape a few feet away. "We've got to go in the back way. Gar probably has people watching everywhere, so this is safest. Come on!" With that Bianca turned and grabbed hold of the ladder, and began to climb. After a few seconds she could here the sounds of Harper climbing behind her.

Quickly ascending the fire escape Bianca reached the 3rd floor and started to climb over the railing. Harper reached out and grabbed her arm.

"What do you think you're doing?" Smiling reassuringly at Harper Bianca replied, "My room is 2 windows over. I left it open slightly just incase something went wrong. I'll be back in just a second with my bags." True to her word Bianca nimbly edged over to her window, slipped inside, grabbed her bags, and within seconds was back on the windowsill.

"Harper!" Bianca called quietly. Harper was looking around nervously, and Bianca knew that he was afraid that Gar would pop up at any second. He looked to face her and Bianca lifted up her small duffel bag. "Catch!" With that warning she expertly threw her bag and, displaying stunning reflexes, Harper reached out and…missed. The bag hit him full in the chest, causing him to fall backwards and hit his head on the next stairs.

"Sha…Harper!" Bianca called out worriedly. Harper shook his head, slowly heaved himself up, and grinned to show that he was all right. Bianca shook her head at the look on his face; he had obviously not expected her to throw quite so well…or so hard.

'I've learned many things since that day 8 years ago…I just hope that I can finally stop using my knowledge. And that my knowledge doesn't bring about anyone else's death.'

"Jeez Bianca…" Harper moaned, bring Bianca to the present, "you could've given my a bit more warning. But that would have been way too easy. "

"Without a doubt. I've got another bag for you, if you think you can handle it?"

Harper smirked. "I can handle anything you throw my way. Umm…but don't take that literally."

Bianca smiled, and then reached back down and grabbed another duffel bag, identical to the first. Raising an eyebrow at Harper's disconcerted look she tossed the bag towards him. This time, however, Harper's efforts were rewarded, and he caught the bag quite neatly. Bianca smiled again as Harper began to sway side to side in an impromptu victory 'dance'.

'I think I've smiled more in the half-hour that I've been back with him than any time in the past 8 years. ' Bianca realized with a start. 'But that's okay. I think that I finally have a reason to smile again. And who knows how long this reason will last?'

Leaning back again Bianca grabbed her last bag. Leaning out of the window she motioned at Harper. "Harper, take those two down. I'll be there in a sec, ok?" Nodding, Harper picked up her bags and started to descend. Bianca threw the bag at the landing and winced as it hit the railing and then toppled over to rest on the grate bottom with a loud 'thump'. 'Well, just in case Gar's men didn't know I was here, they do now.' Deciding to leave the window open Bianca leaped over to the stairs, landing crouched beside her bag. Grabbing the bag's handles she quickly descended the stairs, jumping down the last set to land on the ground.

Turning to face Harper, Bianca asked "Which way to the ship?"

"This way." Harper motioned, and she was about to follow him when she heard a yell. Looking up she saw a shape descending the stairs. "Run Shay!" she yelled. Turning to flee they headed towards the far end of the alley. The figure on the stairs stopped for a second and fumbled with something, then suddenly started to fire at them. Ducking as a shot went over her head Bianca dropped her bag, grabbed her gun, flicked off the safety, and fired in one smooth motion. The man on the stairs winced, dropped his gun, grabbed his leg, and slowly toppled over. Flicking the safety back on she re-holstered her gun and smirked at Harper. "Got to work on my aim." She said dryly.

"Very funny." He countered. "And I thought I told you to call me Harper?" Rolling her eyes at his wit Bianca was about to grab her bag when a flash of metal caught her eye. Tackling Harper she forced him to the ground and then rolled off him, seizing her gun in the process. Firing twice at the shape she was pleased to see the man wince as his gun was shot out of his hand, and then topple over as her second shot hit his leg.

Replacing her gun Bianca helped Harper up before brushing herself off. Bianca said tranquilly "We should probably get the hell out of Dodge before any more of my 'friends' decide to drop in for tea."

Harper stared at her. "Thanks for that brilliant suggestion Bianca. Let's go!" Surrendering to Harper's incessant tugging at her sleeve Bianca picked up her bag and they hurried towards the spaceport.

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

Tyr sat, bored and restless, in the cockpit of the Eureka Maru. 'If you could call this hunk of trash a ship and this…place a cockpit.' Not normally given to bouts of impatience, Tyr was amazed to find himself tapping his fingers in annoyance against one of the consoles. Folding his arms against his chest, Tyr was about to ask Dylan what time it was, when the unmistakable hiss of the Maru's door opening filled the air. Tyr was about to call out to Harper when he heard the unmistakable sound of a second pair of boots treading on the floor.

'What has that foolish little man done now?' Tyr thought with annoyance. Almost immediately the rest of the crew appeared from the various parts of the ship where they had been waiting for their crewmate to return. Tyr stood up, tilted his head to the side, and waited for the show to begin.

Harper appeared in the doorway, laden with bags. Right behind him was a girl, carrying another bag. Seeing the looks on his crewmate's faces, Harper flashed a nervous grin. "Hey everyone…" He tapered off as Dylan gave him a glare.

"Care to explain your tardiness, Mr. Harper?" The Highguard captain was obviously seething. "And also the presence of your companion?"

Tyr switched his attention to the girl that had accompanied Harper. She appeared to be about 18, with a long blonde braid and intelligent blue eyes. 'Harper's eyes.' Tyr noted with a start. She was dressed in black leather pants, a black tank top, a long black trench coat and black combat boots. Her ensemble was completed with a gun strapped to her right thigh and a disaffected expression on her face. She also had a few smudges of dirt on her pants. 'Harper's reasoning for letting her aboard will undoubtedly provide several hours of entertainment.

While Tyr had been examining her the girl had been doing her own appraisal of the crew and, when her gaze had alighted on Tyr, he could have sworn that a small smile had tugged at her mouth. 'I must be affected by the long hours of boredom, as her smiling at the sight of me is highly unlikely.' Harper's gaze had been flitting between Dylan and the girl, and suddenly he swallowed deeply and spoke.

"Dylan…umm…this is Bianca. I kinda invited her to…" Harper here started to stutter, much to Tyr's amusement "…I invited her to come with us. To join the crew."

The explosion was instantaneous. "WHAT?!?!?!" Dylan bellowed. "WHAT IN THE UNIVERSE POSSESED YOU TO INVITE THAT…GIRL ONTO MY SHIP?" By this point Dylan was turning a becoming shade of purple, which Tyr was certain was not healthy.

Tyr glanced about, trying to gauge the reactions of the rest of the crew. Rev Bem looked calm, but a little shocked. Beka was hyperventilating, caught between killing Harper and saving Dylan's sanity. Dylan had begun muttering under his breath, but Tyr could hear some choice words, such as 'maim', 'mutilate', 'execute', and 'Harper'. And Trance looked angry too, but also a little…hurt. Tyr himself felt only mild annoyance and…curiosity. Although he would have died before admitting it, Tyr was curious why Harper had invited the girl. 'What's so special about this Bianca?'

Harper was wincing and fidgeting, waiting for Dylan to calm down enough to resume breathing. 'Let's hear his explanation. This shall be quite…delightful.'

"Why, Harper?" Dylan croaked. Harper turned to look at the girl, who closed her eyes and then nodded once, quickly. Harper turned back to face the angry stares of his crewmates.

"I invited Bianca because…" he swallowed once "…because…because she's my…she's…my cousin."

Authors Note: Please review and tell me what you think! It makes my day.

Coming next…more reactions, some catching up, and a very angry guy.