Title: Effervescent Essence
Author: Harper's aka Weird_Peace
Rating: PG-13
Synopsis: Sequel to And You Thought Larvae Were Bad. I highly suggest you read the first fiction.
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, but I love 'em anyways.
Spoilers: Season Two spoilers.

(Coco's name was borrowed from a generous friend of mine who also beta read this chapter for me.  The character is not the person though.)

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"Alright, now since you're a male, you don't have to worry too much about the mating process," Trance told the small, developing baby in front of her. Now that the child had a body, it used that to represent it's presence in Trance's mind. Trance to examine her child more closely. Still no blue...

"Sorry," she said as she felt a nudge in the back of her mind. "But even so, knowledge is power." Trance began to relax, and the black area around her flickered into a vivid picture full of sights, smells, sounds, and touches that eventually swept both of the mind's occupants into the memory.

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The Maru hummed around her, but Trance barely noticed. Harper had welded her into this cramped storage closest, and she was beginning to loathe him for it.

No, she had told Harper to do it. Why oh why had she had him lock her in here? The walls where closing in, making her start to breath harder. No, even if was going to hurt her, Trance told herself she had to stay in control. Crying out, the golden alien fell against the side of the closest and slid down the wall. She settled to the floor, hugging herself.

Harper had welded her in. How stupid. Didn't he know she could break free? Trance began to giggle softly, suddenly stopping as she finally gave into it.

Survival...that's the only thing that Trance could think about. She had to reproduce or else her species would die. They needed numbers, there was strength in numbers, unity in numbers. Love, companionship, more to bred, more to work, more to fight...all this was needed to survive.

There was one other on this ship. He wasn't like her. He was sickly, stringy, small, and had too short of a lifespan. But he was male, and he would do. Time was running out.

Trance was out of the closet in seconds, everything was focused on the small human at the front of the ship. She prowled, keeping low and silent. He was working, but stiffly, as if he could sense her approaching, stalking him. The alien had to smile at that. He had some skills.

Trance picked up a piece of scrap and threw it to one side of the ship. It hit it's mark, sending a tool sliding off it's table with a loud crash. She snorted as the skittish male went after it. He was easily fooled, that was a problem.

Trance jumped, grabbing the pipes above her. She moved across them like a trained acrobat, so silently and gracefully that an android would be jealous. When she was near the male, she swung her legs up and hooked them into some wires so that she was spread eagle above his position.

The male sensed something and whipped around. But Trance was already descending on him, pushing him to the ground. The human's head hit the floor hard, and he was unconscious in seconds.

Not much of a fighter either, she mused, grabbing some pillows to tilt her quarry so that he was sitting upright. Trance then pushed her hand into her chest, reaching beyond matter, electricity, everything that made her exsist in this reality and many others. She kept going until she found that part of herself that was beyond description. The beings in this reality had a word for it, but the actual soul was beyond description, beyond a mere word.

Trance brought part of her mind back to Maru, her other hand reaching towards Harper's chest. Calming her mind, pushing all abilities beyond her limits, Trance was able to hold onto both planes of exsistance. She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut on what she knew would happen next.

Grabbing a part of her soul and a part of Harper's, Trance tore. She could feel, hear...hell in some parts she could taste her screams and cries of pain as part of her was ripped away. In the reality on the Maru, Harper stayed blissfully oblivious to the process. On other levels, he was barely surviving the attack. The rip ceased as Trance finally parted the piece of soul from it's whole. In time, the child would rebuild that part and even make new parts. The loss would continue to hurt her until she had the child, but Harper would get it soon enough that he would barely notice. It was probably for the best, considering Trance would be able to withstand the effects of the mating.

Trance pulled the pieces of soul to yet another reality, one her species called The Binding Ties. Here she prayed the souls would join. Sometimes the parents were not compatable enough, and the souls pushed away. But a child wanted into this world today, and it granted Trance's hopes. Smiling, Trance pulled the new life back onto the Maru. It stayed in her body for the breifest of moments before flowing down and out into Harper's body.

Trance's vision swirled, the pain and exhaustion of what she had just done finally taking over. She collasped next to Harper, letting the peace of dark claim her worn out conscious.

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Trance opened her eyes, watching area surrounding turn a happy orange as her child bounced around.

"Yeah, it wasn't that much fun for all of us," she teased him. A mental giggle echoed around her.

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Harper looked around the bar, fighting the urge to fall upon his knees and pray to the Divine. He had not entered a bar, hell, he hadn't had an alcoholic beverage for over eight months. He had abstained for a few weeks of hard work, and the day he was going to open a smooth one, Trance had gotten him pregnant.

Harper wondered how long before he'd get kicked out if he planted his ass under the tap and had the bartender turn it on as high as it'd go.

"A whiskey please. Any kind you got," Harper called out. Beka, Rev, and he had been shopping, but as soon as he saw the dingy hole that was called a bar, he had run off like Dragan hounds were on his heels. Beka had promised to meet back with him in two hours.

The bartender set Harper's drink in front of him, and the young man examined it, wondering in which way would he get the best flavor. Finally deciding on a side and style, Harper tilted the glass towards his mouth. He held back a moan as the frothy liquid hit his lips, slid past his teeth, ran smoothly over his tounge, and finally down his throat leaving that beautiful taste of barely and hops in his mouth to savor.

"Wow, if that's how you treat a beer, I'd love to see how you treat the ladies." Harper spun around, looking up at the tall woman standing over him. His mouth fell open as he recognized the short brunette.

"Coco!" Harper stood up, his whiskey completely forgotten as he pulled his old friend close into a tight hug. Coco returned the favor.

"I don't believe it, what're you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm actually working around this drift. What menial jobs I can find and such," she shrugged. "Right now I'm a waitress over at the Makra Mix." Coco rolled her eyes upon saying the name. "No imagination in these part whatsoever. So what about you? What's Mr. Seamus Z. Harper gotten his nose into this time?"

"I've got two words for you babe." Harper sat back down, returning to his drink. "Andromeda Ascendant." Coco's eyes went wide.

"Who?" She looked confused, then a little hurt. "What, you actually got a girlfriend?"

"I wish," Harper said. "Andromeda's an old High Guard Heavy Cruiser that Beka and I pulled out of a black hole."

"And I'm Moses." Coco sat down next to him.

"No seriously," Harper took a sip. "She got stuck on the event horizon of a black hole, frozen in time for over three hundred years. Our team pulls her out, and we find this High Guard Captain, Dylan Hunt, who was frozen with her, and he decides he wants to restore the systems Commonwealth. So we've been at that for the last two years."

"Restoring the Commonwealth?" Coco hit him, causing Harper to spill some of his drink. "C'mon Harper, don't give me this B.S. of yours."

"Don't believe me if you don't wanna, but it's the truth." Harper grabbed a towel, mopping the liquid up, while Coco studied him.

"High Guard Heavy Cruiser? Glorious Heritage Class?" she finally asked.

"You better believe it. And I get to fix her." Harper preened a bit. "You should come visit sometimes, I know how much you love that old stuff."

"Maybe. Right now I'm just satisfied with this relic." Coco patted his head.

"Hey, I'm only twenty-five."

"On Earth that's ancient," she said.

"We're not on Earth anymore," he countered, then quickly changed the subject. "Beka will be happy to see you again."

"I know, but it's not Beka I'm concerned with right now." Coco smiled wickedly, something Harper used to love. "I've made enough to get my own place here. How about tonight," she traced a finger up his arm, "we catch up on old times?"

Harper frowned, looking her over. It's not like he didn't expect this when he saw Coco. The two of them had been casual partners ever since they were eighteen on Earth. Every once in awhile they'd bump into each other in the great wide spaces of the universe and have a good time, that is, as long as they weren't serious about someone else.

Harper sighed. Trance had made her feelings clear. They weren't a couple; it wasn't like he was cheating or anything. So why was he hesitating.

"You're cooking dinner right?" he asked, smirking back. Coco gave Harper's thigh a gentle squeeze.

"As long as you bring the wine."