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.

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"What do you want Tyr?" Harper asked, impatient about the fact the Nietzschean had been standing over him for the past three minutes without speaking.

"How is your child faring?" he asked. "You have a week left of progress if I'm not mistaken."

"Less actually. Trance says he's developing much faster than he should be. Must be from her side of the family," Harper said bitterly, tugging a little harder at the wires he was untangling.

"How is the golden one doing?" Tyr wasn't surprised when Harper remained silent. "A good father knows not only the condition of his child, but that of his wife as well. For she carries the child. The two of you haven't spoken for three weeks beyond the baby's condition."

"Well if you haven't noticed, Trance isn't exactly my wife now is she?" Harper hissed between clenched teeth. "And that's just fine with me you know? She doesn't want me, hey, that's fine. I'll just go rip out my intestines and stomp all over them. Sure would hurt less..."

Tyr sighed as Harper continued his rant, finally grasping the boy's shoulder and turning him so he was looking at the Nietzschean. Harper fell silent.

"I do not see what you do in this female. She's too…capricious and unusual to make a good mate." Harper rolled his eyes, but Tyr continued to hold him in place. "However, you chose her, and she rejected you. You're allowed to feel..."

"Heartbroken?" Harper said for Tyr seeing as the other man wasn't used to such terms. He hadn't grown up with those principles.

"If that is the word. But dwelling on it is only making things worse. Move on, if for nothing else than the sake of your child." Harper looked down, not knowing how to reply. Tyr let him out of having to form one by ruffling his hair before leaving the boy to consider the conversation. Harper watched as the Nietzschean walked off, then turned back to his work.

"Looks like Dylan's getting competition in the Mr. Know It All category," Harper muttered as he started to finish up.

"You know he's right," Andromeda said appearing next to Harper. "Although I never thought I'd be saying that."

"Does everyone want to pry into my personal life?!" the engineer cried out exasperated.

"Fine I'll stop prying." Andromeda stood there for a few more seconds. "But Trance is on the Observation Deck if you want her," the AI said quickly before disappearing. Harper let out a long sigh and picked up his tools.

"Fine, I'll go. Better do it anyways before Dylan shows up." Harper held back a laugh as the loud footsteps he had heard approaching quickly receded. "Score one for the little guy."

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"Harper?" Trance frowned as he poked his head into the room. "I have already done the scan for today, and I told you if I found out anything new I would already tell you. So what, now you don't trust me?"

Harper had taken a half an hour to calm himself before meeting with Trance. Her last sentence made those thirty minutes a complete waste of time.

"Hey, it's not my fault we're in this situation," he said. "It's not like I can control what I feel for whoever."

"And it's my fault exactly how?" Trance asked him, tired of these arguments. "If you hadn't been so nosy, you wouldn't have gotten pregnant in the first place."

"Hey, I was falling for you long before you knocked me up!" Harper yelled back. "It sounds to me like someone doesn't want our child."

"How dare you accuse me of that!" Trance shouted, stalking towards him. "I've been trying to be nice about all of this, but it's getting hard, and you are certainly not helping."

"Look, I came here to talk, not to argue. But if we're just going to howl at each other, I'm leaving." Harper turned to go.

"You do that. Just like always." Trance was aiming for a tender spot, and she was hitting her mark. "Just run away when it comes to your emotions and friends."

"Confronting my emotions and friendship is the reason we're here in the first place!" he yelled back. "If anything you're the one who's afraid." Trance turned away and gazed out upon the stars instead. "I knew it! C'mon Trance, what're you afraid of? What is it that's keeping you from giving me a straight answer here?"

"Stop prying!" she cried, turning back towards him. "Just stop it, please Harper! I'm begging you..." Trance trailed off as things suddenly became blurry. Harper went from steaming to distressed in a matter of seconds.

"Trance?"

"Harper, I don't feel so..." Trance's eyes rolled up into her head and she fell back, Harper running over to catch her. Unfortunately, Trance had gained quite a bit over the past four months, and Harper wasn't the strongest being in the universe to begin with. Instead of stopping her descent, he merely cushioned it.

"Rommie!" Harper yelled out, fear lacing his words. "Rommie help!"

The hologram appeared in front of Harper who had wiggled out from under Trance and was now cushioning her head in his lap.

"Harper, calm down," she soothed. "I have three bots coming to help take Trance to medical. And I've alerted the rest of the crew."

"Rommie, what's wrong with her?" he asked, pushing a dreadlock out of the still woman's face. Harper looked at the AI after not receiving an answer. He didn't like the expression on Andromeda's face. "Rommie?!"

"Well as far as my scanners read, she died. I detect no life signs of any kind." Harper visibly paled. "But this is Trance. It probably doesn't mean a thing. The child is fine, I can still read a normal heartbeat." Harper let out a shaky breath.

Beka and Dylan were the first two to arrive, followed by the bots carrying a stretcher. Tyr met them in the Med Deck along with Rommie. Tyr looked curiously over at Trance as he helped Dylan lift her onto a nearby bed. Rommie, the only other qualified medic, began to give the golden alien a through examination.

"She'll be fine," Beka said, placing a comforting hand on Harper's shoulder as the anxious boy looked on.

"The girl should be more than fine," Tyr commented, exchanging a glance with the avatar. "The scents she's giving off, the position and movements of the child, and the time of the year. It makes sense."

"What does?" Harper asked him. Rommie showed Harper the results of the testing.

"She's gone into labour."