"Seamus Zelazny Harper, what the hell were you thinking?!" Beka yelled as soon as Harper's foot hit the Andromeda's deck. Her and Dylan stood side by side with their arms crossed over their chests, in a classic 'you're in deep trouble' pose.

He looked up at both of them innocently before replying, "Oops?"

"Oops is right! We didn't know where you went, when you were coming back, if something had happened to you, if-"

"Sheesh Beka," Harper interrupted with a smirk on his face. "You sound like my mom."

Beka fell silent and looked as is she was going explode with anger, so Dylan took the time to add his reprimands.

"This is strike three Harper. So first," He began and brought his hand up to keep the engineer quiet, "you're going to go get cleaned up and repack your bags. Then-"

An intense look of fear filled Harper's eyes and he jumped forward and grabbed Dylan by the arm, "Please, I'm sorry. I'll never do it again, I promise. Next time, uh, I'll ask you before I leave, or do anything, or go anywhere. Please, just don't kick me out."

"Harper," Dylan said sternly while he pried himself from the young man's grasp, "I'm not going to kick you out. You should know that by now. All I was going to say was that you're going to go on a little trip with us. We're taking the Maru to a nearby planet to restock some supplies for the Andromeda."

Harper, with a blush rising to his cheeks, recollected himself and nodded.

"However, since this is the third time this has happened, you are going to be punished when we get back…" Dylan trailed off and thought for a few seconds before continuing slowly, "just not…by me."

"Huh?" Beka and Harper both questioned.

"I think, that since it was Beka's ship you took, she should be the one to figure out your punishment."

Now Dylan was the one receiving a glare. He knew he should've done something, but Harper was still young and he couldn't help but see a few of his own rebellious traits in the engineer. Besides, Harper had more than earned a shore leave, and the only serious thing he had done wrong was borrow Beka's ship without permission.

She was now the one trying to figure out what to do. No matter how much Harper annoyed her, he was like family, and she didn't want to be too harsh, but she didn't want to be too lax either. Because she cared for him, Harper needed to learn his lesson.

"Alright then," Beka began, "when we get back to the Andromeda you're confined to your regular quarters for a week, and you'll spend that much time, if not more, cleaning every single little nook and cranny on the Maru. And when I say clean Harper, I don't mean your definition of clean, I mean the, you can eat off the floor kind of clean. Understood?"

"But-"

"Now hurry up and go get ready!"

Harper's brow creased as he tried to gage whether or not his boss was being serious. After a couple of awkward seconds he decided she was, and stormed off to go get his stuff. Once he was gone, Beka turned to Dylan about to chastise him for not backing her up, but found that he was already making his way to the Maru.

"Chicken," she whispered to herself before following him.

**********

TBC