Past Reflections 14/?

Disclaimer: Andromeda, Harper, Tyr etc. don't belong to me, unfortunately. No infringement intended.

Authors Notes: Rated R due to possible slash content and violence. I have been having some formatting problems, so if this comes out crazy bear with me.

The Journey Continues

As the Andromeda continued on their way, Rommie randomly strip streaming away from Braxus, the others were in the Medbay. Harper and Tyr were checking over the others for injuries. Having been cleared for duty Trance, soon took over Dylan and Beka's treatment.

Although Beka looked relatively unharmed, she had a few minor injuries that were treated by nano-bot injections. After that, a few days rest and she would be as good as new. Dylan's injuries were a little more extensive, however, so they would take a little more time to heal. His facial bruising was healed immediately upon his return to the Andromeda, but his arm was broken in several spots and even nano-bots weren't enough to heal him completely.

He would need to wear a brace on his upper arm and elbow for a few weeks, but would soon have full mobility with a comprehensive rehabilitation regiment. Over all the adventure, while harrowing, turned out a lot better than it could have for the three captured crewmembers.

After making sure the others would be okay, Harper returned to his quarters to find a scrambled and untraceable message waiting for him on his console. Turning it on he had a fair idea of who it was from. On the screen was Malick looking both saddened and amused at the same time.

"Well Shay, I guess this is goodbye again. Don't get me wrong I almost wish your family were still trapped on Braxus so I could see you for longer. But man, what you and that big Uber did to that place was awesome. I checked it out after you left and the place was in chaos. You may have noticed that there weren't any Niets patrolling the street during your escape. Let's call that returning a long overdue favor. I got the extra throngs you left in that pipe vent, but I wouldn't want to be you when your pet Nietzschean finds out that you ripped him off. Ah well, it was good to see a fellow Earther off of that rock alive. Take care of yourself Seamus, and give those Magog bastards hell Boston-style. See you on the other side, bro."

Harper continued to stare at the blank screen long after Malick had disappeared, his eyes full of moisture, as he reminisced about the odd friendship that had spanned a decade on a slave world thousands of miles away. He stood up shakily and stripped out of his dirt encrusted slave-garb, and threw it down the incinerator chute before stepping into a hot shower. Harper began soaping up his aching shoulders and back, and before he knew what he was doing, he found himself scrubbing off the two top layers of skin in a futile effort to get clean. Unbeknownst to the engineer, tears were running freely down his cheeks, as he frantically tried to scrape the dirt away. So wrapped up in nightmares and terror only he could see, it took him by surprise when Andromeda snapped into being on the other side of his shower stall.

"Harper, are you okay?" The hologram asked worriedly. "I have monitored your heartbeat and blood pressure, and both were rising rapidly."

"I'm fine, Rommie. Just letting off some steam. Nothing to worry about." Harper answered quietly, hoping the hologram would take the hint and leave him alone.

For once, she did, although she was more worried than ever. Perhaps most of all, because Harper did not even try to proposition her while she was in his fresher. Under any and all other circumstances the lecherous engineer would not have let such a prime opportunity pass without comment. Not knowing the cause of Harper's distress, Andromeda simply decided to keep a closer eye on her engineer, as she dematerialized from the room.

Harper breathed easier once she left him to his own thoughts, although for the first time since he entered the shower he noticed that he scrubbed his skin to the point it was nearly bleeding and his breath was coming in rapid gasps. Forcing himself to breath normally, Harper exited the shower wrapped in a long robe, that he rarely had cause to use. In this instance it helped him feel a bit more secure with his surroundings.

After a quick toweling off, he threw on a thick pair of pajamas buttoned up to his neck and got into bed, exhausted both mentally and physically. Harper took out his dagger, that had become a part of himself once again in such a short period of time, and pushed it out of sight under his pillow. Harper had intended to put the outfit he brought out of storage for this mission away as soon as he returned to the Andromeda, but he was simply too tired to think about getting up to replace it in his closet, and perhaps a small part of him missed that part of himself that he kept hidden.

Either way, Harper would have to do more than simply putting away his Earther clothes, if he wanted to put the past behind him successfully once again. Harper had only been asleep for a few hours when he woke up screaming, drenched in sweat, haunted by Justaice's torture even in his sleep. The rest of the night passed in much the same manner, until it was late enough for Harper to get up for the day and begin his work.