TITLE: Vengeance - Final Chapter - Trust

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: The last chapter....*sniff*.....goodbye guys....it's been emotional. Seriously, thanks tons for the reviews they've given me so much confidence and cheered me up when I was blue. So here ya are, the final installment. Hope you've had fun.



CHAPTER ELEVEN - Trust"A wounded spirit is the heaviest load to bear."

- 'A Withering Rose' Alus Ottenai

CY 7565



A few hours after Andromeda's systems were restored, her crew were back onboard. The Ethereal decided to stay around while repairs were underway, in case of any further problems. Harper had purged the Vengeance program from Andromeda, and now he was working on Rommie.

Beka entered. She hadn't said much to Harper after the revelations in the core room, but she planned to remedy that now.

"Who was Lane Farrow?" She asked without any greeting.

Harper stopped what he was doing. He knew Beka would want every detail of what happened. She was like family, so protective of everyone. "She was a dealer on Carna. My dealer." He told her.

Beka had always suspected Harper of using. Practically everyone on Carna was either a dealer or a user. When she met Harper he was showing classic signs of an ex-junkie. He was thin as a stick, wired most of the time and hyper-active. But she had made her peace with that and there was more she needed to know now. So Lane was Harper's dealer. They must have had bad blood between them. "She brought back bad memories, right? Something that you couldn't possibly tell me about, even though we've been friends for god knows how long?" Beka was angry, probably more at herself than at Harper, for failing to protect him. The bond between the two was a strong, if often unexpressed one.

"I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to disappoint you." Harper told her. "I didn't want you to look at me like....like you didn't know me anymore."

"What could you possibly have done that would make me think that?" Beka questioned, not entirely sure there was any answer that would please her.

"I killed someone, Beka." The words almost choked him when he uttered them. Beka was the last person in the world Harper wanted to hurt. But he didn't deserve her friendship anymore.

It took a moment for Beka to hear Harper's words. After the revelation had filtered in, her mind tried to make sense of it. The Harper she knew would never kill a person in cold blood. There must be something more to the story. "Why?" She found herself asking.

"I was robbing him, and things got out of hand." Harper explained.

Beka said nothing for a long while. Did this news change anything? Did it have to? Beka couldn't see the Harper she knew committing murder, but she knew first hand that survival was a powerful motivator, especially on hellish planet like Carna.

Harper watched her try to understand. The fact that she was trying gave him some hope, but whether or not Beka would accept what he had done remained to be seen.

"I can't believe it....this has been eating you up inside all this time?" Beka asked.

Harper nodded.

Beka lost herself in thought, but eventually made her peace with what Harper had told her. Everyone had a past and everyone had parts of it that they regretted. One mistake, even a serious one such as this could not make Beka turn her back on years of solid friendship. "You're not that person anymore." She said.

"So I'm told." Harper replied.

"I still don't understand. Why shoot yourself on Autriva? Carna was years ago."

"I found out that the man I killed had a son. He grew up without a father because of me. I couldn't handle it." Harper explained.

"And Lane Farrow was the one who told you." Beka deducted.

"She showed me. I guess she wanted revenge and knew it would break me." Harper told her. Now Beka knew everything it felt like a huge weight lifted from his chest, and he was free to breath again. No matter what Beka thought of him, Harper did not regret telling her. She deserved no less than the truth.

"You didn't have to keep this from me. I would have stood behind you, no matter what."

"And now?"

"I'm still here aren't I? You don't think you can get rid of me that easy do you?" Beka jested. This mere fact told Harper that Beka forgave him. "You better get Rommie back up and running, I think Dylan wants to install a few new security protocols." She finished.

"I figured he would. How are the others?" Harper asked, expecting them to hate him for all he put them through.

"Alright. I think Trance is hurt you didn't trust her, Dylan hates himself for not noticing anything wrong sooner and Tyr? Well, Tyr is being Tyr." Beka told him.

"I wouldn't expect anythin less."

"Well I'll leave you to it. But first, you have to promise me something." Beka began.

"Anything boss." Harper replied.

"Promise you will never do something so stupid again."

"Or you'll find me in the afterlife and kick my ass?" Harper replied, smiling. "I promise."

"How did you....?" Beka started, but didn't follow through. She left feeling much better than when she had entered. She would watch Harper like a hawk, possibly for the rest of time, and ensure she never let anything like this happen again. (Well, something like the past few days would be pretty hard to duplicate....) As she left, holo-Rommie appeared.

"Hey Rom. Feelin better?" Harper greeted.

"Much, thank-you. How are you doing?"

"Well, I've just got a few more strands of the program to remove, then Rommie will be just fine." He replied.

"Good, but that's not what I meant." Holo-Rommie said seriously.

"I know. I just can't find a single word to describe how I'm feeling right now. I guess sorry will have to do. I'm sorry for putting you through all this. If I hadn't tried to - "

"Don't punish yourself." Rommie interrupted. "What happened was terrible, but it was an accident. Don't forget that."

"I'll try." Harper replied quietly.

"And I'll help you." Rommie told him. "I'm always here for you Harper. And I wanted to tell you, I won't be relaying any of what happened on Carna to anyone. As far as I'm concerned you punished yourself enough for what you did."

"I don't deserve that Rommie." Harper argued.

"Don't sell yourself short. You changed who you are and achieved so much since Carna. Besides, Lane Farrow was an evil woman. You probably did the universe a favour." Rommie finished, and disappeared without waiting for Harper to argue further.

Harper continued to work on Rommie while he thought things through. Andromeda was going to stand by him, even though he caused so much pain. Beka believed in him again. He may have lost her trust, but that could be regained in time. Even though some leave scars, all wounds are healed in time.

Beka and Rommie had told Harper that he wasn't the same person as he was on Carna, and he knew they were right. On Carna there was no-one to care about him. Here he had friends. Here was where he belonged.

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END

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Ta-da! Finished.

What did you think? Any questions? Any plot holes I didn't fill in? Up for a sequel?



If you are, check out 'Break'! You can reach it via my pen name :D