It bothered her to see Trance worried. Though she hadn't been with them very long, considered Trance her lucky charm. She'd saved Harper's life, and her advice always turned out well, even for something as insignificant as a restaurant choice. Of course, she had suggested they flee the T'dalimar-haunted system, and their stay at Albuquerque had ended in Beka's mysterious--though hardly serious--illness. Still, Beka supposed a fever was preferable to confrontation with anyone Trance called "very bad". Besides all that, Trance was hands-down the most optimistic and all-around cheerful person Beka had ever known, and to see her otherwise was disconcerting. Like a grain of sand in your shoe or a relentless itch on that spot in your back you can never reach.

That was the reason Beka lay in Maru's cramped Medical Bay, feeling ridiculous and absolutely useless. Tyr would coax her all he wanted (Beka decided she might revisit that thought later), but she'd only given into his suggestion that she rest awhile before returning to her captaining and piloting duties when Trance had overheard their conversation and added her own pleas.

So here she was, bored out of her mind and embarrassed to be holed up in Med Deck (a laughable misnomer--Med Deck was most certainly not a deck, but rather a too-small room with little more than two beds and a medicine cabinet) for a fever she caught on a gambling drift. She was considering slipping out of the ill-named room to her quarters--or maybe to the cockpit and scare the living daylights out of Tyr if she could manage to sneak up on him. She doubted it was within her ability to do so, but it could be fun to try and oh-so-worth it if she happened to succeed--when Trance bounced in merrily.

Beka was relived to see Trance back to her usual sunny self, if a little deflated that she wouldn't get a chance to scare Tyr after all. "So, doc, how long do I have?" she asked, swinging her legs off the edge of her too-hard bed and sitting up.

"A long time, I hope." Trance filled a glass of water and brought it to Beka. "Don't worry, it's just hydrogen, oxygen, and whatever's in the pipes that makes it taste funny."

Beka laughed at Trance's slight grimace. "Ahh, yes, Dad used to call it 'Eau de Maru'. He said it would probably be considered a delicacy somewhere, and we'd be filthy rich if we could only find that place."

At this mention of Beka's father, Trance gave her a long, piercing gaze as she handed the water to her captain. It was not a comfortable sensation for Beka, looking up into Trance's bottomless eyes (sitting, she was shorter than her crewmate, unusual enough in itself). "That's why you don't like taking medication, isn't it, Beka?"

Beka didn't need Trance's 'that' clarified. "Yeah." She paused for a moment, and Trance seemed content to wait for her to continue. "Whatever made him so vulnerable to Flash was in his blood… and it's in mine, too. I love him, Trance, but there's no way in hell I'm going to end up like he did." Even as she spoke, Beka was surprised to her herself confiding her deepest fear to the elfin girl.

Softly, she said, "I think Tyr would understand better if you told him that."

Beka blinked. "Tyr? Oh. Uh, yeah, maybe." She averted her eyes and shifted restlessly on the mattress.

"He apologized to me, Beka." In one smooth movement, Trance jumped on the bed and landed at Beka's side. She rested a hand on the other woman's shoulder and smiled at the shocked expression she saw on Beka's face. Apparently to herself, the girl began speaking quietly. "I just wish I could see… it isn't supposed to… but if he's here…" She shook herself and smiled again when she recalled Beka's presence. "Well, he's a Nietzschean, and sometimes they aren't very nice, but I think we should give him a chance before deciding that. Don't you, Beka?"

For once, Beka had cause to be thankful for her fever; a bit more heat in her cheeks could hardly be remarked upon. All this blushing was most atypical for Beka, and it had become quite vexing. "Try telling that to Harper. Unless Tyr single-handedly liberates Earth, annihilates the Drago-Kazov Pride, and banishes the word 'kludge' from Common lexicon," Beka pronounced the last word with mock-hauteur, "Harper's not gonna like him."

A tiny grin on Trance's face told Beka the girl wasn't convinced of their engineer's animosity. "Maybe. But will you at least give him a chance, Beka?" Again, that too-direct gaze made Beka fidget on the bed.

Trance couldn't know about Tyr's romantic advances. She simply meant, of course, that Beka shouldn't judge him before she really knew the man. For the second time in five minutes, Beka dropped her eyes from Trance's. "I'll be good if he is."

At this, Trance looked extremely satisfied, and Beka wondered just what she had meant by asking Beka to give him a chance. Before she could form the words to ask, though, her violet medic announced that she had to go check on Harper. Beka wanted to plead one more time for her escape, but she felt drowsiness hit her like a speeding bullet ((A/N - sure they still have bullets in the future--energy weapons can be dampened by… erm… energy fields, but only a lack of ammo can stop a Desert Eagle!)). Her last thought was a fleeting suspicion that Trance had drugged her, but she wouldn't have, after…