A/N: Thank you thank you thank you, for all the reviews. Reviews make me happy. :) And updates make you guys happy right? Well be happy. This part does return to the gore and freakiness for a bit, so be warned. Enjoy the pain, you sick people ;)

Chapter 24

Hissing, Dylan once more dapped the cut on his lip with the handkerchief trying to avoid taking in all the information his crew had just given him: They all most likely still had an impression of their alien invaders interfering with their reactions and personalities and Harper was quite, quite suicidal. The captain mulled over the new situation in his head as he stared down at the bloodied handkerchief. Damn Tyr could hit hard.

He looked up at command and around at his crew. Beka stood in the darkest corner, head down, staring intently at the ground while she absent mindedly rubbed her upper arm. She hadn't said a word since the impromptu crew meeting was called. Trance was currently standing near Beka's dark corner, nervously eyeing Dylan and Beka. She was awaiting his response and was constantly worried about the new withdrawn Beka. Leaning propped up against the console farthest from Dylan was Tyr. Slight glimpses of anger would periodically flash into his eyes as he watched Dylan. In the middle of command, standing nearest to the captain was Rommie, her super fast visual processes were taking in and analyzing every movement, every snare, every nervous glance that her crumbling crew gave to each other. Her worry circuits were on overdrive. The missing crew member was currently in medical sleeping and securely restrained with the ever watchful A.I. keeping guard.

Dylan looked at his anxious and traumatized crew and wished things could just go back to normal. The first step to get things back on track was for him to be their captain and friend again. He stepped up to his role once more, breaking the silence and commanding attention. "Rommie, any idea if the "impressions", as we're calling them, are permanent? You said there was no sign of brain damage in any of us, right?"

"You know I hate to say this but... I just don't know. Medically everyone is fine, but subconsciously, there is still a piece of them," she paused and gestured towards Dylan's head, "in there. Only time will tell."

Dylan dropped his head and started massaging the bridge of his nose. "Great, just great." He paused as he processed more thoughts and ideas. "I guess all we can do is wait. We need to keep an eye on each other though. Watch out for any resurrection of the alien traits and point it out to the person. Maybe we can all learn to suppress them if it turns out our wonderful second personalities won't go away." He looked around at his still sullen crew. "We need each other more then ever right now, okay? Everyone with me?" He glanced around the room waiting for an answer, any answer. "Well?" Up when his eyebrows.

"Yah," "Mm," "Sure," "Yes," were the various answers of agreement.

"Could you sound a bit more, um, excited, confident, reassuring even?" Dylan begged his unenthused crew.

Trance spoke up once she saw Beka was still examining the ground and a flash of anger crossed Tyr's eyes and pursed lips. "Keep together, watch each other's back, yes Dylan, we got it," she tried to sound more energetic than she really was, but she was worried sick about Beka and Harper....and herself. Even though Harper had only been awake for a few hours, she still couldn't bring herself to even think about visiting him. She kept feeling his arm crumbling under the pressure of her hand and kept hearing him crying out for help. And if it wasn't her guilt over what she did to him that was haunting her, it was the flashes of what he had done to her. She couldn't close her eyes without seeing him standing over her with that bloody scalpel. She wanted desperately to be able to see him, to help him, but she didn't think she was strong enough to face him right away. Glancing over at Beka, she knew she wasn't the only one who felt this way.

Dylan once more played his captain role, breaking Trance's self wallowing. "Well thank you Trance, I appreciate the effort." Trance nodded and once more went back to the role of listing. They still had the other issue to discuss, the issue that was causing them all such grief.

Harper.

Dylan began again, "Well one game plan out of the way, now for the next problem." He paused. "What to do about the Calastors and Pythos. We can't just let them continue taking over ships and hurting innocents. I've been thinking and suggest we set up some warning beacons around the Calastors' nebula and inform all twenty-eight of the signed Commonwealth world about their alliance. The Pytho's fleet is too big for us to handle right now, but we can at least keep an eye on them." He paused as he stared longingly out into the infinite stretch of space that the view screen held. He spoke in little more than a whisper, "I don't want any other crews going through what we went through." Another pause as he broke off his gaze and his authoritative voice returned to him. "Andromeda, set a course for the closest slipstream point. Lets head back towards that nebula."

The all powerful voice from the heavens responded to Dylan's command. "Aye, sir, course set."

With gentleness and concern filling his face, he turned towards the dark corner, towards his silent first officer and pilot. He spoke with kindness, "Beka, do you think you are up to piloting through slipstream once we get there?"

She broke her gaze off the floor but still didn't quite look him in the eyes. "Don't know," she mumbled.

Dylan's heart broke. Damn those Calastors! He went to her side and gently rub her shoulder. "You can do this Beka. I believe in you." He knew piloting would be good for her, she loved it and she needed to do something she loved right now.

She glanced up at him and gave a weak nod.

"Good," he said smiling a reassuring smile. "Andromeda inform us when we reach the slip point."

"Ay sir," came from everywhere.

"Good then, everything's settled. Meeting adjured," he proudly spoke, oblivious to Rommie's death gaze aimed squarely at him. Tyr wasn't looking to happy either.

Rommie cleared her throat as he took his first step towards the door. "Dylan, don't you think you've forgotten something?" She asked hoping he had simply forgotten with all the concern over the imprinting.

He gave her a good long stare. "No Rommie, I haven't forgotten a thing." He turned again to head towards the door.

Now fuming with anger, Rommie spoke again, harsher this time. "Harper, what do you want to do about Harper? You know, your friend who is laying restrained in medical, fiercely wishing a scalpel would magically slit his wrist. We need to help him."

The now cold captain turned and faced his avatar once more. "No, we don't. We don't need to help him. Let him kill himself, he'll save me from doing it."

The responses from the others varied from furious from Rommie and Try, to silently withdrawn and confused from Trance and to completely devastated from Beka. Anytime anyone mentioned Harper, she would pale visibly and look as though someone had just crushed her heart anew.

Rommie's processors went into overdrive to try to figure the sudden change. Did Dylan really feel this way, could it be Fex's personality popping up? Only one way to find out. She stepped closer to the fuming captain. "Um, Dylan, do you think Fex's impression might be interfering with your judgment here? You really don't want Harper to die...right?"

Taking in a deep breath, Dylan responded with passion and authority. "This is me, Dylan Hunt speaking, not Fex. And before you ask, I can tell the difference. I felt sudden rage when I hit Tyr, rage that is not me, rage that I only felt when Fex was in me. But with Harper, that is my rage, my hurt at being betrayed." Rommie tried to speak, but he cut her off. "No Rommie, you need to here this. You all need to hear this. We do need to address the issue of Harper. He betrayed us, he lied to us, and he even tortured us. True, only because of him, we are all standing here today, but think of how he saved us. He turned people into living, melting piles of goo....and he smiled over it! That sick evil smile! He burnt thousands of people to crisps! And Rommie, I saw the ship's recordings, I saw what he did to Galaver, so don't tell me he's not a psychopath. Hell, he happily enjoyed killing three thousand Pythos!! THREE THOUSANDS!!! He never was weak, he never needed our protection. He's lied to us!"

He paused to gage the other's reactions. Beka was close to tears, a good sign. Trance's head had dropped and she looked as though Dylan's ideas were beginning to sink in. But Rommie and Tyr both looked like they were about to boil over. Dylan watched the large Nietzschean constantly tighten and release his fist. Damn, he need them to understand.

He continued with his argument. "Come on guys, he even tortured us! I heard the tapes, I heard all of us crying out in pain, screaming for help. And what he did to Beka was unimaginable, I mean where does a sane person even come up with that stuff!? He could have found another way, he should have found another way! He's a monster and I want nothing to do with him...as should all of you. We are all better without him. If he wants to die, I say we let him," he ended softly.

He hated being the bad guy and didn't want to be the one who had to do this. He didn't like breaking their hearts but someone had to protect them from that imposter. He looked at the glaring faces of Rommie and Tyr. They still didn't understand. Dylan looked down in defeat. He would just have to keep pounding the truth into their stubborn heads until they understood. They needed to let Harper go, it was for the best.

"It think that's enough for today," he said softly as he turned and left command. The even more down trodden Beka and Trance slowly trudged out after him. The two lone souls left in command still flexed their powerful fists trying to hold in their ragging urge to punch some sense into Dylan.

The silence on command was thick enough that you could make pea soup out of it. Finally the fog broke as Tyr headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Rommie asked, her anger fading. She was concerned Tyr might be going after Dylan to do what her programming would not allow her to do.

He pause, turned to face her and spoke gentler than she had ever heard him. "I'm going to help Harper. The other's might be blinded by their emotions, but I can see just fine. That child lying in that med bed is the exact same Harper that has always been here. We just got to see his survival side, for such he should not be condemned to death by captain idiot." Tyr turned to leave before giving Rommie a little piece of advice. "I suggest you try to talk some sense into our misguided crewmates before I run into them again. If not, a certain male someone might just end up with another split lip." With that said, he strolled out of command and headed towards medical.

*********

Trance's warm breath flew over his inflamed data port sending a shiver of pain down his spine. The solid fist of Tyr's punch slammed into his jaw, creating a new river of blood flowing across his tongue. Dylan's sick laugh filled the darkened room and turned Harper's stomach upside down.

Why...why were they hurting him. He didn't understand. Through the swollen lips and broken jaw, he begged for them to stop, but they only responded with more twisted laughter and another swift kick to his already broken ribs. What had he done? He fought so hard not to let the tears escape from his swollen eyes, but one managed to brake through.

Dylan immediately saw the weakness in the tear. He brought his face right up to Harper's. "What's the matter little mudfoot, are we hurting you? Do you want us to stop?" His voice was harsh and patronizing.

Harper fought himself from begging as he bit his lip in a desperate attempt to hide the heart that was shattering in his chest.

"Can't answer huh? Poor, pathetic runt. Well, we can't stop, we're not done having our fun yet...you're still alive." The sickest and most twisted grin Harper had ever seen slowly grew on Dylan's face. That smile would have send shiver's down Satan's spine.

Dylan pulled back and soon Harper was engulfed in a storm of kicks, punches, spits, and impacts from unknown blunt objects, all the while he could clearly make out each of his friends laughter and voices. Finally sweet nothingness overtook him and the voices faded........

....Blackness engulfed him, but slowly grays were infiltrating the void. He could feel his heavy eyelids fluttering, trying to blink away the darkness. More and more light flooded in until he could make out the all too familiar haunting ceiling.

It was that blasted ceiling from the Pytho's Recreation Center. That ceiling that had that stupid broken flickering light, those annoying fifty-two cracks, and that freak'n leak that would always drip right next to his head, creating a deafening sound pinging against the concrete slap he was strapped to. Oh, how he hated that drip.

Harper once again stared up, despair filling his heart by the second. He was back in his anguishing sixteen year old body. Pain was now so common that it seemed normal, but he could feel several very familiar, unique sensations...sensations that only those torturous spikes could cause. He struggled to looked down at his ravaged body only to catch glimmers of the rusted over metal objects protruding from various parts of his body. He groaned and slammed his head back to the cement bed. A cold evil laugh came out of the surrounding darkness. A cold evil familiar laugh.

Squinting his eyes, he stared into the darkness only to catch a glimpse of a glimmering sliver of a sick smile and the glint of another spike ready to be driven into his body. Harper's only reactions was a blood curdling scream. He didn't want to be here again, he couldn't be here again. He screamed and screamed until his throat was bleeding and his voice was gone. Then he could only continue to release his pain and fear through his bulging eyes.

A familiar voice boomed out of the darkness. "Scared Seamus? Why? You know you're only getting what you deserve, you sick monster." The voice was moving closer until the owner of it broke out of the darkness and into the light.

The cold ice blue eyes stared down at Harper, the lopsided grin grew larger, and the spiky blonde hair resembled the insanity of it's owner.

A gasp rushed out of the restrained Harper as he stared up at himself.

The grin grew larger. "What? You know you deserve this you freak. After what you did to all the people that trusted you; your parents, your cousins including Brendan, Hohne, and of course your new family. Who could forget how you repaid their kindness. You psychopath." He rose up his hand with the sharp rod in it and began to place in on his clone's knee. "Freak."

"NOOOOO!!!." Harper yelled when suddenly instead of feeling the pain of the invading object, he felt the weight of the hammer in one hand the cool metal of the spike in the other. He looked back down at the table, at the poor soul who was the new recipient of the spike, only to see not himself lying there, but Beka. A bruised, cut, impaled, bleeding, begging Beka.

Harper jumped back as the hammer fell from his trembling hand. "No...wh-what'd I do?" he sobbed.

"You betrayed me Harper!! You hurt me!! You left me on that table to die! You weak mudfoot! I saved you and this is how you repay me!" Beka yelled as she nodded towards her ravaged body. Blood was slowing running out of her mouth. "You killed me Seamus."

"No...you're ok...Rommie said so," he sputtered out in-between sobs.

Beka turned her head away.

"Beka?"

"You killed me Seamus, you killed me by your betrayal," Beka spoke eerily evenly as she turned her face back towards the trembling, sobbing Harper. But her face was no longer flesh and blood, but flesh hanging off bones with blood and various other fluids oozing off the strips of tissue. "You killed me on the inside Seamus." Blood poured out of her mouth as she spoke.

"NOOOO!!!" Harper yelled with every ounce of his soul. He wanted to run, to flee, but his legs wouldn't obey him. They just quivered beneath him as the hideous face grew and rose up, engulfing him. All he could see and feel was Beka's pain, her hurt, his betrayal.

"You hurt us all Seamus. We trusted you, we loved you, and you hurt us. You're despicable. You should be dead." Beka's voice filled his entire existence.

"NOOOO!!!" he yelled as his real body flew up against the restraints in medical. His eyes jumped open as his heart pounded trying to escape his chest. "No, no, no, no.." he kept muttering in between gasps of air.

He threw his head back down to the pillow below him as he began to fight the restraints that held his ankles and wrists. Grunts escaped his pursed lips and his wrists began to bleed from the chafing of the manacles.

He couldn't go on like this, not with these new demons. He already had a head full of demons and there were no more vacancies. He struggled to maneuver his wrists in such a way that the restraints would cut the underside of his limb, hoping against all hope that they would dig in deep enough to sever his veins. But he was never that lucky.

"No...let me go.." he cried and begged to no one as he pounded his head against the soft pillow. Where was the concrete bed when he needed it? "Can't take it...let me go..." More sobs wracked his miserable body as fatigue began to overtake him.

Unbeknownst to him, a silent figure in the shadows had been watching the whole time. Tyr looked down in pain for the child. This was not going to be easy.

Slowly, as to not scare the boy, Tyr stepped out of the shadows. "Harper," he said quietly.

Harper twisted his head to see the large Nietzschean. His eyes widened and then dropped as he turned his tear covered face away. "Unless you're here to kill me or release me so I can do it myself, go away," he mumbled.

"Since when do I take orders from you child?" Tyr asked as he neared the bed. He pulled up a chair along with some bandages. Sitting down next to Harper, he began to treat the bleeding wrists. In silence, he cleansed the cuts, hoping the normally talkative little man would say something.

But medical remained shrouded in silence.

Taking deep breath, Tyr broke the vacuum of sound. "Harper, you know we are not going to kill you or let you commit suicide," he paused waiting for any sign of response from the turned away head, but there were none. "I've watched you over the years boy. I can tell you've been through more than you let on or have told us, and I know, like me, you are a survivor. You will overcome these demons like you've done before. I will see to it." Tyr paused this time, unwilling to say another word until he got a response.

Minutes passed in a fog of silence.

"I...I...can't," Harper whispered.

"Why?" Tyr's voice was more gentle than anyone could imagine.

More minutes of fog filled silence.

Harper still hid his face from Tyr, but the Nietzschean sensitive hearing could pick up every pain filled syllable. "I just can't. I can't live with hurting one more person that I...I care for....too many...hurt everyone..." Tyr could even hear the tears falling onto the sheets on the bed.

Gently placing his large hand over the trembling smaller hand, Tyr spoke reassuringly, "Boy, you only hurt us to save us. That is noble, not shameful. You should not feel bad for what you did."

"Could'a found another way...should'a found another way...didn't have ta hurt...can't hurt anymore...too many, too many."

"Are the Pytho's included in that 'too many'?" Tyr asked hoping to get some idea where the boy's guilt ended.

Harper's head spun around to face Tyr's. Anger burned in his eyes. "No!! Screw the Pytho's! They got everything they deserved!"

Tyr forced himself not to jump back at the boy's roller coaster change of emotions. From a sobbing despair to a yelling rage in seconds flat. What really had happened in Harper's past? The little professor was quickly working his way up near Trance on Tyr's mysterious people list.

"Why do you hate them so?" Tyr was just happy Harper was talking and wanted to keep him speaking.

"Because of what they did to m...."

"What did they do to you?"

Once more the head turned away and silence returned. Tyr had hit a brick wall and quickly went into reverse.

"Ok, so no Pythos" Tyr pauses, pondering where to go next. He thought about the little the boy had said and found his road sign. He took the exit. "Harper, you said you hurt others that you cared for. Who?"

More silence, Harper had stopped playing Tyr's game.

Getting up and pushing his chair back, Tyr spoke up, "Fine, if you want to stay here, strapped down until you die of old age, that's fine with me." He pushed the chair farther away. "But...if you'd just talk to me, I'd be willing to un-strap you."

And yet more silence.

"Fine." Tyr began to walk out of medical. As he was nearing the door, he could just barely make out Harper's whispered answer.

"Everyone...I hurt everyone. My mom, my dad, my cousins...Brendan, Hohne, and now...you guys..." Pain and angst seeped into each name on the list.

Tyr stood near the door, his back still facing Harper. He had to admit he was slightly shocked at the length of the list.

"I'm a monster Tyr. Everyone that trusts me gets hurt. Please just kill me and save anyone one else from the pain of knowing me."

Turning around, Try returned to Harper's side. He reached down and began to undo the boy's straps. Harper turned his head and looked up in surprise.

"I promised, didn't I?" Tyr hoped he was doing the right thing.

When the final restraint was undone, Tyr helped Harper into a sitting position and returned to his chair in front of the boy. He commanded the engineer's total attention. "Harper, you are not a monster, you are a survivor. And survivors always see those around them suffer, it's the nature of the beast. Sometimes it is our fault, sometimes it is not. Either way we must live, we must go on. You owe it to all those on your list to try to live and you owe it to us to stay around and help us live. Do you understand?" Tyr's normally stoic eyes were now soft and understanding. He understood Harper's pain more than anyone would ever know...but Harper could see it, he could see the bond of the painful past that they shared. It was in Tyr's understanding eyes, in his words. They were brothers.

Tyr watched as a battle raged in those sad blue eyes. To live, to die, to face the nightmares or to run into the darkness.

"I understand Tyr, but...but I don't know if it's enough," Harper whispered.

"If it's not, then you have us. We will not let you go, no matter how much you whine and beg of us," Tyr whispered back.

A small tear rolled down Harper's cheek. He brought up his arm and roughly wiped it away.

"So, child, do you promise me you will not try to kill or hurt yourself?"

A pause.

"I guess," Harper whisper with little confident.

Tyr responded to the unsure tone with a long hard evil stare.

Gulping, Harper tried his hand at the answer one more time, "I will try not to kill or hurt myself Master Tyr Anasazi," he said louder and more confident.

A small grin broke through the angry snarl. "That's my boy!" He cupped the back of Harper's neck and playful pushed it to the side. Harper lightheartedly swatted the hand away. "Now, lets see if we can get you cleared out of medical. I believe there are some warning beacons of you to create." Harper forced a lopsided smile on his face. Tyr returned the smile and began to contact Trance over the comms.

While Tyr was talking, Harper stayed seated on the bed as his eyes absentmindedly roamed the room. Suddenly his eyes stopped and glazed over with yearning and hope. He gazed longing at the object of his desire.

There it laid, right where Rommie had thrown it earlier. It shone under the lights of medical, it's sharp edge begging for Harper's skin. The scalpel called his name.

"No," he muttered under his breath as his eyes shunned away from the forbidden fruit. Once more, his empty blue eyes aimlessly and hopelessly roamed the room.

TBC.....