A/N: Thanks for all the feedback....Homer Simpson voice mmmm feedback /Homer Simpson voice And a special thanks to Luna Malfoy for increasing my review count by a lot.

Well as begged for here's the next part. I hope you all enjoy it!

Chapter 26

Try took a brief break on his intense concentration on weaving the tiny slipfighter through the chaos of the Slipstream to look back at his unconscious passenger. Behind him sat slumped over was a quite, unaware drugged Harper. Andromeda had contacted Tyr in his quarters and revealed her plan to him. The large man had to admit the plan had it's flaws but agreed try anything to help the tortured little professor. The Nietzschean had then gone to meet up with Rommie and the newly drugged Harper in the hanger bay. There, the two carefully patched up the boy's wounds, the physical ones at least, the deeper more painful psychological wounds could not be fixed so easily. Tyr carefully placed the sleeping engineer in the back of the slipfighter and jumped in himself. Rommie wished him luck as the hatch closed air tight. Skillfully, he piloted the small vessel away from the warship and took himself and his hijacked passenger into the maze that was the Slipstream. He was headed for the secret destination Andromeda had informed him of.

Returning his concentration onto maneuvering through the electric strings, Tyr truly hoped he had not overestimated the child's inner strength and that the boy could indeed pull himself out from under the pile of his demons.

******

The down trodden Rommie slowly dragged herself down the empty corridor. 'Why did I let them go?' She kept torturing herself with that same question with every footstep. Suddenly, her hologramatic self sprang into view, blocking her path.

"We had to, you know that. Tyr will be back soon and Harper....well...he will come back." The illuminated Andromeda said with much more doubt than Rommie wanted to hear. "Trust me, it's for the best."

"I want to...but...but" Rommie sputtered out as her built in emotions overwhelmed her logic chip.

"Rommie, come on, compartmentalize. You need to focus on your task at hand. Remember where you are going. Dylan's. You need to make him understand. You need to break through that thick stubborn head of his and get him to see the truth." Rommie's head still hung low as she imagined the stressful, emotional confrontation that her future held. "We will get our crew back, we will," the hologram said this time with much more confidence right before she fizzed from view in order to let Rommie get on with her important job.

Rommie stood in the over willingly silent hallway as she commanded her emotions to obey her orders. Slowly, her head rose as determination lit up her brown eyes. "We will get them back," she said strongly as she marched off towards the grounded captain's quarters.

********

The wind gently blew through his thick hair as he waited on the side of one of the many rolling hills that ran beneath the stunning overpowering mountains. The sky was a majestic purplish-dark blue with bursts of deep red as the second sun slowly began to hide behind the mountainous horizon. In the distance, in one of the valleys below, he could just began to see the closest settlement start to twinkle like stars as lights began to flicker on to prepare for the long night ahead.

There he sat in the tall willowing yellow grass with his face turned up towards the ever increasingly darkening sky as he watched the first star twinkle into view.

'They will be here soon,' filled his thoughts as he sat and watched as more and more stars began being born into the night.

*******

Dylan stood under the bright lights of his wash room as he fingered his newly forming bruise on his right cheek. Tilting his head so he could get a better view, he examined his injures in his shimmering mirror. He brought up a damp cloth and began to clean the gapping cut that sliced through his left eyebrow. "Damn that Tyr," he hissed as the antiseptic on the cloth sent as harsh stinging sensation all around the cut.

After letting out a few more inappropriate words, he resumed cleaning his fighting wounds. His painful disinfecting was rudely interrupted by his door hissing open and by the sounds of angry foot falls rushing towards him.

Spinning around, he readied himself for another all out battle with Tyr but was surprisingly greeted by the fine, delicate, curvy form of Rommie instead.

"Dylan," she said with the authority only a warship could use. "We need to talk right now."

The captain finished wiping off his face and made his way out of the small washroom to greet his furious looking avatar who was standing in the center of his main room. "Ok... about what?" he said with sigh as he plopped down on his bed next to her. He really didn't want to talk or listen to anyone right now, except maybe for letting his fist give Tyr a lecture.

Rommie turned to face her seated captain. She looked him straight in the eyes. "About Harper."

That "H" word sent a wave of fury up Dylan's spine as his hands turned into fists, grasping the delicate cloth on the bed. The previous landscape of soft, gentle rolling hills turned violently into steep mountains and deep valleys. His eyes became mere slits as his eyebrows dug deeply into the upper bridge of his nose. "What about him?" He asked through gritted teeth.

"I've sent him off the ship. Tyr is taking him....um...somewhere." The last word came out as a mysterious whisper.

But Dylan didn't care about the mystery. Harper was finally off of his ship!! He jumped off the bed and ran over to hug Rommie. "I knew it! I knew you'd see it my way!!" His face resembled that of a first time father who was just informed that his baby was perfect and healthy.

Rommie quickly broke out of his embrace and stepped back, an angry glare filled her face. "No Dylan. You are still wrong and they are both coming back. The situation onboard needed to be defused and Harper is the key. Tyr will be back in a few days, and Harper will come back...um...later." A sorrow filled expression crossed her face for a nanosecond before she was able to regain control.

Dylan took a step back as his dream faded from view only to be replaced by a nightmarish reality. "WHAT!? No!! Rommie, they need to stay off, they are the problem. You are not to let them back on and that is an order!! I am still the commanding officer here!"

Rommie stood her ground. "Respectfully, no Captain. You are lacking important information and your judgment is clouded. Until you understand the truth of the situation, I am force to rel...."

"DON'T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE!!" Dylan yelled as he approached the threat to his command. "No, I am in command and you will not relieve me of duty!" His face was now blood red.

"I'm sorry Captain, but you are acting irrationally. I don't know how much you are being effected by Fex, but you are just not yourself. If you will just hear out what I have to say, then we many not have a problem at all." Her voice was held calm, steady and very determined.

Dylan crossed his arms to mirror Rommie's position, but his added pout was his own creation. "Fine, what do you have to say," he said more in the voice of a spoiled five year old than a respected High Guard officer.

Rommie took a step closer to the pouting captain, bridging the gap to mere inches. Her eyes were glued onto his as she began to speak. "Harper is not the monstrous traitor you believe him to be. He saved everyone. He even risked his life to save all of you. If I hadn't gotten to him in time, he would have died saving the crew. Do you understand?"

Dylan's eyes bulged with unreleased anger. "No," he spoke evenly and in a forced calmness. "No Rommie, I really don't. Yes, he saved us, but how many times do I have to point out its the WAY he saved us?! He murdered thousands ruthlessly and he tortured all off us with great skill! A sane person should not be able to commit such actions! A sane person should not even have the skills to commit such actions!" As he yelled he closed the gap even farther between himself and Rommie.

"A sane person from before The Fall, Dylan!! In the world Harper grew up in what he did was normal. It was the only way to survive, to save his family. You....we...have to remember we are in a different universe now. Its not the happy, safe Common Wealth universe anymore." Rommie was still speaking in a calm sensible voice.

"Screw that! It's just an excuse! Blowing up people, melting them is not survival, it's sick, evil and just wrong!" Dylan yelled. Rommie's constant defense of Harper was really starting to get to him. Damn it, he was her commander, her captain. Her loyalty was suppose to lie with him, not some psychotic runt.

Rommie let out an exasperated sigh. "Dylan, why the disgust? Why the hatred?" She paused to look into his angry eyes. "Harper only resorted to what he knew. He loves you all dearly and falling back on his survival instincts from his earth years was the only way he could think of to save you." She paused again to check Dylan's response. Still he greeted her with a scowling face. Anger started to takeover her circuits. "Damn it Dylan! He did it all for you and how do you repay him!? With hatred, with disgust!! I thought you were better than this! I thought you were a better man than this! Let it go! Forgive him for saving you pathetic ASS!!" By the end, she was yelling in frustration with her face mere centimeters from Dylan's.

As soon as her yelling ceased, Dylan's started up. "NO!!" He violently grabbed Rommie's shirt and shoved her up against the nearby wall. Fex was beginning to rear his ugly head. "You obey ME!! You don't protect that murderer! That torturer! Did you even see what he did to us!? DID YOU!?!? Where the hell did he learn to torture like that? To kill like that!? That is NOT survival instincts, that is experience. He's done it all before and he's lied to us, he hid his past from us! HE IS NOT WHO WE THINK HE IS!!"

He push Rommie's body harder up against the wall as he grabbed her soft neck with one hand. The urge to snap off her artificial head grew stronger by the second. It took all his strength to control that urge. "I've seen the scars on everyone. I remember the torture like it was yesterday. That boy knew exactly what he was doing. He had done it before! HE IS A TORTURER AND A SICK SICK PSYCHOPATH!! Who knows what other hideous and depraved things he has done or what other secrets he is currently hiding from us!? Don't you understand?! I'm trying to save us from him! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!?" He yelled right in Rommie's infuriated face.

Within the blink of an eye, Rommie broke out of Dylan's choke hold and threw him across the room. He hit the wall with a thud and crashed down to the floor. Rommie was on top of him in seconds, pinning his back to the ground and his arms to his side. She stared down furiously at his struggling face while anger and righteousness burned bright in both of their eyes.

Rommie then began her yelling. "You wanna know where he really learned it?! Do you really want to know!?"

"Like you know," Dylan replied with a huff and rolled eyes.

"I do."

Those two words stopped his struggling instantly. He stared up at his trusty ship made flesh with hurt and betrayal. What else was she hiding from him.

Rommie took a deep breath, calming herself for the heart breaking truth. She had not wanted it to come to this. Quietly and calmly she began. "He learned all those horrible techniques through personal experience, only he wasn't the torturer, he was the victim. They were preformed on him."

"What!?" Dylan yelped as his logical world began to crumble.

"I've seen the scars Dylan. It all makes too much sense. He has the exact same cuts, same burns and even..." she paused has her head fell, "even the same impalement scars as Beka, only his are... much, much worse. Dylan, it killed him to have to hurt you, to hurt Beka and Trance and even Tyr. It killed him." Rommie paused to remember holding him outside of medical. She fought against the river of tears that built up behind her eyes. "Dylan, he was so careful with everyone. He made sure not to permanently hurt you. Didn't you notice that even after the painful torture he put you through, nobody has any permanent damage. Not even any nerve damage...unlike him," she sadly whispered the last words out under her breath as she remembered that Harper would never feel a comforting hand on his scared back.

Dylan was shell shocked. This whole time he had figured Harper for some great assassin and torturer, a mercenary like Tyr even. A charlatan who had taken refuge on his ship and was hiding his true identity until the time was right. But this...this changed everything. That was unless the genius had reprogrammed Rommie to fool him. He need proof. "Show me," he ordered knowing that she had to have records to back up her argument.

"Fine." Rommie stood up, releasing Dylan to stand up with a groan as he tweaked his twisted back. Together they walked over to the monitor that was imbedded in one of Dylan's elegant walls. Rommie closed her eyes as she commanded the monitor to activate and to bring up Harper's newly updated medical history records. While Harper had been recovering, she had used the time to catalogue all of his wounds, scars and damage in hope that maybe one day they could be reversed.

As the first image appeared, Dylan's heart stopped in mid beat while his jaw fell to the floor. A large lump was forming in his throat as well.

On the monitor was an image of Harper's uncovered back. While the skeletal, famished appearance was quite grotesque it was the white, glaring scars crisscrossed more scars and even more scars that held Dylan's attention. There was not an inch that was normal skin.

Rommie's quiet soft voice broke in, "Apparently the scarring is so bad that all the nerves on his back are dead. He can't feel a thing."

Dylan's lump grew larger and moved up his throat.

Rommie brought up the second image and Dylan's eyes widened farther. 'How could I have been THIS wrong,' he thought as tears glazed over his gapping eyes.

The new powerful image was that of the young man's chest. Again, hills and valleys of scars littered his skin, but a few particular scars made Dylan's heart break. There on Harper's small frame, were Beka's impalement scars, only Harper's were deeper, larger and uglier. They even had a nice circular pattern of burns around each one. Dylan's stomach turned as he could only image what could cause that type of scaring and how Harper had spared Beka that pain.

"Oh my god..."Dylan gasped out as his pervious well thought out theory shattered around him.

Rommie looked over at her crumbling captain. A single tear was running down his tortured, wary face. Quickly she turned off the monitor, he had seen enough. She silently hoped Harper would be able to forgive her for exposing his very private past...that was if she ever saw him again. Silently, she stood next to her quivering commander who's unblinking eyes were still glued on the empty, black monitor.

"What have I done?" He finally whispered as he collapsed to the ground into a ball of brawling emotions.

Rommie sat down next to him and put her arms around his trembling body. "It's ok, Harpers is going to get help and while he's gone the rest of the crew will get better. Then there will be the grand reunion with cake and balloons and confetti. Maybe we can even get a mime." Both depressed and overwhelmed beings had to crack a pathetic laugh at the image.

Silence returned quickly as the harshness of the situation fell back over the room.

"But I said such horrible things to him, I...I.." His tear streaked face looked up at Rommie with horror. "Rommie, I beat him to a pulp! It was all me, not Fex, that was ME!" More tears of regret streamed down his face. Guilt had suddenly replaced all of his anger as he realized how he had brutally beat that poor man not once, but twice. After all Harper had been through, he, Dylan Hunt, had added a few more beatings onto his long list. The image of the engineer's body filled his thoughts...those scars. The High Guard captain couldn't even image how the young man could have accumulated so many at such a young age. Dylan's face fell into his cupped hands as he sobbed realizing he had just added to those scars. It all made sense now, he understood everything and he understood how much he must have hurt the boy mentally. Guilt and regret overcame the strong captain as his body was wracked with heavy sobs.

Rommie pulled Dylan into her just as she had done with Harper. "Its okay Dylan. He'll forgive you and you need to forgive yourself. You thought you were protecting us," she whispered hoping her gentle voice could push away his increasing flood of overwhelming emotions. Hope lit up in her circuits as she realized she was about to have her Dylan back. Now they needed the girls. "Dylan, listen to me, it's not over yet. Trance and Beka still need help. We need everyone to be able to face Harper when he comes back. Okay?"

Dylan slowly regained his composure. Soon his head was back up and he was wiping away the river of tears. "We can get through this," he said with confidence as he finally realized there really were no monsters on his ship and it was all in his imagination.

******

Tyr expertly landed the Slipfighter on the grassy waves of land of the now darkened planet. From the cockpit, he could just make out the lone figure on a nearby hill who had been awaiting their arrival.

"It is going to be okay child," he whispered to the still sleeping tortured soul behind him. Gently he lifted Harper's very lightweight body from the small ship. The boy still reeked of alcohol that stung the Nietzschean's sensitive nostrils. At a brisk pace he began his way towards the approaching figure with the boy cradled in his arms.

"Welcome, it is good to see you," the being said.

"As you."

The humanoid looked at the withering away Harper. "He looks bad, I hope I can be of some help. Come, follow me, the cabin is just over that hill," the figure said as he pointed over a moonlit grassy incline.

Silently the group of three walked toward the small isolated cabin as their way was lit up by the three radiant moons that magically hung overhead. Finally they reached the small one room wooden house. Once inside, Tyr gently laid down Harper on the soft mattress on the dirt floor that huddled in one of the corners. He covered the mud foot's miniscule body with the thick, fluffy comforter which almost swallowed up the small young man. Tyr uncharacteristically brushed back some of the stray rebellious strands of blonde hair that jumped out onto Harper's forehead. "You behave and get better...you can beat this little man," he whispered knowing full well that his charge could not hear him.

Silently he stood up and made his way over to the door where the being still stood waiting. "Good luck, he is going to be a handful," Tyr advised the doomed caretaker.

The being nodded with understanding. "I will keep you updated on his condition."

Tyr nodded as well and began the short hike back to the Slipfighter. As he walked, he looked up at the radiant night sky and silently sent Harper some of his strength. The stoic loner of a Nietzschean hated to admit just how much that annoying little professor had worked his way into his heart.

********

Dylan paced the entire length of command as he awaited Beka's arrival. There was only one last slip point until they reached the nebula and she was on her way to command to pilot the massive ship.

"What to say...what to say?" he muttered to himself as he walked a trench into the metal grated floors. He had no clue on how to approach the new sullen, depressed Beka...hell he normally didn't have clue on how to approach the spunky, all attitude Beka. He begged his mind to hurry as he heard Beka's dragging footsteps approach command.

Dylan gulped down the lump that had returned to his throat as he readied himself for the first of many counseling sessions.

"The next new crew member we bring on board will be a psychologist...definitely, "he mumbled as the doors hissed open.

********

The light from the first sun rising over the mountains filled the small room of the lone cabin. A sunbeam let in by one of the windows slowly crossed the floor and made it's way over to Harper's sleeping face. He felt the warmth tingled against his skin. It felt so nice. He could also feel the warm soft covers embracing him. A smile curled up onto his lips as he snuggled deeper into the hollow of the soft mattress.

But then, within a second, the happy sleeping boy transformed into a wide away, panicking mudfoot. He shot up into a crouching position with his back against the wall. His face was covered in a cold sweet and pure terror held his expression hostage. Reality had just worked it's way into his drug induced foggy mind.

As his head pounded with the aftereffects of a week of drinking, his eyes darted around the room trying desperately to figure out where he was. Question after question raced through his mind: Why had Rommie drugged him? What happened after she drugged him? How did he get here? And where the hell was here?

All he saw in the room were blank wooden walls, barren dirt floors, a few windows, an area that looked like a make shift kitchen, lots of candles...and a door! His eyes wanted to latch onto the door, but his instincts told him there was more to the room than he had seen. Then he sensed it. Movement, breathing, a heartbeat. Someone was there with him. His heart raced as his eyes scanned the darkened corners that the glaring sun had not yet reached. Then, there in the darkened corner by the door he saw it, movement.

"Wh-Who's there?" He asked from his croaky, dry, cotton filled throat.

"Calm down, I won't harm you." Slowly the figure stepped out into the light. Second by second the invading sun rays revealed more and more of the mysterious being.

As Harper could make out more and more of the figure's features, his eyes widened first in great fear and then in great surprise. Harper's voice was swallowed up by his overwhelming emotions.

The being was now fully in the light. He raised his bowed head and spoke in a kind, raspy tone. "I could never hurt you, Master Harper, the Devine would have my head."

Harper released his frozen breath just long enough to gasp out, "Rev!? Is it really you!?"

TBC......