A/N: Here we go again. :) Thanks for the feedback, I love it. It feeds the annoying little gremlins that like to chew on my legs, so thank you! And here is the next part, chopped full of angst. Enjoy!

Chapter 34

The next day the weary crew repeated the previous day with Dylan and Rommie continuing the negotiations and Beka and Trance continuing the rescuing of their Seamus. Tyr once more got to stay on board to finish reading "The Fountainhead" for the fifth time. At times he wished Ayn Rand could have his children.

As Beka entered the darkened cramped prison for the third time, her revulsion was just a strong as the first visit. The cold foul air wafted up her nostrils and sent a noticeable chill down her spine. Her mind wanted to run away, back to the safety of the Andromeda, but her heart kept her feet moving forward towards her trapped shorty.

Reaching the eerily motionless cell, Beka began to worry that the long lonely night might have erased all progress that was made yesterday. She desperately tried to be positive for everyone. "Hey Harper!" she chirped as she and Trance plopped back down on the dirt covered metal floor. Looking down through the cell's grated ceiling, Beka was met by her worst fear. Harper was right back in his shadowed corner trying to rock comfort into himself.

"Hey, come on hero, don't we at least get a 'hello'?" She hoped that word, 'hero', would re-awaken the healing of yesterday. Each second of silence that followed seemed like a lifetime.

"Hey," a small weak voice came up through the floor. His mind was still a mess, but the rabid montage of superheroes and monstrous villains had ended during the long night. He even managed to lift his head up and look his friends in...well, the forehead.

Up above him, the two women's hearts soared with joy as they looked upon his sickly yet beautiful face. "We have some goodies for you," Trance said as she pulled out the bag she carried. "Do you feel like medicine or food first...and before you turn all green on us, it's nice bland food. Your temperamental stomach should have no problem with it."

"Should?" His eyebrow raised itself in a doubtful manner. 'Well stomach, do you want to try some food, yes, I know, strange concept,' he said to his digestive track. All the food, if one could call it that, he had gotten recently was stale moldy bread which was followed by pathetic amounts of water that was literally poured down into his cell. He had to resort to licking the liquid off the filthy floors to remain alive. And now he had the chance of real food, but did he want it, did he deserve it? Looking up at the begging faces of his family, there was no way he could hurt them by saying no. "Um, food, but do you have any water first?"

"Yep," Trance replied cheerfully as she pulled the water bottle from her bag. Looking at the large bottle and then to the small openings in the grating, a look of confusion arrived on her face. "How do you want to do this?"

Harper slowly rolled onto his knees and half squatted/half stood so that his face was cocked against the grate. His hands firmly gripped the metal in order to support his weakened body in that odd half upright position. "Pour." He ordered quietly as he opened his dry mouth. Shame wanted to shove him back down seeing that he felt like a dog begging for food, but the overwhelming thirst that came when he saw that clean clear liquid pushed any shame back down deep inside him.

Carefully Trance poured the life liquid into the void of Harper's mouth. It stung in a heavenly sort of way as it rolled down his sore throat washing away the taste of dirt that had resided there for months. He felt it burn all the way down his esophagus and into his stomach which grumbled in complaint. It had come to enjoy being a loner. No matter how carefully Trance poured, some water still managed to find it's way out of his mouth and down his face. By the time the trickle of water made it to his neckline, the previously clear liquid was just a viscous blackened goo from all the dirt and dried blood layered on his skin.

As his stomach grumbled louder and louder, Harper pulled away from the life liquid. "Thanks," he whispered not even bothering to wipe away the stray water that dripped off his face.

The girls just nodded and pulled out the food. Again having to deal with the barrier, they broke up the bland sandwich into tiny bits and handed it down. With much trepidation he finally got one of the pieces into his mouth and chewed for minutes. Swallowing that small bit of food was the hardest thing he had down in months. Keeping it down was even harder. Almost an hour later he had finished one half of the sandwich and felt completely stuffed. 'See stomach, food is good,' he both reminded his body and mind.

"Now medicine." Beka ordered strongly.

Without any grips or grimaces, Harper presented his bare arm up against the grate. Beka paled at the complete lack of fuss from her normally medicine-phobic engineer. Trance too looked on with shock before she shook herself out of it and began to pull out needle after needle from her omnipresent bag. Immunity boosters, pain killers, nutrients, healing nanobots, vitamins and even some mood alternating psychiatric medicine. She figured Harper need all the help he could get. Better living through medicine.

After countless injections, Harper's arm began to feel like a pincushion. "Are you done yet?" He whined sounding almost normal, minus the overlaying despair that laced every word.

"Yes," Trance answered as she shoved the last needle into his arm, injected it and pulled it out.

"Good," he said with a sigh as he collapsed onto the floor like marionette who's strings had been cut. His legs burned from the rare muscle use and his arms felt like wet noodles from supporting his quivering body.

Beka allowed him a few minutes rest before she started up today's topic. "Um, Harper, we need to talk about what happened."

His breathing stopped. "No, its the past, no talking, its done."

"No, its not...that is unless you're able to come back on board with all of us and not drink yourself to death, or shove needles in your arm, or pull away from us in some other unmentionable act."

"I can," he mumbled in a very unconvincing tone.

"Ok then, let's try this....Dylan Hunt."

Visible tremors took hold of Harper, a glean of cold sweat appeared on his skin, and any color that was visible through the grime and dirt drained from his face.

"I thought so," Beka said sadly not being at all happy that she had been vindicated.

"I-I-I can han-handle it... its o-okay." He spat out trying to take control back from his subconscious. After a few deep breaths, he had his body back and was able to drop his head in shame. "Does he even want me back on board?"

"You heard him the other day. Of course he wants you back. The guilt over what he did and said to you is eating him alive. Hell, I even think out of all of us, he might just be the one who wants to give you a welcome back hug the most." She allowed the group a slight giggle at the image of big, noble Captain Hunt racing up and enveloping Harper in a giant bear hug.

Unfortunately, the image in Harper's mind ended with the hug turning violent and Harper becoming a bloody, beaten mess at Dylan's feet.

"Shorty?" Beka asked with concern.

Why did they want him back? Why did they come here and ruin his perfect plan. Rot in cell and then die in cell. It was so simple and so easy, yet here they were wreaking it. They said they were sorry, that they wanted him back. Did he accept their apologizes, did he want them back? Could he ever really look at them again without either seeing their faces contorted in pain or their fists and feet pummeling him to death?

"Seamus, talk to us." Beka ordered as the silence stretched on. The new quiet Harper was freaking her out to say the least.

He wanted to reply but didn't know what to say. To tell them to leave? To stay? To take him away from his cell and his plan? To kill him? "Beka..." he started hoping that his mind would take it from there. "I'm just so confused." He buried his head into his hands. "Part of me wants to die here, tells me I deserve to die here...but another part wants to go with you, for you to pull me up from this hell...but, then there's a part that never wants to see you again, that can't even look at any of you..." Tears choked away his words. "I-I-I just don't know." Tremors of unshed tears took hold of him.

Beka looked down at the lost soul that was once her only true family. Not family of blood or DNA, but family of the heart, of the soul and spirit. Family that she choose to open herself up to, family that she could not bear to be without. "Seamus, listen to me, please." She hoped her words could find him in that shadowed corner he was lost in. "First, you do not deserve to die here, not like this, hell not like anyway. You don't even deserve to be down there. You deserve a life vacation on Infinity Atoll, to surf all day and pick up women all night. You deserve never to know sorrow or pain again. You do not deserve to die in this hell hole. Do you hear me Seamus?" Knowing no reply would come from the cowering boy below, she continued on. "I...no, we don't care that you killed that drug dealer. We don't care that you tortured us. Hell, we don't even care that you brutally slaughter 3,000 Pythos. And do you know why? Because we know that you did all that to help us, to save us... your family. Um, well minus the drug dealer, but hey, I'm sure he had it coming. Anyways," she tried to get back to the point. "I can understand how you feel towards us, about never wanting to see us again after...after what we did to you." Guilt pierced through that last part as she dropped her voice and head. Trance placed a supportive hand on Beka's shoulder willing her to go on. "I'm not going to use the excuse that we were under Calastor control even though we were. All we can do is say how deeply sorry we are...how sorry I am. If I could take back those words, those days of avoidance afterwards, the pain I caused you...I would in a heartbeat...b-but I can't. I can say how hollow and painful these past few months have been without you. Seamus Zealanzy Harper, you are our glue, the heart of the ship and the light in our souls. We need you more than life itself...and I think you need us just as much. So all I can do is to ask is for your forgiveness and to beg you to come back with us." A tear slid down her face and fell down below landing next to Harper's feet. "And all I can tell you is that we love you Seamus...that I love you with all my being and that we won't leave you here to die." She wiped the tears from her eyes. "Did you get all that shorty?"

'Love...' The word bounced around Harper's mind until the original meaning was lost and all that was left was the word 'pain'. For that is all that love had ever given him...or given anyone who dared to love him. He was so sick of it, sick of everything. Of breathing, of his annoying heartbeat, of the constant questions and thoughts that raced through his mind, and especially of pain. He kept his head down, but allowed his voice to be carried upward in a strong and cold tone. "Could you please go?"

"What!?" Both women asked back in shock. There was no way that that long speech Beka just made could not have gotten through his thick skull...was there?

"Just go." His voice was just a strong and determined as before as he not only talked to his friends but to the whole universe.

"NO! Harper!?" It was Trance's turn now. "Didn't you hear Beka? We love you and we will not leave you! You don't deserve this."

"I heard her, now leave."

"Why, Harper, why do you want us to leave?" Trance asked hoping for some insight.

Harper answered without ever looking up or changing the tone of his voice. Coldness was the word of the day. "So you don't get hurt anymore, ok, that why. I'm fine down here, it's nice and cozy. You'll forget about me soon enough, trust me, and you'll see how much better off you are. So just go....and so you don't feel all guilty, I do forgive you guys for what you did and said to me. Happy? Can you leave now?"

"SEAMUS ZEALANZY HARPER!! NO!!" Beka screamed with every bit of love she had in her heart for the poor tormented lost soul below. "I could live for five thousand years and still never forget you. And you know what...I'd still love you. You cannot push me away, okay! Any pain that you may think you cause I am more than willing to live with if that means I get you. And you know what else, your opinion has just been overruled until you are back in your right mind. You are coming back with us no matter what you say. If we have to tie you up and drag you back to the ship, so be it. If we have to gag you and chain you to a chair for your giant welcome home party, than that is the way it will be. Got that shorty?!"

"Whatever," he huffed as his psyche had exhausted it's last ounce of energy. It was too much and he was too tired to deal with anything any more. In the dimly lit version of his mind, he walked over to the giant switch that hung in mid air and flipped it into the off position. He then calmly walked over to the corner of his mind where his monsters were conjugated and sat down among them. 'Hey guys,' he greeted all his pains and sufferings. 'Got a beer?'

"Harper?"

"Harper!?"

"Damn it Seamus, TALK!"

Beka's fists pummeled the grating until her hands were bleeding as Trance stood by watching in shock. Through all the racket Beka was making, Harper wasn't even flinching.

"Seamus....no..." Anger and frustration soon turned into sobs as Beka collapsed on the grating sending tears down onto Harper's bare feet.

"Come on Beka," Trance said gently as she pulled Beka up. "Let's give him some space to think." The golden alien pulled Beka into a hug as she got her upright. Slowly she guided Beka out of Harper's view had he even bothered to look up. Wiping away one of Beka's stray tears, Trance guided her friend's face upward to meet eye to eye. She placed her finger to her lips to indicated silence and then pointed to the floor. Beka nodded slightly in agreement and understanding. Slowly Trance supported her captain back down onto the cold metal.

Together they sat on that hard floor in complete silence as if they were angels watching over their Seamus. Hours later the guard came to usher the quiet women out and away from their charge.

Below his angels, Harper sat the whole time drinking beers with his demons. He knew Beka and Trance were still up there having never heard them leave until the guard came, but he just didn't care...he couldn't care. He just didn't have the energy or emotions to care. 'Hey, Guilt, pass me 'nother one,' he asked as Guilt's monstrous furry claw handed him a large bottle of Neubayern Weisbrau. 'Thanks.' He muttered as he chugged down the cool sweet liquid of escape.

*******

"We shouldn't have just left him like that Trance, not without saying that we'd be back or something." Beka argued as Trance and herself entered through the large entryway of Andromeda's command deck.

"He wouldn't have heard us Beka. His mind was shut down. What he needs now is time alone to allow his thoughts to sort through everything."

"I hope you're right. I just can't stand the thought of losing him aga-" Beka's voice fell to the deck as both her and Trance caught their first glimpse of the current occupants on command.

To the side of them, Tyr was leaning into the wall with his back turned to the entire crew. His arm was raised up with his hand pressing hard into the solid ship as his limp dreadlocks covered his fallen face. In the middle of command, right before the girls, stood Rommie and Dylan. The android's eyes were red from her all-to-real tears while her nose snuffled from the emotions that she was still not used to experiencing. But it was Dylan that made Beka and Trance's hearts stop mid-beat, that made the air rush from their lungs and the blood drain from their faces.

His eyes were bloodshot and watery, his fists were so tight that his knuckles were white while his fingers were slowly turning crimson red from the blood oozing from his cut palms. Wrinkles that were never noticed before screamed for attention on his paled face. For the first time, he looked like he really could have been three hundred years old. Without blinking he spoke in a tone that sent shivers down the girls' backs. "The negotiations are over."

The legs that held Beka above the deck began to quiver under the weight of the situation.

Still Dylan didn't blink and his tone didn't waver. For the first time ever, Beka and Trance could not find an ounce of hope in his voice. "I tried everything...bargaining, threatening, begging...everything." Now he blinked a blink that never ended as his eyes stayed closed. He could no longer face his family. "Harper will be released into our care, but only after he serves a year of his sentence." Tears rolled down the strong captain's now lowered face. "We have to leave him down there...I-I failed."

******

Harper felt Beka's warm embrace comforting every inch of his being. Her arms gently wrapped around him, protecting him from the darkness and demons that raged around them just outside the circle of light that kept them safe. "Stay Beka." He begged as tears rolled down his face. He inhaled deeply taking in as much of her scent as possible. The scent that meant safety, that meant comfort...that meant home. "Stay." The growl of the demons and monsters echoed into the light as the darkness outside grew darker and darker. "Please, I need you." The arms that enveloped him in comfort suddenly grew tighter and tighter until the air was pushed out of his lungs. "B-Beka?" he gasped in pain as he could no longer inhale her sweet aroma.

"Ego Whore," she whispered calmly into his ear as she lifted up his suddenly beaten body and threw him out of the light and into the surrounding void. The growls and grunts of his demons enveloped him as they began originating not only from around him but from inside him.

"Beka!! Help!" He cried out as the light that surrounded the now heckling Beka slowly faded from view until it was only a faint star that blinked out in an unspectacular wink. "NOOOO!!!!" The word tore from his throat as he reached out towards the now darkened area hoping to find the star again, hoping for hope. But all his hand found were more monstrous claws grasping for his outstretched arm, ripping the flesh from his now visible bones. "Noooo....Beka...Bek-" His sobs were cut off as a claw was slapped over his mouth and his entire being was engulfed by his own demons and monsters.

"Aggghhhh!!!" His voice returned to him as he returned to reality...a reality of hell. His lungs gasped in the stale cold foul air which erased any memory of Beka's comforting scent that had been all around him only seconds ago. As the images of his demons still flashed in his mind, he tried to figure out which was worse, the hell or the nightmares. The jury was still out.

"No more sleep," he muttered as for the moment he decided on hell. He wrapped his quivering arms around his likewise quivering body as he stared at the nearby stain coated metal wall. It was just like the other three walls that surrounded him, dark, dirty, and stained from the blood, urine, and other bodily fluids of the tortured prisoners of years past. But there was something special about this wall, something that made him want to stare at it for hours, something that was the reason he always found comfort in the same corner hellish minute after hellish minute. It was a stain, or really an accumulations of stains that in his mind reminded him of the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. If he squinted just right, those blood and urine stains took on the shape of a certain cargo captain, Beka Valentine. "Come back Beka, please come back," he begged to the stain hoping that somehow the real Beka could hear his plea and would come back to save his worthless ass just one more time.

TBC.......