"What's happening?" I was ready for the next shoe to drop, ready for this situation to become more then it seemed.

"Dylan! Dylan can you hear me!" came a shrill over my neck communicator. I lifted my hand hesitantly focusing on the crowd of rollans smiling at me. The scene was eerie

"Andromeda?"

"Dylan are you ok?"

"I'm fine…" I said to rommie more as a question then a statement. Suddenly four doors opened all on different walls…my head snapped around trying to figure out what was happening next. Each door held a different crewmember…they slowly walked in looking just as confused and scared as me. Harper's eyes landed on me and I nodded to him, my way of saying it'll be alright. Beka looked like crap. She held her arm tenderly grimacing at every movement she made. Tyr growled at the sight of the Rollans and started to advance on them but I nodded and he stopped in place growling at the Rollans for sending us through hell and at me for not wanting revenge that consisted of Tyrs bone spurs embedded deep in the chest of all the rollans in the room. The room…It was nothing like the rest of the building…It was filled with blinking lights, switches and knobs. Nothing like the rest of the planet that seemed to be almost void of technology. I continuously scanned the room when suddenly the whole room seemed to light up when Harper saw Trance shuffle through the door on the far wall. He squinted to keep back the tears that threatened to break free. Trances eyes wandered slowly around the what looked like some sort of medical lab. Her lips a little pouty from the sheer confusion of it all, Then her eyes landed on Harper. Her breath caught in her throat and she started to bounce.

"Harper!

"Trance!" They both shouted in unison. Trance scurried over to Harper giving the rollans as much room as possible. They connected in an earth shattering embrace. Each rambling about how they thought they had lost each other forever.

"Why did you do that Trance? Why did you just let go?" Harper said with so much pain in his voice…

"Dylan had to make a decision, and I knew you would protest if his decision had anything to do with harming me. I knew what had to be done so all of us wouldn't die." Harper nodded…he knew she was right but it still hurt so bad to see her fall like that. See her purple sparkles engulfed in that thick dark sludge. Harper held Trance even closer kissing her forehead.

"I love you Trance…"

"I love you too Harper…much more then I can ever tell you." She said with an intense look in her eye.

"It took this to remind me that we won't be here forever and I want you now with me…when I imagine my future your always there. I want you with me forever; I can't put off my feeling for you any longer." Trance held harpers face and he look at a lost for words. He wasn't use to someone caring so much so openly. Sure Beka loved and cared for him and he knew it…but this was different...He closed his eyes and absorbed her words.

"Trance" he said before kissing her gently…feeling out his new playground. The kiss became more and more passionate and hands started to roam. I cleared my throat but they kept going. I looked over at the Rollans who were caught up in it too, as if it was some sort of soap opera. I started to become irritated when one pulled out a tissue and wiped their eyes.

"What the hell is going on!" I shouted and The Rollans snapped back to attention.

"Calm down Mr. Dyl…"

"The hell I will!"

"Through your ordeal you have proven to us that your family is strong and resilient and that different species can co-exsist in a family unit and still uphold the values."

"I don't understand…this was some sort of sick test?"

"I'm sorry if you don't like our methods…but we had to be sure that we could share our abilities with the commonwealth…We never planned for you to get hurt…when you became intoxicated it was the perfect opportunity to create a situation that could cause dissention between your family, but in the end you risked your lives to save the two who were the most likely to be the culprits. Then in this very room we gave you the opportunity to give them up yet you didn't and even in the faced with the possible death of Mr. Harper…you still would not name the neitzcheans as the culprits. We admire this…" The rollan stepped aside and Chakra stepped forward smiling brightly and holding a small spherical ball that came to life projecting images of scenes from our struggle over the last day. Tender scenes from the weeks we spent milling around also zoomed by. I was still not pleased with his explanation, Our lives were at stake for a test! For what reason were we being tested?. The scenes froze on the cells where Harper was squeezing through naked and I could feel harpers embarrassment growing without even looking at him.

"Ahhh! Come on! You gotta freeze it right there! I told you there were cameras! Awww man!" Everyone started to giggle, even beka grimacing every time she laughed. Tyr just smiled and the rollans covered there mouths in amusement.

"We almost died!" I screamed. Why wasn't anyone taking this seriously! Everyone seemed to have a short attention span. My irritation was growing.

"We would have never let you die…we did not expect for you to get caught in that exhaust pipe…we were quick to find you and heal you. I know our methods might not have been the best in your eyes…" Chakra said trying to defuse my anger but it wasn't working.

"Your damn right!"

"But it was the only way to be sure…"

"Sure of what?" Dylan enquired.

"Our people are dying, it seems that we've had our time in the universe and within the next hundred years there will be none of us left. We've been looking for a species to pass our knowledge down too…a people who could make a difference in the universe. We wanted a race that wouldn't abuse the power, but also wouldn't try to monopolize it like we have." Chakra said sadly. He waved his hand and a window appeared outside. The snow seemed to melt away and all that was left was a dark withered world where once a plush field of flowers once was. The same field Trance and Harper had danced and sung in just a week ago. Chakra continued on sadly.

"We have tried many races and all have failed until you. We had been looking for a specific race when we realized that you were a family comprised of all races and creeds coming together for a sole purpose…peace. We admired this and sent you a message…we had already tested the nietzcheans and they failed but we needed an antagonist so we asked the drago katsov here."

"What knowledge?" I said curiously, wondering just what a green race of people could really give us. I was wondering just what was so important.

"This knowledge…" Chakra lifted his arms and swirls of colors danced around his fingers. He was wearing some sort of hand devise that seemed to be calling these colorful specs of energy toward him. He pointed toward Beka and her eyes shot open but she soon relaxed…she flexed her arm in awe…she was completely healed. Then he turned to Harper who shook his head no but was soon engulfed in the bright spirals of blues greens reds and yellows and when chakra finally steered the colors away Harper looked like a new man. He had color to his cheeks and looked healthier then I'd ever seen him. Harper flexed and pranced around a little while trance felt his back and whispered.

"All your scars are gone."

"Really?...Cool!" Harper said grinning from ear to ear.

"Now…now do you understand? This free flowing energy source could power anything…an energy that is found everywhere and could be harnessed to heal any wound, cure any disease and power any weapon." Chakra lowered his head in thought.

"The only draw back…one we didn't realize until it was too late, was that our world wasn't a river of ever flowing energy... just like anything else the energy started to run out and soon everything in our world began to fade, but we couldn't' stop using the power, it was too embedded in our way of life. Now look at our world…it is far from what it use to be…everything is void of any vibrancy…void of life." The other Rollans around him nodded there agreement and slowly turned to leave.

"Feel free to leave at any time now…we will not keep you…but you and your commonwealth have our blessings and if you are willing to forgive us for this test…We will teach you all we know and help in your fight to bring order to this hostile universe…just like the veterans once did. They asked us to allie with them, to help them help others but in all our greed and superiority we refused and shut ourselves off…much to our own detriment."

"Dylan! Dylan what's going on? There was snow…but it disappeared as if it was never there…what's happeneing."

"Rommie, we're coming home…" I said looking around the room at my misfit crew. Harper and Trance going at it again and Tyr and Beka talking about the application of the new technology…focusing on revenge and profit of course. I took a deep breath and pressed my neck communicator again.

"Get ready Rommie…we're bringing some guests aboard."

"Thank You" Chakra said nodding his thanks.

It took 3 hours of explaining before andromeda and I fully understood what had happened. They had tested us to see if we could uphold values and handle the gift they were giving us. This new technology that would not only give the commonwealth the boost it needed but also give us the power to save lives. For the first time since I started this mission I was thankful to be alive and I remembered that instant when I had been embarrassed by the actions of my crew. I looked at them chatting with the Rollans…some more open, others more paranoid. I would never be embarrassed by them again. Trance was very open with them, chatting and bouncing around while Harper on the other hand kept scanning the room for suspicious behavior. Harper had gone through a miraculous change, his body showed no signs of malnutrition or his usual compromised immune system, he was fit as a fiddle but his mind was still the same. I smiled at his darting eyes…

"You'll never change." I mumbled to myself. Beka sat on some couches in the corner…the ordeal had done a lot to her resolve…I know she felt vulnerable. Hell I did too. She continually flexed her arm still in shock of what happened, having our lives in her hands and being unable to save us, loosing us. Even if it was for just a little while, but she was coming around. Suddenly I noticed that Tyr wasn't even here.

"Andromeda…locate Tyr"

"Tyr is in the observation Deck" Rommie said, her voice was happy and relieved that she had finally gotten her crew back. I gazed over my crew and our new allies once again. We had been through hell…They had run us through the gauntlet but I also felt that we had needed it. A lot had happened for the good. Harper and Trance had found there love for each other, I had connected with my crew and I also found that both Beka and Tyr were trust worthy. I heard Trance giggle and plant a little kiss on Harpers lips and I smiled. I was happy for him but I still hadn't gotten the chance to talk to him. I stepped out of the room afraid my sudden sullen thoughts would transmit somehow. I walked to the Ob's deck and stepped through the doors to see Tyr sitting casually, staring at the once snow covered planet.

"You're missing all the fun." I said and Tyr scoffed.

"What are you thinking about?" I said sitting next to him.

"Our latest adventure." He said sarcastically.

"Tyr...Why did you hold on to us…you risked your life for us. I talked to chakara…he said that he interrogated everyone but he was surprised when he interrogated you. He told me you refused to name any of us the culprit, even when he promised to let you go if you did. What you did didn't seem very Nietzschean." I said and Tyr breathed in and rose from his seat. He started to walk off but bent down to whisper in my ear.

"Slipfighter" He said and walked out. I smiled at the dull planet in front of me.

"That is so very nietzschean of you." I said to myself but I heard the doors open again and the familiar sound of uneven footsteps. I turned around curious.

"Mr. Harper?" I said.

"The one and only." He said with a boyish grin. He drained his cup and breathed out its imaginary steam.

"So why'd you leave the party? You looked kinda sad actually…anything on your mind?" He said

"You wanna talk to me?"

"Well, yeah…"

"I don't know this is just weird…you seem to always try to get away from me." Harper laughed and I could tell he was a little buzzed. He sat down next to me where tyr had sat earlier.

"Well, honestly you were the boss and you had the authority to kick my little sickly ass out of an airlock anyday. So I just decided to keep my distance and keep my mouth shut around you." Harper finished and I opened my mouth to protest but he quickly injected his next statement.

"But….on the planet I saw that you were a cool guy to hang around…a good drinkin' buddy." Harper said elbowing me playfully.

"Just don't tell Trance." He said and we both laughed.

"You and trance seem like the perfect match" I said and an instant smile spread across his face.

"She's my girl." Harper said with a nod his eyes glazed over with happiness.

"I've got a bottle of vodka in my room…and some old vids you've just gotta see." Harper said hopping up. And waiting for me to follow. We started to walk out of the room and Harper rambled on about the vid.

"Have you ever seen star trek…" Harper said with a smile.

"The captain is a lot like you…flying around the universe picking up girls along the way."

"I don't pick up girls along the way…"

"pashaw! Yeah right! Remember the last drift we visited?"

"OK, well that's one instance."

"Oh let me go check the list…"

"You have a list…"

"Rommie…" Rommie flickered into existence with her arms crossed. The monitor beside her sparked to life and name after name scrolled down the screen.

"The list" Harper said and Rommie smiled. I laughed and rolled my eyes…I looked at Harper. He's going to be a very interesting friend.

The End

I finally finished it! Yay!

P.S –try my other story called 'Fixing the Damage' (Harper-centric story) I plan to finish that one now too! And if you're an x-men fan you should read my new x-men stories. Wolverine-centric of course!