A/N: this is basically mindless fluff I'm writing to take up the space until Veghn is born. :talking to muse: "Now, Mr. Smuggles, I want you to hide in this concrete bunker until we finally can get back to the main plot, ok? I'm afraid the fanfic readers are going to eat you."

Iara: well, Harper is easily confused, and it was fun to write! I'm sorry for not e-mailing back yet, but I haven't had much time to be on the Internet.

prin69: I'm glad you liked the 'daycare center' line. There's a whole story behind it. Wanna hear it? Aww, you'll update 'Home' just for me? Thank you!

eris: Thanks tons!

Vee017: awww, thank you! well, I know what I'd do for a week alone with Rhade! Oooohhhh, Spike walked into a wall? I musta missed that episode! no, I don't watch Angel that much, so I'm not surprised I missed it. wait, spike died?!?! I musta missed a LOT of episodes, 'cause that's news to me!

Jamieson Z: Rhade therapy works because it takes your mind of the pain for a little while! :P Alright, I'll try to get the two Rhade's together, but no promises!

Chapter 14

Harper was thinking about Gaheris, pitying the poor Nietzschean for having to tell Dylan there would be a kid on board. After a while he passed into uneasy dreams.

"You drag a body out of cold storage for me to make you an interactive Go partner?" Harper was standing in front of Gaheris. "You're one creepy guy, you know that?"

Harper was at the battle of Witchhead. He turned around to where Dylan usually stood in the Command Deck, but Dylan was nowhere to be seen. In his place was Gaheris, in the uniform Dylan usually wore. The uniform of a captain.

Harper felt a pang of fear and betrayal as Gaheris pointed his forcelance at the tesseract machine, his tesseract machine. The machine hat was his only hope of salvation from the Magog larvae chewing through his stomach...

Harper jolted awake with a cry.

"What is it?" Andromeda asked, hologram appearing.

"Nothing. It's nothing, Andromeda." Harper took a deep breath as she disappeared. The dream had been so real, too real. Like memories. If he thought about it, they didn't fade like most dreams. The images remained fresh in his mind. Harper felt like he knew Gaheris from somewhere else, not just he few days he had been aboard ship. He had told Dylan something like that when Telemachus had come to take Gaheris's body for a hero's burial, almost a year ago. Harper had protested, saying Gaheris didn't deserve it, but then admitted hat he felt like he knew the Nietzschean.

"Why would I have memories from an alternate universe?" Harper asked himself. He was confused, and his head was beginning to hurt from all this thinking. He rolled over to try to get back to sleep.

---------------------- Four Days Later

Rommie had done a wonderful job of keeping their dear captain in the dark, but Gaheris knew she'd eventually slip up. He was walking down one of the corridors on his way to Hydroponics and doing a great job on being unnoticed by the rest of the normal crew when:

"Rhade!" Dylan barked, striding quickly down the hall after him. "Where's Trance?"

"She's on the Med Deck," Gaheris said, turning around to face him. "She's the main medical officer, why wouldn't she be there?"

"Yes, I know that," Dylan said, obviously uncomfortable talking to Gaheris. "But she hasn't come out for a few days. Is she alright?"

"Sort of," Gaheris said, sanding in front of Dylan with his hands behind his back.

"Is she sick?"

"Sometimes," Gaheris answered. Might as well make him work for it. Maybe he'll forget what we were talking about. Hopefully...

"Gaheris, stop playing games," Dylan said. He knew that Rhade was trying to make him forget what they were talking about. You're not someone's best friend for years without knowing when the other guy was messing with you. "Give me a straight answer."

For a moment, Gaheris saw a glimpse of the man he had known, his best friend. "Alright," he relented. "Trance is pregnant."

"What!" Dylan's eyes widened. "With who?"

"Me."

"You're on my ship for only a few days, and already you're planning on turning my ship into a daycare center. Dylan shook his head disbelieveingly.

Gaheris bit back a retort, a retort that would have gone something like; well, lucky for you humans have 'safe sex' or you'd have at least ten children.

"Everyone knows about this but me?" Dylan asked.

Gaheris thought about it. "Well, Beka and Telemachus don't."

Andromeda came on the viewscreen. "Speaking of which, the Maru will be docking in a few minutes."

Gaheris turned to Dylan. "Dylan, there's something I must know. Almost a week ago you told me you trusted me. However... I get the feeling you've been avoiding me."

Dylan put his arm around Gaheris's shoulders as they began walking toward the Hanger Bay. "Consider this past week a test," he said.

Gaheris grunted and nodded. "Did I pass?"

"With flying colors," Dylan told him. "Welcome back to the crew, Gaheris."

--------------------

"How'd it go?" Harper asked Rommie as the two were walking to the Hanger Bay.

"Dylan took it rather well," Rommie replied. "Better than you did."

Harper stuck his tongue out at her. "Time to tell Beka and the other Rhade," he said cheerfully.

"Gaheris and Trance will tell them," Rommie told Harper.

"We can't tell them?"

"No, Harper."

-------------------------

Beka landed the Maru in the Hanger, Telemachus standing at the console behind her.

"Dylan, Harper, Rommie, and Gaheris are waiting behind the airlock to the Hanger," Telemachus said.

"Time to return to the military," Beka said, sighing and pushing the pilot's chair back. She touched her cheek. "You might want to uh, lose that beard."

Telemachus raised a hand and felt his cheeks with an expression of confusion. He had forgotten about it. He would have to trim it back down to a goatee. "Well, since you like it so much it can wait until later," Telemachus told her.

Beka smiled. "So considerate," she said, getting up and giving him a quick peck on the cheek. She hit the button opening the airlock. Dylan and the others were not immediately standing there, so Beka launched herself at Telemachus, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and kissing him full on, forcing her tongue through his lips.

They were still at it when Harper bounded through. "Beka, did ya-"he stopped in shock.

Three phrases ran through Beka's mind but got lost on the way to her lips. No Harper-Bad Harper-Go away Harper! She broke away from Telemachus quickly.

Harper suddenly found himself looking up at a very angry Nietzschean. "Go-away-now," Telemachus told him, extending his bone blades.

"Meep!" Harper squeaked before running back out the airlock.

Telemachus pulled Beka in for another kiss.

---------------------

Harper almost knocked Dylan over on his run from the Maru.

"Whoa, Harper, slow down," Dylan grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Where's Beka and Rhade?"

"They're busy," Harper said, yanking his arm free. "Gotta lock myself in the Machine Shop before pirate-Rhade kills me!" he yelled over his shoulder as he ran off.

"Rommie, go tell them to get down here," Dylan ordered.

Rommie poked her head inside, unnoticed by both Telemachus and Beka. "They're busy," she told Dylan. "They're... talking."

Dylan read into that. "Don't tell me they're making out," he groaned. He threw his hands in the air, turning to Gaheris. "What is it with the Rhades?" he asked. "First you and Trance, now Telemachus and Beka."

Gaheris shrugged. "Women just can't resist us," he said unapologetically.

--------------

"I think you scared Harper," Beka told Telemachus, finally breaking away so they could get off the Maru.

"But did you see the look on his face before he ran?" Telemachus asked, laughing. "I think he thought I was going to rip his head off with my bone blades."

"We'll, you did have them extended," Beka noted, walking down the ramp into the hanger.

Telemachus looked down in mild surprise to see that his bone blades were out. "Oops," he said, flexing his bone blades before letting them lay flat against his forearms.

Beka laughed as Telemachus followed her down the ramp.

Andromeda's hologram was waiting for them. "Trance wants to see both of you whe you have a chance," she said.

"Where is she?" Telemachus asked.

"On M-Deck," Andromeda said, using the short version of Medical Deck.

"Why? Is she sick?" Beka asked.

Andromeda crossed her arms over her chest. "Ask her. You should be able to tell when you get there, though," she added, disappearing.

Beka looked at Telemachus, but all she got was a helpless shrug.

A/N: And that's all for now, folks! My mom is yelling down the hall wondering why it's taking so long to do my one-page paper for English. My wrist feels a little better, thanks to all y'all who said they hoped I felt better!