Title: Finding Family Lost
Author: Neeritai
Disclaimer: The song is 'Exile' by Kate Rusby, I do not own said song, just realized that it made me think of Harper, and it worked so well for this little story of mine. As always, neither Andromeda nor Harper belong to me. I give all credit where it is due in Chapter 1.
Everything Else: See chapter 1.
A/N: I didn't think to mention it before, but in this story Harper is somewhere around 23. I don't know how old he is supposed to be (they said somethinga bout him being 30-ish), but for my purposes he's 23. And here are my responces to reviews, to those of you who have reviewed! (No, Neeritai, you responded to the reviews from the people who didn't review.) (Well, we could have, precious. We might have decided to write to the peoples who thought about reviewingwas heartily squelched Pardon my schitzophrenia (which I almost definitely spelled wrong). Yes, pardon our schitzophrenia.
eris:
Yah, family for Harper is always good. He certainly deserves it.
(lets just hope my Muse doesn't decide to kill her off)
adler: They're definitely some of my favorite stories as well, which is why I wrote this!
Little Redhead: Hee, hee. I live to write stories in which Harper is surprised. Or injured. Terrible me, thinking of hurting poor Harper, but injuring people does make stories so much more interesting. . .
tne: Glad to oblige!
Rommie's Voice: I love your penname! Sorry about the problem with chapter one, and thank you for pointing it out. You see, I had something separating the two parts, but when I downloded the chapter it got deleted and I didn't notice. But I think it's fixed now.
Fox of the Nova: Thank you! Making me blush!
Chapter 4
Harper stared at the scar along the back of the woman's hand, his throat suddenly constricted by something he could not identify. His gaze flickered up to her face, and breathing became impossible. He had looked into those eyes uncountable times in the past when he had been angry, happy, pleading with her, scornful, you name it. "Siobhan?" he whispered.
But no. . . She had been infested, he had been there when his aunt Kate and his uncle Eoin buried her and Declan. . . And now here she was. Even in the smallest corners of his shell-shocked mind he realized that something did not add up.
Siobhan nodded, grinning at his shock. "It's me." The smile faded, as she noticed his hesitation and nervousness. "Seamus? You ok?"
Harper shook his head to clear it. This couldn't be his cousin. But it had to be. It just was. "Uh, yeah, I'm - fine. It's just sort of a surprise to see you, yah know. A. . .good surprise, though," he said quickly.
Rommie decided to take action, as it was clear that the thought that 'Siobhan' might have an ulterior motive had never crossed his mind. Rommie realized that if Siobhan did have an unterior motive, she probably would not act with Rommie there, and if this actually was Harper's cousin, they deserved some time to catch up. "I'm going to look around. I'll meet you back at the Maru in a couple of hours," Rommie said.
Harper half-smiled at her. "Thanks, Rommie."
She nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder in a comforting way, brushing his data-port as she did so. In so doing, she transmitted data straight into the port that she could follow if she needed to find him in a hurry, but that he would not notice. That done, she headed off.
"What's the Maru?" Siobhan asked.
The question jerked Harper forcefully into the present. "Oh. The Maru's the ship we came here in, I keep her flyin', but she's a real rust-bucket. Beka, who owns her'd kill me if she heard me say that, though," said Harper, letting his mouth run, as he was still somewhat at a loss as to what to think of the relative he had not seen in what - twleve years now? Thirteen? Of course, the reason that he hadn't tried to do anything about that was that he assumed he had not been halucinating when the magog attacked, and that his cousin was no longer in the world of the living. "Should we go there?"
Siobhan nodded, the beginnings of a smile on her face. "Sure, why not?"
They were sitting in the Maru in the room that held Trance's plants, trying to figure out what to talk about. Or, at least, Siobhan was. She didn't know what Seamus was doing, other than inspecting the plants situated around them. She smiled. This was what he always did when he was trying to avoid or ignore something. In this case, her. She took the opportunity to study him. It had been ten years, after all. He changed so much, she realized, looking at him, and not at all. He was taller than he had been (which was not surprising), and he was also not as thin (also not very surprising). The major difference, however, was the way he acted and the way he held himself. He seemed more comfortable, he didn't carry himself with the appearance of constantly looking back over ones shoulder to make sure no one was following, which everyone did on Earth, because, hey, they /were/ constantly looking over thei shoulders. Except the Niets, of course. It had been so long. The last time she had saw him was when the magog attacked, and she had gotten. . . lost.
"Who survived?" she asked quietly, breaking the near-silence with a question that had been tugging at her mind for a while. Years, infact.
He looked over at her, finally. "D'you mean who survived the magog, or who's still alive now?"
She sighed. "Who survived the magog. I'll wait to hear the other for a little." She wasn't sure she wanted to hear the other, but something inside her knew that she had to, that she wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully without hearing everything he could tell her about their family. On the other hand, she might never be able to sleep soundly again /having/ heard it.
Harper thought about the aftermath of the magog attack, wondering where to start. "Well, your parents were ok." Siobhan noticed with something akin to dread that he specifically said 'parents' and didn't mention Declan. "So were mine. Brendan and Shannon survived, and their mum, aunt Deirdre, but no one ever found uncle Frank. And... Declan. He didn't make it either."
It was as if someone had just attached a lead weight to her heart. She had known this was coming, and a very small part of her mind said that this was better than it could have been - they could have all been killed - but that didn't make the loss of her only brother, her twin brother, any easier, and it certainly did not stop the tears that came cascading down her face.
She turned to Seamus and he somewhat akwardly put his arms around her as she cried. As she cried she thought of them. Uncle Frank, with his red hair and his angels voice. He loved to sing, if only to see the shocked expressions when people heard his voice.
And then there was Declan. Her brother. Her friend. What more could one say? She would miss him so much, even more now, knowing that there could never be any hope of ever seeing him again.
She raised her head from her arms and said in a voice teary and yet strong, "Tell me. Everything."
Seamus nodded and complied. He told Siobhan about his parents, being killed by the Nietzcheans. "Poor aunt Brinna, poor uncle Liam," she said, naming his parents. She hugged him tightly, her face wet, and said, "And poor you, Seamus." Tears fell from his eyes as well, but if Siobhan noticed them, she didn't say anything.
Seamus told her how her mother went somewhat insane after having lost her and Declan and then Brinna and Liam so soon after. They had tried to hide Kate's madness, and it worked for a while, until one of the Ubers noticed and killed her for it, saying they should be thanking him for taking her flawed genes out of the gene pool.
Harper told her that her father was killed in the next magog raid, and how Brendan's mum, Magda, was knifed to dead over a few pieces of the cheap tin jewelry she used to make.
With each new horror story came a new flood of tears from Siobhan, and when she heard about Magda she gasped and threw her arms around Harper's neck, sobbing loudly into his shoulder. Harper stopped then, thinking that maybe she wouldn't want to hear anymore right then, but as soon as she had herself under control enough to speak she said, "Go on. Finish."
Harper nodded. He started to tell her about Brendan's little sister, Shannon. As soon as she heard the name Siobhan said in a tone that held anger, bitterness, and sorrow all together, "Let me guess: the god damned Ubers got her."
Harper nodded. "They killed her."
This time Siobhan was silent as the tears ran down her face. When Seamus didn't start speaking again she realized that this was the end of the awful story, and she also noticed that someone had been left out.
"What about Brendan?"
Harper sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I dunno. He's was involved in revolt back on Earth. The last time I saw him was about a year ago. He might still be alive, but I wouldn't count on it."
Tears still running silently down her face, Siobhan quietly sang the first few lines of a song, one that Harper immediately recognized as one of Magda's many songs. Uncle Frank sang because he liked the sound, Magda sang because she loved the feeling.
"I feel a shadow passing over me, that could stay forever more. Like a wave I'm breaking out at sea-"
Harper joined in, singing quietly, supporting her, but not ruining the song with his less-than-optimal singing voice.
"-There's no one to hear the roar."
"And the days are drifting into seasons, they're the hardest I have ever known.
A million spaces in the worlds to fill, but there's no going home.
And I can dream before the break of day, that I am back with you again.
Then the morning blows it all away, and leaves an echo of your name.
Still a thousand miles lies between us and the waking up alone.
What if I could cross a hundred boarders? There's no going home, there's no going home.
When the thunder breaks the empty skies I shall bet here.
No one to hold you when the storm birds fly is there no one left to care?
I'm searching rumors with my hollow plans, when all I wanted is what's mine.
I'm lost and lonely in this foreign land, I'm left to far behind the lines.
Iwant to tear down these walls between us and I cant make it alone.
A million spaces in the worlds to fill, and here's a generation waiting still,
We've got year after year to kill, but there's no going home, no going home.
No going home,
No going home,
No going home,
No going home."
"No going home." Siobhan said quietly, drying the tears from her face. She stood up, her crying and mouring done for the time being.
"Rommie should be back in not too long," Harper commented, recognizing the change in atmosphere. "Are you hungry?"
"You can cook?" Siobhan asked skeptically, a sill-sad smile on her face.
Seamus grinned slightly. "Cook? No. But I can heat up pre-packaged stuff. Sound ok?"
Siobhan nodded. "Sounds great."
A/N: I know, it took me a really long time to get this chapter up. One hopes the next chapter will not take as long, but to quote Babylon 5, "Don't make promises life won't let you keep." Kinda dramatic and serious sounding, but the right idea, anyway.Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and as always, I love reviews. (doesn't everyone?) - Neeritai +
