Sorry this took so long, school's been hectic. I get to watch an operation on Wednesday. Yay!
Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, you guys are the best!! I'm open to any constructive comments. Is my writing style alright? I think it feels kind of disjointed, but maybe that's just because I'm the one writing it, not reading it. Enjoy!

XxXxXxXx

Dylan and Trance raced though the corridors, Trance falling behind due to her shorter stride.

"What's Harper's condition?" Dylan breathlessly yelled as he rounded another corner.

"My internal sensors in engineering are badly damaged, but I'm reading fluctuating life signs and heavy fire damage," Andromeda's disembodied voice answered.

"Trance, get to med-deck and prepare for Harper's arrival. I don't want to risk your getting hurt in the fire."

"But Dylan...."

"Go Trance! You're the only one who can treat Harper!"

Knowing he was right, she turned around and started towards med-deck, trying to squash the rising panic. It was bad enough Harper was seriously hurt again, but it seemed very possible he was going to die this time. There was no way she was going to let that happen.

XxXxXxXx

The thick acrid smoke continued to flood engineering, burning his lungs and his eyes. He could feel the tears streaming down his face. Trying to ignore the pain shooting from his hip up his back, he dug his fingers through the deck plating and pulled himself forward.

He'd lived through enough Nietzschean raids to know what death by fire was like. At night he could still hear the agonized screams as people were engulfed in flames, and smell the burning flesh. There was no way he'd let himself die that way. As heaving coughs wracked his body, he almost gave up, but a scream echoed through his head and he resumed his crawling.

XxXxXxXx

At last Dylan arrived at the entrance to engineering, but came to a sharp halt, nose centimeters from the door. The door wasn't opening.

"Andromeda! Open this door now!"

The door slid open two inches, than grated to a stop. "I am unable to open the door any further, the damage is too extensive."

"Damn it!" Slipping both hands into the gap, he pulled as hard as he could. "Come on," he growled. Feeling a slight give, he braced his foot against the door frame and used that to push. With a groan, the door slid open three feet. Deciding that was enough, he grabbed a fire extinguisher after feeling the heat pouring forth.

After putting out the fires that posed an immediate threat, he started searching for the engineer.

"Harper! Where are you!" He jogged further and spotted a crumpled form on the deck. "Harper!" He ran as fast as he could to him, and was shocked, if not pleased, to find him conscious. At least he was still alive.

"...Dylan.." he breathlessly gasped.

"I'm here, Harper. I'm gonna get you out of here."

"Engines... the ship. Safe?"

"It's alright," he soothed. "Don't worry, it's been taken care of. You did good." He reached down to roll Harper onto his back.

"Aahhhh!" Harper's agonized scream tore through engineering.

Dylan jerked his hand back as though he'd been burned.

"...not my... hip.." Harper was close to the edge now.

Dylan had seen all the blood, but wasn't sure where it was coming from. Gently, he pulled up the hem of Harper's shirt, and tugged down the waist of his pants, exposing a jagged gash just below his hip bone. "My God, Harper." At the rate he was loosing blood, he might not make it to medical. He was only semiconscious now.

He quickly stripped off the outer layer of his uniform, and sliding one of the sleeves under the young man's stomach, he then brought the two sleeves together and quickly tied them in a tight knot, putting direct pressure onto the wound. Harper groaned and spasmed, but did not wake up fully.

"I'm sorry, Harper," he whispered. He slipped his arms under the young man and hefted him up, cradling him in his arms. Harper didn't even moan this time. Running, he made it to the door, then turned sideways to side step out so they'd both fit. Once free of the door, he broke into a run.

"Dylan, I'm not detecting any respiration's or cardiac activity," Andromeda's solemn voice announced.

"Damn it, come on, Harper!"

Trance was waiting at the entrance to med-deck as he approached. "Andromeda briefed me on his condition, get him on the table!" Dylan deposited him on the table while Trance hurriedly attached electrodes to Harper's temples, and ripped open Harper's shirt to stick one in the middle of his chest.

"Don't touch him," Trance commanded. "I'm going to use an electrical impulse to stimulate the contraction of the diaphragm and the heart."

Dylan backed away, but didn't remove his eyes from the horrific scene unfolding before him. His engineer, limp, pale and covered in blood, jerked with each electrical discharge. Blood dripped from the table, contributing to the growing pool on the floor. 'Don't do this, Harper,' a voice in his head whispered. He vaguely heard Andromeda announce no change in Harper's condition. Trance grabbed a large injector off a nearby table, and pushed the end of it deep into Harper's chest. She must have read the confusion on his face.

"It's epinephrine to stimulate cardiac activity. I need you to grab three units of the whole blood from the freezer, we need to get his volume up, maybe it will help his heart."

Grateful to have something to do, he quickly grabbed the needed blood and hurried back in time to hear Trance's excited exclamation.

"He's back! His blood pressure is climbing and he's breathing."

"Is he going to make it, Trance?"

"It's too soon to tell. He's lost a lot of blood, and the internal damage is severe. I'm going to have to operate."

"Keep me informed."

Trance made eye contact with him for a split second, but Dylan saw the uncertainty she tried to hide. How was he going to tell Beka? He left med-deck and glanced down at himself. Harper's sticky blood coated his uniform and his hands. He wouldn't be surprised if it was on his face as well. Deciding Beka didn't need to see that, he hurried to his quarters to change.

XxXxXxXx

Deciding there was no more immediate danger, Beka put the ship on auto pilot and hopped out of the chair, wringing her hands and pacing, trying to expel the excess adrenaline.

"Andromeda, what's going on, is Harper alright?"

"Trance is working on him. Dylan is on his way to speak with you."

"Trance is working on him?! What the hell is that supposed to mean! Is he going to be alright? How badly is he hurt?" She was beyond exasperated, and being driven mad with worry.

"Beka, Tyr," Dylan greeted.

"Finally. What's the hell's going on with Harper?" The look on the Captain's face said it all, though.

"Harper was seriously injured in an explosion in engineering. Trance is operating right now, but I'll be honest. It's not looking good."

Beka's sharp indrawn breath was the only noise on Command.

"What type of injuries has the boy sustained?" Tyr questioned. His voice reflected none of the worry he was feeling.

"He's got a large gash on his hip and as a result lost a lot of blood. It's hard to say if he has internal injuries, and I suspect he's also got a head injury. Trance will be a few hours. I suggest you two get some rest. I'll let you know the minute I know anything."

"Rest? How am I supposed to rest knowing Harper could be dead when I wake up?"

Dylan flinched. The bluntness of Beka's statement hit him like a sledge hammer.

"Beka, sitting here worrying isn't going to do yourself, or Harper, any good."

"Sleeping won't exactly do Harper any good either. At least awake I can be ready to go to him, if needed."

"I understand what you're going through, Beka. I really do. You need to be thinking about yourself as well. When Harper wakes up, he's going to need you at one hundred percent. If you're stressed out and emotional, he's going to pick up on that."

"You're assuming he's going to wake up at all."

"The boy is strong. He''ll get through this." Two shocked pairs of eyes turned to stare at Tyr. "The boy has lived through worse. I highly doubt he'll let something like this stop him."

XxXxXxXx

Beka sat in the mess hall, morosely staring into a mug of cold coffee. It had been over three hours, and they hadn't heard anything from Trance yet. At least that meant Harper was still alive, and had gotten this far.

She thought back to the time he'd gotten his cerebral port. He'd been really sick that time, and in a way it was worse because this time he had Trance caring for him. Of course she wasn't a trained doctor, but she'd worked miracles before. If Harper died like this, she'd never forgive herself.

She was so deep in thought, she never noticed Dylan enter and sit next to her. "Most people prefer their coffee hot."

A small smile graced her lips. "Except Harper. Back on the Maru, he'd get so engrossed in his work his coffee would sit there. Sometimes for hours before he finally got around to drinking it. Of course, he'd never waste it. Money was too tight to go around dumping out a perfectly good mug of coffee."

"It sounds like despite the hard life you guys had, you enjoyed your time on the Maru."

"Yeah, it had it's moments. Living the way we did, death was always waiting at the door. It was expected. But I'm not ready for this! Harper is too young."

Andromeda's voice interrupted their conversation. "Trance is ready for you guys in med-deck."