Disclaimer: I do not own any of Andromeda's characters; if I did, would I be writing fanfiction? I think not. It all belongs to Tribune…or some sort of tv company thing. Anyway, it's not mine. This is written purely for entertainment. Enjoy.
Filial Piety
Part 4
The pain was growing worse. She could feel it inside of her; gnawing and ripping at her body. She, who could crush a human skull with two hands, was brought to her knees by this pain. But she would make it end.
Her power only made it worse; that she could not understand. However a solution had come into her mind. The game had been played too long; things had gone too far. It was time to finish and move on. Death was in her eyes.
"Trance! Doyle! Someone, help!" Harper's voice was shouted but that didn't stop anyone from hearing him. Within moments he was surrounded by the others. Doyle was gently but firmly keeping him from getting out of the bed. Trance was gathering medical instruments, though her face had a bewildered look and she seemed to be grabbing at tools randomly. Beka helped Dylan pick Keary's still form up, moving him out of the room.
"What happened?" Dylan asked Harper.
"I don't know," He stammered, gaze fixed on the deathlike vision of his son. The words rang in his head, an unending circle. His son, who also happened to be the most recent person to try and kill him, as well as the most recent person to save his life. Everything was moving so fast and it made his head spin. Harper's head had not hurt so much since the time a Perseid librarian had downloaded the universe's knowledge into his head.
"Dylan," Trance's voice had gone shrill and suddenly the room quieted down. "Something strange is happening."
"Something strange is always happening," Dylan replied in a tired voice.
"Captain," Rhade's voice interrupted the tense silence from the Command deck. "The entire Seefra system is experiencing bizarre weather; any idea as to what the hell's going on?"
"When we have a clue, you'll be the first to know." Beka said grimly. "Trance, see what's wrong with the kid." As they carried him to a different room Harper said softly,
"His name is Keary." Doyle squeezed his hand comfortingly.
Trance was left alone with Keary as Beka, Dylan, and Rhade went to investigate what was going on in Seefra.
After a few minutes Doyle came in to see if she could help.
"Any idea what's wrong with him?" Trance shook her head helplessly.
"None. I mean, he's healthy as far as I can tell. But judging from the scars on his body, I'd say he's lucky to be alive right now."
"What do you mean?" Doyle took a few steps closer to look at Keary.
"Well by the looks of it he's had a lot of accidents. If they were accidents." Trance's compassionate gaze lingered on the boy and she brushed a strand of hair from his face, unknowingly mimicking the gesture she'd done to the boy's father countless times in the past.
"How's Harper doing?" She asked the android after a moment. A bright and cheery voice answered before Doyle could.
"The Harper is doing just fine, thank you." Both women frowned at the grinning figure in the doorway. He'd managed to get dressed and although he still looked ghastly, there was a hint of color coming back to his face.
"You shouldn't be up," Trance reprimanded him.
"I shouldn't be a lot of things." Was his sober reply. Mentally he added, Especially not a father. He walked over to the table where Keary lay and studied his face.
"He does kinda look like me, doesn't he?"
"Nah, he's much cuter than you are," Doyle nudged his shoulder while Harper cast a sarcastic glare. At the sound of Harper's voice Keary's eyes opened slowly. In a heartbeat he sat up and tried to get off of the bed and only Doyle's strong grasp kept him from doing so.
"I have to leave here," Keary gasped, fighting Doyle's hold.
"What are you talking about, you just collapsed."
"Please Trance, you must help me." Keary turned his pleading gaze to her.
"Help you do what?" Harper asked suspiciously. Keary cringed involuntarily before turning to face him.
"She's coming for me. Mother…she must think I'm dead. But when she finds out that I failed to –to kill you, she'll kill both of us."
A few hours later Harper, Keary, Dylan, and Beka were descending down to Seefra One in the Maru. Keary was sitting quietly on one of the empty bunks and Harper had sat with him for awhile until the awkward silence had become too much. Now he was watching Beka navigate towards the surface.
"So, uh, Boss, what's the plan?" He questioned nervously. Dylan gave an uncomfortable shrug that was somehow less than inspiring.
"She's obviously powerful but I don't think she could take on a spaceship…if we can't reason with her then we aren't left with many options,"
"Thank you Captain Obvious," Beka muttered as she prepared to land.
"I'm not hearing any suggestions,"
"Alright, alright; we're here anyway. Let's hope that playing it by ear works."
"Hey, it hasn't failed yet." Dylan pointed out, eliciting a laugh from Beka. Harper watched them with a growing anxiety. He had a scary feeling that he might lose his son before even getting a chance to know him. Although the feeling wasn't quite fatherly, Harper imagined that this must be similar to what parents felt for their children. No one else had appeared to consider how Harper might feel about the whole ordeal. Dylan, Rhade, even Trance had all acted like this was merely another strange adventure happening to all of them rather than an intensely personal situation. With a frustrated sigh he went to fetch Keary from the bunks.
The wind whipped around them in a fury, dust distorting their view. It didn't take long before Harper and Keary were falling behind Dylan and Beka, both struggling to keep up.
"Where are we going again?" Harper managed to shout.
"We're following Rhade's coordinates to where the center of the weather changes seems to be." Dylan shouted in reply.
"So basically, it's a wild goose chase," Harper muttered.
"You're friends don't know what they're doing." Keary murmured darkly. Though his gaze was steady Harper could sense his fear.
"Don't worry; they won't let anything happen to you." He did his best to sound reassuring but wasn't so sure of his success.
They struggled for a few more steps before something strange occurred. Beka and Dylan far ahead of them, the wind grew stronger around Harper and Keary before suddenly going still. The calm only reached a small diameter around them however and they stared in disbelief at the vicious sandstorm that raged only feet away from where they stood.
"What the hell?"
"It's her." Keary had gone white and Harper took an instinctive step closer to him. A shadow stepped out of the storm and into the circle of calm. Keary sank to his knees, head bowed in fear or defeat; Harper wasn't sure which one. For a moment he was too stunned even to reach for his gun; the woman –or thing- standing in front of him was so beautiful that Harper suddenly doubted that Keary was really his son. He still had practically no recollection of the night, when Keary had supposedly been conceived and wondered if she had looked this dangerous back then. She probably had; Harper didn't need to be drunk to see no more than a pretty face on a woman.
"Keary, your father is still alive. Why aren't you dead?" Despite her seemingly god-like powers her voice was no more than a normal human's.
"You were wrong Mother, he is not like how you said he was." Keary stood defiantly and stared back at her with an even gaze. Harper found himself marveling at the boy's courage. At Keary's words she laughed. Her laughter echoed and went on as Keary's anger grew more apparent with each passing second.
"You lied to me!" he shouted at her. The laughter died and her eyes narrowed.
"I'm very disappointed. The game didn't go at all as I'd planned. Still, it was nice to try something different." Keary's anger turned to disbelief while Harper watched on in confusion.
"A game? Is that all my life has ever been? Don't you care about me?" Gone was the brave warrior and in his place was a little boy desperate for his mother's love.
"Care about you? I planned to kill you since the day you first took your disgusting little gasp of life! You've been nothing but a nuisance and distraction, not to mention that somehow you've been draining me of my power!" She advanced upon them and as she did her form appeared to grow taller. Unconsciously Harper stepped towards Keary protectively.
"I don't know what you're talking about! I've never had your power!" Keary spat out, tears of rage filling his black eyes. "I never did anything to you!"
"You say that as if it matters." She replied calmly. As she came closer Harper pulled out his gun and aimed at her, moving to stand in front of Keary.
"Look, you don't have anything to gain by killing him so why don't you just leave?" His finger was on the trigger and was all but ready to shoot until her laughter rang out once more. It took no longer than him to hesitate before she swept the gun from his hands, nearly disengaging them from his wrists along with the weapon, and threw him to the brink of the circle. He struggled to get to his feet and watched helplessly as she moved towards Keary. The boy snarled and did his best to fight her but he was without a weapon and in a moment she held him in her grasp.
The expression on her face was none that Harper could identify and he scrambled to his feet in fear.
"What are you?" Harper gasped. His face was white and drawn. Her grip on the unconscious Keary's pale vulnerable throat tightened. Sharp nails broke the skin and blood trickled down his collarbone.
"What am I? I neither have nor want a name. It is enough that I am."
"Why won't you just let him go? We never did anything to you; you have no reason to kill us!" Harper protested. A wind grew around the woman. Her smile and her eyes made him stiff with cold fear. Tears stung his eyes and pain flooded through him as he struggled to look at her. He had his answer.
"Just let him go," Harper pleaded; the circle of calm was gone so that it was all he could to do stand upright and not lose his footing. Her grip on Keary's throat tightened but it was becoming harder to see them through the choking dust.
"I have waited too long and suffered too much to let either of you go!" She retorted. A sickening crack was muffled by the wind and Harper felt tears streaming down his cheek. Pain immersed itself into his veins and his vision grew dark.
"No…" He cried softly as he fell onto the mercy of the winds.
Keary watched his father fall to the ground through dimming eyesight. The face that he had once loved was contorted in hate. It was becoming harder to breathe but his whole life had not been spent training for nothing. That, if nothing else from her, had been real. Anger cleared his vision and he reached out with his own hands until he felt them clasp around her neck.
"What are you doing? Fighting back, little one?" She taunted with a pleased laugh. "I always knew you were strong; that you inherited from me."
He hadn't the strength to answer her but he had no need to. She had said something about him absorbing her power; if that was the case then he saw no reason why he couldn't use it against her. Her laughter was cut off abruptly as his grip grew stronger. She was yelling at him angrily but he couldn't make out the words. His entire universe had narrowed to the feel of his hands around her slender throat.
Awareness shifted within him and the winds once more formed a circle around the three bodies. A hunger he couldn't name grew inside of him and he knew without a doubt that he had won. Moments later her despairing screams confirmed his certainty and he managed to smile, even as he tasted blood trickling from his mouth, he smiled in relief. It was over.
"Oh my god," Beka exclaimed when she and Dylan came upon the prostrate forms of Keary, Harper, and the strange woman.
They hadn't realized that Harper and Keary had fallen behind until it was too late and they couldn't find them at all. The wind had made it impossible to contact either the Andromeda or the Maru and so they had been reduced to wandering around helplessly until the storm ended.
"Quick, see if they're hurt," Beka blinked and nodded in agreement, hurrying to check Harper's pulse. He didn't seem too badly hurt except for a few bruises and his wrists, which were bleeding heavily. She glanced up to watch Dylan kneel in front of Keary with a grim face.
The blood of both mother and son stained the ground and mingled in a pool between them. Silently Dylan stood up and straightened, fighting down his futile anger. With a sigh that reminded Beka that Dylan was no longer young, he turned and asked if Harper was alive.
"He should be fine, nothing Trance and Andromeda can't fix." She tried to sound cheerful but failed miserably. Swallowing hard she nodded towards Keary. "What about him?" Dylan's shoulders fell as a stinging sensation made Beka blink rapidly.
"Keary…stop…" Harper blinked and focused on Beka's face in front of him. She attempted a weak smile but he didn't notice.
"Hey, take it easy," She said softly as he sat up too quickly and had to steady himself against her.
"Where is he?" He would not be distracted and hardly even saw her glance toward Keary's body. Leaping to his feet Harper had taken only a few steps before Dylan stood in front of him, a heavy hand on his shoulder. To Dylan's surprise Harper's stared up at him with nothing more violent than a tired expression.
"I just want to see him," Dylan, understanding, stepped aside and watched helpless as the friend he no longer knew how to comfort walked towards the son he had barely known.
Keary's resemblance to Harper was sharpened dramatically by the blood covering his face and the dust matting his hair. Wanting to reach out and touch him, Harper instead knelt beside him and closed his eyes.
"You never explained what 'Irish' meant," The voice was weak and obviously took much more effort than normal but it was enough. Harper's eyes flew open and he stared down into the vacant expression of his son.
"Keary!" Harper was afraid to hurt him but couldn't stop himself from bringing the boy to a sitting position so he could make sure he was really alive. Behind him Dylan and Beka came forward with anxious expressions, expecting to find that Harper had gone mad with grief.
"I can't see, but I think I killed her." Keary said weakly. Dylan and Beka stared at him with astonished but glad faces.
"Yes, you killed her," Harper replied gravely despite his smile. Keary laughed softly and spit out blood.
"I came here to kill you, my father, and ended up killing my mother instead…"
"We'll save the ironic overview for med deck," Dylan stated, helping Keary to his feet. Harper casually brought Keary's arm around him so he could help him walk. Staring into his blank eyes, Harper's mouth went dry.
"What did you mean, 'I can't see'?" He asked quietly. Keary replied with a faint smile.
"I mean I can't see. When I killed –her, something strange happened to me. I felt all this, this energy I guess you could call it, running through me like electricity. Maybe it damaged my eyesight." He didn't seem all that concerned but the others were worried.
"Let's just hurry up and get back to Andromeda," Beka started moving quickly towards the Maru.
"Well Trance, will he ever see again?" Keary lay placidly on a bed in the med deck, a serene look upon his face. Harper however was not so calm and had to be told sharply several times to stop fidgeting while his wrists were bandaged. Dylan, Beka, and Doyle waited with Harper for Trance's diagnosis. She finally turned away from Keary and shrugged helplessly.
"I just don't know Harper. He may never see a thing again in his life, or he might recover his vision in a couple of hours. This is beyond me." She placed a comforting hand on his arm while he nodded.
"It's all right, I'll manage…Dad." Keary said the word shyly, perhaps not have daring too if he had been able to see. There was an indescribable freedom in his lack of sight; or perhaps it was just the knowledge that his mother would never torment anyone again.
"Well you won't have to deal with it alone," Dylan pointed out. "I mean, unless you want to go somewhere else, you're welcome to live here, on the Andromeda."
"With me," Harper added hastily. Everyone laughed at his eagerness.
"It's not like I have anywhere else to go," Keary replied.
"Yeah, that's true," Harper's excitement dimmed. "I guess you don't have much of a choice…" He looked away from Keary; his son was only staying because he had nowhere else to go, not because he wanted to.
"You're right, it's no choice at all," Keary agreed. Harper shifted unhappily. "After all, why would I want to live anywhere else? I have a parent to get to know, friends, and the most powerful space ship in the universe, or so I hear." The shyness was replaced by confidence and it spread to Harper. The others exchanged grins as he approached the bed tentatively and hugged the boy. He was a little surprised at his gesture, but not as surprised as when Keary returned the hug.
"I guess there's nothing left to say…just, well…welcome home." Harper stammered.
Everyone began talking at once but Harper added so that Keary could hear,
"I should warn you, I don't much about being a dad," Keary broke into a wide grin.
"Don't worry, I promise not to kill you." They laughed along with the others and for the first time in three years Seamus Harper felt he was at home.
The End
