Thank you so much for the amazing reviews. You guys rock, and it's nice to people like what I write, especially when I like it myself. Please keep reviewing! I'll try to make the chapters longer after this.

Also, many thanks to my new beta, Thought.

Scars
Chapter 2

When Beka stepped onto the Maru she went straight to her pilot's chair and saw the co-ordinates already plugged in. All that was left to do was for her to fly them out of there. She sat down, strapped in, and took them off the planet.

Flying into space and shooting past stars she felt all the tension that had seeped under skin glide away. She was still nervous about going back, but all she was thinking about now was which jump came next in the slipstream.

From behind her, Rhade watched as she visibly relaxed entering her element. He had to smile; he had missed having a pilot such as her around. The Andromeda had gotten into quite a few tough scrapes in those 2 months without their star pilot to guide them out. Not that that was all he missed about her. With Beka gone he realized how he did not mesh with the crew. Dylan was still the same, although they had gotten closer, the Captain replacing Beka on a few missions as his partner. And his "hero worship" as the rest called it had gone down a bit. But just a bit, he was raised learning about the man as a champion after all. Rommie was the same, still the ship's AI, and still friendly but not sure what to make of him as the third neitzschean to serve a high position on her crew; The first two having betrayed her, her Captain, and her crew. Harper was, well, he couldn't really tell. The man was evasive, he still cracked jokes, but he seemed to be a bit wary. It felt like Harper only liked him when Beka was around. Surely Harper didn't think he was going to turn out like Tyr, did he?

Either way, Rhade had never realized before how much he depended on Beka. They had coffee together every morning. It started out as him showing up and drinking tea at her table as she mocked him for his 'sissy girly drink', soon after he switched to coffee. But not so soon as to make her believe he did it so she would stop taunting him. Which he did, but he would never give her the benefit of knowing that. And she let him believe that she believed his lie.

So every morning they would meet. Some days he would share his childhood, days at the academy, his nieces and nephews. Other days she would tell him the ship gossip, rumors that were flying around, dirty jokes Harper had told her the day before. On his favorite days he would come in and she would be sitting so still and just holding her cup of coffee. He would sit down opposite her and she would look up at him, smile, and lean in. A laugh would escape her lips and she'd go off on some tale of her reckless and crazy brother, her own reckless childhood and her days of salvaging before the Andromeda. She would tell her favorite stories of her dad, how none of them saw her mother's departure coming, her dad when she had to take care of him and he was too flash fried to know who she even was. A story or two were ex-boyfriends, but she didn't want to really talk about them. It was fine with Rhade; he didn't really want to hear how much they meant to her.

Everyday he found himself looking forward more and more to their little coffee meets and more and more scared for her when they were separated on a mission. He glared at the men she met in bars, scared a few of them off when she went to the ladies room as well. He never questioned, never thought about why he was doing this, he just did it. And ignored the little voice in his head that said it was more than friendly concern.

Besides, what would the little voice know anyway? It wasn't smart enough to have it's own body, it lived in his head!

Rhade's thoughts were interrupted there as they exited slipstream for the last time, and the Andromeda Ascendant came into view.

The view screen went from black to showing the image of Dylan standing behind the slipstream section of the command deck. "Welcome back Beka, Rhade."

"Dylan, permission to come aboard."

"Permission granted. You know, one of these days I'm going to say denied just to see the look on your face."

His response was a raised eyebrow from Rhade and rolled eyes from Beka.

The view screen clicked out and they slid inside the hanger bay, the Maru's thrusters shutting down. Beka undid her belt and hopped out of the chair. The two walked to the Maru's exit and stepped out into the Andromeda's hanger bay.

"Welcome home, Beka. We all missed you."

"The Maru is my home, Rhade. But thanks; it's good to be back. And hopefully I'll get to hit somebody real soon cause all that peace as getting on my nerves."

Rhade's laughter echoed throughout the room, following them, and comforting Beka.