Author: Shakia
Spoilers: Wow, guess not /
Authors Notes: Ack, for all it's worth, so sorry for the long wait X.x I'm no good at updating fast . (fast? What's that:P) Anyhow, hope you guys enjoy the next chapter anyways :D And thanks SO much to those who review! YOU GUYS ROCK! Thanks everyone for their oppinions also and suggestions! -gives high fives to all-
His cry of pain was strangled into almost a gurgle as the blood rose through his mouth. He spat it out to the ground, shaking violently and gasping for breath. He was so utterly drained from having his mind searched that he could barley move. His breathing was forced and every time he took in a single rattling breath his throat whined in pain. That was the least of his problems, though. Fresh blood drenched over him, along with sweat soaking him. He could now no longer tell the difference to what was up and what was down; the world around him had blurred together. Kavalsk had roared the question at him so many times that Harper felt like retching every time he heard it.
Again Kavalsk grabbed him, violently wrenching him to his feet.
"What did you see, kludge!" He demanded, his voice cold and furious; his eyes glinting dangerously. But again Harper made no response, instead glaring before him, breathing heavily. The metal coil of a whip crashed again down on him, sending what felt like flames to eat at his open wounds. He gritted his teeth, trying to suppress the cries of pain as Kavalsk again and again threw his whip down on him, each time causing the flames to eat him alive.
"Stop!" Harper only vaguely heard the voice, and didn't have the strength to see who had said it. "You're going to kill him and the information will go with him to the grave." He heard her cold voice say. "I don't even know if I can heal him now. I'm good, but I won't be any help if you keep doing this." There was a moment's pause and suddenly Harper felt himself being dragged to his feet again. Sticky, warm blood pooled in the place he had once lay, but still he could barley make out one blurred figure from another.
"Take him to his cell; we'll continue this later." He heard Kavalsk scowl.
"I said he's too hurt-" The other voice began in protest, but he cut her off with a dangerously low growl.
"You better hope you can heal him, otherwise you'll be in worse shape than him." He snarled and Harper felt himself being thrown foreword. He let out a strangled cry, feeling again the taste of coppery blood to fill his mouth as he slammed into the hard floor. He had no chance to try and collect himself for he was again pulled to his feet, this time by two strong arms.
"Move kludge." The voice was muffled, but somehow made it to his blurred mind. He felt like laughing out loud for he could barley move, let alone walk. All he managed was another strangled cough, sending specks of blood to the floor beneath them.
Eventually he was vaguely aware that they were moving; he being again dragged down the hall. Pain continued to eat him, continued to run over his body like flames, licking at his open wounds. He wasn't even aware of the few tears of pain that escaped him even now, disappearing in the crimson splashed over him.
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Trish collapsed to her knees, swearing loudly. Tears ran heavily down her cheeks, and her breathing was labored. She would have never thought that hearing Harper stop screaming would bring this much panic, this much terror to her. Somehow it had though, never sparing her any images of what his gory death could be. The only thing she could think was the reason he had stopped was because he could no longer scream. Because…because he was…dead. She let out a shuddering breath at the thought, the tears now clouding her vision.
To think how detached she had been to the earthener just years before and now she knew she couldn't live with the knowledge of his death. With the last moment seeing him so dead and lifeless…so hopeless.
Footsteps suddenly began to ring around them, echoing throughout the hallway. Trish looked up immediately, her breath again leaving her lungs as she stared, transfixed into the hallway. But as the pair of people made their way around the corner and her eyes locked onto them only panic and terror was there to greet her. She leapt to her feet, staring at the bloody mess that was being dragged toward them; barley recognizing it to be him. All breath left her body and she felt her blood run cold.
The door to the other cell flew open and she watched as the Dragon through him in, his face twisted with furry. Distantly Trish realized that Beka too had leapt to her feet; though found that she didn't care. The Neitchians stormed off, glaring behind them at the cell, before their footsteps faded.
"Harper?" She called shakily, her voice slightly hoarse. She could hear his gurgled breathing, saw the blood drenching his unmoving body even from here and bit her lower lip to suppress the tears that stung her eyes. "Harper, please answer me." She tried again, helplessness and desperation again greeting her, only to accompany the other feelings that consumed her; eating her alive.
A small weight of worry lifted off of Trish as he began to stir and looked wearily toward them. Trish hadn't expected see the look that crossed Harper's face, had really expected anything but it as his eyes fixed to something beside her. She had been so convinced to see those emotionless eyes that she was taken aback by the emotion that now swept through them. Terror, fear leapt over his features and his breathing quickened dangerously. His eyes widened and he sat up, grimacing as he leant heavily on one arm.
Trish's eyes followed his gaze and she too paused. Beka stared at Harper with a horrified, grief stricken expression. Tears flowed from her already red eyes as they also fixed onto him. He stared right back, the look of terror never leaving him.
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Trance felt the tears wash over her face as she worked. Small sobs escaped her as she sat on the chair in Medical, consumed by grief. Her hands shook violently as she worked absently on the test results before her, not really seeing them at all.
She couldn't believe that they had, that she had, again fallen for this trick. She couldn't believe that she had been so blind after vowing never to be again. But she had. And it cost Beka's sanity. It cost their old wounds, old scars, to break open again. And all because she had thrown herself so blindly in the belief that Harper was back. Again.
More sobs escaped her as she thrust the flexi in her hands back onto the table and buried her head in her arms. Why could life never be fair to them? For once couldn't something get better; it needed to get better…but through Trance's grief ridden state all good futures seemed to have been stripped away, leaving only paths of destruction and misery.
Andromeda couldn't function without Harper, just plain and simple. The crew couldn't function without him. And his loss was even to this day tearing them apart. She hated that she hadn't, again, realized he wasn't the real thing. For heaven's sake, she had seen him die! Had brought his body back to the Andromeda…She didn't know why she had hoped for his return. He was dead. He was dead, he wasn't coming back. She told herself this over and over again and vowed never to believe anything other then that again. Harper was gone.
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"You'll never get it this way." Tanya told Kavalsk crossly. "You can torture him all you want, but somehow I don't think that he'll end up telling you." She told him, watching Kavalsk stand in the center of the dark room.
"You're not here to make observations kludge, you're hear to keep the prisoners alive and to help us through the experiments." He snapped coldly, not bothering to look back at her as he spoke. She hesitated, but only for a moment.
"You'll end up killing him. It'll mean all these years of your work down the drain. It will mean a failure." She continued ravenously. He turned to look at her, his cold eyes glinting. Unwillingly she took a step back, but didn't allow herself to show any other signs of fear and kept her face hard.
"Then what would you suggest we do?" He scowled softly. She had liked it better when he had yelled and grimaced mentally. She hadn't really thought of that. She was so intent on not watching them…beat him like that. And it was a him. Not an it.
She had treated him, nearly lost him because of whatever those ubers had done to the boy. It had looked like an entire ceiling had fallen down on him! It was crazy and he had nearly not made it. And the woman from the crew. She had been shot in the chest and her heart had even stopped for a few minutes and even then it had been hard. When she had signed up for this, fought to be one of the discoverers of the most astonishing thing of their time…she had known that she would be working for Dragos, but even then hadn't been expecting anything this drastic. He was just a boy…
She shook herself from such thoughts. No, he wasn't just a boy. He held the key to what they needed to find. She was a woman of science and that was the first priority in her life. After they got what they needed she'd worry about him.
"I don't know." She admitted coldly. "Something that would end up with him not dead before we have anything." She suggested, trying to keep the bitterness from her voice. They needed her, and she knew that was the only thing that was keeping her alive.
Kavalsk looked ready to hit her, even raised his arm, but stopped suddenly, dropping it back to his side. A small smile crept onto his face. Tanya stared at him for a moment, uncertain to why she was not on the ground with a deep slash across her cheek.
"I believe you are right doctor." He said after a moment, nodding slowly and taking her completely off guard. "It seems I was wrong. There is use for that woman we brought with us." He said, sounding almost delighted as he turned to her. Still, she stared at him, uncertain of what he meant.
"Excuse me?" She asked uncertainly, voicing her thoughts.
"You were right. The kludge needs to stay alive…though that doesn't go for the other one. I wonder if the boy would loosen his tongue if we had a chat with her?" He asked, smirking.
Another fine mess you got yourself into Tanya. She told herself wearily as Kavalsk turned to the guard beside him.
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It felt like hours had passed as the two stared at each other. Neither made the slightest change in movement, nor had either once broken eye contact. Beka was broken. There was no other word to describe it. Seeing the terror…the horrible absolute terror in Harper's eyes…she wished now so desperately that Trish would kill her. She deserved so much worse. How could she have-she….how could she have shot him? After everything…after…she had shot him.
Footsteps suddenly sounded throughout the hall, though still neither broke their eye contact. Not at least until the Neits came into view and finally Beka pulled her gaze away, feeling the guilt to be unbearable. Trish was yelling at them, Harper was shrinking away from Beka and the Dragos, but all she could see was the look on Harper's face. Remember the countless years of despair. Of regret. Of terrible guilt.
She shut her eyes, unaware of her own cell clanging open. But then suddenly strong arms clung tightly to hers and her eyes flew open and she found a Neitchian to be holding her. She barley noticed Trish being held against the wall as another was dragging Harper from his cell. The Neit thrust her foreword, sending her to her knees outside the cell. She lifted her head to see Harper on the ground, unable to move and panting heavily. Her breath shook as her eyes ran over his open wounds, over the blood that drenched his pale form. This was her fault. All of this was her fault.
The Neit clanged the cell shut and stepped behind them. She looked up to him to see a twisted smile to play across his face.
"Get ready for some fun, kludge." He laughed.
Gwhahaha:P Anyhow, TBC obviously, and please review if your reading this story:D Reviews make the world go round! XD