TITLE: A Past to Outdo

NOTES: Well aren't you a suspicious bunch! Hehe, thanks for all the reviews, here's the next chapter :)

CHAPTER SEVEN Last Time Again

"I went to hell and back again, then I asked myself; did I ever leave?"

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"I thought he knew better than this," Beka said, mainly to herself. They had reconvened in med-deck, waiting for Dr Ellis to bring Harper back there.

"Well, he was pretty upset about..." Trance thought the better of dropping names. "He had a bad day," she rephrased.

"That's no excuse," Dylan dismissed. "There are going to be plenty of bad days ahead, are we going to be having this conversation every time something doesn't go his way?"

Tyr was leaning against the wall. "I think the boy may have been telling the truth," he said.

Everyone turned to look at him, waiting for an explanation.

"I spoke to him before he went back to his quarters, and I in no way got the impression that he was at breaking point."

"I found a wallet full of syringes in his room, which suggests to me that he was never fully recovered," Dylan countered. "He planned for this to happen."

"No offence, Tyr, but he did fool you before. He fooled all of us. It's just more lies to avoid facing up to the truth," Rommie added.

"How sure are you? I mean, you're like a walking lie-detector right?" Trance asked. "So can't you just check whether he's telling the truth?"

Rommie shook her head. "I detect fluctuations in breathing and heart rate, pupil dilation and body temperature," she explained. "Harper is on drugs, his body will be going haywire right about now. Even if he was clean, there's no doubt his nerves will be shot. I couldn't be sure of an accurate reading."

Beka listened to the flying accusations, still in a state of shock. "I don't think all of us should be here when he gets back," she heard herself say. "We're all tired, we should just wait until morning."

Dylan nodded. "Agreed. Everybody get some sleep, we'll deal with this later," he ordered. In actual fact, he didn't have a clue how he was going to deal with anything. It was different when Beka was on Flash. Beka seemed stronger, she had the right mindset to get better. In truth, her recovery was all down to her. Dylan did very little to help, which he was secretly thankful for. He wouldn't have known where to start.

Trance stayed in med-deck while the others left for their quarters. An incredible sadness had once again been cast onto the ship. Why did history only repeat the worst of things?

It was almost 5am and Harper had finally found his way to sleep again. It was probably for the best. After Trance made him as comfortable as possible (which unfortunately included light restraints as per Dylan's request), Dr Ellis stayed with Harper to keep him company, and Trance left to get some sleep.

"I know this isn't the ideal way for us to get to know each other, but at least now you can't run away," Ellis said light-heartedly.

Harper felt like hell. It was consequences time. "Maybe it's not such a great idea, I've done this before, it's not exactly a pretty experience."

"I've seen a lot worse," Ellis assured. "I've also seen that being alone isn't always the best option. So why don't you just talk to me?"

Harper hadn't stared so hard at that ceiling in a long time.

"Alright, I'll go," Ellis said, getting up. "I'm sure you have more important things to concentrate on, like for instance; the tremors, the nausea, the cramps, the burning feeling inside that kills your every other waking thought..."

Harper turned his head to look at her. "How do you know?"

Ellis stopped. "I know a lot more than you think."

So Harper gave in. He thought he might as well talk to the only person on board who didn't seem to have a problem with him (yet, anyway). Sure, it was probably because she had only known him for a couple of hours, but still, the opportunity was there so he took it.

Time seemed to move faster as they talked., and pretty soon they were deep in conversation.

"You resent him?" Ellis asked.

"No, I owe him a lot." Harper was telling her about Dylan's conditions. It seemed to take his mind off of the way his body was feeling.

"But?"

"They were just...a little restrictive."

"Wasn't that the idea?" Ellis asked. She could see Harper was struggling with himself. His skin was mopped with sweat and every so often he would seize up, but the conversation seemed to be helping.

"When I say 'a little restrictive', I mean really really restrictive. I was suffocating. Every day with people watching me, expecting me to screw up again, staring into my back, and wondering why I'm still here," Harper said. It felt good to finally get that little rant off his chest.

"Why are you?" Ellis asked.

"What?"

"Why are you still here?"

Harper thought for a moment, then smiled briefly. "Showers in every room. And real coffee."

"I'm serious, Harper. You're from Earth right? How did you find yourself here?"

"How did you know I was from Earth?" Harper asked quickly. Maybe it was the paranoia talking, but he never remembered telling her about Earth. In fact, he hadn't really told her much at all about his past.

For the briefest moment Ellis looked flustered. Almost guilty. "I did some checking up on you, and the rest of Andromeda's crew before I came here," she finally explained.

Harper seemed satisfied with the answer. "How did I get here?" He took a deep breath. "Long story short? Earth, Carna, Earth, Maru, Andromeda."

"Well, that certainly is an abridged autobiography," Ellis responded. "Carna, huh? How did you manage to get off that rock alive?"

"That would be a slightly longer story," Harper replied. He looked incredibly tired, which wasn't surprising in the least, given the situation.

"Maybe you should get some rest now," Ellis said. "I think your friends will have some questions for you in the morning."

The Doctor left, and Harper drifted into a restless sleep.

End of chapter seven

Next chapter: Smoking Mirrors and Open Minds