Author Notes: Thanks for the lovely reviews!

Chapter 14: Hard Reality

David was slammed hard into the wall, a knife pressed against his throat, "Don't ever pull something like that again! You're on this mission, so you'd better damn well stick with it!" David's breath sharpened as the metal nicked his skin before it was withdrawn. The man stared at him coldly, "We expect all ships to co-ordinate, or we can't pull this off. If you can't deal with it, then you'd better find another job."

"Sorry." He managed to squeak out. The man gave him a look of disgust, and stormed out of the mess hall.

Jamie exchanged a look with Katrina as the skinny human scuttled back to his crewmates. Her expression mirrored his. Silently, it was agreed that she should stay behind to calm down their men, while he went to deal with it.

Jamie rose, drained his mug, and followed his friend's path out of the mess and down the halls. Everything had changed so much since the Raider incident, and the Enterprise crew's departure. Even now, Jamie was not sure how it had all come about, but the crew of the Eclipse now led a resistance movement against the Pensari and the Covenant. Over time, they had attracted other human and Fall Through race ships to their cause. To say that they were a pain in the backside for the Pensari would have been a vast understatement. Rewards verging into the millions were being offered for the heads of the ring leaders, the location of their base of operations, and signature codes for the allied ships. Jamie shook his head. They should never have got into something as big as this, but Malcolm had been adamant, and Katrina had trusted him implicitly.

They had all just returned from the biggest raid they had ever attempted – they had blown up an Oribium refinery moon, the closet to the governmental planets. They had lost three ships, forty three rebels. He couldn't blame Malcolm for being upset with David; the stupid little idiot had broken formation, causing the line of ships to become disjointed, and allowing the Covenant ships to get a look in. Nevertheless, his friend's reaction had been drastic, and completely out of character. No, Jamie corrected himself; it had been completely out of character for the Malcolm he had known before. Using his accession codes, Jamie walked into the makeshift War Room, where he knew Malcolm would be, "Mal?"

"What?" Jamie inwardly flinched at the tone.

"What was that back there? David's new; you should cut him some slack."

Malcolm stood up from where he was sitting in front of a screen, "He caused a breakdown. We were lucky – we managed to complete the mission, with minimum loss of life and resources. He's incompetent."

Jamie frowned, "Listen to yourself Malcolm. We're all worried about you. What's happening to you? Mission? Resources? You sound like all you see is the numbers."

Malcolm glared at Jamie coldly, "If we're to do this, we have to be efficient. I'm fine Jamie. You should be getting back to work. The Eclipse's engines took some damage."

"Not until you talk to me. I don't know this you. You're not the person I knew, you're not the person Katrina knew, and you're definitely not the person Trip knew." Malcolm flinched at the last name, "Where has this you come from, Mal? You've thrown yourself into this as if it's all you have. You act like a Covenant general, not a Fall Through from Earth." This was quite a long speech for the normally reserved engineer, but he refused to back down under Malcolm's piercing glare.

Malcolm was the first to break eye contact, "This is all I have, Jamie. I can't-" He stopped.

"What?"

"Nothing." Before Jamie could press the matter any further, Malcolm pushed past him, walking swiftly down the hall.

The engineer groaned, "Well that went well." He muttered to himself.

Ryan leaned against the wall of the mess, watching a group of humans – fighter pilots if his memory served – rifling through newspapers. It had become the norm for bets to be pooled for what ships or captains got mentioned in the articles. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Katrina and Jamie having a heated discussion. Probably about Malcolm, he mused; ever since the refinery aftermath incident three weeks ago, he hadn't seen either of them carry a smile. He absently turned his attention back to the pilots. Those two weren't the only ones who were worried. He and Alex had spent all the previous night trying to explain to the ever perceptive Sara why Malcolm hadn't come to see her recently. The whole thing was getting beyond even Katrina's control.

Two nights ago, Malcolm had taken a contingent of hand picked humans off on an unauthorised mission. They had returned an hour ago; half the number they left with and covered in blood. None of them had thought it necessary to divulge any information concerning to where they had been. Ryan had already seen one of the papers the pilots were looking at. Five key officials from the central core of the Covenant had been found dead in their homes. Bodyguards had all died or disappeared mysteriously. No prizes as to guessing what had happened.

Losing interest in the pilots, Ryan quietly moved over to the doorway, where Jamie and Katrina were standing. They were too absorbed to notice him: "-and I don't see any other option. It might do him good."

Jamie scrubbed his face, "Or he might pitch a fit and go rogue. Then where would we be?"

"It'll only be for a few days. Most people will never know we're gone. I think he needs this. We're losing him Jamie; this invitation might be just what we've been needing."

Ryan chose that moment to jump in, "What invitation?"

Katrina sighed, knowing she couldn't keep anything from the young man, "Me and Mal are going away for a few days, to visit some old friends who are staying in the Sanctum's solar system."

"Laura and Nai?"

Katrina smiled, "Not quite." She rested a hand on Ryan's shoulder, "You guys had better keep this all running while we're gone."

Ryan wanted to say more, but thought better of it, "Sure boss. See you in a few days."

It had taken every trick in the book to get Malcolm on the Eclipse with her. She had thought it best to leave immediately, so he was just as dishevelled and blood stained as when he had returned to the base. He had barely spoken to her during the trip, only relaying essential information. With one final jerk of the controls, the Eclipse exited into the Sanctum's solar system. In a tight voice, Malcolm asked, "Do you want me to input to co-ordinates for our landing?"

"No. We won't be landing. Scan the area surrounding the second moon of the gas giant."

Malcolm frowned, but complied, "Scans are picking up a ship-" his throat constricted, unable to continue his sentence.

Katrina smiled, "The Hephaestus."

Malcolm found his voice, "This is why we are here? You're pathetic Katrina! You can't live in the past, and if you think I'm going on that ship with you, you're very much mistaken."

Katrina completed the docking sequence after sending a message, before standing to face Malcolm, "I've put up with a lot of shit from you recently Malcolm, and only because you're my friend. You will come with me on this ship if I have to knock you out and drag you on it."

Malcolm didn't reply, he only glared.

Katrina strode out of the Eclipse into the Hephaestus' hanger bay, keeping a firm grip on Malcolm's arm. Waiting for them was the Captain of the vessel, Vorik and Ecklaqa, the Ri'kyan doctor of the ship. Malcolm froze when he saw the latter, "What the hell is this? A doctor? You've gone too far Katrina! I'm fine; you just need to accept that this is me now!" He wrenched out of her grip, and made to go back, but the Ri'kyan was too quick for him. She grabbed his wrist to try and make him listen.

The unwanted and alien contact was enough to set Malcolm off. He whirled around, tried to floor the bug-like alien, but before he could complete the manoeuvre, he heard a sharp hiss, and felt a small prick in his arm. Immediately, he lost his balance as the drug took effect. His vision greyed, and the last thing he heard, was Katrina saying, "I'm so sorry Malcolm."

Katrina sat on a biobed, watching the sleeping form of her friend through the glass wall that separated the two rooms. Vorik sat next to her. She sighed, "I wish it hadn't come to this."

Vorik glanced at his old pilot, "From everything you have told me, I think we can assume that without our help, Malcolm would have eventually burned up, and you would have lost him forever. Human emotions are tricky things. It is my belief that he has fallen back into some way of life to stop his pain."

Katrina shook her head, "But that doesn't make any sense. Malcolm was nothing like this when I first met him."

"But what do you know of his life in his old galaxy?"

"He had some cushy job on the Enterprise, a human exploration ship."

"And before that?" Katrina couldn't answer him. "Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps there are darker things in his galaxy than you have presumed?"

The Vulcan gave his version of a sympathetic smile, and left Katrina to her thoughts. It was not long before Malcolm woke up, "Let me go Katrina! You can't force me to talk to some shrink. You can't lock me up like this!"

Katrina reigned her emotions in, and tried to sound indifferent, "Ecklaqa is of the belief that you could channel your anger and hurt into something more… self destructive. We can't let you out Mal. I sorry, but this is for your own good."

Malcolm snorted, and began prowling the room like a caged animal. It was like he was on drugs. Katrina pushed that thought firmly out of her mind. Whatever Malcolm did, he would never go that far, of that she was certain.

It was the second night into their stay on the Hephaestus. Katrina was dozing on her biobed, having refused to take quarters of her own. As her thoughts wondered aimlessly, a small noise jolted her back to reality. Opening her eyes, she frowned, and then looked over at Malcolm. Sure enough, he was caught in the throes of what seemed to be a particularly violent nightmare. He was crying out in English, which was why it hadn't fully registered in her mind the first time; she hadn't heard the language spoken in ages. Getting up, she opened the door into Malcolm's room without a second thought and ran over to try and wake him up, "Malcolm! Listen to me! It's Katrina, you're safe."

Malcolm didn't wake up. He kept muttering something, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry-"

"Malcolm!" Her sharp tone brought him out of it with a jerk, causing him to fall to the floor. As soon as he realised where he was, he forcibly controlled his breathing and arranged his face into something that might have been a glare.

Katrina folded her arms. "Door's got an automatic lock, so I guess we're stuck here until Ecklaqa gets here in the morning. Wanna talk about what just happened?"

"Sod off."

Katrina raised an eyebrow, "Charming. So, what are you sorry about?"

Malcolm's head snapped up at that, "What?"

"Well, you kept saying it, so I figure it must mean something."

"Leave me alone Katrina."

"How long have you been having nightmares?"

"I said leave me alone!" Malcolm's voice rose in volume as he took a step forwards.

Katrina didn't move as she stared right back. They stood there for what seemed like hours, both trying to make the other back down. Finally, Katrina spoke, "We've been through hell and high water together, Mal, and I will not let this be the thing to get you. Whether you like it or not, I'm here to stay. You gave up the right to get rid of me the moment you took that beating for me back in the mines."

Malcolm looked slightly thrown, but soon mustered a reply, "You don't know me. You don't know what I was! I took orders without question and killed countless people just to get the job done! I did what everyone else likes to ignore even exists on Earth. You're just scared that I will do what the resistance needs to do. You will never understand me!"

Katrina's face flitted with confusion. So Vorik was right; Earth did come into it somewhere. "What's your point?"

"Why won't you just leave me alone!" Behind the stony face, there was a slight plea in his voice.

"Why? So you can self-destruct? So you can truly stop caring, feeling? Never gonna happen Mal. I will not let you become one of them – Raider or Covenant."

"You don't, you can't-"

"What? Don't tell me what I can't or won't do Mal!" She lowered her voice to the softest audible level she could, "Let me in Malcolm."

Malcolm took a step back and lost his footing, sliding to the floor, "I can't…" That was it. The façade broke and the tears built up over all the years since the Orions flowed.

Katrina sat down next to her friend, and put an arm around him. They sat like that until they both fell asleep.

Malcolm and Katrina had fallen in a comfortable silence. They had no need to talk about that night. The point was that they had both come out of the past two years and a half free and together. Scars of all kinds healed in time, you just had to be patient. Katrina smiled softly as she watched Malcolm talk with Soreq, Vorik's son. The half human, half Vulcan boy had turned out to be very interesting. He displayed as few emotions as his father, and yet he was incredibly empathic to the feelings of other people. As such, he was often around his two old protectors.

She watched Malcolm listen intently to the boy. You could tell he had been through an ordeal. He was even thinner than he usually was, and dark shadows marred his face. His eyes were still quite dull; missing some of their spark. Nevertheless, Katrina could see her old friend beginning to shine through.

She looked up as Vorik entered the room, "Son, I believe you are late for your piloting lesson. Please report to the simulation room."

The boy looked mildly annoyed, but obeyed. Katrina quirked an eyebrow, "You know, you don't need to get rid of him. We know we've probably outstayed our welcome. We'll go without a fuss."

Malcolm smiled, "What she means to say is, everything you've done for us, there's really no way we can thank you enough."

Vorik sat down opposite, "Actually, there is."

Malcolm and Katrina exchanged worried looks, "Go on."

"I have been following your progress ever since you left this ship the first time. It intrigued me to find out of your new status as rebel leaders. However, it has perhaps not come to your knowledge how much you have truly, shall we say, upset the Pensari. They have decided to deal with the root of the Fall Through problem at the source."

Malcolm frowned, "I don't understand."

Katrina mirrored her friend's expression, and then it clicked, "They're not serious? That's impossible!"

"What is?"

Vorik leaned forwards, a real expression of worry on his face, "The Pensari have issued a conscription notice to all loyal Covenant citizens and their slaves. They are going to launch a full scale invasion into our races' galaxy through the wormhole. I believe it is their intention to recruit the Orions, and then take everyone by surprise. The Pensari are a bigger force than you give them credit for."

Malcolm paled, "And by dealing with the source, you mean..?"

"Enslaving the home planets of the Fall Through species."

Katrina leaned back in her chair in shock. Malcolm stood, "I have to go through the Linlr. They need some warning!"

Katrina shook her head in thought, "You have no way of signalling a ship. It took Jamie weeks to make that beacon to Trip's specifics. Besides, if the attack force is that large, there's not enough time to set up a perimeter in defence."

"Then what?"

Katrina looked expectantly at Vorik, "Well?"

"The first wave is set to go in four days. The wormhole must be destroyed."

Both humans stared. Malcolm blinked, "Come again?" he asked weakly.

Katrina looked deep into the Vulcan's eyes, "You can't risk your crew, can you? You're in one of the waves. That's how you know."

"Yes, a Pensari pilot crew arrive tomorrow."

For a moment, both humans looked lost, and then Katrina's lips curled into a smile, "To quote Trip: cool."

Malcolm frowned, "Katrina…"

"Four days Mal. So let's go."

To Be Continued…