Summary: "We should talk about that." Triple drabble.

Pairings: None.

Disclaimer: Tribune owns all rights to Andromeda.

Rating: PG

Spoilers: Double Helix, Immaculate Perception, Delenda Est

Setting: Immediately post-"Delenda Est."

Feedback: Please! Praise and constructive criticism welcome.

Archive: Ask first and I'll probably say yes.

Author's Note: Just a little tying-up of loose ends from the episode. Quotes are taken from the "Andromeda Transcripts" website at chakoteya.

Talking About

By B.L.A. the Mouse

TYR: I just er, saw my child sleeping. Waiting.

...

TYR: Consider this. It's either the end of it all, or you'll have a magnificent tale to tell your children.
BEKA: I've got plenty of stories, thanks. Speaking of kids, we should talk about that.

...

Tyr had not been brooding. He refused to use that word, one he had been teased with by the Humans aboard occasionally, albeit not maliciously. He had been... contemplative, thinking of the vision he had been unexpectedly afforded of Tamerlane, unknowingly awaiting his destiny.

No small part of his thoughts had also been dedicated to Beka's announcement that they needed to talk about "kids," either, wondering what would even be necessary to discuss. There would be no need for them to do so ordinarily. It was almost a relief for her to interrupt his thoughts with a request to enter, coming in with a strangely confident air.

He stood. "About that 'talk,' I assume?"

"Oh, yeah. Rommie, privacy for a minute?" She met his eyes unflinchingly. "Since when do you have a child?"

Then she had noticed his slip after all, when he had been shaken by the visage and unthinking. A brief debate as to which of truth or concealment would best carry the day, and then, "For a year."

She was an intelligent woman; the math was simple enough. "Orca pride. When you disappeared." At his nod, she continued, seeming inexplicably hurt, "Why? Didn't you think we'd help?"

"I thought the help of the Andromeda would paint a larger target. Wouldn't it?"

She considered that, nodded as she realized the ramifications. "So why tell me now?"

"You asked. And..." He smiled. It was not a nice smile. It was not intended to be. "And you are the only one aboard to know, so if anything… untoward… is to happen to him I'll know who is responsible for that turn of events. I'm sure that, now that you know, you have only his best interests in mind, do you not?"

Confidence gone now, she swallowed. "I do."

Intelligent woman.