By: Chris M. <thoth_anubis@yahoo.com>
Pairing: Harper/Trance
Rating : PG-13; adult situations, but no obscenities or actual sexual activity (by some definitions) but it comes close... Possibly a little tame for this archive, but it's a bit much for too many others.
Spoilers : Takes place following episode 4x07 "The World Turns All Around Her" and is dependent on details from that episode, and also alludes to some things from 3x12 "The Dark Backwards," but only so far as character info, rather than plot details.
Summary : Following "The World Turns Around Her," Harper finds something different about himself, but only Trance can grasp it.
Author's Note : The title is a play on words, based on a homograph. I'll leave it to the reader to decide which meaning is the more appropriate in your opinion: rec-reation or re-creation. And yes, the summary is another joke, of sorts.
***
"Damn it, Rommie," Harper scowled. "Scan me again." He laid back on the med bed and waited impatiently.
The Andromeda's avatar complied, but from the expression on her face it was clear that she wasn't happy about having to do so. "Scan complete. Again. All systems - such as they are - are functioning within normal parameters. You're fine."
"No way, Rommie," Harper denied, "Look closer. There's something wrong with me."
"I've been saying that for years," the AI commented from the viewscreen.
"Hah hah," Harper sneered, before turning to the avatar. "Like you're really one to talk Miss 'go to another universe and somehow come back to our own without any sensor data, or internal clock logs.'"
"He does have a point," Rommie admitted to herself, as she continued analyzing the readings. "I admit I don't have an explanation for that lack, but at the same time, I still don't see anything wrong with you."
Andromeda's hologram flickered into existence and shook her head. "She's right. The scans match those from your last medical exam. Aside from some minor fluctuations in the stress indicators."
"I'm telling you, they're wrong, your records are wrong and something's wrong with me."
Rolling their eyes, the three aspects of Andromeda all turned and frowned at Harper. "So what's different?"
To their surprise, the engineer actually blushed. "It's... I'm just different now, that's all."
The image of the AI on the viewscreen and the hologram snorted in unison and flickered out with a muttered "Organics," while the avatar simply set aside the scanner and shut down the medical computer. "I'm sorry Harper. If you are different, I can't find any indication of it. And without more details from you, I don't know what else to look into."
"Yeah, yeah," Harper mumbled as she left. "Thanks, Rommie."
He rubbed his eyes, small flashes of light erupting in the darkness behind his eyelids from the pressure on his optic nerves dazzling. He let his hands drop, and simply rested, letting his eyes recover before he opened them. When he did, he was looking directly into Trance's eyes.
"Whoa!" Harper jumped, almost falling from the medical bed. "You scared the crap out of me, Trance."
"What are you doing here, Harper? You should be in engineering."
"I've got a little problem. Okay, not so little, which *is* the problem, but..."
"You have no medical problems, Harper," and there wasn't the faintest doubt of that fact in her voice.
"Okay, so maybe it's not technically a *problem*," Harper admitted, "but something's different about me, and..."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure!" Harper sat up. "It's this strange... swelling, or something. I don't care what my medical records say, it's *different.* I mean, I know I haven't used it much lately - or in years - but believe me, a guy knows all about his..." he trailed off, blushing again.
Trance's expression would have looked innocent had she still been purple, but since her transformation to gold, she couldn't quite pull it off. "We did just visit a place where the physical is mutable, and only consciousness is real."
"So?" Harper asked slowly, his brow furrowing.
"Beka reclaimed the Maru because of the intensity of her desires. Perhaps something similar happened for you."
"Okay," Harper began, his eyes narrowing as he visibly considered that, "I grok that. Sort of. But between confronting Mr. Lava Lamp, rescuing Beka, and facing down Tyr, growing a couple extra inches wasn't exactly the first thing on my mind - let alone the *only* thing on my mind, let alone Dylan's and Rhade's... unless there's something about Captain Hormone's tastes I don't know. That the uber would want it - and want *me*... now *that* I can believe, even if there was already plenty of the Harper to go around. But despite what Rommie might think, I'm not *that* obsessed. I don't remember having a single thought about this, and I doubt Rhade did either."
"I didn't say they were *your* desires."
Harper's eyes widened, as he realized what she was implying. "You...?" then fell silent as she gripped him - *hard* - through the fabric of his pants.
"You're not quite ready yet, but you will be," Trance commented conversationally. "Soon. And believe me, I can hardly wait."
"But I thought you and Dylan..." Harper began, as he tried to edge away, but Trance halted his flight with a warning squeeze.
"Dylan is important to me because of his mission," Trance scolded. "We are not, and will never be, lovers."
Harper's expression grew odd at that revelation - half relieved, half confused, and half angered that he'd been all but abandoned by his best friend, even after her pretty words in the crawlspace about how they could have something new and better after she'd changed places with her younger self. Now, to discover that she didn't even have guilt over having sex with Dylan as an explanation for her insensitivity to him... Considering the math of his feelings, it was no wonder he had an odd look on his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but never got the chance.
Trance silenced him before he could say a word. She seized him by the neck with her free hand, locking him in place, and before he could move or make a sound, kissed him. Harper's eyes bulged as her tongue speared into his mouth, stroking itself against his as her lips dominated him. "Tra..." he tried to say, but her mouth muffled his words.
"Ssshhhh..." she whispered, drawing back from him momentarily. "Trust me," she smiled, then kissed him again, all but devouring his lips in her passion.
Although he was stunned by the ardent assault, after a bit, Harper slowly began to respond. His tongue began returning some of the caresses hers provided, and one hand slipped through the tangles of her dreadlocks to cradle the back of her head.
Trance's eyes burned, first with desire, then as his hand slipped under the front flap of her leather tunic to caress her stomach, with actual fire. As her eyes illuminated from within, Harper's eyes rolled back in their sockets and he slumped to the bed, unconscious. "I didn't think you could handle it, yet..." she murmured, more to herself than to the unconscious human.
Breathing heavily, Trance fought to bring her emotions under control as her skin tingled with the memory of his touch. Despite her efforts, her eyes remained afire as her nostrils drank in his scent with every heaving breath. Closing her eyes, she concentrated, and after long minutes of the self-imposed sensory deprivation, she felt her heartbeat slow to something approaching normal levels, the flame of her passion banked to a pleasant glow.
Sighing in mixed relief and regret, Trance recovered her composure, and as she opened her eyes, the fire within them faded. Attempting to remain dispassionate, she carefully opened the fasteners that sealed Harper's pants and peeked inside. "Nice," she murmured, pleased at the results of her interference. Her mind drifted in reminiscence as she redressed the unconscious engineer.
When she'd found the growth on the end of *that* branch of her bonsai a few months back, she'd been honestly shocked - an emotion that came all too seldom, but was never more welcome than in this circumstance. She'd almost dropped her mister, her surprise at the discovery had been so great, yet she'd managed to control her reaction, fearing that it was but a phantom potential, one doomed never to bloom. Yet ever since, as she'd cared for the plant with an ever more fanatical devotion, lavishing it with even more love and attention than her usual, it had responded eagerly to her care - as had the growth. It had continued to develop until it was recognizably a bud - not quite ready to bloom, but *very* close.
To say that Trance was different from other beings was an understatement, and while she certainly cared for Harper... Well, the spirit was willing, but they were simply biologically incompatible, no matter that the physical attributes were superficially similar (no matter how body-conscious Harper was, the Maru was simply too small to avoid exposing *some* skin from time to time, and Trance had made an effort to look), and consequently nothing would ever have happened.
After all, copulation without the possibility of conception was just... dirty. Even though she had been alone for a very long time, she had no intention of breaching that taboo despite the fact that the only compatible being she had ever found over the course of her centuries of wandering was her brother. While Flux was a nice enough entity, mating with a relative was something she had even less interest in than unprocreative sex. Trance suppressed the shudder that spread from her spine at the very thought of it as she rested her fingers atop the bulge in the front of Harper's pants, revolted by the icky concept.
Regardless of her feelings on the matter of casual sex, the proto-bud on her bonsai had been inexplicable - and impossible - and yet it *was*... or at least could eventually be. It had seemed impossible to Trance until they'd found the Route of Ages... and then she had begun to make sense of things.
It had been so *hard* to remain silent about the possibilities, what the reward for her long years of quiet service could be. And when they'd reached the threshold, and had travelled the Route of Ages, she'd had her opportunity. The very instant of their arrival at the abyss - even before imposing a framework for perception to keep her friends sane in the very alien universe - she had made the small changes that were necessary. And then they'd survived their encounter with the Spirit of the Abyss. And she'd recreated the ship and her friends in their universe of origin. And the bud on her bonsai was almost ready to flower. Only now, Harper was no longer incompatible with Trance.
She smiled as the flesh under her fingertips twitched, responding to the gentle caresses she'd been bestowing while lost in thought. Reluctantly, she pulled her hand away, and contemplated the unconscious Harper. The physical changes had been almost negligible - they were, after all, fairly close already - but the opportunity to make it *perfect*, sized to perfectly fit her and only her (with her admittedly not quite human) physiology, had been irresistible. But even after her manipulations he was still human. More or less.
Moaning, Harper turned on his side, and his eyelids half opened, affording Trance a brief glimpse of the essence that he now contained, visible as a glimpse of infinity, before his eyes closed once more. She hadn't had to alter him much; just enough to make him... compatible.
Dylan had no idea what he'd done when he'd given every possible universe except this one into her care. "I can hardly wait," Trance breathed, her eyes flaring into momentary life as a vision of stars coalescing from the primordial fires of creation was revealed in the windows of her eyes, the orbs shaping themselves into the familiar spirals of galaxies until an entire universe was contained within her eyes. After all, many of the possible universes didn't have stars, planets, or galaxies - *yet* - and thanks to destiny's champion, it was now her responsibility to fill them, since after all... the lack of a material universe in a dimension was a problem, which was now her responsibility to resolve.
"Rest well, lover," Trance breathed, gently kissing Harper on the forehead. "Starting very soon now, I'm going to be keeping you busy for a *very* long time. Though perhaps I'll let you rest every seventh day. It's traditional, after all... and I am seeking the *perfect* possible future."
And as Trance left the medical bay, the soon-to-be father of a million universes, and all the stars therein, smiled in his sleep.
The End