Disclaimer: See chapter 1

Unlike my other chapters, this one will not have any song lyrics in it.

Harper landed on the floor hard. His jaw hurt like hell, and though he only got

a glimpse of who is attacker was, but he was sure it was Dylan when he heard him

bellow above him.

"Just what in the Hell do you think you are doing to my ship?!" Dylan screamed.

Harper wasn't sure but he could smell something... tequila, maybe.

Next thing Harper felt was a kick in the ribs. Then a second one in the back.

"Ow! Shit."

"Dylan, stop it," he heard Rommie say before he felt another kick in his ribs.

He felt his body lift slightly from the floor. After that he didn't feel much of

anything, but he heard someone being slammed into the wall.

"Oof!!"

"I said stop it." Harper opened his eyes and saw Rommie had Dylan up against the

wall. "Just what do you think you are doing?"

"I don't want him distracting you from your duties." Dylan's voice sounded

slurred.

"Distracting me? Damn it, I'm capable of performing hundreds of tasks every day

simultaneously. I'm performing most of those tasks right now. What the hell do

you mean, he's distracting me?"

Harper heard footsteps coming fast, followed by a gasp, behind him. "What

happened?"

Rommie looked in Harper's direction, but not at Harper. "Trance. I need you to

take Harper down to med deck and have him checked. Dylan and I need to talk.

Harper felt Trance's hands under his arms, lifting him into a sitting position.

He felt his arm being pulled over her shoulder and his body lifted off the

floor. Slowly, he managed to stand and was directed to the medical deck.

*************

"Hold still Harper," Trance said as she cleaned his cut lip.

Harper tried to keep still, but it was hurting a lot. He didn't need a mirror to

tell him how badly that one punch busted his lip. If the nanobots didn't heal

this cut, he knew Trance would have to do an ancient technique to care for the

wound. It involved a reopening of the wound followed by micro stitches. And

those itched like nobody's business. "It hurts, Trance."

"I know. I'm sorry Harper." Trance pouted as she continued to clean his wound.

"So let me get this straight. Rommie caught you dancing."

Harper winced as Trance applied more antiseptic to his lip. "Ow. Yeah, that's

right."

"And she asked you to dance with her."

"Uh huh."

"And then she kissed you, then Dylan punched you."

"That's about it in a nutshell."

"I don't believe you." Trance tossed a blood soaked cloth into a bowl. She

looked a little angry.

"Trance, I'm not lying to you. That's really how it happened."

Trance made a face. "Look, the scanner said you have a couple of cracked ribs

and I need to inject the nanobots. Can you open your shirt please?"

Harper sighed. He had a feeling no one would believe him, even his best friend,

if he told her what happened. Without further argument he opened up his shirt.

************

Rommie pushed Dylan into his quarters. She was so angry it took her a few

moments to process the condition of his room. Dylan's normally neat and

organized quarters looked as if they had been ransacked. Tables and chairs were

overturned, a few pictures were broken, and even the picture of Sara he kept on

his desk was smashed. A broken bottle of tequila was on the floor; its contents

were spilled onto the carpet.

"Just what were you thinking, Captain?" she demanded.

Dylan turned, a bit unsteadily to Rommie. She didn't know what made him steady

enough to beat up on Harper, adrenaline or whatever it was, but it was gone now.

Now he just seemed tired, perhaps even a bit shaky.

"Rommie, I ... he was ..."

"He was an invited guest to my quarters for coffee, Dylan. I don't need to tell

you what I do with my off time, let alone with who." Rommie put her hands on her

hips. "Now, do you want to tell me why you decided to use him as a punching

bag?"

Dylan looked genuinely hurt. He moved close to Rommie. She could still detect

the smell of tequila on his breath. "You're my ship." He moved in to kiss her,

but she turned her head.

"Captain, you can't. Commonwealth protocol..."

"Don't you ever get tired of protocol?" He looked at her, his eyes bloodshot.

"I don't get tired, sir." Rommie didn't feel comfortable with this all of a

sudden. If Dylan tried to touched her in his state, it was bound to affect their

professional relationship. So Rommie gently placed her hand on his chest and

pushed him away from her. "Dylan, you need to rest. Please."

Surprisingly Dylan backed off and headed for bed without another word. Rommie

made a face and headed for the medical deck.

*************

When Rommie reached medical, Harper was asleep. She stood there and watched him

as he slept, his breathing deep and slow like a child's. The top three buttons

of his shirt were open and there were a few small bloodstains on his shirt.

Trance was in the back cleaning up. Rommie decided to talk to her first.

"So how is he?"

Trance turned to Rommie. "He'll be ok in another hour or so. He has a couple of

cracked ribs, a bruised jaw and a busted lip, but the nanobots are taking care

of it. How is Dylan?"

"Drunk. And I think it's my fault, Trance." Rommie sat down.

Trance finished putting the instruments away. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go on."

"When you asked me to teach you how to dance today, was it so you could dance

with Harper?"

"Yes. I wanted to impress him. He created me, and I wanted to say thank you."

"Is that why you kissed him?" Trance sat down and looked at her.

"Partly. I think I may be attracted to him. It's kind of like he grows on you."

Rommie rested her head in her hands.

"I know what you mean. When I met Harper, I didn't like him that much because he

seemed way too selfish. But he can be really sweet too. Like that time when some

guy tried to hit on me in a bar, and wouldn't take no for an answer. He asked me

to whip him with my tail, and Harper got so mad he stood up to him. And the guy

was twice his size. He could have been killed."

Rommie tilted her head and noticed that Trance's tail was twitching more than

usual. "You like him."

Trance made a face Rommie couldn't quite read into. "I like everyone here.

Harper is my best friend."

Rommie nodded and looked over at Harper. "I'll stay with him and make sure he

gets back to his quarters. You go to bed."

Trance stood to go. When she got to the door, Rommie said, "Trance, thank you

for the lesson today. And for treating Harper."

"Anytime."

*************

Harper opened his eyes and found himself in med deck again. What illness did I

wind up with this time, he thought. Then he remembered dancing with Rommie and

Dylan beating him up. I always suspected he had a repressed thing for Rommie,

but damn...

"Hey", he heard Rommie's voice say. She was still in that dress.

"Hey beautiful." Harper sat up and found his ribs hurt only a little bit. "How

long was I asleep?"

"About an hour or so. I sent Trance to bed."

"What about Dylan?"

"He's sleeping off the tequila right about now. How do you feel?"

"Like crap. So, is this going to happen every time I get to dance with you?"

Rommie smiled. "I hope not." Rommie took a seat next to Harper on the bed with

her back turned to him. "I'm sorry he punched you."

"It's ok. You can't control anyone you know." Harper tried to smile, but winced.

His lip still hurt. "I kind of wondered how he felt for you."

"I had no idea. He was drunk when he punched you, so I still don't know for

sure." Rommie started to rub her hands slowly as if she was applying lotion to

them. "I noticed when I kissed you earlier, you tensed. Did I do something

wrong?"

"No. It was... unexpected. I'm used to you rejecting me with some witty remark,

not kissing me. So now what?"

Rommie continued to look ahead. "Would it hurt your feelings if I told you I

really didn't know?"

Harper scooted over and rested his head on her shoulder. Rommie continued to

look ahead. "Would it complicate your decision if I told you the same thing?"

Rommie shook her head.

"I think Trance likes you."

"I know she does. But she keeps her distance and her past private, and I don't

know how to handle that."

"And I can not pursue anything with Dylan even if I felt something..."

"Which you do." Rommie turned and looked at Harper. "I programmed your facial

expressions and body language, remember? I know what they mean."

"Commonwealth protocol prohibits..."

"Yeah yeah yeah... I know, the protocols have to be upheld, at least between you

two. We had this discussion while I was making your avatar, remember? The point

is, you have the hots for him, and I think he feels the same way for you."

Rommie blinked and processed the implications of this. True, Harper programmed

her movements and facial expressions, but if he could see this, and he's can be

pretty clueless, then what do the others see? "Where does this leave us?"

Harper thought about this for a while. Finally he said, "Close friends? I mean,

a relationship with a babe like you would be like a dream. But, we both have

feelings for other people we have to take care of first, don't we? And I don't

want to hurt you." Harper wrapped his arm around her and gave her a hug.

"Friends." Rommie smiled. "Do we still get to dance on occasion?"

"If you can keep anyone else from beating me up, sure. Do I get to kiss you

again?"

"Maybe, if you behave. I'll walk you to your room."

--END--

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