Tricked-Part 2

Sorry for the delay; I wasn't sure where I wanted this to go. Now, I do. Just to let you know, this will be a Trance/Harper friendship, since he seemed to lack any friendships on Seefra. Spoilers for a lot of the earlier episodes of the first and second seasons. This story is before Rommie comes back in avatar form, and before Trance gets her memory back.

Harper ducked a blow from a broken chair, as his assailant swung it with all his might. The chair missed him, but another attacker tripped him from behind. Harper sprawled on the ground with two angry men looking down on him.

Harper looked beyond them, to the unresponsive tables. Rhade was beating on a guy; Dylan was talking quietly to a local. Doyle was serving beer to a back table, as Beka watched the scene in front of her with disinterest. Trance was standing in the shadows, watching with confusion, as she tried to remember who these people were. Once Rhade finished knocking the guy unconscious, he sat back down, and continued drinking.

Something snapped in Harper. The knowledge that none of his friends cared that he was being ganged up on and beaten to death made him break. With renewed fury, Harper tripped one of the guys towering over him, then elbowed the other. The bar was quiet, watching the kludge who usually let himself get beaten up, fight back. He sprang up, tears of sadness and hatred burning down his cheeks. Turning on his heel, he left the bar without a backwards glance.

His boots crunched as he made his way to the docking port. Rundown space ships sat permanently in the spots, waiting for owners to return. Once he had left the bar, none of his so called 'friends' came after him to offer him comfort or reassurances. He was alone on Seefra, just as he had been for the last 3 years.

Once Miranda had made that offer, Harper had been of two minds. Part of him wanted to leave and not look back. The other part kept telling him he couldn't leave his friends. He had stuck with that idea, remembering how they had always been there for him, and how he couldn't abandon them now. But he hadn't been the first to leave. They had left him in spirit. How many times did they stop by to help him with the bar, ask him about his newest project, or just talk to him? The only times they even noticed him was to yell at him to fix something or to give them more alcohol they don't appreciate.

It didn't bother him too much that they now joined in on beating him. Rhade, he could understand. Nietzscheans always looked out for #1, and if that meant hurting others, it was justified, even for a Nietzschean who drank, which Nietzscheans frowned upon because it dulled the senses that kept them alive and in charge. It didn't break his heart that he was the scapegoat for their problems. He had been one for most of his life, and he was used to it. It was the indifference. That they didn't care. Even on Earth, there would always be someone to help you get out of trouble; a human friend or even a cat once. Even when he had been alone, it had been fine. It was that there were people there, but they didn't care; that they watched without even flinching. That was a new experience for him.

There had been a time when every one of his friends would have joined in the fight in their own way, watched his back, then afterward ask him if he was alright. Not any more. There was a time when they would have died protecting him, and he would do the same. Not any more. There was a time in his past when he would have stayed for them, and not given up hope that they would return to their normal caring selves. Not any more.

Harper spotted a small slip-fighter amongst the crowd of rust buckets loosely called 'ships'. Relief washed over him at the thought that he could finally leave this hell hole that was almost as bad as Earth.

Trance stood in the shadows of the bar, as she watched the people that claimed to be her friends of many years. Her memories were hazy, and their names escaped her. Only her basic 'human' nature remained, like being nice to people. Well, her so-called-friends weren't. She watched as one of her 'friends' was beaten up, and how her other friends just sat around. It made her angry for some reason.

She watched as something happened inside of the guy, and saw him fight back. All of the sudden, she was ambushed by quick flashes of memories of him, though there was no sound. The guy hugging her after he saw she was alive, when they first found the Andromeda. The dude calling her an 'enigma', while he was lying on the table, being smarter than he usually was. The man lying on a medical table, and shooting up screaming, while she tried to comfort him, telling him that he had been infested with Magog eggs.

Trance gasped, as the slides of her memories faded away. She tried to make them come back, but they floated away. She sensed she had a strong bond of friendship with him, and a deeper sense of fear deep inside herself that she couldn't place. Quickly and quietly, she left the bar, and followed him.

Harper waved at Miranda, who was sitting in the pilot's chair, looking down on him through the front glass. She waved him in, smiling with a bit of something Harper couldn't place. Satisfaction? Superiority? Gloating?

He was about to step in, when his yellow friend came bouncing down the alley. Her blonde hair in soft yet firm curls bounced around with her, a few strands covering her troubled eyes. The light brown leather outfit hugging her closely, as she hovered a few feet away from him.

"Don't go."

Harper cocked his head to one side, looking at her in confusion, shock, and sadness. That had to have been one of the only times she had spoken to him on Seefra.

"I...have to."

Trance flinched, as another memory slide flitted past her eyes: Her asking him if he remembered anything from the library about her kind, giving him a peck on the cheek when he only had a week to live, having him distrust her newer self, and her giving him a can of Sparky Cola, telling Harper that their new relationship won't be the same, but it can be better.

Trance's eyes widened. She remembered his name. The first real solid thing she remembered. Seamus Zelazny Harper, super freakin' genius. His saying popped into her head. 'Trust in the Harper, the Harper is good.'

"Harper..."

Harper did a double take at his old friend. "You remember my name!"

"Yes. Seamus Zelazny Harper, genius. I remember you."

Trance started to jump up and down, clapping her innocent hands together, a big smile on her face. She giggled, her hair bouncing with her. "I remember! I REMEMBER!"

She pounced on him, enveloping him in a hug. That was the first time Harper had felt loved on Seefra, for these 3 long years. Doyle had protected him, but as soon as Dylan had come, she had gotten mad at him for making her feel human. Rommie was angry at him for continuing to keep her on. Everyone seemed to be mad at him, except now. His previously purple pixie-turned gold, red dreadlock warrior-turned into his forgetful yellow angel remembered him. He had been the first person or thing she remembered. He meant something enough to her for her to remember. Then, all thoughts of leaving the Seefra system forever, left his mind. Without a backward glance, he put his arm around his happy princess' shoulder, and walked off in the direction of his bar, and temporary home, happy and content for the first time in a long time, with one of his patented lopsided grins that had not been seen for at least 3 years.

The servant of the Abyss watched from her slip-fighter, cursing. She knew she couldn't force him on the ship. Her master wanted him to come willingly, to join him willingly, with the promise of not getting eaten or infested with Magog. She had failed, and she feared the consequences.

She materialized back to her Master, fearing his wrath.

The Abyss hissed at his ex-best servant, anger burning in his veins. 'You failed. You! The best. He slipped past your nets. You FAILED!'

He waved his arm, sending an electrical shock through her, killing her effectively, just like Jaeger and Satrina. His fiery eyes watched the distant stars, as he thought, 'You are good, Harper.'

Well, I hoped you liked it! I never took a stab at writing about Trance not remembering, and it was fun writing about different key times during the series between the two. I realize that I covered two 'different' Trances' memories (the purple and gold), but please, bear with the episodes. Sorry if I spelled 'Jaeger and Satrina' wrong. You know who I mean; the two Abyss' servants sent after Harper for the library. Special thanks to my mom, who beta-read this for me!