Through the Looking Glass

Chapter 11: Offer

"All my life I've been waiting
For you to bring a fairytale my way
Been living in a fantasy without meaning.
It's not okay I don't feel safe"
-Ancient Earth Lyrics "Left Outside Alone"

Beka paced the room waiting nervously for something to happen. She had gone from yelling and shouting to pounding on the door before she started her current anxious pacing around the room.

What the hell was going on?

What were they planning to do with them?

And where was Emily? Where was her daughter?

Did they just leave her in the cages while they "dealt with Mommy" first?

Beka tried to calm her breathing before she got too close to hyperventilating. She had no trouble imagining what the Nietzscheans who grabbed her were planning to do. It would be Avilan all over again, she was sure, only this time she would be far from a willing participant. Why else would they toss her in crew quarters?

She ran her hands over her face and tried to come up with some sort of plan. The door was locked obviously, Emily was stuck in a holding cell which she had no idea how to open, and there were at least two Nietzscheans on board, most likely more that the boarding party though.

And Beka also found herself, once again, unarmed. Her gauss gun had been ripped away pretty quickly, she should have remembered just how fast those bastards were.

And strong.

If flying into a tree hadn't taught her anything all those years ago...

"Stupid, idiot Bobby..." muttered Beka. This was all his fault. Trust him to fail to mention that her cargo hold was full of Nietzschean surface-to-air missiles. Perfect. Just damn perfect. And even worse was that she couldn't even open the hold to get rid of them and get the pursuing ship to run into the dump and kill themselves.

Stupid, idiot Bobby.

She swore that if she ever got out of this alive and they ever met again, she would make him pay dearly. Her engineer was hiding somewhere, the Nietzscheans had her ship, her daughter was either still stuck in a cage or worse, and here she was probably going to be...Beka shook her head, not wanting to think about it.

There was no way she was getting out of this one. She should have just stayed on Infinity Atoll where it was safe, none of this would have happened if she had. No Bobby, no causes, no weapons, and definitely no Nietzscheans. Then again, no Harper either unless Bobby found new transport but without her, the kid would have probably been left out on a drift to die. And no thanks to her if he got caught on the Maru, it was back to Earth for him...

"Stupid Bobby...what the hell did I ever see in him..."

Beka jumped back quickly and felt her heart leap into her throat as the door hissed open unexpectedly. So this was it huh? Her reprieve was up and now...

"Mom!"

"Emily?" Beka's eyes widened in shock as she watched her daughter run towards her. She knelt down in a daze as the child threw her arms around her neck.

"Are you okay baby?" Beka snapped out of her daze and pulled Emily back and started inspecting her for injuries.

"I'm fine, mom you'll never..."

"God damn ubers, think they rule the universe..."

"Momma, he said he's..."

"...when we get out of here..."

"MOM!"

"What? I'm right here!" Beka watched Emily raise her eyebrows and motion behind herself. Looking passed her, Beka froze again.

Nietzschean.

Big.

Tall.

Arms folded, head cocked to one side.

Beka felt a chill run down her back but rose to stand at her full height anyway, pulling Emily tight to her side.

"What do you want?"

"What do I want?" he echoed walking closer.

"Look you guys have your weapons back and I would really love to hand you over the guy who stole them from you but I left him back on Talikov," started Beka, "So why don't you give me back my ship, let us go, and go hunt him down okay? Deal?"

"Mom..."

"Not now honey."

Emily huffed and rolled her eyes in frustration before looking at the larger Nietzschean.

Telemachus laughed. "You really haven't changed much."

Every time he took a step closer, Beka took one back pulling Emily with her. He smirked at the odd, confused look she was giving him as he looked her up and down.

She was leaner and taller than he last remembered, her flaming hair pulled back in curls. And her scent was just like it had been before, only more matured; but...there was something else underlying...he bit back a growl. The very stale scent of another man. He felt a twinge of something start up within him, something he didn't like.

The feeling seemed to ebb a bit once he reminded himself that the scent of another was something that could easily be remedied.

>>>

Beka tried to push out a lot of thoughts that were clouding her very confused mind. Did she really want to know what Emily was doing inhere? Why the hell...and why was...well okay she could think of a few reasons why the Nietzschean was staring at her like that...she was thankful that he had stopped trying to move closer to them.

Little did she know that his next words to Emily would completely floor her and bring things back that she had never expected to hear in her current situation.

>>>

Telemachus smiled.

She really didn't recognize him yet. That amused him. She had hardly changed in the eight years since Avilan; he on the other hand, had changed much. He hadn't thought she'd make the connection on their first meeting. She wasn't exactly looking hard.

She was an interest to him all those years ago and after almost a decade of double- checking every single red head he came across, she still was.

Now even more-so.

She had given him a child.

Half-Nietzschean though she may be, and with a name he never would have chosen, the girl was still his. Her mother was his.

And plus he was bored.

"...are you even listening?"

"What?" Telemachus snapped out of his reverie to discover Beka had been speaking to him.

"Figures. Typical Nietzschean too superior to even bother listening to a kludge."

He smirked. She still hadn't lost that edge. Still went against the grain with her sharp tongue and talked back to those much stronger than she was.

"I want an answer."

Telemachus looked down at Emily. "Why don't you wait here while Mommy and Daddy have a little chat?"

>>>

Beka blanched. What did he just say? Mommy and Daddy? That was...he meant...it was just a saying right? Nietzscheans did use those sayings...right?

Any other thoughts she struggled to keep down but found it impossible.

It wasn't him. It couldn't be him.

She watched closely in trepidation as he hit her with a now all too familiar grin.

"Long time no see, huh Red?"

Beka blinked. And blinked again. There couldn't...no, no...this wasn't. Her mouth opened and closed silently as she looked between him and her daughter, and then more closely at him.

"Mom, I tried to tell you, but you weren't listening."

"What?" Beka finally managed.

"When that Nietzschean pulled my hair they tested it and..."

Beka only heard Emily's first sentence as the rest of the sound in the room faded into silence. For the first time she was looking at him. Really looking at him, and found that it was really no wonder that she didn't recognize him earlier. Nietzscheans really do change. The longer hair and beard were definitely a throw off as he was neat and clean- shaven the last time they met. And he had put on a lot more muscle over the years. What could one expect from a Dragan?

"Mom." Beka wondered whether it was her imagination or if her daughter really was pushing her lightly towards the Nietzschean. Her father. Her daughter's father.

Was her child insane? She trusts him just that? No there...a hand being waved in front of her face caught her attention as her mind started back up and into action. When Beka finally snapped out of it she found herself not in the room anymore but in the cold hallway, alone with him

"Oh. Hi." Beka backed up only to find herself hit the solid wall behind her. "Oh god."

"Speaking of god, what in his name possessed you to call her 'Emily'?"

"What?"

"My daughter, that's what."

"What? Excuse me? Your daughter? Nuh uh, no way." Beka felt a swell of anger rise up in her chest. Who the hell did he think he was? Before she even realized it, her arm swung out to hit him, but she quickly found herself pinned tightly against the wall with his body pressed to hers and both hands held beside her head.

"Let's get one thing straight shall we? Emily is my daughter. My child. I carried her, I gave birth to her, and I raised her. You even think about doing anything to her, whatever you do to kids that are half-human, I will kill you to protect her."

"Now that's the Red I know," said Telemachus.

"It's BEKA for your information, not 'Red' or any other of your stupid pet names. My name. is. Beka."

"it suits you and I'm not going to hurt her."

Beka snorted. "Oh really? You mean you don't want to shoot her or blow her out an airlock to get rid of the 'abomination'? That's what you people think of them as, right? Less than human, less than Nietzschean. That they shouldn't exist?"

"Most Nietzscheans also kill their sterile offspring. The Drago-Kazov don't."

"How many Drago-Kazov do you know that take responsibility for their offspring by human females?" she countered.

"None," admitted Telemachus.

"My point exactly."

"And my point was that Nietzschean parents still love their children."

"Except if they're human. Like every pride regardless," said Beka. "What do you want with us?"

"At first to catch our weapon smugglers."

Beka closed her eyes. "I didn't know what they were."

"You didn't know?"

"I thought they were computers. I trusted the person who brought the cargo on board. If you want him, try Talikov."

Telemachus shrugged off her comment. "You and the girl were bonus. I almost didn't believe the DNA results when I saw them. But after looking at her, her parentage is undeniable. Who would have thought that after eight years, you'd be the one to find me."

"What are the odds." Beka turned her head and felt her anger drain as she realized the position she was in. She didn't know exactly what caused it, maybe after everything she had been though, he was finally here for her to lash out at. Whether it was to hurt him or kiss him, she didn't know.

She felt him let go of one of her hands to cup her chin and raise her face so she could look him in the eye.

For everything that had changed him in those eight years, his eyes were the same. They were the exact same shade of hazel that Beka had drowned in during their daughter's conception; and his lips, the shape of his face, the sound of his voice. It really was him.

Before she could do anything else, she was slightly surprised when she felt a pair of lips descend upon her own in a light, exploratory kiss.

Realizing what she was doing before she lost herself, Beka pulled away and turned her head. She heard him make a light sound before he dipped his head to her neck and inhaled her scent.

She had once told Bobby that Emily's father was different. But now faced with the reality, was he really? Would Emily be shipped off to some camp, or trained as a Drago-Kazov killer while Beka spent the rest of her days in his bed, satisfying him over and over again, until neither could move?

What did he want from them?

>>>

He would never grow tired of how she smelt. There was something exotically sweet about her scent that did something to him. Telemachus also hadn't been able to resist tasting her lips again after so many years, it was the same softness of before but this time held restraint and uncertainty as she quickly pulled away from him.

Her future was up to him. The other Nietzscheans on board weren't a problem, they'd go along with just about whatever he wanted even if they'd tried to cover it with groaning, eye rolling, and talks to get him to change his mind. All in all, the only thing they really cared about was his skills as a pilot.

Telemachus had come to a decision as he pulled his head away from Beka's neck and looked down at her.

The corner of his mouth twitched into a smile as he moved her face to once again look up at him, "I have an offer for you..."

>>>

A/N: New reviewers! Thank you so much Saphirephoenix, angelsdee, Val, and Silver for your comments. It's great to know you're all reading it!