Through the Looking Glass

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Chapter 15: Repairs

"Chance is the providence of adventurers"
-Napoleon Bonaparte, Ancient Earth Emperor.

He didn't know how long they'd been asleep, but it was the touch of her hand lightly moving down his chest that brought him back into conscious awareness. The lingering feel of her fingertips danced across his skin long after her hand had left him. He could feel her watching him, hear her soft breathing, hear her sighs.

Moving his arm slowly down the bed he could feel her lingering body heat still clinging to the sheets.

Telemachus could stay where he was forever. But sooner of later Emily and the midget would undoubtedly return and ruin the plan of bed and keeping Beka firmly on her back. Hell, the woman really could use it. She had looked nothing but tense for the past few days. The only time she had actually looked relaxed was when she was sleeping against him. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been in a position like this. A woman curled up to his side sleeping peacefully; if it had ever happened at all.

Want. Take. Have.

That was the motto of the Drago-Kazov (right above a few other mottos). But that one had always had the most merit and led to a lot of attacks from his people. It had always made sense from a Nietzschean standpoint. He had the proof sitting up in bed right now didn't he?

He should have taken her with him eight years ago. It would have saved him many sleepless and frustrated nights if he had...though she had been pregnant afterwards...had she been brought back as his mistress, the Matriarchs would have had it terminated. An Alpha impregnating a slave before a wife, had he wives and many children already it wouldn't have mattered; but he didn't.

An strange feeling took up residence in his chest at a few of his stray thoughts. Mistress, slave...would that have been it? Was that it? Their situation was indeed an odd one. Backwards, messed up, upside down. Normally she'd have been serving him instead of ordering him. She was the Captain of this tin ship anyway, though he doubted he'd follow any of her direct orders unless they were viable to his survival. He conceded so far to her as far as the run of the ship though.

Hmmm.

He almost laughed. The only female Drago-Kazov who did anything close to what Beka did were sterile. Something she was far from...and he missed it.

He missed her pregnancy. He missed her grow large with his child, the birth of his First Daughter, her first years of life.

First words, first steps, first violent outburst.

He'd wanted Beka for years and now she was finally, rightfully his. Her ship was his territory; under his protection from others of his Pride; though with the look of the ship, it hardly needed to worry about the Drago-Kazov. Mandau Pride on the other hand, well, they'd go after anything that looked easy. Though for a clapped out old wreck, he had to admit that the Eureka Maru was more than it looked. Had it been working properly, Beka may have very well made it to slipstream and out of the system before he could catch her.

But here he was. And Red wasn't going anywhere. He resisted the urge to grin at that thought as his hand sneaked silently over the bedding towards Beka's bare back.

Maybe Cyrus was right. Maybe he was a possessive bastard. But how else was there to be?

He wanted her and with a little prodding and reminding she more than wanted him too. She could have shot him the moment he came on board but she didn't. He didn't know why, but he felt like he was getting a chance at something.

Speaking of feeling, he seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. And he didn't think he liked it. What ever happened to the old days of sex, food, and fighting? What was Beka doing to him? And if this train of thought continued, what would happen to him in the long term. Would there be a long term? Of course. Beka was his.

Shrugging off all his thoughts, Telemachus turned his attention to his confusing woman as she jumped at his unexpected touch and turned to face him. He loved the feel of her skin, her back was smooth and soft and the cute, unsure look she was giving him didn't hurt either.

>>>

When Beka had awoken from her post-coital nap, the first thing she became aware of was the hard chest beneath her cheek and then the slight soreness between her legs as she tried to move.

So much for restraint.

Why was it that she couldn't stop herself from diving in recklessly wherever Telemachus was concerned? She hadn't been the one to start it this time but she'd given up on trying to resist him the second he touched her.

Why was that?

Whatever this thing was that she thought she might feel for him, she had to pinpoint it or either get over it fast. He was fire. And she was playing with it. Just the warmth of his skin made her hesitant to leave his side.

Moving carefully so as to not wake him, Beka slowly sat up, wrapping the covers around her chest as she looked down at her bedmate. It was only now that she could really observe him without him catching her gaze.

Beka couldn't help it when her hand reached out and ran itself lightly over Telemachus's tanned muscled chest. It amazed her how he could feel so soft when he looked so hard.

She sighed. What was she doing? Removing her hand, she stared ahead of her at the bulkhead as her line of thought continued. This couldn't happen again, no matter how good it might have been, or how big of an understatement that was, or how he made her feel when he was moving within her, so full and complete. But it couldn't happen again. She was resolved. But in order to do that she'd have to show some restraint.

If Telemachus would even let her.

It was far too soon to get involved again after the fiasco that was Bobby Jensen, even though their relationship seemed to have been pretty much over and done with long before she kicked him off her ship, to her anyway. And further more, crawling into bed with a Nietzschean of all people in the universe was always a bad idea. They were possessive, their expectations for perfection were too high, and she didn't even know Telemachus's real motives. Sure he claimed they were boredom, but there had to be something else. Another reason why he was willingly separating himself from the other Drago-Kazov, for a ragtag salvage team...of all people. She wanted him to just stop confusing her. Though considering their past relations and the fact that he had fathered her child, the fact that he seemed...fond...of Emily. Beka was certain her confusion wouldn't lessen for a while.

Beka jumped when she felt something warm press against her back, turning sharply to face Telemachus she watched him as his hand traced patterns along her back, the warmth from his hand spreading up her spine, her heart rate quickening.

It definitely would have been a brighter idea to have not fallen into bed with him, what the hell was she supposed to say? Would they start having awkward silences around each other? Would she?

She was just about to open her mouth to try and form a sentence when Telmachus's hand made it to her side and unknowingly touched an overly-sensitive spot that caused her to jerk away and stifle a laugh.

"You're ticklish?" Telemachus raised an eyebrow.

"A little, why-ah!" Beka yelled as he ran his finger down her side. Giggling she tried unsuccessfully to swat his hand away as he continued with his new found discovery. Falling back onto the bed to try and get rid of him Beka soon found herself pressed into the mattress by a hard body as his lips descended on hers.

Giving into one kiss, Beka couldn't help it when she laughed against his lips. She could still feel his lingering touch against her ribs.

"You're still laughing?"

She cleared her throat. "Chmm, yes."

"Mmmm." Telemachus settled for a trail of kisses against her jaw to a spot under her ear that made her melt into him. So much for awkward silence. He breathed in her scent as one of his hands trailed down her leg.

It was that wandering hand that brought Beka out of her momentary lapse in resistance, remembering her new revelation Beka slapped the hand making its way between her thighs. "Hey! None of that!"

She was bit surprised when he laughed and didn't press like he had earlier, but instead opted to lay close to her like a large cat. His stray hand settled for resting on her hip, his thumb drawing lazy patterns.

She never ceased to amuse him. The lithe woman that he held in his arms was something else. Something as simple as making her laugh touched a cord in him somewhere, though he managed to brush it off as a comparison as a Nietzschean woman rarely laughed at anything except in spite.

"What do you do?"

"What?"

"This ship of yours, I take it's for cargo. Is that all you do?"

"Pretty much. I am a salvage runner. We find things, move things, sell what we bring in, pick up profit for those we're running for. That's life out here for us. I could have stayed with my family planetside but I missed space."

"Can't blame you. Enga's Redoubt isn't much to look at."

"It wasn't that the planet we settled on wasn't nice, but it just...wasn't home. The Maru was."

"As you said before."

Beka nodded against his chest. It was odd how they could just shift into things. "Yeah, so I took off, met some people, found Harper and did what my dad did the majority of my life."

"This was his ship then?"

"He built it with my uncle."

"Is that why you're so touchy about it?"

"This ship is a labour of love, even Harper will tell you that. Hell if it were possible to marry a ship, Harper probably would."

Telemachus snorted. "Humans."

"Speaking of, wait, what time is it?"

"The time is 16:42." Came the mechanical male voice of the Maru.

"Oh shit." Telemachus managed to grab Beka by the waist before she got too far from him.

"Hey!"

"The rush would be?"

"The rush? Harper and Emily should have been back by now that's the rush and if I'm not mistaken half of my clothes are in the corridors!"

Telemachus laughed and let her go, watching as she fumbled with her pants and boots before grabbing a tank top and running out in search of her other clothes. Lacing his hands together behind his head, Telemachus relaxed on the bed. He'd get up in a minute.

>>>

"Finally decided to join me?" Beka asked as she stood by one of the open outer doors. Telemachus gave her a half-smile before he stood behind her and looked out at the dismal port of Talikov.

"This really is an ugly drift."

"Could have taken us to Olivares."

"Sensors. Reputation. No."

Beka shook her head. She'd deal with him and what happened later, but for now she just hoped that Harper had managed to get what they needed to make slipstream. Though if the A/P valve had gone on them again, which she desperately hoped it hadn't, they'd need a replacement and finding one that didn't come from Vasily was not going to be pretty. Though stealing a glance behind her, no, she shook her head. She wasn't going to use Telemachus to threaten a dirty merchant...or was she? All the times she had to put up with their price gouging and come on's, it just might be worth it. He was...kind of hers, wasn't he? A little of a wild card maybe, but he was under her roof, and being a Drago-Kazov he might find it delightfully fun.

"What?"

"Huh?"

"You're smiling," said Telemachus.

"Oh it's um, nothing."

Beka walked behind him and paced around a bit. They should be here, unless they're still haggling or...if they got into trouble. Maybe she should have just taken Telemachus and got the parts herself...running footsteps on the Maru's ramp caught her attention and caused her to turn.

"Mom!"

Telemachus smirked as the child ran into Beka causing her to slightly lose balance as she was hugged around the middle. The kid was talking nonstop and had yet to notice him leaning against the wall beside the door. It sounded like the she and the little midget had gotten themselves into trouble after all. Pushing himself off the wall, Telemachus made his way over to his girls.

"...and then he tripped and then..."

"Beka?"

The redhead looked up as an unfamiliar yet familiar female voice called her name. Her mouth dropped open as she recognized who was calling her.

Trance smiled as she walked in with Harper. Her smile widened even more at Emily hugging onto her mother with her father right there beside them. So he was here, they did meet up. Even better.

Beka blinked and did a double take at the purple woman before her, "Trance?"

"It's so good to see you again Beka. I told you we'd meet again."

"You know her?" Emily asked with Harper coming out of his daze to ask the same thing.

"Yeah I do," said Beka moving forward to engulf Trance in a hug. "It doesn't look like you've changed at all."

"No, but you have. You really have grown, and so has Emily."

"What?" asked the confused child leaning against Telemachus.

"Ah, well she's-"

"Purple," interrupted Telemachus, giving the alien an odd look.

"Isn't she? She's beautiful," said Harper only to receive a look from the Nietszchean.

"Well maybe not to a Nietzshean, but I'm in love."

"You're always in love," said Emily.

"Oh come one, not all the time, but whenever a truly bodacious-"

"She was the midwife?"

"That would be me."

Beka couldn't help laugh. "Yeah, Trance was the one here when Emily was born."

"She was here when I was born?"

"Yep."

"Oh. Weird."

Beka's smile wouldn't go away. The look on Telemachus's face was priceless, Harper was ignoring everything but Trance, and Emily was trying not to look curious about the whole thing.

"So what are you doing on Talikov?" she asked turning to the purple woman.

"Oh just this and that. But there is something I want to ask you later when we can talk."

"We can do that now. Harper, Harper?" snapping to get his attention, Beka continued, "Harper, I need a full damage report on when we need and also what you got and how much you can fix with it. Repair what you can and then come talk to me."

"Uh, yeah, right, boss."

"And you two," she pointed at Telemachus and Emily, "behave and watch each other."

Telemachus crossed his arms and glared while Emily rolled her eyes.

Beka led Trance into the ship, after closing the outer hatch, and led her to the cockpit while the others just stood where they were.

"Aren't you supposed to be somewhere, Tiny?"

"What? Tiny?" Harper gave the Nietzschean an insulted look.

"Yeah, you. Repairs."

"I'm going, but you should know that I can't love straight when I'm in think."

Telemachus looked at his daughter. "Is he always like this?"

"Yup, better get used to it."

>>>

"So I was able to get most of what needed for minor damage but it'll still take a lot more time seeing as there's only one of me. Brilliant, talented, and handsome as I am, not to mention an incredible super genius, I am still only one cute, little guy," said Harper, "anywho, the engines still need a big repair job, I don't want to say replacement-"

Beka put her face in her hands.

"-I said I didn't want to say it, but I did have to jury rig a few parts to hold out for the trek here no thanks to Mr. Shoot First and Let the Humans Go Later-"

Telemachus crossed his arms and glared at Harper.

"-but the point is, the second engine will probably come apart if we slipstream and if it doesn't it will continue to fail until not even I, Seamus Zelazny Godlike Powers Harper, will be able to fix it. So the outer rims have to go as well as anything that was cracked along the fissure lines. And then there's the hole in the cargo hold-"

Beka let out a small groan.

"-that has to be patched up before we can start hauling cargo and getting paid. Though we can't repair anything unless we have creds and we can't get a lot of those if we're not working but to be able to do that we need a hold that will, you know hold cargo. And um...there might be a little problem with the A/P valve..."

Harper winced as Beka let out a pained groan. "What kind of problem?"

"Um, well seeing as it's been jury rigged for the last six months..."

"You can't jury rig an A/P valve!" snapped Telemachus, giving Harper a horrified look.

"Well maybe you can't, but it's nothing this little genius couldn't figure out. And if you don't want to take the chance with it, it might last for a few more months..."

"And kill us all in the process if it were to sustain anymore damage."

"Thank you for that Mr. Positive."

Beka groaned again as Emily patted her arm. "I don't want to fix things here. Do you know how much this will cost? How much that A/P valve alone will cost?"

"I know boss, but-"

"Um...I might be able to help," voiced Trance.

Four sets of eyes turned to the newest member of the Maru crew.

"Before you let me come aboard I just finished finding something for someone..."