Dead Men Don't Cry

A/N: Surprise, surprise! A Rommie POV chap. This is more android Rommie than hologram, but of coarse they are cahoots with each other. As always, reviews are much apreachated =)


Chapter Three - Complete Denile

"Battle Stations"

Good, that should shut them up for a while. And if that doesn't... well I suppose I could always vent part of the ship.

Liar. Dylan didn't do anything to him. He's not like that. Everything was mutual. I should know - I watched. And no, there is nothing wrong with that. It's my job to keep an eye on things for security reasons. Yes, that was actually a security threat. I mean, after all, Tyr was involved, wasn't he?

Maybe too invd. Bd. But that's Dylan's progative. If he wants a Nietzschean, fine, let him have a Nietzschean. It doesn't bother me in the least. He'll come around, one day. I hope.

And there he is - my captain. Standing there at one of the many consols, running some basic maintnance checks one of the few that isn't automatic. He shouldn't be doing that - Tyr should. Its notth hth his time. But instead Tyr is off, blaming everything on someone else. His specialty - it's *never* his fault, except pretty much everyday when he screws up and has to blame it on Dylan or Harper.

He's an annoying little nuisance. Sometimes I wonder why Dylan tolarates him at all - oh wait, I almost forgot. Him and Dylan. Several times a week. Sometimes several times a day. No, I'm still not bothered at all. Just because Tyr is a two faced Nietzschean that is continuely plotting Dylan's downfall and I have been completely loyal and loving even before I was an android... Doesn't mean I'm wraught with jealousy or anything.

Ok, maybe I am. A little bit. Not a lot. I can control my feelings. That's what makes me better than Tyr. I don't go off and complain about how I'm treated, do I? I mean, sometimes Dylan can be a little harsh to him, but it's only because of all the stress. He is the only real High Guard captain left. All the responsibility that sits on his shoulders... Tyr should try to be more understanding. After all, he barely carries hisght ght around here. Killing things. That's pretty much Tyr's recomendations, right there.

Oh look, there he is. The man, well Nietzschean, of the hour. Tyr Anazazi. The one that made that really big hole in my hull. Also the one that tried to have my captain murdered. He should be ashamed to show his face on the bridge. Oh wait, he already is. I nearly forgot his hour long sob story. And right behind him is Harper. Poor Harper. Too bad he had to listen to that. Must have been boring, except he didn't really seem bored. He seemed really emotional, actually, which is unusual for him. Especially in front of Tyr. Hmm... Maybe Tyr's moving on, finding greener pastures, as if there was such a thing. Can't say that the thought upsets me.

So here we all are. Dylan, Beka, Trance, Harper... Tyr. And everyone except Dylan is staring at me. Oh! Right! Almost forgot, the red alert.

"Uhmmm... so... where's the emeregency?" Harper asks. He looks confused.

"Sorry! False alarm!" I assure him as I turn back to what I was doing, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. Hmmm. Maybe too cheerful.

"False alarm? Since when do we have false alarms on this ship?" Uh oh. Beka. She sounds sceptical. Sort of annoyed. That's never a good thing.

"Since now," I answer, still retaining my cheerfulness, "Dylan must have accidently triggered something,"

I know of coarse he'll get the cue. He knew what was going on, and I can tell that he's grateful that I stopped it.

"Must have. Sorry, Rommie."

He looks up and smiles. Smart Dylan.

Beka shakes her head and starts to walk away, as if she has something better to do. Trance was already here, and is content to stay. Tyr looks like he would like very much to run off the bridge, but he seems to be trying to play it down. Oddly enough Harper is leaving too.

"So, Mr. Harper... I trust you had an enlightening conversation with Tyr."

Dylan is smiling to himself, still over at his consol. No, wait, that's a smirk. And why in the world did he just say that? Doesn't he know this will just start another fight with Tyr?

Or maybe Harper.

"You little basterd..." He flies at Dylan quicker than I've every seen him do anything before. I move to intercept, but luckily Beka gets there first. I don't want to be in the middle of this.

"Harper!" she calls out as she grabs him and struggles to hold him back. She doesn't look too pleased.

Dylan looks up and turns to him, then starts laughing. Wait, why is he laughing? I don't understand, what is trying to do?

"I'll take that as a yes. So, Tyr, been busy relating to Harper all your adventures on the starship Andromeda? I bet they make good bed time stories."

Tyr growls, and immediatly the whole room seems like its at war. Beka, even though she's holding back Harper, seems to be considering letting him loose. Trance, of coarse, will fall in with the rest of the former Maru crew. If Rev was here he would intervene and stop whatever terrible violent thing is about to happen. So that leaves me. Hmmm... Harper, Tyr, Trance and Beka vs. Dylan. Wait, this is a full out mutuny, well excluding me. I'm the android, what am I suppose to do? Side with the captain, of coarse, but Dylan isn't being Dylan. Something's wrong.

"Stop this. There's no need to get the boy involveunt.unt."

Wow, does he sound angry, and was that Tyr doing something selfless for once?

"Oh, *I* am not the one who got him involved, you are, Tyr. Maybe you're wishing you hadn't gone around bragging?"

No, that's not like Dylan. Something is seriously wrong with him, he wouldn't act like this.

"Bragging isn't exactly the word I would use."

Meanwhile, Trance is looking on, probably assessing the situation, weighing it against whatever future events she's seen, while Harper is continuing to struggle against Beka's strong grasp. More and more it seems like Beka is starting to either let go or weaken, the latter is unlikely though, considering she's twice as strong as Harper.

"No, I guess whining and complaining would more appropriatly describe what you were doing... unless there's something else you were doing to him that you haven't taken the libert tel telling me."

"Dylan!" Captain Valentine sounds about as shocked as I feel right now.

"Let me go Beka! You want a piece of me, Hunt? I'll give you a piece of me!"

"Oh I'm sure you will."

That was uncalled for. Tyr certainly agrees, he's stratigically placed himself between the two humans, almost like he's protecting Harper. Wow, Dylan isn't the only one who isn't acting like himself today.

"If you even consider touching him-"

"A little touchy, aren't we?"

"I'll *touch* you, you fucking-" Harper hisses from behind Tyr, still trying to win his freedom.

"One at a time, gentlemen, please," he says as he begins to laugh again. This is sickening, whatever is happening to him, but he's still Dylan, still my Captain...

That sets Beka off, and suddenly she cuts in between Tyr and Dylan.

"What is your problem? Because whatever it is, if you don't deal with it soon, then *I*
will be your problem.

"Ahh.. Captain Valentine to tescuescue. I was begining to wonder when you'd finally join this two man mutiny attempt."

"Three." Trance walks down the part of the bridge where she had been watching the commotion from. "I'm sorry, Dylan, but all of this has to stop. You have to stop."

"I have to stop what?"

"Stop using people, stop hurting people. You're only really hurting yourself," she tells softly as she joins the line of people apparentlty waiting to kick Dylan's ass. I want to tell her that he's not like this all the time, that Dylan doesn't like hurting and controling everyone around him, but suddenly I realize that I no longer truly believe that. It's not his fault, though. I'm still not sure who's fault it is, but it can't be Dylan's.

Harper, who had been momentarily stunned by his sudden release, and Trance's speech, now charged again towards Dylan, before being intercepted once again. This time by Tyr.


"Let me go! I want to hurt him! I wanna kill him. Come on, Tyr, let me go, dammit!"

"Don't waste your time. Letting him live will be a worse fate then killing him."

Tyr's only using one arm to hold back the human, but after Harper considers the statement he calms down.

"Yeah... let him live... I think I'll do that," he says as his sarcastic grin reappears.

Tyr looks surprised at his small victory.

"Come on, Tyr, let's go. Yo, Beka, come on."

Tyr complies immediatly as they both walk towards the door, but Beka takes a few more minutes to stare Dylan down before joining them. Trance is already way ahead of them and doesn't need to be called. And here I am, about to be left alone with this monster that's impersonating my captain. For the first time I almost feel afraid.

Then Harper turns around, as all his friends walk out the door. He turns and waits for me.

"Rommie?" he questions like he already knows that my answer will be no. I turn towards Dylan, considering. Now I have to make a choice between my creator and my captain. Maybe there is something left of the old Dylan, the one that hadn't been betrayed my his first officer, the one that hadn't been stuck in limbo for 300 years, only to be pulled back out into a universe that is no longer his own. There still might be something left of my Dylan.

He smirks at Harper, and then that horrible laugh resurfaces.

"You think she'll go with you?"

Little does he know that he just made the decision for me.

"I'm sorry, Dylan."

That doesn't even begin to explain how I feel right now, as I fall in step behind Harper, and leave my captain behind.

TBC

A/N: Next chapter's POV remains undecided. Tell me what you think. Review!