"Harper, there is a way. You know what it is as well as I do." Trance told him, her voice full of emotion.

He stared at her in horror. Beka was dead, Rommie was dead, everything he loved was gone. But he still didn't know if he could bring himself to do it.

"Harper, it's now or never. The magog will be here, in this very room, in a matter of seconds. I don't want to see you die, you know this, but what do you have to live for? If you stay, you will be eaten by the magog.

"And if I leave, I'll meet the same fate."

"But you'll save everyone you love."

"OK. If that's what has to be done to save them, then so be it. At least I'll get to see them one more time, at least I'll get to say goodbye."

It was so hard for him to come to terms with. That he couldn't save the people he cared about, that Hohne could. That he had to die for them to live. It hurt, but he couldn't put his own life over theirs. And that was just the thing, it wasn't just his friend's lives at stake, it was the whole universe.

FLASH

Suddenly they were in Machine Shop 17, the tesseract machine in front of them. He knew this had to be Trance's doing.

He heard Dylan's voice. "You realize as soon as we destroy this machine, we'll have to kill you." Then Beka's, "No, you save Harper!"

'Beka, it can't be done. I'm not meant to live. But I love you, all of you. Beka, you were the best big sister a guy could ask for. Goodbye"
Trance nodded at him, understanding in her eyes. Then she blew up the tesseract machine.

Trance knew she had made a mistake by saving Harper and coming back. She had told her younger self exactly what was going on and what she had to so, so her presence was no longer essential, but Hohne's was. And she regretted having to kill one of her best friends, but the fate of the universe rested on the death of that one person. At least he had died knowing he was saving everyone he loved.

Beka was in the Maru. Specifically in Harper's room. She didn't feel any pain for her brother, simply numbness. She couldn't believe he was gone, she wouldn't. And she wouldn't come out of this room until she saw him again. There was still a half empty Sparky on the tabletop, a pile of dirty Hawaiian shirts in the corner, and random tools in the bed. Yes, he would be back any second, he never let Sparky go to waste. He wouldn't leave her, not after everything they'd been through. She sat there for hours, then she finally slipped into unconsciousness.

Harper walked into the room with a goofy grin on his face. "So that's where I left the Sparky!" Beka grinned back at him. "You're insane, you know that, Seamus?"

"Only in the best way, boss," he said, downing what was left in the can and throwing it to the side. She threw a pillow at him. "Hey, what was that for?" he whined, throwing it back at her.

"This means war!" she spat, with a playful grin on her face. Suddenly the room was filled with feathers and cotton. In the flurry, Rommie walked in.

"Beka, I came to notify you-" She looked at the giggling, feather-covered mass on the floor.

"Beka, Harper, is that you?"

"Yeah, Rom-doll, you wanna join us?" He asked, dumping an entire pillow on her head. Rommie simply looked at him like he was crazy, which only made the two laugh harder.

"I quite honestly don't want to know what you're doing. Beka, when you get done, Trance wishes to speak to you in her quarters. I don't believe it's serious, so you needn't hurry." She walked out with a completely dumbfounded look on her face.

"As much fun as that was, I'm going to leave you to clean up, Beka said, walking towards Trance's room.

"Hey, no fair!"

Beka woke up swinging a pillow. Suddenly it hit her- there would be no more pillow fights, or good natured teasing, because there was no more Harper. She collapsed on the floor, her body wracking from the pain coursing through her, and her tears flooded the floor.