Well… I am so sorry to all of those who are reading this story and have to deal with me constantly never finishing a chapter when I say I will! I just have a bad habit of doing so! Anyways, after all these long months, I have finally finished this chapter. It isn't as long as I'd like it to be, not nearly as long, but it's as good as it's going to get for now! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please review when you're done reading it – reviews will make me go faster, I promise!

Also, I'd like to thank two people who were very important in the completion of this chapter - Alex R. Collins, who, for the past few months, has sat on MSN with me while I made him read every re-write and every new bit of the story that I had written, for practically beta-ing for me, and for listening to me as I relentlessly probed his mind for ideas for lines in the story, and for any ideas that would work. Also, for reassuring me that what I was writing was much better than my writer's blocked mind thought it was. And I would like to thank cazflibs, for reading over the chapter when I sent it to her, for also beta-ing for me, and supplying two of the best lines in this story, lines that, had it not have been for her, would still be sitting in my Word document, with a (finish sentence later) insert taking their place. Also, for just putting up with my constant worries about the chapter. For that, I will be eternally grateful to both of you. :)

And now, on with the chapter!

The soft hum of the engines echoed throughout the mining vessel, the only sound in the sleepy ship. The noises reached the ears of the man sleeping in the bunk, although he didn't even register them. His nose twitched twice before he muttered something incoherent in his sleep, repositioning his head on his pillow. He was curled up in the fetal position, looking like an oversized, lanky baby.

Then, with a sudden, jerky motion, he sat up, his eyes half open, not quite awake yet. They darted rapidly from side to side, trying to figure out where he was. These weren't his quarters, he decided, two things having given it away; first of all, his swimming certificates were absent from their regular spots on the wall. Second of all, Lister's late-night lager wasn't spilled all over the floor in traditional fashion, which was a dead giveaway. Rimmer raised his arms above his head, yawning. Lowering them, he looked around the room once more, taking in his surroundings. Through his sleepy eyes, he saw a duffel bag on the floor full of what seemed to be women's clothing, a towel hanging from a pipe, and a pile of blankets on the bed beside him.

Scratch that. A pile of moving blankets on the bed beside him. Rimmer recoiled, eyes wide. An arm peeked out from under the covers, accompanied by another. It was then followed by a head, its long brown hair making a curtain on either side of the person's face.

Oh. Riiight.

He watched as Adelaide stretched, curling back upon the bed. He jumped up, standing beside the bunk, unsure of what to do. Stay there and talk to her when she woke up, potentially making a fool of himself, or run out of the room like a coward?

He chose the latter.

In the sleeping quarters, Lister sat with a giant grey box at his feet, two mechanoid arm pieces in his hands, and a screwdriver. He took a screw from between his lips, started putting the two pieces together, and replaced the screw with a cigarette from his ear. Beside him sat a complete leg, another arm, and the mech's head.

As Lister took another drag from his cigarette, some movement from the doorway caught his attention.

"Rimmer, man, where the hell've ya been?" Lister said as Rimmer strode through the door, stopping by the table.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Oh, I dunno, I just found it strange that you weren't back here to sleep. You always sleep in here, no matter what. Remember that time when I accidentally made the place smell like overdone chili eggs?"

Rimmer wrinkled his nose. "I remember, the place didn't stop smelling for a week."

"And you still slept in here every night. Even I wouldn't have done it." Lister paused. "So come on, then. Where were ya?"

"If you must know, Listy, I just spent the night with our new guest."

"You serious?"

Rimmer smiled smugly. "Yes indeedy."

"Wait a second. Did she actually know you were in there, or were you just hiding away in the closet?"

Rimmer scoffed. "Lister, I'm far too much of a gentleman to stoop to hiding out in a woman's closet just to watch her sleep."

"Does that mean that hypnotism is gentlemanly, then?"

"Make fun of it as much as you like, Lister, see if I care." Rimmer said, crossing his arms. "But don't knock it til you try it – it really does work."

"Yeah, whatever you say, Rimmer." Lister replied. "Anyways, if what you're saying is true, you spent the night there."

"Yes."

Lister absently took another drag from his cigarette, exhaling the smoke through his mouth, forcing Rimmer to fan it away from his face with his hand. Then, Lister spoke. "So what'd you two do, then?"

Rimmer froze for a second. What had they done – that he could tell Lister about, at least? He didn't want to tell Lister what really happened. "We sat together and talked the whole night away." That would sound stupid.

Before he could really think about it, he heard his mouth talking without any instruction from his brain. "Well, Listy, let me just say that she's absolutely wild in the sack; nothing's off limits. She's got quite the dirty imagination, you know."

Lister stared at Rimmer. "You serious?"

"Of course I am, Listy. She couldn't get enough; she was begging me to keep on going." Rimmer said, putting extra emphasis on the word 'begging'.

"More like begging you to stop," Lister said, though he was a bit uncertain.

"Well, yeah," A voice, coming from the doorway, filled the room. "You have any idea how sore and numb women get after a couple romps in the sack?"

Rimmer froze, eyes wide open. Adelaide was standing there, leaning against the doorway, arms crossed against her chest and the corner of her mouth pulled up in a slight smirk. He could have sworn he saw her wink at him, but he wasn't sure.

She sidled up to Rimmer, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Course I'd ask him to stop eventually. But before that..." She smiled, a very satisfied smile. "He had to do something to get me to that point. Right, Rimmer?"

Rimmer was shocked. He had no clue what to say. What was he supposed to say in a situation like this? He opened his mouth, and then closed it again, repeating the motions a few more times before finally spitting out a squeaky "Right."

"Anyways," Adelaide began, smiling seductively at Rimmer, leaning in so she was a few inches away from his ear. Whispering just loud enough for Lister to hear, she continued. "I'm feeling a bit better now, so how about an encore?"

"Uh..." Was all Rimmer managed to get out before a hand grabbed his own and began pulling him out of the room. The last thing he saw before he left was Lister, a look of complete shock on his face.

To be honest, Rimmer wasn't quite sure what was going to happen next. Where was she taking him? Was she... was she really wanting to-

Don't think that, Rimmer thought. It'll never happen. As if.

So instead of thinking, which seemed to send his mind spiraling off in the wrong directions, he just looked ahead, watching where they were going. Adelaide was no longer smiling like she had been in the sleeping quarters; instead, her expression was completely blank, showing no sign of what she was thinking. Turning a few more corners, she finally stopped, back facing the corridor wall. Before Rimmer knew what was going on, he felt a sharp slap across his face, the sound echoing off the walls. Cupping where his cheek had made contact with her hand, he looked up at her. She stared up at him through her eyelashes, an expectant look on her face. Her arms were folded against her chest once more, and she didn't look too happy.

It was silent. Then, Adelaide broke the silence.

"Mind explaining to me what that was about?"

"Well... I..." Rimmer stuttered, unsure of how to answer her question.

"Why did you tell him we'd slept together, when it wasn't true?"

That was a question that Rimmer could answer.

"Adelaide, I... I didn't mean to, it just sort of... slipped out." He said, cringing at how false that sounded. "I mean, I didn't intentionally…" Rimmer stopped, sighing.

"'It just slipped out'." Adelaide repeated, her tone expressionless.

Rimmer cringed again. She didn't seem pleased. Not that he could blame her.

She sighed, running her hands through her hair. "Why is it that I believe you?"

"You believe me?" Rimmer asked incredulously.

"Well, you don't exactly seem like the sort of person who would do it maliciously, and you do seem a bit sincere, so… I don't know, I guess it's believable."

Rimmer's shoulders sagged with relief, the rest of his body following suit. He opened his mouth to speak, but a finger on his lips silenced him.

"This doesn't mean that I'vde completely forgiven you, though. I just… am not as mad at you as I should be." She said slowly, a small smirk accompanying it.

Rimmer nodded. "Well, that's better than nothing." He said, and Adelaide nodded, looking down the hallway with a smile. "And even though I said it before, I'm really sorry."

"I know you are." Adelaide said, smiling at Rimmer. "Hey, do you want to go get something for breakfast? I swear, if I don't eat something soon, I might just have to eat my own leg."

Twenty minutes later, after a somewhat awkward breakfast with Adelaide and Lister, who had decided to join them (and throughout the entire meal, Rimmer tried to avoid that subject as best as he could), Rimmer was left alone once more in the sleeping quarters, Adelaide announcing that she needed to shower, and Lister leaving to do something Rimmer had forgotten the moment he'd said it. With a content sigh, he flopped down on his bunk and pulled out a book. He absently flipped through the pages, not really paying attention to any of the words on them. He relaxed for a while, and then, without any warning, Holly appeared on the screen beside Rimmer's bunk.

"Good morning, Arnold." Holly said.

Rimmer didn't even look up from his book as he replied. "What do you want, you nosy goit?" He asked. Holly ignored the insult completely.

"Just thought you might want to know we've been travelling at the speed of light now for almost twenty-four hours, and we should be accelerating again shortly."

"Alright then." Rimmer said, nodding. A few moments of silence passed by, and Rimmer raised an eyebrow at the computer. "Is that all, Holly, or are you just waiting here for no reason?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure that's all I had to say, but I'm not one hundred percent certain… was there something else I needed to mention? There could be, but…"

"Holly," Rimmer said, silencing the computer. "Obviously you have nothing else of importance to add to this conversation, so stop your babbling and shut up."

With that, the screen went blank, and Rimmer sighed, putting his book down. He glanced at his watch. 12:30. He hadn't even noticed the time flying past as he sat there. He stood up, walking out the door to try and find something good for lunch. Knowing that the nearest vending machine was most likely out of commission, he made his way over to the nearest one, a few corridors away.

The ship was unusually quiet at that time. Usually, there would be some sort of noise, but it was silent. He shrugged it off, not paying it much attention, and continued walking. Then, something caught his attention. Seeming to come from a room at the end of the hall were voices, only murmurs at his distance. Curious, he quietly walked up to the door, the voices becoming clearer.

"I can't believe I was stupid enough for something like this to happen…"

Rimmer's eyebrows knitted together. Lister. What on Io was Lister doing way out here? He walked closer to the door, only inches away from the entrance.

"Don't say that. You're being too harsh on yourself."

Rimmer's expression turned from confusion to shock. That sounded like Adelaide speaking. He peeked around the corner and saw Adelaide sitting on the bed, legs crossed, quite similar to how she had been sitting with him the night before. Across from her was an obviously frazzled Lister, his face belying how weary he was. That's odd, Rimmer thought. He didn't remember him looking that awful that morning. Wanting to know what was going on, he hid behind the wall again, and listened to the rest of their conversation.

"It's true, though." Lister said, sighing. "I mean, if I'd have been more careful, this wouldn't be happening."

"Lister…" Adelaide said. A sigh, and then, "You know you can't just wish this away. I mean, you may feel like it's awful right now, but in the end, you'll be so happy it won't even matter."

For a second, there was only silence. Rimmer was honestly just confused. What were they talking about?

"You think so?" He heard Lister ask.

"Of course." Adelaide said softly. "You know how you told me you always wanted this? Well, it may not be in the most conventional of ways, and it's probably not exactly how you thought it would happen. But in the end, the means don't matter. All that matters is the result."

Rimmer peeked around the corner again. Adelaide had her hand on Lister's arm, and she was smiling comfortingly at him.

"I know, it's just, well… I'm a bit scared."

She nodded. "That's understandable. But there's no reason to be."

"I know," Lister repreated. "But still…" He began, but stopped, sighing. Smiling sympathetically, Adelaide gave him a quick hug. Pulling back, she spoke.

"Don't worry, Lister. You're going to make a great father."

And there it is. Cliffhanger time! :P Anyways, please review, and I should hopefully finish chapter 9 within the next year :P Nah, it should be finished semi-soon, if my writer's block decides to bugger off for a little bit. But please review! That'll speed up the updating process by a ton! Anyways, hope to hear from some of you soon! :D

Carly