Title: In Sickness and in Hell
Author: Weird_Peace aka Harper's
Rating: PG-13
Synopsis: Mainly about Tyr. Heavy angst story(Did you expect anything else from me?).
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, yadda yadda yadda, can I please get on with the story?

Spoilers: All Second season and UTN, IMALL, and Pearls.

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Dylan hadn't yelled, only lectured the two. Which was probably worse. But he was really too happy to be really stern.

Tyr's attitude had improved. Whenever someone tried to ask Beka about it or the time they had been away, she simply replied it had been an enlightening experience, giving no further information.

When Harper finally asked Tyr about it, he simply replied, "Valentine is truly an amazing woman isn't she?"

That left the young engineer even more confused, but he left it. It was just good enough to have the old Tyr back.

Three weeks after their "trip", Beka walked into the gym. Tyr glanced over, but didn't stop lifting. She rolled her eyes at that.

"Was there something you wanted?" She walked forward.

"I want to know something Tyr."

"Go on."

"There's always hope for a cure, even if you don't believe so. But if you don't ever find one...how will I know you won't try the same thing again? Rushing off into death I mean." Tyr set down his weights, thinking.

"Because I've figured out, with your help mostly," she smiled at that, "that giving up is the only way my enemies get to win."

She nodded and hand him the flexi she had been carrying.

He glanced at it, and then read it. Again. He looked at her, speechless.

"Well?" Tyr handed it back to her, regaining his voice.

"I couldn't handle another dissapointment." Beka touched his arm.

"You'd be surprised what you can handle." And then she left him to decide.

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Beka looked up as Tyr entered the Obs Deck.

"Well, you're back to walking," she commented. He grunted and sat down nearby. "But I see your strength is taking awhile. But you're way ahead of recovery schedule anyways."

"Rest is for the weak." Beka smiled.

"It was nice of Kelpitas to do that for us. You know, looking up your problem after seeing our concern. And then looking through Eurenik's work."

"While I am happy to have my reproductive qualities back, nice...isn't how it felt afterwards."

"Are you complaining?" she teased.

"No. Observing." She shook her head. "I did come here for a reason."

"Oh?" Tyr smiled.

"I would like to..." He stopped, having diffuculty saying the next part. It wasn't something Tyr Anasazi did often. "I would like to thank you for your help through this." He expected more teasing, but as always, Valentine had more to her than he thought.

"Tyr, I must confess." She sighed. "I didn't do it all for you." He raised an eyebrow.

"You were right, at the hospital, what you said about how I should assume to know others. I don't know you. I've seen it get hard for others. Time after time again, people who couldn't take it anymore. And I understood it. Who hasn't felt like giving into life, right? But it is very, very rare case that I have ever seen you give up. In fact, it's not even rare. Until a few weeks ago, it was never."

"And as strange as this may sound to you, it scared me. Because you, Tyr, are probably one of the strongest people I have ever met. And it occured to me, that if you, a Nietzschean for the Divine's sake, could throw everything away that easily, what about me? A mere human who never has and still doesn't know where she's going?"

She watched him think this over, and the silence eventually got to her.

"I knew it sounded..." She waved away the last words, laughing at herself. Tyr got up and touched her arm.

"You'd be surprised what you can handle." He left. Beka stood there, wondering at him, before turning around to gaze into the vastness of space.

"Uber bastered," she muttered to herself, smiling.