SquidgeWorld Archive

The Switch 12: Sanctuary
A "Farscape" slash story
Written by Alison M. DOBELL
* * * * *


It was the baby that woke them. Chiana rubbed her body slowly up against D'Argo, smiling as he moaned softly in his sleep. She kissed him then eased out of bed to see to Rion. Her voice soft and gentle, cooing at him as she lifted him out of the cradle and rocked him in her arms. The baby's eyes flickered and his crying eased, his blue eyes so like Crichton's that her smile widened. She kissed his forehead and turned to see that D'Argo was now awake. He got up and put his arms around her, nuzzling in to her neck for a kiss as he looked at their son. A tiny glorious miracle. "He's hungry," She said softly. "I wish I could make milk for him."

"Perhaps Zhaan can help you."

Chiana shook her head. Adamant. "No. I don't want anything that is not natural, D'Argo. The pentik root produces the closest match to Nebari milk and soon Rion will be able to eat solids."

D'Argo made a face. "My son is *not* going to live on food cubes!"

She chuckled at his quiet vehemence and kissed him. "Not if we can help it, that is."

He grumbled something then got dressed. Once the baby was fed D'Argo was about to leave for the loading bay when Zhaan appeared. Chiana smiled at her. She had been practically glowing with health and happiness ever since the birth of the baby. Motherhood suited her. "Hi, Zhaan."

Zhaan smiled at Chiana and the baby, her look more sober when she turned to D'Argo. He gave her a nod and started to walk passed her. "I wish to talk with you Chiana. You *and* D'Argo." Said the Delvian.

"I was on my way to the loading bay, Zhaan."

"The loading bay will still be there afterwards, D'Argo."

He hesitated a microt then nodded briskly. He had an uneasy feeling. Zhaan waited until they were both seated then sat down across from them. "I wanted to talk to you about John."

D'Argo started to get up. "This has nothing to do with you, Zhaan."

Zhaan turned suddenly cold eyes on him. The rest of her still looked serene but her eyes held a warning that was not lost on the Luxan. He sat back down. Chiana tilted her head abruptly, curious. The baby started to squirm in her arms as if sensing something was not right. Chiana soothed the baby and lay him back in the cradle. "What is it Zhaan? Why so serious? Is something wrong with John?"

"What has D'Argo told you?"

A look of fury swept over the Luxan's face but he held his temper. Chiana was confused by the tension between them. "That John is a rakazza, second father to Rion."

"Has he told you anything else?"

She glanced at D'Argo, puzzled, then looked at Zhaan again. "Just that he has duties. If anything happens to him John will be responsible for looking after and protecting the baby and me."

Zhaan nodded. "And in the meantime, what are his duties?"

D'Argo started to interrupt. "That is private..."

The Delvian Priestess glared coldly at him, reminding him that she had been a tenth level Pa'u. When his mouth closed again she turned once more to Chiana. Chiana shook her head. "I don't understand. What is this about Zhaan?"

She looked at D'Argo. "Now you can tell Chiana."

Her head abruptly tilted the other way to fasten on D'Argo. "Tell me what?"

Suddenly he did not want to speak at all. He cursed the Delvian. "How dare you seek to interfere..."

Something hard and unforgiving flashed in Zhaan's eyes. "Have a care, Ka D'Argo. I have shared Unity with John, a piece of me resides in him."

Chiana was surprised to see something that looked like alarm and fear flicker in the Luxan's eyes.

"Tell Chiana what you have been doing for the last thirty or so arns."

He closed his eyes and swallowed hard then opened them to find Chiana looking at him. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I was going to tell you, Chiana..."

"Tell me what?"

"About myself and John."

Her eyebrows rose. Not sure if she was interpreting his meaning correctly. "You and John?"

"Yes. He is rakazza..."

"Yeah, D'Argo, I think we got that bit."

He wet his lips, suddenly nervous. "In Luxan tradition the rakazza forms part of the closest ties of family. He becomes family."

Chiana frowned but said nothing. Not wanting to misunderstand him.

"I needed to explain this to him."

"Explain? How?"

"I told him of our traditions. Why he was a rakazza, what it meant, what his duties were. Then I had to show him."

Her mouth went dry and dropped open. "Show him?"

He nodded, his eyes locked on hers, willing her to understand. "I was gentle with him, Chiana. He had never done this before, did not understand. He needed to be guided so that his fear could be mastered."

"What did you do?"

"I made love to him."

The shock on her face was total. Of all the things she expected him to say she had not expected that. "You did *what*?"

"I did not hurt him. It was beautiful Chiana, if you could have seen it you would have understood."

Now pain and rage were battling for ascendance as the full impact of his words hit home. "D'Argo how *could* you? How could you tell me you loved me then go after John like that?"

Anger flared in the Luxan. Anger and frustration that he had not been able to explain it to Chiana in his own time, prepare her for the inevitable so that she would accept it. "I did not go after him, as you call it. I ensured he knew his duties, his place in our family."

"And how did you do that? Come on, D'Argo, what *exactly* did you say to John to get him to agree to this? So you could frell him." There were tears in her eyes now as she remembered how D'Argo had virtually raped Crichton before then had used him to plant his fertilised seed in the human without even gaining his consent. "John is our friend, D'Argo. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

D'Argo reached out a hand to touch her but Chiana recoiled. "Don't touch me, D'Argo! Don't come near me."

He turned his anger on Zhaan. "See what you have done?"

Zhaan shook her head. "No, *you* did this D'Argo and even now you are too wrapped up in what you want to feel shame."

"You do not understand. I love him."

Chiana burst into tears. Zhaan shook her head sadly at D'Argo, her voice soft and sad. "No, D'Argo, seducing another person using your secretions to make them compliant is not love. It is manipulation."

"It is the Luxan way."

"It is *not* John's way. Not my way. Not Chiana's. Not even Sebaceans would stoop so low."

"That is unfair, Zhaan." Protested D'Argo in a wounded voice.

"Yes," She said seriously, thinking only of Crichton. "It is."

* * * * *

He had not been able to sleep. Afraid that if he closed his eyes for a microt D'Argo would find him. It was not that he was afraid of the Luxan exactly but he was afraid of what he would do. When he thought of his friend's hands touching him, the intimacy he had introduced into their relationship, he kept shaking. Tears stood in his eyes, he did not feel safe any more. Moya no longer felt like home to him but a prison trapping him with no way out. And then there was Aeryn. Oh God, how the hell do I explain this to Aeryn? He stumbled on, deeper and deeper in the bowels of the leviathan. Not sure what he was looking for. No idea where he was going. He did not notice the couple of DRDs quietly following him, their lightstalks waving anxiously, their motors muted as if they were holding their breath. He was crying now, getting more distressed, not knowing where he was going, what to do. He needed to find somewhere he could be alone, somewhere safe. He stopped, so tired, so confused by his thoughts and feelings. Fear lapping at his heels with imagined pursuit. His heart thudding in his anxious chest. He tried to push back the wall of fear but it was growing. Engulfing him. Why was he so afraid? D'Argo was his friend, right? No. D'Argo was a stranger now. Not the Luxan he had come to know and cherish as his closest friend. How could he ever trust him again?

His head swung slowly from side to side as he stood irresolute. Which way should he go? As if making up his mind, one of the DRDs rolled up to him and bumped his shoe. He did not notice. The DRD chittered anxiously up at him and bumped his shoe again. Crichton looked down and his thoughts narrowed to focus only on the little DRD. He felt an absurd sense of relief when he recognised the flash of blue duct tape around his lightstalk. A friend. "Hey, Blue, what are you doing here?"

The DRD warbled and clicked back at him, his tone conveying concern. Crichton smiled and hunkered down. The second DRD rolling up to join them. Crichton nodded and took a moment to recognise him. "Hi Artoo. You guys shouldn't be down here worrying about me."

Unconvinced Blue rolled closer and waved his lightstalks at him, his transmission sounding mournful and sad. Crichton patted his casing gently. Blue chittered something that sounded like a question.

"Where am I going?"

Blue rolled back and forth once. That meant yes.

"I don't know. I was looking for somewhere...you know, private."

He felt embarassed admitting that he was looking for somewhere to hide. The DRD seemed to know and chittered excitedly at him then spun round to lead him along a side corridor. When he did not follow immediately the little DRD turned around and made anxious noises that implied he should hurry. The second DRD bumped the back of his shoe as if to urge him forward.
Crichton chuckled and held up his hands. His heart already feeling impossibly lighter. "Okay, okay, I get the idea guys. Take me to your leader!"

The words meant nothing to the DRDs but as soon as he started to follow them both of the droids seemed to settle down. They hummed and chittered quietly to him as he followed, Crichton's voice soft and thoughtful, telling them stories about Earth and a bunch of films about this dog called Lassie who was the most loyal friend a boy could have. They led him into parts of Moya he had never been before. Pilot monitored their progress, guided the DRDs with Moya, being careful to shield Crichton's com signal so no one else could follow him. Pilot knew Moya was worried about the human as was Aeryn and Zhaan. He felt a certain protectiveness towards him as well though he was puzzled at the actions of D'Argo. Though he was not angry with the Luxan he realised that what had happened had not been a good thing. In some way the Luxan's actions had distressed the human and it was Crichton's distress that upset Pilot. The DRDs would stay with him, watch over him and enable Moya to make sure he was alright. When he was ready to return to the company of the others they would lead him back to the occupied portions of the ship. Until then Crichton was under Moya's direct protection. He had been given the one thing none of the others could offer him. Sanctuary.

* * * * *

Rygel could not believe what he was hearing. His eyes widened, his mouth parted as if in exclamation but no sound came out. Ka D'Argo could not see what all the fuss was about. They were in the mess hall. Zhaan was patiently explaining what had happened to Rygel and Aeryn. D'Argo squirmed under Aeryn's silent gaze. She did not say a word. Chiana was not with them
but had opted to stay in her room with the baby, too upset to be part of the discussion.

"I do not see that this is anyone else's business but mine, Chiana's and John's."

Aeryn raised her eyebrows. "You don't?"

He had the grace to squirm at her mild words. "You know what I mean,
Aeryn."

She shook her head, her eyes never leaving his face. "No, D'Argo, I do not know what you mean."

"Why the yotz did you want to force yourself on the human, D'Argo? Again?"

His tone implied that once should have been enough, but with Rygel you never quite knew. He was not as one dimensional as some people tended to think. Beneath that crusty old curmudgeon was someone trying hard not to show he cared.

"I have already explained. John is rakazza..."

"Not by choice." Interjected Rygel firmly.

D'Argo ignored him. "As a rakazza he has duties to my house."

"You don't have a house," Said Aeryn.

The Luxan had a job keeping his temper. "My house, my *family*." He paused to let his meaning sink in. "This has all been explained to John. He understands and he accepts his place." He paused again, needing to make sure they understood him. Thinking that if he spelt it out firmly enough they would back off and let him get on with the business of solidifying the union he had been forming with the human. He did not want their reactions to cause a rift between him and Crichton. That could not be allowed to happen. "He is *mine* now."

Zhaan gave him a look of disbelief. Amazed that even D'Argo would assume to go this far. "You cannot *own* another person, D'Argo."

"You are wrong, Zhaan." He allowed his eyes to drift from one stunned face to the next. "We are bound together now, by flesh, by blood, by union. I will not let *any* of you come between us."

"You are completely fahrbot!"

D'Argo glared at the Dominar. "Stay out of this, Rygel."

Anger seeped into Rygel's voice, hard and uncompromising. "You have gone too far, Luxan. When are you going to learn not to think with your mivonks?"

The Luxan hissed, about to lash out with his tongue but the Dominar was too quick for him and zipped out of reach on his thronesled. "You bartantic khan. Only a trezog would bind someone to them by force."

"You cannot talk, Hynerian. You have dozens of concubines in your palace."

"Yes," Sneered Rygel, his anger if anything rising. "But mine are *willing*. It is a great honour to be chosen for the royal court. What you are doing is wrong. By the Hynerian Gods, you didn't even try to seduce one of your own frelling species!" Rygel shook his head as if that summed up the entirety of the Luxan's stupidity.

Only Zhaan interceding stopped D'Argo slicing the Hynerian in half with his qualta blade. Aeryn could feel a headache coming on. She could not stand any more of this and left them to their arguing. Without thinking she made her way to Crichton's quarters. They were empty. Sadly she
looked around for any clue as to where he might have gone. She tried the docking bay and all the usual places but there was no sign of him. "Pilot?"

"Yes, Aeryn."

"Where is John?"

There was a slight pause. "He wishes to be alone."

"I've already checked the terrace Pilot, he isn't there."

Silence.

"Pilot? Where is he?"

"Commander Crichton does not have his communicator switched on."

She sucked her bottom lip, realising that Pilot was being evasive. Not telling her a lie but trying to gently ward her off prying any further. "Is he alright?"

"Yes. He just needs to be alone."

Aeryn nodded to herself. She understood. "Thank you, Pilot."

She found herself wandering back to the terrace. For no other reason that it was the place he loved most. She sat down and drew her knees up, arms wrapped around them, eyes fastened on the countless stars. A view that usually calmed her as it did him. As she gazed at them she matched every star she saw with one falling from her eyes. Her heart aching for Crichton and for herself. She hoped he would be alright. That somehow, some when, he would find his way back to her.


END