SquidgeWorld Archive

Aeryn, D'argo, and Zhaan remained locked in one of Moya's holding cells, and Rygel was still laughing…right until John pulled him out of the throne-sled by his eyebrows.

"That's enough, Guido. Just get out of here," he ordered.

The moment he was dropped back into the chair, the dominar sniffed indignantly and zoomed away. Crichton resisted the urge to make a rude gesture, and turned back to punch the cell door control.

"Really sorry, guys. I should never have left Rygel to-"

"We understand, John," Zhaan cut in quickly. "You bear no responsibility for Rygel's actions. I only wish he would take some upon himself."

"Yeah, well...thanks."

John nodded to the Delvian; she returned it and swept out of the cell. D'argo hurried after, still seething. He didn't even spare Crichton a glance as he started down the corridor leading to Command.

"D'argo...hang on a microt," John called after him.

The Luxan paused and turn back, but his reply was far from patient. "What?"

"Well, first of all...I owe you an apology." John glanced back into the cell...he needed to say this to Aeryn, too...but she was already gone. "For, um...helping Sparky live up to his nickname."

D'argo nodded curtly. "I don't blame you for that, John. You did what was necessary to save us all. But Rygel, that little..." He growled something the translator microbes decided was better left to the imagination. "...has cost us valuable time, if we're going to save my son!"

"We will, we will!" John said quickly. "But, right now...Jothee isn't the only one who needs you."

"Chiana," D'argo whispered. His frown was both concerned and slightly guilty.

"She's been through a lot...especially emotionally. You've got to go to her."

"But my son..."

"We *are* going to find him, D'argo. I promise you that. But for the next few arns, let Pilot take care of the search. The big guy's a lot more capable than we give him credit for most of the time. I think he proved that today."

"You're right…of course, you're right," D'argo agreed with a slow nod. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

The Luxan headed off to find Chiana, and John found himself-appropriately enough-standing alone in an intersection between corridors.

What now? It seemed like he always knew what to say to D'argo, and Zhaan, and Chi, and Pilot…and even to Rygel. But he'd barely begun to process what he'd been through himself since the Nebari came aboard. And as for Aeryn...

With no particular destination in mind, John just started walking. And before long-as he always seemed to when he let his feet and his instincts guide-he found himself on the terrace.

And he wasn't alone. Aeryn Sun was already sitting there, knees drawn up and arms wrapped around them, starting out at the stars. She glanced up for just a moment as he entered, and John had the strangest feeling that she'd been waiting for him. He dismissed it almost immediately as wishful thinking, but he smiled and sat down beside her.

"This seat taken?" Aeryn rolled her eyes. "Look..I already told D'argo this, but...I really owe you two an apology, for...um..."

"Electrocuting us?" she finished coolly, one eyebrow arched. For a long moment she held his gaze, made him sweat. Then she shrugged. "It's all right, John. I would have done the same, in your place. The only difference is..." She grinned wickedly. "I probably would have enjoyed it."

John grinned right back. "Who says I didn't?"

This earned him a light punch on the arm. Of course, a light punch from Aeryn was still more than enough to make him wince, but he didn't really mind. In all the old stories, the knights wore scarves tied around their arms, as signs of favor from their ladies. Times had changed. John wore bruises, and wore them with pride.

"How's Chiana?" Aeryn asked suddenly, surprising him.

"She's...well, not so good just now. But in the long run, I think...I hope she'll be better. She just learned...turns out her brother Nerri is still alive, and a regular Princess Leia...complete with a rebellion and a hologram. But if that makes Chi Luke, then this time, Artoo wouldn't let her leave Tatooine..." John sighed, suddenly and heavily, and ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. "I'm really making a mess of this...guess I'm still trying to figure it all out myself."

"No, I think I understood the gist of it," Aeryn assured him. "Her brother's still out there somewhere, leading an insurrection against their people, but she's not allowed to go to him?"

John nodded, and Aeryn frowned sadly and stood, wandering closer to the edge of the terrace. Closer to the stars.

John followed, and after another moment, he asked, "You're not still angry with her, are you? For getting us into that whole mess in the first place?"

"No, of course not," Aeyn replied, almost defensively. "I just...feel bad for her, that's all."

Right then, John felt so...he wanted to say 'proud', though he knew it would sound too condescending, or like he was taking credit. But Aeryn Sun really had come quite a ways since they'd first met.

So he smiled, and she smiled back. She seemed, as she so often did, to know just what he was thinking. She even seemed pleased, though again he feared he was just seeing what he wanted to see.

And being completely oblivious to so much else. For the first time, John noticed that Aeryn was holding the Nebari control collar in her hands, twisting it round and round.

"Um...Aeryn...isn't that kind of a strange thing to keep as a souvenir?"

"Hmm?" And then, following his gaze she frowned again. "Oh, this. I just keep thinking about...how easily I was controlled. How...helpless I was. The whole time, I could see what I was doing, and I wanted to fight it, but it was like...like the controls were locked on auto-pilot, and there was nothing I could do."

John nodded, and placed a hand gently on her shoulder. "I know, I know...it was like that for all of us."

"But it wasn't!" Aeryn shot back fiercely, shaking him off. "What about you, John? You fought back. You beat the 'cleansing'. You..." Suddenly she couldn't look at him anymore, had to stare down at her boots instead. Her voice grew soft, she smiled faintly, and her words were tinged with irony. "Once again, the 'deficient human' pulled our eemas out of the fire."

Aeryn, more or less apologizing? John knew he should have been boggling. Or at least making a bad joke about the possibility that some of the cleansing drug was still in her system.

But instead he was turning away. Staring out into the stars...because he wasn't sure he wanted to look inside anymore.

"I'm not so sure that's a good thing, Aeryn. I...haven't really told any of the others this..but I didn't just shake off the drug on my own. Pretty much the moment that treatment kicked in…I started having flashes again. I saw, I mean..."

"You saw Scorpius again," Aeryn finished softly. John looked back at her, and nodded, but his eyes had lost focus. Aeryn, the terrace, the stars...everything was a blur. He was surprised to find he was shaking.

He was even more surprised when Aeryn reached up, folding him into a hug. She seemed uncertain at first, awkward and tense, but after a few moments she relaxed. The tension seemed to bleed out of both of them…but she held him for a long time after it was gone.

Earlier, John had asked Chiana, "since when do people like us get what we want?"

But sometimes, without even realizing it, they found exactly what they needed.