TITLE: "WHAT LOVE CAN DO"

AUTHOR: Alison M. DOBELL

FANDOM: "Farscape"

PAIRING: John/Chiana

RATING: NC-17.

STATUS: First part in the "Hearts In Chaos" series.

ARCHIVE: Yes. Just let me know where.

FEEDBACK: Welcomed

EMAIL: AlisonMDobell@aol.com

SERIES/SEQUEL: First in a SERIES.

WEBSITE: http://www.carlajane.50megs.com/Ali00.html

SET: After the cliffhanger at the end of Season 2. This series of stories follow another possible direction the story could have taken...

SUMMARY: "After the death of Aeryn and the removal of the neural chip from Crichton's head, Chiana takes Crichton with her in search of help to put him back together. Moya goes on without them, and Chiana and Crichton create a new life together. Five years later Moya comes full circle."

The usual disclaimers apply. No infringement of copyright is intended.

"WHAT LOVE CAN DO"
A "Farscape" story
Written by Alison M. DOBELL

She looked out across the red and gold lava rivers of Rekkis, a smile dancing across her face. Even injured, damaged and unable to communicate he would not let her go alone. Again she marvelled at her companion. His emotional strength giving her hope when there had been none. His gentle caring spirit a safe haven when the tears of a lost world threatened to drown her. After all the things they had endured together, all the losses they had experienced in the unremitting hands of cruel fate, they still had this. They had each other. She let him sleep, the soft planes of his exhaustion warmed in the light of multiple suns. The physicians had done what they could and there had been some improvement. A strengthening in his muscles which she built on with daily massages and a punishing regime of exercises but not even they could repair the speech centre of his brain. Reconnect memories lost to him forever. Take away a pain that ruled him night and day and only found rest in her arms. Just thinking about it could reduce her to tears. Her eyes gentled whenever she looked at him, her voice softened when she spoke his name. Her heart fluttered when his eyes came to rest upon hers. She moved from the balcony and sat beside him as he slept, her hand drifting down to touch his face, her lips gently brushing his as he slept. A loving benediction. Such a beautiful man. So precious to her.

She did not hear him come in. Was not aware of his presence until a quiet voice spoke her name.

"Chi. I thought I'd find you here."

Her lips widened into a smile of joy. Love shone and warmed him as he stepped into the bedroom to embrace her. "It's good to see you, Nerri."

He smiled into her neck and kissed his sister's cheek. A look of curiosity on his face as he looked down at Crichton. Even in sleep the human occasionally stirred as if in pain. The slightest moan and Chiana would go to him, her hand caressing his troubled brow, her voice softened with love, her touch with understanding. He had not at first been able to fathom what his sister saw in this crippled man. How protective and loving she was with him, her loyalty total. The sister who had used her body as casual currency across hundreds of alien worlds now paid her passage with the coin of whatever realm they passed through. What she could not buy she bartered for. Never again did she make light trade of her sex. She had done it once but on seeing the pain in Crichton's eyes had vowed never to do that to him again. He did not understand that to her sex meant nothing. It was a biological function. Love was something different, an emotion of the heart. For the human, the intimacy of physical contact was a sacred thing and the more time she spent with him the more his ways became her own. He never touched her without meaning it and when she touched him it was always with her heart first then her body following like an exotic shadow. He knew she loved him. He had always known. She knew he loved Aeryn but Aeryn was dead. Lost to them all. The love he had for Chiana was not the same but his generous heart was no shallow well that doled out affection measure for measure. She loved him for that as for everything else that made him what he was. Whole or crippled she would take him. Not out of pity but out of love.

They left the bedroom to stand together on the balcony. Chiana smiled gently at her brother, her head at that odd tilt that told him she was listening to Crichton's breathing first, his words second. It had irritated him at first. Even made him feel insanely jealous. Only as time moved on and he came to know Crichton better and heard more of the human's incredible story from his sister's lips did he come to regard him with respect and later affection. Now he could no more see him come to harm than one of their own people. He had, in effect, become family.

"The war is over." He murmured. There was a deep content in his voice. Peace in his eyes.

She inclined her head. Eyes flicking to where Crichton lay before fixing on her brother's face. "I'm glad, you know? Been a long time coming."

"Yes." He sighed, a hand cradling her chalk white face as he jerked his head fortyfive degrees to observe her reaction. "You made it possible, Chi. You and Crichton."

"His name is John." She whispered so softly it stirred the hair on the back of Nerri's neck.

"I'm sorry," He said softly, a gentle kiss fluttering to brush lips so like his own they could be a mirror image. "John." The name became an apology.

Silence fell for a microt. Nerri looked at Crichton. "How is he today?"

"A little better."

"Only a little?"

"Yeah, well, these things take time. We have to keep working those muscles. The left side is still weak and he drags the leg but his walking is much better."

He saw the sadness on her face. Grieving for the living should not be allowed, he thought. Then she turned her head to smile brightly at him. "Did I tell you he can speak Nebari?"

That surprised him. "I thought he could barely speak his own tongue?"

Chiana laughed lightly. Nerri saw a glimpse of the old carefree Chiana he missed so much. But then, they were all older. Not all of them wiser. "I don't know, it's like the doctors said. For some reason Nebari words are easier for him to pronounce, to remember."

"And you can understand what he says?"

Nerri's voice was curious. He had noticed how badly the human slurred at times. The stutter less pronounced but still there. Chiana just nodded, too filled with emotion to spell it out for him. He could be reduced to grunts and groans and she would still understand him. Every movement, every look on his face, spoke a million words to her. Her body sang when he touched her, her heart danced when he smiled. Who needed words? It was a miracle what love could do. They spoke a little longer then Nerri excused himself. Time to leave.

"Did you get the stuff?"

He nodded and handed over three jars. Chiana hugged him then watched him go. The gel had to be massaged into Crichton's muscles a couple of times a day. To help, Chiana had asked for pain relieving microbes to be incorporated into the gel so she could avoid hurting him. Sometimes it was hard to tell how much pain he was feeling until a nerve got trapped. But she was getting better and she had learnt to let the sessions lead into a slow and erotic love making session that helped exercise the muscle groups as well. A smile touched her lips then she stripped off and slid into bed beside him. Her warm body wrapped gently around him holding him close to her heart. He turned towards the warmth, his lips mumbling something incoherent as she nuzzled into him. He was starting to wake slowly. She smiled, her small hands working miracles and matching the stir of his body as he woke. She loved this microt most of all. When his sleep laden eyes would flutter open and come into focus on her face and that smile would light him up and set her heart and soul on fire. Hezmana, when he looked at her like that there was nothing she would not do for him. <Or to him> She thought with a wicked little smile.

"N'mer kin-na-ri..." He mumbled.

She slid a hand down his chest and rubbed a nipple into life as his eyes opened and smiled at him. "In Human, John."

He smiled back. "M...m....morn....ning, Pip."

Her lips parted and she kissed him, her hands continuing to tease him lightly beneath the covers. For some reason he always woke with an erection. Something that both amused and delighted Chiana. There were just so many things she could do with him in that state. She grinned at him, her busy hands drawing a pleasing groan from deep inside him. "C...C...Chi...."

She wriggled on down and got busy with her mouth. "I love it when you talk dirty."

He laughed and brought his good hand up to caress her. She tossed her head and the covers slid half off them. She did not pull them up, she liked to look at him, see the way they fit together. "No John, use your other hand."

He looked as if he wanted to protest, he was excited, wanted to make love but she wanted to turn it into an exercise too. Use the hand that needed the most coaxing. His numb left hand. She nipped him gently and sucked into the side of his crotch where she knew he could feel her and was rewarded with a tremble of his hips and the catch in his throat as he hurried to comply. He used his right hand to move his left into position. She moved up his body so he could reach her but did not help him beyond that. Leaning over him she unscrewed a jar and coated her fingers. He knew what was coming and tried to hold a little involuntary shudder. The gel was always so damn cold. That she made it so pleasurable for him did not mask the fact that this was what the doctors had ordered. He let her lather him with the gel, felt the tingle as it got to work soaking through his absorbent skin. She massaged some into his hand too, then let him flex his fingers and concentrate on feeling his way around her body, working his way by sight not touch. It made him slower and clumsier than she liked but as he had once told her, practice made perfect and he was nothing if not persistant. He was getting a little better every day. Her responses guided him, and by reading each other's body language they were able to adjust their love making accordingly. After all the exercises were over Chiana would let him rest a little then build him slowly up into a fierce passion that would race through his body and fire up all the cells in his body until she orchestrated a release so powerful that he would believe her when she said they would beat this together. The rush as he came in her mouth would leave him momentarily breathless. Even if they could never beat it he would not tell her that. He owed it to her to try and as with everything else he did in life, he did it with his whole heart.

By mid-morning it was time for him to get up. Their days had lapsed into a routine of sorts no matter which planet they happened to be on. He had a medical exam coming up and was not keen but he could not say anything to Chiana. He knew how much it meant to her to try to find some way to restore as much of his motor functions as possible. Every new planet represented another opportunity. He bit back a sigh, not wanting to seem ungrateful. Nerri had come round to take them in a hovercar. He noticed the flicker of emotion on Crichton's face, so quick and fleeting that Chiana missed it but Nerri did not. He was dressed only in his boxer shorts. Nerri would have waited in the other room but Chiana kept talking to him so he now stood in the bedroom doorway answering her string of questions and feeling uneasy about Crichton's lack of privacy. He was not sure why it bothered him. Had Crichton been Nebari he would not have given it a second thought. Could the human be rubbing off on him? Nerri watched as he stood up slowly, body awkwardly finding its' balance. He went to use his right hand to put the shirt on but Chiana gently chided him, softening her correction with a kiss. "Other hand."

He did not argue, did not raise his eyes to meet Nerri's. Nerri watched as the human struggled, longed to step up to him and help him dress but that would just raise Chiana's ire and was the last thing he wanted to do. Chiana asked him about the search for a new Nebari homeworld, momentarily distracting her brother's thoughts while Crichton now struggled with his pants.

"We have a couple of possibilities, Chi."

"Tell me. Describe them."

He smiled, visualising the first one in his mind's eye and then describing it for her. Afterwards, Chiana left them for a few microts. Nerri looked at Crichton. He was dressed now and if he did not drag his leg too much he looked pretty good. The haunted look had gone from his eyes, his gaunt frame had acquired mass. He looked happier and healthier than Nerri had seen him in monens. Nerri had gently told Chiana not to treat him like a child. To let him make his own mistakes. Give the human his privacy when people called. He had seen the flicker of humiliation in his eyes when he had come to the bedroom to talk to Chiana while he struggled to dress. Crichton was looking at him now, their eyes met, and it was as if the human could read his very thoughts.

"Nik-ma sen-ti-ri." He said.

The phrase meant, *you are right*. It brought a prick of tears to Nerri's eyes. How had the human learnt to read him so well? "Ma-si, sen-sa." He replied. *Tell her*.

Crichton shook his head. No. He could never do that. Then Chiana rejoined them and they left for the hovercar. The ride to the facility took less that half an arn. Once there, Crichton was shown in straight away. No waiting. He compared the efficiency of the Uncharted Territories with Earth. In so many ways there was no comparrison. Nerri was prepared to wait outside the examination room but Chiana wanted him to go in with them. He was not sure why. He looked at Crichton and saw him nod back giving him permission to be present. It was just too weird.

The room was huge and very clinical. The team of doctors ranged from diagnosans to physicians to xenobiologists. Crichton felt like a frelling specimen in a jar. He hated it. Chiana made the whole thing marginally bearable but if he could have he would have walked out and refused to submit to another damn examination as long as he lived. But he could not do that to Chiana. Could not destine their children to have a father who would not at least try to get better. He owed it to her. To them. He was prodded, poked. Made to stand naked while they probed him, covered him in sensors, took readings of his blood and measured his reactions to various electical shocks and stimulants. Nerri wanted to look away. He was seriously tempted to pull a pulse gun on the lot of them but one look into Crichton's eyes steadied him. It was a shared horror of the whole goldfish bowl mentality to medicine in the Uncharted Territories. Funnily enough it calmed him and he watched with a more critical eye, listening and taking in everything that was said and done to his brother in law.

"The muscles are improved but have so little strength on the hamman side."

"Yessss, and the reactions are slow."

"Too slow." Murmured the diagnosan, a Pereptid. A bipedal seven foot alien with compound eyes and a permanently sorrowful demeanour. Crichton thought he looked like Clement Freud.

"What have you been giving him?"

Chiana handed the xenobiologist one of the jars of gel. He opened it and dipped in a long bony finger then sniffed it. "Hmm, too weak."

"Weak?" Said Chiana.

"Gr rak nosh!" Muttered the Diagnosan.

Chiana looked alarmed. "Shock treatment?"

The diagnosan nodded then added some clarification. "We can help the muscles."

Crichton looked suspicious. He wanted to get dressed but one or other of the doctors kept prodding him. It took all his willpower not to knock them flat on their asses. "H....how c...can you d...do that?"

The doctors looked at him suddenly, surprised that he had spoken. They immediately insisted he open his mouth wide so they could look down his throat. After a few microts they gave him a little space, then the xenobiologist spoke for all of them. "Implants."

Crichton started to back away but speed was never going to be at his command again and the diagnosan easily blocked his retreat. He showed Crichton something tiny in his hand.

"W...what is th..th..that?"

"Microcircuitry."

The scientist in Crichton was fascinated. It took him several microts to get the word he wanted passed his lips. "N...n...na...no N...na..no..t..tech...n..no..lo..gy?"

The doctors looked baffled. Chiana put the word together, looking at Crichton to see if she had got it right. "Nanotechnology?"

He nodded vigorously. The doctors discussed what he had said then looked at him. "Yessss, we insert them into the muscles."

There followed a long and protracted discussion, interrupted now and again by Crichton for clarification. Then they wanted to know what he was doing to excercise. He looked at Chiana and completely clammed up. Chiana swallowed and Nerri gave her a *don't ask me to explain this one* look. Arns later they left the facility and got back into the hovercar. Chiana beamed at Crichton with false cheer. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Crichton and Nerri exchanged a look. Crichton wondered how to say *Waste of frelling time* in Nebari.

He missed the children but Chiana insisted they would be finished on Rekkis within the weeken. That was still a long time to Crichton. He was uneasy. Edgy. As the surgery arranged for the next day drew closer he became even more unsettled. Chiana tried to ease his mind. "Hey, old man! This'll work."

He looked at her. Loved her so much but was also frustrated by her. Why could she not simply accept that this was the best they could hope for? He knew the reason why. She kept remembering him as he was. As he had been before his head had been opened up and the neural chip removed taking pieces of his brain with it. Memory, even a fragmented one like his, could still hurt so frelling much. At least the wasted muscles were a physical handicap, something that could be seen and treated. Chiana did not want to simply treat the condition, she wanted him healed. Wanted to give him back what he had lost. He knew that was impossible but he did not have the heart to tell her that. He lost count of the number of operations he had endured since then.

Bright and early the next day, Nerri brought the hovercar round to pick them up. Crichton was so nervous he kept dropping things. Chiana kissed him tenderly, the look in her eyes steadying him even as his mind screamed and longed to run away. <Oh God, let this be the last frelling time!> He kissed her back and let her fold her arms around him. Taking comfort in her and trying to dredge up what courage still remained inside him. He straightened and nodded. Chiana smiled and took his hand. At the medcentre they went straight in to the facility and were met by the diagnosan. Within a half arn Crichton was prepped for surgery. Before they started he asked to see Nerri. Nerri stood next to him and cocked his head in query.

"Mir-sen-ri kan, siv-ra-terrak. Iri-ka-mar o-ri nagirdi. Na?"

Nerri was speechless. It always amazed him that Crichton never stuttered once when he spoke in Nebari. He was asking him to watch over his children and Chiana for him if he did not make it out of surgery. He could not tell when his feelings for the human had changed from suspicion to wary respect to this deep familial affection. He could no more think of anything happening to Crichton than to Chiana. The human was truly dear as a brother to him. "You will be alright, John. Do not worry. If the knife slips I will kill them myself."

Crichton did not smile at the joke. He nodded, his expression solemn as if he expected Nerri to do just that. Nerri could see that his eyes were still begging the question. He sighed and nodded back. Yes, he would watch over his children and take care of Chiana if anything happened. That clear, Crichton closed his eyes and gave in to the drugs. Nerri was amazed at how stubborn the human could be. Outside in the corridor he paced and looked out at the burning rivers lighting the dusk. All this and more the human had saved. His own people were safe now because of this man. The war with the Scarrans had been circumvented. The Peace Keepers were no longer a threat and the stability of the Uncharted Territories, while not perfect, was at least less suicidal. All this because of one man. One tortured human who had shown them all another face of courage. The operation took seven arns. Chiana was a bag of nerves by the end of it. What if it had not worked? What if it had all been too much for Crichton? She would never forgive herself if anything happened to him. She contacted Pilot to let their friends know that Crichton had come out of surgery. Begged them not to come to Rekkis until the next day. She promised to keep them informed then spoke to the childen, Kari and Jack.

On board Moya D'Argo watched over Crichton and Chiana's children and prayed that the operation was a success. Rygel was quieter than usual, hardly touching his food. His eyes straying to the children. Their pale faces marked with human features. The innocence of youth shining in their eyes. What did they know of living on the edge? Of the things their father had been through? The courage of their mother? The crew of Moya still mourned Zhaan. Missed Aeryn. Crichton and Chiana had not known about Aeryn. Thought she was dead. Did not know about Zhaan's sacrifice. Chiana's call to Pilot had come out of the blue five solar days ago. Filled them with mixed emotions and a new pain. More sorrow to bear. Secrets to keep. They had been surprised and elated to hear from Chiana. Had no idea how long it had taken her to find them. Five cycles had come and gone since they had last seen her and Crichton. The news of their children had been something of a shock but D'Argo had readily agreed to pick the children up and watch over them for a few solar days. D'Argo's son Jothee had come to stay on Moya three cycles ago. He had taken a mate, a Luxan female called Nigree. He had grown up a lot since their last meeting. No one knew what would happen when they met up again. D'Argo was not worried about seeing Chiana. His anger over her and Jothee was a thing of the past and he was truly glad that she and Crichton had found happiness together but his hearts ached for Aeryn. When she had heard the news she left. Packed up her things and took her prowler down to the first world Pilot found with a peaceful Sebacean colony. Had sworn them all to not tell Chiana or Crichton that she was still alive. Some ghosts did not need to be awakened. Everybody had already suffered enough. Now they were within arns of seeing Chiana and Crichton old wounds were re-opening.

Rygel watched the children play. Kari was three, lively and so like Chiana in her movements and disposition that it made the Hynerian wistful. Her brother Jack was just turned four years old, much quieter and more thoughtful than his sister but with such a placid equable nature that even though he looked Nebari he reminded Rygel of Crichton. The two played a mix of games and chattered in Nebari and Human. They were not above mixing the two languages and creating their own words, words which they delighted in using to confound the translator microbes. The most common sound aboard the leviathan became the laughter and squeals of children.

* * * * *
END