Full Circle (PG-13)

[imloco2]

 
Date link originally posted at Kansas: October 27, 2002
Replies: 20
Views: 1410

Posted at ScapeRoute the day after that fateful day - September 7, 2002


You might have seen this already on the ScapeRoute board. It's been awhile since I posted it there. The timing of the story sucked something awful. It was finished right before the cancellation and posted the day after the news. Like anyone, including me, cared about reading then! :-)

   

Rated: PG-13
AU
Summary: What I think the last show of FS should be like.
Disclaimer: It's Hensen's show. I hope they remember to feed and water it....

...Such wilt thou be to me, who must
Like th' other foot, obliquely run;
Thy firmness makes my circle just,
And makes me end, where I begun.

(John Donne: A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning)

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Full Circle 

He had seen the sun today. It seemed like forever since anything but darkness had touched him. He had given up on warmth, and he ached with the loss of it. And then they had moved him, and he'd seen it. The brightness breaking through the dismal grey, reminding him of what it was like to live, that there were places where the sun had free reign and not hidden by thick walls of concrete. No. He had seen the sun today and he remembered. He wouldn't give up.

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"Man! Now this is flyin'!" John's voice vibrated with excitement as he felt the prowler pick up speed beneath him. The new heche drive was doing its job.

"Aeryn? You doin' okay?" He glanced to the right to see the prowler flying along side of him.

"What? You're worried about my flying?" He could hear the undercurrent of laughter in her voice as well as the hint of arrogance. She knew who the better pilot was in the family.

"You better hang on to your mivonks, Crichton! I'll see you on Delbia."

"Oh! You wanna race?!" He could feel the grin spreading across his face. Damn, she was somethin'. "Well then baby, I'm your man."

"Of course you are."

It still kicked him in his gut sometimes when he heard her say something like that.

"You know, now would be a good time to try out those modifications I made."

He reached over and flipped a switch and the sudden burst of extra speed snapped him back in his seat. Around him space seemed to shift in waves before settling down to normal levels. He pulled ahead of her prowler, but that only lasted a microt before she activated the new system herself and was next to him once again.

A blip on his screen caught his attention.

"Hey now, watch out for those rocks!" An asteroid debris field had suddenly appeared straight ahead, coming between them and the latest commerce planet they were headed for.

"Wanna go around?" He asked even though he knew what the answer would be.

"Frell no! Going around is for humans. Heh."

John smiled at her words, she had actually cracked a laugh when she said it; she was in rare form today.

She pulled ahead entering the field first, and began weaving the prowler over and under and around the deadly rocks, showing him just what she could do. She loved this he knew. It was what she'd been born to do, but she was just showing off now. Well, two could play at that game. He was right behind her as he began navigating the maze of debris with a similar ease born of cycles of necessity. Of life and death chases and endless hours sitting in front of Aeryn, her teaching him the moves she could execute in her sleep, him trying desperately not to disappoint. He was almost as good as she was now. Almost.

They were nearly out of the debris field, and if he didn't do something fast she was going to win. God knows he didn't want to have to listen to her gloating about it to D'Argo for the next monen. He chuckled to himself. He had an ace up his sleeve and there'd never be a better time to use it.

She finally cleared the field ahead of him and he could picture the smile on her face as she contemplated her win. Just before his ship cleared the last rock he pushed the tiny button nestled beneath his console to activate the new stealth shield he had installed earlier. He had paid a dominar's ransom for the bloody thing, and now he'd see if it was worth it. He still wasn't sure why he hadn't told Aeryn about it. He'd had some vague notion of surprising her with it. Now was as good a time as any.

He felt the air shift around him again. His scans still showed normal and there was no problem with visuals, but the inside of the ship took on an opaque quality. Suddenly he was a kid again and racing outside to see the storms come racing across the sky. He remembered how the world turned the same weird yellow just before all hell broke loose. He shook his head to clear it of useless memories. If the Kral had been telling the truth, right about now his prowler had just disappeared from her screen. Stealth. God, what the guys on Earth would give to have this!

Well, now all he had to do was wait to see what she thought of his new toy.

Suddenly, her prowler slowed down and his swept past her unseen. He worked to slow his Prowler down as well and turn it around.

"Frell! John?!...." As soon as he heard her call his name he knew he'd made a mistake. The worry and fear in her voice made him feel about 2 inches tall, like his mother used to make him feel when she had been worried about him and she'd found him hiding from her.

"No baby, I'm okay. I'm right here." He couldn't get the words out fast enough. He disconnected the shield and watched as everything returned to normal. He wasn't looking forward what came next. Man, he was so screwed! When would he learn to think before he did stuff like this?

"What happened?" Her voice was calmer than he had thought it would be. Maybe he had misjudged her; perhaps she wasn't going to kill him after all.

Their prowlers were hanging in space now, facing each other, the stillness disconcerting after the wild ride they'd just been on.

"It's some new equipment I got from those guys back on Rippa. I wasn't sure it would work you know, we're always gettin' shafted, so I thought I'd...." His voice trailed off.

"Test it on me?"

Nope. This was not good.

"Aeryn. I didn't mean to ..."

"No. It's fine John. You'll be happy to know it works well. It could come in... handy." Handy being the latest word she had picked up from him. Her list of words and phrases was getting larger all the time.

"You can show it to me when we get back to Moya."

The prowler in front of him began moving, picking up speed as it continued on to the commerce planet they'd been headed for. He calculated how much fuel he had and how far away it would get him, before deciding there was no other option. He'd just have to join her, and then face the music back on Moya. Only thing is, he didn't think music was going to have much to do with it.

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The two prowlers glided swiftly through Moya to the landing bay, and were soon sitting side by side. Two hatches flew open simultaneously and the pilots both scrambled down the side quickly.

"Aeryn, talk to me. I didn't mean to scare you, okay?! I was gonna tell you about it, honest. It just happened that's all. I wanted to surprise you." They were walking towards each other as he talked.

"Surprise me?"

Chiana entered the bay just in time to see Aeryn stop in front of John, reach back a hand, and send it flying in his direction. It was a good thing Crichton had learned how to duck. Of course it would have been even better if he hadn't let Aeryn take his feet out from under him. She watched as he lost his balance and went crashing to the floor.

"Well, I see you two had the usual good time." The squirming baby in Chiana's arms caught Aeryn's attention and she gave the man on the floor a little snicker before walking over to take the baby from her.

"Thank you, Chiana." The Nebari had been a tremendous help to Aeryn, once they'd gotten Robby back, but it was always a relief to have him safe in her arms.

"My pleasure. He's adorable." Chi ran a hand across the fluffy light brown hair and dropped a kiss there while she was at it.

Aeryn held the baby easily in spite of the fact she hadn't had a lot of practice. The whole 'mother' thing was still quite new to her but after 6 monens, she was finally beginning to think she might get the hang of it. He was being fussy so she patted his back and paced for a microt the way John had showed her. It didn't take long for him to quiet down now that Momma was home.

Carrying him, Aeryn walked over to John, still on the floor resting on his elbows and watching the two of them with that strange look on his face that he got from time to time.

"Look at that." She took one of Robby's fingers and pointed it at John. "That is your father. A human. Just remember, you don't want to grow up to be like him." The baby gurgled and laughed, and when Aeryn reached her other hand down to help John up she couldn't help the slight smile as she looked into the bright blue eyes that were a match for her son's.

"Still mad?"

"Maybe." But, her eyes told a different story.

"Let me make it up to you." He was up and he leaned in close to her until she could smell that scent, uniquely John's. A heady combination of leather and chaakan oil and the soap he insisted on trying to make. It did strange things to her insides that smell. Sometimes she wasn't sure she liked the feeling, but other times...

She pulled away just as his lips touched hers. He wasn't getting off that easy.

"Oh, you will. Make it up to me." She almost laughed as the disappointment on his face was chased away by anticipation. He might be a pain in eema, but one thing was certain, life was never boring.

She turned towards his Prowler. "Now, show me that stealth shield."

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He heard the guards laughing and he wondered if this would be the day. Of course he thought that every day. Sometimes he hoped they would go ahead and kill him just to be rid of the fear. But not right now. He had given up trying to figure out what made one day different than the others. He just accepted that today was his 'I want to live day.' He still had things to do, a son to seek, a life to live. If he could just hold out a little longer. They wouldn't abandon him to this place, he had to believe that. They would find a way.

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He couldn't have said what woke him up. His body was sated after trying all night to make up for his earlier fiasco. It was one of life's little rewards that trying to make up to Aeryn felt so damn good. And that he had to do it so often. There was a paradox there somewhere, but he was too tired to think of it. He smiled slightly to himself and stretched before curling closer around the woman next to him. His hand tightened on her belly and he pulled her against him, the feel of her bare skin against his causing his pulse to pick up even now. She didn't wake, only murmured sleepily and inched back even closer.

He looked up over her head to see the small bed he had made for the baby. He heard the reassuring rustle as Robby moved slightly in his sleep. Nothing wrong there. He laid his head down next to Aeryn's, breathing in the sweet sisarel she used to scent her hair and his eyes drifted shut. Life was good.

The fates must have heard him, for as soon as the thought entered his mind he heard the noise at the door. He lifted on one elbow and looked around. D'Argo stood there, wrapped in a blanket and gesturing for John to come out in the corridor.

"What the....?" It was said just under his breath so as not to wake Aeryn. He carefully untangled his body from hers and reached for his shorts. Pulling them on he padded over to the door and followed his friend outside.

"What's the matter?" John watched D'Argo for some clue to why he was dragging him out of bed in the middle of the sleep cycle.

"I'm sorry to disturb you. Uh...are you all right?" D'Argo looked embarrassed and wrapped his blanket tighter around him, but his eyes searched John from head to toe.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Is something wrong?"

"It's Chiana. She was having one of her visions." There was a certain amount of irritation in the words. They'd thought she had gotten rid of her visions, but they'd started coming back again after their disastrous attempts to rid her of the blinding sight. At least they weren't as strong as they used to be. Chiana's second sight gave him the willies. Truth be known, it gave everyone the willies, even Chi. "She said it concerned you, but she can't get a clear picture. She was so upset she sent me to come and make sure you were all right."

"A vision huh?" John would have liked to dismiss her visions, but she had been proven right too many times for him to ignore them. "What did she say?"

"Just that you, or someone very close to you was in trouble. I've checked on the others, they're fine."

John felt the fear creep along his spine. Close to him? Shit! Robby! He turned and ran back inside the room, coming to a skidding stop at the cradle. In the light from the corridor he could see the shallow breathing of his son. The light disturbed him and his head moved sharply a few times before he settled back down. John ran a shaking hand down the small body making sure that nothing was wrong. No temperature, not too cold. He was fine, just sleeping like he was supposed to be.

John closed his eyes in relief and started to breathe again. The baby was all right, that left... He whirled around and looked at Aeryn. The lids of her eyes fluttered, but her breathing was slow and deep. She moved a bit in her sleep and he knew she'd wake up soon. She would miss him, the feel of his hand, his body, just as he always missed her if she weren't there. She seemed fine too. But the cold feeling down deep in his bones didn't go away.

He joined D'Argo in the corridor and they stood looking at each other for a moment.

D'Argo sighed. "I'll tell Chiana that everything is fine. For now."

John could only nod and watch as his friend walked away.

For now.

They both knew that meant something was going to happen. It always did.

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The first thing he heard as he drew near the dining room was the sound of voices. Loud voices. It didn't take a psychic to figure out they weren't very happy.

"Frell you, D'Argo! I can take it if I want to!"

He came around the corner and stood at the door. He wondered what D'Argo had done to piss Chi off so early in the day.

"Chiana! It's not safe. You don't know what it could do to you." D'Argo looked up and spied John standing there.

"John! Tell her!"

"Tell her what?" He walked in and grabbed something resembling fruit from the storage container. "Mornin' Pip. Didn't get much sleep either, huh?" He grabbed a bottle of liquid and sat down at the table.

"The frellnick is trying to tell me what I can and can't do!" Her movements were jerkier than usual, even for her, as she paced back and forth.

"It's dangerous!" D'Argo's voice grew louder.

"I do what I want." Her head gave a defiant bob.

"But..!"

"D'Argo." John lifted his hand to silence him.

"All right, Chiana. What is all this about? What do you want to do?"

She sidled up next to him. "Well, see, there's this stuff I got back on that last commerce planet we were on..."

"It's Lis'teen!"

"D'Argo!" Both John and Chiana rang out at the same time. He turned his back to them trying to control his temper.

"You want to take Listerine? Really Pip, I wasn't going to say anything, but the dentics have been a little lax here lately...." He knew better, but even now he couldn't help himself.

"Shut up Crichton." She was so used to him after all these cycles that she didn't even bother trying to figure out his incomprehensible babble. "He called the stuff Lis'teen. Anyway, the guy there said that if you take it in the right dose it can sort of ...um... boost your abilities. You know...make you see things clearer."

John's eyes narrowed.

"This is about me, isn't it? About your vision last night?"

"Well, yeah. Something's going to happen Crichton. I know it. I just don't know what. Or to who. Don't you want to know?"

"Do I wa...?" He shook his head in disbelief at the question. He hadn't been able to go back to sleep after D'Argo's visit. He had lain there in the darkness, feeling Aeryn's warmth next to him, listening to the sounds of her and the baby breathing. They were the two things he cared about most in the universe, and as he lay there, he wondered. Everyone that was close to him was here on board Moya. Which one of them was in trouble, could he keep them safe, what would he do if anything happened to Aeryn or the baby? Even the thought threatened to send him into the black abyss that he'd already crawled out of several times since he'd landed here in the UT's. He didn't know if he could do it again.

"Of course I want to know!" He set the drink and half eaten fruit down and stood looking down at Chiana, remembering all she had done for him over the cycles, all the times she had been there for him.

"But not if it hurts you." He brushed the back of his hand down her face. They'd been together too long, and been though too much to pretend. She meant a great deal to him. They all did.

"Well, it won't." She grabbed his hand and gave it a light kiss before dancing away from him. When she turned back her face was serious. "I'm going do this." She looked from John to D'Argo and her face softened.

"Not for you. Not for the rest of us. For Robby." Her voice made it clear she'd made up her mind. She loved the baby. She'd told John once that she'd never felt like that for anyone except maybe Nerri. Everything about the baby seemed to fascinate her and John had no doubt she would give her life for his child if it came to that. He ducked his head in defeat, running his hand around the back of his neck.

John looked up and found D'Argo staring at him in frustration and understanding. How can you say no when it involves your child?

He caught a movement from the corner of his eye.

"What about Robby?" Aeryn stood in the doorway with the boy cradled in her arms.

John sighed. "Aeryn. We need to talk."

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Everyone was at the table, watching each other, shifting nervously, unable to sit still. Jool sat at the end with her bag of medical tricks at the ready. D'Argo had put his foot down and demanded she be there and ready if anything happened. No one had argued with him. They were just glad she had decided to rejoin them when she had. It was getting harder and harder to find medical help that actually helped you instead of trying to kill you, and she had learned a lot from her time on Arnessk.

Rygel was floating about the room nervously and if John didn't know better he'd have said Sparky was worried. He might be a Dominar, but he was taking his role as Robby's godfather seriously. He had spent an inordinate, and for Rygel, a truly stunning amount of credits making sure that Robby had nothing but the best. He too would have given his life for the boy, but with nothing to fight against he was forced to pace and wait like the rest of them. At least he wasn't trying to feed Robby Hynerian Marjooles this time.

It had been arns since John had talked to Aeryn and told her about Chi's vision. She had taken it with her usual stoicism, but he knew her too well now. She hadn't been able to stop the slide of her eyes to where Robby sat, playing quietly. The slight tremor of her hand in his had told him more than words could have. For herself, she could handle it, but when it came to their son it was a whole different ball of wax.

She sat next to him now, shoulder and hip touching his as she held the boy, and he slipped an arm around her waist, needing the comfort as much as she.

"It's gonna be okay." The words were huskier than intended as he tried to reassure her. He stroked Robby's hair softly and smiled at the blue eyed gaze that was turned on him.

"John. If something happens to me..." The strain in her low voice was obvious, but she was strong. She had always been strong.

"Shush. Nothing is going to happen to you." He didn't want to hear the words. You never knew when the fates were listening. Wouldn't want to give them any ideas. Best to just stay quiet about the possibilities.

But she wouldn't be silenced.

"No. I'm serious. If I'm gone..." She stopped to lick dry lips and her eyes flicked downwards to Robby. "You..."

He knew what she was asking. Trying to make sure of. It hurt that even after all this time she had to ask, but it was just a little hurt. He understood hurting and he could live with this kind.

He stared at her until the whole world was a pair of beautiful blue grey eyes.

"He is my son."

And she must have seen the truth of that because she smiled then and relaxed against him.

Then all eyes were on Chi as she cleared her throat and grinned hesitantly. She held the small vial of clear liquid up to the light, her hand not quite steady.

"It's all right. I can do this. Not too much, not too little." She took the stopper out of the thin vial and looked around at each of them.

"Chiana..." D'Argo's voice was full of frustration and concern and John knew he was having a difficult time handling this. D'Argo and Chiana had only been back together a few monens now. God life sucked sometimes. He ought to know.

"Chi." This time is was John and at his voice she stopped.

"You don't have to do this." It cost him to say it and he felt rather than heard Aeryn's quick intake of air, but how could he live with himself if something happened to his friends because of him?

Chiana seemed to take some strength from his concern and turned on her blazing smile.

"Don't worry old man. I'll be okay." She took a deep breath and tipped her head back to take a small sip of the liquid, making a face at the unpleasant taste. She put the stopper in and set it down on the table. They looked at her, waiting.

And they waited.

Time passed, but from the frustrated visage on Chiana's face there was still no vision.

John let out the breath he'd been holding and loosened his grip on Aeryn, felt hers loosen on him. Maybe this whole vision thing was nothing after all.

"It's okay, Pip. You tried. Maybe this means your other vision was wrong. Nothing to see after all." He reached across the table to take her hand and squeeze it reassuringly.

"Yeah, maybe." She was unconvinced, but she returned the pressure to his hand.

"Ahhhh..."

It caught them unawares. One minute she was sitting there holding John's hand, the next she had broken free and was on the floor twisting in pain, D'Argo at her side. She started to moan, her keening starting to upset Robby. Aeryn was trying desperately to quiet him, but she was determined not to leave.

"Darkness... Pain..." The words were forced from Chiana's lips as she doubled over again.

"Oh no. No. Not again...Please, I don't know." The words were almost incomprehensible, mumbled through clenched teeth. D'Argo smoothed the white hair back from her face as a tear ran down her cheek.

"Jool!" D'Argo yelled her name, but she was already there, making sure Chiana wasn't in any physical danger.

"What is it? What did you see?" John knelt beside her. He was as concerned about her as anyone else, but her words were frightening him. He had to know what they meant.

"Pip, please, it's important. Talk to me. Who was in trouble?!"

D'Argo growled slightly, warning John to be careful.

"I know D'Argo, it's just..." It was just that he was frustrated and scared. Really scared, like he hadn't been in monens. He still remembered the suffocating weight of being alone, of not knowing if Aeryn or Robby were alive or dead and he didn't think he could go through that again. He glanced up to see Aeryn with the baby standing to the side. If anything happened to either one of them.... He started to get up, but a thin grey arm reached out and grabbed his.

The spasms were fewer now and the words came easier. "A man. Older man, white hair... he...he looked like...you."

His heart thumped against his chest. No. It couldn't be.

"A man. Chiana, what man?" Relief for Robby and Aeryn was spiked with a new fear. He looked across the room at Aeryn, seeing his relief mirrored in her eyes as well as the puzzlement. He still needed to know who in the hell Chi was talking about. He ignored D'Argo's look of displeasure this time. "Chiana, please. Who?!"

"Hungry...cold...so cold... Men...Lots of men, and guns." Another tear slid down her cheek, but her voice was growing stronger. "They...they were torturing him." Chiana looked up into John's face, her mouth working. "I think... Jack... his name was Jack."

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He would wonder sometimes what his son was doing right that second. It was a game he played with himself. Most people would think he was crazy. He's dead, they said. It's time to let go. But he had never given up hope. The wormhole led to somewhere and if there was a snowball's chance in hell, his son would find a way to survive. He was smart, John was. Smarter then he would ever be. John had looked up to him all his life, and he'd felt pride in that, but he had always known that John would go farther then he had. He looked up at the cracked ceiling and felt the cold seep through to his bones. "Just how far did you go son? How far did you go?"

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"Aeryn, No!" John grabbed the shirt out of Aeryn's hands as she tried to stuff it into the bag, and tossed it across the room. Her arm came up swinging, but he caught it quickly and they stood there looking at each other, both of them breathing hard.

When he spoke the words were clipped, harsh.

"We agreed. Someone has to stay and make sure no one else gets through the wormhole while I'm gone. You have to stay here." The look on his face said what his words did not. The pain of leaving her was killing him.

"Frell that! I agreed to nothing. D'Argo can take care of any unwelcome visitors. I'm coming with you." She had a look on her face that he'd only seen a few times before. She meant it, he knew, and he would have to play dirty to get her to see that, this time, she couldn't.

His hands cupped her face, his thumbs softly skimming her lips, his fingers threading through the loose strands of her hair.

"No. It's my dad. I have to go, you know that. But we don't know what's happening on Earth, what will happen when I get there, or even if I'll get back. Somebody has to stay here. With Robby."

She flinched, and her voice was not quite as certain as a microt before, but she tried to stand her ground.

"Chiana has recovered, she will look after him."

Damn, but she was stubborn.

"And if neither one of us gets back...?"

He closed his eyes at the look of pain that flashed across her face as she began to give in to the idea she had to stay. Fate was using him for target practice again, just when he'd thought things were looking up. He should have known better.

"Baby, listen. I'll be back, I promise. It won't be like the last time. I'll find my dad and make sure he's okay and I'll be back before you even have a chance to miss me." A rash promise they both knew he might not be able to keep. But he promised it anyway and she accepted it, because the reality was more than either of them could bear.

"I miss you already." The sadness in the whisper made him ache. God! She was breaking his heart. If something happened and he didn't make it back it was going to kill her. How could he do this to her? To himself?

How could he not?

He dipped his head till their foreheads touched, the intimacy in the gesture their own special talisman. "I love you."

"I love you too."

The looked at each other for a long moment and when he bent his head to brush her lips with his, the pain in the kiss turned into desperation. Tender became bruising as he deepened the kiss. She wasn't satisfied with just kisses though, and she began to tug at his shirt, loosening his belt, demanding more. He felt the familiar burning in the pit of his stomach as she pressed closer. What would he do without this? Without her? He grew weak as her mouth moved on his, their tongues tangling, wet, warm and insistent. It lasted an eternity and he wanted nothing more than to lose himself in her.

Before he was lost completely, he pulled away, just far enough to ask "What about Robby?" The words almost lost in her mouth.

"Chiana has him. We have time."

Then clothing was gone and smooth limbs tangled with rough ones as they tumbled onto the bed. Their breathing came in labored gasps as hands explored, mouths tasted and they both lost any control they had left. Had it ever been this wild before, where every touch sizzled like fire along his skin? The pleasure was painful in its intensity, but it was a pain he craved, like chocolate, or breathing. He tried to make it last, to imprint the feel and smell and sight of her into his brain. Just in case. But the strain of the last few days had left them too ready, and all too soon they were falling into completion, their moans ringing out in the room, echoing into nothingness.

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[imloco2]

His bag was slung over one shoulder as he walked into the landing bay. He saw the Farscape module in the corner and considered it a microt before turning to the Prowler closest to him. Whatever was happening back home he had a feeling that he was going to need every advantage he could get and the Prowlers were the ones with all the latest gizmos installed. He'd have to take one of them.

He'd left Aeryn sleeping in their quarters less then an arn ago, and he hadn't realized how hard it would be to tear his body from her warmth and slip away into the cold darkness.

Alone again.

He could see it, that lonely place, staring him in the face again. It had taken him a long time to get to this point, to have what he'd always wanted, Aeryn, the baby, a family. To lose it now seemed like fates last cruel joke. He shook his head trying to drive the dark thoughts away. He couldn't afford to think like this. He would be back. He had to be.

He heard a noise behind some large containers in the corner and drew his pistol in one smooth move, more out of reflex than actual fear. A white head peeped over the side and he heard a soft giggle coming from somewhere behind her.

"Chiana? What are you doing here?"

She reached around to pick up the baby and slowly came out of her hiding place.

"We...we were playing." She was trying to smile, but fear kept getting in the way. "And waiting for you."

She handed Robby to him. "I thought you'd want to say goodbye."

"Come here slugger," he said softly, taking him in his arms. Identical blue eyes regarded each other for a moment before John bent down to kiss the soft brown hair. It tickled his lips and he ran a finger down a soft chubby cheek.

"No." The word was a whisper. "We don't say goodbye." There had never been a time when he had doubted that the other's son should be with him, when he hadn't thought of him as his own, but he hadn't known how all consuming the love would be when he'd finally found him. There was nothing he wouldn't do to keep him safe.

He hugged the small form close, kissing his cheek, before giving him back to Chiana.

"Thank you." It was more than a thank you for bringing Robby and she knew it. She stretched up to press her lips to his for a quick but thorough kiss.

"Come back."

He stood watching as she left quickly, Robby cradled in her arms. Okay, that was that then. He'd learned early, you never argue with a woman. He had to come back.

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

"Would you look at that." It had been the only thing he could say as he sat there in the Prowler, looking out into the darkness. Ahead of him had been the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. The revolving blue sphere hanging there in space, seeming suspended by invisible cords. Serene in its innocence, ripe for the picking. His home. Correction. His former home. It had been too long.

He'd made his choice long ago and it was no longer a place that he dreamed of returning to. Well not much. But that didn't stop his heart from skipping erratically at the sight of his birth place. He hadn't thought to return here so soon, hadn't really expected to at all. He knew he was risking everything by making this trip. He'd learned a lot since his meeting with Einstein and he was pretty sure of his ability to get where he wanted to go, but if the Peacekeepers, or some other alien race jones'n for a piece of the wormhole pie, came by and fought off D'Argo and Aeryn, then all his planning and running and being so very careful these last cycles had been for nothing. But damn, just this once he was going to do something for himself. For his dad he would risk it. He owed it to him to at least try.

Once out of the wormhole, he had flown the Prowler straight in, not stopping to wonder at the rings of Jupiter or search for the face on Mars. Blue was the only color he was interested in and he had become so used to the sight of such planets that it never occurred to him that once it would have been the dream of a lifetime to be so close. But they had been passed by, unnoticed by the only human to ever see them in all their glory.

He flipped the switch that had landed him in the dog house only a day ago and the stealth shield hummed lightly as it began to do its work. The wormhole had opened up far enough away that it would be a while before the people and machines watching the sky realized it had opened up, if they ever did. With any luck he'd be long gone by the time they figured out they had visitors.

He watched as Earth grew larger and larger in the view screen. His attention was so focused on Earth that he almost missed the large pile of tin floating in Earth's orbit.

"Holy crap!" It looked an awful lot like...Oh god, it was!

"Ha! They did it. They really did it." It was much bigger than he remembered it. It must be finished. The space station was finally a reality. He'd had his doubts it would ever get off the ground. That was encouraging. If they had actually put the money and effort into finishing the space station maybe things hadn't changed too much. On the other hand... A thought struck him.

He leaned over and worked at the frequency converter on the console. Maybe...

"Let's see what's happening on Earth today boys and girls." Soon the sounds of a strangely familiar voice filled the small cockpit.

"Good Morning America....."

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

"Eeeny Meeny Miney Moe...."

Parking garages, gotta love 'em. John looked at the cars lined up in front of him. A veritable smorgasbord of automotive excellence. And he was going to steal one of them. It should be such a simple thing really.

*Thou shalt not steal.*

Well, frell, this wouldn't be the first commandant he'd broken since leaving Earth. But for some reason he was nervous and feeling damned guilty. He'd robbed depositories and blown up command carriers, killed an untold number of people for god's sake, and he was worried about stealing a car. How nuts was he anyway?

He'd left the Prowler safely hidden in the Florida everglades, with no one the wiser and had made it here to Miramar, but it wasn't safe to do the hitchhiking thing again. Too many chances for something to go wrong, for someone to recognize him or notice the bulge under his coat where Winona now resided. And he couldn't waste time waiting for someone to decide they were brave enough or lonely enough to pick him up. Nope. This was the only way. And if his dad ever asked... he'd just lie.

Now all he had to do was choose one. He knew which one he wanted. The big shiny black one called a Navigator called to him like a siren, but his common sense prevailed. The big expensive cars always came with wealthy people behind them. People that didn't like their big expensive cars to go missing. With his luck they'd have some sort of tracking device on it and the police would pick him up an arn after he drove off. No, he had to set his sights lower.

He sighed and walked over to the little teal Chevy Cavalier. It would have to do. He just hoped there was gas in it.

It was ridiculously easy to open it up and start the engine. He must have learned more in his time in the UT's than even 'he' knew about. Man, he'd missed his calling. With his new criminal bent there's no telling what he could do. He got in and started it up. As he made his way out of the garage he noticed the cameras, but didn't make much effort to hide. They'd be searching a long time before they found where he was.

It wasn't long until he reached the highway and he settled in for a long ride. Relaxing, however, was another matter. Things had been going pretty smooth up to now, so if his luck ran as usual, there was going to be hell to pay later on. Question was, how much hell? And how much later? But first things first.

He began practicing what he would say when he saw DK.

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

Oh no, not again. The thick cold clump of rice sat before him. He'd eat it of course. Not to would mean starvation and it hadn't come to that yet. He still wanted to live, no matter how pathetic a life it had become. He closed his eyes and tried to remember. Eggs, over easy, bacon, crisp...toast with grape jelly, frosty glass of milk. That's what he would have when he got back home. That and a million other things he'd taken for granted. Not anymore though. He opened his eyes and forced the nausea back as he looked at his meal. Bon Appétit.

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

He pulled the car to the curb a few houses down from his destination and watched. He ached at the familiar sights, kids playing next door, the hose laid out in the yard. DK never did keep stuff like that put up. He smiled and popped the last French fry into his mouth with relish and took one more swig of Coke. Oh God, that was good! No, it was better than good. It was ambrosia, nectar from the gods themselves, not from those giant damned insects on Tarsis. He hadn't even realized how badly he'd missed the foods he had grown up with. Pan'te and crackers were fine but this was Food! If only Aeryn... He cut off the thought before it had a chance to make him turn the car around and head back to the Prowler. Maybe he'd find a way to take some back with him.

He wiped his mouth and got out of the car. He hoped to hell DK was still living here. He hated to think he was about to break into a stranger's house. First car theft, and now breaking and entering. Next thing you knew he'd be on America's 10 most wanted list.

He walked up to the door and looked around the porch, searching. He quickly found what he was looking for and he bent over to pick up a stone lying beside a step. With a flip of his wrist he slid the two sides apart, retrieving the house key hidden inside. Yep. DK still lived here all right. Who else would leave his house key in a crappy plastic rock? He'd warned him it would get him in trouble one day, but would he listen? Almost as stubborn as.... Frelling dren! Why did every thought always seem to bring him back to Aeryn? He shook his head, trying to deny the thoughts that kept creeping up on him at every turn.

The key turned in the lock smoothly and he eased inside, quickly shutting the door behind him. It was late afternoon now and the sun, low on the horizon, was streaming in the window. It lit the room with a strange glow, particles dancing in the air like fairy dust. It didn't look like anyone was here, though it was possible. He hadn't checked the garage. No point in being seen casing the joint like a common criminal. If anything he was an uncommon criminal.

He looked around the room. God, it was just the same. Like he'd never been gone, never been sucked down a wormhole and spit out the other side. Never lived another life. The same furniture, the same curtains at the window, same pictures on the mantle. Everything was exactly the way he remembered it.

Well, almost everything. The boar's head they had had stuffed when they'd gotten back from one of their infamous hunting trips was gone. A definite improvement. It was the only thing they'd ever killed and DK had insisted on getting it stuffed and hanging it in the living room. God he'd always hated that thing. And where was the painting of the big breasted nude blonde? DK had loved that too. Well he couldn't blame him for that one. He grinned to himself before turning serious again. The silence in the house was unnerving. He had really needed someone to be here. He'd have to find another way to get in touch with DK. Assuming Chiana was right, God only knew how much time his dad had left.

"Ahh..."

The sudden noise had him drawing Winona and heading towards the back of the house. He'd thought there was no one home, but apparently he was wrong. As he drew closer to the bedroom the sounds grew louder and more frequent.

"Mmmm....Oh god..."

Oh yeah, someone was home all right. He just hoped it was DK or he was in heap big trouble.

"Baby...that's it...Oooo..."

Well, he really hated to do this, but .... what the frell. He didn't have time to sit and wait 'em out, and who knew when they'd be done if he didn't give 'em a push in the right direction. And besides, if they heard him, he didn't want them getting spooked and calling the police because they didn't know who it was.

He took a deep breath, then reached a hand up to rap a few times on the half opened door and pushed, watching it swing open slowly. He still had Winona drawn just in case he was wrong and it was someone other than his best friend.

No worry. Sure enough there was DK still levered above the woman in bed, his bare back twisted as he turned around. John wasn't sure what he looked like standing in the doorway in his black tee shirt and leather PK pants, still holding on to Winona, but it must have been somethin'. He saw fear, confusion, disbelief, mixed with the still visible evidence of passion, and he thought for a minute DK was going to pass out. He looked like he'd seen a ghost, and who knows, maybe he had.

That tableau remained the same as the seconds ticked away, and John decided he should be the one to break the tension, if that was possible.

"Hey buddy, we need to talk when you get a minute. I'll be in the kitchen, okay?" At the sound of his voice the woman still mostly hidden by DK gave a start. She lifted her head to see better and he finally got a good look at the woman DK had been enjoying himself with moments before.

"Alex?"

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

John sat at the kitchen table, facing the door to the hall, and silently appreciated the aroma of the coffee in front of him. Nice of DK to make a pot just before he got there. Just one more thing he'd forgotten he missed. He reached a hand up to rub his neck, trying unsuccessfully to soothe the kinks out.

His mind was a whirlwind of speculation about the two still in the bedroom, but he imagined it was nothing compared to what they were thinking. He'd never seen two people more shocked and confused in his life. He'd begun to wonder if he'd made a serious mistake barging in like that, until DK had seemed to pull himself together and nodded before John had closed the door behind him.

DK and Alex. Now there was a pair he had never imagined. The last he'd heard of Alex she was safely ensconced at Stanford. When had they gotten together? And when would they get the frell out of the bedroom! He'd heard the sounds of them getting dressed, their voices low and urgent, apparently trying to decide if what they'd seen was real and what to do about it. He hadn't heard them for a while now and he wished they'd hurry and make up their minds. Time was wasting and he didn't have much to spare.

One more microt, then he was going in after them. He took his cup with him as he got up and walked over to a cabinet. He knew where DK kept all the good stuff. He lifted the package of Oreos out and sat it on the counter. Before he tore into it though, he lifted the steaming mug to his lips for a sip.

"Is my having sex with DK going to cause a problem?" The voice came from behind him.

Coffee spewed out of his mouth and onto the counter. Never one to mince words, that was Alex.

He looked around to find Alex standing in the doorway. This time, she surprised him. She was wearing khaki pants and a black tee shirt that mirrored his own, but what got his attention was the small pistol in her left hand. And damned if she didn't look like she knew how to use it. What had happened to her since he'd been gone?

"Hey! Alex. No, no...You, DK, sex.... no problem."

They looked at each other, each one trying to figure out where reality had taken a left turn.

"John?"

"Yeah, it's me." He gave her a small reassuring grin before looking pointedly at her hand.

"You mind pointing that somewhere else?" He paused. "And why do you have a gun anyway? The Alex I knew hated guns."

"Well, things change, don't they?"

The laugh was only slightly bitter. "You have no idea."

Her shoulders slumped in relief. "It is you." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah. Or a reasonable facsimile."

She suddenly lowered the pistol and causally jammed it into the back of her pants, pulling the tee shirt over it before sitting down at the table opposite him.

And then, because the curiosity was killing him, he had to ask. "So... how long have you and DK.....?"

"Two years."

"Serious?"

"Could be. Neither one of us is exactly in a rush. We've been too busy."

"Too busy? Doing what?"

"Looking for you."

John put his cup down carefully, deciding that the way the conversation seemed to be going it would be safer if he wasn't drinking hot liquid.

"Me?" He closed his mouth before he started to look ridiculous, but it was probably too late.

She gave him with a frosty glare. The tables had turned suddenly and she didn't seem to be in any hurry to enlighten him.

Frell this.

"Look, Alex. I know that wasn't the best way to make an entrance, but I'm in a hurry. I don't have time to play twenty questions. Just accept it's me, I'm here and I need to see DK."

He got up quickly, with every intention of finding DK himself, when something slammed into his face and he found himself down on the floor looking at a pair of well worn boots. Shaking his head to clear his vision he rolled over to look up into the angry face of his best friend.

"God help me if you ever get together with Aeryn." He mumbled the words on his way up off the floor, but he never took his eyes off DK. He'd caught him by surprise and that wouldn't happen again.

"DK." He stopped short, taking in the tall figure in front of him. The sandy hair needed a pair of scissors and there were hollows under his eyes that spoke of sleepless nights. His face had a bitter look he'd never seen there before. Yeah, he thought with a sigh, we've all changed.

"You bastard!" DK's hands came up to shove John, catching him in the shoulders. He could have sidestepped the blows easily enough, but he didn't. His time in the UT's and especially Aeryn's influence, had honed his body to a deceptive hardness. He barely felt the blows. And he knew from looking at DK that the anger was his way of coping with the unexplainable. Everybody handled it differently, that's all.

"Where the hell have you been? Do you have any idea of what we've been through trying to find you? When you disappeared we thought... You couldn't even....?" Suddenly his control broke as well as his anger and he grabbed John and wrapped him in an unmanly hug.

John's arms came up and he held on for dear life. He'd never thought he would have this opportunity again. His life before the wormhole flashed in front of him and in every frame there was this man, his brother, his friend. God, how he had missed him! He tightened his grip briefly before pulling away to wipe the tears from his face.

Even Alex's eyes looked suspiciously damp.

"Tell me you haven't had amnesia all this time and were living the quiet life in Boca Raton." DK's voice became stronger as he talked. His eyes never left John. He studied him, taking in the coat, the black leather, the pulse pistol half hidden. It was when he got to John's face that he took a step back.

"No. I don't believe you've been anywhere that nice." His voice was low. "You look... different." It was a statement of fact.

"Yeah. I'm different." He knew he was and most of the time thought he was better for it, but it didn't make his heart ache any less for the things he'd lost here. There was just nothing he could do about it.

"So. Are you going to tell me about it? What happened to you? Where have you been?"

"I..." John shook his head in frustration. There just wasn't time for this. "Just think really bad sci fi/horror movie. Listen, I'll tell you all about it later. Right now there's something more important I need to talk to you about. Where's my dad?"

Both DK and Alex started at the question and looked at each other. They seemed almost as startled as when he'd interrupted them earlier.

"How do you know about Jack?" DK was getting that suspicious look on his face again.

"So Chiana was right, he is in trouble. Frell!" He looked from Alex to DK. "A friend of mine...uh, saw...something... You know what? Never mind that! Just tell me what happened. Where is he?"

This time Alex spoke up.

"Well, we're pretty sure he's in....China."

John shook his head rapidly. "No, no, no." He started pacing. "This is not happening. China?! For God's sake, why would he be in China?!"

"It's because of the wormhole." DK chimed in.

This was getting better by the minute. "The one I opened up?"

"No, the one we opened up."

John sat down at the table and ran a weary hand through his hair. "Maybe you should start from the beginning."

[imloco2]

The lights came on and a new day made its arrival with the steps of the guards. Sleep. They never let him have enough, damn them. It was his only comfort now. When he closed his eyes he wasn't here. He was at home laughing with John or Lauren or Trish. Sometimes, when he closed his eyes, he was back in Florida going over flight plans and listening to DK spout the techno babble that he and John used to indulge in when they got excited about a new theory. He had never understood half of what DK was saying; it was his job to take care of the flying. Now he both thanked and cursed god for not letting him understand. For if he did, he would tell.

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

Wormholes. Blue plant people. Slug Dominars. Grey Psychics. His brain felt like it was going to explode.

DK stood in the doorway, watching the man stretched out on the bed, his clothes tossed in a heap on the floor. He was pretty sure John was asleep, at least he wasn't moving. Alex had finally talked him into trying to get some rest. There was nothing to be done until morning and if they were going through with this crazy plan he needed to be alert.

He closed his eyes tight for a minute and opened them, almost surprised to see his friend still in the bed. In his wildest imaginings he could never have dreamed up half of what John had told him in the last 4 hours. Crap. It was all crap. It had to be. Who could believe any of this stuff? But then he looked down as his shaking hand and realized... he did.

He slowly closed the door to the bedroom and made his way to the living room. It was dark out now and the lights illuminated the inside of his house just enough to cast eerie shadows on the wall. Whose bright idea was it to get mood lights anyway?

Oh yeah, his.

His knees still felt weak and he couldn't shake the idea that he was trapped in an old Twilight Zone episode. He kept expecting to see a huge head peeking in the window at any moment.

He crossed the room and went to sit down next to Alex. She had just gotten off the phone with one of her contacts and had a slight frown on her face.

"What did he say?" He reached over a hand to brush a silky strand of blond hair back from her face.

"Well, he wouldn't give me any guarantees, but he's thinks it might be possible." She ran her fingers up and through her hair, tugging at it in frustration. "They're certain Jack's been moved to Dun Pow. He thinks they can bribe some of the guards to keep Jack alive for the immediate future, and he knows someone over in Taiwan who can take care of the bridge. It's gonna cost us though."

"What ever it takes, Alex. I'll get it."

"Do you really think you can hack the blueprints of the prison?" She took his hand, running a finger over his.

"Piece of cake, no problem." That was one area where he didn't doubt himself.

"I just don't know what he thinks he can do." She frowned, thinking about the man in the next room. "I mean, my resources are limited. I can't help with troops or fire power at all."

"Well, he seemed pretty sure he could handle it. You've done all you can do." He wrapped an arm around her.

"If I was Robert Redford I could get him out."

"Huh?" The Twilight Zone feeling increased.

"You know. Spy Game. Redford breaks his guy out of a Chinese prison?" She sighed. "Why can't real life be more like the movies?"

"Oh, I don't know. I'm getting that movie vibe right now and I don't think I like it very much."

He pulled her closer and they sat that way for a few seconds before they couldn't stand it anymore.

"So what do you think about...?"

"So do you think...?"

The simultaneous questions caused some snickers before they quieted and grew serious again.

This time Alex went first.

"I don't know what to think. It's John, I'm sure of that, even though he's changed. Did you see his eyes?"

He nodded. Oh yeah. He'd seen his eyes. The cool blue was the same, but at the same time they were the most changed thing about his friend. They said the eyes were windows to the soul, and if that was the case John's soul had been to dark places DK never wanted to go.

"I wish we had more time to talk. Something bad happened to him that he's not telling us. I don't know if he ever will. It's so hard to believe he's been ...." He nodded upwards. "... up there, all this time." He hesitated. "Do you believe him?"

Alex nodded her head, sighing. "I shouldn't. If it was anyone else in the world, I wouldn't. But seeing him...seeing the, what did he call it... pulse pistol? God, the NSA people would die to get a hold of that! It's hard, but yeah, I believe him."

DK nodded and started to speak, but stopped.

"What?"

"No. It's nothing."

She knew him well enough after all this time to know that was a lie. She could feel the tension in his body.

"There's something. Just say it."

"Now that he's back, do you...? I mean, I know how you felt..." He was tripping over the words and stopped again, but she knew what he meant.

She turned to face him, looking into his eyes for good measure.

"Are you talking about how I feel about John?"

"No. Let's just forget it." He got up off the couch. "Why don't we go over those plans one more time?" She had been in love with his best friend once. The two of them had been inseparable and now that man was back and sleeping in the next room no less. What if..? Better not to think about it. He began gathering papers on the desk, trying to keep this thoughts from running wild and losing.

Her features were drawn and tight as she left the couch and walked over to him slowly.

"Talk to me." It was a simple plea, that wasn't simple at all.

DK couldn't hold out against the soft voice. "It's just that... it was because of him that that we're together. If you hadn't been so upset when John disappeared, come here after the accident... I'm the one that insisted we keep going with the research. That all we had to do was open the damned wormhole again and we could find him, or at least what happened to him. If it wasn't for me you wouldn't be a working with the NSA and Jack would still be here. If I had just accepted..."

She started to speak but he stopped her.

"But you want to know the worst part? I don't think I ever really believed it. Any of it. I wanted so desperately to believe that I hadn't killed my best friend, that our work wasn't for nothing, that I ruined your life and I've probably killed Jack." He gave a small hysterical giggle. "And now? Now John's back. In 3D, living color. My best friend who's been tooling around the universe for the last 5 years, dressed like some kind of futuristic gunslinger who says he can break into a Chinese prison single-handed. And I gotta wonder, Alex, if maybe somewhere deep down you don't wish that you had never gotten involved with me. Maybe seeing him again...?"

Her fingers came up to silence him.

"Look at me." She was standing next to him now, her face softening. "It's okay." Her hand came up to caress his cheek. "Everything's changed now, you know that. Yes, it's true that John is the reason I came back, but you're the one who kept me here. I wouldn't have joined the Agency or stuck around here so long if I hadn't wanted to. You know me." She gave a half smile. "I do what I want. Just like Jack did. It's not your fault. None of it. Quit beating yourself up."

Her arms slid over his shoulders and she leaned in for a lingering kiss.

"Now let's really go over those plans again." She flicked his nose lightly before picking up the map and papers from the desk and walking over to the couch. He followed her silently, trying hard not to think about the fact that she hadn't really answered his question.

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

It was the smell he noticed first. Or the lack of it. Robby was there, playing with a DRD, his mouth curving in a smile as he looked up and saw him. John ached with the need to hold him, breathe in the smell of childhood, sweet and clean. But there was no smell, and he remained motionless, his tired limbs refusing to move even as Robby's face fell and his mouth opened in a silent cry.

In a sudden shift, Aeryn's face floated in front of him, and it became the only thing he could see. How he loved those eyes that crinkled at the corners when she smiled at him, the dark hair tumbling over her pale face. It made up his entire world and he felt desire and love mix to create a lightening bolt of sensation that shot through his body. He needed her so badly. Wanted her so badly. He reached out, desperate to feel the smooth skin under his hands, but she was too far away. He tried again and again, but always she was just out of reach. He felt the desperation and panic rise up. It all felt too familiar, the loss, the pain. She was still smiling at him when her face began to fade. He was losing her. Please God, not again!

"Aerynnn!"

He woke with a start, finding covers on the floor and the sheets soaked in sweat. He lay there for a minute, willing his heart to slow. Damn! He hadn't had the nightmare in monens. He'd hoped it was gone for good. The panic of the dream began to fade, but he was still shaking inside.

God this had to work. He had to make it back. Had to.

He sat upright and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Suck it up, John. This isn't helping. Not you, not them, not Dad. Aeryn was with Robby and they would be fine. Right now he had to think about getting his dad out of an isolated Chinese prison, thousands of miles away, all by himself. Man, who the hell did he think he was anyway? Oh, that's right. He was the great John Crichton. Unfortunately the Chinese didn't know that or they'd be sure to let him right in and give him a tour of the place.

His thoughts went back to last night and the unexpected revelations all around. He had told them the basics of what had happened to him. There had been no time to go into much detail and he had left Aeryn and Robby out of it altogether. He'd been tired and things were complicated enough. They wouldn't have let him off the hook with a simple sentence or two and he hadn't felt like explaining then.

As wild as his story was, however, they had their own bizarre tale to tell. DK had told him how they had spent the last years raising funds and calling in every favor his dad could muster to get the Farscape project back on track, trying to simulate what had occurred when John had disappeared. DK had insisted that the readings from the module had given them reason to believe that he wasn't dead. That travel through the hole was possible.

And then one day, about 2 months ago, they had done it. A wormhole had opened up and everything seemed to be in their grasp. With just one small problem. They didn't know how they had done it. They had tried repeating the sequence and it didn't work. And in the midst of trying to discover exactly what it was that caused the wormhole reaction, the Chinese decided now was the time. Their fledgling space program needed a boost and they weren't content to have the leftovers from the West. They wanted the wormhole technology and they wanted it now.

And their answer to that was...get Jack Crichton. His was the most visible face of the project and he had been the one flying the mission when the wormhole appeared. It didn't matter that DK was the man behind the machine and Jack didn't have a clue why it had opened a wormhole up before. It was Jack that had attracted the attention and publicity, and he was the one they went after.

DK had said they had taken his dad over a month ago. It had taken the Chinese a while to figure out that Jack wasn't the one they should have taken, but by that time it was too late. Now they were in negotiations with Washington about handing him over in exchange for the wormhole information, but it was slow going. Nobody seemed to be in any hurry to do anything, and in the meantime his dad was rotting away in some dank cell somewhere, all alone. The thought brought back too many dark memories and threatened to paralyze him so he pushed them to the side. He'd think about that when he could afford to.

Right now he needed a shower. The very thought of a real honest to god shower was enough to get him up and off the bed and heading for the bathroom. Besides, he didn't have time to sit here wallowing in self pity. He needed to find out what Alex had accomplished since he'd been asleep.

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

God! Could it get any colder? The first chance he'd had to wash in weeks and the water was so cold he'd swear they put ice in it. The bastards. He shivered as he dipped the dirty rag in the water and started wiping, careful to avoid the cuts as best he could. He avoided looking in the cracked mirror over the basin. He didn't know the man that looked back at him anymore. Didn't want to know him. Oh God, it was cold.

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

John walked into the living room, his hair still damp from the shower and dressed in his familiar leather pants and tee. He'd thought about DK's offer of some jeans and a shirt, but had decided against it, and not just because he'd be hard pressed to fit into DK's clothes. He didn't want to give up what he came with. Not that he would be tempted to stay. What he had on the other side of the wormhole was too important to him to think that, but it would be harder on him when he left if he got too used to things here. Besides, his clothes were just cooler.

He stopped halfway into the room. DK and Alex were asleep on the couch, obviously having fallen asleep while they were working. A map had fallen on the floor and her head rested in his lap. He watched them for a moment, and his longing for Aeryn seemed to multiply. God, he wished she was here with him. He missed being able to talk to her, to hold her just like that.

As he stood looking at them Alex's eyes slowly opened and met his. She eased her head up from DK's lap and quietly stood up, motioning with her head towards the kitchen.

They left him still sleeping and John sat down at the kitchen table while Alex made a pot of coffee.

He watched her practiced movements and couldn't help compare this Alex with the one he'd known years ago. Back then she had been a whiz in the lab, but useless in the kitchen. Now it was like looking at a stranger. It was hard to believe he had almost asked her to marry him.

When he spoke he kept his voice low, not wanting to wake DK.

"What have you found out?"

She paused from the task of getting the cups and turned to look at him.

"Good morning to you too." It was a soft rebuke.

He opened his mouth to tell her again that he was in a hurry, but gave up with a sigh. She was right, it wouldn't hurt to be civil. If he still remembered how.

He gave a sheepish smile. "You're right. Good morning."

She gave a faint smile and brought two cups of black coffee with her to the table. She put one in front of John and sat down across from him. They nursed the steaming liquid, taking occasional sips.

"I talked to Burke in Washington. He is making the arrangements to get word to his guy inside the prison. For the right price he thinks it shouldn't be a problem to bribe the guards stationed with your father, especially since it's only to look out for him for a day or two. They'd think it easy money. Yun Yee in Taiwan is getting in touch with someone at the army camp nearby and they'll take care of the bridge. He said it would be at least a day before you could move." She reached a hand out to cover his. "Don't worry. Jack's tough. He's made it this far, he'll make it one more day."

He took the hand she had on his and held it between both of his.

"Alex...thanks." He smiled. "I owe you."

"No, we're even." She smiled back before freeing her hand and taking a sip of coffee. At his quizzical look she sighed.

"When you disappeared, I was .... upset. The job at Stanford wasn't going well and I felt incredibly guilty for what happened to you." She shushed him when he started to protest. "I know it was silly, but I couldn't help but think that you wouldn't have gone through with the experiment if I'd been with you." She laughed softly. "Forgetting of course how stubborn you can be."

"Something we had in common." He'd never realized how alike they were, until now.

"Anyway, I came crying to DK, determined to do something, anything, to help. I was trying to make it up to you. Then DK had this brainstorm." She grinned, remembering. "The NSA had been snooping around the Farscape project and he didn't trust them to keep their fingers out of the pie. He thought that a contact within the organization would be a good idea while he tried to reopen the wormhole. I contacted them about a job, found out I was pretty damn good at it and I've been with them ever since. It took a bit longer to convince DK he wasn't betraying his best friend by getting involved with me." Her gaze was direct. "We didn't, did we? Betray you?"

He shook his head. "No, Alex. We had already said goodbye."

She nodded, relief showing in her eyes.

She leaned forward. "I like my job. I like my life. Without you, I wouldn't have either. So we're even."

"I'm glad you're doing okay." He hesitated. "Tell me.... DK... how has he been?"

She didn't speak for a moment and he couldn't help wonder how bad it was.

"Well, at first...it wasn't good. You remember I said I blamed myself when you disappeared?"

He nodded.

"Well, it was a lot worse for him. He was the one who helped you plan the experiment, helped you with equations and coordinates; he was at the helm that day." She got up and walked over to the coffee pot, bringing it back with her to refresh their coffee and setting it on the table before beginning again.

"Like I said, he was in bad shape. So was your Dad. But DK became obsessed with getting the wormhole to reappear and he convinced your father that the information sent back before you disappeared meant that it lead somewhere. That there was the slightest glimmer of hope that maybe you had survived. It helped them cope, I guess. I'm not sure I ever thought they'd be able to do it, but they did."

He couldn't help but notice the glint of pride in her eyes as she said it.

"You really love DK."

It wasn't really a question, but she answered anyway.

"Yeah, I guess I really do." The smile that broke her face this time was wide and full of happiness.

He knew the feeling. The sudden feeling of loneliness caught him off guard and he couldn't hide the look on his face. Her smile faded and she reached for his hand again.

"What about you?"

"Me?"

"You've been out there a long time John. You said they weren't all different looking, the aliens there. You said some looked human. Surely in all that time you found someone...."

"Actually, someone found me..." He couldn't help the small smile that hovered at the corners of his mouth. It would be a sweet kind of pain to talk about Aeryn and Robby when they were so far away, but he owed it to her. "Yeah. She's...." He paused unsure how to start. How do you explain Aeryn?

"She's what?" The voice came from the door and they both started at the sound. DK was standing there watching them, his eyes traveling to their hands which they quickly disentangled.

"DK. Man, you're awake. It's about time." For the life of him he couldn't figure out why he felt guilty when he'd been about to explain the love of his life to his ex girlfriend. Maybe it had something to do with the look hovering in DK's eyes as he watched them. Well that was one thing he could clear up right away.

"I was just about to tell Alex about Aeryn."

"Erin?"

"Yeah, Aeryn Sun."

They all heard the noise at the same time. A sharp clicking sound that seemed to come from the bedroom John had spent the night in.

"What the f....?" John got up from the table and took off at a run, the others close behind him.

He was in the room when he heard it again and his heart stopped. Or it felt like it had. He was paralyzed for precious seconds until his head cleared and he could move again. The comms! Where in the frell was the damned comms?! The bed! He dove for the bed, ripping the covers off in his rush.

There!

This time the voice was clear and strong.

"Crichton! Are you there?"

"Aeryn?!" He spoke into the comm. This was not happening. "Where are you?"

"Latitude 25 ' 54'N Longitude 81' 18'W and according to your maps, if you could see through this unnaturally blue sky, the constellation Delphinus would be just overhead."

"Aeryn." It was a warning.

"Right next to your Prowler."

"You're where?!" He ran a shaking hand through his hair. "Why don't you ever listen to me?" A sudden thought struck him. "Where's Robby?!" His hoarse bark startled the two people in the room with him, and they were already looking at him like he'd grown two heads.

"He's fine, John. He's with the others on Moya." He slumped over in relief . As long as the baby was safe he could deal with all the rest.

"John? There is a primitive, but rather large, flying vessel headed this way. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Yeah! Get the frell out of there and hide!" He jumped up off the bed and began to pace.

There was silence for long interminable seconds until... "Done." Her voice was calm and steady and it irritated him to no end. How could she be calm when his heart was threatening to beat its way out of his chest?

"Did they see you?"

"Of course not."

Even so far away he could hear the arrogance in her voice. It was at once frustrating and reassuring.

"Now what?"

"Now? Now, I think you should stay put. I'll be there as fast as I can."

"John?" Her voice suddenly took on a worried tone and his irritation vanished instantly.

"Yeah, baby?"

"It's nothing, really. I was just wondering just how hot it gets here on your Earth?"

He knew her too well, could hear the fear buried deep in her voice. And he also knew she wasn't about to let on she was worried. He was sure it had cost her a lot to ask.

"Aeryn, listen. It won't take me over a few arns to get back there. Just...just get back in Prowler and turn on the environmentals. Nobody should be able to spot you and you can ...oh, I don't know, read that old copy of National Geographic till I get there."

"Crichton."

"Uh, huh?"

"Are you ever going to stop talking?!"

"Zipped."

When he turned, his best friend and ex girlfriend were staring at him in silence. He sat down on the edge of the bed and began pulling his boots on.

"Well, come on. We don't have much time. DK, I need to borrow your car. I think mine is a little 'hot' right now. Better not take any chances." He started on the other boot and stopped in mid tug, looking at the unmoving pair.

"What?"

It was Alex who spoke first.

"Uh, John. Was that...?"

"Oh, that was Aeryn. You remember? I was going to tell you about her before she interrupted us. She would pick a dramatic entrance. It's her specialty. Even when she's not here." He shook his head in admiration and as freaked as he was with the fact she was here, he couldn't help the surge of adrenaline flowing through him at the sound of her voice. Aeryn.

"Is it... I mean, is she...uh," DK was turning red as he struggled to get the words out. "....human?"

John's mouth fell open. What in God's name were they...? Oh shit! The translator microbes. He had 'em, they didn't. No wonder they were looking at the comms as if something was going to come crawling through and eat them any microt.

He remembered back to his first encounter with Moya and her crew. Heard the harsh guttural clicks and clacks and whines that had scared the beejeezus out of him. But then the sounds had been coming from a large Luxan and a tall blue woman. These two had it easy.

He could feel what his grandmother used to call 'the imp of satan' overtaking him. This was just too good to pass up.

He cocked his head. "Human? Uh..no." He feigned embarrassment as he told the literal truth. "She's Sebacean. A little different, but....she's really sweet. Sometimes. When you get to know her." Like hell, he thought with an inward grin. "You'll like her." Pause. "Really." He could see their minds supplying the alien details. Green skin, red eyes, tails. He turned away before he gave the game up and picked up his coat.

"You're coming with me, right?"

"Yes, of course." "Sure, no problem." Alex and DK were falling all over themselves, trying not to appear thrown by the voice or visions of John with an alien woman.

"DK, you can drive. Do you have any idea how crazy people are on the roads nowadays? It's worse than the Cenobi after a Lortik match. Well, when they lose that is. Not too fond of losing, the Cenobi." He stopped in front of them. "So let's get a move on people, we don't have all day. I'll just call and let the little woman know we're havin' guests over for tea. Just so she doesn't shoot you." He brushed past them on his way out the door and he saw DK and Alex giving him the same look the rest of Moya's crew did. Hmmm, maybe it was him after all....

Nah.

[imloco2]

She was so close he could feel her warmth. It eased his aching body just to have her near him. He had never loved anyone before her, not that he remembered. He watched her hair gleam in the light as she lay next to him. John and Lauren had his hair, Trish had her mothers, burnished gold. He had always loved her hair. Had been content to play with the silky strands until she pushed his hands away and made him think of other things. Her eyes opened and he found himself falling into them as he always did. God, he loved her. He reached out a hand to her face and... The pain when he hit his hand against the edge of the cot woke him. Oh God.

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

They had been driving for hours and he should be getting tired but the closer they got to the Prowlers' location the more alert he became. He still couldn't believe she was here. What had possessed her to follow him? She had said Robby was safe, but now that he was calmer, that only relieved his mind a little. If something happened to him or Aeryn ....? He felt the anger sift through him. They'd agreed, damn it! But when did she ever listen to him. He shut his eyes to the possibilities and tapped the anger down. What was done was done. They would just have to make sure at least one of them got back.

He snuck a glance at DK and Alex, their hands entwined. He was glad that DK had someone to care for. To care for him. He hadn't been able to play his little game with his friends for long and he'd spent a good part of the trip telling them about Aeryn and Robby. Just talking about them made him feel at once better and worse. Worry and fear warred with anticipation and pride.

They had spent the last hour filling him in on the details of their plans. Alex had spent a lot of her time on the cell phone with her man in Washington. It was dangerous to talk on those things, but she didn't have a choice. Her voice was tough and professional as she talked to her people and it surprised him as he listened to her. He would never have believed the change in her from the dedicated researcher who had refused to stay with him to NSA operative. Life sure was strange, even here, and it left him a bit bewildered that his disappearance had affected more than just him and his immediate family. He wondered who else's life he had screwed up with his trip down the rabbit hole.

As hard as it was to admit, he couldn't have done this without her. Alex was proving to be invaluable. She hadn't even told him he was a crazy bastard when John requested that a phrase be passed to the prison guards with the instructions to repeat them to his dad. It was a long shot that his father would ever hear it and longer still that he would somehow know that help was coming. But John knew the power of hope and if there was a snowball's chance in hell, he would make sure his father had it.

The sun was still high and the trees grew denser as they left the last town behind and began entering the glades. At another time the monotony of the landscape might have made him weary, but they were close now. He began to recognize the landmarks he had memorized on his way out. It wasn't long before they came to spot he had emerged from yesterday. At his signal DK pulled off to the side of the road and they climbed out to begin the walk to the hidden Prowlers. With the Stealth shielding in place he hadn't felt the need to park it too far from the road, but it was still a good hike into the brush.

John led the way, picking his way around bushes and testing for solid ground, his mind consumed with only one thought now. Aeryn. He couldn't have said how long he walked. It could have been a microt or an arn, when the sharp squeal of a bird overhead brought him out of the daze he had been in. Only then did he notice that Alex and DK were lagging. He stopped and walked back towards them.

"You guys okay?"

They were panting and perspiration shined bright on their faces.

"It's a little hot, John, and longer than you said it was."

"Sorry." John wiped his forehead, noticing for the first time that he was drenched in sweat. He looked around him and suddenly a smile lit his face.

"Well, you're in luck. We're here. It should be just over there." He pointed to the clearing not far away.

Then he was tearing through the tall grass and shrubs.

"Aeryn?" His voice rang out around them.

"Aeryn!"

He had just reached the clearing when the air began to shimmer and just briefly the outline of a ship appeared before vanishing again and the figure of a woman stepped out of nowhere. Tall and graceful, all black leather and attitude, her pulse pistol strapped to her thigh, she was a sight. With her dark hair tumbling around her face and the vest she wore zipped low, he had never seen a more beautiful sight in his life. He heard the two behind him gasp, but he was already heading for her. A few more steps and they were crushed in each others arms, his face buried in the crook of her neck. Endless moments passed and he allowed himself the joy of feeling her against him once again. He lifted his head and brought his lips down until they were touching hers.

"Aeryn." It was a whisper as his mouth sank into hers and the world around him fell away. The warm taste of her seeped into him, erasing the hole that had began expanding inside him ever since he left Moya. He hands came up to slide into her hair and press her closer.

"Do the words, get a room, mean anything to you?"

DK's voice, amused and embarrassed, came from somewhere behind him.

"Although, after what you did to us I guess it doesn't mean a lot, huh?"

John lifted his head slowly to see DK grinning at him. And he answered with a grin of his own. God it felt good to have his friend back, even if it was only for a short time. He took Aeryn's hand and turned to introduce her to his friends.

"DK. Alex. This is Aeryn. Aeryn this is my best friend DK and ...." He was uncomfortably aware that the last time he had talked to Aeryn about Alex he had been telling her how they had been lovers. "...this is... Alex. You remember me talking about her?"

Aeryn nodded at the two in front of her, but her eyes narrowed at Alex and he felt compelled to explain before someone got hurt. And he wasn't talking about feelings. "Yeah, I know what I said, but she and DK are together now and they're going to help me get my father out of prison." Her eyes flickered his way and he continued. "Chiana was right. He is in trouble and if we don't get him out soon...."

"That's why I'm here." She tossed her hair back across her shoulder. "Chiana had another vision." She grimaced as she remembered the scene. "She said you were in trouble. You were alone in the Prowler, there was a battle..." the shock of hearing the words from Chiana was still on her face. "She saw you....die." She squeezed his hand tightly and her voice grew fierce. "But you're not alone now. You won't die."

So that explained her sudden appearance. "No, baby. I won't. I promised, didn't I?" He cupped her cheek with his other hand.

She pulled him down to plant a hard kiss before she pushed him away. She was all business now.

"John, we can't stay here. The energy reading from the Shield is at 50 percent. They won't last until we're ready to go back. We're going to have to hide the ships."

"Damn the Kral, they swore it would last at least half a cycle." He stomped his foot. "Lie, lie , lie. That's all anybody ever does. Just once, I wish...." He stopped suddenly and looked over at DK and Alex. They had that look on their faces again as they kept glancing from him to Aeryn and back again.

Ooops. God knows what they were making of all this.

"Translator Microbes." He tapped Aeryn on the head and quickly scooted out of the way as her hand came up. "I told you about 'em didn't I?" Their heads nodded.

"All right, so we have one day before your men are in place, right? Nothing we can do until then. I have the maps and you're getting the word to my Dad too?" At Alex's nod John turned to Aeryn and his next words died in his throat.

He saw the faint sheen on her face and was suddenly aware of just how warm it was standing here in the open, the bright Florida sun shining down on them. And he knew she was just stubborn enough to not say anything in front of his friends. Pride was something she'd always had an over abundance of. They had to hurry.

"We have to leave." Fear made the words sharper than he intended.

DK shook his head in rejection. "No. We have time yet. There's nothing you can do until tomorrow. You can come back with us."

John would have liked nothing better, but another quick glance at Aeryn and he knew he had no choice.

"DK." His friend was still shaking his head in denial when John grabbed his arms. "DK! Listen to me. I can't stay here. We have to go and we have to go now." He hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to tell his best friend something that could hurt Aeryn so much, but he saw in his eyes that it was safe. The bond was unbroken. He could trust him. Alex? Well, he wasn't quite as sure of her. He guided DK a few feet away to whisper to him, urgent and low.

"It's too hot for her. She can't.... She'd never make it to the car. Trust me. I don't want to leave, but we have to." He glanced over at Aeryn, standing so tall and proud, trying not to let the fear show. "She means too much to take the chance."

He saw understanding leap into DK's eyes. And now he knew a dangerous bit of information that John didn't want anyone else knowing. If something happened and they didn't get off the planet.....

"Don't..." John cut a quick glance at Alex.

DK knew what he was asking and looked like he wanted to argue the point, but he nodded, silently giving his promise which John accepted.

"Where are you going?"

Where was he going? He started to say he had no idea, but before he could get the words out he knew just where he needed to go.

"The cabin." That was all he had to say. DK had been up to the cabin enough to understand and he nodded.

"But, are you ..?." DK stopped and drew in a deep breath. "Will we see you again?"

It hurt. After all this time and the acceptance of his new world it still hurt. To have to leave, to never see his friends, his family again. He guessed it always would.

"Probably not. I've got to go back." He shook his head. "No. I want to go back" It was a truth he had acknowledged a long time ago and DK must have seen it, because his face grew calmer with understanding. And because John knew this was the last time they would stand this way, face to face, he told him. "I'll always love you, man. Don't forget that."

"I won't. I won't." The hug was brief, but it meant more to both of them than either had the words for.

From out of nowhere an idea came, full blown and complete, never mind the impossibility of it. He hesitated for just a second before he stopped resisting and he knew he had to ask DK for one more favor. Time was running out so he spoke quickly and urgently, and at DK's nod, handed him an extra comms link before walking back to Aeryn and taking her hand.

"Hey, baby. Time to leave. Follow me?" He said it softly and watched her nod as he eased her back into the shimmering air that surrounded her Prowler. "Get in the Prowler where it's cool. I'll be ready in a microt."

She gave the others one last glance and turned and slowly disappeared. He turned to Alex who was watching with a sharpness that belied the wonder on her face. She was making notes, he'd make book on that. Well, she was free to report whatever she wanted when they were gone. He knew she wouldn't do anything to harm DK and he couldn't do what he had to do without her help. There had been a time when he had loved her and some part of him would always remember. He reached out his arms hesitantly. She stepped up to give him a quick squeeze before she moved back to look up at him.

"You going to be okay?" She reached up to touch his cheek.

Apparently, her habit of worrying about him hadn't left her completely.

"Yeah. Don't worry about me. I have Aeryn. I have a family up there, and as soon as I take care of my family down here, I'm headed back. Take care of him." No need to say who.

She nodded gravely. "Always."

"Good." He kissed her forehead in a wave of affection. What they had had might be gone, but it looked like everything had worked out fine, for the both of them. He could even wish he had a chance to get to know the woman she had become. A shadow fell over them and he backed away with his hands up as DK came to stand next to Alex with his eyes narrowed.

"I'm leaving, I'm leaving." He grinned at them one last time and felt the power surrounded him as he backed up into his Prowler's stealth field. He could see in their eyes just when he disappeared and he turned and climbed up into the cockpit. The cool rush of environmentals greeted him and he comm'd Aeryn.

"Well then, let's get these babies fired up. Aeryn? You okay?" He needed to hear her voice.

The sudden hum of the Prowler engines started and her voice sounded in his ear.

"I'm fine John. You worry too much." She waited a beat. "So are you just going to sit there like a grommit in the moonslight or are you going to move?"

He was reassured, as much by the strength in her voice as what she said and his laughter was laced with relief. God he loved her.

"I'm moving, I'm moving."

Side by side the man and woman on the ground stood watching as the air around the cloaked ships shimmered and they bowed their heads against the wind that swirled the grass and leaves. Abruptly, quiet surrounded them and the wind was once more a gentle breeze against their skin. Hands clasped and fingers clutched tightly, DK sighed deeply and with regret.

"Damn. I would have liked to have seen a real UFO."

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

He looked out the window at the inky darkness. It wouldn't be long until the sun was up. "Hey, Dad" The small voice came from behind him and he whirled around, startled. John still lay in the bed, his eyes blurry from sleep and the guilt started again. How many missed birthdays until John began hating him? Damn the Program and the suits and... himself. Why hadn't anyone told him a child would change his life? Or had he just not listened? "Come here slugger." He walked to the bed and held his hands out to lift him up into his arms. The small warm body snuggled against his chest and he breathed in the scent of bubblebath and shampoo. His son. What could he do to make it up to him? "Wanna go fishing?" A tear snaked its way slowly down the cheek of the emancipated man as he lay on the small dirty cot. He slipped deeper into sleep with the merest whisper of a name on his lips. "John."

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

"You do know where you're going, right?" Her tone was at once amused and impatient.

"Relax. I've been this way a hundred times. I could find it in the dark."

"Well, if you don't hurry up, you'll be able to prove that."

"Ah, gimme a break." There was a smile in his voice. "We have plenty of time. That's why I'm taking the scenic route."

Even traveling the scenic route they had still been able to cross the country in less time than it took to drive from his house to the corner store. He had forgotten how long it took people to get from one place to another around here. Days driving. Hours flying. Microts in a Prowler. He couldn't stop the smug grin that curved his mouth and since there was no one else with him in the Prowler he finally gave up and let loose a full blown cackle. Just for a moment he was a kid again and he had all the best toys. He glanced down at navigation screen and knew they were almost at their destination. The lakes and trees blended into one another as they flew by, but he knew what he was looking for.

His dad had flown him here every year while he was growing up and he knew the way like the back of his hand. His panels read the outside temperature to be 65˚ F., quite a bit cooler than it was in Florida, but then this part of Maine was about as far north as you could go without changing countries so that wasn't surprising. In fact, he was counting on it. It was still a bit warmer than he had thought it would be, but it would do.

He looked down once more to see the farm houses dotting the countryside and the thick lining of trees covering the mountains. They were surrounding the deep blue of the lake that he had loved so much. Even the distortion of the shields couldn't disguise the beauty of it.

Yeah, it would do.

"Aeryn, we're here."

"Here? Crichton, there is nothing...Here!"

"Yeah. I know." His grin was back. "Isn't it great?! Use the coordinates I gave you. I'm going to turn off the shield when we get low enough and you can follow me in. We need to get these things out of sight and I know just the place."

When they were skimming the tree tops he flipped the switch to disengage the Shields. A shimmer and the air suddenly cleared as the world returned to normal. He watched, as beside him the second Prowler became visible and he led her down and into a huge abandoned barn standing alone among the rolling hills. If he remembered correctly, the lake was just the other side of that hill. Old man Jackson didn't want the expense of tearing the barn down, so it had stood just this way for more years than he could count. And the thick overhead ceiling would keep any unwanted satellite images turning up, though he doubted there would be anybody looking for them. So far, the presence of two people from outer space had gone relatively unnoticed.

When the Prowlers were down both Aeryn and John jumped out and immediately walked the perimeter of the barn, planting the small devices that would let them know if anyone came this way. He wasn't expecting anyone to be out this way, but life in the UT's had taught both of them the importance of planning.

Finished, they met in the middle of the barn, John reaching for her hand. He stood there for a long moment just looking at her, taking in every detail while she did the same to him. Damn, but she was beautiful. Suddenly, the enormity of what they were going to do hit him.

"Aeryn. You shouldn't be here."

"This is exactly where I should be." Her face was calm, certain.

The words, so like the ones spoken just after she had come back to life cycles ago echoed around the room. Neither of them had forgotten.

"Yeah, well. I guess it's too late now isn't it?" He gave a defeated smile.

"Completely." She squeezed his hand before breaking off her gaze to see where they were.

"Crichton, what are we doing here?" She looked around in bewilderment at the empty building and glanced over at the huge opening where doors had once stood, to the bucolic scene outside.

John gripped her hand harder and pulled her towards the opening. They squinted as they stepped into the sunshine and he stopped, turning to her.

"We have one day. Alex said that she would have her people ready tomorrow morning and the plans would be put in motion, so there's nothing we can do right now." He pulled her closer, one arm snaking around her waist and he leaned into her, sighing.

"I want to show you everything, every place, every person..." He gave a grin filled with both amusement and frustration. "...pizza, beer, nascar, movies, the freakin' Empire State Building.....everything. And I can't. There's no time, no way. But there's one place I have to show you, just over that hill." He nodded to the right. "My father used to bring me here every summer when I was a boy. We...I..." He drew a deep breath. "I've always dreamed of bringing you here." His voice was rough with emotion now and she lifted her face to smile at him. The love on her face took his breath away.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go." The kiss was quick, but it left him reeling as he watched her stride with her usual determination towards the hill. With the taste of her still lingering he took off after her. To show her his past.

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

Eagle Lake. Even the name sounded majestic. As they came to a stop at the top of the hill overlooking the lake, John thought that the name still didn't do it justice. A bird flew overhead and caught his eye as it floated the air currents and was silhouetted against the blue of the sky. The lake stretched out beyond their sight, the water glistening in the sunlight. This section of the lake was private and there were no tourists or boats here to break the vision of unspoiled nature at its finest. He drew in a deep breath of the cool clean air and he felt a knot loosen around his heart that he hadn't known was there. As he stood there scenes from the past threatened to overwhelm him until he felt the light touch on his arm.

"It's beautiful." She gazed out over the scene, searching. "Is this the place you went fishing with your father?"

He couldn't help it. It still gave him a jolt when she mentioned something he knew he hadn't told her. The other had been more open than he, it seemed.

"Yeah. Every summer we'd come up here. I remember I caught the biggest..." His voice trailed off. "But you already know that don't you?" At her hesitant nod he shoved the tiny spark of resentment way down deep inside him. It unsettled him to know that he could still feel the envy and pain when the past was brought up. Way past time to let it go, John. The other Crichton might have told her about it, but he could show it to her. He figured he had the better end of that deal.

He grabbed her hand again and started down the rocky slope towards the water.

"Come on. Let me show you."

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

The sun was just starting to sink in the sky as they sat down on a smooth part of the rocky outcropping next to the lake. They were wet from head to toe, water still dripping off their bodies. All Aeryn's fault of course. She shouldn't have pushed him into the cold water while he was trying to show her a fish. Payback was a bitch though. He had cunningly played helpless, staying under for as long as he could, until she had come in after him. Of course, she wasn't as affected by the cold water as he was, and she had half drowned him for real when she figured out what he was doing. But even spewing water and shivering with the cold, it had been worth it. It had felt good to play. Fun wasn't something they found much time to have in the Uncharted Territories. He'd have to try and remember to make a little fun when they went back. Just not in freezing water.

The sun and wind had already started to dry them off as they settled down, Aeryn sitting between his thighs, her back nestled against him. It always amazed him how their bodies fit together. Like she was made just for him. Or he for her. He smoothed her hair back and wrung more water out of it, spreading the fine stands apart to dry more easily before wrapping his arms close around her, letting the warmth of her body seep into his. He joined her gaze at the picture the sun was making for them.

The clouds on the horizon were a bright orange now, flecks of red streaking through them. It cast a reflection on the rippling water in front of them and created a kind of magic that took his breath away. He stared hard trying to imprint the image on his mind to take back with him when he left.

He took a moment to wonder if DK had managed that favor for him before his attention settled once more on the woman snuggled tightly against him.

It had been a good day. She'd deflected his worry over Robby, pointing out that Chiana and D'Argo were perfectly capable of taking care of him, a fact that he already knew. As long as they got back everything would be fine. It was the getting back part that had him worried, but just for a few arns he would push it out of his mind. All of it. Robby, his father, whether they would survive the coming battle tomorrow. It wouldn't do any good to brood, so he concentrated instead on showing Aeryn his past. He hadn't lied when he told her he'd dreamed of bringing her here. All the important things while he was growing up had happened here. He had shown her the spot where he'd caught his trout the night his dad had finally made it here for his birthday. They had lain in the very spot where he had decided that reaching for the stars was what he wanted to do with his life. And she had let him rattle on about things that could not have possibly interested her and made him think that she did.

"Aeryn." Softly.

"Hmm..?"

"Thank you." He touched his lips to her damp hair.

"For what?"

"For rescuing me."

She looked around at him. "Tomorrow? We haven't even..."

"Ssshhh." He ran his hands down her arms and back up. "No. Not just tomorrow. For yesterday, for today. For every day." He brushed her hair back from her face to plant a small kiss on her forehead. "I couldn't do this, any of this, without you."

"Yes. You could." Then she paused a microt, considering. "No, on second thought you're right. You couldn't." Her grin was wicked and it caused his heart to leap in his chest. She tipped her head slightly inviting his mouth to explore the pale smoothness of her neck, which he did with great delight, nibbling his way up to her mouth to explore the dark warm recess with his tongue. It took no more than that to send his blood pounding through his body, the familiar electricity shooting between them until they broke apart gasping. She turned into him sliding an arm around his neck, ready for more.

"Aeryn, wait." He pulled back and at her puzzled look he grinned and allowed himself a quick kiss. "It's getting dark." The sun was just starting to dip behind the far mountain. "I haven't shown you the cabin yet." There was no mistaking the wicked gleam in his eyes.

Her answering smile, as well as the slight wriggle of her bottom, was doing uncomfortable things to his body. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before standing up. He reached a hand down to pull her up beside him.

"And who knows. Maybe we'll find some food. I'm starving."

She lifted an eyebrow at him and smiled. "You're right. You're going to need something to keep your energy level up."

"Oh boy. I am so frelled."

Her snicker made him let go of the laugh that he had been trying to control.

"Well, come on then. It's not far." He leaped down to the soft ground and started out at a run with the sound of her laughter trailing close behind.

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

The cabin was smaller than he remembered it. Of course, he hadn't been here for some time before the Farscape project. His time had been taken up, first with studies and Alex and then IASA. Oh, his dad had asked him to come out here and he'd meant to. He'd always meant to. But he'd thought he had plenty of time and then other things had seemed more important. If only he'd realized how little time he would actually have.

The door had been locked and he'd barely managed to get in before Aeryn fired on it with her pulse pistol. He was going to have to work with her on that patience thing. He stood now, looking around the small three room cabin. Thank god the generator was still working so they had light. The place was still neat and the dust was only a light covering so someone must have been here not so very long ago. Perhaps DK or one of his sisters had used it to get away for a while. He just hoped whoever had been here had left some food. His stomach was seriously growling now and reminding him how long it had been since he had had anything more than coffee.

Aeryn was on the prowl, checking out the rooms and running her scanner over everything making sure there were no surprises. She circled back where she started and nodded to him in satisfaction.

"All clear. Now....." She looked around. "....about that food."

"Well, there should be some...." he walked towards the small kitchenette connected to the living room "....here." He began opening the cabinets overhead, his anticipation quickly turning to disgust.

"Frell. Frell...frell...frell!..." Each word was muttered with growing ferocity as each door yielded nothing in the way of food. "Nothing!" It had been wiped clean. Damn! Why did they have to pick now to clean the damn kitchen? A loaf of stale bread, some frellin' crackers, anything!

He closed his eyes and leaned his head on the cabinet for a moment before taking a deep breath and turning to Aeryn, who was watching him closely.

"Well, I guess there are only two choices." Well, only two he could think of.

"Which are?"

"One, we go outside in the dark and try to hunt down a small animal and then skin it, clean it and cook it."

"And two?"

"Two, we go in the bedroom and try to find a way to not think about it."

Aeryn slid out her pistol and checked her ammo. "Okay, then. You take the left perimeter and I'll take the right. How hard can it be to catch one of your little Earth creatures anyway?"

She laughed as his mouth fell open and slid her pistol back in its holster.

"A joke. It was a joke." Her grin was one of pure mischief.

"Oh, you....." His eyes narrowed and he contemplated all the ways he could make her pay for that prank. And then he was running after her as she sped across the floor to the nearest bedroom.

[imloco2]

"......Fishing with Winona." Out of the incomprehensible babble of the guards came the words and they hit him like nothing else since he'd gotten here. One minute he'd been thinking he was going to die. The next minute he figured he was already dead. "Okay, Jack. You're really losin' it now. Looney Tunes, nut case, the whole nine yards. They went and broke you didn't they?" He shivered as he listened to the whispered sound of his voice, muttering like a madman. Was he mad? He didn't feel mad. Or dead. He was still in the same hell hole he'd been in for the last ...how many months? He'd lost track. But what else could he be? No one knew about Winona except him and.... No it wasn't possible. He had a sudden flashback to John stringing fishing line through his new fishing rod. He had loved that thing and he'd been embarrassed when Jack had overheard him talking to it. He'd named it Winona. He'd always liked giving the important things in his life names. No matter that they had names already. The joy had been in making them his own. He listened harder, but the guards had moved away now, leaving him to wonder. If he'd finally flipped out then nothing mattered anyway, but if he wasn't mad then it had to be a sign. Maybe from DK. John could have mentioned it to him. Or just maybe his son was walking once more in the land of the living. Either way, he had to hold on. Something was coming.

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

His heart beat a rapid song against his chest as he collapsed in an exhausted heap on top of her, too exhausted to do more than shift slightly in the interest of letting her breathe. His own breath came in rough sharp gasps as he tried to suck in enough air to satisfy his lungs. Good God. She'd kill him one day, doing the things she did and God help him that's how he wanted to go. As his heart started to slow he revived enough to slide to the side and pull her body even closer to him, lifting a hand to smooth her damp hair away from her face. She watched him with lazy eyes, a smile hovering over her lips and he found just enough energy to lean in and kiss them lightly, tasting. Settling back down he let his hand stroke her hair in a slow, lazy rhythm.

They lay there in silence, feeling the pulsing beats slow and grow steady once again. Aeryn turned and rested her forehead on John's as she brought up a hand to play with the soft curls on his chest. The contact sent his nerve ending tingling again, though he was already sated from their earlier play.

"Well, did it work?" From the sound of it she was as exhausted as he. The thought made him smile. It wasn't often he could wear her out too.

"Did what work?" He answered her whisper with one of his own, his breath causing the loose strands of hair around her face to flutter.

"Did you forget about being hungry?"

He couldn't help it. He snickered. "Oh, no. I didn't forget. Fortunately, I found something to nibble on or there's no telling what might have happened." They grinned at each other, both of them quite pleased with themselves.

They lay there for a long time lost in their own thoughts until John noticed a frown forming on her face. She tried to hide it when she caught him watching, but he wouldn't let her get away with that dren anymore and they both knew it.

John managed to lift up on one elbow and linked his other hand with hers, holding it up and examining it.

"Okay. What's the matter?" He brought their hands up to nibble on her fingers before looking at her expectantly.

The debate going on inside played over her face.

"Have you thought about what happens after?" she said softly.

"After what?"

"After tomorrow. After we rescue your father." He stiffened at the mention of his father.

"Assuming everything goes according to your plan..." She winced. Something always went wrong with his plans. "....what happens then?"

"Yeah, well..." He let go of her hand to rub his thumb over his lips in concentration. "...I hadn't actually got that far in the plan."

"Are you staying?" Her voice was tight.

"What?" The shock in his voice was genuine. "Where did that come from? You know I'm going back. My home is with you. And Robby."

"Yes, but what about your father?"

"What about my father?"

"What will happen if he stays here?" Her frown grew. "He'll always be in danger if this world is anything like you think it is. They captured him once, they can do it again." She shook her head in disgust. "Frelling wormholes."

"So, what are you saying? We should take him with us?" He started to shake his head. That was not what he had come here for. He had a hard enough time staying alive back there, how in the hell would his dad?

"Who will protect him here? Your friends? You think they can keep him safe? You see what a good job they did this time." She sighed. "You can't count on Chiana's visions happening again. You were very lucky this time, you won't be again. And you can't go running back here every time he's in trouble."

John lay back on the bed and raised an arm to his forehead, thoughts swirling. She was right, frell it all. The world would know about John by tomorrow and if he got his dad out alive there would always be the possibility of it happening again. Jack would have a bull's-eye painted on his back for the rest of his life. Either that or his life would be so tangled in the fine cords of the government and military that he'd never get free. God, how his dad would hate that.

But could he bring him back with him? Would he want to come? Would his life be any better there than it would here? Always on the run, always having to be so careful not to go to the wrong place, say the wrong thing, let people know who you were.

"What are you thinking?" It was a phrase she'd learned from him. She didn't ask often. She didn't have to.

"I'm thinking..." He stopped to take a breath. "I'm thinking that you're right." He lifted his arm and slipped it under her neck to bring her head to his shoulder. "I just don't know how it's going to work out."

She brought up a hand to stroke his face lightly and run her fingers through his hair. "We'll make it work. Just like we do everything else."

He could only nod and close his eyes, trying to believe that things would work out and that he wasn't damned if he did and damned if he didn't.

Damn.

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

"John?"

"Yeah, baby?"

"What is that...?"

"What is wha....?" The word was cut off as he came fully awake.

They'd fallen into a light doze, curled into each other, but she was the lighter sleeper and she had heard it first. Far away, the noise grew steadily closer, the rapid thudding sound becoming louder with each passing second.

"Frell!" There was no mistaking the sound of a helicopter.

They scrambled out of bed, grabbing their weapons before racing to find their scattered clothes.

Aeryn's eyes were dark with fear. Or anger. Sometimes it was hard to tell the two apart. She hitched up her pants and fastened them. She was shrugging into her vest when she went out into the main room and turned out the light they had left on. John followed her pulling his shirt over his head as he went to stand beside her at the window. The whirring blades screamed overhead and they saw a search light making patterns on the ground as it searched for a landing spot.

"They turned us in!"

John could barely make out her words over the roar outside, but he understood the sound of anger and betrayal in her voice. He shook his head.

"No. No. I think I might know who it is!" He thought he knew, but until he was certain, no one was getting in. It might not be big, but the place was sturdy, and the trap door leading out behind the cabin was always there in the back of his mind. Thank god his dad believed in being prepared.

"Just wait a minute!" He nodded reassuringly, hoping that he was right and DK had come through for him one more time. When he had asked him earlier he hadn't been sure he could pull it off, but if anybody could it was DK. Especially if Alex was around to lend a hand.

The sleek dark machine finally landed, but the blades kept up the pounding rhythm as the pilot kept the engines on full. The air was swirling with dust and leaves in the moonlight and through the window they could see figures jump carefully to the ground. Someone on board lowered something to one of them. For long minutes they stood by the helicopter and from their gestures it looked like an argument was raging. Finally, one climbed back aboard the aircraft and two figures began making their way to the cabin. Behind them the helicopter came alive again, lifting into the air and in a matter of moments it had disappeared as fast as it had come.

The sudden quiet was eerie and unsettling. Aeryn looked at him questioningly as he went to stand at the door. "Are you going to tell me what the frell is going on? Who do you think those people are?"

In the moonlight her eyes were shadowed, but he could hear the fear. And the puzzlement. He was sorry now he hadn't told her about the possibility of them coming earlier. He gave her a long look and turned to the window,  watching as the newcomers moved closer. He should have told her, but he hadn't been sure DK could pull it off and he had wanted it to be a surprise.

He should have remembered what usually happened when he tried to surprise her.

"Just a microt. If I'm right, I think it's..."

The small knock on the door sounded like a battering ram and he heard a soft voice from outside calling his name.

"...my sisters."

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

They were here.

Part of him wanted to rush out and scoop them into his arms and never let go. The rest of him wanted to run and hide and not let them see how changed he was. Wanted them to remember him the way he had been. There wasn't a whole lot left of the old John now. What would they think? How much had DK told them?

He screwed up his courage and reached for the handle.

The door swung open to reveal two women huddled together in the cool night air, their eyes widening as they glanced over his shoulder and they moved a step back. The reason was apparent when he glanced behind him to see Aeryn standing with her pistol raised and aimed at the two of them.

"Aeryn. It's okay." He used a hand to lower her weapon gently. "I was right. It's my sisters."

He tried not to let it bother him when they backed away as he moved closer and he drew them into the cabin, locking the door behind them.

"Lights. We need lights."

He heard Aeryn feeling her way to the table and she turned the switch on the lamp. The light was blinding after the darkness and it took a moment to adjust.

As his eyes grew accustomed to the light he was suddenly gazing into the two faces he had never thought to see again in this lifetime. Faces that he hadn't let himself realize he had missed. And God, had he missed them. How could he have shoved them so far back in his mind that he could have ever thought otherwise?

"Lauren, Patricia, I'm glad you came." His eyes were stinging. "Look, I know this is weird." He gave a small laugh at the understatement as he looked from one to the other. They seemed to be in shock. "Yeah, I know, weird doesn't begin to cover it. I don't know how much DK told you but..." his voice grew husky "...don't be scared. Not of me. Please."

The younger woman looked at the older in triumph.

"Ha! I knew it! I told you it was really him. I told you!" The bag Trish was holding dropped to the floor as her arms came around her big brother and she buried her face in his chest. He could only hold her, his eyes closed, as he let the memories he had kept at bay for so long come flooding back. When his eyes opened he looked at his older sister standing there watching them, still unsure.

"Lauren." The plea in his voice was unmistakable and she had no defense against it. When he held out his other arm she took up residence at his other side, her arms hugging him tightly.

For long minutes they stood there, holding on to each other for dear life. They might have stayed that way for longer, but a harsh cough close by forced them out of the moment and all three looked up to see Aeryn standing there watching them.

He realized that Aeryn didn't know what to make of the scene. On the one hand she'd come a long way since her days as a stony PK soldier, but overt displays of emotion could still rattle her on occasion. She raised an eyebrow and he grinned at her loosening his grip on his sisters. "Hey guys, there's someone that you should meet."

Responding to his loosened hug Lauren and Trish turned to face the woman staring at them. They looked her over, taking in the leather pants and vest, the strange gun holstered at her thigh, her striking, exotic looks. John felt his sisters tense up and gave them both an admonishing squeeze. "Lauren, Trish, this is Aeryn Sun, my..." what do you call the love of your life who is not your wife? "uh..., friend." He knew he was handling this badly, but couldn't seem to stop.

Aeryn frowned at him again and he fell silent. It had been her decision not to make the union formal. What world and what ceremony would have bonded them closer than they were now? And really, how could they? Where would have been safe? But he wished, right at this moment, to be able to introduce her as more than a friend, more than a mate. But that was for brooding on another day. He watched as she nodded to Trish and Lauren before glancing his way.

"Should I try a little English for them?"

He felt Lauren stiffen as she pulled away from him. He could see the shock in her eyes as she pointed at Aeryn and he remembered the translator microbes. Or the lack thereof. Ah crap!

"Okay, what kind of language was that?" She was looking from John to Aeryn, suspicion gleaming in her eyes. "Who is she? Or, maybe I should say what is she?"

Trish broke away from John and walked swiftly over to her sister. "Lauren, calm down and let him explain. I'm sure that there's a rational explanation for this. I mean look at her! She's human!"

Aeryn took all this in and before John could speak she drew on her threadbare knowledge of English, and spoke on her own behalf. "NO! Noot hu-maan!"

Lauren spun and regarded her with stunned eyes.

John sighed. It had been too good to last.

"No, she's Sebecean." He walked over to stand beside Aeryn. They had to know she was with him. Had to know how much she meant to him.

"I know it's hard to understand. There's so much you don't know."

"Well, why don't you try and explain it to us little brother?" He recognized the sound in Lauren's voice. She didn't rile easily, but when she did, look out. And from the sound of it, she was just gearing up. If he wasn't careful all hell would break loose.

"DK did explain where I've been all this time, didn't he?"

"Outer space and aliens did pop up, but I took that with a grain of salt. He's been pretty upset lately. And you've got to admit, it's pretty hard to believe, John." But he could see that hearing Aeryn had shaken that conviction.

"Well, believe it. There's a whole other world up there sis and Sebeceans are just one among thousands. And they might look different and they might sound different, but one thing I've learned since I've been gone... Nothing is different. There are good guys and bad guys everywhere, and it doesn't matter if they look human or not. We're all the same."

He glanced over to Aeryn. "Well, maybe not the Hynerians.... or the Scarrens or...." They grinned at each other.

That smile was the straw that broke the sister's back. Suddenly her eyes widened as she took in their disheveled hair, the partially buttoned vest and pants. He could see that she was putting two and two together and getting four.

Her words were harsh and she whipped them at her brother as only an older sister could.

"The same, huh? You think I don't see what's going on here? Look John, you've had this high-tech Peter Pan thing going since you were in short pants. Anything newer, better, and faster got your attention and held it. You were going to do great things, and we always understood why Dad was so proud of you. When you disappeared into space...we gave you up for dead." Her voice wavered, but she kept going. "But Dad never did. He and your mad scientist buddy DK kept working on it. Calling in favors. Scraping up every penny they could find. Hell, Dad even mortgaged the house! And when they finally see light at the end of the tunnel, someone kidnaps him! All because of you and your damned experiment!"

"Lauren, maybe it's not his...." Trish tried unsuccessfully to stop the bitter flow that had been building for years, but Lauren was having none of it.

"No! Let me finish!" She turned back to John.

"Against my better judgment, we came to meet someone calling himself my brother! And what do we find? You're back from the dead and camped out here in your little love nest with Miss Freakshow over there!" She threw Aeryn a scathing glance. "Some reunion! If I'd known this was waiting for me, I'd have stayed home!" She stalked towards John. Once she was within reach she hissed at him. "Well, you can stick it where the sun don't shine! Just get our father back and head back into the wild blue yonder! Maybe this time we can get him to let go of you!"

She didn't even notice the tears running down her face.

John had been silent throughout the rant. It might have been a while, but he knew his sister. Knew her well. She'd held them together when Mom died. She tried her best to take her place, mothering him even as he protested he didn't need mothering anymore. She would have been as hard hit by his death as their father. Trish would have grieved, but Lauren would have felt responsible...even if she wasn't. There was a lot of dren she needed to let go of and as much as it hurt him, he knew she didn't mean half the things she was saying and would regret them soon enough.

Aeryn, however, seemed to have a different take on the situation. She'd been silent as well, while his sister had carried on, but it wasn't a patient sort of silence. From the looks of it, it was only a matter of time before Aeryn snapped. And his sister would be getting the raw end of that deal. His lover would mop the floor with her and he'd be caught between the two of them. How did he get into these messes?!

She didn't seem to notice the trouble she was in though, because she kept on talking.

"It's always about you, want you want, what you're going to do with your life, what you mean to Dad. Well, I'm sick of it! We worry our butts off while you play house with Mata Hari over there and you should be ashamed!" Her arm came up swinging and would have landed the blow free and clear, but for the hand that shot out and grabbed hold. Lauren found herself standing there, her arm stopped in mid swing, trapped by steel fingers, and she looked into the deadly eyes of the woman she been taunting John with.

"No." That was clearly English.

John suddenly came to his senses and realized he was going to have to do something before the two women came to actual blows.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He gripped Lauren's arm below Aeryn's hand, then used his other hand to pry Aeryn's bruising grip off of his sister's wrist. "Let's everyone just chill out here!"

He moved between the two women, breaking their contact and Aeryn let go of Lauren's arm reluctantly.

Aeryn's mouth opened to tell John just what she was going to do to his sister, but John cut her off.

"Aeryn, no. I appreciate the sentiment, but you are not going to kick my sister's ass."

Without taking the time to appreciate her surprise, he turned to his sister. She meant the world to him, but he had to make her understand the situation. And whether he understood where she was coming from or not, he was getting just a little ticked off at the dressing down.

"Lauren, no. You've got it all wrong. I did not come all the way back here to camp out, and have a love-in." At her arched eyebrow he grimaced. "Okay. Not denying we were having ...a good time. But that's not why we're here. I came back because Dad is in trouble. I'm trying my best to get him out of the jam he's in and she's going to help me. And no, we're not married. And yes, she is the love of my life. And more than that..."

He hesitated a moment before pulling out a small disk and setting it on the table. The sight of it caused Aeryn's eyes to widen with surprise once again. He'd swiped it at the last minute on his way out, before he'd left Moya, not wanting to take the chance of never seeing them again. One flick and a hologram appeared, glowing with a soft blue light. In the middle of it sat a baby. He was clothed in some sort of iridescent material and his light brown hair gleamed in the light as he chuckled as only babies can. A close up shot zoomed in on the vivid blue eyes that matched his father's and then drew back as a woman came into view and picked him up. She nuzzled his neck with delight and was rewarded with a squeal of glee. Then it seemed as if she turned and looked straight at the people watching. 'What are you doing? Put that down.' But her voice was husky with pleasure and it was said with a smile. The love shining out of her eyes made her face glow as the image faded only to be replayed again.

Lauren looked from the woman next to her to the woman in the picture trying to reconcile the two.

"The baby...Who?" But she knew.

"His name is Robby. And he's your nephew." He couldn't help the proud grin.

Lauren's eyes never left the child's image as she walked forward to reach out and touch it. The image danced as her hand interrupted the field. "Where is he?" she asked.

"Far away from here, with some friends of ours. I wouldn't risk him here."

The look on her face told him she wanted to get angry again, but was having some trouble with it. Babies did that to some people.

"He looks like you in your baby pictures." Her face softened at the thought before she took a deep breath and turned to Aeryn.

"He's beautiful."

Aeryn nodded and spoke again in English..."Yes. He is."

Trish interrupted now. "How come she's speakin' English now, but not before?"

Aeryn looked at John who shrugged.

"They're called translator microbes. Aeryn has them, and so do I. It lets people understand...well, people. It allows her to understand you, but since you don't have them, you can't return the favor. The English that she does have is a little sketchy, but improving all the time. She's been learning since....well, for a while." Ooops, don't go there. "Have you ever tried to teach someone English? Man, I knew English was hard, but...."

Suddenly a loud rumbling sound filled the cabin, causing all three women to regard John with amusement. He rubbed his stomach ruefully, then shrugged. "So I'm hungry. It's been over a day since we've eaten. There's no food here at all, not even a stale cracker." He threw a sly smile in Aeryn's direction. "So we've been livin' on love."

Aeryn cleared her throat and looked at him pointedly. Lauren, her anger gone, regarded her brother's ... friend, with a grin. "Some things never change. Certainly not my brother's appetite."

Lauren pursed her lips and sighed. "Don't think that this gets you off the hook. This is a temporary truce. You've added a lot of grey hairs to Dad's head...and mine!"

"Yeah, I know. You can beat on me all you want. But first, for the love of God, please tell me that you brought food?!"

Lauren chuckled. "That we did, that we did. It's not the best, but DK just said to throw some things together and run. But it is food." Walking over to the bag Trish had dropped she pulled out a bulky padded satchel. A cooler bag. "We have fresh fruit. Bratwurst. Hotdogs. Buns for same. Sorry, nothing to go on them. And the usual assortment of junk food."

John could feel his mouth watering as she went down the list of foods. Oh man, was he hungry. He felt like he could eat his weight in Keedva Barbeque just then. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to find Aeryn staring at him quizzically. Slowly and in English, for the girls benefit, she enunciated, "Junk food?"

Trish laughed. "It's snack food. Finger food. Tastes good, but mostly worthless as nutrition. But as far as John was concerned, it's a major food group!"

Aeryn looked skeptical, but nodded. She obviously was reserving judgment.

As usual, Lauren took charge. "I saw a grill as we were coming in; I don't think it would hurt anything to get a fire going to cook the dogs on. You can use some of the fireplace wood. Trish and I will handle setting the table."

Feeling like he was about 12 again, John started towards the door, then stopped and turned to Aeryn. He didn't want to leave her alone with them if it was going to cause a problem, but Aeryn shook her head and silently told him everything was fine. Shrugging, he smiled as he started towards the door again. Behind him, Trish sang out.

"The sooner you get that fire going, the sooner we eat, and the sooner you get to see what else we brought you!"

John stopped again and turned to look at both of his sisters. He saw mischief dancing in their eyes and gave a long suffering sigh.

"You brought something else?" He looked so tortured that Lauren relented a bit.

"Let's just say that George Lucas has been a busy man while you were gone."

John's face went blank for a moment before he realized what she must have brought. Oh, Aeryn would love that. If he could rig something to play it on.

He gave a shout of laughter. "Look out Obi Wan!" And he was gone.

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

There wasn't much to do. They pulled out the few things they had thought to bring, and hunted the cabin to find what they needed.

Lauren paused to study her nephew's mother. She looked strong. Trim. Lovely. But her eyes held a hint of old sorrows. She realized that she was staring and cleared her throat.

"If I understood John correctly, you can understand us clearly because of those translator things...right?"

Aeryn nodded, "Yes."

Lauren sighed. "Well, we'll try to keep it to simple questions, or yes and no stuff. That you can nod to. Okay?"

Aeryn looked solemn and nodded.

"Good," Lauren said briskly. "Do you love our brother?"

"Lauren!" Trish said warningly.

Lauren spared her a glance. "Take it easy Trish. I'm not going to eat her alive. Besides, I don't think that even Jaws could manage that! But we have a limited amount of time to get to know our new sister, and we can't afford to beat around the bush! She's family now, and I want to know how she feels about that!"

Aeryn watched the by play between the sisters and nodded to herself. She saw now where John got his fierce loyalty from. It ran in the family. Looking at Lauren she spoke in English yet again. It was tiring trying to remember the English words, but this was easy.

"I love him. Yes."

Lauren studied her and saw no hesitation on her face, only a fierce certainty. She felt a weight lift she hadn't know was there.

"I hope he realizes what a lucky man he is then."

Aeryn smiled slightly at the olive branch being offered, then turned as she heard a voice from the door.

"Every damned day, Sis," John said. "The fire is ready for the meat now."

Lauren nodded and scooped up the plate with the sausage and hotdogs on it. "Let's take this outside then."

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

John made a great show of placing the bratwurst and hotdogs on the smoking grill and grinned inanely as they began to sizzle. He'd never thought he'd be cooking out again in this lifetime. He saw Aeryn move and watched as she unclipped her field analyzer and made a pass over the brats.

"Um..baby. You really don't want to do that." He cringed when the analyzer went over the hotdogs.

He could see by the expression on her face what it had told her.

She looked at John. "Do you have any idea what's in these things?"

John nodded. "Yup, but we don't think about it."

From the look on her face, he was certain that he'd have a rough time getting her anywhere near a hot dog. And really, who could blame her?

As the meat cooked and he exchanged more hugs and info with his sisters, he saw them watching as he and Aeryn interacted. It was a bit unnerving to know your every move was being watched and analyzed, but he'd survived worse and he didn't begrudge it to them. He knew how strange all this must seem to them. It was a wonder they were handling it this well.

What the frell? He felt a movement behind him and suddenly realized that Aeryn had moved and was pressing the front of her body close to his back. The feel of her breath against his neck sent his heart racing and he steeled himself not to go where his body told him it wanted to. Of course the hunger pangs helped with that a lot. No way was he up for another bout with her without something in his belly. The smells were driving him up the wall. It was all he could do not to grab them from the grill only half cooked and stuff them in his mouth.

"Is it safe out here?" Her whisper in his ear sent a shiver up his spine and he couldn't help the turn of his head or the stroke of his nose along her cheek before he considered what she was asking. He opened his mouth to tell her it was okay, but before he could speak a nearby cough told him Lauren was close and he turned his attention on her.

Curiosity was killing her, he could see it in her face.

"Aeryn was just asking if it was safe out here...under the circumstances." He turned to Aeryn. "I don't think that there's that much risk. DK, Alex, and my sisters are the only ones who know anything for certain. And no matter who else may suspect anything, it's unlikely that they'd already have a surveillance satellite watching this cabin. And we're sufficiently isolated here to make ground recon difficult at best." He grinned. "Besides, I wanted to see how this stacked up to my Keedva barbeque."

Aeryn snorted and shook her head.

Lauren cleared her throat. "Keedva?"

John grinned. "Yeah. Just some critter I barbequed some time back. One of Rygel's favorites."

"Rygel?" She sounded like she was afraid to know. But then she knew him well.

"This stuff is about done. Let me take it up, and we'll go inside and I'll tell you all about our little green friend."

And ignoring Aeryn's warning glance, he did just that.

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

"And he's a... what did you call him? A Dominar? Ruler of 600 bi... " Trish stopped and shook her head as if it were too much to take in that a small green frog like creature could be so powerful. John might as well have said Kermit the Frog was President of the United States.

"Ruler by proxy now. Or at least until they find his cousin." He saw the blank look. "Don't worry about it sis. It was hard for me to take in at first too." He ignored Aeryn's snicker.

They'd been talking for some time now, in between stuffing their faces. Okay, maybe he'd been the main one doing the stuffing, but damn it, he'd been hungry. Even the half burnt dogs and brats had tasted like prime rib.

As predicted, Aeryn avoided the hotdogs completely and looked like she could just barely choke down the bratwurst. But all was forgiven when Trish pulled out what she called her "junk food" bag. Aeryn had been dubious when she'd tried something called deep fried pork rinds, but only until she tasted one. After that she'd wrestled the bag away from John, much to the amusement of his sisters, and maintained sole custody ever since.

They were sprawled around the living room now. After the meal John had kept his sisters entertained with stories of their adventures. Well, the few that he could safely tell them. There was so much he would never tell his family, but he was enjoying their reactions to his light tales. No need to spoil it for them.

Trish finally tore herself away long enough to go digging in the magic bag again and presented John with the DVD's that she'd brought. She was almost shy as she handed them over. "Star Wars. Everything up through Attack of the Clones."

"Attack of the Clones? You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope. Swear to God."

Lauren was watching and shook her head. "When we were planning this little outing, in the whole thirty seconds in which we had to do it, I thought of food. Trish thought of Star Wars."

Trish stuck her tongue out at her older sister, then grinned.

"It was all that I could think of on short notice." She bit her lip. "I bought the first three in a set, intending them to be your Christmas present. I bought the rest and added them to the set last year." She frowned. "I don't know why. They've been gathering dust in a drawer ever since."

"You like them don't you John?" For a moment she looked like her life depended on whether he liked them or not.

"Oh, yeah. You know I do. In fact I've told Aeryn all about Star Wars."

Aeryn rolled her eyes in confirmation, mouthing "Yoda," which made them all laugh.

John lifted himself off the couch and walked over to squat before Trish. He took her hand and held it up to his cheek, smiling.

"Thank you." His voice was low, for her ears only. "They're perfect."

Trish leaned forward to give him a hug and leaned back with a grin bright enough to light up the room.

"I knew you'd like them."

He went and sat next to Aeryn, a little closer this time. It had been too long since he'd touched her.

"I'm sure I'll be able to put some kind of player together back on Moya. I can't wait to see what D'Argo makes of Chewbacca!"

He didn't miss the way both Trish and Lauren tensed up at his words, but for the moment neither seemed willing to push the matter.

Lauren hauled out her own family pictures and began to catch John up on the doings of his niece, and the namesake nephew he'd never met.

Half an hour later they were staring at the fire that John had built in the fireplace. Aeryn seemed to love the scent of the burning pine and was finally relaxing. Lauren and Trish were starting to sag a bit. Their internal clocks said that it was long past their bed time. So far they'd been running on caffeine and adrenaline.

Apparently, Lauren wasn't too tired yet for a little more conversation. She was studying the fire and playing with a glass of water when she spoke.

"What are you two going to do? I take it from what you said earlier that, whatever you do, you don't intend on sticking around afterwards. Right?"

Oh Frell. Trust Lauren to zero in on the one thing he didn't want to talk about. No point in denying it though.

"Yeah, we can't stay. Not that I don't want to stay. I miss you. Both of you. And Dad and DK. And pizza and beer. Man, do I miss beer. But it's not safe for me to be here. Not for me, not for Earth, but truthfully...I've been gone a long time. It doesn't feel....big enough. Not after a whole universe of elbow room to bang around in. And home is wherever Aeryn and my son are. And she belongs back there. So do I."

He leaned back and watched the flickering shadows that the fire created on the ceiling as its light danced erratically through the roof beams.

Lauren nodded. "I see." She shook her head to clear the fatigue away. "Okay, staying is out. I think you're a total bum for giving us only a few hours before you run off to play Luke Skywalker, but it's your life!" She paused for breath. "That only leaves...what are you going to do?"

John glanced at Aeryn. They'd discussed this, now it was time to make it official. He sighed. "Our transportation is parked in a barn not too far from here. Sometime around dawn we'll launch, fly to China, bust Pop out of the pokey, and head for the nearest wormhole that's waiting for us."

Lauren shook her head at the impossibility of it all. Then her eyes narrowed. "So, where are you going to drop Dad off?"

He sat in silence wishing that an eight-jawed Ranlath would eat him whole just so he wouldn't have to have this conversation.

Aeryn broke the spell. "You have to tell them John."

"What?" There was a frown on Lauren's face as she watched Aeryn. She might not have understood the words, but she knew something was wrong.

John looked at his sisters. "See. Thing is... we're not entirely sure we're going to be dropping him back off."

"What?! You're taking Daddy?" Trish asked in a squeak.

Lauren tried to speak, but John cut her off.

"I don't like the idea anymore than you do, but it's not safe here. I admit, it's only marginally safer back there, but I... no, we, can protect him. Once we shoot up some of that prize Chinese real estate tomorrow, we're going to be pretty much persona non grata on at least part of the planet. It won't take them long to figure it out, and everyone is going to want to know about me and they'll think Dad has the answers. Like they think he knows about the wormholes. It won't matter that he doesn't. They'll think he does and that's all that counts. Between me and the wormholes, he'll never be free. Ever. Alex can protect DK, but Dad is another matter."

"And what if he doesn't want to go?"

It was said quietly and he was grateful for that. He'd expected a fight.

"Then he'll stay. I'm not forcing him Lauren. You know me better than that. If that's what he wants he'll be home by noon."

"He'll go." They exchanged knowing looks. They knew their dad.

Trish was sniffing and he could see Lauren swallow the lump in her throat, and knew it was killing them. To lose their dad and their brother in one fell swoop was a blow. But then if he hadn't come back dad would still be gone and so would he, so he had to believe they were better off this way.

He started when he heard Aeryn speaking, but she was looking at his sisters. She looked over to him and he translated.

"She said that she knows how you feel, and that if he goes with us she'll look after him like he was her own father."

The energy seemed to drain from Lauren as she sighed. "I'll hold you to that. Both of you."

God this sucked. John stared off into the distance for a moment. "Earth can't remain a little backwater planet forever. If there's one thing that I've learned over the last five cycles, it's that what you don't know can kill you. And right now dear old terra firma is wall to wall ignorance." He turned to look Lauren in the eye. "One way or the other we'll be back. Be sure to tell DK and Alex that. Someday we will be back. And when we come home Earth isn't going to have the luxury of wallowing in its ignorance anymore."

Still bewildered Trish had to ask. "What's so important about Earth?"

John wished he could tell them. "More than you can imagine. More than anyone knows." He gave a small grin. "But more importantly, it's the planet that gave birth to me. They're afraid there might be more like me."

"Well, that's perfectly understandable. I'd be scared too if there was more than one of you." Lauren was making jokes, but his words seemed to have put all those stories of adventure that he had told them into some perspective. There was sadness under the wry smile. "Still twisting the lion's tail, eh?" Her words must have translated well because they heard a noise and looked over to see Aeryn trying not to laugh.

Lauren nodded to herself and looked at her watch. It was almost 3:00 am. She looked at John and said briskly, "Well, if you guys are going to pull a jailbreak tomorrow, you'd better catch a little sleep."

John smiled. "Yeah, you're right." He stood up, pulled Trish and Lauren to their feet, and into a bone creaking hug. "You two remember, sometime tomorrow the shit is going to hit the fan. So you haven't seen hide nor hair of me, got it?"

"Got it." The girls hugged him back fiercely. Trish was getting the sniffles again. "Don't worry about us. Just bust Dad out and make tracks. We'll be okay," she said. Lauren pulled free of the hug and walked over to Aeryn, who climbed to her feet abruptly. Lauren looked her in the eye. "My brother chose well I think. Welcome to the family." Then she hugged her in a rather un-Lauren like display of impulsive behavior.

John watched as Aeryn looked at him over Lauren's shoulder and raised a panicked eyebrow. Lauren pulled away and held Aeryn at arm's length and stared a moment before speaking.

"After our mother died, I just sort of took over the role." Lauren chuckled. "I imagine that you've noticed that Crichton men have a knack for getting themselves into stupid predicaments?"

When Aeryn gave a devilish grin, Lauren nodded. "I'll take that as a yes. I'm trusting you to keep an eye on them. Actually, keep both eyes on them. I'm not sure I'm doing you any favors by saddling you with both of them. And once Robby is old enough that'll make three of them. God only knows what they'll get into together."

John moved. If he let them, this could go on all night. "All right. That's enough Crichton bashing for one night. And anyway, I think Aeryn's pretty much got the bashing part down already, so we'll say goodnight. You guys try and get some sleep. We should be gone before the chopper comes to pick you up." He took Aeryn's hand and pulled her towards their room. Stopping at the doorway he turned to take a last look back. "Take care of each other." He didn't see the nods as he closed the door on his own tears.

[imloco2]

It hadn't taken long for the house to settle down into the quiet that comes with darkness, when every sound is magnified. Aeryn was still awake as John walked in with a towel wrapped loosely around him.

John felt her eyes on him and he turned to look at her. "You should be asleep."

"So should you. Are they asleep?" Her voice was low and throaty and caused a warm feeling to bloom along his skin. A reaction he couldn't hide.

John nodded, trying hard to control his pesky libido. "Um...Yeah. God knows how."

Aeryn laughed quietly. "It's the same everywhere, even on Earth women have more sense than men."

John raised an eyebrow. "Which begs the question, why aren't you asleep?"

Aeryn lay back seductively, striking a pose. "What? I'm not allowed to wait for you?"

He would like nothing better than to accommodate her but... "Uh, Aeryn? We're going into combat in a few arns. Do you really think that we have time for that?"

"There's always time for that!" But she spoiled it by grinning. "But that isn't what I was waiting for. I want to talk tactical planning before we go to sleep."

John dropped the towel and quickly pulled on a pair of boxers, before climbing into bed.

Aeryn stopped him with a querying eye at the boxers. John grinned. "Just trying to keep distractions to a minimum."

Aeryn smiled, "But, then, you are easily distracted."

"Am not." It took all his effort to keep his hand from reaching out and stroking the soft flesh in front of him, but he did it. How long he could hold out was another matter.

He pulled up the sheet to cover her and made a show of tucking her in. He would be safer with something covering the... distraction.

"So...tactics?"

Aeryn nodded. "From what you showed me earlier, Alex and DK have gotten us fairly complete information on the area. You're ground, I'm air. But until we neutralize as much as we can from the air, we're both air."

John nodded. That was obvious.

Aeryn went on. "While I've been here on Earth, I've taken readings on anything and everything to do with the infrastructure that makes things work here. And I've reached the conclusion that your people's electrical equipment is seriously under-protected from electromagnetic pulse effects. Am I right?"

John nodded again. "That's been one of the chief bugaboos of our military planners for years."

Aeryn smiled. "Good. That makes it easy then. Unless your Chinese are radically different in their approach to engineering than the rest of your people, we have a plan. When we cross the Chinese coast, you fall back and stay low. I pull ahead and go high. When we arrive I'll fire a broad shot EM pulse at the area centered on the prison. That should fry anything in the immediate area that needs electricity to work. Communications, defenses, lights, everything. Didn't you say Alex had taken care of the bridge outside the prison?"

He nodded. "One of our many bribes. Maybe DK can sell his story to the Enquirer to pay some of them off."

She ignored that remark. "Good. Then we can concentrate on the prison. Your job is to blast the place Alex told you most of the staff meet at that time. That should eliminate a number of their troops. Then I fly high cover while you extract your father."

John lay back and thought. He couldn't see any holes...at least none that they could do anything about. He rolled back over to look at Aeryn. "Just be careful, okay? I'll be on the ground, and hidden from view. Up there in the air, you'll be vulnerable when you fire."

Lines appeared in his forehead as he frowned suddenly. "It's not too late you know."

"Not to late for what?"

"To stay here. To be safe." He ran a finger slowly across her face, brows and cheek and chin." Robby..."

"No." Her voice was firm. "Robby needs a father as well. I haven't forgotten what Chiana saw. I won't let that happen. I can stop it. That's why I'm here. That's why I'm not leaving."

She leaned over to trace his lips with hers. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine John. You're the one I'm worried about. I don't want to lose you again."

"Nobody is losing anybody. We'll just both have to be very careful." He settled her against him and tried to ignore the warmth of her body, the smell of her hair. "Now sleep." Sleep was what they both needed and they'd be getting way too little of. He closed his eyes and started counting....

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

The alarm buzzing in his ears might as well have been a cannon going off. It had been so long since he'd heard the once familiar buzzing that he'd already found his pistol and toasted the offending machine before he realized what the annoying sound was.

He stared at the sparks until they died down. "Damn. I always wanted to do that." He grinned sheepishly over at Aeryn as she stood by the window and watched her mouth tighten in a way that said she would never understand the human. Well, as long as she loved the human he guessed that was okay.

He didn't much feel like he'd slept any at all, but he'd grown used to little or no sleep over the cycles and it didn't take him long to come completely awake. Aeryn was already zipping up her vest and ready to leave. It never ceased to amaze him how she could go from full sleep to fighting stance in the blink of an eye. The woman was just not right.

There wasn't much to do. Everything was ready to go and they had said their goodbyes already. Yet, John found himself standing silently in the doorway to the girls' room, watching them sleep. Apparently, his killing the radio hadn't wakened them. He heard Aeryn come up behind him, so it was no surprise when her hand settled on his shoulder and began to tug gently.

Turning away he closed the door without a sound and followed Aeryn out into the kitchen where they'd left a hasty note for the girls on the table. It was time to leave, but he hesitated a microt before pulling out a long, thin crystal from a hidden place in his jacket.

"What is that?" Aeryn was looking at him, puzzled.

"Oh, I've been saving it for a rainy day. It's...it's a message, a warning, a blueprint. I'm hoping DK finds it before anyone else." He moved to the counter and leaned over, tapping gently on a tile behind the toaster. It popped out as if by magic. He looked over at Aeryn and at her expression he grinned. "This was our secret. DK's and mine. We used to hide things in here when we were kids. We were kind of... tricky." He dropped the crystal in the small space behind the tile and used his fist to pop the tile back into place.

He straightened up and looked around taking in as much as he could. It was going to have to last him a long time.

"It's hard, isn't it? Leaving?"

John cleared his throat. "Yeah. It's hard." But he had to let go of that pain. It served no purpose and he had other things to think about.

"You ready to go?"

Aeryn just nodded, but he could sense the adrenaline already pumping inside her. She was excited.

John grinned. "Come on then. Let's rock and roll."

They picked up their bags and headed out the door for a little Chinese take out.

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

The steel felt rough under his hands, but he ignored the edges cutting into his flesh, the warm blood trickling down his fingers. Desperation flowed through him like a tidal wave. He must be mad. If they found out... But he continued tugging at the thin metal slat under the dirty mattress he'd been sleeping on for months. A shudder went through him, threatening to bring on a coughing jag and he fought it off. He couldn't afford to draw attention to himself now. Mad? No. Crazy as a loon more like it. What other explanation was there for him to hear words from John in this hell? To think a rescue party was going to come swooping in just for him? But what difference did it make? He was as good as dead anyway. The piece of metal came free with a crack and he raised it up to examine it. It was soft metal, and if they didn't find it, if he worked long enough and quietly enough, he could work it into something sharp. If something happened, if he wasn't mad and he had the chance to get free of this place, at least he wouldn't be helpless. He would do what he could to help whoever, whatever it turned out to be. And if he had finally lost his mind, well, he'd just have to make sure the tip was nice and sharp. Besides, he couldn't take too many more days of that rice crap anyway.

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

John felt the bump of acceleration and concentrated on the controls of the Prowler as it headed upwards. Now that they were on their way, nerves he had forgotten he had came into play. It wouldn't take them long to cross the Arctic and from Siberia he wouldn't have time to blink before he'd be there. He'd been in life and death situations more times than he could count since hitting the UT's, but he couldn't remember too many times there was more at stake. He shut his mind to those few times when the stakes had been even higher. He couldn't afford to think of Robby right now. Now was his dad's turn. He had to get him out in one piece and make sure nothing happened to Aeryn at the same time. There was no way he could go back alone. He wouldn't let Robby grow up without her. He knew how painful living without her could be. It wasn't going to happen again. Not to either of them.

They flew side by side, unseen by anyone or anything below. He had modified the stealth device so that they could read each other's signals. Wouldn't want to go flying into each other. This wasn't going to take long and they were mostly silent as they climbed in altitude. When they got high enough they'd begin the long glide down that would take them into Chinese space.

They were nearing the top of the steep arc that would take them just outside the stratosphere when they throttled back their engines. He had just finished checking the stealth controls when he heard a surprised oath over the comms.

"Aeryn? What is it?"

Aeryn's voice came back. "John, have you looked outside?"

He craned his neck trying to see a problem. "Yeah. So?"

"Don't you see them?" It wasn't often he heard that tone of voice from her, soft and full of wonder.

He looked out again trying to see what could have caused such a reaction, then smacked himself.

"Oh! That!" She had never seen the Aurora before.

"They're called the Northern Lights, or the Aurora Borealis. It's solar particles interacting with the Earth's atmosphere and the planetary magnetic field."

"I don't care what causes it, it's beautiful." The awe in her voice made him smile.

They were both quiet for a microt, each lost in the moment. He had forgotten the lights. The mystery and spectacle of them. How many other wonders had he forgotten, would he forget?

But there was no time to dwell on it. Turn over was coming up. The point at which they would no longer be climbing. Where they would nose over to begin their descent into war. John rolled his ship slightly to see the planet below.

"John?"

"Yeah, baby?"

"Will you miss it much? Your home? I mean parts of it are quite lovely. And your family's here."

He cut her off. "Of course I'll miss it. But I couldn't stay here if I wanted to Aeryn, you know that. And I don't want to. It isn't home anymore." He sighed with a certain amount of regret, because it was true. After having an entire universe to explore, one little planet really didn't have enough elbow room. And he knew too much and had seen too much to ever settle for the mundane life he'd have here on Earth. The only thing he'd ever wanted to be was an astronaut and brother, you couldn't be a better one than him. He grinned to himself.

"Moya is home, you and Robby are home. And Aeryn..."

"Yes?"

"I'd never leave you. Either of you."

"I know that."

And then it was time. In the time it had taken to have that conversation the prison had come into sight and both Prowlers snap rolled to the right and went into a dive. Aeryn pulled out at five thousand feet and loitered while John went on, slowing further. He crossed over the prison, passing through her range finder and began the loop back. When had he completed his turn he began to accelerate back towards the prison, waiting for her to fire the disruptor.

Her voice reached John a second later. "Firing pulse now!"

Up ahead of him the prison looked no different, but his scanner informed him of a rapid and complete drop off in electrical activity at the prison and in its immediate vicinity. He fought the urge to cram on the speed and lined up for his shot.

The prison was laid like four very thick walls surrounding a central courtyard. The "walls" were actually fortified buildings meeting at the corners where watchtowers stood. Three sides were cell blocks. The remaining side was guard barracks, meeting and dining halls, and offices. And in the center was the exercise yard. His target was the meeting hall. If their informant was right, there would be an hours' long and mandatory meeting underway in which the prison political officer would harangue the guards and staff about the principles of Marxism. Sort of the Chinese Communist version of a revival meeting. Praise the Lord and pass the proletariat.

John watched his range finder count down the distance. Three, two, one.... He flipped the stealth device off just before he squeezed the firing stud releasing a small, but very potent, air to ground missile. He had a momentary pang at what he was about to do. But balanced against the life of his father, a bunch of Chinese prison guards and bureaucrats would get the short end of the stick every time. He was already past the prison when the missile impacted. His Prowler surged slightly as the wave front from the explosion kicked him in the ass. He swung around to see his handiwork.

"Holy shit! D'Argo wasn't kidding when said that Treash-19 was potent." The office side of the prison now had a hole in it nearly eighty feet wide, and within that space there was nothing left...right down to the ground.

John pulled up hard and continued to slow, letting his thrusters support the ship as he came back in over the smoldering hole that had taken most of the prison staff to glory. His goal was the helipad on the North tower. Land and hit the deck. He'd been seen he knew. To bad he hadn't had a chance to work with the stealth shield before he left. Not being able to use your weapons with the shield up was more than a minor inconvenience. Shouldn't be too bad though, he'd only been visible for a few microts. Now that he was cloaked again, with the confusion reigning after the explosion his approach would go largely unnoticed, although even in stealth mode a Prowler wasn't absolutely silent. Anyone in that tower right now would know that they had visitors. So he had no time to mess around. He was maneuvering for landing when Aeryn's voice crackled in his ear.

"A little too far to the right I think!"

John jerked, causing the Prowler to sway. "Aeryn? Have you ever heard the term 'back seat driver'?"

Aeryn laughed in his ear. "No, but I understand it. I just wanted you to know that Alex's contacts have paid off. The bridge is up, and I can detect no one left there. The bad news is that I'm seeing activity at the military encampment down the road. So hurry up!"

John sighed. "Nag, nag, nag. I haven't even set the ship down yet! Give me a chance!"

"I hate to think how you'd survive on your own. It's been a whole 180 microts since I fired that pulse. A PK assault team would have been on the ground by now."

"Yeah, I love you too, and a PK assault team wouldn't have somebody nagging them either."

He was suddenly turned serious. "Aeryn?"

"Hmm?"

"If things go pear shaped down here...."

"They won't."

"Yeah, but if they do...."

"I know, John. Just come back."

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

Touchdown was light and before the engines had finished cycling down he hit the canopy release and recycle, and was out on the helipad. Being within the radius of the Prowler's stealth field made him impossible to see, but he still took cover behind a landing strut. Drawing Winona he triggered his comms.

"I'm down. There's an entrance a few motras away. How's it look up there?"

"Well, that military camp down the road is going fahrbot, but whoever is in charge is starting to pull things together. My thermal imager shows heat blooms in the engines of some of the vehicles there. And I'm getting some com chatter. They're talking to someone outside the area."

John grunted as he stood to make a dash for the stairwell leading down into the cellblock. "Anything you can do about that?"

Aeryn sighed. "Not at the present. The pulse cannon needs to recharge. Right now the EMP I could throw wouldn't damp out one of Moya's chamber lights."

"Well, do what you can, but don't take stupid risks."

"Yes, daddy. Speaking of daddies, shouldn't you be going to get yours?"

"I'm on my way!"

A low rumble told him Aeryn had just done a fly by. John dashed to the door and spread himself against the wall. A quick scan of the other towers with a monocular showed no one drawing a bead on him. He yanked open the stairwell door, heaved a concussion grenade down the stair well, and slammed it again. Stepping aside he counted off ten microts before the door was blown off its hinges.

John grimaced. "Now that's what I call shoddy construction."

Before the smoke had cleared he was in the door and headed downward. He barely looked down to step over the bodies of the three guards, still clutching their weapons.

"Dad always said you can never be too careful. Always listen to your daddy."

Going down three levels he found his access to the cell block stopped by a locked door.

"Well, I knew this was too easy," he muttered. And so thinking, he leveled Winona and blew the entire lock assembly out of the door.

Entering the cell block he was overwhelmed by the stench. Unwashed human bodies. Sweaty clothes. Vomit and the faint odor of excrement and decay. Then there was the silence. There were prisoners in abundance, but they simply regarded him with frightened eyes. Unwilling to speak. He shouted as he made his way down the hall.

"Dad!"

Nothing.

"Dad!" He turned from side to side, peering into the dark cells on either side.

From down the hall came a voice speaking accented English. "Sir? Are you looking for someone? An American?"

John ran down the cell block to find himself facing a Chinese man who looked to be in his late thirties. His complexion was a whiter shade of pale. This guy had been here a long time. "Was that you talking?"

The prisoner nodded. "Yes. To repeat, are you looking for an American?"

John nodded, keeping an eye out on either end of the hall. "My father."

The prisoner grimaced. "Even if you find him, how do you expect to get out of here alive?"

"Let me worry about that," John said impatiently. "Most of the bad guys are having an early smoke break, so I don't expect much trouble...at least not until the army gets someone in here. And I'll be gone by then." He sent up a prayer he was right. He heard a noise and snapped a glance down the hall. It was just another prisoner shifting in his cell. "But I don't have time to chat. If you know where he is, now's the time to speak up. Otherwise I'm outta here."

The prisoner appeared to consider for a moment, testing John's patience. Then he inclined his head and spoke. "My name is Xao Liang. The prison rumor mill says that they're holding an American in another cell block. Some of the trustees have seen him. He is said to be quite old. He has endured a great deal of questioning."

John winced and brought Winona up. "I'll ask you again, where is he?"

Xao shrugged. "I've been rotting in here since Tia'namen Square. So, as much as I appreciate your problem, I have enough of my own...unless you'd care to help me with mine first?"

John was ready to scream with frustration when Aeryn's voice sounded in his ear.

"John?"

"Yeah, Aeryn. What's up?"

"The commander of that army camp seems to have pulled it together. A column of armored transports has left the camp and is approaching that bridge. How are you doing down there?"

John took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "Just fine. I've almost got him. Can you keep them off me a little longer?"

"As long as it takes." Aeryn's voice betrayed the fact she was enjoying herself a little too much.

John returned his attention to Xao who was now watching him curiously.

"A friend?" queried Xao.

John wasn't in the mood to explain. "None of your business. Now, how do I open these doors?"

Xao grinned. "You see that big red painted lever on the wall at the end of the cell block?"

John nodded. "Yeah there's one on each wall. Hurry it up!"

Xao spoke quickly. "There is a bank of switches and lights with it. Make sure all the lights are green and throw the lever."

John didn't pause to think. He reached that lever before Xao had finished speaking. The lights were red. Hurriedly and with broad sweeps of his hand he flipped switches until the board was green, then he threw the lever. There was a startled murmur in the cell block as the cell doors slid back on one side of the corridor. The murmur grew to a roar as John repeated the process on the other side of cell block. Prisoners began to emerge from their cells and run. It was pandemonium.

He surveyed the chaos. "All in a days work." Not everyday you freed an entire prison single handedly. But there was still the one prisoner he'd come for. He turned around to Xao.

"Your turn." He held Winona up again, but this time he laid it against the Chinaman's forehead. "Don't screw with me, okay?"

There was an audible gulp as Xao nodded and took off down the corridor with John only a step behind him.

John and Xao reached the end of the cell block and paused. Xao was about to throw the switches releasing the doors on the block when John stopped him. Floating up the stairs came the sound of voices locked in heated argument.

"Don't do that!" John hissed. "It'll be a dead giveaway to whomever's down there!"

They listened a moment longer then crept downward, with John leading the way. The voices became clearer.

John listened to them argue. It wasn't hard to figure out who was who. It sounded like three of them. One wanted to "execute the prisoner" while the other two were arguing against it.

"They're arguing about executing a prisoner," Xao continued whispering. "Your father I assume."

John nodded and waved his hand dismissively. "Shhh. I know."

Xao blinked in surprise. "You speak Chinese?"

"No."

He saw the look of confusion on Xao's face, but there was no time for further discussion because at that moment the argument broke off with a venomous curse...then the sound of an assault rifle on full auto thundered in the corridor.

Oh God! Dad! The thought of what might have just happened spurred him to action. He bellowed and stepped out of the stairwell with Winona already leveled. Standing in plain sight was a single Chinese guard holding a smoking rifle. At his feet was the well ventilated corpse of a fellow guard. John had just enough time to see another guard disappear into the cell before the guard with the rifle raised his head in John's direction, bringing his gun to bear on him. John didn't hesitate. Winona spat once...twice. The guard had only a moment to stare at John in amazement before his eyes rolled up and he dropped into a boneless heap.

John was running down the corridor towards the cell when his comms chirped and Aeryn's voice sounded.

"John? What's happening? There's no activity up here yet, but that won't last long. The military has reached that swing bridge, and they look like they're trying to get it working. So anything you could do to hurry things along would be good."

Before John could answer Xao nudged him. "I got you here; you're on your own."

John nodded, his attention focused on the door where the guards lay.

He moved cautiously and quickly towards the cell that held Jack, hesitating only a microt before kicking the door open.

[imloco2]

His back was to the wall, literally and figuratively. He sat in the corner, fingering the homemade blade and he waited. So he hadn't been crazy after all. A small relief that. The clattering of alarms, the frantic voices, the far off sounds of gunfire, all those vouched for his sanity. He gripped the blade tighter. He ignored the red stains covering it. Wouldn't think about it. He had done what he had to do. Now all he could do was wait. When it came, it sounded like a cannon, as boot connected with door and it flew open. A movement, and suddenly time itself became a suspect thing. Through the door walked the man he'd never truly thought he'd see again. He could admit it, now that he was standing there in front of him. His son. At least... he had his face, his hair, his eyes. But these eyes were harder than the ones that had left him years before. This man was older, a man who had seen a lot, and would see more. And he held his strange weapon with an ease that spoke of long practice. When had his son turned into a warrior? Where had he been? How...? But, it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. All of his life was right here before him.

"Welcome back, Son."

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

"Welcome back, Son."

John barely registered the words as he searched the room with frantic eyes, making sure there was no one else there. It was just the two of them. Well, it was if you didn't count the guard lying in a pool of red. John swung his pistol around and fixed it on the unmoving form, but he needn't have worried. A closer glance showed he was pretty dead. They couldn't stay here though, they had to get a move on. He walked towards his father and watched him pull something from behind his back. A crude metal weapon was clutched in one hand and landed with a thud on the floor as Jack numbly let go. John saw the red stains covering it and grew dizzy as he realized how close the call had been.

"Dad." They stood there, looking at each other, taking a moment they couldn't afford.

The months in captivity had taken their toll on his dad. Beneath the dirty clothes he was bruised and battered, and his trembling hand gave away his weakness, but in his eyes was the same pride and toughness that John remembered. They hadn't broken him yet; the thought gave him a moment's pride. His father's son.

And Jack wasn't surprised to see him.

"The message worked?"

"Of course. Only you would do something that incredibly foolish. Winona, indeed." He winced as he smiled.

"John. Where have you...?"

"Not now, Dad. I'll tell you all about it, later. Right now we've got to get out of here. Can you walk?" He wondered that he could sound so matter of fact.

Jack nodded. "...Or die trying." He struggled to his feet with John's help, the contact making them look at each other again.

If it killed them John couldn't stop his arms from coming around Jack or himself from burying his face in his dad's shoulder. Just for a microt, what could it hurt?

He pulled back and they stared, trying to assess the changes in each other before they broke apart and moved towards the door.

The hallway was clear for the moment as they crept out and moved as fast as Jack could manage towards the stairs. They only had to duck once into a side door to miss a pair of guards.

As John helped Jack up the stairs his comms chirped, but all he was getting was static. Growling with frustration he tapped the piece. Still nothing. "Stupid frellin' piece of dren!" He didn't realize he'd said it out loud until he caught his father looking at him, a puzzled expression on his face.

"I'll...I'll explain later." No time for talk now. They kept moving and soon the comms chirped again.

"...answer me! The Chinese have that bridge in working order again! It's swinging back into position! John?!" Aeryn's voice had never sounded better.

"Relax, Aeryn. I've got Dad, and we're on our way out!" he fired back.

"Make it quick John! Oh FRELL!" A second or so later the floor jumped hard, slamming against them as the shockwave of a distant explosion rolled through.

"Aeryn?! What was that?" John shouted.

Aeryn's voice came back a moment later. "They started to cross the bridge."

John thought he knew the answer, but he had to ask. "And the explosion?"

"That was the bridge going up...or down, depending on your point of view. They can't cross what isn't there."

"God, I love you." John chuckled. "We'll be out in two shakes of a lamb's tail, darlin'. Keep the porch light on."

"I'll be here."

John started to lead his father forward when Jack stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"John? Who was that?"

John sighed. "Not now dad. We've got to keep moving."

He led his father up the stairwell, stopping just short of the top and listening. The inside of the cell block was quiet as a tomb. But outside he could hear the roar of voices like distant surf....punctuated by an occasional burst of gunfire.

"Well, looks like all the guards aren't out of business," he said for Jack's benefit. "It also looks like setting the other prisoners free was a good idea because it's drawing the remaining guards outside, and out of our way." He was worried though. Jack didn't look so good and he was panting heavily.

"You gonna be okay?"

Beads of sweat dotted Jack's forehead but he was determined. "I'm fine son. Don't worry about me. I've never felt better. Now let's get a move on."

John knew he'd have to take him at face value on that, since, fact was, they didn't have any choice. He led his father up into the abandoned cell block.

Brave words or not, Jack's condition did slow them down. They were almost to the end of the block when fate intervened in the shape of a uniformed Chinese who appeared in the doorway they had to use, leveled his assault rifle, and called on them to halt.

"Just great," John muttered. "There's always got to be one yo-yo that marches to the beat of a different drum." Without pausing he shoved Jack through the door of an empty cell as he dropped prone and opened fire. The guard was so badly startled that his brief burst of fire passed high over John's head. A moment later the guard was too dead to try and correct his aim.

John staggered to his feet and helped his father up from the cell floor where he'd landed. Jack groaned. "Son, not that I'm ungrateful or anything, but I kind of envisioned an end to the bruises after you rescued me."

"Sorry Dad. Occupational hazard of being me. Can you walk?"

Jack pushed John away and tested his balance. When he didn't fall down, he grinned. "If I can't then I can at least stagger. Let's go before we both end up inmates here...with adjoining torture chambers."

John thought of the Aurora Chair and almost laughed...almost. Together they made for the door as quickly as Jack could, John's arm around his waist letting Jack lean on him for support. They had made it through the guard's office when Aeryn came on line.

"John?"

"Yeah? How's it hangin'?"

"Hangin'? Nevermind. John, I have company up here. Local aircraft. They aren't space capable I assume...and from the looks of them we can outrun them. But when you take off you're going to be vulnerable for a few moments when your thrusters start siphoning off energy from your stealth shield. It won't last long, but if one of those pilots is looking the wrong way at the wrong time, you'll be in trouble."

John saw the inquiring look on Jack's face and realized that he couldn't understand a word she was saying. Where were the translator microbes when you needed them? Life sure was complicated without the little bastards. John sighed and interpreted for him.

Jack looked thoughtful. "These aircraft, what do they look like?"

Aeryn was silent a moment. "John, was that your father?"

John grinned at Jack. "Yeah, baby. The great man himself."

Aeryn's voice came back. "Single engine, twin side scoops, swept wings, single pilot, and a supposedly impressive array of air to air weapons."

John repeated her words in English.

Jack nodded. "They sound like the Mig-23 knockoffs that China has been building. They're way out of date as interceptors go. Tell her that they may be fast, but they can't maneuver for love or money."

John sighed. "You heard that Aeryn?"

"I heard. We don't have a choice. A missile from one of your inferior aircraft can ruin your whole day as well as one that is superior. When you get ready to take off, I'll have to decloak and engage in order to draw them off."

John was quiet for a long moment. "I really wish you wouldn't."

"This isn't a debate John. You're down there, I'm up here. The idea is to get you up here too. Now move it! There are two of them right now, but I can detect three more closing at supersonic speeds. We're running out of time!"

Jack grinned. He had no idea what had been said there at the end, but judging from the look on his son's face he was less than happy about it. And the lady had sounded downright feisty. He was looking forward to meeting this mystery woman. "John, just who was that?

John rolled his eyes. "Not now, Dad!"

Together they made their way through the office and down the next empty cell block to the stairwell where John had entered. The Prowler was above them on the helipad.

John paused to let Jack catch his breath. "We're almost there. Our taxi is up on the roof."

Jack frowned. "That's where they brought me in at, I think. You brought a helicopter?"

John grinned. "Not exactly. You'll have to wait and see."

They entered the stairwell. Taking the stairs slowly because of Jack's weakness they were almost to the top when they came across the corpses of the guards that John had killed with a grenade. Jack stared at them a moment, then looked at his son as if he was seeing him for the first time.

"You've changed, Son."

John flinched and then shrugged. "A little bit, Dad. A little bit."

John stepped to the door at the top landing and peeked out. Frell! Party crashers! Two guards were on the helipad playing blind man's bluff with the Prowler. He could tell that they knew that something was there. They'd probably walked into it without seeing it. They were simply trying to determine what it was.

Ducking back, he considered his options. He sighed. "So I do it the UT way."

At the enquiring look he elaborated. "When in danger or in doubt...charge straight in like a bull in a china shop."

John stepped outside, leveled Winona and bellowed, "Hey!"

The nearer guard had his back to John and died in the act of turning as John cut him down. The further guard was quicker and luckier, though. He had his assault rifle up and aimed at John before John could swing Winona around. There was no way he was going to miss.

"Frell," He was proud of the steady voice. "It looked like a good plan." He jumped at the short burst of automatic gunfire. It took him a few microts to realize he was still standing. No crushing impact of bullets or tearing of flesh. John cracked one eye and saw the guard was lying on the deck in an expanding pool of blood. It took another microt to figure out what had happened. The guard had been on the other side of the Prowler. Seeing nothing in his way he had tried to fire through it, and been killed by his own ricochets.

"It's about time lady luck smiled for a change. I just hope he didn't do any damage or we're stuck here!"

John spun towards the stairwell and motioned for his dad.

"Come on! Time to blow this popsicle stand." He helped his father outside and they made their way to the empty space that hid the Prowler. A few simple commands and there was a muted hiss as the Prowler's canopy opened and became visible. John led his now speechless father over to the open canopy and managed to get him up and into the cockpit, following him a moment later. Once strapped in he hit a switch that sealed the canopy, shutting out the bedlam of rioting prisoners and occasional gunshots. As the engines began to cycle up he keyed the comms.

"Aeryn, it's show time. I'll be lifting off any microt. Aeryn?"

"John, we have problems. Those other three aircraft are now in the area, circling a few metras out waiting for something to happen. The other two are on station above us. Whatever happens now, it won't be fast, or easy."

John sighed. "When has it ever been fast or easy?" He nudged his thrusters, lifting the Prowler into hover, and retracted his landing gear.

Aeryn's voice came back. "Hang on. Wait for my word to go."

"What are you up to, Aeryn?"

"I'm dropping in behind one of the three circling the area. When I drop the cloak I'm going to smoke him and hit the thrusters. I'll be on top of the next one in line and eliminate him before they know what's happened. With any luck that will open a door for you to come out of the box. Take a bearing on my beacon and get ready to move."

John waited nervously and spoke to his father. "Dad, it's going to get a little bumpy. We have to get past some nosy neighbors to get out of here. Aeryn is going to distract them a bit for us. Strap in and hang on."

Jack noticed the change in timbre whenever his son spoke the name Aeryn. It seemed she was a good deal more than a friend. He hoped for John's sake that she was up to the job she was taking on.

"Is she good at this?"

John flipped him a proud grin. "Nobody better."

Barely a moment later Aeryn's voice reached John. "Scratch one! Now! John."

John hit maximum thrust, rising fast and turning to the Southeast, towards Aeryn's beacon. There was already a fireball evident in the sky. As he watched, a second one blossomed.

"Scratch two." Damn, she was a cool customer. He was just glad he wasn't her target. He had learned the hard way it didn't pay to get on her bad side.

John was shoving on as much acceleration as he thought his father could stand when Aeryn's voice sounded with an increased sense of urgency.

"John, your stealth is flickering! They're getting a bearing on you! Both of the high fliers are dropping down, vectoring in behind you!" John cursed and fiddled with the stealth controls, trying to tune the generator. It wasn't working. "Hang on, Dad! I have to floor it!"

Jack chuckled. "Put it to the firewall son, I can take it."

John poured it on. As he cleared the immediate area of the prison his sensors beeped, telling him that a hostile had locked on to him. A heartbeat later a steady whine told him that he had a missile closing. He waited until the last second and jinked hard right. To his left something shot by leaving a vapor trail.

"That was too frellin' close! Aeryn, where are you?"

"I'm right in front of you John!"

Looking up he saw a Prowler come out of stealth headed straight at him. Well, not quite straight. Aeryn slammed by him on his left, missing him by only yards. His Prowler bucked in the turbulence of her passing. A moment later white light flared, reflected off of his canopy. "Aeryn?" He couldn't detect her beacon. "AERYN?!"

John felt a cold knot of fear settle in his stomach. "Aeryn! Answer me!" He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Turn this bucket around Son. We all go home, or no one goes home."

John hesitated, then began to ease back on the thrusters, preparing to bank. At that moment his comms squawked with static and a familiar voice came through.

"You're slowing? Did I tell you to slow down?!"

Relief rushed through him, making him giddy. He grinned and slammed the throttles back towards maximum. "Aeryn?! Where the frell are you? You scared me out of ten years of my life and unlike you I don't have that many to spare."

Behind him Jack cocked his head and mentally jotted down another question to ask his son when things were calmer.

Aeryn's voice came back through the static. "I'm behind and below you, and gaining. I had to cut it close taking out those two pursuit craft on your tail. I got them both, but I ended up flying straight through the resulting explosion. The electronics on my Prowler didn't take kindly to it. My beacon is history, and my comms is only short range until I have time to fix it."

Her voice was growing steadily clearer as they climbed towards space and she drew closer. Below them the landscape was shrinking and developing a panoramic look. "Other than that I'm okay, and my stealth shield is holding up. We're about to break atmosphere, so I think we're in the clear. Ah, frell!"

"What? What frell?"

"The environmental systems seem to have been damaged also."

"What?!"

"Wait just a microt..."

It was forever in a heartbeat until he heard her again.

"Environmental degradation doesn't look that bad. It should last until we can get back to Moya."

"Should last? We can go back, Aeryn. No chances okay?"

"We've been through worse before, John. It will be all right. I want to go home."

He knew she was thinking of Robby now. They both needed to get back to him. God knows what Rygel was feeding him and Chiana probably had him dressed up like a galactic hooker. He'd probably need cycles of therapy as it was.

"Okay, baby. If you're sure."

"I am." John felt a quick tap on his shoulder. Jack leaned forward. "Son, I know I've asked this before and you put me off. And rightly so. But since we aren't under threat of imminent death right at the moment...just who is that?"

Aeryn's Prowler slid in beside them as they climbed.

John chuckled. "Aeryn, wiggle your wings and say hello to Dad."

"Wiggle....? Have you gone completely fahrbot? I'll do no such thing."

John gave a long suffering sigh and looked apologetically at Jack. "She's just being difficult. She does that a lot."

"So did your mother."

It was a bonding moment as they looked at each other in perfect understanding.

"Aeryn...."

"Hello Jack. I hook forward to seeing you." She was trying really hard with the English and for a change he didn't bother to correct her. She was just perfect the way she was.

John smile was full of love and gentle laughter as he spoke to Jack. "Dad, that is the Radiant Aeryn Sun. The mother of your grandson."

The paroxysm of coughing had John spinning around as far as he could in the narrow confines of the Prowler to make sure Jack wasn't about to hurt himself.

"You okay?"

Jack nodded and waved John off.

When the spasms had settled down into heavy breathing Jack ventured to speak.

"Grandson?"

"His name is Robby."

John felt for the disk he had tucked under the seat and slowly handed it over his shoulder to his father.

"Wanna see a miracle?"

"I'm already looking at one, Son." The boy in John was frightened by the voice behind him, weak and fragile, but to the man, it sounded beautiful. He'd given up hope of ever hearing it again.

"Yeah. I know what you mean." He blinked hard and smiled. Jack was in for another surprise. "But, try this. I think it's even better."

He reached around to turn it on and couldn't stop the huge grin that split his face when he heard the intake of breath behind him. He heard Aeryn's voice, warm and husky and for an instant he was back on Moya, the soft light smoothing the worry from her face as he watched her, wondering at the rare moment in time when everything was right with the universe.

"Robby?"

He was startled out of his reverie.

"Yeah."

"You named him after me?"

John could feel the red washing up over his face and coughed in embarrassment. "Well, sort of."

"Sort of?"

John figured the only way to do it was quickly. "His full name is Robert Rygel Crichton. We sort of had to name him after a...a fr...a friend of ours." The words choked him. "All right, the little slug saved his life and we promised, okay?"

"Uh, no, but it doesn't matter." He coughed. "He looks like me." As weak as he was there was still a note of masculine pride he couldn't hide.

John twisted his neck to look at his father, and gave him a quick smile. "Yeah...Aeryn won't let me forget it either."

"How does she know what I look like?"

Frell, that's right. Dad didn't know she'd seen him before. Sort of.

"It's a long story, Dad. Trust me, she knows."

They broke the stratosphere then and entered orbit and John realized it was time. No way to put it off any longer.

"Dad?"

"Yes, son?"

"We have to decide what we're going to do."

"Do?"

"Yeah, about you."

"What about me?"

"Well, it's not safe down there anymore. You know they'll try again and I won't be there to protect you. There won't be anymore insane rescues just in the nick of time. Not from me anyway."

"Just what are you suggesting, son?"

"Well, Aeryn and I talked about it and.... we want you to come back with us." He held his breath.

"Back...you mean back to where you've been all this time?"

"Yeah."

"And where is that?"

"A galaxy far, far away, but it's getting closer." John snorted. "Oh, it's a crazy place, Dad. God-like aliens and critters everywhere you turn...I'm not sure it would be any safer than here, but at least I would be there to protect you. Be there for you." Then he went for the low blow. "And of course you could see Robby."

Jack went silent, thinking. "The girls..."

"I've seen them, talked to them and they know it's a possibility that you won't come back and they're okay with that. Look, you don't have to if you don't want to. Nobody is going to force you to come with us. It has to be your decision."

"All right. Let's go."

"All right?"

"Yes, all right."

"Just like that?" He'd been expecting a lot more talking would be involved.

"Just like that. Look, John, I know I'm getting up in years, I didn't have much time left even before what they did to me back there. I want to do something with my life." He waved a hand at John's protest. "Yeah, I know. Jack Crichton, astronaut, landed on the moon. Big deal. I want something...different. More. And I'd like to see where you've been all this time. See my grandson." Jack's quick smile wavered. "John, do you know how long I've wanted this? To fly up and up and never come back? I've dreamed all my life of seeing the stars. This is my chance, Son. I'm taking it."

Jack's hand felt warm as John silently clasped his hand around his father's for an instant. John knew the dream too well, it had been his too.

"One more thing, then we vamoose. Ssshh. Don't say a word." John pressed a finger to his lips before activating his comms.

"DK? Come in DK. You there buddy?" He just hoped his friend was near the comms he had left him.

"DK?"

Silence.

"E.T. phone home."

Long microts passed and he was about to give up and call it a day when he heard the familiar voice.

"John? John? Is that you?"

"Who else would it be? How you doin'?"

"I'm fine. All hells breakin' loose around here though. What in the shit did you do over there? Where the hell are you? Did you have...?"

"Right next to me bro. Alive and kickin'. Listen, I don't have much time. I need you to do something for me. Remember that place we hid the keys from Dad? 8th grade?" Boy that was a childhood lesson they had learned in a hurry. Don't mess with Dad's keys when they were at the lake. It was something only he and DK knew about. He didn't want to get any plainer than that. They'd be intercepting all communications now, no doubt.

"The k...? Oh! The keys! Boy that was a big mistake. Yeah, I remember. Why?"

"When you get a chance, check out that place again. I might have left another set there." He'd just have to hope that DK would understand. The message and schematics on the crystal should go a long way with helping Earth prepare for what might come, but only if DK found it first. He was the only one John trusted enough not to screw it up.

"Gotcha. Hey..."

"Yeah?"

"Just...just take care of yourself, okay?"

"You too. I..." He shook his head. What could he say that hadn't already been said? "Right. Then I'm outta here. Later."

"Right...later." They both knew that later would probably never happen, but hey, you never knew.

John switched off the link connecting him to the blue planet below and comm'd the Prowler beside him so he could speak to both Aeryn and his dad.

"Hey, guys. Let's go home."

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

The wormhole swirled before them, a blue ocean of churning space. The way home. The trip here had been so different from the one before. Through his father's eyes he had finally seen the planets of his solar system as they passed and he wondered at himself for not paying attention on his way in. He couldn't stop the swell of pride that he could give his father this. To boldly go where no man had gone before... just thinking of the Star Trek quote had made his lips twitch with suppressed laughter before the wonder in his dad's eyes sobered him again.

But now it was time. He flipped a few switches on the navigational controls and waited for the all clear.

"Aeryn? You ready?"

"More than ready. I've got someone I need to see."

"I know, baby. We'll be there in a few microts." He turned to his dad. "Hang on."

They maneuvered the Prowlers into position and entered the wormhole, John leading the way. The gravitational pull from the wormhole had them picking up speed as they went. John could see Jack's hands with a death grip on the side of the seat as they flew, and he looked out as they twisted and turned in time with the churning mass. He could only guess what his father was thinking, but he had a pretty good idea. Flying a wormhole was a whole different kettle of fish than anything else he'd ever experienced.

"Shouldn't be too much longer now, we're almost through. With any luck we'll be back to Moya in time for dinner." His eyes widened as he realized what he'd said. "Oh, frell! I didn't just say that?!"

He closed his eyes.

The sudden high pitched sound grew louder and stronger with each passing metra and set his teeth on edge. It was emanating from the wormhole and he had no idea why. And for the first time since he had mastered the beast it turned on him, screaming and kicking against the Prowler as they flew.

"Son?! Is this normal for one of these wormholes?"

"Define normal?!" John shouted, trying to be heard above the wailing outside the ship.

Sudden turbulence rocked the Prowler, hard enough to make them shake. John worked frantically with the controls of the nav unit as the electromagnetic eddies in the wormhole tried to fry it to a crisp.

"Aeryn?!"

Static answered him as the Prowler bounced and tumbled. In frustration he hit the panel in front of him and lights flickered.

"Aeryn?! If you can hear me...we have to get out of the wormhole now!" Please God let her hear him. Trusting that she would follow, he fought to keep control and steered for the nearest exit.

It was frellin' huge. No, it was bigger than huge. Even enormous didn't begin to cover it. John sat there floating in space for precious microts trying to give his mind time to grasp what he was seeing. They were no more than a hundred metras from....

A ship?

It couldn't be a ship. Even Command Carriers weren't that big. And round. It could have been a flying planet except for the bolts of light it fired randomly into the inky darkness. A sense of déjà vu prickled in the back of his mind. The smaller craft surrounding the black vastness were bombarding it with gunfire, but he couldn't see where it was doing any damage to the behemoth in front of him. It was a swarm of gnats attacking the Empire State Building.

He looked over and with a sigh of relief saw the other Prowler floating next to him. She had made it! But what had they gotten themselves into this time? Weariness enveloped him. Was this all his life was supposed to consist of? One frelling life threatening adventure after another? Well, he was sick of adventure.

"God! It's like a frellin' Indiana Jones movie that never ends!" he mumbled under his breath.

John looked down at the nav screen trying to find a clue to where they were. "Aeryn, my navigation system is down and I can't get a fix on our location. Anything look familiar? We need to get out of here."

Silence.

"Aeryn?! You okay?" Still nothing. He felt his stomach lurch. "Talk to me please." Panic was just about to slice him in two when he heard the faint crackle and the sound of her voice.

"John?"

The hair on the back of his neck stood at attention. He hadn't heard that tone since....

"What's the matter?"

"John, the environmentals on my Prowler are completely frelled. The trip through the wormhole must have damaged them further. My best estimate is I have less than a quarter of an arn before all systems are down."

"Try rerouting the environmentals power source to the main weapons array. No point in shooting something if you're not breathing!" Of course, he was having trouble breathing himself.

"It's not working. The damage is too extensive!"

No. It couldn't end like this. It couldn't.

"Give me a minute, baby. I'll figure something out."

Damn it all to hell! He had to stay calm. There had to be a way out of this. And he had to think of it in a hurry. It wasn't going to be long before the gnats or that Mother of a ship took notice of them.

He spared a moment to wonder what Jack was making of all this.

"Don't worry dad. This is just par for the course. You'll get used to it." Yeah, right, like he had ever gotten used to it. Just lie to him, John.

"All right, get used to it, might be a slight exaggeration."

The silence behind him was deafening and he realized with a sick, scared feeling that he had heard nothing from his father since they'd exited the wormhole.

"Dad?" He twisted around slowly, his breath hitching in panic. Scared to know, scared not to.

"Dad?"

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

"John?" The voice was far away then... "John?!" It was in his ear and he opened his eyes. The wormhole stretched out in front of him, twisting and turning in the pattern he had come to know like it was a part of him.

"Are you okay, son?" The hand tugging on his shoulder trembled.

Crap! What had that been? His chest heaved as he gulped in air. God, what a frellin' nightmare. Nightmare? No, he hadn't been asleep. But, it wasn't real, that was the main thing. His dad was right behind him, talking to him. He took a deep breath and decided to try and figure out what happened later.

"Yeah." He tried to steady his voice. "I'm fine. Just had a little touch of the screamin' meemies there for a microt." A bead of sweat trickled down his cheek and he swiped an arm over his face to soak up the moisture. A glance at the panels told him their exit was just ahead.

"Aeryn. You still with me?"

"Right behind you, John."

A knot in his chest he didn't know was there eased.

"Exit in 10 microts. You ready?"

"More than ready."

"Okay. Dad, you ready to get a look at your first aliens?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

John heard the excitement in his voice and smiled. He had no idea.

"Then let's go home."

***         ****       ***       ****      ***      ****

The two beings hovered on the other side of their reality and watched as the two tiny ships sped towards the Leviathan.

The wall between realities was closing fast, but they watched as long as they could. There was a fascination with the human that could not be denied.

Time

to go.

It had been a close call, that one. The human had learned a great deal, but he was still young. They had barely pulled him out in time.

Vigilance. Vigilance was the key. They would need to be more careful. Keep better watch.

And Wait.

For the next

Time.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Finis.