Bad Timing

Hi there.

Yes I know we've already got an episode named Bad Timing but I suck at titles... you know that.

You may also remember that recently AeryCrichton put out a challenge to show the scene where Aeryn finds out the baby is out of stasis, or takes the baby out of stasis, however you happened to interpert it.

This one was hard to write. You wouldn't think it would be... but it was. Finding out you have a baby growing in you is scarry and life altering under the best of circumstances. I can't comprehend what it's like to find that out in the middle of peace negotiations with your worst enemy in a hostile enviroment when you are still a bit nervous about the relationship that you just struck up with the DNA match of the actual father of your child (I'm going with the it's TJohn's theory in this one.

It had to be terrifying and confusing as heck.

So here's my little dabble into that universe. Hope you enjoy.

Thanks to the usual suspects for putting up with weeks, (yes weeks) of beta'ing on this one. And a special one to AC for cleaning up the grammer and punctuation.

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Title: Bad timing
Rating: G
Time Frame: Begining of WWS: La Bomba

It was all about timing. Bad timing actually. Her world seemed defined by it for the last four cycles.

So far she could blame bad timing for getting her thrown out of Peacekeepers, killed, having man she loved get both twinned and killed and for the fact that she was now, while in the middle of negotiations to avoid the biggest war in recorded history, dumping Bracca and heading to a med lab.

The tech had his back to her when she walked in, leaned slightly over a counter staring at something under a magnifier and making notations on an electronic pad with a stylus. And the soldier in her chaffed that on a military vessel one would leave their back so open and exposed. But, she understood that his world was not the same as hers had been and in some ways still was. War was something seen in the pained eyes of a victim, not in the dust and heat of the battlefield. He had no fear of attack and so did not defend against it.

She stood still for a few microts and when he did not notice her she coughed.

He started a bit, turned around gave her an appraising look.

"Can I help you…?" he trailed off a bit at the end.

She raised an eyebrow and stared at him silently until she realized he had no idea how to address her. Word that she and Crichton were on board would have spread like wildfire and the crew was bound to know who they were. Even a tightly controlled political machine like Peacekeeper High Command could not keep word that an entire Shadow Depository had been destroyed by the crew of a rogue Leviathan, nor the fact that one of their own Carriers had been blown up by the same, completely under wraps. They might be outcasts and traitors but they were infamous and as such, although he owed her no respect as a superior, it was evident he didn't want to offend her either.

"Officer Sun," she said at last, stepping further into the room and seating herself in the consult chair next to the table. It was a safe term, specific enough to give her the respect she required but generic enough to apply to any person in any military capacity that had proved themselves beyond recruit- hood.

And it was also still true. She might no longer be a Peacekeeper, but she was still a soldier, still a prowler pilot and for all intents and purposes at this moment, still at war.

"Yes… Officer Sun." The med tech whose shiny name badge named him Second Level Medical Technician Dalnon, traded one notepad for another and came over to stand in front of her, almost, but not quite, at attention. "Do you have a medical issue that needs addressing?"

She almost laughed at his statement of the obvious, but he looked young and she figured this might be his first real assignment so she didn't reproach him for fear of causing him further embarrassment.

"Yes I do. I need a full physical assessment."

Dalnon nodded, placed the notepad and stylus on the examination table and went over to a small computer console on the other side of the room. After a few microts punching buttons he turned back to her with a frown. "Officer Aeryn Sun of Icarian Company, Pliesar Regiment?"

She blinked at him."Formerly of Pliesar Regiment but yes that's me."

Dalnon reread the information on the screen and then shook his head. "I show you as having had a complete assessment less than a cycle ago. You were noted in acceptable physical condition at that time. You should not need another unless you feel you have contracted an illness of some sort."

She shifted slightly in her seat. "An illness no, but there are some other variables that may have changed and I simply want to be sure everything is… still within acceptable ranges."

That seemed to satisfy whatever apprehension the young med tech had and he turned and patted the exam table with brusque professionalism.

"Very well, we'd better get started then."

She took off her coat, hopped up on the table and sat silent and still while the routine things were done. Temperature, blood pressure, heart rate and reflexes were duly checked, blood was drawn for disease analysis and hearing and eyesight were assessed.

Dalnon then consulted the console read out one more time and glanced back at her with a slightly confused look on his face.

"Records note that you were overdue for a replacement of your contraceptive implant, but do not show where one was ever issued to you. Would you like it now?"

She swallowed hard and shook her head, "No. It should show that I'm…"

"Oh yes I see," Dalnon interrupted her, picked up his notepad and began furiously tapping at boxes on the screen with his stylus. "I hadn't read down far enough, I'm sorry. There is a pregnancy reported here. A single fetus in stasis. After that the report is unfinished. Were you interrupted?"

"Yes." She paused unsure of how to continue without letting him know that the interruption had been Crais' comm to her with news that he planned to blow up Talyn. "Something of some urgency came up and I had to… leave quite suddenly."

Dalnon stared at her a moment and then shrugged. "Well we can replace it now if you like. It won't hurt the fetus, just prevent any more conceptions."

She tried to smile but her heart was beating too fast and her hands were gripping the edges of the metal table hard enough to cause pain.

"Perhaps, but I would like you to check the status of the pregnancy first."

Dalnon paused. "Do you have reason to believe the status has changed?"

"I'm not sure. I was recently… held and interrogated by the Scarrens. They drugged me rather heavily, some kind of truth serum. The nurse there said it would not hurt the baby but Scarrens are not known for being particularly truthful, especially when it stands in the way of them getting something they want."

Dalnon's face turned serious. "How long were you exposed to the heat probe?"

She shook her head. "Not long. The nurse there discovered my… condition and she said she had them stop that method of interrogation before any harm could come to me."

The med tech gestured for her to remove her shirt and lie down and then began to pull a large round scanning machine from the other side of the room, pausing once in his endeavor to eye her suspiciously.

"And why would they do that?"

For a moment the question panicked her and then she settled on an answer that she thought would explain the nurse's reaction and yet not give away why the Scarrens had been interested in her.

"She was Sebacean, and a prisoner as well. They gave her special treatment for assisting them in their experiments. I suppose, in her way, she was trying to help me."

"Oh. I see." Dalnon finished pulling the scanner from its corner of the room and positioned the round mirror- like instrument over her abdomen. "Lets have a look then."

For several microts that seemed more like arns there was nothing but the whir of machinery and the pounding of her own heart. She tried not to think, she tried not to feel, but the visions of her nightmares kept running through her head. A child dead, a chance gone, and possibly the last thing a lover had given her lost forever.

Finally the whirring stopped and Dalnon removed the scanner so she could sit up.

"Well, the fetus is still intact and viable but…"

"But what?" her heart spasmed and she could barely get the words out.

"It's been released from stasis."

"It's what?" she asked again, certain she'd either heard him wrong or was imagining things.

"It's been released from stasis." Dalnon paused a moment and she watched him search her face. "But I wouldn't worry. If you wish we can still terminate it."

She felt her heart stop again. "Terminate it? Why? Is it… damaged in some way?"

He shook his head. "No. It's developing normally as far as I can tell, but the scan shows a DNA structure that I am unfamiliar with. It's similar in form to ours but it's definitely not Sebacean. "Do you wish me to run a scan to determine the species or just schedule a termination for you?"

"Termination?" she raised her head confused.

The med tech stared at her in flummoxed silence for a few microts. "I'm sorry. I assumed since the child was of mixed heritage that you'd …"

"That I'd terminate it?" She regarded him wryly, "Why, because I'd be deemed irreversibly contaminated? Too late, grunt, that's already been done."

Dalnon cleared his throat and took a step back. "My apologies," he said. "Do you still wish me to run the scan?"

She hesitated for a moment, weighing the decision in her mind. The child probably belonged to a dead man either way, and either way the answer could cost her the man in the room down the hall. But not knowing wouldn't change the truth. And the truth was, she was having this child no matter whose it was. Better to know and deal with it than not know and always have the wondering between them.

"Run the scan."

The microts ticked by slowly again and then finally he answered. "I have a match. Species 46792. The human. Crichton."

She pressed her lips against the rush of breath that threatened to explode from her body and sat up to pull her shirt back on with shaking hands.

"Thank you."

"You're… welcome, sir. I take it… the termination will not be necessary?"

"No it will not."

"Then might I suggest that we still proceed with the insertion of the implant sir? If I might be bold enough to say so, your life is quite… involved. A multiple pregnancy would probably make matters more… complex."

She looked over at him and his carefully neutral face made her smile. "You're certain it won't hurt the baby?"

"Absolutely certain, sir. As I mentioned before, it should simply stop any further conceptions unless it is removed or you fail to adhere to the suggested maintenance."

She paused at that. " Maintenance?"

His confidence boosted by the fact that she hadn't killed him yet, Dalnon allowed some of the arrogance back into his voice. "Yes, maintenance. It's time released. A specific amount once per monen for two cycles, and then it must be replenished"

"They never told me that."

He picked up a syringe, loaded it with a tiny cartridge, and placed it against her shoulder. "You… were a soldier, as such you received a complete physical examination as part of your annual evaluation. They took care of it automatically."

"Oh, that explains a lot."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing." She shook her head and hopped down from the exam table." Never mind."

"Will there be anything else, Officer Sun?"

"No. That will be all."

The med tech nodded and then turned his back to her and busied himself cleaning up his supplies.

She walked out of the lab and back down the corridor the way she'd come her thoughts still too jumbled in her head to make any sense. She didn't see Crichton as he came down the hall towards her and only stopped when she bumped face first into his chest.

"Whoa there--,"

"Sorry." She stepped back and took a look at him. He seemed agitated and she guessed his meeting with Grayza had not gone well. "What's wrong?"

He stared at her a moment and then after a quick look around to make sure they were alone in the corridor, pulled her in for a brief kiss and then set his lips against her hair. "Nothing, that woman just… gets to me, that's all."

She lifted a hand up and let her fingers rub through the short hairs at the nape of his neck, idly trying to ease the tension that had been building there since he'd come on board with a bomb strapped to his body.

"She's used to getting what she wants, John, any way she can. I don't think it sits well with her that you took her toys away."

"Hum." John's face slipped into the empty look he got whenever Grayza's name was mentioned. The look she kept meaning to ask him about, but never found the time too. "Problem with playground bullies is that they are too dense to recognize defeat, even when it's staring them in the face. She's liable to do something stupid ,that one, and I don't like it. If Bracca's still kissing Scorpy's ass we might want to have him keep more than the usual eye on her. I can't handle more than two bad guys at a time."

"And Scorpius would help us against Grayza?"

John laughed briefly at that. "Well, she was responsible for having him lead around by a dog chain and licking her boots. I think he'd be more than happy to frell her for us."

"Umm." She pulled him along the corridor towards the transport bays. Bracca was waiting to take them back to Katratzi. "Well, if you think it'll help, fine. But I'm warning you. Grayza's had a lot of practice frelling over the cycles. And I just don't want her frelling you."

He stumbled at that, pulling her off balance with him and when he straightened he slammed his hand into the wall and swore.

"What's the matter?" She pulled at his arms, alarmed.

He stared at her for a microt, his face pale, his lips pressed together and an inscrutable look in his eyes. Then he looked down and when he looked back up at her the look was gone and he was trying to smile. "Nothing, I'm just a bit… I'm trying to juggle too many balls, that's all. Akhna against Staleek, Scorpy against Akhna, Bracca against Grayza and everybody against us. I'm a bit nervous I'll lose where we are in the dance, and one misstep could cost us everything here."

She stared at him wondering if he was telling her the complete truth but when he failed to volunteer anything further she let it go and mustered up a smile for him. "I know. But we'll see it through. I know we will. The more frelled the plan, the better it works in the end, or didn't you know that?"

He laughed and started walking again. "Usually that's true. But you also know our luck. By the way, what were you doing while I was talking with Commandant Cleavage back there?"

She paused and looked at him. There it was, the question she'd been both anticipating and dreading. And the answer was so simple. It would take less than thirty microts to explain. She could just say: "The Scarrens released the stasis and the scan shows that it is a human child. Welcome to my nightmare and the best day of my life. And promise me that through all of this, we'll still be O.K."

Less than thirty microts it would take, more like ten. But she couldn't, not now no matter how much the words were biting at the back of her throat. It would be one more ball for him to juggle and he'd already stated what was at stake if they failed. Bad timing had won again.

"Taking care of a personal matter."

"You want to tell me about it?"

"Later."