Title: Unexpected confrontations
Author: Sabine.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: I've seen everything up to "Die me Dichotomy". This story does, to some extend, hold spoilers for the final four episodes of Season 2 (not much though. Just a little conversation between John and Aeryn from DMD. It's in the form of a flashback and I believe that all John & Aeryn shippers will get a kick out of it.g), so if you don't like spoilers you probably should not read this story.
Notes: This is sort of a continuation of one of my previous stories " What the future may hold in store", written especially for those among you, who requested another story with John & Aeryn's son; Benjamin Crichton. Dag-yo = a Nebari term for cool, a word the translator microbes can't cope with. (This word actually exists since it's listed in Farscape: The Illustrated Companion by Paul Simpson & David Hughes.)
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Farscape characters. All Farscape characters, names and situations are trademarks of Jim Henson Company, Hallmark Entertainment, Nine Network Australia, And the Scifi channel © 1999 & 2000.
* * *
Commerce planet:
The market place was buzzing with people from all different kinds of races and from all sorts of different places. John Crichton had just landed one of Moya's transport pods on the outskirts of the planet's largest city. Aeryn, Zhaan, Jothee and D'Argo had gone down to the planet several arns ago to restock on supplies. He had decided to join his wife and friends, but he hadn't travelled alone. John had taken his son along for the ride. Aeryn and he had long ago decided not to take their son along for family outings or barter trips a lot, because Ben meant too much to them to let him run the risk of getting captured by their enemies. If anyone would find out who and what their son really was, his life would be in danger. The two of them however did their best never to let Ben know how some people thought of his parent's unity. Ben was in fact a normal little boy, leading as much of a normal life as he possibly could, considering the circumstances they were all living in.
Someone tugging at his long Peacekeeper coat interrupted John from his thoughts.
" Daddy…mommy's over there!" Ben cried out happily as he spotted his mother standing across the marketplace. He yanked at his father's hand, literally trying to drag his father to his mother. "Hey there, sport. Take it easy on your old man. There's no need to hurry, your mother is still going to be there for a while," John smiled, looking down at his four year old son. "Besides what did we wanna do?"
His son opened his mouth and then paused a moment to think. " Surprise mommy?" Ben looked up at his father, grinning as he remembered what he had forgotten in his enthusiasm.
" Yeah, you're right kiddo. Mommy doesn't even know that we are down here. She's got to take care of business first, or else everyone on Moya won't have a thing to eat," John spoke, looking at his Sebacean wife. She still looked as gorgeous as she did eight years ago when they had first 'met' in that cell on Moya. Aeryn had kicked the dren out of him, still being in full PK mode at the time. The attraction between them had been there for the start, but it took some time before they had been ready to admit to themselves and even longer to admit it to each other. The birth of their son had been the crowning on their relationship.
Aeryn's pregnancy had been a surprise to the both of them. Even though they knew that they were compatible, they hadn't expected it too happen, at least not that soon. As it turned out Aeryn's contraceptive implant had worn out without them realizing it and that was how she had gotten pregnant. Aeryn had been very afraid, because she didn't know the basics of how to be a mother. After several if not many long talks, he had finally managed to convince her that she wasn't alone in this. John promised her that he would be there for her every step of the way and assured her that he would never leave her.
Aeryn Crichton-Sun was busy talking to one of the local merchants, a creature named Hyfom, trying to barter for spare parts for John's Farscape module. He had told her that he had the parts she needed, but that they were stored in a warehouse down town and that it would take a while before he was able to bring them to her. Hyfom had demanded to receive his payment up front before going off to collect the parts for her. She was glad that D'Argo, Zhaan and Jothee had volunteered to get the food and drink supplies that they needed, so that she could find the things that were needed to fix John's ship.
" Do you take me for an idiot, Hyfom? What is going to prevent you from taking the money and run? I will not give you the money right away. You can get half of the amount we agreed upon right now and the other half when you've personally brought the items to my transport pod," Aeryn spoke coldly.
" I cannot…need money now…then get parts."
" I do not believe you understood me correctly, Hyfom. I will offer no other alternatives. Half now and the rest upon delivery. Take it or leave it…" Aeryn noted that the merchant was starting to sweat ever so slightly. At times like these she did not mind to play Peacekeeper again. After all Peacekeepers were feared by beings in and outside the Uncharted Territories. Keeping up the PK façade made dealing with creatures like Hyfom a lot easier for her. Besides to borrow one of John's Earth sayings; she didn't trust him as far as she could throw him. She could achieve far more with the sleazy merchant by using intimidation and force, instead of playing 'nice'.
"If not agree…what then?" Hyfom asked looking at the Peacekeeper female. He feared the Peacekeepers as much as everyone else in the area.
" Then I will simply have to go to another merchant. I am sure that enough people around here will be willing to get me the items I need. I heard that there is another merchant named T'qwer, who is really interested in helping a Peacekeeper and in getting the reward he will receive in return."
" T'qwer?"
Aeryn nodded.
" Not to trust…he evil."
"Then I suggest that you will help me. Accept what I have offered to you and I will give you my word that I will not turn to T'qwer for his help."
" I accept…bring goods within arn…your vessel. Is deal then?" Hyfom may not have been smiling on the outside, but on the inside he was. As soon as the deal had been made, he would disappear with the Peacekeeper's money. She was alone and he hadn't spotted other Peacekeepers around. He could easily take on a weak Peacekeeper female.
" Yes. It is a deal and I expect the items to be back here in about an arn," she told the creature with a big smile, handing him half of the amount. As he grabbed the money, she took hold of his cloak with both hands, leaving him to dangle in the air. " Do not even think of double-crossing me, Hyfom. If you take off with the money I've given you just now, I will know where to find you and I will kill you. Perhaps when I feel like it I will spare your life and I will let my captain decide your fate. It may be wise to tell you this now, Hyfom. My captain does not like to be refused. In fact he has a reputation of being angered quickly and has been known to torture people when he feels like it. I can promise you one thing; whatever happens to you it will not be a pretty sight to see and quite painful for you to go through."
Hyfom shook his head, scared stiff. He had made the mistake to underestimate
the Peacekeeper female. He didn't fancy being tortured or killed. Obviously her ship with its captain had to be nearby. Hyfom decided to stay on her good side and get the items she needed. " Promise…will not run…get items now."
" Good. I would not have expected otherwise," Aeryn stated as she let go off the merchant's cloak, dusting it off and straightening it again, so that it looked exactly like it had done before she had grabbed it. She watched him quickly scurry off to wherever the warehouse was situated.
In the mean time John had slowly made his way towards his wife, carrying his son in his arms. He wasn't going to let Ben walk on the marketplace, because it was far to busy and it would be easy to lose track of him. John needed to keep an eye on his son for the boy had the ability to get himself into trouble. Aeryn had told him that Ben had inherited that from him. John told her that all children were like that when they were little. Their son was just a very curious child, eager to learn new things and still naïve to the goings on in the universe.
Intrigued he had watched what had happened between Aeryn and the merchant. It had been plain to see that Aeryn didn't trust the little weasel. Trying to intimidate that creature had been the best way to achieve what she wanted to achieve.
Without Aeryn noticing it, he had come to a standstill behind her. She seemed too preoccupied with watching where that merchant was heading. John took his chance and placed Ben back on the ground. He signed his son to grab hold of his leg and not to wander off somewhere even though there were enough interesting things to distract Ben in the vicinity. A plan formed in his mind to get Aeryn's attention.
His hands covered her eyes and he softly whispered in her ear. " Guess who?"
" D'Argo, is that you?" A radiant smile appeared on Aeryn's face. A smile the person standing behind her could not see. She knew full well whom the person standing behind her was, but she loved teasing him.
The two hands quickly disappeared and enabled her to see again.
" Ouch, sunshine. You wound me. I believe a kiss to be in order right about now, Aeryn and I won't take no for an answer," John spoke mischievously, his blue eyes sparkling brightly.
" I see…so am I to understand that I have no other option than to kiss you?"
" Nope. There's definitely no other option, Princess"
" Hmmm… I see no other way than to sacrifice myself for the greater good," she laughed as she turned around and passionately kissed John. He in return pulled her closer to him and deepened their kiss. They both forgot their surrounding as they continued kissing. Some of the people around standing around them had stopped talking and were watching the couple. Little children were pointing at them and some of the older citizens were smiling broadly, where as the young maidens were blushing and giggling.
" I love you, Aeryn Sun." John mumbled, cupping her face. His blue eyes found hers looking back at him. A radiant smile appeared on his wife's face as her finger touched his lips. " I love you too, John Crichton," she spoke as she closed her eyes and kissed him again.
" Mommy…daddy?" Ben's little voice asked as he tugged at both his parent's Peacekeeper coats. Surprised by hearing her son's voice Aeryn quickly opened her eyes. She got down on her knees and hugged her son." Ben? What…how?"
" Ben wanted to surprise you, honey. So the two of us went down here to find you."
Aeryn raised an eyebrow and looked up to carefully study John's face. " Was it just Ben who wanted to surprise me or was it actually the two of you?" she asked, pulling her son up in her arms and kissing Ben on his forehead. "Ya got me there, Aeryn. You know me far to well," John replied with a huge grin. He wasn't going to tell her that he had been worried sick that something bad could happen to her, like the last time she had gone along with the others to a commerce planet. She had been badly wounded and she had almost died that time. Ben's wanting to see his mother had given him the excuse to go down to the planet and check up on her.
"Mommy…mommy. I got to fly in Moya's pod. It was dag-yo!" Ben said excited. Aeryn and John both frowned as their son had spoken that last word. The translator microbes had not been able to translate it, but they knew where Ben had picked it up. " Dag-yo? You can definitely notice with whom our son has been spending much time," Aeryn noted dryly. " Yeah…when we get back the first thing I'll ask Chi is what the hezmana dag-jo exactly means," John vowed with a somewhat amused tone.
" It's dag-yo…not dag-jo, daddy," Ben corrected his father as he buried his face in his mother's raven coloured hair. He felt tired. Normally he would have already gone to bed for an afternoon nap, but since he really wanted to go to his mother he had decided to skip it. Not that he could have slept anyway, not after his dad had promised to take him down to the planet with one of Moya's transport pods. It wasn't exactly a prowler, but it was capable of flying.
" It means cool." A voice stated.
John and Aeryn turned around…somewhat surprised to see their crewmate standing to their left.
"Pip…what are you doing here?"
" Just checking out the local scenery, old man," Chiana replied, tilting her head. "Things were a little boring back on Moya and the slug was getting on my nerves, so I decided to take a pod and hop down to the planet. Besides…I kinda figured you guys would need my help in procuring the goods."
" To do what Chiana? Seducing the merchants?" Aeryn retorted, with a blank expression. She noticed Ben stir slightly in her arms and knew that he had fallen asleep. " If I didn't know you better, Aeryn…I'd be hurt. I don't seduce…I merely distract. Anyway…I'm not the same girl you met eight cycles ago. I've grown…matured and changed as a person. I do not snurch half as much stuff as I did back then."
"But you still do…" Aeryn said as John gently scooped Ben out of her arms. The boy mumbled something to object being taken away from his mother, but that ceased quickly as he continued sleeping in his father's arms.
" Yeah…it helps me to relieve boredom. It helps me to keep sharp, cuz after all …ya never know when a distraction causer could come in handy. Being a good thief and staying one, means that ya need to practice every once in a while. It's not like the people I snurch from need the stuff anyway and what else is a girl to do for fun around here," Chiana shrugged.
"Just as long as you do not teach stuff like that to our son, Chi." John's gaze settled on his son's face. Every time John looked at him, Ben reminded him of Aeryn. His black hair, his smile, the way he acted and looked. His friends had told him that they also saw a lot of him in Ben, but the only person John saw when he looked at the boy was…Aeryn. She was truly the love of his life. Without her he would be lost…His mind slowly took him back to the past. To a time where chaos still ruled his life. Back to a conversation he had with Aeryn…
++
* Six years ago *
" I would be lost without you…" he spoke as he moved closer to her.
" Then you'll never be lost."
" No matter what happens, you have worked your way into my heart." John said as their foreheads touched and watched Aeryn close her eyes.
"You showed me that I had one."
She opened her eyes and looked in his. He put his hands on her face, caressing her cheeks, before slowly drawing her forward towards him.
" I love you."
" I love you too."
++
* The present*
It had been the first time she had said it out loud to him and after that everything had gone to hell. He had almost lost her that day and that was something he would never let it happen again. Whether it had been his fault or not, he had felt responsible and had blamed himself for what had happened back then.
" Helloooo? Aeryn to John. Are you ok, Erpman?" Aeryn waved her hands in front her husband, who was absentmindedly staring in the distance and obviously deep in thought. " John?" Chiana joined in. Her black eyes moved from Aeryn to John and Ben.
" Hmmm…"
" John, is everything alright?"
" Yeah…everything's just fine, Aeryn. I was just thinking about something. Why do you ask?"
"Well…Chiana and I asked you a question and you didn't react at all. Where were you, John?" Aeryn asked, looking concerned. " Nothing to be worried about, darling. Just a galaxy away and a long, long time ago. Soooo…please enlighten me, girls. What were you two talking about and what did ya ask me?" John grinned sheepishly as he softly kissed Aeryn, doing his best not to wake his sleeping son at the same time. He wouldn't openly admit it, but Ben was getting heavier the taller he got.
"Aeryn and I were talking about heading back to Moya. That merchant guy Aeryn was negotiating with will certainly arrive at the pod shortly with the things she paid for. D'Argo, Zhaan and Jothee tied things up around here about a quarter of an arn ago, so there's nothing left to do on this planet. What do ya say, old man?"
"Hmmm. As you so adequately pointed out, Chiana... there's nothing left to do planet-side, so yeah…we just might as well head back home to Moya. I'll take Ben back to Moya in the pod with me, honey. Guess I'll see you two when we are all back on Moya," John stated, quickly planting a kiss on Aeryn's cheek as he started to move away from the two women and tried to head towards the outskirts of the city where he had parked the transport pod, leaving Aeryn and Chiana behind at the market place, which luckily had started to quiet down.
" Hey Aeryn, I need to go in the same direction as you do. So if you don't mind…"Chiana gestured with a wide smile. Aeryn nodded in agreement and together they made their way through the remaining crowd of the market place. They started to talk about things, but mostly about Ben.
Unfortunately they hadn't noticed the small group of Sebaceans, standing in one of the narrow streets adjacent to the market, observing them. They were all dressed in cloaks in the same fashion as the indigenous people, but the careful observer would have noticed the Peacekeeper weapons they were wearing underneath it. The Peacekeepers weren't alone…a small figure stood alongside them in the alley.
" Told you…Aeryn Sun…get reward now…since show you?"
" Of course you will get money for your services rendered, Hyfom. It's always a pleasure doing business with you," one of the Peacekeepers remarked coldly. " You should probably bring her the items, Hyfom. You do not want her to grow suspicious of you, now do you?"
The merchant vehemently shook his head. " No…not grow suspicious…of me…will bring items now. Good…?"
" Excellent, Hyfom."
The Peacekeepers watched the merchant take off. As Hyfom disappeared from their sight, the leader chuckled softly. " Kill the merchant when he returns from the delivery. He poses a risk to us…I am sure T'qwer would love to take his place."
" Sir…when will we strike? When will be capture the traitor Aeryn Sun?"
" Patience, Lieutenant Kygil. Patience. After all it is considered to be a virtue. I will tell you how and when we will strike when the time is right. The only thing you need to know is that she will not suspect a thing."