Pieces of the Night
by Paintrgrrl
Summery: Dreams aren't always what they seem...
Spoilers: Season one and Season two through ACN
Disclaimer: I don't own them, and I'm not making any money, just entertaining the masses and attempting to feed my ego :)
Through the deep black velvet of the night, rain could be heard, and in the distance the sound of thunder. It came down insistently, drumming along the roof and spattering the windowpanes. There was a distinctive smell to the place, a mixture of sweat and sex, mingled with the uncomfortably clean scent of a room seldom lived in.
John Crichton knew this place intimately.
Frequently this is where his dreams would lead him, picking out the memory and playing it back to him with startling clarity. And for a moment, before he inevitably realized it was a dream, he could feel her arms around him once again.
The sensation was always fleeting, and ended long before he could turn around in her arms, for whenever he realized that he was dreaming, she would disappear. Leaving him alone as always.
Tonight the remembered smells, the texture of the sheets, and the sound of the rain through the darkness all conspired to awake his brain to the fact that he was dreaming long before he had even registered the warmth of her body against his back. He sighed and shook himself mentally, trying to jar his body into wakefulness. He hated being here, being aware of the dream, with her gone. This lucid dream would leave his sleep restless and his mind and body exhausted by morning. Besides, he had never managed to be able to bring her back into the dream with him, no matter how hard he tried.
It just plain sucked to be here without her.
Usually he could wake himself with ease, wasting little time here, but fate seemed to be going against him this night. He sighed, rolling onto his back and tangling the sheets in his bare legs. He smiled slightly, remembering all to well the reason that his clothes where strewn all over the room. Staring at the ceiling, he noticed something that he had never registered in this particular dream before.
There was music playing.
Softly and in the background, but definitely music. Familiar but not, it seemed to be something that he had heard once or twice, but had never really payed attention to. He strained his ears to pick out the tune.
"Well is it any wonder,
That the stars don't just rush by?
When your only doin' sixty,
Through this oh so vacant night.
But it's lacking something big this time,
Well what the hell did you expect to find?"
John chuckled softly to himself at the irony of the words, and something moved, shifting the bed beneath him. Cautiously he turned his head towards the sound, only to see a sleeping Aeryn curled up on the other side of the bed and snoring softly, the twisted and tangled sheets doing much of nothing to hide the fact that she was in a similar state of undress.
And for the first time in quite a while, John Crichton was speechless.
Rainfall mingled with the deep silence of night, framing the words of the music that still played softly in the background.
"and somewhere in the distance,
I decide
That I saw
gin mill,
rainfall,
Were to you remember
If at all?
Only pieces of the night,
Only pieces of the night."
******************************************************
Bright lights, almost florescent in nature, flooded the room and cast a garish quality upon its sole inhabitant. The smell here was something of an enigma. A mixture of stale recycled air, sweat, and the smell of the thick lack and red rubber pads that adorned the walls and floor, it wasn't at all pleasant.
To Aeryn Sun it was a haven.
Even though she spent a fair amount of time in here during her waking hours, her dreams would often bring her here at night. During the day this place meant exercise, honing body and mind into a complete and deadly weapon. Beautiful and dangerous hardly served to describe her. When she dreamed of this place, it became a way to lose herself in the frustrations of the previous day. To rid herself of the distractions, whether it be the annoyances of Chiana's insistent whining, the absolute frustrations of Zhaan's peaceful calm, they all evaporated as she concentrated on the task at hand. And when she woke she was rested, with all the problems of the previous day gone, with one exception.
The one and only exception, the infuriating human, John Crichton.
For some reason, no matter how hard she punched, she couldn't rid herself of him. And quite frankly, she had no idea how.
But there was always this one voice, small and silky (and sounding suspiciously like Chiana's) that would whisper things like "you don't want rid of him, and you know it," or "I could tell you a few things to do with him."
She was quickly becoming tired of this voice, and was startled out of her reverie when she felt her body give a lurch. She watched amazedly as the dream shifted, until she had to squeeze her eyes shut against the whirlwind of color.
Instantly, she knew where she was.
It smelled so...
her mind, now fully aware, stumbled for the word
so..
Human.
Keeping her eyes shut, body still, and breathing even and slow, she savored the moment, the smell and the warmth of his body across the bed. She knew that the instant she opened her eyes, he would be gone. Because for some reason, as often as her dreams took her to the workout room, they took her hear as well. And it was the only reason she hadn't killed John Crichton yet.
Of course, if she was asked, she would say that she never dreamed at all.
The depth of silence in this place always astounded her, she was always completely and totally unprepared for it. And although the rain was drumming against the roof, all she could hear in the darkness was the deep, intoxicating and rhythmic breathing of the man beside her.
She wanted nothing more than to touch him, smooth his undoubtedly ruffled hair back, and as quickly as possible initiate a repeat of the reason as to why her clothes were piled with his all over the floor. She knew, however, that as soon as she touched him he would vanish and she would be left alone in this all too familiar and undoubtedly human place.
Her dreams were fickle like that.
She felt the bed shift beneath her and heard him sigh as he rolled over onto his back, pulling at the sheets and taking a fair share of the ones that had been covering her upper body with him. Letting them slide off of her, not wanting to move to catch them and risk breaking the spell, she was startled as he chuckled softly to himself, and lost control anyway as her body responded on its own by jerking fitfully. Playing her last card she decided that faking sleep was the way to go. He may not notice her, and therefore he may not touch her, which was good because if he touched her there was no way she couldn't look at him. There was no way she couldn't touch him back, not with the memories this place invoked still dangerously fresh in her mind. And when she did, he would be gone, and she didn't know if she wanted that.
She felt the bed shift beneath her again and knew, knew with every small part of herself, that he was staring at her.
He was undoubtedly going to win this one, she couldn't control anything under his eyes, especially not herself.
Slowly, almost lazily, her eyes fluttered open.
And widened.
Only mere inches away from her, and barely visible in the darkness, John Crichton was staring at her with something akin to absolute shock on his face.
Tentatively, and for a reason she was unsure of, Aeryn untangled her arm from the sheets and reached her hand out to trace his cheek. He closed his eyes as she did so, and she watched, amazed, as her hand traced the shape of his jaw, and moved down to rest on his neck.
He was supposed to be gone.
Every other time he had disappeared.
But now she watched as his mouth twisted into a grin, and his eyes fluttered open again.
His voice finally broke the silence.
"Sleepin' well Sunshine?"
And she had no reply.
*********************************************
"Only Pieces of the Night..
Only Pieces of the Night
And I saw
Only Pieces of the Night.."
The last pieces if the chord faded out, leaving the room in a strange sort of silence. Strange, not only because rain could be heard against the roof, but also because of the steady breathing of the two beings lying on the bed facing one another.
John Crichton would've said you could cut the tension with a knife.
However, he was incompacitated at the moment.
Eyes locked onto Aeryn's and a grin still tugging at his lips, he didn't need to wonder if it all was a dream.
He knew it was.
There were a few other theories working their way in his head along with this one.
First and foremost being that this Aeryn, the unusually unguarded one lying a negligible foot away from him on the bed, naked as the day she was born, strong and delicate hand resting on his neck, playing with the short hairs there and consequently wrecking havoc with his nervous system, this Aeryn...
Well, this Aeryn..
She was real.
Real
And in his dream.
A wonderful dichotomy of sorts it was. She was real and in his dream, so, obviously..
He was real and in hers.
Obviously.
The only problem seemed to be that she couldn't seem to shake himself awake at all.
No that he minded too much.
Of course there was always the question of what the frell they were doing sharing a dream anyway.
Of that, he didn't even have a theory.
Fortunately, Aeryn seemed to be recovering herself.
"John?", she asked tentatively, her hand still resting on his neck.
"Mmm?"
Her touch was having a deliciously intoxicating effect on him.
"You're real". It was a statement, but he answered anyway.
"Yep"
"I'm dreaming"
"As am I" He had an amused look on his face, and his blue eyes twinkled.
"That's what I was afraid of"
He reached up and caressed her cheek and then tucked a few loose strands of hair away from her face, leaving his hand to rest in here hair.
She closed her eyes, and looked like she was almost savoring his touch, body and mind satiated after craving something for so long and not allowing herself to have it.
She swallowed, and her eyes slowly opened.
"John"
"Mmm?"
Closing her eyes she forced a normal voice and said,
"Maybe we should look around"
She was trying valiantly to keep her emotions in check, but John was almost certain he heard a quiver of fear in her voice, and was sure he was not imagining the speed that her pulse was fluttering beneath his hand.
John Crichton was, above all else, a gentleman.
Of course he was also far too intelligent to admit to her that he would be content to lay here forever, and that he was only going along because of her almost tangible fear of the situation. He had no desire for a bruise, even if it was a dream.
He pulled his hand from her hair just as she moved from his neck, and seeing the opportunity, he grasped hers as she brushed past.
He locked his gaze with hers, and whispered, in a perfect bedroom voice,
"Anything for you, Sweetheart."
He smiled softly and let go of a wide-eyed Aeryn Sun's hand.
She may have him wrapped around her little finger, but he wasn't giving anything up without a fight.
As he sat up and swung his legs off the edge of the bed to meet the cool carpet that covered the floor, he was aware that the song playing somewhere in the room had changed after a considerably long pause. Not a typical radio station thing to do.
He listened intently, and once again realized that he recognized the song.
Hmmm... Dave Matthew's Band. Not exactly a favorite, but not bad.
"You've got your ball
You've got your chain,
Tied to me tight
Tie me up again.
Who's got the claws in you my friend?
Into your heart,
Heart beat again.
Sweet like candy to my soul
Sweet you rock, and
Sweet you roll
Lost for you I'm so lost for you
Oh, when you come crash
into me "
And perfect for the situation too.
Must be the Psychic Friend's Radio Network.
John smiled to himself and began to search for his boxers.
If he remembered correctly, they were somewhere under the bed.
Jackpot.
Fishing them out from under the bed, he stepped into them, pulled them on, and began looking for the white undershirt he knew must be here somewhere. He dug around under the bed And finally found it under Aeryn's boots. Picking it up he was startled to she upon raising his eyes that there was a still naked Aeryn Sun standing by the window, looking longingly at the rain, the streetlight outside the window casting her in a strange and rain-dappled light.
She was absolutely beautiful.
Tall and slim, beautifully muscled, but in no way angular; she had curves in all the right places.
A paragon of beauty, John was having trouble formulating a coherent thought, when the music caught his attention again.
"Oh I watch you there,
Through the window and I stare
At you wear nothing,
but you wear it so well
Tied up and Twisted
The way I'd like to be
for you
for me,
Come crash into me"
Perfect once again, he was now certain that this was the Psychic Friends Radio Network.
He had absolutely no idea what to do.
Well, he had some ideas, but he didn't think that they would be very useful right now.
Enjoyable certainly, but not useful if he had Aeryn's current state of mind pegged.
So he pulled the shirt over his head and said softly,
"Aeryn?"
She jerked her head away from the window and looked at him curiously.
"What?"
"You wanted to have a look around?"
"Yes," she sounded impatient "what's your point John?"
John, good sign, at least she wasn't calling him Crichton.
"Are you gonna get dressed?"
"Should I?"
John looked absolutely bewildered.
Currently, the devil on his shoulder was claiming impatiently "Of Course not!"
John, however, replied
"Well yeah, I guess so. You never know what could happen."
She smiled a ghost of the brilliant Sun smile and turned back to the window.
"It's just so beautiful here, even if it's not real."
John came to stand beside her at the window
"It is, it is."
His voice was wistful, and Aeryn turned to look at him.
"I'm sorry John."
He smiled at her reassuringly and felt his breath catch in his throat as he looked at the woman in front of him, a rare display of emotion showing in her eyes. The old connection was there and he wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and kiss her, hold her and tell her that he loved her.
She saw and recognized the hunger in his eyes, and for a moment he found it reflected in hers. Then, as quickly as it came it was gone, the old wall up and ice back in her eyes.
Her voice, although not cold, wasn't as warm as it had been.
"Yes, well, I should get dressed."
John sighed and watched the rain lash against the window, and followed her reflection across the room as she picked up his snurched boxers and the light grey tank, and dressed quickly.
Turning once she was done, he asked plainly,
"So what exactly are we looking for?"
She was all business
"Anything unusual, anything suspicious. Just search the place thoroughly"
"Yes ma'am" he muttered under his breath, giving a mock salute to her turned back, as he turned to a small desk in the corner.
On top of it sat a small, black, alarm clock radio, which was currently silent.
"Hey Aeryn, check this out"
"What is that Crichton?'
He winced at the use of his last name as an address.
"It's a radio,"
"A musical device", he added at the baffled look on her face.
"So"
He sighed and picked it up.
"It was playing a little while ago. It also seemed to be picking songs based on my mood"
She looked at him like he was crazy
"Do they normally do that?"
"No, and they don't normally stop on their own either."
"Well, I don't see what this has to do with anything, besides, you said that they don't do that. It's impossible."
"It's a dream, sweetheart. Nothing's impossible." he held it out for her to inspect.
At the moment both of their hands touched it, it began to play softly.
Aeryn almost dropped it, her eyes opening wide.
John, once again, recognized the song as an old Billy Joel tune, and one that he had liked.
"Some people stay far away from the door
If there's a chance of it opening up
They hear a voice in the hall outside
And hope that it just passes by
Some people live with the fear of a touch
And the anger of having been a fool
They will not listen to anyone
So nobody tells them a lie
I know you're only protecting yourself
I know you're thinking of somebody else
Someone who hurt you
But I'm not above
Making up for the love
You've been denying you could ever feel
I'm not above doing anything
To restore your faith if I can"
Aeryn was, seemingly for the millionth time that night, shocked into silence as her own feelings were laid out before her neatly by a completely alien song, in a completely alien place, and for a completely alien man.
It's one thing to know you're afraid.
It's quite another to have it told to you in such a way that it's impossible to ignore.
Still holding the small radio between them, Aeryn looked up into John's eyes, and for the first time ever she was not afraid of him.
He smiled at her softly, taking the small radio, which was still playing it's heart out, and sat it on the table.
Turning to look into her eyes, he almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a cold voice carrying an unmistakable Sebacean accent speak somewhere from the shadows of the room.
"Tsk, tsk, John, there's no reason for you to waste your time with her, when there's more pressing business to attend to. We need to talk."
John and Aeryn spun around at the same moment to see a black leather clad figure step quietly out of the shadows.
A Scarren/Sebacean hybrid with a nightmarish face all too familiar.
John eventually managed to find his voice
"Scorpius"
******************************************************************************
The stars were brilliant in deep space, where there was nothing at all to obscure them from view. The Leviathan Moya flew through them peacefully, completely unaware of the problems of her companions, even the extremely loud Luxan warrior who was pacing through her command in a temper at this very moment.
"Crichton!!"
Silence.
"Crichton!!!!"
Still nothing.
The semi-enraged Luxan paced around command, making a good show of testosterone-induced anger, when in reality, well..
He was sleepy.
"Pilot!"
"Yes Ka D'Argo, what is it?" came the somewhat irritated reply.
The Luxan snorted
"Where is Crichton?!" He demanded, "That frelling human was supposed to be in command over half an arn ago!!"
"Is he not answering the comms?"
"Would I have called you otherwise?"
"There is no need for that tone"
Silence once again descended upon command, the only sounds being those of the irritated and sleepy Luxan pacing the floor. This didn't last, however.
"Pilot !!"
The image of Pilot flashed to life on the viewscreen, looking as angry as possible for the generally gentle creature.
"Ka D'Argo, if you could kindly be patient, I am locating Crichton as we speak."
D'Argo was making no effort to even appear as though he knew what patient meant, but instead was pacing in front of the viewscreen, occasionally shooting angry glances in Pilots direction.
He was about to explode again when Pilots gentle voice resumed.
"Crichton appears to be in his quarters, sleeping."
"Thank you Pilot, I'll go...wake him"
The Luxan stormed off to Crichton's quarters, muttering an interesting amount of curses under his breath, "Frelling human" seeming to be the easy favorite.
******************************************************************************
"Scorpius"
It seemed that everything happened at once; John's disturbing nemesis nodded placidly, an altogether horrific smile gracing his lips, and Aeryn, who seemed to have recovered from her shock , lunged at him.
John, who had been left standing with his mouth hanging open grabbed Aeryn's arm without thinking, pulling her back and whispering frantically to her
"It's a dream Aeryn, he's not real"
She shrugged him off, glaring at him, and turned to look at the apparition that was Scorpius, who was now speaking.
"Yes, we've been over this John, this is a dream." He shook his head slightly. "I would've thought that we would've progressed past reiterating known facts"
"Can it, Scorpy", John spat at him, suddenly very weary and angry over the whole thing, "I'm not here to be your personal target for verbal abuse. In fact, I'm not sure why I'm here at all. I'm assuming that you are, though."
Scorpius nodded slightly "Yes, I brought you here. But I am not responsible for her presence."
Scorpius looked between the two of them, pacing back and forth in the small space before the bed. Aeryn was staring straight ahead, firmly stuck in soldier mode while John was eyeing Scorpius warily; neither of them spoke.
Scorpius stopped, and smiled at them benignly.
"It's intriguing to say the least," he paused and cocked his head in John's direction,"Why did you bring her with you?"
*****************************************************************************
D'Argo now stood outside Crichton's quarters. He had banged on the door in impotent rage for a minute or so before realizing that no one had answered. The only option before him was to enter John's quarters without permission. This really did not bother the warrior, because while he did respect and understand a man's privacy, he was also worried about his friend. He just wasn't someone who regularly did this kind of thing.
Palming open the door, he entered the room and called for the lights to come up.
Blinking for a second in the bright light, once he could see he was unsure if he should be relieved or angry.
John was tucked into the bed sleeping peacefully.
The Luxan strode over to his bedside, and pushed John's shoulder.
"Crichton.", nothing, not even a flicker of eyelids, "Wake up John."
D'Argo shook him a bit more forcefully, and still he did not stir. Stepping back to look at him, he was very grateful to see that he was breathing.
"Pilot"
"Yes D'Argo"
"Wake Zhaan and tell her to meet me in the infirmary"
"Of course"
With one last concerned look, D'Argo scooped up the human and made his way out of the room.
******************************************************************************
Zhaan was in the infirmary when D'Argo got there, worry etching her usually tranquil features.
"What is it D'Argo?" she asked as he lay John's unconscious form on one of the beds.
"I don't know, as far as I can tell, he is asleep. But I cannot wake him"
Zhaan looked down at John, and then back to D'Argo, "Perhaps we should get Aeryn"
The Luxan nodded curtly, and turned on his heel.
"I will get her"
Zhaan watched him leave, and then turned her gaze to John. Placing a hand on his face, she murmured, "Sweet John, what has you now?"
*****************************************************************************
The Luxan made his way through Moya's dark corridors, his need for sleep now easily replaced with his worry for John. At Aeryn's door he was met with the same situation as at John's.
She could not be roused with his yelling.
She was a soldier, and slept lightly at all times.
This could not be well.
Without a trace of hesitation he palmed the door opened and went inside, once again cursing the lights for their brightness.
Aeryn was also sleeping quite peacefully, and D'Argo picked her up to carry her to Zhaan, without even shaking her to see if she was awake. If she was okay, she would've woken by now, there was no doubt of that in his mind.
Reaching the infirmary, the Luxan placed Aeryn gently on the bed beside John, where Zhaan was busy running scans over John's sleeping body.
Zhaan looked up, and nodded briefly.
"I had a feeling"
D'Argo did not question her, "feelings" of that sort were far from his range of experience.
Instead he asked,
"Have you found anything?"
Zhaan met his gaze with a gentle smile.
"No, I have found nothing. Nothing unusual at all. He appears to be sleeping, and quite peacefully at that."
She sighed, and set the instrument down beside John.
"Perhaps you should go back to command, with these two we can never be too careful."
He nodded, and she frowned a bit, sensing his tiredness.
"I would suggest calling one of the others..."
"But they would not get up at this time." he finished for her, then smiled slightly, "It's okay, I probably could not have slept anyway."
Zhaan went to Aeryn's side as D'Argo left, scanning her in the same manner as she had John.
All of a sudden she looked up, and scanned John again, and then Aeryn once more.
"This is very strange indeed"
******************************************************************************
Aeryn looked at John in confusion, and while his expression mirrored hers, he was staring at the Scarren half breed standing before them.
"What do you mean why did I bring her with me?"
"It was a simple question, John." Scorpius answered, "Why did you bring her here. I brought you here, " he looked around a bit disdainfully, "Although I didn't choose the location, that was you. I brought you here, but you brought her. I do not know how, I do not know why, " he paused as his gaze took in the rumpled bed sheets, "I can of course guess." He shook his head disapprovingly. "Miss Sun, irreversible contamination, you can be damned for such things" he smiled his horrific smile once again "but then, you al..."
"Yes Scorpius, I already know all about that," Aeryn spoke for the first time since he had appeared, "But if I were you I wouldn't speak so ill of something that is the reason for your creation", her tone was biting, but she appeared thoughtful, "Last I heard they were killing half-breeds like you, how did you ever manage?"
Scorpius sneered at her, and turned his attention back to John. "For some reason you are connected. I do not care to know how, or why. But I cannot conduct a conversation with you like this." he smiled as his form began to fade, " But we will meet again soon John, of that you have my promise." And he was gone.
John looked at Aeryn,
"Well that was completely pointless"
"Aeryn?"
But she had turned to the window again, her knuckles clenched white against the sill. It was one of the times that he didn't know if it would be better to try and talk to her or just to turn tail and run. The limited amount of space they shared decided for him, and he walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, her bare skin cold under his touch.
She turned to face him, and he was sincerely relieved to see her smile.
"It's just something every minute for us isn't it?"
He nodded, and wrapped his arms around her carefully, afraid she'd pull away.
But she only buried her head in his shoulder, feeling nothing like the strong woman he was used to. She seemed to actually need him.
It was a humbling thought, and one that he was entirely unused to.
This time, when the music began to play, he only smiled.
"Hey Sunshine?"
"MMmm?"
"Dance with me?"
She mumbled something he didn't quite catch.
"What?"
"I said, I don't know how" she repeated, but this time not into his T-shirt.
"Oh"
That fit. Somehow he couldn't quite imagine ballroom dancing lessons being real high up on PK curriculum. He smiled down at her.
"Well, it's easy. Basically, stay how you are and move with the music. You have to follow me though. It's one of the rules."
She snorted in a very un-ladylike fashion. "Humans. Bizzare creatures."
"Just listen to the words sweetheart"
"My love must be a kind of blind love
I can't see anyone but you
Are the stars out tonight
I don't know if it's cloudy or bright
I only have eyes for you dear
The moon may be high
But I can't see a thing in the sky
I only have eyes for you
I don't know if we're in a garden
Or on a crowded avenue
You are here and so am I
Maybe millions of people go by
But they all disappear from view
And I only have eyes for you "
And they stood together in the remembered moonlight, completely undisturbed for once, and completely at peace with themselves and each other.
The music faded quietly, and John sighed.
"We'll have to go back soon."
Aeryn smiled, "I know, but let's... dance .. til then"
"Anything for you, sunshine"