"I don't see why she has to be on the ship. We seem to have some strange habit of letting traitors back on to our ship-" Rygel began, before John cut in, "You mean like that time we let you back after you tried to sell us out to Scorpius?"
"That was different. You knew I was doing it at least."
"Sikozu's here because she can't go anywhere else. The Peacekeepers don't want her because she double crossed them with the Scarrans; the Scarrans don't want her because they're the frelling Scarrans, like they'd help an ex-spy; and the Kalish, well, I don't get that one, something about an underground." He sighed, "I don't like it either, but until we can find somewhere else… Well, she's here. Just keep Pip away from her and everything will be fine." Rygel gave Crichton a disbelieving look and sped his throne up down an adjacent corridor. Crichton watched him leave, then sighed again. Nothing is ever easy.
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...
.
"That frelling traitor killed D'Argo!" Chiana screamed at Aeryn, as Crichton walked in.
"Well, technically that was the Scarrans, and she'd actually been stopped from spying by that point, and it was a war which is now over so it's not like she's going to do it again," Aeryn was clearly trying to use her I'm not angry, I'm calm voice, and it wasn't going down well with Chiana.
"Pip, D'Argo's gone." Crichton pulled her to look at his face, "Leaving our friends out to die for their mistakes isn't going to change that. I know you're angry, we're all angry, and that's why she's locked in a cell." He brushed her hair back with his hand, "D'Argo's death was a trag-" She pulled away from him and went running from the room.
Crichton straightened up. "Well, that could have gone better."
Aeryn stared at him incredulously, "You think?"
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...
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Crichton woke up to a sound. He looked around; Aeryn was asleep next to him, her hair wildly sprayed across the bed, and baby D'Argo was asleep in his cot on the other side too. He had just started to wonder if he'd imagined it when he heard it again – a strange, choking sound. Definitely made by a living being. He shook Aeryn's leg to wake her up, motioning her to be silent. "Heard something," he mouthed at her. She nodded and silently slid out of bed, checking on D'Argo on her way past. They grabbed their pulse pistols and moved in to the corridor.
They moved stealthily through the corridors, checking the other sleeping quarters as they moved past them, ever listening for the noise. Chiana was not in her room. Crichton commed Pilot, his suspicions that something was up confirmed. Pilot had nothing to report, so they continued their search.
"Is it getting colder?" Aeryn mouthed from across the corridor. "Mmm, very weird," he replied.
The sound again, louder this time.
And again.
Crichton slowly approached the door to D'Argo's old quarters, Aeryn flanking him. They nodded at each other, then quickly waved the door open and moved in.
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...
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"Oh, Pip…" Crichton quickly passed his pulse pistol to Aeryn, the source of the strangled noise apparent. Chiana was huddled in the freezing room, her arms wrapped around her legs and her head on her knees. She didn't look up until Crichton had crouched beside her and wrapped his arms around her small frame.
"What are you doing, little one?"
"N-n-n-nothing." Her eyes were wild, struggling to focus on his face and flicking around at odd times.
Aeryn gestured at him from where she was examining the bulkhead on the other side of the room, "She's disconnected the environmental controls, no heat in to this room or any of the adjoining ones. Must've done it days ago for it to lose this much heat." Crichton nodded, turning back to Chiana.
"Pip? Chi? Can you look at me?" She turned her head at the sound of his voice, her eyes had calmed down a bit in the time they'd been there but there was still an edge of madness to her expression.
"Come on, let's get her back in to the warmth." Crichton nodded at Aeryn, then lifted Chiana up in to his arms. She curled against his chest and closed her eyes.
"Oh, Pip…"
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...
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Crichton turned to head to Chiana's room, but Aeryn shook her head. "She'll just go back there, it's only being around us that's sobering her up from the psychosis." Crichton nodded and followed her to their room.
He gently placed Chiana down on their bed while Aeryn went to check on D'Argo, who had slept through his parents leaving. Chiana opened her eyes, finally able to focus on John's face. He gathered the bed covers around her, trying to warm her still chilled skin, as he crouched next to the bed.
"H-hey Cr-Crichton," Chiana murmured.
"What were you doing, little one?" He stroked her hair, "How long have you been doing this?" She shut her eyes to the sound of his voice, he rubbed her cheek.
Crichton looked over Chiana's head to Aeryn. He moved his hand away from Chiana's face and went to stand up, but her eyes flew open and she reached out to grab at his shirt. "Shh, shh, I'm still here," he unhooked her fingers from his shirt and carefully placed her hand back on the bed. Her eyes followed him across the room, but she struggled to keep them open.
"So, thoughts?" Crichton whispered to Aeryn, standing over D'Argo's cot.
"Go back to bed sounds like a perfect plan to me. I intend to take complete advantage of D'Argo being asleep," she whispered back.
"Did you not notice the new addition to our bed? I thought the reason we came here was because we couldn't leave her alone."
"Aren't you the one from the planet where the gnarls afraid of the dark sleep in the adults' bed? I watched enough TV to learn your parenting techniques." Crichton appraised her face, trying to see if she was kidding. He eventually decided she was being serious.
"Are you sure that's… wise? I mean, she's not, well, she's…" Crichton trailed off, gesturing vaguely with his hands in Chiana's direction.
"Crichton, Chiana thrives on contact, affection, touch." Aeryn dropped her voice even lower. "I'm not telling you to frelling frell her, but she needs comfort and for Chiana that's another person nearby. A person who cares about her and isn't trying to get in to her pants. And this way we can make sure she gets some sleep and doesn't go off torturing herself in D'Argo's room again, plus we get sleep too."
He had to admit, Aeryn made a good argument. After a pause, Crichton nodded. He reached up to cup her chin, kissing her mouth lightly before they both turned to return to the bed.
Crichton pulled the covers back from Chiana, she looked up and gave half a smile. Her eyes are still a bit crazy, he thought, and she's still frelling freezing. He slid in beside her as on the other side Aeryn did the same. Chiana curled around Crichton, sliding under his arm and laying her head on his chest.
"D'Argo…" she murmured.