Chapter One
It was over. They had decided they were done, done with all of it, no more, finito, finished. Let the bad guys have their fun because they were retiring and moving to Florida…this wasn't supposed to happen. All of their plans weren't supposed to unravel in an instant, not from one little mistake, not because he'd let curiosity get the best of him again and led Moya right to a forming wormhole.
He shouldn't be so surprised, he knew, this was the story of his life. He was the boy named John.
"John, talk to me please," Aeryn whispered. She sounded scared. She didn't hide fear from him anymore. She came to him instead, when she was overwhelmed, when she didn't know what to do with D'Argo or why he was crying… "John…please…"
He looked over at her, their child was in her arms, and Harvey was running a leather clad hand down the small face. He felt himself tense, reminded himself that Harvey was only there for him, and resisted the urge to push him away from his son. "I'm fine," he said, but his voice broke over the words and her frown deepened.
"What just happened?" she demanded. "John, you were talking about Scorpius."
He heard Noranti and Chiana enter the room, but only glanced at them a moment before returning his gaze to his wife. "I—" he paused, wanting nothing more than to tell her everything was fine, and to get them the hell away from here. But Scorpius would find him if they left, Scorpius always found him, and sending Aeryn and his child away to protect them wasn't an option—he already knew Aeryn would never go. "Harvey's back."
Her eyes widened and she sat back on her heels. As if he sensed the change in his mother, D'Argo started crying.
"Such odd creatures, babies, aren't they?" Harvey asked, watching D'Argo with an expression akin to disgust. "They're completely useless. It's amazing any of us manage to grow at all."
John ignored him, with effort. He used to be good at it, and it looked like he was going to have to relearn the skill. He reached out towards his son, and D'Argo reached up a small hand, wrapping tiny fingers around one of his. He stopped crying, and Aeryn gave a soft smile, though tears had begun to build up in her own eyes. "What are we going to do?" she whispered.
"Maybe he won't come," John said—something of the optimist he used to be slipping back. "The war is over."
"Not for him," Harvey sneered. "You know that, don't delude yourself, Crichton. He wants the Scarran Empire to fall, and he will use you to do it. He will use them to get you to do it."
Aeryn looked almost as disbelieving as Harvey. "Even if he was content with things, John, he would still come." She watched him intently. "He would come for you."
"Not if he isn't here," Chiana said, meeting John's eyes. "If you go back, back to the start of this whole war, and instead of creating a truce you just kill off the Scarrans instead—"
"Chiana," he interrupted softly. "You don't mean that."
"The frell I don't! He will never stop, Crichton, not until he gets what he wants. He'll keep pulling us in after him, just like before, and eventually there's going to be nothing left." Chiana shook her head. "You're not supposed to mess with time, I know, but do you really want to live like that again, on the run?"
"I'm not going to do it," John said firmly. "I want to, just as much as you do, and it sounds so simple but it's not, Chiana. Have you forgotten the time I was almost erased like something out of 'Back to the Future'? Or maybe you don't remember the Jocation Memorial, and all of the innocent nurses that died because of me." His tirade faded back, and he shook his head desperately, trying to get her to understand. "We can only make things worse."
She winced at the reminders, having conveniently forgotten both times. She remembered, now, the look in John's eyes then, when he realized how they had changed history and the rewrite was so much worse, and even if she couldn't recall the bleakness that had rested there she need only look at him now. "I know," she whispered. "I do know…I just…"
John grabbed her arm and pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding on for her life, and John buried his face in her hair. He could still see the smiling visage through the strands, the figure of Scorpius gliding across the ground in front of him.
"How sweet," he said, kneeling on the floor so he was eye level with John. "You've made the right decision, John, and I'm sure Scorpius will be pleased when he arrives."
Go to hell, John thought, having remembered enough of the rules about imaginary friends to not speak out loud.
Harvey's smile didn't falter. "It will not be so bad, you know, Crichton. You could still have that life you want so badly, you could have the protection of the entire Peacekeeper armada if you only do as he asks…you will never have to run again."
John pressed his eyes closed, and within his arms, Chiana started to shake. Sure, Scorpius probably would grant him that, protection, a five star room, an all you can eat buffet, and all John would have to give in return is what's left of his soul. All he would have to do is let himself be used as a weapon, to tell Scorpius when and where wormholes were opening, so he could arrange wars that couldn't be lost.
He heard the faint sound of Rygel's thronesled, and when he opened his eyes he saw him slip from the room along with Noranti. Aeryn's hand had come to rest at his back, and he could feel Chiana's tears running down along his neck. At least she was crying, he thought. It sounded cruel but he was glad she was, she'd been too emotionless these last weeks, too much like Aeryn when she'd come back from Talyn and he'd just been counting the days until she stole one of the transports and disappeared for good.
He didn't want to lose her, too, but he knew he had no right to ask her to stay. He held onto her a little tighter as he realized that really, it was him that had no right to stay.
—
"It'll just be for a little while, just until things calm down."
John didn't stop moving as he spoke, and he didn't dare turn to meet Aeryn's glare. He threw his old duffle bag through the open door of the transport, and went to grab a box of food cubes.
"You're not going," Aeryn said fiercely, "if I have to tie you to our bed."
He grinned at her. "Kinky," he said, "and tempting." He paused, his smile fading away. He pulled his eyes away from hers again. "I can't ask them to go through it all again, Aeryn, I can't. I'm not going to ask you to either."
"Then we'll leave," Aeryn said firmly, "we'll leave together. We're a family, John, you've taught me that that's what they do."
He took a deep breath, and turned to her, placing his hands on either side of her neck and tilting her face up to his. "And D'Argo?" he whispered. "We can't tote him across the universe with us like he's some pulse rifle, Aeryn, he needs a home."
"We're his home," Aeryn snapped. "I grew up on a ship; he can grow up on a ship. It doesn't have to be this one."
"Aeryn," John said desperately. "I can't protect you, I've tried, it never works. The best thing for me to do is to get the hell away from you, as far as I can. Scorpy'll find me, you know he will. He's got a frelling homing beacon in my head and it ain't comin' out."
"What if it did," Aeryn whispered. "We could find a diagnosion…"
"Been there, done that," John said softly. "Got the t-shirt."
"You're not leaving me, John," Aeryn said, and though her voice remained calm, it was as dangerous as he'd ever heard it. "We find trouble together, but its worse when we're apart. It never solves anything, and maybe you think D'Argo will be better off with me, but you're wrong and I know nothing about being a mother, you can't—"
"It's not forever, Aeryn, just for a little while," he said, moving his hands down from her neck and grasping hers, trying to still their sudden shaking.
"Leaving will change nothing, time will change nothing, and you know that as well as I do." Aeryn turned her hands over so she could grab his instead.
"Yeah, so give up, old man." The wry voice caused both Aeryn and John to turn towards the doorway. Chiana stood leaning against the wall, smiling slightly, not quite a real smile but as close as she'd come in awhile. "I had a little chat with Pilot," she said. "We decided not to let you leave. We started this together, we'll see it through."
"I've made up my mind, Pip," John said softly. "I'm not putting you guys at risk."
Chiana shrugged, as though this didn't really interest her, and the small smile didn't disappear. "Fine, have it your way. But it'll be a little hard to fly out of here if Pilot won't open the doors."
Aeryn broke out in a smile at the words, so bright that John almost decided it was worth allowing them both to pull one over on him. He turned towards Chiana. "You've been through enough because of me," he said.
"Yeah," she shrugged again, the smile growing marginally wider. "But you're worth it. D'Argo thought so too."
"Then it's settled," Aeryn said, her voice controlled and confident again. "We do this together, and if Scorpius comes, we deal with it together."
"We kill him," Chiana broke in, her smile now gone, leaving no trace. "We don't deal, we don't ask questions, we kill the fekface before he can screw us over again."
Aeryn glanced over at her, thought about her son, about his namesake, and then she looked at John, and she knew he was thinking the same things. He shook his head and reluctantly pulled his bag from the transport. "It's a plan," he said softly, heading out of the room without looking back, "but you know how those go."
—
John frowned as he watched the stars outside the terrace. D'Argo was strapped to his chest in a baby carrier that Noranti had fashioned, and he'd had Chiana crash test for durability before he'd use. Aeryn got endless amusement watching him walk around with it, though she refused to wear it herself. He didn't mind it, it was like the ones he used to see on Earth, and it kept D'Argo happy to pull and tug at his black leather collar.
He couldn't seem to focus on the simple enjoyment his son could bring at the moment, and not even the stars brought any comfort, because he knew somewhere out there Scorpius was lurking behind them, biding his time…
Part of him was still holding out hope that Scorpius would leave them alone, that because John could no longer create wormhole weapons Scorpius wouldn't bother, but he knew better. He could still predict them, like an alert service in his mind, and to Scorpius, the commander of the fleet, that knowledge was invaluable. Unique.
And he was screwed. Again.
"I was wondering where you had gotten to," Aeryn said softly, walking up beside him. She smiled when she caught sight of their son, and grabbed one of his hands. He giggled and her smile grew wider, but the smile John gave in response was weak and fading. "You look ridiculous with him strapped onto you like that," Aeryn said slyly, and not for the first time. "Wasn't it you that said we can't tote him around like a pulse rifle?"
A genuine smile broke free as he met her eyes. "Yeah, yeah," he said teasingly. "I'm a poor weak human, remember? I can't carry him around all day like you do. My arms go numb."
Aeryn smiled and leaned forward to kiss him softly, mindful of D'Argo between them. "I haven't forgotten," she said, her eyes sparkling.
When she pulled back, and stepped aside, John caught sight of something black moving to block the light of a star. He froze and Aeryn spun around, in time to see it start to loom closer. "He's here," he said, resignation suffusing his voice, and Aeryn gave no response other than to reach out and grab his hand as they watched the command carrier approach.
—
"Chiana, stop fighting me!" John yelled, Aeryn was standing firm behind him, a pulse rifle thrown over her shoulder. "Take D'Argo, and hide. If something goes wrong, you take him and you get the hell out of here."
Chiana looked at the baby she was holding with terror. "I don't know what to do with him! Give him to Noranti, I can help, Crichton, I'm not leaving you to do this alone!"
"Noranti?" John repeated incredulously. "Do you know Noranti? Have you met her?" Chiana winced and John softened, moving closer. "Chi, darlin', pipsqueak...I only trust you with him."
Chiana felt herself giving in even as she said, "You shouldn't."
"I know it's a lot to ask," John said, quietly. "But I want you and D'Argo to be safe. I'd send Aeryn with you if I could, but I'm sure you can guess how much luck I had with that."
Chiana glanced at Aeryn's steely expression and knew that yes, that had probably been an interesting conversation. Rygel, behind her, snorted haughtily. "What about me? No one ever worries about me!"
John glanced at him then back to Chiana. "You can take Rygel," he said.
Chiana met his eyes incredulously. "Gee, thanks."
John smiled tightly. "If it comes to it, you guys go to Hyneria, get his throne back, live in peace and take care of D'Argo, okay?"
"A domestic life," Chiana repeated dully. "Crichton, you know me so well."
"Chiana," John said slowly, drawing her name out, and she winced and nodded.
"Yeah, yeah. Alright. But we're not going anywhere unless it's absolutely necessary," she snapped. "We said we were going to do this together."
"We are," John said, carefully. "But you know we can't predict Scorpius. We have no idea what's going to happen, and it doesn't hurt to have a backup plan."
Aeryn moved up beside John. "Take care of him for us, Chiana." Her voice was tight and controlled, but those closest to her didn't miss the emotions swirling underneath.
Chiana let out a shaky sigh and nodded, though it was Rygel who spoke. "We shall guard him with our lives," he said, causing all eyes to snap to him in surprise.
Rygel seemed strangely uncomfortable under the attention. "I feel…a responsibility towards him," he explained. "I did harbor him for a short time, lest you've forgotten."
John smiled brightly. "All these years and you still surprise me, Sparky. I know you guys will take care of him. And take Noranti and Stark, too," John added as an afterthought, more because he wanted them out from underfoot than anything else.
"Are you trying to hinder or help us?" Chiana asked dryly.
Before he could answer, Pilot interrupted them. "A prowler has started towards us, Commander. As per your request I am allowing them to dock."
"Thanks, Pilot," John said, then he pointed at Chiana while he and Aeryn began to back up. "Hide," he said simply.
The last thing he saw before he and Aeryn shot around the corner was Chiana's terrified agreement as she shouted a warning, "Just kill the frellnik, Crichton!"
TBC….
