So here's chappie 2 of Jezze's Story, simply because I can't sleep and I wanted to write out the second chappie for all of you who are following Jez. Aeryn's not herself at the moment…
I own Jezze. Wish I owned her parents.
Chapter Two
Aeryn strode furiously into the maintenance bay where her husband kept his module. As she had suspected, he was there, his legs sticking out from under the right wing, a welder going in his hands.
"John!" she yelled over the welder. "John, it's about Jezze!!"
At these words, John shut off the welder and let it clatter to the floor as he crawled out from under his module. "What's wrong with her?" he asked, settling himself on the floor.
"She can speak Pilot."
This pronouncement was met with a shocked silence for a moment while John processed his wife's words. "She can? How do you know?"
Aeryn recounted what she'd seen between Jez and Pilot in Pilot's Den. "…and I didn't know what else to do but come find you! She can't speak Sebacean and she can't speak English, but she can speak Pilot! It doesn't make sense…it's not like we speak Pilot. Where could she have picked it up?"
John dug the heels of his hands into his eyes, and then swore when he got grease in them. Once he had recovered, he looked up at his wife and patted the ground next to him. Aeryn obliged, and John put an arm around her shoulder. "Look, Aer…she doesn't have the translator microbes…she hears Pilot speaking it. It makes sense."
"But then she must hear us speaking Sebacean and English, so she should be able to speak that, too."
John considered this for a moment. "We should ask Pilot."
"Yes, Commander?"
John and Aeryn jumped as Pilot's face filled the clamshell on the wall. "Pilot, you shouldn't do that." John scolded.
"I'm sorry, Commander. Jezze told me you might want to speak to me with regard to the incident in my den a little while ago."
"What language did she tell you this in?" Aeryn asked, her tone that of a Peacekeeper interrogator.
Pilot hesitated, seeming to sense that his answer wasn't going to be right no matter what he said.
"Pilot."
Aeryn leant her voice to a howl of rage and frustration. John wrapped his arms around her. "Aer, baby, it's okay. We're gonna find a way to fix this, I promise."
"What are you fixing?" A soft-voiced 6 year old joined his parents in the Maintenance Bay.
"We're not fixing anything, D'Argo. Mommy and Daddy are having a little talk right now, okay? Can you please go play?" Aeryn asked, rubbing her eyes.
D'Argo's little face crinkled into a frown that made him look exactly like his father. Despite herself, Aeryn laughed. Her son's face brightened as he scampered off to play.
"He gets it from you, you know." John said, hoping to distract his wife from her utter frustration.
"He gets that from me, but he gets his looks from you. When he does that, he reminds me of you." Aeryn said, her tone softening. "But," she continued, her voice hardening again, "that's not what we're talking about, is it? We're talking about Jezze."
John sighed. "Aeryn, listen to me. We don't know if this is a bad thing yet, okay?" he murmured in her ear, keeping his arms around her shoulders. "Let's wait and see how this all works out. Can you do that for me?"
Aeryn's face contorted. She was obviously dying to shoot a sharp retort in his direction, but she restrained herself. John waited a minute more. When she still gave no response, he cocked an eyebrow at her. "Aer, baby?"
Aeryn bit her lip and rested her chin on John's wrists, which were crossed at her throat. "Okay."
John kissed her. "It's going to work out, Aeryn. You have to believe me. We're gonna figure this out, I promise."
Aeryn said nothing, but she did lean back into her husband's loving grip. He shifted his arms to make her comfortable, then looked up at the clamshell where Pilot's image was still visible.
"Pilot, what's Jezze doing now?"
Pilot's face creased into another smile. "She's playing on my console…she's repaired three wires that connect the lights and my controls. She's got incredible dexterity for such a young age."
"Yeah, about that, Pilot…" John began. Pilot cut him off.
"Commander, she is bothering nothing. I suggest we discuss this tonight when she can't hear me. She knows something is going on and that it concerns her. I do not wish to lie to her, but neither do I wish for her to feel inferior."
John nodded. "Okay. Hey, how many hours until Sleep Cycle?"
"Approximately seven arns. Until then, Commander, may I ask that we…table this discussion?"
John smiled. "Sure. We'll come see you after the kids are in bed."
"I shall see you then, Commander."
John stood, hoisting Aeryn to her feet. "You heard him. We'll talk about this tonight. Until then, I think we need to go spend some time with D'Argo."
Aeryn nodded, her expression softening again, as it always did when she thought of her children. John threw an arm over her shoulder and tugged her out of the Bay to go find their son.
RR please! You know you hear that little button calling you…