Happy Friday, my Dears! - Here is Chapter 10 - in before I take a vacation this coming week. Chapter 11 may be delayed next week, but I will do my best to have it up by Saturday at the latest. Many many thanks to Charlotte Ashmore for stepping in to Beta read this chapter. Any correct punctuation and grammar is entirely her doing this week. Please Enjoy and leave me a comment if you like it! - S

oXo

Again I do not own SGU, we all know by now that if I did Scott would be cleaning latrines for months and Young would never have made it to the ship :3

oXo

Chapter 10 - Investigation

oXo

O'Neill and Young rounded a corner, opening the next door in the hallway, doing quick searches now that they were aware, and the source code having appeared in their vision as soon as Chloe had left them. She apparently had unconsciously given them access, not that either of them were complaining.

"So, McKay thinks he's figured out a way to dial Destiny?" Young asked, opening one of the crates looking for anything that would jump out at him as being a key. He fitted the lid back in place as he continued searching.

"He thinks so, but when has McKay honestly ever been correct?" O'Neill sighed, taking the lid off another crate. "He seems to have the IOA and most of Homeworld convinced. Eli is working on the algorithm right now."

"Shouldn't he be doing research into how to fix the pod? Jack, I'm all for being able to get a supply line in order, but Rush has time and time again stated that Destiny isn't able to dial back to Earth, and may never be able to." Young leaned against a crate, brushing the stubble on his cheeks.

"We all know Rush wants to stay here, and I'm fine with that, but if we can dial Destiny, we can bring someone back to Earth instead of trying to worry about the pod repair." O'Neill reasoned, as Young shook his head.

"Need I remind you the last time we tried to dial Earth, we all ended up in an alternate time line in which we were trapped on a planet with no way off, or to even let you all know where we were? Not to mention Telford was the only one to make it home in one piece, or how much cost to the systems just dialing caused?" Young folded his arms over his chest, not liking this idea.

"Which is why Eli is going over the algorithm. I'm fairly certain he'll announce it's a stupid idea and that will be that. And in the meantime, Eli has full access to McKay's research, along with Daniel's research." O'Neill stopped, leaning back against his own crate. "The idea is too risky in my opinion, but if it's ordered, we're going to dial Destiny."

"This is the real reason Chloe's in the chair, isn't it? You couldn't have Rush in there with access to all the ship's systems while you and McKay we're plotting all of this." Young thumped his fist down on the top of the crate, shaking his head once again.

"Destiny doesn't have enough power to get everyone through the gap. Eli's latest power fluctuation calculations show that the pods will start failing along the last couple days of travel across the void before you'd be able to top off in a star."

"Bullshit. Eli and Rush ran those numbers to death before we all went into stasis. I trust them over any team of people on Earth working "this issue". They don't have the same motivation to get it right the first time as we do." Young slammed his fist back into the top of the crate once more.

O'Neill grinned as he placed his hands against the edge of his own crate, nodding. "I don't like it either, but I'm glad to hear that. You're thinking properly, which means you're frozen as you should be."

"It was a test?"

"It was."

"What else are you holding back General?" Young's eyes narrowed.

"Nothing more. I needed to make certain that you trusted Eli and Rush to find an answer. This isn't about just one person Everett, this is about everyone on the ship and making sure everyone gets to the new galaxy in one piece. I need you to be fully rational in your decision making, since all four of you seem bent on killing yourselves for one another."

"You're a real piece of work, you know that?" Young muttered, turning and flipping the lid off another crate. "You think I'd endanger everyone on board the ship to save one person?"

"You have before." O'Neill pointed out, picking up a small device from his crate. "And I'm certain you will again. It's just a matter of motivation for you. Providing the right motivation to you all to stick through this and actually solve the damn issue instead of losing one of you." O'Neill paused, nodding to himself as he let the device slip back into the box before pulling out another one. "You've not decided on what to do with Scott yet either."

"Seeing as we're in the ship's database, and that Rush isn't actually shot outside of the simulation, I don't see much need to discipline him for the action. Especially when, if I understand correctly, he may not even remember what he did when we wake up for good."

"Listen Everett, time is going to flow normally for you all in the simulation. Once everyone is in there, and the pods are all closed, you're going to experience an approximation of real life. You'll continue on as if you're awake, as if nothing has changed. Which means, Scott has to be disciplined, because while he caused no real bodily harm to Dr. Rush, he still shot a member of his own away team. Everyone else inside the simulation thinks they're awake, they don't know that they're still frozen, and that this is a construct meant to ease their transition from dreaming to waking states. If you keep putting it off, just because you know nothing really happened, then you'll be putting people in suspicion to start doubting the validity of the simulation." O'Neill dropped the device he was holding back into the crate, closing the lid and moving to the next box. "If they start to question it again, Eli theorizes that the anger issues and even worse behavioral problems will start to occur. We can't have that happening, since we have no idea if being killed in the simulation will translate into real life. We know Rush is whole on the outside, but the damage done to him inside was physical, not mental. There's so much of this we don't understand at all."

"Agreed on that point, Sir, but again, disciplining a member of the crew for something they had no control over at the time is at best, ludicrous to even entertain."

"It's an order then, Colonel. Discipline Scott as needed to maintain the security of the simulation, end of story."

"And your suggestions, Sir, it's not like I can have him discharged from service out here."

"Strip him of Rank and put him on kitchen detail. If you all wake up in the next galaxy, you can reinstate him if you want, but you'll need to be aware that if you let yourself act outside of your normal behaviors people are going to begin questioning. You cannot have more people aware than already are."

"Right, the whole compromising the integrity of the simulation. Fuck." Young rubbed his face again, the headache he had been fighting for several days returning in full force.

"To put it mildly, yes." O'Neill muttered, reaching into a crate, a smile crossing his features. "And what might this be?" Young covered the space between them, eyeing the items inside the crate.

"Those look like tools."

"Stating the obvious." O'Neill muttered as he turned the first item from the box over in his hand, the weight of the items seeming too light for how large it was.

"And spare parts. You're telling me we had spare parts on this boat the whole time without knowing it?" Young could barely keep the chuckle out of his question.

"Mark this area on the map. We'll come here first when we wake out of the simulation in a few days. If, and this is a big if, these items are here, like what we're seeing, they may be something we can use to fix the mechanics of the pod." Young opened one of the pockets on his vest, pulling out one of their remaining sheets of paper and marked the room on and approximation of the ship. He nodded as he tucked the paper back into the pocket and turned to exit the room. O'Neill pushed the top off another crate and laughed. "Rush was complaining about clothes?" He asked as Young came over to look in the crate. Bolts of what appeared to be fabric, as well as a device that looked like it would be used for sewing sat haphazardly in the crate. Rich blues, blacks, and green fabrics that moved with sheen like the covers of the beds folded over to show deep reds, purples and yellows. Young laughed.

"Well, that'll make a couple of people really happy." He nodded.

"Why haven't any of these crates been looked through before? If these are actual items aboard the ship right now, you could have had an easier go of things to this point."

"We didn't know what had the potential of being in most of the crates, and with everything else going on constantly; I don't think we've had time to really explore parts of the ship." Young pulled the map back out of his pocket and made some notes in the small margin.

"First order of business when you all wake up, get some food in you, and get going. Second should be to go through these crates. When Eli proves that McKay's algorithm is incorrect, you're going to need a lot of this stuff for the long term. Hell, I'm pretty sure you let some of the folks on here have the materials to make new clothes, and they'd be over the moon." O'Neill nodded to himself, hoping these items were there when they came out of the pods, because it would be so much easier for everyone to have some small comforts.

"Find me a ream of paper for Rush, and I think the whole boat would be happy for weeks, he'd lock himself away and have a field day with a ream of paper at his disposal."

"You have no idea how right you are." O'Neill nodded as he palmed the door control to exit the room. They had more places to search before they could call it a day. Young eyed the crates one more time before palming the control to shut the door, the metal swishing into place.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX

Chloe chewed on the cap to her pen, her eyes scrolling over the notepad she had stolen from Rush's room a few minutes earlier, the pen itself being tapped on the small papers as she walked along the chalk-board hallway, stopping here and there to check calculations that should still be the same. The door slid open at the far end of the hallway, but no one stepped through within any reasonable amount of time. Brow raised in unspoken query, Chloe walked to the end of the hallway, sticking her head out the door and checking in both directions. No one was around. Shrugging to herself, she palmed the door control and the doors slid back shut.

She walked down the hallway again, back to where she had been calculating her latest problem, a seemingly unending amount of numbers that jumbled together in her consciousness as she worked. A few moments later the door opened again, and once again, no one stepped through. Nostrils flaring in anger, she walked back to the door way, stepping out of the hall once more, eyes trailing back and forth looking for whoever was being a smart ass and playing games. She was seriously irritated that someone would be playing games at a time like this, before remembering that no one else knew what she, Dr. Rush, Eli and the Colonel knew at the time. No one else knew they were in a race against time.

Shaking her head in annoyance, Chloe stepped back into the chalk-board hallway, this time staying near the door as she palmed the control to shut the doors. The corridor felt different this time, the scrolling of Destiny's data stopping, as the walls seemed to concave around her, blowing out as if something in the programming of the chair was being altered. She felt like someone was there with her, some presence pressing her back down the hallway towards her current problem, some unspoken command moving her feet, even though her heart rate started accelerating in terror.

She couldn't stop, someone was controlling the simulation now, and she was not a willing participant. She felt a tiny hand press to the middle of her back, rounding to make sure she was alone, only to have the same disembodied ghost hand pull at her own, pulling her to the end of the hallway. Destiny's familiar orange-yellow glow started to stream against the wall.

She is in control. None of you are awake yet at all – all of this is a farce.

Chloe gasped aloud, dropping her pen and the notepad to the floor as she turned to run, the ghost hand grabbing her again, holding her in place.

YOU have to stop her, I don't have long, Dr. Perry is in control, she beat the quarantine as soon as she knew everyone but Eli was in stasis, but couldn't keep me from taking over another portion of the computer system – couldn't keep me locked up if she let herself out.

Chloe froze in place as the text faded away almost as quickly as it appeared, taking in the implications.

Eli is the only one awake, and I cannot communicate with him. O'Neill isn't himself, its Perry. She will try and keep you from alerting Dr. Rush – you have to be careful. She means to kill you. All of this is a simulation inside a simulation to allow Eli to die. If Rush wakes up, he will sit in the chair, this is what she wants – Don't let him sit in the chair, at any cost!

"Ginn." Chloe whispered to herself, her arms starting to tremble as she held herself in place.

I am trying to enter the simulation to help you, but I can't, she's blocked me out of most places. You have to figure a way out of the simulation. She's disabled-

The text stopped as the concaved walls snapped back into place, her hands truly dropping the pen and note pad as she felt an arm slip around her waist, a familiar bristled chin touch her cheek as a small kiss was placed on her earlobe.

"So here is where you've been, working equations nonetheless." Rush breathed, holding her close to his chest, mindful not too press her to hard to his injured collarbone. The orange-yellow text of Destiny's database resumed in her vision as she nodded, Chloe leaning her head back against his uninjured shoulder with a slightly forced smile playing across her lips.

"Yes, I thought maybe coming here and working on the last equation we had been working together might give me a little bit of insight on what may be happening." Chloe explained as she turned in his arm, her hands touching his cheeks as she stood on her tip-toes to kiss him. She smiled genuinely at the feel of his skin – that was at least real enough. "What about you?"

"I checked most of what I had access to, going over different logs and schematics and trying to find some record of the cargo that had been aboard the ship at one time or another. As far as I can tell, there are no more stasis pods, and if they had kept a manifest of the items they had stocked the ship with, well, it was overwritten many, many years ago by some automation or program running in the background of the ships systems." Rush explained as he absently started to stroke her hair.

Chloe nodded as she followed the line of reasoning. "A good thought though." She murmured, smiling against his chest. If she stayed silent for very much longer she was going to burst, but whoever had been communicating with her via the wall, had enough power to override the simulation, or whatever she was in, and interrupt the data stream from Destiny. Ginn was in the computer, but so was Dr. Perry. What if the warning had been from Dr. Perry as a bit of misdirection? And then there was the question of General O'Neill – was he really who he said he was? Could they even trust that?

"Penny for your thoughts?" Rush asked, kissing her temple as he rocked them back and forth a bit, the familiar sway of a slow dance.

"Did General O'Neill seem a little disoriented to you?" She finally asked, not knowing how to process all the information. Chloe felt the simulation slide out of alignment once again, and she smiled, trying to cover the feeling that felt so much like dropping out of FTL, knowing she could keep the charade. Rush might be Ginn, or Perry, or any one at the moment, the way things were starting to feel.

"Well, I never paid much attention to the man, even if he was some kind of hero to the people around him. He was military, muscle bound, order following, never struck me as particularly bright. But that is an unreasonable assessment made when I was incredibly angry with life. What differences I might note, might just be because I never gave him a chance." Rush grinned at her, as she slipped both arms around his neck, her fingers lacing behind his head as she swayed with him, following his lead to whatever music was playing in his head.

"I always liked him on Earth. He was always cordial, and well mannered." She grinned a bit, as he turned her, good hand going to spin her around, before he pulled her back to his chest, her hand absently covering his scar, feeling the ridge under his shirt where the alien tracking device had been removed, her thumb worrying over it as they moved.

"Things I wouldn't have noticed because I was always so busy working." Rush's eyes slid to the side, the lines around his eyes more pronounced as he thought.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Chloe asked, using the same cadence he had just moments before.

"As soon as we wake up, I'm finding my music player, and dancing with you for real. La Vie en Rose, an old song, 1940's, a French singer…" He spoke softly.

"Ahh, the slow dance. Did Piaf do that song in English at some point?" Chloe nodded, summoning up the beginning strands of the song, the brass and the oboe playing through her mind.

"The French is better." Rush laughed, as Chloe shifted, hearing the song in her head finally. It was familiar, one that she had enjoyed when she had gone through a French phase in high-school. She still loved Paris, and had a love of the language still, so the song had stuck with her.

"Quand il me prend dans ses bras, Il me parle tout base, Je vois la vie en rose…" She sang, the trumpets in her head playing now as she continued to dance with him, their pace matching since they both heard the same song now. Rush grinned as he pressed another kiss to her forehead before pressing his cheek against her head, doing his best with just one arm; he chose to put said arm along her waist, foregoing to outstretched hand that was customary to the dance.

"Very good Peach." He muttered into her hair, his eyes closed.

"I took several years of the language." She confessed, as the dance slowly came to a stop, the smile on her lips still. "Finally decide on which pet name you were staying with?" She asked, poking him in the side.

"Finally, aye. It seems to be my favorite." Rush's cheeks colored a bit as she noticed, always surprised at how incredibly smart she was, even without the alterations the blue aliens had done to her.

"No wonder, if I remember the few meals we had at Icarus before it blew up, you preferred the peach cobbler." Chloe smiled brightly as she leaned back some from him, remembering the lunch and dinner party. She had kept an eye on him on the ship, at the base – something had drawn her eye to him when he deemed them worthy of his company. A feudal lord holding court over the commoners, allowing them to see inside his greatest accomplishment, and doing poorly at hiding the disappointment when it failed.

"God, for a bowl of cobbler with vanilla bean ice-cream and a drizzle of chocolate." Rush tilted his head back some, swearing he could taste the burst of peaches on his tongue, the sweet meatiness of the flesh mixed with the taste of honey and sugary syrup, with a bread topping crumbled with brown sugar and tossed with butter – the memory was too fresh in his mind for him to forget.

"A steak, medium rare with a glass of red wine, and roasted red potatoes…" Chloe thought back to her meal before she and her father had left to come aboard the Hammond for the trip to Icarus base. They had stopped at her favorite restaurant on the way, the meal would only have been better if she had the chocolate cake her father had offered her after.

"Pan seared brussel sprout quarters in bacon fat, with a garlic aioli dipping sauce…" Rush remembered the meal, one he had as a child in Glasgow, one his mother had fixed, making the aioli sauce from scratch. It had been the only way she could get him to eat vegetables as a child.

"Mashed potatoes with gravy, turkey and cranberry sauce.." Chloe finally sighed Thanksgiving having come and gone on Earth, and she had gone hungry on the day thinking of her mother's cooking and the family gatherings she would have missed. She would be missing several more gatherings in the foreseeable future, and her mind turned to the family she would most likely never see again, before thinking of all the foods she might never have again.

"A stroll along the Seine at midnight, the Tower lit in twinkle lights, and the smell of cappuccino from the little bistro down the lane." Rush had always drunk his coffee black once he had arrived in America. His tea he liked well sugared and creamed, but he could never find it in himself to defile the coffee Gloria would make in the French press with anything other than the ceramic of his favorite mug. Before the cancer she would make the coffee using the press, every morning, without fail. After they had gotten a machine and he loathed the addiction to the drink because it wasn't the same.

"A huge bucket of popcorn, some sugary soft-drink and gummi bears at an early afternoon action movie." Chloe's eyes closed as she remembered in vivid detail seeing her last movie on Earth – trapped on a spaceship, the film had been more of a thriller than action, and she would always regret not getting to see the sequel to one of her favorite movies about two Irish bothers and their vigilantism.

"Sand, and the crash of the waves on the shore. Palm trees against a backdrop of the bluest blue…" Rush had walked the beaches near San Diego before deciding to join the Icarus project, something he remembered even now, the feel of sand beneath bare feet. The palm trees had been planted there, not naturally occurring, but the water that evening had almost been cerulean in color, sky and water blurring into one as the yellows, pinks, oranges and finally midnight blues had crossed the sky with the setting sun.

Chloe laughed, realizing some of their favorite things were the same. Rush smiled, his lips pressing into her skin once more as their talk, knowing each had a fond memory they could still smile about. Chloe melted into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his waist as they stood there, content with one another, neither really wanting to move yet.

"We should get back to work." He finally said, letting her go, letting the thoughts of things left undone on Earth float away. Chloe let her mind return to the equation, clearing her throat, finally turning to stare at the area that had returned to normal – intent on solving the equation before she ate next, or had even a moments rest. She was fairly convinced that the equation would be the answer. "It's almost night time, stay the night with me?" Chloe raised an eyebrow at him, turning away from her work to stare at him boldly, her gaze traveling over his face, down his neck, watching the muscles tighten as he clenched his jaw. She let a grin play over her lips, knowing that even asking her that question was still frightening for him.

"I'll let myself in if you aren't there when I get done here." She finally nodded to him, seeing the muscles in his jaw and neck relax, a look of pleasure on his face. His eyes swept over her possessively as he hesitated at the door, Chloe swearing to herself that he was having an internal debate of whether or not to toss her over one of the crates now, or actually return to work. The familiar heat spread through her abdomen, pooling lower as he continued to burn her image into his mind, his Adam's apple bobbing as he realized he had been caught, his eyes lingering too long on the bow of her lips.

"Till then my, Peach." Rush turned, letting himself out of the hallway to return to his work, Chloe left frowning once again at her calculations, the math gone as she puzzled out this new bit of information she wasn't ready to share with him just yet, just in case. She let out a heavy breath, trying to push the carnal thoughts of Rush's hand buried in the folds between her legs, his lips closed around her nipples, of the feel of his body pressed to hers once again. Shoving the lust aside, she glared at her equation.

"Damnit, Eli, I need you." She cursed, pounding her fist on the wall, knowing he would have been able to solve this faster than her and Rush. They needed him, and when they needed him the most he wasn't even there with them, if she could believe the writing on the wall.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX

Floating, that was the word she had been looking for. Floating. She couldn't even force her eyes open any more, unwilling to look at her captors, unable to force herself to look at them through the shifting water, through the glass. The suit on her skin would chaff had it not been so incredibly skin tight, had the mask not been fitted in place over her face. She continued to breathe her mouth and nose the only dry area on her any more, and even then, the moisture of her breathing didn't even leave that too dry.

'It's a dream,' Chloe told herself over and over as she floated, as she tried to formulate what was happening to her. She had been taken, and had things done to her, she was sure of that. 'It's just a dream.' She reassured herself again, forcing her eyes open, fighting back from the edge of the glass as a blue face stared at her in curiosity. She felt the blow on the glass, felt the liquid rush out around her and carry her out to the floor.

It wasn't a blue face above her now, it was Rush, speaking but she couldn't hear him, couldn't even decipher human speech at the moment. He grabbed her and they ran, she following blindly as he led her along corridors, saving her.

The world fell out from under her as she felt the stab through her chest, watching two blue faces as her eyes fluttered close.

'It's just a dream.' Chloe repeated to herself, over and over as Scott winced as her fist connected with his jaw. 'Just a dream.' She frantically though as Rush fell into her arms, his blood seeping into her shirt, shock flitting across her face as she just screamed.

-V-

"Peach!" She woke with a start, her face wet with tears and sweat, the bed side light on as she woke in an unfamiliar bed, a lithe arm around her as she started to wail. She hadn't had nightmares in a long time, hadn't felt the terror of her capture, of her resurrection, of seeing Rush shot since she knew she was in the simulation. She turned into his arms as she cried, his voice soft, but the words unheard as she tamped down the terror once more, hiding it away for another time.

'Two arms.' She realized as she jumped back, falling out of the bed onto carpeted floor, not the metal of Destiny. Moonlight shone through the window as she shook her head. "This isn't real." She said quickly, her breath hitching as she started to hyperventilate.

"What's not real, Peach?" Rush asked as he slipped out of the bed, turning the royal blue coverlet down and kneeling on the floor beside her.

"You're not real. You were shot, and we're on a ship, billions of light years away from Earth." She explained, trembling as he shook his head with a slight smile.

"No Peach, we dialed Earth a long time ago, don't you remember?" Rush made himself comfortable on the floor as Chloe backed until she felt the wall behind her, eyes taking in the room. What she had originally thought was carpet was a nice blue and black rug on dark hard wood floor. The room was a very pale shade of grey, curtains, windows, everything like a home.

"No." She said shakily as she noticed the glint on her ring finger, a small but well cut diamond set into the familiar thistle design so pronounced in Scottish art. The stone caught her attention and kept it as Rush sighed, running a hand through his hair, the locks still longer than what would be considered fashionable, but shorter than what it had been on Destiny. His cheeks were bare, just the beginnings of stubble scattered over his chin.

"What's the last thing you remember, Peach?" He asked gently, taking her hand as she noticed the ring on his finger, a continuation of the thistle pattern, the gold on his skin looking more in place, than the dark yellow metal on her own hand.

"We were in the hallway, and we danced, La Vie in Rose, and you asked me to spend the night with you, after Ginn had tried to reach out to me in the simulation. Oh God! Eli!" Chloe jerked her hand away, trying to scramble to her feet.

"Is fine. We went and saw our niece yesterday, remember? Pretty red hair just like her mother?"

"Ginn was in the computer, you idiot! How did she get out?!" Chloe screamed at him, clutching the sides of her head. This had to be a dream, had to be something, because she had not just lost a huge chunk of time. She couldn't have.

"Chloe, focus, Ginn spoke to you, but she's in the ship's computer still? Listen to yourself, Peach, you're exhausted from the day. Something triggered some old memories and your brain did the rest. Come back to bed with me, and I'm certain it will all be right in the morning." Rush got to his feet, holding his hand out to her as Chloe's eyes slid over his bare chest. It was wrong, this was wrong. Something wasn't right and she had to find it. This was the simulation still, it had to be.

"When did we get married?" She demanded, Rush's face falling into the right configuration, the easy smile, the wrinkles around his eyes prominent, the grey of his hair more, but the sable still there.

"Two minutes before we dialed Earth home. In case.." He trailed off, as she finally slid her hand into his.

"In case?" She asked as he pulled her close, kissing the center of her forehead as he held her.

"In case we didn't make it." He finally supplied, as Chloe let out a huge breath of relief, her fingers finding the evidence that she was either dreaming, or she was trapped in another part of the simulation. The scar, the scar from his surgery to remove the tracking device was gone. "You're remembering now?"

"Yes, I remember a lot." She lied.

"Good, now let's go back to sleep." Rush yawned as he pulled her back to the bed. Chloe followed, sliding in the sheets with him as he pulled her to his chest, nuzzling his face into the back of her neck. Lazy kisses pressed against the bone of her spine, up the back of her neck as she relaxed into his arms. "Goodnight, Peach." His lips moved against her skin as she stared at the wall.

Chloe's mind went over the latest information she had gleaned, hoping that she could find the answer of why she would be having a dream, a simulation of something that hadn't happened already. From what she had understood about the chair, it worked on memories, not things that hadn't happened yet.

It is paramount we return the simulation as close to reality as possible.

Rush's voice echoed in her mind as she went over the information, waiting for the simulation/dream Rush's breath to fall into the familiar snore pattern of relaxed sleep. She had only just learned this recently herself, before they had gone into the pods. Something that Ginn or Amanda Perry would have no way to know, or so Chloe hoped. His breathing was normal, even, but it was still an approximation of his guarded sleep, not the fully relaxed breathing that would lead to his snoring. Chloe rolled her eyes at the thought as she felt his arms tighten around her, holding her closer, one of his knees slipping between her legs, one hand going to cup a breast. She felt fingertips trail across her hip bone, pulling her back further; their bodies completely spooned together, her teeth worrying her lower lip as the lazy kisses started on her neck again.

"I thought you wanted to sleep…" she whispered to him, gasping as his teeth nipped at her shoulder, the hand on her hip pulling her nightgown free from her lower half, the soft fabric bunching around her stomach only a moment before the gown was pulled free from her.

"Maybe later." Rush breathed as he rid himself of his sleeping pants, one hand on her knee, opening her wide, his other around her neck, holding her immobile to him, Chloe's breaths coming in little gasps. She tried to wriggle from his grasp, knowing he was a simulation, but the need to feel him buried deep inside her finally kept her still. It was a dream or a simulation – she wasn't being unfaithful to him, not really. Rational thought left her mind as she felt him move, hips slow as he pulled her leg up further, holding her open to him.

"Later." Chloe agreed as she felt the head of his cock twitch against her lips, coating himself in her wetness, a deep purr of appreciation sounding deep in his chest.

"I will never be thankful enough for you," Rush whispered against her ear as his hips surged forward, Chloe crying out as he filled her, her eyes snapping open, taking in the FTL light streaming in through the window of Rush's room on Destiny, sweat pouring off her as she sat up with a start, disoriented, the bed beside her cold, unused this evening. Her breathing uneven, she gasped down lungful after lungful of air.

"Nicholas?" She called tentatively to the darkness of the room, wondering if he was even in there. She felt exhausted, gauging the time to be late into what they'd consider night time, her eyes adjusting to the semi-light, looking for his outline. Reaching over, she turned on the light on the bedside table, noticing his glasses and notebooks in a pile on the nightstand. The chess pieces had been returned to his table, set right on the board. His shoes were not in their usual spot by the door. He had not come to bed yet.

Letting out a puff of air, her hair disturbed around her face, she felt her cheeks redden at the dream she had just had, knowing that if she had to wait for him much longer, she was going to drive herself mad. Footsteps echoed in the hallway, the door swished open, Chloe pulling her extra blanket up over her legs as she saw black leather boots, followed by the familiar shock of red hair.

"Ginn…" Chloe breathed as the other woman came into the room, palming the door lock.

"I apologize for the cloak and dagger game earlier, but Perry is up to no good." Ginn said, a frown sliding across her face.

"She's trying to get Nicholas into the chair again, so he'll upload into the database and be there with her, isn't she?" Chloe asked, pulling her blanket tighter around herself as she swore the temperature in the room dropped twenty degrees in the span of a second.

"She is."

"And she's willing to let me, Eli and Young die to make it happen?"

"She most definitely is."

"How can I trust you're not another simulation sent to keep me from solving this?"

"You can't – all you can trust is that I want Eli alive, and in stasis as much as you do. You've experienced yourself how realistic these simulations are now. I want nothing more than the three years I'd get to spend with him, here, while you all drift. And I'm not willing to sacrifice anyone to make that happen."

Chloe nodded, weighing her options. Ginn could easily be Perry, or it could really be her. "Then I suppose you better tell me all that you know thus far, and we can start planning from there."

Well my dears, that's this week's installment! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I had fun writing it. I promise that eventually our anti-heroic doctor and his succulent little peach will stop being interrupted - eventually... Many Many wonderful thanks to my regular reviewers - Charlotte Ashmore, badkidoh, anawey, and the lovely lovely Guest (truly darling I do like seeing you be here each week!) - you all keep me on my toes with questions, and fuel the imagination. Next week's update may be delayed by a day, but we've reached the mid-point. Next week, Chapter 11 - Discipline. See you all then! - S

This chapter was written to Japanese Metal Band Dir En Grey's Merciless Cult.