Section 6: Awakenings
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Pain. Pain everywhere. And darkness. Those were the first thoughts that accompanied Chiana back to the land of the living. Too tired and too hurt to try and open her eyes, the Nebari lay still. The surface beneath her was lukewarm and vibrating, a familiar rumble edging into her awareness. Lo'la. She was on D'argo's ship, safe. Memories of the few days they had spent on the Qujagan homeworld filtered back, a myriad of smells, sounds, and textures. No images. The violence of the last day echoed on her skin only to be resolutely pushed away to that dark corner of her mind where she kept the dren that happened in life. There was nothing to be done about it now. Time to move on again.
If only the pain would go away for a moment. Chiana knew it wouldn't though. Just as she knew that what had happened wouldn't disappear. But for now she just wanted to lie to herself. So she did.
Above her, voices floated softly in the air. Not hard or dangerous, but unfamiliar, she realized with a start. Panic hit her and she opened her eyes trying desperately to see but seeing nothing. Still blind - strangers - D'argo's ship, she knew it was his, she could feel it. Where was D'argo?!
"Hey there. Hey, it's okay. We're not going to hurt you," one of the voices, the one closest to her said gently. She could feel his breath and it was not reassuring! Chiana struggled to raise her arm to defend herself, hit him, anything, but her arms felt like fire and her eyes like ice.
"D'arg - " she whispered hoarsely, igniting another flame down her throat, into her chest where it spread like a fuel leak. It hurt so badly!
"We're not going to hurt you," the voice repeated.
"I think she's panicking, Daniel," another male voice told the first one. "Better call tentacles over."
"D'argo," the first voice called out. Chiana didn't hear what he said next, she only heard her lover's name and a moment later felt his fingers running down her face.
"D'argo?" she tried again, managing more than a croak. "That you?"
"Yeah, it's me," the Luxan's deep, soft voice rumbled. Chiana smiled in relief.
"We're in Lo'la?" she asked.
"Yes. You're on the floor across from the door."
"And . . . and them?" The voices, three - four of them that hovered above her.
"Some humans that we picked up. They found you in a junkyard." Chiana nodded as best she could. She remembered a junkyard nearby. "They're going to help us get John and Aeryn."
"How did they get here?"
"No idea."
Weird. She would think about the humans and their presence here later. "Moya?" she asked next.
"Almost there," said D'argo. Again his hand passed over her face, and then she felt his lips brush her forehead. "We're going to enter the atmosphere soon. The human next to you is Daniel. He carried you from the junkyard. He'll be the only one touching you." Chiana could feel the glare D'argo was directing at the others. "I'll be back soon. I gotta land us."
"Okay. Right." Chiana didn't want him to go even the short distance to the cockpit. In the dark it felt like a system away.
"Chiana?"
"Frogface!" Rygel was there too. His presence was just as reassuring as D'argo's had been.
"You look terrible," the Hynerian informed her, but Chiana heard through it. She wanted to laugh but couldn't.
"I feel terrible," she replied, the weak smile she had conjured earlier fading into a grimace. "So more humans?" she said to distract herself.
"There are four of them," said Rygel. "They say they've never heard of us." He proceeded then to tell her briefly of their meeting and she was introduced to them. They added commentary when necessary. The one called Major Carter tried to explain how this thing called a stargate worked on planets but the Colonel O'Neill interrupted with a sarcastic, "Carter, I don't even understand what you're talking about. English please." That was when Chiana noticed that Rygel had been speaking John's language while she had continued on in her own tongue.
Before she could utter her own greeting in the Earth language, D'argo was talking to Pilot, and they were touching down in Moya's hangar.
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Naked and cold, John sat up. Naked he could understand. Well, he could if he were on Moya and not freezing his ass off in this room. Unpainted walls, no furniture, no carpet . . . it would really suck to live here, he thought absently. Of course, there he was. Glancing around, he saw another figure lying on the floor nearby; it was Aeryn, as naked as he was. And while that was a pleasing thought in most situations, this was not one of them.
"Aeryn," he scuttled over and gently shook her shoulder. "Aeryn, honey, wake up." He shook her shoulder again with no response. Then he grinned at a sudden thought. What the hell, he thought, she'd said yes.
John leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on Aeryn's lips.
Still no response. Sighing, John went back to shaking her shoulder. "Aeryn, wake up. Come on, baby, we're in trouble. Again," he added as an afterthought. Finally, a gentle groan and the fluttering of her eyelids heralded her return to consciousness.
"John?"
"Yeah, I'm here."
"You're naked."
"So are you," he grinned as Aeryn's eyes widened and she sat up, trying to cover herself. After a moment, she glanced around at the room with an annoyed grimace for him and stopped.
"Do you know where we are?" she asked.
"Nope, just woke up myself. I remember a ship coming out of nowhere, kissing you, then a shattering sensation. That's it."
Aeryn nodded. "Me too." She looked around the room again. "I suppose they are watching us," she commented. John shrugged, not seeing any obvious surveillance equipment. They helped each other to their feet slowly to stretch out abused muscles and wandered over to the door. It was solid metal, like the walls, with no door-handle or hinges on the inside. John could barely get a fingernail in the crack between the door and the doorframe. "Frelling solid," muttered Aeryn, turning to him in disgust.
"Guess we'll have to wait till someone comes a' callin'," said John. He ran a critical eye over his love. "Are you okay?"
Aeryn nodded again once. "Yes. A little sore, cold. But I'm fine. No real pain so I think the baby is alright." John pulled her close, sensing the worry in her voice. He ran his hands down her arms and back to warm her up.
"So," John nuzzled into her hair, "since we're stuck here for the moment, you want to set a date?"
"For the wedding?"
"Mmmhun,"
"How about after we get out of here and before we get shot at or captured again," Aeryn suggested with a wry grin. "Although with our luck, we'll probably be shot at and captured at our wedding."
"Winona can be your Matron of Honor," said John. "Of course, we'll need to find her first."
"We'll pick her up on the way out," Aeryn murmured reassuringly.
They lapsed into silence then, both knowing that was wishful thinking. After all, how often did things go to plan? But neither said anything to break the illusion of control. Because maybe, just maybe things would go right. The only thing that was certain was that they only had now.
*
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Pain. Pain everywhere. And darkness. Those were the first thoughts that accompanied Chiana back to the land of the living. Too tired and too hurt to try and open her eyes, the Nebari lay still. The surface beneath her was lukewarm and vibrating, a familiar rumble edging into her awareness. Lo'la. She was on D'argo's ship, safe. Memories of the few days they had spent on the Qujagan homeworld filtered back, a myriad of smells, sounds, and textures. No images. The violence of the last day echoed on her skin only to be resolutely pushed away to that dark corner of her mind where she kept the dren that happened in life. There was nothing to be done about it now. Time to move on again.
If only the pain would go away for a moment. Chiana knew it wouldn't though. Just as she knew that what had happened wouldn't disappear. But for now she just wanted to lie to herself. So she did.
Above her, voices floated softly in the air. Not hard or dangerous, but unfamiliar, she realized with a start. Panic hit her and she opened her eyes trying desperately to see but seeing nothing. Still blind - strangers - D'argo's ship, she knew it was his, she could feel it. Where was D'argo?!
"Hey there. Hey, it's okay. We're not going to hurt you," one of the voices, the one closest to her said gently. She could feel his breath and it was not reassuring! Chiana struggled to raise her arm to defend herself, hit him, anything, but her arms felt like fire and her eyes like ice.
"D'arg - " she whispered hoarsely, igniting another flame down her throat, into her chest where it spread like a fuel leak. It hurt so badly!
"We're not going to hurt you," the voice repeated.
"I think she's panicking, Daniel," another male voice told the first one. "Better call tentacles over."
"D'argo," the first voice called out. Chiana didn't hear what he said next, she only heard her lover's name and a moment later felt his fingers running down her face.
"D'argo?" she tried again, managing more than a croak. "That you?"
"Yeah, it's me," the Luxan's deep, soft voice rumbled. Chiana smiled in relief.
"We're in Lo'la?" she asked.
"Yes. You're on the floor across from the door."
"And . . . and them?" The voices, three - four of them that hovered above her.
"Some humans that we picked up. They found you in a junkyard." Chiana nodded as best she could. She remembered a junkyard nearby. "They're going to help us get John and Aeryn."
"How did they get here?"
"No idea."
Weird. She would think about the humans and their presence here later. "Moya?" she asked next.
"Almost there," said D'argo. Again his hand passed over her face, and then she felt his lips brush her forehead. "We're going to enter the atmosphere soon. The human next to you is Daniel. He carried you from the junkyard. He'll be the only one touching you." Chiana could feel the glare D'argo was directing at the others. "I'll be back soon. I gotta land us."
"Okay. Right." Chiana didn't want him to go even the short distance to the cockpit. In the dark it felt like a system away.
"Chiana?"
"Frogface!" Rygel was there too. His presence was just as reassuring as D'argo's had been.
"You look terrible," the Hynerian informed her, but Chiana heard through it. She wanted to laugh but couldn't.
"I feel terrible," she replied, the weak smile she had conjured earlier fading into a grimace. "So more humans?" she said to distract herself.
"There are four of them," said Rygel. "They say they've never heard of us." He proceeded then to tell her briefly of their meeting and she was introduced to them. They added commentary when necessary. The one called Major Carter tried to explain how this thing called a stargate worked on planets but the Colonel O'Neill interrupted with a sarcastic, "Carter, I don't even understand what you're talking about. English please." That was when Chiana noticed that Rygel had been speaking John's language while she had continued on in her own tongue.
Before she could utter her own greeting in the Earth language, D'argo was talking to Pilot, and they were touching down in Moya's hangar.
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Naked and cold, John sat up. Naked he could understand. Well, he could if he were on Moya and not freezing his ass off in this room. Unpainted walls, no furniture, no carpet . . . it would really suck to live here, he thought absently. Of course, there he was. Glancing around, he saw another figure lying on the floor nearby; it was Aeryn, as naked as he was. And while that was a pleasing thought in most situations, this was not one of them.
"Aeryn," he scuttled over and gently shook her shoulder. "Aeryn, honey, wake up." He shook her shoulder again with no response. Then he grinned at a sudden thought. What the hell, he thought, she'd said yes.
John leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on Aeryn's lips.
Still no response. Sighing, John went back to shaking her shoulder. "Aeryn, wake up. Come on, baby, we're in trouble. Again," he added as an afterthought. Finally, a gentle groan and the fluttering of her eyelids heralded her return to consciousness.
"John?"
"Yeah, I'm here."
"You're naked."
"So are you," he grinned as Aeryn's eyes widened and she sat up, trying to cover herself. After a moment, she glanced around at the room with an annoyed grimace for him and stopped.
"Do you know where we are?" she asked.
"Nope, just woke up myself. I remember a ship coming out of nowhere, kissing you, then a shattering sensation. That's it."
Aeryn nodded. "Me too." She looked around the room again. "I suppose they are watching us," she commented. John shrugged, not seeing any obvious surveillance equipment. They helped each other to their feet slowly to stretch out abused muscles and wandered over to the door. It was solid metal, like the walls, with no door-handle or hinges on the inside. John could barely get a fingernail in the crack between the door and the doorframe. "Frelling solid," muttered Aeryn, turning to him in disgust.
"Guess we'll have to wait till someone comes a' callin'," said John. He ran a critical eye over his love. "Are you okay?"
Aeryn nodded again once. "Yes. A little sore, cold. But I'm fine. No real pain so I think the baby is alright." John pulled her close, sensing the worry in her voice. He ran his hands down her arms and back to warm her up.
"So," John nuzzled into her hair, "since we're stuck here for the moment, you want to set a date?"
"For the wedding?"
"Mmmhun,"
"How about after we get out of here and before we get shot at or captured again," Aeryn suggested with a wry grin. "Although with our luck, we'll probably be shot at and captured at our wedding."
"Winona can be your Matron of Honor," said John. "Of course, we'll need to find her first."
"We'll pick her up on the way out," Aeryn murmured reassuringly.
They lapsed into silence then, both knowing that was wishful thinking. After all, how often did things go to plan? But neither said anything to break the illusion of control. Because maybe, just maybe things would go right. The only thing that was certain was that they only had now.
*