Crichton sat alone in the dimly lit cell with his thoughts and fears.
Once feeling had returned to his limbs and he was able to move, he had checked the room for weaknesses, but everything seemed solid. The cell was, as far as he could make out, in a law enforcement station; although his view had been hampered by the fact he couldn't move his neck as they dragged him in. No obvious way out, except through the door. He sat down on the cold floor and waited. He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there before the door was opened and Aeryn was literally thrown in.
At first he was ecstatic to see her. He rushed to her side, crouching down beside her face down form. "Hi there, Sunshine. What took you so long?" He put a hand on her arm, but she flinched away with such force that he fell backwards. "Aeryn?" She struggled to push herself to a sitting position and then she looked at him. Even in the cell's dim light, he could see she was a mess. Her face was swollen and her mouth was bloody. As he pulled his horrified gaze from her face he saw that she had signs of bruising at her neck, which seemed to continue to the areas hidden by her top. She was barefoot and soaking wet.
"God, Aeryn! What happened?" She was shivering violently. He took off his coat and wrapped it around her as best he could. Tears had begun falling down her cheeks and her breathing was ragged. He couldn't tell if it was from the pain that he was causing trying to make her more comfortable or because of what had gone before. Everywhere he touched her caused her to flinch, but he slipped in behind her and placed his arm around her middle, gently easing them both back a short distance until his back hit the wall. He wrapped his arms around her and made comforting noises, kissing her hair, and trying to warm her as much as possible without hurting her further.
"Shh, Baby. Christ, what have those frelling bastards done?" His voice was hoarse with emotion. They hadn't touched him. Why hadn't they touched him? "Everything is going to be fine. Shh. It's OK. You'll be warmer soon." He felt useless and he felt responsible. It was at his insistence that they were helping Tarone and his plan that had gone so badly wrong. "We're gonna get out of here, Aeryn. Don't worry. It's going to be alright. Shhh. Don't worry." He wondered whether he should try and remove her wet clothes, but the thought of causing her more pain made him queasy. Instead he remained where he was. " You'll be OK sweetheart, I promise. You'll be OK." He babbled on. Eventually, he felt her stop crying and a short time later, just as he was telling her for the hundredth time that everything was going to be fine, he felt her move her head. When he pulled back a little to look down at her, she was looking back up at him. "Hey, Baby." He said tenderly.
Her voice was raspy "I hope you have a plan for getting us out of here."
"Our options are kinda limited. They took my com…" he looked at the place she usually kept hers "…and yours, so I guess there won't be any rescue. We'll have to make a break for it ourselves."
"Frell." She said despondently. She began to sit upright but immediately grabbed her side. "Frell!" She grimaced but managed to sit up on her own.
Crichton slipped out from behind her and began taking off his boots. He pretended to be engrossed in what he was doing when he asked the next question "What happened to you?"
She looked at him, incredulous. "What does it look like, Crichton? They beat me."
He took his socks off and began placing them on her bare feet. Again he appeared engrossed when he asked "Was it bad?"
She couldn't help choking out a laugh, then wincing, a hand going first to her side and then to her lip.
"OK. That was another dumb question." He sat right in front of her, his legs going around her now cross-legged ones. He took her hands and started rubbing them to try and warm them. " Do you want to talk about it?"
"No." Her voice was firm.
"It might help." He said softly.
"Who? You or me?" She looked at him defiantly, pulling her hands away. "If you want to know, you'll have to ask."
"I just did."
"No, that's not what you really want to know."
He looked at her. " Did they?"
"Would it make a difference if they had?"
"No, but…"
"Right, now help me stand up."
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"D'Argo? Can you hear me?"
"What is it Chiana?"
"I think Rygel's fat friend is onto me. I swear he looked straight at me, not once but twice."
"Get out of there, Chiana."
"But what about Rygel?"
"If there is one thing that Rygel excels in, it is taking care of himself. Where are you?"
"I'm, ahh, on the outskirts of town. They are sitting in a drinking establishment called Dovar's. It is on the road we used to enter the city."
"That is fortunate. I will start heading towards you. You come towards me."
" Alright. Hey D'Argo? Are you having trouble contacting Aeryn and Crichton? All I'm getting is static."
"Yes, I've been looking for them. Start coming back quickly Chiana and be careful. If they have spotted you then they will probably try to stop you."
"Don't worry. I'll lose them."
"If you do not then I will deal with them."
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Crichton watched as Aeryn lowered herself down beside him. She had been walking around the cell, trying, she said, to feel out what she could and couldn't do. She had long since refused any help from him and he had been relegated to watching her. He was amazed at how quickly she had pulled herself together. She said that she had been trained to manage physical pain, but the transformation from what had been thrown into the cell to the person that was now sitting beside him was incredible. Despite her injuries, which were still horrific to look at, she looked like his Aeryn again, something in the way that she held herself. And she didn't need his reassurance, his comfort or his support anymore. She was independent again. The Peacekeeper mask was firmly back in place. He almost felt sorry, but the thought left him as soon as it came. He wanted to feel that Aeryn needed him sometimes, but not if it meant her having to go through that. He would rather deal with her Peacekeeper front for the rest of his days than see her in pain like that again.
"How's it feel?"
She frowned slightly. " I think I have at least one broken rib, which makes it difficult to walk and run and bend," her smile was slight, but it was there " but everything else works."
"We could try binding your ribs with my tee shirt." Crichton offered. "It won't be perfect but it might be better than nothing."
She considered for a moment and then nodded.
He took off his leather vest and slipped his tee shirt off. He ripped up the seam at one side and then lengthways into thick strips, hoping that they'd work. She turned her back on him and shrugged out of her leather vest. He passed the strip of tee shirt around her, over the damp long sleeved top she was wearing, and began to bind her ribs as tightly as he could. Aeryn remained silent throughout. When he was finished he helped her put her vest back on and watched as she walked up and down a little. "Any better?" He asked.
"Yes. Much. Thank you." She sat carefully back down beside him. "How are we going to get out of this place?"
Crichton tapped the back of his head softly against the wall behind him as he thought. "How about we rush the next person that comes through that door and make a dash for it?" He suggested.
She shook her head. " There are at least 4 guards and I can't run anywhere like this,… but maybe I could slow them up enough for you to get out." Crichton had already started shaking his head. " You could come back with D'Argo and get me later." She finished.
"No. We leave together or not at all." He said firmly. He looked at her, assessing her weight. " Maybe I could carry you."
"Oh, don't be ridiculous." She said irritably.
They sat in silence for a few microts: Crichton with his head tilted backwards, looking at the ceiling; Aeryn with her head down, looking at her hands.
When Crichton spoke it had nothing to do with escape plans. "Why did they beat you up so badly, Aeryn?" His voice was soft as he turned his head to contemplate her profile.
"They wanted to know where Moya and the others were."
"Did you tell them?"
"Of course not!" She looked at him, a little shocked that he would even ask the question.
" They'll probably have a go at me next." He sounded almost hopeful. His natural fear for himself was by far outweighed by his fear of what another beating would do to her.
She shook her head slowly. "I doubt it. Scorpius will be here soon. They want to keep you in one piece for him. They put me back in here in the hope that you would give up the location of the rest rather than let me be beaten again." She looked back down at her hands.
He took her hand and gave her a little half smile when her eyes came up to meet his again. " Smart move. It's working." His smile widened fractionally when he saw her look of alarm. "Don't worry, Aeryn. I won't give them up." His face grew serious again. "But I'll be damned if I'll stand quietly by while you're beaten to a pulp." He started absent-mindedly playing with her hand. "Couldn't we just give them a false location?"
"They warned me if I gave them a location which turned out to be false, they would kill Rygel and Chiana. Apparently they are the least valuable among us."
His short laugh was little more than a breath. "Wait 'til Sparky hears that!" He paused for a moment. "So they are going to all this trouble for D'Argo and Zhaan. They really want the full set, huh?" He intertwined his fingers with hers. "There has to be a way out of this, Aeryn. Something else we can do…"
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TBC