John spent the day at the hangar with DK making sure the module was in good
condition. DK could see how distracted he was. DK had heard about the
commotion in the medical building the night before. John filled him in on
the details, including the details involving Alex.
DK: "Are you still in love with Alex, John?"
John: "There was a time when Alex left that I couldn't imagine my life without her but we were so close with realizing our dream of being in the space program, I couldn't leave. But I always thought that one day she and I would be together."
DK: "And now?"
John: "Now there is Aeryn."
John looked at DK.
John: "I know what you're thinking and you're right…she looks human but she is an alien. I can't explain it DK. I am in love with her. I didn't realize how much until I saw the look in her eyes last night."
DK: "Have you talked to Alex about last night?"
John: "No, you know me. The poster child for avoidance when it comes to dealing with Alex. Instead of talking to her about leaving, I was going to ask her to marry me to keep her here."
DK smiled.
DK: "Some things never change."
John smiled and lowered his head.
DK: "What can I do to help?"
John: "I have to get Aeryn out of here. She will die here if I don't."
DK: "You said she won't see you. How are you going to do this without her?"
John: "I will get into to see her alone. She is hurt and angry but Aeryn is a warrior, a survivor. She will be fine when the time comes."
DK: "What about Alex? This project (Aeryn) is her baby. How are you going to get her to go along with any of this?"
John: "I don't know but I have to try and if she won't, then I have to go around her. I am not going to let Aeryn die without a fight."
******
Alex and John were having dinner that night. John was on the quiet side. Alex put her fork down and looked at him. She looked at John just pushing his food around with his fork.
Alex: "Why don't you ask me the question you have been trying not to ask me all night?"
John looked up from the plate.
John: "How is she doing?"
Alex: "Physically, her wounds are fine. Emotionally, it is like she has given up. She won't eat and has ceased trying to communicate or be cooperative at all. We have had to put her on IV fluids to keep her from dehydrating. She won't even take water."
John: "I have to see her, Alex."
Alex: "The mention of your name is the only thing that gets a reaction out of her at all and it is not a good one."
John: "She is hurt and angry. I know that but I have to try. Please, I need to see her alone. She will talk to me."
Alex: "When?"
John stood up.
John: "Tonight!"
He grabbed Alex's hand. They rushed out.
*******
Aeryn was curled up on the bed staring at the wall. The restraints had been removed earlier in the day. She had no concept of how long she had been in that room, only that she wanted out. She heard the familiar sound of the lock on the door clicking. It was so that it didn't even raise a reaction in her anymore. She just lay there with her back to the door. She heard the door open and close. She knew she was no longer alone in the room but she just didn't care anymore. She heard a familiar voice that made her feel both comfort, hurt, and anger all at the same time. It was John Crichton.
John: "Aeryn, I know I am the last person you want to see right now. But I am also the only one who can help."
She didn't respond. He walked over to the bed and sat on the edge. He touched her leg.
John: "Aeryn, please."
She pulled her leg away. John took a deep breath. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to a sitting position. She whence in pain. He looked down at her wrists. They were raw from her fighting against the restraints. He looked in her eyes.
John: "Babe, what did you do to yourself?"
Aeryn: "Your so called civilized humans did it to me."
He loosened his hold on her wrists. She was sitting up facing him.
John: "I am not going to let you die here. I know that is what you are doing. I won't let it happen."
Aeryn spoke again. Her voice was hoarse from all the screaming she had been doing previously.
Aeryn: "It would be better for you if I did."
John: "What?"
Aeryn: "Then you can have a normal life back here in your home world and you wouldn't have to worry about me."
John: "Is that what you think?"
She lowered her eyes. John took her face in his hands. She looked into his eyes.
John: "I know why you lashed out the way you did at me last night and I won't deny what you saw. It was just being home again with someone who I loved very much in my past. The moment overwhelmed me. I know that is a stupid excuse considering what was happening to you at the time."
She looked away. John caressed her cheek the way he has in the past. He felt the tears run down her face. She looked up at him. He leaned forward and laid his forehead against hers. He whispered to her.
John: "The module is ready to go. We have to get out of here tonight. DK and Dad are going to help us."
She lifted her head and looked in his eyes.
John: "At the changing of the guards at 2 am, we go. You will know when I am here from the loud diversion you will certainly hear."
He gently wiped her tears away. She knew what he was giving up for her. It filled her heart.
John: "It is time to go back home to Moya."
Aeryn: "This is your home John."
John: "My home is wherever you are. If I didn't realize that before, I realize it now."
She smiled slightly through her tears. She laid her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her slowly. Aeryn felt safe for the first time since she left Moya with John three solar days ago. John kissed her forehead.
John: "I have to go meet my dad."
She nodded her head. He slipped off the bed and walked toward the door. He looked back. Aeryn was staring at him. He winked at her. She smiled slightly. He left.
******
John met Jack at his bungalow. Jack had brought to IASA uniforms, one for Aeryn and one for John. DK had made arrangements to have the module taken out of the hangar to test some of the modifications that John had made. The military was quite interested in how that module could have made it through re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere without dissolving from the heat.
Jack left just as Alex was coming up the walk. Alex waved to Jack as he was climbing into his truck. John stood on the porch and waved at her.
John: "What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you."
Alex: "I know you weren't. Can we go inside?"
John held the door open for her. She walked in and saw the uniforms on the couch. She turned and looked at John.
John: "I am trusting you Alex. More than I have ever trusted you before because it is not just my life, it is Aeryn's."
Alex: "You are helping her to go back home."
John: "She can't stay here. She will die. It is my fault. I should have realized that but I wanted so badly to come and to bring her with me that I wasn't thinking about what she wanted or needed."
Alex: "I was right, wasn't I? You are in love with her."
John: "I am not trying to hurt you."
Alex: "We had our moment in time."
John touched her cheek.
John: "Our glorious moments."
He lowered his hand.
John: "My future is with Aeryn, if she will ever forgive me for all she has been through because of me."
Alex lowered her eyes and then looked back up.
Alex: "How can I help?"
John: "No, I don't want you to get into trouble because of me."
Alex: "Why should now be any different?"
She smiled. He smiled and walked over and embraced her.
John: "Thank you."
Alex: "Just tell me what you need me to do Space man."
John pulled Alex over to the couch.
John: "Aeryn is Sebecean. Her species cannot be exposed to heat for long periods of time. Their bodies lack the gene to regulate their body temperature."
Alex: "It is 104° in the shade John. How can she stand that kind of heat outside of the medical facility?"
John: "Isn't there something we can do to keep her core temperature down until I can get her into space?"
Alex thought for a moment. She stood up and walked over to the window. John went and stood beside her.
John: "I know that look. What?"
Alex: "It is risky at best John."
John: "Riskier than watching her die in that cell day by day?"
Alex: "I can give her a shot that will simulate death. Slowing her heart, brain, and vital functions to simulate death."
John looked at her.
John: "Kill her?"
Alex: "Simulate death. She would be immediately bagged and moved for dissection and study. In transit, her body could be switched."
John looked out at the base.
John: "How would I revive her once I got her body?"
Alex: "I will give you the counter agent. It will take several hours to work. She will be weak and need a lot of rest."
John: "She will get that once I get her back on Moya."
Alex got this look on her face.
Alex: "Do you love her that much that you are willing to give up being back on Earth? The chance at having a normal life with a wife, kids, mini van…?"
John touched Alex's cheek.
John: "There was a time in my life when I would have given anything for that."
Alex: "Anything but your chance at being in the space program."
John: "I have seen the most incredible, wondrous things seen I have been gone. I have also been put through more than I though one human being could be put through and I have come out on the other side. As badly as I wanted to get back here, I don't think I could ever go back to a 9 to 5 job, barbecues on Saturdays and football on Sunday."
Alex: "You were never that kind of guy, Space man.'
They laughed and hugged each other.
******
That evening when Alex was examining Aeryn she gave her the shot which she told John would take at least two hours to work. Aeryn's reaction had to be spontaneous to convince the military so John decided it was best not to tell her about the shot.
While this was going on DK was having the module moved to the field just on the other side of the base. He had a skeleton crew with him. Jack being among them.
By midnight Aeryn's bodily functions were beginning to fail. She was terrified. She didn't understand what was happening. She asked to see John but they didn't understand her. She slipped away just after 1 am.
Alex was correct in how the military handled her death. They didn't know if she was contaminated or not. They bagged her in a body bag and had her taken out by two guards and Alex. The official transport was waiting in the back of the facility. John was waiting at the side entrance with DK with a different transport. Alex led them to the side entrance. When the guards came through the door pushing the stretcher, DK and John knocked them out. DK unzipped the bag. He looked at Aeryn and touched her cheek.
DK: "She is really cold Alex. Are you sure she is okay?"
Alex checked Aeryn.
Alex: "She will be fine. John this is the counteragent. Give it to Aeryn in one hour. Remember it will take at least a couple of hours for her to come around completely. She will be drained like a newborn but she will be fine."
John took the serum. DK put Aeryn in the back of the transport. John took Alex in his arms.
John: "Thank you for everything."
Alex: "It was good to see you again, Space man. Take care of yourself."
He stepped back.
Alex: "And take care of her too."
John: "I will."
John smiled. He climbed in the transport and drove off.
******
Jack had taken out the two guards guarding the module. John got Aeryn into her space suit and DK helped him put her in the module. John slipped his suit on. He and DK grabbed hands.
DK: "You take care of yourself, John. I know we will meet again either down here or up there."
John: "I know we will."
They hugged. John looked over at his father.
Jack: "At least I know now that you are alive, that is more than I had the last time you vanished in the heavens without a trace."
John: "I love you, Dad."
They hugged. Suddenly they heard the base alert. John looked at DK and Jack.
John: "One day you will look up and I will be there."
He climbed in the module. He climbed in behind Aeryn's limp body. Her head was resting against his leg. Jack and DK backed away. John fired up Farscape I. He shot across the field building up speed. He could see that the base was lit up with activity and vehicles were being deployed to the field. John had to get at a certain speed before starting his vertical climb.
John: "Come on Sweetheart. Take us home."
He hit the speed and pulled back on the lever. The G-Force left him slightly disoriented but he knew exactly how much speed he had to build up to get through the atmosphere. Fighter jets were sent after him but with Moya's components they were no match for the module. When John broke through the atmosphere, he screamed.
John: "Whoooa!!!"
Before he started his sling shot maneuver he gave Aeryn the counteragent in her neck as Alex had instructed him.
John started his maneuver. He was bouncing off the atmosphere when he saw the wormhole appear. He smiled.
John: "Right on time my beauty."
John waited for the wormhole to stabilize. He took a deep breath and pointed his module right into it. They were swept up in to it. They were shot out of the wormhole. It took John a moment to get control of the ship. He pulled his com out.
John: "Pilot? This is John can you read me."
There was nothing but space and stars.
John: "Pilot? D'Argo, Chiana, can anybody ready me?"
Still silence. John took Aeryn's helmet off. He checked her breathing. It was shallow but steady.
John: "Come back to me, Babe. Don't leave me out here all by myself."
DK: "Are you still in love with Alex, John?"
John: "There was a time when Alex left that I couldn't imagine my life without her but we were so close with realizing our dream of being in the space program, I couldn't leave. But I always thought that one day she and I would be together."
DK: "And now?"
John: "Now there is Aeryn."
John looked at DK.
John: "I know what you're thinking and you're right…she looks human but she is an alien. I can't explain it DK. I am in love with her. I didn't realize how much until I saw the look in her eyes last night."
DK: "Have you talked to Alex about last night?"
John: "No, you know me. The poster child for avoidance when it comes to dealing with Alex. Instead of talking to her about leaving, I was going to ask her to marry me to keep her here."
DK smiled.
DK: "Some things never change."
John smiled and lowered his head.
DK: "What can I do to help?"
John: "I have to get Aeryn out of here. She will die here if I don't."
DK: "You said she won't see you. How are you going to do this without her?"
John: "I will get into to see her alone. She is hurt and angry but Aeryn is a warrior, a survivor. She will be fine when the time comes."
DK: "What about Alex? This project (Aeryn) is her baby. How are you going to get her to go along with any of this?"
John: "I don't know but I have to try and if she won't, then I have to go around her. I am not going to let Aeryn die without a fight."
******
Alex and John were having dinner that night. John was on the quiet side. Alex put her fork down and looked at him. She looked at John just pushing his food around with his fork.
Alex: "Why don't you ask me the question you have been trying not to ask me all night?"
John looked up from the plate.
John: "How is she doing?"
Alex: "Physically, her wounds are fine. Emotionally, it is like she has given up. She won't eat and has ceased trying to communicate or be cooperative at all. We have had to put her on IV fluids to keep her from dehydrating. She won't even take water."
John: "I have to see her, Alex."
Alex: "The mention of your name is the only thing that gets a reaction out of her at all and it is not a good one."
John: "She is hurt and angry. I know that but I have to try. Please, I need to see her alone. She will talk to me."
Alex: "When?"
John stood up.
John: "Tonight!"
He grabbed Alex's hand. They rushed out.
*******
Aeryn was curled up on the bed staring at the wall. The restraints had been removed earlier in the day. She had no concept of how long she had been in that room, only that she wanted out. She heard the familiar sound of the lock on the door clicking. It was so that it didn't even raise a reaction in her anymore. She just lay there with her back to the door. She heard the door open and close. She knew she was no longer alone in the room but she just didn't care anymore. She heard a familiar voice that made her feel both comfort, hurt, and anger all at the same time. It was John Crichton.
John: "Aeryn, I know I am the last person you want to see right now. But I am also the only one who can help."
She didn't respond. He walked over to the bed and sat on the edge. He touched her leg.
John: "Aeryn, please."
She pulled her leg away. John took a deep breath. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to a sitting position. She whence in pain. He looked down at her wrists. They were raw from her fighting against the restraints. He looked in her eyes.
John: "Babe, what did you do to yourself?"
Aeryn: "Your so called civilized humans did it to me."
He loosened his hold on her wrists. She was sitting up facing him.
John: "I am not going to let you die here. I know that is what you are doing. I won't let it happen."
Aeryn spoke again. Her voice was hoarse from all the screaming she had been doing previously.
Aeryn: "It would be better for you if I did."
John: "What?"
Aeryn: "Then you can have a normal life back here in your home world and you wouldn't have to worry about me."
John: "Is that what you think?"
She lowered her eyes. John took her face in his hands. She looked into his eyes.
John: "I know why you lashed out the way you did at me last night and I won't deny what you saw. It was just being home again with someone who I loved very much in my past. The moment overwhelmed me. I know that is a stupid excuse considering what was happening to you at the time."
She looked away. John caressed her cheek the way he has in the past. He felt the tears run down her face. She looked up at him. He leaned forward and laid his forehead against hers. He whispered to her.
John: "The module is ready to go. We have to get out of here tonight. DK and Dad are going to help us."
She lifted her head and looked in his eyes.
John: "At the changing of the guards at 2 am, we go. You will know when I am here from the loud diversion you will certainly hear."
He gently wiped her tears away. She knew what he was giving up for her. It filled her heart.
John: "It is time to go back home to Moya."
Aeryn: "This is your home John."
John: "My home is wherever you are. If I didn't realize that before, I realize it now."
She smiled slightly through her tears. She laid her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her slowly. Aeryn felt safe for the first time since she left Moya with John three solar days ago. John kissed her forehead.
John: "I have to go meet my dad."
She nodded her head. He slipped off the bed and walked toward the door. He looked back. Aeryn was staring at him. He winked at her. She smiled slightly. He left.
******
John met Jack at his bungalow. Jack had brought to IASA uniforms, one for Aeryn and one for John. DK had made arrangements to have the module taken out of the hangar to test some of the modifications that John had made. The military was quite interested in how that module could have made it through re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere without dissolving from the heat.
Jack left just as Alex was coming up the walk. Alex waved to Jack as he was climbing into his truck. John stood on the porch and waved at her.
John: "What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you."
Alex: "I know you weren't. Can we go inside?"
John held the door open for her. She walked in and saw the uniforms on the couch. She turned and looked at John.
John: "I am trusting you Alex. More than I have ever trusted you before because it is not just my life, it is Aeryn's."
Alex: "You are helping her to go back home."
John: "She can't stay here. She will die. It is my fault. I should have realized that but I wanted so badly to come and to bring her with me that I wasn't thinking about what she wanted or needed."
Alex: "I was right, wasn't I? You are in love with her."
John: "I am not trying to hurt you."
Alex: "We had our moment in time."
John touched her cheek.
John: "Our glorious moments."
He lowered his hand.
John: "My future is with Aeryn, if she will ever forgive me for all she has been through because of me."
Alex lowered her eyes and then looked back up.
Alex: "How can I help?"
John: "No, I don't want you to get into trouble because of me."
Alex: "Why should now be any different?"
She smiled. He smiled and walked over and embraced her.
John: "Thank you."
Alex: "Just tell me what you need me to do Space man."
John pulled Alex over to the couch.
John: "Aeryn is Sebecean. Her species cannot be exposed to heat for long periods of time. Their bodies lack the gene to regulate their body temperature."
Alex: "It is 104° in the shade John. How can she stand that kind of heat outside of the medical facility?"
John: "Isn't there something we can do to keep her core temperature down until I can get her into space?"
Alex thought for a moment. She stood up and walked over to the window. John went and stood beside her.
John: "I know that look. What?"
Alex: "It is risky at best John."
John: "Riskier than watching her die in that cell day by day?"
Alex: "I can give her a shot that will simulate death. Slowing her heart, brain, and vital functions to simulate death."
John looked at her.
John: "Kill her?"
Alex: "Simulate death. She would be immediately bagged and moved for dissection and study. In transit, her body could be switched."
John looked out at the base.
John: "How would I revive her once I got her body?"
Alex: "I will give you the counter agent. It will take several hours to work. She will be weak and need a lot of rest."
John: "She will get that once I get her back on Moya."
Alex got this look on her face.
Alex: "Do you love her that much that you are willing to give up being back on Earth? The chance at having a normal life with a wife, kids, mini van…?"
John touched Alex's cheek.
John: "There was a time in my life when I would have given anything for that."
Alex: "Anything but your chance at being in the space program."
John: "I have seen the most incredible, wondrous things seen I have been gone. I have also been put through more than I though one human being could be put through and I have come out on the other side. As badly as I wanted to get back here, I don't think I could ever go back to a 9 to 5 job, barbecues on Saturdays and football on Sunday."
Alex: "You were never that kind of guy, Space man.'
They laughed and hugged each other.
******
That evening when Alex was examining Aeryn she gave her the shot which she told John would take at least two hours to work. Aeryn's reaction had to be spontaneous to convince the military so John decided it was best not to tell her about the shot.
While this was going on DK was having the module moved to the field just on the other side of the base. He had a skeleton crew with him. Jack being among them.
By midnight Aeryn's bodily functions were beginning to fail. She was terrified. She didn't understand what was happening. She asked to see John but they didn't understand her. She slipped away just after 1 am.
Alex was correct in how the military handled her death. They didn't know if she was contaminated or not. They bagged her in a body bag and had her taken out by two guards and Alex. The official transport was waiting in the back of the facility. John was waiting at the side entrance with DK with a different transport. Alex led them to the side entrance. When the guards came through the door pushing the stretcher, DK and John knocked them out. DK unzipped the bag. He looked at Aeryn and touched her cheek.
DK: "She is really cold Alex. Are you sure she is okay?"
Alex checked Aeryn.
Alex: "She will be fine. John this is the counteragent. Give it to Aeryn in one hour. Remember it will take at least a couple of hours for her to come around completely. She will be drained like a newborn but she will be fine."
John took the serum. DK put Aeryn in the back of the transport. John took Alex in his arms.
John: "Thank you for everything."
Alex: "It was good to see you again, Space man. Take care of yourself."
He stepped back.
Alex: "And take care of her too."
John: "I will."
John smiled. He climbed in the transport and drove off.
******
Jack had taken out the two guards guarding the module. John got Aeryn into her space suit and DK helped him put her in the module. John slipped his suit on. He and DK grabbed hands.
DK: "You take care of yourself, John. I know we will meet again either down here or up there."
John: "I know we will."
They hugged. John looked over at his father.
Jack: "At least I know now that you are alive, that is more than I had the last time you vanished in the heavens without a trace."
John: "I love you, Dad."
They hugged. Suddenly they heard the base alert. John looked at DK and Jack.
John: "One day you will look up and I will be there."
He climbed in the module. He climbed in behind Aeryn's limp body. Her head was resting against his leg. Jack and DK backed away. John fired up Farscape I. He shot across the field building up speed. He could see that the base was lit up with activity and vehicles were being deployed to the field. John had to get at a certain speed before starting his vertical climb.
John: "Come on Sweetheart. Take us home."
He hit the speed and pulled back on the lever. The G-Force left him slightly disoriented but he knew exactly how much speed he had to build up to get through the atmosphere. Fighter jets were sent after him but with Moya's components they were no match for the module. When John broke through the atmosphere, he screamed.
John: "Whoooa!!!"
Before he started his sling shot maneuver he gave Aeryn the counteragent in her neck as Alex had instructed him.
John started his maneuver. He was bouncing off the atmosphere when he saw the wormhole appear. He smiled.
John: "Right on time my beauty."
John waited for the wormhole to stabilize. He took a deep breath and pointed his module right into it. They were swept up in to it. They were shot out of the wormhole. It took John a moment to get control of the ship. He pulled his com out.
John: "Pilot? This is John can you read me."
There was nothing but space and stars.
John: "Pilot? D'Argo, Chiana, can anybody ready me?"
Still silence. John took Aeryn's helmet off. He checked her breathing. It was shallow but steady.
John: "Come back to me, Babe. Don't leave me out here all by myself."
