Hello again. Trying something new this time around. Can and I are writing
this fic together. This is our own idea of what could, but probably won't
happen at the beginning of season 4. Thanks for reading, hope you like it.
Fic: Nothing's Quite The Same
Story by: Neuroscpr and Can
P1 by: Neuroscpr
Setting: After DWTB, spoilers up until that ep.
Rating: R
Summary: John and the other displaced members of the crew embark on their own missions as Moya heads into unknown territory.
There was no pain. At least not enough for him to feel any of it. Maybe that was enough to be thankful for in the current situation. He opened his eyes so they could adjust to the dim lighting. There was no destruction, no malfunctions. Only darkness.
Pilot managed to get his arms up and uploaded the latest scanner information. Not surprisingly, there wasn't any. According to Moya's sensors, they weren't surrounded by anything.
"Pilot?"
The tiny whisper came from somewhere out in the dark. A large part of him leaped with joy that someone was there. Another felt instantly lonely.
Jool had a hand at her temple and the other hanging at her side. She was unharmed but more than a bit rattled. Her hair had returned to normal color.
"Are you alright Jool?"
She smiled weakly. "I'm fine Pilot."
Moya rumbled but not in response to their situation. She was worried. The enormous ship could not see beyond her outer skin. Leviathans feared blindness much more than peacekeepers.
"What about you? Is Moya ok?"
Pilot nodded slightly. All the dark, empty passageways came and went in his head as he did this. There was no one left to serve. No one but Jool.
Her heart broke at the sight of Pilot's sullen face. She hadn't known them as long. Hadn't gotten the chance to care about them the same way. But Jool felt it too.
"If only Crichton or D'Argo were here. They'd know what to do."
Jool stroked the edges of Pilot's rough skin with her fingertips. If only to calm him for a little while.
He heard her words echo in his mind and through Moya. 'If only they were here. They'd know what to do.'
Pilot felt her soft caress and smiled. It reminded him of Zhaan.
"They're all gone now."
The leviathan soared blindly through the wormhole's twisting highway at incredible speed. Her destination and her fate were a mystery. All she knew was that two souls remained aboard her. And they were both afraid.
"You've gone and done it now, John."
Tiny sparks of life returned to John Crichton's body. His eyes opened reluctantly and squinted at the force of the instrument panel in front of him. He was in the module, exactly where they had left him.
"Wake up! Before it's too late."
John turned around and found himself starting at the neural clone in his mind. He groaned softly and tried to shut it out. Harvey was more persistent than usual.
"I know we're out of fuel, I know we're out of oxygen. What the hell else do you-?"
The human froze in the middle of his speech when he realized what he'd said. Let his eyes run quickly over the gauges, John's suspicion was confirmed.
He'd run out of air hours ago.
"I'm dead?"
His heart began to beat faster in his chest at the thought. 'I can't be dead can I? I'd know.' John looked out into the space beyond his module's portal and felt his mouth drop open.
The ship was sitting perfectly still. No drift.
"That's what we thought too." The voice was coming from outside. "But all evidence is to the contrary."
John locked eyes with Harvey and the neural clone shrugged. He wasn't the one talking this time.
A knock came from outside the hatch.
"I think we've let you sleep long enough."
The hatch swung open and a light, wrinkly hand pulled it the rest of the way. Jack took a look inside before settling on the man he had come for.
John blinked. "But you're dead."
The ancient grinned. "Don't worry about that. We all look the same to you." He extended his hand out and John took it.
Standing up, John looked at the spot where Moya had last been. "Was that you?"
Jack shook his head. "No, we didn't take Moya." He raised a hand towards the area John was looking at. "We came to find out what happened to the other, to you."
Without any discernible signal, the wormhole that had sucked Moya in suddenly reappeared again. It cast an awe-inspiring blue glow through the darkness.
John couldn't take his eyes from it. "I have to find her."
Beside him, Jack's face had turned dark. "No. The way is dangerous. You're not ready for that yet."
The docking yards were a maze of industrial buildings surrounded by vessels of every shape and size. On a good day you could find a ride to just about anywhere within reason. For some, this was not a good day.
"Hey! That's not what you said!"
The ship captain sighed in a gesture of annoyance and turned away from the Nebari. He'd had enough trouble over the week with that boat of his for this little tralk to give him anymore.
Chiana ran after him. "You said you'd fly anywhere!"
He reached for the smoke pipe in his mouth and tossed it to the ground. Customers could never understand him with that frelling thing in there. "Nebari Space is not anywhere. It's way the frell somewhere." He fished another pipe out of his pocket. "Get yourself killed in a place like that."
She slid around him and cut the captain off before he could leave the yard. "I'll pay you whatever you want. Just get me to the border." Chiana kept an eye on the strange glances they were getting as she spoke. "I'll do the rest."
The captain shrugged. "And what kind of business does someone like you have in Nebari territory? Way I heard it, most of you runaways don't wanna go back."
Chiana eyed him suspiciously. "How'd you know I was a runaway?"
He pushed past her without answering. This was already bad for business. Pretty soon it'd be bad for his health too.
"Don't walk away from me!"
In one swift motion, he'd spun back around and pinned Chiana against the port side of his ship. Pushing himself in close to her, he began whispering.
"You're going to get us both killed if you don't' shut up."
Chiana looked him dead in the eyes. She smelled her first big break and wasn't going to let it go. "Who are you?"
"Never mind that." He took a quick glance to the left and right before removing a small slip of paper from his pocket.
She tried to push him off but he was too strong. "I'll scream."
The captain shook his head. "No you won't." He uncurled one of her gloved fists and stuck the paper in it.
"These people can get you what you need." He stepped away from her. "Don't ever come around her again, you hear me?" He turned and walked quickly off into the darkness.
Chiana breathed heavily as she watched him go. She uncurled the slip of paper and read the message before stuffing it somewhere safe.
"Thank you."
Two steel towers, equally drab and unimpressive, rose up on either side of the alley. The dark shade of night and debris left over from a thousand cycles of labor created a narrow passageway that any civilian would not dare cross even in the light of day.
Aeryn Sun walked conspicuously alone down this alley. Both her arms swung at her sides, away from the twin pulse pistols on her belt. She was not afraid.
The soft sound of footsteps had begun quite awhile ago and she had managed to focus in on it. All the other sounds of a lonely street faded until only they remained. She was being followed.
At the edge of the alley, a thin beam of light touched the ground. Just enough for her to feel warmth on her skin again. Aeryn stopped.
The response was immediate.
"How long have we been following you?"
It wasn't a threat, she knew. That was the kind of question fellow peacekeepers asked each other in training. Encouraged to keep everyone on their toes.
Without turning around, she spoke. "After I landed the prowler, one of you stood at the edge of the platform. Not you though. The bald one, third from the front."
A man dressed in peacekeeper-like gear stepped out from behind a crate. His face was covered in black camouflage to mask his appearance. When he smiled, his teeth shone brightly in contrast.
"Impressive."
Aeryn continued to face away from him. She'd been looking for these people for only a few solar days. It actually surprised her that they had made themselves known quite so quickly.
"What do you call yourself?" The man's voice was gruff but soft. His gun never went down and his finger never uncurled from around the trigger.
She turned around slowly. "Aeryn Sun."
The man's eyes went wide in surprise. His gun lowered slightly before snapping back to attention. He'd heard stories of this woman. The type of things that make you a legend and kill you in the process. Aeryn Sun was alive for the most part.
"Torvald! Get up here!"
Footsteps clamored down the alley towards them. Aeryn could imagine what was happening but she did not speak. She would be patient.
The man waited until Torvald, one of the more experienced members of the group, was beside him before speaking. "Do you recognize her?"
Torvald looked up at Aeryn and grinned. His teeth were not quite as clean as the other's. "It was a long time ago." He seemed to think it over for a microt. "It's her."
Aeryn nodded towards him.
The two soldiers whispered to each other for a moment before addressing her. Finally, Torvald spoke up. "We got news that a command carrier was destroyed. High Command's reporting that its Scarren propaganda. You know anything about that?"
Aeryn said nothing.
Torvald leaned in close to his superior. "What are your orders?"
The man kept his eyes on Aeryn as he spoke. "We'll speak to her." His grin had already changed into a frown.
"Tread carefully with this one, Torvald. She could be very bad for us."
"Frelling food cubes."
D'Argo picked up the small box of nutrient squares and tossed it back down into the cargo area behind him. The container crashed loudly against the other, larger ones it joined. He'd told Aeryn that loading up on supplies was the best way to target in minimal time. Perhaps that plan had been flawed.
The smell of tasteless food and the ex-peacekeeper's words brought memories back into the Luxan's mind. Times that seemed so very long ago now. He pushed the thoughts away and concentrated on controlling his ship.
Moving at incredible speed, D'Argo's new ship cut a misleading vector through space. Its relatively small size made it look weak. He knew by now that weak couldn't be farther from the truth. This ship had destroyed a leviathan with a single shot. He wasn't proud of that, though.
D'Argo didn't want to admit it but he missed being part of a crew. On his ship, he was the captain and sole passenger.
"Message incoming."
The ship's metallic voice repeated the alert several times. It was exactly endearing.
"Enough!" D'Argo activated the senor grid. "Identify source."
On the screen in front of him, a new and quite unexpected sight appeared. A Luxan warship was passing on a vector very similar to his. D'Argo wasn't sure if that made him feel better or worse.
"Respond."
The vidscreen came online and the other party could now be seen. A Luxan, older than D'Argo by many cycles, stood waiting. His tailored dress suggested that he was a government official. Somewhat like the one he'd seen on Scorpius' command carrier.
"I have not seen a ship like that in many cycles. Identify yourself." The voice was firm without being aggressive.
D'Argo switched on his audio. "I don't think so. You first."
The Luxan nodded curtly. "Ah yes. I know who you are now." It was in fact the very same diplomat that D'Argo had seen.
"Ka D'Argo. The warrior wrongfully imprisoned for murdering his wife."
D'Argo grunted an affirmation.
The diplomat nodded again. "Come aboard my ship. We have things to discuss."
D'Argo wasn't sure why, but he ordered his ship to change course.
"So what then?"
John watched the ancient carefully for any sign of what he was thinking. Truth be told, his mind was still too cloudy to be up to the task.
"I was sent to find the one we left behind."
Jack nodded as if he knew what John was thinking. "Once we found our new home, we were able to replenish our strength. Enough to come back for him and you."
John shook his head. "I've got some bad news for you then."
The ancient raised a hand. "Don't bother. I read your mind while you slept. I know that he's dead. And I know what you did to help us."
"Yeah, they're gonna name me humanitarian of the universe some day." John looked out at the stars and saw that they were moving again. It felt good to move.
Jack frowned. "You've sacrificed a lot for what we gave you. It has become a common belief that we could do one thing more."
The human glanced up at him. "Like what?"
"Last time we spoke, you were looking for Earth."
John couldn't believe the words that came out of his mouth. "Nah, that's over with now. Everything's frelled the hell up."
If the ancient was surprised, he didn't show it.
"Then choose your destination."
John sighed. He turned slowly towards the man that looked way too much like his father. Making an educated guess, he pointed out into space. 'Pick a vector, any vector.'
He smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that."
Very far from where the two men stood, a leviathan floated blindly towards its unknown destination. A ship that knew the sorrow of losing a son. Aboard her now, all were silent.
Fic: Nothing's Quite The Same
Story by: Neuroscpr and Can
P1 by: Neuroscpr
Setting: After DWTB, spoilers up until that ep.
Rating: R
Summary: John and the other displaced members of the crew embark on their own missions as Moya heads into unknown territory.
There was no pain. At least not enough for him to feel any of it. Maybe that was enough to be thankful for in the current situation. He opened his eyes so they could adjust to the dim lighting. There was no destruction, no malfunctions. Only darkness.
Pilot managed to get his arms up and uploaded the latest scanner information. Not surprisingly, there wasn't any. According to Moya's sensors, they weren't surrounded by anything.
"Pilot?"
The tiny whisper came from somewhere out in the dark. A large part of him leaped with joy that someone was there. Another felt instantly lonely.
Jool had a hand at her temple and the other hanging at her side. She was unharmed but more than a bit rattled. Her hair had returned to normal color.
"Are you alright Jool?"
She smiled weakly. "I'm fine Pilot."
Moya rumbled but not in response to their situation. She was worried. The enormous ship could not see beyond her outer skin. Leviathans feared blindness much more than peacekeepers.
"What about you? Is Moya ok?"
Pilot nodded slightly. All the dark, empty passageways came and went in his head as he did this. There was no one left to serve. No one but Jool.
Her heart broke at the sight of Pilot's sullen face. She hadn't known them as long. Hadn't gotten the chance to care about them the same way. But Jool felt it too.
"If only Crichton or D'Argo were here. They'd know what to do."
Jool stroked the edges of Pilot's rough skin with her fingertips. If only to calm him for a little while.
He heard her words echo in his mind and through Moya. 'If only they were here. They'd know what to do.'
Pilot felt her soft caress and smiled. It reminded him of Zhaan.
"They're all gone now."
The leviathan soared blindly through the wormhole's twisting highway at incredible speed. Her destination and her fate were a mystery. All she knew was that two souls remained aboard her. And they were both afraid.
"You've gone and done it now, John."
Tiny sparks of life returned to John Crichton's body. His eyes opened reluctantly and squinted at the force of the instrument panel in front of him. He was in the module, exactly where they had left him.
"Wake up! Before it's too late."
John turned around and found himself starting at the neural clone in his mind. He groaned softly and tried to shut it out. Harvey was more persistent than usual.
"I know we're out of fuel, I know we're out of oxygen. What the hell else do you-?"
The human froze in the middle of his speech when he realized what he'd said. Let his eyes run quickly over the gauges, John's suspicion was confirmed.
He'd run out of air hours ago.
"I'm dead?"
His heart began to beat faster in his chest at the thought. 'I can't be dead can I? I'd know.' John looked out into the space beyond his module's portal and felt his mouth drop open.
The ship was sitting perfectly still. No drift.
"That's what we thought too." The voice was coming from outside. "But all evidence is to the contrary."
John locked eyes with Harvey and the neural clone shrugged. He wasn't the one talking this time.
A knock came from outside the hatch.
"I think we've let you sleep long enough."
The hatch swung open and a light, wrinkly hand pulled it the rest of the way. Jack took a look inside before settling on the man he had come for.
John blinked. "But you're dead."
The ancient grinned. "Don't worry about that. We all look the same to you." He extended his hand out and John took it.
Standing up, John looked at the spot where Moya had last been. "Was that you?"
Jack shook his head. "No, we didn't take Moya." He raised a hand towards the area John was looking at. "We came to find out what happened to the other, to you."
Without any discernible signal, the wormhole that had sucked Moya in suddenly reappeared again. It cast an awe-inspiring blue glow through the darkness.
John couldn't take his eyes from it. "I have to find her."
Beside him, Jack's face had turned dark. "No. The way is dangerous. You're not ready for that yet."
The docking yards were a maze of industrial buildings surrounded by vessels of every shape and size. On a good day you could find a ride to just about anywhere within reason. For some, this was not a good day.
"Hey! That's not what you said!"
The ship captain sighed in a gesture of annoyance and turned away from the Nebari. He'd had enough trouble over the week with that boat of his for this little tralk to give him anymore.
Chiana ran after him. "You said you'd fly anywhere!"
He reached for the smoke pipe in his mouth and tossed it to the ground. Customers could never understand him with that frelling thing in there. "Nebari Space is not anywhere. It's way the frell somewhere." He fished another pipe out of his pocket. "Get yourself killed in a place like that."
She slid around him and cut the captain off before he could leave the yard. "I'll pay you whatever you want. Just get me to the border." Chiana kept an eye on the strange glances they were getting as she spoke. "I'll do the rest."
The captain shrugged. "And what kind of business does someone like you have in Nebari territory? Way I heard it, most of you runaways don't wanna go back."
Chiana eyed him suspiciously. "How'd you know I was a runaway?"
He pushed past her without answering. This was already bad for business. Pretty soon it'd be bad for his health too.
"Don't walk away from me!"
In one swift motion, he'd spun back around and pinned Chiana against the port side of his ship. Pushing himself in close to her, he began whispering.
"You're going to get us both killed if you don't' shut up."
Chiana looked him dead in the eyes. She smelled her first big break and wasn't going to let it go. "Who are you?"
"Never mind that." He took a quick glance to the left and right before removing a small slip of paper from his pocket.
She tried to push him off but he was too strong. "I'll scream."
The captain shook his head. "No you won't." He uncurled one of her gloved fists and stuck the paper in it.
"These people can get you what you need." He stepped away from her. "Don't ever come around her again, you hear me?" He turned and walked quickly off into the darkness.
Chiana breathed heavily as she watched him go. She uncurled the slip of paper and read the message before stuffing it somewhere safe.
"Thank you."
Two steel towers, equally drab and unimpressive, rose up on either side of the alley. The dark shade of night and debris left over from a thousand cycles of labor created a narrow passageway that any civilian would not dare cross even in the light of day.
Aeryn Sun walked conspicuously alone down this alley. Both her arms swung at her sides, away from the twin pulse pistols on her belt. She was not afraid.
The soft sound of footsteps had begun quite awhile ago and she had managed to focus in on it. All the other sounds of a lonely street faded until only they remained. She was being followed.
At the edge of the alley, a thin beam of light touched the ground. Just enough for her to feel warmth on her skin again. Aeryn stopped.
The response was immediate.
"How long have we been following you?"
It wasn't a threat, she knew. That was the kind of question fellow peacekeepers asked each other in training. Encouraged to keep everyone on their toes.
Without turning around, she spoke. "After I landed the prowler, one of you stood at the edge of the platform. Not you though. The bald one, third from the front."
A man dressed in peacekeeper-like gear stepped out from behind a crate. His face was covered in black camouflage to mask his appearance. When he smiled, his teeth shone brightly in contrast.
"Impressive."
Aeryn continued to face away from him. She'd been looking for these people for only a few solar days. It actually surprised her that they had made themselves known quite so quickly.
"What do you call yourself?" The man's voice was gruff but soft. His gun never went down and his finger never uncurled from around the trigger.
She turned around slowly. "Aeryn Sun."
The man's eyes went wide in surprise. His gun lowered slightly before snapping back to attention. He'd heard stories of this woman. The type of things that make you a legend and kill you in the process. Aeryn Sun was alive for the most part.
"Torvald! Get up here!"
Footsteps clamored down the alley towards them. Aeryn could imagine what was happening but she did not speak. She would be patient.
The man waited until Torvald, one of the more experienced members of the group, was beside him before speaking. "Do you recognize her?"
Torvald looked up at Aeryn and grinned. His teeth were not quite as clean as the other's. "It was a long time ago." He seemed to think it over for a microt. "It's her."
Aeryn nodded towards him.
The two soldiers whispered to each other for a moment before addressing her. Finally, Torvald spoke up. "We got news that a command carrier was destroyed. High Command's reporting that its Scarren propaganda. You know anything about that?"
Aeryn said nothing.
Torvald leaned in close to his superior. "What are your orders?"
The man kept his eyes on Aeryn as he spoke. "We'll speak to her." His grin had already changed into a frown.
"Tread carefully with this one, Torvald. She could be very bad for us."
"Frelling food cubes."
D'Argo picked up the small box of nutrient squares and tossed it back down into the cargo area behind him. The container crashed loudly against the other, larger ones it joined. He'd told Aeryn that loading up on supplies was the best way to target in minimal time. Perhaps that plan had been flawed.
The smell of tasteless food and the ex-peacekeeper's words brought memories back into the Luxan's mind. Times that seemed so very long ago now. He pushed the thoughts away and concentrated on controlling his ship.
Moving at incredible speed, D'Argo's new ship cut a misleading vector through space. Its relatively small size made it look weak. He knew by now that weak couldn't be farther from the truth. This ship had destroyed a leviathan with a single shot. He wasn't proud of that, though.
D'Argo didn't want to admit it but he missed being part of a crew. On his ship, he was the captain and sole passenger.
"Message incoming."
The ship's metallic voice repeated the alert several times. It was exactly endearing.
"Enough!" D'Argo activated the senor grid. "Identify source."
On the screen in front of him, a new and quite unexpected sight appeared. A Luxan warship was passing on a vector very similar to his. D'Argo wasn't sure if that made him feel better or worse.
"Respond."
The vidscreen came online and the other party could now be seen. A Luxan, older than D'Argo by many cycles, stood waiting. His tailored dress suggested that he was a government official. Somewhat like the one he'd seen on Scorpius' command carrier.
"I have not seen a ship like that in many cycles. Identify yourself." The voice was firm without being aggressive.
D'Argo switched on his audio. "I don't think so. You first."
The Luxan nodded curtly. "Ah yes. I know who you are now." It was in fact the very same diplomat that D'Argo had seen.
"Ka D'Argo. The warrior wrongfully imprisoned for murdering his wife."
D'Argo grunted an affirmation.
The diplomat nodded again. "Come aboard my ship. We have things to discuss."
D'Argo wasn't sure why, but he ordered his ship to change course.
"So what then?"
John watched the ancient carefully for any sign of what he was thinking. Truth be told, his mind was still too cloudy to be up to the task.
"I was sent to find the one we left behind."
Jack nodded as if he knew what John was thinking. "Once we found our new home, we were able to replenish our strength. Enough to come back for him and you."
John shook his head. "I've got some bad news for you then."
The ancient raised a hand. "Don't bother. I read your mind while you slept. I know that he's dead. And I know what you did to help us."
"Yeah, they're gonna name me humanitarian of the universe some day." John looked out at the stars and saw that they were moving again. It felt good to move.
Jack frowned. "You've sacrificed a lot for what we gave you. It has become a common belief that we could do one thing more."
The human glanced up at him. "Like what?"
"Last time we spoke, you were looking for Earth."
John couldn't believe the words that came out of his mouth. "Nah, that's over with now. Everything's frelled the hell up."
If the ancient was surprised, he didn't show it.
"Then choose your destination."
John sighed. He turned slowly towards the man that looked way too much like his father. Making an educated guess, he pointed out into space. 'Pick a vector, any vector.'
He smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that."
Very far from where the two men stood, a leviathan floated blindly towards its unknown destination. A ship that knew the sorrow of losing a son. Aboard her now, all were silent.
