" If you're half as smart as you think you are, you'd cooperate and tell us what we want to hear from you. If you don't cooperate...well, let's just say that I'll let Aeryn take revenge on you for what has been done to her," John stated coldly as he signaled the alien to get up and sit on the slab. He smiled as he noticed how the alien's gaze shifted from him to Aeryn and back again.

Aeryn's eyes were as cold as ice as they looked upon their captive. Had she not been holding their son, she might have already been more than tempted to strangle the alien. He remembered the gun Aeryn had placed on the slab and saw the alien eyeing it. " Don't try anything stupid..."

" What...what is the child doing here?" the alien spoke softly as he sat down on the slab, painfully aware of the gun still pointed at his head and the pending wrath of Aeryn Sun. Given the warning the male had given him, he decided not to give another look at the gun laying on the slab close to him.

" That is none of your concern," Aeryn replied as the look in her eyes grew even colder. It hadn't escaped her attention that Xhal seemed to recognize this scientist, which led her to believe that their captive could be an important man. Xhal's expression mirrored her own closely even if the little boy didn't notice it.

" But how..."

" The only thing you need to know is that we are taking our son with us. He will not be used for your experiments any more." Aeryn felt the anger rising inside.

" The way I see it you've got two only options. You could let us just walk away and take one of your ships with us or I could blow this entire base to hell," John informed as a matter of fact. "I've become really good at blowing stuff up and destroying things over the years."

" You cannot possibly mean this," the alien retorted.

" The hell I can...your people attacked us unprovoked in the first place. We were just minding our own business and you shot us. You frelling shot us like you were out hunting to shoot some ducks."

" Our actions were justified. You trespassed and we handled the situation accordingly. We could have killed you, but we did not do so."

" Don't tell me you people pull this kind of stunt with everyone who lands on Qujaga?"

" No, we do not analyze all invaders. The two of you presented us with an interesting opportunity, because you were outside of the Leviathan and an easier target than those remaining inside."

" You realize that the shoot first ask questions later approach doesn't always work, do you? Had you contacted us you people would have found out that we didn't mean you any harm at all. Moya...our Leviathan had been injured in attack by the Scarrans and we had heard that the water of Qujaga had some kind healing properties. That's why we came to the planet."

" You had no other intentions than the one you stated?" The alien asked with a surprised expression on its face. " You only wanted to heal your Leviathan? This Moya?"

" Yes," Aeryn replied before John had the chance to. She walked over to one of the chairs near the console and sat down. Her gaze however never left the alien for one single moment.

" We did not anticipate this option.." The alien looked from John to Aeryn and Xhal. Apparently the realization finally hit home as he realized that they had not been here to attack his people. They had made a mistake.

" Yeah, we already figured that out. You should have just asked us," John countered as he shook his head. Perhaps it was to early to say but judging by the alien's reaction they might not have to use force to get what they wanted after all. He lowered his gun a bit before he continued. " So are you going to help us out of here? I have more than enough enemies already and I don't want to add another one. I'm tired of having my ass chased across the galaxy..."

The alien nodded.

" Great," John spoke relieved. He quickly placed his gun back in his holster and signaled the alien to get off the slab.

" John, wait..." Aeryn got up from the chair and walked over to her lover. She needed to do one more thing before they left. "Could you..."

"Yeah," John murmured as he took Xhal from her. He knew what she wanted to do the very moment their eyes had met. She needed answers and the alien was the only one who could provide them for her. John felt Xhal squirm in his grasp. It seemed like the child didn't like the fact that he was being held in his father's arms instead of his mother's.

" Were you the one who authorized the procedure of speeding up my son's development? Were you the one who operated on me?" Her questions echoed through the room and were met by silence. She watched the alien swallow hard before he had managed to collect enough courage to answer her questions.

" Yes...I was the one who authorized it."

" Know that if it was up to me I would kill you without hesitation and remorse for what you have done to us. But John is right...we do not need to add another enemy to our list. This is the only reason why I will spare your pathetic life today," Aeryn sneered as she grabbed her gun from the slab. " I will never forget what has happened and if I find out that our son has been harmed by what you've done to him, I will return for you and give you a very slow and painful death. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

The scientist nodded.

" Good," Aeryn replied with a cold smile. " Let's go then."

*

~ Epilogue ~

John glanced at the data on the console and caught himself yawning. Behind him the door slid open and revealed Aeryn Sun as she entered the ship's command area. He smiled as Aeryn took her place in the chair beside him. She had been with Xhal the past five hours while he had been piloting the ship.

"How's he doing?" John asked as their eyes met. He couldn't help but notice how tired she looked.

"He's asleep," Aeryn replied, reaching for John's hand. As their hands entwined she squeezed his hand softly and reassuringly. " He fell asleep right after we took off in this ship. I wanted to stay with him until I was sure that he was allright. I don't like not knowing what they have done to him and I cannot forgive them for what they've done, John. They robbed two cycles of his life. They've robbed us of the opportunity to watch him grow."

" I know how you feel, baby. I feel the same way, but the most important thing is that he's with us now. We've got him back," John spoke, pulling Aeryn over to him and into an embrace. Sitting on his lap, she leaned backwards against him. It felt good to hold her, especially considering that they were had survived their ordeal.

Aeryn nuzzled his neck and sighed softly. " You never did tell me what or where our destination is, John..."

" Well...I vaguely remember D'Argo saying something about going to a diagnosan for Chiana and I figured we should go there. The diagnosan could check out Xhal to see what has been done to him and if he's allright..." He offered as his hand drew circles on the fabric of her black shirt. Xhal wasn't the only one he was worried about. John knew that there had been complications when the aliens had operated on Aeryn. He could have lost her.

" And you also want the diagnosan to examine me to see if they haven't caused me any lasting physical harm," Aeryn added, reading his mind. After all those years of knowing John Crichton she had learned to read him, but she was still prone to guessing it wrong sometimes. He could be a very complicated man.

" Yes, just to be on the safe side," John stated. A worried expression had taken up residency on his features. He opened his mouth to say something else, but before he was able to do so Aeryn intervened.

" You don't have to worry. I'm fine, John," Aeryn smiled as she kissed him. " However...you look like dren, John Crichton. You should get some rest."

" Why thank you for putting it so eloquently, miss Sun..." John grinned. " But the way I see it, I'm not the only one who looks like crap. I figure we could both use some rest right about now. You know that on occasions like these I'm really glad that this ship has a build-in automatic pilot."

"Really?" Aeryn laughed.

"Yeah," He chuckled as he buried his face in her raven colored hair and inhaled her scent. John brushed away a strand of Aeryn's hair and teasingly trailed her neck with kisses. " I love you, Aeryn Sun."

" I love you, John Crichton."

Looking at the vastness of space and the blinking of stars in the distance, it was hard to imagine that only a couple of hours ago they had been prisoners and unsure if they would be able to escape with their skins intact. For a moment he closed his eyes and forgot everything around him...everything except Aeryn. There was no danger, no one chasing after them. No Peacekeepers. No Scarrans. No nothing.

For a brief moment in time John Crichton felt at peace again.

~ The End ~