Disclaimer: I don't own Farscape or the characters, I'm just borrowing
them
Author's note: This story takes place after my fic "Retrieval" (I'm in to one word titles!). It would be helpful to have read that first. Ignores events of BWTB and Season four so could be classed as AU
Consequences
Chapter 1
Aeryn sighed resignedly as she sat back against the bulkhead. The tool she had been using to fix one of Moya's conduits clanged to the floor as she dropped it beside her. She scooped her hair behind her ear with a shaky hand. Almost a cycle since she had come so close to death following her imprisonment by the Peacekeepers and she still had these moments of dizziness. She had thought that she was finally over it, but over the past couple of weekens this weakness seemed to be returning. She was beginning to wonder whether she would ever fully recover, or whether this would be a permanent legacy of that time at the hands of Peacekeeper High Command. For someone who grew up in an environment where any physical or mental imperfections were punished by death, it was difficult to adjust to. However, she reflected, it was but a small price to pay if one thought that if John hadn't rescued her from her imprisonment she would already be dead by now. Besides, she was becoming accustomed to adjusting to major changes in her life, this could be just one more.
Despite her fears that she was too emotionally battered to enter into another relationship with John, albeit a different one, their love had thrived and their relationship had reached a level of intimacy that she had never expected. John had treated her with infinite patience while she recovered from her illness; spending as much time as possible with her, reading to her, improving her English, keeping her entertained when her convalescence became irksome. He deserved a medal for maintaining his ever cheerful demeanour in the face of some quite awesome displays of temper and frustration on her part! By the time she had sufficiently recovered to resume her usual life aboard Moya, she found that she didn't want to be any place where he wasn't. Since then all aspects of their relationship had developed in leaps and bounds. The physical remnants of her illness aside, Aeryn was deeply contented. She recognised that her relationship with the other John on Talyn, although extremely intense, both physically and emotionally, had almost been clouded with a sense of desperation, as if they both knew that it couldn't last; that it was just a matter of time before something happened to destroy their happiness. This time around things had progressed much more slowly, but she felt more on solid ground. They were still being hounded all over the Uncharted Territories by the Peacekeepers, but she had somehow lost her fear of the inevitable ending that she had developed when the other John died.
She broke out of her reverie and thought about comming John to help her with the last of the repairs, but another wave of dizziness as she tried to stand convinced her that it was time to have a quiet word with Jool without first raising alarm bells with John, who had developed a tendency to fuss over her health. She rose shakily and went in search of the redhead. She found her tinkering with some experiment in the med bay.
"Hey, Aeryn, take a look at this. I've managed to replicate Fardian scented bath oil right down to the exact scent and texture. It's fantastic; no more washing in that dren that D'Argo bought on the last commerce planet!"
"That's, er, great Jool, I'm, um, really pleased for you" Aeryn, who didn't give a ropey dren about scented bath oil right at this moment, didn't quite know what to say. But underneath she had some respect for the girl whose medical skills had saved her life, so she managed to display some semblance of interest by sniffing at the blue concoction.
"Um, very nice. Look Jool, I'm sorry to bother you when you're obviously busy with something important, but I wandered if you could check me out. I've been feeling a bit rough over the last few days. I don't know whether it's some sort of relapse"
Jool could tell Aeryn was really worried. It took a lot for the ex- Peacekeeper to admit to any weakness. During her long recovery she had almost driven Jool mad because she would do too much and conceal how bad she felt, so she knew to take this seriously. She had Aeryn lie on the bed and ran a scan and took some blood for testing.
Aeryn was anxiously chewing the side of her thumb. Jool wondered with a smile if she had picked up the habit from Crichton. Well it wasn't the only thing she had picked up from Crichton!
"You're definitely not having any sort of relapse," she said to her anxious patient.
"That's good, but why do I feel like crap?" Definitely spending way too much time with Crichton! Jool sat down beside Aeryn on the bed and took her hand. She had a feeling the next news would come as a bit of a shock to the ex-Peacekeeper.
"You're pregnant," she said softly
"Pregnant?" Aeryn replied incredulously. "But I can't be. I mean, I've got an implanted contraceptive. All troops born on command carriers have them. There supposed to be 100% effective for at least 30 cycles"
"You may have had one, but it's not there now," replied Jool
"Not there now? I don't understand"
"Look at this scan. That's where it should be and no IC. That, however, is definitely a developing foetus. The blood test confirms it. I think that the doctor who operated on you after John rescued you from the Peacekeepers probably had to remove it"
Aeryn sat in stunned silence, tears glistening on her eyelashes.
"I can't be pregnant Jool, I just can't be. I don't want to be. What am I going to do?"
"I suggest that you talk it through with John"
"No, I can't tell him about it yet. I need to think about this myself for a while. How far along am I?"
"I think you're about two monens, although it's a bit difficult to tell as I have no idea about human gestation cycles and how a human-sebaccean hybrid foetus is likely to develop"
"OK, but there should still be some time before it's obvious?"
"Yes. You won't do anything stupid will you Aeryn?"
"No Jool, I won't do anything stupid," Aeryn replied with a slightly twisted smile, "but please promise me that you'll keep this a secret. I know that I haven't always been as friendly as I could be towards you but I desperately need you to keep this a secret for me."
"I won't tell a soul Aeryn, I promise" she rather awkwardly patted Aeryn's hand "and if you need someone to talk to about this then I'll be here."
"Thanks. I might just need that"
Author's note: This story takes place after my fic "Retrieval" (I'm in to one word titles!). It would be helpful to have read that first. Ignores events of BWTB and Season four so could be classed as AU
Consequences
Chapter 1
Aeryn sighed resignedly as she sat back against the bulkhead. The tool she had been using to fix one of Moya's conduits clanged to the floor as she dropped it beside her. She scooped her hair behind her ear with a shaky hand. Almost a cycle since she had come so close to death following her imprisonment by the Peacekeepers and she still had these moments of dizziness. She had thought that she was finally over it, but over the past couple of weekens this weakness seemed to be returning. She was beginning to wonder whether she would ever fully recover, or whether this would be a permanent legacy of that time at the hands of Peacekeeper High Command. For someone who grew up in an environment where any physical or mental imperfections were punished by death, it was difficult to adjust to. However, she reflected, it was but a small price to pay if one thought that if John hadn't rescued her from her imprisonment she would already be dead by now. Besides, she was becoming accustomed to adjusting to major changes in her life, this could be just one more.
Despite her fears that she was too emotionally battered to enter into another relationship with John, albeit a different one, their love had thrived and their relationship had reached a level of intimacy that she had never expected. John had treated her with infinite patience while she recovered from her illness; spending as much time as possible with her, reading to her, improving her English, keeping her entertained when her convalescence became irksome. He deserved a medal for maintaining his ever cheerful demeanour in the face of some quite awesome displays of temper and frustration on her part! By the time she had sufficiently recovered to resume her usual life aboard Moya, she found that she didn't want to be any place where he wasn't. Since then all aspects of their relationship had developed in leaps and bounds. The physical remnants of her illness aside, Aeryn was deeply contented. She recognised that her relationship with the other John on Talyn, although extremely intense, both physically and emotionally, had almost been clouded with a sense of desperation, as if they both knew that it couldn't last; that it was just a matter of time before something happened to destroy their happiness. This time around things had progressed much more slowly, but she felt more on solid ground. They were still being hounded all over the Uncharted Territories by the Peacekeepers, but she had somehow lost her fear of the inevitable ending that she had developed when the other John died.
She broke out of her reverie and thought about comming John to help her with the last of the repairs, but another wave of dizziness as she tried to stand convinced her that it was time to have a quiet word with Jool without first raising alarm bells with John, who had developed a tendency to fuss over her health. She rose shakily and went in search of the redhead. She found her tinkering with some experiment in the med bay.
"Hey, Aeryn, take a look at this. I've managed to replicate Fardian scented bath oil right down to the exact scent and texture. It's fantastic; no more washing in that dren that D'Argo bought on the last commerce planet!"
"That's, er, great Jool, I'm, um, really pleased for you" Aeryn, who didn't give a ropey dren about scented bath oil right at this moment, didn't quite know what to say. But underneath she had some respect for the girl whose medical skills had saved her life, so she managed to display some semblance of interest by sniffing at the blue concoction.
"Um, very nice. Look Jool, I'm sorry to bother you when you're obviously busy with something important, but I wandered if you could check me out. I've been feeling a bit rough over the last few days. I don't know whether it's some sort of relapse"
Jool could tell Aeryn was really worried. It took a lot for the ex- Peacekeeper to admit to any weakness. During her long recovery she had almost driven Jool mad because she would do too much and conceal how bad she felt, so she knew to take this seriously. She had Aeryn lie on the bed and ran a scan and took some blood for testing.
Aeryn was anxiously chewing the side of her thumb. Jool wondered with a smile if she had picked up the habit from Crichton. Well it wasn't the only thing she had picked up from Crichton!
"You're definitely not having any sort of relapse," she said to her anxious patient.
"That's good, but why do I feel like crap?" Definitely spending way too much time with Crichton! Jool sat down beside Aeryn on the bed and took her hand. She had a feeling the next news would come as a bit of a shock to the ex-Peacekeeper.
"You're pregnant," she said softly
"Pregnant?" Aeryn replied incredulously. "But I can't be. I mean, I've got an implanted contraceptive. All troops born on command carriers have them. There supposed to be 100% effective for at least 30 cycles"
"You may have had one, but it's not there now," replied Jool
"Not there now? I don't understand"
"Look at this scan. That's where it should be and no IC. That, however, is definitely a developing foetus. The blood test confirms it. I think that the doctor who operated on you after John rescued you from the Peacekeepers probably had to remove it"
Aeryn sat in stunned silence, tears glistening on her eyelashes.
"I can't be pregnant Jool, I just can't be. I don't want to be. What am I going to do?"
"I suggest that you talk it through with John"
"No, I can't tell him about it yet. I need to think about this myself for a while. How far along am I?"
"I think you're about two monens, although it's a bit difficult to tell as I have no idea about human gestation cycles and how a human-sebaccean hybrid foetus is likely to develop"
"OK, but there should still be some time before it's obvious?"
"Yes. You won't do anything stupid will you Aeryn?"
"No Jool, I won't do anything stupid," Aeryn replied with a slightly twisted smile, "but please promise me that you'll keep this a secret. I know that I haven't always been as friendly as I could be towards you but I desperately need you to keep this a secret for me."
"I won't tell a soul Aeryn, I promise" she rather awkwardly patted Aeryn's hand "and if you need someone to talk to about this then I'll be here."
"Thanks. I might just need that"
