Prologue

Rating: PG
Setting: Directly after Promises.
Spoilers: Up to and including Promises.
Disclaimer: Don't own it, don't make money from it.
Notes: This part was un-BETA-ed. The other chapters are all BETA-ed by the wonderful Ixchup. This is my first writing attempt.

He wasn't sure where he was, how he got there and why his head felt as if it had come into contact with a brick wall, apparently followed shortly by his entire body. He tried to sit up, but that seemed to make things worse. God, even his toe nails were hurting. With a sigh he laid back down, deciding it would be better for now to try and figure out what happened.

The last thing he could clearly remember is getting out of his module, followed by Scorpius, as Crais voice came over the speakers, signaling the beginning of the Carriers destruction, and then a complete blank. Well, except for some pointed thing being put in his neck and Harv screaming he was going to die just before all went black.

John tried to assess whether the neural clone was still around. He was unable to sense him so maybe he was finally rid of him. "So the good news," John thought, "is that Harvey has finally left the building. The bad news is that I seem to be captured." John also realized his bracelet was missing. He assumed that Scorpius had it removed because he didn't want to suffer the same fate as John.

"I see you are awake. It is so good to see you again John," Scorpius' voice came out of nowhere. "Yeah, I'm real happy for ya," John replied. "I take it you want my insurance company to pay for the damage to your vehicle but were afraid I would run before we could swap info" he asked sarcastically.

"John, John, John. I see you still possess that lovely sense of humor I have come to… dislike so much," Scorpius answered. "I must admit you are difficult to obtain and even more so to hold. I was very impressed with how you and Moya's crew where able to destroy my Command Carrier." Scorpius finally moved to a position where John could actually see him. "You may have thought you destroyed all wormhole data, but you underestimated my foresight. Every solar day all wormhole data collected were sent immediately to a remote location. Nothing was lost, except maybe my… trust in you."

John snorted to that. "It surely took ya long enough. I certainly never trusted you. So what's the deal here? You gonna keep me here and hope I will solve your wormhole puzzles?" "Oh, I know you will solve them for me. You see, I'm quite positive the clone will be able to take over your consciousness and divulge all your secrets to me."

"Huh," John thought, "he doesn't realize Harv is gone. This is good." He looked at Scorpius and said "you do realize my friends will come looking for me?" At least he thought they would.

"On the contrary," Scorpius replied, "they have no reason to come looking for you."

"And why wouldn't they," John asked.

"Because they see you every day," Scorpius replied. "Let me give you an update on your life. Did you know you were unconscious for over three monens? In that time, you all parted ways. For some reason you, or a duplicate of you, got separated from Moya while in your Farscape module. When I became aware of your predicament I had rescued by an old and dying Leviathan. You have been rejoined with the Dominar as well as the Nebari girl, found D'Argo on Arnessk, witnessed Grayza kill a duplicate of me, and returned to Moya to find Officer Sun present, as well as a duplicate of me."

"That duplicate is probably no longer alive either," John replied, "If they saw you get killed on that planet they will know the one on board is a duplicate. They will soon figure out that I'm not me either."

"Again, you are wrong, John. You see, Officer Sun has had a … little accident which lead to her being infected by heat delirium. Luckily, my duplicate found her in time and was able to help her out by giving here a cooling suit. He proceeded to ask for asylum aboard Moya. Officer Sun granted it and had your friends, and especially you, promise to not harm me. Also, my duplicate had a satisfactory explanation of my… rise from the death."

John needed a little time to let that sink in. "So, they believe I'm alive and well and I would accept not killing you? No, the guys wouldn't be that foolish…" John trailed of hesitantly. "Of course, if Aeryn would have asked me I probably would have done the same. So maybe they would believe it. Ah, crap, this sucks big time!" John thought.

"I think I'll let you rest for a while. When you are well rested, the neural clone will find it easier to control your mind and body. Do not think that when you have rested you can control the clone. I have taken precautions to minimize your control." At that, Scorpius left the room.

"Come on guys, don't let me down. I know you can figure it out sooner or later. I just hope its sooner." He was starting to feel better. He wanted to stay awake, ware out his body and mind so Harv wouldn't be able to take over so easily. Of course, if the neural clone was gone, which John was starting to doubt, it wouldn't matter, although John didn't like what precautions Scorpius might have taken to minimize his control. He was just too tired to stay awake, and soon fell asleep.