John's face dropped. "Aeryn...don't you remember?" he asked sadly. He wasn't going to lose her again. He couldn't... all these cycles of pain and rejection. Loving someone who he knew loved him back, but would never do anything about it for fear. He wanted to wrap her up in his arms and make her remember all the good times and the bad; make her remember the other guy on Talyn if he had to. Anything to stop him from losing her all over again. He looked into her grey eyes which seemed to have lost their sparkle. "You have to remember... please,"
"Frell you...When I get out of here I will kill you." she hissed. Hormones that flooded her body confused her. She wasn't sure if what she could remember about the past four cycles was real or not, but something inside her told her that something was terribly wrong. For a start she was scared and worried; a feeling that was familiar, but also felt wrong to a Peacekeeper. She recognised the face of John, but instead of seeing him as her lover, saw him as her captor, and Velorek, her former lover and captor as her current lover and father of her child. She felt trapped and alone and was now unsure of Velorek the man she thought to be her current mate. As she tried to make sense of things, her surroundings blurred in front of her and she fell to the floor.
John rushed to his fallen lover's side, "Aeryn..." he whispered hoarsely. "Don't leave me... I know you're in there somewhere, just wake up." He placed a soft kiss on her lips that caused her to rouse and lovingly stroked her soft dark hair.
Everything seemed blurry as she opened her eyes. She could just make out her lover standing over her. "John? What...the...what the frell am I doing down here?" she asked, slowly remembering what had happened. Suddenly everything came rushing back. Adrenaline surged through her body, giving her renewed strength. Pulling her gun from her holster she stood up quickly. "You..." she growled, shakily aiming at Velorek. "I'd shoot you now but we need information on who you're working for and what you've done to Moya and our friends..." she hissed. She was amazed that she once loved this man, this man that clamed to love her and did this.
"How the frell...?" Velorek's shock gave way to a menacing look toward Crichton who Aeryn was now guarding. "Not until you become my mate instead of this... this lesser specie's mate. You know there is still something between us... I saw it in your eyes. You still feel that passion the Peacekeepers tried to stop developing. You still have that burning desire in your heart for a Sebacean male's touch... my touch. You know that nobody could love you like I can... you know that this...human has no idea of what turns a Sebacean woman on, what makes her gasp with pleasure. You know that you'd get ten times the pleasure from me than from him..."
"Finished?" She asked coldly. She shook her head, "Then you should know unless you co-operate you will be in that cell for a very long time... but as you should also know I'm pregnant, then you will know I get violent mood swings, especially if my mate or friends are threatened. And you should know Crichton has been the most fulfilling frell I have ever had and is ten times better than you in bed."
"Aeryn!" John growled through embarrassment, but was silenced by a violent kiss from her lips that made him wince slightly. She was in a mood that scared even him, so her resided himself to just standing in silence for the time being.
She glared bitterly at Velorek; hatred replacing the love that had once ran through her veins. "You should also know I have never loved anyone like I have Crichton and that I would do anything...and I mean anything for him. I would die for him because he is my friend, lover and my soul mate... the one thing in this violent universe that gives me hope... He has taught me the real meaning of love far more than you ever could..." Her voice began to break with emotion.
John wanted to back away from Aeryn. She had teased him about mate guarding, but now looking at her now she didn't need it and she was protecting him. She had a cold hard glare in her eyes, and spoke like the Peacekeeper she once was, and he was frightened of what she could and would do if anyone got on her wrong side at this moment. "Remind me never to get on your bad side while you're pregnant," he muttered to himself.
She turned and glared at him before turning her attentions back to Velorek. "...therefore if you do not decide to co-operate in the next twenty four arns I will kill you for putting my relationship with Crichton at risk." She waved her hand over the door controls to lock it. "Oh and don't think you can escape, you will be watched constantly from now. Crichton will take first watch."
"But..." John started to protest, but stopped quickly when she gave him an icy glare. "Understood." He replied. He'd never seen Aeryn display her feelings like that, be it in a threatening way and towards someone else. He couldn't help smile slightly, 'Now if she'd only say it to my face' he thought.
Aeryn had been sitting alone in the centre chamber for two arns trying to calm herself down and didn't notice when D'argo joined her. When she wasn't spending time with John she was spending it alone or with Pilot. Things had changed so much over the past four cycles and she secretly reminisced about the past. Even John had changed so much she sometimes wondered if he was the same man she had fallen in love with; but that thought was put right by a kiss or a hug. She realised she wasn't alone and smiled up at the Luxan weakly, glad of the company. "What happened to me? John won't tell me anything other than I was unconscious and had amnesia." She took a sip of spicy Sebacean tea from the tankard in her hands. "He's treating me...differently. It's like he's protecting me from something."
"He's just worried about you," D'argo replied, "You're pregnant with his child, its only natural for him to be protective of you."
She sighed, "I sometimes wish he'd treat me like he used to...before...this." She said placing a hand on her abdomen. "If anything, I still feel protective of him."
"I remember when Lo'laan was pregnant with Jothee. I didn't stop worrying about her until she had given birth."
"I'm nowhere near that stage... I have at least eight and a half monens left..." she snapped slightly. She hated everyone fussing about her pregnancy and half wished she'd never released it from stasis. She took another sip of her tea before changing the subject. "So how are Chiana and Rygel doing? Any ideas to what Velorek did to them?"
"It just seems like he used a drug to bring on extreme exhaustion. They are in their quarters sleeping it off at the moment. Unfortunately Noranti and Stark will be gone for a few solar days so we have no idea what the frell he used on them and we have no one on board with any medical expertise other than Velorek, and he is unlikely to help."
Aeryn nodded, "For once I agree with you... I have no idea how I recovered from the amnesia..."
"And we can't find out without Noranti," D'argo noted. He placed a comforting hand on Aeryn's arm, "If you wish I will take over from Crichton, you look like you could use your mate with you at the moment."
She shook her head and finished tea. "I'd rather you didn't... I don't think I could cope with Crichton's over protectiveness at this time." She got up and reached for a large tankard of something from a shelf. "Perhaps you would share some Raslak with me? Crichton hates me drinking, even though I have explained Sebacean's can during the early stages of pregnancy and it won't affect the development of the foetus." She poured herself a cup full and sat back down next to D'argo. As she swallowed down a mouthful of the warm intoxicant she closed her eyes, momentarily forgetting everything that was plaguing her mind. "Frell..." she winced. "It's good stuff..."
D'argo nodded, "Perhaps I will. There is always time for Raslak."
Crichton sat outside Velorek's cell playing with his silver slinky. 'At least it's something to do' he thought. He looked at Velorek who had been watching him for the past couple of arns. "You know, you're lucky Aeryn didn't kill you... she may only be a monen or so pregnant but her mood swings are frightening. Only last weeken she locked me tied up in a darkened cell as a punishment for a small mistake I made... still... she could have tied you up, stripped you and chopped off you balls. She'd probably enjoy that. You know what? I bet right now, she's planning how to kill you in a way she can get pleasure from it! That is unless you decide to co-operate and tell us who you are working for and what you did to Aeryn and our friends..."
"Fine... I'll talk. Handcuff me and take me to her..." Velorek replied bitterly. He hated this lesser specie, and the way it was talking to him. He wanted him out of the way. The human, as Aeryn had called him had taken away his mate, had frelled up his plans for taking over the ship, killing the crew and taking Aeryn as his mate. Nothing would keep him from Aeryn. He'd make sure of that one way or another. Placing his hand on a concealed knife he had stolen he waited for him to approach.
"Good." John replied. "Turn around," he said pressing the door release without thinking. Quick as a flash Velorek lunged forward and stabbed him in the stomach. Pain shot through his body as he felt blood soaking his t-shirt. He tried to press down hard on the wound, but his body was becoming rapidly weak. "Aeryn..."
"...Crichton?" The comms crackled into life. "John, the comms are back online... what's going on down there?" No answer. "John? Can you hear me? Are you still there?" A chill ran down her spine, "Frell," she cursed to herself. "D'argo... Crichton's in trouble. Come on..." she said as she ran out of the door. "Just hang on in there..." she yelled into her comms as she sprinted down the winding corridors to her injured lover's side. She knew immediately Velorek had something do to with it. As she knelt by the side of her sick mate, she felt a shiver run through him. "You've been stabbed, try not to move..." She tried hard to stem the bleeding but she was worried that something else was wrong.
"Aeryn... what happened?" D'argo asked, seeing Aeryn kneeling beside John's lifeless body.
"D'argo! John's been stabbed and I have a very good idea who's to blame. Would you help me carry him to our quarters?" she asked.
"I'll do it, you find Velorek," he replied, picking up Crichton in his strong arms. "Don't worry... I won't let him die."
Aeryn nodded. "Thank you D'argo. And when I find Velorek I will kill him."
As he watched the Luxan carry the human from the corridor he emerged from the darkness. "Officer Sun... I'd put that pulse pistol away if I were you. You see not only did I stab your mate but I poisoned him. Right now a slow acting poison is shutting down each of his bodily systems and there is nothing you can do about it. And do you know why? Because I developed the poison for the Peacekeepers to use as torture to make the victim speak, and only I know the cure. Unless you co-operate your mate will die in four solar days."
To Be Continued.