Mina wakes me in the morning. She doesn't say anything about how I'm sleeping on the floor. She has laid out a black suit on the bunk.

"So you'll have something smart to wear for the trial," she says. She doesn't say so you'll have something smart to die in.

I strip off my ripped shirt, and wash at the basin quickly, and she turns away. She says nothing about the boot print shaped bruise on my back, or the burn like welts down my arms, which I know she must have seen. The black suit and purple shirt cover it all. Just like they wanted. The suit is almost mandarin style, with a high collar and a long row of buttons. It's not a bad thing to die in.

None of them come to the trial. Mina explains that they don't have to, that their evidence can be given before hand. Statements read out by lawyers, which make it all horribly real. They have photographs, projected onto a big screen, like those slide projectors at high school. I can't bear to look at the injuries I'm supposed to have caused. Fist made bruises, and black eyes, and grazes blue with blood on grey skin. I rest my forehead on the cool wood of the table and wait for the inevitable.

"Guilty."

However inevitable, I feel the world rushing around my ears. I think I might faint. I try to breathe, but my lungs feel like I'm breathing in lead. I keep my head down. I think I might be sick. I don't want to look at Tachit. I can't. I feel tears in my eyes; they drop wetly down my nose onto the table. I'm not ready to die.

"I don't wanna die…" I whisper. Mina rubs her hand up my back.

At the back of the court I hear the doors opening, and I know it's the guards coming to take me away. Then a voice speaks and I'm sure I've died.

FLASHBACK

Aeryn smiles at me in the transport pod. She's piloting us down to the planet. D'Argo and Chiana are elsewhere.

"We're here for supplies Crichton, not your raging libido."

I lean back in my seat. "You know you could help with that."

"Shut up John."

She smiles at me again and I feel my heart melt just that little bit more.

END FLASHBACK

"You will release him right now!"

My head snaps up. What the?

"John."

Oh god oh god oh god.

D'Argo reaches me in a few long strides. "Are you alright John?"

This isn't real. It isn't. It can't be.

Aeryn is standing in the aisle pointing a pulse rifle at Tachit. Her dark hair hangs down her shoulders and she looks beautiful. She looks deadly. She doesn't look afraid. She doesn't look bruised or beaten. She doesn't look raped. But this is Aeryn. She could survive the end of the world and always look the same.

And Chiana hovers between her and D'Argo. There isn't a mark on her either. She looks like she wants to run to me but can't.

I slide down the bench away from them. Mina is on her feet, looking confused. "What the frell is going on?"

I finally find my voice.

"Get them away from me!" I yell pointing at Aeryn and Chiana.

"John what?" D'Argo has a confused expression on his face.

"You know what I did!" The tears continue to fall. "What I did to them."

"What did you do John?" D'Argo's voice is soft, reassuring.

"I…I…I raped them."

"No you didn't!" Chiana shouts at me. "Stop being farbot. You did nothing to us. It was a set up."

"No. It can't be…I remember doing it…no no" I'm getting hysterical.

Mina interjects. "They found him guilty. I tried to defend him."

Guards barrel into the room. D'Argo and Chiana snap their weapons to cover them. The onlookers scramble to escape the public gallery. Aeryn never even flinches. She advances towards Tachit, her rifle aimed at his head.

"You will let him go." Her voice is low.

"Why should I?" Tachit snarls back.

"Because I will shoot you right now. You set this up. John didn't do anything…"

"Yes I did!" I scream. "I did it. I must of…" I'm so far past hysterical its untrue.

D'Argo's tongue solves the problem for all of us.

My eyes flutter open and the first thing I see is Aeryn. My beautiful Aeryn. I feel slightly sick.

"You're awake."

I lick my dry lips. "Where am I?"

"Moya. We brought you back."

I sit up suddenly, ignoring the dizziness this brings. "I didn't hurt you did I? It wasn't true?"

"No. It was all lies. They drugged you. Faked the memories, faked the injuries, faked the pictures…"

"…So none of it was true…" I swallow hard, biting back the tears that I feel. I'm not a rapist. I'm not. They got inside my head. "What did happen to me?"

Aeryn smiles, a little sadly. "You annoyed Chiana enough that she left you at the bar. You must have really annoyed her. D'Argo had already gone to bed when I got back to the hotel. I was getting ready for bed when you came…"

"I what?" Oh no.

"You were so drunk you didn't know what you were doing. So I told you to get out, you didn't. You fell onto the bed next to me and nuzzled up to my arm and started drooling. I shook you until you woke up and made you leave. I guess they must have snatched you off the street." Aeryn shrugs.

FLASHBACK

Aeryn's shoulder is warm against my cheek. I feel sleepy. Her bed is comfortable. I vaguely sense her lean down to me, her hair tickling my face, and her lips brush mine. She sits back up, tidies her hair and jerks her arm away. My face hits the bed with a gentle bounce.

"Go to your own room John. Now."

She gives me a push and I stumble for the door.

END FLASHBACK

"Sleep now John. You need to rest. Those guards did a job on you."

She thinks I don't see her touch her lips as she leaves, and I wonder if that flashback was real.