Aeryn powered down and opened the hatch. Still in the process of turning off all the equipment, she heard boots running up the ramp.

"Did you get it," Xhalax asked, voice anxious.

Aeryn nodded. "Yes, I've placed it in the secure storage. Could you take that, so I can carry your father out?" Without waiting for a reply, she stood and pulled her husband out of his seat and placed him over her shoulder, experience telling her this was the easiest way for her to carry him.

"Uhm, yeah, sure."

Aeryn had seen the worry on her daughter's face. She paused at the hatch en put her hand on Xhalax's shoulder. "Your father and siblings will be fine." Aeryn wasn't quite sure who the assertion had been for: her daughter or herself. Probably for both. She walked of the ramp, noticing medical personnel were waiting with a gurney. Aeryn gently placed her husband on it and saw Xhalax handing their cargo over to the medical officer.

From the corner of her eye Aeryn noticed Xhalax sat down heavily as soon as she had handed it over. She knew she needed to comfort her daughter, but Aeryn waited until the medical personnel had left the landing bay, not wanting to show emotional weakness in front of the medical personnel who she knew were still scared of her. It seemed to take forever, even though it was probably only twenty microts before the last person was out of sight.

Aeryn turned and took the few steps needed to be by Xhalax, sitting down right next to her. She put her arm around Xhalax's shoulder and her daughter leaned in close. Aeryn didn't say a word, not knowing what to say anyway, but she had also learned her children could sometimes be comforted just by being close. Aeryn could feel some of the tension leaving Xhalax's body. After a while, Aeryn decided she needed to say something, even though she wasn't quite sure what. Her eyes fell on the Farscape module and she smiled slightly. "I'm glad you didn't take my Prowler."

Xhalax chuckled but kept leaning against her. "Prowlers and wormholes don't mix very well and Pilot could've overridden the transport pod controls."

Aeryn nodded. She'd seen Xhalax had intended to travel through the wormhole so it didn't surprise her. "Why?"

Xhalax lifted her head, looking at Aeryn as if she was completely fahrbot. "You guys were late. I just thought Dad was unable to get you back and..."

"... and you decided to come rescue us? That wasn't very smart," Aeryn said as gently as she could. "What if you had become unconscious?"

Xhalax stood, fists rapidly clenching and unclenching. "If you guys couldn't get back we would all die! I had to do something, especially when both Dee and Zhaani no longer cou... I can't believe you're mad at me for trying to help you guys!"

Aeryn also stood. She had picked up on Xhalax's accidental revelation she was not the only child who had the wormhole sense, but decided to skip that subject for now. "You could've sent a message first, to see if we needed assistance."

Xhalax crossed her arms in front of her. "That thing wouldn't reopen for over a solar day, which I'm sure Dad told you. A lot of things can happen in a solar day."

"We can take care of ourselves," Aeryn said, trying to keep her temper in check. "We've done so for many cycles, long before you were born."

Xhalax raised her arms up high and sighed in exasperation. "Right, how could I forget about the legendary stories of the incomparable and perfect Officer Sun and Commander Crichton! They never needed anyone to rescue them, they never got in trouble!" She turned on her heels and stormed out.

Aeryn shook her head and let out an involuntary chuckle. Xhalax was exactly like her, and as a result the two of them occasionally clashed. She knew Xhalax was probably heading for the workout bay to release her anger on one of the sparring dummies. She would've done the same. Knowing it was no use trying to talk to her daughter now, Aeryn decided to go to the medical bay and see how things were going. Nonetheless she tapped her comms. "Pilot, could you track Xhalax and make sure she's alright?"

"Of course, Aeryn. She's currently heading for the workout bay."

Aeryn nodded. "Thank you, Pilot. Please inform me if she collapses or when she's finished her... therapy." She smiled at the term John had used cycles ago. It had seemed apt to the impromptu workouts Aeryn had in the past, and it was the same for her daughter.

"Moya and I will keep an eye on her," Pilot confirmed.

Aeryn nodded again and continued toward the medical bay.

# # #

"Hi."

Aeryn smiled at the somewhat timid verbal greeting of her daughter. It was her way to let Aeryn know she was sorry for yelling and storming out. Instead of saying anything on the subject, Aeryn simply nodded at the medical beds, one of which was empty. "The medicine has been administered less than a quarter arn ago." She turned toward her daughter. "They are ready for you."

Xhalax nodded and walked toward the empty bed, but Aeryn stopped her. Xhalax sighed. "Mom, not now. Please?"

Aeryn smiled. "I wasn't intending to have a discussion. I merely wanted to point out the bed is only needed should you lose consciousness."

"Oh."

A medical officer approached and after a brief worried glance at Aeryn, the woman addressed Xhalax. "When was the last time you lost consciousness?"

"Three solar days ago," Xhalax replied almost immediately, giving a small nod. "The same day you told my mom it was caused by the Firily bug."

Aeryn was very surprised. John and the other children had seemed to go through an episode at least once every solar day. A glance at the medical officer told her the woman was equally surprised.

"Are you certain?"

Xhalax arched an eyebrow, arms folding in front of her chest. "You think I would forget something like that?"

Aeryn had to work to suppress her laughter at the nervous look on the medical officer's face as she alternately looked from Xhalax to Aeryn and back. Xhalax had definitely inherited her intimidating abilities.

"I apologize," the woman said. "I didn't mean to imply you were forgetful." The woman took a deep breath after the slightly stammered apology. "But from what we know, if you are indeed infected, it should have happened to you several times since then." She glanced uncertainly at Aeryn. "We need to test you first. If you are not, or no longer infected, it could be dangerous to administer this medicine."

Xhalax nodded. "Right." She held out her arm without being asked. "The blood bank is open."

Again Aeryn had to suppress her laughter at the confused look. "She means she is ready for you to take a blood sample," Aeryn explained instead, not even daring to glance in her daughter's direction, knowing she would have the same grin on her face as John would have. Instead she looked stoically at the medical officer as the latter took a blood sample. With a curt "I'll have the result very soon," the woman quickly moved away toward the research area.

"That was fun," Xhalax said as soon as the woman was far enough away.

Aeryn turned to her daughter and smiled. "Yes, but please don't make a habit out of it." It was one thing to intimidate people to encourage them to work a little harder, but this had been more about entertainment, and Aeryn knew Xhalax understood the difference.

Xhalax shrugged. "You know I won't. I just didn't like the way she questioned my ability to remember such an important thing. You know she's not very fond of the non-Sebeceans 'round here."

Aeryn nodded in agreement and gestured toward the far wall. Together they walked over there, allowing them to stand out of anyone's way, while being able to observe their family.

"I'm glad Dad was able to get you back," Xhalax said after a while.

Aeryn winced. She had assumed Xhalax had already deduced John hadn't been able to guide them back through. "He didn't, he had lost consciousness over a quarter arn before the wormhole reopened."

Xhalax stared at her as if she was magra fahrbot. "So you just took a gamble and dived in?!"

Aeryn smiled and shook her head. "No gamble, though I admit seeing your father's module had me worried I had made a mistake. But the space time coordinates were correct."

Xhalax frowned. "Huh, I thought I just inherited from Dad."

Aeryn shrugged. "Possibly, or maybe from both of us."

Xhalax nodded, deep in thought, her eyes back on her siblings and father. "At least now I understand why he asked you to come with him."

"He doesn't know." After a brief pause she added, "Well, he will after this, obviously."

Xhalax glanced at her incredulously. "Dad's gonna frelling flip out!"

"Language," Aeryn warned automatically. "But, yes, he is unlikely to be happy about this. You do understand he will have to know about you and your older siblings."

Xhalax nodded. "Yeah. Wait, what do you mean? You think Dee and Zhaani know this dr... stuff, too?"

Aeryn simply arched an eyebrow, until Xhalax rolled her eyes.

"Right, you caught my little slip up in the landing bay. Great, I'll get to deal with a pissed of dad, brother and sister!"

Aeryn smiled slightly, her daughter's tone of voice indicating she wasn't entirely unhappy about the prospect as it meant they would have survived the whole ordeal. She frowned slightly as the medical officer hurried over. The woman was apparently very excited, so much she didn't seem to be nervous at all as she stood right in front of them. "There's no indication you are infected," she stated bluntly, excitement barely contained.

Aeryn's frown deepened. "My daughter was not infected?"

"She was when we first tested her," the medical officer said. "It seems her body has fought the infection and won."

"Yay, I'm special," Xhalax said.

The medical officer took her statement at face value. "Not necessarily. There are numerous instances known were Sebecean's had a natural defense to the bug's infection. It appears the Sebecean part in you is stronger than the alien part."

This time Aeryn was the one looking at the woman intimidatingly. "It appears you are in need of reading the Peacekeeper's manifest and guidelines once more. I will discuss this with your superior and bring this to the attention of the Peacekeeper High Command."

The woman's demeanor immediately changed. "I apologize. I did not intend to imply Sebecean's are superior to..."

Aeryn raised a hand. "You are dismissed and will be returning to the Command Carrier within the arn. Your second in command will be in charge of my family's wellbeing. You can inform him on your way out." Aeryn raised an eyebrow when the woman didn't comply within a few microts.

# # #

Aeryn wrapped her arms around John, happy that he was better now, her entire family cured. Of course this meant she had to have a serious conversation with her husband, explain a few things. She couldn't help to think back to what Xhalax had predicted his reaction would be.

"Thanks for getting us back."

Aeryn tilted her head to look at his face, wondering if he was upset. His voice hadn't sounded like he was, and now that she looked into his eyes, she could tell he wasn't. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before."

He chuckled lightly. "You didn't need to, I knew. Hell, I wouldn't even have gone through the damn rabbit hole if I hadn't."

Aeryn lightly smacked him. "You could've told me instead of arguing about going in the first place."

He shrugged. "Maybe, but we had great make up sex later, didn't we?"

Aeryn propped herself up on one arm, smiling at him. "Is that why you enjoy arguing with me so much? Are you telling me we don't have sex often enough, or don't you find it as exciting?"

John looked at her with a big grin. "Well, A, I'm a man so, no never enough sex. But B, and I can't stress this enough, everything with you is exciting."

"Nice safe, Erp-man." Aeryn leaned down and kissed him. "So, when exactly did you find out?"

He shrugged. "Pretty much the first time we had sex, to be honest."

Again Aeryn smacked him. "I meant about me having the wormhole sense."

John rubbed the spot Aeryn had hit. "Ouch, careful, recovering husband here. I'm still weak."

Aeryn grinned. "You've always been weak, so I assume you intended to say you're extra weak now." She sighed, pretending to be disappointed. "Too bad, I was hoping for a celebratory frell."

John looked back with mock hurt. "I'm not too weak for that. But, to answer your question, I didn't realize until after Zhaani was born. I noticed your worried look when we passed that dormant wormhole field. I hadn't told you it was there, so that's when I knew you could sense them. Then I started thinking back to before Dee was born, when I had to close the wormhole to Earth. You guided me onto the right track, though at the time I thought it was just a coincidence."

Aeryn frowned slightly, not having expected him to have made that particular connection. "I see."

"And, when we went back from Earth from the mid eighties, you actually predicted when the wormhole would open, though I completely missed it at the time."

"Well, you were using drugs," Aeryn said in a teasing tone, even though it still hurt her a little. "But, yes, I did let it slip that one time." She paused. "Actually, I predicted it before we came to rescue you after your first encounter with Einstein, but you weren't there to notice it."

"So, when did you get it?"

Aeryn shrugged and snuggled back into her husband's embrace, her head place comfortably on his shoulder. "I am not quite certain. The first time I really was aware of it was after I left Moya." Another sore spot in their relationship, entirely to blame on her. "But I specifically remember feeling something when Ancient Jack summoned us on Talyn." She tilted her head when she felt John turn his.

"That would mean you had it implanted when I did. Fake Earth."

Aeryn nodded. "It would appear so, though I do not understand why." She could feel John go tense.

"To ensure the knowledge would not be lost," he ground out through clenched teeth. "Embedding it in both of us would ensure the knowledge would be passed on to our kids."

Aeryn frowned slightly. "Why wouldn't it be enough if only you had the knowledge?" She didn't even question how he knew about their children, assuming that if he had seen her react, he'd probably seen a similar reaction in their children.

John was thinking deeply. "I'm pretty sure the knowledge is tied at the DNA level. This would prevent anyone from obtaining the spidey-sense. The only thing they could possibly get would be the equations implanted in our memories, but that's not enough to create much damage."

"That doesn't quite answer my question. Your children would share your DNA, therefor they would inherit the complete set, correct?"

John shook his head. "No, their DNA would be a mix of ours. There wouldn't be enough DNA material to pass it all on, just the equations."

They fell silent, until Aeryn finally let out a venomous, "I hate frelling God-like aliens." She sighed. "We have to teach the children. Xhalax was ready to enter the wormhole just as I got us back here."

John chuckled. "Yeah, I'd bet Dee or Zhaani would've done the same if they hadn't fallen unconscious. But you're right, we need to educate 'em, before Einstein shows up and gives 'em a one way trip to the ice island." Again they fell silent. "Now, what was that about a celebratory frell?"

# # #

Aeryn watched in amusement as John paced in front of their three eldest children, trying his best to imitate Einstein and scare the dren out of their kids.

"Flies."

Aeryn stifled a laugh at D'Argo's response to John's one word query. Definitely like father like son. Both Zhaani and Xhalax joined in the fun, responding with similar answers John once told her he used when Einstein confronted him.

John glanced at her once, a tiny amused smile on his lips, then schooled his features and turned to their children once more. "If your mom or I ever find you traveling a wormhole without at the very least our approval, we will ground you for the rest of your life!"

D'Argo let out a sigh. "Dad, we know how dangerous wormholes are and to never go back to a point in time before the last departure."

John looked at all three of his children. "If you do happen to accidentally find yourself in your own past, the deviation will start close to you. Fix it and get the hell out of dodge, comprende?"

All three nodded, a serious expression on their faces. Aeryn was glad to see that, showing her their children were smart and understood the dangers. When John glanced at her once more, she gave a small nod.

"Right, so how 'bout we'll take a transport pod for a ride down the rabbit hole? Give you guys a feel for 'em."

Aeryn smiled widely as the kids practically ran toward the landing bay. Obviously they had felt the presence of the cluster of wormholes a little over a thousand metras away. Aeryn had suggested it, and John had agreed. It would allow the two of them to supervise the children's first travel through the wormhole and correct them if necessary. She slid her arms around John. "Just think, in a few cycles we get to do this again with the two younger girls."

John shrugged and grinned. "Rather have this talk with 'em than the other one."

Aeryn shook her head in amusement. She found it odd John was uncomfortable discussing anything about sex with his daughters and had begged her to talk with both Zhaani and Xhalax. "We better hurry, or the children will have left without us."

A/N: This is were the original (shorter) story ended. I've decided the other idea I had deserves to be a separate story (tentatively called Surprises), though it will continue on from this. Who knows, this may turn out to become a series of stories.

Nonetheless, there may be one additional part, kinda a missing scene. I mean, "celebratory frell", that has to be written, doesn't it? Needless to say, that part will have a different rating.