OUT OF HIS MIND
Author - Amy
Rating - PG
Disclaimer - All Farscape characters, etc. are © Jim Henson Television, and the author is just borrowing them and promises to return them when she's done, & she is not making any money off of this story.
Archiving - sure, but just keep my name on it (kemosaki,amy)Catagory -(action/drama/romance)
Summary- The crew bands together to save Crichton's mind
"Good, we're all here," Zhaan stated as Rygel made his way into the mess hall.
"Why the frell do we have to meet here in the middle of the night?" the hynerian complained as he gathered up some food cubes.
Ignoring Rygel's complaints, Zhaan started with,"I think we all-", Zhaan glanced over at Rygel who had just began snarfing down his food cubes,"I think most of us," (glaring at Rygel),"are all very worried about John's health."
"Yes, Crichton has seemed very distant lately," D'argo agreed with his usual Luxan hard voice but with soft eyes.
"And he's been acting very strange lately." Aeryn joined in.
"When has that primitive human ever NOT acted strange?" Rygel asked only half interested in teh conversation.
"Stuff it Rygel," Chianna quickly shot back as she whacked him up-side the head causing the hynerian to spit out the cubes.
"I have also seen him talking to himself often." Aeryn put in yet again ignoring Rygel's comment.
"Talking to himself?" Chiana asked questioningly, "What does he say?"
Everyone seemed quite concerned and eager for Aeryn's answer. Aeryn glanced from one alien to the other not sure of what to say. She knew that John wouldn't want her to tell teh others about who he thinks he's been speaking to and the ex-peacekeeper didn't want to betray his trust. But at the same time, she knew that something was seriously wrong with him and felt that the others needed to know.
"Aeryn?" Zhaan pushed, "What's the matter? What does he say to himself?"
By this time even Rygel had taken an interest in the conversation and was awaiting the answer.
"Um, he uh, he didn't really, well, he didn't want me to tell anyone," Aeryn started.
The others looked at her and motioned for her to go on in their concerned faces.
"Well," she continued,"he's not talking to himself, exactly." Officer Sun stammered out like a little child trying to talk her way out of putting her hand in teh cookie jar.
The other crewmembers confusingly looked at each other with concern and then simultaneously looked back to Aeryn to explain.
"Officer Sun," came Pilot's voice and image over the clam shell,"Maybe I can explain."
Aeryn nodded and let out a slight sigh of relief. Everyone then turned towards Pilot's image for an explanation.
"As you know, I can hear and see almost everything that goes on in Moya with the help of the DRD's," Pilot started,"Well, I too have grown concerned for Commander Crichton. So for the past weeken and 5 solar days, I have had a DRD follow him around. Not consistently, but quite a bit."
"You've been spying on him?" Chiana asked more like a statement than a question.
"Yes, but I think you will understand why when I tell you what I found out." Pilot answered.
"Go on Pilot," Zhaan urged.
"Crichton hasn't slept more than 3 arns a sleep cycle in the past weeken." Pilot stated.
"How much sleep does he usually need a sleep cycle?" Chiana asked.
"About eight," Aeryn answered as the others glanced her way with amusement.
"Oh, get your minds out of the butter!" Aeryn shot out defensively.
The others stared at her with confusion at her last remark.
"It's one of those human expressions I've heard Crichton say once." Aeryn explained.
"O.k, back to our concern for John," Zhaan stated to everyone,"What else can you tell us Pilot?"
"Thank you Zhaan. Since Crichton hasn't been sleeping much lately, he wanders aimlessly around Moya."
"Pilot, where is John right now?" Zhaan asked interrupting Pilot's explanation.
"He is in the Docking Bay working on his module. He won't know that you are all awake," Pilot answered.
"Continue Pilot," Aeryn urged.
"Thank you Aeryn. He talks to himself quite a bit during these sleepless arns."
"What doe she say Pilot?" D'Argo asked beginning to grow impatient.
Pilot's image turned to Aeryn for some sort of urge to continue. Aeryn bowed towrad him slightly and Pilot continued.
"Well, he appears to be speaking wiht Scorpious," Pilot let out.
"Scorpious!!!???" Zhaan, Chiana, D'Argo and Rygel exclaimed in unison.
"Yes, he seems to have conversations with what he thinks is Scorpious but, obviously, isn't," Pilot explained,"He appears to think that someone is there when he speaks but I see nothing but Moya's walls."
"But Pilot, John knows that Scorpious isn't aboard Moya. NOne of us would allow it, especially John," Zhaan debated more to herslef than to Pilot.
"I can concur with Pilot's words, because they are also the words of Crichton," Aeryn stated as her eyes lay unfocused on nothing inparticular.
D'Argo wa the first to respond to Aeryn's statement with, "Aeryn, what do you mean? What has Crichton said to you?"
"He told me not too long ago that he speaks to Scorpious. he says that Scorpious is planning something for him that he'd never expect," Aeryn explained,"and that Scorpious is going to get him."
By this time the concern everyone felt was almost suffocationg. About a microt went by before anyone spoke up.
"Why didn't either of you tell us about this?" D'Argo asked angrily.
"Officer Sun and I both agreed to keep it to ourselves unless it didn't seem to get any better." Pilot explained,"And it appears to not be getting any better."
"Then I think that we should speak with him," Zhaan suggested.
"I disagree Zhaan," Aeryn said turning towards Zhaan in a strong voice,"ganging up on him right now would just push him further away."
"But John's always the one who never shuts up. Why wouldn't he want to tell us what's going on?" Chiana asked.
"Because if he wanted to talk, he would have done it already," D'Argo answered Chiana while answering his own question at the same time.
"But he talked to you Aeryn," Chiana said,"so maybe if you talked to him-"
"No, I tried that, he only told me what I told you and then shut me out from there"
"Then what do we do? Zhaan asked with sorrow in her eyes.
"I say we try to get him to open up freely. We treat him no differently than we usually do, but we socialize with him more. We make sure that he's rarely alone to talk to himself, or Scorpious for that matter." Aeryn suggested.
"So we basically make him the center of attention?"' Chiana asked.
"Not exactly, you can't act differently. Just subtle little things like ask him for help repairing something or cleaning something. You know, make him feel needed and wanted." Aeryn further expalined more clearly.
"I can ask him for help organizing the laboratory," Zhaan suggested as her spirits began to ruse at this new found hope.
" A I can ask him for help making a big meal," Chiana added getting more excited.
"Maybe I can offer a hand with his module modifications," D'Argo chimed in.
"And I will supervise all this to make sure that none of this affects me in any way," Rygel stated sarcastically.
"And I will offer to teach him some self-defense tactics," Aeryn added ignoring Rygel,"and while we are doing all this, we have to talk openly to him about anything. We have to talk about our problems or past so that it's easier for him to tell us what's going on with him."
"I think this may work. Let's get back to our quarters and get some sleep." Zhaan suggested making her way to the exit.
"Yes, we will begin our," D'Argo paused,"interrogation tomorrow,"he finished as he followed Zhaan out the door.
"After breakfast I'll offer to exercise with him," Aeryn stated as she formed a line behind D'Argo.
"I hope this works,"Chiana stated as she and Sparky left the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~---------------------------------~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John slowly made his way to the mess hall 4 arns after the others had left it. Lost in thoughts of memories he doesn't remember evr experiencing, the astronaut suddenly felt vertigo. John leaned heavily on Moya's walls about a tier away from teh mess hall and closed his tired and bloodshot eyes. One unreckognizable memory after the other flooded his mind. Planets he'd never seen before, species he'd never come in contact with before going by too fast for him to fully see.
After the dizziness came the massive headache. Like piercing knives sliding slowly into his temples, John winced in pain as he fell along the wall to the floor. More distant memroies came rushing to the surface of his mind as he desperately tried to remember where it all was coming from.
John lay helplessly for four microts until the pain and memories subsided.
Still dizzy, he slowly stood up and regained his balance.
"Man, that was worse than the dreams," he thought to himself as he held his head in his hands.
Confused, he made his way to the entrance of the mess hall where the others had already begun eating their share.
As he entered, the others looked up to see the poor human looking very ragged and tired. Sweat glistened on his forehead and dark circles surrounded his sad and distant eyes.
Zhaan stood up followed quickly by Aeryn.
"John what happened?" Zhaan asked walking over to him ith concern in her voice.
John quickly stepped back and held his hands up for Zhaan to saty back. Zhaan caught the gesture and stopped where she was.
"Nothing, I uh, just, I was working on my module is all,"John barely let out as he looked at the floor to avoid eye contact.
"Oh, I see. Well you look rather tired John, why don't you go to your quarters and get some rest?" Zhaan suggested in a pleading but gentle tone.
"No!" John shot out defensively while looking up,"I just need something to eat is all."
Zhaan nodded and turned to go back to her seat as Aeryn slowly sat back down. Zhaan shared a look of concern with Aeryn and Aeryn did the same to Zhaan.
Chiana looked at Crichton with glossy eyes. D'Argo caught her stare and nudged her knee from under the table to break her trance-like stare. Chiana quickly recovered from her gaze and began eating another distasteful food cube.
John slowly made his way to the counter and picked up a handful of cubes. He then turned to take a seat when he suddenly felt dizzy again. He dropped the cubes and then grabbed the edge of the counter as he turned back around hoping the others hadn't noticed.
No such luck. The others had been watching his every move like a hawk and all at once lept from their seats (well, all but Rygel and Pilot), and ran to John's side.
John struggled to stay on his feet. Hell, he struggled to stay conscience. He could hear the other's voices as if they were far away in a cave, so that their words were faint and echoed through his ears.
Then the memories started up again. Still as blurry and incoherent as before. Followed shortly behind came the terrible headache. Crichton's legs gave out as he grabbed his temples in pain.
Aeryn, Zhaan and D'Argo slowly guided his weak body to the floor as Chiana hovered right behind. Rygel glided over with a clear worry painted on his more-green-than-usual face.
Crichton rolled up into a fetal position as more and more confusing memories engulfed his brain. He suddenly felt severe spasms throughout his body and he began to shiver from the chills which felt like needles pricking him all over.
Chiana, D'Argo, Zhaan and Aeryn frantically tried to hold him down so as not to injure himself.
Aeryn kept repeating over and over John's name and asking him if he could hear her. Her voice sounded so terrified that John couldn't help but hear her calls. Faint and far away he heard her in the back of his mind while his headache went from painful to excrutiating.
Memories of blood (of all colors), war and death took over him and he no longer heard Aeryn or the others. Lonely and terrified he struggled to push away the pain and stay awake.
"What the hell is happening to me? Whose memories are these? Why am I so cold? Why did Benedict Arnold betray his country? Why is grass green? What's up with rainbows? Why am I asking myself just stupid questions?" John's own thoughts seemed to lessen the pain and instead of memories that hold no prior knowledge to him, he thought of his own memories. As he thought of things like his dad and waterfalls and Aeryn, the pain seemed to drip away. His memories seemed to banish away the ones he doesn't remember ever having experienced and then it all went blank.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~------------------------------~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"John? John wake up. John open your eyes." Aeryn's gentle voice demanded.
Crichton struggled to open his eyes but was too weak to do so.
"No, no, no John. Come on. Don't go back to sleep. You need to wake up. John, we need to know if you are allright." came Aeryn's voice as John lie in darkness.
John managed to whisper very softly,"Ae-Seryn."
"Yes John, I'm here. So is Zhaan," Aeryn replied.
"John, I need you to open your eyes for me." Zhaan said gently.
"Tired, c-cold."
"John listen to me," Aeryn whispered to his ear,"We need to tell you someth-"
Aeryn was cut off by Crichton's sudden spasms and scream.
"John!! John!!" Aeryn screamed with fright.
"D'Argo! Get over here immediately! We need your help!" Zhaan yelled into her comm as she and Aeryn struggled to hols Crichton down.
"I'm on my way Zhaan!" D'Argo quickly responded.
"What the hezmana did Scorpious do to him? Zhaan asked Aeryn as Crichton's spasms began to cease.
With tears in her eyes Aeryn answered,"I don't know Zhaan, but if we don't get that thing out his head," Aeryn stopped mid-sentence refusing to let herself acceot the possibility.
D'Argo emerged from the doorway into the infermory with heavy breaths and a look of terror on his face.
"What is it? What happened? Is he allright?" D'Argo asked frantically as he made his way to the bed where Crichton lay unconscience.
"He had another attack," Zhaan answered as she took a seat next to the bed exhaustidly.
"He was half-conscience when it happened," Aeryn stated gently stroking his hair.
"Did you tell him?"
"I was about to as soon as he regained full conscieceness," Aeryn answered plainly.
"What I want to know is what this damned chip is doing to him and what it will eventually do," Zhaan wondered out loud.
"Why don't you just take the frelling thing out of him?" Chiana asked as she entered the room.
"Because Chiana, we have no idea what his reaction will be," Zhaan answered a little annoyed at Chiana's naive question,"It could cause brain damage or, or it could kill him."
Chiana looked over to the human with a look of sadness in her eyes.
"And I wouldn't have the slightest idea of how to remove it," Zhaan added.
"How long has it been in his head?" Aeryn asked still stroking Crichton's hair.
"There's no way to know for sure," Zhaan started," It could have been on the Royal Planet or even back on the Gammack Base."
"You're saying that Scorpious has had a chip in Crichton for almost a cycle?" Chiana asked disbelievingly.
"Quite possibly, yes," Zhaan answered as she closed ehr eyes in frustration,"My scanner cannot predict or estimate such things. It can merely detect any unusual obljects or masses in the brain."
"How did he not know about the chip?" D'Argo asked.
"What the frell do I look like? The Goddess?!"
Everyone jumped at Zhaan's outburst and looked at her in disbelief.
"I-I'm sorry," Zhaan quickly apologized,"I'm just concerned and scared and I'm frusturated because I can't figure it out."
"No need to apologize Zhaan," Aeryn put in softly,"We are a little tense and I think it's safe to say that we are all worried."
"Speak for yourself peacekeeper," Rygel retorted as he hovered into the infermory.
"O.K, let me rephrase, I think it's safe to say that those of us who care for John's well being are all worried."
Rygel opened his mouth to defend himself but quickly chose to keep his mouth shut.
"Allright everyone," Chiana started,"I think that we need to stop arguing and trying to answer unanswerable questions and think of a way to help Crichton," she added more leadership like than anyone had ever seen her.
"I agree Chiana," Zhaan said,"let's get some facts down. First off, we know that John gets dizzy and gets headaches when this unknown attaack hits."
"Yes, and we can assume that Scorpious has something to do with that chip," Aeryn added.
"There has to be a connection," D'Argo added,"The chip must somehow be triggering these attacks."
"I agree D'Argo," Zhaan said,"Now another question is; is there anything else this chip is doing to him?"
"Well, it makes him see Scorpious," Chiana suggested.
"Yes, good Chiana," Zhaan praised,"But why would Scorpious do that? Why would he put a chip in John's head that appaerntly lies dormant for monons and then suddenly makes John see and speak to Scorpious? And then he takes it a step further and has the chip triiger some sort of painful attack?"
"We probably don't have all of the facts," Aeryn answered,"There could be so much more to this than we are currently aware of."
"Yes, and the only one who could possibly know more than we do is unconscince," D'Dargo paused,"lying infront of us."
Everyone looked down at John's tired and pale face with a feeling of hopelessness and despair.
After a few microts of silence, Chiana spoke up,"I think that there is something more to these attacks."
"How so?" D'Argo asked.
"Well, did you see his face when that spasm thing with the headache hit? Whatever you want to call it, it just seemed to me that he was terrified and i don;t think that it was from just the headache," Chiana let out rather quickly and breathed heavily after her explanation.
"Now that you mention it, yes, it did seem like something was happening that we are not aware of," Rygel agreed.
"O.K, so that's a possiblilty," Aeryn reluctantly agreed,"So how do we find out WHAT it was that had Crichton so frightened?"
"I think I have an idea that might work," Zhaan said as she went to doctor mode and quickly went over to the other side of the room for a few vials of some sort of green and clear liquid and another purple vial.
"O.k, so are you planning on informing us of this idea of yours?" D'Argo asked after a few moments of watching Zhaan pick up numerous vials from teh shelves and counters.
"Well, I've never tried it before, and it's very dangerous, but I think we should give it a shot," Zhaan barely answered as she put the vials on the table next to Crichton's bed.
"O.k Zhaan," Chaian started,"We're gonna need a little more info than that."
Aeryn jerked her head in Chiana's direction in surprise.
"What?" Chiana asked innocently.
"Nothing, you just sounded a lot like Crichton just then," Aeryn answered looking down at John and holding his hand.
"Oh," Chiana realized,"Sorry."
"No need Chiana," Aeryn reassured her,"I was just surprised."
"O.k, here's the plan," Zhaan started as she measured small amounts os the liquids and goos from teh vials,"There is an old procedure that my ancestors use to perform to rid bad thoughts from Delvians on the verge of a madness worse than the one that plagues my species today. They called it the Plagued Madness. Priests of high power would inject a remedy into the Delvians brain and then read out of our sacred texts to bless the victim," Zhaan explained hurriedly and with a little hope in her voice,"the madness no longer exists among my race."
"So you think that this same procedure will help Crichton?" D'Argo asked,"How?"
"Well D'Argo, during the verge of the Madness, the victim would have the very same symptoms that Crichton has had. They would be fine one microt and then fall to the floor in agony and with an expression of fear on their face the next. I had to memorize the remedy when I was very young so that if the Madness ever came back, I would know how to destroy it," Zhaan further explained as she finished measuring out the substances and began adding them together,"The fear was caused by horrible memories in their life or wrongs that they had committed in their life. The memories pushed the Delvian further and further inot madness."
"Why didn't you say something before?" Chiana asked a little angrily.
"Because I wasn't sure, seeing that John isn't a Delvian and that the Madness is extinct. But when you mentioned the look of terror and pain on John's face, it, pardon the human expression, 'just clicked,'" Zhaan explained.
"So you're saying that John is seeing memories of his life being flashed through his mind?" D'Argo asked.
"Yes, I think so anyway. There is no way to be certain."
"But what about Scorpious and that chip?" Chiana asked.
"I think that Scorpious was somehow able to put the Plagued Madness into that chip and something triggered it," Zhaan answered as she finished putting in teh components into the injector.
"But why?" Rygel asked,"What the yotz does Scorpious gain by giving Crichton this Plagued Madness?"
Zhaan looked up from what she was doing and looked from one crewmember to the other until her eyes fell upon John's fragile body.
"I don't know," she whispered,"I just don't know."
~~~~~~~~~~~~--------------------------------------~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ohhh Johhhn. Crichton. Over here," came a menacing and familiar voice as Crichton stood in a black room with a glow of light coming from his left.
John turned toward what he hoped wasn't but what was.
"Scorpious." was all John said as he stared at the sebacean/scarren.
"Yes John. I am back. I see my mental chip is doing it's job."
John immediately remembered the memory Scorpious blocked from his mind. The memory of Scorpious telling him there was a chip in his brain. The memory of Scorpious telling him that the chip contained himself and the memory of Scorpious giving him a hint of how to kill the scarren that had captured him a little while after the whole business on the Royal Planet.
Confused, John quickly regained his focus on Scorpious with shock on his tired face. Then his mind went to the memory in the Aurora chair. Crichton closed his eyes as the memory came back to him. The memory contained Scorpious injecting the mental chip into his brain.
John shot open his eyes in disbelief as he tried to figure this new information out.
"Surprised John?" Scorpious asked with his head cocked to the right,"Well, I don't blame you. I would be too if I just found out there was a chip in my head.
"What the hell is it doing to me?"
Scorpious took a step forward followed quickly with John taking a step back.
"The chip is making you see my memories John," Scorpious explained,"It's making you live my life all at once."
"Why would you do that?" John asked as his forehead creased in tension and wonder.
"Because John, it brought you right where I wanted you. Now I can freely probe through your mind as you slip into madness and eventually death. I needed you to be too weak to fight what I am about to do," Scorpious said and after his statement smiled evilly.
Crichton stood still pondering what Scorpious meant by his last remark and soon found out.
All at once the headache, dizziness and memories came swarming into his mind more intensely by the microt.
Crichton fell to the floor at once holding his head and yelling in agony.
Scorpious closed his eyes and took in John's memories in search of the wormhole technology he is so bent on finding.
~~~~~~~~~~~~------------------------------------~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hold him down!" Aeryn yelled as Crichton's body began to spasm.
"John! John! Can you hear me?!" yelled Zhaan as she grabbed the injector and positioned it to Crichton's left temple.
"Do it Zhaan!" D'Argo urged while using all of his strength to hold the human's head still.
Zhaan looked at the others for approval.
All at once the yelled together,"DO IT!!" Even Pilot, who was watching in silence the whole time.
Zhaan stuck the needle in firmly as Crichton's eyes fluttered beneath his eyelids. She pushed the button and let the remedy flow through his brain.
Zhaan then began chanting words that the translator microbes couldn't interpret. John continued to repeat the same chant over and over.
The spasms continued strongly for what seemed like arns and finally gradually ceased.
Gasping for breath, one by one, D'Argo, Chiana, Aeryn and Zhaan slowly released their firm grips on the unconscience human. Aeryn checked his pulse in his neck as the others waited for some sort of reaction in Aeryn's face. They let out sighs of relief when Aeryn gave a faint smile.
"He's alive." she said simply as she slumped down into a chair next to her.
Zhaan lifted up his left eyelid to see if they were still rolled into the back of his head.
"His eyes are normal, bloodshot, but normal," Zhaan smiled as she too took a seat next to Crichton's side.
"How will we know if it has worked?" D'Argo asked wiping off the sweat on his forehead that had just perspired.
"If he wakes up," Zhaan said simply as she rubbed her eyes in exhaustion.
"When," Aeryn corrected,"When he wakes up."
"Right Aeryn," Zhaan smiled approvingly,"When he wakes up."
"I hope the frelling human wakes up," Rygel stated hovering his chair next to Zhaan,"I need someone to make repair my frelling chair. It's been making some strange noise I need him to fix."
The others smiled as they saw Rygel's true feelings for John show through.
"What about the chip?" D'Argo asked a half a microt later.
"Well, I hope that the madness was stored in the chip and since we just rid it from John's mind, the chips function went with it," Zhaan hoped out loud.
"Do you think there will be brain damage?" Chiana asked worriedly.
"There is no way to tell until he wakes up," Zhaan answered,"And that might now be for awhile."
Everyone remained silent while they all unknowingly had the same thoughts. They were all very happy that they didn't lose Crichton. They all realized how much he means to them. They all vowed to themselves not to take John's friendship for granted.
"One thing doesn't add up," Aeryn spoke up.
The others looked at her to go on.
"What about Crichton's visions of Scorpious?"
A moment of pondering took place as each individual tried to come up with a logical explanation.
"I guess that's also a question that Crichton will have to answer for us," D'Argo, sort of, answered.
"There's no point in all of us being here," Zhaan stated,"You all go get some rest. I'll stay with him."
"No, I'll stay," Aeryn said keeping her eyes on Crichton.
"Aeryn, you're exhausted. You-"
"No more than you are. I'm not leaving." Aeryn stated firmly.
Zhaan knew that there was no point in arguing, "Allright Aeryn. But I'm coming back in a few arns so that you can get some rest," Zhaan compromised.
"O.k." Aeryn said simply without taking her eyes of John.
Zhaan, D'Argo, Rygel and Chiana left to go to their quarters for some much needed sleep. Aeryn stared at John and thought about what had just transpired.
"Why didn't you come to me for help?" she whispered out loud.
Officer Sun looked down at the right hand she had been holding for quite some time.
"Please be all right," she whispered while closing her eyes to shield the tears from coming.
Aeryn felt pressure to her hand. It took her a moment to figure out that it was Crichton's hand gently squeezing hers. She looked up at his face in surprise. He lay still and remained unconscience. Aeryn slowly let a grin spread across her face as a single tear fell from her left eye in hope.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-----------------------------~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Days turned into weekens. The crew took shifts looking after Crichton. Aeryn barely left his side even when it was someone else's shift. Without John bringing some excitement into their lives, the crew felt a little empty without him always getting them into trouble.
D'Argo missed having another male around while Chiana missed her mentor-like friend who seemed more like a big brother than a crewmate. Zhaan missed the little things about Crichton like his confusing human expressions and a friend to talk to whenever she needed. Pilot missed, in a wierd way, having someone asking so many questions all of the time. Even Rygel missed John around to brag about himself to.
But Aeryn missed the most important part of Crichton...his love. As he lay motionless for weekens, Aeryn realized that she can't live without him. While the others gradually lost hope that John would ever regain conscienceness, she didn't allow herself to give up.
Then three weekens after Zhaan performed the ritual to cure Crichton, as Aeryn and D'Argo watched over him, John began to stir from his long sleep.
Aeryn immediately sat up from her slumped position and signaled with a wave of her hand for D'Argo to come over. D'Argo quickly made his way from the other side of the room to where Crichton had begun to come out of his coma-like state.
"John?" Aeryn asked softly,"John it's Aeryn."
The human continued to struggle out of unconscienceness as D'Argo and Aeryn waited with eagerness.
"Crichton wake up," Aeryn demanded firmly,"Come on John, open your eyes," she urged squeezing his hand.
After what seemed like a quarter of an arn, astronaut John Crichton slowly opened his eyes to two blurry figures hovering over him. Confused, he struggled to focus his eyes. At the same time, he tried to figure out what had happened after Scorpious forced another attack on him.
"Zhaan," D'Argo spoke into his comm,"He's awake," he finished with relief in his voice.
"Good to hear D'Argo, I'll be there in less than a microt," Zhaan responded equally relieved.
Pilot's smiling image appeared on the clam shell after hearing the good news.
"John, can you hear me?" Aeryn asked louder than she needed to.
It look awhile but Crichton finally responded with,"Yeah Aeryn," he paused,"I can hear you. Can you try not to talk so loud?"
D'Argo and Aeryn both smiled as they realized that the old Crichton was back.
"John do you remember what happened?" D'Argo asked as Zhaan and Chiana ran in followed by Rygel.
"Depends," John started while closing his eyes,"What happened on your side of reality?" he asked as he opened his eyes again as he gradually woke up more and more.
Everyone gathered around John's bed as Aeryn started to explain what had happened.
"You collapsed on the floor of the mess hall and had some sort of seizure."
"Yeah I remember. It's after that that I'm a little fuzzy on."
Everyone smiled at the human expression that they had all missed.
"Well you were unconscience for two days and Zhaan did every test she could think of to find out what was causing it," Aeryn paused as she looked at the others.
John realized why she looked at the other crewmates and said it for her,"And you found a chip in my brain right?"
They all looked at him in confusion and surprise.
"So you knew it was there?" Zhaan asked.
"Well, sort of. See Scorpy put it in my head back on the Gammack Base. Then he erased that memory from my mind," John started slowly because he was still exhausted."Then when that scarren nabbed me awhile back, Scorpy told me about the chip and what it his intentions were."
"And what were his intentions?" Chiana asked still trying to piece everything together.
John paused while he took a deep breath and began again,"He said he was there to make sure that I don't get myself killed and so that I can't kill him. That's why I couldn't kill him on the Royal Planet. The chip stopped me."
"So Scorpious was in the chip?" D'Argo asked sort of understanding Crichton's answers.
"Yeah. His personality, or lack there of, was in it."
"So that's why you thought you saw him all those times," Aeryn said understanding everything more clearly.
"Yeah, because technically, I did."
"But why did he make you have those attacks?" Chiana asked.
John let out another sigh and continued,"Because he wanted me to be too weak to resist him going through my memories to find the wormhole technology do he made me see his memories," he paused,"That, and the simple fact that he's a bastard."
D'Argo chuckled at that while the others smiled.
"That he is," D'Argo responded.
"So how exactly did I survive anyway?" John asked a little more lively.
"Well, Zhaan injected a remedy into your temple and spoke some Delvian words to protect you," Aeryn explained trying to contain her smile but failing.
"Well then," John looked towards Zhaan on his left side,"Thank you Zhaan."
Zhaan smiles back and responded with,"Just seeing you awake and talking is enough thanks for me John."
John let out a slight cough and involuntarily shivered.
"I think we should let him get some sleep," D'Argo suggested tugging Chiana toward the door.
"Well why not? It's not like he's already been been asleep for three frelling weekens!" Chiana said teasingly.
John immediately looked toward Chiana in surprise and attempted to sit up.
"No John, stay lying down," Aeryn insisted pushing him back down.
Resisting Aeryn, John said excitedly,"I've been unconscience for three weeks?!"
"Yes John," Zhaan answered gently while at the same time helping Aeryn get him to lie back down.
"Why don't I remember sleeping that long?" John asked confusingly,"It seems like I've only been asleep for a few hour-err, arns."
"I don't know John but that doesn't matter now," Aeryn reassured him,"What matters now is that you are all right now."
John finally laid back down exhaustedly.
"Let's let him get some rest," Zhaan suggested as she began walking towards the door while everyone but Aeryn did the same. Zhaan stopped to say goodnight but stopped when she looked at Aeryn's face which was focused on Crichton's as he closed his eyes. She smiled at the simplicity of it as she turned and walked out of the room.
Aeryn smiled uncontrollably at John. "John?" she whispered to see if he was still awake.
"Yeah?" John asked in a half awake whisper.
Aeryn hesitated for a few moments. She was afraid of what it would mean if she said it aloud but she knew her conscience would nag at her forever and she would regret it if she didn't do it right them.
"John?" she asked again.
"Yeah?" he asked again less awake than before.
"John, I-I," another pause,"I think, um, I think I'm in love with you." she slowly let the words fall from her lips as she awaited his reaction.
There was another long moment of silence. John kept his eyes closed but smiled as a tear streamed down the side of his face.
"Ditto."
Aeryn knew his response was another human expression but she also knew that it was a positive one. She kissed his tears tenderly and climbed in bed next to him. She laid her head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her.
The two (literally), star-crossed lovers smiled as they drifted off to sleep in perfect bliss.
FINISHED!!!!!!! I hope you all liked it. Thank you to KMorgan for the help. Feedback would be greatly appreciated.