anadventure

An Adventure
by Kim
Disclaimer: They're not mine even if I wish they were…don't sue me, I have no money anyway.
Rating: PG-13
Archive: Dani-bani-bobani-banana-fanna...okay I'm stopping. Ummm, let's see Dani, Becc, Nat, Koren...oh frell. There's far too many of you people's. If you want it (which I seriously doubt you will) go for it. Just drop me a line telling me where it is.
Spoilers: "PK Tech Girl," and minor spoilers for a few others.
Summary: John and Aeryn have to wait in a cave for a storm to blow over…'nuff said.
Notes: It's not my fault…they made me do it (looking accusingly at Becc and Nat). Set before "Through the Looking Glass." Thanks to James my wonderful beta (if there are any mistakes, they're probably mine because I have this nasty habit of adding whole scenes after they've been proofread). Oh and this is very, very shippy. You have been forewarned…

Crichton was being impossible! Not that that was unusual, but it was beginning to get on Aeryn's very last nerves. Just because he was not from this area was not an excuse to be an idiot! Aeryn was standing in the control room with John. She was trying to teach him how to use a particular station and was getting very irritated with him. He was a smart person, he should have been picking this up faster. And did he really have to look so adorable, even if he was wearing that ugly IASA jacket and black pants? Aeryn got even more agitated as Crichton continued to look uncomprehendingly at the readouts on the screen in front of him.
"So if I push this, what would happen?" John asked as he reached his hand over to push the button.
"John, no!" Aeryn said as she smacked his hand away. "Crichton, someday you are going to kill us all."
"Jeez, sorry. You don't have to have a heart attack on me!"
"I was not having a heart attack."
"It's a human expression, you know, like if someone is getting all worked up over nothing…"
"No, I don't know," she said pointedly.
"Well, it's like…you know what, never mind."
Aeryn gave him one of her patented glares, but said nothing. She shrugged it off and tried to get back to work. A microt later, D'Argo walked in with Zhaan right behind him. Rygel and Chiana were nowhere to be found. Aeryn was worried about what those two might get into if they were left alone together. Neither of them was known for their truthfulness. Maybe she should go check on them, just to be sure. Her thoughts were interrupted by Pilot announcing that they were approaching a planet. The planet appeared in front of them on the viewscreen. It had large landmasses with aquamarine water covering most of the surface.
"Wow. That is a gorgeous planet," John said. "The oceans should be bluer, though."
Zhaan smiled softly at him. "I was just thinking they needed to be more purple."
"Well, just goes to show you, there's no place like home," John said. A slightly odd expression came to his face after saying that.
"What is it, Crichton?" Aeryn asked. She had been watching him out of the corner of her eye and noticed the change in his expression.
"Oh, nothing. I just had a weird Wizard of Oz flashback," John said shaking his head.
Aeryn looked at John quizzically. "Wizard of Oz," she repeated. "Who is that?"
"Oh, just a wizard. He rules over some little people," John said with a smile.
"Crichton, what are you talking about?" Aeryn asked exasperated. His human references and comments could be so confusing sometimes.
"Never mind Aeryn," John said. "Hey Pilot, is this planet inhabited?"
Pilot's purple face appeared in front of them. "My scanners indicate no advanced life forms are present."
"Well, if there are no life forms present, then why are we wasting our time here?" D'Argo asked impatiently.
"While there are no higher life forms," Pilot said. "My scanners do indicate much vegetation."
"So? What's your point?" D'Argo asked.
"We are almost out of food," Aeryn offered defending Pilot.
"Yeah, we could go down there and take a look to see if there's anything we want," John said.
While they had been discussing it, Rygel hovered in eating a food cube.
"What?! You think you are going to go down to that planet and food will just magically appear? I would expect this from humans, given the example we have here, but from a Peacekeeper? Are you out of your frelling minds? I will not allow it. We should be on our way. We have a contact on Peridiam III who will not wait for us long."
"But, your eminence," Zhaan said. "We are in desperate need of supplies. Ever since Chiana came on board, we have been exhausting our already small supply even more. Peridiam III is two weeks away from here, we will surely need food before then."
"I say we just throw Chiana out of an airlock then," said Rygel. "We are just wasting precious resources on her anyway."
"Alright, that's enough Rygel," John said irritably. "Aeryn, D'Argo, and I will go down to the planet and check it out. We'll be back in plenty of time to make our contact."
*****
Down on the planet, it was mid-morning. The sun was shining brightly, but it was not hot. A slight breeze rustles the tops of the trees. It was a forested region. Cool and damp, but not uncomfortably so. The transport pod had landed in the middle of a large clearing in the forest, next to a stream. John stepped out and stretched happily.
"This reminds me of camping with my dad back on Earth," John said.
Aeryn and D'Argo made no comment as they carried out three handheld scanners, their weapons, and some sacks for food. With little more than a cursory glance at their surroundings, Aeryn walked over to hand John a scanner and a sack.
"This will scan to see if there is any edible food," she stated. "Don't break it."
"Hey that Peacekeeper pulse rifle was a total fluke," he said defensively. "I don't do that with everything you know."
Aeryn ignored him as she and D'Argo discussed how best to search the surrounding area. "We should split up in order to cover the most ground," D'Argo said.
"Yes, that's a good idea. You go west and I'll go east."
"What about Crichton?" D'Argo asked.
"Crichton, would you get back here!" yelled Aeryn.
While they had been speaking, John had managed to wander off into the surrounding forest. He was, at the moment, crouched down staring in fascination at a lizard-like creature catch food in the stream. He had never seen anything like this animal. It was enthralling. Ignoring Aeryn's call he said, "Hey, you guys, look at this! It's like part lizard, part raccoon, part bird all rolled into one!"
"John, we're supposed to be looking for food," Aeryn said.
"He won't be much help to us," said D'Argo. "Why don't you just take him along."
"Why do I have to take him?! Why don't you?"
D'Argo said nothing, he just gave her a look that told her she knew exactly why and that he wasn't in the mood to argue. Aeryn looked down slightly, then straightened.
"Try not to let him wander off." D'Argo said. "You know how he gets into trouble."
Aeryn simply nodded and went off to collect Crichton from where he was still staring at the creature in fascination.
"Come on John, we have work to do," she said.
"Oh, but Aeryn look at this guy! He's…" he was cut off when Aeryn unceremoniously grabbed his collar and yanked him up.
"We don't have time for this," she reminded him. "Come on."
"Alright, alright. I'm coming, jeez. You Peacekeepers really aren't big on manners are you?"
Aeryn shot him another glare that immediately shut him up, but didn't reply. They walked along in silence for a while, Aeryn scanning for food and collecting some while John simply enjoyed the peace and quiet. Being behind Aeryn had given him the perfect opportunity to observe her without being seen. She was wearing her usual dark colored pants and one of her tank tops and vest. She had her hair tied back, Crichton noticed disappointedly. He liked her hair. He tripped over a rock after that thought. He hadn't noticed it before, but the terrain had begun to change. The trees became taller and it was quickly getting steeper and rockier. John found himself getting out of breath very quickly whereas Aeryn seemed perfectly fine. He stopped to rest under a tree for a minute, and the next thing he knew, Aeryn was nowhere to be found. He called her name, but she didn't answer. He finally thought of his communicator and tried calling her or D'Argo through that, but it was no use.
"The mountains must be interfering with communication," he said to himself. "Oh, well. Aeryn should notice I'm not with her soon. She'll come back for me."
He then sat down on a rock contentedly looking around, waiting for Aeryn. It wasn't all that often that there was this much peace and quiet. The ship tended to be a madhouse most of the time, and he found himself yearning for home where he used to take long walks in the mornings. He found himself missing a lot of the little things, since he had been out here. Those were the ones that counted the most, he had decided.
*****
Aeryn hadn't noticed when John had disappeared, she just suddenly realized he was not with her anymore. She called out his name and all she got was the rustle of the wind through the trees as her answer. The wind had been picking up steadily as she went higher on the mountain and she suddenly found herself very thankful that she had tied her hair back today. She tried her communicator and found that it wasn't working. Since she was near the top of the mountain anyway, she decided to go all the way up and see if communication was better up there. She climbed higher until she reached the peak. Immediately she tried calling John. He didn't respond so she tried D'Argo.
"D'Argo, can you hear me?"
"Yes, Aeryn, what is it?"
"Well, I found a few food sources, but they are not very good. John wandered off and now I can't find him. He's not answering over his communicator."
She heard him softly cursing and smiled slightly. "This is a rather mountainous region we're in. I think that's what's disrupting communication."
"All right, give me your location and I will come help you look."
After she did so she asked, "Did you find anything?"
"No, not really. There is a small supply of some sort of vegetable I noticed. I will ask Zhaan to come down and collect it while I help you look for Crichton."
"All right. I'm going to go look for John now. Communication will probably be impossible once I get lower into the mountains."
"Understood," he grunted.
*****
Part one
Sitting on the rock, Crichton finally had the chance to observe his surroundings. He was on the side of a mountain. From his vantage point, he could easily see the valley that they had come in through. He was struck, again, by how similar it looked to Earth. He picked up a dead leaf and examined it. He fingered the leaf with five little leaflets meeting in the center for a minute.
"Compound palmate," he said automatically, then grinned. "Mr. V sure did pound that Bio into me, didn't he?" he asked himself, grinning.
That same thought eventually sobered him. He really missed Earth. He felt as if a piece of his heart was missing ever since that day he took the Farscape 1 out for the first time. And he felt that ache straight through him every time he came down to a planet exactly like this one. His soul was becoming weary and he yearned for home. Home. That word had never meant so much to him as it did now that he didn't have one anymore. If things were different, and he had it all to do over, would he make the same choices? He really didn't know anymore. On one side there was his dad, DK, his work and on the other there was Crais, Maldis, Durka, and scores of other bad thing, but there was also D'Argo, Zhaan, hell even Rygel, and…Aeryn. He knew he was attracted to her, hell, she was probably even attracted to him, but he did enjoy living. Not that she would actually kill him if he ever did anything, but, well, the two times they had ever even kissed was when they thought one of them was gonna die. But if that was the case, then why couldn't he shake the feelings he had for her? He didn't understand. It was never this way with Alex. With her he had felt so…comfortable. Aeryn just ended up confusing the hell out of him. She challenged him, she never listened to him, hell, she even made fun of him. So why did he find her so irresistible?
Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he looked around and realized it was getting windier and the sky was darkening. "Oh, man!" he exclaimed. "I don't even know where I am, let alone the transport pod!"
He looked around and decided waiting for Aeryn was out. He needed to find shelter before this storm broke. He walked in what he hoped was the right direction. After about fifteen minutes, with the sky quickly getting darker, he spotted something. At first, he thought it was just the mountain, but he soon realized that it was actually a cave. It was small, but it would provide shelter. It was almost completely hidden, but just obvious enough so that someone looking for it would see it while someone who wasn't would walk right by. He looked out as thunder began to rumble in the distance.
"I should gather some wood," he said to himself. He went out to do so, gathering the biggest sticks and pieces of wood he could find lying around. In the end, it was about enough to last through the night if need be. "I hope Aeryn and D'Argo are alright in this storm," he thought to himself.
*****
As Aeryn made her way slowly down the mountain, she thought about John. Why did he always send her mixed signals? At first, he helped her escape and was even going to stay with the Peacekeepers until that little incident with Crais. Then he was going off and giving his allegiance to a bunch of escaped prisoners. And then he was kissing a tech. A tech of all people! Then he was kissing her and after that telling her he was sick of her, then kissing her again. She didn't understand what was going on with him. She didn't understand what was going on with her! These feelings for this human just made her weak and vulnerable.
"I don't even know what I see in him. He doesn't know a thing about anything out here. He can't defend himself or anyone else. He's completely useless. He's gullible and far too trusting. And why the frell does he keep wandering off?!" she yelled. It was at that point that she realized she had been talking to herself.
"Oh, now I'm turning into Crichton," she said with annoyance.
Deciding she really needed to find shelter soon and that she had to stop thinking about Crichton, she walked a little faster. The sky was getting darker by the microt and she knew this was going to be a big storm. No matter how much she tried, though, her thoughts kept straying back to John. So he wasn't completely useless. He had gotten them out of a few situations that could have turned out very bad. He did have a good heart and, she had to admit, he was trying. All of those thoughts quickly vanished as the first drops began to fall. She did like the rain, as John called it, but she knew that it wouldn't do to stand outside in it all night. She had to find shelter…and fast.
*****
D'Argo looked up to see the skies darkening and the wind picking up just as he was passing the transport pod on his way to help Aeryn find Crichton. He recognized the signs of a storm and decided it would be better to stay in the pod and wait it out than to go out looking for those two in the storm. "They're just going to have to entertain themselves," he thought somewhat amusedly.
*****
Once John had actually entered the cave, he realized his mistake. From the outside, it looked small, but on the inside, it opened into a small cavern that connected to a much larger one. In the back of the large cave, there also were several smaller openings to other caves. John thought those would be fun to explore if he got bored. He decided to start a fire to warm up, as it had gotten quite cold, even with his IASA jacket.
"Man, I'm glad my dad put me in Boy Scouts," John muttered to himself as he got to work.
Soon, he had a moderate fire going. He lay back and looked out at the rain in the darkness. It was raining harder now. The glow from his fire made it look like a blanket of water was pouring down. He was extremely glad he had found this cave. He let his mind wander to the circumstances that got him here and everything that had been happening to him. It was nice to be able to sit back and reflect again. That was one thing he missed out here in this end of the galaxy. The only time he had actually had the time to reflect was on Acquara when he had accidentally been left behind. That had been a peaceful time, but he had known that that was not the path his life was destined to follow, no matter how much he might have wished it to be so. He was never meant to live that life.
Crichton was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of something splashing through puddles outside the cave. He picked up a log, fearing it was some sort of animal and quickly dropped it again when he realized it was Aeryn. She was soaked to the bone with her ebony hair plastered to her face and neck. She entered the cave and dropped her stuff on the ground with barely a glance towards him. Crichton had thought she looked good normally, but now he couldn't even describe her with her clothes stuck to her body and water dripping down into small puddles collecting at her feet.
"Wow," he breathed.
"What?" she asked. "Crichton, are you alright?"
He realized he had a goofy expression on his face and quickly controlled himself. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he said. "But you look…uncomfortable. A little wet out there?"
Aeryn threw him a glance that would have withered anyone who didn't know her better. Crichton merely grinned and took it in stride, still joking with her.
"Yeah, I think it might be raining, but I'm not exactly sure," he said with a grin. Saying nothing in reply, she crouched down on the opposite side of the fire from him and tried to warm herself.
*****
Aeryn was so happy to see the light coming from the cave. If there hadn't been a fire, she probably would have missed it entirely. She had the thought that she should be wary of enemies as she walked into the cavern, but as soon as she glimpsed Crichton, she knew she was fine. Well, almost fine. She was tired and needed to rest. Once she was into the main cavern, she dropped her sack and pulse rifle. A glance at John let her know that he had lay back down and was now watching her every move with a stupid expression on his face. He said something she couldn't hear and she had asked him about it and if he was alright. He just said he was fine and proceeded to make light of her being soaking wet with what she guessed was human humor. That expression that had been on his face was gone, but she could have sworn she had seen it before. She told herself she would think about it later and crouched down next to the fire to warm herself. The only trouble with that was that in that position, she couldn't help but look into his eyes.
*****
He watched her as she tried to both warm herself by the fire, and avoid his gaze. She really did look uncomfortable. He felt sorry for her, but didn't voice this out loud. He knew the reaction that would get. Typical Aeryn. She would never show any weakness, or what she perceived as a weakness.
"Well, this is quite an adventure wouldn't ya say?" Crichton asked.
"Adventure? Is that what you think this is?"
"Well, yeah, I mean, it could be worse."
"Yes, but it also could be better. If you had stayed with me like you were supposed to, we would have been off this rock arns ago," she stated as she stood up and began to walk around the cave.
"Stayed with you?! You've got to be kidding me. You left me behind!"
"I did no such thing."
"Yes, you did. All I did was stop to catch my breath and the big Peacekeeper commando was gone!" he said as he stood up as well and walked up to her, his anger growing.
"Well, if you weren't a useless human, you wouldn't have gotten left behind, now would you?" she said, her tone pure acid.
"Useless?! I can't believe…how many times have I saved our lives, huh Aeryn? How many?"
"And how many times have you messed everything up by wandering off?"
"I didn't wander off!" he practically yelled.
Throughout the whole argument, they had been getting louder and louder. Now they were practically nose to nose yelling at each other. John was so mad at her. Did she really think he was useless? That had hurt him, especially considering recent events. He sighed. This had to stop, he didn't want to fight with Aeryn.
"Look, this isn't helping us any," he said softly.
She just sighed and walked to the opposite side of the cave and sat down. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself trying not to shiver from the cold. John looked over to her and thought she seemed so vulnerable. He mentally laughed at himself. Aeryn, vulnerable, yeah right! He noticed she was shivering and realized the temperature had dropped yet again.
"Aeryn, would you stop being a baby and come over here?" he asked. "You're freezing and it's only gonna get colder as it gets later."
She gave him a withering look, but eventually relented. She moved over to the other side of the cave, but stubbornly refused to sit next to him. John rolled his eyes and pulled her towards him.
"It's called sharing body heat Aeryn," he said. "It wouldn't hurt you to loosen up you know."
"Loosen up?" she asked, snuggling closer to him despite her earlier protests.
"Yeah, you know, it means to relax, be cool," he said, wrapping an arm around her.
"Be cool? I will never understand why you humans just don't say what you mean!"
"Oh, but that's not as much fun!"
"Well, it's much more efficient."
"Nah, any human would know what I meant. And we haven't met any other species yet, so there's no need to keep it simple."
She said nothing, just closed her eyes and shifted closer still. He was busy playing with her hair when he finally realized how tired he was.
"Come on Aeryn. We should get some rest," he said as he lay down on his side using his arm as a pillow and pulling Aeryn down next to him with the other. She resisted for a minute, but then reluctantly lay down next to him facing away from him, close but not touching. John smiled at that. "Always the stubborn Peacekeeper," he thought to himself. He sat up and leaned over her to put another branch on the now dwindling fire. As he was pulling his hand back he looked down at her. She just looked back up at him, waiting for him to say something.
"Goodnight," he whispered, after which he leaned down and gave her a light, tender kiss. He then lay back down to try to get some sleep.
*****
Aeryn, for her part, had resisted the urge to pull him back after he had kissed her, and instead found herself unable to sleep. She kept replaying that kiss in her mind coupled with the other two he had given her before. Damn him. Why did he have to make her life so difficult? Nothing like this had ever happened while she was still a Peacekeeper. No one had ever made her fell as foolish and inexperienced and…alive as he now did. It was particularly disconcerting.
She sighed. "Oh, well," she thought. "There's nothing I can do about it now." So she turned over and again tried to go to sleep. It wasn't working very well, however, because every time she fell asleep she had nightmares of John kissing Gilina and choosing that tech over her. She must have been making some noise in one of them because, the next thing she knew, Crichton was shaking her awake. She sat up quickly looking around the unfamiliar surroundings wildly. Realizing immediately where she was, she lay back down, still keeping her back to John.
"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Yes, I'm fine," she said, now intensely aware of the hand which was gently rubbing her shoulder.
"You sure? You can talk to me about it you know."
"I said I was fine," she snapped.
"Alright, just checking," he said, instantly removing his hand.
Aeryn just fell back into a troubled sleep without another thought of him or the ultimate meaning of her dreams.
*****
Part two
Aeryn awoke the next morning feeling safe and relaxed. It took her a minute to recognize that that wasn't normal. When she finally opened her eyes, she realized that she had her arms wrapped tightly around John's midsection and his arms were wrapped around her. Their legs were tangled together from sleeping in close proximity and Aeryn was pressed tightly against John's sleeping form. She had the strongest urge just to snuggle closer to John and fall right back to sleep, but she resisted and eventually made herself sit up. Her movements had awoken John who favored her with a sleepy grin.
"Hi," he said, smiling broader yet.
Aeryn just smiled back slightly, but said nothing. She looked out of the cave and noticed it was still raining. She sighed.
"Well, it looks like this storm's still hanging around," John said. "I guess we better get some breakfast."
Aeryn still had the food that she had collected and they made a light breakfast from that. Her mind was still on last night and the state in which she woke up this morning. She didn't particularly feel like talking, but she wasn't so lucky that Crichton was going to be quiet anytime soon.
"So," he began. "Did you sleep well?"
"Not really," she said, remembering the deluge of nightmares.
"Oh. Well, that sucks."
She just smiled and stayed quiet.
"Well," he tried again. "What do you want to do today?"
"Wait for the rain to stop, get the food, get the frell off this rock," she stated simply and immediately.
"Well be that as it may, that doesn't exactly help us in the here and now."
The truth be told, Aeryn didn't really relish the idea of spending the day alone with John Crichton, let alone another microt. There was no telling what sort of trouble they could get into.
"Hey, why don't we explore those other caves?" he suggested brightly. "We could just look around. It would, at least, pass the time."
"I don't know. I'm reluctant to go off wandering. D'Argo might come up here and then he wouldn't be able to find us."
"Oh, he's not going anywhere in that," John said gesturing to the downpour just outside the cave. "And besides, where's your sense of adventure?"
Aeryn sighed heavily. Well, it was better than sitting alone with Crichton in the cave. That was far too dangerous in her opinion. "Oh alright, as long as it will pass the time."
*****
John was ecstatic. He got to explore these caves he had been meaning to and he got to spend the day with Aeryn. He was enjoying her company more and more of late, even if she tended to shut him out most of the time. He picked himself up off of the ground and brushed the dirt off himself. He grabbed their packs with the scanners and pulse rifle in them.
"So," he said. "Which one do you want to try first?"
Of the three cave entrances, Aeryn chose the second one, oddly enough. He had expected her to choose the first or third, being the methodical Peacekeeper she was. Her choice seemed somewhat random to him. He shrugged his curiosity off as they proceeded to go through a maze of smooth, reddish-brown tunnels until reaching a dead end. Crichton found himself glad that he had thought to bring a flashlight before leaving Moya. After going back and also making their way through the first tunnel, Aeryn was ready to quit.
"John, this is a waste of time and we're not getting anywhere. Both of those two were dead ends. Where do you expect them to go?"
"I dunno. Hey, look, it's more fun than sitting around waiting for it to stop raining, right?"
Aeryn let out a frustrated growl, but let John lead her into the third cave. This one was slightly different than the others. The rock was more grayish and there were large pieces of crystal jutting out at odd intervals. John crouched next to one and shined his light close to examine it.
"Hey, Aeryn, do you know what these are?" he asked inquisitively.
"It looks like qatley crystal," she commented. She pulled out a small piece and examined it, turning it over in her hands.
"In some places, this is very rare and expensive," she said. "We should take some back to Moya with us. It would help with our bartering."
"Yeah that's a good idea," John said. "But let's come back for it later. We don't know how far we'll be going and we don't want to weigh ourselves down if this ends up being a long hike."
They continued on in silence for a while. John was lost in thoughts of Aeryn when he suddenly heard something.
"Aeryn, do you hear that?" he asked.
"It sounds like water," she answered.
"Yeah, I think it's coming from up ahead. Come on."
They walked a little more quickly through the tunnel and ended up in an extremely large cave. It was shaped in an oval with a waterfall on one side. The water was probably coming from a spring somewhere on the mountain outside. John laughed out loud at the sight.
"See, Aeryn? I told you this would be fun."
He ran down to the water's edge and stuck his hand in. The frigid water was a shock to his senses and he quickly pulled it out again.
"Hmmm," he said. "That's cold."
"What's that?" Aeryn asked pointing upwards. John looked to where she was pointing. He hadn't noticed it at first, but there was another opening above them. It was partially hidden by the waterfall and was glowing a soft blue.
"I don't know," he said. "Let's go take a look."
They both jumped over the river at the narrowest point and made their way over to a sharply rising cliff. It would take them up to the opening above, but it was rough and very steep.
"Well," John said. "Nowhere to go but up. Oh, ladies first, by all means."
Aeryn just rolled her eyes at him and began climbing. After finding some good handholds, she started scaling the cliff. A little ways up she accidentally grabbed a loose rock and lost her balance. She fell heavily to the ground in front of Crichton who immediately rushed to her side.
"Aeryn! Aeryn are you okay?!" he practically yelled.
"Stop shouting Crichton, I'm fine. I just scraped my arm," she said of the now bleeding wound on her arm.
John was immediately worried. He should have gone first, he knew it. Now Aeryn was hurt just because he wanted to see a cave.
"Here, let me help," he said as he watched her struggling to attend to the cut. With expert fingers, he gently cleaned the cut in the water and tore a piece of his shirt to make a bandage. Aeryn just watched him with amusement as he fussed over her.
"There," he said. "Good as new. Well, I think that's enough of our little adventure. Let's just go back and wait for the rain to stop." He started to walk back the way they had come when Aeryn spoke.
"No, wait. I want to see what is up there as well."
"You sure, Aeryn? I mean, you already got hurt once."
"Yes, I'm sure. And this is just a scratch. Come on," she said mimicking one of John's favorite sayings. He just grinned and followed her. No way in hell was he gonna argue with this woman when she got an idea stuck in her head.
*****
Aeryn's fingers hurt. Actually, her whole body hurt, both from the general abuse of this trek and the demands of this climb. She grunted as she grabbed another handhold and hauled herself up a ways. She had to admit, part of her was enjoying this. It was like a training exercise she had once participated in. One she was very successful at, as she recalled. She climbed the rest of the way and forced her exhausted body over the edge. She could hear Crichton still struggling with the climb. She looked over the edge to see where he was. He hadn't been very far behind her, so now he was close enough for her to reach down and help him the rest of the way up. He grinned at her while they sat side by side panting.
The first things she noticed were the warmth and humidity. They weren't unbearable, it was just much hotter here than in the other caves. It was then that she noticed her surroundings, they were in by far the largest cave they had come to yet. She looked up and her breath caught in her throat. Everywhere around them were large chunks of the qatley crystal and up above her, there were thousands of them in all different shapes and sizes jutting down from the ceiling. At the top of the ceiling, soft, blue light filtered through the crystals and shone down upon them. The light started out light blue and then changed to different hues, getting darker as it descended. It cast strange, beautiful shadows and patterns all over the room.
It was the most beautiful sight she'd ever witnessed in all of her life. She caught herself on that thought. Before joining up with these escaped prisoners, she never even gave a second thought to beauty. Everything on the Peacekeeper ships was uniform. No matter which ship in the fleet, they all looked alike. Out here, there was so much she hadn't yet discovered. There were so many things she hadn't seen or done. There were so many variables, so many unknowns. It was frightening really, and yet exhilarating at the same time.
*****
After his initial shock of seeing the ceiling entirely made up of crystal, John noticed something in the corner. He walked over and was surprised to find a large pool of water there, about the size of his childhood pool back on Earth. He thought of all the happy memories connected to that pool. He and DK used to go swimming for hours in it. His mother had designed it herself. He mentally shook himself out of his reverie. Aeryn walked up behind him and looked over his shoulder. He crouched down to put his hand in the water. It was warm, really warm. He grinned.
"It's a hot spring," he said. "That's why it's so warm in here."
He looked over at Aeryn and his breath caught. She was standing directly under the light. It flowed around her softly, as if holding her. The different shades of blue complemented her eyes and made her almost luminous. He shook himself and got an idea. It quickly turned to worry as he watched her as she dipped her hand into the water. She didn't look so good. Well, actually, she looked amazing, but she looked a little uncertain on her feet.
"Hey Aeryn, you okay? Is the heat bothering you?"
"I'm fine Crichton. This temperature is a little high, but it's nothing to worry about."
"Oh, okay. So...ya wanna go swimming?"
She had walked across the room and was looking at something at the other end of the cavern. She turned around with a puzzled expression on her face.
"What? Swimming?" she asked.
"Yeah, you know. In the water..."
"Of course not. Why would I do that?"
"Because it's relaxing. Come on Aeryn. Where's your sense of adventure?" he asked with a small grin playing about his lips. He knew that phrase was getting to her and couldn't help teasing her.
"Is everything an adventure to you?" she asked, answering the question with a question. John got a flash of Aeryn in a courtroom pleading a case and grinned.
"Well, life's an adventure!" he exclaimed.
"Whatever you say, Crichton," she said. "But I am still not going swimming."
"Fine," he answered. "You do what you want, but I am going swimming."
*****
Part three
Aeryn thought John was being ridiculous. Why would anyone intentionally get wet for purposes other than cleaning themselves? She thought she would never understand these strange human customs. She just watched, amused, as Crichton threw off all of his clothes except for his underwear and jumped in. "Hmmm," she thought. "Maybe swimming isn't such a bad thing." She watched John play around for a bit, enjoying the view. Eventually, she walked over and lay down on her side next to the water's edge. She dabbled her fingers in the water and laughed as John attempted to do a series of underwater flips, failing miserably, and sputtering noisily to the surface.
"Now that's what I like to see," he said as he swam over and rested his arms on the edge putting his chin on his crossed forearms.
"What?" she asked curious.
"You. Laughing."
She looked down and blushed at that. Why did he make her feel so nervous, and yet giddy at the same time? It only seemed to complicate things and as a Peacekeeper she shouldn't even be getting involved with this alien. He was still looking at her. He reached over and tugged her chin up so that she would meet his gaze. She did, but with a guarded look that didn't give anything away.
"Have I ever told you how proud I am of you?" he asked.
"For what?"
"For taking a chance, for being your own person, for getting away from the Peacekeepers, for being more," he said softly.
She blushed again, this time sitting up quickly and fidgeting in order to avoid his intense gaze. He wasn't letting her get away with anything, though. He quickly pushed himself up and out of the water sitting next to her closely. He was kicking his legs out like a child and at that she had to smile.
"I am proud of you, you know," he said. "You've done so much in such a short time. You've changed and grown from just another Peacekeeper grunt into a beautiful woman so full of life, heart, and soul. You have a very beautiful soul." The last was whispered just before he met her lips in a light kiss.
Aeryn froze. The rational part of her mind knew that she shouldn't be kissing him, that it went against all her training. The other part told the rational part to shut the frell up! She was alone, kissing the man she was incredible attracted to, who just happened to be half-naked, and she didn't know if they'd ever get another chance like this again. Aeryn just shut her brain off after that thought. She couldn't think anymore, it was much nicer just to feel. She responded to his kiss, slowly at first, but then with increasing passion. She could feel his surprise and knew that this was not what he had expected from her.
He broke the kiss and looked deeply into her eyes. She was unsure of what he expected to find there. Slowly, he reached one hand out to the back of her head, still looking her straight in the eye. He undid the clasp she used to keep her hair back. Her soft waves fell to her shoulders and he began twirling his fingers through them. She smiled her half-smile and pulled his mouth back to hers. She let him lay her down and moaned softly as he nipped her jawline. She couldn't remember another time when she had felt this good. He way making his way down her neck now, alternating between using his lips, his teeth, and his tongue. She sighed. Her whole body felt like it was on fire. Every nerve in her body tingled with excitement and pleasure. She pulled her hands up from where they had been busy roaming his back. She put a hand on the back of his neck and pulled his mouth back up to meet hers. She moaned softly again into his mouth. All she wanted was to feel like this for the rest of her life.
*****
He has kissed her. Of his own free will, under no threat of death. And she responded, slowly at first, but then passionately. He had never felt this much desire coming from one person before. She was so cold to him sometimes he often forgot how real and alive and...warm she was.
He was raining kisses down on her forehead, cheeks, eyes, chin, nose, and jawline. She was favoring him with some very encouraging noises, when there was a cracking sound and something dropped noisily in the water. He broke the kiss, looked around for a minute and then looked into her eyes. He slowly kissed her once more and then got up. He walked over to the water's edge and saw it was a large chunk of one of the qatley crystals. It must have fallen from the ceiling. Aeryn sat up and tied her hair back while he quickly put his clothes back on. He looked over at her. She was fidgeting with her hair, avoiding his gaze again. He smiled and walked over offering her his hand to help her up. Surprisingly enough, she took it and allowed him to help her. "Well, wonders never cease," he thought to himself.
Out loud he said, "We should probably get back to the cave and see if it has stopped raining. I don't like the idea of being inside this cave if there are gonna be large chunks of crystal falling on our heads."
"Don't you want to know what's through there?" she asked, gesturing to the back of the cavern. "Come on John, where's your sense of adventure?"
He just grinned and said, "Lead the way then."
She walked through the opening she had been looking at earlier. He noticed it led to yet another tunnel only this time, it was more tightly confined. The both had to crouch down a little to make it through. Again, they made their way through a series of unremarkable tunnels and caves until they ended up in a large one. And this one opened up into a valley, bright with sunshine. They walked out and John had to squint to see, the sun was so bright. He looked up at the mountain they had gone clear through.
"Huh, the storm must be limited to the other side of the mountain range," he said. "It must be blocking the storm from coming over here."
She said nothing. He glanced over to make sure she was alright and then surveyed his surroundings. This valley was very different from where they had landed. The air was more humid allowing for lusher vegetation. Where on the other side there were forests typical of colder temperatures, on this side it was more of a tropical area. These trees were bright, bright green and there were many types of flowers and fruits on them. Everything was bright, and in John's opinion, breathtaking. He walked up to one of the many bushes and scanned it. The bright magenta berries were edible and a good food source.
"Yo, Aeryn. This stuff's edible. And there's tons of it!" he said.
"Well, at least we didn't come here for nothing then," she replied, looking at the berries.
John grinned at her and went over to scan a tree. The fruit on it was also edible. "Man, this place is great!" he said. "Rygel won't want to leave."
"Oh, he'll want to leave alright," she said. "Just after he eats everything in sight."
He smiled again and looked over at her. She looked tired and dirty...and absolutely gorgeous. Her hair was now slightly curling from all of the moisture and her clothes stuck to her shapely figure. She had dirt all over her and there was a smear of grime down one of her cheeks. John reached up and picked a beautiful orange and red flower and walked over to present it to her.
"For you," he said holding it out.
She just simply looked from him to the flower and back to him again in bewilderment. "What?" she asked taking the flower in her hands.
"It's a human custom. Human women love flowers."
"What's it for?" she asked.
"Nothing, really. They're used for decoration a lot, but the actual gift of flowers is like a symbol of a man's affection for a woman," he said.
She looked down slightly, twirling the flower in her hand. He brought his hand up to her cheek and wiped away the streak of dirt there.
"What? Peacekeepers don't have a similar custom?" he asked, his hand still rubbing her cheek.
A little flustered she answered, "No, um, it's not encouraged for Peacekeepers to get involved with each other...romantically."
He nodded in understanding, "Yeah, our military has something along those lines, too" he said. "Well, what about with non-military Sebaceans? I mean, they wouldn't be as restricted, right?"
Now she was just downright embarrassed. John was busy wondering what exactly it was that could make Aeryn, of all people, embarrassed.
"Well, yes, I mean...probably. I, uh...I wouldn't know, personally," she said turning slightly red. John noticed she was using that same tone of voice she had used when she first told him that she was interested in him, right after she had caught he and Gilina. Then it had surprised him, now it did not. He smiled slightly and shifted forward a little bit. She was still talking and turning even redder under his scrutiny.
"I was always so focused on my career and I had just put in for a transfer to the Marauders...so I never really had the time. And no one wanted me any--" she was cut off as he pulled her closer and kissed her slowly. She hesitated a minute and then wrapped her arms around him and slowly melted into his embrace. She gasped when he lightly bit her lower lip, which he filed away for later investigation. He was kissing her deeper now, more passionately. He never ceased to be amazed at how feeling this woman was. He could feel her desire, even now. Suddenly, Aeryn's communicator came to life.
"Aeryn, are you there?" D'Argo asked.
John and Aeryn reluctantly broke apart as Aeryn answered him. "Yes, D'Argo, what is it?"
"Where the hezmana are you?" he asked. "And where's Crichton? We can't find you anywhere."
John grinned as D'Argo's tone went from worried to mildly angry. "Hey, don't worry about us big guy. We're fine."
"Give us your coordinates. Zhaan has helped me load what food I did find. It's not much, but it will help supplement our shortage."
"Well, you can stop worrying about that, too, because we hit the jackpot. There's all sorts of stuff here," John said.
D'Argo just snorted softly as Aeryn transmitted their coordinates. Once they were through talking to him, John pulled her into his arms and nuzzled her neck a little. He led her to a nearby tree to sit under while they waited for D'Argo. Once he was seated, he pulled her down into his arms.
"We always do get interrupted, don't we?" he asked, half amused and half annoyed.
She said nothing as she closed her eyes and shifted closer to him. He wrapped one arm around her and leaned back just watching her and breathing in her scent. What seemed like seconds later, D'Argo landed the transport pod not far from where they were sitting. Aeryn looked up with a start at the sound of its engines. John just grinned at her and quickly got up, offering his hand to her. She took it, for the second time that day, and they walked over to the pod together. D'Argo came out immediately, followed by Rygel a few moments later.
"Hey! Big fella," John said to Rygel. "I didn't know you were down here."
"Well, I shouldn't be. That blue monstrosity that I'm forced to live with bullied me into coming down with her!" Rygel said. "And then she left me with this mongrel while she went back up to the ship. Of all the undignified, disrespectful ways to treat me!"
John laughed at Rygel's mini-tantrum. That one never ceased to amaze him "Hey, D'Argo. The scanners show most all of this stuff is edible. I figure, we fill the pod up and we'll have enough food to last us until we get to Peridiam III."
"Yes, this is a good find," he said.
"Oh, and there's some kind of crystal in there than Aeryn says is valuable," John said pointing to the cave.
"Qatley crystal," Aeryn supplied.
Rygel's ears perked up. "Qatley crystal?!" he said. "Where? Show me this at once. It will help with my contact on Peridiam III. Now I can get that Hynerian cream soap. And it's about frelling time too! I've been far too neglected especially with my title. I doubt any of the other Rygels would have stood for this treatment, and I'm not going to either!"
Ignoring him, D'Argo said, "So that's why you two look like you've been to hezmana and back."
"Yup," John replied. "It was an adventure!"
Aeryn merely shook her head and went off to start loading up the pod with food. "What'd I say?" he asked himself. Oh, well. It'll be good to get back home anyway. Realizing what he was thinking, he stopped. He had called Moya home. Grinning a little, he jogged off to help Aeryn. The quicker they got out of here, the better. There was definitely something about this planet's atmosphere that lowered inhibitions.
*****
Aeryn was standing on the terrace looking at the planet. Crichton and D'Argo had finished unloading the food a while ago. She let her mind wander down to the events on the planet. Why did that man affect her so? It didn't make any sense. She had been asking herself this very same question ever since she had met him and the answer was still not forthcoming. She sighed and turned to leave. And there he was. Standing just inside the doorway in the shadows. He had changed into his black pants and black shirt. He looked good. Aeryn let her eyes slide down his well-muscled frame. He noticed and his eyes betrayed his amusement. She colored slightly and looked away.
"Hey," he said, slowly walking up and standing closely beside her.
"Hey," she replied, smiling slightly.
"Ya know, sometimes I regret teaching you some of my human nuances," he said. "You're too smart, Aeryn. You take them and use them against me."
She said nothing, only letting a small smile reach her mouth before she quickly hid it. No one had ever called her smart before. And besides, what could she say? He was right, she did use them against him.
He saw her smile and continued, "You're just getting too quick for me Aeryn."
She really smiled at that one. Why was he complimenting her? There had to be some ulterior motive that she was just not seeing. He couldn't really be this perfect man she saw before her. They watched the stars in silence for a while. It was nice...different from other times with him, but nice all the same.
"So," he began. "Why don't you like to go swimming?"
She rolled her eyes at him. "Okay, maybe not so perfect," she thought. It seemed just when she was beginning to understand this human, a new facet of his personality decided to show itself.
"I will never understand why you humans would get wet just to get wet," she said.
"It's fun," he countered. "Don't you Peacekeepers understand the concept of fun?"
She just looked at him. He must have found an acceptable answer in her eyes because he stayed quiet. He stepped up closer to her.
"Well, if you ever want to investigate that concept further," he said. "Come talk to me."
And then his lips were on hers, again. They were just like him: warm, soft, and insistent. She gave herself to that kiss, enfolding herself in his arms. Sometimes, it felt like that was where she belonged, where she was supposed to be for the rest of her life. She sighed as he began kissing her neck. One of his hands came up and wrapped itself in her hair. She smiled at that. Humans certainly were extremely focused on hair, or, at least, this one was. She jumped slightly as he bit her earlobe and moaned as he made his way back up to her mouth. She was just about to lose all coherent thought when Chiana walked in.
They quickly separated themselves as Chiana eyed them, an innocent expression on her face.
"Well, I'm hope I'm not interrupting anything," she said in a sickeningly sweet tone of voice. "But, Zhaan wants to see Crichton in command."
Aeryn was ready to kill her. She knew very well that she was interrupting and Aeryn did not like the way she was looking at John. "Too bad I can't just take Rygel's advice and shove her out the nearest airlock," Aeryn thought to herself. "John might get mad if I did that."
Crichton, for his part, was chuckling softly to himself. Aeryn looked over curiously at him. "Man, it never fails," he stated simply.
What was he talking abo-- oh. She understood what he was saying. She smiled at that, too. Crichton just grabbed her hand and pulled her out into the corridor. Once the doors to the terrace had fully closed, he pulled her close again.
"We'll finish this later," he growled softly into her ear. And with that, he disappeared down towards command.
"Oh, yes," she thought to herself. "We'll definitely finish this later."
End