fibbers4

Fibbers, Pistols and Cash Part 4
by CeRell
****Author’s note-get out your hankies scapers-be sure you are sitting down..again..no food, no sharp objects…keep hands inside the chair arm rails at all times….

Part 4 Retribution
Aeryn was feeling like a fool. She was angry with herself for leading
John on again. 'Coward!' she called herself as she pounded the dummy.
"Frelling COWARD!" She snarled aloud and body slammed the dummy. She
felt tears in her eyes. She knew she'd crossed the line. She'd irrevocably hurt John. If she left their relationship without clearing the air, she'd lose him. As a friend. As a companion. She stopped thinking. Then voiced the unthinkable. She whispered. "Loose him forever." It was the Royal Planet all over again. She didn’t want to put herself or John through it all again. She had to ignore all the ingrained doctrine she’d lived since she was born. She knew she wanted him. She could no more deny that than she could deny she needed to breathe. He wasn’t a want anymore. John was a need.
She took a deep shaky breath and pushed away from the dummy. She had no choice. She had to go to him.
"Damned if I do and damned if I don't." She'd heard John say that enough. It held true in this instance. This was harder than taking the vial to him.
Resolutely she slowly walked to his quarters. She heard sounds and stopped. A huge ice cold metal ball seemed to develop in her abdomen as she overhead heavy breathing, groans. Two different sets of groans. The ball seemed to freeze her insides. When she heard a shaky, groaning "Aeryn...oh Aeryn!" from a voice that was clearly John's, anger spurred her to open the doors and turn on the light. John looked up, saw her and was immediately confused. "Aeryn?"
He looked down at the woman beneath him. Looked at her and blinked. "Chiana?"
He looked at the two women in confusion. His alcohol befuddled mind trying to make sense of the two Aeryns. He leapt away from Chiana and stumbled off the bed staring aghast at Chiana. "What the hell? What the HELL are you doing in here!"
"Getting a way off this boat." The naked Nebari answered calmly, defiantly, even through her heart was breaking.
He stared at her; a mirage of emotions playing across his face. Finally anger sparked from his eyes. "You just earned it, Little Girl."
Aeryn turned on her heel and left. John started to bolt after her and realized he was naked as he neared the door.
"Aeryn! Wait!" He looked at Chiana with hatred in his eyes. "Do you know what you've done?" As he pulled on his pants.
"Yes. I'm sorry it had to be this way. I had no choice. I do need to get to Neri."
He looked at her, speechless, shook his head and left, hurrying after Aeryn. He finally found her in her quarters sitting on her bed.
He sat beside her. For the longest time he couldn't speak. Nothing he could come up with was good enough. That damned nectar certainly wasn't helping. Nothing he could think of was going to erase what he had done.
"We need to talk." He finally said.
Aeryn pursed her lips. "And say what, John? I'm sorry? I didn't mean it? I didn't know it was Chiana? I thought it was you, Aeryn? Or what about, But I love YOU Aeryn." She stopped. John couldn't take his eyes off the floor. His stomach was churning. He felt as if a icy cold clamp was squeezing his heart.
She took a sharp breath, difficult as it was, her chest muscles clenched from her intense distress. "What can you say to make it better? To make what happened go away? I know how you feel about me, about us. I believe you wouldn’t throw away what we have, what we might yet have. I know Chiana did it to get you to kick her off Moya. And I understand you were so frelling drunk you couldn't tell the difference between us."
He was silent.
"There is nothing you can say, John. So just go. Just leave me alone."
He looked at her. She was resolute. Her face was set. Her eyes were dark pools of unshed tears, yet she had pulled a steely calm about her like a shroud. He put a hand on her shoulder.
"Just go."
He flashed back to the pseudo earth. Back to when his supposed countrymen disemboweled Rygel. Back to when D'Argo and Aeryn wanted nothing to do with him in the interrogation room. Aeryn had the same look on her face. The same dejected air.
He stood up feeling cold. Feeling frelling awful. Like he was dying. Then he was slowly filled with fury. He stalked away to the maintenance bay. He rewired the second pod and went in search of Chiana. He found her in her quarters packing. He stood in the doorway.
"Take the second pod. Get the hell off this ship." His voice was soft but determined.
She grabbed up her packs. As she pushed past him, she paused. "Goodbye Old Man," she said softly, sadly and marched resolutely away her head high. John slowly slid down the wall, hands to his face in misery. Zhaan having heard their voices crouched down and silently wrapped her arms around him offering her much needed support. John buried his head in her shoulder and clung to her.
Jothee, having been lurking around the corner, walked with her to the maintenance bay.
"Done?" he asked he finally asked.
"Lets just get the frell out of here." She answered, shaking, tears running down her face as she climbed the long steps up to the pod, carefully placing one leaden foot after the other.
*******************************************
John spent several miserable solar days. The back of his head had taken to aching, an irritating constant low pain. Not surprisingly, Aeryn was avoiding him. D’Argo was nearly as depressed. Jothee had wanted nothing to do with him, that cut him deeply-especially taking off with Chiana without a backward glance, goodbye or fare-the-well. They all keenly missed the young Nebari. John had already forgiven her; he understood why she had done what she had done. Had anyone asked him, he’d have admitted he believed he drove her to her actions. But no one did. Zhaan lost herself in her meditations while Rygel remained encounsed in his quarters. No one was talking. It was a sad, quiet shattered crew aboard Moya.
Not so aboard the pod. By the second solar day of their journey Chiana’s spirits were starting to rise. She was a resilient being. The past was the past and she was always a person that looked to the present and the future. And soon Neri would be back in her life. She laughed aloud at the thought.
"What?" Jothee asked as he sat bored at the console.
"Just thinking. Maleek said he was taking the expresso away from the Nebari base. It’s been so long it’s difficult to say just where Neri would be now."
"Simple, we find peacekeepers and have them lead us to him. You did say that Varla said they would right?"
"Right." She turned her dark mischievious eyes to him. "Now we need to find ourselves some peacekeepers."
*****************************
It was several solar days later, John woke up, his head feeling like it was ready to explode. He gingerly moved his legs to the floor. He put his hands to his head. "What the frell?" He exclaimed and stumbled over to the mirror. His face was gray and wrinkled. He fumbled for his comms badge.
"Zhaan!"
"Yes John?"
"Can you meet me in the apothecary? I’ve got a problem here."
As he walked unsteadily down the hallways, he was starting to feel hot. He collapsed heavily onto the chair holding his head.
Zhaan gasped as she entered the room. "John?"
"Something’s happening to me, Zhaan." The pain and overall discomfort was increasing.
She quickly set about taking samples of his wrinkling skin. "I’m not sure how this can be," She said unbelieving, "but this sample is showing Scarren, Sebacean as well as human DNA."
"The pain. Do you have anything for the pain?"
She quickly mixed a brew and handed him the glass. "Here drink this. It should help."
She looked at him cringing in the chair. "When did this start? You seemed fine yesterday."
"Just when I woke up this morning. It’s worsening Zhaan." He pressed his head between his hands and groaned.
She gave him another substance that he gratefully swallowed. "Come over here and lie down."
"D’Argo, can you come to the apothecary? We’ve got a problem." She knew not to call Aeryn. She was in serious avoidance with all of them lately.
D’Argo stopped in shock when he saw John. "You look like Scorpious." He flatly stated.
John turned his tortured blue eyes to him. "What the frell is that beast doing to me?" He said slowly, drowsily. He laid back down, closed his eyes, the painkillers finally working.
"Let him sleep, D’Argo." She laid her blue hand on his arm.
They left the room with one final glance at John sleeping restlessly. "Any idea as to what is wrong with him?" D’Argo asked of her in the hallway.
"I don’t know. But I expect it must have something to do with the increasing amount of visions he’s had lately of Scorpious."
"Do you think he did something to him while he was in the Aurora Chair?" D’Argo inquired.
"Perhaps, most likely. Could have been the Scarren on that commerce planet. But that doesn’t explain the sebacean DNA. It’s almost like he’s turning into Scorpious."
"That is bad news, Zhaan."
"That is very bad news, D’Argo." She echoed.
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Authors note: AAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Make it stop! Make it stop!! The agony!!!! Even the characters agree!! AAAH!!
I need an exercist!!! HELP ME!!!!