penny5

Penny For your Thoughts: Epilogue
by Karolyn Gray

She found him in command later that evening, quietly observing the starfield
of the new region of space Moya's last starburst had brought them. Seated
beside the holographic station, he seemed relaxed and calm despite the way
his fingers fidgited with the pulse pistol that lay snugly in its holster in
front of him. The distant look in his eyes was enough for her to know he
thoughts were elsewhere, perhaps thinking of his homeworld or perhaps the
events of the past few days.
She quietly slid up behind him, carefully resting her hands on his shoulder.
"Hey, Aeryn." John looked up at her with a tired, but welcoming smile. She
noted the weariness in his voice but did not allow it to concern any more
than she aready was.
"How are you feeling, John?" She asked, allowing herself to revert to their
more familial manner.
"Tired. Confused. Hell of a headache. That about covers it." John replied,
chucking softly.
"I still have some of that zaket root gave me." Aeryn noted, squeezing his
shoulders once more before taking a seat next to him.
John shook his head. "No, but thanks. A little sleep and it'll go away."
"Then maybe you should be sleeping in your quaters instead of sitting here
staring at stars." Aeryn replied reasonably, earning a bemused grin from the
human for her trouble.
"Hmm. Yeah." Was his only response.
"Pony for your thoughts?" Aeryn asked suddenly.
John jumped slightly, giving a strange look before busting out laughing.
"What?" She asked.
"Penny, Aeryn. It's 'penny for your thoughts'." John replied trying to regain
his cmposure.
"I though it was rather odd your people would offer beasts of burden to one
another just to know what they thought." Aeryn commented with a small grin.
John chuckled at that, realizing Aeryn had known exactly what she was saying.
John grabbed her hands in his, giveing them a gentle squeeze. "Thanks."
"You're welcome." Aeryn replied, returning the gentle pressure before
releasing her grip. "May I ask you something?"
John shrugged, fingers one more iddling with his pulse pistol. "Sure."
"Why did you offer to go with Scorpius?" She asked.
"Seemed like a good idea at the time." John replied with a soft chuckle.
Seeing her slight frown he shrugged. "I just wanted you and the others to be
safe. Scorpy would not have a reason to keep hunting the rest of you if I was
in his custody."
"So you were going to go with him to save us?" Aeryn asked.
"Yes." John replied simply.
"Even knowing he would torture you?" Aeryn asked.
John nodded. "Yes. But, to be honest, I don't think Scorpy would have
tortured me. I mean with the state I was in, why bother? As long as anything
he asked me to do was not violent and he didn't break his deal I would have
gone along with it."
"Would you?" Aeryn asked in surprise. "Really?"
John looked down. "Yeah. I would."
"I'll never understand you." Aeryn murmured.
John started to protest when Aeryn laid her fingers over his mouth. She
smiled at him, affection plainly upon her face. "That was a compliment."
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as she pulled her hand away. "I'll
take your word for that."
For several microts neither said anything, each lost in their thoughts.
"May I ask you something?" Aeryn asked tentatively.
"Anything." John replied, noting the unusual tension in Aeryn's tone.
"I need to know the truth, John. Did you kill that trader? Murder him as the
Justicars claim?" She asked bluntly.
Instantly his fingers stopped their caressing of the holster. He closed his
eyes and looked down, heaving a heavy sigh as his whole body seemed to
collapse in defeat. Worried by his reaction, Aeryn swallowed and forcibly
restrained herself from reaching out to him. She had to know the truth, one
way or the other.
"John?"
"I don't know." Came the whispered reply.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Aeryn asked softly.
John looked up at her with pain and confusion in his eyes. "I remember
meeting the trader. I remember arguing with him over the parts. But I don't
remember killing him. I just s..."
Aeryn saw him swallow, his fance blanching. He looked away from her quickly.
"I don't remember the rest."
"No. What else, John? You were going to say something else." Aeryn pressed.
When he remained silent, she grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her.
"John, please. I need to know the truth!"
"And what if I don't know what is the truth, Aeryn?" John countered, looking
uncertainly at her once more.
Seeing the look of defeat in his eyes, Aeryn released her grip on his chin
caressing his jaw before withdrawing her hand. "Then at least tell me what
you...remember." She urged.
John sighed. "The trader. Aruging over the part and his smart ass remark
about Peacekeeper women." He swallowed hard as he paused. "Scorpius."
"Scorpius?" Aeryn repeted with concern. "You saw Scorpius?"
"Yeah." John laughed shakily. "The trader turned away and there was Scorpy
with a pulse pistol to the guys back. Scorpy said...something, I'm not sure
what know. It's kind of hazy, but I do remember turning away and leaving. I
don't remember ever drawing my pistol and shooting that guy."
"But it was confirmed that he was killed by a blast from a pulse pistol,
John." Aeryn said. "I checked the results of their tests myself."
"So you think I did kill him?" John asked.
Aeryn shook her head uncertainly. "I don't know, John. Pulse weapons are
readily available from weapons dealers."
"Hmm." Was John's only reply.
"Let me see Wynona." Aeryn said, holding out her hand.
A bit puzzled at the request John none the less handed his pulse pistol over
to Aeryn, briefly wondering how she recognized that the pistol before him was
his favorite of those available to him. He silently watched as Aeryn quickly
removed the chakan oil cartridge and studied it critically.
"Something wrong?" He asked.
Aeryn frowned, shaking her head and checked the pistol's power setting before
reassembling everything and placing it back in it holster. "Have you changed
anything since we left the planet."
"No. I thought about cleaning her again but decided it could wait until
morning." John replied. "Why?"
"Did you have a full cartridge when you left for the planet?" Aeryn asked.
"Of course." John replied, starting to get defensive. "And yes I know that
the cartridge shows that Wynona's been fired."
Aeryn nodded. "Yes, but the level of oil that's been used doesn't seem to
correspond with the amount of damage suffered by the victim." Aeryn noted.
"The power setting it is set at couldn't possibly have used so little chakan
oil for the amount of damage done to the trader."
"Maybe I had the power setting higher and turned it back down." John offered.
"Are you saying you did kill him?" Aeryn asked, incredulously." Because
that's what it sounds like to me."
John gave a short bark of frustration. "I'm not saying anything, Aeryn. Just
tossing out ideas." John rubbed his forhead. "God, I just wish I knew what
happened!"
Aeryn lay the pistol down on the table. "So do I, John."
"What if I did murder him, Aeryn?" John asked quietly. "What then?"
Aeryn opened her mouth to speak, but stopped and sighed. Shaking her head,
she rose to feet and lay a hand on John's shoulder. "I don't have an answer
to that, John. All I can say is that whatever happens, we will deal with it
as we allways have. Together."
John smiled at that, taking her hand on his shoulder into his own.
"Together." He agreed.

Fin.