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She was looking anything but radiant just then though. Her hair hung in damp tendrils around a face that was worn and tired. Her eyes were wild and she held a large vase in her hands. She wasn't going to go down without a fight, no matter how futile it was.
"Aeryn!"
John eased his finger off the trigger and threw the gun onto the chair before giving in to a wild relief at seeing her there, alive. He couldn't have stopped himself and he didn't try. He moved the few feet to where she stood and threw his arms around her, burying his face in her hair.
Unbeknownst to either of them, Jack had come in and was watching the reunion of his son and the 'friend' he seemed to care so much about. He saw the woman standing there wrapped in John's arms, ridged and unmoving, still holding the vase. What John couldn't see, and Jack could, was the expression on her face. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears. They closed and she moved imperceptibly to bring her face closer to his. It was clear she affected by his greeting and it was also clear she was trying hard not to show it.
Finally, John loosened his grip on Aeryn and fell back to take a look at her. He suddenly realized where they were and what he was doing. He ducked his head and stammered "Sorry.... I didn't mean...I... I'm just glad you're okay." He looked at her again. "You are okay, aren't you?"
"I'm fine John" Her voice was matter of fact. It might have fooled him, but the vase suddenly fell from her hand and crashed into tiny shards as she winced in pain and brought her good hand up to hold her injured arm.
"You're hurt!" The panic in John's voice was clear. "What's wrong? What did they do to you?"
"Nothing..." she stopped abruptly. It came to her, that she had had this conversation before, on Dam Ba Da. Only that time it had been John saying he was fine and she was the one who was panicking. She wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone, least of all John.
She reached out a hand and touched his cheek softly, trying to ignore John's sharp intake of air at her touch. "It's all right. Really. It looks worse than it is." She dropped her hand and moved to take the jacket off. "One of your primitive weapons discharged and struck me."
The blood had dried to the jacket and didn't want to come off her arm.
Jack decided now was a good time to make his presence known.
"Here let me help you." He walked into the room and carefully helped Aeryn out of the jacket while John began to examine the wound.
Aeryn's expression of amazement echoed Jack's own as they looked at each other.
He looked the same as the man she remembered although there were a few minor differences. This man looked a bit older, his face held the pain of loss but his eyes were warmer. He wore that air of confidence she had seen in many senior commanders. A person who took charge and knew what had to be done. She felt a connection to this human that surprised her. She began to realize why John had wanted her to meet him.
John had called her Aeryn. An alien. There was no doubt that she was beautiful and he could see why John's voice changed when he talked about her. He had no doubts she wasn't from here. She was dressed similar to John, in tight black leather and she was talking to John in a language unlike anything he'd ever heard before. What he couldn't understand was how they seemed to be speaking separate languages but communicating perfectly.
John turned around to ask his Dad for a bandage and medicine when he noticed the puzzlement on his face and guessed it's cause.
"Oh, man. I didn't tell you. They're called translator microbes." His fingers indicated how small they were. "You get injected..." He pantomimed the needle plunge. "They translate everything. Well, almost everything. Everybody's got ‘em up there." He raised a finger up to the ceiling.
He saw his dad look at Aeryn. "Yep. She's got ‘em too and she knows what you're sayin'. Weird huh? Can you get the medicine kit for me? It doesn't look too bad, but we don't want to take any chances."
John turned back to Aeryn, while Jack took off for the kitchen. "Come on and sit down." He motioned for her to sit in the recliner. "Tell me. What happened after you crashed? Who did this?"
Aeryn gave him the short version without going into too much detail. There'd be time for that later.
She turned her attention to the chair she was sitting in. It was soft and comfortable and it felt like what she thought that Earth term John was always using would be like...heaven. She didn't remember experiencing any chairs like it before. It had some sort of ejector lever which she was tempted to pull, but since she really didn't feel like being surprised she left it alone. It had been long day.
"How did you get here, though." John was asking more questions.
She was getting comfortable and all she wanted to do was sleep, but she roused herself enough to say "I got here in one of those yellow transport pods. I observed people entering them and giving it their destination. It wasn't hard."
"You took a taxi!" He had to laugh. "Now I've heard everything." A sudden thought struck him. "How did you give directions?" His brow wrinkled in thought.
Aeryn's face grew still and very slowly she began to recite "Jack Crichton, Two..Six..Four Halleeefax, Merritt.... Island." He voice trailed off.... "The pod operator seemed to find that satisfactory."
John's heart stopped. Or felt like it. He had just heard Aeryn say, not only his father's name, but his address. In English. There was only one way she could have known that. The other guy had taught it to her, enough anyway, to let her get to his dad. Earth must have been in their plans at some point. The thought came unbidden...would they have left him there, lost in the Uncharted Territories or taken him with them? He didn't know which prospect was worse.
He had wanted to ask her why? Why had she gone through the wormhole in the first place? But he knew why, so instead he put on his best grin and simply said "You are amazing."
Miraculously, it seemed to be the right thing to say, because Aeryn returned his grin with her own. She had been proud of herself to make it this far. It pleased her that he thought she had done well. She refused to let herself think why.
The rush of pleasure her simple smile gave him made him weak. He hid it well enough to fool Aeryn but Jack was back with the medicine kit and he saw the look, saw the intense attraction the two had for each other and the way each was trying to hide it. Jack was suddenly glad that he had made Mary go home yesterday. She'd kill him for making her miss John, but this was getting more complicated all the time and he didn't think these two needed more emotional scenes right now. There was more going on here than he knew about and he was determined to find out what it was.
John turned and started to clean Aeryn's wound. Like he had told Jack, it wasn't as bad as he had first feared, but there was no point in taking chances. There was no telling what Earth bacteria could do to Aeryn and he had no idea how to treat her if she became sick. Better to try and nip it in the bud.
"Okay, this might hurt a little." John flinched at the disdain in her look. "Or not."
He gently wiped away the blood and put antiseptic on it, hoping that it wouldn't hurt her in some way they didn't know about. There were so many things he hadn't thought of when he'd dreamed about bringing Aeryn to Earth. He wondered if the other guy had given it more thought than he had.
John finished putting the last of the tape on Aeryn's bandage and stood there for a moment looking at her. She had fallen asleep in the recliner, apparently too exhausted to even feel him working on her arm.
He had felt fear many times in the last 3 years, but never like what he had felt when he saw her enter the wormhole. If the modified stabilizer hasn't worked... He wasn't sure if the fear was more for her or for him. Fear for her of course, not knowing if she would make it through alive, and if she did, what would happen to her?
But also, there was the fear for himself. If she left him here, alone in the UT, how could he live without her? He knew she was mourning the death of his other self and things hadn't been normal between them since she got back, maybe never would, but somehow, as long as she was in the same universe, he had hope that one day things might be made right. With her gone, his hope would be gone, and he would have faced a lot more than a wormhole to make sure that didn't happen.
While John had been sitting there, watching Aeryn, lost in his thoughts, Jack had been busy making a fire in the fireplace. From the corner of his eye, he had watched the whole scene with interest. John had spent the day intermittently thinking up wild rescue attempts and telling him as much as he could about his experiences while he had been gone. Fantastic tales of Space Critters and Aliens and huge battles. Being chased and almost dying.
It was easy to tell that the friends he had made there were very important to him. Looking at him now, it was also easy to see who meant the most. The problem seemed to be that they were both trying their best to hide their emotions from each other. From Jack's perspective though, it looked like the woman was winning that battle.
He didn't think John knew how much..Aeryn..cared about him. Jack had seen the emotions on her face when John wasn't looking. Why were they trying so hard to conceal what was so obvious? Was she married? Do people even get married up there? The questions were starting to spin around in his head.
"John." He said it softly while savoring the word. He had no wish to wake the woman. He motioned for him to come and sit with him in front of the fire. John moved quietly and walked over to set down beside his dad.
"Yeah?"
"You want to tell me about that?" He motioned towards Aeryn.
"Aeryn?" He was quiet too. "She's one of the people on Moya I told you a....."
Jack lifted his hand to interrupt.
"You know what I mean." He waved a hand back and forth between Aeryn and John.
"What's going on with you two? It's obvious something is."
John rubbed his neck with one hand and ran it through his hair nervously.
"It's complicated dad."
Jack put a hand on John's shoulder. "You could always talk to me before. I know a lot has changed since you left son, has that changed too?" He knew that was hitting below the belt, but he needed John to open up. His father's instinct knew that whatever John wasn't telling him was important.
John sighed, realizing his father wasn't going to let this go. He was going to have to talk about it.
"All right. Okay. It's, it's...hard to understand, hell, I still don't understand it" he drew in a deep breath "but I'll try...." and he proceeded to tell Jack about his other son, how he had left Moya and what happened on Talyn.
When it came to Aeryn and the other guy, the words almost stuck in his throat, but he kept going. It's when he came to the part where he died that he almost lost it. It's not easy knowing you died, and his dad seemed to be having trouble dealing with that too. When he came to a stop at last, both men were silent, each lost in their own thoughts.
Over in the recliner Aeryn lay with her back to them, unmoving, her breathing controlled and even, while tears streamed down her face. She had been so tired and had easily fallen into a light sleep, but the mention of John, her John, had jolted her awake. She could hear their voices quite easily, but had kept up the pretense of sleep. If they were going to talk about John she needed to know what they were saying.
She needn't have worried. As he had gone over the events that had led them here, she thought she detected genuine sadness and grief in his voice. He gave his twin full credit for stopping the Scarrens and saving the universe. Even when he talked about her being with him, his voice was not filled with bitterness, but more with disappointment that he hadn't been the one with her on Talyn, though it would have cost him his life.
As she listened, she was shocked to discover her tears were for this John. For the loneliness he had suffered since she left him. For the coldness she showed him when all he wanted was to help. He was the innocent one here. She carefully wiped the tears from her face. She didn't want them to know she had heard. Sleep was irresistible now and as she sank into the sweet oblivion it seemed two faces merged into one. John.
As the quiet turned from seconds to minutes, the two men silently agreed to continue this tomorrow. No more words were needed for the moment. Exhaustion was evident on John's face. They would figure out what to do tomorrow.
Jack started upstairs still thinking about the other son he'd never see and suddenly feeling all of his 64 years.
John looked over at Aeryn and decided sleep was more important than getting her into a bed so he draped a blanket over her before walking across the room to lay down on the couch for the night. There was no way he was leaving Aeryn alone. Not now. His relief at knowing she was safe and here with him went bone deep, and let him sink into a deeper sleep than he'd had for quite a while. And the house grew silent. Waiting.
* * * * *
Colonel Davis was having a good day. Things were going well for a change. Thank God his plans to pick Jack Crichton up yesterday had been delayed. Just as he was about to send in some of his men to pick him up, the call had come in. His secretary Henson had a contact at the police department that had finally had something interesting to say. He hadn't paid much attention to Henson babbling about someone filing a police report until he suddenly heard the magic words. Jack Crichton.
Some cabby in Port St. John had gotten stiffed by a fare who had been taken to the famous astronauts house. He was concerned because she was a foreigner and who knew what she'd do to that famous Astronaut fellow. The Colonel laughed out loud. If the cab driver only knew just how ‘foreign' she was.
"Well, well..." he said aloud, looking at the report. "So you speak English after all." And she had been looking for Jack Crichton. The General was going to be happy when he heard this. Well, maybe happy was too strong a word. General Cooper was never happy. He had decided to postpone briefing the General until he had the aliens and their accomplice safely in hand to shove under his nose. Incompetent was he?
If he handled this right he just might get a promotion out of it. He glanced down at the folder in his hand. The surveillance reports indicated three people were inside the house. Jack Crichton, the alien woman and who? It was a good bet it was the other person that had come through that damned wormhole. Could it be the long lost son? If that was the case why hadn't he made his presence known? The woman and this new person had to be confederates.
Well, they would find out soon enough. His men had evacuated the surrounding neighborhood with reports of a gas leak and the snipers were getting into position. Now all he had to do was make sure no one got out of the house. Piece of cake, no problem.
He whistled as he turned and walked down the hall to the waiting car.
* * * * *
The only sound in the house was the steady tick of the clock and an occasional soft snore coming from the vicinity of the couch. She wasn't sure what had wakened her. The light through the window was faint but increasing. John would say, 'It's the start of another beautiful day'. She half smiled at the thought of his exuberant start to most days. The rest had done her good. After last night's events she hadn't expected to get any sleep, but knowing John was just a few metres away proved surprisingly relaxing for a change.
Something had awakened her though and all her senses were on alert. As quietly as she could she stood up from the chair, her hand automatically reaching for her pulse pistol only to be met with emptiness. She looked around, not knowing what was the matter, but she had learned not to dismiss her instincts. They had saved her on more than one occasion and they were screaming at her now that something was wrong.
Walking over to the window, she carefully stood to one side and slowly peeled the curtain back, eyes focused on the street and other dwellings nearby. There were too many places a person could hide nearby and she didn't like it. At first glance it seemed just as it had when she had first arrived. Those strange transport pods made good hiding places though, and they were everywhere. As she watched she became aware of the small shadows moving from house to house. Frell!
She moved swiftly then.
"John!"
Her voice was low, but it's urgency woke him as sure as a recruit at reveille. He was up with Wynona in his hand before he was fully awake.
"What?!" He knew Aeryn well enough to know something was wrong. He looked around, shaking the last of sleep from his brain.
She pointed to the window and made a circling motion with her hand.
He didn't need to ask what that meant. They were surrounded.
He took the stairs two at a time to get his father. It took Jack longer to wake up and realize what was happening, but not by much. They went downstairs to find Aeryn barricading the doors against attack.
She turned and looked at John. "I need a weapon." Her face was grim and they both knew she wasn't going to be re-captured. Not alive anyway.
He tossed her Wynona on the run as he headed for the kitchen and his dad's Browning. It was better for her to have a pulse pistol that she knew rather than try and figure out on the fly how to handle an unfamiliar gun.
Jack had put it back in the drawer last night and when John reached in he felt the smooth barrel with a start. It felt so different from Wynona. He just hoped he remembered how to use it. He didn't want to hurt anyone, but if it came to Aeryn or them, they were toast.
All three of them were in the kitchen now and John motioned with two fingers at his eyes for the other two to go and check out what was happening from the other side of the house. He didn't have to explain. Jack and Aeryn turned and left together to find out what they could.
As John looked out the window he saw that, apparently, they were trying the stealth approach, hoping to catch them by surprise. It was growing lighter all the time as the sun rose and he could make out figures moving from hiding place to hiding place, inching closer.
This wasn't good. Come on John think of something. His brain was screaming at him to find a way out of this. It didn't matter if they captured him, but he knew Aeryn would die before being taken again and he couldn't let that happen.
He walked into the living room just Jack and Aeryn came back.
Jack was worried. "It looks like they've surrounded the house." He walked over and put a hand on John's shoulder. "I don't want to lose you again, son. Maybe it would be best to..."
"No, No, No." John interrupted before the thought could be put into words. "That's not gonna happen! I'm not giving up." He missed the quick look Aeryn gave him.
So much of what he said reminded her of the other John, but then how could it not. They were the same man. The thought slid easily into her mind.
"John?" Aeryn hefted Wynona. Her look spoke volumes. She was trusting him to either find a way out or give her the sign to end this.
"All right, first things first. Dad. Is there any other way out of here? Any trap doors I don't know about? Rabbit holes? Inter-dimensional portals?" John was pacing.
A light bulb went off in Jack's head "Yes."
"Yes?" John's mouth fell open. "What do you mean, yes?!"
"There's a bomb shelter off of the basement. And if I remember correctly, there's a bolt hole running from there to the storm drains, which run all through the area. They'll get you far enough away so you should be safe." He saw John's incredulous expression. "It was before you were born son. It came with the house."
John was flabbergasted. He had thought he knew every inch of this house. "You mean I lived here my whole life and there's a secret room I didn't know about? No. That's just too weird."
"We had the door paneled over for fear you or your sisters would find a way in. It's been so long I'd almost forgotten about it. It might take some time to get it open."
"Right. Time." Something they were running out of. He ran a thumb across his lips, thinking.
"Ok. If we don't do something now, the bastards will just keep sneaking up on us until they end up walking in here and inviting themselves to breakfast. We have to find a way to keep them back while we get to the rabbit hole." He looked at Jack, then Aeryn. "Any ideas Alice?"
"We could shoot them." Aeryn face was serious but John could hear the teasing behind the words. She knew he would never do that unless things were a lot more desperate than this. Their eyes locked for a moment and it was all he could do to break that contact before he did something he'd regret. He hadn't heard that light tone from her in over a cycle and he realized how much he had missed it.
"Okaaay...." He turned to Jack. "Dad?"
Jack had been thinking. What would stop them from shooting or tear gassing the place and just busting down the door? Suddenly, he grinned.
"Channel Nine."
* * * * *
An hour later things were completely different.
Jack watched the commotion outside with some amusement. He had known having friends in the media would come in handy some day. Charlie at Channel Nine had come through for him and had kept his promise to call as many other tv and radio stations as he could. He guessed the name Jack Crichton still meant something to some people. Or it could have been the mention of wormholes.
Once the news people had arrived, armed with cameras, mikes and insatiable curiosity, the military had given up trying to approach the house. The snipers had disappeared and it looked like a free for all on the street below as the military and police wrestled with the media, trying to keep them back. It had taken on a life of it's own. Hopefully they now had enough time to get John and the woman to safety.
He looked down at the scene again and smiled. It was just a guess, but he'd bet heads would roll over this.
