XOVER: Going Home Again - part 5 of 7
Dawn341@aol.com
Wed, 6 Nov 2002 21:50:23 EST
Going Home Again - part 5 of 7
For disclaimers and warnings, see part 1.
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O'Neill tested the softness of his temporary bunk, then sat down.
"Okay," he said, addressing the rest of the SG-1 team who'd joined him
in his room. "Fill us in, Daniel."
"According to Ryan's story, the space shuttle was attacked in space, and
they just barely made it to the surface. However, I found the fully
intact shuttle in one of the landing bays. There's no sign of any kind
of battle."
"Maybe they just fixed it," Carter suggested. "They have the equipment,
and the know-how to do it."
"I'm no expert on the shuttle, but it doesn't look like it's been
repaired - especially not the interior."
"Why would he have made up that story?" Teal'c asked.
"That's what we've got to find out, people," O'Neill replied. "And we
need to find out whether Crichton is involved. Any ideas?"
"I doubt that Aeryn or D'Argo would reveal anything," Carter said with a
frown. "Pilot might if he was handled correctly." Then she smiled at
Daniel. "However, Chiana seemed like the friendly type."
"That's right," O'Neill agreed. "Especially with Daniel."
Daniel's face blanched. "No way! Besides, I can't understand a thing she
says. So, I guess that leaves me out."
"You could have the microbes injected into you," Teal'c suggested.
Daniel shook his head. "I need to be able to hear people's languages. I
wouldn't be able to do that anymore if I had the microbes injected into
me - unless someone told you how to get rid of them?"
O'Neill glanced over at Carter who shook her head. "Nope. No one
mentioned anything about removing them. I guess that leaves Chiana to
you, Carter."
"I think she might be more... receptive to you," Carter replied,
fighting to keep the smirk off her face. "I'll talk to Pilot."
O'Neill sighed. "All right. What about the Domino? Think you could get
any info out of him?"
"That's Dominar," Carter corrected him. "I can try."
"All right. Daniel, show Carter where you found the shuttle so she can
look it over. Then talk to Pilot and Rygel. I'll go track down Chiana.
Teal'c, why don't you wander around and see if you can find anything
else out?"
Everyone nodded, and headed off to their assignment.
*****
It took some doing, and required the assistance of Pilot, but John
finally tracked Aeryn down to the cargo bay. She was in the middle of a
kata that Richie had shown her, and he watched her while she finished
it. She was so graceful, and fluid, and yet it was obvious that she had
the power to do some serious damage.
He tossed her a towel to dry off with after she'd ended the routine. "We
need to talk," he said.
"About what?" she asked, keeping her gaze focused on the towel in her
hands as if it was something important.
"About us." John moved closer.
"There is no 'us'," she stated.
This was starting to sound like all their previous conversations. "There
could be. You only have to say the word."
"The word is *no*." Aeryn tried to brush past John, but he grabbed her
arm and spun her back around to face him.
"Tell me you don't love John Crichton. Not him. Not me. John Crichton.
Tell me to my face, and I won't bother you again."
She looked up, looking directly into his eyes. Her mouth opened, but
nothing came out. She closed it, swallowed, then tried again. "I...
I..." her eyes dropped. "I can't."
John fought down the triumphant surge that coursed through his body. It
couldn't be this simple, could it? "Then we belong together - we love
each other. It's as simple as that." He pulled her close, and kissed
her.
She struggled against him for a moment, then returned the kiss. It took
several long moments before she pushed him away. "No! It's not simple!
You want to go after Scorpius, and I can't watch you die again! I can't
do it."
"Then we'll go live on Earth together. They'll let you come with me. We
could work on their Stargate project. We wouldn't be tied to just Earth
- we could visit other worlds together."
"That could be just as dangerous!"
"Then we'll just live on Earth. Please, Aeryn," John pleaded, reaching
out to stroke her cheek. "Don't push me away. I love you."
"No! Go back to Earth, John. Go back to your father and your friends,
where you'll be safe." Aeryn dodged around him, and ran from the room.
*****
Duncan eased himself out of his stiffened position. He still wasn't
quite sure why he hid when Aeryn had entered the room that he was
investigating. After all, he hadn't been doing anything wrong - he'd
just been looking around. But he'd seen her face, and it was pretty
obvious she was upset, so he'd ducked down out of sight before she'd
spotted him.
Still, he'd had an excellent view of her exercise area. Richie must have
been teaching her katas, because he recognized the one she was doing.
She was pretty good at it, too. At least that meant that Richie had been
keeping up with his exercises.
He definitely should have said something when John had come into the
room, but once they started talking, there was no time to tell them he
was there, too. So, he'd been an unwilling listener to the whole thing.
He couldn't help but pity John and Aeryn. They belonged together - he
was very sure of that. Richie had been sure of it, as well. Maybe he
could do something to help. It would be a small repayment for returning
Richie home, safe and sound.
He went in search of Aeryn, and found her in her room. He lightly rapped
on her door, not quire sure what the protocol was when you could see the
person through the slats in the door. "Aeryn, can I talk to you?"
"Of course," she responded, waving him into her room.
"First, I want to apologize. I... overheard your conversation with
John." Duncan held up a hand when she looked like she was about to
explode in anger. "I know. It was wrong of me. I should have announced
my presence at once, but I didn't."
"Why are you telling me this, now?" Aeryn demanded, anger still evident
in her tone. "If you hadn't said anything, I would never have known that
you were there."
"Because I can understand how you feel. I went through the same thing -
her name was Tessa, and I loved her very much. However, I thought I was
putting her in danger, so I left her. I thought she'd be safe that way."
"You wanted to protect her."
"Yes, I wanted to protect her. I knew I wouldn't be able to handle
watching her die. Except I was miserable without her. Just as you are
miserable without John, right?"
Aeryn nodded slowly, tears forming in her eyes. "But it would be better
to be without him, knowing he was safe."
"Tessa wouldn't let me do that, though. She found me, and I knew I
wouldn't have the strength to leave her again. I thought I could protect
her, but I was wrong."
"She died?"
"Yes." Duncan shuddered at the memory. How long did it take to forget?
"In a stupid act of violence, that had nothing to do with me. I'd sent
her off with Richie, thinking it would be safer than staying with me,
but I was wrong." He turned partially away. "I was devastated, and for a
while, I didn't want to live without her."
"How did you stand it? How did you keep going on without her?"
"I had no choice - life went on. I just tried to get through one day at
a time, and with the help of my friends. It took some time, but
eventually it became easier." He turned back to face Aeryn. "If I had
insisted that she go away the first time, she still might have died -
maybe not the same way or the same time, but she could have still died.
At least I had another wonderful year with her."
"Was it worth it? Was one extra year worth seeing her die?"
"At the time, I would have said no. I've lived a very long time, and
I've loved many times. All those women are dead, one way or the other.
If I fall in love again, she might die - even if it's only from old age.
But I've found that I can't let that stop me from loving. Otherwise, I'm
not living - I'm only surviving." He paused, and looked her in the eyes.
"Isn't that what you are doing? Surviving?"
Aeryn finally nodded, tears starting to run down her cheeks. "It's what
we're taught from the beginning. Don't get attached to anyone, because
they might die in the next battle. Somehow, John made me forget all my
training."
"That should tell you something, Aeryn. Maybe it's time for you to start
living, instead of just surviving. Even if John does go back to Earth,
there's no guarantee that he won't die - it could be a car accident, or
cancer, or one of a thousand other possibilities. And if you aren't
there with him, you'd never even know. You'd spend the rest of your life
wondering whether he's dead or alive. And he'll spend the rest of his
life wondering about you. And you'll both be miserable."
"I don't know what to do!" Aeryn said with a moan. She swiped at the
tears still coursing down her cheeks.
Duncan could never resist a woman who was crying. He stepped closer, and
pulled her into a hug. She resisted for a moment, then gave up, leaning
on him for support. "Follow your heart, Aeryn. No one knows how much
longer he or she has to live. You could die tomorrow. John could die
tomorrow. You have to make the most of the time that you do have."
"What's going on here?"
Duncan quickly dropped his arms and turned to face a very angry John.
"Just having a little conversation."
"Funny way to have a conversation." John scowled at Duncan.
"Maybe you should try it," Duncan replied with a grin. "I think I'll go
find out what everyone else is doing." He smoothly sidestepped John, and
left the room, leaving the two lovers alone.
"Aeryn?" John carefully moved closer.
"Maybe I should start listening to all these people who keep telling me
that I'm a fool," she said before almost throwing herself into his arms.
"I love you," she said, then pulled his head down so that she could kiss
him.
*****
O'Neill looked around at his team before reaching for the pitcher that
was on the table. "Anyone had any luck?" he asked, as he poured himself
a mug of whatever it was. Since everyone else was already drinking it,
it couldn't be poisonous. Still he sniffed it cautiously, then only took
a quick sip.
"None," Carter replied, waving around something blue before taking
another bite of it. "Everyone is more than willing to talk about how
Crichton joined the crew, but they clammed up whenever I turned the
conversation to Ryan. I thought Rygel was going to spill something, but
Aeryn interrupted him before he could."
"I got the same run around from Chiana. There's definitely something
going on here that they don't want us to know about." O'Neill rubbed at
his forehead. "What about the shuttle?"
"I agree with Daniel. It doesn't look like it's been repaired."
O'Neill turned to Daniel. "Did you or Teal'c find anything else?"
"Nothing. They let us roam around freely, but we didn't see anything
that looked suspicious."
O'Neill sighed, and paced around the room. "I don't see where we have
any choice. Until either Ryan or Crichton comes up with a better
explanation, we won't be able to trust anything they say."
"Are you going to question them here?" Carter asked.
"No. We won't say anything for now. We'll tell them they need to come
back through the gate with us, and we'll take them into custody then."
"Is that really necessary, sir?" Carter asked. "I believe Crichton is
telling the truth about this Scorpius character and that he's a threat
to the whole universe."
"I believe his story to a certain extent, but the one thing I did find
out is that the rest of Moya's crew are escaped criminals. Supposedly,
they were all arrested under false pretenses, but what criminal hasn't
insisted he was innocent?" O'Neill waved to the door. "The reason for
the open grid work on all the doors is because this used to be a prison
ship. There may be a hidden agenda that we haven't discovered yet."
"You think this Scorpius is really the law, and they are tired of him
tracking them across the universe?" Daniel asked.
"That would be one possibility. We could end up helping the wrong team.
Can wormholes be a threat like Crichton claims?"
"In theory, yes. If you could control where and when wormholes are
created - without the use of a Stargate, you could move an army across
huge distances in space in minutes. We could end up with a Goa'uld fleet
popping in next to Earth."
"They could do that now with their hyperspace drive," Teal'c pointed
out. "They have done it before."
"Right. So how else can a wormhole be used as a weapon?"
"Well, the Stargate has been used against us several times," Carter
said. "Because it has a fixed point, and if they can keep the wormhole
open long enough, our defenses could be overwhelmed."
"But aren't these wormholes out in space?" O'Neill hoped he wasn't
sounding too much like an idiot.
"Well, from what Crichton described, if the wormhole can be controlled,
it could encircle a star and bring it through the wormhole. Anything in
its path would be destroyed."
"Oookay, that definitely sounds like a weapon. The question is, who is
really trying to build it - Crichton or Scorpius?"
"My vote is on Scorpius," Daniel stated firmly. "I believe Crichton's
story. And I like both him and Ryan."
"Same here," Carter added.
"Well, we'll let Hammond decide." Taking his courage in hand, he reached
for a piece of the blue food, and sampled it. "Not too bad."
Carter and Jackson just grinned at each other before turning back to
their own food.
*****
While the command center was hardly the place John would normally choose
to have this kind of conversation, it was getting difficult finding
someplace that would give them some privacy. The SG-1 crew were in the
center chamber eating, Ryan and MacLeod were down in the cargo bay
working out, and the rest of Moya's crew were scattered around the ship.
He looked at the other two people in the room, and wished he knew a good
way to break the news. John moved over to Aeryn's side and took her
hand, then turned to face his father.
"Dad, I know that you're not going to be happy about this, but I'm not
coming home right now. Aeryn and I have spent a lot of time going over
our options, and have made our decision. We love each other, and want to
stay together."
"You could do that on Earth," Jack protested.
"And we will, but not just yet. I feel... obligated to stop Scorpius. He
got the information that he needed from *my* brain. Once we've
accomplished that, then we'll come home. Hopefully, the Stargate team
will let us join them. I think we can be very helpful to them. We'd
still be able to visit other worlds, but with most of the danger
removed."
Jack sighed. "To be honest, I was pretty sure that this would be your
decision. I'd prefer to have you back on Earth, safe and sound, but I'll
support you in this." He reached out and hugged his son.
"I will take care of him," Aeryn promised solemnly. "To make sure that
he does make it back home."
Jack faced her squarely. "I know you will, Aeryn Sun. From what I've
heard, there is no one more qualified for that daunting task. And when
you come back to Earth, I'll welcome you with open arms."
"Hopefully, we'll have some time to do some sightseeing while we're
still here," John said. "It could take weeks before the powers that be
decide whether they will help us. It will also give you two some time to
get to know each other."
"It would be my pleasure to show you our planet," Jack replied, smiling
at Aeryn.
"Excuse me, Commander." Pilot's image flickered to life on the
clamshell. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but there's been a... disturbing
conversation in the central chamber."
John frowned. "What kind of conversation?" The only people in the
central chamber should have been the SG-1 crew.
"They found the shuttle," Pilot stated. He paused for a moment, looking
down, then back up. "They plan to arrest you and Ryan when you go back
to Earth."
"Damn!" Just when everything seemed to be falling into place, this had
to happen. "Did they find out about Rich?"
"What's he talking about, son?" Jack asked. "Why would they want to
arrest you? What does the shuttle have to do with anything? And what
could they find out about Ryan?"
"No, they don't know Ryan's secret," Pilot stated. "Although they have
been asking questions about him."
"This changes everything," Aeryn said. "It seems that Peacekeepers
aren't the only ones who will falsely imprison people," she added
cynically. "There's no way you can go back to Earth now."
"WHY NOT?" Jack almost yelled.
John turned to face his father, hating what he would have to say. "Dad,
I can't explain it. I could clear this up, but it would mean betraying
Rich, and I can't do that."
"What is he hiding that would be worth becoming a fugitive for the rest
of your life?" Jack demanded.
John slowly shook his head, torn between telling his father everything
and keeping Richie's immortality a secret. "I can't tell you."
"Son, you're going to ruin your life! Aeryn, are you going to let him
make that kind of sacrifice?"
"He made a promise. Nothing I could say would make him break that. It's
part of who he is. It's one of the reasons I love him."
"I can't believe you're doing this," Jack said, shaking his head. "At
least talk to Ryan. Maybe he'll turn himself in."
"Won't happen," John said. "There's no way that Rich would do that."
"Then is he worth protecting?" With that last question, Jack stormed out
of the command center.
***** end of part 5