The Break-out Club by Thea and feldman 2/2
Apr. 6th, 2005 10:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feldmanSPOILERS: Peacekeeper Wars
SUMMARY: Thea and I were feeling domestic; set 16 years after PKW.
NOTES: beta and title by the wonderful Crankygrrl
EMAIL: thassalia @ yahoo.com; mochaphine @ gmail.com
DISCLAIMER HAIKU:
Though we love them so
and they are fun to to play with
we do not own them
Part 1/2 is here
"If you have a suggestion, now would be the time."
His eye is swollen and his lip cut and bruised. He'd still had a lingering red mark on the outside of that eye from bathtime earlier in the evening, and now it's compounded into a hard dark knot curving around the socket. If nothing else, it's possible that Aeryn will have some sympathy for the beating her son just took. Although, it was more of a whack, thud, drop and it was definitely not personal.
Peace bit, the guard jumped, Peace screamed and D'Argo acted. And that's all she wrote.
"Don't get snippy with me. I'm not the one who tried to hit a Zenetan 14 times my size."
Actually, she's sort of proud of him. He rushed the guard with a nice mix of hubris, skill and dumb-ass panic, and he's been more worried about Peace than the cuts and bruises.
"They really won't release her to you?"
Chi shakes her, head, mind working, looking for an out coming up short. "They'll only release her to her official guardian, and kid, that ain't you. They know it's not me and they're not real thrilled that they can't fully ID your genes, even if they seem to match Punk's. I think they're afraid she gave them some sort of plague."
He rubs his uninjured eye with the heel of his hand. "We could break her out."
She considers the possibility. A small girl, uninterested guards, an easy lock.
"We have to break you out first."
"I thought you said this would be easy. Dinner, toy store, home."
Chi doesn't bother to respond to the petulance.
"No one's hurt, you're just in jail. Your parents aren't actually going to kill you, you know."
He snorted. "We either stay in here, and have Pilot call them, or we escape. If Pilot has to interrupt them, my dad'll be pissed and my Mom..." He swallows heavily. "She'll be more than pissed. Peace was my responsibility."
Duty weighs heavily on his young shoulders. Aeryn's influence maybe, or his own sensibilities, it hardly matters. He's stuck riding herd on the tiny terror, and he clearly loves the little girl. She wants to rail against his folks, demand that they cut him some slack, but she's been the little sister. And she's been left behind.
"All right. Jail break it is. Give me your shirt."
"My what?" He clutches the hem of it, dark blue with grey sigils of the Free Sebacean Telacademy on the front and
Suncrichton
Diving Hynerians
Intramural
on the back.
"Your shirt, hurry up."
"What do you need my shirt for?" Chiana can't tell if it's more petulance or the handicap of speaking around the swollen cut on his upper lip.
"Nothing." Well, nothing here. Later on it might serve as a, what did Crichton used to say? Free get out of jail chip. "Right now they only have a Luxan name and some weird DNA; what if they decide to look up the names on your shirt?"
He whips off the shirt and hands it to her through the meal-slot of the door. His blush travels down past his collarbones, highlighting the weedy patch of short hair that starts in the middle of his chest and travels lazily downwards in a trail toward his navel, matching the pair of tufts under his arms.
The musculature is lanky, but it seems that even watered down with Sebacean, Humans can never really escape the fur of their past. Here's hoping Ikeni likes an exotic flair and a little bruising. He folds his arms tight and looks ready to shiver.
Chiana passes him his jacket through the meal-slot, tucking his shirt under her own coat. "I'm supposed to be contacting your guardians to pick you up, but I'll be back for you both in a few arns; be ready."
"They hired a nanny for Peace in her cell, how are we gonna deal with that?"
"You know how much a nanny makes? That'll be easier than the piece of dren lock on the door."
"As long as Punk doesn't get hurt." He shrugs the jacket on but she interrupts him.
"Hey--keep it open, okay?" She answers his puzzled look with, "It's part of the plan."
He shrugs again and lets the jacket hang unfastened.
"Good kid." She winks. "I'll be back."
Out in the street she pulls the ragged map out of her pocket and heads for the dorms. She needs a geek. Ikeni...Kenai, that was it. If she's so smart, let's see how she fares at a jailbreak.
Chiana never thought she'd reminisce about the Gammak Base--though Peace as Stark does make a certain sense--and she wonders if D'Argo even knows about the kind of things his parents pulled before they took up teaching physics and flight.
Learn by doing, that's what Chi believes in. Maybe she'll take a position at the telacademy, teach the Fundamentals of Covert Ops and Snurching.
***
The girl is blond, well blondish, sunny colored hair shot through with an acidic red. She's pretty, well not exactly. She's very focused looking, silvery eyes and freckles. Chi slides her gaze up and down the girl. Kenai doesn't flinch, hand grasping the doorway.
"You're Nebari," she says finally.
"Huh, they said you were smart." Chi slips in to the room.
"What... you can't come in here... you can't do..." the girl stops talking. Chiana already has.
"We have a friend in common," she says. The girl's eyes spark. Good.
"And who would that be?"
Chi takes the shirt out from beneath her coat, and shows Ikeni the logo.
She licks her top lip, swallows a little. "Oh." Her chin tilts. "So, what's your point?"
"I want you to help me break him out of jail."
The girl's silvery eyes go dark and her freckles pale down to a dusky beige. "He's in jail?"
"Sort of."
"Here?"
Chi tilts her chin.
"He was here and he didn't call me, didn't leave a message or..."
"Maybe you wanna deal with all of that later."
The girl switches tracks of thought abruptly. "Why are you here? Where are his parents?"
"You want to spend more time with D'Argo, ever, it's best his parents don't know about this."
She bites her lip again, eyes shrewd. "You have a plan?"
"Yeah."
***
"You're sure this'll work?"
The girl tosses her hair. "Of course. It's a simple program. Finds the code, sweeps the code, opens the doors. A child could have written it."
Chi is tempted to try it out on a passing door, but the goods advertised on the revolving holo are expensive and it likely has an alarm. The toy store lockdown is hardly sophisticated. She's not worried about klaxons there.
Ikeni tugs at the neck of her tight black sweater. She's more conspicuous in the dark clothing than she would be in ordinary garments, but she'll act as a distraction while Chi pops the locks and wipes their computer. It wouldn't do to leave any evidence behind. Being quarantined by merchants isn't that big a deal, but even now, cycles after the treaties, certain people still had a hard-on for the Crichton/Sun clan. Despite her desire to see her godchild happy and healthy and raising hezmana, she knew there were legitimate reasons for his parents' caution.
And besides, a little petty crime might be good for all of them. You never really forgot your first jail break.
This Ikeni girl is a geek with a pack full of hardware, much of it of her own craft. In the vestibule of the alleyway employee entrance, she pulls out a doctored pair of sunglasses with a jewel optic epoxied onto each lens.
Chiana whispers into her ear, "What's that for?"
"Subsurface scan so I can find the right spot. I want to disable the lock without triggering any alarms and for that I need--"
"The exact location of the lock module." Chiana presses a fingertip on the wall a few feet away from the doorjamb. "Right here."
Ikeni pushes the bug-eyed optics up into her hair and does a subsurface scan of Chiana, her bare eyes colorless in the dim. "Who are you again?"
"Family friend. Now, you got the goods or no?"
She shifts the pack forward and pulls out a hand-soldered circuit board glued to a common handheld encyclopedia. She squints in the dark and works the keypad.
"You could turn the screen light on."
"Diverted it to power the code transmitter."
"Oh." With that the door slides open. Chiana shoves a piece of permacrete into the gap and pulls Ikeni inside.
"I was going to code in a temporary password for when we leave--"
"Save it for the security files, gadget-girl. Come on, they're on the fifth floor."
"They? I thought we were just getting D'Argo out so he wouldn't be dismissed for hazing--"
"Hazing, huh?" Chiana stops and smiles at the girl as she shrugs like she's got an itch in her spine.
"There was...something I *heard* about a few monens back...a little oogie-scoogie that's all."
"Oogie-scoogie?"
"Rearranging all the dean's furniture while he was out at some dinner meeting."
Chiana imagines some crusty academic barking his shins in the dark. It's cute and she warms a bit more to toward this nondescript little blonde. "Lemme guess; when you first got into the program?"
Ikeni nods, an acid pink lock of hair working loose from under her bug-goggles. She's so pale her freckles look like spattered mud in the dark.
"Yeah." Screw the education; D'Argo needs to hang out with these kids, period. Chiana pulls her forward again. "Come on, the tier ramps are this way."
***
Getting in is easy. But then, getting in is always easy. It's getting out that's a bitch.
Ikeni is a little jittery, fingers searching out her gadgets, touching on them for momentary comfort.
The key here is to get through the security system without being spotted and to break out the prisoners without sounding the alarm. A normal jailbreak takes finesse and firepower, this is all about the quiet skills. Criminals are one thing, commerce quite another. Jails have rules for how you can treat the prisoners, and it would only take one swipe of her genetic scan to bring up her record. She'd never get out. Chiana smiles. She hasn't had this sort of rush in cycles. The fear of getting caught instead of getting dead. It's the good kind of fear, the kind that makes you want to seek out a partner and celebrate both states of being.
"So if it's not for the hazing or..."
Chi nudges her in the ribs. "Does it matter?"
Ikeni bites her lip, worrying at her glasses.
God, the kid couldn't have found anyone more different from Aeryn if he'd tried. And he'd die if he knew what a thing his dad used to have for geeky blonds. Then again, he could have gotten that preference for pale and brainy from his mom. She giggles to herself. This is family she thinks, this is what we pass on.
"You're gonna use these toys to get us into the security office so I can turn off the alarms then set 'em again so that no one knows they were ever off. I think we'd better break D'Argo out first, no telling what Punk'll think of the whole thing."
"His sister's a prisoner too?"
Chiana snorts. "More Guests of the Establishment."
Ikeni wrinkles her nose in confusion. "We don't want his dad to find out, right?"
"Oh, yeah..."
She doesn't balk and they make their way to the second level. Ikeni scans the walls. "This is where the sensors are."
"Okay, kid. Just tell me where not to step."
Slip and slide, a little hope, a little bend and while Ikeni isn't as flexible as Chiana, she's game for the adventure. When they reach the other side of the big showroom, she lets out a breathy giggle.
"Think there's a way to set those on a timer so they turn back on after we're gone?"
The girl shrugs. "Shouldn't be too hard, just reroute the feed for a few 100 microts. Depends on their system though. A place like this should be pretty sophisticated."
"But you can handle it?"
"Yeah. I helped my older sister break into her boyfriend's...well, let’s just say if I can do that, a toy store security system won't be that hard."
The office is at the top of the stairs. A light is on and Chi can spot two big Interons lounging at their desks. Perfect. Interons are easy marks.
"I'm going to distract those two while you go in. You need to reset the alarms, and wipe Peace and D'Argo's security files."
The girl raises a pale eyebrow. "Why? Who cares if there's a record of them."
She's young, and maybe she's never heard the stories, maybe never made the connections. That's cool, that's good. Gives D'Argo a chance at a normal life, legacy free.
"Standard procedure, gadget girl. Never leave information behind if you can help it."
"And you're a friend of the family?" Her voice was shrill again, too smart not to question, but young enough that the worry was nearly overcome by the illicit thrill.
"Oldest friend. I'm his fairy godmother."
"It's just...if I get caught...they tend to be pretty harsh on people who mess with the security files. It's a far bigger deal than the alarms. No one could prove we did that."
"So you won't get caught. Trust me, we won't let it happen."
The girl takes a deep breath. "Okay."
The Interons are not a challenge. They believe her story about hearing an intruder in the main body of the showroom floor, swayed by her cool grey cleavage and their own sense of intellectual superiority. They don't even ask how she got back into the building. Of course, she doesn't bother to tell them that she ever left.
"No need to bother with Lozan," the darker haired one says, jostling his counterpart. "He's on break. We can check it out, you just go back and sit with your nephew."
She smiles, licks her lip and the redhead grins back, toothy and pleased, his hair deepening. She walks slowly, hips swaying and waits for their footsteps to sound in the hallway before gesturing Ikeni into the office.
D'Argo is lying on his back on the cot, staring at the ceiling. He jumps up when he sees her, and she puts her finger to her lips.
She uses Ikeni's little toy and the lock snicks open.
He's smart enough to steal out after her.
They have to climb a small staircase to get to the room where Peace is being held.
The nanny opens the door on the first knock, standing in the doorway blocking the entrance. She sparks in the low light, glitter covering her broad flat face. Apparently, Peace has made a convert.
"Are your parents here?" Her voice is low, deep and serious.
D'Argo bounces on his toes, trying to see around her.
"They're not coming." Chiana says. The nanny narrows her eyes. Chi pulls a soft grey pouch out of her bodice. "Seerjat crystals. Highest quality."
A shriek sounds from behind the nanny, followed by a flurry of tiny footsteps. "Deeeeeee!"
The nanny winces. "Highest quality, huh?"
Chiana nods.
"Don't suppose one of you'd be willing to knock me out? So I don't get blamed."
Chiana accepts the terms with a slow and flirty blink. "Of course."
The nanny steps aside as Peace barrels out the door and right into D'Argo's grip. He hoists her into the air and holds her up, examining her.
"Dude, what happened to your clothes?"
"She spilled her milk," the nanny gestures with the uncapped marker in her hand, one of the many colors scribbled on Peace's outfit and bare skin. "And when I turned back she'd already started on her legs and..."
"Deeee!" D'Argo stops listening. Peace wraps her graffitied arms around his neck, voice shrill and scared. "Dee! Why you leave me?" Her small chin trembles, her verbal skills in rags and her sunny grin missing in action. Dried tears cake her face, matched now by fresh ones tracking through the glitter.
"Oh Punk, it's okay, baby. I'm here now."
The nanny's eyes widen and Chi rolls her eyes. The woman turns. Chiana hits her on the back of the head, stepping neatly away as she thuds to the ground.
Peace snuffles into her brother's hair, a death grip on his jacket. "Goober?"
Chiana spots the drannit and an opened jar of glittery goop. She scoops them both up. "Come on."
They barrel down the stairs, trying to keep quiet. Peace must have sensed the urgency because she's quiet and still in D'Argo's arms. Sliding around the corner into the security station, he stops short as he spots Ikeni lounging against the wall.
"We've got 200 microts," she says, eyes sliding down to the ground, not really meeting his. "When, uh, we start for the door."
"Files?" Chiana doesn't want to break up the reunion, but first things first.
"Gone."
"Good."
D'Argo finally finds his voice, scratchy and unsure. "Um, hey."
"Hey," she gives him a little half smile, nervous still. "You, uh, okay?"
"Yeah, just a little bruised. What're you..." Peace squirms, and he automatically turns her so she can see what's going on. She stares at Ikeni, scrubbing sparkly snot across her cheek as she ponders the new face.
"She," Ikeni gestures to Chiana, "thought I could, maybe, um, help."
"That's cool, that's um...god, thank you. Oh--this is um, my sister."
"Hey," she says to the narl.
D'Argo uses the sleeve of his coat to wipe off Peace's face.
"Wanna be sparkly?" Peace asks, voice small, still warbling a little.
"Maybe later," the girl says, still not meeting D'Argo's eye.
"Press the frelling button," Chiana says. "Let's take this party elsewhere."
Ikeni hits the button and they all bolt, tearing through the darkened toy store, hell-bent for the exit.
They're a motra from the door when Peace lets out a wail. "Toy for Goober!"
They screech to a stop, D'Argo sliding into Ikeni. She grabs his forearm in the dark to steady herself and Chiana doesn't need light to see the blush stain his cheeks.
"No, Punk. No time."
"Toy!!!"
"No!" D'Argo hisses, trying to keep his cool in front of the girl, but clearly fraying at the edges.
"Yes! I say so! Toooooy!"
The narl's had a hell of a night, and it's either find a buddy for Goober or bring the hapless, but armed Interons down on them.
Chiana growls, "Just grab something."
"But that's stealing!"
How the frell did these kids survive anything?
"We'll send 'em some credits! Just grab something."
Ikeni ducks into the corner of the store, grabs a plastic Ceniflau and hisses, "Go, go!!"
They hit the door with microts to spare, but are only half a block away when the klaxons sound like a war raid.
They keep running, heading towards the east side of the town where the residences are.
***
Chiana buys them all frozen eeka berries, which Peace proceeds to add to the fabulous collection of stuff stuck to her face. Her hand prints dot D'Argo's shoulders and neck, but he keeps her in his arms, walking aimlessly next to Ikeni. They're having the sort of half-formed conversation that signals deep interest and an equally deep embarrassment over that interest.
It's so...nice. These two adolescents, bright and shiny with their youth, with their freedom and intelligence, the way they can spark off each other's smiles and conversation.
"So, um, your parents still won't let you come to the residential program." Ikeni's voice is steady, hinting at her interest but masking it in an ordinary question.
D'Argo sighs. "No. They say it's too dangerous."
Ikeni laughs, and D'Argo joins in. It seems absurd to them, what kind of danger can school offer up? Missed tests? Bad food? An infraction for some cheerful misbehavior?
Chi won't bother to correct them; she's weirdly charmed by their innocence and suddenly feels very old.
They stop about a block away from the dorms, and D'Argo hands a wide-eyed Peace to Chiana. She cuddles the girl close, enjoying her child scent mixed with the bite of eeka berry. She wanders a little down the street and they looking through the dimly-lit window of a closed cafe, Peace at the pastries on display, Chiana at the reflection of the two behind her.
She is the chaperone, after all.
"I, uh, thanks, Ikeni," he pauses after he says her name, swallowing for a moment. "Thanks so much for helping."
She smiles and her face lights up, giving Chiana a little insight into what must have first drawn D'Argo to her. "It's okay. I, uh, I was happy to help."
He looks at the ground, biting his lip. "I don't know... I mean, we're leaving and I can't come to the program and I don't think I'll see you..." He tugs at his hair. "Frell it. Fuck. It's so unfair."
She gives him sly grin and takes the hem of her black sweater, yanks it up. D'Argo's eyes go wide and he gasps, then starts to giggle.
She's got his shirt on. 'Diving Hynerians' indeed. Chiana wonders how many different smiles this girl has, and what else she's got under wraps.
"You're gonna have to come back to get this," she says, laughing low and full. D'Argo's smile widens, that full Crichton grin and when she drops her sweater back into place he steps forward, sweeps his mouth over hers and steps back.
They stand there, staring for a microt and then Chiana's comm breaks through the haze.
"Pilot, what's up?"
"I thought you should know that Crichton just commed to check in on his offspring."
Frell. "And?"
"I'd...hurry back if I were you?"
She doesn't bother to sign off. D'Argo's eyes are saucer wide. She thrusts Peace into his arms and they take off towards the dock.
***
D'Argo flies backward into Chiana with a hoarse scream, and for a microt Chiana thinks a bomb exploded on her ship. When she sees John standing in the doorway she nearly collapses with relief.
"Chi, it's good to see you again." His smile fades and he spends a moment studying his son, who's panting and clinging just as hard to Peace as she is to him. "Pilot said you were down here, so I thought I'd say hi."
D'Argo can't seem to speak and Chiana would rather he didn't even try until she laid some groundwork. "We were just doing some sight-seeing, catching up on things."
Peace sights John and pipes, "Daddy! We came from the toy store!"
"Toy store, huh?" He cups the narl's head with his hand and Chi can tell he's cataloging his son's cuts and bruises and his daughter's colored outfit.
"Got make'em sparkly."
Chiana fishes in the tote just inside her ship, pulling out the canister of sparkled goop and one of the new plastic beasties. "I couldn't see keeping 'em cooped up on the ship."
John looks from the tote already on the ship to the group who've obviously just arrived. "Hitting all the toy stores in town, then?"
"Got carried away shopping."
He reaches out to D'Argo slowly, as if to a skittish animal, and runs a finger from the hard bruise around his eye to the split on his lip. D'Argo shakes his head back, his voice cracked but thankfully not squeaky. "Gave Punk a bath before we came down."
"Chi, why don't you get Peace tucked into her crash-webbing while I have a chat with my son, here?" John pulls the narl from her brother and says goodbye and goodnight, bestowing almost as many kisses on Goober as the girl herself.
Chi boards her ship and sets down in the pilot seat, activating the external viewer and routing sound to an earpiece. Punk sits astride one thigh, playing with the buckles of the crash webbing.
"Nice shiner."
"Yeah, well, she's got tiny elbows and pilot reflexes; I'm lucky I still have an eye."
John rubs the spot between his eyebrows as he takes a deep breath. "I left your mom in the bathtub, so let me make this quick."
D'Argo offers the customary shudder at the image and then waits for his father to speak.
Instead, John grabs a handful of his son's shirt collar and slams him hard up against the side of Chiana's ship. D'Argo gets an Aeryn look in his eye and Chi thinks that maybe he's thinking bout the Zenetan guard and he's not ready to capitulate twice in the same night.
John stares the challenge down. Then he leans his face right into D'Argo's and speaks softly, each word like a thin metal plate being hammered into place. Chi boosts the pickup on the mic to catch it.
"If I ever find out what really happened tonight that will mean two things: you not only fucked up whatever little adventure you had, you'll also have to leave the program."
"The prog--" D'Argo stops short as realization hits.
"It has taken me three days to convince your mother to take this chance on you--don't get me wrong, most of it was fun, but it's been a siege to get her to change her mind about this. If anything," he bumps D'Argo against the hull for emphasis, "*anything* happens to you on my watch, down here where I'd convinced her you'd be safe, *she will kill me*."
John lets go and D'Argo drops a few denches to the ground. The next words are thick and deep, barely registering on the mic, but it's clear the boy hears them by the way he swallows. "And so help me I'd let her."
John straightens. "Am I understood, son?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good kid." John pulls the boy into a rough hug, thumping his back and laying a surreptitious kiss on the boy's dark hair. "Happy birthday and you're welcome. Go straight home, now, okay? Tell Chi I want to see her."
Chi flicks the display off and pockets the earpiece, shifting Punk into a passenger seat as her brother boards. His face is pale and sweaty as he secures Peace into her crash webbing, but the beginnings of a dumbfounded grin can be seen as he mutters to himself, "Crazy bastard."
She figures he must have been awfully sheltered not to have already known this about his dad. When she strolls down the ramp the crazy bastard's composed himself again as if nothing really *had* happened. He winks at her and she laughs.
Aeryn would kill both of them if she knew.
"Gonna stay with us awhile this time?" John's a little softer around the eyes, and his hair has enough grey to lighten the color. He's still in leathers but the coat is a different cut, more fabric in the style and lined with a dark blue that almost matches his shirt.
"Yeah, for a while." She finds she can't return his sly smile, and the words that she hasn't been able to say until now fall free as she meets his gaze. "Nerri's dead. For real this time."
He cradles her neck and tips his forehead down to touch hers. "I'm sorry, Chi."
"S'okay." She lays her hand over his and pushes the tears back. She hadn't thought much about Nerri since she docked on Moya, and this brings a special kind of ache even though it was the reason she'd come. She thinks of the little sister aboard her ship. "I see you've been busy. I thought you guys wouldn't have tried again since, you know, with Aeryn."
"Peace." His chuckle is wry as he leans companionably against her under the purple white light of the docking platform. "She wasn't planned, no. When Aeryn found out I tried to convince her...that's a whole other story in itself, though. She came out fine, both of them, but it was a risk I hated taking."
She elbows him. "Big happy family."
"Who'd a thought, huh?" His thumb rubs the top of her hand. "Listen, I'm supposed to be on a fellip-run. You'll be on Moya when we get back, though, right?"
"I'm staying for a while this time."
"Good. You'll notice how I'm not asking you what happened."
"I noticed."
"I think it's better if I don't know." He sounds like he's trying to convince himself, and he gives her a sharp look as a thought occurs to him. "Unless it's something I should know?"
Chiana gives him a prim Auntie look. "If it makes you feel any better, you're the only one here getting frelled tonight."
"Right," he nods as he turns to go, "good."
"And," she whispers as he walks toward the gate to the street, "it was the smoothest jailbreak I've ever seen."
He shouts without looking back, "I didn't hear that, Chi."
***
"Whatcha doin'?"
Aeryn turns her head at Chiana's question, gives her a smile that says a lot more about the years and miles and changes than anything on her body.
She still looks well-rested, well-frelled actually. She's still beautiful, hasn't really aged beyond the small lines around her eyes and a sharpness to her face. She sits like a soldier, back rigid, looking at the components laid out before her, surrounding a glossy black box.
"Things I think he might need. John's doing the same thing, although he thinks I don't know."
"You're making him a bomb?"
"Possibly." She lets the beat go by. "No, just… essentials."
Chiana stands close to Aeryn, looking over her shoulder. She leans in a little more, chin resting on her shoulder. Some things you can still take for granted.
"He's gonna be fine. Gonna have a great time and get into some trouble and get laid. It'll be great for him."
Aeryn picks up a coupler, places it in the bottom of the box.
"I know. I ..." She breathes out heavily, body sagging. "I can't believe I'm the one who wants to keep him home, but..."
Chi strokes her arm. "He's your son."
She picks up a box of chakkan oil cartridges, nestles them in next to the coupler. All they've had before at the program is a little oogie-scoogie; now their newest student will have his own arsenal. Hopefully Crichton's care package will have more snacks.
"You met the girl?"
"Mmm. Smart. Kind of cute. Definitely a tech. I'd include some birth control."
Aeryn holds up another packet, rattles it to the tune of a thick slushy sound.
"Vennika?"
"Works for humans and Sebaceans, in a pinch," she says, mouth curving up.
She holds up another box. "Prophylactics. John's contribution."
Chiana starts to laugh. "You're gonna deprive him of the embarrassment of going to the all-night pharmacy and buying things himself?"
Aeryn grins, sharp and fierce. "There're only five in here."
They both snicker, a conspiracy of women.
Chiana agrees. "Two days and he'll be out."
"Less than that," Aeryn says, "I'd guess."
"One really good day, possibly while skipping class."
"You sound like you want him to get into trouble."
"A little trouble is good for a boy. Or a girl."
Aeryn mouth draws flat and she sighs. "We've kept a lot of things from him. Maybe important things, I don't know." She seems to shake that off as she repacks the box. "We don't take as many chances as we used to around here." She taps her head gently against Chiana's, scooting the chin off her shoulder so she can stand. "Skills get rusty when you don't train them."
"It's not as big a risk as it feel like, you know? He's a smart kid. He needs this."
Aeryn leans back against the table and studies Chi a while before speaking. "I had him to make John happy. You knew that. And I loved him from the beginning, he was amazing. I finally saw why John wanted to have children in his life. But one day, when he was about five cycles old, I looked down at him..."
She crosses her arms and pauses, then settles into the story, decides to tell it. "He was talking to a DRD, crouched down at its level, and there was something about that small voice saying those big words, the way he was talking to that DRD as if it were his friend...he looked like a perfect little person, a little John with my smile and with everything wide open for him, no enemies or injuries...I realized that I would do anything at all to protect him, to keep him safe."
"Yeah, we all knew you would." Chiana smirks. "You can't help yourself with Crichton men."
Aeryn shakes her head, still sober. "If I had to, I would choose him over his father. Only if I had to. But I could make that choice. I'd risk anything to give either of my children whatever they need."
Chi thinks that it's easy to be lulled by the sheen of domestic calm, easy to forget the terrible choices they each had to make in the past.
"You're staying for awhile." Aeryn makes it a statement as well as a change of mood.
Chiana nods, so tired suddenly.
"Peace will be thrilled. When D'Argo leaves, she'll only have her father at her beck and call."
"That kid's something else. She's so lucky to have a brother like D. You guys did good."
Aeryn smiles, her pride rich and a little wicked. "She is indeed. She's going to be a pilot. She's going to be a terror, as well, I think, completely spoiled by her brother and father."
"It's good, you know," Chiana hesitates, thinks that if she's going to break down, Aeryn is the person to do it in front of. "Family."
"Nerri," Aeryn says softly. "I'm so sorry."
Chiana doesn't realize that she's been crying, wipes the tears off on her sleeve, throat hot and tight and ravaged. She can't believe he's really gone. It keeps hitting her, trying to stick. Then she'll suddenly think about him like she always used to do and it hits her one more time; never see him again.
Aeryn opens her arms, has learned a thing or two about comfort in the past cycles. Her mouth is a curve of compassion but there's nothing easy in her eyes. Chi leans into her, breathes in the clean, familiar scent of her.
"You're still too bony to hug."
She smears her face on Aeryn's t-shirt. "You should talk." She laughs, hiccups through the tears. Backs up before either of them can be embarrassed by the exchange.
"It's just...I know he died doing what he believed in. Hezmana, I believed in it too, but..."
"But he left you alone."
She nods. "It's just me now. Not even the thought of him. Just me."
Aeryn takes a deep breath. "It's not, you know. Family..." she looks around the bay, tilts her head at Chiana. "You know the rest. This is as much yours as ours. And you're always welcome."
Chi gives her a shaky smile. Family. Wonderful in small medicinal doses.
"Now help me finish putting this box together."
Chiana folds a soft black t-shirt and places it on top.
"But Chiana..."
She looks up, Aeryn's eyes keen and mere denches from her own.
"If you ever take it into your head to help my son have another adventure without my permission, I will personally kick your arse off this ship."
She doesn't reply, mouth quirked. She doesn't ask how Aeryn knows anything happened, she just adds her own sentiments to the box.
~*~
SUMMARY: Thea and I were feeling domestic; set 16 years after PKW.
NOTES: beta and title by the wonderful Crankygrrl
EMAIL: thassalia @ yahoo.com; mochaphine @ gmail.com
DISCLAIMER HAIKU:
Though we love them so
and they are fun to to play with
we do not own them
Part 1/2 is here
"If you have a suggestion, now would be the time."
His eye is swollen and his lip cut and bruised. He'd still had a lingering red mark on the outside of that eye from bathtime earlier in the evening, and now it's compounded into a hard dark knot curving around the socket. If nothing else, it's possible that Aeryn will have some sympathy for the beating her son just took. Although, it was more of a whack, thud, drop and it was definitely not personal.
Peace bit, the guard jumped, Peace screamed and D'Argo acted. And that's all she wrote.
"Don't get snippy with me. I'm not the one who tried to hit a Zenetan 14 times my size."
Actually, she's sort of proud of him. He rushed the guard with a nice mix of hubris, skill and dumb-ass panic, and he's been more worried about Peace than the cuts and bruises.
"They really won't release her to you?"
Chi shakes her, head, mind working, looking for an out coming up short. "They'll only release her to her official guardian, and kid, that ain't you. They know it's not me and they're not real thrilled that they can't fully ID your genes, even if they seem to match Punk's. I think they're afraid she gave them some sort of plague."
He rubs his uninjured eye with the heel of his hand. "We could break her out."
She considers the possibility. A small girl, uninterested guards, an easy lock.
"We have to break you out first."
"I thought you said this would be easy. Dinner, toy store, home."
Chi doesn't bother to respond to the petulance.
"No one's hurt, you're just in jail. Your parents aren't actually going to kill you, you know."
He snorted. "We either stay in here, and have Pilot call them, or we escape. If Pilot has to interrupt them, my dad'll be pissed and my Mom..." He swallows heavily. "She'll be more than pissed. Peace was my responsibility."
Duty weighs heavily on his young shoulders. Aeryn's influence maybe, or his own sensibilities, it hardly matters. He's stuck riding herd on the tiny terror, and he clearly loves the little girl. She wants to rail against his folks, demand that they cut him some slack, but she's been the little sister. And she's been left behind.
"All right. Jail break it is. Give me your shirt."
"My what?" He clutches the hem of it, dark blue with grey sigils of the Free Sebacean Telacademy on the front and
Suncrichton
Diving Hynerians
Intramural
on the back.
"Your shirt, hurry up."
"What do you need my shirt for?" Chiana can't tell if it's more petulance or the handicap of speaking around the swollen cut on his upper lip.
"Nothing." Well, nothing here. Later on it might serve as a, what did Crichton used to say? Free get out of jail chip. "Right now they only have a Luxan name and some weird DNA; what if they decide to look up the names on your shirt?"
He whips off the shirt and hands it to her through the meal-slot of the door. His blush travels down past his collarbones, highlighting the weedy patch of short hair that starts in the middle of his chest and travels lazily downwards in a trail toward his navel, matching the pair of tufts under his arms.
The musculature is lanky, but it seems that even watered down with Sebacean, Humans can never really escape the fur of their past. Here's hoping Ikeni likes an exotic flair and a little bruising. He folds his arms tight and looks ready to shiver.
Chiana passes him his jacket through the meal-slot, tucking his shirt under her own coat. "I'm supposed to be contacting your guardians to pick you up, but I'll be back for you both in a few arns; be ready."
"They hired a nanny for Peace in her cell, how are we gonna deal with that?"
"You know how much a nanny makes? That'll be easier than the piece of dren lock on the door."
"As long as Punk doesn't get hurt." He shrugs the jacket on but she interrupts him.
"Hey--keep it open, okay?" She answers his puzzled look with, "It's part of the plan."
He shrugs again and lets the jacket hang unfastened.
"Good kid." She winks. "I'll be back."
Out in the street she pulls the ragged map out of her pocket and heads for the dorms. She needs a geek. Ikeni...Kenai, that was it. If she's so smart, let's see how she fares at a jailbreak.
Chiana never thought she'd reminisce about the Gammak Base--though Peace as Stark does make a certain sense--and she wonders if D'Argo even knows about the kind of things his parents pulled before they took up teaching physics and flight.
Learn by doing, that's what Chi believes in. Maybe she'll take a position at the telacademy, teach the Fundamentals of Covert Ops and Snurching.
***
The girl is blond, well blondish, sunny colored hair shot through with an acidic red. She's pretty, well not exactly. She's very focused looking, silvery eyes and freckles. Chi slides her gaze up and down the girl. Kenai doesn't flinch, hand grasping the doorway.
"You're Nebari," she says finally.
"Huh, they said you were smart." Chi slips in to the room.
"What... you can't come in here... you can't do..." the girl stops talking. Chiana already has.
"We have a friend in common," she says. The girl's eyes spark. Good.
"And who would that be?"
Chi takes the shirt out from beneath her coat, and shows Ikeni the logo.
She licks her top lip, swallows a little. "Oh." Her chin tilts. "So, what's your point?"
"I want you to help me break him out of jail."
The girl's silvery eyes go dark and her freckles pale down to a dusky beige. "He's in jail?"
"Sort of."
"Here?"
Chi tilts her chin.
"He was here and he didn't call me, didn't leave a message or..."
"Maybe you wanna deal with all of that later."
The girl switches tracks of thought abruptly. "Why are you here? Where are his parents?"
"You want to spend more time with D'Argo, ever, it's best his parents don't know about this."
She bites her lip again, eyes shrewd. "You have a plan?"
"Yeah."
***
"You're sure this'll work?"
The girl tosses her hair. "Of course. It's a simple program. Finds the code, sweeps the code, opens the doors. A child could have written it."
Chi is tempted to try it out on a passing door, but the goods advertised on the revolving holo are expensive and it likely has an alarm. The toy store lockdown is hardly sophisticated. She's not worried about klaxons there.
Ikeni tugs at the neck of her tight black sweater. She's more conspicuous in the dark clothing than she would be in ordinary garments, but she'll act as a distraction while Chi pops the locks and wipes their computer. It wouldn't do to leave any evidence behind. Being quarantined by merchants isn't that big a deal, but even now, cycles after the treaties, certain people still had a hard-on for the Crichton/Sun clan. Despite her desire to see her godchild happy and healthy and raising hezmana, she knew there were legitimate reasons for his parents' caution.
And besides, a little petty crime might be good for all of them. You never really forgot your first jail break.
This Ikeni girl is a geek with a pack full of hardware, much of it of her own craft. In the vestibule of the alleyway employee entrance, she pulls out a doctored pair of sunglasses with a jewel optic epoxied onto each lens.
Chiana whispers into her ear, "What's that for?"
"Subsurface scan so I can find the right spot. I want to disable the lock without triggering any alarms and for that I need--"
"The exact location of the lock module." Chiana presses a fingertip on the wall a few feet away from the doorjamb. "Right here."
Ikeni pushes the bug-eyed optics up into her hair and does a subsurface scan of Chiana, her bare eyes colorless in the dim. "Who are you again?"
"Family friend. Now, you got the goods or no?"
She shifts the pack forward and pulls out a hand-soldered circuit board glued to a common handheld encyclopedia. She squints in the dark and works the keypad.
"You could turn the screen light on."
"Diverted it to power the code transmitter."
"Oh." With that the door slides open. Chiana shoves a piece of permacrete into the gap and pulls Ikeni inside.
"I was going to code in a temporary password for when we leave--"
"Save it for the security files, gadget-girl. Come on, they're on the fifth floor."
"They? I thought we were just getting D'Argo out so he wouldn't be dismissed for hazing--"
"Hazing, huh?" Chiana stops and smiles at the girl as she shrugs like she's got an itch in her spine.
"There was...something I *heard* about a few monens back...a little oogie-scoogie that's all."
"Oogie-scoogie?"
"Rearranging all the dean's furniture while he was out at some dinner meeting."
Chiana imagines some crusty academic barking his shins in the dark. It's cute and she warms a bit more to toward this nondescript little blonde. "Lemme guess; when you first got into the program?"
Ikeni nods, an acid pink lock of hair working loose from under her bug-goggles. She's so pale her freckles look like spattered mud in the dark.
"Yeah." Screw the education; D'Argo needs to hang out with these kids, period. Chiana pulls her forward again. "Come on, the tier ramps are this way."
***
Getting in is easy. But then, getting in is always easy. It's getting out that's a bitch.
Ikeni is a little jittery, fingers searching out her gadgets, touching on them for momentary comfort.
The key here is to get through the security system without being spotted and to break out the prisoners without sounding the alarm. A normal jailbreak takes finesse and firepower, this is all about the quiet skills. Criminals are one thing, commerce quite another. Jails have rules for how you can treat the prisoners, and it would only take one swipe of her genetic scan to bring up her record. She'd never get out. Chiana smiles. She hasn't had this sort of rush in cycles. The fear of getting caught instead of getting dead. It's the good kind of fear, the kind that makes you want to seek out a partner and celebrate both states of being.
"So if it's not for the hazing or..."
Chi nudges her in the ribs. "Does it matter?"
Ikeni bites her lip, worrying at her glasses.
God, the kid couldn't have found anyone more different from Aeryn if he'd tried. And he'd die if he knew what a thing his dad used to have for geeky blonds. Then again, he could have gotten that preference for pale and brainy from his mom. She giggles to herself. This is family she thinks, this is what we pass on.
"You're gonna use these toys to get us into the security office so I can turn off the alarms then set 'em again so that no one knows they were ever off. I think we'd better break D'Argo out first, no telling what Punk'll think of the whole thing."
"His sister's a prisoner too?"
Chiana snorts. "More Guests of the Establishment."
Ikeni wrinkles her nose in confusion. "We don't want his dad to find out, right?"
"Oh, yeah..."
She doesn't balk and they make their way to the second level. Ikeni scans the walls. "This is where the sensors are."
"Okay, kid. Just tell me where not to step."
Slip and slide, a little hope, a little bend and while Ikeni isn't as flexible as Chiana, she's game for the adventure. When they reach the other side of the big showroom, she lets out a breathy giggle.
"Think there's a way to set those on a timer so they turn back on after we're gone?"
The girl shrugs. "Shouldn't be too hard, just reroute the feed for a few 100 microts. Depends on their system though. A place like this should be pretty sophisticated."
"But you can handle it?"
"Yeah. I helped my older sister break into her boyfriend's...well, let’s just say if I can do that, a toy store security system won't be that hard."
The office is at the top of the stairs. A light is on and Chi can spot two big Interons lounging at their desks. Perfect. Interons are easy marks.
"I'm going to distract those two while you go in. You need to reset the alarms, and wipe Peace and D'Argo's security files."
The girl raises a pale eyebrow. "Why? Who cares if there's a record of them."
She's young, and maybe she's never heard the stories, maybe never made the connections. That's cool, that's good. Gives D'Argo a chance at a normal life, legacy free.
"Standard procedure, gadget girl. Never leave information behind if you can help it."
"And you're a friend of the family?" Her voice was shrill again, too smart not to question, but young enough that the worry was nearly overcome by the illicit thrill.
"Oldest friend. I'm his fairy godmother."
"It's just...if I get caught...they tend to be pretty harsh on people who mess with the security files. It's a far bigger deal than the alarms. No one could prove we did that."
"So you won't get caught. Trust me, we won't let it happen."
The girl takes a deep breath. "Okay."
The Interons are not a challenge. They believe her story about hearing an intruder in the main body of the showroom floor, swayed by her cool grey cleavage and their own sense of intellectual superiority. They don't even ask how she got back into the building. Of course, she doesn't bother to tell them that she ever left.
"No need to bother with Lozan," the darker haired one says, jostling his counterpart. "He's on break. We can check it out, you just go back and sit with your nephew."
She smiles, licks her lip and the redhead grins back, toothy and pleased, his hair deepening. She walks slowly, hips swaying and waits for their footsteps to sound in the hallway before gesturing Ikeni into the office.
D'Argo is lying on his back on the cot, staring at the ceiling. He jumps up when he sees her, and she puts her finger to her lips.
She uses Ikeni's little toy and the lock snicks open.
He's smart enough to steal out after her.
They have to climb a small staircase to get to the room where Peace is being held.
The nanny opens the door on the first knock, standing in the doorway blocking the entrance. She sparks in the low light, glitter covering her broad flat face. Apparently, Peace has made a convert.
"Are your parents here?" Her voice is low, deep and serious.
D'Argo bounces on his toes, trying to see around her.
"They're not coming." Chiana says. The nanny narrows her eyes. Chi pulls a soft grey pouch out of her bodice. "Seerjat crystals. Highest quality."
A shriek sounds from behind the nanny, followed by a flurry of tiny footsteps. "Deeeeeee!"
The nanny winces. "Highest quality, huh?"
Chiana nods.
"Don't suppose one of you'd be willing to knock me out? So I don't get blamed."
Chiana accepts the terms with a slow and flirty blink. "Of course."
The nanny steps aside as Peace barrels out the door and right into D'Argo's grip. He hoists her into the air and holds her up, examining her.
"Dude, what happened to your clothes?"
"She spilled her milk," the nanny gestures with the uncapped marker in her hand, one of the many colors scribbled on Peace's outfit and bare skin. "And when I turned back she'd already started on her legs and..."
"Deeee!" D'Argo stops listening. Peace wraps her graffitied arms around his neck, voice shrill and scared. "Dee! Why you leave me?" Her small chin trembles, her verbal skills in rags and her sunny grin missing in action. Dried tears cake her face, matched now by fresh ones tracking through the glitter.
"Oh Punk, it's okay, baby. I'm here now."
The nanny's eyes widen and Chi rolls her eyes. The woman turns. Chiana hits her on the back of the head, stepping neatly away as she thuds to the ground.
Peace snuffles into her brother's hair, a death grip on his jacket. "Goober?"
Chiana spots the drannit and an opened jar of glittery goop. She scoops them both up. "Come on."
They barrel down the stairs, trying to keep quiet. Peace must have sensed the urgency because she's quiet and still in D'Argo's arms. Sliding around the corner into the security station, he stops short as he spots Ikeni lounging against the wall.
"We've got 200 microts," she says, eyes sliding down to the ground, not really meeting his. "When, uh, we start for the door."
"Files?" Chiana doesn't want to break up the reunion, but first things first.
"Gone."
"Good."
D'Argo finally finds his voice, scratchy and unsure. "Um, hey."
"Hey," she gives him a little half smile, nervous still. "You, uh, okay?"
"Yeah, just a little bruised. What're you..." Peace squirms, and he automatically turns her so she can see what's going on. She stares at Ikeni, scrubbing sparkly snot across her cheek as she ponders the new face.
"She," Ikeni gestures to Chiana, "thought I could, maybe, um, help."
"That's cool, that's um...god, thank you. Oh--this is um, my sister."
"Hey," she says to the narl.
D'Argo uses the sleeve of his coat to wipe off Peace's face.
"Wanna be sparkly?" Peace asks, voice small, still warbling a little.
"Maybe later," the girl says, still not meeting D'Argo's eye.
"Press the frelling button," Chiana says. "Let's take this party elsewhere."
Ikeni hits the button and they all bolt, tearing through the darkened toy store, hell-bent for the exit.
They're a motra from the door when Peace lets out a wail. "Toy for Goober!"
They screech to a stop, D'Argo sliding into Ikeni. She grabs his forearm in the dark to steady herself and Chiana doesn't need light to see the blush stain his cheeks.
"No, Punk. No time."
"Toy!!!"
"No!" D'Argo hisses, trying to keep his cool in front of the girl, but clearly fraying at the edges.
"Yes! I say so! Toooooy!"
The narl's had a hell of a night, and it's either find a buddy for Goober or bring the hapless, but armed Interons down on them.
Chiana growls, "Just grab something."
"But that's stealing!"
How the frell did these kids survive anything?
"We'll send 'em some credits! Just grab something."
Ikeni ducks into the corner of the store, grabs a plastic Ceniflau and hisses, "Go, go!!"
They hit the door with microts to spare, but are only half a block away when the klaxons sound like a war raid.
They keep running, heading towards the east side of the town where the residences are.
***
Chiana buys them all frozen eeka berries, which Peace proceeds to add to the fabulous collection of stuff stuck to her face. Her hand prints dot D'Argo's shoulders and neck, but he keeps her in his arms, walking aimlessly next to Ikeni. They're having the sort of half-formed conversation that signals deep interest and an equally deep embarrassment over that interest.
It's so...nice. These two adolescents, bright and shiny with their youth, with their freedom and intelligence, the way they can spark off each other's smiles and conversation.
"So, um, your parents still won't let you come to the residential program." Ikeni's voice is steady, hinting at her interest but masking it in an ordinary question.
D'Argo sighs. "No. They say it's too dangerous."
Ikeni laughs, and D'Argo joins in. It seems absurd to them, what kind of danger can school offer up? Missed tests? Bad food? An infraction for some cheerful misbehavior?
Chi won't bother to correct them; she's weirdly charmed by their innocence and suddenly feels very old.
They stop about a block away from the dorms, and D'Argo hands a wide-eyed Peace to Chiana. She cuddles the girl close, enjoying her child scent mixed with the bite of eeka berry. She wanders a little down the street and they looking through the dimly-lit window of a closed cafe, Peace at the pastries on display, Chiana at the reflection of the two behind her.
She is the chaperone, after all.
"I, uh, thanks, Ikeni," he pauses after he says her name, swallowing for a moment. "Thanks so much for helping."
She smiles and her face lights up, giving Chiana a little insight into what must have first drawn D'Argo to her. "It's okay. I, uh, I was happy to help."
He looks at the ground, biting his lip. "I don't know... I mean, we're leaving and I can't come to the program and I don't think I'll see you..." He tugs at his hair. "Frell it. Fuck. It's so unfair."
She gives him sly grin and takes the hem of her black sweater, yanks it up. D'Argo's eyes go wide and he gasps, then starts to giggle.
She's got his shirt on. 'Diving Hynerians' indeed. Chiana wonders how many different smiles this girl has, and what else she's got under wraps.
"You're gonna have to come back to get this," she says, laughing low and full. D'Argo's smile widens, that full Crichton grin and when she drops her sweater back into place he steps forward, sweeps his mouth over hers and steps back.
They stand there, staring for a microt and then Chiana's comm breaks through the haze.
"Pilot, what's up?"
"I thought you should know that Crichton just commed to check in on his offspring."
Frell. "And?"
"I'd...hurry back if I were you?"
She doesn't bother to sign off. D'Argo's eyes are saucer wide. She thrusts Peace into his arms and they take off towards the dock.
***
D'Argo flies backward into Chiana with a hoarse scream, and for a microt Chiana thinks a bomb exploded on her ship. When she sees John standing in the doorway she nearly collapses with relief.
"Chi, it's good to see you again." His smile fades and he spends a moment studying his son, who's panting and clinging just as hard to Peace as she is to him. "Pilot said you were down here, so I thought I'd say hi."
D'Argo can't seem to speak and Chiana would rather he didn't even try until she laid some groundwork. "We were just doing some sight-seeing, catching up on things."
Peace sights John and pipes, "Daddy! We came from the toy store!"
"Toy store, huh?" He cups the narl's head with his hand and Chi can tell he's cataloging his son's cuts and bruises and his daughter's colored outfit.
"Got make'em sparkly."
Chiana fishes in the tote just inside her ship, pulling out the canister of sparkled goop and one of the new plastic beasties. "I couldn't see keeping 'em cooped up on the ship."
John looks from the tote already on the ship to the group who've obviously just arrived. "Hitting all the toy stores in town, then?"
"Got carried away shopping."
He reaches out to D'Argo slowly, as if to a skittish animal, and runs a finger from the hard bruise around his eye to the split on his lip. D'Argo shakes his head back, his voice cracked but thankfully not squeaky. "Gave Punk a bath before we came down."
"Chi, why don't you get Peace tucked into her crash-webbing while I have a chat with my son, here?" John pulls the narl from her brother and says goodbye and goodnight, bestowing almost as many kisses on Goober as the girl herself.
Chi boards her ship and sets down in the pilot seat, activating the external viewer and routing sound to an earpiece. Punk sits astride one thigh, playing with the buckles of the crash webbing.
"Nice shiner."
"Yeah, well, she's got tiny elbows and pilot reflexes; I'm lucky I still have an eye."
John rubs the spot between his eyebrows as he takes a deep breath. "I left your mom in the bathtub, so let me make this quick."
D'Argo offers the customary shudder at the image and then waits for his father to speak.
Instead, John grabs a handful of his son's shirt collar and slams him hard up against the side of Chiana's ship. D'Argo gets an Aeryn look in his eye and Chi thinks that maybe he's thinking bout the Zenetan guard and he's not ready to capitulate twice in the same night.
John stares the challenge down. Then he leans his face right into D'Argo's and speaks softly, each word like a thin metal plate being hammered into place. Chi boosts the pickup on the mic to catch it.
"If I ever find out what really happened tonight that will mean two things: you not only fucked up whatever little adventure you had, you'll also have to leave the program."
"The prog--" D'Argo stops short as realization hits.
"It has taken me three days to convince your mother to take this chance on you--don't get me wrong, most of it was fun, but it's been a siege to get her to change her mind about this. If anything," he bumps D'Argo against the hull for emphasis, "*anything* happens to you on my watch, down here where I'd convinced her you'd be safe, *she will kill me*."
John lets go and D'Argo drops a few denches to the ground. The next words are thick and deep, barely registering on the mic, but it's clear the boy hears them by the way he swallows. "And so help me I'd let her."
John straightens. "Am I understood, son?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good kid." John pulls the boy into a rough hug, thumping his back and laying a surreptitious kiss on the boy's dark hair. "Happy birthday and you're welcome. Go straight home, now, okay? Tell Chi I want to see her."
Chi flicks the display off and pockets the earpiece, shifting Punk into a passenger seat as her brother boards. His face is pale and sweaty as he secures Peace into her crash webbing, but the beginnings of a dumbfounded grin can be seen as he mutters to himself, "Crazy bastard."
She figures he must have been awfully sheltered not to have already known this about his dad. When she strolls down the ramp the crazy bastard's composed himself again as if nothing really *had* happened. He winks at her and she laughs.
Aeryn would kill both of them if she knew.
"Gonna stay with us awhile this time?" John's a little softer around the eyes, and his hair has enough grey to lighten the color. He's still in leathers but the coat is a different cut, more fabric in the style and lined with a dark blue that almost matches his shirt.
"Yeah, for a while." She finds she can't return his sly smile, and the words that she hasn't been able to say until now fall free as she meets his gaze. "Nerri's dead. For real this time."
He cradles her neck and tips his forehead down to touch hers. "I'm sorry, Chi."
"S'okay." She lays her hand over his and pushes the tears back. She hadn't thought much about Nerri since she docked on Moya, and this brings a special kind of ache even though it was the reason she'd come. She thinks of the little sister aboard her ship. "I see you've been busy. I thought you guys wouldn't have tried again since, you know, with Aeryn."
"Peace." His chuckle is wry as he leans companionably against her under the purple white light of the docking platform. "She wasn't planned, no. When Aeryn found out I tried to convince her...that's a whole other story in itself, though. She came out fine, both of them, but it was a risk I hated taking."
She elbows him. "Big happy family."
"Who'd a thought, huh?" His thumb rubs the top of her hand. "Listen, I'm supposed to be on a fellip-run. You'll be on Moya when we get back, though, right?"
"I'm staying for a while this time."
"Good. You'll notice how I'm not asking you what happened."
"I noticed."
"I think it's better if I don't know." He sounds like he's trying to convince himself, and he gives her a sharp look as a thought occurs to him. "Unless it's something I should know?"
Chiana gives him a prim Auntie look. "If it makes you feel any better, you're the only one here getting frelled tonight."
"Right," he nods as he turns to go, "good."
"And," she whispers as he walks toward the gate to the street, "it was the smoothest jailbreak I've ever seen."
He shouts without looking back, "I didn't hear that, Chi."
***
"Whatcha doin'?"
Aeryn turns her head at Chiana's question, gives her a smile that says a lot more about the years and miles and changes than anything on her body.
She still looks well-rested, well-frelled actually. She's still beautiful, hasn't really aged beyond the small lines around her eyes and a sharpness to her face. She sits like a soldier, back rigid, looking at the components laid out before her, surrounding a glossy black box.
"Things I think he might need. John's doing the same thing, although he thinks I don't know."
"You're making him a bomb?"
"Possibly." She lets the beat go by. "No, just… essentials."
Chiana stands close to Aeryn, looking over her shoulder. She leans in a little more, chin resting on her shoulder. Some things you can still take for granted.
"He's gonna be fine. Gonna have a great time and get into some trouble and get laid. It'll be great for him."
Aeryn picks up a coupler, places it in the bottom of the box.
"I know. I ..." She breathes out heavily, body sagging. "I can't believe I'm the one who wants to keep him home, but..."
Chi strokes her arm. "He's your son."
She picks up a box of chakkan oil cartridges, nestles them in next to the coupler. All they've had before at the program is a little oogie-scoogie; now their newest student will have his own arsenal. Hopefully Crichton's care package will have more snacks.
"You met the girl?"
"Mmm. Smart. Kind of cute. Definitely a tech. I'd include some birth control."
Aeryn holds up another packet, rattles it to the tune of a thick slushy sound.
"Vennika?"
"Works for humans and Sebaceans, in a pinch," she says, mouth curving up.
She holds up another box. "Prophylactics. John's contribution."
Chiana starts to laugh. "You're gonna deprive him of the embarrassment of going to the all-night pharmacy and buying things himself?"
Aeryn grins, sharp and fierce. "There're only five in here."
They both snicker, a conspiracy of women.
Chiana agrees. "Two days and he'll be out."
"Less than that," Aeryn says, "I'd guess."
"One really good day, possibly while skipping class."
"You sound like you want him to get into trouble."
"A little trouble is good for a boy. Or a girl."
Aeryn mouth draws flat and she sighs. "We've kept a lot of things from him. Maybe important things, I don't know." She seems to shake that off as she repacks the box. "We don't take as many chances as we used to around here." She taps her head gently against Chiana's, scooting the chin off her shoulder so she can stand. "Skills get rusty when you don't train them."
"It's not as big a risk as it feel like, you know? He's a smart kid. He needs this."
Aeryn leans back against the table and studies Chi a while before speaking. "I had him to make John happy. You knew that. And I loved him from the beginning, he was amazing. I finally saw why John wanted to have children in his life. But one day, when he was about five cycles old, I looked down at him..."
She crosses her arms and pauses, then settles into the story, decides to tell it. "He was talking to a DRD, crouched down at its level, and there was something about that small voice saying those big words, the way he was talking to that DRD as if it were his friend...he looked like a perfect little person, a little John with my smile and with everything wide open for him, no enemies or injuries...I realized that I would do anything at all to protect him, to keep him safe."
"Yeah, we all knew you would." Chiana smirks. "You can't help yourself with Crichton men."
Aeryn shakes her head, still sober. "If I had to, I would choose him over his father. Only if I had to. But I could make that choice. I'd risk anything to give either of my children whatever they need."
Chi thinks that it's easy to be lulled by the sheen of domestic calm, easy to forget the terrible choices they each had to make in the past.
"You're staying for awhile." Aeryn makes it a statement as well as a change of mood.
Chiana nods, so tired suddenly.
"Peace will be thrilled. When D'Argo leaves, she'll only have her father at her beck and call."
"That kid's something else. She's so lucky to have a brother like D. You guys did good."
Aeryn smiles, her pride rich and a little wicked. "She is indeed. She's going to be a pilot. She's going to be a terror, as well, I think, completely spoiled by her brother and father."
"It's good, you know," Chiana hesitates, thinks that if she's going to break down, Aeryn is the person to do it in front of. "Family."
"Nerri," Aeryn says softly. "I'm so sorry."
Chiana doesn't realize that she's been crying, wipes the tears off on her sleeve, throat hot and tight and ravaged. She can't believe he's really gone. It keeps hitting her, trying to stick. Then she'll suddenly think about him like she always used to do and it hits her one more time; never see him again.
Aeryn opens her arms, has learned a thing or two about comfort in the past cycles. Her mouth is a curve of compassion but there's nothing easy in her eyes. Chi leans into her, breathes in the clean, familiar scent of her.
"You're still too bony to hug."
She smears her face on Aeryn's t-shirt. "You should talk." She laughs, hiccups through the tears. Backs up before either of them can be embarrassed by the exchange.
"It's just...I know he died doing what he believed in. Hezmana, I believed in it too, but..."
"But he left you alone."
She nods. "It's just me now. Not even the thought of him. Just me."
Aeryn takes a deep breath. "It's not, you know. Family..." she looks around the bay, tilts her head at Chiana. "You know the rest. This is as much yours as ours. And you're always welcome."
Chi gives her a shaky smile. Family. Wonderful in small medicinal doses.
"Now help me finish putting this box together."
Chiana folds a soft black t-shirt and places it on top.
"But Chiana..."
She looks up, Aeryn's eyes keen and mere denches from her own.
"If you ever take it into your head to help my son have another adventure without my permission, I will personally kick your arse off this ship."
She doesn't reply, mouth quirked. She doesn't ask how Aeryn knows anything happened, she just adds her own sentiments to the box.
~*~
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Date: 2005-04-07 03:43 pm (UTC)