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Fragile by AnnieBW
Saved from Unohoo's Shorts website, Oct, 2009.
Fragile
Immediately after the end of "Coup By Clam"
"Okay, kids, everybody hold hands," John smirked as he sat with his hand in Sikozu's.
He avoided looking directly at Aeryn, who was sitting across the table from him, holding Rygel's
left hand. Or flipper, or whatever the little slug called them.
"So, what the frell are we going to do for three arns?" Sikozu whined, obviously bored
already.
"I don't know. Sing Kum-ba-ya. Tell ghost stories. Whatever," John shot back at his
partner. He was rapidly losing his patience with her. Not that he ever had much to begin with. It
was just that he really, really needed a hit of Granny's joy juice if he was going to sit here facing
Aeryn all night. And with Sputnik feeling everything that he felt - and most likely reporting it to
her new best friend Scorpy - that was out of the question.
"How about a nice game of tadek?" Rygel suggested with an evil grin at Aeryn.
"You never play a nice game of tadek, Sparky," John rolled his eyes.
"What's tadek?" Sikozu asked. Rygel smiled in anticipation of an easy mark.
"Besides," Aeryn chimed in, "how are four of us going to play? Especially when some of
us can't reach the end of the board." She looked pointedly at Rygel.
"Two-on-two," Rygel explained. "Crichton and Sikozu against you and me," Rygel
explained. "I could beat both of them, even without the liability of you as a partner."
Aeryn gave Rygel a dirty look. "Don't forget, we're still linked. I've been trained to
withstand extreme pain - the kind that I could inflict on you."
"And don't you forget that I had three hundred cycles of Peacekeepers inflicting pain on
me," he reminded her.
"Just so we understand each other," she said flatly.
John missed the easy banter that he'd had with Aeryn before everything had fallen apart
last cycle. He had wanted things to return to the way they were, but their relationship was too far
gone to get it back. He didn't even want to try anymore.
"All right then," Rygel nodded, then touched his comm badge with his free hand.
"Chiana! Get the tadek board and tiles from my quarters! And don't snerch anything while
you're in there!"
"I never snerch anything from you, Ryge," Chiana shot back over the comms.
"Gee, honor among thieves," John smirked. "Who'da thought it?"
In a few microts, Chiana appeared carrying the tadek board and a small sack with the
game pieces. "You never have anything good to snerch," Chiana sassed as she set the board
down on the table, then gave the Dominar's earbrows a tug, and a quick kiss on the top of his
head. "So, Aeryn, did these boys look good dressed as women?" she teasingly asked.
"Frell no! If Sikozu and I hadn't been half-dead, I think we would have died laughing!"
Aeryn shot back. She grinned conspiratorially at Sikozu.
"Yeah, yeah. It was a real drag," John snorted. "Are we gonna play or not?"
Chiana just laughed as she left the dining area, leaving all of them to their own misery.
Half an arn later, the team of Aeryn and Rygel were soundly beating Sikozu and Crichton.
Of course, all that Aeryn was doing was working the generator. Rygel was doing all of the
strategy and moving of tiles. She didn't understand the game, nor did she care to. In fact, Aeryn
was feeling slightly nauseous, and having cramps in her lower abdomen. Obviously, her partner's
digestive distress wasn't over yet. The room was getting warmer, too. Or, at least it felt that way.
She put her hand on the control generator as Rygel pushed the tiles forward on the board much
more slowly than before. Instead of the towers of light, she heard a loud buzz and felt an electric
shock on her palm. She pulled her hand back with a jerk. Rygel's left flipper jerked in her hand in
sympathetic response. Aeryn was barely able to hold on to him.
"You stupid Peacekeeper bitch," Rygel snapped. "Pay more attention!"
"I can't help it that you made the wrong move," she shot back.
"You kept your hand on the generator too long!"
"Hey, kids," John interjected. "Break it up or we're going to have to stick you both in the
corner! Knock it off!"
Rygel shot Aeryn a dirty look. "Keep your mind on the game," he muttered.
"How can I, when I have to put up with your gas pains? Which one of your three
stomachs is causing these frelling cramps?"
"What do you mean my gas pains?" Rygel sniffed indignantly. "I'm the one getting your
intestinal problems! Sebaceans. They're built to be cannon fodder, not to be efficient."
"Drinking the antidote should have stopped the sympathetic emotional response almost
immediately" Sikozu observed. "So, I don't see why you're blaming each other."
"Shut up!" Aeryn and Rygel yelled in tandem.
Suddenly, a sharp pain ripped through Aeryn's lower abdomen. She gasped, closed her
eyes, and doubled over, almost losing hold of Rygel's hand in the process. Rygel did the same
thing a microt later.
"What the frell?" Rygel gasped in confusion. "That's not from any of my stomachs.
That's you, Aeryn."
The Dominar's voice sounded distant, like he was inside of a tunnel. Aeryn tried to focus
her eyes, but a red mist kept getting in the way. "Help," she stammered. She clutched Rygel's
hand like a lifeline. She could feel his grip slipping as he, too, cried out in pain.
She felt a strong, familiar hand on her shoulder. "Aeryn?" John asked, his voice sounding
strangled and distant. "Aeryn, what's wrong?" His blue eyes, filled with concern, met hers.
Sikozu stood next to him, one hand in his, the other on her comm badge.
"Pilot, tell the others to get up to the dining area. There's something wrong with Aeryn
and Rygel!" the Kalish girl ordered.
"Aeryn, talk to me," John asked as he squatted down beside her. His hand left her
shoulder and stroked her cheek. "God, you're ice cold."
"Don't feel cold," she panted. "Feel... like Larraq..." She tried to explain, but another
cramp ripped through her gut. Cycles of training to suppress pain from injuries had taught her to
suppress crying out, so she just whimpered quietly. Rygel, who had no such training, moaned
loudly as the cramp coursed through his intestines.
"What does she mean, feel like Larraq?" Sikozu asked as she gave Aeryn a cursory
examination. "I don't know anything about Sebacean physiology."
"She was stabbed in the side by a Peacekeeper named Larraq a few cycles ago," John
explained quickly. "Is that what you're trying to say, Aeryn? Stabbing pains?"
"Of course it's stabbing pain, you yotz!" Rygel cursed. "And I'm getting it, too!"
"Just hang on to Aeryn's hand," John told him, and put his hand over Aeryn and Rygel's
joined hands for emphasis. "Don't let her go or you'll both be dead."
"If this doesn't kill both of us first," Rygel complained.
"We've... both... had worse," Aeryn gasped. "We'll get through."
"Here," Chiana said as she ran into the room carrying a rag. "Tie this around their hands,
so they don't lose contact." She held the cloth out to John, looked at his hand in Sikozu's, then
proceeded to do it herself. She tied one end of the rag around Rygel's wrist, wound it tightly
around their joined hands, then tied the other end to Aeryn's wrist. "That tight enough?" she
asked. Aeryn and Rygel both nodded.
Hot on her heels came D'Argo, followed by Noranti. "What's going on?" D'Argo asked.
Aeryn looked up at him through hazy vision. "Something's wrong..." she gasped, then
another wave of pain and nausea made her double over. She fought to keep the contents of her
stomach from coming back up. John's hand stroked her hair comfortingly.
"D, uh, you didn't have any ill effects from the antidote, did you?" John asked.
"Other than having to be near Noranti for three arns, no," D'Argo replied with a glare
towards the old woman, who was kneeling down to look at Aeryn.
Aeryn caught a whiff of the Traskan's body odor, and it made her more nauseous. "I
think I'm going to..."
Rygel interrupted her by throwing up all over the tadek board. Ironically, Aeryn's nausea
got a little better, even as everyone else looked sick themselves. "Sorry," Rygel apologized.
"Dear, where is the pain?" Noranti asked her. Aeryn held her abdomen below her navel.
"And this just started?"
"Since I drank that frelling antidote," she gasped. Another cramp hit, and she winced.
"Let's get both of you to the infirmary," Noranti said, her three eyes showing concern.
D'Argo knelt down and lifted Aeryn into his arms. She put her left hand around his neck,
while Rygel awkwardly lifted himself up along with them. Her right arm was sticking out and
twisted painfully. "Rygel," she grumbled, "just get on top of me. D'Argo can carry us both."
Rygel looked skeptically at the Luxan, but got out of his thronesled and climbed onto
Aeryn's stomach. Her arm was more comfortable, but Rygel's weight on her already-tender
stomach was almost too much. He felt her discomfort, and looked up at D'Argo. "Move it, you
Luxan oaf, or we'll both vomit on you!" D'Argo started walking. Chiana, and Noranti walked to
either side of them, trying to balance Aeryn. Noranti was muttering some sort of nonsense under
her breath. Finally, Sikozu and John brought up the rear, hand in hand. Aeryn didn't know
whether to laugh or be sick, so she concentrated very hard on not doing either.
When John saw Aeryn go pale and almost pass out, his heart skipped a few beats. All he
could remember was her being sick with Heat Delirium, wearing a cooling suit that was
disturbingly similar to Scorpy's. Then, the image of her in that cryo-coffin came to him
unbidden. Oh, God, do I need a hit of Granny's Joy Juice... he thought. But, even if he could
hide it from Sikozu, she would feel the numbing effects of the lakkan essence and know what he
was doing. So, he had to tough out the feelings without any outside help.
"Crichton!" Sikozu interrupted his thoughts by tugging on his hand. "Come on! We need
to get down there before D'Argo brings in Aeryn. I'll need your help to run the medical devices."
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" he asked as she practically dragged him
through Moya's corridors.
"Of course not! I said before that I don't know a thing about Sebacean physiology."
"Look, Prissy, I don't care if you don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no babies. Aeryn's in
pain. You fix it." he snapped, a sick feeling coming over him that had nothing to do with eating
the shellfish.
They reached the medical bay, and Sikozu handed him a medical scanner. "Hold this
while I work the buttons." As she said that, D'Argo arrived with Aeryn and Rygel in his arms.
Aeryn was looking much worse. So was Sparky. "Put them on the table," Sikozu ordered. As
D'Argo laid Aeryn down, Sikozu touched Aeryn's forehead. She's burning up." Aeryn suddenly
screamed and tried to sit up to relieve the pain in her abdomen.
John immediately dropped the scanner and stroked her hair. "It's okay, baby. Just relax,
and we'll get you fixed up," he murmured. She seemed to respond, because slumped back down
onto the table. "Pip, you're an expert with these kinds of things. Get her pants off," he said as
Chiana came barreling through the door.
The Nebari undid the zipper on Aeryn's leather pants, and slid them down over her hips.
Chiana's hand came away red, and her eyes were wide with shock. "Frell, Wrinkles! She's
bleeding out of her nally!" she gasped.
"I was afraid of that," Noranti muttered and started reaching into her herb pouch. "She's
having a miscarriage."
"Chiana, spread her legs and put those towels under her knees," Sikozu ordered. The girl
did so, still staring wide-eyed at Aeryn, who was writhing in pain on the table. "D'Argo, hold her
down." Sikozu moved down to the end of the table, but was hampered by holding onto John's
hand. She paused, looked down at the link between her and Crichton and bit her lip in frustration.
Then she reached over, grabbed another bedcover, and tossed it to Chiana. "Here, put this over
her, then cut off her underwear."
"Don't worry," Noranti said, "I've helped plenty of women in this situation." She
reached into a pouch at her waist and pulled out some herbs that smelled like dirty socks.
"Oh, no you don't!" John stretched out and grabbed the old woman's arm. "Get away
from her with that stuff!"
"It's just something to relieve the pain," Noranti started to explain.
"It's bad enough you blow that crap into my face all the time. You aren't using it on
Aeryn. Tell her, Sputnik," he growled and pulled Sikozu forward.
"We're wasting time here. If she knows how to save the baby, let her help. I don't know
anything about Sebacean biology, remember?" Sikozu snapped.
"Perhaps I could be of assistance?" John heard a familiar voice from behind him.
Scorpius stepped into the medical bay and regarded Aeryn with a look that could almost be
construed for pity. "I am half Sebacean, of course, and have a great deal of medical knowledge."
"Yeah, it comes in handy when you're torturing people," John snarled and grabbed
Scorpy's shoulder. He pulled the hybrid away from Aeryn. "Get out, Scorpy. You're not going
anywhere near Aeryn, especially when she's in this condition."
"May I remind you who saved her life recently," Scorpius reminded him. "Not to
mention yours."
******************
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