She hopped out of the transport pod and brushed some nonexistent dust from her bottom. "Where do I go first?" Chiana asked, eager to be in an unenclosed space and glad to be off Moya for a little while.

"Stay close to one of us at all times." Aeryn commanded.

Zhaan agreed, "Yes, there are Peacekeepers here."

"So why don't we just keep outta their way?"

"Because we don't know where they are, dear. Keep close in case we have to leave suddenly."

D'Argo grunted and walked past. "And try to keep out of trouble."

Zhaan went in one direction for medical supplies, with Rygel hovering close behind in case there was an opportunity to get currency. D'Argo and Aeryn, of course, were already seeking out weaponry. The search for fresh food went to John and Chiana.

"Like they said, Pip, stick close. And stay out of trouble, huh? Don't make me have to rescue your ass again?" John patted her on the shoulder and smiled.

"You don't have to repeat yourselves, you know. I really do listen. Most of the time."

"It's that some of the time that you don't, that gets you into trouble."

She tilted her head, one corner of her mouth quirking up a bit. "I'm just gonna look around. Don't worry, I'll keep you in sight."

He said something after she'd walked off, knowing good and well that he was ignored. He had the urge to follow her, but shook the thought, opting instead to do what it was he'd actually come down to the commerce planet for.

Chiana's eyes fell on the clothing trader's area. She walked in between the tall racks of garments, running soft scarves, folded on tables, between her fingers, feeling the textures of underthings, robes, and used and worn uniforms… She thought about telling the others about the uniforms. They would more than likely come in handy. The crew happened upon trouble with the Peacekeepers much too often. She smiled, picking up a long, dark gray sleeping garment, bringing it up to her face and inhaling the smell of its creator.

A pair of hands clamped onto her upper arms, turning her around roughly. She dropped the garment into the dusk when she met with a set of Peacekeeper eyes.

"Now, what is a little Nebari girl doing in this place?" He asked, eyes narrowing.

"I- just- looking for clothes-" Chiana spoke haltingly. She wondered how long it would be before she could get away, or how long before John came looking for her. Frell, she wished she'd listened, now.

"A little girl like you has no business wandering around a commerce planet." She didn't like the smile that was beginning to smear itself across his thin lips. He tightened a hand one arm and pulled her with him as he walked. "I know who you are. I know who you're with."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course you do. I could already have taken all your shipmates and the Leviathan into custody. And you. You are worth a small ransom, by yourself, to the Nebari."

"Why haven't you already arrested us, then?"

"Because there may be a way you can convince me to leave you alone."

Chiana looked up at him. He was a good head and a half taller than she. She was afraid to ask.

He'd stopped talking, and he was still walking her away from the crowds. The Peacekeeper pulled her into an inn. He stepped past the owner and picked a keychip from behind the dingy counter. The owner averted his eyes and bowed his head slightly, not objecting in the least. They went through a door, down a short corridor, and he inserted the chip into the tiny slot beside a door that was numbered in yet another language she didn't recognize. The Peacekeeper locked the door again behind them.

"Wh- what are you doing?" She asked, backing away from him, now that she had her arm to herself again. Was this a chance to escape? She looked quickly around the room. No windows. The only way out was secured, and he had the keychip. "What did you mean by a way to get you to leave us alone?"

He approached her, standing uncomfortably close, looked down on her face and body. He reached up and slid the fingers of both hands into the low neck of her top. With a quick jerk, he'd ripped it open and broken the closures, tearing the pale gray camisole beneath it away, as well, exposing the top half of her body. He pulled the ruined piece of clothing off her before destroying her pants in much the same way.

Chiana willed herself to not shake. She glared up at him. Modesty wasn't a big deal. Having a man almost twice her size rip the clothes off her was. In spite of this, she was determined to not let him know of her fear.

He took a fistful of her hair, at the back of her head, pulling her head back, and pushed her roughly toward the bed, hard enough to lay her out on it, face down. She somehow managed to keep herself from colliding with the cracked frame. She didn't have enough time to get up. He was on top of her before she regained her senses, holding her down by her wrists, as if his entire body wasn't enough.

"You want to know how?" He said in a half snarl, half laugh. "Don't scream."

"Chiana, dear, there you are! We have been looking for you for the last half an arn." Zhaan motioned her relief with her graceful arms and lay a hand gently against the back of her shoulder.

Aeryn looked at her for a monen. "What happened to the clothes you came down in?"

She looked down at the dark gray robe she was wearing. The Peacekeeper had taken currency from her small stash and had gone back to get it. He'd locked her in the room until he came back.

"I- I spilled something on them. Some kind of acid or something. It ruined them…"

"Well, come on. Pilot has detected two more Peacekeeper vessels an arn away. We have to leave the planet's surface before they get here." She turned to walk back in the direction of the transport pod. Zhaan was still looking at Chiana, her brow creased slightly. "Zhaan? Chiana? Come on!"

John extended a hand to help each of them into the pod. The last to get in, Chiana refused it and climbed in without help. "What's the matter with her?" He asked Aeryn when Chiana had walked away. Aeryn just shrugged her shoulders. He looked to Zhaan.

"I do not know yet. Something has happened that has upset her, though."

"Yeah. She's not running her mouth or bouncing off the walls. I'd call that out of character. Think she'll let you find out what's up?"

"If she wants someone to find what is wrong, she will." Zhaan smiled slightly, perhaps a bit uneasily, and inclined her head toward him a bit before gliding away.

Moya had left orbit a bit over a weeken before. They still needed supplies, but the Peacekeepers were steadily coming and going from the commerce planet. For every craft that left, another arrived. They were on their way back, and hoping the planet was clear.

She hadn't slept in three solar days. When they'd gotten back to Moya, from the commerce planet, she'd stayed in bed for nearly a weeken, doing nothing but sleep. Now, she found it impossible. She closed her eyes and the Peacekeeper was standing over her again. Every once in a while, she'd drift off from sheer exhaustion, only to jerk awake again.

Chiana lay on her back, looking up at the ceiling of her quarters. She listened to the soft sounds of Moya. The climate regulator's nearly inaudible whisper. DRDs whirring past her door and another door sliding open to let them pass. Concentrating on these, she found her eyes closing again. There was dark, freezing cold, and fear. Fear was prevalent over anything else. That face formed in her mind's eye. She could feel his cold hands on her again, his…

Her body tensed suddenly and she was yanked back to reality. She sat bolt upright in her bed, stifling a scream, shivering intensely.

"Pilot?" She spoke into the darkness.

"Yes, Chiana?"

"Has the temperature dropped?"

"It has not, according to my readings, Chiana."

"Yeah, okay, thanks."

She was halfway to her door when she remembered she was wearing only her shivvies. She went back to her bed and took the pale gray, fur covering, wrapping it tight around her shoulders. It dragged slightly behind her as she padded through the corridor in her bare feet. A DRD passed, then turned and stopped in front of her, giving her a sequence of gentle beeps.

"Just taking a walk." She crouched and whispered to it. It beeped again. "Looking for someone awake. I know they're all prolly sleeping." The DRD made a few more soft tones and waited until she was walking away again before it whirred behind her, attempting to follow unobserved. Chiana glanced back once or twice, otherwise ignoring it. Pilot had more than likely sent it to keep tabs on her until she settled down somewhere again.

She wandered by Zhaan's quarters and peeked in through the crosshatching of her door. She was obviously out for the night. The flowing, blue garments she'd been wearing earlier were draped carefully over the back of a chair. Zhaan's slender, curvaceous figure was outlined beneath her thin, metallic bed covering.

Pulling her own covering closer around her, she walked on. She wasn't about to chance an approach on Rygel's. More than likely, he had some kind of trap rigged outside his door. Chiana passed it by and hovered outside of D'Argo's quarters for a moment. He was snoring loudly, his Qualta Blade leaning against the side of his bed that he was facing, ready to be brandished against whomever.

Aeryn slept with a pulse pistol under her pillow and a hand on it. They were all on red alert. It didn't surprise her at all that most of them had some sort of weapon close. She looked in on Aeryn for a micron. She slept on her stomach, right hand indeed beneath under her pillow. Chiana let the thought cross her mind, that perhaps she could go to Aeryn and talk. She didn't relish the idea of having a pulse pistol aimed between her eyes, though, and she thought better of it quickly.

John's door was the only one unlocked and open. She padded into his quarters and stood beside his bed. He lay on his left side, mouth slightly open. The bed coverings were pulled up to his chin, his left arm stretched out across the empty side of his bed, partially out from under the cover. Why she could disturb John and not the others, she didn't know.

"John?" She whispered, leaning forward. He didn't move. She spoke a bit louder, "John-"

He sat up suddenly, throwing the cover halfway back to reveal Winona in his right hand. His bright blue eyes blinked rapidly, twice, and twice again, much more slowly, as recognition took over. He swung Winona quickly away from her. "Chiana? Wh- what are you doing in here?"

She shook her head slightly. "I'm sorry-"

"Hey, it's okay. Is something wrong?"

"I'm- I'm cold…" She whispered again.

"Is something wrong with the climate regulators?"

"No. It's just me, I guess."

"What about Zhaan? Can't you go cuddle up with her?"

She looked suddenly dejected. She shook her head again, almost unintelligibly, and backed up a step.

"No…wait…" John said, and moved over a little more. He held his bed coverings back in invitation. "It's okay. Come on."

Chiana took her own covering from around her shoulders and quickly threw it over his. She crawled into John's bed, facing him, and tucked her arms between them. He pulled the covers tight over them, tucking it under her. She sighed deeply and settled herself against his chest.

He waited. Her breath didn't shallow. "Pip?"

"Huh?"

"Can't sleep?"

"No."

"Something's wrong." She didn't answer. "Okay. You don't wanna talk about it. I can understand that."

"No, you can't." She whispered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Pip, something happened on that commerce planet. I know that much. I just- I wish you'd let somebody know. Even Aeryn will listen to you, if you hit her over the head and tell her it's important."

"No."

"No, what?"

She directed her black, bottomless gaze up at him. "I'm not telling Aeryn. I'm not telling anyone."

"Okay…I'll leave it alone. For now."

Chiana shifted her position again, slightly, to get more comfortable.

"So, you're just going to lay there and get warm. You're not going to sleep."

"I can't sleep."

He sighed and kissed the top of her head. "Then I won't, either."

"Crichton, are you going to-" Aeryn stopped short and looked at him strangely.

"What?" He asked, securing the strap of his gunbelt around his thigh.

She looked from him, to Chiana still curled up on the bed, wide awake, and back to him. "…are you going to fix your below-standard piece-of-dren craft in the maintenance bay, or not? It's been leaking something for the last two solar days, and I'm not going to clean it up."

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm coming." He watched as she left, looking over her shoulder again before going around the corner. "You can stay in here as long as you want, you know. Just- you know- don't let anything walk into your quarters by itself, huh?" He smiled, winked, and followed Aeryn.

"Aren't you going to ask?" He chuckled.

Aeryn feigned ignorance at his question. "Ask what?"

"Well, I got this kinda-" he imitated her expression upon looking into his quarters, "look, when you came to tell me to fix my, uh, what was it? 'Piece of dren'?"

"Below-standard piece-of-dren, actually. Okay, what is Chiana doing in your bed?"

"She was cold last night. She didn't want to go to you or Zhaan, so she came to me."

"Oh, I'm sure she was cold, just as I'm sure you warmed her up."

"Aeryn, something's up with her. She hasn't been sleeping."

"Nonsense. She's slept for a solid weeken."

"No, I mean lately. She hasn't been sleeping at all. I'm telling you, something happened back there on that planet."

"What do you propose to do about it? Sleep with her until she tells you what happened?" Aeryn cocked one raven eyebrow.

"I'm not 'sleeping with her' in that way."

"You haven't recreated with her?"

"No. I think…she just wants protection, maybe…she wants to feel safe."

"With you?" Aeryn snorted a laugh. "If she wanted protection, she would have come to me. At least I can shoot straight."

"I can aim my pistol just fine, thankyouverymuch, Officer Sun. Sometimes it just takes a male, though."

"That's a nice, chauvinist comment. Shall I take off my boots and go to the galley to prepare some food cubes for you, now, Rygel?" She cut a sharp glance in his direction.

"That is *not* what I meant, and you know it. And oh-my-god how could you compare me to him?" He shuddered with a slight laugh.

He listened to the silence of Moya's artificially induced night until it was broken by a whispering of steps made by bare feet. The footsteps were hers. No one else on the ship walked as she did. Aeryn's steps were anything but girlish, and Zhaan made no sound as she glided through the corridors. John opened his eyes just as she appeared in his doorway, arms wrapped around herself and shivering. He realized she'd left her bed covering there from the night before last. He wondered how she'd slept last night without it before it came to mind that she most likely hadn't slept. Three nights in a row, she'd come to his quarters. Looking for warmth? Maybe? Then skipped a night. Attempting to stay by herself again?

She didn't whisper a word. Chiana stood in the darkened corridor outside his quarters until he leaned up on one elbow and held the edge of the bed covering back. "I'm sorry." She said quietly when he'd pulled the covering back around them.

"What for?"

"Now *you're* not sleeping."

"I'm fine. I just wish you'd let somebody know what's up with you." He tightened his arms around her when she sighed. "I know. Not yet."

She relaxed against him and closed her eyes. John watched her face as all expression melted from it. Barely a few microts passed before she jerked awake, her eyes flashing open with terror. She tensed and pulled away from him. "Chiana." He said her name sharply, to ground her, before speaking gently. "Chi, it's okay. You're okay. You're safe."

It took a monen before she found herself able to relax again. She lay back down, her cheek against the hollow between his collarbones, his chin resting in her hair.

"It's gonna be okay again, you know. Whatever it is, it can't last forever."

He went back into his quarters in his underwear, painfully awake and rubbing his hair dry with a towel. He warmed away the pins and needles feeling from the cold water as best he could, reaching for his clothes. After pulling on the pair of smooth, leather pants, he picked up the black shirt he'd thrown at the foot of the bed. He put his arms through the sleeves and started to pull it over his head. He stopped, sniffed, and looked over at Chiana.

"Come here." He narrowed his eyes a little and beckoned her with his hand.

She crawled over and sat back on her heels in front of him. He stepped toward her, the shirt still stretched across his chest, and put his face against her neck. Gently nuzzling and sniffing the sensitive part of her neck, close to her shoulder, his damp hair brushed her cheek. She took a deep breath and let it go slowly, tilting her head against his. He stood back up and let a small smile grace his lips, sniffing his shirt again.

"This smells familiar." He said softly. She gave him a slightly lopsided, bright grin. "You wore my- my clothes- my shirt?" Her grin widened a bit. "And you put it back after you wore it?"

"It's not dirty. It's not like I wore it around all day long."

"Is there anything else of mine that you've worn and put back?"

She just blinked and shrugged her shoulders, grin never fading. John shook his head and surrendered a breathy laugh mixed with a bit of a sigh, and pulled the shirt over his head. He picked up his black and red vest, caressed her cheek with his fingertips, and exited his quarters.

"Still cuddling Chiana at night, Crichton?" Aeryn asked with much amusement as he joined her in the maintenance bay.

"You still don't get it, do you?"

"What is there to understand? Chiana has formed some kind of immature infatuation with you, and she is attempting to fulfill it by coming to your room at night with her little tales of bad dreams so you'll allow her to sleep beside you."

"Whether or not she has a crush isn't what I'm talking about. *You* haven't seen her have one of these nightmares. *You* haven't had to calm her down after she has one of em. Something happened to her, she ain't talkin about it, and it's doing something to her. She's terrified."

"She isn't a child. She does not need someone to comfort her when she has a bad dream."

"These aren't just bad dreams. I think she's reliving something."

"You're still entertaining this idea about the commerce planet"

"I *know* it has something to do with that commerce planet, Aeryn."

She wandered through the corridors, not realizing she'd passed her own quarters some time ago. She'd originally aimed to get back there, to put on some clothes. Somewhere along the way, she got lost in her own thoughts, though. The walls and corridors all looked the same. She wasn't cold without much on, strangely. In fact, she was beginning to feel uncomfortably warm. Looking up, she found that she was somewhere sort of familiar. Bottles, jars, interesting herbs and instruments… Zhaan's apothecary. She put her hands flat on a metal table and looked at them; pale gray, shiny black fingernails. Small hands. She looked up and shook her head in an attempt to clear it somewhat.

"Wonder why the room's spinning…" She laughed slightly to herself before it stopped spinning and started falling.

They heard Zhaan's reply very soon after. "I am on my way, Pilot. Have the DRDs watch her until I arrive there."

John turned to Aeryn with an I-told-you-so look on his face. He started in the direction of the apothecary and she grabbed his arm. "Pilot must have some reason for informing Zhaan."

"It's an open channel. It's Zhaan's apothecary. Gee, I wonder why he told her?" John said, walking off with her close behind.

"Zhaan!" Pilot came over the comm once again, "Chiana has…fainted!"

"I am on my way, Pilot." Zhaan answered.

John grumbled and broke into a run, "Oh yeah, here it goes. Ain't sleep deprivation a wonderful thing?"

Aeryn, D'Argo, and John arrived monens after Zhaan. Even Rygel was already hovering about when they got to the apothecary. Chiana lay on the floor, crumples like a rag doll. John knelt beside her, about halfway straightening her body out as he pulled her onto his lap.

"Wait a microt, John," Zhaan said, crouching across from him, examining her. "There is nothing physically wrong with her- she would be more comfortable in her room- less confused when she wakes."

John gathered her in his arms and stood. Aeryn nodded toward her, "Take her to your quarters, Crichton."

The others looked at her a bit strangely. She just looked at John. "She has been staying with Crichton at night, because she has been frightened. I would imagine there would be more comforting."

He nodded and walked away, Zhaan following close behind with her hands full. John carefully lay her down on his bed and moved to sit on it beside her, but Zhaan shooed him away and sat down herself. He went to the other side. He stroked her cheek, her forehead, with the back of his fingers, measuring her breathing with only his eyes and internal clock.

It was strange, how she still couldn't scream in her dreams. She couldn't even wake up from this one. It was that room again, with the Peacekeeper in it. She didn't know his name. She was glad she didn't know his name. It would have been even harder, then, somehow, she thought, to be able to put a name with the face of the Peacekeeper that had done this to her. That face was something she couldn't get rid of, though. It was burned into her mind. Kind of similar to the way she could still feel his hands on her. No amount of standing under the shower got that feeling off.

**John!** She screamed as hard as she could, no sound coming out, **bring me back- wake me up!**

She didn't want to relive this. Not again. Not the same nightmare again.

"What's that?" He asked as Zhaan took the stopper from a small vial. She started to move it under his nose and he recoiled. "Oh! God! Nevermind! Yeah, something like smelling salts. You coulda just told me." He gasped. "Can't we just let her sleep, though? I mean, she hasn't gotten a decent night's sleep since we reversed course to go back to the commerce planet."

"I will give her something to help her sleep. Right now, I want to check her mental state."

"Mental state? Nonono, she's not crazy."

"I know that, John. That isn't what I meant." She waved the vial under Chiana's nose.

Chiana turned her head away from the scent and her eyes flew open. She scrambled to get off the bed, pulling coverings and pillows with her, and stumbled to John's shower with him behind her. The small room was already filling up with steam, as she'd turned on the hot water and sat on the floor beneath the scalding spray. John turned the water completely off and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around her, and sat down on the floor with her.

"Chi, what's going on?"

"Nothing-" She managed from between her chattering teeth.

"Don't give me 'nothing'. Something's wrong. Everybody knows it now, even if they didn't see it before." He pulled her against him and rubbed her arms with the thick towel, looking into her face, since she was struggling to not meet with his eyes. "I know something happened. Tell me."

She looked at the door, where the rest of the crew stood, then back to him.

"Give her some room to breathe, huh?" He told them. They took the hint and backed into the other room. "Zhaan? Stay kinda close?"

Zhaan nodded silently and turned away.

John looked back to Chiana. "Now, tell me."

"The commerce planet…" She said, then stopped.

"I figured that much. Go on."

"I…walked off, away from everybody. I was just looking at a clothing trader's merchandise. A Peacekeeper saw me and… he grabbed me. He told me he knew who all of us were. He took me up to an inn and told me not to…" She looked up into his eyes, "He was going to turn us all in, to his superior, and give me to the Nebari."

"He told you not to what?"

"Not to… to scream… or he'd turn us in…"

"To scream about what, Chiana?"

She knew he was understanding now, or beginning to. "He… took me to the inn… he…"

John gritted his teeth. She saw a blaze of anger in his eyes that spread to the rest of his face. "He raped you?"

She couldn't nod. She just kept looking at him and pulled her lower lip into her mouth, biting down on it to keep from sobbing.

"He raped you." John growled. "Zhaan!" He yelled.

She appeared at the doorway as soon as her name crossed his lips. "Yes, John?"

"Take care of her. Make sure she gets some sleep." He moved to get up.

"John, where are you going?" Chiana asked, trying to hold onto him.

"I'll be back. I won't be gone for long." He reassured her, pulling easily from her sleepy grasp.

"No! Don't go back to the planet! John!"

"Where are you going?" Aeryn demanded.

"I'm going to make something right."

D'Argo stepped up quickly, in front of him. "Are you going back to the commerce planet?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, I am."

"We'll be there in a matter of one solar day. You can't wait one day to do whatever this is?" Aeryn asked.

"No, I can't."

"What is so important it can't wait a solar day?" D'Argo shook his head, tankas swaying slightly.

John seated himself in Aeryn's Prowler with no challenge from her. She understood, he thought. She must, or she'd be yanking him out by his mivonks. "I'm going to have a 'talk' with the son-of-a-bitch motherfucker that raped Chiana." He snarled, closing the Prowler and powering up.

If this guy knew what he looked like, he didn't have a chance. John hoped they'd been recognized by the group description, not by personal information.

He began to reason the situation out to himself. "Where the frell would a Peacekeeper go, on a commerce planet? Besides harassing and torturing other lifeforms, that is… Well, where do soldiers on Earth go when they're on leave? Nearest bar…" He looked around and spied a wooden sign lettered in an alien language, affixed to the outside of a medium sized building. "Nearest bar." He tilted his head sharply to one side and headed toward it.

The apparent bartender sidled up in front of him when he walked up to the bar. "Uhm- fellip nectar." John said. He turned to the scruffy-looking Peacekeeper on the seat next to him. He knew he was going to have to set out the bait, but the words he knew he had to say still burned his throat and made his chest tighten.

"You know of any good ass on this frelling piece of rock?" He finally said, making it as convincing as possible.

The Peacekeeper looked at him, a few too many drinks swimming in his eyes. "Eh…haven't had any since I got here, but that Lieutenant Marux over there- he's been a braggin about frelling the brains outta some Nebari trelk a couple weekens back. Don't know how he managed to get himself stationed on this drenhole, but he's here for a good cycle, at least, poor bastard." He rubbed the stubble of his cheeks and took another gulp of the fellip nectar in front of him.

"Uh- yeah- thanks." John nodded and got up, going to a table closer to the suspect Peacekeeper. Lieutenant Marux. He was going to have to wait until Marux was alone. Couldn't be too long. Dawn was about to break on the planet, and there were only seven people left in the bar.

Marux stood to leave, stumbling over his own feet, landing on the floor. John pushed his anger down and walked over to the man, hauling him to his feet by his arms.

"Uhhhh… hey… thanks…" He slurred.

"Where are you staying?"

"Inn… three buildings down… from here…"

"Hey, buddy, you awake?" John got up and prodded Marux roughly in the side with his boot.

"Ah, yeah." He sat up and snarled. "Who the frell are you and what are you doing in my room?"

"I'm the guy that picked your sorry eema up off the barroom floor last night. How sober are you?"

"I am *not* intoxicated."

"Well, you couldn't even walk last night. Got a headache? Wanna puke?"

"I feel neither."

"Good." John smiled wryly and grabbed Marux by the collar of his shirt, pulling him off the bed and slamming him to the floor.

"What the frell?!"

John dug a knee into his chest and powered up his pulse pistol. "Now that we know you actually do have your senses about you, I wanna take you back in time." He settled the business end of the pulse pistol against Marux's temple. "Think back about two weeks. Not quite that long, but almost. You'll remember what I'm talking about. A girl. A young Nebari woman. She was shopping, looking at clothes, and you recognized her. This jogging your memory?"

Marux narrowed his eyes and chuckled. "You're John Crichton? Somehow, I thought you'd be bigger."

"Plenty big enough to get this far." He jammed the pistol harder against the Peacekeeper's head. "Now, *do you remember*?"

"Oh, yeah. I remember the Nebari. Sweet-"

"You remember her. Remember everything you did to her. I just wish I could make you feel what she's been going through since that day. You'd probably enjoy it, though, wouldn't you?" John finally had enough of the bastard's smirk. He clamped a hand around Marux's neck and aimed the pulse pistol again, shooting him in the leg. There was a bit of satisfaction in the choked off scream.

John continued, settling the pistol against Marux's temple again. "I'm gonna tell you right now. You're going to die. Did you *really* think she'd never tell anybody? You didn't think anybody would care about a Nebari girl who'd wandered off by herself. You thought you'd gotten away with a quick, rough frell that you could tell all your buddies about." John charged the pulse pistol to full power, listening to its low whine. "Make peace with whatever you believe in. Right. Now."

It was that moment that Marux realized John really was going to pull the trigger. His eyes widened, then clinched tightly shut. John put a bit of pressure on the trigger…a bit more…and let up completely for a split microt before firing.

Blood and gray matter sprayed the opposite wall, the floor, and ultimately, John. Marux lie there, minus his head. John got up and walked out of the room, out of the inn, and back to the Prowler.

"The rest of you can go down. Most of the Peacekeeper vessels are gone. The only Peacekeepers there are those that have been hired as guards or whatever you wanna call it."

"They will know who we are!"

"They're looking for two Sebaceans, a Delvian, a Nebari, and a Luxan- not a Luxan, a Delvian, and a Sebacean woman. Just don't go down there in full uniform with your guns blazing, and no one will be the wiser."

Aeryn put a hand on his shoulder and turned him around to face her. "Crichton-" She looked at her hand, smeared with blood. "What have you done?"

"I took care of what I went to take care of."

"They *will* be searching for us. We have to tell Pilot to starburst."

"I told you, go down and get the supplies we need. The sooner you do it, the less suspicious you'll look. I'm going to change clothes and check on Chiana." He turned back to leave.

"Crichton?"

"What?"

"Why did you risk it? You could have been caught and executed."

"I wasn't thinking about getting caught. I was concentrating on what I went to do."

John stood in the doorway of his quarters for a monen before entering. Chiana was lying against Zhaan, those blue arms around her, cradling her. Zhaan sang softly, chants to the Goddess. John cleared his throat, just loud enough to be heard.

Zhaan smiled tentatively. She knew immediately what he'd done. He was glad she would understand- that she wouldn't judge him. Chiana's eyes flew open at the sudden silence.

"John!" She gasped. "You're okay?"

"Are you okay?" He asked, approaching.

She looked up at him. "Those aren't the same clothes you were wearing this morning. Where are your other clothes?"

"They got dirty."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing you need to worry about. You don't have to worry about it anymore."

"You killed him…"

John said nothing. He merely took her into his arms as Zhaan got up. "Are you going to go down to the planet and get more supplies?" He asked her.

"Yes, John. D'Argo, Aeryn, and I will leave shortly. We will be back before the commerce planet's solar day is over."

"Good. Uhm… check in with Pilot often. And stay together. All of you, stay together."

"We will, John." She squeezed his shoulder gently as she left his quarters.

"What did you do?" Chiana whispered again.

"Nothing you need to hear about. How do you feel?"

She raised up a bit and stretched, her arms unfolding like the petals of a flower, and leaned back against him. "Better. I think. I'm not going to pass out again, if that's what you mean."

"You need to sleep."

"I've been sleeping. I slept all night. With an injection."

"In Zhaan's arms." He smiled.

"Yeah." She returned the sweet curl of his lips and moved closer against him, if that were possible. "I never should've told you what happened…"

"If you hadn't told me, something else would have happened. You can't keep something like that to yourself and it not hurt you in some pretty bad ways. And- he could have done it again. To someone else."

Chiana put her arms around his neck, leaning her cheek against the front of his shoulder.

"I'm gonna try to go to sleep now." John sighed. Chiana got up and headed for the door. "Where are you going?"

"Back to my quarters. I figure Zhaan's sleepshot is good for another night." She said, her eyelids already drooping again.

"You can stay in here, if you want to."

She smiled and managed to get beneath the bedcovering before him. "It's not like I'm gonna refuse." She giggled a bit. He wrapped his arms around her and drifted off.

"Uh, yeah, where's Rygel?" John cleared his throat.

"He has gone with them, but he has stayed inside the transport pod."

"That's great. Maybe he won't trade the pod for crackers. Pilot, let Zhaan know we're okay up here, too?"

"Of course." Pilot said before turning of the channel.

John sighed and opened his eyes, looking right into Chiana's. She closed them, yawned, and flashed them open again. "They're not going to be back for a while…" She observed, smiling.

"They'll be back before nightfall on the planet." He stroked her cheek with his fingers before settling his hand there.

She searched his eyes and whispered. "I… I want to love you…"

"And you can't?"

"I don't know. Everything goes wrong. Everything any of us hopes for, ends up…"

"Yeah. I know. Something's gotta go right, though." The inevitable silence fell between them. He brought his face closer to hers, softly meeting her lips.

She parted his lips with her tongue, curling it against his in short movements at first, then delving deeper into his mouth. John pulled at the bed coverings to untuck it from around them, where he'd tightened it to keep in warmth. He kissed up the line of her jaw, close to her ear, and ran his tongue along the sensitive spot there, making her draw in her breath and sigh again. Chiana pulled at her camisole, and with a bit of John's help, got it off over her head. She reached down, squirming until she'd taken off her shivvies, too. John got out of his clothing quickly.

"Are you sure you want this?" He breathed against her lips.

Chiana knew what she was doing, and there were two reasons she was doing it. She wanted John. She wanted to feel him like this more than anything. But there was also that other feeling still on her, and she wanted that gone. She hoped, prayed to Zhaan's Goddess, that John could make that go away. She smiled and licked her lips. "Yes." She urged him on, putting a hand over his shoulder, raking her short fingernails a little less than carefully across the top of his back.

John groaned, pressing his lips to hers again, and pulled her as close as possible to him, rolling over with her underneath. He lowered his mouth, kissing the top of her breast, kissing around the dark nipple before closing his mouth over it, suckling gently. He reached down, running a hand between her thighs, up to the damp, downy cleft between her legs. The pink of her sex was a shock of color against her pale flesh, just as the inside of her mouth. She gasped as he slipped one finger into her, bringing her wetness up, over the tiny bundle of nerves that was throbbing with heat.

With her hands on each side of his head, she brought his face back up to hers, pulling him into a deep kiss. His hands flat on the bed, beside her shoulders, he held his upper body off her until he had begun to enter her. She wrapped one arm around him from under his arm, and the other across his shoulders, her fingernails scratching red whelps into his flesh. He wasn't protesting.

He moved in and out of her slowly, until she brought her feet up and locked her ankles under his ass, pushing him deep into her. She moaned, clinching the velvet-covered muscles around his length. John gasped and looked at her with slight surprise. "You don't have to be *that* gentle with me." She smiled wickedly, licking his lower lip before taking it between her teeth and sucking at it with a little bite.

John pulled back and entered her again, attempting to obey her, watching as her small breasts bounced slightly with each thrust. She continued her short moans that lead into whines until the growing warmth in the base of her spine and in her abdomen sharpened. She started raising her hips to meet him, arching her back, urging him on harder. In another instant, she felt the electricity of her orgasm take hold of her, making her back arch further, taking her over with sweet convulsions. Her fingernails dug into John's back as she cried out. He felt her inner muscles methodically tighten around him, pulling him along with her to orgasm. John came inside her, a rush of heat added to the rest. He voiced his pleasure with her until he found her mouth and silenced both of them.

When their climaxes had subsided somewhat, she uncrossed her ankles, allowing him to lie beside her. He lay his head against her shoulder, his cheek against the warmth of her breast.

John wrapped his arms around her, lacing his fingers together. He'd lost everything he'd ever known, when he went through the wormhole. He'd lost his home, his friends and family, his entire life, and he'd ended up here.

He kissed her forehead and settled his cheek against her hair. "I'd do it all again…"