Title: Chasing Aeryn
Author: Paradox761
Email: Paradox761@mail.com
Website: members.tripod.com/~Paradox761
Disclaimer: Joss and co. own all things Buffy, and SFC (in their infinite stupidity) own Farscape. No copyright infringement is intended, so please don’t sue. I don’t have any money anyway. Some elements of this story and some dialogue have been taken from the Farscape episode “Promises”, no plagiarism is intended.
Summary: Following another lead on Aeryn's location, the crew of Moya discovers her Prowler adrift. But when they bring it aboard, they find someone unconscious inside. Someone who is not Aeryn, but who may be able to lead them to her. Will they find Aeryn? And will Xander be able to control the beast that he has discovered still lurks within him?
Author’s note: This story is the fourth in the ‘Sympathetic Ear’ series, following A Sympathetic Ear, Back to the Uncharted Territories, and Enter the Cleavage. Special thanks to A. Grandt, Rob Clark, MagnusXXN, Forgotten Code, dragon_hulk, C. J. Whittaker, Greywizard, Hatten, Calen, Saffi, Woodlandchild, and Paradigm Shifter for the feedback. It’s much appreciated.
Dedication: To Jordan and Jessica, my angels. May they rest in peace.
(BtVS/Farscape, Xander/Chiana, John/Aeryn)

(2/6)

The first thing that shook Scorpius from unconsciousness was the gust of fresh air that blew across his face as the Prowler’s canopy was lifted, and the stale air from the Prowler’s failing environmental controls was replaced. The second thing he felt was being lifted from the cockpit of the fighter, and unceremoniously dropped on the floor. His eyes fluttered open, and he was met with the sight of two pulse pistols and a Qualta blade pointed at his head as Moya’s crew, plus one man he didn’t recognize, stood over him.

“Hello John,” Scorpius said. “It’s good to you’re well.” He made a move to sit up, but John put his foot on his chest and pushed him back down.

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t return the sentiment,” John said. “What the hell are you doing in Aeryn’s Prowler? Where is she?

“I don’t know.”

“What did you do to her?”

“I saved her life!” Scorpius insisted. “She was alone, wounded, adrift in that Prowler. In an advanced state of heat delirium. I gave her one of my coolant suits. Had I not found her…”

“How did you find her?” D’Argo interrupted.

“I was looking…for all of you.”

“Get this through your head Scorpy, you will never get the wormhole tech from me.”

“I could not use it even if I…” Scorpius was cut off as he tried to sit up again and was knocked back down by D’Argo with a growl. “I merely want to safeguard it, and hope that when the inevitable Scarren bloodbath begins, you make the appropriate choices.”

“Oh, so you’re here to be John’s protector?” D’Argo asked. Scorpius nodded. “How nice. I don’t believe it.”

John gritted his teeth as he readjusted his grip on Winona. “Kryptonite? Silver bullet? Buffy? What’s it going to take to keep you in the grave?”

“Perhaps we should just take your head off,” D’Argo said. “It worked for Durka.”

“I say we space him,” Chiana put in.

John took a step back and made a wave with his pistol for Scorpius to stand. Xander and D’Argo each grabbed an arm and drug the hybrid to his feet. John lowered his pistol but he kept it in his hand.

“Wait!” Scorpius objected. “If you kill me, you’ll never find Officer Sun.”

“I thought you didn’t know where she was?” John asked.

“I don’t, but I know how to find her.” Scorpius paused. “I know who has her.”

“Why don’t you start from the beginning,” John said. “How did you end up adrift in Aeryn’s Prowler?”

“As I said, I found her, in orbit around this very planet, in much the same way you found me. Her former compatriots had stranded her and two others here, all suffering from heat delirium. She said that the other two had enough fuel to land on L’lidor, but she did not. Her systems were failing one by one, and her orbit was decaying. She wouldn’t tell me how she contracted the disease, but I believe it might have something to do with the very large ship that came looking for her.”

“Who were they?”

“I’m afraid there wasn’t a chance to exchange formal introductions, nor were they interested. They simply took Aeryn and left me for dead.”

“So how are you going to help us find her if you don’t know who took her?” Chiana asked.

“As I said, this ship was quite large. In fact, I couldn’t even get an accurate mass reading on the Prowler’s instruments. But, I did record the energy signature of its power output. A ship that size must leave an obvious ion trail, we can simply follow it.”

“And do what?” D’Argo asked. “If this ship is as large as you say, what chance do we have against it?”

Scorpius glared at the Luxan. “Must everything be a battle with you?”

D’Argo growled and raised his Qualta blade again. “When it comes to you Scorpius, yes.”

Scorpius turned back to John. “We’ll negotiate for her release,” he said. “It’s obvious that these beings don’t want Aeryn to die. If they did, they would simply have let the heat delirium do the job. No, they want something from her, and they’ve infected her to gain leverage against her.”

“So?” John asked.

“So, if they want something, then perhaps we can provide it for them on the condition of Aeryn’s release.”

John nodded. “Makes sense.” He raised his pistol again and pointed it directly at Scorpius’ face. “So what do we need you for?”

To Scorpius’ credit, he didn’t flinch. The move was not unexpected. “I took the liberty of reprogramming the Prowler’s computer before I lost consciousness,” he said. “It will only accept commands from myself. You need me to access the information to follow the ship, and you need me to negotiate with these creatures.”

“I say thanks, but no thanks!” John said forcefully. “You think we’re just going to trust you now because you tell us you’re our friend?”

“I’ve said no such thing, and I expect nothing. The fact is our interests coincide. Neither of us wants a war, certainly neither of us wants the Scarrens to get a hold of the wormhole technology in your brain. As I said, I merely wish to make sure that that doesn’t happen.”

“And how do we know you’re not working for Grayza?” Rygel asked. “And this isn’t all just a trap.”

“You know as well as I do how the Peace Keepers regard failure,” Scorpius said. “With my Command Carrier destroyed, along with any wormhole research we had conducted, there can be no doubt that I have failed. My people may have…abandoned me, but I will not abandon them.”

“I don’t trust you,” John said.

“Nor should you. You may take any precautions that you deem necessary.”

“No, I think we’ll take our chances on our own.”

“Very well,” Scorpius said. “But it isn’t you who will be taking that chance is it? It’s Aeryn. Are you willing to risk that much because you don’t trust me?”

John glanced back and forth between D’Argo and Xander. All three of them held questioning looks. John would have loved nothing more than to shoot this man dead on the spot, and spit on his broken corpse as it hit the deck. He felt no guilt regarding this desire. But could he really risk Aeryn? Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, John spoke. “Holding cell?” he asked, looking at D’Argo.

The Luxan eyed Scorpius suspiciously before nodded in agreement. He grabbed onto his arm forcefully, and Xander grabbed the other. John led the way and they all followed him out of the hangar bay.

“Pilot,” John called out. “I want a DRD outside his cell at all times. If he does anything even remotely suspicious, shoot him.”

“Of course, Commander,” Pilot answered.

“You just sit tight and behave yourself Scorpy,” John said. “The grown-ups need to talk.”

*

Scorpius was safely tucked away in a holding cell and John was on his way to Command when he suddenly found himself someplace else. In an instant, he was no longer aboard Moya, he was behind the wheel of a car. He looked down at himself and saw that he was wearing a black suit. He looked next to him and saw Scorpius sitting in the passenger seat, dressed in a similar suit over his coolant suit. And over the cowl on his head, there was a giant black afro.

“Do you know what they call a Big Mac in the Uncharted Territories?”

“Damn it, Harvey!” John exclaimed. “Does it look like I have time for this right now?!”

“Scorpius is dangerous, John,” Harvey said. “You know what must be done, why do you hesitate? It would be foolish to let him live.”

“I need to know what his plan is.”

“Same as always, survive. To steal what’s in your mind. So why give him the chance?”

“And what would you have me do? Whack him straight away?”

“Without hesitation.”

“And what about Aeryn? What if he’s telling the truth?”

“Do you honestly believe that to be probable?”

John hesitated. “No,” he said. “But there’s something going on here. He had Aeryn’s Prowler. If he’s not telling the truth then he at least knows where she is.”

“And if she’s already dead? What then?” Harvey asked. “Are you really willing to stake your life and the lives of your friends on such a miniscule possibility?”

“My friends can make their own decisions. As for me…” he drifted off. “I have to know.”

*

“John? John, are you okay?”

John opened his eyes and found himself back on Moya. Xander was standing in front of him with his hand on his arm. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just…zoned out there for a second. Come on.”

Xander nodded and the two of them walked into Command.

“This is foolishness!” Rygel insisted. “We should kill him now.”

“And what about Aeryn?” Chiana asked.

“We can find her on our own,” Rygel continued. “If this ship is as large as Scorpius says, someone must have seen where it went.”

“There’s always the option of letting Scorpius help us, and then killing him once we have Aeryn back,” Jool said.

“That’s what worries me,” John said.

“What do you mean?” Xander asked.

“Scorpius is smart, he knows that as well as we do. The only thing that will keep him alive is if we need him alive. Which means that after we get Aeryn back, he has to come up with a new reason.”

“Unless he already has one,” D’Argo said. “He could be playing us like fools.”

“All the more reason not to trust him,” Rygel added.

“I’m not saying we trust him, Sparky,” John said. “But there is a chance that he knows where Aeryn is. We did find him in her Prowler. We can take every precaution. D’Argo and I can take him in Lo’La, leave Moya someplace safe.”

“What if that’s exactly what he wants,” Xander said. “To separate us. He leads you into one ambush, while we get sucker punched with another.”

“He doesn’t have the resources to organize that anymore.”

“The Peace Keepers do.”

“And they’ve kicked him to the curb.”

“Says him. Just because Grayza doesn’t like him doesn’t mean she can’t use him to trap us,” Xander said.

“Then where is she? Why go through this complicated ruse if they have Aeryn? They could have used her as bait, why give us Scorpius?”

“To separate us. They knew we’d be smart enough to scout ahead before sending Moya in. So the only way to get close is to separate us.”

John shook his head. “The Peace Keepers would never trust Scorpius, not after he got his Command Carrier destroyed.”

“That’s speculation.”

“And so is everything you just said! All we can do is speculate!”

“Enough!” D’Argo boomed. “Both of you. We can’t keep second guessing ourselves just because we think Scorpius might be manipulating us, that’s exactly what he wants. We have to trust our instincts. And if there’s one thing we all agree on, it’s that our instincts all tell us that we cannot trust Scorpius.”

“D…” John started.

D’Argo held up his hand to cut him off. “However, the presence of Aeryn’s Prowler does indicate that she is involved somehow. So I believe that we should follow John’s suggestion. Be extremely cautious, and take Scorpius in Lo’La while we keep Moya hidden somewhere.”

“Where?” Xander asked.

“That nebula we passed,” John said. “Pilot, bring up a display of this solar system.”

“Yes, Commander,” Pilot responded. A holographic image promptly appeared over the center console.

“This nebula just outside the system, it should shield Moya from any sensor sweeps.”

“What about our sensors,” Xander asked. “Would we be able to scan while we’re inside?”

“Negative,” Pilot answered. “The nebula would cause too much interference to make any scans reliable.”

“We’d be sitting ducks,” Xander said. “Blind sitting ducks.”

“Any other ship will be affected the same way,” John said. “Nobody will even know Moya is there.”

“I don’t know,” Xander said. “This still smells like a trap.”

“And if it is, we’ll be ready for it,” John said. Xander nodded slowly. “We’re all in agreement then?” A sea of nods followed, some more reluctant than others.

*

Xander sat at the table in the Magic Box in his head, his friends around him. “What do you guys think?” The hyena cackled from his cage nearby. “I wasn’t asking you!” Xander barked. The animal actually seemed to smirk at him.

“From what John has told you about Scorpius, he is not to be trusted,” Giles said.

Xander nodded. “The one thing everyone can agree with, and yet here we are, doing exactly what he wants. The question I have, is can John’s judgement be trusted?”

“Don’t you think you’re being a little hard on him, Xan?” Buffy asked. “We’ve all been through times like these, when the fight becomes a little too personal.”

“Exactly my point,” Xander said. “And it’s almost gotten us killed.”

“But we always had each other,” Willow put in. “So there was always someone calm enough to be the voice of reason.”

“Just like John has all of you,” Tara added. “And he knows that, he trusts you all enough to believe you when you tell him that his plan has flaws.”

“The people in your group compliment each other very well,” Giles said. “Perhaps that’s why they’ve survived so long together.”

“So you’re saying I should trust him?” Xander asked.

Willow nodded. “And D’Argo, and Chiana, and the others.”

“And most importantly, yourself,” Tara said.

“You are a part of the group dynamic now,” Giles said. “An important part. John chose you to stay behind and protect Moya. He trusts you with that responsibility.”

Xander nodded. “You’re right. And I do trust John, I just…need to remember that.”

“You feel guilty for doubting him,” Tara said. “Don’t. You’ve been alone for a long time, it’s only natural that it be difficult to trust other people again. Just…follow your instincts.”

Xander smiled. “Thanks guys.”

*

“Xander? Xander!”

Xander’s head spun around and he saw Chiana looking up at him worriedly. The two of them were standing in Command. “Sorry, I drifted off for a second.”

Chiana just nodded, deciding not to push the issue. “John and D’Argo are ready to depart.”

Xander nodded. “You guys be careful,” he said over the comms.

“Always are,” John’s voice came back. “You remember the code?” They had created a code that only Xander and John knew. John would transmit it when they returned to Moya. Without sensors, it was the only way they would know that it was safe to leave the nebula. Seeing as how the two humans had a shared history and cultural knowledge that no one else in the Uncharted Territories possessed, it was easy to devise a code that no one else could possibly discover.

“Why did the chicken cross the road?” Xander said.

“I’ll transmit the correct answer when it’s time to come out,” John said. “You be careful too, stay on your toes.”

“We will. Good luck.”

“Thanks. Crichton out.”

A few seconds later, Pilot spoke. “Lo’La has disembarked.”

“Set a course for the nebula, Pilot,” Xander said. He turned to Chiana. “I want everybody armed, and alert. Just in case. Can you see to it?”

“You got it,” Chiana said. She gave him a smile and headed out of Command.

“You too Pilot, station a couple DRDs in your den to keep a lookout, and start running regular internal sensor sweeps.”

“While not has hindered by the nebula as the external sensors, internal sensors will still be affected,” Pilot said.

“I know, just do your best.”

“Understood.”

*

Two arns passed in the nebula without incident, but it did nothing to ease Xander’s worry. He paced through the corridors on the ship like he was patrolling for vampires, expecting an attack to jump out at him from anywhere. Part of it was the hyena’s influence, he could tell. Xander was starting to feel like he was the one who was caged, waiting in this nebula for who knows what.

He found himself in the gymnasium again, looking at a practice dummy and a pile of sand on the floor in front of it from the hole he had cut through it earlier that morning. Yet another example of how much harder it was getting to control the beast within. Xander leaned down to examine the hole closer, to see what he would need to fix it. Perhaps that’s just what he needed, something to take his mind off of things.

Maybe he was just being paranoid. Maybe Scorpius was actually telling the truth. Maybe there was no ambush coming. Maybe he was wrong.

Xander spun around and struck out with his foot with lightening speed, catching the man who had been trying to sneak up on him by complete surprise as he kicked him in the stomach. His weapon was knocked to the ground before he even had a chance to raise his arm, and a powerful punch to the head had him stumbling to the floor. He looked up in time to see a sword being brought down against his neck. One foot came down slowly on one of his hands, breaking a few of his fingers with an audible crunch, and another foot came to rest on his chest. His weapon was too far away to reach, and he dare not move.

Xander looked down at the man who had tried to take him from behind. He was dressed from head to toe in black, including a mask that covered his entire face. He wore a belt that carried some equipment, but his only weapon looked to be the blaster that he had already kicked away. Still, Xander didn’t take any chances. He hooked the tip of his blade under the side of the mask, and ripped it away swiftly, exposing his face. The man to yelped in surprise. Xander didn’t recognize the man, he had never seen him before. But he did recognize something. The two extra nostrils on the bridge of his nose between his eyes, and the V-shaped pattern of scales on his forehead.

Xander let out a breath. “I hate it when I’m right.”




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