Back to part one

Aeryn woke up after a short sleep, when she heard commotion outside her cell. Her eyesight still wasn't improving and she wondered if she was blind for the rest of her life.

"Dacean…" she whispered, wondering if the man was still in her cell.

"Shhh… be quiet. If they think you're asleep, they'll leave you here." Dacean advised. He was still lying beside her.

She closed her eyes again, hoping her captors would pass her. She heard footsteps approaching the door and a micron later, the heavy metal door squeaked open. Aeryn held her breath, as nothing seemed to happen. But then she was dragged to her feet. They dragged her out of her cell and she called to Dacean, but he didn't answer her call.

Instead, they pushed her further, to another room. It wasn't another cell like the one she had just left, she noticed that the temperature was higher here. The thought of the Living Death crossed her mind for a microt, but she pushed it away. John would come to get her out of here before they could kill her. She was pushed in a chair, her arms and legs shackled.

"Open your eyes." When she didn't reply, a hand grasped her chin. "Do you want to be blind forever?" Slowly she opened her eyes.

"Good. Now stay perfectly still…"

She felt her eyes burn as they injected some sort of fluid in her eyes. She blinked a few times and the darkness was replaced with a lighter blur.

"You'll be able to see in a moment." The man said and he was right, the blur cleared up and she looked around the room. Her eyes rested on what seemed to be the leader. "You don't ask any questions… they were right when they told me about you. You're smarter than the rest." He began, simultaneously pacing around the chair.

"Only a few lower Peacekeepers grow a brain. It's a shame to kill them though, but then again…" he turned to Aeryn. "They're always trouble. As you know, trouble is always eliminated." He smiled at Aeryn when her face stayed blank. "If you're waiting for your friends to rescue you, don't bother. They fled after we killed one of them."

He waited for Aeryn's reaction, but it didn't come. He motioned to two soldiers, who were waiting behind Aeryn. They released her and allowed her to stand.

"Come, follow me…" he said and they pushed her forward again.

This time, Aeryn had a chance to observe the building she was in. The corridors were small, Peacekeeper design. They led her through a number of similar-looking corridors before arriving in a white room. Two other Peacekeepers passed her and walked towards the end of the room. She observed theirs actions, until she was pushed towards them again.  The two others opened a door, revealing a large table. Then they left the room, followed by the two soldiers holding Aeryn. Their leader remained in the room and Aeryn looked at him.

"You're wondering why you're left alone with me in one room, aren't you?" He asked. Not waiting for an answer or not expecting one, he continued. "If you're planning on attacking me, don't bother, you don't stand a chance. Through that door are the remains of your friend. You have half an arn, before we come back." He said and then left also.

Aeryn stared at the door for a moment and when she was sure she was alone, she entered the other room. On the table was a form, covered by a white sheet. She walked in a small circle before slowly removing the blanket. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Crichton lying there. She had never seen him so pale before. She touched his cheek, willing him to open his eyes. 'He can't be dead…' she thought.

When he didn't move, she laid her head on his chest, like she had done so many times before, when he was sleeping and she couldn't, when she was wide awake, listening to his breathing, his heart... When she couldn't hear the beating of his heart, she let the tears come, unable to stop them any longer…

When the Peacekeepers returned, she was still in the same position, her tears having run dry. She didn't move, not even acknowledging their presence in the room. And when they pulled her away from Crichton, she didn't put up a fight, as she didn't have the energy. They brought her back to her dark cell, dragging her through empty corridors, briefly stopping to open the door and then they threw her in her cell. She didn't make any attempts to get up, not even when their footsteps had faded away. She only curled up in a little ball and cried. From a corner of the cell, Dacaen came forward and held her as she grieved for her lost love.

When morning came, Aeryn was finally sleeping soundly. Dacaen looked down on her as she lay in his arms. He briefly wondered what had happened last night, after they had taken her away from their cell, and judging from the state Aeryn was in, he knew that they had destroyed her hope for rescue by killing one of her friends, possibly even more than one. He cursed the ones that kept them here, the ones playing games with their minds for no reason other than their entertainment. Feeling the weight in his arms move slightly, he looked at Aeryn again.

"Good morning… although nothing is good about it."  He said.

Aeryn looked at her surroundings, before looking back at Dacaen. "Dacaen?" she asked, staring at the man before her. It had been a while since she'd last seen a Sebacean other than Gilina. Of course, Crichton came close enough to looking like a Sebacean. Dacaen looked older than Crichton. The memory of him flashed in front of her eyes. "Was it real? The things that happened last night… they were real?"

Dacaen nodded. "Most likely, yes. What happened last night, if I may ask?"

Aeryn stared at a wall for a moment, then she slowly started telling Dacaen about the night's events and he listened to her, comforted her when she nearly started crying again, continuing to hold her when she fell asleep again from sheer exhaustion.

*****

Crichton followed the path leading to the clearing where they were attacked. As he reached the clearing, he noticed a shadow following him, but when he looked behind him, the road was empty. He shrugged and continued his trek towards the clearing. Upon arriving there, the clearing was empty, except for a shining object near some bushes. He rushed over to it and he noticed it was the necklace he had given to Aeryn before they were attacked. As he bend down to pick it up, he saw a form behind a tree.

"I know you've been following me." Crichton said. The form moved from the hiding place and Crichton noticed it was young girl. She vaguely reminded him of someone, but he didn't know whom.

"You're searching for her, aren't you?" she asked.

"How did you know?"

The girl laughed. "They all do." She replied. Then her look got more serious. "But they never find her though." She turned around, intending to leave.

"Wait…" John said. "Do you know where she is? Do you know who attacked us?" he asked.

The girl turned around. "She is with the Masters. They control this world, they attacked you." She answered, walking over to Crichton. "They watch you. They listen to your thoughts. They play with you, until you don't amuse them anymore. Then you'll go crazy, and eventually you die, knowing you've lost everything you love." She explained.

"Do you know where they are?" Crichton asked again.

She nodded. "I'll bring you to them, but I won't go with you when you search for her. It's too dangerous…" Then she grabbed his hand and dragged him with her.  

She led him to a dark, deserted place. When they reached what Crichton assumed was the door, she suddenly stopped.

"I won't go further… Remember, don't think… they'll know what you're planning to do."

Then she was gone, back into the forest. Crichton faced the door and pushed against it. To his surprise, the door opened and Crichton entered the building. He tried not to think about anything, but thoughts about Aeryn kept slipping in his mind. What if he couldn't save her? He stopped when he heard footsteps approaching him. He hid in a nearby alcove and waited until they passed him. He held his breath as the first one passed him and he recognized him. Peacekeepers… Just as he formed up a plan to attack them, two more passed him and he almost didn't notice their prisoner. Or was she one of them? John noticed that her hands weren't shackled and the fact that she was carrying weapons. When all six had passed him, he stepped into the hallway.

"Aeryn!" he called after her. They all turned around simultaneously, weapons aimed at him.

"Get him!" Aeryn ordered the rest and John started running. He had no idea where he was going, but at one point he lost his pursuers.  He looked around him. He was standing in an abandoned corridor, opposite to a heavy metal door. He didn't know why, but something made him open that door. He almost couldn't make out the two forms huddled together in the corner of the cell. Slowly, he entered the cell and to his surprise, he noticed Aeryn. He didn't know the other one.

"Aeryn…" he whispered, but she didn't move. The other one, however, did move towards John and John took a few steps back.

"Who are you?" Crichton asked.

"My name is Dacaen. Are you one of her friends? Have you come to save us?" Dacaen asked in return.

"My name is Crichton…"

"Crichton, you say? You're dead. She told me she saw your corpse…" Dacaen said.

"Something's going on around here… I just saw Aeryn with the Peacekeepers… as one of them." He said.

"This isn't your world… The other Aeryn, you must find her. The Aeryn with me needs to find her Crichton. Only then can you find eachother." Dacaen explained.

"What do you mean? Tell me what's happening here…" Crichton started to say, but he was interrupted by Dacaen.

"No questions, go now! Find her and bring her here. I'll help Aeryn do the same in her world…" Then he pushed Crichton into the empty corridor.

Crichton watched as the two forms slowly faded.

"Okay, I have to find Aeryn, only Aeryn wants to kill me. Great. How do I get her to come with me. When I get back to Moya, alive, I seriously need to talk to her about kicking the crap out of me." He said to himself and then started running in the direction he came from before meeting Dacaen.

It didn't took him long to find Aeryn as he bumped into her. He noticed that they had split up in teams of two. The other Peacekeeper was knocked unconscious on impact with Crichton, so it was just him and Aeryn. As he got up, he was looking in the barrel of her pulse rifle.

"Aeryn, don't do this. I know you don't want to do this. Just lower the gun…" he said as he stammered backwards.

"Stand still!" Aeryn ordered.

Crichton noticed that he had reached a corner. If he could make a quick move, Aeryn wouldn't be able to shoot at him immediately. As he prepared to jump sideways, he prayed that this Aeryn wasn't such a good shot.

Suddenly he remembered the advice the girl had given him and he looked at Aeryn.

"Okay, I'm not moving… let's talk…" he said, thinking about talking with her. Just when Aeryn lowered the weapon, he jumped to the left and ran back to the cell. He looked behind him every now and them to make sure Aeryn was following him. He made it to the cell before Aeryn caught up with him. He noticed Dacaen was already there again, with Aeryn behind him. Then he noticed his replica lying on the floor.

"I have you know, Crichton…" he heard behind him. Slowly he turned around.

"No. I have you Aeryn… game over, you lose." He said. He watched as Aeryn slowly started to fade, much like Dacaen had done earlier.

"Crichton?" he heard behind him. It was Aeryn, his Aeryn… the real one.

"What's going on here?" she asked as she saw Crichton alive.

He closed the small distance between them and held her. "Some very weird stuff, Aeryn…" he said. He looked at Dacaen, who was still standing in the cell.

"Why aren't you gone?" he asked the man.

"I'm free… I wasn't part of the other world, I was really here, in this cell… Now I can go."  Dacaen spoke and Crichton nodded.  

Epilogue.

Crichton looked at the stars. He was happy to be back on Moya, the real Moya. After the attack, D'Argo hadn't found him, like he had thought. He had been on the planet all along. Feeling a presence in the room, he turned around. It was Dacaen, the old Sebacean. Aeryn had invited him to come with them and now he was living on Moya.

"Did I disturbed you?" Dacaen asked.

"No, not really. I was just watching the stars… Dacaen, how did you know about what was happening back on the planet?" Crichton asked.

Dacaen moved forward until he was standing next to Crichton. "Someone told me, a long time ago… but I never understood her, until I met you and Aeryn. You were both caught in different worlds, realities. In order to escape, you had to find the key. When I saw you, I understood that you both were the key." He explained.

"The one who told you, was it a young girl?" Crichton asked.

"Yes. She vaguely reminded me of someone, but I never found out who she reminded me of."

"Who are you talking about?" Aeryn asked, stepping into the room.

"Someone we met on the planet…" Crichton responded. As Aeryn walked over to him, Crichton suddenly knew who the girl on the planet reminded him of. She had been a younger version of Aeryn… Silently, he thanked her for showing him the way to Aeryn.

"I'll leave you two alone now. I'm very tired and I'm going to rest…" Dacaen said and he left Aeryn and John in the room.

John looked at Aeryn. "I'm suddenly very tired too. Shall we go to bed? I really need to rest, you know. Two of you is really too much." John said jokingly. Together they walked towards their quarters…

"Aeryn, we really need to talk about you kicking the crap out of me…"

"Oh really?"

"Now Aeryn, don't do that…"

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