AUTHOR: Babygirl lizlee@star.net

PAIRING: John/D´Argo

RATING: R suggested m/m sex and violence.

SUMMARY: A sadistic intruder plays on the crew´s emotions and fears.

NOTES: This is a sequel to my story "Emptiness Lost" and the "Blood Brothers" series by Aiobheann.

DISCLAIMER: These characters belong to Henson and the SciFi Channel, and no copyright infringement is intended by my use of them. The characters may not belong to me, but the story and my original characters do. Copyright 1999, Babygirl.

The song "In Your Eyes" was written by Peter Gabriel and is the property of Geffen Records. FEEDBACK: I would love some.

ARCHIVE: Aiobheann's Farscape Slash, Smutscape, LALEA

The tiny robot zipped down one corridor after another with the two warriors close behind. D'Argo and Aeryn kept their weapons ready, they both knew the DRD was capable of much greater speed and that it was intended to be followed. They also knew that it was heading straight for the main hangar bay.

The small robot sped around the last corner and through the hangar bay doors. D'Argo and Aeryn rounded the corner and stopped short; mouths gaping open in shock.

Hanging by their feet in the doorway were the lifeless bodies of Breg and Meyla. Their faces were frozen with expressions of surprise, as if their last experience was the shock of having their chests blown apart. They dangled, swinging slightly, meant as a morbid warning to what waited for them in the hangar bay.

"Hey guys, come on in," came Crichton's inappropriately cheerful voice.

D'Argo and Aeryn stepped carefully through the doorway. Each having to turn sideways to slip between the hanging bodies while stepping over the puddle of blood that pooled on the floor below them. D'Argo was forced to hold his breath against the stink of death that surrounded him.

Once inside they found Crichton leaning against the Farscape module with his arms crossed and a smug smile on his face. As he approached, D'Argo was overcome with a fury of scents emanating from Crichton. It was a combination of his thick sweaty musk, blood and semen. He also had a trace of Eilynn's scent on him as well as the much stronger scent of Meyla. This gave him a pretty good idea of what that poor little woman's last moments of life were like. All these odors melded together into a foul and powerful reek that made D'Argo gag and take a step back.

Without thinking he raised his weapon and growled menacingly at the thing he now knew as a Vith. Aeryn took a step forward and did the same.

The Vith began to laugh hysterically. "What are you going to do, shoot your friend Crichton?"

The two warriors were still for a few minutes before lowering their weapons. D'Argo, however, still held his angry stare and growled low in his throat.

"Oh please," the Vith sneered. "You are always so full of yourself, D'Argo." It then snatched up the peacekeeper handgun that was sitting on the module wing and pointed it at the side of Crichton's head. "Do you think you can stop me before I pull this trigger? If not, I suggest you drop those weapons."

Aeryn and D'Argo looked at each other and then put their weapons on the floor.

"Good," said the Vith. "Now that we understand each other I'll let you in on a little secret." Stepping aside he pointed to an open crate next to the Farscape module. It was the yellow crate full of Frag Cannon cores stolen from the I-Tone. Aeryn and D'Argo could see that several of the cores had been removed and wired to the side of the module.

"What are you planning on doing?" Aeryn asked coldly.

The Vith smiled lightly. "Let me see if I can explain this so you can understand, peacekeeper. I make wormhole. Sumtaar rebels enter wormhole. I cause explosion at mouth of wormhole. Wormhole destabilizes with Sumtaar ships still inside. Sumtaar rebellion is destroyed. Quick and easy, don't you think?"

"You'll never get away with this." Aeryn's voice was flat.

"Oh, what? You think you can stop me?" the Vith laughed. "In fact, you guys are going to help me."

"Never!" D'Argo spat.

The Vith took a few steps forward, staring at D'Argo. "I can see that you don't quite grasp the situation."

Suddenly Crichton gasped in a choking breath as his eyes rolled up in his head. Falling to the floor his body tensed once, arching his back high and then slumping down in a limp mass. As his chest settled there was the sound of one last exhale and then his body was still.

D'Argo and Aeryn ran over and dropped to their knees next to Crichton's body.

D'Argo pressed his head to John's chest. "His heart's stopped!"

"He's not breathing either!" Said Aeryn as she leaned down and covered his mouth with hers. Crichton's chest raised slightly as she pushed air into his lungs. Lifting her head up she then placed her hands on his chest, one on top of the other, and began pushing down in steady compressions.

"What are you doing?" D'Argo asked frantically.

"CPR!" Aeryn answered. "It's a human resuscitation procedure. I had to use it once before, when we were trapped in the Flax."

D'Argo watched as she pushed her palms down hard on his chest, counting as she went. When she reached fifteen she leaned down and put her mouth over his again.

Sitting back D'Argo couldn't help feeling helpless and terrified that his sword brother might die.

Suddenly Aeryn shrieked and sat up quickly covering her mouth with her hand. D'Argo could see a drop of blood running down her chin. He was then startled as Crichton sat up smiling with Aeryn's blood on his lips.

The two warriors stood up and took several steps back watching in shock and disbelief as Crichton rose to his feet and laughed.

"I don't need a weapon," said the Vith. "I can kill Crichton with a thought."

The two stood silently staring at the creature that had the upper hand.

It sauntered towards them, smiling and chuckling. "And just so you understand, I only feel what I want to feel. Therefore anything remotely painful that happens to this body, your friend Crichton is the one who feels it. He is fully conscious and completely aware of everything that is happening."

The two stared at him, defeated.

"I hope we're all clear on this because I don't think Crichton's body can handle another demonstration like the one I just did."

D'Argo and Aeryn nodded.

* * * * *

The sound of the cell doors locking shut was followed by the booming roar of an angry Luxan.

Now that the Vith was revealed, it was taking steps to ensure that its task could be completed without interruption. Therefore it had herded everyone left on Moya into the empty prison cells one tier down from the ones they had been using as quarters. It had given special instruction to have Rygel and Chiana be tied up and sedated. It knew, as Crichton did, that their talents as escape artists could pose a problem. Eilynn was to be left where she was in the maintenance bay for the Vith was confident that her injuries were enough to keep her incapacitated.

* * * * *

D´Argo knelt next to an open panel on Crichton's Farscape module. The Vith had given him instructions to finish wiring in the explosive cores. D'Argo had refused at first but the Vith made it clear that Crichton would be punished for any resistance from his shipmates. This creature knew everything Crichton knew and therefore knew of D'Argo's feelings for the sword brother the creature now held hostage.

The Vith was taking full advantage of that.

D'Argo could hear him pacing slowly back and forth behind him as he worked. This creature seemed to take great pleasure in tormenting him on many subtle and not so subtle levels. It would sometimes tap insistently on something or laugh at him and insult him. The only relief D'Argo could find in this whole situation was that, although it was Crichton's body, it was not Crichton doing these things. It was not Crichton that killed Breg and Meyla, it was not Crichton that beat and raped Eilynn and it was not Crichton that …had…had raped him.

D'Argo grit his teeth as he continued working on the panel. His mind was racing, trying to come up with some plan to get this miserable creature out of John.

As it paced the Vith stared singing.

"Love, I get so lost sometimes.

Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart."

The Vith stopped and D'Argo realized it was standing just behind him. Thankfully it had decided to shower and change its clothes but now D'Argo noticed a new scent: infection. It was obvious that the Vith had no plans to tend the wounds that crisscrossed Crichton's chest. D'Argo had also noticed that the Vith had not fed John's body or allowed it to rest. He had dark rings under his eyes, hollow cheeks and a pale, pasty complexion. D'Argo only hoped that the creature could be expelled from John before it was too late.

"Crichton sings that song a lot" the creature walked over and kneeled down close to D'Argo. "He sings it because of you, you know. But he never sings it to you. He doesn't want you to know how he truly feels."

D'Argo said nothing and kept working, trying to ignore the Vith.

"I may be a creature of energy but I do enjoy flesh. Don't get me wrong, I would hate to be permanently stuck in a sack of skin but I will take advantage of it when I can." It leaned in close. "Touching you, for example, fighting with you, taking you. Now that was good. Was it good for you, Luxan?"

D'Argo grit his teeth harder.

Reaching up, it ran a hand slowly along D'Argo's head and down along his tentacles. "Your skin is soft yet hard at the same time. I could feel the blood rushing through your veins. I liked the soft gasping sounds you made as I tore your flesh." The hand moved up and down, stroking D'Argo's head. "It made this body shiver with excitement to hold you down. Crichton's mind screamed as I did it and at the same time, rejoiced."

D'Argo looked at the Vith, startled.

The creature smiled slyly and chuckled. "He will never admit it, but part of Crichton enjoyed it. It felt good to him, to see you brought down a notch or two."

D'Argo turned back to the open panel. He had to remain calm and not let this creature get to him. If he lost his temper and attacked he knew that it would be John who would feel it.

The Vith leaned in again, his head close to D'Argo's. "You just take, take, take, don't you? Do you think poor Crichton likes to be thrown about and forced to submit? Do you think he likes to be made to feel weak, to be made to feel he is less than a man? No I suppose you don't, you only think of the fire in your blood and how good it feels to have his writhing, sweating body beneath you. I only did to you what you do to him night after night."

D'Argo could feel the rage burning in his body. This creature was lying, trying to upset him, just amusing itself. He said this to himself but part of him felt a twinge of uncertainty.

The Vith began stroking D'Argo's head again. "Things like gender and species mean nothing to me but to Crichton they mean everything. The concept of loving another male tears away at him. He feels good when you touch him yet at the same time he feels sickened by it. Did you know that, Luxan? And the fact that you are not a Human, to him it's like having sex with an animal." The Vith leaned in so that his lips were almost touching D'Argo's cheek. "Did you know that sometimes after he has sex with you he has to go back to his quarters and throw up. It disgusts him so much."

With a howling roar D'Argo grabbed the Vith and hurled him across the room. The creature hit a row of crates and toppled over with them. Before it could regain it's balance D'Argo was on it, grabbing it and lifting it in the air. Growling and snarling he flung the creature head first into another row of crates. D'Argo approached the fallen pile the Vith now lay in, ready for another attack. Grabbing it by the shirt he lifted it up and turned it to face him.

Suddenly D'Argo found himself facing a set of burning eyes and a face twisted in a wicked smile. The creature laughed out loud as blood ran down his forehead from a gash along his hairline. More blood dripped profusely out of his nose. This laugh and the sight of Crichton's bloody face was enough to make D'Argo see through the red haze of his anger at the damage he was inflicting on his sword brother.

Releasing the Vith, D'Argo took several steps back. His body shook as he fought with all his will to control the rage that fired through him.

"That's right, Luxan." The Vith said, wiping some of the blood off his face. "I don't think Crichton could take much more of that."

The two stared at each other for what seemed to D'Argo like arns. Then the creature flashed a lighthearted smile as it sat back on one of the crates. "I think it's time you get back to work."

D'Argo waited a moment before returning to the module. A good portion of his rage had ebbed but he held onto a part of it vowing silently that this Vith would know what it's like to be on the wrong end of an angry Luxan.

* * * * *

Aeryn stood quietly at the manual controls to Moya's propulsion systems. The console was currently set to the remote's guidance unit on Crichton's Farscape module. It had been two full days since the Vith revealed itself and took the crew captive. During that time it had finished arming the Farscape module, joined up with the small Sumtaar fleet and had led them to the site where it planned to open the wormhole. Its task had been made easy due to the fact that Eilynn had provided Moya's databanks with her encryption codes. The Vith had been sending continuous messages to the fleet masquerading as their leader.

Aeryn eyed the creature coldly as it made one final communication ordering the fleet into position. It knew that Aeryn had experience flying the module, which was why she was brought to command. The Vith was confident that she would comply without a fight, reminding her that it held Crichton's life precariously at its whim.

She found that she could not stop looking at its face, at Crichton's face. His chin was thick with stubble and his skin was a sickly white. There was a laceration along his hairline and a painfully dark bruise on his cheek. She noticed these facial injuries when the Vith had brought D'Argo back to his cell after putting the Luxan to work. Aeryn knew of the relationship John and D'Argo had. Although she had no idea as to the depth that their feelings ran for each other she knew that they were strong. She'd noticed from time to time how protective D'Argo had become of Crichton, how he guarded the smaller man and strove to keep him from harm.

Seeing John's bruised and cut face that day made her wonder what the Vith could have possibly done to make D'Argo angry enough to attack his lover.

"I see you staring, Peacekeeper."

Aeryn focused away from her thoughts and realized that the Vith was smiling at her.

"I'm sorry I'm not as pretty as Crichton used to be," it chuckled. "This body is frailer than one's I'm used to. I considered using that Sumtaar bitch's drug on this sack of skin; unfortunately the thought came to me after I had dumped it down the ship's waste systems." The creature let out a long sigh. "Oh well, if this body gives out before I'm done with it I'll just take yours."

Aeryn straightened up tensing her muscles at this comment.

The Vith approached and stared at her, studying her reaction.

"I know what you're thinking, Peacekeeper. You're thinking that I could never take over your body because you wouldn't let me." It smiled and laughed. "Do you actually think that you could stop me? Your friend Crichton couldn't stop me and he put up one hell of a fight."

"I'm a lot stronger than Crichton." Aeryn voice was cold.

"Don't flatter yourself, little girl. I've torn apart bigger, stronger Sebaceans than you." It then gave Aeryn a knowing look. "I wouldn't be too concerned if I were you. If I do need to take over another body, you certainly wouldn't be my first choice."

Aeryn kept her hard stare.

"No, no," the Vith began to pace as it spoke. "I got lucky with this body. Everyone likes Crichton and wouldn't want to see him hurt, especially that Luxan. It's making my job a lot easier. But you see, no one really likes you."

Aeryn swallowed hard but forced her face to stay as stone.

"Even Crichton doesn't like you," it continued. "You see, I know everything that's in his mind. He used to like you but you wouldn't let him get close. At first he got angry, then he was hurt so he sought out pleasure with the Luxan." The Vith stopped and laughed in her face. "Pretty soon he realized that he didn't like you much at all. He has fantasies of being with the Delvian and even the Nebari. They're both rather lovely, as far as he's concerned."

Aeryn grit her teeth in an effort to steady the slight trembling of her jaw.

"But you," it said. "He does not think of you at all, or at least not that way. Yes, he has thought many times that he would rather be thrown about and raped by his Luxan lover than even think of touching you. He's even thankful that you rejected him it saved him from wasting his time with you. Your "cold heart" as he puts it, was a blessing for it was the very thing that threw him into the arms of the Luxan."

It smiled wide at her. "Having sex with another male goes against everything Crichton was raised to believe yet, to him, it's still better than being with you."

She fought with all her strength but could not stop the tears from welling up in her eyes.

* * * * *

Aeryn maneuvered the Farscape module into position for a fourth attempt at the sling shot maneuver. The first three tries had less than satisfactory results as far as the Vith was concerned but it remained oddly calm. Occupying Crichton's mind it knew his human sciences and understood the multitude of factors that needed to go right for it's plan to work.

"Let's try this run at a slightly higher angle," it said to her. "About six degrees."

The Vith had ceased it's taunting and now regarded it's task with a calculated fascination that unnerved Aeryn more than it's contemptuous mind games did.

What was even more disturbing was that she knew the Vith had the knowledge to fly the module itself but instead had her do it while it stood by and gave orders. It had even set the detonation unit up on Aeryn's console making it clear that when the fleet entered the Vith's trap it would be her that would have to press the button. It would be it's final act of control and cruelty, a moment of satisfaction for the Vith but something Aeryn would have to live with for the rest of her life, however long the Vith would let that be.

The Vith made a few adjustments to the controls at the console it manned, took a moment to consider the readings, and then instructed Aeryn to begin the sequence.

Setting the angle of trajectory Aeryn pushed forward on the controls and watched as the small pod accelerated towards the planet. In moments it became a bright streak of fire as it skidded along the atmosphere. The planets nearby sun flared up in bright bursts just as it had been doing continuously since they arrived. As the module sped up the flames around it went from bright orange to white, it's tail of fire increasing in length. Suddenly the view screen was a wash of bright light that illuminated every corner of command. Aeryn raised her arm up to shield her eyes from its intensity.

Then as quickly as it appeared the light faded and command was once again dim. Aeryn found herself blinking away spots as her eyes readjusted. Then she heard the Vith laughing.

"Yes! That's it, we've done it!"

Staring at the view screen Aeryn could see the unmistakable image of a wormhole. Gaping open like a great blue mouth it swirled and ripped against the inky black expanse of space. Aeryn felt herself suddenly sickened at realizing the Vith said, "WE'VE done it."

"All right, Peacekeeper," it growled. "I want you to position the module right at the opening."

Aeryn watched as the creature tapped in another message to send to the fleet. Looking up she saw the mismatched group of ships maneuver into a formation and start heading for the opening of the wormhole.

The Vith smiled and pointed at the view screen. "Look, I've ordered them into a tight formation and see how well they behave. Like obedient little children, the poor fools marched to their death."

The creature then walked over and stood close to Aeryn. "Do as I say, Peacekeeper, and I promise it will all be over soon." It whispered. "When I give the order you hit that switch and then we can just sit back and watch the pretty lights."

The two now watched the screen, one holding her breath while biting her lip, the other smiling with wide eyes.

Slowly the Sumtaar ships drifted towards the opening of the wormhole, taking no notice of the Farscape module that hung and bobbed near the entrance. In moments the first ship entered followed by the next and then a third. The Vith held its hand up readying its signal, watching as half the fleet had entered and waited until the other half was close enough to the opening.

The fourth ship drifted in with the last two close behind. Taking a deep breath the Vith yelled.

"NOW!"

…TO BE CONCLUDED