Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm just playing. I'll put'em back when I'm done.

Rating: G

Synopsis: Stuck in a bad spot, Aeryn and John have to resort to extraordinary means to get away.

There was only one way for them to get past both the PK troops and Scorpius. Aeryn knew that, but she had yet to convince John of the same. He was a nervous wreck with the knowledge that Scorpius was in the area and stood in the way of their escape route. He kept pacing the room of the house they were hiding in, kept muttering under his breath, stopped occasionally to stare darkly at the door before he resumed his pacing again. Aeryn sat on a chair next to the door and just watched him pace. If all went well, Chiana would return shortly with their way out. Aeryn only thanked their lucky stars that Rygel hadn't accompanied them on this trip. That would have fouled up her plan.

Her train of thought was derailed when Chiana came in. She handed her the package, small as it was, and hurried out again. "John," Aeryn said and got up.

He stopped short, but only for a microt. Then he resumed his pacing and muttering again. "Bad move. Bad, bad, bad move," he grumbled.

"John," she repeated and stepped in his way. "Would you stop and listen to me for a microt?"

He did stop, but he obviously had no intention of listening to her. "How are we gonna get out of here, huh? How? I just don't see it. There is a ton of PKs running around out there and they're all looking for me," he said, jabbing a finger against his chest. "And as if that wasn't enough, Scorpy's also here. And he's looking for me too. And you know what he wants from me, don't you? Yeah, you do. He wants to fry my frelling brain some more so that he can get at what doesn't belong there in the first place."

Aeryn almost felt inclined to smile, but refrained from doing so because he was so upset about this. She grabbed his shoulders. "Listen to me," she said again, stressing each word in order to get through to him. "I have a plan."

He stared at her for a microt, then frowned and nodded. "One that will actually work?" he asked.

"I'm assured that it does. I haven't tried it myself, but I have it on good authority that this ... will do the trick," she said with a smile and held up the little package Chiana had brought her.

John stared at it for a microt and then gave her a frown. "Unless that's an inflatable spaceship, I don't see how that is going to get us anything," he said.

Aeryn sighed, opened the package and pulled out two small square pieces of film. They were semi-transparent with some kind of writing on them. "These," she said and held one up, "are transformers."

"Transformers?" he asked and kept staring at her as if he expected her to tell him she was kidding.

"Yes, transformers," she agreed with a smile.

"What do they do?" he asked and gingerly took the one she was holding up.

Aeryn eyed him for a microt while an old thought resurfaced. Now and again, she had the distinct impression that he was dense on purpose. At other times she figured he just didn't know any better. "They are transformers," she repeated. "What the frell do you think they do?"

He stared at the transformer he was holding, then raised his gaze to meet hers and frowned again. "Transform?" he asked. She could tell by his tone alone that although he had understood that much, he didn't know what they were supposed to transform.

She held her breath for a moment just to keep a lid on an otherwise less than beneficial comment. "Yes," she then agreed and forced a smile onto her lips. "They transform. Us."

He arched an eyebrow for a microt, then frowned again. "Us?" he asked. "How the hell can this little piece of film transform us?"

As the more general workings of the transformers defied her understanding, she had no real explanation for him in that regard. And she had learned from cycles of experience that he understood what he could see much more easily than what she told him. "You take this," she said and held the other transformer up, "turn the writing out," she added and turned it around so the writing was clearly on the side facing away from her, "and stick it here," she finished, pulled her vest out a little and placed the transformer on her chest right above her heart. "Like so," she added and spread out her arms.

John stared at her. "Wow," he then said, glanced down at the transformer he was holding and then clearly focused on her chest. "Wow," he repeated.

Aeryn frowned. That was a little too inarticulate for him. She glanced down herself, well aware that the transformation was visible to her as well, and her eyes widened. Somewhat stunned, she turned around and strode over to the mirror hanging on the far wall. What she saw reflected back at her was definitely not what she had been after. "Frell," she hissed, her cheeks blushing red. "I'm going to kill Chiana."

The End