When I wrote this, I hadn't seen all of the episodes. That, plus the general dicking around that was done of the episode order *anyway* just please bear with it, and take the implications of order as they come.
It was also initially written in three parts -- I'm putting them all in one file this time since it's a flowing story that just got posted in three bits.
Dr. Sarah Chambers sighed and opened the door to her quarters on the Excalibur. It had been a long day.
To her surprise, the room was already lit, although dimly. She peered into the darkness, and could make out a small figure moving towards her.
"Dureena ..."
"Shhh ..." The smaller woman stepped into the light and Sarah studied her closely. Sarah swallowed hard as her lover drew near. Dureena's arms slid up around her neck, pulling her head gently down.
Their lips met in a tender kiss. Sarah's arms slid around the thief's waist, part of her marveling at her smallness. The tall woman's hands moved down to cup Dureena's firm buttocks and the kiss deepened.
After another long moment, Sarah finally straightened, breaking the kiss. "Not that I don't appreciate it hon, but what brought this on?" One hand reached up to brush a lock of Dureena's silken hair away from her face.
The smaller woman looked down briefly, and stepped away, walking over to sit on the bed. "It was being back on Praxis."
Sarah joined her lover on the bed, sitting beside her and taking her hand gently in both of hers. "Oh, honey ..."
"Being there ... Remembering it all again ..." She paused for a moment, staring at the wall. Sarah recognized the look of pained remembrance and kept silent, knowing by now that Dureena needed to fight her own demons. Finally, she turned back to the taller woman and smiled. "Remembering what I had ... or rather, what I didn't have back then ... Makes me appreciate what I have here all the more." She leaned close to Sarah, resting her head like a child on the other woman's shoulder.
Sarah wrapped her arms around Dureena and held her close, rocking her gently. After a long moment, she realized that Dureena had fallen asleep.
Moving carefully, Sarah lay Dureena back on the bed, letting the other woman sleep. Standing, she changed into a night gown, extinguished the candles, and got into bed beside Dureena. She pulled a blanket over them and wrapped an arm Dureena's waist, spooning the other woman against her. A moment later, she was asleep.
~~~~
The room is dark. A girl - almost a woman - waits in fear. It's happened before, but she still fears it. A door opens, a cold gray light falling into the room, framing the figure of a large man. He moves towards the girl. She shuffles back, trying to get away. She knows she'll suffer for resisting, but she refuses to let it happen without a fight. She whimpers as he moves closer, knowing it won't help; that no one can hear her but Him.
The man catches her, grabbing her arm in a viselike grip. He pulls her roughly to her feet, his free hand tugging at her ragged clothes. She fights him futilely, her tiny fists beating his chest as he touches her. The girl feels something between her legs. Something she's felt a thousand times before. The man pushes her against the wall, spreading her legs ...
~~~
"NO!!" Dureena screamed, awakening herself, and Sarah. She turned to the woman beside her, seeking the silent comfort of her arms.
Sarah wrapped her arms around the small woman, holding her tightly. She could feel the small frame tremble in her arms as she soothed her, stroking her hair. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked gently, not wanting to press too hard.
Dureena didn't look up, instead, she curled closer to Sarah. "It happened when I was a slave ... I was ... young ..." Her voice was muffled, both by unshed tears and Sarah's shoulder. "Just the right age to be ... interesting. The ma-. The man who first ... bought me, he ..." Dureena sniffled. "He kept me in a room, small dark ... Every night he would ... Gods ... Why did I have to remember? I had almost forgotten. I thought I was over it ... But being back ... I remember it all. Every night ... Oh Sarah, why do people let things like that happen? I thought Gideon was a good person, but he didn't seem to care about the slaves down on Praxis. He's no better than the rest." Her voice was full of rage and hate. Sarah swallowed hard, wishing she could comfort Dureena more.
Dureena moved suddenly, pulling away from Sarah and cupping her face in her hands. "Sarah. Promise me that you'll never let that happen again. Not to me, not to anyone."
"I-Dureena ... I'll do what I can but -"
"Promise me!" Dureena's hands tightened.
"I promise!" Sarah's eyes were wide and she tried to hide the fear in them.
Dureena was still for a moment, then pulled her hands away and her face changed, relaxing slightly, calming. She looked at Sarah for a moment, then she saw the pale bruises on her face. "Oh gods ... " Her fingers gingerly traced the finger marks. "I'm so sorry ... I never meant to ..." She stood quickly, moving away from the bed, towards the door.
"Dureena, it's okay ..." Sarah stood as well, keeping her eyes on Dureena."
"No. I'm sorry ..." With that, Dureena slipped through the door, almost running.
Sarah bolted to the door and looked out, but the thief was gone. She knew better than to try and look for her.
If Dureena didn't want to be found, they could tear the ship apart panel by panel and still not find her.
===================================
Dureena made her way through parts of the ship the designers didn't know about. She ran, crawled, climbed, wiggled, and squirmed through the guts of the ship. Finally, exhausted, she collapsed against a bulkhead. As fatigue overcame her, so too did the memories she'd been fleeing.
~~~
She hadn't entirely understood what her family was doing in this strange, hostile place. The youngest of three children, she was with her parents and older brothers.
At the space port, she waited with her parents. They didn't tell her everything, but her brothers were afraid, so she was as well. Her parents left her and her brothers in a room with many other people. Most of races she'd never seen before. Some of the men tried to touch her, but her brothers protected her. They told her not to worry, that they would stay together. The people around them spoke in languages she didn't understand, and her fear deepened, despite her brothers reassurances.
For a long time they waited in that small, crowded room. Some of the people were taken away, and more came. Finally, her brothers were taken. She tried to go with them, but they held her back. Her oldest brother tried to fight the men taking him, saying he wouldn't leave his sister. A large man with a gun shot him without a word. The smell of her brothers singed flesh filled her nostrils as her remaining brother was dragged away. She never saw him again. The body of her brother lay on the floor of the room, no one going near it. She huddled by the still form, as though it would protect her. All around her she could feel eyes on her. She knew what they wanted - she'd seen her brother with other girls. The thought of it happening to her made her sick.
Several hours later, when her brother's body was cold and hard, some men came to take it away. She fought, kicking, screaming, and scratching at everything within reach, but she accomplished nothing. One of the men swatted her against the wall as though she was a mere insect. The last thing she saw was her brothers body being carried away.
When she awoke, she was sore all over, especially her legs, and ... Realizing what had happened, it was as though everything caught up to her. She cried, mourning her parents, who'd abandoned her and her brothers to this place. Her brother - dead. Her other brother - torn from her.
She was alone.
It would be several more hours before, finally, they came for her. Roughly she was dragged out of the small room. Large shackles were put on her wrists, she could feel them cutting into her skin. Someone dragged her along, her short legs unable to keep up.
Dureena was pulled onto a small platform and a man turned her around, speaking in a strange tongue. Around her, she heard snatches of words she understood. Not enough to make sense of. She heard men in the group below the podium shouting things and she began to figure out what was happening.
She was being sold. Parents had sold their children into slavery. Both her brothers gone - one dead protecting her, the other sold who knows where.
She didn't hear the rest, her mind was numb. Finally the auction was over and she was led to a room. There a woman clean her, roughly scrubbing her, heedless of the cuts and bruises on Dureena's skin. The shackles came off and the blood was cleaned from them and her wrists. There was a prick in her arm and a moment later, Dureena knew only blackness.
~~~
Dureena awoke with a start. She looked around and realized she was somewhere on the Excalibur. Somewhere inside the workings, where even maintenance crews didn't go. For a moment, she wondered why she was there, then in a flash, it came back to her.
All at once she remembered Praxis 9. She captain was going to go ... She'd gone with him, thinking she'd gotten past what had happened.
She had never expected to find herself there again. Having survived a second time, she'd wanted to ...
"Sarah." The night before came back to her. Sarah, the candles, holding her. The dream. She'd hurt Sarah. Dureena had hurt the only person in all the galaxy she gave half a damn about.
Standing, Dureena began to run again. She felt that if, somehow, she ran far enough, she would be able to leave all the pain behind.
But Excalibur wasn't big enough. The Universe itself isn't large enough to allow someone to outrun themselves.
=================================
Returning to her room, Sarah curled up in a chair, hugging her knees to her chest. She never knew what to do when Dureena was upset. It was the only time in her life she'd ever been at a total loss.
Unbidden, her mind began to wander back over the months of their time together. Sarah had liked the woman immediately, but she didn't know how far she had fallen until ... Until that time in medbay with Galen.
It was right after they'd beaten the nanotech virus and Sarah was attempting to patch up the technomage. Gideon had just gotten word that the last shuttle had docked. A moment later, Dureena appeared, covered head to toe in dirt and carrying Galen's staff.
It was then that Sarah knew she was in love with Dureena.
It wasn't until some time later that those feelings were allowed to surface.
A few days after Natchok had died, Sarah was listening to one of the data crystals, letting the music - and the hope - flow over her.
She was interrupted by her door chime. Taking off the headphones, she said "Enter."
She was no small bit surprised to see Dureena standing there. "Come in, have a seat." Sarah straightened in her chair, noting Dureena's discomfort.
The small woman entered the room, lowering herself into a chair across from Sarah. "Gideon told me this was yours." She placed a data crystal on the table. Sarah recognized it as the one she'd given Gideon and raised an eyebrow.
"Did you enjoy it?"
A quick smile flash on Dureena's lips, to be replaced by a look of profound sadness. "Yes. It was very hopeful ... Like Gidoen said."
There was a pause before Dureena continued. "But it's also dead. The culture that made that ... they lost the hope. It's good hope, but it's dead."
"I ..." Sarah was at a loss for words. Dureena had that effect on her.
"I need living hope, Sarah." Dureena fixed her penetrating gaze on the doctor. She leaned forward and took Sarah's hand in hers. "You seem to have hope to spare. Will you share your hope with me?"
"I'll share everything I have with you." She spoke barely above a whisper. A moment later she felt Dureena's lips on hers.
After that night, there was no turning back.
Despite their tender times together, Dureena had never opened up to Sarah, not really. She didn't push, for fear of pushing too hard and risk losing Dureena.
Sarah was brought back to the present by the sound of her door hissing open.
She looked up to see Dureena standing here. The thief knelt before her lover and wiped the tears Sarah hadn't even noticed away. The women embraced tightly, neither speaking - and neither needing to.
-Piano solo, fade to black-
