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Sure, with your loving guidance, eh Grasshopper?

[The sigh is that of a teacher put upon, yet again, by a particularly recalcitrant pupil.]

I have no inclination towards such things, John. I believe you know this, underneath your justifications for refusing to aid in my efforts to eliminate the threat to our universe.

[Keep that energy, Scorpy, the dunce hat ain't coming off this boy's head anytime soon.]

Our? Nuh-uh. This is your pet revenge project.

It was. But the moment you gained wormhole knowledge, you became inextricably entangled in it.

Do you think, so long as there is a single Scarran left alive, that you will ever know rest?

Why is it that they know about me in the first place? HM? Oh, right, because of you!

[He sits, calmly regarding the man who has been so many things. Foe, unwilling partner, nemesis. Arbiter of destiny.]

Or rather because you became a part of efforts already ongoing. You placed yourself into history, John, not I.

Your refusal to deal with the consequences will not prevent them from occurring.

YOUR EFFORTS!

[Oh, we are going full tantrum now.]

I didn't do this. I had no frelling choice in any of this. Am I supposed to accept everything you've put me through too? Just "consequences?"

Neither of us did.

[Said with just a hint of annoyance.]

And yes, they're all consequences, John, it is the price we pay, being part of history.

Don't give me that crap. You've made plenty of choices to get here and you're making me be the one to pay for them.

[Being part of history? That stings, because, once upon a time, that's what he desired more than anything. He wanted to make history on Earth. Not like this.]

How's your patience doing now?

[In honesty, he's seldom felt more willing to strike Crichton than right now. Yes, he had made many choices to get here. And once upon a time, he'd been even less willing to be set upon a path. Crichton, who could have had everything, changed the universe so easily with so little pain...]

A bit tested.

[A hiss of breath before he continues.]

But I have made my own payments, time and again. Payments I would willingly make again if it meant saving the universe from extinction. A simple potential outcome you seem unable to grasp.

[A smirk blooms on his pouted lips. Hit a nerve, did he? Better make sure to go back and tapdance all over it.]

That's the rub, isn't it? Willingly. Kind of an important qualifier.

[Being obtuse on purpose. How's that last thread of patience holding on?]

I am not unable to grasp it. I'm very able to grasp that wormholes in Peacekeeper hands would have the same damn effect.

In my hands, Crichton. Do you think, for a moment, I'd be letting people like Grayza be in control of such decisions?

I've seen you on the end of her leash, Grasshopper. Or, should that be boot licker?

[The mental image still makes him shudder.]

I did what I had to to survive. As have you. Tell me: how did that end up?

[He's hiding his hands behind his back, which is for the best as they are very, very eager to rip his head from his body.]

[Something malicious flashes in Crichton's suddenly cold blue eyes.]

You already know the answer to that question.

[Scorpoius isn't the only one straining to keep his hands to himself now. Crichton's leather gloves creak as he flexes and unflexes his fingers.]

I just gotta know. After everything you've done. After everything. Do you really think I'd ever trust you?

[He is silent for a long moment at that, considering the question.]

Trust, no. But work alongside? You know my objectives. My methods. That much could be accomplished if you were not so foolishly stubborn...and so foolishly stubborn merely out of spite.

See, that's the part you really don't get. Oh, yeah, I'm spiteful against your crocodile ass but this... I'm not keeping this from you for spite alone. This power isn't yours to have. The Ancients didn't give it to you. I'm not going to, either.

[A stony silence.]

Then we are condemned, to this cycle, until one of us is dead.