Still don't own SGU; am getting annoyed about that

Kino Vision Number 13
By EllieV

The kino followed Dr Rush around the ship. The man did not look well; when he was with other people he hid it. Rush had been in the infirmary after the chair released him but as soon as he'd woken up, he left. The kino waited until Lt Johansen came back. She stopped at the door, staring at the empty bed. Rush had barely said a word to her since the operation to remove the alien transmitter. This is what happens, the kino said silently, when someone loses trust in you. This time, at least, he hadn't flattened himself against the bed when she checked on him—unlike last time. The kino thought, after the chair, Rush had simply just left again so he wouldn't be in the same room as her.

Last time, after the operation, Chloe Armstrong had helped him to his quarters as soon as he was able to get out of bed. It had taken them ages, Rush's arm over her shoulder, the other steadying himself against the wall, her arms around his waist. She kept saying it was a bad idea, that he should still be in the infirmary. It took nearly as long to get him lying down on the bed. Chloe stayed for a few minutes before leaving, watching him, a worried frown on her face. Locked out, the kino went with Chloe back to the infirmary. Johansen had arrived to find Chloe sitting next to the empty bed.

She said conversationally, "Dr Rush decided to go back to his quarters."

"He shouldn't be out of bed," Johansen snapped.

Chloe shrugged.

"Chloe …" Johansen said.

"You mentioned some painkillers he should take," Chloe said, taking no notice of the frustration in Johansen's voice.

"He's just had surgery," Johansen said.

"At gunpoint?" Chloe asked brightly.

Johansen's face changed. The kino understood betrayal.

"We had to get that thing out of him," she said.

"He asked 'What are you doing to me?' didn't he," Chloe mused. "Why did he say that, TJ?" Johansen didn't say anything. "What happened after Matt took me to the communications stones room?"

Johansen turned to a cupboard pulling out a container. She poured some white powder into a smaller box and held it out to Chloe.

"A fingertip's worth," she said. "That's all he needs; four times a day."

As Chloe took it she said reproachfully, "You know, I thought you liked him."

"No one likes him," Johansen said immediately.

"Yeah, no one likes him," Chloe echoed.

Johansen watched her go. When she'd come back from her month long sojourn on the planet she'd walked into the infirmary to find Rush pulling something out of a drawer.

"What are you doing?" she said.

Rush flinched but didn't turn around immediately. He shoved a bandage into his pocket before going to leave. Johansen stepped into his path to stop him.

"Still not talking to me?" she asked.

Rush's gaze was on the floor but at this he lifted his eyes. His brow furrowed as if he couldn't work out the difference between the coldness in her voice and the wide-eyed tragedy in her face. He blinked and walked away. She let out a breath. He hadn't spoken to her since, not even as she examined him after the chair.

Rush was carrying a laptop computer and he skirted around the more populated areas of Destiny, though his route did take him near the observation room. He slowed as the kino heard a horrible, horrible sound. Rush's face screwed up as he heard it, too. The kino wanted to put its non-existent hands over its non-existent ears. It didn't know before what the expression "like a pig being strangled" meant—as Volker had said one day about one of the marines who liked singing in the shower—but it imagined this was the exact sound.

Rush paused in the doorway of the observation room then walked in. The kino slid in carefully. Dr Park was ahead of them, holding something under her chin. She was drawing a long stick back and forth across it.

Rush said forcefully, "For god's sake, would you stop that bloody caterwauling."

She jumped, startled, and turned looking embarrassed.

"Oh, Dr Rush," she said. "I'm playing the violin."

"Is that what you call it," Rush said.

"I'm not very good," Park admitted.

"Mmmm," Rush agreed.

He was between horrified and amused, thought the kino.

"I learned to play as a kid but I liked science better than music," Park said. "I don't know who this belonged to; it was in one of the cases that came through with us. No one claimed it." She became morbid. "They're probably dead back at Icarus."

Rush seemed to be waiting for her to say something else. At this stage, the kino remembered, he was usually accused of getting them stuck there or providing false hope or something similar.

But unexpectedly, she asked hopefully, "Do you play?"

He said immediately, "No, I don't."

He backed away, closing up for some reason.

Park seemed to sense that she'd said something wrong and she put in hastily, "And I can't tune it properly coz one of the pegs is broken." She held up the violin and pointed at the top. The kino zoomed in. The "peg" dangled. There seemed to be a part missing.

Rush nodded slowly and she offered to leave if he wanted the room to himself. He seemed to be looking inwards. At this, he blinked and said, "No, no I'm …" He gave a vague wave towards the door and turned on his heel, leaving quickly.

Park stood awkwardly, watching him go. She put the violin down and sat on the seat, watching the light stream by.

Rush didn't usually leave the door of his quarters open and the kino waited too long to sneak in. It hovered outside, ever hopeful, that Rush would be called to some emergency during the night but nothing at all happened. The kino went into sleep mode but perked up as soon as Rush's door opened. Rush didn't look any better. The kino had spent several nights watching Rush, since he'd got out of the chair, silently crying over his photograph. This morning, though, Rush's eyes weren't rimmed with red.

The kino followed Rush to the mess hall, a check in his step as he saw Lt Johansen sitting at a table by herself. She looked very unhappy.

Camille Wray said, "Good morning, Dr Rush."

Rush said, with a little mocking shake of his head, "Is it?"

He looked over to where Brody, Volker and Park were sitting.

"Dr Rush," Volker called cheerfully. "We're talking about the master code. Brody's managed to have an idea."

"Managed?" Brody snapped indignantly, as Park grinned widely.

Rush bit his lip slightly, hesitating, then walked over and sat down. Despite the abundant food, Rush stuck to the gloop.

Park smiled at him and said, "You look like you didn't sleep much. Are you feeling okay?"

"Dr Park," Rush said, ignoring this. His voice was conversational. "You do realize I know more about this ship than anyone else."

Her smile vanished and she said, "Yes?"

"So, I could find some utterly horrible ways to hurt people who annoy me," he said with some relish.

He made no attempt to lower his voice. He even smiled at her. Brody and Volker looked alarmed. Johansen looked up, misery in her face. Some semi-raised themselves in their seats. Others were frozen, all of them staring.

"Yes?" Park repeated in a squeak.

He took her hand, placed something in it, and folded her fingers over it.

"So, if you lose this, please bear that in mind," Rush said pleasantly.

Park opened her hand and looked as if she was about to cry. The kino zoomed in.

It was a violin peg, carved out of the wood he was using for the chess pieces.

"I've run out of wood," Rush said simply.

He got up and strolled out. As he passed Johansen, his smile vanished.

She watched him go, no expression on her face at all.

FINIS

So, here's the thing: remember last year when I said I cut out part of a kino vision because it was too long? It was a Park bit? And then I said I wouldn't post it because it was spoilerific? This is it. Most of the Park bit is exactly how I wrote it last year, though I changed the reason why Rush sat down at the table (previously the kino thought it was to annoy Wray). Much of the TJ stuff I reworked from another fic-in-progress, which was also written prior to the return of SGU to our screens, mixed in the Divided, Faith, Human stuff and baked for an hour on high heat. Many thanks to my spoiler gals for letting me know what happened so I could post this instead of waiting.