Ivan woke up, disoriented. He didn't have much experience with medical care-- beyond check-ups, at least-- but he now found himself feeling week laying in a critical care bed.
He heard the noises of the equipment around him, supporting his life, and was just barely awake enough to notice an odd whirring sound start up which led to him fading out.
On his next awakening he saw-- and hoped it was nothing more than a nightmare-- Mark, Miles' clone, sitting across from the bed. He looked far too amused with the situation.
Of course, one thing that would increase Ivan's anxiety was staring him in the face and he didn't notice it right away: Mark had lost some weight.
Of course, anyone seeing a person who had enough of Miles' mannerisms was going to be scared, especially if they knew Miles at all. Ivan was smart enough to be scared of that look on his Cousin's face and woke up... suddenly.
Mark's voice was surprisingly melodious. "Hello, Ivan. How are you feeling?"
This brought a pause because he hadn't thought to take a complete inventory on awakening. He did so now.
"Mark? Nothing really hurts... I just feel weak." It took a lot of effort, just to talk.
Mark's head tilted back and he laughed, a most un-Miles-like laugh. "That's understandable. You've been getting worked on for almost five years, now, as Lily has tried to put your body back together. And, let me tell you, Lilly has done good work, too, though I didn't listen to Elli about having you wake up as a woman. If she hadn't been so adamant I might've had that done for you just to annoy you. Miles chiming in that a body mod like that might be a good thing for you made me want to spite them."
'What?' Ivan lay back, shocked.
Mark picked up the thread again, adding, "I'll bet you wish you knew how you ended up needing cryo-revival and damn near full re-assembly using cloned organs?"
Ivan's eyes popped open. Mark nodded, acknowledging Ivan's shock.
It amused mark to no end to see Ivan look under the sheets covering his body to make sure that all of his parts were still intact.
"Being caught the way you were between a plasma arc and a nerve disruptor, Lily and her... sisters... had to create new tricks to make it possible to re-assemble you as a man. There were enough points where making you female would have been a lot easier."
Ivan sighed "Thank you, Mark. How is everybody else?"
Mark leaned back in the chair just as a knock came on the door and Kareen Koudelka walked in. If there was anything to confirm the time he'd been "out of it" it was how mature Kareen looked, now. Mark suddenly glowed, reflecting what must have seemed the light of his life. Kareen looked very pleased, as well, as she greeted him "Hi, Hon." She turned to face Ivan, adding, with a smile, "Ivan, you..." and broke up, laughing.
Mark laughed as well.
"Hello, Kareen. So," Ivan asked, turning back to face Mark, "What happened to me?"
Mark sighed. "There was a hijacking. The Dendarii got the job... and you got nailed in a fire-fight. You're lucky that Lily is a genius and managed to re-generate chunks of your body for you though she's miffed that the techniques weren't quite suitable for rejuvenation. No one would want to be as far gone as you were, you see."
Ivan nodded his head. "What about... people?"
"Miles is still, well... getting along. No, he doesn't have the Council of Counts eating out of his hand... but he is not doing too badly as a mover and shaker. Gregor has been on his back about having having his son bethrothed to Helen but Miles-- and Ekaterin-- have been resisting this as best they can, even though the children aren't even eight years old, yet."
Ivan nodded. "How about Uncle Aral?"
Mark smiled. "In some ways, despite his age, he's doing better than Miles is, most days. Mom is still... Mom."
Ivan knew what that meant. "And my ma?"
Mark reached out for Kareen's hand and they seemed to be glowing together. "Lady Alys," Kareen said, "is still with Simon. I think they've been very good for each other."
Ivan sighed. "So... where does that leave me?"
Mark's face had a smirk on it. "Still on your grand tour."
Mark watched Ivan's face blanch. This was so much fun! Of course, there was only so long he could drag it out before he needed to clarify Ivan's status.
"Actually, Ivan, you'll have physical therapy to help you get your strength back, then... it's off to your next stop, Old Earth."
In the pause as Ivan digested this news, Mark decided to twist the knife. "Of course, I was told-- and I can show you the communique-- that Gregor will allow you back without requiring you find a partner or spouse, you know."
Mark loved getting someone's attention wound up like this.
"Of course, to do that , you'd have to return as a woman."
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Author: Jack C Lipton Title: Ivan Stephanie (Incomplete) Part: 2 Universe: Vorkosiverse Summary: Keywords: Revision: $Revision: 1.1 $ Archive: http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/CupaSoup/www/ Mailing List: FAQ: RCS: $Id: ivan002.x,v 1.1 2007/08/03 03:26:24 jcl Exp $