THE DEADLIER GAMES

This AU is, of course, based on the second-season episode entitled "The Deadly Games Of Gamma 6."

            In this universe, Smith saved  his tormenting of Robinson to enter Mr. Miko's games until evening, when he was alone with Robinson and West in the control room of the ship. The children had already gone to bed.

            Smith sat in Robinson's customary seat before the view-screen, with West sitting to his right, in his own seat. Robinson was wandering and working on minor issues. The older man began to harangue Robinson about his responsibilities to participate in the games for the benefit of all. He regaled the commander regarding his tremendous physical prowess, and Smith's certainty that Robinson would easily win.

            When Robinson finally lost his temper, instead of chasing him away, as in our universe, he lunged at the older man in his seat, brandishing his fist. Robinson's other hand caught the back of the chair, tilting it perilously backward. Smith shrieked, cringed hard, and hastily turned his vulnerable face away, which aimed his gaze directly toward West. Robinson leaned frighteningly close, his own enraged face and his fist filling Smith's forward view. Unable to flee, thoroughly trapped, utterly terrified, Smith whimpered to West, "Help me!!! Please!!! Stop him!!!"

            West grinned in savage amazement. "You're asking me to save you from John?! Now, that's quite a twist!!"

            Robinson grinned angrily. "An ironic reversal, I'd say! Quite the switch!"

            "Please, help me!!! Don't let him hurt me!!!" Smith gasped. "Major, I'm afraid!!!"

            Furious, Robinson once again forcefully jostled the chair in which Smith sat.

            Automatically, almost unconsciously, Smith's hands rose to completely, defensively cover his face, and he sobbed heartbreakingly into them.

            Robinson hesitated, and he and West stared at each other as Smith wept and wailed and begged and pleaded incoherently for mercy. Ever-so-slowly, Robinson let go of the back of the chair and straightened. He and West exchanged rueful looks as Smith slowly acknowledged Robinson's withdrawal, and very gradually lowered his protective hands from his face. Smith eyed them both, from one to the other, with tear-blurred blue eyes and a face that was as white and wet as a snowstorm.

            It took a while for all three to calm: Smith from fright, Robinson from rage, and West from borderline-cruel amusement.

            "You nearly always have to ask John to protect you from me. So when he scared you, why did you ask for help from me, of all people?" West demanded.

            "I had no one else. The others are not here." Smith's voice shook so badly that the two men could barely understand him.

            "Smith? Why do you fear this so much?" Robinson asked, showing his fist.

            "Yeah, why?" West echoed his thought.

            The latter looked bewildered by the question. "Because...it's what you two do. Frequently. To aliens. And it's how you threaten me. For instance, if you instead constantly threatened to stab me, I would panic every time either of you picked up a butter knife at the table."

            Robinson corrected him, "A butter knife would be too broad and dull to stab and penetrate; it could only cause a blunt-force trauma."

            "A steak knife, then. I see that I made a poor analogy. But I hope that you both still understand my meaning," Smith replied humbly, deferentially.

            West offered, "But we both sometimes threaten to break your neck instead. And yet that seems to frighten you less."

            Smith pondered, trying to think of the explanation. "Well, you threaten that less often than...this. Plus, I guess it's more nebulous, less concrete, since I'm unsure of how you would actually go about it. I've never seen you break anyone's neck. Therefore, I have no clear mental image to terrify me."

            Genuinely trying to understand, Robinson said, "So your level of fear truly depends on how we go about threatening you?" Softening just a bit, and attempting to offer sincerely comforting affection, Robinson lightly traced Smith's jaw with a finger.

            Smith shivered and almost winced in response; Robinson withdrew the finger.

            "Yes. Exactly," the older man confirmed shakily.

            West slid his chair closer, and carefully clasped Smith's arm with one hand. "Relax, he's trying to show concern."

            "Sorry," Smith said with a light gasp. "I'm just still very frightened!"

            Robinson assured him calmly, "If I were going to hit you, I'd have done it by now."

            Smith's eyes widened, and he gulped, terror written in his expression.

            Ruefully, Robinson pointed out, "That was meant to reassure you that the danger is over."

            "Oh." Smith was abashed. "Sorry. And thank you."

            Eyes on each other, Robinson gave Smith's other arm a gentle squeeze, as West still held the first one, and this time, Smith managed to keep still, and to keep his eyes open, and not wince. Then, he looked from one feared man to the other and whispered plaintively, "Please. Don't ever really hurt me. Not for real! Please! These close-calls are as much as I think I can endure! From either of you!"

            As gently as he could, West asked, "So, you expect us to say that we'll never hurt you??"

            "Given you behavior??" Robinson demanded. "We can't possibly promise that!"

            "Please. Never. Please never!" Smith implored tearily. He turned both hands to carefully take hold of the two hands that were comfortingly patting his arms.

            "Smith...," said West.

            "Please! Help! I can't...!" Smith recommenced sobbing. "I need you to understand! I am more afraid of you two than I've ever been of anyone else in my life! And I was so sure that this was it this time! My fear reached a new level beyond any I had ever felt before! And yet...I care deeply about you and the family! And I wish we could be friends! But I don't know how!!"

            "Friends???" West uttered, as if the word were somehow alien.

            Smith nodded mutely, and then turned to Robinson and said slowly, emphatically, "I sincerely...genuinely...deeply...truly apologize for the completely out-of-line things that I said, in trying to persuade you! And I'll never say anything like that ever again!"

            Robinson was staring intently at Smith, and he said, "If I'm ever to be your friend, you need to understand that I came closer, minutes ago, to plowing you one, than I ever did at any time in the past."

            Smith cringed in fright, but didn't break eye contact as the men would naturally have expected him to do, as he had always done previously, whenever threatened.

            Robinson pressed on, "Do you hear me? I came closer to hurting you than I ever did before, and I...would've hurt you rather badly."

            Now Smith did wince hard, his eyes closed, and his lip quivered, and he shivered with terror, and gasped slowly and in stages, almost like syllables of a long gasping word.

            Robinson persisted, "And yet you want us to try to be friends? Do you?"

            Smith nodded mutely.

            "Does that include me?" questioned West. "Despite the fact that I have threatened you many, many more times than John has?"

            Smith was still nodding silently. In fact, he had never stopped.

            "And knowing that I, too, have come...er...'painfully'...uh...close to hurting you thoroughly more than a few times, also?"

            Smith winced at the rather unkind pun, but he still nodded.

            "Do you want to be friends only because you think it will keep us from hurting you? Because it won't." Robinson observed Smith disarmingly.

            West clearly agreed and chimed in, "Not if you deserve it. We just had to tell you that."

            "I understand," Smith responded softly, obviously frightened, but still standing by his request.

            West cleared his throat. "Another thing. You realize...it's not exactly typical for a man to want to hold hands with...other men?"

            Smith's gaze dropped demurely, and then he said, "I imagine that you've noticed by now that I'm not exactly typical...typical...anything."

            Robinson's and West's eyes slightly sparkled in response.

            "Ummm, yeah, I think we've noticed," answered West.

            "So..., if you can stand to be friends with a total coward...?"

            Both men regarded him sympathetically at that.

            Then, Robinson said, "So, I guess, if you can want to be friends with your potential...attackers..., then we can try to be friends with an...atypical...'total coward.'"

            Smith actually smiled. "We can try."

            Robinson and West smiled back at him.

            And then they decided to tease him.

            West said, "So, you like non-typical displays of kindness and affection? Do you like my knuckles rubbing against your cheek?" He demonstrated lightly.

            "Only nonviolently," Smith replied, suppressing a shudder. "Gently, please!"

            Robinson couldn't resist doing the same on Smith's other cheek. Robinson and West chuckled, their eyes twinkling with amusement, as Smith shivered and trembled and whimpered.

            "This is going to be one strange friendship," Robinson remarked.

            "Amen," said West.