Marcus
(A/N: Me again. This is sort of the continuation of The Beginning of Happiness, set, as will become very clear soon, in a post season 5 AU. This story ignored A Call for Arms and Crusade, but elements from any of the novels, most importantly To Dream in the City of Sorrows, may appear. Rated R for a reason, but will not become so until way later. They all belong to JMS, TNT and whoever else owns them and is not me. I'll dust them off before I return them.)
At first there was only darkness and heaviness. He'd been so lightheaded right before the end, floating away, and now he felt too heavy to move. Gradually, though, over a time somewhere between a second and an eternity, other senses returned. He could hear something- not the buzz and drone of machinery. He still couldn't open his eyes. Someone was chanting over him in Minbari. Was he dead? Back in Tuzanor training, in a ritualistic hell? He had no idea. Too sluggish to even panic, he allowed the sound to flow over him, sensations oozing slowly into his returning consciousness. He was flat on his back, lying on something fairly hard, wearing...something unfamiliar, but definitely dressed. The chant resolved itself into a simple meditation tune. The air was dry and cool, but not cold. If only he could open his eyes...He tried to wriggle his toes. It hurt. The chanting stopped.
"Don't move yet, Little Ranger." A deep voice spoke in Minbari. "And don't try to talk yet, either. You've been still a long time, and need to get used to your body again."
Long time? Memories returned last, and with them- wait, he was supposed to be dead. And if he was- why was heaven in Minbari? And if he wasn't...Oh, Valen's Name, Susan! His eyes shot open and he found voice enough to groan in pain at the bright light. Something covered his face, shielding him.
"Never listen, you young things." The voice complained, "Let that be a lesson. Now stay still, for your sake and mine." There was little else he could do. The cover was gone, but his eyes were closed again. "Now, just in case you have forgotten, your name is Marcus Cole, and you are a human and a Ranger. My name, since we have not been formally introduced, is Draal."
Draal. He'd heard of him- Guardian of the Great Machine on Epsilon 3. Were they there, or on Babylon 5, or was he dead anyway? "'M I dead?" He croaked, his voice alien to his ears.
"Not quite, but you were very close for a long time, as you humans count it."
Not dead. Well, on some levels that was good. On others- "Susan?"
"Is fine, Little Ranger. Your crazy trick with the machine worked, which just proved that the universe is a hopeless romantic." Draal said. Marcus could feel tears gather and slide out under closed lids. She was alive, after all. "There, now, I'll never understand you humans, not if I watch for a thousand years. You should be happy, Little Ranger."
He was, but far too tired to explain it. Secure that, for the moment, she was alive and so was he, by some miracle, Marcus allowed darkness to claim him once again.
He woke up to another bright light, and managed to roll away from it this time. He was far less heavy, and didn't hurt nearly as much as before. He blinked a few times and the light settled into muted reds and browns. An unfamiliar face appeared, but the voice and the bone-crest identified him easily.
"You're a stubborn one, aren't you? Eager to move. Oh, for the energy of youth. Take your time- you've got plenty of it now." Draal smiled. Marcus, still fuzzy, pushed himself up into a sitting position by bracing against a convenient cave wall. He was stiff all over, and felt about as strong as a wet noodle.
"How, why and how long?" He rasped, confused.
"Here." Draal gestured to the ground, where a mug of water rested on a rock. "Drink this first. Slowly, please."
Marcus had rarely been more grateful for water, but his throat constricted around the first mouthful and he spent the next moment spluttering and choking. He tried again, taking tiny sips this time, and emptied the mug slowly. "Thank you. Now, how, why, and how long?"
"How did you come to be here? By shuttle, I suppose. Zathras brought you in. Why? Because some of your friends were unwilling to give up hope that you might recover, and asked for my help in bringing you back to life with the Great Machine, which I gladly provided. As for how long-"Draal thought for a long while, letting Marcus think up nightmare scenarios in which everybody he'd known and loved were long dead, "Just over an Earth year."
Relief swept over him, calming his fears. A year wasn't really that much. "Is the war over?"
"On Earth, yes. On Minbar as well, though there have been several conflicts between worlds in the past year." Draal gave him a quick, not very thorough rundown on recent galactic events, finishing with the Alliance moving to Minbar.
"Sheridan's president? I thought he hated politics. So there's no one left on the station?" Marcus was just on the edge of feeling sorry for himself. Draal huffed.
"On the station, no one you know, but you have friends on several worlds, even if they thought you dead all year. They'll be quite delighted."
"Oh." Marcus leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. "It's going to take me a while to get used to the idea of being alive again. Was I really dead?"
"Not entirely, but you were close enough that all scanners and tests read you as dead. Some stubborn part of your soul clung on to life, though, and Delenn had your cryo-tube sent here to see what the Machine could do to heal you. It's taken all year, and you're still closer to death than you should be. Rest now. When you're stronger, Zathras will take you wherever you choose to go."
"Right." Without much thought, between one breath and the next, Marcus was asleep. Draal looked at him for a long moment, smiled, then called out, "Zathras! Zathras!"
"Yes?" One of them appeared around a corner. Draal indicated the sleeping Ranger.
"Watch over him, and make sure there's proper food around when he wakes up. Human food, Zathras- get it on the station if you must. And get the shuttle ready to leave in a day or two." Draal's image glowed gold for a second, then faded away. Zathras clicked his tongue.
"Zathras do, Zathras get, Zathras prepare...Zathras fly all over galaxy, but Zathras rest? No, never that."
Three days later, according to Draal, Marcus felt steady enough on his feet to face the outside world. Draal agreed that he should contact Delenn before deciding where he should go next. His Ranger uniform, kept in storage by Draal for a year, hung on him loosely and made him look, in his own opinion at least, like a scarecrow. He paced the cave nervously, waiting for the connection to come through. Finally he looked at Draal's physical form, connected to the Machine. "Could you tell her? Just, break it to her gently? I don't want to shock her."
"If you insist." The hologram shimmered into being and drifted down to the floor. "If my sources are correct, shocking her could lead to trouble. Speaking of trouble, why are you calling Delenn rather than the lady of your heart?"
Marcus looked down, "I can't- not yet, at least. And she's not the lady of my anything."
"Tell it to someone who'll believe it, Little Ranger." Draal chuckled. "It's connecting- you might want to step back." Marcus moved out of the screen's reach and watched, heart in mouth, as Draal waited for the connection. Suddenly the guardian winced, giving him a slightly embarrassed look, "Perhaps we should have waiting with the call."
"Why?" Marcus asked as the screen cleared, showing a sleep-rumpled, yawning and blinking Sheridan.
"Because it's just about the fourth hour after midnight on Minbar." Draal explained, 'I'm terribly sorry, Mr. President, but I need to talk to Delenn immediately."
"Draal? Never thought I'd see you again. Is this urgent?"
"I would've waited until morning if it was not, Mr. president."
"Are you sure? I'd hate to wake her up." Sheridan looked behind him, "Never mind, too late. There she is." Delenn appeared, looking quite different from her usual neat self. While Marcus gaped at the leader of the Rangers with her hair a mess, wearing a fairly daring nightgown and most astonishingly pregnant, she inquired, "John, who is it?"
"Friend of yours." The president of the Interstellar Alliance grumbled. "I'm going back to bed."
"Draal." Delenn rested her hands on her hips, "I hope this is important." She looked distinctly irritated.
"Of course it is, Delenn. You don't really think I'd wake you up in the middle of the night for nothing in your condition."
"My condition nothing, old friend. What is it?" Delenn sat down on the corner of a desk as Marcus processed this new information- Sheridan and Delenn were living together, probably married- yes, he could see a ring- and she was pregnant. Draal hadn't mentioned that .How incredible.
"A year ago, Delenn, you left a package in my care." Draal started, "I believe it is about ready for delivery."
Delenn said nothing for a few minutes, hand pressed against her mouth as her eyes filled with wonder. "Marcus?" She whispered at last.
"Yes, Marcus. It took a long time, but he's back on his feet, more or less. No lasting damage as far as my limited knowledge can tell."
"Is he- does he remember?" Tears shown in Delenn's eyes, "Is he there?"
"Here." When he found it, Marcus' voice cracked, "I'm here." He moved into the screen's view and bowed, "Greetings, Entil'Zha." Formality helped.
"Greeting, Ranger." She replied- apparently it was helping her too. "Marcus...It's good to see you. I almost lost hope..."
"You, Delenn? Never." Draal interrupted, "I know you could stare at each other all night now, so allow me to drag you back down to reality. How soon do you want him home?"
"As early or as late as he'd like, of course." Delenn came back to herself, "If you wish to come at all, that is."
"Of course I do." Marcus wasn't entirely sure of that, but it was the only viable option as he saw it. He'd been ready to die, and being alive after all that was strange, almost scary. Minbar was a safe, familiar place to go. Were they all angry with him? Was Susan? Did anybody even remember him after all that had happened? "As soon as possible." He added. Better to get it over with fast. Once they've kicked him out of the Rangers, he'd figure something out. "Delenn-"He started, then glanced at Draal. Not now. "There's a lot to catch up on."
"Yes." She nodded, practically glowing, "Leave as soon as you're strong enough, then. I'll get things ready for you here."
"Right." He nearly forgot the second most important thing. Several things were missing from his personal belongings. "Just- where is my pin? And my fighting pike?" He felt naked without them.
"They're safe." Delenn said guardedly, obviously not letting on as much as she knew. "You'll have them back in good time."
"Delenn, where are they?" Marcus didn't have the patience for the art of Minbari conversation right now.
"I'd rather not say yet, Ranger Cole." There was a firmness in Delenn's voice that made any further arguing unthinkable. "You'll find out when you come here."
"Fine." He turned away, irrationally upset at her curtness. "I'll be there in about a week."
"We'll be waiting. Good night." The connection ended, anmd Marcus started pacing again, stomping his feet and swearing under his breath.
"You are upset, Little Ranger." Draal observed sardonically.
"Of course I'm upset!" Marcus paced faster. "I was dead! I made my peace with the universe, got ready for a noble sacrifice, acted like a total idiot and now I'm here again, not dead! How am I supposed to handle that?"
"I don't know." The old Minbari actually seemed amused by his plight, "but I rather doubt stomping and yell is how. Listen to me, Little Ranger- was your sacrifice for a good cause?"
"Yes." of that he was sure. He'd much rather have died than lived in a world where she was dead, and the war needed her far more than it needed him, anyway. "It was for a good cause. But they're going to be so angry...You're not supposed to have to explain why you killed yourself after the fact!"
"No, I don't imagine you are, but you Humans are resourceful beings. You'll think of something, I'm sure." Draal tried to pat him on the back, but his holographic hand went right through, tingling as it passed. "I saw Delenn- she wasn't angry."
"Not yet, but she has a full week to think about it now." Marcus said despondently. "They always get angry when they've had a while to get used to the idea." It also gave him a week to work himself into a state over it.
"Then we should make an effort to get you there faster, shouldn't we? You don't need to pack- I'll make sure Zathras has the shuttle ready. In the meantime," Draal started to fade away, "meditate."
(A/N: Me again. This is sort of the continuation of The Beginning of Happiness, set, as will become very clear soon, in a post season 5 AU. This story ignored A Call for Arms and Crusade, but elements from any of the novels, most importantly To Dream in the City of Sorrows, may appear. Rated R for a reason, but will not become so until way later. They all belong to JMS, TNT and whoever else owns them and is not me. I'll dust them off before I return them.)
At first there was only darkness and heaviness. He'd been so lightheaded right before the end, floating away, and now he felt too heavy to move. Gradually, though, over a time somewhere between a second and an eternity, other senses returned. He could hear something- not the buzz and drone of machinery. He still couldn't open his eyes. Someone was chanting over him in Minbari. Was he dead? Back in Tuzanor training, in a ritualistic hell? He had no idea. Too sluggish to even panic, he allowed the sound to flow over him, sensations oozing slowly into his returning consciousness. He was flat on his back, lying on something fairly hard, wearing...something unfamiliar, but definitely dressed. The chant resolved itself into a simple meditation tune. The air was dry and cool, but not cold. If only he could open his eyes...He tried to wriggle his toes. It hurt. The chanting stopped.
"Don't move yet, Little Ranger." A deep voice spoke in Minbari. "And don't try to talk yet, either. You've been still a long time, and need to get used to your body again."
Long time? Memories returned last, and with them- wait, he was supposed to be dead. And if he was- why was heaven in Minbari? And if he wasn't...Oh, Valen's Name, Susan! His eyes shot open and he found voice enough to groan in pain at the bright light. Something covered his face, shielding him.
"Never listen, you young things." The voice complained, "Let that be a lesson. Now stay still, for your sake and mine." There was little else he could do. The cover was gone, but his eyes were closed again. "Now, just in case you have forgotten, your name is Marcus Cole, and you are a human and a Ranger. My name, since we have not been formally introduced, is Draal."
Draal. He'd heard of him- Guardian of the Great Machine on Epsilon 3. Were they there, or on Babylon 5, or was he dead anyway? "'M I dead?" He croaked, his voice alien to his ears.
"Not quite, but you were very close for a long time, as you humans count it."
Not dead. Well, on some levels that was good. On others- "Susan?"
"Is fine, Little Ranger. Your crazy trick with the machine worked, which just proved that the universe is a hopeless romantic." Draal said. Marcus could feel tears gather and slide out under closed lids. She was alive, after all. "There, now, I'll never understand you humans, not if I watch for a thousand years. You should be happy, Little Ranger."
He was, but far too tired to explain it. Secure that, for the moment, she was alive and so was he, by some miracle, Marcus allowed darkness to claim him once again.
He woke up to another bright light, and managed to roll away from it this time. He was far less heavy, and didn't hurt nearly as much as before. He blinked a few times and the light settled into muted reds and browns. An unfamiliar face appeared, but the voice and the bone-crest identified him easily.
"You're a stubborn one, aren't you? Eager to move. Oh, for the energy of youth. Take your time- you've got plenty of it now." Draal smiled. Marcus, still fuzzy, pushed himself up into a sitting position by bracing against a convenient cave wall. He was stiff all over, and felt about as strong as a wet noodle.
"How, why and how long?" He rasped, confused.
"Here." Draal gestured to the ground, where a mug of water rested on a rock. "Drink this first. Slowly, please."
Marcus had rarely been more grateful for water, but his throat constricted around the first mouthful and he spent the next moment spluttering and choking. He tried again, taking tiny sips this time, and emptied the mug slowly. "Thank you. Now, how, why, and how long?"
"How did you come to be here? By shuttle, I suppose. Zathras brought you in. Why? Because some of your friends were unwilling to give up hope that you might recover, and asked for my help in bringing you back to life with the Great Machine, which I gladly provided. As for how long-"Draal thought for a long while, letting Marcus think up nightmare scenarios in which everybody he'd known and loved were long dead, "Just over an Earth year."
Relief swept over him, calming his fears. A year wasn't really that much. "Is the war over?"
"On Earth, yes. On Minbar as well, though there have been several conflicts between worlds in the past year." Draal gave him a quick, not very thorough rundown on recent galactic events, finishing with the Alliance moving to Minbar.
"Sheridan's president? I thought he hated politics. So there's no one left on the station?" Marcus was just on the edge of feeling sorry for himself. Draal huffed.
"On the station, no one you know, but you have friends on several worlds, even if they thought you dead all year. They'll be quite delighted."
"Oh." Marcus leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. "It's going to take me a while to get used to the idea of being alive again. Was I really dead?"
"Not entirely, but you were close enough that all scanners and tests read you as dead. Some stubborn part of your soul clung on to life, though, and Delenn had your cryo-tube sent here to see what the Machine could do to heal you. It's taken all year, and you're still closer to death than you should be. Rest now. When you're stronger, Zathras will take you wherever you choose to go."
"Right." Without much thought, between one breath and the next, Marcus was asleep. Draal looked at him for a long moment, smiled, then called out, "Zathras! Zathras!"
"Yes?" One of them appeared around a corner. Draal indicated the sleeping Ranger.
"Watch over him, and make sure there's proper food around when he wakes up. Human food, Zathras- get it on the station if you must. And get the shuttle ready to leave in a day or two." Draal's image glowed gold for a second, then faded away. Zathras clicked his tongue.
"Zathras do, Zathras get, Zathras prepare...Zathras fly all over galaxy, but Zathras rest? No, never that."
Three days later, according to Draal, Marcus felt steady enough on his feet to face the outside world. Draal agreed that he should contact Delenn before deciding where he should go next. His Ranger uniform, kept in storage by Draal for a year, hung on him loosely and made him look, in his own opinion at least, like a scarecrow. He paced the cave nervously, waiting for the connection to come through. Finally he looked at Draal's physical form, connected to the Machine. "Could you tell her? Just, break it to her gently? I don't want to shock her."
"If you insist." The hologram shimmered into being and drifted down to the floor. "If my sources are correct, shocking her could lead to trouble. Speaking of trouble, why are you calling Delenn rather than the lady of your heart?"
Marcus looked down, "I can't- not yet, at least. And she's not the lady of my anything."
"Tell it to someone who'll believe it, Little Ranger." Draal chuckled. "It's connecting- you might want to step back." Marcus moved out of the screen's reach and watched, heart in mouth, as Draal waited for the connection. Suddenly the guardian winced, giving him a slightly embarrassed look, "Perhaps we should have waiting with the call."
"Why?" Marcus asked as the screen cleared, showing a sleep-rumpled, yawning and blinking Sheridan.
"Because it's just about the fourth hour after midnight on Minbar." Draal explained, 'I'm terribly sorry, Mr. President, but I need to talk to Delenn immediately."
"Draal? Never thought I'd see you again. Is this urgent?"
"I would've waited until morning if it was not, Mr. president."
"Are you sure? I'd hate to wake her up." Sheridan looked behind him, "Never mind, too late. There she is." Delenn appeared, looking quite different from her usual neat self. While Marcus gaped at the leader of the Rangers with her hair a mess, wearing a fairly daring nightgown and most astonishingly pregnant, she inquired, "John, who is it?"
"Friend of yours." The president of the Interstellar Alliance grumbled. "I'm going back to bed."
"Draal." Delenn rested her hands on her hips, "I hope this is important." She looked distinctly irritated.
"Of course it is, Delenn. You don't really think I'd wake you up in the middle of the night for nothing in your condition."
"My condition nothing, old friend. What is it?" Delenn sat down on the corner of a desk as Marcus processed this new information- Sheridan and Delenn were living together, probably married- yes, he could see a ring- and she was pregnant. Draal hadn't mentioned that .How incredible.
"A year ago, Delenn, you left a package in my care." Draal started, "I believe it is about ready for delivery."
Delenn said nothing for a few minutes, hand pressed against her mouth as her eyes filled with wonder. "Marcus?" She whispered at last.
"Yes, Marcus. It took a long time, but he's back on his feet, more or less. No lasting damage as far as my limited knowledge can tell."
"Is he- does he remember?" Tears shown in Delenn's eyes, "Is he there?"
"Here." When he found it, Marcus' voice cracked, "I'm here." He moved into the screen's view and bowed, "Greetings, Entil'Zha." Formality helped.
"Greeting, Ranger." She replied- apparently it was helping her too. "Marcus...It's good to see you. I almost lost hope..."
"You, Delenn? Never." Draal interrupted, "I know you could stare at each other all night now, so allow me to drag you back down to reality. How soon do you want him home?"
"As early or as late as he'd like, of course." Delenn came back to herself, "If you wish to come at all, that is."
"Of course I do." Marcus wasn't entirely sure of that, but it was the only viable option as he saw it. He'd been ready to die, and being alive after all that was strange, almost scary. Minbar was a safe, familiar place to go. Were they all angry with him? Was Susan? Did anybody even remember him after all that had happened? "As soon as possible." He added. Better to get it over with fast. Once they've kicked him out of the Rangers, he'd figure something out. "Delenn-"He started, then glanced at Draal. Not now. "There's a lot to catch up on."
"Yes." She nodded, practically glowing, "Leave as soon as you're strong enough, then. I'll get things ready for you here."
"Right." He nearly forgot the second most important thing. Several things were missing from his personal belongings. "Just- where is my pin? And my fighting pike?" He felt naked without them.
"They're safe." Delenn said guardedly, obviously not letting on as much as she knew. "You'll have them back in good time."
"Delenn, where are they?" Marcus didn't have the patience for the art of Minbari conversation right now.
"I'd rather not say yet, Ranger Cole." There was a firmness in Delenn's voice that made any further arguing unthinkable. "You'll find out when you come here."
"Fine." He turned away, irrationally upset at her curtness. "I'll be there in about a week."
"We'll be waiting. Good night." The connection ended, anmd Marcus started pacing again, stomping his feet and swearing under his breath.
"You are upset, Little Ranger." Draal observed sardonically.
"Of course I'm upset!" Marcus paced faster. "I was dead! I made my peace with the universe, got ready for a noble sacrifice, acted like a total idiot and now I'm here again, not dead! How am I supposed to handle that?"
"I don't know." The old Minbari actually seemed amused by his plight, "but I rather doubt stomping and yell is how. Listen to me, Little Ranger- was your sacrifice for a good cause?"
"Yes." of that he was sure. He'd much rather have died than lived in a world where she was dead, and the war needed her far more than it needed him, anyway. "It was for a good cause. But they're going to be so angry...You're not supposed to have to explain why you killed yourself after the fact!"
"No, I don't imagine you are, but you Humans are resourceful beings. You'll think of something, I'm sure." Draal tried to pat him on the back, but his holographic hand went right through, tingling as it passed. "I saw Delenn- she wasn't angry."
"Not yet, but she has a full week to think about it now." Marcus said despondently. "They always get angry when they've had a while to get used to the idea." It also gave him a week to work himself into a state over it.
"Then we should make an effort to get you there faster, shouldn't we? You don't need to pack- I'll make sure Zathras has the shuttle ready. In the meantime," Draal started to fade away, "meditate."