Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.
Author's Note: Here's another possible reason why Marguerite refuses to let her feelings for Roxton get the better of her.
As fate would have it, Roxton and Marguerite were all alone in the tree house, while the other members scouted about the jungle for more bugs and/or insects for Challenger to observe. It was very early in the morning, and neither felt like talking to each other. It had been a long week for the both of them. After the events of the storm, both thought it was best that they keep their distance, but just for a little while. Yes, the two had literally hugged and kissed when they first saw each other, but Marguerite had yet again felt the need to pull away from the relationship just as it was getting better.
Marguerite sat on a chair, reading one of Ned's old journals. He had offered her something to read, since she had ready all the books in the tree house almost five times. She found herself to be quite fascinated in Ned's versions of the stories. However, she also noticed that there were some different variations of the adventures that they had all shared, and some things that were written down made her look like a real wench. Still, she had to forgive Ned, since he couldn't be there for every adventure, and he would have to seek out somebody else's side of the story.
The story that really warmed her heart was the retelling how he was brought back from…wherever it was, and back to Veronica. Yes, throughout the story Malone was talking about how much he was in love with the jungle princess without having to say so. But the story had ended with Malone writing, "I don't think that Marguerite will ever know how grateful I am to her for helping bringing me back to Veronica. We've hard our rough times together, and truth be told, she is quite annoying, but she is like a sister to me. And after all, siblings do have their little spats, like Marguerite and I."
And, it had been true for Marguerite as well. Though, she would never say so out loud. Well, she had said it once, and that was to Professor Challenger. She had whispered it in his ear the night that they escaped spending eternity in a cave with a bunch of other ghosts. Challenger was like the uncle she never had, Summerlee had been like her grandfather, Malone was like a brother while Veronica was like a sister, and maybe Finn was sort of like a niece. Thankfully, Marguerite didn't consider Roxton as blood family, but family none the less. Roxton knew very well what she felt for him, but at times he really did make it difficult for her to say that she loved him.
Roxton walked into the kitchen with his rifle in his hands. He smiled when he saw Marguerite deep in thought, obviously no longer paying attention to what Ned had to write down in his journal. "Good morning, Marguerite."
"Mmm-hmm. I hate to say it, but Malone was better at writing than I thought. Although, he makes me seem like a villainess in some of the stories. I can't say I blame him." Marguerite said, putting down the journal gently. She got up from the chair, feeling the need to stretch her legs.
"Once upon a time, you ripped pages out of those journals." Roxton smiled down at the heiress, almost expecting for her to attack him with furious words.
"Things change, John. You know that better than I do. Once upon a time, I was a villainess." She returned his smile, but it quickly faded. Marguerite wasn't proud of things that she had done in the past, but it was complicated. She couldn't even begin to explain to Roxton the things she had done.
"I don't believe that. I think you were just as lost," he replied, reassuring any doubts she had with a simple grin.
"And you found me," Marguerite whispered.
"What was that?" Roxton asked.
"Nothing," she answered. She smirked at him and grabbed Malone's journal. She walked towards the balcony, deciding that she might catch some wind on her face.
Meanwhile, somebody was watching the scene with delight. There were many reasons why Marguerite didn't like opening up to Lord Roxton. But the true reason was soon too reveal itself.
The tree house started to shake rapidly. Roxton looked over at Marguerite, who was having her own problems keeping her balance. The shaking became much quicker, causing something to fall over Roxton's head. He wasn't knocked out easily, but he was forced to his knees. Marguerite fell over the balcony screaming with Ned's journal falling out of hands. "Marguerite," John yelled with edge in his voice. The moving had stopped and our favorite Roxton wasted no time in rushing to help Marguerite.
He could tell the fall had been exceptionally painful. After all, landing on rocks had never been fun. Roxton was at her side in no less than a second. "Marguerite!" He lifted her up in his lap; his left hand gently held the back of her hand. He withdrew it quickly when he saw red liquid drenching it. "No," he whispered. "Come on. Wake up!"
"Yelling won't help, Lord Roxton." A figure said, walking out of the shadows of the jungle. "Your Marguerite is quickly dying. If I were you, I'd say your goodbyes."
"Marguerite is not dying!" He shouted. "Who are you?" Roxton took on a suspicious tone with the stranger. He was cloaked and was far too mysterious for Roxton to trust.
"Somebody who can help," the stranger retorted. Getting down on his knees, he examined Marguerite's head. "Now, now, Marguerite, you don't expect me to let you die, do you? You know I'd never do that, my love." The hunter tensed at the strangers words. Perhaps he had misjudged him. He was trying to save Marguerite's life, on the other hand, the tenderness in the stranger's words made Roxton think that after he saves Marguerite, he should kill him.
A warm, yellowish white light came from the stranger's hands. As he traced the wound carefully with his fingers, Marguerite started to awake. Finally, the job was finished and the heiress was fully awake. "Roxton," she moaned.
"I'm here," he answered. "This man saved your life."
Marguerite turned her direction to the black-clad figure. He lifted down the cloak slowly. Marguerite's green eyes widened in shock, and fainted in Roxton's arms.
TBC