Title: Babylon 5- Amateur Redux. 2259- Coming Of Shadows.

Chapter One- Points Of Departure.

Characters: OFC, Sheridan, Ivanova, Franklin, Kalain, Hedronn.

Rating: PG.

Disclaimer: I don't own it. I don't get money from it. Sue me and I'll laugh. And hide.

Warnings: AU. Mentions of violence and injury, non graphic, angst.

Spoilers: Technically, there are spoilers, but it's all wrecked by the OFC.

Summary: Vicki and her father are reunited, but a shadow hangs over their meeting. Meanwhile, the Minbari contingent in her life is making itself known.

Author's Note: I do not think that I can do a better, equal or even passable imitation of The Great Maker Stracysnski. This is just for fun. Any Minbari words used are from Hightower's dictionary on the JumpNow website. Also, I have chosen to go with the chronological order as described on The Babylon Project wiki entertainment website. This is different from the Broadcast order. My apologies if anyone gets confused, I will be using episode titles and dates to try and keep things clear.

This is part 2 of 5. Hopefully, it will not take as long to finish as the last one did! For anyone who is wondering who I have not already said this to, I WILL FINISH ALL OF THIS, no matter how long it takes me, I will not let this die until it's DONE. But feel free to prod me if I lag, encouragement has been the only thing keeping me going in some of my earlier rough spots!

Enjoy!

*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*

Sunday 8th January 2259.

*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*

"Sergeant Sheridan's personal log. Sunday the 8th of January, 2259. Babylon 5 Station.

Jeff has gone. He was recalled to Earth. I know Susan's waiting for him to come back, but I don't think he is. I feel it in my bones- he's going somewhere else. I don't know where... Just somewhere else. And I'm nowhere near ready to deal with my emotions over that.

Susan doing a fantastic job as CO of the station- everyone who argues with her suffers painful consequences and doesn't do it again. It's getting quieter and quieter. I wonder if she'll be promoted to official CO- it's not like she doesn't deserve it. And it's certainly not like she couldn't do it.

Michael's still in a coma. Stephen's done everything he can- more than anyone else could, I think. Now it's all on Michael. I, for one, am not worried in the slightest. He is the most stubborn, pigheaded individual I have ever met- there is no way he's going to just give up. He can't.

I went to see Delenn today. Or, rather, her cocoon. Lennier was chanting strength chants at the damn thing, like she could hear him through it. Whatever, if it helps him get through this.

G'Kar hasn't come back yet, and Na'Toth is stonewalling us. Londo seems to be getting antsy- ever since the destruction of Outpost 37, he's been more insufferable than ever. I fear that this may reflect a rising level of aggression between the Narn and the Centauri- not that they ever needed an excuse to fight before, but still... I'm getting worried.

I haven't heard from Dad in a few weeks. He said he was dealing with a raider problem around Proxima, so maybe that's taking up his time, but I'm worried. The Agamemnon was due for a refuelling stop at Io yesterday, but I called there yesterday and she wasn't docked with them. I need to find out what's going on- there are way too many problems already without losing contact with my lifeline to sanity.

I guess I'll-"

*Beep* Sigh. "Off. Yes?"

"It's Ivanova." Came the breathless reply. It sounded like she was running. "I didn't have time to tell you earlier, but now everything's kicking off and he's way too early and-"

"Whoa, Susan. Calm down. What's going on?"

"Your father's shuttle just docked."

Vicki felt as if her heart was suddenly jumping up and down, doing somersaults and back flips. "He's here?"

"Yes, he's going to be our new CO. I don't know what he'll think when he sees there's no welcome guard or anything, but I'm almost there, I just hope I can explain everything to his satisfaction. Could you meet us in C+C?"

But Vicki didn't hear her question.

She was already gone.

*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*

Vicki sprinted into the Docking Bay, heart still clawing at her larynx, only to see no sign of her beloved father. Agonised at the thought that it all might have been an errant waking dream, she raced up to Sergeant Kulim.

"Amur! Have you seen my Dad?"

The tall, maple skinned man looked at her like she was spouting gibberish. "I'm sorry, Vicki?"

"My father! Captain Sheridan!" She half-yelled, exasperated. "He's nearly six feet tall with sandy brown hair and sapphire eyes and he'll be wearing a Captain's uniform, it would be kind of hard to miss him!"

"Sheridan!" Called Anita Shahn, a shop keeper from Blue Six who was sitting on one of the benches in the waiting area. "I saw him about ten minutes ago; Commander Ivanova escorted him off for a tour-"

"Thank you!" She yelped as she ran off, thinking fast. Which way would they have gone? Towards the Docking Bay and then around to the Zoccolo? Or would she take him straight to C+C? Which way, dammit!

She jumped onto a transport tube just as the doors slid shut, thinking fast. She couldn't just chase around after them, especially since she had no idea where they were going. She'd be doing it all day, and she wouldn't be able to see him until she was done- NO! She had to think, use her mind to find him, not her legs. Where would they defiantly go?

Suddenly, she remembered their first mission to Drazi. She remembered the looks on his face when he'd smelt the food they had to eat that first night, when he felt the humidity in the room they were supposed to sleep in, and when he realised they didn't have a-

"Shower!" She muttered, earning a near hysterical look from the concerned Hyach she was sharing the Transport tube with.

Twenty minutes later, she had strode up and down every inch of the fair sized quarters, rehearsed what she was going to tell her father several dozen times and nearly had a screaming fit when she look in the mirror and saw the state of her hair.

Now, she was sitting lotus style on the floor, struggling to meditate. She needed to be calm when her father arrived, she needed to be in control and well behaved and-

Suddenly the door swished open and in walked her glorious, magnificent, unsurpassable father. And Vicki went from lotus-shaped serenity on the floor to ball of hair and tears in her fathers' arms in the blink of an eye.

*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*

"So, you two were... close."

"Yes. Very close."

"Your superior officer? That's not like you- or at least, not this far-"

"Oh Dad, don't start that, please!"

They grinned, almost mirror images. Indeed, it was only when they were right next to each other that you could see the otherwise subtle, but still clear similarities between them- The same blue, cheerful eyes, the same straight, clean chins, the same thick eyebrows and the same healthy glow in the skin. The differences were easier to see at a glance- their brown hair were different shades, his was a light hazel brown, whereas hers was the same deep teak brown of her mothers'. The shape of her eyes and her lips were equally maternally inherited.

Vicki, however, bore far more of her fathers' mannerisms than her mothers'. Having been raised by her father and his family, she had naturally grown into his smile, his method of walking and his method of not letting go of an argument. To see them together was like seeing two limbs of the same creature- their movements reflected each others'.

Even now, as John's concern for his daughter's suddenly chaotic- actually, suddenly existing- love life reared its head, her body language matched his, her shoulders squared and she straightened her back. Her eyes matched his equally and calmly. He struggled to remain equally calm as he tried to explain his point.

"Honey, I know you've always found it easier to approach people socially when their somewhere close to your level intellectually and emotionally... but I'm not comfortable with the idea of you being... close to someone who is only three years younger than me!"

"Daddy. Breathe." She said quickly but neutrally. "Jeff and I never got... close. Or at least, not the way that you think. We never slept together." His shoulders relaxed noticeably. "We never got to second or third base. We never even really kissed."

"Never?" He pressed, almost desperately.

A flash of her memory passed in front of her eyes, but she quickly suppressed it and said "Never." There was a brief pause as they both breathed for a moment. Then, "Want a tour?"

What followed next was one long torture session for the over protective father as Vicki led him round the main spots on the station. The customs area- where she was attacked by Na'Toth, the Docking Bay- where she was almost killed in an explosion, the corridor outside Sinclair's quarters- where she was nearly beaten to death by a pissed off Minbari Warrior, the Medical Storage room- where she was knocked into a coma by Nelson Drake... again and again and again, the words "I got a little scraped" terrorised John's mind as he imagined his little girl, covered in blood being carried here and there by co-workers who, clearly, were not doing a good enough job taking care of her.

The last straw was dropping by the MedBay- Stephen had shaken his hand, ruffled Vicki's hair and called her his 'worst patient ever'. And then said "Why you're also my most frequent I'll never know". As they stepped into the transtube on the way to C+C, he rounded to her.

"How many times have you been hurt?" He demanded, cheeks reddening quickly.

"Not many." She said dismissively, looking straight ahead, as if to avoid the avalanche.

"Define not many!" He shouted.

"More than none, less than start worrying!" She said, still holding herself still.

"Vicki, I let you stay in EarthForce so you could do good and be challenged, not get yourself killed or maimed!"

"OK, first off Dad, you didn't let me stay in EarthForce, I gave you an ultimatum, accept it or not, I was never going to leave. Second, I have not been killed or maimed, so you're working yourself up for nothing. And thirdly..." She took a deep breath, lowering her voice as she looked into her fathers' tumultuous eyes. "Thirdly, I am a fully fledged member of the team. I am treated as such by my peers. Dad... I am one of the boys. You know how much that means to me."

For a few moments, they stayed there, eyes locked and bodies facing off. Then, still in angry pose and expression, John said, "You're the same height as me."

Confused, she said "Huh?"

"When you left me, you were only up to my shoulder. Now you're on eye level." The anger melted out of his eyes as he gazed at his no-longer-so-little girl.

"I didn't leave you Daddy. I was reassigned. We both know that." She smiled widely. "Now you've been reassigned too. We're together again. Through rain or shine."

As fast as a spring, he grabbed her in a deep embrace, clinging onto her like stone. "I love you, sweetheart. I don't want to lose you." His voice started to break as he continued. "I can't think of what I'd do if Orion 4 happened again-"

As he fought against tears, she cut him off. "That will never happen again." Pulling away for a moment, she looked into his eyes. "I won't do that to you ever again, I swear." As they continued the hug, she said "Truce?" He chuckled, squeezing her for a moment before letting go.

*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*

As they walked into her fathers' new office, Vicki frowned at Hedronn. Showing up without warning was something she'd gotten used to. His warm greetings were something she'd grown to truly look forward to. His stiff but civil greeting to Susan was something she appreciated, considering his feelings on EarthForce personnel. His practically ignoring her father both offended and worried her.

Hedronn was a good friend, a supportive figure she learnt to turn to. Granted, they hadn't spoken about her 'Star Killer' father since their first meeting, but still. She thought he'd come to terms with it, and could have at least treated John like another human officer. Instead of a leper, or a killer.

As Hedronn spoke- to the wall behind John's head- about Sinclair's capture at the Battle of the Line and the revelation that led to the surrender, Vicki barely registered what was said, instead focusing on how it was said. Coldly, rudely and without the slightest respect or civility. As the explanation turned into accusations, Vicki couldn't bring herself to say anything, or even look up. Hedronn had done nothing but listen, support and teach her, they had bonded over the plants in the Garden- her only occupational love other than her job. And now, he was calling her father an abomination and a purveyor of doom and destruction. How could he?

As he stormed out, leaving cold anger in his wake, Vicki tied to pull in a breath, but she couldn't. Her rages were caught in her throat, choking her. As her blood began to boil, she raced out of the room. As her pulse pushed at her eardrums, she caught up to the transtube doors just before they closed. Hedronn looked up, anger giving way to surprise as she practically climbed into the lift and snapped at the Human maintenance worker standing next to him. "Out! Now!"

"What the Hell was that?" She roared at him, shocking him so much that he almost jumped backwards through the wall.

"Excuse me, Victoria?"

"Don't call me that! You just lost the right!" She screeched. "How could you behave like that?"

"Like what?" He shouted back, his own anger flashing like a beacon. "What did you expect, he's a killer, a murderer-" He didn't get any further as she slapped him around the face, as hard as she could. The fact that all it did was knock his face to one side didn't help.

"I thought the one thing I could always rely on you for was respect! Appropriate behaviour towards the Commanding Officer of the Station you're currently standing in, at the very least-"

"He is a killer! AN ANIMAL! He doesn't deserve such a consideration!" He shouted back.

The silence rang as they glared at each other. Then, at some unseen signal, her face seemed to collapse as tears began to seep out, her expression crumbled into one of the most stricken faces he'd ever seen her with. His rage disappearing, he reached out for her, but she jerked back.

"No-" she sobbed. Seeming to gather herself, she looked into his eyes, anger and sadness fighting for supremacy. "Did it never occur to you that he is my father?"

Somehow, he looked shocked. "Vicki... I am so sorry. I never meant to upset you, or hurt you. But I can't hide how I feel- what he did-"

"What he did was conceive me. Raise me. Love me. He is, was and always will be the primary focus of my life. If there is anything you need to know about me, it's that. And, apparently, you didn't know it." He looked at her, rage gone and completely stricken. "Nothing will ever change what he is to me. And if you can't handle that, if you can't even be civil to him or about him..." She gulped as she met his eyes one last time. "Then maybe I made a mistake in being your friend." As the doors swung open again, she left, anger gone and grief left in its wake. "It's a mistake I won't make again."

Hedronn couldn't even try to call out.

*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\*

Passing the customs guard, the tall, dark figure headed directly for the nearest BabCom unit. Accessing the files, he typed in his request. The screen flickered as his device hacked through the security protocols, giving way to reveal the desired personnel file.

Sergeant Victoria Lochley-Sheridan.