Title: Genesis
AU: this goes skew-wiff after the end of season 5, (but before SIL), with one minor aberration before that.
Marcus gets revived on Minbar, three years after his death. Then some stuff happens. I could tell you, but that's what the story's for.
AN: I'm too lazy to go into the mechanics of how they revived Marcus. I'm sure much better writers than me have explained it in interesting ways, but that isn't really what this is about. So we enter after whatever-it-is has been done.
~~~~~~ Genesis ~~~~~~
Marcus drifted towards consciousness slowly. He felt... sore. And tired-- the kind of bone-seeping tiredness of one who has slept too long and is over-rested.
"Is he coming around?" The voice was familiar, and speaking Minbari. There was something wrong with that, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He forced his eyes open.
"Marcus," she breathed, and he felt her squeeze his hand.
He tried to blink the fuzziness in his eyes away to bring her face into focus, although he didn't need to. He'd recognised her voice. "Susan," he croaked.
"Don't try to talk, Marcus," she admonished him.
He looked instead. His vision was still blurred, but he could see enough to note the Minbari style of her clothing. And the ranger pin. The wrongness nagged at him some more. He was supposed to be somewhere else, wasn't he? Somewhere...
He started to lift his hand to rub his eyes, but found it was too heavy. Why was he so weak? Where was he?
Someone else was there; a Minbari. She brought a glass of water to his lips, and lifted his head to help him sip. The cool water revived his higher brain functions somewhat, enough for him to realise that he should probably be on Babylon 5, and he wasn't. He tried his voice again. "Where...?"
"You're on Minbar," Susan told him. "Tuzanor."
"He needs to sleep now, to regain his strength," the Minbari warned.
Susan was nodding. "OK, if it's what he needs. But you'll let me know when he wakes up again?" She was speaking Minbari again. But that was... wrong. He didn't get a chance to figure out why, however, as the drug took effect and consciousness started to slip away again.
"I'll be here when you wake up," she assured him. And then, though he wasn't sure if it was the end of waking or the beginning of dreaming, she leaned forward and kissed his forehead.
* * *
When he awoke, she was there, as promised. "How do you feel?" she asked.
"Like I've been digested by a pak'ma'ra. Twice."
She laughed. He thought it was a beautiful sound.
He felt much more alert this time around, and there were questions insisting to be answered. "It worked," he breathed, remembering her injury, his frantic flight to Babylon 5, and the machine. Then darkness. "Why am I alive?" he asked.
Were they tears in her eyes? He couldn't trust his sight.
"We brought you back," she told him. "It's a long story, and it can wait." She narrowed her eyes. "You and I have a lot to resolve, but that can wait, too."
He flinched a little. Not something he was overly looking forward to--he had a feeling she'd be merciless. Then a thought occurred to him. "How long has it been?"
"Too long." She sidestepped the question.
He wouldn't be diverted, however. "How long?"
She sighed. "Three years."
He closed his eyes, exhaling. "You'll fill me in on what I missed?" he asked.
"When I think you're up to it," she replied.
"Well, obviously the end of the world was averted, that's always a plus..."
She laughed again, and squeezed his hand warmly. She was not the same person anymore, he reflected. She seemed... less restrained, in a way. And of course there were the physical changes; the ranger uniform, and the fact that she now spoke Minbari. The deeper changes he would have to learn on his own, until she chose to share them with him.
He pestered her about recent events until she relented; giving him a summarised history of the people he'd known. He was genuinely shocked to hear about Lennier, in particular. Unrequited love was something he was uncommonly familiar with, after all.
The way she looked at him now, however, made it feel as if even that might have changed.
* * *
AU: this goes skew-wiff after the end of season 5, (but before SIL), with one minor aberration before that.
Marcus gets revived on Minbar, three years after his death. Then some stuff happens. I could tell you, but that's what the story's for.
AN: I'm too lazy to go into the mechanics of how they revived Marcus. I'm sure much better writers than me have explained it in interesting ways, but that isn't really what this is about. So we enter after whatever-it-is has been done.
~~~~~~ Genesis ~~~~~~
Marcus drifted towards consciousness slowly. He felt... sore. And tired-- the kind of bone-seeping tiredness of one who has slept too long and is over-rested.
"Is he coming around?" The voice was familiar, and speaking Minbari. There was something wrong with that, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He forced his eyes open.
"Marcus," she breathed, and he felt her squeeze his hand.
He tried to blink the fuzziness in his eyes away to bring her face into focus, although he didn't need to. He'd recognised her voice. "Susan," he croaked.
"Don't try to talk, Marcus," she admonished him.
He looked instead. His vision was still blurred, but he could see enough to note the Minbari style of her clothing. And the ranger pin. The wrongness nagged at him some more. He was supposed to be somewhere else, wasn't he? Somewhere...
He started to lift his hand to rub his eyes, but found it was too heavy. Why was he so weak? Where was he?
Someone else was there; a Minbari. She brought a glass of water to his lips, and lifted his head to help him sip. The cool water revived his higher brain functions somewhat, enough for him to realise that he should probably be on Babylon 5, and he wasn't. He tried his voice again. "Where...?"
"You're on Minbar," Susan told him. "Tuzanor."
"He needs to sleep now, to regain his strength," the Minbari warned.
Susan was nodding. "OK, if it's what he needs. But you'll let me know when he wakes up again?" She was speaking Minbari again. But that was... wrong. He didn't get a chance to figure out why, however, as the drug took effect and consciousness started to slip away again.
"I'll be here when you wake up," she assured him. And then, though he wasn't sure if it was the end of waking or the beginning of dreaming, she leaned forward and kissed his forehead.
* * *
When he awoke, she was there, as promised. "How do you feel?" she asked.
"Like I've been digested by a pak'ma'ra. Twice."
She laughed. He thought it was a beautiful sound.
He felt much more alert this time around, and there were questions insisting to be answered. "It worked," he breathed, remembering her injury, his frantic flight to Babylon 5, and the machine. Then darkness. "Why am I alive?" he asked.
Were they tears in her eyes? He couldn't trust his sight.
"We brought you back," she told him. "It's a long story, and it can wait." She narrowed her eyes. "You and I have a lot to resolve, but that can wait, too."
He flinched a little. Not something he was overly looking forward to--he had a feeling she'd be merciless. Then a thought occurred to him. "How long has it been?"
"Too long." She sidestepped the question.
He wouldn't be diverted, however. "How long?"
She sighed. "Three years."
He closed his eyes, exhaling. "You'll fill me in on what I missed?" he asked.
"When I think you're up to it," she replied.
"Well, obviously the end of the world was averted, that's always a plus..."
She laughed again, and squeezed his hand warmly. She was not the same person anymore, he reflected. She seemed... less restrained, in a way. And of course there were the physical changes; the ranger uniform, and the fact that she now spoke Minbari. The deeper changes he would have to learn on his own, until she chose to share them with him.
He pestered her about recent events until she relented; giving him a summarised history of the people he'd known. He was genuinely shocked to hear about Lennier, in particular. Unrequited love was something he was uncommonly familiar with, after all.
The way she looked at him now, however, made it feel as if even that might have changed.
* * *