New Beginnings

After the battle was over, Sheridan surrendered himself to the Earth authorities. Susan and Marcus were still aboard the White Star. They were in the briefing room, and wanting a bit of the privacy they so badly needed. They sat at the table in silence, holding hands and watching the ISN broadcast of the recent events.

"Monitor off," Susan said; she was tired and wanted to just be with Marcus. She really liked his company; it was a new realization and a little startling. She looked at him and saw he was dozing.

"Marcus," she called tenderly.

"Hmm."

"You awake?"

"No."

He was impossible. She reached over and kissed him tenderly. His eyes widened and lit up with the sensations flying through his body.

"Oh, good," she grinned wickedly, "you are now."

Lennier's image blinked onto the view screen. "Sorry to bother you, commander. It's the captain."

"Put him through."

"Hello, Susan." She began to stand. "No, don't get up. Well, it's been quite a journey, for all of us."

"It sure has."

"'This will be my final act as an EarthForce officer. I'm promoting you to the rank of full captain and giving you command of Babylon 5 if you want it."

She genuinely hadn't expected this. "Wow, John, I don't know what to say."

"I'd like you to say yes, Susan."

"Can I think about it, John? Now that the war is over, I've got some leave coming up and I need to think about things. I'm sure Corwin can handle C & C while I'm gone."

What she said surprised the captain—well, now ex-captain—but he understood. He needed to evaluate his position as well. He'd just never imagined that she'd be like this, but from the sounds of it, she was deciding her future as well.

"That's okay. I'd like you and Marcus to come to Earth Dome.''

Susan looked towards the Ranger before agreeing. "Okay, John. We'll be there ASAP." The transmission ended, she stood up, and took Marcus' hand, "Come on Ranger boy," and pulled him to his feet.

It didn't take them long to get to Earth Dome. It was a beautiful sunny winter's day. The temperature wasn't cold, but just cold enough to wake you up if you were still sleepy. Which was their case, both dog tired and desperately in need of some rest. As they got to a doorway, an officer waited for them.

"Commander, sir," he nodded to them and stood to attention before continuing. "Please, follow me." He turned on his heel and Susan and Marcus followed without breaking their stride.

The corridor was long and finally they found themselves in the main room. They saw Sheridan, Delenn, G'Kar, and Londo all talking with various EarthGov officials and high ranking EarthForce officers. As they followed, they made their way towards Sheridan who was talking with Delenn, President Luchenko, and some generals.

John turned to see Susan stop, standing to attention and saluting him as well as her superior officers.

"Ah, good," he smiled. "Glad you two could make it."

Marcus bowed towards Delenn, "Greetings, Entil'zha."

Delenn bowed back, "Hello, Marcus. I am glad you are well."

One of the generals turned; he recognised the voice and saw his face. He was different now; his hair was longer and he had a beard. "My god, Marcus, is that you?" It was General Leftcourt who spoke. He looked at the Ranger as Susan and Sheridan looked at the both of them with surprise.

"Hello, general. It's been a long time." He offered his hand. The general came and took it eagerly. "I can't believe it's you. Wh—what have you… where have you been?"

"Can someone please explain?" Sheridan asked. He was more than just a little curious.

"Well, this man saved my ass quite a few times, and is the finest intelligence gatherer I know." He wrapped an arm around Marcus' shoulder. Marcus didn't like all this attention.

"You noticed that, huh?" Sheridan grinned. "But how do you two know each other?"

The general turned back to face him. "Marcus was mainly in EarthForce Special Intelligence, towards the end of the Minbari war. He was at the Battle of the Line..."

Sheridan's and Ivanova's jaws dropped. Even Delenn looked surprised.

"…He was a lieutenant on one of the last cruisers to defend Earth..."

Marcus just wanted the floor to swallow him whole. He'd hated his time in EarthForce,

Susan felt giddy, she would never have guessed that Marcus was in EarthForce and an officer to boot. She saluted him winking.

"Please," he began to hold his hands out in front of him. "I'm just Marcus. Those days are long behind me."

"Madam President," Delenn said. "May I present one of my best Rangers and my most valued friend, Marcus Cole."

"Mr. Cole," Luchenko smiled at him.

He smiled back; he really hated all this attention. Susan asked to be excused and took Marcus into an empty corner. She was amazed that he'd kept something like this from her and her friends.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.

"Can we do this later, Susan?" he asked, holding her hands, his voice almost breaking. "In private?"

"Okay," she nodded. "Later."

"Could you ask Delenn to come over, please?" His eyes were so beautiful. She had to fight the urge to kiss him; she didn't like to see him like this and nodded, walking to where Sheridan and the others stood. He could see her whispering to the Minbari ambassador, who then turned to John and the others and asked to be excused, then made her way over to him.

"Hello, Marcus," the ambassador smiled. "Life is full of surprises, is it not?" She was hinting at the fact that she hadn't known he'd been at the Battle of the Line. She reached out to him and took his hands. "You look troubled," she said tenderly.

Now that she was here, his mind was a whirl of emotion. He knew what he had to do, he just had trouble getting the words out. "I – I need your help, Delenn," he said, looking at the floor. Oh god, he was faltering. This was so damn difficult. He closed his eyes and tried to calm his racing mind with a mantra he had been taught by Sech Turvall.

"You know I will always help you, Marcus," she said tenderly, concerned for her friend. "Please, tell me." Delenn gave him a few moments to compose himself, watching him silently mouthing the words of a calming mantra. She remembered that she'd used the same one from time to time when things got on top of her.

He opened his eyes, looking toward Susan. He could see her standing rigid, ignoring the others and looking directly at him with concern written all over her face. "Nafak'cha. I need you to perform the Nafak'cha."

Delenn smiled at him warmly as she gently stroked the back of his trembling hands. "It would be an honour to do this for you, Marcus." Her tone of voice gave him reassurance that he was doing the right thing, and she had never been more proud of him than at this moment. He was ready to put his past behind him and step out into the light of a new day, with Susan at his side.

******************************************

Earth had accepted to become a member of the new Interstellar Alliance, while the White Stars flew overhead. Later that day, Delenn had presented the Rangers to the Earth Alliance president. After the ceremony, Delenn had summoned Marcus to a nearby room; they both entered and he closed the door.

The Minbari ambassador could see the relief on the Rangers face. It was as if a huge weight he had been carrying had been lifted from him just by saying he wanted to perform the Nafak'cha. She could hardly wait to see what he'd be like once he'd carried it out.

"Marcus, you are my most valued friend," she began. "You have come so far – I am so proud of you."

"I…I have just done what was right, Delenn, that's all." He was humble before her; feeling like he didn't deserve her praise.

"After the ceremony, I am granting you an extended leave, Marcus. You, out of all of us, need to heal. Do you understand?"

He nodded his head; he was weary. Now that the darkness of the Shadows outside and inside the Earth Alliance had been defeated, he wanted to evaluate his life and his life with Susan.

"I am giving you 6 weeks' leave, after that you are to report to me on Babylon 5."

His face was shocked. "6 weeks…" he began to argue. "Delenn, I can't, not that much time…"

She dismissed it. "6 weeks, Marcus. That is an order."

He knew better than to argue with her. Resigned to the fact, he sighed. "Thank you, Entil'zha." He bowed low. He knew that he'd overstepped to mark by questioning her.

"It's Delenn, Marcus," she smiled. "You are my friend and you deserve this time away. Take it, and cherish it."

He nodded his head and agreed. 6 bloody weeks. What the hell am I going to do with 6 weeks leave?

************************************************

Elsewhere, in another office within Earth Dome, Sheridan and Ivanova were in a rather heated discussion.

"John, I don't need 6 weeks leave," she protested. "You've resigned from EarthForce; I can't go off taking leave when you say so."

"Have you decided to rejoin EarthForce, Susan?" he asked.

"No," she began, "I need to think about things and where to go from here."

"Babylon 5 is still an independent state, under ISA jurisdiction. I'm the head of the ISA, and if I want you to take 6 weeks leave…" He could still pull rank, even with her. "Susan, we've all had a pretty tough time of it, you most of all. You need this time away. See the sights, travel, do whatever the hell you like, but just take this time off. Then, when you're done, come back to Babylon 5. The station will still be there, you know," he grinned.

"I don't think I'm going to win this argument, am I?" she asked.

"Nope."

"Okay, 6 weeks it is." She sighed, slapping her hands on her sides. Secretly, she was glad she had this extended leave. But she liked her verbal sparring matches with Sheridan, and besides, she was looking forward to spending this time with Marcus and getting to know him better. When she thought his name, that fuzzy warm feeling erupted within her. She wanted him and bad.

************************************************

After her meeting with Sheridan, Susan went to look for Marcus. 6 weeks, damn! She realised that with this length of time, she could actually take the time to appreciate where she wanted to go and what she wanted to do. As she walked down the long hallway, coming to the now-empty main room, she saw Marcus sitting cross-legged on his cloak with his pike at his side. He was meditating, but his face looked troubled. She wondered what for.

"Hello, Susan," he said, his eyes still closed. He smiled.

"How did you know it was me?" she asked, stunned.

He opened his eyes and looked down at his pike, took it, and placed it in the pouch attached to his belt. Standing up off his cloak, put it on and walked towards her. "I knew your footsteps." He smiled as he gently kissed her forehead and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Good meeting with President Sheridan?" he asked.

"Um, yeah, you could say that."

Marcus could sense her confusion. "Susan, what's the matter?" he asked, his voice concerned.

"Well, I'm not sure how to put this…" she began. "You know how I said that I've got some leave coming up…"

He nodded.

"Well, it's 6 weeks."

"You were worried about 6 weeks leave?" he said happily, trying hard not to break into a smile, but couldn't help himself. This was so obvious he should have seen it coming a mile away.

"What's so damn funny?" Susan asked, getting agitated and wondering if he would let her in on the joke, if there ever was one.

He beamed. "Oh, it's just that I've got 6 weeks leave as well."

Sheridan and Delenn had arranged their leaves. "You know," she began, "when I get back to Babylon 5, I swear, he is going to find his shower requirements set to ice cold!"

He smiled at Susan as he wrapped his arms around her. He couldn't believe this was happening, but he'd made William a promise. He was going to live, and live he would.

TBC